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VA wants to cut deeper

(3.22.25 BenQQ) From the NY Post: After looking through less than 2% of its budget, Veterans Administration Secretary Doug Collins says he is stunned at the bloat he has discovered. "Collins has so far canceled hundreds of non-mission critical contracts to net $900 million in savings, and then saved another $14 million by ditching DEI employees and contracts," reports msn.com.

Memphis the most moved OUT of city in the nation? What have you heard?

(3.21.25 BenQQ) While driving around today I heard over WREC 600 radio that Memphis was the most "moved out" city in the country. I was stopped cold, but not literally. Did I hear it correctly? I didn't know if it was a feed from Nashville that the network inexplicably also inserts into Memphis news? (Yes, it would be a good be a good dig from them.) I called the KABC news dept. but no answer/no message. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. If you know anything relating to the story per se, please DM me.

(3.24.25 Update BenQQ) We finally found the source in the WREG 3 story citing the Tennessee State Data Center  Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research that graphically showed projections for each county. Here are the graphs for Davidson, Hamilton and Shelby.

Hamilton County (Chattanooga)

Davidson County (Nashville):

Shelby County (Memphis):

These findings seem to be consistent with the Census Bureau as well as common experience of Memphians fed up with crime, poverty and a Democratic administration yielding similar results in other blue cities. This should be an emergency wakeup call to every voter in Memphis.

Cities are growing in Tennessee because people are moving here, among other reasons, to take advantage of its no state income tax. Businesses looking to start or relocate to Tennessee want to get good, steady employees as well as a growing customer base.

Yet, Memphis is behind the 8-ball. We believe nothing short of an electoral revolution, not unlike the recent national one, can reverse the course of the city--unless you want to wait till 2052, at which point the other two cities will be so far ahead few businesses would even consider Memphis.

Trump to Dept of Education: You’re FIRED! How will it effect Memphis?

(3.20.25 BenQQ) Today, President Trump will sign an executive order today disbanding the Department of Education (DOE).  

His campaign website 2024 announced his position on education: “President Trump believes that we owe our children great schools that lead to great jobs, which will lead to an even greater country than we're living in right now. To that end, President Trump will work to ensure that atop priority of every school is to prepare students for jobs.”

Interestingly the 3 million+ teachers in public and private schools in the US make up a good 14:1 teacher student ratio. One would think that’s a well enough number to have the best education that is funded to the tune of $300+ billion annually. But something went wrong since Congress established the DOE in 1979 which has spent over $3 trillion since its start.

American students garner poor to very poor grades in reading and math. This bodes ill for the economy, jobs and defense, to name a few. Trump knows this.

Biden may have been aware of these abysmal education failures when he decided to prioritize DEI policies throughout the DOE and in schools across the nation. Predictably, DEI didn’t help improve education, but arguably worsened it. Test scores continues to average out below par.

Along comes Trump. He’d had enough. Just as a CEO would ax departments in his business, Trump axes departments and employees that are not benefiting the “company,” that is, the government that is hired by the people. The government is not an employment agency. 'CEO' Trump's policy: to cut poorly performing and duplicate programs and people across the board, as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to demonstrate.

Predicted: the numerous US Dept. of Education bureaucratic functions, often repetitive in other government offices, will be disbursed to the states and federal offices. We don’t know what “disburse” will actually look like, but there are indicators, for example(s): higher education financial aid programs could be moved to the Treasury; the Department of Justice could handle investigating discrimination and harassment complaints; Health and Human Services picks up programs for low-income school districts; The Census Bureau could replace the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics and Institute Sciences. Etc.

MAGA is applauding spreading DOE functions to the states. It symbolizes why he was elected. With competition, states, may end up competing against each other regarding which are the best in schools and colleges in getting their students the best hire rates and salaries. As a result, local education ecosystems may become the most competitive organization entities that cities could promote for growth, lifestyle options and vitality.

By the same theory, could local universities like the University of Memphis become as respected as an ivy? In some respects, I bet it already is. Somewhere in Trump’s plan, I also bet, is the end of the huge grants to these colleges from which the elite pour out to govern and manage the commoners.

Are these among Trump’s long term goals? I've asked the people at Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) what they expect from Trump's latest action. Correction: we don't see a public information office link on their website. Maybe someone could shoot it over to us?

Gone: Black Lives Matter Washington, DC street Democratic propaganda at taxpayer expense. But what about Memphis?

(3.16.25 BenQQ) Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared it permanent, but It took about two years before she drilled it to bits and cast wherever they throw old slogans representing organizations that quickly got embarrassingly bad headlines alleging abuse of contributor money to the tune of millions that were said to go to personal homes of founders. Reportedly, Mayor Bowser desperately wanted to get on the good side of Trump in order to get administrative money for her failed Democratic administration. Her politically pandering pavement painting took up two blocks. What the city paid for this temporarily hot messaging is unknown.

The Memphis pavement painting only covers a crosswalk. (video below) Twelve other cities put up similarly themed displays, according to my search.

These pavement paintings commemorated Black Lives Matter. BLM was going high before the bad headlines spoiled the race-baiting hit parade that brought in millions of dollars from pandering celebrities, politicians and even average people, including black Americans. Police officers to athletes were taking a knee to apologize for their race's historic infractions.

You couldn’t create a better political atmosphere to collect big dollars for the great social injustice.

BLM Given the fact that it became a kind of weird 21^st century social performance art in itself to demonstrate guilt from people who had nothing to be guilty about, ‘systemic racism,’ that is, racism based in law, had already long been eliminated.

Further, American society had expunged it from any part of its functioning-even to the point of imbalancing judicial, academic, government and corporate hiring standards all machined to respond to DEI-diversity, equity and inclusion.

Many of those entities then promoting DEI have now stopped doing so. A history: DEI was started in the 1960s, but as with all later social movements, it grew in the age of the internet where dissidents could get traction with 'Defund the Police’ and 'Hands Up! Don’t Shoot' even thou most slogans of the type have been discredited with facts from which the events were drawn.

So not surprisingly, the Memphis City Council in July 2020 declared "systemic racism" to be a public health crisis. As far as I know, (and anyone can correct me here, there is NO public record of anyone coming forward to complain he/she was a victim.)

But at the time of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020 for which officer Derek Chauvin, whose appeals now have all failed, was found  guilty of all charges, including second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter that all resulted in a sentence of 22.5 years imprisonment. (The only other Minneapolis peace officer to be convicted of murder was Somali-American officer Mohamed Noor in the shooting of Justine Damond, a white woman.)

So here’s the point: current political overlays, I believe, always influence everything. Little wonder Chauvin was persecuted in the media at a time of social guilt over past racial wrongs which easily are exacerbated by Hollywood and the news by historic images and clever writers, which in turn ehhance sales and viewers (just sayin').  In other words, it was a blownup issue that was easy to exploit. However, countering all the emotion, police fatally shot 9 nine unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites in 2019, as reported by the Manhattan Insttitute. Yes, a far cry of the Democrats claim to police racism.

But wait. New times. New thinking. Perhaps.

The city government of Memphis, as far as I know, still has not sandblasted the Black Lives Matter signage it painted on the street in midtown. Are they still hanging on the myth that Trump is a racist, white people are evil and that dogs don’t go to heaven?

As other Tennessee cities flourish, Memphis has to experience people moving out rather than in.

What do you think?

The Anti-Elon "Summertime Soldiers" didn't show in this rainstorm

(3.15.25 BenQQ) Despite their possibly related brethren elsewhere burning his vehicles, the anti-Elon Democrats may have decided to keep their powder dry today at noon. Nobody showed up.

There may have been one of 2 reasons for this:

1. It may have been called off because their numbers did not want to get wet.
2. Their originally planned demonstration was the one held last Saturday anyway despite an announcement by someone of it being called off.

At any rate I had expected to see valiant anti-fascist warriors parading about braving the bad weather in front the Tesla showroom on Germantown Blvd. (At other demonstrations I had taken great closeups of demonstrators and had given images to anyone who wanted to use them regardless if I editorialize against them. I don't charge for jpegs. Just please credit.) Maybe someone from the group will send me notes and the intrepid Memphispixnews.com will be there with questions.

Unfolding: Is it real or is it Autopen?

(3.8.25 BenQQ) That’s the question that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has written to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Baily calls for an investigation into whether some on President Biden’s staff might have set in motion far-left policies by exploiting Biden’s mental decline. For example, you might remember Biden’s incomprehensible offers to commute the death penalty sentences for violent criminals.  

PJMedia surfaced the March 6 from a report of an investigation by the Heritage Foundation (a conservative think tank) Oversight Project alleging that Biden never personally signed any of his documents. There is a claim that Biden's signature provided by Autopen does not match his real one.

Some conservative writers had been saying all along that Biden was too cognitively deficient to handle the job. After a private meeting with President Biden, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson revealed Biden appeared “unaware of his own executive actions.

One example that Johnson shared was when he discussed with Biden his halting of liquefied natural gas exports to Europe. Despite it having enormous impacts on national security and the economy, Biden insisted he had not signed such an order, Johnson said in this article.

No doubt some Republicans would love to invalidate Biden’s administration at the same low level Democrats used lawfare against Trump. From the outset, let me say this will probably go nowhere because the ramifications of a lawsuit would be so massive that even Trump wouldn’t want it to get in the way of his projects. Too many headlines on Biden and less on Trump.

Yet its fascinating, no?

Steve Chowed down

A reader sent this shot of memories past of Steve Cohen (D 9th) biting into what looks like a juicy breast from a congressional judicial hearing. Ok we remember it and are glad to revive the fond memories. What does this reveal? Steve Cohen think this influenced his constituency in and around Memphis. If you are in his service area, what about you?

Steve Cohen cracks a joke. Gavin Newsome pivots. Democrats dance.

(3/7/25 BemQQ) Amazing how much one day can reveal if you are watching the media. On the other hand it explains why people don’t as well. But I do for you.

Both Rep Steve Cohen (D 9^th) and Dem CA Gov. Gavin Newsome said things that were either breathtakingly revealing or even funny.

First to our own Steve Cohen who was caught hurriedly heading to a vote in a wheelchair. A reporter asked him about his support of women’s sports and he fired back as he escaped into an elevator something about his support of “women’s shorts.” It was funny and spontaneous, a rarity amongst politicians. People appreciate brave humor, especially in the face of doom. Seriously, Cohen's comeback was a perfect retort to a reporter's ambush question:

Steve has become known for his eating chicken from a bucket in a hearing, though what the connection to the subject of the hearing was lost on everyone. It got a lot of coverage much to the embarrassment of Memphians. But you have to give him credit for hutzpah. Hey, he is a comedian already!

Then we have Democrats performing dances apparently to counter Trump's own campaign dance of a kind of slow twist with fist pumps. Call this his "“Fight, Fight, Fight” dance usually performed to raucously supportive crowds of tens of thousands. However the Democrats couldn't respond with a Biden dance of stumbles, falls and walking the wrong way so their dance went like this: (mostly-did you see any men) women legislators trying to move to some non-descript beat, usually looking awkward and seemingly wondering who the hell came up with this memo. It was humiliating, even perplexing. Why were they dancing? What is the victory they have to dance about? Does anything mean anything? However, Fox, as usual gave a balanced report:

Finally, Gavin Newsome in an effort to distance himself from last month's self induced floods and the brutal fact no (?) Democrat stood at Trump’s congressional speech earlier this week in support of women's sports (as well as sick kids and victims of violent crimes), said a man beating a woman in a game was “deeply unfair.” Yes, unfair enough to contribute to the many reasons why the Democrats got resoundingly booted from power.

The lessons from the visuals of this week: Democrats are lost in the wilderness, leaderless and bereft of ideas that resonate with the American people.

My suggestion: Democrats should hire some one line comedy writers and get training on when and how to deliver them. It would get coverage and some could actually be relevant to Trump's policies. When there's nothing else to say crack a joke and dance.

Trump hates The Apprentice, the movie about him.

Review The Apprentice
by BenQQ

Director: Ali Abbasi 
Writer: Gabriel Sherman
Some of the Cast:
Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump
Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn
Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump
Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr

This wildly entertaining biopic starts on  Donald Trump’s days as a real estate startup under the tutelage of Roy Cohn. The Apprentice leaves a lot of impressions, over which historians will argue.

When Donald Trump was but a young handsome lad full of himself just beginning to hobnob with the elite, he decided he would be king of New York City. His brash self confidence was on display for everybody to see and it fit the times: disco, drugs and decadence of the dazzling 70’s and 80’s. A great time to be alive if you were ambitious, had some money to start with, was single mindedly driven and lived in New York City. You could say he never lost that ambition and drive to not only be the best but, just as important, to be recognized for it, even at other’s expense.

If you are going to make a movie about a known character, that character mostly has to be either a saint or a villain. Complex doesn’t sell or at least sell big and Donald knows that. Hence his personality, hence the movie, but let’s continue.

Donald Trump is no saint. In fact, he comes with the vices of the average man, only made larger than life by his Shakespearean character flaws-mainly self-grandiosity and need for others to love him-that shows up, if not dominates, in his actions as president.    

Historically, as it now turns out, that’s not a bad thing. His character, flaws and all, shows up exactly—some say providentially--when the country needed the “Trump Package” the most before it took one final nose dive under Democratic socialist quagmire.

The fact is, the country was so f5$#@!d up after years of Biden/Obama/Bush that nothing short of a Trumpeon character could begin to correct it—and at the time of this writing, it still hasn’t begun. If this generation of Democrats don’t win in the courts, most of Trump’s policies hopefully will hold.

Trump's response to the movie in October 2024 is a perfect example of the Trumpeon character:

“A FAKE and CLASSLESS Movie written about me, called, The Apprentice (Do they even have the right to use that name without approval?), will hopefully ‘bomb.’ It’s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country, ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ My former wife, Ivana, was a kind and wonderful person, and I had a great relationship with her until the day she died. The writer of this pile of garbage, Gabe Sherman, a lowlife and talentless hack, who has long been widely discredited, knew that, but chose to ignore it. So sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this hopefully unsuccessful enterprise, are allowed to say and do whatever they want in order to hurt a Political Movement, which is far bigger than any of us. MAGA2024!”

I had forgotten his hit TV Show was called The Apprentice where he coined the phrase “Your’re fired!” I was thinking that the movie was inferring Trump himself was the apprentice of Roy Cohn, the win-at-all-costs attorney who was said to have few ethical limits other than loyalty. However, it is loyalty the film says Trump violated in his relationship with Cohn.

The Apprentice portrays young Donald first repulsed by illegal corruption, though it soon seduced him. Cohn made it look so easy. Not without allegations of corruption, Cohn’s first legal win for Donald was defending him against housing discrimination charges from his tenants. (BTW, there is a scene where Donald is collecting rent. Its rich.)

Politically the movie makes Trump out to be somewhat apolitical at his start but Cohn’s strident anti-communist ideology melds into young Trump. It helps him become an Ayn Rand type figure that has little room for sympathy for his antagonist, which is always the loser. (BTW on a personal note, I recall seeing Roy Cohn not long before his death at a night club in Los Angeles in the mid-80's. He was standing above the crowd on a kind of deck looking thin and gaunt but well dressed.)

Yet, Donald was not without his vulnerabilities. He is distraught when his alcoholic brother dies in a hotel after refusing to let him stay in his home overnight. He was struck with grief but refused condolences even from his then first wife Ivana. His father does not even escape some of Donald’s judgement.

I don't know if Trump ever took any psychotherapy, but the movie does show him getting surgery from being bald and fat. The scene, if you hadn't gotten it by then, might as well have plastered a graphic up on the screen shouting: THE DONALD YOU SEE IS NOT THE DONALD YOU GET.

One thing for sure: Hollywood will never be finished with making Trump look as unsavory, displeasing and disturbing as ever. But some would say that’s not so hard to do. By the same token, an honest film about another two term president Barack (Barry) Hussein Obama would show manipulation of a low information electorate that would reach levels of cynicism that couldn't even be conceived in the mind of Donald Trump. I know my choice.

The Apprentice can be rented on Amazon Pay-Per-View and other streamers.

90,000 in the IRS to be cut by half! Federal Income Tax and Donald Trump--things will be changing

(3.5.25 BenQQ) It seems Democrats can’t stand the idea that the federal government is as morbidly obese as its bloated tax code. No one, not even the pencil pushers in the IRS, fully understand it, yet it feeds a fast growing multi-billion dollar tax preparation industry ($32.62 billion in 2024) that itself feeds on Americans forced to deal with the Internal Revenue Service.

Americans long ago were free of federal income taxes. Lincoln created the first agency to collect taxes to fund the Civil War. The government instituted a formal agency in 1913 to pay for the coming war as well as to “soak the rich.” No, it was never in the constitution.

The IRS recently said it would be cutting its 90,000 federal workforce by 50% through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts according to people who are inside the tax collecting agency.

Add to that Trump’s External Revenue Service and the idea of creating a consumer “fair tax” (bill) and you just might see the disappearance of the federal tax collection behemoth that raids Americans' bank account and psychological stability on threat of legal force. All at the hands of IRS employees whom you pay who very well have personal animus toward you as a result of the media they consume as well as personal political inclinations.

In yesterday’saddress to congress, Trump touted no taxes on tips, overtime and social security but if you were looking to hear at least thebeginnings of a take down of the IRS, you were disappointed.Nevertheless, Trump and others have hacked away at the IRS with: his“External Revenue Service” to collect payments from governmentsand companies and the movement toward a consumer tax.

Nevertheless, we can expect the tax system to change as it always does. It is now recognized to be wildly inefficient and may even be beyond the grip of Trump and DOGE to set it right by the end of his term.

SEC Def Pete Hegseth stops cyber actions against Russia

(3.3.25 BenQQ) In what will undoubtedly raise objections from both sides of the aisle, all cyber actions against Russia is now halted. Russia is a major actor of cyber acts against the US. Hegseth's order reportedly came before Friday's explosive meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zalenskyy where he and Trump were both expected to sign a mineral rights agreement.

We expect Hegseth's order to be greeted with puzzlement from Trump supporters and evidence of old cozying up to the Russians from political opponents. Trump needs to make clear the reasons for the cyber stoppage against Russia or otherwise face political criticism even from MAGA supporters.

“How much more proof do we need that this administration is completely compromised?” said Brian Krebs, a cybercrime and security investigative journalist, wrote on infosec.exchange. “There is zero reason for the US to relax any offensive digital actions against Russia. If anything, we should be applying more.” (from Siliconangle.com)

<hr>

Retiree from Memphis IRS says they "sat around and watched CNN" most of the time while at their desks and did little actual IRS work.

(3.2.25 BenQQ) After asking him what he thought about Elon Musk's recent email to federal workers asking them what they did in the last week, a personal associate who worked at the Internal Revenue Service said he would have responded they seldom got actual work done but watched CNN almost all the time during workday. We have not verified this in any way nor did we ask if this was the case most of the time or at times when work was light. The employee left the IRS about 10 years ago before the Covid-19 Virus. He received a federal buyout as an incentive to retire. We will inquire to the IRS Memphis. IRS workers and all others may respond here.

I'm a Trump supporter, but I hate the way he and his people, treated Zelinskyy today

(2.28.25 BenQQ) Whether the display at the White House today was meant as a message to everybody going up against Trump as a “negotiator” or not, the message was certainly sent out to everybody under the sun: Don’tF***K with America. OK, that’s a good message, gets great comments in the conservative media. However, the ‘Negotiator in Chief” should know when to pull this act and when not to. I actually thought he had better discretion.

The “Don’t F***K with America” was the message from the right wing media as seen on VoiceAmerica, Fox, Newsmax, et al. Of course we know what the leftwing media will say—probably much of what I’m going to say below—but there’s one difference.

I supported--and still do--Trump. He, with all his flaws, is the still the only answer to the issues Biden and gang have put the country and the world into. I think this will probably work out with some kind of shabby deal, some land lost and a kind of security guarantee through a US-Ukraine mineral exchange. It won't be the best deal because Russia will be off the hook, probably for reparations and war crimes prosecution. It may also build up its military to attack other countries along its border.

But I am not the right wing media. I know Trump is a one way narrow thinker but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is his package. I voted for it along with the majority of the country.

But if you have few internal filters and believe everyone should love you—which seems to be a requirement of his—there’re going to be problems.

We saw that pysche play out today televised live from the White House. Here's the video:

‍

Europe is going tohave to find a way after today.

The boys, Trump and Vance, ganged up on Zelenskyy like they were schoolyard bullies with help from the peanut crowd, one of whom, just had to insultingly ask of Zelenskyy why he wasn’t wearing a suit out of respect to the president. Translation: why wasn’t he groveling at the feet of Trump? Coming from the media, that question itself was a groveling display.  Another point of fact: Zelinskyy wore the wartime garb he wears. Maybe Zelinskyy wanted to make a point: my country is at war in a fight for its life and if I fall so does Europe.

A better question from the peanut stands would have been: what about resolution of war crimes Russia has committed against the people of Ukraine for the past 3 years? Mass executions, torture of civilians, kidnapping of children who have yet to be returned to their parents and total destruction of property. All things committed by the Nazis as well and all conveniently ignored not only by the President but the media as well. The question is not in the chief negotiator’s narrative.

On top of all that: Trump gave the upper hand to Russia during the discussion. Anybody who watches the war from various reports on the internet can see the Russians are making excruciatingly slow progress. Its a stretch to say they are winning. They have squandered toward a million men and hundreds of thousands of vehicles, both of which are hard to replace. They are using WWll tactics and technology. They have to import foreign soldiers who are mangled on the battlefield by Ukrainian technology. They’ve lost air dominance, as well. The Russian people are nearing a point of rebellion against the war—an act of brazen bravery in the face of certain incarceration and disappearance. Putin is approaching a position that he either ends the war or ends his existence. Both would be preferable.

What Trump did today was an encouragement to Putin. He needed it.

As I’ve written before, Trump’s frame of reference is a CEO and the country is his company. That’s not a bad thing until you have issues like this. Other countries are at best friendly competitors and smaller countries are nothing more than pikers in a poke. I believe that’s how Trump sees Ukraine. Unfortunately, Zelenskyy had the historical misfortune to come begging at a time when Trump is on the warpath to reduce government and stop the spending.

Instead of a country that poses the opportunity to stop Russia from restoring its old Soviet boundaries, Trump sees Ukraine as a bankrupt small business across town that is not important to his big business—until of course the market is suddenly turned upside down.

How might Zelenskyy, after being tossed out of the White House unceremoniously, turn that market upside down? What if he were to go to Xi,  or someone else, and make a deal about his minerals with China. After being insulted in public by the most powerful man in the world, I’d want to at least do something. That won't happen, but maybe watch for it.

So Trump’s posturing as a neutral negotiator is a real question at this point. He has assumed the role of objective arbiter where one party is a mass casualty perpetrator and the other party is the victim. Considering the perp, I doubt any deal short of arming the entirety of the countries on his border will be a lasting one.

BenQQ’s lesson of diplomacy: a great democratic power doesn’t need to bully a small democratic country, especially if it is and has been under attack by a dictatorship bent on taking it over. Trump raised his voice, interrupted, refused to listen and let others beat up on his guest in public as well. He had the opportunity to listen, shut the balls up and then retire to a private setting and sign the deal that would at least stop, as he always says he wants to, the carnage. But instead he opted for great television--and crowed about it.

One more thing: Trump talks like the fighting is some kind of climactic weather event. He wants to “stop the fighting” like he’d rather stop the rain. He, and everybody it seems in Trump’s camp, steadfastly refuses to acknowledge Putin started the war, continues it and has wasted the land and people of Ukraine. Zelenskyy has refused to surrender to Russian slavery. But Trump thinks the parties are equal in the situation. Somebody should tell him Russia is the aggressor—and will aggress east into Europe without the pain.

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Think Trump is crazy? Maybe so, but think again...

While Democrats are trained by their wealthy elite to attack every one of Trump's aggressive out-of-the-box solutions to massive government waste, graft and fraud--despite what all that waste does to their children's future--he does not altar his basic builder's modus operandi. So it is reported that he had someone prompt out an AI rendition of his vision of "Trump Gaza" after reconstruction. Did he really authorize it? We haven't seen an official confirmation. Not unsurprising and confounding to his critics, it features a gold statue of himself as well as his lounging with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a resort poolside. As usual, reactions are and will continue to be hostile to hysterical to most but may cause pause for a thinking few: hey that may not a bad idea...

‍

Memphis Organization Termed "Grifted" by Fox News Jesse Waters

(2.25.25 BenQQ) Sourcing the Free Beacon  Fox News Jesse Watters PRIMETIME highlighted a nonprofit business he said was located in Memphis as another recipient of wasted tax dollars in the ongoing DOGE disclosures. Its website is Young, Gifted & Green | Environmental Justice | Political Advocacy. We have asked for a response from whom Waters refers to as CEO LaTricia Green but apparently is pictured as LaTricia Adams on its website. More later.

Bits o' News

(2.23.25)

The recently appointed Secretary of the Department of Defense responds to what he termed "bogus" stories in the press:  in a DoD produced video, Secretary Pete Hegseth said he, first, welcomed Trump's DOGE to find the "waste, fraud and abuse,"  over which he said the media distorts and "hyperventilates." Second, he said he is "refocusing" the budget away from Biden's priorities to those of Trump to build a "lethal fighting force." Third, the need and performance of all staff will be assessed as per DOGE guidelines across the federal government, starting with probationary employees. Here is the 8 minute video:

(2.19.25)

-Explained: Trump wants to abolish the IRS. A financial expert explains how tariffs may impact the income tax system. Video link.

-EU makes tough decision against Russia: As Trump threatens to withhold aid to stop the war with Russia (as if Ukraine started it), the EU is sending a variety of armaments to Ukraine. Europe is increasingly growing worried they may face Russia without US aid. Video link.

(2.18.25)

-Trump unleashes major weapon against Mexican drug cartels: According to CNN the Trump Administration may conceal or deny the deployment of Reaper Drones targeting drug kingpins to Mexico. Source: CIA. Video link

(2.16.25)
-Spy Balloons: Remember the spy balloon that Biden allowed to fly over the continental US until it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean? A report from Newsweek states that it contained American satellite, surveillance and sensor technology that China was using for spying. According to US intelligence, the captured data was not relayed to China.

-Controlling AI: Experts are calliing for an international AI safety research project to find ways to control AI. An expert says a powerful AI could arrive within the year with millions of copies working on different tasks which would yield 50 years of medical research in the next 5. But there’s a big downside others say, namely that AI will become self-aware and eliminate the human race. More.‍

-More on tech policy: Palmer Luckey of Andrul Industries, a robotics weapons company, said this morning on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo that Mexican drug cartels fly drones made in China across the border with drugs and munitions. Congress can authorize shooting them down, he said. Further, he said China has the ability to code and send specific instructions in digital products, such as drones and computers, that the US still buys from that country. This presents a high level risk from a national adversary of the US. Cartels have been doing this since the Biden administration, apparently taking advantage of ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris lax policies.

more coming

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The Trump and MAGA response on Ukraine--Will it work or will Trump become known as the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century?

(2.13.25 BenQQ) Neville Chamberlain before Churchill was the British Prime Minister who posed with a piece of paper signed by Adolf Hitler that promised he would not invade Czechoslovakia if he could only have a small part of it populated by ethnic Germans. Even though I heartily support Trump in most of his policies, I've raised questions those relating to Ukraine and China for a variety of reasons. More on that coming up.

With Russia's occupation of a part of Ukraine populated by ethnic Russians, Trump seems to be stepping into a Chamberlain-like pattern of history. Does he really want to make a "deal" to parse up a smaller country's land to an overwhelmingly larger continental neighbor? Dismayingly, maybe. Such a "deal" would just begin to satisfy Russia's age-old land lust continuously stoked by Putin's obsession to regain the territories of the old Russian empire.

Putin could then also claim victory in his latest patriotic war to rid his country of Nazi neighbors (never mind, all you idiots, Zelensky is Jewish). The Nazi thing has been a propagandia lie that could only be used in a dictatorship where troublesome reporters disappear. Anyway, Putin might save himself from an otherwise probable coup if people buy his story. Letting him claim victory would help him do that. Even dictators have to communicate at least something to their masses.

But back to the WWll analogy, other nations did not step in to help Czechoslovakia as have many countries sending aid of various kinds to Ukraine.

By far, the US has contributed the most money, having 'allocated' $113.4 billion of which $60 billion has been sent in military, economic and humanitarian aid. You might be surprised to know, even some of this has to be paid back.

States bordering Russia--Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia--are terrified they will be next if a shabby deal is struck that allows Russia to rebuild itself from intrepid Ukrainian resistance to the Russian boot. Poland next to Ukraine is preparing for war. NATO is in a panic over Trump's threat to withhold protection unless they picked up more of their defense budget going to the alliance. And then you have the new Secretary of Defense muttering it is unrealistic for Ukraine to expect getting back some (or all?) of its territory swallowed by Russia.

Hey, Pete, pardon my unsophisticated geo-politics here but... Can someone break into YOUR house and occupy several rooms? What other thugs (like Xi) might then get the signal to that to others' houses, hmmm? I hope Trump and his MAGA team know when to apply MAGA America First rules and when not.

More on this coming up. What do you think? Let us know here for possible publication.

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At Long Last DOJ to sue states it claims are obstructing federal law

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The Prophets Say We’re in for Big Trouble in 2025
--and its NOT because of Donald Trump

(2.3.25 BenQQ script) With Trump’s cabinet members this week fanning out like righteous avengers to:
-get 6 Americans freed from Maduro's failed state of Venezuela,
-capture and deport criminal aliens even from blue city protections,
-force Mexico to keep illegal aliens from trying to border cross with their own soldiers,
-station US forces on the other side of the Southern border,
-revanche Panama from China and reclaim original parts of the Panama Canal agreement in name of national security,
-kill terrorists in Somalia,
-levy tariffs on countries whom Trump says has taken advantage historically of the U.S.,
-and a host of other massive actions and policies he has declared as goals.
then it might be understandable what the prophets are saying about him.

And the prophets, ancient and modern alike, are saying the Big Guy is pissed and they don’t mean Donald Trump. They prophesy 2025 will be a year of annus cataclysmus, my way of saying, we’re up **** creek if they are right.

Prophets, that is, mortal human beings who say and sometimes show they can foretell the future, have always been popular. They watch the news too.

And, according to a 2018 survey of the Pew Research Center, 41% of Americans believed in psychics. A 2022 YouGov poll showed 20%. A 2005 Gallup poll found 25% trusted astrology. Whether you agree or not, that’s a lot of voters. Now to the point:

However, I don’t call every prophet a fraud. They just make it hard to believe. The rule that most prophets say is celestially set, is that we are supposed to fill in the gaps for belief. Don’t expect specificity within your own cultural norms and language. Therefore, we can never prove them wrong or right.

One, Troy Black, an otherwise average guy,  has kept an online archive of what he says are his conversations with God. (He did kind of predict the recent LA fires.) In the short video I posted, you can see him talk about how God told him Donald Trump will be confronted with a “traitor” close to him. Here is a short clip inside of which is a link to his full prophecy.

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Another prophet said Trump was an alcoholic Indian priest in a previous life. More on other prophets later.

At any rate, prophets have always been the object of suspicion especially among those who call themselves rationalists. After all, you don’t need to be a prophet to have announced before February 2022 that Europe would be ablaze in or by 2025, a good guess considering the actions and rhetoric of Europe’s biggest dictator most like Hitler, that is, Putin.

Second, no prophet worth his or her name would ever set a specific date for any event or world change. In the first day of Prophet School, students have got to learn don’t be specific. Specificity breeds disbelief. So may be why we have Nostradamus writing in vague quatrains and the blind early 20^thcentury a conflict in Europe in the 21st century would devastate the population.

I’m going shortly to write about other prophets that have mentioned 2025 and/or Trump. They seem to be connected. Sign up to get notices of such.

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Trump shows full government response to Reagan National Airport Crash in presser

(1-30.24 BenQQ) In his first official press conference addressing a national tragedy, President Trump held a press conference on the Reagan National Airport crash last night. Illustrating an all of government response, Vice President JD Vance, his recently confirmed Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy participated in the presser.

Excerpt from full presser: In what is surely to generate much criticism, Trump conjectured DEI hires contributed to the crash. Video: Fox 35.

A video captured by an earth cam reportedly shows a passenger plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter colliding and falling into the Potomac River at Reagan National Airport Wednesday Jan. 29.

‍Now Democrats are beginning to realize...

(BenQQ 1/27/25) Here's the fast growing realization: the hardest part of being a Democrat today, one week after Trump got started, is to convince yourself you had any reason to ever vote for Obama, much less Harris. Trump has blasted into the minds of everybody. It is cultural wakeup call from a deep sleep. Many are waking up as if from an hypnotic trance. If you were subject to being entranced by Biden, you have a problem of personal agency. Because so many looked the other way at the long discredited policies of the Biden administration as well as his alleged criminal activities regarding his documented family corruption, its time for what we call in the south a "come to Jesus moment." Media in blue cities like television stations and local papers like the local Memphis Commercial Appeal pushed or let Biden slide until they were, well, blue in their faces. Now, however, in one week, Trump is suddenly cool and the voices of the Democrats are either drifting off to an embarrassed silence save for some irrelevant grumbling or they are popping up to endorse Trump outright. What all this teaches: rank and file Democrats are learning politicos don't have their interest at heart other than manipulating them for easy votes. What else will be easy: comparing Trump-Vance to Biden-Harris to the point of Democrats being fundamentally put out by their own party.

Ready to get rid of the annual Tax torture?

After years of talking about it in grumbling anti-tax circles the Trump has surfaced another idea that every American should wake up over: we don't have to have an income tax. The American government can raise as much money outside of the internal revenue service as that service itself. Trump's ideas affect in one way or another every American--especially this idea: The External Revenue Service composed of tariffs, fees and taxes (scroll down for more below). Who knows how this will work out, but a part of it could also be a consumer tax. Getting rid of Biden's DEI IRS agent hires who hold your freedom in their hands would be yet another declaration of freedom.

Consume mostly liberal media? Try some options

We will make this a regular feature

In the news this week and prior 1.25.25 with links
Use your browser back link to come back to this page or type www.memphispixnews.com.

• Trump fires government inspectors in order to hire people that will follow presidential directives.
• Trump declassifies assassination files of JFK, RFK and MLK.
• Rundown of Trump's executive orders.
• Trump speaks about his no tax on tips proposal.
• Trump orders federal workers to show back up at their offices. Working at home ends.
• Mexico refuses to accept US deportation flight.
• Trump dispatches ICE agents into sanctuary cities.
• Trump visits North Carolina to make amends to Biden FEMA incompetence.
• Michael Schelenberger exposes who's at fault in LA.
• Hollywood actor Mel Gibson slams California government for mismanagement.
• Could it be? Jennifer Aniston and Barack Obama affair rumors.
• Trump blasts chastened California Democrats to their faces for their incompetence.
• Pete Hegseth confirmed as Secretary of Defense.
• "Hollywood lefties get a taste of their own medicine."
• LA Times editor regrets endorsing Democratic mayor.
• Democratic Mayor Karen Bass trapped by reporter in classic no escape questions.
• A big media Democrat declares "We're not falling for it anymore."
• Bill Maher switching sides?
• MSNBC's Joy Reid buys the farm.
• When The View's Sunny Hostin knows she f****d up.

More on a more or less daily basis. If you'd like to see a link listed, please send URL here for consideration.
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BenQQ is an agency that works for businesses in the new conservative constitutional environment. BenQQ is dedicated to supporting businesses and organizations (B&Os) in the new Trump economy.  Its flagship operation in Memphis is memphispixnews.com, which is produced to provide different opinion and news in the MidSouth. Memphispixnews.com is part of the BenQQ ecosystem.

BenQQ is run by Ben "BenQQ," a writer, photographer and filmmaker, originally from and living in Memphis. He started out as a newspaper editor in Mississippi before then working in Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Memphis in various communications positions ranging from the largest membership organization to the smallest business. He has produced documentary films, commercials, news, copywriting and a wide range of other marketing and promotion product.

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