last week i wrote a 5-figure check to the IRS. i should’ve just made it out to him and cut out all that messy bureaucracy in the middle.

BREAKING: Iran sets additional condition for peace talks, seeks assurances JD Vance will "sit outside" negotiation room because the U.S. vice president "kinda gives us the creeps"

This RIGHT HERE!👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Stunning reporting here that shows U.S. troops were left exposed in a known target zone with virtually no drone defenses. Now the soldiers themselves are calling out the Pentagon’s version of events as false.

Hegseth and Trump keep lying to the American people about this war.

. . . just finished The Random Factor (how chance and luck profoundly shape our lives and the world around us) by Mark Robert Rank - an interesting read reminiscent of some of Malcolm Gladwell’s work.

US judge orders Trump to halt $400m White House ballroom project US president demolished East Wing of White House last year to make way for 90,000-sq-ft project

he will be more upset about this than any of the soldiers he’s getting killed in his dumb war, guaranteed

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - I’ve never before read one like this . . . Historical Fiction Horror 🤷‍♂️ . . . a welcome distraction.

Voter Fraud is not a threat to American democracy. Campaign Fraud is! Why is there no proposed bill requiring political candidates to be truthful?!?

Stumbled upon the Wisconsin Reads selection “Still True” - a novel about love and relationships, secrets, lies, deceit; addiction, conscience and redemption. Uncomfortable reading at times because the characters were complex, well developed, and relatable. Justifiability of falsehoods examined.

Kristi Noem deserved to be fired, but the damage she’s caused cannot be undone.

Alex Pretti and Renee Good cannot be brought back, and ICE still needs to be reined in. I will keep fighting for accountability and commonsense guardrails that protect Americans.

The last two reads of February’26:
Play Big by Angela Lutin
The Call of the Sirens’ by Chris Hayes

Each entry sparked a thought(s) of my own🙂.

Reminiscent of the song lyrics “Life is like a maze of doors and they all open from t the side you’re on” or Frost’s “Knowing how way leads on to way”; A Steinway on the Beach: Wounds and Other Blessings is a potpourri of thoughts - each sparking new memories, insights, thoughts.

If only we had such leaders in today’s turbulent times!!!

Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times . . . one of the most engaging books on leadership that I’ve ever read. One salient lesson from the book is that good, effective leaders lead from their humanity, using their empathy to motivate and sustain others.

Fact-check: Florida’s English-only drivers license exams Florida said it would start offering driver’s license exams in English only in order to make the roads safer. No studies show a clear connection between road safety and English proficiency. Experts…

Florida said it would start offering driver’s license exams in English only in order to make the roads safer. No studies show a clear connection between road safety and English proficiency. Experts say the shift could lead to more unlicensed drivers.

Favorite Hobby: Redacting

Political Profile: Pam Bondi https://theonion.com/political-profile-pam-bondi/

A History of the World in 6 Glasses - I read this one in the audiobook format: an engaging “read” through a new lens that formed, for me, new insights into the development of civilization and developed a deeper understanding of specific events that shaped history. A recommended read - check it out.

Not familiar with Bad Bunny before tonight - - - grew up with Beatles, Turtles, and Hermits - to my discredit, do not understand Spanish . . . that being said . . . I don’t understand why our elected officials are not paving the way for Puerto Rico to achieve statehood rather than invade Greenland.

Crazy how this stuff posts - was only posting the halftime entertainment idea 🙂.

Crockpot Pork Chops Recipe ChatGPT helps you get answers, find inspiration, and be more productive.

chatgpt.com/s/t_69891850...

Wouldn’t this be cool for Super Bowl LXI!

Bands that were popular during Super Bowl 1 Amare still performing. . .

The MAGA Diaries: My second read of Feb. ‘26. I have great respect for people who have seen life “from both sides” and have the courage to write about it. Nguyen’s comments about good and evil in her epilogue particularly resonated with me.

Is Lee Vidor an actual “Real Life” person or has this book and all of the information surrounding the author been somehow AI generated?!?

My first read of February - a free Amazon ebook by Lee Vidor: The Auschwitz Chapter. It’s an engaging historical fiction account of WWII - prompted me to do a deeper dive in exploring significant events and tragically appreciate how easily history is rewritten. It left me with one nagging question

The U.S. is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status Last year, the CDC confirmed 2,144 measles cases across 44 states — the most since 1991 — and nearly 50 separate outbreaks.

Experts fear the vaccine-preventable virus has regained a foothold and that the U.S. may soon follow Canada in losing the achievement of having eliminated it.
https://to.pbs.org/3NunWgA

5) True Crimes and Misdemeanors - Jeffrey Toobin
6) Buckeye - Patrick Ryan
7) Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle - Bill Curry
8) Who is Government? - Michael Lewis
9) The Fountain of Youth - Dave Durand
10) The Mafia Bombers - Malcolm Gladwell
11) Bonk - Mary Roach

Maybe a sign of the type of winter we’re having - 11 books read this January:
1) Inferno - Dante
2) Poems and Prayers - Matthew McConaughey
3) A Championship Team: The Packers and St. Norbert College in the Lombardi Years - Cliff Christy
4) Antisocial - Andrew Marantz

U.S. now joins world's leading jailers of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), include China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia, Israel, Vietnam, and Iran. These nations, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Eritrea, frequently target journalists.

We Asked Former Military What They Think Of What ICE Is Doing 'If we wouldn’t treat an enemy combatant in that way, there is no possible justification for the brutal treatment and killing of a peaceful, American citizen.'

'If we wouldn’t treat an enemy combatant in that way, there is no possible justification for the brutal treatment and killing of a peaceful, American citizen.'

5 degrees in northern Wisconsin this morning - - - based on the temperatures of the last few weeks, I’d call it a “Wooly Mammoth” heat wave!