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BlueWaveNeverEnd
BlueWaveNeverEnd's Journal
BlueWaveNeverEnd's Journal
May 26, 2026
Some of Texas’s oldest barbecue joints close as meat prices skyrocket
Even the state’s most celebrated restaurants are struggling to remain open as costs climb, with no relief in sight.
HOUSTON — If the Texas barbecue industry had an alarm, it would be the spreadsheet that Russell Roegels uses to track the price of brisket. On a recent morning, sitting at a quiet table in his suburban restaurant, he pointed to the number at the top of the column: $5.56. That’s the price he pays for a pound of the most important item on any barbecue menu in Texas.
Over the past year, that number has risen 28
percent, a reflection of the spiking meat prices that have dented the pocketbooks of average grocery store customers nationwide. Inside the kitchens of Texas’s more than 3,000 barbecue purveyors, whose very existence depends on a plentiful and affordable supply of quality beef, the effect has been close to cataclysmal.
Roegels, 53, grew up working at a barbecue joint and has run his own since 2001, serving some of Houston’s elite and their friends, including former president George H.W. Bush, NFL veteran Gary Kubiak and former Astros pitcher Andy Pettitte. He used to be able to offset the high wholesale cost by selling other meats and side dishes. But this year he realized that wasn’t enough. So Roegels made the risky decision to raise the price he charges customers for brisket by $2, to $35 a pound — a 6 percent increase — and hoped his clientele wouldn’t defect.
“This is as bad as it gets,” he said of escalating beef prices. “Everybody’s at risk these days: You’re one bad week from closing.”
Roegels isn’t exaggerating. The culinary crisis driven by skyrocketing meat prices has contributed to the closures of some of Texas’s beloved barbecue joints: Brett’s BBQ Shop to the west of Houston, known for its barbacoa tacos; Kirby’s BBQ to the north with its signature increasingly expensive oak-smoked brisket
; Sabar BBQ, with its Pakistani fusion sausage, in Fort Worth; Wright On Taco & BBQ in East Texas.
Some of Texas's oldest barbecue joints close as meat prices skyrocket
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/05/25/some-texass-oldest-barbecue-joints-close-meat-prices-skyrocket/Some of Texas’s oldest barbecue joints close as meat prices skyrocket
Even the state’s most celebrated restaurants are struggling to remain open as costs climb, with no relief in sight.
HOUSTON — If the Texas barbecue industry had an alarm, it would be the spreadsheet that Russell Roegels uses to track the price of brisket. On a recent morning, sitting at a quiet table in his suburban restaurant, he pointed to the number at the top of the column: $5.56. That’s the price he pays for a pound of the most important item on any barbecue menu in Texas.
Over the past year, that number has risen 28
percent, a reflection of the spiking meat prices that have dented the pocketbooks of average grocery store customers nationwide. Inside the kitchens of Texas’s more than 3,000 barbecue purveyors, whose very existence depends on a plentiful and affordable supply of quality beef, the effect has been close to cataclysmal.
Roegels, 53, grew up working at a barbecue joint and has run his own since 2001, serving some of Houston’s elite and their friends, including former president George H.W. Bush, NFL veteran Gary Kubiak and former Astros pitcher Andy Pettitte. He used to be able to offset the high wholesale cost by selling other meats and side dishes. But this year he realized that wasn’t enough. So Roegels made the risky decision to raise the price he charges customers for brisket by $2, to $35 a pound — a 6 percent increase — and hoped his clientele wouldn’t defect.
“This is as bad as it gets,” he said of escalating beef prices. “Everybody’s at risk these days: You’re one bad week from closing.”
Roegels isn’t exaggerating. The culinary crisis driven by skyrocketing meat prices has contributed to the closures of some of Texas’s beloved barbecue joints: Brett’s BBQ Shop to the west of Houston, known for its barbacoa tacos; Kirby’s BBQ to the north with its signature increasingly expensive oak-smoked brisket
; Sabar BBQ, with its Pakistani fusion sausage, in Fort Worth; Wright On Taco & BBQ in East Texas.
May 26, 2026
Trump falls asleep as speakers talk about service members dying for their country on Memorial Day
https://x.com/HQNewsNow/status/2058964340191994350
May 25, 2026
Trump’s Self-Indulgence Deepens G.O.P. Fears in Midterms
“The stupid stuff is killing our chances,” said a retiring Republican senator.
A little more than five months ahead of the midterm elections, President Trump seems to be focused on virtually anything other than keeping Republican control of Congress.
He endorsed a MAGA challenger over Texas’s senior Republican senator, ignoring warnings that he could endanger the seat. He has boasted almost daily about his expensive and expansive new White House ballroom. He has minimized rising gas costs, waving off spiking prices at the pump as “peanuts” last week compared to what he is pursuing in Iran. And even as he engaged over the weekend in negotiations to end the Iran war that he began, Mr. Trump has made plain that he prioritizes his record abroad above domestic affordability, which he has dismissed repeatedly as a Democratic “hoax.”
For many, a new jaw-dropper came last week when Mr. Trump created a $1.8 billion fund to pay people who say they have been victims of “weaponization and lawfare,” including those who attacked the Capitol and law enforcement officers there, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Incensed Senate Republicans, many of whom lived through that day, returned home vexed by a president who appears set on pursuing his personal priorities ahead of the November midterm elections, even if doing so undermines his own party. They angrily abandoned Washington on Thursday without funding the president’s immigration crackdown or the $1 billion he wants for his ballroom.
____
But even some of Mr. Trump’s Republican allies are growing frustrated by what they see as his Trump First agenda, though most are skittish of openly crossing a president with thin skin and a long memory, according to interviews with multiple Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid the president’s ire.
Trump's Self-Indulgence Deepens G.O.P. Fears in Midterms "The stupid stuff is killing our chances,"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/us/politics/trump-gop-fears-midterms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lFA.0PVP.d86PLSdN2KO1&smid=url-shareTrump’s Self-Indulgence Deepens G.O.P. Fears in Midterms
“The stupid stuff is killing our chances,” said a retiring Republican senator.
A little more than five months ahead of the midterm elections, President Trump seems to be focused on virtually anything other than keeping Republican control of Congress.
He endorsed a MAGA challenger over Texas’s senior Republican senator, ignoring warnings that he could endanger the seat. He has boasted almost daily about his expensive and expansive new White House ballroom. He has minimized rising gas costs, waving off spiking prices at the pump as “peanuts” last week compared to what he is pursuing in Iran. And even as he engaged over the weekend in negotiations to end the Iran war that he began, Mr. Trump has made plain that he prioritizes his record abroad above domestic affordability, which he has dismissed repeatedly as a Democratic “hoax.”
For many, a new jaw-dropper came last week when Mr. Trump created a $1.8 billion fund to pay people who say they have been victims of “weaponization and lawfare,” including those who attacked the Capitol and law enforcement officers there, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Incensed Senate Republicans, many of whom lived through that day, returned home vexed by a president who appears set on pursuing his personal priorities ahead of the November midterm elections, even if doing so undermines his own party. They angrily abandoned Washington on Thursday without funding the president’s immigration crackdown or the $1 billion he wants for his ballroom.
____
But even some of Mr. Trump’s Republican allies are growing frustrated by what they see as his Trump First agenda, though most are skittish of openly crossing a president with thin skin and a long memory, according to interviews with multiple Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid the president’s ire.
May 23, 2026
Towns going broke because more public employees signed up for weight loss drugs than expected
Officials in Belchertown, Mass., were saving up to fix their broken roads and aging buildings last year when they were hit with a surprise $911,000 invoice.
The bill came from the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, which manages healthcare for dozens of New England towns, school districts and other public entities. The trust was struggling to control rising costs that had sucked up its reserves, including a new, surprising culprit: the snowballing cost of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
The trust was nearing insolvency, and towns would need to pay up to keep it afloat.
“The universal reaction was shock,” said Lesa Lessard Pearson, chair of the Select Board in Belchertown, a town of 15,000 in western Massachusetts. Officials had to draw from the town’s long-term savings and make departmental cuts, including school-budget reductions, to pay off the bill. “It felt like a betrayal,” she said.
___
Cities and towns are now racing to control surging healthcare costs, and many blame the increasingly ubiquitous drugs for contributing to a budget squeeze.
Some towns are gearing up to strip coverage of GLP-1s for weight loss when their fiscal years end next month. Other localities have decided that the costs of the drugs are worth their potential health benefits. And some are stuck paying for the drugs until they can renegotiate contracts with employees.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/u-s-towns-paid-for-teachers-and-cops-to-use-weight-loss-drugs-it-broke-the-bank-3c46ec87
May 23, 2026
Justice Department deletes press releases on charges against Jan. 6 rioters
The Justice Department confirmed that it had deleted the press releases as part of “stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.”
The Justice Department has removed press releases detailing the charges against hundreds of individuals who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot from its website, the department confirmed Friday.
“Nothing ‘quiet’ about it,” the DOJ Rapid Response X account said in a post replying to allegations that the Justice Department had deleted press releases related to Jan. 6.
“We are proud to reverse the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden administration,” the post continued. “We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes. This includes stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.”
A review by NBC News found that the vast majority of press releases pertaining to Jan. 6 defendants have been removed from the DOJ website as of Friday evening.
The move to wipe hundreds of press releases from the official government site is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to reframe the Jan. 6 siege and to paint the rioters who participated in it as victims.
DOJ deletes press releases on charges against Jan. 6 rioters as "partisan propaganda"
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-deletes-press-releases-charges-jan-6-rioters-rcna346613Justice Department deletes press releases on charges against Jan. 6 rioters
The Justice Department confirmed that it had deleted the press releases as part of “stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.”
The Justice Department has removed press releases detailing the charges against hundreds of individuals who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot from its website, the department confirmed Friday.
“Nothing ‘quiet’ about it,” the DOJ Rapid Response X account said in a post replying to allegations that the Justice Department had deleted press releases related to Jan. 6.
“We are proud to reverse the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden administration,” the post continued. “We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes. This includes stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.”
A review by NBC News found that the vast majority of press releases pertaining to Jan. 6 defendants have been removed from the DOJ website as of Friday evening.
The move to wipe hundreds of press releases from the official government site is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to reframe the Jan. 6 siege and to paint the rioters who participated in it as victims.
May 23, 2026
Protesters link Sakila's death to killing that fuelled Black Lives Matter movement
Former classmate describes Sakila as a quiet, shy person
Irish PM repeats call for thorough investigation
DUBLIN, May 21 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people protested outside Ireland's parliament on Thursday to express outrage at the death of a Congolese-born man after he was restrained outside a Dublin department store in an incident some compared to the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
Yves Sakila was detained by security guards on one of the capital's busiest shopping streets last Friday in connection with an alleged shoplifting incident, police said. He became unresponsive at the scene and was later pronounced dead.
A video of the incident widely shared later on social media showed Sakila being pinned to the ground by at least five men for almost five minutes as bystanders watched.
Two of the men held his face to the ground and at one point one of them appeared to kneel on his head or neck for a few seconds.
"We call this a George Floyd moment," said David Kaliba, a 35-year-old physics student who went to a north Dublin suburban high school with Sakila, referring to a Black Minneapolis man killed by a police officer who kneeled on his neck for several minutes during an arrest in May 2020.
Ireland is having its George Floyd moment
https://www.reuters.com/world/hundreds-protest-dublin-over-death-congolese-born-man-restrained-outside-store-2026-05-21/Protesters link Sakila's death to killing that fuelled Black Lives Matter movement
Former classmate describes Sakila as a quiet, shy person
Irish PM repeats call for thorough investigation
DUBLIN, May 21 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people protested outside Ireland's parliament on Thursday to express outrage at the death of a Congolese-born man after he was restrained outside a Dublin department store in an incident some compared to the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
Yves Sakila was detained by security guards on one of the capital's busiest shopping streets last Friday in connection with an alleged shoplifting incident, police said. He became unresponsive at the scene and was later pronounced dead.
A video of the incident widely shared later on social media showed Sakila being pinned to the ground by at least five men for almost five minutes as bystanders watched.
Two of the men held his face to the ground and at one point one of them appeared to kneel on his head or neck for a few seconds.
"We call this a George Floyd moment," said David Kaliba, a 35-year-old physics student who went to a north Dublin suburban high school with Sakila, referring to a Black Minneapolis man killed by a police officer who kneeled on his neck for several minutes during an arrest in May 2020.
May 23, 2026
?
A Ford Truck, Home to Newborn Robins, Is Stuck at a Kansas Car Dealer
Employees of a dealership in Olathe, Kan., found the nest, which is protected under federal law, on top of one of the truck’s tires.
The contract has been signed and the down payment made. But the buyers of a new Super Duty F-250 pickup truck keep waiting — and waiting and waiting —to drive it off a Ford dealer’s lot in Kansas.
Not because of supply-chain issues or custom options that are difficult to find.
This particular vehicle, a King Ranch edition that costs about $90,000, has more than 500 horsepower in its engine, a “concert-quality” Bang & Olufsen sound system, two-tone paint trim and 34-inch Bridgestone tires.
But it’s most notable feature is the nest resting on top of the front passenger-side tire where four robin chicks are maturing.
-------------
Diane Johnson, the center’s executive director and a registered veterinary technician, said the group advised the dealership that if the truck’s buyers were getting antsy, the nest could be moved to the tire of another pickup truck that was similar.
There was one parked right next to it.
The buyer, who the dealership said was a construction company that did not want to be publicly named, was content to let nature run its course.
“The new owners said they were in no hurry to get the truck and the robins could finish raising their family,” Ms. Johnson said.
buyers of $90K Ford truck are content to leave it at dealership until newborn robins leave the nest built on a tire
?
A Ford Truck, Home to Newborn Robins, Is Stuck at a Kansas Car Dealer
Employees of a dealership in Olathe, Kan., found the nest, which is protected under federal law, on top of one of the truck’s tires.
The contract has been signed and the down payment made. But the buyers of a new Super Duty F-250 pickup truck keep waiting — and waiting and waiting —to drive it off a Ford dealer’s lot in Kansas.
Not because of supply-chain issues or custom options that are difficult to find.
This particular vehicle, a King Ranch edition that costs about $90,000, has more than 500 horsepower in its engine, a “concert-quality” Bang & Olufsen sound system, two-tone paint trim and 34-inch Bridgestone tires.
But it’s most notable feature is the nest resting on top of the front passenger-side tire where four robin chicks are maturing.
-------------
Diane Johnson, the center’s executive director and a registered veterinary technician, said the group advised the dealership that if the truck’s buyers were getting antsy, the nest could be moved to the tire of another pickup truck that was similar.
There was one parked right next to it.
The buyer, who the dealership said was a construction company that did not want to be publicly named, was content to let nature run its course.
“The new owners said they were in no hurry to get the truck and the robins could finish raising their family,” Ms. Johnson said.
May 22, 2026
Breaking news
Green Card Seekers Must Leave U.S. to Apply, Trump Administration Says
The change is likely to affect hundreds of thousands of people. It could also lead to more family separations as spouses or relatives wait for application decisions, immigration lawyers said.
Nytimes
Green Card Seekers Must Leave U.S. to Apply, Trump Admin Says change is likely to affect, hundreds of 1000s
Breaking news
Green Card Seekers Must Leave U.S. to Apply, Trump Administration Says
The change is likely to affect hundreds of thousands of people. It could also lead to more family separations as spouses or relatives wait for application decisions, immigration lawyers said.
Nytimes
May 22, 2026
"After dodging the draft five times, he now wants to force our honored dead into his own shadow"
Donald Trump is planning to build a 250-foot golden monument to himself right in front of Arlington National Cemetery, blocking the poignant view from the Lincoln Memorial to the graves of our fallen.
After dodging the draft five times, he now wants to force our honored dead into his own shadow. Veterans are already suing to stop this vanity project, and we need your help to back them up. Add your name to our petition to say no to the Arc de Trump and protect the sacred resting place of our Military.
https://votevetspac.org/l/BiEOgH
The team at VoteVets
May 21, 2026
.
Mr. Vo, who briefly fled the country to avoid his prison sentence stemming from the riot, said he did not know at first that the fund had come about as part of a larger deal by President Trump to withdraw an extraordinary lawsuit filed against the Internal Revenue Service. But the origins of the fund, he said, were less important than how it made him feel: surprised, relieved and grateful all at once.
“I’m glad it turned into something,” he explained, “that could help people who have been hurting for quite a while now
_____
“So many questions,” said Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud Boys who was sentenced to 22 years on a seditious conspiracy conviction arising from the riot. “But it’s a good direction.”
_____
“This is the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE acknowledging the possibility that Americans were targeted through political abuse of government power,” Tommy Tatum, a Mississippi man who was charged with civil disorder for interfering with the police on Jan. 6, wrote on Monday in a post on social media. “That is historic.”
______
“We’ve been trampled on so much, I think finally we feel like we’re getting a little something and maybe we’re relieved,” said Daniel Christmann, one of the rioters. “But this is chump change. Even when Trump divorced Marla Maples and he was getting interviewed on it, he admitted that a million dollars isn’t a lot of money.”
Prison to Pardons to Payouts: Jan. 6 Rioters Are Elated at Trump's $1.8 Billion Fund
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/us/politics/jan-6-rioters-trump-fund-payouts.html.
Mr. Vo, who briefly fled the country to avoid his prison sentence stemming from the riot, said he did not know at first that the fund had come about as part of a larger deal by President Trump to withdraw an extraordinary lawsuit filed against the Internal Revenue Service. But the origins of the fund, he said, were less important than how it made him feel: surprised, relieved and grateful all at once.
“I’m glad it turned into something,” he explained, “that could help people who have been hurting for quite a while now
_____
“So many questions,” said Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud Boys who was sentenced to 22 years on a seditious conspiracy conviction arising from the riot. “But it’s a good direction.”
_____
“This is the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE acknowledging the possibility that Americans were targeted through political abuse of government power,” Tommy Tatum, a Mississippi man who was charged with civil disorder for interfering with the police on Jan. 6, wrote on Monday in a post on social media. “That is historic.”
______
“We’ve been trampled on so much, I think finally we feel like we’re getting a little something and maybe we’re relieved,” said Daniel Christmann, one of the rioters. “But this is chump change. Even when Trump divorced Marla Maples and he was getting interviewed on it, he admitted that a million dollars isn’t a lot of money.”
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