Bummer: Tenacious Swiss Finance Minister Tried To Stand Up To Trump

By William Teach August 9, 2025 – 4:12 pm

See, here’s the problem

And

Tenacious Swiss Leader Stood Up to Trump — It Backfired on Her

Karin Keller-Sutter admires the grit of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and as Swiss president is known as technocratic and tenacious. Those traits look to have backfired when she faced off with Donald Trump and led her country into crisis.

KKS — as she is known in Swiss politics — has had the worst week of her more than three-decade career. It’s even worse than in 2023, when over a frantic weekend she pushed through Credit Suisse’s forced marriage to UBS Group AG to limit the fallout on the country’s prized banking sector.

With Trump levying the highest tariffs in the developed world on Switzerland at 39% — more than double the European Union’s rate — there’s little relief in sight.

After the 61-year-old came home empty-handed from a last-ditch trip to Washington, the Swiss government had few answers after an emergency meeting of the seven-member federal council on Thursday, saying it would continue to seek to secure concessions.

She can admire Thatcher all she wants: she has to be able to back it up.

Similar determination led her to stand up to Trump. It looked like it might pan out, with Swiss negotiators thinking they had a deal in sight, but then came a bumpy call last week.

In what was described as a lecturing tone, she dismissed the notion that Switzerland was stealing from the US and insisted on including services in the discussions. That ran afoul of Trump’s focus on the US deficit in goods from exports such as luxury watches, gold and pharmaceuticals.

Her position was that Switzerland stands by its word and it was better to have no deal than a bad deal. But that didn’t go down well with the White House, and Switzerland didn’t have the leverage of bigger trading partners and put little on the table.

See, she’s never truly worked in the private sector, except briefly as a translator. Say what you want about Trump, he spent most of his life in business, with successes and failures. He knows how to negotiate. He knows when he has the advantage. What do the Swiss have? KKS probably thought she could badger and bully and get all big and mighty, and that utterly backfired. Did she think a lecturing tone would work? Should have taken the deal. But, she tried to think like a politician, not a business person. She’s not the only one abroad, and at home, who’ve made this mistake.

Read: Bummer: Tenacious Swiss Finance Minister Tried To Stand Up To Trump »

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If All You See…

By William Teach August 9, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible fossil fueled boat, you might just be a Warmist

The blog o the day is Cold Fury, with a post on a crooked cop brought down hard.

Read: If All You See… »

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Obamacare Rates To Skyrocket In North Carolina

By William Teach August 9, 2025 – 10:30 am

It’s actually so bad that leftist WRAL can barely find it in themselves to Blame Republicans

Affordable Care Act rates set to skyrocket in NC

About a million North Carolinians who rely on the federal Affordable Care Act are in for a double-whammy on health care costs next year.

Insurers who offer ACA plans are asking for steep increases for 2026. And those rate increases will come on top of the end of federal subsidies that have made ACA plans more affordable for many. Those subsidies will expire in December after Congress declined to extend them.

The insurers say rising healthcare costs and federal changes enacted over the past few months are driving the increase.

Different insurers that provide ACA plans in North Carolina are requesting different rate increases. Amerihealth Caritas is the highest at 36% next year. UnitedHealthcare of NC is seeking 32%. Blue Cross is seeking a 29% increase, and Cigna is asking for 27%.

The rate change requests are under review by the Insurance Commissioner, so, we’ll see what happens.

Rates for ACA plans vary widely according to age, location, benefits and other factors, but Tyson says the average monthly premium for a healthy 21-year-old is $486. For an older adult, it’s $800 to $1200 a month. The average ACA enrollee is saving $705 a year through the subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

That means the average enrollee will see their monthly cost rise about $58 per month when the subsidies expire. And the new rate increase will be added on top of that.

For an average older adult paying $1000 a month for ACA coverage, their monthly bill after the rates rise and the subsidies expire could be closer to $1400. For a healthy 21-year-old, it could go from under $500 a month to about $710.

Um, I thought Obamacare was supposed to be affordable? Isn’t that the name of the bill, the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act? Wasn’t it meant to bend the curve down for premiums, deductibles, and care?

Instead of helping, it seems that Obamacare made healthcare more expensive.

Loans subsidize ObamaCare

Recent speeches by Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander highlight a connection that has yet to be reported in the media and is yet to be understood by the young people struggling with high interest rates in the hopes of financing their college education.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, $8.7 billion of the money collected in student loan interest payments actually goes to pay for ObamaCare. The CBO estimates that the interest rate on these loans could be reduced from 6.8 percent to only 5.3 percent were the funds not used to subsidize the healthcare reform law and other federal programs.

So, Biden (illegally) eliminating all that student loan debt did not help.

Read: Obamacare Rates To Skyrocket In North Carolina »

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Trump Admin Kills Giant Wind Farm Slated For Lava Ridge

By William Teach August 9, 2025 – 7:15 am

Most in Idaho approve of this

EXCLUSIVE: Trump admin nixes giant wind farm approved ‘last-minute’ by Biden team

President Donald Trump’s Interior Department is canceling what would have been one of the largest land-based wind farms in the United States after former President Joe Biden’s “last-minute” push to approve the project during his final weeks in office.

The Lava Ridge Wind Project, approved in December 2024 by the Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management, was expected to be a 1,000-megawatt wind farm with up to 231 wind turbines across nearly 57,447 acres in southern Idaho.

Following a review of the project by the Trump administration, officials at the Interior Department claimed to find “crucial legal deficiencies” with Biden’s approval of the project, including certain statutorily binding criteria that were ignored, according to a press release announcing the decision to terminate the wind farm project.

“Under President Donald Trump’s bold leadership, the Department is putting the brakes on deficient, unreliable energy and putting the American people first,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “By reversing the Biden administration’s thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation.”

There are lots of issues with Lava Ridge, like that the Biden administration did not adequately engage with stakeholders, including local residents, farmers, ranchers, and tribal nations, in the approval process and legal deficiencies in the Biden administration’s approval process. Oh, and

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador previously accused the Biden administration of not adequately reviewing the wind farm’s potential risk to low-flying aircraft. According to Labrador, Federal Aviation Administration rules dictate that any structure over 200-feet tall must be evaluated for low-level flight hazards.

Labrador has also asserted that the Lava Ridge project would have mainly shipped generated power to California, as opposed to Idaho.

These wind turbines stand about 660 feet, and are in view of Minidoka National Historic Site, a site of Japanese American incarceration during World War II, which has upset many people. Now it can go away.

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ICE Investigating Delaware Companies For Employing Illegals

By William Teach August 9, 2025 – 7:00 am

Obviously, this is making Democrats upset

ICE investigating 15 Delaware businesses suspected of employing undocumented immigrants

Federal authorities in Delaware and Gov. Matt Meyer’s administration have locked horns over a four-month-old subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for payroll records of 15 businesses suspected of illegally “employing undocumented aliens,’’ U.S. District Court records show.

Most records in the case filed last week in Wilmington are under seal, including the April subpoena and an affidavit by federal Homeland Security Investigations special agent Kimberly Caraway. Records that have been made public in the court file provide the general contours of the battle but not the names of the companies being targeted by ICE.

ICE has been “investigating reports that various businesses” have been breaking immigration hiring laws since February, according to a motion filed last week by Julianne Murray, the interim U.S. Attorney for Delaware, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Claudia Pare. (big snip)

U.S. District Court Judge Colm Connolly consented to Murray and Pare’s motion to keep the subpoena and Caraway’s affidavit under seal.

The prosecutors want Connolly to enforce the subpoena for the businesses’ records, but an attorney for the Department of Labor told him in court this week that the state will be contesting it.

This is a federal subpoena for work records to enforce federal law. What’s the problem? Why’s this taking so long?

“Since taking office in January, our administration has consistently prioritized protecting Delawareans from federal overreach that undermines our core values of fairness, dignity, and community trust,’’ Meyer said. “The recent federal subpoena directed at the Department of Labor is precisely the kind of government intrusion that we have fought against. Hard-working Delawareans deserve to have their rights and privacy protected. Delaware will continue to uphold the law, protect individual rights, and promote a compassionate and inclusive state for every resident.”

“The recent federal subpoena directed at the Department of Labor is precisely the kind of government intrusion that we have fought against. Hard-working Delawareans deserve to have their rights and privacy protected. Delaware will continue to uphold the law, protect individual rights, and promote a compassionate and inclusive state for every resident.”

Except, they are not Americans. They are illegally present. Why is that so hard to understand. The law states they should not be here.

Read: ICE Investigating Delaware Companies For Employing Illegals »

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LA Times: Arson Season Coming Two Months Early Due To ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach August 8, 2025 – 3:00 pm

Obviously, the LA Times has never considered that most of the wildfires are occurring due to arson and negligence, not a small increase in global temperatures over 175 years

The start of California’s fire season has moved up 6 weeks since 1990 thanks to climate change

You are not imagining it. Fire season in California is indeed starting earlier and lasting longer in virtually every region of California than it did two decades ago, researchers have found, thanks largely to human-caused climate change.

In the Sierra Nevada, fire season starts about 24 days earlier than it did in the early 1990s. In the Northern Basin and Range region, which runs along the northernmost border with Nevada, it’s 31 days earlier.

And in the Cascade Range, which runs into Oregon, fire season now begins 46 days earlier than it once did, according to a study published this week in the journal Science Advances.

“Anecdotally, those of us living here have this sense that it’s been happening sooner,” said Amanda Fencl, a Berkeley-based water specialist who directs climate science for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and was not directly involved with the research. “This is really an important study to quantify just how soon and where it is shifting, and to what extent.”

Once you start saying “anecdotally” you’ve left science.

Over and over again.

 

Read: LA Times: Arson Season Coming Two Months Early Due To ‘Climate Change’ »

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If All You See…

By William Teach August 8, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…is a mountain missing it’s icecap due to global boiling, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Powerline, with a post on when Minnesota was a normal place.

Read: If All You See… »

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Green Dildo Coin Crypto Company Claims Responsibility For Dildos At WNBA Games

By William Teach August 8, 2025 – 10:30 am

Real, or, are they just glomming on to the trend?

Cryptocurrency group takes responsibility for green sex toys thrown at WNBA games

After more than a week of WNBA games being interrupted by neon green sex toys, a cryptocurrency group has claimed responsibility.

A spokesperson for the group behind a meme coin called Green Dildo Coin spoke to USA Today in an interview published Thursday, taking credit for what the group called “pranks” at six different WNBA games since July 29. The spokesperson remained anonymous for the interview, with USA Today citing “the sensitive nature of the issue.”

The latest incident arrived later in the day, with a pair of sex toys thrown at a game between the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream. One made it to the court.

Per USA Today, the supposedly “lighthearted” meme coin was launched on July 28 as a counter to what the group considers a “toxic environment” in the crypto world. The group coordinated plans to enter WNBA arenas with green sex toys to promote the launch, according to text messages obtained by USA Today. The first sex toy incident took place on July 29, the day after the launch.

Of course, regarding the two who were arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges, the company says “they weren’t ours!” Weasels.

And, really, “toxic environment” in the crypto world? WTF? That’s very silly. Throwing dildos at women, no matter what your opinion of the WNBA, is rude and obnoxious, something drunk college kids might do. But, their less drunk friends would probably stop them.

The spokesman said

“We didn’t do this because like we dislike women’s sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous,” he said. “Creating disruption at games is like, it happens in every single sport, right? We’ve seen it in the NFL, we’ve seen it in hockey, you know, . . . fans doing random things to more or less create attention.

“We knew that in order to get a voice in the space … we had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project, more or less.”

It’s just crypto coins, bruh. Something most people do not understand.

“It’s super disrespectful,” Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams said after a sex toy was thrown at a home game on Friday.”It’s really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.”

“It’s ridiculous. It’s dumb. It’s stupid,” Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said on Tuesday after the object was thrown at a Sparks game.”It’s also dangerous, and you know, player safety is No. 1, respecting the game, all those things. I think it’s really stupid.”

I have to agree. It also means others will try their own hand at it.

Read: Green Dildo Coin Crypto Company Claims Responsibility For Dildos At WNBA Games »

Posted in Like, Gnarly, Dude, Sports | 20 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Trump Admin Looks To End NASA Monitoring Of CO2

By William Teach August 8, 2025 – 7:15 am

Certainly some of those rich Warmists could pony up to do it, right?

Trump moves to end NASA missions measuring carbon dioxide and plant health

The Trump administration is moving to shut down two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health, potentially shutting off an important source of data for scientists, policymakers and farmers.

President Donald Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 includes no money for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, which can precisely show where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed and how well crops are growing.

NASA said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the missions were “beyond their prime mission” and being terminated “to align with the President’s agenda and budget priorities.”

But the missions — a free-flying satellite launched in 2014 and an instrument attached to the International Space Station in 2019 that include technology used in the Hubble Space Telescope — still are more sensitive and accurate than any other systems in the world, operating or planned, and a “national asset” that should be saved, said David Crisp, a retired NASA scientist who led their development.

You know who knows how the crops are growing? Farmers. The Warmists have used the data to fearmonger for their cult, claiming that crops are doing bad per the satellite in contradiction of real world data.

Read: Bummer: Trump Admin Looks To End NASA Monitoring Of CO2 »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Surprise: Mayor Johnson Of SCC Says Cities Finances Are Horrible

By William Teach August 8, 2025 – 7:00 am

Well, certainly all the folks in Chicago would be willing to see their taxes raised, right?

Mayor Brandon Johnson says Chicago finances have reached “point of no return”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sounded the alarm Tuesday about Chicago’s finances.

“We have reached a point of no return,” Mayor Johnson said Tuesday. “The systems that people rely upon — education, health care, housing, our transportation — they are woefully underfunded, and everyone knows that. Everyone knows what, you know, my commitment is to progressive revenue. I can’t do this by myself.”

The mayor’s statement came in response to a question about a pension bill signed into law by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker last week.

The law will increase retirement benefits for police and firefighters, adding more than $11 billion to Chicago’s long-term pension liability.

Johnson said the state needs new progressive revenue options, but he did not name any specific plans.

Taxes. That would be taxes. And fees.

The city of Chicago has a massive $1.1 billion budget gap to fill for 2026. Mayor Johnson promising has promised not to once again pitch a property tax hike — which the City Council unanimously rejected for 2025 — but said last week he’s looking at creative ways to raise tax dollars.

Obviously, this would be the ultra-rich, who will just leave the city, as they have the means, and take their money and businesses with them. But, hey, maybe if the city hadn’t spent more than $400 million since 2022 on illegals they’d be in a better financial position.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Announces Plans To Expand $10M Sustainable Community School Program

…

“We said the only way we’re going to truly transform our public school system in Chicago is by serving the entire child. We are never going to make any real progress until we reckon with the fact that the struggles of our students primarily result from the fact that 72% of students are from low income families,” Johnson said during the press conference. “The overwhelming majority of our students are Black and brown, and they come from poor and working class communities. Until we start to bring the community into our schools, in fact, until our schools become community hubs in every single neighborhood, we will not see real transformation. But that’s what we are so excited about today.”

Where’s the money coming from for the schools that consistently underperform? $1.1 billion in the hole.

Read: Surprise: Mayor Johnson Of SCC Says Cities Finances Are Horrible »

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