Reich is spot on about this. The Supreme Court's opinion is far broader than the press has picked up on.
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Friday, February 20, 2026
Lex Anteinternet: Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
Lex Anteinternet: Supreme Court strikes down tariffs: Supreme Court strikes down tariffs It's patently obvious that the tariffs in question were illegal. What wasn't obvious is that t...
So, a few things.
The Supreme Court ruling eliminates the 10% baseline tariff, the drug trafficking tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and the 145% effective rate on most Chinese goods.
Pretty predictable.
Trump of course is having a petty fit, running around calling people names, and the like.
Truth be known, while this is the right decision, and it is a blow to Trump, it probably saves him from being blamed for a tariff caused disaster.
Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
It's patently obvious that the tariffs in question were illegal. What wasn't obvious is that the Supreme Court would uphold the law.
Left unanswered, does the U.S. have to pay the money back? It would seem that the answer should be yes.
The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 4. The Held Up Edition
February 16, 2026
TA Ranch.
The invaders arrived and confident of the success of their mission, as well as the mission itself, detrained and headed out, certain of victory.
And then the unexpected intervened. They didn't know the climate of where they were, and ran into delay. And soon they ran into diversion as well, thinking that with limited time they could still stop to act on detours.
The locals rallied, held them up, and started gunning them down.
Week two of the 2026 legislature commences, the carpetbaggers held up and besieged, as has happened before.
February 17, 2024
A warning about the stupidity of gutting the state's tax system:
Not that most of the Freedom Caucus, which has a "get off my lawn" type of attitude, and which lives in a Southern fantasyland, seems to really care, or so it seems. I guess we'll see.
I will note, however, that fire board lives out in the county and was put in place by rural voters who voted for Trump, and I'll bet most of them did as well. The Freedom Caucus is the same Dixiecrat type of voter that voted in the Freedom Caucus. So, they're getting just what they voted for.
And the scandal grows:
Years ago a very senior member of the legislature told me that the far right was now buying the legislature. What Bextel did was monumentally stupid, she has to be the most tone-deaf person in the state, but it likely was not illegal. The implications are serious, however. The "Wyoming" Freedom Caucus is heavy funded by out of state money or, in this case Carpetbagger Cash.
The item here, broken by the Jackson Hole News & Guide:
CHEYENNE—The Jackson man who wrote the campaign donation checks at the center of a growing controversy in the Wyoming Capitol says two were intended for the Speaker of the House and the former head of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.Whether or not Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, or Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, received or accepted the checks could not be determined by press time. Neither lawmaker responded to requests for comment before publication.
And:
Freedom Caucus lawmaker Bear accepted controversial campaign check from activist; other legislators remain mum: Gillette Republican Rep. John Bear said he accepted a check from Bextel, but not on the House floor.
The truth of the matter is that when this sort of political thought came into the state, it came in from the outside and was backed by outside people. Some of the early proponents of the Freedom Caucus nonsense, like Secretary of State Chuck Gray, and Bear, are outsiders.
Bextel, originally from Arkansas (of course) has done the state a big favor by exposing this sort of behavior.
Former legislators reactions:
This adds a serious new wrinkle to the story:
Bextel has said publicly that she was distributing lawful campaign checks on behalf of a Teton County donor, and that she did so in person because she knew she’d be in Cheyenne.It also happened two days before the reported recipients on the House side, among others, voted in favor of introducing a bill Bextel has championed.
I still very much doubt that this meets the criteria necessary to be considered bribery, but there is a bit of smoke there. Added to that, some of the cash recipients are not campaigning this year.
So what was that bill that the cash donor had an interest in? That's discussed here:
Wyoming’s ‘Checkgate’ is all about the Freedom Caucus’ political games - WyoFile: GOP activist who handed out money to lawmakers on House floor claims she’s leveling the playing field for conservatives, writes columnist Kerry Drake.
As stated in the article:
The incident became a news story on Wednesday during debate on an anti-affordable housing bill that Bextel was lobbying lawmakers to support. Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, questioned voting on House Bill 141, “Fifth Amendment Defense Act,” when one of its prime supporters was seen distributing checks to lawmakers on the floor two days earlier. But he did not name Bextel or any legislators who received checks.
While I've abstained from posing the text of bills on these threads this year, this one deserves a look:
Fifth Amendment Protection Act.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Bear, Haroldson, Heiner, Knapp, Locke and Neiman and Senator(s) Hicks, Hutchings, Ide, Kolb, McKeown, Pearson, Salazar and Steinmetz
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to cities, towns and counties; prohibiting cities, towns and counties from imposing fees or conditions related to housing on residential or commercial development as specified; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1. W.S. 15‑1‑612 and 18‑5‑209 are created to read:
15‑1‑612. Prohibitions on fees and conditions related to housing on residential or commercial development.
No governing body of a city or town shall impose a monetary fee, nonmonetary condition or other concession related to the provision of workforce housing, unmet housing needs or affordable housing on residential or commercial development within the jurisdiction of the governing body.
18‑5‑209. Prohibitions on fees and conditions related to housing on residential or commercial development.
No board of county commissioners shall impose a monetary fee, nonmonetary condition or other concession related to the provision of workforce housing, unmet housing needs or affordable housing on residential or commercial development within the jurisdiction of the county.
Section 2.
(a) This act shall apply to all applications for permits submitted for residential or commercial development on or after July 1, 2026.
(b) Nothing in this act shall be construed to modify or impair existing contracts or obligations regarding residential or commercial development and the imposition of monetary fees, nonmonetary conditions or other concessions executed before July 1, 2026.
Section 3. This act is effective July 1, 2026.
So the money came from Teton County big bucks, which to at least some extent, must now want the servant class living in Teton County. Let them commute from Driggs, apparently.
Can't have that riff raff living in Jackson, now can we?
Every recipient of the cash donation should resign. . . but none of them will. The Legislature, for that matter, out to censure them by sidelining them for the remainder of the session. I.e., as they have to right to refuse to seat, they ought to send them to the benches and let them cool their jets at home this session.
And this does stink. A wealthy carpetbagger from Teton County gives checks to a carpetbagger from Teton County to pass out to certain favorites as a housing bill principally impacting Teton County (but also Natrona County) is debated.
I doubt the District Attorney from the 1st Judicial District will do anything with that. I don't think I would, but it looks pretty weird.
Speaking of Gray:
Senate panel advances bill to increase accountability for commercial registered agents: More than 830,000 LLC filings generated almost $60M for Wyoming last year, but secrecy raises concern about fraud, scams
That must keep his stamping fingers busy like crazy.
Speaking of buying votes, Lummis spoke at the legislature and spoke on Trumpbucks.
Lummis Announces Kraken Will Fund Trump Accounts For Every Wyoming Newborn In 2026
That's not buying votes, but Kraken is trying to buy good will.
Part of the problem is that data centers are driving up electrical demand like crazy. A sane country, that was doing this, would be building nuclear plants like crazy, but we're not sane right now. Instead, Trump is backing Dying Dirty Coal.
February 18, 2026
This is probably the first time that Carpetbagging Chuck has been silent on anything since he he showed up in Casper with luggage. Usually he'd be out blaming the left wing radicals he claims are lurking around every single corner in the state conspiring against decency, apple pie, and poor old Donny Trump.
Here he's shut his trap.
Hmmm. . . .
Well after all of his blathering if he doesn't condemn what happened, he's a hypocrite.
But then Bextel hosted a fundraiser for her fellow carpetbagger back in January. It was closed to the press. . .
February 20, 2026
Wyoming House Rejects Adding Extraterrestrials, Animals, To Sex Books Ban
"Check Gate" has really busted wide open, putting the WFC on the spot after they condemned accusations that proved to be true. Carbon County's GOP has called for the resignation of some members of their own party. Frankly Bear and Niemann, who haven't been asked to resign yet, should resign or be removed by the legislature.
Chuck Gray remains silent for the first time that he carried his carpetbag across the state line.
Last edition:
The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 3. The Confederate Legislature Edition.
Monday, February 16, 2026
Saturday, February 16, 1901. Tariff wars.
Russia retaliated on a tariff raise imposed on Russian sugar with a 30% increase on the tariff on American ferric goods.
Hmm. . . seems like I've heard this tune before. . .
We don't think of Russia as a player in sugar today, in no small part due to the Russian Revolution. Before that, however, Russia was a major sugar exporter, being a beneficiary of the German process for refining sugar beets. The U.S. sugar industry is based on the same process.
The U.S. sugar industry was heavily impacted by the Spanish American War, oddly enough, as the U.S. became a major market for Cuban sugar and tobacco. When Cuba went communist in the 1950s, Russia in turn became the market for both of those things. Today, Cuba really doesn't have a market for either. A logical trade policy would open trade back up with Cuba, which is far more likely to liberalize its government than attempting to starve it to death before Marco Rubio convinces Mad King Donny to invade it.
Also in Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Lamsdorf presented a revised treaty proposal to China's Ambassador to the Russian Empire, Prince Yang-ju. Under the 12-article treaty, China would retain ownership of Manchuria, but Russian troops would be allowed to occupy the territory to guard the railways there, and China would be forbidden from granting rail or mining privileges to anyone without Russian consent. China wasn't impressed and leaked the details to the Japanese and British.
Most of Alabama's Legislature arrived in Pensacola, Florida, at the invitation of the West Florida Annexation Association, to discuss the possibility of the annexing western Florida.
Macedonian demonstrators in Sofia demanded independence for Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.
Today In Wyoming's History: February 16: 1901 Governor Richards signed an act that required county commissions to raise taxes for the purpose of building a residence for the governor. Attribution: On This Day.
Wyoming's Sixth State Legislature concluded.
It was a Saturday.
The British journal The Sphere reported on a recent visit by Kaiser Wilhelm II, pictured here wearing a completely absurd helmet, to the UK.
In sharp contrast, The Saturday Evening POst had an illustration of George Washington, no doubt in commemoration of his birthday, on the cover. The attempt at illustrating a bit and bradoon was seriously flawed, however.
I'd be interested in what the article on millionaires not being able to stop making money held. Millionaires at that time would be like billionaires now.\
The progressive movement at the time was attempting to rein millionaires in. The Great Depression, a good thirty years away, would accomplish it. . . for a time.
Last edition:
Sunday, February 15, 2026
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 118th Edition. Why are the women discounted? The corruption of wealth. Hanging around in a cult will make you a weird cultist. New links and the fallen. A gift of cash on the floor of the legislature.
Ruslana Korshunova, a Russian model who had been to Epstein Island, and later went out a 9th story window. Suicide was the official ruling. Lots of Putin's enemies go out windows. A lot of badly emotionally scared women kill themselves.
Why are the women not believed?
At some point in the past, due to sex scandals, it became common to demand that we don't doubt the women who claim they were assaulted or abused.
And for good reason.
The rumors about Playboy and things associated with it proved to be true. Rape, suicides, at least one young woman associated with it simply disappearing, a la The Limey, Hugh Hefner's out right perversions,
It's not as if there weren't signs before. They were just ignored. And the rich and powerful played along with it.
Including Bill Cosby, who was a frequent guest at the Playboy Mansion, and who turned out to be into drugging and raping women. It's not as if there weren't rumors.
And there was Harvey Weinstein, about whom the knowledge of his demanding sex from starlets was pretty well known.
Weinstein, by the way, shows up in the Epstein files.
With each of these scandals, once they broke, women came forward after a first few brave ones broke the news. It was emphasized at the time that women needed to believed when they claimed they were raped and abused.
It hasn't worked that way at all with Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre was flat out doubted when she came forward that she was provided to Prince Andrew by Epstein. As time has gone by, it became more obvious that her claims were not lies. Now she's dead, but it took pretty much all the way up to her death for her to be believed. And we now know that Andrew's association with Epstein is worse than at first imagined.
The Epstein files are packed with claims by young women against the rich and powerful. They include allegations of rape, but also murder.
And yet, the accusations are simply disregarded to a very large extent.
It's accepted, now, that Epstein provided young women to the rich and powerful, but the nameless rich and powerful. So far, when direct accusations are made, they're shuffled aside. Former model Carol Alt, for examples, says that while she was dating Epstein (showing some questionable decisions right there) she was groped by Trump while Epstein just stood there.
That accusation has simply gone nowhere.
Why? Alt has no reason to make it up.
Those are, we might note, amongst the less grotesque that are associated with Trump, who is accused by some Epstein victims of outright rape, receiving a handjob from a teenage girl, and witnessing a murder of an infant. All of which are simply totally discounted.
Are they false accusations, or perhaps simply mistaken ones?
They could very well be, but its interesting how they simply aren't taken seriously.
Bill Gates was accused of some things in the Epstein files that he denied and that appeared headed into being forgotten until Melissa Gates somewhat revived them, although she didn't actually say that what he was accused of, he did.
So, do we take all of these claims at face value?
If we don't, why not?
Granted, it's well demonstrated that every claim made by a woman against a man is not true. And some of these claims are outright fantastical. But then, if you'd told me that Bill Cosby drugged women to rape them, I'd have claimed that was fantastical. If you'd told me (even though it was publicly known), that one Playboy Centerfold posted things claiming Hefner was demonic on her apartment walls before killing herself, I'd have thought that fantastical. At one point, if you'd told me that two of the Playboy centerfolds had been 17 years old when they were photographed, I'd thought that impossible. If you'd told me that Prince Andrew was screwing a teenager procured for him by an American john, I'd have thought that fantastical.
If you'd told me some rich Floridan kept an island staffed with what amounted to teenage sex slaves, well I'd have thought that fantastical.
Trump we might note, is hardly free from being in the smoke where there is fire. He has associations with men who have been ephebophiles that go way back. A video recently surfaced of Trump at a 1991 beauty pageant dinner where he was the judge in which the servers were the very young models in very tight bathing suits. That's creepy in the extreme. A 2020 investigation by the Guardian revealed that the competition was used by Elite Model Agency founder John Casablancas and others to engage in sexual relationships with the vulnerable young models and that the competition was part of a broader network, sometimes with connections to Jeffrey Epstein, that placed young contestants in precarious situations with wealthy men.
Trump hasn't been directly accused, however, of raping anyone in association with that.
Be that as it may, former contestants from Miss Teen USA (1997) and Miss USA (2006) have stated that Donald Trump entered the dressing rooms while they were changing. Some were as young as 15 years old
Now, some of the stories in the Epstein files (the murder one in particular) are really wild.
But some well within the realm of believability, which of course doesn't mean they're true. . . or that they should be immediately dismissed.
The corruption of wealth.
One common element of all of this is the absolute corrosion caused by wealth. The singular aspect of Epstein island is that rich and powerful men wanted to go there, and that some of them wanted teenage sex slaves.
This isn't a new phenomenon of any sort.
We just posted on Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
I'm not saying he was something like an Epstein associate, or that he had the moral depravity of Donald Trump. But noted in his story were two illegitimate children by mistresses. Charles Lindbergh, who went from being an American hero, to disdained, to somewhat of a hero again had children by three German women in the 1950s and 1960s, including two women who were sisters. All told, he had thirteen children, seven of which were illegitimate. Keeping Elon Musk's genetic broadcasting straight is a difficult project at best, and he's now fighting with Ashely St. Clair, his most recent, um, whatever, over their son Romulus. Bill Gates had one known affair. It goes on and on.
And then we have Trump.
What we also have is ephebophilia, which is a primary sexual attraction to mid-to-late adolescents, 15 to 19 years of age. Unlike pedophilia and is not classified as a mental disorder in the DSM. And we have Hebephilia, the attraction to teens below that, which is classified as a mental disorder in the DSM.
Some of these girls are indicated to be pretty freaking young, although I haven't kept track of it. It seems to me that I've seen references to at least one being 13, which is really freaking young and one was apparently 11 years old, which is absolutely horrific. Most seem to be in the late teens, to the extent we know, but the operation of U.S. law is keeping the identify of the girls secret, so we don't really know all that much about them.
We know it was really weird, however.
What we also know is that a respected scientist who studied ephebophilia found that most men of adult years would react to attractive females in that age range. I.e., they'd notice an attractive female in the late teen age range, which is not at all the same as engaging in improper behavior with them. The researcher himself was horrified to find that he did, but it makes some sense. The 18 years of age brightline under U.S. law is somewhat artificially drawn and in fact it'd make sense to draw it higher, perhaps at 20 or 21 as it used to be for most things. Playboy, as noted above, knew this and actually intentionally targeted down towards lower ages before nearly getting in trouble in Europe, which in the 1950s and 1960s had some very strict prohibitions on pornography. Nonetheless more than one Playboy model was 17 years old when photographed, and others were just 18. Eighteen years old is within the ephebophilia age range (and hence a good reason to boost such things up to 21).
We note that first and then go on to note that its been shown that men who have had about eight women sexually being to depress the age downwards. I.e, their sexucal moral fences start to come down. I don't know how this works for women, but it's known there is an effect on them as well, as as the "body count" increases the ability to form attachments decreases.
All this is because our species is naturally monogamous, with some slight collieries that have to do with death. In a non disrupted state of nature we know that a strong bond forms between a couple that has known only each other, and it can be so intense that if ruptured, usually by death, a second one never forms. We also know that a fair number of people are plagued by thoughts of their "first", as that's where the bond biochemically formed and they're incapable of getting over it. What we noted above is that the more biology is ignored in this fashion, the looser the bond becomes. Men that "cheat" tend to keep on cheating, no matter what, and at the eight number, they start to look downwards to younger bodies. With women what seems to occur is that they simply lose the ability to stick with anyone, and as the number becomes higher, the more superficial and temporary their relationship become, even if the relationships form children.
As with a lot of things, as nature is violated, there are consequences.
Part of our natures is that when we were all aboriginal the wolf was always at the door. That formed an instinct towards acquisition. Maybe we could store up enough to last through the winter, when there were winters. When we became more settled due to agriculture, that mean we could store up wealth. Storing up a lot of wealth allowed at some point for people to directly engage in two of the seven deadly sins, gluttony and greed, with greed being the most obvious. In a debased society, allows a person to engage in unrestrained lust as well.
In other words, love of money truly is the root of all evil.
Castrati
In a moral and just society, people would police their own avarice or society would police it for them.
It's pretty clear that we don't live in a moral and just society.
After the horrors of the Weinstein crimes were releveled, there was a period of time in which progressives started creating a moral code that looked a lot like the original Christian moral code. Weird, eh? Anyhow, it's interesting here as it accepted that some sort of societal rebuilding needed to occur.
It does need to occur, but frankly what should be evident is that the curbs are going to have to be built in to take the food off the table. What that means is taxes.
Ever since Ronald Reagan introduced the utterly bogus trickle down economic theory Americans have run around hating taxes and giving tax breaks to the super wealthy. There's something frankly morally wrong with people who obtain vast amounts of wealth and then retain it, as opposed to people who obtain vast amounts and then apply it. Indeed, a lot of people who obtain huge amounts of wealth, like Epstein Island level, seem to apply it to the Seven Deadly Sins, pride: greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.
These people could be helped to avoid this fate, and I'm sincere about that, if they were simply taxed to prohibit it. There's no reasons that people should be billionaires. There's frankly no reason why a person should own more than one home, or at least not very expensive homes.
Of course, if we taxed people to keep them within a range of reason, say no more than $10M in personal wealth, many would scream that they were going to move to . . . wherever. Let them go.
Most wouldn't, frankly. Whatever is wrong with this class of people so that they must keep acquiring is so off base that they'll keep doing what they're doing that generates the wealth no matter what.
I'd note that just the other day Mehmet Oz, government figure, was running around suggesting that people should go to work earlier in life and work longer into life to help address the budget. Helpful suggestions like this are always given by people who are nowhere near retirement or who don't work in dangerous jobs, so the recommendations are pretty much crap. Be that as it may, if the administration can suggest that, and if it can be lead by a guy who is almost 80 and demented, well then we can tax the rich and expect them to like it.
They need to be, so they don't spend their money being destructive.
Hanging around in a cult will make you a weird cultist.
Joe Epstein was really good at getting photographs of those who came to seek his favor. So good at it, you have to wonder if that was part of a plan to make marks out of those people.
Will take down (Pope) Francis, The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on brother.
Steve Bannon
The Trump administration, and those who surround Trump, are deeply perverted. Which takes us to this:
One of the things a lot of people are now starting to notice about the Trump Administration is how downright weird it is, and how weird many of its central figures are.
It's been lurking there all along, and its more than a little bit of what caused people who were conservatives, but not MAGA, to really feel uneasy, in varying degrees, about hardcore deep MAGA.
Steve Bannon is, in my view, a disheveled creep. Both inside the MAGA movement and outside of it, he seems just filled with hate. Bannon claims to be a Traditionalist Catholic, but he's been married and divorced three times, placing him well outside of what the Church tolerates in this area. And here we see he wanted to "take down" Pope Francis.
Pope Francis was a controversial Pope in the United States. I was not personally a fan of Pope Francis, but he drew more criticism from Americans than he deserved. I really wasn't a fan of his synodality movement, which lingers on, but which I suspect will sort of die a quiet death.
At any rate, what we're finding out as the Epstein files get released is not only did he have a lot of associations with the very rich and powerful, those relationships carried on well past the point where there's any benign explanation for it. Bannon hoping to take down world figures with Epstein's help. Lutnick taking his family to Lolita Island. It just goes on and on.
It's really not possible to believe that all these people didn't know that sex slaves were on the menu. It's hard to believe that most of them didn't know that. More likely, they just didn't care.
Which leads to this:
The Trump admin posted that yesterday, on Valentine's day.
The use of the term "Daddy's Home" is openly perverse. It's a sick joke that has heavy sexual and abusive, and sexcually abusvie overtones and always has. In a lot of contexts, it has a heavy homosexual overtone. All of that is true here. Trump's the "daddy" to a large group of people who seem in that fashion. It's perverse.
Also perverse is Trump's obsession with weight.
On Valentine's Day the Trump Administration posted a cartoon of Gov. J. B. Pritzker mowing down junk food.
Pritzker is a stout guy, but he's one of those stout guys who looks like he's fairly fit. One of the things about weign in American culture is an overarching belief that everyone who is overweight is a slob, which just isn't true.
Now, it's not good to be overweight. 74% of Americans are overweight. Donald Trump is quite overweight.
Indeed, there's something really weird at work here, as Trump looks fat and flaccid. Pritzker looks overweight but fairly fit. Chris Christie, who Trump likes to poke fun of due to his weight, is in between.
A fat guy call other fat guys fat, is pretty weird.
Another example of our Twenty Fifth Law of Human Behavior came out last week in the form of a totally unhinged Congressional rant by Pam Bondi. It was spectacularly weird.
Bondi went from supposedly having some sort of Epstein stuff in her desk to not having anything to being in charge of an agency that redacted a huge amount of stuff. Clearly, the government had a lot of stuff, and every time more of it is revealed, we learn of additional powerful men, some in government, who had connections with the teenage sex slave broker. The Trump Administration has been in full blown panic about it for months and keeps hoping it can order everyone to move on.
What Bondi did was just fly off the handle, actually arguing that we should be paying attention to the Dow Industrial Average rather than raped teenagers.
Bondi is 60 years old but doesn't look it. Like other members of the "family values" party, she's been married twice and divorced twice. All of a sudden her visage is catching up with her age. Stress will do that, and being cruel is stressful.
Bondi wouldn't look at the rape victims. I've long said that the biggest enemy of women achieving full equality in our society is other women.
Well, look at the Dow. . .
New links and the fallen.
I've added a lot of new links in different categories here recently. I never post when I've done that, but I have. I've also been moving links that have been long dormant over to the inactive blog list. Basically, if there haven't been any posts in over five years, I move them over there.
I always wonder why an active blog suddenly stops posting. Sometimes, reading them, I'm pretty sure it's death.
I took two blogs in the military section out. One is the Duffle Blog. It's supposed to be comedic, but it just wasn't very funny, so it came down. The other one was Mandatory Fun Day.
I loved Mandatory Fun Day when I was first made aware of it, but recently it's been off. I suspect I knew what was going on, but the most recently entry confirmed it, that being the one where the blogger notes he's getting out of the military soon. I suspect that he's taking a twenty year retirement. Many members of the military do.
The reason it seemed off, however, is that for some time posts with his wife and children, or even references to them, just flat out stopped. His wife and four daughters had appeared fairly regularly. Commentors on the post on his getting out of the military started asking about them, and then one confirmed what I'd suspected. The couple divorced.
Being a married military couple with children is reputedly hard, due to long deployments. Without anyone saying it, frankly, the situation has gotten worse since the inclusion of women in the military. Cheating by soldiers has always been a problem, and cheating by married people in offices where they were close together has been a problem for a long time. But take people away from their spouse for a year or more and plop them down somewhere where they're working cheek to jowl seven days a week, well. . .
I don't know what happened with Austin Von Letkemann and his wife Katie, but apparently a year or two ago Mrs. Von Letkemann, who had her own creator content (TikTok?) accused him openly of cheating on her and they divorced soon thereafter. I hadn't really followed them personally, but that opened up that content and it's really sad. He's obviously always been a weight lifter, but he's gone form a fairly robust size to huge, which I'll comment on in a moment. She was originally a cute young woman but not what you'd regard as a bombshell and was fairly overweight. They were a cute couple. At some point she started working on her appearance and she's somehow gone to bombshell, of a certain type. Contemporary bombshell, I guess, of the same type that people who think Erika Kirk is a bombshell.
Erika Kirk. This is a certain sort of contemporary look.
She's also extremely angry and is making it plain she's never marrying again and that she feels really abused to be cheated on as she's now a single mother with four girls. I don't blame her a bit.
Which I suppose makes these comments somewhat inappropriate.
Kate von Letkemann is a really attractive woman. She has the Erika Kirk look, but is genuinely much better looking than Kirk. Therefore this will seem a bit odd.
She was always very pretty, and I suspect when they married, she was extremely pretty But in their early photos she went from cute to pretty. She had auburn hair, and obviously relished her role as a mother of four.
At some point she became a very blond, blond and had a tummy tuck. She's really made up like a doll now.
I wish people didn't do that. Just look yourself.
And that leads me to Lt. Austin Von Letkemann.
Von Letkemann was always up front about suffering from anxiety. Based on his videos, he must suffer from it quite a bit. Some of the stuff he sells on his page would be of such a nature that I'd tend to call for a welfare check if he was a friend of mine. I've wondered for a long time how a serviceman could get away with posting what he' posts, and now he's announced that he's a short timer.
An Army officer who retires as a lieutenant is a very unusual thing.
Anyhow, during the time during which he's been doing is Vlog he's become massive as a weightlifter.
I've known some guys who lifted weights, some weightlifters, and some really big weightlifters over the years. When guys get super huge, they tend to get obsessed with their size, normally, although I know a couple of instances in which this was not true.
Guys getting obsessed with their size is a bit odd, and it's actually not very manly. Quite the opposite, actually.
Perhaps its vanity, but when weight lifting goes from wanting to maintain strength to "look how beautiful I am" it crosses a certain threshold. Perhaps what that threshold is, in both of the instances noted here, is the threshold of nature. A powerfully built man whose within the realm of reason can hold that strength and build for actual use, whether its work, being in the outdoors, or combat. Once you get huge, however, its beyond the practical and into appearance. There are no gyms out in the prairie or in the trenches.
The display of big builds is also really strongly associated with homosexuality. Back in the day when there were book catalogs that came by mail I used to get them and they often had huge selections of books. If you thumbed through them, and they had books on everything, once you go to the ones displaying weightlifters on the cover they were heavily geared toward homosexual men. I suppose that makes some sort of sense. Even where not the vanity level of this class of lifters is a bit much. I once had the unfortunate experience of being a silent listener to a group of them discussing women, and how they avoided those who weren't as beautiful as they were for, um, services. It was an immoral discussion in general, but it was weird in particular.
On Twitter I used to get the feeds of a guy who was an Eastern European agrarian farmer. It was weird, as he was so far beyond the Pale, but somewhat interesting. It devolved into photos of himself and his physique. That may be why I don't get it anymore. That's, um, odd.
Anyhow, if you go back a few years, he was obviously very fit and moderately tattooed and she was pretty and obviously very happy. His t-shirts fit loosely, like most men wear them. Now his t-shirts are tight and he's heavily tatted up, and very big, and she's all dolled up following a tummy tuck.
Sad situation.
None of which explains why I took Mandatory Fun Day down. I basically did as its content had sort of run out It's become more of a commentary on world events, and some of it is pretty good. However, it's also the case that recently a lot of them lead in with a short comment on some cheesecake TikTok tart. Indeed, that's what lead me to suspect that something had happened. A guy living at home with four daughters and a wife probably shouldn't be, and probably isn't, looking at TikTok tarts. You either have to go looking for that, or its just coming up on your feed as you are looking at that. Most wives would resent it and it's not a good thing to role model, in any fashion, to young women. It's not content I need here.
Accidental renaissance.
Linked in from the Jackson Hole Guide: "Rebecca Bextel hands a check to Rock Springs Republican Rep. Darin McCann on Monday during the 68th Wyoming Legislature’s budget session in Cheyenne. KARLEE PROVENZA/COURTESY PHOTO"
How darned dumb do you have to be to hand out checks on the Legislative floor?
It wasn't a lot of money, but it was money, and now there's a criminal investigation. I don't think the investigation will go anywhere, but this really doesn't say much for Bextel, who is of course in the carpetbagger class of the far right. The donor explained more of the story, he's a carpetbagger too, with a "oh shucks" type of response. He apparently thought that Bextel wouldn't do something this darned dumb, but then why didn't he just mail the checks rather than have a third party deliver them? That wasn't smart.
I think these really are campaign donations. There's no crime here. But it does reveal a lot about a group of people who railed about traditional politics as they play, well, traditional politics, with a difference. They're pretty heavily carpetbagger backed with much of their money, like many of their candidates, coming from outside of the state.
Related threads:
Secrets of Playboy
Last edition:
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 117th Edition. Sen. Lummis wakes up from a long winter's nap.
Sunday, February 8, 2026
The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 2. Pre Legislative Committee Edition.
.webp)
November 15, 2025
Wyoming ‘Tim Tebow’ Rule Heads To Lawmaking Session
I'm frankly not keen on this at all. Playing sports and being in activities are vital parts of school. They help socialization. Parents who seek to avoid socialization are harming their children and there are nwo a lot of private school options that would be better choices for those seeking to evade the perceived dangers, often fictional, of public schools
A long time legislator has passed away.
Wyoming Rep. John Eklund dies: Legislators say they will remember Eklund for his mentorship, kind spirit and thoughtful approach to lawmaking.
November 18, 2025
November 19, 2025
November 22, 2025
This is flat out irresponsible and insane:
Wyoming Legislators Advance Plan To Kill All Residential Property Taxes
December 16, 2025
Five takeaways from the Wyoming Legislature’s budget hearings: The Joint Appropriations Committee wrapped up its first round of hearings Friday.
December 19, 2025
A Q&A with Pine Bluffs’ Justin Fornstrom, Wyoming’s newest state lawmaker: Laramie County commissioners selected Fornstrom to represent a House seat vacated by the late John Eklund.
January 8, 2026
We had this news posted here yesterday:
Abortion in Wyoming and the Law of Unintended Consequences.
This is what happens when a dumb, paranoid, amendment to the Constitution is made.
I'll confess that when I first posted this, I was harsher on the paranoia of the Wyoming Republican Party that gave us the dumbass head in the sand amendment to the Wyoming Constitution based on fear of the ACHA. I'm obviously being less kind here.
Anyhow, the Tribune notes:
Wyoming Republicans seek to amend constitution
The flaming dipshits that passed the amendment that caused this to occur in the first place ought to just repeal that amendment. Indeed, they ought to cal lit "B______ B_________was a dumbass paranoid moron amendment repeal".
They won't, as the best thing to do when somebody does something rampagingly stupid is to double down on the stupidity, apparently. After all, look at the ongoing Republican support for Donald Dipshit Trump.
Anyhow, they're going to address their failure with a proposed amendment to the Constitution. That amendment will fail to get support from the electorate, which they'll find basically likes the idea of killing babies as it means they can complain about gays and the transgendered while being sexually immoral themselves.
January 9, 2026
Rep. Elissa Campbell files resolution for Wyoming abortion amendment
That was fast.
Wyoming Democrats, I'd note, are making the classic blunder. They should simply say nothing at all, and not go out to own a result that they don't really own. The Wyoming Supreme Court's ruling came about as the far right of the Wyoming GOP went out and shot itself in the foot. Now it's going to go to the voters. A smart Democratic policy would be just to sit back and do nothing at all. But, they just can't help themselves:
Laramie lawmakers celebrate abortion ruling
The state supreme court ruled abortion is a fundamental constitutional right. Provenza, Chestek and Rothfuss say it’s a win for individual liberty and they’ll resist calls to change the constitution.
Chances are high that not enough Wyoming voters are going to vote for the proposed constitutional amendment for it to pass, and if there are, the Democrats are going to effect that anyhow. Indeed, by making it an issue and embracing abortion, it'll drive GOP voters who likely would vote against the amendment or sit the election out, into voting as they'll want to vote against the Democrats. Given the immorality of abortion, it's truly an example of errare humanum est perseverare diabolicum.
January 10, 2026
Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Prevent DUI Charges For Drunk Horseback Riding
January 13, 2026
Wyoming Freedom Caucus aims at state spending, voting machines and the judicial branch in 2026 priorities: The group of conservative Republicans has promised cuts since last spring, but won’t say where and how deep.
Lawmakers question Wyoming Public Media’s funding
The public radio station is headquartered on the UW campus and receives some state funding via UW’s block grant. WPM weathered a 10% cut when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was axed.
January 14, 2026
The freakishly dumb caucus votes to keep everyone else as dumb as possible.
Lawmakers vote to axe UW’s block grant, defund Wyoming Public Media: Wyoming Freedom Caucus members on a key budget committee take aim at the state’s lone four-year public university.
My opinion, of course, is harsh, but frankly many of the Dukes of Hazzard crowd in the Freely Dumb Caucus don't trust education. People who are educated don't believe the same dumb stuff they do, so they don't like it.
And they're going after the Wyoming Business Council.
This one at its core is a completely unthinking objection to socialism. We don't like socialism, because it's socialism. Not much more thought behind it than that.
I'll often hear that the WBC picks "winners and losers" which might be right, but the state's economy otherwise is pretty much making all Wyomingites losers.
January 16, 2026
Gov's Office: "This Is Nuts" As Bill To Kill Wyo Biz Council Heads To Legislature
January 17, 2016
Sigh . . .
January 24, 2026
Going Feral: Lawmaker Unveils Bill To Sell Between 30,000 And 2...: Another moronic idea by a Wyoming Republican, a party which seems to draw from the endless well of bad ideas. Wasserburger is going right on...
Jacob Wasserburger came up with this bad idea, but it sounds a lot like he's been sitting around with Mike Lee, the Senator from Deseret. He's signed on to the no prescription for Ivermectin act as well, these two things indicating that he's hanging out with, in not in, the Freedom Caucus.
January 27, 2026
Nuclear waste, state land use top Wyoming Legislature’s energy agenda: Recent controversies over sprawling energy development have triggered a slate of bills to empower voters and communities in state-level energy ambitions.
The assault on education in the legislature continues on:
After pushback, legislative committee scales back proposed cuts to public education: Lawmakers tweaked provisions that would have increased class size and omitted positions like school counselors from the funding model. This came after hours of testimony, much in opposition.
Noble act from the football coach.
Wyoming Football Coach Jay Sawvel Cuts Salary $125K To Boost Player Funding
When things are so bad that even UW football is cutting back, you know the "we don't need no education" crowd is way out of control.
The following should be a hard "no".
Rep. Bill Allemand asks judge to rescind court-ordered alcohol testing during upcoming legislative session: The Midwest lawmaker is contesting his DUI charge following his arrest last month in Johnson County.
Tracking Shot Bears With Dogs Would Be Legal Under Hunting Bill
January 28, 2026
January 29, 2026
February 6, 2026
Wyoming’s 2026 budget session starts Monday. Here’s what you need to know.: Lawmakers have a budget to pass this year. Major cuts to the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Business Council are on the table.
Tom Lubnau: This Session, A Failed Budget Shuts Wyoming Down
Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "Stop worrying about appeasement and start worrying about Wyoming. Vote against dumb bills. Vote against social engineering. Vote against unconstitutional stunts and time-wasters. Keep this session about the budget—and only the budget."
February 7, 2026
Wyoming lawmakers exempt two UW programs, one facility from proposed $40 million cut: Lawmakers had previously exempted the education and agriculture colleges from what would amount to an 11% reduction to the school’s block grant.
Wyoming Bill Could Let 18-Year-Olds Carry Concealed Guns On UW Campus
And something to remember:
Tom Lubnau: This Session, A Failed Budget Shuts Wyoming Down
February 8, 2026
Proposed Bill Would Legalize Corner-Crossing On Wyoming Public Lands
And this closes out this edition. On to the live nightmare tomorrow.
Last edition:
The 2026 Wyoming Legislature, Part 1. The way too early edition.
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