Posts Tagged ‘Transiberian Railroad’

LinkSwarm For August 14, 2026

Friday, August 14th, 2026

Finally, an SPLC arrest, Iran is broker than broke, a crazy commie loses despite a huge poll lead, more Russian Wildberries, ships, and conveys blow up, more of that voting fraud that never happens, and Israel dirtnaps more Hamas scumbags.

It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!

  • Authorities Arrest Ex-Southern Poverty Law Center CFO on Fraud Charges. The indictment alleges Heidi Beirich, who also supposedly had a romantic relationship with an informant, helped funnel money to white supremacist groups through informants.”

    Authorities in California arrested Heidi Beirich, a former chief financial officer (CFO) at the Southern Poverty Law Center, on fraud charges.

    The indictment alleges Beirich helped funnel money to white supremacist groups through informants. She also supposedly had a romantic relationship with one of them.

    From CNN:

    The woman, Heidi Beirich, previously ran the SPLC’s project tracking hate groups in the US and allegedly “oversaw payments of donors’ money” to people inside of these hate groups, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say she shared a bank account with one of those sources, which included funds from the SPLC’s payments.

    “I believe she was part of the effort to open bank accounts in completely fictitious companies’ names and make payments to individuals for reasons that that were not accurate as as described,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference Wednesday. “This is exactly what we said would happen in a case like this, which is that our investigators and the US attorneys and the agents working the case will can keep on working it even after the initial indictment.”

    Oh yeah, Blanche was confirmed as Attorney General. Maybe should have had a link on that, but, eh.

    The grand jury indictment against the SPLC came down in April 2026, including 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

    “In order to covertly pay the individuals, the SPLC opened bank accounts connected to a series of fictitious entities,” the DOJ wrote in a press release. “The covert nature of the accounts allowed the SPLC to disguise the true nature, source, ownership, and control of the fraudulently obtained donated money the SPLC paid the individuals. In order to keep the scheme going, the SPLC made a series of false statements related to the operation of the accounts.”

    Beirich is “Employee-2” in the indictment, who worked as SPLC’s director of intelligence between 2012 and 2019.

    SPLC said America had a racism problem. It did. It was the SPLC…

  • Not a whole lot of kinetic news out of Iran this week, but there are additional signs that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s economy is cracking.

    Despite the bluster from Iranian officials on social media, it should come as no surprise that the country is not doing well economically. From the beginning of the conflict to current day, Iran has been dealt an estimated $270 billion to $300 billion in total damage due to a steady barrage of strikes, including numerous infrastructure targets from bridges, highways, railways, airports, etc.

    The three-month-long US blockade on Iran’s oil exports have also taken a toll, with national oil output dropping from 2.2 million bpd to less than 300,000 bpd. It is likely that there has been some long term damage to the regime’s oil wells and they have lost approximately $6 billion in oil revenues so far.

    With a general information blackout in place, getting a proper estimation of the damages can be difficult. However, in recent months many Iranian leaders and media sources have indicated a dangerous shift in the stability of the country. The situation has become so volatile that citizens are reportedly turning to theft in order to get their hands on basic necessities including food.

    Iranian newspaper Jahan-e Sanat has reported increased theft of basic groceries over recent months, with store workers linking the trend to rising poverty. Related reports say meat is in short supply, there is reduced consumption of staples, subsidy shortfalls, and broader poverty pressures.

    Analysts note that while full state collapse or famine has not yet occurred, the combination of high food inflation, currency weakness and job losses is placing severe strain on households. Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, seemed to confirm the decline last week when he noted that the country was facing economic “difficulties and problems,” while claiming the enemy was trying to provoke protests.

    At Iran’s 33rd Conference on Monetary and Banking Policies (around June 2026), he questioned why people wake up to find their purchasing power has fallen and stated there are “hundreds of ways to overcome the economic impasse.” He noted that policymakers take people’s money and “return it with reduced value.”

    Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati presented a recovery roadmap and acknowledged an ongoing GDP contraction. He stated that “the combination of war and cruel sanctions has posed serious challenges to the country’s economy. Most importantly, people’s livelihoods have been severely affected because various sectors of the economy have been impacted by sanctions.”

    He also cited inflation at around 53%, which appears to be a underestimation of the real currency destruction taking place.

    Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani has discussed infrastructure damage (e.g., bridges, tunnels, gas and electricity capacity losses), adjustments to gasoline rations, and challenges with subsidy payments disrupted by banking issues or cyberattacks.

    These admissions are often wrapped in claims of resiliency despite the crisis, but the biggest danger (inflation) has yet to fully play out. SCI data for the Persian month of Khordad (ending ~June 21, 2026) showed overall year-on-year inflation of 88.6% (up from pre-escalation levels around 50%). Food inflation reached 134%, with oils/fats at 278%, red meat/poultry at 178%, and bread/cereals at nearly 139%.

    The rial hit record lows of around 1.5–1.9 million per USD at various points during the war. This has amplified import costs and eroded purchasing power.

    Crippling infrastructure damage and currency devaluation might help to explain Iran’s desperate insistence on charging tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. If their oil industry is facing a multi-year setback and damage to infrastructure is extensive, tolls on shipping through the strait may be their only source of economic recovery.

  • There seems to be just enough juice left in the Corrupt Wing of the Democrat Party to rise up and defeat the very worst candidates of the insane wing, as Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong lost.

    Yesterday, faced with a potential gubernatorial nominee who hates a bunch of American holidays, Wisconsin Democrats pulled it together and got just enough votes to nominate Milwaukee County executive David Crowley instead of the DSA candidate, Francesca Hong. As of this writing, Crowley has a bit more than 313,000 votes, and Hong has a bit more than 310,000. The Associated Press called Crowley the winner at 2:34 a.m. local time.

    Keep in mind, recent polling had Hong with a lead of 18 to 29 percentage points.

    More glory for America’s political pollsters…

  • More on Hong:

    7 months ago Francesca Hong voted against a bill that made it illegal for teachers to groom their students for sexual purposes

    Here’s what happened: A 30-year-old teacher messaged a 13-year-old student of his every day for six months and talked about how he wanted them to be together, she had a nice body, and he was jealous when she talked to other boys. He also sent her pictures of himself lying shirtless in bed

    So the cops arrested him but when they went to charge him, they realized nothing he did was actually illegal. They never made sexual contact and no pictures were exchanged that were explicit enough to qualify under Wisconsin state law. This guy was actively trying to rape a 13-year-old student and there was no law forbidding his conduct

    He wound up being charged with a bunch of disturbing the peace charges and only spent six months in prison for spending half a year abusing his authority as a teacher to manipulate a 13-year-old girl into having sex with him. He is not a convicted felon – since all the charges were misdemeanors – and is not on the sex offender registry

    The Wisconsin State Assembly responded to this by drafting a bipartisan bill that made it a felony to engage in any course of conduct clearly and obviously intended seduce or lure a child into engaging in sexual acts or exchanging illicit images. It passed 193-6 and was signed into law by the Democratic governor. Francesca Hong voted no.

    4 months later the first person was charged under the new law. He was 36-year-old man who met a developmentally disabled 16-year-old in a public park when she was 13 and spent the next three years trying to manipulate her into running away from home so he could make her his live-in sex slave.

    To recap: Earlier *this very year* Franesca Hong was one of only six people to vote against a bill that made it illegal to take affirmative action designed to lure a minor into sexual acts and the very first person the bill Hong voted against was used to arrest was a guy who tried to rape an underage girl with Down Syndrome

    (Hat Tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

  • “‘We’re Here To Destroy The White Race‘: Democratic Socialist Of America Hero Declares War On West.”

    Marxist streamer Hasan Piker has emerged as an increasingly visible, if unofficial, spokesman for the Democratic Socialists of America’s rapidly expanding political action network. He campaigned for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong while cultivating close ties with socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

    From an electoral-risk perspective, Piker is becoming a liability for Democrats. His far-left, anti-American rhetoric provides Republicans with what we called “a gift” last week. Even Hillary Clinton warned on Friday that the GOP’s “anti-communist messaging is very effective.”

    Piker calls on his followers to “kill capitalists”:

    Piker: “We want more immigrants to come into your countries and then they’re gonna f**k your sisters and then your daughters. We’re here to destroy the White Race, Bitch.”

    He’s the perfect face for the modern Democrat Party.

  • Another win for Texas voter integrity laws.

    A federal appeals court has delivered another victory for Texas’ landmark 2021 election integrity law—the same legislation that prompted Democrat lawmakers to flee the state in an unsuccessful attempt to block its passage.

    The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling that blocked nine provisions of Senate Bill 1, including requirements related to voter identification for mail ballots and assistance provided to voters.

    The three-judge panel sharply criticized the lower court’s handling of challenges to the law.

    “In short, we have been playing an exhausting game of Whac-A-Mole to correct the district court’s mishandling of this case,” Judge Andrew Oldham wrote after recounting a series of previous Fifth Circuit decisions reversing or staying rulings against SB 1.

    Oldham opened the opinion with an equally forceful defense of mail-in voting safeguards.

    “It has long been established that mail-in ballots are prone to fraud,” wrote Oldham, adding that voting by mail “jeopardizes election integrity and democracy itself.”

    Passed by the Legislature in 2021, SB 1 established new safeguards, including requiring voters casting ballots by mail to provide an identification number or Social Security number that matches state records.

    The law also established procedures for voters to correct defective mail ballots and imposed requirements on individuals assisting voters, including an oath that they did not coerce or intimidate the voter and disclosure of their relationship to the voter.

    The legislation became the centerpiece of a months-long political battle at the Texas Capitol.

    Democrat lawmakers first broke quorum near the end of the 2021 regular legislative session to kill an earlier version of the election legislation. When Gov. Greg Abbott called lawmakers back into a special session, more than 50 House Democrats left Texas for Washington, D.C., again denying the chamber a quorum.

    The effort ultimately failed, and lawmakers returned to Austin. SB 1 was subsequently approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Abbott.

    The decision is the latest in a series of Fifth Circuit victories for the state over challenges to SB 1.

    In 2025, the appeals court reversed separate permanent injunctions against provisions of the law challenged under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the latter ruling in June.

    Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit also reversed another permanent injunction against SB 1 provisions challenged under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

  • “Federal Grand Jury indicts 11 in massive $100K-per-couple marriage fraud scheme.”

    The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a two-count indictment charging 11 individuals for orchestrating a massive, decade-long marriage fraud network that arranged over 1,000 sham marriages.

    Federal prosecutors described the operation as one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in U.S. history, spanning “from 2016 through July 2026 and generating tens of millions of dollars in illegal revenue.”

    The criminal scheme primarily aimed to secure fraudulent green cards and lawful permanent residency for foreign nationals, predominantly citizens of the People’s Republic of China, the DOJ noted.

    According to the 21-page indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the defendants marketed their services through social media, word of mouth and targeted advertising.

    Foreigners reportedly paid the enterprise up to $100,000 each to facilitate a fake marriage and process green card applications. In turn, the network recruited U.S. citizens to act as spouses, paying them up to $30,000 per arrangement, while recruiters pocketed commissions of around $5,000 for every participant enrolled.

    Federal officials explained further how the syndicate functioned as a “full-service” operation designed to systematically evade federal immigration checks. Facilitators hired officiants and photographers, staged wedding ceremonies — sometimes at local restaurants where participants wore traditional attire to fabricate authenticity — and generated fake documentation.

  • “One Of Ukraine’s Longest Range Drone Strikes: Petrochemical Facility Hit in Tobolsk, 2,250km Away!”
  • Another Wildberries Destroyed! In Voronezh. Burned Down Extremely Quickly!”
  • “Ukrainian Drones Hit TANECO Oil Refinery in Nizhnekamsk (1,200km from Ukraine!)”
  • Ukraine hits “multiple Black Sea Fleet ships at Novorossiysk, including a Project 22160 patrol ship, a Kilo-class submarine, and the Admiral Makarov, an Admiral Grigorovich class frigate, as well as grain export terminal facilities.
  • Ukraine destroys a train carrying North Korean ballistic missiles some 6,000 miles away on the Transiberian Railroad. Depending on where on the Transiberian Railroad it was hit, that could put a real crimp on Russian logistics coming from China, one of its last lifelines.
  • Russian oil refinery 6,500km away from Ukraine goes up in flames, but it probably wasn’t a Ukraine strike.
  • “Ukraine Destroys Massive 50 Vehicle+ Convoy in Donetsk.”
  • “Ukrainian Air Strike Destroys Two Key Bridges in Urazovo, Russia.” That’s in Belgorod Oblast, just north of Ukraine.
  • That thing that never happens happened again. “Non-citizen sex offender given green light to vote by Dearborn poll officials.”

    OMG [O’Keefe Media Group]’s undercover journalists investigated two Michigan registered voters identified as non-U.S. citizens in federal court and DHS records. One of them, Afshin Masheli, is identified in federal court records as an Iranian national and non-U.S. citizen. DHS has previously featured Masheli on its publicly released “Worst of the Worst” list, which highlights noncitizens arrested by ICE for serious criminal offenses. According to United States District Court records, Masheli is a registered sex offender.

    OMG proved that at Masheli’s assigned polling location, election workers confirmed a voter registration under his name appeared in the poll book and stated that a registered voter listed there could cast a ballot. Our undercover journalist spoke to Afshin Masheli himself and Masheli said he planned to vote later that day.

    Our investigation also identified another registered voter, Fazlollah Haritash, whose federal records identify him as a non-U.S. citizen. Public court records and Michigan’s public sex offender registry showing the criminal convictions, and the registry lists him as incarcerated. At the polling location associated with Fazlollah Haritash’s voter registration, an election worker confirmed that a voter registration under his name appeared on Michigan’s voter rolls.

  • More tax incentives to hire foreigners over Americans. “Employers Using J1 Student Visas for Seasonal Work Pay NO Social Security Taxes.”

    When a company hires J1 student temporary or season employees, they do not have to pay the 7.5% FICA or Social Security tax on the wages.

    If a company hires a seasonal American student, they have to pay the 7.5%. If the company hires a foreign student, they don’t. This creates a perverse incentive for private equity firms, companies or corporations to hire foreign seasonal workers…

    Apparently, this is now the common approach within the hospitality industry to save money and increase profit from payrolls. Unfortunately, this approach puts young Americans at a disadvantage when seeking summer or short-term seasonal employment.

    For fiscal Year 2025: The U.S. State Department processed 506,142 applications and successfully issued 451,803 J-1 visas.

  • Violent Anti-ICE Protesters Are Sentenced, Convicted.”

    Among the recent criminal sentencings and convictions:

    — Jacob Daniel Terrazas, 31, of Paramount, Calif., was sentenced July 22 to ten months in federal prison “for throwing chunks of cinderblock at Border Patrol agents and injuring one of them during a protest that turned violent,” according to a Justice Department press release. Terrazas pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of simple assault on a federal officer.

    — Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, a Mexican illegal immigrant living in Los Angeles, was sentenced August 3 to 37 months in federal prison “for pouring two bottles of lighter fluid onto a burning California Highway Patrol (CHP) vehicle and throwing an electric scooter over a freeway overpass near officers during an anti‑immigration law enforcement riot in a downtown Los Angeles,” according to a Justice Department press release.

    — Ismael Vega, 42, from Los Angeles, was sentenced July 27 to 37 months in federal prison “for throwing rocks and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers trapped underneath a downtown Los Angeles freeway overpass … during a violent anti-immigration law enforcement protest last year,” according to a Justice Department press release. Vega pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.

  • Israel Eliminates Two Hamas Commanders Involved in October 7 Massacre. Out of estimated 5,000 Gaza terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, over 2,700 have been eliminated.”

    On Friday, the IDF disclosed the recent elimination of Hamas company commander Muhammad Mushtaha, who committed atrocities on October 7, 2023, and kept several Israelis in captivity. “The IDF now confirms the elimination of the terrorist Muhammad Bassam Muhammad Mushtaha, who was struck two weeks ago in the northern Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement on Friday. “Muhammad Mushtaha served as a company commander in the Shati’ Battalion in the Hamas terrorist organization׳s military wing.”

    Snip.

    On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike killed another Hamas commander who took part in the October 7 Massacre. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) “struck in the area of Gaza City and eliminated the terrorist Jamal Mahmoud Abu Kamil, a commander in the Hamas terrorist organization who infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7th Massacre,” the IDF announced on Friday. ”

  • From Dwight comes the heartwarming story of Gina LaPlaca, former mayor of Lumberton Township in New Jersey, who, with her husband Jason Carty, was indicted for voting fraud, namely collecting fraudulent signatures to compete in a Democrat primary…only to come in third of three.
  • Brandon Herrera and Wes Virdell buy silencers. “GOA Members to Make History with First Suppressor Transfers Without NFA Registration Since 1934.”
  • This week’s Flock camera meme:

    (Hat tip: According to Hoyt.)

  • Ann Coulter: “Google AI will NOT cite The Daily Mail.” Specifically, Google will not find a 2013 Daily Mail article about Trayvon Martin and drug use, even if you search for the exact name of the article. The Ministry of Truth is hard at work hiding those pesky facts from you. (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
  • Well: “Jason Arday, ex-Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism, found dead in UK week after investigation launched.” (Previously.) (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • “North Carolina man with several prior arrests goes on white-woman-beating spree, posts videos of crimes on social media.”

    One of the videos showed an alleged assault that was reported on July 30. The video appeared to show [Diquan] Hunt punch a woman on a sidewalk off East Boulevard in Charlotte’s South End before running away.

    The person suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. It was not immediately clear why Hunt punched her, but it does appear to be random.

    In the video, it appears you can hear Hunt say to a woman passing by, ‘Don’t wave to me.’ Hunt appeared to hit the woman and can be seen standing over her, screaming at her and asking her, ‘You still talking?’

    Hunt was taken to a local medical facility for treatment. He will be transferred into the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office once he is released and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

    Bonus: “This is Hunt’s tenth arrest since 2023.” Of course Mecklenburg County DA Spencer Merriweather is a Democrat…

  • Bad guy threatens gas station clerk after being denied alcohol because he didn’t have ID. Good guy with gun: DELETED. Bonus: Perp’s name: “Ofa’tangikivaha Angilau (a classic Utah name right there).”
  • “Bitcoin Red Team Says AI Is Finding Critical Exploits Across Core Projects. A volunteer security effort says it has scanned 150 Bitcoin repositories, disclosed more than a dozen vulnerabilities, and is building an open-source AI platform to automate software security reviews.”
  • Beware of knockoff tool batteries
  • “Josh Kushner, Bob Iger Stun Sports World With Record-Shattering $12 Billion Lakers Takeover Deal.”
  • Karoline Leavitt steps down as Trump’s press secretary.
  • Royce White, the Rockets draftee turned Republican congressional candidate has declared for the WNBA, along with ex-NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom. How far is the WNBA willing to go to tie itself into knots rather than offend the radical left by just declaring that no one with XY chromosomes can play in the WNBA?
  • “Democrats Announce You Aren’t Allowed To Remember What They Did A Few Years Ago.”
  • “Scientists Hard At Work Making IPhone Weather App Even Less Accurate.”
  • Treats. Serious business.

    (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)

  • I’m still between jobs. Feel free to hit the tip jar if you’re so inclined.





    LinkSwarm For January 9, 2026

    Friday, January 9th, 2026

    Iran teeters, Walz falls, more Russia’s shadow fleet has an epically bad week, more Minnesota Somali fraud fallout, more computer security vulnerabilities, and a policeman transformed into a frog using the power of AI! Plus the Austro-Hungarian and Achaemenid empires. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!

    Personally, this week has been deeply frustrating, as I’ve been trying to withdraw money from my 401K account to pay my property taxes, a process I began mid-December, and it’s still not done. “Oh, these things take time,’ says 401K company. Then it’s “Oh, we haven’t heard back from your former employers.” Former employer: “Oh, we haven’t received the request from your 401K company.” Then: “Oh, the third party company we hired to handle 401K requests hasn’t received the request.” Now it’s “Oh, they’ve just started working on it, but they’re always slow at the end of the year.” It’s frustrating to have to jump through so many hoops to access my own money.

    On to the LinkSwarm!

  • From the outside, it’s hard to tell how serious the chances of protesters are to free their own country, but they’re so fed up with the mullah’s rule that they’re burning mosques.

    Iranian protestors demonstrating against the theocratic regime will face harsh punishment with absolutely zero leniency, Iran’s top judge has warned — as footage emerged Friday of mosques burning on the streets of Tehran amid the ongoing riots.

    Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran’s judiciary, issued the stark warning after President Trump vowed to back those peacefully demonstrating across the country.

    Signaling a potentially violent crackdown, Ejei vowed the punishment for rioters would “be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency.”
    Protesters gather as vehicles burn in Tehran, Iran.

    Things in Iran seem to be moving very fast indeed…

  • “Authorities report that Mahmoud Haqiqat, a police station commander in Iranshahr, Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was shot and killed by unknown assailants this week in a drive-by attack. Video circulating online appears to show gunmen firing on Haqiqat’s vehicle before it crashed. Social posts and video descriptions identify him as the former head of the city’s intelligence and allege that he was involved in operations targeting anti-regime Baluch groups in the area.” Add Balochs to Kurds and Lurs as ethnic minorities pissed at the mullah’s government. There’s also a substantial Baloch population in Pakistan, and they don’t like the Pakistani government either. Hell, history records the Balochs rebelling against the Achaemenid Empire three millennia ago…
  • “Blue states created an election trimester for ballots, now Trump conservatives are pushing back.”

    With constant pressure from liberal activists, some states now dispatch mail-in ballots 45 to 60 days before Election Day and allow the counting of such absentee votes as many as three weeks afterward, creating an election trimester that causes vote tallies to wildly fluctuate days after polls close and increasingly erodes Americans’ trust.

    But conservatives are now fighting back, first with an executive order by President Donald Trump requiring all ballots to be counted on election night, followed by a challenge to Mississippi’s counting process that has not reached the U.S. Supreme Court and then the Ohio legislature’s vote to require all its ballots to arrive on election night to be tallied.

    “It’s common sense that ballots should arrive by Election Day,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose told Just the News this week after his state became the 35th to require mail-in ballots to arrive by Election Night in order to be counted. Previously, the state had a four-day grace period for ballots to arrive after Election Day.

    “I think that trying to reduce complexity should be our goal in government, and certainly when it comes to the rules for how elections run,” LaRose said in a wide-ranging interview with the John Solomon Reports podcast. “If you were to stop the average person on the street last year and say, what’s the deadline for your ballot to get back to the board of elections, they would not know that it’s four days after. It’s kind of an arbitrary date.”

    The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that many states now mail out ballots as early as 45 days to two months before Election Day and about a dozen states allow them to be counted days later — as long as three weeks afterward in Washington state, 14 days in Illinois, 10 days in Maryland and seven days in California and New York.

  • There’s not a violin small enough. “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz Drops Reelection Bid amid Somali Fraud Scandal.”

    Tim Walz is dropping his bid for a third term as governor of Minnesota amid a national political firestorm sparked by the identification of massive welfare fraud in the state’s Somali community.

    Walz released a statement Monday morning ahead of a late morning press conference announcing his withdrawal from the race.

    “But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” Walz said. “So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”

    Translation: “I got caught, and I need to see if I can get away from this giant pile of graft as quickly as possible.”

    Walz and fellow Minnesota Democrats have been subjected to withering attacks at the hands of Trump and his allies over the staggering scale of welfare fraud that’s taken place under their noses in recent years. Federal prosecutors announced last month that the cost of the welfare fraud perpetrated against state-run Medicaid services alone could exceed $9 billion, half or more of the $18 billion paid out since 2018.

    A federal probe into the matter has been initiated, and Minnesota officials have until January 9 to provide the administration with more information regarding who is receiving the welfare benefits in the state.

    It’s amazing that anyone can give Gavin Newsom a run for the title of America’s Most Incompetent Governor, but Walz is just that special.

  • A few facts on Somalis in Minnesota:
    • 54% of Somalis are on food stamps
    • 73% on Medicaid
    • 81% on Welfare
    • 78% on Welfare after 10 years

    The perfect Democrat constituency…

  • It’s been going on a while. “Minnesota Inspector General [Carolyn Ham] covered up hundreds of millions in Somali childcare fraud in 2018.”

    You know how the Somali childcare fraud has been a big thing, kind of an open secret in Minnesota for years now?

    Well, not only has this been happening for at least a decade, but, according to this report, the state has known about it for at least that long.

    Check out these receipts from Maze on X detailing a nine-year-old investigation into the fraud at Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program — an investigation that went nowhere.

    The Minnesota child care fraud saga is so strange because years ago it was fully investigated, documented, and reported on by a team of state investigators set up to catch and stop child care fraud.

    They spent years gathering evidence including many hours of surveillance footage. In 2018 they compiled a detailed report and delivered it to their boss, the DHS Inspector General.

    Directly from the report: ‘Investigators, as well as the Supervisor and Manager of this unit believe that the overall fraud rate in this program is at least 50% of the $217M paid to child care centers in CY2017.’

    What did the Inspector General do with this information? She refused to meet with her own team, refused to discuss the findings of the report, and then spent $90,000 of taxpayer money to have an outside company write a report saying the fraud isn’t quite as bad as her own team of investigators was claiming.

    Woke is a heckuva drug, isn’t it?

    So is corruption, scamming, and Democratic politics in general.

  • “Growing List Of Democratic Billionaire Kings & Queens Funnel Millions Into Terror-Tied Nonprofits.”

    Former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani, now at Fox News, is investigating the left-wing, billionaire-funded dark money networks in the nonprofit world and offering much-needed coverage for mainstream Americans on how these NGOs influence protest movements, unleash riots, and conduct sophisticated political pressure campaigns.

    Snip.

    Key details from the report:

    • MacKenzie Scott disclosed sending at least $5 million in a new round of donations to the Solidaire Network, on top of a $10 million gift in 2021 via her philanthropy vehicle, Yield Giving.
    • Solidaire funds a network of radical anti-Israel activist groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine, both of which are under House and Senate investigation for alleged coordination with Hamas-linked activities.
    • Other Solidaire-backed groups include the Palestinian Youth Movement and the US Palestinian Community Network, which publicly justified Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
    • Scott’s grants are unrestricted, allowing recipients to spend funds freely. Solidaire used this flexibility to finance campaigns promoting “Palestinian liberation,” campus protests, and direct-action activism, including efforts to block U.S. military logistics supporting Israel.
    • Funding was often routed through fiscal sponsors such as WESPAC Foundation and Tides Foundation, structures that have drawn scrutiny from Republican lawmakers investigating possible links to extremist groups.
    • Scott’s cumulative charitable giving has reached roughly $26 billion since 2019, surpassing the lifetime donations of George Soros, and placing her at the center of growing political controversy over billionaire-funded activist networks.

  • Doug Ross provides more leftwing funding network graphics.

  • Somalia’s UN Ambassador, Implicated in a Medicare Scandal, May Have Acquired American Citizenship Under False Pretenses.”

    The Somali ambassador to the United Nations, Abukar Dahir Osman, who is tied to a daycare company in Ohio under investigation in Washington, might have acquired an American citizenship fraudulently, according to a source in Somaliland.

    Ambassador Osman, who currently serves as the rotating president of the UN Security Council, first entered America in the mid-1980s and again in 1989. He claimed to be a refugee of a minority in Somaliland persecuted by the Somali regime at the time, a Somaliland ambassador at large who tweets under the name of Haggoogane, tells the Sun via text.

    Haggoogane, whose real name is Mustafa Osman but is unrelated to the ambassador, says that the current Somali UN ambassador was far from a refugee fearing extermination by the Somali regime. Instead, he tells the Sun, the UN ambassador was part of that regime in the late 1980s. “His job was to identify anyone the regime saw as a threat,” Haggoogane says.

    Between 1960 and 1991 the government of Somalia killed hundreds of thousands of ethnic Isaaq and others in Somaliland, which declared independence of Mogadishu in 1991.

    Following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland last month, the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, visited its capital, Hargeisa, on Tuesday, and met with President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. After Israel became the first UN member to recognize Somaliland’s independence, Mr. Osman, the Somali UN ambassador, convened an “emergency session” of the security council.

    At Washington on Tuesday, the deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Service, Jim O’Neill, confirmed a rumor regarding the Somali ambassador, which has long been whispered in UN corridors.

    “I can confirm public speculation that Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the UN and President of the Security Council, is in fact associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati,” Mr. O’Neill wrote on X. “HHS has previously taken action against Progressive in response to a conviction for Medicaid fraud. More to come.”

  • US seizes Russian-flagged tanker, intercepts ‘dark fleet’ ship in Venezuela sanctions crackdown.”

    The United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic this week while also intercepting a separate stateless “dark fleet” vessel tied to Venezuelan oil exports, US officials said, marking a significant escalation in Washington’s enforcement campaign against sanctioned energy shipments.

    According to US officials, the Russian-flagged tanker Marinera, previously known as Bella-1, was seized on Wednesday near Iceland after being tracked for more than two weeks across the Atlantic, reports Reuters. The operation occurred as Russian military assets, including a submarine, were operating in the general area, though officials said there were no signs of confrontation.

    In a post on X, US European Command said the tanker was seized for violating US sanctions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded, writing, “The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world.”

    Two US officials said the operation was carried out by the US Coast Guard with support from the US military. The Coast Guard declined to comment. Russian officials have not issued a response, though Russian state media outlet RT published an image showing a helicopter hovering near the ship.

    The Marinera had previously evaded US enforcement efforts in the Caribbean and refused boarding attempts. After those encounters, it re-registered under a Russian flag and changed its name, officials said. Sources indicated the vessel may now be heading toward British territorial waters, though its final destination has not been confirmed. The UK Ministry of Defence declined to comment.

    Separately, US Southern Command confirmed that the Coast Guard intercepted another tanker, the Panama-flagged M/T Sophia, in Latin American waters early Wednesday. The vessel was described as a “stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker” linked to Venezuelan oil shipments.

  • “Prosecutor Calls Newsom ‘King Of Fraud‘ For Oversight Failures.”

    U.S. First Assistant Attorney Bill Essayli Thursday called California Gov. Gavin Newsom “the king of fraud,” accusing him of a lack of oversight on spending to address homelessness.

    Essayli made the comments on the “Fox and Friends” telecast, during which he discussed the federal fraud charges that were filed in October against real estate executives Steven Taylor and Cody Holmes for allegedly misusing grant money meant for homeless housing.

    Holmes, 31, of Beverly Hills was charged with mail fraud charge that was allegedly linked to millions of dollars in grant money that the state paid Shangri-La Industries to purchase, build and operate homeless housing in Thousand Oaks, just north of Los Angeles. Holmes was Shangri-La’s chief financial officer.

    Taylor, 44, of Brentwood, was charged with seven counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of money laundering.

    Essayli Thursday said the charges are the “tip of the iceberg” in an investigation he launched with a task force in April. He said more charges would be coming, probably later this month.

    The state spent $24 billion in the last five years to address homelessness and can’t account for where the money went, Essayli said on “Fox and Friends.”

  • California Democrats: “Hey, let’s institute a wealth tax on billionaires!” California billionaires: “See ya!

    A ballot measure that could tax the wealthiest people in California may reportedly push billionaires Larry Page and Peter Thiel to leave the state, while other wealthy residents have condemned the idea, whose supporters claim could generate up to $100 billion—though the measure has yet to be considered by state officials or voters.

    • Thiel, who cofounded PayPal and Palantir, and Google cofounder Page have held discussions to reduce their ties to California by the end of the year because of the billionaire tax proposal, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with their thinking.
    • Thiel operates the investment firm Thiel Capital and may open an office for the company in another state, with plans to spend more time outside of California, while Page has filed documents to incorporate three limited liability companies in Florida, according to the Times.
    • Bill Ackman weighed in, calling California “on a path to self-destruction,” adding, “Hollywood is already toast and now the most productive entrepreneurs will leave, taking their tax revenues and job creation elsewhere.”
    • Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya wrote on X the proposed ballot measure would result in an “exodus of the state’s most talented entrepreneurs” who would opt to “build their companies in less regressive states,” and argued the middle class would be the worst hit by the tax.

    Dear Fleeing Billionaires: Welcome to Texas! Please be sure to discard any liberal ideas you brought with you in the nearest trash receptacle…

  • “Ukrainian Drones Hit Usman Oil Depot in Lipetsk & Ball Bearing Factory in Penza.”
  • Major train crash on key route used to feed Putin’s war machine with North Korean military equipment…A freight train hauling 35 wagons spectacularly derailed in Russia’s remote Amur region on the Transbaikal Railway – a strategic line linked to the famed Trans-Siberian route.”
  • Ukraine also hit the Oryol power plant.
  • Ukraine also hit Russian shadow fleet tanker Elbus in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey. It’s been a bad week all around for Russia’s shadow fleet…
  • France and UK bomb Islamic State targets in Syria. This isn’t the first time France has bombed Islamic State terrorists, as they also participated in Operation Chammal in 2014, back when the would-be caliphate was much closer to the extremely short zenith of its limited powers.
  • Minnesota woman tries to run over ICE agent, immediately enters find out phase.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers fatally shot a woman during an operation in Minneapolis Wednesday.

    As videos of the incident went viral, the Department of Homeland Security justified the shooting on self-defense grounds, calling the slain woman a “violent rioter” who “weaponized her vehicle” by driving towards federal agents.

    Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism. An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” said DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

    “The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased. The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries. This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement.”

  • She wasn’t the only idiot dirtnapped trying to run over ICE agents. A Tren de Aragua scumbag tried the same trick, and met the same fate, in Portland. Naturally, the usual leftist idiots there rioted.

    Yesterday, Border Patrol officers had to shoot a dangerous criminal gang member in self-defense after he committed a vehicular assault on them to evade arrest. Leftists in the sanctuary city of Portland, Ore., promptly turned out to protest his shooting — and apparently to try to accomplish his deadly intention against federal officers.

    In case you still have any illusions that the Democratic Party is not essentially a criminal organization, just look at the fury and violence the last few days in blue cities over the shootings of individuals who deliberately tried to seriously injure or kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Border Patrol officers. Renee Good in Minnesota and the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua member in Oregon were both violently and dangerously ramming their vehicles into officers at the time they were shot. That makes them leftist heroes and martyrs, it seems.

    The American left is trying to do a repeat of the summer of love and mostly peaceful protests in 2020. They want to burn down what is still standing after their previous riots. With Democrat politicians and media lying to fuel violence and their followers cheering for murder, how can we avoid the conclusion that the Democratic Party is acting like a terror organization?

    (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

  • “U.S. Department of Homeland Security Suspends Funds for Immigration Work of Catholic Charities RGV. The charity is accused of grant violations and incomplete recordkeeping.”

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended the funding for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV) pending an investigation into whether or not the charity is complying with federal grant requirements.

    According to CCRGV, the charity learned of the suspension in late November 2025. It claims that it is “committed to compliance with federal grant requirements and will work expeditiously with DHS to resolve the matter.”

    The charity stated that all of its funding was used to care for people brought to CCRGV by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) — individuals who were “released by CBP with a document that gave them permission to travel to their points of destination with instructions on where to follow up with their immigration proceedings.”

    CCRGV runs the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, a place that offers food and shelter to immigrants who are awaiting court hearings.

    According to reporting by Fox News, CCRGV was suspended after a DHS investigation revealed what the outlet called “major grant violations.”

    The suspension follows “months of warnings and data reviews that auditors say uncovered sweeping inaccuracies, large gaps in migrant records, and significant billing outside federally allowed timeframes,” Fox News reported.

    The investigators also reportedly found 248 instances in which CCRGV billed the federal government for services to immigrants outside of the 45-day window allowed by federal rules.

  • “North America Leads Largest LNG Export Surge Since 2022.”

    Surging liquefied natural gas exports from new North American export plants likely pushed global LNG shipments in 2025 by the most since 2022, Kpler data showed on Tuesday.

    The annual rise in 2025 would be the steepest increase in global LNG exports since 2022, when shipments grew by 4.5% compared to 2021, the data showed.

    North America was the key supplier of new LNG volumes, as Canada’s first-ever export facility, LNG Canada, started shipments in the middle of 2025, and Plaquemines LNG in Louisiana launched operations and ramped up shipments throughout the year.

    Thanks to rising capacity and volumes, the U.S. is set to become the first LNG exporter in the world to have passed in 2025 the threshold of 100 million tons of LNG exports in one year.

    Additional LNG supply is poised to hit the market between 2026 and 2030 as more U.S. export plants come online and Qatar begins shipments from its huge capacity expansion of the North Field export facilities.

    The U.S. is set to export 14.9 billion cubic feet per day of LNG in 2025, up by 25% from 2024, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) for December. With new projects ramping up, the EIA expects U.S. LNG exports to jump to an average of 16.3 billion cubic feet per day in 2026.

  • “Trump blocks chips deal over national security, China-related concerns.”

    President Donald Trump on Friday blocked the Delaware firm HieFo Corporation from acquiring assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore for $3 million, citing national security and China-related concerns.

    The president claimed HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China,” and that there was evidence to believe HieFo, through the merger, may “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”

    “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,” Trump said and ordered HieFo to “divest all interests and rights in the Emcore assets, wherever located,” within 180 days.

    Snip. “HieFo purchased Emcore’s chips business and indium-phosphide wafer-fabrication operations for $2.92 million.” Indium-Phosphide is a pretty exotic wafer material used in optics and photonics chips.

  • Leprino Foods, the world’s largest mozzarella producer and a vital supplier to major pizza chains like Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Papa John’s, moved its operations from California to Texas. “For over a century, the Lemoore plant in California’s Central Valley served as a cornerstone of the dairy industry, but the company is now shifting billions of dollars and hundreds of jobs into a new $870 million facility in Lubbock, Texas.”
  • Progress! “Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence. The private agency, which has distributed federal funding to PBS, NPR and hundreds of local television and radio stations across the country for more than a half-century, saw its appropriations from Congress eliminated this past summer.” They promised Big Bird and delivered leftwing propaganda.
  • NYC Bus Fares Raised To $3 Despite Mamdani’s Promise To Make It Free.” Commies breaking promises?

  • Borepatch: The 2025 most dangerous software exploits list.

    I get an incredible sense of deja vu all over again looking at Mitre’s list of top 25 exploits for 2025.

    The top 4 are all very, very old. I myself demonstrated #4 when I taught a computer security class (with corporate IT Security present) back in 1994. That’s three decades ago.

    And what’s with numbers 11 and 14? One of the classic papers on software security is Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit – from 1996.

    Numbers 3, 6, and 22 are web server vulnerabilities that are over 20 years old, and I’ve posted about them before.

    17, 19, and 21 have been known since before I was in this industry. Call it the 1980s, although it’s likely older.

    Number 2 is literally the Little Bobby Tables exploit…

  • “Cops Forced to Explain Why AI Generated Police Report Claimed Officer Transformed Into Frog.” (Hat tip: Commenter CayleyGraph2015.)
  • Ubisoft studio unionizes. Company lays them all off.
  • Sony PlayStation 5 boot keys have been leaked online, making it much easier to jailbreak systems.
  • Critical Drinker is cautiously optimistic about Avengers: Doomsday.
  • A new Peter Gabriel album is in the works.
  • Why the Austro-Hungarian army sucked in World War I.
  • Did ancient Roman soldiers carry a multi-tool?
  • Philly weirdo steals 100 skeletons from graveyard. That’s taking your Halloween LARPing too far…
  • “I don’t know if you know this, but all the presidents in South America, they’re free. You can just go take them.”
  • “Tim Walz Retiring To Spend More Time In Prison‬.”
  • “Trump Has Delta Force Operators Tell Maduro ‘You’re Fired.'”
  • “Trump To Choose Next Venezuelan President In Inaugural Season Of ‘El Aprendiz.'”
  • Trump Leads SEAL Team To Capture Rogue Dictator Gavin Newsom.”
  • “Aides Tell Disappointed Trump That Maduro And Mamdani Are Different People.”
  • “Democrats Once Again Threaten Civil War To Stop Republicans From Taking Away Their Slave Laborers.”
  • “Democrats Confused Why Venezuelans Cheering Downfall Of Nice, Warm Collectivism.”
  • “Anthropologists Discover Uncontacted Tribe In Remote Area Of IKEA.”
  • I’m still between jobs. Feel free to hit the tip jar if you’re so inclined.





    Ukraine’s New 3,000km Drone Opens Up Deep Logistic Targets

    Sunday, April 7th, 2024

    Ukraine’s new light aircraft drone, the one they used to hit the drone factory in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, can evidently carry a payload of 350kg of explosive up to 3,000 kilometers. (While I prefer Freedom Units, I’m going to use metric for this post because that’s what both the video and the Deep State point-to-point mapping too use.)

    Suchomimus mentions that this is long enough range to hit the large oil refinery in Omsk. Which is true, but if it can reach that far, there are a lot of logistic choke-points now in range that have the potential to put a world of hurt on Russia:

  • If you can hit Omsk, you can hit the Transiberian railway bridge over the Irtysh river, which Deep State marks (I’m using a launch point of Lyman in Ukraine for all these) as 2494km. As far as I can tell, that’s the only rail line in Russia that connects Moscow with Russia’s far eastern oblasts*. Russia could reroute some traffic through Kazakhstan’s rail network (which runs on the same Soviet 1,520 gauge rails), but I imagine there would be considerable pain in rerouting things that way.
  • You could hit the E30 highway bridge over the Ishim river near Abitskiy AKA Abatskoe (2324km). Compared to America and China, Russia has a very poor road network east of the Urals. E30 is their only decent east-west highway. You could possibly run some trucks down smaller roads, some of which may not even be paved, or, again, reroute some traffic through Kazakhstan’s highway network, depending on how the Kazakhs feel about it. At the very least, they’ll want to get paid…
  • There aren’t many crossing spots across the Ob river further north. Hit the rail bridge near Surgut (2582km), the one south of there across the Protoka Yuganskaya Ob (2577km), and, for good measure, the highway bridge just south of Nefteyugansk (2549km), and you’ll put northern Russian transportation in a world of hurt. (Of course, those areas are sparsely populated, and I don’t know how much material extraction done there is vital to the war effort.)
  • This is hardly an exhaustive list, and was only what I came up with off the top of my head and with a little Google map work. Russia east of the Urals is has extremely poor infrastructure, is crossed by rivers with few bridges (some places where you think there has to be a bridge only has a ferry), and hitting the right parts of that would require Russia to expend a lot of time, effort and logistical difficulty to repair. (Russia’s military has an number of railroad repair units, with the 48th Separate Railway Brigade in Omsk being the most relevant to this discussion, but they have to be able to get there, and get the materials to repair the damage, and bridge repair presents a whole different level of difficulty, like finding a floating crane and getting it in place.) You hit a few Transiberian choke-points and it puts a serious crimp in Russia-China trade, including most heavy military equipment China is selling.

    Caveats: The map is not the territory, and bridges can be hard to take out. But 350kg of a modern explosive is not a small charge, and there are a whole slew of logistical targets to be found within 3,000km of Ukrainian territory.

    *And krals. And autonomous okrugs. Russian administrative divisions are weird…