July 19, 2026
Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:00 PM | Comments (212) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Going after violent illegals is an absolutely necessary first step in cleansing our country of the scourge of uncontrolled illegal immigration. Traffic stops, chasing them on foot, or if necessary breaking down doors at 3:00AM and dragging them to a waiting flight to Sh*tcanistan is something that the American people will support.
But the huge numbers of illegals in our country make physical deportation a long and complex process. Luckily, there are other ways! As I wrote a few days ago, going after their employers, starting with the biggest companies will make huge inroads into the illegal population by denying them the ability to steal Americans' identities and undercut their price for labor. And there is more! Lax enforcement of existing laws, and banks that chased their business have allowed illegals to enter our financial systems, with credit cards, bank accounts, auto and home loans, etc. Will the administration end that? It sure sounds like they are beginning to take it seriously, or at least paying some attention! Stephen Miller says Trump administration is pursuing policy to debank illegal immigrants"President Trump signed an executive order a few weeks ago saying that we are not going to allow illegal aliens to use banking services in this country," Miller said. "Illegal aliens have credit cards, they have bank accounts and they're paid with direct deposit. So, illegal aliens fully participate in the commercial systems, the financial systems of America. Shutting that down is a massive engine for deportation." Miller was likely referring to an executive order Trump signed on May 19 that directed banks and federal regulators to increase scrutiny of accounts and credit applications involving immigrants without legal status or work authorization. The order did not explicitly instruct banks to deny credit cards or bank accounts to illegal immigrants, but compliance with it could make it more difficult for them to participate in the financial system. Federal agencies have already begun acting on Trump's executive order.
Executive orders are a stopgap measure. But it is a start. The real teeth will come if the various banking regulators demand that banks positively identify all account holders, and verify that their identification is not fraudulent or stolen. As I mentioned on Thursday, "E-Verify" needs to be improved, because we are our own worst enemy. But forcing the issue and making financial institutions take seriously the identification regulations would go a long way toward pushing illegals back to their home countries. If they can't easily open bank accounts or cash checks or buy cars or get an account with the electric company, their lives will become much more difficult. And that is the goal! We have made their lives effortless for too long. It is time to push them back into the shadows, and make every interaction with the legal financial world a risk. Debanking is an excellent start.
Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (242) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:52 AM | Comments (297) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Top Story
- Nvidia's 5000 Super graphics cards are lined up on the runway ready to go as soon as someone breaks the news to the passengers that the price of their tickets just tripled. (Tom's Hardware)
Or less obliquely, the 3GB memory chips used for the Super models are three times the price of the standard 2GB chips.
Which is STUPID because the GPUs already support two banks of memory and Nvidia could more cheaply produce a 24GB RTX 5070 Super than an 18GB version.
AMD should make mainstream 24GB and 32GB cards just to mock their rivals.
- Speaking of AMD, the company launched its Ryzen 7700X3D CPU at a price of $329 last weak, making it something less than a bargain because the 7800X3D is available cheaper than that. (Tom's Hardware)
You can now pick up a 7700X3D for $279.
Worth pointing out the the previous generations 5800X3D runs to $349.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:35 AM | Comments (190) | Trackbacks (Suck)
July 18, 2026
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (417) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Posted by: CBD at 07:30 PM | Comments (209) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is into Heavy Metal. It spun and spun and landed on a metal working theme for this Hobby Thread.
Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (86) | Trackbacks (Suck)


Posted by: K.T. at 03:36 PM | Comments (108) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Happy Wednesday, KT! I have an actual sunflower blooming! This is at the top of my 11 foot tall plant. This one started as a volunteer from last year's seeds so I think it will have the same smaller multi-colored blooms. On the inside, my orchid is loving the AC. Update on the spider plants - they have been going to town. They really do look like fireworks! Thanks for last week's pictures. Mrs. Leggy
Posted by: K.T. at 01:35 PM | Comments (31) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Posted by: K.T. at 11:23 AM | Comments (182) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Between the heat, humidity and smoke, the Frozen Tundra is looking like a thawed bog. Anyway before we enter the Prayer Revival just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Ely) 1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Generosity has its bounds.
3) If I've told you once I've told you 82 bazillion times. No running with sharp objects.
4) Have a great weekend!
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (261) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Top Story
-
AWS is experiencing a wee spot of bother with its billing system. (The Register)
Speculation is that it's a unit conversion error in the cost estimation tool, but all we know for sure is that people who barely use the service are being alerted to cost estimates in the billions of dollars, and for businesses that have active applications the predicted bills run into the trillions.
AWS say they are looking into it.
📣 Service Update: AWS Billing Console
— AWS Support (@AWSSupport) July 17, 2026
We are investigating issues with Cost Explorer reflecting inaccurate estimated billing data.
📊 Track status: https://t.co/6qSnkuEzc4#AWS #AWSSupport
Some users are nonetheless expressing mild consternation.Wait...
— NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 (@japan_nobunaga) July 17, 2026
Did I just accidentally buy America? https://t.co/8RVfe4Cc5Q pic.twitter.com/G37bmFaNR5
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (162) | Trackbacks (Suck)
July 17, 2026
Welcome to Friday night! Y'all do realize that today's political discourse is really lame, right?

Posted by: WeirdDave at 10:00 PM | Comments (397) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Tree Guardians by John Kent
Poor golden retriever has had his bed stolen by an evil kitten. Republican whale pounces.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:00 PM | Comments (233) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Hillary's oppo fictions were worth reporting -- but an actual scandal with actual documentation doesn't.
MJTruthUltra
@MJTruthUltra DECLASSIFIED This is a December 2021 internal email from the U.S. intelligence community's top cyber official. * In 2020, the official intelligence assessment said certain Chinese units were not trying to influence the U.S. election (only general "issue" stuff). The email writer disagreed -- he thought they were. * A newer report now says China is influencing another election and labels the same units as "election influence" operations. The writer questions why the same activity gets called "election meddling" in one place but not in the U.S. -- and calls for oversight. This shows the double standards in how U.S. intelligence judged Chinese election interference.
MJTruthUltra
@MJTruthUltra
🚨 SHOCKING: FBI Director Wray Signed Off as FBI Called China Election Meddling Warning an "Absolute Red Line" In a December 30, 2020 email, top FBI Counterintelligence official Nikki Floris slammed a draft Intelligence Community Assessment on the 2020 election. She warned that including the minority view -- which said China did try to influence the election -- was unacceptable and called it "an absolute red line for the FBI." Director Wray had already signed off on the main ICA text. The FBI pushed hard to keep the China "yes they interfered" view buried or heavily downplayed. Floris accused the dissenting comments of being misleading and lacking proper evidence. It shows Wray signed off on the main report that said China didn't try to mess with the 2020 election. The FBI team then fought hard to keep the part that said China did try from being included.
Brian Stelter
@brianstelter
CNN's Kaitlan Collins: "We'll be monitoring what the president says tonight, as we always do, but aren't taking it live, given the president has a well documented history of saying blatantly false things about elections."
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (165) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The New Republic: Don't You Understand You're Forcing Us Lefties to Murder You?
Gerald Posner
@geraldposner 🔥 At the State Department's Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent answered critics who doubt the seriousness of far left political violence by making the threat personal. Off-script, he reminded the room -- delegates from roughly 65 nations -- that he was the target of an assassination attempt by a left-wing activist two hours after being sworn in. (Bessent gave the wrong year on camera -- he said 2024; the actual date was January 27, 2025 -- but the case is real: a guilty plea, a federal docket, sentencing set for August 14.) Bessent also announced Treasury is expanding its financial enforcement authorities -- OFAC, FinCEN, IRS-CI -- to investigate nonprofits and charities being used as cover to finance political violence, saying "violence requires money, channels through which funding can move, and institutions behind which it can hide." This is the same pattern Secretary Rubio has been warning about -- violent far-left extremism dismissed as fringe, until it's the Treasury Secretary himself.
Bessent's challenge to the skeptics: be there for the sentencing.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:45 PM | Comments (286) | Trackbacks (Suck)
OvertonMore from Breitbart:
@overton_news Catherine Herridge says a whistleblower was sounding the alarm about China's influence operations in the summer of 2020 -- but "suddenly it all was suppressed" instead of being elevated. HERRIDGE: "So in the summer of 2020, as we're heading into the election, in the intelligence community, there were indicators of this Chinese influence operation." "Influence operations means that you're trying to affect the outcome of how people vote or their sentiment about a presidential candidate." "It's different than an interference operation, which is penetrating voting rolls and voter systems." "And this whistleblower was raising the alarm about the influence operation and then suddenly it all was suppressed." "My understanding is that some of their reports, there were in officials on hand writing that they wanted everything out could help President Trump in his re-election." "So there clear evidence of political and personal bias, and intelligence is supposed to be neutral." "So what we heard tonight from the president is an allegation that this intelligence was suppressed in order harm him. And now we're seeing documents already which back those claims."
"Compounding the travesty, the second set of documents we are releasing reveals that members of the deep state ... in our intelligence agency worked to actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China's sinister election meddling, covering it up from both the president and the American people like nobody thought was possible," he said. He also said while outlining the second area of documents, "CIA reporting explicitly stated, and I quote: 'In mid 2018, the Chinese Communist Party's policy was to leverage all domestic and foreign elements that were opposed to the U.S. president in an effort to reduce the U.S. president's votes and make him resign or prevent his re-election.'" Trump went on to add that "Raw intelligence obtained by the FBI in 2020, yet buried by rogue bureaucrats, stated that China's activities even included an attempt to manufacture illegal ballots for Joe Biden." Trump added that the documents reveal that reports regarding "China's election targeting" were omitted from his daily presidential briefs during his first term. "Documents show that during this period, dozens of significant CIA and NSA reports about China's election targeting were kept out of the presidential briefing. These were briefings I would get almost every day," he added. "Everything was kept out that was of importance. One email among intelligence analysts admitted that they had quote: 'deliberately massaged the presidential daily briefing to withhold information regarding Chinese activities related to the election,'" Trump added.More from Catherine Herridge:
Read the whole thing.
Catherine Herridge
@C__Herridge
EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower Alleges 2020 CCP Election Influence Ops Targeting Trump Were Suppressed Multiple sources tell me that a credible whistleblower complaint was filed alleging the CIA, FBI and other IC agencies suppressed intelligence about China's influence operations during the 2020 election targeting President Trump and his campaign. Based on my reporting, China's goal was to "impede" President Trump's re-election and "denigrate" him as a candidate. I understand the DNI is actively working to declassify the records. According to these accounts, the CIA, then led by Director Gina Haspel, would not document the Chinese influence operations, in a formal way, out of concern that President Trump would use the intelligence to his advantage. Based on the complaint, senior intelligence officials are accused of heavy-handed editing of the whistleblower's reports about China's sweeping influence operations during the 2020 election cycle. In some instances, senior CIA officials are accused of taking "pen to paper" to strike sections because "the intelligence assessments would help Trump." I am told some track changes make "specific reference to domestic politics."
A senior intelligence official emphasized that in 2020 China was not held to the same standard as Russia and other adversaries, including North Korea, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah. The official said Chinese influence operations were consistently "downplayed," while Russia's activities were routinely "amplified." The official added that the CIA was "driving political bias" in the intelligence assessments as well as the need to "massage" the President's Daily Brief. Known as the "PDB," it is a highly classified summary of intelligence and analysis on national security. For calling out the apparent suppression of China intelligence targeting President Trump before the 2020 Presidential election, the whistleblower was allegedly retaliated against. The alleged retaliation included: * Change in the whistleblower's job responsibilities * Threats to destroy their reputation * The "dissent" report that challenged the majority view about China's election activities was allegedly altered and the "confidence level" downgraded Independent, publicly available cyber security reports appear to back up the whistleblower's allegations that intelligence was suppressed about China's activities in 2020. In April 2020 a classified intelligence assessment found Beijing was ramping up activities in advance of the US election. ... Based on my reporting, by May 2020, there was a general consensus among the intelligence agencies that China was planning a "potentially huge campaign" targeting the upcoming Presidential election. The Chinese Community Party's (CCP) effort was considered to be much bigger than similar election campaigns launched by Russia because the CCP campaign would be executed across multiple domains.
As one government contact put it, "If the IC (intelligence community) was suppressing the China intelligence in 2020, what else was it suppressing?"
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (328) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Maine Democrats staged a Candidate Cattle Call last night.
The Context: Maine Democrats held a televised debate on July 16, 2026, as they sprint to replace Graham Platner, who withdrew from the race following sexual assault allegations. The newly nominated candidate will face long-time Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November 3 general election. Immigration & ICE: The debate was heavily dominated by discussions of immigration and law enforcement, following a fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Biddeford just days prior. All participating candidates called for the abolition of ICE. Pressed for practical reforms under the current Trump administration, candidates advocated for mandatory body cameras, banning masks for agents, and stripping them of immunity.The debate featured a diverse selection of morons, half-wits, and the mentally ill. A good cross-section of the Democrat Party, then. And of course one man who just showed up to say he wants to use the women's bathrooms and changing rooms.
5 Takeaways From a Maine Debate That Showed Replacing Platner Isn't Easy Maine Democrats vying to become the state’s new Senate nominee met, and mostly agreed, at a debate filled with halting answers and stilted deliveries. As Maine Democrats rush to replace Graham Platner with a new Senate nominee, eight candidates gathered on Thursday night for a debate that starkly showed the party's challenge in unseating Senator Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican. The implosion of Mr. Platner, who dropped out days after being accused of rape, has left Maine Democrats choosing from a sparse buffet of candidates who either lost primaries for other offices this year or lack any traditional résumé to run for the Senate. The contenders are sprinting through a truncated primary process that will culminate on July 25 with a nominating convention where roughly 600 party delegates will choose the nominee. The winner will plunge immediately into a race widely seen as crucial to the battle for control of Congress. Onstage at a TV studio in Portland, all of the candidates were quick to highlight their anti-Trump bona fides and promoted a broad playbook of progressive policies to appeal to Democratic primary voters.I think the cattle call consisted of two panels of four each.
Here are five takeaways from the hastily arranged debate, where the candidates had to be split up into two groups because there were so many of them: Maine Democrats don't exactly have a deep bench. The debate's first hour included four leading candidates with something notable in common: They all recently lost Democratic primaries for higher office in the state. Halting answers. Convoluted responses and stilted deliveries. Former State Senator Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Jordan Wood, a former congressional aide, all struggled to match the forceful message and rhetorical prowess of Mr. Platner, whose rallies electrified voters over the last year.Below, some highlights. It's pretty amazing.
... The candidates love Platner's policies but not the man. All of the candidates tried to thread a fine needle on Thursday night: They wanted to embrace the grass-roots energy that Mr. Platner captured and the policies he ran on, while not condoning the behavior that drove him from the race. For Mr. Jackson, that meant celebrating Mr. Platner's support for "Medicare for all" -- a policy Mr. Jackson has long supported. Dr. Shah pointed approvingly to Mr. Platner's long-stated desire to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:27 PM | Comments (450) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Trump's bombing them all the way back to modern day Europe.
Qeshm extends out into the Strait and is, presumably, a key staging area for attacks on shipping. US forces appear to be attempting to bomb all roads and bridges to the island, to cut it off completely.
Iran has told its citizens to turn off their air conditioning during peak hours as the country's power grid came under strain amid US strikes. Tehran's energy ministry said that the power restrictions were necessary 'to help ensure a stable electricity supply in the southern provinces, which are currently facing extreme heat and attacks on electricity supply facilities.' Temperatures in the capital were expected to hit triple digits Friday, with highs of 102F on Saturday and Sunday. Donald Trump ordered the US military to hit Iranian bridges throughout coastal cities along the Strait of Hormuz. A report from Iranian state media claims an American missile struck Qeshm, an island which is home to a hidden 'missile city' buried underground. The US also fired on a ship which was trying to breach the blockade.
... Just hours prior, Trump directed the US military to hit Iranian bridges throughout coastal cities along the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials reported Thursday explosions in Bandar Abbas and two blasts in Bushehr, home to Iran's largest civilian nuclear plant. The US said its forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities tied to the battle over the Strait of Hormuz.Iran hit the power infrastructure of other Gulf states in retaliation.
John Spencer
@SpencerGuard
Updates on Iran: Following the breakdown of the ceasefire/memorandum of understanding, fighting has escalated/resumed over the past 6 days (roughly July 13--17), with the US conducting multiple nights of strikes and Iran lashes out. US (according to USCENTCOM) has conducted strikes for six consecutive nights, using aircraft, drones, warships, and precision munitions. The stated goal is to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Key targets hit (primarily southern/coastal Iran, focused on Bandar Abbas area and nearby islands): * Coastal defense systems, air defenses, radar/coastal surveillance sites, missile/drone capabilities, command centers, and maritime/small boat assets. * Locations: Bandar Abbas (port/naval hub), Qeshm Island, Kish Island, Abu Musa, Bushehr province (including Jam and Kangan), Chah Bahar (Chabahar), Jask, Konarak, Sistan-Baluchestan province (including areas near Rask and Saravan), and others. * Military Infrastructure: Bridges (at least six in Hormozgan province), a maritime control tower in Chabahar (collapsed), military logistics infrastructure, and some inland sites (e.g., airports, possible rail/power elements).
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:15 PM | Comments (466) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The president said the People's Republic of China (PRC) illicitly acquired a whopping 220 million U.S. voter files through "what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history." "That information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities, which is exactly what was happening," Trump said. "This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare. The intelligence even shows that China assigned a data exploitation unit specifically to this new project," he added. Trump said another key area of concern is a "deep state" cover-up of the extent of China's meddling. The third set of documents "proves that for many years Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems, dishonest almost all," the president said, adding: They're vulnerable and they're easily compromised, and people within our government knew that. Tonight, we're publishing a series of previously classified U.S. intelligence community assessments and other reports proving that our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attack. As one assessment states, we judge that the United States adversaries, including at a minimum Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure. Trump said documents "show the CIA obtained reporting of a specific plot to do a big number in favor of the corrupt Maduro regime in Venezuela, and that's exactly what happened, conspiring to digitally rig their own country's elections in 2020, and that's what they did." The fourth set shows "significant evidence of fraud" was "buried and covered up," Trump said, pointing to "FBI files detailing evidence of alleged fraud by a large-scale voter registration operation in Michigan." He added:He also said, accurately, that you would only defend this broken system if you had the intention of cheating in elections. There was election interference by a hostile foreign power. But that power was not Russia, as the Democrat cover story had it. That power was China, interfering in our elections in favor of Joe Biden, just as they interfered in the 1992 and 1996 elections in favor of Bill Clinton.In 2020, Michigan State Police raided a Democrat Get Out the Vote organization, corrupt group, in Muskegon, and were so concerned by what they found ... that they contacted the FBI in Detroit. The documents state that some canvassers admitted to FBI agents that they signed voter registration forms in other people's names, submitted fraudulent registration for people who did not exist, and received gift cards tied to their number of applications that they produced. In other words, it was pay, play, and cheat.The final area of documents is a release of a Department of Homeland Security investigation, which uncovered hundreds of thousands of noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections, he said:According to the DHS review, state voter rolls, and public records, they identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens who are registered to vote in federal elections. Since Democrat states refuse to share their voter files, the real number is actually much higher than that. Yet, even this limited analysis found more than a quarter of a million foreigners illegally registered to vote.The president added that the information he detailed throughout the address shows "an election system so broken and so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it"
"As the documents we are releasing show, CIA reporting explicitly stated, 'in mid-2018, the Chinese communist party's policy was to leverage all domestic and foreign elements that were opposed to the U.S. president in an effort to reduce the U.S. president's votes, and make him resign or prevent his reelection," he said. The president further alleged that China meddled in the 2018 mid-term elections and the 2020 elections, adding that China sought to undermine domestic confidence in the U.S. president during the year 2019. At least one "CIA Note" posted to the White House website said that China had accessed data from the 2015 presidential elections. "China was working to influence the results of the U.S. mid-term elections, and later the resuits of the 2020 U.S. Presidential elections," it said. "As part of this campaign, China was analyzing the 2015 U.S. Presidential elections and identifying U.S. states who voted for the U.S. President." "The Chinese would then identify sectors within these states that voted to support the U.S. President's political party, and would attempt to make these sectors experience negative financial consequences by levying tariffs on exports to China from those sectors," it added. "The Chinese hoped that these measures would induce representatives from these sectors to lobby the U.S. President."
Steve Robinson
@SteveRob My top lines from President Trump's election document release so far: Homeland Security says more than 250,000 noncitizens were illegally registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada alone. In Michigan, FBI database checks on 107 voter registration applications found 91 with no matching person in government records. An unevaluated FBI report from Albany claimed China made fake U.S. driver's licenses to enable mail-in votes for Biden. A CIA note on 2018--2020 reporting says China's goal was to stop President Trump from winning reelection. Other documents show this reporting was "massaged" in order to mislead POTUS. Declassified tables describe roughly 204 million U.S. voter records among datasets held or possessed by Chinese actors. Documents note these records could be used to request absentee ballots in the names of low propensity voters. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) found many state and local election office networks so poorly secured that its testers could take full control in hours or days. A Michigan witness told the FBI canvassers were paid with debit cards to register phony voters and said the operation seemed aimed at suppressing votes for President Trump. The Michigan FBI registration-fraud case ran about four years before prosecutors declined charges, with long delays at the Justice Department. The case suggests the Biden Admin was deliberating thwarting investigations into pro-Biden election fraud, much as investigations into Hillary Clinton were slow-walked or killed prior to 2016. A federal threat paper says China breached state voter registration systems and that stolen data can be used later to request absentee ballots or change voter rolls. TL;DR - Foreign regimes targeted American elections to stop President Trump, and the Biden Admin greatly strengthened those efforts.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:10 PM | Comments (367) | Trackbacks (Suck)
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