DEMOCRATS JUST GOT ONE STEP CLOSER to seizing presidential elections. Newly elected Gov. Abagail Spanberger signed the state onto the National Popular Vote Interatate Compact.

[Update] Two steps closer, as apparently Virginia voters approved Democrat gerrymandering just in time for the mid-term and 2028 elections.

ENDORSED: Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman urges theater owners to stop having 30 minutes of trailers.

In other words, don't follow television. Their price is higher in terms of ads (trailers) and their product is worthless.

It sometimes seems like television is owned by the Ad Council -- constant ads interspersed with tiny bits of news and 'entertainment'.

And the ads suck....

TRUTH: "Feminization equals wokeness."

GOVERNMENT-AIDED HOSTAGE TAKING: Google is quietly censoring pro-gun websites — and it's working.

DON SURBER'S SUBSTACK: Even Reddy Kilowatt is leaving blue states.

WHEELS (SPINNING) ON THE MARXIST BUS: Obama And Mamdani meet using toddlers as props.

Mentally they're (pre)toddlers themselves.

MONDAY NIGHT FROM SARAH HOYT: The right to keep and bear memes shall not be infringed.

Go see the memes.

I THINK THE PERCENTAGE IS WAY LOW: 90% of social science research leans left.

To reprise an old Moral Majority bumper sticker: 'SOCIAL SCIENCE IS NEITHER'.

MAMDANI YET AGAIN: NYC Mayor Mamdani admits city-owned grocery stores have limited ability to lower prices on many items.

Without subsidies your tax dollars, that is.

MAMDANI ANNOUNCES his plan to destroy NYC's bodegas will take effect next year.

And it will fail quickly, just as all his other 'free stuff' plans have so far....

COULD A SOMALILAND BASE emerge as US foothold against Iran, Houthis in key sea lanes?

The Republic of Somalia (Somilialand) is NOT Somalia; it is a partially recognised (by Israel) state in the Horn of Africa located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east.

CHINA MUST BE SMILING watching America’s pundit imbeciles.

Linked from Instapundit.

WE WON'T COMPROMISE: In-N-Out CEO says no to delivery and East Coast expansion.

Well, In-N-Out moved its HQ to Tennessee in 2025, so maybe Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson (its CEO) will be kind and put an In-N-Out near me in northwest Georgia. It's been (more than) a few years but I believe Lynsi was in the same high school in Lancaster CA as my daughter when we lived there.

BY ALL MEANS let the war crimes trials begin!

Gen. Curtis LeMay smiles....

In his 1965 autobiography ... LeMay is quoted as saying his response to North Vietnam would be to demand that "they've got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression, or we're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age. And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power—not with ground forces." ... Later, in a Washington Post interview LeMay said that "I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it. I want to save lives on both sides."

He was right then, and PresidentTrump should follow his footsteps.

POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures has two favorites this week.

Now go see the rest.

SPRING LEAVES 2026, Week 7 (+ 1 day): It seems like every cycle I miss at least one Sunday, so if nothing else I'm consistent. Everything else has bloomed and growing nicely, and finally -- finally -- the trees are showing actual leaves, so this will be a short post. Herewith are the usuals: pond, fire pit, and trees across the street.

The pond is looking good. The trees on the other side are now beginning to photograph as greening, and the ground cover (brush) on our side is finally poking through the leaves. The same is true around the fire pit; the grass in the yard is finally growing thicker and the plants along the walkway are doing well. All along the street the trees are now robustly showing leaves

And finally the homestead has begun to show its summer colors.

Next week will be the last of this year's Spring Leaves series. Until then....

A BIT LATE, BUT -- TAX EXTENSION FILERS BEWARE: Payments are were still due to the IRS by April 15.

Just another instance of the government taking your paycheck, spending whatever they want and 'giving you back' whatever's left over (or billing you if you didn't earn eneough).

THE REAL DANGER ISN’T DUMB PEOPLE — It’s smart people without wisdom.

MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ Never mind the letters & numbers. What does the + stand for?

RANDOM THOUGHT: Progressives are ruining America.

GOD AND MAN AT THE OBAMA LIBRARY: Pope Leo XIV meets with Obama surrogate.

Looks like Obama's planning to compete with Stacy Abrams for President of United Earth.

AMERICANS ARE DONE with feckless, useless, and weak fake allies.

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON AND BILL NYE never put a damn thing into orbit besides their own egos.

Read the comments. They're not kind.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION kills the most annoying car feature Obama forced on drivers.

Now turn off all the remaining health & safety beeps/warnings/lights on my wife's new Subaru and I might actually drive it....

NATO IS IN FAR BIGGER DANGER THAN ANYONE REALIZES. And the reason has nothing to do with defense budgets.

NEW POLL: Generation Z is thinking that AI isn't all it's cracked up to be.

They're learning what those of us with engineering backgrounds learned long ago: "To err is human; to really fuck things up requires a computer."

RANDOM THOUGHT: Democrats manage problems; Republicans solve them.

NEW RULES, swank continental edition.

CREATING A PERMANENT UNDERCLASS of reliable Democrat voters is what Democrats do best.

IT'S (ALMOST) TOO LATE: The greatest threat to American prosperity will come from Washington’s inability to control its own spending.

DONALD TRUMP channels Bugs Bunny; the Iranian Regime hardest hit.

WOKE -- The definition of decadence.

NYC MAYOR MAMDANI launches $70M government grocery store plan.

Now explain how your government is going to pay for it. With other peoples' taxes?

STATES PUSH AGGRESSIVE TAX PROPOSALs as voters push back on tax burdens.

Maybe, just maybe, the states should focus on cutting spending.

IF I WANT YOUR OPINION, I'll give it to you.

And you won't like it....

WHAT CEASEFIRE? Iranians threaten to attack American Navy ships that enter the Strait of Hormuz.

OOPS: US Navy warships cross Strait of Hormuz for the first time.

Update: Mine clearing begins.

MASTERS COVERAGE RUINED BY ESPN, which defiled Augusta National golf tournament.

Morons. And that's being generous.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES: No Queens edition. My personal favorite:

But there are many, many good ones this week -- the very first Tim Walz cartoon sets the stage for all the rest. Go see them all.

MICHAEL MOORE: Still dumber than a box of rocks.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Even the news networks I (used to) trust are now trolling for (moron) clicks.

GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE: Mr. Kiss Kiss Fang Fang crashes.

ONLY DOCUMENTED CANS accepted.

Read the comments. My favorite: "ALL CANS ARE LEGAL ON STOLEN LAND!!!"

WHO'S READY for Flintstonistan?

COLORADO SPRINGS MAN sentenced for hate crime hoax that probably flipped the city's mayoral race.

They're just barely above killing people to win. And I'm not sure about 'barely'....

2026: A MICROSOFT ODYSSEY:

Which explains why I hate Microsoft's Windows 11.

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON is not the idiot you think she is.

She's worse. Much worse. I hope for a future impeachment.

THE IRAN CEASEFIRE TALKS have imploded.

Coming soon -- The Middle East gets a new parking lot....

SPRING LEAVES 2026, Week Six: There's been a bit of change this week, since it's clearly warming. Let's start with the usuals, the pond and fire pit views:

Unlike the view last week taken from beyond our 'yard' the ground is still mostly bare but the trees are beginning to bud out. Like last week, the view this week is from my usual side.

Around the barn, the flowers are coming along nicely, but the grass is still being lazy.

From north to south along our road the flowers are coming along nicely. We're beginning to clean out weeds from the flowerbeds -- it's taking a few more days, and lots more mulch than anticipated.

Here's a view of a 'finished' flowerbed along the carport.

Until next week....

Update: I forgot this picture

of our dogwood tree. They're just past peak bloom and fading fast into summer leaves.

ON EASTER, NO LESS: The European mind can't comprehend why we're such bad asses.

To quote the last sentence: "Is it any wonder they're so damn good?"

ON WINNING without fighting.

Practice, practice, practice....

PAYBACK: If this is terrorism....

Courtesy of Instapundit.

AMERICA HAS A SIGNIFICANT MORON PROBLEM. Our own ruling class desperately wants to lose this war.

POSTPONED FOR (MAYBE) TWO WEEKS: Throw Iran to the wolves.

CARVILLE GLOATS that Democrats will go after Trump's 'stupid jacka-- kids and their spouses' after midterms.

No wonder Carville's been retired by the Dimocrats (not misspelled).

EUROPE needs to hear this harsh truth.

DROP SITE NEWS CONTRIBUTOR calls for 'wiping out Israel' in Instagram post.

Change 'Israel' to 'Islamists' and I could agree....

IRANIAN WOMAN CONFRONTS ANTI-WAR PROTESTER — with a stunning result.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: We're halfway there. And on our way home.

ABOUT TIME: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth cuts Ivy League ties in military education shake-up.

Good: Hillsdale College is on Hegseth's approved list for military education.

THE RESPONSE to the Democrats' 'No Kings' protest rally was fantastic.

Linked from Townhall.

SPRING LEAVES 2026, Week Five: Here's the pond, taken from a slightly different view this year.

Everything is pretty much the same as last week. The deciduous trees are still bare, but beginning to bud, just not yet visible in the picture.

Again, a slightly different view of the fire pit. The chairs are back up now that the winds are quieter, the grass is greener, and the plants along the walkway are back and growing.

And the dogwood trees are now blooming. Here's our one nearest the house. This picture was taken yesterday and it's even fuller of blossoms today. We have others scattered through the property and all are in bloom.

Here are the flowers along the fence borders north and south. All the plants are growing and even the roses are beginning to show signs of blooming.

Finally a quick view of the trees downhill and the flowers growing alongside the carport. Until next week then.

RANDOM THOUGHT: Progressive Democrats and Islamist Muslims are cut from opposides of the same cloth.

TALK ABOUT STEPPING IN IT. David French says Trump is the worst free-speech President of his lifetime.

He hasn't lived very long has he? French should go back to kindergarten and start over.

SOME OF THESE NOVEMBER PREVIEWS ARE SURPRISINGLY FUN: Jon Ossoff’s ID hypocrisy was begging for mockery and Mike Collins delivered.

Mike Collins just won my vote for Georgia's next Senator.

THANK HEAVEN FOR SMALL FAVORS: Democrats in decline.

DOES THE NEW YORK TIMES know what NATO stands for?

Linked from Instapundit.

'NO KINGS’ PROTESTERS are dumber than you think.

Impossible. They can't be dumber than I think....

CEO OF WORLD'S LARGEST BANK has some harsh reality for blue states: Population exodus is your own fault.

Is fly-over country about to become fly-to country?

EVEN DEMOCRATS. EVEN SOME MICHIGAN DEMOCRATS: Michigan State Representative Karen Whitsett says faith drove her from the Democratic Party. "I’m not a co-signer of crazy."

REALLY? You don't think there's a plan?

CLEANING UP AMERICA'S BEACHES: Cops turn beach bash into a perp parade.

KURT SCHLICHTER: The victory option.

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE if New York City were as clean and well-run as San Salvador?