Crisis at the National Archives

Uncategorized 5 Minutes

(This article from 2018, written by Thomas Lipscomb, details briefly the problems with governmental records and their safekeeping.  Of note is former President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton and their egregious behavior with destroying public records.)

By Thomas Lipscomb

June 10, 2018

In the middle of directing the difficult task of transferring the historically important records of the Obama administration into the National Archives, the archivist in charge, David Ferriero, ran into a serious problem: A lot of key records are missing.

A first-rate librarian, Ferriero has been driving a much-needed digital overhaul and expansion of the National Archives over the nine years of his appointment. This will greatly improve the ability of digital search locally and remotely, as well as accessing the files themselves. 

To support this effort, in 2014 President Obama signed the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments. For the first time electronic government records were placed under the 1950 Federal Records Act. The new law also included updates clarifying “the responsibilities of federal government officials when using non-government email systems” and empowering “the National Archives to safeguard original and classified records from unauthorized removal.” Additionally, it gives the Archivist of the United States the final authority in determining just what is a government record.

(Pat’s Note: How is that constitutional? No one has power superseding the President.)

And yet the accumulation of recent congressional testimony has made it clear that the Obama administration itself engaged in the wholesale destruction and “loss” of tens of thousands of government records covered under the act as well as the intentional evasion of the government records recording system by engaging in private email exchanges. So far, former President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Lynch and several EPA officials have been named as offenders. The IRS suffered record “losses” as well. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy called it “an unauthorized private communications system for official business for the patent purpose of defeating federal record-keeping and disclosure laws.”

Clearly, America’s National Archives is facing the first major challenge to its historic role in preserving the records of the United States. What good is the National Archives administering a presidential library, like the planned Obama library in Chicago, if it is missing critical records of interest to scholars? And what’s to prevent evasion of the entire federal records system by subsequent administrations to suit current politics rather than serve scholars for centuries to come?

The National Archives in Washington has evolved from a few dusty shelves in 1934 to an independent agency with over 40 facilities nationwide.  These include field archives, military records, Federal Records Centers, 13 presidential libraries, the Federal Register, and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Its electronic records system alone, which only began in 2008, has already compiled close to 1 billion unique files from over 100 federal agencies totaling well over 400 terrabytes. The archive describes itself as “the U.S. Government’s collection of documents that records important events in American history. … the Government agency that preserves and maintains these materials and makes them available for research.”

Federal records have solved historical mysteries and provided key information ever since the archive’s founding. Adm. Hyman Rickover’s investigations there proved his suspicion that the U.S. battleship Maine had not been sunk by a Spanish mine, but rather an explosion caused by careless proximity of gunpowder storage to coal bunkers.

And in my own research, I found a detailed report of the debriefing of Nazi Deputy Reichsfuhrer Rudolf Hess by MI6 the day after he parachuted into Scotland — a report that was not in the British Archives. It established that in May 1941, over seven months before the Wannsee Conference formalized the Nazis’ “Final Solution,” Hess had told the British: “We are exterminating the Jews.” It established as lies the Allies’ claims they only learned about the Holocaust later.

The archive sensibly only collects a fraction of the federal records for its permanent archive. That number varies between 2 percent and 5 percent of the total. That can be a good thing, according to historian Arthur Herman. “In studying a bureaucracy, too much evidence may be a greater danger than too little,” he said. “The amount of material often seems to be inversely proportionate to the value of its evidence.”

And Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis points out that it is not always the record itself that is key: “Sometimes it is the marginalia. There were 28,000 notations in the John Adams collection that were critical to my interpretation of the relationship between John and Abigail Adams.”

And marginalia may be the key to solving the puzzle of just what the late Sandy Berger, acting as former President Bill Clinton’s representative, was destroying during his 2005 trips into the National Archives, where he stuffed papers into his clothing. Berger only got away with this twice before archive personnel kept tabs on him, but the first trips involved as yet uncatalogued material so no one really knows what he took. But there seemed to be copies in the archive of everything they caught him with. And archival libraries dependent upon physical papers are vulnerable.

Every archive in the world suffers attacks, resulting in the theft of its records, the amending or destroying of them, and the archive has had five it knows of since Berger. Digital storage and authentication will be a great help in securing all holdings.

Berger was supposedly reviewing records for a Clinton response to the 9/11 Commission’s considerations of mistakes made leading up to the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Dean Emeritus of Boston University Law School Ronald Cass wonders if there was telling marginalia by Clinton or others on some of these documents that were not on the file copies. The Clintons seemed to have a longstanding problem with records, since the disappearance in 1994 and reappearance in 1996 of the subpoenaed Rose Law Firm files in the Clintons’ private White House quarters.

Now the National Archives is faced with Hillary Clinton’s history-making assault on government records while secretary of state, which Cass describes as fitting a pattern of “destroy, deny and corrupt the process.” (This is no doubt why Harvard just awarded her the Radcliffe Medal citing her “transformative impact on society.”)

How does David Ferriero plan to deal with this unique challenge to his institution? First, it’s not just his problem, although he must address the realities of gaps in the record and how it will affect plans for the new Obama presidential library. But will there be penalties for violating the 2014 law? Is it even possible to continue the great tradition of maintaining an authentic record center for the United States that President Franklin Roosevelt founded 83 years ago, if that law is not supported?

Obama’s presidential library…

Thomas H. Lipscomb is the founding publisher of Times Books. His news reporting has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, New York Sun and other papers. As a digital entrepreneur he has founded and served as CEO of two public companies based upon his patents.

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Published by pat frederick

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132 thoughts on “Crisis at the National Archives”

  1. Morning All!
    i think this article points out the glaring hypocrisy of media today. obama DESTROYED documents, hitlery destroyed records, berger stole documents…sigh. yet they are persecuting a President that was negotiating–as is his right–with the archivist over records and that same archivist didn’t fight with obama or hitlery.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Good Morning ☀️!
      Once again the communist wing of the UniParty axis attacks their opposition for the crimes that they’re guilty of. (But of equal importance) The establishment Republicons are content to let that happen with little resistance especially in the case of an independent minded, populist president.
      Republicons demonstrated that little resistance in the lame “effort” to address Shifty Schiff’s fabrications and lies which held the president & the entire country hostage for years.
      Whether due to coercion or bribery or lucre the UniParty is evil.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Bill!
        we have controlled opposition in my opinion. allowed to exist to fabricate the illusion of choice. but not given any real power to exact a change in the status quo

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Citizen 817
    June 17, 2023 12:23 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    16h
    John Kelly pretended to be a “tough guy,” but was actually weak and ineffective, born with a VERY small “brain.” He had a hard time functioning in a political world, and was truly an exhausted and beaten man when I fired him. In the end he was a “mummy” who sat in his office and stared at the ceiling – he was “shot.” I’ll never forget how his very nice wife told me that “John loves you, and respects you more than anyone, he will always say the BEST things about you.” Oh well, so much for that!

    MEME Hysteria ®️
    @GeneHarvey
    1d
    How would John Kelly know this? The undermining, John Kelly who walked around the White House behind Trump’s back, as if he were the actual president, countermanding the directives of President Trump, and intimidating other White House staff was fired from his job as Chief of Staff and jettisoned from the inner circle of Trump some 5-6 years ago. Kelly doesn’t know what Trump is doing. Kelly makes it up as he goes along.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Citizen 817
    June 17, 2023 12:24 am

    Donald J Trump Retruthed

    @GeneHarvey
    1d
    Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has “willfully and knowingly violated the law” on immigration and a congressional investigation launched this week will likely lead to his impeachment, former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said Thursday on Newsmax.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Troublemaker10
    June 17, 2023 12:24 am

    Eric Cortellessa
    @EricCortellessa

    New: On Truth Social,
    Trump warns GOP House members who vote against
    @RepLuna’s resolution next week to censure Adam Schiff….

    Cont…

    New: On Truth Social, Trump warns GOP House members who vote against @RepLuna’s resolution next week to censure Adam Schiff: “Any Republican voting against his CENSURE, or worse, should immediately be primaried. There are plenty of great candidates out there!” pic.twitter.com/FDVv5TYTCK

    — Eric Cortellessa (@EricCortellessa) June 17, 2023

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Citizen 817
    Citizen 817
    June 17, 2023 12:26 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    11h
    Why would Devon Archer “flip” on Joe and Hunter Biden when the DOJ & FBI don’t want him to flip. They are exerting no pressure on him, only on Republicans. He will flip in 2024, when I am President. There must be real accountability for crimes the likes of which our Country has never seen before!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Citizen 817
    Citizen 817
    June 17, 2023 12:29 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    2h
    TODAY IS THE EIGHT YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMOUS “TRIP” (to put it mildly!) DOWN THE “GOLDEN ESCALATOR” IN TRUMP TOWER WITH THE THEN FUTURE FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES, MELANIA. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY IT HAS BEEN, & WHAT A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS OUR GREAT COUNTRY HAD, WITH NO INFLATION, THE GREATEST ECONOMY & STRONGEST (“THE WALL”) BORDER EVER, THE BIGGEST TAX & REGULATION CUTS, THE BEST EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY, THE REBUILDING OF OUR MILITARY & SPACE FORCE, & MUCH MORE. WOW!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Liked by 1 person

  11. 20 armed IRS agents stormed a gun shop…

    Matt Rosendale
    @RepRosendale
    I met with Tom Vanhoose this morning after 20 armed IRS agents raided his store in Great Falls earlier this week.

    Tom informed me that these agents confiscated all the 4473 forms, none of which contain any financial information; instead, the IRS now has access to these forms with sensitive personal details of every customer who purchased a firearm from Highwood Creek Outfitters.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Liked by 1 person

  12. wow…i didn’t include the letter which details the encounter–but an irs agent used a phony name to gain entry into a home and lied about the reason for being there and threatened the resident.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Liked by 1 person

  19. Sliding down…morning, Pat! Man, did we ever get a gully-washer last night not long after I signed off. POURING rain for a good half-hour, then lighter rain well into the night – on my metal patio roof, it sounded like hail. A chilly 60 this morning and still cloudy – more rain/thunderstorms predicted for today. I figured the jelly feeder would be full of water but it wasn’t too bad, since the rain pretty much came straight down, w/no wind.

    As for the archives, a couple things I noted: Um, who GAS about the “relationship between John and Abigail Adams?” IMO, we have far too many people writing down and noting subject matter that doesn’t have a dimes worth of value today! NO-ONE IS GOING TO READ IT!!! And this: “Digital storage and authentication will be a great help in securing all holdings.” Um, it’s called “hacking,” people!!! SMDH

    Ah, yes – such a sunny way to greet the morning….! My excuse is that I haven’t had one full cup of coffee yet….I’ll get there….😛😜😝🤤😲🙃😉🙄😏

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning Filly!
      I included the entire article, not all of which is relevant. lol
      But my point was, long BEFORE there was any concern about President Trump, we had democrats DESTROYING documents…and there was no full blown HAIR ON FIRE indictments and such. obummer destroyed documents, hitlery destroyed records–who the hell knows WHAT was in there…and this author even called that a crisis in 2018. but was the public treated to disaster like theatrics like we’re getting today? NO!

      Like

  20. 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸
    @Travis_in_Flint
    The FBI at a Senate hearing refuses to answer questions on the Hunter Biden investigation because they said the DOJ doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations.

    These are the same people who tipped off CNN about the raid on Trump, gave every detail of the case during the investigation, and made sure to find a crime against all odds.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. “Metformin: Unlocking the Potential of a Miracle Drug [Update] Found to Treat Long Covid”
    DALLAS LUDLUM
    JUN 14, 2023
    EXCERPT: “In the vast landscape of pharmaceutical advancements, certain drugs have emerged as transformative agents, revolutionizing the way we approach various medical conditions. Among these groundbreaking medications, metformin stands out as a true medical marvel. Initially developed as a treatment for diabetes, metformin has transcended its original purpose and has proven to be a game-changer in numerous areas of healthcare. With its multifaceted benefits and potential therapeutic applications, metformin has garnered a reputation as a miracle drug. This comprehensive article delves into the various aspects of metformin, exploring its mechanisms of action, its role in diabetes management, and its extraordinary potential in the prevention and treatment of various diseases.

    1. A Brief History of Metformin:

    To understand the significance of metformin as a miracle drug, it is essential to delve into its origins and the path that led to its prominence in modern medicine. Developed in the 1920s, metformin initially gained recognition as a derivative of the herb Galega officinalis, traditionally used to treat diabetes-like symptoms. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that metformin emerged as a viable treatment option for diabetes management. Since then, extensive research has shed light on its mechanisms of action and broadened its scope beyond diabetes, uncovering its remarkable potential in various medical fields.

    2. Mechanisms of Action:

    Metformin’s effectiveness stems from its unique mechanisms of action, which set it apart from other antidiabetic medications. Unlike insulin or sulfonylureas, metformin does not stimulate insulin production; instead, it acts primarily by reducing glucose production in the liver, thereby lowering blood sugar levels. Additionally, metformin improves insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues, facilitating the efficient uptake and utilization of glucose by cells. These dual mechanisms contribute to its remarkable efficacy in managing diabetes and make it a valuable tool in maintaining glycemic control.

    3. Diabetes Management:…..”

    https://conservativecompass.substack.com/p/metformin-unlocking-the-potential

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Liked by 1 person

    2. 24/ Or maybe Fox leadership isn’t concerned with how the audience feels because they’re not really beholden to those viewers at all. Like YouTube, some of Fox’s largest shareholders are enormous institutional investors, particularly @BlackRock and @Vanguard_Group.”

      Liked by 1 person

  28. “Texas Bans Men from Competing in Women’s College Sports”– JOHN SIMMONS | JUNE 16, 2023

    ENTIRE ARTICLE @ MRC-TV: “Transgender females (biological men) will not be able to compete in women’s sports at the collegiate level in Texas thanks to legislation signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday. Senate Bill 15 will require all collegiate athletes to participate on sports teams with the gender on their birth certificates. The bill, titled the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” adds to a 2021 bill that had the same rule in place for high school sports.

    During the signing ceremony, Abbott rightfully referred to transgender females as “males,” hence the bill that will keep female competition between females. The legislation will also create a pathway for individuals to sue their colleges should they violate this rule, which will become effective on September 1.

    “Today is an important day for female athletes across the state of Texas, including little girls who aspire to one day compete in college sports,” Abbott said. “The Save Women’s Sports Act protects young women at Texas colleges and universities by prohibiting men from competing on a team or as an individual against them in college sports.”

    The situation involving University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas has sparked nationwide debate over how to handle these types of situations. Texas is one of 22 states that’s taking a firm stand to protect women’s sports at all costs.”
    —————
    “Gallup Poll: Most Americans Don’t Want Men in Women’s Sports, Up from 2021”–JOHN SIMMONS | JUNE 13, 2023

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “While countless politicians and media outlets believe that men competing in women’s sports is something everyone should accept, their views don’t reflect what most Americans believe about this issue.

    A recent Gallup poll found that 69 percent of Americans believe that athletes should only be able to compete on sports teams that correspond with their birth gender. When Gallup released the results of the same survey two years ago, 62 percent held this position. Likewise, 26 percent believe that athletes should not be allowed to play on teams that match the gender they think they switched to, down from 34 percent in 2021.

    The rise in transgender athletes negatively affecting the makeup of sports, particularly on the women’s side, likely contributed to this trend. After seeing swimmer Lia Thomas and a host of other males competing in women’s sports – and unsurprisingly leaving real female athletes in their dust – more Americans can see that letting men compete against women never leads to anything good.

    But the poll added another series of interesting questions. Gallup asked participants if their answers would change if they personally knew someone who was transgender. 64 percent still said that they believe it’s wrong if athletes choose a team based on the gender they claimed to be, an 11 point rise from 2021. To put the nail in the coffin of this argument, the last question participants had to answer was if they believed it was morally wrong for someone to “switch” genders, with 55 percent saying yes.

    Of course, the survey doesn’t cover all of America. But it does go to show that a large portion of Americans do take issue with the transgender movement, however silent they may be.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. we have to keep remembering that we are in the majority here…we look at the ginned up minority and get tricked into thinking that most people accept this crap. they don’t. they’re just usually not vocal about it until it affects them personally.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, I typed up this loooong reply, then lost my connection and couldn’t get it back – when I did, it put my comment below…SMDH

        Liked by 1 person

  30. I think the majority of people just don’t want to talk about it…out of fear of losing friends or ignorance. Almost no-one from my generation here in flyover country had the faintest idea what it meant to be gay and the word “homosexual” was NOT part of the lexicon. I know I didn’t until I went to the racetrack when I was 19 and, even then, it wasn’t something that was discussed – it was just ignored, maybe a little gossip here and there. Kathy Gray, a gal from Canada whose Dad brought his horses here – we all kind of figured she was bi (she was married) but, again, it wasn’t discussed and no-one really cared one way or the other.

    All I knew and cared about was that she was my friend and, when her favorite filly broke down and had to be put to sleep, we were all there for her. Sad, sad day! That was the only time I’ve watched a horse being put down in person – I’ve helped put down pigs, goats, dogs, etc. but never a horse…and I never want to watch it again! ‘Course, nowadays, they have much more humane ways of accomplishing that, i.e., Dr. Pol – he gives a sedative first, which they didn’t do on the track then.

    Years later, when I was living in CO (before I went into the Army), we re-connected and I found out she was living nearby in CO Springs. I went to visit her for a week-end and she asked if I had ever been to a gay bar – when I said no, she asked if I wanted to and, of course, I’m like “Sure – why not?” We got a table and ordered a drink, and she tentatively asked if “…I know about her…” I said, “What, that you’re gay?” She said yes and I acknowledged that I kind of figured that…she was astonished that I would willingly sit in a gay bar and have a drink with her.

    And that astonished ME! Why not? Just because that’s not how I choose to live MY life doesn’t give me the right to judge YOUR decisions. I made it clear I was definitely NOT interested…she was ok with that but then asked me to dance…a slow dance. Nope – told you, Kathy! That is NOT my thing. And the subject was ended right then and there.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i had this “clique” in high school–me and 2 guys…we did a lot together. one of the guys (the one i baked with and joked with) was very rich and effeminate but we never said gay back then. the other guy was my best friend –my secret crush– committed suicide.
      anyway, long after he became a lawyer and moved to florida, we connected and he told me he was “now” happily gay. we still write letters… it hasn’t changed my opinion or feelings towards him either…

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Ah, I remember you talking about that! See? That’s one of the reasons I LOVE you – not judgmental!!! And you’ve probably “heard” my story before, too – I know I’ve talked about it at M’s before.

        We were the “tomboys” back then – no thought of anything sexual about it! The more effeminate type of boys were the “nerds!” LOL – however, the HS music teacher was VERY feminine, including the pinky finger in the air, when Mom had her Xmas tea every year! Even as a young girl, dressed in my frilly apron and white gloves, serving the tea, I noticed a difference but it was a subconscious thing that I didn’t recognize until years later when I really thought about it.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. i was a tomboy till 9 when i grew enormous boobs over one summer. the girls in school in fall were jealous and catty-some of the boys were obnoxious. but my “clique” treated me no differently. they accepted me and i them.
          my friend has to reconcile his life and choices when he meets his maker. and i have to reconcile mine.
          this would all be moot if he ever had an interest in children–that i couldn’t tolerate. but he finds it equally disgusting

          Like

  31. This should be right down your alley, Pat! I recall you talking about learning how to manipulate statistics….same principle?

    “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cooking Data for Aspiring Propagandists–Gaslighting made easy”
    ASHMEDAI
    JUN 15, 2023
    EXCERPT: “This is a ‘First Edition’ – it’s still a bit of a work in progress 🙂

    Intro —

    Take a close look at the above slide from an international poll conducted a few months after covid struck: This is what effective propaganda looks like. And the true effect was even greater, because the ‘real world’ numbers used to calculate how badly people exaggerated the risks of covid were of course themselves derived from. . . the world’s preeminent propaganda organizations (masquerading as public health agencies). Who were themselves already wildly exaggerating the risks of covid.

    The art of effective propaganda is an encompassing discipline that requires careful and thorough study, and review from time to time. For the beginner, it can be very difficult to master. Even the experienced propagandist can at times fall into the trap of thinking that creating & disseminating propaganda is a straightforward enterprise – which is a good way to win an all-expenses paid Siberian vacation. It is not usually so simple a task to befuddle the entire society every day, 365 days a year, indefinitely.

    The following short guidebook will provide the aspiring propagandist, WEF lackey, Communist, Woke Marxist, and seasoned government bureaucrat alike with the tools and knowledge necessary to develop their promising talent into full-bloom mastery of the art of propaganda. This book is a bit long, do not feel as though you must read it start to finish in one shot, for that is a recipe to burnout & to not retain the critical information contained within. This manual is divided into the following sections:”

    https://ashmedai.substack.com/p/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-cooking

    Liked by 1 person

    1. absolutely!
      one of the favored phrases used was usually something along the lines of “3 out of 4 RESPONDENTS” said this or that…
      you have to keep in mind the type of people who respond to certain questions and how that skewed the results…

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, I’ve never trusted polls – they always have such small participant pools and it also depends on how the questions are worded, as you say! I’ve always thought that was BS! You can’t possibly extrapolate the total number of Americans who feel a certain way based on a teensy sample of 1K!!!

        Liked by 1 person

          1. Yep – same here! I was at the library yesterday to see if they had the author that GA recommended. They didn’t but she found the first 4 at the Norfolk Library – she makes a trip there once a week and will pick them up, then call me. That brought up the “what number will you be calling from?” since I never answer calls from unknown #’s. Since she may be using her personal cell, we agreed that she will just text me when she has them. Should be able to pick them up here next Wednesday.

            Liked by 1 person

    1. thanks a lot Filly…gonna be hearing that stupid song in my head all day…LOL
      when it starts though…I’m gonna use the NEW lyrics

      Like

  38. Well, another stray cat….very thin gray tabby…I saw Jake looking out the BR window at it laying in the garden bed stalking birds. So I put out some soft treats – while he was eating those, I got a dish of cat food and put it out for him. He was a little skittish, then commenced to tucking into a meal…we’ll see how long he hangs around.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Medium height – on the younger side, I think – but he/she clearly needs worming…skinny. I’ve got plenty of wormer but I need some canned food….ok, I’ve got a can of tuna. That will work! If he/she keeps coming around…

        Liked by 1 person

  39. sliding down…
    got done weeding the garden…we have tomatoes (tiny yet, but they still count!)
    and weed eating the grapevines…almost all of them have grapes! again, tiny right now, but still!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Good job! More of the Cilantro is up and I planted some in the other barrel, too. I’ll be giving a lot of that away this summer since I laid the seeds on thick just to use them up, they’re so old! Hope I can smell/eat it – I do love the flavor! I have a bunch of asparagus I need to cook to see if I can eat it…I just hate to waste it if I can’t. Even mashed potatoes w/ peas & ham – I have to add honey BBQ sauce….

      Liked by 1 person

        1. It’s used in a lot of Mexican dishes and salads. Actually, it was the Egyptians who introduced me to it – very popular there. When they prepared the Ramadan meal at my house, they made a lettuce salad – no dressing at all, just different types of greens, salt & pepper, cilantro, etc. No tomatoes, no cukes, no carrots – nothing but the greens, S&P…and it was simply delicious! It was the cilantro that did it for me…been a big fan ever since and it’s soooo easy to grow – full sun, hot weather plant.

          Liked by 1 person

            1. That depends on my mood, what I put on my salad…and what I happen to have on hand. But I’m not into meat, beans, stuff like that unless it’s a Taco salad – I do like black olives, radishes, green onions, cukes, ‘maters and, of course, cilantro, chunk blue cheese, with Italian dressing….Ranch most of the time, tho. I don’t usually spring for expensive blue cheese and the other stuff – just what I grow myself.

              Or many different iterations, again, depending on what I have….I could eat salads almost 7 days a week but I gotta have at least some beef now and then. NE isn’t just the corn state – we’re the beef state, too! LOL

              Liked by 1 person

              1. hubby loves blue cheese dressing–it’s all he likes.
                we have dinner salads one night a week but he could do it more.
                me? show me the meat!

                Like


  41. “A Genealogy of Corporatism”
    BY Jeffrey A. Tucker, JUNE 16, 2023 ECONOMICS, POLICY 12 MINUTE READ

    EXCERPT: “It’s not capitalism. It’s not socialism. The new word we are hearing these days is the right word: corporatism. It refers to the merger of industry and state into a unit with the purpose of achieving some grand visionary end, the liberty of individuals be damned. The word itself predates its successor, which is fascism. But the eff word has become totally incomprehensible and useless through misuse so there is clarity to be gained by discussing the older term.

    Consider, as an obvious example, Big Pharma. It funds the regulators. It maintains a revolving door between corporate management and regulatory control. Government often funds drug development and rubber stamps the results. Government further grants and enforces the patents. Vaccines are indemnified from liability for harms. When consumers balk at shots, government imposes mandates, as we have seen. Further, pharma pays up to 75 percent of the advertising on evening television, which obviously buys both favorable coverage and silence on the downsides.

    This is the very essence of corporatism. But it is not only this industry. It ever more affects tech, media, defense, labor, food, environment, public health, and everything else. The big players have merged into a monolith, squeezing out the life of market dynamism.

    The topic of corporatism is rarely discussed in any detail. People would rather keep the discussion on abstract ideals that are not really operational in reality. It’s these ideal types that split right and left; meanwhile the really existing threats sail under the radar. And that is strange because corporatism is much more of a living reality. It variously swept through most societies in the world in the 20th century, and vexes us today as never before.

    Corporatism has a long ideological history stretching back two centuries. It began as a fundamental attack on what was then known as liberalism. Liberalism began centuries earlier with the end of the religious wars in Europe and the realization that permitting religious freedom was overall good for everyone. It lessens violence in society and still retains the opportunity for the vigorous practice of faith. This insight gradually unfolded in ways that pertained to speech, travel, and commerce generally.”

    https://brownstone.org/articles/a-genealogy-of-corporatism/

    Liked by 1 person

  44. OMG!!! This was outside the CH when DJT was arraigned – an older gay man supporting him wearing a t-shirt that says “Joe Biden Sniffed Me – Gays for Trump!”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. An attendee to reporter: “This is Holy Week….this is when Jesus returned to Jerusalem knowing he’d be crucified and killed. Here’s Donald Trump returning to NY city….” “That’s a pretty big analogy…” “Yes…” Announcer brings up that some Christians would say that is idolizing Trump…he replies:

      “No, Donald Trump is not God, no, no….I worship Jesus Christ but I believe that Donald Trump was sent by God…I truly believe that he was heaven-sent. He’s a sinner, yeah…so were ALL the great heroes of the Bible, except for Jesus. They were all sinners! They were all imperfect men!! Donald Trump was sent by God to ensure Abraham Lincoln’s promise…a government of the People, and by the People, and for the People will not perish from the face of this earth.”

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Tee-hee! Bleach blond woman says “I hated Trump in 2016 – I voted for Hillary! The media made me love Donald Trump!” ROFLMAO – oh, my! George Santos showed up (he is a NYC Republican so presumably in support of DJT!) and his sound man – a big black man – got physical with a guy in the crowd – looks like a photog who wanted to get closer to Santos – yelling “Don’t fuck wit me! Mothafucka – I’ll…no, get off me…” (when they tried to stop him). The guys says “What’s wrong with you, man? You look like a fuckin’ idiot!” The black guy turns around to go after him, saying “I will fucking kill you!” At that point, this little old woman walking by to his left, wearing a MAGA hat with a flag wrapped around her, says “Get the fuck outta here! We don’t need your kind here! Fuck off!” ROFLMFAO

      Liked by 1 person

  45. everyone saying we had to see how bad things were without Trump were so right in my opinion.
    we had prosperity and respect.
    now look at this country…

    Liked by 1 person

  46. Liked by 1 person

  48. Catturd ™
    @catturd2
    Just so you know …

    If Nancy Pelosi was a Republican and was the Republican Speaker instead of Kevin McCarthy … Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and Christopher Wray would already be impeached, Adam Schiff would have a 50 million dollar fine and expelled from Congress, and she would’ve never caved on the debt ceiling.

    – and I promise she wouldn’t be talking about taking the high ground, her moral compass, or her muh principles while she was doing it.

    If I sound angry, it’ because I’m sick and damn tired of these cowardly wimps in the Republican Party who never do anything but rage tweet, go on Hannity, and scream from their soapbox while our country is being destroyed from within.

    The problem isn’t “Why I’m I so pissed.” … the problem is “Why aren’t you?”

    Liked by 2 people




  49. “File this under ‘They don’t make ’em like they usta’. These beautiful doors are from the Cochise County Courthouse in Bisbee, AZ.”

    Liked by 1 person

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