Page 1 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 May 1, 2026 Volume 9 Issue 38 From Island to Bay, News on the Level production@sunbaypaper.com www.sunbaypaper.com Right... All Along Digital Version President Donald J Trump, Thank you for your kind words in the letter of March 6, 2026. We MUST stop the inflammatory, illegal, treasonous, seditious and very dangerous THREATENING “to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on the President of the United States... a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. § 871. This statute makes it illegal to “knowingly and willfully” make such threats, which is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine...” Although the Secret Service (SS) may be primary in investigative responsibility for threats ... the FBI can and has assumed primary (when necessary) ... well it’s necessary. We did that several times and jointly with major investigations at their request and our requests due to manpower issues when the crime involves these threats. But in this case, Treason will be a charge along with a few others ... we do have the PC! When we bring these violations together... mostly from elected officials, we now have a MAJOR CONSPIRACY of the worst kind... TREASON (you are correct). Mr. President, it is treason and we MUST go after the scoundrels who are trying to get you killed. That is NO BULLSHIT … it is for real. And I know SS well enough to know that you are giving them a hard time. I have not spoken to anybody in SS, I’ve been retired too long to know any of them, so don’t blame them for leaking anything. I do know when things are getting very dangerous and I do know when the shit is going to hit the fan. Mr. President, please do what the Secret Service wants you to do. You have a family to protect and a country that loves you … don’t fuck it up …. please. In Treason, there is no Statute of Limitations and the penalty is DEATH. We need to eliminate some of these terrorists who are stoking the fire. You must take all the precautions that the Secret Service wants! Many of these “elected officials” are ignorant and will probably claim that they are insane...because they are! That’s why we have laws, judges and juries! Let the jury decide. On EVERY SINGLE elected official and celebrity request in the strongest terms... no bail...they must stay behind bars, with no communication with anyone except their attorney. They have proven their ability to incite, to riot, commit dangerous felony crimes to destroy by inciting to riot...up to and including destroying our Constitution and attempts to kill the President and whose celebratory comments of the attempts, by many of them, must not be allowed! If we go back to your first term there is much more PC with all on video, so there is no denying. THIS IS IMPORTANT...the way we MUST proceed is to get all Magistrate Arrest warrants (like they did to you and others) along with Search warrants for incrimi nating evidence. That was a little trick we did, totally legal! If you don’t understand what the Infor mation is ... talk to Rudy or Joe and stay the course with the” Information procedure” of the Federal Rules and FIND A REPUBLICAN DISTRICT WITH A “FRIENDLY JUDGE”. Do not go to anything Democrap ...stay away from the F---n DC Districts and the entire WFO, FBI Agents. Venue can be in ANY District you want...Treason covers ENTIRE AMERICA...take your pick!!! THE ORDER OF THINGS... START WITH THAT PIECE OF HUMAN EXCREMENT, WANNABE COMEDIAN, WHO NEVER WILL BE FUNNY... JIMMY KIMMEL...WHO JUST STEPPED ON HIS PENIS AND BOY, THIS IS GOING TO HURT. YOU WENT TOO FAR ASSHOLE...AND I’M COMING AFTER YOU...WITH WORDS OF COURSE...! NOBODY, BUT NOBODY, THREATENS MY BUDDY‘S WIFE ...OUR FIRST LADY... AND GETS AWAYWITH IT... YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN...WE WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN...AND BORN SO STUPID. WAS YOUR MOTHER A HEAVY DRINKER OR DOING DRUGS? IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? ...YOU AND ALL YOUR WANNABE FRIENDS WHO ARE EQUALLYAS STUPID WILL SOON JOIN YOU. MR. PRESIDENT start with Kimmel, Hakeem Jeffries, Schumer AND Maxine Waters. They are an easy hit, tons of threats, seditious and the PC is overwhelming for ALL OF them (The Three Stooges + ONE). Do it now...don’t procrastinate! Director Patel should NOT run these cases at Headquarters. He must pick a jurisdiction that “fits” the case, since it can be ANYPLACE with this violation! This case Agent ...a case Agent who can walk and chew gum at the same time and who knows what an INFORMATION is, must get these most dangerous people off the street! NOW...that’s part of the “why Magistrate” warrants! They are a danger to the President and his wife...that’s fact! USA Pirro, she can authorize prosecution and Cont’d. on pg. 2 OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP The Right Side
Page 2 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 President Trump — cont’d. Cont’d. from pg. 1 Director Patel should be present and allow his case Agent to present the case. The FBI Director should not present the PC...unless he wants to testify. He should allow his Agent to present the case! Your case Agent probably doesn’t know what an Information is so have somebody teach him. I ALWAYS obtained Magistrate warrants ...in all of my thousands of cases (that’s because I was on the two biggest and most successful squads in NYO for six years... the Truck Hijacking Squad, John Gotti crew, about 300 cases per year with 67% recovery and hundreds of subjects and the Bank Robbery Squad at 500 BRS and 60% solution, 30 working Agents, per year! NYO was the largest FBI Office... LA was the 2nd largest FBI office in the world. We solved 60% of the 500 BRs +/-. That’s more cases than LA had to solve! Columbia, S C was my first office. Thirty days of orientation and one murder solved, I transferred to Charleston. That was action...that we three created. In 13 months, we arrested 200 +/- fugitive deserters, Escape Federal prisoners and a few UFAP fugitives! We responded to a rally point; there was a Bank Robbery in Myrtle Beach. Armed with shotgun he was ID’d as the petty cash trustee for the prison with a car! The Senior gave everybody an assignment but us...he was mad at us for something stupid, so he directed everybody to go South ...the wrong direction. My partner was angry. I said, “let them go” ... check your watch ...what time is it? He laughed and said, “They went the wrong way.” I said, “get my map”. I did some simple math and figured about where he would be. I told my partner, “Put that blue light, seat belt and siren on. I’m running wide open and going to catch him. We found him with two young adults stopped at a deli. We called for help, the Boss ordered all Agents, respond Code 3, Agents need help. He came out of the store with a bag of groceries. The calvary was coming, we put out that he was getting in the car, we were taking him down. Denis and I caught him with the loaded shotgun, two hostages who did not know they were to be hostages, if I didn’t pull him out of that car. We cuffed him as the help arrived! We got all $18,000 and his shotgun and we were flying high. In my first four days on the Truck Squad ...during a search warrant on a Gotti drop, I chased a loaded straight truck, I thought was suspicious and gave chase ...he bailed out and we exchanged gunshots ...my first of MANY shootings. There were the proceeds of three truck hijackings on that truck. I was credited with a $750,000 recovery ...my first commendation from Director Hoover and a $200 check ...first of many! Not bad for being on the Squad for four days. I was always lucky, I guess. READ my book “ACTION-FBI CRIME FIGHTING - THE WAY IT WAS” ... AMAZON. Next is selecting the venue. I don’t envy you as I don’t know how to finagle getting the crimes Comey sent away and which ones he kept... all to cripple the FBI, which he succeeded in. He ruined the FBI...it was a Crime Fighting Agency, extremely successful. Now it’s nothing ... no criminal cases! You MUST get a Republican, AMERICA friendly ... Magistrate who believes in the Constitution, good luck with that, who recognizes the danger our First Family faces. PICK THE “RIGHT DISTRICT” ...THE Magistrate District to Arrest and Search!!! We are getting all our warrants, and it MUST be a Magistrate who is a patriot and honest. Do NOT ...I REPEAT, do NOT use anything WDC...NOTHING ... do not use ANY DOJ Lawyers ... Director Patel... you cannot run FBI cases from HQ like Comey did. He did what he did to keep his buddies out of jail! He stayed on top of which politician; friend was in trouble ...i.e. Hillary... and sabotaged that case. You must allow the local offices to run their Districts! Want to know what to do...if you get stuck...do the opposite of Comey. Here’s a few reasons why...FBI HQ has no investigative staff, they use WFO. Many Agents from WFO are too close to politicians and are prime for leaks, and other bad things. Close down HQ and set up someplace away from WDC! HQ has no Evidence Room (steel vault) where all the evidence is stored. Leaving the temptation to store evidence in their desks...i.e. ADIC Andy McCabe...for six months!! And I’ll bet he has done that before and so have other agents. If real FBI Agents left evidence in their locked desk...fired! Below are tidbits of some of the things I addressed... In criminal law, an information is a formal, written accusation filed by a prosecutor that initiates criminal proceedings against a defendant without a grand jury indictment. It outlines the charges and factual basis for the alleged crime, acting as a crucial charging document to begin legal processes, often in felony or, commonly, misdemeanor cases. Key details about an information: • Prosecutor-Led: Unlike an indictment, which requires a grand jury, an information is presented directly by a prosecutor. • Purpose: It is used to charge an individual with an offense and must be provided to the defendant at their first court appearance. • Usage: It is often used for speedier charges, such as when a defendant waives their right to a grand jury indictment. • Judicial Review: While it doesn’t need a grand jury vote, an information is presented to a judge or magistrate to establish that probable cause exists. • My notes: the FBI case Agent presents all the evidence ...hearsay is allowed Mr. President, Acting AG Blanche, Director Patel...there is plenty of PC to arrest a list of assholes who directly and indirectly want the President killed ... threatening to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on the President of the United States is a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. § 871. This statute makes it illegal to “knowingly and willfully” make such threats, which is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine. The Secret Service investigates these threats. §2385. Advocating overthrow of Government Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof— Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction. If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction. As used in this section, the terms “organizes” and “organize”, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons. Cont’d. on pg. 3
Page 3 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 President Trump — cont’d. Cont’d. from pg. 2 §2381. Treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. §2382. Misprision of treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both. §2383. Rebellion or insurrection Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. §2384. Seditious conspiracy If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. Director Patel, let the FBI District Offices run their investigations... if they are capable! If you are going to make the FBI better...you need crimes to investigate and the Democraps are a great place to start! Swallow, Shitty and Brennan and Crapper are so dumb... turn your Agents loose and get the arrests, convince the court to keep them locked up for months, no bail. If you want help...call me...ask Frank! J. Gary DiLaura, FBI RET Owner, SBP Media LLC therightsidejgarydilaura.com The Elitist Media Despise Black Conservatives Black conservatives perennially face the slur that they’re “not really black” if they aren’t on the Left. Not only that, they are tools of white racists if they dissent from the NAACP hard line. When the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn a racially gerrymandered congressional district in Louisiana, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was outraged by the local Deseret News in Salt Lake City prominently featuring an Associated Press photo of a lone black protester in front of the court holding a sign that said, “Thurgood is watching you, Clarence.” That implied Thurgood Marshall was disappointed in Clarence Thomas. Lee tweeted: “They’re going after Justice Thomas for being conservative while Black. That’s racist. And it’s very, very wrong.” He added: “It’d be absurd to assume that Justice Alito should agree with the late Justice Brennan because he’s white. It’s racist and offensive for @Deseret to suggest that Justice Thomas should agree with the late Justice Thurgood Marshall because he’s Black.” Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), a black conservative, seconded that thought: “When the Left can’t beat a Conservative Black man’s argument, they attack his Blackness.” For example, the Congressional Black Caucus has a membership of 60 Democrats, but none of the five black Republicans in Congress. This kind of slur greeted Thomas when he was nominated for the Supreme Court in the summer of 1991. NBC reporter Bob Herbert uncorked a commentary underlining “David Duke, former Ku Klux Klan leader, is crazy about Clarence Thomas.” Columnist Carl Rowan wrote Thomas had no talent, only the ability to “bootlick” Reagan and Bush, that “If you gave Clarence Thomas a little flour on his face, you’d think you had David Duke talking.” That same spirit continues today, as the ladies on ABC’s “The View” were upset with Justice Thomas. Joy Behar complained he “didn’t stick up for his own.” Two years ago, Behar complained that Sen. Tim Scott doesn’t understand being black, “the systemic racism that African Americans face in this country and other minorities. He doesn’t get it. Neither does Clarence. And that’s why they’re Republicans.” At the time, Sen. Scott tweeted: “When a Black conservative who believes in the future of this nation stands up to be counted, they lose their minds.” The standard leftist line is represented by Sen. Cory Booker, pushing hyperbolic lies. “Morning Joe” championed his tweet that Thomas & Co. gave “a green light for unconstitutional attacks on the voting rights that generations of Americans bled and died to secure.” But no one has been denied the right to vote. The Left insists that unless blacks get to elect other blacks, they have no voting rights. So what happens when a majority-black district elects a white guy (Steve Cohen in Memphis) or an Indian guy (Shrinivas Thanedar in Detroit)? Did their voting rights disappear? It got worse. Booker told MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire that the Court’s verdict is “eliminating black representation, disenfranchising African American voters by drawing creative districts that completely take away any kind of representation.” So all 65 black members of Congress are going to lose their seats? Or too many Democrats might? It’s also bizarre that Booker would talk about “drawing creative districts,” when that is exactly what many majority-minority districts look like on a map -- as it was in this court case, the Sixth District of Louisiana, which looks like a squashed centipede intersecting the district of Speaker Mike Johnson. Black conservatives aren’t in favor of “eliminating” black legislators or “disenfranchising” black voters. But leftists will villainize them like this because negative campaigning can work. Pretending only black Democrats are black isn’t going away. Tim Graham Director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and Executive Editor of the blog NewsBusters.org
Page 4 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 I’m sure you’ve seen these little teaser links on the Internet that can sometimes be too irresistible to ignore. They have catchy titles like “20 Celebrities Who Have a Secret Past” or “10 Common Foods That Will Kill You.” This kind of come-on is called “clickbait.” Frequently, it’s a form of false advertising that is designed to entice people browsing the web to follow a link to read or view some content that is usually disingenuous at best, and totally misleading at worst. And there is a growing number of Social Security-themed clickbait. As I mentioned in a recent column, one of the most common ones goes something like this: “6 Major Changes to Social Security Coming in 2026.” And I’m sure many people fall for that come-on and open the link because they sure don’t want to miss out on any major changes to the program that might affect them. But if you take the bait and open the link, you will learn that the “major changes” coming in 2026 are simply routine updates to Social Security that happen every year. For example, one of those changes is the annual cost-of-living increase that every Social Security beneficiary gets every January. Another is the routine annual increase in the amount of money a working beneficiary under full retirement age can make before any penalties are imposed on his or her benefits. There is not a single “major change” contained in any of these comeons. An increasingly common clickbait scenario, frequently sent as an email, usually goes something like this: “Click here to get your annual Social Security statement.” Those are always false because the Social Security Administration rarely sends Social Security statements, or any other Social Security information, to people via email. I have never been naive enough to take the bait and open those kinds of emails. But I have two friends who did. One guy told me he was sent to a page that was trying to sell him insurance. But far worse than that, another friend said he followed the link and it led him to a porn site! Another common theme of Social Security-related clickbait sites involves “secrets.” Here are a couple I saw recently. “Three Social Security secrets no one knows.” And another: “The secret to how you are losing out on $3.4 trillion in Social Security.” I guess the temptation of learning a secret sells. But when it comes to Social Security, there really aren’t any. There might be some information that you are not yet aware of. But all of that information is definitely not secret because it is readily available from places like the Social Security Administration website (www.socialsecurity.gov), a local financial planner or from reading this column. And frequently, the so-called “secrets” are really just bits of information I’d bet most people are already familiar with. For example, here are those “Three Social Security Secrets No One Knows.” One: Your benefits are reduced if you take them before full retirement age. Two: Your benefits are increased if you delay filing until after your full retirement age. Three: There is no point in waiting beyond age 70 to file for Social Security. The reduction for early retirement is pretty straightforward and relatively modest. It is roughly one-half of 1% for each month a Social Security check is taken before full retirement age. But here is an interesting and revealing point. The clickbait site says your benefit is “slashed” if taken early. The site also says you get a “generous” increase if you delay your benefits until after your full retirement age. The delayed retirement credit you get is actually two-thirds of 1% for each month you wait after your FRA to file for benefits. And why do these clickbait sites exaggerate the downside of early retirement and overplay the upsides to delayed retirement? Because almost all of them have one goal: to get you to wait until age 70 to start your Social Security -- and in the meantime, to sign up for financial services offered by the companies sponsoring the sites. To illustrate this further, let’s recall that other clickbait come on I mentioned earlier -- the one that said: “The Secret to How You Are Losing Out on $3.4 Trillion in Social Security.” Well, I guess somehow the author of that website used some very dubious math to figure out that all retiring baby boomers in this country will be losing out on combined benefits of $3.4 trillion if they don’t wait until age 70 to start their Social Security checks. So I guess my wife and I have missed out on part of that $3.4 trillion because we both took our Social Security benefits at 62. I’ve discussed our reasons for doing this many times in this column. In a nutshell, we both decided to grab our benefits early because we wanted to have fun spending that money before we got too old to enjoy it. (And of course, it helped that I also had my civil service pension for all the years I spent working for the federal government.) I am definitely not saying everyone should file for their Social Security as soon as they reach age 62. I am simply pointing out that there are various reasons why some people might not want to wait until age 70 to file. As I’ve said over and over again in this column, I am not a financial planner. I’m just an old, retired Social Security guy. But I do know enough to tell you there are many obvious factors you need to take into account when deciding at which age to begin your Social Security benefits. Do you think you will live to a ripe old age, and you will want more benefits in the long run? Then wait until age 70. Are you unsure of your longevity and are looking for more cash up front? Then take Social Security before then. Are you trying to guarantee higher survivor benefits for your spouse after you die? Then wait until age 70. Or do you and your spouse prefer to have more of that money in your early 60s as opposed to just one of you having more money later on? Then file sooner. I can also tell you that I’ve heard from enough financial planners over the years to realize that more and more of them are suggesting that most people would be wise to start their benefits at full retirement age. So another message of today’s column is this. When deciding when to start your Social Security benefits, consider all the things going on with your health, your finances and your marital status. And maybe talk to a financial planner. But definitely do not rely on clickbait to make your Social Security decisions. Tom Margenau If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called “Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security.” The other is “Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts.” You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets. Or you can send him an email at thomas. margenau@comcast.net. Social Security Clickbait
Page 5 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 Don’t Throw That Out! Copyright © SBP Media LLC and Sun Bay Paper All rights reserved. This newspaper or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher. Quote of the Week “The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.” — Unknown The Sun Bay Paper MAIL: PO Box 471, Sanborn, NY 14132 EMAILS: production@sunbaypaper.com thesbpmedia@gmail.com WEBSITE & DIGITAL VERSION: www.sunbaypaper.com OWNER/PUBLISHER: J. GARY DILAURA CONTRIBUTORS: RICHARD LUTHMANN, BOBBY MIMMO The information contained in this publication is for educational, general information, and entertainment purposes only and is never intended to constitute medical, financial or legal advice or to replace the personalized care of a primary care practitioner, financial or legal expert Have you ever walked into the kitchen to get that first cup of coffee only to discover someone left the ice cream on the counter all night? Or the milk? I don’t hate spoiled food as much as I did before. I found many clever ways to use items I used to throw out. SOUR MILK It often happens in warm weather, with even a limited milk supply; some of it turns sour before you can use it. Don’t throw it out, even if there is only a little. Sour milk can be a valuable kitchen asset. Pour the remnants into a clean lidded container and keep it in the fridge until you have accumulated 1 cup. Then plan to use it as soon as it thickens because milk becomes bitter if it stands too long. Note: Recipes using sour milk must include baking soda. SOUR MILK BISCUITS 2 cups flour 1 tablespoon shortening 1 cup thick sour milk 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Preheat the oven to 400 F. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together. Rub in the shortening with a spoon. Add the milk and stir lightly. The dough should be soft. Drop by spoonfuls into greased muffin tins and bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes. MELTED ICE CREAM Use melted ice cream for baking a cake! Your liquid, fat and flavorings are premeasured in the ice cream. And if that ice cream just happens to have big chunks of chocolate, pralines, cookie dough, cherries or nuts, all the better. Like the ice cream, your cake will be filled with yummy goodness. MELTED ICE CREAM CAKE 1 boxed cake mix (15.25 ounces) 2 cups melted ice cream, any flavor(s) 2 eggs* Preheat the oven to 350 F and move the rack to the middle. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt or angel food cake pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Place the cake mix, melted ice cream and eggs (optional) in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute to mix. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes longer, scraping the sides as necessary until the batter is thick and well-blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and starts pulling away from the pan’s sides, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small plate or rack, then again onto a second rack so that the cake is right-side-up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more. Finish with a light dusting of powdered sugar or your favorite icing. Notes: No. 1: You can melt the ice cream in the microwave on “Defrost.” Check and stir it every few minutes until it becomes liquid. No. 2: A pint of ice cream may not produce 2 cups once melted because some manufacturers pump air in during manufacturing. *No. 3: In a pinch, you can leave out the eggs. I did once by accident, and my German chocolate cake mix with Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream was awesome. No. 4: You can use any variety of cake mix with any combination of ice creams you might have on hand. Boring flavors will produce a bland cake. Get creative with flavors. I’ve used cake mixes with pudding, double pudding, no pudding, extra moist and ultra moist, all with good results. I’ve mixed together several flavors and brands of ice cream to come up with 2 cups and to use up those last bits covered with ice crystals hiding in the back of the freezer. MARY HUNT EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”
Page 6 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 The Media Could Attempt a ‘Nonpartisan Bias’ The third dreadful assassination attempt against President Donald Trump was an opportunity to assess where we stand on the question of political violence. In this decade, the media has demonstrated a profound double standard. The horrible riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was a four-year obsession for the liberal media, and supposedly smart people compared it to Pearl Harbor and 9/11 -- as in Jan. 6 was “worse than” the other disasters. But the George Floyd riots in 2020 were presented dishonestly as peaceful protests. We all remember reporters standing in front of fires saying it was “peaceful,” or “not unruly.” The tens of people who died were barely mentioned. When Trump was shot in the ear in 2024, CBS anchor Margaret Brennan complained that Trump didn’t urge his supporters to calm down their commentary: “This was a traumatic event, no doubt for him, but I did notice there was no call for lowering the temperature, condemning all political violence.” Even worse, the network newscasts remained highly negative for Trump in the first few days after he was shot. Political violence is a great example of how the news media -- one seeking to reflect the “mainstream” -- could display what could be called a nonpartisan bias, choosing to stand for civic goals regardless of party. Rioting -- from anyone -- could draw negative coverage. Property destruction -- by anyone -- is a negative. Because these practices can cause a cycle of vengeance. You burn down my house, I burn down yours. It’s not “mostly peaceful” to you when it’s your house. Empathy is entirely missing. The New York Times is championing “micro-looting,” as NPR promoted a book called “In Defense of Looting.” They don’t seem to consider how they would like it if you looted their buildings. A nonpartisan bias would be great in this moment, if journalists decided to oppose gerrymandering, regardless of which party is doing it (or both). Instead, we witnessed a pile of outraged stories over Trump pushing redistricting in Texas, and then fairly positive coverage of Gov. Gavin Newsom pushing for more redistricting in already-gerrymandered California. In recent weeks, we’ve had near radio silence as they drew a ridiculously gerrymandered map and put it on the ballot in Virginia. One could conclude that all this gerrymandering will cancel out. But you could still discourage the practice. A nonpartisan bias could be employed in “fact-checking,” where it could be discouraged when you compare our elected president to a genocidal maniac like Adolf Hitler. If it’s wrong for Trump to call Kamala Harris a “communist,” then it should be wrong to call Trump a “fascist.” But that’s not the world we live in now. We know why this notion is the furthest thing from today’s media hive mind. They’re constantly getting a torrent of outrage from all their Democrat and leftist friends -- the only people whose opinion they really value -- that any notion of nonpartisanship is viciously attacked as a “permission structure for fascism.” Bari Weiss making the slightest noise about aiming news at the “center” at CBS is seen as lying prostrate in front of Trump. The Left clearly needs the tone of the news to be frantically negative all the time, to feed their highly agitated base -- and hopefully motivated to vote against Trump. But this tone is exactly why half the country thinks the national news is fake. Tim Graham Director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and Executive Editor of the blog NewsBusters.org In Western Civilization, Christian ethics still, in some ways, dominate society. Murder is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Lying is wrong. Iran is dominated by Shiite Muslims who, at heart, embrace Taqiyya, or religious dissimulation, in ways Sunni Muslims tend to reject. It is why more must be done to Iran. Taqiyya, in practice, means lying to the infidel. The Hadith, or traditions of the prophet, says “war is deceit” and commanders may use lies to advance their cause. The Iranian regime outmaneuvered the Obama administration with peace talks. To this day, Democrats insist Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, but Iran was clearly building a nuclear weapon. The regime lies to the West. Now, after less than two months of war against Iran, President Donald Trump has called a ceasefire. He appears to be the only person who has ceased firing in the Middle East. He says Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran says otherwise. He says Iran will give up their nuclear materials. Iran says otherwise. Given the practices of the Iranians, it is more than likely they will lie all the way to a mushroom cloud over some Western city. We have left Iran without an air force or much of a navy. We have destroyed, not decimated, much of the Iranian capacity to make war. But we have not ended their ability to make war. Iran will be resupplied by both the Russians and the Chinese. We have left their military command structure and political leadership in disarray, but it will be rebuilt. Iran is threatening to toll ships going through the Strait of Hormuz now. Before the war, Iran did not do that. A super tanker sailing through the Strait of Hormuz can hold around 2 million barrels of oil. 21 million barrels a day typically go through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is taxing each ship now up to two dollars per barrel of oil, which would amount to $42 million a day. That would generate in excess of $15 billion a year for Iran to rebuild its ability to make war. Many who ardently supported the war do not want to admit that returning to the status quo ante, with Iran now taxing ships going through the Strait of Hormuz is a loss to the United States. The cheerleading seems to have more to do with staying on President Trump’s good side and hoping he does more. He must do more. He cannot wind up like his predecessors, duped by an Iranian regime hell-bent on getting nuclear weapons. Iran’s theocratic leadership fundamentally believes they were put on this earth by Allah to wipe out the Jews and bring about the return of the Mahdi, the Islamic messiah. If you are a secularist who has a hard time believing faithful adherents of Jesus Christ who truly believe He rose from the dead, you will have an even harder time believing the Iranians believe this. But they really do and their entire regime is premised on it. They believe that to accomplish their divine mission, they must wipe out Israel. It is why the president must do more. To the extent the Trump administration had no endgame, doing everything possible to destabilize the Iranian regime must be it, if not outright regime change. The president did not have to pick this fight, but he did. He grabbed a tiger by its tail and let go without defanging it or declawing it. Iran will attempt to maul us. They believe they won this war. They believe they have no reason to back down. Ultimately, the administration can be proud of what they accomplished in less than two months. Iran is now cut off from its former Arab partners. Dubai is no longer a safe haven for money laundering. They have been set back significantly militarily and economically. But if they control the Strait of Hormuz, they will rebuild. If they keep their uranium, they will work to use it. There must be more done. This peace must not revert to the status quo ante with emboldened theocrats hell-bent on the apocalypse or we will be less safe today than we were before the bombing began. Erick Erickson There Must Be More
Page 7 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 What’s New around Fort Myers May Programs from Lee County Library System Lee County Library System locations are hosting programs for all ages. Registration is required for some programs. For more information or to register, please call the library at 239-479-INFO (4636). Program information is also available online at https://www.leegov.com/library/programs 2026 Festivals and Events World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament, Boca Grande May 13-14 bocagrandechamber.com/worlds-richest-tarpon-tournament 16th annual Fort Myers Film Festival May 14-18 fortmyersfilmfestival.com 14th annual “Ding” Darling & Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament, Sanibel Island May 15 dingdarlingsociety.org/tarpon-tournament 3rd annual South Seas Tarpon Tournament, Captiva Island May 22 Followed by Golf Scramble May 23 southseas.com/tarpon-tournament National Seashell Day June 21 visitfortmyers.com/national-seashell-day 30th annual MangoMania July 11 pineislandchamber.org/chamber-events/ mangomania Island Hopper Songwriter Fest Sept. 18-27 island-hopperfest.com 41st Cape Coral Oktoberfest Oct. 17-19 & 24-26 German-American Social Club capecoraloktoberfest.com Sanibel Island Writers Conference November tba FGCU fgcu.edu/siwc 36th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship, Fort Myers Beach Nov. 19-23 fmbsandsculpting.com 38th Fort Myers Beach Christmas Boat Parade Dec. 5 fortmyersbeach.org 2027 Festivals and Events 42nd annual Cape Coral Art Festival and Market Place January tba capecoralartfestival.com 36thth Tour De Cape in Cape Coral January tba Rotary Park tourdecape.net ArtFest Fort Myers, downtown Fort Myers Feb. 5-7 artfestfortmyers.com Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife 9th Annual Ground Owl Day February tba Pelican Baseball Complex ccfriendsofwildlife.org/events/2026/ ground-owl-day 89th Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade, Fort Myers February tba Downtown Fort Myers edisonfestival.org 25th annual Burrowing Owl Festival, Cape Coral February tba Rotary Park Environmental Center ccfriendsofwildlife.org/burrowing-owl-festival-2 Southwest Florida Ag Expo Feb. 25-March 7 Mike Greenwell Regional Park swflagexpo.com Spring training Boston Red Sox February-March tba mlb.com/redsox/spring-training JetBlue Park, Fort Myers Minnesota Twins mlb.com/twins/spring-training February-March tba Lee Health Sports Complex/Hammond Stadium, Fort Myers 90th annual Sanibel Shell Festival, Sanibel Island March tba Sanibel Community House sanibelcommunityhouse.net/shell-festival 28th annual Southwest Florida Reading Festival, Fort Myers March tba Fort Myers Regional Library, downtown Fort Myers readfest.org Fort Myers Beach Lions Club Shrimp Festival March 13-14 fortmyersbeachshrimpfestival.com Taste of the Islands event March tba Sanibel City Hall tasteoftheislands.org Be sure to enjoy the many downtown Fort Myers celebrations hosted by local businesses and the River District Alliance (RDA). Check out all the happenings this month on the events calendar on fortmyers.gov! DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 30, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels set multiple franchise records in their 24-8 win over the Daytona Tortugas on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The Mighty Mussels eclipsed a Miracle era (1992-2019) record set on August 7, 2012 (22 runs) with their 24-run outburst. The previous Mussels’ era record (since 2020) was 19 runs scored against the Jupiter Hammerheads on June 10, 2021. It is the third time the Mighty Mussels have scored 15+ runs in a game. The offense also set a Mussels’ record for hits with 21. The previous record was 20 hits, which also happened on June 10, 2021. The all-time franchise record is 24 hits, done by the Miracle on May 14, 2009. The 24-8 final score also set a franchise record for total runs in a game (32) surpassing the previous total of 27 runs, which had occurred eight total times. That total happened five times during the Miracle era (19922019) and three times during the Mussels’ era. Mighty Mussels Set Franchise Record With 24 Runs Against Tortugas
Page 8 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 AI Can Write Stories, but It Can’t Tell Yours Somebody told me that journalism is dead. It is true that the industry has been struggling since the dawn of the internet and artificial intelligence seems to be poised to finish it off, but it’s not dead. Perhaps this is our opportunity to see it meaningfully evolve. Thanks to the internet, we have taught an entire population to read for free. That expectation began by underestimating the role the internet would have in everyday media consumption. According to the Pew Research Center, since 2011, more U.S. residents access digital sites to get their news online than in print newspapers. When newspapers first came online, they brought the same old models with them. Print papers were sold via subscription, and they also sold ads. Now, they want to sell you a digital subscription and when you click on the links, you also have ads. The only problem is there are so many other points of access to journalism online for free that people don’t want to buy a subscription. On top of that, the classified section and the revenue it brought for supporting journalism disappeared thanks to sites such as Indeed, LinkedIn and Craigslist. Music went through their own struggle at the dawn of the internet age but has seemed to figure out a new way forward. File-sharing with software such as Napster nearly brought the industry to its knees. Then the iPod rolled on the scene, and now we buy songs one track at a time on iTunes and Amazon Music or we subscribe to streaming services such as Spotify. Journalism hasn’t had its iPod moment yet, and it needs similar innovation. How have we not been able to purchase one article at a time yet? I’d pay $1 or $5 to read something that interests me when I’d rather not subscribe. So yes, the industry is struggling. News deserts are increasingly common, and social media is a cesspool of rumor and misinformation. Add AI to that mix and people fear journalism is dead. Corporate journalism may die. The big news conglomerates that care more about shareholder profits and capitulating under political pressure are on life support, and maybe that’s the shake-up this world needs. But journalism won’t die; just look at all of the independent journalists doing amazing work on platforms such as Substack. More specifically, storytelling will thrive. Humans have been handing down history via storytelling for tens of thousands of years. Whether that’s in the oral tradition, drawing on cave walls or writing pamphlets and books, storytelling is part of what makes us human. AI may be able to analyze and regurgitate what it’s fed, but it will not show up when a wildfire destroys your community to listen to your story. It will not hold your hand following an assault and tell you that your truth matters. If an AI-powered robot does start showing up to natural disasters and humanitarian crises to collect data, it still won’t replace the human who will hold space for you and your lived experience. How AI will influence our collective human condition is yet to be seen. How it infiltrates our data systems and journalism as an industry will no doubt be transformational. But before anyone can tell a story, they must first bear witness to it. That is why the first draft of history will always be human. DAILY EDITORIALS BONNIE JEAN FELDKAMP Last issue’s puzzle solution to ‘B’WAY’ Puzzle solution to ‘Morse Decoder: Fences - Walls’ in Issue 36
Page 9 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 The Supreme Court’s Springtime Reckoning The United States Supreme Court has entered its most consequential season. From April through June, the justices release rulings that do more than interpret the law -- they shape the direction of the country. Cases argued in the quiet months of winter now emerge into public view, often carrying the full weight of the nation’s deepest divisions. Alexander Hamilton once described the court as the “least dangerous” branch, lacking power over “the sword or the purse.” History has not been kind to that prediction. Through judicial review and lifetime appointments, the court has become one of the most influential forces in American life. Alexis de Tocqueville recognized this early, observing that nearly every political question in America eventually becomes a legal one. He was right. From Dred Scott v. Sandford to the defining civil rights rulings of the 20th century, the court has not merely followed history, it has redirected it. This term will be no different. Immigration, free speech, religious liberty, executive authority and birthright citizenship all stand before the court, awaiting decisions that will ripple for generations. The court is not flawless. It misjudges at times. But compared to the raw political instincts driving Congress and the White House, it still reflects something increasingly rare: deliberation, restraint and a commitment, however imperfect, to principle over passion. That is precisely why its structure has endured. Nine Justices. No more, no less. Since 1869, that number has held firm despite repeated efforts to reshape it for political advantage. Franklin D. Roosevelt famously attempted to expand the court to secure favorable rulings. The public decisively rejected this. Even in moments of overwhelming political power, Americans understood that tampering with the court carries lasting consequences. Sometimes, it is the smaller moments that reveal the institution’s character. Recently, Sonia Sotomayor apologized to Brett Kavanaugh after making pointed remarks about his perspective in an immigration case. “I made remarks that were inappropriate. I regret my hurtful comments,” she said plainly. In today’s political climate, that kind of accountability stands out. Her original comments were sharp but not unusual by modern standards. What was unusual was the apology. Try to imagine that same moment in the political arena. It is nearly impossible to picture Donald Trump apologizing to Joe Biden, or vice versa, for the constant stream of personal attacks that define modern political campaigns. In politics today, opponents are not rivals to be debated; they are enemies to be defeated. Compromise has become a casualty. That shift carries consequences. Now consider the possibility of Samuel Alito stepping down. A conservative anchor on the court, his departure would immediately trigger a political firestorm. If the Senate were controlled by Democrats at the time, would they move forward with a confirmation? Or would they delay, as Republicans did in 2016 when Mitch McConnell blocked a vote on Merrick Garland, preserving the seat for the next president? We have seen this playbook before. And we may see it again. When the court becomes another battlefield for partisan maneuvering, something deeper begins to erode. Public confidence weakens. The perception of fairness fades. The judiciary meant to stand apart gets pulled into the same gravitational force as the political branches. We are drifting in that direction. And unlike past moments, there is little sign either side is willing to pull back. T he Supreme Court may still be the most disciplined institution in American government. But even it is not immune to the forces reshaping the nation. Springtime at the court is no longer just about decisions. It is about direction. And increasingly, it is about the future of the institution itself. DAILY EDITORIALS ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS
Page 10 The Sun Bay Paper May 1, 2026 Stackable Pots Q: I saw an interesting stackable flowerpot at the store the other day. It showed flowers in the layers, but I was thinking it looked like a way to grow strawberries. A long time ago, my mom had a strawberry flowerpot with holes in the sides. I don’t remember getting many strawberries from it, but I think it might be fun to try. Do these really work for strawberries? A: They do work for strawberries and many other kinds of plants. I have tried several kinds, and they all work the same way. The old-fashioned strawberry pot is less than 2 feet tall and holds six to eight plants. The stackable pots can go up 6 feet with proper support. It takes at least four strawberry plants per person to get enough strawberries, so the taller you go or the more stacks you make, the better. They can be placed on a patio or balcony, so anyone can grow strawberries, herbs or flowers just about anywhere. Be sure to get plants that have similar requirements for light and watering. Use small growing species, such as herbs like parsley, thyme, chives, pansy, nasturtium and viola; the last three have beautiful flowers that are also edible. Avoid invasive plants such as mint that will send up new sprouts in all the other openings in the pot. If you fill the pot with new sterile soil, you won’t have any weeding to do, and the plant roots may have fewer disease problems. Most potting soil has some fertilizer, but you will probably need to fertilize the plants by midsummer. Strawberries are often planted in these pots because they are small plants with a shallow root system, so each plant doesn’t compete with the others for water. The fruit will often turn out better as well, since they are not growing on the ground, where they are susceptible to bacterial and fungal disease problems. Strawberries can be planted in the pots in areas of the country that can’t grow them successfully in the ground. In these areas, the plants are replaced each spring. For stackable pots, just plant each layer and then add it to the stack. If you try a strawberry pot, cover the bottom hole with a piece of screen or cloth that will let the water out, but not the soil. Never add a layer of gravel to the bottom of the pot. It does not increase drainage. In fact, it slows the drainage in the bottom layer of soil. Fill the pot to the bottom of the first set of side holes. Stick the roots through the hole and spread them out by reaching into the pot from the top. Next, add more soil up to the next holes and repeat until you can plant a few in the top. To prevent the soil from falling out of the side holes, you can cut a piece of cloth or weed barrier fabric slightly bigger than the side hole in the pot. Cut a slit for the plant and wrap the fabric around the stem so that the cloth keeps the soil from washing out of the hole. If you replace the plants, you should replace at least half the soil, if not all of it. Stackable pots have drainage systems to allow water from the top to spill down into the lower layers without overwatering the top layers and underwatering the bottom layers. It used to be that strawberry plants only produced fruit in the spring, but now there are strawberry plants that don’t stop producing flowers and fruit all summer long (unless it gets too hot, in which case they will pause until the weather cools off). They are called everbearing, and they make the best varieties for strawberry pots. Tillicum, Ozark Beauty, Seascape and Quinault are good everbearing varieties. If the pot is in a cool, protected location over the winter, so that the plants and soil in the pot don’t dry out, the strawberry plants could last several years before you would need to replace them. A GREENER VIEW BY: JEFF RUGG Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com.
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