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.

Palm Sunday

With Moe Stuck:

Legal Planet.org, Ban The Palm? "Streets For All Wants To — But Is it More About Attention Than The Environment?"

Palm trees are not native to Los Angeles. They are tropical plants, and this region is very much not tropical (at least not yet). Only one species derives from southern California, and it is not the most common one on the city’s streets and boulevards. So why are there so many palms here? Unsurprisingly, it’s from civic boosterism: thousands of palms were planted in preparation for the first time Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics, in 1932.

Now, an advocacy group, Streets For All, has decided to make a splash about it.

Streets For All has launched a social media campaign “Palm trees are a scam”, blasting the trees for guzzling water, providing little shade and being dangerous during fires and high winds.

“Time for LA to replace Palm Trees with trees that provide actual shade and cool down our city,” the group declared. “Palm trees suck at doing the one thing trees need to do in cities: provide actual shade,” the group argued.

They want the city to plant more broad-canopy trees, such as sycamores, which the group says provide more shade and help cool city streets.

On one level, SFA’s argument makes sense: if you are trying to create shade – and in the realm of climate adaptation, we will very much need to – taking out palm trees makes sense.

But the rest? Not so much.

My parent's house in Rancho Park had three very tall fan palms, and two huge Canary Island Date palms. They must have dated from that era. I just found it on line, and it looks like they're all gone. That makes me a little sad.

Surviving the Nor'Easter

Although we're not getting a direct hit from the nor'easter plaguing the Atlantic coast, we are being affected. Wind for the last several days have been high, and today ran a pretty steady 30 kts, with gusts to 40, under cloudy skies, with a little rain, but nothing significant. 

The water have been very high, driven by the storm offshore, and there has been a lot of erosion at the beach, with high tides lapping at the base of the dunes, and a pretty healthy chop out on the water.

Still, the sand will return in time, it just moves offshore a ways, and then slowly works its way back in during fairer weather. And I'm hoping some big teeth wash out of the cliffs.

And then there's this. I got a call this morning from a neighbor on the street below us, who called me to say a tree on one of our back lots had leaned over his house, and was threatening to fall. Under MD law, the problem is his, but he wanted to notify me that he was getting it removed. I told him to do whatever he needed to, and not worry about any damage to our lot, which is just woods.

Fortunately, the tree (a poplar with a rotten base) was hung up in a nice strong hickory, which kept it off the house for several days. A tree crew arrived around 3:30 PM and set to work. A huge crane (at least for the area), set up and hoisted a climber into the tree. He tied pulling strap onto the tree, and the crane pulled it back out of the hickory.

Then they got to work with a chainsaw. They cut it off the stump, and then cut segments off the trunk as the crane dangled it vertically, until it was too unbalanced to continue. Then they laid it in the woods, and finished chopping it up. The climber had to go back up to remove a big branch that had broken off the poplar and lodged in the hickory.

I paid the chainsaw crew a little extra to knock down a tree that might eventually become a problem, and just lay it in the woods.

Chesapeake Bay Has Crabs

And even more than last year. At the Bay Net, Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs Jumped From 238 Million To 349 Million — Here’s Why

One winter the Chesapeake Bay holds 238 million blue crabs. The next, 349 million. Anyone who has watched the price of a bushel swing from one summer to the next knows the numbers move, but the reasons behind those swings are less familiar than the crab itself.

The short answer is that a blue crab’s fate is decided long before it reaches a trotline off Solomons or a crab pot in the Severn River. Winter cold, underwater grass beds, invasive predators, summer oxygen levels and the ocean currents that carry larvae back into the Bay all shape how many crabs survive to legal size. Understanding those forces helps residents of St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles and Anne Arundel counties read each spring’s survey headline for what it actually says.
...
The 2026 survey delivered the best news in years. The total population rose 46% to 349 million crabs, and juveniles jumped 121% to 228 million, the highest count since 2019 and the end of six straight years of below-average recruitment. “It’s very encouraging to see higher levels of blue crabs and juveniles, especially after a few years of lower juvenile recruitment,” said Mandy Bromilow, DNR’s blue crab program manager. Adult females, though, fell 25% to 81 million, above the threshold but well below the target.

That mixed picture is typical. Blue crab numbers rarely move in one direction at once, and each piece of the population answers to a different set of pressures.

 

Winter Cold Sets The Floor - Blue crabs spend the winter dormant in the bottom mud, and a hard freeze can kill them there. The 2026 survey found the cold winter killed an estimated 20% of adult males and 12% of adult females, against long-term averages of 9% and 7%. The Bay-wide 2026 Blue Crab Advisory Report put overwintering mortality at 5.17% of the whole population, above the 4.19% average.

It was the second cold winter in a row. After the 2025 survey showed the population falling to 238 million, Bromilow said, “We saw a very high mortality rate among blue crabs this winter, likely due to several cold snaps.” The Chesapeake Bay Program lists extremely cold winters among the factors that can cause significant crab mortality in the Bay, which is why a mild January can matter as much as anything managers do.

 

Underwater Grasses Are The Nursery - If winter sets the floor, habitat sets the ceiling for the young crabs that survive. Juvenile crabs find refuge from predators in underwater grass beds, and the Chesapeake Bay Program describes the loss of those grasses as a loss of nursery habitat. The program’s blue crab page notes that crabs use grass beds and marshes as nurseries, feeding grounds and refuges, and that denser beds hold more crabs.

The connection is why crab watchers also watch the grass survey. Bay-wide underwater grass acreage reached 89,385 acres in 2025, up 6,134 acres from 2024, according to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Maryland’s share grew nearly 13%. More grass in the summer of 2025 meant more places for the record juvenile class counted in the winter of 2026 to hide. Marsh loss and shoreline hardening in Southern Maryland’s creeks chip away at the same nursery from the land side.

 

Predators Old And New - Striped bass and red drum have always eaten young crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay Program lists both among the natural predators. Crabs also eat each other. The newer problem is blue catfish, an invasive species that has spread through the Potomac, Patuxent and other tributaries. A two-year diet study led by Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor Mary Fabrizio found that blue catfish prey on blue crabs year-round, targeting the smallest ones. “Blue catfish are eating the juvenile crabs that Virginia counts on to sustain the future blue crab population,” Fabrizio said, adding that eradicating the fish is “not possible.”

Maryland’s response is to eat them. Watermen harvested more than 2 million pounds of blue catfish in 2025, and in April Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation letting DNR study whether commercial gill nets could increase the harvest further, WYPR reported. The 2026 Advisory Report names predation by red drum and blue catfish among the factors researchers are still investigating behind years of low juvenile numbers.

 

Summer Oxygen And The Dead Zone - Crabs live on the bottom, and each summer a portion of the Bay’s bottom runs out of oxygen. Nutrient pollution feeds algae blooms that decay and consume dissolved oxygen, creating the dead zone. The Chesapeake Bay Program says hypoxia may interfere with the dispersal of juvenile crabs into the estuary and can limit the bottom-dwelling prey crabs depend on.

This year offered a break. Scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science forecast a 2026 dead zone about 31% below the long-term average, among the smallest 10% of years since monitoring began in 1985, because river flows from January through April ran 32% below average and carried 39% less nitrogen into the Bay. “Lower nitrogen loads entering the Bay this spring are expected to translate into better oxygen conditions for fish, crabs, oysters and other Bay life this summer,” said Aaron Bever, a senior environmental scientist at FlowWest who helped produce the forecast. A wet spring can flip that outcome, which is one reason a dry year and a wet year can produce very different crab seasons.

 

The Ocean Decides Who Comes Home - The least visible driver may be the most powerful. Female crabs release larvae near the mouth of the Bay, and those larvae drift into the Atlantic before currents carry the survivors back into Chesapeake waters. The Chesapeake Bay Program says larval survival in the ocean is unpredictable, depending on oceanic flow, storm events and weather patterns, and that juvenile recruitment fluctuates as a result. The 2026 Advisory Report adds wind and tidal currents to the list of conditions under study.

That randomness explains a puzzle: the female population fell 25% in 2026, yet the juvenile class more than doubled. A good year for larvae returning from the ocean can outweigh a shortfall in spawning females, and a bad one can waste a strong spawning stock.

 

Harvest Is The One Lever People Control - Weather, currents and catfish are beyond a fishery manager’s reach. Harvest is not. The 2026 Advisory Report found the stock is not being overfished, but its Stock Assessment Committee recommended that Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission “continue to be cautious when setting fishing guidelines.” Ingrid Braun-Ricks, the committee’s chair, said the report “gives us a shared, science-based understanding of the population, helping managers collaborate across different fisheries to sustain blue crabs, a resource that supports our local economy and remains a cornerstone of Chesapeake Bay heritage and culture.”

The bigger decision is coming. DNR says it is finalizing a benchmark stock assessment, a full re-examination of how the crab population is measured and managed, and will spend the next year discussing what it means with watermen and scientists. For Southern Maryland’s commercial crabbers and recreational crabbers alike, that assessment will shape bushel limits and seasons for years.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Come Saturday Morning

Don Surber sees Trump hosts Xi and DC implodes. "Then: Warn Xi if Trump attacks. Now: “President Trump is sucking up to President Xi.”" Foolish consistency and all. Sundance at CTH thinks A Very Happy Pooh Has Tea With Trump and hosts USTR Jamieson Greer Sets Record Straight on U.S-China Trade Imbalance. At Ars Technica the NASA chief is concerned China may deny access to parts of Moon’s south pole. “If you come up short with who comes down the ladder first, the impact is felt around the world.”

Michael Goodwin at NYPo notes Trump’s bullish United Nations speech showed he won’t back down — and now he can truly put America First. Right Time's Kathy Gyngell likes how Trump Schools the UN on Sovereignty, "There is no global government, Trump told the General Assembly. Critics seemed surprised." News Wax cites a Study that Finds 'Anti-Israel Ecosystem' at UN, Bias Across 30 Bodies. Well, duh. Sundance has the Transcript of Secretary Rubio's Press Conference Following United Nations General Assembly.

More from Sundance, U.S. NATO Commander Tells Europe to Prove These Russian Hybrid Attacks They Speak of and Zelenskyy Shifts His Business Model – Europe Hands Him Another €6.6 billion. VodkaPundit at Insty, I KNOW AND RESPECT JVL, BUT SHE’S JUST WRONG ON THIS ONE: Jennifer Van Laar @jenvanlaar, "Hey everyone botching about diesel prices - here's the reason. Zelensky, not what's going on with Iran. And definitely not Trump. Zelensky is very intentionally hitting targets that harm the US and Europe instead of infrastructure like power plants, which would more directly harm Russians. Think about why that might be." I won't pretend to know the truth. At Hat Hair, John Sexton sees Two More Russian Refineries Shut Down Operations After Drone Strikes and A Visit to a Russian Supermarket Shows Inflation at Work.

At The Chronic, Mark Judge sees Iran’s Underground Cartoonists Expose the Irony of the Regime’s Morality Police.

InfantryDort @infantrydort, "According to failed General Mark Hertling, "it's not clear why" the Pentagon has decided to test senior officers. I could end this post there and have the internet tell it how it is. But I'm not. I actually read this rag of an article. My response to Hertling (who blocks me but he will see this) is that let's talk about YOU. Since you've dedicated oh so much time making it political about Hegseth and Scheller. Mark Hertling has: >publicly announced “I consider myself woke,” opposed rolling back DEI and transgender accession policy, and called Hegseth’s DEI critique “insulting” to the force..." Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "You were branched as a Finance officer and later became a public affairs officer. In the Reserves. Your highest award is a DMSM. Look, as a career logistics officer myself I always preach one team, one fight, but not when someone like you--who is supported by the cretinous, Soros-funded, "VoteVets"--crawls out of the Deep State slime to smear actual combat veterans like Hegseth. Pete Hegseth's pinky finger knows more about leading troops in wartime than your DSA sell-out brain will ever comprehend, and the closest your pinky ever got to heroism is a paper cut. So how about you put a sock in it, you DEI-installed, Commie faux-general? Beat it." Quote Leela Gray @LeelaJGray, "I say this as a retired Brigadier General with 30 years of service: Pete Hegseth is an unqualified frat boy." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "More unqualified frat boys then. Putting the warfighting back in the War Department. (Dead name DoD, for Department of DEI. He transitioned it. Because the upper echelon of our military just like the rest of our government was burdened with unimaginative careerist hacks who would salute any flag that was run up the pole, including the trans one.)..." Joel Pollak @joelpollak, "Trump's done everything I'd wanted him to do and more. A few things I didn't want him to do, but that's OK. My #1 issue was securing the border; #2 protecting Constitution & speech esp. at SCOTUS; #3 strengthening military & defending Israel. Challenge will be defending the wins."

WSJ says The Hot U.S. Economy Can’t Be Cooled. That’s Bad For Bonds. Polymarket @Polymarket, "JUST IN: U.S. weekly jobless claims plunge to 197,000, nearing 57-year lows."

Omri Ceren @omriceren, "Unexpectedly!" Quote Polymarket @Polymarket, "JUST IN: Investigation reveals former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon reportedly worked with a “doomer PR firm” while launching his viral campaign warning of AI’s existential risks." Hillary Clinton Explains AI Dangers, and I Am Persuaded Now says Hat Hair's Dave Strom sarcastically. From the Bay Journal, Virginia governor creates data center accountability policy as she prepares to slay the golden goose. Nicole Silvero at Da Caller observes the Tech CEOs Skip Senate Hearing About Automated Surveillance. I reckon it's something they don't want to talk about.

PJM's Matt Margolis sees Trump Made Democrats Look Stupid Again, over the new helipad he had built to keep Biden's helicopters from burning the White House lawn. "It was also obviously necessary, just like the White House ballroom project was necessary and even wanted by previous administrations. Democrats chose knee-jerk opposition anyway, because opposing Trump is the only move they have left, even when he's right."

Twitchy is outraged that Hasan Piker Mocks Fallen Navy SEALs Who Drowned Stopping Iranian Weapons. I&I, Dems Promise An Impeach-O-Rama Next Year.

New Jersey in the news! Beege Welborn at Hat Hair observes Mikie Sherrill Finds One Jersey Man She Wanted Gone - Her Lt Gov Resigns over "some pretty intense and serious accusations of sexual harassment." Ryan King at NYPo, NJ school district forced students to keep image of Dem Rep on their computers, parent says. Matt Whitlock @MattWhitlock, "If you're wondering why a NJ Senator whose state benefits massively from the Paramount merger (just ask his governor) is sticking his neck out to pressure judges to block it... Look no further than his long and lucrative relationship with Netflix." Quote Eriq Gardner @eriqgardner, "Sen. Cory Booker files a letter urging the judge to tightly scrutinize the Paramount-WBD merger settlement. He writes the decrees must remedy the harms pleaded and expresses skepticism the decree addresses the core of the case."

And Virginia! Breccan Thies at Da Fed hears Virginia School Board Considers Axing Veterans Day Holiday To Make Room For Islamic, Hindu Ones. Stafford. Shooting News Week, Virginia AG Spins Up a Dedicated Unit to Enforce the State’s New Vague Firearms Liability Law.

Elon Musk @elonmusk, "The NGOs end up increasing the number of homeless people they manage, because that’s the only way to increase their revenue! Incentives drive outcomes. “Homeless” is a propaganda word used to describe people on the street who are mentally ill or severely addicted to drugs. The word implies that this is someone who fell a little behind on their mortgage payment and they’re one job offer away from getting back on their feet, which is obviously false if you’ve ever tried talking to a “homeless” person in SF, LA, NY, Austin or anywhere else. The honest reality is that we need to bring back asylums for extreme mental illness or drug addiction for those who are a serious danger to themselves or others." Quote Arthur MacWaters @ArthurMacwaters, "Incentives determine outcomes If you give an NGO a certain number of dollars per homeless person, they will never solve homelessness." When India put a bounty on cobras, Indians started cobra farming. 

At Science Alert, Rich US Neighborhoods Are More Likely to Burn in Wildfires, Study Reveals. Makes sense, rich people like nice homes out in the mountains and woods. Poor people huddle in ghettos. They burn too, but they're not wildfires. 

Sister Toldja at RedState sees a Plot Twist: A Surprising Source Defends Vance After Schumer Attacks Him Over Obamacare Fraud News. WaPoo ed board, JD Vance is not ripping away anyone’s health insurance coverage "All 760,000 of the ACA plans that were canceled this week met five criteria. ... First, none of the accounts had a Social Security number or an immigration identification number. Second, all of the accounts had premiums covered 100 percent by taxpayers. That makes it easier for fraudsters to sign up unknowing enrollees, who don’t see money leave their bank accounts. Third, the plans had not been used. No claims had been filed. And finally, the insurer offering the plan never had contact with the enrolled individual."

Amy Curtis at TownHall thinks the Supreme Court Hands President Trump a Big Win on Election Integrity. John Sexton, Supreme Court Sides With Trump Administration on Screening Voters. Fred Lucas at Da Signal, Supreme Court Hands Trump Major Victory in Drive to Combat Noncitizen Voting. PJM's Cathy Salgado, Supreme Court Approves Expanded Voter Verification Program. Ace, Supreme Court Now Okays Trump's Plan to Allow States to Use Federal Databases to Screen the Voter Lists for Ineligible Voters. "The Supreme Court had previously joined in the left-wing plan to delay implementation of Trump's Executive Order until it was late enough in the season that they could claim it would cause "chaos" to implement it so late. Now it blesses not a screening of mail-in ballots -- that would still cause "chaos," I guess -- but the simple use by states (at their discretion; left-wing governments won't screen ballots) of the Social Security databases to discover if a voter is a citizen or not. So this is a weaker version of Trump's plan, which left-wing states won't even implement." Sundance, Supreme Court Sets Aside Block Granting States Ability to Verify Voter Status in Midterm Election. At Althouse, "In an unsigned decision with no noted dissents, the justices warned of 'electoral chaos' if the state were to change course so close to the election and use the 2025 map." ""The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started. Ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed. Absentee voting has already begun, as has military and overseas voting,” according to the five-page decision." From "Supreme Court Once Again Blocks Republican-Backed Voting Map in Missouri/A federal appeals court had sided with Republicans seeking to use redrawn congressional district boundaries to give their party an advantage in the midterms elections" (NYT)." Delay worked, with lower courts assistance. At Da Signal, Feds Report 160 Election Fraud Arrests as Thousands of New Leads Pour In. 

Cam at Bearing Arms, SCOTUS Directs New Jersey AG to Respond in 'Code Is Speech' Case. Arguing over the computer code for 3D gun printing.

Beege Welborn, Only a Lunatic Virtue-Signaler Would Brag She Let a Cannibal Off on a Murder Conviction. Well, yes. Buck Throckmorton at Ace's MORNING RANT decries The Awful Precedent of the Clancy Trial’s Juror-Harassment.

Paul Thacker at the The DisInformation Chronicle thinks Leaked Fauci Pardon Papers Cast Doubt On Claims He Never Asked Biden for Clemency, "Justice Department documents contradict 60 Minutes report on pardons." 60 Minutes would never shave the truth, am I right?

Ben Whedon at JTN reports HSI nabs thrice-deported alien who allegedly attacked ICE agent with vehicle. Ace sees Two-Tiered Justice: Leftwing DAs Give Illegal Aliens Immunity for Major Crimes So That They Won't Be Deported. "I wrote about this briefly in Quick Hits yesterday or the day before. Just the News has a more detailed article. Illegal aliens are first-tier citizens, somehow. Actual US citizens are second-tier, at best." From Campus Reform, Universities hire legions of H-1B workers, lawmakers advance legislation to rein in ‘visa scam’ Business Insider whines about Why an H-1B visa hopeful decided to give up on work in the US, "after learning that potential employers might have to pay a $100,000 fee to hire her, she pivoted." Dave Strom sees The Inverted Moral Universe of Asylum Policies Summed Up in One Small Boat. Nioh Berg @NiohBerg, "One one single illegal migrant boat from Africa going to the Canary Islands: • A 16 year old girl was gangraped • A toddler was thrown overboard to drown All of the remaining migrant men, including rapists and murderers, will likely be hosted in Europe as if nothing happened. They will then be distributed into your neighbourhood without your consent or even knowledge. Sickening."

Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman, "THEY HID THE WHOLE THING. Legacy media refused to show you a single second of President Trump’s speech and historic state dinner with Xi Jinping. Here is the entire night, start to finish, with translations. That is not journalism. That is information control. Watch it yourself. Do not let them keep you in the dark." Quote Nick Sortor @nicksortor, "Legacy media REFUSED to show you a SINGLE SECOND of President Trump's speech and historic state dinner with Xi Jinping tonight at the White House So here's the ENTIRE thing, from start to finish, with translations for Xi's speech." Becca Lower at RedState, CNN Quietly Admits They Were Not Denied Access to Trump-Xi Dinner. Here Were Their Demands.

Western Lensman @WesternLensman, "Obama has a plan to address the "information bubbles" Americans are in: "We're going to have to create new town squares, where everybody is having a common dialogue with certain rules." No mystery who he would want to be in charge of making these "rules.""

At the Chronic, Mark Judge remembers how Elena Kagan Predicted Why We Would Hate the Media "A main reason why we hate the media so much, and the reason they have earned that ire, is rooted in New York Times vs. Sullivan, the 1964 Supreme Court decision that held that media companies cannot be found guilty for anything they report unless there is evidence of “actual malice” on their part. In 1993, a University of Chicago law professor named Elena Kagan wrote an academic article for the Chicago Law Review that perceptively examined the reality of the new post-Sullivan press freedom:" It may be a particular gripe of his, but there are plenty more reasons to hate the media.

Timur Kuran @timurkuran, "These are the PRIVATELY HELD concerns of university leaders—those they reveal in surveys that grant confidentiality. Their PUBLICLY EXPRESSED concerns often differ massively. Though they now use coded language, many still pretend to care deeply about racial equity." Quote Steve McGuire @sfmcguire79. "University leaders were asked about their most pressing concerns. The DEI options — “racial equity issues” and “identity-based harassment” — are barely on their radar." Their primary concern is, and always will be money. Trust me. At NRO, Cambridge Cancels Probe into Jason Arday Hiring, Will Instead Focus on University Support. Steve McGuire @sfmcguire79, "It’s all too predictable." Ace, Cambridge University: We Have Cancelled Our Promised Investigation Into How Unqualified Fabulist Jason Arday Was Hired. Instead We Will Investigate How We Failed to "Support" Him and Other DEI Incompetents and Plagiarists. "Of course, perfect." Don't turn on the lights 'cause I don't want to see! The College Fix hears Stanford course will critique AI through lens of ‘African intellectual sovereignty’ with an AI Jason Arday lecturing. I just made that up. Steve McGuire @sfmcguire79, "BREAKING: An advisory panel on accreditation has recommended that the Department of Education suspend the American Psychological Association (APA) for 12 months amidst concerns about ideological standards on DEI, gender-related treatment, and especially antisemitism. After hearing from several groups during a meeting yesterday, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity’s (NACIQI) voted to make the recommendation. The recommendation now goes to the Department of Education for a final decision."

Monica Showalter at Am Think thinks she knows why Nikole Hannah-Jones exposed New York City's horrible public schools now. "The short answer is 'Trump.' But not in the way she thinks." Brianna Lyman at Da Fed says Nikole Hannah-Jones Sacrificed Her Kid For Race Communism. Imagine Her Plan For Yours. Brianna has been on Fox a bit lately, and she makes a pretty decent panelist. At Althouse, "[I]n the face of the evidence we have so far, and given the incendiary nature of the claim, why would anyone say that the United States is experiencing a 'national crisis' of lynchings?" "Writes John McWhorter, in "Are Lynchings Really Happening?" (NYT)."

Cathy Salgado hears a Women’s Group Finds That Biological Men Stole Over 2,000 Gold Medals From Girls. Ace, Transgender Activists Say That Men Stealing Gold Medals from Women "Just Isn't a Thing That Really Happens." A New Report Says that Men Have Stolen 2,300 Gold Medals from Women Over The Past 40 Years. "These things that never happen sure do seem to happen an awful lot."

More at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.25.26!

Rule 5 Saturday - Moe Stuck

This week it's Bicoastal Management on Moe Stuck

Moe loves to read and write. She engages in some form of yoga and/or meditation, such as hatha or hot yoga, every day. She loves to spend time with her chosen family and absolutely loves to travel! Moe is from a small town in Iowa but has lived in LA, Australia, Mexico City, and London! She is a very creative, curious, adventurous, and loving soul.

Credits & Experience

Skills: Martial Arts: Boxing,  Gymnastics: Yoga,  Pilates, Running

 

New Jersey Recs Seek Menhaden Catch Control

 Asbury Park Press, New Jersey's rec fishermen show support for cutting menhaden bay quota

The majority of New Jersey recreational stakeholders who spoke at Tuesday's public hearing on the Chesapeake Bay menhaden cap favor cutting the reduction fleet's bay harvest by as much as 50%.

Capt. Paul Eidman, who spearheads the non-profit Menhaden Defenders and chairs the Jersey Coast Angler's Association forage species committee, said the most precautionary options presented by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission would best address the concerns over the health of the menhaden population as well as sustaining striped bass and ospreys.

 

"What happens in the Chesapeake Bay effects the entire East Coast," Eidman said. "The bay is the largest nursery on the coast and the fish that begin their lives there, such as striped bass, migrate to New Jersey waters. New Jersey has a direct stake in getting this right."

The Bay Cap is the quota of menhaden Virginia allocates to the reduction fleet operating out of Reedsville, Virginia for harvest from the Chesapeake Bay. The cap is currently 51,000 metric tons annually.

Of the East Coast states, Virginia gets the lion's share of the total coastwide allowable catch, or TAC, for menhaden, which is 186,840 metric tons for the entire coast. Virginia gets 75.21% of the TAC, or roughly 139,000 metric tons. It then gives 90.04%, or about 125,000 metric tons of its quota to the reduction fleet.

I get the feeling something is going to change soon. Rick Hutzel at the Balmer Banner,  Finding balance on Chesapeake menhaden, the most important fish in the bay

 

Flotsam and Jetsam - With Frickin' Laser Beams

VodkaPundit at PJM says That's Right: We're Shooting Down Enemy Drones With Fricken Laser Beams. Insty says ZAP! "The US military has been deploying lasers in the Strait of Hormuz to knock out regime hardware, taking out “drones and incoming cruise missiles at a much lower cost than using more expensive kinetic weapons like missiles,” the Department of War recently confirmed. “Somewhat surprisingly, the laser weapons are operated by soldiers using reconfigured Xbox game console controllers.”" NYPo, US military spending $500M on ‘war-ready’ laser weapons — and zapping drones in Iran, along US border: experts.

Over liberal and never-Trumper objections, News Wax reports Trump Welcomes Xi With White House Tour, Gifts, Dinner. Becca Lower at RedState says Nice Try: Thursday's Trump-Xi WH Dinner Coverage Does Not Go Well for CNN, MS NOW. Althouse finds ""As a special treat in honor of President Xi and Madame Peng, I’d like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back door." ""It’s all lit up and looks beautiful. It's one year away from completion, the new ballroom that you've heard about, and you will see something that you will really love. Presidents have been trying to get this built for 150 years that I can tell you that, tonight, if we had it, we would have had way more than a thousand people, standing room only, and this room has about 145. That's about it. So they've been looking for this for over 150 years..." He is really proud of it, so the liberals and never-Trumpers must oppose it, and tear it down if they get power. Miles Yu at the Hudson Inst explains Why We Must Prepare for the Chinese Communist Party’s Collapse. "As the Hudson Institute report “China after Communism: Preparing for a Post-CCP China” argues, the People’s Republic of China has survived many crises, but the sudden collapse of the world’s longest-ruling communist dictatorship and second-largest economy is hardly inconceivable. The international consequences would be enormous."

Back at the UN, News Wax reports how Netanyahu Slams Mamdani, Blasts Antisemitism, 'Genocide' Claim. Ace, Dozens of Muslim Delegates Walk Out as Netanyahu Addresses UN, "The BBC. Note the spin." They should all go home, then disband the UN, which has long outlived its usefulness. Open Source Intel @Osint613, "Argentine President Javier Milei: "The United Nations has become a useless organization whose entire function is to feed a caste of arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned officials. Those who claim to defend human rights have backed bloodthirsty dictatorships and regimes that stone women in the streets. They systematically voted against Israel while staying silent in the face of Islamist terrorism and the murder of Christians in Africa."" Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, " WOW!! Argentina President Javier Milei just walked up to the mic at the United Nations and RIPPED THEM TO THEIR FACES ..." Chris Bray at Da Fed argues Trump’s Greenland Deal Makes The World More Secure, And Makes The Media Less Relevant Than Ever. Katie Pavlich @KatiePavlich, "Just curious if @UN_Women has noticed or feels they should say anything about this." Quote New York Post @nypost, "Women in Gaza are being traded for food, forced to marry their rapists: UN https://trib.al/kX7S2I6."

Beege Welborn at Hat Hair hears Carney-Val Continue: 'I Had Plans Prepared for Syrupean Elbows Up in Case Trump Attacked'. From Twitchy, DEFCON MAPLE SYRUP: Carney Prepared for a Trump Invasion, and X Has Entered the Chat. PJM's Stephen Kruise wonders if Canada's Mark Carney Didn't Get Hugged Enough at Syrup Camp. I mean, seriously, did anyone think Trump was going to attack Canada? We have issues with their government, sure, but not Iran or Venezuela level issues. Robert Chernin writes The Trump Doctrine Is America Choosing Survival Over Therapy, "Call it the Trump Doctrine. And call it what it is. This is not isolation. Isolation is a tantrum. This is not endless war. Endless war is a habit. This is America recovering the right to decide."

PJM's Charlie Martin on Iran, Siege: Nothing Happens Until It All Happens. VodkaPundit at Insty has SHOT: Endangered GOP Senate Candidates Take Sudden Turn On Iran War. Chaser: Senate Shoots Down Final War Powers Resolution Before Midterm Elections. John Sexton at Hat Hair VIP notes Sen. Fetterman Crosses Party Lines on Iran War.

From Defense News a Report: CIA warned Europe of Russian drone attack from vessels in the Mediterranean. At Am Con, Will Germany’s Chancellor Go Down? "AfD’s seemingly unstoppable rise has Friedrich Merz on the ropes." Das tut mir leid!

Semafor claims OpenAI exec is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the US working with China on AI. At Am Great, the Great Victory Davis Hanson looks at AI and the Same Old Politicized Hysteria. "America has endured decades of politicized doomsday warnings. Today’s AI panic follows a familiar script." Althouse find "This month, 27 Fields medalists — winners of mathematics’ highest honor — have signed a joint declaration stating that solving famous open problems is not, in itself, the goal.", ""Such problems are 'landmarks and lighthouses,' they write, whose deeper purpose is to guide mathematicians toward conceptual understanding and insight. Terence Tao, one of the signers... has described what’s happening as 'strip-mining' mathematics. Good problems, he argues, are like nonrenewable resources. Some of them — the smaller, easier ones — can help train the next generation of mathematicians." At PifferPilfer, AI Isn’t Outthinking Mathematicians. It’s Out-Remembering Them. "The key advantage may not be superior reasoning, but a virtually unlimited symbolic working memory."

Oilfield Rando @Oilfield_Rando, "This is the winning midterm message. But the GOP at large won’t pick it up because too many of their candidates’ donors want to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor." Quote JD Vance @JDVance, "Our message to corporate America is simple: We’re not going to let you lay off American workers so you can replace them with cheap foreign labor." I&I asks Is Trump Getting The George H.W. Bush Treatment On The Economy? Of course. It's amazing that Democrats have the chutzpah to run on gas prices, since part of their long time policy objectives is to jack up gas prices. Catturd ™ @catturd2, "100% - and the doomer grifters are doing everything possible to get Democrats elected because Trump called them out and bruised their fragile, little egos." Quote Brendon Leslie @BrendonLeslie, "If you’re sitting this election out because of your weird obsession for Israel then you’re basically voting for socialism. You’re not conservative." From Reuters US Energy Secretary Wright says diesel export ban won't work, "and could push up gasoline and jet fuel prices." Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet, "I expected the Trump tariffs to be a disaster. I'm puzzled by what I'm not seeing. They don't seem to have harmed the US economy in any way I can notice with my eyeballs or in the statistics. Business activity is booming, unemployment seems to be low, household consumption is up, stock market seems to be doing fine. Is my whole model of trade and economics broken? How is he getting away with this?" It may not be broken, but it's certainly too simple. At Am Mind John Eastman calls it President Trump’s $5,000 Fiscal Test. "Suddenly, the political class discovered fiscal responsibility. Critics immediately pointed out that the federal government doesn’t have over a trillion dollars lying around. They warned that the checks would increase the deficit. They reminded us that the national debt has surpassed $40 trillion. They worried about inflation, borrowing costs, and the burden we are leaving to future generations. Those are legitimate concerns. In fact, they should have been dominating our national political debate for decades."

Latinx Adjacent Doctor PhD @TonerousHyus, "They’re calling him the most unaware white lib in human history." Quote Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias, "DC crime has fallen enough that the CVS by my house has stopped locking the locks on the cases they installed during Peak Shoplifting and it’s such a quality of life upgrade." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "And for an encore, our crazy orange president red-pilled Matthew Yglesias."

And bad news from News Wax, Butler Rally Survivor Copenhaver Dies 2 Years After Shooting. Althouse finds "Copenhaver was hit in the arm and abdomen. The wounds left him with lingering injuries, which required him to undergo surgeries..." ""... including a transection of his colon. He also suffered kidney damage as well as loss of feeling in his leg, and was required to walk with a cane. The top of Trump’s right ear was injured before the Secret Service ushered him off stage..." From "James Copenhaver, shot at Trump rally, dies two years later/The 76-year-old was called a ‘true American patriot’ by the US president. It is unclear if he died from injuries sustained in the crossfire in Pennsylvania" (London Times)."

At Campus Reform, Hasan Piker, who said America ‘deserved 9/11,’ to speak at sold-out Cornell event, and well protected, I'm sure. From the Free Bacon, Abdul El-Sayed Called on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood To 'Purge the Media and Police' Shortly Before Islamic Government Arrested Reporters for 'Insulting Islam' "El-Sayed was a vocal supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, which shares his devotion to Sharia law." Althouse find Mamdani pandering to NYC Jews, Let the children come to Mamdani. "This gets my old tag, "using children in politics."" 

Ace notes New York Times Reveals that Democrat Senate Candidate Mary Peltola Abuses Staff, Cursing Them and Calling them "F*ggots". "LOL. She explodes at her staffers and calls them "faggots" and "retards" and calls Planned Parentood harpies "BITCHES."" Well, to be fair, they are Democrats. From the Free Bacon, Left-Wing House Hopeful William Lawrence Featured Pedophile Sex Predator, Who Repeatedly Raped His 12-Year-Old Half-Sister, at His Campaign Launch Event.

Kevin Sorbo @ksorbs, "Say that again… slowly." Quote Leading Report @LeadingReport, "Kamala Harris says Republicans are cheating by removing ineligible voters from the rolls."Insurrection Barbie @DefiyantlyFree, "This is why you vote Republican. Not because they are so amazing they deserve your vote. Because the other side is insane and they will torch this country and smile while doing it." Quote TheBlaze @theblaze, "Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez while speaking in Spanish: “We are going to abolish the Department of Homeland Security so our people will no longer have to live in fear.”" Matt Vespa at TownHall hears Maria Salazar, Trump's Deportation Traitor, Got a Wake Up Call From Her Constituents. Ryan King at NYPo sees Marco Rubio begins yanking visas of birth tourism enablers: ‘Sending a clear message.’ PJM's Cathy Salgado likes how DHS Ends Biden-Era Solicitation of Donations for Illegal Aliens in Custody. It takes a while to prune a big tree. From Ward Clark at RedState, Rashida Tlaib Said ICE Killed Him. Now DHS Delivers a Brutal Fact Check. Homeland Security @DHSgov, "On September 20, ICE officers attempted a stop of a vehicle registered to a known criminal illegal alien with multiple alcohol related driving offenses who is also wanted in Guatemala for a drunk and disorderly charge, during a targeted enforcement operation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As officers attempted the stop to confirm the identity of the driver, the driver of the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. In the interest of public safety, ICE officers immediately discontinued the enforcement action. A short time later, officers saw smoke nearly half a mile from the attempted stop and discovered the vehicle had crashed into a tree and caught fire. Officers immediately attempted to render aid and extinguish the fire until the Grand Rapids Police Department and Fire Department arrived. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene by local officials. Officials also estimated that the suspect’s vehicle was traveling well over 100 miles per hour when the crash occurred. Upon further investigation the driver of the vehicle was Mario David Coronado-Juarez and not the vehicle’s registered owner. Coronado-Juarez was an illegal alien from Guatemala who was previously removed by Border Patrol from the United States in 2021. He re-entered the country, a felony, at an unknown date and location. Resisting officers and evading arrest is dangerous for our officers, illegal aliens, and the public." Quote Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, "@RepRashida ICE killed another man. His name is Mario David Coronado Juarez. Mario lived and worked in Michigan for 7 years as a construction worker, sending money home to his kids in Guatemala."Nick Plumb @PlumbNick, "Texas DPS has confirmed a technical issue caused an unknown number of voter registrations to not be processed. Civix, a company you’ve probably never heard of, received a $36M contract for the Texas Election Administration Management system, happens to be a steady employer of H-1Bs. How many of these foreigners are working on critical election infrastructure? ..."

InfantryDort @infantrydort, "BEFORE YOU BURN THE HOUSE I keep hearing people talk about civil war like it’s weather coming over the ridge. “Burn it down! Let the whole thing break! Start again in the ashes!” Reckless words from folks who still have a ballot sitting on the table. Before you speak of rifles, use the piece of paper men once crossed oceans and battlefields to earn. If you curse the Republic as dead, make damn sure you showed up while it was still breathing...." and read the rest.

Random news from the Justice system. Fred Lucas at Da Signal, reports Jack Smith Team Knew Spying on Congress ‘Might Be Unconstitutional’ but ‘Forged Ahead’: House Report "The report notes that Smith privately told Garland that members of Congress “likely have a valid Speech or Debate privilege immunizing them from compelled testimony.” However, Garland gave his “blessing” for Smith to pursue the records." Say anything you like about Mitch McConnell, but remember, he kept Merrick Garland off the Supreme Court.

DogeDesigner @cb_doge, "BREAKING: The US is seeking to join Elon Musk’s court fight over the EU’s €120 million fine on X. The Trump administration has applied to support X’s challenge, arguing that the European Commission overstepped its authority. Washington is now standing with Musk."

Buck Sexton @BuckSexton, "Unsurprising to find out the demonic "it's not her fault" jury loons were rigging the system and breaking rules while they accused the lone sane voice of doing that." Quote New York Post @nypost, "Lindsay Clancy holdout juror Michael Desronvil claims fellow jurors used cell phones during deliberations: report https://trib.al/6XJu3cL" Jonathan Turley is disturbed, From Holdout to Hunted: Kevin Reddington Seeks Phone Records and Interview with Holdout Clancy Juror. Twitchy, Ruh-Roh: MASSIVE Receipt Shows Sunny Hostin LIED About Being a Holdout Juror... Shocking, We Know. Ace, Did Sonny Hostin Lie About Being the Holdout Juror in the Butcher of Tompkins Square Park Case?

Ace wonders Did Candace Owens Take $1.75 Million from Harvey Weinstein to Defend Him and Taint the Jury Pool So That He'd Be Acquitted? "The evidence is suggestive." It's all about the Benjamins. 

Fox reports a California gunman repeatedly released before deadly rampage, fiery shootout with deputies, "Derek Spencer, 44, was killed in a Placer County deputy-involved shooting after allegedly gunning down Cheryl Macy."

Hat Hair's John Sexton, Judge Orders White House to Allow Reporters Back In, Pool Coverage Still MIA. Ace, Of Course: Liberal Judge Rushes in to Save CNN and MSNOW "Just the News:" "Real America's Voice and Just the News have been undermining this boycott by doing the pool coverage themselves." Nick Sortor @nicksortor, "Less than 48 hours ago, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins said we independent media outlets could NOT handle covering President Trump with our pool cameras We set out to prove her WRONG, and we DID. Today, we covered EVERY SECOND of President Trump’s welcome ceremony for Xi. Right here on 𝕏 THE GAME HAS CHANGED! “They don’t have the resources,” @kaitlancollins said. She was proven wrong. @RealAmVoice @JackPosobiec." Quote Nick Sortor @nicksortor, "NOW: Legacy media outlets are REFUSING to cover President Trump for the American people, in solidarity with CNN They're saying independent media CANNOT replace them, claiming "we don't have the resources"" Brian Stelter @brianstelter, "Here's the latest on the White House TV pool: When Trump flew back from New York last night, Fox News was the scheduled TV pool crew. But Fox did not film the president’s arrival at Andrews since this decision remains in place: “The TV pool will not be covering events designated..." Whale Psychiatrist @k_ovfefe2, "I hate to tell you, Brian, but everything President Trump did yesterday was live streamed all over the internet just like it always is. No one watches TV. No one misses the press pool. You are extinct, you just haven't realized it yet." Stephen Kruiser sees MSM Hacks Hope They Have One More Despair PsyOp in Them This Year.

unseen1 @unseen1_unseen, "Did people forget about the southern poverty law center scandal already where the dems paid the KKK and other extremists groups?" Quote Derek @SuitablePolitic, "It's amazing to me that people think Democrats aren't paying for a guy to both sound like a stereotypical "alt-right guy" and ultimately call for Democrats to win every cycle. Fuentes isn't alone, either. Most of the Retard Right can be traced to this specific strategy." Quote Fugitive Caesar @ThomBrady5, "Nick Fuentes is secretly paid by the Democrats and it's obvious if you think about it." Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke, "Remember, whenever you read anything in the Wall Street Journal about China, you should assume it came straight from the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda office." Quote Melissa Chen @MsMelChen, "There's a weird pattern here with China correspondent @Lingling_Wei pushing Beijing’s preferred strategic narrative in the Wall Street Journal. The sourcing looks like a CCP info op. Almost every load-bearing claim involves:..."

Wall Street Mav @WallStreetMav, "The new radical leftist Prime Minister in Britain, Andy Burnham, has announced his plans to create a "Ministry of Truth" to control news media and eliminate news or opinions that the government disagrees with." TNP, UK Govt Announces New ‘Ministry of Truth’ to Tackle Alleged Disinformation. Dave Strom says In 90 Seconds You Can Watch the 'Russian Disinformation' Excuse for Speech Controls Collapse. Beege Welborn is amused that Rather Than Have a Home Boiler, Labour Is Proposing to Barge in Hot Water to Heat British Homes.

Gad Saad @GadSaad, "The West: Why did you commit the terror attack? Terrorist: My religion dictates it. The West: So climate change? Terrorist: No, my religion. The West: So beard bullying? Terrorist: No, my religion. The West: So, violent video games then? Terrorist: No, my religion. The West: So, American imperialism then? Terrorist: No, my religion. The West: So the Zionist entity forced you to defend yourself? Terrorist: FFS, it's MY RELIGION. Conclusion from the West: Terror attacks stem from a confluence of paleo-botanical-sociocultural-ethnopolitical forces that requires a nuanced analysis. What is absolutely clear though is that this has nothing to do with religion." ZitoSalena @ZitoSalena, "Evangelicals, Catholics and Baptists whose support for the Jewish people is rooted in distinct theological frameworks, historical developments & biblical interpretations. Also normal people who had a decent high school education." Quote Bennett Arron @BennettArron, "Does anyone, apart from Jews, actually care that antisemitism is off the scale?" Jonathan Tobin at JNS argues Confronting Jew-haters is more important than worrying about cancel culture.

Richard McGough Bible Wheel @RichardAMcGough, "Ah yes, the awesome Roland Fryer, the man Claudine Gay tried to destroy after he debunked some DEI dogmas she held so dear." Quote Steve McGuire @sfmcguire79, "“Do you believe in karma?” “I hear it’s a motherf*cker.” Roland Fryer in response to @bariweiss when she asks him about Claudine Gay." But, as Dave Strom warns We Overestimate the Progress Made in Stamping Out Wokeness.

The Wombat has more at In The Mailbox: 09.24.26 (Afternoon Edition) and In The Mailbox: 09.24.26 (Evening Edition).