August 17, 2026
Straight Shooters and Great Americans: Hugh Hefner Informed The FBI That a Playboy Playmate Had Been Sex-Trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein But They "Back-Burnered" The Tip and Did Nothing for 15 Years
What exactly would you say you do here?
Playboy founder and publisher Hugh Hefner reportedly informed the FBI several times in 2005 that a Playboy Playmate had been sexually trafficked and abused by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and others, but the FBI didn't investigate the claim for 15 years, according to court documents. The Playboy Playmate was Audra Christiansen, who says that Hefner made multiple reports to the FBI, but that the agency didn't follow up at the time, according to former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer. "To wait 15 years to conduct this interview and to actually get down to the nitty gritty ... that is just too long to wait," Coffindaffer told "NewsNation Prime" on Saturday. "Somehow, this got back-burnered, and it should have never happened that it would take so long for this investigation to follow through." ... Christiansen's story suggests that if the FBI had acted on Hefner's calls, Epstein could have been held to account for his actions long before he was arrested and held awaiting trial. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation in Florida for which he received a very lenient and highly criticized work-release jail sentence.The FBI agent says the cover-up and political weaponization agency might have been "swamped" at the time, doing 9/11 investigations. Still swamped in 2005?
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:27 PM | Comments (252) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The FBI Had Evidence Eric Swalwell Took Money From Chinese Spy Fang Fang, but -- Get This -- Buried It
Heads, pikes, some assembly required.
Steven Richards and John Solomon for Just the News:FBI had evidence Swalwell got illegal donations from suspected Chinese spy, bombshell memos showIn English, "eventually decided" means "corruptly decided."
The newly declassified investigation files also show that the FBI had initially tried to recruit the infamous Fang Fang as a source that could share information on Chinese influence operations targeting public officials in the United States.
The FBI developed evidence that a Chinese woman with direct ties to that country's intelligence service had potentially compromised a Democratic congressman from California with sex, foreign interns and illicit donations while she was being recruited to become a bureau informant a decade ago, according to bombshell memos that expose another threat to America's political system from Beijing. The files chronicling the relationship between Rep. Eric Swalwell and the Chinese national Fang Fang -- also known by her English name Christine Fang -- were declassified by President Donald Trump and released Monday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force as part of a broader effort to unmask foreign threats to U.S. political and election systems. They show the FBI opened a predicated investigation, which is a formal law enforcement inquiry backed by a factual basis or allegation that indicates a crime or national security threat already exists. Unlike unpredicated "assessments," a predicated investigation allows agents to use advanced and intrusive methods like electronic surveillance or informants. The files provide significant new details about the long-rumored relationship between Fang and Swalwell, including that: * The FBI initially wanted to investigate the congressman for a bribery scheme in which he exchanged donations from Fang for her planting interns in his office, but eventually decided to narrow the case to seek criminal charges only against Fang for making illegal donations to the California Democrat through conduits.
* Swalwell admitted to having sex with Fang, his staff placing Fang's interns in Congress and not having a strong enough campaign finance system to detect the straw donations she allegedly passed through U.S.-citizen conduits. * The Justice Department declined to prosecute Fang despite strong evidence of the illicit donations after she fled the U.S. as the FBI began interviewing her associates and raided her home. The early steps in the investigation were overseen in part by controversial prosecutor Jack Smith, who would later pursue Donald Trump on criminal charges.Holy shit. He's the garbage man they turn to every single time to take care of their trash.
"Rusty Thumbs" was the name of the degenerate sex act that Eric Swalwell liked having performed on him. Hello. Happy New Week! By the way: No crow updates. The crows kind of disappeared. I still hear them clattering but they don't visit, at least not when I'm looking.
* The FBI was recruiting Fang to be a confidential informant through an undercover agent, assigned her the code name Rusty Thumbs, planned to hire her through a cutout company and was still evaluating her suitability as a confidential human source when they discovered her alleged criminal behavior. * The FBI knew early on during the recruitment that Fang was tied to China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), Beijing's notorious intelligence service. The bureau also identified her parents as MSS agents, knew she was raising money for California Democrats and was willing to use sex as a means of getting ahead in the world of U.S. politics.
Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:19 PM | Comments (254) | Trackbacks (Suck)
THE MORNING RANT: Amazon’s Unconscionable Counterfeit Problem; Help is on the way thanks to (Trump’s) tariffs on de minimis Chinese imports
Fake supplements have been found to contain everything from harmless fillers like rice or flour to dangerous ingredients, including hidden pharmaceuticals, allergens, and heavy metals. Brands like Now Foods and Fungi Perfecta have discovered multiple counterfeit versions of their supplements sold on Amazon, sometimes by dozens of different storefronts.Even worse, counterfeit items sold by third-party sellers have found their way into the “Sold by Amazon” bins at distribution centers. Verifying that Amazon itself is the seller - not a third-party - still hasn’t been a reliable way to ensure that Amazon isn’t selling you a counterfeit product.
When you order a supplement on Amazon, you might assume it’s coming from the seller you picked. But with co-mingled inventory, Amazon ships the nearest unit in stock—even if it came from a different seller. Even items listed as “sold by Amazon” can be impacted if co-mingled inventory is involved.Amazon recently made another promise to try to stop selling commingled counterfeits in its “Sold by Amazon” channel. Perhaps this time they finally mean it. But nothing about that promise changes the fact that counterfeits sold by third-party sellers are still abundant on Amazon’s website, and listed just as prominently as authentic(?) goods. No one seems to know just how bad the problem of online counterfeiting is, but some recent tests indicate that the problem is extreme:
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM | Comments (294) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mid-Morning Art Thread
Chelsea Workhouse: A Bible Reading (Our Poor)
James Charles
Chelsea Workhouse: A Bible Reading (Our Poor)
James Charles
Posted by: CBD at 09:30 AM | Comments (310) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Morning Report — 8/ 17 /26
Good morning kids. So, how in Heaven's name did this happen?
Considering the Chi-Coms have already purchased untold thousands of acres of our farmland as well as land adjacent to many of our military bases, this really is not that surprising as it is disgusting and alarming. In this instance, I don't think there is any legislation that requires real estate agents or property owners to investigate or refuse to sell to any potential buyers. Then again considering the metastasis of the Confucius Institutes on our campuses as well as the infiltration of Red Chinese nationals into some of our most sensitive tech firms, who for sure would have been or should have been vetted by HR departments out the wahzoo. At least we have a tiny bit of sanity to celebrate coming out of Texas.
Good morning kids. So, how in Heaven's name did this happen?
Located approximately 650 feet northeast of the White House grounds, the 100-year-old Securities Building on 15th Street was purchased on July 21, 2026 [sic] for $8.4 million by the Philip Qiu and Family Foundation, filings show. The building’s new owner, Philip Qiu, has held numerous positions within Chinese intelligence and state security arms, according to
university records and DCNF translations of Chinese government announcements.
Considering the Chi-Coms have already purchased untold thousands of acres of our farmland as well as land adjacent to many of our military bases, this really is not that surprising as it is disgusting and alarming. In this instance, I don't think there is any legislation that requires real estate agents or property owners to investigate or refuse to sell to any potential buyers. Then again considering the metastasis of the Confucius Institutes on our campuses as well as the infiltration of Red Chinese nationals into some of our most sensitive tech firms, who for sure would have been or should have been vetted by HR departments out the wahzoo. At least we have a tiny bit of sanity to celebrate coming out of Texas.
Frankly, the very idea of this project rubbed me the wrong way. Why would airport officials in Texas be pandering to the Muslim community in such an obvious, unnecessary, discriminatory, and, as I see it, humiliating way? This is America.. . Apparently, I wasn’t the only one irked by the project. Many Americans opposed the installation of Wudu ablution stations — including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). In a Friday memo, Abbott announced he’d directed a review of all state grants to Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airports. The news release read (in part): These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal. Both airports are government-owned facilities. The federal and state constitutions prohibit government from facilitating this sort of discrimination. Just as the government cannot favor the secular over the sacred, it also cannot favor one religious view over all others.Actually, if these installations were made dual usage, I could support them. Muslim foot-washing and Dog Urinals. Plus Toilet paper with Koranic passages printed on them, although that could cause mass perianal-infections and we can't have that, can we? And of course this madness continues seemingly unabated, despite the best efforts of President Trump which to date has been yielding considerable successes. And hence we have to contend with what amounts to mass insurrection
Democrats in blue states across the country have swamped their legislatures with an avalanche of nearly 250 pro-migrant bills to thwart President Donald Trump’s immigration and deportation policies... The bills have been enthusiastically supported by state Democrats, but many have been opposed by legal action by the federal government. In some blue states, though, some of the measures have even been vetoed by Democrat governors who fear the measures go too far... The left is using liberal judges to obstruct the president’s mandate, says James Percival, General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security: “They know if they can just get enough crazy district judges to do enough crazy things, they can run out the clock.”There is only one proper response to this and that is the ramping up of ICE operations to deport as many illegal aliens as possible and the utter rejection of all rulings by any court that attempts to interfere with the legal operation of federal authorities in the securing of our borders and defense of our national security and protenction of the citizenry. Meanwhile the Democrats continue to take their "Lumps" shall we say, and it's delicious.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) responded to a recent poll that found that more than half of Democrats have a positive view of socialism over capitalism, stating that “this is lunacy.”If you had told me back when Fetterman ran and defeated Mehmet Oz back in 2022 that he would actually not only sound and even on occasion act sane I'd have said you were crazy. Yet there he is supporting Israel, secure borders and publicly calling out his own party as insane. Yes, there is no doubt that his past as a died-in-the-wool lib means he will always vote the way the party leadership demands. And yet, there he is and there he goes. Good for him. Be nice if we had an actual conservative saying what he's saying instead of going down on Mitch McConnell's heir apparent du jour, be it Thune or Cornyn or God-forbid Susan Collins or whoever. While we're on the subject of madness there's this:
It’s mid-August. That can only mean one thing – Democrat politicians spreading fabrications about the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. The most persistent fabrication is the claim that Brown was a “gentle giant” gunned down while his hands were raised up and saying don’t shoot. “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” became the slogan of the organized Black Lives Matter movement, which was launched after the Brown shooting. . . This year was quieter than most years but leave it to Rashida Tlaib to tweet that Michael Brown was “murdered”: Mike Brown should still be with us today.Yeah, were it not for the fact of Democrats' and LBJ's Great Society that caused the genocide (There's a word for you Lefties!) of the black family and the general societal dissolution that we are suffering 60 years on and will continue until there is a radical change in culture and education back to normalcy. Oh, Senator Fetterman if you want to see lunacy in action, here's a gigantic heaping helping of it that you should call out, but probably won't. Oh well... Have a good day,
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:00 AM | Comments (439) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 17 August 2026
Top Story
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says the AI backlash is fundamentally a crisis of trust and also that water is wet. (Tech Crunch)
Well... Yes.
- Anthropic is planning to watermark text produced by their AI systems. (Bleeping Computer)
At fault is the European Union, as usual.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (67) | Trackbacks (Suck)
August 16, 2026
Sunday Overnight Open Thread - August 16, 2026 [Doof]
[Top photo: White pine tree remnant on the banks of Plymouth Harbor (short walk from Plymouth Rock). Photo taken in July 2026. Grok says the root ball / stump was spotted in September 2014 by the whale-watch boat Tales of the Sea about 2 miles off-shore then recovered by the vessel Protector. I am unable to find any information online about this. Weird.]
[Top photo: White pine tree remnant on the banks of Plymouth Harbor (short walk from Plymouth Rock). Photo taken in July 2026. Grok says the root ball / stump was spotted in September 2014 by the whale-watch boat Tales of the Sea about 2 miles off-shore then recovered by the vessel Protector. I am unable to find any information online about this. Weird.]
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (431) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gun Thread: Third August Edition!
Posted by: Weasel at 07:00 PM | Comments (266) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Food Thread: Ripe Tomatoes, Dust Safety, And Chewy Meringues!
Posted by: CBD at 04:00 PM | Comments (236) | Trackbacks (Suck)
First World Problems...
Posted by: CBD at 02:00 PM | Comments (262) | Trackbacks (Suck)
On The One Hand, Iran's Economy Is imploding...On The Other Hand, The Mullahs And IRGC Are Willing To Suffer A Lot!
We Need More Hands!
We Need More Hands!
Every second that goes by weakens the Iranian attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz. There are multiple projects underway to create the infrastructure to bypass the chokepoint of Hormuz, and not just pipelines that bypass it. Shale oil, fracking, horizontal drilling, vast improvements in techniques to maximize production in existing wells, reopening huge oil fields like in the North Sea, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and the Trump administration push to make America an energy exporter have all contributed to the decrease in the importance of Hormuz, and Iran's power over the world oil economy.
Guyana is becoming a serious producer, Venezuela's oil industry slide into unimportance has been stopped, even Canada is quietly producing for their customers in the Pacific. But...the Mullahs and the IRGC are willing to cause massive damage to the people and the economy of Iran to further their geopolitical goal of a religious armageddon. They will not surrender, and they will not relieve the pressure on the people...they simply don't care. Their goal is simple...survive to continue their quest for the destruction of Israel, America, and the West. But...their blockade, incomplete as it may be, is cementing their position as the enemy of the Gulf states, and it will have far-reaching consequences both diplomatically and economically for years to come. The massive American and Israeli military response to Iran has destroyed most of the military industrial capacity, has destroyed most of their missile stocks and anti-aircraft capability, and has killed a huge number of their senior leadership, which has created a massive power struggle across the Mullahcracy and the IRGC. But...American resolve has an expiration date. The United States is not in the business of colonialism, and when we tried it, we failed miserably, so "fixing" Iran is not and hopefully will not be a part of our geopolitical goals. The Mullahs and the IRGC believe that simply waiting us out will be a win. But...economic pressure, coupled with a Western naval presence in the Strait of Hormuz will gradually erode the ability of the Mullahs and the IRGC to control the Iranian people and to project power through their terrorist proxies. It will also take Iran and Hormuz off the front page, since economic warfare and boring escorting of commercial vessels is far less interesting for the hysterical media. But...President Trump is fanatical about the appearance of a deal, and perhaps he will settle for a public deal that sounds good but has no substance. But...it is entirely possible that Iran is on the brink. They do not have the foreign exchange to purchase enough gasoline to run their economy, their central planning has been destroyed, the death of Khamenei Senior has left a huge hole in the message being conveyed to the faithful. The Mullahcracy might just wither away. But...The IRGC is dug in like ticks, and getting rid of them will be a massive undertaking. Even if the Mullahs fade into nothing, the IRGC will be a danger, at least until they become a priority target of the American armed forces. Or even better: the Persian people! See my point? The perspective on the Iranian situation is complex, and there are rational arguments to be made from most sane sides. One reason stands out...we are dealing with a mindset that is completely foreign to Western culture. There is no risk/benefit calculation being made in Tehran. There is no sensitivity to civilian casualties. There is no sense of honor or respect during "negotiations." There is no cultural imperative for truth. There is one goal, and the means justifies the end to an extent that most westerners cannot comprehend. That of course supports one clear strategy...the total destruction of the Mullahs and the IRGC. Whether that happens economically or militarily remains to be seen, but there will be no end to the Iranian Problem until that occurs!Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (256) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Sunday Morning Book Thread 8-16-2026 [Sabrina Chase]The Importance of Genre
Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (300) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Daily Tech News 16 August 2026
Top Story
- Every fusion power startup that has raised over $100 million. (Tech Crunch)
Your weekly reminder that it is the 21st century, and not everything is poop-flavoured ice cream.
In a truly 21st century maneuver, one of the companies on the list announced plans to merge with a group owned by the sitting US president last December in a $6 billion deal.
- Speaking of the sitting US president and deals Nvidia's latest financial reports show that the company has made a $25 billion on-paper profit from its $5 billion investment in Intel. (Tom's Hardware)
President Trump rewrote former President Biden's original grant of $10 billion to Intel - which had strings attached that the company couldn't meet - into $10 billion in non-voting stock, netting the public a neat $50 billion paper profit.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM | Comments (181) | Trackbacks (Suck)
August 15, 2026
Saturday Night Club ONT - August 15, 2026 [Disco & Dino] 
Welcome to Club ONT - a real and spectacular collaboration of The Disco and The Dino.
Come in in, grab a drink or 3. Keep it light and friendly. The moose is taking attendance, so please check in before entering.
Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 PM | Comments (300) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Saturday Evening Movie Post [moviegique]: Young Washington
"Washington! Washington!"
To Internet users of a particular vintage, those two words spoken together immediately trigger a semi-musical rapid hyper-ventilation and a litany of unlikely attributes and accomplishments ascribed to our first President. But The Boy and I kept that to a minimum as we partook of Young Washington on this 250th anniversary of our independence.
This is the latest big effort from Angel Studios, who did The Sound of Freedom, among others, complete with a pitch for you to buy tickets for people to come see the movie.
This is much like Sound of Freedom now that I think about it, with many of the same strengths and flaws. I think it's better overall, and highly enjoyable, yet not quite to the level of the Korean historical dramas we used to be able to see in Koreatown.
Significantly, however, it serves the same purpose. And it earned its $20M budget back at the box office on the first weekend, so it won't be a money loser. For The Boy and I, it increased our hunger for more such material, basically unplumbed since I was a child.
"Oh, there he goes again, revoluting."
Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:30 PM | Comments (150) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Hobby Thread - August 15, 2026 [TRex] 
Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling lucky and decided on a fire truck theme for this Hobby Thread.
A what? A fire truck theme? [Top photo: 1922 Howe fire truck on a Ford Model T chassis at the former Kokomo, IN Automotive Museum, photo credit David D Jackson]Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (208) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Ace of Spades Pet Thread, August 15
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Good afternoon and welcome to the almost world famous Ace of Spades Pet Thread. Thanks for stopping by. Kick back and enjoy the world of animals.
Would you like a treat?
Let's relax a little with the animals and leave the world of politics and current events outside today.
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Posted by: K.T. at 03:28 PM | Comments (62) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Aug. 15
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Hi KT, I took this at the farm stand in Sonoma this morning - the photo is not retouched or edited. San FranpsychoIt's the season - even in Sonoma. What a great photo!
Posted by: K.T. at 01:31 PM | Comments (60) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Mascots of the Anointed
Mascots of the Anointed
After the unfortunate death of Jason Arday, Ed Driscoll wrote: IT RARELY ENDS WELL FOR A MASCOT OF THE ANOINTED: "The real [Arday] story is of an elite academic world that was so excited by a compelling narrative that they rushed a clearly mentally unbalanced man with no real qualifications to the heights of academia because he ticked so many useful boxes." The sentence just above quotes Enguerrand VII de Coucy but the Mascot of the Anointed phrase is linked to a short archived piece from 1995 by Thomas Sowell in which "the anointed" worked at the New York Times and their "mascots" were old prison inmates. Thomas Sowell:The "New York Times" recently ran a front-page story dripping with sympathy for a multiple murderer who is now very old and who, on some days, "cannot remember" why he is in prison. His victims, however, cannot remember anything on any days. There are also photographs of him and other prisoners. One prisoner is described as having a disease that "brings mental deterioration." Another, with his legs amputated, is shown trying to catch a baseball on his knees. Yet another prisoner is shown in a wheelchair.
All sorts of heart-tugging stories are told about elderly inmates who are succumbing to various diseases and infirmities of age. There are, however, no stories at all about their victims, or their victims' widows or orphans, or how tough their lives have been. . .
Posted by: K.T. at 11:22 AM | Comments (215) | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival *****
Good morning boys and girls and everything in between. Before we enter the Prayer Revival there are just a few housekeeping matters to go over. (Rulz for those of you in Black Earth)
1) This is an open thread. Feel free to lurk, opine and/or bloviate.
2) Be kind, be nice. Enjoy our sanctuary.
3) No running with sharp objects.
4) Have a great weekend!
[H/T: Meme - Hrothgar. Research indicates Misanthropes do as well]
2) Be kind, be nice. Enjoy our sanctuary.
3) No running with sharp objects.
4) Have a great weekend!
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at 08:00 AM | Comments (388) | Trackbacks (Suck)
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