I think No. 2 is a typo. Needs the word “not” in there. Also, Zeldin wasn’t trounced, as empty a suit as he is. His better than expected results should be a wake up call.
Perhaps I should have said we all "complain" about paying taxes. As far as scrimping on the meat inspections, well, that is the result of Trump's executive order so I guess he does.
Being at an age where I no longer have to file a return - honestly dont remember feeling proud when I filed one. It was an obligation to support the government, sure.
And obviously, cutting inspections on meat and poultry is NOT a good thing. Even with the current inspections, there is meat and produce pulled from sale because there is a issue with it - which inspections caught! Without these inspections then what?
I agree. I don't object to paying taxes - especially locally - but I certainly remember the shock as a young man of the amount of taxes taken out of my paycheck. I guess you get numb to that over the years.
"We all hate paying taxes. We all agree there is too much bureaucracy."
There are many people who believe that paying taxes is the price of living in a civilized society.
Sure, we can disagree about the level of taxes and what we're paying for. But for the past several generations there's been a steady drumbeat that is anti-government and anti-tax, sometimes even among some moderates. This drumbeat, I think, has eroded the belief in civil society for many people. We're seeing the effects of that today.
With our new, extreme administration working to degrade government and reduce taxes (especially for the wealthy), I think the chickens will finally come home to roost. And they'll be carrying bird flu.
Not only chickens - but dairy cattle have been found to have it - which means our milk, cheese etc also might become infected. Sure does sound familiar after the years with Covid - and we still have Covid!!
I don't mind paying taxes if everyone pays their fair share - which most definitely is not the case. The wealthy hire accountants to work around the tax laws.
Stefanik is the worst - we all know she's a lost cause. My favorite image of her is where she's on the floor covering her head, with her butt up in the air, on the day of 1/6 when the *tourists* were in the building *sightseeing *.
Musk is obviously on the spectrum somewhere - God knows what his real issues are, and we of course know trump is a madman.
I despise them all and when it burns down wouldn't give them a cup of water to put the flames out.
Problem is, all of us are negatively impacted by the policies of the *new* America.
And the fact that domestic terrorists were pardoned, yet my law abiding daughter can't get on a domestic flight as of May due to being trans........shows you where we are headed. And it's nowhere good.
You’re right, you probably won’t run into a Proud Boy at the Chapman Museum, but their comrades are in your area. Trump’s mass pardon empowered all the like minded MAGA rebels. I’m sure you see their flags on the pick-up trucks and the banners on front lawns throughout Warren County. The pardons caused a danger to every community in the country.
The north country deplorables...they have been quiet lately, but I won't be surprised to see them in front of Burger King one of these days...
The problem with tearing the Federal Government down is that it's easier to destroy it than to re-build it. I fear we will never be able to. You know the old song, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got until it's gone"
Washington County has it's share of MAGA rebels too. Our McDonalds in Greenwich has been a gathering site for pickups with Trump flags on several occasions.
I used to be opposed to posting 10 Commandments on 1st Amendment religious freedom grounds, but circumstances have changed my mind. Now I think posting them in schools is useful. Kids can hear the news and have direct examples of people failing to heed the Commandments.
Perhaps we should change the Great Seal of the United States to include the 10 Commandments so that the list is there to see every time Trump appears in public. Maybe there could be little check marks in front of each Commandment broken.
I see that in addition to fighting with Episcopalians the Trump folks are after the pope. Tom Homan was attacking him the other day. We’ll all be so much happier when everyone accepts that Orange Jesus is the Second Coming.😉
I always read and appreciate your newsletters.... and you know I have a lot to choose from in my inbox! Please keep grounding us in good values as you highlight the outrageous.
Upton Sinclair is rolling over in his grave. It's a Jungle out there. The meatpacking industry, cancer research, Alzheimer's research, etc. This is a small part of what our taxes support but lifesaving. We're all in this together.
Almost exactly 5 years ago the world was becoming aware of a serious infectious disease in China. Information was slim, in some measure because Donald Trump had cut various health programs including removing scientists who worked directly with Chinese health agencies. So we had no early warning on what was happening in China, no “boots on the ground” who might have verified if the virus was spread naturally by animals or if it was a lab leak.
Georgia is a major producer of poultry and eggs. Some large farms in Georgia have tested positive for bird flu recently.
H5N1 bird flu has the potential for pandemic, but it is already devastating our food supply. And there have been few transmissions to humans, but not zero. And it is being found in dairy.
Fortunately there are still state health departments, but federal health inspectors and agencies coordinate between states.
But Trump is already cutting the sorts of health agency programs he cut before the outbreak of Covid. Trump very nearly died from Covid. If he had not been the president he would surely be dead from it.
I don't remember any Nazi salutes on Harvard's campus by protestors against the war between Hamas and Israel, but I know Stefanik would have used that offensive behavior against the (former) female president of her alma mater.
She has no shame, Eli$e, a female Roy Cohn protege, trained at the hands of a violent assaulter of citizens and women and democracy, and I have a photo of her toddler son holding a Trump flag at the RNC convention this summer. I don't post it, it's not the kid's fault. But I hold it as a truth to what ends she will employ for her ambition.
Someone made an insightful comment on BlueSky last night: Trump knew perfectly well that the White House needed to give Congress 30 days notice before firing the seventeen Inspectors General. He could have just as easily made a proclamation to Congress: This is your notice that these people will be fired in 30 days. It accomplishes the same terminations, but he would prefer to throw his weight around and show his people that he can do whatever he damn well pleases. Disruptor in Chief.
Where are they going to go to interview Trump supporters so we can understand their hurt when all the diners are gone because there are no eggs? MAGAs probably better develop a taste for Buffalo Tofu Wings for their Super Bowl parties too.
I’m sure the whole world will enjoy Elise’s gaslighting just as much as sane people in the North Country have. Musk is currently backing AFD in Germany which is a political group too rightwing extremist for Marine LePen. Pretty sure if a college professor had given that particular gesture then Stefanik would have been able to correctly identify it and have been more than willing to discuss it.
Thanks again, Ken, for this Monday morning’s news. So much!
Let me repeat the gist of something I wrote some time ago. Project 2025, MAGA, the new administration all want to DEREGULATE those elements that protect us and enrich our personal lives and our life together. Just some of which you mentioned in your piece.
While at the same time they want to REGULATE our personal freedoms: what we read; who, when, and where we worship; what a person does with her/his body; who we love; who we marry; etc.
Brooks is right on.
It is no accident that the First Amendment to the Constitution is about religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
In dealing with the Ten Commandments, Roger Williams, the patron saint of American religious freedom in the 17th century, wrote about “Two Tablets”—the first tablet having the first four commandments, and the second tablet the remaining six. Williams was adamant that government should have no say nor control over the first tablet.
The snowplow came buy at about 8 am this moring.. we didn't have much snow lastnight (by NO,LA standards ha) it was light and fluffy, but about two inches.
My taxes, which cover that snow plow and cost about what someone with a long driveway pays a private contractor to remove it all winter.
and for that property tax I get so many other things
I don't exactly like paying taxes.. I don't like paying for pizza either
But just as I like eating pizza I like maintained roads, so yes I like socialism
I am not going to focus on the fact that hmpy trmPEDo released his insurrectionsts
WHO ARE COPKKKKILLERS
But I and everyone needs to focus on what you are grateful for.
I listened to the rebroadcast of the exchange with Ms. stefanik, the reporter's reply to the validity of questions was spot on! I hope Congress uses it's power to save IG jobs
I usually agree with every sentiment you express, but:
1. We don’t all hate paying taxes. I don’t. Never have. I feel proud when I file my tax return.
2. Who thinks that cutting back on meat inspections is the place to scrimp? Why?
I think No. 2 is a typo. Needs the word “not” in there. Also, Zeldin wasn’t trounced, as empty a suit as he is. His better than expected results should be a wake up call.
Perhaps I should have said we all "complain" about paying taxes. As far as scrimping on the meat inspections, well, that is the result of Trump's executive order so I guess he does.
Being at an age where I no longer have to file a return - honestly dont remember feeling proud when I filed one. It was an obligation to support the government, sure.
And obviously, cutting inspections on meat and poultry is NOT a good thing. Even with the current inspections, there is meat and produce pulled from sale because there is a issue with it - which inspections caught! Without these inspections then what?
I agree. I don't object to paying taxes - especially locally - but I certainly remember the shock as a young man of the amount of taxes taken out of my paycheck. I guess you get numb to that over the years.
After a while it sort of became just the usual thing!
"We all hate paying taxes. We all agree there is too much bureaucracy."
There are many people who believe that paying taxes is the price of living in a civilized society.
Sure, we can disagree about the level of taxes and what we're paying for. But for the past several generations there's been a steady drumbeat that is anti-government and anti-tax, sometimes even among some moderates. This drumbeat, I think, has eroded the belief in civil society for many people. We're seeing the effects of that today.
With our new, extreme administration working to degrade government and reduce taxes (especially for the wealthy), I think the chickens will finally come home to roost. And they'll be carrying bird flu.
Not only chickens - but dairy cattle have been found to have it - which means our milk, cheese etc also might become infected. Sure does sound familiar after the years with Covid - and we still have Covid!!
Don't even want to get into bird flu.
I don't mind paying taxes if everyone pays their fair share - which most definitely is not the case. The wealthy hire accountants to work around the tax laws.
Stefanik is the worst - we all know she's a lost cause. My favorite image of her is where she's on the floor covering her head, with her butt up in the air, on the day of 1/6 when the *tourists* were in the building *sightseeing *.
Musk is obviously on the spectrum somewhere - God knows what his real issues are, and we of course know trump is a madman.
I despise them all and when it burns down wouldn't give them a cup of water to put the flames out.
Problem is, all of us are negatively impacted by the policies of the *new* America.
I believe the photo you are referring to is NOT actually Stefanik. It is unclear where she was when the riot was taking place.
Hmm, well I'm not sure.
But you get my point. She was somewhere in that room - unless she scurried out beforehand.
But thanks for letting me know!
Yeah, that is part of my point. I have been unable to find her personal account of that day anywhere.
And the fact that domestic terrorists were pardoned, yet my law abiding daughter can't get on a domestic flight as of May due to being trans........shows you where we are headed. And it's nowhere good.
You’re right, you probably won’t run into a Proud Boy at the Chapman Museum, but their comrades are in your area. Trump’s mass pardon empowered all the like minded MAGA rebels. I’m sure you see their flags on the pick-up trucks and the banners on front lawns throughout Warren County. The pardons caused a danger to every community in the country.
The north country deplorables...they have been quiet lately, but I won't be surprised to see them in front of Burger King one of these days...
The problem with tearing the Federal Government down is that it's easier to destroy it than to re-build it. I fear we will never be able to. You know the old song, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got until it's gone"
I hope you are wrong about the Deplorables.
Me too. At the March in City Park a couple of weeks ago, I half expected to see some, but thankfully it remained peaceful and uneventful.
Washington County has it's share of MAGA rebels too. Our McDonalds in Greenwich has been a gathering site for pickups with Trump flags on several occasions.
OH MY!
I used to be opposed to posting 10 Commandments on 1st Amendment religious freedom grounds, but circumstances have changed my mind. Now I think posting them in schools is useful. Kids can hear the news and have direct examples of people failing to heed the Commandments.
Perhaps we should change the Great Seal of the United States to include the 10 Commandments so that the list is there to see every time Trump appears in public. Maybe there could be little check marks in front of each Commandment broken.
Perhaps they should be on display in the Oval Office.
Who would read it?
Laugh out Loud! Good point.
I see that in addition to fighting with Episcopalians the Trump folks are after the pope. Tom Homan was attacking him the other day. We’ll all be so much happier when everyone accepts that Orange Jesus is the Second Coming.😉
I always read and appreciate your newsletters.... and you know I have a lot to choose from in my inbox! Please keep grounding us in good values as you highlight the outrageous.
Upton Sinclair is rolling over in his grave. It's a Jungle out there. The meatpacking industry, cancer research, Alzheimer's research, etc. This is a small part of what our taxes support but lifesaving. We're all in this together.
Almost exactly 5 years ago the world was becoming aware of a serious infectious disease in China. Information was slim, in some measure because Donald Trump had cut various health programs including removing scientists who worked directly with Chinese health agencies. So we had no early warning on what was happening in China, no “boots on the ground” who might have verified if the virus was spread naturally by animals or if it was a lab leak.
Georgia is a major producer of poultry and eggs. Some large farms in Georgia have tested positive for bird flu recently.
H5N1 bird flu has the potential for pandemic, but it is already devastating our food supply. And there have been few transmissions to humans, but not zero. And it is being found in dairy.
Fortunately there are still state health departments, but federal health inspectors and agencies coordinate between states.
But Trump is already cutting the sorts of health agency programs he cut before the outbreak of Covid. Trump very nearly died from Covid. If he had not been the president he would surely be dead from it.
Some people learn nothing.
Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it and all.
Wait! BREAKING NEWS:
H5N9 bird flu outbreak in California.
I don't remember any Nazi salutes on Harvard's campus by protestors against the war between Hamas and Israel, but I know Stefanik would have used that offensive behavior against the (former) female president of her alma mater.
She has no shame, Eli$e, a female Roy Cohn protege, trained at the hands of a violent assaulter of citizens and women and democracy, and I have a photo of her toddler son holding a Trump flag at the RNC convention this summer. I don't post it, it's not the kid's fault. But I hold it as a truth to what ends she will employ for her ambition.
Matt Castelli put up a picture of he and Elise Stefanik greeting each other. The kid was in the picture and she got all bent out of shape over it.
Someone made an insightful comment on BlueSky last night: Trump knew perfectly well that the White House needed to give Congress 30 days notice before firing the seventeen Inspectors General. He could have just as easily made a proclamation to Congress: This is your notice that these people will be fired in 30 days. It accomplishes the same terminations, but he would prefer to throw his weight around and show his people that he can do whatever he damn well pleases. Disruptor in Chief.
I remember someone said that a cynic is a person who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. Replace cynic with Republican.
Where are they going to go to interview Trump supporters so we can understand their hurt when all the diners are gone because there are no eggs? MAGAs probably better develop a taste for Buffalo Tofu Wings for their Super Bowl parties too.
I’m sure the whole world will enjoy Elise’s gaslighting just as much as sane people in the North Country have. Musk is currently backing AFD in Germany which is a political group too rightwing extremist for Marine LePen. Pretty sure if a college professor had given that particular gesture then Stefanik would have been able to correctly identify it and have been more than willing to discuss it.
Thanks again, Ken, for this Monday morning’s news. So much!
Let me repeat the gist of something I wrote some time ago. Project 2025, MAGA, the new administration all want to DEREGULATE those elements that protect us and enrich our personal lives and our life together. Just some of which you mentioned in your piece.
While at the same time they want to REGULATE our personal freedoms: what we read; who, when, and where we worship; what a person does with her/his body; who we love; who we marry; etc.
Brooks is right on.
It is no accident that the First Amendment to the Constitution is about religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
In dealing with the Ten Commandments, Roger Williams, the patron saint of American religious freedom in the 17th century, wrote about “Two Tablets”—the first tablet having the first four commandments, and the second tablet the remaining six. Williams was adamant that government should have no say nor control over the first tablet.
Well said again sir.
The snowplow came buy at about 8 am this moring.. we didn't have much snow lastnight (by NO,LA standards ha) it was light and fluffy, but about two inches.
My taxes, which cover that snow plow and cost about what someone with a long driveway pays a private contractor to remove it all winter.
and for that property tax I get so many other things
I don't exactly like paying taxes.. I don't like paying for pizza either
But just as I like eating pizza I like maintained roads, so yes I like socialism
I am not going to focus on the fact that hmpy trmPEDo released his insurrectionsts
WHO ARE COPKKKKILLERS
But I and everyone needs to focus on what you are grateful for.
or you become old and angry before your time.
I listened to the rebroadcast of the exchange with Ms. stefanik, the reporter's reply to the validity of questions was spot on! I hope Congress uses it's power to save IG jobs