What is the reason why the United States went to war with Iran?
We still have no real idea to why the Americans decided to take on Iran.....
I know but I bet you money, this post could be flagged for inappropriate content.
Anyway, when the U.S. hit a school and hospital, did they conclude that they were military targets or simple errors in judgements?
When Israel attacked the oil, gas and nuclear power centers in Iran, were they military objectives?
What we see is war crimes.
The president is about to sent military officials to Iran. It is a deadly risk because the U.S. has not prepared for an invasion abet an illegal occupation of another sovereign nation.
So it is apparent President Donald J. Trump is feeling the pressure of the voters. As gas prices and food prices have increased heavily, the American voters are pointing to Trump and Republicans as the cause of the chaos.
On GOP Sundays, the Trump Administration goes on the offense.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday defended strikes on Iran’s infrastructure since the U.S. and Israel began their joint war against the country in February, saying “sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate.”
His comments came just hours after President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was giving Iranian leadership 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S. military strikes that “will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!”
Bessent defended Trump’s rhetoric, saying it’s “the only language the Iranians understand.”
Early Sunday, a spokesperson for Iran’s military command headquarters warned that if the U.S. strikes oil infrastructure, Iran will respond in kind.
“If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, then fuel, energy, information technology systems and desalination infrastructure used by America and the regime in the region will be struck,” Col. Ebrahim Zolfaqari said, according to the IRNA Iranian state news agency.
The U.S. in recent weeks has avoided striking Iran’s oil infrastructure amid ongoing military strikes on the Middle Eastern nation.
Last week, Trump told NBC News that the U.S. military “totally decimated” Iran’s Kharg Island, “except, as you know, I didn’t do anything having to do with the energy lines, because having to rebuild that would take years.”
He added in that interview "we may hit it a few more times just for fun.”
In the same interview, the president said he was working with international allies on plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime passageway for oil tankers that has been closed since the start of the war. The closure has led oil prices to surge globally and has led gas prices in the U.S. to surge as well.
Bessent on Sunday also addressed comments he made this week about Kharg Island, a critical hub for Iran’s oil production, in which he told Fox Business, “The military assets on Kharg Island were destroyed,” adding: “We will see what happens with — whether that eventually becomes a U.S. asset.”
The treasury secretary did not explain what it would look like to make Kharg Island a U.S. asset, but told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that “all options are on the table,” including sending U.S. troops to secure the island.
U.S. officials told NBC News last week that Trump is weighing options to send U.S. troops to Kharg Island to secure oil facilities, which is about 15 miles off the coast of mainland Iran.
Bessent also defended the Treasury Department’s decision last week to ease certain sanctions on Iran by “permitting the sale of Iranian oil currently stranded at sea,” as the Trump administration seeks to address rising energy costs.
Announcing the move on Saturday, Bessent said it would “quickly bring approximately 140 million barrels of oil to global markets” and help “to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran,” though some experts questioned why the U.S. would boost Iran economically amid the war.
The oil the U.S. is allowing to be sold, Bessent said Sunday, “was always going to be sold to the Chinese” at a discount.
The treasury secretary added that “we had always planned for this contingency” and called the move “jujitsuing the Iranians” by “using their own oil against them.”
Bessent demurred when asked about why the U.S. would allow Iran to profit off the oil, saying, “Iran already gets a huge amount of the money, because Iran is the largest sponsor of state terrorism, and China has been funding them.” This sale, he added would help the United States’ Asian allies, like Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) appeared on “Meet the Press” after Bessent and slammed the treasury secretary’s comments, telling Welker, “This administration has totally lost touch with reality. This war is spinning out of control. Prices are spiking for millions of Americans.”
The senator responded directly to Bessent’s comment about needing to escalate the war before de-escalating it by comparing the Iran conflict to past wars.
“It’s like they’ve never read a history book,” Murphy said. “That’s exactly what our leaders said in the middle of Vietnam and in the 20 years of mismanagement in Afghanistan.”
“We need to end this war,” the Connecticut senator added.
Only a few weeks into the season and ABC Television Group has officially cancelled the 22nd Season before it started. They will officially retool and recast a new bachelorette.
Taylor Frankie Paul is no longer participating after a revelation came forth. Her other platforms are now at risk of termination.
The former Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast member is accused of domestic violence.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 988, or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline’s website or the Crisis Text Line’s website.
If you or a loved one are a victim of domestic violence, you can call a 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-800-300-1080 or visit www.corasupport.org.
The Network/La Red’s 24-hour hotline, 1-800-832-1901 provides confidential emotional support, information, referrals, safety planning, and crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and/or transgender (LGBTQ+) folks, as well as folks in kink and polyamorous communities who are being abused or have been abused by a partner.
Dakota Mortensen, her former partner was seen in a 2023 video surfaced showing Paul violently attacking him in the presence of her child.
ABC’s decision to cancel a completed season of “The Bachelorette” marks the latest controversy in a franchise that has repeatedly faced scrutiny over casting, cultural awareness and the behavior of some of its most prominent figures.
The network pulled the upcoming season starring Paul after a 2023 video of an altercation with her former partner surfaced. In it, she appears to punch, kick and throw chairs at him as her young daughter watched and cried. The cancellation stands out for the series as it has previously navigated issues in real time rather than shelving an entire season.
Notably, Paul, 31, has not appeared in the “Bachelor” franchise before, a change from the usual practice of casting contestants from previous seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” as leads. But the pick offers some synergy, as “Bachelorette” broadcaster ABC and “Mormon Wives” streamer Hulu are both owned by Disney. (Two of her current castmates are headed to “Dancing With the Stars,” also on ABC.)
Robert Mueller, a former FBI Director who became a special prosecutor that investigated Trump’s ties to Russian operatives passed away.
The former FBI director and special prosecutor during the first Trump Administration's collusion and electoral interference in 2016 has passed away.
Midway Wrap Up in May.
President Donald J. Trump, Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Department of Justice Pam Bondi, members of Congress, James Comey, Christopher Wray and the junk food media will react to the passing of Robert Mueller.
Trump also took a personal shot at Mueller.
He was the FBI director during George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
Robert S. Mueller III, the FBI director who transformed the nation’s premier law enforcement agency into a terrorism-fighting force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and who later became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has died. He was 81.
“With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday night, his family said in a statement Saturday. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.”
At the FBI, Mueller set about almost immediately overhauling the bureau’s mission to meet the law enforcement needs of the 21st century, beginning his 12-year tenure just one week before the Sept. 11 attacks and serving across presidents of both political parties. He was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush.
The cataclysmic event instantaneously switched the bureau’s top priority from solving domestic crime to preventing terrorism, a shift that imposed an almost impossibly difficult standard on Mueller and the rest of the federal government: preventing 99 out of 100 terrorist plots wasn’t good enough.
Later, he was special counsel in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign illegally coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. Mueller was a patrician Princeton graduate and Vietnam veteran who walked away from a lucrative midcareer job to stay in public service, and his old-school, buttoned-down style made him an anachronism during a social media-saturated era.
Trump posted on social media after the announcement of Mueller’s death: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” The Republican president added, “He can no longer hurt innocent people!”
In a statement, former Democratic President Barack Obama called Mueller “one of the finest directors in the history of the FBI” who saved “countless lives” after transforming the bureau. “But it was his relentless commitment to the rule of law and his unwavering belief in our bedrock values that made him one of the most respected public servants of our time,” Obama added.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The FBI Agents Association cited Mueller’s “commitment to public service and to the FBI’s mission.“
A second act as an investigator of a sitting president
The second-longest-serving director in FBI history, behind only J. Edgar Hoover, Mueller held the job until 2013 after agreeing to Obama’s request to stay on even after his 10-year term was up.
After several years in private practice, Mueller was asked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to return to public service as special counsel in the Trump-Russia inquiry.
Mueller’s stern visage and taciturn demeanor matched the seriousness of the mission, as his team spent nearly two years quietly conducting one of the most consequential, yet divisive, investigations in Justice Department history. He held no news conferences and made no public appearances during the investigation, remaining quiet despite attacks from Trump and his supporters and creating an aura of mystery around his work.
All told, Mueller brought criminal charges against six of the president’s associates, including his campaign chairman and first national security adviser.
His 448-page report released in April 2019 identified substantial contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia but did not allege a criminal conspiracy. Mueller laid out damaging details about Trump’s efforts to seize control of the investigation, and even shut it down, though he declined to decide whether Trump had broken the law, in part because of department policy barring the indictment of a sitting president.
Do not expect any positive words from the president when it came to people who crossed him.
But, in perhaps the most memorable language of the report, Mueller pointedly noted: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”
The nebulous conclusion did not deliver the knockout punch to the administration that some Trump opponents had hoped for, nor did it trigger a sustained push by House Democrats to impeach the president -- though he was later tried and acquitted on separate allegations related to Ukraine.
The outcome also left room for Attorney General William Barr to insert his own views. He and his team made their own determination that Trump did not obstruct justice, and he and Mueller privately tangled over a four-page summary letter from Barr that Mueller felt did not adequately capture his report’s damaging conclusion.
Mueller deflated Democrats during a highly anticipated congressional hearing on his report when he offered terse, one-word answers and appeared uncertain in his testimony. Frequently, he seemed to waver on details of his investigation. It was hardly the commanding performance many had expected from Mueller, who had a towering reputation in Washington.
Over the next months, Barr made clear his own disagreements with the foundations of the Russia investigation, moving to dismiss a false-statements prosecution that Mueller had brought against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, even though that investigation ended in a guilty plea.
Mueller’s tenure as special counsel was the capstone of a career spent in government.
FBI transformed into a national security agency
His time as FBI director was defined by the Sept. 11 attacks and its aftermath, as an FBI granted broad new surveillance and national security powers scrambled to confront an ascendant al-Qaida and interrupt plots and take terrorists off the street before they could act.
It was a new model of policing for an FBI that had long been accustomed to investigating crimes that had already occurred.
When he became FBI director, “I had expected to focus on areas familiar to me as a prosecutor: drug cases, white-collar criminal cases and violent crime,” Mueller told a group of lawyers in October 2012.
Instead, “we had to focus on long-term, strategic change. We had to enhance our intelligence capabilities and upgrade our technology. We had to build upon strong partnerships and forge new friendships, both here at home and abroad.”
In response, the FBI shifted 2,000 of the total 5,000 agents in the bureau’s criminal programs to national security.
In hindsight, the transformation was a success. At the time, there were problems, and Mueller said as much. In a speech near the end of his tenure, Mueller recalled “those days when we were under attack by the media and being clobbered by Congress; when the attorney general was not at all happy with me.”
Among the issues: The Justice Department’s inspector general found that the FBI circumvented the law to obtain thousands of phone call records for terrorism investigations.
Mueller decided that the FBI would not take part in abusive interrogation techniques of suspected terrorists, but the policy was not effectively communicated down the line for nearly two years. In an effort to move the FBI into a paperless environment, the bureau spent over $600 million on two computer systems -- one that was 2½ years overdue and a predecessor that was only partially completed and had to be scrapped after consultants declared it obsolete and riddled with problems.
For the nation’s top law enforcement agency, it was a rocky trip through rough terrain.
But there were many successes as well, including thwarted terror plots and headline-making criminal cases like the one against fraudster Bernie Madoff. The Republican also cultivated an apolitical reputation on the job, nearly quitting in a clash with the Bush administration over a surveillance program that he and his successor, James Comey, considered unlawful.
This is pure Trump. The old petty ass man.
He famously stood alongside Comey, then deputy attorney general, during a dramatic 2004 hospital standoff over federal wiretapping rules. The two men planted themselves at the bedside of the ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft to block Bush administration officials from making an end run to get Ashcroft’s permission to reauthorize a secret no-warrant wiretapping program.
In an extraordinary vote of confidence, Congress, at the Obama administration’s request, approved a two-year extension for Mueller to remain at his post.
A Marine who served in Vietnam before becoming a prosecutor
Mueller was born in New York City and grew up in a well-to-do suburb of Philadelphia.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a master’s degree in international relations from New York University. He then joined the Marines, serving for three years as an officer during the Vietnam War. He led a rifle platoon and was awarded a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and two Navy Commendation Medals. Following his military service, Mueller earned a law degree from the University of Virginia.
Mueller became a federal prosecutor and relished the work of handling criminal cases. He rose quickly through the ranks in U.S. attorneys’ offices in San Francisco and Boston from 1976 to 1988. Later, as head of the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington, he oversaw a range of high-profile prosecutions that chalked up victories against targets as varied as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and New York crime boss John Gotti.
In a mid-career switch that shocked colleagues, Mueller threw over a job at a prestigious Boston law firm to join the homicide division of the U.S. attorney’s office in the nation’s capital. There, he immersed himself as a senior litigator in a bulging caseload of unsolved drug-related murders in a city rife with violence.
Mueller was driven by a career-long passion for the painstaking work of building successful criminal cases. Even as head of the FBI, he would dig into the details of investigations, some of them major cases but others less so, sometimes surprising agents who suddenly found themselves on the phone with the director.
“The management books will tell you that as the head of an organization, you should focus on the vision,” Mueller once said. But “for me there were and are today those areas where one needs to be substantially personally involved,” especially in regard to “the terrorist threat and the need to know and understand that threat to its roots.”
Two terrorist attacks occurred toward the end of Mueller’s watch: the Boston Marathon bombing and the Fort Hood shootings in Texas. Both weighed heavily on him, he acknowledged in an interview two weeks before his departure.
“You sit down with victims’ families, you see the pain they go through and you always wonder whether there isn’t something more” that could have been done, he said.
If you get a reply from someone who justifies what was seen on camera an act of brutality conducted by law enforcement, ignore them....
They are bots.
If anyone claims that police officers were right in telling the suspect what was needed to be done and yet they used police force to restrain or kill, ignore them....
They are bots.
Did you know that ICE and most U.S. agencies are getting their training from Israel?
The Obama Administration had placed the Columbus Division of Police in a writ of concern. Then attorney generals Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch had concerns about how the Ohio agency operated.
Then came Donald J. Trump. He ordered then attorney general Jeff Sessions to scrap all Department of Justice inquiries into the agency. He even said that American law enforcement should rough them up a little bit. He told then attorney general Bill Barr to make rules that make it a death card if suspects (especially inmigrants) kill law enforcement.
Columbus Police had numerous high profile shootings of Black and Hispanic suspects.
They even engaged in an unlawful arrest of adult entertainer/activist Stormy Daniels, a staunch critic of Trump.
About 90% of the officers usually escape accountability. The Franklin County prosecutor and Columbus district attorneys often have sympathy for the officers.
Then came Joe Biden. The guy who claimed to the save the soul of the nation, wanted to try something different. He ordered then attorney general Merrick Garland to make initiatives to deal with police use of force. He tried to get Congress to pass the George Floyd Policing Act. The Republicans and some Democrats (independents Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin and John Fetterman) stalled the legislation. It failed which led to the status quo to continue.
Trump comes back.
So far the Columbus Police have gotten worse. The mayor Andrew Geithner ordered police to not work with ICE. Many police officers ignore him.
The police union in Columbus often sides with ICE and Republicans on police encounters.
Any incident conducted by the Columbus Police is often justified when union does a presser or a reaction.
Many of these incidents including Nick Shirley's attempts to bother Somali Americans in Columbus are ops conducted by Israel.
Israel has a strong presence in the Ohio statehouse. Our senators Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno, the 15 U.S. Representatives and the state leadership are compromised by Israel.
Gov. Mike DeWine and Republicans continue taking Israel bonds which piles on debt to Ohioans. The state has plans on passing legislation that defines the International Holocaust Remembrance Awareness definition of antisemitism which includes criticism of Israel. They have already have laws on the books making state employers and those seeking contracts from boycotting Israel. They also have laws on the book making a punishable crime if anyone is to harass Jews or protest near synagogues.
Did you know of all the Midwest cities, Chicago and Columbus are the largest?
Columbus has a population of one million residents. It has over 280 square miles of land.
It has expanded into three counties. It used to have Amtrak until the late 1970s. It is stalled once again because of corporate lobbyists trying to prevent a line that brings Columbus and Dayton back on Amtrak's service line.
It has the Columbus Blue Jackets, Columbus Crew and Ohio State Buckeyes athletic programs. It is not in the running for a NBA team, MLB team or NFL team.
Les Wexner, a key figure in the Jeffrey Epstein files lives in New Albany, a city near Columbus.
The Columbus Police has received training from the Israeli Defense Forces and has a place in the Anti-Defamation League. This controversial alliance led to what happened this week in the city.
The City of Columbus Department of the Inspector General is investigating an incident caught on video where an officer used force on a woman during an arrest in the Linden area.
The Columbus Division of Police, which acknowledged that officials were made aware of the video, said the incident happened on Tuesday at 7:18 p.m. on Cleveland and Oakland Park avenues.
The video submitted to 10TV by a viewer shows three officers near a black vehicle with their guns drawn. A woman is then shown briefly facing the officers with her hands up, turning around and walking backwards toward the officers.
An officer is seen in the video placing the woman’s hands behind her back. The officer then sweeps his leg under the woman, knocking her to the ground.
Police have not released details about the incident or what led to the arrest.
The City of Columbus Department of the Inspector General is responsible for investigating allegations of police misconduct and excessive use of force in Columbus. The department refers its findings to the Columbus Civilian Police Review Board.
Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said the move was “a trained and approved technique and is classified as a Level 1 use of force, the lowest level on the Columbus Division of Police use-of-force scale.”
“We understand that any incident involving the use of force can be upsetting to the community,” Columbus police said in a statement. “The Columbus Division of Police is dedicated to transparency and accountability for all members of the Division, and we appreciate the community’s patience as these investigations are completed.”
You can read the full statement from Columbus police below.
“The Division has been made aware of a social media video that shows a use of force incident involving an officer and a community member in the Linden area on March 17 at 7:18 p.m.
“The Department of the Inspector General, which investigates complaints of misconduct and/or excessive use of force by sworn personnel, has opened an investigation into this incident. The Division of Police regards all allegations of misconduct with the utmost seriousness.
“We understand that any incident involving the use of force can be upsetting to the community.
The Atlanta rapper and media personality revealed her pregnancy. The entertainer is claiming that 21 Savage, a British American rapper is the father.
For one thing, I didn't know a 27 year old rapper and online troll got with a 33 year old married father of three. Apparently they confirmed a relationship in December 2025.
Let's rewind back to 2019.
21 Savage was arrested in Decatur on outstanding warrants. It was revealed he was placed in the custody of Immigration Customs Enforcement and was on the verge of being deported to the United Kingdom.
When Savage was six or seven, his parents moved to the United States. He grew up in many states before settling in Atlanta. Apparently he overstayed his visa. He was staying with his family members from the area. He and Young Nuddy are cousins who began rapping in their teens.
He developed the 21 Savage persona and became a mainstream act after appearances on Post Malone, Future and Drake albums.
He released five albums, three collaborative albums (including Offset and Metro Boomin) and appeared in movies. He is an actor, rapper, producer and podcaster.
Savage born Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph is married to his childhood sweetheart Keyanna Joseph. He had allegedly a long affair with Latto since 2020.
Okay, Big Mama.
Well she is known as the online troll of female hip-hop. Alyssa Michelle Stephens (known as Latto) is a rapper, singer, media personality, model and actress. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, she moved to Atlanta to get into the rap game. She went under the name as Miss Mulatto and had an opportunity to get into The Rap Game.
Latto rose to prominence after releasing her 2019 single "Bitch from da Souf," which received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Upon signing with RCA Records, it was issued as the lead single for her debut studio album Queen of da Souf (2020), which performed moderately on the Billboard 200 and spawned the platinum-certified single "Muwop" (featuring Gucci Mane).
While 21 Savage rarely talks about his children or relationship, it was seen on Instagram that he was caressing Latto's belly. This image of them could be AI because he is rarely seen with her.
After a name change to Latto, she reached wider mainstream recognition after the release of her 2021 single, "Big Energy." The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, received triple platinum certification by the RIAA, and landed at number seven on the Year-End Hot 100 chart; its live performance was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance, while Latto herself was nominated for Best New Artist at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. "Big Energy" served as lead single for her second studio album 777 (2022), which trailed the song commercially at number 15 on the Billboard 200. Her guest appearance on Jung Kook's 2023 single "Seven" became her first song to peak atop both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200, while her single "Put It on da Floor Again" (remixed featuring Cardi B) peaked at number 13 on the former chart that same year. The latter served as lead single for her third studio album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea (2024), which matched 777 on the Billboard 200.
Latto has won two BET Awards, a BET Hip Hop Award, a Billboard Music Award, a MTV Video Music Award, and two Grammy nominations. She was included on the 2020 XXL Freshman Class, and was named MTV's "Global Push Artist of the Month" in 2021. Latto was recognized as Variety's "Breakthrough Artist" of 2022, and at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards, Latto won Song of the Year for "Big Energy" and was nominated for Album of the Year for 777. She also won the BET Awards for Best New Artist in 2021 and Best Female Hip Hop Artist in 2023.
She collaborated with many Atlanta rappers. She also has worked with past and present female rappers.
Latto is engaged in a feud with former rapper Nicki Minaj.
Latto has worked with Cardi B, Ice Spice, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, SZA and City Girls. All of them have an open feud with Nicki Minaj.
Now this relationship.
I thought Latto was smart. I thought fall victim to those idiots. Oh well.
The rapper excitedly revealed that she's pregnant with her first child, alongside the cover art and lead single from her upcoming fourth studio LP, fittingly titled Big Mama.
Slated for release on May 29, the artwork album featured a pregnant Latto holding a baby cheetah (one of her signature prints, IYKYK) above her growing belly as they both look into the camera. The announcement came paired with the single and video for “Business & Personal (Intro),” in which the Sugar Honey Iced Tea artist seemingly confirmed that 21 Savage is the baby’s father.
At about two minutes into the video, you can spot what appears to be his tattooed hand gently cradling her stomach.
Short term pain for long term gains says Republicans.
If you haven't notice, you see the costs of food, gas and life are increasing.
You are likely not able to take a vacation with the cost of gas, hotel expenses and insurance.
Oh, we also have a partial government shutdown. Those who work for the TSA and several other federal agencies are not getting paid for the work.
Travelers using our nation's airports are lashing out at TSA workers who are not getting paid for the 8 to 16 hours of work. Some are outright calling in sick or quitting.
People who are planning vacations are going to have frosty reception if they plan on traveling overseas to countries the U.S. damaged relationships with.
Who deserves the blame?
For Republicans, they will blame former president Joe Biden and Democrats for the economic turmoil.
In reality, President Donald J. Trump is totally responsible for all the chaos inflicted on the working class. The Americans are souring on the aggression in Iran. They are fed up with Israel leading us to World War III.
Even Republican voters who are not aligned with MAGA but with the America First movement have vowed to punish Trump come November.
But don't think the Democrats are off the hook. Many progressives are not tolerating this weak, ineffective and "wait and see approach" leadership. Progressives are not tolerating pro Israel Democrats and their generic responses to the chaos.
They are tired of performative acts by the lawmakers.
If you are only filling up gas and going to work and home, you're not alone.
If you are cutting back on doing things like keeping all the lights on at the house, stopping eating at fast food restaurants, not enjoying that gas station quick snack or even night at a bar, you are not alone.
White people who are raised in privilege are more likely to blow their finances without realizing the threat of uncertainty exists.
We are at a point where white leadership, billionaires, the well off and the war machine are no longer tolerated.
The war in Iran has really backfired with the president. Many see it as a distraction from him doing what he was elected to do.... lower the damn prices.
Another iconic figure passed away. Chuck Norris dies a week after he celebrates his birthday.
Midway Wrap Up in May.
I can tell you that I met him when I won a trip to Florida to see the Republican presidential debate in 2007. Google, YouTube and CNN held a contest on videos that encouraged creators to submit ideas on what Republican candidate want to hear.
I went to St. Petersburg and it was the first and only time I took a flight. I landed in Tampa and got a luxury limousine to the luxury hotel near the Xcel Center.
I got to meet some creators who were Republican (even though I was a progressive Democratic voter). I was then supportive of Ron Paul. I was against the war in Iraq and was laser focused on the declining infrastructure in Ohio.
Had I known about Paul's white nationalist ties I would have never backed him.
Eventually I backed Barack Obama and he would win.
I met Republican candidates like Mike Huckabee, Matt Romney, John McCain and Ron Paul. I got an opportunity to even meet actor and media personality Chuck Norris.
Norris endorsed Huckabee for president before eventually backing John McCain who ended up the nominee. Norris is a lifelong member of the Republican Party. He was supportive of McCain, Romney and later President Donald J. Trump.
Norris was a nice man. We posed in a picture and I got an autograph for my former boss at my previous job. He also did a special shout out to her.
Norris who is a martial artist, pitchman, former stuntman, ordain minister, actor and media personality who was best known for sparring with Bruce Lee and his CBS action cop show, Walker, Texas Ranger has passed away at the age of 86.
Norris, q martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and other television shows and movies made him an iconic tough guy — sparking internet parodies and adoration from presidents — has died at 86.
Norris died Thursday, in what his family described as a “sudden passing.”
“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” the family said in a statement posted to social media.
Before he would become a star in movies and on TV, Norris was wildly successful in competitive martial arts. He was a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion. He also founded his own Korean-based American hard style of karate, known sometimes as Chun Kuk Do, and the United Fighting Arts Federation, which has awarded more than 3,300 Chuck Norris System black belts worldwide. Black Belt magazine ultimately credited Norris in its hall of fame with holding a 10th degree black belt, the highest possible honor.
Basically, he was capable of putting a serious hurt on people. He was one of few who had been trained to spot death points in martial arts.
I'm Chuck Norris, who like to know!
Born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma, on March 10, 1940, he grew up poor. At age 12, he moved with his family to Torrance, California, and joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, in 1958. It was during a deployment to Korea that he started training in martial arts, including judo and Tang Soo Do.
“I went out for gymnastics and football at North Torrance high,” he told The Associated Press in 1982. “I played some football, but I also spent a lot of time on the bench. I was never really athletic until I was in the service in Korea.”
After he was honorably discharged in 1962, he worked as a file clerk for Northrop Aircraft and applied to be a police officer, but was put on a waitlist. Meanwhile, he opened a martial arts studio, which expanded to a chain, with students including such stars as Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny and Marie Osmond, and Steve McQueen, whom he later credited with encouraging him to get into acting.
From one studio to another
Norris made his film debut as an uncredited bodyguard in the 1968 movie “The Wrecking Crew,” which included a fight with Dean Martin. He had also crossed paths with Bruce Lee in martial arts circles. Their friendship — sometimes, as sparring partners — led to an iconic faceoff in the 1972 movie “Return of the Dragon,” in which Lee fights and kills Norris’ character in Rome’s Colosseum.
He went on to act in more than 20 movies, such as “Missing in Action,” “The Delta Force” and “Sidekicks.”
“I wanted to project a certain image on the screen of a hero. I had seen a lot of anti-hero movies in which the lead was neither good nor bad. There was no one to root for,” Norris said in 1982.
In 1993, he took on his most famed role, as a crime-fighting lawman in TV’s “Walker, Texas Ranger.” The show ran for nine seasons, and in 2010, then-Gov. Rick Perry awarded him the title of honorary Texas Ranger. The Texas Senate later named him an honorary Texan.
“It’s not violence for violence’s sake, with no moral structure,” Norris told the AP in 1996, speaking about the show. “You try to portray the proper meaning of what it’s about — fighting injustice with justice, good vs. bad. … It’s entertaining for the whole family.”
Norris also made a surprise comedic appearance as a decisive judge in the final match of the 2004 movie “Dodgeball.” He only on occasion had taken acting roles in recent years, including 2012’s “The Expendables 2” and the 2024 sci-fi action movie “Agent Recon.” He’s due to appear in “Zombie Plane,” an upcoming film starring Vanilla Ice.
Chuck Norris: the man, the meme, the legend
It was around the time of “Dodgeball” that his toughman image became the stuff of legend, literally: “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online with such wildly hyperbolic statements as, “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun — and won,” and, “They wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mt. Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”
Norris ultimately embraced the absurdity of the meme craze, putting together “The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book,” which combined his favorites with supposedly true stories and the codes he aimed to live by. He would also write books on martial arts instruction, a memoir, political takes, Civil War-era historical fiction and more.
You knew the kick when he did it.
“To some who know little of my martial arts or film careers but perhaps grew up with ‘Walker, Texas Ranger,’ it seems that I have become a somewhat mythical superhero icon,” Norris wrote in the forward to the “Fact Book.” “I am flattered and humbled.”
That book raised money for a nonprofit he founded with President George H.W. Bush that promoted martial arts instruction for kids.
The intentionally outlandish statements featured in the 2008 Republican presidential primary, when Norris endorsed Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and shot an ad playing on the “Chuck Norris facts.”
“Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse. He tells America how it’s going to be,” Huckabee said in the campaign ad.
President Donald Trump’s supporters later promoted Trump Facts in the same vein, and political pundits tried it as well, describing the commander-in-chief’s decision to seize Venezuela’s sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, as a “Chuck Norris Moment,” and its initial effect on oil prices a “Chuck Norris Premium.”
Norris was outspoken about his Christian beliefs and his support for gun rights, and backed political candidates for years — he even went skydiving with Bush for the former president’s 80th birthday. As for Trump, Norris endorsed him in the 2016 general election and wrote guest columns praising him without explicitly endorsing him the in the days before the 2020 and 2024 elections.
Norris is survived by five children: stunt performers Mike and Eric with his late ex-wife Dianne Holechek, twins Dakota and Danilee with his wife Gena Norris, and Dina, the result of an early 1960s “one-night stand” revealed in his autobiography.
Norris celebrated his birthday just over a week before his death, posting a sparring video on Instagram.
