BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Michelle Obama signals she’s done with Trump.
Author Archive: Stephen Green
January 15, 2025
CUE THE WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN: Expect Big Changes in the White Press Room As Trump Will All But Sideline Legacy Media.
I KEPT TELLING YOU THERE’S PLENTY MORE BIDENFLATION BAKED INTO THE SYSTEM: Consumer price growth rose in December, a sign Trump will inherit stubborn inflation as he takes office.
Consumer price growth ticked up in December, a sign President-elect Donald Trump will inherit the inflation issues that dogged the Biden administration as he re-takes the White House next week.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the annual inflation rate — which is calculated based on prices compared to a year ago — climbed to 2.9% from 2.7% in November.
On a monthly basis, the rate rose to 0.4%, up from 0.3% a month prior and above expectations.
Even as the broader inflation index picked up, a measure that strips out volatile food and gas items climbed less than expected. That so-called “core” reading is closely watched by investors.
That’s not all Trump inherits on January 20:
This is the worst start to a fiscal year EVER:
– Spending is up 10.9%
– Receipts are down 2.2%
– FYTD deficit up 39.4% at $711 billion
They're handing Trump a ticking time bomb… pic.twitter.com/q1DYC1Ep5q— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) January 15, 2025
But, hey, at least Milton Friedman hasn’t been “running the show.”
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Here We Go Again: Deep State Shadow Coup II. “Presidentish Joe Biden might be partly incapacitated and on his way out the White House door, but his administration is “playing dirty during the transition period,” former Trump 45 Undersecretary of Defense Ezra Cohen told the Daily Mail today. But there’s much more to ‘Shadow Coup II’ than is detailed in the Daily Mail report.”
BEEGE WELBORN: ‘Why Did DeSantis Do This To Us?’ Duval Teachers’ Union Ex-Prez & VP Right Now, Probably.
It seems like it’s been ages since I had a chance to rattle on about the country’s GREATEST FRICKIN’ GOVERNOR – that would be Ron DeSantis. I can’t believe I’ve neglected our Free State of Florida for so long, but I do have to admit things nationally have been pretty exciting.
That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
Today, however, my girlfriend Amy found such a hilariously wicked karma story that I couldn’t help but snicker and share it with you all.
So lemme set the stage (or bury the lede ‘better than anybody,’ as Mischief tells me all the time): it all starts back in January of 2023.
Fresh off his historic November shellacking of both Charlie Crist and his running mate, Miami-Dade teachers’ union president Karla Hernandez-Mats, and the Miami-Dade teachers’ union (United Teachers of Dade) itself…
Once again, Beege is having way too much fun with a twisty story that deserves more national attention.
THE LEFT’S WAR ON WOMEN (CONT’D): When It Comes to Protecting Women’s Sports, Democrats Just Failed Their First Test.
DECOUPLING: US probe finds China unfairly dominates shipbuilding, paving way for penalties, sources say.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has concluded China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, three sources familiar with the results of a months-long trade investigation told Reuters.
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai launched the probe in April 2024 at the request of the United Steelworkers and four other U.S. unions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the U.S. to penalize foreign countries that engage in acts that are “unjustifiable” or “unreasonable,” or burden U.S. commerce.
Investigators concluded that China targeted the shipbuilding and maritime industry for dominance, using financial support, barriers for foreign firms, forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft and procurement policies to give its shipbuilding and maritime industry an advantage, said one of the sources who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Beijing also “severely and artificially suppressed China’s labor costs in the maritime, shipbuilding and logistics sectors,” that person added, citing excerpts of the report.
None of this comes as a huge surprise and all of it was probably inevitable the moment the West welcomed a Communist regime with a billion people into an international economic system meant for free countries.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Nancy Mace Understands the Republicans’ Assignment for 2025. “Present-day Democrats in Washington are awful people, and feigned tolerance for their antics in vomit-inducing at this point. In addition to being a paste-eating idiot, Jasmine Crockett is a perennially shrieking confrontation monger; Nancy Mace’s response to her was perfect.”
HEGSETH HAS A LOT OF DEADWOOD TO CLEAR OUT OF THE PENTAGON:
The Russians here fail to understand the same thing US flag ranks don't.
The economic and organizational barriers to entry to operational/strategic range drone airpower, in massive numbers, that is too cheap to be engaged by missiles. https://t.co/03ApaxQNze
— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) January 14, 2025
Three years of this war and the people who should get it about drones still don’t get it about drones.
WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED THAT ELECTING A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER TO AN IMPORTANT EXECUTIVE OFFICE WOULD NOT LEAD TO EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE? ‘Lack of Leadership’: L.A. Fire Vet Says No One Prepared Even After Extreme Wind Warnings.
CRISIS BY DESIGN: Colorado apartment complex occupied by Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be closed.
An apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, occupied by members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is being closed by court order, city officials said Monday.
The complex drew national attention in August 2024 following a viral video of armed gang members entering a unit.
Aurora city officials were pursing a lawsuit to declare all but one building at the complex a criminal nuisance.
Last week, they asked a judge to close the property in the meantime because the situation had reached a “breaking point” following the kidnapping and assault in December of two residents, according to CNN.
The court granted the request Friday, ahead of a court hearing Monday on the matter.
Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a court filing that the complex had become a frequent place for crime and there has been a “criminal element that has exerted control and fear” for residents.
However, he later made clear gang members had not taken over the complex and that the main problem was the lack of management and oversight by the property’s owners.
That must be an awfully fine line between a “criminal element that has exerted control and fear” and “gang members had not taken over the complex.”
ROBERT SPENCER: Old Joe Biden Reminds Us Yet Again That Leftists Live in a World of Pure Fantasy. “The left is at war with reality and has been for decades now. And Old Joe Biden has just confirmed that this war is still raging, although it has become so familiar that many Americans overlook the pitched battles that are still being fought.”
January 14, 2025
“BUT THEY STILL STOP THE SPREAD OF VIRUSES, RIGHT?”
Los Angeles County Public Health just announced:
“Please do not wear cloth or paper masks—they don’t filter out fine particles or ash." 🤡— Amy Reichert (@amyforsandiego) January 14, 2025
I’m so old, I remember when that was dangerous misinformation.
I MENTION THIS ONLY BECAUSE MORE THAN A THIRD OF THE CLOSURES ARE IN CALIFORNIA AND HALF OF THOSE ARE IN THE BAY AREA: Kohl’s is closing 27 stores in 15 states.
BIDEN’S PARTING GIFTS:
As we learned early in the Biden Administration, it is rather easy to rename warships. Even easier before they are commissioned.
This is a BS move with less than a week to go. https://t.co/oKsP9FIJyB
— cdrsalamander (@cdrsalamander) January 13, 2025
Stop naming carriers after presidents, particularly living presidents.
AS IT SHOULD BE: Pete Hegseth: ‘My Only Special Interest Is the Warfighter.’
DOG BITES MAN: Lefties Mourn End To Facebook Censorship. “I don’t necessarily trust Zuckerberg’s assertions that Facebook’s original intentions were pure as the driven snow when he started putting fact checkers in place (and that’s one reason I’m not editing out things like ‘um,’ ‘like,’ and ‘you knows,’ as these may be verbal tells when he’s glossing over or eliding information rather than just verbal throat clearing), but I think his depiction of how government pressure for censorship came down is probably accurate.”
BIDEN’S PARTING GIFTS: Biden and Harris Insult Wildfire Victims During Disastrous Briefing.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG:
Breaking from @hntrbrkmedia: China’s DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer, has disabled U.S. geofencing on its drones, enabling flights over airports, military bases, and no-fly zones.
DJI says it is putting “control back in the hands of the drone operators” pic.twitter.com/UGqDi8zjhP
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 14, 2025
ANALYSIS: TRUE. To Stop Wildfires, Burn Wokeism. “Wildfires are inevitable. The apocalyptic devastation seen in Los Angeles isn’t.”
OF COURSE THEY DO. THAT’S WHY STUDENTS’ DESIRES OR EXPECTATIONS SHOULDN’T SET STANDARDS: Students want A’s for trying hard, B’s for (mostly) showing up. “Students want to be rewarded for effort, even if it doesn’t lead to achievement, writes psychologist Adam Grant in a New York Times op-ed. ‘Two-thirds of college students say that ‘trying hard’ should be a factor in their grades, and a third think they should get at least a B just for showing up at (most) classes,’ he writes.”