Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025 - Part 13 of 16 #4 - Turnpike Troubadours - "Ruby Ann" - The Price of Admission (2025)
This album came out in April with no advance warning and minimal traditional promotion. There was some criticism of the album's pacing, with both critics and fans noting that the first half of the album was a slow buildup. Still, it does have its moments. I knew that I was going to choose one of two songs from this album, with the other option being "The Devil Plies His Trade (Sn 6 Ep 3)." Overall, I liked the whole album.
https://youtu.be/lJvzRUX_h7g?si=A_ZeSCYJgXGf5R-6
Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025 Bonus Song - Turnpike Troubadours - "The Devil Plies His Trade (Sn 6 Ep 3)" - (2025)
Another slice of Red Dirt Country from Turnpike Troubadours. This is Track 6 on the album, when things really amp up after the slow buildup.
A new little sign at a new Publix in my neighborhood caught my eye this morning.
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC Publix believes that our customers have the right to shop without interference from any source. Therefore, all solicitations, canvassing, distribution of literature, demonstrations, picketing, or any other similar activities, for whatever reason, are prohibited. This prohibition extends from our store to the sidewalks and parking lot in front of our store. We want shopping at Publix to be a pleasure for all our customers. THANK YOU.
The signs (same sign x2) appears at a parking island near the entrance to the parking lot and another parking island perpendicular to the store entrance.
33,000 homeless US veterans living on the streets. Politicians say there are no resources to help them
But we can throw money at daycare centers that actually take care of zero children and send literally billions of dollars to fraudulent NGOs that spend the money on luxury items instead of feeding hungry children. Waste and fraud is something we can afford, but not homeless veterans.
That's the thing about fraud of public tax dollars. It steals money that would be available for the needy. A principled liberal would be beside themself. But instead, we get crickets.
A new little sign at a new Publix in my neighborhood caught my eye this morning.
Do you ever see the activity the sign is meant to deter? It’s been decades since anyone besides a fire department fundraiser or maybe girl scouts outside a grocery store. Back in the 80s and 90s we’d see LaRouche canvassers outside Roche Bros (bad name for grocers, I know). ‘Hey- we’re trying to get one more Democrat on the ballot!’ assuming because I was in Massachusetts I was a D. Playing the odds I suppose…
At the door of my friendly neighborhood Kroger affiliate here in the western fringe of Las Vegas there's a very low key panhandler. He's easy to ignore, but I wonder how long it will be before the management gives him the heave-ho.
Since I’ve moved to the south I’ve been chased after in the Publix parking lot three times. First when I paid for groceries and tried to haul the bags out of the store in one of those plastic shopping baskets. The fella started in on me then thought the better of it. Guess carts are okay to dump in the irrigation ditch beside the store but don’t you dare mess with the plastic baskets. Second and third were the same checkout idiot who didn’t understand I could tap my card before he was finished scanning my groceries, then somehow ‘forgot’ he handed me a receipt. First time was a mistake, second time after the checkout guy threatened to ‘have to take me back inside’ I walked in and chewed a manager a bit, making sure I was in front of the security camera at the desk. Their has not been a third bit if there is look for me in the blotter…
It's becoming apparent that our ridiculous $38 trillion debt that will eventually bankrupt us was entirely unnecessary. All we needed was the courage to enforce our laws.
When you hear a democrat whine about so-called immigration "reform" or a need for new immigration laws - they are lying. We have all sorts of solid immigration laws. Crook burisma joe and his mob handlers - broke those laws.
There have been a dozen deaths this year among inmates of the Shelby County Jail--the "Glamma Slamma" when it was new in the 1970s (80s?) but now just another civic monument to the lowest bidder.
Anyway, there was a public protest against jail conditions, well promoted by the local media, out in front this morning. The five oclock news had a little story and video--ten or a dozen white sadsacks with their sorry little signs, straight out of central casting.
Just T.J. the Army Vet @thomas_garrard They told generations of American citizens that the American dream was no longer attainable, while giving third worlders the American dream for free. A tipping point has been reached."
When I say the democrat party is corrupt from top to bottom - I mean it.
Although I've had a history of stupidity on the issue in my younger days, I'm now adamantly against paying panhandlers. You pay people to do things you want done. I don't want more beggars in my community, and I don't want to encourage people to make such a useless choice for income.... BUT, the other day I fell off the wagon. In a Walmart parking lot, a guy came up to me and asked if I wanted my windows washed. I said "no thanks", and he immediately said " thanks anyway, have a great day" and moved on. I still didn't need my windows washed, but I'm so used to the new standard where they offer you nothing but harassment and often insults that this guy shined as different and deserving. I got in my truck, found him and gave him all my small bills. I would normally feel guilty about that, but not with this guy. He was very appreciative. So I chased him through the parking lot with my engine revving like the car in that movie "Christine". Ahh, still not too old to show the kids a good time.
“The vaccination has stuff we don’t trust,” said the father of the 6-year-old girl who died of measles. In March, Tom Bartlett wrote about his visit with a family confronting an unthinkable tragedy.
HIS DAUGHTER WAS AMERICA’S FIRST MEASLES DEATH IN A DECADE ~ The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/texas-measles-outbreak-death-family/681985/
Is it unthinkable if it was preventable and caused by negligence?
Wherever you live, your tax dollars were part of this scam.
Wherever you live there’s probably a similar scam near you. The other thing that’s infuriating is in the unlikely event there’s an attempt at clawbacks some lawyer will figure out the verbiage on the authorizations of the federal funds was so vague that all the fraud is actually legal…
I'm with Musk on this one. "independent journalist Nick Shirley and his crew hit the streets, sniffing out over $110 million in fraud in a single day. They targeted outfits posing as child care spots, autism hubs, and welfare fronts—all sucking up government cash. For example, the Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, licensed for 99 kids, pulled in $1.9 million this year alone. Shirley showed up and found an empty building. Zero kids. Oh, and the sign? Spells "learning" wrong.
"There's no one here," Shirley reveals while standing outside the center.
"Don't open up. It's ICE!” A woman is heard screaming on the video.
"4 million dollars of hard-earned tax dollars going to an education center that can’t even spell learning correctly. Care to explain this one, Tim Walz?" House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) wrote in a post on X.
Now, Elon Musk is straight-up calling on prosecutors to go after the governor. In a post on X sharing the video from Shirley, Musk didn’t hold back."
@elonmusk · Dec 27 The radical left has been using fraudulent government programs for a long time to import and retain vast numbers of illegal (and legal, in some cases) immigrants to win elections and turn America into a single-party state, destroying any real democracy.
The more you look at it, the more you will be horrified at what your tax money is doing and the fact that, if this is not reversed, your vote will mean nothing.
The most obvious case example is the Somali voting bloc in Minnesota, a state that historically had zero Somalis, electing Ilhan Omar to the US Congress.
The same is happening in Europe, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand."
"Is there some secret meaning to that word? I'm always the last to know."
If you're talking about "b@ccarat", I asked perplexity earlier today and got this response:
"Blogger is likely auto-flagging the word “b@ccarat” as gambling-related content and hiding or filtering the post, especially if ads or certain safety settings are involved. Blogger uses Google-wide policies for “gambling and games,” so even a single keyword can trigger restrictions or visibility issues if the system thinks the post promotes real-money gambling."
Tyler Cowen interviewed Cass Sustein. Cass Sustein mentioned Ann Rand. Not Ayn, but Ann. That leaves only 2 possibilities. 1: He hates or disrespects her (or something about her) and is purposely using the wrong name, or... 2: He honestly doesn't know that it's not Ann. To be fair, I'll add a generous third possibility. He simply misspoke. I was doing dishes and wasn't paying very close attention and didn't listen much beyond that point. Tyler either didn't notice or just let it pass. It seems to me nearly impossible that Sunstein honestly doesn't know and that Cowen didn't notice. If Sunstein is thinking, "WTF is an Ayn? Fuck her I'm calling her Ann", that would be a respectable position, but I'd want to hear him state it. One of these days I'm going to do a replay and see if Cowen even raised his eyebrows.
By coincidence, in today's NYT Sunday puzzles, the "beehive" had the letters b a c r t i o. (You have to form as many 5+ letter words out of those, all including 'b'.) I included the forbidden word on my list, but not being completely sure whether it's a word or a proper noun.
I have seldom felt such utter total rage as I felt watching to Nick Shirley video. These assorted Somali scams were bold, impudent, open fraud. This was not a matter of serving 15 children and claiming to serve 20. This was a matter of serving no children and claiming to serve hundreds over a period of years. This was a matter of putting up a sign on a empty building "Child Care here", "Home Health Care Here," "Autistic Care Here" or whatever, and sitting back to collect the checks. Millions and millions of dollars. And the fraud went "undetected." It happened in the state whose Governor ran for Vice-President. He might have become Preisdent and he couldn't detect or check open, naked, arrogant corruption!!! And when a young man named Nick Shirley went out and documented the empty buildings, and when his video ran nationwide after Elon Musk noticed it, the major state newspapers did not report Nick Shirley's findings. findings. And then, the would-be Governor of a American state, put on a Handmaid's Tale costume amd talked about what great citizens the Somalis are. But these great Somali citizens have not produced one single leader able to call for an end to the most blatant fraud ever seen in the US. The custom here has been for corruption to take the form of kickbacks on services rendered, not the form of a sign saying, "Child Care - Send Money here," - and the money is sent to another great Somali citizen.
The grandparents of these great citizens managed the sea leg of the 20th century slave trade to Arabia with a side of piracy. I suppose we should admire how well their descendants have adapted the old tribal indifference to anyone outside the tribe to the complex American scene. I sickens me. There are poor people in Minnesota, and I'm sure they've stood on the outside, shivering and hoping for a few scraps, while this pirate feast was going on in Mineeapolis. And I'm sure they got nothing. As long as decent people in Minnesota are divided into two parties, at election time, the Dems can bring in a mysterious, dusky, swathed figure from the Somali former-slave-trader-pirate community - the Somali vote harvest. This mysterious figure when shaken, spills out the number of votes they need. And so, millions of tax dollars go to the signs on the empty buildings: "Autistic Care - Send a checks here." And no one investigates, Except for one middle-aged man who is stabbed but not deterred from questioning and one young man with a Youtube show. Showing that there are two men in Minnesota, possibly no more than that.
"I suppose we should admire how well their descendants have adapted the old tribal indifference to anyone outside the tribe to the complex American scene."
I’m not sure that most Americans understand that in large swathes of humanity, there is no actual concept of “fraud,” particularly fraud against the government. Instead, there is a belief in the virtue of getting away with what you can to help yourself and your tribe.
So when we import people en masse from cultures that accept bribery and fraud as routine, acceptable ways to advance one’s tribe, we should not be surprised that things like the $8 BILLION fraud schemes of the Somali population in Minnesota happen so easily.
Introducing a fraud-based culture based on tribalism into America is like introducing some sort of lethal virus into a population that has no natural immunity. The virus will spread and grow, unchecked, because it is so alien to the host. Similarly, a culture of fraud is anathema to American thinking, and it must be cut out before it consumes the host.
..."There are poor people in Minnesota, and I'm sure they've stood on the outside, shivering and hoping for a few scraps, while this pirate feast was going on in Minneapolis. And I'm sure they got nothing...."
Yes, except the money that has been defrauded comes from state funds that are Federally provided for. The tax dollars that have been fleeced without preemptive oversight are yours, too, and mine. The Simoleans for Somalians operation has relied on a lack of oversight, which raises the question: Why has there been no oversight? Has there been an arrangement, a 'mutually-beneficial understanding'?
I think we know, at some gut level, that there must have been.
I read on Twitter that Nick Shirley's video (a) is one of the top-10 most-viewed ever, and (b) the scandal has not yet been mentioned in the Twin Cities newspapers, though they've published three editions since it appeared.
If you spend time on youtube.com you may have noticed videos entitled "The 6 Actors ________ HATED." They are AI, and not true, and there are dozens of them. I noticed a Russian video and had the title translated to something like "10 Russian celebrity idols who HATED Ukrainians." I don't know if the Russians or the Ukrainians came up with that, but we really are living in a "post truth" world.
“a tipping point has been reached” Possibly. This story stands out for a few key reasons: 1. It’s straightforward - it involves children, and more importantly, it’s highly visual, making it easy to grasp. 2. The censorship of the story is also simple to understand and visually illustrated. There’s video evidence of rampant corruption, yet where is it in the news? The longer the media keeps this quiet, the clearer it becomes that Trump is right: the media is fake news.
I saw that one of the Somalian women at the fraudulent Minnesota daycare center was telling Nick Shirley, "Go away! You don't belong here!" Well, SOMEBODY doesn't belong here, that's for sure. A whole lot of Somalian somebodies don't belong here. Round them up. Ship them home.
Clyde: You missed a step. Round them up. Ship them home. Get the money back, as much of it as can be gotten back. Take every penny of property bought with the stolen money: bank accounts, houses, cars, whatever.
A crack in CA? This concerns a small but well connected fish mixed up in iffy Covid PPP loans, an invitation to corruption if there ever was one. CA is probably vulnerable to investigations on public housing, homeless ngos, renewable energy, zoning and permitting, medicaid(medi-cal) and who knows what else.
Estimates are $9 Billion in MN, $72 Billion in CA. We need the fraud accounting from each state in parallel with indictments being brought on what’s known already.
There is a motion on X to grant $$ to Shirley-like independent investigators across the country. Excellent idea, as MSM is completely unreliable.
Bari is doing exactly what hired to do- create an image of rehabilitation and conversion to real news so the propaganda will stick come the next election. Meanwhile their side gets a few jollies with the pushback. It’s a win win for them…
Clyde: get a law degree? The police told Shirley to leave because he was trespassing on private property and was repeatedly asked to leave, step outside with his cameras. Trained journalist understand and comply.
Why do you want to deny American citizens their property rights? Yes, there's fraud: follow the laws in both investigating and prosecuting it. Don't let your racism or ethnic hatred blind you to rule of law. Leave when you are asked, and find other, legal ways to pursue a story.... Journalism 101. This is still America.
Go after the criminals, not the peoples whose ways are culturally different than yours. Plenty of newcomers work and are saddened at being lumped in with the criminal element or being called thieves, their children too. Expose crime the right way... God knows there's plenty of it in our country today, at all levels.
Support your local newspapers. Subscribe. Go to local government meetings regularly, let them know you're watching even when the drama dies down and the spotlight is off. Consider it your duty as taxpayering Americans. Ask questions always, even of the powerful people who will try to silence and dismiss you. That's how we keep America a great and independent county.
Be not afraid. The Lord is with you always... believe.
…and chances are your local paper is poisoned with leftie ink, even in red places. Let your old one die and if it was meant to be something new and constructive will grow in its place. Trouble is the stuff that should end never dies anymore…
What’s striking about the Minnesota ordeal is that every institutional safeguard being demanded — audits, prosecutions, clawbacks, oversight — is already happening. Yet there’s no satisfaction. Why? Because the real demand is not, and never was, accountability.
It’s about permission. Permission to say “they don’t belong” or “the system is irredeemably corrupt.”
Try to be honest about it. This isn’t really about Minnesota. It’s about where political trust has collapsed.
The real tell is how quickly fraud morphs into deportation fantasies. That isn’t accidental. It’s narrative escalation — and it mirrors patterns we’ve seen before: isolation from trusted information, elevation of alternative “truth tellers,” moral panic tied to an out-group, and the justification of collective punishment.
That’s why references to Hitler and Nazis keep surfacing. By the time someone says “round them up” or “ship them home,” the fraud itself is no longer the issue.
@ Not an Oldster. Shirley was in the common area of the building, not in anyone’s particular business. Support your local newspaper you say. That’s farcical. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has yet to do an in depth story on the biggest the country, let alone their backyard.
Go after criminals you say, not after cultures that are different from ours. What if they are the same subset of citizens? *cough*.
BTW You still have time to marry your sibling. Never too late to keep it the family. Omar’s current spouse’s net worth skyrocketed to $30 mil in 2 years and he’s a white guy! Who says we’re racists?
It’s about the institutional fraud, accountability, the rule of law and fairness. Inviting people here with the promise of great government riches in exchange for warm bodies to prop up election fraud is not sound policy. It should be remedied with the quick and overwhelming force of an effective government. We won’t get that so we do what little we can…
I mean one can dream the tools for the destruction are on the wane, good riddance high speed rail, green energy and such. Really they’ve decided they don’t need the cover for all the theft. Unfortunately it’s one issue where consensus is bipartisan. Gaetz doesn’t get kicked out because Tina thinks he’s yukky he’s booted because he won’t play ball…
So bizarre that the left is ok with being ripped off. They put people in power that then enable massive fraud against them. Plus, they denigrate people calling out the fraud, the very people trying to stop the fraud. It’s completely nonsensical.
Fraud is evil no matter the race of the perpetrators. Btw, that includes white man Walz.
Not the same. The government helicopter money went to so many places it wasn’t needed yet the demand was it be spent to make it look like we still had a real economy, regardless of the places it landed…
Breezy, RJW is so desperate to cling to this fantasy of himself as a savior of the world that he cannot come to grips with the fact that the party he supports has engaged in such destructive illegal activities. As Joe Rogan says, you are not your ideas. RJW, you have some bad ideas, change them. Fix your party.
To be clear Narciso, $9 billion is a social media number, not confirmed by any credible report.
As an aside, while Nick Shirley didn’t create the fraud, and he didn’t uncover it either. What he did was strip the issue of legal context and repackage it as a morality play — one that invites collective suspicion rather than individual accountability.
Influencers like Shirley don’t prove conspiracies; they supply permission — permission to connect unrelated dots, inflate scale, and substitute inference for evidence.
When you DON'T NOTICE that you've lost 9 billion dollars there are no safeguards. That is what Musk scratched the surface of with his brief DOGE foray.
'Holy CRAP, Dude': Ro Khanna's HUMILIATING Admission in Back and Forth Over CA's Wealth Tax Is a DOOZY – Twitchy https://share.google/fkDFho9jmiueAOnJW
Ronald J. Ward said... Breezy, does it also include white man Rep Brett Guthrie of KY who skimmed $5.7 million for his company Trace Die Cast from the same Covid slush fund?
I can find no evidence that Brett Buthrie or Trace DIe Cast have been accused in any way of misapprpriating any COVID loan funds. Gemini says
It appears you're asking about Trace Die Cast in Guthrie, Kentucky, and its potential connection to the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, possibly related to Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-2) or general PPP info; while Congressman Guthrie supported the program, details on Trace Die Cast specifically aren't in these snippets, but businesses could apply for PPP loans for employee pay, with forgiveness options available, though large loans (\(>\$2M\)) faced audits and fraud investigations were possible for misuse.
RJW, the flying monkey, "Billionaires are running this country!" An estimated 9 billion dollars in fraud in Minnesota. RJW, the flying monkey, " You can't prove that!" You can always tell who gets paid by taxpayer dollars.
If we’re spitting hairs Christopher, I guess I stand corrected. It was originally an approximate $4.3 million check followed by 2 more for a total of somewhere around $5.6 million, not $5.7.
The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
And yeah, I realize the parallels of PPP and other covid slush fund abuse may not align exactly but it’s certainly something that the so-called fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks seem hypocritically quite about.
I’ve seen many of posts about welfare fraud from right-wingers on Althouse which should be prosecuted if people committed crimes, but zero posts about the dozens of wealthy rich fraudsters who stole billions from thousands of people who have been pardoned by Trump.
Zero posts about Rick Scott committing the largest Medicare fraud in this country's history - and he's not behind bars, he's in public office.
The fraud in MN has been an issue raised on Powerline for a decade I believe. What Shirley did was give us a very compelling visual of the crimes, how they are being so easily executed, including various alleged perpetrators. That is what was needed to bring the scope of the problem to the forefront and cause the public outcry. Normal citizens, left and right are being robbed, but only the right wants to fight back. That the left complains about affordability yet doesn’t care about fighting this fraud is, again, nonsensical.
RJW, fraud is fraud. There are a lot of cases, it’s clear. Let’s divide and conquer, shall we? Biggest first.
Yes Breezy, fraud is fraud. But “divide and conquer” works when you’re dividing cases by evidence, not people by identity or politics. Otherwise, the fraud becomes secondary — and the outrage takes on a life of its own.
What strikes me as odd is being accused of a “fraud” or “inference” in a space where certified elections are dismissed, timelines are freely improvised, and institutional records are treated as optional.
If a factual claim I’ve made is wrong, it should be easy to identify it and correct it. So far, no one has done that.
Remember back in the day when the script was Trump was corrupt? They dug through that giant pile of ponies looking for the shit, over and over. Never found it…
I suspect Meade, that my comments that generates multiple responses from all these people who you declare “don’t care”, is the only reason I’m allowed here.
On another note, anyone remember the CARES Act where PRAC was designed to be a broad, multi-agency watchdog panel with subpoena and audit powers that was legislated and Trump signed into law and then Trump assigned himself as oversight? I mean, what could go wrong?
“Yes Breezy, fraud is fraud. But “divide and conquer” works when you’re dividing cases by evidence, not people by identity or politics. Otherwise, the fraud becomes secondary — and the outrage takes on a life of its own.”
Not clear you’re picking up what I’m putting down. Oh well.
Breezy, I’ve repeatedly said that I’m all for fighting fraud. Every case should be investigated and prosecuted.
What seems to have struck a nerve, as simply as I know how, is that I don’t go along with the inductive reasoning of “sending them all back” as the solution.
“ If a factual claim I’ve made is wrong, it should be easy to identify it and correct it. So far, no one has done that.”
Weasel.
Christopher B clearly and specifically asked you for some references for your "factual claim" regarding Rep. Guthrie. You weaseled. You provided no references whatsoever.
Weasel.
You accused Christopher of "splitting hairs" about the amounts at issue (which you apparently made up), when Christopher did no such thing, and did not even mention the amounts which you had asserted. Strawman. Red Herring.
Weasel.
Your allegation that Rep. Guthrie engaged in "skimming" millions of dollars in PPP funds appears to be pure slander. But what it really is is weaseling and misdirection.
On another note, anyone remember the CARES Act where PRAC was designed to be a broad, multi-agency watchdog panel with subpoena and audit powers that was legislated and Trump signed into law and then Trump assigned himself as oversight? I mean, what could go wrong?
If the Althouse commentariat is furious about welfare fraud but quiet about billion-dollar fraudsters getting pardoned, your not anti-crime—you’re just punching down.
“Yes Breezy, fraud is fraud. But “divide and conquer” works when you’re dividing cases by evidence, not people by identity or politics. Otherwise, the fraud becomes secondary — and the outrage takes on a life of its own.”
RJW You know we're laughing at you, right? No one here takes you seriously at all. I mean, at all. Because we all know that flying monkeys aren't real.
Boatman, you intentionally omitted an important part of my response;
“ The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
And yeah, I realize the parallels of PPP and other covid slush fund abuse may not align exactly but it’s certainly something that the so-called fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks seem hypocritically quite about.”
If the Althouse commentariat is furious about welfare fraud but quiet about billion-dollar fraudsters getting pardoned, your not anti-crime—you’re just punching down.
The assistant weasel chimes in.
No specifics. No citations.
Zero posts about Rick Scott committing the largest Medicare fraud in this country's history - and he's not behind bars, he's in public office.
Why would Althouse, or anybody, post in 2025 about highly publicized alleged corporate fraud in the 1990's, which was prosecuted by the Clinton Administration and resolved by settlement in the early 2000's, with no criminal charges against Scott, well before Scott was elected Governor of Florida and then US Senator?
Boatman, you intentionally omitted an important part of my response;
“ The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
And yeah, I realize the parallels of PPP and other covid slush fund abuse may not align exactly but it’s certainly something that the so-called fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks seem hypocritically quite about.”
My point is you accused Guthrie of stealing from the covid aid. I did a search and did not find any reporting to back up your charge. You have something, show us.
“ My point is you accused Guthrie of stealing from the covid aid.”
Well Mike, not quite. I used the word “skimmed” but never specified legally or illegally. My broader point was of how much of a slush fund it was and how he and others cashed in on it.
Rick Scott? Trump University?
When it comes to fraud, legally or otherwise, just seems like a lot of selective outrage.
Humperdink said... @ Not an Oldster. Shirley was in the common area of the building, not in anyone’s particular business ------------ The clip I saw was him trying to prevent a door from being shut. The women told him again and again to leave and had to physically play tug of war to shut the door in his face. The Minneapolis police told him he was trespassing and asked him to film from outside the business.
“ The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
Troll is going to keep being a weasel because it gets him responses. See:
what exactly is your point?
The points were clear. Provide a source. Don't restate someone's comment asking for a source as an argument about amounts, because no evidence has been presented about the act or the amount, just a hearsay claim with zero reference. Now look at how the argument is twisted again:
That there is no Brett Guthrie? That said imaginary Guthrie
Troll is now claiming a new argument that was never made. In fact, the opposite was presented with source: Gemini says
It appears you're asking about Trace Die Cast in Guthrie, Kentucky, and its potential connection to the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, possibly related to Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-2) or general PPP info; while Congressman Guthrie supported the program, details on Trace Die Cast specifically aren't in these snippets, but businesses could apply for PPP loans for employee pay, with forgiveness options available, though large loans (\(>\$2M\)) faced audits and fraud investigations were possible for misuse.
Bullshit, Chuck. Everybody here can see what you did. And you're still trying to get away with it.
"My broader point was of how much of a slush fund it was and how he and others cashed in on it."
You still haven't provided any evidence. I don't know Brett Guthrie from Adam. If he's stealing from us I, and pretty much everybody here, will condemn it. But it appears you pulled this charge out of your ass as a diversion.
Leland, this Guthrie thing seems to have really raised some hackles. Interesting?
Is it because it makes such an easy distraction of my parallel of how the Basket has been groomed into hating the Samoa community because of who they are rather than what they did?
Is that what’s gotten you so obsessed with Guthrie?
This reminds me of the Rosewood FL massacre of 1923. Find a crime to shatter a growing community that well, ain’t quite like us.
I know they’re trolls but it’s necessary to answer them in this age of AI. Grok stated that AIs get a lot of their info from comment sections. I don’t know if that’s true but that’s what Grok said. So I think if bad info is countered with good info it makes a difference (?).
I completely understand Althouse's distaste and lack of time to deal with trolls but for the record, you can't get a more on point demonstration of bad faith posting as this morning's display.
Well Mike, not quite. I used the word “skimmed” but never specified legally or illegally. My broader point was of how much of a slush fund it was and how he and others cashed in on it.
LOL!
Nobody gives a shit about your "broader point," Weasel. You made up a bullshit fraud accusation as a misdirection from the outrageous PROVEN fraud (which is bad for Democrats) which is currently very much in the public eye. Which is what you do.
Mike @ 11:39, for starters, if this blog removed every bad faith offender, there’d be little conversation if any.
As far as bad faith goes, there’s been nothing inauthentic about my arguments and I stand behind them.
I’ve pointed to selective outrage over waste, fraud, and profiteering and I certainly haven’t been persuaded otherwise.
I’ve also maintained my belief that those guilty of fraud should be prosecuted. What I’m hearing back is that entire ethnic groups should be removed because fraud has been found among them.
If that holds true, it tells me that fraud was never the culprit but rather the excuse.
I’ve yet to hear a constructive rebuttal that disqualifies that point. And no, whining about how Guthrie and other grifters legally got away with fleecing tax payers ain’t it.
If she lets CBS ignore this, she'll have failed before she's barely begun.
LOL! You guys think her goal is to make CBS an honest news outlets. I has nothing to do with that.
She hasn't failed at all. She is succeeding at everything her Oligarch masters have put in front of her so far.
Bari's goal is to split the Republican party between America First and Israel First on behalf of Ellison and get Democrats back into power so the grift can keep going.
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Encourage Althouse by making a donation:
Make a 1-time donation or set up a monthly donation of any amount you choose:
174 కామెంట్లు:
Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025 - Part 13 of 16
#4 - Turnpike Troubadours - "Ruby Ann" - The Price of Admission (2025)
This album came out in April with no advance warning and minimal traditional promotion. There was some criticism of the album's pacing, with both critics and fans noting that the first half of the album was a slow buildup. Still, it does have its moments. I knew that I was going to choose one of two songs from this album, with the other option being "The Devil Plies His Trade (Sn 6 Ep 3)." Overall, I liked the whole album.
https://youtu.be/lJvzRUX_h7g?si=A_ZeSCYJgXGf5R-6
Clyde's Top 15 Favorite "New" Songs of 2025
Bonus Song - Turnpike Troubadours - "The Devil Plies His Trade (Sn 6 Ep 3)" - (2025)
Another slice of Red Dirt Country from Turnpike Troubadours. This is Track 6 on the album, when things really amp up after the slow buildup.
https://youtu.be/i0bFbK_1JAY?si=1QXjbhEJV2cSeAaP
A new little sign at a new Publix in my neighborhood caught my eye this morning.
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Publix believes that our customers have the right to shop without interference from any source.
Therefore, all solicitations, canvassing, distribution of literature, demonstrations, picketing, or any other similar activities, for whatever reason, are prohibited.
This prohibition extends from our store to the sidewalks and parking lot in front of our store.
We want shopping at Publix to be a pleasure for all our customers.
THANK YOU.
The signs (same sign x2) appears at a parking island near the entrance to the parking lot and another parking island perpendicular to the store entrance.
From Instapundit:
33,000 homeless US veterans living on the streets. Politicians say there are no resources to help them
But we can throw money at daycare centers that actually take care of zero children and send literally billions of dollars to fraudulent NGOs that spend the money on luxury items instead of feeding hungry children. Waste and fraud is something we can afford, but not homeless veterans.
https://share.google/CyoUmgJ0ww6mclgXM
That's the thing about fraud of public tax dollars. It steals money that would be available for the needy. A principled liberal would be beside themself. But instead, we get crickets.
They get their cut, like the oil for food program some 30 years ago
Which ended up palace building program
I've always wondered about this. What does a liberal who knows a story is out there think when they see their trusted news outlets mute?
They cover with a pillow until it stops moving
Does "no solicitation at Publix" mean I can't get my Girl Scout Cookies next year?
A new little sign at a new Publix in my neighborhood caught my eye this morning.
Do you ever see the activity the sign is meant to deter? It’s been decades since anyone besides a fire department fundraiser or maybe girl scouts outside a grocery store. Back in the 80s and 90s we’d see LaRouche canvassers outside Roche Bros (bad name for grocers, I know). ‘Hey- we’re trying to get one more Democrat on the ballot!’ assuming because I was in Massachusetts I was a D. Playing the odds I suppose…
The tribune has moved to iowa
At the door of my friendly neighborhood Kroger affiliate here in the western fringe of Las Vegas there's a very low key panhandler. He's easy to ignore, but I wonder how long it will be before the management gives him the heave-ho.
Publix is red coded, so you see what thats about
Since I’ve moved to the south I’ve been chased after in the Publix parking lot three times. First when I paid for groceries and tried to haul the bags out of the store in one of those plastic shopping baskets. The fella started in on me then thought the better of it. Guess carts are okay to dump in the irrigation ditch beside the store but don’t you dare mess with the plastic baskets. Second and third were the same checkout idiot who didn’t understand I could tap my card before he was finished scanning my groceries, then somehow ‘forgot’ he handed me a receipt. First time was a mistake, second time after the checkout guy threatened to ‘have to take me back inside’ I walked in and chewed a manager a bit, making sure I was in front of the security camera at the desk. Their has not been a third bit if there is look for me in the blotter…
Rehajm, would you rather live up north where security just blithely watches the shoplifters remove the inventory? I am confused. CC, JSM
It's becoming apparent that our ridiculous $38 trillion debt that will eventually bankrupt us was entirely unnecessary. All we needed was the courage to enforce our laws.
https://youtu.be/7H7Djx17l8Y?si=8qc2qSMAqAhEtLNk
I’m happy catching shoplifters just don’t harass law abiding customers while they’re trying to bring their groceries to their car.
None of these grocery store incidents happen at Hy-Vee in Omaha.
That was hasan piker evil drone
Benny Johnson
@bennyjohnson
33,000 homeless US veterans living on the streets. Politicians say there are no resources to help them
Same politicians funnel billions in tax dollars to criminal Somalis who fund the same Islamic terrorists the homeless veterans fought
Mass deportation is the moderate position.
When you hear a democrat whine about so-called immigration "reform" or a need for new immigration laws - they are lying.
We have all sorts of solid immigration laws.
Crook burisma joe and his mob handlers - broke those laws.
There have been a dozen deaths this year among inmates of the Shelby County Jail--the "Glamma Slamma" when it was new in the 1970s (80s?) but now just another civic monument to the lowest bidder.
Anyway, there was a public protest against jail conditions, well promoted by the local media, out in front this morning. The five oclock news had a little story and video--ten or a dozen white sadsacks with their sorry little signs, straight out of central casting.
Just T.J. the Army Vet
@thomas_garrard
They told generations of American citizens that the American dream was no longer attainable, while giving third worlders the American dream for free. A tipping point has been reached."
When I say the democrat party is corrupt from top to bottom - I mean it.
I think there’s a hy-vee in Altoona. good store…
There’s an Aldi in my town now. It’s like shopping in an odd parallel universe…
"A tipping point has been reached."
I don't see it.
Yeah they are pretty nice
Drew Holden
@DrewHolden360
Also, important context from
@shipwreckedcrew
it wasn’t just Minnesota tax payers who got ripped off.
These were, in many cases, federal programs.
Wherever you live, your tax dollars were part of this scam.
“Does "no solicitation at Publix" mean I can't get my Girl Scout Cookies next year?“
Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a Salvation Army Santa with the bell at a Publix.
O Mike- The hack press are hiding it all.
Although I've had a history of stupidity on the issue in my younger days, I'm now adamantly against paying panhandlers. You pay people to do things you want done. I don't want more beggars in my community, and I don't want to encourage people to make such a useless choice for income.... BUT, the other day I fell off the wagon. In a Walmart parking lot, a guy came up to me and asked if I wanted my windows washed. I said "no thanks", and he immediately said " thanks anyway, have a great day" and moved on.
I still didn't need my windows washed, but I'm so used to the new standard where they offer you nothing but harassment and often insults that this guy shined as different and deserving. I got in my truck, found him and gave him all my small bills. I would normally feel guilty about that, but not with this guy. He was very appreciative.
So I chased him through the parking lot with my engine revving like the car in that movie "Christine". Ahh, still not too old to show the kids a good time.
“The vaccination has stuff we don’t trust,” said the father of the 6-year-old girl who died of measles. In March, Tom Bartlett wrote about his visit with a family confronting an unthinkable tragedy.
HIS DAUGHTER WAS AMERICA’S FIRST MEASLES DEATH IN A DECADE ~ The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/texas-measles-outbreak-death-family/681985/
Is it unthinkable if it was preventable and caused by negligence?
Is Baccarat the secret word at Althouse like Blazer is the secret word at Ace of Spades? lol
"It's becoming apparent that our ridiculous $38 trillion debt that will eventually bankrupt us was entirely unnecessary"
Thats what I've been telling you. You are spending ridiculous money on, say, medical care. Which is massively padded and abused.
Wherever you live, your tax dollars were part of this scam.
Wherever you live there’s probably a similar scam near you. The other thing that’s infuriating is in the unlikely event there’s an attempt at clawbacks some lawyer will figure out the verbiage on the authorizations of the federal funds was so vague that all the fraud is actually legal…
…medical care, education, defense spending…
And the Christmas festivities are officially over at Casa de la Beasts. Wow. I ain’t in no ways tarred, but really I am…
I may not drink again until the Rose Bowl. :)
Another comment eaten. We now know the secret word, and it’s a card game and a very fine crystal stemware maker!!
rehajm -
Gov waste is baked in the cake. This MN fraud - specifically the Somali Fraud, is also a vote fraud scheme.
Baccarat.
Pope Leo picks Cardinal Dolan's successor to lead New York City: Bishop Ronald Hicks ~ Rome Reports
I'm not religious at all, but this is a great move by Pope Leo. It sends the right message. Decency needs all the allies it can get.
stealing tax payer dollars - fake day care - vote fraud - all fine by the loyalists.
The blog is desecrated by comments about gambling but NYT tossers are A-okay!
Holy cow, it IS a banned word!
What the hell?
"This MN fraud - specifically the Somali Fraud, is also a vote fraud scheme."
That's why the left is silent. Very disappointing, but I can't say I'm surprised.
I'm with Musk on this one.
"independent journalist Nick Shirley and his crew hit the streets, sniffing out over $110 million in fraud in a single day. They targeted outfits posing as child care spots, autism hubs, and welfare fronts—all sucking up government cash. For example, the Quality Learning Center in Minneapolis, licensed for 99 kids, pulled in $1.9 million this year alone. Shirley showed up and found an empty building. Zero kids. Oh, and the sign? Spells "learning" wrong.
"There's no one here," Shirley reveals while standing outside the center.
"Don't open up. It's ICE!” A woman is heard screaming on the video.
"4 million dollars of hard-earned tax dollars going to an education center that can’t even spell learning correctly. Care to explain this one, Tim Walz?" House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) wrote in a post on X.
Now, Elon Musk is straight-up calling on prosecutors to go after the governor. In a post on X sharing the video from Shirley, Musk didn’t hold back."
Is there some secret meaning to that word?
I'm always the last to know.
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
·
Dec 27
The radical left has been using fraudulent government programs for a long time to import and retain vast numbers of illegal (and legal, in some cases) immigrants to win elections and turn America into a single-party state, destroying any real democracy.
The more you look at it, the more you will be horrified at what your tax money is doing and the fact that, if this is not reversed, your vote will mean nothing.
The most obvious case example is the Somali voting bloc in Minnesota, a state that historically had zero Somalis, electing Ilhan Omar to the US Congress.
The same is happening in Europe, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand."
what word?
I can't tell you because it immediately disappears.
Card game and a manufacturer of fine crystal. Starts with a ‘b’ ends with a ‘rat’. Too funny…
b a c c a r a t
Can you read good?
ooo . Strange. fine crystal. LOL
"Is there some secret meaning to that word?
I'm always the last to know."
If you're talking about "b@ccarat", I asked perplexity earlier today and got this response:
"Blogger is likely auto-flagging the word “b@ccarat” as gambling-related content and hiding or filtering the post, especially if ads or certain safety settings are involved. Blogger uses Google-wide policies for “gambling and games,” so even a single keyword can trigger restrictions or visibility issues if the system thinks the post promotes real-money gambling."
Talking about Toobin rubbing one out is just fine…
poker
blackjack
Maybe Meade is messing with us.
pai gow
Tyler Cowen interviewed Cass Sustein. Cass Sustein mentioned Ann Rand. Not Ayn, but Ann. That leaves only 2 possibilities.
1: He hates or disrespects her (or something about her) and is purposely using the wrong name, or...
2: He honestly doesn't know that it's not Ann.
To be fair, I'll add a generous third possibility. He simply misspoke.
I was doing dishes and wasn't paying very close attention and didn't listen much beyond that point. Tyler either didn't notice or just let it pass.
It seems to me nearly impossible that Sunstein honestly doesn't know and that Cowen didn't notice.
If Sunstein is thinking, "WTF is an Ayn? Fuck her I'm calling her Ann", that would be a respectable position, but I'd want to hear him state it. One of these days I'm going to do a replay and see if Cowen even raised his eyebrows.
Sustein needs to be nudged right in the effing nose..:
By coincidence, in today's NYT Sunday puzzles, the "beehive" had the letters b a c r t i o. (You have to form as many 5+ letter words out of those, all including 'b'.) I included the forbidden word on my list, but not being completely sure whether it's a word or a proper noun.
I have seldom felt such utter total rage as I felt watching to Nick Shirley video. These assorted Somali scams were bold, impudent, open fraud. This was not a matter of serving 15 children and claiming to serve 20. This was a matter of serving no children and claiming to serve hundreds over a period of years. This was a matter of putting up a sign on a empty building "Child Care here", "Home Health Care Here," "Autistic Care Here" or whatever, and sitting back to collect the checks. Millions and millions of dollars. And the fraud went "undetected." It happened in the state whose Governor ran for Vice-President. He might have become Preisdent and he couldn't detect or check open, naked, arrogant corruption!!! And when a young man named Nick Shirley went out and documented the empty buildings, and when his video ran nationwide after Elon Musk noticed it, the major state newspapers did not report Nick Shirley's findings. findings. And then, the would-be Governor of a American state, put on a Handmaid's Tale costume amd talked about what great citizens the Somalis are. But these great Somali citizens have not produced one single leader able to call for an end to the most blatant fraud ever seen in the US. The custom here has been for corruption to take the form of kickbacks on services rendered, not the form of a sign saying, "Child Care - Send Money here," - and the money is sent to another great Somali citizen.
The grandparents of these great citizens managed the sea leg of the 20th century slave trade to Arabia with a side of piracy. I suppose we should admire how well their descendants have adapted the old tribal indifference to anyone outside the tribe to the complex American scene. I sickens me. There are poor people in Minnesota, and I'm sure they've stood on the outside, shivering and hoping for a few scraps, while this pirate feast was going on in Mineeapolis. And I'm sure they got nothing.
As long as decent people in Minnesota are divided into two parties, at election time, the Dems can bring in a mysterious, dusky, swathed figure from the Somali former-slave-trader-pirate community - the Somali vote harvest. This mysterious figure when shaken, spills out the number of votes they need. And so, millions of tax dollars go to the signs on the empty buildings: "Autistic Care - Send a checks here." And no one investigates,
Except for one middle-aged man who is stabbed but not deterred from questioning and one young man with a Youtube show. Showing that there are two men in Minnesota, possibly no more than that.
"I suppose we should admire how well their descendants have adapted the old tribal indifference to anyone outside the tribe to the complex American scene."
CynicalPublius - https://x.com/CynicalPublius/status/2005030256382464493
RE: Fraud in Minnesota
I’m not sure that most Americans understand that in large swathes of humanity, there is no actual concept of “fraud,” particularly fraud against the government. Instead, there is a belief in the virtue of getting away with what you can to help yourself and your tribe.
So when we import people en masse from cultures that accept bribery and fraud as routine, acceptable ways to advance one’s tribe, we should not be surprised that things like the $8 BILLION fraud schemes of the Somali population in Minnesota happen so easily.
Introducing a fraud-based culture based on tribalism into America is like introducing some sort of lethal virus into a population that has no natural immunity. The virus will spread and grow, unchecked, because it is so alien to the host. Similarly, a culture of fraud is anathema to American thinking, and it must be cut out before it consumes the host.
..."There are poor people in Minnesota, and I'm sure they've stood on the outside, shivering and hoping for a few scraps, while this pirate feast was going on in Minneapolis. And I'm sure they got nothing...."
Yes, except the money that has been defrauded comes from state funds that are Federally provided for. The tax dollars that have been fleeced without preemptive oversight are yours, too, and mine. The Simoleans for Somalians operation has relied on a lack of oversight, which raises the question: Why has there been no oversight? Has there been an arrangement, a 'mutually-beneficial understanding'?
I think we know, at some gut level, that there must have been.
I read on Twitter that Nick Shirley's video (a) is one of the top-10 most-viewed ever, and (b) the scandal has not yet been mentioned in the Twin Cities newspapers, though they've published three editions since it appeared.
"Has there been an arrangement, a 'mutually-beneficial understanding'?"
I think we know, at some gut level, that there must have been.
If you spend time on youtube.com you may have noticed videos entitled "The 6 Actors ________ HATED." They are AI, and not true, and there are dozens of them. I noticed a Russian video and had the title translated to something like "10 Russian celebrity idols who HATED Ukrainians." I don't know if the Russians or the Ukrainians came up with that, but we really are living in a "post truth" world.
If today doesn't prove to you that the news media is pure propaganda, and Elon Musk saved this country, then you need one of those white canes.
"If today doesn't prove to you that the news media is pure propaganda, and Elon Musk saved this country, then you need one of those white canes."
It's why they panicked.
Hasn't been much troll activity tonight.
Original Mike said...
Hasn't been much troll activity tonight.
It's quiet. Too quiet....
“a tipping point has been reached”
Possibly.
This story stands out for a few key reasons:
1. It’s straightforward - it involves children, and more importantly, it’s highly visual, making it easy to grasp.
2. The censorship of the story is also simple to understand and visually illustrated. There’s video evidence of rampant corruption, yet where is it in the news? The longer the media keeps this quiet, the clearer it becomes that Trump is right: the media is fake news.
I saw that one of the Somalian women at the fraudulent Minnesota daycare center was telling Nick Shirley, "Go away! You don't belong here!" Well, SOMEBODY doesn't belong here, that's for sure. A whole lot of Somalian somebodies don't belong here. Round them up. Ship them home.
Clyde:
You missed a step. Round them up. Ship them home. Get the money back, as much of it as can be gotten back. Take every penny of property bought with the stolen money: bank accounts, houses, cars, whatever.
https://capitolweekly.net/dana-williamson-newsoms-former-chief-of-staff-four-others-indicted-for-corruption/
A crack in CA?
This concerns a small but well connected fish mixed up in iffy Covid PPP loans, an invitation to corruption if there ever was one.
CA is probably vulnerable to investigations on public housing, homeless ngos, renewable energy, zoning and permitting, medicaid(medi-cal) and who knows what else.
Estimates are $9 Billion in MN, $72 Billion in CA. We need the fraud accounting from each state in parallel with indictments being brought on what’s known already.
There is a motion on X to grant $$ to Shirley-like independent investigators across the country. Excellent idea, as MSM is completely unreliable.
Sadly, I don’t think Bari Weiss is going to make it. She needs to stop tolerating insubordination, and people lying to her.
Bari is doing exactly what hired to do- create an image of rehabilitation and conversion to real news so the propaganda will stick come the next election. Meanwhile their side gets a few jollies with the pushback. It’s a win win for them…
Texas happy to have H-E-B. We share Whataburger's and Bucee's.
Clyde: get a law degree? The police told Shirley to leave because he was trespassing on private property and was repeatedly asked to leave, step outside with his cameras. Trained journalist understand and comply.
Why do you want to deny American citizens their property rights? Yes, there's fraud: follow the laws in both investigating and prosecuting it. Don't let your racism or ethnic hatred blind you to rule of law. Leave when you are asked, and find other, legal ways to pursue a story.... Journalism 101. This is still America.
Go after the criminals, not the peoples whose ways are culturally different than yours. Plenty of newcomers work and are saddened at being lumped in with the criminal element or being called thieves, their children too. Expose crime the right way... God knows there's plenty of it in our country today, at all levels.
Support your local newspapers. Subscribe. Go to local government meetings regularly, let them know you're watching even when the drama dies down and the spotlight is off. Consider it your duty as taxpayering Americans. Ask questions always, even of the powerful people who will try to silence and dismiss you. That's how we keep America a great and independent county.
Be not afraid. The Lord is with you always... believe.
Go after the criminals, not the peoples whose ways are culturally different than yours
Dat there’s the rub innit? The criminals identify as law abiding citizens and the good guys doing the tough work get labeled.
…and chances are your local paper is poisoned with leftie ink, even in red places. Let your old one die and if it was meant to be something new and constructive will grow in its place. Trouble is the stuff that should end never dies anymore…
What’s striking about the Minnesota ordeal is that every institutional safeguard being demanded — audits, prosecutions, clawbacks, oversight — is already happening. Yet there’s no satisfaction. Why? Because the real demand is not, and never was, accountability.
It’s about permission. Permission to say “they don’t belong” or “the system is irredeemably corrupt.”
Try to be honest about it. This isn’t really about Minnesota. It’s about where political trust has collapsed.
The real tell is how quickly fraud morphs into deportation fantasies. That isn’t accidental. It’s narrative escalation — and it mirrors patterns we’ve seen before: isolation from trusted information, elevation of alternative “truth tellers,” moral panic tied to an out-group, and the justification of collective punishment.
That’s why references to Hitler and Nazis keep surfacing. By the time someone says “round them up” or “ship them home,” the fraud itself is no longer the issue.
It’s just the excuse.
@ Not an Oldster. Shirley was in the common area of the building, not in anyone’s particular business. Support your local newspaper you say. That’s farcical. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has yet to do an in depth story on the biggest the country, let alone their backyard.
Go after criminals you say, not after cultures that are different from ours. What if they are the same subset of citizens? *cough*.
BTW You still have time to marry your sibling. Never too late to keep it the family. Omar’s current spouse’s net worth skyrocketed to $30 mil in 2 years and he’s a white guy! Who says we’re racists?
RJW, instead of indulging in your fetishes, fix your Democrat party. All this corruption is happening in Democrat run enclaves. Fix your party.
It’s about the institutional fraud, accountability, the rule of law and fairness. Inviting people here with the promise of great government riches in exchange for warm bodies to prop up election fraud is not sound policy. It should be remedied with the quick and overwhelming force of an effective government. We won’t get that so we do what little we can…
It kinda means the end of them if it stops so they search for ways to keep it going. I suspect they’ll succeed…
I mean one can dream the tools for the destruction are on the wane, good riddance high speed rail, green energy and such. Really they’ve decided they don’t need the cover for all the theft. Unfortunately it’s one issue where consensus is bipartisan. Gaetz doesn’t get kicked out because Tina thinks he’s yukky he’s booted because he won’t play ball…
So bizarre that the left is ok with being ripped off. They put people in power that then enable massive fraud against them. Plus, they denigrate people calling out the fraud, the very people trying to stop the fraud. It’s completely nonsensical.
Fraud is evil no matter the race of the perpetrators. Btw, that includes white man Walz.
Breezy, does it also include white man Rep Brett Guthrie of KY who skimmed $5.7 million for his company Trace Die Cast from the same Covid slush fund?
Preying on empathy is the deflection. New Rule! they say…racist! Of course there was zero empathy when all these people were being invited here…
Not the same. The government helicopter money went to so many places it wasn’t needed yet the demand was it be spent to make it look like we still had a real economy, regardless of the places it landed…
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Somalia): “Some people did something”.
You can say that again, except substitute Minneapolis for NYC.
“Squirrel!” shouts Ward the Cleaver…
Two things I want to know: How much of this was Federal vs State money? Where is the money now?
Fraud is fraud. Prosecute ALL fraudsters.
When you lose 9 billion dollars there are no safeguards
Breezy, RJW is so desperate to cling to this fantasy of himself as a savior of the world that he cannot come to grips with the fact that the party he supports has engaged in such destructive illegal activities.
As Joe Rogan says, you are not your ideas. RJW, you have some bad ideas, change them. Fix your party.
To be clear Narciso, $9 billion is a social media number, not confirmed by any credible report.
As an aside, while Nick Shirley didn’t create the fraud, and he didn’t uncover it either. What he did was strip the issue of legal context and repackage it as a morality play — one that invites collective suspicion rather than individual accountability.
Influencers like Shirley don’t prove conspiracies; they supply permission — permission to connect unrelated dots, inflate scale, and substitute inference for evidence.
When you DON'T NOTICE that you've lost 9 billion dollars there are no safeguards.
That is what Musk scratched the surface of with his brief DOGE foray.
Witness the energy spent trying to confuse the issue. Fucking snake oil salesmook.
Its what the us atty has calculated theres a doge holdover at treasury who is crunching the numbers
One has to piece this together like a puzzle because the main paper the mclatchy flagship is derelict
'Holy CRAP, Dude': Ro Khanna's HUMILIATING Admission in Back and Forth Over CA's Wealth Tax Is a DOOZY – Twitchy https://share.google/fkDFho9jmiueAOnJW
"Move along, nothing to see here, these issues are complicated, you're a racist, there are other people scamming..."
What else you got, Chuckie?
Ronald J. Ward said...
Breezy, does it also include white man Rep Brett Guthrie of KY who skimmed $5.7 million for his company Trace Die Cast from the same Covid slush fund?
I can find no evidence that Brett Buthrie or Trace DIe Cast have been accused in any way of misapprpriating any COVID loan funds. Gemini says
It appears you're asking about Trace Die Cast in Guthrie, Kentucky, and its potential connection to the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, possibly related to Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-2) or general PPP info; while Congressman Guthrie supported the program, details on Trace Die Cast specifically aren't in these snippets, but businesses could apply for PPP loans for employee pay, with forgiveness options available, though large loans (\(>\$2M\)) faced audits and fraud investigations were possible for misuse.
Care to supply some references?
https://share.google/WQ19FTGXpED9o9CM8
RJW, the flying monkey, "Billionaires are running this country!"
An estimated 9 billion dollars in fraud in Minnesota.
RJW, the flying monkey, " You can't prove that!"
You can always tell who gets paid by taxpayer dollars.
@Not an Oldster.
From the Daily Mail: “At least 78 people, 72 of whom are Somali, have been charged in connection with the illicit plot.”
Hmm, a mere 92.3%.
There is not enough time, effort, or will to rid our country of Riff and his brother Raff.
Reminder: the person behind the user name “Ronald J. Ward” is fraudulent.
’$9 billion is a social media number, not confirmed by any credible report.’
The total fraud will be higher than $9B, but your concern is noted.
If we’re spitting hairs Christopher, I guess I stand corrected. It was originally an approximate $4.3 million check followed by 2 more for a total of somewhere around $5.6 million, not $5.7.
The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
And yeah, I realize the parallels of PPP and other covid slush fund abuse may not align exactly but it’s certainly something that the so-called fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks seem hypocritically quite about.
’…the person behind the user name “Ronald J. Ward” is fraudulent.’
But does he know how to play b*cc*r*t?
Meade, if you are implying you have knowledge or facts that I have multiple identities here, you are lying.
Fraudsters like “RJW” don’t debate using facts and evidence; they supply only inference, innuendo, and insinuation.
He should change his nic to vizzini
Email me using your real name and address.
Meade said...
Fraudsters like “RJW” don’t debate using facts and evidence; they supply only inference, innuendo, and insinuation.
Facts don’t disappear because someone dislikes the person citing them.
I’ve seen many of posts about welfare fraud from right-wingers on Althouse which should be prosecuted if people committed crimes, but zero posts about the dozens of wealthy rich fraudsters who stole billions from thousands of people who have been pardoned by Trump.
Zero posts about Rick Scott committing the largest Medicare fraud in this country's history - and he's not behind bars, he's in public office.
The fraud in MN has been an issue raised on Powerline for a decade I believe. What Shirley did was give us a very compelling visual of the crimes, how they are being so easily executed, including various alleged perpetrators. That is what was needed to bring the scope of the problem to the forefront and cause the public outcry. Normal citizens, left and right are being robbed, but only the right wants to fight back. That the left complains about affordability yet doesn’t care about fighting this fraud is, again, nonsensical.
RJW, fraud is fraud. There are a lot of cases, it’s clear. Let’s divide and conquer, shall we? Biggest first.
Yah Chuck still relying on the classic old scripts and expects the old result. Not even the most gullible amongst us is buying the schtick anymore…
Yes Breezy, fraud is fraud. But “divide and conquer” works when you’re dividing cases by evidence, not people by identity or politics. Otherwise, the fraud becomes secondary — and the outrage takes on a life of its own.
What strikes me as odd is being accused of a “fraud” or “inference” in a space where certified elections are dismissed, timelines are freely improvised, and institutional records are treated as optional.
If a factual claim I’ve made is wrong, it should be easy to identify it and correct it. So far, no one has done that.
Remember back in the day when the script was Trump was corrupt? They dug through that giant pile of ponies looking for the shit, over and over. Never found it…
Apparently, who is committing fraud matters to DFC as to whether it should even be investigated.
when corrupt democrats commit fraud - it's all hidden and covered by their corrupt media.
“ If a factual claim I’ve made is wrong, it should be easy to identify it and correct it. So far, no one has done that.”
Chuck, no one here cares about your so-called “factual claims.”
Except you.
Be happy that you are allowed here at all.
I suspect Meade, that my comments that generates multiple responses from all these people who you declare “don’t care”, is the only reason I’m allowed here.
On another note, anyone remember the CARES Act where PRAC was designed to be a broad, multi-agency watchdog panel with subpoena and audit powers that was legislated and Trump signed into law and then Trump assigned himself as oversight? I mean, what could go wrong?
“Yes Breezy, fraud is fraud. But “divide and conquer” works when you’re dividing cases by evidence, not people by identity or politics. Otherwise, the fraud becomes secondary — and the outrage takes on a life of its own.”
Not clear you’re picking up what I’m putting down. Oh well.
Breezy, I’ve repeatedly said that I’m all for fighting fraud. Every case should be investigated and prosecuted.
What seems to have struck a nerve, as simply as I know how, is that I don’t go along with the inductive reasoning of “sending them all back” as the solution.
“ If a factual claim I’ve made is wrong, it should be easy to identify it and correct it. So far, no one has done that.”
Weasel.
Christopher B clearly and specifically asked you for some references for your "factual claim" regarding Rep. Guthrie. You weaseled. You provided no references whatsoever.
Weasel.
You accused Christopher of "splitting hairs" about the amounts at issue (which you apparently made up), when Christopher did no such thing, and did not even mention the amounts which you had asserted. Strawman. Red Herring.
Weasel.
Your allegation that Rep. Guthrie engaged in "skimming" millions of dollars in PPP funds appears to be pure slander. But what it really is is weaseling and misdirection.
Weasel.
On another note, anyone remember the CARES Act where PRAC was designed to be a broad, multi-agency watchdog panel with subpoena and audit powers that was legislated and Trump signed into law and then Trump assigned himself as oversight? I mean, what could go wrong?
Weasel.
If the Althouse commentariat is furious about welfare fraud but quiet about billion-dollar fraudsters getting pardoned, your not anti-crime—you’re just punching down.
“Yes Breezy, fraud is fraud. But “divide and conquer” works when you’re dividing cases by evidence, not people by identity or politics. Otherwise, the fraud becomes secondary — and the outrage takes on a life of its own.”
Gibberish. What is this supposed to mean?
Weasel.
RJW
You know we're laughing at you, right? No one here takes you seriously at all. I mean, at all. Because we all know that flying monkeys aren't real.
Yep. Send em all back. We'll sort it out later.
Boatman, you intentionally omitted an important part of my response;
“ The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
And yeah, I realize the parallels of PPP and other covid slush fund abuse may not align exactly but it’s certainly something that the so-called fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks seem hypocritically quite about.”
I mean, weasel much?
I'm finding nothing on Brett Guthrie.
If the Althouse commentariat is furious about welfare fraud but quiet about billion-dollar fraudsters getting pardoned, your not anti-crime—you’re just punching down.
The assistant weasel chimes in.
No specifics. No citations.
Zero posts about Rick Scott committing the largest Medicare fraud in this country's history - and he's not behind bars, he's in public office.
Why would Althouse, or anybody, post in 2025 about highly publicized alleged corporate fraud in the 1990's, which was prosecuted by the Clinton Administration and resolved by settlement in the early 2000's, with no criminal charges against Scott, well before Scott was elected Governor of Florida and then US Senator?
Misdirection.
Weasel.
Boatman, you intentionally omitted an important part of my response;
“ The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
And yeah, I realize the parallels of PPP and other covid slush fund abuse may not align exactly but it’s certainly something that the so-called fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks seem hypocritically quite about.”
I mean, weasel much?
Weasel.
PROVIDE A REFERENCE. Just one.
Mike & Boatman, what exactly is your point? That there is no Brett Guthrie? That said imaginary Guthrie never received $millions in covid aid?
My point is you accused Guthrie of stealing from the covid aid. I did a search and did not find any reporting to back up your charge. You have something, show us.
That's pretty simple.
Hmm
https://x.com/RVPCommenter/status/2005663781553070118
“ My point is you accused Guthrie of stealing from the covid aid.”
Well Mike, not quite. I used the word “skimmed” but never specified legally or illegally. My broader point was of how much of a slush fund it was and how he and others cashed in on it.
Rick Scott? Trump University?
When it comes to fraud, legally or otherwise, just seems like a lot of selective outrage.
Humperdink said...
@ Not an Oldster. Shirley was in the common area of the building, not in anyone’s particular business
------------
The clip I saw was him trying to prevent a door from being shut. The women told him again and again to leave and had to physically play tug of war to shut the door in his face. The Minneapolis police told him he was trespassing and asked him to film from outside the business.
“ The word “skimmed” may have also thrown your search off, don’t know?
Troll is going to keep being a weasel because it gets him responses. See:
what exactly is your point?
The points were clear. Provide a source. Don't restate someone's comment asking for a source as an argument about amounts, because no evidence has been presented about the act or the amount, just a hearsay claim with zero reference. Now look at how the argument is twisted again:
That there is no Brett Guthrie? That said imaginary Guthrie
Troll is now claiming a new argument that was never made. In fact, the opposite was presented with source:
Gemini says
It appears you're asking about Trace Die Cast in Guthrie, Kentucky, and its potential connection to the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, possibly related to Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-2) or general PPP info; while Congressman Guthrie supported the program, details on Trace Die Cast specifically aren't in these snippets, but businesses could apply for PPP loans for employee pay, with forgiveness options available, though large loans (\(>\$2M\)) faced audits and fraud investigations were possible for misuse.
It just trolling bad faith arguments.
Bullshit, Chuck. Everybody here can see what you did. And you're still trying to get away with it.
"My broader point was of how much of a slush fund it was and how he and others cashed in on it."
You still haven't provided any evidence. I don't know Brett Guthrie from Adam. If he's stealing from us I, and pretty much everybody here, will condemn it. But it appears you pulled this charge out of your ass as a diversion.
Do you have anything to back up your charge?
What the hell is "legal fraud"?
Italic off.
Leland, this Guthrie thing seems to have really raised some hackles. Interesting?
Is it because it makes such an easy distraction of my parallel of how the Basket has been groomed into hating the Samoa community because of who they are rather than what they did?
Is that what’s gotten you so obsessed with Guthrie?
This reminds me of the Rosewood FL massacre of 1923. Find a crime to shatter a growing community that well, ain’t quite like us.
It a Diversion Squirrel. Lovely plumage. It's pining for the fiords.
Off to Cracker Barrel and a few errands to do.
Checkout the Rosewood story- if you can find it.
Maybe they had it coming?
Anyone who calls human beings an inanimate object like the basket is well on his way to Hitlerville.
Will be interesting to see if anything comes of this: "There are 539 childcare centers in Washington state that list Somali as the primary language. Most don’t even give a street address.
I don’t know how many of these are submitting fraudulent claims for state grants and subsidies, but I have a strong hunch the number is not zero."
Minnesota has election-day voter registration where a registered voter can vouch for up to 8 ID-less individuals.
Link
Troll got his daily quota and ran away.
I know they’re trolls but it’s necessary to answer them in this age of AI. Grok stated that AIs get a lot of their info from comment sections. I don’t know if that’s true but that’s what Grok said. So I think if bad info is countered with good info it makes a difference (?).
I completely understand Althouse's distaste and lack of time to deal with trolls but for the record, you can't get a more on point demonstration of bad faith posting as this morning's display.
Run away, brave knave Cleaver!
Minnesota Is THE Moment of Truth for Bari Weiss
If she lets CBS ignore this, she'll have failed before she's barely begun.
Well Mike, not quite. I used the word “skimmed” but never specified legally or illegally. My broader point was of how much of a slush fund it was and how he and others cashed in on it.
LOL!
Nobody gives a shit about your "broader point," Weasel. You made up a bullshit fraud accusation as a misdirection from the outrageous PROVEN fraud (which is bad for Democrats) which is currently very much in the public eye. Which is what you do.
Weasel.
Agree completely with Mike at 11:39AM, both the time impact to the host and on point demonstration.
vizzini
Mike @ 11:39, for starters, if this blog removed every bad faith offender, there’d be little conversation if any.
As far as bad faith goes, there’s been nothing inauthentic about my arguments and I stand behind them.
I’ve pointed to selective outrage over waste, fraud, and profiteering and I certainly haven’t been persuaded otherwise.
I’ve also maintained my belief that those guilty of fraud should be prosecuted. What I’m hearing back is that entire ethnic groups should be removed because fraud has been found among them.
If that holds true, it tells me that fraud was never the culprit but rather the excuse.
I’ve yet to hear a constructive rebuttal that disqualifies that point. And no, whining about how Guthrie and other grifters legally got away with fleecing tax payers ain’t it.
Care to supply some references?
Why do you waste your time with that prick?
Trump's industrial-scale pardon business.
Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández: convicted of helping to flood America with 400 tons of cocaine.
Ross Ulbricht: Operating the Silk Road dark-net marketplace (narcotics distribution conspiracy, money laundering)
Changpeng Zhaon: Money laundering violations (as CEO of Binance)
Trevor Milton: Securities fraud and wire fraud (Nikola Corporation)
Trump appears to be concerned with bribery and financial crimes convictions....
Original Mike said...
Minnesota Is THE Moment of Truth for Bari Weiss
If she lets CBS ignore this, she'll have failed before she's barely begun.
LOL! You guys think her goal is to make CBS an honest news outlets. I has nothing to do with that.
She hasn't failed at all. She is succeeding at everything her Oligarch masters have put in front of her so far.
Bari's goal is to split the Republican party between America First and Israel First on behalf of Ellison and get Democrats back into power so the grift can keep going.
కామెంట్ను పోస్ట్ చేయండి
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.