FAFO Story Of The Day: Me Enteré

The HuffPost has a story about an Hispanic restaurant owner in Las Vegas who supported the corrupt and racist Hispanic-demeaning Malignant Fascist in 2024, and has since experienced a decline in his business:

"A Las Vegas restaurant owner who proudly welcomed Donald Trump to his eatery during the 2024 campaign has admitted, just days before the 2026 midterm elections, that he may now have to shut down amid the affordability crisis.

'We go backwards, everything is worse,' Javier Barajas, owner of Il Toro E La Capra, said in a segment that aired Monday on CNN’s 'OutFront.'

Barajas said rising costs and gas prices, driven in part by Trump’s war on Iran, could force him to sell his Mexican-Italian fusion restaurant or close it entirely.

'We hoping every day that the war ends,' he said."

As if ending the war the MF started will be the end of your problems.  If only it were the dope Barajas that was the victim of his own stupidity for buying the MF's lies.  His staff had to suffer, too:

"The segment also highlighted the financial strain facing staff at Barajas’ venue, which is one of several he owns in the city.

One worker said he had been forced to sell his car and now commutes 40 minutes to work on an electric scooter, while another said he had taken a second job and was working 100 hours a week.

'Every single one of us, we feel like, one way or another, we feel the pain,' said chef Fernando Perez."

Well, F...k Around and Find Out has consequences.  Supporting a delusional white nationalist / racist candidate in the MF, who thinks the affordability crisis is a hoax, was a bad choice for you, amigo. 

(photo: a little bitter, correcta? / Jeff Scheid, The Nevada Independent)

 

FAFO: Trump Voters In Ohio Flip

 

A teeny tiny sample of what is likely a larger trend in the red state of Ohio:

Sipping tea from beer mugs with his coworkers, Kyle Bos listed the ways his life is changing.

Bos has two daughters, with a third due in January. At the grocery store, five items cost as much as a full cart once did. And on Wednesday, Bos and nearly 1,400 other people were laid off from their jobs at what had been the Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio.

The layoffs — occurring just three days before Donald Trump's rally on Saturday at a nearby high school — were large enough to basically erase an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton, Ohio area. And they are one reason why Bos, 30, plans to spend the final weeks before the November election canvassing votes for Democrats.

Asked how many times he voted for Trump, Bos held up three tattooed fingers. But he said he's done with the president.

"Something has to change politically in this country," said Bos, a member of the United Auto Workers who identifies as a centrist... [Ed.:  if voting for Trump 3 times means you're a "centrist," that word has lost all meaning!  But, hey, welcome to reality.]

More:

Kelly Savage-Radich grew up in a Republican-supporting Ohio family and voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. But today the mother of three, who lives in a Montgomery county suburb of Dayton, is facing the prospect of having to sell one of her family's vehicles due to the high cost of gas. Her grocery bill has gone up about $100 a week.

She lays the blame squarely at the Trump administration's door.

"He wants his name on everything," she said. "I'm sorry, but I don't give a shit whose name is on the Kennedy Center."

That wasn't the only matter on her list of grievances – Savage-Radich also brought up the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year. She said: "The shooting of an American citizen dead in the street, and no one was held accountable? I have two daughters, and I'm trying to teach them all the freedoms this country has, but it feels like our freedoms are being taken. [snip]

"Trump? I think he's a disaster," said a woman who declined to give her name as she stood outside a tattoo parlor in the Old North district, a working-class area north of downtown Dayton.  [snip]

"To be honest, I think I'm going to vote Democrat all the way down, for everything. Because I want it not to be this way."

We're grateful for every one of these "centrists"/ Republicans who're finally (often once reality hits them personally) coming to the same conclusion the rest of us came to as we watched the Malignant Fascist descend the golden escalator at Trump Tower back in 2015:  He's a disaster.

(Photo:  Don Snoresalot / Reuters)

A Foundry Found Out

 

Trump's Tariffs and a FAFO story out of Wisconsin, via Raw Story:

... Sachin Shivaram, chief executive of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, published an op-ed in the Washington Post explaining how the trade war has already hurt his workers, many of whom support the president, and warning that shareholders will eventually get soaked.

"A disclosure: I didn’t vote for the man. But I’m not just writing this for myself," Shivaram wrote. "I’m writing on behalf of the roughly 1,000 workers who power our company — and who overwhelmingly did vote for him. One reason I know that is because in 2020, we hosted then-candidate Joe Biden at our factory in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and a substantial number of our workers turned up in red MAGA hats, spoiling many a photo op. They made sure management and ownership knew how they felt."

The CEO said his business had been growing at the start of the year and demand for the company's aluminum casings was strong, but he said the tariffs have already backfired on their intended purpose.

"The Trump administration’s tariffs are meant to encourage domestic aluminum smelting," the executive wrote. "But they will cause real economic pain."

The fee that largely determines the cost of buying aluminum in North America has tripled in the past six months, and the company's nonaluminum inputs have increased by 7 percent in the last month, and the foundry has had no choice but to raise their prices and lay off some workers.

"What is not debatable is that our order rate is down 35 percent to 40 percent since the start of the year," he wrote. "At other companies, too, demand is crumbling. In such a situation, companies have a fiduciary duty to bring costs down, and the one surefire way to do that is layoffs. At our company, we’ve had little choice but to lay workers off at all of our plants. Shareholders aren’t suffering — not yet — because the impact is being absorbed first by the very people Trump’s policies are meant to help."

Shivaram said his low opinion of the tariffs is shared across the business community, but he said other CEOs are fearful that speaking out against the president would put their jobs or companies at risk."

"Is that fear powerful enough to keep corporate America quiet even as consumers start to see prices increase and inflation begins to creep up for reasons that are entirely avoidable and independent of economic conditions?" Shivaram wrote.

"Time will tell," he added. "For now, I feel as though I’m watching a tsunami video that begins with a shot of a beachside paradise on a sunny day. I encourage everyone to batten down the hatches, because a big, bad wave is coming."  (our emphasis)

Those MAGAts who didn't appreciate the sunny days they had under a Democratic administration, and who haven't already been drowned by the tsunami, will soon go under if Shivaram's forecast comes true (it will).  The Malignant Fascist campaigned on raising tariffs, ffs.  The genius drove our country into a ditch during the Covid epidemic.  We wonder:  does whatever Republican- manufactured grievance motivated these workers to vote for the sociopathic moron Malignant Fascist anyway seem like it was worth it to them now?

Suds Duds FAFO

 

Sad!  Is it us or does it seem the Malignant Fascist and his cultists need to blame someone or something else other than themselves for their failures (our emphasis)

A controversial military-themed brewery championed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin is closing a little more than a year after opening in Norfolk.

The company blames a “local woke mob,” but legal filings show a company in deep financial distress dating back years.

Armed Forces CEO Alan Beal wrote in a statement the company will sell its Norfolk building and taproom “while we look for a new home and headquarters in a friendlier environment.”

“Unfortunately, our ability to profitably operate in Norfolk was severely affected by the local woke mob – a few individuals in the area who have no love for the traditional American values we hold as a company,” Beal wrote.

Armed Forces Brewing drew the ire of some neighbors as it relocated from Maryland to Norfolk in 2023. Critics called comments, social media posts and marketing from the company and its spokesman misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic, arguing the company had no place in the city.

They seem nice.  Bet their beer is just as nice, too!  But, these rugged entrepreneurial individualists got ahead using their own wits and the quality of their beer...  uh, what?

Gov. Glenn Youngkin touted the brewery’s relocation after luring the company with $300,000 in tax incentives.

So even government largesse from Gov. Red Vest wasn't enough to save them.  Bet their beer is nice!

Armed Forces took over the former O’Connor Brewing location, attracted in part because of the huge military presence and veteran population in the community.

But when the company arrived, it was greeted with neighbors who rebuffed the company and its perceived values, with more than 800 registering opposition to the brewery as it sought city permits.

Robert O’Neill, a former Navy Seal who claims to have shot Osama Bin Laden and now makes regular appearances on right-wing media, acted as the company’s public face and also owns a small part of the company.

He’s complained about the Navy’s use of a drag queen as a recruitment ambassador, insinuated that members of the LGBTQ+ community are “pedophiles” in a since-deleted tweet and was removed from a Delta flight and banned from the airline for refusing to wear a mask in 2020.

Armed Forces Brewing said O’Neill was no longer in a public-facing role with the company after he was accused of calling a security guard a racial slur when he was arrested in Texas in 2023. However, the company still lists him as a director and advisor with his photo on its website.

He seems nice, too.  But, clearly, being Malignant Fascist cultists, they must share the same business acumen as their fearless leader.  And it turns out, they do:

Already operating in the red when it arrived in Norfolk, documents filed with the SEC this week offer a peek under the hood of the struggling brewery.

The March 4 filing shows despite nearly tripling its revenues, the company lost more than $1.7 million in the first half of 2024. Armed Forces partially attributed that to “ramping up brewing at our new Norfolk facility.”

This came after consecutive years of losses. The company lost more than $2.4 million in 2023 and more than $900,000 the year before.

The filing also notes that the company had next to no cash on hand by June 30, down to just $12,000 compared to more than $282,000 six months before.

And court records from Portsmouth, Norfolk and Henrico show several different companies going after Armed Forces Brewing for unpaid debts in filings that date back as far as October 2024.

So, like their cult leader, they don't pay their bills.  Future investors and business partners take note!  But their beer!  Who could mess up that!?  (Well, the average score of their beers came in at a whopping 3.6 out of 5, which puts it in the same rarified air as Trump wines, so, sad!)

(Image:  artist rendering of man too smart and self- respecting to drink Armed Forces beer / via All About Beer)

FAFO: Latino Evangelicals Edition

 

The Malignant Fascist made strides in conning Hispanics, especially males and evangelicals, to vote for him in 2024. His negative stance on women's reproductive rights -- shifting regularly -- and his promise to tackle inflation from day one convinced many of them to cast their ballots for him, despite his history of hostility to Hispanic voters, especially those originating from Mexico and Central America. Now, they're feeling "betrayed" by the MF, after he directed ICE raids in their communities, including raiding churches and schools:

"Although many Latino evangelicals believed that the Trump administration would only target people with criminal records for deportation, they've been surprised to learn that even some of their own pastors are now in the crosshairs. 

Agustin Quiles, a spokesperson for the Florida Fellowship of Hispanic Councils and Evangelical Institutions, tells the AP that he's disturbed that the 'messaging appears to be that anyone who is undocumented is a criminal' and he said that 'we want to ask the president to reconsider because these actions are causing pain and trauma to so many families in and beyond our churches.

The Rev. Ruben Ortiz, Latino field coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, tells the AP that he's been disturbed to hear about immigrations raids taking place around churches and he says that it is intimidating parishioners from showing up on Sundays.

'We are getting calls from members who say they don’t feel safe in our churches,' he said. 'We are going to respond by giving shelter. We are going to embrace all regardless of their immigration status. Everyone can and should find refuge in our churches.'” (our emphasis)

It's hard to comprehend how many Latinos heard the slanderous things the MF has said over the years about them, and assumed he was referring to someone else. Now, they're seeing ICE and other law enforcement agents sweeping their communities, churches and schools and are surprised that, yes, he actually is a bigot and conned them for their votes in 2024. Added to the sense of betrayal of the Arab-American community, it's yet another FAFO moment.

(photo: Alex Brandon / AP)

 

The "And Find Out" Part, Cont'd.

The Malignant Fascist and his mindless and reckless white nationalist cult are soon going to find out what the consequences of their mass deportation policies -- the f*ck around part -- are having on our agricultural sector:

"Fear of increased ICE raids have already negatively affected the nation’s agricultural sector, causing alarm that food prices could skyrocket in the near future as a result of Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.

Bakersfield, California, saw a massive drop-off in the number of field workers showing up for work Tuesday while ICE agents in unmarked Chevy Suburbans rounded up and detained immigrants in the area, profiling individuals they believed to be field workers, reported CalMatters. The end result: acres of unpicked oranges roasting in the California sun at the height of the season. [snip]

Undocumented workers have been targeted walking in and out of gas stations, getting breakfast, at Home Depot, or while driving along the 99 Highway, leaving many with no other option than to simply stay at home.

'We’re in the middle of our citrus harvesting,' Casey Creamer, president of the industry group California Citrus Mutual, told CalMatters. 'This sent shockwaves through the entire community. People aren’t going to work and kids aren’t going to school. Yesterday about 25 percent of the workforce, today 75 percent didn’t show up.'”

Losing the bulk of America’s agricultural workforce overnight is a recipe for 'absolute economic devastation,' according to Richard S. Gearhart, an associate professor of economics at Cal State-Bakersfield, who spoke with the nonprofit news outlet.

'You are talking about a recession-level event if this is the new long-term norm,' Gearhart said, arguing that the end result of Trump’s policies will be felt in the grocery store checkout lines across America." (our emphasis)

We won't have to wait long before construction sites start to close down, meat packing and processed food industry shutdowns occur, restaurants and hotels cut back on hours and services, and the economy that runs on the backs of undocumented workers collapses. As we've stated before, it's our fondest hope that the MF's voters feel the economic and financial pain most of all, even though they're unlikely to accept that their cult leader is responsible.

 

Canada To Trump Tariffs: FAFO Red States

 

We should be grateful our good neighbor and trading partner to the north are not going to take destructive threats from the Malignant Fascist laying down, and they know where to punch back:

Orange juice from Florida. Whiskey from Tennessee. Peanut butter from Kentucky.

Canada is preparing for an all-out trade war with its closest ally and one of its top trading partners, and the list of American goods that could be affected is long.

Canadian officials are preparing a three-stage plan of retaliatory tariffs and other trade restrictions against the United States, which will be put into motion if President-elect Donald J. Trump makes good on his threat to impose a blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the United States.

Canadian officials will wait until Mr. Trump has made his move — which he has said will be on his first day in office, Monday — and then start with imposing tariffs. They would mostly affect consumer goods worth 37 billion Canadian dollars ($25.6 billion), according to two senior government officials familiar with the plans.  [snip]

The Canadian officials said their choice of goods was meant to be precisely targeted and aimed at political impact. They specifically want to focus on goods made in Republican or swing states, where the pain of tariffs, like pressure on jobs and the bottom lines of local businesses, would affect Trump allies.

Canada’s government hopes that those allies, including governors or members of Congress, would then pick up the phone and call Mr. Trump, intervening in favor of de-escalation...

Our other good neighbor and trading partner to the south is also working on a retaliatory list, hopefully following Canada's example of targeting the MF's red states.

The MF, being an incompetent illiterate in economic policy as in so many other areas, has had an affinity for tariffs his entire adult life.  Whether the bluffing blowhard would go through with imposing crippling tariffs or is simply using them as a threat to bully our trading partners into concessions, we can be sure he's going to declare victory no matter what (if anything) transpires over the coming weeks and months.  But, we must admit the idea of having red states suffer some economic blowback for their support of the MF would cause us no small degree of schadenfreude.  FAFO!

(Photo:  the MF opens his tariff pie hole / Mandel Ngan, AFP, Getty)