Odds and Ends — 23 September 2025

The Trump administration canceled grants for street safety measures, pedestrian trails and bike lanes in communities around the country this month, each time offering a simple rationale for yanking back federal aid: the projects aren’t designed for cars.

———— The Epstein Coverup ————

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1970233280411877672

https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1969810529125638519

How Arizona voters are set to put Mike Johnson in a corner

Speaker Mike Johnson is about to confront one of his biggest leadership tests yet, courtesy of voters in southwest Arizona.
They are highly likely to elect a new Democratic House member in a special election Tuesday. That would-be lawmaker, Adelita Grijalva, told Politico she plans to become the 218th and clinching supporter of a bipartisan effort to force public disclosure of federal investigative files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The kind of authoritarianism I fear is emerging in the United States, which political scientists call ‘competitive authoritarianism,’ doesn’t involve the outright criminalization of the opposition or formal martial law. Instead, it depends on perverting the law, modifying and twisting it with the intent of incrementally undermining the opposition’s ability to compete fairly in elections.

https://twitter.com/girlsreallyrule/status/1970116444919898141

How Should a DOJ Political Appointee Think About a Trump-Weaponized DOJ?

“At some point, it defies your oath to serve a president who rejects the rule of law and bends the Department to his abuses.”

Welcome to Mobocracy

The president openly demands his attorney general file charges against named political enemies despite no solid evidence they have committed any crimes.
One of his senior officials, Tom Homan, is on an FBI tape receiving $50,000 in cash in bribes, and he remains in office with the full backing of the president. Megyn Kelly says of this bribe: ‘WE DO NOT CARE.’
This is a criminal enterprise, not an administration.

https://twitter.com/GregTSargent/status/1970098129782403084

———— Blatant In-Your-Face Corruption ————

https://twitter.com/RepMGS/status/1970107414520139868

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1970270525516865932

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1969909033768571072

https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1970058555203162596

https://twitter.com/visionergeo/status/1970076356391174360

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1970090952644514131

https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1970138689578885182

https://twitter.com/reshetz/status/1970242996114464792

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

Tariffs Will Hit Slowing U.S. Economy Hard in 2026, OECD Says

Growth has been more resilient than expected, the research body says, but some indicators are weakening

———— Melon Husk ————

Elon Musk’s Father Accused of Child Sexual Abuse

Errol Musk has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, a Times investigation found. Family members have appealed to Elon Musk for help.

———— Hegseth on the Rocks ————

Pentagon Delays Cleanup of ‘Forever Chemicals’

The Department of Defense has quietly delayed its cleanup of harmful ‘forever chemicals’ at nearly 140 military installations across the country.
The Pentagon has been one of the most intensive users of these chemicals, which are also known as PFAS and are a key ingredient in firefighting foam. For decades, crews at U.S. military bases would train to battle flames by lighting jet-fuel fires, then putting them out with large amounts of foam, which would leach into the soil and groundwater.