Shooter's Dinner in Washington, DC

    Hmmm. How's the Secret Service doing today?  Not good is the opinion among insiders and outsiders. Obviously, when an "active" shooter shows up at an event and gets a few shots off near the Chief Executive, something failed; in this case the security detail. 

      Old sTump wasn't the victim this time, but he could have been. The shooter was captured soon after he arrived in the hotel and fired his weapon. The hotel security was not up to meeting the needs of a chief executive visit. Recall that Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in a hotel in 1968. The assassin was waiting in an unsecure area-the kitchen, when he fired the fatal shots. Sirhan Sirhan rests in jail to this day, where he will die, eventually.

      The would be assassin of the Oval will spend most of the rest of his life in prison. He had traveled across the country in an attempt to be another assassin. He had lived in Torrance, California, on the West Coast, a famously "Blue" state area. He was a graduate of Cal Tech, the world renowned university. He must have given his actions considerable thought, as did Ted Kozinsky of Uni-bomber fame. This failed assassin will get a bit of publicity but will soon be forgotten like all the rest.

     Homeland Security chief: clean out your desk. F.B.I. Chief Patel: clean out your desk. Head of Secret Service: clean out your desk. AG's office: find a new job. (Todd Blanche go home).  National Security Advisor; go back to Foggy Bottom. Pete Hegseth- clean out your desk.  SecNav-just wait.

     Just what the Oval needs today. He'll greet the King of England today, and the Queen, too. King Charles the II will land in D.C. today for a formal visit. His welcome dinner will be very secure, obviously, no assassins will be allowed to enter. These are difficult times in the Oval for the Oval himself. His Iranian friends are not being cooperative. BiBi has revealed an illness, and he has not developed any signs of backing down from his campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon or anywhere else(go get 'em, BiBi). So the King's visit will offer some respite from current concerns. 

     Perhaps the Oval will squeeze Charles for some support in the Strait of Hormuz-maybe a mine sweeper or two. Maybe a frigate or two or three. Any help would be appreciated, Chas. The Old King hasn't done much on the international scene as his country comes to grips with Brexit and the immigrants reaching his shores. Maybe the Oval will tell him how he does it at home. (Fences, walls, ICE agents, foreign jails, threats, etc).  Charles has been around awhile and knows a thing or two about politics, etc. But he knows the Oval doesn't listen to anybody especially when the mantra around the US is "NO KINGS".  Charles won't take offense at this motto, but he is confident in his own role as King.

    But, be careful Charles; make sure your security is in place today and everyday while near the Oval. 

Muskrat v. Altcat: Trial Begins

       Well, Sports fans, get your popcorn and drinks and lets watch the game as it begins today in Oakland, California. Wait aaaaaaaaa minute. Games? Oakland? Hold on now. Something is wrong, very wrong, crazy wrong. Games?  Hmmmm.

       So, folks the Raiders left town a few years ago; you know the OAKLAND Raiders. Then, the OAKLAND A's-they, too, hit the road for Las Vegas(?) via Sacramento, CA. Oh, the Golden State Warriors had their start in OAKLAND, too, in a place called the Colosseum off I-80 near the OAkland Airport(that sorry excuse for an airport). The whole place is a sorry town beset by unsolvable social problems despite being on the fringe of Silicon Valley just south. A new Mayor, Barbara Lee has taken over City Hall and apparently, with her well -honed skills, she's managed to restore some civic pride. However, it will be a long, uphill road to change things there.

     When Arnold S. was the Republican hope in Sacramento, he had inherited a bridge project: the removal of the eastern half(earthquake damaged half) and the installation of the new replacement. People wanted to know: How Much, Arnold?  Hmmm. Seems like a reasonable question. The problem was - nobody in the Legislature where the money was to come from could offer a definite number: costs kept rising by the day. But, the question(s) wouldn't die. How Much? How much, Arnie. You were Terminator, tell us a terminal answer: How Much? Finally, $8 billions came out, a lot higher than projected and a lot higher than people wanted to pay, but it was too late; sunk costs dictated that the project would be finished. One can drive over this bridge today. Its nice.

     But, I digress. We're back in Oakland where the MAyor began his maritime career many moons ago, at the O.A. T.-the vast Oakland Army Terminal. Yes, the US Army used the area as a logistics center for the Pacific region. The SP trains stopped here, not across the Bay in SF. The container ships now stopped here, not across the Bay. The Key System of trains had a depot here(now gone and forgotten). SF knew it could not compete against all those logistic situations that favored Oakland. All those jobs: gone from SF.

     Then something happened in SF.  Bank of America went bankrupt(almost) and was taken over by some carpet baggers from the Deep South. Good bye finance/banking. Pacific Stock Exchange- adios, Amigo. BART came, here and Oakland, too.  Biotech came, but not here, not there. And then: technology arrived in full bloom. By the late 90's, the Dot Com business arrived in SF, not Oakland. It bombed everywhere, but the dot-commers liked what they saw in SF, not Oakland. A new player arrived and covered the western segment of the Bay Area. Oakland's well known problems precluded any chance of competing with SF for location of the 'new' tech industry.

     But now, we have sparks flying between two giants of tech; Sam Altman of AI fame and his nemesis,  the Musk Rat hisself: Elon Musk. They will face off in a much-watched trial in Oakland. The old city across the BAy will finally get some attention. Media types will trip over themselves has they converge on the old courthouse. Some will get a seat, others, no. Some will get mugged, some will lose their cars, some will leave in disgust as the trial unfolds. Watch it. 

E.U. Extends Financial Lifeline to Ukraine

        Well, now we can all breathe a sigh of relief as money will begin to flow to the valiant Ukrainian people who have been attacked by scum from the Kremlin. Putin's "Special Operation" has gone awry and the Rus peoples have suffered at least 1 million casuakties sine the invasion into Ukraine over 4 years ago.

    What a boondoggle Mad Vlad has led his peoples into. For what? Only Putin knows the aswer to this question, based on flimsy evidence and ever fewer facts. So, off they go: Little Green Men; and now these same Little Green Men are being routinely massacred on the front lines in the Donbass Region of eastern Ukraine.  Mini drones seek them out and kill them instantly(but not painlessly.) There is little defense against these munitions and Ukrainians are making them as fast as possible, by the tens of thousands. They are even exporting those beyond their needs to help other countries deter efforts by Crazy Iranians who still think they are the best Arab country in the Middle East(not!).

   The E.U. has freed up billions for the country after being held up by Viktor Orban in Hungary. he's been voted out for a week and that's no great loss for the West. The Old Fart had been around for 16 years or about 15 years too long.  The money is in the form of a loan for $106 billion, a meaningful amount when one is talking ammunition, supplies, transport, and new technology.  Volodimyr Zelenski will put it all to good use to make the Mad Russyan pay in piled up Rus bodies on the front lines of the war.

Kudos to the E.U. and the Central Bank. 

Another Iranian Tanker Seized by US Forces

        Well, now, it's becoming routine: Iranian ship leaves port. Heading into or near the Strait of Hormuz, the rocky gap in the earth near Iran. After disregarding orders to turn around, the ship was boarded from helicopter-born commandos who took over the ship and promptly took custody of the crew and the ship's cargo(oil). This the 2nd ship boarded by and captured by US military commandos.

      So, the mullahs and the IRGC leaders have a new snack to chew on over the weekend. Oh, what we going to do, Ali?  Send another tanker and lose it, too? doesn't make sense to me or anybody else in the room. Hmmmm.

      Maybe we should talk with the Oval; maybe not. Maybe we chance it, and send another shipment out of the Strait, see what they do. They wouldn't do it 3 times or would they. What is Oval thinking now? Who knows.  31 ships have been turned back either leaving or entering Iranian ports. This won't help their oil sales one bit.  Maybe some of Iran's customers will put a little pressure on the IRGC leaders since they are running the government now and for years.

   Don't hold your breathe on this one.  

Damaged Ships, Blocked Straits, Mines in the Passage

       So, we civilians are being treated to grand theater in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. One could see years ago after the brits gave up on the Middle East that the future there would have a difficult time.  As the "black gold" became a modern necessity, the stakes got higher and more expensive as the tribes jockeyed for oil fields in the desert. So, here we are today, fighting and bombing so oil can flow wherever.

        Ukraine has joined some of the Gulf states in their efforts to keep the oil customers adequately supplied. Nop supply=higher prices worldwide. Take California, an oil exporter that has seen a large increase at the gas pumps for those w/o electric vehicles(EVs). Shocking, but thius is the 'real'effect' of the blocking of tanker traffic in the Strait.

       The Oval has done little to alleviate the situation. rather, the Oval continues to antagonize the Iranians and bluster with more and more threats. My, my. What are all those millions who stayed home from the polls in 2024 thinking now? Maybe things would be different if we had voted.  Sad, really. All those dead bodies piling up around Tehran.

   It will end, but nobody other than the Oval is saying when that will be. 

Sen. Scott weiner: D-California State:

    Quick, Scott, grab some headlines with more outrageous trash. The carpet-bagger from the East(unlike the Magi) has imposed his hysterical positions across the board and has gained a following of sorts in Ultra Blue San Francisco, a well known harbor of wackos and street crazies.

      Sen. Weiner is running for Governor in a field well stocked with wackos and crazies(see my earlier post with candidates list). He fits in  with this crowded slate of grabbers, reachers, cloyers, and work-avoidance types.  Locals were happy he went to Sacramento instead of sitting around SF's City Hall looking for solutions for the homeless encampments proliferating around the civic center. But carpet baggers have no shame, no ethics but what they conjure up in their many fever dreams of a fantasy life paid for with taxpayers hard-earned dollars.

     The Washington Post editorial board had a nice comment to make regarding the weiner's proposed bill to restrict a psychotherapist's speech.  Therapy as noted in SCOTUS rejection of a Colorado law is professional practice, guided by standards set by competent authority. Weiner wants to challenge the Supremes with a state law that circumvents this decision.  Gov. Gruesom might even agree with the law, but he won't sign it as he wants the Oval in 2028. Weiner wants the Gov's mansion, a form of therapy in his case. 

How is Kash: Today

    So, the F.B.I.director , Kash Patel, is looking over his shoulder for "the Oval" axe. After he filed the $250 million lawsuit against the Atlantic for an article that stated that Mr. Patel  has had episodes of heavy drinking, some while on duty. Isn't he always "on duty".?

      So, the FBI Director has denied boozing. Really?