Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

Waiting For Dad
Winslow Homer

The Morning Report — 7/11/25

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids, So in pondering the Jeffrey Epstein saga, is this the latest chapter or is this the final chapter? Other than all of the combined stories, and revolting details and allegations, I have no actual knowledge of what he has been accused of doing nor of his death in a New York jail cell. The fact remains that, AG Pam Bondi made a very big deal out of this and now all of a sudden, it's, meh, nothing to see here so case closed and lets move on?! All she has succeeded in doing is pointing the spotlight away from Epstein and shining it on her and by extension President Trump. Brilliant maneuver, so what the hell is going on here?

But, you see, here’s the thing: People want answers that seem logical, that provide rational explanations to obvious questions, that provide proof that the speculation is wrong. This is particularly true when the people now saying there’s nothing there were the very people who promised that answers, transparency, and accountability would be coming when they won. Well, they won, and we’re getting the same obfuscation. . . The problem here is that this is all happening in an environment where Americans are coming to believe that no one is ever accountable for their actions. We see city centers across the country imploding as stores, shops, and hotels close because of the crime that sees hoodlums, thugs, and drug addicts in urban centers basically take or destroy with impunity whatever they want. We see judges issue injunctions against the administration despite SCOTUS specifically ruling they can’t. At the same time, we have politicians, Antifa, and activists undermining, hindering, and assaulting ICE agents who are trying to deport criminals, and the chances of them being held accountable for these crimes are almost nonexistent.

Bingo. Of course Democrat/Leftist politicians and sometimes their useful RINO confederates are protected up until the point where they become political liabilities, and then they are thrown to the wolves.

When roving bands of criminals, domestic terrorists and criminal domestic terrorists can riot, loot and burn with impunity while the average citizen is arrested, and tried for self defense (Kyle Rittenhouse) or worse, arrested, tried and imprisoned for merely exercising their first amendment right of free speech (1/6/21 in DC, at school board meetings and abortion abattoirs), a very dangerous precedent is set that can only end in the breakdown of the civil society as trust in our institutions that are meant to preserve said society is completely eroded.

Look at it this way. When degenerate scum like Jasmine Crockett and Karen Bass and the majority of their fellow Democrat politicians — again John Fetterman being the surprising lone voice of sanity and reason in that Snake Pit of Evil — openly call for violent resistance to Ice and law enforcement in carrying out their legitimate duties to arrest, detain and deport illegal aliens, What does that do to the morale and effectiveness of the officers on the front line? Answer: it destroys it and will ultimately lead to their dissolution or worse their defection to the terrorists and criminals and maybe the ultimate formation of citizens brigades that will arm and protect themselves even if it means using deadly force to do so. Is that what we really want? Answer that any way you want, but for sure it might very well be where we are heading, and then all bets are off.

Elsewhere, President Trump's near 180 degree pivot on Ukraine is disappointing if not outright alarming in its potential implications.

Some, like Tucker Carlson (who seems to spend half his time in the Gulf and seems to have offered flattering interviews to every Muslim tyrant in the region), were obvious agents of foreign influence, others may have been sincere in their hysteria, but the combined effect made the movement look like clowns, especially once they were proven wrong. Most refused to admit they were wrong, but have gone on claiming that if it wasn’t for their bedwetting, we’d all be dead. Whoever won the debate on social media is hard to say, but we all know who won the debate in real life. Trump acted and shrugged off the antics. But, interestingly, there are signs he’s pivoting on Ukraine. While that may be in part hardball negotiating politics due to Putin’s refusal to make a deal, but it seems to have ramped up after the same people who had vocally argued against U.S. support for Ukraine burned up all their credibility trying to stop a U.S. strike on Iran’s nukes.

There is no doubt that a severely degraded if not completely destroyed Iranian nuclear program is a wonderful thing for world peace and security. Whether America should have been directly involved in delivering the coup de grace Qom shot at the Fordow foundation is something that even I, as an ardent supporter of Israel, thought beforehand was not the best course of action but what's done is done, and as stated, and the nuke program is a smoldering ruin. What emerges from the ashes there and in the Iranian government are still big question marks.

But President Trump's meddling in a war between Russia and Ukraine that has much less if not zero national security ramifications for America, unlike the Iranian nuclear program, is a head-scratcher. Russia as of right now will likely win the war and even if Trump does push Putin and Shecky Zelensky to a negotiation table, does anyone really think that Putin is going to surrender a single inch of territory? Regardless of the fact that Putin started this latest round of war, there is going to have to be some give and take on both sides, so what will Ukraine give up in order to stop the carnage?

As for Trump, is he merely doing this to get a Nobel Peace Prize, which would never happen anyway? What does Donald Trump and the USA have to gain by meddling here and potentially getting involved in a war that could very quickly get out of hand where a lot of hair would get mussed . . "depending on the breaks" as General Buck Turgidson would say.

I think a better use of our military forces would be to degrade and destroy Antifa and those who are funding them here at home.

Months of violent left-wing anti-ICE rhetoric achieved its apparently desired end state this week as an alleged Antifa cell conducted an attempted assassination of police officers outside the Praireland Detention Center, being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a detention facility for illegal aliens.

On July 4, 11 black-garbed individuals, some equipped with body armor, ammunition, and firearms, conducted what the Department of Justice described as a “planned ambush.” Two of the attackers allegedly opened fire on ICE officers after their comrades initiated a disturbance to lure officers out of the building and into the line of fire by launching fireworks and spray painting anti-ICE slogans on nearby property. A police officer was shot in the neck but is expected to live. According to the criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice, pamphlets on insurrectionary anarchism and propaganda materials, including a “Resist Fascism” flag, were recovered by law enforcement.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

Have a great weekend!

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Margot Cleveland: Hopefully, Director Ratcliffe’s investigation is still ongoing.
  EXCLUSIVE: Henchmen Behind Brennan’s Fake Russia Collusion Assessment Are Still At The CIA
  
• The real issue is accountability, and this matters a great deal to the American people, especially to Trump’s supporters.
  The Jeffrey Epstein Case Is Far Bigger Than Jeffrey Epstein
  
• Daniel Greenfield: Those claiming they were stopping us from being dragged into a war in Iran may have dragged us into a war in Ukraine.
  The Anti-Israel Push May Have Changed Trump’s Mind on Ukraine

Daily Tech News 11 July 2025

—Pixy Misa

• Intel is no longer among the top ten chipmakers, says... Intel's new CEO. (The Register)
  
  Not with that attitude.
  
  It's not entirely clear what he's talking about, but we can guess. Intel is in the top three in terms of revenue, but not even in the top ten in terms of market cap. Years of losses have left it with a valuation just half that of key competitor AMD.
  
  AMD of course spend years in the doldrums before starting a spectacular path to recovery in 2017 with the introduction of the Zen family of CPU cores.

The ONT Remains The Same

—WeirdDave

Welcome to Thursday night! So, is everyone enjoying the Axis Powers menu at McDonalds?

Don't Beware of Dog Cafe

—Ace

The emaciated pit bull in the shelter wasn't given a name because they knew she'd die and naming the dog would make that harder. But one woman couldn't forget the dog with no name.

The British built fake trees to hide spies and snipers in during World War One. They put the fake trees out into No Man's Land at night and trusted that no one would notice. (Actually they were made to resemble trees on the battlefield, which they removed and replaced with the fake.)

I hope you don't think I'm a coward, but if I was ordered to hide in a fake tree out in No Man's Land, I would take the court martial.

Dog failed out of seeing-eye-dog school and is now a pet. But he keeps dragging his normal-sighted owner around.

No fence can keep a boy and a dog from playing with each other.

Making a pet of a pine marten. That noise would drive me crazy.

Cute Australian woman raises an orphaned 'roo.

Orphaned wombat gets sassy as he enters his teenage years.

Magpie raised by a dog won't stop barking.

Baby hippo is a straight savage.

German shepherd and husky act out a buddy cop movie where one is a motormouth and the other is the strong silent type. I think maybe it's Rush Hour.

(Am I the first person in 20 years to even think of Rush Hour?)

Sheep vs. bucket.

Leading a lost baby elephant back to its family.

JustTheNews: The Secret Service Tracked James Comey After His "86 47" Call for Assassinating the President

—Ace

86 James Comey.

Hey, it's just a group of sea shells I thought was interesting. I don't mean anything by that. Just some completely random numbers and letters I randomly typed out.

The Secret Service tracked former FBI Director James Comey after a social media post in May that critics of it say called for killing President Trump.

...

Three anonymous government officials told The New York Times that law enforcement authorities in unmarked cars and street clothes tracked the location of Comey's cellphone the day after he posted on Instagram a picture of the numbers etched in the sand at a beach via seashells.

Comey deleted the post, which was captioned "Cool shell formation on my beach walk." In a follow-up post, Comey said, "I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down."

Authorities tailed Comey and his wife, Patrice, as they drove from their North Carolina vacation through Virginia to their home in the Washington, D.C., area, the officials said, citing "exigent" circumstances for the justification.

The Secret Service was also receiving information showing the location of Comey's phone while federal law enforcement were at his home waiting for him to return, according to the officials, The Times also reports.

Comey was interviewed over the phone by the Secret Service the evening of the day that he shared the post, and he said he had no intent to cause the president harm. The Secret Service still wanted to interview Comey at their headquarters the next day, so agency personnel met him when he arrived home from vacation and drove him to the D.C. office, where they questioned him.

...

Comey has not been charged with a crime, and the status of the inquiry is unclear.

...

A representative for Comey declined to comment to the Times.

...

Trump also responded to Comey's initial post and follow-up explanation, saying, "He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you're the FBI director and you don't know what that meant? That meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear."

Related: Tulsi Gabbard has assembled a team to find and punish those in the Deep State weaponizing the government.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has reportedly launched an initiative aimed at preventing bad actors from using their positions to weaponize intelligence agencies against Americans for political reasons.

The Washington Post reported that Gabbard has formed a new team called the Director's Initiative Group (DIG) to access the chat logs and emails of US intelligence agencies. This move is intended to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order to "end the weaponization of the federal government" while dismantling DEI initiatives and revealing political bias within these agencies.

However, some have taken issue with the initiative, arguing that it would result in the department gathering sensitive information on millions of American citizens. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) characterized the initiative as an effort "to expose the truth and end the politicization and weaponization of intelligence against Americans."

DIG has already obtained unclassified communications from the Intelligence Advanced Research Proejcts Activity and is planning to leverage artificial intelligence technology to analyze the data.

Critics who spoke with The Washington Post on condition of anonymity expressed fears that this move could compromise sensitive information while targeting employees for political retaliation. "They wanted access to everybody's systems," one source told the news outlet.

Oh, the spies object to being spied on...?

Well then, you go right back to leaking top secret documents to the press and tipping off CHIRLA and Trantifa about coming ICE raids.

As Democrats Remain Silent on the Insurrectionary Assaults on Federal Agents, Senator Schmitt Proposes Increased Criminal Penalties

—Ace

The Democrats will vote against this. I assume he just wants them on the record supporting revolutionary terrorism.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., on Thursday announced that he would introduce a bill to raise the maximum penalties for attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel amid an uptick in violent opposition to mass deportations.

"The punishment for attacking an ICE agent should be swift and devastating," he said.
"
I'm introducing a bill to double the maximum federal penalty.

Left-wing radicals want to use violence to advance their political agenda. We can't let them win.

The mass deportations must continue."

The White House confirmed this week that ICE agents had faced a 700% surge in assaults against them as federal agents moved to ramp up arrests and deportations following passage of the "One, Big Beautiful Bill Act."

That legislation greatly expanded ICE's budget to double its detention space from 50,000 beds to 100,000 and to hire as many as 10,000 additional agents.

CNN and MSNBC continue to completely suppress any reporting on one of the Democrat-Media Party's terror cells that just shot up ICE agents.

Even left-leaning Mediaite thinks this is notable.

If you hadn't heard about it yet, you might just be a CNN or MSNBC viewer; neither network has devoted a single minute of airtime to covering the attack, though CNN managed to devote a sentence to it in an online story about another attack on immigration authorities.

Should that not strike you as unusual, imagine this scenario: 11 members of a right-wing militia group open fire on an FBI field office on a major holiday, and a responding police officer is shot in the neck.

You think that would have a cold chance in hell of escaping the attention of the likes of Joe Scarborough, Wolf Blitzer, Jen Psaki, Brian Stelter, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Dana Bash?

This glaring omission is particularly notable given the two news organizations' relentlessly critical coverage of ICE and persistent warnings about right-wing extremism and violence.

Searches for mentions of ICE on air may not turn up any coverage at all of the attempted murder of innocent law enforcement officers, but they do yield plenty of segments about other protests of the organization, MSNBC's Catherine Rampell ranting about its employees "potentially like beating people, and committing violence," and a CNN interview of a Latino man lamenting that his "own people" were being "arrested and harassed by the ICE agents."

Nothing about bullets flying by heads, though.

Just as illegal aliens tell lies about the oppression they're facing in their home countries to get the US to let them into the country, so too are the residents of Gator Gitmo now telling Sad Stories about mosquitoes and "food filled with maggots" to be released back into America.

The "mosquitos are as big as elephants." "We're like rats in an experiment." "I don't know why they're doing this, if it's a form of torture." "They took the Bible I had and told me here, there is no right to religion."

Obvious lies. Just spamming out whatever complaints sound like they might be of constitutional-level import, so that another Biden/Obama judge can issue a restraining order.

Fuck you. If you don't like it, GO THE FUCK HOME.

Jasmine Ratchet: Biden's Mental Acuity Is Great, It's Trump Who's the Senile One

—Ace

"I know you are but what am I?" Sick burn, dum-dum.

Lowly District Court Judge Blows Off the Supreme Court and Issues Another Nationwide Injunction Against Trump's Birthright Citizenship EO

—Ace

Daffy Amy Coney Barret's weak-sister ruling did allow lowly district courts to issue nationwide injunctions, but only through federal rule 23 and the establishment of a class for purposes of a class action lawsuit.

Just as the good Justice Alito predicted.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante granted class-action status to babies who would be affected by the order, in an apparent attempt to circumvent the high court's directives to limit injunctions to participating parties in the case.

The ACLU filed suit, arguing that those affected would suffer irreparable harm, NBC News reported.

The Supreme Court last month narrowed the scope of prior injunctions against the order, finding that lower courts likely lacked the authority to issue sweeping injunctions.

"The issuance of a universal injunction can be justified only as an exercise of equitable authority, yet Congress has granted federal courts no such power," wrote Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

In a concurring opinion, however, Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote that "today's decision will have very little value if district courts award relief to broadly defined classes without following 'Rule 23's procedural protections' for class certification."

Note that Rule 23 imposes certain requirements which this judge is almost certainly blowing off because he's really just issuing a nationwide injunction under a different name.

(B) For (b)(3) Classes. For any class certified under Rule 23(b)(3) --or upon ordering notice under Rule 23(e)(1) to a class proposed to be certified for purposes of settlement under Rule 23(b)(3)--the court must direct to class members the best notice that is practicable under the circumstances, including individual notice to all members who can be identified through reasonable effort. The notice may be by one or more of the following: United States mail, electronic means, or other appropriate means.The notice must clearly and concisely state in plain, easily understood language:

(i) the nature of the action;

(ii) the definition of the class certified;

(iii) the class claims, issues, or defenses;

(iv) that a class member may enter an appearance through an attorney if the member so desires;

(v) that the court will exclude from the class any member who requests exclusion;

(vi) the time and manner for requesting exclusion; and

(vii) the binding effect of a class judgment on members under Rule 23(c)(3) .

Obviously he's not even going to attempt notifying babies that they are now part of a class action lawsuit.

And note that just because you certify a class for a class action, that isn't -- or shouldn't be -- grounds for issuing yet another single-unelected-judge diktat that overrides the American voters' strong message at the ballot box.

But no big deal because this is just a pretext for the Judicial Insurrection's continuing Will to Power.

Trump Sues California For Violating Title IX's Purpose of Reserving Female Sports for Females

—Ace

Remember when Transin' Newsom pretended he thought it was "unfair" to make women compete against men?

That's now been exposed as the toe-in-the-water first attempt at political reinvention that it was. He's a Trans Crusader and always will be.

Pam Bondi even quoted Transin' Newsom's statement that it's "deeply unfair" to force women to compete with men to support the lawsuit.

The Trump administration sued California Wednesday after a Department of Education probe found the state had discriminated against women by "allowing males in girls' sports and intimate spaces."

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division alleged that the California Department of Education (CDE) and California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) violated Title IX and forced girls to be "displaced from podiums, denied awards, and miss out on critical visibility for scholarships and recognition," according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.

"This discrimination is not only illegal and unfair but also demeaning, signaling to girls that their opportunities and achievements are secondary to accommodating boys," the filing stated.

"It erodes the integrity of girls' sports, diminishes their competitive experience, and undermines the very purpose of Title IX: to provide equal access to educational benefits, including interscholastic athletics."

The complaint demanded a court order barring the policies, compensation for "female athletes who have been denied equal athletic opportunities ... including correcting past athletics records" and a requirement that California turn in "regular compliance reports" for at least the next five years.

The DOJ's complaint noted that California's compliance was necessary since the $44.3 billion in federal funding the state received this fiscal year was conditioned upon compliance with Title IX.

The 1972 law mandates equal opportunities regardless of sex in schools receiving federal funds.

...

California is one of more than 20 states that allows athletes to compete in sports that comport with their chosen "gender identity" -- despite President Trump having signed an executive order in February barring the policy and threatening to pull federal funding to those states that persisted.

"The Governor of California has previously admitted that it is 'deeply unfair' to force women and girls to compete with men and boys in competitive sports," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

"But not only is it 'deeply unfair,' it is also illegal under federal law. This Department of Justice will continue its fight to protect equal opportunities for women and girls in sports."

The left continues claiming that Trump didn't reduce the price of eggs despite the fact that Trump has already reduced the price of eggs.

But if they want him to do more to reduce the price of eggs further, fine.

He's also suing California for its interference in the national egg market.

The Trump administration sued California and Gov. Gavin Newsom over the state's anti-animal cruelty laws Wednesday, alleging they are contributing to the high cost of egg prices and are superseded by a federal law regulating egg quality, inspection and packaging.

In its complaint, the Justice Department is attempting to block state laws that require additional space for hen-growing chickens, arguing they are "unnecessary red tape" and "do not advance consumer welfare."

"California has effectively prevented farmers across the country from using a number of agricultural production methods which were in widespread use and which helped keep eggs affordable," the Justice Department wrote in its civil complaint.

Two California ballot initiatives, passed in 2008 and 2018, mandate higher standards and housing requirements for hen-laying chickens and eggs sold in the state, requiring the birds to be given enough space to extend their limbs and move without touching another bird.

The 2018 ballot initiative also bars hens from being kept in any "enclosure other than a cage-free housing system" and mandates space requirements for breeding pigs and calves raised for veal.

I don't know about this one. There is a doctrine of federal supremacy that says that any state law that conflicts with federal law is null and void. There's always a question about whether the federal law is "so comprehensive" as to preclude any state laws in this area.

And also: The federal government's power to intrude into state law is limited, or at least was intended to be limited.

Eh, I think it's weak. But I do like that Trump is hitting the idea that it's the left responsible for inflation and high prices, and he's doing what he can to improve things.

Lawfare for me? Then lawfare for thee.

Also: Trump is shutting down a Clinton-era policy that allows illegal aliens to use taxpayer educational funds to pay for schooling.

President Donald Trump's Department of Education announced Thursday that it will end a Clinton-era policy allowing illegal immigrants to access taxpayer funds for technical and career schools.

Key Details:

The Department of Education revoked a 1997 Clinton administration interpretation allowing illegal immigrants to access federal career and technical education funds.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said taxpayer funds should be reserved for American citizens and legal residents.

Enforcement of the new interpretation begins August 9, 2025, following President Trump's February executive order ending subsidization for illegal immigrants.

Diving Deeper:

The Department of Education announced Thursday that it is formally revoking a rule put in place under President Bill Clinton allowing illegal immigrants to access taxpayer-funded programs in career, technical, and adult education. The Clinton administration issued a 1997 Dear Colleague Letter interpreting the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) to exempt these programs, effectively opening federal funding to illegal immigrants.

Under the Trump administration, the Education Department is now reversing that interpretation. The Department notified postsecondary education providers that they will no longer be able to operate under Clinton-era standards and will be required to verify the eligibility of participants for these programs.

"Postsecondary education programs funded by the federal government should benefit American citizens, not illegal aliens," Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated. "Under President Trump's leadership, hardworking American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for illegal aliens to participate in our career, technical, or adult education programs or activities."

Below, Transin' Newsom is incensed that Trump is trying to roll back trans rights all the way back to (checks calendar) 2016.

More Left-Wing Terrorism: Four Arrested for Throwing Spike-Strips In Front of ICE Vehicles

—Ace

The Democrat media continues to avoid reporting on this, and Democrat politicians continue avoiding condemning it or even acknowledging it.

They think they can duck the issue because their media allies are covering it up.

They're living in the past. The leftwing media is dying and no one goes to them for actual news any longer.

Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_

BREAKING: Border Patrol releases names & photos of suspects accused of using devices to spike their vehicles in LA today. The suspects were in possession of a tote bag w/ CHIRLA branding on it that had more spikes in it. CHIRLA is the major anti-ICE activist network in LA, and it has received $34 million in taxpayer funding. Law enforcement sources tell me that one of the suspects is transgender. They are all now facing felony charges.

CHIRLA is the "human rights" (open borders lunatic) organization that receives government funds to organize and lead violent insurrections against the government.

The various Democratic-aligned groups helping to fuel the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement uprising in Los Angeles are well funded and part of a coordinated operation despite organizers' efforts to make them appear spontaneous and grassroots.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, one of the activist organizers at the center of the Los Angeles protests, received millions in taxpayer dollars through government grants, including federal funding for immigration assistance services, a Washington Examiner review found.

Formed in 1986, CHIRLA is a 501(c)(3) legal services provider helping illegal immigrants, including those convicted of crimes, avoid deportation.

CHIRLA informed criminally convicted immigrants of California's Proposition 47, which downgraded and resentenced certain crimes. Under this 2014 state statute, felonies involving drug possession, fraud, and theft were classified as misdemeanors instead.

"Prop 47 could help clean your criminal record," CHIRLA previously advertised, noting that noncitizens with criminal convictions may be deported.

According to CHIRLA's tax filing for fiscal 2023, the charity reported receiving approximately $34 million in government grants that year, up from $12.4 million in grant money in 2022.

Grant records show the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency CHIRLA is protesting, has awarded the anti-deportation group with several six-figure grants since 2014 as part of a citizenship and assimilation program that financially supports organizations "actively working to remove barriers to naturalization." Categorized under "Citizenship Education and Training," the DHS grants totaling $1.2 million to CHIRLA were earmarked for "citizenship instruction and naturalization application services."

On X, a DHS spokeswoman said the Trump administration cut off CHIRLA's federal funding in March, including nixing nearly $101,100 remaining of a two-year, $450,000 grant yet to be paid out. According to a termination letter addressed to CHIRLA, the DHS determined that "the scope of work performed under this award no longer effectuates the program goals and the Department's priorities." CHIRLA was accordingly instructed to cease all federally funded activities carried out under the auspices of the award.

CHIRLA has also received a significant amount of taxpayer funding from the state of California, according to a Washington Examiner review of statewide grant records. In 2023, the state's Department of Social Services awarded CHIRLA about $3 million for an initiative providing free legal services to immigrants, such as application assistance in "cases seeking immigration remedies," i.e., deportation relief. Since at least 2020, CHIRLA has been granted $3 million each fiscal year through this legal assistance program. In 2022, CHIRLA received $1.37 million from California's social services department, specifically to provide pro bono defense services in removal proceedings.

...

CHIRLA, which is aiming to raise $65 million in funds for its new headquarters, also solicits donations online through ActBlue, the Democratic Party's primary fundraising platform, which is under federal investigation for facilitating a number of suspicious foreign transactions.

The spike-strips were carried in a CHIRLA bag:

Six Secret Service Agents Suspended Due to Failures at Butler Assassination Attempt

—Ace

Finally.

They're being suspended without pay. They're not being fired, but when they return to work, they will have "diminished operational responsibilities."

Six members of the Secret Service have been suspended for failures related to last year's assassination attempt against President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa.

The suspensions for the six agents ranged from 10 to 42 days, and they won't be paid while on leave, Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn told CBS News on Wednesday.

The agents will not be fired, but upon return to work, they will be placed in roles with diminished operational responsibility.

"We aren't going to fire our way out of this," Quinn told the outlet. "We're going to focus on the root cause and fix the deficiencies that put us in that situation."

I think you're giving up too quickly on "firing our way out of this."

...

A scathing Senate report on the assassination attempt released in September determined that "multiple foreseeable and preventable planning and operational failures by [Secret Service] contributed" to Crooks' ability to carry out the deadly shooting.

"These included unclear roles and responsibilities, insufficient coordination with state and local law enforcement, the lack of effective communications, and inoperable [Counter-Unmanned Aircraft] systems, among many others," the damning report read.

A second assasination attempt against Trump took place two months later at the president's Palm Beach, Fla., golf course.

Quinn insisted that the Secret Service is "totally accountable for Butler."

"Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again," he said.

The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

—CBD

The headline says it all!

What this demonstrates is that the enforcement of our laws protecting American workers from predation by illegals is woefully inadequate. A nice fine levied against every employer who employs illegals would be a fine start. How about 100 times the hourly wage employers pay the illegals....each day they work? That ought to focus their minds on the basic documentation necessary to prove legal employment status. And the whining protestations from these employers are insulting. How hard is it to prove that a prospective employee is legal? It's called an "I-9," and it is administered by the federal government. Those meatpacking plants in Iowa and the strawberry farms in California and landscaping services all over the country can go pound sand if it is too difficult. It's the law, and by breaking it they subvert the economic and cultural recovery of America. I have zero sympathy, and in fact would love to see criminal charges brought against a few dozen CEOs, to encourage the others!

And if they make the specious argument that the I-9 system is insufficient, then the Trump Administration is capable of bolstering that process. But it is the employers' responsibility to ensure that their employees are legal, and if it takes more time and costs a bit more to be certain, well, that is the price I am willing for them to pay!

LA needs construction, landscape workers as illegal immigrants stop showing up for work amid ICE enforcement

In Los Angeles, landscapers as well as framers are not showing up to job sites as President Donald Trump is carrying out his agenda and crack down on illegal immigration in cities around the nation.

According to Bloomberg, LA, which erupted in riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier last month after ICE was conducting operations in the city, has been seeing low staffing in some industries that have relied on immigrant labor such as construction and landscaping.

“We don’t have enough people to staff the work and we’re scrambling to figure it out,” said Arturo Sneider, the CEO at Primestor, a real major estate management company in California and two other states. “It’s triggering delays."

Hell, expand that to every high school in the country. So we need framers? Great! I've done it, and it isn't that hard to learn. And a few weeks of instruction on how to run a leaf blower may even be within the skillset of some of our public school teachers! These are entry-level jobs and are just perfect for people just starting in the job market.

America doesn't have a labor problem. There are plenty of people to fill these jobs, but not at the artificially low wages that the GOPe and the globalists prefer. Labor is governed by basic economic laws, just like everything else. But if the legal wage is higher than the illegal wage, the labor market is distorted, and does not function normally.

As for relief for certain industries? No. America has seen too much variability in the application of the law, and a generation or two of rigid and vigorous application of labor and immigration law will do wonders for our respect for our institutions, and begin to repair the horrid damage that illegal immigration has done to our country.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter] And the Apple and Spotify feeds for CJN's podcast should be working!

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Holy Night
Carlo Maratti

The Morning Report — 7/10 /25

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids,

Kind of funny that Debbie Wasserman (Test +) Schultz is worried about ZOhran Mamdani driving away Jewish voters . . .and yet she who was last seen being spit-roasted by two Pakistani brothers and jihadist terrorist adjacent computer hackers, has yet to say boo about Bro-Fo Omar, or the Coelacanth-looking Dearbornistanian Rancida Tlaib, or Andre Carson, TItty-Caca Ocasio-Cortez and all the other bust out loud and proud Jew-haters in her party. All of a sudden, oh no! we might lose the Jewish vote! AS IF!!!

Sadly given the fact that the vast majority of my co-religionists (which is merely a tragic accident of birth) who continue to delude themselves into thinking the Democrat Party is their savior and protector will always vote Democrat regardless of who their candidate is, simply out of generational, Pavlovian reflexive belief of the myth that Democrat = Good and GOP = Evil, regardless of the facts hitting them in the face like a molotov cocktail from a keffiyah-clad Columbia undergrad. But even if they don't, and by some miracle even one of them wakes up and smells the coffee, New York city and state are rigged, the fluke of Rudy Giuliani and Doomberg notwithstanding. There is no way Curtis Sliwa will win, and the fact that Eric Adams, Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop mass murderer Cuomo or even Carlos Danger couldn't win the primary is indicative of just how utterly insane New York and its Democrat Party are.

Basta Cosi, as there are more important things in the offing this morning.

But in a related story, as I will attempt to elucidate if you bear with me, at least this will make you smile:

Violent demonstrations against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations broke out near a courthouse in downtown San Francisco, California, on Tuesday. Video of the protest shows far-left demonstrators attempting to interfere with federal immigration enforcement action by barring the path of an ICE van and climbing onto its hood.At least two demonstrators can be seen in the video clinging to the ICE vehicle as it attempts to drive away, with one person falling off and another holding on as the van swerves sharply. Protesters, many wearing masks and keffiyehs, were also seen engaging in physical altercations with federal agents. “Holy f***ing s**t, frightening times, right?” a demonstrator can be heard exclaiming in the video before adding: “What the f**k have we gotten ourselves into?”Meanwhile, another protester who spoke with local San Francisco media, identified only as “Sorin,” stated that see was injured while attempting to block an ICE vehicle. “I was bleeding everywhere,” she said, adding: “They were brutal to those of us trying to exercise our rights and protect our community.”

Good. "What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?!" Helluva time to wake up, Genius! Now lick your wounds, and take it like a man (as perhaps your cellmate in D-Block will tell you as he bends you over in the prison shower).

If only that would be the fate of John Brennan, James Comey (pronounced Cummy) and Clapper.

Alas, At the very least as CBD and I pondered in the latest episode of the podcast,(linked here, in the sidebar and at the usual outlets noted below the exposure of their treasonous treachery will forever stain them and stand as a warning for future generations of a revived America.

So, As Debbie Wasserman Schultz contemplates why no one condemns Zohran Mamdani and the turn that her Party is taking, and searches for a jackhammer to attempt to remove the encrusted godzilla semen from her hair, curious that she is not equally curious why no one, and not least of which her in this case, is condemning the attacks on ICE.

Is there a greater danger to a constitutional republic than an armed phalanx of nihilists, activated by the words of the leaders of the minority party, attempting to maim and kill government officials?

For all their sanctimony about “protecting democracy” and “upholding the rule of law,” today’s Democrats have built a movement that selectively nullifies both. When they’re in power, they ignore the law, declining to enforce statutes they dislike, gutting immigration courts, and instructing executive agencies to slow-walk deportations.

When out of power, they attempt to nullify the exercise of executive power through venue shopping, nationwide injunctions, institutional sabotage, and now, through ideological violence.

It’s the same pattern every time: If voters elect someone they oppose, they launch impeachment proceedings or shop for a judge to block authority. If ICE agents do their jobs, they are branded as racists. If a president uses Article II powers to enforce the border, they call it fascism. It’s nullification by any means necessary—ballots, bench, or bullets. The difference between the Democrat party and the Jacobins is increasingly that of wardrobe and weaponry. The Democrats have spent years stoking this fire. They wrap their bombast in the language of compassion—but it’s calculated sabotage, and they know it.

Lurker Extraordinaire, and Ace Cruetly Fanboi, Prof. Victor Davis Hanson states in his eloquent and accurate essay . . .

Unmoored from power and panicked by Trump’s momentum, the left lashes out—from Congress to campus to the street—with rage born of fear and fading influence.

For sure, Trump's successes are a major factor in the lashing out by the Left we are witnessing. But Trump's policy successes hold up a mirror and serve to underscore the Democrat/Left's abject failures and destruction that have been going on for decades. And that is the real danger to the Democrats, it is an existential threat to their future as more and more people are awakened to this fact: that all of the pain, misery, suffering and waste of life and potential for well over 200 years is all the fault of the Democrat Party and the Leftist movement. Perhaps like the hapless bruised and baterred Antifa dupe above, more and more average Democrat voters are saying to themselves in their own quiet way "What the Fuck Have We Gotten Ourselves Into?!"

Trump, and please God a growing and unstoppable movement of American revival and renaissance that he started when he came down that escalator 10 years ago will eradicate Leftist progressivism and last until America's Quincentenary in 2276 and beyond. Amen.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

Have a great day!

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• Victor Davis Hanson: Unmoored from power and panicked by Trump’s momentum, the left lashes out—from Congress to campus to the street—with rage born of fear and fading influence.
  The Roots of Leftist Rage
  
• An arrest report obtained by the outlet states that Shaw, from Orlando, parked her gray Mercedes van on Southern Boulevard and approached the gate on foot, claiming she was there to speak with the president and deliver an urgent message.
  Police: Woman Goes to Mar-a-Lago with Gun and ‘Urgent Message’ for Trump

Daily Tech News 10 July 2025

—Pixy Misa

• Microsoft announced that it has saved $500 million by increasing reliance on AI and firing thousands of people but mostly by firing thousands of people. (Yahoo)
  
  Thousands of people hardest hit.
  
  

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - July 9, 2025 [TRex]

—Open Blogger

Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the overnight variety.

This is the Wednesday night ONT. Pull up a chair and sit a spell. Be nice to your fellow commenters and AoS contributors. Tip your bartender.

Been a rough week on a lot of fronts. Prayers for all among the Horde for issues known and unknown, small and large, and personal or adjacent. TRex isn't smart enough to pray for specific intentions, so I usually stick with praying for strength and wisdom and for happiness and good health. May it be also for those in Texas.

***

I know what you're thinking. This is going to be another Wednesday ONT stuffed with eccentric and eclectic knowledge, moments of wit and humor, and timeless music, right? It is going to be exciting, cutting edge and adventuresome, right! Ummm.....yeah. Sure. Glad you're here anyway. As seems to be the fashion these days, a special hello to the lurkers - otherwise known as "pre-commenters" or "commenters in training." Happy reading!

***

Classic Calvin & Hobbes:

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Fun with words:

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This explains a lot:

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In case there are questions:

Apparently this is true:

Since we're opening that Pandora's Box, we must include this clip:

You will note the presence of "stalker" on Don's graphic, but we'll let the dorks and stalkers fight that one out.

***

We have reached the animal-themed section of the program.

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Not sure if this qualifies as the religion or philosophy part of the program but it works either way:

Same:

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What photo could go here that would encourage healthy interest from the military aviation geeks (nerds?) among the Horde? Ah yes. OLS it is. Have at it. (Photo from the US National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.)

***

Today I learned that General Mills made more than breakfast cereals.

In 1946, General Mills established an Aeronautical Research Division. The division developed high altitude balloons for the United States Navy Office of Naval Research. They were initially used mostly for high altitude meteorological observation, known as Skyhook balloons.

Hundreds of General Mills balloons carrying reconnaissance equipment were launched by the United States government under Project Genetrix to surveil Eastern bloc countries and their nuclear capabilities.

Several General Mills employees left and formed Raven Industries to carry on the aeronautical and balloon work in 1956. More trivia: between 1984 and 2019, Raven Industries made hundreds of balloons and other inflatables for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

General Mills did interesting projects in other parts of its business too. The General Mills Electronics division developed the DSV Alvin submersible which was used to explore the wreck of Titanic and other deep-sea missions.

If you found this interesting, I will let you determine if that makes you a geek or a nerd.

***

Space launch report - next flight:

July 13, 2025
SpaceX Falcon 9
Launch time: Window opens 12:31 a.m. ET (0431 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida

***

For $10.99, you can now have your own Type 1 Diabetes Barbie (with polka dot outfit).

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 8th, 2025 - Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) announced today that Barbie is debuting the first Barbie doll with type 1 diabetes (T1D). This addition to the line enables more children to see themselves reflected in Barbie and encourages doll play that extends beyond a child's own lived experience, thereby fostering a greater sense of inclusion and empathy - all pillars of the Barbie brand's mission. Mattel Press Release

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No more taking off shoes for airport security: DHS to End "Shoes-Off" Travel Policy

Passengers can now keep their shoes on at TSA security checkpoints National Press Release Tuesday, July 8, 2025

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a new policy today which will allow passengers traveling through domestic airports to keep their shoes on while passing through security screening at TSA checkpoints.

The new policy will increase hospitality for travelers and streamline the TSA security checkpoint process, leading to lower wait times.

The TSA directive says nothing about pants, but it is probably better that most people in the airport remain fully clothed. However, pants are still required for the Book Thread and optional for the Hobby Thread.

***

Transportation and infrastructure news:

The Maryland Transportation Authority announced that demolition of the existing structures of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to begin on or about July 7, weather permitting. For those keeping track, the bridge collapsed on March 26, 2024. That means it has taken a little more than 15 months to start demolition. Completion of the new bridge is targeted for October 2028. I'll take the over.

***

The Pittsburgh police scanner is like a slow motion car crash. You can't bear to watch but you can't look away.

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Live Brian Setzer Orchestra for the big ONT finish:

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There is no truth to the rumor that TRex's doctor has taken the fifth. Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking ?? Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Close it up

One-Dog Band Cafe

—Ace

Dog prefers hopping around like a bunny.

My bodyguard.

The narc.

Pupper has ears like Dumbo.

Cool runnings.

Puppy rescued from a bag thrown in a garbage can turns out to be the sweetest little recycling project.

Dogs share my feelings about vegetarianism.

Dog thinks a guy in a werewolf costume is just a big weird dog.

Dog has a touch of Munchausen syndrome.

Dog provides all the in-flight entertainment you could want.

Cat and owl meet to determine who can be the most aloof.

Fun with water.

Quick Hits

—Ace

Remember when ABC's gay Ken doll David Muir reported from the NC floods wearing a fake fireman's jacket with clothespins pulling in the waist so that he looked cute on TV?

Well now he's in Texas, with a cinched-in tight t-shirt.

The reveal here is that Mark Halperin thought he was "already out," but Megyn Kelly says no, that's just the widespread belief. I guess it's a don't-ask-don't-tell situation.

Are there any straight male proggies? Any at all?

The Wisconsin judge who aided and abetted a fugitive from the law asked to have her case dismissed.

The magistrate in her criminal trial refused.

The magistrate makes rulings which are passed on to the actual judge. The judge can sign these orders or reject them.

Dugan filed a motion in May to dismiss the charges against her, saying she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. She argued that the federal government violated Wisconsin's sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph on Monday recommended against dropping the charges. The ultimate decision is up to U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, who can accept the other judge's recommendation or reject it.

What they're saying:

"We are disappointed in the magistrate judge’s non-binding recommendation, and we will appeal it," Dugan attorney Steven Biskupic, a former federal prosecutor, said in a statement. "This is only one step in what we expect will be a long journey to preserve the independence and integrity of our courts."

Judges simply declaring that the law doesn't apply to them is the left's way of "fighting fascism."

In one of the most fascist acts of the Obama-Biden junta, the DOJ prosecuted a twitter-user for posting the old joke that you should rush to the polls on Wednesday (that is, the day after the election). The Obama-Biden junta, fanatically devoted to criminalizing all right-wing speech, prosecuted this poor guy and got him sentenced to seven months in federal prison for, alleging, conspiring to defraud people of their right to vote.

That insane conviction has now been tossed.

In 2023, Mackey was convicted and sentenced to seven months in prison for a meme he made about the 2016 election. His graphic, obviously a parody, indicated that people could vote for Hillary Clinton via text. Clinton herself hilariously tried to blame her loss on Mackey, instead of recognizing the fact that American voters simply hate her.

But today, we received great news from Mackey himself. The U.S. Second Court of Appeals has overturned his conviction and instructed the lower court to dismiss all charges against him.

Douglass Mackey @DougMackeyCase

BREAKING: THE SECOND CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS HAS THROWN OUT MY CONVICTION FOR LACK OF EVIDENCE

THE CASE HAS BEEN REMANDED TO THE DISTRICT COURT WITH ORDERS TO IMMEDIATELY DISMISS

HALLELUJAH!

How did it ever get to this?

And what kind of punishments are needed for the people who did this?

InteractivePolls @IAPolls2022

Do you support or oppose deporting those illegally in the United States back to their country of origin?

Support: 61%
Oppose: 35%

* White: 65-31
* Black: 53-37
* Hispanic: 50-48

* Dem: 26-68
* GOP: 94-4
* Indie: 59-37

@cygnal
(A) 7/1-2 1,500 LV

Pretty much the same story every week: CNN and MSNBC's ratings fall again.

MSNBC and CNN suffered staggering losses in viewership over the past year -- while Donald Trump's ascendancy supercharged Fox News in the cable news ratings war.

The left-leaning networks -- which will both be spun off by their respective parent companies -- suffered year-over-year declines in all major metrics for the second quarter compared to the same period last year, according to the latest Nielsen data, which was reported by AdWeek.

Comcast-owned MSNBC, with its rabid anti-Trump lineup of anchors, drew an average 1.008 million primetime viewers from April to June, a year-over-year decline of 15%, Nielsen figures show.

In the the advertiser-covered 25-to-54 demographic, primetime viewership plunged 20%, to 91,000 compared to last year -- despite star anchor Rachel Maddow returning to full-time duty during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

...

The exodus of eyeballs was even worse during the day, with total viewership plummeting 26%, to an average of 596,000, and 31%, to 57,000, in the key demo compared to the same quarter last year.

CNN, which has languished in last place despite paying anchor Anderson Cooper a reported $18 million in salary, averaged 538,000 total viewers in primetime for the three-month period and 105,000 in the demo, according to Nielsen

Year-over-year, the network saw declines of 13% in total viewers in primetime and a 15% drop in the 25-54 demo.

Leftwing Podcaster: Kamala Harris Appeared on My Show But It Was So Disastrous I Never Published It, Because I Didn't Want to be Blamed for Her Defeat

—Ace

Kamala Harris, a Noted Genius, decided that one of her Scripted Cute Viral Moments with this Muslim podcaster was to keep babbling about how great bacon is and how bacon is a spice.

One thing that's always grated on me with Harris is her inauthentic attempt to connect with "the youth" by constantly pushing internet memes from 2007. Bacon, Venn diagrams. Hot dog is sandwich. No wait, that's how Jonah Goldberg attempts to seem relevant to the Modern Audience.

This appearance was intended to be yet another "humanizing" Kamala Harris puff interview, like all of her "interviews" are. This guy apparently just has people on to offer light "hot" takes, silly crap like Hot Dogs Are Sandwich. First she came on to say that she didn't like taking her shoes off in Airport Security Theater, but I guess she realized she was contradicting official state policy so this was too dangerous.

Instead she decided to sing the praises of bacon to a Muslim.

The appearance was so stilted and awkward that he says they "mutually agreed" to bury it.

NYPost:

Kamala Harris gave an interview before the presidential election that was so "confusing and weird" that she and the host mutually agreed not to air it, a social media personality recently revealed.

The former Democratic presidential candidate's appearance on "Subway Takes," a popular online series hosted by Kareem Rahma where guests admit their favorite hot take, was filmed in Summer 2024 but never saw the light of day, the presenter said.

"Her take was really confusing and weird, not good, and so [we] mutually agreed we shouldn't publish it," Rahma told Forbes reporter Steven Bertoni in an interview posted on TikTok on Monday.

Huh. He buried Kamala Harris's answers because they were so awkward they would hurt her chances in the election.

Hire him for 60 Minutes, CBS! He's a natural!