The Talafreakco Menace

June 1st, 2026

Now that Ken Paxton is officially the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, we can finally turn our full attention to the absolute freakshow the Democrats have selected to run against him.

In case you hadn’t noticed, James Talarico is an cringey weirdo who is deeply out of step with the state he wants to represent. So here’s a roundup.

  • Don’t be fooled by desperate attempts to spin Talarico as a moderate.

    After cruising to the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate in March, James Talarico now appears focused on a different challenge: convincing Texas general election voters he is more moderate than the progressive activist Republicans have spent years watching online.

    Republicans are already framing the effort as a “moderate media makeover” ahead of what is expected to become the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.

    During an interview with CBS News the day after Paxton won the Republican Senate runoff, officially setting the general-election matchup, Talarico was asked about his assertion that there are six sexes and a 2021 statement in which he said, “God is non-binary.”

    “What did you mean by that?” the interviewer asked. “Do you regret describing it that way?”

    “God can’t be defined by human categories,” replied Talarico. “There are some statements I’ve made that I regret. Ken Paxton is intentionally clipping my cringey comments.”

    Yeah, because he said them. Why are they cringey? Because they reflect Talarico’s empty-headed, far-left social justice warrior blatherings. If he didn’t mean them, why did he say them? Was he lying then, or is he lying now? Or is he, like so many Democrat politicians, simply “post-truth” and willing to say anything he thinks people want to hear?

    In one recent appearance on the Texas Take podcast, Talarico attempted to downplay his past support for gun control measures, insisting that “I’m not interested in taking anyone’s guns.”

    I seem to remember a lot of similar statements from Colorado and Virginia Democrats who, after getting elected, immediately started trying to take people’s guns.

    Republicans quickly pointed to prior comments and legislation they argue tell a different story.

    In a 2020 appearance as a surrogate for then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, Talarico said it “encourages violence against black sons and daughters” when President Donald Trump allows “weapons of war on our streets and in our classrooms.”

    Republicans have also highlighted legislation backed by Talarico that sought additional restrictions on handgun sales and concealed carry permitting requirements.

    Among the measures Republicans pointed to were proposals that would have imposed additional regulatory burdens related to handgun licensing, mirroring states like California and New York.

    You know, the same measures the Supreme Court has said are unconstitutional.

    Talarico has similarly attempted to dismiss Republican attacks over his past climate activism.

    On the Texas Take podcast appearance, Talarico argued Republicans fabricated claims that he was vegan.

    However, in a 2022 campaign video Talarico announced his campaign would “go vegan” as part of efforts to combat what he described as an “existential climate crisis.”

    I would wager that veganism is even a pander too far for most Texas Democrats. It’s like Talarico is trying to run for California State Rep from Big Sur or the Castro District.

    The issue intersects with another difficult political vulnerability for Democrats in Texas: oil and gas policy.

    In another recent podcast appearance with Democrat congressional candidate Bobby Pulido, Talarico attempted to position himself as supportive of the Texas energy industry.

    “The idea that politicians in Washington think they can eliminate this industry is something we had to fight against, something we have to fight against in our own party,” said Talarico.

    Republicans quickly countered by resurfacing climate proposals and activist rhetoric previously associated with Talarico, including legislation aimed at dramatically reducing statewide emissions and past activism promoting climate change curriculum mandates in public schools.

    Conservatives online also circulated previous comments from Talarico discussing efforts to inspire a “new generation of climate activists,” as well as his participation in demonstrations inspired by activist Greta Thunberg.

    He’s just a grab bag of every bad idea to ooze out of the radical left over the past half-century. Like Pete Buttigieg or Gavin Newsom, one gets the impression that Talarico is an empty vessel with no actual personality beyond plasticity to conform to whatever leftwing activist nonsense is the current Will of the Party.

  • Democrats are trying desperately to pretend that Soy Boy Talarico is some kind of moderate, and its not working.

    For most of the 21st century, the Great White Whale in the Democrats’ fever dream has been their “Turn Texas Blue” fantasy. In recent memory, this has given us such luminaries as Wendy Davis and the fakest fake Latino in the history of fake Latinos, Beto O’Rourke.

    On the one hand, I am usually a big fan of these efforts because they’re such monumental wastes of money for the Democrats. The Texas races become national affairs, and Dem donors from all over the country hemorrhage cash that could be spent on winnable contests elsewhere.

    On the other hand, I know how good the Democrats are at playing the long game. I never rule out the possibility of them eventually getting what they want, no matter how long it takes.

    This year’s Turn Texas Blue drama star is James Talarico. Talarico has positioned himself as a throwback Dem moderate, a departure from the present-day Dem craziness. It’s completely disingenuous, but the Democrats’ flying monkeys in the mainstream media are dutifully playing along with the charade.

    Here are some examples of this wingnut’s lunacy from a post that my HotAir colleague Beege Welborn wrote:

    Let me pull out these genuine nuggets of Talarico weirdness so we have them down in text form.

    • “Jesus Christ himself was a radical feminist.”
    • “The American flag is such a complicated symbol for most of us.”
    • “God is non-binary.”
    • “You can’t call yourself a Christian and reject the stranger seeking asylum at our southern border.”
    • “Our trans community needs abortion care too.”
    • “Modern science recognizes that there are many more than two sexes. In fact, there are six.”
    • “Prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness.” I’m no theologian, but I’m pretty sure that a fundamental tenant of Christianity is there there are no “prophetic voices like Jesus.” As the singular Redeemer of mankind, he is not comparable to “other prophets,” even those of the Old Testament, because other prophets are not the Light and the Way.

    There are a couple more, but I think you get the idea. It’s like he heard the most cringey social justice pandering from all the failed 2020 Democratic presidential candidates and went “Hey, I want to try that in Texas!” Hence the Babylon Bee headline “Democrats Denounce ‘Dirty Trick’ Of Playing Videos Of James Talarico Saying Things.”

  • Talarico’s embrace of every bad leftwing activist cause ever includes trying to trans your kids.

    I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise at this point, but the “theology expert” running for the U.S. Senate in Texas may be a huge weirdo.

    Sure, you knew he called God non-binary, he daydreams about trans kids, and he’s David French’s ideal of a Christian in the public square, but that’s not all of James Talarico’s problems.

    Yes, if your school has banned pornography for kids don’t worry, Talarico stocks it in his church’s library right between Left Behind Kids and Jesus Calling. Oh, and Talarico was raised in this church, has preached there several times, and remains closely associated with it.

    Yeah, anyone who checked out this book from this church should have their hard drive checked immediately.

    Here’s the Daily Wire with the treasure trove of oppo research:

    Books found in the St. Andrew’s catalog include the book ‘Gender Queer,’ which includes illustrations of oral sex and masturbation, and the book ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue,’ which discusses anal rape and incest.

    ‘This Book Is Gay,’ has a chapter on the ‘ins and outs of gay sex,’ while the book ‘Becoming Nicole’ tells the story of a gender-confused teen boy who identifies as a girl with the support of his family. In ‘The Courage to Be Queer,’ the author claims that ‘God is queer.’

    Other books in the church catalog include ‘This Book is Gay,’ ‘Trans Kids, Our Kids: Stories and Resources from the Frontlines of the Movement for Transgender Youth,’ ‘Called OUT: The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Presbyterians,’ ‘The Courage to Be Queer,’ and ‘Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family.’

  • Yeah, about Talarico’s church:

    James Talarico believes that Christians are called to embrace progressive social views on everything from abortion to gender.

    The Texas Senate candidate’s conception of Christian moral teaching, which he tirelessly promotes as the foundation of his campaign, seems to have been shaped by the church he has attended since childhood, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

    The minister of St. Andrew’s, the Reverend Jim Rigby, often brings politics into his sermons, frequently criticizing the Trump administration from the pulpit. His April 26 sermon, delivered a day after the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, is a striking example. “There was an assassination attempt,” he told his congregation, “and I know a lot of people have mixed feelings” — he paused, and laughter rippled across the congregation — “but it’s really, really important if we’re going to be the healing agents of the world, to recognize that violence isn’t going to get rid of the problem that we have.”

    St. Andrew’s church leadership passed an official resolution against Christian nationalism on Tuesday, shunning the narrative that America has a Christian founding. The leaders promote the idea that the United States has fundamentally corrupt roots, primarily in the unjust acquisition of Native American lands and enslavement of black Americans.

    Advertised as Sunday school classes in St. Andrew’s news bulletin, the church’s summer “adult education” sessions are used to promote these ideas. The May 15–21 bulletin introduces one such class: “Christianity today, especially the American version, has discovered some interesting ways to ignore the message of Jesus,” it reads. The study aims to answer financial, political, ethical, and legal questions about Christopher Columbus and is rooted in sources like “art, Bible, Church documents, guest speakers, U.S. federal law, and the U.S. Supreme Court.”

    Snip.

    Throughout its studies and sermons, the church refuses to use terms for God that its members call “feudal” — words such as “Lord” or “King.” They have also rewritten hymns to be “inclusive” and read from the “Inclusive Bible” during services. During a Scripture reading from Galatians 5, for example, St. Andrew’s PowerPoint slide clarifies that “the word ‘kindom,’ often used by mujerista theologian Ada Maria Isasi–Diaz, replaces ‘kingdom’ because it represents an egalitarian realm and emphasizes our familial relationship with each other.”

    Another primary feature of this so-called inclusivity is the omission of any gendered language about God. On the church’s “Inclusive Language” web page, the church’s leaders connect what they call “sexist theology” to a culture of rape, and the leaders are specifically perturbed by the thought of little girls perceiving God as a “he” because they believe God is higher than gender. Talarico, a seminary student and Texas state legislator, has himself promoted this “genderless” conception of God on the floor of the Texas state house, calling God “nonbinary” during a debate.

    Now we know where the “cringe” first took root.

    Children’s education at St. Andrew’s takes the form of “inclusive” Sunday school curriculum and an expansive library of “banned books.” Members of the church insist that St. Andrew’s library collects these so-called banned books, a term they use to refer to texts that have been barred from school libraries because they promote a particular political view or deal with sensitive topics such as sexuality. Beyond the books already on its shelves, the church has a wish list through Bookshop.org with a range of shocking titles.

    Two of these books, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 and Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, celebrate Palestinian activism.

    Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth suggests that the history of the Alamo was blown out of proportion to create “a historic Anglo narrative” that distracted Americans from the so-called true origin of this conflict: Mexico’s efforts to abolish slavery.

    Another one of these books, The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why, criticizes the concept of human exceptionalism and advocates for nonhuman rights — including the rights of animals and artificial intelligence.

    There are also several books that discuss transgenderism and even one, Marley’s Pride, advertised for its “glossary of terms to help adults answer kids’ questions about the LGBTQ+ community.”

    The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

  • Speaking of Talarico’s religion, this Not The Bee piece literally popped into my Inbox while I was already proofing this.

    Texas state Rep. James Talarico opened a legislative session with a heretic prayer, invoked old Communist-adjacent phrase h/t @reddit_lies who spotted it on Reddit; I tracked down the original video.

    The prayer addresses God as ‘holy mystery’ with ‘so many names’ — Torah, Quran, Gita, Dharma — treating all religious traditions as equally valid expressions of the same God.

    Jesus is described as ‘a barefoot rabbi’ who ‘expressed’ God’s love… one expression among many implied.

    The closing line: ‘build a new world in the shell of the old.’

    That phrase has a specific origin. It comes from the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) Preamble, written in 1905. It’s syndicalist labor movement language. Not explicitly Communist – but they wanted to abolish capitalism and the state all the same.

    Yeah, I didn’t have “Channeling the Wobblies” on my 2026 Senate Race checklist.

  • “The Democrats’ Greatest Fear: The GOP Will Turn James Talarico Into a Creepy, Unmanly Weirdo.” I’m omitting the opening segment on how Democrats institutionally hate men and children.

    The Dems can’t win elections without a loyal army of unmarried women — and they can’t drive ’em to the polls without selling ’em juicy red meat on the campaign trail.

    Yet the same red meat that motivates unmarried women will further alienate married men, married women, AND unmarried Gen Z men.

    So the Democrats settled on a novel strategy: They’ll still cater to unmarried women… but deliver their message via an “avatar” who cosplays as a macho dude.

    That’s the holy grail for the Dems: A man who thinks and behaves exactly like a radical feminist, yet looks and sounds like a rough-and-tumble Alpha male.

    It’s the strategy behind Graham Platner’s senatorial bid in Maine. (‘Cause what could be more manly than a Nazi tattoo?) It was the strategy behind Kamala Harris’ V.P. selection of “America’s coach,” Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.). And it’s the strategy behind their latest scheme to turn Texas blue, the Senate campaign of the Dems’ current “it boy,” James Talarico. There’s a lot riding on Talarico’s unique brand of masculinity.

    But the Dems are already fretting about Talarico’s masculinity being (ahem) neutered.

    From The 19th: “Republicans Want to Make the Texas Senate Race About Manliness”

    Republicans are focusing on one question in one of November’s top races: Is the Democrat a real man?

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who clinched the GOP’s nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, released a new ad Wednesday — his first of the general election — accusing his opponent, state Sen. James Talarico, of being too “low-T for Texas.” “Low-T” is a reference to testosterone levels and often used as an insult by influencers in the so-called manosphere, who say low testosterone makes someone weaker.

    Talarico has all the manly testosterone of Boy George wearing a frilly mini-dress to a Village People karaoke night at a Fire Island cabaret during Pridefest.

    White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and one of his top advisers, picked up on a similar line of attack, posting on the social media platform X on Wednesday that Democrats had nominated the “their first transgender senate candidate.” Talarico is cisgender and identifies as an LGBTQ+ ally; he is in a relationship with a woman.

    “She’s from Canada! You wouldn’t know her.”

    According to this report, “Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s mysterious beau is a vegan political lobbyist who previously worked as his chief of staff, The Post has learned. Brianna Menard, 30, describes herself as a “committed vegan,” yoga buff and cat mom who likes “dancing the night away” at local gay bar Cheer Up Charlies in Austin.”

    Oh, a girlfriend who just happens to like hanging out at a gay bar.

    (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)

  • It’s hard to think of a list of candidate traits and positions less likely to appeal to Texas voters at large. But team Talarico is evidently embracing the freakshow reputation. “Talarico Campaign Embraces ‘Talafreako’ Nickname Tied to Far-Left Positions. Paxton coined the nickname while criticizing Talarico’s progressive positions. The Democrat’s campaign is now selling it on T-shirts.”

    As Republicans seek to highlight Democrat James Talarico’s record on transgender issues, immigration, and other progressive causes ahead of November’s U.S. Senate election, the lawmaker’s campaign is embracing one of the nicknames those positions have earned him.

    The Talarico campaign recently began selling merchandise bearing the phrase “I’m a Talafreako,” a reference to a nickname used by Republican nominee Ken Paxton during his runoff victory speech.

    “He goes by a few names that you may all have heard of,” Paxton told supporters. “Some people know him as Tofu Talarico, some people call him Six Gender Jimmy. I’ve even heard some people call him James Talafreako.”

    Paxton then explained the reasoning behind the nickname, pointing to Talarico’s positions on immigration and transgender issues.

    “He wants open borders, and even said a welcome mat should be at our southern border,” said Paxton. “He’s a threat to our children. He wants boys in girls’ sports, gender mutilation surgery performed on kids.”

    Paxton also referenced a comment from Talarico in which the Democrat said “trans kids” were among the things he loved most outside his family and friends.

    Now the campaign’s online store features apparel prominently displaying the nickname.

    There are times and places where this sort of “embrace the label” jujitsu might work, but I rather doubt that a statewide election in Texas is one of them.

  • Let’s end with two more Babylon Bee pieces: “Democrats Hopeful Average Texas Voter Wants To Ban Steak And Thinks God Is Gay.”
  • “James Talarico Taking ‘Not Acting Gay’ Lessons from Tim Walz.”

    • “Beto, but gayer” or “Tim Walz, but weirder” strike me as very poor personas to get elected just about anywhere or any time, but especially not Texas in 2026.

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    Posted in Austin, Elections, Global Warming, Guns, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | No Comments »

    Cammo-Clad ChiComs Caught Crossing Into Texas

    May 31st, 2026

    Remember how a couple of years ago we mentioned how military age Chinese men were among those flooding in during the Biden’s open borders fiasco?

    It’s still happening.

    Texas authorities arrested six Chinese nationals dressed in camouflage who were allegedly attempting to evade capture after crossing the border illegally into the United States, officials said, describing them as “special interest aliens.”

    Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), said on May 27 that the Chinese nationals were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents on a private ranch in Maverick County near the Texas-Mexico border.

    The six Chinese nationals were among a group of 12 illegal immigrants apprehended during the late-night operation, Olivarez said in a post on X. All six were dressed in camouflage clothing.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defines a special interest alien as someone “who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests.”

    The apprehension was the second operation carried out in Maverick County on the night of May 26 involving illegal immigrants allegedly attempting to avoid detection.

    Olivarez said that tracking K-9 Bona and her handler assisted Border Patrol agents in tracking and apprehending seven illegal immigrants on another private ranch in the county. The group included nationals from Mexico, Guatemala, India, Ecuador, and Cuba.

    “These apprehensions highlight the ongoing efforts in deterring criminal activity along the southern border and the critical partnership between Texas DPS and our federal partners under Operation Lone Star,” Olivarez said in a statement. “Border security is national security.”

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a post on X that “Operation Lone Star continues nonstop to arrest illegal immigrants along our border.”

    Operation Lone Star, launched in 2021, is a Texas-led border security initiative involving multiple law enforcement agencies aimed at curbing illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and other cross-border criminal activity.

    Texas authorities have reported several similar incidents in recent months involving Chinese nationals apprehended after illegally crossing the southern border, with some also allegedly wearing camouflage clothing.

    In February, Texas DPS said troopers stopped a vehicle in Maverick County and discovered four people smuggled inside, all dressed in camouflage. One of the passengers was identified as Beibei Liu, 34, a Chinese national classified as a special interest alien.

    In another case earlier this month, a DPS Brush Team working alongside U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended six people during multiple encounters near Roma in Starr County. Olivarez later said one of the individuals was a Chinese national designated as a special interest alien.

    Authorities said all six individuals arrested in the Starr County operation were wearing colored wristbands commonly used by transnational criminal organizations to indicate payment status and coordinate movement along cartel-controlled smuggling routes.

    This seems like the sort of thing we should be paying closer attention to. How many military-age Chinese national men are already here, and how much of the anti-border control networks funded by Shanghai-based Neville Roy Singham are designed to to keep ICE from deporting them?

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    Posted in Border Control, Communism, Texas | 1 Comment »

    Two Videos About Death Rays

    May 30th, 2026

    Occasionally when wasting time on YouTube searching for content to post here, I come across videos that make an obvious pairing. Today’s topic: Death Rays!

    First up: Simon Whistler on the U.S. military’s Songbow Laser Cannon:

  • “Lasers are not just a sci-fi prop anymore. They are at the heart of a global race to develop the most powerful and precise directed energy weapons. China, Russia, Israel, and the UK are all in on the game. But with Songbow, the US Navy’s new laser cannon, America probably thinks it’s won.”
  • “Songbow will feature a 400 kilowatt laser. That is a major step up from its older sibling, the 60 kilowatt Helios. This extra energy will allow it to hit bigger, tougher targets faster and from further away. As modern warfare evolves, it’s the weapons surface vessels need to counter serious aerial threats like drone swarms and incoming missiles. And where traditional interceptors can cost millions, a shot from a song bow could be as cheap as a dollar.”
  • “There’s been mounting concern in recent years about the survivability of the US Navy’s vessels. Countries like China are now armed with large numbers of drones and anti-ship missiles. The modernizing of China’s navy has been steadily underway for decades with the result that it’s now a formidable foe.” Sort of. They have a lot of ships, but they still don’t have a deep water navy, and none of their current aircraft carriers are nuclear powered.
  • “There’s been debate over whether America’s surface vessels might need to stay beyond the range of these weapons in future conflicts. And of course, China is no longer the only threat.”
  • “Up until now, there have been two key limitations affecting the US Navy in this arena. First, there’s the finite depth of its magazines. In response to airborne threats, surface ships are limited to how many surface-to-air missiles they can carry. And secondly, there’s the wildly disproportionate cost to kill. An unmanned aerial vehicle, also known as a drone, can be made very little, but it can cost literally a fortune to take it down.”
  • “Needless to say, these problems are not unique to the US Navy, and the solution to them isn’t either. It’s the same solution being explored by governments the world over: Lasers. Or to give them their full designation, high-powered directed energy weapons.”
  • “The US Navy has been investing in laser technology for a while now. Its interest goes right back to the days of Ronald Reagan’s strategic defense initiative. Publicly launched in 1983, this was the plan to pioneer a space-based missile defense system which would include a network of lasers to protect America from nuclear attack. The press nicknamed it Star Wars.”
  • “It was the start of a long flirtation with the possibilities of laser weapons. In the late 1990s, the US and Israel came up with the tactical high energy laser for military use, also known as Nautilus. This used a chemical laser, one that takes its energy from a chemical reaction.” That didn’t work.
  • “A much better solution seemed to lie in electricity. A beam would instead be generated and amplified through thin glass fibers. As an alternative to chemicals, fiber lasers are smaller, safer, and better suited to mobile applications. They might not have the raw power of chemical lasers, but in theory, they’re much easier to deploy. Think less death ray, and more laser pointer kind of. The main challenge was generating enough power with a fiber laser. So, in the late 2000s and early 2010s, researchers began creating combined beams and array systems using the collective power of several smaller lasers.”
  • “And this is where the technological leaps are now being made. But whatever has gone before, Songbow has the potential to eclipse its predecessors. It’s been designed in direct response to increasing aerial threats like drones, projectiles, and hypersonic missiles. It follows on from the Navy’s Helios, a high energy laser weapon that’s now been deployed on the Arleigh Burke class destroyer. But where Helios can fire at around 60 kW, Songbow will pack a much stronger punch at around 400 KW. It does this by combining multiple 50 kW fiber laser modules to form one beam.”
  • “It’s hoped that the power density of a 400 kW class beam will be able to do this to bigger targets at longer ranges. Songbow’s key function will be as a drone and missile defense system, but its pulseed fiber lasers will also assist with remote sensing and target illumination.”
  • “It’s expected to be installed on naval surface vessels, but could also be deployed on land, making it really rather versatile.”
  • “The Pentagon is directing billions of dollars into directed energy weapons. The US Navy, Army, Air Force, and Missile Defense Agency are all channeling money into high energy lasers, microwave systems, and battlefield power systems. In April this year, the Department of Defense unveiled a $ 1.5 trillion budget proposal for the fiscal year 2027, described as the most expensive military outlay in modern history. Because as more and more US adversaries and potential adversaries invest in their own capabilities, maintaining dominance is now a spending priority. Jules Hurst III, President Trump’s Under Secretary for War and chief financial officer, has hailed it as a generational investment in the United States military.”
  • “The US Navy has invested almost $30 million into the [Songbow] project, with funding coming from the US Office of Naval Research. In June 2025, it announced that the contract had been awarded to Coherent Aerospace and Defense in Moretta, California. Not long after, the division was sold to the private investor Advent International. Now renamed Atalon, the company is focused on this growing industry, precision optics and laser systems for aerospace and defense.”
  • “Beyond all the marketing speak, there are some real advantages to Songbow compared to other solutions. Let’s look at what makes the list of pros. We’ve already talked about that 400 kW beam. Achieving this higher power would mean a drastically increased range and destructive capability. It could even have the ability to eliminate threats that other systems can’t. These might include hypersonic glide vehicles, which move too quickly for traditional interceptors, and hardened cruise missiles, which can’t be beaten by less powerful lasers. It’s estimated that at least 300 kW are needed to burn through the structure of a cruise missile in flight, making a Songbow laser comfortably capable. Now, this is yet to be proved. It’s all aspirational, but it’s what we’ve got to go on.”
  • “Next up, there’s its cost effectiveness. Wars are cripplingly expensive, as you probably know…The Navy spent an estimated $2 billion in munitions while countering Houthi missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aiden. Most galling of all of this is that the threats they’re countering can be really cheap. In the Russia Ukraine war, drones costing a few hundred dollars have successfully taken out multi-million dollar combat systems. Even the more expensive drone options require a huge spend to neutralize. An Iranian one-way attack drone like the Shahead can cost between $20,000 and $50,000. But the interceptor missiles needed to take it down will set the US back millions. And it’s here that the Songbow and other laser weapons could make all the difference. Directed energy is much much cheaper per shot compared to traditional interceptors. Songbow costs somewhere between $1 and $10 for every shot because it’s only ammo is electricity.”
  • “This energy source also lends it another advantage. As long as a ship’s power supply lasts, it can keep going. With an unlimited magazine depth, there’s no fear of missile stocks running low. Logistically, it’s a lot easier. In contrast, a Patriot missile battery, for instance, typically contains between six and eight launching stations, each capable of holding 16 PAC3 missiles or four PAC2s. At most, it’s got 128 missiles ready to fire, depending on its configuration.”
  • “And of course, at sea, space is at a premium. A surface vessel can only carry so many interceptors. Running low on ammunition is also known as ‘going Winchester.’ Ships equipped with the Aegis combat system, the US Navy’s long-standing shield of the fleet, typically carry up to 96 missiles. This might sound like a lot, but it’s a known limitation. When they’re gone, they’re gone.”
  • “And there’s another thing in Songbow’s favor, too. In the face of threats, laser weapons are fast. Where missiles or bullets take seconds to reach their targets, the Songbow is instantaneous. As soon as it’s fired, it’s arrived. And unlike conventional weapons, you can go again and again. No reloading, no waiting around. This is obviously very handy if you’ve got multiple incoming projectiles and want to move straight onto the next one.”
  • “Modern warfare is often dictated by quantity rather than quality. Launching a large swarm of drones, decoys, or projectiles is an effective way of completely overwhelming defenses. These are what strategists call saturation attacks. There are just too many targets to handle all at once. There’s not enough time to reload and refocus, and missile stocks simply run out. But in theory, as long as electrical power lasts, directed energy weapons could keep going.”
  • “We need to be very wary of overhyping this, though. A high energy laser still needs time to disable a target and move on. So, there’s still a limit to what could be achieved in a large enough saturation attack. But with more than one laser weapon, the advantage would be pretty sizable.”
  • “Directed energy weapons can also stay on target continuously. They can follow a threat and maintain their beam while it’s maneuvering.”
  • “It’s even rumored that Songbow will be able to defeat hypersonic missiles. These, you see, are a real fly in the ointment for defenders like the US. Hypersonic missiles are able to fly at speeds exceeding Mach 5 and change course unpredictably, making them notoriously tricky to take down. Contrast this with an inbound ballistic missile. In this case, conventional air defense systems can track it and calculate its future flight path. It tends to be fairly predictable. They’ll then launch an interceptor to meet it where it’s likely to end up. Hypersonic missiles, though, don’t play by these rules. They’re faster and they change course mid-flight, making it much harder to calculate their flight path. In theory, Songbow’s winning combination of high power, speed of light engagement, and capacity for continuous firing could see it win the day.” Set aside for a moment that Russia and China’s “hypersonic” missiles are more hype than sonic.
  • “However cool and futuristic it sounds, Songbow still has its limitations and its critics.”
  • “One of the main obstacles to any laser weapon is nature herself. Atmospheric conditions like mist, fog, and rain can all absorb and scatter light, diffusing a laser’s beam. And the same goes for things like smoke, salt particles, and if it’s used on land, dust and sand. So, this is not an all-weather solution. And in time, seaborne enemy craft could even be fitted with devices that create smoke or other obscurants to protect themselves. This would be a very easy way to counter a laser. Extreme sea conditions will also pose a problem. Lasers follow a straight line of sight, which isn’t always possible on a constantly shifting terrain like water. Rough seas and swells can easily disrupt a beam, especially over longer distances.” With modern gyro-stabilization, I suspect this is largely a solved problem.
  • “Even a ship’s vibration can cause difficulties. High energy lasers rely on precision, but the general operation of a ship is pretty unstable. As well as waves and the motion of the ocean, you’ve got the vibrations from engines and onboard machinery. Maintaining a stable lock while taking all of these things into account is going to be really quite hard.”
  • “And in practical terms, the sky, or rather the horizon line, is the limit here. A laser is clever, but it can’t magically arc over the horizon. It’s a definite physical limitation compared to a combat system like Aegis.”
  • “Another downside to high-energy laser systems comes in the form of thermal blooming. This is basically when a continuously firing laser beam heats up the air around it, causing it to defocus and become less effective. It’s a bigger issue when the targets are coming head-on in a straight line, known as a down-throat shot. At times like this, the beam has to sustain itself in one direction for a long time. The more powerful a laser weapon, the more troublesome this is. So, it could be a real problem for the 400 kW Songbow.”
  • “Operationally, all that power is something of a double-edged sword. We talked about the advantages of a weapon that can run from a ship’s electrical supply. Said earlier, as long as a ship’s power supply lasts, it can keep going. High power lasers, you see, need a hefty electrical supply and advanced cooling capabilities. A large amount of the energy they generate is just lost as heat, which needs to be dissipated. If it isn’t, the weapon will ultimately become damaged and will stop working.”
  • “Managing the temperature of a directed energy weapon is crucial. This means a specialized cooling system, and this is asking a lot of shipboard power systems, especially when they’re already prioritizing output for things like radar and propulsion. As journalist Charles Mitchell has written, quote, ‘The challenge is to cause a warship to act as a stable power plant and a heatsink at the same time as it is operating high demand sensors, combat systems, hotel loads, and other auxiliaries.” End quote. He argues that the laser fight won’t so much be limited by a ship’s fuel tank, but by its electrical and thermal headroom. If a laser is continuously being shot, its effectiveness is going to come down to how quickly its ongoing heat buildup can be carried off. But according to one naval industry report, even the Navy believes the Arleigh Burke class fleet of destroyers has quote reached the limits of its growth capacity. This raises serious questions about how easily older ships like these would be able to take on the Songbow’s enormous electrical and cooling demands. And this seems to be a challenge the US Navy is well aware of.”
  • “Already next generation surface vessels are in the works with designs for expanded power generation that will accommodate directed energy weapons. In December 2025, Donald Trump announced the Navy’s plan to develop a new class of ‘largest we have ever built’ battleships. It’s hoped that the first, the USS Defiant, will be ready in the early 2030s. According to plans, the Defiant will be nuclear powered to provide the Navy’s fleet with quote a significant increase in combat power by longer endurance, higher speed, and advanced weapon systems required for modern wars.” This is also the reason the Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers is powered by two nuclear reactors.
  • “Among these same plans, the Trump class battleship seems to include two 300 or 600 kW shipborne lasers and other laser systems for optical dazzling and sensor disruption.”
  • “Commentators have described directed energy weapons as central to the Trump class ship’s design, but this form of weaponry has always had its hurdles. Hurdles that have plagued the development of laser weapons since the 1980s. Even a Congressional Research Service report acknowledges the old saying, quoting again, “Lasers are X years in the future and always will be.”
  • “Only last year, one of the Navy’s top fleet commanders, Admiral Daryl Caudle, said the service should be embarrassed by its slow progress with the technology. Because although the theory behind their application carries weight, he believes the US still isn’t ready for prime time. Lasers might promise a lot, but they’re not yet a viable way to take out a missile. And at a symposium in 2024, Rear Admiral Fred Pyle told attendees the Navy had quote a tendency to overpromise and underdeliver.”
  • Skipping over the failure of the Army’s 300 kW Valkyrie laser system, which seemingly couldn’t hit milestones and was mothballed. “The Army decided the prototype would not be fielded to units. Instead, it’ll be used to inform the new joint laser weapon system. This laser initiative is a collaboration between the US Army and the US Navy. In theory, it’ll allow them to pull their research from past efforts to create a 150 kW system that could potentially be scaled up.”
  • “Similarly, in 2024, the US Air Force shut down its much vaunted SHIELD program, which had set out to introduce pod-mounted high energy lasers to fighter aircraft.”
  • “SHIELD had apparently been hit by many of these issues that we’ve already talked about. Technical difficulties, heat generation, harsh environments, all leading to claims that the technology still wasn’t developed enough for real world use. Of course, this doesn’t mean the whole concept of laser weaponry is being scrapped.”
  • “Despite the troublesome quirks of laser weapons, they’re in motion all over the world. The United States definitely isn’t the only global power taking part in this futuristic race.”
  • “You might remember our video about the UK’s Dragonfire laser. Like Songbow, Dragonfire has been designed to counter drones, missiles, and projectiles. And also like Songbow, it uses solid state fiber laser technology. The development of Dragonfire has been funded to the tune of million pounds.”
  • “In 2024, it successfully engaged an airborne target during an exercise. There at the Hebrides range in Scotland, the weapon took drones flying at 650 km/h down. Dragonfire is due to be fitted to a Royal Navy type 45 destroyer in 2027. Because of this, its exact range is still classified, but we do know that according to the official descriptions, the level of precision it offers is the equivalent of hitting a one pound coin that’s about the same size as a euro or a US quarter from a kilometer away. It’s capable of manifesting 50 kW of power.”
  • “And it’s a similar story with Israel’s Iron Beam, otherwise known as the laser dome, pioneered by the defense technology company Raphael. This is a 100 kilowatt high energy laser system. In Raphael’s glossy marketing, it claims that Iron Beam redefines modern warfare. And I mean, yeah, maybe it does. Reportedly, the Iron Beam is able to overcome the atmospheric challenges faced by other laser weapons. With lasers, the larger the beam, the more atmospheric interference you’re likely to face. The Iron Beam gets around this by shooting hundreds of small coinsized beams instead of one. These all converge on a target until it’s damaged or destroyed. It claims almost zero cost per interception, whatever that is. And significantly, it’s now up and running. In December 2025, the Iron Beam was officially deployed to the IDF after more than a decade in development. And in March 2026, social media footage seemed to show it in action intercepting a Hezbollah drone.”
  • “Israel may be the first, but it won’t be the last. Also hot on their heels are South Korea, Russia, Ukraine, India, and Japan. All are developing variations on the theme. And last year, China unveiled its own shipbourne weapon, the LY-1, a high energy laser weapon said to be an advanced testing.” China’s weapon systems seem to be long on hype and short on performance.
  • “Reading about high energy lasers, the term layered defense comes up a lot. At least for the time being, and probably for a long time to come, laser weaponry can’t be a one-stop shop solution. There’s simply too much to it and too many limitations to consider. And so, it will literally become just one weapon in a country’s arsenal. Systems like Songbow will sit alongside more proven interceptors so that if, for instance, sea conditions become rough, there’s still something a crew can do to deal with that pesky incoming drone.”
  • “Traditional projectiles might be fishily expensive, but they’re probably here to stay in some capacity.”
  • “As well as working alongside other defensive weapons, Songbow will also sit within the Navy’s laser family. If it’s successfully deployed, it’ll act as the big gun. But there are other smaller siblings there, too. Take ODIN, for example. It stands for Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy. And at the time we’re writing this, there are seven ODIN systems on Navy ships. They’re there specifically to emit an infrared light that will scramble the optical sensors of a drone. Rather than shooting it down, they can effectively make it lose its way and crash.”
  • Helios, another laser defense system already deployed on the Arleigh Burke-class USS Prebel, successfully shot down Iranian drones this year.
  • “The global race to field directed energy systems is well and truly on, leading some to call this the age of laser weapons. It echoes past scrambles around stealth aircraft and precision missiles. Now, the question isn’t so much whether lasers will reach the maritime sphere, but how quickly countries can overcome the many hurdles to making this a success.”

    • Now the second death ray video. In my Black Friday/Prepper roundups, I’ve been including links for the IMALENT MS18, an insanely powerful flashlight that I don’t have a use case for, but which some people (say, ranchers or security guards for large complexes) might. Well, someone took its big brother, the IMALENT MS32, put a magnifier on it, and turned it into a death ray.

    Now, as a death ray it’s inferior to a gun as a self-defense weapon, and about 1/100th as cost effective for lighting a fire than a cheap electric lighter. But it’s still pretty cool. Err, pretty hot, that is…

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    Posted in Military, Technology, video | 3 Comments »

    LinkSwarm For May 29, 2026

    May 29th, 2026

    More Blue State welfare fraud uncovered, some of which gets shipped overseas, more Russian oil refineries knocked out of action, a CIA operative with a fortune in gold, and trouble at a Texas dam. Plus: Puppies!

    It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!

  • “Food Stamp Fraud Pipeline Exposed: U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Groceries Shipped Overseas And Sold For Profit.”

    Food stamps and food pantries are intended to keep struggling Americans fed.

    What we found is that, in some communities, that food never reaches an American table. Instead, it gets shipped overseas and sold for profit.

    The scheme works like this. Residents in cities like Lawrence, Massachusetts collect food through two channels: purchasing it at local markets using EBT cards, and picking it up for free from food banks and churches. That food is then packed into large blue barrels, dropped off at shipping companies, and sent by container ship to the Dominican Republic. Once it arrives, it is sold for profit in local stores. The people doing this see nothing wrong with it. In many cases, they do it openly.

    According to a local that assisted us with this story, this fraud has been happening for over a decade.

    Over the course of several weeks, Muckraker Foundation traced the full pipeline from food pantry lines in Lawrence, Massachusetts, through shipping warehouses in New York, to store shelves in Santo Domingo. This is what we found.

    Lawrence is a small city about 30 miles north of Boston. It has the highest concentration of Dominican immigrants of any city in Massachusetts, and the highest rate of SNAP enrollment in the state.

    John has been delivering goods in Lawrence for over 11 years, six days a week, 35 stops a day. He knows the community intimately.

    “I’ve been witnessing the Dominican residents going to food bank lines and collecting non-perishable goods,” he told us, “and then packing it in barrels and in boxes, and then they ship it back to the Dominican Republic.”

  • “California Assembly passes “Stop Nick Shirley Act” to prevent people from uncovering fraud.”

    If the bill passes the state senate, “it would become criminal to film and reveal information on taxpayer-funded immigration services like healthcare, which would include daycare, and hospices; it also covers counseling services, translation services, and immigration legal services.”

    How is this not prima facia evidence that collecting fraud and graft is the highest priority of the Democrat Party?

  • And speaking of Democrats protecting fraud: “Seattle socialist mayor will NOT investigate fraud at Somali-run daycare centers, calls it attack on immigrants.”

    Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said the city has no intention of investigating fraud claims in taxpayer-funded social programs, claiming the concerns are an effort to target immigrant communities rather than address legitimate financial irregularities.

    In an interview with KOMO News, Wilson was asked if she had authorized the Seattle Police Department or the city’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs to investigate fraud charges involving daycare providers, particularly those in Somali and other immigrant communities. The mayor responded: “No.”

    “This whole issue is not really about fraud,” said Wilson. “It’s about dividing and conquering.”

    Translation: We can’t let people investigate fraud as long as Democrats are the ones raking off the graft. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)

  • “SBA Chief: Biden Admin Tried to ‘Hide,’ ‘Forgive’ $200 Billion in Fraudulent PPP Loans. ‘Think about it. At the SBA, we found $200 billion in fraudulent PPP loans that the Biden administration tried to hide and forgive and sweep under the rug.'”

    During a Wednesday cabinet meeting, Small Business Administration Chief Kelly Loeffler accused the Biden administration of concealing a staggering amount of fraud tied to the federal government’s pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program. She claimed that rather than aggressively working to recover the funds, officials tried “to hide and forgive and sweep under the rug” roughly $200 billion in “fraudulent PPP loans.” The explosive allegation, if substantiated, would represent one of the largest fraud scandals in government history.

    Loeffler told colleagues that small business owners are “hit particularly hard by fraud because they’re some of our biggest taxpayers in the country.” She continued:

    Think about it. At the SBA, we found $200 billion in fraudulent PPP loans that the Biden administration tried to hide and forgive and sweep under the rug.
    We’ve turned the first $22 billion of that over to Treasury for collection and to DOJ for prosecution. Our inspector general is already announcing that people are going to jail.
    …

    We’ve announced that 140,000 people have been barred from ever getting SBA loans again — defrauding the government of about $9 billion. So we are going to continue our work under the great leadership of Vice President Vance and appreciate the partnership because it’s really accelerated our ability to get the job done.

    She later posted a video of her remarks on X along with the following statement: “During the Biden Admin, PPP and EIDL [the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program] became some of THE MOST defrauded federal programs in U.S. history – robbing honest small business owners and taxpayers of vital pandemic relief, to the tune of $200 billion. … Under the leadership of @POTUS, the SBA is delivering long-awaited accountability for every criminal fraudster that the last Administration tried to forgive or sweep under the rug.”

    If you subtracted fraud, madness and spite from social justice and the Democrat Party, you’d have almost nothing left.

  • “CENTCOM: Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Kuwait ‘egregious ceasefire violation.'” Ya think?
  • U.S. seizes over $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency.
  • “Ryzan & Yaroslavl Oil Refineries Both Hit Hard By Ukraine.” It really got hit hard.

    Three oil tanks hit which were in between the units. Then hits on the connecting pipelines and the loading cranes as well surrounding the unit. Additionally, two additional oil tanks here were hit as well. So this was a pretty massive strike. As a result of this, it’s been estimated that between 90 to even 100% of the refinery’s processing capacity is out.

  • “Big Drone Strike Hits Novorossiysk Oil Depot.”
  • “Black Sea Fleet Attacked! Bora-Class Corvette Hit and Burning at Novorossiysk.”
  • “Storm Shadow Hits Taganrog Air Base: Repair Plant Hit!”
  • “Buyan Corvette Confirmed Destroyed In Caspian Sea.”
  • “Russian Shahed Hits Apartment in Romania.”
  • “Is Russia Losing the War in Ukraine?”

    A war that looked like it was a grinding stalemate being fought to the last Russian or Ukrainian is looking increasingly like one that Ukraine is actually winning.

    Ukraine’s tactical victories on the battlefield, as impressive as they are, won’t ensure victory. And as fascinating and gruesome as the videos of first-person drones on the battlefield are, those only explain why Ukraine is able to hold Russian advances back, and the modest gains on the battlefield Ukraine has made in retaking small bits of occupied territory.

    Ukraine has mastered drone warfare on the battlefield, and even more importantly, has built an incredibly resilient and innovative system that adjusts hardware, software, and tactics at a blistering pace that Russia could not hope to achieve with its clunky and corrupt procurement and training systems. That explains Ukraine’s increasingly solid tactical position; unpredictably, Ukraine is now its own most important weapons supplier, and is now teaching the rest of the world how modern warfare is conducted on the ground.

    But Russia can take a punch in the same way that Andre the Giant could. Ukraine needs strategic victories, and until, ironically, Trump weaned them off the teat of the West to the extent they were dependent completely on the West, all Ukraine could do was fight at the tactical level, guaranteeing a stalemate.

    At the same time that Trump reduced American aid, he also allowed Ukraine to take the gloves off and to put Russian assets in Russia at risk, and the results are stunning. Not only have the tactical battle lines extended into Russia, making logistics infinitely harder, but Ukraine is now systematically dismantling key parts of Russia’s economic engine and weapons production facilities.

    Virtually all major oil refineries in central Russia ‌have been forced to halt or scale back fuel output following Ukrainian drone attacks in recent days, according to official data and sources.

    The combined capacity of refineries that have fully or partially halted operations exceeds 83 million metric ⁠tons per year, or around 238,000 tons per day. That accounts for around one quarter of Russia’s total refining capacity, according to data and sources who spoke on condition of anonymity…

    One of Russia’s largest refineries, Kirishi, with capacity of 20 million metric tons per year, has been fully shut since May 5, according to the ⁠sources.”

    If you regularly read the LinkSwarm, most of this will be familiar to you. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

  • Swatting attempt on Justice Amy Coney Barrett?
  • Here’s a strange story with some disturbing implications: “FBI arrests former CIA official over $40 million worth of gold bars stashed at Virginia home.”

    The FBI arrested a former CIA official last week after investigators discovered hundreds of gold bars hidden at his home in Virginia, according to court documents reported by NBC News on Wednesday.

    The official, identified as David Rush, was charged with criminal theft of public money in a complaint filed last week in the Eastern District of Virginia. He has also been accused of lying to employers about his background for nearly two decades.

    The CIA and FBI confirmed Rush’s arrest to the outlet in a joint statement and said CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred Rush for a criminal investigation.

    “After a CIA internal investigation identified potential violations of the law, CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred the information to the FBI for a law enforcement investigation,” the statement said. “The FBI is working closely with our partners at the CIA and the Department of Justice as we continue to investigate this matter fully. We are committed to following the facts, ensuring accountability, and pursuing justice in accordance with the law.”

    The arrest comes after the FBI raided Rush’s home in Virginia on May 18, where law enforcement officers found more than 300 gold bars, which are estimated to be worth more than $40 million combined, according to the New York Times.

    The court papers do not indicate why Rush kept so much gold, but it comes after he requested and received “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,” which the CIA was later unable to locate.

    “Work-related expenses.” What sort of “work-related expenses” involve tens of millions of dollars in gold bars? Bribing officials? Buying cocaine?

  • Faster, please. “US Probe of Embattled UN Gaza Relief Agency Expands to 1,500 Staffers Suspected of Hamas Ties: UNRWA Could Soon Be Labeled a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.'” (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
  • Is the Texas Supreme Court finally going to kill Austin’s toy train?

    Texas’ Supreme Court has ordered a Travis County judge to quit avoiding a critical question in the fight over Austin’s troubled rail construction plan, known as Project Connect.

    In a May 22 ruling, the Court said trial courts can’t simply refuse to rule on jurisdictional challenges to avoid triggering appeals. Chief Justice James Blacklock didn’t mince words, writing that “nothing about this scenario is as it should be.”

    The ruling clarifies that courts may not ignore jurisdictional challenges while proceeding to trial, something that will be relevant to a similar case in which the City of McKinney is suing its own citizens to expeditiously validate its airport expansion bonds.

    In 2020, Austin voters approved Proposition A, which authorized a property tax increase to fund Project Connect. The original plan promised 20.2 miles of light rail, subway, rapid bus routes, and connections to the airport.

    The City of Austin formed a corporation called Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) to implement the project and issue the bonds.

    However, the project was significantly scaled back by 2022.

    What remained was a 9.8-mile surface line with no subway and no airport link. Community members argued the new plan constituted a “bait and switch,” since voters never approved the scaled-down version.

    This led a group of taxpayers to file a lawsuit in 2023 to stop ATP’s bond issuance.

    In response, the City of Austin and ATP filed a lawsuit against its own citizens under the Texas Expedited Declaratory Judgement Act (EDJA), seeking to validate the bonds and throw out any legal challenges they may face—including the pending taxpayer lawsuit.

    This little-known law allows bond issuers—including cities—to file an expedited declaratory bond-validation lawsuit against a very broad group of defendants, including all taxpayers, property owners, or residents whose rights might be affected by the bonds.

    The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is automatically served in EDJA cases and is tasked with informing the court whether the bonds comply with Texas law.

    “Issuing authority” details snipped.

    Last week, Texas’ Supreme Court ruled in the OAG’s favor, finding that a jurisdictional challenge must always be addressed before proceeding to the merits.

    “Proceeding to trial without first resolving the State’s challenge to the court’s authority to do so was an abuse of the district court’s otherwise broad discretion to manage the progress of the case,” reads the opinion.

    Chief Justice James Blacklock did not hold back in writing the opinion of the Court.

    “Nothing about this scenario is as it should be,” wrote Blacklock. “A court may not withhold a ruling on the government’s properly presented plea to the jurisdiction in order to prevent the government from appealing. And the government may not appeal from an interlocutory order that does not exist.”

    The Court therefore construed the OAG’s petition for review as a petition for writ of mandamus that would order the lower court to issue a ruling on the jurisdictional challenge.

    “The writ will issue only if the court does not do so. The judgment of the court of appeals is undisturbed,” wrote Blacklock.

    Now, the trial court must rule on the OAG’s jurisdictional challenge. If the court denies the plea, the OAG gets an automatic appeal that pauses everything. If the court grants it, ATP’s bond validation suit gets tossed.

  • “Maricopa board of supervisors, recorder now feuding over ballot boxes, amid ongoing legal battle. The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution outlining the locations of drop boxes for the upcoming early voting period without consulting Recorder Justin Heap.”

    The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution outlining the locations of drop boxes for the upcoming early-voting period without consulting Recorder Justin Heap.

    The board approved the resolution while it continues to deal with an ongoing lawsuit with Heap about who runs specific election functions.

    In April, a judge ruled in favor of Heap, saying the board members need to hand over control of specific election functions to his office.

    The board sought a stay of the motion, but the Arizona Superior Court denied it. The board then announced it was appealing the lower court’s decision.

    Snip.

    Heap said he was not consulted before the board approved the resolution Wednesday on drop-box locations.

    “The law is not optional,” he said. “The court has already ruled that the Board does not possess unlimited authority over election administration, yet the Board continues attempting to exercise powers Arizona law assigns to the recorder.”

    He also said: “Voters deserve lawful, professional election administration, not political gamesmanship and last-minute public ambushes.”

    How are they supposed to manufacture votes for Democrats at the last minute without controlling the boxes?

  • “MSNOW Senior Washington Correspondent [Eugene Daniels] Thinks Abortion and Trans Kids Are ‘Kitchen Table Issues.’ ‘When you talk about whether or not people can have access to healthy abortions—safe abortions, that is a kitchen table issue, right?'”
  • Michigan Democrat house candidate says to stop thanking the troops on Memorial Day.

    Shelby Campbell…is a candidate in Michigan’s Democratic primary for the 13th Congressional District, which includes portions of Detroit and some of its suburbs.

    She has built her campaign around provocation — relying on edgy rhetoric, inflammatory stunts, and degrading online content to attract attention. Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, she released a new video urging voters to “quit thanking the troops for sacrificing their lives” for their country.

    Snip.

    I don’t want to thank these men and women who join the military because they had no other option. Like, they didn’t want to go to school. They didn’t have the resources. They don’t have the knowledge. They don’t have people to like, love them. And, [yawning] they go into the military. Military preys on more rural populations.

    She evidently learned nothing from John Kerry’s presidential campaign…

  • Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is now pressure-washing ads into dirty LA sidewalks.
  • Did Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey honor America’s fallen warriors on Memorial Day? No. He honored George Floyd.
  • “Come meet the all Native American ICE troop ‘The Shadow Wolves.'” “ICE apparently has an all American Indian squadron who patrol the Mexican border in the Sonoran Desert. Their job is primarily to use native tactics to track down and stop narcos and human traffickers on the southern border.”
  • “Texas woman says she was arrested for making Facebook posts about town’s water quality.” “Jennifer Combs says she would complain on Facebook about the brown water coming out of her faucet in Trinidad, Texas, and then every time the police would show up afterwards. Eventually, she says, she was arrested.” Sounds like a clear First Amendment violation.
  • Chicago: “39 people shot, 5 cops seriously injured at black teen ‘takeovers’ during Memorial Day weekend.”
  • “26-year-old man arrested over bomb and death threats targeting Erika Kirk.” “Jacob Wenske, 26, was arrested Wednesday night in San Antonio…Wenske was charged with two third-degree felony counts of making a terroristic threat with the intent to impair public service, create public fear of serious bodily injury and influence government conduct, legal filings revealed.”
  • Livingston Dam in Texas, where Houston gets most of its drinking water, is deteriorating.
  • Brandon Herrera demonstrates why you shouldn’t use a Vulcan .50.
  • Finally: “YouTube Announces Plans to Crack Down on AI Slop.”
  • Contractors who repair dilapidated homes in Detroit disgusted by how much Section 8 public housing voucher family trashed the home they were living in.
  • The BBC social justiced Dr. Who so hard that no one wants to play The Doctor.  
  • Things that ruin your life but take five seconds to fix. I don’t have any streaming service and I don’t lose my keys (night table organizer), but I’ll give the “no caffeine for 90 minutes after you wake up” thing a try.
  • A food emergency: “Some of Texas’s oldest barbecue joints close as meat prices skyrocket Even the state’s most celebrated restaurants are struggling to remain open as costs climb, with no relief in sight.”
  • Speaking of food: BeardMeatsFood takes on a 4KG Danish food challenge.
  • “Trump Surprises Don Jr. With Beautiful Wedding Gift Of Cuba.”
  • “Multiple Trump Assassins Accidentally Shoot Each Other.”
  • “Platner Smooths Things Over With Democrats By Covering Nazi Tattoo With Hammer & Sickle.”
  • “Elizabeth Warren Vows New Tax On Puppies.”
  • Speaking of puppies:

    (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)

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





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    Posted in Austin, Border Control, Budget, Communism, Crime, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Guns, Jihad, Military, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 2 Comments »

    Cornyn’s Slaughter: A Postmortem

    May 28th, 2026

    It’s pretty rare that a four term incumbent senator gets primaried out of office. Indeed, I think you’d have to go back to Alfonse D’Amato defeating Jacob Javits in 1980 for the last time it happened, back when New York was still capable of electing Republicans statewide. So it’s worth taking a deeper look at why John Cornyn got slaughtered by Ken Paxton in Tuesday’s runoff.

    And a slaughter it was. Cornyn lost by 384,000 votes, or 27% of people voting. Nor was it a geographical narrow victory for Paxton. Cornyn lost everywhere:

    Cornyn won two counties: Liberal, politics-obsessed Travis County, where Cornyn won by just over 2,000 votes, and (as commenter FM noted) rural coastal Kenedy County, the third least populous county in the state with 350 people, where Cornyn won by all of 6 votes to 2. If there’s ever been such a geographically dominant statewide victory in a runoff, I can’t remember it. (Dan Patrick walloped David Dewhurst by a slightly larger margin in the 2014 Lt. Governor runoff, but Dewhurst still won more counties than Cornyn did.)

    Some national media has gotten a key fact about the race wrong. No, it was not a dead heat until President Trump endorsed Paxton; polls throughout the runoff constantly showed Paxton ahead by substantial margins. Indeed, between Paxton, Wesley Hunt, and longshot Sara Canady, fully 58% of Republican primary voters cast their ballots against longtime incumbent Cornyn, which should have been a big warning sign.

    And if money was truly the only thing that mattered in politics, Cronyn should have mopped the floor with Paxton. Cornyn’s own campaign and allied Super PACs poured more than $100 million into Cornyn’s campaign to no visible effect.

    No, the reason that Cornyn lost was because Texas Republicans were finally well and truly tired of him. Cornyn’s playing footsie with illegal alien amnesty while claiming he was against amnesty was one of the biggest reasons voters rejected him.

    There’s being rejected by voters, then there’s being absolutely embarrassed.

    That’s what we saw in Texas last night. John Cornyn, who outspent his opponent Texas AG Ken Paxton 10-1, was absolutely wrecked at the polls.

    No incumbent senator has done worse than Cornyn in half a century, and no other election in U.S. history has seen two incumbent senators voted out in the same election.

    Cornyn’s holdout on the SAVE Act, his pro-amnesty leanings, and his refusal to push Trump’s agenda, along with Ken Paxton’s statewide popularity and effectiveness totally sealed the deal.

    Funny, Cornyn is a co-sponsor of the SAVE Act, but didn’t make himself conspicuous by trying to get the senate to actually pass it.

    The GOP is WILDLY out of step with its voters, who keep trying to send the establishment a message.

    Moreover, Paxton did better among Hispanic than white voters.

    The population of Hidalgo County, Texas, is almost 100% Hispanic. Like many other similar counties, it had heavy support for Paxton.

    While the number of Hispanics who voted in this primary was only in the tens of thousands, the fact that they supported the pro-deportation candidate even more than white voters is an important data point.

    If you spend any time with Hispanic Americans, you will know that they hate people who cheat the system with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns. I am told this makes them racist.

    John Cornyn has become the poster boy for someone who votes right the overwhelming majority of the time, but still manages to be out of touch with the base on their biggest priorities.

    In a not-so different time and age, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) would still be considered one of the good guys: As a pro-life conservative who voted with President Donald Trump 99.2% of the time, just a generation earlier, he would’ve been lauded as one of our most staunchly conservative, reliably Republican senators.

    And not just reliably Republican: He’s reliably a winner, too. Sen. Cornyn hadn’t lost an election in 42 years.

    Yet last night, this four-term senator with a 42-year winning streak was smooshed like a bug, winning just 36% of the vote in his Republican primary runoff. Nearly two-thirds of his constituents rejected him!

    Just like that, his political career is over. No second acts, no chance for redemption.

    GOP politicians beware: The rules for Republican Party membership ain’t what they once were. Violate the new rules at your own peril.

    But don’t look to the mainstream media to explain the new rules. Reductive, knee-jerk journalists can’t see beyond the Great Orange Monster, interpreting Cornyn’s fate — as well as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and a slew of Indiana state senators — as the umpteenth sign that Trump is a dictator/fascist/authoritarian.

    Examples snipped.

    The mainstream media defines “bipartisanship” as Republicans crossing the aisle to help Democrats. But when Democrats cross the aisle to help Republicans, they’re sellouts and traitors.

    Case in point: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.). Because he’ll occasionally side with Republicans, he’s a Judas to the Donkeys.

    Snip.

    Today, we expect a Republican district will send a loyal, dependable Republican representative to Washington. Helping our GOP “team” is considered part of the job. And given how narrow the margins are, we’re unwilling to sacrifice a roster spot for someone who refuses to play ball.

    It’s a luxury we can no longer afford.

    Congressmen and senators aren’t simply judged by how much pork they can peddle. Not anymore — that’s as out-of-fashion as parachute pants, Wham! records, and the mullet. Instead, they’re judged by how effectively they help their “team” advance the national football.

    That’s because the Democratic Party has changed. Until the Obama years, it was a coalition party: liberals, unions, Catholics, environmentalists, blue-collar workers, minorities, and women. Post-Obama, it became a vehicle for left-wing radicalism — and this alone became its North Star.

    Not compromise. Not meeting in the middle. Its stated goal was “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

    Which made conservative compromise an impossibility.

    The Republican Party and the Democratic Party have evolved to address each other’s deficiencies. It was probably inevitable: The political marketplace demanded it, because they’re competing products.

    So, when one party changes, so must the other:

    As the Democrats have embraced socialism, Wokeism, and trans/LGBTQ policies, Republican voters have recoiled in horror. We want our party to protect us from their madness.

    And that’s an all-hands-on-deck challenge.

    The Democratic Party nationalized state elections in 2008 with Barack Obama. It ceased to consist of free-wheeling, locally attuned legislators who represented different segments of the Democratic coalition and became a unified, unapologetic, left-wing movement that placed ideology first.

    The Democrats’ goal wasn’t compromise. It was victory.

    And during the Obama years, the Democrats won a lot.

    The MAGA movement responded by nationalizing elections on the Republican side, too. It’s one of Donald Trump’s most significant legacies, because pre-Trump, we were a party of John Fettermans — always ready to swing a deal and compromise — and the best we could hope for was electing the occasional John Cornyn, who’d sway his GOP colleagues a little to the right.

    It was an age when the Republican Party AND the Democratic Party were moving to the left. The only difference was, the Republicans moved slightly slower than the Democrats.

    The Trump revolution wasn’t just a response to Democratic Party excesses. It was also a stinging rebuke to the GOP establishment — and to Republican politicians who’d cosplay as senior statesmen, earning mainstream media “kudos” for (repeatedly) bending their knee before their Democratic masters.

    Snip.

    Under the old rules, “conservative” senators like John Cornyn were incentivized to move to the middle, because their Republican seats were safe. Nobody dared primary a sitting GOP senator; therefore, his only real threat was being too “extreme” and angering the left.

    As such, many conservative states and conservative districts had wishy-washy RINOs representing them in Congress. (Many were there for decades at a time.)

    It was inefficient. We were squandering precious resources.

    Not anymore. Now, on a national level, we expect more from conservative states and conservative districts — not less — and we’ll vote you out of office if you don’t deliver.

    Like it or not, there are no local federal elections anymore. Everything is national. For better or worse, politics has become the ultimate team sport.

    And the team that maximizes its resources is the one that will win.

    If you want a bright future in today’s Republican Party, the path is clear: Be an asset to your team. Become indispensable. Listen to your coach, know your role, and do it well.

    And let’s score some frickin’ points!

    (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

    Finally, it wasn’t all about Cornyn’s manifest deficiencies. Ken Paxton, despite being grossly outspent, was simply the more conservative candidate. Hell, Paxton even tried to unseat Joe Straus for speaker back when he was in the Texas House. He was the most conservative candidate when he first ran for Attorney General. He started fighting the radical dictates of the Obama administration and social justice initiatives here in the state in his first term. As I’ve said many a time before, I say about Paxton what Abraham Lincoln said about Ulysses S. Grant: “I cannot spare this man. He fights.”

    For all the money backing him, Cornyn was a weak candidate who’d grown out of touch with the base and state he represented. But Ken Paxton got the nod to be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senator from Texas the old fashioned way: He earned it.

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    Posted in Austin, Border Control, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 21 Comments »

    Paxton Slaughters Cornyn, Middleton and Thomas Win, French Leading

    May 27th, 2026

    Outgoing Rep. Dan Crenshaw can rest slightly easier tonight: His is no longer the most embarrassing incumbent Texan Republican loss of 2026.

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton slaughtered incumbent John Cornyn in the Republican runoff. As of this writing, the Texas Tribune tracking page has Paxton garnering 64% of the vote against Cornyn’s 36%. That’s a crushing defeat for a four-term incumbent, especially one who went into the runoff with a slight lead over Paxton. But once in the runoff, Paxton constantly polled ahead of Cornyn, with Republicans dissatisfied with Cornyn’s defections on key conservative priorities over the years (especially on the issue of illegal alien amnesty), and President Trump endorsing Paxton over Cornyn was the final nail in his coffin. I mean, look at this freaking map:

    That’s a curb-stomping.

    State Senator Mayes Middleton scored a decisive win over U.S. Congressman Chip Roy in the Texas Attorney General’s race by around a 55-45% margin. I think Middleton ran the more effective direct mail campaign, establishing himself as the “MAGA” and cultural conservative candidate early on, and painting as weak on a variety of cultural issues early on. I didn’t see any actually see any flyers for Roy until the week of the runoff, when it was way too late.

    Thomas Smith beat Alison Fox decisively by about 58-42% for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3.

    Right now, Bo French is leading incumbent Jim Wright by about 26,000 votes with 94% of ballots in, so I think he’s going to hold on to win. That would mean I was 4 for 4 in my runoff picks. Behold, the power of my endorsements! (If they are powerful, it’s a pretty recent development, given my support for the Presidential campaigns of Jack Kemp, Phil Gramm and Rick Perry.)

    In other results:

  • Maureen “send Zionist to the camps” Galindo lost handily to Johnny Garcia for the TX-35 Democrat nomination.
  • Colin Allred beat Julie Johnson for the TX-33 Dem nod.
  • TX-18 incumbent Christian Menefee (age 38) beat TX-9 incumbent Al Green (age 78) in the Democrat TX-18 primary by a 2-1 margin.
  • Speaking of TX-9, the Trump-endorsed Alex Mealer beat Briscoe Cain (who supported Dade Phelan and voted for the Paxton impeachment) in the Republican primary by an over 2-1 margin.

    • It’s late and thunderstorms are rolling through, and I’ve already briefly lost power a couple of times, so I’ll go ahead and press publish on this. But it was a very good night for Texas conservatives.

    Possibly more tomorrow.

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 6 Comments »

    Texas Runoff Election Roundup

    May 26th, 2026

    Today is primary runoff day in Texas, so get out and vote if you haven’t already.

    Here’s a brief roundup of Texas election-related news.

  • First up, the crazy Democrat in the 35th Congressional District runoff who literally wants to send Jews to camps.

    TX-35 Democratic candidate Maureen Galindo says she will convert ICE detention center in Karnes County into an internment camp for “American Zionists.”

    “It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists,” she added.

    If you’re an American and you support Israel, well, it’s the Texas concentration camp for you.

    A much better use of resources than deporting illegal immigrants, for sure.

    Here’s the San Antonio Current:

    ‘She’ll turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking,’ Galindo wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend, referring to herself in the third person. ‘It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.’

    Johnny Garcia is her primary opponent. The 35th used to be an Austin-San Antonio district, but redistricting changed to stretch from southeast San Antonio all the way down to just short of Goliad.

  • Gambling interests are pouring a lot of money into the Railroad Commission runoff.

    One $500,000 donation by the casino advocacy group funded by the Las Vegas Sands Corp. has made it the single largest donor in the runoff election for the Texas Railroad Commission, the department largely responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry.

    Texas voters heading to the polls in the Republican Primary Runoff Election for the Texas Railroad Commission are getting a fresh look at how big-money players from the gambling world are trying to shape even the most obscure corners of state government.

    Incumbent Commissioner Jim Wright just reported a $500,000 contribution from Texas Sands PAC, the latest in what has become a pattern of heavy spending by casino-backed groups and predatory gambling interests in Texas elections.1

    Right off the bat, the donation looks out of place. The Railroad Commission’s core job is regulating oil and gas production, pipelines, and mining. It has nothing to do with gambling or casino bills and legalization. Yet a PAC funded directly by Las Vegas Sands, the Chinese-centered casino giant, has decided half a million dollars is a smart investment in Wright’s reelection.

    I wonder how Chinese gambling interests think they can benefit from having their man on the Railroad Commission.

    Wright is running against conservative Bo French.

  • In the last week, Chip Roy finally started dropping flyers in his runoff against Mayes Middleton, something Middleton has been doing for months. So behold this tale of two flyers:

    The problem for Roy is that Middleton has already been painting him as the the “non-MAGA” candidate for months. Any low-information voters that could be persuaded by a flyer have probably already been persuaded that Middleton is the MAGA candidate. Roy let himself be outMAGAed early in the race and I don’t see him catching up now.

    • I already voted early for:

  • Texas Senate race: Ken Paxton over John Cornyn
  • Texas Attorney General race: Mayes Middleton over Chip Roy
  • Texas Railroad Commission: Bo French over Jim Wright
  • Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3: Thomas Smith over Alison Fox

    • Go vote if you haven’t already!

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    Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 10 Comments »

    Movie Review: The Best Years Of Our Lives

    May 25th, 2026

    Title: The Best Years of Our Lives
    Director: William Wyler
    Writers: Robert E. Sherwood, MacKinlay Kantor (novel)
    Starring: Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Harold Russell, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael

    For Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day, our regular Saturday movie group usually cues up an American war movie, usually a World War II movie. This Memorial Day weekend, we watched The Best Years of Our Lives, which I guess is technically a post-war movie.

    I’d previously received resistance trying to make it the viewing pick, and I think I know why. First of all, a movie that’s about American servicemen struggling to reintegrate with civilian life sounds like a real downer. Second, at 2 hours and 48 minutes long, that’s a tough sell most nights, as people are afraid it’s going to drag. (That’s the number on the DVD case; IDMB has it at 2 hours, 50 minutes, and Wikipedia it as 2 hours 52 minutes.) Third, I think people discount its Best Picture Oscar win. What, was the Academy not going to give it to a film conspicuously honoring the men who won World War II? (It’s a Wonderful Life was probably its biggest competition.) Finally, some people (not me) are squicked out about films featuring amputees.

    You should put all this aside and watch it, because it’s a great film, it doesn’t drag, and it’s a worthy Oscar winner.

    It starts out following bombardier captain Fred Derry’s (Dana Andrews) efforts to get home to Boone City. He catches a ride on a bomber, where he meets two other demobilized vets headed there, Army Sgt. Al Stephenson (Fredric March, who won the Oscar for Best Actor) and petty officer Homer Parrish (Harold Russell, who won both Best Supporting Actor and a second, special award for the same role), who lost both hands in the war and has had them replaced with hooks he uses quite dexterously.

    All are beset by post-war challenges. Derry has to reconnect with a beautiful but not-quite-trustworthy wife Marie (a gorgeous Virginia Mayo), and is eventually forced to take a low-grade job at the drug store where he used to be a soda jerk. (He also has recurring night terrors of a flaming bomber.) Stephenson has to reconnect with his own family, including a wife (a wonderful Myrna Loy), daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright), and a son (Michael Hall), who ends up disappearing a third of the way through the film because Hall’s contract was up. He also has a bit of a drinking problem that may derail his return to his high-paying banking job. And while Homer has adapted to his disability, he can’t stand the pity he detects in others, and is worried that his engaged sweetheart Wilma doesn’t understand the difficulties she’s getting herself in for with a man that’s helpless without his hooks.

    A significant narrative thread has Fred and Paggy falling in love with each other, almost against their will. It would be a lot easier if Marie were the louse you suspect she has to be for the plot to work out, but she isn’t…at first. Then Fred loses his job for punching a commie, and it turns out Marie is a lot fonder of Fred’s money than him. (She’d fit right in on Tik-Tok.)

    Instead of being a downer, The Best Years of Our Lives is frequently quite funny in a deeply naturalistic, character-driven way. It’s also free of mawkish, obvious sentimentality. Eventually a core of sentimentality surfaces near the end, but all the characters have to work hard to get there, so that their happy endings seem well-earned.

    The script, the acting, the directing, and the cinematography (by Gregg Toland, who also did Citizen Kane) are all excellent. This was an A-list film that got A-list talent thrown at it, and it shows. I would rank it better than about 80% of the Best Picture winners I’ve seen.

    Well worth watching.

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    Posted in Military | 6 Comments »

    Reset The “Days Since Last Trump Assassination Attempt” Sign Back To Zero

    May 24th, 2026

    Reset the sign:

    Another Trump assassination attempt, but this time we can switch the spinner from “Deranged Democrat” to “Complete Nutcase.”

    White House Gunman Identified, Was Known to Secret Service

    A court issued an order barring him from the area. He violated it and kept coming back. The Secret Service kept finding him loitering around the White House.

    Chronicle of a death foretold.

    Nasire Best, 21, of Maryland, had been showing up at the White House for nearly a year before Saturday evening, when he pulled out a revolver and opened fire at a security checkpoint. Secret Service officers shot and killed him at the scene. At least one bystander was seriously wounded.

    Attempting to shoot your way into the White House with a revolver is pretty crazy on its own.

    The agents who confronted him had seen him before. Court records show he was involuntarily committed in June 2025 after obstructing traffic near 15th Street and E Street NW, just blocks from where he would be killed eleven months later. The following month, he was arrested for unlawful entry after bypassing a restricted pedestrian control post at the White House perimeter. When agents detained him, he told them he was Jesus Christ and that he wanted to be arrested.

    Why yes, if there’s one trait we can all agree Jesus displayed it was his love of shooting at people.

    I’ve now created a “Lunatics who thought they were Jesus Christ” tag, and I’m going to have to go back and apply to it retroactively that post about Todd Kincannon.

    A court issued an order barring him from the area. He violated it and kept coming back. The Secret Service kept finding him loitering around White House entry posts in the months that followed. No political motive has been established. Best wasn’t a political operative with a manifesto; he was a deeply disturbed young man who kept returning, compulsively, to the same patch of federal ground until the day he arrived armed.

    The shooting lasted seconds. Best fired a few rounds before officers cut him down. Members of the press corps on the White House grounds dove for cover as the shots rang out.

    Unlike the White House Press Dinner assassination attempt, all the the Secret Service members on site acted quickly and decisively to neutralize the threat. But that’s the second Trump assassination attempt this month, and the third in the last 30 days.

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    Posted in Crime | 4 Comments »

    Memorial Day: Honoring William Gordon Windrich

    May 23rd, 2026

    This Memorial Day weekend we honor the life of William Gordon Windrich, the Medal of Honor recipient who lost his life repulsing a North Korean attack.

    For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a platoon sergeant of Company I, in action against enemy aggressor forces the night of 1 December 1950. Promptly organizing a squad of men when the enemy launched a sudden, vicious counterattack against the forward elements of his company’s position, rendering it untenable, S/Sgt. Windrich, armed with a carbine, spearheaded the assault to the top of the knoll immediately confronting the overwhelming forces and, under shattering hostile automatic-weapons, mortar, and grenade fire, directed effective fire to hold back the attackers and cover the withdrawal of our troops to commanding ground. With seven of his men struck down during the furious action and himself wounded in the head by a bursting grenade, he made his way to his company’s position and, organizing a small group of volunteers, returned with them to evacuate the wounded and dying from the frozen hillside, staunchly refusing medical attention himself. Immediately redeploying the remainder of his troops, S/Sgt. Windrich placed them on the left flank of the defensive sector before the enemy again attacked in force. Wounded in the leg during the bitter fight that followed, he bravely fought on with his men, shouting words of encouragement and directing their fire until the attack was repelled. Refusing evacuation although unable to stand, he still continued to direct his platoon in setting up defensive positions until weakened by the bitter cold, excessive loss of blood, and severe pain, he lapsed into unconsciousness and died. His valiant leadership, fortitude, and courageous fighting spirit against tremendous odds served to inspire others to heroic endeavor in holding the objective and reflect the highest credit upon S/Sgt. Windrich and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

    With his place of death recorded as Yudam-ni and the December 1, 1950 date, this would place Sgt. Windrich’s heroic actions as occurring during The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, one of the most bitter battles for UN/American forces of the entire war, occurring after Communist Chinese forces crossed the Yalu river.

    Windrich was born May 14, 1921 in Chicago, and died from his wounds December 2, 1950.

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    Posted in Military | No Comments »

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