Now is our moment—today take action against this harmful government. They are:
Covering up a pedophile ring.
Ignoring court orders.
Spreading corruption.
The poor, the needy, and children are being abused—by our government. Healthcare, already a broken system, was canceled for 13 million. Take to the streets!
We must protest outright crooks and the pedophiles. They will start shooting us. Untrained ICE agents will shoot us. Protest until we go down or we oust these tyrants.
I made 54 protest signs to aid protest groups. I will make many more to share. You will see something different in these signs! Help yourself to this second batch, and share them as far as you can.
Yeah, that's my question: how do we get rid of him before he destroys everything, which seems to be the goal. I don't see how this ends any other way than the Fourth Turning, Thom references - in a catastrophe.
This story is going to make Watergate look simple, Karen.
It's just starting to unravel. Senator Wyden and others have and are following the money. It all came from Russia. You know when TRump says it didn't happen, it DID.
Please read my post. Watch that podcast on substack's The Left Hook.
Luther Campbell's interview on Make It Plain w/Mark Thompson on Sirius Radio explains that TRump had pageant girl parties with booze, drugs and sex. This was early '90s---Luther knew it was a trap.
It's all Russian kompromat tactics. Money making schemes used by TRump, Ghislaine, and Epstein. They sold info and names after doing what the girls explained. They really enjoyed the work.
I've posted this severral times. On an individual basis, some Congressional Republicans are vulnerable, morally and politically.
Of the 33 regularly scheduled elections in 2026, 13 seats are held by Democrats and 20 are held by Republicans. Four senators announced they will not seek re-election in 2026. Imagine a Democrat taking McConnell's seat in KY.
Of the 33 states holding regularly scheduled elections in 2026, Trump (R) won 21 of those states in 2024 and Harris won 12. In 2026, Democrats will be defending two states that Trump won in 2024: Georgia and Michigan. Republicans will be defending one seat in a state Harris won: Maine. The last time the 20 Republican-held seats were up for election in 2020, four were decided by a margin of less than 10 percentage points: Iowa (6.6), Maine (8.6), North Carolina (1.8), and Texas (9.6). The last time the 13 Democratic-held seats were up for election in 2020, five were decided by a margin of less than 10 percentage points: Colorado (9.3), Georgia (1.2), Michigan (1.7), Minnesota (5.3), and New Mexico (6.1).
What our candidates have failed to do is analyize them rationally. Neutralize their strengths. Compete for donors.
If Medicare and Medicaid cuts will kill their local health care, we should seek support from hospitals and other medical providers.
If Trump tariffs are killing agriculture, we should support the agricultural sector.
Like Alis says, this stuff hits the Trump as the pedofile issue, but also Russia. I remember when people like Phil Graham, Strom Thurmond, Arlen Spector, Ben Nighthouse Campbell, Ric hard Shelby, Connie Mack, et al switched parties. Sen. John (Cleghorn) Kennedy R, La, once was a Dem. Do these people have daughters? Do they support Putin?
We should have a book on: Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV) Cassidy, Bill (R-LA) Collins, Susan M. (R-ME) Cornyn, John (R-TX) Cotton, Tom (R-AR) Daines, Steve (R-MT) Ernst, Joni (R-IA) Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) Hagerty, Bill (R-TN) Hyde-Smith, Cindy (R-MS) Lummis, Cynthia M. (R-WY) Marshall, Roger (R-KS) McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK) Ricketts, Pete (R-NE) Risch, James E. (R-ID) Rounds, Mike (R-SD) Sullivan, Dan (R-AK) Tuberville, Tommy (R-AL)
Mr. Solomon, you have obviously done a great deal of data collection on this issue. I found it necessary to read your post slowly, more than once in order to digest the implications. Yes, just imagine what we might see if there is a Dem Party take-over. What might they do with that potential for change? Thank you for your work on this. This is exactly the kind of stuff our young researchers did when I was the chair of my county's Dem Party.
Really? There are times (such as these) that I feel like I'm on the wrong offing planet.
As for the Gilded Age, it's not so much like East Egg, more like the House of Usher.
Weak women? I've yet to meet one. They certainly don't define the gender. I challenge the jackass to try to squeeze 8 pounds of squalling baby out of his crotch (I know that's physically impossible but I'm sure many of us will gladly fund the necessary surgical alterations to make it possible). And what is it, if not strength, to put up with assholes like him. And Musk. And Trump. And... I wonder, do we detect the mewling cry of an incel?
So Trump wants to track health records. Sure, let him go first. After an independent physical exam. And while we're at it, let's get Trump and the other Tech Bros drug tested.
Two years ago I saw one Monarch, since then none. This season the swallows never returned; likewise the birds who love to gorge themselves on our currants and blackberries. (Okay, so I'm a treehugger, deal with it.) Silent Spring came out 63 years ago. The effects of climate change were made clear in 1896 (no, really!) Upthread there was the fool who made disparaging comments about the strength of women. Well, perhaps he's right because the Mother we all rely on is breaking before our eyes. When she goes, so do we.
Mr. Herreshoff, I too have noticed the disappearance of Monarchs. I sailed on the great lakes for half a century on my sailboat. I found islands on which various bugs would descend by the millions during certain Summer months. These bugs were on migratory flights usually on a North/South meridian. The most numerous were the Mayflies, called Canadian Soldiers, by those of us who lived in the Great Lakes area. These Soldiers were eaten by the hundreds of thousands of carnivorous Dragon flies who swooped down on them, capturing them in mid air. A sight to be seen.
The islands also were clouded over by Monarchs who were migrating when it was their turn on a North/south meridian. These Bugs, the beautiful Monarch butterflies, were not eaten by the Dragons, they are poisonous. The Dragons have adjusted evolutionarily. The question in my mind when I noticed the Monarch's numbers decline so rapidly was: What caused them to disappear? It could not have been a natural predator like the Dragons. Now my question is answered: Mankind and his poisonous chemicals, sold by huge profitable corporate producers, like Monsanto, Dow, and others.
Oh, they were beauteous creatures! I don't remember ever realizing they existed — the experience was primary, present before memory itself. How such fragile beauty and yet I had no idea they might someday fail.
Dow's home as you may well know is in Midland, Michigan. I remember they had a beautiful campus; that it was built on top of a poisonous lake did not escape me.
Mr. Herreshoff, I lived in Mt. Pleasant for several years. It is 20 miles West of Midland and there were days when the air in Mt. pleasant smelled so bad it made me sick. The Dow factory was pumping an incredible amount of poison into the air. Fortunately those days were rare because the wind blew mostly from the West to East. I had many occasions to visit Midland and I do not know how people could live in that town, the air was so toxic my eyes watered. The city of Midland looked like something out of a John Cameron science fiction movie. It looked dead, no color, few green plants. The Titibawasee River was badly polluted by runoff. During the VietNam war Dow made the napalm American pilots used to cook living Vietnamese people.
My brother lives in Mt Pleasant. He met his wife at the State Home, where he was a psychologist and she an RN. I spent the winter of '77-78 there -lots and lots of snow, especially for a California kid. My daughter was born in Alma but we left shortly after to return to warmer climes.
While there, I tried to form in my mind the reason why it was called Mt Pleasant; I referred to it as God's own ironing board. My girlfriend, taking pity on me, took me up to Clare to see the Bundy Hills. After a bit we stopped, at which time I asked her when we would get to see the hills, She indicated I was standing on them. It was,, of course, a moraine left by the retreating continental glacier.
Although the napalm was terriblee — I remain haunted by the photo of the young girl, naked, terror in her eyes, running in agony down a road — Dow also made Agent Orange, which the Vietnamese estimate disable one million people. An evil place (Dow), an evil war.
Robert, so happy to learn your bother lives on the pleasant mountain in the middle of Michigan. I met a beautiful, lively smiling girl there in 1961 and married her. We are still in love, living near our children and grandchildren on the West coast.
In the Western part of the upper peninsula those moraines do actually rise up hundreds of feet above Lake Superior. Some locals call them mountains. In the 1970s I ridge-soared my small plane over those ridges, with the engine idling, while being lifted by the rising wind deflected up off the big lake.
Back in the 1960s, Isabella County (where Mt. Pleasant is located) was a "dry county," they served no booze on Sunday. Thus, I spent many Sunday afternoons in the town of Clare (in Clare County) lifting a pint. I caught many fish in the Chippewa river which runs through Mt. Pleasant. Nothing better than fresh fish on one's menu.
Yes, I too remember that horrifying photo of that naked little Vietnamese girl running in pain and terror from the burning napalm on her back. I was a draft dodger and draft resister, active in SDS in those days.
More parallels, Gerald (if I may presume). Where about on the West Coast? We're about 35 (air)miles east of Mendocino but have lived within the smell of the Pacific for most of my life.
I wasn't a pilot but I did surf. For several years I did little else. Both flying and surfing ride on an element, are free when they do so.
I filed for conscientious objector (1-O) in 1963, right before it became stylish. Luckily, they started allowing on philosophicalgrounds right before I was grilled by my friendly local draft board. After that, I was sure I was going to prison because I wasn't going to serve regardless. It wasn't too far into the main part of the war that I came to respect the people who served, even though I totally disagreed with the war (or any other for that matter). It's hard for people to penetrate through the lies governments tell them to get them to do the bidding of the rich and powerful.
I never signed up with anything, other that AFSC, but I spent a fair amount of time in the East Bay (aka Berserkly) Street Folliez. It gave me insight into what ICE is doing today. Sometimes you resist even though you know you aren't going to "win" because otherwise you wouldn't be able to look at yourself in the mirror.
For those trying to follow the money, this is of special interest about the money laundering that Epstein and Trump were doing for the Russians. It also gives Ghislaine's background with her dad who thought Epstein was going to marry her. He taught Jeffery how to make money working for the intelligence agencies, allegedly. Robert Maxwell ( a triple agent) worked for MI6, Mossad, and KGB/FSB: On Substack, Go to The Left Hook and look for the story titled, "Why Was Ghislaine Maxwell Moved to a Cushy…"
In that substack video, Zev Shalev explains the Russians decided to work on rotting the USA from the inside using several people. Epstein and Trump set-up their accounts with Deutchebank on the same day, isn't that special. Money laundering is VERY lucrative.
Senator Wyden will get the answers. This is not just about the teenage victims. The money, the espionage, and Ghislaine's knowledge of all of it is at the rotten core. Putin, his spies, and his oligarch's are a murderous bunch with a lot of money to throw around. Vlad has the proof of what Donald and Jeff took financially and what they did sexually over decades. So does Melania. Ivana probably had proof too. Ivanka's husband is part of all the wheeling/dealing. Who is going to get TRump and his syndicate?
It is Russia Russia Russia, always has been. That's what Trump fears will come out. He is faking everyone out with those subs and stupid sanctions. See you in the streets.
Accoding to several sources, he was a Russian asset. Speculation is that he wound up with Robert Maxwell's missing money, courtesy of the Russians. He and Trump supposedly first applied for loans at Deutsche Bank on the same day. Deutche Bank is tied to the Russians. Here's an article from Germany. Putin's Bank. https://www.dw.com/en/driven-by-greed-the-deutsche-bank-story-putins-bank/a-68775818
… Trump biographer Michael Wolff to Meidas: “Epstein’s explanation for why this friendship ended is as follows. In 2004, Epstein believed himself to be the high bidder on a piece of real estate in Palm Beach—a house. His bid was $36 million. He took his friend Trump around to see the house, to advise him on how to move the swimming pool. Trump thereupon went around Epstein’s back and bid $40 million for the house—and got the property. Epstein, who was well acquainted and in fact deeply involved with Trump’s scattered finances, understood that he didn’t have $40 million to pay for this house.”
… “If that was the case, it was someone else’s $40 million. At the time, Epstein believed this to be the $40 million of a Russian oligarch by the name of Rybolovlev. Less than two years later, this same house that Trump had bought for $40 million was sold for $95 million—and it was in fact sold to Rybolovlev. This is all a red flag of money laundering. Epstein after this began to threaten lawsuits and going to the press saying that Trump was a frontman for a money laundering deal.”
… “Trump panics at this point, and Epstein believed that it was Trump who went to the police and, as Epstein said, dropped the dime on him - informed the police of what was going on. And an investigation began, and all of Epstein’s legal problems for the next 15 years began to unfold.”
… “We can chart a continued friendship between these two men through flight manifests, photographs, phone calls—and even a picture of Epstein at Trump’s wedding to Melania in 2005. So this relationship that Trump now claims ended in 2000 actually demonstrably continued until at least 2005. And it’s that period—from 2000 to 2005—in which most of the allegations against Epstein took place.”
… Which is all probably in the Epstein files that Trump is covering up.
This morning, I watched a discussion abut Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell. Seems Trump knew Maxwell when she worked on her father's NY paper, the New York Daily News. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Maxwell
Rumors and investigations surrounding Robert Maxwell have alleged ties to multiple intelligence agencies, including the Soviet KGB. These intelligence connections are reportedly viewed as being financially driven rather than ideologically motivated.
"[Gislaine] Maxwell, the Oxford-educated daughter of a billionaire publishing tycoon, was exactly the kind of company the future US president [Trump] liked to keep in New York in the 80s. The pair were regular fixtures in the elite Manhattan and Palm Beach social scenes, attending the same parties at private clubs and on million-dollar yachts."
The Telegraph: Trump’s friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell was once a liability. Now it could save him. Benedict Smith
In The Art of the Deal, Trump writes: “In January 1987, I got a letter from Yuri Dubinin, the Soviet ambassador to the United States, that began: ‘It is a pleasure for me to relay some good news from Moscow.’ It went on to say that the leading Soviet state agency for international tourism, Goscomintourist, had expressed interest in pursuing a joint venture to construct and manage a hotel in Moscow.”
"There were many ambitious real estate developers in the United States—why had Moscow picked Trump?
"According to Viktor Suvorov—a former GRU military spy—and others, the KGB ran Intourist, the agency to which Trump referred. It functioned as a subsidiary KGB branch. Initiated in 1929 by Stalin, Intourist was the Soviet Union’s official state travel agency. Its job was to vet and monitor all foreigners coming into the Soviet Union. “In my time it was KGB,” Suvorov said. “They gave permission for people to visit.” The KGB’s first and second directorates routinely received lists of prospective visitors to the country based on their visa applications.
"As a GRU operative, Suvorov was personally involved in recruitment, albeit for a rival service to the KGB. Soviet spy agencies were always interested in cultivating “young ambitious people,” he said—an upwardly mobile businessman, a scientist, a “guy with a future.”
Apparently Trump, Epstein and Maxwell used the same bank-- Deutsche Bank. Two deaths are connected to Deutsche Bank, which had a significant lending relationship with Donald Trump:
*Valentin Broeksmit: A whistleblower who reportedly provided documents related to Deutsche Bank's dealings with Trump to the FBI was found dead in Los Angeles in April 2022. Broeksmit was 45 years old. The Los Angeles Police Department stated that no foul play was suspected, but the cause of death was deferred pending further investigation.
*Thomas Bowers: A former Deutsche Bank executive who had approved loans to Trump was found dead in November 2019. Authorities later ruled his death a suicide. While Bowers had worked at Deutsche Bank when some of the loans to Trump were made, he had left the bank years before his death, and no signs connected his suicide to his previous work in any financial institution, according to Newsweek.
Bowers opened the TRump and Epstein accounts on 8/19/13. Please watch that podcast on substack's The Left Hook.
Also, please listen to that Luther Campbell interview on Sirius radio. He was a rapper invited to a pageant girl party by TRump in the early '90's. He said it was like the movie "Eyes Wide Shut". It was on the show Make It Plain w/Mark Thompson. Luther knew he was being set-up, and he scooted out of there when he saw the young girls, booze, drugs, and sex going on.
Every bit of this reeks of Russian kompromat work. Trump, Ghislaine, and Epstein really enjoyed doing it.
A major theme in the newsletters in my inbox today is the firing of the Commmissioner of the Bureau of labor Statistics Erica McEntarfer, for producing statistics that he doesn't like, recall that he tried to squash stats on Covid19.
He will squash any stats that makes him look bad. America will descend into the seventh level of hell, and not realizing that is happening, and there will be comments on the internet, that all is well, because they haven't yet been affected.
If cancer is not detected, then look how much money is saved. Until it has consumed the body, then all that is spent is on morphine pills and hospice care, and that at home.
There is a cancer that is consuming America and it's name is MAGA.
If we somehow survive this attempted fascist takeover, Democrats must remember that with few and rare exceptions, nearly every elected Repugnican now in office has knowingly and repeatedly betrayed their oath of office. Those who should be punished MUST be punished, or we risk a possibly-successful repetition of the fascists’ current efforts. Likewise, we must identify the many weaknesses in our fractured norms and codify their repair and prevention. Going forward, we must question the integrity of all those currently enabling the destruction of our manifestly fragile democracy, as well as anyone resistant to the necessary remedies, and proceed accordingly.
The burning and poisoning of the habitat of its host plant, Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, is a major cause of the population loss of pollinator Monarch butterflies. Although poisonous to many organisms, milkweed is the ONLY food a monarch caterpillar will eat and weave its cocoon on. Milkweed also provides a defense for the emergent monarch butterfly from predators, due to the toxins ingested as a caterpillar. Their natural defense toxicity from milkweed is now overshadowed by the toxins they use to control "weeds" instead of allowing growth of native species to be integrated into farming practices. Many organic famers are using native species in orchards and fields to attract insects and mitigate pest damage to the food bearing plants without spraying toxic chemicals.
Does Trump even know that the "Gilded" Age is a putdown that refers to not gold but gold paint over crumby material not meant to last and was put there to fool the people. Seriously, does he know anything outside of lying and repeating those lies so that some people begin to believer them? Hmmm... who does that remind us of. Oh, that's right, Goebbels back in the good old Nazi days which were what Roy Cohn passed on to Trump back in the Apprentice days... You can fool the people. And, by the way, we get to pay for this "gilding." On our dime. Are his followers really that blind?
Yes... and his followers must be able to figure out to some degree. Are they sticking with him because they are embarrassed>. It happens. And I understand that. What I don't understand is it looks pretty evident that they will start to feel all this in the form of their pocketbooks. When inflation takes place, folks tend to blame--and more importantly---the messenger by voting him out of office. We can only hope...
Ms. Thomas, by my reading of economic history, we are not simply heading into inflation. It is likely we shall suffer a depression. This country is doing all the things John Maynard Keynes warned us about a lifetime ago. How soon we forget. Or, in the case of the present administration; how uninformed they are!
Thanks for this thoughtful reply... Yes, uninformed. I guess, like us, we tend to read what publications seem to tend toward real morality, not just the bucks. And you're right, that kind of limited perspective leads them toward the plutocracy Mr. Trump longs for and dreams about. Wouldn't I like to know if that is okay with them. Sadly, maybe it is okay with them. Last thought about that morality thing. Re Texas--I have yet to hear a reporter ask Gov. Abbott "WHY" he is redistricting right now. I don't think he--or his lord and master, Trump--is actually making this redistricting move. I would LOVE to hear an answer to that question from him. There is no way he could even lie about it. It would have to be similar to Willie Sutton when asked why he steals from banks and said "because that's where the money is." Same with Abbott. We're doing this so we can rig the election. Period.
Second point, Though it offends the sensibilities when Musk says that women are built to be trade or kidnapped.
He is correct when he says that they defend the dominant culture, conform and amplify, (of course there are exceptions) but what more proof do you need that he is correct than Phyllis Schafly, Lauren Boebet, MTG, Virginia Foxx, Amy Comey Barret and the millions of Trump humping females that want Trump to grab them by their pussy.
Consider the women of Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran. These are among the most misogynistic and oppressive cultures, as regards women, on Earth, even Somalia and Muslim Africa where it is the women that enforce female genital mutilation. Ask Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who herself underwent FGM organized by her grandmother.
And it is not just FGM but forced to wear the bee keepers suit, in the heat, not being able to travel unless accompanied by a male, eve if that male is her young son.
Only in Iran has there been any resistance, and there only by young girls, not matrons.
We can discuss the biological imperative that drives this behavior.
I would like to see a list of these prostitutes, for that is what they are. only sexual prostitutes, I respect, they earn a living honestly and all that do is rent their body, for a very short period of time, intellectual prostitutes sell their mind, body and soul, and that includes biological males L whores all.
A ballroom is one of the most useless places. It’s a huge space rarely used, and would look like a warehouse next to the White House. Stop this while we still can. Look at the former rose garden if you doubt the threat.
I like the scientific method of first attempting to disprove a claim and only upon failing that to tentatively accept the claim which is always modifiable based on new evidence. Thus comes human progress.
Immutable truths posited by Authorities, of whatever political or religious stripe, is the path to totalitarianism and eventual ruin or societal stasis.
C.Krob, It looks to me as though you are referring to the accepted procedure in empirical research, of either rejecting the null hypothesis or failing to reject the null. You have stated it quite well. More people should be made aware of how empirical evidence is actually evaluated. Science is not interested in "truth" but instead in knowledge. Knowledge which is accepted as modifiable in the future.
Where are the prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system? There are more than 13 million lawyers in the U.S. If tRump is breaking the law on a daily basis as HCR and Hartmann are claiming, why is Mark Elias and a handful of lawyers like Neal Katyal the only ones we hear about? The current administration has engaged in an unprecedented campaign to subvert the rule of law. Why haven't our representatives in congress assemble teams of attorneys throughout the U.S. that can address the constant stream of lawsuits coming out of this administration?
"Where are the prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system?" Here's where we are on this: The Senate just confirmed Jeanine Pirro as top prosecutor for D.C. Don't look to the federal prosecutors to save us!
I'd like to suggest using a competitor to Amazon for linking to books you recommend in your posts. Maybe it's petty but I still haven't gotten over Bezos using his wealth to tilt democracy when ordering WaPo to withhold a Harris endorsement. It might not have made a difference in the end but the principle is the thing.
We can organize and call legislators all we want, but it's enriching bastards like him that broke our democracy. I humbly suggest using Bookshop.org or Alibris.com for book mentions to at least try to deny him some of that revenue stream.
News, of the week.Great to know. Thom, I was thinking things don’t work out sometimes. I think over in GAZA all those people want is food and water. BeBe said there is no starvation, what? I, am so happy and lucky to know you Thom, no matter what. I’m not starving. This is so totally insane. Letting people starve as the whole world watches. Putting things in perspective. We, take advantage of our lives. The whole world is watching. Everyday! Thom! Let’s all let that sink in! Not that serious.
Now is our moment—today take action against this harmful government. They are:
Covering up a pedophile ring.
Ignoring court orders.
Spreading corruption.
The poor, the needy, and children are being abused—by our government. Healthcare, already a broken system, was canceled for 13 million. Take to the streets!
We must protest outright crooks and the pedophiles. They will start shooting us. Untrained ICE agents will shoot us. Protest until we go down or we oust these tyrants.
I made 54 protest signs to aid protest groups. I will make many more to share. You will see something different in these signs! Help yourself to this second batch, and share them as far as you can.
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/more-free-protest-signs?r=3m1bs
Who's going to Stop him ⁉️
Yeah, that's my question: how do we get rid of him before he destroys everything, which seems to be the goal. I don't see how this ends any other way than the Fourth Turning, Thom references - in a catastrophe.
This story is going to make Watergate look simple, Karen.
It's just starting to unravel. Senator Wyden and others have and are following the money. It all came from Russia. You know when TRump says it didn't happen, it DID.
Please read my post. Watch that podcast on substack's The Left Hook.
Luther Campbell's interview on Make It Plain w/Mark Thompson on Sirius Radio explains that TRump had pageant girl parties with booze, drugs and sex. This was early '90s---Luther knew it was a trap.
It's all Russian kompromat tactics. Money making schemes used by TRump, Ghislaine, and Epstein. They sold info and names after doing what the girls explained. They really enjoyed the work.
I've posted this severral times. On an individual basis, some Congressional Republicans are vulnerable, morally and politically.
Of the 33 regularly scheduled elections in 2026, 13 seats are held by Democrats and 20 are held by Republicans. Four senators announced they will not seek re-election in 2026. Imagine a Democrat taking McConnell's seat in KY.
Of the 33 states holding regularly scheduled elections in 2026, Trump (R) won 21 of those states in 2024 and Harris won 12. In 2026, Democrats will be defending two states that Trump won in 2024: Georgia and Michigan. Republicans will be defending one seat in a state Harris won: Maine. The last time the 20 Republican-held seats were up for election in 2020, four were decided by a margin of less than 10 percentage points: Iowa (6.6), Maine (8.6), North Carolina (1.8), and Texas (9.6). The last time the 13 Democratic-held seats were up for election in 2020, five were decided by a margin of less than 10 percentage points: Colorado (9.3), Georgia (1.2), Michigan (1.7), Minnesota (5.3), and New Mexico (6.1).
What our candidates have failed to do is analyize them rationally. Neutralize their strengths. Compete for donors.
If Medicare and Medicaid cuts will kill their local health care, we should seek support from hospitals and other medical providers.
If Trump tariffs are killing agriculture, we should support the agricultural sector.
Like Alis says, this stuff hits the Trump as the pedofile issue, but also Russia. I remember when people like Phil Graham, Strom Thurmond, Arlen Spector, Ben Nighthouse Campbell, Ric hard Shelby, Connie Mack, et al switched parties. Sen. John (Cleghorn) Kennedy R, La, once was a Dem. Do these people have daughters? Do they support Putin?
We should have a book on: Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV) Cassidy, Bill (R-LA) Collins, Susan M. (R-ME) Cornyn, John (R-TX) Cotton, Tom (R-AR) Daines, Steve (R-MT) Ernst, Joni (R-IA) Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) Hagerty, Bill (R-TN) Hyde-Smith, Cindy (R-MS) Lummis, Cynthia M. (R-WY) Marshall, Roger (R-KS) McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK) Ricketts, Pete (R-NE) Risch, James E. (R-ID) Rounds, Mike (R-SD) Sullivan, Dan (R-AK) Tuberville, Tommy (R-AL)
Mr. Solomon, you have obviously done a great deal of data collection on this issue. I found it necessary to read your post slowly, more than once in order to digest the implications. Yes, just imagine what we might see if there is a Dem Party take-over. What might they do with that potential for change? Thank you for your work on this. This is exactly the kind of stuff our young researchers did when I was the chair of my county's Dem Party.
IMHO there's a lot more.
If we have both houses of Congress, impeach him and others, prosecute criminals, and pass legislation to attempt to correct the injustices.
IMHO some of damages might restore Treasury deficits.
Include the male sycophants on our current corrupt SCOTUS among the "others" who should be impeached.
Mr. Solomon, Let's hope for an electoral turnaround in '26'
I am copying your input here to pass it along. It carries great information of critical importance.
Really? There are times (such as these) that I feel like I'm on the wrong offing planet.
As for the Gilded Age, it's not so much like East Egg, more like the House of Usher.
Weak women? I've yet to meet one. They certainly don't define the gender. I challenge the jackass to try to squeeze 8 pounds of squalling baby out of his crotch (I know that's physically impossible but I'm sure many of us will gladly fund the necessary surgical alterations to make it possible). And what is it, if not strength, to put up with assholes like him. And Musk. And Trump. And... I wonder, do we detect the mewling cry of an incel?
So Trump wants to track health records. Sure, let him go first. After an independent physical exam. And while we're at it, let's get Trump and the other Tech Bros drug tested.
Two years ago I saw one Monarch, since then none. This season the swallows never returned; likewise the birds who love to gorge themselves on our currants and blackberries. (Okay, so I'm a treehugger, deal with it.) Silent Spring came out 63 years ago. The effects of climate change were made clear in 1896 (no, really!) Upthread there was the fool who made disparaging comments about the strength of women. Well, perhaps he's right because the Mother we all rely on is breaking before our eyes. When she goes, so do we.
Mr. Herreshoff, I too have noticed the disappearance of Monarchs. I sailed on the great lakes for half a century on my sailboat. I found islands on which various bugs would descend by the millions during certain Summer months. These bugs were on migratory flights usually on a North/South meridian. The most numerous were the Mayflies, called Canadian Soldiers, by those of us who lived in the Great Lakes area. These Soldiers were eaten by the hundreds of thousands of carnivorous Dragon flies who swooped down on them, capturing them in mid air. A sight to be seen.
The islands also were clouded over by Monarchs who were migrating when it was their turn on a North/south meridian. These Bugs, the beautiful Monarch butterflies, were not eaten by the Dragons, they are poisonous. The Dragons have adjusted evolutionarily. The question in my mind when I noticed the Monarch's numbers decline so rapidly was: What caused them to disappear? It could not have been a natural predator like the Dragons. Now my question is answered: Mankind and his poisonous chemicals, sold by huge profitable corporate producers, like Monsanto, Dow, and others.
Oh, they were beauteous creatures! I don't remember ever realizing they existed — the experience was primary, present before memory itself. How such fragile beauty and yet I had no idea they might someday fail.
Dow's home as you may well know is in Midland, Michigan. I remember they had a beautiful campus; that it was built on top of a poisonous lake did not escape me.
Mr. Herreshoff, I lived in Mt. Pleasant for several years. It is 20 miles West of Midland and there were days when the air in Mt. pleasant smelled so bad it made me sick. The Dow factory was pumping an incredible amount of poison into the air. Fortunately those days were rare because the wind blew mostly from the West to East. I had many occasions to visit Midland and I do not know how people could live in that town, the air was so toxic my eyes watered. The city of Midland looked like something out of a John Cameron science fiction movie. It looked dead, no color, few green plants. The Titibawasee River was badly polluted by runoff. During the VietNam war Dow made the napalm American pilots used to cook living Vietnamese people.
I'm just Robert.
My brother lives in Mt Pleasant. He met his wife at the State Home, where he was a psychologist and she an RN. I spent the winter of '77-78 there -lots and lots of snow, especially for a California kid. My daughter was born in Alma but we left shortly after to return to warmer climes.
While there, I tried to form in my mind the reason why it was called Mt Pleasant; I referred to it as God's own ironing board. My girlfriend, taking pity on me, took me up to Clare to see the Bundy Hills. After a bit we stopped, at which time I asked her when we would get to see the hills, She indicated I was standing on them. It was,, of course, a moraine left by the retreating continental glacier.
Although the napalm was terriblee — I remain haunted by the photo of the young girl, naked, terror in her eyes, running in agony down a road — Dow also made Agent Orange, which the Vietnamese estimate disable one million people. An evil place (Dow), an evil war.
Robert, so happy to learn your bother lives on the pleasant mountain in the middle of Michigan. I met a beautiful, lively smiling girl there in 1961 and married her. We are still in love, living near our children and grandchildren on the West coast.
In the Western part of the upper peninsula those moraines do actually rise up hundreds of feet above Lake Superior. Some locals call them mountains. In the 1970s I ridge-soared my small plane over those ridges, with the engine idling, while being lifted by the rising wind deflected up off the big lake.
Back in the 1960s, Isabella County (where Mt. Pleasant is located) was a "dry county," they served no booze on Sunday. Thus, I spent many Sunday afternoons in the town of Clare (in Clare County) lifting a pint. I caught many fish in the Chippewa river which runs through Mt. Pleasant. Nothing better than fresh fish on one's menu.
Yes, I too remember that horrifying photo of that naked little Vietnamese girl running in pain and terror from the burning napalm on her back. I was a draft dodger and draft resister, active in SDS in those days.
As an addendum, you did social work while I taught severely emotionally disturbed youth and my wife was a manager with Child Protective Services.
More parallels, Gerald (if I may presume). Where about on the West Coast? We're about 35 (air)miles east of Mendocino but have lived within the smell of the Pacific for most of my life.
I wasn't a pilot but I did surf. For several years I did little else. Both flying and surfing ride on an element, are free when they do so.
I filed for conscientious objector (1-O) in 1963, right before it became stylish. Luckily, they started allowing on philosophicalgrounds right before I was grilled by my friendly local draft board. After that, I was sure I was going to prison because I wasn't going to serve regardless. It wasn't too far into the main part of the war that I came to respect the people who served, even though I totally disagreed with the war (or any other for that matter). It's hard for people to penetrate through the lies governments tell them to get them to do the bidding of the rich and powerful.
I never signed up with anything, other that AFSC, but I spent a fair amount of time in the East Bay (aka Berserkly) Street Folliez. It gave me insight into what ICE is doing today. Sometimes you resist even though you know you aren't going to "win" because otherwise you wouldn't be able to look at yourself in the mirror.
64 years! My regards.
Oh, silly me — perhaps 10% of the bees. Get rid of the "illegal" immigrants and the bees we have a meager dinner indeed.
The more he says it isn't Russia Russia Russia
For those trying to follow the money, this is of special interest about the money laundering that Epstein and Trump were doing for the Russians. It also gives Ghislaine's background with her dad who thought Epstein was going to marry her. He taught Jeffery how to make money working for the intelligence agencies, allegedly. Robert Maxwell ( a triple agent) worked for MI6, Mossad, and KGB/FSB: On Substack, Go to The Left Hook and look for the story titled, "Why Was Ghislaine Maxwell Moved to a Cushy…"
In that substack video, Zev Shalev explains the Russians decided to work on rotting the USA from the inside using several people. Epstein and Trump set-up their accounts with Deutchebank on the same day, isn't that special. Money laundering is VERY lucrative.
Senator Wyden will get the answers. This is not just about the teenage victims. The money, the espionage, and Ghislaine's knowledge of all of it is at the rotten core. Putin, his spies, and his oligarch's are a murderous bunch with a lot of money to throw around. Vlad has the proof of what Donald and Jeff took financially and what they did sexually over decades. So does Melania. Ivana probably had proof too. Ivanka's husband is part of all the wheeling/dealing. Who is going to get TRump and his syndicate?
It is Russia Russia Russia, always has been. That's what Trump fears will come out. He is faking everyone out with those subs and stupid sanctions. See you in the streets.
it's why the Epstein files came to be. He sold names and information. It's why he died---by his own hand or not. Or not seems more and more likely.
Accoding to several sources, he was a Russian asset. Speculation is that he wound up with Robert Maxwell's missing money, courtesy of the Russians. He and Trump supposedly first applied for loans at Deutsche Bank on the same day. Deutche Bank is tied to the Russians. Here's an article from Germany. Putin's Bank. https://www.dw.com/en/driven-by-greed-the-deutsche-bank-story-putins-bank/a-68775818
Re the Trump/ Epstein breakup.
… Trump biographer Michael Wolff to Meidas: “Epstein’s explanation for why this friendship ended is as follows. In 2004, Epstein believed himself to be the high bidder on a piece of real estate in Palm Beach—a house. His bid was $36 million. He took his friend Trump around to see the house, to advise him on how to move the swimming pool. Trump thereupon went around Epstein’s back and bid $40 million for the house—and got the property. Epstein, who was well acquainted and in fact deeply involved with Trump’s scattered finances, understood that he didn’t have $40 million to pay for this house.”
… “If that was the case, it was someone else’s $40 million. At the time, Epstein believed this to be the $40 million of a Russian oligarch by the name of Rybolovlev. Less than two years later, this same house that Trump had bought for $40 million was sold for $95 million—and it was in fact sold to Rybolovlev. This is all a red flag of money laundering. Epstein after this began to threaten lawsuits and going to the press saying that Trump was a frontman for a money laundering deal.”
… “Trump panics at this point, and Epstein believed that it was Trump who went to the police and, as Epstein said, dropped the dime on him - informed the police of what was going on. And an investigation began, and all of Epstein’s legal problems for the next 15 years began to unfold.”
… “We can chart a continued friendship between these two men through flight manifests, photographs, phone calls—and even a picture of Epstein at Trump’s wedding to Melania in 2005. So this relationship that Trump now claims ended in 2000 actually demonstrably continued until at least 2005. And it’s that period—from 2000 to 2005—in which most of the allegations against Epstein took place.”
… Which is all probably in the Epstein files that Trump is covering up.
Is there actually a picture of Epstein at Trump's wedding to Melania in 2005? There is one of him being at Trump's wedding to Marla Maples, but whether Epstein was at Melania wedding seems unknown. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2025/07/23/epstein-trump-marla-maples-wedding-melania-florida/85336260007/
This morning, I watched a discussion abut Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell. Seems Trump knew Maxwell when she worked on her father's NY paper, the New York Daily News. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Maxwell
Rumors and investigations surrounding Robert Maxwell have alleged ties to multiple intelligence agencies, including the Soviet KGB. These intelligence connections are reportedly viewed as being financially driven rather than ideologically motivated.
"[Gislaine] Maxwell, the Oxford-educated daughter of a billionaire publishing tycoon, was exactly the kind of company the future US president [Trump] liked to keep in New York in the 80s. The pair were regular fixtures in the elite Manhattan and Palm Beach social scenes, attending the same parties at private clubs and on million-dollar yachts."
The Telegraph: Trump’s friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell was once a liability. Now it could save him. Benedict Smith
In 1989, Trump ran the following ad in the New York Daily News: http://apps.frontline.org/clinton-trump-keys-to-their-characters/pdf/trump-newspaper.pdf
Trump supposedly spent time with Roberty Maxwell on his yacht in New Yrork about the first time he went to Russia. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/19/trump-first-moscow-trip-215842/
In The Art of the Deal, Trump writes: “In January 1987, I got a letter from Yuri Dubinin, the Soviet ambassador to the United States, that began: ‘It is a pleasure for me to relay some good news from Moscow.’ It went on to say that the leading Soviet state agency for international tourism, Goscomintourist, had expressed interest in pursuing a joint venture to construct and manage a hotel in Moscow.”
"There were many ambitious real estate developers in the United States—why had Moscow picked Trump?
"According to Viktor Suvorov—a former GRU military spy—and others, the KGB ran Intourist, the agency to which Trump referred. It functioned as a subsidiary KGB branch. Initiated in 1929 by Stalin, Intourist was the Soviet Union’s official state travel agency. Its job was to vet and monitor all foreigners coming into the Soviet Union. “In my time it was KGB,” Suvorov said. “They gave permission for people to visit.” The KGB’s first and second directorates routinely received lists of prospective visitors to the country based on their visa applications.
"As a GRU operative, Suvorov was personally involved in recruitment, albeit for a rival service to the KGB. Soviet spy agencies were always interested in cultivating “young ambitious people,” he said—an upwardly mobile businessman, a scientist, a “guy with a future.”
Apparently Trump, Epstein and Maxwell used the same bank-- Deutsche Bank. Two deaths are connected to Deutsche Bank, which had a significant lending relationship with Donald Trump:
*Valentin Broeksmit: A whistleblower who reportedly provided documents related to Deutsche Bank's dealings with Trump to the FBI was found dead in Los Angeles in April 2022. Broeksmit was 45 years old. The Los Angeles Police Department stated that no foul play was suspected, but the cause of death was deferred pending further investigation.
*Thomas Bowers: A former Deutsche Bank executive who had approved loans to Trump was found dead in November 2019. Authorities later ruled his death a suicide. While Bowers had worked at Deutsche Bank when some of the loans to Trump were made, he had left the bank years before his death, and no signs connected his suicide to his previous work in any financial institution, according to Newsweek.
Did they have connections to Epstein and Maxwell?
Bowers opened the TRump and Epstein accounts on 8/19/13. Please watch that podcast on substack's The Left Hook.
Also, please listen to that Luther Campbell interview on Sirius radio. He was a rapper invited to a pageant girl party by TRump in the early '90's. He said it was like the movie "Eyes Wide Shut". It was on the show Make It Plain w/Mark Thompson. Luther knew he was being set-up, and he scooted out of there when he saw the young girls, booze, drugs, and sex going on.
Every bit of this reeks of Russian kompromat work. Trump, Ghislaine, and Epstein really enjoyed doing it.
WOW
A major theme in the newsletters in my inbox today is the firing of the Commmissioner of the Bureau of labor Statistics Erica McEntarfer, for producing statistics that he doesn't like, recall that he tried to squash stats on Covid19.
He will squash any stats that makes him look bad. America will descend into the seventh level of hell, and not realizing that is happening, and there will be comments on the internet, that all is well, because they haven't yet been affected.
If cancer is not detected, then look how much money is saved. Until it has consumed the body, then all that is spent is on morphine pills and hospice care, and that at home.
There is a cancer that is consuming America and it's name is MAGA.
If we somehow survive this attempted fascist takeover, Democrats must remember that with few and rare exceptions, nearly every elected Repugnican now in office has knowingly and repeatedly betrayed their oath of office. Those who should be punished MUST be punished, or we risk a possibly-successful repetition of the fascists’ current efforts. Likewise, we must identify the many weaknesses in our fractured norms and codify their repair and prevention. Going forward, we must question the integrity of all those currently enabling the destruction of our manifestly fragile democracy, as well as anyone resistant to the necessary remedies, and proceed accordingly.
The burning and poisoning of the habitat of its host plant, Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, is a major cause of the population loss of pollinator Monarch butterflies. Although poisonous to many organisms, milkweed is the ONLY food a monarch caterpillar will eat and weave its cocoon on. Milkweed also provides a defense for the emergent monarch butterfly from predators, due to the toxins ingested as a caterpillar. Their natural defense toxicity from milkweed is now overshadowed by the toxins they use to control "weeds" instead of allowing growth of native species to be integrated into farming practices. Many organic famers are using native species in orchards and fields to attract insects and mitigate pest damage to the food bearing plants without spraying toxic chemicals.
Does Trump even know that the "Gilded" Age is a putdown that refers to not gold but gold paint over crumby material not meant to last and was put there to fool the people. Seriously, does he know anything outside of lying and repeating those lies so that some people begin to believer them? Hmmm... who does that remind us of. Oh, that's right, Goebbels back in the good old Nazi days which were what Roy Cohn passed on to Trump back in the Apprentice days... You can fool the people. And, by the way, we get to pay for this "gilding." On our dime. Are his followers really that blind?
Ms. Thomas, yes, apparently they are that blind. It is a blindness which can be cured by painful, shocking events.
Yes... and his followers must be able to figure out to some degree. Are they sticking with him because they are embarrassed>. It happens. And I understand that. What I don't understand is it looks pretty evident that they will start to feel all this in the form of their pocketbooks. When inflation takes place, folks tend to blame--and more importantly---the messenger by voting him out of office. We can only hope...
Ms. Thomas, by my reading of economic history, we are not simply heading into inflation. It is likely we shall suffer a depression. This country is doing all the things John Maynard Keynes warned us about a lifetime ago. How soon we forget. Or, in the case of the present administration; how uninformed they are!
Thanks for this thoughtful reply... Yes, uninformed. I guess, like us, we tend to read what publications seem to tend toward real morality, not just the bucks. And you're right, that kind of limited perspective leads them toward the plutocracy Mr. Trump longs for and dreams about. Wouldn't I like to know if that is okay with them. Sadly, maybe it is okay with them. Last thought about that morality thing. Re Texas--I have yet to hear a reporter ask Gov. Abbott "WHY" he is redistricting right now. I don't think he--or his lord and master, Trump--is actually making this redistricting move. I would LOVE to hear an answer to that question from him. There is no way he could even lie about it. It would have to be similar to Willie Sutton when asked why he steals from banks and said "because that's where the money is." Same with Abbott. We're doing this so we can rig the election. Period.
Building this monstrosity is an huge tell that he is not EVER planning on leaving the WH.
Yes, and SCOTUS will let him stay. To Hell with the Constitution as long as pockets are getting lined.
Second point, Though it offends the sensibilities when Musk says that women are built to be trade or kidnapped.
He is correct when he says that they defend the dominant culture, conform and amplify, (of course there are exceptions) but what more proof do you need that he is correct than Phyllis Schafly, Lauren Boebet, MTG, Virginia Foxx, Amy Comey Barret and the millions of Trump humping females that want Trump to grab them by their pussy.
Consider the women of Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran. These are among the most misogynistic and oppressive cultures, as regards women, on Earth, even Somalia and Muslim Africa where it is the women that enforce female genital mutilation. Ask Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who herself underwent FGM organized by her grandmother.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali
And it is not just FGM but forced to wear the bee keepers suit, in the heat, not being able to travel unless accompanied by a male, eve if that male is her young son.
Only in Iran has there been any resistance, and there only by young girls, not matrons.
We can discuss the biological imperative that drives this behavior.
Add Nancy Mace and Katie Britt to your list!
Gladly.
I would like to see a list of these prostitutes, for that is what they are. only sexual prostitutes, I respect, they earn a living honestly and all that do is rent their body, for a very short period of time, intellectual prostitutes sell their mind, body and soul, and that includes biological males L whores all.
A ballroom is one of the most useless places. It’s a huge space rarely used, and would look like a warehouse next to the White House. Stop this while we still can. Look at the former rose garden if you doubt the threat.
I like the scientific method of first attempting to disprove a claim and only upon failing that to tentatively accept the claim which is always modifiable based on new evidence. Thus comes human progress.
Immutable truths posited by Authorities, of whatever political or religious stripe, is the path to totalitarianism and eventual ruin or societal stasis.
C.Krob, It looks to me as though you are referring to the accepted procedure in empirical research, of either rejecting the null hypothesis or failing to reject the null. You have stated it quite well. More people should be made aware of how empirical evidence is actually evaluated. Science is not interested in "truth" but instead in knowledge. Knowledge which is accepted as modifiable in the future.
Where are the prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system? There are more than 13 million lawyers in the U.S. If tRump is breaking the law on a daily basis as HCR and Hartmann are claiming, why is Mark Elias and a handful of lawyers like Neal Katyal the only ones we hear about? The current administration has engaged in an unprecedented campaign to subvert the rule of law. Why haven't our representatives in congress assemble teams of attorneys throughout the U.S. that can address the constant stream of lawsuits coming out of this administration?
"Where are the prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system?" Here's where we are on this: The Senate just confirmed Jeanine Pirro as top prosecutor for D.C. Don't look to the federal prosecutors to save us!
You turn over a rock, you never know what — or who — is going to climb out. The sweeter the pie, the stickier the fingers.
Thom, this is a great roundup, as usual.
I'd like to suggest using a competitor to Amazon for linking to books you recommend in your posts. Maybe it's petty but I still haven't gotten over Bezos using his wealth to tilt democracy when ordering WaPo to withhold a Harris endorsement. It might not have made a difference in the end but the principle is the thing.
We can organize and call legislators all we want, but it's enriching bastards like him that broke our democracy. I humbly suggest using Bookshop.org or Alibris.com for book mentions to at least try to deny him some of that revenue stream.
News, of the week.Great to know. Thom, I was thinking things don’t work out sometimes. I think over in GAZA all those people want is food and water. BeBe said there is no starvation, what? I, am so happy and lucky to know you Thom, no matter what. I’m not starving. This is so totally insane. Letting people starve as the whole world watches. Putting things in perspective. We, take advantage of our lives. The whole world is watching. Everyday! Thom! Let’s all let that sink in! Not that serious.
Maga will believe anything. Only death can release them now. If I had a god I'd "thoughts and prayers" for this to come sooner than later. That's all.