Old Glory Vortex

The US attorney’s office in Washington, DC, is hoping for a new era of relative calm as the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital switches from one outspoken, controversial ally of the president to another. ⚖️🏛 Former Fox News host and newly tapped interim US Attorney Jeanine Pirro took her oath of office on Wednesday and now leads one of the most powerful federal prosecution offices in the country. 🇺🇸📺 Pirro takes on a position that is under the microscope of Democrats, Republicans, and the Trump administration after Ed Martin, her predecessor, had his nomination withdrawn as it faltered on Capitol Hill over: his praise of an alleged Nazi sympathizer, his refusal to say there was violence at the US Capitol riot 🧨, and his comments denigrating police officers who defended the building that day. 👮‍♂️🏛 Employees at the US attorney’s office are hoping that, despite her public persona as a bellicose cable news host, Pirro will bring a more stable leadership presence to the position responsible for running federal criminal investigations in DC. 🔍 Some DC prosecutors told CNN that under Martin, managing the public comments by the interim US attorney with continuing their work without interruption felt impossible. Some joked that they hope Pirro will focus on TV appearances to allow prosecutors to litigate cases without distractions. 📺⚖️

“Hopefully Thursday will be better than the past four months,”

one official inside the office quipped of Pirro’s first full day in the job. 🙏 #Pirro #prosecutor Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

President Donald Trump is not the only one in his administration seeking a new plane. ✈️ The Department of Homeland Security is planning on a new Gulfstream V, an agency official confirmed Wednesday, after the anticipated acquisition spilled into public view during a congressional oversight hearing. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois) questioned the spending plan during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the U.S. Coast Guard and in a social media post, contending that the aircraft would be primarily used by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. Underwood said the funding, which she placed at $50 million, would be taken from the budget of the Coast Guard, which is overseen by the DHS.

“She already has a Gulfstream 5, by the way, but she wants a new one paid for with your taxpayer dollars,”

Underwood wrote on X. Referring to the Coast Guard, Underwood added:

“We should be investing in our national security and improving the lives of our Coasties — not wasting taxpayer dollars on luxury travel and political stunts.” 🚨💸

#Noem #plane Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Harvard's cheap copy of the Magna Carta turned out to be real In 1946, Harvard Law School paid $27.50 for a rather faded manuscript (at that time it was about 7 pounds), and since then it has been kept in the university library for almost eight decades. Now, having studied the document, two academic experts on medieval history independently came to the conclusion that this is an official copy of the Magna Carta, made in 1300, under King Edward I, and considered lost, so the true value of the ancient manuscript may exceed 1 million dollars. #Harvard #MagnaCarta Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired two top intelligence officials who oversaw a recent intelligence assessment which contradicted President Donald Trump’s assertions that the gang Tren de Aragua is operating under the direction of the Venezuelan regime, two officials said Wednesday. The assessment undermined the rationale for Trump invoking a rarely used 1798 law, the Alien Enemies Act, to allow suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members in the U.S. to be summarily deported without standard due process.  #TdA #Trump Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

President Donald Trump's approval rating rose this week as Americans worried less about his handling of the economy and prospects of a recession, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Tuesday. The two-day poll showed 44% of respondents approved of the Republican leader's performance, up from 42% in a prior Reuters/Ipsos survey carried out April 25-27. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Approval of Trump's economic stewardship rose to 39% from 36%.Trump began his term with a 47% approval rating, and saw his popularity tick lower as Americans worried about a series of trade wars he launched since taking office on January 20. #Trump #Poll #ratings Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Donald Trump rolled the dice and came up snakes-eyes. He thought he could bully China, but China called his bluff. Now he must report his failure to the American people by trying to make the biggest trade blunder in the nation’s history, look like a ‘stunning triumph of the will’. Good luck with that. Fortunately, we have a reliable metric for determining whether Trump succeeded or failed. If China makes concessions to preserve trade with the US, then we can say that Trump ‘won’. But if Trump is forced to remove his tariffs before China agrees to resume trade, then Trump ‘lost’. So, it’s really just a matter of who blinks first. #Trump #Tariffs Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

New York City’s housing crisis is no secret, and the city’s low-cost housing landscape remains extremely difficult to navigate, including the housing lottery system theoretically designed to provide a solution for the dire need for accommodation. 🏙🏠 A problem brewing for decades, the crisis worsens as vacancy rates drop to 1.4% citywide and under 1% for units priced $2,400 or lower, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). 📉🏢 Meanwhile, rents continue to climb: a 2024 report from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander found the median asking rent for available apartments was \$3,500 a month. To afford such a unit, a household would need to earn \$140,000 per year, based on the standard that housing costs should not exceed one-third of income. 💸📈 In recent decades, city and state initiatives—including widely promoted housing lotteries—give middle-income New Yorkers a chance to apply for below-market-rate units in new developments. 🎟🏘 However, the lottery system, overseen by HPD and accessed via NYC Housing Connect, is overwhelmed with applications amid the crisis. In 2024 alone, the platform received six million applications for just 10,000 units. 😰📲 HPD Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani testified at an April 29 City Council hearing, noting each new development typically receives an average of 16,000 applications—underscoring the scale of NYC’s ongoing housing emergency. ⚠️🏚 #NY #HousingCrisis Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

House Republicans kicked off a blockbuster week for President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” as Speaker Mike Johnson tries to stave off a revolt from any faction that could tank the sweeping GOP agenda. ⚡️🏛 As House lawmakers returned to Washington on Tuesday, key committees launched into debate on the bill — marathon sessions that could last 24 hours or longer, aiming to move pieces of legislation closer to full House consideration. ⏳📜 Even with multiple hurdles ahead, House GOP leadership is confident they’ll take up Trump’s tax and spending cuts package in a floor vote by Memorial Day, a target once seen as overly ambitious by some GOP members. 📅💰 But there are warning signs: Johnson faces friction from both moderates and hardliners, with unresolved policy sticking points. With a slim majority, he needs almost complete unity to advance the bill — and many expect Trump will have to weigh in to deliver votes. 🤝⚠️ One of the biggest issues: a tax break that mostly benefits blue states, despised by conservatives but demanded by about six Republicans. This dispute boiled over in a Tuesday night meeting, with one lawmaker asking another to leave out of frustration. 😡🚪 Separately, a Medicaid-focused committee hearing saw contentious debate and 26 protesters arrested for interruptions. At one point, the Energy and Commerce panel descended into infighting over the word "lying," forcing GOP Chairman Brett Guthrie to repeatedly intervene. ⚔️👮‍♂️ #GOP #Bills #Congress Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Omaha poised to have first Black leader after mayor concedes race Omaha’s first female mayor has conceded the city’s mayoral race to a man who is poised to become the community’s first Black mayor. Voters in Omaha were set to make history Tuesday by either reelecting the city’s first female mayor to a rare fourth term or electing the community’s first Black mayor. The winner will lead Nebraska’s largest city, which makes up nearly a quarter of the state’s population. The race between Mayor Jean Stothert and challenger John Ewing primarily revolved around local issues like street repairs and garbage service, but in the final stretch, the campaign touched on more national, hot-button issues such as President Donald Trump’s administration and transgender rights. Stothert was trailing by nearly 11,000 votes in unofficial results late Tuesday night. At her election night event, Stothert said she called Ewing and conceded in the race, according to CNN-affiliate KETV.

“I called John Ewing, and I congratulated him,”

Stothert said.

“John Ewing is inheriting tonight a great city, and we leave a strong foundation for the city that we love. We are grateful and we are hopeful.”

In campaigning for a fourth term, Stothert has portrayed Omaha as a city on a hot streak with a revitalized riverfront, plans moving ahead on a streetcar line and progress repairing city streets.

“I have plans and can talk about them, and they are working,”

Stothert told the Omaha World-Herald. #Omaha #Black Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

When he approved a campaign to reopen shipping in the Red Sea by bombing the Houthi militant group into submission, President Trump wanted to see results within 30 days of the initial strikes two months ago. By Day 31, Mr. Trump, ever leery of drawn-out military entanglements in the Middle East, demanded a progress report, according to administration officials. But the results were not there. The United States had not even established air superiority over the Houthis. Instead, what was emerging after 30 days of a stepped-up campaign against the Yemeni group was another expensive but inconclusive American military engagement in the region. The Houthis shot down several American MQ-9 Reaper drones and continued to fire at naval ships in the Red Sea, including an American aircraft carrier. And the U.S. strikes burned through weapons and munitions at a rate of about $1 billion in the first month alone. #Trump #Houthis Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

House Democrats erupted into fury and profane invective Tuesday as Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) forced a vote on his rogue efforts to impeach President Trump. The vote could be tough for many Democrats, who feel impeachment is politically foolish but are facing demands from their grassroots to mirror Trump's shock-and-awe tactics.

"It's going to cause Democrats in [competitive] seats to make tough decisions,"

said one House Democrat. Several lawmakers told Axios they believe Thanedar's impeachment efforts are clearly aimed at galvanizing support in his contested Democratic primary. A senior House Democrat, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer insights into the private reactions of their colleagues, told Axios:

"People are pissed."

Driving the news: Thanedar took to the House floor Tuesday afternoon to notice his seven articles of impeachment as privileged, which forces the House to vote on them within two legislative days. In other words, the House has to act by Thursday. Republicans will likely introduce a motion to table — or kill — Thanedar's measure. The measure accuses Trump of a litany of offenses, including abuse of power, corruption and "tyranny," mostly related to his consolidation of power and his personal finances. What we're hearing:

"This is the dumbest f***ing thing. Utterly selfish behavior,"

said a third House Democrat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about a colleague. A fourth House Democrat said of Thanedar, simply:

"What a dumbs***."

A fifth called Thanedar's maneuver "irrelevant" because Republicans motion to table "will succeed," predicting some Democrats may vote for the GOP motion. The first House Democrat who spoke anonymously said it's "a waste of f***ing time." Zoom in: Some Democrats also see Thanedar's push as a distraction from their party's efforts to message against Republicans' massive tax cut bill.

"We need to focus on reconciliation,"

said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the chair of the New Democrat Coalition.

"100% of our energy is on dealing with this."

#Trump #Impeachment #Democrats Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

💊 President Donald Trump touted a new executive order aimed at more closely aligning drug prices in the U.S. with those in Europe and the UK, potentially making medications cheaper for millions of Americans. 🇺🇸💶 📜 The EO does not specify which drugs will be targeted, but a similar policy from 2020 focused on drugs administered in hospitals or clinics under Medicare Part B, which covers inpatient drugs for seniors. 👴👵 ⚖️ That 2020 proposal — which included immunosuppressants, chemotherapy, and vaccines — was blocked by a federal judge, who ruled that the government had overstepped its bounds by sidestepping Congress. 🚫🏛 🔍 The new EO appears broader, referencing both “American patients” and “public and private payers”, hinting at a wider scope of drug pricing reform. 📈💼 #DrugPrices #ExecutiveOrder #Healthcare #Medicare #Trump Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🏛 House Republicans have unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” — at least $880 billion in cuts, largely to Medicaid, to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks. 💸 📄 Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation revealed late Sunday is touching off the biggest political fight over health care since Republicans tried but failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) during Trump’s first term in 2017. 🧾 While Republicans insist they are simply rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse” to generate savings through new work and eligibility requirements, Democrats warn that millions of Americans will lose coverage. 🚨 📉 A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over the decade. ⚠️ \#GOP #Medicaid #Budget Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Macron says ‘Netanyahu Is Inhuman’ Macron says Netanyahu’s policy regarding humanitarian aid to Gaza is shameful and inhuman, and that Europeans should consider increasing sanctions.

“What he’s doing is shameful,” Macron says during an interview on TF1 television.

“My job is to do everything I can to make it stop,” he says, adding that the possibility of revisiting the European Union’s cooperation agreements with Israel is on the table.

These pacts include terms that include the absence of customs duties on certain products. Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip since early March, when it resumed its military campaign against terror group Hamas following the collapse of a ceasefire deal, during which thousands of aid trucks entered the enclave. #Macron #Netanyahu #inhuman 📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Trump sends Secretary of State Mark Rubio to Istanbul 🕊🌍 US President Donald Trump announced that Mark Rubio, his Secretary of State, will travel to Turkey for upcoming peace talks. Earlier, the President of Ukraine had called on Trump himself to attend the talks, hoping to increase pressure on Putin. In response, the White House stated that a visit by Trump to Istanbul is possible only if Putin personally leads the Russian delegation. So far, the Kremlin has not disclosed its delegation's composition, though it confirmed Russian diplomats will attend the May 15 talks in Istanbul. Zelensky will travel to Turkey regardless. For now, his agenda only includes a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 🤝🇹🇷 #Trump #Rubio #Russia #Ukraine Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🗿Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday the possibility that some House Democrats could face arrest for their actions outside a New Jersey ICE facility is “obviously” a “very drastic” step in the situation. The Mayor of Newark was already arrested in connection with the protest, sparking outrage among other Democrats. House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. McCaul joined CBS News senior political correspondent and host Ed O’Keefe for Sunday’s edition of Face the Nation, and talked mostly about President Donald Trump on the topics of Israel, Ukraine, and foreign affairs. But on the subject of the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, McCaul seemed cautious. #GOP #ICE Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) called reports that President Trump was planning to accept a luxury jet from Qatar “a grift” and said the president must seek Congressional approval first.✈️❌

“Trump must seek Congress’ consent to take this $300 million gift from Qatar,”

Raskin wrote on X on Sunday. He was responding to reporting from ABC News that Trump was preparing to accept, from the royal family of Qatar, a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet, which would be available for Trump to use as Air Force One through the end of his term, at which point it would be transferred to the Trump presidential library, ABC News reported, citing sources familiar with the proposed arrangement.

“The Constitution is perfectly clear: no present ‘of any kind whatever’ from a foreign state without Congressional permission,”

Raskin continued in his post.

“A gift you use for four years and then deposit in your library is still a gift (and a grift),”

he added. Raskin, the top Democrat on House Judicary Committee and former ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, has criticized Trump’s handling of foreign gift disclosure. He led a committee investigation that concluded in 2023 that the first Trump administration failed to publicly report more than 100 gifts from foreign countries worth a total of more than $250,000. Trump, on Sunday, acknowledged his administration was planning to accept the aircraft “temporarily” as a free gift but stressed that the Defense Department would be participating in the “very public and transparent transaction.” In a statement to NewsNation earlier Sunday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not confirm the specifics of the deal but said,

“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”

#Trump #Qatar #GOP Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

US Secretary of Health swims with grandchildren in a river of feces🤮 Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US Secretary of Health, known for his doubts about evidence-based medicine, once again caused a wave of outrage. As reported by the New York Times, the nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy swam in Rock Creek, a body of water where swimming has been banned for about 50 years. Rock Creek flows through the northwestern part of the District of Columbia (Washington). During heavy rains or bad weather, excess sewage is discharged into it, so the water there is heavily contaminated with faeces and bacteria, including E. coli. These bacteria can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and in rare cases, sepsis (blood poisoning). #Kennedy #Health Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

🌐Interesting data from the 2025 Democracy Perception Index survey, which involved 110 thousand people in 100 countries of the world.  The perception of the United States in other countries of the world has on average worsened over the past year from+22% to -5%. America's reputation in the EU has been particularly badly damaged. Meanwhile, China has improved its position, overtaking the US for the first time. Donald Trump was less popular in the world than Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. He has the worst ratings among a number of political, cultural, and spiritual leaders, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates,the late Pope Francis, singer Taylor Swift, and Kim Kardashian. #Democracy #Trump Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

“We suffer”,

said Seneca,

“more often in imagination than in reality.”

The Stoic philosopher could have been talking about the generations. Members of Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, say that social media ruined their childhood. Millennials, between 1981 and 1996, complain that they cannot buy a house. Baby-boomers, between 1946 and 1964, grouse that they face an uncertain retirement. Many forget about Generation X, which is made up of those born between 1965 and 1980. Proxied by Google searches the world is less than half as interested in Gen X as it is in millennials, Gen Zers or baby-boomers. There are few podcasts or memes about Gen X. Aside from Douglas Coupland’s “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”, a novel published in 1991 which popularised the moniker, there are few books discussing the cohort. In Britain Gen Xers are less likely than members of any other age group to know the generation to which they belong. #GenX #GenZ Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸