August 11, 2026

"Woke 1 Was Crazy"

So says AOC. We all when Kamala got the nod after Dems decided to dump Joe. She started walking back pretty much everything she'd said she believed in for the past decade. Things like defund the police etc.

Well, AOC is on her own "walk it on back" tour.

You know all that defund the police, abolish the prisons stuff. She's now blaming her extreme advocacy on "Covid". Implying it turned her reasoning into spaghetti. Jeez, and I thought we were done with blaming Covid now that we can blame everything on Trump.

Then there's Francesca Hong, who leads the Democratic primary race for Governor of Wisconsin...by 10 points.

Hong proposes

• Nationalized healthcare

• State run banks and grocery stores

• Of course, higher taxes for the wealthy

• Raising the minimum wage

• and, State IDs for illegals.

On Monday, the day before today's primary, Ms. Hong came out with a "just kidding". Said a lot of the things she tweeted were to get attention and she's learned "a lot". Nothing like running for the state's top job and learning while you go.

What really worries me is the "wink wink" deals. You know...just elect me and I'll show my true colors. Remember when Obama got caught on a hot mike telling Putin, "After my reelection, I'll have more flexibility." Or Joe saying he was a level-headed moderate?

Really wanna take the chance, Cheese-heads?

AI Update: Sci Fi Here We Come

In a development straight out of science fiction, a large collaborative team led by researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has unveiled MatrAIx: a population-scale AI simulation infrastructure designed to model the behavior of virtually every person on Earth.

MatrAIx centers on Persona 8B, a dataset containing 8.3 billion unique digital profiles. Each persona is defined across 1,290 categorical dimensions that capture everything from demographic background and psychological traits to spending habits, technical literacy, behavioral quirks, and lifestyle preferences.

The system is not merely a static database. Researchers bring these personas to life as agents powered by frontier large language model. These agents can then be dropped into four distinct digital environments: surveys, AI chat interfaces, live web browsing, and native desktop and mobile applications.

Oh Mama! Be careful whom you're talking to.

From the American Midwest to the Persian Gulf, hundreds of major data centers now under construction will be turned on in the coming years. They are set to deliver an avalanche of computing power to develop and run AI that has no equal in the history of the technology industry, with breakthroughs that once felt revolutionary likely to become increasingly routine. Behind each leap in A.I. are corresponding jumps in computing power.

Today, there are about 20 million A.I. chips crammed into the data centers that underpin the technology’s growing abilities and usage worldwide, according to the research firm Epoch AI. That figure is expected to double roughly every nine months, putting the world on pace to have about 200 million of the chips by the end of 2028 — 10 times current levels.

Singularity

We may well be hearing this term more and more as the AI revolution gains more steam. Singularity refers to the time at which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. At the moment, projections have that occurring in 2045. Although, at the pace things are going, it might be Thanksgiving.

Skeptics would say the question of whether machines can think is about as relevant as asking whether submarines can swim. Does it matter in terms or outcomes?

I wonder if AI will have an ego?

Iran: More on the Weapons Supply Question, Less on Progress

Okay, after much flip flopping here's the straight (latest) scoop on munitions. We need more. We are low. Not catastrophically low, but low. Twenty five years of neglect will do that. Urgent pleas are going out daily to defense contractors to ramp up. But that takes money. Congress better not play politics on this one. But you know they will.

Not to get too technical but...PAC-3 MSE and THAAD are among the military's most important defenses against ballistic missile attacks. Patriot batteries provide shorter-range protection for troops, air bases and other critical assets, while THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles at higher altitudes and greater distances, giving commanders another layer of defense against incoming attacks.

The Army's fiscal 2027 budget, reviewed by Fox News Digital, calls for a massive increase in purchases of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, part of a broader effort to rapidly expand a munitions industrial base that cannot be scaled overnight.

Meanwhile, same old, same old on the Iran front. Trump now calls it, "semi-negotiating". Who knows what state the Straits are in day to day.

No change in our viewpoint. Slow play until after the election, then "take 'em out". I doubt that will be enough to carry us in November unless the Dems implode. Americans wouldn't really elect Commies...or would we?

But Let's Get Real

A satisfactory outcome cannot merely be degrading Iran's military and setting back their nuclear aspirations indefinitely. If our involvement ends with Iran's oil flowing freely again and the current regime in place we have failed overall. Consider this...when we lifted just temporarily Iran's ability to sell oil a month or so ago, they took in a reported $6 billion overnight.

Keep doing that a while and the coffers fill. Where do you think that money will be used?

The blockade of Iran's oil had another silver lining if it had been allowed to play out. They were "this close" to having to shut down their wells because storage capacity was filled. Once wells are capped, long term production, whenever reopened, is severely diminished for generations.

No, the only long term solution for a nation whose leaders for 47 years and still today chant, "Death to America" is regime change. Seriously degrade not only the military but the economy...and arm the protestors. I know, I know after Iraq and Afghanistan, Republicans shudder at the use of the term...regime change. But it's hard to see a satisfactory outcome in Iran without it. Very hard.

Oh by the way, did you see...

Iranian hackers attacked our water systems.

More than 30 community water systems in Minnesota were targeted in a coordinated cyberattack in late July, with similar activity being identified in a handful of other states.

An attack on a water system, however, crosses a far more dangerous threshold – from compromising data to disrupting an essential service on which human life depends. Pumps can stop operating. Water supplies can be interrupted. An entire community’s health and safety can be placed at risk.

Good for You, Bibi

On another terror front, Israel has rejected the 15-point peace plan put forth by the Board of Peace, which includes the US. Why? For damned good reasons. The plan does not guarantee that Hamas will disarm.

Good for you Bibi.

Fake News - Remember All Those Starving Kids in Gaza?

Turns out the data being bandied about came from Hamas.

A recent survey, The Gaza SMART nutrition survey — coordinated by the UNICEF-led Nutrition Cluster and presented by the State of Palestine Nutrition Cluster on July 22, 2026 — evaluated 1,335 children under age 5, covering regions home to approximately 83% of Gaza's population.

The survey found acute malnutrition rates between 0.2% using weight-for-height (WHZ) measurements (estimated globally at 0.5%) and 0.8% (versus 1.3% globally) using mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC).

Evaluators concluded there was "no widespread acute malnutrition at population level," noting that rates are significantly lower than those in neighboring countries. No doubt, things would be even better if Hamas didn't hijack food coming in to resell at exorbitant prices.

But the protestors at Columbia don't care.

Descendant of Slaves Slams Smithsonian

Black bishop and author Earl Walker Jackson, a descendant of enslaved ancestors, is criticizing the Smithsonian National Museum of American History for what he said amounts to anti-American "indoctrination" against the "greatest nation on earth."

Although his great-grandparents were enslaved, Jackson believes that "if you were born an American, you hit the proverbial lottery because you have more opportunity and hope than any people living anywhere else on the planet."

"It makes me angry when people do this to our country, but it's sad too because what it tells me is that the indoctrination machine is hard at work convincing people [of] this narrative," he said. "This is a wonderful country; it's the greatest nation on earth. And you've got people so indoctrinated into seeing our country sliced and diced into race and ethnicity and class and income and so forth that they fail to understand the blessing of the United States of America."

In reference to the museum's director's comments, Jackson said, "She talks about how history should be a tool of social justice. No, history should be facts about what has happened in the past and leave others to draw their own conclusions about what those facts mean."

Say it again...Earl.

WNBA in the News Again

I'm not referring to the fact that Sophie Cunningham got clocked in a game this week. You remember Sophie...the racist who said it wasn't fair for boys to play against girls. Such temerity!

Well there was another event involving the League last week. Former NBA player Royce White has declared for 2027 WNBA draft. Enes Kanter says he's declaring too.

Here we go. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Bummer in Buffalo

Apparently there are a whole bunch of seats whose view is blocked at the new, just opened Buffalo Bills football stadium. You'd think for $2.2 billion somebody woulda checked to make sure you can see the field, no?

DC Crackdown Paying Off

The Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force will mark its first anniversary Tuesday after making more than 16,000 arrests since its launch.

"Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners have delivered extraordinary results in our nation’s capital. More than 16,000 arrests, thousands of illegal drugs and firearms taken off the streets, and dangerous violent offenders brought to justice mean safer neighborhoods and lives protected," said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. "We will not relent until every community in Washington, D.C., is safe."

The operation has led to the arrests of 35 homicide suspects and more than 100 known gang members, along with more than 3,200 narcotics arrests, nearly 2,000 illegal guns seized, and 25 missing children located and returned home, according to a White House official.

Washington, D.C.’s homicide count has dropped sharply this year, falling by roughly half compared to the same period in 2025, as the Trump administration points to an aggressive federal crackdown in the nation’s capital.

Really no surprise. Arrest criminals, convict them and put them in jail will, indeed, become a deterrent. Duh.

Drop in the Bucket

But every bit helps I guess. The State Department under Marco has yanked 175,000 visas from foreign nationals who committed crimes, called for violence against the U.S., defrauded Americans and abused the immigration system. Also includes visas for "birth tourists".

What is the Root Cause

...of the burgeoning appetite for Socialism, even Marxism? Is it truly sympathy and anger about harsh conditions? Or is it hatred for the wealthy and successful?

Be Careful with that Ozempic

Have you seen a picture of jovial John Goodman since losing all that weight?

How could you know because you'd never recognize him? Downright weird.

It is the Disease of Not Listening...

that I am concerned with (Shakespeare)

Around 2030, the United States is projected to surpass three milestones that the government’s fiscal predicament.

2030 is the year when federal debt held by the public as a share of the economy will exceed the record set by World War II. Unlike in the ’40s, this debt shows no signs of ever declining.

In 1945, 84 percent of federal outlays were on defense, a tsunami of spending that would ebb once World War II concluded. In 2025, 73 percent of federal outlays were on mandatory spending or interest payments, which are legally obligated to continue.

2030 is also when the ratio of seniors to the total population will reach 1 in 5. As recently as 2008, the ratio was around 1 in 8. As noted often, seniors’ rising share of the population mechanically raises Social Security and Medicare costs and pushes them onto a proportionally smaller working population.

The U.S. always used to be able to count on a naturally rising population as an engine for economic growth, but that will no longer be the case. That’s because 2030 is also the year when the CBO projects that deaths will begin to exceed births. U.S. entitlement programs making up much of the budget were designed under 20th-century demographic expectations that no longer hold true.

Social Security used to take in more money than it gave out, but that money was spent on other things. The program has run annual deficits since 2010. It is projected to go insolvent in 2032, at which point seniors would receive a roughly 25% cut in benefits across the board.

Medicare’s budget-busting makes Social Security’s look modest by comparison. Of the projected $138 trillion budget shortfall over the next 30 years, $109 trillion is from Medicare. Rising health care costs, combined with an aging population receiving far more in benefits than it ever paid in taxes, spells fiscal Armageddon. The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund goes insolvent in 2033.

(NB: The fiscal challenges scheduled to arrive in the 2030s are actually based on optimistic assumptions.)

Don't Forget Xi

With all our attention devoted to Iran and AI, let's not forget about biggest obstacle to peace, light and the American way?

Lithium ion batteries. Solar cells. Steel. Shipbuilding. Drones. These are just a few of the industries that China came to dominate as it rose to become an economic superpower. Now comes perhaps the scariest prospect of all: the potential that China will soon dominate biotech and pharmaceuticals as well. The latest developments are alarming—and have barely been noticed outside of the industry.

Why does this matter? It’s not just a question of manufacturing jobs and outsourcing. Biotech companies discover new drugs, which Big Pharma then tries to turn into medicines that the Food and Drug Administration will approve. Morgan Stanley predicts that by 2040, a third of all FDA-approved drugs could originate from China. Think about the power that will give Chinese companies over what drugs to pursue and what diseases to study. And think as well about the leverage the Chinese government could one day have over the U.S. if they had that much control over the drugs Americans need.

Could Use a Few Laughs?

Maybe if we start telling people their brain is an app, they’ll want to use it.

What’s the difference between an outlaw and an in-law? Outlaws are wanted.

Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular.

I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

Enough? I thought so.