September 25, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
In his first speech at the United Nations, Argentine president Javier Milei said: Now, at some point, as is often the case with most bureaucratic structures that we men create, this organization stopped upholding the principles outlined in its founding declaration and began to mutate. An organization that had been essentially intended as a shield to protect the realm of men, was transformed into a multi-tentacled leviathan that purports to decide not only what
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September 23, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
“Currently more boomers are partly responsible for creating more households, putting pressure on housing demand,” claims Jonathan Millar, director and senior US economist at Barclays Investment Bank. In similar style, CNN’s Anna Bahney explains that “fewer older homeowners selling is part of what is keeping the inventory of homes historically lowand pushing prices ever higher in markets across the US.” Those born between 1946 and 1964 might not think so.
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September 23, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Ray Charles would have turned 94 today and back on June 10, on the 20th anniversary of his death, the tributes were in short supply. That betrays the nation’s tendency to neglect its great artists, and there was nobody quite like Ray Charles. Once he started singing in his own voice, he made a mark in rhythm and blues, but there was so much more to him. Music is all
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September 23, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Scott ushers in the season with an all-star lineup, but as the leaves begin to fall there’s room for a few more. Consider “Early Autumn,” as performed by the Woody Herman orchestra with Stan Getz on tenor saxophone. Also check out “Autumn Nocturne” with Lou Donaldson on alto. Like Getz, Lou knows his way around a ballad and also shines on up-tempo tunes such as “Move.” That is a composition
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September 22, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
“We’re heading into World War III territory, and because of the power of weapons, nuclear weapons in particular, but other weapons also,” said Donald Trump earlier this month, and this was going to happen “with these clowns that you have in there now.” For Trump, that is on the kind side, and the timing could use some clarification. We’ve been heading into WWIII territory ever since the end of WWII.
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September 20, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Jeffrey Veltri, head of the FBI’s Miami office and the lead agent probing the second attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, was ordered to take down anti-Trump social media posts. The FBI counters that allegations about Veltri’s political bias and social media posts are “demonstrably false,” so based on experience they are probably true. In July, the FBI failed to prevent the first attempt to kill Trump, which nearly succeeded. Shortly
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September 19, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
According to Examining Widespread Fraud in Pandemic Unemployment Relief Programs, a recent report from the House Oversight Committee, taxpayers were ripped off for some $191 billion. A key player in the widespread fraud is Biden-Harris labor secretary Julie Su, former secretary of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency in charge of the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD). As the report notes: EDD, under leadership of Labor and Workforce Development Agency
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September 19, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
After Hezbollah pagers exploded in Lebanon, State Department mouthpiece Matthew Miller told NBC News that the United states was “not aware of this incident in advance,” and was not involved in it. Assuming that the United States has the ability to conduct such an operation – and there is room for reasonable doubt – the people have to wonder if the nation would authorize it, even with cause. When it
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September 15, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Back in February, the Biden-Harris administration appointed Sneha Nair as a “Special Assistant” at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Nair is co-author with Louis Reitmann of “Queering nuclear weapons: How LGBTQ+ inclusion strengthens security and reshapes disarmament,” and as the authors contend: Governments cannot afford to lose out on the human capital and innovation potential of queer people. Informed by their life experiences, queer people have specific skills to
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September 14, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
It was my first time voting in a presidential election, and, while only twenty-one years old, I was already disenchanted with the state of partisan politics in America. Entering the voting booth I had no idea for whom I was going to cast my vote, but I was thrilled at the opportunity to exercise my newfound citizenship privilege. I scanned the seven names listed and stopped at the Communist Party
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September 12, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
World War II ended nearly 80 years ago but it’s in the news again courtesy of Tucker Carlson’s interview with Darryl Cooper, who brands Winston Churchill as the villain. While historians review Cooper, there are realities about WWII that people might not know, such as Hitler’s occupation of Britain’s Channel Islands. Difficult to defend, the islands were demilitarized in June 1940 and partially evacuated in an operation described as “poorly
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September 12, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
The controversy over Donald Trump’s debate with ABC News has somehow obscured the anniversary of 9/11. Twenty-three years down the road, there’s a few things people should remember. With 3000 dead, countless numbers injured, and billions in damages, it was the worst attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Central Intelligence Agency, specifically tasked to prevent such an attack, utterly failed to stop it. In his
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September 10, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
J.D. Vance is taking heat for comments on “childless cat ladies,” according to the candidate, a reference to anti-family values. Those disturbed by Vance’s comments might check out some “useless fat ladies,” with the understanding that useless doesn’t mean harmless. Consider, for example, attorney Mary Nichols, a veteran of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and EPA administrator in the Clinton administration. In that role, Nichols sought to phase out
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September 7, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
In his first court appearance, the 17-year-old who shot San Francisco 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall claimed he was “very sorry that this did happen.” That message came through his court-appointed attorney Bob Dunlap, who said the shooting was “completely out of character for him,” while confirming that the juvenile has another “outstanding matter” in San Joaquin County. The “matter” was not revealed and neither was the suspect’s identity. No photos
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September 7, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
On December 2, 2015 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Islamic terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik gunned down Robert Adams, Isaac Amianos, Bennetta Betbadal, Harry Bowman, Sierra Clayborn, Juan Espinoza, Aurora Godoy, Shannon Johnson, Larry Daniel Kaufman, Damien Meins, Tin Nguyen, Nicholas Thalasinos, Yvette Velasco, and Michael Wetzel. California attorney general Kamala Harris failed to condemn the terrorists, call the attack a hate crime or even gun
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September 5, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
In Germany in 2023 there were 13,844, “knife crime” incidents and last month a Syrian “soldier of the Islamic State” stabbed three people to death and wounded eight others at a “Diversity Festival” in Solingen. That got the attention of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who seeks to reduce the length of knives people are allowed to carry from 4.7 inches to 2.4 inches. Chancellor Scholz may be unaware that Theodoric the
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September 4, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Robert F. Kennedy’s endorsement of Donald Trump gave a boost to the former president but entailed some sacrifice for Kennedy. His fellow Democrats had denied him Secret Service protection, which he gained only after the attempted assassination of Trump on July 13. After ending his candidacy, RFK Jr. now loses Secret Service protection and that recalls his father’s run for the presidency. On June 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy,
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