The Monday Morning Stimulus

With Hope Beel:

NYPo, Iran shuts down popular coffee chain over cups supposedly celebrating Khamenei’s death: report

Iranian authorities reportedly shut down a popular cafe chain on Saturday because of a coffee cup design that supposedly mocked the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Lamiz, often referred to as the Starbucks of Tehran, designed a coffee cup featuring a 1975 painting by Iranian artist Farshid Mesghali, which depicts an empty chair with purple and red rain drops falling down from above, according to Iran International.

All of its locations were shuttered by the goverment, the outlet reported.
...
Hardliners of the Iranian regime and its supporters believed the empty chair was evocative of the seat that Khamenei — who was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28 that launched the Iran war — was known to use and believed it was mocking the supposed “martyrdom” of the former leader of the Islamic Republic.

Maryland, My Maryland

It's rarely that I get to agree with something that happens in my state, but today I have to applaud our Supreme Court, Annapolis Cap Gazette, Maryland Supreme Court sides with fuel companies in climate change lawsuit

The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled Tuesday in favor of fossil fuel companies who had been sued by two Maryland cities and a county. The lawsuits had accused the companies of historically deceptive business practices that contributed to local effects of climate change. 
The opinion affirms lower courts’ dismissals of the three lawsuits separately brought by Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County and Annapolis.

State law, the court argued, has never applied to the conduct alleged by the jurisdictions and federal law is best at regulating cases of interstate pollution. The justices further found that, to the extent that the jurisdictions’ arguments were not blocked by federal law, the local governments were not able to show how state law could apply.

“We determine that the local governments, through their various state law claims, are seeking to regulate air emissions beyond their jurisdictional boundaries,” Justice Brynja Booth wrote in the main opinion.

An attorney representing the three jurisdictions did not reply to a request for comment by deadline, nor did a lawyer for the fuel companies, nor representatives from the government law office for each jurisdiction.

The three jurisdictions separately sued fossil fuel companies, starting in 2018, over the impact that greenhouse gas emissions have had on the cities and the county, seeking financial compensation. The local governments argued in briefs that the residents of the jurisdictions “suffer severe harm,” due to the effects of fossil fuels, including sea level rise and extreme heat.

The lawsuits were part of a nationwide surge of dozens of local cities and states suing fossil fuel companies over the effects of climate change. State Supreme Courts in Hawaii and Colorado have previously weighed in on the legality of such cases, with both courts siding with cities suing fossil fuel companies. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on an appeal of the Colorado case by fossil fuel companies.

It was a lovely spring day today, but a little frosty in the morning. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Still No Kings

Just a duly elected President pursuing policies that the left doesn't approve of. From Driscoll at Insty, NO BOSSES: "Bruce Springsteen is the headliner at the flagship No Kings rally at the state Capitol in Saint Paul this afternoon. Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, and Bernie Sanders are also primed to appear. Truth in advertising would require the rally to be redesignated Gimme That Old Time Religion or In Search of Lost Time. As the Rolling Stones once trilled, “What a drag it is getting old.”" Jason D. Meister @jason_meister, "Imagine throwing a “No Kings” protest after your party refused to hold a primary, coronated Kamala without a single vote, sued to keep RFK Jr. off the ballot, and attempted to remove Trump from state ballots only after your illegal lawfare scheme failed. If there was a modern day monarchy in America there would only be one party you could point to. The Democrats." At NYPo, ‘No Kings’ protests turn violent in Portland, LA and Dallas — as rally near Mar-a-Lago takes bizarre turn. Oliya Scootercaster @ScooterCasterNY, "NOW: Women lift up their shirts in protest while "God will kill you" man shouts at NO KINGS protest outside Mar-a-Lago." It ain't all that. So what is the deal with women wanting to show their tits at demonstrations, not that there's anything wrong with that? C3 @C_3C_3, "Well well well… There’s nothing organic or grassroots about the “No Kings” protest. Just the usual communist NGOs and Nonprofits. Every single time." Gummi @gummibear737, "And suddenly all the Israel Derangement Syndrome makes so much sense." Quote American Communist Party @ACPMain "The only way to resist Zionism in the United States is through an organized Communist movement headed by a Communist party." Driscoll again, SPITTING IMAGES: Back in 2007, "Glenn wrote about the left’s efforts to memory hole their predecessors’ spitting on American soldiers after they returned home to America from Vietnam in the late ’60s and early 1970s: Jason Van Steenwyk looks at efforts to erase history. ... Today’s leftists melting down upon seeing ICE agents in airports also poses problems for the spitting denialists, if there are any still left: ICE Agents at This Airport Had the Perfect Reaction to Lefty Screeching About ‘Fascist Foot Soldiers.’" Insty, THIS IS WHAT THE DISPATCH IS LIKE IN 2026: Jonah Goldberg @JonahDispatch, "Gross" Quote Aidan McLaughlin @aidnmclaughlin, "Hegseth's chief of staff "told Mr. Driscoll that President Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events, the officials said." https://nytimes.com/2026/03/27/us/hegseth-promotion-list.html" J.D. Haltigan, PhD @JDHaltigan, "Imagine thinking this is a real story. Jesus Jonah."

A Tony Perkins Hat Hair video, Democrat Shutdown Continues as President Trump Works to Make America Safe Again. Brianna Lyman at Da Fed thinks Americans Shouldn’t Need The House To Save Mass Deportations From Weak Senate Republicans. Hat Hair's Steve Moore believes Republicans Can Win on Health Care Affordability. Sundance at CTH is nonplussed about No Endorsement from Trump in Cornyn -vs- Paxton Runoff.

At Althouse, "Pretend I didn't say that. Please. Please. Please, media, disregard that statement. Thank you very much." Cuba is next. Sundance, Tensions Surface Between Secretary Marco Rubio and Insufferable EU Foreign Affairs Rep Kaja Kallas. JoeLange @JoeLang51440671, "They never saw Trump coming. They never thought that anybody would make them pay for their own defense. The UK and NATO just expected the U.S. taxpayers to pay for their military defense forever. Now they are defenseless and broke. Reality hitting them right in the face." Quote Apple Lamps @lamps_apple, "No wonder Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Britain to keep its ass home. [LBC] How many frigates do we have in the fleet?"

The GCaptain offers the The Hormuz Hypothesis – What If the U.S. Navy Isn’t in a Hurry to Reopen the Strait? We don't really need it, but Europe and Asia do. Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke, "It’s genuinely hard to understand why this is so difficult for people to grasp, other than sheer Trump derangement. Trump wasn’t invoking NATO’s legal obligations. He was testing whether European countries that the U.S. has protected for over 80 years would do the bare minimum to help secure global sea lanes, which American taxpayers have also been underwriting for decades at no cost to them. In this case, those sea lanes benefit Europe far more than the U.S. and Europe failed the test." Quote Daniel Hannan @DanielJHannan, "NATO members are obliged to support one another if attacked, not to join wars of choice. That stipulation was made at the demand of the US, which also insisted that the commitment be territorially limited. “The treaty does not cover the entire world,” said Dean Acheson. ““It applies only to the North Atlantic area.”" At NPR, Iranians leaving the country share their thoughts on US-Israeli strikes. From Sundance, Self-Appointed Iranian Opposition Leader Prince Reza Pahlavi Delivers Keynote Speech at CPAC 2026. Roman Helmet Guy @romanhelmetguy, "The reason the Iranian govt is releasing propaganda videos (in English) is because they know the only way they can possibly survive this war is by convincing the American public to apply enough pressure on Trump that he stops it. This should be obvious, but people are dumb." Quote Patricia Marins @pati_marins64, "Iran doesn't seem intimidated at all and has just released another Lego video mocking the coalition." Twitchy disputes WaPoo: Experts Say Iran Images 'Appear to Show' Landmines Scattered by US Forces. Mike @Doranimated, "The world is truly upside down! The Washington Post has published a brilliant article, written by, get this, a professor! To give you some flavor, here are a few choice lines by
@jmurtazashvili:... "Two weeks into the war, I watch otherwise reasonable analysts sprint to catastrophe. Former officials, thinktank scholars, credentialed professionals who are supposed to know how to read a conflict. Within days they had written the obituary: quagmire, overreach, disaster." I&I notices Democrats Seize On Iran War To Lie About Energy Costs. The Victory Girls hear Megyn Kelly KNOWS Who Pushed Trump Into Iran War, three guesses and the first two don't count. Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "No reporting is actually disputing they were Hezbollah members. Ryan Grim knows they were Hezbollah members. But he believes terrorists should be able throw on a TEMU press vest (an actual war crime, btw) and receive total immunity. Ask yourself why."

Cathy Salgado at PJM hears the Republic of Somaliland Asks U.S. to Extradite Ilhan Omar There to Face Justice. Oh, please! 

Insty cites Althouse, SO I GUESS THIS MEANS GRAHAM PLATNER ISN’T JUST A NAZI AND A COMMUNIST, BUT “PRO-RAPE.” “Holy f—, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”

At Am Spec Scott McKay speculates Democrats Won’t Win the Midterms, "But the GOP certainly might lose them." Yep, we've seen it before. To wit, Ed Ring at Am Great looks towards California’s Future—Hilton and Bianco: Mutually Assured GOP Destruction? "California’s jungle primary math all but guarantees two Democrats in November—unless Republicans stop splitting their vote and rally behind a single candidate."

Stacy McCain sees An Unjustified Arrogance from a Brit born on third base. JD Vance @JDVance, "Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?" Quote Rory Stewart @RoryStewartUK, "A bizarre take on John 15:12-13 - less Christian and more pagan tribal. We should start worrying when politicians become theologians, assume to speak for Jesus, and tell us in which order to love… x.com/JackPosobiec/s…" JD Vance @JDVance, "I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years."

Svetlana Lokhova @RealSLokhova, "I am not kidding Hillary promised Shifty the CIA DIRECTOR job Schiff got angry that President Trump won and he Shifty didn’t become the CIA Director so he started plotting against the President He started off by leaking fake but classified information that President Trump’s National Security Advisor had an affair with a Russian spy, with me falsely portrayed as a Russian spy. That started the Mueller Witchhunt When that failed Shifty moved on to the fake Ukraine Impeachment conspiring with CIA operative Eric Ciaramella and the fat, treasonous twins, the Vindmans Shifty was involved in the Classified Documents Hoax together with Brennan’s former deputy Arvil Haines Shifty has been plotting against the President for 10 years, to this day" Quote Svetlana Lokhova, "@RealSLokhova "Adam "Shifty" Schiff conspired with Brennan's CIA operative Eric Ciaramella and the fat Vindman twins, as well as British intel operative Fiona Hill, to take out President Trump via the fake Ukraine impeachment, which was a cover up for Russiagate."\

John Hinderacker at Power Line, goes into Birthright Citizenship: The Deep Dive. aqualover420 @aqualover420, "We're getting like 95% of all we ever wanted immigration-wise with this administration and nobody seems to give a shit." Quote William Wolfe @WilliamWolfe, "The denaturalizations are starting. I repeat—the denaturalizations are starting. Yes, it’s only two. But we’ve broken the seal. It can be done. Now it’s just a matter of scale. First 2, then 200, then 200,000."

Dave Strom at Hat Hair notices We Can't Report THAT, It Will Make Muslims Look Bad! Rachel Bovard at Am Mind, D.C. Media Blob Beclowned by SAVE Act Debate. They were already beclowned. At Empowering America, Despite the liberal media’s insistence, Americans must judge ‘experts’ with caution. Like two armed economists. You can find an "expert" to say anything you want. And they do.

The College Fix catches Campuses host trainings for students as young as 14 to become ‘abortion doulas.’

Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "That's hurtful. Less so than the rooftop treatment, I imagine. Still, hurtful." Quote Dr. Maalouf @realMaalouf, "A Muslim woman tells a ‘Queer for Palestine’ that he’s not welcome in the movement and to get out. “Get out of here, we don’t want you here. We are Muslims and you disgust us. You don’t belong in our cause.”"

Palm Sunday

 with Hope Beel:

MyNews13, Rising gas prices impact Plant City palm tree nursery

PLANT CITY, Fla. — Higher prices are having a big impact on companies that rely on gas to keep their businesses running, including local farms.

Jorge Guerrero is navigating the cleanup to get his palm trees back to the way they were before the recent cold snap. “It just hurts, you know, losing 80 to 90 percent of the nursery and still having to hustle and strive,” he said.

Jorge’s parents opened G&G Palm Center Nursery in Plant City back in 2007. They grow most of the palm trees themselves, but recently they’ve also had to bring in extra inventory from Miami. Trips that were usually two to three times a month are now two to three times a week, increasing their spending on gas, but that’s not all.

With all the damage from the recent cold snap, it’s meant more work to pick up the damaged palm leaves that’s now increased their tractor usage. “We’re putting diesel in these tractors at least every three days; we’re going through at least 15 gallons a week,” Jorge said.