The Last Soldiers

History 4 Minutes

When Japanese sergeant Shoichi Yokoi returned to his home country after almost three decades in hiding, his initial reaction was one of contrition: “It is with much embarrassment that I return.”

Then 56, Yokoi had spent the past 27 years eking out a meager existence in the jungles of Guam, where he’d fled to evade capture following American forces’ seizure of the island in August 1944. According to historian Robert Rogers, Yokoi was one of around 5,000 Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender to the Allies after the Battle of Guam, preferring life on the lam to the shame of being detained as a prisoner of war. Though the Allies captured or killed the majority of these holdouts within a few months, some 130 remained in hiding by the end of World War II in September 1945. Yokoi, who only rejoined society after being overpowered by two local fishermen in January 1972, was one of the last stragglers to surrender, offering an extreme example of the Japanese Bushidō philosophy’s emphasis on honor and self-sacrifice.

“He was the epitome of prewar values of diligence, loyalty to the emperor and ganbaru, a ubiquitous Japanese word that roughly means to slog on tenaciously through tough times,” wrote Nicholas D. Kristof for the New York Times in 1997, when Yokoi died of a heart attack at age 82. Upon his return to Japan, “he stirred widespread soul-searching … about whether he represented the best impulses of the national spirit or the silliest.”

Born in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan in 1915, Yokoi worked as a tailor before being drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1941. Per Wanpela.com, which maintains a registry of Japanese World War II holdouts, he was stationed in China until February 1943, when he was transferred to Guam. After American forces nearly annihilated Yokoi’s regiment in the summer of 1944, he and a group of nine or ten comrades escaped into the jungle.

“From the outset they took enormous care not to be detected, erasing their footprints as they moved through the undergrowth,” Yokoi’s nephew, Omi Hatashin, told BBC News’ Mike Lanchin in 2012.

Initially, the holdouts survived by eating locals’ cattle. But as their numbers shrank and the likelihood of discovery grew, they retreated to increasingly remote sections of the island, living in caves or makeshift underground shelters and dining on coconuts, papaya, shrimp, frogs, toads, eels and rats. Per the Washington Post, Yokoi drew on his tailoring skills to weave clothing out of tree bark and marked the passage of time by observing phases of the moon. He eventually parted ways with his companions, who either surrendered, fell victim to enemy soldiers on patrol or died as a result of their spartan lifestyle. Yokoi stayed in sporadic contact with two other stragglers, but after they died during flooding in 1964, he spent his last eight years in hiding in total isolation.

Fifty years ago, on January 24, 1972, fishermen Jesus M. Duenas and Manuel D. Garcia spotted Yokoi checking a bamboo fish trap in a part of the Talofofo River about four miles away from the nearest village. As the Associated Press (AP) reported at the time, Yokoi attempted to charge at the men, who easily overpowered him in his weakened state. (Doctors later deemed him slightly anemic but otherwise in relatively good health.)

“He really panicked” after encountering humans for the first time in years, Hatashin explains to BBC News. “He feared they would take him as a prisoner of war—that would have been the greatest shame for a Japanese soldier and for his family back home.”

After hearing Yokoi’s story, officials in Guam arranged to repatriate him to Japan. Though he’d found leaflets and newspapers detailing the conflict’s end two decades earlier, he viewed these reports as American propaganda and continued to resist surrendering. “We Japanese soldiers were told to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive,” the soldier later said, per Wyatt Olson of Stars and Stripes.

Yokoi arrived back home in February 1972, receiving a hero’s welcome by a crowd of 5,000. “I have returned with the rifle the emperor gave me,” he told the New York Times upon his return. “I am sorry I could not serve him to my satisfaction.”

The subject of fascination both at home and abroad, Yokoi divided public opinion, with older residents of Japan interpreting his actions as an inspirational reminder of a bygone era and younger people more often viewing his refusal to surrender as “pointless and symbolic of an age that taught children to stick to what they were doing rather than to think about where they were going,” as Kristof wrote.

Yokoi attempted to assimilate into a “world [that had] passed him by,” in the words of one contemporary columnist, but grew nostalgic for the past, sometimes criticizing the innovations of modern life, according to Hatashin. He entered into an arranged marriage in November 1972, unsuccessfully ran for Parliament in 1974, and detailed his experiences in a best-selling book and lectures delivered across the country. Still, noted Lanchin for BBC News, he “never quite felt at home in modern society,” and prior to his death in 1997, he made several trips back to Guam.

Two years after Yokoi’s return to Japan, another wartime holdout, Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, resurfaced on the Philippines’ Lubang Island after 29 years in hiding. Like Yokoi, he maintained that he’d received orders to fight to the death rather than surrender. He refused to leave the island until March 1974, when his commanding officer traveled to Lubang and formally relieved him of duty.

SOURCE: SMITHSONIANMAGAZINE.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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158 thoughts on “The Last Soldiers”

  1. I, too, feel alienated from a world that has changed so much in my lifetime. How must have Yokoi felt? Good thing his commanding officer was still alive in 1974 to relieve him of duty, after so many years.

    Liked by 3 people

        1. The cold woke me up and once I’m up, I can’t go back to sleep. If it were a couple of hours earlier, maybe, but probably not – worrying about the furnace would have kept me awake regardless so I just gave up and got up for the day.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning! It was 16 when I got up and has risen to 19 already. Not to rub it in but…..next week, we’re allegedly going to have several days in the high 40’s! Early Indian Summer maybe….? This soldier’s story is fascinating – I saw an episode of Mysteries at the Museum that brought it to my attention.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. 40’s?????? gees!
        we always called it the January thaw.
        I make note when you mention interesting things and put them in “ideas” spreadsheet and try to use them on their significant dates. so thanks for this one!

        Liked by 1 person

          1. oh yeah. i try to use them on the date (if there is one) or if i ever need something for an open date in the month. and i’ve been trying to get a month ahead. they’re written but not loaded up as yet.

            Liked by 1 person

  3. Yep – here I am, at oh-dark-thirty, wide awake. I woke up at 4:30 because I was cold – it was down to 62 inside and no furnace running…..sigh. So I jacked up the thermostat – no dice; shut it off, turned it back on – nope; flipped the breaker, waited and went around turning on the portable heaters. Finally, it kicked in and started to pump out heat again – how long that will last is anyone’s guess. I suppose I can’t put this off any more – I’ve got to make some arrangements. Jeez, I hate this crap!

    Did any of us REALLY guess how wild this Trump trip was truly going to be??? I think back to early 2016, when the Trump momentum was building – how many times did we see “Wow! I’m alive to see this!” or “I never thought I’d see this!” Look at us now!!! Mind-boggling!!!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Yep – Lennox natural gas forced air – but it’s 23 years old and max lifetime is 25 years so it’s on it’s last legs.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Well, these people are wrong but they are working within the corrupt system of corporate governance that we’ve been living under for so long. This can’t be REALLY fixed unless they reverse the Act of 1871 and return to Constitutional law vs. corporate law.

    “Birthright Citizenship: District Court enjoins Trump’s Executive Order”

    Techno Fog, Jan 23, 2025

    Donald Trump Facing Defeat In Birthright Citizenship Battle—Legal ...

    “Hours after President Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2025, he signed an Executive Order which serves to undo birthright citizenship. The Executive Order states that citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the US in two circumstances:

    1. when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or
    2. when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.

    The Executive Order seeks to solve two issues that have continued to increase in the last 20 years: anchor babies birthed to illegal aliens and birth tourism by well-off foreigners.

    As expected, Trump’s Executive Order was immediately challenged. Today, US district court judge John C. Coughenour (a Reagan nominee) in the Western District of Washington – Seattle Division issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the Trump Administration from not issuing citizenship documents to children of illegal/temporary aliens or otherwise taking actions in accordance with its citizenship policy.

    This issue will soon make it to the Supreme Court.

    The citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

    As to birthright citizenship, this clause two obvious parts: the person must be born in the US, and they must be “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

    The question of whether citizenship is afforded by law to all children born on US soil – including those of illegal aliens or temporary visitors on visa – has not been specifically addressed by the Supreme Court, though the Court has ruled on similar issues. And this question has been of increasing importance, both with the emergence of Trump – the man who promised to end birthright citizenship – and the millions of children born in the US by illegal immigrants, which effectively makes their parents permanent residents (anchored, albeit still illegally).

    This comes down to the interpretation of what it means to be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. And even among conservatives, the meaning of that phrase isn’t uniform. If we can briefly explain…

    The Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship clause was “meant to constitutionalize a similar declaration of natural-born citizenship in the Civil Rights act of 1866”1, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race and provided citizenship to “all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed.”

    Opponents of birthright citizenship (or, perhaps more accurately, those advocating for an originalist interpretation of the citizenship clause) argue it “does not mandate that the U.S.-born children of illegal or nonpermanent resident aliens be treated as U.S. citizens as the result of their mere birth on U.S. soil.”

    That conclusion is supported by the legislative record, and Congressional debates concerning the content of the Fourteenth Amendment do provide some context as to what the citizenship clause meant at the time. Ohio Senator Jacob Howard, who served on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, stated:

    “This amendment which I have offered is simply declaratory of what I regard as the law of the land already, that every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons.”

    Consistent with that view, the Supreme Court, in the Slaughter-House Cases, stated “The phrase, ‘subject to its jurisdiction’ was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States.” Slaughter-House Cases, 83 US 36, 73 (1873).

    Also instructive are the views of legal scholars contemporary to the time the Fourteenth Amendment was passed. In 1880, Thomas Cooley wrote that to be “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” meant “full and complete jurisdiction to which citizens are generally subject, and not any qualified and partial jurisdiction, such as may consist with allegiance to some other government.”

    And in 1881, Alex Porter Morse concluded:

    the “children of aliens, the accident of whose birth occurs in American soil, and minors commorant in the country, are invested with the national character of the parent.” Aliens “are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States only to a limited extent.”

    Similarly, then-Supreme Court Justice Samuel Miller in 1981 stated:

    “If a stranger or traveller passing through, or temporarily residing in this country, who has not himself been naturalized, and who claims to owe no allegiance to our Government, has a child born here which goes out of the country with its father, such child is not a citizen of the United States, because it was not subject to its jurisdiction.”

    It seems these interpretations are natural, if only because of the inherent power of a nation to control its borders and the legal status of those who cross illegally. Illegal aliens do not enjoy the same rights or benefits as legal residents or US citizens (though they are subject to US taxes). They cannot vote, they cannot possess guns, and their unlawful entry into the US is itself a federal offense. Federal law allows states to deny illegal aliens many public benefits and “imposes sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized workers.” Arizona v. US, 567 US 387 (2012). They are transient by definition – arriving illegally and being subject to immediate removal, generally. Are we to believe that the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified to allow for citizenship for their offspring?

    Yet, like we said, there is no conservative uniformity on this issue.

    Many argue that the Fourteenth Amendment codifies the English common law birthright citizenship. John Yoo (like others) concludes that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is in reference “to discrete categories of persons that American law does not govern, such as diplomats and enemy soldiers occupying U.S. territory during war.”

    Yoo also writes the citizenship clause was not drafted “to alter the concept of citizenship, but to affirm American practice dating from the origins of our Republic.” After all, the US “followed the British rule of jus solis (citizenship defined by birthplace), rather than the rule of jus sanguinis (citizenship defined by that of parents) that prevails in much of Europe.”

    In explaining the British rule, Yoo cites to William Blackstone, the 18th century English jurist who had a profound influence on the founding generation, who wrote: “the children of aliens, born here in England, are generally speaking, natural-born subjects, and entitled to all the privileges of such.” In the next sentence, Blackstone compared the English rule to that of France, which established “if a child be of foreign parents, it is an alien.”

    What did citizenship look like in early America – did the US follow the English rule? Others have observed that a “comprehensive survey of antebellum citizenship law concludes that birthright citizenship was the legal norm in the first half of the nineteenth century.”2

    The common law history was extensively cited and considered instructive in US v. Wong Kim Ark, an 1898 case where the Supreme Court held:

    “The Fourteenth Amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and under the protection of the country, including all children here born of resident aliens, with the exceptions or qualifications (as old as the rule itself) of children of foreign sovereigns or their ministers, or born on foreign public ships, or of enemies within and during a hostile occupation of part of our territory, and with the single additional exception of children of members of the Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to their several tribes.”

    Those on the other side of the Fourteenth Amendment – those who believe it does not grant birthright citizenship without exception – argue the American Revolution rejected jus soli (citizenship by birthplace), that the Declaration of Independence “is a complete and categorical rejection of jus soli.” We aren’t convinced by those arguments; rather, there is a much more straightforward answer from the Wong Kim Ark dissent: “unless the municipal law of England appears to have been affirmatively accepted, it cannot be allowed to control in the matter of construction.”

    What of the Fourteenth Amendment’s legislative history discussed above? It goes both ways. Law Professor Garrett Epps describes the discussions concerning the Fourteenth Amendment’s proposed citizenship clause between two Senators:

    “The Senator from Maine suggests to me, in an undertone, that persons may be born in the United States and yet not be citizens of the United States. Most assuredly they would be citizens of the United States unless they went to another country and expatriated themselves . . .”

    Other Senators had similar views, such as John Conness of California: “I voted for the proposition to declare that the children of all parentage whatever, born in California should be regarded and treated as citizens of the United States, entitled to equal civil rights with other citizens of the United States.”3

    Yoo also notes that “If the 14th Amendment’s drafters had wanted ‘jurisdiction’ to exclude children of aliens, they easily could have required citizenship only for those with no ‘allegiance to a foreign power.’”

    One of the best rebuttals to that point comes from Amy Swearer, writing that “the term ‘allegiance’ was considered and explicitly rejected because it could have been construed under the English common law as including all those owing ‘a sort of allegiance,’ such as temporary sojourner and Indians born within the sovereign dominions of the United States.” Thomas Cooley had similar thoughts on the allegiance issue back in 1880.

    With that brief exposition setting out both sides, there is the reality that the Trump Administration faces a Supreme Court that is undoubtedly hesitant to overturn a broadly accepted Constitutional citizenship rule – one that has existed for 100+ years – that would implicate the lives and the fundamental rights of millions to come. (When you think of judges, always think of pragmatics.) Not that Trump is wrong – it’s that the Supreme Court doesn’t want to go that far.

    If we may can make an early a prediction: the Supreme Court undergoes a textual analysis of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, cites to birthright citizenship being recognized throughout this country’s history and tradition, and rejects the arguments from the Trump Administration (and others). Birthright citizenship is here to stay.

    Apologies for any disappointment this might cause, but that’s just our honest assessment.”

    References/links: https://technofog.substack.com/p/birthright-citizenship

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Section 1 of the 14th Amendment says, in part:

      “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside…”

      One of the purposes of Section 1 was to extend citizenship to freed slaves.  [The other purpose was to provide constitutional authority for the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866.  That Act was needed to protect the freed slaves from the Black Codes of southern States which denied to the free Slaves their God-given rights.]

      Section 1 does not provide that babies born here of  illegals who have invaded our Country are Citizens.

      The key is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”:  Consider the French ambassador and his lovely young wife stationed in Washington, DC.  She gives birth to a child here. Her child was born here. But is her child “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States? No! The child is subject to the same jurisdiction as his parents: France.

      Consider the American Indians: Sec. 1 of the 14th Amendment did NOT confer citizenship on American Indians. They were not “subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” – they were subject to the jurisdiction of their tribes.

      Likewise, when an illegal alien who invades our Country has a baby here, that baby is  “subject to the jurisdiction” of the invader’s home country.

      Pursuant to Art. I, Sec. 8, clause 4, US Constitution, Congress may make laws deciding how people become naturalized citizens.

      But Sec. 1 of the 14th Amendment does not confer citizenship status on babies born here of illegal aliens.

      This is important.

      For a deeper understanding of this important issue, see Professor Edward Erler’s brilliant essay,  Birthright Citizenship and Dual Citizenship: Harbingers of Administrative Tyranny.

      See also The Constitution, Vattel, and “Natural Born Citizen”:  What Our Framers Knew. 

      To see the debates (on the language I quoted at the top) in the US Senate on May 30, 1866, go HERE,  and start reading in the center column, under the subheading, RECONSTRUCTION.   Fascinating.” –revised Nov. 1, 2018; Sep. 6, 2024.

      https://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/category/anchor-babies/

      Liked by 1 person

    2. no other country in the world does this. AND we should consider how we treat American Indians. they are born here, but are subjects of their tribal nations–that’s why we have treaties with them.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Not any more:

        Wiki: “The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, (43 Stat. 253, enacted June 2, 1924) was an Act of the United States Congress that declared Indigenous persons born within the United States are US citizens. Although the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that any person born in the United States is a citizen, there is an exception for persons not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the federal government. This language was generally taken to mean members of various tribes that were treated as separate sovereignties: they were citizens of their tribal nations.”

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Even Britain: “In the UK, birthright citizenship means that a child born in the UK is automatically a British citizen if at least one parent is a British citizen or has settled status at the time of the child’s birth. For children born after January 1, 1983, if neither parent meets these criteria, the child may not automatically receive British citizenship and may need to apply for it.”

        https://www.wikihow.life/Become-a-British-Citizen

        Liked by 1 person

  6. TheseTruths

    TheseTruths(@thesetruths)

    Offline

    Wolf

    January 24, 2025 01:36

    “Tony”:

    “If you ever wanna know why I voted for Donald Trump take a look at Western North Carolina. In 4 months, our past administration couldn’t do anything for these people..”

    “In 2 days, President Trump has these people being transferred to fully furnished apartments!”

    WOW!!! 

    13

    Reply

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Susan Crabtree
    @susancrabtree
    🚨EXCLUSIVE and BREAKING: THE SECRET SERVICE HAS BEGUN TO CLEAN HOUSE:
    On incoming Secret Service Director Sean Curran’s first day in the new role, 5-10 senior leadership officials, including former Director Ron Rowe, were warned that they would either be fired, moved, or pressed into retirement, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.

    As of this morning, Rowe hadn’t packed up his office, as an official previously asked him to do, two sources tell RealClearPolitics. (It has been known since last week Thursday that Trump was planning to tap Curran — Donald Trump Jr. tweeted his enthusiastic support on Friday morning.)

    Curran is getting inundated with information on which top officials on the 8th floor of headquarters to oust or replace. I’m hearing quite a few names of top officials on the removal wishlist, as well as names of those Curran or other members of his new leadership team already informed that their leadership services are no longer needed.

    One constant refrain is that Chief Operating Officer Cynthia Sjoberg Radway needs. to be removed STAT. Radway was incredibly close to former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned under pressure from Congress after the assassination attempt in Butler. In fact, Radway became good friends with Cheatle during a previous stint working for the agency. When Cheatle became director, she brought her back to work more directly for her in the COO role and gave her a bonus to do so, according to multiple sources. The fear is that Radway, if allowed to stay, will continue to serve as a pipeline of information back to Cheatle. She also has crossed many agents Curran respects.

    “She will be a major roadblock to positive progress,” if allowed to stay, one source in the Secret Service community told RCP.

    ‼️‼️‼️One of the biggest complaints I’m hearing – and this is a big development — is that several top officials targeted for ousting didn’t tell Curran or ANYONE ON THE GROUND involved in security planning for the Butler rally about the threats against Trump pre-J13. Those officials are: Cheatle, Rowe, and David Torres, the assistant director of Strategic Intelligence and Information, according to two sources with first-hand knowledge, according to a well-placed source in the Secret Service community.

    This is incredibly important because previously, members of Congress, myself, other reporters believed the Trump campaign detail, headed by Curran, had been briefed about the threats Trump faced, while the Pittsburgh Field Office, which also was responsible for some of the failures in Butler, was kept in the dark. If the Trump detail and Pittsburgh Field Office had been informed, both may have upped their game and ensured better layers of scrutiny for the security plan and execution.

    DEVELOPING…

    🚨EXCLUSIVE and BREAKING: THE SECRET SERVICE HAS BEGUN TO CLEAN HOUSE:
    On incoming Secret Service Director Sean Curran’s first day in the new role, 5-10 senior leadership officials, including former Director Ron Rowe, were warned that they would either be fired, moved, or… pic.twitter.com/yUqGmiZgrh

    — Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) January 23, 2025

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Guess the muckety-mucks moved up a floor – it used to be the 7th floor was the executive floor….maybe the 8th floor is the dedicated support staff for the biggies one floor below….🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

      Liked by 1 person

      1. it’s going to need clarification. we discussed this–a president can have underlings commit serious crimes in HIS name and then pardon them before he leaves office…corruption to the core.

        Liked by 1 person

  13. “Bright Brief – The Golden Age Begins — Trump ‘Floods the Zone’ … with WINNING”

    Burning Bright, Jan 24, 2025

    Share

    EXCERPT: “We’re not fucking around anymore.

    Sorry to leave my usual contemplative je ne sais quoi to the side, dear readers (and rest assured, I’ve got a piece coming on Sunday that I think you’ll love in keeping with my usual style,) but for now, my mood is mirroring that of Donald Trump in his first days pushing the American people forward into the Golden Age, whether they wished for it or not.

    The “Resolute Desk” has languished in antipathy and rotted under the stink of corruption and cronyism for decades, if not generations, but this week … THIS week, it feels like that old lacquered piece of history and political marketing is earning its name … as is Trump, and as are we, the progenitors and lifeblood of the America First movement we each came to from as myriad paths as there are rivers to the sea.

    And so, when I lead this Brief by playing on the mood of the day, keep in mind that one does not need to be angry to be resolute, nor tense to be immovable.

    Instead, I believe the posture Trump and his allies (and that all of us,) are adopting in the early days of what we WILL see as a new American Golden Age comes on the back of all the darkness we were alternatively forced and patient enough to endure en route to cultivating as much of the public mandate as was possible to convince the American people to save themselves.

    From the large-scale deportation of violent criminals to the designation of foreign cartels (and those who aid and abet them) as terrorist organizations, the time for talk is over. That holds true on a policy level in the highest offices in the land, and I think it also holds true at the dinner table, at the proverbial water cooler and yes, on your ‘Normie’ social media feeds, if any of us still pretend to keep a False Reality personality cypher running on fumes for the purposes of interfacing with the Normies we hold so much love for, and who rarely return it.

    Of course, we’ve all been inundated with the bearest hints of the winning cascade that has been promised, as Trump set an all-time record with executive actions (many of them being revokations in the place of invocations, though there were plenty of both.)

    From where I’m sitting, in essence, Trump 2.0 is the Administration Kennedy 1.0 was SUPPOSED to be.

    Donald Trump is mirroring JFK Executive Orders while revoking Lyndon Johnson inversions…..”

    https://burningbright.substack.com/p/bright-brief-the-golden-age-begins

    Liked by 1 person

  14. EXCERPT: “When a million-dollar securities fraud wrapped up two of Hunter Biden’s business partners at Burnham Asset Management, Hunter Biden escaped scrutiny. However, bank records and corporate document drafts now show one of the future first son’s shared bank accounts was used in the fraudulent bond transaction. 

    After his partners were arrested and charged in the scheme, Biden moved immediately to distance himself from the firm. He later told lawmakers during the impeachment inquiry into his father, former President Joe Biden, that the proposed work with Burnham never came to fruition. 

    Any personal liability for his association with the company at the center of the fraud scheme has now been wiped out, after former President Joe Biden delivered a sweeping pardon for his son from 2014 to the present day. 

    But, members of Congress have expressed interest in continuing their probe into what the House GOP impeachment inquiry concluded last year was a Biden family influence peddling scheme especially after a final report from the special counsel prosecuting Hunter Biden left several unanswered questions. 

    Last year Just the News reported the first evidence that the younger Biden was much more closely associated with the entities involved in the tribal bonds fraud. Corporate records show that Hunter Biden served as Vice Chairman of Burnham and was promised an $800,000 yearly salary. A signature analysis confirmed Biden signed the employment agreement with Burnham dated April 15, 2015. 

    These documents were first collected by the SEC and FBI agents back in 2016, obtained by Congress during the impeachment inquiry, and recently shared with Just the News. New documents from the same probe of the tribal bond fraud show that Hunter Biden was closer to the action than previously known. 

    For example, a bank account he shared with one business partner was used in part of the bond transaction scrutinized by federal authorities. One individual close to the bond transaction told Just the News that the bonds were transferred to and from the RSB account to associate them specifically with the Biden name, evoking a pattern identified by House Republican investigators that suggested Hunter Biden was trading on his last name to secure lucrative deals. 

    Additionally, a draft private placement memorandum for the bond transaction floated Hunter Biden as a potential board member for the entity set to issue the bonds for the tribal entity, according to the documents obtained by Just the News. 

    Abbe Lowell, lawyer for Hunter Biden, did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News about the bank records. 

    The bank account…..”

    https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/bank-records-show-hunter-biden-had-deeper-ties-60-million-fraud

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Just The News: “The Department of Veterans Affairs was spared Monday for the 90-day hiring freeze President Trump imposed on federal agencies, welcome news for the the roughly 9.1 million veterans enrolled in the agency’s health care program. Prior to Monday, whether the department would be exempt from the freeze was still unclear, though Trump in his first term also exempted the department from such a freeze. 

    Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran praised the Trump administration for the response to public concerns about the impact of the hiring freeze on veterans’ care. “I appreciate VA quickly issuing guidance to continue hiring health care and other critical VA employees to make certain veterans and their families continue receiving their care and benefits in a timely manner,” The Kansas Republican said.

    Former Rep. Doug Collins, Trump’s pick to run the department, said at his recent Capitol Hill confirmation hearing that regardless of whether the VA was spared from the freeze he still intended, if confirmed, to remove poor-performing workers – following a top Trump administration goal of making the federal government more efficient and less wasteful. 

    The executive order reads: “No Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created,” with few exceptions.  

     The department said the exemptions allow it to continue filling essential positions that provide health care and other vital services to Veterans and VA beneficiaries. The Department of Veterans Affairs worked with the White House and Office of Personnel Management to develop updated hiring guidance.

    “Under President Trump’s leadership, VA will always do what is necessary to provide America’s Veterans with the benefits and services they have earned,” VA Director of Media Affairs Morgan Ackley said in a statement. “The targeted hiring-freeze exemptions announced today underscore that fact.”

    The department said also said positions critical to delivering care to veterans in the Veteran Health Administration are exempted under the category of “public safety.”

    The Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care system in the U.S., providing care at 1,380 health care facilities, including 170 VA Medical Centers and 1,193 outpatient sites to more than 9.1 million veterans enrolled in the VA health care program.

    Maine Independent Sen. Angus King recently argued a hiring freeze shouldn’t prevent a VA hospital from hiring a cardiologist, if staff there have spent months trying to hire one, according to federalnewsnetwork.com

    The department said Thursday it is exempting more than 300,000 health care positions from the freeze, with VA doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical officers among the dozens of occupations excluded.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. this is an important part of government imo. never, ever, should we turn our backs on those who served our country. they deserve the best care…not the illegals who did NOTHING for us except put their hands out.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. ROFLMAO – this is just priceless!

    Just The News: “The U.S. Coast Guard has started calling the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin changing the name.

    The Coast Guard earlier this week announced it would be deploying assets to different locations, including to “the maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America,” according to The Hill newspaper. It will likely take the Department of the Interior time to change the name formally. 

    Following his presidential victory, Trump promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”

    The Gulf of Mexico is a body of water to the south of the United States and is loosely bound by the western shore of Florida, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, the coastline in between both, and the island of Cuba.

    “We have a massive deficit with Mexico, and we help Mexico a lot. They’re essentially run by the cartels, and can’t let that happen,” Trump said at a press conference earlier this month. “Mexico is really in trouble, a lot of trouble, very dangerous place, and we’re going to be announcing at a future date, pretty soon, we’re going to change because we do most of the work there, and it’s ours.”

    Liked by 1 person

  18. What Is the Abortion Bill Blocked by Senate Democrats?

    On Wednesday, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that proponents said would ensure that newborns surviving abortions received medical care and critics said would add legal risks for doctors. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act failed with a 52-47 vote, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to pass.

    The legislation stipulated that health care practitioners must provide the same level of medical attention and treatment to infants born alive during or after an attempted abortion as they would to any other newborn. The bill said, “Any infant born alive after an abortion or within a hospital, clinic, or other facility has the same claim to the protection of the law that would arise for any newborn, or for any person who comes to a hospital, clinic, or other facility for screening and treatment or otherwise becomes a patient within its care.”

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer characterized the bill as a partisan attack on reproductive rights, medical professionals and American women.
    – Newsweek

    Our Take: President Trump is moving forward on every front with no signs of slowing down. On Monday night, Bevelyn Williams’ husband posted a video of himself, about to leave for the prison to pick up his wife. Like so many others, it was slightly premature. On Thursday, he posted another one, and it appears Bevelyn is finally coming home.

    The political persecution of Christian conservatives is coming to an end by the DOJ, at least as a matter of policy. It’s time to go on offense – and a strong offense is required. The Senate just blocked life saving treatment for babies that survive abortion. Evil doesn’t end itself. We have work to do. – Ashe in America

    Liked by 1 person

  21. ‘Deportation flights have begun’ as Trump sends ‘strong and clear message,’ White House says

    FOX News, By Greg Norman, January 24, 2025 8:22am EST

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released this image Friday, writing on X that “deportation flights have begun.”

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Friday that “deportation flights have begun,” releasing photos of people boarding military aircraft.

    “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences,” she added. It is not immediately clear who was boarding the planes or where the images were taken.

    Information obtained by Fox News Digital shows that between midnight Jan. 21 and 9 a.m. Jan. 22, a 33-hour period, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested more than 460 illegal immigrants that include criminal histories of sexual assault, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, drugs and weapons offenses, resisting arrest and domestic violence.

    People are seen boarding a U.S. military aircraft. The White House announced Friday that “deportation flights have begun” in the U.S. (White House)

    Agents arrested nationals from a slew of countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Senegal and Venezuela.

    This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.“

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Wheezer just appeared at the door – I scratched his back again and felt what may be a tick but when I tried to get to it, he whipped around and raised a paw to strike. Alrighty then! I left him alone to chow down. Up to 24 now and cloudy – we could get some light snow but I doubt we’ll see anything measurable.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. judges can be impeached or fired?

    Julie Kelly 🇺🇸
    @julie_kelly2
    DC JUDGES ACTING REALLY BADLY:

    Hoy sh*t. This gem from former chief judge Beryl Howell, an unabashed Trump hater, who denied part of new DC US atty motion to dismiss J6 indictment following Pres Trump’s pardon. She calls the president’s pardon proclamation “flatly wrong.”

    When you see someone claiming these proceedings were fair and impartial, present this tirade to them.

    Long past time to impeach this desperate, bitter hag.

    “The only reason provided for this instruction, as set out in the [President’s] Proclamation’s introduction, is the assertion that this action ‘ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.

    No ‘national injustice’ occurred here, just as no outcome-determinative election fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election. No “process of national reconciliation” can begin when poor losers, whose preferred candidate loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with impunity. That merely raises the dangerous specter of future lawless conduct by other poor losers and undermines the rule of law.

    Yet, this presidential pronouncement of a ‘national injustice’ is the sole justification provided in the government’s motion to dismiss the pending indictment.

    Having presided over scores of criminal cases charging defendants for their criminal conduct both outside and inside the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, which charges were fully supported by evidence in the form of extensive videotapes and photographs, admissions by defendants in the course of plea hearings and in testimony at trials, and the testimony of law enforcement officers and congressional staff present at the Capitol on that day, this Court cannot let stand the revisionist myth relayed in this presidential pronouncement.

    The prosecutions in this case and others charging defendants for their criminal conduct at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, present no injustice, but instead reflect the diligent work of conscientious public servants, including prosecutors and law enforcement officials, and dedicated defense attorneys, to defend our democracy and rights and preserve our long tradition of peaceful transfers of power—which, until January 6, 2021, served as a model to the world—all while affording those charged every protection guaranteed by our Constitution and the criminal justice system.

    As to these two defendants specifically, both admitted their criminal conduct under oath, after consultation with their attorneys, and pursuant to plea agreements to which they agreed. Bluntly put, the assertion offered in the presidential pronouncement for the pending motion to dismiss is flatly wrong.”

    She dismissed without prejudice instead of with prejudice as DOJ asked.

    Like

  25. Ha! An announcement by astronomers in MA of a “new asteroid” was scrubbed because it turned out to be Elon’s Tesla Roadster that he sent to space in 2018! ROFL

    Liked by 1 person

  26. as it should be

    T. Turtle

    January 24, 2025 9:56 am

    This is good news. Student protesters chanting “d**th to America” absolutely should NOT have the privilege of studying and living in the United States. You are not allowed to stop American students from going to class and listening to professors. We have Free Speech in our country for our citizens. If you are a guest in our country, you should appreciate that fact.

    “Pro-Hamas Foreign Students Are About to Be Deported”

    Excerpts:

    Within moments of returning to the Oval Office on Monday, President Donald Trump got to work signing a flurry of executive orders. Ond of them is focused on “protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other national security and public safety threats.”

    “It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes,” the order states. 

    That’s bad news for pro-terrorist visas holders causing trouble on college campuses by advocating for terrorist organizations like Hamas. 

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2025/01/24/pro-hamas-students-are-about-to-be-deported-n2651033

    Like

  29. “Friday Funnies: Promises Made -Promises kept”

    Robert W Malone MD, MS, Jan 24, 2025

    “Never forget” – Peanut.

    The most consequential squirrel in American history.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Spot the difference…

    Strange times at the helm of the Democratic party.

    • Jennifer Anniston and Barack Obama – a couple?
    • The separation of Barack and Michelle Obama? Divorce?
    • Some rumors are both too juicy and too much information -all at the same time…

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Repetitive phrases, such as “safe and effective, ” are essential to the PsyWar campaigns. Repetitive phrases are also highly effective in smear campaigns.

    Liked by 1 person

  35. “Ilhan Omar Proves Why Some Foreigners Should Never Be Allowed To Hold U.S. Office”

    The Federalist, By: Brianna Lyman, January 24, 2025

    Rep. Ilhan Omar lectures Americans about being 'un-American.'

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Omar’s remarks prove she has no grasp of what it means to be ‘American’ and therefore should be disqualified from holding American office. Somali-born Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar decided to lecture Americans on Wednesday about what it means to be “American,” calling an immigration law signed by President John Adams “un-American.” But her comments only prove why some foreigners should never hold office in the United States.

    President Donald Trump said during his inaugural address that he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to protect Americans from “foreign gangs and criminal networks.” The act allows the president to deport foreigners of an enemy nation. But Omar condemned the act as “un-American.” Yes, a Somali immigrant is telling Americans that one of America’s founders, John Adams, was acting in a way that was “un-American.”

    Omar also claimed Trump’s immigration agenda is “a threat to immigrants” and that we must “restore basic humanity to our immigration system.”

    Here’s the thing, however: Being “American” isn’t about making foreigners feel comfortable — it’s about protecting our sovereignty, our values, and our people. But Omar’s remarks prove she has no grasp of what it means to be “American” and therefore should be disqualified from holding American office.

    But why does Omar not understand what it actually means to be American? Because she’s not an American. She’s a citizen of America, but her complete and total allegiance will never be just to America. It’s why she told supporters in her district that she would use her position of power to help benefit her homeland.

    But the survival of our republic depends on national unity, and the admission of foreigners — both legal and illegal — threatens to undermine that. Alexander Hamilton explained as much in 1802 when discussing the “consequences that must result from a too unqualified admission of foreigners, to an equal participation in our civil, and political rights.”

    “The safety of a republic depends essentially on the energy of a common National sentiment; on a uniformity of principles and habits; on the exemption of the citizens from foreign bias, and prejudice; and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education and family.”

    Hamilton further noted how it is “extremely unlikely” that foreigners “will bring with them that temperate love of liberty, so essential to real republicanism” and that foreigners will “entertain opinions on government congenial with those under which they have lived.”

    Omar most certainly did not bring the “temperate love of liberty” to the United States. But that’s because she, like so many others, does not see America as a place of “liberty” that deserves assimilation. Rather, she sees it as a place that must accommodate Somalis like herself. A place that owes Somalis and other foreigners the chance to escape the perils of their homeland while importing foreign ideas and practices that do not align with American values. Omar is more focused on changing the United States to suit her vision rather than embracing what it means to be part of this nation that was founded by “un-American” people like Adams.

    Notably, some founders worried about the dangers of allowing foreigners to be part of the federal government without “strong” checks. In a letter to George Washington, John Jay wrote: “Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government.”

    Members of the Constitutional Convention debated on Aug. 13, 1787, about how long an immigrant needs to be a citizen before he could become a member of the House of Representatives. Elderbridge Gerry “wished that in future the eligibility might be confined to Natives. Foreign powers will intermeddle in our affairs, and spare no expense to influence them. Persons having foreign attachments will be sent among us and insinuated into our councils, in order to be made instruments for their purpose.”

    James Madison “wished to invite foreigners of merit and republican principles among us.” But he believed (perhaps naively) that while there were dangers associated with foreigners obtaining appointments, it would not happen in “any dangerous degree.” Madison opined that “our own people [would] prefer natives of this Country to [foreigners]” thereby remedying his concern.

    Omar’s remarks are a stark reminder of why some of the founders believed in the necessity of “strong” checks on foreigners in our government.”

    Liked by 1 person

  36. 1998 HD Classic Electra Glide Anniversary Edition

    1969 HD Classic Electra Glide

    1997 Softail Heritage Springer

    1997 HD Heritage Springer

    2003 HD Fat Boy

    Liked by 1 person

          1. But if you have a passenger…..I’ve never driven a MC so I can only speak from that perspective and I REALLY like having the back rest. I’m chicken about riding MCs anyway – they’ve scared me since I was very young and witnessed the aftermath of an accident in Norfolk.

            Liked by 1 person

  37. 1994 HD Dyna Low Rider

    Oh, my! Look at this beauty!!! 1967 HD Electra Glide

    1959 HD Servi-Car

    2006 HD Softail Deluxe

    2021 HD Road King

    Liked by 1 person

    1. neither of us liked the side cars. the only we changed on our HD was the seat. the model we both loved had a basic one seater look with a little pad for me to sit one. that wasn’t going to be comfortable on the tours we planned so we ditched it. we added saddle bags too.

      Liked by 1 person

  38. LOL – the women at the impromptu meeting with supporters in NC were all telling Melania that she was beautiful and one of them said to Trump: “You married up, sir!”

    Liked by 1 person

  39. (Video)

    “Putin Says 2020 Election Was Stolen from Trump!”

    Clandestine, Jan 24, 2025

    “YUGE! 👀 Putin says that the war in Ukraine never would have started, if the election had not been stolen from Trump in 2020! Putin/Russia have said many times, that the US manufactured a biological crisis (C19) in order to carry out mail-in ballot fraud.

    I’ve been trying to tell y’all for years that Putin knows what’s actually going on. He knows the Deep State exists, and outside of Trump, Putin is their next greatest threat. Putin knows the game being played, and he knows Trump is not his enemy.”

    https://bioclandestine.substack.com/p/putin-says-2020-election-was-stolen

    Liked by 1 person

  41. “In fact, it’s rumored that there were food riots at ‘The Tombs’ jail facility in New York City back in 1899. The prisoners rioted because they were being fed fresh and salt water lobsters on an almost daily basis. The real reason why they rioted? The jailers refused to supply melted butter with the crustaceans…”

    Liked by 1 person

  43. “Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. Paradise contains Harry Reid International Airport, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), most of the Las Vegas Strip, and most of the tourist attractions in the Las Vegas area (excluding downtown).”

    Liked by 1 person

  44. CM-TX

    CM-TX

    January 24, 2025 1:49 pm

    There were signs that were missed…
    (Fake president had a fake office staged in another building)

    “Reporter explains that during the Biden years when he was at the White House there was never a marine in front of the oval office but now there is constantly a marine in front of the oval office.
    When there is a marine in front of the oval office, that means the president is in…”

    Reporter explains that during the Biden years when he was at the White House there was never a marine in front of the oval office but now there is constantly a marine in front of the oval office.

    When there is a marine in front of the oval office, that means the president is in… pic.twitter.com/7gDSvZF3yE

    — Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) January 24, 2025

    Liked by 1 person

  48. “The Dark Side of Antidepressants: Why are SSRIs so dangerous?”

    A Midwestern Doctor, Jan 24, 2025

    Story at a Glance:

    • SSRI antidepressants are among the most harmful medications on the market, impacting society due to their widespread (and frequently unjustifiable) use.
    • Common side effects of SSRIs (and SNRIs) include sexual dysfunction (which is often permanent), emotional numbness, severe agitation, violent psychosis, cognitive decline, and birth defects.
    • The most concerning SSRI side effect is their tendency to cause grisly suicides and homicidal violence which includes mass shootings.
    • Psychiatry’s denial of SSRI-related issues often leads to misinterpretation of side effects as signs of pre-existing mental illness, resulting in more medication and potentially catastrophic consequences.
    • SSRIs, like other stimulant drugs (e.g., cocaine), can create aggressive behaviors and are highly addictive so many SSRI enter severe withdrawals once they stop them. Unfortunately, few resources exist for these situations.

    Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs and SNRIs) have long been marketed as the magical solution to depression and anxiety, promising relief in a convenient little pill. But behind the glossy pharmaceutical ads and doctor endorsements lies a far more troubling reality. These drugs don’t just alter your brain chemistry—they can hijack your emotions, disrupt your life, and lead to consequences far worse than the conditions they claim to treat…..”

    https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-dark-side-of-antidepressants

    Liked by 1 person

  49. So far, so good with the furnace but I also took off the 3′ X 2′ metal panel on the cold air return, then cleaned the screen that is behind it. I try to do it at least twice a year but hadn’t done it for a while. That should help!

    Liked by 1 person

  50. “Trump Deemed Unfit For Political Office After Doing What He Promised”

    Politics · Jan 24, 2025 · BabylonBee.com

    Article Image

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mainstream media outlets deemed President Donald Trump unfit for office this week after he was witnessed doing all the things he had promised to do.

    Journalists and left-wing social media users criticized Trump for a range of actions he promised to fulfill during the election like shoring up the southern border, eliminating wokeness in the Federal Government, getting rid of DEI hiring practices, and myriad other items after the president checked them off his to-do list during his first week in office.

    “What kind of politician does the things he said he would do?” reporter Shandra McKinley wrote on X. “No one could have predicted this. He’s completely unfit to run the country. He’s been caught now doing the things he said he would do and people aren’t going to stand for this. It’s disqualifying.”

    Trump’s approval ratings for his first week in office hovered in the high 40s, a record for any incoming president — a clear sign, reporters said, that he’s definitely on the wrong track and people don’t like what he’s doing.

    “Sure, his approval ratings are high and most of the issues he’s tackling are 80/20 issues with the general public,” CNN’s Jim Acosta said, “but he’s doing what he promised to do and that’s a dangerous precedent for a politician to set.”

    At publishing time, Trump faced even more criticism for fulfilling yet another campaign promise by signing a bill outlawing the use of the term “rizz” by anyone over the age of fourteen.

    Liked by 1 person

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