Where Is Mitch McConnell? Some Demand "Proof of Life"

—Disinformation Expert Ace

He's as publicly visible as Ayatollah Khamenei's gay dead son.

Donald Trump's most vocal supporters are demanding that Mitch McConnell's office provide proof that the Kentucky lawmaker is still alive after he disappeared amid a three-week hospitalization.

McConnell, 84, was admitted to a hospital on the morning of June 14 following a medical emergency at his Washington, DC home. Paramedics responded to a report of an unconscious person believed to have suffered a 'cardiac arrest,' with a medic reporting 'CPR in progress' at the address.

The senator was not named on the call, and his office has never confirmed what sent him to the hospital, saying only that he is receiving 'excellent care.'

The speculation surrounding McConnell has intensified in recent days because his aides have refused to release new information regarding his condition or whether he will return to work as the GOP fights to maintain their razor thin majority.

Trump conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer claimed that an unnamed White House source told her that McConnell is in a 'vegetative state' or 'brain dead' and is 'not coming back' to work.

DC outlet The Hill even accidentally published an obituary of the senator which was swiftly deleted. A screenshot spread on X, and a copy reportedly stayed live on Yahoo News.

Independent journalist Desirée Townsend confirmed Loomer's allegations: 'I have heard the same thing from my sources for days. At this point, I am at the hospital for when they eventually decide to cut him off of life support and move his body.'

As online chatter continued to grow about McConnell's health condition, MAGA activists like Breitbart editor Matthew Boyle wrote on X, 'McConnell's staff should produce proof of the senator's condition one way or another right now.'

Is this true? I don't know.

What makes me think it's false is that this retard thinks it's true:

Day One of Tyler Robinson Preliminary Hearing: Prosecution Detonates Candace Owens' Lie That Robinson Never Set Foot on the Campus

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Gator Gar @gatorgar

It appears the prosecution has video from UVU showing Tyler Robinson approaching the campus, entering the building, reaching the roof, and taking the shot. We won't know for sure until it goes to trial, but we do know UVU has cameras everywhere and that they provided the footage to investigators.

Going to be hard to refute that folks.

Here's video of Tyler Robinson skulking around the campus of Utah Valley University, including video of him walking stiff-legged because he was concealing a rifle down his pant-leg.

Here's video of Tyler Robinson (or someone who looks a lot like him) taking aim with the rifle shortly before Kirk was shot.

Remember, Cavernous Nostrils and her "Mommysleuths" have insisted for a year that this rifle could not have caused the wound to Charlie Kirk and that the actual murder weapon was either a concealed handgun fired by a TPUSA staffer (under orders from Israel, of course) or an "exploding microphone." And by the way, the microphone plainly did not explode. It was on video, and nothing happens with the microphone.

But Cavernous Nostrils and her Mommysleuths still insist the "exploding microphone" is a possible murder weapon.

Anything but the rifle Tyler Robinson is seen on video preparing for a sniper shot.

LOL: Narcissist Psychopath Graham Platner Is Refusing to Drop Out of Race Unless He, the Nazi Rapist, Gets to Pick His Successor

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Who wouldn't want to be known as the candidate hand-picked by the Nazi Rapist Stalker?

Maine Democratic candidate Graham Platner appears to be holding the Democratic Party hostage -- refusing to drop out after he was accused of rape unless he gets to approve his successor to run for the Senate, The Post has learned.

A source familiar with the campaign discussions said Platner, his campaign and political strategist Morris Katz are deliberating about the Maine Democrat dropping out but only if his replacement has the same anti-Israel, left-wing values that he does.

The communist Nazi wants to make sure that his successor shares his love of communism and anti-Jewish pogroms.

And the clock is ticking for Dems -- there's a deadline of Monday for Platner to withdraw and be replaced on the ballot, according to state election law.

"This vibes to me like a play from Bernie Sanders to slide in Troy Jackson," another source said.

The elderly Vermont independent -- who was Platner's biggest backer -- reportedly wants former Maine senate president Jackson to get the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Jackson, who appeared with Platner and Sanders at a "Fight the Oligarchy" rally in May, recently came in third in the state's Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Update from Washington Nearsider:

Mark Halpern said he's hearing Platner won't step aside unless his wife is his replacement.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider: Gotterdammerung

French Court Lifts Ban on Le Pen Standing for Next Presidential -- But Slaps Her With House Arrest That Will Prevent Her from Campaiging Outside Her Home
NIGEL FARAGE RESIGNS HIS SEAT IN PARLIAMENT

—Disinformation Expert Ace

First: Nigel Farage has resigned over his personal finances scandal, which I naively assumed was a lot of smoke and partisan nonsense.

Revealed: Nigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminal

The Reform UK leader did not declare benefits including staff, security and housing by crypto-gambler George Cottrell, our investigation reveals

Beege Wellborn writes that Farage could have accepted these payments from "generous friends" if he disclosed them -- but apparently, he did not.

Farage appears to have broken MPs' rules by failing to declare that Cottrell provided funding for his operation in the year before his election.

We can also reveal that:

• The Reform leader received "in kind" benefits ranging from his back office to his private security, staff, transport and accommodation.

• Cottrell recruited and paid three staff to transform Farage's social media presence, producing content on immigration, human rights law and political correctness, and that promoted Reform...

Well, this stinks. Though I know a lot of #Based people have been very much against Farage, who they claim is a soft liberal who actively promises to not deport all the migrants. They prefer the Restore movement, led by Rupert Lowe, who led that private inquiry into the grooming gangs.

What happens to Reform now? I don't know.

Meanwhile, in France, the lawfare against Le Pen continues.

The ban on National Rally leader Marine Le Pen running in the 2027 French presidential election was overturned by the Paris Court of Appeal on Tuesday; however, other aspects of the ruling may still derail her campaign.

After over a year of waiting, the appeal court finally issued a ruling on the eligibility of three-time candidate Marine Le Pen to stand again in next year's race to replace Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen faced a five-year ban from standing in any election in Europe over alleged embezzlement of European Union funds intended for her party's use in the EU Parliament, which were claimed to have been used to pay for party operations in France.

On Tuesday, the Paris Court of Appeal reduced her sentence from five years' ineligibility to 45 months, with 30 months suspended. This means that from the initial ban issued in March of last year, her 15 months of ineligibility would expire well before the April 18th vote next year, Le Figaro reported.

However, the court also handed down a €100,000 fine and sentenced her to three years in prison (suspended) and one year of house arrest with an electronic monitoring tag, which would likely severely limit her ability to campaign.

Le Pen had previously stated that she would not run for the presidency if she were subjected to electronic monitoring by the court. She has previously stated that if she is prevented from running, she would back her long-standing deputy, Jordan Bardella, to run in her place.

Below, Farage attempts to rally the faithful.

The New York Times Knew All About Graham Platner's Rape Allegation But Deliberately Buried It
Update: North American Man-Boy Lincoln Association Grifter Rick Wilson Weighs In

—Disinformation Expert Ace

They also buried the allegations of non-rape abuse by Lyndsey Fifield -- and she says she gave them the names of five friends who would corroborate the story (at least as far as her telling the same story contemporaneously).

Two of those friends, she told them, didn't know about the abuse, but could corroborate the dates of their relationship. The other three could corroborate the abuse.

The New York Times chose to only contact the two friends Fifield expressly told them could not corroborate the abuse. They didn't contact the three who could corroborate the abuse, deliberately.

Then they Times wrote that they contacted two friends "who could not corroborate" Fifield's claims of abuse.

Lyndsey Fifield @lyndseyfifield

I actually understand why Democrat leaders didn't take our stories seriously when the Times reported them in June but are taking them seriously now.

It was by design.

The line most shared from the piece was the claim that the Times "could not corroborate" my story despite talking to two of my friends.

I gave them the contact information for five friends.

They called the two who I clarified would not know about the abuse but would be able to affirm our relationship timeline, events, etc.

They simply did not call the other three.

She also gave the NYT the names of people who could corroborate Platner "stalking" her, and apparently stalking her so menacingly she wrote to her landlord to tell him she was immediately terminating her lease to find a new place to live.

The NYT refused to contact these witnesses, too.

I also gave them the names of all my former roommates who remembered him stalking our row house (which was about 5 houses down from his) and waiting for me to return. I gave them screenshots of messages between these roommates and I discussing it.

I gave them the names of other men I dated who might have remembered him following us around the hill and showing up on my stoop after we walked home from dates to confront us. I gave them emails to my landlord urgently ending my lease and moving to an apartment across town and diary entries talking about it - all time marked.

I told them that during pre-marital counseling I had spoken to my ex-fiance about the abuse because I had to explain to him why I reacted with such terror any time he lost his temper. They said oh NO we don't need to bother HIM (or my priest). Besides, I had written about it in my diary in detail, they reassured.

As the weeks dragged on I stopped trying to give them evidence because the amount I had already given them seemed to overwhelm them and I thought it meant they clearly had more than enough to verify my every claim.

My friends might not have known the details of the abuse, but they affirmed that yes, I had told them that he was abusive--long before he ran for Senate.

Besides, they assured, my part in their reporting would be small. I thought my details would only serve to affirm Jenny and the other anonymous woman.

Jenny and I - having never met or spoken - both shared with these reporters terrifyingly similar details of intimate partner violence, coercive control, and cycles of abuse/love bombing. The third unnamed woman in the story did as well.

But tell me again how they "could not corroborate."

The New York Times did NOT report these allegations of stalking at all, and instead portrayed the relationship as "emotionally volatile" on both ends.

And there's a reason for that -- women hate three things men do: rape, physical abuse, and stalking. (The Times did admit Fifield's claims of physical abuse but, as noted earlier, refused to contact the friends who could corroborate those claims.)

David Strom writes about this and notes that while the New York Times spoke to Jenny Racicot -- the woman accusing Platner of actual rape -- and she told the Times about the rape, the Times refused to publish it at all, or even hint at it.

The Times engaged in the journalistic practice called "Catch and Kill," in which a news outlet rushes to get ahead of a story that damages one of their favorites by getting the story and either completely burying it, or doing a "modified limited hangout," in which the allegations are addressed, but in such a way as to make them less damaging or even non-credible.

The Times had been informed of the rape, but because it was shared off the record, they only described the concerns of his victim, Jenny Racicot, in the vaguest possible terms that implied that Platner's behavior was merely ungentlemanly. Here's the one paragraph they printed referring to what they KNEW was a rape:

Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine Democrat, who said she dated him casually off and on between 2019 and 2021, said the posts deepened her belief that he did not respect women. "When I saw the old comments that he made online," she said, "I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with."

Racicot had told them, off the record, that he had sexually assaulted her. They buried it, implied his on-the-record accuser was a political operative slandering him, and gave permission to all Platner's boosters to dismiss her story as a political hit job.

I take Strom's point but there is a wrinkle here: Racicot told the Times about the rape but she refused to make that allegation under her own name. That is, while she's quoted in the story accusing Platner of unspecified past behavior, she didn't want them to use her name in connection with the rape allegation.

So, one might say, the Times used good judgment to not report a claimed rape when the actual victim (or alleged victim) refuses to clearly accuse Platner of rape.

You could say that, except for the fact that the New York Times published completely-anonymous allegations of sexual assault against Bret Kavanaugh.

Google AI's overview of the first anonymous allegations of sexual assault against Bret Kavanaugh:

The New York Times detailed an anonymous accusation of sexual misconduct against Justice Brett Kavanaugh in September 2019. Originally reported by reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, the allegation involved a male classmate who witnessed Kavanaugh with his pants down at a Yale University freshman party, where friends allegedly pushed his hand onto a female student.

The female student involved did not speak to The New York Times. The classmate who reported the incident stated he brought it to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and senators during Kavanaugh's confirmation process, but it was not investigated.

The publication faced criticism and scrutiny over its handling of the story, primarily because the article's editors omitted a crucial detail from the initial essay: the female student in question told friends she did not remember the incident. This omission prompted the New York Times to add an editor's note clarifying that the victim did not recall the event, and it renewed broader public debates about media reporting practices during the Supreme Court confirmation process.

So anonymous claims of sexual assault are fair game for reporting, even when the woman allegedly victimized denies the incident ever took place.

And of course the New York Times pushed Chrissy Blowsy Ford's allegations when she was still anonymous, with her "beach friends" pushing the story to media allies.

The entire leftwing propaganda media did.

Here's the New York Times pushing the story as relayed by beach friends, when Blowsy-Ford was still refusing to comment.

Letter Claims Attempted Assault by a Teenage Brett Kavanaugh

By Nicholas Fandos and Michael S. Schmidt

Sept. 14, 2018

WASHINGTON -- A secretive letter shared with senators and federal investigators by the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee charges that a teenage Brett M. Kavanaugh and a male friend trapped a teenage girl in a bedroom during a party and tried to assault her, according to three people familiar with the contents of the letter.

The letter says that Mr. Kavanaugh, then a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in suburban Washington and now President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, had been drinking at a social gathering when he and the male friend took the teenage girl into a bedroom. The door was locked, and she was thrown onto the bed. Mr. Kavanaugh then got on top of the teenager and put a hand over her mouth, as the music was turned up, according to the account.

But the young woman was able to extricate herself and leave the room before anything else occurred, the letter says.

The woman says she considered the episode an assault. She has declined to be publicly identified, and she asked Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, not to publicize the letter.

So the media can and often does report anonymous sexual assault allegations -- but only against Republicans.

Democrats, who claim to #BelieveAllWomen, are protected against such lying whores who lie.

Below: Jodi Kantor, who works at the New York Times and therefore would know all about the rape allegation, spun for Platner a month ago claiming the only charges against Platner concerned him being "a bad boyfriend."

The Morning Rant

—CBD

A judiciary that does not reflect the cultural desires of a country is out of step with the people they are sworn to protect. A judiciary that actively subverts the obvious intent of the law, subordinating it to their own peculiar and disturbing brand of social justice is irreparably broken and must be discarded.

And this is a good start, but one that must be expanded to the federal judiciary, whose politically motivated temper-tantrums are now simply assumed to be coming after every significant policy decision by the Trump administration.

Florida Shows How States Can Restrain Rogue Judges Who Let Violent Criminals Go Free

For too long, leftist judges have flouted the law and put criminals back on the streets. Following the principles of Critical Legal Theory, which holds that the “law supports a power dynamic which favors the historically privileged and disadvantages the historically underprivileged,” they actively subvert the legal process in any way they can. This usually translates to accepting bogus claims of mental incompetence, issuing lighter sentences for serious crimes, and seeking out alternatives to incarceration. By doing so, they can do their part to remedy the “disparate impact” of the law on black Americans who proportionally commit crimes in far greater numbers than other those in other racial groups.

And if that doesn't work? How about changing the law in Florida and making judges personally liable for the criminal acts of those they release? That would be a joy to behold!

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Morning Report — 7/ 7 /26

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. So a couple of big stories are shaking up the domestic political scene this morning. First and least surprising are the latest in a series of revelations about Democrat Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner:

Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico that while she and Platner had been involved in an “on-and-off relationship,” in 2021 he allegedly “entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night” while intoxicated. Platner allegedly “forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop.” “I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot explained to the outlet. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.'”

So, a Nazi-loving Jew-hating rapist. As America's 250th birthday gradually recedes in the distance, I can honestly say I can't think of a more ideal presidential candidate . . . for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Khamenei Funeral: Loyalists Call for Killing of Trump, Vance, and Conservative Influencers “As they passed under a bridge, mourners hurled stones at a billboard hung from above showing U.S. President Donald Trump with a bullet aimed at his head.”

If you didn't have the context, you'd swear that was a typical social media post from almost any leftist pol, media personality or average lefty wine mom.

Meh, Graham cracka Platner is just another cardboard cutout Democrat Socialist, er Socialite. Shove his ass in a Cutlass Supreme and sink it off the coast of Chappaquidick to see if he floats.

I guess I'm kind of shocked that the Democrats are not circling the wagons, given their propensity to reflexively do so every time one of their own are caught up in this kind of scandal, and sadly 99% of the time come out mostly unscathed.

“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democrat nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kristin Gillibrand of New York said in a statement. “The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.” Democrat Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also joined the pile-on, saying in a statement that “the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside,” while Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote on X that Platner “must drop out” and that the party “should continue to stand with all survivors of sexual assault.”

Given this story and the rise of the DSA to preeminence in the Dem party, I can't understand how they are now seeing Platner as toxic waste.

A new YouGov survey found Democrats are more likely to view the Black Lives Matter flag positively than the American flag, with 74 percent expressing a very or somewhat positive opinion of the BLM flag compared with 72 percent for the U.S. flag. The poll also found ten percent of Democrats held a negative view of the American flag. Among Republicans, just ten percent said they viewed the BLM flag positively. The survey also measured reactions to other flags and symbols, finding only three percent of Democrats had a positive view of flags associated with President Donald J. Trump, while nine percent viewed the Confederate flag positively and 27 percent viewed the Palestinian flag favorably. The findings were released shortly after a Marist poll reported that fewer than half of Democrats said they were proud to be Americans, compared with 93 percent of Republicans. A 2025 Gallup poll similarly found a sharp partisan divide in national pride. YouGov surveyed 1,088 U.S. adults online between June 30 and July 2.

Elsewhere we have news that Mitch McConnell is unwell, or perhaps fast approaching room temperature.

Before politics enters the room, prayers should. I can't read about a possible heart crisis or stroke without thinking of my father, who lived through a heart attack, suffered a stroke, and endured hard months before he died. Families live inside those hours; they're not campaign props. But McConnell isn't only a husband, father, and grandfather. He is Kentucky's senior senator, holding one of 100 seats in a chamber where every vote cast decides war powers, judges, spending, taxes, and the president's agenda. If he's recovering, Kentucky deserves to know enough to trust that recovery. If he's gravely ill, Kentucky deserves honesty without cruelty. Conservative activist Laura Loomer and journalist Desiree Townsend claimed Monday that McConnell has been declared “brain dead,” citing unnamed sources. McConnell's office hasn't confirmed or denied that claim.

Mitch McConnell's record has to say the least been spotty at best when it comes to advancing an America first constitutional agenda and opposing the Democrat traitors who have run wild especially since the coming of Obama and well before that. McConnell and all the other elderly doddering career politicians on both sides of the aisle who enrich themselves via elective office are why we desperately need term limits, as well as the severest of penalties for graft. Public flogging perhaps.

As if to underscore that, we have McConnell's wife.

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao traveled to Beijing just three days after her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), was rushed to the hospital following an apparent heart attack that required CPR.

Nope, not a smidgen of a hint of corruption at all, eh? This would be the same China that's doing this... Between Chao, Swalwell, the late Feinstein whose lifelong chauffeur was a Chi-Com spy and how many others nationally and locally who are the same, as well as all the spies in our academic institutions and the private sector, it's a race to see who finishes us off first, them or the Muslims...

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has tracked Chinese nuclear and missile proliferation concerns across multiple decades and report iterations. The six editions examined here span the period from May 2021 through May 2026. Taken together, they reveal a consistent underlying pattern—Chinese government-level transfers have largely ended, but a persistent, arguably worsening problem of Chinese entity-level proliferation continues unabated—while the diplomatic and rhetorical framing around that problem has shifted considerably over time.

These transfers undermine the official Chinese position—namely, that China firmly opposes the proliferation of nuclear weapons, missiles, and related technologies/means of delivery and commits to rigorous export controls while balancing nonproliferation with the peaceful uses of dual-use technologies, especially for developing countries (see “China's Non-Proliferation Policy and Measures").

Have a good day,

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
• “I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot explained to the outlet. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.'” (Dear Iran, I think we've found your ideal next president! - JJS)
  Report: Graham Platner Accused of Breaking into Woman's House, Sexually Assaulting Her
  

• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is 84, hospitalized, and surrounded by more rumor than fact.  
  If McConnell Is Gravely Ill, Kentucky Deserves Clarity

Daily Tech News 7 July 2026

—Pixy Misa

• Beelink has launched its EQi Wildcat Lake mini-PC build around Intel's new low-end Core 3 304 CPU. (Liliputing)
  
  Starting at $509 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD, and limited to just one performance core (and four efficiency cores) it's not going to set the world on fire.
  
  Just give you hearburn.
  
  
  
• Minisforum meanwhile has announced its NAB9S mini PC starting at just $399. (WCCFTech)
  
  True, that includes neither memory nor storage, but what it does include is a 24-core Intel 13900HX laptop processor, which is close to four times as fast in multi-threaded tasks as the Core 3 304.
  
  If you already have a bunch of DDR4 SODIMMs and are worried about the hardware around them aging out, this looks like a pretty good solution. Would handily beat my 5560U mini PC or my 11800H laptop.

Monday Overnight Open Thread (7/5/26)

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Quote I

“We see masked agents terrorizing our streets, eating food cooked by our undocumented neighbors before spiriting them away in unmarked vans,” he said. “We see a nation whose immense wealth has been built by those with callous dirt streaked hands, those who toil on factory floors and chisel into stone. And we see a nation that has allowed so much of that wealth to be held instead in the soft hands of a precious few.” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Quote II

The newly emerging socialists, like recent congressional nominees Darializa Avila Chevalier or Analilia Mejia, can never explain why their parents left socialist paradises in Latin America to come to cutthroat capitalist America. Victor Davis Hanson

Quote III

“Now, do I like their political position? Yes, I do. I believe that reproductive rights are a thing. And I think that they are obviously invested in women, and they should be. And that taking it from them was taking a right from women. And that’s the first time I’ve seen that done, except for prohibition. And I think it was wrong. But legally, I think it was the right decision.” Chris Cuomo

*****

I hope you Morons had a great time celebrating our country's birth and independence this past weekend. In the event you had an accident or two, yours truly hopes you didn't need this medical care team.

Once again, The ONT Is Always Looking Out For You^TM

Nude Recreation Week invites everyone to explore the benefits of naturism and body positivity, running from Monday, July 6 through Sunday, July 12, 2026. This week encourages shedding inhibitions along with clothes, promoting a natural and liberating lifestyle. Join the movement by visiting a naturist resort, learning about the community, or simply embracing self-acceptance.

Well here in the Frozen Tundra the deer and horse flies are as thick as thieves in Washington D.C. No way I'm going to embrace self-acceptance with those little blood suckers.

*****

As many of you know, I think the world of the late great Frank Zappa. Imagine if the Maestro had been alive for our recent 250th birthday. I wonder what beautiful piece of music he would have created. Because in 1975 he put out this wonderful song about our bicentennial in 1976. As a caveat, Zappa's "Bongo Fury" was my first Zappa LP I purchased as a teenager from a little shop called Pipe Dreams.

*****

Is this this the time in history where the common man who has everything left to lose says "Fvck it!? US Air Force Engineer Charged With Sawing Down Flock Surveillance Cameras Receives Thousands of Dollars from Supporters Across the Country
"There has been community support for me that I humbly welcome."

Hundreds of freedom lovers are rallying behind a US Air Force engineer accused of chopping down over a dozen AI-integrated surveillance cameras last year.

According to local channel WAVY, Virginia-based Air Force engineer and mechanic Jeffrey Sovern is facing 13 counts of destruction of property, as well as six counts of both petit larceny and possession of burglary tools related to the destruction of Flock license plate cameras.

These automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, are starting to blanket the United States, spreading across small towns and bustling cities alike by the thousands. While ostensibly framed as crime fighting tools, the AI-powered spy devices have raised significant privacy and social policy concerns, especially as innocent citizens get caught up in the dragnet. Like AI data centers, they’ve become a hot political issue at the local level, fueling public outrage and organized campaigns from coast to coast.

Maybe 2020 did plant some seeds of rebellion. Time will tell.

*****

Speaking of rebellion. A Happy Belated Birthday to our great country. Some exceptional drinking before we were officially a country.

The Pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer. The U.S. Marine Corps was founded in a bar. One of the reasons Prohibition failed in in the United States is probably because this country was founded on and was fueled by booze from the get-go—and there just isn’t a lot Americans won’t do to keep the party going a little longer.

The best example of this might be the legendary Revolutionary War leader Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, whose first order of business after famously taking Fort Ticonderoga from the British was to raid its liquor stores and “drink the place dry.”

*****

The Fabulous is a great cook. And often she will say, "Slow down and enjoy your meal." She's never met Florida Keys resident Kevin Renly.

A Florida man who finally captured the title at the World Famous Key Lime Pie Eating Championship said his winning strategy came down to eliminating the biggest obstacle first: the whipped cream.

Florida Keys resident Kevin Renly, 62, claimed victory at the annual Fourth of July competition in Key West after devouring a whipped cream-topped 9-inch Key lime pie in 59.6 seconds — all without using his hands.

Contestants were required to eat the pies without using their hands, though goggles and dive masks were allowed.

*****

The ONT Musical Interlude & Nothing To Eat In The House Emporium

July 6th, 2024 - Joe Egan
Scottish singer-songwriter Joe Egan died from a heart attack at a hotel in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 77. Along with Gerry Rafferty, Egan was one of the two main members of the folk rock band Stealers Wheel, and co-writer of their hit song 'Stuck in the Middle with You'. The song was used in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 movie Reservoir Dogs, during the famous "ear" scene.

&&&&&

July 6th, 2020 - Charlie Daniels American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Daniels died age 83 of a hemorrhagic stroke. He is best known for his contributions to Southern rock, country, and bluegrass music and scored the 1979 number-one country hit 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

*****

Oh we could have done a predictable Genius Award Winner! setting off a house on fire.

But no........

Posthumous Genius Award Winner!

Man 'cut off his own penis and sliced throat’ after 'extreme' amount of meth
WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Man bled to death after cutting off his own penis with a pen knife wgho was on a fatal amount of meth during the horror, a medical report has discovered

On a happier note...........

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Young 'Ette Humor.

Notice: Posted with permission by the Ace Media Empire & AceCorp, LLC. No shoes, no shirts, no lingerie, no problem. No more credit from the liquor store. Complaints? Direct them to Ace and/or Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, S.C. See you in two weeks, God willing and the creeks don't rise.

Close it up

Monday Cafe

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Naples
by qs.street

Ducks steal a cat's bed.

Packed bed.

Kitty Lou-Who.

You dirty dog.

A guide to grooming your chinchilla.

Happy pupper.

Saving a cat trapped on a narrow, fast >highway.

Quick Hits
Update: Mitch McConnell Has Died?

—Disinformation Expert Ace

BREAKING: Mitch McConnell has passed away, according to a source close to the White House. - per Laura Loomer

Thanks to rickb223.

Trump spoke of God and against communism on July 4 which Axios thinks is just terrible.

Axios is one of those shills who would tell you Democrats are also opposed to communism. But when Trump speaks out against communism, it's just the worst thing for some reason.

I thought we agreed on this, Axios...?

Trump's God, guns and anticommunist Fourth of July

President Trump championed American military might, a Christian U.S. and his top legislative goal in a delayed Fourth of July speech from the National Mall, wrapping just minutes before the calendar switched to Sunday morning.

...

Driving the news: Throughout the speech, Trump nodded to a modern-day battle against communism, a frequent element of his midterm messaging.

"We don't want communists in our country," he said. "Never worked, and it never will work."
Trump later added, "Communism is a loser, and it always will be."

Zoom out: The president's language was also markedly religious -- in line with the tone from the White House and its allies that has steered America's 250th birthday toward prayer and divine guidance, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.

"All over the world, they try and be like us, nobody can be like us, and with God's help, we will always be this, or even better," he said.
"As our Declaration of Independence tells us, we are all made in the image of one almighty God, and a communist will never say that, that's for sure," he added.

Speaking of July 4th: they had a Mostly Peaceful holiday in California.

Fourth of July descended into mayhem across parts of Southern California as unruly crowds overwhelmed packed-out fireworks displays, looted stores, ignited fires and saw cops charge on horseback.

The worst unrest erupted in Newport Beach, where Independence Day revelers poured into Orange County, choking traffic and triggering a police response as disorder spread near the pier.

Authorities ultimately shut down businesses from the Newport Pier to Pacific Coast Highway as officers moved in to restore order.

Officers were swarmed by hundreds of people who hurled bottles and other debris at them before the crowd turned on one another and began fighting.

Mounted officers rode horses into them to clear the area so additional arrests could be made.

Video from the scene also appeared to show the aftermath of the reported looting of a Pavilions grocery store in Newport Beach, with merchandise strewn across the parking lot while groups of people lingered outside the business, laughing and joking.
Newport Beach police with riot shields and bean bag rounds disperse a crowd on July 4th.

Also a Mostly Peaceful 4th in communist NYC.

Eight people, including four children, were shot during a Fourth of July family barbecue in Brooklyn's Coney Island when a masked gunman opened fire on the group without warning, police officials said.

New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives are working to identify the suspect, who fled the scene on foot and remains at large, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference on Sunday.

"There is no place for this kind of violence in our city. We will not tolerate it. We will fight it with every single tool at our disposal," New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at the news conference.

Uh-huh.

Another "migrant" -- immigration status withheld -- killed people while driving a truck.

A migrant driver of a semi-truck was arrested and charged with running down and killing a Chicago man who was trying to change his tire alongside a suburban highway late in June.

The accident occurred early in the morning of June 24 when 24-year-old Sebastian Stone pulled off to the side of I-80 near Torrence Ave. to change a flat tire. While in the process of changing the tire, Stone was struck and killed by a semi-truck, which did not stop after running him down, CWBChicago reported.

Police were called to the scene by witnesses, and officers found Stone dead on the side of the road.

Witnesses described the truck that struck the stranded motorist and gave police the license plate number, the name of the company on the side of the truck, and the truck's company ID number. By 9 a.m., police had confirmed the witness statements with license plate reader data.

Officials also confirmed that the semi was being driven by Kulgeet Kang, 34, whose name is of Punjabi origin and common among Sikh communities.

Further information on Kang's immigration status has not been released.

Investigators contacted the company Kang was driving for and informed them of the incident, and company officials called the driver on his cell phone to alert him that he was being sought for killing a motorist. Company officials told police that Kang answered the phone, but then allegedly hung up on his bosses without speaking to them. He then refused to answer follow-up calls.

maybe danielle 💻🚛🇺🇸 @maybedanielleee

This will be very interesting to follow.

> Death by hit-and-run --> semi-truck.
> Found the semi-truck, abandoned, at a truck stop near I-65/State Road 2 in Hebron, IN.
> The truck and trailer were towed for processing.
> The truck driver was not found with the truck.
> The truck driver may have been found.
> Person taken into custody.

"The driver, according to my sources, ditched the semi at a truck stop in Indiana and hours later showed back up to his company in Illinois, where he was taken into custody." -@CourtSpinelliTV

A Muslim murder priest urges Muslims to "sacrifice blood" to make Islam the official, legally-mandated religion in the US.

A Muslim murder-priest said this in Maryland, and no one is doing anything about it.

Yossi BenYakar
@YossiBenYakar

An imam in Alabama, Ragab Abdelmoneim of the Islamic Academy of Huntsville, openly told his audience that Muslims must be ready to sacrifice their lives through jihad in order to establish "the religion of Allah" in the United States.
He claimed that victory over America is closer than ever.
This isn't being preached in some remote village overseas. This is being said openly on American soil.
At what point does this stop being protected "religious speech" and become a national security threat?
How is he not arrested?

Graham Platner: Any Suggestion That I Strong-Arm Raped Someone After Bursting Into Her Home Uninvited Is Categorically False, But I'm Now Working Out a "Path Forward" from This Totally False Accusation

—Disinformation Expert Ace

No one who speaks German could be an evil man.

Unfortunately, this comes a week too soon.

David
@davidslosttt

I'm sworn to secrecy and I can't prove any of this but:

- If what I heard is real, it's a problem
- I think he drops out if it's real, because he's already facing significant financial problems
- I doubt this is a smear, the GOP would want him to stay in

Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 @PollTracker2024

I've heard the allegation as well and Platner would have to drop out if confirmed by a reputable news outlet

(It's worse than the NYT story from last month)

So what is the allegation? It's not sexual assault back in his days at Hotchkiss boarding school.

Rather, it's an allegation of sexual assault just five years ago:

Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_

1h

BREAKING: Politico reports that a Maine woman who dated Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him almost 5 years ago despite her repeated objections.

"I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me," she said. "I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, 'This is no longer my choice.'"

Platner has immediately posted a video denying the allegations.

Extremely serious allegations here. The woman says Platner came to her house in 2021 despite her telling him not to. She claims he let himself in, was drunk, raped her over her objections, and ejaculated inside of her despite her telling him not to because she wasn't on birth control.

More:

Racicot said she was torn over coming forward in part because she agrees with Platner politically.

"One of the reasons I didn't come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person," she said. "I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person."

I'm sure we'll be told he's "grown a lot" and "matured" since.... 2021.

It was the Quarantine. We all got a little assault-y back then, huh?

POLITICO @politico

1h

A woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her.

"I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person," she said of the Maine Dem, who has faced a string of scandals over past offensive online comments and accusations of mistreating women.

Platner responded: "These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue."

POLITICO @politico

32m

BREAKING: Graham Platner said he is "taking the time to reflect on the best path forward" for his candidacy minutes after POLITICO reported that a woman who dated him said he forced her to have sex with him, which he denies.

Robby Soave @robbysoave

37m

The sexual assault accusations against Graham Platner by Jenny Racicot are really quite severe. She says that he entered her home in a blackout state after she had definitively told him not to come. Then he forced himself on her. She cut off all contact afterward.

Barging into someone else's house really puts this in a different category. It doesn't leave room for mixed messages about given or withdrawn consent or something like that.

He can maintain he did no such thing, but I think a reasonable person would find that doubtful.

There was a report from Washington Reporter that said that Platner already decided to drop out:

Washington Reporter @DC_Reporter

🚨A well-placed source told us that Graham Platner is dropping out of the Maine Senate race this week.

Note that Platner has yet to release his Q2 fundraising totals, a sign he may have underperformed expectations.

If true, that would explain the attempt to poll Maine to see the best replacement.

James Gunn's Job Is Definitely At Risk as His Woke Partygirl Movie Supergirl Not Only Opens Worse Than Morbius, but Suffers Humiliating -73% 2nd Weekend Drop

—Disinformation Expert Ace

The movie never should have been made, period.

First of all, they just released Superman last year. Their follow-up is the Superman-knockoff character Supergirl, who has the same costume and same backstory (pretty much) and same powers. The only difference? She's a Strong Empowered Woman, and hooboy, people just can't get enough of those these days.

Even if you think Supergirl is a big enough character to do a movie about -- she's really not, she's a C level character -- surely you don't make a movie about this gender-flipped clone less than a year after the last Super-Family movie.

Worse yet, because Supergirl is so similar to Superman, and they were releasing the movie so close on the heels of Superman, they decided to completely change Supergirl's personality to make her seem different from her more famous Kryptonian cousin.

The Supergirl of the comics is the ultimate good girl. Just like Superman is a boy scout, Supergirl is a girl scout.

But they just did a movie about a Kryptonian boy scout so they changed Supergirl into a "messy," selfish, "trauma scarred" (can we stop making every character scarred by trauma) alcoholic party-girl. (Hollywood also doesn't like making morally good characters generally, and especially not morally good female characters, because women shouldn't do Emotional Labor for you Racists.)

So nothing like the actual Supergirl. And because alcoholic party-girls are usually -- sorry to be so direct -- promiscuous, this is the last movie a parent would want to take a young girl to see. That should be the target audience, parents bringing young girls to the movie to have a role model, but they made the character a substance-abusing partygirl so who's going to bring their daughter to that?

In fairness, Supergirl does pass out on a toilet (as one does) but doesn't have promiscuous sex with any rando dudes.

But that's not because she's moral. It's because all Empowered Female Characters must be lesbian-coded and have no sexual or romantic interest in males at all.

So again: Most parents will not want to take a young girl to see a movie about a drug-abusing lesbian.

So because Superman came out less than a year ago, they had to show that Supergirl isn't your grandfather's Supergirl by making her a grungy drunken whore.

If that's the only way to differentiate her from Superman -- then don't make the movie at all. It will be a disaster.

Which is what it was.

The movie made less than $38 million its opening weekend. Warner Bros kept lying and claiming that it made $38 million, but many disbelieved them, because they saw the daily numbers getting worse everyday. But Warner Bros. kept saying it made $38 million because they didn't want the real headline -- Supergirl made $37.1 million, less even than the disaster called Joker: Folie a Deux.

And while it opened so low you'd think it would have nowhere lower to go, you'd be wrong.

It also has a huge drop in its second weekend, one of the worst drops of any superhero movie.

'Supergirl' suffers catastrophic 73% drop, gets obliterated at box office by patriotic 'Young Washington'

Friday grosses plunged 80% in week two, with domestic totals stalling at $58.4M against a $275M cost

James Gunn was supposed to revamp and revitalize DC Studios at Warner Bros. The director of "Guardians of the Galaxy" would, in theory, bring the type of overarching creative vision that Kevin Feige had so successfully demonstrated at Marvel Studios.

Two movies into Gunn's vision of DC Studios, it's safe to say that this reboot has been an unmitigated failure.

The 2025 edition of "Superman" was, at best, a moderate success. While hardly the type of franchise-changing success the studio and Gunn hoped for, box office results and reviews were acceptable, if not a bit underwhelming. Thanks in some part to Gunn's bewildering decision to tell audiences that the film was about politics, calling the Superman character an "immigrant."

...

Alcock spent most of the press campaign making herself as unlikeable as possible, insulting potential moviegoers, bizarrely claiming that audiences felt "ownership" of her body, then doubling down after the inevitable backlash. The trailers looked awful, with a predictably sloppy anti-hero feel, atrocious visual effects, and an uninteresting plot and villain.

Still, as recently as May, hopes were that "Supergirl" could make as much as $65 million in its opening weekend. In actuality? It made just over $37 million.

With an estimated production budget of around $175 million, and a massive marketing campaign that likely cost Warner Bros. at least $100 million, the film needed to reach at least $450-500 million globally to break even. That opening weekend, and an anemic international debut, meant it was tracking towards a significant loss. The only hope? That positive word of mouth would overcome the apathy towards the film's plot and the off-putting remarks from Alcock.

Well, we now have the second weekend box office data, and not only did word of mouth not help "Supergirl," it may have destroyed it.

Friday grosses dropped an astonishing 80.4% from opening day on June 26 to just $3.6 million. Saturday estimates are for just $2.6 million, another 77% drop, despite the Independence Day holiday. All told, it's a remarkable 74% drop from the first weekend to the second. Total domestic gross for "Supergirl" now sits at just $58.4 million. On a $275 million production, from a major studio, with a massive marketing campaign, and the creative backing of James Gunn.

If the third weekend has a similar fall, grosses would plummet to just $2.49 million. For an entire weekend. A film that needed to make $200 million+ at US theaters to break even may not even reach $80 million. And considering the woeful international numbers, it's going to cost Warner Bros. hundreds of millions in losses.

It its first weekend, this very female-skewing movie was attended by 59% men, and only 41% women and girls -- the very audience it was designed, theoretically, to appeal to.

And you know what that means -- it's time for the leftwing media to blame men for women refusing to show up a movie supposedly made for the female audience.

The film received a "rotten" rating from the review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Ticket buyers were similarly unimpressed, giving "Supergirl" a B-minus grade in CinemaScore exit polls.

...

Still, box office analysts on Sunday noted an uncomfortable truth: Female-led superhero movies have been rejected almost uniformly over the past five years or so, perhaps reflecting a resurgent misogyny among the core fan base, which is largely male. Before its release, "Supergirl" became caught up in a now-familiar cycle of online abuse, with some fanboys attacking Milly Alcock's casting and appearance. Warner Bros. executives said they were surprised by both the ferocity of the backlash and its reach, believing the culture had evolved past that sort of campaign.

I repeat: 59% of tickebuyers were men. Yeah, a specific gender failed this film, and that gender was female.

I don't like Bill Burr, but this reminds me of his rant about women attacking men for not giving the WNBA good ratings: "You complained and complained so we gave you a stupid women's basketball league, and now you're telling us we have to watch it for you, too??!"

BTW: I don't mind Supergirl being a "girl boss" because, well, canonically she's one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe, so it's not like they're reinventing the character (as they did with Captain Marvel) to make her a girlboss.

So the girlbosshood is justified... by the lore, at least.

But man oh man, are people just tired of girlbosses, whether justified by the lore or not. I hear Furiosa was pretty good, but people rejected it anyway.

We're just tired of it. Hollywood keeps making the same movie (basically) about the same female character (basically). How often do they think we want to keep seeing the same movie about the same unlikable bitch character?

Hot New #RaceHoax Drops, The Left Is So Excited You Guys

—Disinformation Expert Ace

The fake "hate" group -- almost certainly funded and directed by the left -- "Patriot Front" staged a fake little march in DC.

That was fake enough, but then the left amped up the hoax by arranging for a lone black woman to be photographed on a subway while surrounded by fake-menacing fake "Patriot Hoax" actors.

Note that she suffered no harassment or assault -- a far cry from other women that the left refuses to mention and in fact demands go without any murals to mark their deaths.

As this guy says: It's so staged it hurts.

Female Cops Beaten Up While Trying to Break Up "Teen Takeover" in North Charleston

—Disinformation Expert Ace

I don't think woke police forces are working.

The North Charleston Police Department has released a statement regarding the viral video where several individuals can be seen assaulting officers in the Chicora-Cherokee community on Saturday evening.

According to their statement, the incident depicted in the video is the result of a neighborhood block party that escalated out of control leading to the arrest of several individuals and the recovery of multiple firearms and a makeshift spear. Three juveniles and one adult were arrested as a result of the incident.

The initial report states that officers responded to a neighborhood block party in the Chicora-Cherokee community after receiving reports of gunfire and individuals firing fireworks toward passing vehicles. Officers had reportedly met with event organizers earlier in the day to discuss the event and ensure that emergency vehicles could safely access the area if needed.

Upon arrival on scene officers met with attendees who stated that several people had begun discharging firearms at the event. In an attempt to safely disperse the crowd officers repeatedly made public announcements advising that the event had ended and that everyone should leave the area.

Despite those efforts, multiple fights broke out and additional gunshots were reportedly fired. Officers exited their patrol vehicles to intervene and separate the individuals involved in the fight. During the response multiple officers were physically assaulted, with two female officers sustaining minor injuries, the release states.

Herr Docktor Bugfokker Cancels Campaign Events as Unknown Parties Begin Polling the Strength of Other Candidates to Replace Graham Platner

—Disinformation Expert Ace

There are rumors of a fresh Graham Platner scandal about to drop, even as the drop-dead deadline for replacing a candidate in Maine fast approaches. (I believe the deadline is July 13.)

Political Polls @PpollingNumbers

Graham Platner has canceled a campaign event for unclear reasons.

The cancellation comes as polls are testing other candidates against Collins, while rumors continue to circulate about a possible new scandal involving Platner.

The Maine Wire @TheMaineWire

🚨🚨Graham Platner cancels MULTIPLE scheduled town hall events as progressive allies tease another scandal is about to hit his campaign.

Augusta town hall for last night - CANCELED

Gorham town hall tonight - CANCELED

Sanford town hall tonight - CANCELED

There are no other upcoming events listed on his FB page, or on Mobilize

Steve Robinson @SteveRob

Wild rumors re Graham Platner circulating this morning...

Sources Downeast say Platner showed up for the 4th of July parade in Eastport but left early after getting struck in the face by a teen-tossed water balloon.😂

He was a no-show later that evening for the Machias parade.

Meanwhile, Platner's key ally and fellow lazy-ass scumbag Bernie Sanders commsplained that party leaders are above party "rules."

Vermont's senior senator, a key supporter of Maine Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner, Sunday rejected the alleged hypocrisy of flying charters while blasting oil-executive salaries.

"Independent" Bernie Sanders' use of private jets for his political campaigns and tours has drawn scrutiny from critics who argue it contradicts his advocacy against corporate wealth and environmental issues.

In an interview on Fox News, Sanders pushed back on the apparent contradiction.

"You campaign and you do three or four or five rallies a week," he told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

"The only way, the only way, you can get around to talk to 30,000 people."You think I'm going to be waiting around sitting on a waiting line at United? While 30,000 people are waiting? No apologies for that.

"That's what campaign travel is about," Sanders added. "We've done it in the past and we will do it in the future."

Sanders tried to argue that President Trump doesn't fly commercial while campaigning either, asking Baier, "When's the last time you saw Donald Trump during a campaign at National Airport?"

"But he's also not fighting the oligarchy," Baier replied.

So what's the Graham Platner scandal going to be about? I would guess that it's about him being expelled from tony boarding school Hotchkiss for sexually abusing a girl or several girls.

And I think, if it's anything less than that level of serious, it won't mean anything at all. They're already all-in for a Nazi and communist. Unless it's something that rhymes with rape, he's insulated against it.

Formerly-Famous Leftwing Non-Celebrities Spend Entire Fourth of July Weekend Obsessing Over (Get This) Trump

—Disinformation Expert Ace

Sorry to drop that huge surprise on you without a warning.

Star of Seabiscuit Sarah Jessica Parker joined some other obsessives reading parts of an anti-Trump book and congratulating themselves for their Demonic Virtue.

A host of members from the cosseted Hollywood elites including Sarah Jessica Parker, Mark Ruffalo, Molly Ringwald, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Bradley Whitford released a joint July 4 video with author Timothy Snyder in an effort to challenge President Donald Trump on the day the nation paused to celebrate its 250th birthday.

They got Molly Ringwand and Sheryl Lee? (Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks, from 30 years ago.) What a coup!

They reportedly viewed their collective effort as "a call against tyranny" as Trump stood at the fore of his America 250 festivities and addressed the gathered tens of thousands and through them the country as a whole, as Breitbart News reported.

The Wrap reports how the sneering Hollywood effort went public with this claim:

"Two-hundred-fifty years ago, a revolutionary idea was born, not that freedom was guaranteed, not that democracy would take care of itself, but that ordinary people could govern themselves," Parker says in the 10-minute clip.

"Every generation since has faced the same question: What will you do when our country asks and needs something of you?"

..

"To celebrate a rebellion is to know that, from a flawed world, we can make new things," Snyder wrote in his intro to the video release, per the Wrap report.

"We can hold on, we can find each other, and not just imagine but create a much better America. It is a special 250th -- it is ours."

The clip featured -- but was not restricted to -- those mentioned earlier as well as Lisa Rinna, Canadian Margaret Atwood, Tony Goldwyn and Leslie Odom Jr. declaiming the book's 20 lessons to stand against tyranny.

Wow, decrepit spinster Margaret Atwood showed up for a left-wing event? Now I'm impressed.

And some other people who haven't been relevant since 2002 as well. Astonishing.

Speaking of old lefties with dwindling relevance, the site's official pick for most overrated piece of shit "rocker" ever, Bruce Springsteen.

I'd rather let Gary Glitter babysit my kids than listen to this gravel-voiced Cookie Monster of MOR "rock."

Left-wing rocker Bruce Springsteen declared himself a "patriot" for trashing President Donald Trump. "I believe in critical patriotism," the "Dancing in the Dark" singer proclaimed.

"I believe in critical patriotism," Springsteen told PBS NewsHour in a recent interview, after being asked, "You said before that loving your country means telling the truth about it. How has that guided your work?"

The "Born In the U.S.A." singer, who was interviewed on the PBS special, Bruce Springsteen: Finding America in Song, added, "I believe that's the definition of a patriot, you know?"

I love that the only album/songs people can remember is the absolute turd "Born in the USA."

"That you love your country so much, that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place, and believe that you carry in your heart the country that is waiting," Springsteen said.

"I was very angry," the 76-year-old rocker said of his new protest song, "Streets of Minneapolis," which he wrote after the fatal shootings of ICE agitators Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and later performed at an anti-Trump "No Kings" rally.

"And usually, I write songs that have a lot of political implications, but very often are not directly political," the "Born to Run" singer added.

You're a moron.

Finally, archleftist and completely inadequate man Larry David produced a -- get this -- anti-Trump fake "history" series.

Rob Reiner was in it, in his last role. He played -- are you ready to laugh? -- George Washington, ranting about -- get this -- Donald Trump.

Barack Obama produced this POS. This is the show Michelle Obama forbade from featuring RFKJr's wife and Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm co-star, Cheryl Hines.

Director Jeff Schaffer says Rob Reiner's final role as George Washington in Larry David's Obama-produced HBO show is Reiner's "last laugh" against President Donald Trump.

Rob Reiner -- who was killed late last year along with his wife, Michele -- filmed his final role a month before his death, portraying George Washington in Larry David's historical sketch comedy show, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness.

The late film director's appearance on the HBO show was kept a secret until the second episode aired on July 3, according to a report by Variety.

He died as he lived -- ranting obsessively and futilely about a man he'd never even met.

The show's director, Jeff Schaffer, told the magazine that the role allowed Reiner to get the "last laugh" against President Trump.

"It's coming out on Fourth of July weekend, and if it in any way spoils a sad octogenarian's weekend, then oh well!" Schaffer added.

Yeah I don't think it did.

The unbridled narcissism of these people. It's just a cult of self-worship.

Hello everyone! My goodness, I did not enjoy this very hot weekend. It's nice that it cooled down but I spent the weekend just laying around and checking a weather app to see when the heat would break.

How was yours? Any one have corn on the cob? I did. Dang corn on the cob is good.

THE MORNING RANT: Ford Rehires Engineers, Blames AI (not Its EVs Debacle) for Having Dismissed Them in the First Place

—Buck Throckmorton

There was some great news last week when Ford announced that it was re-hiring hundreds of engineers who were let go a few years back. Those engineers had been dismissed from their jobs for two reasons:

1) To free up cash for Ford’s ill-fated “electric vehicle transition.”

2) Ford thought it wouldn’t need them any longer. The childishly “green” great-grandson of Henry Ford, Bill Ford, along with Bill’s pet CEO, Jim Farley, didn’t think they’d need engineers whose area of expertise was gas-powered, internal combustion (“ICE” ) vehicles. In obedience to Bill Ford’s climate religion, Farley had committed the company to pursuing an all-EV future. He didn’t see the need to further develop ICE vehicles, nor to employ the engineers who could do so.

The EV transition has been a catastrophic failure, costing Ford more than $35 billion before the company finally canceled its flagship electric vehicle, the Ford F150 Conflagration Lightning.

As I documented several years ago, ”Ford is terminating valuable engineers and other personnel involved in traditional internal combustion car manufacturing, all in an effort to free up money for its cash-sucking EV boondoggle.”

Ford was unambiguous that the reason it was gutting its corps of ICE employees was to fund its EV future, as documented by Bloomberg in this piece from 2022 titled “Ford Plans Up to 8,000 Job Cuts to Help Fund EV Investment.”

The good news is that even though Bill Ford is a naïve nepot who fell under the spell of the climate doom cult, Ford’s customers and dealers are considerably smarter. Despite the massive losses Ford took trying to get consumers to take delivery of its EV offerings, there is virtually no price that could move the needle and make Ford’s EVs anything more than a low-volume gimmick. For Ford to survive, it had to turn its focus back to products that Americans will buy in mass-market volume.

It’s funny that Ford is blaming a failed reliance on artificial intelligence for the need to re-hire engineers, rather than blaming its commitment to EVs. Perhaps Farley and Ford feel that it is politically safer to blame AI than to blame their EV debacle.

“Ford Rehires Experienced Engineers after AI Misses the Mark” [NY Post – 6/29/2026]

Ford has rehired experienced human engineers to help address the shortcomings of artificial intelligence (AI) tools meant to tackle quality issues in the automaker’s production processes.

-----

“Over prior years, we didn’t pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles…”

-----

“Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that would produce a high quality product…”

-----

[Ford’s VP of Vehicle Hardware Engineering] also noted that the AI tools lacked the training and expertise that veteran technicians have, and many of the company’s veteran technicians left Ford before their knowledge could be used to improve the performance of the AI tools.

The “EV transition” failed, and the American auto industry is now de-transitioning back to a focus on manufacturing (gasoline-powered) vehicles which Americans are willing to buy.

But for old times’ sake, here is an update on Ford’s misguided efforts to become an EV manufacturer. The sales report is out for last month (June 2026). It’s awful:

• Ford sold only 2,322 EVs, which represented just 1.3% of its total US vehicle sales.

• Those 2,322 EVs included discontinued F150 Lightnings, which Ford is practically giving away to make them go away. I’d call it a “fire sale,” but that seems a little insensitive considering the Lightning’s propensity to spontaneously erupt into flames.

• The 1,715 Mustang Mach-Es that we were sold represented a 32% decline from June 2025’s already abysmal numbers.

The next big milestone for Ford’s EV de-transition is for it to formally announce that manufacture of the Mustang Mach E is being terminated.

The many descendants of Henry Ford still hold a controlling interest in Ford stock. A Ford-family revolt against the destruction wrought by Bill Ford would also be in order.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

Imaginary View Of The Grande Galerie In The Louvre
Hubert Robert