Fighting The Spotted Lantern Fly

 WJLA, Mother Nature is fighting back against the invasive spotted lanternfly: UMD bug expert

For the last six years the D.C. area has been battling the spotted lanternfly, but this year populations have exploded.

You have probably noticed this eye-catching insect striking with its spotted wings and black and red coloring a lot lately. So why are we seeing so many lately?

"As they feed, they will move from tree to tree.And this is why people are seeing them wind up on the side of a house, on a sidewalk, on a car, so they're more visible,"said Michael Raupp, who is an entomologist at the University of Maryland.

"We've gone from maybe a couple trees with a hundred lanternflies to hundreds of trees with hundreds or thousands of lanternflies in an area. So, this is why people are seeing more lanternflies here in the DMV," Raupp added.

"There have been many reports of heavily infested areas throughout the DMW with the exception of extreme southern Maryland," he added.

To date, scientists say spotted lanternflies are still dangerous to some plants. They kill grapevines, tree of heaven and black walnut saplings but now Mother Nature may be pushing back.

Raupp notes there is some good news.

"Back in central Pennsylvania and Berks County where they were first discovered, populations have already collapsed. There are hundreds of species of different kinds of animals, invertebrates like praying mantises, and spiders, and many species of birds are now adding spotted lanternflies to their diet. I call this Mother Nature's hit squad. And it's putting pushback on these spotted lanternflies, helping to reduce their populations," he said.

"We also know that naturally occurring soil microbes, fungi will attack and kill spotted lanternflies, collapsing their populations," Raupp added. "So there is some good news here, I think in the next several years, in places here in Maryland, as we're seeing in Pennsylvania, will actually see a reduction in spotted lanternflies population. So, don't give up hope. Mother Nature's at work. We're learning how to manage this thing better, so there's light at the end of this spotted lanternfly tunnel."

This is a pretty common pattern with successful invasive species (we never hear about the ones that weren't successful). Initially, the populations grow exponentially, apparently with limit. Everyone gets all upset and predicts ecological doom. But eventually, local predators discover a new source of protein, and the microbes that attack it get established, and the problem dies down to a dull roar.

FWIW, I have not seen a Spotted Lanternfly locally, although our county is listed as "lightly infested." I'm sure it won't be too long. 

I wonder if Starlings, English Sparrows, Northern Snakeheads and Blue Catfish eat 'em? If so, they don't stand a chance. 

Beach Report 9/20/24

Another fine fall day, with temperatures in the lower to mid 70s, light wind. The tide was on the way up, and the water was loaded with shredded leaf stuff from the storm two days ago.

On a sad note, I saw no Ospreys today, although I saw one yesterday. The adults are probably mostly gone, the young of the year will straggle out through early October, and we may see a few adults that stop by to fish on their way from further north.

We had a big storm two days ago, with high water, and lots of churn. Usually it takes a few days after such an event for fossil hunting to pick up; don't ask why, I don't quite understand, and today was not an exception to the rule. I managed 9 teeth, including this Snaggletooth and Georgia's 1 got us to double digits. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Border Chief Told To Shut Up about Special Interest Aliens

Mary Chastain at LI, Ex-Border Chief: Biden Admin Told Him to Cover Up Terror Encounters, Arrests. “The administration was trying to convince the public that there was no threat at the border.” Beege Welborn at Hat Hair, Former Border Patrol Chief to Congress: Biden-HARRIS Told Me Ixnay on the SIAs, Special Interest Aliens. NYPo, Migrant brothel that operates 24 hours a day in seedy NYC ‘Market of Sweethearts’ raided by cops. 

The pure simplicity of this ad by Trump is so brilliant. It can’t be topped. pic.twitter.com/QtQI0xMezq

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 19, 2024

Hat Hair's Dave Strom thinks Kamala Is Very Fragile, Vernon Jones@VernonForGA, "I keep telling yall about Kamala! Now look for yourselves. Kamala at the end of her interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Kamala left frowning (She’s a mean woman). I swear they were limited in their scope of questions. This is the problem. She’s been let off the hook so much, you can’t ask her substantive questions. And look at the journalists faces at the end This one didn’t go so well." Brittany@bccover, "Okay I missed this when it happened. 1) Look how fast Harris bolts the stage and 2) look at the moderators faces after she leaves. Just watch the whole interaction:"  Bob Spencer at PJM thinks Of All the Reasons the Left Has Given Us to Vote for Kamala, This Has to Be the Craziest "Fox News reported Thursday that during an appearance on (of course) MSNBC, (retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steven) Anderson explained that if Kamala is elected, Vladimir Putin “will know the U.S. is committed to democracy when it elects a Black woman and product of a mixed marriage.”" Dave Strom again, White Dudes for Harris Ad Changed MY Mind...Not. Breitbart, Kamalabot: Harris Gives Same Canned Response to Israel-Hamas War Question for Third Time in 19 Days. From the Pop Times, Harris Will Falsely Blame Trump for 2 Deaths in Georgia Abortion Speech. Dave Strom, Kamala's Profoundly Dishonest Abortion Pitch. Cutie Pavlich at TownHall fears Guess Who Could Be Coming Back If Kamala Wins? Hillary? I doubt even Kamala is that dumb. At Da Fetched hears Tucker Carlson: They Want a ‘War with Iran Before Election’ to Stop Trump "Tucker warned that if Democrats are faced with a Trump victory in November, they would likely “throw the society into chaos” as a last-ditch attempt to hold on to power. According to Tucker, the next black swan event could be “a war with Iran.”" At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.19.24 (Afternoon Edition) Louder With Crowder sees  RFK Jr identify the one issue that ALL Americans should disqualify Kamala Harris over, freedom of speech.

Newt Gingrich claims The Economy will Defeat Kamala Harris. Beege Welborn, Let's Play 'Ask Kamalanomics': Strike One, Strike Two...Strike Three? NYPo, Biden admits economic recovery still needs ‘work,’ forgets meeting Fed chair in error-laden speech. Nick Arama at RedState, Biden Makes Bizarre Comment About Fed Chair That Has Everyone Talking. Greg Price@greg_price11, "Biden just claimed that he has "never once spoken to the Chairman of the fed since I became president." The guy has literally had several meetings with Jerome Powell in the Oval Office.  RNC Research @RNCResearch "Crooked Joe Biden says Americans' economic outlooks are "locked in the fear of negative mindset" — and definitely not because overall prices are up 20.3% since he and Kamala took office. VodkaPundit at PJM, WHOA: Even MSNBC Just Admitted the Biden-Harris Economy Is in Trouble. "While "at first glance, the U.S. economy, appears to be doing 'basically fine,' as Fed Chair Jerome Powell put it in his press conference earlier this week," MSNBC's Helaine Olen wrote on Thursday, "under the surface, signs of trouble are increasing.""

SAF, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN RECRUITING MILITARY VETERANS TO INFLUENCE SOCIAL MEDIA. I have no doubt they'll find some, even if they have to pay them. Mary Chastain again, National Guard Nuclear Manual Disappeared During Walz’s Tenure. “He alleges Walz was one of the few with access to the building where the top-secret manual was stored and was ‘often the only one there.'” I wonder if it found its way to China? At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.19.24 (Afternoon Edition), EBL: Israel makes Hezbollah pagers explode in hack attack, Lefties losing it – Rita Panahi reacts to Gwen Walz’s ‘deranged’ Trump rant, "Lefties losing it: Rita Panahi reacts to Gwen Walz's 'deranged' Trump rant." At Twitchy, It's SO On! RFK Jr. Breaks Out Puppets and Crayons to SCHOOL Tim Walz on Free Speech and the Constitution

Hat Hair's Duane Patterson looks at recent polls, For Whom the Polls Tell. "Kamala Harris still could win this election. She's ahead in a lot of polling out there, even though most is within the margin of considerable previous error. But as I continue to pour through all the cross-tabs, and look at who's issuing that polling in order to correct for the lie of the green in these surveys, about the only consistency in everything we're seeing is that Kamala Harris is not polling where Hillary Clinton polled, and Hillary got beat. She's certainly doing doing in polls what Joe Biden did in 2020, and he won by 43,000 votes split between Nevada, Arizona, and Wisconsin. And if you add in Georgia, the margin was still under 55,000. It'll be fun to see how things break in October." Liz Stauffer at LI, ‘The Thrill is Gone’ Edition: Independents Prefer Trump Over Harris in Latest Gallup Poll, "This poll indicates that Trump’s favorability is rising and Harris’s is dropping." Capt. Ed adds "Harris isn't really trying to broaden her appeal as much as she's trying to obscure her agenda. That may be wearying independent voters, even as it boosts base enthusiasm among Democrats. " Guy Benson at TownHall, cites Gallup: Significant Swing in Trump and Harris Favorability. At WaEx, Salena Zito finds Lifetime Pennsylvania Democrats are becoming Republicans. Avi Woolf, Wilderness Conservative@AviWoolf "Even a reversal of these numbers in Pennsylvania would be very, very bad for Harris." Quote Jacob N. Kornbluh @jacobkornbluh "Trump leads Harris 54-44 among Jewish voters in New York, according to the Siena poll"  Politico whines ‘Uncommitted’ group won’t endorse Harris as she swings through Michigan "The group that arose out of efforts to register “uncommitted” in the primary as means of protesting President Joe Biden’s policies in the Israel-Hamas war won’t endorse the vice president — but urged against voting third party or for Trump."  Capt. Ed, "This is of a piece with the Teamsters' non-endorsement, just in the other direction. The Teamsters refusal hurts Harris because of the assumption that the union would line up behind her, even with its members expressing majority support for Trump. On a much smaller scale, the lack of an endorsement for Harris here doesn't really hurt her; we know the members will vote for her anyway. The group practically endorsed that by urging members to cast "anti-Trump" votes while avoiding support for independent candidates. Who does that leave?" President NOTA.

Nick Arama sees Trump Lights It Up on 'Gutfeld' in Funny and Endearing Appearance, I saw it. Can you imagine Kamala doing something similar? At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.19.24 (Afternoon Edition), Twitchy: The Soft Bigotry Of Low Expectations In Chicago, J.D. Vance Leaves NYT Reporter Speechless, and Trump’s Appearance On Gutfeld Show Proves He’ll Make America Great Again. Da Fetched, Trump Admits He Regrets ‘Not Going After’ ABC Debate Moderators. Ace, CNN's Lone Republican Scott Jennings Blasts the Network for Allowing Democrats to Constantly Lie About Trump's "Bloodbath" Comments. VodkaPundit tries to explain This Is What Trump's Crypto Play Is Really About "In a word: votes. Specifically, I think Trump is making a bold play for technologists and tech-minded libertarians who ordinarily wouldn't even dream of voting for him." Matt Margolis at PJM, Shirtless Trump Supporter Takes Down CNN Reporter in Epic Fashion. Da Blaze, Fan in MAGA hat denied entry at Arizona Cardinals' home stadium unless she threw it away, prompting apology from team. Don Surber explains What a Never Trumper believes. "No wise man has the power to reason away."

At the Pop Times, What You Need to Know About Trump’s Upcoming Springfield and Aurora Visits. From WokeSpy, Springfield Resident Warned Of “Pretty Horrid” Incidents Involving Pets Six Months Ago and Alleged Police Report Surfaces Seemingly Confirming a Springfield Cat-Eating Incident. Spencer Linquist at Da Wire, ‘What Has My Town Become?’: Springfield Residents Say It’s Falling Apart Amid Haitian Influx. Harold Hutchinson at Da Caller notes CNN Panelists Dogpile On Scott Jennings For Pointing Out How Springfield Bomb Threats Were Foreign Interference.

Olivia Nuzzi

At NYPo, Star political reporter Olivia Nuzzi on leave from New York magazine over alleged ‘sexting’ relationship with RFK Jr. Status Scoop: Nuzzi’s RFK Relationship. "Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign," the spokesperson said." He is a Kennedy, after all. Stephen L. Miller@redsteeze, "I know a lot of people are dunking on @Olivianuzzi right now over the whole Kennedy thing, but as a friend, I'm just thankful that she's not drowning in the backseat of a car right now." Amen

Dave Strom sees Iran Election Interference in Full Swing. Sundance at CTH, FBI Says Iran Hacked Trump Campaign, Then Sent Information to Biden and Harris. He assumes it's an FBI/CIA opp. "Yeah, I’m saying it… Based on precedent we can prove…. It’s not Iran, it’s us." George@BehizyTweets, "Oklahoma officials just announced that they have removed 450,000 ineligible names from the voter rolls, including 100,000 dead people and 15,000 duplicate registrations that somehow got pushed into the system . . . " George@BehizyTweets, "A federal judge in South Carolina just issued a precedent-setting ruling that voter rolls are public record under federal law and are subject to inspection by election integrity activists "Accordingly, the Court declares that the South Carolina Statewide Voter Registration List is a record subject to inspection pursuant to the NVRA, and that the NVRA preempts any South Carolina law limiting access to the Statewide Voter Registration List to South Carolina registered voters." - Judge Joseph Anderson Jr. . . " George@BehizyTweets, "Peter Thiel says if the 2024 election is close, Kamala Harris will cheat to STEAL it. He's also joining people like Elon Musk and calling for strict Voter ID, in-person election-day voting, & heavy restrictions on mail-in voting "They will cheat. They will fortify it. They will steal the ballots." . . . "  At Da Signal  Ben Johnson sees Experts Predict Up to 2.7M Votes Will Be Cast by Illegal Immigrants and  Fred Lucas reports the House Oversight Probes Why Census Miscounts Boost Democrats in Electoral College, Apportionment. “The 2020 PES identified statistically significant overcounts in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Delaware, Minnesota, Utah, and Ohio, while finding undercounts in states like Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Illinois,” he wrote. “Of the eight states overcounted in the 2020 census, six states have typically voted for electors for the Democratic Party candidate in presidential elections for the last three decades.”

Fox, 'Vocally anti-Trump' FBI agent leading probe of Florida assassination attempt: whistleblower, "FBI says it has 'full confidence' in Veltri's leadership and the whistleblower's claims are 'demonstrably false.'" Sundance at CTH, Florida Governor Says FBI Blocked State Investigators From Trump Assassination Crime Scene. Da Fetched, Secret Service Whistleblower Drops Bombshell on Trump Assassination Attempt: ‘Gunman Knew Vulnerabilities’ @amuse@amuse, "QUESTION: Why was MSNBC filming Trump on his golf course moments before he was shot? How did they know to be there? Who told them? Remember, CNN hadn't covered a Trump rally live until the Butler Rally. Is it weird left-wing media seems to be there every time?" LifeZette, Secret Service on Blast—Bongino Questions Loyalty After Second Trump Assassination Attempt. Coffee and Covid, Ryan Routh mystery deepens as Rep. Gaetz questions HomeSec; insinuates Routh's wife is CIA. WokeSpy, Broadcaster Stunned As Louisiana Democrat Encourages Trump Assassinations On Live Television. Stephen Kruiser at PJM, They Don't Just Want to Kill Trump, They Want to Kill You Too. John Sexton at Hat Hair VIP thinks The Left's Effort to Excuse Democratic Rhetoric is Absurd. Ace, The Left's Rhetoric Has Incited Another Assassin: Alaska Man Arrested for Threatening to Murder and Torture Six Conservative Supreme Court Justices, "The Democrat Party is the party of low-impulse-control, mentally-ill morons who have messiah complexes despite being complete loser basket-cases. If you tell this petri dish of bad chemicals and bad genetics that their lives are literally in danger if Bad Man Wins Election, some will do the unthinkable: They'll believe the Democrat-Media Complex. Some are too stupid to know any better." At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.19.24 (Afternoon Edition), Louder With Crowder, Doocy lets KJP have it, blames WH rhetoric for second Trump assassination attempt. At the Babylon Bee, Biden Promises Next Trump Assassin Will Be A Woman Of Color. "I will appoint the first black woman to assassinate Trump," Biden said. "It's long overdue."

The redoubtable Julie Kelly at RCP, To Many, the Justice Dept. Is Honoring Political Neutrality in the Breach Again. Tom Knighton at TAW, If you had doubts about the weaponization of federal law enforcement, kill them now. At the Top Secret Umbra argues The Greatest Threat to American Spies is Their Own Leadership "Whistleblowers are trying to expose the awful truth about “Havana Syndrome,” but the Biden-Harris administration won’t let them." Capt. Ed adds "John has this outside the paywall, so be sure to read it all. The Havana Syndrome cover-up is inexplicable, except as a way to keep from exposing the incompetence of those in charge of intel services and the White House. And exposure of the reality of the attacks would force action by US agencies, which apparently they prefer to avoid."

At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.19.24 (Afternoon Edition), Louder With Crowder, By his own words, Gavin Newsom signs law making Kamala Harris’s X account illegal in California, From Twitchy, THOUGHT POLICE: Gavin Newsom Won't Rule Out Legal Action Against Elon Musk (WATCH). End Wokeness@EndWokeness "BREAKING: Governor Newsom refuses to rule out legal action on Elon Musk over AI memes." The Babylon Bee shares  9 AI-Generated Deep Fakes Of Gavin Newsom That Are Illegal To Share In California "9. Here's an embarrassing picture of Gavin Newsom dining out at a French restaurant after ordering everyone else in the state to stay in their homes. Oops — that last one was totally real. Sorry, Gavin! Don't worry, nobody's laughing at you. Please don't put us in jail. Yet." Capt. Ed, "Don't share these in California, y'all! Really -- don't do it! Don't pass these around to Newsom's constituents to point out how stupidly authoritarian Democrats can be. (They already know, of course.) And #9 is not satire. I'm also unsure about #4."

Two from the College Fix, Will UCLA protect Jewish students this fall? Still a ‘question,’ lawyer says and White students sue Education Dept. over race-based exclusion in federally funded PhD scholarship program. At Campus Reform, ‘Racism expert’ Arizona prof attacks white students as ‘primary perpetrators’ of racial segregation on campus. John Sexton reports Anti-Israel Protesters Vandalize UNC Campus, Raise Palestinian Flag. Ashe Schow at Da Wire, Cornell Professor Who Praised ‘Exhilarating’ Slaughter Of Israelis Returns To Teaching.

At WaEx, Dave Harsanyi discourses on Taylor Swift and the tyranny of politics "Celebrity loyalty oaths are annoying because, well, who cares? In this case, it’s also a contrived act of faux bravery. In January 2020, Swift released a trailer for a forthcoming documentary, Miss Americana. In it, the star is pretending to wrestle with the decision of making an endorsement — as if opposing Donald Trump is going to threaten her career. Then, Swift, utters some of the most horrifying words in political discourse: “I need to be on the right side of history.” Capt. Ed, "I'm not a Shut Up and Sing guy, but David lands on what I find most irritating about celebrity endorsers: they're usually an inch deep on politics, and sometimes on life entirely. I don't know if that's true about Swift particularly, whom I have admired for her grit and tenacity, but it's certainly more true than not generally."

Volokh at the Volokh Report, Blocking Dissenters from School System's "StaffPride" Twitter Account May Have Violated First Amendment. From Behind the Black, Pushback: Pastor who was arrested in Seattle for reading the Bible aloud wins in court. 

At Raised by Germans, Tomboys Grow Up.

Fish Pic Friday - Chezney

Chezney@chezneywosick

Sharks in the Bay?

SpinSheet, a sailing magazine, has an interesting article, Five Sharks You May Meet in the Chesapeake

Have you seen a dorsal fin slice the surface of the Chesapeake Bay and wondered if you need a bigger boat? Just because you’re not in the ocean doesn’t mean you’re not in shark territory—specifically the sandbar shark, bull shark, sand tiger shark, smooth dogfish, and spiny dogfish. Those are the most common sharks in the Bay, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). Rare visitors include the basking shark, bonnethead, smooth hammerhead, Atlantic angel shark, the scalloped hammerhead, the dusky shark, and the Atlantic sharpnose.

 

1. The sandbar shark

The sandbar shark inhabits the Atlantic from Massachusetts to southern Brazil, visiting the Chesapeake from spring to fall. The Bay is one of the most important nursery areas on the East Coast for young sandbar sharks, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP).

Dr. Robert J. Latour, Professor of Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) at William and Mary, told SpinSheet, “In the spring (late May and early June), pregnant sandbar sharks migrate into the Bay to birth their pups. These sharks leave the estuary and migrate northward, while the neonates remain throughout the summer, using the Bay as a nursery area. The neonate sharks migrate south of Cape Hatteras in the fall to overwinter. Juvenile sandbar sharks (those aged one to about seven) will return to the Bay each spring.”

Concerned? These babies aren’t interested in you. They eat bottom fish, other sharks, rays, and invertebrates, but they are your competition. Sandbar sharks are known for their love of blue crabs, so if you run into one, pass the Old Bay. 

 

2. The bull shark

Bull sharks are not common in the Chesapeake Bay, but they have been recorded as far north as the Patuxent River. According to CBP, they eat bony fish, rays, and other sharks (particularly juvenile sandbar sharks), crustaceans, turtles, and mammals. They have a reputation for being aggressive, but “Bull sharks are likely no more aggressive than other large sharks such as white or tiger sharks,” Latour said.

“Because this species can inhabit relatively shallow fresh and saltwater habitats, humans are more apt to encounter a bull shark than a white or tiger, leading to this undeserved reputation for being overly aggressive. Bull sharks are usually uninterested in humans, since we are not their natural prey.”

3. The sand tiger shark

In summer and fall, sand tiger sharks swim up the Lower Bay. They’re nocturnal and eat small fish, squid, and other sharks, according to CBF. Sand tigers can look intimidating at up to 10 feet long. but there have been no recorded attacks on humans.

4. The dogfish shark

The smooth dogfish inhabits the Lower Bay, seen up to the Patuxent, in less than 60 feet of water. It’s a bottom feeder and swims in schools.

5. The spiny dogfish shark

From late fall through early spring, the spiny dogfish haunts the Southern Bay. It also travels in schools but prefers deeper water.
The Bay’s shark populations are increasing.

That’s good news. A study published by former VIMS doctoral student Cassidy Peterson and Dr. Latour in 2017 found that shark populations in the southeastern United States appear to be recovering from overfishing, and that this recovery began in the middle to late 2000s.

Latour explained, “The increasing presence of sharks would be a sign of a healthy Bay. Most sharks are apex predators, meaning they are positioned near the top of the marine food web. As such, they play an important ecological role by regulating prey populations and providing balance to the ecosystem. Robust shark populations promote biodiversity which is vital to ecosystem health.”

Personally, I have never caught a shark of any kind in the Bay, except down by the mouth near Virginia Beach, where we caught some dogfish  

Flotsam and Jetsam - Secret Service Encountered Routh at 10 Ft!

Darn, I really thought we were past the worst on the 2nd Trump assassination attempt. I seem to have misjudged. Sundance at CTH has an Interesting Detail – U.S. Secret Service Agent Was Less Than 10 feet Away When He Shot at Ryan Routh. 10 feet and he missed? At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.18.24 (Morning Edition), Dana Loesch: Of Course He Was On The FBI’s Radar.  Dave Strom, Routh Was a 'Known Wolf' Too. Yeah, he sure seems to have gotten a lot of lucky breaks from the US justice system before he decided to assassinate Trump. At TownHall, Ann Coulter looks at the Feds,  Agent 00-Zero. "Although there are plenty of impressive individuals within these agencies -- like Ken Williams, blown off by his superiors -- they're trapped in the maw of a criminally incompetent federal government. After two assassination attempts on Trump within three months, it's time to stop believing in Hollywood fantasies and get Trump some real security. He should hire Blackwater today." At LifeZette, Even Cat Eating Haitians Are Looking At The Trump Shooter Like An Inside Job. Brianna Lyman at Da Fed notices the Alleged Trump Attacker Praised NBC’s Lester Holt, Who Blamed Trump For Latest Assassination Attempt. Ace, The DHS's Evasiveness and Incompetence Is Too Much Even for Leftwing Democrat Partisan Senator Richard "Danang Dick" Blumenthal, Who Accuses the Agency of "Stonewalling" About Its Botched Protection of Trump. "Before that: The report about a bomb being found near a Trump rally is claimed to have been a false report." At Da Fetched, Rep. Crane Warns Trump: ‘There May Be a Mole in the Secret Service’. Take with the Alex Jones salt tab, Alex Jones@RealAlexJones "BREAKING: Reports Indicate There May Have Been A Third Attempt On Trump’s Life  Approximately 20 patriots who attended Trump’s high-energy rally in Tucson are now reporting having to go to the ER immediately after the rally. The attendees all suffered from symptoms like blurry vision and swelling — serious, concerning reactions that all came on shortly after the rally ended." ET, Secret Service Must Shift From Reactive to Readiness Model: Acting Director; "The head of the Secret Service said that following the assassination attempt during the rally in Butler, he had ‘ordered a paradigm shift.’" I confess I'm not sure what that means. At the Pop Times, DeSantis’ Probe of 2nd Trump Assassination Attempt Explained. At this point, why should we trust the FBI? Austin Bay, The US Election's Dirty Issue: Undisciplined and Corrupted Security Agencies. NewsMax reports Heightened Security for Trump in N.Y. One would hope. 

JD Vance@JDVance ". . . How do you think the Democrats and their media allies would respond if a 19-time Republican donor tried to kill a Democratic official? It's a question that answers itself. For years, Kamala Harris's campaign surrogates have said things like "Trump has to be eliminated." And how have their media allies responded to the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in as many months?"  At PJM Matt Margolis finds A Disturbing Number of Democrats Think America Would Be Better Off If Trump Were Assassinated "Only 48% of Democrats could definitively say that the country would not be better off if Trump had been killed," and Kevin Downey says Hey Democrats, Stop Trying to Kill Our Guy. Sundance is outraged that Fox News Cuts Off Pundit for Outlining Opinion, “Democrat Party Want’s Trump Dead”   From Reason, Trump Targeted Again Amidst Rising Tide of Political Violence "Politicians and partisan fanatics spur each other to extremes in what they see as a struggle against evil." At First Things, RR Reno explores The Rhetoric of Assassination. "Two assassination attempts in sixty days. Our political culture ought to be in shock. But it seems otherwise." Reason TV, Media BLAMES Trump for assassination attempts. Hat Hair's John Sexton finds the NY Times: Trump is Seizing on These Assassination Attempts. At least he didn't pounce. Vicky Taft at PJM, Rubicon Crossed: White House Doubles Down on Trump Being a 'Threat' After Latest Brush With Death. NewsMax reports Harris Calls Trump as Assassination Scare Sparks Tensions. "I checked on him to see if he was OK. And I told him what I have said publicly -- there's no place for political violence in our country." Did she ask him not to retaliate in kind? Stacy McCain sees it as The Only Trick in Their Bag

This is disgraceful and bordering on conspiracy at this point.

The Dems can’t run on policy so they are running on demonizing @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/SVVnd3U7pN

— Derrick Van Orden (@derrickvanorden) September 17, 2024

Ana Paulina Luna

Da Fetched reports Secret Service Investigating Elon Musk Over Trump Assassination Post. "“And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” Musk wrote on X." "“The US Secret Service is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk and as a matter of practice,” an agency spokesperson told the Independent." Dan Chaitin at Da Wire reports House Republican Says Her Office Received ‘Very Serious Shooting Threat’, Ana Paulina Luna. "The announcement comes after a second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump." At Da Caller, Hart, Trump Survives Slanted Roof And Slanted Debate "Note: This is a satirical piece. . . . Just a reminder to Democrats: It is almost Halloween. Time flies, so keep in mind there are only 20 assassination attempt weekend days left until Christmas."

In what is clearly an attempt to juice the economy just before the election, the Fed cut the interest rate 50 basis points. The market reacted with a bump initially, but ended down, as they thought about it more. The Peacock crows The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates by a half point. "Here’s what that means for your wallet." Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Go Big Or (Don't) Go Home: Fed Cuts Prime Rate By 50 Basis Points "Looks like the Federal Reserve doesn't like the latest jobs reports any better than others do -- at least others outside the White House." Ace, Despite Inflation Still Raging, Fed Chairman Powell Slashes Interest Rates by a Big Half Point. "He has given up on fighting inflation, and in fact is now putting us on the path for more inflation, to forestall the Biden-Harris Recession by a couple of months until we're safely past the election." zerohedge@zerohedge "The economy is so great, it needs an crisis-level rate cut 2 months before the election." Alt-Markets wonders about Smoke And Mirrors: What Happens After Biden’s Economic Manipulations Disappear? "Trump’s arrival in the Oval Office will result in a hailstorm of bad economic data, and most of this will be due to the sudden end of statistical manipulations that have been in place for the last four years. We are currently in the midst of a tone-shift in which recessionary forces are pressuring markets more than inflation. But don’t be fooled…"

Stephen Kruiser at PJM sees Teamsters' Rank and File Favors Trump, but Union Announces 'No Endorsement' for President. Still, the union has backed the Democrats in every election since 1996. Matt Vespa at TownHall thinks The Teamsters Just Delivered a Body Blow to Kamala. At Hat Hair, Beege Welborn calls it Great Moments in 'D'Oh!': And the Teamsters Union Presidential Research Poll Says? Sundance, Teamsters Union Leadership Announce Member Polling for Presidential Endorsement. Ace,
Teamsters Union Makes No Endorsement in Presidential Race; First Time They Haven't Endorsed a Democrat Since 1996. "Now, some of you will say the union members greatly preferred Trump, so they should have endorsed Trump! Right you are, I'm getting to that. Gimme a quick second. First, the non-endorsement: . . "

Stephen Kruiser again, Sci-Fi Fans Rejoice: Dems Have Discovered Proof of a Parallel Universe. "On Alt Kamala Earth (AKE), Madame Veep is a cool, collected, and capable woman, instead of the cackling village idiot we've been forced to endure since 2021. Over there, her political career has been nothing but one resounding victory after another. I'm waiting for Paul Krugman to write a column explaining why it's a foregone conclusion that Harris's tax plan will cure cancer. The most surprising dispatch from AKE is that Bidenomics is working. No, really, The New York Times Editorial Board unicorn said so!" At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.18.24 (Morning Edition), Twitchy, New Polls Show Dem Efforts To Make Kamala Likeable Are Backfiring BIG Time. At LifeZette, CBS Reporter Shocked by What Nevada Diners Are Really Saying About Harris in 2024. Matt Vespa hears Michigan Dem Has a Warning for Harris, Debbie Dingle, "said she was still “worried” about Harris’ standing: “We’re a purple state,” she told us. “We’re tied. I don’t care what anybody else says.” From the Free Bacon, WATCH: Kamala Harris Delivers Word Salad on Israel, Spars With Black Journalists During Panel Discussion. Capt. Ed adds "I had heard that the panel appearance didn't go well for Harris, but this seems more like her run-of-the-mill substance avoidance rather than disaster. This was the only real contentious exchange with the NABJ, I believe, except for a response on gun control."  Alex Thompson@AlexThomp "Axios asked Harris' campaign whether she was available for a five- to 10-minute interview to discuss her position on immigration. A campaign spokesperson declined." At Bearing Arms Cam Edwards sees Harris Makes False Claim About 'Gun Dealers' and Background Checks. Mary Chastain at LI, Harris in 2007: We Could ‘Walk’ Into Legal Gun Owners’ Homes for Storage Checks, “We’re going to require responsible behaviors among everybody in the community…” Althouse, "As is the case for many people who grew up in the Deep South but have lived somewhere else for many years, the Southern accent I once had..." ""... has given way to the 'nowhere man' accent that I think of as generically American. But it comes roaring back when I visit my family in central Alabama, and even lingers for a few days after I have returned to Brooklyn. It’s also a little more pronounced after a martini (or two). No one gets offended when my Southern accent comes and goes. For Kamala Harris, it’s a different story. Figures on the political right, including JD Vance, Donald Trump and various conservative internet celebrities, have accused Ms. Harris of affecting a Southern accent on the campaign trail, and implied that it was a kind of deception. Ms. Harris, who is not from the South, wasn’t using a Southern accent, though. As John McWhorter has recently pointed out, what Ms. Harris was slipping into was Black English. There’s nothing unusual about her using Black English because to state the obvious (to everyone except Donald Trump, apparently) Ms. Harris is Black...." She grew up in Berkeley and Montreal. Her ebonics is faux. The Babylon Bee snarks 'I Was Born Into A Middle Class Family,' Explains Wife When Husband Asks Why The Car Is On Fire. Beege Welborn again, I Want to Be Perfectly Clear Here: Kamala Harris Is a Monster "We ll know she's an inarticulate puddle of goo when she's let off the scripted hook. But her instincts are so base, so vile, and so authoritarian that sometimes it doesn't matter what argle-bargle dribbles out in the end. What she's done or is planning to do is so ghastly that you barely hear the words. And then she has the unmitigated gall to pretend none of it happened. Or, as Bernie said, she's playing the pragmatic politician to win. Lying with a sincere and empathetic straight face." At WaEx, ABC’s David Muir takes hit to ratings after performance as debate moderator. 

Mary Chastain, FBI: Iranian Hackers Sent Unsolicited Stolen Material From Trump Campaign to Biden Campaign "As far as we can tell, the Biden campaign did not ask for the information or respond to the hackers. Atop Da Hill, Iran attempted to pass hacked Trump campaign info to Biden campaign, making their preference clear.

A Larry video at Hat Hair, Peter Doocy on Fire vs KJP! Vance Torches Reporter! Kamala's 2A Fraud!

Mary Chastain again, Tim Walz Spreads Lie That Trump Wants to ‘Monitor All Pregnancies’ "LIE: “Trump is trying to create this new government entity that will monitor all pregnancies to enforce their abortion bans.”"

Hat Hair's Dave Strom cites Gallup: Trump Is More Popular Than Harris Now. Matt Margolis at PJM, Here's What 2020's Most Accurate Pollster Says About the Current Election. Kamala Won't Like It. Althouse, "Harris Had Stronger Debate, Polls Find, but the Race Remains Deadlocked." "The NYT reports, just now. Free-access link. ADDED: 2 interesting highlights:" Also, "I say, without evidence, that the media’s Trump qualifiers are backfiring." "A great headline — on a column by Matt Bai, in WaPo." PJM's VodkaPundit worried, Harris Keeps Embarrassing Herself and... IMPROVING IN THE DAMN POLLS? – PJ Media. At NewsMax, Trump: I'll Do What GOP Has Not Done Since '84, Win N.Y. I'm not counting that chicken yet.  

Melania

Jazz Shaw, Now Melania Has to Defend Her Nude Modeling? "Former first lady Melania Trump defended her nude modeling work in her latest promotional push for her upcoming memoir. The former model, 54, took to Instagram to discuss her previous career on Wednesday. “Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work?” the mom of one asked in a voice-over. “The more pressing question is, why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?” she said."

A great thread on the Springfield mess, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚜@718Tv "The mayor of Springfield, Ohio is making millions by replacing a third of the population of his town with Haitian immigrants Let's take a look at such an impressive abuse of power and bag chasing:"  At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.18.24 (Morning Edition), Louder With Crowder, Ohio Gov blows up anti-Trump media narrative, exposes who’s REALLY behind Springfield “bomb threats” Brad Slager at RedState, You Don't Say? In March City Council Meeting, Springfield Residents Complained of Haitians Attacking Pets. At Stream, I Will Not Eat Grilled Haitian Cat, maybe jerked, though. At NewsMax, Patty Morin: No Remorse From Biden, Harris Over Slain Daughter by illegal alien. Da Caller, Illegal Immigrants Charged With Kidnapping And Ransoming Other Illegals. Beege is taking Election Year Odds: Taking Bets on How Far Newsom Is Prepared to Push Illegal Bennies. Never-Trump NRO admits Trump Is Right on Crime. Capt. Ed adds "You can read the full report from the US Commission on Civil Rights here. Not only is crime increasing in the US, blacks and Hispanics are bearing the brunt of the increases."

 AP whines Lack of citizenship documents might keep many from voting in Arizona state and local races. Da Blaze reports 210,000 unsolicited voter registration applications sent out in Democrat Texas county in defiance of AG Paxton. NewsMax, FBI Probes Packages Sent to Election Officials in More Than a Dozen States. TNP notes Public Confidence In America’s Elections Systems Is Collapsing.

Bob Hoge at RedState, CA Gov. Newsom Signs Ban Against Political Deepfakes; Elon Musk Mercilessly Trolls Him With… Deepfakes. Dave Strom, California Bans Parody Videos. VodkaPundit, ARREST ME: I Just Broke Election Law in California With this AI Image. At NewsBusters, IT NEVER ENDS! Soros-Funded Group Doubling Down on Censorship Efforts Ahead of 2024 Election. Sarah Isgur@whignewtons, "Disinformation isn’t just a problem on the right. Here’s 20,000 likes for a quote he didn’t say. I don’t like Trump but you HELP HIM when you mislead people or get fact checks wrong. It allows folks to dismiss all the true stuff." Hollywood in Toto, CNN’s ‘News’ Mocks Trumps, Joke Implodes on Cast "Far-Left comic Michael Ian Black apologizes, then does something odd." NewsMax, reports CNN's Jennings Slams Network for Misrepresenting Trump's Comments. At Racket Matt Taibbi has a Note On Smears. "Like everyone else in media, I have to take even crazy people seriously now. . . . Six weeks before the lancing of the boil that is the Trump-Harris election, officialdom has never been antsier. There’s desperation up there and the more bureaucratically thuggish tactics employed by agencies like GEC have not scratched their itch of uncertainty. Arbitrary removals of content aren’t cutting it. New overreaches are coming, but what?" Also, House Committee Rips State Department Over Censorship "The House Committee on Small Business prints a blistering report on the Global Engagement Center, a State Department "counter-messaging" entity at the center of the Twitter Files." At the Eternally Radical Idea, Yes, when it comes to using violence to stop speech, even 'rarely' is too much. "People can hand-wave this rising trend against free speech on campus, but they do so at their own peril."

Anxious whines Musk says SpaceX will sue FAA for "regulatory overreach  "SpaceX is facing upwards of $630,000 in fines after the FAA alleged Tuesday that the company violated launch requirements during two 2023 missions. In a post on X, Musk slammed the proposed penalty as "more lawfare.""

Stacy McCain is amused by the  Message From the Mossad. "Apparently, Mossad agents penetrated the supply chain by which Hezbollah was obtaining its electronic communications devices, but there’s a lot of finger-point between the Taiwanese manufacturer and the Hungarian middleman about how this could have happened. At any rate, the Mossad reportedly inserted pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), “a highly explosive material,” inside the batteries of the devices, which “were then detonated by an external signal that caused the batteries inside to overheat.” That was Tuesday’s pager attack. The second wave of explosions on Wednesday were reportedly a result of the Mossad fearing that Hezbollah would figure out that their Japanese-made walkie-talkies were also rigged, so they faced a “use-it-or-lose it” choice and BOOM!"

Campus Reform, Anti-Israel activists vandalize Ben Franklin statue at UPenn, call it ‘symbol of imperial violence and colonialism’ Hat Hair, Ted Cruz: Thanks for Proving My Point! (NSFW) Eitan Fischberger@EFischberger, "Someone just yelled "Fu*king Jews" in the Senate. Because anti-Zionism." Zoe Strimple at Spec World on The rise of the Keffiyeh Karen, "The new generation of activists are workplace terrors."

From Twitchy, Trans Women Are Bullies: J.K. Rowling DROPS Man Forcing a Woman to Say 'Trans Women Are Women'. Spiked, Can a Dachshund be ‘genderfluid’? "A social worker was punished when she refused to respect the trans identity of her colleague’s dog." Twitchy, This Is a Fun Game! Lefty WI State Senator's Lame Attempt at Lecturing People BACKFIRES Spectacularly. 

The Tax Prof reports 11th Circuit Joins 5th Circuit In Dismissing Complaint Against Judges For Refusing To Hire Columbia Law Clerks. "The Complaint fails to present a basis for a finding of misconduct. Federal judges routinely hire law clerks and must consider applicants’ educational backgrounds in determining whether an applicant is qualified for, and will succeed in, the job. As part of that consideration, judges are permitted to make reasonable conclusions regarding the value and quality of a school’s educational program."

Steve Hayward at Power Line presents The Daily Chart: “Latinx” Still Not Catching On

A Thursday Tune - Gymnpedie No.1

Fossil Rock people may recognize the melody.

Close-Up: An Interview With Classical Guitarist Iva Kosić

I come from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.

When I was 8 years old, I enrolled in a local music school where I initially started playing the violin, before switching to classical guitar a year later. My dad is a self-taught guitarist, so I have practically been listening to the guitar since I was born. I was familiar with all the well-known pieces even before I started learning the instrument myself.

What do you love about playing classical guitar?

There are many things I love, but I would say the way the guitar is held when it is played is what I love most. There is a sense of closeness to the instrument, as if I am giving it a hug. Another thing I love is the versatility of the classical guitar; it allows a musician to create lots of different sounds and color variations. One note can sound very different depending on the position, pressure, angle, and so on. This leaves room for creativity and brings out the unique feeling that each performer has

You’ve built a big following online. What has your experience been like creating content?

Yes, and I must admit that was very unexpected! One day, I just decided to post a few videos and share my favourite pieces, but in just 3 weeks, I gained 10k followers. The response was very positive, and I received many messages from people telling me that the videos inspired them to start or resume learning the guitar, so I decided to continue posting. My experience so far has been amazing. I have met a lot of lovely people and have connected with other creators. On top of that, I have partnered with some great companies.

 

Dogs, Man's Best Friend, but Not Neanderthal's

Scott Pinsker at PJM offers an interesting hypothesis, Is Man’s Best Friend the ‘Superweapon’ That Helped Humans Outcompete the Neanderthals?

Nowadays, modern humans are the only game in town. There are still chimpanzees and bonobos, but all the other walking-upright primates have gone extinct. The last Neanderthal vanished about 40,000 years ago; the last Denisovan 50,000 years ago. These are just educated guesses, however. There’s some evidence that smaller, isolated pockets of Neanderthals survived until 25,000 years ago, and the Denisovans might’ve persevered in New Guinea until just 15,000 years ago — and are still remembered in folklore and oral traditions. We just don’t have enough physical evidence to prove it.

A third group, the Homo floresiensis, lasted in Indonesia until 50,000 years ago, and might’ve been a surviving group of an even older archaic species, the Homo erectus.

But why did they all go extinct? These species were extraordinarily successful for a very long time, yet they all went extinct around the same general timeframe. What happened?

Nobody knows.

 

All we know for certain is that we coexisted and mated. For about 2,600 to 5,400 years in Europe, Neanderthals and Humans interacted, intermingled and interbred. Even today, virtually all humans outside of sub-Saharan Africa have about 2% Neanderthal DNA. Among Melanesians (Papua New Guinea and Bougainville Islands), about 5% of their DNA is from Denisovans. Depending on how you look at it, perhaps the Neanderthals and Denisovans never went extinct at all; they’re still here, living within this strange, hybrid species known colloquially as a “modern human.”

We still know very little about the Denisovans and the Homo floresiensis. About the former, we don’t have any complete skeletons; just a few bone and teeth fragments that we can DNA test. The culture and lifestyle of both remain a near-total mystery. We only discovered Homo floresiensis fossils in 2003; Denisovans in 2010.

But we’ve already learned a great deal about the Neanderthals. We know they were stronger and more powerful than humans. They might’ve been smarter, too: Their brains are larger. Now, bigger brains don’t always correlate to higher intelligence, so it’s not a certainty that they could out-think and out-plan us. It does indicate that they required more caloric content to survive, since the brain is a very expensive organ to run. According to some estimates, Neanderthals needed 350 extra calories each day to feed their larger brains — not an insurmountable total, but enough to stress an ecosystem during times of famine. Paradoxically, their bigger brains could’ve been their downfall.

 

We also know Neanderthals were capable of art and music. Their caves are filled with gorgeous paintings, and we’ve discovered the remains of a bone that was converted into a flute. We’ve also uncovered the bones of Neanderthal men and women who had survived debilitating injuries during their youth and still made it to middle age, which indicates they were “humane” enough to care for the wounded. Numerous times, bodies have been buried with rare flowers, shells, and eagle feathers, which seems to demonstrate a sense of spirituality.

As far as we can tell, there’s no genetic reason why Neanderthals couldn’t prosper and be as successful as humans. They had the brains, the tools, and most of the same advantages we had.

But they weren’t successful: They’re all gone.

Weirdly, for hundreds of thousands of years, the Neanderthal lifestyle changed very little. Neanderthals lived in Europe for over 350,000 years, but when archeologists analyze settlements that are 200,000 years apart, they’re virtually identical. It was as if their culture disallowed progress and growth. In fact, it wasn’t until modern humans began arriving in Europe between 54,000 to 43,000 years ago that Neanderthal settlements began finally showing evidence of cultural improvements. We still don’t know why this is.

But for those invading humans to successfully supplant the entire Neanderthal population — exiling them from their homes, conquering their land, stealing their resources, and driving them to extinction — they needed some kind of advantage. A superweapon.

 

After all, the Neanderthals were bigger and stronger. They might’ve been smarter. They had homefield advantage and knew the terrain like the back of their hand: All the animals to hunt, all the best fishing spots, all the ways to survive winter. They evolved specifically for this environment; it was their home for 350,000 years!

And then, a few thousand years later, they all vanished from the earth. Whoosh!

One theory of what might’ve given humans the upper-hand is a helpful paw: The faithful dog.

We don’t know when dogs were first domesticated. Some experts believe it was only 15,000 years ago, but others put the timeline at 40,000 years ago, or even longer. The two oldest known dog skeletons were found in a Belgium cave and in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, dating back 33,000 years ago.

 

Either way, the bond between humans and wolves-turned-dogs predates agriculture and the invention of the wheel. It’s one of the oddest partnerships in Mother Nature: A symbiotic connection between two very different species — but one that allows both man and dog to overcome life-and-death adversity.

In the hands of a human, a domesticated dog would be tantamount to a superweapon — a technological breakthrough that equipped modern humans with night vision, an alarm system, a hunting partner, a warm body on a cold night, and even provided self-defense. Humans with spears fighting against Neanderthals with spears might be a close match, but when dogs are added to the mix, it’s a strategic mismatch. 

A human settlement protected by guard dogs would be almost impossible for Neanderthal invaders to sneak-attack. But even if both populations were perfectly peaceful — which seems unlikely, knowing what we do about our history — a human hunting with a dog will outcompete a Neanderthal without one. And if Neanderthal brains also required more calories, this imbalance could have serious consequences.

It's an interesting theory, and I like it, but really, the only evidence for it is a convenient time line. A lot of changes happened during that time period.