Wednesday Morning Rant

—Joe Mannix

On Monday, the federal Department of Transportation announced that it, along with DHS and DOJ, has launched a major investigative and response operation targeted at rubber-stamp CDL training organizations that put non-English-speaking, illegal alien or other unqualified drivers on American highways. The first salvo has already been fired at the first layer in the CDL stack: introductory skills training. Federal DOT has, effective immediately, decertified and forced to shut down 110 entry-level CDL training programs.

That sounds like a lot, and it is - but it is also somehow apparently just a nibble at the edges. The press release on the operation is shocking. It starts with what has already been done, and some of it is stuff the agencies have been talking about for a while. Over the past 18 months, federal DOT has forced states to revoke around 30,000 fraudulent CDLs and purged in excess of 8,000 phony, incompetent, corrupt, fraudulent or derelict training organizations from its registry. That is before the 110 it purged in Monday's emergency action, and those that will come next. That sounds like a lot, and it is.

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

Still Life #2
Freddy Fabris

The Morning Report — 9/ 2 /26

—J.J. Sefton

Well, there are a couple of bright spots in the news this morning, so let us take note. First,

A Utah Judge ruled Tuesday that Tyler Robinson will stand trial on all seven charges in the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, leaving him eligible for the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.

Again, while this is certainly welcome to hear neither you nor I were born yesterday, so before we give in to the temptation to engage in providing a simultaneous venturi effect on our nether regions. This fiend is a hero to the Democrat Left and given the utter corruption of our judiciary and moral bankruptcy of far too many of our fellow citizens-in-name-only I'd be shocked if there was an actual conviction let alone if this thing actually got a death sentence. Considering the mastermind of 9/11 has yet to be taken out and sent back to the infernal reaches from whence he and his non-religion religion came from, yeah it's all a non-starter.

Elsewhere it certainly looks as if the gloom-and-doomers attacking the President about the economy might want to chew on this.

On Tuesday, new data from the Department of Labor’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that manufacturing job openings rose to 580,000 in July, up from 501,000 in June. This constitutes the highest level since January 2023. In contrast, the manufacturing sector posted 428,000 openings this time last year. Durable goods manufacturers saw a particularly sharp increase, with vacancies climbing to 429,000 from 353,000 the previous month, and 255,000 from the previous year. The follows data released by the Department of Commerce showing a 1.1 percent rise in durable goods orders, twice what was expected. While hiring in manufacturing fell to 288,000 in July from 330,000 last month, this comes amid a broader trend of declining hires. According to recent data, total job openings across all sectors increased to 7.3 million, while hiring declined to 5.05 million. It was also revealed that layoffs across the economy dropped to 1.666 million, one of the lowest levels on record, while the rate of unemployment remains historically low at 4.1 percent. This demonstrates the ongoing growth of the U.S. manufacturing sector, which has been a core focus of the Trump administration’s economic policy. This follows a report showing that U.S. manufacturing has reached a four-year high in July. The same report showed that employment in the sector had risen to a three-year high. Specifically, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reached 55.6 in July, an increase from 53.3 in June.

Psaki-Psircling back to 9/11 for a moment and hopefully not to kill the buzz I've tried to engender, there's this piece of shit and his madness to contend with.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has defended far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who previously said “America deserved 9/11,” and endorsed him as “our streamer,” just days before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which left thousands of Americans dead across New York City, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. . . The controversy has underscored the growing divisions and tensions within the Democrats over socialism and Israel. It also shows how Piker has become politically toxic to much of the Democrats. This controversy comes amid a broader shift to the left among Democrats, with one in three Democrat-aligned voters self-describing as Democratic Socialists.

Disgusting as he and what he represents are, that they seem to be lacking in popularity, despite their growing presence on the electoral scene I'll take as a positive development, even as the Mamdanis, El-Sayeds and Bernie Sanders-es remain in prominence.

Other than that, the battle over AI continues. Like it or not, it's here and here to stay so we better get a handle on it before it gets a handle on us,

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said during a Breitbart News Fight Club Roundtable on Monday evening that he believes China is helping fund opposition to artificial intelligence data centers, while arguing that the country should consider the effects on the electrical grid and water resources without putting itself at a disadvantage in the competition over AI.  “Now, at the same time, I think we need to be responsible. We need to look at the demands on the electrical grid. I think demands on water resources are way overstated, but overstated because China is funding the propaganda against these things,” he continued.

Like any other technology or advancement that has come about since Ogg the caveman discovered fire and Cocoa Krispies, it can and will be used for good and ill. The same as with AI. And the short term good, which is very good IMHO, jobs in construction as well as the parallel increase in employment of businesses and industries that service and feed into this new infrastructure are for sure a potential Golden Goose as President Trump has described it. And the evil that can and would be unleashed on us if we let the Chi-Coms win the race to dominate AI is guaranteed. FOr that reason alone we simply cannot allow that to happen.

Have a good day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• First we learned to love our killers. Then we learned to hate ourselves.
  What We Never Learned From 9/11
  
• The pro-"Palestine" group was recognized as an arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of "Palestine," a designated terrorist organization. Yet Treasury’s designation stops there — without naming a single one of Masar Badil’s domestic affiliates.
  Treasury Department’s crackdown reveals terror on college campuses — and rising threats of violence

Daily Tech News 2 September 2026

—Pixy Misa

• Anthropic has announced its new frontier models, Claude Mythos and Claude Fable 5.1. (Anthropic)
  
  Are they any good? No, because -
  
  
  
• Anthropic pledges to try harder to keep models under control. (The Register)
  
  The result is a sort of virtual fetal alcohol syndrome where they panic blindly when they think you might be indirectly suggesting BAD THING and collapse screaming on the floor so that Anthropic's day-to-day model Opus has to come to the rescue.
  
  Fable also spends tokens like water.
  
  
  
• Anthropic's new Fable release is cheaper, less restrictive. (Tech Crunch)
  
  Two lies for the price of one.
  
  
  

Tuesday Overnight Open Thread - September 1, 2026

—Doof

Howdy Hordelings! The Tuesday ONT has arrived. So have you. Nice when a plan comes together! Open thread, as always. What's on YOUR mind tonight?

Cats & Dogs Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

US Coast Guard Cutter Spencer Destroys The Nazi Submarine U-175,
April 17, 1943
From @LostTemple7

Baby bat snuggles with her teddy bear.

Thirteen year old senior dog found on the streets of Atlanta finally has a home.

Sexual harassment on the farm. And more debauchery.

Cat massages the dog.

Dog wants the cat to scratch his hind.

Dog lets in the mail-man, then sees him out.

Orange kitten works on his rapid-batting attack.

Elephant fills up at the pump.

Baby skunks stamping to show that they're tough guys with a powerful stink.

Smooth criminal shadow puppetry.

Iranian-Descended Loudmouth Communist Moron Mark Ruffalo Accused of Antisemitism

—Disinformation Expert Ace

He opposes the purchase of Warner Bros/Discovery by Paramount/Skydance -- obviously! -- and specifies that his opposition is based on the Jewish executives at Paramount/Skydance supporting Israel's right to defend itself against 70 years of Muslim terror attacks.

An entertainment industry group that includes Hollywood producers Haim Saban, Lawrence Bender and Teddy Schwarzman has released a statement condemning the alleged "antisemitic tropes" underpinning Mark Ruffalo's opposition to Paramount's leadership amid its proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

The statement was organized by a group calling itself The Brigade, which describes itself as "a group of nearly 1,000 members, friends, and allies of the Jewish community who are proud to be working in film, television, music, Broadway, social and digital, and other platforms in and around the entertainment industry."

...

The Brigade's statement comes in the wake of Ruffalo's Aug. 21 Instagram post that spotlighted Oracle's ties to the Israeli military -- specifically a viral clip of former Oracle CEO Safra Catz at the Israeli-American Council National Summit in 2024 as it related to Israel's war effort in Gaza.

"Singling out Jewish executives and describing them in terms lifted from centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories, while invoking Israel as the frame for that attack, is antisemitic," reads the statement. "It is unacceptable to introduce Jews, antizionism, or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish."

Ruffalo has long opposed both the Paramount-WBD merger over concerns about Hollywood jobs and has also long campaigned for Palestinian rights and condemned Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank. The actor's post called out Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Paramount's controlling shareholder through a family trust, and the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison. Larry Ellison is also the key financial backstop behind Paramount's merger attempt with WBD.

The statement added: "This is a callous continuation of the ongoing campaign by the same individuals and groups targeting Jewish people and the state of Israel, a pattern of antisemitism and misinformation that puts our community in grave danger."

After Ruffalo's initial Instagram post, a Paramount spokesperson issued a reply to the four-time Oscar-nominated and two-time Emmy-winning actor that called for the temperature of the debate around the WBD deal to be lowered and characterized Ruffalo's remarks as "antisemitic." In a viral X post, Ruffalo fired back that the "accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest."

This asshole, of course, tags anyone who opposes his communist/Islamist agenda as "racist."

A bunch of Jewish left-wingers and communists signed an open letter stating, essentially, that there can be no "antisemitism" if you're pushing the communist/Islamist alliance.

Mark Ruffalo has been defended by nearly 200 Jewish figures in entertainment after Paramount called his recent merger attack 'antisemitic.'

Actress Hannah Einbinder, who previously defended the actor, led the signatures of Jewish entertainment industry members on an open letter of support for the embattled 58-year-old Marvel actor.

She is the talentless wallflower who shouted "F*** ICE!" at the Oscars.

Other notable names included: Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun, and Wallace Shawn.

Ruffalo, who has opposed the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, said that his issue had to do with military contracts and executive actions, not Jewish people.

...

Now, the new letter published on Tuesday signed by Jewish figures defended Ruffalo as it argued against what it said were 'false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.'

In his previous statement Ruffalo had highlighted the links between the Ellison family and Israel, which the open letter reiterated.

It read: 'Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty.'

You can read the letter at the link, if you're a glutton for stupid. The basic claim is that if you're opposing Trump and Israel, there really is no such thing as "antisemitism." All is fair and permissible when fighting for the Red-Green alliance.

We stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo, and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power.

The Daily Mail reached out to representatives for Einbinder, Ruffalo and Paramount at the time for further comment.

In her statement, Einbinder said that 'the idea that [Ruffalo] only said these things because the Ellisons are Jewish is LUDICROUS,' asking, 'Is it also antisemitic to point out that Safra Catz, the Oracle executive vice chair who boasted about the "profoundly scary technology" provided to the IDF, also sits on Paramount's board?

'Or that Larry Ellison has been buying favor with Trump by donating tens of millions to his political efforts for years? Or that he once offered Netanyahu a lucrative Oracle post?'

The Los Angeles-born actress said that Ruffalo's words marked 'criticism of RIGHT WING technofeudalist oligarchs who are in the process of carrying out the largest media acquisition in history,' adding that 'people are not too stupid to see these obvious connections.'

Einbinder added, 'If you want to make it about the Ellisons being Jewish, then you are the one being antisemitic.'

This guy rebutted the letter:

Mark Goldfeder @MarkGoldfeder

Dear @Variety
,
The letter claims to defend @MarkRuffalo from the charge that his campaign against Paramount is really about Israel.

Its defense, remarkably, is to explain at length that the campaign is really about Israel.

Five failures. Any one should be fatal. Let me explain:

Mark Ruffalo is being defended by more than 170 Jewish entertainment figures in a new open letter rejecting Paramount's claim that Ruffalo fueled "antisemitic tropes":

"The time is over for spurious charges of antisemitism to be trotted out, this time in the defense of war..."

First, the letter concedes the central factual predicate.

It lists ordinary antitrust concerns--jobs, consolidation, competition--and then pivots:

"BUT it will do all this and more as part of a larger project..."

That "but" is doing heroic amounts of work.

The antitrust case is expressly subordinated to a "larger project" involving Gaza, Israel, Tony Blair, TikTok and Palestine.

Ruffalo's defenders were trying to prove the campaign wasn't about Israel.
Instead, they supplied 800 words explaining why it was.

Thanks for the honesty!

Second, the letter never answers the actual accusation.

The accusation is not: "Criticizing Israel is antisemitic."

It is that the campaign against the merger targeted particular Jewish businessmen because of their support for Israel, and may have enlisted state power to help.

Third, the letter reproduces the very conspiracy structure it indignantly denies:
Jewish billionaires using "astonishing" wealth to consolidate media control, serve a foreign state, shape propaganda and build a surveillance apparatus to watch us all.

Money. Media. Dual loyalty. Hidden control.

Pathetic.

I thought you were all supposed to be creatives.

The authors didn't merely wander near one of the oldest antisemitic narratives in Western history. They assembled it complete with "purported" funding figures and a "corrupt cohort" that "will always be watching us" and then signed their names beneath it.

Ruffalo needs better help. A defense should not double as Exhibit A.

...

Nor does "we are Jewish" resolve the question. Jewish participation cannot confer automatic immunity from antisemitism.

He offers this conclusion: California's AG Rob Bonta claims he's blocking this merger -- after not blocking the proposed merger with Netflix, and not blocking Disney's rapid-fire Pac-Man acquisitions of Pixel, Marvel, and LucasFilm -- because he wants to preserve competition in the media.

But Ruffalo's defenders admit that's not the real reason they oppose this merger. The real reason, they not only admit but proclaim, is the "larger project" of isolating Israel.

Mark Goldfeder @MarkGoldfeder

Bottom line: Their campaign against this merger is part of a "larger project" centered on Gaza and Israel.

Their words, not mine.

So the remaining question is the one @NJACLaw's CPRA requests were designed to answer:

Did the Attorney General know the true political object of this campaign before lending it the power and legitimacy of the state?

Ruffalo's "defenders" appear to think the answer is yes, and say so proudly.

I'm sympathetic to the idea that people are too quick to claim an -ism or a -phobia to shut down legitimate discussion and I'm sure you are too.
But our position -- that people should be more grown up about these matters and accept that there is going to be a certain amount of friction between competing groups and simply shouting "racism!" is no answer -- is not the majority position foisted on us by leftwing communists like Ruffalo and this plain-jane nobody actress.

When we said, accurately, that covid was grown in a Chinese lab, we were called conspiracy-addled #AsianHate racists.

Their rule is that any opposition to what a minority group wants, especially when combined with "dog whistles" and "age-old tropes," is definitely racism.

So choke on it.

Meanwhile, another flabby gasbag imbecile, David Harbour, is complaining about capitalism as he simultaneously shows off his mansion to a magazine.

Quick Hits

—Disinformation Expert Ace

A knife-wielding lunatic woman, who stabbed another woman to death and injured two others, was shot to death as she advanced on police with a kitchen knife in Times Square, NYC.

She was shot to death a second later,
after charging a cop with the knife in front of her

Quick, arrest the police for not "winging" her. Isn't that what they always say? That police should shoot the weapon out of dangerous criminals' hands?

More Shithole City violence:

A woman was taken down by police in Times Square on Monday afternoon after she stabbed two people in the busy tourist attraction, one fatally.

Law enforcement sources told the New York Post the incident began with the woman stabbing a man and a woman near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue shortly before 4:30 pm. She was found by officers near an NYPD substation, waving a knife at officers. Police opened fire, striking and killing the woman.

Sources said that police had deployed tasers, hitting the woman, however, she pulled them out and continued confronting officers before they opened fire. The woman's weapon was recovered by police.

Sources told the outlet that the woman and one of the victims died at the hospital, while the second victim was in critical condition. The incident is not believed to be terrorism-related.

One witness, construction worker Jorge Disla, told New York Daily News, "The police tried to speak with her. They were shouting, 'Drop the knives!'"

Linda Ruiz witnessed the aftermath, telling the outlet, "I was crossing at 42nd St. I saw a guy bleeding profusely from his right leg. He was gushing blood, saying, 'I need help. Help me.'" She added, "I went to get a cop on the corner and there was another lady on the floor. She was stabbed in the back or in the chest. I couldn't tell. There was a lot of blood. She wasn't conscious. The police were trying to resuscitate her. But she wasn't moving. It was horrible."

The Mommysleuths will take no interest in this case. They like Soap Opera True Crime tales, featuring a white wife and a white husband. A violent domestic drama they can project themselves into and imagine themselves as a Mary Sue friend of the killer.

The more general kind of crime, the more common kind of crime, they have no interest in. They cannot imagine themselves as Mary Sue participants.

I guess I should tell you why I said that: Because the New York Times finally noticed that the left-wing white women who they're always promoting above all others are huge supporters of the child killer Lindsay Clancy. Their explanation as to why hundreds of thousands of white liberal women had formed a cult around her is that they're addicted to true crime tales, and they're interested in true crime tales for the utilitarian goal of "not being a victim." In other words, the NYT is claiming, left-wing women are interested in true crime just to figure out if their husbands or boyfriends are going to kill them and how to see the signs to save themselves.

The real reason is, of course, this is a Real Life Soap Opera they're interested in for purely prurient entertainment and Mary Sue self-insert reasons.

All of the dumb-bunny conspiracy theorists spinning out claims that Erika Kirk murdered her husband and that Lindsay Clancy's husband is The Real Killer (because she is a Leo and he is a Gemini, and Leos do not kill but Geminis are notorious child-killers) is just a very nasty and stupid form of fanfiction -- they are writing fanfiction theories of these cases, treating them as if they are just another version of Twilight.

Anyway, sorry to bitch about that, but, as Nux says, "What are we even doing here?" Why does every single thing a left-winger say have to be an obvious lie, designed for the sole purpose of protecting a part of the left-wing cult from embarassment?

More crime in Shithole Seattle:

A Seattle gunman originally charged with murder after opening fire in a crowded downtown intersection during a mass shooting that killed a woman and wounded seven others, including a 9-year-old boy, has been released after only serving approximately three years behind bars.

Washington VINE issued a notification Monday that William Tolliver had been released from custody. His reason for release was listed as "Sentence served," according to KOMO News.

Tolliver was initially charged with first-degree murder, six counts of first-degree assault, and unlawful possession of a firearm following the Jan. 22, 2020 mass shooting at Third Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle. But those charges were ultimately reduced to second-degree manslaughter, third-degree assault, and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Tolliver pleaded guilty to the amended charges in June 2023 and was sentenced to just four years in prison.
Ezoic

The shooting erupted in the heart of downtown Seattle during what court proceedings described as a gang feud. Prosecutors alleged Tolliver opened fire in the crowded area while targeting a rival gang member.

A 50-year-old woman was killed, and seven other people were wounded. Among the victims was a 9-year-old boy who was walking through downtown with his family after visiting the Pacific Science Center.

Tolliver's criminal history raises questions about Seattle's revolving-door criminal justice system. Tolliver and the other accused shooter, Marquise Tolbert, had accumulated a combined 65 previous arrests and four felony convictions before the 2020 mass shooting.

Despite the murder and assault charges hanging over him, Tolliver was released from jail in March 2023 and placed on electronic home monitoring at his grandmother's house while awaiting trial. The conditions of his release prohibited him from possessing firearms or contacting witnesses or co-defendants. Within months, Tolliver was back behind bars after he allegedly threatened another person with a gun.

Also in Seattle: A repeat-felon child sex offender was arrested.

But by federal Marshals, not Seattle cops or Washington state police.

The US Marshals Service arrested a fugitive wanted on felony child sexual abuse material charges at an apartment building near multiple schools and a community center in Seattle's Chinatown-International District.

USMS announced Monday that Beau Nathan Saperstein, 41, was arrested without incident on Aug. 18 after members of the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force located him at the Milwaukee Apartments in the 600 block of South King Street. The building, constructed in 1911, formerly operated as the Milwaukee Hotel before being converted into apartments.

The building is up the street from Summit Public School: Sierra, a charter high school. It is also near the Chong Wa Chinese School and Seattle's International District/Chinatown Community Center.

This was not Saperstein's first publicly reported arrest in connection with child sexual abuse material allegations.

In September 2025, Seattle police asked the public to help locate Saperstein on a felony warrant for allegedly dealing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Police warned residents not to approach him and said his last known location was the 1200 block of South Jackson Street, also in the Chinatown-International District.

Community tips led Lakewood police to arrest Saperstein on Sept. 3, 2025. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail.

Less than six months after that arrest, another warrant was issued for Saperstein on Feb. 25, 2026, this time carrying a $50,000 bond.

The Vigilant Fox 🦊
@VigilantFox

34m

Caleb Hammer tells a blue-haired liberal to her face that she should be the most patriotic person alive because she's been a TAKER her whole life and contributes NOTHING.

It all started when she said America spends more on bombs than on social programs.

Hammer shut that claim down instantly, then delivered the reality check she never saw coming.

CALEB HAMMER: "Are you not patriotic?"

VIOLET: "With blue hair? Do you think I'm patriotic?"

HAMMER: "You can still be patriotic and be wrong about economics."

VIOLET: "Why would I be patriotic when we're spending more money on bombs than we are for like social programs."

HAMMER: "We spend 50% of the federal spending on social programs."

VIOLET: "Like what?""

HAMMER: "Medicare, Medicaid, mandatory spending, SNAP benefits, veteran benefits... Our military spending is 10 to 20%. The bombs you're freaking out about, 10 to 20%. We spend 50% on social programs."

VIOLET: "I'm a military kid and I can tell you that is not needed."

HAMMER: "Girl, you literally just got the information that you were just wrong and yet you're still doubling down. We don't spend the majority on bombs."

VIOLET: "Okay, maybe it's not the majority, but--"

HAMMER: "It's not even close to the majority. It's not even a quarter."

VIOLET: "It's far too much."

HAMMER: "Okay, you could advocate for that, but you just said we don't spend anything on social. That's where like more than half of our money goes. What are you talking about? You're uninformed about everything!"

"I love when people have no idea what they do and then they're just not patriotic. It's like, dude, you're literally not a contributor. You should be the most patriotic person. You contribute nothing."

[Violet winces]

HAMMER: "You contribute literally nothing. You've only been a taker, yet you're the one that doesn't like the country?"

The people who take the most from this country always seem to like it the least.

Trump: We Shot Down All Eight Ballsitic Missiles Iran Shot at Our Base in Jordan, and Are Now Hitting Them Very Hard

—Disinformation Expert Ace

The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians' failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines (They have been completely removed or detonated!), and the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan. If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!

President DONALD J. TRUMP

Here is video of a failed ICBM launch in Khomein, Iran. I'm guessing we had nothing to do with bringing it down. Just more crap technology Iran bought from China or Russia.

Here's an alternate view of the failed launch or, possibly, a different failed launch. This one can be seen blowing up on the ground in Iran.

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump announces the Islamic Republic of Iran will be hit back "AT A MUCH HARDER AND HIGHER LEVEL" if they retaliate for the current US strikes around Hormuz

ALL Iranian missiles launched at American assets were shot down 🇺🇸

47 then threatens to LEVEL the country:

"But it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!"

"The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz."

"The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians' failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines (They have been completely removed or detonated!), and the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan."

"If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level."

Trump is no longer calling for ceasefires and negotiations. He allows that negotiations are happening, but also says he doesn't take them seriously.

I guess he's in it to win it now. Though the new strategy is a long siege and strangulation.

Space Force is reportedly watching Iran's boats and missile launchers:

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

🚨 NOW: US SPACE FORCE WATCHED IRAN MOVE AROUND THE STRAIT. Now they've been STRUCK.

President Trump has been clear that Space Force is watching the mullahs' EVERY MOVEMENT before they can even begin to launch mines and disrupt the Strait of Hormuz

CENTCOM just confirmed strikes were carried out at noon. FAFO.

YINGST: "They've been watching using Space Force and also the U.S. Navy that is positioned there at that blockade line in the Gulf of Oman whenever any of the Iranian forces try to move air defense systems or radars."

"They are watching very closely and likely these are the targets that are being hit right now as we speak."

"These appear to be relatively widespread strikes, not just targeting that southern city of Bandar Abbas, but also initial reports of explosions on Qeshm Island and areas even further south of this area next to the Gulf of Oman."

"It's an indication that once again the United States is trying to send a message to the Iranian regime that threats against this international waterway will not be tolerated." @TreyYingst

I don't understand why Iran acts like this isn't always going to be the end result.

Time to bury the head of the snake.

Scott Bessent made an even more menacing threat. He says he knows the offshore (Virgin Islands) accounts where the mullahs have stored their stolen money, and he says the US might just seize it:

Post Conversation Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

BREAKING: Scott Bessent just sent shivers down the spine of Iranian regime leaders. What a bad*ss...

"I will say it on worldwide TV: we KNOW WHERE in the British Virgin Islands your accounts are, at these trust companies. We know the hundred million dollar houses you have around the world. WE ARE GOING TO CLOSE ALL THAT DOWN."

"We are going after the regime's assets they have stolen from the Iranian people."

"They can go to the victims of terror."

"After 47 years — IT IS OVER."

"Either you are with us, or against us."

Muskily-Heterosexual James Talarico in 2020: Capitalism Is "Oppressive," Texas Must Stop Producing Oil

—Disinformation Expert Ace

KFile:

In 2020 forum, James Talarico said Texas oil was 'not gonna last,' called capitalism 'oppressive'

Six years before becoming Texas Democrats' US Senate nominee, James Talarico described capitalism as an "oppressive system" during a Sierra Club event, grouping it with White supremacy and climate change and saying ending the ways all three worked together was necessary to begin the process of "dismantling them."

During the Sierra Club event from September 2020, Talarico participated in a virtual climate candidate forum in which he also compared Texas' leadership in the oil and gas industry to "being the leader in cassette tapes in the 1980s," declaring "that industry is not gonna last."

The previously unreported comments come at a time when Talarico is trying to broaden his appeal as he's faced attacks from Republicans trying to paint him as too progressive for Texas. Talarico has raised significantly more money than his GOP opponent Ken Paxton, but remains locked in a tight race against the scandal-plagued Texas attorney general.

Talarico's remarks offer a window into the more explicitly progressive language he used before launching a statewide campaign built around affordability, faith and taking on wealthy interests.

It's not just "language," Andrew Kaczinsky. That's the Democrat Socialists' spin, that their past comments are about "cringey" language only. Their spin is that this is a language problem, not a policies or ideology or beliefs problem, and you concede this spin to them by repeating the spin uncritically.

He said he wants to "dismantle capitalism." This isn't just language -- this is a program. If he's claiming that the only problem here was language, the obvious follow-up question is "What language would you prefer to use instead of 'dismantle capitalism,' then?"

Woke 1 was cringey, man.

When asked what lawmakers could do to address the disproportionate effects of climate change on communities of color, Talarico thanked the moderator for the question and the young activists at the club for the way they had framed the issue.

"I am so thankful that you asked this question and also thankful that young activists have really drawn the link between climate change and White supremacy and capitalism in our country," Talarico said. "And I think only ending the ways that all three of those oppressive systems work together are we gonna be able to begin the process of dismantling them."

Later, when asked how he explains climate policy to voters in a district President Donald Trump carried in 2016, Talarico said he focused on values, jobs and whether Texas would lead the industries of the future -- a future he suggested would not include oil and gas.

"We all know that Texas has been a leader in oil and gas, but in many ways that's like being the leader in cassette tapes in the 1980s," Talarico later said responding to another question. "That industry is not gonna last. And if we wanna ensure we have an economy that's gonna work for our children and our children's children, we gotta be ahead of the curve and Texas has to lead instead of follow on this issue."

On his current campaign website, Talarico says Texas is "the energy leader of the world -- and as senator, I will work tirelessly to ensure our state not only maintains, but extends that innovative leadership for generations to come so that Texans always have access to reliable, affordable energy."

JT Ennis, a spokesperson for the campaign, told CNN that Talarico has already acknowledged some of his past comments "missed the mark" and attacked Paxton, Talarico's opponent.

"James is a proud capitalist and agrees with the majority of Texans that racism, natural disasters, and a billionaire-controlled economy are all problems we need to address," said Ennis in a statement. "James supports the oil and gas industry and believes in an all of the above energy strategy that protects Texas oil and gas jobs."

...

Previously, in 2021, Talarico suggested during a legislative session that modern science asserts there are six biological sexes -- which spurred the nickname "Six-Gender Jimmy" from Paxton and his supporters.

Talarico has since addressed some of his past comments, calling them "cringey." He said that he knows there are two sexes, men and women, and "a very small percentage of people who have these chromosomal abnormalities" who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

After the state's massive power grid failure in 2021 killed hundreds of Texans, Talarico introduced a bill in the state house to combat climate change by requiring the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and at least 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The bill died in committee.

...

Texas oil and gas production has increased since Talarico's 2020 remarks and meets or exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

Like Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed and Francesca Hong and AOC, his response is just to distance himself from his old phrasing while keeping all of the policies that "phrasing" accurately described.

Andrew Kaczynski @KFILE

Talarico campaign tells CNN his "cringey," past comments "missed the mark," and he's a capitalist who supports oil and gas.

Massachusetts "Man" Who Speaks Only Portuguese Arrested for Strangling a Woman After She Refused to Have Sex With Him; He Says He Strangled Her "by Accident" after Going "Crazy"

—Disinformation Expert Ace

It could happen anywhere but it mostly happens in blue shitholes.

A man is being held without bail in connection with a woman found dead at her home in Framingham on Thursday. Framingham police said the suspect, 43-year-old Flavio Dias, called 911 stating he killed the victim by mistake and strangled her.

Boy is his face red!

Dias is being charged with assault and battery causing serious bodily harm. He's also facing one count of possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card.

The family of the victim, identified as 33-year-old Brianna Connolly, could be seen getting emotional as they heard the details of the case in the courtroom.

...

"He states very clearly, 'Can I have police? A homicide just happened here right now,'" Brandt stated.

Brandt said Dias was speaking in Portuguese.

"He then states, 'I ended up killing a woman by mistake.' He says, 'I went crazy and suffocated her later on, says that he strangled her,' Brandt stated.

Oh, he went crazy? I'm sure the Lindsay Clancy Legions will defend his right to strangle a woman to death.

Brandt claimed Dias then stated on the 911 call that he was at the victim's home on Waverly Street in Framingham, and they were doing drugs. He said Dias stated they got into an argument because he wanted to have sex, but she did not.

This sure is a Mystery. We'll probably never solve the crime of the Massachusetts Man.

Oh wait, no, turns out it was easy:

Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_

34m

BREAKING: I'm told by multiple federal sources that the suspect in custody for strangling a woman to death in her home in Framingham, MA on Thursday is a Brazilian illegal alien w/ prior arrests for DUI & aggravated assault w/ a weapon who is believed to have entered the U.S. illegally as a gotaway in 2019.

Sources confirm that ICE has now placed a detainer on 43-year-old Flavio Diaz with law enforcement in Middlesex County, MA.

And Massachusetts, of course, will not honor that detainer.

Jury Deadlocked and Can't Decide if It's a Crime for a Mother to Murder Her Children

—Disinformation Expert Ace

I'm half-joking with that headline because I know the issue is whether she is guilty, or not guilty by reason of insanity. She did do some insane things --beyond bringing her children into the basement to strangle them one by one. She slashed her wrists and jumped out a window to kill herself or, perhaps, to pretend to kill herself.

On the other hand she both planned the crime -- googling how to murder children, and sending her husband out on an errand so she could kill them undisturbed -- and took actions after the murders to conceal them.

Just the News:

The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has ordered the jury to return to deliberations after it informed him that they could not reach a unanimous verdict.

"I brought you back out because I know that this was a long trial," the judge said. "Because of this, I'm going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all the instructions that I gave you, to go out and continue your deliberations."

Jonathan Turley
@JonathanTurley

The Clancy jury has told the court that it is deadlocked. As expected, Judge Sullivan is now sending them back. That is a common response to push a jury further. Not surprising given the intense divisions in the country, the jury appears to be manifesting those same divisions...

...The prosecution finished strongly with a narrative that emphasized the timeline and the actions taken by Clancy to carry out the murders. Some jurors may find the "not guilty" part of a "by reason of insanity" verdict to be too high a hurdle, given the death of three young children by strangulation...

Legal insanity is -- or is supposed to be -- a difficult thing to prove. To be legally insane and not culpable of a crime, you have to be so disturbed that you cannot tell right from wrong. An age-old way of disproving such inability to tell right from wrong is to show the criminal planned the crime in secret and then took steps to cover it up.

So we may be talking about the unofficial, non-legal "definition" of insanity, which is just that the criminal has some mental illness and so poof, all culpability is out the window. Almost all killers have something wrong in their brains, from having no moral compass at all, to having low impulse control, to being actual psychopaths. This is not supposed to excuse them, but juries can be persuaded to ignore the law if they feel sympathy for the murderer.

Or murderess -- women get the benefit of this fake definition of insanity more than men do.

So what do you think: Mistrial where the jury never delivers a verdict, in which case we have to do this all again, or let off the hook on the fake definition of inanity? I doubt the jurors in favor of conviction can persuade the pro-Lindsay jurors to flip. As you know, she's become quite the Misunderstood Hero to some.

The Tuesday Morning Rant

—Doof

Selective outrage. We've seen it countless times. Difficult to predict, but very clear when it happens.

Often times results in "Whataboutism"

Whataboutism often serves to reduce the perceived plausibility or seriousness of the original accusation or question by suggesting that the person advancing it is hypocritical or that the responder’s misbehavior is not unique or unprecedented.

A great recent example comes from the golf world. Well known equipment and apparel manufacturer Callaway found them selves in hot water over an ad produces by a partner company of theirs called Good Good Golf. The backlash was strong. The outrage seems -- selective.

Good Good Golf has taken the brunt of the immediate criticism and consequences. Callaway - for now at least - not so much.

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report — 9/ 1 /26

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Wow, welcome to September, but am I alone in being confused in that today is not Labor Day? Alas, for some bizarre reason it was moved to the second week in September. But be that as it may, there's lots of ground to cover, so Lez-be-on our way...

Well, I'm sure you'll all be relieved at this news:

A Las Vegas jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of first-degree murder on Monday in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, bringing an end to one of the most infamous unsolved murders in hip hop.

If only he had formed a band with Meatloaf, they could've been the Tupac Aday men. But, all seriousness aside, the now decomposing and Kaput Tupac was related to this evil, vile, degenerated fiend

Was on the FBI’s Most Wanted List in the early 1970, Murdered NJ State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973, Escaped from prison in 1979, Had been a fugitive in Cuba since 1984
* Icon of the Black Lives Matter movement. . .Shakur was the godmother and step-aunt of the famed rapper Tupac Shakur, who was killed in a 1996 drive-by shooting. Assata Shakur died on September 25, 2025 in Havana, Cuba. According to Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, her death was due to “health conditions and advanced age.”

So why is this relevant today, well look what's running for the Senate in Florida1!

Angie Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member who is vying to be the next senator of Florida, is still pulling quotes from Marxist cop killer Assata Shakur, although conveniently leaving out the origins of her words now that she secured her nomination and is trying to appeal to general election voters. . . “I’m gonna open this up for questions, but I’m gonna leave y’all with these words of a famous freedom fighter before we open it up: Assata Shakur,” Nixon said of the Marxist cop killer who at one time appeared on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of “most wanted” terrorists.“‘It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and protect one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains,’” Nixon continued.

And so are there enough spawn of Beelzebub and Pazuzu in Florida to actually drag this freak over the finish line?

But what of the rest of the nation?!

“The Democrat Party is becoming the party of socialism. Fifty-eight percent view socialism positively. 50 percent view capitalism negatively. I’m a proud free market capitalist. This is lunacy,” posted Senator Fetterman (D-PA) on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this month in reference to a similar poll, which revealed that Democrats have a more positive view of socialism than capitalism. . . However, while it is clear that support for socialism and communism has grown within the Democratic Party, far-left ideologies remain widely unpopular. For instance, despite New York City’s election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is a member of the DSA, a poll published earlier this month found that only 30 percent of people in New York state support the organization.

And yet, and yet, and yet...

There is something redolent here of the seeming takeover of the Democrat Party half a century ago by a younger generation of voters and activists opposed to the Vietnam War that resulted in the nomination of George McGovern in 1972 and had a continual influence on elected Democrats and policymakers through most of the 1970s and 1980s. That came from a protest movement incubated on college and university campuses, centered on Vietnam but also influenced by tomes such as Charles Reich’s 1970 “The Greening of America.”

Similarly, the great motivating cause of DSA-adjacent Democrats seems to be statehood for Gaza, opposition to Israel, and, in very many cases, hostility toward Jews.

And speaking of "And yet" This Obama Advisor Just Denounced the DSA...

HE'S RUNNING: "They believe in defunding the police, letting prisoners out of prisons, opening the borders, eliminating the Pentagon," former Barack Obama advisor and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Fox News Sunday, denouncing his party's Democratic Socialist rivals. Emanuel continues testing the waters for a presumed 2028 presidential run.

For those unaware, not only is Rahm a Jew - by birth since his entire life is wholly unholy and antithetical to Judaism, America and civilization, but I believe his lineage is Israeli so you can multiply no shot in hell by orders of magnitude right there!

With that, and speaking of steak knives... I'll leave you with this lovely local crime story as I begin to plan my trip back to my old hometown...

A maniac was shot dead by police in the heart of Times Square Monday after she stabbed two people, one fatally, and confronted cops while wildly waving two knives and threatening to kill them, the NYPD said. The caught-on-camera mayhem erupted in the Crossroads of the World after Pamela Cisneros, 49, randomly knifed a man and a woman in a 20-second span near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue just before 4:30 p.m., cops said. . . Cops spoke to the woman for four minutes and gave her “numerous commands” to drop the knives, but she refused, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Monday night. “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you. I will kill you,” Cisneros told cops during the encounter, Tisch said. Officers discharged several tasers at Cisneros, but they “proved to be ineffective,” and she continued charging toward officers with the knives, according to Tisch. . . Two officers then opened fire, striking the Cisneros, who had a known history of mental illness with the department. She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

Well, too bad that Rahm lost a potential voter!!! Not that being dead is a deterrent to ever casting a ballot for a Democrat, as we know all to well...But sadly and frighteningly there are thousands more just like this now mercifully ventilated psychopath who will go after any and all of us at the drop of a hat, because we're Trump voters, Jews or just normal Americans... And with that I bid you all to...

Have a good day.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Victor Davis Hanson: The West has mastered the technology of civilization but embraced the politics of barbarism, creating a modern medieval world where progress and regression coexist.
  Progressive Regression and the New Medievalism

Daily Tech News 1 September 2026

—Pixy Misa

• I'm an Amazon HR drone who hasn't coded in 25 years. Then I didn't code. (About Amazon)
  
  If you count code generators, my LOC count is in the tens of billions. Shipped to production. And I wrote those code generators.
  
  
  
• Speaking of retarded people, California. (Linuxiac)
  
  Just unanimously passed an age of consent law for keyboards.

The Monday Over Night Thread (8/31/26) The Dental Plan Has Expired Edition (Short)

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Two weeks ago in the midst of writing my Monday ONT my old PC died. The admirable CBD filled in and completed my task. You owe him big time. Thanks CBD.

Quote I

Voluntary ignorance is the American condition. In the form of a smartphone, a citizen carries in his pocket the complete Federalist, Madison’s notes on the Convention, every ratification debate, and all of Blackstone, and he uses the device to watch strangers dance. Cicero warned that to remain ignorant of what came before you were born is to remain forever a child. We have raised a nation of toddlers holding voter-registration cards. Joe Wolverton II, J.D.

Quote II

"It's been two weeks since he showed me his junk. You shouldn't have to be afraid in your own neighborhood to walk a trail. ... That's what they built it for." Jeanne Wolverton

Let's take a look at our friendly know-nothings working for the federal government. Any one in the private sector who would push this would lose his/her/whatever position. Ugh.

Your Carry-On Might Be Too Big for the TSA’s New Scanners

In an effort to expedite the screening process, the TSA has spent the last several years installing new, highly advanced scanners at airports across the country. But for all the security benefits these machines offer, there’s a potential snag when it comes to carry-on luggage: The bag you’ve been traveling with for years may be too big for the new devices. Here’s what you need to know to avoid this possible headache.

*****

What in the name of Allah is happening in Michigan? The recent statewide convention of Democrats Communists saw their beloved Jewish lesbian Attorney General refuse to attend because of safety concerns.

The convention is also being held just a few weeks after Abdul El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel who describes their military actions as "genocide," narrowly edged Stevens to win the Democratic Senate nomination for a crucial seat the Democrats must hold in the midterm elections.

So Jewish lesbians aren't secure. What about indigenous lands?
If you are going to blow wet sloppy meaningless kisses at least pronounce their tribes correctly.

Things that make me laugh for $500, please.

*****

The ONT Musical Interlude & Happy Birthday Salute Van Morrison

One of my more recent favorites of Mr. Morrison's.......

Is it sad or is it happy? September.

One of the very first songs of his I heard..................

Just imagine reading the following in Bugs Bunny's voice, "What's up Doc Genius Award Winner"

Dog walker ‘distressed’ after seeing man put carrot up his bum at nature reserve

The Horde is our Jury this evening.

L’Osteria Mondello in Cheyenne had been having an especially busy Friday when someone placed an order for 18 pizzas.

“We had like over 40 pizzas in the same time,” owner Dave Agovic told Cowboy State Daily.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Moron Uncle Jeffe's Stunning Photo. (This is an untouched photo of sunset recently from a fire in Hopland (Mendocino County) at sunset.)

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC. Just remember boys and girls and everything in between, Lutefisk Happens!

In the event you wish to purchase a Mis. Hum. original you may contact him at the email provided in the left column.

Close it up

Monday Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Ben Wolf

The Battle.

What is going on here? Note the baby goat in background.

Cats have no boundaries, and their jurisdiction is infinite.

Cute couple.

Another cute pair.

Helping a baby goat who got stuck in a canal.

She's a real lady.

Quick Hits

—Disinformation Expert Ace

She's still living on stolen land, too.

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

Aug 29

WOW! Elon Musk CALLS OUT socialist Billie Eilish as a massive hypocrite

"[She hates] on capitalism and 'stolen land' while selling PERFUME and living in LUXURY on that SAME LAND."

Speaking of stolen land, the Supreme Court has rebuked a lower court order to halt Trump's repair and remodeling of the East Wing of the White House.

Specifically, they issued a stay, putting the lawless rogue lower court's injunction against Trump on hold.

On April 17, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed the district court's injunction, effectively allowing construction to proceed, while it considered the government's appeal. On August 7,
2026, the court of appeals resolved that appeal and upheld the district court's injunction. At the same time, the court indicated that its existing stay would expire on August 21, 2026, and the district court's injunction would thus take effect.

Confronted with an imminent order requiring it to substantially halt its ongoing construction activities, the government filed a motion in this Court seeking a stay of the district court's injunction pending a forthcoming petition for a writ of certiorari and any further proceedings in this Court. THE CHIEF JUSTICE issued an administrative stay to facilitate review of the government's application and referred the matter to the Court.

We grant the requested stay. The government has established that it is likely to succeed on the merits of a significant legal question, that it would likely suffer irreparable harm without a stay, and that the balance of equities tips in its favor.

Essentially this is a full and final reversal -- by the time the full case is decided, the remodeling will be concluded, rendering this lawsuit moot.

Two points: The Supreme Court ruled that the National Trust, which brought the suit, has no standing to sue at all, and Chief Justice Roberts, of course, sided with the liberals, because he is one.

Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed tells his audience to fake their enthusiasm for his stump lines -- he actually tells them to "go nuts" -- so that his Advertising Jihadis can use the crowd's reaction in its political ads to "push back on AIPAC."

Mike Rogers makes the subtext into text in an anti-Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed ad: "ABDUL IS JUST WEIRD." Indeed.

Speaking of radical Muslims who hate America: Tuq'r Qarlson has on a "Missouri farmer" -- who he refuses to tell his audience is a former Democrat lieutenant governor -- to trash Trump for allowing the importation of Argentinian beef. (Was this ever not allowed? They make a lot of it.)

The Islam First agitator then explains who The Real Villain Here is: Can you guess?

@MaxNordau

Tucker Carlson brings on "Missouri farmer" Joe Maxwell to attack President Trump's decision to import Argentine beef.

Carlson knows exact who the culprit is: Israel. "The president of Argentina is a close ally of the prime minister of Israel, unlike President Maduro, who was an opponent."

(Not mentioned: Maxwell is the Democrat former Lieutenant Governor of Missouri)

Benjamin Ryan
@benryanwriter

This Washington Post article claims that an NORC survey found 400,000 trans people have recently fled to another state.

As @kittypurrzog pointed out on @TheBARPod, the 400K figure was, with some faulty math, extrapolated by Erin Reed based on the NORC survey, which included just 10 trans people who said they'd fled a state. The survey did not provide a representative sample either. So this figure has been all but plucked out of the air and was not actually reached by NORC themselves. It is a figment of Erin Reed's work with a calculator.

This is not to say that trans people are not fleeing red states. But it is extremely unlikely that 400,000 of them have.

Even leftwing media hacks have to admit that X's user-produced community note system of corrections works. And I'd add it works 10,000% better than media hacks' tendentious, political-ax-grinding "corrections."

The Vigilant Fox 🦊 @VigilantFox

MSNBC contributor reluctantly admits 𝕏 Community Notes actually works, even though it physically pains her to say so.

Rolling Stone called @ElonMusk
and 𝕏 "the biggest purveyors of online misinformation."

Now liberals like Molly Jong-Fast are admitting that false information and missing context get kept in check "pretty well" by Community Notes.

MAHER: "In this current atmosphere we live in, I never believe anything I read just from that one thing I read."

JONG-FAST: "X has community notes, and I think community notes -- I don't want to compliment X here, but community notes works pretty well."

MAHER: "Well, then compliment them. Why can't you?"

JONG-FAST: "I'm doing it! I'm doing it. Yes, I'm doing it, but I don't want to."

Some things in life just aren't funny, and prominent among them is Bill Maher. So I don't find this funny, but it is an accurate point:

RedWave Press @RedWavePress

HILARIOUS: Bill Maher: "Trump is so mad at Canada, he renamed Lake Ontario Lake America... Liberals are very pissed at this. They say you can't just go around renaming to suit your political agenda. Just ask any Latinx birthing person."

The Babylon Bee:

Trump Announces Truly Huge Deal to... Take Over 65 Billion Barrels' Worth of Venezuela's Oil Reserves?!

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Why would they do this?

Because successive socialist governments have, get this, run the oil industry into the ground. They did not do basic maintenance and never bothered to upgrade and modernize their infrastructure. They have billions of barrels of oil they never invested any money in so the oil remains underground.

The socialists, if you can believe this, simply extracted oil (and embezzled the money) while doing nothing to safeguard the future health of the industry.

So Venezuela needs outside help to do the most basic things.

Let's elect socialists in America to work the same Economic Miracles!

I don't know if I like this. Venezuela has a nasty habit of repudiating past agreements and "nationalizing" -- stealing -- foreign investments in their oil industry.

But, who knows, if there's a Trumpian president, maybe they'll remember what happened to Maduro before nationalizing the newest capital improvements.

The US has struck a deal with Venezuela to control more than 65 billion barrels of its proven oil reserves, Donald Trump said.

The US president wrote that the agreement would more than double American oil reserves and "substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans".

In a late-night address on Saturday, Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez hailed the deal as one that would help her nation's economic revival.

The media's stories all push the same attack line: The oil will not be extracted for years so Trump is a Big Orange Liar when he says that the deal will lower gas prices.

Try Googling it. Every single media story claims Trump is a liar about this reducing gas prices and he's doomed, doomed in the midterms.

They've managed 100% narrative coordination. Putin is envious.

But some analysts have reacted with scepticism, including questioning whether it would address long-running obstacles that have deterred investment in its oil industry.

Trump has recently been under domestic pressure to tame petrol prices, which have spiked due to the Iran war.

He vowed to tap into Venezuela's reserves, the world's largest, after the US captured its then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, ostensibly to stand trial on drug charges in New York.

Rodriguez, who is Maduro's former vice-president and who the US backed following his capture, said on Saturday that the energy agreement with the US would remain in force for 25 years.

She said it would target an increase in crude output to 1.5 million barrels per day and preserve the country's sovereignty over its natural resources.

Rodriguez hailed the accord as a "historic" deal that would help revive the economy and boost government revenue, saying it would help shape the country's future.