Politics

[Wishfulthinker580]

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/welfare-is-whats-eating-the-budget-10c9d093?mod=e2two

 

[mdwest]

I anticipated Bongino to be tapped as head of SS. Especially considering the network of people he knows within that agency, and how it operates.

I thought he might be a consideration for Deputy Director over at USSS.. Doesnt really have the administrative background.. but at least he knows the agency, still maintains a lot of contact with agents over there that have been around a long time, etc..etc..

Something I haven't thought about prior is... MAYBE one of the things they want to do is pull some old hands from the USSS over to the FBI as part of the rebuild process..

Its not uncommon for agents at USSS to move to other agencies.. as a rule they make GS13 pretty quickly.. but then stay at that level for a very long time... when I was living in DC, the head of the Commerce Dept law enforcement group was a former USSS guy.. he saw a GS14 position open up at Commerce for an 1811 (federal investigator) and made the move).. same thing at USPS.. Ive known 2 USPS inspectors that started their careers in the USSS uniform division, then moved to USPS when positions opened up..

If Bongino is still in tight with key mid level leaders at USSS, and the intent is to shake up both the FBI and USSS.. ,maybe the plan is to grab those guys and bring them over to have him start down the change path at FBI..

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Street art in Mexico...View attachment 667557

Guess they showed us. OTOH I’ve gotten to use this meme template twice now so it’s not a total loss.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Very little if any of this has to do with a genuine concern for Ukraine’s future

Trump isn’t interested in anything other than mineral rights

The European leaders are mostly interested in keeping their Global Socialist cause on the road

However there is a very real threat to western cohesion, NATO and western values

Putin’s ambitions are being encouraged by simplistic U.S. foreign policies and EU entrenched left wing ideologies

The UK is now a second (if not third) world power suffering under a Stalinist Gov

Other than that

All is going swimmingly

So far, so good.

 

[gbflyer]

Guess they showed us. OTOH I’ve gotten to use this meme template twice now so it’s not a total loss.

View attachment 667723

Several of my liberal neighbors winter there. Probably one of them drew it. They are white.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ustr-proposes-charging-chinese-ships-200201314.html

 

[Newboomer]

Yep, second verse same as the first…… is the bats name Anthony?

New bat coronavirus discovered in China sparks pandemic concerns

The discovery of a new bat coronavirus in China has sparked concerns of another pandemic. The virus, HKU5-CoV-2, is similar to to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

www.foxnews.com

I wonder if fauci has his beady little eyes on this looking for another windfall.

 

[CJW]

Another angle from Nasrallah's funeral. The dude in the second shot thought the Israelis were about to send him to jannah. Didn't seem too happy though.

 

[Wheels]

Dan Bongino to serve as deputy director of the FBI

It is interesting that the top two people in the FBI have an in depth understanding of Russia Gate and the lawfare that was perpetrated the past nine years. Perhaps I am reading more into this than I should but it seems Trump wants an accounting of past events.

 

[deewayne2003]

Several of my liberal neighbors winter there. Probably one of them drew it. They are white.

Then your neighbors are part of the "plague", personally I find Mexico's distaste for immigration Hilarious!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753124294798803409

 

[Wheels]

I thought he might be a consideration for Deputy Director over at USSS.. Doesnt really have the administrative background.. but at least he knows the agency, still maintains a lot of contact with agents over there that have been around a long time, etc..etc..

Something I haven't thought about prior is... MAYBE one of the things they want to do is pull some old hands from the USSS over to the FBI as part of the rebuild process..

Its not uncommon for agents at USSS to move to other agencies.. as a rule they make GS13 pretty quickly.. but then stay at that level for a very long time... when I was living in DC, the head of the Commerce Dept law enforcement group was a former USSS guy.. he saw a GS14 position open up at Commerce for an 1811 (federal investigator) and made the move).. same thing at USPS.. Ive known 2 USPS inspectors that started their careers in the USSS uniform division, then moved to USPS when positions opened up..

If Bongino is still in tight with key mid level leaders at USSS, and the intent is to shake up both the FBI and USSS.. ,maybe the plan is to grab those guys and bring them over to have him start down the change path at FBI..

I have a feeling the bank fraud unit within USSS will be taken away within a few months and moved into the FBI. USSS will then have a core mission of protection with no secondary responsibilities that distract. This probably also ends the stream of USSS top employees that move into the bank fraud division a few years prior to retirement then move into high paying jobs in bank security.

 

[CJW]

Then your neighbors are part of the "plague", personally I find Mexico's distaste for immigration Hilarious!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753124294798803409

View attachment 667749

View attachment 667750

If we said that about Mexican immigrants being here in the states, all of Mexico would be quick to call us racists.

 

[mdwest]

Most people don’t realize how diverse the USSS mission set is or how much they’re actually involved in… everyone knows they do protective services.. and most everyone knows they do counterfeit currency investigations, but don’t realize how many other things they have their beaks pressed into..

For example, many years ago I was working a protective services assignment at the G20 in China.. typically when my team traveled we’d get some measure of support out of both the US Embassy (typically in the form of security briefs from the RSO), and the host country (in this case we declined assistance from the Chinese)…

Since it was the G20 the Chair of the US Federal Reserve was also present and so was the US Secretary of the Treasury.. so our three protective teams just supported each other and sorta stuck close whenever one of the protesters was on the move..

On day one we realized USSS had A LOT of people on the ground… we had worked alongside SECTRES detail before and knew most of those guys… but this was almost double the number of USSS guys he normally traveled with.. and while China is an intel risk, the physical risks are pretty low.. the Chinese aren’t going to allow a foreign dignitary to be attacked on their watch.. even if you decline assistance there are going to be dozens of Chinese agents in the immediate area “working” and making sure things go smoothly..

It turns out the USSS keeps a substantial number of people posted in China at the embassy and a few consulates.. they are posted there to conduct counterfeit goods investigations… they’re literally checking into all the fake watch manufacturers, fake high fashion clothing manufacturers, etc..

As a side note.. those guys all had truly excellent fake Rolex’s and breitlings and omegas lol… they knew which places made the best ones .. some of them unless you cracked the case and got on the inside there’s no way you’d have a clue it wasn’t real… back then they were getting the really good fakies for about $200 each.. and the typical folex for about $50…

My entire team came home with a case full of $10k watches that cost $200 each lol… the USSS took them to their dealers lol

 

[Russ16]

Most people don’t realize how diverse the USSS mission set is or how much they’re actually involved in… everyone knows they do protective services.. and most everyone knows they do counterfeit currency investigations, but don’t realize how many other things they have their beaks pressed into..

For example, many years ago I was working a protective services assignment at the G20 in China.. typically when my team traveled we’d get some measure of support out of both the US Embassy (typically in the form of security briefs from the RSO), and the host country (in this case we declined assistance from the Chinese)…

Since it was the G20 the Chair of the US Federal Reserve was also present and so was the US Secretary of the Treasury.. so our three protective teams just supported each other and sorta stuck close whenever one of the protesters was on the move..

On day one we realized USSS had A LOT of people on the ground… we had worked alongside SECTRES detail before and knew most of those guys… but this was almost double the number of USSS guys he normally traveled with.. and while China is an intel risk, the physical risks are pretty low.. the Chinese aren’t going to allow a foreign dignitary to be attacked on their watch.. even if you decline assistance there are going to be dozens of Chinese agents in the immediate area “working” and making sure things go smoothly..

It turns out the USSS keeps a substantial number of people posted in China at the embassy and a few consulates.. they are posted there to conduct counterfeit goods investigations… they’re literally checking into all the fake watch manufacturers, fake high fashion clothing manufacturers, etc..

As a side note.. those guys all had truly excellent fake Rolex’s and breitlings and omegas lol… they knew which places made the best ones .. some of them unless you cracked the case and got on the inside there’s no way you’d have a clue it wasn’t real… back then they were getting the really good fakies for about $200 each.. and the typical folex for about $50…

My entire team came home with a case full of $10k watches that cost $200 each lol… the USSS took them to their dealers lol

Yeah protection is the secondary mission.

I was in China back in 2019 met with the embassy regarding some counterfeit issues. They tell the story of a recent bust where they cooperated with the Chinese to shutdown a factory making counterfeit sex toys. They seized thousands of fake copy pink vibrators. Pretty funny story.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I thought the tariffs were going to be paid by the other guys?

View attachment 667707

I’m confident that every business owned by a liberal or anti Trump will raise prices, or already did before tariffs impacted the business at all.

And send along a similar notice to help garner further outrage.

 

[Brent in Az]

As far as the DOGE email requests, if you want to catch fish, you have to throw out some bait.