Supreme Court Will Hear Trump's Argument to Overturn "Birthright Citizenship"

—Ace

Birthright citizenship is the theory that if someone is born in America, even if their parents are here illegally, they are American citizens by birthright.

This is the majority rule in the Western Hemisphere, but almost no European countries have this rule.

Birthright citizenship was never passed into law. Rather, it was asserted by the Supreme Court in a 19th century case.

Trump wants the rule changed so that anchor babies born here are not American citizens.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments May 15 on President Donald Trump's order to end birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants. While the justices declined to lift the nationwide pause on the policy, their decision to fast-track the case signals its legal and constitutional importance.

Key Details:

Trump's executive order, signed on his first day in office, remains blocked by federal courts in three states.

The court will not immediately rule on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship but will review the legality of nationwide injunctions.

Trump hailed the court's decision to hear the case, saying he was "so happy" and calling the policy's origins misunderstood.

Diving Deeper:

In a rare move, the U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will hear oral arguments on May 15 over former President Donald Trump's executive order ending automatic birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants and non-citizen residents. The announcement came via a brief, unsigned order that offered no reasoning, as is typical in emergency requests, but underscored the case's significance by granting expedited review.

At issue is whether lower courts overstepped their authority by imposing nationwide injunctions on the Trump administration's birthright citizenship policy, which the former president enacted on his first day back in office. The policy would eliminate automatic citizenship for individuals born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally--a direct challenge to a longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

That interpretation has held since 1898, when the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that nearly all children born on American soil are citizens, regardless of their parents' immigration status. Legal scholars have debated this for years, with some conservatives, including Trump ally John Eastman, arguing that the 14th Amendment was never intended to apply so broadly. Others, like New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, have called Trump's order "blatantly unconstitutional," pointing to post-Civil War intent and more than a century of legal precedent.

CNN: Trump and Musk Murdered a Federal Worker By Worrying Her With DOGE Cuts Until She Had a Heart Attack

—Ace

You've got to be ****ing kidding me with this sh** now, CNN.

You cannot be serious. You simply cannot be.

I know what you're thinking -- this bureaucrat was probably in terrific shape, which means that the heart attack was caused not by 50+ years of unhealthy living but just by Trump's and Musk's nefarious plotting.

And you're absolutely right -- she was an original member of the George Floyd Memorial Crossfit Center.

As you can see, she was a real health nut.

Healthy at any size -- but who can survive the combined evil of Trump and Musk?

CNN is really doing this:

In a federal workforce racked by stress and fear, one family shares a story of death

By Sean Lyngaas

He's a "cybersecurity reporter," which we know now just means "he pushes censorship and propaganda behalf of the left and the Deep State."

Here's another example of his neutral, objective reporting:

'It's a bloodbath': Massive wave of job cuts underway at US health agencies

It's almost as if he's a propagandist who is fighting for bureaucrats to keep their phoney-baloney jobs by This One Neat Trick of claiming every run-of-the-mill redundancy is a "bloodbath" or "slaughter" or, as in this case, a stealthy murder committed by use of the ultimate poison: Dark MAGA DOGE.

Stress and anxiety had been building for weeks in Monique Lockett, a 25-year veteran of the Social Security Administration, about the fate of her colleagues and the sensitive agency data she had vowed to protect, her sister Ksha told CNN.

That's apparently not a typo. Her name is "Ksha," no vowel in the beginning.

I believe Ksha is the third moon of Planet Vulcan but I'll have to double-check that. Please do not pump that disinformation out there until it's confirmed.

In February, amid sweeping changes to the federal workforce, Monique was five years from retirement but was facing one of the most uncertain periods of her career, according to Ksha. She was growing increasingly concerned about what Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency might do to the agency.

"My sister had a lot of anxiety around the changes that were happening in other agencies and, inevitably, what would happen to Social Security," Ksha told CNN. "She was concerned about the overall well-being of everybody that she worked with because it was stressful for a lot of people."

Yes, that's because she was crazy and neurotic. And her morbid obesity probably contributed to that. Obesity puts strains and stresses on the body, and therefore on the mind.

The Trump administration's demolition of federal programs and jobs has sent waves of anxiety and depression through a government workforce that is experiencing anger, hopelessness and worries about people harming themselves, according to interviews with federal workers, their family members and mental health professionals who spoke to CNN.

Mental patients should not be working for the federal government. Sorry not sorry.

Since the beginning of the DOGE-led program cuts, falsehoods have proliferated online about alleged fraud and wasteful programs, fueling a caricature in some Americans' minds of an inept or corrupt federal worker.

You're literally erasing the existence of bureaucrats, Hater Bigots.

Monique's final days were spent in that climate of fear and stress while feeling devalued in the workplace, before dying on the job two months ago, according to her sister.

By the way, CNN then links to this related story:

Related article 'It is a wrecking ball': Former DOGE worker describes Musk-led government-slashing effort from the inside

Gripping stuff.

Back to the "Trump and Musk did a murder" exposé:

"It was very upsetting to her to hear that what they did wasn't valued, what they did wasn't important and certainly that what they did was wasteful," Ksha said.

Monique died of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease -- a buildup of plaque in the arteries -- according to Stephanie Moore, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland.

As everyone knows, people build up lethal levels of plaque in their arteries over a matter a few months. Your arteries are clean, Trump gets elected, and then bang, four months later, you're as dead as Hunter Biden's legal career. And watercolor career.

Note she died two months ago so Trump and Musk worked their deadly spells over just two months, January and February.

This... is CNN.

It is impossible to know exactly what factors triggered Monique's health emergency that day. Chronic stress can increase the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to medical experts.

How about chronic morbid obesity? Does that have any impacts on people's cardiovascular health?

Or is it just the Heart Attack Laser Beams that Musk fires out of his eyes?

Ksha believes that stress may have been a factor in her sister's death.

Well as long as you can cite that to an expert, like the woman's sister "Ksha."

Monique usually called Ksha when she got to the Social Security Administration's vast campus outside of Baltimore, but Ksha's phone didn't ring the morning of February 18. Monique came in and went to her desk, where she fell asleep, according to a Baltimore County Police report that the agency shared with CNN. Paramedics spent about 40 minutes trying to revive her, the report says, but the 53-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sleep is a telltale symptom of lethal stress, as you know. Whenever I get stressed out so bad it hurts my health, I take a little nap. It puts me right out, like cheddar cheese.

Complications from Monique's disease can include a heart attack or stroke. According to the report, Ksha told police that Monique had obesity and high blood pressure, which she was taking medication for. Co-workers told the responding police officer that Monique was "not in a [sic] visible signs of distress" prior to falling asleep, the report said.

Oh so there are alternate theories in this Murder Mystery.

But nah, it was probably Trump.

When a cause of death is related to atherosclerosis, "stress can certainly play a role by increasing blood pressure and cortisol levels" -- a "stress hormone," said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University. "Chronic stress can also lead to increase in inflammation, which plays a role in both formation of new atherosclerosis and acute events."

A spokesperson for the Social Security Administration, or SSA, confirmed to CNN that an employee died at the agency's headquarters on February 18 but did not respond to further questions.

February 18th -- Trump took office on January 20th.

He killed her not in a couple of months, as I stupidly claimed above, but in just 29 days. Just one Leap Year February was all it took for Trump and Musk to choke her arteries with budget-induced plaque.

The DOGE team at SSA has grown to at least 10 people in the administration's three months in power, according to court documents. The Trump administration has tasked DOGE representatives, some of whom are detailed from other agencies, with finding fraud in the Social Security payment system -- while granting them access to sensitive data on millions of Americans.

That has nothing to do with the bizarre main claim in the article. It's just additional propaganda this "journalist" wanted to get in.

Here CNN links to another CNN exclusive:

Related article GOP states go 'DOGE-ing,' mimicking Musk's branding as they call attention to spending cuts

Back to Sean Lyngaas's breathless propaganda:

A federal judge on March 20 blocked DOGE's access to the SSA data that contains personal identifiable information and accused DOGE of being "essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA ... without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack."

The multiple emails, sometimes on weekends, that the Trump administration has sent to SSA employees asking them about their productivity has had a "whiplash effect," according to a former SSA employee familiar with projects that Monique worked on. "It's creating a level of anxiety that's making it hard to do their jobs. These are good people who are being traumatized."

Monique "was an integral part of ... making sure that people's information was kept safe," Ksha said, and that "the right people had access to the right information."

She died protecting illegal aliens from having fraudulently-obtained benefits from being blocked. What a hero.

...

A spokesperson for DOGE did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails seeking comment.

Because you're a silly pussymouth bitch specializing in Teen Beat panic porn for psychotic aging white leftwing women who are dead from the waist down and who can no longer feel any emotions except for fear and outrage.

"What happened to Monique was truly sad and tragic, literally shook me to the core," an SSA employee told CNN. 'Total fear and demoralization'

Other current and former federal employees told CNN they have felt depressed or were concerned about colleagues harming themselves amid the layoffs and reorganizations. Alex Berman, an Internal Revenue Service employee who is a union leader in the Philadelphia area, said he has heard directly from colleagues who have experienced panic attacks and anxiety attacks in recent weeks.

In nearly 20 years as a union official, Berman said, he has talked with "a lot of people at the ends of their ropes."

"A lot of times, I'm happy to say that I was able to stand between them and the end of the cliff," Berman, whose agency is facing a potential 20% reduction in the workforce by DOGE, told CNN. "The few who could not step back from the cliff's edge will forever haunt me. And I can't help foreseeing more to come."

People do get stressed about the fear of being fired from their jobs... this happens all the time in the private sector. Every time one company buys another, everyone is afraid for their jobs as they know the first thing that will happen is that many of the employees of the old company will be fired.

Again, this is just standard life stress that everyone has to deal with.

Everyone, that is, except our precious extremely-highly-paid bureaucrats, who get paid like lawyers but have the job protections of longshoremen.

And they can retire at 58.

CNN saw that the Daily Beast was getting Outrage Clicks over their own story of woe and heart-ache, and wanted to get in on that scam.

Here the Daily Beast tells the sad and terrifying story of a Social Security worker who refused to do as his superiors instructed and then refused to leave his desk when he was fired.

Ultimately she was dragged out of the office by, quote, "DOGE goons."

DOGE Goons Physically Drag Social Security Worker From Desk

The high-ranking civil servant had opposed a plan to push out migrants by falsely listing them as dead.

A senior executive at the Social Security Administration was physically dragged from his office this week after clashing with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to The Washington Post.

Greg Pearre, a career civil servant who led an IT team working on the agency's data systems, was removed over his opposition to a DOGE plan to cut off immigrants from key financial services, three people told the Post.

The scheme cooked up by Elon Musk's DOGE squad falsely lists thousands of migrants as dead in a Social Security database known as the "death master file."

Being entered into the death database cuts a person off from crucial financial services, like the ability to receive government benefits and access a bank account or credit card. The goal was to push migrants who were granted a temporary legal status under former President Joe Biden to "self deport."

Jim Francis, a consumer law lawyer who is suing Social Security for wrongly entering a Maryland woman into the file, cast the repercussions in dire terms.

"It's the source of that data that the whole world uses, which is why, if it's inaccurate, it has such devastating impacts on people," he told the Post. "Overnight, you literally become financially paralyzed."

Fatal heart attacks and now paralysis.

...

DOGE had been working on a strategy to push out immigrants since February. A group of about a dozen civil servants from Social Security were assigned to help Musk's goons--and agents from the Department of Homeland Security--with the plot.

February? Why that's when they killed young, healthy Monique?

Coincidence? I don't want to start any conspiracy theories but the theory that Musk and Trump have conspired to spray the Social Security building with Heart Attack Paralysis Gas is now proven.

THE MORNING RANT: The Slippery Slope to (Re)Normalizing American Slavery Keeps Getting Slipperier

—Buck Throckmorton

In my post earlier this week I expressed my concern that Principled Free Traders pretty much openly express their support nowadays for the use of overseas slave labor in the manufacture of consumer goods imported into the U.S., and what this situational tolerance for slavery portends.

The disturbing end point for this “libertarian” passion for the elimination of labor expense, despite the ongoing need for human labor, is a return to the “peculiar institution” that western nations finally abolished in the 19th century. Principled Free Traders are already quite open about their enthusiasm for the use of overseas chattel labor in the name of increased corporate profit and lower consumer prices. What is the principle that allows free trade libertarians to be comfortable with foreign slavery but not domestic slavery? It seems like a slippery slope.

I also noted how those most passionate about offshoring American industrial jobs tend to be the same people most enthusiastic about opening the U.S. border to an off-the-book, in-the-shadows workforce for those jobs which cannot be offshored. The common denominator is that there is a passion to reduce labor expense to as close to $0 as possible, be it with overseas slaves or with domestic illegal labor.

Isn’t it puzzling that “free market libertarians” who do chest-bumps and grave dances to celebrate American industrial workers losing their jobs are also passionate about importing off-the-book labor to do “the jobs that Americans won’t do.”

It’s all coming full circle now. Slavery is back in the American South, and it’s the perfect confluence of the libertarians’ ideal labor forces – foreign slaves serving as unregulated domestic labor…

“Three arrested in wake of ‘massive’ labor trafficking bust in Georgia” [Atlanta Journal Constitution – 4/12/2025]

Employees were Chinese nationals who had been recruited through a temporary visa program and promised high salaries. Instead, they were allegedly required to work 12-hour shifts, and they were not allowed to leave the factory or their residence. [Assistant District Attorney] Waldo said there were several calls to authorities reporting slave labor-like conditions, WBHF reported.

Libertarians and Principled Free Traders swoon at the idea of being able to control Chinese nationals who work 12-hour days and are prohibited from even leaving their apartments without their master’s employer’s consent, which coincidentally enough was not given. It’s funny how slave owners don’t like to give their chattel any passes from 24-hour control.

The authorities’ arrival at Wellmade Industries in Cartersville, roughly 40 miles north of Atlanta, was the culmination of what an official described as a “massive” labor trafficking investigation. At an April 4 news conference, Steven Schrank, special agent with a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said law enforcement encountered 60 victims of “horrific” forced labor.

Who owns Wellmade?

These sweeps yielded two arrests: Wellmade Industries’ owner, Zhu Chen, and his nephew, Jiayi Chen. A third person connected to the company, Jian Jun Lu, was arrested April 5. All three face felony charges of “trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude.”

The operation that Wellmade ran in Georgia is exactly what Principled Free Traders advocate for when they celebrate American jobs being replaced by Wellmade-style slaves in China and elsewhere.

Again, if slavery is wrong when practiced in the state of Georgia, how can we condone the exact same slavery being used to produce goods being sold on American shelves so long as the slaves are located in foreign lands. If re-shoring slavery would result in lower consumer prices, how could libertarians object? They already embrace and endorse slavery, at this point we’re just talking about its geographic location.

As I said, it’s a slippery slope that’s getting slipperier. And to be clear, slavery is an abomination before God that should not be tolerated anywhere. It is beyond despicable that there are “respectable” voices on the right who advocate for the exploitation of slave labor in the name of “free trade” and “lower consumer prices.”

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Crucifixion
Francisco de Zurbarán

The Morning Report — 4/ 18 /25

—J.J. Sefton

Good GOOD FRIDAY morning kids!

Can the Democrats be so utterly clueless and tone-deaf or is it something else? Does Chris Van Hollen really think that sucking down margaritas with this criminal illegal alien in El Salvador, who has been linked to human trafficking as well as being accused of beating his wife is going to win friends and influence the electorate? Well, if Hillary Clinton, Jasmine Crockett and every other execrable Democrat wants to make this the hill to die on, who are we to oppose them. They painted themselves into this corner because they cannot concede an inch that President Trump might be right in any way shape or form.

And whatever legal procedural process may or may not have been violated in removing this fiend from our country, regardless of his violent criminal record and association with gangs are, the salient point is, from my knowledge of the law, he and other foreigners are not afforded the same due process rights as actual American citizens on American soil. His mere presence here is a crime that is punishable by immediate deportation. He may have been accidentally deported to the wrong country, but that should not mean he must be returned here. Send him back to his country of birth so he can help enrich their heritage. What has the Left shrieked about? We're deporting people who will cure cancer and invent the next great thing or some such rot.

While it's encouraging that illegal border crossings are way down and deportations and arrests even at businesses that employ illegals are up, I want to see the actual employers arrested, charged, tried, convicted and then fined heavily and/or imprisoned. That would deter the invasion like no wall ever could, IMHO.

I'll keep it short this morning but I want to wish all of you a most joyous and blessed Easter in advance. Have a great weekend.
And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know. 

Daily Tech News 18 April 2025

—Pixy Misa

• A federal judge has ruled that Google is operating an illegal monopoly - again. (Associated Press)
  
  Google's search engine was found in violation of antitrust laws last August, and the company's ad division has now joined it on the naughty list.
  
  This doesn't mean that either one is an absolute monopoly, and they're not. But companies with a dominant market position are restricted from certain business practices that are not in themselves illegal, and that's where Google has run aground.
  
  Now the DOJ will be arguing for specific penalties (most likely forcing Google to spin off a small number of products into separate businesses) and Google will be trying to tie this up in appeals until the Sun goes out.
  
  
  

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's ONT We Go!

—WeirdDave

Greetings, Horde! Welcome to Thursday night. Say, anyone know what's going on in Florida?

They Want Us Dead

So, today on X a PHD student at George Mason University published the following manifesto on his substack:

When Must We Kill Them?

I do not wish for this essay to be a mere catalogue of outrages. The conduct of the present administration is as well known to you as it is to myself, and can be understood by any sensible person. On it, no further comment is ventured.

What remains for us to decide is when we fight. If the present administration wills it, it could sweep away the courts, it could sweep away democracy, and it could sweep away freedom. Protest is useful only insofar as it can effect action. Our words might sway the hearts of men, but not of beasts.

If the present administration chooses this course, then the questions of the day can be settled not with legislation, but with blood and iron. In short, we must decide when we must kill them. None of us wish for war, but if the present administration wishes to destroy the nation I would accept war rather than see it perish. I hope that you would choose the same.

There's more, but the grievances are imaginary leftist talking points. That doesn't really matter. What matters is that there is a real and growing movement on the left to normalize political violence. I am very much afraid that there is not much we can do to stop it at this point. GuerrillaLogistician has some thoughts:

Bleeding America

Just like in the past, our politicians and population decided the best way to fix the problems of our nations was to compromise.  Where in the past, Kansas was allowed by popular vote to either allow or prohibit slavery, we have done the same with ludicrous socialist agendas like DEI.  As many of you know, DEI is the modern way to separate the bourgeoisie and the proletariat to create the flames of revolution they want.  How do you compromise with people who are generally out to murder you over erroneous politics that don’t affect them as much as they think it does? Sure, you cannot believe me, you can feel that all of these little issues are dispersed over time and space enough that it’s just the media hyping up events because blood sells.  You aren’t entirely wrong, either. This happens all the time, and we have to be cautious of that, but there is a point of no return, and there’s a point where you need to start looking at how things are shaping up.

The two assassination attempts on Trump alone should have been a sign to everyone where this was going, then the car bombing in Vegas. With all this going on, what has happened is that the media downplays everything that doesn’t fit the narrative they are seeking to reinforce. They will do anything to mitigate the political differences that an ordinary person would see in these actions. The leftists and socialists out there will defend everyone they can who is politically aligned with them and will wholesale lie to achieve their goals. This does not mean that the conservatives have not done the same thing; however, they have been highly scrutinized since Trump has been in office. I think it is a good thing until you consider that both sides are not being treated equally.

Spend any time looking at the troubles of Northern Ireland. You’ll see that the Catholics and Protestants probably could have lived together and coexisted with minimal issues if the political machine hadn’t started to treat the Catholics differently from the Protestants. What ultimately happened was a conflict in Ireland that never should have occurred in the first place. So, can we compromise with an ideological group that doesn’t see reality like the general population? That said, most of the general population isn’t even looking at the issues and probably won’t until it affects them. The reality is, though, the problems continue to grow daily, city by city.

Now, I see folks on the right scoff at leftists like this little twink all the time, and one-on-one he's not much of a threat, the guy looks like he'd lose a fight with toast. But it won't be a one-on-one fight. It will be random attacks like the one on the congressional softball game. And it'll be bombs, the left loves their bombs. It's already started with Tesla dealerships. You say you're armed, and you can take any pinko punk who comes at you, and even if that's true, how are you going to defend against a Molotov cocktail tossed into the store you're in because the leftist propagandists made it the target of this week's two-minutes of hate for whatever reason? How do you defend your kids against an Antifa drive-by at their Catholic school because religion is bad, m-kay? How will you react when we're living through “the troubles” in Northern Ireland or Bosnia in the mid-90s? It's not going to be the Battle of Manassas. If the dam breaks, it's going to be way worse. It's worth thinking about.

Related: Reality Isn’t Nice. It’s a 2×4 to the Teeth.

RIP 4-Chan

No link, but 4-Chan was hacked and taken down this week, and it looks like it's not coming back. The software is a decade out of date, and a surprising number of the admin accounts had a .gov email address (Hmmm. Was it always a psyop?). In any event, they were always good fodder for ONT posts, and I find it hilarious that this may very well be the final post ever made on 4-Chan:

Heart Flight

This happened in 1986, but it's still a feel good story.

Honoring the F4 Hooligan's heart flight

His name is Andrew De La Pena, and he is now 32 years old. He was born in California, but has significant ties to North Dakota. At just 5 months old, Andrew was in desperate need of a heart transplant. Word came from Fargo through the Red Cross that a 4 month old had died from crib death....his heart had been resuscitated. This opened the door for a life saving organ donation for Andrew. The challenge was getting the heart to California within hours. It was a few days before Christmas. The Lehrjet parked at Hector International Airport in Fargo, that was supposed to take local doctors and the heart west, wouldn't start. That's when a desperate early morning call was made to then Governor George Sinner. Sixteen minutes after Governor Sinner was notified, a call went out to the North Dakota National Guard base in Fargo. An F-4 fighter jet with the North Dakota Air National Guard was scrambled. Brig. General Bob Becklund, who was a first lieutenant at the time and on duty, would be the pilot.

Fargo to San Fran in just over an hour and a half, all to save a life. That F-4 jockey was burning holes in the sky, God bless him.

Bibliophiles Unite!

Hundreds of Volunteers Form a Human Chain to Get 9,000 Books to New Location for Indie Bookstore

Serendipity Books and its owner Michelle Tuplin had a problem: it was moving day, and 9,100 books needed to be packed up and sorted in the new location. She faced the prospect of closing down for several days at least—never a good thing on the tight margins of a bookstore. Taking to social media and putting out a call for volunteers among her many followers and customers, Tuplin received an overwhelming response, as 300 people showed up to lend a hand. That’s when Tuplin came up with a novel idea: a human chain, or rather, two. “It was just a joyful experience,” Donna Zak, one of the volunteers, told NBC News. “We were passing the books and noticing and commenting to each other, ‘Oh, have you read this one? I really enjoyed this one!’” Fortunately for everyone involved, the new space was just 350 feet from the old one, and in just 2 hours, the entire collection had been moved and stocked—in alphabetical order no less.

Good for them.

Yuck!

Me: When I travel, first thing I do is find the local street food.

India: Challenge accepted

Me: Uhhh.... pic.twitter.com/VG5EQDw8d0

— Dave's Not Here (@Weirddave0) April 17, 2025

House Comes With Dungeon, A Real “Handyman's Special”

I discovered a ‘torture dungeon’ of hidden rooms and passageways under my house

“Found a network of tunnels and rooms under my house,” the gobsmacked fellow wrote in a viral Reddit post alongside screenshots of his spine-tingling find.

The photos depict stairs leading down into a basement, various dark passageways, and a maze-like area with multiple doorways.
Also shown are some very macabre-looking quarters, including a dingy, cell-like room with a grate on the floor and a shaft of light poking through the ceiling.
Another chamber features exposed piping and a single LED light illuminating the shambolic surroundings.
“The tunnels just keep going,” exclaimed the Redditor, who estimated there were five rooms in total, some of which featured running water while others had power.
The purpose of these subterranean chambers is unclear, but he pointed out that there were “many stained blankets, with perhaps blood.”

Looks like a basement to me, but Reddit never found anything it couldn't sensationalize.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by doggles:

Close it up

Husky Serenade Cafe

—Ace

by @BenStraussPhoto

A Japanese commercial for Mouse. I didn't know what "Mouse" was before the commercial and I don't know after, either.

A drone gets a little too close to the action (IG).

These homeless bum squatter bears are out of control (IG).

Forest firefighters dump water on to a blaze as a fan watches. (IG)

Jealous doggos (IG).

Cool looking magic trick, but the technique, as usual is dumb. (IG). This is why they say "never tell your magic secrets." It's because the secret is usually dumb.

FDC Willard, the world's greatest scientist who is also cat. (IG)

BTW, I know some of you don't like Instagram (IG) posts. I'm linking them, though, because it's hard to find good photos on Twitter now. Most searches for "photography" turn up videos and pictures of Japanese "models" and likely prostitutes. (Who are not hot -- so don't bother looking.)

So I go to Instagram to find photos, and wind up finding videos I don't want to waste, so I post them. It's hard to find photos on IG now, too, unfortunately.

Sure he's only benching an empty bar but you gotta admire the focus.

In Sweden, it's Moose Migration Season. Remember to set your clocks back, Mooses.

Four-year-old plays Beethoven.

Rescued lioness touches grass for first time.

Emotional support photo.

The family that bikes each other likes each other.

Double-O Seven Month Old.

The CIA's former head of disguise -- who is coincidentally married to the CIA agent who ran the "Argo" op -- always claims that the CIA have these "five-second disguises" you can just put on and fool people so long as they're not closely inspecting you. She claims these masks can fool a person even if he's "within three or four feet of you."

I kinda thought she was exaggerating, but I guess not. Some guy posted his own latex disguise on X, and dang, it's pretty convincing.

Second look at Mission: Impossible?

A tree so huge that people had to build supports for its massive limbs.

More, more!

Quick Hits

—Ace

Oh, no! Greedy corporations are going to make a "shoplifting desert" in Chicago!

Another BB story about senior astronaut Katy Perry.

Oh my: Shakedown artist Joe Biden is advertising his availability to give you a rambling incoherent speech for -- get this -- $300,000 a pop, but it turns out that oligarchs no longer so eager to pour money into his pockets.

It's not just Biden family artwork that's struggling to sell these days.

Former President Joe Biden's attempt to bill $300,000 per speaking appearance is finding few takers, The Post has learned -- as some of his own former aides say it's time for the 82-year-old to leave the spotlight for good after reminiscing about "colored kids" Tuesday in his first public address since leaving office.

A source familiar with Biden's faltering speaking career said that the 46th president's standard pitch is $300,000 -- 25% below Barack Obama's $400,000 asking price upon leaving office in 2017.

It's unclear how negotiable Biden's rate is.

If travel is required, a private jet and expenses for five staffers also is expected for Biden, who has been repped since leaving office by the Creative Artists Agency.

"CAA is having trouble booking gigs, which isn't surprising," the tipster said.

A second source said they had heard of people close to Biden floating an even higher desired speaking fee, despite the ex-commander in chief having a history of peddling glaring inaccuracies before his political career came to a crashing end when he delivered incoherent debate remarks that prompted a Democratic mutiny.

Biden's use of "colored" to refer to black people while speaking at a disability conference in Chicago earlier this week has some former aides hoping he will spend more time at his Rehoboth Beach house.

"This was hard to watch," said one former White House official. "It felt like seeing someone you care about start to regress. We just wanted him to enjoy retirement like other presidents -- not go out like this."

Boy, remember the old days, Joe? When you could just tell a country to fire a prosecutor investigating your son's influence-seeking business and they'd comply?

Trump commented on the Biden Presidency: "Worst administration in our country's history. Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn't the worst president, Joe Biden was."

Rubio announces that he's shutting down the State Department's censorship program. If this sounds familiar, that's because he already shut it down, but the Deep State kept it going under a different name. (Stop me if you heard this one before.)

Now he's shutting it down under its new assumed name.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced the closure of a State Department effort that he accused of spending millions on censorship.

"I am announcing the closure of the State Department's Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC)," Rubio said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

"Under the previous administration, this office, which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year, spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving," Rubio asserted.

The GEC closed in December, according to an archived State Department website content that is still viewable online.

Rubio asserted in a piece published on The Federalist that the GEC had not actually ended, but was simply re-branded.

"When Republicans in Congress sunset GEC's funding at the end of last year, the Biden State Department simply slapped on a new name. The GEC became the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R-FIMI) office, with the same roster of employees. With this new name, they hoped to survive the transition to the new administration," Rubio wrote. "Today, we are putting that to an end. Whatever name it goes by, GEC is dead. It will not return."

The Deep State is so corrupt that even its agencies have criminal aliases.

Ed Morrissey reports that a new Politico poll shows that some voters are getting tired of the Democrats' endless "resistance" to democratic choices made by the public.

Those voters? California Democrats.

In a dual survey of California voters and political professionals who are driving the state's agenda, the electorate is strikingly more likely to want a detente with the White House. Voters are also more divided on issues like immigration and climate change, where Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic state lawmakers have asserted progressive ambitions that rebuff the president's agenda.

A plurality of voters is skeptical of legal immigration, and less than half think the state should be able to set its own strict standards on vehicle emissions, an authority California has used for more than half a century.

The results suggest a disconnect between the policymaking class and voters in an overwhelmingly blue state where Trump made broad inroads in 2024 amid widespread frustrations over crime and a prohibitively high cost of living. Registered Democrats, however -- who comprise nearly half the electorate -- are more enthusiastic about progressive policies and more eager to challenge Trump's Washington.

The poll shows that even Democrats want moderation, not more extremism and election-denial.

Bernie and AOC understood the assignment, and the assignment was Grift 'em Until Their Eyes Spin.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has crisscrossed the country on his nationwide Fighting Oligarchy Tour to rail against billionaires and supposed "oligarchs" like Elon Musk--while traveling like an oligarch himself.

Campaign expenditures released Tuesday and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show Sanders's main campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, spent $221,723 chartering private jets during the first quarter of 2025, with the first payment coming just days before the launch of his tour in February.

"We will not accept a rigged economy where working people struggle while billionaires become richer," Sanders said during the tour's latest event in California on Tuesday. "We have got to create an economy that works for working people, not just Mr. Musk and the billionaire class." But Sanders has had no issue splurging on private jets far beyond the means of working people, even as he has ramped up his attacks on the rich.

The revelation is just the latest contrast between his socialist rhetoric and his millionaire lifestyle....

Contrast? His socialist rhetoric is how he earned his millionaire lifestyle!

The Vigilant Fox @VigilantFox

NEW: Scott Jennings torpedoes Democrat shill's entire MS-13 gang member defense--with one devastating question.

It didn't feel like a CNN panel.

It felt like a National Geographic nature documentary--where a predator stalks its prey, just waiting for that one fatal misstep.

Democrat strategist Julie Roginsky tried to defend deported MS-13 gang member Abrego Garcia.

Her argument? That he wasn't a gang member and he was "disappeared" without due process.

"There's due process that exists in this country for everybody," she said. "And the fact that this man received no due process--he was effectively disappeared to a foreign country, a country which he came from."

Then she slipped: "He got asylum--"

@ScottJenningsKY
pounced.

"That's not a foreign country. He lives there."

"Excuse me! No, he does not live there," Roginsky snapped.

"He's a citizen of El Salvador," Jennings replied.

"Excuse me! No, he does not live there!"

"He's a citizen. Does he have asylum?" Jennings pressed.

She backpedaled: "Excuse me! Let me finish. No, sorry. No, it's not that he got asylum. He got a judge to say that he could not be--"

Jennings closed in: "Does he have a deportation order?"

"Excuse me! He could not be--can you let me finish? He could not be rendered back to El Salvador," she said, "because he was at risk of being harmed in El Salvador."

Jennings went for the jugular:

"By who? By who?! By who? I'm asking you!"

"Who was he at risk of?"

Roginsky froze. "Who could he be at risk by? I don't know..."

Then came the kill shot:

"A rival gang. A RIVAL gang."

Jennings turned to the camera and grinned like a lion licking its chops after a fresh kill.

Argument over. Her narrative? Obliterated--by her own words.

Video here.

Mark Penn @Mark_Penn

Runaway Judge

Judge Boasberg reminds me of Merrick Garland -- well educated and intelligent and yet partisan to the core.

Boasberg did nothing when the rights of officials were being violated under FISA warrants that should not have been issued and gave a slap on the wrist to the FBI attorney who deliberately changed an email from the CIA that said Carter Page was a source they worked with and he deliberately added "NOT" to reverse the meaning and used the fake email to get a secret warrant to issue illegal wiretaps.

Now he is threatening criminal prosecutions of Trump officials and says he might even settup a special prosecutor under his own authority so he could become both prosecutor and judge.

The Supreme Court said his orders were null and void -- that they never should have been issued and that he had no jurisdiction. And now he says that even "erroneous" court orders must be followed. Really.

He has now gone overboard in his attempt to reassert his authority when he had none in the first place. So judges can make erroneous rulings, be completely overturned, and then keep going anyway? In this case, it's Boasberg who needs a restraining order on his now clearly partisan behavior here.

Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter

"I am shocked, shocked I say, by the total lack of due process involving these undocumented immigrants!"

"You mean how there was no due process to allow them into the United States in the first place?"

"No, not that kind of due process. That kind of due process is bad. You know, the kind that protects Americans?"

Race-Murderer Karmello Anthony Is Given $500,000 In Donations for Killing an Innocent White Kid

—Ace

He's now renting a luxurious $900,000 home in a gated community.

Oh, so now he knows the meaning of people having their own reserved space.

The Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing a high school football star at a track meet allegedly lives in a $900,000 home with his family inside a luxurious gated community -- despite requesting that a judge lower his $1 million bond because of financial difficulties, according to a report.

Karmelo Anthony, 17, is holed up with his family at the pricey home inside the gated community of Richwoods in Frisco, Texas, after he was released from jail Monday on a reduced $250,000 bond for allegedly killing Austin Metcalf earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported.

The home -- where rent is estimated to be $3,500 a month -- had a white Suburban, a black Acura, and a third sedan in the driveway on Tuesday, according to the outlet.

A neighbor said the family had just bought a new ride.

"He got a new car," the resident told the outlet. "If you look at the license plate, it's got a paper tag and it says it expires June 4."

Richwoods is about a mile from Centennial High School, where Anthony went to school and ran track.

Residents in the gated community were allegedly unaware the family was living at the home until Anthony was released Monday, and have voiced concerns about having the accused killer in their exclusive neighborhood.

"Not good. Not good. I don't think he should be out," an anonymous mother in the neighborhood told the Daily Mail.

Don't say that to him or he'll stab you in the heart with a Mostly Peaceful Knife.

...

The home has also been getting flooded with deliveries, allegedly for Anthony, with Amazon trucks being seen making multiple drop-offs at his home, the outlet reported.

"The best thing they can do is move," said another neighbor. "I think that would be best for everyone."

...

Initially, he was being held on a $1 million bond until a Collin County judge slashed it to $250K and ruled that he may await trial at home with an ankle monitor under 24-hour supervision from his parents or an "adult designee."

The lowered bond came one week after Anthony's attorney said they would ask the court to reduce the "excessive" $1 million bond and asked the local district attorney to make "a better determination" of the charges.

"Given that Karmelo has no prior criminal history and given that this young man has not been in any sort of trouble before, $1 million is not necessary," Howard said.

Except that he's an admitted murderer. He admitted he killed the victim. And of course witnesses saw it.

He is a major flight risk, has a stack of cash thanks to his fellow Helter Skelter revolutionaries, and you only reduced this psycho killer's bail because he's black.

Two tiers of justice. It's not just for the UK.

"Journalist" Gayle King Thinks She's an Astronaut Now, Attacks Sexism for Denying Her Credit

—Ace

Some of you are probably tired of this story. I'm not. I'm just getting warmed up.

This energizes me.

But I do know this is now three days old so I'll only have this post up for 40 minutes before I post another one.

"Journalist" Gayle King is now also an "astronaut," the talentless, corrupt hanger-on now claims.

CBS host Gayle King responded to the backlash over the Blue Origin space flight on Tuesday and suggested the all-female crew was being held to a different standard than men who've been to space.

The journalist and talk show host was part of a historic flight on Monday that also carried Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sánchez; pop star Katy Perry; film producer Kerianne Flynn; NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe; and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen.

Nothing says Scientific Flight like "civil rights activist" or "film producer" or "pop star" or "Jeff Bezos' Current Slam-Piece."

The rocket landed safely after roughly a 10-minute flight. The high-profile trip drew some criticism from those who questioned if the brief flight was a worthwhile use of resources.

Leftwing critics are bemoaning the use of resources and filling the air with carbon dioxide (the Invisible Killer, longtime readers will remember).

Other people are just laughing at them for spending three minutes in "space" after two days (!!!) of "training." And oh, the "training" was about how to enter and exit the capsule and how to secure your seatbelts.

That's needed "training" but... I don't think that if I'm on a plane and they give me a demonstration of how to put on an oxygen mask I'm a pilot.

They were space tourists, period. The "training" is legally required. Yes, they did show some amount of bravery -- barely -- by chancing the trip, but people take greater risks waiting for NYC subways every single day.

The criticism is not about what they did -- which was fine -- but over the inordinate amount of praise they're pouring on themselves and demanding others repeat.

Everyone knows that if you do something praiseworthy, you're supposed to say thank you, but deflect the compliment and say "It was no big deal, it was really all thanks to my fellow team-members and also, most of all, thanks to God."

You're not supposed to say "I'm awesome for being a passenger for 10 minutes! I'm a Space Astronaut and I touched the Divine Feminine," which is what these loopy broads all did.

King responded to the backlash in comments to Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday, where she compared the Blue Origin flight to the historic space flight taken by American astronaut Alan Shepard in 1961.

"Please don't call it a 'ride,'" she added, claiming people don't use this term when talking about men going into space.

"We duplicated the same trajectory that Alan Shepard did back in the day, pretty much. No one called that a 'ride,'" King said. "It was called a flight, it was called a journey."

Shepard was trained to take control of his capsule if necessary.

Were you? Did your two days of training include five years of pilot training?

"There was nothing frivolous about what we did," she added.

People take cruises and do not usually call themselves mariners.

What you did was a pastime, not "science." I don't begrudge you a pastime but we also don't hand out Medals of Honor to people who kill 100 Germans via head-shot in Call of Duty.

"I'm very disappointed and very saddened by it," the CBS host continued. "And I also say this, what it's doing to inspire other women and young girls, please don't ignore that."

Inspiring girls to do what? Make friends with Oprah and turn that into a career so you can take one of three diversity slots in a billionaire's space tourism capsule?

She also addressed liberal critics who complained about the environmental impact, saying that Bezos' mission with Blue Origin was to discover if the rocket would be able to take waste from Earth into space to "make our planet cleaner."

"Space is not an either/or. It's a both/and. And because you do something in space doesn't mean you're taking anything away from Earth," King argued.

...

King previously told critics at a press conference on Monday that anyone bashing the flight "doesn't really understand" the historical significance of the space flight.

"We can all speak to the response we're getting from young women, from young girls about what this represents," she added.

I've flown in a plane a few times. I'm a pilot! I'm just like Chuck Yaeger!!!

She's basically claiming that going on Space Mountain makes you a part of Star Fleet.

Bonus: This may shock you, but "journalist" and "astronaut" Gayle King was spreading disinformation when she claimed men are never said to have merely "taken a ride."

From the Wikipedia entry on Hamish Harding, the British billionaire who died when the OceanGate Titan imploded:

Harding flew to space as part of the suborbital Blue Origin NS-21 mission, on 4 June 2022, on the fifth crewed spaceflight of the New Shepard rocket. After travelling to space, he advocated for space tourists (paid recreational spaceflight passengers) to be called astronauts.

Why is this relevant? Because Harding, like King, chafed at being described as what he was: a tourist.

Not just a man, but a billionaire white man! *He* was a tourist, too, Gayle, and he wasn't happy about his trip being called what it was: tourism. But it *was* called that, and so was he.

So stuff it.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!)

Noted Feminist Megy Kelly does not feel inspired or empowered by these astronauts' immense accomplishments.

As Megyn lamented on Monday's show, the narrative surrounding this trip was one of "female empowerment," but she did not see much to celebrate. "I don't feel empowered. If there had been six female astronauts going up, then, yes, okay," she said. "But what did these women do? The one gal is engaged to a billionaire, and these are a bunch of celebrities she wanted to befriend."

...

Amy Schumer also took to Instagram to poke fun at the mission in a bit Ungar Sargon called the funniest the comedian has been in years. "So I'm going to space, and I'm so excited," she said in a video. "Lauren Sánchez, Katy Perry and Amanda Nguyen have been my guiding lights through this whole journey, which I just got called to be part of this space team this morning. And I'm loving it. I've always wanted to go to space, and also I just have to say, How high were the people who came up with the name for space? Were they like, 'What should we call it? It's got so much, like, space.'"

Jeff Bezos' Current Slam-Piece, who is such a super-astronaut she had two industrial-strength flotation devices bolted on to her rib-cage, demands you respecc her.

The Blue Origin crew has not taken kindly to the blowback, with Sánchez and King, in particular, trying to defend the excursion. The former said she gets "really fired up" when she hears the criticism.

"I would love to have them come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don't just work here but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle," Sánchez said. "So when we hear comments like that, I just say, 'Trust me. Come with me. I'll show you what this is about, and it's, it's really eye-opening.'"

What do they have to do with you? No one's attacking the people who really achieved something by putting your useless ass into "space" (for three minutes).

This is the typical liberal politician move -- "How dare you attack the children!"

We're not attacking the children, we're goofing on you.

King, meanwhile, suggested misogyny could be at play as she likened her experience to -- wait for it -- that of astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to travel to space.

KING: Please don't call it a 'ride' that is not a friggin ride. Whenever a man goes up, you have never said to an astronaut, 'Boy, what a ride.' You know, we duplicated the same trajectory that Alan Shepard did back in the day. Pretty much. No one called that a ride. It was called a 'flight.' It was called a 'journey' because a 'ride' implies it is something frivolous or something that's light hearted. There was nothing frivolous about what we did, and the machine that we were on, and what it took for the people to get that machine up and running, to get us up, and get us back down safely. So, you know, I'm very disappointed and very saddened by it.

She also claimed the trip was an inspiration to many. "What it's doing to inspire other women and young girls, please don't ignore that," King continued. "I've had so many women and young girls reach out to me -- and men too, by the way, men too -- that say, 'Wow, I never thought I could do that, but I see you doing it at this stage in my life. Who would have thunk it? Not me' and how inspired they are."

The Disconnect

Megyn said the attempted defense reveals just how out-of-touch the women are. "I'm still stuck in the fact that Gayle King actually used the word 'astronauts'... You are there on a vanity project of Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, you've done absolutely nothing to deserve this," she noted. "You're sitting next to Katy Perry, and if you don't want people to think it's frivolous, Gayle, then don't have the f-cking Kardashians and Oprah [Winfrey] craftside as you take off... That might have something to do with our reaction to this as a non-serious event and a PR stunt."

I don't mind that tourism isn't "serious" and I don't mind that this is a "PR stunt." It is that -- it's an ad for future Blue Origins space tourism jaunts, and that's fine. Show off your wares to the world.

It's the credit-grabbing and "Stolen Valor" of it all. I think either Megyn Kelly or Greg Gutfeld said that.

None of this would have happened if you just did what every well-mannered person knows to do, which is to refuse any praise of yourself and deflect it on to "the Real Heroes."

But leftwing feminist women are all about seizing credit for other people's (mostly men's) work. Their whole "careers," all of their "achievements" are based on making extravagant claims about yourself and then daring any Sexist Misogynists from contradicting you.

Well, dare taken. You did nothing more than a eight-year-old kid does when he rides his first "adult," "42 inches or taller" rollercoaster. I can't fault that kid for feeling excited about his big ride, but I'm also not going to praise him or nominate him for a Nobel Prize.

By the way, Gayle King also claims that someone aboard the capsule did "science" experiments or something.

On an 10 minute ride. With only three of those minutes in what people are calling "the very lowest level of what can charitably called 'space.'"

Can't wait to see the data that this experiment generated.

Also, once again, this has nothing to do with Gayle King. But like all "reporters," she believes that just by talking to a scientist she becomes, for all legal purposes, a scientist herself.

What exactly is the "first" they're claiming? Matt Walsh ran down possible claims.

Are they the first female "astronauts"? No, of course not, other women have been trained as actual astronauts and have flown in space.

The first female space tourists? No, other women have flown on Blue Origin before.

The first all-female crew in space? Or, "space"? No, Walsh pointed out that a female cosmonaut was shot into space by the Russkies. She flew solo, making it an "all-female crew."

I also think the Space Dog Laika was a female dog, so.

Laika probably was more qualified to seize the controls, too.

DHS Secretary Noem Announces the Freezing of $2.7 Million in Grants to Harvard

—Ace

I know I've reported that this was in the offing, but this makes it official.

These new cuts are in addition to the $2.2 billion (with a b) that Trump already froze.

DHS Sec. Kristi Noem announces $2.7 million of Harvard's grants are canceled

Quick Hit:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has canceled more than $2.7 million in federal grants to Harvard University, citing the school's alleged tolerance of pro-Hamas extremism and anti-American ideology on campus.

Key Details:

Noem rescinded two DHS grants totaling over $2.7 million.

Harvard is accused of enabling antisemitic and extremist behavior.

The Trump administration has frozen $2.2 billion in multiyear federal grants and is scrutinizing the school's nonprofit tax status.

Diving Deeper:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Wednesday the cancelation of two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants to Harvard University, citing national security concerns and the university's failure to confront what she called "anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology" on its campus.

The decision revokes a combined $2.7 million in federal funds. One of the grants, valued at $800,303, reportedly supported a study that characterized conservatives as "far-right dissidents." The second, totaling $1,934,902, was described by DHS as financing "public health propaganda." The department's press release stated that both projects "undermine America's values and security."

"Noem's move is a clear signal from the Trump administration: institutions that benefit from taxpayer dollars must uphold American principles, not promote hostility toward them," the DHS said. In a separate letter, Noem also demanded records from Harvard detailing any foreign student visa holders involved in "illegal and violent activities."

Her blunt assessment of Harvard's trajectory struck a nerve.

"Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism -- driven by its spineless leadership -- fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security," Noem said. "With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard's position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory."

Did you know that American universities rely on foreign students for their funding? It's true. They love admitting rich foreign students because they pay the full nominal cost of tuition, no scholarships, no breaks for coming from a low-income family.

I mention this because Trump is also looking to block any foreign Harvard student from obtaining an educational visa to come get "educated" at Harvard, which will also badly damage Harvard's finances.

He wants Harvard to turn over disciplinary records for its foreign agitators so that the government can review their visa status. Harvard is refusing -- and might get their ability to enroll any foreign student terminated.

Vice Chair of the DNC David Hogg: I'm Really Fighting for the Great Progressive Cause So If You See Some Sick Scandalous Claims Made Against Me, That's Just My Enemies Trying to Stop My Crusade for Justice

—Ace

Shyeah, okay.

What did you do, David? What did you do?

I know everyone wants to say "He's a gay!" but that's not a scandal in the Democrat Party. They throw parades for that.

And how dare you bigots even think such a slander.

So close to Pride Month. So close to Pride Month.

Hogg is doing something that will earn him some enemies -- targeting Democrats he considers insufficiently zealous for primary challenges.

David Hogg, a controversial Democratic National Committee vice chair, is pledging to upend Democratic primaries by funding candidates who will challenge "ineffective, asleep-at-the-wheel" Democrats.

The move puts Hogg, the now 25-year-old who first gained national stature as an outspoken survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, on a collision course with his own party and some Democratic House members.

Leaders We Deserve, which Hogg co-founded in 2023, announced plans on Tuesday to spend $20 million in safe-blue Democratic primaries against sitting House members by supporting younger opponents. In an interview with POLITICO, Hogg said the group will not back primary challenges in battleground districts because "I want us to win the majority," nor will it target members solely based on their age.

"We have a culture of seniority politics that has created a litmus test of who deserves to be here," Hogg said. "We need people, regardless of their age, that are here to fight."

It's an unprecedented, and controversial, move from a national officer within the Democratic Party that will enrage some insiders. Democratic Party committees, like the DNC, have traditionally not opposed incumbents in their own party, focusing instead on attacking Republicans, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is explicitly set up to protect incumbent members by providing resources, fundraising and strategy.

This is the sort of thing Republican agitators should be doing. Clear out the dead wood. Elect new wood. Increase our number of wood.

That wasn't the greatest analogy I've ever made. I'd say it's "David Hogg Level."

DOJ Releases More Evidence Against "Maryland Man"

—Ace

Maryland Man is Bestest Man.

The Department of Justice released new documents with evidence of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia's membership in the MS-13 gang, amid ongoing legal efforts to return him to the U.S. after his deportation.

Key Details:

Abrego Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, was deported to El Salvador in March after courts found him to be a public danger due to gang ties.

A Board of Immigration Appeals ruling in 2019 upheld findings that he was a "verified member" of MS-13, despite his attempts to dispute the classification.

DOJ and DHS documents cite gang-related clothing, testimony from a reliable informant, and even a domestic violence restraining order filed by his wife.

Diving Deeper:

The Department of Justice on Wednesday released documents showing what immigration officials, police, and federal judges have long alleged: that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a previously deported illegal immigrant, is a member of the violent MS-13 gang.

Abrego Garcia, who was removed from the U.S. in March and sent back to his native El Salvador, had long denied his gang affiliations. But the newly released files paint a different picture--one of a man embedded in MS-13's criminal network, known by the moniker "Chele" and reportedly holding the rank of "Chequeo" within the gang's Westerns clique.

Included in the dossier is a 2019 ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals that upheld an immigration judge's determination of Abrego Garcia's gang ties, stating he had failed to prove he was not a "danger to property or persons." That judgment followed his 2019 arrest in a Home Depot parking lot in Prince George's County, Maryland. Police noted his attire--specifically a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with images of cash-covered faces--as gang-related symbols. A trusted informant corroborated his gang affiliation during that arrest.

Adding to the DOJ's case, the Department of Homeland Security released records showing that Abrego Garcia's wife had sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, further undermining his claims of being no threat to the public.

It gets worse, reports David Strom.

@MrAndyNgo

In 2022, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained in Tennessee on suspicion of human trafficking. The TN Highway Patrol was instructed to release him and the seven other people in the car by Biden's FBI. Garcia was transporting them from Texas to Maryland.

The Tennessee Star's report on the human trafficking allegation:

The Tennessee Star learned on Wednesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged member of the Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) who was deported to El Salvador under President Donald Trump amid legal action claiming the removal was by mistake, was suspected of being engaged in human trafficking by a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officer who detained him in December 2022, leading the THP to contact the FBI for guidance. Within two hours, the FBI ultimately requested the THP release Garcia and the passengers in his vehicle. THP complied with the request.

The Star learned from sources familiar with the incident that Abrego Garcia was stopped for an unknown reason on December 6, 2022, and that the THP officer responsible for the stop immediately discovered Abrego Garcia was transporting seven passengers, with eight individuals inside the vehicle.

During a nearly two-hour traffic stop, the THP officer determined that Abrego Garcia (pictured above) was operating the vehicle without a valid driver's license and began searching for information about him.

Something about the traffic stop caused concern in the mind of the THP officer that other law enforcement agencies should be alerted. One source told The Star that THP ultimately discovered Abrego Garcia was on a terrorist watch list, but could not locate Abrego Garcia on a deportation list. Another source told The Star that THP did not discover Abrego Garcia on a terrorist watch list but that another one of the seven passengers in the vehicle may have been on a terrorist watch list.

So why wasn't he and the passengers in the car arrested and deported?

Because Christoper Wray's FBI ordered the cops to release them all:

THP subsequently called the FBI, which was then led by former Director Christopher Wray under the Biden administration. The FBI instructed the THP officers at the scene to capture photographs of all eight people in the vehicle and document its contents.

Once the photographs were captured, this source told The Star that the FBI requested THP release all eight individuals and that the THP officers complied with this request.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife testified that he beat her while she was holding their baby: "the baby started to cry because he was putting pressure on him, my immediate reaction was to push him off us and then he punched."

This is the guy Dems are going all out for right now https://t.co/KdlqooDRka

— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) April 16, 2025

I can do this all day, Jay. pic.twitter.com/PAYlWXiA9q

— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) April 15, 2025

.@PressSec lays out the FACTS: "Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist who was deported back to his HOME COUNTRY." pic.twitter.com/onwoSVYyqE

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 16, 2025

Chris Van Hollen was told by El Salvadoran officials to go piss up a rope.

Is this the biggest idiot in Congress ever or just this decade? Chris Van Hollen was turned away without even a phone call ! Thank you @nayibbukele ! pic.twitter.com/lOzbTlurzV

— Joyreaper (@joyreaper) April 17, 2025

Even El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele sees that Democrats care only for killers and rapists:

Raise your hand ✋️ if you want the @FBI to arrest Chris Van Hollen (D) the minute he steps foot back in this country for violating the Logan Act @FBIDirectorKash Patel k@FBIDDBongino

pic.twitter.com/1vOyY9n8AK

— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) April 16, 2025

Close it up

UK Supreme Court Rules That Women-Only Spaces are For Biological, Not "Trans," Women

—Ace

There's such a thing as a "woman." Apparently being a woman is not just down to "whether I'm feelin' cute today."

Who knew.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unanimously ruled Wednesday that a woman is someone born biologically female, a move that now excludes transgender women from the legal definition of a woman.

Trans women can be excluded from some single-sex spaces and groups under the U.K. Equality Act, the five judges of the top court ruled. These spaces and groups include changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas and medical or counseling services provided only to women.

The ruling means that even a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes.

But Justice Patrick Hodge said its ruling "does not remove protection from trans people," who are "protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment."

Oh wonderful.

Hannah Ford, an employment lawyer, said that while the judgment will provide clarity on the controversial issue in the U.K., it would be a setback for transgender rights and there would be "an uphill battle" to ensure workplaces are welcoming places for trans people.

"This will be really wounding for the trans community," Ford told Sky News.

Oh no, a wounding.

The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

—CBD

It's the culture, stupid! Or more elegantly, as Andrew Breitbart famously said, "Politics is downstream from culture." And the progressives understand that very well, as they have taken control of most of the levers of American culture! Academia, media, entertainment, and even the national repository of our history: The Smithsonian!

Gone are the days when the Smithsonian was a place where we could celebrate American Exceptionalism, and see for ourselves the grand and glorious country that we have created. It is now a focal point for the left's vicious hatred of America, and its desire to drag us down into the muck of their American Original Sin: slavery. No matter that we fought a civil war in part to end it. No matter that our society was, until recently, pretty much color blind. Never mind that black integration into the larger American society is complete.

No...we must prostrate ourselves in submission to the insanity that our great country is irredeemable, that it is structurally racist, and it must be torn down!

Trump's Smithsonian Counter-Revolution

On March 27, President Trump issued an executive order arguing that there has been a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” and promote a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” This “revisionist movement” casts American “founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” A White House fact sheet calls for “revitalizing key cultural institutions and reversing the spread of divisive ideology.” Vice President JD Vance, a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, is tasked with leading the administration’s efforts.

Critics of the executive order responded quickly. They maintain the Trump Administration wants to “whitewash the past and suppress discussion of systemic racism.” The Smithsonian, the critics contend, is led by non-partisan professionals whose aim is to be truthful and inclusive and tell the whole story of America, including groups that have been neglected in the past. Professor David W. Blight of Yale, who is president of the Organization of American Historians (OAH), complained that the executive order is a “laughable thing until you realize what their intent actually is and what they’re doing is trying to erode and then obliterate what we have been writing for a century.”

The purpose of the Smithsonian and other museums is to teach...not to preach a particular perspective, especially when that perspective is antithetical to everything upon which this country is based. We don't need cheerleaders for the 1619 Project and other initiatives that are designed to destroy the very concept of American Exceptionalism and replace it with a miserable devotion to guilt, reparations, and a demeaning view of our country.

But that's what we have in too many museums and cultural institutions, and President Trump is absolutely correct in his efforts to change it. We are owed a certain amount of respect for America by the people who are charged with preserving its history, and men like David Blight (of Yale!) do not deserve that responsibility.

Read the whole article...it is sobering that America Hate is so embedded, but it is tremendously gratifying that President Donald Trump is doing something about it! And I think he has chosen exactly the correct person to spearhead the effort. Vice President Vance is not a child of privilege; he understands how complex our history is. But he also appreciates America, and will bring that attitude to the Smithsonian.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter] And the Apple and Spotify feeds for CJN's podcast should be working!

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report — 4/ 17 /25

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. As you peruse the links, you'll note so many "shocking" headlines that you'll pull a Claude Rains inspector Renault face. Sadly without collecting any winnings from the roulette wheel. Meh, another day ending in "Y."

For example,

The suspect behind an arson attack on the headquarters building of the New Mexico Republican Party and the firebombing of a New Mexico Tesla dealership has been revealed to be an Antifa supporter.

And then we have,

Isra Hirsi, the daughter of "Squad" member Rep. Ilhan (Bro-Fo) Omar (D., Minn.), promoted a fundraiser supporting Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student activist facing deportation over his support for Hamas.

She's her daughter, she's her niece, she's her daughter and her niece! Meh, forget it, it's Chinatown.

And speaking of immigration fraudsters it turns out the violent bestial criminal illegal alien from El Salvador who must be returned to America or else it'll be the worst stain on our history since 9/11, the Civil War and January 6 combined, is indeed a violent bestial criminal illegal alien:

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin revealed on Wednesday that deported illegal alien and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia was with two other MS-13 members when he was arrested in 2019, and was found to have  “rolls of cash and drugs” on him. Garcia crossed the border into the United States illegally in 2012 and when he was arrested in 2019, claimed he had to flee El Salvador as a teenager to escape gang violence.

Of course ancient alta cocker communist Bernie Sanders flying all over the place on private jets is no big deal. He is after all using other people's money, so that's not shocking in the least. Ditto Letitia James, the Lavrenty Beria of Tomas Torquemadas, who persecutes innocent people for crimes, real and mostly imagined that she herself is guilty of.

New York’s Democrat Attorney General, Letitia James, is launching a new lawfare campaign against President Donald J. Trump, insinuating potential insider trading instances linked to the White House’s recent pause of reciprocal tariffs. Confirmed to be underway on April 16, the New York AG’s inquiry purports to determine whether Trump or his associates had prior knowledge of the tariff actions, which preceded a significant upturn in the stock market. However, there is mounting speculation that James’s investigation of Trump is meant to distract from her own criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations of mortgage fraud.President Trump’s announcement of the tariff pause, to allow bilateral trade negotiations with over 70 nations to take place, was preceded just hours before by two posts on Truth Social where the America First leader stated, “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before” and “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” The subsequent surge in the financial markets—with several trades logged just before the pause was announced—make up the core of the newest allegations underpinning the lawfare effort.

So, she is under a huge cloud of suspicion for both mortgage fraud and that she claims her primary residence is in Virginia while serving as NY State's AG? Nothing to see here, right folks? But President Trump performing his duties as President in directing national foreign and economic policy and boom, the fake charges go flying.

Funny how scum and vermin like Harry Reid and Malig-Nancy Pelosi start their political careers with net worths of maybe a few hundred thousand dollars and either die or retire worth multiple tens of millions, yet not a peep from anyone about that. Again, not shocking at all.

Moving away from the shockng/not shocking theme, and Speaking of the 9/11 attack,

Al Qaeda boss and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden spent months living and receiving treatment in Iran, according to a bombshell interview on the Tucker Carlson Show this week. Carlson sat down with former Pennsylvania congressman Curt Weldon (R.), who made the revelations, and also said that nosing around about the issue played a role in his being run out of Congress.

While Iran's involvement had been suspected, if not actually proven, from day one, not to mention the obvious but diplomatically toxic connection to the Saudis, the focus of our attention was Afghanistan and Iraq, and the rest as they say is history.

Considering President Trump's discussions, via his envoy Steve Witkoff, with the Mullahs, as well as Trump's increasingly loud and tough talk vis a vis both their race towards getting the bomb as well as their alliance with Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, this interview raises an eyebrow.

As CBD and I discussed on the latest episode of the podcast (linked here and in the sidebar)

Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nukes for they will no doubt use them against Israel, Western targets and if they could deploy them, against the American mainland itself. That said, getting into a shooting war with them involving American forces is far and away the least desirable option for a whole host of reasons. Blockades and other moves against their infrastructure to say nothing of military action a la the Gulf Wars would only serve to alienate the very put upon Persian people we want and need to do the job of overthrowing the Mullahs, or otherwise assisting in that ultimate result.

And the last thing we need is like what happened in Syria and Afghanistan is to have an even more dark age Islamic totalitarian theocracy than we had since 1979, this time with a populace pissed off at the West and unwilling or unable to liberate itself.

I'd like to think that this whole Witkoff gambit is just some sort of a misdirection play on the part of the President. I would think he knows that it's long past time for the Mullahs to go. My concern is how he intends to pull it off. Despite Marco Rubio's presence, Foggy Bottom and the intelligence and military bureaucracies are still infested with Deep State holdovers and saboteurs who are steeped in anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-western animus yet are charged with developing the tactics and strategies to implement the very policies that they themselves have been working against their entire professional careers.

Obviously, this can be applied to every agency, department and bureau in DC.

Moving on . . . yesterday or the day before there was a report that millions of dollars (and it has got to be a hell of a lot more than that figure) in social security and other benefits were to be reinstated to illegal aliens. While at the same time Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants was wheeled out to shriek out the tired old bromide about Republicans destroying Social Security.

All of this makes my blood boil, over and above its inherent outrageousness, but because it hits too close to home. Someone very close to me has found it impossible to sign up for let alone collect social security as well as sign up for medicare (because of a suspected identity theft that occurred a number of years ago). And yet foreigners here illegally can get all sorts of assistance to get our hard-earned money while bureaucrats and apparatchiks send my dear one on a paper chase for years hoping we die before they are forced to intercede.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and 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
• If history has taught us anything, it is that government power, once claimed, is rarely surrendered.
  Is Real ID a national security tool or a trojan horse for tyranny?
  
• A state-level bill will make de facto government schools out of every private, religious, and home education environment.
  Ready for Your Home to Become a Government School?
  
• 'It is unconstitutional … to force healthcare professionals to choose between their careers and submitting to ideological indoctrination,' dentist's attorney says
  Michigan Dentist Sues Gov Wretched Whitmer's Administration Over Mandatory 'Implicit Bias Training'

Daily Tech News 17 April 2025

—Pixy Misa

• Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti 16GB edition is here and it's eh. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  The other two cards announced today, the 5060 Ti 8GB edition and the 5060 non-Ti, are nowhere to be found.
  
  If you're not using ray tracing, it's about 10% slower than my Radeon 7800 XT and costs about 25% more at retail. Retail prices may settle down eventually, but they haven't been great so far in Nvidia's 5000-series launch.
  
  If you are using ray tracing, it's about 5% faster than my Radeon 7800 XT - but still 25% more expensive.
  
  That retail price places it just 10% cheaper than AMD's new 9070 (non-XT) card, which averages 50% faster at 4k resolution.
  
  It does better at Stable Diffusion (AI image generation) and runs acceptably cool and quiet, but you should definitely wait to see what the Radeon 9060 delivers if you're in the market.
  
  
  

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - April 16, 2025 [TRex]

—Open Blogger

Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the overnight variety.

This is the Wednesday night ONT. Fair warning: the ONT is random and scattered tonight. That is either a feature or a bug.

[Top photo: Wall of fire and a Lockheed F-35B, USMC Beaufort Air Show. MAGTF demo. Not AI.]

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Prayers up for Mrs. Salty:

Continued prayers for Jim NSD:

Prayers in general for strength and wisdom for the Horde and those Horde adjacent.

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The Yellow Footprints are the first stop for new Marine recruits arriving at Parris Island:

USMC Parris Island mission statement:

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Ummm... Outback Steakhouse: just push the button and gift cards emerge?

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Anyone want to buy a refueling tanker? KC-10 Extender Tankers Are Up For Auction

Ten tankers are up for sale on the GSA surplus website. Eight are missing an engine and none come with a refueling boom, so you'll have to supply your own or work with Boeing. Auction closes on May 6. First bids of $500,000 each have already been placed.

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True, true.

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One for the A-10 fan club:

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Great moments in marketing:

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Because the ONT knows you were curious to know how bowling balls are made:

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Rolling chaos:

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Big penguin strikes back: Unsecured Penguin Causes Helicopter Crash After Getting Its Adorable Widdle Feet All Over The Controls

Hat tip: blaster

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Pittsburgh police scanner monitoring - highlights since April 5:

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The Guinness Book of World records tackles the hard questions of life:

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Classic ZZ Top for our big ONT finish:

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Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking? Come out and play. Unless you're intoxicated and swinging safety cones around at a construction site in Pittsburgh. If that's you, carry on.

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