Quick Hits

Note: I'm going to post the Cafe at 7 so I can post a Texas primary thread at 8.

The fake-Republican South Carolina Dixiecrats have again blocked a new congressional map, in order to save the seat of nonstop racebaiter and fellow Democrat James Clyburn.

They say they're doing this for "states rights" or some cuck mumblemouth bullshit.

NBC:

The Republican-led South Carolina Senate on Tuesday voted against a measure to advance a new congressional map, ending the redistricting effort in the state for now.

The failed vote was a surprise rejection of President Donald Trump, who had urged lawmakers to pass a redrawn map that eliminated the state's single majority-Black district, represented by longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn.

The South Carolina House approved the map last week in hopes of putting it into place for this year's midterm elections. As part of the effort, lawmakers also sought to set another primary election for the affected districts in August. But after early voting began on Tuesday for the previously scheduled June primary, some Republicans changed their tune, arguing it was too late to enact new district lines.

"Neither my conscience nor my common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway," said Republican state Sen. Richard Cash, a Republican who changed his vote due to timing.

Speaking of ugly grifters who are going to lose their phony-baloney jobs: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

Noted African American Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is such a fervent supporter of blacks getting to elect the black leftwingers they like that she's running for a seat previously drawn to guarantee black representation.

Florida Democrats wrong a Strongly Worded Letter condemning Debbie's psychopathic need for power.

Almost all of Florida's elected Democratic National Committee members are condemning Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's decision to run for reelection in a district previously drawn to ensure Black voters' representation but targeted for redistricting by Gov. Ron DeSantis this year.

"Our party cannot credibly denounce the dismantling of Black political power by Republicans while treating one of Florida's few remaining majority-Black districts as a political opportunity for an incumbent seeking a safer seat," a group of 10 elected Florida DNC members wrote in a statement released Tuesday.

...

Wasserman Schultz, in Congress for more than 20 years, chose to run in a safe blue seat where a Democrat is all but guaranteed to win in the general election, instead of in one of the surrounding districts, newly drawn to favor Republicans.

It's almost as if these districts were drawn to secure partisan advantage, not racial advantage.

Wasserman Schultz lives in Florida's new 22nd District, which stretches from Coral Springs to Marco Island. Her previous voters were split five ways in Florida's new voting maps, but only a small portion of them were drawn into the 20th District.

Critics say she chose to take her $2.5 million war chest to an easier Democratic-leaning district to ensure her own political power.

"We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient," the Florida DNC members wrote.

I wonder what she'll do when she gets her fat droopy ass kicked to the curb.

Maybe she'll go into modeling.

Last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a Quint in it

Trump went to his six month physical at Walter Reed. Chris Cilizza, who attacked anyone who suggested that Biden was aging poorly and called it "low" politics, now sounds the alarm over Trump seeing the doctor "three times in thirteen months."

It's six month check-up. You're supposed do three six-month check-ups in any 13 month period. Do the math, asshole.

How many times do you have a six month check up in a 13 month period? Not two. You have to add one more because the period begins and ends with a visit, with another one in the middle.

Anyway these are the very high thinkers who are really really good at third grade math who think you should accept their thinking as conclusive.

But anyway, the entire left is now demanding we get very serious about interrogating the president about his health after five years of insisting that Biden was literally running circles around his 25-year-old staffers and was a "super-ager" and that any video showing him losing his train of thought, forgetting that the woman he was honoring was in fact dead and repeatedly calling her to the stage, routinely babbling incoherently, never being available any earlier than 10:30 in the morning and never later than 4:30, etc. was all right-wing "cheapfakes."

Here's one obvious mouth-dick docking module claiming that Biden routinely faced questions about his age but Trump doesn't.

Jonathan Lemire
@JonLemire

NEW: The Newest Oldest President

Donald Trump has not faced the same scrutiny for his age as Joe Biden did. For now.

But as Trump is poised to turn 80 next month, questions about his health and increasingly erratic behavior are growing

Except he himself attacked anyone on the right raising these questions about Biden.

Western Lensman
@WesternLensman

May 18

Lemire says Biden faced "scrutiny" over his age issues unlike Trump.

Here is Lemire attacking other media outlets for covering questions about Biden's cognitive issues raised in various videos.

He uncritically parrots the White House "cheap fakes" line and laments that the media will have to "grapple" with these "fakes."

Is this the kind of "scrutiny" he's talking about?

These people act as if none of this never happened.

Incredible.

June 2024:

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:47 PM | Comments (262) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Army Veteran Violently Assaulted Because He Decorated His House with Trump Flags Dies on Memorial Day

He was beaten so badly he died within days.

The owner of a heavily decorated pro-Trump home in Southern California has died days after he was beaten to a pulp allegedly by a Navy veteran.

Kerry Sheron, a 69-year-old Army veteran known locally for covering his residence with MAGA banners and American flags, died Sunday night after nearly a week hospitalized in critical condition.

The attack happened May 20 outside Sheron's home in Escondido, police said.

Prosecutors allege 32-year-old Thomas Caleb Butler attacked Sheron in what officials described as an unprovoked assault.

Butler, who has been described in local reports as a Navy veteran, has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder, elder abuse, criminal threats and battery.

"It was a single punch to the jaw," Garcia said. "The victim then falls to the floor, and there are subsequent hits to the victim's head area."

Security footage obtained by local media allegedly showed Sheron standing outside his Buchanan Street home before the suspect approached and attacked him. A nearby witness reportedly attempted to intervene before the suspect fled the area on foot.

...

In the days before Sheron's death, his wife, Maria, gave an emotional update, telling reporters there was "no hope" for her husband as he remained hospitalized with devastating injuries.

She also said the family had been preparing for the worst after doctors warned that Sheron's condition had rapidly deteriorated due to severe head trauma.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:35 PM | Comments (246) | Trackbacks (Suck)

All Democrats Boycott JD Vance's Anti-Fraud Roundtable, Because They're the Party of Looters and Shooters; Nick Shirley's Right-Hand Man Says That Autism Billing Went Up 47,000% (Which Means 470x) In Past Few Years

A reminder from last week: the Trump Administration charged 15 Minnesota Men for pillaging $90 million from American citizens.

The Justice Department today announced the Minnesota Health Care Fraud Takedown, which resulted in criminal charges against 15 defendants, including owners of child care centers and various Medicaid providers, for their alleged participation in various fraud schemes involving over $90 million in intended loss, including the two largest Medicaid fraud cases ever charged in the District and first-of-their kind charges involving additional Medicaid programs. The Justice Department also announced a major investment in combatting Medicaid fraud through a significant expansion of the Division's Health Care Fraud Section, allocating funding to permit the hiring of 15 new Trial Attorney positions to combat Medicaid fraud across the United States.

"Today, we are holding scammers accountable who ripped off the American taxpayer and harmed those deserving legitimate assistance from these programs," said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. "These alleged con artists stole taxpayer dollars while providing substandard care for children and abandoning at least one Medicaid recipient as they passed away. The DOJ Fraud Division, along with the White House's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, will dismantle illegal schemes from coast-to-coast, just as they did today in Minnesota. This is just the tip of the iceberg."

"Driven by data showing a significant increase in Medicaid fraud across the country, the 15 additional prosecutors will serve as a force multiplier for our existing Strike Forces to combat this critical new threat," said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's Fraud Division. "The Fraud Division is committed to supercharging the Health Care Fraud Strike Force program with the resources it needs to tackle the pervasive fraud in the health care industry and protect the vulnerable beneficiaries of these programs, including children and those suffering from chronic ailments."

A big source of fraud consists of paying off corrupt, criminal parents to take their children to a corrupt doctor to get a fake autism diagnosis. Then they get fraudulent benefits, and scammers bilk the taxpayers out of huge sums of money providing non-services to non-autistic children.

"Today's arrests mark the largest autism fraud bust in American history," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, this Administration is carrying out the most aggressive anti-fraud effort in modern American history. These criminals exploited vulnerable children, stole taxpayer dollars, and diverted critical autism care and resources away from families who truly need support, and we will continue rooting out fraud to protect children and restore integrity to America's public health programs."

...

Autism Fraud

In the largest Medicaid autism fraud case ever charged by the Department, two defendants were charged in connection with an approximately $46.6 million scheme to defraud the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program, a publicly funded Minnesota Health Care Program that offers medically necessary services to people under the age of 21 with autism spectrum disorder. In 2017, Minnesota became one of the first states to offer Medicaid coverage for EIDBI services. EIDBI claims skyrocketed from over $600,000 in 2018 to over $400 million by 2025.

Alexa tells me that $400 million is over 67,000 percent of $600,000. Or 670,000 times $600,000.

As alleged, the defendants paid kickbacks to parents who brought their children to autism centers, diagnosed children with autism regardless of medical necessity, and billed for autism services that were not actually provided, depriving children who did need assistance of needed care.

...

Integrated Community Supports Fraud

In the first criminal prosecution involving fraud in Minnesota's Integrated Community Supports (ICS) program, one defendant was charged with a $1.4 million scheme to bill for services that were not provided as represented. ICS is a Minnesota Medicaid benefit designed to fill a gap in the service continuum between a person living in their own home and more restrictive settings such as group homes and assisted living. ICS was designed to help people live more independently in the community--as opposed to an institutionalized setting--with daily one-on-one help with health, safety, and household tasks so that qualifying individuals can live in the community. The defendant in the prosecution announced today submitted claims for vulnerable recipients who required 24-hour care, one of whom was found deceased a day after being billed for services he did not receive.

After paying out a total of approximately $4.2 million when the ICS program began in 2021, the cost has grown to more than $183 million in 2025. In all, claims data shows that the Medicaid system has paid out more than $460 million for ICS services since 2021.

...

"Medicaid dollars are meant to support vulnerable Americans--not bankroll luxury cars and real estate empires for fraudulent providers who exploit people with disabilities," said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. "These prosecutions put Medicaid fraudsters on notice--the gravy train is over. We will cut you off, shut you down, and lock you up. They also send a clear message to the patients who depend on Medicaid and the taxpayers who fund it--this administration has your back."

Imprison, then denaturalize and deport.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:35 PM | Comments (309) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Panel of Hawiian Appeals Court Judges Ignores Supreme Court Rulings and Invalidates Alabama's 7-0 Gerrymander, Claiming "Muh Racism"

The Supreme Court did not forbid all judicial scrutiny of gerrymandered districts. However, it made it very clear that only real, demonstrable racism was cause to intervene in a state's legislative maps, and that Democrat Party bullshit about "dilution of minority voting power" wasn't enough. "Republicans are trying to reduce Democrat congressional power and that's racist, in a way, if you think about it" wasn't enough.

An appeals court decided they're The Real Judges Here and ignored the Supreme Court ruling, citing the precedent of Muh Racism v. Muh Midterms.

Alabama Republicans sought to use a previously blocked 2023 congressional map following the Supreme Court's recent ruling curbing the use of race in the drawing of electoral districts that helped minority communities increase their representation in Congress. Under that map, Republicans were slated to gain one electoral seat by erasing a Black-majority seat held by Democrats in the southeastern part of the state.

However, the three-judge panel said Republicans must continue to use a map that has two majority-Black districts where Democrats hold significant advantages.

"Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination," the federal judges wrote. "We again cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than intentionally discriminatory."

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said he would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

"Know this: In my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when," Marshall said.

More from Catherine Salgado at PJM:

It is unclear why Alabama officials should comply with the panel's order, given that it is in direct conflict with two rulings from the Supreme Court, a higher authority, and the Voting Rights Act. How can the judges licitly rule that Alabama must use districts that are unconstitutional and violative of the Voting Rights Act from being drawn specifically based on how many black voters there are within the limits? The U.S. Supreme Court resoundingly ruled against such gerrymandering both in Louisiana v. Callais and Allen v. Caster.

As a matter of fact, Allen v. Caster specifically involved Alabama and its black-majority districts. The Voting Rights Act forbids the districts, requiring a redrawing of the map, according to the Supreme Court ruling. Therefore, how can a federal judge panel randomly decide to rule the opposite and demand Alabama officials comply?

The panel of judges claimed that not using the map with the two race-based districts was discriminatory, which is of course nonsense, because drawing congressional maps based on the skin color of voters is inherently discriminatory. And again, the panel's claim directly violates two Supreme Court rulings and the Voting Rights Act.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 02:25 PM | Comments (245) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Trans "Woman" Exposes "Pre-Op Privates" In YWCA Changing Room
Seattle Is Now a Full Mad Max Highway-Gang Warzone

The trans " " " woman " " " didn't just expose his "pre-op privates" -- known throughout history by non-insane people as "dick and balls" -- he "flaunted" them, because like many perverts invading women's intimate spaces, he's a pervert and exhibitionist and voyeur.

YMCA in liberal city finally cracks down with new rules after trans woman exposed pre-op privates in female locker room

A trans woman named Sammy has been banned from flaunting her pre-op privates at a YMCA in liberal San Francisco after a sustained freak out by gym goers, the Daily Mail has learned.

The Stonestown Family YMCA has posted new rules preventing the sort of behavior that got Sammy in trouble, prohibiting excessive nudity in the women's locker room.

Sammy, who's stood firm for two years despite horrifying women and children, hasn't been seen since the new rules went into effect.

'Nudity should be discreet, limited, and brief,' reads the new flier hanging in the changing room, headlined 'NEW YMCA LOCKER ROOMS GUIDELINES 2026'.

'Nudity is permitted only while actively showering. Members are expected to put clothing on or be covered during use of the space outside of showering.'

...

Susan Pete, a 59-year-old member who was one of Sammy's most vocal critics, told the Daily Mail that the new rules seem specifically written for Sammy, who has been accused of violating each one of them.

Pete said she's happy Sammy's gone, but she and many other members are wondering about a new policy that seems impractical.

...

She means it's unenforceable. She seems to be implying, but is too socially terrified to say out loud, that maybe male perverts should be banned from the women's locker rooms entirely.

Sammy had been a regular at the gym since 2024,< > prompting a series of confrontations by standing around naked in front of the mirror, blow-drying her hair while bent over.

Menacing stares would ensue, as Sammy would allegedly argue back, calling people not just 'intolerant' but also 'drunk'.

...

YMCA officials, however, defended Sammy's use of the women's locker room, citing her 'civil rights'. This only inflamed outrage from other members who felt uncomfortable seeing a husky trans woman with male genitalia and 'slowly growing breasts' roaming around in front of women and children.

'I've seen that man more than most of my boyfriends,' Pete told the Daily Mail last year.

At the Berkeley YMCA, member Elizabeth Kenney recalled seeing Sammy 'harassing' an elderly member who'd asked her to 'cover up.'

'If you don't like the way I look, then you've got a sexual problem with yourself,' Sammy allegedly told the senior.

'Get away from her, leave her alone,' Kenney recalled telling Sammy. 'You're a man, you'd don't belong here.'

Hashtag #Accurate.

...

One group member named Anne, who attends the Stonestown Y, filed a police report in late March, accusing Sammy of harassment. She described a time Sammy, after blowing drying her hair naked, walked up 'very close' to her, turned around and creepily used a handheld mirror to stare back at her.

'He used it as if it were a rear view mirror to look at me behind himself,' Anne wrote in the report. 'His eyes caught mine in the mirror and I froze.'

Anne described another time she allegedly 'paraded' around in front of two young children.

Elizabeth, 23, told the Daily Mail about another time she was 'repulsed and angry' to see Sammy 'blow drying his entire naked body, including his penis, posed in front of all of the other women.'

The new rules include an order that members 'use hair dryers for drying head hair only.'

They also now require that children aged five and older be accompanied by their parent or guardian while using changing rooms for the opposite sex.

So the rule limits the freedom of children who are using the correct locker room, while the aggressive, menacing male pervert gets to flap his dick around.

...

'The transgender people ruined everything for women,' Pete told the Daily Mail. 'They ruined sports, ruined the locker room, they upset me.

'We've been very happy since he's been gone, but I don't know if he's going to come back and cover up, or fight against it,' she continued. 'Hopefully he just went to Seattle.'

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:25 PM | Comments (252) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Corrupt Governor Tim Walz and Foreign Mayor Jacob Frey Honor the Heroes Who Gave Their Lives for Our Country By... Celebrating an Obese Drug Addict and Thug Whose Heart Finally Attacked Him and Is the Real Hero Here

Of course. They're aggressive enemies of everything traditional, wholesome, good, and true.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey received pushback Monday over a social media post remembering George Floyd, whose Memorial Day death six years ago triggered nationwide protests and riots, as well as calls to defund law enforcement agencies.

"Today, we remember George Floyd, who was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer six years ago," Frey wrote on X. "That moment changed our city forever."

In subsequent posts, Frey wrote that the death of Floyd forced the city to "confront painful truths about race, policing, inequity, and trust -- and demanded hard conversations and accountability. Since Floyd's murder, our city has been challenged not just to say we've changed, but to prove it."

"We are committed to honoring this place both as a memorial with global significance and as a neighborhood where people live, work, gather, and heal," Frey added.

...

Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression after being pinned to the ground by officers outside a convenience store where he allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

...

Frey's post immediately received criticism given that Monday was also Memorial Day.

"Newsflash: Today is Memorial Day, not George Floyd Day. Show our fallen heroes and their families some freaking respect," wrote State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla. "You're a complete disgrace to America, @MayorFrey."

Others noted that Floyd's death triggered destructive riots across the country where stores and buildings were looted and burned.

"It changed your city, state and my country for the worse. Rioters on your side killed people and did billions in economic damage. And for what? Defunding police policies that have led to more people being killed," reporter Andy Ngo replied to Frey.

While the official autopsy ruled the death a homicide caused by police restraint, the medical examiner's report also noted that the amount of fentanyl in Floyd's system and his recent use of methamphetamine were contributing factors.

"At first I thought this had to be a parody," Tomi Lahren wrote on X. "I thought no way this fruity ass mayor was possibly honoring George Floyd on Memorial Day... But here it is."

"Today we remember the veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedoms. Not drug addicts who overdosed," Townhall.com columnist Dustin Grage wrote.

Only after being vigorously criticized as an anti-American foreign agent did Frey put up a half zero-hearted mention of the honored dead of war:

In a separate post, Frey honored veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice, saying: "We owe them -- and the families who carry their memory forward -- our deepest gratitude."

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:14 PM | Comments (337) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Rant: The GOPe Must Be Destroyed

The Republican primary for United States Senator in Texas is a snapshot of the tension between the entrenched interests of the corporate branch of the Republican Party, and a younger, aggressive, and unabashedly MAGA-adjacent conservative wing. The corporate Republican party (GOPe) has been the only game in town for many years, and their complacency in the face of the progressive onslaught on traditional America has created the existential issues we face today.

John Cornyn is a star of GOPe policies and attitudes, and his bristling antipathy toward President Trump should be enough for the good voters of Texas to boot him to the curb.

The idea of collegiality within the Senate is an antiquated idea that is used as a tool by the Democrat Party to undermine the Republican majority, yet Cornyn stubbornly insists upon a world-view that simply does not exist. The acquisition of power is the only driving force behind Democrat behavior, but Cornyn pretends that the traditions of the Senate are still powerful. Whether he believes it is secondary to his tepid support for the President's policies, and his embrace of some of the talking points of the progressive forces acting against the President.

"Insurrection?" No, Senator Cornyn. It wasn't an insurrection, and nobody was charged with it, so stop parroting your buddies across the aisle. And the filibuster is a marvelous tool to protect Democrat interests and subvert the will of the American people with respect to voting in America, yet you support it?

Begone with you! And let us discard your supporters for good measure. You know, like conservative stalwart Hugh Hewitt! Or the fine, upstanding Senator Thune! Or the United States Chamber of Commerce!

Support for President Trump and his policies should be axiomatic for the Republicans in the United States Senate. That there is a group of senators who are actively antagonistic is an affront to the concept of a political party and the obvious idea that the president is the leader of the party. These effete and out of touch senators have an inflated sense of their own importance, and if the people of Texas slap down Cornyn today, it will be a powerful message to the others.

So...you Texans out there...vote early...vote often!

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!

Posted by: CBD at 11:00 AM | Comments (313) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

That Gentleman
Andrew Wyeth

Here is a good example of the difference between seeing a painting in person, and seeing it on a phone or computer screen. In person, this is a wonderful and evocative painting, with subtlety and depth. On a screen? It's nice, but not nearly as powerful.

FYI: The Dallas Museum of Art does not allow concealed carry of weapons! Whether that prohibition is legal is a different question...

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (215) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 5/ 26/26

Good morning kids. And so it seems as if it's the same old shit vis a vis the situation with Iran. On the one hand we had President Trump and team confident of an imminent resolution and conclusion of hostilities. And yet:

Fresh strikes on southern Iran were launched by U.S. military forces early Tuesday morning targeting Iranian missile sites and vessels attempting to lay anti-shipping mines in the contested Strait of Hormuz.

The targeted strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command, said in a statement as reported by AP. Following the strikes, the BBC reports U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a deal was still possible and pointed to talks on Tuesday between Iran’s top negotiator and foreign minister and Qatar’s prime minister.

“We’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Rubio told reporters during an official visit to India.

Well, first we have the President insisting that Iran turn over all of it's enriched Uranium, but considering the Mullah du jour along with the IRGC are still in charge and are still the same dark age Armageddon-seeking Shiites they've always been, if they turn over a moldy hunk of Halvah that would be a miracle in and of itself. But the President went on to push for a number of Muslim states to join the Abraham Accords.

Mentioning Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan, President Trump suggested that it should be “mandatory” for countries involved in the Iran negotiations to endorse the Abraham Accords, a series of U.S.-brokered agreements designed to normalize trade and diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab states.

Writing on Truth Social, he said that “it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

According to President Trump, refusal to join the accord would be seen as a sign of “bad intention” on the part of these states. “It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention,” he continued.

I admire, respect and appreciate Donald Trump in the Oval Office, but with all due respect demanding this is either demonstrative of complete obliviousness to the nature of Islam and the last 1500 years of history, or else he made this precondition knowing full well it would be a non-starter so that he can lay the blame off while military operations to topple the regime could continue. Even if any or all of those countries signed onto the accords, it wouldn't be worth the paper they're printed on, as is demonstrated by Israel's relations with Egypt and Jordan that are frosty at best, and useless insofar as the October 7th Gaza blitzkrieg and terror attacks in the West Bank have shown

The ayatollah and leading mullahs live in the holy city of Qom. It’s also the location of the most important madrassas (religious training colleges), and many venerable holy sites.
As Iran’s Islamic headquarters, Qom must be a major target for destruction because it houses the religious leaders who are Iran’s center of gravity. Iran can only be defeated by their destruction at a sufficient level that they can no longer effectively control Iran’s population. Yes, this is bloody, brutal and necessary.

It is also the only way to defeat religious fanatics that use terrorism and deceit as their world conquest tactics of choice.
It’s also the only way we can neutralize Shia Iran’s lying promises.

Unfortunately, Western fantasies of fair play probably prohibit President Trump from doing the necessary killing.

In other words, as I and others have been saying all along, this is, or should be a war against Islam. Islam is at war with the world and unless and until we and the rest of the civilized world recognize this, sooner or later we and the civilized world will be subsumed into a new and permanent dark age. And this is not just the Shiites but the Sunnis as well.

Elsewhere, there's the threat from abroad and just as evil and pernicious a threat from within.

This Memorial Day, as we approach our 250th anniversary of being a nation, feels and looks much different than it did 50 years ago. I remember it well. In the lead-up to the Bicentennial, red, white, and blue was everywhere.
Every brewery and soft drink manufacturer had special edition bicentennial cans. Parades were ubiquitous, with seemingly every third person dressed up as Uncle Sam.
Today? Nothing. For example, Starbucks, which always has a coffee blend or merchandise collection for every holiday occasion ,has ... something called a 'Miffy' collection for the summer. America 250?

Nothing.

Even shortly after coming out of a war which we did not win in 1975, there was far more unity in the nation in 1976 than there is in 2026.

Gee, I wonder why? No, not really!

The newly elected vice president of Massachusetts's top teachers' union is a longtime left-wing activist who has denounced the United States as a "fascist oligarchy," objected to national borders as a "construct of colonizers," and pushed resolutions condemning Israel as "genocidal."

Massachusetts, where, 250 years on, the shot heard round the world is a myth, or worse. If you wonder why multiple assassination attempts can happen and be cheered on, this is why.

Have a great day,

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:30 AM | Comments (268) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Daily Tech No News 26 May 2026

Top Story

• AMD's Zen 7 CPU is on its way with up to 16 cores per chiplet and 224MB of cache (including 3D V-cache), on TSMC's 1.4nm process. (WCCFTech)
  
  In 2028.
  
  Unless it isn't, in which case it's not.
  
  Like Zen 6, which will arrive in servers this year, the desktop version is expected to remain on the existing AM5 platform, making for easy upgrades.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (159) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Monday Overnight Open Thread (5/25/26)

["It's All Down Hill" - 12" x 12" acrylic - Mis. Hum.]

*****

The Quote of The Day

"In most industries, swords just don't make any damn sense. In this particular one, it actually does." James Jacobs

*****

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:40 PM | Comments (379) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Memorial Day Cafe

Wengen, Switzerland

A big old 1,400 pound pet cow. She's a co-host on The View. (To steal a Greg Gutfeld joke.)

This lamb has a rock and she's proud of it. She's Rock-Proud.

Rescued baby otter was set free, but always returns to greet his rescuer.

Raising prairie dogs.

Puppy can't believe how cute she is.

Adopting a senior dog who'd already been returned twice. Third time's the charm.

This baby already has a crow friend and I'm still putting out bread and danishes and getting disrespected like an idiot.

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 07:30 PM | Comments (109) | Trackbacks (Suck)

A Memorial Day tribute to a fallen comrade – “Arnie Nakkerud, You Are Not Forgotten”

An Ace of Spades reader sent me this touching essay written by her husband this Memorial Day to keep alive the memory of a fellow Army helicopter pilot who did not return from Vietnam.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 06:10 PM | Comments (90) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Urban Runs Open Thread

Another urban run, this one in Genoa:

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:00 PM | Comments (105) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Nerds' Open Thread

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (168) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Action Hero Family Matters Open Thread

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:55 PM | Comments (165) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Rescue Cuties Open Thread

Passchendaele, 1917

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:26 PM | Comments (136) | Trackbacks (Suck)

THE MORNING RANT: Student Loan Defaults and the 40-Year-Old, First-Time Home Owner

Millions Of Student Borrowers Are Defaulting: They Are 40 Years Old On Average https://t.co/ie1956fW8c

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 12, 2026

Young Americans are saddled with extraordinary amounts of the worst type of debt, student loans, and it is one of the reasons that they are delaying the most-important debt they can take on, specifically mortgage debt.

There are two debt trends that intersect at about the age of 40. This is the average age now of first-time mortgage borrowers, and it is also the average age of those defaulting on their student loans. There is correlation between these two problems. In 1990, the average age of first-time home buyers was under-30.

Home ownership, even with a mortgage payment, builds wealth. Unsecured student loan debt that discourages home ownership impedes wealth-building.

According to the Liberty Street Economics website published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average age of those defaulting on student loans is now 39-years old. But unlike traditional bankruptcies which relieve the debt burden, student loan debt is never relieved. Its default is subject to garnishment of wages, social security payments, and tax refunds. It also soils the credit rating of those defaulting, making it extremely difficult to ever obtain a mortgage.

There are so many variables at play in this mess, including the suspension of student loan repayments during the Covid panic and President Biden’s campaign promise ”to forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two-and four-year public colleges and universities.”

How to fix the student loan debacle is complicated, but one place to start is to immediately stop fueling the problem. Let’s stop loading up today’s 18-year-olds with crushing debt that enriches bloated colleges, many of which are left-wing indoctrination factories.

If universities had to provide guaranies for the student loans from which flow the tuition and fees the universities collect, they’d necessarily become more interested in limiting their dollar exposure. Even more important, they’d want to ensure that their students are getting degrees that lead to income-producing careers that will make possible repayment of their debt.

If the universities were to choose to start restricting credit-access to incoming students, that would then incentivize cost competition among colleges, and possibly even steer higher-education toward other models than the brick-and-ivy campus. If we’re honest, the traditional university model isn’t even about education, it’s about “the college experience,” making contacts, and obtaining an increasingly irrelevant credential. The actual education can inexpensively be obtained online for most areas of study.

Way too many young adults are starting their working careers with a “mortgage payment” worth of student loan debt, but the beneficiary is the university industrial complex. Student loan debt is destructive. Mortgage loan debt is beneficial. Let’s stop incentivizing the former at the expense of the latter.

*****

Throckmorton’s First Law of Live Music: “If there’s an upright bass in the band, it’s probably going to be good”

Today is Memorial Day, a sacred day in which we honor those who gave their lives in service to our country. There is no need to implore the readers of this blog to remember the purpose of this holiday, because you don’t need reminding. You are already patriots who revere those who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the United States.

My childhood best friend lost an uncle in Vietnam. 59 years later Uncle Jack is still remembered and revered in the family. Jack’s sister, my best friend’s mother, still grieves the loss of her only brother.

Here is Kathy Matea singing a sweet, sad song from the Civil War era titled “The Vacant Chair” about a family’s first Thanksgiving after their beloved Willie was killed in the fighting.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (249) | Trackbacks (Suck)

Mid-Morning Art Thread

Mending The Flag
Norman Rockwell

Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (193) | Trackbacks (Suck)

The Morning Report — 5/ 25/26

Good morning kids.

Today is of course Memorial Day, but the news does not take time off as is amply demonstrated by the lead story.

Maryland man was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service agents Saturday evening after allegedly opening fire near a White House security checkpoint, triggering a lockdown and a massive federal law enforcement response in the nation’s capital.

Multiple sources identified the suspect as Nasire Best, 21, of Maryland.

According to the United States Secret Service, the shooting unfolded around 6 p.m. near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW when the suspect allegedly removed a handgun from a bag and began firing toward officers stationed near the White House perimeter.

A senior administration official said Best fired approximately three shots before Secret Service agents returned fire and killed him. Authorities said the suspect never breached the White House grounds.

An adult bystander was struck during the exchange of gunfire, though the person’s condition was not immediately known.

Ho hun, ho hum, another potential if not probable assassination attempt on President Trump. What is this the fifth or sixth attempt already? Yes, horrendous as it is it's not necessarily the real story, which of course is the greatest existential threat to our nation that we have or will ever face, the societal/political elements within our society that seek absolute power and the complete upending of America as founded, its destruction and transmogrification into a totalitarian tyranny. The epicenter of that movement is the Democrat Party and all those who support it.

Hasan Kwame Jeffries, the younger brother of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, is a professor of history at Ohio State University. In a recent social media post, he invoked the violence of John Brown, suggesting ‘white supremacy’ should be ended “by any means necessary.” Jeffries cited John Brown, an American abolitionist known for advocating violence to end slavery. One quote from Brown that describes his philosophy states: “I am quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think vainly, flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.”
One person commented on the post, jokingly asking, “Are these ‘white supremacists’ in the room with you now?” Jeffries responded, “Nah. They’re in the White House.” The post further suggests that Jeffries was referring to President Trump and his administration in the original post.

In any case, and sincere apologies for that pornographic debasement as this is Memorial Day so let us remember all those who gave their llives in defense of this country and let us beg their forgiveness for allowing the cancer of the Hakeem Jeffries' in our midst to have gained positions of power and influence to the extent that the cause of freedom and the nation our loved ones gave their lives to defend and preserve is closer than ever to being lost.

I can only imagine my dear uncle, for whom I was named and who was cut to ribbons by a Jap machine gun on Saipan, looking down from Heaven and weeping at how low we have sunk.

Let us do what we can to ensure the sacrifices he and all who gave their lives were not in vain. God bless their memories.

Have a great day, one and all.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• The Navy will bury Fireman 3rd Class Royle Luker with full military honors on May 30 at New Bethel Cemetery in Plainview, the Arkansas town he left to enlist in June 1941, Stars and Stripes reported. Rear Adm. Michael Van Poots, deputy commander of Submarine Forces, will preside over the ceremony. (RELATED: Nearly 150 Dead From Pearl Harbor Attack Could Be On Track For Identification After Milestone Reached)
  Arkansas Teen Sailor Killed At Pearl Harbor Will Finally Be Laid To Rest After Nearly 85 Years
  
• Memorial Day means little if America cannot preserve the monuments honoring the men who gave their last full measure of devotion.
  Remembering the Memorials on Memorial Day
  
• Americans who, in shocking numbers, hate America know nothing of the values that made us the kindest, most generous country in history.
  On Memorial Day, Unpatriotic Americans Know Nothing of America’s Greatness
  
• Pride in past valor may be best expressed in the St. Crispin’s Day speech from “Henry V” (Act IV, Scene iii), delivered by the young king on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt. . .
  ‘We band of brothers:’ A Memorial Day meditation

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 06:45 AM | Comments (274) | Trackbacks (Suck)