John Hinderaker at Power Line.

When I was a kid growing up in Watertown, South Dakota, we had a Carnegie Library. It was an imposing stone building, and I spent many happy hours there. The library was a haven of peace and quiet, as it was manned by middle-aged librarians who would shush anyone who started to talk.

One thing we did not have was drag queens. I don’t know what would have happened if a drag queen had shown up and started hanging out with the kids, but it would not have ended well.

Weirdly, for reasons I cannot fathom, the concept of a “drag queen story hour” has gained currency. Someone apparently thinks it is a great idea for drag queens to be stationed in libraries, reading to children. To me, it seems like the product of a random bad idea generator. Happily, that appears to be the majority view.

Appeals court blocks Biden student debt cancellation plan (The Hill)

Federal appeals court blocks Biden student debt relief program nationwide (CNBC)

Biden quickly regrets making news on abortion at press conference: ‘I shouldn’t have answered your question’ (Fox)

White House response to University of Virginia shooting invokes ‘assault weapons’ ban (Fox)

White House Presses for ‘Assault Weapons Ban’ After UVA Shooting  How about a ban on black people carrying guns?

Chinese Fentanyl Not Discussed in Biden, Xi Meeting

Biden Hands China’s Xi Propaganda Victory at G-20

Biden’s Climate Change Policies Work More In China’s Interest: Ex-NSA Officer

Cubans, Nicaraguans Drive Illegal Border Crossings Higher  C’mon in! Have some U.S. taxpayer money! Make yourselves at home! Be sure to vote Democrat, the Free Stuff party!

NYC Mayor: Waiting on Reimbursement for Housing Migrants  GIVE US MONEY!

Sen. Rick Scott: Biden Inflation Destroying American Dream

Yellen Contradicts Biden: ‘No Basis’ to Probe Elon Musk’s Purchase of Twitter

Texas Gov. Abbott Invokes Invasion Clause to Deal With Border Crisis

Philly Mayor Says Migrant Buses Coming From Texas; Abbott Disputes Claim

Biden Requests $9.25B for COVID, $37.7B for Ukraine From Congress

Read it.

My, what a surprise.

U.S. judge rejects Biden administration’s LGBT health protections (Reuters)

Fed-up US farmers tell why government will put them out of business (N.Y. Post)

Philadelphia preparing for possible arrival of migrants from Texas (WPVI)

Yellen says U.S. debt ceiling hike by lame-duck Congress would be ‘great’ (Reuters) Congress has never failed to raise the so-called debt ceiling when government spending approached it.

Biden Thanks ‘Columbia’ Instead of Cambodia at ASEAN Summit Imagine if Trump had said that.

Read it. 

Considering the penchant of American Inner Party administrations to stick there nose in other people’s business around the world, can you blame them? I’d do the same.

Manchin comes out against Biden nominee for energy commission (The Hill)

Migrants hoping to seek U.S. asylum face years-long legal limbo in overwhelmed system (CBS)

Biden admin directs pregnant migrant girls to be sheltered in states with abortion access (N.Y. Post)

Biden pushes to require big federal contractors to cut climate pollution (Washington Post)

Biden says women ‘beat the hell out of’ SCOTUS justices in midterms

Texas Judge Strikes Down Biden’s Student-Loan Forgiveness Plan As Unconstitutional

Federal Court Blocks Biden’s Student Loan Bailout. Will the Opinion Stand?

Big Three Ignore Biden Admitting He ‘Can’t Guarantee’ US Will ‘Get Rid’ of Inflation

8 Big Biden-Related Investigations Likely From House’s New GOP Majority

Washington’s Pandora’s Box: The Opening Of The Hunter Biden Laptop Could Expose The Cottage Industry Of Influence Peddling

Turning 80, Biden Weighs Reelection as Fitness Questions Persist  80? I didn’t think his IQ was that high.

Video Report: Biden Suggests Elon Musk Should Be Investigated  It would be appropriate if Elon Musk were to suggest that Joe Biden be investigated. Certainly the available evidence points that way.

Biden Renews American Apology Tour in Egypt

White House Won’t Say How It Spent $1 Billion in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan

WATCH: Joe Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week Vol. 19

FBI arrests 2 Venezuelan illegal immigrants for assault on Border Patrol agent in Texas (Fox) The invasion continues.

Overwhelmed El Paso releases 600 migrants onto streets – until Biden admin pays $7M (N.Y. Post)

Biden’s Latest Gaffe: Russia Withdrawing From ‘Fallujah’

Average American Family Has Lost $6,100 in Real Income Under Biden, Economist Says

Here Were the Dumbest Questions from Biden’s Post-Midterms Presser

Biden’s Versus Trump’s ‘Lies’ — What a Difference an Administration Makes

Biden-nominated US Attorney Rachael Rollins under DOJ IG investigation (Fox)

Rachael Rollins reportedly subject of DOJ probe following Herald report (Boston Herald)

Biden Call To Congratulate Fetterman Lasts Three Hours As Neither Can Form A Coherent Sentence (Babylon Bee)

Read it.

In a statement earlier this week, the DOJ said it was sending officials to 64 jurisdictions throughout the country – most of which would be in red or purple states.

EU says it has serious concerns about Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (CNBC)

‘I’m selling my blood’: millions in US can’t make ends meet with two jobs (The Guardian)

Washington Post Gives Biden ‘Bottomless Pinocchio’ Rating

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Joe was centered on the returns in the family coffers.’ Whistleblower claims Hunter and then-VP Biden were part of a group call to discuss online gambling venture in Latin America – the president talking like he was chairman of the board (Daily Mail)

Biden Tells Big Oil to ‘Expand Supply,’ Assures ‘No New Drilling’

FBI Announces “Enhanced” Firearm Background Checks For Young Adults To Start Next Week

Biden approval ticks lower as Democrats brace for midterm losses -Reuters/Ipsos (Reuters)

Does Joe Biden Know The Fix Is In? (American Thinker)

Trump is losing steam. That’s reason for Biden to bow out in 2024. (Washington Post) Jennifer Rubin signals that Dump Biden has been given the green light.

Pro-Life Father Arrested By Biden DOJ Reacts to Press Sec Claiming Democrats Aren’t Locking Up Pro-Lifers

Read it.

Proving once again that she was only hired so the Biden administration could fill their diversity quota, President Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled through another painful and cringeworthy press conference where she had difficulty stringing coherent sentences together in order to answer simple questions from reporters in the briefing room.

Read it.

My mate and I have noted our supply of various spirits is running out just in time for the holidays. What this means is undertaking a two-hour road trip to an adjacent state where we can shop in a pleasant, supermarket-style store stocked with spirits and wine from across the country and around the world. The knowledgeable staff will help us choose new brands based on our tastes. We will drop several hundred dollars and return across the river with enough to get through the long, dreary winter. I will try and find a good brand of cinnamon whisky which, in my experience, is a highly effective cold medicine.

We cannot get this in our home state. Why? Because our state has a “Liquor Control Commission,” a relic of Progressive and Prohibition-Era socialism that “appoints private businesses to act as its agents and sell its products in exchange for a commission.” In effect, it protects a crony market of crappy, hole-in-the-wall liquor stores staffed by surly, resentful employees, and limits beverage selections to those it deems worthy of being sold in our state. It also regulates what brands of liquor can be distributed within the state, which is why (I suspect) the only cinnamon whisky on sale around here is ‘Fireball.’ Which is… not that good.

The store we go to is part of a national chain. The reason they do not operate in this state is because of this part of the Liquor Commission’s power: “Normal proof spirits (>21% ABV) are sold only in a limited number of agent stores.” I imagine securing a permit to be one of those “limited number of agent stores” is a hotbed of paybacks and backroom deals with some organized crime thrown in.

Sky-high electricity is Biden’s new pain point before elections (Straits Times)

Twitter fact-checks Biden gas price claim (Fox)

Biden: The Days Are Over For Corporations Paying Zero Federal Tax (MSNBC)

Biden Admits The Truth: “No More Oil Drilling” As Energy Stocks Set To Soar

Joe Biden Gets the CNN “Fact Check” Treatment  Getting ready to dump Joe Biden.

“They’re Simply Not Motivated”: Homebuyers Are Fleeing The Market

“People Are Fed Up”: Soaring Electricity Bills Become New Pain Point For Biden

Tom Cotton Slams Merrick Garland for Allowing Illegal Protests at Supreme Court Justices’ Homes

Northeast Faces Winter Energy Crisis as Biden Promises ‘No More Drilling’

Inflation Was Always The Endgame

Biden says ‘my shotgun’ ready to ward off recession, calls Afghanistan ‘God-forsaken place’ (N.Yl Post)

Fact check: Biden’s midterms message includes false and misleading claims (CNN) The Inner Party must be getting ready to dump Biden.

“Independent Commission” SEC Coordinated with White House on ‘Climate Risk Disclosure’ Rule

Americans Moving To Mexico At Record Pace – Up 85% Since Pre-Covid  Inflation can be a bitch.

Chuck Todd: More Immigration Will Fix America’s Inflation Problems  By voting Democrat, of course.

Biden Press Secretary Under Fire For ‘Mega MAGA Republican’ Comment

5.5 Million Illegal Aliens Crossed US Border Since Biden Took Office: Report

“I’m Selling My Blood To Eat, I have No Choice”: Biden Inflation Crushes Americans

Feds Paid Room Service, Laundry, for Illegals in Hotels

Biden predicts Democrats will take Senate, have chance to keep the House in midterms (Fox)

Biden says coal plants ‘all across America’ will be shut down, replaced with wind and solar (Fox) Which is why Democrats are going to lose in the mid-terms.

White House releases net-zero road map (Energy Wire)

Biden administration identifies ‘game-changing’ climate technology for priority investment (The Hill)

White House may have violated law by deleting fact-checked tweet: watchdog (N.Y. Post)

US Debt-Servicing Costs Skyrocket: $1.4 Trillion In Interest Payments On Deck  The problem with all the drunken-sailor Democrat spending is that it has to be paid for by borrowing money, and now that the Fed has quit subsidizing Federal debt with negligible interest rates that chicken (say rather dragon?) is coming home to roost.

Biden: Republicans Will Impeach Me If They Win  Got that right. Sauce for the Trump is sauce for the Biden.

House Republicans Release Scathing FBI Whistleblower Report: Bureau Is ‘Rotted at Its Core’

Read it.

In the private sector, if an employee fails to meet his job requirements, he is likely to be reprimanded or fired. Imagine that an HVAC tech gets called to install 30 units throughout the month. Instead of installing 30, he only installs 22. The HVAC tech missed his goal by about 25 percent. His boss will probably start looking for a new tech.

The U.S. Army just missed its recruiting goal by 25 percent. As a result, the total force of the Army will be undermanned by 15,000 soldiers.

So who’s responsible? Who is ultimately in charge of recruitment for the entire U.S. Army? There is an easy answer found in Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which pertains to the Armed Forces. The code lays out in plain English the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Army. The first responsibility listed is “Recruiting.” It falls directly under the Secretary of the Army, who was chosen by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Read it.

Early this Sunday morning, Americans will engage in the annual autumnal ritual of “falling back” — setting their clocks back one hour to conform with standard time.

If some lawmakers had their way, it would mark the end of a tradition that has stretched for more than a century. But a familiar story unspooled of congressional gridlock and a relentless lobbying campaign, this one from advocates that some jokingly call “Big Sleep.”

A bill to permanently “spring forward” has been stalled in Congress for more than seven months, as lawmakers trade jabs over whether the Senate should have passed the legislation at all. House officials say they’ve been deluged by voters with split opinions and warnings from sleep specialists who insist that adopting permanent standard time instead would be healthier, and congressional leaders admit they just don’t know what to do.

U.S. sells last batch of emergency reserve oil from historic release (Reuters)

Biden administration sells final tranche of emergency oil stockpile (Washington Examiner)

Biden administration boasts ‘no meetings’ to prep for recession — despite expert warnings (N.Y. Post)

White House says US not in recession, lowering inflation ‘number one’ priority (Fox)

Harvard economist issues dire warning on economy (Fox)

DHS Begins Limited Implementation of DACA under Final Rule

Biden: Student Loan Forgiveness to OK 16 Million by Week’s End

Probe Launched Into Homeland Security’s ‘Taxpayer-Funded Censorship Campaign’

House GOP Preps 1,000-Page Report on Politicized DOJ Under Biden

Biden Admin Renews Public Health Emergency Over Monkeypox

TikTok Hires Biden’s Campaign Spokesman

White House insists it’s not using Facebook censorship portal despite Jen Psaki’s ‘flagging’ admission (N.Y. Post)

ACLU slams government working with Big Tech to decide ‘what is true or false’ (Fox)

ABC/CBS/NBC Ignore Biden’s Latest Embarrassing Gaffes, Signs of Cognitive Decline

The View Co-Host Joy Behar Claims Crime Is “Going Down” Under Biden

Under Biden, America’s Oil Reserves Drop to Lowest Levels Since 1984

Biden, Trudeau Choose Green War on Oil and Gas Over Working Class

Video Report: US Agents Fire ‘Crowd Control’ Projectiles in Border Chaos

Fact-Checking 5 Biden Warnings About Dangers to Democracy

Immigration officials confirm alleged Pelosi attacker was in the U.S. illegally (Washington Post)

How the government hid the truth behind Hunter Biden’s laptop (N.Y. Post)

Top Pipeline CEO Compares Biden’s Chaotic Energy Policy To “Saturday Night Live Skit”

SURPRISE: PolitiFact Throws First ‘Pants on Fire’ Flag at President Biden

WH Chief of Staff Ron Klain: US Not in Recession  Stock market says you’re wrong.

Biden Says It May Take Days For Democrat Votes To Be Double-Counted (Babylon Bee)

Suspect in Arizona candidate Katie Hobbs campaign burglary was illegal immigrant wanted by ICE  I’m guessing he’s not a Republican.

Read it.

The Department of Homeland Security agency was established in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent threats to air travelers’ safety, such as the foiled shoe bomber in 2001 and the 2006 attempt to detonate liquid explosives hidden in soda bottles on flights from England to North America. Many of the safety measures introduced back then are still with us now, such as the 3-1-1 liquids rule.

“I don’t think anyone is saying that the way we did things are the way we will do things,” said J. Matt Gilkeson, director of TSA’s Innovation Task Force, which tests new security technologies. “We want to be beyond where we were 20 years ago.”

The TSA will continue to push people around so long as they tolerate it.

Read it.

The National Education Association was caught spending 9% of its budget on member assistance and 50% on various political programs. Teachers’ unions have become enormously powerful by turning their membership and their resources into assets for the Democrats.

Democrats have generously returned the favor by negotiating favorable contracts and allowing teachers’ unions to dismantle the educational system, including shutting down schools for an extended period during the pandemic, eliminating standards in favor of promotion and turning a blind eye to sex abuse. While the shutdown of schools traumatized a generation, leading to increased suicide rates, loss of learning skills, social decline and even higher crime rates, school sex abuse is an ongoing crisis that targets a narrower population of abused students.

That doesn’t mean that the damage is any less.

Border Patrol union slams coverage of clash with illegal migrants, calls on Mayorkas to defend agents (Fox)

Biden says he ‘spoke to’ man who ‘invented’ insulin, who died before president was born (Fox)

Martha’s Vineyard, While Touting ‘Humanitarian’ Response, Quickly Decided to Ship Illegal Aliens to Mainland

U.S. exploring whether it has authority to review Musk’s Twitter deal

Cook shortage threatens to sink U.S. Coast Guard operations

White House Announces $13.5 Billion Aid for Home Energy Bills  Buy those votes! Buy those votes!

US debt: Federal interest payments could soon exceed military spending

Unmonitored Capitol Police Cameras Caught Pelosi Break-In

Read it.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., is calling on the Small Business Administration to explain why it forgave $67 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates—loans that these abortion clinics should never have gotten in the first place.

In a letter first obtained by The Daily Signal, Tenney and her Republican colleagues told Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware that the Small Business Administration “decided to forgive” 38 Paycheck Protection Program loans given “in violation of the guidelines set by Congress” to Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Those loans totaled at about $67 million, the letter said.

Feds keep Facebook censorship portal despite DHS Disinformation Board demise (N.Y. Post)

Border Patrol fires projectiles, repels large migrant group at El Paso border (El Paso Times)

Border Patrol fires pepper balls at Venezuelan migrants after agent is assaulted with flag pole, officials say (Fox)

Eversource CEO asks Biden to take emergency action on New England natural gas supply Good luck with that.

Biden threatens oil companies with ‘higher tax’ if they don’t increase production (The Hill) The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Justice Dept. says ballot drop box monitoring in Ariz. is likely illegal (Washington Post)

FBI Asks Court For 66 Years To Release Seth Rich Laptop Information

Biden to use Florida trip to warn of GOP threat to Social Security and Medicare (The Hill)  Except, of course, that there is no “GOP threat to Social Security and Medicare”.

House GOP Asks Musk for Twitter Docs on Hunter Laptop

Illegal immigration set records this year, but Democrats kept border funding flat (Fox)

With a possible surge of Haitian migrants ahead, the Biden admin is weighing holding them in a third country or Guantanamo (NBC) This appears to be the Deep State playbook: (1) Stick our nose into the business of some foreign country; (2) Act totally surprised when it goes badly wrong; (3) Open the borders to the hordes who immediately head for the U.S.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Biden Claims There Are ’54 States’ In Latest Gaffe  Well, in addition to the normal fifty, he’s got Confusion, Denial, Dementia, and Corruption.

Russia’s Lavrov Needles Biden Over Cuban Missile Crisis and Ukraine

Fentanyl Strikes the West Coast, Killing Thousands

Read it.

A politicized Department of Justice is hunting down enemies of the state in the form of pro-life activists, parents concerned about the sexualization of their children at public schools, and supporters of his presidential opponent. All are now labeled “domestic terrorists.”

The government is colluding with big tech to silence views contrary to the official government positions; preventing them from being voiced on social media platforms. Dissent from “accepted” positions on public health, transgender issues, vote fraud, and the mental acuity of the President are censored by social media with the collusion of the government. Gun control is a priority of this government as is increased taxation.

Yet all is not lost. The censors are being challenged in the courts, with people fired or canceled for unpopular views being restored to their jobs. Yesterday, Elon Musk took over Twitter, firing its chief censor. He is opening the platform to all opinions. Most importantly, a week from this upcoming Tuesday, voters get their opportunity to weigh in. They can replace their elected representatives, sending the ones favoring silencing political opponents with ones favoring free debate of the issues.

Read it.

Arizona’s governor is stacking shipping containers along the border and defying a federal request to remove them (CNN)

Chicago has received more than 3,000 migrants from Texas border (Fox) Gee, Texas border towns get that every day.

The Sordid Politics Of Inflation

White House Sticks to ‘Voter Suppression’ Claim in Georgia Despite Soaring Early-Vote Turnout

Biden Admin Probed Over ‘Illegal Efforts to Undermine Israeli Sovereignty Over Jerusalem’

WATCH: Joe Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week Vol. 17

Leaked FBI Pamphlet Lists ‘Misinformation’ And ‘Disinformation’ As ‘Election Crimes’

US Looking For Other Country To Lead Military Intervention In Haiti  I have an idea–maybe we could just, you know, leave them alone for once.

Read it.

While the pandemic is over, the privilege of the political pajama class isn’t.

“Get a government job!” — John Derbyshire

A deepfake video of Joe Biden singing the children’s song Baby Shark isn’t funny – it is deeply worrying (The Guardian)

A ‘catastrophe’ is coming for the economy, but it’s not recession or inflation, says Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh (CNBC)

Gallup: Biden Approval Down to 40 Percent

DOJ Drags Feet Disclosing Biden’s Plans to ‘Get Out the Vote’

Biden Wants Your Kids to Be Gender-Transitioned Whether You Like It or Not

Major Fuel Supplier On “Code Red” As Diesel Crisis Hits Southeast

Jon Stewart: Hunter Biden Burisma Link ‘Corrupt On Its Face’

DOJ’s Kristen Clarke: A Pro-Abortion Activist Enforcing the Law Against Pro-Lifers  What’s the point of having power if you can’t abuse it?

Kamala Harris Thinks Faith And Abortion Work Together Perhaps for her they do.

Read it.

“Get a government job!” — John Derbyshire

Read it.

With the Navy’s eyes set on achieving a goal well above Congress’ mandated 355 manned warships, the American shipbuilding industry has a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, the industry’s current state doesn’t offer much hope for meeting those goals, let alone sustaining a modestly larger fleet.

In a 2021 report on U.S. defense supply chains, The Heritage Foundation’s Maiya Clark explained what is called a “Fragility and Criticality” assessment. That’s a tool used by the Department of Defense to identify and mitigate weaknesses in the defense industrial base.

Fragility can be understood as how likely disruption is to a certain “product or service,” while criticality indicates how difficult it would be to replace the item.

Applying that tool to U.S. Navy shipbuilding reveals that America is a far cry from its former status as a major shipbuilder.

Read it.

The Justice Department’s effort to win the witnesses’ cooperation shows how the investigation stemming from the classified materials found at Mar-a-Lago is entering a new phase.

Yes, the ‘suborning witnesses’ phase of the witch-hunt.

Returned to Mexico: ‘Traumatic’ expulsions meant to deter migrants from re-entering US (El Paso Times)

First group of Venezuelans with U.S. sponsors arrive under new immigration program (CBS)

Biden’s SPR follies will hurt Americans and damage our national security (N.Y. Post)

Cardona says Republicans fighting student debt relief won’t succeed (The Hill)

U.S. EPA begins work to set up $27 bln green bank (Reuters) With YOUR money.

Biden Breaks His Annual Record With 2.3M Illegal Border Crossings

Macron Lashes Out At US Over Double Standard Energy Policies

Illegal Border Surge Under Biden Hits Highest Level Ever Recorded

Joe Biden Lies About the Economy  As he does about almost everything.

Appeals court temporarily blocks Biden’s student debt relief plan (Axios)

U.S. urges Mexico not to buy Chinese scanners for the border (Washington Post)

El Paso halts practice of busing migrants to New York and Chicago, citing new expulsion policy (CBS)

Dem El Paso mayor says White House pressured him not to declare border crisis emergency (Fox)

How responsible is Biden for high inflation? (The Hill)

Retired Brig. Gen. Holt: Iran Has ‘Blank Check’ With Biden in Power

Unmitigated gall of Joe Biden claiming that he ‘lowered’ debt

Fact-Checking 4 Biden Claims on His Student Loan Bailout

MSNBC’s Capehart Cries to Biden: I’m Scared for Future of Democracy!

Biden DOJ Wants $34 Million To Keep Targeting J6 Defendants

New York mayor says Biden border policy eased flow of migrants (Politico)

Explainer: What is the SPR, the U.S. emergency oil stash? (Reuters)

An often-overlooked economic measure is signaling serious trouble ahead (CNBC)

Arizona fires back at Biden admin’s demand it remove shipping containers filling gaps at border (Fox)

Arizona rejects Biden order to remove shipping containers on border (N.Y. Post)

Justice Amy Coney Barrett denies attempt to block Biden student loan forgiveness plan from taking effect (CNN)

The FBI Agents Association rewarded agents who took a knee in front of BLM, proving the rot isn’t just at the top (N.Y. Post)

Border Patrol Agents Seize Over $500,000 Worth of Fentanyl

Pentagon Establishes Abortion Travel Fund for Service Members, Abortion Providers

WATCH: This New Biden Ad Reaches ‘Levels of Cringe That Shouldn’t Even Be Possible’

Biden’s Cynical New Border Policy

Jill Biden Says Hunter Biden Is ‘Innocent,” Wrongly Pursued  Sorry, Mom, we saw the tape.

WATCH: Joe Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week Vol. 16

WH mocked for claim Americans saving $420M on gas as Biden taps oil reserve (N.Y. Post)

Biden taken aback by multiple reporters suggesting oil reserve release is meant to help Democrats (Fox)

Biden says oil companies should ramp up production and cut prices at the pump instead of buying back stock, paying dividends (CNBC) Ramp up production where? The oil leases Biden cancelled?

Watch: Biden Energy Advisor Admits That Admin Wants To Limit Oil Production “To Accelerate The Transition”

Whistleblowers Reveal FBI Has ‘Voluminous Evidence’ Of Possible Hunter Biden Criminal Conduct: Senator

State Department funding ‘drag theater performances’ in Ecuador to ‘promote diversity and inclusion’

ABC, CBS & NBC Bury Biden State Department Funding Foreign Drag Shows

Biden Admin Tells Arizonans: Using Shipping Containers To Plug Gaps In Border Wall Is Illegal

Police Issue Warning Ahead Of Halloween After Fentanyl Pills Found In Candy Bags At LAX

Hayes Proclaims Biden Has To Raid Oil Reserve To Save Democracy

Biden Supports Federal Funding for Abortion Assistance

Federal Tax Receipts Near Record-High Share Of GDP  This is not just the Feds printing money, but them taking (increasingly inflated) money out of people’s pockets.

Biden set to go to the mat with Big Oil over gas prices (Politico)

Biden to announce release of more oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve just weeks before midterms

‘Undisciplined’ Biden shut down US economy by ‘declaring war on American energy’: Sen. Roger Marshall

Biden administration to tap oil reserve again ahead of midterms (Politico)

Biden turning to Trump-era rule to expel Venezuelan migrants (Associated Press)

Biden’s top border chief comes under internal fire (Politico)

Biden issues a 2023 pledge to Dems: Hold on to Congress and I’ll sign abortion rights into law (Politico)

Biden administration demands Arizona remove shipping containers in gaps along border (The Hill)

NYC public schools forming ‘borough response teams’ as migrant crisis overwhelms classrooms

New York Times podcaster says Biden’s policies are ‘way, way, way to the left’ of the Obama administration

White House Pressured El Paso Mayor Not to Declare Migrant Emergency: Report

Biden Wrestles Teleprompter, Loses

Biden says gas in California has always cost $7 a gallon

Biden’s DOJ Charges Another Pro-life Activist

Big Three Evening Nets Ignore Report Hunter Biden Business Received $40M from Russian Oligarch

USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers (Associated Press) Buy! Those! Votes!

“Operation Lone Star” In Texas Seizes Enough Fentanyl To Kill Every American

The Student Debt Bait-And-Switch

Odd Man Out: Everyone Expects Recession Except Biden  I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

White House Refuses to Address Arrests of Pro-Lifers Amid Attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers

Read it.

Hillary Clinton’s 1996 groomer handbook It Takes a Village made the case that parents can’t do it alone; you need an active and involved community to raise your children for with you. “We all depend on other adults whom we know—from teachers to doctors to neighbors to pastors—and on those whom we may not—from police to firefighters to employers to media producers [!] to political leaders—to help us inform, support, or protect our children.”

Increasingly, however, the only danger the Village wants to protect your own kids from is YOU.

America’s Favorite Supervillain, Governor Gavin Newsom, just legalized child kidnapping in California.

Biden administration officially opens application for student debt cancellation (NBC)

Student Loan Forgiveness Application Website Goes Live

‘They Will Come After You’: GOP Attack Ads Warn Of Weaponized IRS

Nets Ignore Report Joe Biden Knew About Hunter’s Business Dealings

New Select Subcommittee Report Details Trump Administration’s Assault On CDC And Politicization Of Public Health During The Coronavirus Crisis

Biden to Release Another 10-15M Barrels of Oil to Balance Markets

Retired U.S. generals, admirals take top jobs with Saudi crown prince (Washington Post) That’s because being a retired general or admiral pays peanuts, and the Saudis pay very well indeed.

El Paso may stop sending migrant buses to NYC over Biden policy change (N.Y. Post) The squeasky wheel gets the grease.

OPEC+ members endorse output cut after U.S. coercion accusation (Reuters)

Biden wants high gas prices — he just doesn’t want voters to notice (N.Y. Post)

The immigration crisis isn’t what you think it is (The Hill)

White House ‘deeply disappointed’ after Abbas tells Putin he doesn’t trust US (Times of Israel)

Congress eyes cutting off foreign markets from US strategic reserve oil (Washington Examiner) Eyes!

Administration’s Links to China Threatens National Security: Pompeo

NBC: Biden Challenges Are Due to Communications, Not Policy Failures

Commerce Dept Puts Squeeze on Americans Working on Chinese Chips

Buttigieg Admits Recession Is ‘Possible but Not Inevitable,’ Defends Economy

Texas Sheriff Declares Undocumented Migrants “Crime Victims” To Secure Visas  Democrat Texas sheriff–a rare thing.

Biden’s Border Chief Focused on Agency Culture, Not Migrants: Report

“He Was Not Arrested”: CNN & MSNBC Ex-Bosses Struggle To Justify Burying The Hunter Biden Story

EXCLUSIVE: Leaked emails reveal Hunter Biden’s real estate company received a $40MILLION investment from Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, the billionaire widow of corrupt Moscow mayor, who also paid president’s son $3.5million consulting fee (Daily Mail) Sometimes it is good to be the son of the king.

Durham slams FBI for botching Trump-Russia investigation in closing Danchenko arguments

Hiding Hunter’s Laptop: “Right Out Of The Soviet Playbook”

Read it.

This week a lawsuit against the CDC has given us access to some of the V-safe data. This is the smartphone app created by the CDC that lets you register for the vaccine and report side effects and other health information. As with any user-reported data, it should be taken with a grain of salt, but there are people who argue that reporting systems like this and VAERS undercount adverse events because most people don’t bother reporting. Either way, this is data that the CDC has been sitting on and only released due to a recent court order.

The data provided is from 10.1 million users and the headline number is 7.7% of those required medical attention after vaccination. It is such an absurdly high number that if I was working at the CDC, I would insist it was incorrect and there must be something wrong with the software. It will be very interesting moving forward to know how many employees were privy to this information or if there was any internal debate about releasing or debunking it. Data like this would create a liability nightmare, that is if liability existed for such a thing.

ZMan reads the tea leaves.

Is the Biden administration planning to use tactical nuclear weapons against the Russians in defense of Ukraine? It should be unthinkable but we live in an age in which the most offensive and absurd is celebrated, so we can no longer assume anything, no matter how monstrous, is beyond the pale. The bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines was an outlandish act of provocation, so we cannot assume there is anyone in the admiration on the side of restraint.

The first clue that the Biden people are talking about the use of nuclear weapons is their endless talking about the use of nuclear weapons. For months they have been talking about it, in the context of the Russians threatening to use nukes. The trouble is, the Russians have never threatened to use nuclear weapons. Western media keeps making this claim, but an examination of the record shows that Russian officials have repeatedly said the exact opposite.

It is a well known aspect of regime psychology to project what they are doing or plotting onto some enemy of the regime. In 2016 we got the Russian collusion hoax in which Trump was accused of plotting with foreigners to rig the election. What we eventually learned is that it was the regime that was working with foreign intelligence services to not only rig the election but undermine the Trump administration. The opposite rule is an iron law of understanding regime behavior.

Read it.

Periodically the problem becomes an issue for Congress and a “reform law” is passed that does not work. Despite that every few years there is a major effort, often involving more than one service, to deal with the problem themselves. None ever succeed. For example, in 2017 the U.S. Air Force joined the Navy by continuing to extend temporary exceptions to the traditional (since 1947) “up or out” policy prevalent throughout the American military. What up or out meant was that if you were not promoted within a certain number of years (of your last promotion), you had to leave. That meant capable, often very capable personnel, especially NCOs and mid-rank officers, with jobs that had little opportunity for promotion were often forced to leave because of this rule. The air force, like the other services, are slowly modifying the “up or out” rule so that it at least becomes tolerable and not counterproductive.

Whenever there were major reductions in military personnel (after World War II, Korea and Vietnam) it was common for a lot of very competent NCOs and officers to be “up or outed so, since the last major round of downsizing in the 1990s, all the services sought more ways to avoid losing skilled personnel who being lost for no other reason than that there were no opportunities for promotion in their military occupation specialties (MOS). After 2001 the navy and air force were hardest hit and both services have implemented temporary adjustments to “up or out” rules to keep people they could not afford to lose and could not easily replace by retraining veteran personnel in other fields or obtaining new recruits with the needed skills and experience.

Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard may get visas after being declared victims of crime (The Guardian)

How Kamala Harris’ Approval Ratings Stand 4 Weeks Before Midterms (Newsweek)

Protest closes US-Mexico border bridge in Texas (NBC)

The high price of Biden’s foolish energy policy and Saudi squabble (The Hill)

Buses brought the border to New York City. Soon emergency tents will house hundreds of migrants (CNN)

Adams’ NYC migrant shelter build on Randall’s Island sparks major safety concerns: ‘Riot on the island’ (Fox)

The lawyer who could deliver on Biden’s wish to be the most pro-union president (Washington Post) Look for … the Union label….

Importing more foreign farm workers is sowing the seeds of destruction (The Hill)

Texas border patrol discovers $402K in liquid meth inside of condom-filled pumpkins (Fox)

Federal Tax Haul Nears Record-High Share Of GDP

Biden calls testimony, video from Jan. 6 committee hearing ‘devastating’ (Reuters)

Inside Hunter Biden’s cash ties to communist China’s ‘political warfare’ machine

Economists Project ’23 Recession, Job Losses in WSJ Survey  Spendaholic Dems will do that.

Embattled Biden Turning to Trump-Era Rule to Expel Venezuelan Migrants

Border governors taking action on illegal immigration because Biden administration caused crisis (Fox)

Venezuelan migrants in shock and limbo after new US immigration plan (CNN)

Mayorkas Threatened With Impeachment Over Border ‘Whipping’ Response (Newsweek) Talk’s cheap.

We’re Heading for a Stagflationary Crisis Unlike Anything We’ve Ever Seen (TIME)

Nearly 130,000 unaccompanied migrant children entered the U.S. shelter system in 2022, a record (CBS)

CNN, MSNBC Bosses Offer Awful Defense of Dismissing the Hunter Laptop Story in 2020

Latest Supply Chain Crisis Could Threaten Global Stash Of Food, Energy

DOJ Sued Over Refusal To Explain Zero Protection For Conservative Supreme Court Justices’ Homes

Former FBI Agent Thibault Rejects House GOP Request for Testimony

The Other McCain is not impressed.

This week marked the beginning of the end of “The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, more commonly known as the January 6th Committee.”

Congress has now adjourned until after the election, which Democrats will lose, and so, while we might see some further theatrics during the lame-duck sessions before the 118th Congress convenes in January, this was their big finale: “Let’s subpoena Trump!”

‘Powder keg’ for ‘disaster’: As migrant surge sweeps NYC, here’s where they’re being housed (N.Y. Post) Remember: The total number of migrants sent to New York City is what Texas towns receive every day.

The Ute Indian Tribe calls Biden’s newest national monument an ‘unlawful act of genocide’ (Salt Lake Tribune)

Biden says he visited Rio Grande — despite ducking border trip (N.Y. Post) More Biden lies.

36 migrants arrive outside VP Kamala Harris residence, buses continue pouring into NYC (Fox)

DOJ Sued for Refusing to Say Why It Ignored Protests at Justices’ Homes  Well, because they were Heretics and Sinners. Duh.

Social Security’s 8.7% COLA Will Protect Retirees From Inflation, but Will Hasten Program’s Insolvency  Maybe people will quit voting for Democrat giveaways. Maybe.

WSJ: Top FTC Officials Had Stocks in Firms They Regulated

‘Demented Liar Joe Biden’

The Stagflation President

The Era Of Cheap Food And Cheap Gasoline Is Over

WATCH: Biden Says He Agrees With Everything Maxine Waters Says. Roll the Tape.

Media Desperately Spin Inflation: ‘Silver Lining!’ Economy ‘Strong!’

AOC Welcomes Flood of Migrants to Big Apple

WATCH: Joe Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week Vol. 15

Where does the Constitution authorize the Federal government to spend money on Education? On Welfare? On Health Care? On Pensions? Don’t sweat the arrival of socialism: It’s already here.