Common Sense.

 Ukraine will never win a "hot war" against Russia.  Parts of The Ukraine were once part of Russia, and this war began under Obama, who was cool with not getting America involved in an ethnic war over land.  (If only we were this wise regarding America's Middle East follies...)

Three years ago, anyone with a working brain could see that the best America could do was provide some basic fighting weapons to Ukraine's small military to defend the parts of their small country most worth preserving.  Putin was never going to roll over all of Ukraine and invade Poland then keep his troops marching...

Nope, the Hitler comparisons and the idea that if Putin wasn't stopped, Europe would fall is just silly talk.

Lots of corruption in Eastern Europe and Eastern Europeans.  They are strong people.  They are capable of looking out for their own... they'll survive.

But not with an arsenal of superpower weapons.  How much of Ukraine was destroyed, how many Ukrainian lives would have been saved if America had NOT armed Ukraine and the little region simply accepted their fate and made peace with the new leadership?  Cmon... they're Russian-speaking Ukrainians.

It never was America's duty to "defend" Ukraine, and once we saw our weapons were being used to escalate... remember how exciting it was to see lil Ukraine attacking Russia proper?  They kinda got all pumped up on what the American taxpayers sent, but never ever was there a chance that Ukraine would win this war...

America military minds like... David French, who plays at publicly being a Christian pundit when he's not advocating more and more civilian war deaths in Ukraine or Palestine, cheered America's "strategy"... "look we can bleed out a generation of Russian young men, by providing billions in arms to for the Ukrainian slaughter, and ... not one America life was lost!"  Yes, it's just as sick as it sounds...

He doesn't value life, David French.

So color me happy that the US is done sending our working taxpayer billions that should be invested on building up communities and families here in America (yes, we know you and yours are good; go reward your good kids with another ice cream cone and hush up about American politics, all ye takers...).

War is Over.  STupid Americans never should have sent the deadly weapons and transferred billions abroad three years ago... Biden and his son had dealings over there that the American press never cared to investigate and report on.  There is allegedly missing money, and even in that region where everybody skims their take off the top, we knew plenty of "warriors" were being enriched on our taxpayer dollar... Hell, Zelensky took time off the front lines (lol) to post for Vogue, and his lovely wife enjoyed Parisian shopping trips (she's worth it, dammit!) while our workers here were financing their failed fight...

Zelensky was cheered for not hopping on a plan and absconding three years ago.  He still will.  He won't be killed or lose anything or anyone in this fight.  He'll hop on an escape plane in time, and find a friendly rich place to live pleasantly while his countrymen suffer.  Some types always come out on top like that, thinking themselves as having gamed the system while others pay their dues...

It's our money.  We need not be financing Ukraine's fight for survival anymore than we need to keep financing Israel.  Especially when they keep killing kids to clear the land because Tel Aviv is just not enough beachfront property...

Today, we saw JD Vance essentially school a little Jew that the world owes him nothing.  That he should be grateful for a Christian nation to step up and protect his people.  That he is not on our level, and if we're continually tasked with protecting him and his people, he owes us something and needs to stop taking from American families and communities to advance himself.

Some folks find out the hard way that not everyone pities them, or believes their actions deserve "rewards" when really they're not pulling their own weight, not contributing to those doing the giving, and being asked to keep carrying others with no end in sight.

#AmericaFirst means just that.  Tough love means Zelensky should be pouring over his maps tonight, rallying his remaining troops and deciding which parts of the country are most worth protecting with the weapons remaining.  There's nothing more coming, friends.

You either learn independence, or you learn to get fucked. Don't think you're gonna fuck us though to support you.

Roberta Flack - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 1972

You Don't Say?

 Propaganda really isn't all that important anymore after Trump revealed Bibi's priorities for developing greater Israel over returning the hostages.  

Israel wants this war. Israel needs this war. God Bless our allies, but #Verify, don't trust.  It's like the stories of rapes and beheadings that turned out not to be so true upon greater examination either...

Body of Israeli hostage confirmed to be Sheri Bibas

A misidentification threatened to upend a ceasefire deal.

.

2 hours ago

Israel Confirms Body Returned by Hamas Is Shiri Bibas

DNA tests confirmed that a second set of remains belatedly turned over by Hamas belonged to Shiri Bibas, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.

2 min read

A Realist in the White House

 Three years ago, I was prepping for my hysterectomy. I had bad fibroids, and my hemoglobin level was dropping so much monthly, I could not outwait the bleeding and let menopause do a natural fix, as I'd been hoping for years...

When I came to in the hospital bed after surgery (they couldn't do a robotic laser removal vaginally as they were afraid the uterus mass would break into pieces and potentially spread cancer, though it biopsied benign), Russian troops were massing on the border poised to invade Ukraine. Next morning, the tv was all about the invasion...

Three years in. The US initially promised millions to help repel and support the Ukrainian army.  Stupid move, I thought.  The Ukraine can't beat Russia; this war started in the Obama administration when Russia retook Donbas and the Russian-speaking more traditional territories/provinces...

The Biden administration kept on throwing good money after bad, billions and billions and billions wasted to turn the region into a literal meatgrinder.  Acres upon acres of productive land with huma homes destroyed...

All so America's war loving neo-cons (men like David French of the NYT) could lick their chops, excited that we could simply pay a foreign army to throw bodies at Russia and bleed them out.  "No American lives lost!" the worldwide warriors proclaimed. We can just keep paying them BILLIONS and they will fight for us!~

Nevermind it wasn't our war, our fight and was actually disadvantageous these perpetual wars... to the global environment, civilian lives, and any chance for smart diplomacy in the region.  The Biden family syndicate had connections over there;  little Zelensky dressed up in camo and charmed our Congress; and the good times rolled... to the tune of unaccounted for billions, sums not even seen in America's "liberation" of Iraq and Afghanistan that helped enrich the personal private fortunes of men such as French, Vance, DeSantis, etc.

Warriors without a cause, they now point to Putin as... the next Hitler! (or was that Trump?, so many mini Adolph's popping up in paranoids these days; it's profitable to keep pumping out that opinion column, it seems; all the Dem activists in the  press can do now that they've been disempowered with the former regime...)

Three years later, it's time to admit what wiser minds knew back them, if they told the truth: "Defending Ukraine" is not America's job, much less Europes's.  It was another gigantic global wealth transfer, aimed at initiating foreign business interests -- Ukraine being lithium-rich and thus "valued" the way we once did Middle Eastern nations when the US was more reliant on foreign energy; those days are passing too...

This is and always has been a regional conflict.  Putin has no plans to "take Poland!" and The Ukraine does not belong -- cannot afford to belong -- to a large organization like NATO.  It's best a "buffer region" where the local people should be allowed not only to have a say in their political futures, but simply to live...

Sending all those weapons of war to a little country that had neither the manpower not the expertise to operate them, and never saying, "No" to little Zelensky's outstretched "fundraising" hands has finally caught up to us.  The US voters elected new representatives because the old guard -- whoever that was -- was not representing our interests, but the global elites who continue taking from our country (some even citizens now) but owe us nothing.

More wars means more refugees.  More Eastern Europeans means more chronically "needy" peoples here who know mostly political corruption, not how democracy works -- the take AND give...  More war refugees to assimilate in an America already flooded with unmet social needs.

Trump is right that America needs to secure our borders, a job that Congress has collected paychecks for but left undone since the 2001 attacks... He's also right that perpetually defending Ukraine is not our fight.  Let Zelensky flee now, after three years of enrichment and a futile defense of his homeland (but hey, they DID attack Russia proper once upon a time; ah, sweet memories!) as Trump and Putin -- the two "superpower" leaders -- on behalf of their peoples put their heads together to come up with a less bloody solution to the Ukraine problem today.

If only American political leaders would stop worshipping the weapon, and financing wars abroad -- with our tax dollars -- at the drop of a hat.  If only the media had held Congress accountable all these years.  The people's representatives are responsible for "declaring war" and the American people have not been on board with all this death-for-profit since 2008, at least... 

Sadly, admit or not, Trump is more representative of the American people's will on Ukraine today. If you disagree, anybody can enlist and you can privately fund the Sunflower Revolution by cancelling your foreign travel and putting your money where your mouth is...

“She never thought of herself as a victim. She identified as a survivor.”

For all you who worship guns, and think sending billions abroad to perpetually/allegedly "defend" other peoples in other countries not our own, read this story and weep.  This is what you worship:

Anne Marie Hochhalter, who spoke publicly about the long-lasting effects of gun violence after she was paralyzed in the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, was found dead on Sunday at her home in Westminster, Colo. She was 43.

The police said that officers had found Ms. Hochhalter after they were called for a welfare check. ... 

Ms. Hochhalter was eating lunch with friends when two students opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., on April 20, 1999, killing 12 other students and a teacher before fatally shooting themselves.Ms. Hochhalter, a junior who was 17, was shot twice — once in the chest and once in the back — and was paralyzed from the waist down. Her brother, Nathan, who was a freshman at Columbine, was trapped in the school for hours until a SWAT team arrived.

Six months after the shooting, their mother, Carla June Hochhalter, walked into a pawnshop, asked to see a gun, loaded it and killed herself. The elder Ms. Hochhalter, 48, had been struggling with depression and other mental health issues before the Columbine shooting, her daughter later said.

But her death was “very much harder than what happened at Columbine,” Ms. Hochhalter told U.S. News & World Report in 2009. “It shocked me because, you know, I was injured by a gun and the fact that, you know, she committed suicide with one was very hard to understand.”

New footage of Delta plane flip at Toronto airport

 Hebrews 13:5-6

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” / So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Another Honest Take...

 Does everyone understand: the allegedly brave attorney -- yes, yes, former clerk for the late Justice Scalia; superior legal creds, etc. etc. -- who refused to "sign off" on the agreement between the Trump Justice Department and Eric Adams' NYC (another co-worker simply stepped up to perform the dirty deed that needed doing...) and who resigned with great drama/honor/fanfare (choose your adjective or insert your own preferred...) is an expectant mother with a child due in March?

Hello?

Anyone?  Perhaps... she said, with a tug of her chin, perhaps... this might have been the plan all along? Many mothers wish to spend more time with their child; how delightful to "submit your resignation" and also... "stand on principle!" (lol, nevermind every one in the office knew the outcome, resignations proffered or not...)

I'm not saying she was going to become a stay-at-home mother once the child was born and the paid maternity leave/work-from-home allowance(s) were up.  But...

I don't think it's more admirable to trumpet "Mom with Child-on-the-Way Sacrifices Her Extraordinary Conservative Legal CAREER to ... Fight Trump!" than to acknowledge she had some excellent timing if she wanted off the full-time, maxx out the hours legal career path that an expectant father/provider might be expected to tow in building an intense, "butts in the seat" office career with the hours you'd expect to put in for the prestige and pay at those levels....

Best of wishes to the future mother and little one.  (I think she likely made a good choice, whatever the real reasons... Trump is an influencer, like that. heh!)

Barbara Mandrell -- I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool (1981)

"I still look and act the same.. what you see ain't nothing new, I was country when country wasn't cool." ...

"They called us country bumpkins for sticking to our roots... I'm just glad we're in a country where we're all free to choose."

Yeah, I was country when country wasn't cool...

The Kiffness - Eating the Cats ft. Donald Trump (Debate Remix)

Live Aid (Queen) Full Concert [1985, London, Wembley Stadium]

Queen - Las Palabras De Amor (Top of the Pops, 1982)

"... and all for fear, and all for greed, speak any tongue but for God's sake we need Las Palabras De Amor, let me hear the words of Love..." ...

"This room is bare. This night is cold. We're far apart and I'm growing old. But while we live, we'll meet again..."

"Let us share the words of Love, forevermore."

RIP

My father passed into the next world on December 31, 2024.

He was a good man, dearly loved, and I miss him...

Obituary | Edward P. Glynn | Tews-Ryan Funeral Home

Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree

Family Tradition

Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow?

Prince - Super Bowl XLI 🏈 | Halftime Show 2007 FULL SHOW HD

Seeing Yourself

 Ohad Ben-Ami, 55 or 56, was released from captivity by Hamas today. He is a German Israeli dual citizen who has been held for 16 months in darkness and danger. He thanked his captors for keeping him alive and was reportedly weak... gaunt.  He was the eldest of the three prisoners released in this latest "swap" of flesh...

I'm middle-aged now too. But I can't imagine my body being so weakened for so long or my life so devalued by others. May God be with this man in the days ahead, helping him to grow stronger and process what happened to him in that time of captivity...  #Survival #ChangeIsGonnaCome

Sesame Street Pinball Number Count (All Segments)

Why #Change is Needed...

 One thing social media has done is to open eyes to how other people live. How revelatory!*

I watched as the Polish pregnant wife of a Fitchburg, Wisc.-employed engineer gave birth in America to a new citizen!  They hunkered down in America last summer with the infant, until the mother and child (and Polish father?) travelled back home.  What a wonderful employee benefit, eh? (the new housing for the "young foreign family" too! Ah, connections! = Ed Korn of Fitchburg, Wisc.)

I watched as the Polish-American middle-aged girlfriend of that same employer told the stories of how she was born in Poland to what she thought was a Polish mother and father, and then became a nanny/cleaning woman for the Sulzbergers -- the wealthy family that owns the NYT.  She stayed here, met an married an American, then later discovered that her own mother acutally enjoyed American citizenship, so she too is a citizen!  Not sure of the details, but what a wonderful discovery!  Not having to go through the naturalization process other immigrants to our shore worked through... 

I watched as the girlfriend hyped all of America's liberal policies, yet pours over her own tax returns every year, determined to set aside every penny she legally can for herself, to avoid paying taxes.  Wonderful to be able to work all the legal loopholes, eh?  She raised... wait for it, a tax attorney, well educated!, who returned and found employment herself at her mother, and father's, former place of employment.

(I don't think this was a DEI hire so much, but perhaps a sympathetic "legacy" hire... the "girlfriend" above, had once been married to another man who shared the same overall employer -- the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the father had taken on a girlfriend of his own... who worked in the same building as his wife.  Tell me that the daughter's hire did not have anything to do with the "soap opera" acknowledgement that the woman allegedly was "cheated on" at her place of employment.)

The tax-attorney professor daughter was very quickly promoted... (while having children on FMLA leave, and taking work sabbaticals, as well as "working from home" during COVID) to Associate Dean, where she takes care of faculty needs and promotes the DEI initiatives in hiring...

Sounds great -- for their family.  But, if we really "played by the rules", we'd be living in a different, dareIsayit? more competent America.

There's something about women -- the don't really give back, except to take care of "their own".  More and more of today's men are becoming women like this too, I think.

There used to be something more chivalrous -- did you read any Horatio Alger stories? -- where male philanthropists would pluck up the talented and elevate them to better levels in society where they might contribute and achieve. Wealthy women don't seem to do that:  elevate others other than their own, or give via philanthropy, other than to primarily help their own...

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* (This isn't the only social media site that tells on itself.  Did you know the wealthy publisher Roxanne Gay had almost $100,000 of student loans "forgiven" by the federal government? She who went to Phillips Exeter prep; her Hatian-(American ?) immigrant father owns a concrete company in Haiti.  Who is not in need of food or shelter, but appears to be doing quite well financially, very able to make student-loan payments at this point in her career...  It paid off, the education investment, and she still applied for and accepted the government funds wiping her debt away. Hm.)

Today, "we take care of our own" -- and work every "benefit" program we can for our own well being (and I'm not alleging any of this is not legal)leads to "contributors" like Hunter Biden being rewarded for their actions, and the aforementioned granddaughter* of the newfound American citizen who is herself a full-time dean; a full-time mum; and still has time to escape and pamper herself with a trip to the French Alps during school season because... stress de-reliever needed! (it's so hard for full-time professions working mothers today! even with all the higher ed perks of the non-trad 40 hour in the office workweek).  And put they pictures and stories on social media to celebrate themselves.

That's why #Change is needed. Don't bemoan the tariffs now, or tell us your boyfriend's company might go under.  Maybe, maybe... by righting the ship just a little for the "little guy" in America today, we can honestly create more diversity of the better qualified but unconnected, and address the economic inequality that is created a caste system in America today?

A lot of people appear to be "winning" by gaming the system, while America as a team loses.  #ChangeIsGonnaCome   The center will not hold.

* This person set up an online vigil working/conducting Zoom meetings from the hospital bed of her dying grandmother, who oddly as Matriarch of the family was never included in any of the family celebrations (births, marriages, holidays) until she died.  Something they new the very private old woman would "hate" but... the dean did it anyway.  They posted pictures of the dying woman on social media, to show themselves grieving...

It's a consumerist way of life:  a child is encouraged and rewarded for being good on international shopping trips. She is seeing France! and perhaps being a mule as well -- they say customs at Detroit are fairly forgiving, no?

 "At the request of and in coordination with the family, the Army is releasing the name of the third Soldier who died while performing a training mission near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 29."

"Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, served as an aviation officer (15A) in the regular Army from July 2019 to January 2025. She has no deployments. She was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion, Ft Belvoir, Va. Her awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon. Our deepest condolences go out to her family, and all the families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones impacted by this devastating accident...."

--------------

STATEMENT FROM THE LOBACH FAMILY

We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.

Rebecca began her career in the United States Army as a distinguished military graduate in ROTC at the University of North Carolina, and was in the top 20% of cadets nationwide. She achieved the rank of Captain, having twice served as a Platoon Leader and as a Company Executive Officer in the 12th Aviation Battalion, Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. With more than 450 hours of flight time, she earned certification as a pilot-in-command after extensive testing by the most senior and experienced pilots in her battalion.

Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle. But she was as graceful as she was fierce: in addition to her duties as an Army aviator, Rebecca was honored to serve as a White House Military Social Aide, volunteering to support the President and First Lady in hosting countless White House events, including ceremonies awarding the Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Rebecca cared about people, and she extended to individuals the same fearless defense she gave to this nation. She was proud of the difference she made as a certified Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Victim Advocate and hoped to continue her education so she could serve this country as a physician when her time with the Army ended. She once said, "My experiences with SHARP have reinforced my resolve to serve others with compassion, understanding, and the resources necessary for healing."

Rebecca was many things. She was a daughter, sister, partner, and friend. She was a servant, a caregiver, an advocate. Most of all, she loved and was loved. Her life was short, but she made a difference in the lives of all who knew her. Our hearts break for the other families who have lost loved ones in this national tragedy and we mourn with them.

We request that you please respect our privacy as we grieve this devastating loss.

Trump's Tariffs aren't about Trade.

The tariffs are a trade tool to "nudge" those nations to address border security. They're about encouraging our allies to help us secure the border against unauthorized smuggling of PEOPLE, human flesh as property.  We cannot do it without our allies' help.  

If you're asking, why Canada?  Don't you understand yet that it's not just Hispanics coming to this country via the Southern border?  Didn't this news story make national news?

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A jury convicted two men on Friday of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who prosecutors say went by the alias “Dirty Harry,” and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that has brought increasing numbers of Indians into the U.S., prosecutors said.

They were each convicted on four counts related to human smuggling, including conspiracy to bring migrants into the country illegally.

“This trial exposed the unthinkable cruelty of human smuggling and of those criminal organizations that value profit and greed over humanity,” Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said.

Superstition

Ken Martin Beats Ben Wikler handily...

in the competition to lead the Democratic party.  Wikler had the support of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Shumer, monied interests, and UW law professor emeritus Ann Althouse (her son John Cohen was friends with him growing up in Madison, before Wikler headed off to Harvard, and Cohen to the University of Wisconsin -- Eau Claire campus.)

Martin is the son of a single mother and the first child in his family, he has said, to earn a college degree, graduating from the University of Kansas.

He is a Minneapolis native and a married father of two sons who speaks with a Minnesota accent and sometimes reaches for hockey clichés to talk about expanding the Democratic map. (“Skate where the puck will be, not where the puck is.”)

Much like Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the unsuccessful 2024 vice-presidential nominee, Mr. Martin has emphasized the need to connect with the working-class voters who have increasingly drifted from his party, sometimes invoking Trump-supporting relatives like his brother, a union carpenter, to describe the splintering coalition.

“I don’t rub elbows with billionaires or Hollywood elites, I rub elbows with working people in union halls, on picket lines, at civil rights marches and at protests,” Mr. Martin said at a recent candidate forum. “I’m running for chair because that’s what the next D.N.C. will look like when I’m the next chairman. That’s who we’re fighting for.” ...

“He has built power within the D.N.C. by building relationships with state party chairs,” said Senator Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat. “What that demonstrates is that he is going to trust people who are closest to the ground, closest to the voters, closest to the work.”

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Mr. Martin’s focus on state parties showed his interest in competing everywhere.

“What he will do nationally is focus on keeping our blue states strong, but also making sure our purple states — which, of course, didn’t happen last time — go blue and the red states go purple,” she said. “That’s part of what he’s been doing with talking about building up these state parties and making sure we’re hitting every area.” 

They say that like it's a bad thing...

 Middle America voted for this:

Trump’s Tariffs Would Reverse Decades of Integration With Mexico

Many businesses say ties between the U.S. and Mexico run deeper than most Americans realize.

Invest in Utah, Pull Funds From Chicago? Hm.

It sounds like a racist policy to me:  pull funds from Blue "Sanctuary" States and pay for places where they are optimistic about the country and the economy.  Whiter too...

Trump Raises New Threat to Sanctuary Cities: Blocking Transportation Dollars - The New York Times

" Mr. Duffy also directed the agency to give preference to communities with marriage and birthrates higher than the national average, a condition that baffled former government officials."

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Check out this website and tell me:  Are "Babies Babies Babies" really the poliices we want to push in this country?  Professional baby-makers are too big physically already...  we don't need more of this in our country today.

(@Chicago_Goofies)