December 11, 2025

A peek inside Don Jr's hoity-toity Georgetown Branch club...

Trump family moolah rolls in as U.S. residents are struggling.

When Donald Trump Jr. founded the Executive Branch club in April 2025, it was meant to be for the elite of the elite. Months later, the club is living up to its name as only 50 members have been able to gain access after paying a staggering fee of $500,000.

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So what exactly do members get at the Executive Branch? Like other elite clubs in New York and Miami, this Washington, D.C. venue offers facilities such as boardrooms, restaurants, bars, gyms, and spas. But more importantly, it gives affluent members a place to have discussions and meetings in complete secrecy without fear of the media. Hence, while the most expensive New York club, the Arman, charges around $200,000 as an annual fee, Don Jr.’s club’s membership costs more than twice that amount.

According to former employees, a respected official from the Middle East was not allowed to enter the venue because they did not have a membership. Meanwhile, people who are lucky enough to access the club do not shy away from flaunting their wealth. The club typically charges $700 for a tequila shot and $2,000 to $3,000 per glass for Japanese whisky.

A source quoted by Daily Mail said, “One of the members… was so upset we didn’t have this specific wine – so he had his assistant fly on their private jet [on the day of the dinner] to his house in Florida and bring back a bottle of wine from his private collection… despite there being about 4,000 wines on the property.”

https://www.inquisitr.com/former-staffers-expose-what-really-happens-inside-donald-trump-jr-s-500000-a-year-secret-club

December 9, 2025

Repairing the damage... the National Weather Service struggles to hire (or rehire)

experienced weather forecasters in a winter predicted to be severe:

(CNN) The National Weather Service is working to hire back hundreds of positions laid off or otherwise cut by the Trump administration, but it’s progressing at a snail’s pace, with about 80 final job offers accepted for meteorologists, hydrologists and other specialized staff.

The agency received permission in late July to add a total of 450 people after about 550 were cut by DOGE earlier this year. The decision to authorize new hires came after lawmakers and citizens expressed concerns about how the NWS cuts would impact public safety.

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“The administration is trying to put out a fire that they started,” said Rick Spinrad, who led NOAA during the Biden administration. “The 450 hires for the NWS won’t even cover the full shortfall.”

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The NOAA official said the agency has announced more than 180 positions so far and will keep hiring next year until the 450 positions are filled. At that point, however, the NWS will still be smaller than it was at the start of the second Trump administration.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/trump-admin-is-trying-to-put-out-a-fire-they-started-at-weather-service-as-a-cold-snowy-winter-looms/ar-AA1S1zUh

November 28, 2025

More wacky Republican reasoning: Texas has a new vehicle registration policy...

Texas just changed its vehicle registration process on November 18, making it impossible to register a vehicle if you’re not a documented American citizen.

If only legally documented residents can register cars, the assumption is that fewer high-risk or uninsured drivers will end up behind the wheel. But as we’ve come to learn, real-world driving rarely mirrors policy intent, and it raises an uncomfortable question: what happens when the people who can no longer register a car keep driving anyway?

https://www.autoblog.com/news/texas-new-car-registration-rule-might-backfire-big-time

November 24, 2025

Puzzled: Who would be threatening MTG? Watching Deadline White House this

p.m. there's a discussion about the dangerous threats to her.

From what group of people? Believe me, I'm not condoning threatening anyone, but I can't see how it's Repugs because she's still reportedly very popular among her home state MAGAs.

But why would it be Dems, either? She's been well praised for standing up to djt and supporting the Epstein victims -- plus, I don't believe Dems are particularly prone to threatening people -- we're more apt to simply send surly e-mails.

November 19, 2025

Trump says Georgetown Law School unfairly canceled Tiffany''s graduation

because she was a Trump and such a great student...

(At a Kennedy Center gathering, today, with the Saudis) He noted that Tiffany was present with her husband, Michael Boulos, and claimed she had been a “great student” at Georgetown University Law Center, where she had been a member of the Class of 2020.

“She finished really right at the top and we were proud of you. And she was so proud, and her graduation got canceled because of Covid — but I say if her name was something else, they probably wouldn‘t of canceled it,” Trump said.

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Although Tiffany Trump graduated from the Georgetown University Law School with a Juris Doctor degree that year, a review of the school’s online records by The Independent found that she did not earn cum laude honors with her degree, nor was she listed as being part of her class’ Order of the Coif honorees — a legal educational honor afforded to the top 10 percent of law school classes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-claims-conspiracy-over-tiffany-s-canceled-graduation/ar-AA1QKSJX

November 14, 2025

Melania co-signs Presidential Executive Order today

Right wing news reports that Trump signed an executive order to help teens transition from foster care, then invited his wife to add her "ceremonial" signature to the order -- after bragging that they didn't use autopens.

The reports say that he asked her to sign because of her concern for youth and because, he said, "she speaks five languages -- which are her native Slovenian, English, French, German, Italian and a Serbo-Croation legacy language." (For the record that's six languages.)

Imagine the meltdown if Jill Biden, an educator, had done that for any cause....

November 12, 2025

Suspicions confirmed? The gold WH geegaws may be linked to Home Depot

(They are made of wood, but have been gold leafed.)

BuzzFeed actually reached out to Ekena Millwork, the company that makes the appliques sold to Home Depot (and other retailers) back in August. In response, they replied, "We work with several design firms in DC that have worked on the White House and believe these could be our onlays."

The company is in Clarksville, TX

https://www.ekenamillwork.com/appliques-and-onlays

November 8, 2025

Great opinion piece by Adam Serwer in The Atlantic -- The Mafia Presidency

Americans are not as easily divided as Trump might think. Millions of Republican voters live in New York, just as millions of Democrats live in Texas. He cannot tell whom he is punishing by glancing at an electoral map. But even if he could, Trump’s acts of extortion have no place in a democracy. They belong in a protection racket: If you support Trump, you are protected; if you do not, you are vulnerable. If you donate enough cash to Trump, you may receive favorable treatment, including immunity from the law. If you oppose Trump, you may be prosecuted.

This is not how a representative government works. It is how the Mafia works.

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Want your citrus groves to turn a profit? You’re going to have to hire my guys and also let me skim off the top. You want your cattle back? I’ll get them for you, but if you don’t want them stolen again, you should probably cut me in.

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I doubt that anyone would look at that system and think: Now, there’s a great model for the U.S. government. And yet here we are. If you are aligned with Trump, you can expect public services to function normally (although they often don’t), and you may be entitled to exemption from laws and regulations. If you are opposed to Trump, you have to worry about being crushed by the fist of the state.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/mafia-style-american-politics/684863/

November 5, 2025

Plans afoot for the great, grand arch de drumpf

The price tag of President Donald Trump’s planned victory arch has been revealed — and it has eight zeroes, according to a new report.

The proposed monument, which is set to be built in the lead-up to the country’s 250th anniversary next year, is estimated to cost $100 million, according to Axios, citing unnamed White House insiders.

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The report did not say how the massive undertaking will be financed, though sources noted that Trump has raised $1.9 billion from private donors to help pad his war chest and pay for various construction projects, including his ballroom, which led to the demolition of the East Wing.

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It’s not clear whether the official process for building new monuments — which involves congressional authorization — is being followed. The apparent target completion date of July 2026 indicates Trump may go around the usual procedures.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/price-tag-of-trump-s-planned-victory-arch-for-dc-is-revealed/ar-AA1PSdMR

November 2, 2025

FYI -- Warning about invasive lizard species newly found in N Florida

There is a photo of an invasive lizard. It's been in S Florida for decades, but was recently spotted in Duval County (Jacksonville). Wildlife officials fear this invasive lizard will overwhelm the native anoles.

The native anole (common, harmless little lizards that can turn green or brown) is a "stop host" for mosquitoes and as I have observed they also consume baby cockroaches.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/scientist-issues-warning-about-dangerous-species-spreading-through-florida-they-ll-just-go-wherever-you-take-them/ar-AA1PDP9P