Flotsam and Jetsam - Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning

And not a lot of material! Maybe I didn't keep up with the reading. From Althouse, "They were going to build an F.B.I. headquarters three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state. We’re going to stop it.", "Said Trump, last year, quoted in "Judge Rules Trump Administration Can’t Scrap F.B.I. Move to Maryland/The ruling is almost certainly not the end of the lengthy fight over the F.B.I.’s future headquarters, which has lasted for years" (NYT gift link). In a 47-page ruling, Judge Theodore Chuang of the Federal District Court in Maryland wrote that “the F.B.I. erroneously concluded” that it could select a new headquarters for itself without consulting Congress. In reality, Judge Chuang wrote, Congress had already approved the Biden administration plan for the F.B.I. to move to Maryland...." Of course, it's nowhere near 3 hours from DC to Greenbelt, except when traffic snarls (not all that uncommon). I don't care, move the seat of government to Fargo, ND, just to see who really wants to be there.

Red State's Teri Christoph is happy to report Trump Humiliates Obnoxious CNN Reporter After Oval Office Outburst: Ouch! Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@POTUS: "You're very disrespectful in front of this young man... You're a loud, boisterous person. You're Fake News. Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You're a fake reporter and you report FAKE NEWS." I don't think they're capable of shame.

At TownHall Matt Vespa thinks You Won't Believe It, A John Cornyn Staffer Pulled a Benedict Arnold Move. Here's His New Boss, James Talarico campaign. How to admit you have no sincere beliefs in one easy career move. John Waters at RC History, looks at The Next American Right.  "Today, the insurgency has won. What remains is not a bold, dramatic second act, but the far more familiar (and mundane) work of routine governance. We have entered the revolution’s mopping-up phase."

Vicky Taft at PJM asserts Trump's Messaging on the Mullahs Could Be as Powerful as a GBU-57. A bomb is only as good as it's aim. Victory Girls sees Iran Move To Crack Down On Civilians And Survive The Midterms. Armed Forces Press is angry the Media is Pushing the Carrier Crew Mental Health Story As Iran Blockade Is Working. From Althouse, "I just do not understand the mentality. If this is a representation of who our military is now… we’re just Rome sitting here waiting to burn. We’ve got nothing left." |From "Fox Host Trashes U.S. Sailors as ‘Weak’ for Speaking Out About Dire Conditions/Fox News host Joey Jones mocked service members speaking out about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln" (MTN)." At Twitchy, Messages Scrawled on Aircraft Flap by Service Members Show No Morale, Says Iranian Propagandist. Hat Hair's Capt. Ed wonder if it's Mixed Signals or Taqiyya? Hamas Pledges Disarmament As Iran Plots Wider War. TownHalls Matt Vespa looks at That Time Bill Maher Challenged This Former CBS News Anchor to Find a 'Moderate' Muslim.

Drew Bond at Am Mind assures us of America’s Winning Playbook Against China.

Capt. Ed calls it Off the Deep End: Dems Make 'Abolish ICE' Official Position. Matt Yglesias at Slow Boring asserts Woke 1 is dead. We’ve learned nothing. Documenting Saylor @saylordocs, "Javier Milei: “I thought being on the left was a mental problem. The empirical evidence is so overwhelming that it never worked anywhere, and they refused to accept it.” “But what I discovered is that being on the left is a disease of the soul. The left is built on envy, hatred, resentment, and unequal treatment under the law. They are very violent, and since they have no way or arguments to answer, they go for physical violence.”"

Mediaite watches CNN Data Guru Flags ‘Troubling’ Number for Democrats That May Predict Mike Rogers Victory, "Enten noted Rogers is leading El-Sayed by four points overall and five points among independents." But is it outside the margin of fraud?  Capt. Ed calls her the Spitting Image: El-Sayed Sis Charged With Assault on Illinois State Trooper. I hope she got properly thumped. PJM's Chris Queen thinks Jon Ossoff Sure Seems to Think He's the Next Barack Obama.

Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_, "NEW: The company behind a recent poll that showed Karen Bass with a 12-point lead over Nithya Raman for LA mayor & showed Bass collecting most of Spencer Pratt's prior support has admitted their poll was FAKE and was intended as a "social experiment" to see how a poll could spread in the media ecosystem without verification. The company, Median Strategies, also conducted a recent poll in Wisconsin that had socialist gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong up by 20 points. Hong lost her primary. It was all bogus. Wild story via @Noah__Goldberg at LAT." At Althouse, Comedian strategies. So polls are often bogus? Who knew? Now let's not always see the same hands.

Capt. Ed calls it a Bombshell: FBI Knew Swalwell Got Illegal Donations From Fang Fang – and More. Julie Kelly @julie_kelly2, "And Jim Comey’s FBI tried to convert Fang Fang into an FBI informant. That should tell us something about the CHS program under Comey." Quote John LeFevre @JohnLeFevre, "The FBI framed a sitting US President for treason, dropped an investigation into Eric Swalwell for having an illicit affair with a Chinese spy, planted fake stories with the media and FISA court, and forced Big Tech to censor critics to influence the 2020 election." Western Lensman @WesternLensman22h, "Fang Fang once approached Victor Davis Hanson and tried to work her magic. VDH: “You would have to be a stupid, narcissistic idiot to fall for that." He's talking about Eric Swalwell."

At NYPo, A liberal journalist just exposed lying Fauci’s toxic relationship with the media. Exposed is a little strong, affirms comes closer. 

From NewsBusters, the "Forbes Editor Who Threatened Firms Hiring Trump ‘Fabulists’ Fired After Secret $6M Payment."

At Insty, Driscoll is still following the strange case of Dr. Arday, JULIE BURCHILL: "The True Tragedy of the Death of Jason Arday." Hat Hair's Dave Strom believes Racism Did Not Kill Jason Arday. 

Internewscast reports Harvard Professor Faces Backlash for Allegedly Using AI to Draft Anti-Trump Op-Ed. At least he didn't plagiarize it; there are plenty of templates to follow. Dave Strom wonders, rhetorically, How Endemic Is Fraud in Prestige Academia? Pretty endemic, I know of a few cases in my field, but it's exponentially worse in the "soft sciences" because the consequences are so low. Capt. Ed asks Has Texas Succeeded in Decolonizing Academia? It's doubtful. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn notes that When Even Basic Fractions Are a Math Problem Too Far for College Students. Sadly, my own math skills have begun to degrade from disuse.

Dave Strom hears Don't Say Sophie! Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "Atlanta Dream refused to stand on the court for the National Anthem and then honored Stacey Abrams They ended up LOSING to Indiana Fever 95-91 Lmaooo." BrickCenter @BrickCenter_, "WNBA security told 2 fans to cover their “XX/XY” and “For the girls” shirts or LEAVE the Fever-Dream game. Meanwhile, a “Protect Trans Rights” shirt was featured on the Jumbotron." And Deconstructing Deconstructionism: Royce White and Enes Freedom Tying WNBA Into Knots "Defenders of the WNBA are pointing out, I assume rightly, that the two are just pretending to be women and therefore have no business being in the WNBA. Enes Kantor Freedom and Royce White, on the other hand, are demonstrating by persisting in their efforts that the same is true for every other man who is pretending to be a woman, and they, too, have no business being in women's sports."

Tattoo Tuesday

Pictures of Nancy Mace from her YouTube channel Get Maced. 

Newsweek has The Story Behind Nancy Mace’s Nine New Tattoos

Rep. Nancy Mace has publicly revealed the nine tattoos she previously said she got during one of the most difficult periods of her personal and professional life, showing the artwork on her new YouTube show after largely keeping it covered throughout her time in Congress.

The South Carolina Republican first disclosed the tattoos in a February interview with Politico, saying she got all nine in rapid succession between late 2023 and early 2024 during a period that included the end of her engagement and significant staff turnover in her congressional office.
...
Mace has spoken openly about surviving sexual assault and molestation and has frequently discussed how those experiences shaped her life and political advocacy. In previous interviews, she has connected the tattoos to a broader effort to reclaim ownership of her body following years of personal trauma.

The congresswoman described getting the tattoos during a tumultuous period that also saw the breakdown of her engagement and intense public scrutiny surrounding her political career. She explained that she viewed the tattoo process as both physically and emotionally significant.

That was definitely a non-explanatory explanation.

Back From Fishin'

Today's crew, Sarah and Ben, a young couple from St. Mary's County and Case, a New Jersey angler.

With the Striped Bass closure in effect, Pete was looking for Redfish and Bluefish schools by running south along the eastern channel edge using side scan sonar primarily. There were no working birds to be found.

He located a school of blues on the way south, and we caught more than enough, and I and Sarah also picked Spanish Mackerel to boot. On the way back up, Pete located what he thought was a school of Redfish on the sonar, but Ben caught this 37 inch Cobia. I was jealous. 

Hooper Island light. It looks a little fixed up, now that it's in private ownership. There were no fish here.

Gone Fishin'

 But not like this:

or this:

A late start due to wind. Hoping to find the monster Redfish Pete has been finding this week.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Monday, Monday, Can't Trust that Day

Barely any news made it through the weekend, but here it goes anyway. From News Wax, CENTCOM Commander Cooper: USS Lincoln Visit 'Awe-Inspiring' after CNN voiced concerns that the food was boring after 240 days without making port. Sundance reports President Trump Makes a Surprise Announcement on U.S. Military Support to South Korea "Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful. Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises! While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, “No thanks!” Thank you for your attention to this matter.” Unrelated my ass! He also hosts Sunday Talks: AG Todd Blanche -vs- DSA Advocate Kristen Welker. She needs to get her thyroid checked. Commonplace recommends Trump Slam The USMCA Back Door, "For the trade agreement to survive, it must keep China out of North America." TownHall's Joe Chalfant likes how Trump Is Opening the Financial Floodgates to Keep Republicans in Office. At the Atlantic Council, Iran is draining its leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s best move is to let it happen. At USA Today, Nicole Russell writes Karoline Leavitt exposed Democrats' double standard on women.

RedState's Nick Arama sees El-Sayed Tries to Attack Rogers in Michigan Senate Race, but It Boomerangs on Him. At Hat Hair Larry Elder hears Obama to Tell 'the Brothers' to Vote for El-Sayed and Josh Hammer asserts The Electoral Integrity Issue Isn't Israel -- It's Islam. Catturd ™ @catturd2, "This is why Democrats have to cheat in every election." Quote Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "The room is PACKED to hear Rockstar Democrat Senator Mark Kelly at the Nation’s LARGEST progressive youth conference. We have NEVER seen ENTHUSIASM like this." A nearly empty room. The Great Victor Davis Hanson, at the Blade of Perseus explores Who’s Been Destroying Norms? Joe Chalfant hears Democrat Ro Khanna Thinks That Racist America Needs a 'Multi-Racial New Deal', like the old one didn't do enough damage. Twitchy calls it the 'Biggest F**k You in HISTORY:' Mark Cuban ENDS Ro Khanna in HEATED Back and Forth About Wealth Tax.

Althouse is concerned about Socialists in shorts, "I'm reading the NYT article "Is the Democratic Party Facing Its Own Tea Party Moment? A string of primary wins by progressive candidates has revealed the strength of a high-energy insurgent movement but also its potential limitations," which you can read for yourself at that gift link," and bemused by "Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is being sued in North Carolina under the state's 'homewrecker' law." "Sinema admitted in a deposition to having a sexual relationship with her then-married former bodyguard. Sinema argues the affair did not happen in North Carolina, so she shouldn't be sued in that state. The lawsuit was filed by Heather Ammel, the ex-wife of Sinema's former bodyguard Matthew Ammel...." I'm reading "'We went inside and had sex.' Sinema details affair with bodyguard" (The Arizona Republic)."

Jonathan Turley worries about Rage Politics: Hakeem Jeffries Will Take a Baseball Bat to the Supreme Court. I think Trump and the Republicans should make an attempt to pack the court ASAP, just to get the Democrats on record that it's a bad idea.

Sundance hosts Sunday Talks: Jim Jordan Discusses Recent Revelations and Declassifications About FBI Misconduct, a topic dear to his heart.

Civitas Institute discourses on The Fall of Fauci. Tom Knighton at TAW says It's not just Fauci, "It’s not just Fauci who is the problem. It’s damn near everyone involved in the system itself."

Lee Kuan Yimby @LeeKuanYimby, "This story gets crazier. The Mayor of Lawrence, left court today in a Dodge Charger and rammed into another car and left the scene. Same Mayor that can't speak English, and stole $1.5M in covid money." The Vigilant Fox @vigilantfox, "RFK Jr. reveals what HHS found when they went looking for the 375,000 migrant kids Biden lost. "It's a huge, huge tragedy." "One guy pretended to be the parent of 42 children. We have no idea what happened to those kids." "We're now finding them. We found about 137,000 of them, but a lot of them you just can't find. There was about 60 kids who were sent to one address. When we looked at that address, it was a container, a steel container in the middle of a parking lot." "A lot of them were sent to work at slaughterhouses and picking fruits in the fields. They were slaves."..."

Dave Strom at Hat Hair, sees it's Out in the Open: Antisemites Not Even Trying to Hide It Anymore. Katya Sedgwick @KatyaSedgwick, "Why are we bringing foreigners to our country to break our civil rights laws?" Quote StopAntisemitism @StopAntisemites, "Fatana Karimi, owner of Karimi Brows in Alexandria VA, kicks out a Jewish client over her Israeli ethnicity. Attorneys - our DM’s are open, we’re happy to connect you with the victim!" Visegrád 24 @visegrad24, "A New York town is facing a federal lawsuit after officials refused to allow a Christian Nativity display in a public square while permitting Islamic religious displays. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has sued the town of Brighton, New York, accusing officials of violating the First Amendment through viewpoint discrimination. According to the complaint, a local physician repeatedly asked for more than two years to place a life-size Nativity scene in the Twelve Corners public square during the Christmas season. Those requests were not approved even though the town had allowed other private religious displays, including a large Ramadan banner." Mazelit Airaksinen hears a Nurse Fired for Calling Jews “Vermin” Claims To Have Been With Luigi Mangione on Night of Murder, "He couldn’t have done it. He was with me at the laundromat all night” claimed Hart."

Another Driscoll post about Jason Ardray at Insty starts with ROGER KIMBALL: The Unmaking of Jason Arday. From the Right Times with Kathy Gyngell, My Week In Review: Leftism Killed Jason Arday, Just As It Has Corrupted Us All, "Jason Arday, Rod Liddle, and a fortnight that exposed who the real gatekeepers of 'acceptable' opinion are." At Richard Hanania's Newsletter They're the Ones Who Told Us to Pay Attention to Jason Arday. "Don't let academia forget this story."

Matt Margolis is impressed that Sophie Cunningham Just Gave Leftists Another Reason to Hate Her. "She climbed onto the bar at Clayton's Country Bar in Indianapolis and led the crowd in Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue." Video of the moment spread across social media within hours, and the crowd sang every word right along with her." RedState's Ward Clark hears Caitlyn Jenner Has a Simple Answer to the WNBA's Transgender Player Problem "Cathy, XX, you’re in. XY you’re out. It’s that simple." It is that simple, but it will never satisfy the trans grievance community.

The Monday Morning Stimulus

Fox 17, Nashville, Study finds coffee linked to testosterone, body fat and metabolism, especially in men

Researchers in Finland found that people who drank more coffee tended to have lower body fat, more skeletal muscle and different metabolic markers than those who drank less coffee.


The study also found a notable difference in sex hormones among men: Higher coffee intake was associated with higher total testosterone and higher levels of sex hormone-binding globulin, or SHBG, but lower free testosterone.

But before coffee drinkers celebrate, researchers stress that the study does not prove coffee causes these changes.

Good news, I guess. But I also wonder about the arrow of causation in this study. It could just be that healthier, more virile men just drink more coffee, for a variety of reasons.