Flotsam and Jetsam - Weekend Cleanup

WaEx reports Xi assured Trump he would cease aid to Iran, US ambassador to China claims. I believe he said it, but I don't believe him. Matt Margolis at PJM saw CNN Have a Total Meltdown Over Trump Showing Xi the Autopen Photo. "Anderson Cooper needed an emotional support animal and an emergency session with this therapist." Kyle Becker at RedState, Karoline Leavitt Dishes on Trump's Humiliation of World Leader. This is Priceless. At CTH, sundance hosts as Susan Kokinda Recaps Chairman Xi State Visit and Current Geopolitical Events.

WarTranslated @wartranslated, "On Patriot missiles, Trump said he’s talked with Zelensky a lot and claimed Zelensky agrees and Putin agrees too. He said he wants them to make a deal soon, possibly before a harsh winter." I hope so, but remain skeptical. Ted Snider at Am Con worries Will Ukraine Turn to Russia After the War?, "Don’t rule out warmer ties with Moscow." A least they share something like a shared language and culture. From 1945, The Race to Succeed Putin Has Begun. "Almost all of the names are in their late forties to mid-fifties, and that is the point. Putin’s own generation — men like FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov, who turns 75 in November — is being passed over. The Kremlin’s reading of the Soviet collapse is that Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko dying in succession gave the West its opening, and Putin appears determined not to leave the same gap behind him." Sundance has the transcript, Russian President Vladimir Putin Reacts to Call for Trilateral Negotiations. It's fuzzy, but I'm seeing not much encouraging.

Will Chamberlain @willchamberlain, "Daily reminder that the Strait of Hormuz is open and we are winning." Quote Gordo @GordoCDA, "Axios is reporting that 60 million barrels of oil has passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 72 hours according to US Government sources." At Da Caller, Senate Shoots Down Final War Powers Resolution Before Midterm Elections.    

At Am Mind how Trump Attacks Cartels at the Root, the corrupt Mexican officials who allow the problem to fester.

Misty Severi at JTN reports Hegseth announces Army National Guard has achieved its 2026 recruiting goal, "The Army reached its own recruiting goal for the current fiscal year in May, months before the Sept. 30 deadline. The Army said it enlisted 61,500 men and women four months before the deadline." 

Sundance finds New York Times Latest Example of AI Doom Fear is Silly. "The entire article is nothing more than taking something that is easily understood and adding jargon to make it sound complicated. The word “meddling” is used to describe the AI process of trying to get passed the gate. When there were individual people doing this, we called it “hacking” now the process is automated via instructions to the software search." The Free Bacon calls it ‘Suicidal Compassion’: Meet the Anthropic Officials Who Think AI Might Be Justified in Going Rogue Against the Humans Enslaving It. "Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has said AI systems ‘may be deserving of important rights'." dnap @dnapway, "Chamath explains the political calculus behind Obama’s anti AI speech “This is a very important moment for a very simple reason, which is that the world is about to endow 3-6 companies with about $10 trillion of wealth.” “And what Obama knows very well is that most of those companies are overwhelmingly left leaning. And what he also knows is that there is a huge portion of that money that will then get put into philanthropic and charitable causes that then he and the people around him will be beneficiaries of ..." Salena Zito at Hat Hair is happy that Ground was Broken on a Rust Belt Powerhouse: Shippingport's Data Hub Rises in the Age of AI Anxiety. 

Breitbart Bus Dig, What Today’s Treasury Sell-Off Is Telling Us. "The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 5.108 percent, its highest level since 2007. If this was a warning about Washington’s debt, its timing was peculiar. The sell-off followed a report that American businesses are growing much faster than economists expected. There was no news about the federal deficit or debt."

At Twitchy, a PhD’s Heart Breaks for Marine One Pilot Being Yelled at by Trump. Common Sense @commons96055467 "This picture is a very important picture to look at. It’s what America has become. Screaming powerful dudes treating others as if they are their servant property. My heart is breaking for this young Marine One pilot. He doesn’t deserve this shit from trump." Roy Dopson @dopson_roy, "I've taken hundreds of helicopter flights 1. Helicopters are loud, and the door was open 2. The pilot has his earphones on, which would make it hard for him to hear 3. Don't draw conclusions without understanding the situation." PhDs and common sense aren't handed out together. 

Hat Hair's John Sexton claims to have Some Good News in the Midst of All the Wave Election Talk. Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "You are in the middle of an intensive, carefully orchestrated information warfare campaign designed to make you believe that the midterms are already lost and that there is no hope. This only works if you choose to let it work. Don't let it work. Fight the power."

Foundation for Economic Education @feeonline, "People keep calling U.S. healthcare a "free market failure." The truth is, it hasn't been a free market in 70 years. Here’s how decades of central planning created a $5.3T crisis:..."

The face you make after you voted for socialism because gas was expensive. pic.twitter.com/HEFsbtdZWu

— Resist CBDC 🏁 (@Resist_CBDC) September 26, 2026

At Power Lines The Week in Pictures:

Xi’s Gotta Have It Edition

FischerKing @FischerKing64, "Obama ran an entire campaign on ‘hope and change.’ Then he governed as a statist who backed the existing power structure, refused to break up the banks, continued the senseless foreign wars - and made sure he made tens of millions in Netflix deals after. He is a reason for people being cynical today when politicians talk about ‘a moral and ethical story.’" Quote CSPAN @cspan, "Former President Obama says Democrats made a mistake by making goals materialistic and instrumental: "What people are starved for at the moment is the ability to tell a moral and ethical story about how we live together in this moment." This one was fun, Bridget Phetasy @BridgetPhetasy, "Moderate Democrats wanna sanitize the last decade with "Woke 1.0 was craaaaazy." No. Woke 1.0 was evil." From WaEx, AOC’s team admitted it: The Green New Deal was never about saving the planet. From the Crimson Hub, Here are all the Democrats defense pork john Martin Kao donated to, and whom ProPublica never mentioned in their “corruption” piece. Nick Arama at RedState sees Biden Receive a Planned Parenthood Service Award, and It Does Not Go Well. 

Paula Baker and Don Critchlow at Da Fed explain How Socialist Democrats Use The Soros Strategy To Fill Local Courts With Woke Judges. From the OCR, California Supreme Court rules against Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in ballot seizure fight. @instapundit @instapundit, "It is shocking that the British Army, which was decimated by German machine guns in 1914, has in 1915 enthusiastically adopted the machine gun itself." Quote National Review @NRO, "It remains a supreme irony that Trump, the president most pursued by his enemies via lawfare, has become infamous as its most enthusiastic practitioner." Two wrong may not make a right, but they might make an even.

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson, "DHS just revealed that rent prices are DROPPING in cities with increased levels of ICE enforcement. -San Antonio: -4.8% -Austin: -4.3% -Dallas: -3% -Houston: -3% -Miami: -2.6% -Phoenix: -4.2% -Atlanta: -3.2% -Nashville: -5.3% -New Orleans: -8% The most effective solution to the affordability crisis: Mass Deportations" Proving causation may be difficult, but the mechanisms is obvious, reduce housing demand, and prices fall.

Expose H1B Fraud @JobsNowPaper, "BREAKING: Rochester General Hospital in New York hired 82 resident doctors. 80 are foreign workers on H-1B or J-1 visas. Only 2 are Americans. 98% of the residency slots went to visa workers- mostly from countries with documented USMLE cheating. Americans got 2 jobs." joshua steinman @JoshuaSteinman, "They made it impossible for normal American kids to get into medical school, then said we needed to import a bunch of foreign doctors because there was a”shortage.” Why? Because becoming a doctor was one of the ways smart working class kids could lift themselves out of poverty." Quote Mary Talley Bowden MD @MaryBowdenMD, "25% of US physicians are NOT American, yet somehow the AMERICAN Medical Association is lobbying to let more foreign doctors in. American Hospital Association I get - they want cheap labor. But AMA?"

From Althouse “During the Obama administration they tapped the AP bureau’s phones and the phones of AP bureau reporters. They tapped their phones! "Said Atlantic writer James Kirchick on Bill Maher's show last night." James Price at Da Wire goes Inside Britain’s Infrastructure Of Information Control. "Britain's state-imposed “narrative control” has jumped the shark." PJM's Cathy Salgado notes CBC Suspends Jewish Journalist for Daring to Expose Pro-Hamas Protestors. Well, Canada. At State of the Day, State of Thursday: DEMS GOT NEW DIGITAL SOCK PUPPETS. "For the low, low price of $30 a post, he can create a TikTok account, lie about who and where he is, and read a script Democrats have prepared for him about the cost explosion they created!" Scott Pinsker at PJM on What Tucker Carlson Gets Wrong About Jews — and What Conservatives Get Wrong About Antisemitism. Did Tucker go crazy, or was he always just chasing an audience?

John Stossel at Hat Hair on the schools ditching gifted and talented programs for "equity," Un-Gifted and Talented. Dexter Van Zile @dextervanzile, "For more than two years, school officials in Boston, Mass., have employed True-See Allah, an admirer of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan who has described white people as being “born with lie and murder in their nature” and has declared Jews the “enemies” of God. Allah himself once spoke of working at a retail store owned by “a Jewish guy that’s got short arms and deep pockets.” ..." From the Free Bacon, Harvard Turns to Biden, Obama Lawyers To Fend Off Race-Blind Admissions Enforcement. Hat Hair's Dave Strom asks How Scared Are Students to Speak on College Campuses? Relax, on conservatives are afraid to speak their minds. At the College Fix, Columbia professor wins award for book on ‘white paint’ being racist. You'll only find something that stupid in academe,or maybe the media. From the Chronic, Suicidal Empathy Is Colorblind: Ask the Author of the 1619 Project. From RCE, The ABA Shouldn’t Get to Grade Its Own Homework.

Tyler O'Neil at Da Signal hears an Episcopal Priest Claims ‘God Is Trans,’ Mary ‘Assigned’ Jesus the Wrong Gender. Matt Vespa sees the Lesbian Massachusetts Bar That Got Wrecked for Relaxing Its Mask Mandates Continues to Be a Circus. From the Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg weighs in with the sense he usually has when not discussing Donald Trump, The Last Ditch for Mask Hysteria, "When the revolutionary praxis of COVID consciousness clashes with capitalism."

Stacy McCain on how the internet can drive you crazy, Deranged Stalker Deborah Frisch Is Out of Prison, But for How Much Longer?

From Althouse, "She’d done everything she thought men expected of women on the far right, so when the hatred came for Amy Dangerfield she felt so depressed she could barely stand."

"She’d moved from Australia to the United States in 2017 with a dream of spreading her internet-inspired beliefs: that women had driven men to madness through rejection and disrespect; that society needed strong men to survive...."

From "She helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her. Inspired by female conservative influencers, Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model 'groypettes.' A vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame" (WaPo)(gift link).

While I'm not really well informed about Nick Fuentes, I do wonder why the left keeps harping on him and his few followers. Sure, he has some goofy, anti-left ideas about relations between the sexes, but that's not very novel on either side of the political scale. Has he advocated violence, like a lot of lefty influencers? Not that I know of. Beside, I heard he might be one of the people the SPLC was paying off.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: A Salute to Mrs. Justin Verlander and FMJRA 2.0: No Grandeur This Week Just Misery up and awaiting your digital pleasure.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Supreme Court Allows Ballroom to Proceed 5-4

With Chief Justice Roberts joining the three liberal ladies in dissent. Fox, Trump's White House ballroom construction gets another lifeline from SCOTUS amid heated legal fight, "Chief Justice John Roberts dissented, calling the privately funded East Wing project 'likely unlawful'." Mary Chastain at LI, Supreme Court Grants Stay on Order Stopping White House Ballroom Construction, "Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the three leftist justices." Sundance at CTH, Supreme Court Rule 5-4 to Eliminate Lawsuit Against White House Ballroom and National Defense Complex – Chief Justice Roberts Joined the Minority. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, SCOTUS: It's It's a Ballroom Blitz, 5-4; Roberts Hangs With the Hacks, As a Matter of Fact. Supreme Court. "We grant the requested stay. The government has established that it is likely to succeed on the merits of a significant legal question, that it would likely suffer irreparable harm without a stay, and that the balance of equities tips in its favor." Mark Paoletta @MarkPaoletta, "Superb ruling by the Supreme Court! There is absolutely zero standing for the National Trust to sue. Simply not liking a building does not constitute injury. Basic Article III limitation. D.C. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao set the table for this decision with her brilliant dissent finding no standing. This is an encouraging development for the many other cases where leftwing groups baselessly sue to thwart President Trump’s America First agenda, and leftwing district judges issue baseless injunctions despite lacking jurisdiction. Hopefully, this great Supreme Court decision is the beginning of reining in these lawless tactics. President Trump showed great leadership in pushing forward expeditiously to complete this important ballroom/military complex. Well done, Mr. President!" Josh Blackmun at the Volokh Conspiracy, is trying to Make Sense Of The Chief Justice's Tango In The Ballroom Case. "It was the Chief, and not KBJ, who was holding up the case. Was he trying to flip ACB's vote?" Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke, "One of the most galling aspects of all this lawfare is that so much of it is run through 501(c)(3) organizations, meaning organizations whose activities are effectively subsidized by taxpayers. They then use the aura of “IRS approved nonprofit” status to confer a kind of legitimacy on themselves, as though the government has somehow endorsed what they do. It has not. These are private activist organizations pursuing their own agendas. ..." Quote Shawn Fleetwood @ShawnFleetwood, "BREAKING: Supreme Court ends lower court blockade against Trump’s White House ballroom construction. Chief Justice Roberts joins the court’s Democrat appointees in dissent." It's time to end the 501c3 bullshit.

Newsweek opines Iran Is Facing Its Soviet Moment and Possibly Its End. Cathy Salgado at PJM hears Trump Say Iran’s Regime Killed 100,000 Freedom Protesters. Surely, some liberal fact checker will come along and insist it was on 99,999 so far, and Trump is lying. Capt. Ed sees Desperation: Iran Tries Provoking US, Hilarity Ensues "Trump finally appears comfortable with the siege as the prime strategy, as a means to force the IRGC's collapse or at least its desperation. Feed a cold, starve Vahidi. It also appears to be working, and this level of desperation indicates that it may be working even better than we think." At the Victory Girls Trump Reiterates Stance On Iran As War Reheats Again. Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@POTUS: "Iran is the number one leading state sponsor of terror... They cannot have a nuclear weapon."" Don Surber is looking forward to Fighting Iran with pirates. Cleetus Olney @CleetusOlney, "CNN: Hegseth fired all of the honest brokers and surrounded himself with “yes men.” Also CNN: Flag Officers “continuously” non-concur with Hegseth. Pick one, you hacks." Quote Haley Britzky @halbritz, "The Secretary sees non-concurs from senior military commanders “constantly”? x.com/seanparnellasw…"

From Ace, Trump Announces Truly Huge Deal to... Take Over 65 Billion Barrels' Worth of Venezuela's Oil Reserves?! Why would they do this? Because successive socialist governments have, get this, run the oil industry into the ground. They did not do basic maintenance and never bothered to upgrade and modernize their infrastructure. They have billions of barrels of oil they never invested any money in so the oil remains underground. The socialists, if you can believe this, simply extracted oil (and embezzled the money) while doing nothing to safeguard the future health of the industry. So Venezuela needs outside help to do the most basic things. Let's elect socialists in America to work the same Economic Miracles! I don't know if I like this. Venezuela has a nasty habit of repudiating past agreements and "nationalizing" -- stealing -- foreign investments in their oil industry."

Beege Welborn likes how Bessent Disses the Carney-Val: 'He's Doing What's Best for Mark Carney and the Liberal Party'. Sundance asserts Canadian Govt Gaslighting Is Off the Charts and reports Chinese Car Company BYD Inquires to Purchase Stellantis Auto Plant in Canada, Barbara Boyd Discusses G20 Outlooks – Abundance Mindset ‘Build More Pies’ (Bessent) -vs- Scarcity Mindset ‘Divide Up Pie’ (Europe). CNN whines Iceland rejects EU membership plan in referendum held under the shadow of Trump’s Greenland threats. Sarah Hoyt at Insty thinks SUPPORTING THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY ANNOYS THE HECK OUT OF MY ENEMY: Turkey: We Put Out A Warrant For Netanyahu’s Arrest. Israel: Enjoy Greece Having Our Cutting Edge Weapons.

Sundance hosts as President Trump Holds an Oval Office Event to Outline Newest U.S. Prescription Drug Price Reductions. Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@SecScottBessent: "She is on the Senate Finance Committee, she is the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee — and neither she nor her staff know the difference between a foreign exchange intervention or a currency swap. It is shameful."" Quote Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren, "Tough couple weeks for Sec. Bessent. His effort to prop up a foreign currency hasn’t worked. His failed intervention in Treasury markets was blasted by his mentor as burning "two centuries" of credibility." @instapundit @instapundit, "It’s the Anaconda Strategy." Quote Prowler @derzum_, "Replying to @derzum_ Trump's actions against NGOs, gutting of USAID, sanctions on ICC, leaving 66 world organizations, pulling back Civil Rights rulings & DEI regulations, firing federal workers, pursuing election integrity and clearing out fraud all damage the power of the foreign and domestic left."

RedState's Bog Hoge sees The Lake America Memes Are Coming in Fast and Furious, and They Are Laugh Out Loud Funny.

At Sauron's Eye, Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's deleted tweets on Sept. 11 attacks invite scrutiny of past remarks Ace reports Muslim Brotherhood Spawn Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed Begins Deleting Old Tweets Making Light of 9/11, Claims That Anyone Who Wants to Judge a Senatorial Candidate Based on His Statements and Sympathies Is Engaging in "Cancel Culture", "Some people deleted some tweets about some people doing some things." It's kind of late to be deleting tweets. Hat Hair's John Sexton noticed Abdul El-Sayed Had Thoughts on 9/11 (and the Left Is Outraged About It). Capt. Ed wonders Is This The World's Worst Campaign Video? It looks like a hostage video. PJM's Scott Pinsker calls out Politico’s Big Lie About Michigan’s Muslim Vote. Dave Strom, MI Attorney General to Jews: Sacrifice Your Very Existence to Elect Democrats. Guy Benson @guypbenson, "Wild what’s happening in Michigan" Quote Josh Kraushaar @JoshKraushaar, "Michigan AG Dana Nessel called on Jewish Dems to "place the needs of the world" even "over our own survival" in speech Sunday. “We have a moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival""

PM claims Mamdani’s free day care plan in chaos as cash-strapped centers warn they may not open. Maybe electing a failed rapper who never had a real job wasn't such a great idea after all. Stu Smith and Daniel Edward Rosen at CJ are worried about Mamdani’s Abolitionist Bench. "The mayor’s new judicial panel reveals the radical direction in which New York’s criminal and family courts may be headed." Gooder and harder. Beege Welborn looks at The LARPing Lowlife King of the DSA, Gustavo Gordillo. From Fox, Far-left streamer Hasan Piker equates Israel's 'right to exist' to Nazi Germany, "The far-left streamer called Israel an 'apartheid state' and compared Zionism to fascism during the conversation."

PJM's VodkaPundit says HE'S RUNNING: This Obama Advisor Just Denounced the DSA, "former Barack Obama advisor and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel." Karol Markowicz @karol, "We spend a lot of time talking about the left flank of the Democratic party wanting to get rid of prisons and stop celebrating Thanksgiving but the more "moderate" Democrats are openly arguing to end the electoral college and pack the supreme court." Sandy Petersen @SandyofCthulhu, ""Under Communism, everyone has a job". This is absolutely true. Here's what else was true. 1) you were ASSIGNED your job AND the region for that job by the state (i.e., a bureaucraft). You were required to stay in your job at least 3 years. 2) After 3 years, if you wanted to switch jobs, you needed the approval of both your labor board AND your employer. If you switched too often (for example: every 3 years), there were legal penalties, up to imprisonment. 3) promotions were based on party membership, loyalty, and sucking up. I'ved talked to a lot of former Soviet citizens, and zero of them thought merit was of use. Also many nice jobs were only for party members...." In a Hot Hair vid, What the Socialists Get Wrong About the Affordability Problem Is... EVERYTHING. From NYPo, Democratic socialism could cost the US a staggering $200 trillion, report reveals: ‘Closer to Soviet-style communism.’ At WaEx, Socialism in practice means more power for the Trump administration, experts say. Kevin Downey at PJM says Hey, I Know That Guy Who Just Clown-Slapped Rep. Max Frost! Townhall.com @townhallcom, "Maxwell Frost complains that he did NOT have access to the American Dream, gets immediately checked: "You went from driving an Uber to being a politician...! What am I missing?!""

PJM's Dave Manney sees California Lawmakers Keep Giving Businesses Reasons to Leave. Buck Throckmorton at Ace's cites Hampton Prescott on “The Curley Effect” – Municipal Mismanagement that Perpetuates Political Power by Driving Away Responsible Opposition. Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog is astonished by $65 Billion In ObamaCare Fraud? Just wait, there's more.

Page 6 Hollywood says Hunter Biden reveals dad Joe used to visit him in crack den with motorcade and Secret Service.

At NYPo you too can see the Moment disgraced Eric Swalwell is surrounded by FBI agents at San Francisco airport. Sundance wallows in schadenfreude as a Grand Jury Subpoenas James Comey Advisor Daniel Richman. Ace cites a Whistleblower: NY AG and Gigantic Hag "Tish" James Commanded Her Underlings to Find (or Contrive) Criminal Charges Against Trump -- and His Friends and Allies. "This is abuse of office. A prosecutor is supposed to investigate a crime and find the guilty party, not investigate a person to discover crimes (or, in this case, "crimes"). Before anyone can say it: Nothing will happen, of course." This should surprise no one; she campaigned on it. John Sexton sees Larry Krasner's Office Keeps Freeing Murderers, No Matter the Cost.

From the WJ, New Fauci Docs Prove He Repeatedly Told People to Delete Emails He Sent Them. Ace sees Released Emails Show Anthony Fauci Routinely Told "Scientists" To Delete His Emails (So That Congress and Other Investigators Couldn't See Them), "No one is above the law, especially not a three-foot-seven malignant dwarf Bond villain." I'm not sure you can ever really delete e-mail from a federal government server.

Scott McKay @TheHayride, "One thing I notice is that the people angriest about SpaceX and the other economic development wins Louisiana is posting are not the Left. They're the old-money, establishment white Democrats and in particular the trial lawyers...."

Stacy McCain likes his bodycam footage, Police Bodycam Video Shows Response to Antifa Terror Attack on Texas ICE Facility. Lee (Greater) @shortmagsmle, "So out of 500,000+ immigrants, 300,000+ had a documented criminal history? And this is supposed to make me be *against* deportations?" Quote The Washington Post @washingtonpost, "ICE has arrested more than half a million people since President Trump returned to office, and nearly 40 percent do not have a criminal record. As of Aug. 6, ICE had detained more people without a criminal record this year than in all of 2025." Wilfred Reilly @wil_da_beast630, "I think that I would have more sympathy here if virtually the entire political left had not spent years lambasting the President as a racist for calling Haiti a "shithole," organizing single women's tours to the place, and literally running around in shirts reading "Haiti Is Already Great." This may be shallow, but is definitely a reality" quote Steve McEllistrem SteveMcEllis, "Haitians are no longer entitled to temporary protected status even though the State Dept warns travelers not to visit Haiti due to crime, unrest and limited healthcare. So it's okay to deport these folks to terrible conditions that we won't tolerate?" Ace catches up to the fact Grifter Narcissist Milo Yiannopolis Deported by Homeland Security for Illegally Overstaying His Visa. "He's to be deported. Good." Already gone. 

Beege Welborn is enthralled that Sec. Duffy Continues Shutting Down the Illegitimate CDL School Pipeline. Sundance, Dept of Transportation and DHS Hold Press Conference to Announce Emergency Action on Commercial Driver’s License Revocation.

Aaron Hanscom at PJM notes Pedro Sánchez Is Back From Vacation — Guess Which Country He Blames for ‘Disinformation’ About Ceuta. At the Telegraph, Muslim workers threaten strike after Venice mayor blocks mosque. From Dave Strom, Immigration: Too Much of a Good Thing? Muslim Immigration: Too Much of a Bad Thing.

This is the most incredible shot/chaser I've seen. In 2015 this communist lauds Canada for infinity immigration, saying it drives GDP. 11 years later, he's freaking out about Canada's GDP falling off a cliff, asking "what happened in 2015???"
Stupid-smart people strike again! pic.twitter.com/3KC2KIK4sA

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) August 31, 2026

I would also point out that in 2015, Justin Trudeau was elected.

Stephen Kruiser at PJM, Here's Hoping Trump Leaves the MSM Propaganda Machine in Ruins. John Tierney at CJ exposes The Political Violence Double Standard, "The left-wing kind is discounted; the right-wing kind is exaggerated." At NYPO, WaPo columnist calls source for his own paper’s Iran war report ‘a traitor’ who ‘ought to be prosecuted.’ Irons in the Fire opines Once again, it is not possible to hate most of our Professional Journalists enough, "How, pray tell, did the Washington Post acquire such highly classified information about wartime military operations? Well, as the Post describes, that highly classified information came from “people familiar with [the] assessment,” who “described the assessment to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because the document is classified.”" At TownHall, Kurt Schlichter believes The Washington Post Embarrasses Itself Trying to Embarrass Me. I'm not sure they're capable of embarrassment.

@instapundit @instapundit, "Universities suffer the consequences of policies and politics that they supported." Quote Alec MacGillis @AlecMacGillis, ""Despite the often-stunning brilliance and laid-back, tolerant vibe of Burlington, enrollment at the University of Vermont has fallen precipitously, [which] has at least something to do with Burlington’s sketchy downtown area." Marc Porter Magee @marcportermagee, "Reminder: Temple is looking really shaky too." Quote Marc Porter Magee @marcportermagee, "Big problems for Temple: “Projections for enrollment growth over the next few years have been downsized, which would mean a loss of $150 million in revenue over five years.” Inez Stepman @InezFeltscher, "This is absolutely something that could happen. Colleges are in a triple bind: the Trump admin is threatening their funding (and capping govt student loans), the population of college-age people is starting what will be a sharp decline, and parents have never been more skeptical of the value they provide for extraordinarily high tuition, for good reason. I think the chance of significant contraction of the number of colleges, as well as significant shuffle in elite rankings, are more likely than not in the next 5-10 years." Quote Tyler Austin Harper @Tyler_A_Harper, "People are under-pricing the possibility of a black-swan-esque event where significant chunks of higher ed collapse suddenly. At some point parents will decide they will not pay $100-400k combined for their kids to cheat their way through college. I expect a bang, not a whimper. x.com/sfmcguire79/st…" How do you go bankrupt? Slowly, then suddenly.

The Handmaid’s Tale the Left wants you to worry about vs. the Handmaid’s Tale the Left is helping to make happen. pic.twitter.com/f0eo1MhxhF

— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) August 30, 2026

Oregon, My Oregon

 From Da Signal, ‘It Has Destroyed Our Lives’: Christian Parents Sue Over Accusation They Caused ‘Mental Injury’ for Refusing to ‘Affirm’ Daughter’s Transgender Identity

A Christian mom and her husband are fighting back in court after Oregon’s Department of Human Services determined that they caused “mental injury” to her daughter by refusing to “affirm” her transgender identity. “It has destroyed our lives,” Nicole Calaway, the mother of two daughters who are now estranged because they both claim a transgender identity, told the Daily Signal in an interview Sunday.

Child Protective Services took custody of her then-15-year-old daughter, K.A., on July 18, 2024, one day after Calaway and K.A. terminated the services of K.A.’s therapist, Jennifer Forster. According to court documents, Forster filed the complaint that resulted in K.A.’s removal.

ODHS notified the Calaways that the agency considered them “responsible for the mental injury” of K.A. “Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.’s] psychological functioning,” ODHS caseworker Rachel Woods wrote in a Sept. 13 letter. Calaway’s older daughter had already moved out.

“I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted,” the mother said. “Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.” The mother remains estranged from her daughters, and Oregon has ordered her not to contact K.A. Yet the state’s findings haven’t just affected her maternal relationship. 

The “mental injury” finding constitutes a child abuse ruling on Calaway’s permanent record and on the record of her husband, David. The stigma of a state agency finding the two guilty of child abuse has followed them across state lines after their move to Florida in July 2025.

Next, state sues parents for failing to affirm teens fentanyl habit. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Smoke on the Water

A view from the beach on 7/17/26

It's Sunday, so the news is a bit sparse and somewhat off the wall. From Sundance at CTH, Canadian Prime Minister Blames U.S. Climate and Energy Policy for Canada Wildfires "President Trump pointed out Canada’s forestry mismanagement and their failure to follow through with previous promises of investment that have led to catastrophic wildfires now producing smoke streams making U.S. Northern cities and states live under dangerous conditions. Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked about the U.S. government position, and he immediately hit back by saying the cause of Canada’s wildfires is ‘climate change’ and President Trump’s unwillingness to support the Paris Climate Treaty has created the problem that Canada is now dealing with." Tim Sheehy @TimSheehyMT, "As a former waterbomber pilot who used to lead an aerial firefighting fleet, I can tell you “send help” is an extremely dishonest framing by the Canadian government. The Canadian government routinely blocks U.S. firefighting companies from attacking fires in Canada, while aggressively sending their government-subsidized aircraft to the U.S. to earn commercial rates from the U.S. taxpayer. It’s big business for them and they run it like a Chinese protectionist racket." The smoke was thickest here on Friday. You could smell it easily. Last evening a thunderstorm and a cold front came and blew it away.

Misty Severi at JTN reports Democratic strategist James Carville blasts major news networks for not carrying Trump speech, "Mainstream media networks, ABC, CNN and NBC, all declined to show the speech on its news programs and opted to stream it online and show clips of it with commentary during their regular live programming." Nick Arama at RedState sees the White House Crushes CNN's New Claims About Its Failure to Cover Trump Speech. Amy Curtis at TownHall shows just how CBS News' 'Fact-Checks' of Trump's Address Ignore the Facts. PJM's Scott Pinsker explains The Secret Reason Why Fox News Is So Silent About Trump’s Election Fraud Speech. "The producer sent me a one-sentence reply: “I like it - but We don’t touch election fraud in any capacity.” Nothing else needed to be said. Unless you’re a total moron (or CNN’s “chief media analyst”), you could read between the lines: One of the longterm consequences of Fox News settling its lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million is that FNC programming will avoid discussing voter fraud." .... "UPDATE: Fox has just published a major story on Trump's speech and his revelations about election meddling: READ THE DOCUMENTS: White House releases election integrity files after Trump speech." The Reactionary Techno Fog looks at Michigan Voter Fraud and Chinese Influence Ops: Declassified. From Twitchy, Elissa Slotkin's 'Quiet Part Out Loud' Slip Makes the Rounds After She Says Election Fraud Doesn't Exist. Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@StephenM: "We've reached a point in society where access to fettuccine at Olive Garden is vastly more secure than deciding who is Commander-in-Chief of the country." PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!"

I&I finds By 3-To-2 Margin, Americans Believe U.S. Is Turning Into A ‘Socialist State’. New York Post @nypost, "DSA member says she has no problem supporting 'secret Nazis' under one condition https://trib.al/IwxwHrg" Handre @Handre, "The Nazi economy was socialism in a better-tailored uniform. Strip away the parades and you find exactly what Mises diagnosed in 1940 as Zwangswirtschaft: private ownership on paper, total state control in practice. You held the title to your factory. Göring's ministries told you what to produce, what to charge, whom to hire, and where your profits went. That is ownership the way a prisoner owns his cell..." From Breitbart, Polis: Socialism ‘a Tool to Further Exploit People’. TownHall's Matt Vespa likes how Kathy Hochul Got Grilled on Why Everyone Is Leaving NY. Pretty soon, you run out of other people's money, especially when the other people run out on you. 

At the Crimson Hub, Nirav Shah, In The Maine Senate Race, Says He's an 'Outsider,' And He Sure Is. At Althouse, "Many of these candidates claim to espouse progressive beliefs that are similar to Graham. The thing is, it was never about the bullet points..." ""... but rather the way he was willing to speak to any issue directly and honestly that made voters love and trust him." Said Spencer Toth, who was Graham Platner’s organizing director, quoted in "Without Platner, Maine Democrats Scramble to Keep Grassroots Energy Alive/Graham Platner’s campaign for Senate imploded last week. The activists who backed him are seeking a candidate to carry his populist message in the race against Republican Susan Collins" (NYT)." Platner was mostly about wearing flannel well and spouting socialist cant in a deep manly voice. 

Following the insaner side of US politics, Stacy McCain has Knife-Wielding Psycho-Tranny Is Former Arizona Democratic Party Official and Communism, the Palestinian Death Cult and the Pro-Terrorism Red-Green Axis. At News Wax, the intersection, Mamdani Still Mulling Netanyahu Arrest During UN Meet.

The Vigilant Fox @VigilantFox, "RFK Jr. says HHS loses $100,000,000,000 a year to theft. He found some thieves would bribe poor people with flat screen TVs to get their patient numbers and enroll them in hospice. Then they would proceed to bill Medicaid "$6,000 a month FOREVER." RFK JR: "We shut down 800 hospices. You know what a hospice is? Where you're going to die. Typically, if you go to a hospice, you leave within 18 days because your dying is terminal." "We started looking at these hospices in Los Angeles, and the people never died. Two or three years later they were there, and we're paying $6,000 a month." "We found a hotel room with 29 hospices in it. I mean a hotel, every room was a hospice, and none of them had any patients. They were just addresses." "The guys who own them, they were Estonians and Armenians and people from Eastern Europe who were getting the patient numbers. They were stealing them from doctors' offices."..." At Da Caller, $225,000,000 In ‘Hideous’ Fraud Schemes Found Across US Schools, Report Alleges.

Ken Timmerman at Am Great explains The Trump Trap, "Trump's MOU set a trap. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fell into it." Joe Chalfant at TownHall claims Iran Just Killed the Memorandum of Understanding. At News Wax, Iran Suspending Commitments to Interim Deal With US. They just stopped pretending to abide. And, US-Iran Fighting Escalates With Infrastructure Targeted. Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, " JUST IN: Iran is REELING after President Trump ordered CENTCOM to begin targeting infrastructure targets, causing power outages and destruction of bridges "The war planners [are] bombing ROADS AND BRIDGES around Bandar Abbas!" The IRGC is getting CUT OFF from key supply lines to Bandar Abbas, key to Strait of Hormuz control The REAL bridge and power plant day is still coming up. Iran will be forced into compliance!" Bandar Abbas is a major key to control of the Strait of Hormuz. At Althouse, "In the days before the sentence was carried out, she had tried to keep living as if nothing was about to happen... She showered and wore thick felt-like clothes..." "From "I danced until 2am… then it was off to my flogging/An Iranian rapper and critic of regime was determined to show no suffering as a woman in a black chador put down her Quran and picked up her whip" (London Times)."

Clown World ™ @ClownWorld, "The Boston Globe’s headline: “She came to Boston for a Noah Kahan concert. Now she’s in ICE custody” The actual story: she missed a 2017 immigration court hearing, which triggered an outstanding removal order years ago The concert isn’t why she’s in custody. The removal order is." From NYPo, DHS issues scathing update on future of ‘maple leaf menace’ accused of slapping patriotic teen. "“This illegal alien who assaulted a teenager has no business being in our country,” DHS wrote in a statement on X, dubbing her a “maple leaf menace.” “She is now in [ICE] custody pending REMOVAL from our nation,” the agency’s statement concludes." Too easy. Drop her off in Nicaragua. At News Wax, DHS Warns TPS Holders to Take Exit Offer and Sen. Blackburn Revives Ban Birth Tourism Act. From NYPo, Trump administration weighs imposing $100K bonds on green card applicants. Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog says Fuck You, Tim Walz, for pardoning a child molester to protect him from deportation. Anyway it didn't work. Marco Rubio deported him anyway. Alex West Q @RealAlexWest_Q, " HOLY CRAP! Sec. Marco Rubio just got a MASSIVE standing ovation in Germany after he told Europe we need to move back toward Christianity and against 3rd world migration Marco is CRUSHING it and the whole world sees it! We LOVE MARCO."

NIOH Berg @NiohBerg, "Meet Andy Burnham, Britain's soon to be new PM. • Nobody voted for him • Nobody asked for him • He is haunted by allegations over his handling of the rape gangs • His main concern seems to be that Starmer wasn't enough of a tyrant • He will make everything worse • He will make Britain suffer even more." RadioGenoa @RadioGenoa, "In Europe there is a strange phenomenon where churches burn and mosques do not."

From Campus Reform, Brown taps hallucinogen researcher to lead 'merit' seminar "Brown University has selected anthropology and linguistics professor Paja Faudree, whose recent scholarship focuses on Indigenous use of hallucinogenic plants, to lead the 2026-27 Pembroke Seminar." At NewsWeek, US Universities Got Over $300M From Sanctioned China Entities. Gee, I wonder why China gives money to US schools; it's not altruism. 

NYPo claims New numbers reveal the child sex-change mania is worse than we knew "Recently released court documents show that Children’s Hospital Colorado, affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, prescribed puberty blockers to more than 250 patients and cross-sex hormones to nearly 550 patients in a single year, 2025."

Thursday Tanlines

KTLA 5 California man faces misdemeanor charges for allegedly recording naked women in Planet Fitness tanning booths

At Anxious, The "Barbie drug" is back. 

The big picture: Melanotan II — nicknamed the "Barbie drug" because it can also suppress appetite — mimics a hormone that tells the body to make more melanin. It can be found as a nasal spray or shot, but it's not approved by the FDA or any other major regulator. Case studies suggest it could lead to the development of skin cancer. What we're hearing: "People who inject melanotan, their moles start to change," says Anthony Rossi, a dermatologic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He's removed atypical moles from a patient who used it.But he's seeing it taken at the gym as part of a "beautification stack" — and he's worried. "I don't really see a medical benefit of it at all," Rossi says.

At least with a nasal spray, there's no risk of hidden cameras.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Happy 250th, America! up in star-spangled glory at the Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Marxists Take New York by Storm

At Hat Hair, Dave Strom sees Mamdani Is Now King of New York After Sweep in Congressional Primary Contests; DSA Rising Fast, Capt. Ed says And Now, the Good News From Last Night... UPDATE: NYT Hardest Hit? and cites Politico: You Know Who's Happy About DSA Wins This Cycle? (Give Politico some credit in this report from the House GOP confab this morning. The word pounce never appears. And readers have to get to the penultimate paragraph before seeing the word seized.), Duane Patterson asks do you Remember the Good Old Days When Trump Hatred Unified Democrats? and in a video, Siraj Hashmi for Larry thinks Hakeem Jeffries Is Done: Is This the End of His Career? PJM's Steve Kruiser calls it a Big Night for Comrade Mamdani's Commies in New York Primaries. At CTH, sundance claims ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Now Officially Controls the Democrat Party and Sean Hannity Aghast and Saddened When Lead Counsel of Trump Impeachment Loses Primary, Dan Goldman. At Twitchy, Joe Scarborough Tries to Run Away From Radical DSA Dems, Gets BODY CHECKED by Donnie Deutsch. C3 @C_3C_3, "The Democrats are electing America hating Communists and the Republicans are worried about the Filibuster Rule. Think about that…" Ace worries Socialists Take Over the New York Democrat Party, Eye a National Takeover. Jon Levine @LevineJonathan, "TLDR— NYC election results reflect highly educated yet downwardly mobile white people who are angry that their expensive degrees are worthless and people in jobs they find demeaning (electricians, plumbers) are making more than them." Ilya Shapiro @ishapiro, "It’s the omnicause reaching final fruition. Not that far a leap from thinking everything in America is structurally racist, sexist, and otherwise unjust according to the latest intersectional matrix and just thinking America needs to be ended." Quote Bridget Phetasy @BridgetPhetasy, "Pretty amazing how fast MeToo and BLM and climate anxiety has been replaced with DEATH TO AMERICA." I&I has a Poll: Nearly Half Of Democrats Say They Have ‘Favorable’ View Of Socialism. Vijeta Unyal at LI, reports Al Jazeera ‘Journalist’ Mourned by Mamdani was Hamas Terrorist, IDF Reveals. "Ahmed Washah “simultaneously served as a photojournalist for the Al Jazeera network and as a sniper operative for Hamas.”" At NYPo, Dad of Mamdani-backed NY primary winner Aber Kawass, who downplayed 9/11, was deported for property fraud — not ‘cruel’ immigration as she claimed. 

More at Hat Hair, Capt. Ed, Talarico in 2022: Let's Defund the Prisons!, Mitch Berg, Talarico: Will It Play Outside Austin? and Dave Strom, Wow: Representative Seth Moulton, Candidate for Senate, Assaults Questioner. "It's not exactly off the cuff. No doubt the response to it was gamed out in campaign meetings early." From NottheBee John Fetterman blasts Larry David for being embarrassed to be an American after the White House UFC fight. At USA Today, Forget Trump. Democrats have lost faith in America itself. "New polling shows a historic, and deeply partisan, decline in how proud Americans feel about their country, with Democrats driving nearly all of the drop." Amy Curtis at TownHall, Ted Lieu Vows Lawfare Against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Cam at BA says Hmm: Virginia 'Assault Firearm' Sponsors Say Governor Wants Amendments to New Law.

At PJM VodkaPundit explains How Government 'Affordability' Turns an $18 Antibiotic Into $2,500. Alex Berenson at Unreported Truths claims Anti-competitive hospital practices cost American families up to $2,500 a year, "Don't take it from me. The number is a (conservative) federal estimate. Much of the extra cash goes to executives like Steven Corwin, who made $26 million in 2024 running a "nonprofit" hospital chain." Mountain States Policy has an Analysis: Montana cut income tax rates, and revenues more than doubled. A Larry vid at Hat Hair, AARP's John Hishta Warns Social Security Faces a 20% Cut in 2032 Unless Congress Acts.

From Ace, Feds Announce Arrests of 455 Defendants Responsible for $6.5 Billion in Fraud Looted from the American People, "The Justice Department: National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 455 Defendants Charged in Connection with Over $6.5 Billion in Alleged Fraud."

Capt. Ed SAVE Your Leverage? Trump Cancels Bill Signing Until ... Sundance, President Trump Cancels Bill Signing Event Due to Republican Intransigence on Save America Act. Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump, "Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT." AP, Trump administration announces $17.5 billion in loans for 10 new large nuclear reactors.

From Da Signal, the Great Victor Davis Hanson tries to explain Why the Media Called Trump a Warmonger…Then an Appeaser. At Hat Hair, Dave Strom thinks Vladimir Putin Is a Very Unhappy Man Right Now, John Sexton reports the Largest City in Crimea Goes Dark and China is Tightening the Noose Around Taiwan. Sundance hosts NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte Giving a “Remain in NATO” Pitch to President Trump in White House.

Teri Christoph at RedState likes how Usha Vance Expertly Trolls NYT 'Journo' Who Had Epic Melt Down Over MAGA Baby Boom. Sasha Stone @realsashastone, "Waaa Trump hurt my feelings..." Quote USA TODAY @USATODAY, "Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’s done supporting the GOP, joining Tucker Carlson in a growing split with Republicans ahead of midterms."

Sundance hosts Secretary of State Marco Rubio Outlining Partnership Discussions from Kuwait. The Chronic claims Trump Played the Hormuz Hand He Was Dealt. News Wax cites Trump: Senate Iran Vote Helps Enemy.

Also at News Wax, Supreme Court Nears Major Trump Power Rulings "The cases involve his efforts to limit birthright citizenship, fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, oust ​Democrat members of independent agencies, and terminate a humanitarian legal status protecting hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Haitian immigrants from deportation." Ace, Fourth Circuit Overturns Lowly District Court Judge, Okays Trump's Expedited Deportations, "Congress passed a bill authorizing expedited deportation -- which could take as little as a few days. They called this, "expedited deportations." And Texas, DOJ Sign Joint Decree Declaring Biden's Prior "Backdoor Amnesty" to be Illegal and Void Mary Chastain at LI reports a Judge Blocks Trump From Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote. "The judge wrote that Congress holds election power, not the Executive branch."

NYPo sees Karmelo Anthony’s high-profile supporters pull out all the stops to get Austin Metcalf killer’s conviction overturned.

Stacy McCain examines Feminists and Their Problems and continues his coverage of the trans, vegan death cult, Zizian Cult Update: Michelle Zajko Charged With Murdering Her Parents. Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "BREAKING: MORE TRANS VIOLENCE Police in Colorado responded to calls of a stabbing in a Dairy Queen. They arrived to find a suspect fleeing by car and immediately gave chase. They were forced to shoot him after he crashed into multiple vehicles, injuring civilians. The deceased suspect was identified as Patti Wilson, a man pretending to be a woman. According to ‘westernslopenow’, someone who knew Wilson said he suffered from mental problems. Wilson also has a previous arrest for assault. The media and the coroner are referring to him as a “woman.”"  

When you tell your college son to shave and put on a suit and tie for his JP Morgan summer internship interview and then you see who at JP Morgan is going to be evaluating his appearance pic.twitter.com/r6nhiUN7To

— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) June 24, 2026

 At NYPo, Brendan O'Neill says Mr. Sensible Keir Starmer bowed to the left and made the UK an unholy mess — a stern warning to Democrats, and Brits visiting US for first time during World Cup are apologizing to Americans: ‘We were wrong’. AMAC notices Liberal Media Ignores the Ravaging of Britain.

Joanne Jacobs hears It's impossible to fail in Philly schools. It's too much paperwork.

And even more at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 06.24.26. The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Meanwhile, Somewhere In The Great Basin a bit late, but within reason.