Posted by: Ace at 06:25 PM | Comments (231) | Trackbacks (Suck)

We need MEGA -- Make Education Great Again.

Dozens of masked anti-Israel protesters stormed Columbia University's Butler Library as students prepared Wednesday to study for end-of-year exams.

Video posted on social media shows a large group of activists shoving past a security guard at the library's front entrance, who tried in vain to stop the mob but was quickly overcome.

Once inside, they draped large signs over bookshelves, one declaring the library a "liberated zone" and another bearing the name of Bassel al-Araj, a Palestinian activist killed by Israel Defense Forces in a 2017 raid in the West Bank -- though they misspelled his first name as "Basel."

The raucous demonstrators then donned keffiyeh headscarves, and beat drums while clapping to chants of "free, free Palestine."

The school has been on alert since rumors circulated late last month that protesters were planning on re-establishing the campus tent encampments that plagued the Ivy League school for much of last spring.

Columbia "University" has axed 180 "researchers," mostly doing "studies" designed to make arguments for left-wing causes, following Trump's freezing of federal funds.

John Sexton spotlights this Very Sad Story from the New York Times about the quality "research" that will now go unfunded:

Tamara Sussman, a researcher in psychiatry at Columbia, had a federal grant canceled in March for research that examined the consequences of structural racism on substance use risk in Puerto Rican adolescents. The research assistant that she had recently hired was among those let go.

"This is a really hard time for anyone who wants to do research, but particularly for people who are starting out," Dr. Sussman said Tuesday. "It is very disheartening to see the wheels of science kind of grinding to a halt in certain ways."

Linda McMahon to Harvard University: Drop dead.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon is telling Harvard University that it should no longer ask for grant funding, as "none will be provided," in a letter to University President Alan Garber.

McMahon's scathing letter called out the supposedly elite university for for becoming embroiled in plagiarism scandals, needing remedial math, and engaging in "ugly racism." She also slammed the school for hiring far-left mayors, Bill de Blasio of New York City and Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, saying, "This is like hiring the captain of the Titanic to teach navigation to future captains of the sea."

"Harvard University has made a mockery of this country's higher education system. It has invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America, to its campus," McMahon wrote. "In every way, Harvard has failed to abide by its legal obligations, its ethical and fiduciary duties, its transparency responsibilities. and any semblance of academic rigor. It had scrapped standardized testing requirements and a normalized grading system. This year Harvard was forced to adopt an embarrassing 'remedial math' program for undergraduates. Why is it, we ask, that Harvard has to teach simple and basic mathematics, when it is supposedly so hard to get into this 'acclaimed university?' Who is getting in under such a low standard when others, with fabulous grades and a great understanding of the highest levels of mathematics, are being rejected?"

McMahon made clear to Harvard that the federal government was willing to keep federal funding if the institution was committed to complying with federal law, protect students, and end its racial preferences by finally abiding by the Supreme Court's decision to end affirmative action.

Harvard would need to return to a meritocratic system for admissions and hiring, end "unlawful programs that promote crude identity stereotypes," and comply with law enforcement, including with the Department of Homeland Security. Doing so, McMahon wrote, would "advance the best interests of Harvard University, so it can reclaim its status a respected educational institution."

"Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided," she said. "Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni."

Posted by: Ace at 05:27 PM | Comments (246) | Trackbacks (Suck)

No scolding from the media for covering up injuries to US servicemen.

More than 60 service members were injured as a part of former President Joe Biden's floating aid pier in Gaza, a Pentagon Inspector General report published on Tuesday said, a number significantly higher than had been previously disclosed.

The pier, announced by Biden during a televised address to Congress in March 2024, was a massive endeavor that took about 1,000 U.S. forces to execute.

But bad weather and distribution challenges inside Gaza limited the effectiveness of what the U.S. military says was its biggest aid delivery effort ever in the Middle East. The pier was only operational for about 20 days and cost about $230 million.

It's repulsive.

While there were no deaths or known direct attacks on the pier, the Pentagon had said three U.S. troops suffered non-combat injuries in support of the pier in May, with one medically evacuated in critical condition.

But the new report by the Pentagon Inspector General said that the number was actually 62.

"Based on the information provided, we were not able to determine which of these 62 injuries occurred during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions," the report said.

The pier became a sore point in Congress, where Republicans branded it a political stunt by Biden, who was under pressure from fellow Democrats to do more to aid Palestinians after months of staunchly supporting Israel's punishing war on Hamas.

So Biden spent $230 million and injured 62 servicemen as a political payoff to Ilhan Omar and the Terror Wing of the Democrat Party.

David Strom:

You would think a Pentagon reporter would dig into the basic facts of a purely American action, but it took a change of administrations and the digging of an Inspector General to reveal basic facts that a moderately competent reporter should have easily dug up.

...

The financial cost was outrageous--almost a quarter of a billion dollars--and the cost in blood was over 60 soldiers wounded--all to deliver a few trucks in aid that were stolen by Hamas as soon as they hit the shores. It wasn't just a debacle; it aided the enemy.

Posted by: Ace at 04:33 PM | Comments (282) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Smoke on the Tiber.

Morrissey mentions that left-wing anti-catholic church officials are aghast about the impact that African cardinals may have in the selection process, because African cardinals, unlike the left-wing fake Catholics infesting the church, aren't so keen on beatifying all gays as saints.

From the National Catholic Register:

Cardinal Czerny Causes Furor With Comments on a Potential African Pope

Pope Francis' former point man on migrants has drawn criticism with comments in the context of the African continent being deeply opposed to the LGBTQ agenda.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis' former point man on migrants has drawn criticism by saying in an article published Sunday that some African cardinals make him "shudder" and that he believes "conservatives" are calling for an African pope to further their agenda.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Jesuit who served as prefect at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in the last years of Pope Francis' pontificate, made the derisive comments to The New York Times in the context of the African continent being deeply opposed to the LGBTQ agenda.

"I can think of some African cardinals -- they make me shudder," Cardinal Czerny said in the article published May 4. When the newspaper asked whether conservative Catholics were rallying behind an African pope as a "Trojan horse" to further their agenda, Cardinal Czerny replied: "Certainly, certainly, certainly, and that's why it's so, so, so stupid to say things like Africa's time has come."

...

He said he becomes "agitated" when people say it is time for an American, African, or "South Islander" pope. "I think that is so stupid," he opined. "It's time for the successor of Peter for 2025." The priority, he added, "is evangelization; to bring the Gospel to society in season and out of season; to bring the Gospel to all of creation."

The Czech-born Canadian cardinal is currently now unreachable for comment, as he is taking part in the conclave.

His comments came ahead of remarks made by Bishop Robert Barron, founder of the Word on Fire Catholic media ministry, who, by contrast, believes geography is important in relation to the papacy, especially when it comes to Africa.

He explained to EWTN's Colm Flynn on May 5 that the Church is flourishing in Africa, especially in Nigeria, where around 94% of Catholics go to Mass, vocations are booming, and the Church is facing persecution.

"Why are we so preoccupied with the Church in Germany, where the Church is kind of withering on the vine?" Bishop Barron asked. "Why don't we study the Nigerian Church, and see what they're doing, right, and let's imitate it?"

"So, yes, I think it might be the African moment," the bishop continued. "And I do think in the synods during the Francis years, the Africans found their voice in a fresh way."

Cardinal Czerny's comments are likely to embolden African cardinals who have never welcomed such animosity to their traditional stances on moral issues, especially when it comes to homosexuality.

This became clear during the furor over Fiducia Supplicans, the 2023 declaration allowing non-liturgical blessings of same-sex couples, when Africa's Catholic bishops rejected the Vatican document.

It was also readily apparent in 2014, when, in the context of homosexuality being a taboo in Africa, German Cardinal Walter Kasper caused uproar and provoked accusations of racism when he said (and then falsely denied) that Africans should not tell the Church in the West "too much what to do" regarding homosexuality and other such issues currently acceptable in secular Western culture.

See the link to Ed Morrissey for more.

Posted by: Ace at 03:20 PM | Comments (468) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Would you believe that he was diverting taxpayer money to a "friend" who then kicked back "secret payments" to his bank account?

Luke Rosniak at Daily Wire:

A foreign aid official who refused the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to his agency's financial records may have had a reason to keep auditors out: he steered illicit contracts to a friend who sent him secret payments, according to a law enforcement affidavit obtained by The Daily Wire.

Mathieu Zahui, chief financial officer of the African Development Foundation, refused to grant DOGE access to its books and told the White House that the agency would not acknowledge President Donald Trump's appointee as chairman of the board. After a dramatic showdown in March, DOGE physically took over the building with U.S. Marshals, but control of the agency is now the subject of a lawsuit objecting to "swooping in with DOGE staff, demanding access to sensitive information systems" -- an objection that reads differently in light of the criminal probe.

For years, workers at the small, USAID-adjacent federal agency focused on Africa have told oversight bodies about allegations of self-dealing, procurement violations, and mysterious offshore bank accounts, many of them involving Zahui. But little was done about it, several told The Daily Wire.

One action that raised eyebrows was Zahui's insistence on directing both grants and contracts to a company in Kenya called Ganiam Ltd. According to spending records, it was awarded nearly $800,000 in contracts without competition. For example, a one-year, $350,000 contract for "transport, travel, relocation" services was executed in March 2020, when few people were traveling or holding conferences because of coronavirus.

According to a search warrant application uncovered by The Daily Wire, USAID's inspector general established by August 2024 that the company's owner had secretly wired money to Zahui's personal bank account at times that matched up with the federal contracts. To date, the Department of Justice has not charged either man with a crime.

Ganiam Ltd. is owned by Maina Gakure, whom Zahui has known for decades. Both worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Diego and later moved to Fairfax, Virginia. Gakure had been in charge of awarding contracts at the VA, then created his own company designed to get government construction contracts by taking advantage of a minority preference program. It was called Ganiam LLC and was based out of a house in Virginia. Gakure similarly created a company based in Kenya called Gakure Ltd. The African Development Foundation is permitted by law to give grants only to African entities.

In January 2024, inspector general agents interviewed Zahui about the Ganiam contracts, and he acknowledged having known Gakure personally since 1999, and having been to his apartment. He "could not explain why the contract with Ganiam was sole-sourced instead of being competitively bid," the agents wrote.

Zahui was named chief financial officer of the federal agency after he declared bankruptcy and had his house foreclosed on. He acknowledged to investigators that the travel contract was executed after COVID had already shut down travel. He told them the contract was actually used for IT services, but since Ganiam had no expertise in IT, it subcontracted it to a different company. A Department of the Treasury contracting official told the agents that was not allowed.

Read the whole thing. They're stealing us blind, and the Democrat Party protects them, because they all kick back to Democrat Party hacks.

Posted by: Ace at 02:10 PM | Comments (396) | Trackbacks (Suck)

It's all just a QAnon conspiracy, you know. There is absolutely no sexual abuse of children going on this country, and if there is, it's a perfectly valid expression of Regime Protected Group's (RPG's) Sexual Identities and Cultural Preferences.

And maybe it's also a valid sexual expression of the American Deep State Bureaucracy, too.

So shut up, Bigots, and let the repulsive perverts enslave the children as sex prisoners.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI is reviewing "tens of thousands of videos of [Jeffrey] Epstein with children or child porn" and there are "hundreds of victims" as she addressed concerns about the delay to the full release of the case files.

"The FBI is diligently going through that," Bondi told reporters on Wednesday morning, and the volume of evidence explained why more files had not been released so far.

...

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, had said he feared key Epstein documents would have been shredded before the Trump Administration took office.

"The president ordered them released, the attorney general ordered them released, we all know they have not been released," Comer told The Benny Show.

...

Rep. Comer told The Benny Show: "The concern I've always had about the Epstein files: Was the government involved? Did the government know? Was the government using Epstein and the videos to blackmail the most influential people around the world?"

Bondi and Kash Patel announced the arrest of 205 child predators just over the last week. I do not believe these have anything to do with the Epstein tapes.

Posted by: Ace at 01:07 PM | Comments (382) | Trackbacks (Suck)

What I really want investigated is the Biden Administration.

I want to know why Biden's DHS and Christopher Wray's FBI told the cops to drop the investigation and release the human trafficker.

I mean, I know why. I want them indicted.

The U.S. Department of Justice has been quietly investigating a Tennessee traffic stop in 2022 involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man at the center of a high-profile court battle over his mistaken deportation from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, ABC News has learned.

Federal investigators involved in the inquiry recently spoke with a convicted felon in an Alabama prison and questioned him about potential connections to Abrego Garcia, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The inmate, Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, 38, was the registered owner of a vehicle driven by Abrego Garcia when he was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in late 2022, according to the sources. Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding in a vehicle with eight passengers and told police they'd been working construction in Missouri.affic stop

Federal agents investigating the Tennessee incident appeared late last month at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega, Alabama, to question Hernandez-Reyes, who had an attorney present and was granted limited immunity, sources familiar with the interview said.

Hernandez-Reyes told investigators that he previously operated a "taxi service" based in Baltimore. He claimed to have met Abrego Garcia around 2015 and claimed to have hired him on multiple occasions to transport undocumented migrants from Texas to various locations in the United States, the sources told ABC News. The frequency and time frame of the alleged trips was not immediately clear.

It's unclear whether prosecutors will ultimately gather enough evidence to bring charges against Abrego Garcia. The interview of Hernandez-Reyes, however, appears to be a new and aggressive step in the government's efforts to gather potentially incriminating information about Abrego Garcia's background -- even as it resists calls for him to be provided typical protections to respond to such accusations through the American legal system.

Unbelievable -- ABC "News" is downplaying the new information while also claiming it's not fair to investigate Albrego Garcia while he's not being given his phantom "right" to be present in America.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined to comment.

According to body camera footage of the 2022 traffic stop, the Tennessee troopers -- after questioning Abrego Garcia -- discussed among themselves their suspicions of human trafficking because nine people were traveling without luggage, but Abrego Garcia was not ticketed or charged. When asked to provide proof of insurance, Abrego Garcia told officers he would have to call his boss because he didn't know where the insurance card was in the car. Audio from the police footage cuts out briefly after an officer asks Abrego Garcia who owned the vehicle.

The officers ultimately issued no speeding ticket and allowed Abrego Garcia to drive on with just a warning about an expired driver's license, according to a report about the stop released last month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Tennessee Highway Patrol, in a statement last month, said troopers had contacted federal authorities before making that decision.

"The Tennessee Highway Patrol can confirm a 2022 traffic stop of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was stopped for speeding on I-40," a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesperson said. "Per standard protocol, the THP contacted federal law enforcement authorities with the Biden-era FBI -- the agency of jurisdiction -- who made the decision not to detain him."

An attorney for Abrego Garcia, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said last week that he saw no evidence of a crime in the Tennessee traffic stop.

"But the point is not the traffic stop -- it's that Mr. Abrego Garcia deserves his day in court. Bring him back to the United States," Sandoval-Moshenberg said. "I have represented Kilmar Abrego Garcia for more than a month, and this bodycam video is the first time I've heard his voice. He has been denied the most basic protections of due process -- no phone call to his lawyer, no call to his wife or child, and no opportunity to be heard," he said.

Happy Humpday! What's the rumpus?

Posted by: Ace at 12:06 PM | Comments (248) | Trackbacks (Suck)

When it comes to finding out who is in charge in the United States, there are two ways to try to arrive at the conclusion. One is to read and understand the Constitution about where power comes from and who does what. That's pretty easy to do and not difficult to understand. There are also plenty of adjunct materials to explain it, from "Schoolhouse Rock" all the way up to postgraduate courses in major universities.

But it doesn't seem to matter much, because that is isn't how things actually work. There is a tried and true method to ascertain how things work, and that's simply to look around. How does something happen. Who says yes or no? Who gets listened to - grudgingly or not - when he says yes or no? Regardless of what's written down where and how things technically work, you can always just see how things unfold to find out who is in charge.

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM | Comments (266) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Raising of Lazarus
Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (200) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Good morning kids. Well, things are heating up in both the Middle East and in South Asia. And the common denominator and belligerent force behind it all is Islam. India and Pakistan, which both possess nuclear weapons and have been at each other's throats for decades as nation states, and for centuries really when you consider Islam's long march to subjugate and destroy Hindus, Bhuddists and other infidels all over the world in their bloodthirsty crusade (heh) for world conquest.

India launched Operation Sindoor early Wednesday morning local time, targeting what the army calls “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan. . . “A little while ago, the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted. Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution. These steps come in the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen were murdered. We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable. There will be detailed briefing on ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, later today.”

. . . The tension began in 1947 after the partition of British India when the area became India and Pakistan based on religious lines: Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority IndiaJammu and Kashmir could pick which country to join. The leader of Kashmir wanted independence but asked to join India for protection against Pakistani herders. India and Pakistan have fought three wars. . .

Last month Pakistani terrorists butchered Indians in a bloody rampage in Kashmir, a long disputed territory where this brand of Islamic savagery has been all too common. With both Iran and China bordering both nations, and with America as an ally of India, any miscalculation could have some very serious consequences that spread beyond the immediate area.

And while that's going on, Israel just hammered the crap out of the Houthis and sent a message to the Mullahs in Tehran:

Israel destroyed the main airport in Sana’a, Yemen, the country’s capital, to prevent the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from using it to rearm their missiles and resupply their forces, in the latest counterattack.

Tuesday’s airstrikes were the second in as many days, after the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked the Hodeidah port Monday, following a Houthi missile attack on Sunday that hit Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion.

The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement:

A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sana’a, fully disabling the airport. The strike was carried out in response to the attack launched by the Houthi terrorist regime against Ben Gurion Airport. Flight runways, aircraft, and infrastructure at the airport were struck.

Similar to the Hudaydah Port that was struck yesterday, the airport served as a central hub for the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons and operatives. It has been routinely used by the Houthi regime for terrorist purposes. This underscores the Houthi terrorist regime’s brutal exploitation of civilian infrastructure for terrorist activity.

The Houthis are backed and armed by if not directly under the control of the Iranian regime, pretty much the same way as Hezbollah and Hamas. And speaking of Hamas

The good news is that Israel has announced that it intends to clear Hamas out of Gaza once and for all. The bad news is that it seemingly wants to hand Gaza right back to the same people who created the conditions for the October 7, 2023, massacre.  . .

. . . I applaud Israel’s understanding that it needs to root out Hamas, which is an army and an obvious target. After all, Hamas fighters don’t quit. Driven by their sick sexual fantasies of those 72 “virgins” (or, more likely, “raisins” in Paradise, and by their sadistic urges, they will always regroup to kill Jews. So, yes, destroy Hamas if it means flattening every square foot of Gaza.

But about that idea of handing the region over to Arab “civilian authorities” while maintaining an indefinite IDF presence? That’s a terrible idea.

I cannot believe after everything Israel has been through not only since October 7th but since the modern state came into being in 1948 and really since Islam began its bloody rampage to eradicate Jews and other infidels 1,500 or so years ago, that they think they can leave this cancerous abscess in their midst. But, what options does Israel have? Asking for, let alone demanding Islam reform itself is a non-starter.

Can Israel actually forcibly relocate a few million Gazans, especially since no one wants them in their midst either, for a number of reasons.

And I've written many times about the fools errand of "negotiating" with the Iranian mullahs. Previous administrations refuse to recognize the existential threat to civilization as we know it that is Islam, as well as the anti-Israel animus of Foggy Bottom's bottom dwellers. And now Trump seems to think he can convince them to give up their drive to acquire nuclear weapons. God bless Donald Trump, he's either clueless or he is being very poorly advised. I'd like to think he's playing for time or has something else up his sleeve that will finally at long last lead to the Mullahs being overthrown and Iran at long last liberated from them. Hopefully without the same result as what we saw in Syria by replacing Assad and the baathists with ISIS/al Qaeda.

Meanwhile, on a completely different note, we have scumbag supreme Tom Tillis:

Is Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., trying to sabotage his 2026 reelection bid? It’s a question worth asking when considering that the Tarheel State’s senior senator seems to be doing everything in his power to betray his constituents ahead of next year’s primary.

While speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Tillis, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, formally announced his opposition to the nomination of Ed Martin to serve as the next U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. With a 12-10 Republican majority on the committee, Tillis’ opposition likely nullifies the body’s ability to favorably move Martin’s nomination to the full Senate for final confirmation . . Then again, it’s not surprising Tillis would go out of his way to try and tank a Trump nominee who could deliver transformational change for Americans. . .

. . . Look no further than Tillis’ ongoing attempts to salvage parts of President Biden’s wrongly named “Inflation Reduction Act.” Last month, the North Carolina Republican co-signed a letter asking Senate Majority Leader John Thune to spare the IRA’s “green energy” tax credits from being cut in the party’s reconciliation package. And that example only scratches the surface of Tillis’ years-long career running defense for the swamp’s interests.

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
• The strikes heighten the risk of a broader conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, with both sides on edge and diplomatic efforts struggling to de-escalate. . . India has launched missile strikes on three sites in Pakistan: Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Ahmed Pur East in Bahawalpur. The attacks, which Pakistan’s military called “unprovoked,” follow India’s claims that Pakistan was behind a brutal terror attack in Pahalgam, in Indian Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in one of the deadliest assaults since 2000.
  India Strikes Pakistan, Cuts Off Water Supply — Reports.
  
• If Americans continue to confuse legality with loyalty, this country will self-immolate.
  America’s Immigration Problem Won’t Be Solved By Letting Illegal Aliens Come Back Legally

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:00 AM | Comments (435) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Top Story

• Skype is dead. Here's five alternatives. (Hot Hardware)
  
  I wish it were dead. I've received eight messages on it from work today. The first of those at four minutes past midnight.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (303) | Trackbacks (Suck)

In case you missed the sad news earlier today

Please say a prayer and raise a glass to our dear friend. Jim is one of the reasons I love the ONT so much. So much knowledge on a range of subjects and witty. Condolences to his wife, family, and friends. He will be missed.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (439) | Trackbacks (Suck)

This dog is a beta orbiter to this alpha cat.

Sharing some water with the neighbor-dog.

Aw: A young dog helps an older dog play fetch.

The Farmer Kid makes his appointed rounds.

Man down.

Vader inspects his stormtroopers.

An elf owl, the smallest kind of owl. He's not tiny like a hummingbird. Just don't want you to get your expectations too high.

This dog can see that you're working but isn't cuddling a kind of work too?

Best frenz.

Beluga whale gets a kiss from a toddler.

Duck brings her ducklings to your pool.

Elephant probes an electric fence. I think he's an Indian special forces officer.

Posted by: Ace at 07:42 PM | Comments (289) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Friedrich Merz conned his way into an election "win" by telling the German voters that he was breaking with his mentor Angela Merkel and would start deporting illegal aliens. Then, having won a plurality of seats, he repudiated those promises, formed a government with the left, and announced there would be no changes to German immigration policy at all.

He's now facing embarrassment and setback as he fails to secure a majority of parliamentary votes actually become chancellor.

Holger Zschaepitz
@Schuldensuehner

Good Morning from Germany, where Friedrich Merz has fallen short of a majority in the first round of the chancellor vote--something that has never happened before in German history. He received 310 votes, 6 short of the 316 needed for a majority in parliament.

AfD leader Alice Wiedel was pleased:

Naomi Seibt
@SeibtNaomi

BREAKING: FRIEDRICH MERZ LOSES CHANCELLOR ELECTION

For the first time in history, the designated chancellor loses the parliamentary election.

This is the consequence of his unprecedented voter BETRAYAL.

@Alice_Weidel: "Today we saw that liars won't get far."

I'm sure he'll wind up "winning" -- German democracy is dead and "managed" by the the Nazi successor regime -- but it's nice to see him at least embarrassed.

Yesterday I mentioned the UK council elections over the past weekend, but I failed to provide numbers showing just what an absolute catastrophe this was for Labour, and even more so for the "Conservatives."

Both parties lost two thirds of their council representatives, mostly to Reform.

The first line shows the new number of council members, the second line shows the change, up or down, from the last election. The "Conservatives" lost 665 seats, falling from 966 to 311.

I don't know how many times I have to tell you Bigots that there is no election fraud in America.

Former Colorado postal employee admits to stealing ballots ahead of 2024 election

Not just stealing them -- voting them.

One of the women accused of stealing and fraudulently casting more than a dozen ballots ahead of last November's election pleaded guilty Monday.

Vicki Stuart, 64, was charged with 34 counts related to the ballot theft scheme, which occurred in the lead-up to last year's presidential election. She pleaded guilty to one count of identity theft and one count of forgery in the 21st Judicial District Court.

For much of the hearing, she answered Judge Brian Flynn's questions with a simple "yes," but when asked why she was willing to accept the plea agreement, she responded because "I feel like I am guilty for the part that I played in it."

Stuart was charged in November with counts that included forgery, identity theft and attempts to influence a public servant. According to the arrest affidavit, Stuart and another woman stole more than a dozen ballots from Mesa County residents before they could be delivered to the intended voters. The goal, prosecutors said, was to test the state's voting safeguards.

The scheme was uncovered when some voters alerted authorities after the Colorado Ballot tracking system informed them their ballots were being processed, even though they hadn't received their ballots yet. State officials said three of the stolen ballots that were cast fraudulently did make it through the signature verification process and were counted as legitimate votes.

This article completely fails to mention which party they were associated with and for which party they cast the fraudulent ballots. They're women working for the government so I'll just assume they could be from any party.

No idea who these Crusty Karens cast fraudulent ballots for, none at all.

Wow this is sure nice: The Supreme Court realized that the Command in Chief of the United States, rather than lowly district court judges, has plenary power over the military's health and readiness standards.

What a nice thing to discover. Who knew that the Command-in-Chief, as designated in the Constitution, had some kind of power over military readiness?

ABC "News:"

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration can move forward with a ban on transgender military service members for now, lifting a lower court injunction against the policy after a judge ruled it was an "unsupported, dramatic and facially unfair exclusionary policy."

The court did not explain its decision other than to say the order would expire if the justices ultimately take up the case on the merits and issue a ruling striking it down.

Ed Morrissey comments:

The order itself is interesting, in that it pre-empts any action the Ninth Circuit might take against this policy. The text states that the injunction will remain in place as it proceeds to the Supreme Court, as long as a writ of certiorari "is timely sought." Three justices indicated that they would not have enjoined the district court ruling -- you can guess which three, and probably why, although it may be just that they object to an intervention at this stage.

It seems pretty clear, though, that six justices think that the ruling will not survive scrutiny and that the authority to make these decisions fall within executive authority when Congress has not acted in one way or the other. It is yet another incremental indicator that the Supreme Court has begun to draw some constitutional lines, and may be ready to draw jurisdictional lines in its own branch.

oh no you guys

'Non-Binary Femme' Singer Robert Adam Refuses to Perform His Queer Country Music in U.S. over Trump

This is a real blow you guys.

Self-described "non-binary femme" Canadian country singer Robert Adam went to Nashville, Tennessee, to record his latest album but cites the triumphant return of President Donald Trump to the White House as the reason he won't be heading back across the border anytime soon.

The Calgary-based performer says he contemplated the decision not to go back for several months, claiming past negative experiences as a "queer person" visiting the United States were weighed against the importance of that market for emerging musicians.

Don't sweat it, the US isn't a big market for country music anyway.

Adam told the Canadian Press in a phone interview he made the right decision not to go stateside because it would be just too stressful.

(I'm) pretty non-binary presenting, pretty femme ... it's hard not to see that I kind of stick out.

I don't want to spend my life stressed out over whether I feel like I have to ... tone down my image, or what I have to say, just to exist and play a show.

"Just to exist." They all say exactly the same things using exactly the same cultic code words.

Posted by: Ace at 06:40 PM | Comments (233) | Trackbacks (Suck)

F***ing Israel!

F***ing DRUMPF!!!

The Indian government says it has launched an attack on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Three locations have been attacked, Pakistan's military says

Relations between India and Pakistan - both nuclear-armed states - have declined sharply following a deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir last month

Indian-administered Kashmir has seen a decades-long insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives

Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan in its entirety

The terrorism against tourists in Kashmir happened two weeks ago.

Relations between India and Pakistan are cratering following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that has sparked tit-for-tat reprisals and raised fears of another military escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.

India and Pakistan both control parts of Kashmir but claim it in full, and have fought three wars over the mountainous territory. In 2019, Indian jets bombed targets inside Pakistan after a cross-border militant attack killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel in its part of Kashmir.

All but one of the 26 tourists massacred in the attack on April 22 were Indian citizens. New Delhi swiftly pointed the finger at Pakistan, downgraded ties and suspended its participation in a crucial water-sharing treaty.

Pakistan has denied involvement and said that any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to Pakistan would be considered an act of war.

As tensions escalate, India's navy said it launched test missile strikes in a show of strength.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers "to the ends of the earth," while the United Nations has called on the neighbors to exercise "maximum restraint."

India is calling it Operation Sindoor.

'Sindoor' has a deep meaning for the Indians.

[Al Jazeera:]

...Sindoor is the Hindi word for vermillion -- which married Hindu women often apply to their forehead. The operation's name appears to be a reference to the manner in which gunmen shot dead 26 people -- almost all tourists -- in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, on April 22.

The attack triggered the spiralling tensions between India and Pakistan that led to Wednesday morning's strikes.

Multiple survivor accounts have detailed how the gunmen segregated male tourists from the women, and then pointedly identified those who were non-Muslim before shooting them dead -- leaving many married Hindu women widowed.

Pakistan's intelligence agencies fund and direct several terrorist groups. They routinely massacre civilians.

I sure wouldn't mind seeing India launch a Test Nuke at this terrorist shithole.

Have these terrorist savages kept up maintenance on their nukes? Only one way to find out.

But I'm risking World War Three by condemning Muslim terrorism and I should stop being such a cuck for Netanyahu, who I'm sure is behind all of this.

Posted by: Ace at 05:40 PM | Comments (300) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The theme was "black dandyism" to #Resist Trump through ugly-ass gayballs fashion.

Fashion as Resistance: The Black Dandy at the Met Gala

This year's event focuses on the use of personal style as a cultural and political statement.

The theme for this year's Met Gala was an homage to The Black Dandy.

Titled "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City examined the African American tradition of being impeccably dressed and using fashion as a means to communicate autonomy, agency, political statements, and, above all else, humanity. Black Dandies define themselves according to their own terms.

Think of men like the sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, the author James Baldwin, and the Vogue fashion editor André Leon Talley.

This year's event, which featured a blue carpet entrance, was packed with celebrities and served as a showcase for the latest in high fashion. The gathering also centered Blackness with its nod to Dandyism, which scholars say is rooted in far more than the clothes themselves.

"The style challenges social hierarchies by subverting expectations of how Black men should present themselves. What was once used to mock Black people became their tool for resistance and self-expression," said Monica L. Miller, author of Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity to Business of Fashion. Organizers of the Met Gala said that Miller's book, which was published in 2009, was a key reference point for this year's theme.

From its roots in the antebellum era when plantation owners would dress enslaved people in fine clothing, scholars say that Dandyism has evolved into the use of fashion to combat systems of oppression -- racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, colonialism.

With its own set of inalienable rights, The Black Dandy exists at the intersections of autonomy and coercion, liberation and enslavement, resistance and compliance. To be Black and live in a world that profits from your subjugation is to be a trickster.

Only a Black Dandy could turn the Met Gala into a celebration of Blackness.

Update:

Disappointed nobody has posted Whoopie's quote on the carpet ( no pun intended)

"Let him try to get rid of us, we not going anywhere".

Background

At the 2025 Met Gala, Whoopi Goldberg delivered a powerful message regarding the theme, "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," with the quote: "Let him try to get rid of us, we not going anywhere". She elaborated on the significance of the theme, explaining that it represents the recognition of Black excellence and the resistance against attempts to erase Black history and culture. She further emphasized that this gathering and the focus on Black style are a testament to the enduring presence and impact of Black individuals. Goldberg also noted that the Met Gala was an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of figures like Andre Leon Talley, who have been instrumental in showcasing the brilliance of Black style.

Posted by: Steve_in_SoCal

Lord smite me now.

Halle Berry showed off her "side-pube," as Megyn Kelly called it.

Here's the crotch-shot if you want to see it. You don't see her actual nyver, because she has a strap of fabric covering that, but she has sheer/transparent material over the sides of her pudenda. You can't see the highway but you can see the shoulders.

Thanks to official Ace of Spades Fashion Correspondent Soothsayer.

Posted by: Ace at 04:30 PM | Comments (391) | Trackbacks (Suck)

I continue to not understand the hardcore Ron Paul anti-interventionists. These terrorists have been lobbing missiles at Western ships, including US ships, for years, and yet the bleat from the Tucker Carlson Chorus is that we just need to let them blow up our ships. To do otherwise is to, as always, "risk World War III."

Remember when the neocons used to tell us that we had to bomb this country or that one or else we risk World War III? Well, the born-again paleocons now claim that we must not do anything to any terrorist country, or else we risk World War III.

I think there's an explanation for this: This isn't about being anti-interventionism, this is about being anti-Israel and... maybe more than that. Because they only seem to start squawking when we bomb someone who is bombing Israel.

The Houthis recently shot missiles at Israel's main airport, and Israel has responded by bombing Yemen's main sea port and then the main air port.

Israel counter-attacked a country that will not stop launching missiles at them, and I'm very sure this is somehow Israel's fault.

And I'm sure Tucker Carlson has a problem with that, even though it didn't involve the US. I'm sure he's just worried that the Jews he feels such pungent antipathy for are "risking World War III."

Can you get me a beer while you're up? If you don't you're Risking World War Three.

Weird he never thinks that Iran or its many, many terrorist proxy armies are Risking World War Three. Only Israel, and the US, if the US sides with Israel against terrorists.

The Jerusalem Post:

The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Yemen's main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on Iran-aligned Houthi rebels after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel.

Three people were killed in the strike, according to Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.

Israel warned people to leave the area around Sanaa International Airport before Tuesday's attack, which it said targeted Houthi infrastructure and "fully disabled the airport". Witnesses later reported four strikes in the capital.

Tensions have been high since the Gaza war began, but have risen further since a Houthi missile landed near Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah port on Monday.

"A short while ago, IDF (Israel Defence Forces) fighter jets struck and dismantled Houthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport," the Israeli military said.

"The strike was carried out in response to the attack launched by the Houthi terrorist regime against Ben Gurion Airport. Flight runways, aircraft, and infrastructure at the airport were struck."

Three airport sources told Reuters that the strikes targeted three civilian airplanes, the departures hall, the airport runway and a military air base under Houthi control.

The Israeli military said the airport had been "a central hub for the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons and operatives."

In a statement carried by al-Masirah, the Houthis said:

"The operations of our armed forces will continue and the support by Yemen to Palestine will only end with the end of the aggression and siege against Gaza."

They can say that, but Yemen's foreign minister has announced that he wants a ceasefire:

Badr Albusaidi
@badralbusaidi

Following recent discussions and contacts conducted by the Sultanate of Oman with the United States and the relevant authorities in Sana'a, in the Republic of Yemen, with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides. In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping. The Sultanate of Oman expresses its gratitude to both parties for their constructive approach that led to this welcome outcome, and hopes that it will lead to further progress on many regional issues towards achieving justice, peace, and prosperity for all.

Presumably the government of Yemen will shut down or at least curb the terrorists it's currently tolerating. If not, presumably we'll start bombing them again.

Karoline Leavitt
@PressSec

Massive WIN.

President Trump promised to restore the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, and he used great American strength to swiftly deliver on that promise.

The world is safer with President Trump in charge.

Arthur Kimes
@ComradeArthur

"President Trump ordered the US to start bombing the Houthis on March 15, 2025, when the United States launched a series of airstrikes across Yemen targeting the Houthis."

*That* didn't take long. Biden barely made an effort.

cc: @AceofSpadesHQ

So I don't get it: How would not counter-attacking these terrorists have benefited the US? It would have created more acts of war -- more missiles lobbed at cities and airports, and more Western ships being attacked by Houthis -- not fewer.

But whatever. We're all terrorists now, I guess. And we're all Code Pink. The Horseshoe Theory is proven. The fringe right has become the far left of the 90s and 2000s.

Posted by: Ace at 03:33 PM | Comments (348) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Conversation
Charlie Kirk
@charliekirk11

🚨 IMPORTANT 🚨

If Ed Martin, acting US Attorney of DC is not confirmed by the Senate Republicans before May 20th, radical Judge Boasberg gets to choose his replacement

If the Senate GOP doesn't confirm Ed in the next two weeks, we will have a Trump hating US Attorney in the nation's capital.

The Senate MUST CONFIRM ED Martin, NOW!

DataRepublican (small r)
@DataRepublican

Cassidy, Cornyn, Tillis, Collins are the holdups. Collins isn't going to flip before the other 3. I will be pushing a call for action on these other 3 tomorrow.

There's Cassidy again. Louisiana, can we please get rid of him?

Breitbart:

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is withholding support for President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney for D.C., a move that could result in MAGA villain Judge James Boasberg choosing who would fill the role -- potentially even former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Trump, who announced in December 2024 that Ed Martin would serve as Chief of Staff at the Office of Management and Budget, installed Martin as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on January 20, 2025, later formally nominating him to take over long-term.

But Martin's interim tag expires May 19, 2025. And due to D.C.'s unusual status within the federal government, the choice of who would fill the position could fall to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Charlie Kirk, and other prominent conservatives supporting Martin's nomination have warned.

Martin's defeat would deal a blow to critical components of Trump's agenda.

The powerful U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. has two roles, which make it one of the most powerful perches in the American legal system -- a seat from which much of the lawfare directed at Trump and his supporters originated during the Biden presidency.

Due to D.C.'s special status, the office serves in a role similar to a local district attorney. After taking over, Martin wasted no time turning the office's resources towards prosecuting violent crime after a period of lawlessness under President Joe Biden, which saw crime soar.

But the office's second role is the reason Martin has instilled fear in the Washington establishment.

Martin has shifted the focus of the office -- the most powerful U.S. Attorney's office -- to corruption within the federal government itself.

Instead of spending millions targeting everyday Americans like pro-life advocates, practicing Catholics, and school board parents, Martin is pursuing criminals who have enriched themselves off of taxpayers, committed voter fraud, and other serious crimes. And he is doing so not just in Washington but across the globe.

...

With the clock ticking on Martin's interim status, the Deep State is fighting back, and Tillis has emerged as a roadblock to Martin's nomination on the Senate Judiciary Committee, through which Martin's nomination must pass.

Tillis, who has expressed concerns with Martin's comments while serving as an attorney for J6 defendants, is expected to meet with Martin Monday afternoon in his Senate office.

Breitbart News asked a Tillis spokesman if the senator would support Martin's nomination, and if not, if he believes Judge Boasberg would choose someone more preferable.

It never ends with Tillis.

Conversation
Mike Benz
@MikeBenzCyber

Based on conversations I am hearing in DC, the blocking points for @USAEdMartin's confirmation are currently 5 REPUBLICAN Senators:

- Susan Collins @SenatorCollins

- Thom Tillis @SenThomTillis

- John Cornyn @JohnCornyn

- Bill Cassidy @SenBillCassidy

- Mitch McConnell @SenMcConnell

This is President Trump's nominee for DC's Top Prosecutor. If these Senators delay Ed Martin's confirmation for just 15 more days, the worst judge in the district, Judge Boasberg, will select DC's prosecutor rather than the President we voted for.

We need immediate action from these 5 Senators, public statements from them if there is some explanation we're not being told or if this information is incorrect (in which case I will happily retract and update this post), and primaries for them if indeed they run out the clock with no public explanation and instead hand the DC justice system over to its most corrupted judge.

Posted by: Ace at 02:28 PM | Comments (274) | Trackbacks (Suck)