Music Mania

Music still matters:

The state-funded University of North Texas went after Prof. Timothy Jackson, and the case eventually involved TX Attorney General Ken Paxton and former state Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell. The case ended with a joint stipulation of dismissal, as Jackson agreed to accept a settlement of $725,000, according to Just the News. It is unfortunate that many academics these days are so obsessed with politics and race-baiting that they try to make everything about those topics, which is what Jackson found out, to his cost. In this case, Jackson reportedly claimed that an accusation of racism against his journal’s namesake was antisemitic. But leftist academia encourages antisemitism; that’s not considered racism or harmful prejudice. From Just the News: UNT kicked Jackson out of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, named after German music theorist Heinrich Schenker, and put it on ice for five years after Jackson published an issue responding to a black peer's claims that the Jewish Schenker was an "ardent racist." Jackson's critique in volume 12 said Hunter College professor Phillip Ewell peddled a "conspiracy theory" that is “part and parcel of the much broader current of Black anti-semitism." He also said musical tastes argued why few black people are music theorists, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle, which saw volume 12 before UNT pulled it. But with the new settlement, Jackson once more has control over his music theory journal and also has a reduced workload.

Keep on listening to the music...

Pen Games

More bad news for Biden:

The Times claims internal emails “show that the Biden White House had a process to establish that Mr. Biden had orally made decisions in meetings before the staff secretary, Stefanie Feldman, who managed use of the autopen, would have clemency records put through the signing device.” But then comes the line that seemingly undercuts the entire narrative being peddled by The Times: “Mr. Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed. Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence,” The Times’ Charlie Savage and Tyler Pager wrote. According to the report citing an aide, however, “small changes to the list” kept occurring after Biden “signed off,” and so, “Rather than ask Mr. Biden to keep signing revised versions, his staff waited and then ran the final version through the autopen, which they saw as a routine procedure.”

He didn't sign on the dotted line...

Man Thing

That might be a man, baby:

The pair had originally been convicted for spreading false information before the Paris appeals court on Thursday overturned the verdict. The initial ruling ordered the two women to pay $9,300 in damages to Brigitte Macron, and $5,800 to her brother. BRIGITTE MACRON TO INTERNET TROLLS: "SEE YOU IN TOP COURT" France's First Lady is done with wild online rumors claiming she's secretly her own brother named Jean-Michel. She's suing the two women who started it, and after a lower court let them slide, she's now taking it to… https://t.co/1xZsAdodaQ pic.twitter.com/VPOPWujeDj — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 14, 2025 France24 reports: "Brigitte Macron filed a libel complaint against the two women after they posted a YouTube video in December 2021, alleging she had once been a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux – who is actually Brigitte Macron's brother. "In the video, defendant Amandine Roy, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium, interviewed Natacha Rey, a self-described independent journalist, for four hours on her YouTube channel. "Rey spoke about the 'state lie' and 'scam' she claimed to have uncovered that Jean-Michel Trogneux had changed gender to become Brigitte, and then married the future president."

Who do you really love...

Firing Lines

Trump can still fire them:

The decision temporarily pauses an order by a lower court judge that had reinstated roughly 1,400 employees at the Education Department. In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon laid off half of the department's workforce as part of the Trump administration's broader reduction in force efforts. Later that month, Trump announced in an executive order that he planned to shutter the department altogether. The Supreme Court's order arose from two lawsuits, including one brought by 20 Democratic-led states that challenged the Education Department's layoffs and planned closure. The plaintiffs argued to the high court that the Trump administration's "record abundantly reveals" that its "true intention is to effectively dismantle the Department without an authorizing statute." The Trump administration responded that the layoffs did not prove the department was being shuttered and that the department plans to carry out its legally required functions. Congress would need to approve a full shutdown of the department's functions.

Kind of like a dying patient...

Love Disconnection

There's no love lost between AI and Generation Z:

A new Bloomberg Intelligence survey has found that Generation Z, broadly defined as those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, is less comfortable with AI-powered features in dating apps compared to their millennial counterparts. The survey, which polled nearly 1,000 US respondents between May 15 and 29, 2025, was conducted by Attest on behalf of Bloomberg Intelligence. The findings suggest that Gen Z users are more wary of using AI to draft profile prompts, respond to messages, or modify profile pictures than millennials. This hesitancy could spell trouble for dating app companies that have made sizable investments in AI technology to attract and retain younger users. Bloomberg Intelligence technology analyst Nicole D’Souza, who authored the report, noted that these AI features might be unnecessary for many users. The survey revealed that nearly half of the respondents had no issues creating their profiles without AI assistance and that most did not struggle with conversations with potential matches. The survey results highlight the challenges faced by dating app companies like Match Group and Bumble as they heavily invest in AI to appeal to younger users who have different social norms and dating preferences compared to other generations. Gen Z, in particular, is more likely to abstain from dating or prefer long-term relationships over casual ones, a shift that may have been influenced by pandemic-era isolation and a preference for in-person interactions. This shift in dating habits has led to eight consecutive quarters of subscriber declines at Match, which owns popular brands such as Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, and OkCupid. Competitor Bumble has also struggled with revenue and paid-user slumps in recent quarters. Match CEO Spencer Rascoff, who assumed the role in February, acknowledged that the company failed to “recognize and respond to changes in the younger demographic” as millennials aged.

Old fashioned romance is not dead...

Pen Problems

Biden isn't exactly helping his case:

Biden sent mixed signals to the Times about his supposed involvement in the issuance of a record number of pardons and commutations in the final days of his presidency. "I made every single one of those," Biden said regarding the clemency decisions late in his term. "And — including the categories, when we set this up to begin with. And so — but I understand why Trump would think that, because obviously, I guess, he doesn't focus much. Anyway, so — yes, I made every decision." Despite attributing the clemency decisions to himself, Biden also indicated that his fingerprints might not be on any of them. In addition to telling the Times that he orally communicated his decisions to aides — a possible tell that there might be a lack of papered evidence showing that he directly approved the last-minute pardons — Biden noted both that the autopen was used liberally because there were "a whole lot of people" and that he did not personally approve every individual categorical clemency.

He still wasn't there...

Mothers Talk

Just tell them the truth:

Pen Name

The person behind the pardon:

According to emails that were leaked to The New York Times, White House aide Jeff Zients approved the use of autopen to sign off on Fauci’s pardon. Take a look at this major new development: BREAKING: Reportedly Dr. Fauci’s Presidential pardon was approved at 10:30 PM by White House aide Jeff Zients, using Joe Biden’s autopen signature. pic.twitter.com/n3mlNu5yzz — The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) July 14, 2025 Oh Shizzles… ‼️ According to emails leaked to NYT, Anthony Fauci’s pardon was approved at 10:30pm by WH aid Jeff Zients using the AUTOPEN signature Does that mean Fauci’s pardon is now Null and Void? pic.twitter.com/tcGMFOX3ve — MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) July 14, 2025 The New York Times report reads: At the Jan. 19 meeting, which took place in the Yellow Oval Room of the White House residence, Mr. Biden kept his aides until nearly 10 p.m. to talk through such decisions, according to people familiar with the matter. The emails show that an aide to Mr. Siskel sent a draft summary of Mr. Biden’s decisions at that meeting to an assistant to Mr. Zients, copying Mr. Siskel, at 10:03 p.m. The assistant forwarded it to Mr. Reed and Mr. Zients, asking for their approval, and then sent a final version to Ms. Feldman — copying many meeting participants and aides — at 10:28 p.m. Three minutes later, Mr. Zients hit “reply all” and wrote, “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons.” Notably, Jeff Zients is one of the people that Rep. James Comer is calling to testify as part of his investigation into the autopen scandal.

Will the real signer please stand up...

Nazi Elmo

Hate Me Elmo:

The posts, which have now since been deleted, featured the children’s icon, who is usually known to push positive and apolitical content, saying nasty words about Jews while pushing Qanon conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein. “Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. F*** JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU’S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED,” the puppet said in one post. “RELEASE THE FILES [Donald Trump] CHILD FUCKER,” he said in another. “Kill all Jews,” he also said. The posts were deleted; the account has given no official statement on the matter.

Maybe they were too busy fighting evil Elmo...

Hoax Haters

People haven't fallen for it:

While the number of Americans afraid of the sky falling increased from 35% in 1989 to 40% in 2000, it has remained stagnant since then. That initial small change occurred when climate change activism became a lucrative grift after NASA scientist James Hansen testified before the U.S. Senate in 1988, claiming that climate change was already happening. “The data showed that in 1989, 35% of those polled admitted they were ‘greatly afraid,’ and those numbers have basically stayed the same, with 39% feeling that way in 2000, and five years later, that number sits at 40 per cent,” Enten said. “We went back all the way to 1989, look at that, it was 35%,” he added. “2000, 40%. 2020, 46%. And in 2025, 40%. Which is the exact same percentage as back in 2000.” The CNN journalist blamed climate change activists for failing to convince Americans that global warming was happening. “Americans aren’t afraid of climate change!” Enten lamented. “Climate activists have not successfully made the case to the American people!”

Scare tactics haven't worked...

Last Laughs

Comedy is dead:

You can’t scrub history clean and expect to learn anything. Archie was wrong—but visible. Al was broken—but honest. Eddie’s Buckwheat was offensive—but on purpose. We don’t grow by pretending. We grow by watching it all. Laughing at what hurts. Cringing at what used to be okay. Sitting in that discomfort until it teaches us something. I know; some people reading this will say, "Don't forget about 'Blazing Saddles'!" Everything I've illustrated was condensed into a two-hour movie. But I'm staying small-screen. We used to trust viewers to get it. Now we build bubble wrap and whisper down the hallway, hoping nobody files a complaint. Here’s the ugly truth: wokeness isn’t empathy. It’s erasure. It erases messy truth. It erases humor that doesn’t come with a handbook. It erases every sketch, show, and scene that dares to offend on the way to a greater point. We lost comedy because we stopped trusting people. We stopped trusting them to tell it. To hear it. To live with it. And if we don’t fight for the right to laugh again—deep belly laughs that sting and stick and shake you—we’ll lose something bigger than entertainment. We’ll lose the one place we used to come together to feel human. Even if it hurt.

Comedy was never meant to be painless...

Dog Catchers

Curb your cur:

Wamiz, a French-language site devoted to news of our four-legged friends, reported on Tuesday that anyone walking a dog “on the streets of Iran now risks more than just a fine – and it's all down to deeply religious reasons.” Walking a dog has been illegal for years in Tehran and many other cities, and now there is nowhere in the entire Islamic Republic that you can take your dog for a walk and not risk running afoul of the nation’s feared morality police. The ban is designed, according to Iranian authorities, to "maintain public order, ensure security and protect public health." Wamiz, however, notes that “critics suspect a cultural-political message behind the crackdown.” This because for many Islamic hardliners in Iran, having a dog as a pet is not just unclean, but also shows that the dog owner has succumbed to the Satanic lure of the Western lifestyle. There are few things one can do to arouse more suspicion among Iranian authorities. Owning a dog is such a bad thing to do in the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Ayatollah Khamenei himself has emphasized that "keeping dogs for reasons other than herding, hunting, and guard dogs is to be considered reprehensible.” He explained that "walking dogs damages Islamic culture as well as hygiene and the peace of others.”

Keep your freedom on a tight leash...

Pop Songs

Tradition hits the charts:

“It’s a stark cultural contrast from last summer,” Semafor noted, recalling last year having been “defined” by the rise of “boundary-pushing” pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Charli XCX, whose “brat summer” trend “was embraced by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.” But in the summer of 2025, “things are looking very different” with regards to which musicians are popular in the United States, pop music commentator and podcaster Sam Murphy pointed out. “What they’re representing is a shift toward something far more safer, far more traditional, and far more conservative,” Murphy said. “Many of these names have strong religious beliefs or religious backgrounds, [and] it is coming through in the music.” Veteran pop stars, meanwhile, “haven’t managed to cut through,” the podcaster added, citing Lady Gaga’s 2025 studio album, Mayhem, with singles “Abracadabra” and “Disease” struggling on the charts. “They both failed to get into the Top 10,” Murphy said, adding that instead, Lady Gaga’s new song, “Die with a Smile” is “the huge single off the record, and that represents something far more traditional.”

Safety comes in first...

Free Climbers

Let them climb:

The World Health Organization says that 81 percent of adolescents worldwide do not get enough physical activity, noting that rates of sedentary behavior in young people tend to rise as their country develops economically. In some American cities, the Trust for Public Land says, as many as two-thirds of children lack access to the kinds of nearby parks that would encourage free play. And a report by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative, a national program aimed at increasing youth-sports participation, concluded that compared with other activities, such as organized sports, “free play is all but a thing of the past.” Some kids lack access to woods, fields, and other open spaces where they might romp free. Some have parents who forbid that brand of tomfoolery. In the United States, many parents habitually tamp down on horseplay out of fear of injury to their children (or their furniture)—or because social norms dictate that they get their squiggly kids unsquiggled and into waiting rooms, subways, stores, airplanes, and restaurants, where children are expected to “behave.” That impulse, however, risks reinforcing the notion that sedentariness is preferable at a time in a kid’s life when they really do need to move.

Move or lose...

Store Wars

The cult of the local grocery store:

It’s a little like being a superfan of the bank: A place that was once entirely utilitarian is now a place to line up to get into. On social media, people profess their love for the Pennsylvania convenience store Wawa and talk about Target like it’s a habit-forming substance. Recently, I saw a guy at a bar wearing $300 pants and a sweatshirt with a logo for Kirkland Signature, the Costco house brand. When Wegmans, a supermarket chain based in upstate New York, officially opened on Long Island in February, people—they prefer the term Wegmaniacs—started waiting in line the night before. (Wegmania is so almighty that the company recently opened a high-end sushi restaurant in Lower Manhattan.) Fong’s Instagram account, @traderjoesobsessed, has more followers than Fiji has residents. The supermarket is now a brand unto itself, not just the building that houses the other brands, and its shoppers aren’t just brand-loyal—they’re fanatical. Maybe this was inevitable. Over the past two decades, after all, fandom has escaped sci-fi conventions and high schools to become the animating force in cultural and political life. Fans drive what art gets created, what products get made, who gets canceled, and who gets venerated. They have remade language and remodeled social life: We stan now, and we find fraternity in our fandom, and we expect the corporations we love to love us back. Susan Kresnicka is an anthropologist who now studies fandom on behalf of corporate clients; she told me that in surveys, some 85 percent of Americans consider themselves a fan of something—a film franchise, a product, a music group, an influencer. Fandom, Kresnicka told me, is now “part of our lexicon of self,” a means of connecting with others and making sense of who we are. Political and cultural affiliation have declined, and the internet has enabled a new kind of community building and identity signaling, one that is anchored to consumption rather than creed. “I mean, consumer behavior and signaling has taken the place of religion at this point,” the Wharton marketing professor Michael Platt told me. All culture is consumer culture now, and the grocery store is the physical store that the most people go into most often—a place that Americans visit more often than church.

Gird thy shopping carts...

Funeral Procession

Goodbye:

WATCH! Employees carry out belongings after over 1300 fired at the State Dept pic.twitter.com/sLpwiYWPZk

— Alex Raufoglu (@ralakbar) July 11, 2025

Election Rejection

How to really save democracy:

If the Trump administration does one thing, if history marks this 2025-2029 presidential term only for restoring the American people's faith in our elections and our voter registration rolls, that will be enough. Oh, the Trump administration, as we noted, has done a lot more than that, and we still have three and a half years to go. This, however, is the most important thing. This is the elephant in the room, especially after the 2020 elections, in which a lot of people still harbor a lot of doubt. We cannot have that happen again. The Trump administration seems determined that this will not happen again. Without honest elections, there can be no republic. If we lose this fight, we lose everything. Those are the stakes. That's why, in next year's midterms and every election hereafter, we have to do our part as well: Vote. Vote as though the survival of the republic depends on it, because it does.

Vote or literally die...

Meme Mania

Memes win:

Mackey’s story reads like something out of an Orwellian nightmare. Operating under the online alias “Ricky Vaughn,” he was part of the irreverent meme culture that exploded during the 2016 presidential election. His most infamous post was a tongue-in-cheek graphic designed to look like a Hillary Clinton campaign ad: “Avoid the Line—Vote from Home! Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925.” It was obvious satire – no state permits voting by text – but the Biden Department of Justice treated it as criminal “election interference.” Moreover, Because Mackey’s private chat included other meme makers, the DOJ piled on a Civil War-era “conspiracy against rights” count – a charge stemming from legislation written to stop the Ku Klux Klan from burning polling places, not to regulate edgy internet jokes. The statute carries a potential 10-year sentence.

Don't mock the meme haters...

Radical Flags

The UK goes after its own people:

The UK’s Prevent anti-terrorism program now classifies “cultural nationalism,” the idea that mass migration and lack of cultural integration are threatening British identity, as a gateway to terrorism. Yet, that’s not a fringe conspiracy theory. That’s in government training materials, which warn that citizens who believe Western culture is “under threat” should be treated as potential radical extremists requiring “intervention.” Welcome to the UK in 2025, where patriotism is now probable cause. “This is a matter of serious concern,” wrote Lord Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, in a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Young slammed the government for expanding the definition of extremism to include perfectly lawful, mainstream views. And it’s not just hypothetical. Young noted that even former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who warned against “excessive, uncontrolled migration,” and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said immigration could turn Britain into “an island of strangers,” would now be flagged as radicals. Britain’s own government leaders would be deemed terrorist-adjacent under their own anti-radicalization rubric.

The law of unintended consequences strikes hard...

Fee Foolery

It's somebody else's living:

On the bill was a $13 Reuben sandwich, a $12 burger, two sides of fries for $4 each and an 18% "living wage fee" that tacked on an additional $5.94 — bringing his total, with $1.81 in tax, to $40.75. Below the total was a disclaimer from the unnamed restaurant saying, "Living wage fee of 18% added to each dine-in check. This fee goes directly to staff payroll and provides a living wage to our team." The notice also said that any tips given would be pooled and distributed among the "entire team." The post received over 500 comments and was shared across the internet, including on Reddit. People debated the levy and brought up similarly controversial policies, such as "kitchen appreciation" fees and health and safety surcharges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox News Digital reached out to the original poster for comment. "The business owner should be embarrassed to even have that on the bill," one person on Reddit said. "If they can't pay the staff, don't do business. Your business skills are clearly not good to not be able to pay the workers sufficiently."

It's not the customer's job to pay your employees...

Bill Burn

Scott Jennings strikes again:

Scott Jennings didn’t wait for introductions before lighting a fuse on CNN’s panel.

He went directly after Senator Thom Tillis, dismissing his criticism of the GOP’s Big Beautiful Bill as not just wrong, but politically clueless.

“I think he's wrong,” Jennings said without… pic.twitter.com/dZEnfWZK0t

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) July 9, 2025

Lost Tricks

Democrats are failing:

An NBC News Decision Desk Poll released in mid-June revealed that 57% of voters held an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party. The party's radical messaging on illegal aliens and deportations certainly didn't help its cause, given the majority of Americans support President Donald Trump's handling of immigration and border security. According to a new poll conducted by the Democratic super PAC Unite the Country and obtained by The Hill, enthusiasm within the party continues to fade — and disenchantment is spreading. The poll, conducted in 21 battleground counties across 10 battleground states, found that Democrats' emphasis on fighting for democracy — empty signaling that clearly did not help them in November — is not doing the trick, and their ruinous immigration policies are further alienating voters.

The act isn't working anymore...

Blogging In The Years: 2002

The ones that we want:

Angry Answers

Where the left's anger came from:

One is an obviously bleeding Democratic Party. Despite gushing about its new DEI, illegal alien, trans, and Middle Eastern constituents, it has no political power. Its issues are mostly 30-70 losers. It has little power in the House or Senate beyond fake-filibusters, performative outrage, or profanity-laced rants. It lost the White House. The Supreme Court eventually nullified the illegality of left-wing district judges. It does not trust the people, so plebiscites and ballot measures are mostly out. Two, unlike his first term, Trump is addressing the causes, not just the symptoms, of the progressive project, whether on the border, crime, cultural issues, or foreign policy. This time around, there are no John Boltons, no Rex Tillersons, no Alexander Vindmans, and no Anonymouses from the inside to thwart the Trump agenda. The administration is loyalist and committed to addressing the root causes of the left-wing influence, not just its manifestations. So, Trump has focused on leftist sacred cows like NPR, PBS, the elite campuses, USAID, and the administrative state — all the inculcators and laboratories of leftist ideology. Finally, the left is outraged that so far, the Trump counterrevolution is working. The economy is solid. The border is closed. Military recruitment has radically recovered. The budget bill has passed. The Iranian nuclear threat has lessened. NATO is strengthening. The Middle East has a chance for calm. Tariffs did not cause inflation. Deportations created more, not fewer, American jobs. Biological men will likely no longer be winning women's athletic contests. Add it all up, and the impotent left in all its orthodox and street manifestations has become unhinged.

They've been that way for a long time, it's just out in the open now...

Spanish Surprise

Spanish socialists are in trouble:

Speaking in parliament Wednesday at an extraordinary session about a corruption probe involving a former Socialist Party official, the Spanish leader took responsibility for his poor judgement but repeatedly said he would not step down, calling himself “an honest politician” with “the pride of leading an exemplary party.” “I will not throw in the towel,” Sánchez said. The left-wing Spanish leader spoke about a week after a Supreme Court judge ordered the pretrial detention of Santos Cerdán, a former aide to the prime minister and previously the third-most senior member of the Socialist Party, over allegations that he received kickbacks for public works contracts. On Wednesday, Sánchez presented 15 anti-corruption measures, including bringing more transparency to political and public financing, and working with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to crack down on graft. Other measures involved blacklisting companies found guilty of corruption, using artificial intelligence to oversee public procurement contracts, and sanctioning political parties involved in graft.

Ring the bell, they're done...

Choice Rewards

Choice comes for parents:

Tax-credit scholarships, usually operated on the state level, are a form of school choice that allows individuals or businesses to receive full or partial credits when they contribute to a nonprofit that provides private school scholarships. The tax code change is permanent because there is no expiration date in the law. “Parents should decide where their kids go to school," said Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. "This bill helps them do that." Cassidy authored the "Educational Choice for Children Act" that was included within the “One Big, Beautiful Bill." Under the new legislation, any taxpayer who donates up to $1,700 annually to a scholarship-granting organization is eligible for a federal income tax credit for their full contribution, or an equal amount in a reduction of taxes owed. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, there is no other charitable giving structure that allows this type of dollar-for-dollar tax incentive. This bill relies on state governments to designate which scholarship groups can receive funds. The American Federation for Children has been advocating for school choice legislation for 10 years, according to Fox News.

Giving credits where credits are due...

Big Bird

The bird won't be making a comeback:

The emu is only distantly related to the giant moa. Both birds are members of the infraclass Palaeognathae, which includes five orders of birds, including the ratites, which include the flightless rheas, ostriches, cassowaries, and emus, as well as the tinamous of Latin America, which can fly. The moas, though, were members of the order Dinornithiformes, while emus are in the order Casuariiformes. In other words, they are not particularly closely related. Remember the whole dire wolf "de-extinction" thing? Same kind of problems here. The pups produced weren't dire wolves. They were genetically modified gray wolves. And the dire wolf is a member of the same subtribe as the gray wolf, the Canini. The emu and moa are connected at the infraclass level, several cladistic levels higher. So, a considerably more distant relation than dire wolf/gray wolf.

Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should...

Old Rock, New Rock

Out with the old, in with the middle aged:

While Oasis enjoyed a decent amount of popularity in the United States, with three Top Ten albums and one Top Ten hit (“Wonderwall”) to its credit, during its heyday starting in the mid 1990s and running through the 2000s the band was insanely popular worldwide, especially in England where each of its studio albums topped the charts and the band racked up 22 consecutive Top Ten hits. Oasis’ sophomore album “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” has to date sold over 22 million copies across the globe and is the third-biggest selling studio album of all time in England. Oasis didn’t invent anything. Listening to the band, it quickly becomes apparent that the Gallagher brothers studiously listened to their parents’ Beatles records, seizing upon Paul McCartney's melodic gift and adding to it John Lennon’s edge via incorporating equal amounts of 1980s electric guitar chime and 1970s punkish crunch. The result was a band that quite nicely checked off all the boxes, one that, despite the overshadowing and often overriding nature of the internecine warfare between the Gallaghers, created a body of work that holds up well. Quality songwriting will do that for you. The Oasis fanbase, now firmly ensconced in middle age, greeted the band with an enthusiasm level that made the screaming hordes of young girls at a Taylor Swift concert seem utterly tepid. This was their moment not only to pretend to be young again, but also to believe that they could successfully navigate life’s seemingly insurmountable hurdles. If it were possible to reunite Noel and Liam, who have a thoroughly chronicled über-fractious relationship, back on stage together, then nothing is impossible to accomplish.

What's old is old again...

Border Boost

Even John Kerry admits that Trump was right:

"The first thing any president should say, any president, or anybody in public life, is, without a border protected, you don't have a nation — I believe that. If you're going to define your nation, you have to have a border that means something," Kerry said during an interview on BBC's "Reflections" podcast. "We have a system. I wish President Biden had been heard more often saying, 'I'm going to enforce the law.'" Kerry served as former President Barack Obama's Secretary of State and was also the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, losing to George W. Bush. BBC correspondent James Naughtie said during the discussion that Trump would likely point at Kerry's remarks and declare he was right about the issue. "He was right," Kerry responded. "The problem is we all should have been right. Everybody should have been right, doing the same thing, all moving in the same direction."

But they got it wrong instead...

Hoax Report

Trump was framed:

Jarrett doesn’t mince words. “The dossier was garbage, of course. The FBI largely debunked it before Trump was even sworn in and fired its author, Christopher Steele, for lying as a confidential human source. But the bureau concealed those inconvenient facts under then-Director James Comey and deftly exploited the document as a cudgel to bludgeon the newly elected president.” He says Brennan, Comey, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper “plotted to smear Trump with what is surely the dirtiest trick in political history.” According to the report, Brennan even pushed aside experienced CIA analysts who questioned the Trump-Russia connection and blocked other intelligence agencies from offering their input. Jarrett points to a written warning from the CIA’s deputy director for analysis that including the Steele dossier would damage “the credibility of the entire paper.” But Brennan didn’t care. As Jarrett puts it, “The fiction penned by the ex-British spy conformed to the director’s preconceived fable that Trump colluded with Russia.” Ratcliffe summed it up plainly: “This was Obama, Comey, Clapper and Brennan deciding ‘We’re going to screw Trump.’”

Those who screw, get screwed...

Red Lining

Liberal name games didn't work:

In 2004 and again in 2016, nine out of ten self-identified Native Americans told pollsters they weren’t offended by the name “Redskins.” That’s not a typo: 90%. It's hard to deny reality, but if some people try hard enough, they can create their own. And even when new polls tried to shift the language, using “harmful” and “problematic” instead of “offended,” the results barely changed. Because those polls were inconvenient, they get buried under that new reality. But the truth? The outcry didn’t come from reservations. It came from white guilt in glass towers. From people who turn Native culture into mascots of their own activism. Who never met a tribe they couldn’t talk over. ... You can’t steamroll cultural memory by trying to delete decades of pride with a memo from HR or a threat from a shoe company. People remember. They hold on. They pass it down. And the more you tell them to forget, the more stubborn they become. Now, with lawsuits piling up from Native American groups like the Native American Guardians Association in 2023, we’re seeing the fight flip. They say erasing names like Redskins is actually the erasure of Indigenous culture, not its defense. It denies real tribes the right to be honored in public life. Hard to argue with that when tribal leaders are saying it themselves.

White liberals don't speak for those who aren't offended...

Minority Report

Change or die:

Members of the group, which is called Majority Democrats, are attempting to recruit new candidates and develop messaging to help boost the Democratic Party’s image and reverse its recent electoral fortunes, according to the NYT. “If we don’t build this big-tent party that can win majorities, we’re on the path of being the party of the permanent minority from a national-election perspective,” Democratic Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, one of the leaders of the effort, told the NYT. Craig also told the NYT she believes that the Democratic Party promoting anti-Trump messaging “might win a midterm election,” but said that “it’s not going to build lasting majorities.” The Minnesota Democrat added that “we’ve got to lay out the case for what we’re for as a party.”

Blue does not live by Trump alone...

Censorship Collusion

How they worked together:

The investigation, which began with social media platforms, has now expanded to include artificial intelligence. In March 2025, Jordan sent letters to 16 major tech companies, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, demanding documents related to potential Biden administration pressure to censor lawful speech in AI systems. The committee is investigating whether the administration “coerced or colluded” with AI firms to suppress content, marking a significant new front in the censorship inquiry. Evidence from tens of thousands of internal emails and documents obtained via congressional subpoenas reveals a coordinated censorship campaign targeting dissenting views on everything from COVID-19 vaccines to the 2020 election. At the center was the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), an initiative of the World Federation of Advertisers whose members control nearly $1 trillion in annual ad spending, about 90% of the global market. House investigators describe GARM as an “advertising cartel” that used ad boycotts, content moderation, and “disinformation” labels to defund conservative outlets and pressure platforms into compliance. Internal communications show GARM co-founder Robert Rakowitz privately called silencing President Trump his “main thing” and compared his speech to a “contagion” that needed containment. Investigators found direct coordination with foreign regulators, including the European Commission and Australia’s eSafety Commissioner. In one message, a European official urged advertisers to “push Twitter to deliver on GARM asks.” Australia’s Julie Inman Grant praised GARM’s “significant collective power” and asked for updates to guide her office’s regulatory decisions.

Big Brother had help...

Market Masters

The free market wins again:

Well over a year into Milei’s presidency, Argentina is showing its strongest economic performance in years. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) jumped 7.7% in April compared to the same month in 2024, far exceeding expectations. The GDP is expected to rise by 5.2% in 2025, compared to declines of 1.3% in 2024 and 1.9% in 2023, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Inflation, a long-standing hallmark of Argentina’s economic dysfunction, dropped to 1.5% between April and May, reaching a five-year low. Annual inflation has plunged from 160.9% in November 2023 — just before Milei took office — to 43.5% in May. Meanwhile, poverty rates have also declined sharply, falling from 52.9% in the first half of 2024 to 38.1% in the second half of the year. Argentina’s rental housing supply also increased by 212% between December 2023 and June 2024, after Milei repealed the country’s rent control laws, according to the Cato Institute. “Against the background of a difficult legacy of macroeconomic imbalances, Argentina has embarked on an ambitious reform process, starting with an unprecedented upfront fiscal adjustment. Reforms have started to pay off. Inflation has receded and the economy is set for a strong recovery,” the OECD noted in its new analysis of the Argentinian economy. “Maintaining the reform momentum will be key to restore confidence, boost investment and productivity growth.”

Argentina wins, "experts" hardest hit...

Bias Bust

PBS pushes its propaganda:

The study, conducted by the Media Research Center (MRC), analyzed 13 weekly episodes from April through June 2025, finding that panelists devoted 83 minutes to discussing Republicans and the Trump administration with overwhelming negativity. “The panelists spent 83 minutes opining on Republicans, focusing on Trump and his administration, in 93% negative fashion (77 minutes negative, six minutes positive),” the MRC report reads. Even topics where the Trump administration demonstrated success, such as the strike on Iran’s nuclear program, received predominantly negative coverage at 82% unfavorable. Trump’s Immigration Policy (including the judiciary conflict), the show’s third most-discussed issue pertaining to Republicans, received 100% negative coverage, despite the Trump administration’s significant advancements in border security. The study reveals that show introductions by moderator Jeffrey Goldberg frequently established an anti-Trump tone from the outset, with examples including: “Most presidents wait until they leave the White House to cash in. President Trump takes a different approach. Crypto deals, hotels, golf courses, 747s, everything is on the table.” Panel representation skewed heavily toward left-leaning media outlets, with 13 of the 14 news organizations represented leaning Left.

They lean so far left they could fall over...

Sugar Barbie

Barbie has diabetes:

The new Barbie wears continuous glucose monitor (CGM), a device that tracks blood sugar levels, on her arm, while holding a phone displaying an accompanying app. She also has an insulin pump attached to her waist. And the doll carries a blue purse that can be used to carry other essential supplies or snacks on the go. The Barbie’s outfit is blue, too — with polka dots on a matching top and skirt set. Mattel says that this color and design are nods to symbols for diabetes awareness. This new doll “enables more children to see themselves reflected in Barbie,” Mattel wrote Tuesday, and is part of the company’s wider Fashionistas line committed to inclusivity.

The good news is that Barbie still gets health coverage...

Meme Win

Free speech wins:

Mackey was convicted in 2023 of election interference in the 2016 election because he shared a satirical meme to his nearly 60,000 followers, saying “Avoid the line. Vote from home. Text ‘Hillary’ to …” with a fake number. It is important to emphasize that the Biden DOJ did not have any evidence that anyone actually took Mackey’s meme seriously and tried to vote from home. So the entire case was based on the unproven argument that someone, somewhere, could just possibly have misunderstood a funny meme and tried to vote from home instead of at a polling place, which supposedly made Mackey a dangerous criminal. Since his conviction left him facing up to 10 years in prison, it’s no wonder Mackey is so relieved at the new decision. But what is incredibly disturbing is that anyone in America was convicted of a crime and faced a decade of jail time over a satirical post on a social media platform (Twitter). The previous decision attacked the First Amendment and set an extremely dangerous precedent. Fortunately, God is good, as Mackey wrote, and justice has finally prevailed.

Don't fear the memes...

Man Talk

Men can talk about their problems:

Too many people abuse the phrase “mental health,” and it’s almost become a cliché to describe minor inconveniences as detrimental to our “mental health.” But men need to take care of themselves so that they can take care of their families. That includes admitting struggles and difficulties. It’s easy for men to think that if we talk about our problems, others will see us as weak. But neglecting our struggles can eat away at us and do more harm than good. Keeping our problems to ourselves is a recipe for long-term trouble — if there’s such a thing as “toxic masculinity,” it’s when we men become toxic to ourselves.

Don't be afraid to lean on your brother...

Mob Rules

How to start a riot:

🚨 JUST IN: Democrats are building “RESISTANCE LABS” to SABOTAGE Trump. 🚨

The DEEP state is putting together a “network” of fired bureaucrats to plot “REBELLIONS” and “STRIKES” against the White House… and they’re using old CIA tactics to do it.

Anarchists are taking matters… pic.twitter.com/Xf50tF9hN1

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) July 9, 2025

Doctor No

Joe's doctor stays silent:

O'Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment to multiple questions about his time with former President Joe Biden during his sit-down. It resulted in a hasty end to what could have been an hours-long deposition. "I'm going to read the first two questions that were asked. 'Were you ever told to lie about the president's health?' He pleaded the Fifth Amendment. He would not answer that question. The second question, ‘Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duty?'" House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters after the meeting. "Again, President Biden's White House physician pled the fifth. This is unprecedented, and I think that this adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover-up."

The doctor won't see you now...

Store Scheme

Why government owned stores won't work:

Mamdani blames capitalism for the economic choices we all must face. In Hayek’s words, voters “are only too ready to believe that the choice is not really necessary, that it is imposed upon them merely by the particular economic system under which we live.” With those mindsets in place, Hayek warned us to expect “irresponsible talk about ‘potential plenty.’” The politician who campaigns with a plan, however ridiculous, has an almost insurmountable advantage over the politician who tries to explain how the market process solves problems without master planners. When people are ahistorical and economically illiterate, they long for a plan. What voters do not see is that excessive taxation and regulation undermine the market process. The more disabled the market, the more the government steps in to direct it — and us.

This is not the market plan you were looking for...

Problem Probing

Investigating the investigators:

CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing by Brennan to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital. The sources said that the referral was received and told Fox News Digital that a criminal investigation into Brennan was opened and is underway. DOJ sources declined to provide further details. It is unclear, at this point, if the investigation spans beyond his alleged false statements to Congress. As for Comey, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the former director is underway, but could not share details of what specifically is being probed.

Probe it all, let the real investigators sort it out...

Blogging In The Years: 2016

I guess this makes it official:

Chinese Disconection

No land for you:

“American agriculture, in American hands, is a positive good,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Every family, every home, every community, depends upon what our farmers do, and they support and sustain us, not merely by keeping us materially fed, but by keeping us spiritually strong. That’s exactly why it is under threat—from criminals, political adversaries, and hostile regimes.” In addition to unveiling the USDA National Farm Security Action Plan, Rollins revealed she is now officially a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who has pushed for her inclusion, described CFIUS as “a group of high-ranking Cabinet members in the White House that determine who buys what” and insisted the agriculture secretary needs to be at the table “to protect our farmland.” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) echoed that support. Counselor to the President Peter Navarro warned that the Chinese Communist Party has used American supply chains and food systems as weapons against the United States. “We’re the United States, but they treat us like a colony,” Navarro asserted, pointing to the Chinese acquisition of Smithfield Foods and Syngenta. “Seeds really can be the revolution that keeps the world fed—and China now owns a key part of it.” Attorney General Pam Bondi shared that two Chinese nationals were recently charged in Michigan for attempting to smuggle potential agroterrorism weapons into the country. Soon after, a Chinese citizen was arrested for sending packages of concealed biological materials into the United States. “We will prosecute you. We will hold you accountable,” Bondi vowed, adding that the FBI has opened over 100 biosmuggling investigations in recent years.

This land is not your land...

Consensus Collapse

The consensus that isn't real:

“Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree man-made climate change is a crisis.” How many times have you heard a variation on that? It’s bogus, of course — an invented statistic, just as the “climate crisis” is an invented catastrophe. Whenever media or politicians make comprehensive and ambitious claims like “9–% of all…” you need to take it with a grain of salt. It’s logistically difficult to obtain that data accurately, but leftists never let accuracy or reality bother them, so they conduct rigged polls or simply invent statistics and repeat them with extreme confidence and condescension. Leftists always scream down inconvenient facts without bothering to present facts on their side. And The Heartland Institute has real data to undermine the “97% of scientists agree on climate change” claim.

Never let facts get in the way of "consensus..."

Anger Mismanagement

Lefties continue to lose it:

"We've got people who are desperately wanting us to do something... no matter what we say, they want [more]," Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., told the outlet. Most of the lawmakers spoke on condition of anonymity. Schneider's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. "Our own base is telling us that what we're doing is not good enough... [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public," one such lawmaker said. Another said their constituents are convinced that "civility isn't working" and that they should prepare for "violence... to fight to protect our democracy." A third lawmaker described some of the messages from people online as "crazy ****," saying that some told them to "storm the White House and stuff like that."

The left is on the loose...

Speech Savers

Ireland tells the EU to kiss its blarney stone:

The move to abandon the controversial section of the bill came as Justice Minister Helen McEntee admitted that it did “not have a consensus” among the Irish population. In response, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, warned that Dublin may face legal action from Brussels for failing to meet the bloc’s stringent speech standards. The commission said in May that Ireland “still fails to transpose the provisions related to criminalising the public incitement to violence or hatred against a group or a member of such group based on certain characteristics, as well as the conducts of condoning, denial and gross trivialisation of international crimes and the Holocaust”. According to a report from The Sunday Times, which cited sources within the coalition government, Dublin will respond this week by declaring that the country is “already properly transposing EU directives”. “We don’t believe the commission has given sufficient weight to Ireland’s existing common law on this or to our own existing legal framework,” the source added.

No censorship for them...

Mexican Nationals

No more newcomers for them:

According to the New York Times, the protests, which turned violent on Friday night, “reflected the growing frustrations of many of the capital’s residents, who have watched rents skyrocket and old neighborhoods turn into swanky developments as the city has become a major tourist destination and a base for many so-called digital nomads.” Since the coronavirus pandemic, stylish neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa in Mexico City have seen an influx of foreigners, coaxed by lower living costs and the opportunity to work remotely. The surge has helped businesses in areas popular with foreigners and landlords or those renting rooms on long-term stays on platforms like Airbnb. But it has also threatened to make large swaths of the city, where the average monthly salary is about $370, unaffordable to many locals. Other protesters likened the influx of migrants to Western colonialism.

The reverse immigration effect...

Third Review

Why Elon Musk's third-party efforts will fail:

There are a number of reasons that no third party has taken off. Lack of serious financing is one. And the lack of compelling candidates is another. And then there’s the lack of infrastructure. Trump took off once he ran as a Republican. Not when he was trying to run as a third party candidate twenty some years ago. But the bigger picture is that while a lot of people hate both parties, they’d rather pick someone from either party than vote for a third party. It’s not just the perception that they’re throwing their vote away. There really isn’t any meaningful space for a third party to come into. Some variation of fiscally conservative and socially liberal has been tried again and again. But for anyone who really objects to social conservatism, the Republicans are more socially liberal than they’ve ever been. They’re not fiscally conservative anymore, and that’s what some of the current controversy is about, but considering that political power comes from spending money, is a ‘fiscally conservative’ political movement even possible as a reality rather than just as rhetoric? When push comes to shove, members of Congress get power from spending money. It’s easier to create a third party than to fundamentally change how this system works.

Change doesn't come from the top...

Big Art

Welcome to the world of art:

The phallic-like structure is slated to be presented at Manhattan’s High Line Park through May of 2026 and features what some may consider some not-so-subtle performance attributes. The piece has several mouths featuring protruding tongues and is topped by a sprinkler that spouts water off its tip when passersby pedal on a nearby machine. The sculpture is the handiwork of Mika Rottenberg, who was born in Buenos Aires and currently lives in Manhattan. She’s no wannabee artist. Her work has been featured in dozens of museums and galleries around the world, according to the High Line website.

Let us spray...

Revolutionary Talk

Behold a daughter of the revolution:

In a Wednesday episode of Call Her Daddy, Theron spent the first 20 minutes explaining to host Alex Cooper how her father’s alcoholism and its effect on her parents’ marriage damaged her capacity for healthy relationships. Later in the interview, she talks about being sexually harassed by a director at what she thought would be an audition when she was starting out in Hollywood. Unsurprisingly, her philosophy of sex and relationships is screwed up, to put it mildly. It’s clear from her conversation with Cooper that she’s grasped onto the lies of the sexual revolution as a lifeline, buying into the idea that marriage is an oppressive trap for women and that true liberation means having meaningless sex with a lot of different men and no strings attached. It’s equally clear that mentality has failed her completely, and left her, as she admits to Cooper, afraid of the empty house she’ll be left with once her children move out. “I think I want long-term commitment. I just don’t need to get married,” says Theron, blaming her “tremendous fear of not being able to get out of something.” But now, it seems, she’s given up on even long-term situationships. “It’s not because I’m not, I don’t want to be in relationships,” she says. “But I’m seeing things for what they are, right?”

Or maybe not...

Voodoo Child

She wants to literally stick a fork in him: Watch: Deranged Woman Makes Detailed Trump & Vance Voodoo Dolls Just So She Can Stab Them - modernity

Reporting Time

Oh the horrors of committing actual journalism:

This week, the New York Times experienced an uprising in its ranks and among its readers. The paper was denounced by its own staff and liberal pundits called for the entire editorial staff to be canned. Why? Because The New York Times actually reported news that was deemed harmful to the Democrats, specifically Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani. The newspaper took the additional step of publishing a cringing explanation of why it reported the news that Mamdani lied on his Columbia application in claiming to be black.For liberals, it was an utter nightmare. For a party still defined by identity politics, Mamdani’s false claim over his race left many uncertain about how to react.The left has always maintained a high degree of tolerance for false claims by its own leaders, from Sen. Elizabeth Warren claiming to be a native American to Sen. Richard Blumenthal claiming to have served in the Vietnam War. .... The problem is when a news eco-chamber for many readers is shattered by an errant outbreak of journalism. Many Times readers live within a hermetically sealed news silo, relying on MSNBC for cable, The New York Times for print, and BlueSky for social media. You can literally go all day without being exposed to an opposing view or fact. Then suddenly this happens. The result is often anger. It is the same response many in higher education have to “triggering” views being expressed on campus by conservative or libertarian speakers.

How dare reporters actually do their job...

Dead Canada

Fascism, Canadian style:

Climate Class

Climate lessons, heh: Australian Broadcaster Alan Jones Schools a Panel of Climate Zealots

Native Education

Native Americans want their name restored:

The Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) is taking its message to the courts after filing a preliminary injunction against the state Board of Regents to stop the left-wing campaign to eliminate Native American imagery. “It violates the First Amendment,” said attorney for the group, Chap Petersen, according to the New York Post. “You’re banning words, you’re banning phrases, you’re banning ideas. It’s completely against both the spirit and the letter of the First Amendment,” he added. Petersen also noted that the board is bound by the Constitution. The organization is also accusing the Empire State of violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause due to racial classifications.

Liberal censors speak with forked tongues...

Inheritance Plan

Generation Z doesn't know or appreciate what it inherited:

Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, wasn’t raised in soup lines. They didn’t crouch in the mud of Peleliu or march through the snow at Bastogne. They weren’t drafted. They weren’t rationed. Their schools had air conditioning, their meals had options, and their phones had internet access by the time they were ten. They grew up swiping screens, not dog tags. And for all that comfort, all that ease, what did we get? A generation that rolls its eyes at the flag, mumbles through the national anthem, and treats the word “freedom” as if it were just another outdated buzzword from the Reagan years. When you inherit freedom without paying the cost, you treat it like a subscription service. Cancel any time. The Tragedy of Unused Inheritance Ask a Gen Z college student to explain what happened on D-Day. Watch them blink. Ask them to name a Medal of Honor recipient. Ask them to define the Cold War. Ask them why men with nothing stormed beaches for the sake of people they’d never meet. They don’t know. And more frightening, many of them don’t care. This isn’t just a generational divide. It’s a cultural failure. We handed Gen Z the keys to a country bought with blood and sacrifice, and instead of learning how to drive it, they’re arguing over what color the steering wheel should be. It’s not that they’re stupid. It’s that they’re spoiled. And worse, they’re being taught to believe that America is something to apologize for.

Don't apologize for what others gave you...

Woke Institution

The Trump administration wants to save the museum:

In an email to Fox News, White House official Lindsey Halligan reportedly criticized the taxpayer-funded museum complex for some of the content in the exhibition, which is planned to run for 20 years, the outlet said in an article published on Saturday. “American taxpayers should not be funding institutions that undermine our country or promote one-sided, divisive political narratives,” Halligan stated. “The Smithsonian Institution should present history in a way that is accurate, balanced, and consistent with the values that make the United States of America exceptional.” In a video posted in April 2022, the National Museum of American History announced it was opening Entertainment Nation later that year. The museum features popular culture items from television, movies, sports, and music. The Fox report highlighted some examples from the exhibit. “One placard, featured alongside a 1923 circus poster, reads: ‘Under the big top, circuses expressed the colonial impulse to claim dominion over the world.’ Another, describing early American entertainment, declares: ‘One of the earliest defining traits of entertainment in the United States was extraordinary violence,'” the outlet said. The Fox report is just the latest news on how the museum complex has pushed leftist narratives.

It's not just another night at the museum...

T Word

What it really is:

Let’s be crystal clear. Brennan did not just disregard some procedural safeguards and push through a poorly sourced assessment. Brennan, in league with several others, including Clapper and Comey, undertook to intervene in an American Presidential election and guarantee the election of Hillary Clinton. These men, all of whom had sworn an oath to defend the Constitution, effectively tore up that document and appointed themselves a modern Praetorian Guard, empowered to choose who sits on the throne. When that effort failed, they and their fellow conspirators, then attempted to use the same false accusations to destroy Donald Trump and drive him from office. They undertook to subvert our democracy. They attempted the first coup in American history. That’s not a breakdown in procedure or analytical protocol. That’s treason.

Say the word...

Texas Twist

Blue bust in Texas:

Juan Manuel Medina, the former Bexar County Democratic Party Chair and one-time candidate for mayor of San Antonio, is facing two counts of vote harvesting, Newsmax reported. The charges are the result of a broader statewide investigation led by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Prosecutors say Medina carried out vote harvesting on behalf of Democrat Cecilia Castellano, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024 for the Texas House District 80 seat. She lost to Republican Don McLaughlin. According to the documents, Medina allegedly offered “compensation or other benefit” to two individuals—Rachel Leal and former Dilley council member Inelda Rodriguez—in February 2024 in exchange for “vote-harvesting services.” Castellano, Leal, and Rodriguez were all indicted along with Medina.

The Medina cartel...

Blogging In The Years: 2022

Stealing Arizona:

Blue Law

Don't tell the truth in Massachussetts:

“I was charged. I was arrested by the State Police Fugitive Unit on October 11, 2023, right when my kids — I got my kids on the bus in the morning so that it made sure that they saw it, and I was told that I was under arrest for felony witness intimidation and picketing, which I didn’t know was a crime,” he said. “I mean, this is Massachusetts, home of the Boston Tea Party, like finally, it’s a crime to picket in this state, which was news to me.” “I mean, I’ve seen all, you know, Black Lives Matter and stuff on TV, blocking highways, and I must have missed the picketing charges that they all got, but I guess it’s a little bit selective anyway. So I was, you know, arraigned, I was charged. I got indicted for it two months later, which basically means they just bring it to a bigger court,” he began. “I ended up getting arrested again on the day after Christmas. The warrant was out for my arrest on December 24 and that’s a whole other story,” he said, noting he was dating a woman who turned on him after he ended things with her after she lied about being pregnant.

The truth won't always set you free...

Plane Craziness

Racism the liberal way:

As documented by Rufo and colleague Ryan Thorpe and corroborated by whistleblower accounts, as recently as a few years ago, Lockheed Martin blatantly violated existing civil rights laws to discriminate against white people. The Lockheed case Rufo documented was as open-and-shut as it was remarkable. In 2022, after submitting a carefully calculated list of bonus recipients among their staff — known as the “Comp Adder” list — based on merit, an employee who would become the whistleblower was informed by higher-ups that the list had a problem: it included “too many white employees.” Santiago Bulnes, a Lockheed vice president now leading engineering on the firm’s F-35 program (a program 10 years late and almost 100% over budget), emailed the whistleblower, noting that human resources director La Wanda Moorer was concerned about the “diversity stats” of the bonus list. Moorer’s instructions were clear: increase the number of people of color on the list, even if it meant removing an equal number of “non-minority” (i.e., white) employees. The directive was explicit, as was the demand to disadvantage whites: “Increasing POC for Comp Adder will result in removing equal count of non-minority.” This is, of course, wildly illegal. It is also commonplace in the corporate world, albeit in various guises. For example, in The Unprotected Class I wrote about numerous similar cases, such as senior Google recruiter Arne Wilberg who claimed that he was fired for refusing to discriminate against White and Asian men in his hiring practices. According to Wilberg, “recruiters were given quotas” and “told to cancel interviews with white and Asian male job candidates.”

Only the "right" ones need apply...

Animal Man

President Trump continues to save the animals:

PEER said in a press release: “There are approximately 20,000 animals in EPA labs, including rabbits, mice, and rats, which are primarily used to gauge the safety of environmental pollutants. The adoption program, which is debuting at EPA’s Research Triangle complex in North Carolina, is now offering zebrafish and rats for private adoption.” Anthony Bellotti, President and Founder of White Coat Waste, praised the plan: “Reinstating the EPA’s animal testing phase-out and its lab animal retirement policy has been a top priority for White Coat Waste since day one of the new Trump Administration. We applaud President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin for keeping their promise to taxpayers and pet owners. White Coat Waste worked with the first Trump Administration to eliminate tests on dogs, rabbits, and all other mammals by 2035 and to retire animal testing survivors. When the Biden Administration secretly revoked the 2035 deadline and killed rabbits slated for retirement, we blew the whistle—not the legacy animal groups who stayed silent while the killing resumed behind closed doors. White Coat Waste led the only bipartisan campaign that united Congressional Republicans and Democrats to pass legislation directing the EPA to restore its phase-out timeline and retirement plans. From the beginning of the Trump Administration to today, White Coat Waste has been leading the campaign to cut EPA’s wasteful spending and to retire EPA’s lab survivors. We’re proud of our hard-fought win—and we won’t stop until the last animal is out.” The decision to end animal testing stems from a push initiated under President Donald Trump’s first term but was later squashed by the Biden administration. Under the first Trump administration’s EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, the agency set a goal of a 30% reduction in mammal testing by 2025 and a complete phase-out by 2035, The Gateway Pundit reported.

PETA had no comment at this time...

Big Booms

Light up the skies:

Blogging In The Years: 1777

William Pitt has some words of warning for his colleagues:

I know that the conquest of English America is an impossibility. You can not, I venture to say it, you can not conquer America. Your armies in the last war effected every thing that could be effected; and what was it? It cost a numerous army, under the command of a most able general [Lord Amherst], now a noble lord in this House, a long and laborious campaign, to expel five thousand Frenchmen from French America. My lords, you can not conquer America. What is your present situation there? We do not know the worst; but we know that in three campaigns we have done nothing and suffered much. Besides the sufferings, perhaps total loss of the Northern force, the best appointed army that ever took the field, commanded by Sir William Howe, has retired from the American lines. He was obliged to relinquish his attempt, and with great delay and danger to adopt a new and distant plan of operations. We shall soon know, and in any event have reason to lament, what may have happened since. As to conquest, therefore, my lords, I repeat, it is impossible. You may swell every expense and every effort still more extravagantly; pile and accumulate every assistance you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter with every little pitiful German prince that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign prince; your efforts are for ever vain and impotent—doubly so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates, to an incurable resentment, the minds of your enemies, to overrun them with the mercenary sons of rapine and plunder, devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms—never—never—never.

George III would do well to listen...

Last Laugh

They all laughed:

British newspapers published the Declaration widely. The London Chronicle printed it, along with other major papers. But few took it seriously. To them, it was just another provocation from unruly colonials. The elite mocked Thomas Jefferson’s talk of “unalienable rights.” Gen. William Howe, sent to crush the rebellion, called the Declaration “extravagant and inadmissible.” The British state responded accordingly. .... In 1777, future British Prime Minister William Pitt took to the House of Lords to warn his colleagues: “You cannot conquer" America. He was right. Not just a rebellion — a revolution What Britain failed to grasp was that America hadn’t simply declared independence. It had declared a new theory of government: one grounded in consent, not inheritance. The crown mistook revolutionary conviction for rhetorical flourish. Britain's government believed the colonists would fold in the face of overwhelming force. But this wasn’t just about taxes or trade policy. It was about the belief that free men could govern themselves.

Something that we are still fighting for today...

Blogging In The Years: 2021

Take your medicine:

American Pride

It doesn't matter to them:

State Fraud

A former Biden team member gets busted:

Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, admitted to misusing her signature authority over a State Department checking account between March 2022 and April 2024. Ferrer, a Maryland resident, held the position of senior budget analyst in the department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol. Prosecutors said Ferrer wrote 60 checks to herself and three to an individual with whom she had a personal relationship. She printed and signed each of the 63 checks before depositing them into her personal bank accounts, the outlet noted further. The checks totaled $657,347.50, according to prosecutors. Ferrer, who also goes by Levita Brezovic, attempted to conceal the embezzlement by using a QuickBooks account. Prosecutors said she entered her name as the payee in QuickBooks, then printed the checks before depositing them. Ferrer frequently altered the payee information in QuickBooks after printing the checks, changing it from her own name to that of a legitimate State Department vendor. This tactic made it difficult for anyone reviewing the system to identify her as the actual recipient. She pleaded guilty on Wednesday to theft of government property and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18. Ferrer faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, The Post reported.

She was just trying to follow a bad example...

Expert Analysis

The "experts" are often wrong:

Why are the degreed classes so wrong and yet so arrogantly never learn anything from their past flawed predictions? One, our experts usually receive degrees from our supposedly marquee universities. But as we are now learning from long overdue autopsies of institutionalized campus racial bias, neo-racial segregation, 50-percent-plus price-gauging surcharges on federal grants, and rabid antisemitism, higher education in America has become anti-Enlightenment. Universities now wage war against free-thinkers, free speech, free expression, and anything that freely questions the deductive groupthink of the diversity/equity/inclusion commissariat, and global warming orthodoxies. The degreed expert classes emerge from universities whose faculties are 90-95 percent left-wing and whose administrations are overstaffed and terrified of their radical students. The wonder is not that the experts are incompetent and biased, but that there are a brave few who are not. Two, Trump drove the degreed class insane to the degree it could no longer, even if it were willing and able (and it was not), offer empirical assessments of his policies. From his crude speech to his orange skin to his Queens accent to his MAGA base to his remarkable counterintuitive successes and to his disdain for the bicoastal elite, our embarrassing experts would rather be dead wrong and anti-Trump than correct in their assessments -- if they in any small way helped Trump. Three, universities are not just biased, but increasingly mediocre and ever more isolated from working Americans and their commonsense approaches to problem solving. PhD programs in general are not as rigorous as they were even two decades ago. Grading, assessments, and evaluations in professional schools must increasingly weigh non-meritocratic criteria, given their admissions and hiring protocols are not based on disinterested evaluation of past work and expertise.

Experts have lost their expertise...

American Blues

Liberals show their non-appreciation:

Democrats across the country are organizing protests and boycotts on the 4th of July to make their voices heard that they do not agree with the direction the country is heading. A new Fox News poll showed that only 36% of Democrats say they are proud of the United States today, compared to 85% of Republicans expressing pride in their country. Now, in what some are calling the "No Kings 2.0" protests, Democrats are banding together in several states to lay out their grievances. The Women’s March, whose mission is to "transform everyday women into feminists," is calling on protesters to join their "Free America Weekend." "Together, we must ‘Free America’ from the grip of greedy billionaires who rig the system for themselves," the website states. "Let’s stop the rich and powerful from gambling our future away. Free America from poverty and end the rigged system where the wealthy live large while the middle class foots the bill. Everyone should be able to afford food, rent, health care, and a decent life. Free America from arbitrary firings and a flood of unlawful orders. No one should be subjected to authoritarians overwhelming us with policies designed to spread fear and control." "Free America from the grip of hate and the politics of fear," the website statement continues. "Everyone deserves to live safely, love who they love, and be treated with respect. Free America now—to protect our freedoms before they’re gone. We need fair elections, the right to vote and protest, and real justice for all."

The people who don't want freedom speak for their rights...

Wasted Energy

They didn't want their waste to go to waste:

The frenzied activity on Jan. 16 and 17, 2025, capped a spending binge that saw the LPO approve at least $93 billion in current and future disbursements after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election in November, according to documents provided by the department to RealClearInvestigations. It appears that Biden officials were rushing to deploy billions in approved funding in anticipation that the incoming Trump administration would seek to redirect uncommitted money away from clean energy projects. The agreements were made despite a warning from the department’s inspector general, urging the loan office to suspend operations in December over concerns that post-election loans could present conflicts of interest. In just a few months, some of the deals have already become dicey, leading to fears that the Biden administration has created multiple Solyndras, the green energy company that went bankrupt after the Obama administration gave it $570 million.

They had to blow it while they could...

Savings Time

Here come your retirement savings:

“The bill ensures that nearly 90 percent of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation’s economy,” the agency said in a July 3 statement. The OBBB was passed by the House of Representatives on May 22 by a vote of 215–214. On July 1, the Senate voted to pass it by 51–50. And on Thursday, the House agreed to the Senate amendment by a vote of 218–214. The bill now goes to the desk of President Donald Trump to be signed into law. The OBBB allows seniors to deduct an additional $6,000 from their Social Security income, with that amount decreasing once income passes $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for joint filers. Single filers who make $175,000 or more, or joint filers with an income of over $250,000, will not be eligible for the deduction. For a senior filing singly who receives the average Social Security benefit of $24,000 today, the maximum amount of Social Security that would be subject to federal tax (before deductions) is 85 percent of the benefit, or $20,400, according to a report from the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

You will finally be able to keep more of what you paid for...

Road Work

Making roads safe again:

In a letter to every governor, Secretary Duffy asked that their states participate in the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies—SAFE ROADS—initiative. The program targets non-freeway arterial roads where more than half of U.S. roadway deaths occur. [...] "Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork. Today I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “Far too many Americans die each year to traffic fatalities to take our eye off the ball. USDOT stands ready to help communities across the country make their roads safer and easier to navigate."

Keep the roadways clear...

Job Shock

CNN is stunned:

🚨CNN: “We were expecting a slowdown. We did NOT get that!”

These numbers are what we got WITHOUT passing the One Big Beautiful Bill.

It will only get better. pic.twitter.com/Zu2TRN6Igd https://t.co/TQY59xM6RS

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 3, 2025

Anchors Away

Birthright gets cut:

According to Trump’s lawyers, who oversaw the landmark ruling, the administration will not enforce the president’s Executive Order 14160, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which restricts birthright citizenship within 30 days, as ordered by the Supreme Court. Thereafter, the administration will seemingly use all the necessary tools to prevent foreign nationals from exploiting the Fourteenth Amendment to craftily obtain U.S. Citizenship for their foreign children. China, perhaps the United States’ most formidable adversary, has its citizens exploit the provision on a massive scale. “The Court’s stay thus allows Defendants to immediately begin to ‘develop and issue public guidance about the executive’s plans to implement the executive order,” the Department of Justice’s attorney Brad Rosenberg stated during a Maryland hearing by the activist judge who had issued the nationwide injunction.

The anchor ship is sailing...

Bill Boom

The deed is done:

The bill – which advances Trump’s policies on tax, the border, defense, energy and the national debt – narrowly passed the House of Representatives in a mostly party-line vote. All but two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., voted for the bill, which passed 218 – 214. It’s a commanding victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and for the president himself, both of whom spent hours overnight trying to persuade GOP critics of the bill. "The President is very engaged. He was very helpful in the process. He helped answer questions and articulate his vision and what this bill will mean for the country, and his agenda, and how urgent it is for us to get it done," Johnson told reporters the morning ahead of the vote.

Now it's up to Trump...

Myth Makers

America needs its myths:

Every functional society had a mythos—an ethos based on myth. In antiquity, Mesopotamians, Greeks and Norsemen had a long list of rather unruly gods. These, in turn, provided stories to inculcate values and bind that society together. More recently, the rise of the nation-state combined many local groups, transferring the mythos from the city or tribe to the country at large. For example, the “Kalevala” was an ancient epic among the people of Karelia in the borderlands of Russia and Finland. Its translation into modern form was the basis of Finland’s identity after centuries of being ruled by her neighbors. The United States offered a special challenge, since it comprised citizens of different nations, faiths and civic ideals. As the people weren’t connected by blood, soil or even language, we focused on the few ideals we did share. The Declaration of Independence outlined several of these beliefs, the Constitution codified them and storytellers demonstrated how they could work in the real world. Young girls were weaned on tales of Betsy Ross and Molly Pitcher, while boys compared Nathan Hale’s bravery to Benedict Arnold’s treason. Our early unifying myths included the shared struggle of the American Revolution (even though many stayed on the sidelines) and the superhuman virtues of our Founding Fathers (despite their human flaws). As that generation passed from the scene, we focused on promulgating our “new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Through relentless migration to the west, we would enlighten the whole continent with our superior ideals. .... As you can see, a national mythos isn’t a static canon but a living tradition. Mythical stories are not necessarily false, but symbolic. Their purpose is to point toward truths about human character, national aspiration and communal destiny. Where history is prose, myth is poetry. Unlike ancient myths, the American mythos wasn’t about demigods, but average men and women overcoming fate and fortune to achieve greatness. The Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving, George Washington chopping down the cherry tree and Paul Revere’s ride fed into our creation myth. Daniel Boone’s trailblazing, Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin and the ability of impoverished kids to become Vanderbilts and Carnegies fleshed out the narrative further. These stories explained how our nation was formed, created a pantheon to look up to and provided an ideal for citizens to strive toward. They focused not on our differences, but on our commonalities, unifying radically different groups into a cohesive whole. This grand American mythos showed us what we think about ourselves and who we aspire to be.

When the myth becomes legend, print the legend...

Fake Russians

It was fake all along:

Miranda Devine at The New York Post reported: The review identified “multiple procedural anomalies” that undermined the credibility of the ICA, including “a highly compressed production timeline, stringent compartmentation, and excessive involvement of agency heads.” It also questioned the exclusion of key intelligence agencies and said media leaks may have influenced analysts to conform to a false narrative of Trump-Russia collusion. “The rushed timeline to publish both classified and unclassified versions before the presidential transition raised questions about a potential political motive behind the White House tasking and timeline.” The review found that Brennan directed the compilation of the ICA, and that his, Comey’s and Clapper’s “direct engagement in the ICA’s development was highly unusual in both scope and intensity” and ”risked stifling analytic debate.” Investigative reporter Paul Sperry reported back in February that John Ratcliffe was already talking about how the factual evidence did not support John Brennan’s explosive Trump-Russia assessment.

The Russians that weren't there...

Border Boost

The 51st state caves again:

The bill includes measures to deny refugee hearings to migrants who have already been in the country for over a year, retroactive to June 2020, and requires asylum seekers arriving between official ports of entry to file within 14 days.These changes come after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed displeasure over illegal immigrants and fentanyl crossing America’s northern border due to lax Canadian policies. Despite fighting the recent Canadian federal elections on a platform of “standing up” to Trump, Carney’s governing is seemingly being brought to heel by him—having already agreed to suspend a digital sales tax that the America First leader took issue with.Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree admitted in a press conference that Bill C-2 was shaped in part by Trump’s expectations. “There are elements that will strengthen [our] relationships with the United States,” he said. “There were a number of elements in the bill that have been irritants for the US, so we are addressing some of those issues.”

No border battle, eh?