March 24, 2025
Monday Overnight Open Thread - March 24, 2025 [Doof]
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (453) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Rainy Days and Mondays Cafe
On pilgrimage in Lhasa, Tibet
watering your lawn more like watering your fawn am i rite Poor dog is so tired of the damn goats headbutting him all day. A bull recognizes a former caregiver. Little baby seal misunderstood the sign that said "SEAL Training." Good boys commit credit card fraud. Senior dog enjoys his stair lift. Very sad vid content warning: an elephant mourns his diseased mate. Otters (the good kind). The pine marten must be Some Form of Weasel. Cirque du Soleil performers practice their recreation of the tilting-floor duel in Flash Gordon. (Not really but they're right there!) Dog brings home a lost fren. Northern lights. Wiseacre horse. The dog that picks his owner up from school.
On pilgrimage in Lhasa, Tibet
watering your lawn more like watering your fawn am i rite Poor dog is so tired of the damn goats headbutting him all day. A bull recognizes a former caregiver. Little baby seal misunderstood the sign that said "SEAL Training." Good boys commit credit card fraud. Senior dog enjoys his stair lift. Very sad vid content warning: an elephant mourns his diseased mate. Otters (the good kind). The pine marten must be Some Form of Weasel. Cirque du Soleil performers practice their recreation of the tilting-floor duel in Flash Gordon. (Not really but they're right there!) Dog brings home a lost fren. Northern lights. Wiseacre horse. The dog that picks his owner up from school.
Posted by: Ace at 07:20 PM | Comments (209) | Trackbacks (Suck)
"They Hate Us:" The Democrat Base is Revolting.
I Mean, They've Always Been Revolting. Now They're Rebelling.
I Mean, They've Always Been Revolting. Now They're Rebelling.
You're going to see this analogy a lot, that Democrats want their own Tea Party. Except the Tea Party was demanding the Republican Party do the things they'd said they'd do but had not done. On the other hand, the Democrat Party has already embraced the insane, anti-American, anti-white, anti-male, anti-straight discrimination and hatred demanded by their base. They have protected and encouraged illegal alien criminals to come to America and rape American children. They have shut down the country in an escalating game of Quien Es Mas Karen? They have stolen children from parents so that the state can pump them full of transgender hormones. They've done all these things, and the public has given its judgment of them. So this isn't a base that is demanding the party try something new. This is a base demanding that the party double-down on all the things the public hates and has already rejected.
As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer knows better than anyone, the Democratic base is pissed off. And not just a little. The intensity of the anger roiling the party is at a historic level, suggesting a breach between congressional Democrats and the party grassroots so severe that it could reshape the 2026 primary election season. Congressional Democrats have typically enjoyed higher popularity with their voting base than their Republican counterparts. But the trauma of the 2024 presidential election defeat appears to have ruptured that relationship. A review of Quinnipiac University's annual first-quarter congressional polling reveals that, for the first time in the poll's history, congressional Democrats are now underwater with their own voters in approval ratings. Just 40 percent of Democrats approve of the job performance of congressional Democrats, compared to 49 percent who disapprove. That's a dramatic change from this time last year, when 75 percent of Democrats approved compared to just 21 percent who disapproved. The Democratic base's disillusionment runs so deep that it's eerily reminiscent of Republican grassroots sentiment in the period leading up to Donald Trump's takeover of the Republican Party.
Hm, they want the Democrats to try #resisting Trump and rejecting his every proposal no matter how reasonable or popular or self-evidently correct. And they actually think the Democrats have not done this for the past nine years. Axios reports on Democrat Congressmen feeling scared by the leftwingers attending their town halls.
The numbers are clear: No longer satisfied with the status quo in their party, Democrats are on the verge of a Tea Party-style, intra-party revolt. The Democratic approval data is unlike any in recent history -- and it isn't a case of bitter, disaffected partisans reacting to a loss in the last election. The first time Democrats lost an election to Donald Trump, their congressional approval ratings within the party actually ticked up, as Democratic base voters largely approved of the ways that party leadership resisted the Trump administration in early 2017. The same phenomenon surfaced among Republicans in 2021 when, despite Trump's defeat and the subsequent chaos of Jan. 6, Republican voters remained generally positive regarding their views on the congressional GOP. ... Despite the restive energy in the party's progressive wing, the Democratic discontent does not seem to be centered around a desire to pull the party to the left or the right. Democrats cannot seem to agree on which direction the party should move in -- recent Gallup polling found that 45 percent wanted the party to become more moderate, while 29 percent felt it should become more liberal, and 22 percent wanted it to stay the same. ... Instead, the numbers suggest that the fury is at least partly fueled by the Democratic base's dissatisfaction with congressional leadership's relatively conciliatory approach to Trump this time around, and their inability to stop him.
Yes, there you go. That's what they really mean: They want office-holders to begin openly calling for violence and leading the violent revolution. So I'll just say it: I want you to do that. We all do. Do it. We're itching for it. Do you think we've been stocking up on guns for 40 years because we're too afraid to fight for ourselves? Young voters have abandoned the Democrat Geriatric Revolutionary Party:
Democratic members of Congress, back home in their districts for the last week, have been encountering a level of anger and hostility that some see as reminiscent of the 2010 Tea Party wave.
... State of play: Democratic town halls across the country have been erupting into fury over Senate Democrats' decision to let a Republican spending bill pass rather than use it as leverage to constrain DOGE. Several House Democrats, pressed on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) folding in the government spending fight, have responded that the Senate leader should step down. Rep. Sean Casten's (D-Ill.) town hall was repeatedly rocked by disruptions and was shut down by police after 45 minutes due to outbursts from pro-Palestinian protesters. What we're hearing: The senior House Democrat told Axios that a colleague called them after a town hall crying and said: "They hate us. They hate us." ...
"Another thing I got was: 'Democrats are too nice. Nice and civility doesn't work. Are you prepared for violence?'"
More from Fox News. But apparently fat-assed dumpy AWFL Karens think they're going to wage war on strong young men and... win?
Owen Gregorian
@OwenGregorian NYT writer says Dems are 'getting destroyed' as data show Gen Z 'most conservative' generation in decades | Alexander Hall, Fox News Ezra Klein suggested that Democratic assumptions about youth support have proven 'completely false' amid President Donald Trump's return to power New York Times columnist Ezra Klein spoke with a Democratic pollster Tuesday about how the dream of an ascendant Democratic majority is imploding as younger voters, especially White men, flee the party. Klein interviewed David Shor, the head of data science at Blue Rose Research, a Democratic polling firm, for his podcast in an episode titled "Democrats Need to Face Why Trump Won." When Klein and Shor reviewed numerous charts, including one headlined, "2024 Democratic Support by Age -- Split by Race and Gender," the pollster explained that in this chart in particular, "One thing you can notice is that among 18-year-olds, women of color are the only of the four [race and gender demographic groups] that Harris won. Trump narrowly won nonwhite men." The Times columnist seized on one "shocking" finding in the data that defies one of the Democratic Party's core beliefs. "I find this part of this chart shocking. I sometimes talk about narrative violations, and if we knew anything about Donald Trump eight years ago, it was that young people didn't like him. And Republicans had been maybe throwing away young people for generations in order to run up their margins among seniors," Klein said. "But if you look at this chart, 75-year-old White men supported Kamala Harris at a significantly higher rate than 20-year-old White men."
"It is a real shift," Shor agreed. "This is the thing I am the most shocked by in the last four years -- that young people have gone from being the most progressive generation since the Baby Boomers, and maybe even in some ways more so, to becoming potentially the most conservative generation that we've experienced maybe in 50 to 60 years." The data expert went on to discuss what he called "the scariest chart in this entire presentation," which shows the massive and historically unusual polarization between young men and women. "What's crazy is that if you look at people under the age of 30, the gender gap has exploded. Eighteen-year-old men were 23 percentage points more likely to support Donald Trump than 18-year-old women, which is just completely unprecedented in American politics," Shor said. ... Klein noted numerous factors at play in recent years, ranging from the #MeToo movement and the rise of the Manosphere, to how "there's a sense the Democratic Party is becoming much more a pro-women party and in some ways, sort of anti-young men. And that, in turn, had a huge effect on young men's political opinions." ... "Democrats are getting destroyed now among young voters. I do think that, even as the idea of the rising demographic Democratic majority became a little discredited in 2016 and 2020, Democrats believed that these young voters were eventually going to save them," [Klein] said.
Posted by: Ace at 06:15 PM | Comments (347) | Trackbacks (Suck)
As Predicted, Snow Woke Is Another Costly, Shareholder-Value-Destroying Flop for Propaganda Corporation Disney
I know you are as sick of this movie as we were sick as Biden. I think this is one of the last posts I'll be doing about it.
It "won the weekend," though a weekend without a single major-film competitor. Robert DeNiro's newest "passionless" hackwork bombed even harder.Snow White had a mediocre opening day at the US box office amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the film, while Robert De Niro's mob drama The Alto Knights has completely tanked. The Disney live-action remake, which stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, took $16m across Friday and preview screenings from 4,200 venues across the US. Variety reports that this figure puts the film on track to land a projected opening weekend north of $45m.It made $44.3 million. They keep lowering projections and it keeps missing them. On Saturday, I think, Disney and the Disney Shill Media revised projections to $100 million global, and set this as the new bar of success. It failed to come close to that, making $87 million globally.
I heard Anthony Cumia note that it sure is hard to watch a Robert DeNiro movie now that we all know he is a venom-filled ridiculous hatemonger with a subnormal IQ. He's literally a moron (and not the good kind). It's hard to take him seriously once you realize he barely even understands the lines he's mouthing. Fortune:
Snow White has a steep climb ahead -- it carries a production cost of more than $250m, meaning it will have to have a successful theatrical run to reach profitability. By comparison, 2023's The Little Mermaid, which had a similar budget of $240m, made $95m on its opening weekend, more than double what Snow White is projected to make. ... Robert De Niro's The Alto Knights also opened this weekend but bombed on its opening day, with sales of $1.17m across Friday and previews, playing in 2,651 cinemas in the US. The film, which sees De Niro playing two identical gang leaders, has already been projected to be one of the year's biggest flops -- with The Independent's film critic Clarisse Loughrey giving it two stars, calling it "passionless".
'Snow White' built Disney into entertainment powerhouse; now its remake risks becoming a culture war casualty and its biggest flop ... The $250 million film hauled in a disappointing $43 million at the domestic box office, far below recent projections of at least $65 million amid generally middling reviews. Both its critical and commercial reception currently rank it the lowest among any of Disney's modern remakes of its animated classics. Even 2019's Dumbo performed better with nearly $46 million on its opening weekend and a slightly better review score on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. ... First there was the issue of how to treat the once titular dwarves. Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones fame sparked a public feud with fellow short-statured actor Dylan Postl over whether it was culturally insensitive to use real actors born with dwarfism. Briefly there was speculation they would simply be a bit more bohemian--the "seven Seattle baristas" as one critic put it--until finally the decision was taken to simply resort to CGI in an manner that seemed to pleased no one. Even the reference to the Seven Dwarves was stripped from the movie's official title. Then there was the casting of Rachel Zegler in the lead role, who has proven to be a PR headache for corporate execs. She rarely hid her criticism of the 1937 film that put Disney on the map. For example, she revealed being actually "scared of the original cartoon" as a child, while also slamming it for featuring a dated love story around a prince "who literally stalks" Snow White. Just six months before the debut of what should be the actor's biggest role on the silver screen to date, she drew heavy criticism immediately following the November election. In a social media post, she wished Trump voters "may never know peace" for their role in ushering in "another four years of hatred". She issued a formal apology later, claiming emotions got the better of her. Finally there was the personal friction between the two main leads. Israeli actress Gal Gadot is an ardent supporter of her country's war against Hamas militants. Zegler by comparison has vociferously opposed the killing of Palestinian non-combatants, including the more than 14,500 children who have died according to UNICEF estimates.Note that Gadot is portrayed as favoring "war" while Zegler just wants the people murdering and raping Israelis to suffer no consequences.
... Some bemoan the adaptation of such classics into versions updated for "modern audiences", others for draining away all the expressiveness of beloved characters like Little Mermaid's Flounder and Lion King's Simba, while others simply see them as a cynical cash grab inferior in all ways to their original.The Daily Mail reports on the almost-completely-empty theaters showing Snow Woke.
The crisis facing the Walt Disney Company over its controversial Snow White reboot deepened today amid pictures of empty cinemas and screens with no bookings in primetime slots following a poor opening weekend. Studio bosses had hoped that the reboot of the 1937 original, which had a budget of more than $270million (£210million), would launch with at least £79million ($100million) in ticket sales. But the movie starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot took just $87.3million (£67.4million) globally including $43million (£33million) in the US after a slow start followed a slew of negative reviews. ... Alongside the caption was a photograph of the cinema booking screen, showing just a single seat reserved. They also posted another image of Saturday night's bookings and penned: 'And for Saturday night? ZERO. I've never seen a major movie from Disney have this little interest opening weekend. This is hilariously abysmal.' The post attracted more than 13million views and drew comments from people who observed similar scenes in their cinemas -- with one writing: 'I have one better. Dolby Cinema and only a small handful of people.'
Posted by: Ace at 05:00 PM | Comments (427) | Trackbacks (Suck)
CBS Ran a Fact-Check on the Claim that Boston Is Setting Illegal Alien Child R*pists Free on $500 Bail. Their Conclusion? It's All True (But We're Going to Pretend It's False.)
Bill Melugin with some of the lowlights of Boston's Pedophile Protection Racket.
Bill MeluginAnyone think the media is going to make 10 movies about the Boston Pedophilia Protection Racket Scandal? Or will this one be covered up, as they cover up for teacher molestation? CBS attempts to claim this is all "false" based on a technicality, but the full report shows it's true:
@BillMelugin_ NEW: CBS looked into ICE Boston claims that illegal aliens charged w/ child rape in MA are repeatedly being released from jail w/ ridiculously low bail. They found that yes, they are, including the following in recent months: - Guatemalan charged w/ 3 counts of aggravated child rape released on $7,500 bail. (ICE detainer ignored). - Guatemalan charged w/ aggravated child rape, (victim age 9 or below) released on $7,500 bail. (ICE detainer ignored). - Honduran charged w/ assault to rape &
masked armed robbery released on his own recognizance with $0 bail. (ICE detainer ignored) - Worcester County had two illegal alien inmates charged w/ child rape who both received $500 bails. - Another was charged w/ fentanyl trafficking and released on $4,000 bond before ICE could arrive.
So the police only set free one wanted criminal illegal alien -- the rest were set free by judges or the wardens of jails. In addition, CBS claims it's not true that these criminals were simply set free. Why, some had to pay a $500 ticket for r*ping a child! Not a ticket, just $500 bail which means they really only put up $50 of their own money and will certainly flee the jurisdiction rather than face trial.
It has been a month since Tom Homan, the Trump administration's "border czar", told an enthusiastic crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was "bringing hell to Boston." "You're not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer," Homan told the audience, taking aim at Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, accusing him of releasing immigrants charged with violent crimes back into the community. WBZ-TV decided to dig into the press releases of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Massachusetts to see if violent criminals are really being released by Cox or other law enforcement. After reviewing every press release from January to the present, WBZ found only one which said Boston Police released someone wanted by ICE. All of the other releases stated that individuals wanted by ICE were released from jails or courts.
Tom Homan said he specifically counted "9 child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts," that were released into the community before they were arrested by ICE. WBZ decided to take a deeper look at the bail for some of those cases. Take Jose Fernando-Perez, who was arrested by ICE in Framingham in February. According to an ICE press release, the Essex County Superior Court in Salem arraigned him on three counts of rape of a child by force and three counts of aggravated rape of a child in August, 2022. WBZ called the court and found that he posted a $7500 bail and was released with an order to stay in his home in October, 2022. Stivenson Omar Perez-Ajtzalan was arraigned in Lawrence District Court arraigned Perez Dec. 20, 2024, on felony charges of aggravated rape of a child with a ten-year age difference, according to an ICE press release. WBZ learned that he posted his $7500 bail and was released with a GPS monitoring device. He was arrested by ICE in January. Juan Alberto Rodezno-Marin was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court in March, 2023 for indecent assault and battery in a person over 15, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, masked armed robbery, and assault to rape. He was released on personal recognizance with a GPS monitoring device in December 2024 and arrested by ICE in January. In the last six months, the Worcester County Jail had two inmates who were charged with child rape with bail set at $500. They were picked up by ICE. Two other inmates were charged with cocaine and fentanyl trafficking with bails of $500 and $4,000. Both of them were wanted by ICE and bailed out before ICE arrived. "Most people would not think that's an appropriate bail," Evangelidis said. Stephen Roth, a criminal defense and immigration attorney, says these bails are set by judges to reasonably assure someone reappears in court, not to ensure someone remains in custody. "There's this list of criteria that they go through to determine if bail should be set and immigration status is not one of those categories," Roth said. Prosecutors may also request a dangerousness hearing to keep a defendant behind bars. Attorney Jennifer Roman, a WBZ legal analyst, says detention all the way until trial is reserved for the most severe cases. ... Evangelidis now supports a bill filed by two Republican state lawmakers which would allow him to hold inmates wanted by ICE for an additional 36 hours. It also asks judges to take immigration status into consideration when setting bail. "I think immigration is a big factor in whether people are going to voluntarily come back to court," Evangelidis said.Boston is going to have a billion-dollar sized hole in their budget soon as feds withdraw all funding:
Posted by: Ace at 03:36 PM | Comments (341) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Fire-Alarm-Pulling Ex-Congressman Jamaal Bowman Calls Elon Musk a "Thief" and "Nazi;" Musk Vows to Sue
Sue them and discover the coordinated and paid nature of the Soros-controlled Color Revolution.
Posted by: Ace at 02:31 PM | Comments (324) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Chuck Schumer Rules Out Stepping Down with Bidenesque Steadfastness
Hm, wait a sec, Biden wound up stepping down, right?
When Schumer pressured him to, and presented him with the real polling figures (which allegedly were hidden from Biden by his "subordinates") showing that he would lose over 400 electoral votes.WELKER: All right. Well, I do want to move to some of the discussions on Capitol Hill. Because of your decision, Leader Schumer last week, to clear the way to pass a Republican funding bill and avoid a government shutdown, you have faced calls from outside groups, even members of your own party, to step aside as minority leader. When asked about your future at a town hall, Senator Michael Bennet said, quote, "It`s important for people to know when it`s time to go." Leader Schumer, are you feeling pressure to step down? SCHUMER: Look, I`m not stepping down. And let me just say this, Kristen. I knew when I cast my vote against the C -- against the government shutdown that it would be -- that there would be a lot of controversy. And there was. But let me tell you and your audience why I did it, why I felt it was so important. The CR was certainly bad, you know, the continuing resolution. But a shutdown would be 15 or 20 times worse.This is causing all sorts of disarray for the Marxists. Bernie Sanders quit an interview when he was asked if he would support AOC's likely primary challenge against Schumer.
Posted by: Ace at 01:45 PM | Comments (267) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Judge Who Blocked Trump's Deportations Took Junket With Anti-Trump Sponsor and Anti-Trump Speakers
But of course he refuses to recuse himself.
Boasberg is also demanding Trump turn over national security documents to him concerning decision-making about the deportations. AG Pam Bondi now says Boasberg has no right to national security information.
A federal judge who recently halted President Donald Trump's deportation orders for illegal alien gang members attended a judicial conference funded and staffed by organizations and individuals with a history of anti-Trump rhetoric and activism. Key Details: Judge James Boasberg attended a Rodel Institute conference featuring speakers and sponsors openly hostile to President Trump and his policies. The event was funded by progressive foundations known for supporting anti-Trump immigration initiatives. Boasberg later blocked a Trump administration policy targeting the deportation of illegal alien gang members. Diving Deeper: Months before he issued a high-profile ruling to block deportations under President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg attended a privately funded judicial fellowship event rife with anti-Trump speakers and sponsors. The July 2024 conference, held in the elite enclave of Sun Valley, Idaho, was part of the Rodel Judicial Fellowship program--a gathering that appears to have blurred the lines between judicial ethics and political activism. The event's sessions included ideologically charged topics like "The Role of Judges in a Democracy" and "The State of Democracy"--language nearly indistinguishable from the DNC's 2024 campaign rhetoric. According to ethics disclosures obtained by Just the News, Boasberg was one of twelve federal judges in attendance, nine of whom were nominated by Democrat presidents. The conference was underwritten by organizations that have aggressively opposed President Trump's immigration reforms. The Henry Luce Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation were all financial backers. These groups fund entities such as the Migration Policy Institute, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Documented--all of which have criticized Trump's approach to border enforcement and immigration law. Perhaps most concerning is the institutional ideology behind the Rodel Institute itself. Its CEO, John Kroger--a former Clinton advisor and Schumer aide--has publicly called Trump "disqualified" from holding office and decried Republicans' opposition to critical race theory as "undemocratic." Kroger also praised Biden's controversial special counsel Jack Smith and accused the Trump administration of undermining constitutional law. His leadership casts a shadow over any claim that Rodel's programming is nonpartisan.
Related: Bondi warned Jasmine Crockett about her agitation for political violence.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general under President Donald Trump, rebuked U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg for attempting to obtain "national security information," calling his request improper and unconstitutional. "He's trying to ask us about national security information, which he is absolutely not entitled to!" Bondi told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures. The comments came after Boasberg ordered a halt to deportation flights involving MS-13 members and other gang-affiliated illegal immigrants--many of whom were sent back to El Salvador just days prior. Bondi claimed that Judge Boasberg "dragged us into court on a Saturday" with little notice, a move she characterized as a judicial ambush. She said the administration remains undeterred and will return to court on Monday to continue its appeal. "We will win. We will prevail. There are 261 reasons why Americans are safer today, and that's because those people are now in an El Salvador prison," she added.
Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying the rain. What an amazing March so far. I'm grateful for that.
Attorney General Pam Bondi didn't mince words Sunday morning when she directly addressed Rep. Jasmine Crockett's inflammatory rhetoric toward Elon Musk. Speaking on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Bondi emphasized the serious implications of Crockett's remarks, especially given her role as an elected official. "Nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we're going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country," Bondi said, underscoring the government's obligation to shield private enterprise from politically driven intimidation tactics. ... The "Tesla Takedown" movement, which has scheduled over 500 protests nationwide on March 29, coincides with Crockett's birthday--a date the Democrat has described as symbolic of her hopes to "see Elon taken down." The optics of a sitting congresswoman aligning herself with coordinated protests--some of which have already resulted in property damage--raises red flags about the growing radicalism within the DNC's activist base. As Bondi pointed out, Crockett's position as a lawmaker carries with it a heightened responsibility. "We are not coming off these charges," Bondi said, noting the DOJ's aggressive stance on any behavior that escalates from protest to criminal activity. "We are looking at everything, especially if this is a concerted effort."
Posted by: Ace at 12:20 PM | Comments (422) | Trackbacks (Suck)
THE MORNING RANT: Austin Successfully Killed the Golden Goose, and Its Depopulation Trend is Accelerating
While news of Austin losing population was shocking at the time, the trend has continued to accelerate. There was a net loss of 13,400 people in 2024.
With residents fleeing, there is a glut of houses for sale, and prices are plunging as the real estate bubble bursts. This is also deflating prices on homes in the surrounding suburban and exurban counties.
It is my hope that some of the depopulation is because of blue state colonizers returning to their natural coastal habitats, thus leaving Texas a little bit redder overall. Of course, there is also a steady exodus of regular people from Austin – those who just can’t take it anymore. From personal experience, I know that it is a goal of many normies to leave the oppressive and theocratically woke eco-leftism of Austin, as well as the social disorder it has wrought. My wife and I were among them. Back when Austin was simply weird, it was a delightful melting pot of politicos, educators, hippies, rednecks, musicians, and regular suburban Texans. Music bound those groups together. I can attest that I spent a lot of evenings in my younger days at joints like the Broken Spoke, Continental Cafe, and Green Mesquite, catching great new acts, some of whom went on to significant success. Unfortunately, Austin has also been pretty effective in killing off its legendary music scene. Apparently, tech bros and AWFLs just don’t foster a music scene the same way that hippies and rednecks once did, and now even the legendary SXSW Festival is largely ditching the music aspect that got the whole thing going.
Austin started to lose population in 2023, as the crush of exhausted citizens fleeing the “blue dot in a red state” started to exceed the number of incoming settlers. It wasn’t a huge number, just 2,500 net out-migration that year, but it was still significant in that the net incoming tide of people had been reversed.
“More People Leaving than Coming to Travis County [Austin] for the First Time in 20 Years” [CBS – Austin – 3/26/2024 This resulted in Austin falling out of the list of Top-10 US cities by population. “Austin falls out of top 10 largest cities in the US” [KXAN Austin – 5/17/2024]New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that for the first time in two decades more people are leaving Travis County than moving in.
While news of Austin losing population was shocking at the time, the trend has continued to accelerate. There was a net loss of 13,400 people in 2024.
People are fleeing Austin, TX in droves.
— Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) March 18, 2025
The city lost -13,500 people to outbound migration in 2024.
The biggest drop the city has ever experienced.
This outmigration has now caused Austin's housing market to collapse. With home prices down -19.5% over the last two+ years. pic.twitter.com/XwNuvWYoRy
With residents fleeing, there is a glut of houses for sale, and prices are plunging as the real estate bubble bursts. This is also deflating prices on homes in the surrounding suburban and exurban counties.
It is my hope that some of the depopulation is because of blue state colonizers returning to their natural coastal habitats, thus leaving Texas a little bit redder overall. Of course, there is also a steady exodus of regular people from Austin – those who just can’t take it anymore. From personal experience, I know that it is a goal of many normies to leave the oppressive and theocratically woke eco-leftism of Austin, as well as the social disorder it has wrought. My wife and I were among them. Back when Austin was simply weird, it was a delightful melting pot of politicos, educators, hippies, rednecks, musicians, and regular suburban Texans. Music bound those groups together. I can attest that I spent a lot of evenings in my younger days at joints like the Broken Spoke, Continental Cafe, and Green Mesquite, catching great new acts, some of whom went on to significant success. Unfortunately, Austin has also been pretty effective in killing off its legendary music scene. Apparently, tech bros and AWFLs just don’t foster a music scene the same way that hippies and rednecks once did, and now even the legendary SXSW Festival is largely ditching the music aspect that got the whole thing going.
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (345) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mid-Morning Art Thread
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (284) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Morning Report — 3/ 24 /25 
All of this has created what appears to be a large circular firing squad between the old guard Democrats like Schumer et al and the crazy in your face anti-American Maoist Mau-maus like Titty-Caca Ocasio-Cortez and her ilk. All I can say is pass the popcorn while they openly expose themselves to a perhaps heretofore disinterested or blind majority of Americans who can no longer choose or are able to turn away. And as Trump's domestic and foreign policy successes will show in the coming months and years of his term, voting for anything other for America first candidates and policies is insanity. OF course, the now nakedly corrupt judiciary, especially at the lower levels and horribly underscored by the Supreme Court's refusal to reign them in, as well as Congress which despite a slim GOP majority also lacks the will to exercise its whip hand against an overreaching Judiciary. Naturally, the Democrats in both chambers are not going to be of any use. And on a not unrelated note, we have a very crucial special election a week from tomorrow here in my new home state of Wisconsin which has national repercussions. Yes symbolically it's being touted by the usual propagandist hacks as a referendum on Donald Trump. It's for a seat on the State Supreme Court.
A glance at the calendar shows that a week from Tuesday just happens to be April Fool's day. Given the nature of what the Democrats are doing to themselves, let's hope that that is a good omen for our side. If the best they can do is manufacture astroturfed rallies for Bernie and Titty-Caca where the two of them wind up sniping at each other, well pass the tree bark soup, call me Rocket Man, and let me warm myself by the glow of a burning Tesla dealership.
Not taking any chances, given what happened here in 2020 via the election thievery, so I will go out either today or tomorrow and vote early if not often and I urge all of my fellow Wisconsonians to do the same. Click here for the state's voting info site and look for your polling place or where you can vote early (early absentee in-person).
Have a great day. 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.
That leftists are doing these senseless acts of violence however illustrates the mindlessness and bankruptcy of their movement. It has nothing but violence and hate to drive it. In an authoritarian society this violence and hate might lead to power and rule, but not in America. We still remain a nation of laws and rule by election. Violence and hate only leads to arrests and prosecution, fully supported by the general public. And it only lowers the support for any movement that engages in such barbaric behavior. Thus, this vandalism and swatting are merely the short term manifestations of a dying movement. As these thugs get prosecuted and sentenced to prison, the attacks will fade. And at that point, either the left will finally start to reassess its actions and policies, or it will die as a political movement. Don’t expect any reassessment, however. That the left has now descended to this idiocy indicates its inability to self-assess. It is so certain it is right that it thinks shooting itself in the foot is a sure way to win new adherents. Keep it up, Democrats! We on the right are thrilled you are proving yourselves to be this stupid.
All of this has created what appears to be a large circular firing squad between the old guard Democrats like Schumer et al and the crazy in your face anti-American Maoist Mau-maus like Titty-Caca Ocasio-Cortez and her ilk. All I can say is pass the popcorn while they openly expose themselves to a perhaps heretofore disinterested or blind majority of Americans who can no longer choose or are able to turn away. And as Trump's domestic and foreign policy successes will show in the coming months and years of his term, voting for anything other for America first candidates and policies is insanity. OF course, the now nakedly corrupt judiciary, especially at the lower levels and horribly underscored by the Supreme Court's refusal to reign them in, as well as Congress which despite a slim GOP majority also lacks the will to exercise its whip hand against an overreaching Judiciary. Naturally, the Democrats in both chambers are not going to be of any use. And on a not unrelated note, we have a very crucial special election a week from tomorrow here in my new home state of Wisconsin which has national repercussions. Yes symbolically it's being touted by the usual propagandist hacks as a referendum on Donald Trump. It's for a seat on the State Supreme Court.
The most important election of the year arrives April 1, and will decide who controls the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The race pits Brad Schimel, the former Republican Attorney General, against Susan Crawford, a judge from heavily leftist Dane County. With the recent retirement of progressive justice Ann Walsh Bradley, the state’s highest court now stands deadlocked, with three conservatives and three liberals, so the winner will be the tie-breaking vote in what might be the swingiest of the swing states. The election has nationwide implications, in more ways than one. Democrats are attempting to make the race a referendum on President Trump’s most potent ally, Elon Musk. Here in Wisconsin, the party is currently running an ad that barely mentions Schimel — but instead attacks Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. . . Musk has pumped millions of dollars into groups backing Schimel, so if Democrats successfully paint the conservative candidate as a Musk puppet, this strategy will undoubtedly spread nationwide. If liberals succeed in defeating Schimel based on DOGE’s handiwork, it might actually be Democrats who keep Musk in the news to use his influence as a talking point in the 2026 midterms. . . . . . The contest is also an early look at how voters feel about Trump’s second term. The president has won Wisconsin twice — each time with fewer than 20,000 votes, or less than 1% of the statewide tally.
Trump endorsed Schimel on Friday, calling Crawford a “Radical Left Liberal” who has been soft on crime, and effectively tying Schimel to his own agenda. “And if she wins, the Movement to restore our Nation will bypass Wisconsin,” Trump warned. A Marquette University Law School poll conducted in February showed Wisconsin residents split on Trump’s job performance, with 51% disapproving and 48% approving. (Musk fared worse: Only 41% of respondents viewed him favorably.)
The race also might indicate how much swing-state voters will be hearing about abortion in the near future. Democrats are pitching Schimel as an abortion extremist: In Wisconsin, pro-abortion activists have been unsuccessful in rescinding an 1849 law that bans abortion in the state. A 4-3 liberal state court majority would almost certainly do so.
But while Democrats have counted on abortion as a big election-winning issue in the post-Roe world, Republicans like Trump continue to win statewide here. If it fails to take out Schimel, liberals may be forced to drop abortion as their silver-bullet issue. And of course, Schimel’s election could thwart Democrats’ hopes of pushing changes through the courts that they can’t pass in the GOP-majority state legislature. And of course, Schimel’s election could thwart Democrats’ hopes of pushing changes through the courts that they can’t pass in the GOP-majority state legislature. Their top priority is overturning Act 10, former Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for government unions.
A glance at the calendar shows that a week from Tuesday just happens to be April Fool's day. Given the nature of what the Democrats are doing to themselves, let's hope that that is a good omen for our side. If the best they can do is manufacture astroturfed rallies for Bernie and Titty-Caca where the two of them wind up sniping at each other, well pass the tree bark soup, call me Rocket Man, and let me warm myself by the glow of a burning Tesla dealership.
Not taking any chances, given what happened here in 2020 via the election thievery, so I will go out either today or tomorrow and vote early if not often and I urge all of my fellow Wisconsonians to do the same. Click here for the state's voting info site and look for your polling place or where you can vote early (early absentee in-person).
Have a great day. 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.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
- Conservative influencers are the latest targets of swatting, a dangerous hoax that brings armed law enforcement to the homes of innocent families.
What It’s Like To Be Swatted
- Under the headline, “Intelligence Assessment Said to Contradict Trump on Venezuelan Gang,” the Times cited unnamed “officials” claiming that the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, members of which the White House says are illegally in the U.S., is not in cahoots with the origin nation’s government. It’s an assertion in direct contradiction to the administration, which has justified the expedited removal of many illegal aliens by claiming that the Venezuelan government works with the gang to destabilize America.
Trump’s Intel Agencies Are Trying To Sabotage Him Again. Will Ratcliffe And Patel Stop It?
- Victor Davis Hanson: California’s high taxes, crime, and regulations are driving an exodus, shifting political power to red states as the once-prosperous blue-state model collapses under economic and social strain.
California and Its Collapsing Blue-State Democrat Model
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:25 AM | Comments (295) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 24 March 2025
Top Story
- 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and its CEO has stepped down. (Tech Crunch)
Not at all unexpected given the way things have been going for the formerly high-flying DNA dating site lately.
Ex-CEO Anne Wojcicki - yes, the sister of Susan who ran YouTube for years - is planning to make a bid for the remains. The company was once valued at $6 billion but its current market cap is less than 1% of that.
Rob Bonta, California's Attorney General, recommended users delete their data now. (New York Post / MSN)
For once, he's not wrong.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (139) | Trackbacks (Suck)
March 23, 2025
Sunday Overnight Open Thread - March 23, 2025 [Doof]
Howdy Hordelings! Hope you are having a very nice Sunday here in the early days of Spring. How are your brackets? Did you make sixteen sweet picks? Or perhaps you really just don't care. Whatever your feelings on that, the ONT is here for you to end your weekend. Step on in!
Howdy Hordelings! Hope you are having a very nice Sunday here in the early days of Spring. How are your brackets? Did you make sixteen sweet picks? Or perhaps you really just don't care. Whatever your feelings on that, the ONT is here for you to end your weekend. Step on in!
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (453) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gun Thread: Still More March Edition! 
Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (266) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Food Thread: Cassoulet, Cleavers, And Cheetos (French Style)!
Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (268) | Trackbacks (Suck)
First World Problems...
Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (197) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Anti-Semitism May Be Offensive, But Should It Be Illegal?
Short Answer: No
Notice there is some real meat to that description! But it is mixed in with trivia. Teaching anti-Semitism while being funded by the government is vile, certainly inappropriate, and maybe even illegal. And teaching support for terrorist groups is almost certainly illegal. But what is definitely illegal is physical intimidation of Jewish students. Start there. But also include Christian students, who have been similarly intimidated and attacked for years too! Going after "anti-Jewish racism" is a nonsensical, feel-good idea. What does that mean? Some idiot college sophomore who believes the pro-Gaza nonsense spewed by protesters? So he hates Jews and Israelis? So what? That isn't illegal. It's like federal hate-crime charges piled onto some state charge. So how the criminal FEELS about his victim is going to be penalized? That's just dumb. Send him to jail for his actions, not his thoughts. Blocking students from walking across the quad to their classes is assault and battery. Blockading and vandalizing buildings is already illegal. We have plenty of laws covering that. And if the university administration allowed that criminality to occur, then charge the people responsible. And if the administration allows support for terrorism to be taught, then charge them and take away funding. But the best thing by far is exactly what has occurred across the country. The blatant anti-Semitic behavior that morphed into anti-Semitic actions has been exposed. The academy's dirty little secret is no longer hidden, and America sees the universities' true colors...and they don't like it! [Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X]
Short Answer: No
Brandeis famously stated that "sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" in a Harper's Weekly article in 1913. It was true then and it is true now!
Brandeis didn't say, "Jail time is appropriate for bad thoughts," and that is a vital point. Am I defending anti-Semitism? No, of course not. I think it is stupid, flies in the face of everything we hold dear in our country with respect to our fellow citizens, and is ultimately counterproductive, as the Nazi nuclear program discovered to its chagrin. But it is an opinion, however misguided. It is a thought..a world-view...a prejudice. And we as Americans are entitled to our beliefs, and we have every right to shout them to the heavens! As usual the lazy, ignorant, derivative media reported President Trump's actions as the most jingoistic and trivial thing, rather than expanding on the actual intent of the executive order. Sadly, the White House's description falls into the same lazy pattern. Not nearly as bad, and much better written than the agrammatical drivel belched out by earnest 23-year-old senior reporters, but it still conflates anti-Semitism with actual criminality. Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Takes Forceful and Unprecedented Steps to Combat Anti-SemitismImmediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities. The Order demands the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws.
Notice there is some real meat to that description! But it is mixed in with trivia. Teaching anti-Semitism while being funded by the government is vile, certainly inappropriate, and maybe even illegal. And teaching support for terrorist groups is almost certainly illegal. But what is definitely illegal is physical intimidation of Jewish students. Start there. But also include Christian students, who have been similarly intimidated and attacked for years too! Going after "anti-Jewish racism" is a nonsensical, feel-good idea. What does that mean? Some idiot college sophomore who believes the pro-Gaza nonsense spewed by protesters? So he hates Jews and Israelis? So what? That isn't illegal. It's like federal hate-crime charges piled onto some state charge. So how the criminal FEELS about his victim is going to be penalized? That's just dumb. Send him to jail for his actions, not his thoughts. Blocking students from walking across the quad to their classes is assault and battery. Blockading and vandalizing buildings is already illegal. We have plenty of laws covering that. And if the university administration allowed that criminality to occur, then charge the people responsible. And if the administration allows support for terrorism to be taught, then charge them and take away funding. But the best thing by far is exactly what has occurred across the country. The blatant anti-Semitic behavior that morphed into anti-Semitic actions has been exposed. The academy's dirty little secret is no longer hidden, and America sees the universities' true colors...and they don't like it! [Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X]
Posted by: CBD at 11:55 AM | Comments (168) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 3-23-2025 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (237) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 23 March 2025
Top Story
- A majority of AI researchers say a majority of the tens of billions of dollars poured into AI research each year is wasted, and should be given to them instead. (Futurism)
Commercial AI companies are laser-focused on making their AIs bigger, rather than understanding what they are doing or making something that works at all.
I'll take exception though with one particular part of this article:DeepSeek, meanwhile, pioneered an approach dubbed "mixture of experts," which leverages multiple neural networks, each specializing in different fields - the proverbial "experts" - to help come up with solutions, instead of relying on a single "generalist" model.
They're called multimodal LLMs and DeepSeek did not "pioneer" them at all.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM | Comments (195) | Trackbacks (Suck)
March 22, 2025
Saturday Night "Club ONT" March 22, 2025 [The 3 D's].jpg)
Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:50 PM | Comments (350) | Trackbacks (Suck)
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