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Not All Bad…

by MyBaconPress

There’s a Senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, who is set to lead Trump’s new department, and possibly massive bureaucracy, the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ for her state. She says she wants to make the federal government “squeal.” I hope she wasn’t envisioning the infamous scene from ‘Deliverance.’ But I’m curious what she did mean.

I expect all of this cost-cutting the GOP keeps talking about to fall on the weakest and most vulnerable citizens, in general. Oh, sure, they may make noise about cutting from programs that assist the wealthiest and government subsidies that benefit corporations but the wealthiest and the corporations have powerful voices in the government these days. (That’s the beauty of fascism, in their eyes.) THEY won’t lose out, so the weakest will be the scapegoats, right?

But, in fairness, the first program Ernst suggested dumping was this so-called high speed rail line in California. It’s probably the single largest boondoggle I’ve seen in the state for a long time. It’s MASSIVELY over budget. It has taken FAR longer to become active than originally projected. It was supposed to travel from one large population center to another but has since been pared down to travel between two places nobody needs to get to in a hurry.

Oh, and it’s NOT “high speed rail.” Not if you think if high speed as a bullet train. This one is expected to go faster than a regular commuter train but not nearly the speed of bullet trains of Japan or Europe. In short, I have opposed the pretended high speed rail project in California since I first heard of it but it just keeps going forward. I suppose there is a huge amount of money being funneled to a small number of self-described “important” people as long as the project continues, so the project continues.

Listen, I’d even go so far as to say I would support a high speed rail line that traveled from, say, LA to Sacramento or the bay area if it was a) high speed and b) functional. But this ain’t that. The project currently sucking up money has failed. It just won’t die…

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Okay, I confess, I have extreme trepidation about this incoming team. For the most part, it’s going to be ugly and most Americans – and much of the world – will suffer. But within that framework, there are going to be sort of “fun” things to watch. Like the inevitable battle of egos between Donnie and Elon.

Trump and Musk are, without a doubt, two of the most self-important blowhards the world has ever seen, will ever see. They BOTH see themselves as god-level geniuses with some kind of mystical vision that allows them to understand things the small folk just can’t. They never see anybody they love more than the face in the mirror.

Right now, they’re working together but there WILL come a time when their interests diverge. There WILL come a time when both outsized egos will KNOW they have the right answer – but their answers won’t match. THAT is when you’ll see the breakdown between them. Set up an office pool. You can do it by the month, week, day, or even hour. When did Trump’s ego clash with Elon’s ego to the point they consciously uncouple?

Yeah, I know. That’s kind of a small comfort, isn’t it? Yeah, it is. I fear it’s what we get for the foreseeable future, small comforts. We have to take them where we can get them, right?

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I STILL say it’s better to remain engaged with your MAGA than to shut them out. For one thing, you KNOW MAGA is getting false information that’s misleading them. THAT doesn’t make them bad people and if you back away, where are they supposed to get better information? BUT…for another thing – and this one might be a bit more difficult to take – if the corporate media is feeding MAGA misinformation on the right, what makes you think the SAME corporate media, the one that benefits so nicely from the ongoing battles between Americans, aren’t feeding misinformation to the left, as well?

Yeah, it’s more subtle. The left is not as vulnerable to outright misstatements. I have long held that the media misdirects the right on facts and they misdirect the left on intentions. The media fools the right on details of events but fools the left on what people might DO about it. And, sometimes, the media deceives the left using “editorial decisions.”

Do you remember Hunter’s laptop? On the left, we, at first, didn’t even know about it. The media really DID suppress info about that laptop so as to not hurt Biden’s chances in the election. I still don’t think the laptop had anything of actual value on it. That’s not the point. The point is, it WAS Hunter’s, the media DID know about it, and they DID suppress the “story” until after the election.

AND, in a very real sense, the media suppressing that story on the left allowed the right to just run with any and all conspiracy theories it wanted. The left never got any chance to push back in the run up to the election so the right was out voting on that, at least in part, and the left didn’t even know it existed. I’m saying, don’t get smug. We don’t have a monopoly on truth.

If we stop talking to our political opposites, we surrender any chance of uncovering the stories intended to manipulate the left. We actually make it easier for the corporate media to foment anger via “editorial decisions.” My actual and honest first choice would be to seek a way to make media – left AND right – more responsible in it’s reporting.

One of the things I noticed early on about conservative media was their insistence that cons don’t risk listening to lefties. I actually heard Rush Limbaugh say to his audience once, “You don’t need to do any thinking. That’s what you have me for.” The right created that wedge as a tool to assist their destruction of the Constitution, and it worked. What makes you think adding to the “divided house” will help in any way? Bear in mind, our actual enemy is the one percent, who understand how tariffs work, not Uncle Conservative, who doesn’t…

A Few Points…

by MyBaconPress

Well, whaddaya know? The corporate media is FINALLY getting around to commenting on Trump’s various proposals. It turns out, they see some…problems. It sure was helpful of them to wait until AFTER the “election” to say so. The latest? You’ll never guess. Despite the fact that Trump promised, over and over, to lower gas prices with “Drill, baby, drill” – a popular chant from the right – it turns out the companies that do those things don’t see any need to drill any more.

It turns out, they LIKE the balance they have between energy available to the customer and the dividends they’re paying to investors. The US is ALREADY the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas. (Because nothing says “fighting climate change” better than becoming the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas.)

Oh, AND, as it happens, American refineries are not set up to refine the kind of crude we pump from under the North American continent. We can do a little but we can’t do a lot and the oil companies would require a HUGE capital investment in their refineries to do more. Not to put too fine a point on it, that would RAISE prices at the pump. See how that works? When a company has to spend more to get a product to market, they have to charge more for their trouble.

NOW the only remaining question: was Trump lying outright or does he really NOT KNOW the actual US position? I sure am glad the guy without a clue is going to be in charge. It’s… inspiring…

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Truthfully, I’m not sure why Trump is so ready to fight for Matt Gaetz. He is surrounded by a LOT of toady bootlickers ready to pander to his every whim. Any ONE of them would do the job just as badly. Why fight for the guy who assaults underage women and… Oh, right. Never mind…

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Well, MTG is STILL out there, calling for a “national divorce” from the left. She says the left and the right are just too far apart and we can’t get past our irreconcilable differences. At this point? I think I finally agree with something MTG says. I wish the left could leave, too. We’d go back to being a decent country and MAGA could trash the rest…

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Right now, the Dems are working overtime trying to fill judicial vacancies. Right now, cons are working overtime trying to stop them. Dems want responsible people who know and respect the law. Cons want toadies to Trump who will rule as directed. (See Aileen Cannon.) Cons have a few absences in the Senate and, as a result, can’t stop the Dems.

At one point, Sen John Kennedy (R-La) – no, not the good one from history, the guy from Louisiana, said he’s frustrated. THEN he said, “Because a number of President Biden’s nominees, particularly at the courts of appeal, they think they’re qualified to be a federal judge if they’ve seen ‘My Cousin Vinny,’ and I don’t agree with them.”

That’s a bit of a self-own, isn’t it? A quick check of Trump’s staff proposals shows not one, not two, but THREE people Trump has nominated based on the fact that he’s seen them on TV and thinks they must be smart. So OBVIOUSLY the GOP has to start bitching that the DEMS are posting people based on movies. It’s the offset to Trump actually posting people based on who he likes to watch on television.

Kennedy, you won’t be surprised to learn, is simply sucking up to Trump, who wants all of these confirmations to stop. The more decent judges the Dems put in place, the fewer lackeys Trump gets to name – and Trump ONLY likes lackeys…

Is My Hair On Fire?

by MyBaconPress

Corporate media keeps trying to offer up excuses as to how Trump won. He cheated, that’s how he won. Corporate media keeps telling us it was this failure or that failure but none of it makes any sense. Corporate media is trying to hide inconsistencies and get everybody to believe this was a fair and honest race. It was not.

Am I going to attack the Capitol? No. My plan is to let Trump be Trump. I believe certain things about him. I’m told by his acolytes I’m wrong, but I don’t think I’m wrong. I think Trump can’t contain himself and who he is will surely come forward. His last administration was disastrous, despite the lies the right (and apparently corporate media) want you to believe. And that was when he had some grown-ups around him, holding him even a little in check.

Now? No guardrails. No voice of reason. He’s going to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. How long do you think it will be until people – ALL people – are up in arms? The right has been carefully manipulated with lies they accept, believe, and defend. But those ARE lies. Sooner or later, the lies will fail and the scales will fall from their eyes. At that time, we’ll STOP being Americans vs MAGA and we’ll become the masses vs the would-be masters.

I mean, look. There are only two possibilities, right? Either I’m right about Trump and disaster is about to befall every one of us, MAGA included. Or MAGA is right and the world is about to become a utopia, perfect in every measurable way. Only time will tell which side was right about this whole thing so I intend to wait and watch. And listen, I actually HOPE I’m wrong. It would be awesome if he was even half as good as they think he is. But I’m a pretty good judge of people and I feel quite comfortable with my assessment of him. We are in very great danger.

One more thing. Despite hearing MAGA claim it was a beautiful, wonderful success, after four years of his last “effort,” medical facilities were piling bodies in refrigerator trailers as makeshift morgues. He had lost 2.7 million jobs. Unemployment was 6.4%. The number of people who had lost health insurance rose by 3 million. The Federal debt had jumped from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion. (That’s $7.2 trillion dollars – in four years.) Oh, and he had an approval rating of just 34%, which, I suspect, will be FAR lower four years from now…

I’ll tell you this: that doesn’t sound like Utopia to me…

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When a person joins the military, they take an oath to protect and defend the CONSTITUTION of the United States. Not any one person, the Constitution. According to the Guardian, Trump’s advisors are considering a ‘Warrior Board’ to determine which officers are not loyal enough to TRUMP and remove them.

By that standard, every officer should be removed. NO officer should be more loyal to Trump than to the Constitution. An officer who is seen by this board as “acceptable,” according to MY thinking, would be in direct violation of their oath and unfit for their role.

And, what happens to the officers who are deemed “unacceptable” because they continue to respect the Constitution more than an individual and get purged? I think they’ll continue to have a role in protecting this once-great nation. The truth is, I suspect true Americans are going to need them to lead whatever fight is coming.

Yep. This is going to get ugly…

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As I watch Trump fill out his Cabinet of Destruction, I find myself wishing I could be a fly on the wall in the various planning rooms of the countries we once understood as our allies. They must be in quite the panic. They KNOW that Trump is a direct conduit to Putin, so they can’t share good intelligence anymore. Worse, they see the clown car filling up and, likely, know better than to trust anything coming from American sources as well.

EVERY non-MAGA on the planet expects the US to withdraw support for all things good and align themselves with the worst on the planet. All hail Putin, for example. How do our allies respond to THAT? They’ll have no choice but to withdraw themselves. I’m guessing they’re hoping that’s the LEAST of what they’ll have to do but there must be some planning going on for the kind of ‘worst case scenario’ the US is about to become.

As a metaphor, the United States is about to become the equivalent of a three-year-old waving around a loaded firearm. Pure danger. Not just to themselves but to anyone around them. I wish there was some positive spin I could put on this but…I just don’t see any. We the people are about to become the most dangerous place on Earth.

At this point, the next office betting pool should be about what’s going to destroy humanity first. There are SO many possibilities. Invariably, the fight comes down to this: what’s best for humanity vs profits. Sadly, this country has been answering ‘profits’ for far too long and now there’s going to be a focus on MORE profit at whatever cost. Sadly, humans are the cost.

Are you going to lose your health care? Yes. Of course you are. Will THAT kill you? It will certainly kill some. You lose the health care you’ve got when they repeal the Affordable Care Act – promising a “better” option any day now – and then can’t get replacement coverage because you have preexisting conditions.

Will it be pregnancy? For some, yes. I guess the dudes are safe on this one, but fertile women are in great danger. Sure, most pregnancies work out just fine. Many do not. Women just have to hope their own pregnancy goes well because doctors won’t be able to help, should the worst occur. If I was a fertile woman, I think I wouldn’t risk it and that means I’d close my legs – to men, anyway…

Medication? Do you take things? The FDA is about to become essentially useless and the pharmaceutical companies get to do what they want. I guess we’re all just supposed to rely on their professionalism and innate compassion. Remember Oxycontin and how they lied and lied and lied, addicting and killing thousands of people? THAT was what they wanted. Well, they didn’t necessarily want people to die. They wanted the profits. But IF people died? Hey, they got the profits. Feel free to use that as your model as to how corporations, in general, are going to respond to lack of regulation.

Will it be poverty? For some, for sure. Poverty DOES kill, and a society built around supporting an insatiable greedy few at the expense of the masses will certainly see increases in deaths – just not among those insatiable greedy few. And with the canceling of various programs designed to help people financially, poverty is sure to go up at an unimaginable rate.

Will it be societal instability? That’s surely around the corner, as desperation increases. John F. Kennedy warned us, “When you make peaceful revolution impossible, you make violent revolution inevitable.” We’ve seen the various plans they have to make peaceful revolution impossible. YOU make the leap. The dangers I’ve listed ahead of this one will LEAD to this one.

I suspect most people will try the ‘go along to get along’ route for as long as they can. But as the attacks on the masses continue, one after another, anger will rise. Do you remember the ‘Arab Spring?’ Egyptian cops had gotten quite comfortable beating people up to make their point and people just accepted it – until one video of a beating went viral and suddenly, they didn’t anymore. That’s how it happens. To be clear, I’m not advocating societal violence. I just expect it. That’s likely to kill a LOT of us.

My money is on climate change, though. With everything I expect from this incoming group, I think climate change is going to get a turbo-charged boost. Humanity was already in great danger and now the US is being led by people who think climate change is some kind of scam, best ignored lest it interfere with any of those blessed profits. But, while facts CAN be denied, they can NOT be ignored. Climate change is happening and is about to burst forth with all new power.

Since it’s already moving faster than originally expected due to feedback loops, turbo-charging the process is about the dumbest thing humanity could do. So, of course, look for MAGA do cheer wildly and insist on doing even more, even faster. In THEIR mind, they’ll be “proving” how wrong scientists are – right up until their house floods or burns or falls down in an earthquake caused by fracking.

Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be dark, here. I see exactly two options in viewing the upcoming disaster. One, you can try optimism. Two, you can be realistic. I strongly recommend ‘realistic.’ Simply sitting back and hoping for the best is likely to get you killed…

Don’t Help The One Percent…

by MyBaconPress

No, you’re right, I didn’t post anything yesterday, even though I normally do on Sunday. Why, you ask? (No, we didn’t.) Well, I took a tumble and broke two ribs. Yeah, that sucks. It’s going to suck for a while. But just to put a cherry on top, my computer decided on Saturday it never wanted to boot again. I’m capable of opening the thing up and seeing if there’s anything I can do to correct the situation but, because of the ribs, I can’t move it to get it somewhere I can work on it. It has NOT been a great weekend for me…

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I keep seeing calls from my lefty friends to separate themselves from their MAGA, where ever MAGA might be. I would like to ask you to please reconsider that decision. I continue to believe MAGA is deceived. I continue to believe that, having achieved the goal for which they fought so hard, they’re about to find out, the hard way, what they actually voted for.

Consider this: the day after the election, the three most popular searches on Google were: ‘Can I change my vote,’ ‘Did Biden drop out,’ and ‘What are tariffs?’ Now, the ‘Did Biden drop out’ thing could be people trying to see if Biden dropped on his own or was pushed out. But I seriously doubt any rational Americans wanted to change their vote TO Trump and, for my money, ‘What are tariffs?’ tells a great deal of the story.

We have started hearing, for example, about companies letting their employees know they will NOT be receiving expected Christmas bonuses this year. Sure, it could just be an excuse for corporations to avoid bonuses. Of course it could. But the story is, in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs, companies are using bonus money to, instead, try to stockpile materials and supplies as much as possible.

When the workforce complains that the foreign company pays the tariff (like Trump said), the CEO has to explain that, no, the seller will pay the tariff and pass the cost on to the consumer. Sure, MAGA can lie – or express their honestly held but mistaken belief that the foreign company pays the tariff. But prices – and inflation – are going up whether MAGA acknowledges it or not.

I’ve heard MAGA say they don’t care if the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) gets repealed because they have “Oregon Care” or “Covered California” or whatever name their state gave their program. They’re going to be very surprised to find their health care gone and no protection for preexisting conditions back on the table.
“Wait, I get my insurance from Covered California, not the Affordable Care Act.”
“Covered California IS the Affordable Care Act.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is. You lost your health insurance because YOU voted to lose your health insurance.” Doing ‘your own research’ AFTER the election? Too late..

I could point out these kinds of details all day and half of the night but MAGA isn’t going to believe it until MAGA lives it. It IS a bummer that ALL of us have to live it while they learn but that’s the way it is. By now, many people realize that the true fight is NOT left and right. It’s the One Percent vs the rest of us and, for the moment, the One Percent has won.

MAGA is about to discover how important they really were to Trump. He doesn’t need them anymore. He’s going to do what he wants to do and he’s not going to give two figs for what his small folk supporters think, want, or prefer. Sure, he will probably still hold rallies for awhile. He LOVES the adoration. But I suspect that as MAGA realizes what he’s doing to them, the crowds will get smaller and smaller and the rallies will come to an end.

The One Percent won this fight using a lesson Lincoln tried to tell us. A lesson HE got from the Bible, so I’ll go straight to the source. “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” (Matthew 12:25) Turns out? Jesus was exactly right about that. So, the One Percent went to a LOT of trouble to divide our “house.”

They set up “Stink tanks,” like ‘The Heritage Foundation,’ The American Enterprise Institute,’ and ‘CATO,’ (among others) to intentionally feed misinformation to the masses. They used Fox Not-News. They didn’t care who bought the false message, just so long as people started buying the message. They funded seats in colleges in order to spread “the conservative message.” But it wasn’t the “conservative message.” It was the “One Percent message.”

In short, MAGA is deceived because the One Percent WANTED them to be deceived, thereby dividing the house against itself, and using that division to seize power. I’ve got to say, so far, it has worked brilliantly. BUT… in achieving their “victory,” they have effectively eliminated the opposition. EVERYTHING that happens because of Trump’s installment will clearly BE Trump’s doing. No more blaming others.

The thing is, conservative media won’t stand down. In fact, I would guess they’re going to double down. I suspect they’ll continue to blame others even though there are no others to blame. I think they’ll need to ramp up their message in order to keep people in the fold. But even MAGA will start to understand reality as it invades their world, and many will turn away. That will be an opportunity to reunite the house.

To be sure, some MAGA will stay loyal. There are always true believers. But some people who supported Trump are already feeling the betrayal and more and more will every day. The only way the One Percent can maintain their current standing is to KEEP us divided. If you distance yourself from your MAGA, you’re doing exactly what the One Percent want – no, need – you to do.

Don’t help the One Percent keep control. This is going to be an ugly fight. We’re going to need every person we can get – and that includes reformed MAGA. If we all retreat into our own little bubbles, we’ll never come back together and that, I fear, really will be the end…

Bummer…

by MyBaconPress

Well, that was…disappointing. Depressing, even. I hesitate to confess that because I know that MAGA takes great pleasure in lefty depression, but what the hell, right? It’s their day. They get their celebration. I suspect it will be short-lived. Whatever it is they’ve chosen to believe, reality will invade, and soon. So, congratulations, MAGA. The whole world is going to reap as you’ve sown and I genuinely believe it won’t be the utopia you’ve imagined.

I’ve got to say, I don’t really believe it. I mean, I’ll accept it. To be clear, I have no evidence of any kind of chicanery and I’m not leveling any charges. I just don’t believe it. It’s only a personal opinion. But I suspect Trump got a boost from his good friend and handler, Putin, who will now enjoy unfettered access to the American intelligence apparatus. I don’t think the machines are inherently corrupt – so stow your lawsuits. I just think they’re vulnerable to MAGA mischief. Something like, say, connecting the machines to the web early, allowing the Russians to dial in and “adjust” the outcome. It’s just an opinion, but it’s a firmly held opinion. And I should say, it’s possible I simply can’t accept that so many people could be so blind.

To me, the GOP “victory” just doesn’t pass the smell test, and I’ll tell you why: he “won” the popular vote. See, it has long-since been a political reality that large turnout favors the left. It always has – before this. And this wasn’t just “large” turnout. It was the second highest turnout in history. Yet, suddenly, huge turnout means nothing and Trump wins both the electoral college AND the popular vote? And he did that by pulling in large numbers of people from groups he promises to oppress, deport, or otherwise vilify?
“You suck, it’s all your fault, and I’m going to punish you!”
“Oh, you’re my guy. I’m voting for you.”
Yeah, that’s how people work…

See, Trump has NEVER won the popular vote before, and the left has mentioned that fact a time or two – or three or four or… When anyone mentions anything that might be viewed as a vulnerability, he needs to do something to prove it’s not true – especially if it is. Remember how hard he worked to convince people that nobody ever left his rallies, even as we all watched video of people leaving his rallies?

So this time, he doesn’t just arrange to “win” the electoral college. THIS time, he needs to “win” the popular vote, too. But winning the popular vote has a second, more sinister, motivation. It sets up the claim that they HAVE TO do the terrible things they want to do. They have a “mandate.” (True, someone had to explain to them that a “mandate” wasn’t two guys grabbing dinner and a movie, but still…)

At this point, the only thing I can think of that might serve as even a glimmer of a bright spot, is actually the success MAGA has enjoyed. What I mean is, now there are no Dems to stop them, assuming the GOP lead in the House holds. The GOP OWNS anything and everything that happens going forward. (Yeah, it ain’t much of a bright spot.) They’ll have no one to blame. The only place to point their fingers will be the mirror.

Maybe, just maybe, as things crash – and things will crash – the scales will fall from MAGA eyes and they’ll see what they’ve done – to themselves, if nothing else. Might the MAGA win be the beginning of the MAGA undoing? Maybe. Meanwhile, the only thing that remains for the left is the “neener, neener” factor. That is, we get to say “We told you so.” That’s small comfort, though. It’s like having the ocean lapping at your ankles on the deck of the Titanic and seeing someone you don’t like fall into the water first. Yeah, you can point your finger and laugh, but you’re headed for the drink, too. Small comfort.

Besides, I don’t think we should. The 2024 outcome is the culmination of decades of work by the One Percent against the rest of us. It has been slow, but it has been steady. It has been relentless. MAGA hasn’t been the driver, they’ve been the tool. As the scales DO fall from their eyes, I think we should welcome them back to the fold of humanity. We, the people, are going to need to work together to overcome what the One Percent has done to us.

As of now, they have us right where they want us – back to before FDR saved the country in the 1930’s with the New Deal. It was a good time to be rich back then. But it sucked for everyone else. It was the New Deal that made America great in the first place. We don’t make America great again by scrapping the New Deal…

The Long Run…

by MyBaconPress

This is just a feeling. I haven’t done a deep dive. I keep seeing moves Gavin Newsom makes and thinking, “He’s moving right.” It kind of makes sense. With Kamala’s rise in fortunes, Gavin has been moved to the back burner in the Democratic Party. He clearly had his eye on the White House in 2028. But with Kamala suddenly becoming the nominee, she would likely run in 2028 as well, and the Democrats won’t back anybody against her. In fact, other Democrats will specifically be told to stand down if they try.

Newsom is 56 years old. He’ll be 64 at the end of two Harris terms (should that be the way it works out.) That might be seen as getting up there, a bit, in years. If he stays a Democrat, he has to wait until 2032 to mount a run at the White House. Maybe he needs to move right and try to run as a Republican? (I don’t really think so. I just don’t know what he’s doing.)

As I indicated, it’s only a feeling. He still says all the right things about Democratic governance and, realistically, the cons have spent years vilifying Gavin Newsom. The idea that he could gain their good graces seems like a stretch to credibility. But I continue to be an “actions speak louder than words” kind of guy and the things Newsom is DOING are speaking more loudly, to me, than the words he’s saying.

Let’s just call it a…concern…

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Recently, the NFL changed it’s kickoff rules. They had a combined goal: they wanted to see more returns but they want to reduce impact of collisions during kickoffs. I support the new rule for it’s protection efforts and it DOES seem to be increasing the number of returns as well.

But it’s weird seeing all those players just standing there waiting for the ball to hit the ground or be fielded by the returner. I feel like the rule needs one, final tweak. The NFL should require all the players on the lines, both lines, in unison, to shout “One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, Three Mississippi” before moving. Call it an homage to three-on-three street football played by kids everywhere. (At least, it used to be…)

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How frustrating it must be to be Trump/Vance. JUST when they thought they were going to enjoy a little economic upheaval, thereby giving a boost to their flagging campaign, the Dockworkers suspended their strike. Work will continue, goods will continue to flow. No economic upheaval to tout on the campaign trail.

No biggie, really. They’ll just keep making things up and MAGA will just keep drinking it down. Apparently, lying can be a BIG advantage – but it also has consequences…

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I know this is unkind and I don’t mean to be unkind but I find myself wondering how all of those red folks I spent years arguing about climate change with feel, now that “climate change” is smashing right through their doors, destroying their towns, and killing them? When a natural disaster occurs in a blue state, you can bet your bottom dollar some televangelist will come on television and claim it’s ‘God’s wrath’ for their sins. (‘Wrath’ actually being one of the Seven Deadly Sins…)

So, are the states in the southeast corner of our once-great nation now experiencing a little of ‘God’s wrath’ of their own from the hurricanes? Would I STILL get arguments that climate change is a hoax from people who live in Florida or the Carolinas? Sadly, I suspect I would. Some people simply refuse to learn.

But we were warned. Experts – people who study these things their entire lives – told us this is what we should expect if we do nothing. Because a certain crowd could form fraudulent sentences, we did nothing. Or, at least, we didn’t do enough. Now, we’re reaping the whirlwind. Literally. Why, it’s almost as if experts DO know more than web-surfers.

I’m sorry. I understand that, above all, these are human beings (and animals and other living things). They need help and I support doing all we can. It’s one of the benefits of our large, powerful government. You know, the one those very self-same people are always saying should be dismantled? Yeah, that one. I guess they’ll get back to dismantling it after they’ve received their bailout checks – and they ARE getting help, despite the continuing lies from the right.

Florida is about to be hit by a Category 3 hurricane. This, right after Hurricane Helene swept up the coast, killing and destroying as a Category 4 hurricane. You’d think those folks would have had more concerns about climate change, in view of the fact that they’re in the crosshairs of hurricane after hurricane. But no. They wanted to win a political battle – and they did.

Hey, congratulations on your “victory!”

I apologize again. I know it’s wrong and I’m working on it. The schadenfreude I’m feeling isn’t really overpowering my humanity, but it’s very definitely there. As it happens, one can lie all they want to, but they can’t ignore the consequences of their lies, nor the reality they denied. My heart goes out to every person who lost something or someone in these storms – or will lose out yet. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed how their lies have “served” them in the long run…

Joffrey Knows No Bounds…

by MyBaconPress

I realized last night that I’m watching the battle between Donald Trump and Jack Smith play out like I watched ‘Game of Thrones.’ Two great houses, each working to bring down the other. One makes a move, the other makes a counter-move. Each week, we, the viewers, tune in to see this week’s plot twists. This version doesn’t have nearly as much nudity but, having seen the cast fully dressed, I think that’s probably preferable in the vast majority of cases.

House Trump is known to be scoundrels, criminals and layabouts, wreaking havoc on the world around them and they command a huge army. They represent Pride, Envy, Greed, Lust, Avarice, Wrath, and Sloth. The patriarch of House Trump has committed numerous egregious crimes and must be held accountable. In an effort to avoid the dungeon, the patriarch of House Trump is attempting to usurp the throne.

House Smith is honorable, faithful, and true. They enforce laws of the king by chasing and prosecuting wrong-doers, and they command a huge army of their own. The patriarch of House Smith is a MASTER of the law. He and his house understand the details on a level most houses can simply wonder at. It has been the responsibility of House Smith to protect the realm since it’s founding.

When the story opened, House Trump was caught, red-handed, committing a wide variety of crimes. House Smith stood up to pursue justice, but House Trump was in a strong position. With so much power under their control, House Trump had quietly slipped loyalists into positions expected to help the House repel any efforts of the forces of good. Now, House Trump has loyal followers everywhere. Many are in disguise and one doesn’t know from where they’ll jump out until they jump out.

House Smith relies on the processes and procedures they know, but find themselves constantly thwarted by House Trump allies. House Smith is unaware of the depth of corruption House Trump has already installed and finds themselves being stalled by the very people who are supposed to be supporting them. Many of the lower houses sworn and expected to support House Smith attack House Smith from the shadows. House Trump benefits. House Smith must constantly watch their backs.

Early in the season, House Trump had all of the advantages. House Smith made moves to bring House Trump to justice but House Trump called in favors and turned to lackeys who stood up for House Trump. Several skirmishes have taken place but none have been decisive. The action has been the behind the scenes stuff, the plotting of the primary characters.

In a recent episode, with the help of a flagrant betrayal of House Smith from another great House, House Roberts, House Trump had thought they had secured a victory that would lead them to their goal, the throne. It appeared as if, after a stunningly unexpected flanking move by House Roberts, House Smith had no army left. The attack had seemed devastating. (Hell, I thought the show was over.)

If the patriarch of House Trump can make it to the throne, he can eliminate House Smith once and for all. As king, the risk to his house will be behind him and nothing can stop him from his rampage of destruction and pillaging. Wildfire for all. The damage to the realm will be unimaginable. But first, he has to win the conclave to reach the coronation and there is a FAR more popular claimant to the throne, House Harris. There are rumors the current king, House Biden is directing House Smith from the shadows in support of House Harris but there’s no evidence to support that specious claim.

The House Trump patriarch CAN achieve his goal through legal means, but he needs to convince people he will be a king of the people, despite all of the evidence to the contrary. Many have flocked to his banner, taken in by stories he tells them. He promises every house will have a dragon and a barrel of gold, and all things will be perfect – and a huge number of the small folk actually believe him. They simply ignore his penchant for flaying people alive. His stories make them feel good.

Already, he has a coup built in, just in case the first, legal way fails. Some of his henchmen have already cleared the way for him, should it become necessary, and House Roberts had managed to put his legal troubles on hold, making it easier to deceive the people who believe in House Trump. Can House Trump get to the conclave and, through deception and machinations, win it?

Meanwhile, House Smith has been working behind the scenes trying to get some upper hand. Everywhere they turn, they find House Trump loyalists standing in their way. People who SHOULD BE supporting House Smith are inexplicably supporting House Trump, often covertly. House Smith has been scattered to the winds and nobody knows for sure who’s still alive and who has been killed. For much of the season, House Smith has seemed in disarray. The House Trump loyalists will do anything, sacrifice anything, to help House Trump in every way they can. Nevertheless, the law persists and House Smith has mastery House Trump lacks.

In this week’s episode, we saw House Smith make a masterful move in the battle. Nobody saw it coming. As the conclave approaches, House Trump was smugly ignoring potential legal hurdles because well-placed loyalists (House Roberts) had interfered with House Smith efforts. But House Smith doesn’t give up. Even as House Smith faces ruin, they keep their honor and they have been working behind the scenes to come up with a new challenge to the legitimacy of House Trump’s claim to the throne.

This week, House Smith unveiled their new challenge, a new indictment, free of the details House Trump’s Special Court had tried to kill. House Smith can still go after House Trump because the rules the Special Court set weren’t as strong as they had hoped and House Smith is very, very good at what they do. It was a major blow to House Trump but only moves forward if House Trump loses the conclave.

House Trump was very upset this information has been revealed. House Trump fears that if people realize the truth about who and how they are, some of that support may abandon them. They won’t. The lower houses supporting House Trump are there out of fear or obligation, not loyalty. Knowing their liege is a deceitful troll won’t move them because it can’t. If they take their banners elsewhere and then House Trump wins, House Trump will seek revenge and those lower Houses fear destruction.

Meanwhile, House Smith suspects that SOME House Trump supporters are being forced to bend the knee to House Trump against their will. They believe that if House Smith can make one decisive move, some of those supporters will fall away, happy for the opportunity to be free of House Trump. If it looks like House Smith has a fighting chance after all, some of those Houses might even return to the banner of House Smith.

We’re waiting for next week’s episode to find out how House Trump responds to House Smith’s latest move, but we know the show is set up as a limited series set to run through January so whatever plot twist is introduced, it won’t be a final move. It can’t be. They’ve got to fill hours between now and January. This season ends with the conclave and they go straight into the next season right away, the after battle. The conclave is important but the after battle is where the action is expected to be.

So far, it’s been very exciting, even stressful. EVERYBODY is talking about it. Everybody has an opinion. SO MUCH is riding on the outcome. The viewers know, House Smith isn’t guaranteed to win this thing. The writers seem to take an almost gleeful joy in NOT giving the audience anything they expect at any time. The situation is rigged against House Smith but not completely overwhelming. House Trump got a head-start, giving them an early advantage.

House Smith has appeared on it’s heals more than once, but keeps battling back. House Trump has tremendous advantages right now, but neither side can get a true upper hand. If House Smith wins, the land is saved. If House Trump wins, we can only hope for mercy from the Old Gods and the New. Most of the nation is pulling for House Smith, but House Trump commands a huge army.

If House Trump wins, the nation falls into crime and disrepair. Our status as a world leader is over and we become a world pariah and laughing stock. The patriarch of House Trump assumes the throne, and like King Joffrey before him, will be free to do anything he wants. The patriarch of House Smith ends with his head on a pike but it’s not just House Smith that loses. It’s everybody. EVERY House, even those who have bent the knee. Joffrey knows no bounds and believes loyalty is a one-way street. It’s really that simple.

Embellishment or Lie?

by MyBaconPress

I wish Tim Walz had not padded his resume. I presume he did this when he was in state politics and people didn’t look as closely as when one is in National politics, most especially, when one is running for Vice-President, but I don’t really know. (Tim and I aren’t on speaking terms, despite my casual use of his first name.)

TWICE, he’s been nailed for embellishments. He got comfortable using the phrase, “like the gun I carried in war.” It left the impression that he had been in combat. He has not. He DID serve during a war, but he was never in combat. Not a lie, exactly, but not exactly true, either.

Then, at the debate, he gets called out for claiming he was in Tienanmen Square while the anti-communism protests were taking place. Nope. He was in China a few months AFTER the protests. He MAY have been in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong is quite a distance from Tienanmen Square. He wasn’t “there.” THAT one is less of an embellishment and more of an outright lie.

Still, I don’t think it rises to the level of eating pets, taking over cities, utopia under Trump, or any of the other myriad lies being tossed casually around by Trump and/or Vance. Those are full-on, made-up-out-of-whole-cloth whoppers. So, of course, MAGA considers Walz’ stories deal-killers while completely ignoring Trump/Vance lies. It’s just the way of things…

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Cons hold two beliefs at the same time. One, Biden should use Executive Orders to secure the border. Two, it sucks (to them) that Biden was able to simply reverse Trump’s Executive Orders on the border. They NEVER make the next connection, so I will. Executive Orders are NOT as stable as a law. Executive Orders can be reversed. Easily. Executive Orders are not the best answer.

That’s why the Biden White House wanted a law. They wanted the law written by a far-right conservative. Trump killed it so he could use it as a campaign issue.

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I suppose the big news, here, is the reissued indictment against Trump in his criminal case. No, not that one. No, the other one. Yeah, that’s it, the pending election-theft case. It turns out, Jack Smith plans to use most of the damning evidence he was already planning to use against him and a little bit more. Smith filed the amendment in Tanya Chutkin’s court and argued the document (with redactions) should be made public.

“Oh, no, no, no!” argued Trump’s team. “We don’t want people to find out so close to an election what Trump did. Facts really hurt our guy. Hide it until AFTER the election, k?”
No. It has been released and it’s not good for Trump. I was very concerned the corrupted Kangaroo Court had helped him out considerably but Trump’s crimes are just too vast and WAY too far afield from his official duties and Smith plans to show that.

He’s even going to use testimony from Mike Pence now.

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Do you ever get tired of hearing MAGA pretend the world was perfect in every way under Trump? Man, I do. It doesn’t matter the topic. Trump had fixed it and it was perfect under Trump. There were no problems, no challenges, no difficulties. Everyone was making money. Everyone was safe and happy. There were no wars, did you know that? No wars. It was a beautiful thing.

Dear MAGA: we were there. We remember. We’re not going to just let you gaslight us into thinking things that weren’t true, no matter how many times you say them. Trump hadn’t fixed anything. The world was NOT at peace. The country was not perfect in every way. Trump lost more jobs than any other President. Oh, and he killed more Americans than any other president. Trump sucked just as badly at Presidentin’ as he sucks at everything else he does. He even cheats at golf.

Debatable…

by MyBaconPress

At this point, considering Trump too demented to be President is kind of doing the guy a favor. I mean, a Purge? Look, either the guy is lost and doesn’t know what he’s saying, or he’s not and he knows exactly what he’s saying. Which is worse, in this case? Yeah, I know, he never said the word, ‘Purge.’ He just described it, right?

He was talking about shoplifting and how bad it’s getting. He was pretending that shoplifting is a Democrat thing, the left supports it. In fact, during a part where he was pretending the left allegedly prevents police from enforcing the law, he shared his plan to “end it.” “You know, if you had one day, like one real rough, nasty day, one rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately. End immediately. You know, it’ll end immediately.”

Not exactly a ‘Purge,’ since it wouldn’t be a completely lawless day. It would be more like Germany’s infamous ‘Kristallnacht,’ where Nazi mobs attacked Jews in Hitler’s Germany. One night. One really rough, nasty night, and I mean real rough. And the word got out.

He seems to get all of his favorite ideas from some of the very worst people, doesn’t he?

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Can we talk about Tay for a minute? Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala. She’s an American. She has the right to choose the candidate she prefers. She prefers Harris. I don’t know if she would have said anything, but Trump started pretending she was endorsing him. HE kind of forced HER into announcing her support for Harris. But MAGA didn’t like it.

I saw video of a guy who bid $4,000 on a guitar at an auction that was originally reported to have been signed by Taylor. I’m not sure what the event was, because when the man went up to get his guitar, the auctioneer handed him the guitar and a hammer, which the guy then used to smash a few holes in the guitar. $4,000. Who pays $4,000 dollars to buy a guitar and then smashes it? The mind of MAGA, that’s who. (Actually, as a MAGA, the guy probably just won’t pay. He’ll bitch that the guitar was “broken…”)

As it happens, the guitar was NOT signed by Taylor. Hell, it was never owned nor even played by Taylor Swift as far as anybody knows. The person who donated the guitar included a CD cover that HAD been signed by Swift, but there’s no traceable provenance for the guitar that I’ve heard about. But some guy out there spent $4,000 to destroy a guitar just because someone associated Taylor Swift’s name to it. The effing guitar didn’t endorse Kamala! Why the hell did the guitar have to die? (Full disclosure, it could STILL turn out to be hers. There’s just no evidence at this point.)

So now there’s a story out there in the media that Taylor Swift lost supporters after endorsing Kamala. The story is trying to convince people she’s really suffering for her choice. Oh, she lost 2 million Spotify users? According to the article, that “only” leaves her with 91.9 million. She must be in a panic.

More likely, she doesn’t care. For one thing, I would guess the numbers ebb and flow anyway. For another, she, perhaps, remembers the big MAGA “boycott” of the NFL after Colin Kaepernick expressed an opinion. The MAGA boycott didn’t last long. They LIKE football. The people who got all pissy in the moment probably like Taylor’s music, even if they disagree with her politics. They’ll be back. I’d guess Taylor thinks that, too…

Oh, yeah, she has earned over a billion dollars – FAR more than Trump ever earned – or even grifted. I’m guessing if she lost her entire fan base overnight somehow, she’d be fine. But DAMN, MAGA desperately wishes they had a celebrity with a tenth of Swift’s stature to endorse Trump. Instead, he gets Kid Rock, Scott Baio, and Cameron Kirk. (Who? Exactly…)

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I’ll say this for Vance, if you give him several weeks to practice speaking, standing, and looking, he does quite well. I don’t know how well Vance did to advance the Trump/Vance ticket but he seemed to help his own prospects for a 2028 run. Word is, Trump doesn’t LIKE Vance and regrets choosing him for a running mate. How do you think he’s going to feel, now that Vance out-performed him on the debate stage?

Vance stayed focused, something Trump simply cannot do. Vance looked calm, something Trump definitely did NOT do during the Harris/Trump debate. Vance stayed on message, yet another failing of the would-dictator. Vance just did better than Trump. That, I’m sure, will irritate Trump to no end. No, not like “small crowds,” but a LOT.

Vance stood up there like a pro. I think he shed much of the ‘clumsy oaf’ characterization he’s been struggling against since trying to make small talk with a stranger in a doughnut shop like a real human. He just didn’t seem to have any actual answers, though. Lots of quick-time, double-talk to get around questions, but nothing responsive.

Q: “For example, would you deport parents who have entered the U.S. illegally and separate them from any of their children who were born on U.S. soil?”
JDV: “Blah, blah, blah. Fentanyl. Blah, blah. Opioid addiction. Blah de blah de blah, blah…”
Q: “Senator, the question was, will you separate parents from their children, even if their kids are U.S. citizens?
JDV: “Blah, blah, blah. Parents who can’t afford health care. Blah, blah. Schools that are overwhelmed. Blah de blah de blah, blah…”

“DID he (Donald Trump) lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future, did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 Covid situation?”
See what he did, there? “Focused on the future” to avoid answering the question (he used that phrase twice to duck the same question) but focuses on the SAME past in response. “I’m not going to answer a question about 2020 but what about 2020?

When asked about conservative dreams to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but maintain protections for pre-existing conditions, Vance said, “Well, look, we currently have laws and regulations in place, in place right now that protect people with preexisting conditions.”
Yeah, the ACA. The one you want to repeal…

My final take? If you’re MAGA? Vance won. If you’re not MAGA? Walz won. Not one mind was changed and no new insights into either candidate. Debates are kind of dumb. We all know it going in. Questions, sometimes good questions, will be asked but they rarely get answered by cons. “I’ll get back to that important question, but first…”

Yeah, screw you. Answer the question, THEN make your efforts to “correct” (read: distort) the record. Vance largely stuck to (delusional) talking points (lies) on the right. Walz was different than the Tim I’ve seen on the campaign trail, and I like campaign trail Walz better than debate Walz, but at least he had answers to questions…

Meltdowns…

by MyBaconPress

I know MAGA doesn’t get it. They just LOVE his shtick and they don’t care that he’s pretending about anything/everything. They actually believe he’s authentic. (<shakes head> Cult members…) But these days, when I see Trump at one of his rallies, he doesn’t seem to have anything of value to say. It’s all just whining and complaining, threatening and terrorizing, and bitch, bitch, bitch about his crowds. OMG, what IS it with him and crowds?

Have you ever noticed the people standing behind Trump at any of his rallies? Recently, they’ve been catching my eye for a weird reason. They are often in costume. I don’t mean they’re dressed up as Count Dracula or even decked out head to toe in Trump apparel but they appear behind Trump wearing hard hats and construction safety vests or some such? Really?

Are we really NOT supposed to notice that underneath those safety vests the people are wearing clothes decidedly NOT appropriate to construction work? Are we really supposed to believe those people just walked off the construction job – in their good clothes – to wander in to a Trump rally? I’ve heard those people are paid, anyway, so I guess dressing them up is just part of the job, like waving the signs…

He’s STILL obsessing over Kamala’s comment about people leaving his rallies, too. He claims, simultaneously, that the people leaving won’t get to take pictures with him AND that people don’t leave his rallies. “The people that you see leaving… because nobody ever leaves. And when they do, I finish up quick, believe me.” I mean, that’s both sides. Nobody leaves and when they do? Sounds like people leave.

And of COURSE people leave. Hundreds or thousands of people at a rally and nobody leaves? Nobody misjudges the time spent or plans for delays? I’ll tell you what, people save for Disneyland and then one of the kids vomits on Mickey’s shoes and they…what? That’s right, they leave. Right? Things happen. Just because people are leaving doesn’t mean they’re tired of Trump. But all the left has to do is pretend it’s because they’re tired of Trump and he can’t think of anything else. THAT, my friends, is one deeply damaged and fragile ego…

I also get a kick out of listening to him brag about talking without using a teleprompter – while standing in front of a teleprompter. He has one. He uses it. And when he doesn’t, he rambles like an insane person. He starts in with “I don’t need a teleprompter and windmills cause cancer and people eat pets and the world is in such bad shape you’re all already dead and only I can save you and isn’t the world mean to poor little me?” and his team is in back, cringing, shaking their heads, and saying to each other, “This was supposed to be a speech on the economy…”

I know that when MAGA watches him at a rally, they see something different than what the rest of the world sees. To quote Paul Simon, “A man sees what he wants to see and he disregards the rest (hmmm)” I’m a musician. I can’t leave out the “hmmm.” These days, he reminds me of the crazy person at the end of the movie who can’t hide it anymore and everyone finally sees. He’s like the Captain Queeg of American politics and the whole world is watching him melt down. Except MAGA. They just think he’s pretty…

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Look, the stock market is NOT the economy, but the 32nd record close of the Dow this year? Somebody is making money somewhere, right? Trump seems to think the Fed dropping the interest rate by a half point means the economy is struggling. As is usually the case among MAGA, it means exactly the opposite.

The economy was humming along strongly. TOO strongly. Eventually, that can lead to some serious problems – like inflation, so the Fed steps in and raises interest rates. It gets most of us to lay off the credit cards for awhile, slowing inflation. When things slow down just a bit, the rates start coming down again. But make no mistake, rates are coming down these days because of the strong position our economy is in, not because it’s struggling. (And please don’t tell me it’s not perfect. No doubt, and I agree, it’s not perfect. But I’m not interested in letting the perfect be the enemy of the good and I’ll take ‘strong, if not perfect…’)

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Oh, sure. What could go wrong? I hear “they” want to open Three Mile Island again. If you’re my age (or thereabouts), you’re thinking, “WHAT?!?” Yeah, me, too. You’ll be happy to know they aren’t trying to re-open the reactor that melted down. I mean, it melted down. It ain’t starting again. But they had two reactors at Three Mile Island and the other one just kept humming along until 2019, when they finally shuttered the plant.

Now they want to open it again – for one customer. That ONE reactor that can still work at Three Mile Island? That can produce 800 Megawatts of energy! 800 Megawatts is enough to power something like 800,000 homes. And they want to fire it back up and sell the power to one company. One. And guess who it is? Microsoft, of course.

The story is, it’s power for the future of AI. Would we be surprised to find, eventually, it was also power to “mine” bitcoin? I don’t know if you know this, but mining bitcoin takes MASSIVE amounts of electricity. The practice is horrible for the environment as it causes power plants to have to spew carbon into the atmosphere. So, at least a nuclear power source eliminates that threat.

Now all we have to worry about is a nuclear power plant built 50 years ago by the lowest bidder with a history of only one partial meltdown so…

The partial meltdown happened in Unit 2. Unit 2 went online December 30, 1978 and melted down March 28, 1979. Hey, they got three months out of it before it became the worst nuclear disaster in US history so, I’m feeling pretty good about, um, the fact that Three Mile Island is in Pennsylvania and I live in California…