Crotty Farm Report

I couldn’t help it. I broke down and cried when the Persians blared The Village People’s “YMCA” from loudspeakers on Sunday, as thousands gathered for blocks around L.A.’s Westwood Federal Building to celebrate Trump’s war on the diabolical regime in Iran and the killing of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I hadn’t felt such overwhelming joy since Trump’s victory in 2016. It was infectious. The Iranians had ample cause to celebrate. 47 years of evil theocratic oppression. 47 years of women and gays not having the most basic rights. 47 years of Iran threatening the U.S., Israel, and their neighbors with nuclear annihilation. Enough!Yet the Leftist Democrats just sat on their hands today or openly opposed this transformative moment for Iran and the Iranian people. It’s as if they prefer Iranians to still be in chains. The contrast was stark and revealing. LA is home to the largest concentration of Iranians outside Tehran. Many had settled in and around Westwood, earning the area the nickname “Tehrangeles.” In a city filled with violent inhinged Woke leftists, who will openly attack Trump supporters in the streets, they had the courage to wear MAGA hats. They had the courage to show the world that Iranians and Israelis can live in peace. Flags from both countries, along with the U.S. flag, were proudly displayed. They had the courage to show fierce and unapologetic pride in America. That’s who legal immigrants are. They get America. They also represented the largest contingent of face-lifted women I have ever seen, but that’s L.A., so it’s par for the course, and can hardly be held against people and families who have endured so much trauma and turmoil. Goodbye to the benighted leftists seeking to bring this country down. This was a day of genuine liberation for the Persian people. I was so honored to be a small part of it. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Amid the general desecration of all that is good about Chicago under the current Woke incompetent leadership of the clueless and déclassé Mayor Brandon Johnson, there remain a few standouts of excellence. One is the Starbucks on North Michigan Avenue. At 35,000 square feet, it’s the world's largest. It’s called Starbucks Reserve Roastery. And it makes you wonder, perhaps naively, why all Starbucks are not this inviting. The five-story Reserve Roastery does not merely sell coffee; it stages coffee as spectacle, ritual, and theater. Bronze curves sweep upward, glass glows with a honeyed warmth, and the great cask that carries roasted beans between floors turns slowly like an industrial reliquary, reminding visitors that even in a digital age, craft still has weight and gravity.Step inside, and the soundscape shifts from traffic to a murmur: milk steaming, grinders humming, conversation softening into the hush of shared indulgence, including craft liquor on the 4th floor. The building invites wandering. You ascend not only by staircase but by curiosity, drawn upward through aromas of caramel, citrus, and dark chocolate until the city itself reappears on the rooftop terrace—Chicago stretched wide, Lake Michigan a sheet of pale metal beyond the skyline.What makes the place memorable is not scale alone, though scale is everywhere. It is the feeling that commerce has briefly yielded to ceremony. People linger longer than they intend. Meetings drift into reverie. Tourists who expected a quick photograph find themselves seated with a drink they did not know existed, watching afternoon light settle across polished wood. In a corridor of Chicago famous for consumption, the Roastery offers something rarer: permission to pause, to savor, to believe—if only for the length of a cup—that ordinary rituals can still be made grand, that the city itself can be elevated again from the ugly stupor of Johnson, Lightfoot, and their arrogant, racialist ilk. Opened on November 15, 2019, from a repurposed Crate and Barrel, The Reserve Roastery predates Brian Niccol’s short but impactful tenure as Starbucks CEO. The locations of the Reserve Roasteries suggest a who’s who of major cities, including Milan, New York, Seattle, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Despite its precipitous fall in status, Chicago still sees itself as world-historical. And maybe that is something to ponder over a gourmet dessert and a fine cocktail at the greatest Starbucks in the world. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The Billy Goat Tavern is one of Chicago’s most enduring cultural landmarks, a subterranean saloon—evocatively situated below street level on the city’s Near North Side—whose mythology blends journalism, sports lore, and blue-collar humor. Founded in 1934 by Greek immigrant William “Billy Goat” Sianis, the tavern became famous for its no-nonsense menu—”cheezborger,” chips, and a Coke—and for Sianis’s outsized personality, including the legendary “Curse of the Billy Goat” placed on the Chicago Cubs during the 1945 World Series after Sianis was allegedly denied entry into the game because of the presence of his pet goat. More than a restaurant, the space evolved into a democratic clubhouse for reporters, politicians, cabdrivers, and night owls, embodying the gritty wit and egalitarian spirit often associated with the city itself. Its national pop-culture immortality arrived through The Blues Brothers, where the tavern’s swaggering Chicago attitude—working-class, musical, and slightly mischievous—mirrored the film’s tone and setting. Even more directly, the Billy Goat’s cadence and characters inspired the famous “Olympia Café” sketch on Saturday Night Live, written by former Chicago newspaperman John Belushi and his collaborators, turning the tavern’s shouted rhythms (“No fries, cheeps!”) into comedy legend. Through these echoes in film and television, the tavern became shorthand for an entire Chicago sensibility recognizable far beyond Illinois, but that has long since perished. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.No figure cemented that sensibility more than Pulitzer-Prize-winning Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko, who treated the Billy Goat as both office and stage. Royko’s writing—acerbic, humane, fiercely local—captured the conversations and contradictions of the tavern’s regulars, transforming an underground bar into a literary symbol of the city’s conscience. In this way, the Billy Goat Tavern stands alongside Chicago’s great myths: the Cubs’ heartbreak and redemption, the swagger of its music and architecture, and, formerly, its politics, and the enduring belief that truth is best argued over a cheap burger in a crowded room.Though Chicago has become Woke, racist, and collosally mismanaged under the recent disastrous leadership of Brandon Johnson and Lori Lightfoot, and the sparkle of the Billy the Goat has faded with the disappearance of the Chicago Tribune from the Tribune building above and the crusty reporters and politicos with it—not to mention the robust commercial activity that came with actually going to an office for work—nothing too essential has changed at today’s Billy Goat, nor should it. In a city forever remaking its skyline and polishing its image, the tavern preserves something rarer: continuity. It reminds Chicagoans that identity is not built only in glass towers and grand civic plans, nor in race, ethnicity, and protests against ICE, but in stubborn places where memory, humor, and daily life gather shoulder to shoulder. Down there, over a simple burger and a shouted order, the city continues its long conversation with itself.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

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The Permian Basin:* Covers an area about 250 miles wide by 300 long. That’s roughly 75,000 square miles. It encompasses both Big Bend National Park and the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.* It is situated in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico, with the central production and service hubs in Odessa and Midland. * It is the largest oil-producing field in the U.S., accounting for over 40% of U.S. oil production and about 15% of U.S. natural gas production. It produces over 4.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. An estimated 20 billion more barrels remain to be developed. * The area also has sizable deposits of sulphur, which explains the funky smell.* It is one of the largest employers in the U.S., accounting for over 850,000 jobs. I went to the heart of the Permian Basin, in Odessa/Midland. Easily one of the highlights of the year. But don’t believe anyone who says it’s lovely to live here. It’s not. But, man, is it profitable. Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

I rolled south on Highway 385 from the captivating high-desert town of Marathon, Texas. A truly relaxing stay at the evocative, peaceful Wild West accommodations of the Gage Hotel prepared me for the adventure ahead. The road down is looooong, with not a tree in sight, a ribbon of asphalt cutting through stark, empty beauty. After a stop at the Panther Junction Visitor Center, I head a further twenty miles down near the village of Boquillas del Carmen. I missed the cutoff—it’s 4:30 PM—for the trip by rowboat via the Boquillas Cross Port of Entry into town. So I travel several more miles until I come to the Boquillas Canyon Overlook.Several Mexican men were selling handmade bowls, walking sticks, and bracelets just across the skinny Rio Grande from the village. They were friendly. But I had to wonder: have they secured a deal with Border Patrol that allows them to cross back and forth without being apprehended? Were the handmade goods cover for the sale of legitimate contraband, like meth or cocaine? I decided not to ask, but the presence of only men, with no women, was slightly suspicious. Forty miles up the road is the Border Patrol checkpoint. A drug-sniffing German shepherd was guided around the Crius to isolate any narcotics. I am not sure if it can pinpoint persons, though Border Patrol did peer into the Crius windows. Back at Boquillas, all seemed well. Come dark, however, you have to believe that illegal immigrants will make their way across the formidable, volcanic Chisos Mountains of Big Bend. The Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector covers 517 lonely miles of the Rio Grande, from Sanderson in the east to Sierra Blanca in the west. The region’s rugged, remote landscape makes patrolling difficult, especially with limited resources. It’s impossible to catch every crossing, and one presumes the Border Patrol accepts this fact. The Administration insists that no illegal crossings have occurred since June, but out here, where sensors and surveillance towers meet sheer emptiness, that claim is tough to swallow. Watch the video. You’ll see how easily I walked straight to the Rio Grande—no resistance, no questions asked. Then again, would you make this treacherous voyage across 70 miles of open desert? For a diehard illegal immigrant, there are easier ways to cross into America. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

I was very excited. I had heard about the Austin bat emergence. Now I was going to see it in person. What to expect?Hundreds of people were milling on the southern edge of the Congress Avenue Bridge near gorgeous Lady Bird Lake. Most talked in very hushed tones. “Would they emerge tonight?” It was long past prime season for bat emergence. Soon they would be making their yearly trek down to central Mexico, not to return till spring. A well-informed Indian programmer gentleman gave me the heads up. It was supposed to occur between 5:30 and 6:00 PM, when 800,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats, mostly female, would emerge. Then again, it was very possible it would not occur at all. It was ticking close to 6:00. I could hear the very subtle high-pitched sounds of the bats beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. It was as if they were nervously preparing for their big stage entrance. Then, suddenly, the bats took flight. It was magical, but quiet. They barely made a noise. Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in the world. “In the 1980s,” according to Lindsey Liles writing in Garden & Gun, “the Congress Avenue Bridge underwent a renovation, and the finished product featured deep, narrow crevices between the beams. Those crevices turned out to be perfect bat habitat—they protected the bats from predators and served as a warm, incubator-like setting in which females could raise their pups.” The reason is that the sun heats the pavement atop the bridge and then filters down into the gaps, warming the pups.The unique bat habitat beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge was on the verge of destruction until the group Bat Conservation International, particularly Merlin Tuttle, became involved, helping educate the public and political representatives about the animals’ benefits. In particular, these bats are excellent at pest control, devouring between 10,000 and 30,000 pounds of insects, including mosquitoes and agricultural pests, as they travel up to 90 miles each night and at speeds of 100 miles per hour in search of food. It’s truly a miracle that the bat emergence occurs at all. Its location, mere blocks from the towering skyscrapers and other robust development of Austin, would not typically bode well for this highly sensitive species. Throw in the threats to habitat and from global warming, and the prospects are not great. But the bats hang on, literally and figuratively, a beautiful relic of when Austin was truly weird. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Norah Jovine is not your typical 20-something. She is a very smart graduate of the University of Chicago, easily one of the best schools in the country. Among the alumni are Susan Sontag, Milton Friedman, Carl Sagan, Thomas Sowell, Mike Nichols, Bernie Sanders, Phillip Roth, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Adam Silver, David Brooks, Larry Ellison, Nate Silver, and Satya Nadella. The list goes on and on. I worked for the University of Chicago back in 1982-83, as a fundraiser and editor of the school’s Grey City Journal, before hitchhiking to my first Rainbow Gathering on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the road less traveled by. I also took classes at the University of Chicago. I was super impressed. So, to hear Norah say she can’t get a job as a U of C graduate, my mind exploded. How can that be? U of C produces the best and brightest graduates that America has to offer. They may be radical sometimes, but they are thinking, original, out-of-the-box radicals. What gives? Watch my interview with Norah from the viewing deck at Chicago’s John Hancock Tower, where she took photographs of me after I descended from The Tilt, a frightening experience that causes one’s heart to leap out of one's chest as you are projected out from the Hancock Tower over the empty space below. Enjoy!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon when I arrived at the innocuous ICE detention facility in Plain Jane, Broadview, Illinois. The protesters, about 100 yards away from the facility, were friendly, well-behaved, even to the Charlie Kirk wannabes there to film the action. The gathering was serenaded by a transsexual man who never once stopped talking, no doubt the effect of steroids on his young body. But he was friendly. As is typically the case in this center of Midwest activism, Chicago. Then Friday came. The restrictions on the protesters were lifted by court decree, and after the removal of a fence around the facility on Beach Street, protesters attempted to get much closer to the facility and to the scene of ICE delivering illegal immigrants for processing. About eleven were arrested. My view catches the calm before the storm. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in DC was to become small to become big. In short, keep your head down and do your job well and rigorously, and you will get noticed. You will rise. Of course, that takes an office able to discern excellence. That is not the case in today's world of Trump. Those who excel in their craft, such as I do in writing, communications, and high-level policy analysis, often go unnoticed. Look at the President’s cheery, attractive 27-year-old Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Very good at rehashing the President’s talking points and combating disinformation, but when it comes to astute and nuanced policy analysis, she’s out of her depth. Not that the predecessor was any better. I have not even received a callback from this Administration. And that’s, I suspect, because it prioritizes absolute fealty, including to the President’s batshit crazy 2020 election narrative, instead of truth. In Washington, you must align your perspective with that of the member. That’s only natural. You won't agree on everything. On issues like abortion and gay rights, I softened my view. But I also came to understand Congresman Fortenberry’s position. I didn’t always agree with it, but it was always within the bounds of reason. So, I respected it. That is not the case with President Trump. Even though I cheerlead almost all his positions except tariffs—cracking down on illegal immigration, shrinking the size of government, keeping us out of disastrous wars of choice, tax cuts, and crime, to name just a few–-I cannot in good conscience abide his views on the 2020 election. That is outside the bounds of reason. As a result of this absolute demand for fealty, mediocrity is rewarded in this Administration, and eventually, that will become apparent. Everyone nominated in this Cabinet should have been asked, “Do you support the President’s view that the 2020 election was stolen?” Their answer needed to be yes or no. If yes, it should have been a delimiter. When chased by a passion for excellence, becoming small to become big can be a ticket to success in Washington, but only in an environment properly guided by reason and intelligence. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

I know. A crime-free and stylish subway system. And most of it is unmanned! And it is one of three in the world that operates 24/7. But Copenhagen has it. In fact, Copenhagen is considered the safest city for women in the world. American cities can only dream. Our soft-on-crime policies have enabled open season for criminals. Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden—often mistakenly called the “Twisted Torso”—is one of the most striking feats of contemporary architecture in Europe and a defining symbol of the city’s post-industrial reinvention. Designed by the celebrated Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2005, the 190-meter, 54-story residential tower remains the tallest building in Scandinavia. Its form was inspired by one of Calatrava’s own sculptures, a white marble piece entitled Twisting Torso, which abstracted the motion of a human body spiraling upward. By translating this sculptural gesture into inhabitable space, Calatrava brought together engineering innovation, biomorphic design, and livable urban form in a way that few skyscrapers have achieved.The building is composed of nine five-story cubes stacked atop one another, each slightly rotated relative to the one below, resulting in a 90-degree twist from base to apex. This gradual spiraling not only creates its dramatic silhouette but also requires highly sophisticated structural engineering. A central concrete core stabilizes the building, while an external steel frame supports the twisting façade panels. The façade itself is clad in glass and aluminum, capturing the shifting light of the Öresund Strait and reflecting Malmö’s maritime character. The geometry ensures that no two apartments are identical, providing residents with a unique relationship between interior space and exterior views.Beyond its architectural daring, the Turning Torso represents Malmö’s economic and cultural transformation. Once a declining shipbuilding hub, the city reimagined its waterfront as Västra Hamnen (“the Western Harbor”), a district built around principles of sustainability and modern urbanism. The tower became the linchpin of this regeneration, serving as both a literal and figurative beacon for Malmö’s ambitions to transition from a heavy industry-based economy toward knowledge-based economies, green technology, and cosmopolitan living. Its prominence on the skyline is matched by its role as an emblem of Sweden’s commitment to innovative, environmentally conscious design—Malmö, after all, is frequently ranked among Europe’s greenest cities.Today, the Turning Torso is not only a residential complex but also a global architectural landmark that attracts visitors, design students, and professionals in engineering alike. It stands as an example of how architecture can embody both human form and urban aspiration, linking art with function, sculpture with shelter. As Calatrava himself intended, it suggests a “living body” in motion, perpetually spiraling upward—a fitting metaphor for Malmö’s own trajectory in the 21st century. Few buildings so effectively combine aesthetic daring, structural ingenuity, and civic symbolism, making the Turning Torso one of the great architectural icons of the new millennium.Team a trip to see the Turning Torso with a stop at Kallis, a tremendously cool cold plunge in Malmö. This historic clothing-optional, open-air cold bath house is unlike anything you have ever seen. It features opportunities to take the plunge from multiple piers, including a plunge into the cold Baltic Sea, as well as nude bathing, several saunas (one is co-ed), and stunning views of the sea and the Turning Torso. Enjoy!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Copenhagen has more bikes than cars. More than 62% of residents bike to school, university, or work. Though 6 million people live here and 330 million live in the U.S., as many people commute by bicycle in greater Copenhagen as cycle to work in the United States. The result is a large metropolis gratifyingly free of air pollution, though the bicyclists are a bit righteous about getting in their lane.Time for the U.S. to get its bike act together.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Gullfoss, or "Golden Falls," is a spectacular two-tiered waterfall in southwest Iceland, formed by the glacial meltwater from the Hvítá river, which originates from the Langjökull glacier. The waterfall derives its name from the golden-brown color the water can take on during a bright, sunny day. It is a major attraction on Iceland's popular Golden Circle tour (which we took) and is known for its powerful flow, misty environment, and the potential for rainbows on sunny days (we caught a double rainbow). The waterfall is a protected site, saved from hydroelectric development by the early 20th-century efforts of Sigríður Tómasdóttir, Iceland's first environmentalist.Enjoy the Crotty video!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Watch Crotty in the subways of Copenhagen attempting to break through and have real connection!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

With hints of his Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry’s Disney Concert Hall is to die for. It wasn’t cheap––$270 million for the Hall, and another $110 million for parking. But this world-class facility, the gem of LA, is worth every penny. With free entrance for viewing from 10 AM to 2 PM, this is a must-see stop on any proper tour of the City of Angels. While in the area, visitors should also take in the extraordinary Broad Museum (a tremendous showcase of modern art), Angel’s Flight (the world's shortest railway), Grand Central Market, City Hall (the Dragnet Building), the exquisite Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (where I attended The Oscars back in the day), the Bradbury Building (where Blader Runner was shot), the Conrad Hotel (I stay in room 2318), and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Bunker Hill should be a tremendous landmark, akin to Beverly Hills, attracting LA’s best and brightest. However, the state’s maddening low-income housing mandates and the Mayor’s failure to clean out homeless encampments, not to mention criminals, doom its prospects. President Trump needs to come in with 1000 National Guard, and scrub the streets, completely clear out the homeless, handcuff the criminals, and deport the illegals. Only then will LA’s Bunker Hill live up to its promise. With the mediocre, dimwitted Woke tool Karen Bass at the helm, this is never going to happen. Still, Disney Hall and Bunker Hill are worth a visit, if only by day.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The Santa Lucia Festival was founded 100 years ago by Grazia Bonafede Caniglia, of Carlentini, Sicily, to instill faith in her community and deepen their connection to the Sicilian heritage. Having moved many times over the years, the festival is back where it all began, in the heart of Omaha’s Little Italy. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, along with Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson, died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. The musicians had chartered a plane after experiencing heating problems with their tour bus. The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza crashed shortly after takeoff, and all four were killed instantly due to head trauma.* The Day the Music Died:The crash became known as "The Day the Music Died" and was later immortalized in Don McLean's song "American Pie".* The Flight:Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper were on their way to Moorhead, Minnesota, for the next stop on their "Winter Dance Party" tour.* Weather Conditions:The weather conditions were poor with snow and gusty winds, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, was not adequately briefed on the worsening weather.* Crash Site:The plane crashed in a cornfield, and the impact ejected the musicians from the aircraft, while the pilot was found within the wreckage.* Cause of Death:The county coroner stated that all four fatalities were due to severe head trauma.* Pilot Error:Investigations pointed to pilot error, including inadequate weather information and potential spatial disorientation due to unfamiliarity with the aircraft's instruments.* Impact:The crash had a profound impact on the music world, marking a tragic turning point for rock and roll and leading to various tributes and memorials.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

This French Ontarian remarked how he never saw U.S. residents on this remote stretch of Canadian highway. I was the first! So, I made him famous.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

A trip to Canada would not be complete without a dip in mighty Lake Superior. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

I came across the monstrosity after getting a private tour of the Agnico Eagle Goldex facility in Val-D’or. Photos of the Goldex mine are found below, where they are mining a mile beneath the surface. A job not for the claustrophobic (read: The Crotty). Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The Rosario captures The Crotty ranting on the absence of pickup pickleball in Gotham. Inexcusable. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Here is the story, infused with Hegelian dialectic and “beautiful” singing by Crotty. Connie Connors did the packing. Production by the esteemed Michael Rosario, the legendary “Puerto Rican Man.” Thank you to the inimitable Michael Kassner for granting me a port in the storm of Manhattan long past its cool date. My time was well spent. From the confines of my groovy Manhattan bachelor pad, I launched Crotty’s Kids, where I taught urban kids to become academic athletes through the power of speech and debate, and dated the great Apryl Miller, doyenne of color and style. Watch and enjoy. Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Zephaniah Kingsley was a slaver. He bought and sold slaves. His unique selling proposition was that he upgraded his offerings—teaching them English, an applicable agricultural trade—thereby dramatically increasing the price he received at auction. Slaving was the primary focus of the Zephaniah plantation on Fort George Island, deep in the bayous of Jacksonville, Florida. The plantation was only accessible by water. A series of alligator-infested bayous awaited any slave who tried to escape.However, Zephaniah discouraged escapes by treating his slaves better than most slaveholders. The work was hard and unrelenting, but slaves were given plenty of family time when the day was done. Zephaniah did not believe slaves were inferior. His wife was a slave who bore him four mullato children, all of whom earned their freedom in 1811, and in the strange paradox of slavery, went on to become slavers themselves. Besides the dark practice of cultivating valuable slaves, Zephaniah’s plantation was primarily engaged in the production of Sea Island cotton, prized by Europeans for its long, silky fibers. Of the plantation's 750 acres, most was devoted to cotton production. An overgrowth of trees has since reclaimed it. Zephaniah also became involved in the brutal practice of sugar cane cultivation, as well as a small amount of indigo, but the Kingsley plantation was primarily engaged in cotton production.The grounds of the Kingsley estate include the oldest plantation house still standing in Florida, and its collection of slave cabins constructed from tabby is one of the best-preserved in the United States. It is considered "the oldest surviving antebellum Spanish Colonial plantation in the United States." It is a must-see in any tour of Jacksonville. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The estate that came to be known as “Mar-a-Lago,” sea to lake, was constructed for the socialite and business executive Marjorie Merriweather Post between 1924 and 1927, during the Florida land craze. The daughter of C.W. Post, she was best known as the owner and director of Postum Cereal Company, which acquired some of the nation's top brands, including Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Jell-O, Maxwell House, and Birdseye, pioneering the development of frozen food. The company was later renamed General Foods Corporation. At the time of her death in 1973, Post bequeathed the property to the National Park Service, with the hope that it could be used for state visits or as a Winter White House. Sure enough, it became a Winter White House. Though who knows if Post would have approved of the eventual owner!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

It was long drive from Omaha. But I achieved what I sought: multiple sightings of gator plus the added bonus of impressive Everglades bird life. Look below.I highly recommend a day trip to the Everglades.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Here’s a closer look.God Bless America!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Many of you may not realize it, but on Saturday morning, an anti-life narcissist set off a huge bomb that killed himself and severely damaged a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California. The event has shaken the lovely, bucolic, historic desert Mecca. There’s talk of shutting down the thoroughfare that crosses in front of the clinic. The killer, Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, believed that humans need to stop procreating. The absurd challenge at the heart of his anti-natalist message: "I didn’t ask to be born.”A colossal symbol of human procreativity is a fertility clinic, which harvests thousands of embryos for would-be parents. A small facility, but big impact. Reddit has banned some anti-fertility chat, but other threads remain. Bartkus was actively discussing explosive devices in chats and posting about them on YouTube, but no one reported him. At the age of nine, he burned his house down in Yucca Valley while playing with matches. The family lost everything. He was placed on juvenile probation, but later the incident was expunged from his record. No further action was taken. I doubt this will be the last we see of this movement or lone wolves like Guy Edward Bartkus. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

A two-block walk from the St. Louis Four Seasons Hotel stands the Union Electric Light and Power Company’s Ashley Street Powerhouse, a staggering emblem of industrial confidence and might. Built in 1902 in the Renaissance Revival style, the classical detailing of this preposterously large generating station stands in marked contrast to the rusting industrial appurtenances protruding beyond its false pediments, pilasters, and elaborate brickwork. At first glance, you think this is a mistake. The sloppily maintained access road suggests as much. But St. Louis has left this marvel and other hulks just as they were when they were last used over fifty years ago. The result is a magical tour of industrial decay unparalleled across the country. There are plans to redevelop the area south of the Arch, but this area north of it will remain untouched for now—a testament to St. Louis’ outstanding manufacturing heritage. The photos below are just a small sample of the St. Louis industrial footprint, which includes steel foundries, munitions manufacturing, oil refining, and various breweries. St. Louis’ skyline is pedestrian and boring. But it’s riverwalk is anything but. Enjoy.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

It’s not hard to see how Democrats could start winning elections again: adopt Bill Clinton's Democratic Centrist playbook. The Democrats won in 1992 on a simple mantra: “It’s the economy, stupid.” But they won Clinton a second term because they governed from the center. That means jettisoning for all time this absurdly racist, sexist obsession with DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). When Bill Clinton rejected Sister Soulja—"If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?"—he signaled that he would appeal to the common-sense center of America, not the racialist fringe. That was 1992. Bill Clinton secured the border, balanced the budget, and kept us out of stupid, disastrous wars of choice, though he blew his chance to kill Bin Laden. He also put 100,000 more cops on the street. He was sensible but not extreme on the environment and instituted genuine welfare reform. Today’s progressive wing of the Democratic Party is socialistic and should be branded as such to distinguish it from the party's mainstream views. It does not believe in America, but it does believe in the confiscation of wealth, illegal immigration, cash bail, and the cancellation of mainstream American heroes. A Democratic Party that distinguished itself from its extreme fellow travelers and Trump’s tariff wars and isolationism could be a serious force in upcoming elections. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Astor Place, once the epicenter of counter-cultural activity in NYC, has been made achingly safe for the square coeds of NYU. The Donut Pub, open 24 hours, is one of the last all-night outposts for an Instagram-happy cohort that goes to bed at a reasonable hour. Still, for outright food porn, it’s hard to beat.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

In 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the consulate as a “spy hub” after a NYC police officer was found spying for China. In September 2024, Linda Sun, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Kathy Hochul, was found to have worked to keep the governor from attending an event hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of New York. Consul General Huang Ping gave Sun direct orders and bribes to advance PRC interests. With such an apparent agent of the Communist Party of China (CCP) working so close to the governor, one has to wonder how compromised Hochul is. And then there’s Falun Gong, Tibet, and the Uyghurs. Maybe it’s time to close the Chinese Consulate of New York.The Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

I took a day trip across the border to check out the sights and sounds of the Baja Peninsula. The Colorado River was found to be dry, but the surroundings were quite enlivening. The passage across the border at Calexico was pretty straightforward. Contrary to stereotype, they did a full inspection of my car. I am not sure exactly what they were looking for since the drug traffic was going north, but it didn’t take long. The town of Mexicali was alive, bustling with frenetic energy. However, directions to the main thoroughfare, Mexican Federal Highway 5, were hard to find. There was a lot of development, but the street infrastructure was lacking. In particular, an absence of traffic lights. You have to stop at a lot of stop signs here. But once I found my bearing, it was pretty smooth sailing down the highway to San Felipe. Below is a breakdown of the journey in photos. When I got to the border back into America, I accidentally got in the wrong lane, the one designated for SENTRI (Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection), a program for pre-approved low—risk frequent Mexican travelers. I got an earful at customs and had to wait two hours while they inspected the car.But in the end, it was a happy day trip with no incidents. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

The Salton Sea, California's largest body of inland water, lies 227 feet below sea level in the middle of the Mojave Desert. There is enough lithium at the bottom of the Sea to power nearly 400 million electric vehicles. They say you can fish and swim in the Salton Sea, but I wouldn’t trust it. There is that foul smell, plus the highly saline Sea is ground zero for an uptick in child respiratory issues. Frankly, I wouldn’t live remotely near the Salton Sea, but it does make for an intriguing stop for connoisseurs of disaster tourism. Go!The Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Pictured below: the grifter-in-chief and his designated bagman. Mr. President, please spare us the phony concern about Hunter Biden’s fragile sobriety. Your blanket pardon of your son had little to do with his welfare but, instead, served one overarching purpose: to eliminate any possibility that you, your brother Jim, let alone Hunter and other family members would go to prison for selling access to you to foreign adversaries. The pardon’s timing could not have been worse for Democrats since many potential conflicts of interest with Trump family members deserve scrutiny. For instance, Donny, Jr., a board member of the “anti-woke” online marketplace PublicSquare, advises drone manufacturer Unusual Machines, which will undoubtedly seek government contract work in this age of “over-the-horizon” containment. The stock price of Trump’s uninspiring social media and streaming platform Truth Social rose dramatically with Trump’s prospects for election victory. Concerns remain that significant investments in Truth Social are a backdoor way to gain presidential access. Meanwhile, Trump’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency platform will benefit from the Trump Administration's bullish view of digital currencies. Trump’s sons Donald, Jr. and Eric will run it. And who knows what byzantine entanglements need unpacking between the world’s richest human, key Trump advisor, and putative co-administrator of the new Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk––CEO of The Boring Company, Nueralink, Space X, Tesla, X, xAI, et. alia––and the President-elect. Tesla’s stock price certainly has responded favorably to the South African American’s proximity to power.As I noted in the podcast above, in-laws of Trump's offspring have been nominated for key positions in the Administration. Lebanese billionaire Dr. Massad Boulos, father-in-law to Tiffany Trump, has been nominated for White House senior adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs. His Boulos Enterprises is based in Ikeja, Nigeria. The last time a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire got involved in U.S. politics, there were tragic casualties. Democrats would want to get under the fingernails, Luca-Brasi-style, of this tie-up. Fellow real estate billionaire and convicted felon Charles Kushner––father-in-law to Trump family rock star Ivanka Trump––has been nominated to serve as Trump’s Ambassador to France. But with Joe Biden’s pardon of his felonious son Hunter, the necessary questions about Trumpian nepotism and quid-pro-quo have lost some steam. Biden’s pals in the Democratic Party and Democratic media are angry and crestfallen as their leverage over Trump just got weaker. They now conclusively know what most fair and balanced observers have long known: while we thank him for his service, Joe Biden will be seen as one of the most corrupt, dishonest, and self-serving con artists in U.S. Presidential history. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

This is the first in a series of longer-form Crotty lectures on art, philosophy, and politics. Works referenced in this episode and for further study:The Western Canon: The Books and Schools of the Ages, by Harold Bloom.Lectures on Art, Religion, and the History of Philosophy, by G.W.F Hegel. On the Use and Abuse of History for Life, by Friedrich NietzscheAchieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America, by Richard Rorty. If you enjoy, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Warm regards,Jim Crotty Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribers to The Crotty Farm Report know that I drove from my CrottMo redoubt in Omaha’s Little Italy to New York to watch and celebrate Donald Trump’s reelection on November 5. Here is my historic report from Times Square:Subscribers may not know that I stayed a few more days to enjoy the afterglow of Trump's triumph. In my peregrinations around Gotham, I talked with a variety of working-class people––from Korean greengrocers to Haitian cabbies to Nigerian Uber drivers to all manner of bellmen, concierge, and service personnel––who ALL said they voted for Mr. Trump. The outpouring of love for the Queens-born native son was so tremendous that Trump increased his vote percentage in New York state by over six percent. He has made the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens much more Republican-friendly, though these outer boroughs still have a long way to go to match Trump's near-40% voter advantage on Staten Island. But if the predictions of my Rainbow Coalition of Trump supporters in Times Square are accurate, it’s coming and soon.As I was preparing to fly out of New York City after a Washington Square Park talk with investors about the prospects for the post-election Trump Trade, I saw former CNN anchor Don Lemon interviewing passersby. As I stopped to watch briefly, Mr. Lemon motioned me to hang around. The temperature had turned suddenly chilly. I was in shorts! And those Lululemon tops are a bit too form-fitting for a “dad bod” like mine! When it finally got to my turn, I was so cold, so ashamed of my attire, and so eager to get going I was talking a million miles an hour! I had to move around to stay warm!Well, the rest is history. The Internet got a hold of the interview, making me an overnight sensation. No doubt Ms. Lemon thought he was making this “old white guy” into a poster child for misogyny. But, as friends have noted, he didn’t realize he was walking into a buzzsaw of debate coach and comms director prowess, LOL. Who knows, maybe Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will take notice and make me their Press Secretary for the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Coda: After the video spread worldwide, Mr. Lemon quit X. Coincidence? You decide!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Though I drove from Omaha to Times Square to be in Donald Trump’s home city of New York, I didn't know if he would win. To protect my heart from a Cornhusker-level disappointment, I even disingenuously predicted Harris would somehow pull it out, given the vaunted Democratic ground game. But that ground game never materialized. The love for Harris just wasn’t there. Once again, the polls––which had Trump barely winning––undercounted the intensity of his support, as Trump won both the Electoral College and popular vote in one of the greatest political comebacks in U.S. history. Like me, the people I talked to in Times Square said a sea change is underway in Gotham and New York State. These men and women from all races and creeds are tired of the Democratic shenanigans and want a new way. It was refreshing, beautiful, and filled with love. Watch and enjoy.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Like a good hedgehog, Kamala Harris has a singular, easy path to election victory: win the former blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and carry the purple dot of Omaha. Given that the Real Clear Politics (RCP) average shows Harris up in Michigan and Wisconsin (if barely) and by a lot in the tie-breaking Nebraska district of CD-2, her focused strategy seems, at least superficially, to be paying off. But she is down by about .3% in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where she has not been up in the RCP polling average for weeks. Since the Butler, PA rally, the first of several assassination attempts and plots on Trump’s life––enabled in part by dangerous Democrat rhetoric that “Trump is Hitler”––Pennsylvania has remained stubbornly pro-Trump. Even Democrat Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman had to admit to the pro-Democrat New York Times, “Anybody spends time driving around, and you can see the intensity. It’s astonishing,” Fetterman said of support for Trump in The Keystone State. If Harris loses Pennsylvania, she still has a path to victory through some of the remaining four swing states––Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina. Her ground game is solid in Georgia, but Trump is up there and in Arizona––at percentages in both states almost beyond the margin of error. But things are close in the delegate-rich Tarheel State, recently battered by Hurricane Helene and a clumsy Biden/Harris response to the disaster. Should Harris win North Carolina and Nevada, she can still win the election even if she loses Pennsylvania. However, Trump is currently up in both states and closing strong in determinedly libertarian New Hampshire—showing that his foxy weave strategy might be paying dividends––presenting a last-minute quandary for hedgehog Harris. Still, the cleanest path for her and Trump remains through Pennsylvania. The race should not be this close. Harris is staggeringly wrong on every issue that matters to voters but one: Trump went off the rails in the days up to and including January 6, 2021. Though many Democrats engaged in widespread election denialism with every Republican victory since 2000––including refusing to certify in 2017––and enabled the terroristic Antifa/BLM Summer of Insurrection, Harris has nothing else to run on since Trump is an abortion moderate, despite her lies to the contrary. Moreover, her administration has failed miserably on the border, with inflation, and in fostering peace and security at home and abroad. So, once again, a pivotal American election comes down to an up-or-down vote on Donald J. Trump's personality—not his extraordinary policies that kept Americans prosperous, secure, and free from censorship, lawfare, and surveillance. So far, Democrats are winning many of the early votes in Pennsylvania. But MAGA closes hard, and Pennsylvania swing voters have seen first-hand how Democratic rhetoric and policies under the guise of “saving democracy” can end up killing it. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading the Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

In a nod to playwright Brian Friel, Crotty votes for the first time in his “home place” of Nebraska, having moved on from the hopeless, dysfunctional, one-party rule of Democrat-run California. It’s poetic justice that #Nebraska plays UCLA this Saturday at Memorial. #GBR. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

On the historic day when Crotty turned in his California driver’s license to become a registered voter in the bluest speck of the blue dot, I am again joined by Marin County Rainbow Brother Duncan Sylvester for a fascinating, essential discussion that ranges from ancient religious art to Edward Hopper, Venus de Milo to Andy Warhol, Friedrich Nietzsche to Flannery O’Connor, Taylor Swift to Willa Cather, Father Don Doll to the Trump performance art at McDonald’s. You won’t want to miss a second. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reviewing The Crotty Farm Report! This post is public, so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

On the day that Elon Musk’s Space X “toothpicks” welcomed home the Super Heavy booster of its Starship in South Texas, Crotty stared into the night sky at Chance Ridge in Elkhorn, Nebraska to witness another historic space event. This one was last seen by our ancestors 80,000 years ago: the return of the C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet.Here we are, connected through space and time, made all the more visible by the iPhone!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

At 850 Jones St., a block from the famed Old Market in the railroad capital of Omaha––where westward construction of the transcontinental railroad commenced––resides the seemingly benign and innocuous Harriman Dispatch Center (or HDC). The HDC is the rail traffic control headquarters for the 160-year-old publicly traded United Pacific Railroad (ticker: UNP), aka “U.P.” Informally known as "The Bunker," the HDC monitors U.P. switches, tracks, and trains across America. Locals who have toured it tell me it’s quite compelling inside: massive screens, with over sixty attendants, monitoring a monumental swath of staggering infrastructure. The Harriman is considered cool enough to be listed in the database of the Center for Land Use Interpretation, one of the essential stops on the Monk tour of L.A. The Bunker is also a pivotal stop in the Crotty tour of Downtown O. Here’s a photo of what it looks like inside:Like CIA and NSA data centers scattered around Reston, Virginia and beyond, online mentions of the HDC are rare and hard to find. Nevertheless, the low-key, below-the-radar, but mission-critical Harriman Dispatch Center became mired in controversy two years ago when a U.P. train backed into 75 parked train cars near the Salton Sea in my second home of Southern California, killing a conductor and engineer. Dispatch errors made at the Harriman mothership and failures of backup systems were blamed. Rust on the tracks also prevented the parked train cars from being electronically detected. In the wake of the catastrophic East Palestine, Ohio train disaster, the U.P. crash likely added to public perception that the Biden Administration’s embattled Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, was more consumed with policing perceived historical injustices than keeping our nation’s rail network and those who live and work along it safe. As the Biden/Harris Administration fails to promptly, effectively, and generously respond to the Hurricane Helene disaster––which has affected miles of critical infrastructure––the confidence of voters in Democratic governing competence has again been shaken just a month out from the most pivotal U.S. election in decades. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crotty Farm Report! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Chicago is the most architecturally spectacular city in America, with signature masterworks by Jahn, Richardson, Sullivan, and van der Rohe, founder of the exquisite—when done right—International Style. The glory days of writers like Nelson Algren, Mike Royko, and Theodore Dreiser are long gone, as well as Machine legends like Jane Byrne, Richard Daley, and Ed Vrodolyak, who provided such a saucy undertow to the city’s vast and muscular ambitions. The once-fabulous Drake Hotel is a shadow of its former self, and the other elite hotels are plagued by a lack of smart, nuanced, and competent staff. Still, the beauty of this remarkable place endures. Come to Chi-town to swim in Lake Michigan, stroll The Art Institute, see Roosevelt University (a college inside a skyscraper), gape gobsmacked at the stunning architecture and public art, and eat and drink very well, amidst friendly, well-dressed, if fairly no-nonsense denizens. This is the heart of America. It’s turned far left of center with its recent parade of daft Woke mayors, but despite the crime, it holds on to some of its gritty and elegant glory.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Some Democrats are even trying to get “The Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett, to display a blue dot outside his long-time Dundee home. But don’t bank on it. While a dot may perfectly symbolize Nebraska’s famously understated, self-effacing, and Stoic nature, The Oracle, whose Republican father represented CD-2 in the U.S. Congress, knows that Republicans buy Berkshire Hathaway stock too.Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

You’ve seen the pitch from Jimmy “The Belly” Crotty above. Here’s Taylor’s (click on the requisite photo with cat): Unlike The Crotty, Ms. Swift publicly endorses a specific candidate while disingenuously calling upon everyone to register (even Trump voters, Tay?). She also indirectly peddles lies about Trump's actual positions on abortion, gay rights, and IVF. Crotty’s only wish is for free speech, free assembly, free thought, and a nation free of the scourges of broken borders, rampant crime, and statist intrusions into our economy, private lives, and politics. God Bless America!Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

It is painful to be an American right now, with such inane, unprepared options for President and such dangerously biased media rooting for and covering for one team. I need an escape hatch to another country, portal, or universe of excellence. But I will try to remain in the CrotMo trenches and demonstrate the excellence that our two standard-bearers congenitally cannot. As I know from direct experience working in Congress during his first term, Trump will advance the most policies I can support, except for his stupid tariffs. Though I don’t think he has the necessary heart to go win the war for Ukraine, with RFK, Jr. by his side he would be a necessary governor on NeoCon adventurism.Still, I can no longer abide his fabulations, exaggerations, exhaustingly tired lines, his grotesque lack of preparation, knowledge, and nuance, and his staggering inability to deeply listen. I just wish he would go into hiding and let Ivanka, Melania, and Vivek campaign for him. Do the Biden basement strategy, so we can fondly remember Trump from the days when he was fresh, original, and inspiring.By contrast, itsy-bitsy Kamala Harris is the Pony League pitcher trying to make it in the big leagues. She is, at best, a figurine, not even a figurehead. She is an astoundingly mediocre mess of word salad and fuzzy thinking. She’s never run a business and knows zero about basic economics. She spews trained words and plans, yet she has no intimate grasp of what she is saying, nor is there any indication she believes what she is saying except perhaps when it comes to abortion. She's like some weird, giddy, stoned, nasally, wind-up candidate doll. I'd rather listen to a high-powered lawnmower two inches from my ear than listen to fatuous Kamala Pablum for one more second. For good reason, Iowans saw right through her charade in 2020. She did not win one primary vote. If Kamala tossed out tinfoil packets of Loess Hills meth, Iowans would not have voted for her. If she’d screamed “Husk Nebraska!” they would not have voted for her. If she publicly injected ethanol into her veins, it would not have mattered. They hated her that much. With Kamala, increased exposure leads to increased contempt, which is why her handlers hide her from direct probing interviews, let alone press conferences. A staged 3-on-1 “debate” on a home-team, biased network like ABC does not count. I could have crushed both of these clowns in the Tuesday night cosplay. And I proved it in the video above. I demonstrated how a legitimate President should answer the deepest concerns of Americans without preparation, notes, handlers, or a good night’s sleep. That a schlump like me could perform better than these two frauds shows you how deep the rot is in our land. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, plesse consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe

Friends, this is the first in the Crotty Farm Report (CFR) TV series. In this month’s episodes, I answer questions from a random Gen Z questioner. Unlike Hillary at the CNN debate, I don’t know any of the questions in advance or have notes. This one is on the house, but you must become a paid subscriber to view the rest. As you will see, Musk, Oliver, Stewart, Trump, and Tucker have nothing on “The Crotty Man.”Trigger warning: For those properly formed in Conservative Jewish, Midwestern Catholic, or Southern Protestant values––the core of my current subscriber base––some of these videos might be a bit too edgy. I occasionally use foul language (my apologies, Aunt June), but they are all in good fun. Enjoy!Thank you to the wunderkinder inside the Monk Media Lab at Monk Space LA for their fantastic work. Please consider renting Monk Space for your next art, film, performance, or TV production. Remember to become a paid subscriber to the Crotty Farm Report to enjoy the best cultural, political, and travel commentary anywhere. Crotty Farm Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Crotty Farm Report at crotty.substack.com/subscribe