Fish Pic Friday - Yukai.sk

 With some lovely fish from Puerto Rico:

Capt. Shesla Krystal@ (Yukai)yukai.sk @eastfishingpr_ fishing charter / owner. Puerto Rico  

Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

TV Hill

From the Bay Journal, Lead paint flakes lead to $2.2 million settlement in Maryland

An incident that caused lead paint chips to rain down from a 1,000-foot broadcast tower onto homes, parks and daycare facilities in Baltimore has led to a $2.2 million settlement against a paint-removal contractor and the company that hired it.

The agreement stems from a civil lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office, alleging that Television Tower Inc. (TTI) knew its tower contained lead-based paint before the repainting project began.

From May 28 to June 21, 2022, Skyline Tower Painting performed scraping and power washing along the exterior of the tower, officials say. Because no controls were in place to contain the paint chips, they fell onto the surrounding neighborhoods as far as a half-mile away.

TTI is owned by a trio of Baltimore-area TV stations: WBAL, WJZ and WMAR.

The tower is situated in an area informally known as TV Hill, surrounded by a community with an environmental justice score of 88 out of 100. The score indicates a high existing pollution burden and population vulnerability, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment’s environmental justice mapping tool.
...
Two paint chip samples taken from the fallout were tested and showed lead concentrations of 19.6 and 6.2 milligrams per liter, both above the hazardous material safety threshold of 5 milligrams per liter.

“We understand the impact this has had on the community, and it’s important to say clearly that this should not have happened,” said MDE Secretary Serena McIlwain. “This case underscores why strong environmental safeguards — and the careful handling of hazardous materials like lead — are so essential to protecting public health.”

In a separate criminal case, Skyline Tower and its president, Christopher Mecklum of Scottsbluff, NE, each pleaded guilty last December to violations related to the incident and were fined $50,000 apiece.

I'm really questioning the report of the concentrations here. Normally, concentration of lead in a solid like a paint chip would be in milligrams (or even micrograms) per gram, or kg. It makes no sense to consider a liter of paint chips. That looks like red lead paint on the tower at left. I'm going to guess it was red lead oxide paint, with a lot of lead sp it was probably mg/g (parts per thousand).

Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Goes to China

I don't really expect much will come out of it that we can see. Maybe we'll see more soybean sales, while allowing them access to some higher end electronics or something. A real surprise would be to see China help open the Strait of Hormuz. From Sundance at CTH, President Trump Arrives in Beijing for Strategically Significant Meeting with Chairman Xi and President Trump Attends Formal Greeting Ceremony in Beijing China. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair sees Trump and Xi, Together Again in Beijing For The First Time, Sorta. Althouse, Trump in China and "The US and China 'should be partners and not rivals,' President Xi has said, as he and President Trump exchanged warm words during bilateral talks in Beijing." ... "The London Times reports. ... I chose the UK newspaper because I'm put off by our own newspapers' endless antagonism toward Trump and seeming desire to cause anxiety to Americans."

PJM's Sarah Anderson thinks The Secretary of State Is Cool, and the MSM Is Having a Meltdown Over It. Can you really distinguish parts in a continuous total meltdown?

From News Wax, White House Warns States on Medicaid Fraud. Sundance hosts Vice President JD Vance Holds a Press Conference on Fraud. Halts Medicaid reimbursements to California. 

News Wax also reports Warsh In as Fed Chair as Central Bank Faces WH Assault. Breitbart Bus warns The April Inflation Report Was Worse Even Than It Looked.

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair says Hmmm: Trump Poised to Boot Massie in KY Primary? From Ace, Schmoll: Credibly-Accused Sexual Deviant Thomas Massie Trails His Trump-Backed Primary Opponent. "The vote -- the reckoning -- is this coming Tuesday."

Althouse sees "A group of Miami residents sued President Donald Trump, Florida officials and trustees of Miami Dade College on Tuesday over Trump’s planned presidential library..." They have suing Trump down to a reflex reaction.

At TownHall, Amy Curtis thinks The Democrats' Response to Losing at the Virginia Supreme Court Just Escalated but then Matt Vespa reports Virginia Dems Reject Insane Idea to Nuke State Supreme Court to Push Gerrymandered Map. Hat Hair's Dave Strom notes Democrat 'Superlawyer' Calls for Abolition of Virginia Government and John Sexton interpretes Jamelle Bouie: Democrats Must Save Democracy with One-Party Rule. Dave Catron at Am Spec writes about Spanberger’s Spectacular Gerrymandering Faceplant "She and her fellow Virginia Democrats allowed their lust for power to fuel a brazen political power grab." No Pasaran! calls it STOOO-pid: The Ds' VA redistricting gamble is the botch of botches, upturning the Ds' gloating and making them highly visible national losers. Republicans fail to twist the knife: Christian Heiens @ChristianHeiens, ">Supreme Court hands you a win of the century >Your voting base is begging you to take the free shot and pick up two guaranteed Congressional seats >You decide to intentionally fumble the football on the goal line because you are afraid of negative PR from people who already hate you It’s outrageous that Republicans in South Carolina and Louisiana intentionally want our own side to lose because they think winning is a violation of principle. We don’t have time for this bullshit any longer." Quote VoteHub @VoteHub, "BREAKING — In a late-night vote, Louisiana Republicans have advanced a new congressional map out of committee that would eliminate one of the state’s Democratic-leaning districts. The map now heads to the Senate floor for a full vote." Margo @MargoinWNC, "Georgia politics make North Carolina politics look good. The judge in this case is Stacey Abrams' sister." Quote Greg Bluestein @bluestein, "Georgia Supreme Court candidates sued the state in secret. A judge is keeping it that way. The @AJC had asked a judge to make public the case filed by two Democratic-backed candidates. #gapol." From Ace, yesterday's news today, Tennessee Strips Democrat Racial Insurrectionists of Their Committee Seats.

Dave Strom asks Who Thinks Like This? Louis Montoya @montoyalouis1, "Karen Bass: “How many people, who are unhoused, that you meet have no teeth at all? They don’t have teeth, why? Because meth rots your teeth. YOU CAN’T SUCCEED WITHOUT TEETH! So there needs to be comprehensive healthcare provided to people.” Karen Bass said this yesterday, Monday, in Los Angeles." From Twitchy, RATIO! TMZ Poll Asking About Spencer Pratt's Possibly Misleading Campaign Ad Is NOT Going the Dems' Way. Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter, "Nothing says fascism like demanding that your house not burned down because of government incompetence." Quote TheBlaze @theblaze, "LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman says Spencer Pratt represents “fascism” and calls him “Mini Trump”" Insty, AND ACCUSE YOU OF FASCISM FOR WANTING TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO REBUILD: Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "Democrats will burn your house down with incompetence, not issue the permits to rebuild it, and raise your taxes in the meantime, while attacking you for having to go live in a hotel. You can't imagine how depraved that is."

“Almost none of the needles in this children’s playground have AIDS on them”

My. God.

He nuked her from orbit 💀 pic.twitter.com/3LxZHvBaLh

— ℒ ☘️ (@FletchMatlock) May 13, 2026

Dave Strom says This Is So On-Brand for Gavin Newsom. Christopher F. Rufo @christopherrufo, "It's hardly the most important part of the story, but Gavin Newsom spent $189 million to buy digital tablets for 90,000 prisoners—or, more than $2,000 per tablet. He's squandering taxpayer cash to give personal sex machines to every state prison inmate." Quote Christopher F. Rufo @christopherrufo, "EXCLUSIVE: California spent nearly $189 million to give every state prisoner a free iPad. We interviewed a dozen death row inmates, who told us that prisoners are using the tablets to watch porn, engage in x-rated chats, and groom minors on the outside." SFC Rock "doc" Roll @RockRol54750183, "$2k per tablet? They are $320 on Amazon. Where is the surplus $1,680 going, Newsom's campaign fund for 2028? He is running the very same grift with diapers. Democrats are frauds." Driscoll at Insty, THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC CALLED AND SAID CALIFORNIA MIGHT WANT TO DIAL BACK A NOTCH OR TWENTY: FischerKing @FischerKing64, "It is comforting to know that the state of California is treating death row inmates (who will die of natural causes long before they’re executed thanks to endless appeals) just as well as the homeless population - which watches porn on the taxpayer dime in public libraries." Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "Democrat California Rep Ted Lieu announces Democrats will restore free taxpayer funded healthcare and EBT Food Stamps to illegals when they regain power Illegals will get back - Full-scope Medi-Cal / Medicaid free insurance - Free dental benefits under Medi-Cal - Free prenatal and postpartum care - Restored coverage for undocumented children and young adults - Tax credits for undocumented - Free SNAP Food Stamps assistance “Democrats, when we get control, we're going to reverse the massive Medicaid cuts, the Medicare cuts, and the cuts of ACA that Trump and Republicans put in last year”" john jackson @pvtjokerus, "BREAKING: Eric Swalwell buddy billionaire Stephen Cloobeck has been arrested on felony charges for attempting to keep a witness from testifying. Cloobeck was allowing Swalwell to shack up at this mansion and film campaign videos there, before publicly turning on him when the Swalwell scandal hit."

VodkaPundit at PJM roots on, Gooder and Harder, NYC: Mamdani's Plan to 'Nickel & Dime' You to Death but News Wax notes Mamdani Drops NYC Property Tax Hike Plan "The democratic socialist mayor is expected to formally abandon his proposal to raise property taxes nearly 10% after months of backlash from homeowners, business leaders, and even fellow Democrats worried the move would further damage New York's struggling economy. Mamdani's executive budget instead will rely heavily on billions of dollars in additional state aid negotiated with Gov. Kathy Hochul to help close the city's budget deficits, multiple outlets reported." Apparently they're not quite out of "other people's money" yet. At NYPo the Great Victor Davis Hanson opines on How our ‘new’ Democratic Party is really a blast from the Jacobin past.

From Fox, Mural honoring murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska taken down in Providence after local outrage. "The partly finished artwork was lowered, folded up and taken away from a downtown Providence LGBTQ+ club on Tuesday." Petition grows to save Iryna Zarutska mural in Providence, Rhode Island.

PJM's Rick Moran reports Biden Will Fight the Release of 70 Hours of Audio Tapes With His Ghostwriter From 2017.

Dmitri Bolt at PJM thinks he knows Why the Iranian People Never Rose Up, and Its Not the Reason You Think, because the Kurds stole most of the guns we sent for them to pass through to the Iranians. It's hard to blame the Kurds, who have been badly treated by virtually everybody, including the US. TCW askes Will Trump’s leftie foes turn Iran victory into defeat? Absolutely, if they can. If they can't they still sell it as a loss.

Sundance hosts FBI Director Kash Patel Appearing Before Congress who has some cross words with my Sen. Van Hollen. Also, CIA Whistleblower Outlines COVID-19 Coverup. Matt Vespa explains Why the CIA Was Not Pleased With Yesterday's COVID Whistleblower Hearing. "The CIA claimed this hearing was unnecessary, as they concluded it was likely a lab leak, that closed-door testimony had already been obtained from Erdman, and that the agency wasn't given a heads-up. Paul responded by saying that closed-door testimony is not oversight (via Public)..." Ace, CIA Whistleblower: Fauci Ordered the Cover-Up About the America-Funded Wuhan Lab's Creation of the Covid Virus. To me, the real question is how could Fauci have so much influence over the CIA? 

Early in the day, it was breathlessly reported CIA Went Rogue, Raided Tulsi’s Office to Seize Papers (Cathy Salgado at PJM). Sister Toldja at RedState, Luna Says CIA Took 40 Boxes From ODNI That Gabbard Was Preparing to Declassify (Update: ODNI Responds) Anna Paulina Luna @realannapaulina, "Clarification: Took documents that ODNI has jurisdiction over. Also, this did not happen today & was not a “raid” however it did take place and we are just being made aware of it based on reporting etc." Quote Katie Pavlich Tonight @KatiePavlichNN, "BREAKING: @RepLuna tells @KatiePavlich that the CIA just marched into DNI Gabbard's office and seized boxes of JFK and MK Ultra files. Why? All the details tonight at 10pm ET on @NewsNation." Olivia Coleman @DNIspox, "This is false - the CIA did not raid the DNI’s office." Sundance doesn't believe it either, No, The CIA Did Not Raid DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s Office "CIA Director John Ratcliffe would never authorize or allow anything like what was being framed in that outlandish story. It simply did not happen."

PJM's Scott Pinkser looks at James Comey and the Deep State’s ‘Plausible Deniability’ Shell Game. 

Jeff Charles at PJM asks What Is Wrong With These People? Protesters Try to Crash Kash Patel's Private Funeral Trip. They have no decency.

Ace notes an Appeals Court Rules That Trump Doesn't Have to Pay Lunatic Fantasist E. Jean Carroll for the "Defamation" of Continuing to Deny This Vicious Fruitloop's Sex Fantasy About Him "Not only was the original allegation of "rape" insane and ripped off straight from an episode of Law & Order: SVU -- with this lunatic attention-whore unable to even say when the "rape" occurred more specifically than "in the nineties" -- but a subsequent New York jury also decided it was "defamation" when Trump later insisted upon his innocence. Note that this rule has never been applied to anyone except Donald Trump. Any time a man proclaims his innocence following an adverse court ruling, someone can sue that man for "defamation" for denying his or her story. And note that every instance of a false claim is a fresh defamation case -- so you can just keep suing an innocent man forever, for saying he's innocent. This is government-compelled speech of the worst kind: When a partisan jury wrongly finds you culpable, not only do you have to pay the exorbitant penalty they impose on you for partisan bullshit reasons, but you are then compelled by government action to admit the lie of your guilt, forever, anytime someone asks you about it. An Appeals Court has agreed with Trump that he should not have to pay the insane jackpot $83 million judgment until the Supreme Court rules on this preposterous new Trump-Only Law." Greg Price @greg_price11, "I just want to remind everyone that in addition to once saying on CNN that "rape is sexy," E. Jean Carroll's accusation against Trump is an exact plot line from a 2012 Law & Order SVU episode. She claimed that this was a complete coincidence when asked about it. Her lawyers also tried to get the judge to instruct jurors that there's no evidence in the record that the episode "actually exists." PJM's Athena Thorne calls it The Awful Truth: Donald Trump Must Look Over His Shoulder for the Rest of His Life, they'll keep the bogus charges coming indefinitely.

Dave Strom doesn't believe Mayorkas: It Wasn't My Fault! To be fair, he was only implementing the Biden regencies policies. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn is singing Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Canadian. Mario Zelaya @mario4thenorth, "The Liberal Party spent 10 years importing voters. Today those voters showed up. And voted against the Liberal they were supposed to support. Federal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, endorsed by Mark Carney himself, just lost a provincial nomination race in Scarborough. He lost to Ahsanul Hafiz. A Bangladeshi-born business owner who owns 30 Domino’s Pizza franchises..."

Hat Hair's John Sexton finds The Latest Bluesky Meltdown is Pretty Entertaining. Also John Sexton, At Princeton, the Honor Code Didn't Survive ChatGPT and NYU Students Want to Cancel Jonathan Haidt as Graduation Speaker.

Tattoo Thursday

KTVU Fox 2, Mom charged after toddler found with tattoo in ‘deplorable’ home: police

Kentucky authorities arrested a woman accused of giving her 22-month-old child a tattoo. The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Brook McDaniel, was taken into custody last Monday by Kentucky State Police (KSP), according to the Adair County Regional Jail.

During a home visit, investigators said they discovered the family living in "deplorable" conditions and found the toddler with a black dot tattoo on his arm, along with visible redness surrounding the area, local outlet LEX 18 reported, citing a uniform citation.

Witnesses told investigators that McDaniel allegedly tattooed the child while she was tattooing herself, the outlet added.

Jeez, at least she should have given him a Teddy Bear or something to remind him of her for the rest of his life. Or maybe a Totenkopf, the current rage in Democrat symbolism!