IN LAST WEEK'S POWERLINE Week in Pictures the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) got plenty of attention up front, but this one really tickled my fancy:

That said, there were many, many other good ones. Go see them all.

[VIP] MURDEROUS, GREEDY, AND PSEUDOINTELLECTUAL: The Democrats' favorite streamer proves it doesn't want to help the poor, just punish the rich.

AI DATA CENTERS: the new populist target.

It's an interesting article, mostly well thought out, but Shapiro misses on one point: not all of us want AI embedded in our lives. For example, I have to turn it off whenever I want to do a computer search for something on the internet. I wish I could keep it off unless I wanted it for something specific, but no, it keeps turning itself back on.

BUT, BUT ... THEY WANTED IT IN SOMEONE ELSE'S BACKYARD. Voters in New York City are getting what they voted for good and hard.

ON CONCEALED PUNISHMENT: the mailbox test.

INSTEAD OF BODY ARMOR the agents will wear NICE armor.

IF YOU CAN, DO. If you can't, teach. If you can't teach, teach teachers. Back when I was an undergraduate, that was widely quoted in the STEM departments I inhabited.

Full disclosure: My wife is a retired school teacher. She taught all primary grades, in three different states, over a 20-year span. She was widely regarded as an excellent teacher. She did not graduate from a College of Education; instead she obtained a teaching certificate when she realized her first degree choice (social work) was a scam.

NOT NEARLY ENOUGH: What do immigrants owe us?

RANDOM THOUGHT: Is being a dimwit a cause or result of Democratic Socialism?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON ON DEMOCRATS: Living with daily delusions and shrieking at Trump demons raging in their collective heads is no way to run a country.

THEY HAVEN'T RUINED EVERYTHING -- yet.

But they will if not stopped.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "To our enemies and those who mean to do us harm, you can run but you’ll only die tired."

"WE DON'T HAVE A POLITICAL VIOLENCE PROBLEM IN AMERICA. We have a Left-wing political violence problem in America."

The Left denies it, of course.

WHEN IS THEFT NOT THEFT? The New York Times is here to tell you.

I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE: There are many ways to provide public order if the state won’t.

In fact I've recommended them for years.

SUSAN VASS (FORMERLY AMMO GRRRLL) is back to tell us what we already know: All cats are basically Americans!

SPRING LEAVES 2026, Week 8 (+ 1 day): I took these photos on Saturday to make sure I'd have plenty of time to prepare them for posting yesterday, which is now today. Here's the final week of Spring Leaves 2026, starting with the usuals:

Everything is much greener now (although 'autocorrect' has enhanced it) as the leaves are filling out from their barely visible buds last week.

The trees across the road from our driveway have almost completely filled in and the iris beneath them are growing and flowering furiously.

All of the flowerbeds have come alive and are growing furiously, so much we can hardly keep up. Here are some.

Finally ... summer has begun.

FARSI IS NOT AN OPTION: Is it time to stop speaking 'English'?

Some history.

AMERICANS LOST the Virginia redistricting fight with stupid tactics — and we seem to be making the same mistake with Iran.

PRIVACY, FOR ME PERSONALLY: The thing I'll miss the most (when the data centers come to town).

And more generally, heritage, the lifestyles, traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of those of us who have lived rurally or in small towns across the nation, many for generations.