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
Murders plummeted more than 20% in U.S. last year, the largest drop on record, study shows
Murders plummeted more than 20% in 2025 from the year before, the single-largest one-year drop on record -- and it might be the lowest murder rate in the U.S. since 1900, a study released Thursday by the Council on Criminal Justice found.
The annual crime trends report analyzed data from 40 large cities across the United States for 13 different crime types, including murder, carjacking, theft and drug offenses.
Note that the numbers were cooked under Biden, with carjacking, theft, and various other crime numbers fraudulently reduced, so the real fall from 2023 and 2024 is actually must greater.
Alongside homicides, which dropped 21% from 2024, carjackings have declined 61% since 2023, while shoplifting is down 10% since 2024.
Probably just due to stores in cities closing to stop the rampant, government-permitted looting.
In general, the overall crime rate declined, with violent crimes at or below levels seen in 2019, the analysis found -- drug offenses were the only category that rose during this period, while sexual assault remained even.
Researchers pointed toward multiple reasons for the large drop in homicides, but cautioned that "identifying decisive factors with certainty is challenging."
LOL, of course, no "researcher" can possibly figure out why the murder rate should drop at the same time we're locking people up and deporting foreign marauders.
Must be an environmental factor. Like maybe people are eating less eggs or something.
Senior research specialist Ernesto Lopez, lead author of the report, said that while the "overall reduction in crime, especially homicide, is welcome news," he noted homicide rates had been steadily dropping since the late 2000s, prior to a notable spike in 2020.
"It is possible that these rates reflect a longer-term downward trend punctuated by periods of elevated homicides," Lopez said.
Insane. I mentioned this on Friday, I think, but "years of steadily dropping" (after the Biden Crime Wave peak) doesn't explain a sudden single-year 20% plummet.
"Steadily declining" means "falling 3-4% per year." This minor trend does not explain the huge fall.
A group of criminal justice experts convened by CCJ had varied answers as to what caused such a precipitous drop in homicides, but they were generally in agreement that the stabilization of routines, an influx of COVID-19 relief funds and program intervention were strong drivers.
Oh of course -- it wasn't enforcement, imprisonment, and deportation which lowered murders by one-fifth, it was, of course, liberal government spending.
This must be due to Liberal Government Spending as well:
Trump's Second Term Sees Record ICE Gang Arrests and Crime Drop
20 hours ago
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeted violent offenders from groups like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, with the FBI disrupting 1,800 gangs--a 210% jump from 2024--and making 67,000 total arrests. These efforts aligned with a 20% national drop in murders, the sharpest ever, as preliminary data showed homicides potentially at 1960s lows in major cities. While DHS credited removing dangerous criminals, including nearly 3 million illegal immigrants who left the U.S., analysts noted two-thirds of ICE arrests involved people without U.S. criminal records, and critics pointed to broader post-pandemic trends.
-25,000 violent crime arrests, up 100% from last year -6,000 child victims identified or located, up 22% -Espionage arrests up 35% -Fentanyl seizures up 31% -Nihilistic Violent Extremism arrests up 490%
Another Church Disrupting Water Buffalo Arrested Update: Loud-Mouthed, Foul-Mouthed Bearded Jerkoff Arrested Too, After Telling Pam Bondi "Come Get Me"
—Ace
Insurrectionist mayor Jacob Frey has refused to condemn the church intimidation, now demands that the ringleader be freed to eat all of our food:
Nick Sortor
@nicksortor
2h
🚨 BREAKING -- ANOTHER PERP WALK: Chauntyll Louisa Allen has officially been charged with CONSPIRACY TO DEPRIVE RIGHTS due to her role in the St. Paul Church riots
The ringleader, Nekima Levy Armstrong, was also arrested this morning.
They're in federal custody at the direction of @AGPamBondi
.
NEXT UP: Don Lemon?! 😏
Physical ugliness and morbid obesity are contributing factors to radical extremism in women.
That's not a joke. It's an insult, but it's seriously meant: No one whose prom night was a dream winds up in antifa.
As I have said over and over and over again, the biggest threat to this country right now is the ongoing left-wing judicial insurrection against the rule of law, and the abject refusal of Republican representatives to do anything about it.
This guy reports that not only are the feds going to charge every single church disruptor, but they'll be going through texts and emails to find co-conspirators who did not show up for the invasion but who conspired to make it happen.
And remember, "conspiracy" only requires agreement that a felony should be committed by someone who's part of the conspiracy.
They used that a lot to lock up not J6ers but merely people in text chains with J6ers.
So let justice be done here equally.
That might be how they wind up getting Don Lemon -- maybe a leftwing judge can claim he was a "journalist" when in the church, but if he's taking part in the planning, then he's a co-conspirator.
Update 2: Federal law enforcement tells me that every person who entered that church is getting a warrant and that they are also using phone records to add conspiracy charges on top of everything else.
(I specifically asked about Don Lemon; haven’t heard back yet lol)
Another one bites the dust: Chauntyll Louisa Allen, St. Paul school board parasite and professional chaos merchant, just got federally indicted for CONSPIRACY TO DEPRIVE RIGHTS.
Her crime? Helping orchestrate the sacrilegious invasion of Cities Church...storming a house of God mid-service, terrorizing worshippers, screaming in their faces, all because the pastor dares to serve his country with ICE.
And the high priestess of this blasphemous mob, Nekima Levy Armstrong...self-anointed civil rights queen, race-hustling attorney, the venomous ringleader who planned and executed the whole disgusting spectacle...hauled out in cuffs this morning.
Federal custody. No soft landing. No media bailout.
Just cold steel and the long-overdue taste of consequences.
These people aren't activists.
They're domestic terrorists in activist drag.
They psychologically crave the thrill of domination...invading sacred spaces, silencing prayer, bullying the faithful because it feeds their bloated egos and fragile power fantasies.
They thought churches were fair game, that worshippers had no rights worth protecting.
They needed to believe their cause sanctified any violation. That delusion just got shattered by federal indictments.
You feel it?
That's justice finally sharpening its blade after years of deliberate dulling. No more free passes for the approved class of agitators.
No more looking away while they desecrate what others hold holy.
Keep. The. Motherfucking. Arrests. Coming.
Every last one of them. Round up the whole mob.
Apply the law with lethal evenness...no selective mercy, no political favoritism.
The same statutes that protected their protests now protect the churchgoers they terrorized.
Beautiful symmetry.
And don't stop there.
Next up: Don fucking Lemon and every smug, riot-apologist ghoul who spent years cheering this kind of intimidation from the safety of their studios.
Drag them in too. Make them explain why disrupting worship is "speaking truth to power" when they do it, but "insurrection" when anyone else dares.
The great correction is underway.
The era of unequal justice is bleeding out.
And it feels ***damn glorious.
And it's not just wallflower women attracted to radical leftwing politics, of course. You also have heartbreaker Alpha Chads like this potential David French bedroom visitor:
How are these real people
It blows my mind that people like this even exist tbh
WATCH: Don Lemon has an EPIC crash out over @NICKIMINAJ-- calling her a "racist bigoted homophobe," an "ignorant pick me" and says he would burn her records.
Sorry, Don, but you're an irrelevant, washed up TV anchor while Nicki Minaj is one of the biggest stars in the world. pic.twitter.com/fuVPibjoqx
As you all know, the very gay low-IQ retard Don Lemon, whose busted-up broke-out asshole resembles the Bikini Atoll during the 1960s H-bomb tests, has a major, major problem with women.
Don Lemon on CNN about Nikki Haley:
“A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s, and maybe 40s.”
"Don Lemon does not like women — in particular, strong women ... He’s so friggin’ bananas and hateful that even CNN fired him — which says a heck of a lot."
23-year-old “Nasra Ahmed” alleges she was “kidnapped” and brutalized by ICE at a MN news conference:
“That man, he called me the N-word… and then he arrested—they arrested me. It was multiple people. They used a lot of force…I actually got a uh… scab…”
Weird how her head had no marks on it in an earlier video but was suddenly bandaged up for her press conference.
Note how her story evolves. First, the ICE agents just "asked for ID" but "added their two cents" (how dare they!) and "baited" her.
Then, she claims she was "kidnapped." And also suffered a wound on her head which apparently had a 24-hour incubation period before it actually became visible.
So, with any claim made by a Somali thug, we need to ask: What really happened?
Church Invasion Ringleader A R R E S T E D by DHS and FBI
—Ace
I had just written this forty minutes ago:
The Church Invaders must have been advised by attorneys that they did violate the FACE Act and possibly the KKK Act as well, because they're now rewriting history to craft their legal defenses: They're now claiming they didn't disrupt the church services at all, they just sat down to participate in the services.
Except... we can see them on videotape disrupting the service and announcing beforehand they intend to "disrupt" the church services.
Nikema Levy Armstrong, organizer of the church storming in Minneapolis, just went on CNN and claimed "we did not rush into the church. We sat down and participated in the service."
Except, she said on Don Lemon's livestream that they're doing it to "disrupt business as usual" pic.twitter.com/Sy5htvyGsF
It doesn't matter. They are animals without morals or conscience. They do not even recognize any difference between truth and lie. "Truth" is whatever helps them gain power and control over their betters.
And now:
Homeland Security Investigators and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota.
She is being charged with a federal crime under 18 USC 241.
The Cuban people have been suffering under the yoke of a particularly brutal communist dictatorship since 1959. They were propped up by the USSR for 30 years, with oil and industrial machinery and weapons (so many weapons!) in return for being a convenient thorn in the side of America, and a fomenter of revolution across the world. After the Soviet Union fell, they had to scramble for oil, and Venezuela stepped up! Shocking nobody with a brain, China also began to strengthen it ties to the Cuban government.
But with the capture of Maduro, and the Venezuelan government increasingly dancing to America's tune, at least with respect to petroleum, Where will Cuba get its oil?
Mexico! And with the permission of the Trump administration, which makes a certain amount of sense. Penalizing the people of Cuba by denying them what little in basic necessities they have is a cruel and unnecessary step without first beginning the process of ending communism in Cuba.
"Cuba's rulers are incompetent Marxists who have destroyed their country, and they have had a major setback with the Maduro regime that they are responsible for propping up," a White House official said, adding that Cuba should "make a deal before it's too late."
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post earlier in the month: "Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela."
"In return, Cuba provided 'Security Services' for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE," he continued. "THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA — ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
Ah...another deal!
What kind of deal can there be that frees the Cuban people? The communist rulers of Cuba will not go willingly, and they have a comprehensive security and surveillance apparatus that would make the Stasi blush with embarrassment.
Will we demand that the Cuban communist party give up power and then force the government to have free elections? Or we will sponsor an invasion, like we did in 1961? That went well. Actually, it did for American communists. JFK and the Democrat Party supported the communists by withholding air support!
We can strengthen the embargo, push back against Chinese influence, eventually begin to decrease oil imports from Mexico, support dissidents within Cuba (if they dare to speak publicly against the pervasive terror), and what else? Of course we could invade and make short shrift of the Cuban army, but it would be bloody, and we would suffer casualties. Or perhaps decapitation strikes that destroy the leadership?
But Cuba is a special case. Their communism is protected by the geography of the Island. There are no land borders that can be used by smugglers, both of goods, and of arms and ideas. Their communication is controlled quite well by the state, and their army is comparatively well fed and well paid. And they have survived for 67 years just a few miles from the coast of their Great Satan!
The conventional wisdom was that with the softening of America's tone, Cuba's communism would wither, and it would become a soft socialist state. That never happened, and with three generations of indoctrination, the odds are long that it will happen now.
The people of Cuba need our help, but what that help will be is the big question!
[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!
Good morning kids. As someone who has written professionally for many years, including books, screenplays and editorials, I can honestly say that one thing I am particularly proud of is, believe it or not, a single word! Chutzpocrisy For the sake of those who are not regular readers of this column, it is a mashup of the Yiddish word "chutzpah" which means gall and the English word hypocrisy.
Given the nature of the Democrat/Left insofar as who and what they are and what they have done to our nation and society, more and more with each passing year if not week or day, the things that they do and say are so perfectly encapsulated in that word. Today's example comes from a particularly loathsome bastard, one Hakeem Jeffries.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) commented on the possibility of a government shutdown over ICE by saying that, among “things that we believe are appropriate in this instance, are demanding be part of any final bill,” would be a requirement that “ICE should not be able to storm houses of worship, hospitals, and schools.”
The unmitigated chutzpocrisy of this radioactive glittering turd is so unbearable that even Ray Charles wearing iridium-coated Raybans could feel a searing pain in his eye sockets were he watching from the surface of a supernova 5 billion light years from earth,
Storming houses of Worship, hospitals and schools?! Not even a single peep when Don Lemon who might have organized and led a band of "agitators" and stormed into a Minneapolis church over the weekend to "protest" ICE's rounding up of criminal illegal aliens in that city in particular and all over the nation in general. Ditto the raking of police stations with gunfire as well as synagogues and religious schools with little children in them.
The words "agitators" and "protest are in quotes because this was an act of dictionary and legal definition terrorism carried out by terrorists. Irrespective of the fact that this might have been the church where the priest was identified as supposedly being in the employ or otherwise working with ICE, the act of violently and loudly bursting into a church during a service to shriek at the parishioners is beyond abhorrent. It is straight up evil.
Asking Hakeem Jeffries what he thinks of this is a waste of breath. His silence speaks volumes. He like all the other demonic vermin in the coven known as the Democrat party are cheering this on.
Gov. JB Pritzker, in a statement, said the allegations “raise serious concerns for people struggling to maintain housing — and the communities that have been profiled and relentlessly targeted by the federal government during its violent immigration enforcement operations. State law prohibits discrimination, and that includes aiding or abetting conduct intended to interfere with housing and civil rights. Illinois will not tolerate conduct that puts anyone in Illinois at risk of discrimination or harm.”
To be clear about what’s going on here, the Pritzker regime in Illinois has decided to define cooperation with federal law enforcement as a form of illegal discriminatory conduct that it can penalize.
After demonstrating that landlords can be penalized for tipping off ICE, then it’ll be the turn of other small businesses, and then finally cooperating with ICE will be deemed a ‘hate crime’.
Meh. This is from the same people who created the Garland Archipelago and rounded up anyone who was within 5 miles of the Capitol on January 6th 2021 for the crime of protesting the election the Democrats stole. Just as no Democrats will ever face justice let alone go to prison for all their crimes, you can bet that this landlord is going to be sent straight to Joliet Prison courtesy of a rigged prosecutor, Judge and jury. The message is now loud and clear, the Democrats now run Barter Town, they have proclaimed themselves Master/Blaster and Aunty Entity rolled into one. Defy them and one way or another it's (finger across neck in slicing motion).
Frey said, “In Minneapolis, we will not cooperate with ICE or any federal agency around immigration enforcement work, we will not. And there’s a good reason, by the way, that we won’t, and it’s not just the moral imperative here, it’s also the fact that I want our police officers focusing on safety.”
. . . The church invasion is the place for DOJ to make its stand and to enforce federal criminal laws, but more needs to be known about Lemon’s role in the crime. Don Lemon: Criminal? Journalist? or Both
On Wednesday’s broadcast of MS NSDAP’s “Morning (Intern-Murderer) Joe,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) commented on the possibility of a government shutdown over ICE by saying that, among “things that we believe are appropriate in this instance, are demanding be part of any final bill,” would be a requirement that “ICE should not be able to storm houses of worship, hospitals, and schools.” — (And yet where was this filthy criminal degenerate when Don Yellow bitter fruit Lemon invaded and terrorized a Minneapolis church over the weekend? He was cheering it on - jjs) Jeffries on Shutdown over ICE: We Won’t Vote for Funding Without Changes, Including Making Churches Off Limits
ICE and other federal immigration officials began “Operation Catch of the Day” as Wednesday dawned with coordinated raids in counties all over the Democrat-led state. The campaign was peaceful and without widespread protests or obstruction by leftist activists because local police departments were assisting the federal forces in their duties. Immigration Agents Sweep Across Maine with Local Police Help Despite Dem Gov’s Orders to Stop
What’s playing out in Minneapolis and other major cities controlled by Democrats is as simple as this: That party willfully ignored our nation’s laws to import millions of destitute foreigners for the purpose of loading them up with welfare and earning their political support, and now that they’re out of power, they’re trying to keep their new constituents here by any means possible. Democrats Created An Unconstrained Immigration Problem. It Requires An ‘Unconstrained’ Solution
Frey said, “In Minneapolis, we will not cooperate with ICE or any federal agency around immigration enforcement work, we will not. And there’s a good reason, by the way, that we won’t, and it’s not just the moral imperative here, it’s also the fact that I want our police officers focusing on safety.” (When will this dangerous treasonous criminal be thrown into a dungeon to rot? - jjs) Frey: There’s ‘Moral Imperative’ to Not Cooperate with Feds on Immigration Enforcement Work
The chants echoing through the streets of Iran today leave no room for ambiguity. The people have made an unequivocal statement: they reject the monarchy as a relic of the past and the current theocracy as a pillar of oppression. The Irreversible Tide: Iran’s Steady March toward Democratic Revolution
Independent journalist Nick Shirley was on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a blunt message for Washington: Americans have reached their breaking point. Testifying before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, Shirley said he was there “on behalf of all hardworking, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens here inside of the United States,” and he made clear that patience with government waste and fraud has evaporated. Nick Shirley Goes Nuclear During Fraud Hearing on Capitol Hill
The moment came during Wednesday’s Supreme Court oral arguments in Trump v. Cook, which centers around a request brought by the Trump administration to pause a lower court injunction preventing Cook’s removal. As The Federalist previously reported, Trump fired Cook in August over allegations that she committed mortgage fraud prior to joining the Fed. At SCOTUS, Lisa Cook’s Attorney Admits Trump Can Fire His Client From The Fed
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump v. Cook, the case testing whether President Trump can fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook based on allegations of mortgage fraud. Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed concern that granting the president too much deference in removal decisions would effectively create at-will firing authority, rendering the Federal Reserve Act’s “for cause” requirement meaningless. But Kavanaugh’s worry overlooks the law’s actual check on presidential abuse: the Senate confirmation process. Lisa Cook’s Supreme Court Case Shines Spotlight on the Senate’s Forgotten Fed Veto
CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY
With four murders and several other shootings, the year is not starting out well for Macon, Georgia. Yet Another Macon Murder-Funeral
Authorities shut down 24 industrial-scale laboratories and seized approximately 1,000 tons of chemicals used to produce street drugs like MDMA, cathinone amphetamine and methamphetamine, according to a Europol press release. Officials said they arrested 85 suspects. The criminal activities allegedly generated enormous profits. Traffickers were seeing 30-fold returns on the resources invested, Europol’s European Serious Organised Crime Centre head Andy Kraag told DW. (RELATED: Chinese Fentanyl Kingpin Extradited To U.S. After Elaborate Mexico-To-Russia Escape Plot) European Police Bust Major Drug Ring, Arrest Dozens Across Continent
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,
An estimated 1.6 billion barrels of oil and 28.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in famous Permian Basin may now be technically recoverable,..showing while resources matter, innovation can make all the difference. (Drill it like your prom date was Ann Margret in fishnets and stiletto heels! - jjs) U.S. Geological Survey Report Shows Massive Untapped Oil, Gas Reserves in Texas
America can’t defend its jets, grid, or future by outsourcing critical minerals; responsible domestic mining is a national security imperative, not an environmental indulgence. America Can’t Secure Its Future on Imported Minerals
THE 2020 and SUBSEQUENT ELECTION HEISTS , SHENANIGANS/FRAUD and AFTERMATH
. . . a seemingly innocuous program to entice foreign investors became a massive operation for laundering foreign donations to American politicians, primarily Democrats. The plot revolved around a program established by the 1990 Immigration Act called the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) visa. It was ostensibly intended to encourage foreign investors to put big money into American business and job creation. CCP SPY $$$ SPIGOT EXPOSED: How a U.S. Visa Program Designed by a Chinese Spy Lets Beijing Funnel Money into American Elections
L'AFFAIRE EPSTEIN
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna asked U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer to let them weigh in as “friends of the court” and appoint a special master or monitor to oversee the DOJ’s public release of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed in November. Federal Judge Tells Massie, Khanna To Pound Sand On Expediting Epstein Files Release
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took aim at California Governor Gavin Newsom during a speech at the World Economic Forum this week, focusing on Newsom’s economic record, his presence in Davos alongside Alex Soros, and his handling of issues such as homelessness, budget deficits, and pandemic-era policies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Roasts Gavin Newsom at WEF: ‘Patrick Bateman Meets Sparkle Beach Ken’
America can secure its Arctic interests through partnership, not plunder—working with Denmark and Greenland as trusted allies rather than proving that power makes right. Reconciling US Needs vs. Danish Claims
The Trump White House has hinted at possible land strikes against cartels for several months. However, President Trump’s remarks at Davos are the latest and most direct confirmation that the U.S. military will soon take direct action against cartel operations on land. Trump Confirms Land Strikes on Cartels Are Coming.
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.
Anthropic hopes that Claude's output will reflect the content of the constitution by being:
Broadly safe: not undermining appropriate human mechanisms to oversee AI during the current phase of development;
Broadly ethical: being honest, acting according to good values, and avoiding actions that are inappropriate, dangerous, or harmful;
Compliant with Anthropic's guidelines: acting in accordance with more specific guidelines from Anthropic where relevant;
Genuinely helpful: benefiting the operators and users they interact with.
If Claude is conflicted, Anthropic wants the model to "generally prioritize these properties in the order in which they are listed."
If only someone had given thought to a prioritised list of general rules - laws, you might call them - to govern the behaviour of autonomous thinking machines - robots, essentially - and all the myriad ways in which things might go awry.
Maybe a Boston biochemist in 1942, while we're engaged in idle speculation.
Nvidia hasn't said anything about this, but eagle-eyed observers have spotted the chip in shipping manifests for test hardware, most recently in a Dell laptop.
He notes that sometimes - sometimes - an AI tool can come up with an elegant solution to a small problem, maybe even a better one than you could have built yourself. But overall, 95% of the code his company creates is still built by humans, because at the end of the day for a system to be reliable, people have to understand it.
Which is a complete and welcome turnaround from the demented slopfest of Gas Town which has one simple rule: We don't know what is going on and we don't care. Oh, and a second implied rule: The solution to too much slop is more slop.
This is on a site originally slated for a Foxconn factory, a plan that never went anywhere. Microsoft purchased the land from Foxconn and the first two datacenters are under construction now.
Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - January 21, 2026 [TRex]
—Open Blogger
Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the post-cafe overnight variety.
Welcome to the Wednesday night ONT which means another edition of random 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.
[Top photo: Memphis Bridge, Spanning Mississippi River, Memphis, Shelby County, TN. 1968. Library of Congress collection]
Official 2026 Wednesday ONT Prediction Challenge Update
14 contestants submitted guesses for the numbers challenge.
27 contestants submitted guesses for the events challenge.
Perhaps we will do a mid-year status update.
Thank you for playing!
***
Random trivia - IKEA estimates that on average, it sells one Billy bookcase every five seconds. Other than Perfessor Squirrel and the book thread participants, I'm impressed that so many people have so many books that they need shelves to store them in an easily accessible manner. (BTW, the interweb says today is Squirrel Appreciation Day. Perfessor - we appreciate you!)
The Billy bookcase was named after an IKEA advertising manager,Billy Likjedhal. It was first developed by IKEA in the 1970s.
IKEA is an acronym. It stands for Ingvar (founder's first name), Kamprad (founder's surname), Elmtaryd (his family's farm) and Agunnaryd (the village in Smaland where he grew up).
On 31 December, the Finnish strongman [Juha Andersson] challenged the popular record for the heaviest deadlift with one finger, a title which has changed hands (or fingers) three times within 2025 alone. Yet Juha was more than confident that he could take the crown due to his championship background in competitive finger pulling, and on the last day of the year, the ultimate showdown began to see who has the toughest middle digit in the world.
And turns out, Juha was right - because on his second attempt, he easily yanked 336.42 lbs (152.60 kg) off the ground with just one finger, narrowly beating Egmond Molina's (Aruba) best of 334 lbs (151.5 kg) from four months prior.
"Competitive finger pulling"? Apparently so. In Germany it's called "fingerhakeln" and the Finnish version is named "sormikoukku."
Cue the "pull my finger" fart jokes (for the record, fart jokes are still funny).
***
The Wednesday ONT respects the Horde enough not to waste precious virtual ink on anything said by Gavin Newsom. However, an exception must be made this one time for his comments from Davos:
This is diplomacy with Donald Trump. He's a T-Rex. You mate with him, or he devours you, one or the other. The Europeans could be (devoured) if they continue down this path and process. They need to stand tall, stand firm, stand united.
Others can debate the geopolitics but if you had "mating with a T-Rex" on your political bingo card for 2026, congratulations! I look forward to other dinosaur references in the vocabulary of public policy.
In related news...
***
When the ugly weather arrives for many of you this weekend, remember there are people in Alaska that camp in the snowy wilderness for fun.
Pants highly suggested.
***
Speaking of weather, here is a live picture of the weather situation:
Lincoln Logs are among a handful of classic toys made in the USA with American trees, but that's likely to change in a matter of weeks.
Pride Manufacturing - the Maine factory that makes Lincoln Logs and other wood products - is closing in April after losing its biggest contract, to make cigar tips for another company.
That leaves toymaker Basic Fun scrambling to find a new factory to manufacture the century-old brand that was founded by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, John, and has been a staple in families' toy chests for decades.
Production of the $10 million brand will likely move overseas and cost consumers about 10% more, according to Jay Foreman, chief executive of Boca Raton, Fla.- based Basic Fun.
Basic Fun, which makes other classic toys - including Lite Brite, Care Bears and Tonka Trucks - has initiated a 45-day search for a US supplier but it is also preparing a back-up plan in China to make sure it can produce enough toys for the holidays, Foreman said.
The plastic pieces that come with Lincoln Log sets - including roofs and other accessories like farm animals and farmers - are made in China. They are shipped in bulk to the US and packed into the boxes and tins of wood parts that were made by Pride Manufacturing.
The Burnham, Maine, factory made the sets starting in 2014. "After our largest customer made the decision to relocate their sourcing for cigar tips, our highest volume product, the facility became financially unviable," the firm said in a statement.
Because some of you are likely more interested in the cigar angle to this story:
The customer, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, is John Middleton, a downmarket cigar maker and subsidiary of tobacco conglomerate Altria Company.
Altria did not immediately respond to a request for comment about about why it yanked its business from Pride, which is the only cigar tip operation in the US, according to sources.
The tips are made from birch wood and are sold as part of John Middleton's Black and Mild cigars, which come with FDA-approved flavored wood tips.
Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Please do not send our mail to Greenland (yet). Are you lurking ?? Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Both American mega-corporations like Black Rock and Vanguard and foreign corporations, especially Chinese, have bought up many tens of thousands of homes and properties in the USA between them. These monopolistic efforts exacerbated an already difficult housing market.
In his Tuesday executive order, Trump blamed Wall Street investors for "crowding out families seeking to buy homes." He accused:
Hardworking young families cannot effectively compete for starter homes with Wall Street firms and their vast resources. Neighborhoods and communities once controlled by middle-class American families are now run by faraway corporate interests. People live in homes, not corporations. My Administration will take decisive action to stop Wall Street from treating America's neighborhoods like a trading floor and empower American families to own their homes.
To preserve the supply of single-family homes for American families and increase the paths to homeownership, it is the policy of my Administration that large institutional investors should not buy single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by families.
Therefore, Trump requires Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Kevin Hassett to come up with definitions of "large institutional investor" and "single-family home" within the next 30 days in order to ensure the executive order is implemented.
Commentary: Trump Truth Social Posts On X
@TrumpTruthOnX
Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations -- They will report directly to me. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(TS: 21 Jan 14:27 ET)
People have speculated that this deal could cost us $700 billion, which, in terms you can understand, is equal to eight Somali day care centers.
But that's a lot of money for a rock covered in snow and Eskimos.
One of Barack Obama's pet projects was a little something called Net Neutrality, and when Trump ended it early during his first term, it literally murdered everybody who had miraculously survived his tax cuts.
But the point is that, starting with House of Cards, a little non-black-owned firm called Netflix was poised for explosive growth. Without going too deep into the woods on an old issue, from 2013 (House of Cards launch) to 2015, the 11--15% of Americans streaming Netflix sucked down 30--37% of peak-hour bandwidth -- while paying the same flat rate as everyone else.
One solution might be that internet service providers (ISPs) could charge Netflix extra during peak hours. I like that solution, because it incentivizes ISPs to build more bandwidth. Netflix could either eat the charges or pass it along to their customers who were using all that bandwidth. Or ISPs could throttle Netflix's streaming quality -- and here's where things got tricky -- without throttling the quality of the streamers they operated, like Comcast-owned NBCUniversal.
...
However, Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings -- a big-money Obama donor and frequent White House visitor -- continued his extremely vocal support for Net Neutrality, which eventually forbid deals like that one. "Bits are bits," and under Net Neutrality, ISPs couldn't charge more for this bit (Netflix's) than they did for that bit (Nana's latest LOLcat post on Facebook). Even though Netflix was using trillions more bits.
...
[O]bama remained a yuge proponent of Net Neutrality going into his second term, railing against "gatekeepers deciding which sites you get to access." But it was never about Comcast blocking you from visiting VeryNaughtySite.com. It was about Netflix and Netflix subscribers getting a free ride -- and how to locate the grift.
...
In 2018, safely out of office, the Obamas landed a multi-year Netflix production deal reportedly worth at least $50 million (according to various sources like the New York Post), through Higher Ground Productions, churning out award bait nobody streams.
This was one of the most visible examples of post-office windfall politics in modern history, and hardly anyone blinked.
I mean, look at the virtually unwatched content Higher Ground Productions made:
American Factory (2019 Oscar-winning documentary)
Crip Camp (2020 Oscar nominee)
Becoming (2020 Michelle Obama documentary)
Exit West (upcoming scripted series)
Rustin (2023 film on civil rights leader Bayard Rustin)
Leave the World Behind (2023 apocalyptic thriller)
If you hadn't heard of those, you aren't alone -- neither had I, and I'm paid to follow this stuff. But the Obamas certainly took home enough Netflix money to "buy everyone."
Democrats in Virginia have introduced a bill that bans state agencies from imposing requirements on non-profits to verify their eligibility before receiving taxpayer dollars. https://t.co/z8o1wjdNGP
BREAKING: Abigail Spanberger's first act as Governor of Virginia is to repeal Glenn Youngkin's executive order that mandated state and local law enforcement cooperate with immigration enforcement.
I’m sure you all remember Gabrielle Darone, the trans – identifying man who simulated a pregnancy that ended in a “planned stillbirth.” He joined a support group for women who had experienced stillbirth, and when some of the women objected to his presence, they were ejected from… pic.twitter.com/6IIQwT3VVh
President Trump has called the U.K.'s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius -- a deal his administration previously supported -- an act of "great stupidity" that further justified his desire for the U.S. to acquire Greenland. One of the islands, Diego Garcia, is the site of a key U.K.-U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean.
"Shockingly, our 'brilliant' NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER," Mr. Trump said early Tuesday on his own Truth Social platform. "There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before. The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired. Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP."
Mr. Trump issued his statement as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson, a Republican, was in the U.K. to address the British parliament, where he told lawmakers the U.S. and U.K. had "always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case."
The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius, which was then a British colony, in 1965.
The UK paid Mauritius for the islands, but Mauritius is claiming the deal was unfair.
Queer Starmer claims that Trump reversed his previous OK to pressure the UK over Greenland.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer went after President Trump on Wednesday for reversing position on a deal surrounding the Chagos Islands, suggesting the president did so because of tensions over his plan to acquire Greenland.
"I made out my position on Greenland absolutely clear on Monday and a moment ago. President Trump deployed words on Chagos yesterday that were different to his previous words of welcome and support when I met him in the White House," Starmer said in the House of Commons.
"He deployed those words yesterday for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland," he added, emphasizing he would not give in.
President Trump is absolutely right to point out the staggering stupidity of the United Kingdom handing over the strategically vital Chagos Islands to a country more than 1,200 miles away that has no connection to them (and that happens to be a vassal of China), purely as an act… pic.twitter.com/wLD0u3PBGY
CNN Sissy Accuses Trump of Being "Provably" Part of "Global Sex Trafficking Ring," and Liberal Host Wants to Let the Defamation Stand With No Pushback
—Ace
It falls to Scott Jennings to object, and to press the leftwing host to even address the major, serious, no-defense-possible defamation that just occurred.
First the host pushes back against Jennings, saying "I'll do the fact-checking here," except he didn't do it and clearly doesn't want to do it. Ultimately Jennings moggs him into offering the weakest possible "Trump hasn't been charged with crimes" fact check, but Berman would have let the defamation stand completely unchecked if not for Jennings' demand.
Trump is going to sue CNN, and they'll have to settle, because there is just no defense here. The clown made a false factual statement, not an opinion, and emphasized that he was speaking about what he was claiming was a proven fact by adding the word "provably."
And yes, CNN is liable for defamation that one of its panelists speaks on its platform.
Overton
@overton_news
A smug 25-year-old leftist activist just got HUMBLED live on CNN by Scott Jennings.
Cameron Kasky claimed President Trump was part of a "human sex-trafficking network" -- and for a moment, the panel let it slide.
Until @ScottJenningsKY stepped in and FORCED the host John Berman to correct the record for all to hear.
KASKY: "So I am appreciative that the president is being transparent about this. I would love it if he was more transparent about the human sex-trafficking network that he was a part of, but you can't win them all."
BERMAN: "Cameron's grateful that the president is being transparent about the Nobel Peace Prize and his desires for Greenland. Scott, what do you think about that?"
JENNINGS: "You're going to let that sit? Are we going to claim here on CNN that the president is part of a global sex trafficking ring, or...?"
BERMAN: "We're going to talk about the Epstein files. Scott... I will do the fact checking as we go along here. Repeat what you said about the global sex trafficking ring."
KASKY: "That Donald Trump was provably very involved with it."
Berman suddenly realized he was cornered...
And only then did he offer his brief, grudging, weak "fact check."
A smug, barely-out-of-college leftist activist wandered onto CNN and accused a sitting president of running a global human sx-trafficking ring -- 𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.
And for a moment?
CNN just let it sit there. You could almost imagine Trump picking up the phone to his lawyers.
Until Scott Jennings -- 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 -- slammed the brakes and reminded the room that 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.
The little dicksucker apparently was advised by a lawyer to apologize, but he must think he's too broke-ass to sue, because his "apology" sounds like a sarcastic restatement of the original defamation:
Cameron Kasky
@camkasky
20h
I would like to retract my comments from CNN last night and truly apologize.
Donald Trump was obviously not involved with a giant international child sex trafficking ring where women and children were systematically raped by elites.
I said that by accident and didn;t mean it.
1. You knew exactly what you were doing. 2. You did it intentionally. 3. This weak walk back isn’t fooling anyone & doesn’t absolve you of any legal jeopardy. 4. You only put this out because of real fear that you & your employer will be sued. 5. I’ll bet if your employer is sued…
Justice D E-I Cites "Black Codes" Which Stripped Post-Civil-War Blacks of Right to Bear Arms As Good Law In Order to Justify Endless Gun Control
—Ace
Justice D-EI is making it as hard as possible for other DEI judges to ever get confirmed.
What were the Black Codes? They were post-Civil-War state laws enacted by the defeated Confederacy in spite.
They were almost immediately declared unconstitutional.
The Black Codes were a series of racially discriminatory laws enacted by Southern states immediately after the Civil War (primarily in 1865--1866) to restrict the rights and freedoms of newly emancipated African Americans (freedmen) and maintain white supremacy, often as a continuation of pre-war slave codes.
These laws frequently included provisions that severely restricted or outright prohibited Black people from owning, possessing, or carrying firearms (and often other weapons like Bowie knives or dirks). The intent was to disarm freed Black individuals, leaving them vulnerable to violence from white supremacists, including groups like the Ku Klux Klan, while preventing any potential armed resistance or self-defense against oppression.
Key examples from prominent Black Codes include:
Mississippi Black Codes (1865) -- One of the earliest and most explicit. In "An Act to punish certain offenses therein named, and for other purposes" (often part of the Penal Code section), it stated:
No freedman, free negro or mulatto, not in the military service of the United States government, and not licensed so to do by the board of police of his or her county, shall keep or carry fire-arms of any kind, or any ammunition, dirk or bowie knife...
Violations resulted in fines (up to $10), costs, forfeiture of the weapons/ammunition, and potential arrest by any civil or military officer. A license from a local police board was required, which was discretionary and rarely granted to Black individuals. Whites faced no such requirement.
South Carolina Black Codes (1865) -- Similar restrictions applied, stating that persons of color could not keep a firearm, sword, or other military weapon without written permission from a district judge or magistrate.
Louisiana (1865) -- Laws required consent before bringing firearms onto another's property, explicitly aimed at freedmen to disarm them.
Other Southern states adopted comparable measures, often requiring licenses (discretionary and biased against Black applicants) or imposing total bans on Black firearm possession unless in military service. These were not race-neutral; contemporary accounts and later analyses confirm they targeted freed Black people to prevent self-defense and enable terrorization.These disarmament provisions were short-lived in their original form -- many Black Codes were repealed or overridden by Reconstruction-era federal actions, including the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Freedmen's Bureau Act, and the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified 1868), which aimed to protect freedmen's rights, including to bear arms against discriminatory state restrictions.The Black Codes' gun restrictions are widely recognized by historians and legal scholars as part of a broader pattern of racist gun control in U.S. history, designed to deny Black people the means of self-protection.
Justice D E-I needed some kind of precedent to "prove" her argument that the Constitution allows governments to strip citizens of their right to bear arms as it pleases. She wants to uphold a Hawaiian law that strips citizens of their Second Amendment rights.
So this genius decided to cite the Black Codes as good law which should control in gun control cases.
Specifically, the Bruen ruling says that we should look at the history and tradition of the Second Amendment in the US to determine if a new gun control law is constitutional.
She decides that the Black Codes are part of that tradition -- even though they were ruled unconstitutional days after they were passed. She says they were on the books for a couple of weeks (before being repealed or ruled unconstitutional), so why shouldn't we take them as good constitutional law? After all, this MacArthur Genius Grant candidate reasons, they were only ruled unconstitutional later, after they were passed.
Note to Justice D E-I: All laws ruled unconstituional are so ruled later, after they're passed. You can't rule on a law before it's passed. Not only is that nonsensical Because of How Time Works, but the Supreme Court actually forbids what it calls "advisory opinions," or opinions of the Court about whether a law would be constitutional, if it were passed. The Court ruled that only actual "cases and controversies" -- real cases -- could be adjudicated by the court, and never any future hypothetical ones. The Constitution just doesn't allow for that.
Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris’s response to Justice Gorsuch’s question on the relevance of the Black Codes was spot on:
“It is 2026, and it is somewhat astonishing that Black Codes, which are unconstitutional, are being offered as evidence of what our tradition… pic.twitter.com/Xt9Bg7HY0K
Must Listen: Justice Alito reveals the obvious irony of citing the Black Codes as justification for Hawaii’s 2023 firearm restriction law.
“They wanted to disarm the Black population in order to help the Klan terrorize them...they wanted to put them at the mercy of racist law… pic.twitter.com/GHerQmmM7C
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson draws sharp pushback from Gorsuch, Alito, and Roberts after invoking unconstitutional Black Codes to defend Hawaii’s gun restrictions under the Bruen test. pic.twitter.com/9cs7sGUf4Q
Gavin Newsom was informed at the 11th hour that his talk with Fortune at USA House in Davos was canceled.
Newsom had been invited to speak on Wednesday at an event sponsored by USA House, which for the first time was recognized by the U.S. government as the country's official headquarters at Davos. But an organizer told his office that they had opted to not include any U.S. officials in the talk focused on CEOs and other business leaders.
In a private exchange of messages obtained by POLITICO, a Newsom administration official accused the USA House of bowing to political pressure from the State Department -- an accusation the organizer denied, while emphasizing the governor was still welcome in the venue -- in a microcosm of the larger geopolitical tensions on display.
Some clips from Davos. Trump cooks the elites, of course.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump EVISCERATES the globalists to their FACES in Davos, he's holding NOTHING back
I voted for this.
"Frankly, many parts of our world are being destroyed and the leaders don't even UNDERSTAND what's happening! And the ones that DO understand won't do… pic.twitter.com/m433plRLZU
And he blasts them for their cowardice and ingratitude:
🚨Trump just TORCHED the Davos!
“Without us, right now you’d all be speaking German and a little Japanese perhaps. After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? But we did it. But how ungrateful are they now?” pic.twitter.com/OLKU1Y6AI9
Globalist international banker and Liberal Canadian PM Mark Carey declared, mostly correctly, that the "old order" had failed. But he meant that Trump had "ruptured" the old order. By refusing to go along with the post-WWII foreign policy consensus that we cared so much about Europe potentially going communist that we had to give away trillions of dollars to them through unfair trade schemes to boost their economies.
He called for "the middle powers" -- a step down from the Great Powers, a step up from the third world -- to band together to take on the Great Powers. Mostly he means the United States.
He's very butthurt that America is no longer spending trillions to make the world safe and prosperous for Europe and the "Middle Powers" without asking anything in return, but instead now seeks reciprocal advantages.
As I said yesterday, I don't really like Trump's deliberate provocation of allies -- well, ungrateful European welfare states -- until I hear the European response.
Then I get it.
Update: Thanks to Jane D'oh and Fenelon Spike:
.@SecScottBessent in Davos: "I think it's very, very ironic that Newsom — who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ben — may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris. He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros." pic.twitter.com/9BmdpaebEd
Check out Gavin Newsom barking like a dog at Alex Soros’ command. They’re hanging out together at Davos. Alex claims he’s far more aggressive than his POS father. If it weren’t for men like Trump and Musk we’d be in serious trouble. I’d be arrested for making this post. pic.twitter.com/dngf1of8jn
Bill and Hillary Clinton: We Won't Testify, But If One Single Congessman Comes to NY, Bill Alone Will Sit For Some Questions, as Long as There Is No Recording and No Transcript
Apparently decrepit alcoholic lesbian Hillary Clinton really doesn't want to be asked about her visits to Pedo Island.
"Facing contempt of Congress, the Clintons' lawyers made an untenable offer: that I travel to New York for a conversation with President Clinton only," Comer revealed in a post on X. The conditions only got worse from there. "No official transcript would be recorded and other Members of Congress would be barred from participating. I have rejected the Clintons' ridiculous offer."
Comer added, "The Clintons' latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment."
Comer pointed out that the subpoenas came from a bipartisan House Oversight Committee and required sworn, transcribed depositions, and an informal, off-the-record chat fails to meet even the lowest standard of oversight. "Former President Clinton has a documented history of parsing language to evade questions, responded falsely under oath, and was impeached and suspended from the practice of law as a result," Comer said.
...
"The absence of an official transcript is an indefensible demand that is insulting to the American people who demand answers about Epstein's crimes," he said.
...
Of course, Hillary Clinton also remains squarely in the committee's sights. Comer laid out why her testimony matters and why a closed-door, casual conversation fails to satisfy the committee's responsibility. "Former Secretary Clinton's on-the-record testimony is necessary for the Committee's investigation given her knowledge from her time as Secretary of State of the federal government's work to counter international sex-tracking rings, her personal knowledge of Ms. Maxwell, and her family's relationship with Mr. Epstein," he said.
The Committee will now hold hearings on whether or not to refer the Clintons to the DOJ for prosecution. I sure hope it's a short hearing.
There is perhaps no greater misnomer in modern English than "Non-Governmental Organization," or "NGO." NGOs very rarely are actually non-governmental. Vast quantities of taxpayer money are sluiced through the NGO complex, and many if not most NGOs are anything but "non-governmental." There are almost no true NGOs, and tons of taxpayer money is involved with these non-NGOs.
The appropriateness of government sponsorship of ostensible charity notwithstanding, the last few months have underscored yet another problem with the idea of government-supported NGOs: accountability. There appears to be none. Enormous quantities of money are being stolen through the NGO complex. Even where it isn't outright stolen, it is likely money poorly spent. Our pseudo-NGOs are out agitating for all things awful, working against the interests of the Republic - and using the Republic's money and various allies in the political and bureaucratic complexes to do it.
This needs to stop. Justice and other agencies are starting (publicly, at least - I have no idea if it is sincere) to tackle some of the fraud, but there is likely no way they can contain it. They can punish specific wrongdoers in specific frauds, but the overall system is conducive to fraud. The way the NGO complex is constructed virtually demands fraud, and all but guarantees it. The entire point is to slosh money around outside of accountability systems. The system itself is deeply flawed and designed from the ground up to be exploited. That system needs to be abolished.
There does not need to be cessation of particular projects or programs, or punishment of specific wrongdoers. The wrongdoers must be punished, of course, but that will not solve the problem. New wrongdoers will do the same things - and why not? The system is designed to be abused. That system is what needs to go, not some particular recipient. What we need is a rethink on how taxpayer is spent at all.
What I think needs to happen is a new law around how the government is permitted to spend money. It should be restricted to four categories:
1. Goods purchased by and for the government, under contract
2. Services purchased by and for the government, under contract
3. State block grants for various programs (Medicaid, Section 8, etc.), with hard requirements that all block-grant funds are directly attributable to a specific end consumer (recipient), however it is delivered, and that records are available to the federal government on demand.
4. Direct welfare payments to named recipients - disability, social security, medicare, etc.
The welfare programs are not going to be abolished, but there must be accountability within the government for them. Any dollar that goes out must go out to or on behalf of a known, named, enrolled individual. No organizations. If an organization is paid on behalf of an individual - say, medical transportation for a Medicaid recipient - it must be via a company under legitimate and valid contract per federal standards for bidding and selection, with specific recipient recorded and audited. No cash to anyone else for anything.
The government is itself a customer for many businesses, and that can continue. When some agency buys toilet paper under contract, that's fine. When a contractor operates a government facility on behalf of an agency, that's fine. When a supplier or vendor provides services to the government under contract, that's fine. But there must be no more non-contract activity paid for with taxpayer money. No more grants or non-contract outlays.
If there is, for example, some research project that people think ought to be undertaken, the government either needs to do it itself at one of its laboratories or the organization doing it needs to bid and negotiate a contract - and that contract must be subject to the same bidding and procurement requirements as any other contract. No more research grants, no more "development" grants, no more grants to universities or hospitals or NGOs not doing specific, named work for the US government under competitive contract.
These requirements are bureaucratic and onerous. That is the point. If an organization receives so much as a single penny of federal taxpayer money, it must be for a stated, known purpose under a valid contract and all that this entails. It must be auditable, accountable and transparent. If an NGO, university or other organization doesn't want to both convince someone in government that something is a good idea and then go through competitive bidding to do it, it is welcome to not participate. If an NGO wants to operate without accountability, it is welcome to do so with no victims but its own suckers who gave them money.
There is no way to get the fraud problem under control while the current NGO system remains intact. The flow of cash into the NGOs must be stopped in order to reduce the amount of flagrant theft and dishonesty in the system. The government has by now amply demonstrated that it is both unwilling and unable to determine how it spends money without aggressive oversight. The problem has to be cut out at the root, and that is in the standards and requirements for all government outlays.
One way to stop this hemorrhaging cash flow into NGOs is to change the law to explicitly define how the government is permitted to spend money, and on what. No payments without specific, named purpose and competitive contract. No transfers without accountability. Make the NGOs into actual non-government entities and let them sink or swim on their own.
Good morning kids. Let's switch things up a bit and hone in on another aspect of our national dissolution. Yes she's an abject disgrace and has absolutely no business inside a courthouse, let alone the highest court in the land, unless in an orange jumpsuit or with a bucket and a mop. And even then, given this latest pearl of wisdom maybe that's too much of a stretch.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson used legislation passed as part of the post-Civil War “Jim Crow” laws Tuesday to justify a Hawaii gun control law. The Supreme Court heard a case challenging legislation passed by the Hawaii state Legislature after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Jackson questioned United States Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris regarding the constitutionality of a law that prohibited concealed carry permit holders from carrying a firearm on private property without permission. . . “So I guess I really don’t understand your response to Justice Gorsuch on the Black Codes,” Jackson, a Biden appointee, told Harris. “I mean, I thought the Black Codes were being offered here under the Bruen test to determine the constitutionality of this regulation. And it’s because we have a test that asks us to look at the history and tradition.” “The fact that the Black Codes were, at some later point, determined themselves to be unconstitutional doesn’t seem to me to be relevant to the assessment that Bruin is asking us to make. So, can you say more about that?” Jackson continued.
“Things I didn’t have on my bingo card today: Justice Jackson defending the racist Black Codes as precedent for what we should consider constitutional,” Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network posted on X.
A complete and utter debasement of anyone and everyone who ever suffered under the Democrat Jim Crow laws. Of course the bitter irony of this, to anyone with a conscience and an iota of moral rectitude is that it comes close on the heels of the birthday of Dr. Martin Lather King Jr. (yes I am well aware of Dr. King's failings as a man and his ties to communism, yet his beliefs and words are what matter most, especially in light of the fact that the racialist-Left are now embracing anti-white/American/Judeo-Christian evil as a means of destroying this nation and attaining absolute power, but I digress). And how does this square with Michelle Obama demanding a boycott of white-owned businesses? I'm so confused!
Yes, Kentanji Brown-25 is indeed an intellectual lightweight if not a dolt whose career achievements are based solely on the content of her melanin and XX chromosomes, certainly not her brain case. But this is not stupidity on her part. This is pure political expediency on her part. She will debase herself if it helps put a torpedo into one of the key pillars of the Bill of Rights. She knows enough to know that because she's black and female, and that she has a propaganda machine fully in her corner, no one will dare question her lest they be labeled racist and sexist. In fact, I'm waiting for the usual suspects to call her citing of Jim Crow laws as some sort of brilliant judicial masterstroke.
Arrests are coming soon in the investigation into an anti-ICE mob that crashed a Sunday morning service at Cities Church in St. Paul, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem appeared on Newsmax on Tuesday evening and said that arrests would begin “in the next several hours.” The secretary also said that ex-CNN host turned YouTuber Don Lemon could face charges for his involvement in the church protest as well.
“There will be arrests tied to that, and people will be brought to justice for how they violated the law in that situation,” said Noem.
Noem suggested that Lemon’s claim to have only been a bystander and journalist during the incident at Cities Church is belied by the foreknowledge he had of the demonstration and relationships has with activists involved. “The fact that ahead of time, before this even happened, he said that he had conducted some surveillance before they went into this church, he identified individuals that were going in with him that were activists in the work that they had done in the past, the fact that this entire situation was then posted on the Black Lives Matter website, all of that is something that they’re going to be responsible for,” said Noem.
While the left yawns if not applauds Brown-25 Jackson invoking Jim Crow laws to dismantle the Second Amendment, Their heads will explode when Noem goes after the terrorists who invaded that Minneapolis Church with the FaceAct and anti-Klan laws! Oh how delicious!
Let's face it, it was an act of terrorism straight up. The terrorists themselves even crow (not Jim) about making people feel uncomfortable, about ICE or whatever the issue du jour may be. Let's take it a step further — what if one or more of the scum were armed? If Renee Good could use her SUV as a weapon and if a transexual could shoot up a Catholic school and mow down innocent children, then that Church in Minneapolis could've been the sight of bloody carnage. And given who and what we are dealing with, it may yet happen. What happens when the Einsatz-Groupies of Hamas along with Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants' untold number of Afghan/Taliban asylum-seekers join forces with the Anti-ICE crowd and waltz into another church or synagogue in the Twin Cities to raise a few pulses?!
Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison (D.) defended the group of anti-ICE agitators who stormed a St. Paul church on Sunday, telling former CNN host Don Lemon—who accompanied the agitators and boasted of conducting "reconnaissance" ahead of the stunt—that critics of the incident were "getting tender about a church service."
Ellison appeared on Lemon's YouTube show on Monday to discuss the protest, in which Lemon accompanied Minneapolis attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen, and other activists on "Operation Pull Up," the Washington Free Beacon reported. The group disrupted services at Cities Church in St. Paul based on the belief that a pastor there works for ICE, shouting "ICE Out" and other slogans.
The only thing that should be tender, is the skin on Ellison's neck after he's been sent to GITMO for an extended waterboarding session. This evil bastard. That's all I'll say.
Elsewhere, Air Force One was forced to turn back to Andrews AFB due to some potential electrical system snafu, while on its way to Davos for that WEF conference. Feh.
FYI, our good friend and director of communications at the Heartland Institute Jim Lakely invites you all to watch Heartland's alternative to the WEF, their World Prosperity Forum. Catch it linked here or on their YouTube channel
A Global Alternative to Davos
The Heartland Institute hosts the World Prosperity Forum January 19–23 in Zurich, Switzerland, bringing together international leaders and policymakers to challenge the globalist, leftist agenda advanced each year at the World Economic Forum. While the World Economic Forum promotes a centralized, top-down vision for the global economy, the World Prosperity Forum advances a prosperity-focused, freedom-focused vision rooted in free markets, individual liberty, and rising living standards. The World Prosperity Forum will coincide with, and present a clear alternative to, the World Economic Forum taking place on those same dates in Davos, Switzerland.
Have a great day.
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CIVIL WAR 2.0, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
The subpoenas sought documents from Gov. Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Mayor Kaohly Her of St. Paul related to their policies on immigration enforcement efforts in the state. Two Minnesota prosecutors, Keith Ellison, the state attorney general, and Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County attorney, were also sent similar subpoenas. Justice Dept. to Interrogate Tim Walz, Four Other Top Minnesota Democrats
The Fourth Circuit’s ruling in U.S. v. Al-Timimi wrongly conflates coordination of terrorist activity with “unpopular” speech. Inciting Terrorism Is Not Free Speech
To the great sorrow of crime-loving leftist domestic terrorists, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested thousands of foreign criminals in Minneapolis in just a few weeks, despite leftist rioting. ICE Arrests 3,000 Illegal Alien Criminals in Minneapolis
The analysis, published by Jason Richwine at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), reviews Census Bureau data on Afghan immigrants in the U.S. — an immigrant group that has exploded from just 22,000 in 1990 to almost a quarter of a million as of 2024. Analysis: 85% of Afghan Households with Children Are on Welfare in U.S.
Once upon a time, one of the great things about working in movies and TV was that if you lived in Los Angeles, even if you worked on a New York-set show like Friends or Seinfeld, you could commute from your L.A. home every day. Newsom Fail – Film and TV Production Drops 20% in Democrat-Run California
Support for terror continues to plague the Florida Muslim Conference. Coral Springs to Host Pro-Hamas Confab 2026 (I assume Don Lemon will not be leading a brigade to disrupt this- jjs)
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,
Green mandates aren’t saving the planet—they’re building a tech-driven surveillance state where appliances cost more, work worse, and train Americans to accept control as virtue. The Green Robotic ‘Utopia’ is Here
Although most homeschool alumni transition seamlessly into higher education, employment, and vocational training, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) assists hundreds of families confronting discrimination annually. The overwhelming majority of institutions and employers fully recognize and accept homeschool graduates. However, a small minority of employers, trade schools, and certain institutions deny opportunities to these graduates under the mistaken belief that a homeschool diploma does not signify legitimate high school completion. It’s Time to End Discrimination Against Homeschool Graduates
In a post on X, Comer stated that the “latest demands” by the Clintons “make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment.” Comer also criticized former President Bill Clinton for having “a documented history of parsing language to evade questions.” James Comer Rejects ‘Ridiculous Offer’ by Clintons of Unofficial Interview
Democrats now control not just the governorship but both houses of the legislature, and they mean to test Spanberger’s claim to moderation. In the opening days of the term, they have put forward an orgy of left-wing legislation that would make a gender studies professor at Vassar blush. They propose to: —Eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for offenses, including rape, manslaughter, and the assault of a law enforcement officer —Introduce a quota for the use of "small, women-owned, or minority-owned businesses" in government contracting —Impose a tax on every retail delivery service, including Uber Eats, Amazon, and DoorDash —Double(!) taxes for high earners Abigail Spanberger’s 48-Hour Honeymoon
Ukraine’s long-standing reputation as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe has only gotten worse under President Volodymyr Zelensky, especially during the war with Russia. Very recently, a top ally of Zelensky fled to Israel after being accused of taking part in a $100 million corruption scheme. Despite previously being close to Zelensky and his right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, Timur Mindich is now claiming he never was. You Still Can’t Trust Anything Coming Out of Ukraine.
The UK’s Labour Party-controlled government has approved plans for China to build a sprawling new embassy complex in central London, despite warnings from lawmakers, security officials, and Chinese dissidents who say the project poses serious national security risks. UK Approves Chinese Super-Embassy In Capital
DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS
Air Force One turned around while en route to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland Tuesday night. The crew reportedly detected a “minor electrical issue” and decided to return to Andrews Air Force Base “out of an abundance of caution,” with President Donald Trump and his team planning to board another aircraft. Trump was en route to the WEF to give a “Special Address” Wednesday afternoon local time when the issue occurred. Air Force One Makes U-Turn Over Atlantic, Returns To Andrews AFB
Taken together, this means that billions of dollars flowing through the No Surprises Act’s arbitration process are being fought over, and often won, by investment funds and foreign governments. These entities were never the intended beneficiaries of the law. The NSA was meant to stop surprise bills and stabilize costs, not to enable global financiers to wage billing wars for profit inside our healthcare system. Hospitals Are Allowing Foreign Governments to Exploit a U.S. Patient Protection Law
We still do not know the cause of the over-rotation, which at present does appear to have been the result of human carelessness. And NASA’s lack of transparency in this matter reinforces that speculation. Update on NASA’s damaged Goldstone antenna
FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
The culture wars are taking their toll, and the nation could suffer irreparable damage. Our Pernicious Culture Wars
Far from isolated incidents, persecution of Christians is now embedded in the political and social systems of dozens of countries. Christian persecution is growing globally (eg: Don Lemon and his jihadists - jjs)
Robert Zimmerman: "What made [the book] a revelation to me is that it revealed an aspect of this early American settlement of the west that I had been ignorant of. It wasn’t just any old Americans moving west to found new communities. At the beginning it was specifically the descendants of the Pilgrims and Puritans in New England, actually organizing consciously to repeat the same thing as their ancestors, sending a group of God-fearing religious families west to build a new city on a hill, for the future of America and for their children." “A new empire has sprung into existence, and there is a new thing under the sun.”
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.
Podcast: CBD and Sefton talk about insurrection in MN coming to NYC? Trump's Greenland rhetoric was over the top, the Gaza Peace Panel is anything but, Minnesota churchgoers need to step up, and is it possible that if the Persian people toss out the Mullahs they will begin a Muslim reformation?
Long-time Coblogger and commenter "Niedermeyer's Dead Horse" is having significant health issues, and would appreciate the thoughts and prayers of The Horde. If you wish to reach out, use @NiedsG on X/Twitter. [CBD]
Disclose.tv
@disclosetv
30m
JUST IN - DOJ investigating Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for conspiracy to impede immigration agents -- CBS
Podcast: CBD and Sefton chat about the end game in Iran, what to do about the Fed, its supposed "independence," and its hyper-politicized chairman, the housing crunch, and Trump's harebrained suggestion to decrease credit card interest!
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, and an always interesting observer of the human and political condition, has died. RIP. [CBD]
Tousi TV: France closes embassy in Tehran, US Department of State advises all US citizens to get out of Iran He's been saying that Tuesday will be a decisive day. Other reports say that Trump is in the last stages of planning an action against the mullahs. (And other reports say that Tucker Carlson Simp JD Vance is attempting to get Trump to agree to "negotiations" with Iran -- for fucking what? What do we get out of saving the fucking mullahs and letting them kill and torture their own people? Apart from Tucker Carlson getting to pretend he's a Big Man Influencer and that he's worth all the Qatari money he's receiving.)
Asmongold predicted that AWFLs would turn on immigration the moment we started importing hot women into the country, and he was right via garrett
