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A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
Radical leftist Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said race played a major role in her Democrat primary loss to Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico (D).
Crockett argued that racism, not politics, was the deciding factor in her Democrat primary loss to James Talarico.
"The reality is that there was a lot of races, not a lot, it was racist. It was a racist race. It is what it is, right? But we live in America as y'all are celebrating 250, okay? We know what this country is," Crockett said.
Crockett rejected criticism that she should have spent more time campaigning alongside Talarico. Instead, she said her strategy was to help down-ballot candidates, pointing to five black men she endorsed in Texas runoff races who all advanced to the November election.
"The best thing that I can do for James Talarico isn't me standing on a stage with him," Crockett said. "It is the fact that I endorsed five candidates in the runoff who all happen to be black men in the state of Texas and every single one of them won."
She pushed back on criticism that she should have campaigned more directly for Talarico, saying giving voters multiple candidates to support is a more effective strategy for boosting turnout.
"People keep trying to say, 'Well, Jasmine has to go and hold his hand.' No, I don't," she said. "If you can give people more than one thing to vote for, then you have a better chance of getting them out to the polls."
...
Crockett previously said she does not believe black voters have fully united behind Talarico's Senate campaign and confirmed she will skip next week's Texas Democrat Party convention.
She said she has not seen broad enthusiasm for Talarico or the rest of the party's statewide candidates, adding that many voters remain unconvinced despite several months remaining before the November election.
"I've not heard a bunch of kumbaya," Crockett said. "People don't seem to be convinced at this point, but there's a lot of time between now and November."
I credit the racial anger to Stephen Colbert, who broke FCC rules by interviewing the gay white kid and refusing to offer an interview to Ratchett. That was some straight racist shit from Colbert. Typical prog, using the blacks for power and then shutting them out of power themselves.
Jasmine Crockett: “A lotta haterz gotta lotta things to say about me and my race and how I ran it but the reality is… it was racist. It was a racist race. It is what it is. We live in America, as ya’ll are celebratin two fiddy” pic.twitter.com/Ef0pmi6ZNT
Boy I wish I could be an anti-racist like this fat ghetto hoochie trash.
🚨 JUST NOW: Jasmine Crockett says Karmelo Anthony was JUSTIFIED IN KlLLING Austin Metcalf because he “didn’t want to be put out in the rain by some random kid”
Thank GOD this ghetto hack lost her primary in a landslide.
Graham Platner Officially Withdraws From Position as Sturmgruppefuhrer of the Maine Democrat Party
—Disinformation Expert Ace
I saw, I think, Chicks on the Right discussing Platner's plans from the future. They think -- and I think they're right -- that he's going to immediately cash in by starting a (get this) podcast, and he's chumming the water with antisemitic conspiracy theories to get the reliably unemployed-and-available-to-watch Tuq'r Qarlson/Candace Owens/Me-Again Kelly Nazi audience.
If it's a lie, why drop out? Maybe because he's been told the Racicot rape allegation will be the first, not the last, rape allegation coming. Bear in mind, Racicot is a leftist who agreed with Graham Platner politically. She had an incentive to make her allegation public before the deadline to withdrawal.
The Republican Party, on the other hand, has been sitting on its oppo until after the deadline.
More was coming. I hope it still all comes out. Because, seriously, I agree with the Woke Left: #PunchANazi.
SULLIVAN, Maine -- Accused rapist Graham Platner finally announced he is bowing out of the Maine Senate race Wednesday with a long-winded video statement, blaming everyone but himself for his campaign's implosion.
He called out "large forces," "corporate media" and the "political establishment" for trying to force him out of the race.
"We believe that for the movement to continue, it can't be me. And for that reason we are suspending campaign operations," Platner said in a video announcement posted on X.
...
"I just want to make it clear this is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It's not real," he said in the X video.
And yet you're dropping out, as if they have you dead to rights.
Platner argued the Democratic establishment used the rape allegation "as an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign."
...
"This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot. And that's why this is occurring," Platner charged.
Platner went on to urge the public not to view his decision to withdraw from the race as "an admission of guilt."
There is no other way to view it, Herr Rapist.
"It most certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations. We're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power," he said.
He means the Democrat's senate campaign slush fund announced it would spend zero dollars to support Platner's campaign.
But he still has a lot of supporters -- and anyway, the party committees actually don't spend very much on most candidates. That's why Mitch McConnell was always recruiting liberal millionaires to run for Senate, he wanted them to be self-financing (and also, liberal RINOs).
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman blasted Platner after his announcement.
"The trash took itself out tonight," he bluntly told Fox News.
"Now finally people in Maine have a chance to vote on someone that's not a total piece of trash."
Just hours after the latest rape claims, Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) issued a joint statement denouncing Platner.
"The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing -- violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable," it said.
"Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot."
...
Platner lashed out at those who abandoned him and pulled his financial support.
"We are going to lose our ability to fundraise. We are going to lose our ability to access voter data. We are going to lose all of the things that any campaign needs on the basic level simply to function," he bemoaned.
"Larger organizations, the national level party, the bigger donor networks -- they have all committed to spending no money in this race if I'm in it," Platner continued.
"They would rather see Susan Collins win than have me be the next senator from Maine," he said.
The failed candidate uploaded the "woe is me" clip announcing his withdrawal after a woman he previously dated, Jenny Racicot, publicly alleged that he drunkenly raped her at her Maine home in 2021 despite her repeated pleas to stop. He denied the allegation.
"This video is more embarrassing than the Nazi tattoo," Emily Zanotti, a friend of one Platner's exes accusing him of misconduct, tweeted.
"Graham Platner announces the real victim in all of this is Graham Platner," right-wing influencer Western Lensman posted on X. "Saved you 11 minutes."
"TLDR: Campaign suspended and a whole bunch of bluster," read a post from the Chicks on the Right X account.
...
The failed candidate's lack of self-awareness throughout the video, as well as his insistence that his ex-girlfriend was lying about being raped by him, left many stunned and puzzled.
"It is not the establishment's fault that your ex lover accused you of raping her," political consultant Micah Erfan noted.
"Narcissistic sociopath," conservative radio talk show host Larry O'Connor said in response to Platner's video.
Related: Podcastistan was granted visas by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to attend to the funeral for their former ayatollah. Jackson Hinckle actually led "death to America" chants.
The only way they could have attended the funeral is with direct coordination with the IRGC, a designated terrorist organization.
Hinkle even led “death to America” chants from the stage.
If the administration is actually serious about this stuff, start with these four. https://t.co/odU37qUXNW
Surveillance cameras are becoming very common in America, and have been ubiquitous in other parts of the world for many years. Private cameras are very different from government-controlled surveillance, and government demands for privately-acquired data usually go through the courts.
But governments are increasingly relying on their own cameras, and those cameras are often owned and controlled by Flock Safety, a private company that specializes in Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) systems. They are sophisticated cameras that send data to an equally sophisticated system that can not only read plates, but also identify unique characteristics on vehicles: bumper stickers, roof racks, trailer hitches, accident damage, etc.
And that data are collected and collated and can develop a comprehensive picture of vehicle movement over days or years. Did I say "can?" Of course they do. Assuming benign intent on the part of any corporation is naive, and assuming it when that corporation partners with government is laughable.
The passive accumulation of data on our movements is disturbing even if it were to occur on a single day. Yes, the Fourth Amendment speaks to "persons, houses, papers, and effects," and is of less utility in public. But this surveillance is permanent, long term accumulation of information that in the aggregate is nobody's business...least of all government!
This isn't a cop parked on the side of the road who happens to notice something. This is surveillance in the absence of probable cause, and that violates the spirit of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The government parses our rights to diminish their impact on its fanatical desire to know everything about us, but routine surveillance without a court order seems to be a clear violation of our right to be safe from government observation.
And it isn't just government that uses Flock....HOAs are big users of their systems for their deeply disturbing Big Brother activities. Of course HOAs are the Devil, so that isn't surprising, but the constant intrusion into our private lives is maddening.
But Americans seem to be a bit irritated by these cameras and the attendant gathering of information, and the response has been heartening.
Far be it for me to suggest anything illegal, but I sure hope some freedom-loving patriotic American is on the jury for that Air Force engineer.
If you are curious about the locations of the these cameras, here is a website that tracks them. deflock.org seems like it works pretty well...I checked one in my area this morning, and yup! it was where they said it would be. Luckily not in my little village, but near enough to irritate!
Like the arguments against the Second Amendment...banning guns will make us all safer! I don't care. Even if that were true (and I do not believe that it is), freedom and liberty are inherently chaotic, and we must tolerate some level of law breaking as a consequence of our freedom.
That tradeoff is absolutely part of the social compact among free men, and to argue against it is to reject the concept of natural, God-given rights.
[Hat Tip: dhmosquito]
[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!
Good morning kids. Well, surprise surprise, Platner is out!They must've thrown a nice chunk of change to exit stage left. While he is truly one of the most vile pieces of human garbage in recent memory ever running for office, I suppose on a positive note it's a sign that the Democrat media/propaganda complex isn't nearly as powerful as it seems in protecting one of their own. Up and down the line every major and minor lefty in and out of government was praising this sick bastard to high Heaven, and you'd think they'd've kept their mouths shut if either they had known the extent of his record or otherwise felt they couldn't keep a tight enough lid on it.
Democrat Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner suspended his campaign Wednesday after a previous girlfriend accused him of sexual assault.
Platner announced his exit two days after 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot accused him of forcibly having sex with her in 2021. The Maine Democrat was embroiled in several controversies, including his Nazi tattoo, inappropriate social media posts and his mockery of a veteran.
“We are suspending our campaign operations,” Platner said in a video statement. “This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt and it most certainly is not. We’re not doing it because of the allegations, we’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power. And I also feel an immense amount of responsibility to everyone who has worked so hard to get us where we are. We went toe to toe with one of the most entrenched political systems in the history of the world and we won.”
On a down note, I will assume his departure regardless of who his replacement will be, if even he can be replaced on the ballot per Maine election laws, means that the hideous harridan backstabbing RINO Susan Collins will most likely win her bid for reelection and we'll be saddled with this RINO shitwhore for another six years of backstabbing Maine and America.
Abbott directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) on Wednesday to investigate allegations that a Rio Grande Valley hospital promoted birth tourism packages to foreign nationals, according to a press release from Abbott’s Office. (RELATED: Supreme Court Shoots Down Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order) Abbott Investigates Hospital Over Mexico Billboards Promoting Birth Tourism Packages In Texas
The arrests highlight the ongoing security challenges at the southern border, including the potential for armed infiltrators attacking American citizens or uniformed personnel, and the trafficking of illegal firearms. However, the Trump administration has implemented far more stringent border controls than the former Biden-Harris government, ramping up wall construction and deploying the military to plug gaps along the frontier. Illegal Aliens Armed with AK-Style Rifles Caught Crossing Southern Border.
The investigation aims to take the “most aggressive action against foreign labor fraud by an Inspector General this administration” to further President Trump’s goal to end foreign violence on American soil and return jobs to the American people, D’Esposito told Fox Business. Trump Admin Launches Probe Into H-1B Visa Fraudsters Stealing Jobs From Americans
The IRGC’s aggression follows Iran bombing various vessels attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly ships linked to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian regime’s attacks prompted U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to resume targeted strikes on Iran’s terrorist infrastructure to protect free navigation in the strait, which the IRGC used as its reasoning for bombing Kuwait and Bahrain. Iran Launches Bombing Spree Against Neighbors Following Strait of Hormuz Strikes
Are “negotiations” simply buying the Mullahs time? The Iran Illusion
Betsy McCaughey: President Donald Trump used the 250th celebration of our nation’s founding to warn of Marxists’ efforts to cancel our heroic Founders and erode our longstanding values. “You can be loyal to Karl Marx or you can be loyal to America. You can be a communist or you can be a patriot. You can’t be both,” he declared at Mount Rushmore on Friday. The gravest danger America faces today isn’t a foreign power or a global pandemic: It’s the ideological takeover of our young people’s minds through our educational and cultural institutions. We the people are fighting back against the leftist assault on America’s heroes
The Supreme Court’s just-concluded term produced several important victories for constitutional principles. Unfortunately, two catastrophic failures dragged the Court’s overall performance down. The 2026 Supreme Court -- a ‘C Minus’ at Best
More than 70 million Americans receive Social Security benefits and roughly as many are enrolled in Medicare; meanwhile working adults finance these programs today on the promise of receiving those benefits in the future. Virtually every American will bear the consequences of the government’s failure to confront entitlement insolvency. America’s Entitlement Illusion
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY, PLUS VARIOUS & SUNDRY GODLESS HEATHENS
The remarks by Emanuel, who is Jewish and the son of an immigrant from Jerusalem, highlight a growing divide within the Democrat Party regarding U.S. support for Israel, with implications for future U.S. foreign policy. His comments come as support for Israel among Democrats has significantly declined, with Muslim, minority, and youth voters on the left far more critical of the Jewish State than previous generations of Democrat voters. Rahm Emanuel Tells Israel To Change Course Or Lose Democrat Support.
J-6 FBI/PELOSI-ENGINEERED FALSE FLAG "RIOT" & AFTERMATH,
Trump issued the pardons on the first day of his second term, granting clemency, commuting prison sentences and directing the dismissal of cases involving more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, according to the Associated Press. Judge Rules Trump’s J6 Pardons Do Not Cover Pipe Bomb Defendant
The revelations further undermine the credibility of the lawfare investigation into President Trump for supposedly mishandling classified information he retained at his Mar-a-Lago estate, guarded by Secret Service personnel, following his first presidency. They also highlight the Biden-era DOJ’s double standards with respect to the handling of classified information. Biden DOJ Mishandled Classified Docs While Investigating Trump for Mishandling Classified Docs.
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
The tragedy of Carlson and Owens isn't that they questioned power; America needs people willing to do that. The tragedy is that both show how useful instinct can become a counterfeit religion. Suspicion becomes identity. Audience applause becomes confirmation, former allies become enemies, and every criticism becomes proof of persecution. Why Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson Took the Strange Road
AMERICA AND THE WORLD IMPRISONED: CHINESE CORONAVIRUS FICTIONS AND FACTS
EDUCATION, AND WHAT PASSES FOR IT
In a 2-1 decision the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit blocked the higher education portion of the 2022 Sunshine State law that was meant to stop left-wing gender ideology and critical race theory (CRT) from being taught in schools, according to the ruling. Trump-Appointed Judge Nixes Ron DeSantis’ Crackdown On ‘WOKE’ In Universities
There are obviously many excellent teachers, but as a whole, educators are one of the nation’s least admirable professional cohorts and contain numerous individuals who shouldn’t be near children at all. Stop Praising All Our 'Wonderful' Teachers
The conflicting rulings place DHS in a position where it must decide to what extent Wetherell’s ruling invalidates Sookanan’s. The cases could have significant implications for how states manage their voter rolls and the federal government’s role in guaranteeing election integrity. Wetherell noted in his ruling that, between his order and Sookanan’s order, one of them would “have to give,” but predicted that it would not be his. Election Integrity Win as Judge Tells DHS to Reopen Citizenship Database to Four GOP States.
The deployment of federal election monitors is intended to address concerns about election integrity and ensure that federal laws are upheld by state officials. Dhillon said the federal government is well within its rights to “Exercise… our oversight duty and our enforcement duty to enforce the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Rights Act, a very important statute, and other civil rights statutes like the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Trump DOJ Sending Federal Election Monitors to Six States.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, the president said he had not spoken with the Kentucky Republican since his recent hospitalization. “I have no idea how he’s doing,” Trump said, according to CNN’s Alayna Treene. Trump Gives Blunt Response To Question On Mitch McConnell’s Health
The founder of the DSA tried and failed to make America socialist. The modern version of the organization will be no more successful in that quest. Michael Harrington’s Dilemmas
President Donald Trump said that he would work to remove Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on Wednesday during his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the NATO summit in Turkey. Trump Moves To Legitimize Ex-Jihadist Leader’s Regime (the only EX-jihadist is a dead jihadist - jjs)
... this is more than just a humanitarian crisis — it's also becoming a political one. It has exposed the regime rot still in place, which isn't surprising. The "interim government" leaders consist of two anti-American siblings whose father was a Marxist guerrilla fighter and one of the most wanted cartel leaders in the U.S. Something Else Is Amiss: Don’t Believe Everything You Read About Venezuela Right Now
THE UKRAINIAN "FRONT"
The United States government will grant Ukraine a license to build the Patriot Missile, an active component of the world-class surface-to-air missile interceptor system, one of the few ways to prevent a ballistic missile strike. Ballistic missiles are particularly difficult to intercept because they are propelled into space before returning to Earth, plummeting at enormous speed towards their targets. Trump: America Will Teach Ukraine to Make Its Own Patriot Missiles Under Licence
“His two applications to join the Fascist Party were turned down...Evola’s work matters because it is read, and should be read because it matters.” Julius Evola’s Many Lives
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
I noticed Grok having a stroke recently; no data lost but it had to reload all my documents and restart the conversation. That may have been the model switch.
Anyway, Grok is now smarter than Claude Opus but still not quite as smart as Claude Fable.
But there's something a little odd here. The results show two core clusters, with four cores in the main cluster and six in the second cluster.
That would still be a laptop chip, because the 10-core desktop chips we're expecting will have a single core cluster. Given that, the performance increase of 29% single-threaded and 22% multi-threaded is more than respectable.
How do you do, fellow kids? Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans. The bar is open and freshly re-stocked. Free refills!
Welcome to the Wednesday night ONT which means another edition of random overnight fun and games. Pull up a chair and join the fun. Good will offerings of amusing puns are encouraged. Pants are optional. Be nice to your fellow commenters and AoS contributors. This is a Tucker, Candace, Megyn and Bill Kristol free zone. Please.
Will reading the content help the sun come up tomorrow? Don't know but why take chances. Read on.
Scientists in Singapore and Japan have developed a tiny 3D-printed scuba suit for cyborg cockroaches, allowing them to survive and move underwater and other low-oxygen environments for up to three hours.
The suit can transform a regular cockroach, and potentially other insects, into "an amphibious cyborg robot capable of operation across land and water," according to a new research paper published this week in Nature Communications.
So, why do researchers want half-robot cockroaches to breathe underwater anyway?
Apparently, they hope to one day be able to use cyborg cockroaches in search and rescue missions, pipeline inspection, and other complex tasks.
What could possibly go wrong?
***
Horde Shopping News
I know what you're thinking. "My plans for a 39 foot tall animatronic T-Rex dinosaur have not materialized. I'm interested in exploring alternative avenues. Any suggestions?"
Sotheby's is planning to sell one of the largest and most complete T-Rex skeletons ever found on July 14. It was found on private land in Harding County, South Dakota and took years to fully excavate and assemble. His name is Gus. He seems nice.
The auction estimate is $20 to $30 million, so better shake those couch cushions hard.
More background here:
If that's a little pricey for you, other items in the Natural History auction might be interesting. It is a fascinating mix of fossils, meteorites, petrified wood, minerals and precious metals in their natural form, prehistoric handaxes, and more.
***
I know what you're thinking: "Cyborg cockroaches? T-Rex skeletons? How about some class and elegance?"
Sure. This isn't a fashion thread, but here you go:
Tonight's feature is Jason and his channel called Epic UpCycling. Jason takes scraps (think in terms of wood pallets) and makes things. He makes cabinets, chests, and even a globe. He mostly works with wood, but occasionally strays into metal. He shows each step and most of his project involve a huge number of simple cuts. He uses power tools but often prefers hand planes, chisels and saws. His channel has over 417,000 subscribers.
I know what you're thinking. Do people really watch 30 to 40 minute videos of a guy making stuff in his workshop by himself with no commentary, subtitles or music? Yes. His videos regularly attract several million views.
His videos are good examples of story telling. Simple camera work, angles and editing. No artificial drama. No highly polished graphics or editing. No clickbait.
***
The Pittsburgh police scanner keeps giving. Thank you people of Pittsburgh and thank you Pittsburgh scanner!
***
Never thought about it before, but I learned today that both alligators and crocodiles sneeze. Isn't this the type of life-enriching knowledge that makes reading the ONT worthwhile? Isn't it? You're welcome.
***
They Might be Giants for the big ONT finish:
***
T-Rex appreciates the groundswell of totally organic and genuine interest but is not currently a candidate in Maine for the US Senate. Media requests for comment can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com where they will be promptly ignored. Are you lurking ????
The Absolute Balls,, Part 2: Me-Again Kelly, who has spent the entire last year claiming that anyone bothered by Candace Owens' stalking and torture of Erika Kirk was only making an issue of it because they're Israeli operatives -- she actually claimed that we were complaining in bad faith just to sabotage Candace Owens' "important questions" about Israel's role in the murder.
And of course, she's the woman who told we who were horrified by this to "Fuck. Off.," now realizes "Oh right my former audience was largely conservative and maybe they didn't like being told that their concerns about the martyer's widow Erika Kirk were all fake and hypnotized into their brains by Ben Shapiro, Super Jew-Fluencer."
So now she says that maybe people -- she won't say who should stop defaming the grieving widow every single day.
Here she is with her work-husband Tuq'r Qarlson attacking her former audience members who told her to condemn Candace Owens.
Here she was telling those who criticized her for her click-whore cowardice to "Fuck. Off."
Here she was endorsing Candace Owens' central antisemitic conspiracy theory that Israel killed Charlie Kirk due to his becoming "much more skeptical" about Israel, calling it an important and plausible theory.
.@MegynKelly: "I really, really, wish the people who have doubts about Erika Kirk would just keep them quiet this week. Whether you like her or you don't like her, hopefully the human inside of you can see how difficult this is for her and the family... It's just beyond human what is being asked of the family, and I beg for you to keep them in your prayers."
She has repeatedly claimed that anyone objecting to Candace Owens' stalking and assassination-prep campaign against Erika Kirk was just making a bad-faith attack on Owens "because of Israel."
But now it's "beyond human" for Candace Owens to ask if Erika Kirk was part of a Jewish plot to murder her husband? When did it move from an "important question that must be asked" to "beyond human"?
Was it when she last checked her YouTube views? Is that when she decided it was now "beyond human"? When she discovered her influence had plunged to almost nothing?
What happened to her prideful, antisemitic vow to never separate herself an inch from "young mom" Candace Owens?
Meanwhile, Candace Owens is spamming out new defamatory accusations without evidence, to cover up for her previous defamations having been proven false in court.
Her new claim? Well, Ben Shapiro -- a highly connected person in the media who personally knew Charlie Kirk -- got word through a text that Charlie Kirk had been shot before Candace did, so this must mean... that Ben Shapiro is involved in the murder.
See, it wasn't telling Shapiro "SHIT CHARLIES BEEN SHOT," it was the Israeli assassins telling him "TARGET DOWN, CONGRATULATIONS AND MAZEL TOV."
Bad Hombre
@Badhombre
4h
Candace Owens is not crashing out, contrary to popular belief.
Her frantic posts are the hallmarks of a narcissistic psychopath backed into a corner: the people she misled and profited from are now defecting and demanding answers.
Her decision to double down through denial, aggression, victimhood, blame-shifting, and a complete lack of remorse is calculated. She needs the public to believe she genuinely believes the defamatory claims she promoted--even if she doesn't.
Why? Because she knows there is sufficient evidence to convict Tyler Robinson and expose her own claims as false. If he is convicted, the existing defamation suits against her become stronger, while opening the door to new ones from TPUSA, Andrew Kolvet, Erika Kirk, and others.
She's now laying the groundwork for a legal defense that she acted with a bona fide belief in her claims and without actual malice.
It won't work. She's screwed.
Liz Wheeler
@Liz_Wheeler
6h
Candace claims it's NOT Tyler Robinson in the videos...
But Tyler Robinson's MOTHER identified him from those videos.
Think very carefully, America.
Candace Owens' cultists are now accusing Charlie Kirk's parents of being in on the conspiracy. They're being "paid" to "keep quiet."
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan made 1 million pounds from prostituting a teenager through their webcam sex business, police have alleged.
The brothers are facing a heap of new charges from Romania's directorate for investigating organised crime and terrorism (DIICOT).
In addition to charges of human trafficking and rape, prosecutors have now added money laundering, witness intimidation and complicity in the trafficking of minors to the list of charges.
Former world champion kickboxer and self-described misogynist Andrew, 39, is accused of manipulating a 17-year-old girl into working for the Tate brothers' pornography business between November 2014 and December 2021.
She was then placed under the control of Tristan, 37, who is accused of sexually exploiting her by controlling her online webcam account and setting financial targets which she needed to meet, DIICOT said.
The exploitation of the then-17-year-old allegedly earned the brothers $1.53 million (1.14 million pounds).
Prosecutors said between 2018 and 2021, Tristan recruited three victims using the 'lover boy method' - showering them with gifts to emotionally blackmail them into sex work.
Tristan is accused of intimidating 11 witnesses into making false statements, or not giving statements to prosecutors.
Andrew is also said to have threatened two alleged victims and two alleged witnesses with lawsuits to withdraw their cooperation with the police.
Both brothers are also accused of illegally selling luxury vehicles.
Five of the Tates' luxury vehicles were also seized by the authorities.
In the UK, the brothers have been charged with 21 offences, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
Both brothers deny the allegations.
You know, I might be skeptical of these charges, if the Tate brothers did not have a subscription life coaching service where they teach men how to manipulate girls into being whores using the "loverboy" treatment (which is actually how pimps recruit hookers) -- tell them how much you love them, but they just need to do this one thing to make them some money...
A woman in a NJ prison is suing the state for forcing her to share unmonitored spaces with a "female" prisoner, who sexually assaulted her. She says she was penetrated by this "female" prisoner's penis, in both the vagina and mouth.
An inmate at New Jersey's only women's prison is appealing the dismissal of a lawsuit she filed against the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) alleging that she was sexually abused by a trans-identified male transfer. In the August 2023 complaint, the woman, identified in court records as F. H., said that a "transgender inmate" with "fully functioning male parts" raped her on two occasions, in September and October 2022.
While the name of the male transfer was anonymized as Q. G. in court records, Reduxx can reveal that the "transgender inmate" named in the lawsuit is violent convict Quagee Gibbons, who stands at 6'1″ and weighs nearly 300 pounds.
Gibbons, who is listed as a "female" in the New Jersey inmate directory, has multiple convictions, including for manslaughter in 2014, threats of violence, and physical assault.
According to the suit, the Edna Mahan Corrections Facility for Women (EMCFW) houses multiple trans-identified male inmates who routinely harass the women there. F. H. alleges that the NJDOC and EMCF "failed to take timely and adequate corrective actions to protect the women inmates from transgender inmates with a fully functioning male sexual anatomy." Despite numerous complaints being lodged about the men's "sexually aggressive and harassing behavior," corrections officers and the NJDOC ignored the women's concerns.
Prison officials "failed to create a safe and secure environment for the female inmates," reads the complaint. "Transgenders were allowed to mix with females in areas with no correction officer supervision or oversight. An example is that transgenders were housed with female inmates in areas with no security cameras."
In September and October 2022, F. H. was housed in the same wing as Gibbons. She notes that due to the lack of cameras in the hallway, male officers were not permitted to enter the area without first announcing themselves.
Despite this, Gibbons was given "unfettered access and private access" to F. H., who she says "used his / her penis to commit both oral and vaginal intercourse." She reported the sexual assault to EMCF staff, but was issued disciplinary charges in retaliation. Attempts were made to transfer her to a prison in another state, and F. H. says she has been repeatedly placed in solitary confinement.
In her lawsuit, F. H. requested financial compensation for her "severe emotional distress", as well as punitive damages, and attorneys' fees. She also invoked the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), asserting that she was discriminated against and harassed on the basis of her "gender."
What are we even doing here?
About $30 billion flew out of CA due to unfettered fraud around 2020. Staff was apparently instructed to “just get the money out there. We’ll worry about the fraud later.” Which they never “worried about later.” California governance is conducted by some of the most financially… https://t.co/QX01snO9kc
Democratic Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico tapped the former leader of a protest movement called "C--ks Not Glocks" at the University of Texas at Austin to be his legislative aide, a job that included drafting gun control legislation.
Ana Lopez helped Talarico craft three major firearm restriction bills that he rolled out in the state legislature in 2019, all of which failed to pass.
Lopez took over the leadership of "C--ks Not Glocks," which once handed out more than 4,500 dildos on the UT-Austin campus to protest a 2015 law allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons at state universities and community colleges, from founder Jessica Jin -- an alum of the school, like Talarico.
Lopez told Study Breaks Magazine in 2017 that Jin had moved to California after graduation and passed the "torch down to me."
With its motto of "fighting absurdity with absurdity," members of "C--ks Not Glocks" marched on campus with t-shirts and banners depicting male genitalia emblazoned with perverse takes on pro-Second Amendment slogans such as "take it and come," while others donned dog collar sex toys.
Jin, who started the movement as a joke on social media, said she wanted to "put a dildo in the hands of every pissed off college student who hasn't been heard in this safety conversation."
"Strap it on, feel the discomfort, feel the weird looks. Wear it loud, wear it proud, and don't take them off until people take their guns home," she added, per the Houston Chronicle.
"As long as you have a d-- on your backpack, people will be thinking about the guns," the Texas Tribune quoted her as saying.
Lopez later complained about the backlash to the group, telling Study Breaks Magazine, "It's usually just men who can't take a joke."
Flashback: James Talarico wants to tell you about Positive Masculinity.
The Texas House of Representatives advanced a measure on Friday that would prohibit "sexually oriented performances" from taking place in public spaces and in front of minors.
Notably, the House's version of Senate Bill 12 does not include language targeting drag performers -- a big change from the version the state Senate passed last month. That version included any performance with "a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male" as "sexually oriented."
Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, said Friday the House version still seeks to shield minors from sexually explicit content.
"Children should never be exposed to sexually oriented conduct," Shaheen said. "Senate Bill 12 would help put an end to the sexualization of children in the state of Texas."
Under the House substitute of SB 12, shows that include "actual or simulated...sexual acts, including vaginal sex, anal sex and masturbation" cannot take place in front of minors.
Businesses who host such performances in the presence of people under 18 years old could be subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
"Senate Bill 12 would help put an end to the sexualization of children in the state of Texas," Shaheen said.
The measure was preliminarily approved 88 to 12. Forty-two members -- nearly all Democrats -- voted present. That number of abstentions is highly unusual.
Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, told reporters he voted "present" because the measure had significantly improved.
"I think Texas is obviously the best state in the nation and I think we produce some of the best drag queens in the nation. And I didn't want any legislation to target them or hurt that industry," said Talarico.
The Absolute Balls: Alex Thompson Again Claims a "Scoop" On Something Conservative Media Reported Months Ago
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Huh. If you forgot the name Alex Thompson, one, congratulations on the efficient use of your memory cells, and two, he joined with Jake Tapper to share the B R E A K I N G news that Joe Biden had lost a step and really shouldn't have tried running for president in 2024.
He wrote this book in 2025. He really had his finger on the pulse of a corpse.
And now he's discovered -- apparently by simply reading conservative media outlets, who have reported this for months -- that Graham Platner's claims of being a "working class" "oysterman" are entirely a a fiction invented in 2024, when he decided to run for the Senate.
One might bid him a hearty welcome him to Current Day, except for the fact that he absolutely refuses to acknowledge the media outlets that reported this long ago, pretending he's got a real Shoeleather Express Scoop on his hands here.
Looks like the word has gone out to all the Narrative Tenders in political and media culture. Time to shut down Graham Platner's "working-class man" credentials.
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Most people saw through this false premise months ago. Axios decided to catch up today, now that Democrats need to pressure Herr Totenkopf to withdraw from the Senate election in Maine. Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein do a deep dive into the predicament Democrats now face after attempting to sell Platner as a MAGA-adjacent man of the people instead of the middle-class parental mooch that he is. Readers have to get halfway through the analysis to get to Axios' half-assed admission of participating in the fraud:
Starting with their launch video last August, Platner and his team billed him as an oyster farmer -- a title most of the media, including Axios at times, repeated without scrutiny.
But as early as August, he told ideologically friendly outlets that he makes little money from selling oysters and it's not how he makes a living.
Platner and his team pitched him as a "working-class Mainer" who bought his house with veterans' benefits.
"I bought my house in 2017," he posted in September 2025. "If I hadn't bought then, if I hadn't had the support of the VA, my wife and I would now be priced out of the town I grew up in, like the millions of Americans being exiled from their towns and cities."
In fact, Platner's father -- a lawyer -- loaned him $200,000 for the home.
Platner said last fall he's "never been close to money and power," but he briefly attended the elite prep school Hotchkiss in Connecticut before attending a private school in Maine.
Golly! Who could have known that? Well, anyone who read the Free Beacon more than two months ago, when Collin Anderson and Peter Hasson first reported on the details of the house purchase.
Worth noting that conservative outlets like the Free Beacon exposed his sham blue collar image long ago. Those facts were largely ignored by legacy media. Now that’s changed. A cynic might say it’s because he’s now seen as a threat to their partisan tribe’s power quest. https://t.co/7h7Xf48mhI
Axios also lies when it claims a "scoop" about Platner lying about why he attended an expensive private school. He claimed that the public school in his area had been de-accredited, thus requiring this Child of Non-Privilege to go to expensive private school.
But that was a lie. The public school had never been de-accredited. Platner just went there because... he was the rich-bitch son of a lawyer.
Should Alex Thompson get credit for this "scoop"? No, as Ed Morrissey writes -- the Maine Monitor reported that five weeks ago, and they didn't claim it was a scoop even five weeks ago.
Stephen L. Miller
@redsteeze
Alex Thompson has made a lot of money reporting things that everyone already knew about and acting like it's breaking news.
I have written before about how the myth of Graham Platner's "working man" populism was created, despite the fact that he was a child of privilege, lied constantly about his background and even his "job" as an oysterman. He was a creation of a propaganda machine, primarily driven by The New York Times and the Condé Nast media empire.
National Review did a deep dive into how Platner was plucked out of nowhere and turned into a working-class political star.
The phrase "it's an op" -- meaning an influence operation -- is often, though not always, a marker of paranoia, a tendency towards conspiracy theories, or a belief in forces that are unseen and cannot yet be proven to exist.
Still, from the very start of SS-tattooed Democrat Graham Platner's campaign for Senate, something seemed odd. The New York Times is not in the habit of writing a largely glowing profile of every long-shot, little-known Democrat who announces a bid for Senate. Platner was the harbormaster of Sullivan, Maine, population 1,246.
Yet the Times wrote its profile of Platner before he officially announced his campaign, in August.
In September, The New Yorker wrote its own 3,400-word profile of Platner, emphasizing how he "devoured books on military history." (But remember, he insists he never recognized the tattoo on his chest as a symbol of the Nazi SS.) Again, The New Yorker almost never writes long-detailed profiles of little-known Democratic Senate candidates one month after they announce their bid.
Then in October, GQ -- not primarily a political magazine, and not one that often spotlights candidates -- published its own large spread of Platner with lots of photos.
Then in November, the culinary magazine Bon Appetit -- again, not in the habit of covering obscure Senate candidates -- wrote another glowing profile, this one entitled, "How Graham Platner Went From Working-Class Oysterman to Maine's Zohran Mamdani."
This is Beto O'Rourke-level national coverage, right out of the gate.
CNN: Gee maybe we let Graham Platner claim "Muh PTSD" as an excuse a few times too many.
Shorter CNN segment: Yeah, we probably let Graham Platner saying he had PTSD be too much of an excuse for his horrible behavior, even though the mistreatment of women is never acceptable. Whoopsie! pic.twitter.com/qLHoPzxcRg
Leftwing Judge Refuses to Sentence Former Judge Dugan to Jail for Helping Illegal Alien Elude Police, Won't Even Put Her on Probation
—Disinformation Expert Ace
It's getting harder and harder to believe this country can be saved, or, frankly, should be saved, at least in its current configuration.
Who wants to fight for this?
Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_
BREAKING: Former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan has been sentenced to no prison time after she was found guilty of obstructing ICE agents from arresting an illegal alien in a courthouse last year. Federal judge Lynn Adelman (Clinton appointee) has just ordered Dugan to pay a 5,000 fine instead of any time behind bars.
Prosecutors has asked for a sentence of 15-21 months.
"This is a situation where an otherwise good person upset by immigration enforcement in this country, a sentiment widely shared, made a bad decision in the moment," Judge Adelman said in court.
Shipwreckedcrew
@shipwreckedcrew
1h
Judge Lynn Adelman finally showed his true colors in the Judge Hannah Dugan sentencing today in Wisconsin.
No only did he not sentence her to a jail term on a federal felony, he did not even put her on probation.
He departed downwards on the guidelines -- I don't know his justification yet -- and imposed only a $5000 fine for felony obstruction where she sent an illegal alien with armed federal agents waiting for him on a path to escape from them on a public street.
Adelman did her no favors in how he presided over the case in terms of his legal rulings, and he upheld the jury's verdict.
She will suffer professional consequences from the felony conviction.
But he let her off the hook entirely today in terms of the penal consequences for her conduct.
He's a left-wing nut job judge and has always been a nut job.
BREAKING: Hannah Dugan, the Wisconsin judge convicted for helping an illegal alien escape ICE, receives ZERO prison time and instead is ordered to pay just a $5000 fine.
Meet Lynn Adelman, a Clinton-appointed judge, who sentenced Disgraced Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan to ZERO jail time after she helped an illegal alien escape ICE arrest.
Unshocking: Biden Prosecutor Jack Smith Mishandled Classified Information While Prosecuting Trump for Mishandling Classified Information
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
2h
BREAKING: Just-declassified messages reveal an assistant to Special Counsel Jack Smith violated SCIF security procedures and others on his team mishandled classified material WHILE prosecuting President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified info in 2023-2024.
"This is yet another example of law enforcement's double standards in the previous administration," said Senate Judiciary Chair Grassley, who uncovered the new records.
Prosecutors under former special counsel Jack Smith apparently disclosed classified material after bringing charges against President Trump over identical violations, according to internal government records released Wednesday.
Messages between members of the special counsel's office from July 2023 show that investigators seemed to provide "access to classified materials" without confirming those who reviewed the information did so on a "need to know" basis.
Other communications from Oct. 15 and 16 of that same year revealed that "a classified letter" was left out, while on April 19, 2024, a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) was left open because "no one closed it the day before."
"That's a violation and an incident so I need to know the details," said Carli Rodriguez-Feo, a Department of Justice veteran who has worked in its Litigation Security Group.
An assistant to Smith, Stephanie Van Buskirk, appears to have been responsible for the security lapse.
It's unclear whether the special counsel's office members involved in the exchanges were working on Smith's case against Trump involving the alleged retention of classified documents at the 45th president's Mar-a-Lago estate or his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
...
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released the communications in a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, claiming they suggested a "double standard" by the Biden administration.
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black," Grassley said in a statement. "According to these messages, Biden DOJ personnel may have committed the very offense for which Jack Smith was prosecuting President Trump."
The Iowa Republican's letter cited former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified material -- and the DOJ's decision under former President Barack Obama not to prosecute her for it.
He also noted the DOJ's non-prosecution of Biden, who was clearly guilty, but presented as a "well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory," which -- and I wasn't aware of this -- turns out to be a perfect defense against an Espionage charge.
My own deeply felt schadenfreude aside, why shouldn't Platner dig in?
Micky Kaus pointed out that Platner "has the leverage. All he has to do to screw the Dem party is... nothing." And my RedState colleague Bonchie described the Left's "nuclear levels of cope" over their rapey Nazi: "He's a mentally disturbed do-nothing who works for his mom. He doesn't care about the party. Why would he? And there is no mechanism to forcibly remove him."
...
Make no mistake. Democrats are the whores in the Platner story, willing to overlook a Nazi tattoo, anger management issues, credible rape allegations, public airing of sex fetishes, admissions to joining the military just so he could kill people, and more. All because they thought they finally had a workingman candidate who could beat Collins.
Now Platner is haggling over the price of his withdrawal, and he has until Sunday night to bleed his party nearly dry.
I have now read this highlighted sentence seventeen times because I assumed I wan't actually reading what was written. Surely my eyes didn't actually read this. Maybe someone accidentally pasted in dialogue from "The Onion." back when it was funny. But no.
She is saying that she delayed reporting a rape because she agreed with the accused, politically.
This is one of those moments where, if your IQ is over 85, your brain quietly excuses itself from the room.
We have apparently reached a point where politics has become the emotional-support animal for basic human survival instincts. "Yes, this person committed one of the worst crimes imaginable against me, but we both liked the same tax policy. Awkward."
If your political identity has become so central that it can outweigh reporting your own rape, congratulations: you hve joined a cult. Cults are famous for making people subordinate reality, morality, and self-preservation to the interests of the group.
I hate cults. I hate them a lot.
They don't ask you to ignore facts all at once: they ask for one tiny compromise after another until one day you discover you're explaining away things that should be absolutely indefensible.
What's sad isnt just that people end up there. It's that many of them don't even realize it. They sincerely believe they're making a principled decision when, from the outside, everyone else is wondering why the obvious isn't obvious anymore.
At least religious cults usually promise enlightenment, salvation, eternal life, or an alien spaceship hiding behind a comet. Political cults dont even offer that. They ask you to sacrifice your judgment, your relationships, sometimes even your own well-being in exchange for cable-news talking points, in favor of a politician who will sell you out for a pack of gum.
That's a spectacularly bad trade.
At some point, "my team" has to lose to "the person who committed a violent felony against me." That's not supposed to be a close game.
My own deeply felt schadenfreude aside, why shouldn't Platner dig in?
Micky Kaus pointed out that Platner "has the leverage. All he has to do to screw the Dem party is... nothing." And my RedState colleague Bonchie described the Left's "nuclear levels of cope" over their rapey Nazi: "He's a mentally disturbed do-nothing who works for his mom. He doesn't care about the party. Why would he? And there is no mechanism to forcibly remove him."
...
Make no mistake. Democrats are the whores in the Platner story, willing to overlook a Nazi tattoo, anger management issues, credible rape allegations, public airing of sex fetishes, admissions to joining the military just so he could kill people, and more. All because they thought they finally had a workingman candidate who could beat Collins.
Now Platner is haggling over the price of his withdrawal, and he has until Sunday night to bleed his party nearly dry.
Platner and his team are using their leverage to force the Maine Democratic Party to allow him to hand-pick his successor, as the New York Post reported yesterday based on anonymous sourcing.
The Maine Democratic Party confirmed it last night in a video statement from its executive director. In a declaration drenched in irony, Devon Murphy-Anderson pledged "integrity" in the process to dump the violent Nazi-tatted Kik creeper its voters elected. She then huffed about how Platner was forcing himself on the party's processes, apparently clueless to the parallels that created the crisis:
She added: "The integrity of this process is just as important as the outcome, and we are committed to ensuring that Democrats across our state can have confidence in both."
As Murphy-Anderson went on, she accused Platner's team of "repeatedly" reaching out to them "in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale" to influence what the process looks like.
"We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like," she noted. "We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November."
Platner, forcing himself on unwilling partners? Gee, what a shock!
Unfortunately for Maine Democrats, Platner has all the leverage in this situation, as I explained yesterday and David will discuss next. Maine does not allow a political party to remove a nominee once he or she has won the primary. The only way that Murphy-Anderson and her organization can have a "process," let alone one with "integrity," is for Platner to voluntarily withdraw before the July 13 deadline. Maine Democrats had months to get Platner out of the primary after the news of his Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo went public in October, along with his posts on Reddit and other platforms suggesting that women bore responsibility for being raped.
Why does the Nazi Communist we elected to be our candidate knowing he was a Nazi Communist believe he has any power to determine who the candidate is?! Who's responsible for electing this Nazi Communist?!
Democrats are doing everything to find out who drove this Hot Dog Car through the window!
Plan A was to elect a Nazi communist. That Plan is failing.
Plan B, which was to force out Platner in favor of a Communist to be Named Later, is also failing.
So Democrats are switching to Plan C: Cover up for Platner, defend him, and just put the rapist Nazi in the Senate.
That's just Plan A again, but Plan A has a stink on it.
Fetterman: Why does Bernie Sanders keep pushing communist dirtbags?
A: Because all communists are dirtbags and Bernie Sanders is a lifelong communist dirtbag.
Bravo Sen. Fetterman for saying this. Bernie Sanders has a long track record of endorsing dirtbags:
Graham Platner: rapist & Nazi Hamas supporter Abdul El-Sayed: terror supporter Adam Hamawy: literal terrorist Melat Kiros: terror supporter Andrew Gillum: crystal meth &… https://t.co/rBlLQDZyw2
The Pennsylvania Democrat torched socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Monday night for promoting disgraced Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner despite clear signs that he was a "predator."
"I would really call Bernie Sanders to apologize for pushing this kind of predator more than anyone," Fetterman told Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" hours after former Platner girlfriend Jenny Racicot claimed that he broke into her home and raped her in 2021.
Fetterman specified that Sanders should "apologize to the victims, especially the woman that -- she claimed that he raped her."
"I don't know why you want to keep pushing these kinds of people," he added of Sanders. "Maybe he should consider [sitting] a few out and stop pushing these kind of communists."
"I know Democrats that have, you know, back-to-back endorsed and got all in on [disgraced former Rep. Eric] Swalwell and were on the Platner train as well, too," Fetterman went on. "So, maybe stop, you know, getting [in] bed with absolute dirt bags, someone like Platner."
Sanders had been among Platner's earliest backers, endorsing him in August of last year, shortly after Platner launched what appeared to be a long shot campaign.
As of Tuesday morning, Sanders had yet to join other Democrats -- including his fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) -- in rescinding his endorsement. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Post.
"I'm sure he's not a saint," Sanders told CNN last month after another former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, accused Platner of physical abuse.
"He went through some very bloody and horrible situations," Sanders went on. "He has acknowledged that he came back with PTSD. He's had his share of problems."
Trump Renews Strikes on Iran After Iran Attacks Three Tankers in the Strait; Announces the Ceasefire Is Over, and He's Not Interested in Talking Any Further to Iranian "Scum"
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Of course I understand why Trump wants a "deal" -- the midterms are approaching and the never-ending pseudowar with Iran hurts the economy and his chances.
Also, the war with Iran can be postponed and rescheduled for a more convenient time. The midterms can't be.
But here's the trouble, as I've said over and over: Iran knows Trump is desperate for a "deal" -- pathetically desperate, I'd say -- and so they believe he will ignore any and all the violations of the "deal" they never really agreed to. And barely even pretended to agree to.
In other words, they are counting on Trump to just let them go back to war with the world, as long as he can pretend to the public he's got a "deal."
Well, Trump was downplaying Iran's serious, serial violations of the fake "deal."
But then they want too far, and attacked ships again, and Trump could no longer cover up for them. He could not longer pretend he had a "deal."
Iran flouted the MOU -- the memorandum of understanding that the ceasefire is predicated upon-- from the beginning. They were to keep the strait open, and stop extorting "tolls" from ships passing through. (Which they immediately used to buy weapons.)
Trump and the allies attempted to softly tiptoe around Iran's clear violation of the terms of the ceasefire by creating a safe route through the strait without paying the illegal "tolls."
Iran shot up three ships using this route, determined to force them into paying "tolls," and absolutely violating the most basic provisions of the MOU.
Amit Segal
@AmitSegal
It seems we'll have to slip a page and a half into Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's coffin on its funeral procession, after Trump declared in a press conference this morning that, in his opinion, "the memorandum of understanding...is dead." RIP. It was only 21 days old.
The causes of death of the two are the same: Iranian hubris. The supreme leader believed the Israeli and American threats were empty and was buried, and his successor believed the U.S. was so desperate that the MoU could survive Iran's numerous violations. Until they pushed too far.
The fatal sequence began on Monday, when Iranian missiles struck two tankers--one carrying Qatari gas off the Omani coast, the other a Saudi-flagged oil carrier inside the Strait of Hormuz itself. On Tuesday, a drone went after a third. The vessels' offense: transiting the strait without Tehran's blessing. The U.S. answered last night, first revoking the waiver that allowed Iranian oil to be sold around the world, then striking more than 70 military targets around the strait. By this morning, Iran's armed forces claimed to have hit 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Despite the dramatic declaration, don't expect the status quo to change significantly. The midterms have not been rescheduled, the global economy has not outgrown the strait, and Trump does not believe returning to war will net him the results he wants in the time he wants it.
The statement was less a policy shift than a confirmation that the contemporary Middle East is defined by a single word: uncertainty. It joins a long list of such confirmations--the sudden end of the war, the sudden announcement of the MoU, the sudden outbreak of the war in the first place. Even as I write this, a miraculous resurrection of the agreement is only one Truth Social post away. One can hardly stay aloof while watching the fate of a region swing this violently, but at this point, "surprise" is no longer the accurate word.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a return to April's status quo: no peace and no war. For Israel, that is the second-favorite position on the board--the favorite, a war actively grinding the regime down, is over for now. But a pause is not a rewind. With the oil waiver revoked and the sanctions back on, Tehran is frozen in its beaten position, with no hope of unfrozen assets bridging its fatal liquidity gap. Jerusalem can wait, hoping the regime buckles under its own internal pressures. And while it waits, it can keep dismembering the proxies, whose patron is in no condition to come to their aid.
As for the strait, during the war, Iran set up a toll booth. In response, the Gulf states and the Americans quietly paved a bypass, routing traffic along the Omani side of the waterway and slipping millions of barrels of oil past the barrier. If the diplomacy is dead, expect the U.S. to double down on the Omani lane--and Iran to do everything it can to force traffic back through the booth.
This week, Iranian media reported that the UAE had proposed a plan to the International Maritime Organization to manage the strait--a plan backed by eight unnamed Emirati "allies" and promptly rejected by Tehran, which claimed it lacked "legal basis" and exceeded the IMO Council's technical mandate. No details of the plan have surfaced, and no regional or Western outlet has confirmed it exists. But the same regime-affiliated outlets followed up with a statement from an "informed" source: all transit through the strait must be in accordance with Iranian arrangements. Tehran has likewise objected to a recent Omani proposal under which shipping companies would voluntarily pay fees to use the strait.
Now that Iran no longer has to pretend to abide by the MoU, expect no more empty overtures toward joint management. Expect declarations to the effect that sailing the strait will be like driving through Tehran: on Iranian roads, under Iranian rules.
The U.S. will respond to this morning's attacks, but Iran priced that in the moment it launched. This isn't brinkmanship built on a bet that Washington won't shoot back. It's Tehran's strategy from the war: pit America's economic tolerance against Iran's pain tolerance, and wait for Washington to conclude that paying the toll is cheaper than the drama of collecting it. To Tehran's credit, that bet has paid off before, but this time they may have overplayed their hand.
Mark Halperin
@MarkHalperin
Donald Trump in Turkey about the Iranians: "They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people, and they're vicious, violent people. Far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars ... there's something wrong with them. They're cuckoo. As far as I'm concerned, it's over."
President Trump said the U.S. would probably hit Iran with a deluge of strikes again Wednesday evening.
"I'll give them a little warning, we're going to hit them hard again tonight," he said, adding that the U.S. hit Iran "hard last night" after Iran launched "a couple of drones… pic.twitter.com/YZUTCxbAX9
⭕ I can't overstate the strategic damage the Iran MOU caused the US. The sentiment in Israel and the region is very low trust in the US; they believe Trump will change his mind again, and they will not run to stand with the US after paying a high price during the war. Saudi Arabia will still get closer to Iran, and others will look for deals with Iran too. They no longer perceive the US as the strong partner that they can rely on. This flip-flopping needs to end; otherwise, it will get worse from here.
I imagine Trump will announce a new "deal" within 24 hours.
He's making himself look absolutely ridiculous.
If that sounds absurd-- well, he just reconciled with... Michael Cohen.
Trump also threatened to capture Kharg Island, and said that Iran wouldn't be able to prevent it. That would effectively seize their entire oil-export system, and Trump has been talking about that strategy for nearly 40 years. That would require boots on the ground, of course, and that would create even more complications here at home for Trump. Is this a pose for leverage, or has Trump decided that talks with "cuckoo" terrorists are truly a waste of time? I'm not sure which way to bet.
As I've said from the beginning: You just can't win a war without a ground component. Airpower theorists have been promising a Victory from the Skies since World War Two and they still cannot deliver.
Trump -- and most Republicans -- are confused on their foreign policy imperatives. Do you want peace at almost any price, and do you want a guarantee of "no boots on the ground, ever"?
Okay, that's possible.
But do you also want to use American might to punish and knock out hostile foreign terror-states?
That's also possible.
But you can't have both of these things at the same time. You can't have minimum investment in an armed conflict and also maximal results. What we are willing to do must be brought into some kind of close alignment with what we want to accomplish -- or, vice versa, what we want to accomplish has to be reduced to better align with what we're willing to do.
We want to accomplish major things, but with a minor commitment. Won't work. Never has.
The United States, Canada and Mexico ratified the trilateral free trade agreement NAFTA in 1992. Ross Perot decried the development, famously describing the "giant sucking sound" that would be heard as the American economy was hollowed out in favor of outsourcing to Mexico. He was partially correct. I think there is a strong argument that giving Red China most-favored-nation status in 1998 and elevating her into the WTO was more important, but NAFTA was not great agreement. During his first term, Trump ended it, replacing it with a new trilateral agreement - the USMCA.
Unlike NAFTA, the USMCA has various additional provisions but perhaps the most important distinction is its transience. USMCA is not a permanent treaty as it has a sunset provision. Valid for 16 years, it must be reviewed after six years and all parties must mutually agree to renewal to push it another 16 years. Failing that, the parties must attempt renegotiation every year for the balance of the 16 years. If they cannot reach an agreement, the treaty is not renewed. After that first six years, the treaty can be terminated by any party with six months' notice. It went into effect in 2020. Thanks to Trump's non-consecutive terms, his administration is also handling the first extension checkpoint. The United States did not renew the agreement, and is moving toward bilateral negotiations with each of Mexico and Canada.
USMCA remains in effect, but it is likely the beginning of the end for a trilateral North American trading bloc. This is, in part, because the USMCA did not serve one of its intended purposes, which is defense against Red China. Also a part of it is strained diplomatic ties between the two most important partners - the United States and Canada. Red China is a part of that issue, as well. The objectives of the USMCA of non-parasitic cooperation among the North American powers and containment of major foreign economic threats have not been met. One reason they have not been met is Canada's behavior, particularly under Carney.
It is not exactly a secret that Canada/US relations have been strained. There was often tension during Trudeau's administration, and that has accelerated markedly under Carney. Carney is openly hostile to the United States and has shifted Canadian policy not toward cooperation at home but to courting opportunities abroad. Specifically, Carney is aggressively pursuing the one thing that the USMCA was supposed to disincentivize: closer relations with Red China. In January of this year, Carney visited Beijing and Canada and Red China announced the Canada-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Roadmap, including such items as preferring existing WTO rules and frameworks, encouraging "personnel exchanges," easing financial transactions between the countries, etc. The USMCA died not on its July 1, 2026 renewal deadline but with that January 16, 2026 joint announcement.
What comes next is unclear. It is unlikely that any of the three parties will simply void the agreement and exit in the immediate future, but it probably won't be renewed during the annual reviews to come. There is now a clock running. On July 1, 2036, the agreement will expire and I don't expect it to make it to the final deadline. With Carney moving Canada into Red China's orbit as quickly as possible, there is no way to reconcile the disagreement. This is not an argument over some fine point like a tariff rate or national origin requirements, this is a disagreement over who is the preferred partner of a crucially important member state. The ball is in Canada's court, and she would rather play with Red China.
This is by no means a sure positive for Canada, given some of her other economic partners. One of the benefits of the USMCA for the three countries' trading partners has been that the bloc provides a predictable operating environment. As that environment breaks apart, it is going to ripple in other economies. A major country to watch as this unfolds is Japan. Japan has taken full advantage of the trading bloc and has factories and other business operations throughout the continent. Over three quarters of Canada's auto manufacturing industry is thanks to Japanese automakers. The Japan Business Federation came out in support of extending the USMCA (with a wishlist of Japan-friendly recommendations for change, of course). So what will Japan do as the USMCA winds down and is ultimately replaced? Is Toyota's movement of some production from Mexico to Texas a sign of things to come?
Unless something changes, the intermediate-term effects of this breakdown will go well beyond mere trading economics. For generations, Canada and the United States have been vitally important partners to each other. We have been two distinct countries with compatible cultures, economic integration, deep diplomatic ties, stalwart military alliance and general friendliness at the micro and the macro. That is fracturing in real time as Ottawa pursues ever-tighter coupling with Beijing. The obvious distaste Canada's ruling class has for the United States in general and Donald Trump in particular is secondary, but serves to add yet more strain to an already strained relationship.
This strain has likely ended the USMCA. Whether it is also the beginning of the end for generally good US/Canada relations remains to be seen.
The Midtown high-rise that dangerously buckled Tuesday will need to be partially demolished — although stabilizing it to even attempt the risky move could prove extremely harrowing, experts told The Post. The 37-story former Pfizer headquarters at 235 E. 42nd St. near Second Avenue will first need to be stabilized as soon as possible to prevent a possible localized collapse, they said. Without intervention, it poses a “significant danger” and “could collapse,” said Ronald Hamburger, a structural engineer with five decades of experience and who served on the federal team that investigated the World Trade Center catastrophe.
From what I understand, were it not for the fact that the building was undergoing renovation/conversion the buckling beam might very well have gone undiscovered and then might well have ultimately snapped and potentially catastrophically collapsed the structure. Reminds me of the potential catastrophe that could have collapsed the then new in 1977 nearby Citicorp Center tower, had it not been for the fact that an engineering student IIRC by accident discovered that the design was never tested for wind loads hitting the tower obliquely. And this was right before that year's hurricane season and so a massive retrofit program was begun just as a major hurricane was barreling up the east coast, and it was a race against time. Given who and what is running NYC, there couldn't be a more perfect metaphor than a collapsing skyscraper, which could have been avoided were it not for competence and common sense at the outset. And yet we have Hurricane Mamdani already cutting a swathe of destruction there as well as primed to sweep across the rest of the land, as both CBD and I discussed on the newest episode of the podcast linked here and on the usual outlets listed below.
"It's because the recent polling shows that Graham Platner was going to lose to Susan Collins," Perino said. "And they thought, wow, we only have two weeks to figure this out."
. . . "If they pull a Biden switcheroo, the Democratic brand is just so damaged in the state," Perino said. "And Susan Collins, what is the knock against her? She's so steady. There's no drama. Okay, well, maybe the state will be looking for that."
. . . The bigger picture is even uglier for Democrats. The base wanted Platner or somebody like him. The establishment wanted a safe pick like Gov. Janet Mills. That civil war didn't end this week, and Perino identified exactly who keeps losing it.
Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) said a fellow House Democrat dismissed concerns about antisemitism by claiming it is no longer a problem because “all the Jews are rich.” Speaking to CNN, Balint said the unnamed lawmaker made the remark during a bipartisan House antisemitism task force meeting. She recalled the incident after watching footage of California state Sen. Scott Wiener being forced out of a transgender rights event by protesters angry over his support for Israel, saying it reminded her of other examples of antisemitism she has encountered. . . “I know at some point there will be a day of reckoning, because I still believe that Jews should have a homeland,” Balint told CNN. “There will be people, I think some of my own supporters, who will turn on me, because I still believe in a two-state solution. I still do. I still believe that Israel should be safe and secure. I believe that the Palestinians have been so ill-treated for so long and deserve a safe and secure homeland. I do not believe Israel should be dismantled.”
At some point and I believe we've reached that point, it's no longer going to be about Israel.
In an interview with ABC News’s This Week, Mamdani offered his short tenure as proof of concept for socialism. “We don’t have to ask ourselves what life looks like if a socialist wins,” he said. “I won last November, and over the course of these last six months, what we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible.”
After finally passing the largest budget in New York City history, Mamdani claimed that “if these past months have shown us anything, it is that socialists not only understand economics as well as the capitalists who came before but that we can solve their years of mismanagement through an embrace of our principles.”
On the contrary, Mamdani’s first six months in office indicate the success of capitalism and the regular machinations of municipal government, not democratic socialism.
To a Muslim Communist, Capitalist is just another word for JEW. Of course one doesn't actually have to be Jewish to be a target, just an honest, hard-working, successful tax-paying law-abiding citizen. And the Mamdani pestilence is not confined to New York as can be seen from sea to shining sea, especially in California from whence the ever-popular billionaires' taxes sprang,
and will not be limited to billionaires. Anyone with two nickels to rub together will ultimately be targeted because having two is racist, homophobic and unfair. Since that second nickel of course came about because of slavery and white supemacy inflicted on the downtrodden by white interlopers, colonists and diamond merchants, doncha-know?!!!
Trump says Iran cease-fire is ‘over,’ vows to no longer deal with ‘sick people’ The revocation of oil sanctions waivers signals a hardening U.S. stance and raises questions about the viability of the Trump administration’s ongoing negotiations with Tehran. Further disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could have significant implications for global energy markets and U.S. strategic interests in the region.
If the President no longer wants to deal with "sick people" when do we go after Leftists?! Because it's a miracle what's left of the Republic made it to 250 and if these vermin have their way, we're not making it to 275, let alone 500!
What does it take to get arrested for treason around here, anyway? The last person to be arrested for working for the enemy and against the United States was Tomoya Kawakita, an American who switched sides to become a Japanese POW slave labor camp overseer who brutalized American soldiers in World War II. Then there was Tokyo Rose, who served the Imperial Japanese as a radio propagandist. Old Tokyo was arrested, tried, and convicted when she tried to get back into the U.S. after the war.
And that gives me an idea. I don't know about you, but I think that's a splendid idea for what I've dubbed the "Tokyo Bros," two American media influencers who went to Tehran to lead cheers with the "Death to America" crowd and fete the dead Iranian ayatollah. They claimed that the dead ayatollah was "fighting for humanity" against "evil" Zionists when he met his 72 old bags in the afterlife.
That's no hyperbole. This guy, Jackson Hinkle, a communist and anti-American — but I repeat myself — was on stage and literally led a "Death to America" and "Down with America" chant over the weekend in an IRGC-approved massive crowd in Iran. We know it was an approved propaganda ploy because, were it a collection of thousands of "free" Iranians rising up against the dead-ender Twelvers, the Basij would have mowed them down like they did the estimated 42,000 souls murdered during Iranian street protests last January. Wink, wink. Why would we want that treasonous bastard to come back to our country in anything less than a ball, chain, and leg irons? Then there was Sid Vicious Blumenthal's son (Hillary's boy, Media Matters et al.), Max Blumenthal, who visited Tehran to fanboy over what a great guy the dead ayatollah was and be the hypeman for "these popular mobilization rallies" that have been approved by our sworn enemies in the IRGC. I don't wish to be indelicate or anything, but we're in a hot war with Iran at the moment. We were just dropping bombs and strafing some bad hombres on Tuesday morning.
Hinkle amplified this message about killing the president while he was over in Tehran. We recognize that Americans have free speech rights, but ... pssst ... treason on foreign soil isn't protected free speech. Pass it on.
Max Blumenthal is one of the most heinous examples of what I call the "Self-gassing Jews" anywhere. And is Hinkle related to Adenoid Hinkle?
Line up the two against a wall and let them sandwich Jane Fonda for good measure and have a raffle where the winners get to be in the firing squad.
Have a good day,
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
The evacuation suggests serious safety concerns over the high-rise, located in a built-up and densely populated area of Midtown Manhattan. No injuries have been reported, but a collapse could cause major disruption and possibly damage neighboring buildings. Former Pfizer High-Rise Evacuated in Manhattan Amid Fears of Imminent Collapse.
“Camilo Campos-Hurtado preyed on children, rendered his victims incapable of resisting, recorded his horrific crimes, and concealed his true identity through fraudulent immigration and identification documents while remaining unlawfully in the United States,” U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek said in a statement: Illegal Alien Soccer Coach Gets 30 Years in Prison for Filming Himself Raping Unconscious Boys
The revocation of oil sanctions waivers signals a hardening U.S. stance and raises questions about the viability of the Trump administration’s ongoing negotiations with Tehran. Further disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could have significant implications for global energy markets and U.S. strategic interests in the region. Trump Revokes Iran Sanctions Waivers Following New Attacks on Tankers.
We recognize that Americans have free speech rights, but ... pssst ... treason on foreign soil isn't protected free speech. Pass it on. I sure hope the FBI has a posse waiting for the boys and that chick wearing the head scarf who used to work for Senator Fauxcahontas, and who, in Tehran, called the dead ayatollah the "greatest leader of her life." 'Tokyo Bros' Go to Tehran to Call for 'Death to America,' and We Have Questions About Treason
The whole point of the left is that the middle class, the bourgeoisie, should be regulated, controlled, hemmed in, forced to bend the knee to the hegemonic educated class. America 250: Our Great Challenge
American exceptionalism was never about perfect people. It was about a system of liberty that unleashed unprecedented freedom, prosperity, and self-correction. We Must Have a Rebirth of Instinctive Patriotism (How do we resist the figurative Sanger/Gosnells and their womb-scrapers - jjs)
Rob Bonta says he's protecting California's future. His critics say he's defending energy policies that make housing, electricity, and living in the state even less affordable. California AG Rob Bonta’s War on Affordability
Promises notwithstanding, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first six months in office indicate the success of capitalism and the regular machinations of municipal government. Democratic Socialism—or Democratic Capitalism?
That group, the Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), is responsible for 44 percent of civilian killings during that period, according to the Observatory. Yet U.S. and Nigerian counterterrorism operations remain focused on the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram, which together account for just 12 percent of civilian killings. The Terror Network Slaughtering Nigerian Christians Has Escaped America’s Blacklist
The next geopolitical battle is over the past. Pakistan Can’t Rewrite Civilization (Dr. Zaius is ready to dynamite the cave and bury the evidence forever - jjs)
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY, PLUS VARIOUS & SUNDRY GODLESS HEATHENS
Purdah-style restrictions on social media would undermine free speech and suppress independent journalism, with platforms like YouTube warning that related policies aimed at artificially boosting “public service” broadcasters like the BBC would demote smaller, independent creators in favor of state-backed outlets. British Government Wants to Censor Social Media Before Elections.
A New York Times columnistcommunistwho has repeatedly risen to the defense of U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner is now publicly accepting "blame," saying that she "deeply" regrets a column she wrote defending the Democratic nominee, who put his Maine campaign on hold this week after being accused of rape. Apologies from the rest of the paper’s staff for the newspaper’s oddly gentle treatment of Platner haven’t yet emerged, but they’d be warranted. Anatomy of a Hype Job: How the New York Times Boosted Graham Platner
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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is using Mythos to scan code in government systems that may be leaving doors open for foreign spies and cybercriminals, according to Reuters who cited three anonymous sources. Censorship-Pushing Federal Agency Teams Up With Tech Company Trump Feuded With
THE ECONOMY, STUPID
U.S. manufacturing slightly cooled in June, but the bigger story still holds. The Institute for Supply Management said its Manufacturing PMI registered 53.3 in June after May hit 94.0, the highest reading since May 2022. Readings above 50 show expansion, and June marked the sixth straight month of growth. New orders also stayed in expansion at 56.0. America’s Factory Floor Is Still Its Greatest Superpower
Americans buy hundreds of billions of dollars worth of items online every year, plopping down their money, tracking their packages and trusting they will receive them. But a barcode like that on a ballot is the end of democracy? Please. Dems freak out over USPS plans to for ensure mail-in ballot integrity
Him too — ...alleging that this individual “struck a female colleague with a bottle he threw at her” during a disagreement, corroborated by several witnesses.alleging that this individual “struck a female colleague with a bottle he threw at her” during a disagreement, corroborated by several witnesses. Leftist Group Reveals Troubling Allegation Against Potential Platner Replacement
We all know that if the polls had shown Platner still beating Collins, he'd still be the toast of the party, allegations and all. Why? Because literally none of the other scandals swayed his party one bit. Democrats spent months looking the other way because they believed he could win. The moment he became a liability, they ran for the exits. Dana Perino Just Exposed the Real Reason Democrats Turned on Graham Platner
s
They hold the seat long after they lose their ability to do the work. To change that, we would have to get Congress to act. You can see how likely that is. Congress Can’t Require Members To Show Up Or Quit
According to a report by the Daily Mail, Hines was left out of Trump-hating Larry David’s new left-wing “history” comedy entitled, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America, despite that she was a main cast member in 12 seasons of David’s popular Curb Your Enthusiasm series. Report: Michelle Obama Sabotaged Cheryl Hines’ HBO Role Over Her Marriage to Robert F. Kennedy
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
Our flag sales are normally almost entirely US, state, and military flags. So when we started getting more and more inquiries about world flags during our offseason in January and February, I knew something was up.
Then I started putting it all together. The World Cup was coming, and it was about to change our business.
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When we took over, our goal was simply to survive those first few months and build out the e-commerce side of the business. We certainly weren't looking ahead to the World Cup or America's 250th birthday, but we've definitely benefited from some tailwinds.
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The World Cup, combined with America's 250th anniversary, has supercharged our business. We've seen tremendous national growth, and these events have definitely moved the needle for us. We've been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Seventy years ago, on June 29, 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, aka the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, into law. It created the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, better known as the Interstate Highway System. Or, simply, “the Interstate.” Ike signed the bill, along with 26 others that day, from a hospital bed at Walter Reed after an intestinal infection and operation. No press. No photographers. His press secretary was there to witness the signing, and that’s it. It was a shrug-worthy opening ceremony for what would become this country’s largest-ever public works project as well as an agent of almost immeasurable cultural, economic, and physical change.
Aside from being a marvel of civil engineering, the Interstates created jobs and boosted the economy. They made travel easier and more accessible. They made shipping more efficient. They also brought added safety compared to other highways. But they also screwed a lot of people over. Small towns bypassed by new Interstate routes withered and died. According to Department of Transportation estimates, Interstate construction displaced over a million Americans and destroyed 475,000 homes.
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When the original 1916 Federal Highway Aid Act expired, the Federal Highway Aid Act of 1921 superseded it. The ’21 bill further consolidated the federal/state partnership, allowing states to conduct their own road-building projects, albeit to federal standards, with $75M allocated annually for the construction of a national road grid of interconnected “primary highways.” The “later [1956] interstate highway bill… would not have been possible, or necessary” without the 1921 bill, according to Swift.
By 1921, the Office of Road Inquiry had grown into the Bureau of Public Roads. Its head, Thomas MacDonald, wanted a better understanding of the nation’s road system, not just for public use but for military use. That year, he commissioned the Army to produce a map of public roads that were useful for interstate travel as well as for defense. The so-called “Pershing Map,” after the general who produced it, included 78,000 miles of public roads and proved to be an important tool in later planning for the Interstate system.
Another important step in the growing road network was the United States Numbered Highway System, first designated 100 years ago in 1926. Interstate trails and named highways had been spreading across the country, but with no uniformity and spotty maintenance. The Numbered Highway System addressed this by creating the “U.S. Routes,” with numbers instead of names, identified by a recognizable white-and-black shield. North-south routes were to feature odd numbers, with the lowest number starting on the East Coast and the most significant routes ending in “1” or “5.” East-west routes featured even numbers, with the lowest number starting on the northern border and primary routes ending in “0.” Despite the name “U.S. Routes,” these roads were built and are maintained at the state level. By the end of the 1920s, the Bureau had invested three-quarters of a billion dollars in road building and improvement, paving or resurfacing over 90,000 miles of highway, according to Spencer Headworth’s book Rules of the Road.
Very long article but fascinating for aforementioned map / highways nerds like me. Check it out and catch me at the next MoMe so we can discuss this kin of stuff!
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DJ Doof - Random Stuff Edition
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Tonight's ONT brought to you by Swedish forwardness
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Doof Enterprises, LLC hopes your USA-250 festivities were fun and safe.
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Podcast: Is Kentucky's long nightmare over? Maine's resident Nazi might be out, NATO making progress, or is it a fake, Le Pen in France might have a shot, Democrats are simply pinch-faced scolds who hate America, but is our youth going to revitalize the country...and more!
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click It happened one summer, it happened one time
It happened forever, for a short time
A place for a moment, an end to dream
Forever I loved you, forever it seemed
One summer never ends, one summer never began
It keeps me standing still, it takes all my will
An Update about Grammie Winger: She is doing poorly...she is in the hospital and is having a tough go of it. She would love to hear from you folks, so anyone who would like to contact her is welcome to her address! Please contact Bluebell at moroncookbook@gmail.com for her contact info. (I expect her local post office to be furious with us!) [CBD]
Podcast: Sefton and CBD commiserate about the NYC primaries and whether the contagion will spread, J.D. Vance is becoming a cypher, Texas Antifa gets a wake-up call, and more!
