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Yesterday, July 4th, I was reminded of the Lee Greenwood song, “God Bless the U.S.A. … the first verse of which follows:

“If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife
I’d thank my lucky stars to be livin’ here today
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom, and they can’t take that away”
While I do not know about you, I always get a few goosebumps when I listen to that song. Also on yesterday, purely by happenstance I read a piece on Townhall titled:
“New Poll Shows How Many Americans Are Proud of Their National Identity”
Since I’m proud to be an American, I was flummoxed by the results.
In the poll released right before Independence Day, a record-low 58 percent of Americans expressed that they felt proud of their national identity. 
Last year, this figure was 67 percent. 
This is the lowest record ever recorded by Gallup.
A breakdown of the results showed the following:
“Republicans overwhelmingly expressed pride in their national identity, at 92 percent. 
Predictably, only 36 percent of Democrats said that they are proud to be American.
Sixty-three percent of men and fifty-five percent of women said that they are proud of their country. Broken down by age, only 36 percent of those ages 18 to 34, which encompasses Gen Z and Millennials, are proud of their national identity. 
Sixty percent of Americans ages 35 to 54 and 72 percent of Americans ages 55 and over are proud of their national identity.”

“‘Each generation is less patriotic than the prior generation, and Gen Z is definitely much lower than anybody else,’ said Jeffrey Jones, a senior editor at Gallup. ‘But even among the older generations, we see that they’re less patriotic than the ones before them, and they’ve become less patriotic over time. That’s primarily driven by Democrats within those generations.’”

With the risk of repeating myself … I am flummoxed!
7/5/25

Let’s be very clear from the beginning, as I have opined on this before, I am still not thoroughly convinced that the cause of autism is not related to vaccines. I have not said that vaccines cause autism, but rather that we just do not know for sure if there is a relationship.
The other day I read something that was similar to my take on the subject. NO, it was not RFKJr. but rather by a pediatrician, Joel Warsh M.D. Dr Warsh is a board-certified pediatrician in Los Angeles who specializes in parenting, wellness, and integrative medicine. He has also written a variety of books, all of which have a pediatric bent.
From Epoch Health:
Dr. Warsh starts out,
“For too long we’ve been told that, without doubt, childhood vaccines are safe—but in reality—we do not know.”
He continues,
“Like many physicians, I was taught early in my training that any link between vaccines and autism had been completely disproven—that “the science is settled” and no longer open for debate. I repeated that message with confidence for years. But when I began researching for my book, ‘Between a Shot and a Hard Place,’ I set aside assumptions and took an unbiased look at the data myself.
What I found wasn’t reassuring. It wasn’t the robust body of evidence putting the question to rest. Instead, I found a surprisingly limited collection of studies—filled with narrow designs and major gaps. As a board-certified pediatrician trained at top institutions, I expected certainty. What I found was an unsettled and incomplete landscape—one that calls not for dogma, but for open scientific inquiry and nuance.
Let me be clear: I am not claiming that vaccines cause autism. I am saying, with humility and urgency, that we do not know. And the truth is, no one can say with confidence that we do.”
He continues,
“I expected to find a library of randomized controlled trials comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children, robust epidemiological data tracking the CDC vaccine schedule’s long-term neurological impacts, and studies evaluating dose timing, adjuvant combinations, and biologically plausible mechanisms.
“Instead, I found it a tiny pool of repetitive studies, nearly all examining the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine or thimerosal—the mercury component of vaccines—a preservative phased out of most vaccines 20 years ago. The most frequently cited studies—Madsen (2002), DeStefano (2013), Hviid (2019)—do not compare vaccinated children to unvaccinated children. They compare children who received one type of vaccine to those who received other vaccines.”

To summarize he says,
“The claim that ‘the science on vaccines and autism is settled’ or that ‘the relationship has been debunked’ is not backed by comprehensive, independent research. Instead, I found:
* No large, long-term randomized controlled trials comparing fully vaccinated to fully unvaccinated children
* No meaningful research examining the long-term effect of multiple vaccines given at once, which is how children typically receive them
* Minimal investigation into aluminum adjuvants, despite known neuroinflammatory potential in animal and cellular studies
* No studies evaluating the safety of the full CDC vaccine schedule as it is actually administered, with its current timing and combination of doses.
* Minimal to no long-term autism research on most childhood vaccines aside from MMR—including hepatitis B, hepatitis A, rotavirus, PCV (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine), varicella, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis), and polio.
* No long-term safety data on the most recently added vaccines, such as COVID-19, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), or new combination vaccines—each introduced without long-term post-marketing surveillance in diverse populations.”

Dr. Warsh is a practicing pediatrician and he is skeptical of the party line. Hopefully this kind of intellectual skepticism will lead to some real answers.
7/4/25

My suspicion is that history will prove that the fraudulent non-election of Donald Trump will in the future turn out to have been a good thing over the long run for the U.S. In retrospect he was not fully prepared for what was going to hit him when he was elected back in 2016. He was on the defensive right from the git-go and wasn’t ready for the Democratic onslaught. Would he have been better prepared in 2021? … Probably, but with the arrival of the law-fare against him in 2023-2024, he became even better prepared when he took over again in 2025.
Also I think that his near assassination during the 2024 campaign made him even more determined to get things done asap, and he has had a whirlwind first few months.
In addition, for the first few months, JD Vance has been a much better VP and more effective than Mike Pence was for his four years as V.P. In addition, JD Vance will be a formidable and strong presidential candidate in 2028, and in my opinion Mike Pence would not have been, no matter what the year.
7/3/25

The other day after I read some very interesting opinions that the elites and super-elites have and I was shocked.
From BlaseMedia:
“Super-elites are ones that went to Ivy League colleges and have a doctorate. The elite are making $150,000 a year, they’ve gone to college, have one postgraduate degree, and they’re involved in the companies or countries.
They just did a poll on those people. Eighty-plus percent say that Americans should not be allowed to eat beef or meat of any kind.”

WOW! Almost everyone I know eats meat, and those who don’t refrain by choice, not by dictum.

“Remember what Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, said in 2023 at Davos, ‘You will enjoy meat as a treat, but not for sustenance.’”
Double WOW!

Recall that Krause Schwab is best known for hosting an annual meeting of political, business and other elites in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos.

(Yes, this is the same Klaus Schwab who is facing allegations of financial misconduct and workplace abuse. Specifically, a whistleblower letter accused him of misusing WEF funds for personal expenses, including massages and travel, and of pressuring staff to promote him for the Nobel Peace Prize.) … Another topic, perhaps for another day?
But the emphasis on Schwab is that he too is an elite, who is suggesting that we should all get use to not only not eating meat on Friday, but on all days of the week!
Personally, I am not an elitist, and will continue to eat all kinds of meat, whenever and wherever I can.
P.S. For what it’s worth, I will not eat eggplant!
7/2/25

I would assume that most readers know that I am Irish. My genetic testing documenting over 80% Irish ancestry.
I have traveled to Ireland four or five times and have always been proud to be of Irish descent … until now!
Why is that you might ask?
From Daybreak Insider:
The Irish government, which has openly displayed its hatred for Israel in recent years, took another step targeting the Jewish state, becoming the first country in Europe to introduce legislation forbidding imports from the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria.

Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister and former Prime Minister Simon Harris introduced a bill titled the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill. It was passed by the Irish government and now must be approved by the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny.

Former Justice and Equality Minister and Defense Minister Alan Shatter ripped Harris on X, writing, “Only Simon Harris and our current government could be so foolish as to create the acronym PIGS to reference a new law that targets & boycotts Jewish-produced goods. … The gov has now proudly published its own farcical version of the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB), the first time since the defeat of Nazi Germany that any European gov has promoted a law to specifically boycott Jewish produced goods & criminalise those who import them.”

TNow I get old century old England-Ireland relationship and how that could be metaphorically somewhat similar to the Israel-Palestine relationship, but T his is not the Ireland that I have visited multiple times. This is not the heritage from which I have descended, and I am not proud of what is spewing from the Irish government!
7/1/25

The other morning I read an interesting update on “Trump’s tariffs.”
From yahoo/finance:
President Trump’s tariffs are pouring billions more into US coffers in June, putting the revenue supplied by importers on pace for another monthly record.
The latest measure of government receipts for “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” stood at more than $26.7 billion for the month of June, according to the Treasury Department’s latest daily statement dated June 24.
June’s total so far has already topped May’s total haul of about $22 billion — not to mention April and March totals of $17.4 billion and $9.6 billion, respectively.
It was a continuation of revenue spikes seen during Trump’s second term in office that are dwarfing counts from recent history as well as the amounts collected during Trump’s first term.”

While these numbers are very impressive, how much of a difference will they actually make in terms of how much revenue the government is actually taking in?
Sad to say … not that much.
In recent decades, tariff revenue has tended to constitute about 2% of federal revenue. The surge in recent months has changed that, with revenues now accounting for closer to 4%-5% of that revenue.
However, as they say, “every little bit helps!”
6/30/25

On 6/27/25 SCOTUS came out with multiple 6-3 decisions that confirmed to me that common sense still exists in the D.C. area.

One decision confirmed that parents have the right to filter what very liberal school boards want to make impressionable children listen to and read. In other words parents have control over those things that can affect the moral fiber of their children, not school boards … common sense.
Next from Coffee and Covid:
Justice Thomas wrote for the majority in another major First Amendment case published yesterday. CNN ran the story headlined, “Texas porn age verification law upheld by Supreme Court.”
What this means is that viewers of porn will have to validate their age. Again to me … common sense.

The third 6-3 decision was one that limited what activist liberal judges can do. Their injunctions can only apply to the parties before the judge. These injunctions will no longer be applied nationally … again common sense.
However the majority decision in this third case was written by Justice Barrett, who did not limit her opinion to just the facts of the case, but wrote a scathing rebuke of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
From BlazeMedia:
The headline … “Justice Amy Coney Barrett humiliates Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson over her apparent ignorance of American law”

“The former Notre Dame Law School professor tried to make sense out of Jackson’s position, though admitted that it was ‘difficult to pin down.’
Barrett suggested that Jackson either believes that universal injunctions are appropriate whenever a defendant is part of the executive branch — a position that ‘goes far beyond the mainstream defense of universal injunctions’ — or, ‘more extreme still,’ that ‘ the reasoning behind any court order demands ‘universal adherence,’ at least where the Executive is concerned.’
“Barrett proceeded to insinuate that former President Joe Biden’s DEI appointee was ignorant of the relevant American legal history and precedent and may have skipped analysis of relevant readings because they involved ‘boring ‘legalese.’
‘We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself,’ wrote Justice Barrett.”

OMG! To me this sounds less like a scholarly opinion and more like the beginning of a “cat fight.”
6/28/25

The other morning I innocently walked into my senior exercise class and noticed an acquaintance checking his emails before the class started. I then made some innocent comment like, “Sooo many emails for everyone!”
BOOM! It was like throwing a match into a gas-filled room. He immediately sounded off on what RFKJr did with some “vaccine committee.” Of course, His commentary was sprinkled with numerous F-bombs. I had no interest in engaging in any discussion with this liberal acquaintance because I had previously learned that a rational discussion with him was just not possible. I quickly ended any possible interchange of ideas with, “You know that I will probably not agree with you,” and that was the end of it.
However, this interaction reminded me of a similar situation a month or so ago when I asked what I thought was a simple question to a liberal acquaintance of sorts … “What do think about the situation concerning fluoride in our drinking water?”
It was the match into the gas filled room all over again, as he answered with a loud, fuming, raging, ad-hominem attack on RFKJr. Finally, when I could get a word in I just said, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.”

These two separate situations made me wonder, “What it is about RFKJr that provoked such dramatic, agitated, and aroused responses about two totally unrelated situations from two different persons?”
Any thoughts?
6/27/25

From the beginning, I have agreed with “follow the science.” The reservation that I have had concerns exactly what is the science. RFKJr. recently has a long post on X.com concerning this issue.
What follows is selected excerpts from this post:

The liberal Guardian pronounced thimerosal, the ethylmercury-based vaccine preservative, “safe.” Opining under the headline, “CDC vaccine panel to review ingredient RFK Jr has targeted for removal,” The Guardian authoritatively assures: “The preservative has been deemed safe.” The Guardian did not bother to cite any peer-reviewed study.

There are high bolus doses of mercury in flu shots, which CDC recommends to pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy and as a routine vaccine for children at six months and in every year of life. Between conception and age 18, a compliant American child today could get a cumulative load of as much as 500 mcg of ethylmercury from multidose flu shots—nearly double of what they were once getting from all the childhood vaccines put together.

Now let’s look at The Guardian claim that thimerosal is safe.
A quick search at the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed and PubChem websites nets thousands of studies on search terms such as: mercury neurotoxicity,[1],[2] mercury and development,[3],[4] and mercury and brain,[5],[6] and hundreds that identify thimerosal as a potent neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen, and endocrine disruptor. There has never been a study that proves thimerosal safe.

But let’s put all that peer-reviewed science aside and just look at what the government and the vaccine industry say about thimerosal. Thimerosal’s label advises against its use during pregnancy, pointing out that thimerosal has never been shown to be safe and that it causes mutations in mammals.[10],[11] Thimerosal’s material safety data sheet (MSDS) acknowledges that thimerosal is “toxic,” has “Nervous System and Reproductive Effects,” and is “mutagenic in mammalian cells,” and that exposure to mercury in thimerosal “in utero and in children can cause mild to severe mental retardation and mild to severe motor coordination impairment.”

The Guardian is blind and scientifically baseless repetition of empty industry assurances about thimerosal safety is yet another proof that journalists, and particularly science journalists, have now devolved into obsequious stenographers for Big Pharma.

If you follow the science, it appears that thimerosal is not what was claimed in the Guardian.
6/26/25

Late last week ago I came upon a piece that should in normal times deserve a lot of publicity in the Main Stream Media, but has not.
From Coffee and Covid:
Business Insider Africa ran a story headlined, “Trump declares end to Rwanda–DRC conflict with historic peace agreement.”

From Business Insider:
President Donald Trump has announced a landmark peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda, aimed at ending one of Africa’s longest-running and most violent conflicts.
* The treaty addresses violent conflicts and aims to stabilize the mineral-rich eastern Congo region.
* It signifies a potential turning point in regional stability and a diplomatic achievement for the Trump administration.

According to a statement shared on his social media platform, Trump said the treaty, facilitated in collaboration with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will be signed in Washington by representatives of both countries.
“I am very happy to report that I have arranged, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a wonderful Treaty between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, in their war, which was known for violent bloodshed and death, more so even than most other wars, and has gone on for decades,” Trump said.
Trump added that representatives from Rwanda and the Congo will be in Washington to sign Documents
The long-standing tensions between Rwanda and the DRC, particularly over the mineral-rich and conflict-prone eastern Congo, have fueled years of armed violence, regional instability, and humanitarian crises.

And now … suddenly peace in Africa!
This on top of the Pakistani government’s X account posted on 6/20/25. The Government of Pakistan has decided to formally recommend President Donald J. Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis.
Could this ever happen? A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump!
“Don’t hold your breath.”
6/24/25