The Board of Peace. Sounds like an uninspired, throw-away name for something no one should take seriously.

A billion dollars to join, Donald Trump chairman for life? They have extravagant plans for a bombed-to-dust, obliterated Gaza, but do these plans include any consideration of the people who called it home? Or are they on their own, expected to settle for some other shoebox parcel of land in which to eke out an existence?

If there’s anything that symbolizes tone deafness and an amalgamation of questionable intentions, this enterprise is at the top of the list, and just one more reason to believe that Donald Trump should not be in the position he’s in. He should go back to being a self-proclaimed deal maker par excellence, in the private sector, where he’s better suited to apply his dubious “talents” and make promises he can’t keep.

The old man gets bent out of shape pretty easily when he doesn’t get his way. The Supreme Court decision to render invalid a significant portion of all the tariffs Trump has been unilaterally instituting really got under his skin.

A couple things happened afterwards—Trump went ballistic and later instituted more tariffs under a different statute, and opinion of the Court’s decision included a caveat of sorts: there are other high-profile decisions on the docket that will likely be decided in Trump’s favor. So, who knows—maybe this one was a strategic appeasement ahead of Roberts and Co. getting back to giving the man baby what he wants.

Besides, it wasn’t all disappointment for POTUS, especially since he and the EPA were able to relax regulations on mercury emissions and slow-roll closures of 11 coal-burning plants. That oughtta keep his fossil fuel buddies happy for a while.

You’ve still got it, Donald. Twirl that moustache. Nothing like relaxed mercury regulation to bring joy and warmth to that tiny heart of yours.

I know there is an increasing fear that at some point, we’ll look out our windows and all we’ll be able to see are data centers in any direction. Companies are gobbling up land like crazy, or trying to, and there is something about this mad rush that might have many justifiably wondering who’s going to help us with rising electricity costs, or if this whole enterprise won’t end up being the next bubble to burst.

Maybe there is some rational middle course that includes the understanding that when used properly and judiciously, in search of solutions to problems and dilemmas we face in daily life, artificial intelligence will be an amazing tool at our disposal 24/7.

The other day, Chat GPT and I worked through a problem we had here at the house. I presented a detailed explanation of what was going on, Chat took a couple of seconds to analyze and evaluate, and then offered up several informed and well-reasoned possibilities for why the door on our new shed wouldn’t open. It also gave me several possible solutions, and the first one I tried… worked.

It remains to be seen if current and future investments in the technology will be worth the astronomical costs, and if the technology won’t be co-opted by bad players– which seems almost inevitable. Still, whether we acknowledge it or not, AI is already here, and if we don’t invest, someone else likely will.

It’s funny, in an unfunny way, that in a lot of places besides here in the U.S. there are consequences for an association with Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew is now arrested, others are losing their jobs or stepping down, of their own accord.

But not here, for the most part. Here in the land of the questionably free and home of the conveniently brave, it’s still all about cover-up, downplaying, and outright lying. It’s not surprising, given the whole scene here in America, with a criminal at the helm and a bunch of kowtowing sad sacks always at the ready to make his every wish their command.

Still, it’s enough to make one wonder how much longer before it all catches up with him. We should be on the lookout for the next great distraction. Such a fantastic distraction, only the best.

The stench is strong of being played, being lied to, and maybe, finally, people will have had enough.

If we’re lucky, the Epstein files won’t go away, and Trump will finally be forced to create a distraction so repulsive and ill-advised that he turns some of his staunchest supporters against him. The only problem with such a development is that there will be plenty of decay left around the tooth. Will JD Vance step in? Will Stephen Miller take on an even more high-profile role? Can something this seismic unfold before the mid-terms? What new faces will emerge from the shadows?

The infection is poised to spread, even after the current Instigator-in-Chief and loudest mouth exits the scene.

Of course, nothing will change without help from Republicans who decide not to sell their souls.

The circus that has become the Guthrie investigation is grating on my one remaining nerve.

After 2+ weeks, how can there still be such a dearth of information? Is this some new brand of kidnapping scheme that has the investigators scratching their heads and looking and sounding like a bunch of rookies? All that’s happened is that networks are covering the story ad nauseum, and any crook with nefarious intent can tune in to get a few pointers from all the experts and pundits who are only too happy to delve into tips and tricks and the minutiae of CSI. And, I hate to even go here, but is the Trump administration slow-rolling the investigation because it’s a fantastic diversion from the Epstein files and backlash from the ICE debacle?

Like I said, I hate to go there. But there’s something about the lack of progress and drawn-out nature of this that isn’t sitting right, especially given who’s currently operating the levers of power.