News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
By it I see William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-14-25
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Sqadsq Adiqxx
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
C. S. Lewis
Stollsteimer Worked With Tides Foundation — Leah Hoopes has posted on X that a public records request has been approved and revealed 144 email exchanges between Delaware County DA Jack Stollsteimer and the Tides Foundation’s Fair and Just Prosecution.
The organization is largely funded by George Soros.
Leah, along with Greg Stenstrom, are election integrity activists who were slandered by Stollsteimer.
The pair had filed a complaint regarding election law violations from November 2020. Stollsteimer submitted a report to Delaware County Council which it read into the record, May 18, 2022 . Stollsteimer said his office investigated and that the activists based their complaint on three doctored videos downloaded from the internet.
What had been submitted, however, was 37 unchanged videos acquired directly from a whistleblower.
And that is how you lose trust in government.
Stollsteimer Worked With Tides Foundation
GOP Gets Primary Race For Delco Council — Liz Piazza and Charlie Alexander say they have more than enough signatures to be on the ballot for the May 20 Republican primary election.
They seek the Democrat-held seats on Delaware County, Pa., Council that are being vacated by corporatist Kevin Madden and contested by incumbent Richard Womack.
Liz is endorsed by the Delco GOP.
Charlie, not so much.
Also in the race is Upper Darby Council President Brian Burke, also endorsed by the GOP. We expect the shooting, however, to be almost entirely between Charlie and Liz.
Challenges to Charlie’s petitions are expected. He appears confident, though, that he has the 250 needed to be on the ballot.
We are staying out of it and writing in Sharon Devaney.
The Democrats have endorsed county Controller Joanne Phillips to replace Madden.
GOP Gets Primary Race For Delco Council
DOGE Friday’s Conservative Voice Topic — The Conservative Voice, Friday, will be discussing the economic consequences of D.O.G.E cuts, and America’s transition from government waste, fraud & abuse to private investment.
The Conservative Voice airs noon to 2 p.m. on WWDB 860-AM, and online.
E.J. Antoni, who is a Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, will be joining us. President Trump warned us that we will suffer economic turbulence as we go through this transition. E.J. will explain what to expect, and give us insight on how to understand what is happening, and why there is no need to panic.
D.O.G.E has uncovered a lot of nonsensical programs funded by federal dollars. Spending $47 million to “improve learning outcomes in Asia” seems crazy when five Asian countries top the list of best scores in math and science according to a report issued from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That same report shows the U.S. ranking 34th in math out of 81 countries. Given these statistics, who is it that actually needs help improving learning outcomes?
Sen. Doug Mastriano (R – Franklin/Adams Counties) recently introduced legislation to establish a Pennsylvania D.O.G.E. While the federal D.O.G.E. is a part of the Executive Branch, the PA version would report to the legislature which controls the “purse strings” and budget appropriations for the commonwealth. Funding would be decided upon by a newly created Bi-Partisan Oversight Committee, after reviewing recommendations.
We will also discuss Gov. Shapiro’s new 2025-2026 Budget. Of the $51.47 billion budget, new spending initiatives totaling almost $1.2 billion are not all inclusive. New revenue would mostly come from increased regulation and taxes, plus, over $4 billion in federal grants and subsidies.
DOGE Friday’s Conservative Voice Topic
Elves for counsel William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-13-25
T mpwtpgp ty Nsctdetlytej ld T mpwtpgp esle esp dfy sld ctdpy: yze zywj mpnlfdp T dpp te, mfe mpnlfdp mj te T dpp pgpcjestyr pwdp.
N. D. Wphtd
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Blair County Fails Families Too
By Anonymous
From Pennsylvania’s bluest counties to the reddest of the red, family courts remain playgrounds for the connected and the wealthy, while children’s best interests are sacrificed for financial incentives and legal maneuvering.
This story centers on Blair County and a father named Rich Rose.
Rich became a father in 2010, confirmed through a DNA test. Despite his commitment to his son, he was granted only twice-a-month visitation while the mother—who had multiple domestic violence convictions—was awarded de facto primary custody. This decision set the tone for years of rulings, where Rich’s parental rights were continually eroded.
Rich says the system was stacked against him from the start. His ex had connections, including family members in high-ranking law enforcement positions, while he had no such influence. When the brake lines on his tow truck were mysteriously cut—an act that could have cost him his life—police declined to investigate.
Last March, after 15 years of shared custody, Rich lost all visitation rights. He has not seen his son in over a year. Not because of any wrongdoing on his part—he has no criminal record, no allegations of violence—but because of legal technicalities which he says were weaponized against him. He says that county officials and caseworkers operate with little oversight
They make policy-driven decisions that serve bureaucratic and financial interests rather than the well-being of children, he says.
The Greater Father Involvement Act passed in 2022, highlights cases like Rich’s as evidence of a broken system. Judges misapply custody factors, prioritizing procedural loopholes over the real needs of children. Fathers across Pennsylvania and beyond have faced similar injustices, their rights stripped away based on unproven allegations while violent or unfit mothers retain control.
Why would a stable, long-standing custody arrangement be abruptly overturned? Why would a judge allow one parent to be erased from a child’s life without cause? A fair and competent court would have dismissed such maneuvers within minutes. Instead, Blair County’s system, like many others, continues to enable legal manipulation that tears families apart.
Write for posterity William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-12-25
Qy xyd dy dro Ovfoc pyb myexcov, pyb droi gsvv cki lydr xy kxn ioc.
T. B. B. Dyvusox
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: I’m not going to write for posterity. I’m going to write to make a buck.
Elmore Leonard
Revisiting Term Limits with Cruz-Norman Proposal
By Maria Fotopoulos
Congressman Andy Ogles (R-Tenn) proposed modifying the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to allow President Trump to run for another term. Currently, a president may not serve more than two terms. Given the high threshold for passing a Constitutional amendment, the likelihood of this happening would seem to be zero. And if it were to pass and Trump were to win a third term, he would be 86 years old by the end of that!
So a three-term Trump presidency is not a real concern, but the number of U.S. Representatives and Senators who have been in the House and Senate for YEARS because there are no term limits in Congress IS a real concern.
Term limits for Congress have been discussed before, with legislation proposed, but no changes have been made to put an end to the D.C. creatures known as career politicians. That said, with the Trump administration moving fast and furiously on multiple fronts, hopefully, term limits are among the many priorities. Currently, joint resolutions calling for congressional term limits have been introduced in the Senate and the House by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), respectively. It’s time that term-limit legislation finally becomes law.
U.S. House Representatives are elected for a two-year period, and U.S. Senators for six-year terms. Cruz-Norman proposelimiting U.S. Senators to two six-year terms and members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms. So the longest one person could serve in Congress would be 18 years.
Focusing on term limits is a reasonable and fair approach. Assuming a person served both in the House and Senate for the full periods, 18 years is a long enough time to have impact.
The cases of U.S. senators and representatives remaining in office well past their expiration dates are numerous. Most recently, the sad story of Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) sparked discussion on both term limits and cognitive testing for elected officials. Granger, 81, served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 28 years (Jan. 3, 1997 to Jan. 3, 2025). She was MIA from Washington, D.C., from the end of July 2024 to mid-November when she returned for an event honoring her. She was not present for about 54 percent of the votes in the House.
Granger was reported living in a retirement community that specializes in memory care. Granger’s son said his mother’s decline had been “very rapid and very difficult.”
The story echoed the last months of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who served in the U.S. Senate for 31 years (Nov. 4, 1992 to Sept. 29, 2023). While not in assisted living, the Senate offices essentially doubled as such for Sen. Feinstein. After missing 91 floor votes during a three-month absence from D.C. due to shingles, Feinstein returned to her job in May 2023 in a wheelchair, looking horribly sick and diminished, somewhat confused when speaking and being managed by a daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Feinstein died a few months later at 90.
Also serving until death, Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) was a U.S. Representative from 1997 to 2024 (27 years). He died August 21, 2024 at the age of 87.
In the U.S. Senate for 40 years (since 1985), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has shown public signs of mental decline, including occasions where he has completely frozen. The Sacramento Bee compiled a timeline of his many health issues in recent years. Most recently, McConnell fell and is in a wheelchair. McConnell (finally) has said he won’t seek re-election in 2026.
In other news of the elderly Congress members, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), age 81, recently tumbled on Capitol Hill. She fell on the staircase between the Capitol’s second and third floors following the House of Representatives’ kickoff meeting at the start of this year. ABC reporter John Parkinson was at the scene, which he described as: “Lots of blood, but officer tells me she’s okay as press is cleared from area. She is conscious/ talking.”
The list of members of Congress who are in the octogenarian zone, or close, as well as one senator who has passed age 90, includes Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), 2011-current (14 years), 79; Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), 2003-current (22 years), 83; Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), 1992-current (33 years), 84; Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), 1996-current (29 years), 83; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), 1997-current (28 years), 80;
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 1981-current (Senate) / 1975-1981 (House) (50 years), 91; Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), 1981-current (44 years), 85; Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), 2013-current (12 years), 80;
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), 2013-current (Senate) / 1976-2013 (House) (49 years), 78; Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 1985-current (40 years), 83; Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 1987-current (38 years), 84;
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), 2009-current (16 years), 80; Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), 1981-current (44 years), 87;
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 2007-current (Senate) / 1991-2007 (House) (34 years), 82; Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), 1991-current (34 years), 86; and Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), 2011-current (14 years), 82.
Rep. Grace Napolitano (88) ended her 26-year career representing California on January 3, 2025.
One explanation why some of our elderly elected officials remain in office often for decades may be that they are in a fully delusional state of mind. That delusion may be multi-layered. They may believe they are “entitled” to remain in office. Or, they may think they still are competent to do their jobs – and no one near them is telling them otherwise (as the folks near them have financial incentive to not be truthful).
Some may be immersed in the power and wealth they have acquired by way of their elected office – and want to retain it – with the idea of “public service” long gone (or maybe never was part of their makeup). Or, they may very simply be experiencing cognitive loss of varying degrees, and their staff and handlers are “covering” for them.
More politicians should consider the words of former President Jimmy Carter, who said he was looking forward to being “citizen Carter” after leaving the White House. The idea of leaving public service in due time is a concept lost on too many elected officials, who have turned their offices into the conduits for great wealth and enrichment to themselves. One Democrat in December did announce her retirement, so she could “set a better example.” Sixty-eight-year-old Rep. Annie Juster (D-N.H.) ended her time in the House, where she’d served since Jan. 3, 2013, on Jan. 3, 2025.
Of course, if more elected officials can’t make the right choices (which seems to be the situation), imposed term limits should eliminate the problems created by a small but powerful group of essentially permanent senators and representatives.
Maria Fotopoulos writes about the connection between overpopulation and biodiversity loss, and from time to time other topics that confound her.
White shirts William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 3-11-25
R’v wxc pxrwp cx farcn oxa yxbcnarch. R’v pxrwp cx farcn cx vjtn j kdlt.
Nuvxan Unxwjam
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: Black souls wear white shirts.
Ukrainain Folk Saying
Sanctuary City Mayors Unbending in Defending Lawless Policies
By Joe Guzzardi
On March 5, four of the tough-talking big city mayors appeared before the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. New York’s Eric Adams, Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, Denver’s Mike Johnston and Boston’s Michelle Wu faced probing questions from Committee Chair James Comer and other members about their sanctuary policies which allow inadmissible aliens to seek and receive harbor. Sanctuary cities also block Immigration and Customs Enforcement from carrying out immigration laws.
Comer opened by asking the four if they considered their city “a sanctuary.” Only Adams answered yes. The others deflected. Johnson said Chicago is a “welcoming city,”; Wu, Boston is “a safe city,” and Johnston offered a word salad. Wu repeatedly claimed that Boston is the nation’s safest city, but in the FBI’s newly released 2023 crime data, Boston ranked 16th safest of the nation’s 50 largest cities when measured against total violent crime
The defiant mayors made familiar but misleading talking points to support their unbending sanctuary city status. They maintained that without illegal immigrants their local work force would evaporate, that their “welcoming” posture is consistent with America’s open-arms immigration history. They also insisted that the answer to their problems is “comprehensive immigration reform,” code words for amnesty. Wu leaned heavily on her family’s history as the child of non-English speaking Taiwanese who raised their daughter on Chicago’s Southside. Johnson made repeated efforts to blame Texas Governor Greg Abbott for sending busloads of illegal immigrants to Chicago.
Under direct questioning, Wu did poorly. Missouri’s U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison dug in and asked Wu if there is an “acceptable number” of illegal aliens before she feels the city is overrun. Wu replied that she doesn’t decide who comes into the country or where they go, only how they are treated when they get to Boston. Wu ordered Burlison to do his job and pass legislation, another reference to amnesty. When asked several times to provide hard figures for the taxpayer expense to care for illegal aliens, Wu couldn’t provide a number. She said no cost data is available because Boston doesn’t inquire about immigration status. Neither Wu nor Chicago’s Johnson would explicitly answer Comer’s question about whether they would turn over illegal immigrant criminals to ICE.
Johnson drew Republican lawmakers’ ire for limiting his cost estimate at roughly 1 percent of his city’s budget while Denver’s and New York City’s Johnston and Adams provided concrete numbers at $79 million over the past two years and $6.9 billion, respectively. Wu was hammered for saying Boston doesn’t keep track. “You don’t ask how much money the city of Boston has spent on illegal immigration — are you out of your mind? Do you manage your budget?” asked Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. She does not, as evidenced by her hiring of a legal team to coach her, the Washington D.C. law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, which charges $950 an hour, according to the Boston Herald. In all, Wu spent $650,000 on legal fees and to transport eight staffers and her one-month-old infant to the hearing.
Adams came under intense fire from his fellow Democrats for his alleged deal making with the Trump administration. New York Democrats Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez and Laura Gillen along with California’s Robert Garcia demanded that Adams resign for his purported quid-pro-quo deal to cooperate with ICE in exchange for DOJ ordering federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against the mayor. Adams vigorously denied any type of deal.
The Cato Institute’s David Bier, the minority witness, was on hand to give the pro-mayor, pro-sanctuary city testifiers a helping hand. Bier presented only the positive side of the sanctuary city debate—illegal aliens pay taxes but no mention of the services they consume, states have limited power to cooperate with the federal government, but no citation of the Supremacy Clause, Congress should follow the guidelines recommended by the Major City Chiefs Association, not those that National Border Patrol Council established, etc.
After six hours of contentious testimony, the next step is in the administration’s hands. AG Bondi has sued Chicago, Illinois and New York State for their sanctuary policies. Bondi called Wu “an insult to law enforcement,” and promised to intensify her efforts in Boston. Before the hearing, Wu sent condolences to Lemark Jaramillo’s family; police identified Jaramillo as the perpetrator who attempted to stab Chick-fil-A patrons and was then shot to death by an off-duty police officer.
After the hearing ended, Florida’s Anna Paulina Luna wrote on X, “I just referred the sanctuary city mayors to the Department of Justice for CRIMINAL investigations based on evidence from their own comments and policies, proving that they were breaking federal law.” Four other Republicans indicated that they too would file charges against the insolent mayors. Criminal charges, along withholding federal funds from the rebellious mayors’ cities, is the best way to end the illegal sanctuary city quagmire. The law is clear: Title 8, U.S. Code § 1324 is a federal law that makes it illegal to bring in and harbor illegal aliens and prohibits the unlawful employment of aliens.
Joe Guzzardi is an Institute for Sound Public Policy analyst. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org
Sanctuary City Mayors Unbending in Defending Lawless Policies