We just got a LOT of new details about the new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) and how it will operate… And perhaps biggest of all, how FAST it will operate! The two biggest details contained in President Trump’s announcement of the creation of DOGE are: ONE, the department will provide “advice and guidance from outside of Government and will partner with the White House and OMB to drive large scale reform. TWO, it will conclude no later than July 4, 2026 (530 days from Inauguration). Important details https://t.co/L0KHaMDiFn — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024 See full announcement here: I love this post which rightly points out that President Trump is giving Elon Musk (and Vivek) 530 days to get all of this done and wrapped up, and then ends with: “The math wonders what Elon will do with the remaining 502 days.” Spot on! NEWS: President Trump gives “Superhuman” Elon Musk 530 days to make government efficient. The math wonders what Elon will do with the remaining 502 days. https://t.co/FtxMXDqe07 — ALEX (@ajtourville) November 13, 2024 There is now a new Twitter handle called @DOGE that already has over 500,000 Followers and growing fast. Recommend following, the entertainment will be off the charts: Tweets by DOGE It has already posted to say “Working overtime to ensure your tax dollars will be spent wisely!” It begins https://t.co/gVhuWFuBNz — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024 It’s quite stunning that while most people believe 4 years will not be enough time to truly clean up Government, President Trump just cut that time down to basically a year and a half! This could just be an example of “aim for the moon and even if you fail you’ll still land among the stars” but I think President Trump, Elon and Vivek really think they can do it! I think they’re going to come in swinging and never let up! Everyone doubted Elon and Twitter, and then….he was right! He did it there, he can do it here! I think BioClandestine on Telegram said it perfectly with this post: I completely agree…. President Trump is sending the signal that he wants to have all the hard work done by America’s 250th Birthday and then turn the remainder of his Second Term into a big party! Incredible! Back to DOGE…. Elon and Vivek point out that what they are doing is not just to honor the Mandate from the American people in the 2024 Election but also the law of the land as recently noted in several Supreme Court cases (and they’re 100% right): https://t.co/6dNgYsoHHu — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024 It probably goes without saying, but as you might expect from the man who owns Twitter, the entire operation of DOGE will be posted online, crowdsourced and public. Full disclosure! And I believe that will be their secret weapon. Most of this garbage has been allowed to happen because it was hidden in the shadows, Americans too busy with their daily lives to know or care.  Not publicized by the “MSM”. But now the MSM is dying and Elon is going to blast this out for the entire world to see. DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & and abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reform & they deserve to be part of fixing it. https://t.co/iRXmgT6ZuQ — Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 13, 2024 They’re also going to turn it into a big of a game, with a Leaderboard for most waste exposed. They’re not only going to clean up the USA but they’re going to have fun and laugh the whole while! Incredible. And now let’s end with some examples of some of the first things Elon and Vivek may be cleaning up. Starting with no more $20,000 for Drag Shows in Ecuador — sounds like a good idea to me: In honor of Elon and Vivek being picked as the heads of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), here some of the dumbest uses of your tax dollars. 5. $20,000 to drag shows in Ecuador. 4. $30,000 to study the secret language of butchers in Paris. 3. $750,000 for the New… pic.twitter.com/I7HCjyjXbh — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 13, 2024 No more spending $1 million to decide whether GIN or TEQUILA makes a sunfish more violent: DOGE will fix this. pic.twitter.com/RESkUSRoUD — Rothmus (@Rothmus) November 13, 2024 No more spending $4.5 million to spray alcoholic rats with bobcat urine: Some of this stuff is not merely a waste of money, but outright evil https://t.co/OzNFTaXz3i — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024 Folks….the Hammer of Justice is coming! And it’s going to be glorious and highly entertaining! The Hammer of Justice is coming — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024 I thought we’d end with a video for the visual learners out there. As he often does, my friend Kevin “MeetKevin” Paffrath has done an excellent job summarizing everything into one video. Enjoy: FULL TRANSCRIPT: MeetKevin: We now have updates from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on what they’re going to do with Doge. I can’t believe this is happening so fast, and it comes at the same time CNBC just had this to say: “New Treasury data out just now shows the government spent $882 billion on interest costs just in October alone. That was the first month of the new fiscal year, but that is actually an 8% decrease from the same month a year ago. It is a reflection of lower rates, not exactly of any progress made in reducing the nation’s debt load. Overall for the month, the Treasury ran up a deficit of $121 billion on an adjusted basis—not exactly a great start for the fiscal year. This was due to both lower revenues, down about 19% in part because of lower corporate taxes coming in, and higher spending, which was up an adjusted 8% overall. That higher spending was driven in part by the Department of Education, where costs for the month were up 19% from the same month a year ago. At Veterans Affairs, they were up 177%.” Guys, I want to add, we get this glimpse at the Treasury’s budget every single month, but this one comes on the same day that we’re talking about Elon Musk and this new Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to cut $2 trillion out of the $6 trillion federal budget. So, with spending up at Education and the VA last month, those are by no means the largest buckets of federal spending, but they are two areas where there’s been a lot of focus and discussion on cutting—or maybe even eliminating—the entire agency. If you want to cut a third of the budget, I guess you have to start somewhere. Clean energy is preparing for a messy transition. The Department of Energy is racing to give out money for green projects before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Now, yeah, right—let’s rush to spend more money before Trump takes it away. It’s just such a disgrace and a mess. So, some things that we really want to address here. First, Elon Musk gave the high-five emoji to suggesting that we will have “Open Gov.” That’s a reference to OpenAI, though hopefully that doesn’t go from a nonprofit to a for-profit. He also reiterated that Doge is only authorized for 21 months through July 4, 2026—that’ll be a few months before midterms. Worth noting, so they’ll probably need to wrap up and show some progress by then to go into midterms and hopefully brag about it. Doge is designed to provide advice and guidance to the government from outside the government. That’s a quote from within the announcement of Doge. Now, this is actually interesting because it prevents Elon or Vivek from having to divest from any larger role with the White House. I think that’s fascinating because you don’t want Elon to have to divest from X, Tesla, or SpaceX. Now he can have substantial influence inside government without actually having to follow the limitations that government might put on him. We’ve seen Elon Musk engage in wanting to get rid of wasteful spending, like what James Lankford in Congress has previously alleged. In fact, he publishes what he calls a “waste booklet,” and there’s an example where he references $20,000 getting funneled to the U.S. State Department in Ecuador. And that money was being used specifically for… well, take a listen yourself: “Last year, the State Department did a grant to Ecuador to host 12 drag shows in Ecuador with American tax dollars.” Yeah, so as usual, I like to fact-check these claims, and when I did, I found Newsweek had a pretty good breakdown on it. It’s true—12 drag shows, potentially even an advertisement for diversity, equity, inclusion, and money for posters and other information. Newsweek has the story on this titled, “Fact Check: Is the Biden Administration funding drag shows in Ecuador?” It’s all disguised as “we’re just sending money to our embassy over there,” but it’s not a good look. Then, there’s $350,000 being funneled to “AI smart toilets.” Apparently, there are 35 to 37 “anal creases,” like an anal fingerprint, so we can identify different people and track their urine color, flow rate, and stool to measure health. Quote, “The data does not go down the sewer but up to a secure internet cloud.” I put my sources on this over at ec.com if you want to see it. The National Science Foundation even joined in with a $1 million grant for internet-connected toilets that can do passive urinalysis testing. I’m trying to think of how this could be useful—maybe in a doctor’s office or hospital—but why not let Private Industry come up with something and actually prove it first? This whole thing just seems like a waste of resources. Vivek also says they’re going to open-source their work. He’s been tweeting about this and how they’ll open-source all data for Doge. They’re even considering a potential leaderboard to showcase the biggest examples of government waste they’re able to catch. They’re not actually in government, so they won’t be able to implement these cuts but will be able to make recommendations. Elon Musk mentioned in an interview, “We have 428 agencies in government. Why do we have more agencies than the years our country has existed?” Maybe we could cap government agencies at 99. It’s an interesting analogy—lots of agency growth. I mean, the government does have a lot to handle, but then again, money’s getting funneled to drag shows in Ecuador and AI smart toilets. Another example: Germany was funding bike lanes in Peru through embassies and local grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, spending over $20 million on these bike lanes to improve the global climate for Germans. The Department of Government Efficiency might help evaluate these things. Elon also interacted with a chart about income-driven repayment programs. Most debt forgiveness seems to go to degrees like cosmetology, biology, music, fine arts, and liberal arts, while degrees in engineering and computer science receive the least. The concept makes sense because debt forgiveness is income-driven, but it skews towards lower-productivity degrees, which can distort the free market. The Department of Government Efficiency will post all actions online for maximum transparency. If the public thinks we’re cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know. There will also be a leaderboard for the most ridiculous examples of tax dollar spending. This will be both tragic and entertaining. Elon’s also been critical of the former CEO of NPR, who gave a TED Talk that went viral in a bad way. She suggested that our “reverence for the truth” might prevent us from finding consensus and getting things done. She used Wikipedia as an example, saying that being 100% committed to the truth can sometimes stop progress. But I disagree, and so does Elon. If consensus is prioritized over the truth, you risk silencing minority opinions that might actually hold the truth. When I ran for governor, I noticed Wikipedia editors with a bias towards Newsom’s side. They curated what they saw as the truth, which sometimes wasn’t accurate. This issue is something Elon Musk has been keen on tackling with X, promoting a platform for free speech where people can read different perspectives. Doge’s Department of Government Efficiency has already gained traction, and Elon posted today, “It begins,” working overtime to ensure tax dollars are spent wisely. It’s the second post on their mandate, and it already has thousands of followers. A humorous fake graphic has Elon at DOE.gov asking, “What did you get done this week?”—referencing the time he fired 80% of X’s staff but kept the platform running. There’s also talk of a college exit exam. Trump suggested that if we have entrance exams, why not test if students have actually learned something before graduating? His proposed reforms aim to overhaul education and eliminate wasteful spending, targeting accreditors he believes let colleges drift too far from education’s core purpose. With so many federal agencies, wasteful spending on things like drag shows in Peru or AI toilets might need explaining or reconsideration. The Department of Government Efficiency’s transparency could help reveal and address these issues. You can follow Doge for updates on this progress, and I think it’ll be fascinating to see how far they go with this approach.

When was the last time you stopped to notice the little joys in life? When the world is full of chaos and uncertainty, it’s these smaller moments that tend to go unnoticed. We take for granted moments that make life worth living. That’s why, when we do stop to appreciate them, life gets a lot more hopeful. Luckily for a man named Josh, he managed to slow down and notice one of these moments that took place between his wife, Savannah, and their two kids. While Josh went about his day, he spotted the three of them spending time together outside. Odds are, it was the music that caught his attention first. But it’s what he saw that kept his attention. From inside the house, Josh could see Mom dancing away with their two daughters. The pure joy radiating from their private dance party warmed Dad’s heart. So much so that he couldn’t help but share it online. See for yourself in the heartwarming video below! @joshandsav still mentally preparing myself for 2 more Savannahs’ when they get older ♬ original sound – joshandsav Dad Catches Mom and Daughters Dancing Together in the Backyard The moment is so simple: a mom and her two daughters dancing together in the backyard. But it’s also an important one. These are the fun times those two little girls will no doubt look back on fondly as sweet reminders of their mom’s love and care. How cool is that? “The fact that you as her husband notice this and record these moments for her and her girls… thank you from all of us moms,” someone in the comment section of the video shares, with another adding, “They will always be dancing because of Savannah!! She’s got them moves.” “No seriously. A blessing to have a mommy like this,” a third person points out. “Savannah really heals parts of my inner child.” You can find the source of this story’s featured image here! The post Wholesome: Dad Catches Mom & Daughters Dancing In The Yard appeared first on InspireMore.

Growing giant sunflowers is a passion. When they are ready to turn into sunflower seeds, the petals fall off and you can harvest the “meat,” or flowerhead. Unfortunately, when you have a child who doesn’t understand the process, they may donate it to charity prematurely. In this case, the friendly neighborhood squirrel was gifted the the giant sunflower head, minus the petals, and he had a party. @justivon89 I bought this sunflower from the apple orchard on sunday so i can roast the seeds but now i stand here and watch this squirrel devour it ♬ noo mis ahorros mi dinero – Pao_Mejia When this Mom brought a sunflower pod into the house, she had plans to roast the seeds for a healthy snack. Her child had a different idea and took the pod out to their patio table. By the time Mom noticed, their hungry squirrel neighbor was happily gobbling up the sunflower. You can’t even be mad. Obviously the squirrel was dying from starvation, right? Sunflower seeds are a favorite treat for squirrels. When given a choice of delicacies in your bird feeder, they will grab the sunflower seeds first. Giant sunflowers can grow from three to ten feet tall. The diameter of the flowerhead’s center can reach 12 inches in the right conditions. As the flower blooms, yellow petals surround the brown or black central core. The core will mature into seeds. Image from Wikimedia Commons. Sunflowers begin each day by facing east, and the flower will rotate throughout the day to follow the sun. There is an old myth that sunflowers will turn to face one another on cloudy days, but that is not true. They will follow the sun through hazy or cloudy skies from east to west. This solar tracking habit is known as heliotropism. A pollinated sunflower will stop tracking the sun, but will remain facing to the east. Please share if you enjoyed this squirrel tale. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Giant Sunflower Meets Unfortunate Demise When Accidentally Left Within Reach Of Hungry Neighbor appeared first on InspireMore.

I think it may be safe to say that, for the majority of us who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, so much of the music we discovered was because of the radio. Of course, for those young kids and teens growing up in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s who had older brothers and sisters, they had the help of their siblings’ record collections or just music throughout the house. And, of course, that goes for kids and teens who had parents into rock and roll music. Nonetheless, there were plenty of us, myself included, who were either the The post 10 Best Rock Songs About The Radio appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

The skin on his tail forms a tiny cup around each individual egg.

The 'Joy' Is Gone! Joy Reid Deletes Her Account on X as MSNBC's Ratings Continue Crashing