Month: July 2025

Dr. Susan Monarez, who at least is trained in microbiology and infectious diseases has just been confirmed by the Senate to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But wait… shouldn’t we be happy that an actual doctor, trained in infectious diseases, is leading this particular agency?

The short answer is no.

The long answer is she has made several comments expressing scepticism on the subject of vaccination. However, she is controvertial enough for a single Republican to down vote her during her confirmation hearing. The final vote was 52-47.

During her confirmation hearing, she did, at least, try to distance herself from policies that are being enacted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr. She was also pressed on whether she will fight for the integrity of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This panel of independent experts advises the agency on issues such as vaccination.

I am not sure how much good any assurances will do, however, considering that Kennedy has already fired 17 members of the panel and replaced them with eight outspoken vaccine denialists. I suppose we can all quietly be hopeful she will provide some level of competent leadership considering she does not come from the world of pro wrestling, like Linda McMann, the current Secretary of Education, who will oversee the elimination of her own department and, consequently, her own job.

This is the United States in 2025. Anti-intellectualism has taken firm root in the halls of government, thanks to the election of Mango Mussolini. Cabinet members are selected based on how good they look on TV, not any actual qualifications they may, and should, have.

At least we will probably live to see the firing of the current Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, thanks to his complete aversion to doing his job with any level of competence. While Signal may be a secure way for cheaters to not be caught by their spouses, it is no way to conduct high-level, top secret meetings. Who would have thought that being a sergeant in the Army and then a Fox news anchor did not qualify you to head one of the largest military organizations in the world? Well, besides everyone except Drumpf.

In the meantime, everyday US citizens suffer under policies that are basically made up based on the whims of Orange Julius Caesar. None of them, of course, are designed to help anyone except our “glorious” leader himself and his billionaire cronies. Now may be the time to take our lessons from France. But, time will tell. There is still a significant plurality that like the Moron-in-Chief.

I had a medical issue that needed to be rectified with a bit of surgery.

Ok… let’s talk about the state of the United States…

We are in full authoritarian mode. A Canadian citizen, from Quebec, was arrested by the US Coast Guard for illegally crossing into US waters from Canada. The man in question states he was fishing near Venise-en-Québec, which is well north (by several kilometers) of the US/Canadian border, on Lake Champlain.

The man also reported that the Coast Guard vessel attempted to push is boat towards US territorial waters causing it to capsize, which resulted in him almost drowning. After going under several times, members of the Coast Guard crew finally pulled him from the water and then sailed him to US land and turned him over to Customs and Border agents.

He was handcuffed, put in a cell still wearing his wet clothing, and given a “dirty” blanket, per his report. He was fingerprinted, held for +/- 2 hours, and, finally, released to his wife.

The boater wants other Canadians to beware going anywhere near the US/Canadian border.

In other news, in California, a Republican candidate for the governorship of the state, Kyle Langford, posted a photo in front of the Auschwitz-Stammlager Nazi concentration camp on Twitter (since the GOP is dead set on the idea that they will only use birth names, I will continue to use the birth name of the social media platform, and not its chosen name, out of respect to their viewpoint). The caption of the photo read, “My 0% Unemployment Plan.”

His response to criticism of the post was to double down. Langford insisted “I wasn’t joking, I think it is exactly what is needed…” The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum condemned Langford’s post. Their response post called it a “profound moral failure” and “an affront to the dignity of the victims” of the camp.

Langford responded again stating, “I wasn’t joking, I think it is exactly what is needed to stabilize California and keep people safe.” A candidate for the highest office in the state of California honestly believes that the way to keep people (read: white Christians) safe is to put other people in forced labor camps. I would take this time to remind readers that Auschwitz-Birkenau was a death camp, not just a forced labor concentration camp.

This is the United States of America in 2025. We cannot silently stand by while fascism continues to take root in the fiber of our society. It is time to show our morality.

I refuse to call it Alligator Alcatraz. It is not an apt comparison inasmuch as the convicts in Alcatraz received due process. Thus, I refer to it as Miami Manzanar, which is a much better comparison.

For those that don’t know, Manzanar was a concentration camp built during WWII. Now, before you start thinking, “Those damned Nazis!”, Manzanar was built in the United States to house US citizens and residents of Japanese descent. While it is the most famous, it is only one of ten built during the war. George Takei, the beloved actor who played Sulu on the original Star Trek, and now an activist and icon, was held in more than one of these camps over the course of the war. Those camps are a stain on our history.

We are staining our history again. Miami Manzanar, like its namesake, is the most famous of the new concentration camps Donald Trump is having built to house undocumented, and sometimes documented, immigrants, but it is far from the only one. This one, however, does stand out for a funny reason.

It was built and paid for by the State of Florida, under the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis. It has already flooded, is not up to hurricane codes, and is not, officially, approved by the federal government. Even the land the concentration camp is built on was seized through an executive order signed by DeSantis.

Now, why do I say funny reason? Because the concentration camp is getting a ton of bad press and publicity. We all know that Papaya Palpatine hates bad press and will do anything he can to distance himself from it. How long before he disavows Miami Manzanar and leaves the whole boondoggle hanging around DeSantis’ neck?

While it would be justified to blame DeSantis, he is not a scapegoat. He took his lead from the Trump administration. He made his career on being a mini-Trump and then trying to out-Trump Trump. I lived in Florida for 15 years. Ron DeSantis is a stain on everything that was ever decent about that state.

We’ll see how long it takes for things to come apart at the seams. The first detainees have begun arriving at the facility this weekend. Hurricane season is coming for Florida. Things are about to get uglier than they already are. I can only hope there is no loss of life there because of this cruelty. But, we all know better now, don’t we?

Lisa Murkowski has sealed her legacy. The Big Bad Bill has passed the House of Representatives and will now be sent to the President to sign, which he will.

The bill will add $3 trillion to our deficit. It will cause millions of Americans to lose Medicaid. It will now be harder for people with Affordable Care Act policies to acquire them. It will close down hospitals. SNAP benefits now have a work requirement to them. While there are some people on SNAP that can work, I don’t know many businesses that will employ 80 year old Alzheimer’s patients.

There are more things that will happen, but these are the biggies.
All in all, more people will die every year because of these policies.
Joni Ernst said, “We all die.” Yertle the Turtle (Mitch McConnell) said, “Americans will get over it.” In its essence, this is the biggest transfer of wealth from the working class to the rich in the history of humanity. It is Lisa Murkowski’s legacy.

She stated that it was a bad bill, yet, she still voted for it. She stated it wasn’t ready, but, she still voted for it. She stated that she hoped the House of Representatives would take the bill up and make needed changes, but, she still voted for it. Only two House Republicans had the stones to vote against it with the entirety of the Democratic Party.

This was her John McCain moment and she showed herself to be lacking. She justified all this by saying she obtained carve outs for the citizens of Alaska. She sold out 350,000,000 other Americans when she sold her vote for carve outs for less than 750,000 Alaskans.

Alaskans who may have family in other states that will suffer because of this bill. What is worse, is that, in the end, those carve outs will only delay the above for the state of Alaska. Her constituency will still suffer.

It is well past time that anyone in this country believes that Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have any semblance of integrity.

Too many times, one or the other has been the deciding vote on something that will damage this country. Murkowski literally sold her vote on the “Big Beautiful Bill” that will cut social services for millions of people. She feels justified because she was able to carve out exemptions for her state of Alaska. Apparently, screw the rest of the country as long as she can get re-elected.

It was her turn to take the heat, I assume, because she is in a more reliably red state than Susan Collins, from Maine. It is a very strong possiblility that if Susan Collins voted yes for the bill, she would lose her seat in her next re-election bid. Maine is, historically, a very independent state that votes both blue and red based on the specific situation. Her election loss would effect the balance of power.

Both have a long history of big talk about issues that affect the nation. Both also have a long history of voting against the interests of the American people as well. The term “TACO” should apply to the both of them. Talk big, then capitulate.

But, in the end, it is a strategy. The American electorate is notoriously short memoried. They will remember the soundbite railing against an issue. They, likely, won’t remember the actual vote.

Both of their constituencies need to be bombarded with their failures during their next re-election bids. It is time for them to go.