My Funny Valentine: Part 2

Humor 1 Minute

From GOODHOUSEKEEPING.COM:

More Card Games

Wait…a Card?

More Dinosaur Stuff

Harvey the Heart Had Too Many Farts…REALLY?

ANOTHER Card?

Toilet Paper

Vouchers

Carnivore Jerky Bouquet

Life Would Succ Without You Succulent

Hmmmm…Best Friends Coloring Book

Irritating Coffee Mug

Glitter Heart TOILET BOMBS

Hot Buns Potholder

Edible Cellphone

Love Oracles Cards

SOURCE: GOODHOUSEKEEPING.COM

Now this?  This is funny…LOL

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Unknown's avatar

Published by pat frederick

Published

112 thoughts on “My Funny Valentine: Part 2”

    1. Morning, Pat! Happy Valentines Day! Another roller-coaster of a day, I expect! We didn’t go into the negatives last night but it’s 17 and super windy! The furnace has been working perfectly. Today I am calling Source Gas and ending my maintenance agreement with them. Rich can take care of it from now on and he is local so I won’t have to wait so long. Perfect solution! He will come once a year to do a check-up on both the furnace and A/C for $80. I’ve been paying roughly $12/mo for the service plan with Source Gas for 12 years now (it goes up every year) and their service just keeps getting worse and worse.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. eilert (@guest_1416298)

    Offline

    February 14, 2025 02:26

    Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie

    USAID funded an organization that fabricated evidence which was used to impeach President Trump.

    The Deep State frequently funds regime change efforts abroad, but when it uses taxpayer money to undermine our own government, isn’t that treason?

    Liked by 1 person

  8. eilert (@guest_1416320)

    Offline

    February 14, 2025 03:43

    MORE FRAUD: President Trump Reveals “Staggering” Government Waste Numbers, Including $521 BILLION in Fraud Per Year (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit | by Jordan Conradson

    ………

    Below is a list of the numbers the President announced:

    Up to $521 billion federal dollars lost to fraud per year

    An estimated $236 billion or more in improper payments were made in 2023

    $2.7 trillion in improper payments, including payments that went to the wrong recipient, made since 2003

    $162 billion in total improper payments in 2024, including:

    Earned Income Tax Credit: $15.9 billion

    Food stamps: $10.5 billion

    Restaurant Revitalization Fund: $8.7 billion

    Supplemental Security Income: $6.5 billion

    Unemployment insurance: $5.6 billion

    Social Security Disability Insurance and Survivors Insurance Program: $8.3 billion, including $6.5 billion in overpayments

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Feisty Hayseed

    February 14, 2025 12:27 am

    Smart Jihadist starts his own NGO to rip off USAID

    (The Center Square) – Of the billions of tax dollars spent by the U.S. Agency for International Development Office (USAID) that are being questioned by the Trump administration, millions went to fund terrorism.

    A multi-year investigation brought by the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia reveals the scope of how funds were used in one recent terrorism-related case.

    It involved a Syrian national, Mahmoud Al Hafyan, who was charged with illegally diverting more than $9 million of taxpayer money through USAID to armed combatant groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front (ANF), a designated foreign terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq.

    According to the indictment, Al Hafyan led a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Syria, managing 160 employees.

    Since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, and through 2020, U.S. taxpayers funded more than $12 billion of USAID money to Syria intended for food and medical supplies that was supposed to be administered by United Nations agencies and NGOs.

    The NGO that Al Hafyan led received $122 million over a three-year period, diverting food kits meant for refugees to ANF commanders, according to the complaint. ANF, fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, was known for committing human rights atrocities, including conducting mass executions of civilians, suicide bombings and kidnappings.

    https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_941d0b5e-e3d3-11ef-84f4-3f5fac7e9036.html

    Liked by 1 person

  10. video in tweet

    Eagle Wings

    @CRRJA5

    THIS SHOULD MAKE EVERY AMERICAN MAD AS HELL. Sarah Adams, former CIA targeting officer and Counter terrorism expert reveals we are paying welfare to Taliban martyrs families. Every Taliban martyr who died during the war with us our U.S. government is paying them a stipend. .

    @realDonaldTrump

    .

    @potus

    PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS AND PUT A SCREECHING HALT TO THIS.

    THIS SHOULD MAKE EVERY AMERICAN MAD AS HELL.

    Sarah Adams, former CIA targeting officer and Counter terrorism expert reveals we are paying welfare to Taliban martyrs families.

    Every Taliban martyr who died during the war with us our U.S. government is paying them a stipend.… pic.twitter.com/TkNHXqr9To

    — 🦅 Eagle Wings 🦅 (@CRRJA5) February 11, 2025

    Liked by 1 person

  11. REAL – L♥️VE – FACTS!

    LO♥️E is mentioned 686 times in the NIV Bible – 425 times in the Old Testament and 261 times in the New Testament

    THE BEST KNOWN LO♥️E VERSES:

    “A new command I give you: LO♥️E one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35

    Whoever does not love does not know GOD, because GOD is LO♥️E . – I John 4:8

    The Way of LO♥️E

    13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

    2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

    3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.

    4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 

    5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 

    6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 

    7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

    8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 

    9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 

    10 but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. 

    11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. 

    12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 

    13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is L♥️VE.

     

    Liked by 1 person

  14. making perogies today (my labor of love) so if a disappear for a while…that’s where i am…lol
    the filling has to cool sufficiently before i make the dough so will be here for a little while anyway.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Just The News: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plane was diverted back to Joint Base Andrews on Thursday night, because of a mechanical issue, according to the State Department.

    The secretary was on his way to the Munich Security Conference in Germany when the issue arose, Fox News reported. He has since returned to Washington, D.C., but is expected to continue his trip on a different plane.

    Rubio is also expected to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from February 15-18. 

    “The trip [to the Middle East] will center on freeing American and all other hostages from Hamas captivity, advancing to Phase II of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Wednesday.

    The cause of the plane’s mechanical issue has not been disclosed at the time of publishing.”

    Liked by 1 person

  17. HOMAN IS GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY FOR REAL!

    “BIG NEWS ‼️ Business owner in Chicago says ICE has been contacting businesses and will be doing employee immigration checks The businesses will be fined $20,000 FOR EVERY ILLEGAL WORKER that ICE finds “This is real. It’s happening in the city of Chicago — $20,000 dollars for every worker you have in your business that’s not legal in this country “It seems that several colleagues have already received a notification from ICE telling them that they are going to do a review of workers to their business.” This guy has a Mexican restaurant in Chicago and he says he’s “Very concerned” (maybe he shouldn’t be hiring illegals and he’d have nothing to worry about)”

    MORE – https://xcancel.com/WallStreetApes/status/1890371540308435130#m

    Liked by 1 person

  18. IMO, he shouldn’t have back-peddled!!! SMH

    Just The News: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday clarified some of his comments from Wednesday that claimed Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was “unrealistic,” stating instead that “everything is on the table.”

    Hegseth made the initial comment during a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, clearly stating that the U.S. “does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

    The comment provoked outcry from Ukraine supporters, who suggested that the Trump administration was trying to weaken Ukraine before the countries even began negotiations. The secretary clarified the statements Thursday.

    “I want to be clear about something as it pertains to NATO membership not being a realistic outcome for negotiations,” Hegseth said, per The Hill. “These negotiations are led by President [Donald] Trump. Everything is on the table. 

    “In his conversations with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, what he decides to allow or not allow is at the purview of the leader of the free world — President Trump,” he added.

    Hegseth also rejected the criticism by pointing out that addressing the “reality” of a situation is not making concessions.

    “I think realism is an important part of the conversation that hasn’t existed enough inside conversations amongst friends,” he said. “But simply pointing out realism — like the borders won’t be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014 — is not a concession to Vladimir Putin. It’s a recognition of the hard power realities on the ground after a lot of investment and sacrifice.”

    Liked by 1 person

  19. “President Trump Establishes a MAHA Commission Via Executive Order”

    Robert W Malone MD, MS, Feb 14, 2025

    “Below is the executive order for the formation of a White House MAHA commission. The text below is copied directly from the White House website.

    MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission.

    • Chaired by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Commission is tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases.
    • Within 100 days, the Commission will produce an assessment that summarizes what is known and what questions remain regarding the childhood chronic disease crisis, and include international comparisons.
    • Within 180 days, the Commission will produce a strategy, based on the findings of the assessment, to improve the health of America’s children.
    • The Commission has four main policy directives to reverse chronic disease:
      • Empower Americans through transparency and open-source data and avoid conflicts of interest in all federally funded health research.
      • Prioritize gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government.
      • Work with farmers to ensure that U.S. food is the healthy, abundant and affordable.
      • Ensure expanded treatment options and health coverage flexibility for beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention.
    • The Commission aims to restore trust in medical and scientific institutions and hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables, and similar events to receive expert input from leaders in public health.

    ADDRESSING THE RISE OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES: President Trump understands that America’s healthcare system is largely focused on treating chronic illnesses rather than preventing them, leading to a growing health crisis with serious economic and national security consequences.

    • Based on all health indicators and global comparisons, Americans are becoming sicker, beset by illnesses that our medical system isn’t addressing effectively.
      • In the United States, six in 10 adults have at least one chronic condition, and four in 10 have two or more.
      • Prior to COVID, American life expectancy averaged 78.8 years, while comparable countries averaged 82.6 years, creating a gap that equates to 1.25 billion fewer life years for Americans.
      • The United States has the highest age-standardized cancer incidence rate across 204 countries, nearly double the next-highest rate.
        • From 1990 to 2021, the United States saw an 88% increase in cancer.
      • Asthma is far more common in the United States than in other parts of the world, including most of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
    • The rise in chronic conditions is not limited to adults.
      • Childhood is usually the healthiest period of life, yet as of 2022, 30 million (40.7%) United States children had at least one health condition like allergies, asthma, or autoimmune diseases.
      • Autism now affects one in 36 children, a staggering increase from rates of one to four out of 10,000 children identified with the condition during the 1980s.
      • 18% of teens suffer from fatty liver disease, nearly 30% are prediabetic, and more than 40% are overweight or obese – these conditions were virtually unheard of in prior generations.
      • The incidence of childhood cancer, while still rare, increased 0.8% per year since 1975—an over 40% increase over 45 years.
      • Overmedication, particularly among children, is a growing concern. More than 3.4 million children are currently taking medication for ADD/ADHD and diagnoses continue to rise.
    • Chronic disease has widespread effects, including on our military and our economy.
      • 77% of young adults do not qualify for military service without a waiver, primary due to being overweight, drug use, or mental and physical health issues.
      • 90% of America’s $4.5 trillion healthcare expenditure is directed at managing chronic and mental health conditions.
      • The United States spends almost twice per capita what other wealthy countries spend on healthcare.
    • Americans have lost trust in our health system, skeptical as to whether they are receiving honest answers about the causes of the country’s health crisis and how to improve it.
      • Only a third of Americans trust the U.S. health system, a near-record low.

    TAKING ON THE HEALTH CRISIS: President Trump is fulfilling his promise to tackle the health crisis facing America.

    • President Trump pledged that upon returning to the White House he would establish a special Presidential Commission that’s “not bought and paid for by Big Pharma, and I will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses […] And then, I will ask them to publish recommendations for how every American child can have a safe and healthy childhood.”
    • In his first term, President Trump lowered healthcare costs, provided more healthcare options, and ensured better care for the American people.
    • President Trump has consistently championed initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of Americans. Select actions from the prior Trump Administration include:
      • Passed Right To Try to give terminally ill patients access to lifesaving cures.
      • Signed an executive order to fight kidney disease with more transplants and better treatment.
      • Accelerated medical breakthroughs in genetic treatments for Sickle Cell disease.
      • Declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency and signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest-ever legislative effort to address a drug crisis in our Nation’s history.
      • Expanded access to telehealth, especially in rural and underserved communities.

    End of the White House Executive Order.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. NF: My adopted parents made me do this using the words: “I will not chew my nails.” Yeah, that didn’t work!!! I never sucked my thumb as a baby – I chewed my nails – or so Mom told me!

      NF: OK, we never had these – we had a Drivers’ Ed program w/real cars:

      Like

  22. “Valentine’s Day is reported by some sources to have originated as a Christian feast day to honor a martyr named Valentine. The holiday became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries. 

    Pope Gelasius I made February 14 a day of remembrance for St. Valentine in the late 5th century. The holiday may have been based on the martyrdom of two men named Valentine who were executed by Emperor Claudius II on February 14 in different years in the third century. 

    One legend says that Valentine was a Catholic priest who defied Emperor Claudius II by performing weddings for soldiers, even though it was against the law. Another legend says that Valentine prayed with Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer, and God restored her sight.

    In early traditions, people would pull names of eligible young ladies out of an urn to select a Valentine. The term “my Valentine” became a way for noblemen to woo a potential mate. Shakespeare used the term in his play Hamlet.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  23. guess she needs to get another job pal.

    Harrison

    Harrison

    February 14, 2025 9:50 am

    Go ahead and whine you little b…., we don’t care about your view and are rejoicing instead.

    “My Wife has a contract, it had $1M to go, the money just stopped”

    Former British Conservative MP Rory Stewart is angry his wife isn’t receiving money from USAID any longer. pic.twitter.com/27gGzd3wI0

    — Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) February 13, 2025

    Like

  24. “The words ‘Hee’ and ‘Haw’ come to mind almost immediately…”

    “Extras relax off-camera on the set of Cleopatra, which, at the time of its filming in 1963, was the most expensive movie ever made.”

    Liked by 1 person

  26. EXCERPT: “Following more than ten hours of discussion, the House Budget Committee voted along party lines Thursday night to advance a $4.5 trillion budget resolution that lays out funding plans for President Donald Trump’s border, defense, and energy policies.

    It also extends Trump’s 2017 tax cut for the next ten years, adding at least $2 trillion to the federal deficit even if America experiences strong economic growth.

    House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told lawmakers the resolution is “a blueprint for restoring America’s security, prosperity, and leadership in the world.”

    “This reconciliation process is not just an exercise in matching revenues with outlays,” Arrington said. “More importantly, it’s reconciling the difference between the American people’s interest, expectations, and values, and a federal government that has lost its way, forgotten who it serves, and too often has failed to faithfully, fairly, and efficiently execute the law of the land.”

    To partially accommodate its large price tag, the House budget resolution raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and instructs congressional committees to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years. That amounts to roughly $150 billion annually in savings. In return, the resolution authorizes a $300 billion increase in mandatory spending split among the Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Judiciary committees.

    Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, considered a fiscal hawk, called the plan “a giant step forward” to reduce government spending and inflation.

    “I am proud of what the chairman has put forward. I believe that is responsible, and I believe it is a balance of what we’re supposed to do,” Roy said. “Our government spends too much, and we have to stop that. And the American people deserve to have more money in their pockets. This budget accomplishes both of those two objectives.”

    A Republican amendment to allow adjustments to the spending cuts floor and tax impact cap — a compromise Arrington made with fiscal hardliners like Roy — passed, while none of the Democrats’ amendments made the cut…..”

    https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/house-republicans-spending-plan-advances-setting-collision-course

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Ummmm….are we sure we want Canada??? They’re crazy!!!

    Just The News: “A bill introduced in the Canadian House of Commons would ban making statements that might promote the use of fossil fuels. Charlie Angus, a member of the Canadian Parliament and the New Democratic Party, said in a statement that the bill would “make illegal false advertising by the oil and gas industry.” 

    “The big tobacco moment has arrived. We know that big oil has done years of disinformation and interference and false claims about the damage it is doing to the planet, but it is also killing people,” Angus said. 

    The preamble of the bill blames multiple examples of bad weather on the fossil fuel industry and compares its products, which are the basis of over 80% of the world’s primary energy and thousands of everyday consumer goods, to the use of tobacco. 

    According to the National Post, the bill so broadly defines “false advertising” that it could apply to any statement favorable to the oil and gas industry, including an “I Love Canadian Oil and Gas” bumper sticker. The bill would also criminalize statements of fact, such as suggesting that natural gas has fewer emissions than coal.

    The bill would impose fines as high as $500,000 or two years in prison for anyone saying anything nice about the coal, oil and gas industry. 

    While Angus argues that fossil fuels are killing people, in the time the globe has been exponentially increasing its use of fossil fuels, life expectancy has doubled. The bill, the Post notes, has almost no chance of passing since it’s a private member’s bill and Angus is a member of a party with only 25 seats in the House of Commons.” 

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I advocate for that option being a possibility in truly desperate cases only IF it is truly the patient’s desire. There should be a mechanism to help people pass peacefully but to find a safe way to go about that is the problem.

        Like

  28. Ah! I was listening to part of VP Vance’s speech in Munich and noticed he was offering sympathy about something that had happened. This must be it:

    Just The News: “At least 28 people were injured Thursday in Munich when a motorist drove his vehicle into a crowd, according to multiple news reports. Two of the injured are reportedly in critical condition. The suspect in the incident is believed to be 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, according to CBS News.

    Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said children were among the victims. Police said that the driver has been “secured” and doesn’t pose a threat to the public at this time. 

    This incident takes place just two months after a driver drove through a crowd of people in Magdeburg, Germany, and killed five people and injured over 200.”

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Just The News: “Two legal defense funds have taken up the cause of an Army Reserve chaplain who says he was relieved of his duties at a Veterans Affairs medical center for reading a chapter from the Bible that condemns homosexual acts.

    The First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center sent a letter on behalf of client Chaplain Russell “Rusty” Trubey in which they say VA police officers informed him in June 2024 that he had been removed from his duties following a sermon during which he read from the Bible’s first chapter of Romans that offered some people at the service. Trubey’s supervisor, Chaplain Brynn White, said the chapter is a “very charged and divisive text.”

    The letter also alleges Trubey was investigated for several months and threatened with a mark on his permanent record.  

    VA didn’t respond to Just the News’s request to tell its side of the story and verify the accounts Trubey and the legal defense funds made about the matter at a VA medical center in Coatesville, Pa.

    The defense funds’ letter was sent to Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, asking him to immediately eliminate a speech code imposed by the VA and ensure that Trubey and his fellow chaplains could preach in the way they wanted. 

    The defense funds didn’t indicate in the press release or letter whether they wanted the VA to reinstate Trubey. When Just the News contacted the ILC to ask whether they wished Trubey to be reinstated, Josue Sierra, the ILC’s employee, contacted the lawyers and responded by saying that they are “looking for assurance that chaplains will be free to preach sermons free from censorship or discipline.”

    “The government has no business censoring anyone’s sermon, including military chaplains,” First Liberty attorney Erin Smith said in a statement. “This is just the kind of woke policy that we anticipate Secretary Collins wants to purge from the VA.”

    Randall Wenger of the ILC said chaplains “do not give up their First Amendment rights to serve.” 

    In a statement provided by ILC to Just the News, Trubey said: “It’s scary to think that in America,  a chaplain can be removed, investigated, and censored for preaching out of the Bible during a chapel service.”

    Liked by 1 person

  30. EXCERPT: “President Trump’s education secretary nominee Linda McMahon began her confirmation hearings the morning of Feb. 13. One of the chief attacks against her is bemoaning “a thin resume on education,” as industry lobbying outfit Education Week puts it.

    “McMahon’s background in education is limited. She served for about one year on Connecticut’s State Board of Education,” says government-funded mouthpiece NPR. The government-funded New York Times notes “critics” highlighting “a relative lack of experience in education.”

    “Unlike President Joe Biden’s education secretary, McMahon has little experience working in schools,” USA Today bleats. Formerly government-funded Politico says she “has minimal education experience.”

    The truth is, “minimal education experience” is a qualification for running an unconstitutional agency that poses an existential threat to our republic. Myriad data indicate the education industry is one of the nation’s lowest-performing, and its institutions some of the nation’s worst.

    Institutions are run by people. The people responsible for the horrific performance of America’s education institutions are the least qualified to improve them. This is Management 101. And it is borne out by numerous longstanding data points. Here are just a few.

    Untrained Parents Educate Better than Trained Teachers….

    The Teaching Profession Is Horribly Substandard….

    Long, Long History of Catastrophic Failure….

    “….A system this bad is not above being run by a former WWE executive. Just about any competent person is too good to run an institution this chronically dangerous and dysfunctional. But somebody’s gotta do it — until the department can be abolished completely. Congress, let’s go.”

    https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/14/why-education-experience-makes-an-education-secretary-worse/

    Liked by 1 person

  31. EXCERPT: “President Trump’s education secretary nominee Linda McMahon began her confirmation hearings the morning of Feb. 13. One of the chief attacks against her is bemoaning “a thin resume on education,” as industry lobbying outfit Education Week puts it.

    “McMahon’s background in education is limited. She served for about one year on Connecticut’s State Board of Education,” says government-funded mouthpiece NPR. The government-funded New York Times notes “critics” highlighting “a relative lack of experience in education.”

    “Unlike President Joe Biden’s education secretary, McMahon has little experience working in schools,” USA Today bleats. Formerly government-funded Politico says she “has minimal education experience.”

    The truth is, “minimal education experience” is a qualification for running an unconstitutional agency that poses an existential threat to our republic. Myriad data indicate the education industry is one of the nation’s lowest-performing, and its institutions some of the nation’s worst.

    Institutions are run by people. The people responsible for the horrific performance of America’s education institutions are the least qualified to improve them. This is Management 101. And it is borne out by numerous longstanding data points. Here are just a few.

    Untrained Parents Educate Better than Trained Teachers….

    The Teaching Profession Is Horribly Substandard….

    Long, Long History of Catastrophic Failure….

    “….A system this bad is not above being run by a former WWE executive. Just about any competent person is too good to run an institution this chronically dangerous and dysfunctional. But somebody’s gotta do it — until the department can be abolished completely. Congress, let’s go.”

    https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/14/why-education-experience-makes-an-education-secretary-worse/

    Liked by 1 person

  32. NF: Personally, I’d prefer eliminating CISA completely!!!

    US Cyber Agency Created Under Trump’s First Term Removes Election Security Staff Working with States

    Several employees at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) responsible for election security have been placed on administrative leave, news agency Associated Press reported. This move affects critical support for state and local election offices across the country.

    Seventeen CISA employees who worked with election officials on cybersecurity, ransomware threats, and physical security have been placed on leave pending a review, news agency AP reported, quoting a source familiar with the situation. Ten of them are regional election security specialists who were hired to strengthen election security efforts ahead of the 2024 election. The review will examine efforts to counter foreign interference in US elections, which have been assigned to other staff members.

    These employees, all former state or local election officials, were brought in to build relationships across all 50 states and more than 8,000 local election jurisdictions. They spent the past year working with officials, attending conferences, and providing guidance on cybersecurity and physical security measures. – MSN

    Our Take: I first saw this story in Democracy Docket, Marc Elias’ hysterical rag, and they are freaking out about it.

    “Employees tasked with helping to secure elections from foreign threats and disinformation within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have been placed on administrative leave. The move puts the security and integrity of elections in the U.S. — especially at the state level, where local election officials rely on CISA resources to securely run elections — at risk… The employees…worked specifically within CISA’s election efforts, helping state and local election officials secure their elections from cyber attacks and handle foreign and domestic-based disinformation and influence campaigns.”

    Well, they failed in that mission by every conceivable metric. Elections are not even a little secure let alone the safest and most secure tech system on the planet, one that is magically immune to known hardware vulnerabilities with admitted critical software vulnerabilities as well.

    CISA’s 2020 election narrative was always vaporware nonsense. Removing the bad actors that propagated the technologically illiterate story is expected and welcomed – as long as it leads to the diamonds being returned.– Ashe in America

    Liked by 1 person

  33. Beijing Decries Manipulation of Coronavirus Origins

    China reiterated its opposition over political manipulation on the origins-tracing of the coronavirus on Wednesday, urging the United States to reflect on itself rather than shifting blame to others.

    Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun made the remarks in response to recent US media reports claiming that the US Agency for International Development used US taxpayers’ money to fund gain-of-function studies of the virus at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, which allegedly caused COVID-19 pandemic and led to the deaths of millions around the world.

    China has made it clear many times that the Wuhan Institute of Virology has never engaged in gain-of-function studies of coronavirus and never designed, made, or leaked COVID-19, Guo stressed.

    It is extremely unlikely that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak, and this is the authoritative conclusion reached by the experts of the World Health Organization-China joint mission, he said. – China Daily

    Our Take: The lab leak theory is made up. The wet market theory is made up. The virus is transmitted through the television. – Patrick Gunnels

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Saudi Arabia Launches Ferocious State Media Attack on Benjamin Netanyahu

    Saudi Arabia has launched a scathing state media campaign against Benjamin Netanyahu, pointing to growing frustration in the Gulf state’s royal court with the Israeli prime minister and the war in Gaza.

    The unusually hostile barrage, which could only have been published with authorities’ approval, came after US and Israeli officials talked up the prospects of Saudi Arabia normalising relations with Israel, despite Riyadh’s insistence that this would depend on the establishment of a Palestinian state.

    The onslaught was triggered by Netanyahu joking in an interview last week about creating a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia. – Financial Times

    Our Take: FAFO, Bibi.

    The Saudis have long been known for their laconic and private nature. When they do make public statements, it is measured and brief.

    They have also been the lifeline for Israel over the past 15 months, organizing land convoys to transport goods from the UAE across the Arabian desert, when Israel ships couldn’t traverse the Red Sea to dock at Haifa, due to threats from the Houthis. They have done all of this while being mocked by many across the Muslim world, who have slandered them as cowards and traitors, for choosing peace over war with Israel.

    That’s what makes this media blitz against Netanyahu so shocking. The Saudis are not known for airing out their grievances in public, and they have remained loyal to the mission to establish peace in the Middle East. But everybody has their limits, and Netanyahu has demonstrated a hubris that, for many, is beyond insufferable.

    I have no doubt that the Saudis are still in Trump’s corner, and even read in on whatever plan the President has hatched, but this one line from the article is a little alarming:

    Saudi Arabian foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan last week postponed a scheduled trip to Washington after the US president announced his plan, a person familiar with the matter said.

    We have covered Faisal many times in this Brief. He has proven himself a capable and congenial diplomat, who has earned friends for Saudi Arabia around the world. Canceling this meeting with President Trump is a signal to everyone that the Saudis have lost their patience with Tel Aviv.

    And they are about to host President Trump and President Putin in a highly anticipated peace summit… – GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Pennies and inflation. The decision to stop making pennies seems pretty common cents to me. The first U.S. penny was issued in 1793 by the U.S. Mint. A penny may have made cents in 1793, given the buying power of a dollar almost 250 years ago. But now making and using pennies just seems centsless…

    Liked by 1 person

  41. “St. Valentine was a Catholic priest or bishop who lived during the Roman Empire, around the 3rd century. His exact identity is somewhat unclear, as there were several saints named Valentine or Valentinus, but the most widely recognized story involves him defying the orders of Emperor Claudius II.

    Claudius had outlawed marriages for young men, believing that single soldiers were more effective than those with wives and families. St. Valentine, however, secretly married couples, defying the emperor’s decree.

    For this, he was arrested and eventually executed on February 14, around the year 269 AD.

    Over time, St. Valentine’s Day became a celebration of love and affection, symbolizing his acts of kindness and devotion to others.” -Catholic News Agency (CNA)

    Liked by 1 person

  42. Ha! Too funny! This picture (w/o the words, of course!) is now hanging on the wall outside the oval office. Anyone who enters has to pass it first!!! PSYCH!!! ROFLMAO

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Liqueda
    Liqueda
    February 14, 2025 11:16 am

    Acting Solicitor General has notified Congress that they are petitioning the Supreme Court to remove the protections on unconstitutional agencies such as Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Board, and Consumer Product Safety Commission.

    They want the Supreme Court to reexamine Humphrey’s Executor which came out of the New Deal era that made these agencies independent of accountability to the people or the president.

    Expect massive shock and pearl clutching with screams of dictator. Rechecking popcorn supplies.

    https://amuseonx.substack.com/p/the-unitary-executive-and-trumps

    Liked by 1 person

  45. Just The News: “Two people were shot on Friday in Philadelphia, during the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory parade, CBS News reported.

    The status of the two people who were shot was not immediately clear, but Philadelphia police said it occurred in the city’s Spring Garden neighborhood. It is also unclear what led up to the shooting.

    The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs for its second Super Bowl title on Sunday.”

    ———————

    Just The News: “Vice President JD Vance on Friday said that he has spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about achieving “durable, lasting peace” between Russia and Ukraine. The conversation took place in Germany, where world leaders are gathered for the Munich Security Conference. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Ukraine peace envoy Keith Kellogg were also present for the talks, per the New York Post.

    Vance did not outline what the discussions entailed, but described the talks as “fruitful” and “good.” “We had a number of fruitful conversations, a number of things for us to follow up and work on,” Vance said. “And fundamentally, the goal is, as President [Donald] Trump outlined it, we want the war to come to a close.” 

    “We want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” he continued. “So we had a number of good conversations about how we might accomplish that together, and certainly we’ll have many more in the days, weeks and months to come.”

    Zelensky said that he agreed with Vance about wanting to bring an end to the war, but stated he would need “real security guarantees.”

    The meeting occurred the same day that Vance gave his first major speech on the international stage, where he criticized European leaders for what he considers their stifling opposing viewpoints, and of retreating from “fundamental values.” It also comes the same week that Trump said he had a productive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war.”

    Liked by 1 person

  46. “VP Vance shocks Europeans with American exceptionalism and principled moral clarity — Europe has lost its soul and their leaders are lashing out.”

    Jordan Schachtel, Feb 14, 2025

    Share

    Vice President JD Vance delivered a barnburner of a speech to the Munich Security Conference on Friday morning. You can watch it in full here:

    The European audience was notably hushed throughout the speech, during which the vice president continually challenged our traditional allies to uphold the Western values they once claimed to cherish.”

    The VP exposed that Americans sometimes find ourselves on an island of principled exceptionalism, and that’s okay. In his 1981 inaugural address, President Reagan famously called on Americans to do “whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.”

    Vance proudly carried that legacy forward today by defining the principles that make America great, and challenged the Europeans to live up to their foundations.

    In 2025, much of Western Europe stands as a giant history museum to a series of once-proud cultures. It’s a relic of a society that helped spark incredible advancements in human progress and well-being not so long ago.

    Today, Europe is reeling from a seemingly never-ending series of self-inflicted issues. The five most prominent are radical Islamic immigration, globalist fascism, the continually declining birthrate, a continent-wide brain drain, and the climate hoax.

    1. Over recent decades, Europe has imported tens of millions of people from third-world hellholes, the vast majority of whom will not assimilate (and have not been asked to assimilate) into their host nations. Now, the radical Islamic migrants have begun the process of capturing and weaponizing European institutions. The British government (and many others) is tragically inundated with high-ranking officials and bureaucrats who seek to fundamentally transform their countries into a continuation of the ummah.
    2. The globalist fascism is best captured through Klaus Schwab’s annual confab in Davos, where European elites decide which narratives they will attempt to forcibly impose upon humanity in the future. Oftentimes, this involves calling for and imposing widespread social media censorship. As our VP put it, it involves “firewalling” viewpoints deemed not worthy by the European elites.
    3. The declining birth rate in Western Europe has become a significant demographic challenge, shaping social, economic, and political landscapes. Over recent decades, numerous countries in Western Europe, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, have witnessed a consistent drop in birth rates, leading to aging populations and shrinking workforces. Several factors contribute to this trend. Primarily, economic considerations play a pivotal role. The high cost of living, particularly in major cities, and the expenses associated with child-rearing discourage many from having children. Housing, education, and healthcare costs are considerable, making expanding a family less appealing or feasible for many.Cultural shifts also influence birth rates. The traditional model of family life has been targeted for destruction, with society normalizing permanent singlehood and childless couples. While native Western Europeans continue to see population decline, their “replacements” in the foreign migrant class will continue to become a greater percentage of the population, leading to more trouble in the future.
    4. Europe has witnessed a continuing exodus of talent due to its unfriendly business and regulatory environment. This brain drain has had profound implications, leading to a loss of human capital, innovation, and economic growth in countless countries across the continent.
    5. Much of Europe’s implosion is linked, sometimes indirectly, to the anti-human spawned climate hoax, which has damaged the continent on every imaginable front.

    An American leader roasting smug Europeans will never get old. Ever. And it’s especially the case when that leader is speaking unpopular truths.

    Europe should serve as a cautionary tale for our “last and greatest bastion of freedom.” No other nation will pick up the mantle if we fail to uphold our standards and values.”

    Liked by 1 person

  48. EXCERPT: “….In our current MAGAverse, we’ve seen an influx of cute, adorable, photogenic children. There are the Vance kids, Elon Musk’s kids, and, of course, Barron Trump. But it seems the youngest (and tallest) Trump has graduated from “cute and adorable” to “hot and studly” — at least, so sayeth the savvy scribes at Vanity Fair.

    And just in time for Valentine’s Day, too! Their recent profile on the first son — and New York University’s big(gest) man on campus — “The Education—and Anointment—of Barron Trump” was eye-opening for multiple reasons.

    It was glowing. Positive. Supportive. Encouraging.

    In short, it was the kind of story that Democratic “first families” receive all the time but are almost never bestowed on conservatives. If a Democratic First Lady wears even an iota of makeup, she’s instantly a fashion icon. (And if her husband doesn’t wear makeup, he’s instantly a “Model of Masculinity.”) That’s been the media’s go-to narrative ever since the sexcapade days of JFK’s Camelot.

    Here’s an early paragraph from the Vanity Fair profile:

    The podcasters who have dined with Barron at Mar-a-Lago rave about his swagger and romantic eligibility; the president and his aides credit him with strategic mastery as an ambassador to young online men. On social media, where his youth soccer highlights periodically circulate, he is discussed with varying degrees of irony but nearly always in breathless terms. He does not speak publicly nor operate a public social media account, which, by all appearances, has only deepened his mystique. Any view of his true place in the Trump firmament arrives in third-party glances. Melania described him to Fox News as “very vocal” in advising his father, and Elon Musk recounted on X how he spent Thanksgiving “discussing consciousness & video games with Barron.”

    Personally, I hope Barron maintains his social media silence. Vanity Fair is right: There’s a majesty to silence. It invites audiences to positively project their own biases and aspirations. Silence is golden (and who values gold more than a Trump?).

    Before Lady Di lost her life in a car crash, she was the most popular royal (or ex-royal) anywhere in the Western World, and it was largely via the power of silence. She smiled, waved, and posed with sick children. Her deepest, darkest thoughts were hidden behind a marble mask. You can’t even imagine Lady Di on TikTok or X, bloviating endlessly about politics and culture, trying to out-snark the opposition.

    Instead, she was nice. (Seemed nice, at least.) PR-wise, it helped her enormously. The article continued:

    After TMZ reported in December that Barron’s peers knew him as a low-key video game enthusiast, a source quickly emerged to tell People that he was in fact a “ladies’ man.” According to the report, young women of all political persuasions were falling for him. The subject—not, it should be said, a strictly dichotomous one—has been widely litigated, with Eric Trump describing his half brother as the “most eligible bachelor in the world” and one of Barron’s classmates confirming to me that “he definitely is a gamer.” The Daily Mail proposed that conservative 21-year-old influencer Maria Arana, a Mexican American NYU student who grew up in Miami, could make for a suitable “future Mrs Barron Trump.”

    “I just thought it was very random,” Arana told me. “But it’s not like I was against it.”

    Barron Trump is a tall, single, handsome teenage billionaire celebrity. Now, I’m no “expert” on women, but I suspect there are probably a few ladies who dig those qualities. This is, alas, a double-edged sword: the benefits are obvious (and how!) but it also makes him a target…..”

    https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2025/02/14/hell-freezes-over-or-a-cultural-takeover-vanity-fairs-shocking-profile-of-barron-trump-n4936984

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.