The Boys Come Home and Play To the Crowd

Last year, the Mets started in the basement 0 and 5 before they won their first game. By the end of the 2024 season, OMG, they missed the Pennant by one game.

 

They began this season on the road, in Houston, where they won one of the three games, and then, in Miami, where they won two of the three games, including an 11 inning thriller, 6 to 5. So, already this year is starting off better than last at 3 wins and 3 losses.

And now, they go home to play a six-game series starting Fridat afternoon at 3 PM against Toronto and Miami. Coming out of the homestead 5 and 1 with an 8 and 4 record would be terrific.

Thus far, Pete Alonso is hitting .286, with two home runs and eight RBI. Juan Soto is hitting .238, with one HR and two RBI, while Brandon Nimmo is hitting .250 with two HR and three RBI. And Francisco Lindor, true to form, has started off slowly, but is expected to have another great year.

The pitching will improve as the season heats up, but there have been several key spots,

 even in the games they lost.

Of course, it is really early, but the team, as assembled, is expected to win it all. It is what every Mets fan wishes for each season.

So sit back, get ready and cheer the boys of summer on with that familiar cry: Lets Go METS!

The Special Election of 2025

Tuesday, there were two House special elections in Florida and a race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge. At the time this is written (9:15PM 4/1), the House seats were won by Republicans and with about 60% of the Wisconsin votes counted showed the Democrat candidate ahead by 10 points.

 

Democrats and the Lame Stream Media considered this an early referendum vote on how the public perceived the job President Trump was doing.

Apparently, based on the Florida result, one would say, “pretty good”.

The Florida result pushed the Republican majority up to 220 to 213. It has given the Republicans a bit of breathing room in their control of the House of Representatives. Two open seats exist due to deaths of two Democrats last month, which will have special elections soon.

Randy Fine was projected to defeat Democrat Josh Weil, an Orlando teacher, and succeed former Rep. Mike Waltz, who represented Florida’s 6th District for six years before resigning to become President Trump’s national security adviser.

And Jimmy Patronis, the former Florida CFO, had a slightly easier time replacing former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) in the Panhandle-based 1st District, where he led Democrat Gay Valimont by 14.8 percentage points with most of the votes counted.

All in all, it was a good night for President Trump and the Republicans, at least in Florida. Now, the Republicans need to get the rest of the “big, beautiful bill” passed and sent to the President by Memorial Day.

And, of course, should the Democrat win in the swing state of Wisconsin, that is all the media will be talking about for days.

The Positive Result of Threatening Tariffs

This is no April Fool's Day joke or spoof. It was announced today that Israel, in order to improve its special relationship with the United States, has cancelled ALL tariffs on American goods ahead of President Trump's promise to assess reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners.

 

Considering Israel is a leading supplier of all things tech-related, this is a big deal.

"In addition to the economic benefits for the economy and citizens of Israel, this move will allow us to further strengthen the alliance and ties between Israel and the United States," Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will continue to work to remove barriers and tariffs and to reinforce our special relationship with the United States."

As reported by Fox Business, the US is Israel's largest trading partner and closest ally, with bilateral trade worth $34 billion in 2024, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Forty ÿears ago, the two countries entered into a free trade agreement, which has fallen a bit by the wayside in recent years. But Israeli officials said this tariff reduction would apply to "a very limited number of products," chiefly US food and agricultural imports.

It is a restart of what has been a good and beneficial relationship for both sides. And it shows that the Israeli Prime Minister respects the current American President and takes him at his word.

In this case, there will be a reciprocal non-tariff response by the Trump Administration. Which benefits both countries.

And that, friends, is how it is done.

Uncovering Untold Largesse in the Congress

This should be interesting. Did you ever wonder how our politicians enter Congress on the balls of their @$$÷$ with no money, and within two or three years, they have a net worth of $20MM?

 

Elon Musk was asked that question and now, he and his DOGE team are hell-bent to find out. Very quickly.

According to Monday's New York Post, at the Wisconsin town hall on Sunday, one attendee at the town hall had asked Musk if DOGE had uncovered evidence of funds wired from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“They’ll [the government] send the money overseas to one NGO [non-governmental organization], then they’ll go through a bunch of them, and then I’m highly confident that a bunch of that money then comes back to the United States and lands in the pockets of the people you just mentioned,” Musk replied.

“But it is a circuitous route. It doesn’t go directly, but let’s just say that there’s a lot of strangely wealthy members of Congress where I’m trying to connect the dots of, ‘How do they become rich?’”

Based on his team’s previous efforts or finding corruption elsewhere in the government bureaucracy, you can be sure they will quickly find how the scheme works. And who has reaped financial rewards beyond anyone’s imagination.

“How do they get $20 million if they’re earning $200,000 a year?” Musk further pondered. “We’re going to try to figure it out and certainly stop it from happening.”

It is almost like an eerie Oprah Christmas Show. You know, where you become a Member of Congress, and suddenly, “You get twenty million and you do too! And you get fifteen million! And

 you get ten!”

And soon thereafter, another cell block may be opening at Guantanamo or El Salvador.

Get your popcorn and cokes, and enjoy the show!

The New Voice of European Destiny

There is one European leader who is far and away more Conservative American-leaning than any other European leader presently in their position. This leader is more concerned about her nation's security and economic stability. 

She is a Gen-Xer, a Christian, and the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister of her country.

 

Like President Trump, she believes and professes to put HER country first. She is Giorgia Meloni.

She understand the complexities of NATO and the European Union. But she is not allowing her country to bow its allegiance to either.

When she was asked if she would assist France and Great Britain in putting peace-keepers into Ukraine, she said they were welcome to do that, but without Italian troops.

There is both desperation and brilliance to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s proposal to provide Ukraine with postwar security by offering to cover it with the umbrella of NATO’s Article 5 Security guarantee, but not membership itself.

It is a middle-ground approach without forcing Russia to accept NATO completely on its borders.

"The deployment of Italian troops to Ukraine has never been on the agenda, just as we believe that the deployment of European troops proposed by France and the United Kingdom is a very complex, risky, and ineffective option," she said.

In her 2011 book We Believe, Meloni wrote: "I am a right-wing woman, and I proudly support women's issues. In recent years we have had to suffer contempt and racism by feminists. ... Perhaps as far as feminism is conceived in this way, it is more a question of ideology than of gender and substance." She is opposed to pink quotas and has denied being anti-women as accused by some critics.

There is no doubt where she stands on many issues, including abortion, same-sex marriage, illegal immigration and religious freedom. If she were American, she could be a center-Right Republican.

When U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to impose tariffs on the European Union’s goods earlier this month, the bloc’s response was clear: The EU would respond “firmly.” But Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, chose a more conciliatory stance.

“A clash is in nobody’s interest. This is why, understanding the issue [Trump] raised, I believe that dialogue and, let’s say, a balanced and proportionate solution is the way to deal with it.”

Over the past few months, Meloni has carefully positioned herself as the closest mainstream European leader to Trump, boosting her credentials as a potential “bridge” between the new US administration and Europe. She was the only EU head of government invited to Trump’s inauguration in January. Earlier the same month, she visited him at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump defined her as a “fantastic woman” who has “really taken Europe by storm.”

She apparently is a force to be reckoned with as the US and the EU continue to tango across the rough seas ahead. She seems to be a voice, if not reason, one to be heard as she offers conciliatory choices what should not be ignored.

She is a breath of fresh air in the stagnant cesspool which Europe has become. She has a common sense vision for what should be next not only for Europe, but also for the US and the world at large.

Continua buona fortuna e successo, Primo Ministro Giorgia Meloni!

Stop the Judicial Abuse - Now!

As outlined in the American Bar Association’s Model Code of Judicial Conduct, judges are generally required to recuse themselves from a case if there is a conflict of interest or if their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Apparently, this is now the second time judges who have a distinct hatred of Donald Trump have ignored this basic Code. 

And both Judge Merchan in New York and Judge Boasberg in DC have daughters who work for entities diametrically opposed to Trump.

Loren Merchan worked for the ad company who did advertising for Kamala Harris, while her father, Juan Merchan, presided over the case against Trump and Trump Organization.

And now we learn that Katharine Boasberg, the daughter of the federal judge, James Boasberg, who halted the Trump administration from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to send alleged Tren de Aragua members to a megaprison in El Salvador, conducts “capacity building work in public defender offices across the nation” for the nonprofit group Partners in Justice, which also tried to block the Laken Riley Act from passing in the Cangress earlier this year.

We should all be outraged by this disregard by certain members of the Judiciary of their oaths to maintain impartiality in cases being brought forth by litigants. We expect fairness by our judges and at least in these two cases, judges violated their oaths of conduct.

They should be immediately removed and disbarred. No wonder Americans are losing faith in the judicial system to get a fair trial. And these two are not the only ones. They just got caught at it.

Now, a still-grieving mom whose daughter was allegedly raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant ripped the judges who put the brakes on President Trump’s deportation flights, and their Democrat enablers who’d rather “harbor” criminals than protect victims.

In today’s New York Post, Patty Morin’s daughter, Rachel, a 37-year-old mother-of-five, was found dumped in a drain near a scenic trail in Maryland 18 months ago, and an illegal immigrant from El Salvador has been charged with her murder. His trial is due to start with jury selection on Tuesday.

She is just the latest "Angel Mom" or "Angel Dad" who has lost a child to a murder by an illegal alien criminal, who was let into this country by the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas criminal regime.

Liberals and Democrats apparently believe that aliens’ rights matter more than Americans. But when they committed a crime entering this country and then, commit additional crimes because they think they have some sort of immunity, then we need to look at how they should have no rights since they violated the rights of others.

What WILL it take for the Supreme Court to put a halt to this injustice by criminals against innocent women and children?

Will Columbia Continue to Support Terrorism?

One would look at the vaulted reputation of Columbia University and wonder how it self-obliterated its reputation in such a short time. It seems it went from a great University, a bastion of liberal, open education to an epicenter to champion anti-Semitism in less than a year.

It escalated when former president Minouche Shafik suddenly resigned and fled back to the United Kingdom after the elite institution was marred by constant, and sometimes destructive, anti-Israel protests that splashed Columbia across national headlines.

This was caused by the pro-Hamas demonstrations after October 7, 2023 and was heightened by the Congressional hearing which brought the issue of anti-Semitism to the fore on many University campuses.

In response to this, President Trump pulled $400MM in Federal grant money to send a message that supporting anti-Semitism on college campuses by faculty and administrators comes at a cost.

Now, Columbia University’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, resigned from her position at the embattled Ivy League university Friday night, just days after she told the Trump Administration she would implement a mask ban, while privately promising faculty she would not. The Board of Trustees apparently doubted her ability to lead negotiations with the Trump Administration over the university’s $400MM in Federal funding and get it returned.

In addition, the continued demonstrations by pro-Hamas students to additionally support Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who spearheaded the student-led seizure, detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this month for his role in disruptive and, at times, violent anti-Israel protests at Columbia last summer, hasn’t played well to help Columbia’s reputation.

So, the Board, in order to at least appear pro-active, replaced Ms Armstrong with Co-Chair Claire Shipman, the former senior national correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America, and who is married to former Obama Press Secretary, Jay Carney.

But this appears to be a short-term band-aid, unless the situation gets dramatically turned around. Until it does, President Trump will continue to withhold the Federal grant money.

It is time for Columbia to recognize that continued support of anti-Semitism will not be tolerated or it will continue to lose anticipated taxpayer funding by its support of terrorists over its Jewish students’ rights to an education.