101 Comments
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Vee's avatar

Happy day off with your families everyone, especially those of us still stuck in the rat race!

I had no idea that this was even a thing. How many other bills like this don't we know about and where is the accountability?! DOGE SCHMODGE. I want to know where these savings are going to go and where all these abused tax dollars went. People need to be held accountable for laundering our hard earned tax dollars.

Just a reminder about war:

"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." -Smedley Butler, War Is a Racket

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John Wright's avatar

What? You don't want your tax dollars squeaky clean from robust laundering? Remember, they get extra clean when they are sent to the Ukraine to support murdering other humans!

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KatWarrior's avatar

Yep, yep, and yep!

This is my "last" scroll for the morning, maybe a good part of the day! Soooo...

Grill some MEAT with some delicious marbled fat (because it's damn GOOD for you), add a dollop of grass-fed mind numbingly gorgeous sweet butter to those organically grown potatoes, and top it off with an American produced (highly recommend a Cali) Cabernet Sauvignon!

You may as well eat like a king/queen while saving the world from the blob! FECK it! We're allowed to imbibe a few days a year!

Thank you, Jenna! Your work is very much appreciated around here!

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

😊💕👏

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Mary Ann Caton's avatar

An opinion that should be required reading for every single American. Maybe even memorized.

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Laura Kasner's avatar

I look forward to seeing all the other money laundering scams Trump will nix.

So much winning!

PS. Jenna - I am in awe of how much research it takes for you to provide me with info that I know nothing about. Thank you.

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David Nelson's avatar

It could actually take an unexpected turn if Trump wakes up one morning with the idea that "he" can do money laundering "perfect."

"It'll be great. You'll never even know. The other guys were doing it and you only cared when I showed it to you. We're going to take less. A lot less. And you'll still be better off."

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Tonee norman's avatar

Nice Trump impersonation,David!

No doubt, he would do the best ever job,should he want too.

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Laura Kasner's avatar

From my church this morning:

Memorial Day

Remember and Honor

Remember those who shed their blood for the cause of our worldly Liberty, also never forget the one who shed his blood for our spiritual Liberty. Who gave us freedom from evil. Through him we share in victory over death.

Remember and honor those millions who shed their blood. Give praise and thanksgiving to the one who died to save the world, King Jesus the Christ.

Amen 🙏🙏🙏

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Maureen's avatar

From my church yesterday, (credit to Crosby Stills, Nash and Young) - "Find the cost of freedom buried in the ground".

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Teri McGiffert's avatar

Beautiful Truth.

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Eli's avatar
May 26Edited

I have friends who just moved to the mountains of West Virginia. Last year they had no internet service or cell service unless they visited town. This year someone loaned them a Starlink thingy (connector or whatever -- tech challenged here). They said it's super reliable. Go Elon. He did what the 2.75 billion could not do.

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

👏💪

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Valerie's avatar

All I can say is that I was on a cruise a few months and the ship had starlink. Best Wi-Fi I’ve ever experienced on a cruise - fast, reliable, didn’t get bogged down (IYKYK) and we were in the middle of nowhere South Pacific.

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Warrior Mom's avatar

my eldest son just purchased one to use up at our lake cabin cuz service is iffy. but really all you have to do is go a mile away, up hill (since our lake is very low elevation) to get service. I actually liked being away from it, taking a break from it. his generation doesn't appreciate that and think it is unacceptable & its 'roughing it' too much. *sigh*

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MaryAnn's avatar

We in rural blue Hellinois rely on Starlink for internet access. On a clear night, that band of sattelites can be seen merrily floating across the sky. Yes, Big Brother-ish, but a huge help in running today’s farm ops.

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The Great Santini's avatar

Had a friend who got involved in putting servers in libraries. The servers were deliberately oversized so that they could be used to provide internet service to the community and emergency personnel in the event of an emergency / calamity. Got sued by the losing contractor because the servers were oversized and therefore trivially more expensive. Project was tied up in court for years. My friend retired so I don’t where the project stands, but it is probably stopped.

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

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Janet's avatar

Our mayor thinks libraries are passé because everyone has a phone. I beg to differ.

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John Wright's avatar

Libraries are like little corners of heaven tucked away in our communities.

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The Real Mary Rose's avatar

YES, libraries = heaven.*

*Except when clownish, woman cosplayers (drag queens) decide to practice their kiddie grooming in them

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Janet's avatar

Not at mine, thank goodness. It’s a red county here so I doubt that would fly. However, the director was a mini dictator during Covid.

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Warrior Mom's avatar

what was up with THAT?! the libraries, in general, were just over-the-top with the convid BS. our large city library at first allowed you to order books to check out thru the website & you picked them up at the plexiglass enclosed desk. (which STILL is!). THEN they 'suspected' a patron picking up might have had covid so they closed completely down for 'cleaning' for 2 MONTHS! THEN since they were not heating the place, they had pipes burst and they closed for another 3 months cleaning that up. when they finally opened again, I was reprimanded by a 20-something 'security guard' for not having a mask, even though it was first thing in the morning and there might have been like 5 whole people in the place. and of course the guard and the librarian were behind the plexiglass... it was insane.

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Janet's avatar

Same. I was kicked out for not wearing a mask by a former workmate who actually called me a danger to everybody. Everybody that morning meaning just herself. I didn’t step foot in there for 6 months and made them put my holds on a cart outside the door to pick up. The director, my former boss for 9 years knew I was pissed but stuck to protocol. The one who kicked me out (against FEDERAL LAW) hid behind a plexiglass fortress until 2025 with a mask until she quit and moved away. 2025. At first you couldn’t reshelve books you were browsing. Tables were set up to pile the books on. They then cleaned them. Insanity. It was the last place in town to return to some normal. After over a year people began calling the city to return the swings and open the park for kids, which was next to the library. It was a depressing place and kind of still is for me.

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AJoy's avatar

Sounds a lot like my NY library. They were awful and now I refuse to vote yes each year they want more of my tax dollars:(

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John Wright's avatar

{sigh} There have been far, far too many "mini dictators".

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Mary Ann Caton's avatar

As was ours. I stopped going.

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Mary Ann Caton's avatar

A local business just featured a drag queen brunch on Mothers Day in a town of under 5,000 people in rural PA. I saw pictures that were posted the next day and the entire audience was women....not a man in the place, other than the drag queen. My question: Do women enjoy being mocked this way? The town is very conservative with a small percentage of libs who must have all been in the audience.

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AJoy's avatar

Or they lock me out because I’m not jabbed. Tried to fight that and they just laughed behind their masks :(

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Tonya's avatar

Vaccination required to use the library? Where do you live?

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AJoy's avatar
May 29Edited

If you were not jabbed you were not allowed to attend in person events such as concerts, lectures, yoga classes, art classes, etc. But you could pick up your books! Make it make sense please! I fought it and the Board of Directors just laughed and said NO! This was in NY. When I called up my local representative he said the library was a “private” business and they could make their own rules. Boy was he misinformed of what is private vs. public and what is the law :(

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Janet's avatar

Exactly. I worked at ours for 14 years. Best job I ever had. How I got to know my community and they know me.

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The Real Mary Rose's avatar

Wow that is so ignorant and sad!!!

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Valerie's avatar

I hate that libraries have almost no books anymore, just computers. Even college libraries! My college son is fine with it but my gen X self can only think ‘how do they research something out of 3 texts at once? How do they flip back and forth? I. Don’t. Understand.

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David Nelson's avatar

Where did all the Blockbuster stores go?

A. "Into the libraries."

In one of the BIGGEST money-laundering schemes in the country. "How many copies" of a movie does "every county in America" need? 10? 30? 50?

Is "It all about the demand"? Or is it "all about the 'subscriptions'"?

No doubt libraries are getting the "government price," but exactly "How many millions, per month(!), are in the pipeline?

Jenna, dear, I know you are very busy [I mean "now" I know anyway],

please find out... ;^)

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Valerie's avatar

Oh this is such a good question!

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Warrior Mom's avatar

the shelves are more bare every time I go in. when I asked about it, I was told that they don't want to shelve books that are available in digital form. I said "well I want ACTUAL BOOKS and I know that I am not the only person who does". then I added: "you do know that you are putting yourself out of a job, right?" talk about a 'deer in the headlights' stare...

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The Real Mary Rose's avatar

The new technofeudally-trained generations don't need no stinkin' flippin'.

I'm sure that Dostoyevsky and Steinbeck will become irrelevant...

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Mary Ann Caton's avatar

My sister tells me that her public library regularly puts its literary classics up for sale for $1 apiece , including books that were place in memory of someone.

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The Real Mary Rose's avatar

That's so sad.

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John Wright's avatar

😇😇

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John Wright's avatar

Heaven forbid our libraries should be well equipped!

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Indrek Sarapuu's avatar

The digital equity thing is a lot like the EV chargers Pete Buttigieg was going to install...

I believe they installed 3.

Can't remember how many billions that cost...

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Janet's avatar

I think it was either 16 or 62 BILLION. Either number is pure and simple theft from you and me. .

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CriticalThinker's avatar

Another 🐺 in 🐑 clothing that looks helpful but really just making way for handing out cell phones to folks as they arrive in the US and allowing apps that fully enable t r a f f i c k i ng.

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Hugh Petersen's avatar

Nix everything containing words like equity, inclusion, and sustainable.

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Warrior Mom's avatar

quite the red flag words, aren't they?

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Waynes World's avatar

I'm going to form a committee to study "how to navigate the process of leaving a comment." When that work is complete, I will then head up a "feasibility committee" to study whether leaving a comment is doable. Will get back to you who-knows-when.

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

Someone get Wayne a raise!

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FreeBird07's avatar

Don't forget the 400 page written report, bind it up nice so it looks good on the shelf...lol

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Warrior Mom's avatar

party on, Wayne.

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John Wright's avatar

What? You mean your clever remarks and timely comments on intriguing topics don't just magically show up on my screen? How dare you actually have to *work* to craft these masterpieces! Well... *huff*... if you are actually going to hope for compensation for your brilliant talents then I'm going to storm off and go watch some overpaid CNN anchor lie to me!

{grin}

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

🤣💕😊

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David Nelson's avatar

I'm with you, John. My white guilt would really prefer writing that is BOTH excellent AND effortless so that it wouldn't even ever occur to the writer to run a cost-benefit analysis and think about hanging up the quill.

In second place, my conscience would prefer excellent output, AND to believe that EVERYONE ELSE is doing the supporting...

In third place... all that's in my mind is that divot in the sand where I keep my head. (I bet it's still warm. I'll bet I could slip it back in before anybody noticed.)

A little voice is telling me, "Someday, you know, there will be a reckoning, and either your name will appear on a list of people who helped encourage one 'Jenna McCarthy,' or it won't." (I think it is a fairy, but it could be a pixie; it's too early for elves. Wait! It 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 be common sense.)

I'm still expecting "Jenna's Side" will meet and greet some day--in Ottumwa, Iowa--where we can show our support by presenting a laurel and hearty handshake. The name Ottumwa just strikes me as a place that could, always, use more attention.

Of course now, thanks to Margaret Allison, "Toadvine, Alabama is a potential vacation destination." (A quick websearch reveals this is the first actual use of that phrase. We'll invite Elon so we'll have Starlink.) If _I_ had a picture of self with Ms McCarthy--and all of you, my bubbas and my sissies--in downtown Toadvine--at the Blockbuster store--I would have it tattooed on my pyjamas.

The little voice is back, now giving off a more common-sense vibe, saying, "You always, no, mostly, do this: escape into fantasy when the thought of parting with 'a little bit of cash' is looming."

"That's not true," I reply, "I reckon it's about 50/50 with the sand."

Something has to be done: I'm taking the pledge to tip, Jennarously[1], for the steaks she brings to "our" table. Sometimes you take the ones you love for granted.

[1] Copyright 2025, David Nelson, and simultaneously placed in the public domain. (I wonder if the monetary value of same counts as "financial support?" Little Voice: "What would it take for you to 'Just. Stop'?")

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David Nelson's avatar

Re: "taking the pledge"

Done.

I'm glad I could be somebody else's Everybody Else.

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John Wright's avatar

A meet and greet in Uttumwa, Iowa sounds more likely than here in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Let me know when! I'll put my self driving car on auto-pilot and hope for clear sunny skies so the solar panels provide enough power to get there!

Don't take your head out of the sand! If you do the rain might fill it with a puddle!

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David Nelson's avatar

"Toadvine, Alabama! June 2026!"

...so we'll be sure to catch the Margaret Allison Tour.

Jenna, inform your troops: "Our 2026 European vacation will be in Alabama that year."

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John Wright's avatar

Spending money isn't the solution... actually doing something is necessary. I'm pretty tired of "hot air", we need a dose of cold hard reality.

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Valerie's avatar

Agreed. And many practical solutions are relatively inexpensive and don’t require billions in studies. In fact, in most cases, many individual states will have an excellent solution to a given problem that the federal government thinks it need to get in and ‘fix’ for everyone. Can’t we piggyback off those solutions that are already being used? Or better yet, leave it with the states to share with each other and keep the feds out of it?

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John Wright's avatar

Yes! Please leave the feds out of it! We need to downshift... Fed to State... State to County.

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MaryAnn's avatar

Yes. If money could actually solve problems, IL schools would be pumping out Rhodes Scholars by the armored truck load.

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John Wright's avatar

{grin} Yes... throwing money at the schools hasn't solved any problems, all it did was grow the administration arm of schooling.

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Flippin’ Jersey's avatar

Mango Mussolini.

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

🤣

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KBB's avatar

I just cancelled my subscription to Trial Site News over their stupid food fight against the sainted Dr. Pierre Kory (and their bad case of TDS). I was mulling whether and where to re-purpose that budget item. Jenna just won.

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

Aweee TY!!! 💕😊💪

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KC & the Sunshine's avatar

Here’s my gif-free, funny AF column about pro-abortion, kids. Said no one with any actual sense or the mental acuity of a flea, ever.

What do you even say to comments like that? Something like, “thanks for your unsolicited, thoughtless AF advice. Here’s some advice: YOU sit down and bang out a column and make it just as pro-abortion, gif-distraction free as you want it to be. Good luck!”

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 comment of the day!

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Daryce Morris's avatar

Keep writing for us and I’ll keep sending cash. And fuck those that give their unasked for opinions on how you roll through this Substack world.

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I adore and appreciate you!😊💕

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Margaret Allison's avatar

Most Alabama 80 year olds would like cell phone coverage everywhere they live and travel. Have a friend I have to call on her home phone because of where she lives. I can make you laugh,

Jenna, if I told you the name of the spot here in Alabama! When I asked my phone service why no coverage to a place I go every year in June, it was all about fiber optics deadline! Really?

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Jenna McCarthy's avatar

Do tell!!

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Margaret Allison's avatar

Toadvine! I think actually on Toadvine Road. I would have to ask her!

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