Get a haircut and get a real jobClean your act up and don't be a slobGet it together like your big brother BobWhy don't you, get a haircut and get a real job?
-- George Thorogood, 1993
It's not a perfect one to one comparison, let alone an actual measurement, but about 20% of teenagers worked in 1979, and not quite 12% today:
“I’ve been asked, you know, I’ve been pardoned, how do I feel about people that may have done other things, and they got pardoned. Well, that’s President Trump’s decision. Who he pardoned, he pardoned.
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For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
-- Romans 9:15
Spot gold added 0.6% to $2,759.83 per ounce as of 0941 GMT. The price hit its highest since Nov. 1 earlier in the session and is close to its record peak of $2,790.15 hit in October.
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I get the drinking too much until you barf. I mean, that's pretty much been Freshman Life 101 forever and a day. Pete was a freshman in college in 1999-2000.
But it takes a special kind of excess to drink until you pass out.
Is it true?
Who knows.
One incident was allegedly in 2013, when he was about 32, at which time he had earned an MA from Harvard. Another was when he was about 28, in 2009, when his first marriage ended. That's a long time after graduating from Princeton University in 2003.
The precise timeline is uncertain because his birth year isn't precisely known, and the new revelations come from a former sister in law, married to Pete's brother from 2011-2019, who can't remember the dates exactly.
Anyway, I don't get why the new SECDEF absolutely, positively must be this guy, with all this sooty baggage. No one is that indispensable.
From The Wall Street Journal here:
Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon, regularly abused alcohol to the point that he passed out at family gatherings, and once needed to be dragged out of a strip club while in uniform, according to an ex-relative’s account of his behavior that was given to U.S. lawmakers and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The sworn statement, submitted in response to a request from Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was signed by Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth. It states that she was with Hegseth when he passed out from drunkenness in the bathroom of a bar in Minneapolis in about 2013. It also describes another night, when she said Hegseth drank so much at a restaurant in Minneapolis that the Uber driver had to pull over on Interstate 94 so he could throw up.
It is little discussed, but Biden's pause on the new projects was based, in part, on the negative impact on prices paid by consumers because natural gas was being diverted to LNG exports. Reduced domestic supply has led to higher prices paid by consumers:
The current economic and environmental analyses DOE uses to underpin its
LNG export authorizations are roughly five years old and no longer
adequately account for considerations like potential energy cost
increases for American consumers and manufacturers beyond current
authorizations or the latest assessment of the impact of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Natural gas diverted to export already reached 10% of production in 2022.
Reported here:
The president reversed the Biden administration’s pause on new liquefied natural gas export facilities. Trump directed the Energy secretary to start reviewing new LNG projects as quickly as possible.
Natural gas prices have exploded by 210% since Trump was elected in November.
Something smelly this way comes.
David Einhorn says we have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle
“Other than trading and speculation, it serves no other obvious purpose and fulfills no need that is not served elsewhere.”
A crypto token called “fartcoin” exploded in popularity as the re-election of Donald Trump unleashed a storm of animal spirits on Main Street. The meme coin is now edging towards a $2 billion market value, surpassing many U.S.-listed companies.
More meme coins have emerged since the inception of fartcoin. President Donald Trump launched $TRUMP, a meme coin built on the Solana platform. Its market cap over the weekend climbed past $14 billion. The coin at one point was down more than 20% over the past 24 hours, but it has since cut its losses to around 3%. Trump’s wife Melania also unveiled a coin.
The Senate on Monday unanimously confirmed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as America’s 72nd secretary of State, putting in place the first member of President Trump’s Cabinet on the day of his inauguration.
Rubio’s confirmation vote passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 99-0. Rubio also was able to cast a vote for himself.
Reported here by The Hill at 6:52pm yesterday.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced Sunday that Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted would replace Vice President J. D. Vance in the US Senate, but he has not yet been sworn in, hence the 99-0 vote for Rubio.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday, January 16th that Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will replace Rubio in the Senate after Rubio formally resigns.
The Hill reported here yesterday at 5:37pm.
MAGA fan traveled 2,700 miles to DC - but is forced to watch Trump inauguration on iPad
Brian Roy traveled from Seattle last week and was among around 250,000 people who had tickets to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds before the ceremony was moved indoors.
About 2,600 VIPs were let in to the Capitol venues, and 20,000 regular folks into the arena. The rest were like Brian.
Way to go, Brownie!
There's funny money like $Trump and $Melania, and then there's the real thing.
Spot gold climbed 0.7% to $2,726.75 per ounce, reaching its highest level since Nov. 6 and nearing the all-time high of $2,790.15 set in October.
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Meanwhile, earlier in December Biden's own Department of Justice warned Jan 6 "insurrectionists" that accepting a pardon from Trump would amount to a confession of guilt.
So Fauci, Milley, et alia are all ipso facto guilty.
 |
| The Grifters, the sequel |
The meme coins were introduced precisely to cash in on the inauguration euphoria.
Melania Trump launches cryptocurrency ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration
... The Melania token was trading at $11.16 at 10:48 a.m. London time on Monday, up more than 50%, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It has a market cap of $2.15 billion. ...
“Meme cryptocurrencies like these are prone to large fluctuations and we generally consider them as speculative assets,” he said. “The tokens released by Donald and Melania Trump appear to symbolize support for the digital currency sector. However, the introduction of these coins during the presidential inauguration raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest.” ...
Following the Sunday launch of the “Melania” token, the president-elect’s “Official Trump” coin briefly crashed as much as 40%, according to analysts at The Kobeissi Letter in a Sunday post on X.
Whatever may be said about Joe Biden's memory, he didn't have a memory lapse in this instance as alleged by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives. It's troubling that Mike Johnson would misrepresent this in this way.
Joe Biden doesn't have a monopoly on "fake shit".
Sir, why did you [President Biden] pause LNG exports to Europe? Like, I don't understand.
Liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do
that? You understand -- we just talked about Ukraine -- you’re fueling
Vladimir Putin’s war machine because they’ve got to get their gas from
him."
He looks at me, stunned, and says, "I didn’t, I didn’t do that."
I said, "Mr. President, yes, you did. It was an executive order, like, three weeks ago."
He says, "No, I didn’t do that." He’s arguing with me.
-- The Moment Speaker Mike Johnson Knew Biden Wasn't "In Charge" Anymore
LNG exports to Europe were not paused. And demand in Europe dropped in 2024. Biden signed a temporary pause for pending approvals of LNG exports, not for existing approvals of LNG exports. This and Mike's other comments in the story indicate that he is not exactly reliable on the subject. But he could have easily just looked it up.
Jan 26, 2024:
Sep 4, 2024:
US LNG export dominance tested as Europe's demand wilts
Meanwhile, Mike Johnson didn't tell anybody about this until now? Seems like a dereliction of duty for the man in line right behind the VP to become president in the event of incapacity or death.
And, oh yeah, US LNG export tanker loads hit a seven-month high in January 2025 at 71, through yesterday:
“The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works,” Johnson added. “I think President Trump is probably intrigued by all this and he likes to make deals, as you know. So we’re very hopeful that that can happen, and that 270 million American people who enjoy the platform can enjoy it, but enjoy it safely and not have their data being mined by our nation’s enemy.”
The ERA was never ratified according to the rules. Pretending otherwise and using the power of the executive to assert otherwise is a violation of their oaths of office. There is no 28th Amendment to the US Constitution. The ERA is not the law of the land. These are renegade Democrats, but I repeat myself, enemies of the rule of law and enemies of democracy. They mock us with this stunt, and deserve mockery in return.
Here are 11 things Trump has promised to carry out on Day 1 of his presidency
... One of Trump’s most audacious promises was that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office — or even before.
“That
is a war that’s dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I
even become president,” Trump said during a September debate with Vice
President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. ...
There are thousands of destroyed lots as far as the eye can see.
Who wants to pay the former full price for one?
The tax base has been gutted.
Peter Yarrow, of Peter Paul and Mary fame, made a 14-year old girl wank his weenie in a hotel room in 1970. He served three months for his crime.
WaPo in 2021 wondered if there were other victims.
Jimmy Carter pardoned Peter Yarrow at the last second in 1981, while we were distracted with the release of the Iran hostages and the inauguration of Ronald Reagan.
Both disgusting wankers have now died, just days apart: Jimmy on Dec 29th. Peter on Jan 7th.
Round roast $7.486/lb
All uncooked beef roasts category $7.719/lb
Table wine, red and white $13.985/liter
Beer $1.812/pint
The 2017-2020 average annual rate was 1.96%.
The four year average annual rate 2021-2024 under Joe Biden clocks in at 4.48%, almost 129% worse than under Trump I.
During 2024 the year over year measure has been at 3.3% or 3.2% every month from June inclusive, but stonks are soaring today as if something has changed.
Nothing's changed.
A gross dereliction of duty on the part of the Republican-controlled Senate and the Trump-directed FBI. That is a harsh but unavoidable assessment of the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth to serve as Donald Trump’s defense secretary. ...
Only [Senators] Wicker and Reed were permitted to review an FBI report that Reed described as “insufficient.” The FBI failed to question Hegseth’s second wife, despite her expressed interest in being interviewed. It didn’t speak to the woman who accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her — and was paid by him in exchange for executing a nondisclosure agreement. It didn’t obtain the forensic audit of a veteran’s organization Hegseth ran that found “evidence of gross financial mismanagement.”
Mayer reported that “the F.B.I.’s background investigation also failed to interview Fox News personnel who had described Hegseth to NBC News as smelling of alcohol on the job as recently as last fall. Instead, sources say that the Bureau settled for an interview with a public-relations official at Fox.”
The FBI’s role here is troubling, because the bureau is supposed to serve as the Senate’s chief source of reported and reliable information about the individuals whose nominations it is considering. ...
The bureau has argued that the scope of its inquiries is limited by the directions it is given, in this case by the Trump transition team. But the Trump team’s goal is to win confirmation, not to get to the truth of the matter — which makes a Trump-directed FBI investigation worse than meaningless; it makes it effectively a coverup.
More.
Pete Hegseth is no repentant Christian. He's a phony baloney plastic banana good time rock 'n rolla.
This man represents a new low for the GOP.
From the story here:
“I want to return to the incident that you referenced a minute ago that occurred in Monterey, California, in October 2017,” Kaine opened. “At that time, you were still married to your second wife, correct?”
After Hegseth agreed that he believed so, Kaine followed with “And you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct?”
“Senator, I was falsely charged and I fully. investigated and completely cleared,” Hegseth said of the sexual assault allegation, but Kaine pressed.
“So you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime? That’s your definition of cleared?” Kaine pressed. “You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I am shocked that you would stand here and say you are completely cleared. Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child who had been born two months before? And you tell us you are completely cleared. So how is that completely cleared?”
“Senator, her child’s name is Gwendolyn Hope Hegseth, and she’s a child of God, and she’s seven years old,” Hegseth replied.
“I mean, you cheated on the mother of that child less than two months after that daughter was born, didn’t you?” Kaine pressed.
“Those were false charges. Well, no, totally investigated. And I was completely cleared. And I’m so grateful for the marriage I have to this day,” Hegseth answered.
“So you’ve admitted that you had sex at that hotel in October 2017. You said it was consensual. Isn’t that correct?” Kaine continued. “You’ve admitted that it was consensual, and you were still married, and you just had a child by another woman again. How do you explain yourself?”
“Completely false charges against me,” Hegseth insisted, even though he agreed to a non-disclosure agreement and financial settlement with his accuser.
Although there were at least seven times that he didn't, that we know of anyway.
But the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, bluntly told Hegseth, “I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.”
Reed said he finds the allegations against Hegseth “extremely alarming.”
“I vote in favor of all your predecessors, including those in the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, you lack the character and composure and competence to hold the position of Secretary of Defense,” Reed said.
More.
Jack is a patriotic liberal, ticking almost every box, in the mold of George McGovern, a B-24 Liberator pilot during WWII who won the Distinguished Flying Cross.
That would be 75-cents for an egg that cost the producer about 19-cents.
I got a $1 off 18 eggs yesterday at a nearby health food store and paid $6.99, 39-cents each.
Why eggs are selling for over $9 a dozen in some places—and when prices are expected to drop
The biggest factor pushing up egg prices is a wave of avian flu, which began in early 2022 and led to the culling of millions of egg-laying hens. With demand remaining steady, the reduced supply has caused prices to rise.
This is the second time egg prices have surged since 2022, following a previous wave of avian flu that wiped out large numbers of egg-laying hens and caused supply shortages that year. Avian flu has wiped out over 100 million chickens since a major outbreak began in early 2022.
You would think chicken prices would go up, too, but I consistently get chicken thighs in bulk at Sam's for $1.38/lb, and have done so right through the pandemic.
And the rotisserie chicken remains $4.98, too.
We'll get December consumer prices tomorrow. Here's November's chart for eggs:
Three consecutive months of increases measured year over year for overall producer prices, FIVE for core.
But the stock market cheerleaders always play it this way:
Inflation watch: Wholesale prices rose 0.2% in December, less than expected.
Yeah, only half of the people we expected to be destroyed were. Good news!
The charts:
