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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.
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Oh, Great, Peace in the Middle East Again — Hey, I’m as happy as everyone else, but I can’t help but notice those missiles raining down on Israel. . .
. . . A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else! The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process. We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just “hangin’ around” in order to make sure that everything goes well. I feel confident that it will. Just like we are experiencing in the U.S., this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP The Islamic Republic of Iran was likewise in a celebratory mood, and in its joyful exuberance, fired off a round or two of celebratory missiles and drones into Israel and the Sunni states that it has targeted since the beginning of this conflict. Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported that on “Ceasefire day 1,” Israel “took multiple waves of Iranian missile fire after the ceasefire was announced.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed Wednesday that Iran is under a new regime with a “new calculus” about negotiating with the United States, just a day after President Donald Trump threatened total destruction over the nation’s intractability.
That seals the deal for me, and yet we have all these doubting thomases.
When President Trump first struck Iran over a month ago, I took a “wait and see” approach. I wasn’t supportive of the foreign intervention, as it seemed unwise and reckless. But there was a possibility the blowback could be minimal. Trump had previously killed Qasem Soleimani and bombed Iran with hardly any consequences. History could repeat itself once again with the Khamenei assassination.
It’s clear now that this war was a grievous mistake. We did not achieve regime change, nor did we even get a more amenable leader to deal with Iran. The Islamic Republic isn’t going to give up its missiles or nuclear program. While Iran has lost many of its leaders and military installations, it’s still able to shut down the Strait of Hormuz and strike critical infrastructure throughout the Middle East. With these advantages, the Islamic Republic has upended the global economy and world oil supply. It’s more likely America and its allies will make serious concessions to open the strait than it is for Iran to meet Trump’s initial demands.
In all seriousness for the past 47 years, the regime in Iran has spilled oceans of innocent blood in its eternal jihad and quest to conquer the world in the cause of Islam. The fecklessness, acquiescence and surrender of prior American and western nations to Iran in not defending Western Civilization from this threat to the advancement of humanity and civilization is why we are facing an existential threat. In that regard, the attempt to take Iran down had to be done sooner or later. Trump bucked the tide of prior administrations that were at best indifferent/ineffective (Reagan, Busshes)at worst collaborationist and) (Carter, Clinton, Obama/Biden).
The world breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday night on news of a cease-fire in the Iran war, but this is certainly no time for President Donald Trump to go wobbly.
If he can’t work out a comprehensive deal to end the Iran threat for good, he needs to get the jets back in the air over Iran pronto — and let the bombs drop.
If not, he does risk that TACO label. Trump saw enough hope for a peace deal — and an “immediate” opening of the Strait of Hormuz — to hold off, for now, on the enormous additional devastation he threatened to inflict on the Iranian regime.
Fine.But it’s far from clear what, exactly, the Iranian leaders he’s dealing with (whoever they are) will ultimately agree to. And stick to.
That’s why any deal to be worked out over the next weeks must be absolutely air-tight.
It must cover all the bases, paving the way for a future Iran that can’t continue to threaten the world and wreak havoc, whether through actual violence or economic terrorism. . .Nor can Iran’s negotiators be allowed to drag out the talks indefinitely, spared of fresh airstrikes from the United States or Israel.
Trump must be prepared to resume bombing, including of infrastructure used by Iran’s military, if — as he would put it — he smells BS.
Indeed, he should warn publicly (and not just threaten but mean it) that he’s ready to restart the attacks, and even ratchet them up, if Iran refuses to meet his conditions.
Let’s face it: This is the world’s one chance to end the 47-year Iran nightmare once and for all — or at least to set conditions that can lead to its end.
It’s Trump’s chance to make good on his promise that Iran will never have nuclear weapons. Not in a year. Not in 10 years.
Remember, it took 47 years for any US president to confront the ayatollahs the way Trump has. No other leader will have the guts to do it again. Look at North Korea’s nukes if you doubt it.
Yet Trump himself may be less willing to prolong the war now: Oil prices fell the minute he announced the cease-fire. The markets shot up. .
Back here at home there are other things happening. On a related note we have a point counterpoint to contemplate: POINT:
The Fall of Islam It will start here in Texas, and inspire others in America to stand.
To Colonel Allen West I would say "Unless and until Islam falls in Mecca and way too much of the rest of the western world and in the hearts nd minds of all its billion and a half adherents, we're merely trying to hold back the tide."
In an apparent effort to delay and thus perhaps permanently undermine justice for Iryna Zarutska's killer, prosecutors have accepted the assessment from Central Regional Hospital, leaving a judge to decide whether to reject the assessment and proceed with the April 30 hearing to delay 180 days as the hospital and prosecutors recommend. The new claim that Decarlos Brown is "incapable to proceed" on state murder charges became public in a motion filed April 7, according to the New York Post.
Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. already had 14 arrests on his record when he boarded a Charlottesubway train in August 2025 with violence on his mind. Brown did not know Iryna, who was also riding the subway and quietly minding her own business. But Brown suddenly and randomly approached Iryna and stabbed the young woman to death while most of the other passengers looked another way, refusing to intervene. Just before he got off the train, video of Brown shows him gloating to himself, "Got that white girl."
In a video clip resurfacing on social media, Gavin Newsom’s activist wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom is heard describing how she told a group of convicts in San Quentin about the childhood incident in which she killed her own sister with a golf cart — something she was never punished for because it was accidental. “Yours were probably accidents too…” she told the prisoners.
What an utterly evil filthy diseased pudenda! Makes Michelle Obama look like Dolly Madison by comparison. Or not.
Have a great day!
And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s critics cry “war crimes” while ignoring decades of U.S. precedent—revealing less a legal argument than a reflexive, and deeply selective, political outrage. By All Means, Let the War Crimes Trials Begin!
A ceasefire hailed as victory masks deep uncertainty—fragmented leadership, conflicting terms, and Iran’s track record all suggest the pause may only delay the next escalation. Four Major Reasons to Doubt the U.S.–Iran Ceasefire
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, said on Wednesday morning that Lebanon was never part of the ceasefire arrangement. President Donald Trump also said on Wednesday that Lebanon was “not included in the deal” because of the “separate skirmish” between Israel and Hezbollah. Reports: Iran Blocks Traffic in Strait of Hormuz over Israeli Strikes in Lebanon
Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday evening, just before the deadline for Iran to agree to terms was set to expire. In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump stated that Iran has “gone through what will be a very productive Regime Change,” and will now be working closely with the United States. At a Wednesday press briefing, Hegseth was asked about the comments and whether the current Iranian leadership is actually a “new” and different regime than what was in place before Operation Epic Fury. (RELATED: Trump Showed Iran ‘Mercy’ In ‘Devastating Military Defeat,’ Hegseth Says) Hegseth Claims Iran’s ‘Regime Has Been Changed’ Amid Shaky Ceasefire
The world breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday night on news of a cease-fire in the Iran war, but this is certainly no time for President Donald Trump to go wobbly. If he can’t work out a comprehensive deal to end the Iran threat for good, he needs to get the jets back in the air over Iran pronto — and let the bombs drop. Trump's legacy is on the line with new Iran cease-fire — what the deal must guarantee now and forever
President Donald Trump did something Tuesday that he has done repeatedly over the course of his political career: He issued a dramatic warning ahead of negotiations. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said Tuesday morning on Truth Social regarding Iran. Note Who Predicted Nuclear Genocide In Iran Last Night And Stop Taking Them Seriously
Anonymously sourced hit pieces have hammered Tulsi Gabbard the past few months in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New Republic, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, you name it. They are part of a relentless campaign to undermine President Trump’s director of national intelligence because she is almost single-handedly revealing the dirty secrets of the Deep State. Miranda Devine: Tulsi Gabbard keeps her focus on revealing Deep State’s dirty secrets — even as they try to take her down
“Fundamental to this case—and indeed to our constitutional system—is the principle that the will of the President does not supersede that of Congress,” U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said. “Presidential whims do not and cannot supplant agencies’ statutory obligations.” Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Ending ‘Temporary’ Amnesty for Ethiopian Nationals
Col. Allen West: It will start here in Texas, and inspire others in America to stand. The Fall of Islam( Unless nd until Islam falls in Mecca and too much of the rest of the western world and in the hearts nd minds of all its billion and a half adherents, we';re merely trying to hold back the tide.- jja)
They won't pay - but it's still a moral victory.(Honestly, I'm sick to death of "moral" victories considering the blood of innocents hasn't stopped flowing for decades and the lack of morality of the perpetrators and their cheerleaders in the res of the so-called civilized world- jja) 'Palestinian' Authority and PLO Ordered to Pay $655 Million to Terror Victims
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED, AND OTHER ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
...an ongoing campaign to convince voters that Trump and his supporters are a threat to the normal rule of law — when it was Democrats and the dying media who cheered on the prosecution of the former president and his supporters for political disagreement... That the people who perpetuated that obscenity — Letitia James, Merrick Garland, Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and on and on — might face their own form of legal harassment isn’t a matter of “weaponizing” the Justice Department. It’s a matter of ensuring it stops being weaponized. Here’s How The Media Are Lying Right Now: Painting DOJ Abusers As Trump’s ‘Political Foes’
He had been asked to leave the church two months prior to the incident, after handing out “concerning” flyers. On March 15 he came back to the church wearing a backpack and was seen allegedly going into a bathroom, walking out, then going back in several times. Armed Man with 100 Rounds of Ammo Tackled in Texas Church
A US Marine was fatally stabbed during a massive North Carolina brawl — and disturbing video that captured him bleeding out on the side of the road has placed responding officers under heavy scrutiny. Daniel Montano, 21, died after he was one of two people who were stabbed as a large fight broke out in downtown Wilmington just after 2 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Wilmington Police Department. US Marine killed in stabbing during North Carolina street brawl as disturbing video sparks outrage over police response
In an apparent effort to delay and thus perhaps permanently undermine justice for Iryna Zarutska's killer, prosecutors have accepted the assessment from Central Regional Hospital, leaving a judge to decide whether to reject the assessment and proceed with the April 30 hearing to delay 180 days as the hospital and prosecutors recommend. The new claim that Decarlos Brown is "incapable to proceed" on state murder charges became public in a motion filed April 7, according to the New York Post. Disheartening: Iryna Zarutska’s Killer Found Incompetent to Stand Trial
THE 2020 and SUBSEQUENT ELECTION HEISTS , SHENANIGANS/FRAUD and AFTERMATH
Democrats and left-wing activists have tried numerous legal routes to defeat the map, which was passed by the GOP-dominated state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike Kehoe (R-MO) last September before going into effect in December. The bill, called HB1, codified new district lines that could net House Republicans an additional seat in what is expected to be a tight election season. Radical Left Repeatedly Fails to Overturn GOP-Drawn Congressional Redistricting Map in Missouri
DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY, INSANITY
According to recent reports, Venezuela’s monthly crude oil exports have once again surpassed one million barrels per day. Andy Walz – president of downstream, midstream, and chemicals at Chevron – confirmed to the BBC that the company is importing the equivalent a quarter of a million barrels of Venezuelan oil per day. The BBC detailed that the crude oil tanker Minerva Gloria recently docked at a wharf in the Mississippi sound, carrying 400,000 barrels of crude oil — an amount that, six months ago, would have been “impossible” to bring to the United States. Report: Chevron Importing 250,000 Barrels of Venezuelan Oil to U.S. per Day
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL
In December 2024, Brazilian officials halted the construction of a BYD factory in the city of Camacari after an investigation found that 163 Chinese nationals imported to work on the project were forced to live and work in “precarious” and “degrading” conditions, including unsafe working environments and unsanitary living quarters. Brazil Blacklists Chinese EV Giant BYD for Slave Labor Conditions at Factory
Kennedy revealed details of the Cuban regime’s fraud operations in the U.S. during an interview with the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, during which he discussed the progress of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda and his office’s efforts to reform food and drug guidelines, restore trust in public health agencies post-COVID, and combat deep corruption — particularly after the Biden administration had dramatically reduced HHS’s capacity to catch fraudsters. RFK Jr.: Cuba’s Communists Running Massive Healthcare Fraud Scheme in Florida
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.
This bug means that after exactly 49 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes and 47.296 seconds from the moment a Mac is switched on, network connections are no longer terminated correctly. This initially leads to an increase in CPU utilization, because after some time hundreds or even thousands of connections are managed that should actually have been terminated. As soon as the available ports, usually 16,384 in number, are used up, no more new connections can be established.
49 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes, and 47.296 seconds?
That number might ring a bell for the 29 year olds in the audience, because the same bug caused Windows 95 and 98 to crash outright when they were running for just shy of 50 days: It's a 32-bit unsigned integer counting milliseconds.
Of course Windows 95 and 98 had the saving grace that they would usually crash for some other reason well before that time ran out.
The stylus includes touch sensitivity and tilt detection and lasts for 4 hours of writing or 100 hours on standby. A bit of an advance over my Palm Tungsten T3.
Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans.
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. This is a Tucker, Candace and Megyn free zone. Please.
Does anyone follow the prediction markets? Event contracts are simple - you put money on a bet with a binary outcome. If a designated event happens, you get paid out. If not, you lose your money.
Such bets used to mostly pop up once a year with Super Bowl bets about the length of the national anthem. Yes, big casinos or your local bookie might quote odds but now prediction markets have gone online with platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. These platforms make participation very easy.
There are no odds, but the higher probability of an event, the more expensive the contract. The lower the probability, the cheaper the contract.
There is a wisdom of crowds element to all of this. Because people are putting their money, arguably the prediction market is more credible than polls. Insider trading is prohibited (in theory).
What events? Obvious candidates like sporting events and political elections, but also financial indices, commodity prices, and geopolitical developments. Cultural bets are fair game like celebrity marriage or divorce. Distasteful or illegal bets are not allowed on Polymarket and Kalshi.
The legal eagles among the Horde will appreciate the regulatory gymnastics around federal versus state law and drawing lines between gambling and investing. That debate and argument is very active and the resolution will set precedent for decades. What is the legal difference between a prediction market event contract on the S&P 500 and an S&P 500 option or future contract?
The other interesting angle is clarity around the language of the bet. For example, an event contract for "boots on the ground" presumably contemplated offensive kinetic action, but what about a rescue mission for a downed aviator? Assassination bets are not permitted, but what about a change of Iranian leader by bombing? The bigger money involved, the more people care about the outcome.
Here are a handful of contracts from Polymarket and Kalshi for giggles (current as of Monday PM). Remember - these are predictions for what people think will happen, not necessarily wishes for what will or should happen (although both may be true in some cases).
An audit of a Lancaster County Wendy's found that a former general manager allegedly stole almost $20,000 from the eatery by creating a fake employee.
According to the charging documents, Linda Johnson allegedly clocked in and out as a "ghost employee" at the Manheim Township Wendy's from July 2021 to April 2022 and then had the paychecks go to her bank account.
Paychecks from the fake employee showed police that $19,898.15 was allegedly stolen by Johnson, who also created 128 shifts for the "worker." Detectives learned later that Johnson would be the only one who could create the shifts, police said.
When other managers were questioned about the "worker," police said some could not remember working with them, while one reported that they met him once and that Johnson did provide a timecard for the employee but never worked with him.
This new mom had a "one-in-a-million" conception: Her babies may be twins - but they have different bio-dads.
A 19-year-old Brazilian woman gave birth to twins nine months after having sex with two men on the same day. As their first birthdays loomed, she began having doubts over who their father was, so she decided to take a paternity test to confirm her suspicions, local news outlet news outlet Globo reported.
The anonymous woman originally suspected only one of the two men to be the father of the twins, so she collected his DNA - but it only turned up positive for one child.
"I remembered that I had had sex with another man and called him to take the test, which was positive," the new mom, who asked not to be identified, told the outlet. "I was surprised by the results. I didn't know this could happen. They are very similar."
Heteropaternal superfecundation "is an extremely rare phenomenon that occurs when a second ova released during the same menstrual cycle is additionally fertilized by the sperm cells of a different man in separate sexual intercourse," according to the journal Biomedica.
Even my small dino brain can think of another obvious reason this is a rare phenomenon. Maybe she needs a hobby. I mean a different hobby.
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This winter train ride on the Bernina railway in Switzerland from St. Moritz is a nice way to travel.
The ride in the summer is pretty nice too.
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With all the moon excitement, it seems like a good time to use this photo that has been sitting in my files waiting for an opportunity. I have no idea where it came from or why it exists but this seems like an opportunity. Sometimes, you just have to go with it... If one of you sent it, thank you. You're lovely and twisted.
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Mandatory reading in case you missed it:
NATO is in far bigger danger than anyone realizes. And the reason has nothing to do with defense budgets.
The real danger is psychological. It’s cultural.
Europeans didn’t just free-ride on American security for 80 years. They built an entire identity around the idea that they…
A little upbeat fiddle and banjo music for the big ONT finish:
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Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking ?? Thank you for your attention to this matter. Beware - reading ONT content may result in being whelmed.
This post got ruined since I drafted it. "Takers" was supposed to be a hilarious video of a girl's shepherd which keeps stealing every single toy she picks up. It runs over and takes it out of her hands and hoards it on his dog bed. It does this for like 20 toys in a row and the girl just sits there looking at the camera like "Do you believe this?"
But that video got deleted in the past hour for some reason. So I quickly found some random dog "taking" video to replace it.
Well here's another grift: "In-Home Support Care."
Does your Uncle Mohammad need "in-home support"? Is he willing to claim he does?
Well, here's $100,000 to provide that service. We promise -- we won't check up with you and won't even balk at your claiming to provide federally-compensated "in-home supportive services" to your spouse.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is embroiled in a national fraud scandal. Thus far, much of the coverage has focused on alleged schemes related to unemployment insurance, hospice care, and food stamps. In this exclusive investigation, we shine a light on one of California's largest initiatives: the In-Home Supportive Services Program, or IHSS, which pays family members and other individuals to provide home-based care for the elderly and disabled--at a cost of nearly $30 billion per year.
On the surface, IHSS presents itself as an instrument of compassion, directing billions to caregivers who help with cooking, personal care, laundry, and other daily needs inside recipients' homes. But a growing number of experts and critics argue that the program is rife with fraud, losing roughly an estimated $6 billion to $12 billion yearly to scammers. Meantime, the state's powerful home-care unions collect more than $149 million in membership dues, funneling money into the political network supporting Newsom and California Democrats.
This is the story of a government that has allowed compassion to become a mask for fraud, creating a self-reinforcing system that keeps the Democratic establishment in power.
In 1973, California created what became the IHSS program to provide in-home care to the elderly and disabled. The IHSS caseload exploded in the 1980s, prompting the state to impose hour caps on care providers. California offers the program through Medi-Cal, its version of Medicaid, and pays providers with a combination of federal, state, and county funds.
IHSS has long been considered a magnet for fraud. In 2009, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated that up to 25 percent of IHSS claims were fraudulent. A Sacramento grand jury report that year found that providers had "no meaningful oversight, no assessment of skills to meet client needs, no monitoring of the validity of service hours, and no background checks."
After growth of the program's rolls exploded in the early 2000s, Schwarzenegger signed legislation aimed at curbing abuse, requiring IHSS providers to undergo criminal background checks and introducing random claim reviews.
But soon after the law's passage, a state workgroup, teaming with representatives from "labor organizations," introduced a key loophole. Citing concerns about disruptions for "vulnerable members of the IHSS community," the task force barred regulators from conducting fully randomized, unannounced home visits, leaving the program more exposed to scammers.
Yes, they do this on purpose. Minnesota stopped all auditing and verification precisely to allow Democratic Somali Pirate voters to use Minnesota paperwork to defraud the taxpayers from other states.
They approve of this because they see it as Back-Door Reparations. Evil White Racists won't agree to provide reparations to Somalis -- a people we have virtually no historic connection to, for good or for ill, and so owe absolutely nothing to them -- so they deliberately blind the government to fraud. Let the Somalis pick whatever level of Unofficial Back-Door Reparations they think they're "owed."
It's barely even fraud -- it's the politicians like Ellison and Walz who are the criminals. They're the embezzlers.
Since then, the program has expanded dramatically again. "IHSS provider" has become the largest low-wage occupation statewide, with more than 800,000 taxpayer-funded caregivers offering everything from grocery shopping to personal care.
...
The system operates largely on trust. Providers self-report their timecards and check-in records. In roughly 60 percent of cases, providers and beneficiaries live together, delivering care in private homes--typically without the threat of random, unannounced visits.
Just sign up for to provide "in-home supportive services" to your own f***ing spouse. California will pay you do to so, taking money from the federal government for the payments.
...
California, in other words, is sending billions of dollars per year to a program that is easy to exploit, difficult to administer, and almost impossible to supervise.
In 2024, the federal government began a series of enforcement actions. As part of a nationwide crackdown on health-care-related crimes, the United States Department of Justice announced prosecutions for alleged IHSS fraud in California.
In one case, the DOJ alleged that San Dimas resident Giacomo Lorenzo Garbarino billed the state for more than $170,000 in fraudulent IHSS and Medi-Cal services over a five-year period. The patient in his care was reportedly hospitalized or living in a facility at the time and thus ineligible for IHSS reimbursement. In another case, Joseph Depiazza allegedly billed the state for more than $50,000 in fraudulent IHSS services. According to prosecutors, he kept submitting claims after the patient entered the hospital--and even after she had died.
Last year, federal officials announced another round of IHSS fraud prosecutions. In one case, prosecutors alleged that Maryam Erambakhsh falsely claimed payments for caring for her parents while they were outside the United States. In another, Cindy Lynn Fromm allegedly billed the program for more than a year of services while the recipient was incarcerated.
These cases may be the tip of the iceberg. Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government and a nationally recognized fraud expert, estimates that annual IHSS fraud could amount to 20 percent to 40 percent of total program spending. Applied to projected IHSS outlays for fiscal year 2025--26, that suggests roughly $6 billion to $12 billion in losses. Multiple senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have described a similar pattern, estimating that about 25 percent of the Medi-Cal budget is lost to fraud. The share is likely higher for IHSS, given the program's structure and its susceptibility to abuse.
Earlier this year, Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, set off a firestorm of controversy with the claim that criminal networks, including the "Russian Armenian mafia," were running massive hospice and home care scams in Los Angeles. He suggested that Armenians in Los Angeles were disproportionately represented among the leaders of hospice fraud rings.
Read the whole thing, after you've taken your blood pressure medicine.
A CBS News Investigation found one Los Angeles County hospice physician's name, Dr. Rajiv Bhuva, on Medicare claims for nearly 2,800 patients across 126 California hospices in 2024, according to the last full year of available data.
In one year, mind you. Even if she saw each patient just once and worked seven days a week, she'd have to see about 8 patients per day to rack up 2,800 patient visits.
Update: I made an error. I said she would have to see 40 patients a day.
No doctor in California is connected to more hospices than Dr. Rajiv Bhuva. In 2024, his name appeared on Medicare claims across 126 hospice companies in California -- 115 of them in Los Angeles County alone.
In 2024, Medicare paid out tens of millions in taxpayer dollars for care attributed to Dr. Bhuva -- a figure that surpassed nearly every other hospice physician in the state.
The average California hospice doctor cares for about 140 patients a year. In 2024, claims with Bhuva's name were submitted for 2,791 terminally ill patients.
Only one hospice doctor in California was identified as receiving more Medicare reimbursement than Bhuva in recent years: Dr. Domingo Barrientos. His reimbursements totalled $90.3 million. He is currently in federal prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud.
...
Dr. Kristina Newport, chief medical officer at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, said the kind of numbers linked to Bhuva and other highly prolific medical providers in the industry raise an array of questions.
"They would have a superhuman schedule to do that in a meaningful way," Newport believes.
In a brief interview at the front door of his mid-century stucco home in a mountainside suburb of Los Angeles, Bhuva told CBS News he doubted the figures and said there was no statutory limit to the number of hospices any one physician can staff. But after a brief exchange, he declined to speak further.
...
The data shows Bhuva's national identifier was tied to the one of the largest volumes of Medicare hospice reimbursements in California in 2024. The data does not establish whether Bhuva personally authorized the claims, whether his credentials were used without his consent, or whether there is another explanation.
CBS News found Bhuva's name among the physicians billing Medicare at several hospices that lost their Medicare certification for what regulators called an "abuse of billing" -- a pattern of submitting improper claims. Those hospices were banned from Medicare for a 10-year period.
California state auditors say that anytime records show a doctor working for more than three hospice providers at one time, it could be a hallmark of fraud and prompts reasonable questions about "whether they are actually participating in the operations of those hospices." More than 600 doctors exceed that threshold in California, according to Medicare data obtained and analyzed by CBS News.
On paper, those 600 doctors appear to be both incredibly busy -- and profitable to the businesses they serve. While they accounted for roughly 7% of California's hospice physicians, they generated more than half of the state's $4.2 billion in Medicare hospice reimbursements in 2024, the last full year of data available.
In state and federal records, certain names stand out. The ten busiest hospice doctors -- those whose names are linked to the most operators in California -- generated more in Medicare reimbursements than 90% of their peers in 2024.
The Democrats are not "asleep at the wheel" -- they are active co-conspirators in the greatest mass-looting in the history of the Earth.
So a group of zero white people held a press conference to tell you that white people will be systemically discriminated against. https://t.co/Zs8iLI0bSC
Third World Colonizers come into the country and after five years start deciding how to start splitting up American property and treasure between them.
PATTERSON, Cali. (TNND) -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shot a wanted man in California on Tuesday after he allegedly "weaponized his vehicle" and attempted to run an officer over, according to the agency's acting director.
ICE agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop in Patterson to arrest Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, an alleged member of the 18th Street Gang who is wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection with a murder, authorities said.
"As officers approached the car, the wanted gang member used his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over," Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.".
Joachin is charged with homicide without premeditation and criminal mischief.
Well that's the "non-violent" form of homicide, doncha know.
DeCarlos Brown, the Racist Killer Who Slit Iryna Zarutska's Throat for No Reason Other Than Her Race, Found by Psychiatrists to be Too Mentally Incompetent to be Tried for Murder
—Disinformation Expert Ace
The judge will now decide whether to accept this report.
Justice will be done. Whether in an orderly way or a disorderly way -- justice will be done.
The deranged homeless man accused of savagely butchering Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte light rail train has been found "incapable to proceed" on state murder charges.
According to a motion filed April 7, Decarlos Brown Jr. was evaluated Dec. 29 at Central Regional Hospital, and the subsequent report determined he was not competent to stand trial, according to WBTV.
This article is written vaguely, so I'm forced to guess at the procedural aspects here. What I'm guessing is that a defense "expert" found he was incapable of standing trial, just as the client, the defense, wanted.
I'm not sure though. This whole report is sketchy and, frankly, amateurish.
The results were previously sealed in state court, and were only revealed as the motion was filed.
A judge must now determine whether to accept the report's findings, and the case against him will likely be delayed until his capacity is determined to be "restored" by the court, the station reported.
In the motion filed by Brown's public defender, he claimed the court-required capacity hearing cannot take place with the accused killer in federal custody, and that the court also can't order to have his capacity restored.
Brown has been in federal custody in Chicago since a grand jury indicted him on Oct. 22 for violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system causing death.
He's been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation pursuant to his federal case, but court filings viewed by the outlet last month show it hasn't been completed and that the evaluation period has been extended.
See? There the article says the evaluation hasn't been completed, but it also claims some report -- maybe this one, maybe another one -- was completed and found him too incapable to be tried.
This is why I'm forced to guess that there are two separate reports, the official one which is incomplete, and one performed by a psychiatrist hired by the defense, which, of course, found him incompetent.
The outlet reports that restoring competency can take a long time in North Carolina because of limited space in state psychiatric facilities, and said it's not uncommon for defendants to wait a year or more for a bed to open up.
Brown, 35, whose mother told The Post is schizophrenic, was arrested at least 14 times in North Carolina for crimes ranging from assault and firearms possession to felony robbery dating back to 2007.
At the time of the senseless attack in late August, he was free on cashless bail after a magistrate released him with a "written promise" to show up for court after placing a bogus 911 call.
I didn't even hear she was sick. Does she have blood coming out of her... whatever?
Megyn Kelly, the Norma Desmond of Podcasters, is raging about... Trump's tweets.
Yes, everything is 2015 again.
But let's face it -- this was Megyn Kelly's real position all along. She just goes to where she thinks the traffic is. From 2023 to 2025, the clicks were in pretending to be More MAGA Than Trump.
And now? The clicks from Pakistan are in attacking Trump as a madman and not a "normal person" and sucking up to Cavernous Nostrils and her army of lunatics spreading lies about Erika Kirk being a lesbian child sex trafficker and a murderess.
Megyn Kelly TORE into President Trump over his "completely irresponsible and disgusting" social media posts on Tuesday: "I don't know about you, but I am sick of this sh*t! I'm just-- I'm sick of it. Can't he just behave like a normal human? I mean, honestly, like the president--'3D chess'--just shut up! F*cking shut up about that sh*t! You don't threaten to wipe out an entire civilization. We're talking about civilians, just casually in a social media post."
"I am the first to try to understand Trump and his strategy and not freak out over his weird social media posts and language that is loose and incendiary. Truly, I've lived with it for ten plus years. I learned it the hard way, when I was on the receiving end of it for nine months, and truly I think that was a gift to me in many ways because it helped me really come to understand what he does with his social media. But this is completely irresponsible and disgusting. This is wrong. It's wrong. He should not be doing it."
"I don't care that it's a--his negotiation tactic is to kill an entire country full of civilians--men, women, and children-- an American president, so that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened? It's just wrong. It's not hard to say it, it's not hard to recognize it. I wish he would stop doing this. Like, he can't negotiate without doing this? What does that say about him?"
"What does that say about the position that our country is in right now in these negotiations? He's got to say this? He can't be a dignified, strong leader without threatening a bunch of war crimes? Like what is he, Genghis Khan? Like, what is he trying to do and why can't he do it with strength -- threats, sure, go for it -- that don't diminish and demean the United States of America in this way?"
Megyn Kelly TORE into President Trump over his “completely irresponsible and disgusting” social media posts on Tuesday: “I don’t know about you, but I am sick of this sh*t! I’m just– I’m sick of it. Can’t he just behave like a normal human? I mean, honestly, like the… pic.twitter.com/7IbgxTpUaY
Republican Clayton Fuller Wins Marjorie Taylor Greene's Old Stank-Ass Seat in Rome, Georgia
—Disinformation Expert Ace
This is technically a pick-up. Because Marjorie Taylor Greene quit mid-term in January-- on the exact date that her five-year congressional pension kicked in -- Rome, Georgia has been without a Representative for three months, and the GOP has been down a seat in Congress.
So yes, this is a win of a seat we had already won, but that seat was abandoned and has been unfilled for an entire season.
But now we've taken it back. Our slim congressional majority holds (shakily).
If you're sports nerd, we gained a half game in the playoff race.
I wouldn't call the change in margin of victory pure spin. Yes, the Woke Reich and their fellow travelers of the Islamocommunist Left are spinning the fact, but it is a fact, and a worrisome one.
But then -- it's also the case that the former winner of the seat has been running against the party she formerly belonged here. That has to have an impact on party cohesion.
Clayton Fuller won a Georgia special election to replace retired Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday night, growing the House Republican majority by one.
However, Republicans won by a slimmer margin than in years past, an ominous sign with just over half a year to go until the midterm elections.
Fuller, a District Attorney, defeated Shawn Harris, a Democrat whose website describes him as a "retired Brigadier General" and "cattle producer," by a 55.9 to 44.1% margin, with 99% of votes counted by 9:30 AM Wednesday.
The election's results mark a double-digit shift in favor of Democrats, as Greene won in 2024 by an almost 30-point margin.
Greene, once a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, retired in January after a falling out with the president, who called her a "traitor" for standing against him on foreign policy and economic issues.
The president had indicated his intention to support a primary challenger against Greene before her surprise retirement.
Correct. We went from a trashy, flaky, embarrassing bimbo (but unattractive) with the IQ of a cooked potato to a normal guy who doesn't have blood coming out of his... whatever, a district attorney and lieutenant colonel in the Air Force reserve. And he doesn't believe that Jews control the weather with Space Lasers or pal around with terrorists like Code Pink.
We don't have to hold our breaths in suspense when he speaks. His sentences will not be like Marjorie Taylor Greene's, tragicomic misadventures and verbal bus accidents.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has opened a probe into former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, according to a news report Tuesday.
Hutchinson testified in 2022 before a special House committee on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot that implicated President Trump.
The DOJ is looking into whether Hutchinson committed perjury during her testimony, unnamed sources told The New York Times, which is reporting the story.
The department assigning the case to the division appears unusual considering it focuses on potential civil rights violations -- not allegations of crime, which would include lying to Congress.
...
A probe regarding perjury before Congress would typically be handled by the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., which is run by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
However, she has also experienced several setbacks in her attempts to pursue criminal cases in federal court against Trump's political opponents.
DOJ leaders didn't offer Pirro the opportunity to open the probe into Hutchinson, instead giving it directly to Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon, the anonymous sources also said.
Off to do the final (?) coat of varnish.
Update: Done. At least the upper-facing surfaces are. I only did two coats on the undersides and legs so at 6:30 I'll flip the desk over, give it a quick and sloppy sanding, and dump the rest of the varnish on the underside.
Communist Dingbats Yesterday Until 7pm: Trump Is a Madman! He Will Nuke the World! Communist Dingbats at 7:01pm: TACO! Trump Is a Huge Pussy Too Afraid to Do What Is Needed and LET THE NUCLEAR BIRDS FLY!!!!
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Remember, the "smart people" are also the "thoughtful" and "responsible" people. They have all the answers, they'll tell you. They definitely do not simply spam out random disingenuous claims completely incompatible with each other as the day's news cycle might require.
The "nuke" thing was absurd. Trump threatened to use a top-secret conventional weapon the world had never seen before. What was it? I dunno. Maybe some kind of non-nuclear EMP to take out the power plants without harming the child human shields Iran stuffed them with? At no point did he threaten or imply a threat to use a nuke.
Now I might think "Trump is making up some secret uber-weapon," but then again, Delta Force does seem to have unleashed absolute top-secret Sci-Fi weaponry in the Venezuela Snatch-and-Stash operation.
But he never hinted at a nuke.
But the "reasonable," "responsible," "thoughtful" people -- you know, the really "smart" people you can rely upon for their intelligence and probity and smooth emotional restraint -- all just went on twitter and did what they usually do, shriek lies that no one including themselves believes.
Are you ready to abase yourself now that Trump has negotiated a ceasefire rather than nuking Iran? Trump was NEVER going to nuke Iran. Any serious person knew that. It is shameful that you participated in this ridiculous charade.
This isn't exactly the same, but CNN's DEI Hausfrau veers from claiming:
1, that Iran is nowhere close to building a bomb when Trump says he will wipe out their nuke-production plants,
2, that Iran is now closer than ever to building a bombafter Trump wipes out their nuke production plants, and then back to
3, Iran was never at any time close to building a bomb, when Trump launches Operation Epic Fury.
It's really disgraceful. As they say: They know they're lying, they know their audience knows they're lying, they know their enemies know they're lying, but they lie anyway because it's what their Satanic Cult demands of them.
Lying, and abortion of course, and transing children are their sacraments.
Now you know that of course Noted Thoughtful and Responsible Smart Guy Commentator Bill Kristol had to be part of the Satanic Lie Offensive:
These two tweets are 8 hours apart. This morning, he wanted generals to make advance promises to disobey civilian leadership. Now he complains that Trump chickened out. https://t.co/bEjF5y7SWXpic.twitter.com/ORtDJClB1e
With Trump's fairly blunt threat to start aggressively targeting Iranian power and transit infrastructure (at the time of writing, anyway - by the time this goes live, it might have started or been obviated with a "deal" of some kind), Iran is doing everything in its power to try to make Trump and Hegseth blink. As Ace covered and various Hordelings expanded yesterday, Iran appears to be leaning heavily on it's fifth column in this country. Such strikes would be evil, or war crimes, or inappropriate, or whatever else. These fifth columnists are always happy to help, but they - much to the chagrin of their masters - appear to have relatively little real influence at the moment.
But Iran is not resting on its laurels and putting all of its chips on its fifth column in isolation. They apparently hope to significantly amplify its Stateside allies and deal a PR blow to the Trump administration in the same way that Islamists always do: by putting people in harm's way. Unable to defend against the American-Israeli attacks due to the latter's air superiority, they will settle for making infrastructure attacks as bloody and graphic as possible. Islamists love human shields because the enemy is usually squeamish about slaughtering civilians, and various sources are awash with claims that Iran is gearing up to burn through a lot of them.
Iranian citizens gathered on the White Bridge in Ahvaz, forming a human chain to protect key infrastructure amid US-Israel threats, stressing that attacks on civilian facilities are widely regarded as violations of international law.
A video shared by the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mumbai highlighted the civilian-led effort, underscoring that ordinary Iranians do not want to see their country’s infrastructure damaged in the escalating conflict.
Iranian officials on Tuesday urged their people to form human chains around power plants as the country faces a deadline set by President Trump to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or risk major strikes on civilian and energy infrastructure.
The regime called on "all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors" to protect power plants threatened by Trump, according to The Associated Press.
"Power plants that are our national assets and capital," Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, reportedly said in a video statement.
Go collect your winnings. I guess the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents isn't the IRGC and so is "civilian" but this ain't exactly the grassroots movement that Consulate General implied. That video, assuming it's real, is available on X. This is an altogether typical play by what's left of the Iranian government to slaughter young people in order to then cry crocodile tears in the "international community" while their fifth column calls Trump and our soldiers, sailors and airmen a bunch of diabolical baby-killers. They always do this.
That isn't all Iran is threatening and staging. Per the Jerusalem Post, Iran is also threatening retaliation:
Iran has also signaled that any attack on its energy network could trigger retaliation against civilian infrastructure elsewhere in the region. Previous reports said Iranian and IRGC officials had warned that if Iran’s fuel and energy facilities were hit, Tehran could target Israeli power plants, gas rigs, desalination systems, and other strategic civilian sites.
They will surely try, though Iran's recent efficacy has not been particularly great and hopefully will remain that way. But that is beside the point. Even if Iran has the capability to effectively retaliate, the state-sponsored sacrifice of Iranians would still happen. This is what Islamists do. They do it by choice even in the face of alternatives. It is the preferred tactic, not a desperation move.
There is a reason they store and manufacture arms in hospitals and mosques and schools, and use the same as operational bases. They love ensuring that their own will die during their glorious jihad. There is much in it for them, after all. Dead kids rile people up and so long as they can successfully blame the enemy for the death and deflect away from their own culpability, it's a powerful tool on the homefront. It also, crucially, is a powerful tool for their fifth columns to use. You can be sure the pre-printed signs about Trump and Hegseth's war crimes for targeting civilians are already staged and ready to go, and countless column-inches about their evil are already written. It's as predictable as the sunrise.
The blame for the coming civilian casualties will almost entirely rest with the regime, just as it does for Hamas and Hezbollah and the Taliban and all the rest - but the propaganda blitz to come will likely be a thing to behold. It's the real point. It's why, despicable and cynical as it is, the Islamists' love of human shields is entirely predictable and wholly typical.
President Trump expressed optimism Wednesday that the Iran war cease-fire agreement will usher in a “Golden Age” in the Middle East.
“A big day for World Peace!” Trump wrote on Truth Social following the two-week cease-fire announcement. “Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else!”
The commander in chief said the US “will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz” and “loading up with supplies of all kinds, just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.”
Trump indicated he felt “confident” the reopening of the key waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes daily, would go well.
“There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process,” he said. “Just like we are experiencing in the US, this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!!!”
Trump branded Operation Epic Fury a “total and complete victory” — more than a month after the first US strikes in a joint operation alongside Israeli forces on Feb. 28.
“100 percent,” he told Agence France Presse. “No question about it.”
Trump didn’t rule out strikes on power plants if the ceasefire collapsed.
“You’re going to have to see,” he said when probed.The exact terms of the cease-fire framework have not been released, but Trump described the proposal as “workable” and the temporary pause has been welcomed by Washington’s allies.
Iran’s embassy in India has since claimed the US is “fundamentally committed” to lifting all sanctions against the Islamic Republic, accepting enrichment and agreeing to Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz.
“You started the war, but Iran will set the conditions for its end,” the embassy warned. ..
This came after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed the US, Iran and their allies agreed to a cease-fire everywhere, including Lebanon.. .
“In accordance with directives from the political echelon, the IDF has ceased fire in the operation against Iran, and is highly
prepared to respond defensively against any violation,”
IDFofficials said Wednesday. “Overnight, the IDF conducted a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting missile launch sites and
launchers across Iran, in order to significantly degrade its
launching capabilities. “Simultaneously, in Lebanon, the IDF is continuing to conduct targeted
ground operations against Hezbollah... Hezbollah chiefs are set to release a statement outlining their position on the ceasefire...
And so here we are weeks after the first bombs were dropped comment on the heels of the first wave of attacks that were designed to take out Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities.and collaterally hopefully take out the Mullahs and their evil regime and replace it with some minimally benign government that would no longer export global terrorism and persecute its own citizenry.
while Iran's nuclear and missile capacities have surely been degraded, considering that the same Armageddon-seeking Islamic ideologues are still in power and that they are whom we via their Islamic brothers in arms in Pakistan are who have been negotiating with and that Pakistan is a close ally of Red China, Can President Trump truly declare not only"Mission Accomplished" but that a new golden age is about to be ushered into the Middle East?!
Mr. President with all due respect that's not going to happen until Islam itself disappears either via a mass cultural shift among its over one billion adherents or some black swan event that brings about its utter defeat and dismantling and defanging.
U.S. stock futures jumped higher and oil prices plunged after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire and a potential longer peace deal with Iran on Tuesday night.
Futures indicated a two percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. S&P futures were up 2.3 percent and Nasdaq futures were up nearly three percent.
Oil prices fell sharply. Brent crude futures fell by around 13.5 percent to $94.50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 14.7 percent to $96.40 a barrel. U.S. natural gas prices dropped by 3.6 percent. U.S. home heating oil futures dropped by more than 18 percent.
Have a great day!
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Trump, writing on Truth Social less than two hours before his 8 p.m. deadline, said he would halt the planned strikes following direct talks with Pakistani leadership. “Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan… and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump wrote, adding, “This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!.” Deadline Delayed — Trump Approves 2‑Week Iran Ceasefire After ‘Civilization’ Threat, Conditional on Hormuz Reopening
The operation has strained U.S. military resources, damaged key assets, and raised concerns about broader strategic vulnerabilities. DATA: Iran War Costs $500 Million Daily.
* * * * *
The “war crime” outcry is simply another collaboration between America’s enemies, the media, and the Democrat Party. Donald Trump, War Criminal?
Responding to Trump’s deadline — and his warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight” — Democrats quickly lined up to claim that the president was either not in full possession of his mental faculties or about to issue illegal orders to the United States military, if not both. Trump’s Iran Clock Is Ticking As Democrats Try To Make Moves Behind His Back
Democrats and their media allies have worked overtime to paint President Donald Trump as reckless, unstable, and dangerously unfit to lead. The latest excuse for their hysteria came after Trump put pressure on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since February, cutting off roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply. They’ve been daring the United States to respond ever since, and Trump did respond. And that’s when the left completely lost it. Democrats Called Trump Crazy — Then He Got a Ceasefire with Iran
In response to a question on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his role in negotiations, Van Hollen said, “Secretary Rubio was part of the classified briefings that were provided early on to members of Congress. We’ve been calling for public hearings, because we want the public to be able to see how bad the answers we’re getting from administration officials are. Bad, meaning, they keep switching their statements regarding the goals of the war, they have no endgame. But, as to Secretary Rubio’s current role, I don’t know exactly what it is.” Van Hollen: ‘Hard for the Iranians to Be Able to Trust’ U.S. Negotiators Because We Bombed Them During Talks
The KTVU headline was “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot someone in Patterson, Calif., leading to the partial closure of the I-5 freeway in Stanislaus County, the sheriff announced on Tuesday.” Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin quickly clarified that someone with a bullet in him did everything he could to deserve that bullet. Illegal Alien Terrorist Weaponizes Vehicle on ICE, Gets Shot
Rolbert Joachim, 40, is charged with second-degree murder and criminal damage to property, according to Lee County Sheriff’s Office jail records.Surveillance footage appeared to show Joachim smashing the woman’s car windshield, approaching her, and repeatedly hitting her in the head with a hammer — killing her in broad daylight, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Haitian illegal immigrant bludgeons mother-of-two to death with hammer outside Florida gas station in broad daylight
Freshly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has wasted no time making his presence felt. Just days into the job, he sat down with Fox News host Bret Baier Monday night and floated an idea so simple and so devastating that it's a wonder nobody tried it sooner: Pull Customs and Border Protection officers out of international airports in sanctuary cities. Mullin Drops a Bombshell on Sanctuary Cities, and Dems Are Going to Lose Their Minds
Professor Jonathan A. C. Brown, chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown, posted the dismissive remark twice on X in response to users discussing a link between Islam and an escalating crisis of rape gangs in the United Kingdom, archived versions of the now-deleted posts show. (RELATED: ‘Catholic’ University’s Heretical Queer Profs Are Teaching Porn Classes And More) Professor Of Islamic Civilization Says ‘Get Over It’ To Concerns About Rape Gang Crisis
Futures indicated a two percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. S&P futures were up 2.3 percent and Nasdaq futures were up nearly three percent. Oil prices fell sharply. Brent crude futures fell by around 13.5 percent to $94.50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 14.7 percent to $96.40 a barrel. U.S. natural gas prices dropped by 3.6 percent. U.S. home heating oil futures dropped by more than 18 percent. Peace Dividend: U.S. Futures Surge, Asia Stocks Jump, Oil Plunges After Trump Announces Cease Fire With Iran
Since 2019, base hourly wages at the Greeley plant have increased by approximately 46%, outpacing Northern Colorado/Front Range inflation of roughly 25% over the same period. This represents a real wage growth of about 16% for team members. Trump’s Migration Rules Force Wage Gains in Meatpacking CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY
“My 8-year-old son and I were not physically harmed, but we were awakened by the sound of gunfire. Like any parent, I immediately ran to him and reassured him that he was safe,” Ron Gibson, who is serving his third term in the Indianapolis City Council, said, reporting that someone fired 13 shots at his front door after midnight and left a note inside a zip-locked bag on the doorstep that read, “NO DATA CENTERS.” b>Indianapolis Official Says His Home Was Shot 13 Times with ‘No Data Centers’ Note Left Behind<
Echoing the state motto, Dean founded the "Freedom and Unity Party" along with his running mate, fellow Stowe High School student Charles D. Bass. Dean claims it's the fastest-growing party in Vermont. He's Got My Vote: 14-Year-Old Running for Governor of Vermont
Turkey’s interior minister stated that one suspect had “ties to an organization that exploits religion.” The attack comes amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has seen several retaliatory terrorist attacks primarily against Jewish targets primarily in Europe and the United States. Police Kill Three Gunmen Outside Israeli Consulate.
The lawmakers’ visit follows a flashy tour of Havana by a contingent of celebrities and international Marxist agitators known as the “Nuestra America” convoy which brought personalities such as British Labor parliament member Jeremy Corbyn, leftist video game streamer Hasan Piker, and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)’s daughter Isra Hirsi to Cuba. The convoy members produced online propaganda defending the Castro regime, blaming the longstanding poverty and suffering on the island on President Donald Trump. In reality, Cuba has endured torturous communist repression for 67 years as a result of the Castro family hoarding the nation’s wealth, leaving millions in the country to struggle. Congressional Democrats Follow Hasan Piker to Cuba, Lending Support to the Communist Regime
The Cuban regime is continuing down its path of proving how desperate it has become in the wake of Donald Trump putting a stop to the flow of free and cheap oil into the country. In its latest move, the handpicked face of the regime, "president" Miguel Díaz-Canel, sat down for an exclusive interview with Newsweek on Friday, which the outlet published on Tuesday. Cuba Threatens ‘Guerrilla-Style’ Fight — Rubio Can’t Keep a Straight Face
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a key European ally of the Trump administration, faces a tough set of parliamentary elections this weekend but he now has one supporter firmly on his side after U.S. Vice-President JD Vance landed in Budapest on Tuesday to offer his support. JD Vance Lands in Hungary to Back Orbán’s re-Election Push
Oregon was the first state to pass an assisted suicide law in the United States, but is now one of a dozen states, plus Washington, DC, that allow physicians to assist in the suicides of terminally ill patients. In Oregon, patients must be at least 18, be able to make their own medical decision, and have a prognosis of six months or less to live. Report: Assisted Suicide Prescriptions in Oregon Increased in 2025
Sleeping doesn’t count as cardio, but it is good for your heart. And the time you conk out each night could be the difference between a high and a low risk of heart attack or stroke. Two bedtime mistakes are increasing your risk of heart attack
NASA might claim the astronauts are doing science, but most of it is minor and not very significant. When you get down to it, this is simply a very expensive tourist trip for four government employees, paid for at an ungodly cost by the American taxpayer. Orion completes short 15-second burn to refine its return-to-Earth
The material that makes up the layers appears very sandy and delicate, so it breaks away it very small pieces, just like sand on a beach. The result is this feathery look. Feathery eroding layers on Mars FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY
A niche identity is returning to its niche, and the California legislature is tacitly acknowledging that even the niche dies without regular infusions of free government money.
The skull was found in the area of DeForest Park and Wetlands during an event set up for children on Easter Sunday, CBS News reported, citing police. Reports suggested the skull could have been from an infant, according to KTLA5. The skull was reportedly found laying “right out in the open,” Fox11 Los Angeles reported. Family Stumbles Upon Human Skull During Local Easter Egg Hunt, Police Say
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.
Finally, some good Arm hardware that isn't from Apple. It's an 18 core CPU, so while still a little slower on single-threaded tasks than Apples M5 CPU, it's a lot faster in multi-threaded work.
An Ivy League graduate and the owner of a PR firm revealed why she spends $12,000 (over ₹11 lakh) a year on beauty treatments and clothes, especially after moving from New York to Utah. In a conversation with Business Insider, she revealed that she undergoes the pricey procedures to keep up with beauty standards.
“Utah has a slower pace, less diversity, and a more conservative culture, but one of the biggest challenges is the pressure to maintain a youthful, fresh appearance. Even though NYC is very focused on appearance, it's not as bad as Utah,” Hilary Reiter Azzaretti told the outlet, adding that she felt Utah was very “beauty-centric and that a lot of people here cared about longevity, wellness, and appearance.”
***
She explained, “Half the pressure is self-induced. Outsiders might perceive younger PR people as more on top of trends, especially with social media. That's not always true, since PR is a relationship-driven business, but because it feels that way, trying to hide your age soothes your ego,” adding, “The other half comes from what you see on the job. There are a lot of influencers in Utah, so I'm inundated with images of beautiful people every day. It feels inevitable that you'll place greater emphasis on your appearance based on what you're seeing.”
A Dutch city councillor has been kicked out of her political party after editing her publicity photo so heavily that she became unrecognisable.
Looking at her publicity photo, you’d be tempted to think that Patricia Reichman is the youngest-looking 59-year-old woman in the world. We’ve featured our share of “ladies of eternal youth” on Oddity Central over the years, but Reichman definitely takes the cake. Only, in reality, she looks very different; some would say she is a totally different person.
***
The Dutch councilwoman faced a lot of criticism after photos of her next to the one she obviously edited went viral online, but she continued claiming that she genuinely looks a lot younger than 59.
“When I’m out and about with my son, people often assume I’m his girlfriend,” she said. “I hear it all the time, that I look remarkably young for my age.”
So you're telling me there are fake photos of people online? As Ace sometimes says, I shan't believe it. I shannot.
-----
Happy Anniversary to The Bad News Bears!
The Bad News Bears turns 50 today. This movie zigged where most kid-sports films zag: cynical, un-Disneyfied, a gritty 1970s antidote to the usual underdog uplift. And Walter Matthau never once feels like he’s “acting with kids.” pic.twitter.com/lE8wmga6VY
Younger son of Doof was big into baseball for many years. We watched that movie when he was maybe 10 or 11. There's a scene with Walter Matthau driving while several beer cans roll around the front seat. My son noticed the beer cans and said "Oh I didn't realize you were allowed to drink and drive back in the 70s." I just laughed.
When a Southern client trash-talks Western hunting to his Wyoming antelope guide, all hell breaks loose
The story, “The Sheriff’s Pronghorn,” originally ran in the April 1953 issue of Outdoor Life.
“There’s one reason, mister,” the Georgia sheriff said stoutly, “why I don’t like your Wyoming country.”
Max Wilde bristled like a stallion in a brush corral. “And what’s that?” he barked.
“Everything’s too easy. You get on a horse, ride for a day, camp, walk out to the edge of a grassy park, and bang! You’ve got an elk. Or you sit for a couple of afternoons over a rotten carcass of some kind until a grizzly walks out of the shadows. You put your sights on his neck and squeeze off the trigger. Blooie! He folds. These buck deer tiptoe right up to you and chew the buttons off your coat. Antelope? I’d just as soon shoot a yearling calf in the feed lot.”
I glanced at Max. His mouth was twisted into an ominous angle. “It ain’t as exciting as a quail hunt clown in Georgia, is it?” he asked mildly.
“Not by a damsite!” Sheriff Henry Mosely said flatly.
***
The sheriff finished his stirrup adjustments and we followed Max at a fast walk through the sage and along the rim of a canyon. At the head of the mesa, where it broke abruptly into a ragged, rocky point, we flushed a herd of six antelope. They ran for a startled moment, then stopped to look back. Five were does, with nervous legs and huge ears alerted toward us. The sixth was a buck with sweeping horns that branched above his eyes and curved back on slender tips. Max studied them for a moment through his glasses.
***
The sheriff was an old hand now. He boiled out of the saddle, pulling his gun as he went. He seated his shell in the chamber and swung on the running buck. He held his fire so long that I got a little panicky, thinking he had frozen at the controls. I was so tight that I jumped when the rifle barked. The flying buck went end over end, sprawled in the sage, made a feeble attempt to rise and went down again, shot behind the heart. For a moment the sheriff looked as though he did not believe it himself, then he whooped and threw his hat into the air. Mine went with it. Max just grinned.
Long story, but a really good one. Check it out!
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OK, maybe AI isn't asshoe. At least for the first 22 seconds!
Trump Accepts Deal for Two Week Ceasefire, Saying Sides Are Very Close to a Permanent Deal
—Disinformation Expert Ace
Ach.
Sorry I had to get out and do the sanding and varnishing before I lost the light.
I think this is Trump looking for an easy exit but it's possible he's just biding time.
The price of oil moves partly on information but mostly on speculation. Traders bid up the price of oil in anticipation of a shortage later, at which point they can sell for a big profit.
Trump has been playing games with oil traders letting them know: Do not get too far over your skis selling and buying oil for too high a price or I will claim that we are very close a deal or otherwise inject news into the headlines that will cause the price of oil to fall and you to lose money.
So... did he do this to send a shock to oil traders?
I don't know but Clay Travis says oil prices are plunging.
Clay Travis
@ClayTravis
1h
Trump and Iran agree to a two week ceasefire subject to the Strait of Hormuz being immediately opened. The price of oil and gas is plummeting. Yet again all the people losing their minds on Twitter today saying nuclear war was going to happen look like complete morons.
Iran began launching drones and missiles at both UAE and Israel.
Israel, of course, is permitted to fire back. So is UAE.
Tuq'r will find that "disgusting, actually," and will also attack Trump for abusing the poor oil traders.
Orla Minihane has just exposed a number that should end any pretence:
Seventy-nine.
Seventy-nine Labour MPs and councillors with convictions or formal findings for rape, sexual assault, grooming, child sexual exploitation, possession and distribution of child pornography, and other vile sexual misconduct.
Not a handful of bad apples.
Not unfortunate mistakes.
This is a pattern.
This is a culture.
While Labour lectures the nation about protecting women and girls, they have quietly built one of the most predator-friendly environments in British politics.
The question is no longer how these men kept slipping in.
The question is why Labour feels like home to them.
A rotten ecosystem, thriving in plain sight.
Britain First. No Surrender.
That post here, linking another post containing the list of Labour MPs and councilmen who have raped or abused women.
Tim Soret
@timsoret
As a European, I apologize to Americans for all the idiocy coming from our side.
You save your pilots no matter the cost.
You send humans to the moon.
You fight authoritarianism head-on.
It's truly inspiring.
We're on the wrong side of the moral equation.
Tim Soret
@timsoret
Apr 5
Frankly I hope I can join your ranks one day.
I'm done with the morally smug, economically illiterate, declinist mindset here. We think we're so cultured & so smart, but it's mostly masturbatory.
Americans keep demonstrating their uniquely actionable & pragmatic intelligence.
Mark Penn
@Mark_Penn
War crimes?
Senator Merkley from Oregon said that taking out mixed use infrastructure like bridges and power plants would be war crimes and suggested as well that soldiers in the US Army need not follow orders such as that.
The Iranians have sent hundreds of missiles targeted at civilian centers in Tel Aviv and throughout Israel as well as towards hotels, plants and airports of UAE and other countries. The civilians are not collateral damage -- they are the primary target of hundreds and missiles and drones. And they massacred tens of thousands of their own people -- just machine gunned them down. By rulers who have no legitimacy whatsoever.
So where is his outrage at the real war crimes? Where is the urgency at stopping Iran from these illegal attacks and mass executions? Where are his threats of action to right these wrongs? We know where they are -- no where because he is too busy attacking his own country.
Jim Acosta says that now that his every deranged claim about Trump is proven true (cite?), he feels that maybe he "wasn't opiniated enough" when he had a real job in the real media.
Nigeria Christians experienced another bloody Easter.
The country experienced three separate attacks on Christians on Sunday as Christians celebrated Jesus's resurrection.
The Nigerian military announced it has rescued 31 civilians kidnapped on Sunday morning during an attack on a church:
The attack occurred on Sunday morning in Ariko village, located in the Kachia area of Kaduna state.
Gunmen opened fire on congregants celebrating the religious holiday, leaving five people dead at the scene.
However, Caleb Maaji, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria for Kaduna state, reported a higher toll, stating that two churches in the village were targeted and seven worshippers lost their lives.
"Findings are still ongoing," Mr Maaji told Reuters, noting that the precise number of those initially seized remained unclear.
"Regrettably, the remains of five victims already killed by the terrorists were also recovered at the scene," the army stated, as reported by The Washington Post. "The fleeing terrorists are believed to have sustained significant casualties, as evidenced by blood trails along their escape routes."
The residents said the terrorists operated "in the area for an extended period before encountering any resistance from security forces."
In another attack, the Mbalom community's residents told officials that terrorists slaughtered 17 people.
Remember, Tuq'r Qarlson says the Trump tried to "eradicate" Christianity by mounting a desperate now-or-never rescue operation to save a downed pilot on Easter Sunday.
Update: I listened to this Islamist asshole -- his objection was that Trump tweeted "open the fucking Strait" on Easter, which Tuq'r says in an assault on Jesus and an attempt to destroy Christianity. He was also offended that Trump would bully Iran into not attempting to sink trading ships as they peacefully sailed through the strait.
It's all the most despicable Communist inversion of reality. Iran attacking shipping is just their right, Trump's demand that they stop is a gross assault that Tuq'r cannot abide.
And meanwhile Tuq'r has said nothing about this demonic Muslim attack on a church on Easter. Trump using the f-word on Easter is an attack on Christianity, but his Islamist allies' literally massacring Christians at an Easter service is not an attack on Christianity.
Because he's a scumbag woke Islamist propagandist.
For people asking about the rest of the page, here it is. No, guys, they didn't just pick some chart from a blog to use in a freaking AP textbook unless it confirmed their priors, stop it. https://t.co/ejtIhqZsVs
Sure, community note. Can you point to an example the book provided showing liberals as authoritarians and asking students to write whether they agree or not?
By the way: Just to prove how non-authoritarian leftwing Democrats are, let me link this AWFUL running as Democrat for Georgia State House who says that all Trump voters should lose access to the internet for four years, so that, I guess, we are forced to rely on CNN and NPR and the NYT for "the truth."
"Best mentoring I ever had!" -- Steven Christopher Kenwell, age 17, Eric Swalwell intern
🚨 HOLY CRAP. Iranian state TV is now calling on Iranian children to surge to power plants so they can be HUMAN SHIELDS against President Trump
Students, youth, and almost everyone is invited to shield key infrastructure tomorrow
Gavin Newsom Directs $19 Million in California Taxpayer Money to Madison Avenue to Improve California's Reputation -- Just as Gavin Newsom Is Running for President and Personally Needs California's Image to be Remade
I gotta tell you guys, I did not see this one coming. It just snuck up on me.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is hoping to to boost California's tarnished image on the national stage -- so he's throwing millions in taxpayer money at a high-powered New York public relations firm to do it for him.
The governor's Office of Business and Economic Development awarded PR powerhouse Edelman a contract worth up to $19 million to burnish the Golden State's reputation, KCRA reported.
Edelman -- which also does work on behalf of mega-companies like Dove, Starbucks, eBay and Heineken -- will be tasked with combating "negative narratives amplified online and in partisan media" about California while promoting the state's economy and tourism.
...
The contract begins on April 6 and will run through then end of the year, which nearly coincides with end of the governor's term in early 2027.
Oh you mean January 2027, as the official primary season begins in earnest. How convenient.
The state agency previously told the outlet that the campaign wouldn't be about Newsom himself, but California.
"The campaign will tell the California story, not the Gavin Newsom story," the agency said. "The effort is about California's success, not about politics."
Uh-huh. You're just rebutting "partisan narratives" but not for any partisan purpose. Sure.
A Newsom spokesperson previously told the Los Angeles Times that California's business climatehas been "falsely and maliciously maligned for years," and that the "state has a right to tell the true story."
Weird that he didn't want to tell this "true story" in years when he wasn't running for president. People and businesses have been fleeing California for six years, you know.
...
News of the contract drew ample criticism.
"Gavin Newsom is giving 19 million California taxpayer dollars to a New York PR firm to promote California in a better light to the nation. Which does not at all sound like Gavin Newsom is making a presidential campaign ad for himself," Kevin Dalton, who ran for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, wrote on X.
"Californians aren't being asked, they're being billed," added Republican congressional candidate Christine Bish.
Speaking of California politicians raiding the public fisc for their own benefit and to pay off their donors: Gavin Newsom's Obama-Biden boondoggle to spend tens of billions of dollars on a "high speed train" from LA to San Francisco -- when that route is well-serviced by planes and, well, a nice car ride if you have half a day to spare -- that even 60 Minutes noticed.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the very avatar of Democrat Woman.
Haughty, hectoring and pleased with herself, she is single-handedly wrecking her henpecked husband Gavin's lofty political ambitions.
No wonder he's taken to moping around and crying at press conferences.
As the California governor's presidential aspirations head south and his state's woes become impossible to ignore, he's tried in vain to reset his ailing brand -- and now his 51-year-old actress-turned-activist wife is taking over.
Over the weekend, she inserted herself into the news again with an Instagram video pontificating that the departure of Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem from President Trump's cabinet is proof that the commander-in-chief is waging a "war on all women."
"I need to call out that it's no surprise to me that the first two prominent people pushed out of this administration were women," she opined in a mint green jacket, with her long, blond tresses cascading fetchingly over one shoulder.
As she enunciated every bad word she could think of for Trump's "sexism and misogyny," she bizarrely smiled: "Devalued" -- smile. "Degraded" -- smile. "Diminished" -- smile.
"No woman is safe in Trump's Republican Party." Smile, smile, smile.
The title she posted on the screen was: "Some thoughts on the patriarchy."
Mrs. Newsom has "thoughts" -- and boy, does she want you to hear them.
Her assertiveness was on full display a few weeks ago when she elbowed her husband away from the podium and took over his press conference to scold the assembled reporters for not being sufficiently admiring of some abortion funding announcement the governor had just made.
"We just find it incredulous that we have Planned Parenthood here, and women are 51% of the population," she said. "And the majority of the questions -- all of these questions -- have really been about other issues. So, it's just fascinating."
She was greeted by "incredulous" silence.
Not only had she publicly emasculated the governor with the sort of first-spouse effrontery we haven't seen since Hillary Clinton entered the White House, but she showed herself to be incapable of using basic English.
Maybe she thinks "incredulous" is an intellectual version of "incredible."
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, said she actively works to challenge gender norms with her sons, telling an interviewer:
"I've given our boys dolls... if I'm reading a book and the protagonist is a male, I just change the he to a she."
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, said she actively works to challenge gender norms with her sons, telling an interviewer:
"I've given our boys dolls… if I'm reading a book and the protagonist is a male, I just change the he to a she." pic.twitter.com/KnDH6lp2GF
This link to Jesse Kelly contains a montage of her many ultrawoke preachings.
This one's incredible: Apparently she killed her own sister by running her over with... a golf cart. Nepo baby bitch.
But she tells prisoners that she understands their plight because she, too, killed someone "by accident" and she's very sure that's what all the people in prison did too.
Gavin Newsom's wife recalls telling prisoners at San Quentin about running over and killing her sister with a golf cart.
She said that she wasn't punished because it was an accident but that the prisoners are doing life even though theirs was "probably an accident too." pic.twitter.com/24HqCHXSZh
Libs keep asking Grok if these videos are real and recent. Grok keeps telling them they are.
Don't forget, she's also stealing taxpayer money, diverted to her by her husband and his cronies, to push DEI and transgenderism to California schoolchildren.
Classic Rock Mystery Click This is super-obscure and I only barely remember it. Given that, I'll give you the hint that it's by the Red Rocker. And I guess you think you've got it made
Oh, but then, you never were afraid
Of anything that you've left behind
Oh, but it's alright with me now
'Cause I'll get back up somehow
And with a little luck, yes, I'm bound to win Now twenty people will tell me it's not obscure, it was huge in their hometown and played at their prom. That's how it usually goes. When I linked Donnie Iris's "Love is Like a Rock," everyone said they knew that one and that his other song (which I didn't know at all) Ah Leah! was huge in their area.
Podcast: CBD and Sefton talk birthright citizenship, the 14th Amendment and SCOTUS, no boots in Iran, Artemis II and refocusing NASA, the NBA's hatred of everything non-woke, and more!
In more marketing for Project Hail Mary, scientists say they've found the biosigns indicating life growing on an alien planet. It's not proof, just signatures of chemicals that are produced by biological metabolism, and it could be nothing, but scientists think it's a strong sign that this planet is inhabited by something.
In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of scientists announced the detection of dimethyl sulfide (along with a similar detection of dimethyl disulfide) in the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18b. This is actually the second detection of dimethyl sulfide made on this planet, following a tentative detection in 2023.
Tons of chemicals are detected in the atmospheres of celestial objects every day. But dimethyl sulfide is different, because on Earth, it's only produced by living organisms.
"It is a shock to the system," Nikku Madhusudhan, first author on the paper, told the New York Times. "We spent an enormous amount of time just trying to get rid of the signal."
He means they tried to prove the signal was caused by things other than dimethyl sulfide but they could not.
What? Skeleton of the most famous Musketeer, D'Artagnan, possibly discovered in Dutch church closet. Dumas picked four names of real musketeers out of a history book, D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. So there was an actual D'Artagnan, though he made most of the story up. (Or, you know, all of it.)*
Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as d'Artagnan, the famous musketeer of Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, spent his life in the service of the French crown.
The Gascon nobleman inspired Alexandre Dumas's hero in "The Three Musketeers" in the 19th century, a character now known worldwide thanks to the novel and numerous film adaptations.
D'Artagnan was killed during the siege of Maastricht in 1673, and there is a statue honoring the musketeer in the city. His final resting place has remained a mystery ever since.
A lot of Dumas's stories are based on bits of real history. The plot of the >Three Musketeers, about trying to recover lost diamonds from the queen's necklace, was cribbed from the then-almost-contemporaneous Affair of the Queen's Necklace. And the Man in the Iron Mask is based on real accounts of a prisoner forced to wear a mask (though I think it was a velvet mask).
* Oh, I should mention, Dumas says all this, about finding the names in an old book, in the prologue to his novel. But authors lie a lot. They frequently present fictions as based on historic fact. The twist is, he was actually telling the truth here. At least about these four musketeers having actually existed and served under Louis XIV. Fun fact: You know the beginning of A Fistful of Dollars where the local gunslingers make fun of Clint Eastwood's donkey and Eastwood demands they apologize to the donkey? That's lifted from The Three Musketeers. Rochefort mocks D'Artagnan's old, brokedown farm horse and D'Artagnan is incensed.
A commenter asked which should be read first, The Hobbit of LOTR? Easy, no question -- read The Hobbit first. It's actually the start of the story and comes first chronologically. It sets up some major characters and major pieces in play in LOTR. Also, the Hobbit is Beginner-Friendly, which LOTR isn't. The Hobbit really is a delightful book, and a fast read. It's chatty, it's casual, it's exciting, and it's funny. In that dry cheeky British humor way. I love that the narrator is constantly making little asides and commentary, like he's just sitting next to you telling you this story as it occurs to him.
LOTR is a very long story. Fifteen hundred pages or so. The Hobbit is relatively short and very punchy and easy to read. If you don't like The Hobbit, you can skip out on LOTR. If you do like it, you'll be primed to read LOTR.
Oh, I should say: The Hobbit is written as if it's for children, but one of those smart children's stories that are also for adults. Don't worry, there's also real fighting and violence and horror in it, too. LOTR is written for adults. (It's said that Tolkien wrote both for his children, but LOTR was written 17 years later, when his children were adults.) Some might not like The Hobbit due to its sometimes frivolous tone. Me, I love it. I find it constantly amusing. Both are really good but there is a starkly different tone to both. LOTR is epic, grand, and serious, about a world war, The Hobbit is light and breezy, and about a heist. Though a heist that culminates in a war for the spoils.
The Hobbit Challenge: Read two more chapters. I didn't have much time. Bilbo got the ring.
I noticed a continuity problem. Maybe. Now, as of the time of The Hobbit, it was unknown that this magic ring was in fact a Ring of Power, and it was doubly unknown that it was the Ring of Power, the Master Ring that controlled the others.
But the narrator -- who we will learn in LOTR was none of than Bilbo himself, who wrote the book as "There and Back Again" -- says this about Gollum's ring:
"But who knows how Gollum had come by that present [the Ring], ages ago in the old days when such rings were still at large in the world? Perhaps even the Master who ruled them could not have said."
In another passage, the ring is identified as a "ring of power."
I don't know, I always thought there was a distinction between mere magic rings and the Rings of Power created by Sauron. But this suggests that Bilbo knew this was a ring of power created by Sauron.
Now I don't remember when Bilbo wrote the Hobbit. In the movie, he shows Frodo the book in Rivendell, and I guess he wrote it after he left the Shire. I guess he might have added in the part about the ring being a ring of power created by "the Master" after Gandalf appraised him of his research into the ring. I never noticed this before. I know Tolkien re-wrote this chapter while he was writing LOTR to make the ring important from the start. And also to make Gollum more sinister and evil, and also to remove the part where Gollum actually offers Bilbo the ring as a "present" -- Bilbo had already found it on his own, but Gollum was wiling to give it away, which obviously is not something the rewritten Gollum would ever do. But I had no memory of the ring being suggested to be The Ring so early in the tale.
Finish the job, Mr. President! Melanie Phillips lays out the case for the total destruction of the Iranian government and armed forces. [CBD]
