Color me paranoid, but this sure raises red flags:

A Plan For Establishing A United States Sovereign Wealth Fund

     By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote the long-term financial health and international leadership of the United States, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Policy and Purpose.  It is the policy of the United States to maximize the stewardship of our national wealth for the sole benefit of American citizens.  To this end, it is in the interest of the American people that the Federal Government establish a sovereign wealth fund to promote fiscal sustainability, lessen the burden of taxes on American families and small businesses, establish economic security for future generations, and promote United States economic and strategic leadership internationally. 

Sec. 2.  Sovereign Wealth Fund.  The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce, in close coordination with the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, shall develop a plan for the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund consistent with section 1 of this order.  The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly submit this plan to the President within 90 days of the date of this order.  Such plan shall include recommendations for funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure, and a governance model.  The plan shall also include an evaluation of the legal considerations for establishing and managing such a fund, including any need for legislation. 

Sec. 3.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,
    February 3, 2025.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Trump signs order establishing a sovereign wealth fund that he says could buy TikTok

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From Reuters:

Trump orders creation of US sovereign wealth fund, says it could buy TikTok

If created, the sovereign wealth fund could place the U.S. alongside numerous other countries, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, that have launched similar funds as a way to make direct investments with government dollars.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Oh, great idea…

Color me pissy — the Public Utilities Commission cannot seem to get it together to send adequate service of a “Notice of Intent to File,” Initial Filing,” and “Notice of Comment Period on Completeness” and “Notice of Extended Comment Period.”

Somehow this particular project came up on my radar, after I’d heard there was a meeting in Northfield recently about “water” and the intense water use of data centers, and in looking it up, I found I’d not received notice, not just “notice,” but NOTICES!

HOW MANY OTHER PROJECTS ARE GOING FORWARD WITH INADEQUATE NOTICE?

Here’s the Service List for a “Notice of Intent to File” filed by the Applicants last October — only FOUR were served, and look what four:

Then the application was filed by the Applicants on January 16, 2025, and only the original four plus these 15 state and federal agency reps:

And then on January 22, 2025, the PUC filed its Notice of Comment Period on Application Completeness, which was served to:

And then, the document I was served with, the Notice of Initial Filing, was dated January 21, 2025, and filed January 31, 2025. This had a general service list!

Oh! That was odd, so I looked at the docket, and when I looked at the docket, I found the Notice of Comment Period, with Initial Comments due February 4 – so essentially FOUR days notice. That Notice of Initial Comment was served on a handful of service lists, including the initial 11 that included PUC, OAH-RUD and Commerce staff, another 14 agencies; 87 Tribal contacts plus Commerce’s “Tribal Government Contacts” person, plus 12 additional Tribal contacts, the Applicants including Matrix, SolarStone, Stantec, and Fredlaw. STILL NO GENERAL SERVICE LIST.

So I fired off a missive to the PUC that there was inadequate notice, it needed to be extended:

And of course I quickly got notice that it would be extended. GOOD! Today was the original deadline, and I’d not received anything, so I sent a missive asking whether it had not been extended or whether it had been extended and I didn’t get service. I was told “It was filed yesterday, and served to the official service list. Attached is a copy.” I went to the docket, and found a February 3 Notice of Extension:

OK…

Oh, right… here’s the service list:

GOOD GRIEF! Only those 12 again. When I fired off an email asking “so why wasn’t I served with this notice?” Here’s the response: “Apologies, I think there was a misunderstanding. Your 1/31 e-mail asked to be added to the project list, which is a separate list from the Official Service List. I have requested and you have now been added to the Official Service List as well.”

I’ve had a chat with one of the Applicants attorneys, letting them know about this issue, which he thought was odd, and I made it clear I have no issues with the project whatsoever. And I’m waiting on a call back from Bret Eknes at the PUC.

Meanwhile…

Another lawsuit filed today, this one Alliance for Retired Americans; American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO; Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO v. Scott Bessent, Secretary of Treasury; Department of the Treasury; and Bureau of the Fiscal Service in U.S. District Court, District of Columbia:

I’m so glad to see those with resources kicking in. No schedule yet, it’s early.

Here we go!!

YES, seeking asylum is a perfectly LEGAL means to enter the U.S., and a lawsuit challenging the way this administration is unreasonably and unlawfully treating asylum seekers, detaining and deporting with zero regard for their legal status:

The Trump administration has characterized refugees seeking asylum as an “invasion” of the U.S., and issued Proclamation 10888:

Guaranteeing The States Protection Against Invasion January 20, 2025

It was “refugee resettlement” in January 2020, and now it’s “asylum seekers.” Saying it’s an “invasion” doesn’t make it an invasion, but that’s a great way to get folks unnecessarily riled up.

Remember all the vile fomenting when local governments were required by Trump’s Executive Order 13888, issued September 26, 2019, which required prior consent to allow refugee resettlement:

Restricting refugees was a fundamental part of Trump’s prior administration’s “immigration” policy, which was more a “prohibition of immigration.” As the deadline approached, and Goodhue County’s consideration, it got seriously ugly here, with wild falsehoods about refugees, and odd, because in this county, refugee resettlement is essentially a non-issue.

Just after Goodhue County consented to acceptance of refugees, Executive Order 13888 was tossed out.

• Goodhue County consents to continue to accept refugees January 8th, 2020
• Goodhue County mtg in news January 11th, 2020
• E.O. 13888 INJUNCTION!!! January 15th, 2020

Now what are they doing wrong? Pretty much everything, going directly count to the black letter law:

What are the Plaintiffs seeking? It’s pretty simple:

This was just filed today, and there will be a response from Defendants and a hearing in the near future.

And gets classified intelligence information?!?!

USAID security leaders on leave after trying to keep Musk’s DOGE from classified info, officials say

And from the article:

It comes a day after DOGE carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems. The Washington Post reported that a senior Treasury official had resigned over Musk’s team accessing sensitive information.

USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the Trump administration in an escalating crackdown on the federal government and many of its programs.

Same thing happened at OMB, the website disappeared, type in “www.omb.gov” and watch what you get.

What that AP article doesn’t state — PBS isn’t afraid to put it in writing:

USAID security chiefs put on leave after trying to stop Musk’s team from accessing classified info, officials say

Members of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, eventually did gain access Saturday to the aid agency’s classified information, which includes intelligence reports, the former official said.

Oh, and this:

State Department suspends nearly all U.S. foreign aid for 3 months

As if getting into Treasury and stealing all of our private information isn’t enough.

WTAF??