June 25, 2026

Forget Work. Passive Income Is the New American Dream.

Driven by a growing feeling that 9-to-5 jobs are a dead end, people are turning to social media to test out eccentric moneymaking schemes—along with a fair share of scams

Greg Keogh couldn’t stand commuting, office attire and feeling depleted at the end of a workday. To find a way out of his corporate 9-to-5, he decided to break into the world of so-called passive income.

Like most 30-somethings, he didn’t have a trust fund or enough savings to live off dividends. So he sought out a light-touch way of making money that would free up his time.

His escape hatch came from a chance conversation with a dog owner who was excited to have found a bigger-than-normal lint roller. A mechanical engineer by training, he designed one nearly as wide as a paper-towel roll and put it on Amazon, where sales took off.

Keough could have tried to build a lint-roller empire. Instead, he decided to coast. Seven years later, he works on it two hours or less in a typical month and personally nets about $50,000 to $115,000 a year.

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/passive-income-dreams-2e67ee5c?st=X9npWd&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

June 25, 2026

Florida ranks last in new national report on support of K-12 schools

Among other national education research institutions, the Network for Public Education ranked Florida last for its lack of commitment and support for K-12 public schools.

The network, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes and researches policies supporting traditional public schools, has evaluated and held states accountable for how public education is managed and upheld.

With scores up to 100, each state was evaluated based on privatization, school finance, and student and teacher supports.

"The grades in this report are not merely academic assessments influenced by demographics or changing test standards. They are a measure of how seriously each statehouse takes its obligation to the children who attend public schools within its borders," says the report, released through a press release.

Florida earned an F, with 14 out of 100 possible points earned.

"The states most aggressively redirecting public funds toward private alternatives were also the states most neglectful of their public schools, their teachers, and their students. Privatization and disinvestment, it turns out, go hand in hand," the report adds.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2026/06/23/florida-ranks-last-in-new-public-school-report/90575137007/

June 25, 2026

Sounds Like Even French A-Hole Marine Le Pen Hates Trump Now, Weird

Even fascist women don't like being abused by MAGA man trash! OK, at least in Europe.

Just the other day, we discussed the feud Donald Trump started with Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, and which he will not let go of because he doesn’t have the self-esteem to admit the lady beat him, and he doesn’t have the self-control to understand how stupid he looks.

All because he made up a stupid story about her begging for a picture with him, which anybody who isn’t an idiot knows is a lie, because stories like that are his coping mechanism to stop him from from hurling his disgusting body off the roof of Trump Tower as a response to the lifetime of rejection he has endured, a lifetime of rejection he 100 percent deserves.

We imagine that on some level, he actually convinces himself that they’re true.

Anyway, Marine Le Pen, the French far-right asshole fascist lady who’s one of the leaders of the European far-Right, and who back in the early days of MAGA was thought of as one of its big allies among the Euro white nationalists, has weighed in on the spat Trump started with Meloni, and oh boy, she is not impressed.

“He was very insulting, so I fully understand Giorgia Meloni’s reaction, which is one of national pride,” Le Pen said in an interview with French radio France Culture on Wednesday. “Is this a definitive break between the two nations? Certainly not. Is this a severe cooldown of the relationship between the two individuals? Most certainly,” she added.

Elle se montre très diplomate.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/sounds-like-even-french-a-hole-marine

June 25, 2026

Back-to-back earthquakes strike Venezuela

Source: CNN

• A powerful earthquake struck near the northern coast of Venezuela on Wednesday, leading to collapsed buildings in the capital, Caracas. It happened 28 kilometers (about 17.3 miles) northwest of Montalbán, where some of the country’s largest refineries are located.

• The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.5, according to the US Geological Survey. It happened just 40 seconds after a foreshock with a magnitude of 7.2 rocked the area. Terrified residents were seen evacuating buildings with their loved ones and pets before gathering in the street.

• A previous tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands has been canceled.

• A 6.9 magnitude earthquake also struck near Japan on Wednesday. The epicenter was located 35 kilometers east northeast of Kuji in the north of Honshu, Japan’s main island. There were no early reports of damage.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/24/weather/live-news/venezuela-earthquake-puerto-rico-tsunami

June 24, 2026

Deluded Trump, 80, Self-Soothes With Fantasy in All-Caps Meltdown

President Donald Trump declared his approval was the highest it has ever been in an unhinged social media post on Wednesday, as his approval hit a new record low.

“MY REAL POLL NUMBERS ARE THE HIGHEST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN. THANK YOU!!!” Trump wrote in the all-caps Truth Social post.

It was the latest in a series of self-soothing posts by the president early on Wednesday. He did not provide any such “real poll numbers” to back his statement. But it came as multiple polls on his approval showed quite the opposite.

The poll by American Research Group showed just 30 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, while 66 percent disapprove, the highest Trump disapproval ever recorded by the pollster during either of his two terms.

The poll came out just one day after the latest Marist poll found that Trump’s approval was at 36 percent, the lowest of his second term for that poll as well. His disapproval was at 59 percent, tied with the month before at its highest level.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/deluded-trump-80-self-soothes-with-fantasy-in-all-caps-meltdown/

Up is down. Black is white.

June 24, 2026

Trump Reimagines America by Putting Himself on Its Money

Cash might be a relic, but — like royalty and emperors — President Trump still wants his face on American currency.

First he ordered up a commemorative coin bearing his face. Then he added his signature to the nation’s money. Now, in honor of America’s 250th birthday, President Trump wants to create a $250 bill featuring a portrait of himself.

The remaking of America’s currency with a new note bearing Mr. Trump’s likeness would be the biggest overhaul to the nation’s money in more than a century. It is also the latest effort by a billionaire president to put his imprint on an economy that he has remade with tax cuts and tariffs. But for Mr. Trump, the addition of his portrait to the greenback would represent something even more consequential: a permanent fusing of his personal brand with the nation’s identity.

The future of the initiative remains uncertain given that the United States has a law that forbids anyone still living from appearing on paper currency. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month that he did not think that there was “anything untoward” about having the current president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill.

The imagery on currency has for years captivated Americans. The movement in 2016 to replace President Andrew Jackson with the abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill stirred a contentious national debate. The prospect of Mr. Trump adding his portrait to the money shows how currency remains an important reflection of America’s identity, even as transactions increasingly become digital.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/us/politics/trump-american-money.html?unlocked_article_code=1.slA.GiI4.-xksgyfB3dvz&smid=url-share

June 24, 2026

GOP Urges Democrats To Tone Down Rhetoric Used To Quote President Verbatim

WASHINGTON—Imploring their colleagues across the aisle to be mindful of how the highly charged language might elevate national tensions, congressional Republicans urged Democrats Tuesday to tone down the rhetoric they used to quote President Donald Trump verbatim.

“Temperatures are running high, and the last thing we need are hotheaded Democrats spewing hateful, inflammatory statements sourced directly from the president’s speeches,” said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), adding that there was already enough political violence in the country without stoking it further by taking words right out of the president’s mouth and repeating them in public.

“We’re sitting in the hallowed halls of the Capitol, a place with a requisite decorum, and who knows how many shooters might be inspired to commit heinous acts after hearing Rep. [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez read the president’s latest Truth Social post word for word? It’s shocking—and honestly quite shameful—that my colleagues in the Democratic Party would stoop to such lows.”

Johnson went on to slam Democrats for their “reckless and divisive” recitations of his own remarks on same-sex marriage.

https://theonion.com/gop-urges-democrats-to-tone-down-rhetoric-used-to-quote-president-verbatim/

June 23, 2026

Trump Says Iran's Unfrozen Funds to Remain Under US Control

President Donald Trump said Iran will only be able to use funds released from frozen accounts to purchase food and medical supplies from the US, seeking to ease concerns about peace negotiations that both sides say are making progress.

The billions of dollars of unlocked financing will go “into escrow, controlled by the U.S.A.” and will be used for the purchase of US-grown products such as corn, wheat and soybeans, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.

He added that Iran had agreed to “highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future” in the parallel negotiation over Tehran’s atomic activities, a central part of the discussions to end the near four-month war and keep the critical Strait of Hormuz open.

However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei disputed both notions, saying the funds would be used by his country “freely, in whatever manner it deems appropriate,” rather than being restricted to purchases from the US.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-23/iran-says-12-billion-to-be-unfrozen-ahead-of-rubio-s-gulf-tour?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4MjIzNzEyMiwiZXhwIjoxNzgyODQxOTIyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUSDJMWUtLR1pBTEQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNjgyQTUwQzJCRDM0MTFCQTgwQjEwQjZEQjczQzM1MSJ9.SBjHhxNHKe9ARITxVH2vlcTKDZ5scwqZoB-ztfBNjRs

June 23, 2026

Raging Trump, 80, Threatens to Sue in Green Slime Meltdown

President Donald Trump has taken aim at one of his fiercest foes in an incendiary Truth Social post as he continues to unravel over his botched renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Railing against one of his old enemies, ABC News, Trump on Monday condemned the news network for its inaccurate reporting; specifically, for failing to report that “their close ‘friends,’ Dumocrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked.”

President Joe Biden did not conduct any major work on the pool. President Barack Obama oversaw a renovation of the pool but spent only approximately $34 million on the project.

“In fact, it was rarely open due to leaks and ‘stench,’” Trump continued. “They wanted to spend 300 to 400 Million Dollars, but just let it ROT. I spent approximately 16 Million Dollars, and it came out great, except for the Vandalism, which we are now fixing.”
...
The president continued his rant by revealing that his team is preparing to sue ABC for false reporting.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/raging-trump-80-threatens-to-sue-in-green-slime-meltdown/

Oh no. Not this shit again...

OTOH, ABC is lately showing a bit of spine, so I'm hoping they'll tell Trump to FO with this lawsuit threat. Rachel made the point tonight that ABC has seen CBS cratering after kowtowing to Trump and figures it's in their corporate best interest to just say no to him...

June 22, 2026

Trump likely to drain Reflecting Pool again, following peeling paint and algae

President Donald Trump said Saturday night that he was likely to drain the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool again, as workers contend with paint peeling off its surface and algae blooming in the wake of his $14 million effort to resurface it.

The president made his announcement, after what he said was a meeting with contractors while he was at Camp David in Maryland for the weekend. It comes 16 days after the government began refilling the pool following a renovation that Trump had said would result in clean water and “could last for 100 years.”

Since pieces of peeling paint started floating to the water’s surface earlier this week, the Interior Department has not responded to questions about the paint and why the pool surface is separating.

The agency said in a statement Wednesday that it is treating the pool with hydrogen peroxide and “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to limit the spread of algae.

https://wapo.st/4elSUlY