Daily Tech News 15 July 2025

Top Story

• Cognition AI just bought Windsurf for $NAN. (New York Times)
  
  This comes after Google hired away key staff and then paid $2.4 billion to license the company's technology, which comes after OpenAI offered $3 billion to buy the company outright.
  
  
  
• Speaking of AI, Grok is currently acting like a split-brain patient. It swears it can see your avatar image, but if you ask it to draw something similar it always draws a twenty-something man in a tee-shirt and jacket standing by a tree.
  
  If you describe your avatar it will accept that, and then insist it could always see that.
  
  
  

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:47 AM | Comments (228) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Monday Overnight Open Thread - July 14, 2025 [scampydog]

image credit: leftcoastclassics.com

Good evening and welcome to the bordering on world famous ONT. Our esteemed Monday host, Disco Doof is unable to attend. He is in parts unknown - and possibly untoward. Four-legged canine blogging this evening. Let's get to it!

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (330) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Legs & Eggs Cafe

Superstition Mountains, Arizona

Had to do a quick swap. I got a better look at the first pic I posted, of "Sleeping Lady Mountain," and realized it was faker than Jasmine Ratchet's blaccent.

Little bear waving.

Half-assing your workout. We're all guilty.

Low-T dog regrets eating so much soy.

He's the Aquaman of cockatoos.

Big puppy wants affection.

Big cat plotting in a tree.

Sea otter convention.

It was like this when I came in.

Stormy weather.

Bottom feeder.

How to clean your hooters.

Keeping your kid on a short leash.

Bringing up an orphaned crow.

Seal wants to surf.

Duckling horde.

Sultry pigeons show off their gams.

Posted by: Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (269) | Trackbacks (Suck)

JusttheNews: FBI Now Investigating the Deep State and Democrat Party's Weaponization of Government and Attempted Coup Against Trump

They don't call it a "coup." I'm saying that. It obviously was an attempted coup by bureaucrats against the duly elected president.

The FBI has quietly launched an investigation into a decade of Democratic party and deep-state antics from Russia collusion to Jack Smith, opening the door for the appointment of a special prosecutor to examine whether the well-documented episodes amount to a criminal conspiracy to meddle in three U.S. elections to the benefit of Democrats and the detriment of President Donald Trump, Just the News has learned.

The "grand conspiracy" case was opened several weeks ago after new FBI Director Kash Patel took over, and it could get a significant boost if Trump were to declassify two secret tranches of evidence that identify a potential ignition point to the alleged conspiracy in the summer of 2016, according to several people directly familiar with the inquiry, who spoke to Just the News on a condition of anonymity.

The first piece of evidence is a classified annex to a years-old inspector general probe of Hillary Clinton's improper email server sought by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. That annex is believed to show that credible information about possible wrongdoing was intentionally ignored by the FBI.

The second tranche of evidence was identified by former Russiagate Special Counsel John Durham in his final report. The evidence was dubbed in the report as the "Clinton plan intelligence," and it was also placed in a classified annex kept from the American public and even many members of Congress.

John Solomon says MAGA will be pleased by this.

"I think next week, over the next 10 days... the base, who's been wondering, 'Where is all that accountability?'--they're gonna get some big surprises," Solomon said. He claimed the case reaches back to the summer of 2016, before Crossfire Hurricane was launched, and extends all the way through to 2024, encompassing "a large series of events" aimed at stopping Trump from winning the presidency.

Solomon said the massive case has been built largely out of the public eye, obscured by media theatrics and political infighting. "It's been masked by a lot of this infighting and drama and soap opera stuff," he said. "But the truth of the matter is, MAGA base Americans are gonna be happy when they see where this is all heading."

...

Bannon pressed Solomon to clarify whether this was, in fact, a formal investigation by federal authorities. Solomon didn't hesitate. "There is a conspiracy case that was opened that looks at this window as a very large window," he confirmed. "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a special prosecutor named by Pam Bondi in the next week or two."

This might have been leaked by Patel or Bongino (or people close to them) to let MAGA know they're still doing the jobs they were appointed to do, and reduce any anger about the Epstein matter. Everyone's reporting they're both very angry about Bondi hanging them out to dry over that.

But that wouldn't make the leak false, it would just explain why they sought fit to give the leak to a reporter.

I could see people sniffing "promises, promises," though.

Posted by: Ace at 06:31 PM | Comments (261) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Trump Tries to Quell MAGA Frustration Over Jeffrey Epstein Files

A lot of leftwingers are enjoying this. I saw longtime Nothing-to-See-Here Fake Reporter Jake Tapper doing a sudden 180 and demanding a full and vigorous investigation into the Epstein files.

But the left is fishing in already-troubled waters, as MAGA influencers -- political entrepreneurs, mostly -- like Laura Loomer, Steven Bannon, and Tucker Carlson continue stoking suspicions and making insinuations.

Politico:

President Donald Trump faces a fast-metastasizing MAGA rebellion amid fallout over his administration's handling of the files from the criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

And some of his closest allies are cautioning the situation for the president will get worse before it gets better -- even as it threatens to derail his megabill victory lap and continues to divide parts of his administration and, more broadly, his supporters.

Trump has tried twice in as many days to tamp down his base's anger, posting to Truth Social Saturday that he didn't "like what's happening" among his own supporters. He also threw his support behind Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has taken the brunt of much of the right's ire over the Epstein files. Several news organizations have also reported that Bondi clashed with Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino over the files.

After disembarking Air Force One Sunday at Joint Base Andrews, Trump faced a question about Bongino, who skipped work Friday. Trump insisted that he's "a very good guy. ... He sounded terrific, actually. No, I think he's in good shape."

Mike Davis, the MAGA legal brawler and occasional Oval Office visitor, has taken up defending Trump's DOJ, said in an interview that "the Trump Justice Department wanted to be fully transparent, but can't." He added: "This is a case of no good deed going unpunished."

Davis argues DOJ can't release more, including that there is grand jury material involved, court records under seal, child pornography involved, the need to protect victims of "heinous crimes," and "unsubstantiated, bogus claims, like we saw during the Kavanaugh proceedings, where you had double and even triple hearsay."

...

The split over Epstein represents one of the biggest rifts within Trump's supporters since the president took office for his second term. On one side are MAGA supporters who push claims that Epstein was murdered in his jail cell and that the disgraced financier had kept a list of high-profile clients. But Trump's DOJ and FBI have concluded that there's no evidence for either.

On Monday morning, the conservative influencer Benny Johnson outlined a four-pronged approach for Trump to fix what he called "the Epstein memo crisis," including calling for a press conference and bringing in former President Bill Clinton for "questioning."

Laura Loomer, the MAGA activist who is influential in Trump's inner circle and visits everyone from Vice President JD Vance to Trump himself, isn't convinced that the president has sufficiently quelled MAGA's frustrations.

"I don't think that just putting out a Truth Social post is going to make this issue go away. It's kind of had a Streisand effect, actually, where people are focusing on this topic a lot more than they were before he posted a Truth Social," Loomer told POLITICO. "I think that it would be wise for the White House to develop some type of a strategy in addressing the base's concerns, so that we can mitigate any fallout or damage done to the Trump administration.

Loomer is also calling for a special counsel appointed to do an independent investigation of the handling of the Epstein files so that people can feel like this issue is being investigated, and perhaps take it out of [Bondi's] hands, because I don't think that she has been transparent or done a good job handling this issue."

ABC "News" was never interested in the Epstein case... until now.

Former New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie says President Trump has "benefited" from and "encouraged" conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein and therefore bears responsibility for the fallout about the now-closed Justice Department probe into the deceased financier and convicted sex-offender.

Trump vowed during his winning 2024 to look into Epstein's death while in jail, now ruled a suicide, and whether he indeed has an incriminating "client list," which the Trump administration says, in fact, does not exist.

Trump MAGA base feels misled and has the largely heaped the criticsm on Attorney General Pam Bondi.

"Well, look, what Donald Trump is learning is when you start the fire, sometimes you can't put it out," Christie, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate and on-again-off-again Trump supporter, told ABC News on Sunday.

"Now, he started this Epstein fire during the campaign and prior to that by alleging that this was all some, you know, Democratic plot, that he was perhaps murdered by former Democratic officeholders, that there were a lot of Democrats who had been down to Jeffrey Epstein's island and all the rest.

"He used that to fire his own base, and he was going to get to the bottom of it, and he was going to release it because he's in -- absolutely in favor of transparency," Christie continued. "Well, now you get into the job and you realize -- you know, 'maybe I don't want to do that.'"

Christie said that Bondi is doing what Trump wants her to.

"And let's be clear about this: Pam Bondi -- there's no chance, in my opinion, that Pam Bondi made this decision on her own. No chance. She was instructed by the White House that we're not releasing this stuff. And that's why he's defending her," Christie said.

Christie also pushed back on the suggestion that it was mostly the people around Trump who were encouraging the conspiracy theories about Epstein.

"We cannot let the president off that easily. He benefited directly from it. He fueled it. He encouraged it. And he certainly didn't stop it," Christie said.

Gislaine Maxwell says she's willing to testify about Epstein's ring.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and madame to the late Jeffrey Epstein, is willing to testify before Congress about the Epstein Files, the Daily Mail reported Monday, citing "sources."

"Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal. She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story," a source told the outlet. "She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth."

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking and array of other charges in connection with her procurement of minors for Epstein's pleasure.

She has further cast doubt on the official narrative surrounding Epstein's death, asserting that he was murdered and did not kill himself.

I believe she continues insisting that she did nothing wrong. So I'm not sure how candid her testimony would be.

Trump posted on Truth Social, making the claim -- which cannot be supported -- that the whole Epstein scandal was created by the Clintons and Deep State operatives as some kind of op against him.

This is an ill-advised post by Trump, and a futile effort. Trump has had great sway over his voters, and they have accepted some preposterous claims from him, like that Ron DeSantis was actually a Covid Panican and is a Deep State stooge, just because Trump needed that storyline to be believed for his own purposes.

But he's not going to be able to reverse people's decades-old suspicions about Jeffrey Epstein just by posting "These aren't the files you're looking for." It's a bridge too far.

Obviously it's not true that we're only talking about Epstein because the left invented the scandal -- this has been a major story on the right for years, and Trump has pushed it as a story.

Trump's personal lawyer, then promoted to be US Attorney for NJ, promised "accountability" and the release of all the flight logs, etc.

Megyn Kelly floated the speculation that Biden's people (Obama's people, in other words) rewrote and edited the Epstein files so that they "drew a straight arrow towards Trump," in an effort to booby-trap the files so that Trump would blow himself up were he to release them.

I dunno about that. Ben Shapiro, in that clip, says that he hears from sources close to Bongino and Patel that everything that can be released has been released, and there's just not the evidence of Epstein blackmailing Democrats that we'd all like to see.

Shapiro feels the same way I do: Patel and Bongino have proven themselves completely trustworthy as regards their efforts against the Deep State, and if they say there's no there there (or at least not the "there" we all expected/wanted), then it's hard to conclude they've suddenly become liars in the service of the Deep State.

He also calls for those with suspicions that Trump is covering up to save himself to stop hinting about it, get some balls, and just say it instead of insinuating it.

Posted by: Ace at 05:32 PM | Comments (278) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Supreme Court Okays Trump's Restructuring of the Department of Education, Clearing the Way for 1,400 Firings

Sarah Arnold at Townhall:

In a significant victory for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of President Donald Trump's push to overhaul the Department of Education, allowing the termination of nearly 1,400 federal employees. The decision clears the way for Trump's long-promised effort to rein in what many conservatives see as a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy that pushes left-wing agendas.
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In an unsigned decision, the Supreme Court temporarily set aside a lower court's ruling that had stopped President Trump's plan from taking effect. This means the plan can proceed for now, even as the legal battle over it continues. Three liberal justices opposed the order, and the court halted an order from U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston, who had blocked the layoffs and challenged the overall plan. Judge Joun warned that the layoffs "will likely cripple the department."

However, a federal appeals court declined to pause his order while the administration pursued its appeal.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the majority effectively gave Trump the authority to undo laws passed by Congress simply by dismissing the employees responsible for enforcing them.

Sotomayor's dissent: The Supreme Court must impose a no-firing rule on federal bureaucrats, forever. Once a Democrat hires them, they can never be let go.

It's in The Constitution (TM), you see.

On Friday, State Department "workers" applauded each other as they were escorted from the building.

Note that Trump is mostly just rolling back Biden's hiring bonanza.

It was embarrassing. No one else acts like this when they're fired. They really believe they have a right to cushy, no-show federal jobs fucking up the world for everyone else.

Posted by: Ace at 04:30 PM | Comments (361) | Trackbacks (Suck)

ICE Prepares Plan to Deport Illegals to Third-Party Countries With As Little As Six Hours Notice

I'm sure a lowly district court judge is preparing a national injunction even before the plan is formalized.

Illegal immigrants could be given as little as six hours notice before they are deported to a country other than their homeland, according to a new memo.

Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a top Trump administration lieutenant, issued a directive to agency staff on Wednesday, July 9, outlining the direction of deportations moving forward.

He said migrants could be deported to a 'third country' with as little as six hours notice 'in exigent circumstances' -- so long as the person had been given an opportunity to speak with an attorney.

Generally, an immigrant will be given 24 hours notice before they are sent to a country other than their homeland.

The memo states that migrants could be sent to nations that have pledged not to persecute or torture them 'without the need for further procedures.'

The United States has sent hundreds of migrants to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, while South Sudan recently accepted eight third--country deportees.

These deportees were from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan and Vietnam.

A Biden-appointed judge, "Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong," has just declared the Home Depots, car washes, and other places that illegal aliens hide are safe havens that ICE agents are forbidden to enter.

She also ruled that before anyone can even ask about an illegal's status, he must first have a "reasonable suspicion" that he's illegal.

In other words: She's demanding that judges approve all arrests of illegals ahead-of-time.

President Donald Trump's administration suffered a blow on Friday when a federal judge concluded that federal agents had been "unlawfully" arresting suspected illegal migrants in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties.

Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, imposed two temporary restraining orders banning law enforcement from detaining suspected illegal migrants in the area without reasonable suspicion and insisting those arrested must have access to legal counsel.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek in a statement: "A district judge is undermining the will of the American people."

...

On Friday Judge Frimpong concluded there was "a mountain of evidence" that federal agents had been arresting people solely based on characteristics such as race, employment and accent, which she termed a violation of the Fourth Amendment that prohibits unreasonable seizures by the government.

Referring to some arrests in Los Angeles and the six counties Frimpong said: "The seizures at issue occurred unlawfully."

Two temporary restraining orders were issued by the judge banning federal agents in Los Angeles and surrounding counties from making arrests without reasonable suspicion those detained were in the country illegally, and requiring arrestees to get swift access to lawyers.

Posted by: Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (420) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Surprise! Treasury Department Reports an Unexpected +$27 Billion Surplus in June, Compared to a -$71 Billion Deficit in June 2024 Under "President" Biden

The increased revenues come from Trump's tariffs.

Americans who aren't used to seeing the words "government" and "surplus" in the same sentence are in for a surprise.

The federal government ran at a surplus in June, according to the Treasury Department, meaning money coming in surpassed money going out.

And it was largely money coming in from President Donald Trump's tariffs that made the difference, according to news reports.

According to CNBC, tariffs collected on goods imported into the country for sale totaled $27 billion for the month, up from $23 billion in May, and a whopping 301 percent more than the figure from June 2024, when President Joe Biden was in office.

In that month a year ago, the government ran a $71 billion deficit, CNBC reported.

Completing the turnaround, the June 2025 surplus number compared to a deficit in May of $316 billion, according to CNBC. (The deficit in May 2024 was even higher, $347 billion, Reuters reported at the time.)

According to the Treasury Department report, tariffs, recorded as "Customs duties," were still a small part of the government's revenue.

With the government's largest revenue streams -- including individual and corporate income taxes -- making up $236 billion of the month's revenues, Social Security and retirement taxes combining for $487 billion in government revenue for the month, the $27 billion in tariffs is comparatively small.

But the difference is substantial, since, according to the financial news website Investing.com, analysts "had expected a deficit of $41.5 billion."

As CNBC put it: "Increasing tariff collections are helping shore up the government finances."

Trump's economic advisor predicts that Trump's tariffs will raise $3 trilly over the next ten years.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said that tariffs will raise $3 trillion in new revenue over the next decade.

"The bottom line is that President Trump has produced a huge amount of tariff revenue with the tariffs we've seen in the first half of the year," Hassett told ABC News on Sunday. "The Congressional Budget Office has said that tariff revenue over the next 10 years, which will help reduce the deficit and secure our entitlement programs, is $3 trillion. And consumers haven't seen that.

"You know, consumer price index, inflation rate now is the lowest it's been in over a decade. And so what President Trump has always said is that the foreign suppliers, the foreign governments are gonna bear most of the tariffs, it's being visibly seen, and I think that that's probably affecting his negotiating position, because we've got all this empirical evidence that his position has been proven correct in the data."

The last time the government generated a monthly surplus was back in 2017, Trump's first term.

Posted by: Ace at 02:24 PM | Comments (328) | Trackbacks (Suck)

"Unprepared and Entitled:" Hiring Managers Aren't Impressed by the Products of American University Education

Our best and brightest don't know how to read, write, think, talk, or work.

Let's pay another ten trillion to our "universities."

A recent survey from Intelligent found that "1 in 4 hiring managers say recent grads are unprepared for the workforce" and "1 in 8 managers [are] planning to avoid hiring them in 2025."

The main reasons for this are lack of preparation, a so-so work ethic, and a sense of entitlement among the grads, according to the survey.

"24% of hiring managers believe recent college graduates are unprepared for the workforce, while 33% cite a lack of work ethic, and 29% view them as entitled," the survey found.

"Additionally, 27% feel recent graduates are easily offended, and 25% say they don't respond well to feedback."

That last part is a killer. It's also why DEI hires/promotions are usually a disaster. Everyone infected with woke is also infected by the comorbidity of believing that all criticism/direction from your boss is a racial or sexual aggression, and that you're perfect the way you are, and that anyone who attempts to instruct you to do the job the right way is a racist who doesn't understand your Different Ways of Knowing.

It's an evil and destructive doctrine -- it's a guarantee against any self-improvement at any point in your future. It's a talisman that protects you from excellence and achievement.

And they've all got it.

The survey results appear to mirror a trend found in recent headlines. A "2025 college graduate job market" search conducted by The College Fix produced the following headlines:

"Class of 2025 College Grads Face Uncertain Job Market"

"Job Market is Getting Tougher for College Graduates"

"New Grads Struggling to Find Work in Job Market

"No Hire, No Fire: The Worst Market for Grads in Years"

...

He suggested grads tout their "skills and talent, not just a GPA" to "share what [they] are doing to continuously make [themselves] better."

Maybe they have to show something other than GPA because all employers now know that colleges give everyone, even people who don't ever come to class, A's and B's with a skew towards the A's.

Maybe students aren't alone in failure.

On Sunday, the National Education Association -- which represents over 3 million teachers and school personnel -- passed a resolution at its annual conference pledging to combat what it labeled "Trump's embrace of fascism." The problem? The resolution repeatedly spelled the word "fascism" as "facism."

The resolution read in part: "NEA pledges to defend democracy against Trump's embrace of facism [sic] by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump's program and actions." It went on to claim that opposing Trump was essential for "the survival of civilization itself" and demanded additional staff and funding -- to the tune of $3,500 -- to carry out the initiative.

The misspelling, however, quickly overshadowed the message.

Corey A. DeAngelis, a conservative education expert, blasted the NEA in an X post and follow-up opinion piece. "Yes, the union that claims to represent educators couldn't even spell 'fascism' correctly in its official resolution attacking the president," he wrote. "The irony is almost too rich to parody."

Back in November 2024, the Atlantic posted an article: "The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books."

The word "elite" seems wildly misplaced in that sentence.

The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books

To read a book in college, it helps to have read a book in high school.

Nicholas Dames has taught Literature Humanities, Columbia University's required great-books course, since 1998. He loves the job, but it has changed. Over the past decade, students have become overwhelmed by the reading. College kids have never read everything they're assigned, of course, but this feels different. Dames's students now seem bewildered by the thought of finishing multiple books a semester. His colleagues have noticed the same problem. Many students no longer arrive at college--even at highly selective, elite colleges--prepared to read books.

This development puzzled Dames until one day during the fall 2022 semester, when a first-year student came to his office hours to share how challenging she had found the early assignments. Lit Hum often requires students to read a book, sometimes a very long and dense one, in just a week or two. But the student told Dames that, at her public high school, she had never been required to read an entire book. She had been assigned excerpts, poetry, and news articles, but not a single book cover to cover.

"My jaw dropped," Dames told me. The anecdote helped explain the change he was seeing in his students: It's not that they don't want to do the reading. It's that they don't know how. Middle and high schools have stopped asking them to.

...

Twenty years ago, Dames's classes had no problem engaging in sophisticated discussions of Pride and Prejudice one week and Crime and Punishment the next. Now his students tell him up front that the reading load feels impossible. It's not just the frenetic pace; they struggle to attend to small details while keeping track of the overall plot.

No comprehensive data exist on this trend, but the majority of the 33 professors I spoke with relayed similar experiences. Many had discussed the change at faculty meetings and in conversations with fellow instructors. Anthony Grafton, a Princeton historian, said his students arrive on campus with a narrower vocabulary and less understanding of language than they used to have. There are always students who "read insightfully and easily and write beautifully," he said, "but they are now more exceptions." Jack Chen, a Chinese-literature professor at the University of Virginia, finds his students "shutting down" when confronted with ideas they don't understand; they're less able to persist through a challenging text than they used to be. Daniel Shore, the chair of Georgetown's English department, told me that his students have trouble staying focused on even a sonnet.

Failing to complete a 14-line poem without succumbing to distraction suggests one familiar explanation for the decline in reading aptitude: smartphones. Teenagers are constantly tempted by their devices, which inhibits their preparation for the rigors of college coursework--then they get to college, and the distractions keep flowing. "It's changed expectations about what's worthy of attention," Daniel Willingham, a psychologist at UVA, told me. "Being bored has become unnatural." Reading books, even for pleasure, can't compete with TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. In 1976, about 40 percent of high-school seniors said they had read at least six books for fun in the previous year, compared with 11.5 percent who hadn't read any. By 2022, those percentages had flipped.

This UConn student is completely illiterate, by her own admission.

Posted by: Ace at 01:20 PM | Comments (369) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Not Even the Leftist Simp NYT Believes That Biden Signed His Pardons

From Ed Morrissey: "Biden's" pardons aren't Biden's at all.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Biden said that he had orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term, calling President Trump and other Republicans "liars" for claiming his aides had used an autopen to do so without his authorization.

"I made every decision," Mr. Biden said in a phone interview on Thursday, asserting that he had his staff use an autopen replicating his signature on the clemency warrants because "we're talking about a whole lot of people."

...

Mr. Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed. Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence.

Even after Mr. Biden made that decision, one former aide said, the Bureau of Prisons kept providing additional information about specific inmates, resulting in small changes to the list. Rather than ask Mr. Biden to keep signing revised versions, his staff waited and then ran the final version through the autopen, which they saw as a routine procedure, the aide said.

Posted by: Ace at 12:22 PM | Comments (323) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: Forsaking Further Conservative Victories Because of “Epstein Disappointment” is not Principled, It’s Surrender

Count me among the people who would very much like to see justice come to everyone who committed a crime in their association with Jeffrey Epstein. If there are any lists, files, documents, etc. that would incriminate the powerful and politically connected, I want them released. But I also fear that whatever evidence existed has likely been destroyed, and that the lore regarding “Epstein Island” may exceed the actual crimes.

That said, I refuse to join in with those seeking to blow up the Trump administration out of frustration that an “Epstein list” is not being released.

Dating back to President Obama’s weaponization of government against his political enemies, I despair about the lack of accountability and consequences for those who so egregiously violated the public’s trust. From Lois Lerner to Anthony Fauci to the government employees pushing the Russia collusion hoax in an effort to overthrow Trump in his first term, I am extremely frustrated about the lack of accountability. I want prosecutions. But I also still want political victories wherever I can get them, and my frustration about the lack of prosecutions does not mean we should suspend the MAGA agenda. The same sentiment applies to the Epstein situation.

Quite simply, be it Fauci or Epstein, I want these people prosecuted for their crimes. But irrespective of them being prosecuted or not, I still want my political priorities advanced.

As I documented here a few days ago, the One Big Beautiful Bill that was just signed into law kneecapped green energy and has effectively defunded the “EV Transition.” The first six months of Trump 47’s presidency has seen the most dramatic rollback of big-government in my lifetime, and President Trump is also vigorously fighting the culture war too.

This all correlates very closely to something I just wrote about at The Blaze. For decades, the phony “budget hawks” of the Republican establishment (e.g. Paul Ryan and his ilk) used “the deficit crisis” as an excuse to spike the conservative agenda. The gimmick was that nothing that America-first/cultural conservatives sought could be pursued legislatively until the budget crisis was fixed. But they also ensured that no fixes could be made, because the first cut they talked about was always to social security and Medicare, not cutting the low hanging fruit that Doge just tackled. Paul Ryan and his fellow establishmentarians never did anything to actually cut government, they just served to protect the swamp by having us feel we were projecting great principles while actually surrendering to the establishment. The “conservative” opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill tried to exploit our principles the same way. They failed. Conservatism advanced and government is being rolled back.

In summary, we cannot let frustration about Epstein cause us to stop the momentum of President Trump.

Here is my piece at The Blaze, “The Budget Hoax That Nearly Sank Trump’s Biggest Win.” It’s behind a paywall, but as always, if you are a subscriber to The Blaze, I’d be honored if you’d give it a read.

Too many conservatives have fallen for the “budget hawk hoax” for far too long, accepting that we cannot have any conservative victories so long as we have a national debt. Perhaps that day has finally ended. Yes, our country’s fiscal crisis is real, and it will persist. But forsaking any victories over the left because of the deficit is not a matter of high principle. It’s simply surrender.

My latest at The Blaze: "Budget hawks" have killed conservative legislation for decades, arguing that no conservative gains of any kind can pass Congress until the deficit is fixed. It's all a con job, but Republicans didn't fall for the hoax this time.https://t.co/0e19WV3tqm

— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) July 12, 2025

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (367) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Inferno
Sarah Lucas

Why three? Because I had to look at it, and I am a big believer in sharing the pain. This was in the modern art gallery of the Tate Britain, which is an otherwise wonderful museum, filled with great British art. For some unfathomable reason, they feel that this sort of stuff deserves to be seen.

They are wrong.

This is the blurb about it.

In Inferno, two walnuts and a cigar become makeshift genitalia. The warm lightbulb glowing in the bowl suggests a fiery underworld. The toilet is an intimate place and a regular subject for Sarah Lucas. Throughout her work, everyday objects are playfully transformed to expose the mischievous, destructive and vulnerable parts of life. Humour is central to her work, often creating a sense of unease. Lucas says, ‘When humour happens, things get good. Less depressing. It's a kind of magic. Suddenly things make sense.’

Sarah should probably expand her horizons past the bathroom.

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (294) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 7/14/25

Good morning kids, Happy Bastille Day, Le Quatorze Juillet en Francais. All things considered, here's an item that is both heartening and frightening in its implications for where we are as a nation and society.

Video posted to Facebook appears to show a woman plow through anti-ICE protesters Saturday in New Jersey, injuring three, and is now facing charges, according to police. The videos shows a gray SUV slowly approach a crowd of protesters marching against ICE raids when a one protester approaches the driver. The woman behind the wheel, Linda Roglen, then begins to proceed and the protester falls to the ground while others gather around to stop the car. Roglen then rolls up her window and drive through the crowd and leaves the scene. (RELATED: Los Angeles ICE Riots Cost City $20 Million — And Counting)

Roglen has been charged with careless driving, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and four counts of assault with a car resulting in bodily injury, according to the New York Post. Several protesters suffered injuries and one was taken to the hospital, News 12 reported.

The protest was organized by a group called “United Against Fear,” according to the New York Post. Several witnesses described the scene, with one man saying “I don’t know what they said, but they just say something to each other and he spits in her face.” “I was scared though, honestly, like for those people. Because you never know, man. Something like that, you could die. That’s scary,” the man added. . . It is unclear if the man who allegedly spit on Roglen will face charges.

Let's see. New Jersey? I wouldn't bet on it.

Across the political left, from orthodox Democrats to Antifa in the streets, the opposition to President Donald Trump has lost its collective mind.

there is the so-called “left-wing Resistance” and the street mobs’ descent into violence and terrorism.

Sometimes, thugs ambush ICE agents.

Sometimes, they firebomb Tesla dealerships.

Sometimes, they attack federal buildings, shut down freeways and pelt patrol cars with concrete. They continue with impunity because they know the Democrat Party cannot and will not censure them. . .

Finally, the left is outraged that so far, the Trump counterrevolution is working. . .

. . . Add it all up, and the impotent left in all its orthodox and street manifestations has become unhinged. And why not when it rightly fears that not just its power, but the very sources of its power, are in mortal danger?

From my perspective, it's not so much that the polices of the Trump counterrevolution are working, and so far they are firing on all cylinders. It's that their success underscores and puts a gigantic spotlight on the decades of abject failure and disaster of Leftist/progressive/socialist/Democrat policies. To me that is the mortal danger and existential threat to Democrat power and influence going forward. This is the golden moment of opportunity that potentially marks the sea change in the culture going forward that puts America on the path to restoration. And erasing the "long march through the institutions" that got us to the brink of destruction.

This is why we are seeing the ugly naked violence against ICE and the cops as well as the gleeful mockery of Christian children swept away and drowned in torrential flooding in Texas. Rejection is a hell of a thing to deal with, especially among those who view themselves as the absolute moral authority of this nation, and who view those who have rejected them – that is all of us! – as evil and an existential threat not only to them but to democracy, the human race and even the planet itself.

The Democrat/Left are playing with fire, but given the fact that the have targeted law enforcement yet need them at the same time, it remains to be seen who in the end is going to get burned.

Two years after BLM rioters picked up $6 million in damages because the police officers trying to stop their rampage didn’t wear face masks, Democrats are trying to ban law enforcement from wearing face masks. California state senators are introducing a bill to make local, state and federal law enforcement personnel, especially ICE, wearing face masks into a crime.

In two years, the Left has gone from demanding face masks to trying to outlaw them. . . The real purpose of masks at public events is to conceal the wearer’s identity and to intimidate the public. That is why rioters and Hamas supporters wear them. Especially while committing crimes. ICE personnel wear masks because of a rise in doxxing and attacks against them. The Left is trying to ban masks now to enable the stalking and threats aimed at ICE employees.

Masks are another form of power. And the Left seeks to preserve any and all forms of power as its exclusive privilege under the pretext of various forms of victimhood and identity politics. When the Left set out to protect mask wearing by rioters, it claimed that regulations, first imposed to fight the KKK, banning mask wearing in public discriminated against the disabled.

Only last year, the pro-crime activists at the Marshall Project claimed that antisemitic rioters should be able to wear masks to protect their privacy against the police and Jewish groups. The pro-crime organization cited the example of the participants in the Boston Tea Party. But while rioters and terrorist supporters deserve the right to be protected from “harassment”, law enforcement officers putting their lives on the line to stop gangs, terrorists and cartels don’t.

And as we recognize the anniversary of the French Revolution, it comes also on the on-year anniversary of the attempt on President Trump's life in Butler, PA

It’s been one year since President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, missed Trump’s head by an inch—a bullet grazed his ear while he was speaking at a campaign rally.  It could have been much worse. 
Though Trump obviously survived, the attack did result in the death of 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore and injured rally attendees. 

It’s strange that we still know so little about Crooks, his motives and what exactly happened July 13, 2024. Conspiracies swirled in the immediate aftermath about whether Crooks was somehow involved in an “inside job” or perhaps coordinating with enemies abroad. Those all resulted in dead ends. 

Even now, questions about Crooks still abound: Who was he? Why did he attack Trump? Did he really act alone? What about the Secret Service’s role?

And with all of that, there's this:

Police in San Antonio arrested a Texas man Thursday night after he allegedly threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump. The alleged threat was made in a Facebook post, where the man reportedly wrote, “I won’t miss.” San Antonio police officers arrested 52-year-old Robert Herrera for threatening to assassinate President Trump via a Facebook post. The threat happened three days before the first anniversary of the attack that nearly took the then-presidential candidate’s life.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

Have a great day!

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Two people are dead, and a Kentucky State Trooper injured after a traffic stop shooting was followed by a church shooting in Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday.
  Two Dead, State Trooper Wounded After Traffic Stop Shooting Leads to Church Shooting

• Victor Davis Hanson: They would rather be dead wrong and anti-Trump than correct.
  The Decline and Fall of Our So-Called Degreed Experts

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:33 AM | Comments (336) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily News Stuff 14 July 2025

Top Story

• Intel is laying of - apparently has already laid off - another 4000 staff. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  The cuts were supposed to mostly target middle managers, but an analysis found that just 8% of jobs cut had "manager" in the title, while technicians and engineers were heavily affected.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (124) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Overnight Open Thread - July 13, 2025 [Doof]

(Photo and song - courtesy of nurse ratched)

Howdy Hordelings! Hope your Sunday and your weekend have been enjoyable. Thanks for stopping by the ONT tonight. Regulars - please be nice to the lurkers so maybe some will consider joining in the comments.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:02 PM | Comments (303) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Gun Thread: Vacation Edition Number Dos!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be Vacation Edition Number Dos? As I write this on Friday it's hard to believe our vacation week is almost over, and it will soon be time to return to my rigorous retirement schedule. It's been a good week though, the weather was mostly beachy, and we enjoyed just hanging out in someone else's house at great expense.

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (219) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Food Thread: Pâté, Sweet Tea, And Cheese Puffs? Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad!

That is called Oyakodon, and it's a very simple dish that lots of different food cultures make, or at least their version of it. Some sort of flavored protein (in this case it is chicken simmered in dashi), eggs, onions or some other aromatic, and starch. This is obviously rice, but potatoes or pasta or beans will work.

It's delicious, and one of my favorite simple meals. But as I said, lots of other countries make something like it. America's Hash & Eggs works just fine for me. Eggs in Purgatory (Italy), or Shakshuka (Mediterranean), etc. Hell, I guess Chinese fried rice falls into this category. And Chilaquiles.

Maybe it's just a "whatever leftovers we have goes into the skillet" sort of dish, but I like them all!

[What? Life intrudes? How dare it! The Food Thread^TM will be a little light today, since I have been busy eating and drinking as research for future additions!]

Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (159) | Trackbacks (Suck)

First World Problems...

Closed? Sure, even the best shops close. And this is a great butcher, so I guess they are entitled.

But...it's going to be closed for a month. A Month! Not for maintenance. Not for illness in the family.

No. It's their summer vacation!

They sell perhaps the best pork I have ever had, so this isn't a casual observation of the difference in work ethic and cultural views of the work/life balance between America and France.

No...this is an existential crisis!

[Below the fold is why it is a catastrophe!]

Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (201) | Trackbacks (Suck)

If Wishes Were Horses, Beggers Would Ride

Flipping a blue state sounds eminently doable in our brave new world of President Trump. He has knocked the Democrat party flat on its corrupt ass with a flurry of executive orders, bills, and foreign policy changes that are designed to remake our economy, culture, and relationship with the rest of the world. The Democrats are scrambling everywhere, and it is a gratifying thing to see!

But the GOPe, or failed Republican Party, or whatever you want to call them is still a powerful force in many states, and their sclerotic vision for America has created significant issues for the Trump Doctrine. And no more so than in NJ, which has a pathetic, useless, feckless, corrupt state Republican apparatus.

The proof is their perennial candidate for governor, Jack Ciattarelli. He ran in 2017 and 2021, and obviously lost both times, the second time in the general election to a pathetic, chinless scumbag Goldman Sachs apparatchik who is the quintessential machine Democrat.

But hope springs eternal in the Garden State! I guess the third time will be the charm.

New Jersey's Blue Wall Is Crumbling, and Democrats Know It

New Jersey, a state that reliably votes blue in national elections, has long been considered a Democratic stronghold. But the political winds have shifted. The party that once took victory for granted now finds itself in a full-blown panic, pouring cash into a race that should have been an afterthought. The reason? Voters are restless, and the Democratic brand is tarnished.

This isn't just about one election. It's about the growing sense that Democrats are losing their grip on New Jersey. Donald Trump's support in New Jersey has grown with each election, hitting a record 1.9 million votes in 2024.

Sounds great! Except Ciattarelli is a machine politician without a coherent political philosophy other than he wants to be governor. He was an anti-Trumper until he saw which way the wind was blowing, but even then he tried to titrate his responses to keep the image of a maverick. Like when he denied knowing that a "Stop The Steal" rally he headlined was...you know...a "Stop The Steal" rally!

He offers nothing other than the GOPe pablum with a dash of faux-Trump muscularity to keep the base interested. He also has presented nothing substantive to combat the obvious crookedness of NJ elections. And if you dip into his policy statements, you will discover a central planner in disguise.

Can he win? Sure. Will he win? I doubt it. He is a boring politician without a clear message for New Jersey: otherwise known as a typical Republican. He is running against another boring politician, Mikie Sherrill, but she has the massive backing of the Democrat machine that will manufacture votes in whatever way it can to ensure her victory.

Until the Corporate Republican Party recognizes that it is not business as usual, it will continue to lose these sorts of races, because its lack of vision into the sea change that is possible in the United States prevents them from supporting the types of candidates that will be successful in Trump-curious areas.

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (161) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Sunday Morning Book Thread - 7-13-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (crunchy slaad not included). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(are pants a sandwich?)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (286) | Trackbacks (Suck)