Evil Otter Hot Tub Party Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Village at the foot of the Dolomites

Cute little beggar.

I support punking the media.

Earning his keep. At least he's not destroying anything (at the moment).

Woman feeds a neglected pit bull every day on her lunch break.

This is me since the weekend. Maybe it's the heat.

Orphaned baby sea lion is rescued.

Piglet who is the sole survivor from a hoarding situation is reunited with his mother.

Dumped skeletal dog who can't get nutrients because he has a huge blockage in his gut is rescued, healed, and fed a ton of food.

Dog abandoned and left in the yard of an empty house when a couple breaks up is rescued.

A cliffside path in Italy.

Another high path.

Feeding time.

Quick Hits

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Paul Sperry @paulsperry_

BREAKING: IC IG Michael Atkinson, an Obama holdover and former aide to Russiagate operative Mary McCord, "weaponized the whistleblower process" against Trump by 1) failing to conduct basic due diligence and 2) willfully exceeding his statutory jurisdiction by altering the whistleblower form to no longer require firsthand knowledge as a prerequisite for reporting complaints in order to facilitate fake impeachment "whistleblower" Eric Ciaramella's 2019 hearsay complaint against Trump, an ODNI investigation has found based on hundreds of newly declassified docs

"Moderate" Democrat and Deep State operative Abigail Spanberger just signed away Virginia's electoral college votes, pledging the state to cast its votes according to the national public vote. Note that this compact does not take effect until states having electoral votes totally 270 or more join it.

The Maryland Man who set fire to a multimillion dollar paper warehouse and burned it to the ground compares himself to Democrat Thrill-Killer Luigi Mangione, and he means that as a compliment to himself.

The 29-year-old man charged in connection with fires that burned down a paper products warehouse in California was allegedly motivated by anti-capitalism sentiment and compared himself to Luigi Mangione, authorities said Friday.

Chamel Abdulkarim, of Highland, California, was charged by federal authorities with arson of a building used in interstate and foreign commerce, Bill Essayli, the first assistant United States attorney, said at a news conference Friday morning.

Abdulkarim is accused of intentionally starting multiple fires at a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse on Tuesday. The warehouse was located in Ontario, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, and was owned by the consumer goods company Kimberly-Clark Corp.

...

There were at least 20 people at the warehouse when the fires began, authorities said, but no one has been reported injured.

,,,

The first state charge carries the special circumstance of the damage from the arson reaching more than $10.1 million, Anderson said. That charge carries a penalty of 10 years to life. An initial estimate found the paper products inside the warehouse to be worth $500 million, with the building itself worth $150 million.

...

Essayli said that in a phone call, Abdulkarim allegedly "compared himself to Luigi Mangione."

Speaking of Luigi Mangione: Creepy New Manson Girls praise Mangione as a "real life superhero" and, threateningly, declare "we have more work to do." You can imagine what they mean by "work."

AWFULs are jealous, envious, spiteful, status-craving, crab-in-a-bucket-tugging, tall-poppy-cutting lunatics:

Nancy Pelosi: None of us Democrats had any idea that the guy sending dic pics to half the female staffers on Capitol Hill was a predator.

Ten days ago, Eric Rapewell declared that all of the truth and all of the whistleblowers were about to come out against Trump, and that the FBI was colluding with China to keep him from being elected governor.

DC Court of Appeals Bodies, Beats Down Obama Judge Boasberg for His Extrajudicial Unending "Investigation" Into Trump for Ignoring His Poorly-Worded and Also Illegal Order

—Disinformation Expert Ace

SCOTUS Wire @scotus_wire

2h

🚨 In a 2-1 vote, a D.C. Circuit panel has issued an extraordinary writ of mandamus, ordering Judge Boasberg to terminate his criminal contempt probe into the Trump administration's transfer of alleged Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador.

If you recall, Boasberg issued a (lawless) TRO blocking Trump from deporting criminal illegal Venezuelans to the CECOT prison in El Salvador. But Boasberg mis-drafted his order because the planes were already on their way. The TRO was then moot.

This made Boasberg angry so, on his own initiative and by his own "authority," Boasberg has been conducting a Star Chamber criminal investigation into Trump and his staffers.

Even worse, the Supreme Court later ruled that Boasberg had no authority to issue this order in any case. But the power-mad authoritarian continued his "investigations" into whether his order -- now ruled conclusively to have been lawless and void from the onset -- was "violated" by Trump anyway.

The order has been ruled illegal - but Boasberg insists on seeking criminal charges against people for violating his officially-illegal order anyway. He's taking the position: "I don't care if the order was illegal, Trump should have obeyed it anyway, and he should be punished for not Respeccing My Authoritah!"

By a vote of 2-1, an Appeals Court just ordered him to terminate these lawless proceedings.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered an end to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's criminal contempt inquiry into Trump administration officials over last year's deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador, delivering a second major rebuke to Boasberg and foreclosing further pursuit of the case.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted a writ of mandamus and directed that the contempt proceedings be "terminated," finding Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, had committed a "clear abuse of discretion" by continuing to press forward A writ of mandamus is a rare and extraordinary order from a higher court directing a lower court or government official to stop exceeding their authority.

The panel that wrote the 122-page decision included Judges Neomi Rao and Justin Walker, both appointed by President Donald Trump, in the majority, and Judge J. Michelle Childs, appointed by former President Joe Biden, in dissent. The Washington Examiner contacted the Justice Department for comment.

"The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy," the majority wrote. "These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion, as the district court's order said nothing about transferring custody of the plaintiffs and therefore lacks the clarity to support criminal contempt based on the transfer of custody."

The order comes nearly one year after Boasberg found probable cause to hold the government in criminal contempt, accusing officials of failing to comply with his March directive to halt deportation flights carrying Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador, where many were sent to a maximum-security prison. The deported Venezuelans were illegal immigrants who were suspected of being members of Tren de Aragua, a violent transnational gang.

Boasberg had sought to determine whether officials, including then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, willfully violated that order and had moved toward referring the matter for criminal prosecution while continuing to gather evidence through hearings and testimony.

The Supreme Court ultimately overturned the underlying order from Boasberg that had blocked Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal immigrants suspected of gang membership. Boasberg, however, continued investigating whether the Trump administration had violated the order.

More from the decision, via Powerline:

More than a year ago, the President invoked the Alien Enemies Act against members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal gang and foreign terrorist organization, and ordered that they be detained and removed from the United States. In a series of fast-moving events on March 15, 2025, the government placed a group of alleged gang members, including plaintiffs in this case, on planes to El Salvador. After the planes took off and left the country, the district court ordered the government not to remove the plaintiffs from the United States.

The Supreme Court vacated the district court's order because it was premised on a legal error and the plaintiffs' suit was brought in the wrong court.

I think that last part might be about these criminal illegals filing in friendly liberal district courts while ignoring the Immigration Courts that actually have jurisdiction over their cases. They did this again and again and the Supreme Court kept telling them that they had no original (first-dibs) jurisdiction in these cases, but could only enter the cases after an appeal.

Nonetheless, the district court threatened to hold government officials in criminal contempt unless they complied with the now-vacated order by, for instance, taking back custody of the plaintiffs. We issued a writ of mandamus vacating the court's first contempt order.

Undeterred, the district court is proceeding with criminal contempt for the government's decision to transfer the plaintiffs to the custody of El Salvador. To cooperate, the government identified then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as the official responsible for the transfer decision. The district court previously said this was the only information it required to make a referral for prosecution. But the district court has now expanded its inquest and ordered hearings to extract more information from government counsel about exactly what happened last March. The government petitions for mandamus.

The widening gyre of the district court's investigation again calls for the extraordinary remedy of mandamus to halt the judicial "impairment of another branch in the performance of its constitutional duties." Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for D.C.,542 U.S. 367, 390 (2004) (cleaned up). The district court proposes to probe high-level Executive Branch deliberations about matters of national security and diplomacy. These proceedings are a clear abuse of discretion, as the district court's order said nothing about transferring custody of the plaintiffs and therefore lacks the clarity to support criminal contempt based on the transfer of custody. Moreover, the government has already provided the name of the responsible official, so further judicial investigation is unnecessary and therefore improper. In these circumstances, mandamus is appropriate to prevent the district court from assuming an antagonistic jurisdiction that encroaches on the autonomy of the Executive Branch.

Eric Schmidt comments:

Senator Eric Schmitt @SenEricSchmitt

4h

"The pursuit of this improper investigation is a clear abuse of discretion." Judge Boasberg just got slapped down...again.

The walls are closing in on his crusade to jail Trump officials for DEPORTING Venezualan terrorists.

It's clear: time to impeach Rogue Judge Boasberg. 🧵

To review: last March, Judge Boasberg forced himself onto the "turn the planes around" case--just a few days after trying to foment a constitutional crisis at a Judicial Conference meeting.

He has spent the past year trying to jail prosecutors and cabinet Secretaries.

Today, the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion, once again, in the appeal on Boasberg's attempt (extrajurisdictionally) to hold officials in contempt.

The Court found Boasberg's "inquest" was both wrong on the law and a violation of our Separation of Powers.

Let's break it down.

The core holding is simple.

Criminal contempt requires a court order that is "clear and specific." The D.C. Circuit held this TRO was not. Why? Because the written order barred "removing" class members, but said nothing about transferring custody once the planes were already outside the United States.

The district court tried to transform an order about "removal" into an order about continued U.S. custody in El Salvador.

The D.C. Circuit said no: criminal liability cannot rest on what a judge later says he meant. It has to rest on what the order actually said at the time.

So, he mis-drafted his order but now wants to put people in jail for not having obeyed the order I meant to give, but did not in fact give because I am a sloppy partisan incompetent.

Judge Boasberg was mad he didn't get his way by halting the deportation of TDA terrorists.

He got shut down:

"In our constitutional system of government, criminal liability cannot turn on the unstated intentions (or post hoc assertions) of a district court judge."

The district court told the government it would issue a written order "so you don't have to race to write it down." The written order then superseded the oral remarks--and that written order did not bar what the district court later claimed it barred.

This is bigger than one case.

If this contempt theory had survived, any politically charged district judge could issue a rushed, muddy order, then later reinterpret it to threaten executive officials with prosecution. The D.C. Circuit put a needed stop to that.

Today's ruling is a win for due process, for separation of powers, and for the proposition that judges must follow the law too.

No vague order.
No post-hoc rewrite.
No judicial fishing expedition.
No contempt.

Time to move forward with impeachment.

DEI Actress: DEI Has Become a Bad Word in Hollywood and We Have to Use Different Words Now to Push Our DEI Grift

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Good.

Issa Rae says DEI has become a 'bad word' in Hollywood as executives of color 'tiptoe' to keep jobs

'Insecure' actress spoke at TheWrap's Creators x Hollywood Summit about the rollback of DEI initiatives

Actress Issa Rae said Thursday that she believes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has become a toxic topic for the entertainment industry.

"I'm seeing it," the "Insecure" actress said while participating in TheWrap's Creators x Hollywood Summit. "Just blatantly. People are scared and just not necessarily investing the same way that they would have before. Even executives who, you know, are of color are also like tiptoeing like, 'Well, I can't co-sign you because I'm going to lose my job.' And that's scary to see and sad to see because it's kind of like a bad word now."

In other words, moneylosing grifter projects had previously been greenlighted due to the DEI lobby's power and now that lobby has lost power and DEI projects aren't getting greenlighted and DEI hustlers aren't getting paid.

"We all know that, typically, when we're talking about diversity, equity [and] inclusion, it is about giving people opportunities that would otherwise not have them as opposed to pity hires and pity shows and the like," she continued. "It's changed meanings and has become a bad word, but it hasn't affected what we do and who I create for and what our company creates for and who we prioritize. And it never will."

Rae was asked about Hollywood and other major industries rolling back DEI initiatives since President Donald Trump took office again in 2025. As a series creator herself, Rae admitted that people have to be "smarter" about how they package diverse projects.

"Like, 'It's not a show about a Black woman, it's a show about class,'" Rae said. "As icky as that might feel, it gets the show sold. You know, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down."

Yes: Let's talk about "the medicine."

A lot of people don't object to black actors, writers, or directors. I have nothing against a black actor in a kind of show or movie I'd like. If it's a detective show with a black lead, I would watch that.

The problem is "the medicine." DEI grifters don't merely push beancounting hiring for positions. They also push The Message. They want to make movies and shows that are lectures.

There's a reason I avoid black-- and "female led" -- tv shows and movies: Didacticism. There is a powerful strain of woke lecturing among female and black creators. Again, if you're pitching me a black detective show, I might be interested. But if you're pitching me a black detective show in which every two or three episodes are about The Talk and White Supremacy and George Floyd and white superiors denying promotions to qualified black cops and giving those promotions to Mediocre White Men -- that's gonna be a "no" from me, dog.

And that's what a lot of this crap is. These creators are frustrated because they want to make very didactic, lecturing fare and be rewarded and beloved for it. But that's not what the public wants, and it's never been what the public wants. As Samuel Goldwyn said 80 years ago (I think): "If you want to send a message, use Western Union."

Partly they do this because projects that would never, ever have gotten greenlit in the past were suddenly mandatory due to the DEI takeover of all corporations. Partly it might be a kind of employment-guarantee: If a project is specifically about "The Black Experience in America," well, you know that all of the lead roles and key positions will have to go to black people.

But no one wants this. They never did. During the height of DEI, Hollywood lost hundreds of millions of dollars every year making one sure-moneyloser woke lecture after another.

Losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year is not a sustainable business model.

There is an entire grifter industry in Hollywood of people taking a mafia-like cut of projects. Crap DEI director Ava DuVernay has a whole business based upon the concept of DEI entrepreneurialism, monetizing white guilt and the George Floyd propaganda effort. It's called "ARRAY." You know, an array of skin colors and diverse lived experiences.

array now

https://arraynow.com

Founded in 2011 by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, ARRAY is a Peabody award-winning arts and social impact collective dedicated to narrative change.

She's been complaining since 2024 that the DEI grift isn't paying off like it had in the prior years. But how long did you think you could milk the George Floyd grift?

Ava DuVernay On Hollywood's Diversity Failures: She's "Tapping Out" & Will Go "Make My Movies"

Ava DuVernay is frustrated, and perhaps the odd way her acclaimed drama, "Origin" has largely been ignored by the awards circuit hasn't helped ("I wish she was at the Globes or SAG Awards or Critics Choice or the other nominations that didn't come," the filmmaker recently lamented about her "Origin" star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor).

It's no secret that the ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack in the United States at the moment (just look at what happened to former Harvard President Claudine Gay and the coordinated attack on her from the far right that led her to step down from her post). There's been a concerted effort and campaign among the conservative forces in this country to disassemble DEI initiatives and it's clear as day (you can cite dozens of articles on this topic, but feel free to read "Republicans are at war with corporate America over diversity" at The Hill or "Conservatives See Claudine Gay's Resignation As A Victory" in the New York Times or just yesterday, "DEI Goes Quiet" from the Times).

And all you need to do is look around at the way the diversity movement is receding in Hollywood, much like the way #MeToo did after it had its moment. Many conservatives see all these movements as "overcorrections" to roll back.

DuVernay was on the Talk Easy podcast recently and vented her frustrations about it all when asked about the attack on DEI in this country and the growing voices in the conservative right that are trying to systematically dismantle these practices ("After #MeToo Reckoning, a Fear Hollywood Is Regressing," is also another key NYTimes article to read).

In her long response, DuVernay said she would be "tapping out" of the "Hollywood industrial complex" and would "pass the baton" to others over the industry's ongoing failures in diversity and inclusion. "This town does not want it," she said.

...

"I'm going to build another house; I'm going to go over to the house that I've built on my own and focus on that," she explained. "That's where I am today, like I did it all, and I'm good. I'm just gonna over here and make my movies."

Well isn't that what you should have done in the first place, instead of playing the Black Female Card to get people to "invest" in projects that had no chance of breaking even?

What did her efforts achieve? According to DuVernay, she couldn't move the DEI needle in the way she wanted, and that's the source of her frustrations with the Hollywood industry at large, "I think I've done things to help but that those are isolated incidents that are [anomalies]. [The system can be fixed], sure it can, but it needs cooperation, it needs people to want to do it and this town does not want to do it."

Well it does want "to do it," but Hollywood is now on the verge of collapse. At some point a business has to actually start producing widgets the public is actually interested in buying.

Of course, DEI lecturing isn't limited to female and black creators. All of NBC's white liberal showrunners are determined to push the party line in every single show, for example.

The surprising racial and gender bias in 'Law and Order'

John Sides - January 3, 2017

Spoiler alert: You will not be surprised.

For many years, variants of the show "Law and Order" have been among the most popular television programs about crime. At times, they have been among the most popular programs, period. "Law and Order: SVU" still airs on NBC.

Social science research tells us that the public often learns about crime -- and especially its racial implications -- from how it is portrayed on television.

A new paper by Gaurav Sood and Daniel Trielli analyzes "Law and Order" and comes to a surprising conclusion: In its portrayal of both perpetrators and victims, "Law and Order" is biased in terms of both race and gender, but not in the way you'd expect. The show over-represents whites and females as both victims and perpetrators.

That is exactly what I expected.

In total, Sood and Trielli analyzed 731 episodes from three different "Law and Order" series: the original, "SVU," and "Criminal Intent." They identified the gender and race of over 1,100 criminals and over 1,500 victims portrayed on these episodes.

They compared the racial and gender breakdown among criminals and victims to government statistics for similar types of crime and periods of time. Here is what they found.

Criminals

Black criminals are less common on "Law and Order" than in reality. The graph below shows that in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), about 30 percent of criminals are black (with higher percentages among those arrested for murder or rape). But in each of the "Law and Order" series, about 10 percent are black.

Even when a criminal turns out to be black, he's not the real criminal, who will turn out to be a white guy and usually a white supremacist who goaded him into committing the crime.

...

"Law and Order" also distorts the true proportion of blacks and women who are crime victims. It dramatically underrepresents blacks as victims, especially with regard to murder. About 50 percent of murder victims are black, according to the FBI, but on "Law and Order" just over 10 percent of victims are black.

The show overrepresents females as victims. Just over 20 percent of murder victims are women, but on "Law and Order" it is upward of 40 percent and, on "Law and Order: SVU," 60 percent.

The female thing isn't due to political bias-- it's due to these shows being beloved by female, and in particular urban liberal females (AWFULs). Women like stories about women.

Related: They've torn down the sets for the cancelled woke identity "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" show -- Gay Klingons Eating Pudding -- as well as the sets for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and they're selling the props at auction.

Bill Cosby SuperFan Eric Swalwell's Resignation Is Official, Effective Immediately

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Would you like some Jello Puddin' with your rufies

Jennifer Van Laar reports that the earliest the election can be held is 126 days after the slippery-assed governor declares a vacancy.

Just about two hours after the latest allegations against California Democrat Eric Swalwell became public, the former gubernatorial candidate is now a former member of the House of Representatives.

...

Now that Swalwell's seat is officially vacant, California Gov. Gavin Newsom can call a special election to fill it. According to the California Government Code, "A special election to fill a vacancy in the office of Representative in Congress, State Senator, or Member of the Assembly shall be conducted on a Tuesday at least 126 days, but not more than 140 days, following the issuance of an election proclamation by the Governor pursuant to Section 1773 of the Government Code." Assuming that Newsom issues that proclamation today, that election could take place on August 18, 2026. If one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in that election, they will win the seat outright and can be seated immediately.

Before that, on June 2, the primary election for that seat for the next term of Congress will occur.

Other Democratic sex-pests and Registered Sex Offenders are now "jockeying" to fill Eric Swalwell's seat, which coincidentally is also what his fellow prisoners will be doing when his juicy ass is thrown into the clink. Click on the link for that.

Documents: Biden's Autopen Autocrats Knew About Elevated Stroke Risk from the Covid Jab But, Get This, Covered It Up and Falsified #TheScience

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Trust the experts. Trust the outrageously dishonest partisans who insist that they are the only #Oracles who are qualified to tell you what #TheScience says.

New details emerging from a Senate investigation confirm that Biden administration officials at both the FDA and CDC knew about a significant stroke risk tied to Pfizer's bivalent COVID-19 booster in people over 65.

They knew. And they said nothing.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, formally notified HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the findings in a letter backed by roughly 2,000 pages of federal documents.

On August 31, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") authorized the PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 bivalent booster. By late October 2022, HHS reported that approximately 14.4 million people 12 years and older had received the booster. In November 2022, federal health officials became aware of a statistically significant safety signal for ischemic stroke among individuals age 65 and older following administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent booster. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying the brain becomes blocked, preventing blood and oxygen from reaching parts of the brain. Despite the monthslong persistence of this safety signal in multiple vaccine safety surveillance systems, Biden's FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") did not issue any formal health alerts, nor did they advise the public to avoid the vaccine. Instead, federal health officials continued to tell the public the vaccine was safe, but behind closed doors, they initiated multiple studies and statistical analyses--including a so-called "Stroke Project"--to investigate the validity of their assertion. These investigations continued through at least September 2025.

Between November 2022 and March 2023, seven separate analyses of incoming data flagged the same stroke signal for the same vulnerable population.

Seven. Yet not a single formal warning went out.

"HHS records show that as early as October 2022, federal health officials identified a potential connection between the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent booster and ischemic stroke for individuals over the age of 65," Johnson wrote.

The CDC's own data shows 226 stroke cases reported between August 2022 and February 2023, with additional cases continuing to roll in through 2024.

Instead of warning the public, the Biden administration buried the data and hired a private contractor. In February 2023, HHS brought in Lukos LLC to run an internal program called "The Stroke Project" -- a deeper dive into the data -- while continuing to tell the public that the vaccines were safe. As Johnson put it, "from the initial detection of the safety signal in late 2022, through contractor-led case review, VAERS data-mining analyses, and follow-up VSD studies referenced in MMWR publications through at least September 2024, health officials continued to say the vaccine was safe while simultaneously searching for evidence to support that assertion."

They told the public a lie while searching for any evidence that might support that lie.

And they decided that, because they were still "examining the evidence" -- searching for some thin reed to hang their lie on -- the public was not entitled to any warnings during this period of investigation.

But do note they told the public a lie even though the investigation was ongoing. It was not the case that they believed that they should issue no conclusions at all prior to the conclusion of the seven different analyses. They issued a statement they knew to be false during this period.

From late March: Documents reveal Biden Autopen Autocrats "edited" -- falsified -- reports about the risk of stroke from the covid jab, downplaying the actual science so that the political commissars could continue telling their lies.

The first email says that "they" don't want to see the report on covid jab stroke risk ever again.

The second document shows them editing the actual science stating that there is a "moderately" elevated risk of stroke, downgrading it to a "slightly" elevated risk. They falsified the science to make it agree with their already-determined political conclusions.

Ana Paulina Luna: It's Going to Get Worse for Eric Rapewell, and He Might Wind Up in Prison
PLUS: Another Drugging and Rape Allegation

—Disinformation Expert Ace

We'll see.

Note that while I waved a yellow flag on him cavorting with a woman on a hotel bed, I now believe this video is real. No one has actually debunked it, and Luna says it's real and I believe her because she is scalding hot and her lips glimmer like the stars on a spring night.

Luna appeared on Fox News with Jesse Watters Monday night and warned that more damaging material about Swalwell would be coming within 24 hours, and she made clear that what she already knows is bad enough on its own.

"I do think that he has serious criminal problems on his hands, and I do think that he might end up in jail," Luna told Watters. "Not only did I receive forensic reporting showing that you know, that infamous video of him in the hotel room was indeed him -- it was not AI-generated -- but I'm also being told that... more stuff is going to be dropping in the next 24 hours, and that also potentially the individual that recorded that video in the hotel room was a female and she was underage," she claimed.

Underage? Well, Swalwell's problem just got so much worse.

That video at the link.

"I do think that he has serious criminal problems on his hands, and I do think that he might end up in jail." She concluded the segment by calling on the Manhattan DA to take a hard look at the criminal dimensions of the case.

Another woman has come forward to allege Rapewell drugged and then raped her.

Wisconsin Sheriff Sues Liar for Claiming She Was Detained by ICE for Two Days -- When She Was Actually at a Hotel Getting Spa Treatments

—Disinformation Expert Ace

There must be consequences for disinformation and defamation. Isn't that what the self-appointed "Disinformation Experts" told us when they tried to ban Joe Rogan?

Woman claimed she was detained by ICE for two days -- but was actually at hotel getting spa treatments: lawsuit

An Illinois woman who claimed she was detained by ICE for nearly two days was actually relaxing at a hotel getting spa treatments, according to a $1 million defamation suit filed by a county sheriff.

US citizen Sundas "Sunny" Naqvi, 28, gained national attention last month when she and a band of supporters -- including Cook County, Ill., Commissioner Kevin Morrison -- publicly insisted she was unlawfully detained by ICE officers for roughly 43 hours.

Naqvi claimed that after landing back in the US from a work trip to Turkey on the morning of March 5, she was detained for nearly 30 hours at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, then transferred to another ICE facility in Broadview, Ill., before winding up at Dodge County Jail in Wisconsin.

Morrison, who called the Chicago-area native his "best friend's sister," shared questionable screenshots of Naqvi's location at the Juneau, Wisc., jail on Facebook -- and decried the alleged incident during a tense media conference alongside Naqvi's sister March 8.

"This is a 28-year-old girl just left on the street by ICE in another state, without her property," the commissioner said.

He claimed Naqvi was released from custody in the early hours of March 7, then hitchhiked nine miles to a hotel, where she was met by family.

The Department of Homeland Security called the claims "blatantly false" -- and even posted surveillance footage from the airport showing Naqvi entering a secondary inspection zone that morning and leaving around an hour later.

"Ms. Naqvi departed CBP within 90 minutes of her arrival to the United States...[she] was not taken into custody or transferred to ICE for detention," DHS wrote in a March 10 X statement.

The Dodge County Sheriff's Office also said it had no record of Naqvi ever "being booked, detained, or released" at the local jail.

But Morrison, who is running for a seat in Congress, doubled down -- even accusing the officials of "lying" and "trying to create a cover-up," according to the Wisconsin outlet WISN 12 News.

Now Naqvi and Morrison are the subjects of a federal defamation lawsuit filed by Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt on Friday -- as his office released new details of Naqvi's actual actions during the alleged hoax period.

"She checked into the Hampton Inn and Suites in Rosemont, Ill., for the entire duration of this alleged event," Schmidt said during a press conference, where he presented a hotel bill and text receipts to illustrate Naqvi's time there.

The folio shows Naqvi checked in at the Hampton Inn -- just a 10-minute drive from the airport -- at 1:17 p.m. March 5, while text messages with an unidentified witness over the following days show she enjoyed free food, spa services and trips to the gym.

"May I use ur card to order some food" and "going to check out the gym in like 5," read texts from Naqvi to the witness, according to authorities.

"May i use your card to pay my spa lady?" another says in screenshots released by the sheriff's office.

The witness told cops he also drove Naqvi to a nearby gas station in the early hours of March 7.

Surveillance footage taken from that outing revealed Naqvi brazenly wearing the same clothes that she's later seen sporting in a "reunited" picture uploaded to Facebook just hours later, according to the sheriff's office.

...

Though Wisconsin authorities were not able to bring criminal charges in this case, Schmidt is seeking justice through the lawsuit, officials said.

Schmidt is requesting a jury trial and seeking damages no less than $1 million per defendant -- including 10 "John Does" -- who he said caused "reputational harm...particularly as he prepares for a re-election campaign in 2026."

Fading into Irrelevance or Scurrying for Cover? [Seamus Muldoon]

—Open Blogger

Chris Bray at The Federalist:

California Is Trying To Save The Pediatric Trans Industry Because It’s Dying

In this April 7, 2026 piece, Bray posits that the retrenching, pausing or shuttering of children's hospital gender clinics in response to federal and legal pressure signals the demise of the transgender fad. Let's take a look at that premise.

Becker's Hospital Review gives a brief summary of the current status here:

Hospitals and gender care for minors: Where things stand

In December RFK Jt. submitted this comprehensive review of the state of gender programs for children:

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Hospital Condition of Participation: Prohibiting Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Children

This is a Proposed Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on 12/19/2025 which threatens to withhold payments from facilities that continue to offer hormone treatments for gender dysphoria in patients under age 18. Secretary Kennedy is now using the phrase "sex-rejecting procedures" in place of the euphemistic "gender-affirming care". In addition to questioning the pro-trans viewpoint of the American Academy of Pediatrics and WPATH and the Endocrine Society published treatment guidelines, Kennedy cites trends in England and Europe spearheaded by the Cass Review that are questioning the supposed benefits of hormones and transsexual surgeries. This rule is now being litigated.

In addition to the proposed HHS rule, CHCO has been referred for investigation by the HHS Inspector General.

The Colorado Sun (1/2/26):
Children’s Hospital Colorado has suspended gender-affirming care for transgender youth amid a new federal investigation

Along with other children's hospitals and 18 state AGs, Children's Hospital Colorado (CHCO) is mounting legal challenges to the proposed rule by HHS that threatens suspension of ALL Medicaid and Medicare payments to CHCO across the board for ALL patients. Since more than half of CHCO's overall patient population is funded by Medicaid, this would be a massive hit to CHCO's funding and CHCO has temporarily backed off...for now. Although CHCO has suspended writing prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-gender hormones, they signal via their TRUE Center for Gender Diversity that they are fighting the HHS proposed rule and offer encouragement that these services may be available at some point in the future. From the TRUE Center's home page:

At this time, the TRUE Center is not able to offer prescriptions for medical gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 18 years. Patients and families can meet with medical experts to obtain comprehensive medical education about treatment options that patients may seek in the future.

So, it appears that the TRUE Center is being cagey about their intentions and that their suspension of hormone prescriptions is merely a dodge to protect the CHCO mothership from stiff financial penalties They are rabid zealots and Gender-Affirming Care is still their top priority and ultimate goal. They clearly hope the legal challenges will fall in their favor, allowing them to resume what I prefer to call Delusion-Affirming Abuse. They are not suspending the prescriptions because of principle or a willingness to reconsider the deeper implications of these life-altering drugs. No, they are pausing while behind the scenes they are strategically regrouping and doubling down on their core beliefs. I suspect that Bray's assessment of the pending demise of childhood transgender programs is premature. The reaction of the transgender zealots is more akin to cockroaches scurrying for cover when the kitchen light is turned on. For each one you see, there are a hundred laying in wait.

One additional point. Let us not forget that with the passage of Obamacare, the Secretary of HHS was granted broad purview over all aspects of the federal healthcare system, including Medicare and Medicaid Rules. "The Secretary shall...this" and "The Secretary shall...that" are peppered throughout the Affordable Care Act, leaving HHS in charge of the nuts and bolts of implementing O-care. That stands in stark contrast to the current Democrat-led litigation seeking to micromanage the current Secretary's application of the same authority simply because it threatens the zealots' pet programs.

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

Chalk Cliffs
Joséphine Bowes

The Morning Report --4/ 14 /26

—J.J. Sefton

With that out of the way, let's dive right in. On the latest episode of the podcast linked here
as well as in the sidebar and on the popular platforms noted at the bottom of the post, CBD a nd I took the logical approach in predicting that degenerate sex-pest and dupe/williing confederate of Chi-Com spy Fang Fang Eric Swalwell's departure from the California gubernatorial race would not necessarily affect his political career. Democrat scum criminals (pardon the redundancy) rarely if ever suffer any repercussions from their crimes. And so it comes as kind of a shock that not only has he withdrawn from the race for Sacramento but has actually resigned his House seat.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” he said. “I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties,” Swalwell added. “Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress. I will work with my staff in the coming days to ensure they are able, in my absence, to serve the needs of the good people of the 14th congressional district.” Swalwell dropped out of the California governor’s race on Sunday night, after losing nearly all of his endorsements.

Absolutely galling if not completely unsurprising is his hollow remonstration that these are "false allegations" even as he calls it quits in not only the governor's race but in ankling from Congress itself! Well, hell, if he's innocent then why head for the emergency exit?!

Despite the fact that he's not only a Democrat but a California Democrat, which in theory should've made him utterly invulnerable; there have been musings over the past few weeks that California may not be so ironclad Democrat, and with their electoral system a hot mess there is even a chance, slim though it may be, that a Republican could win the statehouse or even swipe one or more House seats come November? So maybe there is something that the party bosses fear could be extremely damaging to the Democrats both as the race for the midterms heats up and perhaps longer term and, more crucially for the Leftist movement in general over the longer haul?

UPDATE: Swalwell has not actually resigned but only announced his intention to resign. And that day might be tomorrow or the 12th of Never-JJS

And elsewhere, although this is not news it nonetheless is absolutely bone-chilling and indicative of the mindset of the Democrat Party and Leftist movement.

The Department of Justice under former [s0-called quote-unquote[President Joe Biden “withheld evidence” and approved “aggressive arrest tactics” when targeting pro-life defendants — and then slapped them with longer prison sentences than pro-abortion ones, according to an explosive internal review released Tuesday. The DOJ revealed the stunning abuses in a nearly 900-page report after examining more than 700,000 records related to the Biden administration&'s prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

The 1994 law was passed to protect access to houses of worship, religious institutions, abortion clinics and pregnancy resource centers.

But the Biden DOJ was found to have engaged multiple times in “biased enforcement” of it — while also collaborating with and even seeking to fund pro-abortion groups, according to the DOJ Office of Legal Policy report.

Emails show the task force, led by civil division trial attorney Sanjay Patel, worked closely with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Feminist Majority Foundation and the National Abortion Federation (NAF) Security Team to initiate investigations and “monitor” pro-life activists — sometimes for years — before requesting arrest warrants and filing charges.

In a Nov. 17, 2021, email, before the task force was launched, Patel had already praised NAF’s security director, Michelle Davidson, to colleagues as an “MVP” at “bringing incidents to my attention, often in real-time, which usually result in an investigation/prosecution.”

The task force director was not nearly as chummy with defense counsel for one of the first pro-lifers indicted for illegally blocking access to an abortion clinic after the Dobbs decision, writing in a Feb. 22, 2023, email that he didn’t “keep the kind of records” the lawyer requested about the total number of “prosecutions for vandalisms of pregnancy centers. . .

. . . The task force director claimed the “main reason” for the public show of force was “in hope of seizing phones” pursuant to search warrants, an Oct. 4, 2022, email disclosed.

“I think the unspoken reason is bc the FBI really likes to make arrests,” Patel added.

The Biden DOJ also liked to seek higher prison sentences against pro-lifers charged with non-violent FACE Act violations.

On average, its prosecutors sought 26.8 months in prison for pro-life defendants, compared with 12.3 months averaged for pro-abortion ones.” . . . Judges also sentenced those pro-lifers at higher rates, 14 months to 3 months.

President Trump, on his third day in office, signed pardons for 23 pro-lifers convicted of FACE Act violations under the prior administration, many of whom he said were “elderly” and should not have been prosecuted.

Houck was acquitted by a federal jury in January 2023 and later reached a settlement with the Biden DOJ

“This Department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Tuesday. “No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs.”

This is as horrible and in some profound ways perhaps worse than assassins' bullets and molotov cocktails. Continuing in that vein the estimable Margot Cleveland who has covered this beat since the beginning.

These new revelations should wake Americans up to how the deep state and a complicit media sought to thwart their electoral will. . .

. . .The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence ('HPSCI')released two transcripts Monday morning from the 2019 closed-door interviews of the then-Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson. The just-released transcripts reveal new details behind the scheming that led to the first impeachment of Donald Trump.. .

... In addition to all the backdoor scheming between the “whistleblower,” Vindman, Democrats on HPSCI, and, through at best, his willful ignorance, Atkinson, the transcripts released Monday also highlight the politicization of the FBI that continued under Trump 1.0 after Director James Comey’s firing.

Have a great day!

And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
• Biden DOJ prosecutors on average sought 26.8 months in prison for pro-life defendants charged with non-violent crimes, compared with 12.3 months averaged for pro-abortion ones.
  Biden DOJ ‘weaponized’ federal law to prosecute pro-lifers and give them longer prison sentences

Daily Tech News 14 April 2026

—Pixy Misa

• Answering the questions nobody is asking: Can AI be a "child of God"? (Washington Post / MSN)
  
  Something needs to be done about Anthropic.
  
  
  
• Sam Altman's home has been targeted by violent idiots for the second time in a week. (SF Standard)
  
  That's not it, guys.

Monday Overnight Open Thread - April 13, 2026 [scampydog]

—Open Blogger

Drake Observatory. Link goes to Wikipedia.

The main dome of the observatory houses an 8.25 inch refracting telescope, on a German equatorial mount. The ashes of the astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse, and those of his wife Myrtle, are interred within the wall of the observatory rotunda.

Observatory sits in the middle of Waveland Golf Course, Des Moines, IA. Got a few good pictures of it over the weekend (and one golf ball a bit closer than I'd have liked).

Happy Monday. Hope you all tried to behave over the weekend. Misanthropic Humanitarian took the evening off, and I've been thawed out from my cryogenic ONT retirement freeze. Please adjust your expectations accordingly.

*****

Not about Pope Leo and his stance on immigration, climate change, etc. It's about a guy and a cool craft.

Photo credit: Dianne Towalski, The Central Minnesota Catholic

In the world of art and talent, some choose butter.

“I get some pretty random commission requests, but when the National Catholic Educational Association contacted me about doing a live butter sculpture during their conference this year, I was interested,” Kulzer said. “After working out the logistics of keeping the butter cool, they decided they wanted a bust of Pope Leo and another butter block carved into their logo.”

Scampywife knows Gerry Kulzer, the sculptor. He is kind enough to share some butter with us on occasion - which is damned good. Here is some additional reading - light history of his journey and work.

What’s it like sculpting something that you know will somehow be used and eventually destroyed?

All pottery is meant to be used. So use it. Drink out of it. Eat off the plate. Use that pottery. It’s the same with the butter here, I think. It’s butter. Let’s use it. Take that and use it for what it’s meant for.

*****

It is April 13. For those who have not yet completed their taxes: Are you in a committed relationship with TurboTax? May you have the best of luck with your internet connection, the missing forms that were ‘right there,’ and your race against time.

Remember, a good accountant can find humor in depreciation.

Looks like people are running behind this year. And/or less tax filers. 2026 returns filed (so far). Link goes to irs.gov. Total returns e-filed through 4/8/2010 were 78.4M, with $61.4B in direct deposit refunds. As of 4/3/2026 98M returns have been e-filed, with $242.8B in direct deposit refunds.

Each year the IRS provides weekly cumulative statistics for returns filed, returns processed and refunds issued during the filing season and then at certain points after the filing season. The statistics compare totals as of Friday compared with the corresponding Friday in the prior year.

Forbes crunched some numbers. Seems the public has, "Where is my money at" on their brains.

While filing activity has been slower, taxpayer engagement has surged. IRS.gov has recorded 435,926,000 visits so far this season, a sharp 58% increase over the same period last year. Taxpayers appear to be checking their refund status more frequently or seeking clarity on tax law changes thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

*****

It's all about the arms. Nanotyrannus: The Tyrannosaur Dwarf Tyrant.

Perhaps the most anatomically decisive feature is the forelimb. Nanotyrannus possesses arms and hands that are absolutely longer than those of T. rex, not just longer in proportion to body size. This distinction is critical: as animals grow, limb bones lengthen—they do not shorten.

The hands appear more functional than the famously reduced arms of T. rex, suggesting a greater role in prey handling or stabilization. While still small relative to body size, the forelimbs of Nanotyrannus fit a predator that retained more versatility in its front limbs.

A full-size replica would fit nicely in a yard next to the full size T-Rex.

*****

Unexpected / stood out. Was in the Charlotte airport on Easter Sunday, dodging Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers while housing a glazed cinnamon donut, when over the intercom came an announcement for a 10:30 a.m. Catholic Mass in the airport. Looked around for reactions and either everyone was deaf or the easily offended were not around. They repeated the announcement two more times before I boarded my flight - and for a moment, Gate A39 felt almost like holy ground.

In that spirit, let’s take a look at some interesting churches and chapels.

Skull Chapel - Kaplica Czaszek - Poland That is a lot of empty eye sockets looking your direction.

Within the modest-looking St. Batholomew's Church (also called the Kaplica Czaszek) are the skulls and bones of over 3,000 people, decorating the ceiling and walls, and arranged in various patterns—mostly in a repeating crossed bones Jolly Roger-style—with another 21,000 skeletons stuffed in the church crypt below. Collected by Czech priest Vaclav Tomasek and J. Langer, the local gravedigger, it took the pair some 18 years, from 1776 to 1794, to collect, clean, and arrange as many as 24,000 human skeletons that pack the church. While the majority of the skeletons are stacked in a 16-foot-deep crypt beneath the church, the rest are beautifully displayed in what Tomasek saw as a "sanctuary of silence."

Now we are talking! Church in Belgrade with chandeliers made out of bullet casings, swords, rifles, and cannon parts.

Some interesting churches in North America.

*****

Let's do some springtime music.

*****

Versatility in job skills.

pic.twitter.com/i2e9VDlt6X

— Rothmus 🏴 (@Rothmus) April 9, 2026

Weird jobs.

I don't even know where to begin with this. I am imagining the chaos of the Horde with the Professional Fortune Cookie Writer job. And that is queuer - please note the additional vowel.

Hit the link - there are some pop ups, but it's worth a skim.

4. Dog food taster 12. Iceberg mover 17. Professional queuer 18. Fortune cookie writer

May as well...let's hear your best fortune cookie writing efforts in the comments.

*****

Moderately amusing news

Sheep invade German grocery store. There's a political affiliation joke in here somewhere. Video at the link.

He said he wasn’t entirely sure how they broke from the rest of the flock, but he speculated the group was distracted by acorns on the ground and eventually wandered in the vicinity of the store before spotting someone carrying a tote that resembled one of their feed bags and following them inside.

Golfed with a guy over the weekend that took a Waymo taxi while in Phoenix. Not this one, however.

A Phoenix business owner captured a scary scene involving a Waymo driving on a light rail track with a passenger inside.

Fake Maple Syrup. Scandal. Canada, of course.

Enquête purchased five cans of Bourdeau's syrup at random from different stores and from different batches and took them to the provincial laboratory responsible for testing and assuring quality control for maple syrup in Quebec, le centre ACER, for analysis.

The results were unequivocal.

All five cans, each labelled pure maple syrup, contained at least 50 per cent cane sugar.

*****

This ONT was brought to you by your Airbnb hosts: Tim Walz, Gavin Newsom, and Justin Trudeau.

Close it up

Focus and Determination Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Two streetwalkers in Montparnasse looking for trade
Brassai, Paris 1931

Golden retrievers are lucky they're so cute.

The call of the mockingbird.

Determined puppy.

An argument about who chewed up the charger cables. I can't understand either one of them but I have my own theories about the guilty party.

Ball shower.

Good morning good boys.

Animal husbandry.

Evil wears a mask.

All's fair in love and goats.

Tanning leather.

Eric Swalwell Attempts to Short-Circuit Investigation and Effort to Expel Him, Saying He "Plans" to Resign (No Date Given)

—Disinformation Expert Ace

SWALWELL STATEMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL RESIGNATION

"I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.

"I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong.

But Trump is an Agent of Putin who should resign, right whinybaby?

"But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress.

"I will work with my staff in the coming days to ensure they are able, in my absence, to serve the needs of the good people of the 14th congressional district."

Not that I think he's a sneaky lying conniving little shit or anything, but I think he's claiming he "plans" to resign to cool off the torch-carrying mob. I think he will plan to un-resign if this succeeds in taking off the heat.

So: Expel him.

Jonathan Turley discusses something I was thinking about.

Usually former Democrat politicians are guaranteed either a job in the leftwing propaganda media or a job as a lobbyist or "lawyer" (really just a lobbyist) with a Democrat firm.

But is Fartwell going to get that?

Conversation Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley In one week, Eric Swalwell was forced to drop out of the California race, put under criminal investigation in New York, and is the subject of a bipartisan expulsion effort. He was even kicked out of the home of a billionaire who was letting him crash. However, that is not all...

...Swalwell is unlikely to avoid expulsion, but he may not have his law degree to fall back on. If these rape and sexual harassment claims are established, he is likely to face disbarment demands. Even his prior boosters at MS NOW and CNN are unlikely to offer him a media deal...

...I will be discussing Swalwell on America Reports today. However, the collapse of Swalwell is accelerating with the opening of what appears to be an expedited House Ethics Committee investigation.

...I have been one of Swalwell's most persistent critics through the years. He has always been shielded by the Democratic establishment and the media. Now, he is persona non grata without a friend in the world.

When I read Fartwell's compelled apology, I read it as him accepting that this phase of his life is now over and that he's attempting to build a bridge to the next phase, whatever that is. He's done with elective politics, and is apologizing (cynically) to regain some of the public goodwill he'll need to get his next Guaranteed Democrat Position.

But is there any amount of goodwill that will get him one of the prized Consolation Jobs in media, fundraising, "consulting," or acting a fixer at a Democrat law firm?

The Trump Curse takes another victim. It's more powerful than the curse that protected King Tut's Tomb.

Plus: Blaze Journalist Savanah Hernandez Violently Assaulted by Male "Peace and Harmony" "Protester" Previously Feted by Jen Psaki and the Bulwark

Quick Hits

—Disinformation Expert Ace

In January, Eric Fartwell promised that if he were elected governor, he would strip ICE officers of their California drivers licenses. I guess they're safe for now.

The first Star Wars movie to be released in nearly seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is tracking for a low opening weekend. It's projected to take in a mere $71 million over the three-day Memorial Day weekend frame. (I learned the term "frame" from these stupid box office reports and wanted to use it so that I sound smart.)

Headcase Ruby Rose claims that Katy Perry sexually assaulted her years ago and I'm just rooting for injuries.

Katy Perry has denied Ruby Rose's accusations that the singer sexually assaulted her two decades ago.

The "Orange Is the New Black" actress, 40, claimed in a series of Threads posts on Sunday that the alleged incident occurred at a nightclub in Melbourne, Australia when she was in her 20s.

"Katy Perry sexual assaulted me at spice market nightclub in Melbourne. Who gives a s--t what she thinks," Rose wrote in response to Complex Music's post about Perry,

In her next Threads message, Rose said it's taken her "almost two decades" to make the accusation public.

"Though I am so grateful to have made it long enough to find my voice, it just shows how much of an impact trauma and sexual assault takes. Thank you for seeing me," she stated.

Perry's rep denied Rose's claim in a statement to Page Six.

"The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous reckless lies," the rep said.

"Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named," the statement continued.

Reps for Rose did not respond to Page Six's request for comment regarding Perry's denial.

On Threads, Rose gave more details about the alleged incident.

"She didn't kiss me. She saw me 'resting' on my best friend's lap to avoid her and bent down, pulled her underwear to the side and rubbed her disgusting vagina on my face until my eyes snapped open and I projectile vomited on her," she claimed about Perry.

Rose alleged, "After it I threw up on her, I told the story publicly but changed it to be a 'funny little drunk story' because I didn't know how else to handle it. Later she agreed to help me get my US visa. So I kept it a secret. But I DID tell yall she wasn't a good person. "

Brent Baker
@BrentHBaker

Don't want Iran to lose if it means Trump wins. @TomFriedman of @NYTimes really wants "to see Iran defeated militarily because this regime is a terrible regime for its people and the region," but on CNN's @Smerconish he fretted "the problem is I really don't want to see Bibi Netanyahu or Donald Trump politically strengthened by this war because they are too awful human beings. They are both engaged in anti-democratic projects in their own countries. They're both alleged crooks. They are terrible, terrible people doing terrible things to America's standing in the world and Israel's standing in the world."

Video here.

Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke

5h

One of the most corrupt episodes in American public life, and that's a very crowded field, is the way legacy media, social media platforms, and Big Tech all colluded to prevent anyone from naming, let alone publishing, the Ukraine whistleblower's name.

Given this guy's history as an anti-Trump operative, that blackout robbed the public of hugely important information and directly fed into the false impeachment of a sitting president. But it goes even further than that. The same fake news outlets enforcing that silence had previously run stories defending him against reporting that later turned out to be eerily accurate.

Take for instance what @Cernovich was saying in 2017, specifically that Ciaramella wanted to sabotage Trump, that he was a leaker, and that he was strongly pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia. All of that later turned out to be exactly right, and there is little doubt that if the public had been told that people had warned in advance about Ciaramella and his role in targeting Trump, it would have collapsed the impeachment effort very quickly. That is why his name was kept hidden. It had nothing to do with privacy or any of that other nonsense.

Gee I wonder who this blind item from 2017 was about?

mrs.frazzled @ms_frazzled

Now that this is out of the bag, I want you all to see something from 2017.

That's from a CNN piece about sexual harassment by Congressmen. Obviously CNN didn't want to dig too deeply into this.

Another flashback: A propaganda media "journalist" claimed Elise Stafanik was a conspiracy theorist spreading the theory, WITHOUT EVIDENCE, that Adam Schiff helped draft the repulsive Eric Ciaramella's complaint for him.

Amazing: Even though the propaganda media covered up for Eric Fartwell for a decade, and even though the story was only published due to Democrat-connected partisans organizing the hit on Fartwell for cynical political reasons, Brian Stelter actually claims the story represents a triumph of "investigative reporting" by the media that covered it up!

The Most Neurotic Generation In History, Gen Z, Now Won't Leave Home Without Their "Anxiety Bags," Bags Filled with Self-Soothing Gizmos

—Disinformation Expert Ace

"Experts call it genius," the NY Post claims.

Hannah Fowles was spiraling.

It had been a grueling day at work, and by the time the 22-year-old from Provo, Utah, got home, panic was bubbling in her chest as her thoughts raced and her cheeks flushed red.

"I was starting to get super overheated and I couldn't calm myself down," Fowles told The Post. "Nothing that I normally do, like breathing exercises or lying down in a dark room, was working."

Then she saw the bag.

Just weeks earlier, Fowles and her therapist had put together a small, grab-and-go kit filled with items to help calm her mind when anxiety strikes -- an idea she'd first come across while scrolling on TikTok.

She now reached for it, swallowing her anxiety medication and pressing a cold pack to the back of her neck. She flicked on a small portable fan, letting the cool air wash over her face, while in her other hand, she gripped a spiky fidget toy, feeling its prongs dig into her palm as the panic began to ebb.

"Within 10 minutes, I was able to calm down and go to sleep. It normally doesn't happen that quickly," Fowles said. "I never would have thought to have these things until I made the bag. It's been a game-changer -- I use it all the time."

Others her age are finding relief in the same way.

Call them anxiety bags, panic pouches, calm-down kits -- whatever the name, these DIY creations are rapidly gaining popularity online, especially among Gen Z women.

Oh young women are adopting this viral trend? I didn't see that coming.

It's easy to see why. In a survey of nearly 1,000 Americans aged 18 to 26, 61% reported having a diagnosed anxiety condition, and 43% said they experience a panic attack at least once a month.

And while many turn to talk therapy and medication to cope, those tools don't always work in the heat of the moment.

"Stuff like mindfulness and body scans are great, but you have to remember to do them," said Dr. Kyra Bobinet, a physician and behavioral neuroscientist. "When you're in an environment like ours, this storm of hyper-stimulating triggers, you won't necessarily have the ability to remember to do those things anymore."

That's where anxiety bags come in. Keeping self-regulation tools within reach during moments of high stress and sensory overload is, in Bobinet's words, "genius."

"It's a way of distracting and soothing," she explained. "It creates other sensations to focus on so that you don't feel completely taken over by the rapid firing of your anxious or depressed mind."

The "body scan" thing that's mentioned works for reducing stress and falling asleep. There's a "guided meditation" here. The basic gist is that you focus on one part of your body at a time (I just do parts of my head) and imagine the nerves and muscles switching off and going slack. I think it's the same principle as counting sheep -- it's not what you're thinking, it's all the stuff you're not thinking about by focusing on this boring, repetitive, non-stressful thing. By making your brain focus on this one boring thing, you keep your brain from buzzing or catastrophizing.

I only tried it because someone said they tell special ops guys to do this. They have limited time to sleep in, and are usually very keyed-up, and this protocol helps them fall asleep in the few hours they're allowed to sleep.* That sounded bad-ass and Not Gay to me, so I tried it, and it does work.

I don't bother to do this any more. Now I just put on episodes of Always Sunny I've seen 50 times before. Same idea again: Your brain is trained on this boring thing (every show is boring after 50 watches) and that's just enough to keep you from thinking about more exciting things.

* I also knew a spec op medic who said he's very loose with ketamine and other tranquilizers to make sure people can sleep even after coming off 10 hours of combat. So I guess there's that, too.

Tulsi Gabbard Declassifies Documents Relating to the Fake Ukraine "Whistleblower"

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Some background:

Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke

22h

In anticipation of tomorrow's release of the IG Michael Atkinson transcript, here is the TLDR of the story.

In August 2019, a supposed "whistleblower" filed a complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, targeting President Trump for his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Zelensky. The complaint was based on second hand hearsay information and triggered the process that led to Trump's first impeachment.

The allegation was that Trump demanded a quid pro quo, specifically military aid in exchange for an investigation into Biden family corruption in Ukraine. That claim was untrue, as the transcript later proved (I visualized the ridiculousness of the claim below).

I've linked that below. Basically, he stitched together a fragment from the beginning of a call with a sentence coming five minutes later. Like the BBC stitch-up.

But for Atkinson that part was no problem. He could just claim it was true. His problem was that the claim was hearsay and therefore didn't meet the requirements under his own rules. So Atkinson secretly changed the IG complaint form to allow hearsay.

This was sharply identified by @MZHemingway, @climateaudit, and others in real time, by comparing the form to archived versions. They showed that Atkinson made an unannounced, backdated revision to rig the process and greenlight a politically motivated hearsay complaint that otherwise wouldn't have cleared even the most basic credibility bar.

I know this is old news, but I personally needed the refresher, and I'm sure some other 29-year-old memories did as well.

Atkinson was never held to account, but he did testify under oath behind closed doors to the House Intelligence Committee in late 2019. While all other transcripts related to the Ukraine impeachment process were eventually released, this one has been guarded like radioactive material. It is now finally being made public, and will hopefully shed light on the internal mechanics of how Atkinson, Schiff, the Vindman brothers, and whoever else carried out the Ukraine impeachment scam.

Update: Atkinson claimed, under oath, that it was all just a big coincidence of timing that he happened to change the rules at the same time this Democrat fake whistleblower wanted whistleblower protections the actual rules didn't allow him:

Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke

2h

One of the key episodes in the Ukraine impeachment saga was that, just as the fake “whistleblower” came forward with second- and third-hand claims, Inspector General Atkinson secretly changed the process to allow hearsay complaints, whereas previously only first-hand accounts were permitted.

So now we know that when Atkinson was confronted about it, his explanation was that it was all just a giant coincidence. The problem is that even if someone wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, the fact that he concealed the change makes it obvious to anyone with two functioning brain cells that it wasn’t a coincidence at all.

Catherine Herridge: the fake "whistleblower" was a registered Democrat who had worked previously with one of the 2020 Democrat presidential candidates. I'm going to guess it was Eric Swalwell, but that is just a guess.

Also, the fake "whistleblower" improperly met with Adam Schiff to plot out strategy before going through official channels.

Catherine Herridge @C__Herridge

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NEW: WHISTLEBLOWER 2019 TRUMP IMPEACHMENT
- Registered Democrat
- "had a prior professional relationship with one of the Democratic Presidential candidates," according to newly released transcripts from the Intelligence Community watchdog Michael Atkinson.

In a 2019 briefing to the house intelligence committee, Atkinson added, "I did not find the complainant (whistleblower) was biased."

After seven years, the Atkinson records have been finally released @DNIGabbard
@RepRickCrawford

Catherine Herridge @C__Herridge

NEW RECORDS VIA @DNIGabbard @RepRickCrawford

ATKINSON TRANSCRIPTS

- First Trump Impeachment + Whistleblower Motive

Whistleblower met with Democrats on House Intelligence Committee (then led by Adam Schiff) BEFORE reporting his allegations to the Intelligence Community Inspector General.

October 2019: then Congressman now @CIADirector Ratcliffe nailed the timeline in a closed door briefing with Intelligence Community Watchdog Michael Atkinson.

- Trump/Zelensky call July 25th 2019
- Whistleblower complaint filed August 12th
- Ratcliffe questioned what happened during those 18 days.

Ratcliffe: The whistleblower did not disclose to you that he or she had contact with HPSCI (House Intelligence Committee)?

Atkinson: The answer to that is yes. The answer to that is yes.

Atkinson: On the urgent disclosure form, there's a question that the complainant is asked about who they have reported the violation to...and one of the boxes is the congressional intelligence committees. The complainant did not check that box.

More from Townhall's Matt Vespa:

The 2019 Trump impeachment effort was a sham -- we all know this. There were traces of truth peeking through this Democrat-manufactured push, which alleges a quid pro quo based on hearsay. The details of this fiasco involved then-Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who chaired the House Intelligence Committee and lied about having contact with the whistleblower who started this circus. The allegations were based on hearsay, with the analyst admitting he was a committed Democrat. As you might expect, he also had a history of political bias. He fit right in with the Deep State actors trying to derail the first Trump presidency.

Now, newly declassified documents from the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, reveal that even this whistleblower's colleagues were skeptical of the spy craft, despite supporting the impeachment effort. One of the witnesses, identified as "witness #2," worked with disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was one of the main figures behind the Russian collusion hoax, and co-authored the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, ordered by Barack Obama before leaving office, which was full of flawed information to support the collusion narrative.

To add, the whistleblower admitted to working closely with then-Vice President Joe Biden. This person also told the inspector general that he failed to mention he had spoken with Schiff before filing his complaint, apologized for this omission, but it was never made public.

Just The News:

The documents declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the request of Just the News provide a starkly different portrait of the alleged whistleblower whose name and face were never shown to the public and whose lawyerly written letter accusing Trump of hijacking Ukraine policy for political gain was heralded by Democrats to launch impeachment proceedings.

Investigators for the Intelligence Community Inspector General documented several concerns about the Trump accuser's political motives, noting he admitted he was a "registered Democrat" who had worked closely with Joe Biden on Ukraine issues and who disliked some of the conservative figures in the president's orbit, the memos show.

The investigators also elicited an apology from the Trump accuser for misleading the probe and were acutely aware his allegations were based solely on second- and third-hand accounts about what Trump was alleged to have said and done.

"I do not have direct knowledge of private comments or communications by the President," the alleged whistleblower, who claimed Trump improperly tried to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Hunter Biden, admitted in his initial August 2019 intake form.

That stunning line on the limitations of the whistleblower's knowledge was not included in the nine-page letter then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., released in late summer 2019 that touched off a months-long political maelstrom and led to Trump's impeachment by a Democrat-led House and his eventual acquittal in the Senate.

The newly-released memos also laid out multiple self-admitted potential biases tied to Ciaramella's Democratic registration, his work for Joe Biden, his knowledge of corruption-related discussions on Ukraine, his view that he had been pushed out of the Trump NSC because of right wing bloggers and more.

Some of the revelations were not made public until Sunday, and many were concealed from House investigators when the intelligence community inspector general appeared before members in October 2019.

During the second since-declassified House Intelligence Committee session, on October 4, 2019, the newly-released transcripts show Atkinson stated: "As part of the complainant's interview, I had directed the interviewers to ask the complainant to self-disclose potential bias information.

The complainant self-disclosed that the complainant was a registered member of the Democratic Party. The complainant also self-disclosed that the complainant had a prior professional relationship with one of the Democratic Presidential candidates for the 2020 election."

...

The inspector general did not include details relating to Ciaramella's work with then-Vice President Joe Biden, the whistleblower's long-term focus on Ukraine, Ciaramella's travel to Ukraine with Biden, and the whistleblower's presence at discussions about the alleged corruption of Ukrainian prosecutors -- all admitted by Ciaramella to watchdog investigators, all related to the allegations raised by Trump with Zelensky, and all redacted from what was provided to the House Intelligence Committee at the time in 2019. Atkinson redacted other potential biases too.

...

The redacted questioner told Atkinson during the 2019 session, "You've now said today that the complainant worked closely with one of the presidential candidates for the 2020 election" and asked "is that what is redacted in the first bullet point here?"

"Yes," Atkinson told the House investigators.

The redacted questioner noted to Atkinson in 2019 that "the second" section on Ciaramella's biases "is entirely redacted."

"Second, Complainant worked for the President Trump White House for [Redacted] as an [redacted] was then asked by [Redacted] to be [redacted]," the more unredacted version of the memo made public on Sunday said. "Complainant said this was a very stressful job and [redacted] became the target of right-wing bloggers, such as [Redacted], and conspiracy theorists, and later received death threats, which caused [redacted] to leave [redacted] White House position and return to CIA. [Redacted] then accepted [redacted]. Complainant believes that [Redacted], a former colleague at the NSC and current HPSCI staffer for Nunes, provided [Redacted] with information about Complainant for use in his threatening blogs."

What an absolute cowardly faggot. Now we see why the entire Democrat-Media Complex was so determined to hide his identity -- he's a shrieking sissy who's terrified of phantoms.

The memos also disclose numerous other details about the whistleblower and the intelligence community's assessment of his claims that weren't available to the public, including that the CIA analyst:

* Appeared interested in thwarting then-Attorney General Bill Barr from probing Hunter Biden, even though Barr wasn't a member of the intelligence community covered by the complaint;

* Disliked Republicans around Trump, including former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and current FBI Director Kash Patel. The documents show the alleged whistleblower even went so far as to make a "request for Nunes not to view the disclosure" as a member of Congress even though he was a member of the "Gang of Eight" leadership entitled to see such intelligence;

* Impugned then-top Trump National Security Council staffer Michael Ellis, now the deputy CIA director, as "slippery and untrustworthy" during a voluntary interview;

* Claimed he was a victim of an intimidation campaign carried out by "right-wing bloggers"; and

Worked on his whistleblower complaint with a witness whose name was redacted and who told investigators he was connected to Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent who was fired in 2019 for his role in leading the now-discredited Russia collusion probe.

Tyler Robinson Made a Full, Handwritten Confession to His Gay Furry Lover

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Cavernous Nostrils hardest hit.

Accused Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson's full handwritten confession to his trans lover reveals just how twisted his plot was, according to newly unsealed court documents.

The sick note -- in which Robinson refers to roommate lover Lance Twiggs as "Luna" -- was made public in full Thursday, as Robinson remains held for allegedly shooting the popular conservative media personality from a rooftop at Utah Valley University in September 2025.

"Luna, if you are reading this per my text, then I am so sorry," the note begins, presumably referring to a text Robinson had reportedly sent Twiggs moments after the assassination, telling his partner to "drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard."

A search warrant affidavit obtained by Fox 13 confirmed the handwritten note was found under Twiggs' keyboard at a St. George, Utah, townhouse he and Robinson shared.

The letter continues, "I left the house this morning on a mission, and set an auto text.

"I am likely dead, or facing a lengthy prison sentence. I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.

"I don't know if I will/have succeeded, but I had hoped to make it home to you. I wish we could have lived in a world where this did not feel necessary. I wish I could have stayed for you and lived our lives together," Robinson wrote, according to court docs.

"I lack the words to express how much I love you, and how very much you mean to me. Please try and find joy in this life. I love you, always, -Tyler," he concludes.

Texts between Robinson and Twiggs, 22, have shown that the capital-murder suspect had been planning the grisly killing "a bit over a week," and offered insight into his train of thought in the moments afer the shooting -- as law enforcement launched a sweeping manhunt for the perpetrator.

"I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. Its quiet [sic], almost enough to get out, but theres one vehicle lingering," Robinson wrote in one text to Twiggs, the documents show.

"Three hours ago there was an officer with a k9 walking nearby the area, hoping that pooch has a bad sniffer," another reads.

"Im wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle, because it sounds like the police couldn't get in for a long while because of the traffic."

The accused killer then alludes to passing the time by brazenly scouring social media: "guess im just sittin in my car watching reels for another hour, hopin this guy f--ks off [sic]."

Robinson and Twiggs, who authorities have said was transitioning from male to female, then make a plan to rendezvous at their home.

"I'm sorry, but I think this might be it," reads a text from Robinson, according to the docs.

"If the way is clear I can try and come your way to say goodbye, after that I have a spot in mind that I'll call police to...I have no doubts they will be on me within the hour. And I will be giving my location up and going out on my own terms I have no intention of being drug through the courts in front of the country. Can I come see you?"

Court filings also reveal that Robinson was further implicated by the gray Converse sneakers he owns, matching the ones worn by the assassin as seen through campus surveillance cameras.

A pair of gray Converse sneakers with white shoelaces helped authorities nail Tyler Robinson for Charlie Kirk's assassination, newly surfaced court documents reveal.

Utah Valley University surveillance video captured Robinson, 22, sporting the kicks as he bizarrely moved around the campus in the moments leading up to the Sept. 10, 2025, fatal shooting from a campus building rooftop, according to a search-warrant affidavit unsealed Thursday.

Investigators later found a shoe impression from the rooftop that was "consistent with the shoe sole characteristics of a Converse/Chuck Taylor shoe" that Robinson was wearing at the time, the affidavit stated.

A separate court document noted that police later recovered a pair of "grey Converse shoes with white laces" from Robinson's St. George family home while executing a search warrant.

The accused capital-murderer was captured on video footage 33 minutes before the fatal gunfire, when he was seen walking through a grassy area on campus, then through a parking lot and pedestrian tunnel.

Unbelievably -- by which I mean, completely believably -- Me-Again Kelly "reported" on the handwritten confession before concluding that it would not change the minds of the conspiracy theorists, going on to repeat Cavernous Nostrils' objections as if they were grounded in reality, to wit, that because the letter is written in a "formal" tone that means it must be a planted fedslop fake.

Me-Again doesn't endorse that claim -- she just describes it and suggests it's a real and reasonable objection.

Anything to keep hold of Cavernous Nostrils' audience, now that all of her respectable non-deranged Republican audience has fled her.

Trump's Blockade of the Strait of America Begins

—Disinformation Expert Ace

CNBC:

The U.S. on Monday said it began blocking ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, attempting to ratchet up pressure on Iran to reopen the key oil route after peace negotiations collapsed.

As the 10 a.m. ET deadline passed for the blockade to take effect, President Donald Trump warned Iran's "fast attack ships" not to come near the U.S. forces enforcing the closure.

"If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "It is quick and brutal."

A White House official confirmed to CNBC that the blockade has taken effect.

Trump had announced the blockade plan Sunday in a social media post slamming Iran for refusing to give up its nuclear ambitions and accusing Tehran of "WORLD EXTORTION" by continuing to throttle traffic through the strait.

The U.S. blockade applies to "any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said.

The U.S. Central Command later added the caveat that American forces "will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports."

"The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman," CENTCOM specified.

U.S. to Blockade Ships Entering or Exiting Iranian Ports

TAMPA, Fla. -- U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President's proclamation.

The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.

Additional information will be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade. All mariners are advised to monitor Notice to Mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches.

This is a very Trumpian move. It flips the script -- you're blocking our ships? Okay, now we're blocking yours.

I think this is an improvisation, a gamble made because Iran just will not agree to any of Trump's ceasefire demands.

What's the goal? Miad Maleka explains:

Miad Maleki
@miadmaleki

1/10 The U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would cost Iran approximately $276M/day in lost exports and disrupt $159M/day in imports, a combined economic damage of ~$435M/day, or $13B/month.

Over 90% of Iran's $109.7B in annual trade transits the Persian Gulf. Oil/gas accounts for 80% of government export earnings and 23.7% of GDP. Kharg Island alone generates ~$53B/year, or as I noted to @TIME, "$78 billion a year in energy revenue.

2/10 CRUDE OIL: Iran was exporting ~1.5M barrels/day, earning $139M/day at wartime pricing (~$87/barrel), though with minimal proceed repatriation due to banking sanctions. A blockade zeroes this out overnight. Kharg Island, which handles 92% of crude exports, sits deep inside the Gulf with no viable alternative. That's $139M/day, gone.

/10 PETROCHEMICALS: Iran exported $19.7B in petrochemicals in 9 months of 2024/25, ~$54M/day. Virtually all of it ships through Assaluyeh, Imam Khomeini, and Shahid Rajaee, all inside the blockade zone. No overland route can move these volumes. Another $54M/day, gone.

4/10 NON-OIL EXPORTS: Iran's non-oil trade hit $51.7B in 2025. After subtracting petrochemicals, ~$88M/day in goods (minerals, metals, etc.) flow through Persian Gulf ports. Roughly 90% would be blocked. That's another ~$79M/day in lost revenue.

...

7/10 IMPORTS: Iran imported $58B in goods in 2025, ~$159M/day. A blockade chokes off industrial inputs, machinery, and consumer goods. Food inflation already hit 105% by February 2026. Rice prices are up 7x. This gets dramatically worse under blockade. Blockade will hopefully allow offloading of the humanitarian cargos.

/10 Extremely important topic is the storage clock: Iran has ~50-55M barrels of total onshore oil storage, roughly 60% full. Spare capacity: ~20M barrels. With 1.5M bbl/day of surplus production that normally exports, storage fills in ~13 DAYS. After that, Iran must shut in wells.

This is tough: The IRGC will wind up destroying much of Iran's future oil production to cling to power.

Why is this very important: when mature oil wells shut down, bottom water rushes in, a process called water coning. Oil droplets get permanently trapped in rock pores. This oil can never be recovered. Iran's fields already decline 5-8% annually. Forced shut-ins could permanently destroy 300,000-500,000 bbl/day of production capacity, that's $9-15B/year in revenue, gone forever.

9/10 CURRENCY COLLAPSE ACCELERANT: The rial has already cratered from 42,000 to 1.5M per dollar. Banks are limiting withdrawals to $18-30/day. Overall inflation: 47.5%. A blockade eliminating all forex earnings pushes the rial into terminal hyperinflation. The regime issued its largest-ever banknote, 10M rials, worth about $7.

10/10 BOTTOM LINE: A naval blockade imposes ~$435M/day in combined economic damage. Storage fills in 13 days, forcing well shut-ins that cause permanent reservoir damage. The rial enters terminal collapse. Iran's alternatives outside the Strait can replace less than 10% of Gulf throughput. The blockade makes continued resistance economically impossible.

In addition, Iran has been collecting "tolls" from ships it allows to pass, most of which are, I assume, taking oil to Iran's allies like India and China. The blockade not only strips Iran of this "toll" money, but will cause Iran's allies to pressure it into conceding.

Will this work? I don't know. Another question is, will it cut into the IRGC faster than it punishes the people suffering under the tyranny of the Islamic Occupational Army? Again, I don't know.