GET ME REWRITE: Smoochy-smoochy lovers and co-workers Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski nearly get burned in ludicrous plane deal

 

Photo credit;  Facebook

Headline:  Guardian, 11/8/2025

Marina Dunbar reports:

The secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, reportedly authorized the purchase of Spirit Airlines jets before discovering the airline didn’t actually own the planes – and that the aircraft lacked engines. The bizarre anecdote was contained in a Wall Street Journal report released on Friday, which recounted how Noem and Corey Lewandowski – who managed Donald Trump’s first winning presidential campaign – had recently arranged to buy 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the two intended to use the jets to expand deportation flights – and for personal travel.

 

Related reading:

The Trumpification of Kristi Noem.  New York Times, 3/20/2024

Related posts:

July-October  2025

Touché, puffy-lipped Ice Barbie @KristiNoem @DHS (favorite headline of the day so far).  (10/24) 

The Melanias not getting screen time they crave.  (10/15)

News of another mess left behind the The Melanias in South Dakota.  (9/19)

South Dakota state capitol crumbles during 6 years of The Melanias administration.  (8/18)

The Melanias seem to have  a recruitment problem @ICEgov.  (8/9)

As far as the Melanias are concerned, primping take precedence over purpose.  (7/12)

Are the Melanias hinting that more AI and less staffing is the forecast for the National Weather Service?  (7/7)

January-June 2025

The Melanias do just what you'd expect the Melanias to do.  (6/30)

The Melanias leave behind a sketchy legacy in South Dakota.  (6/24)

The Melanias cant get their facts straight.  (6/23)

The Melanias are in the spotlight again!  (6/12)

Insecure Ice Barbie, aka Misti Kristi of the Melanias, is ruining the lives of hundreds of people with her reckless and performative leadership at Homeland Security.  (6/5)

In the case of Morales Reyes, the Melanias get this performance very wrong.  (6/3)

The Melanias get scathing reviews for their latest staged act.  (6/2)

Misti Kristi, now known as Ice Barbie, continues to conduct a master class in administrative incompetence and corruption. (5/30)

Not ready for her close-up:  Apparently, things are not going well for Kristi Noem at Homeland Security.  (5/1)

Too clueless and performative to grasp the enormity of the situation.  (3/29)

Feeling snookered yet, South Dakota?  Maybe your ex-governor, Melania wannabe Kristi Noem, will come to your rescue.  (3/15)

Kristi Noem's Melania makeover got her a job in the Trump administration.  (2/21)

2024

Dear Maggie Haberman:  Maybe Kristi Noem can go as Melania's alternate.  Who would know the difference?  Best, Retiring Guy,, (11/13)

Melania makeover helps South Dakota governor Kristi Noem snag Homeland Security gig. (11/13)

Kristi Noem releases her greatest hits album "Grovels".  (5/25)

Meet MAGA Makeover Queen Misti Kristi, America's latest laughingstock.  (5/25)

Welcome to Misti Kristi's Melania makeover.  (4/22)

2023

Meet Misti Kristi, aka South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Queen of the Trump sycophants.  (9/10)

Kristi Noem's Trump flip-flop.  (8/4/2023)

When it comes to choosing a running mate, appearance is everything to Donald Trump.  (8/2)

Meet Misti Kristi Noem, the Errors and No Facts Queen of South Dakota.  (6/27)

Most Americans agree that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem is wholly unqualified to be President.  (6/8)

Desperately seeking relevancy, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem ends up looking like a clown.  (5/28)

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem rolls out the CAFO welcome mat for headache-inducing, eye-burning manure pits!  Not to mention water pollution and fish kills.  (5/19)

There are at least two reasons why South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will never win the 2024 GOP nomination for president.   (5/18)

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem thinks her virulent anti-abortion stance is just what USA voters want.  (4/27)

Native Americans comprise almost 10% of South Dakota's population, but you'd never know it from these photos.  (2/5)

2022

GOP South Dakota governor Kristi Noem earns a grain of salt for this tweet.  (10/27)

Retiring Guy does the math for GOP South Dakota governor Kristi Noem.  (4/22)

Insecure Ice Barbie, aka Misti Kristi of the Melanias, is ruining the lives of hundreds of people with her reckless and performative leadership at Homeland Security.  (6/5)

In the case of Morales Reyes, the Melanias get this performance very wrong.  (6/3)

The Melanias get scathing reviews for their latest staged act.  (6/2)

Misti Kristi, now known as Ice Barbie, continues to conduct a master class in administrative incompetence and corruption. (5/30)

Not ready for her close-up:  Apparently, things are not going well for Kristi Noem at Homeland Security.  (5/1)

Too clueless and performative to grasp the enormity of the situation.  (3/29)

Feeling snookered yet, South Dakota?  Maybe your ex-governor, Melania wannabe Kristi Noem, will come to your rescue.  (3/15)

Kristi Noem's Melania makeover got her a job in the Trump administration.  (2/21)

Retail shuffle continues at West Towne Mall in Madison Wisconsin

 

What is Beelive?  

Your guess is as good as Retiring Guy's.

Photos by Retiring Guy

According to GoDaddy, the domain name BeeLive.com is for sale.

beelivery is the closest match, but it's a food delivery service, hardly a logical tenant for a shopping mall

Rabbit Hole's focus is sports cards. 

West Towne Mall posts:

2025

It's time to worry at West Towne Mall:  Former H&M space now in its second year of vacancy.  (11/7)

West Towne Mall food court:  Unoccupied, open, closed, open, closed, closed.  (10/15)

"All clear" at West Towne Mall play area in Madison Wisconsin.  (10/8)

Maybe it's time to worry?  Former H&M location at West Towne Mall remains vacant 6 months later.  (3/19)

Forever 21 at West Towne Mall in Madison Wisconsin is already gone.  (3/19)

2024

West Towne Mall Shuffle:  H&M edition.  (10/11)

Bungee jumping trampoline in food court.  (6/23)

Watch this space.  (6/21)

Change of location for H&M.  (6/21) 

West Towne Mall area is slowly transforming itself.  (6/11) 

Hallmark Store now relegated to an isolated corner of West Towne Mall.  (4/18)

Sparkling clean and spartan look of West Towne Mall center court.  (1/15)

2022

First Christmas at Von Maur, West Towne Mall. (12/15)

Madison Wisconsin business news: Von Maur opens its West Towne Mall store.  (10/18/2022)

JC Penney side of West Towne Mall continues to struggle to find new tenants.  (8/18)

Von Maur West Towne Mall construction project site visits. (5/22 final visit)

2021

Hobby Lobby is ready for its close-up.  (11/23)

Portillo's.  (11/23)

Scrubs now occupies long-vacant Apple Store location.  (10/17)

JC Penney side of West Towne Mall appears to be emptying out.  (10/17)

Train D1fferent takes over former locations of Payless and Name of the Game.  (10/17)

Transformation of south end of West Towne Mall.  (10/17)

Room for a couple more at the south end of West Towne Mall.  (9/20)

Room for one more at the entrance to West Towne Mall.  (9/20)

Name of the Game fills in for Justice.  (4/25)

2020

West Towne Mall shuttered Shopko UPDATE: Storefront looks less abandoned in bright winter sunlight.  (12/21)

Ragstock goes to West Towne Mall.  (11/21)

UPDATE. What does Seritage have planned for the remaining portion of Sears at West Towne Mall?  (7/1)

2019

Not so Forever 21.   (10/4)
Boston Store UPDATE. While management wonders what to do with 140,000 square feet of empty space, they invite young white women to hang out.  (8/19)
Can't hide the emptiness at the former Payless Shoe Source store.  (8/12)
UPDATE. Space formerly occupied by Sears remains vacant.  (7/9)
Wind-driven signage.   (5/1)
Then and Now: North and south of the Beltline and east of West Towne Mall.  (4/30)
Then and Now: North and south of the Beltline in the West Towne Mall area.  (4/2)

2018
Food court directory.  (9/24)
UPDATE. West Towne Mall Management now prefers traffic cones to pothole repair.  (4/30)
Total Wine UPDATE:  Now open for business.  (4/22)

GET ME REWRITE: Iowa farmers say, "Look what Trump's done to our farms, Ma!"

 

Headline:  Des Moines Register, 11/6/2025

Donnelle Eller reports on the damage done by Trump's tariffs and trade war:

China said it would suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, including duties on farm goods, Reuters reported. But imports of U.S. soybeans still face a 13% tariff. 

But China's soybean purchases won’t be enough to entirely reverse the ag downturn, said Alejandro Plastina, a University of Missouri agricultural economist and director of its Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center. The center released the farm income report, authored by Plastina, in collaboration with Iowa State University. 

“We’re not projecting a quick bounce-back,” said Plastina. “If anything, it just removes downward pressure.”

Related posts:

2025

On day 23,935 in elected office, 91-year-old hard-of-hearing Iowa GOP U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley tries to explain why he shit on the state's farmers.  (11/6)

Spineless Iowa Republicans try to undo the damage they allowed Trump to inflict on their state.  (10/29)

Hey, Iowa, how's that MAGA thing going for you?  (10/2/2025)

Beholden to Donald Trump, Gov. Kimmi the Clown is not listening to the state's farm community.  (8/7)

Greetings from Trump's America:  Franklin County, Iowa, where tariffs are making life worse for farmers.  (6/26)

Trump keeps punishing farmers for their support.  (3/27)

Hey, Iowa, having fun yet with First Felon Donald Trump's tariffs?  (3/4)