Transfer the (remaining) agencies out of D.C. and into to the hinterlands — then salt the earth

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inauguration day 2025, washington, d.c.: trump clean-up crew sets to work

‘They’re so vindictive’: Why some federal employees are fearing Trump 2.0

… Federal employees throughout the executive branch are panicking at the thought of another Trump administration.

Former President Donald Trump has pledged to “demolish the deep state.” His running mate, Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance, has said Trump ought to fire “every civil servant in the administrative state.” It’s not just campaign-trail bluster. In the waning days of his first administration, Trump sought to make it easier to fire federal employees — a move that was quickly reversed by the Biden administration.

Workers in some agencies are particularly distraught about a possible Trump return. The former president and his allies have singled out certain agencies — including those that issue environmental rules — as prime targets, should he return to office in January.

It’s “in the back of everybody’s mind” that a Trump administration might purge the federal workforce, said one employee at the National Science Foundation.

“People are worried, but anybody who has half a brain is existentially afraid for the safety of democracy,” that person said. At the moment, “people are very concerned with their day-to-day jobs” and are “working to make sure they can get a lot of good done now.” [“Working to make sure they can get a lot of good now” — the Deep State is burrowing deep. ]

Feds’ fears about Trump are justified, said Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat whose district is packed with government employees.

“Federal employees are rightly concerned about what a second Trump presidency will mean for them and, by extension, for the American people they so dutifully serve,” Connolly said.

Do it do it:

Trump “has pledged to fire or relocate more than 100,000 federal employees who live and work in the D.C. region. He has repeatedly and shamelessly mocked the work of career experts and scientists, going so far as to scrub references to climate change from government websites. He has even promised to abolish entire government agencies that do not sufficiently bend themselves to his whims,” Connolly said.

Contract up (nearly) in Banksville

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7 Cherry Blossom Lane, new construction priced at $6.895 million has a contract. This will come as a disappointment to the would-be sellers of No.4 Cherry Blossom, which is still languishing at $8.350 million after starting in April at $9.650 and taking a price cut just last week. It’s a safe bet that this buyer looked at both houses before choosing the newer, more attractive model — scorned wives everywhere will know the feeling.

A hurricane-proof town? Really? It seems so.

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‘Hurricane-proof’ Florida town Babcock Ranch escaped Milton’s wrath virtually unscathed

A Florida community built specifically to withstand powerful storm-force winds made it through Hurricane Milton with barely a scratch — never even losing power as the tempest ran roughshod on the Sunshine State.

Babcock Ranch, a town about 15 miles northeast of Fort Myers, bills itself as “the Hometown of Tomorrow” on its website, a claim bolstered by its ultra-resilient structures and high-tech solar farms which ensure uninterrupted power for its roughly 10,000 residents.

Every structure in the town is built to withstand winds up to 150 mph, and its 150-megawatt solar farms and sophisticated underground electricity transmission systems kept the juice flowing even as over 3 million were left without power statewide as the storm blew through last week.

To mitigate flooding, 90% of the community is built on preserved wetlands which naturally collect excess rainwater.

This helps ensure floodwaters won’t encroach as the town balloons in size to its planned 19,500 homes.

Opening to residents in 2018, the community about the size of Manhattan saw little more than a few downed trees and traffic lights during Hurricane Milton, and even took in around 2,000 Floridians seeking shelter.

“When Governor DeSantis made the announcement that Babcock Ranch was open we saw a very big surge in evacuees,” Syd Kitson, a former NFL player and co-founder of the town told the New York Times.

…

Babcock Ranch showed off its storm-hardened infrastructure during Hurricane Ian in 2022, weathering the Category 4 storm with minimal damage, even as neighboring communities were battered to the tune of $115 billion in losses, the outlet said.

“Mother Nature is going to rule every time,” Kitson said. “But what we try to do is mitigate as much of that risk as possible and make our community as resilient as we can.”

Homes in the community — which boasts two schools, numerous parks and around six million square feet of commercial space — run from just under $300,000 to over $4 million.

Kitson said the town is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2035.

Skeptic that I am, I wondered, reading this, whether Ft. Meyers itself was outside of the hurricane’s path, but no: I looked it up, and the town got hammered.

So I’m impressed. It seems that technology and smart planning can actually help when people insist on living in hurricane zones, and that seems to include all of Florida,

No surprise here

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U.S. — In a tense exchange with Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, ABC news anchor Martha Raddatz argued that the tragedy of September 11th had been way overblown since it only involved a handful of buildings.

"They only hit three buildings, and you're calling this a major issue?" asked Raddatz, incredulous. "You realize I can literally count on one hand how many planes were hijacked. Stop making 9/11 out to be such a big deal."

….

At publishing time, Raddatz had sat with her mouth agape for thirty minutes after Vance asked if January 6th was therefore not a big deal since only one building was involved.

Coming to the market

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1068 Lake Avenue asking $7.495 million. I’m sure it’s been improved since the last time it was put up for sale, but back then I wasn’t the only one to find the Banksville-line location inconvenient and the design of the house itself unloveable: It was listed in 2008 for $7.380 million, and plenty of people had ample opportunity to see it and reject it between then and 2014, when it finally sold for $3.750.

Panic much?

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Kampalla’s handlers are now offering black males free money and marijuana in exchange for their votes. Whites, Hispanics, Asians and Indians of either either persuasion need not apply.

….She's also apparently given up appealing to white moderates. On Monday, she entertained notions of multitrillion-dollar reparations. Reparations are something that "has to be studied," she told Charlamagne Tha God on his podcast.

Harris is on track to do worse with black voters than any Democrat presidential candidate since 1960, before LBJ locked them in "for 200 years."

Tampon Tim reveals himself to be both an idiot AND a liar

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Tim Walz Makes an Absolute KNUCKLEHEAD of Himself Trying to Dunk on J.D. Vance

There are a lot of insulting things coming from the Kamala Harris campaign. From her racist pandering to black men to trying to dunk on Trump while a rally attendee was having a medical issue, it's less joy and more Mean Girls.

But the most astonishing insult is their endless attacks on J.D. Vance and his success. Vance grew up very poor in Appalachia and went to Yale. He wrote a successful book that was adapted into a movie -- 'Hillbilly Elegy' -- and is a Senator from Ohio. And the next Vice President of the United States.

And for some reason, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz think this is a bad thing worthy of scorn and derision.

So here's Walz -- once again -- dunking on Vance (and making himself look like a fool in the process):