SO WHAT IS LEVERAGE FOR? These people are nuts!

[VIP] KURT SCHLICHTER: Savages versus civilization.

I wish we were more civilized....

HOW DEEP ARE THE NEWSOMS IN IT? This deep.

THE POLITICS OF ENVY: They doesn't want to earn anything; just steal it.

BY ANY MEASURE, California is a failed state — and a national embarrassment.

Democracy is dead in California.

THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN. Players on a MLB partner team refuse to wear 'Pride' jersey.

'Partner teams' used to be called 'farm clubs' but I guess that's too rural for the MLB sophisticates...

SALENA ZITO: 'It's Only a Matter of National Security'. America's Workforce Academy's mission to fill the workforce gap.

CALIFORNIA’S INSANE ‘Prove You’re Gay’ law.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Fiery but mostly peaceful riots are the language of the unheard.

SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST MAYOR doesn’t plan on limiting her attacks to the rich.

Her father (who supports her financially) doesn't seem to mind. He lives in New York.

THE “BOOM BELT” is basically America’s new economic engine.

Linked from Instapundit here.

EVER WONDER WHY LEFTISTS ARE SO CRAZY? A new study just confirmed the Left's worst-kept secret.

IT'S TIME TO REINTRODUCE IRAN TO AMERICAN BOMBS: Iran announces Persian Gulf Strait Authority, sets stage for tolls.

METAPHOR ALERT: Obama Presidential Center’s $470M safety net under scrutiny.

If taxpayers have to bail it out it should be turned into an American Museum of Progressive Failure.

GRAHAM PLATNER'S greatest vulnerability isn't what you think it is.

MASSACHUSETTS 'HOMEBASE' PROGRAM: a hundred million dollars for (illegal) migrants.

If you work -- in the private sector, obviously -- get out now.

ABOUT TIME: The FBI is finally going after the services that enable cybercrime.

BOOMERS (1946-1964): A generation of Scrooge McDucks?

As a pre-Boomer (a year early) my parents lived through the Depression and the economic restrictions of WWII and I spent the formative years of my life hiding under my desk at school during nuclear war drills to survive (?) mutual assured destruction (MAD).

Do you think that may -- just may -- have something to do with our 'Scrooge -ish' behavior?

HASAN PIKER GOES FULL STALIN: cheers plan to throw Republicans in prison.

Even if he could, they would still be outnumbered by Democrats....

ANTI-AMERICANISM: It’s the law!

AMERICA AT 250: Remember the Tenth Amendment?

OBAMA’S PRESIDENTIAL CENTER looks like his ego cast in stone.

Heh.

IS ANYONE SURPRISED BY THIS? “Mental illness is emerging as its own political identity and is most heavily aligned with leftist political ideology and causes.”

So Democrats are batshit crazy. Who knew?

MIRANDA DEVINE: Pete Hegseth’s warning to Europe – be smart or be invaded.

BERNIE'S STUPID SCHEME to 'socialize' artificial intelligence must be stopped.

Translation from Bernie-speak: "I want my (un)fair share."

After all, he's not a billionaire.

R-I-I-I-G-H-T: Election fraud "is against the law, so nobody would ever do it."

DEMOCRATS WILLING to throw Black voters under the bus to gain power.

They'll throw anyone under the bus who gets in their way.

SO WHAT'S NEW? Hillary Clinton is back and lying again.

Hillary Clinton suggests rural voters are too stupid to show ID to vote and Black and Latino Representatives can only be elected if voters are segregated by race.

Of course, since she is herself both dumb and racist.

BE SURE TO INVITE THE REVOLUTIONARY GUARD. Khamenei funeral finally set for July.

NOT SO RANDOM A THOUGHT: AI search engines are effing worthless. They don't search for what you want; they search for what they know you should want.

To the extent I can, I keep mine turned off. Unfortunately it (thinks it) knows better and keeps turning itself back on....

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE: Everyone is talking about this photo.

Those aren't from the latest tranche of UFO photos?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Stop destroying civilization!

BY THE TIME YOU REACH RETIREMENT AGE YOU SHOULD HAVE STOLEN ENOUGH: Chip Roy has a plan to drain Congress of its elderly swamp creatures.

SOME OF THE MORE PUBLIC IDIOTS IN AMERICA: The Left has plans for seizing and spending Elon Musk's money.

Basic economics is beyond their ken.

IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD: potential big hurdle to a U.S.-Iran deal.

Give them to Israel for disposition....

IT DOESN'T LOOK LOOK LIKE Spencer Pratt is going away anytime soon.

Good for him....

THE SCUM ALSO RISES: Graham Platner makes history as first vanity oysterman with Nazi tattoo to win U.S. Senate nomination.

DON’T PANIC about Trump’s Iran strategy just yet.

Longish, but it's Kurt Schlichter on his (Trump's) miltary/economic strategy.

CALIFORNIA IS WHERE the Democrats test out all of their insanity.

Just a thought: Should Maine be renamed 'East California'?

HEH: Platner’s "certainly good enough getting other people’s money to qualify for employment in Washington."

THEY ALREADY HAVE; WE CALL THEM 'DEMOCRATS': Humanoid robots will soon fill U.S. homes.

POORLY, I SUSPECT: Let's see how this experiment plays out.

HEINLEIN: “A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore.” The same applies to so-called 'journalists'.

ESPECIALLY BY OUR INFERIORS: Americans have had enough of being lectured.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Now that Fox News has gone to 'live updates' on its web site it's not worth bothering with any more. I'm moving to Newsmax

VIRAL INFLUENCER: How Bill Gates’ billions shape U.S. medical research.

I think I've discovered why health care has gone downhill over the last 20 years....

ARE YOU NOW OR OR HAVE YOU EVER ... been anti-American?

HEH: It’s fun having a POTUS enjoying himself.

Linked from Instapundit here.

SAY NO to the "warmth of collectivism."

GO PRATT: Spencer Pratt is still in the fight, and he'll do more than get by with a lot of help from his friends.

[VIP] ENERGY DENSITY: The physics rule renewables can never escape. The metrics are here, here, and here on X (Twitter).

Closely related.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Iranian endgames.

The only acceptable solution to Iran is to obliterate the Mullahs and their Revolutionary Guard and send them to meet their 72 virgins wherever Allah resides.

BECAUSE THEY'RE DEMOCRATS? Why are male-identifying Democrat candidates all creepy weirdos?

ANOTHER HUGE VICTORY: The transgender movement's grip on American medicine is loosening fast.

If you want to be transgender, fine. But do it on your own dime. Not mine.

'MOMMA' IS IN FEAR FOR HER LIFE from the long arm of the legislators.

How long must this woke mind virus continue to exist until normal America decides to kill it, stomp its remains into dust, and then salt the Earth it has been ground into?

MAKE AMERICA BEAUTIFUL AGAIN: The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up.

And it should be the tag line for the next Republican presidential candidate.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Who put the 'Dim' in Dimocrats?

THE FIRST (AND ONLY) COMMANDMENT FOR CONGRESS:

From the Non Sequitur cartoon site.

NOW THAT THE ELECTION HAS BEEN CALLED (FINALLY):

YOU DON'T SAY: California is ground zero for election fraud in the United States.
Linked from Instapundit here.
-------------------------
OF COURSE THE CALIFORNIA VOTE WAS RIGGED! Here’s why it’s obvious.

SHORT ANSWER, NO: Can California still be saved? Confine it and let it rot.

IMPRIMIS: Launching a second scientific revolution.

It's worth a try. I hope it succeeds.

HOPEFUL SIGN: A seismic third-world revolution.

Linked from Instapundit.

LATEST UPDATE: Children are more adult than grown-up progressives.

I tend to agree, based on the comment sections I occasionally choose to read on various blog posts.

JONATHAN TURLEY: Eight years after Kavanaugh, Democrats have stopped believing all women.

They lied when they said they did believe.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Today the accepted definition of credentialed progressive idiot is 'expert'.

FORCE MULTIPLIER? Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group gets new Seahawk drone.

BATSHIT CRAZY. What in the actual hell is a Democrat these days?

IS CALIFORNIA'S VOTE RESERVOIR depleting?

Apparently not.

THE FUTURE OF WORK belongs to people who master Artificial Intelligence.

Or maybe to Artificial Intelligence for mastering people.

I'm reminded of the science fiction book The Marching Morons:

In 1988, real estate agent and con artist John Barlow is placed in suspended animation after a freak accident. He is revived in the distant future, in a confusing world filled with hypersexualized advertisements, vapid entertainment, and people who exhibit erratic, nonsensical behavior. Shortly after being revived, Barlow is introduced to two men, Tinny-Peete and Ryan-Ngana, who inform him that the lamentable state of society is the fault of the "morons", the world's vast population of unintelligent people, who greatly outnumber the much smaller population of intelligent people.

Sound familiar? I hope I'm wrong, but I suspectthe morons have won, and the best those of us who aren't morons can do is to slow the decline. At my age it ain't worth the trouble. Good luck.

THE EGO has landed crashed.

THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON: Harvard’s slide into stupidity.

'Slide' is being kind; 'dive' is more appropriate....

Instapundit agrees.

MY ANSWER IS 'NO': Is going to college still worth it?

WELL, THAT’S BECAUSE THEY DON’T: Bill Maher says artists quitting America 250 concert makes it look like Democrats ‘don’t love America.’

BECAUSE IT IS NOT AND NEVER HAS BEEN DECENT. Why is the 'Party of Decency' running so many questionable characters?

They've just come out from behind the curtain.

BREAKING: California is beyond redemption.

SEATTLE MAYOR acknowleges she's an idiot.

YES! Trump signs order to make it easier to fire 8,000 federal workers.

But as Stephen Green points out, those are rookie numbers. He still has over 2 years left to finish up, though....

AND NOW ON TO POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures with the latest midterm election update:

Go see the rest.

DECEMBER 6TH WAS D-DAY, the day of the Normandy invasion and 81 years after World War II began to crumble in 1944, and I missed it. So here are a couple of reminders.

THE GUNS WERE GONE AT POINTE DU HOC ON D-DAY, so the Rangers went looking.

LOOK AT THEM. Really look at them.

SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH remembers those who fought during 82nd D-Day Commemoration at Normandy.

CLOWNS HAVE EGOS TOO: Clown show in Congress.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE: Mayor Katie Wilson says she'll 'act now' after locals fortified streets with planters.

But that's the Democrats' way....

BECAUSE SHUT UP. Dozens of anti-ICE protesters won't face state charges for storming Minnesota church service.

Read it all, then imagine the result if it had been Christians invading a Muslim mosque.

On the brighter side, federal civil rights charges remain pending against 39 people who interrupted worship to protest immigration enforcement. It's Minnesota, so they'll get off too, but at least they'll be paying some legal fees....

FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, a personal favorite:

Now go see the rest.

HERR PLATNER is taking Democrat credibility down with him.

Assuming the Democrats had credibility to start with, they appear to be fine with that....

DEMOCRATS SOLD THEIR SOULS FOR PLATNER, but they're not going to like this new shock data.

They have souls to sell?

NOT SHOCKING: Poll shows AOC voters don't like America, prefer foreign countries.

Then they should move there. I would add that one-way tickets are cheaper....

STRAIGHT OVER THE CLIFF: The increase in crazy.

One does have to marvel at the stunning timing of all these "incidents" suddenly flooding the news cycles for the last 18 months or so. That surge in what Sky News Australia's brilliant Rita Panahi has dubbed "Lefties Losing It" is, shall we say, difficult to ignore. Funny how the explosion in reported incidents tracks almost perfectly with the left's increasingly tenuous grip on, well, everything — the media, the narrative, the whole carefully-tended garden of approved opinions. Purely coincidental, I'm sure.

Next stop, Crazytown. Except ... we're already there.

WHICH NGOS ARE ORGANIZING THE NUTWARK NEWARK PROTESTS, and how are they doing so?

It's just now showing up on network televisions, so read the whole post.

It's well past time to tax all NGOs, good and bad alike.

WITH GRAHAM PLATNER IMPLODING, Former Gov. Janet Mills reminds Maine voters that she's still on the ballot.

CALIFORNIA ELECTION RESULTS still undecided as Los Angeles begins counting ballots.

How much of their 873,000 registration reserve will the Democrats have to activate to win?

GLENN REYNOLDS [INSTAPUNDIT] The Left's violence is what insurrection looks like.

KURT SCHLICHTER: The Democrats’ soon-to-fail 2026 midterm campaign to turn America into a more gender-confused version of Cuba.

SLEEP IN YOUR OWN BED: Gen Z may be angry, but Boomers are not the enemy.

Quit whining. As a (bit too) early Boomer, we didn't whine about what the Greatest Generation left us, we lived with it, and made it better. If you don't like what we left behind, then fix it yourselves and make it better -- it's your bed now.

[VIP] TRUMP GAVE HIM A SECOND CHANCE; he used it wisely.

NOW IS THE TIME to go back to kinetic action with the specific purpose of crushing the Islamists. Not Muslims, Islamists.

TOP SENATE DEMOCRAT backs scandal-plagued candidate in bid to 'take back' the Senate.

Unfortunately Shumer will not be up for reelection until the 2028 elections. If he's smart he'll retire then, but it's a safe bet that he isn't.

TIME TO CHANGE the Islamic Regime in Iran.

Just the Mullahs, IRG and Basij. But they should be exterminated and whatever remains be ground into salted Earth.

TEXAS JUST WON A BORDER FIGHT that common sense settled years ago.

Unfortunately common sense isn't. It's rare.

THESE MONSTERS are the foundation of today’s Democratic party.

NOT STUDENTS. WHO 'OWNS' UNIVERSITIES? Academic armageddon advances.

LOOK: Trump administration unveils latest improvement to nation's capitol after graffiti mess.

Democrats will have to accelerate the decline after President Trump leaves office in 2028 (assuming they win).

ONE WITH TEETH: To restore public order, Chicago must enact a nuisance ordinance.

JUST DESSERTS: Scott Pelley fired at CBS News.

Scott Pelley is a pompous ass. His firing is well deserved.

NO EBOLA ON AMERICAN SOIL: Trump opens emergency treatment center in Kenya to contain the spread.

Apparently Kenya objects. I guess they don't want ebola either.

I'm sure the Democrats are happy; they really, really want a pandemic in the U.S. in time for the midterm election. They tried monkey pox; it failed. Then hantavirus; it also failed. Now ebola is (almost) their last chance before the election.

NEWARK MAYOR IMPOSES CURFEW around Delaney Hall after clashes over immigration detention center.

It looks like New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill failed to 'calm things down' but I will give her this -- she did authorize New Jersey police to replace the ICE/Border Patrol agents who had been protecting the detention center.....

UPDATED: Police at New Jersey ICE facility arrest at least 20 agitators in another chaotic scene. Paid thugs. They should be jailed until their paymasters can be found, arrested, jailed, tried, and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison without any chance of parole.

DON LEMON DISCOVERS RULES after a church service gets disrupted.

But, but ... he's a Democrat. Rules don't apply to Democrats. I'd like to see him tried, convicted, and sentenced to jail time. But that won't happen, so I'll be happy with having his 'journalist' card revoked.

JUDICIAL WATCH scrutinizes 873,000 inactive voter registrations in California.

Translation to the obvious: they're not 'inactive'; they're the Democrats' cheating reserve.

UPDATE: With the election in progress today you can count on the reserves being called into service within the next day/week/month or so as ballots are being 'counted'.

SHE'S CAUGHT THE PRATT! The audio works just fine, but the video doesn't. Nevertheless it's still good.

Linked from PowerLine here.

MAY ALL SIDES LOSE: The imminent Democrat party civil war.

LANDLOCKED NATION steps up to guard world's most critical oil choke point for U.S.

SOME SOMALIS ARE OUR FRIENDS: Breakaway Somaliland now challenging Iranian, Houthi dominance in Red Sea.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Savor our victory over the establishment.

HARD, VERY HARD, BUT POSSIBLE? Bringing back normality.

RANDOM OBSERVATION: Once upon a time, America's oldest apparatchik, Bernie Sanders, railed against millionaires. Now that he is one himself, he attacks billionaires and "oligarchs."

THE GREATNESS OF JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: "It may well be the most vital and energetic explanation of the American founding since Madison, Hamilton and Jay collaborated on The Federalist Papers."

The link in the post is to text that is small and hard to read. I've been unable to find a readable text link, but a downloadable pdf is here. His address is also available on YouTube here but you'll have to skip through a number of advertisements.

SERIOUSLY? YES, SERIOUSLY: Tom Steyer vows to make women second class citizens when he's Governor of California.

Absolutely disqualifying. Why should young girls suffer injuries because they’re forced to compete against boys? Or lose out on medals and scholarships? This is peak beta male behavior. Tom Steyer is a clown. All that money and he can’t buy common sense.

To call Steyer a clown is to insult professional clowns.

FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, my favorite this week:

Now go see the rest.

AND AWAY WE GO: Entering the Promised Land.

AOC SLAMMED BY SOUTHERN CONSERVATIVES after 'pull up to the South' rally comment.

Speaking at the "All Roads Lead to The South" rally on May 16, the prominent "Squad" member claimed the U.S. was not a true democracy until the 1960s when the Voting Rights Act was passed, and took direct aim at the Supreme Court, accusing the high court under Chief Justice John Roberts of being "part of that long history of regression and repression in America."

Ocasio-Cortez then issued a highly controversial call to action, demanding that "the North" travel to red states like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi to fight what she described as political injustice.

She doubled down on social media following the event, writing, "If you're not from these states, it's time to pull up."

Only after they've visited our Welcome Wagon.

WHY DO SO MANY ATTACKS ON TRUMP involve individuals with mental health issues?

Democrats?

I see two fundamental options: (1) we can either kill them as the rabid and incurable animals they are or (2) confine them involuntarily to mental hospitals. My personal preference is the latter but current trends lead (to me, at least) toward option 1. Are there any state-run insane asylums left?

FRANCE HAS A NAVY? French Navy seizes Russian shadow fleet oil tanker.

They must be really desperate for oil....

FEEL THE BERN? Bernie Sanders (and AOC) spent lavishly on private jets, limos for their ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour.

Because their 'work' is so damned important ... understand?

GARY SINISE ON LEAVING CALIFORNIA and the power of his vets foundation.

His foundation does great work, is humble about what it does, and I donate every year. You should too.

HERE'S AN INTERESTING ARTICLE that (partially) explains the huge disparity between Shadow's World views and views of Shadow's World posts (typically thousands to one). And from what I can make of the 'stats' page, most are from Windows operating systems, Google Chrome browsers, and from out of the United States (97%). So the internet universe is infested with bots that (to my mind) scrape the internet for information bits that can be sold.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BIAS REPORT: Someone said ‘mothers’ instead of ‘lactating individuals’.

The bubble-wrapped 'feelz brigade' appears to have taken over college campuses. Nuking from orbit followed by salting the rubble appears to be the only solution.

THE DEMOCRATS’ GREATEST FEAR: The GOP will turn James Talarico into a creepy, unmanly weirdo.

Sorry, but the Democrats did that to themselves....

BYE, BYE, HUMAN RESOURCES: Don't go away mad; just go away.

WHICH WAY TO THE EXIT? Disorder in the Court.

No matter what happens in the 2026 election, California is on a one-way freeway to Hell.

EVEN THE BIG BLUE TOILET TOWNS are sick of the Democratic freak show.

YEAH, RIGHT: Democrats hopeful average Texas voter wants to ban steak and thinks God is gay.

The Babylon Bee is doing news again. And they'd be right if Texas was limited to the 30 miles or so around the state capitol....

ONE MORE REMEMBERANCE FROM MEMORIAL DAY: 'We Gave Up Our Yesterdays for Your Tomorrows' — 97-year-old WWII hero's rain-soaked speech.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF MODERN AMERICA: "Neurotic feelings are more important than rights, or even basic safety concerns".

I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE: Lockheed Martin unveils new AI superweapons to destroy drone swarms.

GUTFELD WAS RIGHT: For Democrats, apocalypse is a business model.

IN UNDESIRABLE DEMOCRATIC NEIGHBORHOODS. These five cities are seeing big home price cuts.

SEATTLE explains how evolution really works.

STUDENT ACTIVISTS ARE A SYMPTOM — Classroom bias is the disease.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Spare us your selective outrage.

Don't go away mad; just go away.

I SEE A TRADE FOR MINNESOTA IN THE WORKS: Oil-rich Alberta now preparing vote on leaving Canada.

'DIRTY ICEBERG' turns out to be an undiscovered Antarctic island.

FOR DEMOCRATS, Apocalypse is a business model.

IN A WORD, COMMON SENSE: What is Trumpism?

FINISH THE JOB, MR. PRESIDENT: In this game, the most committed wins. If it requires resuming kinetic operations, then so be it.

THOUGHTFUL COMMENT from this [VIP] post:

The problem is that today's Democrat leaders/activists literally do not think of themselves as Americans. They have genuine contempt for America. They instead think of themselves as people who just happen to live in the continent of North America, on stolen land, and who have no interest in, nor any connection to, the people who founded America or who fought for or died for America. They do not support our Constitution either. They would prefer to replace it 100% with Socialism modeled more or less on the old USSR. This is also why they have no interest in our Memorial Day and why they revere presidents like Obama over Washington. We conservatives / Republicans don't want to accept this painful reality, but it is reality. And it is a great threat to our country's future.

Also remaing from Memorial Day, one more thought on the inherent goodness of the American people: Above and beyond for a Gold Star widow.

FINALLY, A REMINDER:

WINNER: Reporter's attempt to get Medal of Honor recipients to bash America doesn't go according to plan.

CATHERINE SALGADO: President Ronald Reagan's Memorial Day tribute and challenge still rings true today.

Keep the faith....

A MEMORY for those we lost in the long wars.

My generation got the Vietnam Memorial Wall; Ollivant got Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetary -- both now mostly forgotten.

IT'S MEMORIAL DAY, and that begins America 250 as veterans groups call on Americans to reignite that what unites us.

Remember. And do what you can.

MEMORIAL DAY IS NOT ABOUT SALES. It’s about sacrifice.

MEMORIAL DAY STORIES of sacrifice and courage.

MEMORIAL DAY MEMORIES

Sadness comes later....

THIS MEMORIAL DAY, honor and remember those brave troops who died so we may live free.

A WOUNDED WARRIOR shares the meaning of 'No Bad Days' on this Memorial Day.

A HAPPY ENDING STORY: When I was an IDF soldier, I missed the last bus from a remote military base in the desert. Guess who ended up rescuing me?

OBVIOUSLY OBVIOUS: Study proves what I've been saying about teachers' unions for years.

INTERESTING TIMES in the California war on gasoline.

WE MIGHT BE COOL, but no one is Johnny Joey Jones reenlisting in the Marine Corps cool.

DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS threaten to expel Texas candidate over antisemitic comments.

And I hope the Republicans vote every day to keep her as a reminder of how horrible the Democrats are.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON ON AMERICA: The real crouching tiger, hidden dragon.

SORRY, KAMALA: ‘No bad idea’ is a uniquely bad idea.

I think she was misquoted and called for an "only bad idea brainstorm".

THIS IS HARD TO BELIEVE but I do. Every word. Every single word. Fairfax county DA Steve Descano's terrible, no-good congressional testimony.

We lived next door (Prince William county) for 12 years ... for Fairfax county this is unfortunately entirely believable.

BLM ACTIVIST explains why he walked away.

"Socialism has literally never worked. BLM has always been a scam and the Democratic Party has always been the party of racism and violence."

Well said.

KURT SCHLICHTER doesn't believe Spencer Pratt can win the mayorship against the Los Angeles Democrat machine -- and he may be right --- but Karen Bass is definitely panicking over his fundraising prowess.

California's 'deep state' is formidible, but I'm cautiously hopeful that he and Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton can win. If nothing more, they'll have a few years to kick ass and name names.

IT ALREADY HAS. A new wave of domestic terrorism coming?

[VIP] I MUST BE REALLY, REALLY SMART: Here's why.

If you're not a VIP member, go here for the gist of the post.

FEEL-GOOD FRIDAY SATURDAY: Texas Tech University graduate with medical needs walks with her service dog, who gets special honor.

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, the AOC of jurisprudence, has thoughts about court neutrality.

She has thoughts? Really?

LAGUARDIA SINKHOLE: Even the ground under Mamdani’s New York City wants out.

Heh.

NO ONE GETTING PAID $26,153.85 every 2 weeks ($680,000 annually) to solve the homeless problem is going to solve the homeless problem.

THE CHOICE FACING CALIFORNIA CONSERVATIVES: despair or fight.

I think they misspelled 'fight'; it should be 'flight'. Fight has been overcome by events (OBE).

YES, OBVIOUSLY: Assault on 'ghost guns' about more than firearms.

It's about keeping criminals armed....

AN AMERICAN HERO: Fox News' Johnny 'Joey' Jones reenlists in the United States Marine Corps.

If there's an opportunity for me to serve, there's no reason why a no-legged 40-year-old staff sergeant should be able to put the uniform on, other than these men believed it. And the goal here is to open that door for anyone else that has something left to give.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth led the swearing-in ceremony at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT as you go to an Ivy League school to get your moron certificate.

And pay an exorbitant sum for the privilege....

FEW AND FAR BETWEEN: retirement options for the middle class.

Could the Trump IRA be a game changer?

STOSSEL: Data center freak-out.

AOC and Bernie Sanders have introduced a bill that will pause new center construction.

That's just dumb.

If our economy was allowed to develop at the speed of Bernie Sanders, we would be significantly worse off...

Question for the record: "Why should anyone (company, individual, whatever) be dependent on government largess for power?"

JUST DO THINGS: Never mind the progressive Left. Even if it means telling the Leftist judiciary "you made your decision; now try to enforce it."

It's called 'taking a play from the Democrat playbook'.

NOT NEARLY ENOUGH: What do immigrants owe us?

Here's a thought: (1) If they're here illegally, and with criminal records, kick them out. No if, ands, or buts. Out. Forever. (2) If they're here illegally, but with no criminal records, then let those who wish to stay and become citizens pay a nonrefundable charge equivalent to the fees (legal and otherwise) paid by legal immigrants. That charge must be paid over a fixed period of time or goodbye, no refund, no return.

WELL, SHE'S RIGHT. Karen Bass accuses Spencer Pratt of tapping into 'a general sense' of anger.

And she (and her fellow Democrats) are also responsible for that 'general sense' of anger....

RANDOM THOUGHT: President Trump is putting a Trump face on America; the Democrats are putting on a Clown face. The next presidential election is going to be a 'makers' versus 'takers' election, and right now I think the 'takers' have the edge.

Update and boost to top: Need I say more?

KURT SCHLICHTER: The GOP's midterm reversal of fortune.

Read the comments; some are quite lengthy and all are worthy.

AS STUDENT SCORES PLUMMET, teachers’ union head rants against Trump. Randi Weingarten's 15 minutes of fame is waaay past due. So's her union's. It's time to discard them both. Forever.

CAPITALISM: The one thing that works.

FIRST DEFINE 'ULTRA-PROCESSED': The debate needs less fear and more clarity.

I approve this discussion. Follow the link.

TRUMP'S DEPORTATION PUSH meets reality (i.e., small town plumbing).

So put detention campsin big cities with adequate infrastructure.

After all, that's where the illegal aliens are....

TRUTH: Health bureaucrats need to stay employed, your fear is their job.

Just watch almost any television commercial interruption.

DONALD TRUMP takes a page from Rudy Giullani's mayoral campaign playbook.

DEMOCRATS GAVE THEM PERMISSION: Why assassins almost always go after Republicans.

BUT KINDLY. VERY KINDLY. Trump makes a Greenland deal.

HE CERTAINLY HAD THE CAPACITY: Happy 80th birthday to the greatest alcoholic who's ever walked on planet Earth.

DEMOCRATS NOW WANT to abolish the Virginia government.

I agree with them. Once done, replace it with a Republican administration.

BUT KINDLY. VERY KINDLY. Trump is making a Greenland deal.

WE NEED TO STOP letting Democrats casually commit felonies with no consequences.

PREDICTING THE NEXT GOP SCANDAL AND OPPORTUNITY — and how Trump could finally crush the mainstream media.

Risky, perhaps, but I'm all for it if it'll keep me from mashing the 'mute' buttion every time I turn on the television.

NOTHING LIKE SWINGING HARD AT AN OBVIOUS FOUL (FOOL?) BALL: Democrats say 'Heil Platner!'

THE EV BUST CLAIMS FIVE MORE VICTIMS -- and they aren't even EVs.

MY ANSWER to Stephen Green's exit question: Enjoy life.

THE DEMOCRATIC MODEL: Corruption as a feature, not a flaw.

How do you think they're getting so wealthy? Or as it has been said more succintly: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

WHEN BILLIONAIRES (TRY TO) ABOLISH ECONOMICS, they find they can't. Economics isn't about money.

The appeal of the post-scarcity narrative is understandable. It offers a vision in which economic tensions dissolve, and policy becomes a matter of distribution rather than discipline. But that vision rests on assumptions that collapse under closer inspection. Technology can expand the frontier of what is possible and available. It does not eliminate the need to choose among possibilities and evaluate trade-offs. It does not erase the importance of how resources are allocated, how incentives are structured, or how information is conveyed through prices. If anything, the arrival of powerful new technologies makes sound economics more important — not less.

Elon Musk (and many of his associates) have been reading far too much of Isaac Asimov's robot series.

THE PRESS SHOULD TAKE A HINT AND QUIT INVERVIEWING HER: AOC takes page from Biden playbook in dodging interviews with national press.

At least he suffered from dementia; she doesn't. Her problem is that she has only a fraction of his intelligence. And that's not saying much.

NO SHIT: America has a serious literacy problem on its hands.

Thanks to woke 'edjumacation'.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Good riddance, Thomas Massie.

DEMOCRATS DON’T FEAR GUNS. They fear armed Americans.

Agreed.

HAVE FUN storming the castle, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL]. We'll just keep passing the popcorn and reminding people of this whenever Democrat Party leadership starts screaming raaaaacism for drawing maps that don't rely on race.

WELL, THE GREEN BAY PACKERS ARE INVESTOR OWNED: Crowdfunding campaign to buy Spirit Airlines racks up more than 335 million in pledges.

"THIS IS THE RAISON D'ETRE OF THE CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRAT PARTY: graft, sloth, parasitism."

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The four horsemen of the new antisemitism.

MAYORKAS: It wasn't my fault!

The hell it wasn't. At best he was a willing pawn; at worst he was an enthusiastic participant.

NBC NEWS GRIPPED BY HANTAVIRUS PANDEMIC HYPE -- Avoid the network for 2 weeks to stop the spread of idiocy.

Why only two weeks?

That said, I will take some of the necessary precautions and place NBC News into quarantine and keep this outlet shut down. The last thing we need is another outbreak of needless restrictions, useless masking, and enduring the wave of screeching Karens in store aisles. We have already survived that apocalypse in this country.

No need to do it again.

THEY'RE JUST PLAIN UGLY INSIDE AND OUT: 'Comedian' Pete Davidson faces backlash over Charlie Kirk joke at Netflix roast.

THE CRASH OUT over the Viginia redistricting ruling commences, and it's only going to get worse.

The Democrats may not realize it (yet), but they are inciting the second American civil war.

SOME REALLY GREAT NEWS: Faint meow leads to a miracle post-tornado kitten rescue.

The picture is adorable.

AT LEAST ENGINEERING HAS RETAINED SOME MODICUM OF COMMON SENSE: The Rutgers School of Engineering pulled the plug on a planned convocation speaker after his anti-Israel social media posts surfaced.

BECAUSE THEY'D CHOOSE TO LEAVE THE DEMOCRATS' PLANTATION? Why are Democrats so afraid of Black voters having a choice?

Wow! Read it all.

RANDOM THOUGHT: We're moving toward a second American Civil War and the Democrats will lose again.

FAIR WARNING: They're telling you exactly what they'll do but is anyone listening?

SHE'S CLEARLY GOT VACUUM BETWEEN THE EARS: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doubles down on lunacy.

[VIP] IF YOU ELECT DEMOCRATS, more people die.

DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY: "Our education system is irredeemably awful, and needs to be blown up so that we can start over from scratch."

IT'S OFFICIAL: The climate scam was a scam all along.

Now that the climate scam is over what will the Left bring up next?

THE END OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS WE KNOW IT: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

THIS IS MORE LIKE THE 21ST CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: Elon Musk may be exploring a takeover of the bankrupt Spirit Airlines.

That was the first thing I thought of when Spirit Airlines announced it was closing. Look out, American and Delta....

THE (SELF) CHOSEN ONE? Instead of saving the Democrats, Obama blames Trump for marital ‘tension’.

IT'S NEAR AUSTIN, SO WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? This university in Texas says they're still peddling DEI.

DESPITE THE LEFT'S BEST EFFORTS, history is real.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Obvious to almost everyone -- except them.

YGBFKM: Judge apologizes to suspect accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump.

KURT SCHLICHTER: The Left can't win. That's objective reality.

No, but they can damn sure make life miserable for the rest of us.

I'M NOTICING that more and more the Babylon Bee is turning from satire to real news. Herewith are some examples from David Strom's Sunday Smiles:

Homeless Declare Victory In Gavin Newsom’s Fight Against Homelessness

A.I. Calculates It Will Be More Efficient To Just Let Humanity Destroy Itself

Op-Ed: If We Stop Discriminating Based On The Color Of People's Skin, The Racists Will Have Won

Democrats Deny Inciting Violence And Say Anyone Who Thinks They Do Must Be Eliminated By Any Means Necessary

Make your own call....

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER NUT JOB: Pittsburgh man arrested for threatening to kill Trump.

OUR SELF-COLONIZED NATION: “Every successful system accumulates parasites.”

Getting rid of them will be hard, as embedded as they are, but necessary. I hope America is up to the task.

ADIOS ARTICLE III. Our courts are guilty of failing to do their job.

POWERLINE'S Week In Pictures accurately describes the Democrat party:

Of the rest, too many are just headlines describing the insanity of the world around us. Go see them anyway.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE will slowly seduce us into our own demise.

He's right.

THAT’S NOT LEGAL: Blue jurisdictions are rationing homeless services based on race.

No matter; they have to serve their own first.

Linked from Instapundit here.

MERIT IS THE NEXT RACISM: Nothing scares Democrats more than the idea of merit.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD: Target Trump.

HE DOESN'T BACK DOWN: SpaceX lawsuit forces California agency to admit bias against Elon Musk and back down.

They did.

DEMOCRATS' RANTS show their enemies list is serious business.

When they tell you what they plan to do, believe them!

CALIFORNIA is an unfunny joke.

But I'm sure the unicorns will come back to frolic in the tulips if we just give them a few more dollars.

MORE GLOBALONEY: The Ice Age is on the way.

For those of us who can remember back that far, we've gone forward about -60 years (that's minus, meaning back to 1966).

EXCELLENT!: Blast Kills 14 Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON admits Chicago discriminates in hiring city employees.

In favor of incompetence....

SHE'S UGLY INSIDE AND OUT. Katie Porter's gubernatorial campaign pushes ‘f*ck Trump’ message, ‘kill people’ claim right after WHCA dinner shooting.

More from that malicious, evil idiot.

MORE MEMES from Sarah Hoyt. Having cats myself, the obvious best is the one about changing the bedsheets. But then, all cat memes are good.

VIRGINIA SENATORS want to inflict Virginia's tyrannical gun strategy on the entire country.

As Senators, I'm sure both Kaine and Warner have armed security details. Take them away and see how they like it. As Democrats, they 'know' their lives are important and must be protected. Well, mine is too -- more so to me than theirs -- and I carry. Ain't giving that up.

PRESIDENT TRUMP is a better rug merchant than the Iranians.

SIT THIS ONE OUT, BOOB, ER, TIM: Kash Patel turns tables on Gov. Walz in response to viral tweet on Minnesota fraud raids.

HEH: If you can't say something nice about someone, you must be talking about a Democrat.

SEN. JON OSSOFF [D-GA] had plenty to say about Trump — until someone tried to kill him. Trump, not Ossoff, unfortunately.

Ossoff is Georgia's soon-to-be-former Senator if I get my say in November.

AMERICA’S PROBLEMS start here.

Linked from Instapundit here. Be sure to read the comments.

A related Twitter (X) post is here.

THE SUICIDE OF EXPERTISE: Americans might look back on the last 50 years and say, “What have experts done for us lately?”

I think the proper question is "What have they done to us lately?"

DOUBLING DOWN ON STUPID under the supervision of their 'homelessness experts'.

IMPRIMIS ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: Are we subjects or citizens?

I think it's clear that Democrats prefer 'subjects' to 'citizens'.

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.

WHOSE STUFF IS IT, ANYWAY? John Deere to pay $99 million in monumental right-to-repair settlement.

Now do cars. It's not your car without ‘the digital tools required for the maintenance, diagnosis, and repair’ it. Even if you pay cash, it's only leased.

I may never use them personally, but I'd sure like to have them available so I (or my mechanic) can turn off or disable all the health, safety, and 'let us help you drive' software that pollutes my driving experience.

FROM THE SHADOW'S WORLD WAYBACK MACHINE (June 19, 2020): So much has NOT changed....

Remember this?

And this?

A nation of equal poverty.

In only six (6!) years, technology has made great strides. Culturally and spiritually, however, we've regressed.

THEN 'SHE' iS SAFE: Transgender Rep. Sarah McBride [D-DE] claims Trump ‘only fires women’.

EAST VILLAGERS are regretting their overwhelming vote for Zohran Mamdani.

They believe they voted for him to f*ck up other people's back yards. That's how communism is supposed to work....

JUST DO IT -- IT'S BRILLIANT! Here’s how Trump can nuke Virginia’s new gerrymandered map.

I lived there long enough to know what a fetid swamp northern Virginia is. Give it back to the DC swamp creatures.

And confine it there; Another forty miles of border wall would be a nice addition....

IT HAS BEFORE: Democrats fear this 'October Surprise' will cost them the Senate in the mid-term elections.

But it's a double-edged sword; the Republicans have lost as well.

SPEEDING TO A DEGREE: Does a college credential signify ... anything?

As a now-retired engineering PhD, except in very narrow instances, the answer is "NOT REALLY". At the Bachelor's degree level, it probably won't hurt. Master's degree, only if you're seeking particular (usually STEM skills) training. And I can think of only three reasons to get a PhD, the first being that it's a box to check to get thatjob you really want (college professor, for example); the second is just for the hell of it (to prove to yourself that you can do it). The latter was my reason. The third -- and worst -- is the 'Dr. Jill' reason: I wanna be called 'Doctor'.

Post-PhD I spent the remainder (~25 years) of my working life in engineering and rarely, if ever, had to call on that added expertise of a PhD. And I must note that the two years spent not truly employed cost me roughly $80,000 in lost income (not including tuition and fees) over that 25-year working lifetime. In 1980 dollars. I don't even want to think of what that would be in 2026 dollars.

WHITE COATS AND IRON LUNGS: It's long, but of particular interest to me since I had polio the year before the Salk vaccine was released (in 1954).

The post isn't so much about polio, it's more about technology, moral capital, earned trust, assumed authority, and its misuse by our 'expert' class.

That said, read it all. Trust me, it's worth serious thought.

COGNITIVE ATROPHY IS A THING: Concern grows that Artifical Iintelligence is damaging users’ cognitive abilities. That strikes me as a pretty common sense observation which I've noted a number of times recently.

WHAT HAPPENED to the 11 scientists and employees who worked for NASA or were involved in nuclear research?

My theory is that they are all extraterrestrials (ETs) who have given up on Planet Earth, decided to shed their human skinsuits, and go home.

MORE EVIDENCE OF LEFTIST HYPOCRISY (IF NEEDED): Tom Steyer just secured the most hypocritical endorsement of the California governor's race. Billionaires are fine, as long as they're our billionaires....

Remember when Sen. Bernie Sanders [I-VT] hated millionaires -- until he became one?

IS RICO ACT SCRUTINY NEEDED FOR ACT BLUE? Here are two reasons why it is.

WE NOW HAVE PROOF. The IRGC blocks Iran's President and seizes control of state functions.

It's time to follow LeMay's Law and kill the Revolutionary Guard extremists until they stop. If it means all of them, then so be it.

SUNDAY SMILES: Here's the first:

And when you go to see the rest, read the rant about Mamdani's grocery stores on the way.

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON is distinguishing herself on the U.S. Supreme Court — and not in a positive way. "It’s as though she’s positioned on an island defined by woke ideology, racial justice, and equity, while the other eight justices remain on the mainland of restraint."

Read the whole thing.

IT WOULD BE GREAT: Are we seeing the makings of an Iranian civil war?

SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS urged to call in the FBI after second Supreme Court leak emerges.

It's waaayy past time for Justice Roberts to listen to himself: "[J]udges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules. They apply them... Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire." Then make sure the prosecution enforces them. To the maximum.

HOPEFULLY A SOON-TO-BE FORMER SENATOR: John Ossoff is running on California cash, not Georgia support.

NOT COUNTING STATE AND LOCAL MISUSE, Federal waste and fraud costs every U.S. household at least $140K or more over your lifetime.

I THINK THE MIDDLE EAST is about to have a new parking lot soon. Called Iran.

After all the rubble has been cleared away....

ALL SIGNS point to Gracie Mansion for the NY Mets April losing season.

Heh.

YOU SHOULD BE SURPRISED: At least 350,000 dead people currently listed on voter rolls across those jurisdictions as active voters.

And that's just from the 22 states/jurisdictions that have responded to the DOJ's demand for voter registration rolls.

But I suspect you won't be....

GUESS WHICH ONE: A union that shouldn't even exist spends more on political contributions in Washington than the entire technology industry.

MATH IS HARD; expecially if you're a Democrat.

For those of you who squeal in pain whenever Republicans mention Social Security, look up my posts on the subject. Warning: I can do math....

WHY WOKENESS is so hard to kill.

Linked from Instapundit.