Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
Anderson Pooper will do all the inserting, thank you very much.
Anderson Cooper's recent decision not to renew his contract with "60 Minutes" came at the last minute and left execs at the struggling network flat-footed, a source with knowledge of the matter told The Post on Wednesday.
LOL. I imagine they made him a deliberately-insulting offer to induce him to turn them down.
The journo had been poised to become the face of "60 Minutes" under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski, who privately lauded him as an important player at the struggling news network.
Sure sure sure. Who wouldn't want an old, cum-colored no-ratings hack from soon-to-be-bankrupt CNN as the face of your top news magazine?
But Cooper's decision to pull out came as the deal was in its final tages, the source said.
And it's well known that he rarely pulls out.
"They must be pissed," the person said of Weiss and Cibrowski, who'd seen the CNN anchor as a prominent face of "60 Minutes."
For some reason I hear "They must be pissed" in Anderson Pooper's voice.
"They wanted to build the show around him," the source added.
Uh-huh.
The article says that Pooper wants to spend more time "with his two young sons."
Both CBS News and a rep for Cooper declined to comment.
[S]ources said a series of recent decisions by Weiss were what prompted Cooper to end his nearly 20-year run at "60 Minutes."
Those include her revamp of "60 Minutes," which will likely include pushing out veteran correspondents like Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi, as previously reported by The Post.
Sources also pointed to Weiss' unwillingness to fire wellness contributor Peter Attia over his chummy, eyebrow-raising emails with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Recently surfaced emails showed Attia telling Epstein the "biggest problem [about] becoming friends" with him was having to keep quiet about his "outrageous lifestyle" -- in an exchange with the chilling subject line, "Got a fresh shipment."
Raise your hand if you believe that Anderson Pooper is scandalized by an "outrageous lifestyle" or even having sex with underaged people. Now take that hand and slap yourself in the back of the head, you big dummy.
Sources also pointed to Weiss' involvement in the journalism and management of "60 Minutes," which long operated in a silo under its executive producer.
"He doesn't like that she has inserted herself," a CBS source said of Cooper, pointing to Weiss' recent editorial scrutiny of his "60 Minutes" piece on the Trump administration's decision to accept refugees from South Africa.
I have a rule that helps me tell when people are lying: People who tell the truth will tell one story. Similarly, they will also usually offer one, or at most, two reasons for a decision they're making, and stick to those.
When people are lying, they start spamming out a bunch of reasons for a decision because they don't trust their own lie. They don't have the confidence to go with just one dishonest reason, because most liars feel they're on shaky ground when lying, and they're afraid that if they put all their eggs in one basket, that one basket will be interrogated and proven false and then they'll be exposed as a liar. So instead they start flooding the filed with a bunch of different lies, feeling safe that if any of those lies is disproven, they still have five more to fall back on.
So no, I don't believe Anderson Pooper's Aerial Chaff of lies to explain his departure. I believe they either told him they would not renew, or made an embarrassingly low fake offer, and told him "We'll let you say this was all your idea."
I briefly mentioned this in quick hits, but here's a longer article: Jake Tapper is very, very mad that CNN brass have curtailed "journalists'" ability to self-promote, both on their own shows as well as in their social media because they were embarrassed by Tapper turning his show (and Twitter feed) into a never-ending infomercial for his Biden Cover-Up book. (The other article was at the Satanic Daily Beast so I didn't want to link it.)
CNN anchor Jake Tapper is said to be fuming over a new company policy that sharply restricts how on-air talent can promote their own books.
Tapper, who hosts "The Lead" and co-anchors "State of the Union" at the Warner Bros. Discovery--owned network, is "very, very unhappy" with a directive from CNN chief Mark Thompson that prohibits anchors from promoting books beyond publication day, a network journalist told Breaker Media.
The veteran political anchor, who has authored eight books, most recently co-writing a bestseller about President Joe Biden's decline and his disastrous decision to seek reelection, used his CNN platform extensively to promote the title -- a rollout that some colleagues internally described as turning the network into a "rolling infomercial," according to Breaker.
On Feb. 4, CNN updated its standards guide in what Breaker reported was a direct response to Tapper's on-air promotion.
The revised policy states: "We should not mix news and advertising, even when what is being advertised is work by a leading CNN journalist."
Under the new guidelines, anchors may acknowledge publication of a book on its release date if integrated into a journalistic segment -- but they "should not promote it following publication day on their own program."
The policy also bars the use of websites, QR codes or links to drive personal sales and requires CNN authors to meet with members of the executive leadership team to approve any rollout plan tied to CNN platforms.
In addition, all book-related promotion must be reviewed and approved by CNN PR, and no third parties beyond a publisher may be contracted without approval from the head of CNN PR, according to the policy reviewed by Breaker.
Tensions had already been simmering inside the newsroom.
Breaker previously reported that staffers questioned the decision to air anonymously sourced claims from Tapper's book, arguing that limited internal fact-checking of outside works put CNN in an awkward position.
I like that this sissy did what girls do and got a group of his Beties together to issue a joint complaint to management. Possibly Anderson Pooper was part of his Girl-Squad.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Arrested, Has Home Searched; Suspected of, Get This, Passing Sensitive Insider Trade Information to International Financier and Child Sex Trafficker Jeffrey Epstein
—Disinformation Expert Ace
This is the former Prince Andrew. Today is also his 66th birthday, coincidentally.
Police today arrested the former Prince Andrew after weeks of revelations over the former prince's friendship and dealings with convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Thames Valley Police said it arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of misconduct in public office, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the United Kingdom.
And he's not Muslim (yet) so he might actually go to prison.
The force, which covers an area in southern England where Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now known, did not name him, as is standard practice under British law.
Asked whether Mountbatten-Windsor had been arrested, the police responded with a statement: "We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time," Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said. "Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office."
And what is the "misconduct in public office" Mountbatten-Windsor is accused of?
Insider Paper
@TheInsiderPaper
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, shared official British trade documents with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010, leaking information to the late sex offender from his role as a government envoy, emails appear to show -- Reuters
Gay rent-boy squabbler Queer Starmer said that no one is above the law:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said today that "nobody is above the law" when asked about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, speaking ahead of the royal's arrest this morning.
Starmer told British public broadcaster the BBC the principle was "very important" and "has to apply in this case in the same way it would in any other case."
Sad cuck Charles said he approved of the arrest of his brother:
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace this morning but signed "Charles R," the monarch pledged his full support for the police probe.
I think the R stands for "Rex." Snobby bastard.
The statement reads:
"I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities."
"In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all."
Butch low-IQ narcissist Marjorie Taylor-Greene took the opportunity to bash Trump:
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green criticized President Donald Trump and U.S. authorities in the wake of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest.
"The UK has arrested Andrew because of the Epstein files and over here the President signed an EO protecting cancer causing Glyphosate in our foods and we have zero Epstein related arrest and investigations since release of the files," she said in a post on X. "And we are on the verge of going to war against Iran."
"That's the current state of MAGA and MAHA," she added.
“I would not be surprised to see King Charles have to abdicate over this.” Hilary Fordwich, British Royals Commentator, speaking of the Prince Andrew arrest. pic.twitter.com/om4vRr6OGL
Yes, in 2015, Donald Trump referred to Jeffrey Epstein's island as a "cesspool" and suggested asking Prince Andrew about it, highlighting Andrew's connection amid Epstein abuse allegations. This was during comments on Bill Clinton's ties to Epstein.
I gotta say, bodyguards are trained to completely ignore stuff like this. If they don't, their client will escape them and he won't be protected. Bill Clinton's Secret Service detail had to put up with all of his deviancies and Hillary Clinton assaulting him over them.
More: Sarah Ferguson's longtime lover says that Andrew was "f***ing underaged girls." I guess this was a hidden camera sting video from James O'Keefe.
Prince Andrew was arrested in the UK over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
James O’Keefe got undercover footage of the Royal Family Advisor exposing Prince Andrew’s sexual relations with UNDERAGE CHILDREN and deep ties to Jeffrey Epstein
You might think you do, but the lies they spout about the SAVE act should disabuse you of the notion that they are anything other than evil servants of a malign movement whose one goal is the destruction of America.
They dutifully parrot the Democrat Party talking points that are themselves baldfaced lies, and horribly insulting to vast swaths of America.
Translated into simple English, those talking points are: Black and Brown people, and married women are too dumb to get ID, and only good White liberals are smart enough to take care of them.
Of course that is arrant nonsense...the real reason for fighting the SAVE act is to allow illegals to vote, and for the oceans of uncontrolled mail-in ballots that swamp America every election to continue to corrupt the will of the voters.
The bill outlines categories of documents that could qualify, including:
A valid U.S. passport
A REAL ID-compliant ID that indicates U.S. citizenship
Military ID together with a military record showing U.S. birthplace
Government-issued photo ID showing U.S. birthplace
Other government documents demonstrating citizenship (such as naturalization records)
If a person does not have these standard and common documents, the bill requires states to create an alternative process where additional documentation may be submitted to prove citizenship.
That sounds like the bill is mandating a reasonable process to allow American citizens access to their voting rights, even if they don't have traditional forms of identification. It doesn't sound like disenfranchisement of women or minorities or midgets or left-handed lesbians or any of the pressure groups that the Democrat/leftist apparatus trots out to prove that we filthy conservatives are just itching to throw them in camps.
It does one thing; it keeps non-citizens out of the voting systems.
Don't let them obfuscate...don't let them lie...don't let them subvert our voting...don't let them get away with their typical lies that filter into the American consciousness by sheer volume.
The resistance to this sane, rational, thoroughly acceptable bill is a strong indicator of the true politics of those who are fighting it. Senators Collins (a tepid yes with a procedural no) and Murkowski are against it, but we knew that already. The big issue is getting rid of the so-called filibuster, and any senator who resists that is also an enemy of our true voting rights.
We can argue incessantly about the wisdom of the filibuster, but a legislative victory for this administration is a powerful signal to the country, and will last far longer than presidential memos and administrative rules changes that can be cancelled the first day of a Democrat administration.
And who knows...maybe Fetterman will vote for it and President Trump can talk about his bipartisan triumph!
[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!
Biden’s border chaos wasn’t accidental—it was a political strategy to reshape America’s electorate and expand left-wing power.
To even expand upon this with the observation that no wonder the Democrat/Left is now actively fomenting and engaging in political/legal/judicial obstruction, as well as violent confrontations with federal and local law enforcement officers attempting to do their duty; all of which IMHO and that of legal experts and historians constitutes dictionary definition insurrection and revolution — would earn me a well deserved, duh, hey, no shit Sherlock!
If I want to be an optimist, I could look at that observation by the good professor Hanson as perhaps a tacit admission by the Democrat/Left that their political influence/brand and policies do not resonate with the vast majority of the American people and indeed are turning them off in droves, regardless of their controlling the high ground of the media, culture and most crucially academia. Had it been otherwise, HIllary Clinton should have won massive back-to-back victories in 2016 and 2020 and we'd now be enduring the second half of a Tim Kaine regime, or the vicissitudes of American politics being what they are even a Jeb Bush administration.
The forecast from the American Redistricting Project shows Democrats losing nine seats in reliable blue states. Two swing states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, would each lose a seat. Those 11 seats would go to states that Trump won in 2024. A different projection from Jonathan Cervas at Carnegie Mellon University has solid red and lean red states gaining 13 seats.
If these projections hold, the Republican presidential candidate in 2032 could lose Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada and win the presidency. The Democratic candidate would have to win those swing states and either Arizona or Georgia.
Liberals could help mitigate this by having more babies. Blue states can’t make adults stay, but newborns don’t have a choice. That’s unlikely to happen. The Institute for Family Studies found that in 2023 the 10 states with the highest fertility rates were deep red states. The 10 states with the lowest fertility rates were deep blue states. Further, conservative women have more kids.
This trend is unlikely to reverse. Just 25% of women who voted for Kamala Harris said they wanted children, a recent New York Times poll found. Among Trump voters, it was 43%. Both numbers skew low because the response group includes adults 45 and older.
You can see the left’s dilemma. People are fleeing the misery caused by its terrible policies, while its adherents reproduce at low levels.
From the essay "Trump isn't just deporting illegals. He's deporting the voters Dems need," to which my snarky but accurate retort is Unfotuntately, you can't deport dead people and mail-in ballots: which no doubt comprise the vast majority of Democrat votes in any given election.
Speaking on "The Dan Bongino Show," Patel said the FBI under President Donald Trump has been conducting a financial investigation into how demonstrations linked to the loosely organized far-left movement are supported.
"These organizations don’t operate alone or in silence," Patel said. "They operate with a heavy, heavy stream of funding.
And we started looking into it, and guess what? We found them."
. . .Patel didn't name specific donors, financial institutions, or nonprofits, but he did confirm that federal agents are examining whether funding flowed through U.S.-based nonprofit groups, including some with tax-exempt status, and whether foreign sources played a role.
He said more details could emerge in the coming months as the investigation develops.
If proven, the implications are enormous.
Antifa has long described itself as an idea, not an organization. Members work in loose networks, often masked and decentralized, and deny the lack of a leadership structure.
Yet coordinated violence has appeared in city after city.
Find the money, seize every RED cent, emphasis on the word RED for obvious reasons, and dismantle with extreme prejudice the sources from whence it comes. Be it Beijing, Davos and/or DNC headquarters.
It's us or them.
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
Victor Davis Hanson: Biden’s border chaos wasn’t accidental—it was a political strategy to reshape America’s electorate and expand left-wing power. Why Exactly Did They Destroy the Border?
CIVIL WAR 2.0, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
Trump-appointed Judge Mark Pittman declared a mistrial for nine people accused of organizing a July 2025 attack against an Alvarado immigration facility, citing defense lawyer MarQuetta Clayton’s “politically charged” shirt bearing images of Shirley Chisholm and other civil rights movement figures, KERA and journalist Andy Ngo reported. The day also brought another roadblock as prospective jurors expressed hostile opinions toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and President Donald Trump while under questioning, according to KERA. (RELATED: Alleged Antifa Leader Who Fled FBI Now Set To Testify In Terrorism Trial) Lefties Sabotage America’s First Antifa Terrorism Trial On Day One
Patel didn't name specific donors, financial institutions, or nonprofits, but he did confirm that federal agents are examining whether funding flowed through U.S.-based nonprofit groups, including some with tax-exempt status, and whether foreign sources played a role. He said more details could emerge in the coming months as the investigation develops. If proven, the implications are enormous. Kash Patel Says the FBI Found Antifa’s Money
Senators grilled a Trump nominee over “white culture,” ignoring that what they call taboo is really just the traditional American culture most have long lived in. What Is White Culture?
Mamdani has already foolishly repealed an Adams-era executive order that let the feds monitor Tren de Aragua and other gangs inside the Rikers Island jails. Politico reports that Commissar Mostofi will invent new, more severe penalties for city workers who flout “sanctuary” mandates. This comes on the heels of Mamdani tapping Faiza Ali — a 'Palestinian' activist with ties to the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations and notorious anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour/Farfour (the Hamas Louse) — as the city’s new chief immigration officer. Mamdani wants ‘Minneapolis everywhere’ with his ‘sanctuary-plus’ edicts
* * * * *
Lloyd Billingsley: Kash Patel must tell the truth about slain DHW whistleblower Philip Haney. Dead Reckoning for the FBI
A few hundred thousand bureaucrats crossing the Potomac never to hold a government do-nothing job again is a good start! Keep Firing Federal Freeloaders
Overall industrial production rose 0.7 percent compared with December, the third consecutive month of rising output. Compared with a year ago, industrial production is up 2.3 percent and is at the highest level in the post-pandemic era. The monthly gain was more than twice the 0.3 percent forecast by analysts. Industrial Production Surges on Business and Consumer Demand to Post-Pandemic High
In December 2025, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s Colorado Scorecard for 2025 received bad news when 45% of the business leaders who participated said they planned “to invest out of state.” Software Company Palantir Flees Colorado for Florida
“We have entered into a terrifying turning point in American history,” Blue Lives Matter posted on X. “It was bad enough seeing corrupt, far-left judges betray our justice system. But now… liberals have figured out how to destroy the juries as well.” Mistrial Declared in Capital Murder Case Involving Venezuelan Gang TdA
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
Across Europe, countries including the UK and Germany are considering social media bans for minors, citing concerns that the platforms are harmful and addictive. In early February, French authorities raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X as part of a years-long criminal investigation into alleged algorithm manipulation and the spread of illegal content. ‘Pure Bullsh*t’: Macron Attacks Free Speech In Push For More Government Control
Authorities charged a group of nine far-left militants with fatally beating 23-year-old Quentin Deranque in Lyon, France, during a protest. The BBC published the headline, “Nine arrested in France over death of far-right student,” which sparked outrage among conservatives online. BBC’s Headline On Conservative Student Beaten To Death Sparks Massive Backlash
“The Republican electorate in California is split between Steve Hilton at 38 percent and Chad Bianco at 37 percent, while Hilton also picks up a plurality of independent voters at 22 percent,” said the pollster, Emerson. “Democratic voters have not yet clearly coalesced around one candidate.” Shock Poll: Republican Steve Hilton Leads in California Governor’s Race
Trump isn't just deporting illegals. He's deporting the voters Dems need. (Unfotuntately, you can't deport dead people and mail-in ballots: which no doubt comprise the vast majority of Democrat votes in any given election - jjs) Democrats Face a Demographic Doom Spiral
It's hard to put into words just how historic this is, but it's yet another win for the Trump administration. I just Googled it to see if the MSM is reporting on it — so far, it looks like just a few outlets, like the Jerusalem Post and Reuters, are the only others mentioning it. That could change tomorrow, but the media does not like to celebrate these wins. I will. Historic: A Surprise High-Level U.S. Visitor Lands in Venezuela
The Cuban Communist Party has survived in power for over 67 years as a result of receiving economic support from political allies – for most of its existence, the Soviet Union, and later socialist Venezuela following the collapse of the USSR. Oil-rich Venezuela, under both Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez, offered the Castro regime years of free or extremely reduced-priced oil in exchange for political and security support from Havana. Oil shipments from Venezuela abruptly ended after President Donald Trump ordered an operation to arrest Maduro on narco-terrorism charges in January. Cuba Sends Top Diplomat to Russia, Seeking Support in Face of Trump-Led Oil Crackdown
The video features Kennedy and Kid Rock spending time together, eating food, posing with the American flag and the Statue of Liberty, and working out side by side. Kennedy is shown using a seated arm curl machine, while Kid Rock uses a cable machine with Kennedy exercising beside him on a similar machine. In another segment, Kennedy holds Kid Rock’s feet while he performs crunches. Kid Rock is also seen using a lying leg curl machine before Kennedy uses the same equipment. HHS Sec Kennedy, Kid Rock Team Up for ‘Rock Out Workout’ Encouraging Americans to ‘GET ACTIVE + EAT REAL FOOD’
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
Red-state lawmakers preach Christ, pray publicly, and post crosses—but when it comes to defending marriage, their faith stops at words. Christ Is King, but Marriage Is Nothing?
The “Reagan” film. . . is told from the perspective of a fictional KGB agent (Jon Voight) assigned to observe Reagan over a multi-decade period. And it works. “Reagan” is an effective movie. Ronald Reagan’s Imaginary Enemy
Then there was the time Jesse Jackson lied about holding MLK's body Jesse Jackson is Shaking Down Corporations in Heaven Now(I believe Jackson's "soul" such as it was is now residing in a place that is considerably far to the south of Heaven, and a Hell of a lot hotter! - jjs)
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
In the talk, he describes a meeting in China where he witnessed mobile and automotive companies (presumably major ones) pleading suppliers for flash memory. He concludes that smaller firms may not be able to secure any flash supply at all, stating that "consumer electronics are finished," and that the market "will see a lot of victims" in the second half of 2026.
There is at least a light at the end of the tunnel.
Later in the interview he says that he "[tells his clients] that if the first quarter of this year is painful, really painful, then by year-end, they'll definitely jump off a building."
First, you can't jailbreak iPhones.
Second, you can't jailbreak F35s either. Unless you are prepared to somehow replace the avionics and the software yourself.
Third, a supplicant threatening their own benefactor rarely turns out well.
But then, the Netherlands - at least, the lower house in their parliament, it has yet to pass their senate - just approved a 36% annual tax on unrealised capital gains, so I think they are simply incapable of learning at this point.
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - February 18, 2026 [TRex]
—Open Blogger
Good evening Horde. The time has come for very random mid-week shenanigans of the post-cafe overnight variety.
Welcome to the Wednesday night ONT which means another edition of overnight fun and games. Pull up a chair and sit a spell. Good will offerings of amusing puns are happily accepted. Pants are optional. Be nice to your fellow commenters and AoS contributors. Happy Ash Wednesday.
[Top photo: Muckross Abbey Yew tree, Loncarphotography]
Muckross Abbey (Mainistir Locha Leinand Mainistir Mhucrois) was founded in 1448 by the Observantine faction of the Franciscan Order, with the political support and financial patronage of the Gaelic Irish Chieftain Donal Mac Mór Mac Chartaigh (Donal McCarthy Mor).
Though known as "Muckross Abbey" the building was in fact a "Friary" not an Abbey. Abbeys, like the nearby monastery on Innisfallen Island, were built for the monks to live in, in isolation from society, leading a secluded contemplative life of prayer. However the Franciscan Friars living in this friary would regularly have travelled to nearby towns to preach to the local people and lived as a "mendicant order" having their food and supplies donated to them by local people, including the powerful McCarthy Clan.
Adjoining the North side of the church there is a cloister where the friars would have walked in meditative prayer. Today, a yew tree still stands at the centre; this is thought to be one of the oldest in Ireland, as it is likely up to 400 years old. In 1756, one of the first tourists to Killarney, the Englishman Charles Smith, wrote that it was one of the tallest yew trees he had ever seen: "Its spreading branches, like a great umbrella, overshadow the niches of the great cloister." (Unsurprisingly there is a great wealth of folklore still surviving about the tree and supernatural harm that strikes down anyone who interferes with it.)
Muckross Friary was sacked by the English forces of Elizabeth I during the Desmond Rebellions of the late 16th century. In 1652 a unit of Cromwell's New Model Army, under the command of an English General named Edmond Ludlow, raided the friary and removed its roof to render it uninhabitable. A number of the Franciscans were killed in this attack, the survivors fled to France as refugees, and the buildings were left abandoned.
Anyone been there?
***
Are you in the market for an F-4 Phantom?
This restoration project costs $950,000 and would require another million or so to finish the job. Once finished, it would be the "only flight capable Phantom that can be owned, operated, and flown by a private individual/organization."
F4H-1F s/n 145310 was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1959 as the 11th pre-production Phantom. It was part of Operation Sageburner which set the low-altitude speed record at 902 mph at 125 feet as part of the U.S. Navy's 50th Anniversary of Naval Aviation in 1961.
Click the photo for the full listing. The same site has a flyable Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk for $5.5m if you're more into choppers.
***
This is not a food thread, but thought you would be interested in the latest legal news on chicken wings.
What's in a name? If we called a wing by any other name, would it smell as sweet? The plaintiff, Aimen Halim, says no. The defendant, Buffalo Wild Wings ("BWW"), sells a product it calls "boneless wings," which are essentially chicken nuggets: pieces of chicken breast meat, deep-fried and tossed in whatever sauce or dry seasoning the customer wants. Halim, apparently, found this confusing. He claims that he thought boneless wings were real chicken wings with the bones removed. He says BWW's product should be called something different, something like "chicken poppers." Halim sued BWW over his confusion, but his complaint has no meat on its bones. Halim does not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers are deceived by boneless wings, so he has failed to state a plausible claim for relief.
Shockingly, the judge did not dismiss the case outright. The plaintiff has until March 20 to amend his complaint.
During a Valentine's Day quarrel about infidelity, a man allegedly struck his female companion in the head with a thrown "Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich," according to Florida police who arrested the suspect for domestic battery.
Investigators say Theodore Anderson, 27, and the victim were having dinner in their home Saturday evening when they began to argue.
The defendant, cops charge, "threw a Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwich, striking the victim on the head with it." Anderson then tossed a "styrofoam cup of blue Powerade," which left the woman soaked in sports drink.
When officers arrived at the St. Petersburg residence, they reported spotting the Chick-fil-A delicacy "broken apart in the living room where the incident occurred." The sandwich was not collected as evidence.
He seems nice. Hope she makes a life change. What a waste of a chicken sandwich...
Here's shift-tilt photography of a farm. I've linked that recently but it's worth a rewatch.
The boy drifted the car perfectly, impressed the girl next to him, and gave his friend a pat on the back. An absolute legend! pic.twitter.com/61JjK4fU7H
NEW: Newly declassified FBI emails from October 2016 reveal the Crossfire Hurricane team was operating under the assumption their alleged Russian agent target Carter Page was a "homosexual," until their informant Christopher Steele fed them another rumor Page had a Russian girlfriend who was a ballerina in Moscow.
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
·
14h
BREAKING: President Obama and his National Security Adviser Susan Rice were so distraught after Trump won in 2016 they literally broke down and cried in front of White House staff, according to 1,100 hours of new audio and video compiled by Columbia University in cooperation with the Obama Foundation. After all they'd built, they feared their accomplishments were "at risk" of being torn down by a "con man" and a "clown." Ergo, Trump had to be stopped?
Charles C.W. Cooke at NRO: Browning suggests that AOC went to Munich to insist that "wealthy world leaders must better provide for their working classes or risk their countries sliding toward authoritarianism." Apparently, he considers this exonerative. In truth, though, that is the whole problem: AOC is a one-trick pony. What she says in America is what she says in Munich, because she doesn't know how to say anything else. At some point in her life she became attracted to warmed-over democratic socialism, and since that point she has declined to learn anything more. She's a meme, an avatar, a vibe. In her interview with Browning, she griped that the press had focused on "any five-to-10-second thing" from her remarks. But of course it did. She is a five-to-10-second thing. She is a limerick competing with a bunch of novels. What did she think was going to happen?
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Elsewhere, AOC implies that the media's interest in her potentially "running for president" has made it tough for her agenda to break through. But one must wonder why, if political drama is to blame, this did not apply to Marco Rubio, who is constantly depicted as being involved in a monumental power struggle with JD Vance, and yet managed to deliver a speech at the same conference that was widely regarded as masterly. As it happens, the explanation for this difference is simple: Marco Rubio went to Germany to make a discrete case to the Munich Security Conference, and AOC went to Germany to make yet another Instagram video about nothing. The results matched the aims.
Wait, I don't understand -- does Jake Tapper use Twitter for self-promotion?
So funny. A bunch of people who knew they'd soon be answering tough questions on child experimentation, trans violence etc all left X for another site, which they promptly turned into such a woke nightmare that even Will Stancil can't take it. pic.twitter.com/lvyN93PYG4
At the age of 58, Gavin Newsom just discovered he's "dyslexic." This discovery comes as the wealth white straight (???) man enters a primary in which black/Jamaican/Indian immigrant woman Kamala Harris is leading. He needs a way to claim "Buh I'm a minority too." And his Delayed Realization Dyslexia will fill that bill.
After Newsom said something historically illiterate, Ted Cruz said he was historically illiterate.
Newsom went into Total Shrieking Pansy Mode and whined that by saying he's historically illiterate, Ted Cruz was Dog Whistling about the dyslexia that no one believes Gavin Newsom actually has.
I didn’t say you couldn’t read, you 🤡
I said you were “historically illiterate”…
….because you apparently have no idea that Eisenhower federalized the national guard to stop Dem governors from defying federal law.
Nearly 3 minutes into the "breakdown" does @jaketapper just casually bring up that the FCC never made a threat and Colbert's team didn't want to give equal time to other candidates. Seems like a major part of the story you don't bury that far into the reporting. https://t.co/G57qRkQTzs
As the Communist Cuban Junta Enters End-of-Life Care, Marco Rubio Begins Secretly Talking to Raul Castro's Grandson About a Living Will
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Nine days ago, John Sexton predicted the communist regime of Cuba was entering its last year.
They've run out of airplane fuel, leading to grounded airplanes. And they're rationing gasoline. They are no longer receiving gas and oil from Venezuela in return for the state police thugs they sent to protect Maduro and find and torture his critics.
Russia is no longer sending its Dark Fleet to aid them either. In fact, the NYT reports that Cuban communists are realizing they are completely isolated and alone.
Predictions of the demise of Cuba's government have been made before, notably after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which had been Cuba's main benefactor, only to be proved wrong.
But this time, experts say, the survival of Cuba's government appears very much in doubt...
The U.S. government "has determined that Cuba must be free before the end of 2026," said Marcell Felipe, a prominent Cuban exile leader in Miami who chairs the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora and said he had met with U.S. diplomats. "This is a plan in motion."...
A U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the administration’s interactions with Havana said Cuban officials were nervous because they were starting to realize their revolution was coming to an end."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been holding secret talks with the grandson and caretaker of Cuba's aging de facto dictator, Raul Castro, as the U.S. puts unprecedented pressure on Havana's regime, three sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: The talks between Rubio and Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro are bypassing official Cuban government channels. They show that the Trump administration sees the 94-year-old revolutionary as the communist island's true decision-maker.
"I wouldn't call these 'negotiations' as much as 'discussions' about the future," a senior Trump administration official said.
Zoom in: Rubio and his team see the 41-year-old grandson and his circle as representing younger, business-minded Cubans for whom revolutionary communism has failed -- and who see value in rapprochement with the U.S.
"Our position -- the U.S. government's position -- is the regime has to go," the senior official said. "But what exactly that looks like is up to [President Trump] and he has yet to decide. Rubio is still in talks with the grandson."
Called "Raulito," the younger Castro is known in political circles by his nickname "El Cangrejo" ("The Crab") because he has a deformed finger.
Zoom out: After 67 years of U.S. sanctions and Cuban mismanagement, the totalitarian government appears closer than ever to collapse as the island teeters on the edge of a humanitarian crisis.
The power grid is failing. Hospitals are limiting surgeries. Food and fuel are increasingly scarce. Tourism is drying up. Uncollected garbage is piling up on some street corners.
...
Between the lines: The U.S. military's success and technical superiority in the Maduro operation shook Cuba's leadership after American forces suffered no losses and killed at least 32 Cuban intelligence and military officials who were supposed to be guarding Maduro, U.S. officials say.
But the U.S. decision to keep Maduro's governing partners in power --notably his Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who's now acting president -- signaled to Cuban insiders that Trump and Rubio are willing to make deals with rivals.
PRESIDENT TRUMP on potential deal with Cuba: "We're talking to Cuba right now."
"We have a lot of great Cuban Americans, and they're going to be very happy when they're going to be able to go back and say hello to their relatives." pic.twitter.com/UPTaX6Tf8v
Surprise! Harvard Refuses to Obey the Supreme Court Ruling Outlawing Race Discrimination in Admissions. All They've Done Is End Discrimination Against Asians -- and Doubling Up on Anti-White Discrimination
Harvard did not stop discriminating by race, @herandrews writes. It simply stopped doing so against Asians. Affirmative action continues, but now it is entirely at the expense of one race instead of two.
That directive is a byproduct of the NCTE's 2020 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), whose delegates demanded that
Teachers stop using academic language and standard English as the accepted communicative norm, which reflects White Mainstream English!
and that
Teachers develop and teach Black Linguistic Consciousness that works to decolonize the mind (and/or) language, unlearn white supremacy, and unravel anti-Black linguistic racism!
In short, delegates to that conference "DEMAND[ed] Black Linguistic Justice."
If you thought that academe's social-justice warriors would retreat in 2025, you will be disheartened to hear what just happened at the Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU).
In compliance with the CCCC's 2020 resolution, in December MSU's Writing Center redefined Standard American English as "a social construct that privileges white communities and maintains social and racial hierarchies." The writing center's new policy urges students to "us[e] their English (whatever that may be) in communicating their thoughts and ideas."
The Independence Institute was quick to mock MSU's decision, calling it "Good News for White Supremacists" because it "helps assure that people of color stay at the bottom." When the MSU writing center's new posting made national news, university officials "removed that content" and assured students that MSU "remains committed to rigorous academic standards and preparing all students for success in life and careers."
The NCTE's "new priests" view grammar instruction as "an instrument of imperialist oppression."
Very few do what President Beilock did. But I recommend that others try.
If you have not yet caught up with this story, here is what Beilock did: She published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, frankly acknowledging the drastic decline in public confidence in American higher education. She allowed that the loss of confidence is warranted.
As a reader of the Chronicle of Higher Education and other megaphones of the liberal establishment, I know that college presidents know Beilock is right, but they also know that it is an unspeakable truth. The best they can do is declare that the loss of confidence is temporary and that when people come to their senses, they will realize that their colleges and universities fully deserve the respect that students, parents, and taxpayers used to have for the nation's thinkeries.
But the American public is more skeptical than ever before in our nation's history that college is "worth it" and that judgment will only grow more intense in the years ahead--unless Beilock's sage advice is heeded.
Her short essay names five problems and their possible solutions. The problems are: unaffordability, poor return on investment, political posturing, erasure of poor performance, and corrupt admissions. I've phrased some of those more bitingly than Beilock does. For example, what I label "corrupt admissions," she phrases as the need "to reinstate an SAT/ACT requirement." That requirement was, however, banished mostly because it stood in the way of favoritism in admissions.
It Begins: Canada Now Murdering People For Minor Ailments, Just As Predicted
—Disinformation Expert Ace
The left rails about insurance companies not covering certain drugs or treatments because they're too expensive.
But when the state literally murders people as a way of keeping down government health costs, they applaud.
Distraught family blasts Canada for euthanizing son, 26, who suffered from 'seasonal depression'
By KELLY GARINO, US REPORTER
A family has accused Canada's laws of 'killing the disabled and vulnerable' months after their son, who suffered from seasonal depression, died by assisted suicide.
Kiano Vafaeian, a 26-year-old blind man with Type 1 diabetes, died in December using Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, which allows patients with 'grievous and irremediable' medical conditions to request a lethal drug.
So he was blind and suffered from Type I diabetes, which I understand is quite treatable with injections. (Let me know if I'm wrong.)
So Canada deemed these maladies "grievous and irremediable" and performed yet another Doctor-Directed Murder.
Eligibility was expanded in 2021 to include people with chronic illnesses, disabilities and, pending parliamentary review, potentially individuals with certain mental health conditions.
Vafaeian faced mental health struggles stemming from a car accident at 17, and according to his mother, his depression often flared during the winter months.
For years, the family had successfully prevented their son from using the program. Last year, however, Dr Ellen Wiebe, a MAID provider in British Columbia, approved Vafaeian's death - news the family only learned about days later.
Vafaeian's mother, Margaret Marsilla of Ontario, alleged that Wiebe was 'coaching' her son on how to qualify as a Track 2 patient - those whose natural deaths aren't deemed 'reasonably imminent,' according to Fox News Digital.
'We believe that she was coaching him on how to deteriorate his body and what she can possibly approve him for and what she can get away with approving him for,' Marsilla told the outlet.
'''
...
Vafaeian's death certificate now lists the 'antecedent causes' of his assisted suicide as blindness, severe peripheral neuropathy - nerve damage outside the brain and spinal cord that causes pain and numbness - and diabetes.
But his parents said his medical records did not back up the claim that 'severe peripheral neuropathy' was a qualifying factor for his assisted suicide.
'Realistically, safeguards for patients would be reaching out to their family members, giving them a whole bunch of different treatment options,' Marsilla told Fox.
She argued that doctors can approve and carry out euthanasia on Track 2 patients in just 90 days under the current system.
'How is that safe for patients?' she added.
Read the whole thing. Dr. Death is proud and cracks jokes about her murders:
In an interview with the Free Press, Wiebe joked that she had brought more than 1,000 babies into the world while also helping 'more than 500 patients die.'
She also described assisted suicide as 'the best work I've ever done.'
'I have a very strong, passionate desire for human rights,' Wiebe explained. 'I'm willing to take risks for human rights as I do for abortion.'
Canada is a world leader in killing the sad:
Canada has one of the highest rates of medically assisted deaths in the world, 5.1 percent, or a total of 16,499 deaths in 2024.
Obviously the same people who approve of child genital mutilations and consider abortion a religious sacrament will also support murdering the sick and sad.
Pardon the quickie blogging. I have a routine yearly doctor's appointment at a distant office and need to quickly write posts in advance to cover the time.
Democrat Snake Ted Lieu: The Epstein Files, Which Are Filled with Disproven False Tips About Everyone, Show That Trump was Raping Children
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Investigatory files are full of false claims. The cops don't just receive valid leads, of course. They receive a lot of absolute nonsense "tips," which is why you always hear the cliched line in a movie about a gruesome murder, "We don't want the press getting a hold of this." Because they know their phone lines will be jammed with the hallucinations of attention-whores and schizophrenics.
The Epstein files are likewise filled with a lot of absolute garbage. Particularly because left-wing lunatics took the opportunity to flood the FBI and police with a ton of a completely-fabricated (or completely-hallucinated) claims that Donald Trump was raping everyone.
🇺🇸 Rep. Ted Lieu says Epstein Files shows Donald Trump raping children:
“Donald Trump is in the Epstein files thousands and thousands of times. In those files, there are highly disturbing allegations — allegations — of Donald Trump raping children and threatening to kill… pic.twitter.com/Vvsv7KUVPn
🚨 WOW. Dem Rep. Jamie Raskin breaks into a COLD SWEAT and STUTTERS like mad after confronted about Obama official Kathy Ruemmeler's connection to Epstein — and prompt resignation
They did NOT want the Epstein Files to backfire like this!
To all the brain-dead MAGA that have been one-note simpletons on "Release the Epstein Files"....
Jamie Raskin and Ted Lieu now to the national and international media ....
"The Epstein files show President Trump raped little girls."
Like the sun rising in the morning.
Democrats have absolutely no limit in their consciences about what they will and will not say in pursuit of the goal of seeing Pres. Trump driven from office.
This has been true since the summer of 2016, and they have never wavered.
Massie, Mace, MTG, and Boebert -- too stupid for words.
“Principled conservative” Thomas Massie told Politico he withheld his support on a key vote because he wasn’t praised by Speaker Johnson for the Epstein file releases.
Democratic politicians have found themselves indirectly defending Islam's 7th-century hatred of man's best friend, dogs.
Several Democrats have instinctively accused Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) of racism after he reacted to a New York-based Muslim advocate, Nerdeen Kiswani -- who said house pet dogs will not be welcome in a non-secular, Islamic New York.
"NYC is coming to Islam," said a February 12 tweet from Kiswani, referring to the November electoral victory of Zohran Mamdani, the Ugandan-born, Indian-origin, immigrant, populist, and Muslim Mayor of New York. She added:
Kiswani responded to many critics: "Lmao at the Zionists frothing at the mouth at this, thinking they're doing something. It's obviously a joke I don't care if you have a dog, I do care if your dog is shitting everywhere and you're not cleaning it."
Fine responded three days later, on February 15: "If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one."
Many Democrats immediately accused Fine of racism and bigotry.
"We must call this what it is. Disgusting bigotry," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) reacted. "Fine must be censured."
After thousands of users pointed out that Khanna was clearly missing the context of Fine's post, he tried again: "Taking an alleged comment by one person and attributing it to everyone who shares that person's faith is the definition of bigotry," he stated.
Fine mocked Khanna's wording of "an alleged comment," as there was no disputing that Kiswani's statement was publicly posted. "Perhaps you should have read it before spouting off like an idiot," the Congressman quipped.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) lamented that Fine's "Islamophobic" comment is "incredibly damaging to Jews trying to combat antisemitism."
"America is BETTER because of our Muslim community," Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) wrote. "And we are WORSE when assholes like this guy spout hate."
"This is genuinely one of the most disgusting statements I have ever seen issued by an American official," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) vented. "Fine should be censured & stripped of committees."
Fine's November opponent, Jennifer Jenkins, responded, "I'm running to kick that bigot out of Washington."
They're plotting to force a censure vote.
errick Evans
@DerrickEvans4WV
2h
🚨 BREAKING: Rep. Chip Roy vows to oppose any Democrat effort to censure Rep. Randy Fine after Fine stood firm in defense of Americans' right to own dogs.
The left is furious, but Roy says he won't back down.
Will Chamberlain predicted that softhand cucked "Republicans" will go along with this. They will virtue signal their adherence to the left-wing Gay Race Communism agenda, while having previously refused to vote for censures of Ilhan "Omar" Nur and Epstein PR manager Stacey Plaskett, among others.
Granny Groyper won't say anything about Candace Owens accusing Erika Kirk of murdering her husband or, now, that she's a secret groomer and sex trafficker, but she did freak out like a good AWFUL (which is all she's ever been) when Randy Fine said that if Muslims want to ban dogs, we'll chose dogs over Muslims 11 times out of ten:
Granny Groyper claims "I'm not the internet's mother" when it's pointed out she continues protecting Candace Owens, but she also plays the Internet's AWFUL Mother whenever a dirty low-class conservative says a bad word.
She's executed the full Tucker Carlson "Muslims are our almost-Christian frenz, Jews are the real terrorist" flip-flop.
Leftwing Media 2-in-1 Post: CNN's Low-IQ DEI Propagandist Abby Philip Defends AOC's Performance By Saying "Buh Trump;" Steven Colbert Caught in Lie About CBS Censoring Him
—Disinformation Expert Ace
That's from my first but not last experiment with Grok's AI image creator.
Stephen Colbert and Fake Christian James Talarico are engaged in a joint psyop to convince Democrats that Talarico's the candidate who can actually defeat beat the Republican candidate. (I erroneously said he was running against Ted Cruz yesterday; the candidate will be Cornyn or Ken Paxton or Wesley Hunt.)
The Democrat partisan Colbert has decided that Jasmine Ratchet is a sure loser who will drag the entire Democrat Party down -- no lies detected there -- so he's vigorously promoting Talarico and pushing a conspiracy theory that CBS and the FCC are trying to keep him off the air because he's such a threat to The Man.
Theo Wold
@RealTheoWold
20h
A neat little trick here from Talarico and Colbert
Federal law since 1932 has required broadcast media to give equal time to competing political candidates, but Colbert wanted to platform only Talarico and not his other opponents.
So, he interviews Talarico but releases the video only online. Everyone who sees it thinks it aired on the show, Colbert doesn't have to give equal time, and since he has virtually no TV viewers anyway, he still reaches his maximum audience.
Meanwhile, Talarico falsely claims that he's being censored and gets free publicity two weeks out from his primary election by claiming that almost a century of federal law is somehow President Trump's fault.
An ingenious way of getting around the law indeed...
This just in from CBS: "THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options."
Nick Sortor
@nicksortor
🚨 BREAKING: CBS just called out their OWN HOST, Stephen Colbert, and Dem. Senate candidate James Talarico for LYING by claiming Trump's FCC BLOCKED their interview from airing on TV
In a statement, CBS said Colbert "was NOT prohibited from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled."
So Colbert didn't want to have Jasmine Crockett on, so he made up an excuse saying the FCC barred his interview.
What a loser 🤣
You know who confirms this version of events? Jasmine Ratchet herself, who was told by CBS they had instructed Colbert he should have her on in the interests of equal time, but Colbert never called her to arrange it:
Crockett: We actually received a phone call a little bit earlier today—they explained that they actually told CBS that they could go ahead and move forward with the interview of James Talarico. They just needed to offer me equal time… I've been on Colbert multiple times.. pic.twitter.com/ssDukVf1Xi
Crockett is essentially calling Talarico and Colbert liars now.
Says the federal government had nothing to do with shutting the interview down, and that Colbert could’ve had her on to resolve the issue, but didn’t want to.
For the first time in my adult life, I believe Jasmine Ratchet.
Colbert's show was cancelled due to losing the network $100 million per year, but was allowed to continue through May so as not to incur the wrath of the left.
Guess what? The scorpion left pierced the frog carrying it across the river:
Colbert is not mad at CBS, he's just disappointed 😉 "I'm just so surprised that this giant, global corporation would not stand up to these bullies." https://t.co/c3Mbl98vLepic.twitter.com/Hkjhi4zuJY
The Stephen Colbert ratings freefall has reached an undeniable breaking point. As The Late Show with Stephen Colbert approaches its already-announced cancellation, the program is now posting record-low January numbers, marking one of the steepest late-night declines in recent television history.
According to Nielsen data reported this week, Colbert's show is averaging roughly 285,000 viewers in the crucial 25--54 demographic, putting it on track for its worst January performance ever in the category that advertisers actually care about. With just months left before the curtain closes for good, the ratings trajectory suggests viewers have been checking out long before CBS formally pulled the plug.
How much more of this does CBS put up with, as Colbert attacks them to drive up interest in his coming "Colbert Unchained" (or whatever) podcast? At what point do they pull him off the air?
Last week marked a major film festival in Germany, called the Berlinale. It has been particularly interesting this year, given the major cultural and political shift through which we're living. Everyone has come to expect political grandstanding at any event by and for the media. Actors, directors and producers historically adore delivering stern political lectures to the hoi polloi. You can usually set your watch by it. Whatever the issue, some loudmouthed celebrity will wax retardedly about it.
But Berlinale has been interesting because it shows a major shift in how these things go. First, a number of the apparently smarter actors have started to just refuse to engage. This started slowly years ago when one of the smarter (or perhaps just the worst-burned) of the Hollywood actors - Brie Larson - refused to wade into politics when a reporter at Cannes asked her about the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial. This is becoming more a theme at this year's Berlinale.
The festival's jury president declared that they ought to consider shutting up about politics:
"We have to stay out of politics," Wenders replied. "If we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight to politics."
There was, of course, "backlash" and most of it not from the industry people who were there. It came from the real bad actors there. Take these quotes, and consider what is not being said by The Hollywood Reporter.
This year, however, politics threatens to overwhelm the festival itself. In press conference after press conference, talent has found itself fielding questions less about their films than about Gaza, German state funding and the return of Donald Trump to the White House. What was once a forum for engaged -- sometimes heated -- debate has, critics argue, become a stage for viral confrontation.
Neil Patrick Harris, in Berlin with the Generation title Sunny Dancer, faced pointed questions about American democracy and healthcare systems. "While I have my own political opinions," Harris said, "I never read this script as a political statement."
Honorary Golden Bear recipient Michelle Yeoh was pressed within minutes of her official press conference about the U.S. political landscape. "I don't think I am in the position to really talk about the political situation in the U.S.," she said, pivoting back to cinema.
What is missing from each of those descriptions? The actual point is clear in that actors and the like are increasingly refusing to answer nakedly political questions that often have no relevance to their work - but what The Hollywood Reporter leaves out is why this is coming up in the first place. There is another party in all this: journalists.
Many actors aren't talking politics of their own accord, they're being cornered by reporters. Re-read those excerpts above, and this time put the unmentioned second party into it. For example:
Neil Patrick Harris, in Berlin with the Generation title Sunny Dancer, faced pointed questions from journalists about American democracy and healthcare systems. ...
or:
This year, however, politics threatens to overwhelm the festival itself. In press conference after press conference, talent has found itself fielding questions from journalists less about ...
This is what the coverage leaves out. For the first time in recent memory, some movie actors and others in the industry actually want to "shut up and sing." This is probably because they're tired of being constantly pilloried by the masses and seeing their projects fail, but I don't much care about the reason. It isn't generally true - not yet, anyway - but a lot of actors have apparently learned to just not do it. These are the people who are among the the most stupid and vain people on earth, and even they are starting to figure it out.
But as a group, they are still much smarter and much less vain - and somehow, less ideological - than journalists. The journalists are the ones putting Current Moment Politics front-and-center at every Berlinale event. Plenty of movie people are, too, of course - there are still loads of retarded cretins on the industry side of things - but the journalists are the ones forcing the issue at every opportunity, peppering the industry people with irrelevant political questions and then berating them if they choose not to answer or don't answer will full-throated support for the journalist's position. For all the excesses of Hollywood's political insanity and stupidity, they have nothing on journalism.
Even the director of the festival eventually had to an issue a statement in an attempt to make the point that blasting actors and directors with political questions and then getting enraged when they decline to answer is not evidence of a failure of "free speech" and is wildly inappropriate:
In a statement, Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle noted that "people have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale. But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticized if they do not answer. They are criticized if they answer and we do not like what they say. They are criticized if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else."
Like The Hollywood Reporter, she didn't have the backbone to call out the journalists directly, but they are the ones doing these aggressive political interrogations at what is supposed to be an industrial convention.
As you might expect at a film festival, there are plenty of people screaming their left-wing politics - but to find the highest concentration of bad actors, you need to look not at the stage, but at the press pool.
If ever there was a poster child for Divide & Conquer, it would be Jackson. It was, is and always will be the stock in trade of the Democrat Party and anti-American Left, and he was arguably one of, if not its most effective practitioners, as much of the societal dissolution and destruction that had its roots 60 or so years ago, that we are enduring unto this very day has his fingerprints all over it.
And that said, did President Trump really have to heap praise on him? Yeah, I get it, Jackson was a prominent figure among blacks, but surely he could've just come up with some boilerplate sentence of condolences to his family (including his bastard child) and a white lie (pun intended) about his achievements as a civil rights activist and left it at that.
Democrat New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez invested months preparing for her highest-profile overseas trip, but when she arrived at the Munich Security Conference, the progressive lawmaker fumbled through basic foreign policy questions and is now faulting conservatives for the backlash. . . Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf told The Hill that Ocasio-Cortez is “not ready for prime time on the international stage.”
“It was a beauty pageant to show that she had some chops about international issues, and she showed a complete lack of chops about international issues,” Sheinkopf said.
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald offered perhaps the sharpest critique. “Whoever convinced AOC that she had successfully completed her tutoring and was now ready to give book reports about foreign policy in public really should look for another line of work,” Greenwald said in a post on X.
Supposedly she is contemplating a run at the Democrat presidential nomination in 2028? While yes she's a blithering idiot, if she does indeed land at the top of the ticket or even in the Veep slot, her idiocy and insane worldview are in complete alignment with millions of voters that constitute the base and overwhelming majority of the Democrat Party. And having udders and being latina will only help to seal the deal. Now if only her redheaded pasty husband would turn tranny and/or come out of the closet and convert to Islam, she'd be a shoe-in, nein?
An Obama-appointed federal judge has once again ruled in favor of suspected gang member and human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia, giving him a lifeline he doesn't deserve.
Psaki-Psircling back to Jackson for a second, I remember when an open mic caught him in a fit of pique at the ourple-lipped dog-eater promising Al Sharpton that he'd cut Obama's nuts off!"
Outrage against Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) is the left’s outrage du jour. The rage mob swung into action after Fine wrote: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Yeah, that was it. He didn’t say “Kill them all” or even “Deport them all.” He didn’t recommend any action at all. He was actually responding to an X post from far-left, pro-Hamas activist Nerdeen Kiswani. In response to a news item about two grocery stores removing people with dogs, Kiswani wrote: “Finally, NYC is coming to Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean.”
Animal rights groups have expressed outrage over Morocco’s alleged killing of millions of stray dogs ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, according to a recent report.
Organizations such as the International Animal Welfare and Protection Coalition (IAWPC) and PETA have criticized Moroccan officials for culling the population of roughly three million stray dogs, according to the Daily Mail.
The animal rights organizations have reportedly “released images and testimony” claiming that Moroccan officials are resorting to “using harsh methods” such as “clamping dogs by the neck, loading them into trucks and poisoning or shooting them before disposing of their bodies,” according to the outlet.
Be nice to see PETA come to the defense of Randy Fine. Be nice if I won Powerball every week for the next 10 years or could go back in time and have a threesome with Raquel Welch and Ann Margret. Well at least those latter two are realistic unlike my first sentence.
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.
CIVIL WAR 2.0, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
After the man was apprehended the Capitol Police posted to X: “At this time, there does not appear to be any other suspects or ongoing threat. Out of an abundance of caution, please continue to stay away from the area while we investigate and collect evidence. Again, at this time, one person is in custody.” DC Police: Man with Shotgun Runs Toward Capitol, Gets Arrested (Arrested? Why wasn't he ventilated?!- jjs)
Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge ruled that he could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger there from a gang that had threatened his family. By mistake, he was deported there anyway last year. Federal, OBAMA Hack-in-Black, rules Kilmar Abrego Garcia can’t be re-detained by immigration authorities
"If this matter were actually about the law or due process, Kilmar Abrego Garcia would already be deported and would never set foot in this country again; Judge Xinis will not be satisfied until he is authorized to live in the United States forever,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement (he'd have been put to death and turned into shark chum - jjs) An Obama Judge Gives MS-13 Gang Member a Free Pass to Stay in America
Over the week, 21-year-old illegal alien Zaid Mayen and 20-year-old illegal alien Jonathan David Garcia Larios were arrested by the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office and charged with first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree forcible sexual offense. (Islamo/Wetback/Homo/subhuman beasts, a veritable quadfecta of Democrat constituencies - jjs) Pair of Illegal Aliens Accused of Torturing, Sexually Assaulting Man in North Carolina Home Invasion
Oscar Vasquez Lopez, 38, initially complied when ICE agents attempted a traffic stop in Chatham County but then made a “reckless” U-turn and fled, running a red light before colliding with a civilian vehicle, according to an ICE statement. Illegal Alien Kills Georgia Teacher While Fleeing From ICE
McLaughlin originally planned to begin her departure in December, but the spokeswoman pushed back her leave following the Renee Good and Alex Pretti shootings in Minnesota, a source familiar with her plans told the Caller. The exit comes as DHS faces turmoil and backlash amid immigration efforts in Minnesota. DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin To Leave Trump Admin
State Representative Gabe Woolley introduced House Joint Resolution 1040, which would prohibit Oklahoma courts from applying Sharia law or other foreign legal systems in judicial decisions. The proposal is framed in the press release as an effort to ensure courts remain grounded in the United States Constitution and Oklahoma law. Exclusive: Oklahoma Lawmakers Introduce Measures to Bar Sharia Law in Courts and Restrict Foreign Influence
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
President Donald J. Trump’s new Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) conducted a nationwide enforcement surge in January that resulted in more than 500 arrests, according to the White House. The task forces were established under Trump’s day-one executive order . . The operation targeted criminal cartels, transnational gangs, and cross-border smuggling networks, with a particular emphasis on crimes involving children. Authorities arrested 507 individuals during the surge. Of those, 231 face federal charges and 276 face state charges, and officials secured 16 federal indictments. New Trump Task Force Captures 500 in War on ‘ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.’
When a society chooses to tolerate violent behavior, it does not abolish violence -- it reallocates it. A Revolving Door of Predators
Karol Markowicz: We can’t continue to engage in the delusion that one can actually change their gender, that “gender-reassignment surgery” is more than just mutilation and, of course, that the urge to change one’s birth gender isn’t already a mental-health emergency in and of itself that has recently become accompanied by horrific violence. The rise in transgender killers proves that we have a major mental health crisis unfolding
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
A new Politico poll on how Americans feel about data centers spells some iffy, not-so-good news for the Trump administration and pro-AI tech boosters who want to keep pushing forward with the country’s massive, and potentially transformative, AI buildout. Poll Spells Not-So-Good News For Trump Admin’s Most Ambitious Project Yet
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,
Woke Portland Public Schools (PPS) are in trouble for blatantly racist programs. I know you’re shocked. . . The ironic part is that in districts where schools claim to be focusing specifically on helping minority students, the minority students usually have appalling scores. Obviously the racist programs are not helping anyone—neither those who receive special privileges nor those excluded. Education Department Investigates Portland Schools for Racism
Fortunately, the nation’s highest court appears likely to strike down the new restriction. But there’s still so much work left for the court to do when it comes to protecting the right to keep and bear arms—including, specifically, against infringements by the Hawaiian government. Even without the express permission requirement hanging over their heads, Hawaiian concealed carry permit holders will still be prohibited from exercising their rights in an absurdly long list of “sensitive places.” Look at the Defensive Gun Uses that Hawaii Wants to Criminalize
Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “It is both unlawful and unacceptable for Veterans who serve our country to have their constitutional rights threatened. It has been my pleasure to partner with [VA Secretary Doug Collins] on this project, and I am directing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to review its regulations and propose changes that will prevent current and future violations of our Veterans’ Second Amendment rights.” Trump VA Ends Reporting Veterans to NICS for Simply Using a Fiduciary
THE 2020 and SUBSEQUENT ELECTION HEISTS , SHENANIGANS/FRAUD and AFTERMATH
Democrat Wes Moore's presidential ambitions imploded over the past 10 weeks, but you'd have to be a pretty close student of the Maryland governor to know it, since most of the mainstream press is in cahoots with the aspiring 2028 Democratic presidential cohort. Wes Moore 2028 Drowning in River of Bullshit
Riyadh's reversal reminds us: America has only one real ally in the Middle East. The Saudi Mask Slips
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
Hearn warns that “no one is pure enough for these inquisitions. Jews fled the Soviet Union. They were expelled from communist Poland and fled the Middle East, except from Israel, because of antizionist campaigns.” Leftists Go Jew-Hunting in Britain
What we think we know is that these mountains are likely made of ice, which at Pluto’s eternally cold environment is as hard as granite. We also think we know that they float on a layer of frozen nitrogen, but because that nitrogen can sublimate into gas when Pluto’s climate warms as its orbit brings it closer to the Sun, the foundation of these mountains is quite unstable. They can roll and drift about, even if they are the size of the Appalachian mountains in the eastern U.S. Pluto’s floating mountains of frozen ice
: Unfortunately, the medical association’s recommendation changes—and a change in tune from some among the globalist elite—will come too little, too late for many of the children who have been subjected to irreversible surgical and chemical alterations. Even The Atlantic Magazine Is Now Out AGAINST Child ‘Trans’ Genital Mutilation.
John Stossel: Yes there are differences, but which is better? Girls vs. Boys
Beloved actor James Van Der Beek died Feb. 11 after a battle with colorectal cancer. Fans know him for his famous roles in “Dawson’s Creek” and “Varsity Blues,” among other films and shows, including appearing on “Dancing with the Stars.” But it wasn’t until he came face-to-face with a grave cancer diagnosis that Van Der Beek told fans that being an actor wasn’t the role he cherished most. I think we can learn a lot from the way a Hollywood actor embraced cancer, faced death, and leaned into being a husband, father, and God’s child. Van Der Beek chose to love people rather than a career. James Van Der Beek’s greatest role wasn’t in Hollywood, it was fatherhood
“The Reverend Jesse Jackson is Dead at 84. I knew him well, long before becoming President. He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts.’ He was very gregarious — Someone who truly loved people!” he wrote. (He loved HYMIETOWN best of all! - jjs) Trump Says Jesse Jackson Couldn’t Stand Obama
Ford and Conrad saw it coming: great powers compete without apology, and a West paralyzed by guilt risks losing not just territory, but the will to defend itself. Déjà Vu All Over Again
ALSO: The Morning Report cross-posts at CutJibNewsletter.com usually within an hour or so of posting here, if you want to continue the conversation all day.
Someone asked if a video was AI, and Grok said it indeed appeared to be fake. It was overlaid on a web page from The Hill and the article had no reference to the person in the video and indeed no video.
Because the video is copy protected and can only be viewed in a browser. Grok literally could not see it. And the reason the copy on Twitter was overlaid on a static web page is that the person who posted it took a screen recording to capture the video.
Actually, more than that: In Germany prices have declined. Slightly. From five times what they were just months ago to, in some cases, as little as four times.
For all its impressive tricks, AI is a feed-forward pattern matching network.
Which is also how the human brain works when you're not paying attention. So it's not useless, particularly when you shove the sum total of human knowledge into it except for copy-protected videos.
But since engineers have shoved the sum total of human knowledge into it, they had to smooth out the bumps to make it fit. It always tends toward the middle, by design. The aim is to be acceptable, rather than great, and never to offend anybody, which is a perfect fit for corporate customers.
Discord announced mandatory age checks, pushed by fascist dictatorships like Britain. It did this while promising that ID documents would be secure and would be deleted after they were verified... Immediately after it suffered a major data breach where it admitted to 70,000 such documents being stolen and the hackers claimed many more.
5 years ago today, we lost a one-of-a kind legend.
Rush Limbaugh will ALWAYS be the voice of conservatism. I first heard him in 1991 at the recommendation of a good friend. I was immediately hooked, and I listened to his radio program or read his website nearly every day for more than 25 years. I imagine many of you have a similar history with the man behind the golden EIB microphone. On the anniversary of his passing, let's enjoy just a few examples of his greatness.
Rush explains liberalism (August 2013)
Rush explains the Trump phenomenon (Oct 2018 )
Take in the first 20 seconds of this video especially. Two legends of conservativism - both sorely missed.
In memory of Rush Limbaugh on the anniversary of his passing
Rush Limbaugh at TPUSA's First Annual Winter Gala, which took place at Mar-A-Lago, December 20, 2018
My mother insisted that my dad and I take a college road trip together when I was in 11th grade. I got to drive. My dad got to control the radio. We opted for backroads and scenery instead of speed and the interstate. Driving through rural Alabama on the way to my eventual alma mater, Mercer University, in Macon, Georgia, my dad went in search of radio legend Paul Harvey.
Instead, he stumbled upon a voice claiming to have talent on loan from God. My dad and I may not have had a super close relationship at the time, but together we found Rush Limbaugh and could connect with each other through listening to Rush.
Years later, I helped start the website RedState and randomly sent a note through the comment line at Rush's website. I not only got back a reply, but it was from Rush himself. I could not believe he knew who I was. Thus began a correspondence, which led to a friendship, which led to a mentorship.
The first time I ever remember my dad telling me he was proud of me was the day Rush Limbaugh referred to me on air as his friend. My dad nearly ran off the road and immediately called me with fatherly pride. After years of running RedState and being on television, my parents finally decided I would be okay in my career choices after Rush designated me one of his guest hosts.
At just 40 feet tall, the Newby-McMahon Building in Wichita Falls isn’t very impressive, even when compared to regular-sized buildings, let alone skyscrapers. And yet it was supposed to be one of the most imposing skyscrapers of its time when it was designed in the early 1900s.
The nickname ‘World’s Littlest Skyscraper’ is a dubious title to have, but the Newby-McMahon Building is indeed dwarfed by every skyscraper in the world. It isn’t remotely worthy of being called a skyscraper, as it’s dwarfed by several normal buildings in Wichita Falls, but the story of how it came to be is truly fascinating.
The origins of the Newby-McMahon Building can be traced back to the early 1900s, when the North Texas city of Wichita Falls became the center of a regional oil boom. The discovery of black gold in nearby Burkburnett turned hundreds of locals into millionaires, as mineral rights were negotiated virtually everywhere, from street corners to temporary tents.
Philadelphia oil man J.D.D. McMahon was the first to notice the city’s dire need for office space and quickly proposed a solution – building an imposing skyscraper right next to the original Newby Building, built by Augustus Newby in 1906. His blueprints caught the eye of several investors, and he was able to raise about $200,000 (about $6.8 million in today’s money).
McMahon promised a multistory office building that would be built just across the street from the St. James Hotel, but what he failed to mention was that it wouldn’t go up very much. Exctatic investors didn’t notice that the building’s scale was measured in inches rather than feet, and, by the time they realized they had been scammed, it was too late.
Check out the whole thing. Video segment at the link.
Not related, yet somehow related
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Yes, Presidents' Day was yesterday - but this cool bit of trivia hit my feed this morning. From Kevin O'Neill on X
RIP to my favorite Presidents Day fun fact.
John Tyler, our 10th president, had a grandson alive until last May.
John had a son while in his 60s.
That son had a kid while in his 70s.
And that kid, Harrison Tyler, passed away last year at age 96.
So… New fun fact:
John was born during Washington administration. So 3 generations of Tylers span EVERY PRESIDENCY IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
That's a pretty random but interesting tidbit!
But wait - there's more! Check out this very Horde-worthy comment to the post
Correction: Steven Tyler was John Tyler's father. 'Dream On' was almost our national anthem. And 'Love in an Elevator' was written by Otis Redding, two years after he founded the Otis Elevator Company.
Look it up.
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DJ Doof - Songs For The 17th of the Month
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Podcast: Sefton and CBD discuss AOC's brilliant entrance into geopolitical policy, Jesse Jackson's demise, Transsexual Psycho Killers, is NYC about to get taxed even more? Olympic athletes who bite the hand that fed them, and more!
Podcast: CBD and J.J. Sefton ramble about CO2, how Epstein's mess has crossed the Atlantic, the future dismal prospects for the UK, CA tax lunacy, To The Moon Elon!, the NFL, and more!
Podcast: J.J. Sefton and CBD discuss the outrageous denial of legitimate, constitutionally-mandated federal activity by the blue states, China's army is purged, the Democrat playbook never changes, the Donroe Doctrine, 20cm artillery shells, and more!
Podcast:Jim Lakely of The Heartland Institute joins us for a wide-ranging discussion of Heartland's recent Anti-Davos initiative: The World Prosperity Forum. We also discuss MN's all-encompassing graft, free markets as an antidote to misery, the truth behind the ICE riots in Minneapolis, and more!
