Trump I averaged 49.23% full-time, even with 2020 thrown in there.
For 2017, 2018, 2019 the average was 49.87%.
2019 averaged 50.38% full-time, Trump's best year.
Trump's best month was July 2019 at 50.98%, which Biden did not beat.
Trump is making America 2017 again, not great.
Full-time peaks in the summers, so we'll see what happens, but the set-up doesn't look promising.
Productive jobs rose by 7k in manufacturing, by 17k in construction, and by 4k in mining and logging, mixed in there with the others.
U.S. payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, much more than expected; unemployment at 4.3%
I mean, Pulte's own family punted on him, why shouldn't Democrats?
Ruining young brains was not better.
And while we're at it, letting young girls cut off their tits wasn't better, either.
We are so screwed, so to speak.
Hamburgers will never be cheap as long as Donald Trump is president.
Flesh-eating screwworm is confirmed in the U.S., officials say
... "The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again," the USDA said.
... Dudley Hoskins, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the USDA ... “USDA invested heavily in the tools needed to eliminate NWS ever since cases started increasing in Central America and Mexico,” Hoskins said. “The United States has defeated this pest before, and we will do it again.” ...
Confirmed screwworm case in Texas sends two biotech stocks higher
... regional director of the Federal Crop Agency ... “We just had a conditional use drug approved; U.S. producers can handle it.”
August 15, 2025:
... Washington has halted cattle imports from Mexico and invested millions in setting up a new sterile fly production plant in Metapa, Mexico. But it will take roughly a year to come online.
... The U.S. eliminated screwworms in the 20th century by flying planes over hotspots to drop red-striped boxes packed with sterile flies, sometimes called “cupcakes” by ranchers. The USDA constructed a fly production plant in Mission, Texas, in 1962, that pumped out 96 trillion flies until it was decommissioned in 1981. Now the USDA is planning to resurrect the plant to disperse sterile flies, while Texas officials have scattered 100 screwworm traps along the border.
USDA inspectors known as Tick Riders who patrol the border on horseback to guard against another pest, the cattle fever tick, have also been tasked with conducting screwworm preventive treatment for all cattle and horses they find in the border area.
At the heart of the problem is an unworkable math equation. The USDA estimated 500 million flies need to be released weekly to push the fly back to the Darien Gap. At its maximum, the Panama plant produces just 100 million.
“It’s an overwhelming situation at this point,” Dr. Lansford said. “Screwworm is obviously doing well in Mexico, and they’re up against the same challenges we are.” ...
October 21, 2025:
... Moscamed, as the factory is called, will begin manufacturing 100 million sterile flies by July 2026. ...
Until now, the sterile flies that are spread throughout the country to combat the screwworm plague (100 million each week) are brought from a plant managed by the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of the Cattle Screwworm (Copeg), in Panama, where they have been working at maximum capacity to control the pest since January 2025. ...
With the other leg of the project, the construction of a manufacturing plant for these flies in Texas, international efforts project a production of up to 500 million flies per week, which will be released throughout the region. If international cooperation continues, myiasis could be eradicated in less time than the first time. Some representatives of Senasica have even talked about achieving this goal in five years. ...
USDA didn't break ground on the Texas facility until two months ago.
April 17, 2026:
USDA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Break Ground on New Texas Sterile Fly Production Facility
... Initial operational capability targeted for November 2027, reaching production of 100 million sterile flies per week.
Construction continues immediately beyond initial operations to scale full production capacity to 300 million sterile flies per week. ...
This new state-of-the-art facility will complement USDA’s ongoing production of 100 million sterile flies per week at the Panama-based COPEG facility. USDA has also invested $21 million to support modernization of Mexico’s Metapa, MX facility, expected to be operational in summer 2026. ...
Long-term unemployment is surging in the U.S. There are hidden costs for workers and the economy
Long term unemployment is . . . falling.
The four-week moving average of initial claims has been falling for a year.
The four-week moving average of continued claims has been falling for ten months, not very fast at first, but falling decisively nevertheless.
The actual number unemployed 27 weeks or longer is down since December 2025. Yes, it is slightly higher than in January.
The percentage of population unemployed 27 weeks or longer is not surging either. At 0.666% in April, the percentage has been holding fairly steady near this level also for ten months.
In this latter metric, a surge would look more like a steady climb toward 1.00% of population unemployed 27 weeks or longer, which is common after recessions begin. The climb to the current level has been very choppy, reflecting the chaos of positive and negative developments under Trump II.
And incidentally, a contraction in this metric falling below 0.5% would indicate good times are here indeed, so this right now is not that either, as Trumpty Dumpty keeps saying.
Of course all of this could be about to change for the worse because of oil.
Oil makes our world go round.
Oil prices fall 3% on report Trump reluctant to restart Iran war
... The White House declined to comment on the report when asked by CNBC. A White House official said while Trump “always prefers a diplomatic solution, he has been clear about the consequences if Iran refuses to make a deal.” ...
SoH E: 0.9/day
BAM SE: 7.3/day
House passes resolution to end Iran War, challenging Trump
House lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation designed to force President Trump to end the Iran War, marking a victory for Democrats and the constitutional purists who say the conflict is illegal without explicit congressional approval.
The tally was 215-208, with four Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Tom Barrett (Mich.) and Warren Davidson (Ohio) — joining every Democrat in supporting the measure.
The development is largely symbolic, since there are lingering disputes about whether the measure, known as a concurrent resolution, carries the force of law. And Trump is certain to contest the authority of the measure even if it’s also passed by the Senate, where it’s headed next. ...
Behind Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), most Republicans have argued that the conflict does not rise to the level of a war, and therefore doesn’t require congressional approval. ...
The administration is also challenging the measure from a practical angle, arguing that the conflict ended when Trump called for a ceasefire in early April. ...
The House Roll Call is here.
Bessent: Inflation jump will be 'short-term blip'...
Core inflation has been rattling around 3% or higher for nearly five consecutive years as our betters fail to get inflation down to their 2% goal.
I say their goal because 0% is the goal in the law.
Goals are real nice, aren't they?
They, too, are meaningless. They are tricks to persuade you that our elected officials are serious people who agree with you while they have no intention of doing what they say they will do.
"Well I'm really sorry, Mr. Smith. We tried really hard to get inflation down but we had all these unexpected events ruin our best efforts."
In 1Q2026 core inflation rose, to 3.11%, and under current circumstances no one thinks 2Q is going to be lower, which will make it five full years of this and headed the wrong way again.
One good blip deserves another, I guess.
The Treasury Secretary is not serious about inflation, and just about everyone points to Scott Bessent as the serious person in this administration.
We are so screwed.
LA's problems are worse than you imagined!
But look at the other California races.
Results for Congressional District 7 were 50% counted at 1212 PM, but only 45% counted at 338 PM!
District 22 went down too, from 67% to 61%.
The race for governor went from 62% counted to 57%.
District 6 went from 55% to 50%.
And District 14 went from 51% counted to 47% counted.
As time goes by in California, they just keep finding more votes to count I guess, unlike in the rest of America.
 |
| 1212 PM |
 |
| 338 PM |
Update, June 4, 2026, 545pm ROFLMAO:
Or Russia in Ukraine.
Who's side is he on, anyway?!
GOP Sen. Tillis slams Trump intelligence pick Pulte: ‘Don’t think he has a prayer’
... “Whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House,” Tillis said. “I am tired of amateur hour.”
Meloni’s governing philosophy, instead, is traditionalist and conservative. Like others in the European “far right,” she is protective of the vast Italian welfare state and not willing to rock the boat of what is, whatever its political coloration, a profoundly conservative country. Leftists do not fear criticism of her will land them in jail. Actually, the rising censorship in Britain and the EU is applied to those who challenge progressive assumptions. When Meloni’s proposed judicial reform was voted down, Meloni dutifully accepted the results. “She’s basically a Christian Democrat,” Rome-based economist Veronica De Romanis told me. “Stability is her main goal.” ...
Trump picks housing Dir. Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief, replacing Tulsi Gabbard
But speaking of idiots, just how does one become a former scion anyway?
... For decades, the state government has ceded control over housing policy to its 351 cities and towns. When it comes to housing policy, the state of Massachusetts is often a bystander, allowing town governments to impose classic “not in my backyard” policies. ... The initiative would prevent many towns from setting needlessly large minimums for lot sizes and effectively blocking the construction of middle-class homes. The campaign, Legalize Starter Homes, is now trying to gather the nearly 12,500 signatures it needs before June 17 to place the measure on the ballot. We endorse the initiative. ... The initiative would create a statewide minimum of 5,000 square feet, which is about the size of a basketball court, and bar towns from setting their own standards. ...
That's less than 1/8 acre lol.
The editorial is here.
Yuri Zhivago once had his "too big" house taken away from him by the communists, too, to make room for thirteen families:
Sad!
Trump tells CNBC: ‘I don’t care’ if Iran negotiations are over
... But when asked if he has reached out to NATO to participate in reopening the strait, Trump said, “They would if I wanted them to, but I’m not sure I want them to.” ...
Humpty Dumpty says words mean whatever he says they mean.
Meanwhile I'm quite certain nine in ten members of Iran's military prefer decimation to devastation.
The word "tariff" does not appear in this column lol.
... But the bad polling trends for Republicans and Trump generally started late last year, before the attack on Iran. The right-track-wrong track numbers started souring last May.
It’s reasonable then to suspect that Trump’s other problems — including stubborn inflation (aside from gas prices) and his family’s sketchy business dealings — are harming the GOP. This pre-Iran trend also suggests that the numbers won’t simply reverse if the Strait of Hormuz reopens and gas prices fall.
The Republican Party’s problem is deeper than gas prices, and so things won’t get better before November. The only question is whether things get worse.
U.S. intercepts Iran missiles targeting American forces in Kuwait: CENTCOM
Treasury yields rise after Iran reportedly stops communication with U.S.
U.S. oil jumps more than 7% on report Iran will halt talks with U.S. and completely block Hormuz
U.S. oil prices jumped nearly 8% Monday, after Iranian state media said Tehran will halt talks with the U.S. and completely close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. ...
Tehran will completely block the Strait of Hormuz and open other fronts including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Tasnim reported. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a trade chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. ...
Fed’s Powell warns Trump’s political ‘stress test’ will wreck public trust in central bank
... “If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well,” Powell said while accepting the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. “The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans.” ...
SPX +10.52% ytd
WTI +53.11% ytd
Meanwhile in April:
Hamburger +18.9% yoy
Coffee +29.0% yoy
Unleaded regular gasoline +28.0% yoy
Electricity +7.2% yoy
Natural gas +3.1% yoy
[Trump 9/21/2024: "We will cut your energy prices in half. Mark it down . . . within 12 months . . ."]
Milk +1.5% yoy
Whole Chicken -1.6% yoy
Eggs -56.1% yoy
Tomatoes +50.0% yoy
And:
30-year mortgage average monthly, above 6% since August 2022
Full time jobs above 50% of population just 6 of the last 25 quarters, all under Joe Biden
Fentanyl BAAAAAAAAAAD, Ecstasy GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.
Why Trump reversed course to fast-track psychedelic drugs for mental healthcare
And it's quite clear that the Iran war has had no real effect on the number of vessel transits through the Bab-el-Mandeb while destroying transits through the Strait of Hormuz.
Increased Saudi reliance on Yanbu on the Red Sea might change BAM transits in the future, but to what extent transits through SoH might recover is very difficult to say.
BAM transits never recovered from the Houthi threat, and SoH transits may not from the Iran threat, with serious implications not just for oil but for important bulk materials like fertilizer and helium.
SoH transits:
Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz might not return to levels seen before the Iran war
... Daily traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, collapsed by more than half from 75 ships on Nov. 19, 2023 to 31 vessels by January 30, 2024. More than two years later, traffic through the strait still has not returned to the levels once considered normal. ...
Global oil production in 2025 was about 106 million barrels per day.
The Persian Gulf share of that was about 31 million barrels per day.
Analysis: The Iran war has made inequality worse. An end won’t fix it
