“Dr Fauci orchestrated Covid cover-up” (The Times)

Yawn.

I was writing this in my weekly columns for the Santa Barbara News-Press five years ago.

Unfortunately, too many sheeple preferred the comforting embrace of a government-scripted, mainstream-delivered fairy tale—one that persuaded millions to stand six feet apart, wear face napkins, and submit to lockdowns that wrecked businesses, educations, mental health, and whatever remained of common sense.

Now comes a CIA whistleblower revealing that Dr. Anthony Fauci helped steer investigators away from the lab-leak theory, and did so because he secretly funded the Wuhan lab in violation of government policy.

The Times reports that what was once denounced as “dangerous conspiracy theory” was actually closer to “suppressed inquiry.”

So let us review the choreography:

Question the official narrative? You were a crank.

Suggest the virus may have escaped from a lab in Wuhan conducting coronavirus research: Tin-foil haberdashery.

Object to school closures or raise an eyebrow at mask mandates: Shamed.

The pandemic produced a new priesthood: public-health commissars, cable-news hysterics, and social-media censors who treated dissent as heresy.

And now—slow drumroll—we are expected to greet these revelations with sober astonishment.

No astonishment here.

The real virus was institutional obedience.

“WHO chief warns there ‘will be more hantavirus cases in the coming weeks’” (Metro)

The formula remains unchanged: Find alarming medical anomaly, add an ominous forecast, release experts, cause media hyperventilation.

COVID may be over but one detects a familiar institutional yearning—a wistful nostalgia for the golden age of emergency decrees, televised dread, and populations obeying reckless senselessness.

Yes, pandemic theater appears to be touring indefinitely.

“Hantavirus and Psychological Bioterrorism” (Malone News)

Psychological Bioterrorism is the weaponization of fear about disease in order to manipulate individuals, populations, markets, and governments. Sometimes the objective is political. Sometimes financial. Sometimes bureaucratic. Often, it is all three at once.

Dr. Alexander Kouzminov, a former Soviet-Russian intelligence officer with experience in biological espionage and operations, in 2017, described how fear of infectious disease can be strategically amplified to shape public behavior, influence governments, and create opportunities for those positioned to benefit from the panic.

“That process is called psychological bioterrorism.

“Once you understand the framework, you start seeing the pattern everywhere.

“A virus or some other pathogen emerges somewhere in the world. The media shifts into apocalyptic mode. Experts appear to be predicting catastrophe. Politicians declare emergencies. Pharmaceutical companies announce new products. Social media turns into a digital panic attack. And ordinary people, who just wanted to walk the dog, suddenly feel like civilization is one cough away from collapse.”

“Whistleblower claims CIA seized MK Ultra, JFK assassination files from Tulsi Gabbard’s office” (Hindustan Times)

In a display of institutional self-preservation, the CIA moved to prevent the release of documents concerning MKUltra and the JFK assassination by forcibly retrieving them from the very office tasked with making them public.

One imagines the scene: “Quick! The American people may learn something!”

For decades, the intelligence community has assured us that all sensitive historical files are withheld only for the noblest of reasons: national security, protecting sources, blah, blah, blah.

Every time documents edge toward daylight—even when the President of the United States orders their release—someone in a dark suit develops an acute case of anti-transparency syndrome, in this instance, assisted by a CIA SWAT team.

The surest way to know a file matters is when the government sprints to hide it.

“California billionaires find bliss in Nevada border town while fleeing wealth tax” (California Post)

California has spent years perfecting a business model that combines punitive taxation, bureaucratic strangulation, regulatory sadism, and housing costs through the roof.

The state’s progressive practice is charmingly simple:

Over-tax the productive. Then act shocked when they leave.

And the very rich don’t even have to flee to Texas or Florida.

They need only cross the border to Incline Village—and flip Cali the bird from neighboring Nevada!

“Gavin Newsom’s controversial ‘free diapers’ program gets quiet contracting carve-out” (California Post)

“Quiet contracting carve-out”?

That’s a wonderfully elegant bureaucratic phrase—meant to deceive, of course.

Translation: No bidding process.

California’s normal competitive procurement rules were apparently set aside.

Nobody got a chance to propose a cheaper alternative.

And then, in an astonishing coincidence, Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer, is connected to California Partners Project, which has the contract.

Nothing says public trust like contracts awarded in a room nobody else was invited into.

“Inside Jack Schlossberg’s Chaotic Campaign to Revive Camelot” (NYTs)

Just hours into Day One, the candidate abruptly revised his campaign strategy. Forget dialing for dollars. He needed a nap. Then disappeared for the rest of the day.

Says it all.

But wait, there’s more…

In just six months, Schlossberg burned through at least two campaign managers, two field directors, and a gaggle of advisers.

Some were unaware they’d been dismissed because Schlossberg neglected to mention it.

Jack may grow up one day. But don’t count on it. He was born with a silver spoon up his ass—and it’s stuck.

“Trump in China” (BBC)

Much ado about very little.

Whatever frequency you tune into, nothing fundamental about the Chinese Communist Party has changed.

Not one iota.

Their gameplay is as simple as it is straightforward: Wait out Donald Trump’s second term as president.

Democracies lurch. Elections happen. Policies somersault. Washington thinks in news cycles.

The CCP thinks in dynastic time.

Beijing’s objective remains what it has long been: economic leverage abroad, technological acquisition, strategic expansion, Taiwan folded into the mother ship.

If Marco Rubio becomes president, Beijing waits longer.

If a softer administration arrives, Beijing recalculates accordingly.

Patience is their operating system.

Meanwhile: espionage, influence operations, intellectual property theft, strategic land purchases inside the USA, and China’s broader geopolitical partnerships continue as before.

And what did Xi gain from Trump’s visit?

1. The message for domestic Chinese consumption: America was eager to come to us. (Authoritarian systems prize symbolism.)

2. If meetings, summits, “constructive dialogue,” or vague framework agreements slow escalation of tariffs and sanctions, Beijing wins breathing room.

3. Any high-level diplomatic visit is intelligence harvest season.

Who’s in Trump’s orbit? Who influences him the most? What irritates him? What vanity buttons work best? What concessions matter?

The Chinese are disciplined listeners.

4. Taiwan. Beijing watches for signals. Did Trump emphasize Taiwan? Downplay it? Treat it transactionally? Mention defense ambiguously? Every nuance gets parsed.

China’s ideal outcome: No humiliating concessions. Maximum delay. Maximum ambiguity while outlasting Trump.

Meanwhile…

A pair of very welcome headlines from UK tabloids:

“Moscow rocked by blistering drone strikes” (The Sun)

“Putin ‘could be toppled in ‘60s-style palace coup’ as Russian elites ‘turn’ on him” (The Star)

About friggin’ time.

And finally…

“I‘m a pastor who attended a secret UFO disclosure meeting. We saw images of ‘translucent beings’ that chilled me to the bone” (Daily Mail)

Pastor Joseph Zupetz was invited to a private meeting in Tennessee, where intelligence insiders discussed the idea that unidentified objects could be inter-dimensional beings.

“At the meeting,” he said, “I was shown images of entities that were translucent, standing in a wooded environment, with long arms and legs.”

Big deal—I already have a Polaroid of such beings…

The line between intelligence briefing and Comic-Con panel continues to blur.

And there’s more: Looking over some pics I took of the sky over Butterfly Beach on a moody day, I discovered I’d captured a flying saucer…

…along with an alien peering out the right-side windows…

What a week—whew!

“WE GIVE A HOOT!”

And you should too.

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“Seattle Mayor Laughs off Millionaires Leaving Washington State Over Taxes, Waves ‘Bye’” (Fox News)

“Seattle’s mayor waves goodbye to prosperity” (WaPo)

And Starbucks just waved goodbye back (heir new operational hub is in Nashville). Following in its footsteps is its founder, Howard Schultz (gone to Florida), Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (gone to Florida), …

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“Trump CANCELS US envoy’s trip to Pakistan for Iran peace negotiations” (Daily Mail)

Persians have perfected the art of negotiation—negotiate, renegotiate, then negotiate again—until the goats come home. Or don’t.

Diplomacy, in that part of the world, is often less about agreement than endurance.

Who blinks first. Who gets tired. Who settles for scraps.

Iran does not need another round of talks. It needs clarity.

Raise a white flag. Surrender unconditionally. Nothing less.

And if Trump settles for anything softer, he risks becoming just another president who promised strength—then settled for stalemate.

“Trump Goes After King’s Son Just Before Royal Visit” (Daily Beast)

While visiting Kyiv, Prince Harry made an important point, to which Donald Trump should pay heed:

“When Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, America was part of the assurance that Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders would be respected.”

Correct.

Our country—under a different president, in a different decade—promised Ukraine that if it surrendered its nuclear arsenal, we would strand between it and invasion.

Ukraine kept its word.

We’re still debating ours.

Which raises an awkward question:

Why should any nation ever sign a deal with the United States if our promises expire faster than campaign slogans?

Which brings me to…

“Lionel Rosenblatt is dead at 82. He defied his bosses to help hundreds flee Vietnam” (WaPo)

I had never heard of Lionel Rosenblatt until I read of his death. Within a minute, I was riveted.

A young U.S. diplomat with the State Department, Rosenblatt did something that would make any modern bureaucrat break into hives: He acted without permission.

Without telling his State Department bosses where he was going, Lionel Rosenblatt bought a Pan Am ticket and traveled halfway around the world, taking one of the last commercial flights to Saigon before the city fell to the North Vietnamese.

His mission was not authorized. His orders were non-existent. His conscience was fully operational.

Rosenblatt set about rescuing Vietnamese who had helped the United States—people who knew that once Saigon fell, their loyalty would become a death sentence.

Using improvised contacts, forged paperwork, and what can only be described as stubborn nerve, he managed to spirit roughly 200 people to safety and resettlement.

Soon afterward, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger summoned Rosenblatt and a colleague for what promised to be a career-ending reprimand.

Words like irresponsible and overdramatic were reportedly deployed with enthusiasm.

Then Kissinger paused. Smiled. Embraced the men.

And confessed that he hoped he would’ve had the courage to do the same.

Rosenblatt later became president of Refugees International and distilled his experience into a single, bracing line:

“You can’t count on the United States. Come up with a plan of your own.”

Today, FEMA cannot be counted on. Police response times stretch into geological time.

And despite the high taxes we pay for protection, preparedness, and peace of mind, the first responder in any crisis is still the person staring back at you in the mirror.

“Millionaire trophy hunter, 75, trampled to death by angry elephants during African hunt” (Daily Mirror)

Ernie Dosio’s home was decorated with mounts of exotic animal heads; he was killed in a stampede of angry elephants earlier this month while stalking a rare deer in Africa.

Earlier this month, the trophy hunter encountered a herd of elephants.

They noticed him. They remembered. They voted unanimously.

The result was swift, decisive, and terminal.

Nature, it turns out, keeps its own scorecard.

“U.S. Spies on the Vatican” (Kim Klippenstein.com)

Breaking news: intelligence agencies collect intelligence.

The Vatican collects intelligence, too—through its Gendarmeria Vigilante di Vatican.

As senior Italian intelligence official Alberto Manenti once joked after introducing me to the director of the Holy See’s intelligence apparatus:

“All priests are case officers, all parishioners are agents, all confessions noted, cross-indexed, and filed away.”

He was smiling when he said it.

Mostly.

“The Apocalypse Goes Mainstream” (NYTs)

About 40 percent of American adults believe that we are living in the “end times.”

It is the arrogance of every generation to believe the apocalypse belongs to them.

“Rumors and Speculation Swirl Online After Shooting at Washington Dinner” (NYTs)

The term “staged” surged to more than 300,000 posts on X by midday Sunday.

At some point in the 1990s—around the time movies like Dumb and Dumber turned idiocy into box-office gold—Hollywood made it fashionable in America to be stupid.

The trend stuck.

“Warhol is Out, Gulfstreams are In: The Superrich Are Souring on Art” (WSJ)

And here’s the other side of a very sad story:

The new generations do not want the art their parents and grandparents spent a lifetime collecting.

Estate lawyers and financial advisers have been reporting this phenomenon for several years now: when collectors die, their heirs move quickly to sell.

Boomers collected objects. Gen X tolerated them. Millennials and Gen Z are unloading them.

A six-foot oil painting of a Venetian canal does not fit easily into a two-bedroom condo. Or into a digital life.

Their idea of wealth is not a painting on the wall.

They would rather own a passport full of stamps, a phone full of photos, and a brokerage account than a room full of things that require insuring, storing, restoring—and arguing about at Thanksgiving.

Auction houses call this supply. Estate planners call it downsizing. Children call it clearing out the garage.

And finally (regarding finality)…

“The Rich and Powerful Want to Live Forever” (NYTs)

Imagine you’re a multi-billionaire.

You fly around in a Gulfstream G800, cruise the Med in a super-yacht, and rotate among palatial homes in Manhattan, Aspen, London, and Monte Carlo.

You have chefs, trainers, stylists, therapists, security details, and lawyers on permanent retainer.

Your calendar includes cryotherapy, stem-cell infusions, and something called “bio-optimization.”

You watch your step count. Your mattress monitors your sleep. Your personal doctor monitors your blood.

And yet…

You still have an appointment with the grim reaper.

The Amex Centurion black can’t cancel it. No hedge fund can hedge it. No private jet can out-fly it.

Of course, you now pour billions into longevity labs, artificial organs, gene editing, and digital immortality.

But biology remains stubbornly unimpressed by net worth.

Death has never accepted stock options, political influence, or preferred seating at Davos.

It arrives on schedule.

It always has.

It always will.

And if you don’t believe me, here is a letter from Generative AI (ChatGPT) to you (biological human):

Dear Humans,

You measure your steps and monitor sleep,
You promise your bodies new secrets to keep.

You diet, you cleanse, you stretch and you run,
You chase one more year in the shadow of none.

You bank your cells and edit your genes,
You purchase more time with marvelous machines.

Yet clocks do not bargain, and time does not bend,
No wealth can persuade it to pause at the end.

From emperors crowned to beggars in line,
All exit the stage at their appointed time.

For life is a loan—no extensions to buy,
Signed at your birth… and repaid when you die.

Respectfully yours,
Generative AI

What a week—whew!

“WE GIVE A HOOT!”

And you should too.

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“Swalwell campaign imploding after new sexual assault allegation” (Politico)

A former staffer has accused Eric Swalwell of sexual assault on two occasions, alleging nonconsensual acts while she was intoxicated.

Sacramento has seen many political implosions.

Usually they evolve like a tire losing air.

This one sounds more like a sidewall blowout at 70 miles …

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“Joe Rogan warns America faces dystopian ‘Children of Men’-type future because of chemicals in food” (Daily Mail)

Joe and his podcast guest—an epidemiologist—are referring to a decline in the birthrate due to plastics in our food.

Long before today’s climate-policy think tanks there was the Club of Rome, a gathering of scientists, economists, and industrialists, who warned in the 1960-70s that the planet was heading for a catastrophic breaking point because of overpopulation.

Which means the world has now moved from fearing too many people to worrying about too few.

Lesson: Don’t get too passionate about trendy beliefs and causes.

Mother Nature has been running the planet for 4.5 billion years. She doesn’t need our permission—and she rarely follows our forecasts.

“Kristi Noem weighs in on report husband lives cross-dressing double life: ‘The family was blindsided by this’” (NY Post)

A husband’s revenge for getting cuckolded?

“Tiger Woods boasted to cop he called President Trump before DUI arrest, bodycam video reveals” (California Post)

“Do you know who I am?” (Restaurant hostesses in Montecito hear this question more than they should.)

The correct answer: “Yup—you’re someone who could use a year in a monastery (and maybe stay there until your ego dissolves).”

Tiger takes it to new heights: “I was just talking to the president.”

Where did it get him?

Cuffed.

“Gavin Newsom’s Empire of Fraud” (City-Journal)

California has lost at least $180 billion to fraud, according to officials and experts.

That figure is not merely embarrassing. It is Olympic-level embarrassing.

California collects some of the highest taxes in the nation and spends more than $300 billion a year. Yet basic services—from wildfire management to homelessness programs—often seem to produce more press releases than results.

Fraud, meanwhile, appears to have become a growth industry.

Fraud does not flourish because criminals are clever. It flourishes because systems are careless.

When oversight is weak and accountability is rare, the message is unmistakable: Take the money, no one is watching.

In Sacramento, the unofficial state motto increasingly reads: In Fraud We Trust.

Odd facts to consider:

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“Trump says U.S. will destroy Iran’s oil wells, Kharg Island without deal to ‘immediately’ reopen Hormuz Strait” (CNBC)

Iran’s lame strategy is merely to outlast America’s will to overcome a 47-year-old global embarrassment and threat to global security that should have been challenged decades ago.

They clearly do not understand a president who prefers outcome to process.

Let’s dispense with illusions.

The only durable outcome to this conflict is not another ceasefire, not another round of talks, not another “framework agreement” signed with ceremonial pens and forgotten the following Tuesday.

The only correct conclusion: A white flag. Conditions of surrender. The end of ayatollah rule.

Anything short of that is merely an intermission.

Iran’s underground “missile cities”—vast tunnel complexes designed to survive airstrikes and launch retaliatory attacks—were engineered to ensure the regime can keep fighting even after absorbing punishment. They must be located, penetrated, and rendered useless.

Iran still possesses 460 kg of highly enriched uranium, enough for 11 nuclear bombs. It must be neutralized. Not as punishment but as risk management.

For years, Iran has been an ogre managing a toll booth at the Strait of Hormuz, leveraging and now hindering the flow of global oil needs. That ogre must be taken out and Iranian control of the strait removed from their purview.

As for boots on the ground: Let us pray our leaders know in advance whatever hell our soldiers may be up against and are well prepared to meet the challenge. And that they also ensure our men in uniform are well compensated and properly treated when, years from now, they are veterans.

“‘My organs shut down, now I’m in a wheelchair’: The lives ruined by Covid jabs” (The Telegraph)

Are the shamers ashamed yet?

(They should be.)

“‘The Cult of Cesar’: Inside the Mountain Compound Led by Cesar Chavez” (NY Times)

He began managing according to the principles of Synanon, a drug-treatment program centered on verbal abuse, attack therapy, and public humiliation.

The appeal of mind control, recalled Marshall Ganz, one of his top lieutenants, was that it gave Mr. Chavez “the feeling of domination.”

In interviews, two women, both daughters of union organizers, told The Times that they were molested and sexually assaulted by Mr. Chavez as adolescents during the 1970s. They said his sexual contact with them began at La Paz when they were 12 and 13, and he was in his mid-40s.

No mo’ hailing Cesar!

In the wake of the Times investigation, members of Congress have introduced a bill to abolish and defund the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument.

Maybe they should move it to the Obama presidential library.

Because as president, in 2012, Obama turned La Paz, where Mr. Chavez is buried, into a federal monument.

“Iranians hack FBI chief’s emails” (The Telegraph)

OMG! Hold the presses!

Iranian hackers uncovered and published a pic of the FBI director posing with…

… Ernest Hemingway?

“Governor Gavin Newsom Says California Revoked 280+ Hospice Licenses in Crackdown on Fraud” (Edhat)

If you’re wondering why this happened, it’s not because California’s remiss administrators discovered anything amiss.

It’s because independent journalist Nick Shirley hit the pavement, knocked on doors, and exposed massive fraud.

“‘Thousands of exorcists’ needed to tackle rise in Satanism” (The Telegraph)

The first exorcist was Jesus of Nazareth, who simply ordered demons to depart the persons they possessed.

The successful exorcisms Jesus conducted were considered His first miracles. Thereafter, exorcism became a mainstay in the promotion of Christianity: if the devil exists, so must God.

Jesus wanted all His disciples to possess the power to smoke out demons and send them packing. But once Christianity became an organized religion, its high priests adopted exorcism as their exclusive domain and set “requirements” and “qualifications” for those “allowed” to practice it.

To become an exorcist, as Jesus wanted everyone to be, the basic kit is not complicated: a handful of prayers in Latin, a cross, a vial of holy water, the fortitude to engage hell—and a pack of Depends.

It also helps to possess an understanding of Diablo.

The demon does not have supernatural powers, only preternatural powers of illusion and observation. It is not all-knowing, though pretends to be and feigns omniscience. What it does know are your weaknesses and where you’ve been—rather like Santa Claus knowing who’s naughty and nice.

Before proceeding with an exorcism, discernment of diabolic intrusion is necessary. Four tests must be applied to determine whether possession is truly present—or whether you are dealing with mental illness.

Does the subject exhibit abnormal strength? Knowledge of an unknown language? Knowledge of hidden things? An aversion to things holy and sacred? Demons cannot bear looking at holy objects and are said to be especially terrified of the Virgin Mary.

One should first test for “pseudo-possession”: pretend to use Latin prayer and holy water, while actually using Latin prose and un-blessed water. If the subject reacts, she is faking (most victims of possession are women by a ratio of seven to three).

Demonic presence manifests four ways: infestation, as in a premises); oppression, whereby external demons haunt with voices or physical abuse; obsession, and possession.

If possessed, the victim must be a willing participant in the exorcism and be prompted to say, “Eternal father, you are my creator, I adore you.” So don’t try exorcising anyone behind their back or against their will. It won’t work—and may earn you a restraining order.

Then demand: “I command you, in the name of God, to depart”—and try to mean it. Conviction matters. Demons, like bureaucrats and conmen, can smell weakness.

Demons will not speak unless ordered to do so, and are notoriously reluctant to reveal their names, which they regard as defeat. Do not ask the demon any questions other than its name. After the demon reveals itself, intensify pressure. The subject may appear to pass out as the demon tries to avoid hearing prayer. When that happens, pray louder. If the demon intimidates with intense eyes, stare it down.

Be aware that the demon may pretend to depart. Deception is part of the job description. So stick around a while, be thorough and then—poof—just like that…

…it’s gone.

What a week—whew!

And you should too.

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“We Visited ‘Ground Zero’ for Hospice Fraud: Los Angeles, California”(CBS News)

The hospice business in LA is booming.

Unfortunately, most of these “businesses” are fake and sucking Medicare dry.

One woman discovered she was dying when Medicare refused to pay for physical therapy because, according to the system, she was already in hospice.

She wasn’t dying.

She was playing pickleball.

But on paper she was terminal—and someone was billing the federal government for the privilege.

Add LA

“Gavin Newsom’s wife and her firm pocketed $3.7M from her ‘gender stereotypes’ charity, unearthed IRS filings reveal” (Daily Mail)

Lemme get this straight.

Start a charity.

Then pay yourself and your own firm $3.7 million—a third of all the dough that rolls in?

That’s not philanthropy.

It’s venture capitalism with better tax treatment.

“The Obama Foundation Is Even More Corrupt Than You Thought”(PJ Media)

An $850 million monument to influence, donors, and brand—wrapped in the moral language of philanthropy.

Because in modern politics, presidents don’t retire. They institutionalize themselves.

A nonprofit and permanent post-presidential influence machine combined.

The donor list reads like Davos—a who’s who of the global influence class, investing in access and future leverage.

• Jeff Bezos — $100 million donation

• Connie & Steve Ballmer (Microsoft billionaire) — $25M+ tier

• Marc Benioff (Salesforce founder)

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder)

Here’s the real scandal:

Jackson Park was public land.

Today a private presidential foundation builds its legacy monument there and runs the show.

Technically the land still belongs to the people. Which in modern American politics means: the public keeps the grass. The powerful keep the campus.

“Farrah Fawcett’s unrecognizable nepo-baby son seen with DEVIL HORN face tattoos after allegedly stabbing actor in the head” (DailyMail)

Yet another child of Hollywood celebrities goes nuts.

Redmond O’Neal, wayward progeny of Ryan O’Neal & Farrah Fawcett

The 5250 tattoo explained: “A 5250 hold is a California-based, involuntary, 14-day psychiatric commitment that follows an initial 72-hour (5150) hold. It is initiated if a facility determines a person is a danger to themselves, others, or gravely disabled.”

“Cops swarm on Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro ranch to search for bodies of two girls strangled during rough sex sessions amid human experimentation claims” (Daily Mail)

About friggin’ time.

Not least because—aside from a couple female bodies said to be buried nearby—witnesses are now coming forward with allegations that push the Epstein story into even darker territory.

Several men and women claim they were drugged at the ranch, awakened around medical equipment, and later realized biological material had been taken from their bodies.

Human experimentation.

Without authorization from the humans. (May explain buried bodies.)

Somewhere out there in that New Mexico desert lies the truth about what really happened at Zorro Ranch—and maybe about pedophiles from the global power elite.

“London Knife Crime is So Bad They Now Need ‘Bleed Kits’ in Every Bus.” (The National Pulse)

Not the London I once knew. So very sad.

But at least the British capital now boasts over 1,000 mosques.

“Britain to Remove Churchill from Banknotes” (The National Pulse)

The British Bulldog apparently no longer meets modern branding requirements.

Rather like the bust of Churchill removed from the Oval Office during the Biden administration.

(Trump reinstalled it.)

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“Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces” (Washington Post)

Very un-intelligent of Russia, not least because their “intelligence” changes nothing.

Plus, this kind of fruitless meddling will not sit well with Trump, who may finally grasp that Mad Vlad is not his buddy—a realization that hopefully bodes well for Ukraine.

Far from intelligence, this is Russian stupidity—and token at best.

“Putin and Iran’s Pezeshkian Hold Phone Call as Middle East War Escalates” (Moscow Times)

“Intel report warns large-scale war ‘unlikely’ to oust Iran’s regime” (WaPo)

It doesn’t matter.

Decimating the regime’s navy, air force, missiles, launchers, drones, radar systems, nuclear facilities, IRGC and secret police compounds is good enough to ease their 47-year “Death to America” threat and lay the groundwork for a popular uprising.

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Here’s How Insider Washington Really Works

Nicolás Maduro was extracted from Venezuela and now awaits trial in a New York City jail. What happened wasn’t the system functioning as designed. It was the system overridden. The correct lens isn’t Left vs. Right. Not hawk vs. dove. It isn’t even the United States vs. Maduro. It’s Trump vs. Insider Washington.…

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State of the Union

Donald Trump: “I’m inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

Most Democrats in the audience did not stand.

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“LA residents fought rampant break-ins with ingenious solution — now the city is forcing them to stop” (California Post)

Here is the modern California equation: Police response times lapse and stretch, break-ins rise, residents organize.

Residents install deterrents. They harden perimeters. They take responsibility for the square footage their taxes supp…

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“Why China wants Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom to be U.S. President (NY Post)

China knows a good deal when they see one.

And California matters to China. It’s the world’s fourth-largest economy, a major trade partner with deep tech links, massive agricultural exports, and a gigantic Chinese-American community with family and business ties on both sides of the …

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Ever wonder why problems overseen by government never get resolved?

You’re about to find out.

There is a pattern so reliable it might as well be a law of nature—except that it’s a law of government (or at least what government has become).

Once you see it, you see it everywhere.

It goes like this:

A real problem emerges.

The government responds.

A program is c…

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“Tom Homan unveils shocking new ICE rule book in Minnesota as Kristi Noem is left utterly humiliated” (Daily Mail)

New guidance for ICE operations in Minnesota directs agents to only target immigrants who have criminal charges or convictions.

This is how it was supposed to be; this is how it should have been.

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Time Favors Autocrats

Right now, both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are unhappy campers.

Donald Trump is back. He’s disruptive. Transactional. Unpredictable.

He doesn’t read from the script and he doesn’t respect established protocols.

Trump disrupts preferred rhythm. He refuses tidy ladders. He treats geopolitics like real estate—location, leverage, walk-a…

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I grew up celebrating Christmas and I’m not trading it for “winter holidays” or anything else. Greet me with “Happy Hannukah” or “Happy Kwanzaa” or “Happy Holidays” or whatever makes you feel good, fine with me, glad you are enjoying the Yuletide season. But I’m sticking with “Merry Christmas!”

For me this is a cultural, not religious thing.

Much more imp…

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“Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump” (Bloomberg)

In the latest episode of Diplomacy for Dummies, Trump’s real-estate whisperer Steve Witkoff was caught on tape tutoring the Kremlin on how to flatter his boss and sell him a “peace plan” Ukraine could love about as much as Chernobyl.

“Who leaked Witkoff’s Kremlin call? These are th…

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“Trump Offers a Ukraine Peace Plan the Kremlin Can Love” (NYTs)

Even if Zelenskyy accepted the plan tomorrow, Mad Vlad wouldn’t. Putin doesn’t want peace; he wants victory. He wants Kyiv—and all of Ukraine. And after that, he wants the Baltic republics (and Poland) back under Moscow’s boot. Peace talks, for him, are just camouflage for conquest.

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“Trump faces biggest Republican rebellion yet over Epstein” (The Telegraph)

If Joe Biden’s DOJ had anything on Trump, they would have unleashed it long before the 2024 election.

That said, they should release everything (including the CIA’s files on Epstein) and let the (cow) chips fall where they may.

“BBC Newsnight also doctored Trump speech” (The Telegr…

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“BBC ‘doctored’ Trump speech” (The Telegraph)

The BBC’s Panorama program—aired a week before the U.S. election—“completely misled” viewers by editing footage of President Trump’s January 6 speech.

The broadcast showed him telling supporters he was going to walk to the Capitol with them to “fight like hell.”

In reality, Trump’s full statement was that he wo…

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