The Frankish Reich

Reporting. Actual reporting. No, the alt media can't do it; they're a hot take machine. Here's an example: inside the conclave, with a group of NY Times reporters getting information I thought it was impossible to get. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/world/europe/conclave-vote-pope-leo-robert-prevost.html “I didn’t even know his name,” Cardinal David of the Philippines said. But Cardinal Prevost was not a complete unknown. As the former leader of the Order of St. Augustine, which operates around the globe, and as the head of the Vatican office overseeing the world’s bishops, he had developed powerful connections and backers. First among them had been Francis, who put his career on the fast track. And his decades in Peru, fluent Spanish and leadership of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America gave him deep, and decisive, relationships on the continent. “We almost all know him. He’s one of us,” said Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Venezuela, who has known him for decades. In the weeks before the conclave, the cardinals participated in a series of private meetings to discuss their concerns about the future of the church. Unlike Francis, who made his mark with a short speech sharing his vision for the church, several cardinals said that Cardinal Prevost’s remarks did not stand out. “Like everyone else,” said Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Spain. Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of France, the archbishop of Algiers, also could not recall what the American had said, but he got to talk to him on the sidelines of the meetings — which was important, he said, because he was increasingly being talked about as a candidate based on his “incredible” résumé, fluent Italian, reputation as a moderate and connection to Francis. The cardinal started asking around to people who had worked with the American to vet him, and learned that he listened and worked well in groups. “I did my job,” Cardinal Vesco said. “I have to vote. I have to know the person.”

Oh, I agree. I'm just saying that the Trump promise - NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY - was just that. It wasn't INCREASED STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR PEOPLE 65 AND OVER WHO MAKE LESS THAN $75,000! Doesn't have the same ring to it, does it ... Somehow between the campaign slogan and the actual legislation I fell off the radar. On EVs: lease! The lease credits are still out there since somehow they flow to the dealer. I got a ridiculously cheap EV lease end of last year. Nice car, I never buy gas now except for long road trips where I still take the old ICE SUV.

I met my first wife and my second improved wife at work. I'll admit that they were both kind of out of my league. I don't know if they would've responded to me at all on match or whatever. But I guess I was quite irresistible in person. JD Hill Fan thinks it must be my wit. It does bother me that dating at work is kind of a minefield now. Do we really want to drive all human relationships into an artificial transactional app?

I was promised NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY. My social security benefits will be FULLY TAXED. That's all.

He was convicted the first time in a state Court proceeding. Trump has no pardon authority over that. Slow down, cowboy.

So you've gotta have FICA/Medicare deducted from your tips, which means you gotta declare those tips as income (kind sorta nontaxable income) which means ... well, your tax return didn't get any easier, did it. The Party of Filing Your Tax Return on a Postcard.

Come on, the campaign beard has been a thing for a while. Ted Cruz, anyone? (I still say watch out for him, he's lurking. It may be like the pope thing in 2028 - you can't seem like you want it that much)

Talk about flogging a dead horse. It is obvious to anyone that a man at 80 is not as energetic or quick-minded as a man at 40, or 50, or 60. It is even more obvious that a man at 80 is not as physically adept as a man at a younger age. The question was always "Is he competent to serve as president." And again, we had a binary choice (until Biden dropped out). Two elderly men, both clearly past their prime. I say that one's presidency showed a pretty steady hand at the stick. I said Biden was aging out of the public part of the job; the point is he still had a handle - his TEAM had a handle - on the private/policy part. Trump long ago aged out of the private/policy part, which is an utter mess. He is nothing but a pitchman now, whether it's pitching steaks or crypto or real estate or the big beautiful bill. I'd like to have a President who is good at both the bully pulpit part and the policy part. But to be honest, we haven't had that since Bill Clinton.

He has no friends. He's ... an incel.

Maybe the Ambassador nominee shouldn’t be spreading false rumors about a leading candidate? https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/brian-burch-s-catholicvote-spat-italian-media-over-parolin-smear

Did anyone notice that he forgot to sign his own prescription drug EO yesterday and had to be prompted by staff? INCOMPETENT! And incontinent too.

How quickly they forget Deranged Rhino.

Julie Kelly https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-kelly-miller-defending-glyphosate-20170427-story.html vs. RFK Jr. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2024/11/24/rfk-robert-kennedy-despises-glyphosate-iowa-farmers/76462478007/ put em in the cage! My money’s on the sharp-fanged Real Housewives of Monsanto star. Whatcha gonna do, Donny? https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-pesticides-agriculture-d23ae280 “Trump officials balk” at RFK’s War on Roundup.

You mean he's going to kill Medicare?

I agree - excellent short series. The kid is a superb actor. And no, that 80/20 crap is crap in real life, but it may be real in dating apps. I'm glad I am old enough to have met women in real life first.

Look at the “I wanna sell some books” grafs they’re running with: 1. Biden didn’t know if he was President of the EU or the USA. An insider joke meant to point out that Biden seemed a lot more interested in foreign policy than domestic affairs. Repeated here as proof that he’s senile. 2. We thought he might need a wheelchair in his second term. Duh. He either has severe arthritis (the official explanation) or Parkinson's (many suspect). At any rate, yeah, he’s 81, has trouble getting around, and it’s time to put rails in the shower or get one of those walk-in bathtubs.

Oh, we're just getting started. So is Barron - officially listed as the "DeFi Visionary" at World Liberty Financial - now fair game for ridicule? All-American Slovenian tot all grown up.

So ... why wouldn't it simply be a gift from Qatar to the people of the United States? Why does Trump personally get it, and then it reverts to the Trump Library Foundation (or whatever) instead of to the next President? Couldn't the current AF1 (to be retired once the Gilded Palace of Sin takes flight) be on exhibit at the Trump Library, and the new and improved Qatari 747 continue to benefit the American people? Just call bs when you hear it. Don't cover up for him.

The Republicans in Congress agree. In a stunning development, it appears that the income tax will survive alongside the beautiful tariffs. In related news, there's a "real chance" the Tennessee Titans will win the Super Bowl this season.

At least those of us living in the low income tax states won't be subsidizing all those tax-and-spend New Yorkers and Californians anymore. Wait, hold my beer:

As a guy getting ready to elect when to take social security, imagine my thrill upon learning that Trump promised no tax on social security. I think my benefit even at 62 will be north of $28,000/year. Since I pay about a quarter of that in federal taxes, I'll have an extra $7000/year in mad money! Oh. Wait. Read the fine print. Turns out my wife and I get ... Nothing. Zero. If we impoverished ourselves to get under the income cap, well, we'd get an additional $4,000 standard deduction. Which would save us the princely sum of ... wait for it ... $1000/year. So with an indent and a subparagraph (A), Trump's minions just took away $6,000/year from me. At least I wasn't one of the old suckers who voted for him because he was gonna put extra money in my pocket ... Next up: the bs no taxes on overtime and no taxes on tips, or when "No Taxes" means "Slightly Reduced Taxes for Poorer Filers." Big win! https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/taxes-tips-big-beautiful-bill

Do I have to take both? To her credit, Charlize has had less cosmetic surgery.

So how's that anti-police state thing working out?

On the Boer refugees: I had a little exposure to this about 15 years ago. I don't know what's in their hearts regarding race, etc, but their outward actions show strong (and often large) family ties, an interest in living the rural life, and a willingness to live in some pretty marginal farmland that is otherwise depopulating. So they seem to be good additions to the United States even if the manner in which they're being allowed to jump the line is questionable at best.