SPRING LEAVES 2026, Week One: It's now Daylight Saving time, and I'm probably a bit late starting since the forsythia started leafing out over a week ago, the iris plants are popping back up, grass has begun to grow, and I'm beginning to see buds in some of the trees. Here's what the yard looks like today:

... resuming my post following last night's computer crash, I'll start (again) with the usual pond view. The hill itself is still brown, and likely to remain mostly due to the thick layer of fallen leaves. It a bit worrisome to walk there since those same leaves cover up stumps, holes, fallen branches and other hazards to walking. The trees themselves are just beginning to bud out, but it's not yet visible in the pictures.

Our bellwether forsythia is well ahead this year. The initial yellow flowering is already being overtaken by the green leaves that follow. The fire pit is looking good, and flowers are beginning to become active -- the lone yellow iris (bottom right) that survived deer munching on it has already flowered.

Along the road, the plants we put in along the fence line and around the barn are all showing activity, though no flowers yet. And the grass has begun to turn green -- finally!

Spring is finally springing and it's good to be outside again.

Until next week then (assuming I can figure out what's causing my computer to go bonkers -- I blame Google).

WHEN YOU’VE CONSTRUCTED a cartoon version of the world in your mind, what do you do when reality proves it wrong?

THE FEVER IS BREAKING. The dawn of 2026 is here. And this time, the light wins.

SUNDAY SMILES: There are many good ones this week, but this one is my favorite:

Now go see the rest. And read the commentary before scrolling down to the cartoons.

WHAT A SURPRISE. The Left is frickin’ insane.

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

Linked from Instapundit.

IRAN: our 88 member Assembly of Experts has selected a new Supreme Leader but we won't tell you who he is.

ISRAEL: Okay, then, we will have 88 new targets....

Update: America's News of Record has identified Iran's new Supreme Leader.

TRUMP: Just do things.

November 4, 1979 — almost 47 years ago — Iran seized the American embassy in Tehran and held its staff hostage. Ever since then, American presidents have struggled with what to do.

Jimmy Carter temporized for many months, even as ABC’s newly created Nightline — a nighttime news show created specially to cover the hostage crisis — opened every night with “America held hostage, day XXX.” His wife, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, finally prodded him to do something. The “something” turned out to be a shambolic rescue mission that ended in disaster.

President Reagan intimidated the mullahs a bit, but never seriously retaliated for the Beirut barracks bombing that killed over 200 Marines along with over a score of other service personnel. George H.W. Bush invaded Iraq but left the mullahs largely alone. Bill Clinton did nothing of substance. George W. Bush had a chance to bring the Iranians to heel after the conquest of Iraq, but inexplicably failed to press his advantage. Barack Obama was, basically, complicit in their nuclear program, to the point of famously sending them pallets of cash totaling over a billion dollars.

President Trump, on the other hand, killed General Soleimani and told other Iranian leaders that they could be next.

It works. Go read the whole article.

LUIGI MANGIONE escapes federal death penalty in CEO slaying.

Let him suffer. Life in prison without any chance of parole will do.

WATCH THE VIDEO. The Deep State strikes.

SO HACKERS JUST STOLE MEXICO'S TAX AND VOTER ROLLS and you'll never guess how.

Believe in Artificial Intelligence? Think again.

SHUT UP AND SING: Crusty Democrat dino rockers should have some dignity.

A CONVERSATION, not a speech.

THE VALDO CALOCANE CASE CONFIRMS IT: Wokeness kills.

VIRGINIA GOV. ABAGAIL SPANBERGER slams Trump on ‘affordability’ in SOTU response — as Virginia Democrats push new taxes.

WHAT IF TRUMP IS SENTIENT AFTER ALL?

Donald Trump’s behaviour during this presidential term reveals a surprisingly deep strategic logic.

The core goal remains to restore absolute American superiority over China and Russia. But Trump wants to avoid confronting these major rivals directly. He is rather working to isolate Beijing and Moscow from their international partners and deprive them of any major means of external support.

At the same time, Trump is building a program of sustained economic, technology and other sanctions to markedly weaken the Chinese and Russian economies over the longer term.

The evidence for this strategic approach is fairly clear from the patterns of the administration’s behaviour.

Linked from Instapundit here. And he's right.

HEH: THE SWORD HAS TWO EDGES. Lawfare works against Democrats too.

EILEEN GU INDICTS BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP and our entire immigration orthodoxy.

As Instapundit points out, many orthodoxies are falling in the modern era.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE SMIRK: Democrats' Spanberger strategy tells you everything you need to know about them.

They think know their voters are chumps....

VOTERS WILL REMEMBER THIS from the State of the Union above all else — "The GOP stands for you and me. The Democrats stand for 'they'.”