Read it.

“I always tell people the day Latinos, African-American, Asian and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning. Because we are the majority in this country. We have the ability to take over this country,” State Rep. ‘Gene’ Yuanzhi Wu, who serves as the Texas Democrat House Minority Leader, recently declared.

Who is oppressing Wu? The Chinese immigrant came here from Guangzhou, graduated from law school and became one of the top officials in the state. Good luck to any American who wants to move to China, become a lawyer and run for public office. And if a non-Chinese immigrant were to suggest that minorities in China should ally together against their Chinese oppressors and take over, his organs would be for sale on Temu in 15 minutes or less.

Rep. Wu represents a Houston district where a majority of the neighborhoods like Gulfton and Sharpstown are Hispanic and only a minority of residents are Chinese. Three out of four core neighborhoods have more black people than Hispanics so it’s understandable that Wu wants to point them at overthrowing their white ‘oppressors’ rather than electing a black or Hispanic man.

(Of course many of the ‘Hispanics’ in Wu’s district are illegal aliens. Wu admitted in an interview that at least a third are illegals, suggesting the real number may be much higher, and that his district is illegitimate. It also explains why Wu fights so hard to protect illegal aliens in Texas.)

But Rep. Gene Wu’s call for a race war isn’t representing Asian Americans either. Instead it hews suspiciously close to the Chinese Communist party’s agenda for tearing apart America.

Quillette.

In some of the most beautiful and prosperous places in America, a curious paradox has taken hold: the people who benefit most from capitalism increasingly appear to resent it. They live in high-amenity cities and mountain towns with preserved open space, reliable infrastructure, advanced healthcare, abundant leisure, and the freedom to choose where and how they live. These conditions did not arise spontaneously. They are the cumulative result of markets, private investment, innovation, and long-term economic growth. Yet in these same environments, it has become socially fashionable to describe capitalism as immoral, exploitative, or fundamentally broken. This is often dismissed as hypocrisy. That framing is too simple. What we are witnessing is not merely individual inconsistency, but a structural paradox produced by success itself. Capitalism generates abundance, and abundance reshapes human priorities.

[insert usual rant about There Ain’t No Such Thing As Capitalism here]

The Foundry.

When it comes to the Olympics, certain things are no-brainers. Don’t ski jump in high heels. Don’t do mixed doubles curling with an ex-spouse. Don’t do a two-man luge with JB Pritzker on top.

I would add, “Don’t trash the nation you’re there to represent.”

Apparently, several members of Team USA don’t have brains.

Ars Technica.

The National Labor Relations Board abandoned a Biden-era complaint against SpaceX after a finding that the agency does not have jurisdiction over Elon Musk’s space company. The US labor board said SpaceX should instead be regulated under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations at railroad and airline companies.

The Railway Labor Act is enforced by a separate agency, the National Mediation Board, and has different rules than the National Labor Relations Act enforced by the NLRB. For example, the Railway Labor Act has an extensive dispute-resolution process that makes it difficult for railroad and airline employees to strike. Employers regulated under the Railway Labor Act are exempt from the National Labor Relations Act.

In January 2024, an NLRB regional director alleged in a complaint that SpaceX illegally fired eight employees who, in an open letter, criticized CEO Musk as a “frequent source of embarrassment.” The complaint sought reinstatement of the employees, back pay, and letters of apology to the fired employees.

SpaceX responded by suing the NLRB, claiming the labor agency’s structure is unconstitutional. But a different issue SpaceX raised later—that it is a common carrier, like a rail company or airline—is what compelled the NLRB to drop its case. US regulators ultimately decided that SpaceX should be treated as a “common carrier by air” and “a carrier by air transporting mail” for the government.

One of the difficulties in living in a comprehensive administrative state is figuring out which bureaucrats you have to bribe to get anything done.

The Telegraph (UK).

The transgender teenager responsible for Canada’s worst school shooting in nearly 40 years struggled with his physical appearance and was fixated with guns and drugs.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old from the remote town of Tumbler Ridge who was born a male, wrote online about his 6ft frame and his desire to be a “petite” woman.

He shot dead his mother, Jennifer Strang, and his 11-year-old stepbrother on Tuesday afternoon before walking to his former school 10 minutes away and opening fire on pupils and staff, killing eight before taking his own life.

Police initially described the shooter as a “gunperson” and a “female in a dress”. They later revealed that Van Rootselaar had begun transitioning at the age of 12 and publicly identified as female.

‘Trans’ people are crazy. Crazy people are dangerous. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said.

The Times (UK).

The prime minister has asked Sir Jim Ratcliffe to apologise after Manchester United’s co-owner said Britain has been “colonised” by immigrants. But who is the billionaire businessman?

Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Britain has been colonised by immigrants

Ratcliffe led The Sunday Times Rich List in 2018 and has since dropped to 7th last year with an estimated net worth of £17.046 billion.

The 73-year-old founded the global chemicals company Ineos in 1998 and acquired a significant minority stake in Manchester United football club in February 2024, taking control of football operations.

It would appear that billionaires not named Soros have a realistic view of the immigration problem. One of the nice things about being a billionaire is that you can tell Woke statists like Starmer to fuck off.

Raised on a council estate in Greater Manchester as the son of a joiner, Ratcliffe moved his primary residence to the tax haven of Monaco in 2020 to avoid up to £4 billion of tax.

Well. There it is. People who have made their own fortunes tend to dislike the government stealing from them.

UPDATE: Farage backs Ratcliffe over claims UK ‘colonised by immigrants’ (The Telegraph [UK])

U.S. Ski Team Awarded Gold Medal For Synchronized Screaming About Trump (BabylonBee)

Alarming Study Shows Average Somali High School Senior In Minnesota Committing Fraud At Just A 5th Grade Level

Trump Is Trying to Change Voting Control Because He Is Nervous He Will Lose | Karin Von Hippel

NYC officials vow to fly Pride flag at Stonewall, after Trump admin takes it down (Trump administration removes Rainbow Flag from Stonewall National Monument (Matt Tracy/Gay City News))

Dad who shot Brit daughter dead after ‘Trump argument’ releases statement

Trump, corruption, crypto, and the UAE (The New Neo)

‘Going to Hell’: Democrats Press DHS Officials on Immigration Action  Like being called ugly by a frog.

Trump dropped a dime on Epstein way back when (The New Neo)

10 Threats Against Trump Admin Officials in 2026

The Man Who Always Has Proof Tomorrow: Adam Schiff Cries Election Fraud Again

In the New Jersey Primary, ‘Abolish ICE’ Looks Like a Winning Message (Michelle Goldberg/New York Times)

Trump’s tariffs cost American households $1,000 last year: Research group (Elizabeth Schulze/Associated Press)

Trump administration’s changes to the CFPB cost Americans $19B, a new report says (Ken Sweet/Associated Press)

A Campaign to Revoke the Endangerment Finding Appears Near ‘Total Victory’ (New York Times)

The Nation’s Most Democratic State Might Elect a Trump-Friendly Governor (Harold Meyerson/American Prospect)

Trump’s Doomed Drive to Rename Penn Station and Dulles Airport (Michelle Cottle/New York Times)  That was never serious. But proglodytes have no sense of humor and so can’t detect it in others.

After Greenland, it’s the micro-agressions (Politico)

Republicans are pushing to drastically change the way you cast ballots (Amber Phillips/Washington Post)  Yeah—you actually have to be alive and a citizen. Shocking, I know.

Trump set to repeal landmark climate finding in huge regulatory rollback this week (Reuters)

Republicans can’t afford more presidential distractions right now (Washington Post)  They hope.

The death of the CIA Factbook and Trump’s war on usefulness (Paul Waldman/Public Notice)

Newly Unbound, Trump Weighs More Nuclear Arms and Underground Tests (New York Times)

Immigrants Who Say Their Detention Is Illegal Have Filed More Than 18,000 Cases. It’s a Historic High. (ProPublica)

Raging MAGA Rep Demands Consequences After ‘Depraved’ Bad Bunny Show (Ewan Palmer/The Daily Beast)

How ICE defies judges’ orders to release detainees, step by step (Kyle Cheney/Politico)

ICE Arrests Raise Questions About Following Federal Agents

Trump to Repeal Landmark Climate Finding in Huge Regulatory Rollback (Wall Street Journal)

Trump set to gut U.S. climate change policy and environmental regulations: White House official (Associated Press)

Universities are sending Trump a dangerous message (Washington Post)

Stewart And Beshear Strategize On How To Combat Trump’s Immigration ‘Body Count’

A “Zahltag” Moment, in a United States of “On To Cincinnati” (Greg Olear/PREVAIL)

Maxine Waters is the newest target in Democrats’ intergenerational war (Melanie Mason/Politico)  Congresswoman Bitter Beer Face on the rocks? Say it ain’t so!

CNBC, a Voice of the Crust.

And who could blame them? Governments these days look on rich people as mere deep pockets to be picked—or piggy banks to be smashed and rifled.

Read it.

Rep. Becca Balint stormed out of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday after Bondi deflected questions about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and instead criticized Balint’s record on antisemitism.

Lawmakers called the hearing to press Bondi on a range of issues, including Epstein and the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

Balint, a Vermont progressive, asked Bondi during her questioning whether Trump had been aware of billionaire financier Howard Lutnick’s ties to Epstein when he was appointed as commerce secretary. The most recent files released last month showed that Lutnick had visited Epstein’s private island and dined with him years after he said he had cut off ties — and after Epstein pled guilty to sex crimes.

After Bondi refused to answer Balint’s question, the congresswoman replied, “I’m going to conclude that the president, in fact, did know about his ties.”

At the end of Balint’s questioning, which devolved into shouting as Bondi consistently interrupted Balint, Bondi then raised Balint’s record on antisemitism.

I guess Democrats can’t stand to be treated like Republicans.

Read it.

This is one step further than simple Lawfare, this story is about lower court judges openly strategizing ways to stop the enforcement of laws they are supposed to uphold.

Last week the Fifth Circuit Cout of Appeals ruled that detaining illegal aliens during the deportation proceedings is entirely following current immigration law [SEE HERE]. Now, according to Politico, federal judges in Texas are openly strategizing ways to work around that higher court ruling and keep giving bond releases to illegal aliens under the guise of “liberty interest.”

To be clear, these are Federal judges, many of whom were appointed by Democrat Presidents, not state judges, who know better.

Read it.

My, what a surprise.

Read it.

There is a reason for this sudden interest in things military: Russia. Let’s be honest, Russia is currently losing the war in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean to say Putin will give up. If he does, he’s dead. Russia is not big on accountability, but having 1.5 million men killed in a five years’ long three-day ‘special military operation’ requires accountability. Even for Putin. In the unlikely case a temporary peace agreement can be reached favoring Russia — any other agreement is not going to happen — Ukraine is just a stepping stone, about half way. It is no coincidence Finland and Sweden have joined NATO.

Read it.

Gee, I wonder why.

The United States has fallen to its lowest-ever rank in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), a leading global index that measures perception of corruption in the public sector among independent experts and business people. In 2025, the U.S. fell down one spot to 29th place (out of 182) with a score of 64/100 on a 0 to 100 scale, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 completely clean. This ranking puts the country on the same level as the Bahamas, and below Uruguay (17th place), Bhutan (18th) and the United Arab Emirates (21st). The United States had been on a slow decline in the index since 2017, when the country scored 75/100.

Several factors have impacted the U.S.’ score, including measures put in place last year by the Trump administration that have severy hindered the federal government’s ability to fight public corruption, such as pausing investigations into corporate foreign bribery, weakening institutions or curtailing enforcement of a foreign agent registration law.

According to recent aggregated data from the Pew Research Center based on series of national polls, trust in the government was nearing historic lows at the end of 2025, with only 17 percent of Americans trusing the government to do what is right just about always or most of the time. As our infographic shows, trust in the government has been on a slow decline since it peaked at 54 percent in October 2001, during George W. Bush’s first term (such a high level of approval hadn’t been recorded since the early 1970s, under President Nixon). The lowest level recorded since 2000 was in October 2011, under President Obama. Trust in the government hit a low of 15 percent, which coincided with the announcement of the official withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year and the expansion of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Read it.

The ‘Rules Based’ International legal order, that convenient phantom, had its coffin nailed at Nuremburg in 1945. Yet the accepted mainstream news take on Venezuela was that Maduro’s flight of fancy to the US was something crashing the norms of the ordered world of modernity. A usurpation of the decent normalcy of the twentieth century. Please. As Cicero opined “In time of war, the laws are silent” (Inter arma enim silent leges).

On 3 January 2026, United States armed forces carried out a military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transported to the United States to face federal criminal charges. The intervention has since generated intense legal debate, centring on whether the actions violated international law, constitutional constraints on the use of force, and longstanding principles of sovereignty and immunity.

Legal scholars and international law authorities rolled out the usual verbatim responses. That the use of force by one state against another is tightly circumscribed by the United Nations Charter, particularly Article 2(4), which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state absent Security Council authorisation or a valid claim of self-defence. According to international law expert Geoffrey Robertson KC, the operation’s conduct “was contrary to Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter” and constitutes a ‘crime of aggression’, describing it as ‘the worst crime of all.’

Unfortunately they can’t take their football and go home because their football is imaginary.

Critics also point to wider implications for sovereign immunity and the protection afforded to sitting heads of state under international law. As articulated by the panel of UN human rights experts, the unprovoked use of armed force on Venezuelan sovereign territory is a breach of international law and may ‘also constitute the international crime of aggression attributable to the individual political and military leaders involved.’ They further noted that under international law, a sitting head of state like Maduro enjoys immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of foreign courts while in office, complicating the legal basis for his abduction and prosecution.

And yet the “International Community” (specifically the U.N.) has done fuck-all about it. They recognize that Trump knows that the football is imaginary and has decided to rub their noses in the dirt.

The broader concern among legal scholars is that permitting such actions without robust legal justification weakens international legal norms. If one state can use force on another’s territory based on indictments or alleged criminal conduct, the prohibition on the use of force that underpins the UN Charter would be severely eroded, potentially inviting reciprocal interventions by other powers. These are the juridical arguments for and against the intervention.

Remind me how long the Russian war against Ukraine has been going on. I read somewhere that the Russians have been fighting the Ukrainians longer than the Russians fought the Germans during either World War.

Read it.

Move over, Golden State. You’re being replaced by the Sunshine State.

The wealthiest people in the U.S. are forsaking California in favor of Miami to escape a looming wealth tax that might be coming to the West Coast state. And as these affluent folks head to the 305, they’re giving the real estate market a seismic shakeup upon their arrival by snatching up luxe mansions in South Florida, Bloomberg reported.

Larry Page, the cofounder of Google, is one of many people making the move. He reportedly just snagged a $101.5 million manse and another $71.9 million property in the luxe enclave of Coconut Grove last month, according to Bloomberg. Another adjacent $15 million home was also allegedly snapped up by an entity connected to Page in January, too, completing his property trifecta (and following the trend of billionaires amassing luxe compounds in Miami). Fellow billionaire Mark Zukerberg has also stepped into the Miami fray, reportedly buying a property on Indian Creek, a man-made isle that’s also known as Billionaires Bunker. If the Facebook founder has actually purchased a home there, he’ll count Jeff Bezos (who has a $90 million spread there) and Tom Brady (and his blinged-out watch collection) as his neighbors.

The Telegraph (UK).

To say that grammar schools are competitive would be a gross understatement: with more than 30 candidates for each place at some schools, getting a place for your child now requires military-style levels of strategy and ruthlessness.

There are stories of children as young as six being privately tutored for the 11+ exams, and families applying for schools hundreds of miles away (some as far away as China). The average house price in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, which is in the catchment area of several outstanding grammar schools, now exceeds £1.1m.

Grammar schools are no longer just about serving local talent; they are a national – and increasingly international – race for an elite educational opportunity. One that is, crucially, free.

Free because they are paid for by the taxpayers. Yet another thing that in America would be private but in Britain is controlled by the government.

Many have been quick to blame the under-representation of white children in grammar schools on anti-white discrimination, but the idea that entrance is awarded on the basis of some sort of ethnic favouritism is nonsense.

Firstly, grammar schools are often located in quite demographically diverse areas. Secondly, students sit the same test regardless of background. For most schools, there is no pass threshold, so places are simply allocated in descending order of exam mark (although around two thirds of grammar schools have policies prioritising candidates from disadvantaged homes or on free school meals).

Apparently, these people don’t even read what they write, or are so steeped in cognitive dissonance that obvious inconsistencies don’t even register.

The Telegraph (UK).

Everybody goes to Ricks; everybody moves to Florida.

Indian Creek Island is a very interesting place; look at it on a map and you will see why billionaires like it.

None of the world’s five richest people live in California, despite four having founded their companies there.

Gee, I wonder why.

The Telegraph (UK).

A shooter described as a “female in a dress” killed nine people in a remote part of Canada on Tuesday.

Seven people died after being shot at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, while two more people were found dead at a nearby home

Another 27 people were hurt, including two with life-threatening injuries, in the country’s worst school shooting in more than 30 years.

…

The local police superintendent later described the suspect as a “gunperson” in a press briefing, without giving further details about their identity.

Being Woke doesn’t make you immune from crazy.

The 1989 murders of 14 women by a gunman at École Polytechnique in Montreal led the country to tighten its gun laws.

Well, that’s all right then.

The deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history happened in 2020 when a man shot dead 22 people across multiple rural communities in the province of Nova Scotia.

Guess those tightened gun laws really works.

UPDATE: School Shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia Leaves 10 Killed, Including Shooter – The “Gender” of Shooter Creating Angst

My, what a surprise.

UPDATE: SHOOTER IDENTIFIED AS TRANS (Tim Pool)

Read it.

Yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

From a financial perspective, each Seahawks player will take home $178,000—payment for that particular game.

Now, given that the Superbowl was played in California—and the players earned money playing in the game— it’s reasonable for the state of California to tax that specific income.

But that’s not the way California looks at it.

Instead, the state will go back in time, all the way to the start of the NFL season in September, and take their ‘fair share’ of the players’ ENTIRE salaries over the entire season.

Read it.

A Sunday yoga class at Minneapolis CorePower Yoga studio turned into an unscripted protest earlier this month, as a group of enraged customers berated front-desk staff for not condemning federal immigration enforcement, prompting the Denver-based chain to ban one regular and agree to post anti-ICE signage in its studios.

The Foundry.

Because of Democrat demands to prevent a government shutdown, House Republicans are accusing Senate Democrats of protecting illegal immigrants who vote in American elections.

Democrats are threatening to vote against legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which could force a partial shutdown of the federal government this Friday. Democrats have made several demands to keep the government open, including a measure to prohibit immigration enforcement operations near polling locations.

“If illegal aliens aren’t voting as Democrats claim, why would [Senate Minority Leader] Schumer and [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries be afraid of immigration enforcement near polling locations?” Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., told The Daily Signal. “I think the answer is pretty obvious to Americans.”

In a statement shared with The Daily Signal, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., added that those demands are being proposed by people “that don’t want any apprehensions of illegals.”

Read it.

It should not come as a surprise to see the Senator who lost her 2010 primary, then refused to leave congress and ran as a write in candidate; then supported changing the state voting system to a ranked choice structure; who then lost again in 2022 but ultimately won because Democrats all listed her as their second choice in the new structure; come out against anything that would lead to stronger voting requirements.

The New Neo.

You’ve probably read Narrative Media stories {like this one: Irish man with valid US work permit held in ICE detention for five months (Rory Carroll/The Guardian)] about the Irish guy whose been in the U.S. 20 years ‘as a lawful resident’ and has been in ICE custody for five months. Here’s the truth.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Tuesday that ICE agents arrested Culleton in early September.

“He entered the United States in 2009 under the visa waiver program, which allows you to stay in the U.S. for 90 days without a visa,” McLaughlin told Newsweek in a statement. “He failed to depart the U.S.. He received full due process and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on September 10, 2025. He was offered the chance to instantly be removed to Ireland but chose to stay in ICE custody, in fact he took affirmative steps to remain in detention.”

Read it.

One of the hottest commodities in the military, or even for civilian contractors, is having a vehicle down range when you are deployed in the Middle East. Anyone who is someone has their own Ford F-150, especially those in leadership, as a work vehicle for driving around a military base. If you were deployed in Afghanistan, you were lucky if you had a truck to share to get from your dorm to work; if not, you were stuck either walking for 20 minutes in your battle rattle gear with your weapon or riding a packed school bus with your fellow service men and women.

While everyone would have preferred their own vehicle, like back in the US, it would have cost too much. Even still, the United States spent nearly $10 billion on vehicles and aircraft in Afghanistan between 2010-2020, which does not even cover the cost of fuel, parts, maintenance, or even the shipping of the vehicles. Therefore, it was generally accepted that dragging your feet through the desert or sweating your butt off on the bus ride was a logical part of the “suck” in deployments. Yet, then, on the American Forces Network news, you would see an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) caravan consisting of hundreds of Toyota trucks parading through the deserts. These vehicles were not the stereotypical filthy beat-up trucks but shiny new Toyota pick-up trucks and SUVs, particularly the Toyota Hilux. Violent non-state actors (VNSA), such as ISIS, were capable of acquiring Westernized vehicles through various means of raising funds and global logistical networks. The Toyota Hilux was particularly preferred due to its performance and looks.

Perplexity says:

Toyota has never sold the Hilux new in the United States since the 1990s, when it shifted focus to the Tacoma midsize pickup, which fills a similar role but is tailored for U.S. regulations and preferences. The main barriers include the 25% “Chicken Tax” tariff on imported light trucks, which makes it uneconomical, plus differences in safety standards, emissions rules, and Toyota’s strategy to produce the Tacoma locally.

As always, the government is the reason we can’t have nice things.

Rating Site Sues Trump Admin Over Probe of Alleged Suppression of Conservative Media

Judge Halts Order Requiring WH to Unfreeze Tunnel Funding

Chloe Kim, Eileen Gu speak out after President Trump calls Olympian ‘a loser’ (The Athletic)

Armenian PM Pashinyan Says Trump Deserves Nobel Peace Prize

Legality of Trump’s $400M in private funding for White House ballroom at issue (Washington Post)

Jasmine Crockett’s vulgar 6-word message for Trump in Epstein probe (Elizabeth Elkind/Fox News)

“Uptick in Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers (Ryan Devereaux/The Intercept)

Feds Have Charged 158 Anti-ICE Agitators With Federal Crimes In Minnesota

Leftists Lose It As Pro-ICE Ad Plays During Super Bowl

Pete Hegseth’s Attack on Harvard (Tom Nichols/The Atlantic)

Trump’s Vile Obama Video Follows the White House’s Official White Nationalist Line (Berny Belvedere/The UnPopulist)

Republicans ask Supreme Court to block states from counting legally cast mail ballots (Yunior Rivas/Democracy Docket)

MS NOW: ‘Paramilitary’ ICE ‘Buying Off’ Police to Help Steal Elections

Read it.

According to everyone from Sen. Patty Murray to the International Press Institute, breaking into a church and interrupting a religious service is “First Amendment activity”. But if preventing other people from praying is “First Amendment activity” then what is the church service itself?

First Amendment activity entails expressing your opinion, your belief or your religious practice, but the moment your actions interfere with and prevent someone else from engaging in their expression or activity while they are within their space, it’s an assault on their rights.

The Left has normalized attacking churches and synagogues, like Adas Torah in Los Angeles, ‘occupying’ campuses and public buildings, even vandalizing them and assaulting employees and worshipers, while describing this vandalism and thuggery as “First Amendment activity”.

Read it.

A federal judge ruled against California’s prohibition on federal law enforcement wearing masks, a mandate aimed at Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents.

U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, appointed by President Bill Clinton, ruled the state law discriminates against federal law enforcement, as it allowed state police to wear masks to conceal their identities while preventing federal law enforcement from doing the same.

However, she rejected the Trump administration’s argument that the ICE agents needed to wear masks to be protected from doxing, in a 30-page opinion Monday.

“The Act treats federal law enforcement officers differently than similarly situated state law enforcement officers,” Snyder concluded.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act in September 2025, only referencing federal, city, and county law enforcement, but not including state law enforcement.

The Foundry.

The Census Bureau recently released updated population figures through June 2025. The country grew slightly, but that growth wasn’t equally distributed. Many red states, like South Carolina, Idaho, and Texas, grew significantly. In just one year, each of those states saw their population increase by more than 1%.

Blue states aren’t keeping up. California, Illinois, and New York now have fewer people than in 2020. In contrast, Florida’s population is up around 9%.

There’s an obvious and important takeaway here. Blue states implemented leftist ideas. They have high taxes and regulations that strangle construction. They have failing schools that teach students to hate America. They force female athletes to compete against boys.

The results have been so intolerable that millions of people have moved out. It’s yet another example of people fleeing socialism.

There’s a less obvious but just as important takeaway. After the decennial census, states gain or lose congressional seats based on population. Those adjustments change the Electoral College. States receive electoral votes based on how many House and Senate members they have.

The forecast from the American Redistricting Project shows Democrats losing nine seats in reliable blue states. Two swing states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, would each lose a seat. Those 11 seats would go to states that Trump won in 2024. A different projection from Jonathan Cervas at Carnegie Mellon University has solid red and lean red states gaining 13 seats.

Read it.

The decision by the Spanish government to grant legal status to more than half a million illegal immigrants has triggered an immediate reaction in Brussels and reopened a deeper debate on sovereignty, security, and the coherence of European migration policy.

Although presented in Madrid as an administrative measure aimed at economic growth and social cohesion, the initiative has been met with “serious reservations” by the European Commission, according to EU sources, who warn of potential frictions with the Union’s common framework and with the spirit that currently guides the bloc’s migration policy.

The decree announced at the end of January by Pedro Sánchez’s executive will allow the regularisation of foreigners who entered Spain before December 31, 2025, and who can prove a minimum stay of five months or a prior asylum application. Beneficiaries will receive a one-year residence permit and authorisation to work in any sector.

From the EU’s perspective, the main problem is not only the scale but the automatic effect this decision has on the Union as a whole. Spain is part of the Schengen Area, which means that regularised immigrants will be able to move freely across Europe for up to 90 days in any 180 days. In Brussels, there is concern that this mobility could facilitate de facto residence in other member states without authorisation, putting further strain on already overburdened asylum and control systems.

Read it.

Latvia has taken a firm stand against the European Union’s new Migration and Asylum Pact, openly rejecting both the relocation of migrants and the financial penalties foreseen under the scheme.

Speaking during the annual foreign policy debate in the Latvian parliament on January 29th, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže made it clear that Riga will not comply with the forced migration policies imposed from Brussels.

“When it comes to migration, which has been the subject of much discussion, I think the government’s position is absolutely clear: no to illegal migration. We have strengthened border protection,” Braže said, stressing that Latvia will neither accept new migrants nor pay for them. Under the new pact, member states must either take in migrants from other countries or contribute around €20,000 per rejected migrant. For Latvia, both options are unacceptable.

The Antiplanner.

Twenty-seven percent of Portland-area offices remain vacant, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers. That’s a slight decline from the previous year, but vacancies in downtown Portland are 34 percent and rising. Nationally, downtown office vacancies are only 19 percent.

“Portland’s prolonged commitment to remote work, ongoing concerns around tenant safety, and high tax rates compared to nearby locales hamper the downtown office market and cloud occupancy projections,” says Colliers. Problems with homelessness and drug use are supposedly declining, but that hasn’t stopped restaurants from recently closing.

My friends who still live in Portland say it is still a great place to live as long as you avoid downtown and a few other areas. However, TriMet, Portland’s transit agency, hitched its future to downtown by using it as a hub for most of its bus and light-rail routes. Light-rail ridership is currently running about 58 percent of pre-pandemic numbers, while bus is doing better (but still less than the national average) at 75 percent.

Read it.

Representative Ilhan Omar is one of the most sanctimonious corrupt Democrats in congress, and she’s loud and proud about it because she understands how to engage in financial fraud safely. Just do what everyone else is doing but do it bigger, that way there’s no way her peers can approach it.

Someone in DC gave House Oversight Chairman James Comer the familiar tap on the shoulder and told him they don’t investigate their own Uniparty tribe. So, Comer drops his planned review of Omar’s corruption and shifts it to the ethics team.

Read it.

Guardian author Alex Clark wants the world to “move beyond” GDP as a measure of wellbeing. The experiment should start with The Guardian.

The Foundry.

Agitators opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement made quite a ruckus when they invaded a Minnesota church in the middle of a service last month, but they weren’t the first to disrupt Americans during worship.

The Justice Department has charged nine people in connection with the interruption of a service at Cities Church in St. Paul last month, notably including former CNN host Don Lemon. According to the indictment, the agitators coopted the service, chanting activist slogans and preventing worshippers from leaving the church building.

The agitators said they targeted Cities Church because one of the church’s pastors works with ICE. Now, they face charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (which also protects houses of worship) and the Ku Klux Klan Act (which criminalizes attempts to interfere with Americans’ constitutional rights).

The Cities Church invasion drew nationwide attention, yet this did not represent the first time agitators disrupted a church service.

The Foundry.

After multiple recent deadly car crashes across the United States involving illegal aliens, Florida has changed its driver test policy to require all prospective drivers to take the test in English.

“All driver license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English” for both non-commercial and commercial driver’s licenses, according to the new policy.

The state “remains committed to ensuring safe roadways for all Floridians and visitors by promoting clear communication, understanding of traffic laws, and responsible driving behavior,” according to the the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy responded to Florida’s new policy Monday, calling it “common sense.”

Well, it used to be common sense. Nowadays you have to talk the Transgressives into it.

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This is a short rant.

I’m annoyed when you have to press one for English and two for Spanish when you call someplace. The default should be that you get an English message but have to press a button if you need Spanish. (Actually the default should be that a human answers the phone in English, but we’re long passed that point.)

But at the Super Bowl halftime show, you couldn’t even press one for English. You had to listen to Bad Bunny in Spanish. No choice. So I am told, I didn’t watch it. Could not have been forced to watch it.

When the NFL starts doing a classical halftime, then I’ll tune it. Think how grand it would be to listen to the Triumphal March from Verdi’s Aïda, Handel’s “La Réjouissance,” or Chaikovskii’s 1812 Overture at the Super Bowl instead.

End of rant.

Hear, hear….

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People are posting all over on X about how they themselves or their 20 something offspring are filling out hundreds of resumes, with no responses as the usual result. What gives? Several memes crop up, which explain in detail what crystal clear realities are causing these results. The following reality detailed below explains how H1B visa workers are those who are preferred by companies.

The New Neo.

Now the Fifth Circuit has said it’s not a requirement to send them back to the community while waiting deportation. The decision was 2-1.

…

Basically, the idea is that the government has the authority to do this under statute, even if many previous governments declined to do it. The dissenting judge noted that, “some of the people detained are ‘the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens.’” For a substantial portion of that group, that would almost certainly be because their American-citizen children and grandchildren were born here after the parents or grandparents had entered illegally. If Congress wants to exempt the older generations and grandfather (literally) them in to citizenship or amnesty, all Congress has to do is pass a law to that effect.

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A good education is said to be the best investment, and New York City‘s top private schools hope people keep adhering to that adage as tuition surges to new highs.

The annual cost of attendance at eight of the city’s most elite schools will eclipse the $70,000 mark for the 2026-27 academic year, charging more than even the country’s best colleges, according to a new analysis published by Bloomberg.

All this to get the same Grievance Studies non-education indoctrination they could get at PS 527 for free.

I guess it’s the prospect of their kids rubbing shoulders with less-Woke and less-affluent people that impels this expenditure.

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Thousands of protesters demonstrated across Australia on Monday against Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who traveled to the country at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the Bondi massacre.

Upon arrival, Herzog visited the site of the antisemitic terror attack in Sydney, where 15 people were killed while attending a Hanukkah event in December. There, he laid a wreath and met with the family members of the victims of the attack.

“Standing here at Bondi – an iconic symbol of Australian life, now scarred by the December 14th massacre – I embrace our Australian Jewish sisters and brothers still reeling from this trauma,” wrote Herzog in a post on X. “My visit to Australia, to all of you, is one of solidarity, strength, and sincere friendship from the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”

I am disheartened to see that Australia has changed from almost-as-good-as-America to almost-as-bad-as-Canada.

The Verge, purportedly a technical publication, actually a Voice of the Crust.

How thousands of 3D-printed whistles are derailing ICE.

Only the Left celebrates conspiracy to impede law enforcement and the degeneration of their own culture.

The Times (UK).

No white male need apply.

The War Zone.

God knows that the train wreck of an LCS needs all the help it can get.

Plato Understood Why Masking Would Turn ICE Agents Into Devils (Paul Rosenzweig/The UnPopulist)

The Aftermath of Feeding America’s Credibility Into the Woodchipper (Jeremy Konyndyk/New York Times)  Too late—that happened under Obama. Trump is trying to glue the pieces back together, with mixed results.

Crypto revolt exposes fragility of Trump’s coalition (Zachary Basu/Axios)

A Raid in a Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations to Deep-Red Idaho (New York Times)  Illegal immigrants can be anywhere. The focus is not kjust on Blue staes.

The blowback to Trump’s racist video reveals his weakness (Noah Berlatsky/Public Notice)  Geez, that was so fifteen minutes ago….

New York GOP’s midterm problem: No money, no bench — and Trump (Emily Ngo/Politico)

1 big thing: Trump’s crypto revolt (Axios)

Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump (Katherine Mangu-Ward/New York Times)  And nobody listened BECAUSE NOBODY LISTENS TO LIBERTARIANS nor do the have any reason to. Libertarians, like Marxists, live in their own little world that doesn’t resemble the real world in any significant respect.

Democrats Flip-Flop On ICE Agents And Body Cameras  Be careful what you wish for….

Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months  I guess it would be disingenuous to point out that foreigners don’t have the same rights that American citizens do. The guy has been in America for 20 years; if he’s not a citizen by now, that’s a deliberate choice. I suspect that if he told them “Hey, I want to go back to Ireland”, they’d hand him a plane ticket and wish him good luck.

Ice Kid Prisons  More tendentious twists from the Usual Suspects.

Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show: Less Political Than Expected But More Meaningful | Zing Tsjeng (Times News UK) The point is that it ought not to be political at all. It’s a sports event; intruding politics into it is just another Woke virtue-signal.

They’ve Always Known He is A Racist… (Jennifer Rubin/The Contrarian)  Jennifer Rubin loses her shit.

Why Trump Voters Are Torn Over Minneapolis (New York Times)  More proglodyte wishful thinking. Trump voters aren’t torn over Minneapolis; they just wish that the AWFULs in the city would quit trying to impede law enforcement.

How Trump is rigging immigration courts against Somali migrants (Judd Legum/Popular Information)

Trump, Extreme Wealth Concentration, and Our Societal Crisis (John Ripton/Common Dreams)  The Left really hates the fact that people who actually produce value are not having their earnings confiscated (as much) and given to the (Democtat dependent) underclass.

NY Times Columnist Says Vance’s Mother Should Have Sold Him To Feed Her Addiction  Democrats have never gotten over ®epublicans freeing their slaves.

NPR TV Critic Snipes at Trump’s Super Bowl Ads, Plus One Based on Helping ‘White People’  If Trump doesn’t help white people, who will?

Two judges on the Fifth Circuit gave Trump exactly what he wants to enact mass detentions (Chris Geidner/Law Dork)

Trump has a plan to steal the midterms. It will probably fail. (Eric Levitz/Vox)  Proglodyte Projection: The Left always accuses their hate-objects of doing they they are planning to do.

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German police have uncovered a large-scale fraud network that enabled migrants to obtain language certificates and naturalization documents without meeting the required standards.

Authorities in Nuremberg said several suspects organised German-speaking deputies to sit language and naturalization tests on behalf of applicants who were unable to pass the exams themselves. The forged certificates were sold for between €2,500 and €6,000 and later used to secure residence permits or German citizenship.

The main suspect is a 39-year-old Iraqi national. During searches in Nuremberg and Hamm, police seized forged residence permits, falsified language tests, data carriers, cash and small quantities of narcotics.

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Until regulators and policymakers confront the reality that these projects are wiping out key predators in the natural food chain, it is dishonest to market this form of power as environmentally benign.