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I don't know about "lighting it up immediately". He showed glimpses of his talent in every game he played, some of them jaw-dropping. He missed four games or so in the middle of the season with a foot injury (I think he was deemed "ready" but got an extra week to heal ahead of our bye week).

I remember thinking from the beginning that we're just not used to seeing WRs that wide open.

This was the dude signed as an UDFA. After the signing, it was rumored that we had been in contact with him for a while. He was considered a day 2 pick until sexual allegations surfaced right before the draft (later no-billed by a grand jury).


I'll let AI tell you the rest of what I've been seeing...


Isaiah Bond's profile as an NFL wide receiver is built around world-class athleticism and specific mechanical skills that allow him to stress defenses vertically.

His elite traits include:

🚀 World-Class Speed and Acceleration

True Track Speed: Bond boasts verifiable, elite speed, clocking a official 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Instant Acceleration: He possesses rare "one-cut" acceleration, meaning he reaches top speed within his first three steps, allowing him to erase a defensive back’s cushion almost instantly.

Vertical Separation: His primary role is a field-stretcher; his speed forces safeties to play deep, opening up the intermediate passing game for his teammates.


📉 Sharp Route-Running Breaks

Hip Fluidity: Unlike many pure speed threats who run rounded routes, Bond can drop his hips and make sharp, 90-degree cuts without breaking his stride.

Stop-and-Start Ability: He uses his elite deceleration to snap off comeback and hitch routes, leaving cornerbacks coasting backward out of respect for his deep speed.


🏈 Elite Ball Tracking and Body Control

Deep-Ball Adjustments: He excels at tracking the football over his shoulder on deep posts and go-routes, adjusting his stride mid-flight to match the trajectory of the ball.

Sideline Awareness: Despite his smaller frame, he possesses great body control to keep his feet in bounds when making contested catches along the boundary.

Time will tell if we have a legit QB.....news today- Bengals CANCELLED last two days of their OTAs....we, Browns fans hang on every throw/ interception, dang, he looks good....AND Bengals could care less- one day's enough in June......how different- Go Browns!!!

That's the thing about old age. It can be trying at times and as time passes you can't do all of the things that you used to. At the same time there are people that manage to skip old age. They are the people who die young. I find old age to be much better than the alternative.

Breaking it down on some level I think we can agree. If someone is able to work but refuses to do so I would agree that they shouldn't be entitled to benefits. Where we may not agree is this. If those same people are willing to and do work, yet at the same time their wages are so low they fall under those benefit guidelines, they should receive that help.

Such as there are single mothers who have two or three children who work their behinds off who still do not make enough money to afford healthcare and rent. People shouldn't be treated as and or called freeloaders or looking for handouts when they are out there working for a living. 49% of people covered by Medicaid are children.

I'm not going to call people trying to do their best, names and label them in with people who do not.

That's where things go off the rails.

I've already shown you how millions of people who get such assistance are either working or elderly people who are on social security. Now I have shown you that 49% of assistance goes to the benefit of children. I have never seen you call people who get assistance anything other than freeloaders and people just looking for a handout.


I understand considering how you have labeled everyone who gets assistance as freeloaders and people just looking for a handout why you may think what I've shown you what appears to be a lot of knowledge but it's really not. It's simply what happens when you take just a little bit of time to look into things and see who and who does not get that assistance rather than repeating everything you "think and feel" and labeling everyone who gets that assistance as all being the same and all a bunch of lowlifes the way you have done. And maybe just an ounce of compassion for your fellow man helps.

I've addressed are they just supposed to let them already. No they aren't. But we both know that there are other choices than simply carpet bombing civilian neighborhoods which is choosing to intentionally wipe out tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives. I'm not opposing Israel taking actions to protect themselves. I'm pointing out that first of all Netanyahu playing The Boy Who Cried wolf for three decades trying everything he can to get a partner to invade Iran combined with making the choice to defend his nation by intentionally slaughtering all of those civilians is not justifiable by you or anyone else. Nobody forced him to make that decision.

You totally dismissed that point as well as Israel being Iran's neighbor and how they already have nuclear weapons. When you combine that with Netanyahu's war cries which he has been espousing for decades now it only makes sense that Iran would want to be able to respond in kind should the need arise.

That doesn't mean I want them to have a nuclear weapon. It simply means I understand why they want one. None of that means I'm against Israel defending themselves. But look at some of the comments you have made in describing Iran as terrorists. One of those points was slaughtering their own innocent civilians. I'm not sure how you can justify when someone else does it for them.

The Braves traded to get All Star catcher Sean Murphy three years ago.

However, he has had injury nightmares. Hip surgery then a broken finger.

The bright side is a young catcher named Drake Baldwin got a chance to play.

And play he did. In 2025 he won ROY.

He started this year on fire. Hitting 303 with 13 HR's and 38 RBI's. This young man can barrel balls like nobody's business. He then strained an oblique and missed 24 games.

He plays one game in a minor league rehab assignment. Bangs a home run.

Starts last night's game and hits lead off.

First at bat. Count goes to 3-0. He takes a strike. Next pitch dead center 473 ft. away the longest home run in MLB this year.

I love this guy. He is thrilling to watch. His barrel rate is off the charts. This young man has a hellava future.

I think if all things are equal the Browns will name Sanders the starter. If they do name Watson, the starter that will tell us what they actually think about Sanders as a future QB.

People ‘Don't Want To Drink Abortions’: Republican AGs Make Bizarre EPA Request

The remarks support the belief — backed by zero scientific evidence — that abortion drug remnants and fetal remains are polluting drinking water.

Over a dozen Republican attorneys general from primarily red states are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify the abortion drug mifepristone as a drinking water contaminant.

The 14 state officials wrote in a Friday letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that increased access to mifepristone is “resulting in tons of chemically tainted medical waste being flushed into American waterways.” The letter further supports a growing idea on the anti-abortion right that drinking water is being tainted because people using abortion pills are flushing drug remnants and fetal remains down the toilet.

“More than 50 tons of chemically tainted blood, placenta tissue, and human remains go into our waterways every year. With infertility on the rise, we need to know: what is the extent of the damage?” Kristan Hawkins, president of anti-abortion group Students For Life, said in a statement commending the Republicans’ message.

“The letter out from 14 Attorneys General making the commonsense request that mifepristone be tracked shows there is a growing coalition of those who don’t want to drink abortions,” Hawkins added.

Trace amounts of all medications, including over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen, can be found in wastewater, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a national reproductive health research organization. But there is no scientific evidence to back up the claim that abortion pills are polluting drinking water or harming the environment.

“There’s no evidence that medication abortion is affecting U.S. water systems, including drinking water and aquatic wildlife,” the Center for Biological Diversity states on its website. “Meanwhile anti-abortion activists have ignored true environmental hazards to water, like pesticides, fertilizers, animal waste runoff, manufacturing waste, and industries that release untreated or partially treated wastewater into waterways.”

“To protect water, we need comprehensive strategies to improve water quality — not the politicization of specific medications,” the environmental protection group added.

Nearly 20 members of Congress wrote a letter earlier this month to Zeldin also urging the EPA to classify mifepristone as a water contaminant. While this is still a small number within the Republican Party, it reveals that a once extreme far-right belief is becoming more mainstream.

In March, House Republicans introduced a bill that would require every pregnant person using abortion pills to use toilet seat “catch kits” when ending their pregnancy. The bill ― which is unlikely to pass with 17 co-sponsors ― would make it illegal to flush abortion or miscarriage remains down a toilet.

“The fact is, the abortion pill ingredients used to starve a pre-born child remain active and unfiltered in our water treatments,” Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), sponsor of the Clean Water For All Life Act, said in March. “That means families across the nation may be unknowingly ingesting abortion-related chemicals in their drinking water, exposing them to potential health risks like infertility and cancer.”

Anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates have been attacking mifepristone at a steady pace since the Supreme Court repealed federal abortion protections in 2022. Most recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the start of a safety review of mifepristone despite the drug’s safe use by millions since the FDA first approved it in 2000. Abortion rights groups believe the safety review is the first step in restricting access to mifepristone — particularly access to abortion pills by mail, which have been a lifeline for people living in states where abortion is currently banned.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abor...yw&brid=YWdncwHy-admBvq_yphIAudjORT1

Just waaay too funny. 🤣

And don't forget: Moms of Liberty is a terrorist group but Antifa is not.

I watched the Browns Jets double overtime playoff game in a large apartment with a bunch of Jets fans. That was fun.

When soccer comes on I am reminded of a Simpson's episode.

Everybody is juiced to watch the game. Then the announcer goes "Taylor passes to Johnson. Johnson passes to Taylor." And it continues with nothing but passes. Then everyone is gone and the passes continue.

I guess if I was raised where that was the game I would be like every soccer fan.

Go Team Go.

WASHINGTON—In what is being hailed as a landmark deal, on Saturday the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to cease all hostilities with the US in exchange for never having to talk to Vice President JD Vance again.

Under terms of the agreement, Vance must remain out of the Iranians’ earshot for a minimum of 30 years, with his exact location subject to periodic inspections.

“All the bombs we dropped on those crazy bastards couldn’t do what the sound of JD’s voice did,” Donald J. Trump said. “I’m thinking of sending him to Cuba next.”

The agreement drew strong praise from a range of Washington insiders, including Second Lady Usha Vance, who asked, “How do I get that deal?”

Andy Borowitz

I think in general knowledge was power. With pretty much all knowledge at our finger tips I think reasoning will be more powerful. All the knowledge in the world means nothing if you don't know what to do with it.

Trump's allies have another plan to pay 'weaponization' victims

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - While the Justice Department has said it hasabandoned plans for President Donald Trump's ⁠proposed $1.8 billion "weaponization" fund, some of his allies are shifting focus to a different way to make payouts to his supporters, including those who took part in the January 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol.

The most viable path, according to Trump allies and legal ⁠experts, may involve compensating these loyalists under a 1946 law called the Federal Tort Claims Act. That measure lets people file administrative claims - and subsequent lawsuits - against the U.S. government for alleged wrongdoing, which can then be settled out of court.

"At my ‌level, the fund is dead," Stanley Woodward, the third-ranking official at the Justice Department, said in an interview with Reuters. "If somebody wants to submit a claim against the government and sue us, they can still do that."

The Republican president repeatedly has expressed support for federal payouts to supporters whom he has portrayed as being targeted by a "weaponized" U.S. government under his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

But the "anti-weaponization" fund, crafted as part of a legal settlement between Trump and the Justice Department to resolve his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over allegedly mishandling his tax records, was put on hold amid fierce opposition from Republicans in Congress. Trump critics derided it as a slush fund to reward supporters with taxpayer money.

Hundreds of people who were prosecuted after taking ​part in the Capitol attack, which was a failed bid by Trump supporters to prevent Congress from certifying his 2020 election loss to Biden, already have filed claims, and at ⁠least 10 have sued the government for damages - so far with little response.

The strategy has long been in the ⁠works. Conservative lawyers debated the plan during a previously unreported strategy session at the 2024 Republican National Convention, according to longtime Trump ally Michael Caputo, who attended the meeting.

Other payout options are still being explored, according to Caputo, who helped lead "anti-weaponization" efforts in Trump's 2024 election campaign and ⁠filed ‌the first known claim under the now-abandoned "weaponization" fund.

"I've heard no indication that they've slowed down on trying to get victims paid," Caputo said, adding that administration officials have told him to "watch this space."

Caputo, who served as a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson during Trump's first term, asked acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for $2.7 million in "restitution" over investigations by the Biden administration and former special counsel Robert Mueller.

"It's the most logistically feasible method," said Patrick Jaicomo, a senior attorney at the libertarian legal group Institute for Justice who specializes in Federal Tort Claims Act cases. "The government would have a ⁠lot of flexibility."

Trump's repeated support for compensating supporters he paints as victims of "weaponization" has raised the question of what avenue he may now pursue to make ​such payments.

Asked if there are alternative plans to provide such compensation, the White House pointed to previous ‌comments by Trump and Blanche that the weaponization fund would not go forward.

"We have no additional announcements at this time and any speculation about potential future actions is just that - speculation," a White House official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "President Trump ⁠remains committed to addressing Biden-era weaponization."

A Justice Department official, ​speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is no effort to encourage people to submit these claims.

'PEOPLE SHOULD BE COMPENSATED'

Trump has accused the Biden administration and other political opponents of improperly using law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory agencies to target him and his allies. Critics have said these efforts were legally justified by actual or suspected wrongdoing by Trump and others.

Trump, for instance, gave executive clemency to his supporters who were prosecuted for their roles in the January 6 riot.

"The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program aired on Sunday. "Many of those people should be compensated."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in a social media post backed the idea of pursuing ⁠payouts through the Federal Tort Claims Act, prompting the Justice Department's Woodward to respond with what looked like an endorsement in a since-deleted post.

"We're working on it," ​Woodward wrote.

Woodward later told Reuters he was trying to send a message that people who believe they were victims of government abuse continue to have a path for compensation even without the $1.8 billion fund.

FROM FRINGE IDEA TO MAINSTREAM

Financially compensating Trump allies has moved from the political fringe closer to mainstream Republican strategy.

Caputo said he was involved in conversations about finding ways to pay victims of "weaponization" dating back to October 2023.

In 1956, Congress created a permanent Judgment Fund for paying settlements of lawsuits against the federal government.

Caputo said that allies of the president and conservative lawyers discussed using this fund for payouts under the Federal Tort Claims Act "ad ⁠nauseam" during the 2024 Republican National Convention. Attendees at these discussions opposed paying violent felons, including those who assaulted police officers, according to Caputo.

The attendees viewed the Judgment Fund as a "limitless" pot of money that would avoid the political hurdles of creating a new administrative fund, Caputo said, though they acknowledged these payouts could be controversial.

Some high-profile Trump allies already have received payouts under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump's national security adviser during his first term, received a $1.25 million settlement under the statute.

Attorney Peter Ticktin said his office is representing more than 400 people who took part in the Capitol riot who have submitted Federal Tort Claims Act claims. Ticktin said he hopes the government will settle the cases before they go to court, but has not been told of any plans to do so.

"We're asking for restitution in the millions of dollars," Ticktin said, adding that he trusts that ​Trump and the Justice Department will ensure that his clients get paid.

'A TRAVESTY'

The administrative process for a Federal Tort Claims Act claim begins when a person files a form, known as an SF-95, alleging government wrongdoing and ⁠demanding damages.

Claims typically must be filed within two years of the incident, but January 6 defendants are arguing that the alleged wrongdoing against them constitutes ongoing harm. It remains unclear how courts or the Justice Department will treat that interpretation.

If the government agrees to the amount requested, officials can authorize payment before a judge ​is assigned, Jaicomo said, meaning no judge would review the payment.

If the government does not settle, claimants can file a lawsuit, at which point a judge would begin overseeing the case. Ticktin ‌has already filed 10 lawsuits and said he plans to file hundreds more.

Rupa Bhattacharyya, a former Justice Department official who oversaw the compensation fund ​for victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, said department attorneys typically settle only when they face a high risk of losing at trial, though they retain broad discretion on settlements including in January 6 cases.

"That would be a travesty because these are very defensible lawsuits," said Bhattacharyya, who served under presidents of both parties. "It would violate the purpose and spirit of the judgment fund - but it is unlikely it would violate the text of the law."

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/wor...r-way-to-pay-039weaponization039-victims

Patrick Mahomes leaps past Dak Prescott as NFL's highest-paid QB with record Chiefs extension worth $504.75M

Deal ties three-time Super Bowl champion to Kansas City through 2033 season

It seemed a bit, let's say, irregular over the past few years to see NFL quarterbacks who had never won or even played in a Super Bowl surpass Patrick Mahomes as the league's highest-paid quarterback.

That's changing starting in 2027.

On Wednesday, Mahomes vaulted over the entire quarterback pack in agreeing to a new contract with a two-year extension that is worth $504.75 million and ties him to the Kansas City Chiefs through the 2033 season. ESPN was first to report the news.

The deal is not yet signed but has been in the works for weeks between Mahomes' representatives at Equity Sports and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and his team.

The extension means Mahomes now has a contract from 2026 to 2033 worth over half a billion dollars over eight seasons. That represents the first NFL contract to climb over the half-billion-dollar mark.

Mahomes can climb as high as $522.25 million if he meets incentives.

And this: When $239.05 million in new money kicks in starting in 2027, Mahomes will be averaging a reported $64 million per season.

That beats the $60 million per year on an annual average basis Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott gets as the NFL's current highest-paid quarterback.

And it certainly blows away the $45 million per year average Mahomes has been getting since signing his current contract in 2020.

Back then, Mahomes signed a 10-year contract worth $450 million. It made him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.

But in the ensuing years, players including Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen, Jordan Love and Prescott signed deals worth more on an annual average basis.

And you know how many Super Bowl championships all those higher-paid QBs boast?

Zero.

Mahomes has helped the Chiefs reach five Super Bowls. And they've won three.

That alone suggests Mahomes was underpaid while averaging $45 million per season. That, of course, can be debated because Mahomes hasn't exactly posted career statistics in recent years.

His annual passing yards have declined each of the last three seasons since he posted a career-high 5,250 passing yards in 2022.

But the statistics are affected by the talent level around him. The Chiefs have had offensive line issues and the wide receiver cast has been in flux and often inconsistent in recent years.

The important thing is whether the Chiefs believe Mahomes to be worthy of a raise. They've answered that question.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/patr...-qb-record-chiefs-extension-worth-50475m

He will be missed.
It's the true end of the Joe & Joel era; and that's very saddening.

I've gotten it about 5 times today.

There are certainly a pretty good list of prospects to keep an eye on this year at the QB position. It appears this FO has set themselves up to make a move towards drafting a QB in the next draft. I'm more of an OSU fan than a college football fan overall but this year I plan to watch more college football with an eye on the top QB prospects specifically.

Mensah, Carr, Chambliss, Manning, Sayin and Mateer just off the top of my head. It's going to be an interesting time watching and waiting to see what the Browns do at the QB position.

"Mafia" "Don" picks his consigliere.

Former New Mexico AG says he was told to stand down in Epstein ranch probe

Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas first started looking into Epstein and the Zorro Ranch in 2019.

On desolate dry land, about 40 miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, sits a sprawling estate — mostly ignored by people passing by on the nearby highway.

The property, in the town of Stanley, is notorious for its former owner, the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who bought the property in 1993.

Now, the estate, known as Zorro Ranch, is back in the spotlight as state lawmakers probe Epstein’s alleged crimes at the home, what investigators may have missed and what federal authorities may have withheld.

The word “Zorro” appears nearly 14,000 times in files connected to Epstein released by the Department of Justice, but the land has never been searched by federal authorities, and unredacted files have not been turned over to the New Mexico Department of Justice for its ongoing investigation.

Federal investigators told New Mexico attorney general to stand down

Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas first started looking into Epstein and the Zorro Ranch in 2019.

Allegations of crimes committed at the property include rape, sexual assault of minors, forced births and eugenics, according to accounts from Epstein survivors, their diary entries, and from the millions of files released by the Department of Justice.

Months before Epstein was arrested in 2019, Balderas says he was well into building a state case and had just returned from interviewing an Epstein survivor when he received a call from the Southern District of New York.

"They were concerned that we were getting parallel interviews from the same survivors they were going to use in an aggressive prosecution as well,” Balderas told the Scripps News Group in April.

Balderas paused the state probe, saying federal officials had “the bigger hammer at the time.” In exchange, he says he was promised by then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Comey that the DOJ would share evidence about the case and allow Balderas to pursue state charges down the road.

That never happened and federal investigators never executed a search warrant on the property.

“I think that they absolutely impacted our case, and I don't think that they were forthright, and I don't they were operating in good faith," Balderas said.

Now, Balderas wishes he had continued to pursue the state case.

"We would have absolutely gone alone and bet on the case that we currently had at the time," Balderas said.

A buried tip

Around the same time Balderas was working the case, local radio host Eddy Aragon received an emailed tip from someone who claimed to have worked on the ranch, alleging the bodies of two foreign girls were buried “in the hills outside the Zorro.”

Aragon says he sent that tip to the FBI, and there was no follow-up.

A Scripps News search of the DOJ files shows the FBI didn't enter Aragon's report into the system until 2021 — two years after he submitted it.

"I don't think anybody investigated it,” Aragon said. “Would you think if we entered it three years later, like nothing was done?"

That tip never made it from the FBI’s desk in New York to Balderas’ office in New Mexico.

Balderas says he only learned about that email this year after Congress voted to release the so-called Epstein files.

“I’m very angry,” Balderas said. "They didn't meet the standard of what a good prosecution team should be working and collaborating with other partners.”

Epstein leased land from the state

The “hills outside the Zorro” mentioned in the allegation sent to Aragon could potentially refer to state land that Epstein leased from New Mexico, extending far beyond his estate’s property line.

That state-leased land would have fallen under Balderas’ jurisdiction to investigate.

Stephanie Garcia Richard oversees that land as New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands. Her office initially discovered Aragon’s email in the released files.

"As soon as I saw that, my heart dropped," Garcia Richard said. “What if the allegations were true?”

When asked whether she had real concern that bodies could be buried on or near the Zorro Ranch property, Garcia Richard said the possibility exists.

"We do know there are missing individuals,” she said. “Those girls ... their bodies have not been recovered. So, you know, there is a potential there.”

The ranch was between 7,500 and 10,000 acres, but Epstein added a 1,200-acre buffer zone through a lease of land from the state. That additional land makes the search for those alleged buried bodies even more challenging. The 2023 sale of the property to former Texas state senator Don Huffines could make a future investigation even more challenging.

“There has been a long span between 2019 and today. We don't know the state of the, you know, the evidence now,” Garcia Richard said.

State lawmakers seek answers

Now, a group of New Mexico state lawmakers are seeking more answers on alleged crimes at the Zorro Ranch and what authorities may have missed.

Republican State Representative Andrea Reeb is among four lawmakers on the bipartisan Epstein “Truth Commission” formed earlier this year. She feels Balderas should have taken more action when he was probing the case.

“You hear, ‘Oh, well, we didn't have the charges or the statutes to charge what the feds could have charged,’ but we had criminal sexual penetration of a minor for all different ages; one of them carries 18 years in prison. We had, may not have had trafficking of humans or sex trafficking charges, but we had enough that we could have definitely gotten some serious jail time on Mr. Epstein.”

Reeb says she would have indicted the case had she been told by federal officials to pause it.

She doesn’t accuse Balderas of wrongdoing, but said it was a missed opportunity.

Balderas counters that belief.

“We were still building a case,” he said. “We were as transparent as we needed to be at that time.”

For its part, the “Truth Commission” announced Monday it will issue 14 subpoenas in connection with its probe. The subpoenas are not directed at specific individuals but target the Epstein Estate, as well as banks and other entities tied to Epstein or related investigations.

Whether the Commission, the New Mexico DOJ or the federal government will get true justice for survivors is still very much an open question. But for many, justice starts with getting more answers.

“I'm convinced that those answers are not in the documents that have been released,” Balderas said. “But they're in the millions of documents that are currently being withheld.”

https://www.abc15.com/us-news/crime...old-to-stand-down-in-epstein-ranch-probe

I am glad that they ruled that way.

He has a chance to resurrect his career. If he does all the right things and goes all in on rehab and tries to help others from falling into that addiction. Good for him.

It could also reshuffle the draft.

I looked today at the rankings from "Draft Buzz" of the QB class. Wow. Outside of Manning, Moore and Sayin. It was all over the place.

The college season will reset the order and Sorsby could be in the mix.

At this stage it is a waste of time because so much can happen.

All we can hope for is that this class has a good number of guys that will carry a first round grade.

There are no guarantees on who the Browns can select.

It would look just like another gerrymandered voting district on the map.

But men have created global empires before. In general it doesn't usually end well.

More Rodney.

"I am the age where food replaces sex.
So I put a mirror over the kitchen table."

Trump directs acting intelligence chief to cut staff amid criticism over Pulte pick

President Donald Trump is reportedly urging his new acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, to start firing employees.

President Donald Trump is urging Bill Pulte, his new acting director of national intelligence, to reduce the size of the office amid criticism over his temporary appointment.

"I've heard that's way too high for way too long," Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One. "If he cut, I wouldn't mind that."

Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an earlier interview Friday that he asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees of an office that has already faced significant cuts during the president's second term.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence oversees the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies and was created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to improve information-sharing.

Trump’s decision to put Pulte in charge of that office has faced backlash on Capitol Hill, including from some Republicans, because Pulte has no known national security experience.

Pulte has also targeted the president's perceived political opponents in his other role leading the Federal Housing Finance Agency by making criminal referrals alleging insurance and mortgage fraud.

"Mr. Pulte has no national security expertise. None. We're not even sure if he's got a basic security clearance," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "This role is too important to be filled by a part-time, unqualified individual."

Trump praised Pulte on Friday, calling him "very talented." He also indicated that he is interviewing five other candidates to permanently replace Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned from the role following her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

"All people that do that kind of thing, and they're very respected people," Trump added, without naming any of the individuals under consideration.

At least for now, concerns over Pulte’s temporary appointment have delayed the renewal of a national security surveillance program that he would help administer. The Senate blocked an extension of the program Friday, but another vote is expected next week before it expires June 12.

Seven Republican senators joined nearly all Democrats in opposing a procedural vote to advance the short-term extension.

The tool is part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and allows agencies like the CIA and FBI to collect communications from foreign targets without a warrant.

Critics have raised concerns that Americans’ communications are sometimes swept up in the process and are pushing for a warrant requirement when accessing those communications. Others argue such a requirement risks hamstringing law enforcement. Negotiations on reforms are expected to continue if a short-term extension is passed.

https://www.kcra.com/article/trump-acting-intelligence-chief-cut-staff-criticism-pulte-pick/71511426

Rounders:Final hand