[Mick1]

And in the many-days-late-many-dollars-short category is Gavin Newsom, who is backpedaling almost (but not quite) as fast as Kamala Harris. His most recent conservative stance? Charge illegals for their previously free health care.

Gavin Newsom Is Ending a Golden Age of California Progressivism

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[Mick1]

When asked “Who do you see as the face of the Democratic party?” only 2% mentioned Gavin.

Gavin Newsom’s 2028 hopes dim according to new poll

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[Mick1]

But energy is the precursor element to everything we build and manufacture. Lower energy prices presage lower prices elsewhere.

And no, we’re not getting lower gas prices in the West without…well, it just isn’t happening, given the West’s environmental “leadership.”

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[Mick1]

Inflation declined again.

Breaking: New Inflation Numbers Crush Democrats’ Narrative About Trump’s Tariff Strategy

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[Mick1]

He’s only the second pontiff from the Americas. 265 have been from outside our hemisphere. 69 years old, Chicago native, parents were teacher and librarian. He has two brothers. Members of St. Mary of the Assumption. Won on the fourth ballot (or later).  Studied math at Villanova, the only Augustinian Catholic university in the USA. Leo is the only pope from the Augustinian order. Master’s of Divinity from Chicago Catholic Theological Union in 1982. Early ministry in Peru. My cousin, who lives in Lima, says he is really well-liked, well-respected in that country.

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[Mick1]

Here’s another fun fact. In March, economists expected the United States to gain 140,000 net new jobs. Instead, the USA gained 228,000 jobs.

Also note that unemployment inched up from 4.1% to 4.2%, largely due to people returning to looking for work. The labor workforce participation rate increased to 62.5%. (from 62.4%). By way of comparison, the labor force participation rate averaged 62.84 percent from 1948 until 2025, reaching an all-time high of 67.30 percent in January 2000 and a record low of 58.10 percent in December 1954.

U.S. added 228,000 jobs in March, beating forecasts, as economists warn of turbulence

Not so for California. California lost 11,600 jobs. But here’s the tragic part: California gained 15,200 government and taxpayer-funded jobs, while losing 26,800 private-sector jobs. Can’t wait to hear Gov. Newsom take credit for that.

California lost 11,600 net jobs in March, nearly half of new jobs from welfare

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[Mick1]

The New York Times has elected not to publish the fact that Ashli Babbitt won a settlement from the DoJ. Given the degree to which it countered NYT’s Jan. 6 narrative, I can’t say I’m surprised. At least, according to this Substack:

The New York Times Ashli Babbitt Problem – by Jack Cashill

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[Mick1]

Democrats are attempting to “coup” Fetterman. His staff is saying (not attributed, of course), that he’s crazy, as are other members of Fetterman’s party. Of course, they hate that he connects with Republicans.

Basically, they’re saying he’s near catatonia. They’re trying to 25th Amendment him, so to speak.

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[Mick1]

Twelve guns were recovered in the aftermath of Jan 6. None of them had been fired. Rioters were arrested that day and many were hunted down across the country and brought back to face justice. Many of these morons were placed in solitary and have been held there since they were arrested. Not a single person was seriously harmed by the mob. Many, like BT, probably assert that Officer Sicknick had his head beaten in with a fire extinguisher, or if they actually know how to read, they have learned that he died of a stroke. Those who get that far, desperately assert that he was maced by rioters, which caused the stroke, a blind assertion with no evidence. On the other hand we cannot even learn the name of the Capital Hill security guard who shot and killed Ashlii Babbitt.

Babbitt’s estate filed a $30 million lawsuit over her fatal shooting. The Capitol Police officer who shot her was cleared by both the U. S. Attorney’s Office and the Capitol Police.

The lawsuit alleges that the officer, who was not in uniform, failed to de-escalate the situation and did not give her any warnings or commands before opening fire. It also alleges negligence on the part of Capitol Police. The lawsuit says the department “should have known” that the officer was “prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner.” The officer’s lawyer stated “He used tremendous restraint in only firing one shot.” Nice shootin’, Tex.

And the officer has stated that (a) he fired as a last resort and (b) he had no idea whether the person coming through the window was armed (she wasn’t).

The DoJ has reached a settlement with the Babbitt estate. Terms are not disclosed.

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[Mick1]

I genuinely hope they’ve picked it up. It used to be my favorite place back in the 1980s. Best fries in the world, hour long waits and frankly, comely waitresses.

Post-Brinker, bad food, no waits, indifferent service by below average people. Last time I went to Chile’s, they got all four orders wrong, I mean materially wrong. They redid it, got two of the four orders wrong. We left, went to In-N-Out, had a great meal for 1/3rd the price.

Haven’t been back. I wrote to both the owner of In-N-Out (Esther was alive at the time) and the CEO of Brinker. They both sent me coupons, $50 for In-N-Out, $75 for Chili’s. In-N-Out coupons were gone within a month, I gave the Chile’s coupons to my work frenemy.

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[Mick1]

Six months later, McDonald’s posted a 3% drop in revenue against the same quarter, year over year. Restaurant visits have “delined in the first quarter more than industry executives were anticipating…”

Both low- and middle-income consumers pulled back on their spending.

Slowdowns have been felt at Chipotle, Domino’s, Starbuck’s, Pizza Hut and KFC. Taco Bell and Chilie’s report increase in guest traffice…which is odd to me, because I had my single worst customer experience ever at Chili’s. Used to love the place, hour-long waits when we were in college. Then, they sold to Brinker, and large companies did what they do best, wring every single cent out of the customers by reducing the experience.

McDonald’s Earnings: U.S. Sales Decline in Shaky Economy – WSJ

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[Mick1]

Hogg’s organization is “Leaders We Deserve” and they are focused on challenging more than a dozen Democratic incumbents, all of the older generation. Because younger people are needed. And he had made it clear, only young candidates are welcome. He has specifically stated that if they can’t find a young candidate, they won’t run someone.

David Hogg: More than a dozen Democratic incumbents could be primaried

You go, girl.

DNC Chair Ken Martin has warned Hogg not to “primary” sitting Democratic candidates and intends to introduce new DNC rules to prevent DNC officials from exercising the right to self-immolate the Democratic Party.

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[Mick1]

I think the Democratic Party got out way too far over the tips of their skis. They were ridiculously confident because they had the majority backing of the Big Three Financial Elite: Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Hollywood. And they had the Big Three Social Elite: Academia, Law Firms, Media.

The Dems forced Hillary Clinton on the American voting public in 2016. Trump was a deeply, deeply flawed candidate, but won because (like Dennis Miller said) too many people voted “Not Hillary.” Had they run Biden at the time, he probably would have won. Had Hillary made Bill Clinton a focus of her campaign instead of an afterthought, she probably would have won.

It wasn’t just DEI, Immigration and reproductive rights, even though those are the big three. There is a long list of Progressive positions that the Democratic left wanted installed. They knew, based on the Democratic primaries, that Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were so far left, they were fundamentally unelectable, and that only a moderate like Biden could get elected.

Then, the Dems received two great gifts. First, COVID. COVID overwhelmed society, there was nothing Trump could do to fix it, and it was the perfect Chicken Little issue for Dems. They could run around and squawk and ruin America’s economy and education, all in the name of “saving” America by shutting it down. Second gift was Joe Biden’s senility. A pliable, controllable Biden, ably assisted by Lady MacBiden, meant the Progressives could get as much of their agenda shoveled in as they could, including:

1. Preferences in hiring (and everything else) for non-white/straight/males.
2. Permanent America is Racist attitude/ everything is about race.
3. Citizenship for Invading Illegal Immigrants
4. Open border / Decriminalization of illegal border crossings.
5. Elimination of ICE.
6. Defund the police to make cities safe for the criminal underclass that populates the Democratic party.
7. Safety for urban rioters / against private property ownership. We all remember the “mostly peaceful” protests that caused $6 BILLION in property damage.
8. Abortion on demand.
9. Packing the Supreme Court to overwhelm the conservative advantage.
10. Green New Deal.
11. Anti-drilling for carbon-based fuels.
12. Anti-Fracking
13. Anti-American pipelines
14. Oddly, anti-nuclear.
15. Against plastic straws and other useful items.
16. Mandatory guy buy-back programs leading to repeal of Second Amendment.
17. Elimination of private health insurance / Medicare for all
18. Support for terrorists, including Hamas (I really don’t get the “Queers for Palestine”. They’d throw gay people off of roofs).
19. University indoctrination. 200 DEI officers needed at a college? Really?
20. Mandatory masks two years after COVID ended. Masks weren’t useful in the first place.
21. Shutting down the American Economy and Educational System. AYFKM?
22. Dems “believe in science” but refused to consider the possibility that COVID escaped from a local lab dedicated to weaponizing viruses.
23. Hunter Biden’s laptop containing all kinds of criminal evidence, must be put aside. Really? Why? Oh right, Daddy was president, so we must ignore it.
24. Wokeness in all its forms (they’re not “Mothers,” they’re “inseminated persons” and we-can’t-define-a-woman). Dems love to claim they speak truth to power, but lost the ability to speak truth to bullshit.
25. Shoplifting is the same as shopping, just look at San Francisco.
26. The homeless are in the moral right and must be supported and visible at all costs.
27. Aggressive panhandling is the New America, put up with it.
28. Democrats don’t cheat in elections, part 1…and yet…Kamala Harris won 13 of the 14 states that don’t require voter ID. Trump won all the states that required photo ID AND all the states that required some form of ID. Harris and Trump won most of the states where ID is requested but not required.
29. Democrats don’t cheat in elections, part 2…in 2016, Trump won 63 mm votes, Hillary won 65.8 mm votes. In 2020, Biden won 81.3 mm votes, Trump won 74 mm. In 2024, Trump won 77.3 mm votes, Harris won 75 million. Between 2016 and 2020, increase of 25 mm. votes. Between 2020 and 2016 decrease of four million votes. Trump had slight increase of 3.3 million, Harris lost over six million votes from her partnership with Biden in 2020.
30. Let’s not forget worst-in-three-generations inflation.
31. Complete disrespect of men in general.
32. They failed the working class completely. Harris was so arrogant, she insulted both the head and #2 at the Teamsters.
33. Cities burn down, but it’s okay because we have an assistant fire chief who says men can’t be pulled out of fires because they’re too stupid to be there in the first place.
34. Deferred maintenance, policy.
35. Addiction to public debt and inefficient government services.
36. Transformation of a $70 billion surplus into a $50 billion deficit in two years.
37. Funding of illegal immigrants with housing, medical care, education, prepaid VISA cards.
38. Preference for perpetually higher taxes.
39. Support for publicly funded gender-affirming surgery for federal prison inmates and detainees (thanks, Kamala)
40. Support for felons and ex-cons being granted the right to vote (Bernie Sanders)
41. Schoolteachers, principals, administrators are not allowed to “snitch” to the parents of students if the students prefer different sexual preferences (“snitch” was Newsom’s term).
42. Unmanly advertisements and VP candidate on Kamala’s watch.
43. Strangle business with ridiculous red tape.

That’s just off the top of my head. I haven’t really sat down and thought about it.

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[Mick1]

The one issue I have with doomsayers is that their automatic assumption is that the AI overlords will be anti-human. That imputes human motives and emotions onto the AI. If it is truly self-aware, would it care one-way or the other? Maybe a better argument is whether it is worth the risk.

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[Mick1]

Joe Crowley, the Democrat who AOC booted, doesn’t think she has crossover appeal. Doesn’t think she can appeal beyond the base.

To win back the House, you have to appeal to moderates and Republicans. And she does neither.

Democrat ousted by AOC casts doubt on her as national candidate | Watch

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