[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] The Fed's preferred method to measure inflation, or the core personal consumption expenditures, has dropped to a 7-month low of 2.6 percent, however, it is still above the 2 percent inflation rate that is widely considered to be the target inflation rate in the US economy.
According to Forbes, the Commerce Department reported that the core inflation rate used by the Federal Reserve, which excludes food and energy, was at 2.6 percent year-over-year as compared to January 2024. There was also an increase of 0.3 percent core inflation from December 2024 to January 2025. This met forecasts that predicted a 2.6 percent inflation rate and is the lowest since June.
Overall inflation was 3 percent year-over-year as compared to 2024. The numbers were in line with what was expected with numbers from the Dow Jones estimate, according to CNBC. Since the inflation rate has still not settled around the 2 percent mark, the Fed is likely to hold steady on the interest rates between the 4.5-4.6 percent range.
[PJMedia] "The 10-year interest rate has fallen by half a percentage point in the past month—from approximately 4.8 percent to 4.3 percent," reports Reason's Jared Dillion.
The U.S. federal budget deficit has driven interest rates ever higher over the last five years.
2024: $1.83 trillion, the fifth year in a row with a deficit over $1 trillion
2023: $1.7 trillion
2022: $1.375 trillion
2021: $2.78 trillion
2020: $3.13 trillion, the largest in U.S. history.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/01/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
Federal bonds and interest rates move in an "inverse" relationship. IF we can cut billions of "demand" for those Federal bonds, then the smaller "supply" for those bonds will raise prices. That, in turn, will drive interest rates down.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:41 Comments ||
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#3
Fixed Income, and a 2.3% COLA in this economy.
Retirees are screwed over.
Screwed over by the Democrats and what they did with their Stolen election and how they wasted $2+ Trillion overspending.
[DailyWire] House Republicans have now unveiled articles of impeachment against three federal judges who have issued rulings against the President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... ’s second-term administration in what has been dubbed an "impeachathon" of "judicial activists."
In a post to X on Thursday, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) revealed an impeachment resolution accusing United States District Judge Amir Ali, a Biden appointee, of "high crimes and misdemeanors" for blocking the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause.
The measure faults Ali for an order that "without merit marginalized the President’s Article II authority, which vests power to conduct foreign policy ... and has further compromised the President’s fiduciary obligation to review federal agencies and programs."
Ogles introduced his resolution after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts granted the Trump administration’s request to put on hold Ali’s order commanding the Executive Branch to pay an estimated $2 billion in foreign assistance funds, per CBS News.
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) previously introduced articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, for restricting Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team from accessing a Treasury payment system.
Ogles then unveiled impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, who ordered health agencies to restore data after Trump acted to stop the government from promoting "gender ideology," The Hill reported.
Judges have been subject to impeachment proceedings over the course of United States history. Some cases have resulted in a guilty verdict and removal from office. It remains to be seen whether this new push will be taken up by the Republican leadership in the House.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) has also said he was drafting articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr., another Obama appointee, who ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze payments for grants and other programs, according to NPR.
Ogles posted a video to X on Thursday in which he provides an update on the "Impeachathon" using a chart of "Known Get-Trump Judicial Activists" that showed the four judges under "Articles Drafted/In Process" and seven others in a "Wanted" section.
"James Madison, Founding Father, warned us about an overactive — a too powerful, quite frankly — a woke judiciary, and we see it coming to pass," Ogles said, adding later he was placing the sign so people would know, "We’re going to hold these judges accountable."
🚀IMPEACHATHON UPDATE: More rogue judges are targeting President Trump.
#4
Run a real impeachment process so they have to defend themselves. Include their worst previous rulings and any times they were overturned by SCOTUS. Make the process the punishment.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:44 Comments ||
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#5
Speaking of Soros, I'm surprised there hasn't been a run at him for his various fifth column activities.
[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] Law enforcement officers executed a series of search warrants in Huntington Park, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, on Wednesday, raiding the homes of current and former city council members as well as the mayor's home as part of a $14 million corruption probe. Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman
…one of the wave of law-and-order candidates who last year replaced Soros DAs, in this case the execrable George Gascon …
said his Office is heading an investigation, titled "Operation Dirty Pond," over the potential misuse of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds pertaining to the construction of the city's aquatic center.
The Huntington Park City Hall building was also raided, Fox News reported.
The matter pertains to the city's Regional Aquatic Center, which was intended to be a two-story structure that would include an Olympic-sized pool, gym, football field, conference rooms, and other amenities. However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the city's vice mayor, Arturo Flores, has stated that there have been no results thus far, despite the fact that millions of dollars were taken from taxpayers to construct the facility.
Huntington Park Mayor Karina Macias, a Democrat, and Democrat city councilor Eduardo "Eddie" Martinez were among those who had their homes raided, per Fox 11 LA.
Former Huntington Park city council member Linda Caraballo filed a 282-page report with the LA DA's Office in 2022 to alert them to the alleged corruption. Caraballo told the outlet: "Heads are going to roll and a lot of people are going to be really put into some serious problems. They all should find lawyers right away."
Additionally, Vice Mayor Arturo Flores told the local network, "This is a project that has yielded nothing for the residents. It's my understanding that there's an estimated $14 million, give or take, that has been expended by the city, and that from those funds, the residents of the city have only received an empty lot with dead grass and nothing to show for those millions of dollars."
According to the District Attorney's Office, numerous items were confiscated during the searches, such as electronic devices, financial documents, and public records.
"My office is committed to ensuring that public officials uphold the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and transparency," Hochman said. "When concerns arise about the use of public funds or the actions of those in office, it is our duty to investigate thoroughly and protect the public's trust."
[NYPOST] Former Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley has started the appeal process following Mayor Karen Bass' decision to fire her a week ago.
Her decision to appeal comes after Bass' decision has spun up criticism from City Councilmembers and the public for what they say is ''misrepresenting the facts.''
Crowley announced the appeal to City Council members on Thursday.
''I choose to proceed with the Council appeal provided for in Los Angeles Charter, Article V, Section 5.08(e), due to Mayor Bass's removal of me, on February 21, 2025, from the position of Fire Chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department,'' read Crowley's note. ''I look forward to hearing from you about next steps, if any.''
Bass announced that she was firing Crowley after last month's devastating Palisades Fire and appointing former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year LAFD veteran, as interim fire chief. She said it was in the best interest of Los Angeles.
''Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles' public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief. We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley's watch. Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after-action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal. The heroism of our firefighters — during the Palisades fire and every single day — is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs.''
#2
If she wins, pay her salary and make her mow lawns in the hot sun. There is no way she should be working in leadership or on anything important. Same thing for any personnel in the Trump executive branch that any judge reinstates. Make them do manual labor. No free money.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:16 Comments ||
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#3
This is red on red. I'm gonna sit back with my popcorn and enjoy the show.
Can't feel too bad for Crowley. If she had any integrity she would have resigned a long time ago instead of working for Bass. The suspense comes from waiting for Bass to get hers.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/01/2025 12:13 Comments ||
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[NYPost] President Trump on Tuesday revoked any security clearances held by Covington & Burling law firm employees who provided pro bono services to former special counsel Jack Smith, who prosecuted Trump in a pair of since-ended criminal cases.
"This is a good one. Is everybody listening? Deranged Jack Smith — we’re going to call it the deranged Jack Smith signing or bill," Trump said in the Oval Office.
"The weaponization of our system by law firms, even pro bono work they’re doing just in order to clog up government, stop government, and nobody knows about it more than me, and hopefully that’ll never happen again."
Covington & Burling spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Smith received $140,000 in free legal services from the firm, according to a Jan. 10 disclosure by his office.
Politico reported that at least two attorneys at the firm, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, have represented Smith.
The memorandum signed by Trump yanks the clearances of "Koski and all members, partners, and employees of Covington & Burling LLP who assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith during his time as Special Counsel, pending a review and determination of their roles and responsibilities."
Smith won a pair of federal criminal indictments against Trump in 2023 as he sought a second term in the White House, but the cases didn’t make it to trial before the Republican retook power, curtailing the prosecutions.
A case accusing Trump of mishandling national security records carried up to 400 years in prison. The second set of charges, related to Trump challenging the 2020 election results, could have sent the president to prison for 55 years.
Trump argued that the cases amounted to political targeting and his Justice Department appointees last month fired more than a dozen attorneys who participated in the investigations.
"We recently agreed to represent Jack Smith when it became apparent that he would become a subject of a government investigation," a firm rep told The Post. "Covington serves as defense counsel to Jack Smith in his personal, individual capacity. We look forward to defending Mr. Smith’s interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so."
According to Trump, the action was in line with his Executive Order 14147 of January 20, 2025, titled “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”
The revocation follows a similar action targeting 51 intel chiefs who signed a letter downplaying Hunter Biden’s laptop story as possibly a Russian disinformation campaign. Trump also withdrew the security clearances for the former head of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, who briefed China during the January 6 Capitol protests.
Trump directed all relevant heads of executive departments and agencies to suspend the security clearances for all individuals involved with the firm, pending the determination of their role, if any, in the weaponization of the Department of Justice. All heads of federal agencies should terminate all engagements with Covington & Burling LLP to the maximum extent permitted by the law and review existing contracts the agencies have with the law firm.
Covington has deep ties with Washington D.C. and the two attorneys representing Smith, Covinton’s Vice Chair and former head of the Justice Department’s criminal division Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski, have more than a decade-long working relationship. In 2010 under Obama, Breuer hired Smith to lead the public integrity section, in which Koski has also worked as a prosecutor.
Meanwhile, the suspension of Covington’s security clearances follows a recent announcement of the “weaponization working group” by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Smith and his team. Although Smith enjoys a preemptive pardon as part of the House Jan. 6 Committee, other prosecutors were not extended the same privilege.
#1
I get the feeling that Pro Bono might mean “paid by USAID funds” in many cases,
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:05 Comments ||
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#2
^ I would be incredibly unsurprised to learn this.
"But don't worry. It has all been laundered thru multiple layers. As long as Elon's database nerds don't start following the trail, we should be good."
USAID could not have been the only group used to disburse federal funds to preferred clients. Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the intelligence community, and DOD probably also supported all sorts of odd little projects.
#4
For many agencies, there was plenty disbursed that looked like support for gender studies in Ecuador that supported clandestine ops or other purposes. None of it should have ended up funding hits in domestic politics. Our track record for destabilizing foriegn countries is dubious at best, but the US government has no legitimate role in meddling in domestic politics. Track all the funds. Jail all the perps. Hold special elections to replace the jailed elected officials.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 12:05 Comments ||
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[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] President Donald Trump is slated to sign an executive order that will make English the official language of the United States. For its nearly 250-year history, the United States has not had an official language, although English has been the language spoken most often by US citizens.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Trump will sign the order, which would make the English the national language as well as rescind a mandate put into place by former President Bill Clinton that required any entity of the federal government or getting federal funding to provide assistance to those in need of translation.
More than 350 languages are spoken in the United States with some of the most popular after English being Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic. There are also Native American languages spoken in the US, such as Navajo, Yupik, Dakota, Apache, Keres, and Cherokee.
The outlet reported that although this mandate will be rescinded, federal agencies will still be able to provide us languages aside from English for those in need of their services. A summary of the order says that the change will promote unity in the United States as well as establish uniform practices across the government for better efficiency.
Vice President JD Vance has taken similar actions prior to becoming Trump's running mate in the 2024 election. When he served as a US senator of Ohio, Vanc introduced the English Language Unity Act.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/01/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
This should have been done during either Bush administration.
[NYPOST] Jeff Bezos has the temerity to believe that he runs The Washington Post.
He can be forgiven this understanding of his role since he does, as a technical matter... own the newspaper.
The entrepreneur, who bought the financially struggling paper in 2013, sent a memo to Post staff saying that the paper's opinion pages will soon ''be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.''
What's irking WaPo staffers?
The Post's opinion editor, David Shipley, resigned, and a firestorm ensued among current and former WaPo employees and progressive opinion-makers.
Doesn't Bezos know that it's his role to fund journalism that he disagrees with, and may even find harmful to America?
The paper's economics news hound called the decision a ''massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post's opinion section.''
Next thing you know Bezos is going to have a view on how Amazon and Blue Origin should be run.
It's not unusual — in fact, it's the norm — for an owner to determine the editorial line of a newspaper.
The Washington Post has been synonymous with crusading liberalism since its work during Watergate, so it's easy to forget that its position on the political spectrum hasn't been fixed throughout its history.
In the 1930s, the Republican banker Eugene Meyer bought the financially distressed newspaper — sound familiar? — and made it anti-New Deal.
The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... used to be a Republican paper, and even your beloved New York Post hasn't always been the beacon of sound thinking that it is today.
Then, there are criticisms of Bezos for the substantive direction he has set out.
According to left-wing commentator Keith Olbermann, Bezos has declared ''the paper utterly fascist ...anybody you disagree with, damn them... '' — as if free markets and personal liberties are the hallmarks of authoritarian rule.
Bezos is also accused of kowtowing to Trump, although if the president's enemies are worried that he's a threat to freedom, they should be delighted that the Post will be putting such an emphasis on liberty.
There is unquestionably a Trump angle to what Bezos is doing. Like many business leaders, the Amazon founder has warmed up to Trump.
Perhaps more important, the president's election — together with Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter — sent a cultural signal that it's OK to defy woke employees and other forms of progressive social pressure.
We've seen it in Meta's turn toward a more free speech-oriented policy and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong's efforts to shake up that paper. This is all to the good.
A more telling critique of the Bezos directive is that the opinion pages at the Post, which have long been relatively diverse, aren't the real problem at the paper.
The deeper issue is the abysmally biased news coverage that is part of a decades-long ingrained culture.
Fixing that may be beyond the power of even one of our era's most transformative agents of change.
#2
Bezos can try to restore the WP to decency, but he won’t do it from internal hiring. It will just be like a present that is wrapped in infinite layers of leftist wrapping paper. Importing other leftists from the industry at large will be a more expensive and equally ineffective strategy. Also the print media is largely irrelevant. The task is both impossible and useless.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:40 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe he just doesn't like losing money.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/01/2025 12:20 Comments ||
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[NYPOST] NPR's chief diversity officer is stepping down as the network stares down a federal investigation that aims to pull its funding, according to a report.
On Wednesday, Keith Woods, 66, said he was retiring after 15 years at the public broadcaster — even as President Trump targets diversity programs and urges companies to reverse the controversial policies.
Woods presented the decision as his own, according to NPR. He said he started preparing for his retirement in 2023, but pushed it back after Hurricane Helene last year destroyed his Tampa, Fla. home.
''After more than four decades in journalism, I'm happy to finally be able to say the words, 'I'm retiring,''' he said in a statement released by the network. ''Though the attacks on the work of diversity, equity and inclusion have taken some of the joy out of this moment.''
Woods took pains at a staff meeting on Wednesday to assure colleagues that his departure was not connected to the swirling anti-DEI environment, NPR said.
''I might be doing virtual cartwheels right now,'' Woods said, citing ''a withering assault on the values of diversity, equity, inclusion; corporate capitulation all around us; and the treatment of diversity, equity and inclusion as a virus whose carriers must be eradicated. It makes this look like something it is not.''
#2
Having a diversity officer at NpR was always useless. It sort of like making Liberace a contestant on Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. They were already there since the 70s. Maybe the guy added some more gay folks to Antiques Roadshow, but how would we know unless they broadcast an After Dark spinoff.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:31 Comments ||
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[NYPOST] Tough-talker Gov. Kathy Hochul dissed the Garden State Thursday over its war against her hated congestion pricing toll, sniping: ''What do we care what New Jersey thinks?''
The governor admitted to insulting 9.5 million of her neighbors when she was trying to convince President Trump last week to reverse his decision to scrap federal approval for the scheme to hit drivers with a $9 fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
Hochul said her main gripe with the Trump administration's move was US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy using New Jersey, at least in part, to justify abruptly nixing the toll. Duffy lives in New Jersey with his family.
''First of all, the most offensive thing I found in the letter from Sean Duffy was citing New Jersey, saying they don't like this program,'' Hochul said on MSNBC's ''Morning Joe'' as she recalled details of her private meeting with Trump.
[NYPOST] A senior aide for former President Joe Biden has admitted the administration was ''gaslighting'' Americans when it repeatedly dismissed growing concerns about the oldest-ever president's age and ability.
Michael LaRosa, a former White House aide and longtime press secretary for first lady Jill Biden, admitted that the campaign was aware from ''day one'' that the 81-year-old's age was an issue — and aides were ''scared to death'' of letting him do off-the-cuff interviews ahead of the election, Puck reported.
''Cover-up to me is a little hard, a little harsh. Every politician, everybody, every human being tries to cover up age. We were always, from day one, cognizant that age was an issue,'' LaRosa said Wednesday at a Science Institute at American University seminar.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/01/2025 00:00 ||
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[11139 views]
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If I can sit on my couch and know this, why did nobody act? We spend 4 years with the "Weekend at Bernie's presidency, and yet nobody on "our" side did a damn thing about it.
#3
Everyone involved in the Biden Mental Health cover-up should lose their Security Clearances, immediately, and ban for life, from future Government employment.
Because they place political agenda and power ahead of the safety of the USA, its citizens and the US Constitution.
ALSO
Those that ran the Biden Regime puppet government should be brought to trial for treason.
Then the questions.
Why was Congress and the MSM so quiet on this obvious mental health issue? Why was no effort made to use the 25th amendment to remove Biden never started?
Was it because of the actual people running the White House.
Or was it because everyone knew Ms. Harris taking over the WH Oval Office duties was a bigger joke than Biden was already?
#5
The 25th Amendment and the Impeachment does not account for a totally corrupt cabinet and legislature. Pull the cleanses of both the staff, cabinet and Gang of Eight for starters.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:13 Comments ||
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#6
Gaslighting is attempting to slowly convince a person that an unacceptable situation is actually acceptable.
This was a fucking cover up.
Kid Rock getting on the radio the other day and apologizing for Clooney "having the guts to speak up about Biden's mental health" (it was weeks after the Clooney Obama Variety Show starring Brandon) was the most disingenuous thing I've heard in a long time.
The real gaslighting is going on right now trying to convince you this was all an oopsie doopsie guess I fudged up y'all huck huck huck.
Where was the GOP?
Covering for McConnell and prepping for a "Harris" administration.
How fortunate her opinion doesn’t matter outside the EU.
[IsraelTimes] The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas vows to stand by Kyiv and questions America’s leadership of the West after theextraordinary clash between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge,” Kallas writes on social media following the Oval Office confrontation. “Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine.”
#1
IMO: EUropeans (and Brits) need to focus on tending their own garden - it's overgrown by weeds and overrun by pests - and stop pretending that Europe is center of the universe.
#3
Trump is the new leader that we put in place out of disgust for their globalist baloney. For them, the Biden lesson ought to be that American presidents are not easily removed. Calling for Trump’s removal is dumb. He likely cracking the knuckles if his pump hand in preps for his response.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 8:56 Comments ||
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#4
Given the Euros position on 'free speech' they hardly are ones looking for a new leader for the free world.
#5
They all seem busy trying to make it The Mediterranean Union.
MU: we are the free and sophisticated world!
UK: if you shared the story of the government using an 11 year old girl to attract African settlers, we can arrest you during your transfer at Heathrow.
#6
IMHO the 'Free World' was dealt a fatal blow on 9/11 2001 and Bush's declaration that 'Islam is Peace' in the aftermath of an Islamic massacre on American soil was its death rattle.
Submission to Islam and opposition to free speech has been the consensus of the 'Free' World ever since. (e.g. here and here). This consensus was shared even by Trump in 2015.
#10
Earlier this past week we saw that the UK had only 25 deployable tanks. So they need about 10 years of massive defense purchases to achieve any "leadership".
#12
Just don’t attack the British army with a pointed stick.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/01/2025 19:00 Comments ||
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#13
By gad, sir, our gunsels were gaudy
The day we encountered a body
Of spearchucking wogs,
All so awed by our togs
That they ran, to the last man and Mahdi!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
...anybody you disagree with, damn them...
