Ace of Spades Pet Thread

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Welcome to the almost world famous AoS Pet Thread. I'm not sure if today's opening photo is real or not. Hey, it's the internet after all. But, it's cute and so are pets. So let's enjoy today's pet thread. Kick back for awhile and leave the politics and current events out in the fenced in yard.

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A Little of This. A Little of That.

Another reason not to have a doggy door.

They must have brought a big box of snacks.

What happens when you praise your pet? Their expressions are wonderful!

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Rich animals. Pets that inherited a boat load of money.

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Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. An interesting story about unlikely pals. h/t de Bertram Cabot, Jr.

Rabies? I don't want to be anywhere near this.

You might not be able to herd cats. But you can train them to deliver contraband.

I wouldn't want to eat a pet. Proposed laws to outlaw dogs & cats from being slaughtered for food.

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Meet The PetMorons

The first photo is Daisy (18 months) - our backup dog – a mixed retriever Craigslist find from Johnson County, TX. The photo was a late night, Ambien-induced Tootsie-Pop sharing moment. Her hobbies include hole-digging and staring off into space.

The second is our primary dog Jasper ( 3yrs) , a registered Akbash. He was adopted from a working farm in Oklahoma, and at nearly 150 pounds, he makes for an unusual city dog. In his free time, Jasper enjoys eating remote controls and howling at anything that moves. When he has the chance, he also sheds like a cheap rug.

Both enjoy breakfast at McDonalds on the weekend, long walks, raiding the cat’s food bowl, and taking up 84% of the bed at night. Sometimes, life is just perfect.

Love the blog. Wish that Ace would host a weekly kick-around podcast where he rants profanely and randomly, while the CB’s try to keep him on topic. That would be a hoot. - Robert

Wonderful photos of these characters Robert. They sound like a blast to live with. As far as the podcast will pass along to The Boss.

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This is Pinkerton, my brother-in-law's cat. He reigns supreme in the 23-room Victorian mansion, except for a couple of dogs he lets live there but barely
tolerates. As his human servant observes, "Pinkerton will be served up as
"puss burgenion" on a hot silver tray." A silver tray made warm by the
sunshine no doubt. - Safewrite

Talk about living high off the hog. Quite the boss. Thanks for the submission Safewrite.

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Longtime lurker and AoSHQ fan. Last year my mom needed to stay at the hospital for a few months, and so her pets came to live with me and my cat, Powder. Fortunetly, Powder was a gracious host. Here she is making sure Teddi the Dog is clean enough to stay in her house. Powder also got along very well with Abbott the Rabbit once she learned that Abbott made a better pillow than he did a snack. All three of them get along just great.

Mom is now better and I drove her and all three pets to her home this week, and I’ll take Powder back with me. She probably won’t admit it, but I think she’ll miss the dog and bunny. -Darren

So glad your Mom is better now. Quite an interesting household, cat, dog and rabbit.

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I took in a litter of five foster kittens right at Christmas. They were feral, and I set about socializing them. Three of them have good homes now. I still have two. They are so sweet and charming! The potential adopters, though, not so much. They've ranged from a couple with a chaotic home life, along with pit bulls, to a couple where the woman appeared to be blasted on heroin. There have been others, some not so bad, but they wouldn't agree to the adoption agreement. I will keep them for as long as it takes to find them good homes. We have five cats of our own, so it's a houseful. I've sent pictures of some of our kitties in the past, but wanted to share the photos of these two.

As to the pit bull comment, I don't necessarily lump all pit bulls into the undesirable category. But the couple who had them seemed to have a somewhat chaotic home life, and I had no idea how those dogs behaved. In addition, these kittens haven't been around dogs, so I just didn't think it would be "a good fit." That's what we (the fosters helping kittens for the cat rescue that is helping us) sometimes say to people we just don't want to adopt our kittens to. I have to be able to sleep at night. - Cheri

Cute kittehs Cheri. I don't find fault in you for wanting those cuties to go to good and safe homes.

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I've sent in pictures of my cats Smokey and Boots before, but I wanted to share our newest pet, a feral kitty my kids dubbed Assner. (Long story, don't ask.) We first saw this little kitty on Thanksgiving day and I noticed she had a bum front leg. Since then we've had a pretty cold winter here in OH, so my husband and I made a little hut for the cat and put out food. At first we thought she was a he, until I got close enough to see Assner is a female. Of course, the telltale howling of a cat in heat also confirmed her gender.

Assner (middle name Dumpling) had her kittens a week ago and just now (about fifteen minutes before I sat down to send this picture) my husband and I spotted Assner Dumpling in our woods and determined she must have her litter under a big pile of railroad ties we have piled up.

Hopefully we can get Assner to the vet for TNR and build a new shelter for her and her family.-Victoria

So how many kittehs did you keep? You folks seem to have open hearts for cats.

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Longtime lurker here and I love your Pet Thread. This is my girl, Lady. She was a German Shepherd-Beagle mix and she was my next door neighbors' dog. When Lady was over a year old and had her first litter, the neighbors decided she was of no use to them and surrendered her and her puppies to Animal Control. I saw her being put in the wagon and I asked the driver if I could have her. He agreed, and she became mine that day. She was a super skinny, unhealthy dog, but I committed to improve her health. My goal was just to get her to live to age 2. She had many health issues, but she was the best dog I ever had. She went from a skinny, undisciplined, fearful and aggressive dog to a goofy, funny, sweet, gentle, super smart and amazingly disciplined one. I couldn't have loved her more. As she seemed to thrive and be happy on a daily basis, I dared to hope that she live past 10 years. Unfortunately, she died at the young age of 8 on October 22, 2017. Anyone who has ever lost a dog understands the pain involved, so I don't need to go into that. Yes, it is still painful, but I'm grateful I had her for the amount of time I did. I consider it a huge honor of her short life that she be included in your Pet Thread. Thank you so much for letting me share her with you. -Cynthia

Sorry to hear of your loss. She looks like a sweet dog who got to live in a special home.

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Thank you for the photos and stories. What a great group of pets today!! Do you have a photo and story of your pet you wish to share? Do you have a funny link or video you want to submit? You may send them to petmorons at gmail dot com. We just ask you to give us your nic so we may credit you. We also ask for your patience. We will get to your submission in time.

Have a great week!!

Close it up

Saturday Gardening Thread: [KT]

—Open Blogger

Happy weekend, gardeners and friends of gardeners! The photo above is from a special person.

I read but have never commented on the garden threads, but I thought this might be a good time to start.

I have a rather large tulip magnolia that is quite magnificent (until the April winds destroy the blooms) and thought I'd share this with the horde!

I do enjoy the pictures of flowers but I have pretty much given up active gardening myself.

Regards
Hrothgar

That tree is impressive. And it is next to an impressive evergreen, too.

Update: I really wanted to show how the evergreen next to Hrothgar's magnolia sets it off, so I decided to pan out a little, from his original photo:

Owl Updates

They grow up so fast! CaliGirl's update from this week:

The owls are getting big. The mom stays in the nest with them when it's cold. It was in the low 40s. It sprinkled a bit too in the morning.

And she sent videos! Some wing-flapping with Mom:

And mouse-eating:

Wow. Meanwhile, a neighbor friend gave me an owl. Surprised to find it in front of a snapdragon.

CaliGirl has also sent some lovely camellia photos, which we will be featuring with photos from other members of The Horde. If you have any trees or shrubs you think are interesting, send in a photo!

Spring Kitchen Gardening and Farming

Special Rhubarb

A good friend sent along this piece on Growing Rhubarb in the Dark. Sounds like it produces superior rhubarb. Would take some space and patience. Not as much constant attention as some crops, I would imagine.

We have mentioned regular rhubarb before. You might recall that it grows on the banks of the Volga River. And that dried rhubarb was once more expensive than cinnamon. Note that the stalks contain malic acid, like apples. Not "malice acid". Don't comment on old threads. Keep the acid jokes on this one. Heh.

Forced rhubarb, which is made to mature in near total darkness, grows at such an alarming rate -- as much as an inch a day -- that it actually makes squeaks, creaks, and pops as it gets bigger. It makes for sweeter rhubarb, growers say, and sick beats.

"I'm not patient enough to sit in the building, but I have heard the noise before. Growing against each other. You really have to listen for it," says Brian French, a fifth-generation rhubarb grower and co-owner of the Lennox Farm in Melancthon, Ontario. . . .

The method of growing forced rhubarb dates back to the early 1800s, and continues in much the same way today. Farmers let the rhubarb grow out in the open for two years, as the roots collect and store calories. Then the plants are transplanted to lightless growing sheds around November, where they continue to grow -- warm, but out of season and in the dark. The rhubarb grows without photosynthesis, which normally makes the plant tough and fibrous. . . . The process also results in deep, red stalks, without the normal green shading.

I have never bee a big fan of rhubarb pie, but I like rhubarb stewed, with a little heavy cream, with or without fresh strawberries. I have noticed that the ends of the stalks near the base have superior texture. Perhaps where the stalks were protected from the sun, as in forced rhubarb?

Do you like rhubarb? How do you like to prepare it?

More on Strawberries

Here's a recipe and light-hearted video showing how to make Easy, Classic Strawberry Shortcake. The new detail here is browned butter.

I'm gonna try it. I would serve the biscuits warm. I would slightly crush the sliced or quartered berries. Maybe spread the warm biscuits with butter. And add more cream. Don't know about ice cream.

From the Spinach Tiger, a crumblier, more traditional shortcake dough. Says you can re-heat the biscuits in a microwave before assembling the shortcakes. This recipe calls for sweetened, whole berries, so I expect that it would be a good one to try with alpine or musk strawberries, which we have discussed recently. Don't comment on old treads.

Or maybe with another type of small, pale strawberry, the pineberry. About the size of a nickel. Different from white or yellow alpine strawberries. Not self-pollinating. This one is planted with a red strawberry for pollination. Could be striking on shortcake in combination with blackberries.

The Spinach Tiger link above also includes recipes for Strawberries and Cream Biscuits (fresh basil from your windowsill garden optional), Strawberry Blueberry Pie and Gluten-Free Strawberry Scones.

Strawberry-Basil Biscuits at a Garden Party

Strawberry-cream biscuits with basil sounds a little odd to me, but if you're growing it, why not try it? I remember a salad with strawberries and mild diakon radishes, which also sounds odd, which was very good. You got any radishes growing?

Timely Tips

Gordon sent along a piece on the Curse of the Bradford Pear. I guess you really shouldn't plant this class of trees where there is enough water for them to grow on their own. They need to be pruned to a central leader. Some cultivars are better than others, if you are in the West.

Doesn't mean you can't plant fruiting pears, though.

It is rose-planting season for some and rose-pruning season for others. Hank Curmudgeon sends a warning that rose thorn punctures are dangerous. Gardening - not for the faint of heart!

Gardens of The Horde

We have had some pretty warm weather this week, some cold nights, high winds, hail in parts of the Valley, and a day of glory yesterday. How has the weather been treating you and your garden? Anything new going on?

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at g mail dot com

Include your nic unless you want to be a lurker.

Close it up

Growing up to be a man [KT]

—Open Blogger

As the news cycle careens wildly from one "news item" to the next, Larry Elder keeps beating this drum:

The Three Biggest Problems Facing The Black Community:

1) Lack of fathers in the home

2) Lack of fathers in the home

3) Lack of fathers in the home

Then, just for good measure, he quotes Denzel Washington:

If the father is not in the home, the boy will find a father in the streets. I saw it in my generation and every generation before me, and every one since. If the streets raise you, then the judge becomes your mother and prison becomes your home. -- Denzel Washington

I lived in Southern California when Larry Elder started on the radio there. Dennis Prager was instrumental in getting him hired at KABC. Dennis, rather recently a Democrat at that point, didn't agree with all the libertarian positions of the Sage from South Central, but he thought Larry would be an important voice for people to hear. I loved Larry's bumper music. And he was fun to listen to.

Right off the bat, the "black leadership" in Los Angeles tried to get Larry Elder kicked off the air. Boycotts, protests, etc. Not too different from today's playbook for stifling dissenting voices. KABC responded with some very clever, powerful yet good-natured "free speech" ads showing Larry, a black man, coming back from taking punches to the face for making controversial statements. Don't know if those ads would work today. I doubt that the station would produce them today.

The Left still wants the debate canceled. They go after women, too. And even free speech about science is apparently considered to be "high risk" now.

But back to the subject of growing up to be a man:

Weird News Dump

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Wow, April 21st already. Looking out the dining room window this is what comes to mind.

When you bring me my cup of coffee bring me some of that Global Restoration the left is blabbing about.

OK, let's take a look at some things that didn't get too much attention here at the AoSHQ this past week.

EMT 04/21/18

—krakatoa

This EMT needs fluffier pillows.

Friday's ONT Has a Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi

—WeirdDave

Thanks for the clarification, I wasn't sure.

Bad Idea Jeans

Hey, let's ask Suzie to play. She plays softball, maybe she'd like dodge ball!

Miscarriage of Justice

Woman helps cop, kills bad guy - then gets sued

I don't say “there oughtta be a law” often, mainly because I usually think there shouldn't be a law, and a lot of existing laws need to be eliminated, but there oughtta be a law that someone who is killed, hurt, whatever during the commission of a crime has no right to sue for anything.

Climb Every Mountain

Why did the man climb the mountain? Because it was there? Because he was drunk!

Drunk tourist accidentally climbs mountain while trying to get back to his hotel

Honorary Moron.

Rare Footage

Everyone knows that men go fishing. What is not as well know is that sometimes fish go manning.

Oh, Dwayne

I've always liked The Rock, mainly because he seems to be a fairly affable guy, and he'd not afraid to make fun, sometimes silly, movies. Also because I haven't seen him get political at all. Actors are paid to act, not think. That's why I was disappointed to see this story.

DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON THROWS HIS SUPPORT TO NFL ANTHEM PROTESTORS

Not Quite Darwin Award

He Bought A Mini Taser For His Wife, And Tested It On Himself

I bet all his friends now greet him with “ZZZZZZZAP!”

Man's Best Friend

Get a dog, they said. Dogs will always look out for you if you're in trouble, they said.

owner pretends to collapse to see his dog's reaction. a dog's loyalty is second to none. pic.twitter.com/DtK9EzkjPN

— hieronymus bosch (@flesrullikko) October 25, 2015

Facts and Figures

Does Gun Control Reduce Murder? Let’s Run The Numbers Across The World.

Willful Blindness

American Jews should wake up to which side their most dangerous enemies are on.

Now I get that a lot of American Jews identify more with their cultural and political class than with their ethnicity. I guess I can sorta understand that. What I don't understand is the deliberate refusal to recognize just where the majority of today's antisemitism is coming from, and the historical ignorance to think that because their ethnicity doesn't matter to them, it won't matter to others if the time ever comes. German Jews thought they were good, solid German citizens. And they were. Until they weren't.

A Lone Voice, Crying in the Wilderness

When Schools Get Political, What Should Teachers Do?

This is a good teacher. Not because she pushed political views that I agree with onto her students, but because she didn't. (To be fair, not pushing is a political stance I agree with).

Tonight's ONT brought to you by moms:

Close it up

Leveling Up to a Ph.D.: Scholar Examines Racial and Gender Roles in, Get This, Dungeons & Dragons

—Ace of Spades

The abstract doesn't say too much:

Privilege, Power, and Dungeons & Dragons: How Systems Shape Racial and Gender Identities in Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Antero Garcia

This article takes a cultural-historical approach to analyzing how systems shape the assumptions, identities, and experiences of their users. Focusing on how the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons is built on a system of play that has grown and shifted over the course of 40 years, this study emphasizes the central role that systems play in mediating the experiences of participants. By focusing on depictions of gender, race, and power in Dungeons & Dragons--as a singular cultural practice--this study highlights how researchers must attend to cultural production both around and within systems.

I like how #FakeNews academics suggest a level of depth and technical rigor by randomly italicizing common words, suggesting that these common words have been transmuted into fractally-complex terms of art, subtly-faceted jargon which is otherwise incomprehensible without seven years of fuckin' college in a Gender Studies program.

We all paid for this drivel -- yet it's something like $25 to have access to this invaluable research for just 24 hours. (Which sucks, because I'd like to read and review this "scholarship." I hear doing so gets you a 500 Experience Point Skill-based bonus.)

Open thread.

(I just put a bunch of stories from all my open tabs in the sidebar.)

Darkly Conspiratorial Hillary Clinton: "I Knew They Would Never Let Me Be President"

—Ace of Spades

This is a woman, you'll remember, who prized aides like Sidney Blumenthal who would play to and confirm her conspiratorial fantasies.

The NYT reporter who covered Hillary for a decade, Amy Chozick, shares some insights into the woman who fell from grace stairs.

This from a Washington Post review of her book, Chasing Hillary.

She contends that sexism played a big role in Clinton’s defeat but also encounters it first-hand among Clinton’s campaign staff....

When Chozick zeroes in on Clinton and leaves herself out of it, she can be perceptive, pithy and surprising. On Clinton's apparent disdain for the electoral process: "If there was a single unifying force behind her candidacy, it was her obvious desire to get the whole thing over with." On Clinton's ambition: "Her only clear vision of the presidency seemed to be herself in it."

...

And even on Clinton's proclivities: "For all the lesbian theories, Hillary enjoys nothing more than flirting with a handsome, preferably straight man." (Despite aggressively questioning Clinton about her e-mails, Ed Henry became a favorite: "She would regularly look past her almost entirely female press corps to call on the Fox News correspondent, with his cherub cheeks and Pucci pocket squares.")

...

I've noticed this about some "alpha" women who have queen bee tendencies: They're kinda sexist against other women. Maybe it's that they feel other women are competitors on the specific playing field of Who Is The Queeniest of Queen Bee in a way men are not/cannot be -- men are competing in another division entirely, as in college sports -- but power-seeking women often are fixated on a Lonely Victory -- they want to be the woman in charge. They don't want other women tagging along to share the Female Empowerment Spotlight.

This is fun:

"Chasing Hillary" offers some searing moments surrounding election night, as when the Clinton team's data guru grasps that his Florida models were off (Latino turnout lower than expected, white turnout huge in the Panhandle), then turns to campaign manager Robby Mook and says, they could be wrong everywhere."

I'm at full staff.

Mook eventually delivers the news of impending defeat to Clinton. "I knew it. I knew this would happen to me,” she answers. "They were never going to let me be president."

For those who still say Trump is psychologically unfit to be president, I say: Well, okay, but compared to whom?

The only other candidate in the race who could actually win was a woman with a long history of corruption and conspiracy-thinking, who walked around with a literal Enemies List and actually rated people on that list, from one to seven (if memory serves) as far as how betrayish she felt they were.

The next day, Times reporters consider what they'd missed -- and why. "God, I didn't go to a single Hillary or Trump rally," a colleague of Chozick's admits, "and yet, I wrote with such authority."

You've got your Dunning in my Kruger! Mmm-- two incompetent tastes that taste even more incompetent together!!!

Now come the parts about the sexism of Hillary's male staff, towards women.

Chozik only refers to these Guys by nicknames -- Broan Loafers Guy, Policy Guy. Cutesy stuff like that.

The most "loathsome" is the one she calls "Original Guy," "the longest-serving Svengali and the most-devoted member of Hillary’s court of flattering men."

She later reveals this "loathsome" creature to be Philippe Reines.

They ask if there are any other Times reporters, preferably male, that they could talk to instead of her....

The undercurrent of sexism spills over when Chozick and Original Guy spar over whether a prior conversation can go on the record, and he randomly paraphrases a crude line from "Thank You for Smoking," a 2005 film in which a reporter sleeps with a lobbyist for information. "I didn't know I had to say it was off the record when I was inside you," Original Guy smirks. (“"he words hung there," Chozick recalls, "so grossly gynecological.")

Chozick doesn’t name him but later cites a Times story by Maggie Haberman revealing that Original Guy served as the Trump stand-in during Clinton’s debate preparation. "Hmmm, wherever will Hillary find a manipulative, sometimes-charming, often hilarious, possible sociopath," Chozick muses. "I won't out Original Guy here, except to say that his name rhymes with “Philippe Reines."

Odds that Jake Tapper and CNN will give Amy Chozick a full "town hall" to promote her book at: Zero.

They're only interested in promoting some tell-all books.

Because Integrity.

...

The fury is less evident when she mentions the harassing tendencies of Clinton’s spiritual adviser, whom the Clinton reporters nicknamed Hands Across America. "HAA exhibited generally creepy behavior, but seemed more pitiful and effeminate than threatening, which is why I tried to ignore his rubbing up and down my back," Chozick writes. She does not name HAA in the book; more than a year after Trump's inauguration, Chozick co-wrote a Times story about how Clinton kept spiritual adviser Burns Strider on the 2008 campaign despite repeated accusations of harassment by campaign staff.

The Daily Beast has another damning quote -- "Basket of Deplorables" was no off-the-cuff line. Hillary routinely used it as a laugh line in big-money fundraising dinners in swank places like the Hamptons.

That was no slip of the tongue, since "Hillary always broke down Trump supporters into three baskets," Chozick writes.

“Basket #1: The Republicans who hated her and would vote Republican no matter who the nominee.

Basket #2: Voters whose jobs and livelihoods had disappeared, or as Hillary said, 'who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens in their lives and their futures.'

Basket #3: The Deplorables. This basket includes 'the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic--you name it.'

"The Deplorables always got a laugh, over living-room chats in the Hamptons, at dinner parties under the stars on Martha’s Vineyard, over passed hors d'oeuvres in Beverly Hills, and during sunset cocktails in Silicon Valley," Chozick continues.

Funny, I don't remember Chozick or anyone else covering Clinton during the campaign reporting that little nugget. It's almost as if they were trying to protect her from herself, and deliberately hiding relevant information from the public they were allegedly helping to make an informed choice.

And speaking of conspiracy theories: Bill Clinton, maybe trying to pay Hillary Clinton back for all the conspiracy theories she dreamed up to save his bacon in 1997, spins out this incredible conspiracy theory about the New York Times trying to get Trump elected.

Why? For money.

"After the election, Bill would spread a more absurd Times conspiracy: The publisher had struck a deal with Trump that we’d destroy Hillary on her emails to help him get elected, if he kept driving traffic and boosting the company's stock price."

References to "They," talk of a Jewish-owned newspaper sabotaging her campaign for sheckels -- these conspiracy theories, like most conspiracy theories, seem to be converging on to an anti-semitic underlying premise.

The book sounds very feminist, very liberal, and still very pro-Hillary, despite her frustrations with Hillary for being a Gigantic Loser.

So I'm not recommending it. Just sharing some quotes.

Byron York: Trump's Demand for "Loyalty" Looks Different Now, Given That His First Meeting With Comey Consisted of Comey Basically Saying "We Have a Document Claiming You Paid Whores to Pee on Each Other and All the Media Wants Us to Help Them Publish It"

—Ace of Spades

Which sounds a lot like blackmail -- something the FBI, especially under the corrupt leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, was very willing to engage in.

Why would Trump wonder about the FBI director's loyalty? Perhaps because in their first meeting, the FBI director dropped the Moscow sex allegation on Trump, followed immediately by its publication in the media. It seems entirely reasonable for a president to wonder what was going on and whether the FBI director was loyal, not to the president personally, but to the confidentiality that is required in his role as head of the nation's chief investigative agency.

A few more things. We had known earlier that Comey briefed Trump about the dossier one-on-one on January 6, 2017. But it was not until an interview Thursday with CNN's Jake Tapper that Comey revealed the conversation was only about the Moscow sex allegation. The other parts of the dossier -- about Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, allegations of collusion -- Comey did not mention to the president-elect. No wonder Trump associated the dossier with the Moscow sex story.

We also know, from the new book Russian Roulette, by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, that immediately after the first Comey meeting, Trump thought the FBI was blackmailing him:

"Trump had seen this sort of thing before," they write. "Certainly, his old mentor Roy Cohn -- the notorious fixer for mobsters and crooked pols -- knew how this worked. So too did Comey's famous predecessor J. Edgar Hoover, who had quietly let it be known to politicians and celebrities that he possessed information that could destroy their careers in a New York minute."

York also points out that journalists are seizing on the idea that Trump seized upon the "golden showers" accusation, as if that means either he was especially concerned about that allegation because it was true or he was only concerned with that allegation because it was the only one that wasn't true -- that Trump was basically shrugging off the Russian Collusion allegations, because he knew, well, it's a fair cop.

Not so, points out York: Trump focused on the golden showers allegations for the simple reason that Comey, by his own admission, only told him about the golden showers allegations.

He hid from Trump the Manafort, Page, etc. allegations.

Which seems to be in keeping with the directive Obama offered in his "by the book" meeting -- ordering his staff to essentially continue to serve as his staff even after a new president was sworn in, keeping details of the investigation from the duly elected president.

"From a national security perspective, however, President Obama said he wants to be sure that, as we engage with the incoming team, we are mindful to ascertain if there is any reason that we cannot share information fully as it relates to Russia," Rice wrote. "The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would."

Rather than serving Trump, they continued to serve Obama and his last "by the book" directive.

Little wonder that Trump would have questions about which president they were loyal to -- the actual president under the Constitution, or the eternal president-for-life "in their hearts."

Justice Department "Reviewing" At Least Two of the Memos Comey Leaked to His Pal To Leak to the NYT, For Possible Violations of Classified Material Law

—Ace of Spades

Oh.

One of the memos contained information that wasn’t classified when Comey turned it over to a Columbia law school professor, but was later upgraded to “confidential,” the lowest level of classification, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In the other, Comey redacted parts that he knew were classified to protect that information before he handed the documents over to the law prof, Daniel Richman, who passed them along to The New York Times.

Sean Davis noted this past January that, seven months later (and now nine months later), CNN still hasn't corrected its #FakeNews false reportage that Trump was lying when he said Comey leaked classified memos.

We now know that one was "confidential" and the other contained classified information (which Comey, allegedly, redacted).

CNN just leaves its original story up, uncorrected, no matter how much weight of its falsity piles up against it.

And who wrote it? Jake Tapper, the Super-Factual Only Honest Man in the Room (when James Comey isn't in the room, naturally).

Sean Davis wrote in January:

Trump's tweet [accusing Comey of leaking classified information] was based on a report from The Hill that a majority of the memos taken by Comey after he was fired contained classified information:

More than half of the memos former FBI Director James Comey wrote as personal recollections of his conversations with President Trump about the Russia investigation have been determined to contain classified information, according to interviews with officials familiar with the documents.

CNN's Jake Tapper, however, took issue with Trump’s statement, and wrote the following lede and supporting paragraphs in a CNN story accusing the president of peddling false information about the nature of the information leaked by James Comey after he was fired by the president:

The Columbia University Law School professor and confidant of former FBI Director James Comey refuted a charge by President Donald Trump and his advocates in the media Monday: that Comey shared classified information with journalists.

Daniel Richman, with whom Comey shared at least one memo -- the contents of which Richman shared with New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt -- said President Trump was simply wrong.

"No memo was given to me that was marked 'classified,'" Daniel Richman told CNN. "No memo was passed on to the Times."

Davis notes that's the same dodge Hillary Clinton used -- asked if she put classified documents on her system, she said they weren't marked classified.

As regards some of Hillary's emails, that's because she ordered her minions to strip the classified markings out. In others, it's because the documents were so fresh they hadn't been formally classified -- yet.

The only person who could mark Comey's classified memos as classified was James Comey, because no one else knew about them -- until he gave them to a pal to read to the New York Times.

Davis continues:

As it turns out, however, the information leaked by Comey was classified, and the records in his possession were clearly government records which Comey was not authorized to possess or distribute. How do we know the information was classified? Because the FBI itself told Congress as much. In fact, the information leaked by Comey was so sensitive that members of Congress were not even allowed to read the memos he wrote outside of a Special Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, a highly secure room or area designed to prevent classified information consumed within from being improperly distributed.

Instead of correcting his #FakeNews false story, Jake Clapper chooses to tweet superficial #ResumeEnhancing phony sentiments about veterans to get his #SalonHot25 Spirit Squad to vouch for his good conservative character.

As we're seeing, it's standard practice for DC swamp creatures to cover up the stink of their falsehoods with the cheap dimestore perfume of sanctimony.

"Collusion" Narrative Skeptics a Year Ago: Was The Dossier Briefing Just a Set-Up to Give CNN a News Hook to Run the Dossier Story They Otherwise Could Not?
Comey Memo: I Told the President "CNN Was Looking for a News Hook" for the Dossier

—Ace of Spades

I and others -- Mollie Hemingway being the most visible -- been pushing this idea myself for a year.

Pretty sure the NeverTrump assholes have never bothered to question this briefing, or how quickly the briefing came to be featured on CNN. And while I don't read them anymore, I'd guess that the idea that the briefing was cooked up by Clapper, Brennan, and Comey recisely so its existence could (within days) be leaked to CNN so they could report on the dossier the Deep State wanted them to report on was just a Conspiracy Theory.

I guess if you're enjoying the sausage, you don't care to know how the sausage was made by Deep State conspirators running an op against the duly-elected incoming president.

Comey's memos say he actually told Trump that CNN was looking for a "news hook" to report on the dossier, which they otherwise would not report on because it was salacious and unverified.

It just so happens that the existence of the very briefing he cooked up with Clapper and Brennan was leaked to CNN within a few days, providing them with the very "news hook" Comey told Trump CNN was looking for.

And... oh right, the House Intelligence Committee report says that Clapper gave "inconsistent" answers regarding his contacts in this time frame with, get this, CNN.

There are two things in the memo that are worth highlighting as relate to that blockbuster CNN story from January 10, 2017.

First, Comey claims that briefing the president-elect was the brainchild of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

"I said there was something that Clapper wanted me to speak to the [president-elect] about alone or in a very small group," Comey wrote. More on that in a bit.

...

Then he wrote:

"I said I wasn't saying this was true, only that I wanted him to know both that it had been reported and that the reports were in many hands. I said media like CNN had them and were looking for a news hook. I said it was important that we not give them the excuses to write that the FBI has the material or [REDACTED] and that we were keeping it very close-hold. He said he couldn’t believe they hadn't gone with it. I said it was inflammatory stuff that they would get killed for reporting straight up from the source reports."

Such a close-hold that someone at a very high level in the Obama administration gave the information to CNN almost immediately. CNN broke the news of the dossier and Comey's briefing of the president just four days later.

With Comey claiming that Clapper wanted him to brief POTUS, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence final report on Russia has something of interest. The report, which was downplayed and panned by CNN, included a finding of interest related to discussions of the dossier with the media:

Finding #44: Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, now a CNN national security analyst, provided inconsistent testimony to the Committee about his contacts with the media, including CNN."

So Comey, at Clapper's expressed behest, told Trump that CNN was "looking for a news hook" to publish dossier allegations. He said this in the briefing of Trump that almost immediately leaked to CNN, which provided them the very news hook they sought and needed.

I'm sure the #NotSoSmartSet will get right on this.

Someone should ask Clapper if he leaked to CNN. Someone should ask him further if he contrived the briefing just to leak it to CNN.

How bad a day is Jake Tapper having? Well, as a friend notes, he's having such a bad day he's back to tweeting about veterans.

Jake Tapper always goes to tweeting about veterans when he wants to change the subject. Then idiots on the right praise him for being a Stand-Up Guy.

#SalonHot25 "Conservatives"

They love the Deep State's sausage.

McCabe, Now Criminally Referred by the OIG For Possible Prosecution for Making False Statements, Suing Trump for Defamation?

—Ace of Spades

What? On what possible theory?

Meanwhile, let's check in on what Tater's up to.

Duke "Student" Activists Hijack Alumni Event; Are Shocked to Find the People Whose Event They Hijacked Criticizing and Jeering Them; Whine That the People Who's Event They Hijacked Should Have Made Them Feel Safe

—Ace of Spades

Oh, and also: They are saying they shouldn't be punished, because that would hurt them mentally.

Some of them claim to have heard racial epithets issuing from the alumni -- but note only the "student" activists claim this, and the crybullies make this type of claim an awful lot. No one else heard these Phantom Slurs.

But this is so hilarious: The "protesters" who hijacked the event are further whining that someone should have removed the alumni with the legal right to be there, so that the trespassers could feel "safe."

"Instead of actually going to the alumni and saying 'that's not appropriate' or removing them from the space, they were more worried about us," Cracknell said.

Reason adds:

This was not an uncommon opinion among the protest's leaders. Nuzzolillo expressed disappointment that the adults "whose job it is to care for us" failed to do so.

OMG. They're just mentally retarded.

The Morning Rant

—OregonMuse

"Here's something uplifting to end the week: Tammie Jo Shults, the Southwest Air pilot who managed to land her damaged plane after a deadly engine explosion earlier this week sent a text message to one of her friends immediately after landing. She simply said, 'God is good.' You maybe think you had a bad week? I can practically guarantee you that Tammie Jo's was worse."

The Man Who Saved Children

And that's when every last person in the audience stands up. It had all been arranged in advance by the TV show.

The country of Israel recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. It is also the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. I thought this video would be appropriate.

What's Wrong With This Headline?

Lying Liars Who Lie:

Why Capitalism Is Great, Reason #6,572:

California is a bankrupt failed state that is essentially Illinois with palm trees and better weather.
--Kurt Schlicter

Soooper Geeenius:

Close it up

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

Self-Portrait At The Easel
Sofonisba Anguissola

And....last week a commenter suggested about Muldoon, our resident limerickist: "That man could write a limerick on anything, including Satan's boogers."

So he obliged!

Satanic congestion is tricky
His mucus is sulfurous and icky
But everybody knows
That it's tough to clear his nose
'Cause Beelzebub isn't real picky

The Morning Report 4/20/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Here comes the weekend and I want to start off with arguably the most radical and hence most dangerous miscreant to have been a part of the eight-year Obama reign of error. Eric Holder's disdain for America as founded, its institutions, traditions and most crucially its people was palpably detectable every time he opened up his pie-hole to blood-libel or otherwise smear the aforementioned.

Obviously alarmed that after having elected a man who is attempting damage control from what he and his boss have wrought, he is now making moves that seem to indicate he wants a shot at 2020. Of everyone in that movement, I cannot think of a more dangerous, twisted candidate that the Leftists could field. And considering who and what occupies that party, that's saying something. A racist and racialist since his days at Columbia University (he led an illegal occupation of its ROTC Center and renamed it after Malcom X), he was involved in the Marc Rich Pardon, the Gestapo-like seizing of Elian Gonzales, the refusal to prosecute the slam dunk case against the New Black Panthers for voter intimidation in 2008, his concocting a massive gun-running operation to Mexican criminals in the hopes of fomenting violence which would lead to the end of the Second Amendment (it only ended the lives of Brian Terry and countless others), was held in contempt of Congress and in his position as the nation's top cop, weaponized law enforcement to go after enemies of Obama and the Leftist movement, culminating in the Deep State coup against PDT and We The People.

Part of me hopes that he does run, given a record of abject criminality that is somewhere in the realm of insurrection and treason. He is part and parcel of the Obama regime that got Trump elected. Then again, out of everyone in that field, Holder does not come off as a drooling, whiney, paste-eating loon. And that makes him dangerous. It would be nice if what is being revealed from Comey, McCabe et al redounds onto this execrable, fish-faced enemy enema of the people.

And that segues us right into the top story which is the release of the Comey memos. So far, the memos show he leaked the memos in the first place to prompt the special counsel, the letter from the DoJ to Congress suggests at least part of the memo was classified, the DoJ evidently lied about the importance of the memos, none of them even hint at obstruction, Comey had it in for PDT and shielded Obama and Clinton and Comey defended McCabe to the hilt - and now the latter faces indictment.

As we all know, the Deep-State protects its own, and many here are right to expect McCabe to get nothing more than a slap on the wrist, at worst. We shall see. In any case Rudy Giuliani has joined PDT's legal team and he is going to go to the mattresses and try to pressure Mueller to shut this shitshow down. Something I doubt he will do since it is a political stunt that the Dems and RINOS are sure to oppose so as to cause as much damage to the midterms, and hence the agenda all the way to 2020.

On the immigration front, a rogue judge on the 7th Circuit has hampered PDT's efforts to have ICE agents round up illegal aliens already imprisoned and send them back to their shit-holes of origin. Why (rhetorical question)? There's a great essay at City Journal about the 50th anniversary of one of Britain's most famous speeches, given by Maggie Thatcher's mentor, dealing with the perils of unchecked migration. And also, it seems that the sane part of California has had it up to the gills with the sanctuary garbage. Something's gotta give in the Golden State so that the golden part can be free of the "shower" part.

And speaking of sanctuary, check out what one county in Illinois did; it declared itself a sanctuary county... from the rest of the state vis a vis gun control. Brilliant! Hit the left right in the Alinskys.

On the international scene, in the wake of Cuba's recent "election," the AP beclowns itself, Romania is doing the right thing and following Americas lead vis a vis Israel and Korea's leaders on both sides of the 38th parallel have set up a hot line in advance of their summit.

Closer to home, with growing unrest in the House GOP, Paul Ryno is maneuvering to have an establishment stooge remain in control after he ankles, and amid the rumors of a Blue Wave, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp is nonetheless scared enough to actually buck the party and endorse Mike Pompeo.

From hither and yon, two Florida cops were ambushed and killed at a Chinese restaurant late yesterday afternoon, while the assailant evidently killed himself at the scene. No word on his identity. Prayers for the victims and their families.

Meanwhile, a black conservative comedian punked a Starbucks into giving him "reparations coffee," the sub-moron DC councilman who thought the Jews controlled the weather visited the Holocaust Museum with predictable results, and finally Natalie Portman wins the self-hating-Joo-of-the-year award.

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

IN THE LEAD

• Eric Holder for Prison, Not President
  
  MUELLER WITCH HUNT
  
• PDT: Comey Memos Show "He Leaked Classified Information"
  
• Dana Rohrbacher: Assange had "Physical Proof" Russians Didn't Hack DNC
  
• Comey Memo: Eric "the Red" Holder "Smarter and More Sophisticated and Smoother" Than Loretta Lynch
  
• Andrew McCabe is Going to Have to Cut a Deal
  
• McCabe Faces Possible Criminal Charges, But Are Hillary and Company Next?
  
• Rudy Joins PDT Legal Team, Looks to Swiftly End Mueller Witch Hunt
  
• Revealed: Mueller's FBI Repeatedly Abused Prosecutorial Discretion
  
  IMMIGRATION, AMNESTY
  
• Rogue Jurists Rule PDT Can't Force Jails in Sanctuary Cities to Allow ICE Agents in to Nab Illegal Alien Inmates
  
• "Rivers of Blood": What Enoch Powell Got Right, and Wrong, in the Most Famous British Speech of the Past 50 Years
  
• Counter-Counter-Revolution in the Sanctuary State?
  
  SECOND AMENDMENT, GUN CONTROL
  
• Yes! "Sanctuary County" Declared for Illinois Gun Owners; Citizens "Tired of Being Pushed Around"
  
• White Gun-Owners, The Left Hates You
  
  FOREIGN POLICY, INTERNATIONAL
  
• Romania Now Joins US, Other Nations in Moving Embassy to Jerusalem
  
• The End of Castro's Cuba
  
• WTF MFM?! Associated Press Claims New Cuban Prexy Was "Elected"
  
• Hotline Set Up Between North and South Korean Leaders Ahead of Summit
  
  POLITICS, 2018 MIDTERMS
  
• Paul Ryno Tries to Block Pre-Election Leadership Change
  
• Riding that Unstoppable Blue Wave, Heitkamp Becomes First Dem to Back Mike Pompeo
  
• Should Ted Cruz Be Worried About Quinnipiac Poll Showing Dead Heat?
  
• Are Republicans Draining or Filling the Swamp
  
• HOly MOly! Cory Booker Open to Lowering Voting Age to 16
  
  ISLAM, TERRORISM, SHARIA
  
• SPLC Pulls Controversial "Anti-Muslim Extremist List" After Legal Threats
  
• Unindicted Terrorist Co-Conspirator CAIR Pushes Effort to Block Pompeo Confirmation
  
• US Personnel Embedded with Lebanese Forces Raise Concern About Hezbollah Infiltration
  
• Minnesota GOP Liberty Caucus to Hold Convention... at Notorious Terrorist-Linked Mosque
  
  DOMESTIC POLICY
  
• Former Clinton Aide Heads New Group to Fight PDT's "Takeover" of Federal Courts
  
• PDT Slashed Red Tape, But Report Finds it Still Costs Taxpayers Trillions
  
• Related: Federal Regulatory Monster Still Consumes $1.9 Trillion
  
  HEALTHCARE
  
• Whistleblower Cops Allege Corruption, Retaliation at the VA
  
  EDUCATION, INDOCTRINATION
  
• Planned Parenthood Instructor Has Parent Arrested for Trying to Audit Pornographic Sex Ed Class
  
• Greenfield: A Culture of Murderous Hate at Fresno State
  
• Judge Rejects Oberlin College Request to Move Town-Gown Lawsuit to Another County
  
• Marquette Case Will Say Whether Colleges Can Break Contract to Silence Professors
  
  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE, ETC.
  
• Los Angeles Wastes Steals Taxpayer Money Painting Streets to Fight So-Called "Climate Change"
  
  CULTURE WARS, HITHER and YON
  
• Two Florida Deputies Shot to Death in Apparent Ambush; Assassin Found Dead at Scene
  
• Conservative Black Comedian Trolls Starbucks for "Coffee Reparations" - White Barista Actually Complies
  
• Walmart Declares War on Christian Music
  
• DC Legislator Who Claimed Jews Control the Weather Visits Holocaust Museum... And Bolts Halfway Through Visit
  
• Brother of Stephon Clark Arrested for Alleged Assault, Threats, Vandalism
  
• From Jar-Jar Binks to Jew-Jew Stinks: Israeli-Born Natalie Portman Joins BDS Movement, Refuses "Israel's Nobel Prize"
  

The Thursday Night ONT is Back!

—WeirdDave

My God, How Can Such Men Be Defeated?*

The Story of Captain Samuel Whittemore

On this day in history, 1775, the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired, launching the American War of Independence.

His fellow minuteman started firing at the oncoming British Grenadiers of the 47th Regiment of Foot, falling back to reload, then firing again. Sam waited. Finally, when the column was directly in front of him, he stood and fired his musket. A grenadier fell dead. He drew his two pistols, firing both at almost point blank range. Another grenadier fell dead, a third fell mortally wounded. The British soldiers were on top of him, he had not the time to reload his musket or pistols, so drawing his sword, he started flailing away at the bayonet wielding soldiers. A soldier leveled his Brown Bess musket, at point blank range, and fired. The .69 caliber ball struck Sam in the cheek, tearing away part of his face and throwing him to the ground. Sam valiantly tried to rise, fending off bayonet thrusts with his sword, but he was overpowered. Struck in the head with a musket butt, he went down again, then was bayoneted thirteen times and left for dead.

...

After the British column had fought its way clear, the town's people and minuteman started to search for their wounded compatriots. Several had seen Sam Whittemore's "last stand" and approached to remove his body. To everyone's astonishment Sam was not only still alive, but conscious and still full of fight. Laying there, he was trying to load his musket!

Oh, and Captain Whittemore was 80 years old at the time.

Bad. Ass.

*The title of this section is a quote from Marine General Holland M "Howlin' Mad" Smith referencing the sacrifices his men made to take Tarawa in WWII. I suspect General Smith and his fellow leathernecks are proud to claim a warrior's brotherhhod with a hero like minuteman Captain Samuel Whittemore. H/t @Isophorone

Sugar

Candy-Coated Cartel: Time to Kill the U.S. Sugar Program

This is my all time, number one with a bullet, most hated government program. It (along with the corn subsidy program) is responsible for the explosion of high-fructose corn syrup in most of our food, and most especially in Coke. A proper Coke is a sublime experience. Made with sugar and served ice-cold in a freshly opened glass bottle, God himself couldn't improve one on the taste. Because of government interference in the market, you can't get it from the US. You can buy kosher Coke (and I do, by the flat) around Passover, but it comes in plastic 2 liter bottles. You can buy it in Canada, in cans, and I literally bring cases home when I return from visiting the Great White North (one time a border agent commented on all the cases in my car), but to get The Real Thing, you have to buy imported Mexican Coke in the traditional curved glass bottle. It's more expensive than regular Coke. Worth. Every. Penny.

Musical Interlude

this is what the world map sounds like on the piano�� pic.twitter.com/eyonAOz3D9

— kara☀︎ (@karaweeks_) April 17, 2018

Animal Facts

The one about whales is freaky.

19 Fascinating Animal Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

Game

Luke apparently has a list of girls that he likes and I encountered his number 4 today on the playground. She informed me that she hopes his list changes and that she becomes number one soon because she REALLY likes him. #KidsGotGame

— Aubrey Kelly (@aub_kelly) April 18, 2018

Luke is 7. * Notices how many Morons are taking notes *

Hate Chicken

Last week The New Yorker magazine came out with a typically condesending article about Chick-Fil-A opening a store in NYC. It's a hot pile of garbage, you can read it if you'd like, but I'd heartily recommend reading Larry Correia's fisking of the article instead: FISKING THE NEW YORKER IN DEFENSE OF DELICIOUS CHICKEN. It's full of great quotes, like:-

Here’s a true story that illustrates the sheltered mindset of Dan’s social group. One time I was at a publishing industry party in Manhattan. Being the one token wild red state barbarian, we were discussing what living in the country is like. (for the record, these people think Danbury Connecticut is The Country).

I offhandedly mentioned that my home county has more cows than people. This woman incredulously asked “what do you do with all their waste?”

“Huh?”

“How does it get to the sewer system?”

I just kind of stared at her blankly. “Uh… They poop on the ground.”
Shock. Absolute shock. And then I’m trying to explain to a bunch of people who live somewhere entirely paved where soil comes from.

Read the whole thing, it's a stitch.

Cults

My Month As A Member of the ‘Wild Wild Country’ Sex Cult

Written by the Playboy Advisor, it's fascinating to me how many people think that human nature doesn't apply to them.

Speaking of cults, today is the anniversary of the federal government attacking a peaceful compound* in Waco and killing 76 people.

Randy Weaver says hello. Cliven Bundy would like to remind everyone that but for the power of social media, there goes he.

*I'm not defending the Branch Davidians or their beliefs, but there was no reason for them to be attacked like that except for a government's raw hunger for power and an unquenchable desire to make everyone submit to their will.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

-George Washington (apocryphal, earliest recorded citation from 1902 as per Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations)

Puck!

It's playoff hockey time. Here's a great clip. I just love the little girl's smile at the end.

Show this video to every pro athlete today pic.twitter.com/bU6Iuls9jA

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 16, 2018

Tonight's ONT brought to you by little sisters:

so my 12 year old sister made this sign and held it up in the airport in front of EVERYONE as i was walking down the escalator after my SCHOOL trip. pic.twitter.com/dUKzhMlrjn

— alexa (@alexarosecarter) April 6, 2018

The Yahoo Group is actually in rehab at the moment.

Close it up

Trump: I'm Not Paying Federal Dollars to the California National Guard for the "Charade" of Deploying to the Border to Then Sit On Their Thumbs

—Ace of Spades

Jerry Brown is trying some bizarre half-measure where he'll send the National Guard to the border but on orders that they will not assist in border enforcement.

Trump is right to deny him the cover of this "charade."

Eh, maybe mobilize active duty federal troops to the border in their place. (Is that allowed? I imagine so but do not know.)

David "Camera" Hogg Now to Become David "Book Tour" Hogg

—Ace of Spades

"His" book will be called #NeverAgain. Yes, with a hashtag in the actual title, apparently.

That's what we're dealing with here. HashtagHolocaust!!!

While David Hogg continues to cash in on his experience, other Parkland, Fla., students who witnessed the shooting continue to be ignored and even denied the opportunity to speak at events. Kyle Kashuv, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was not invited to speak at the March for our Lives rally because he is a supporter of gun rights. Hunter Pollack, the older brother of Meadow Pollack, who was killed in the shooting, was also denied the opportunity to be heard.

Rosenstein Claims (Like Comey Did Before Him) That Trump Is Not the "Target" of Muller's and the DOJ's Probe Into Cohen;
Guiliani Joins Trump Legal Team to Try to "Negotiate" an End to the Mueller Probe

—Ace of Spades

As for the former: I don't believe it, and prosecutors lie a lot about whether you're a target or not.

I think they're trying to catch Cohen on some charges to get him to flip on Trump about RUSSIAN collusion. So Trump isn't the immediate target, but he is the ultimate one.

As to the latter: It's a bad idea. It signals vulnerability and will just encourage them. Prosecutors only negotiate plea deals to spare them the use of some resources in some cases.

When a prosecutor has unlimited resources, and when he's a partisan hunting the biggest of big game, why would he "negotiate" anything? Even if he comes up with nothing, he gains something by just keeping this shit-show going for years and years. He ties down the president, his political enemy.

Office of Inspector General Issues Criminal Referral on Andrew McCabe

—Ace of Spades

GoFundMyPrisonCafeteriaAccount.

The Justice Department's internal watchdog has sent a criminal referral for fired FBI official Andrew McCabe to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington.

The move follows a recent DOJ inspector general report that found McCabe leaked a self-serving story to the press and later lied about it to then-Director James Comey and federal investigators, prompting Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire him on March 16.

A source confirmed to Fox News that the referral was sent.

Former Staffer Complains That Egg McMuffin Hasn't Paid Many Staffers and Never Plans to Do So

—Ace of Spades

Eternal values. Unwavering principles. Uncompromising character.

Fly-by-night deadbeat. Slick-skulled grifter. Shiftless light-fingered nosferatu.

Former presidential candidate Evan McMullin owes his former campaign staff members tens of thousands of dollars and most believe he has no intention of ever paying them, a former campaign worker tells The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Right before McMullin’s failed bid for president in 2016 as the conservative alternative to President Donald Trump, the campaign was inundated with debt. The disastrous fiscal situation was a combination of frivolous spending by McMullin and his campaign manager Joel Searby, according to the former staffer.

McMullin received news weeks before Election Day 2016 about how dire the campaign's finances were, and he had "no remorse" and said "I have qualms about this thing ending badly in debt," the former staffer claimed. McMullin's cavalier attitude towards the campaign's spending struck many as a surprise, particularly because he billed himself as a fiscal conservative, he added.

The staffer also claims the campaign never paid him somewhere between 12-15 thousand dollars on top of a few thousand dollars in reimbursements. While he has since recovered, he expressed concern about former staffers with "families and children."

...

"To me, Evan didn't really seem to understand or care that there were families that this debt really hurt," the former staffer said. "He doesn't want to make good on any of this."

Both McMullin and his running mate Mindy Finn have tried raising funds in Silicon Valley for future political endeavors with little success. Currently, the two lead Stand Up Republic, an advocacy group focused on criticizing the president and pressuring House Republicans to take action against what they see as Trump’s policy of "[conceding] to Vladimir Putin."

Their work with Stand Up Republic, which is funded primarily by the Democracy Fund, is their primary source of income, the former staffer said.

"There’s no way he could have any other source of income, he never landed a contributorship" with either MSNBC or CNN, he said.

#WhoFundsEggMcMuffin?

Daniel Greenfield writes this about "The Democracy Fund:"

The Democracy Fund is a creature of Persian billionaire Pierre Omidyar. He's also the guy behind The Intercept. While McMullin lectures us on national security, his sugar daddy funds a site most closely associated with terrorist supporters like Glenn Greenwald.

That's too harsh about Gleen, but it is interesting that the allegedly super-hard-core national security hawk is funded nigh-exclusively by a guy who is simultaneously pushing a leftwing, peace-at-any-costs, more-people-die-in-car-crashes-than-in-terrorist-attacks site.

It's almost like the mission is just to weaken America and make it less of an influence, not more of one, in the wider world.

Conservatives should totally get behind Egg McMuffin. Ehhh... it's not for you. It's more of a Shelbyville kind of idea.

McMullin... McMullin... McMullin... McMullin...

Oh by the way: What was the name of con artist who foisted this other con artist on us?

Didn't Bill Kristol -- master of the Long Con on strong cons -- have something to do with cooking this grift up?

Underemployed Angry Man of Retirement Age Shouts Insults at Passers-By

—Ace of Spades

This Kurt Schlichter column wasn't meant to be a direct response to the Cruise Captain, but it turns out to be just that.

Some quotes:

You know all that insufferable babbling and crying about "principles" we had to endure from you Never Trump Konservative Ken Dolls? Your rending of your cheap suits, your 180s over classic GOP policies because The Donald actually tried to enact them, and your mortifying blubbering to suddenly sympathetic hosts on MSNBC and CNN about how awful our President is? With your sad, drawn faces and high-pitched voices, you True Conservatives of Conservatisn [TM], you Keepers of the Flame of Conservativeness resisted the coming of Donald Trump (and those who supported him) because... because...

Because that's not who we are...

Because we're better than that...

Because... our principles!

Our principles. Yeah, right. Well, it was all a crock, a con, a grift by a bunch of displaced Beltway strivers furious that the marks -- that's us Normals -- wised up to their scam, played the players, and sent them packing.

Principles? You laughed uproariously at Sean Hannity's confidential information being revealed for no good reason, just as you laughed at President Trump when federal agents marched into his lawyer's office to steal privileged documents as part of the shameful collusion farce you’ve been applauding. Your principles didn't stop you from supporting an effort to undo the results of an election that left you out in the cold.

What would the Founders say? Probably, "Stop trying to hang around with us."

Where are your principles in the face of the gross injustices of the last few days? A federal judge who was nearly appointed Bill Clinton's attorney general and who officiated at Soros's wedding ordered Hannity’s information disclosed, but that was cool with you. After all, Sean Hannity is so... oh well, I never!

Principles that depend on who is asserting them aren't principles. They are poses.

There's more, of course.

Mitch McConnell Considering Keeping Senate Open Much Longer During Week to Force Democrats to Either Allow Votes on Trump Nominees, or Spend Most of Campaign Season Filibustering

—Ace of Spades

People I know have been advocating this forever.

Pull the trigger, Mitch.

McConnell this month began threatening Senate Democrats with longer work weeks if they continue to slow-walk the confirmation of President Trump’s nominees. Marc Short, White House point man for legislative affairs, told a small gathering of Republican donors this week that the majority leader plans to use this tactic in the weeks ahead to squeeze Democrats running for re-election in red states.

“McConnell wants to increase the days the Senate is open for business to keep” Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri “tied up from campaigning,” a Republican donor told the Washington Examiner, relaying what Short communicated.

Ten Democrats from Trump states cannot afford keeping filibusters going through weekends. They have to go home to defend seats in peril.

So: If you want to play your games, fine. But now the Senate's open 24 hours seven days a week. How much is it worth it to you to block these people?

California declares state of emergency over massive population growth of illegal aliens. (The jokes just write themselves here)

—krakatoa

Have at it.

The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

—CBD

America is the same way. And it is very possible that the seemingly unbridgeable divide between the ignorant elites who are afraid of the very idea of guns and the normals who up until now looked at them with mild amusement, thinking, "What twits," will take a more significant turn. I cannot imagine how we can coexist.

Woman calls cops on man playing with his kids at park because she was afraid of his pro-gun shirt

Blue Lives Matter reported that Benbrook Police Department Cpl. J. Reese said the woman did indeed call police on Johnston, and described him as a “suspicious person” who had a “gun holstered to his chest” and wearing the offensive T-shirt.

When Reese arrived at the park, he spoke with the woman, who said that Johnston was “was making other parents on the playground very uncomfortable with his T-shirt.”

“The subject did not act threatening to anyone, nor did he threaten anyone,” Reese noted, and later described Johnston as “polite.”

“She was not scared of the gun,” Reese added. “[She] was concerned about his T-shirt.”

According to Johnston, who “voluntarily identified himself” to Reese, he offered to show his gun permit to police.

“They didn’t ask,” Johnston told Blue Lives Matter.

******

Pompeo has devalued religious tolerance and allied himself with anti-Islam and anti-LGBTQ groups. His regressive views on reproductive rights jeopardize women’s healthcare around the world. These are not the qualities we need in a Secretary of State.

— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) April 18, 2018

But having a sitting senator who is a proven liar is just peachy!

And by the way, I am pleased as punch that Pompeo has "allied himself with anti-Islam" groups. It's one of the first steps in protecting our nation.

******

Blacksmithing: A Southern Comeback Story
******
Fresno State says Barbara Bush-bashing professor can be fired despite tenure

I'm not holding my breath, but it would be great if they showed a little intestinal fortitude and dumped her muzzy ass on Highway 99. Maybe she can give BJs at truck stops. But just at night...she is a nasty looking woman.

******
My Twitter Feed

Close it up

Mid-Morning Open Thread

—CBD

The Titan's Goblet
Thomas Cole

The Morning Report 4/19/18

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. As we roll into a Thursday, it's Comey, Comey, Comey! The release of "Mein Come-pft!" went over pretty much as expected; the press slobbering all over it while the public at large yawned. In fact, about the only people who showed up for his book signing in DC a couple of days ago were reporters, and I assume that was about the same at the Barnes and (ig)Noble in Union Square in NYC yesterday. Actually, I see that that's precisely what happened, except he got heckled by "far right" reporter Laura Loomer who shouted "you're going to get locked up!" Not so nutty-sounding; a recent poll shows a sizable chunk of Americans would like to see that happen.

Meanwhile, Bob Goodlatte is pushing to have the Comey memos released, which of course would prove that this entire investigation is as we have known all along a concocted witch hunt to overthrow the President. And that's why the shambling walking colostomy bag called Jerrold Nadler is squealing like a pig because he knows this all too well, and that if they are released Mueller will be shut down.

Meanwhile, the real high crimes, treason, gonniffing and miscellaneous meshugas of Hillary Clinton barely registers on the radar, as the ex-business partner of the Awans' dad claims that all the stolen data (wiped, like, with a cloth) is now in the hands of the Pakistani government.

On the foreign policy front, as the Korean situation evolves in ways that no one could have imagined (the NorKs past disingenuousness notwithstanding), on the heels of Secretary of State Pompeo's visit with Whoa, Fat!, PDT is stating that he will not be playing games and will walk away from a summit if he senses his counterpart is doing so. In any case both Rush and Daniel Greenfield are marveling at his successes which, along with the aforementioned old lady's crimes, goes either unnoticed or distorted by the Democrat-Media Complex to look like disasters. But you knew that already, and that's why you come here, gentle reader.

In related news, as our southern border is now the entry point for growing numbers of illegal aliens being smuggled in from Bangladesh, Paul Ryno and the GOP-e CoC-servatives are planning on doing something - attempting to ram home an Amnesty bill right before the midterms. Amazing how they are motivate to act when it's to sell out the American people.

Speaking of politics, bearing the above in mind, the so-called Democrat "blue wave" at least at this stage is looking more and more like wish-casting. As PDT's achievements take hold, specifically deregulation and the tax cuts, the Democrats are becoming more and more shrill in their attacks against him, the second amendment, the first amendment and American values in general. It's a complete turnoff to most normal people, and yet the propagandists continue to pluck that chicken. Saner (if you could call it that) heads on the Left are getting nervous that the calls to impeach PDT could backfire bigly come November. But still, they'll persist. In fact there's a link that the Democrats are hot and horny to make, get this, reparations a major part of the party platform in the next few years. And then there's that pornographic parade float of hatred and obscenity what calls itself a professor from Fresno State. QED. All that said, the GOP, if it in fact actually did represent our interests, are positioned to utterly destroy the Democrat-Left for at least a generation. But as we all know, that's not their job. It's too preserve, protect and defend the New Deal, Great Society and Hope & Change until they can throw an election and reinstall a Democrat majority. No wonder you get the attitude of the guy who'll vote for convicted felon Michael Grimm rather than allow the Dems to take over. What a revolting choice we seem to always face. Something's gotta give. Feh.

From hither and yon, evidently H.R. McMaster's father was found dead and the incident has now been ruled suspicious. Meanwhile the ATF is investigating 704 pounds of TNT gone missing from a Pennsylvania construction site. Stop me if you've heard this one: people keep telling you that it's no longer safe for Jews to walk the streets of major European cities wearing Stars of David or yarmulkes. You tell them they're crazy and just to prove it's a myth, you put a yarmulke on your head. See? No problemo! And then, some random Muzzy sees you, takes off his belt and starts whipping on you. Man, what a buzz-kill.

Lastly, today marks the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Alone, half-starved and after watching thousands of their relatives die from disease, starvation and then later, mass deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp, a few hundred or so managed to hold off the German police and even Waffen SS units for a few weeks armed only with a couple pistols and molotov cocktails. Rather than be slaughtered, they chose to fight and die for their honor. And five years later, the fighting spirit of those martyrs laid the foundation for the modern state of Israel, which was born five years later and today celebrates its 70th Anniversary.

And still, they persist...

Anyway, links from around the world, across the nation and up your street. Have a better one and remain blessed.

MUELLER WITCH HUNT

• Flashback: Clinton Lawyer Represented Tons of Journalists
  
• "No-Nads" Nadler Kvetching that Push to Reveal Comey Memos Could Land RosenSteinPenis in Contempt of Congress, Shut Down Mueller
  
• Comey Book Event in DC Packed with Press; Only One "Normal Person" Attended
  
• Comey Debunks the Steele Dossier
  
• Coulter: One Percent Chance Comey Not a Self-Dramatizing Fruitcake
  
  CLINTON SCANDALS
  
• Ex-Biz Partner of Awans' Father Says Dad Transferred Stolen Data to Pakistani Government
  
  FOREIGN POLICY, INTERNATIONAL
  
• PDT Says He'll Walk Away from Summit if Whoa, Fat! Plays Games
  
• Greenfield: Trump's Art of the Deal in North Korea, Syria and Israel
  
• Tariffs Are a Sideshow Compared to a Weaponized Dollar
  
• PDT Mocks Syrian Effort to Shoot Down Missiles: "They Hit None"
  
• Rush: PDT's Foreign Policy Achievements are Jaw-Dropping
  
  IMMIGRATION, AMNESTY
  
• Paul Ryno, GOP-e Ready to Push Koch-Like Amnesty Ahead of Midterms
  
• Revolt Grows: Half of Californians Supports Travel Ban, Increased Deportations
  
• Smuggling Cartels Fuel Surge in Border Jumpers from Terror-Prone Bangladesh
  
• Jihadis and Drug Cartel at Our Border
  
• Levin: Why Gorsuch Teaming Up with Left on Immigration is Disastrous for PDT's Agenda
  
  SECOND AMENDMENT, GUN CONTROL
  
• Gun Rights Group Files Suit on Behalf of Illinois Daycare Operators
  
  POLITICS, 2018 MIDTERMS
  
• NPR/Marist Poll Shows Dems Supporting Impeachment Could Help GOP in November
  
• Would You Vote for a Felon? I Plan To...
  
• New Polls Undermine Forecast of Blue Wave for the Midterms
  
• Are the GOP Tax Cuts Actually Becoming Less Popular?
  
• Revealed: Dream Democrat Agenda Includes Reparations
  
  ISLAM, TERRORISM, SHARIA
  
• Doubtful That Wearing a Yarmulke in Berlin is Dangerous, Israeli Arab Puts One On - Passing Muzzy Sees It, Removes Belt and Whips Him
  
• Empowering Islam by Rewriting History
  
  THE ECONOMY, STUPID
  
• No, Republican President's Aren't Responsible for Most of America's Debt
  
  DOMESTIC POLICY
  
• NAACP Demands Vitter Nomination Be "Withdrawn Immediately" After "Shocking" Brown v Board of Ed Response
  
• Dodd-Frank's Unaccountable Agency
  
• Remember PDT's Plan to Cut $60 Billion in Spending? Mitch McKochbrother Just Killed It
  
  HEALTHCARE
  
• Healthcare's Disrtupters
  
• Federal Appeals Court Forces Ohio to Fund Planned Parenthood
  
  CULTURE WARS, HITHER and YON
  
• Police Investigating "Suspicious Death" of H.R. McMaster's Father
  
• ATF Now Says 704 lbs of TNT Stolen from PA Construction Site, More Than Previously Thought
  
• Zuckerberg Has a Problem, and So Does His Industry
  
• After Barbara Bush's Death, Left's Torrent of Bile Shows Who the Real Hatemongers Are
  
• Today Mark's the 75th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
  

Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (4/18/18 )

—Misanthropic Humanitarian

Quote I

“The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in ‘Metcalfe’s law’—which states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participants—becomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.” -Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, 1998, via Zero Hedge

Quote II

“Republican Party swampers in Washington have come to the surface to oppose my candidacy for the U.S. Senate.”

“West Virginians are aware that McConnell cannot vote in their election. They want him to mind his own business and do his job. A job he has not done now for over 30 years. Balance the budget Mitch and stay out of West Virginia, Don Blakenship

Quote III

“Sean Hannity is an advocate for Donald Trump,” Limbaugh added. “And in this day and age, advocates for Donald Trump are no different than Trump in that they have to be destroyed, they have to be targeted, they have to be held up for ridicule because it’s all about getting Trump. Every bit of this is about getting Donald Trump. The Washington establishment cannot allow for Donald Trump to succeed. He’s an outsider.” Rush Limbaugh

*****

Never, ever, never did we see this coming.

A new study suggests that transgender and gender non-conforming children and adolescents may be more likely to develop depression and other mental health conditions, compared with individuals whose gender identity matches their assigned gender at birth.

Researchers have identified a greater risk of mental health conditions among youth who are transgender and gender non-conforming.
The research was conducted at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena. Study co-author Tracy A. Becerra-Culqui, Ph.D., and colleagues recently reported their findings in the journal Pediatrics.

*****

Nothing. Nothing is too good for our kids or our money.

The National Science Foundation is expanding a study of transgender children as young as three years old, giving the project's researcher an additional $1 million.

Kristina Olson, a researcher at the University of Washington, received the 2018 Alan T. Waterman Award, the nation's "highest honor for a young scientist or engineer," for her work studying the gender identities of toddlers.

*****

Jefferson, Iowa had a good idea. Their P.R. campaign wasn't.

The small town of Jefferson, Iowa, has suspended its program of shooting feral cats after a public outcry condemning the town's actions as inhumane.

In the aftermath of the uproar, The Washington Post reports that,

City administrator Mike Palmer said Friday that Mayor Craig Berry told council members Tuesday that he’d discussed the practice in a meeting with officials from the Animal Protection and Education organization and the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. The decision to suspend the shooting of feral cats came soon after that.

Politicians who don't pussy-foot around. I like that.

*****

Zuckerberg thought the grilling he had on Capitol Hill was bad. This could be worse for Face Book, a billion dollar lawsuit.

Facebook could owe billions of dollars for using facial recognition after a judge approved a pending lawsuit against the social network.

California judge James Donato ruled on Monday that the lawsuit, first filed in 2015, will finally proceed as a class-action case. It alleges Facebook is in violation of an Illinois state law that prohibits the collection of biometric data without written consent.

Three plaintiffs are seeking $5,000 in penalties per offense for every time Facebook used facial recognition on a user in Illinois without their explicit permission. There is a chance Facebook could owe millions of people as the case includes users in the state who the social network created and stored facial recognition algorithms for after June 7, 2011, when the “tag suggestions” tool launched. Judge Donato put the extent of the damages into perspective, “Facebook seems to believe statutory damages could amount to billions of dollars.”

*****

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

Someone in the 19th century (Mark Twain attributed it to Benjamin Disraeli, but that’s dubious) said that there are three forms of lying: lies, damned lies, and statistics. If you would like a beautiful example of the last category of mendacity, check out David Leonhardt’s April 15th column in the New York Times, entitled (try not to laugh) “The Democrats Are the Party of Fiscal Responsibility.”

*****

The creepy little f*cker is at it again. Parkland HS agitator calling for more boycotts.

After starting an advertiser boycott of Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham, gun-control activist David Hogg has set his sights on two new targets — iconic gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and its capital backers.

In a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Hogg sicced his 764,000 Twitter followers on five investment companies, singling out two most of all — Blackrock and Vanguard Group.

Wouldn't it be a shame if backers of these companies demonstrated in front of his basement bedroom. Wink/Nod

*****

The Softest Generation whining that the sky is falling.

The Washington Post informed its readers this month that college students are going hungry, in a report titled, “The hidden crisis on college campuses: Many students don’t have enough to eat.” Two days later, the Kansas City Star reported even more urgently, “Think college students are privileged? Nearly a third are hungry and homeless.” So what’s going on? Are American college students really going hungry and living on the streets?

Eh, not so much.

*****

The ONT Musical Interlude

April 19, 2013, Storm Thorgerson, whose album cover artwork includes Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon died aged 69. A childhood friend of the founding members of the band, he became their designer-in-chief. His credits also include albums by Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and Muse. In 2003, Thorgerson suffered a stroke, from which he recovered. He was later diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, which he battled for several years. via thisdayinmusic.com

***

April 19, 1987, Aretha Franklin and George Michael started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Knew You Were Waiting' also a No.1 in the UK. Aretha Franklin set a record for the artist with the longest gap between US No.1 singles, it had been 19 years, 10 months from her last hit 'Respect' in June 1967. via thisdayinmusic.com

*****

Money isn't everything. Meet a real charmer. I hear she's single.

A woman blew every last cent of her father’s inheritance money within just nine months, including $150,000 on drugs.

Brodie Bond,from Morwel, in Australia, successfully fought for a huge slice of her father’s will, $220,000 to be exact, after he left her nothing when he died. But rather than using that money wisely, the 28-year-old blew much of it in less than a year.

*****

Oooops!!! The DOJ got something it wasn't expecting.

A website run by the US Justice Department and used to gather information about missing and abducted children is redirecting visitors to porn web pages with names such as “schoolgirl porn” and “ungrateful huge boobs Indian wife being a slut,” Gizmodo has discovered.

A redirect bug on the AmberAlert.gov allows anyone to create backlinks on the DOJ-run site—functionality apparently too good to pass up for some porn bots. The Amber Alert site is being manipulated by at least a half dozen porn pages (and an untold number of others) likely in an effort to boost their Google rankings.

*****

Who knew? The Amish and Mennonites on Spring Break.

Each winter, for close to a century now, hundreds of Amish and Mennonite families have travelled from their homes in icy quarters of the U.S. and Canada to Pinecraft, a small, sunny neighborhood in Sarasota, Florida. Arriving on chartered buses specializing in the transportation of “Plain people” from areas such as Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Holmes County, Ohio, they rent modest bungalows and stay for weeks, or sometimes months, at a time. It’s vacation. For many, it’s the one time of the year that they spend with people from communities other than their own.

*****

What could have been a horrible ending turned out pretty well for this Genius Award Winner.

An Estonian tourist known as Pavel, had one too many drinks at Cervinia Resort when he decided to call it a night and head back to his hotel. Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn and began heading up the mountainside.

*****

Every once in a while the youth of today surprise us. Tonight's Feel Good Story of The Day.

This 19-year-old college baseball player was heartbroken over his grandma’s inability to watch his game – so instead of allowing her to miss it, he and his team brought the game to her.

Due to the chemotherapy and radiation treatments that Marilyn Seavers had endured to fight her stage IV lung cancer, she was too weak to leave the house for her grandson’s game in March.

Zach, who was very close with his grandma before she died, was determined for her to see him play in a college uniform.

*****

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by Columns.

Notice: Posted with permission by AceCorp, LLC. Any rebroadcast without permission by AceCorp, LLC is prohibited.

Close it up

Toy Nostalgia Thread

—Ace of Spades

Betsy Wetsy, 1950s.

Assorted commercials from the 60s, including Slinky, the toy you give to nephews you don't like.

Also, Mr. Machine and Mr. Potato head.

Mattel "Tommy Burst" Detective Set, a cap-and-safety-slug kind of gun, including tommy gun and snubnose revolver. Looks cool. 1960s.

Marx Sound-o-Power Military and Western Rifles, looks like 1960s. Doesn't seem to launch anything, but makes a nice racket.

Secret Sam spy kit.

Barbie's Dream House, 1960.

Malibu Barbie Camper Set, 1970s.

Rock'em Sock'em Robots, 1960s ad.

Rock'em Sock'em robots, 1975.

Action Jackson, 1972. He doesn't look like an action hero. He looks like a lounge-rat at the Regal Beagle.

Here's a 20 minute long compilation of old toy commercials, including GI Joe toys, Marvel super hero dolls, I mean action figures, and something called "Action Man" I never heard of, which is just a generic doll action figure that you can change into Batman, the Phantom, the Lone Ranger, Superman, etc.

Also: The "Big Jim" rescue rig and of course, the EVIL KNIVEL toy!

Oh man, the Six Million Dollar Man toy, too.

Here's the Six Million Dollar Man toy commercial all by itself.

Girder and Panel building set, 1957 commercial on a live tv show (it looks like).

Easy Bake Oven, 1963 ad.

Easy Bake Oven, 1972 ad.

Donald Duck Hippety-Hop, early/mid 70s. I never understood this "toy." It seems to be for slow children.

This is another toy I was pretty sure was intended for slow children: Shrinky Dinks.

Shogun Warriors vs. Godzilla toys, 1970s.

Mego Planet of the Apes dolls, I mean action figures. Several commercials, including one of Ape City and one of the Fobidden City. 1970s.

And obviously: The Mego Star Trek toys. Several commercials.

I can't find a commercial for this, but here's the "Earthquake Tower" danger playset, with real swaying action and a stupid little record with earthquake/emergency sound effects.

U-Fly-It toy plane, which I actually got to play with once. It was ass. It was just a plane on a string where you could slow the movement along the main guide-wire by tightening another string.

I've never seen this toy, but it's another toy plane -- the "Air Devils" -- and it looks kinda cool.

Flying Aces flight deck with a couple of foam "jets" that are catapult-launched from a aircraft-carrier-styled deck with a pistol-grip launch trigger.

Big Wheels from 1978.

Merlin, the amazing electronic device that let you play seven incredibly boring games with just one overpriced toy. 1980.

Colleco Football, the game that took about two hours to completely master and BTFO. Pretty soon you were scoring touchdowns just by winking at the thing.

He-Man Castle Grayskull commercial. 1980s. Here's a long compilation of a bunch of commercials. Bash-o-saurus? What?

Zany Zappers. Good Lord. It's like a Seizure in a Box.

And -- "Hey good-looking, we'll be back to pick you up later!"

Meghan McCain to James Comey: Are You Sure You're Not a Partisan Political Commentator? Cuz You Sorta Sound Like a Partisan Political Commentator to Me

—Ace of Spades

By the way, does anyone else notice that Comey looks luminously orange, with ghost-taint white half-moons under his eyes, in all of his media appearances?

Check out Comey's Hunter Moon make-up on the former Bill Clinton communications director's nonpartisan political show, and this other picture from that appearance here, and then compare those looks to the lambently-orange glow he sports on The View appearance (video at the link).

Who's orange now, bub?

It's almost as if that's a fairly standard make-up application for tv appearances, and it's almost as if someone who spent a decade on TV might have just adopted it as a habit.

"I want to believe you're not a political person," McCain said to Comey. "You’re the head of the FBI, but you write in your book how you went to President Obama, and you were on the verge of tears, saying you were going to miss him. You also said were dreading the next four years with Trump."

...

McCain then brought up how Comey's wife went to the anti-Trump Women’s March and was "very sad on election night."

"But why bring up politics now?" McCain said. “No disrespect, but what your take on the current Republican Party is -- I'm more interested in what you know about national security."

"I brought it up because I was asked about it," Comey said.

Later in the interview, McCain told Comey that he sounds "like a political commentator."

Incidentally, John Sexton writes that Comey has a good, sound explanation as to why he felt it necessary to note that he was (briefly) re-opening the Hillary Clinton investigation despite all the caterwauling from the left that he should have done his Deep State Duty and concealed that information from the public.

Congress Makes Criminal Referrals to Department of Justice for Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok

—Ace of Spades

A veritable basket of deplorables.

"We write to refer the following individuals for investigation of potential violation(s) of federal statutes," states the letter obtained by this reporter. "In doing so, we are especially mindful of the dissimilar degrees of zealousness that has marked the investigations into Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, respectively. Because we believe that those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every other American, we want to be sure that the potential violations of law outlined below are vetted appropriately."

...

"Accordingly, we refer to DOJ all DOJ and FBI personnel responsible for signing the Carter Page warrant application that contained unverified and/or false information for possible violation(s) of 18 USC 242 and 18 USC 1505 and 1515b," the criminal referral states. It refers to a letter drafted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes to Sessions this March.

Comey is referred because he leaked four memos to his pal -- who now claims to be his lawyer, to invoke attorney-client privilege -- out of seven he prepared upon his firing, four of which were found to be confidential. Now, if four of those seven are confidential, and four were leaked to his pal -- I'm sorry, I mean his """"""attorney"""""--- that means at least one of the memos leaked was confidential.

Hillary Clinton is referred because of FEC violations -- she and the DNC claimed they were only paying Perkins-Coie for legal expenses, though we now know a large amount of the money paid to Perkins-Coie was then paid to Fusion GPS not for legal expenses but for oppo research. FEC rules say you can't lie in your disclosure forms about what your money is actually being spent on.

Note that Michael Cohen was raided because of possible FEC violations -- they want to claim Cohen, by paying Stormy Daniels, was actually donating to Trump, beyond the legal limit -- and yet no one's raiding Perkins-Coie for fairly clear FEC violations.

Strange, that.

It seems some criminal referrals are treated by the Deep State as serious enough to violate attorney-client privilege and others are entirely ignored.

Loretta Lynch is being referred for reprisal against a whistleblower:

Lynch was referred after concerns were made regarding her decision to threaten with reprisal the former FBI informant, William Douglas Campbell, who first came forward in 2016 with insight into the sale of the Canadian firm Uranium One, which controlled nearly 20 percent of U.S. uranium mining interests in the United States, as previously reported.

McCabe's Handmaidens, Page and Strzok, are referred for possible "interference" in the Hillary investigations.

McCabe's Lawyer: McCabe Repeatedly Told James Comey That He Was Leaking to the WSJ and Had His Approval, Despite Comey's Denials

—Ace of Spades

One possible explanation that some might suggest that splits it down the middle (and maybe keeps both men from a perjury rap) is that McCabe told Comey that he was going to rebut the WSJ's previous article suggesting that McCabe and the FBI were slow-playing the Hillary investigation, but Comey did not know that McCabe was going to tell them (or rather have his "Special Counsel," almost certainly Lisa Page tell them) about the phone call from the Principle Acting Deputy Attorney General in which the "PADAG" tried to back McCabe off from investigating, but McCabe bravely soldiered forward.

(According to the perfectly truthful McCabe, that is.)

This sort of "one's half right, the other's half right" explanation might be enough to keep them both out of jail.

This attempt at a reconciliation between the two conspirators' stories has been floated before:

Another source familiar with the matter argued that the discrepancy between the two accounts is more about the fact that they are recalling the interaction differently than a dispute about what took place, saying both were acting in "good faith."

"They recall it differently," the source said. "Andy thinks in good faith he told him, and Comey in good faith says he wasn’t told."

The source added that “the notion that the two guys are pitted against each other is crazy."

That's from a John Sexton post, but the language is actually quoted from CNN, which is of course cozy with all the leakers and conspirators and trying to keep its sources playing nice with each other.

And trying to keep them out of jail.

And trying to keep themselves from having to testify in any prosecutions about who leaked what to whom.

And trying to keep the public from learning their own central role in the campaign of illegal leaks against Trump, acting as the AV Squad All-Stars for the Deep State High School.

Buuuuuuut...

For one thing, the OIG report's language is pretty firm on the point that McCabe did not just lie once, but four times, and wasn't just hazy on details of what his Trained Parrot (probably Special Counsel Lisa Page) was leaking to the WSJ on his orders, but claimed that he had no idea who was talking to the WSJ at all.

As detailed below, we found that in late October 2016, McCabe authorized Special Counsel and AD/OPA to discuss with [reporter Devlin] Barrett issues related to the FBI's Clinton Foundation investigation (CF Investigation)…The disclosure to the WSJ effectively confirmed the existence of the CF Investigation, which then-FBI Director Comey had previously refused to do.

We found that, in a conversation with then-Director Comey shortly after the WSJ article was published, McCabe lacked candor when he told Comey, or made statements that led Comey to believe, that McCabe had not authorized the disclosure and did not know who did. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.5 (Lack of Candor -- No Oath).

We also found that on May 9, 2017, when questioned under oath by FBI agents from INSD, McCabe lacked candor when he told the agents that he had not authorized the disclosure to the WSJ and did not know who did. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor -- Under Oath).

We further found that on July 28, 2017, when questioned under oath by the OIG in a recorded interview, McCabe lacked candor when he stated: (a) that he was not aware of Special Counsel having been authorized to speak to reporters around October 30 and (b) that, because he was not in Washington, D.C., on October 27 and 28, 2016, he was unable to say where Special Counsel was or what she was doing at that time. This conduct violated FBI Offense Code 2.6 (Lack of Candor -- Under Oath).

Note that one of those incidences of "lack of candor" was about lying to Comey, which could be explained away by claiming Comey is either lying or mistaken. But the next two raps for "lack of candor" involve McCabe claiming he didn't know his Special Counsel was talking with the Wall Street Journal -- and Comey isn't anywhere involved there.

Whether or not McCabe had Comey's approval, as McCabe's lawyer alleges, to make these disclosures to the WSJ does not change the fact that when asked if he knew who was leaking he lied to investigators about it.

Even if he's claiming that he was telling the truth (sort of) that he didn't know who made a specific disclosure, he knew damn well he had authorized his Special Counsel to make some disclosures to the WSJ, and was lying when he claimed he didn't know what she was doing on specific days (when he knew full well she was communicating with the WSJ -- on his orders, or at least at his urging, let's say).

Now that these two old clucking hens are squabbling at each other, this is even more amusing. Click on each of the two partial, chopped-off images to see them in full:

BTW, I found this when searching Sexton's older posts, which I hadn't seen before -- Max Boot whining that sure, maybe some laws were broken here and there, but Trump!!!