Daily Tech News 11 February 2026

—Pixy Misa

• The global memory market is set to hit $550 billion this year. (Trendforce)
  
  Thanks a bunch, Sam Altman.
  
  Speaking of which, two of the SSDs I ordered during the brief sale late last year seem to have disappeared into the Twilight Zone. Amazon gave me a refund without a fuss, but now I have to pay twice as much to replace them. Though, given the compression of SSD prices, that does give me much better drives - Crucial T710 vs. P310.
  
  
  
• And while the Big Three memory makers don't plan to do anything to alleviate the shortage - quite the opposite - TSMC is planning to invest $45 billion on new factories this year. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  The company is also working on a 1nm process due around 2030.
  
  

Tuesday Overnight Thread - February 10, 2026 [Not Doof]

—Open Blogger

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

I know what you're thinking. Where's Doof? This Tuesday night ONT looks suspiciously like a Wednesday night ONT. If a Wednesday night ONT is posted on Tuesday night, is it still a Wednesday night ONT - just misplaced on the time-space continuum? or has the posting on Tuesday transformed the Wednesday ONT into a Tuesday ONT at a molecular level? So many questions.

TRex is just a dinosaur with a small brain and short arms. All I know is that Doof is detailed elsewhere this evening, so it is you and me. Glad you stopped by and pleased you've chosen to patronize the ONT. Happy to spend a little interweb time with my favorite Morons.

What will happen tomorrow night? Tune in tomorrow and find out!

In the meantime, an ONT means another edition of very random overnight fun and games. Pull up a chair and sit a spell. Pants are optional regardless of the day. Be nice to your fellow commenters and AoS contributors.

[Top photo: Matterhorn, Switzerland]

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Department of Music

This isn't a music thread, but since most posts end up being a music thread at some point, let's just shortcut the process.

All hail the bass player. Do bass players get enough credit? Oh sure, the lead singer screams and yells and winds up the crowd. The lead guitarist unleashes solos in the spotlight. To be fair, it is all about the drums, but the bass player is the unsung hero.

But how many bands are driven by the vision of the bass player?

Les Claypool from Primus -

Bonus trivia nugget - Claypool auditioned for Metallica in 1986 following the death of Cliff Burton, but was rejected because his eclectic, "funky" style did not match the band's metal direction. Despite his high school friendship with Kirk Hammett, he was deemed "too weird" and "too good" to simply fit into their existing sound, leading James Hetfield to suggest he pursue his own band.

Cliff Burton was a force of nature and made some of Metallica's best music, but arguably the band was driven by James and Lars.

Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead -

Steve Harris from Iron Maiden -

Maiden doesn't sing about sex, drugs and rock n' roll. They sing about for what lurks in the darkness, British military history and Samuel Taylor Coleridge poetry. With a few exceptions along the way, Harris wrote most of the music and lyrics from the very beginning. Impressive body of work.

For what its worth, as with Metallica, TRex prefers the older stuff.

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No idea if this is real or AI, but I'd like to think this is something that a Calvin and Hobbes reader would do.

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Wednesday ONT History Department

No idea if this is a true story, but would be a fun history nugget if true:

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Full disclosure: My grade school science fair projects did not involve nuclear fusion.

Dallas 12-year-old achieves nuclear fusion after four years of effort

A 12-year-old Dallas student's four-year-long science project may have resulted in his becoming the youngest person to ever achieve nuclear fusion.

Aiden McMillan, a Dallas Independent School District seventh-grader, said he started work on his ambitious project when he was just 8 years old, and spent the first two years studying nuclear physics concepts before building his first prototypes.

He said it took some work to ensure his mother was comfortable with his tinkering.

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The Pittsburgh police scanner has the night off. In its place, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has an important message:

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A little upbeat bluegrass banjo music for the big ONT finish:

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Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking ?? Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Close it up

Playtime Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

"Pebble" the Turtle, aura-farming

Now sand-crabs are out of control. (Bears remain fully out of control.)

I hate fake-out jump scares, especially when it turns out it's just a cat.

Dogs want to make friends with inanimate objects.

Cat would like to play now please and thank you.

Big dog teaches tiny puppy how to play with a ball.

Dark sentinel of the night.

Cats being caught just as they're about to do a great evil.

Email: Epstein Hid Cameras In Kleenex Boxes and All Around His Palm Beach Home

—Disinformation Expert Ace

I know yesterday I said there was no evidence of an Epstein blackmail operation but I'm going to exercise the Democrat Denialist Maneuver of declaring "I never said that nor held that position."

If you contradict me I will call you a Far Right Extremist.

NYT:

Jeffrey Epstein directed one of his aides to obtain hidden video cameras, apparently to be set up in his home in Palm Beach, Fla., according to a recently released 2014 email.

The purpose of the cameras was not clear, but a number of Mr. Epstein's victims have said they suspected they were being recorded. That has fueled speculation that he was collecting compromising information on his powerful acquaintances, though no evidence has emerged to prove those claims.

"Lets get three motion detected hidden cameras, that record," Mr. Epstein wrote to Larry Visoski, his longtime pilot, who has said he at times set up audio and video equipment for Mr. Epstein in his residences.

Mr. Visoski replied that he had already purchased two motion-sensor cameras from a store that sold surveillance equipment in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and was in the process of figuring out how they worked. "Its amazing how small they are," he wrote, adding that they could record for 64 hours. "I'm installing them into Kleenex boxes now. I'll bring them by later today."

Mr. Visoski did not respond to a request for comment.

The February 2014 email, which was previously reported by The Telegraph, is the latest indication that Mr. Epstein installed surveillance cameras inside his homes. Last summer, The New York Times published photos that showed a camera mounted in the corner of the master bedroom in his palatial Upper East Side townhouse. Another was nestled in the moldings of an adjoining room. The Times also reviewed a photo that showed a camera near a suite of bathrooms on the same floor as Mr. Epstein's bedroom.

The presence of those cameras conflicts with what federal law enforcement officials have said in the past.

Last March, for example, federal prosecutors in Manhattan provided top F.B.I. officials with a description of the video evidence that investigators had recovered from Mr. Epstein's properties. The email said that when F.B.I. agents raided his New York and U.S. Virgin Islands homes after he was charged with sex trafficking in July 2019, they searched for surveillance cameras.

"My understanding from the case agent is that there were no cameras found inside any bedrooms or living areas of either residence," read the email, which was recently released by the Justice Department. The email added that the only cameras the F.B.I. found were near the residences' entryways.

Uh, have you considered he might have taken them down?

...

In 2005, as the police in Palm Beach were investigating Mr. Epstein for raping and sexually abusing girls, detectives searched his home. A police official later wrote in an incident report that he "located two covert (hidden) cameras." Both were stashed inside clocks, one in Mr. Epstein's garage and the other beside his desk.

Note that the FBI didn't deny that there were videos of people in compromising situations. They said there were no videos of people in compromising situations except for Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

It's possible this pervert was making unconsented-to pornographic videos of people he was having sex with.

It's also possible he was collecting, as Chuck Todd likes to say, kompromat. (At least he likes to say that when he's speculating about Trump involved in seedy sexual scenarios with Russian Pee-Prostitutes.)

Relatedly, Ghislaine Maxwell has pled the fifth in a House Oversight Committee hearing, but she's trying to conjure herself a Get Out of Free Card by saying she will testify about what she knows if and only if Trump commutes her sentence. She says she will clear Trump -- um, the police records have already done that -- and also clear Bill Clinton.

Pass. I know you're lying based on that last claim.

"I invoke my Fifth Amendment right to silence," Maxwell, speaking from prison, repeatedly stated more than a dozen times during Monday's closed-door virtual deposition, refusing to answer any questions on the panel's investigation into Epstein, the late sex offender.

...

The video of the deposition shows Maxwell declining to answer if she was a close friend of Epstein.

"I would like to answer your question, but on the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer this question and any related questions. My habeas petition is pending in the Southern District of New York. I therefore invoke my right to silence under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," Maxwell responded.

Maxwell refused to say if she was involved in trafficking of young women or girls and if she ever coerced any young women or girls to provide sexual favors to Epstein.

She refused to provide the committee names of any additional co-conspirators, or to answer if she was aware that Epstein was sexually abusing minors and adult women, and whether she ever participated in sexual abuse of any minor or adult woman.

Maxwell's lawyer, David Markus, said during the deposition, "If this committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump."

"For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing," the lawyer said. "Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to hear that explanation."

RINOs in Retreat: Conservatives Take Lead for Cornyn's, McConnell's Seats

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Ken Paxton has moved ahead of lifetime liberal and backstabber John Cornyn for Senator from Texas.

Patrick Svitek @PatrickSvitek

New #TXSEN poll from @HobbySchoolUH:

Paxton 38
Cornyn 31
Hunt 17

Crockett 47
Talarico 39

(Jan. 20-31; each primary sample 550 LVs and +/-4.18%)

LOL, Jasmine Ratchet is leading too.

Paxton dominates on favorability inside the Republican electorate. Seventy-two percent of likely GOP primary voters say they view him favorably, compared to 22 percent unfavorable -- a margin that reflects his strong standing with the party's grassroots base.

Hunt also posts solid personal numbers, with 70 percent favorable and just 10 percent unfavorable.

Cornyn, however, lags well behind both challengers.

Only 61 percent of respondents say they hold a favorable view of the incumbent senator, while 30 percent view him unfavorably -- a dangerous position in a primary environment that has grown increasingly hostile to long-tenured Senate leadership.

The poll surveyed 550 likely Republican primary voters and 550 likely Democrat primary voters between January 20 and January 31, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percentage points.

Paxton seized on the results Monday, framing them as a referendum on Cornyn's weakening grip on the base.

With McConnell retiring, we might finally have an actual conservative elected senator from Kentucky. (I don't consider Rand Paul a conservative and he self-defines as a not-conservative as well.)

TPUSA and Elon Musk have both endorsed Nate Morris. He's not exactly winning, but he's in the hunt. Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron is winning in one poll, and a Google AI search for "conservative or not" claims he's also a MAGA, "Trump-aligned," America First conservative.

But I'll just be honest with you guys, if either of these fellows turned out to be a Circus Bear wearing a Human Suit I wouldn't be over-surprised, because I just heard of them five minutes ago.

Andrew Surabian @Surabees

NEW: KY Senate Poll from Tony Fabrizio shows Charlie Kirk & @elonmusk backed @NateMorris surging DOUBLE DIGITS and more than tripling his position on the ballot

3 way ballot:
Cameron 31
Barr 24
Morris 21

With voters who have an opinion of all 3:
Morris 28
Cameron 26
Barr 25

A new survey shows Nate Morris gaining ground rapidly in the Republican Senate primary as voters learn who he is and where he stands, while his two better-known opponents -- both closely tied to McConnell's political network -- show signs of stalling.

Is that true? I don't know. Again, if you told me he was actually a Circus Bear, I'd say "Neat, that will attract moderates. Does he have any military experience?"

The poll, conducted by Fabrizio Lee & Associates, finds former Attorney General Daniel Cameron leading the full three-way ballot with 31 percent, followed by Rep. Andy Barr at 24 percent and Morris at 21 percent.

But the topline numbers don't tell the real story of the race.

Among Republican primary voters who say they have an opinion of all three candidates -- a far more meaningful universe -- Morris moves into first place with 28 percent, edging Cameron at 26 percent and Barr at 25 percent. As voters get past name recognition and begin making an actual choice, support consolidates around Morris.

I just want McConnell out. He is a sinister Satanic figure. He has fought conservatives for 40 years and won most of those battles. He has recruited and funded most of the other Democrat-aligned "Republican" Senators who plague us.

How bad is the Luciferian McConnell? The Federalist reports he's scheming to block the SAVE Act from a vote to get vengeance on Trump.

As Sen. Mitch McConnell prepares to ride off into the congressional sunset, the Kentucky Republican is said to be sticking it to President Donald Trump one more time. And the sticking this time, not surprisingly, involves one of Trump's most urgent concerns: election integrity.

"Oh, yeah, that's what McConnell is doing. Personally speaking, I think it still stems from Jan. 6 (2021 Capitol riots)," a top congressional aide told The Federalist on Thursday afternoon, as the battle over the SAVE Act ground down to trench warfare.

"Of course, Trump hasn't had nice things to say about McConnell, and vice versa, but I think it's personal, no matter what (McConnell) says," the aide added.

The 83-year-old former Majority Leader's latest trip to the hospital this week for "flu-like" symptoms has slowed the pace even more so on whatever version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) the listless GOP majority believes can squeak through. But McConnell's intransigence on a bill that humbly asks for proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in U.S. elections has been felt over the nearly 300 days since the Republican-controlled House passed the measure.

To say House Republicans have had it, doesn't quite say enough.

"I just sent a letter to Mitch McConnell asking his committee to stop stalling the SAVE Act," Texas Rep. Brandon Gill wrote on X earlier this week. "The House did its job. The Senate needs to do theirs."

Meanwhile, the Democrat Party in Virginia is so pro-democracy and so pro-"representation" that they are passing a new gerrymandered congressional map that will make a state that went Democrat by only 53-47 send a single Republican to Congress, along with ten Democrats.

After weeks of buildup and a missed self-imposed Jan. 30 deadline, Virginia Democrats on Thursday evening finally released their long-awaited revised congressional map, proposing an aggressive 10--1 configuration that would tilt 10 of the state's 11 U.S. House districts toward their party.

The proposed congressional map leaves several of Virginia's largest districts visually intact while concentrating most of its changes in Northern and central Virginia.

Look at the proposed, soon-to-be-passed, 7th district.

Why is it shaped so strangely? Because they took a chunk of highly-populated, ultra-left-wing northern DC-suburb Virginia and are using all of those AWFULs to overwhelm the conservative voters in more central, rural parts of the state.

The pink color is appropriate:

House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, echoed that message, saying the General Assembly has been working for weeks to prepare the maps for public release. "Virginia to the rescue," he said.

A 10--1 map "levels the playing field, and we're ready to move forward," Scott said. "We'll get those maps released and put them out in the open and allow them to be debated the way they should be in a democracy."

Republican leaders denounced the plan Thursday morning and said their counterparts aren't concentrating on solutions to the financial strain many Virginians are facing.

"Democrats are focused on political gerrymandering instead of focusing on affordability," said Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover.

"The bills they are moving through the legislature are going to cost Virginians more money. It is taking money out of their pocket. But they're more worried about political gerrymandering games and not Virginians, not the struggles that they are going through."

Trump Renews Call for SAVE Act to Keep Illegal Aliens (and Dead Citizens) from Voting as the Spanish Left Legalizes Illegal Alien Voting

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Yes!

With high-stakes midterms approaching, Trump has urged GOP lawmakers to stop dithering and move legislation he says is essential to securing U.S. elections. The president has called for mandatory voter ID, proof of citizenship, and a rollback of mass mail-in voting, arguing that states have failed to protect the integrity of federal elections.

In recent remarks and social media posts, Trump said elections must be conducted "legally and honestly" -- and warned that if states can't do that, the federal government should step in. He has repeatedly pushed Congress to act, calling for passage of the SAVE America Act while demanding tighter standards for who can vote and how ballots are cast.

The SAVE America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Acceptable documentation would include a passport, a REAL ID-compliant identification showing citizenship, a military ID with proof of U.S. birth, or a government-issued photo ID paired with a birth certificate or naturalization papers. The bill also directs states to ensure only citizens are registered and requires in-person verification for mail-in applicants.

It does not ban mail-in voting outright, nor does it change who counts ballots -- points Democrats and voting-rights groups have seized on as Trump continues to call for broader reforms.

In Spain, the socialists and communists felt their Phony-Baloney jobs in jeopardy, so they said the Quiet Part Out Loud and actually passed the Quiet Part into law -- the legalized voting for illegal aliens and foreigners in hopes that 500,000 foreign voters would save them.

Apparently the socialist government offered citizenship to illegals... if they just showed up to vote.

Which they did. In hordes, of course.

Yossi BenYakar @YossiBenYakar Chaos in Spain after the government approved the option to obtain citizenship in exchange for a vote in the elections.

Crowds of migrants are heading there after hearing that all they need to do is vote for the far left to receive Spanish citizenship in return.

They still suffered a defeat in the regional elections.

[Brussels Signal EU:]

Spain's ruling Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) suffered a crushing setback in the snap regional elections in Aragón.

In the ballot yesterday, it slumped to one of its worst historical performance, losing ground amid a surge by the right-wing Vox party.

Provisional results from the Government of Aragón and the National Electoral Commission, with more than 98 per cent of votes counted, show the centre-right People's Party (PP) emerging as the largest force with 26 seats in the 67-seat Cortes of Aragón. That is down two from its 2023 tally, despite topping the poll with around 34 per cent of the vote.

The PSOE, led by former minister Pilar Alegría, collapsed to 18 seats, down five, equalling its all-time low from 2015. It secured 24.3 per cent of the vote in what analysts describe as a humiliating defeat for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's party.

Vox delivered the night's clearest winner, more than doubling its representation from seven to 14 seats and claiming nearly 18 per cent of the vote, a sharp rise that cements its role as kingmaker in any right-wing coalition.

Note that a far-left government official admitted -- declared proudly -- that she "hopes for a replacement theory," whereby native Spanish "fascists and racists" are replaced by foreign migrants.

She says this straight up.

And Google's AI still claims "replacement theory" is a "white nationalist conspiracy theory," despite an actual government official in a left-wing government declaring for all to hear that that is precisely the left's master plan:

Spain's former Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, has publicly stated that she hopes for the "great replacement" theory to take place in Spain.

During an event, Montero, a leader of the far-left Podemos party, stated: "Of course I hope for 'replacement theory,' I hope we can sweep this country of fascists and racists with immigrants. Whatever their skin color, whether 'Chinese, Black, or Brown'".

The "great replacement" theory is a white nationalist conspiracy theory that claims white populations are being intentionally replaced by non-white immigrant populations, often through deliberate political action. Montero's statement has sparked significant debate, with critics warning against endorsing a conspiracy theory considered dangerous, while her supporters call for dialogue on the topic of population changes and political dynamics.

Here's the video of this Spanish left-wing government official endorsing the "white nationalist conspiracy theory."

Irish Illegal Alien Who Dodged Deportation for 20 Years Will Finally Be Kicked Out of Country;
Supposedly "anti-Racist" Libertarian Nick Gillespie Says We Shouldn't Deport Him, Because He's White Like Us

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Of course.

Nick Gillespie will claim that he made his racist plea of special privilege only because he assumes that we're the Real Racists Here and will keep this White Criminal in the country because he's white, but I don't know man, this attempt at Judo Reverse Racism just sounds like plain old racism to me.

Libertarians are just nasty 1960s "Hey man" hippies with a strong streak of racism.

Here are the facts, via Twitchy's JustMindy:

The Irish Times @IrishTimes

Seamus Culleton was arrested on September 9th, 2025, and has been in an Ice detention facility in Texas for nearly five months, despite having no criminal record, "not even a parking ticket"

His criminal record is 20 years long. 20 years of illegal visa overstaying plus the crimes we know he must have committed, including identity theft and illegally working under a fraudulent Social Security number.

He was ordered to leave and said "F*** you."

He overstayed a visa, was told to leave, refused to leave even when offered a trip back to his home country and so he was detained, but this apparently is communism or something.

Susan Glasser, an egregious communist propagandist at the New Yorker and wife of nasty liberal Peter Baker of the New York Times, goes immediately into AWFUL Meltdown Mode:

Susan Glasser @sbg1

Kafka meets ICE

Gerard Baker
@gerardtbaker

Oh please. He was admitted on a 90 day visitor's visa 20 years ago and never left. He was offered instant deportation to Ireland last year and declined so he’s awaiting his case in a detention center. His choice. Kafka? You undermine your own argument with such hyperbole.

The only argument in favor of keeping this guy around is that he 1, applied for a Green Card and is here provisionally while his case is considered and 2, he got married to a US citizen.

But here's the thing: He only took those two steps when he was about to be deported.

The left, and Nick Gillespie, are claiming "he has a valid work permit."

But that was only issued on the basis of his sudden application for a green card.

Which he only applied for in 2025, when Trump was about to deport him.

What did he do for the 20 years prior as far as work or money?

Did he work illegally using someone else's social security number? Did he just sit on welfare for 20 years?

Did he, perhaps, engage in an actual criminal trade?

But we have to pretend his entire record began exactly when he took two desperate, last minute steps to confabulate a fraudulent set of facts to avoid deportation.

Remember yesterday, I mentioned the Fifth Circuit approving Trump's new policy of detailing deportable aliens until they exhaust their last legal challenge? But offering to let them out of detention if they agree to finally get on a plane and GTFO?

Well, this poor poor man has the same standing offer.

Supposedly, his ICE detention is an "absolute hell" -- but one he voluntarily agrees to remain in, instead of JUST GOING BACK TO HIS HOME COUNTRY.

Boy Ireland must be like, Hell Squared or something. It's Gaza of the North Atlantic.

HoodlumDoodlum @HoodlumDoodlum

Also he has been in detention that long ONLY because he wants to fight his deportation. We would have been happy to deport him back months ago.

His "valid work permit" was temporary and issued as part of his green card application in April 2025 (after he'd been here illegally for 19 years).
A final removal order obviously supersedes a temporary work permit! He has no legal standing to stay; he will be deported. pic.twitter.com/d4xINmZakj

— HoodlumDoodlum (@HoodlumDoodlum) February 10, 2026

So now comes libertarian racist Nick Gillespie-- Goth Fonzie wears a black leather jacket to show he's not like those other pundits! -- to argue that "heritage Americans" should agree to let this 20-year deportation-dodger stay... because he's white.

This is appalling and I hope cuts through to the 'heritage American' types who otherwise could care less about due process for immigrants:
'Culleton said he was carrying a Massachusetts driving licence and a valid work permit issued by the US government when he was pulled over…

— Nick Gillespie (@nickgillespie) February 9, 2026

Oh, his work permit was a temporary one, issued only after he finally engaged with the immigration system and applied for a green card in 2025 -- when he knew he was about to be deported.

He also, coincidentally, got "married to a US citizen" that year, when he was about to be deported.

According to CNN's Abby Philip, this was in no way a sham marriage quickly arranged to give him cover from Trump's deportation.

No, Abby Phillip tells us, it's a time-honored lawful tradition for an illegal alien to "rectify his immigration status" through a quickie and almost certainly fraudulent marriage:

Phillip: Like this irishman who has been in the country for 20 years with a valid work permit, who was months away from a green card interview

Rantz: This guy from Ireland who overstayed a 90 day Visa since 2009

Phillip: That's an administrative infraction. And under U.S. Law… pic.twitter.com/W5RgIlCHR7

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2026

"Rectify" is the new "clarify." Be the first Cook Kid on your block to use it.

Michael MacNeil @Mike_OMac

1h

He intentionally overstayed his tourist Visa?

He didn't apply for a Green Card for 17 years?

He didn't marry until he applied for a Green Card?

I have little sympathy.

Oh yes, this is all totally legitimate. As a "Heritage American," I want to keep this white criminal in the country forever because his skin matches my Heritage.

I saw someone sum up the reaction on Twitter in about this way:

Nick Gillespie: Checkmate, racists! Now that a white man of your Heritage is about to be deported, you see the evil of your racist ways!

Twitter MAGA types: No, no race-based inconsistency, we want his "potato-gobbling" ass deported back to Ireland too.

Nick Gillespie: Wait you racists don't even have mercy for Your Own Kind? You're not just racists, you're the worst kind of racists -- race-traitor racists!!!

Philosophy PhD btw https://t.co/tdVVXHesSQ pic.twitter.com/yKMkrZ1hsb

— Pay Roll Manager Here (@UsingLyft) February 10, 2026

Oh, by the way, Goth Fonzie wants you know he's not racist, he totally loved the Bad Bunny Super-Bowl show with all of the twerking anal-sex-simulation for children, and what he really objects to are the F-35s overflying the stadium in a show of "paid patriotism."

But in this, Goth Fonzie was just part of a larger movement of Old White Guys virtue-signalling -- and even more embarrassingly, Youth-Signalling -- that they are Totally Down with This Energetic Minority They Just Heard of Ten Seconds Ago.

Close it up

Newsom's Lawless "Law" Presuming to Strip ICE Agents of Their Masks So That His Anatifa Paramilitaries Can Bomb Their Houses Rejected by Even a Left-Wing Judge

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Even a Clinton judge understands that until the left finds its courage and simply declares, like the Confederacy, that they are separating from the US, states are still bound by federal law in federal matters.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi @AGPamBondi

ANOTHER key court victory thanks to our outstanding @TheJusticeDept attorneys.

Following our arguments, a district court in California BLOCKED the enforcement of a law that would have banned federal agents from wearing masks to protect their identities.

These federal agents are harassed, doxxed, obstructed, and attacked on a regular basis just for doing their jobs. We have no tolerance for it.

We will continue fighting and winning in court for President Trump's law-and-order agenda -- and we will ALWAYS have the backs of our great federal law enforcement officers.

This isn't as clear a victory as Bondi suggests, unfortunately. The judge does rule partly in favor of the Insurrectionist Left and says she might allow the law to be enforced, if it's enforced against all law enforcement officials.

That's nuts. Newsom does not have power over federal agents. He cannot direct them, he cannot hire or fire them, he cannot dictate how they do their jobs.

A federal judge on Monday blocked California from enforcing a new law that would have barred federal immigration agents from covering their faces during enforcement operations, handing the Trump administration a clear courtroom win and halting a Democrat-led attempt to rein in ICE and Border Patrol.

U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder ruled the mask ban cannot take effect because it exempted state and local law enforcement while singling out federal agents -- a distinction she said unlawfully discriminates against the federal government.

This is an error. Newsom also can't dictate how federal agents perform their jobs even if he extends this "law" to state agents.

The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall after a summer of high-profile ICE operations in Los Angeles, had been set to take effect earlier this year before the Trump administration sued.

Federal officials argued the measure would strip agents of basic safety protections amid rising harassment and threats tied to immigration enforcement. Snyder agreed, siding with Washington's position that California lacks the authority to selectively regulate how federal officers perform their duties.

"Selectivity" has noting to do with it. If George Wallace got a law passed that said neither federal nor state agents could integrate schools in the 1960s, the courts would not have said "Yes he can block federal judge-ordered integration, so long as he bars both state and federal agents from doing it."

It's absurd. The left is suddenly very States Rights and very neo-Confederate.

...

The judge blocked the mask ban itself -- which would have prohibited masks, neck gaiters, and other facial coverings -- but allowed a separate requirement to stand forcing officers, including federal agents, to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number while on duty. Snyder also left Democrats a narrow path to try again, writing that California could pursue a mask ban if it applied equally to all law enforcement agencies.

Can't antifa track agents by badge number? Doesn't that defeat the entire point of protecting agents' identities?

If the left wants to go extra-judicial, well: We can go extra-judicial, too.

Do you like Right-Wing Death Squads? Because this is how you get Right-Wing Death Squads.

Meanwhile:

Remember when the left demanded all cops wear body cameras in the mentally-ill delusion that cops were randomly target Innocent Black Citizens and executing them for no good reason?

Well, that didn't turn out to be true. In fact, the BLM/antifa left has been very frustrated that cops' wearing of body cameras disprove almost all of their attempts to gin up a violent race-revolution with lies about cops just murdering people "for being black or brown."

And they've had a very hard time getting their new Race Hoaxes to go viral.

So you'll never guess what the left has decided:

That's right, cops must stop wearing body cameras, because body cameras invade the privacy of innocent black and brown people (and frustrate their efforts to hatch new race hoaxes).

EPSTEIN FILES BOMBSHELL SHOWS TRUMP'S CONNECTION TO THE CONVICTED PEDOPHILE!
And That Connection Is: Trump Dropped Dime on Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and Urged Police to Investigate Them

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Sorry to scare you with the red font headline, but that's how the " " " Mainstream " " " media is playing this story and I want to prove I'm a Real Journalist Too.

Trump did know Epstein socially. A bit. They were both rich people who lived in Palm Beach. Of course they crossed paths.

And when he found out more about Epstein, he did what we'd hope he'd have done: He called the cops.

Newly unsealed Department of Justice documents reveal that in July 2006, then businessman Donald Trump was one of the first to call police to warn them about sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

The documents include a previously unreported 2019 FBI interview summary with former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter. Trump had contacted the department shortly after reports of Epstein's criminal sex investigation became public.

The future president contacted Reiter to express relief that authorities were finally acting, suggesting his associates in New York had described Epstein's behaviors as "disgusting," and advised investigators to focus on Ghislaine Maxwell, whom he described as "evil."

...

"Thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this," Trump reportedly told the Palm Beach Police Department.

"TRUMP told him people in New York knew EPSTEIN was disgusting. TRUMP said MAXWELL was EPSTEIN's operative, 'she is evil and to focus on her,' the report continues.

The president also noted that he had witnessed Epstein in the presence of teenagers and was apparently dismayed by what he saw and "got the hell out of there."

The left will claim that the fact Trump knew enough about Epstein to report him to the cops somehow proves that Trump was diddling children with him, without ever explaining why a child-diddler would report a co-conspirator.

And I have to ask:

Did Bill Clinton ever call the cops on Epstein?

Did Hillary Clinton?

Did Charles Schumer?

Did Bill Gates?

I have long had a theory that what embarrasses Trump about Epstein is that he was an informer on Epstein. You might wonder, what's embarrassing about that?, but informers are regarded by some, especially on the criminal left, as like the worst thing possible.

I think it's pretty obvious Trump is a major, major gossip -- how many times have you heard him taunt a political opponent by hinting he knows "very bad things, very bad" about him? -- and likes hearing and spreading dirt about his enemies. He may be sensitive about this tendency.

But whether that's true or not, informing on a pedophile is a good and righteous thing and it proves, conclusively, that Trump was not involved in Epstein's nefarious child sex trafficking. Kiddie-diddlers do not call the cops on the Top Diddler who provided him with kiddies to diddle.

Prepare to hear a lot of claims from vicious, mentally-sick left-wing propagandists claiming "Uhhh, akkkshually, kiddie diddlers spontaneously call the cops on other diddlers all the time, akkkshually."

For example, from Rusty Weiss at Red State:

The media, of course, is framing the latest revelation not as 'Trump tried to warn authorities' but rather, as 'this contradicts the president's previous claims.'

From the Miami Herald:

That stands in sharp contrast to what Trump told reporters in July 2019 when he was asked if he had any knowledge that Epstein had molested girls. “No, I had no idea. I had no idea,” Trump said at the time.

Even with Trump calling the cops on Epstein, they're still trying to insinuate that akkkshually Trump must have been in on it, because he previously said "I had no idea."

That's not a "sharp contrast." It's not even a contrast. Someone can have suspicions without having actual knowledge.

And even though the media is now in the business of public defamation, Trump might have decided, as many people involved in these matters have decided, that it is legally dangerous to name names or accuse people of specific crimes without actual proof to back up those claims. The famous "20 Epstein Victims," for example, continue to say that they'd like to release the names but won't release the names because of fear of legal consequences.

The Morning Rant

—CBD

The petulance of Trump Derangement Syndrome is embarrassing, but in most cases it is childish political entitlement masquerading as "speaking truth to power," or some such nonsense. But when it crosses the line into geopolitical reality, TDS is costly and dangerous.

We can criticize the F-35 program on multiple fronts, but what it does superbly is mesh multiple different forces into an integrated response. It is simply better at its job than any other platform. The recent attack on Iran by Israel's F-35s is an excellent example of its superiority. It is the most modern war plane on earth, and there is no getting around that fact.

For Canada to consider a clearly inferior platform because of its economic battles with the Trump administration is short-sighted in the extreme. We will have to step in and buttress Canada's already pathetic armed forces if they choose the clearly inferior Swedish plane. But TDS is all-encompassing, even if it means jeopardizing the national security of Canada!

Why Experts Say Canada's Plan to Ditch the F-35 Is a Strategic Disaster

In 2022 Ottawa selected the U.S. Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II – a fifth-generation, stealth multirole fighter – committing to 88 aircraft to meet agreed NORAD, NATO, and Arctic security requirements. The F-35’s advanced sensor fusion capabilities and deep strike profile were seen as essential to defending vast northern airspace alongside U.S. forces.

However, that consensus about what it takes to meet these requirements appears to have evaporated. After Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the F-35 contract in 2025 amid escalating U.S.–Canada trade tensions, Ottawa signalled interest in alternative options – notably Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen E, a 4.5-generation fighter pitched with the promise of 12,600 Canadian industrial assembly and jobs.

In response to reports that Ottawa is on the verge of siding with Saab, U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra warned that a pivot away from the F-35 would strain or “alter” the NORAD framework, likely forcing the U.S. to deploy its own fighters more often into Canadian airspace if interoperability is lost.

Carney’s stance on the situation is undeniably political, reflecting ongoing friction with Washington over tariff disputes and rhetoric seen in Ottawa as unpredictable. Those problems have contributed to the growing unease among Canadian policymakers over a perceived over-reliance on U.S. defense systems.

Canada and Carney remind me of the joke about the mouse that creeps up to an elephant and begins to hump its leg. The elephant looks down, the mouse looks up and says, "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Village Barber
Adriaen van Ostade

The Morning Report — 2/10/26

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. To kick things off this morning, this certainly is something . . .

The daughter of Republican Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson was stabbed to death in a botched murder-suicide over the weekend — leading her father to abruptly suspend his 2026 campaign.

Hallie Marie Tobler, 22, was discovered dead with multiple stab wounds inside her locked apartment in St. Cloud after cops responded to a medical emergency on Saturday evening, according to the St. Cloud Police Department. Tobler’s husband, 23-year-old Dylan Michael Tobler, was also critically wounded inside the home with what investigators believed to be self-inflicted stab wounds, police said. . . Dylan, who is now in stable condition, has been taken into police custody and is expected to be hit with homicide charges in connection with Hallie’s death following his release from the hospital, cops added. . .

. . . “Out of respect for his family and the enormity of this loss, Jeff has suspended his campaign for Governor of Minnesota. We ask all Minnesotans to join us in lifting up the Johnson family during this incredibly painful time.”

Johnson ran a campaign that was tough on crime, immigration and fraud in the North Star State, which has become the battleground of ICE operations and clashes between protesters and federal officers in recent months.

Indeed this is something but the question is, "Is this Something something?" Obviously we do not know as of yet the interpersonal dynamics of the relationship between the victim and her husband, nor do we know the politics of either, especially the latter. But, given what is going on in Minnesota as well as who the victim's father is, as well as the established fact that political terrorism and violence in service to ideology and the lust for absolute power are the stock in trade and sine qua non of the Democrat Party and leftists, it is well within the realm of possibility and most likely IMHO what will be the motive behind this attack.

That is not hyperbole my friends, as these next two items will underscore:

First up there's this awful AWFL...

A video by Democrat Suzanna Karatassos, who exemplifies the AWFUL acronym (“Affluent White Female Urban Liberal") better than anyone I’ve seen in the past 20 minutes, is going viral.

Suzanna is running for Georgia’s 120th District in the state legislature. She’s privileged, and she oozes virtue signaling from every pore. Suzanna’s “final solution” to the “MAGA problem” is to ban us all from the Internet for four years:

When this is all over, and Trump is gone, and Democrats are back in charge, and we’re rebuilding everything, the punishment for MAGA for voting Trump three times needs to be that they lose their internet access for four years. That they cannot post videos or comments on social media, for four straight years, so that none of us are subjected to their lies and misinformation. While we are rebuilding the chaos that they caused, the whole world and America gets to be without their BS online for four straight years. Can we all agree to this?

And as if mere muzzling weren't final enough, this next sick bastard sure has a solution that sounds pretty damn final to me:

After decades of American institutions of higher education teaching that whites are the “oppressors” in the intersectional hierarchy, Texas politician Gene Wu is encouraging other racial groups to team up politically based on claims of shared victimhood.

In a recently circulated clip from a December 2024 interview, Wu says:

“I always tell people, the day the Latino, African American, Asian and other communities, realize that … they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning. Because we are the majority in this country now. We … have the ability to take over this country and to do what is needed for everyone and to make things fair.”

Rep. Gene Wu (D) goes mask off:

"Non-whites share the same oppressor and we are the majority now. We can take over this country."

I seem to recall another Socialist named Schickelgruber who after he and his supporters took over their country did what was needed by building high speed railroads so they could send their perceived oppressors and usurpers directly to the gas chambers and crematoria.

While Wu is a Chinese emigré there is no doubt that he still has very deep connections to the CCP. Who by the way are provably funding and fueling much of the mayhem in Minnesota.

Those Minnesota riots, once described by some as “spontaneous,” look more and more like a backdoor attempt by China, allied with extreme groups in the U.S., to foment violence and outright rebellion.

One Slippery Slope — Yup that is what we are on, dear reader . . . Regardless of who's funding the Democrat/Left insurrection, the strategy and tactics are quite revealing and very familiar.

When you think about recent events in the Middle East, it’s easier to understand what’s happening in Minnesota.

There are significant parallels between the tactics of Hamas and pro-illegal immigrant agitators. Start with this. Both have no realistic way to achieve their objective through conventional means. . . Outmatched in bullets and ballots, both groups have sought to use political pressure to achieve their aims. Putting their own people in danger is key to these efforts. Hamas hides its military infrastructure in and around hospitals and schools. Israel either avoids attacking legitimate military targets, or Hamas rushes out pictures of dead women and children.

Something similar is happening in Minnesota. Agitators are actively stalking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and then physically trying to prevent federal agents from arresting illegal immigrants. Crowd control should be a job for local cops. But Minnesota politicians have prevented local police from coordinating with ICE. In December, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara even told residents to call the cops on ICE.

Federal agents are put in a no-win situation. Either they allow agitators to stop them from arresting a criminal illegal immigrant, or they must use physical force to arrest the agitators. At a minimum, that will produce ugly-looking videos. Twice when an agitator has resisted, things have turned deadly. Illegal immigration activists then promote out-of-context videos and lob vile accusations at federal agents.

There is no negotiating with terrorists. What the Democrat/Left have been attempting to do for the past 200 years is coming to a head. Forget slavery and the Civil War. They have never accepted the American founding and have been attempting to overthrow the Republic ever since Aaron Burr murdered Alexander Hamilton. The only things that have changed are the personalities involved and the temporal issues real or concocted.

That said, it's funny how they keep calling us a Democracy which is why I find this comment from the execrable tosser Ossoff rather amusing in a vomitus inducing chutzpocritical way.

It has been evident for a very long time that the Democrat Left is a completely alien political/cultural entity that is antithetical to our own, and that co-existence is impossible. Even if there were to be some sort of national divorce and physical cleaving into two separate nations, like Islamic nations bordering Israel, they could never accept our existence. Beyond a complete collapse of their economy and inability to fend for themselves, feed house or clothe their populace, that we would be thriving as they starved and froze to death (think the iconic picture of the Korean peninsula at night, the north in total darkness and the south lit up like a Christmas tree), their innate desire to dominate and subjugate could never allow for accepting our independent existence.

Sad to say but it's us or them. As we head towards the semiquincentennial this summer, will we reach a tricentennial and all things considered, you have to wonder if we'll actually make it to 250.

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
• Hallie Marie Tobler, 22, was discovered dead with multiple stab wounds inside her locked apartment in St. Cloud after cops responded to a medical emergency on Saturday evening, according to the St. Cloud Police Department.
  22-year-old daughter of Republican Minnesota gov candidate Jeff Johnson stabbed to death

• From Gaza to Minnesota, the tyrants' playbook is the same.
  ICE and Israel Face the Same Dilemma

Daily Tech News 10 February 2026

—Pixy Misa

• Get your ass to the Moon. (Ars Technica)
  
  It may be a harsh mistress, but it's a lot closer to the shops.
  
  SpaceX is refocusing on lunar colonies as a short-term goal, and strip-mining the surface and feeding raw materials into railgun launch systems to provide the resources for the company's planned cloud of orbital datacenters and/or inconveniencing pesky bureaucrats on their holidays.
  
  SpaceX didn't mention any such thing, of course, but Eric Berger has read the classics.

Overnight Open Thread [02/09/2026]

—CBD

The burbs are great after a big snow. Especially when the temperature doesn't skyrocket afterward and the snow sticks around for a few weeks. My little town does a good job of clearing the roads, so driving is effortless, and the pleasure of a white wonderland is clear to see without having to slog through a big mess.

NYC is a different animal entirely, and they are welcome to their garbage-strewn streets and slush mountains. I'll take the pristine (for now) suburbs any day over 3:00AM Thai takeout and marijuana delivery.

******

[Hat Tip: dhmosquito]

******
This thing looks absolutely useless, and absolutely loads of fun!

Jetson One

It's just a drone writ large, and that makes it both reassuring and terrifying. But you can't get one until 2028...they are either backlogged, or it's all smoke and mirrors.

******

******

A fish is swimming out in a lake, when he sees a fly flitting around, 3 feet above the water. The fish thinks to himself, "If that fly comes down about 5 inches, I can eat it!", so he sits and waits.

A bear sees the fish watching the fly and thinks to himself, "When that fly comes down a few inches, that fish is going to jump up and try to eat it. When that happens, I'm going to swipe that fish onto land and eat it."

A hunter eating a sandwich sees the bear watching the fish watching the fly, and thinks to himself, "When that fly lowers, the fish is going to jump up to get it, and that bear is going to try and eat that fish. When that happens, I'm going to shoot the bear and stuff him for my den," so he puts down his sandwich, and readies his gun.

A mouse is sitting there watching the hunter, watching the bear, watching the fish, watching the fly, and thinks to himself, "When that fish goes for the fly and the bear goes for the fish, and the hunter tries too shoot the bear, I'm going to go and eat his sandwich." so he sits and waits, keeping a watchful eye on the hunter and his sandwich.

A cat in the bushes sees the mouse watching the hunter watching the bear watching the fish watching the fly, and thinks "When that fly lowers 5 inches, the fish is going to try and eat it, then the bear is going to eat the fish, then that hunter is going to shoot the bear, then that mouse is going to try and eat the sandwich. When that happens, I'm going to eat that mouse." so he sits and waits. watching the mouse intently.

After a few tense minutes, the fly finally lowers itself.

The fish jumps out of the water, and catches the fly in it's mouth a split second before the bear swipes the fish onto land and begins to devour it, shortly before being shot in the face by the hunter, while the mouse lunges for the sandwich. The cat sees the action springing right in front of him, so he books it out of the bushes making a bee line for the mouse, but misses it completely, and falls face first into the lake.

Moral of the story; when a fly comes down 5 inches, a pussy gets wet.

******

Researchers 'surprised' by the brain benefits of cannabis usage in adults over 40

Pass the pot to Grandma — her brain might thank you.

A new study is challenging long-held assumptions about cannabis, finding that middle-aged and older adults who use the drug may actually see some brain and cognitive benefits.

The twist comes as cannabis use is climbing among older Americans. Research shows that nearly 1 in 5 people ages 50 to 64 reported using marijuana in the past year, along with 5.9% of those 65 and older.

Biochemical research is mostly bullshit: filled with weasel words and ass-covering nonsense. If marijuana was that wonderful, we would have figured it out long ago.

You Know Who hardest hit!

******

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Close it up

Ghost Walk Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

A little hike in the Swiss Alps

Cute little deep-sea mutants.

If I had a pool you better believe it would be free entry for duck families. And sure, I'd race a duck.

Ducks are very underrated animals. No one ever thinks of them but the minute you see one you smile.

I don't know how to reconcile this but sometimes I go to a Chinese restaurant that specializes in Peking Duck. I guess they make me smile there, too.

Speaking of races: human v. border collie v. greyhound, the latter just toying with the other two.

Old vid, but it proves that dogs want to help and are 75% human.

It's like Melrose Place but with dog affairs.

Some animals are unherdable, little guy.

Gooooooooaaaatsss

Pretty girl bats her eyes and wags her tail.

Pup on a swing.

This is how I've felt since my Thanksgiving/Christmas weight gain.

When is summer? Tomorrow will be the first day of non-freezing temperatures for me. Gotta get out for a hike.

I became aware of this clickbait style post last year, when I saw questions asking do you see A or B when the answer was obviously C. And that bothers you, the idea that it's so obviously C but this idiot doesn't see it. I know this is just preying on the deep human instinct to correct someone. But I just keep falling for it. That one is especially hard to resist.

Japan's "Ultra-Right-Wing" Extremist PM Wins a Shockingly Large Victory By Running on Promise to Seriously Restrict Immigration to the Island Nation

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Keemochee, I said in a high-pitched Japanese voice. Oooh Sugai!, I added, squealing in delight.

These are just a couple of Japanese words I happen to know. Why do I know them? Shut up, narc. I just know them, okay? We don't need to get any more detailed than that.

PM Sanai Takaichi won a landslide, giving her conservative party its biggest lower-house majority in history.

The upper house often frustrates the will of the people by vetoing the decisions of the lower house, but now she has a veto-proof two thirds super-majority.

NPR is of course very sad and rushes to soothe its meltbrain medicated AWFUL readers about all the way this crushing victory could turn in a huge disaster!

SEOUL -- Japan's first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, brought the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) its biggest electoral victory in its 71-year history, fueling her ambitions to pursue to a political agenda which she herself says could "split public opinion."

Oh no! She's going to push her agenda so hard that it might alienate the Japanese equivalent of RINOs so, you see, in a way, her victory is really a Secret Loss.

The snap elections for the lower house of parliament were held despite the shortest campaign period in post-war history, and massive snowstorms across much of Japan.

Oh that's right -- I saw comment that people were so enthused about voting for her they had to climb over ice and snow to get to the polling places.

Benefitting from Takaichi's popularity, the LDP won a two-thirds majority in the lower house, enough to override vetoes by the opposition-controlled upper house.

It would also allow the LDP to initiate amendments to Japan's pacifist constitution, which the party has sought to revise since its founding in 1955, and Takaichi said she would pave the way for an eventual referendum on the issue.

It's the biggest majority any single Japanese party has won in the lower house in the post-war era. An unprecedented 90% of candidates fielded by the LDP won.

Charismatic Japanese leaders, including Takaichi's mentor former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have helped the LDP stage comebacks before.

It's a feature of Japan's politics, which RAND Corporation Japan expert Jeffrey Hornung says "are always very personalistic. People always look to the leader, not so much the party."

Oh I get it, they're just dummies who are mesmerized by her Dark Charisma. No one actually agrees with her policies.

...

Questions and criticisms remain about how Takaichi will pay for these priorities, given that Japan's government debt is more than 200% of GDP.

She's talking about increasing military spending to 2% of GDP and that's when NPR suddenly wonders "Wait how can the government pay for all of these goodies...?!"

But Takaichi apparently feels her mandate will empower her to sweep aside obstacles.

...

Takaichi's lopsided victory comes amid a general shift to the political right in Japan.

Following Takaichi's election as LDP president last year, the LDP's coalition partner of 26 years, the centrist Komeito Party, left the bloc. The LDP then joined a new coalition with the right-wing populist Japan Innovation Party.

Komeito joined a new coalition called the Centrist Reform Alliance, which lost most of their seats in the snap election, prompting their leaders to resign.

...

Takaichi pledged to continue to use the Japan-U.S. alliance as the cornerstone of foreign policy, and plans to meet with President Trump next month.

Celoteh Dunia
@CelotehDuniaku

A historic shift for Japan. With 316 seats, PM Takaichi now holds a supermajority that effectively bypasses Upper House gridlock. This mandate will likely fast-track her hawkish security agenda, including increasing military spending to 2% of GDP and boosting offensive capabilities. The regional security landscape is about to change significantly.

Robby Starbuck @robbystarbuck

7h

Japan got literally the tiniest bit of migration and micro intrusion on their culture. They responded with the most right wing electoral result in history and essentially banished the left from any bit of power. Absolutely beautiful to see.

As I've long said, I admire Japan more than any other country. You could lick their streets they're so clean. Tokyo is decades ahead of other cities. They're fiercely protective of their unique culture and people. They're nationalists of the best kind.

They enjoy others from a distance and are happy to befriend you but the moment you disrespect them they want nothing to do with you. Total respect from me. Congrats Japan!

Remember the Little Scottish Girl Who Armed Herself with a Knife and Ax to Defend Herself Against, She Said, Sexual Assault by a Foreigner? Remember How the British Government and Media Savaged Her as a Racist?

—Disinformation Expert Ace

This was last August.

You'll remember the moment you see her photo:

FBI: Jeffrey Epstein Was a Child Sex Abuser But He Wasn't Running a Pedophile Sex Ring for the World's Rich and Famous

—Disinformation Expert Ace

I've said previously that the idea that some people have, that Epstein was literally running a child sex brothel and billionaires were paying him for sex, was almost certainly false. I know that people don't like to hear this, but some alleged conspiracies are just too big to believe that no one ever blew the whistle.

He certainly does seem to have made young women available for the use of his pedophile pals. But this seems to have been a matter of ingratiation and favor-banking rather than a quid pro quo with billionaires paying Ghislaine Maxwell at the till before passing the turnstile and entering Pedo Island.

The FBI also says it did not find blackmail photos or videos in the Epstein files.

Ed Morrissey digests an AP story. I'll just quote some of the matter he quotes, and refer you to his post for more.

The FBI pored over Jeffrey Epstein's bank records and emails. It searched his homes. It spent years interviewing his victims and examining his connections to some of the world's most influential people.

But while investigators collected ample proof that Epstein sexually abused underage girls, they found scant evidence the well-connected financier led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men, an Associated Press review of internal Justice Department records shows.

I think this might depend on what the definition of "sex ring" is. The strong form of it didn't apparently exist. But a weak form it, with Epstein maintaining his value to wealthy and powerful men by making young women available to them, and subsequently getting very valuable insider information, probably did exist.

Why did Peter Mandelson tell Epstein in advance of the then-nonpublic UK government decision to bail out the banks? What services was Epstein providing to him?

Or was it just a cash transaction in that case, with Epstein paying Mandelson and his husband off? We know Epstein sent $75,000 to Mandelson, even if Mandelson "can't remember" if he received that sum or not, and another ten thousand pounds to his husband.

Prosecution memos, case summaries and other documents made public in the department's latest release of Epstein-related records show that FBI agents and federal prosecutors diligently pursued potential coconspirators. Even seemingly outlandish and incomprehensible claims, called in to tip lines, were examined. ...

Investigators said they confirmed that Giuffre had been sexually abused by Epstein. But other parts of her story were problematic.

Two other Epstein victims who Giuffre had claimed were also "lent out" to powerful men told investigators they had no such experience, prosecutors wrote in a 2019 internal memo.

"No other victim has described being expressly directed by either Maxwell or Epstein to engage in sexual activity with other men," the memo said.

Yeah, I don't know. I do not believe that Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, and Pam Bondi have any incentive to lie about these things. The conspiracy theorists lose me when they start claiming that everyone who fails to support their conspiracy theories must themselves be in on the conspiracy. But, conspiracy theorists tend to do that. That's their go-to move.

I don't exactly feel satisfied by this report. I still think there's gotta be something more there.

But I don't know if I'd put much money on that.

Left-Wing "Scoop" That Tulsi Gabbard Was on a Secret, Traitorous Phone Call with a Foreign Person Blows Up Within Hours, Exposed As Another Schiffian Hoax

—Disinformation Expert Ace

The "story" was broken by Cate Brown -- formerly of the Washington Post.

She's a Deep State operator programmed by her masters to take out Tulsi Gabbard.

Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke

1h

At first, I thought the fake anti-Tulsi Gabbard story ended up in the Guardian because that's where fake leakers go when even the New York Times and Washington Post won't touch their stories. But it's worse than that. The reporter who wrote the piece used to be at the Washington Post, pushing anti-Tulsi stories even then. More damning, she did it alongside Catherine Belton, a close associate of Steele dossier hoaxer Christopher Steele and a notorious Russiagate liar whose false claims about Sergei Millian, an innocent American, destroyed his life and business. It's always the same dirty clique of media operators pushing these hoaxes. Fortunately, unlike before, they're finally being called out.

She got a "tip" -- a tip that came from a Hillary and Schumer operative and CIA lawyer, Andrew Bakaj.

Apparently he previously worked for... the traitorous Ukranian agents, the Vindman brothers, who engineered Trump's first Fake Impeachment.

Svetlana Lokhova @RealSLokhova

14h

The @guardian are now dissembling because in their attempted hit on @TulsiGabbard, they relied on the word of the CIA operative "lawyer" Andrew Bakaj, who worked for Hillary and Schumer on the Hill and represented the Vindmans in the fake Ukraine impeachment.

So, what was this tip?

That Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, had been on the phone with a foreign person.

Wow! What a scandal!

Our top intelligence official was caught talking to a foreign person! That's unlegal! We can't have our top spooks talking with foreigners!

Cate Brown @catebrown12

SCOOP: The NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump last spring.

Whistleblower says that @DNIGabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff.

Bakaj, now representing a new Vindman-like "whistleblower," made threats to Tulsi Gabbard that he would, I don't know, file some faggot paperwork against her:

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Overrules Lawless Lowly District Court Judges, Rules that Illegal Aliens May Be Held Without Bond While They Fight Their Deportation Orders

—Disinformation Expert Ace

The left prefers that the be released on bond, so they can simply abscond and never show up for any deportation hearings. They stay in the US perpetually just by the left releasing them every time they're caught by immigration agents. They just find a new place to live and slip into "the shadows" again, as our left-wing friends the Bushes like to say.

The Fifth Circuit ruled on Friday that illegal aliens have no right release from detention. They can file their worthless objections using the scripted lies that open borders advocates teach them to say, but they'll do that while cooling their heels in stir.

Or they can just leave the country. Their choice.

CBS:

A federal appeals court on Friday endorsed the Trump administration's policy of holding broad groups of immigration detainees without access to bond hearings, a major legal victory for President Trump and his deportation crackdown.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of federal judges at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Trump administration had properly reinterpreted an immigration law last year to disqualify many unauthorized immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement from being able to ask an immigration judge to be released on bond.

Previously, immigrants who had lived in the U.S. unlawfully for years were generally eligible for bond hearings, and the opportunity to persuade an immigration judge that they were not flight risks and should be allowed to fight their deportation outside of a detention center. Mandatory detention had been historically limited to recent border crossers and those convicted of certain crimes.

But the Trump administration took the position that anyone who entered the U.S. illegally, irrespective of how long ago, is subject to mandatory detention during their deportation proceedings. The only mechanism for release under that policy was if ICE decided to parole them out of custody on humanitarian or public interest grounds.

The seismic policy change has led ICE to indefinitely hold detainees who entered the U.S. illegally years or even decades ago and who previously would've been eligible for bond, including those without criminal records.

The mass detention policy has been challenged in federal courts across the country, straining the resources of government lawyers. Most judges have found the policy to be illegal.

But the 5th Circuit panel disagreed and upheld the Trump administration's legal position, reversing two lower court orders.

The majority opinion -- penned by Reagan-nominated Judge Edith Jones and backed by Trump-nominated Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan -- sided with the Trump administration's view that federal law provides for mandatory detention of large numbers of unauthorized immigrants who were apprehended in the interior of the U.S. and deemed "applicants for admission."

"The text says what it says, regardless of the decisions of prior Administrations," the opinion read. "...In any event, that prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority...does not mean they lacked the authority to do more."

...

Judge Dana Douglas, a Biden nominee, dissented from the majority opinion. She wrote that the government's claim that the law calls for mandatory detention ignored "historical precedent" and "wave[d] away" the fact that prior administrations hadn't sought to detain people without bond en masse.

"And for what?" writes Douglas, arguing that the majority opinion was "based on little more than an apparent conviction that Congress must have wanted these noncitizens detained -- some of them the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens."

This is all the left does. The fact that they are "spouses, mothers, fathers, etc." is not a legal argument. It's not a logical argument of any kind. It is simply a petulant, child-like demand for the reader's sympathy and a claim that they should be allowed to break the law at will because they are "spouses, mothers, fathers, etc."

The left's other argument is that because previous presidents, like Obama, Biden, and of course the Bushes, let illegals remain in the country while they file frivolous objections to deportation, all future presidents are bound by their non-legislative policy choices.

Weird how the right's policy choices never become stealth law and precedent binding all subsequent presidents. Just the left's.

In fact, these illegals seem to be arguing that while they are, in fact, subject to detention awaiting final deportation orders, they should be "eligible for discretionary release" by the Executive. And they're demanding a judge force the executive to grant them discretionary release.

Hm, in that case, it sounds like the judiciary is usurping the elected President's power to grant release under his own discretion.

If affirmed by the Supreme Court, this would become national law and greatly aid Trump in speedily deporting illegal aliens, or giving them the choice of sitting in ICE detentions for months and months or just leaving the country.