'Better Than 50% Chance' SpaceX Brings Astronauts Home; Starliner Is a Disaster David Strom

Is Boeing a perfect metaphor for the Establishment in America?

Boeing's Starliner has been an unmitigated disaster. 

• It cost taxpayers nearly twice as much to develop, 
• costs nearly (or more than) twice as much to fly,
• is years behind schedule, 
• has faced one problem after another, and 
• has stranded astronauts in space for months as NASA and Boeing try to figure out whether it is safe to fly home.

NASA has been making contingency plans to possibly use Space Dragon to rescue the astronauts, although there are political reasons to avoid the drastic move--at least before the election. 

Safety concerns may override political ones, and at this point they likely will, despite this administration not wanting to hurt Boeing or, especially, make Elon Musk look good...

...One informed source said it was greater than a 50-50 chance that the crew would come back on Dragon. Another source said it was significantly more likely than not they would...

AM Fruitcake

 

History for August 4

History for August 4 - On-This-Day.com 

Richard Belzer 1944 - Actor, comedian ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")

• 1735 - Freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. The jury said that "the truth is not libelous."
• 1790 - The Revenue Cutter Service was formed. This U.S. naval task force was the beginning of the U.S. Coast Guard.
• 1914 - Britain declared war on Germany. The U.S. proclaimed its neutrality.
• 1944 - Nazi police raided a house in Amsterdam and arrested eight people. Anne Frank, a teenager at the time, was one of the people arrested. Her diary would be published after her death.
• 1972 - Arthur Bremer was found guilty of shooting George Wallace, the governor of Alabama. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in prison.
• 1977 - U.S. President Carter signed the measure that established the Department of Energy.
• 1987 - The Fairness Doctrine was rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission. The doctrine had required that radio and TV stations present controversial issues in a balanced fashion.

Organization fighting radical gender ideology sues school for withholding public records * WorldNetDaily * by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal

Organization fighting radical gender ideology sues school for withholding public records * WorldNetDaily * by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal: 

Burbank Unified School District, in Los Angeles County, hasn't responded to the Center for American Liberty's repeated records requests, the organization says. This silence violates the California Public Records Act, which requires the state government to disclose records to the public upon request, notes the nonprofit dedicated to protecting free speech and civil liberties.

The way we were-----Did A German General 'Save' Paris? The True Story of the 1944 Liberation

Lefties losing it: Rita Panahi exposes the real Kamala

No wonder corporate profits were up!-----Biden-Harris wasted $8.5 billion in taxpayer money to lose 15,000 jobs at Intel

But today, the failures far outweigh the successes — and in spectacular fashion. - Stephen Moore and Phil Kerpen

• Biden originally touted the "Chips Act" to bring the semiconductor industry back home from Taiwan, China and Singapore.
• Well, ladies and gentlemen: the chips are down — literally and figuratively...
• The price tag on the bill: a cool $280 billion of corporate handouts. 
• It was arguably the largest corporate welfare bill in American history...

Director Rowe Personally Crippled Trump's Secret Service Team - David Strom

...The Secret Service is now stonewalling and has put the very man whose job it was to oversee security in charge of the investigation, and he has been lying to Congress.

...For weeks, I wanted to believe that massive incompetence led to the events in Butler. 

I really did because the alternative didn't bear thinking of...

That is Putin-level evil.
But consider the facts: the security "breakdowns" were so massive and implausible when combined that any large police force could have done a better job than the most elite protection unit in the world. 

• The shooter was identified, tracked, photographed, filmed on the roof, 
• the Secret Service was warned multiple times, 
• the shooter was in the line of sight of the snipers, and 
• Trump was trotted out onto the stage and kept there as the shooter was lining up his shot in full view of the Secret Service snipers.

None of that is disputable...

Girl Paralyzed in Volleyball Match Against Trans Player Goes After Woke Olympics for Endangering Women

Girl Paralyzed in Volleyball Match Against Trans Player Goes After Woke Olympics for Endangering Women: 

“As if the Satanic display at the opening ceremony wasnt enough, the Olympics glorifies men punching women in the face with the intent of knocking them unconscious. Imane Khelif is 1 of 2 male boxers fighting women at the Olympics,”  activist Riley Gaines posted on social media platform X.

State ENDS Digital License Plate Program After Just TWO Years

Blue County Spent Millions on One of Kamala Harris' Favorite Things. It Didn't Go Well By Becky Noble

Kamala Harris Touted a $5B Electric School Bus Program. Three Years Later, It's Produced Just 60 Buses.

...Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) push to use electric school buses in the district resulted in what was deemed millions of dollars in "wasteful spending" due to several operational issues with the buses.

• The whole boondoggle began in February of 2021 when the district decided to replace 326 diesel buses with electric buses as part of a sustainability initiative.
• The grand total for taxpayers for these new buses: around $170 million.

 What did taxpayers get for their money? 

• The buses were not delivered to the district on time, 
• and there were continual mechanical issues.
• Because of this, the district was forced to partially revert to the diesel buses, 
• but because there were not enough of the old buses, the report showed that the district was forced to spend an additional $14 million on extra diesel buses to compensate for the inoperable electric buses...

Lunch video-----Larry Kudlow: Economic storm clouds are gathering

Noon-toon

 

Biden-Harris administration deal with 9/11 terrorists sparks angry backlash * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh

Biden-Harris administration deal with 9/11 terrorists sparks angry backlash * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh: 

They are admitting the responsibility for the murders of nearly 3,000 people in America, but they are being let off with life sentences. That's the substance of a deal the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration is reaching with several of the 9/11 terror attack terrorists, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.

Democrats are killing the world's "Golden Goose"!!

 

John F. Di Leo - This is interesting. Once again, President Trump... | Facebook

John F. Di Leo - This is interesting. Once again, President Trump... | Facebook
...When she ran for Attorney General and senator in California… 

At that time, she focused on the fact that she was half Indian.

• The point that President Trump wanted to bring up is just the fact that it looks like political expedience, that she highlighted her Indian roots when she was running in California, and she’s highlighting her black roots now that she’s running for potus. 

Not to say that that’s wrong necessarily, just that it’s worth keeping in mind if one is inclined to make a voting decision based on the ethnicity of the candidate...

She's afraid of her media acolytes!

 

Squeezing every drop of hysteria...- Tropical Storm Debby forecast to hit Florida this weekend with torrential rain and wind | CNN

Tropical Storm Debby forecast to hit Florida this weekend with torrential rain and wind | CNN

CNN — A tropical storm warning has been issued and a state of emergency declared in parts of Florida in anticipation of Tropical Storm Debby – a storm that hasn’t yet formed but could unleash multiple days of heavy, flooding rainfall to the state and the southeast United States starting this weekend.
The system has 30 mph winds and has been designated Potential Tropical Cyclone Four by the National Hurricane Center...

#1 This day 1953-----Les Paul & Mary Ford - Vaya Con Dios & Sparkle

"Despite its spending more money per capita on homelessness than any comparable city, [San Francisco’s] homeless problem is worse than any comparable city’s.”

Instapundit

• HOW IT STARTED: In December of 2009, SF Weekly had this classic Fox Butterfield-esque line: “Despite its spending more money per capita on homelessness than any comparable city, [San Francisco’s] homeless problem is worse than any comparable city’s.”
• How it’s going: San Francisco Mayor Orders City Staffers to Offer Homeless Bus Tickets Out of Town.

...The degradation and talk of a “doom loop” has turned away tourists and driven out businesses...
In addition to directing staff to offer relocation services to the homeless, Breed is also requiring police officers, firefighters, and paramedics to carry handouts with information about the city’s relocation services...

I’m so old, I can remember when San Fransisco leftists purported to be against bussing. - Ed Driscoll

Don't fall for the lie!

 

Why does the FBI keep lying about the attempted assassination of Trump? | Blaze Media

Why does the FBI keep lying about the attempted assassination of Trump? | Blaze Media: 

The events surrounding the shooting of Donald Trump and the tremendous security failures involved are already incredibly suspicious. The fact that FBI leaders are willing to add to the air of mistrust by championing wild conspiracy theories and perjuring themselves in front of Congress is utterly bizarre.

EVERY democrat dominated city in same mess! Chicago ONLY!!-----A 2024 update on the State of Chicago Pensions

Our greatest public finance challenge remains a great public finance challenge Conor Durkin

As you might imagine, we are not doing great...

• Note that if I use the city’s December 31, 2021 figure instead of the CRR’s, the four funds had $10.96 billion in assets against $44.65 billion in liabilities for a 24.5% funded rate and $33.70 billion in net liabilities.

As of the end of 2023, things got worse.

• The latest report shows the four funds at $11.12 billion in assets (up 1.5%) against $48.32 billion liabilities (up 8.2%) for a net 23.0% funded rate and the $37.2 billion unfunded pension liability you can see in the news. 

That’s not good!
Here’s how we got there....
2022 was really bad
From the city’s 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report:

AM Fruitcake

 

History for August 3

History for August 3 - On-This-Day.com 

Leon Uris 1924

• 1492 - Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain with three ships. The voyage led him to what is now known as the Americas. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.
• 1777 - During the Siege of Fort Stanwix the first U.S. flag was officially flown during battle.
• 1900 - Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. was founded.
• 1914 - Germany declared war on France. The next day World War I began when Britain declared war on Germany.
• 1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the U.S. after the sudden death of President Harding.
• 1933 - The Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced for the price of $2.75.
• 1936 - Jesse Owens won the first of his four Olympic gold medals.
• 1981 - U.S. traffic controllers with PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, went on strike. They were fired just as U.S. President Reagan had warned.
• 1984 - Mary Lou Retton won a gold medal at the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

Flipping herself off: Kamala tries to hide leftist lunacy by changing FOUR stances in a single day * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh

Flipping herself off: Kamala tries to hide leftist lunacy by changing FOUR stances in a single day * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh: 

Kamala Harris, recently pushed into the Democrats' top ballot slot for this fall by the elites of the party who apparently pushed Joe Biden into the ditch because of his declining mental capabilities, is trying to clean up her record and her agendas to appeal to more voters. So she flipflopped on an issue. And then flipflopped on another. And flipflopped on a third. And a fourth. All in one day.

The way we were-----Dairy Queen in every small town - Life in America

Brazil Should Be a Superpower, but It Isn’t...

"Nation Building" fail!-Read all!-----What 10 Years of U.S. Meddling in Ukraine Have Wrought (Spoiler Alert: Not Democracy) | RealClearInvestigations

Far from protecting democracy from Kyiv to Washington, their role in Ukraine looks more like epic meddling resulting in political upheaval for both countries. - Aaron Maté,

• Over the last decade, Ukraine has been the battleground in a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia – a conflict massively escalated by the Kremlin’s invasion in 2022.
• The fight erupted in early 2014, when Biden and his team, then serving in the Obama administration, supported the overthrow of Ukraine’s elected president, Viktor Yanukovych...
• As well-connected Washington Beltway insiders such as Hunter Biden have exploited it for personal enrichment, Ukraine has become a source of foreign interference in the U.S. political system – with questions of unsavory dealings arising in the 2016 and 2020 elections as well as the first impeachment of Donald Trump...
• As the Biden administration successfully pressured Congress to approve its $61 billion funding request for Ukraine...the president and his senior aides have been handed the means to extend a proxy war that they launched a decade ago and that continues to ravage Ukraine...

Kamala Harris Made A Damning Planned Parenthood Video Disappear. Now, It’s Public. By Leif Le Mahieu

Never before seen footage showing a Planned Parenthood employee appearing to discuss the sale of aborted babies’ body parts was released Tuesday,
...years after now-Vice President Kamala Harris seized the footage as Attorney General of California.

• The five-minute video shows a conversation between a person identified as Dr. Stacy De-Lin, Planned Parenthood New York City Medical Director for Abortion Services, and an undercover reporter with the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). During their conversation, De-Lin seems to acknowledge that Planned Parenthood would sell the livers of aborted babies.
• In one clip, De-Lin is told by a CMP investigator that she “could pay you $1,000, up to $1,500 for a liver.”
• “Yeah, that’s great,” De-Lin responds. “I think a financial incentive from you guys like, to the people we have to get this approved from, will be very happy about it,” according to the video shared by CMP.
• Harris’ office confiscated footage in a 2016 raid on CMP President David Daleiden’s California home, two weeks after meeting with Planned Parenthood officials and after the organization had specifically requested the computers used for the undercover videos to be seized...
• In 2020, Planned Parenthood Action released an ad campaign calling Harris “OUR Reproductive Health Champion.” That year, Planned Parenthood Votes published an article entitled “Nine Reasons to Love Kamala Harris.”