Alan Zweibel

Apart from Minnesota’s biting cold this week, one complication in Trump’s plan to deport Somalis from Minnesota through immigration enforcement is that the vast majority of Americans and Minnesotans of Somali descent are U.S. citizens, many of whom were born here. Exact numbers on citizenship of Somali-Americans are unknown. The American Community Survey, which extrapolates its monthly sampling of selected households to the larger population through a weighting process, indicates that around 22,000 Somalis in America — 8.4% — are not citizens. In Minnesota, around 5,000 people of Somali descent are not citizens, according to ACS. That figure includes people here through other legal means, such as permanent residents, green card holders and the couple hundred covered by Temporary Protected Status, a protection Trump said he would end earlier than planned. https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/most-somali-people-in-america-and-minnesota-are-citizens/

I have no doubt that the H-1B visa is plagued with abuse. But your question was whether it was good or bad that America was being flooded with" Indians and Chinese". So India is the top country of birth for H-1B workers. Roughly three-quarters (73%) of H-1B workers whose applications were approved in fiscal 2023 were born in India. A majority of approvals every year since 2010 have gone to workers born in India. China is the second-most common birthplace, accounting for 12% of H-1B workers approved in 2023. No other birthplace accounted for even 2% of H-1B workers approved in 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/04/what-we-know-about-the-us-h-1b-visa-program/ So if in fact there is a "flood" it's mostly Indians, not Chinese. And you completely ignore the fact that Indians and Chinese immigrants have punched way above their weight in entrepreneurship in the IT industry. So is that bad or good for America? And this is to say nothing of their overrepresentation in cutting-edge scientific research. The Trump administration's approach isn't really going to fix the abuse. There's a one-time fee which is large enough to deter small companies but not big companies. And it will still average out to less than it would cost to hire an American. If Trump was really serious about this, he would raise the floor of how much these immigrants could earn so that H-1B visas would only be viable if the recipient actually had the kind of skills in short supply in America.

You mean this flooding? Immigrants Drive U.S. AI Boom, Raising $167B—2.5x More Than U.S.-Born Founders https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/07/01/3108400/0/en/Immigrants-Drive-U-S-AI-Boom-Raising-167B-2-5x-More-Than-U-S-Born-Founders.html Immigrant founders are the norm in key U.S. AI firms: study https://www.axios.com/2025/04/16/ai-immigration-us-companies How Indian-Americans became the titans of unicorns in the US https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/07/01/3108400/0/en/Immigrants-Drive-U-S-AI-Boom-Raising-167B-2-5x-More-Than-U-S-Born-Founders.html

Truly bizarre. So all the waves of immigrants who have ever come to America were bootlickers who should have stayed in their home countries?

Natural gas futures climb over 9% for the week, as cold temperatures moved through the U.S., increasing the demand as more consumers run their heaters. What also is underpinning stronger natural gas futures is the demand for U.S. exports, says Capital Economics in a note. “The increase in U.S. natural gas prices has come alongside a surge in LNG exports, with record high volumes of feedgas flowing into export terminals,” says the firm. https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-gas-prices-poised-for-weekly-loss-on-ample-supplies-faa66aad Trump’s push for more LNG exports risks domestic price surge When a natural gas export terminal on the Texas coast exploded on June 8, 2022, the plant closed, and the price of gas in the United States suddenly dropped. By the end of the day, it had plummeted 16 percent. The reason: supply and demand. The facility, Freeport LNG, was then one of seven sites in the United States where gas was being liquefied at cryogenic temperatures and shipped overseas. When it closed, less gas could be exported. https://www.eenews.net/articles/trumps-push-for-more-lng-exports-risks-domestic-price-surge/

If you go back and look you'll notice that I have posted some subjects that are very critical of the Chinese government. You didn't chime in...hmmm...because you don't want the folks who run you seeing that? Yes, this comment is just as nonsensical as yours. As usual, instead of addressing the issue, you try to make it personal. You've got nothing.

US factory activity shrank in November by the most in four months as orders weakened, indicating manufacturers are struggling to break free from an extended period of malaise. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index eased 0.5 point to 48.2, according to data released Monday. The measure has been below 50, which indicates contraction, for nine straight months. https://archive.ph/mVSma#selection-1450.1-1468.0

Actually, the DOJ got caught making it up that Comey lied to Congress. Briefly, Comey was asked by Cruz if he had asked McCabe to leak confidential data. Comey replied he hadn't. But the DOJ is claiming that Comey denied that he had authorized Daniel Richmond to leak information when in fact, Senator Cruz was asking about McCabe. Moreover, there was no leak by Comey to Richmond. He did ask Richmond to defend his (Comey's) actions to the press but there was no wrongdoing. No leak of confidential information. Just one reason among several that this prosecution is destined to crash and burn.

A wave of companies are petitioning for exemptions from the Trump administration’s high levies on foreign-made goods, saying they are hurting business and raising prices. Since Mr. Trump’s exemptions, a wave of companies have begun petitioning officials in Washington for similar relief. Businesses that depend on foreign materials — from factories that import machinery to retailers selling artificial Christmas trees — argue that tariffs on their products are simply raising consumer prices and adding to Americans’ dissatisfaction with the economy, rather than encouraging more manufacturing in the United States. The petitions have raised questions about the strategic direction the president’s trade policy will take in the months to come. Mr. Trump has spent the past year introducing, pausing and then reinstating more tariffs than the United States had seen in nearly a century. https://archive.ph/HL7vQ#selection-689.0-697.1 ' I've read that the effective average tariff rate is about 16.8&. "Effective means that the tariff rate is averaged not just on the rates, but how much of each item is actually imported. In other words it's "weighted".

I think what Novacova is saying is that this has nothing to do with Trump. It's a scam. If you're not a member of Truth Social already, maybe you should join and see for yourself.

Or you have no facts or reasoned arguments to offer, so you take a face-saving exit instead.

What nonsense. Most presidents recused themselves from business dealing while in office. Ever hear of blind trusts? Even though they weren't obliged to legally, they followed the same rules the cabinet officers were required to follow.

Clearly, Wray said this to protect the excellent reputation of the MAGA in light of their heroic liberation of the Capitol building.

Good thing there's no potential for a conflict of interest.

He actually gave the okay at first. Permission for 6 months.

You forgot to add to your list the most compelling reason to consider the Nobel Peace Prize a joke: Trump badly wants it.

‘There is no Mamdani effect’: Manhattan luxury home sales surge after mayoral election, undercutting predictions of doom and escape to Florida In the aftermath of much well-heeled panic about a potential mass exodus of New York millionaires and billionaires following the election of Zohran Mamdani, the contrary is already happening, and Manhattan luxury apartment buyers are voting with their wallets. Signed contracts for Manhattan homes costing $4 million or more rose to 176 in November, a 25% increase from October’s 141 deals, according to fresh data from brokerage Douglas Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel. New signed contracts of more than $4 million increased at more than twice the rate of the overall market, the report noted. https://fortune.com/2025/12/04/mamdani-effect-new-york-city-real-estate-manhattan-luxury-millionaires-billionaires/

At first I thought, per yellowtail, that since the pipe bomb non-bomber placed the devices on Jan 5, he wouldn't be covered. But I suppose the argument could be made that his actions were related to the events that took place on Jan 6. Still, it seems like a bit of a stretch.

And what has this got to do with the ridiculousness of Trump accepting a peace prize offered by the FIFA?

I can only judge evidence that can be independently verified. I'm not so besotted with myself that I would expect someone else to take the word of any anonymous party, including me, as valid evidence. What is the bigger picture that I'm missing? My TV screen isn't wide enough?

I can only judge your political views by your take on events. Not by your alleged voting history. What don't you understand about the fact that you are citing fiction to back up your arguments? Fiction. If what this character is saying happens to be factual, it should be easy enough to find a nonfictional source or sources to back up what he claims. Good luck with that.

Really, this fictional character cites research or offers links to an article that in turn links to research to back up what he claims? The gullibility of rightwingers never ceases to amaze me.

What relevance does your comment bear on the diatribe spewed by the character played by Billy Bob Thornton? Why would anyone with any sense of what constitute reasonable evidence offer a spiel played by a fictional character? What's more, this character works for the oil companies, so why would you expect his spiel to be truthful?

Trump Admin Removes MLK Day, Juneteenth From National Parks Fee-Free Days The Trump administration has dropped Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from the fee-free days at National Parks for 2026. The Department of the Interior (DOI) recently announced its "resident-only patriotic fee-free days" for 2026, and missing from the list were MLK Day, which has been a National Park fee-free day since 2018, and Juneteenth, which was introduced as a fee-free day in 2024. In place of these days commemorating American history, civil rights and equality, the Trump administration has instead opted to celebrate additional former presidents' birthdays and Flag Day, which is also President Donald Trump's birthday. https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/television/billy-bob-thornton-landman-rants-smoking-ocd-taylor-sheridan-20eb28dc?mod=wknd_pos1

Maybe to get Trump off its back, Venezuela should award him a peace prize.