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When I wore Uncle Sam's colors back in the closing years of the Cold War, we took a lot of pride in being STRAC - "Strategic, Tough, Ready Around the Clock." Not only physical fitness but appearance factored into that; we took pride in looking sharp, in looking soldierly. We eschewed standard-issue boots for Corcoran jump boots that took a better shine. We pressed our uniforms, we blocked our caps, and we shined our brass; we were honed like razors, and we took great pride in it.
In recent years, some of the military people we've seen in airports and so on have not only looked non-STRAC, but some of them looked a little saggy around the midsection. But there's a new boss at the Pentagon, and he looks to be bringing STRAC back.
This strain may have emerged from gain-of-function research conducted at two specific facilities: the USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) in Athens, Georgia, and the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. //
smalltownoklahoman. | March 11, 2025 at 12:42 pm
Why is it being done at all? Who thinks it’s a good idea to take a known virus and amp it up into something that can kill millions? Just to satisfy some scientists curiosity? H1N1 in the late 70’s was a GOF research project that “oops!” just happened to escape. It’s clear that humans just aren’t responsible enough to continue to play these games and any countries that allow it need to be punished severely, including our own. Would Covid exist if we weren’t funding the research and teaching Chinese scientists how to conduct it? //
GWB in reply to Sanddog. | March 11, 2025 at 1:47 pm
Primarily the research exists (ostensibly) for two reasons:
First is to then play around and see how things work. This is research for knowledge’s sake.
Second is the idea that you can then make vaccines and treatments for these things (especially novel ones, yay!) and be better prepared when something appears out of the wild. (Or when something shows up from an enemy’s bioweapons lab.)
I get the first one. And if people could be trusted to be really safe and have only the best motives and all that, it might be supportable for those who place Reason high on a pedestal.
The second one does make sense. Sorta. The problem there is that how do you distinguish between someone making a weapon and someone actually building defenses against a weapon? By what they tell you? Simply by who they work for? Yeah, pull the other one.
Sanddog in reply to GWB. | March 12, 2025 at 12:30 am
There isn’t a single vaccine or treatment that has come out of these experiments. //
TRUMP: I blame the Democrats, and Chuck Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I'm concerned. He used to be Jewish. He's not Jewish anymore. He's a Palestinian.
(Reporters erupt). //
houdini1984
8 hours ago
"Palestinian" is just another way to say antisemite. Schumer is a Palestinian.
When you come to the U.S. as a visitor -- which is what a visa is, which is how this individual entered this country, on a visitor's visa -- you are here as a VISITOR. We can deny you that visa. If you tell us when you apply, "Hi, I'm trying to get into the United States on a student visa - 'I am a big supporter of Hamas,' a murderous, barbaric group that kidnaps children, that rapes teenage girls, that takes hostages, that allows them to die in captivity, that returns more bodies than live hostages - if you tell us that you are in favor of a group like this, and you tell us when you apply for your visa, "And by the way, I intend to come to your country as a student and rile up all kinds of anti-Jewish student, antisemitic activities, I intend to shut down your university.
If you told us these things when you applied for a visa, we would deny your visa. I hope we would.
And if you actually end up doing that, once you're in this country on such a visa, we will revoke it. And if you have a green card--not citizenship--as a result of that visa, while you're here and those activities? We're gonna kick you out. It's as simple as that. This is not about free speech. This is about people who don't have any right to be in the United States.
For all the melodies you have in you
Speldosa is the result of a unique collaboration between Klevgrand and the Swedish artist Wintergatan/Martin Molin. Wintergatan has primarily worked in the physical world (the Marble Machine is probably the most astonishing example), while Klevgrand has performed its craft within the digital sphere. When these two worlds now meet, it results in a product that both visually and audibly inspires the creation of music that you didn’t know you had in you.
Speldosa (Swedish for "Music Box") is the essence of the shared beliefs of Klevgrand and Wintergatan, and their fascination with minimalism. A simple melody played on a music box can contain an equal amount of emotional power as any symphonic work. There is something about the music box sound that never ceases to fascinate.
The instrument itself has been meticulously recorded by Wintergatan and transformed into a playable digital instrument plugin. It features four different models (Modern, Vintage, Antique, and Eternal = Reversed), two different Room models, and an algorithmic reverb.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might recognize these sheets—they were previously under the Royal Velvet and JCP brand names, but they’re just as fabulous as ever! Made from 100% cotton sateen with a 400-thread count, these sheets are so soft and smooth, they’ll have you looking forward to bedtime every night. I’ve tested them myself, and the softness is unmatched—perfect for anyone who loves that silky-smooth feel.
The price of electricity in German soared from 17 cents per kilowatt hour in April 2020 to $4.69 in August 2022. It is now $1.40—or 8 times what Germans once paid. //
Germany's electricity prices have experienced an increase in the latter half of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, reaching an average of 140.42 euros per megawatt-hour in February 2025. This marks a notable decrease from the record high of over 469 euros per megawatt-hour in August 2022, yet remains above pre-pandemic levels. The ongoing volatility in energy prices continues to impact German households and businesses, reflecting broader trends across Europe's energy landscape.
Israel’s battle for survival is not just its own—it is a fight for democracy, freedom, and the right to live without fear of annihilation. History has shown us that when the world stays silent in the face of rising antisemitism, devastation follows. We cannot let history repeat itself. Now is the time to stand unequivocally with Israel, to reject the dangerous double standards imposed upon it, and to ensure that those who seek its destruction—whether through terrorism, economic isolation, or ideological warfare—do not succeed. The fight against antisemitism is the fight for civilization itself, and we all have a duty to engage in it. //
RedRaider85
6 hours ago
My boss was a Jewish carpenter. I stand with Israel! //
anon-bzzx
3 hours ago
I stand with Israel. They have contributed much to society that goes unnoticed. The anti-semitism on campus in my view are not protests but pro-terrorism. It will continue to spread not only against Jews but also against Christians if not stopped now. //
Musicman
2 hours ago
Blame the British for this mess. They kept their promise to the Arabs East of Egypt for helping them defeat the Ottomans: they gave them self ruling countries everywhere except in the Holy Lands. They promised the Jews of the world who helped them win that War a homeland, and Christians that they would never again let the Holy Lands be ruled by Muslims. As soon as they got the Mandate for Palestine they spent the next 25 years keeping Jews from moving there, even after the rise of Hitler, and even the Arabs sided with the Nazis. Had they allowed the Jews to move there, today there would two or three or even four times as many Jews there, all of Palestine would be a Jewish State, and the Arabs minority living there would be richer with more freedom than any other Arabs.
Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47
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.@POTUS: "We want to bring the schools back to the states because we have the worst education department and education in the world... we're ranked at the bottom of the list, and yet we're number one when it comes to cost per pupil."
11:21 AM · Mar 9, 2025
18.8K
Hank Reardon
3 hours ago
At LEAST four wins here . . .
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American parents love it. Replacing big government leftist indoctrination with . . . locally accountable education. Imagine that!
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Weingarten hates it. Her reign of indoctrination and $500k/yr salary are threatened.
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Carter’s legacy. Going the way of Carter. R.I.P., sir.
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Real estate prices in northern Virginia. Taking another step downward as more big government blue voters prepare to leave town. And (let’s hope) GOP voters fill the void, turning another state solidly red.
From time to time, security issues are found within software. The FreeBSD package management system relies upon pkg-audit and the Vulnerability database to alert system administrators that attention is required.
A friend introduced me to monitor lights earlier this year. I thought about getting one, but didn’t. I added it to my wish-list and I recently received one.
I really like it.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This is what I bought: OOWOLF Monitor Light Bar with Remote Screen Light Bar (Amazon link).
I took these photos one evening in my office.
You’d never know it from watching television, but civilians stop more active shooters than police and do so with fewer mistakes, according to new research from the Crime Prevention Research Center, where I serve as president. In non-gun-free zones, where civilians are legally able to carry guns, concealed carry permit holders stopped 51.5 percent of active shootings, compared to 44.6 percent stopped by police, CPRC found in a deep dive into active shooter scenarios between 2014 and 2023.
Not only do permit holders succeed in stopping active shooters at a higher rate, but law enforcement officers face significantly greater risks when intervening. Our research found police were nearly six times more likely to be killed and 17 percent more likely to be wounded than armed civilians.
Those numbers paint a fuller picture than the FBI’s crime statistics, which fail to include many of the defensive gun uses my organization has cataloged. But the problem with the FBI’s crime statistics isn’t just the errors in their reported data — they also fail to address useful questions, like how concealed handgun permit holders compare to law enforcement. Kash Patel and Dan Bongino face a major challenge in reforming how the data is collected and reported at the FBI. //
These findings highlight a reality that is often ignored: responsible gun owners save lives. Concealed handgun permit holders aren’t reckless vigilantes, but they are law-abiding citizens who step up in moments of crisis when seconds matter and police are minutes away.
On Thursday, President Trump issued an executive order that cut federal ties with the Spygate incubator and major Democrat law firm Perkins Coie. The president did so based on the firm’s partisan dishonesty, and because it openly discriminates based on sex and race.
This is a good legal basis for refusing to work with any company, and it should be extended to every legal entity in the country. Top of the list should be the American Bar Association, which also advocates for and engages in unlawful racial and sexual discrimination and is a highly partisan actor on behalf of the Democrat Party and other anti-Constitution activists.
The ABA deeply affects the U.S. lawyer pipeline and licensing system, accrediting law schools, rating judges, and weaponizing lawyer discipline. Its rabid leftism means the ABA systematically ratchets the entire U.S. legal system against the U.S. Constitution.
That’s an existential threat to the country, as most recently illustrated by the dozens of federal judges the ABA helped advance who hate our supreme law so much they rule that the elected executive cannot control the unelected executive branch. With judges like those the ABA advances, the United States will quickly discard what remnants of our constitutional order persist. //
“The ABA’s public actions grew increasingly partisan throughout the Biden presidency and now into the early days of Trump’s second term. The organization justified President Biden’s preposterous assertion that the Equal Rights Amendment had been ratified; claimed that bar associations have a First Amendment right to engage in racial discrimination; and sued President Trump for slashing USAID subsidies,” Fragoso notes.
By endorsing race and sex discrimination, presidents unilaterally changing the Constitution, and forbidding elected executive control of unelected executive bureaucrats, the ABA has disqualified itself as a legal organization or any kind of legitimate player in American public life. No elected official who has made a public vow to preserve and protect the Constitution should give this anti-American pressure organization the time of day.
In 1935, General Billy Mitchell, testifying before the House of Representatives, said:
I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world… I think it is the most important strategic place in the world.
This may be one of the most prescient geopolitical observations of the early 20th century. Alaska is, as I write regularly, the crown of the Pacific, and the Aleutians control the gateway to the Arctic. We ignore that at our peril. //
anon-x8p1
an hour ago edited
Excellent history of the forgotten WWII front in the Aleutians: The 1000 Mile War.
Highly readable. Japanese were relentless and dug in up and down these remote islands, where the weather itself caused the death of more US soldiers than active warfare.
Their story is as compelling as the War in the Pacific and the European theater - just buried and forgotten as the site of a few military missteps when the weather itself forced errors.
Interforce rivalry and personalities played roles too: was this going to be an Army/Airforce War or a Navy War? But it did leave us with the AlCan Highway and now annual arrival of the millions of Alaska visitors every summer who typically know very little about why this highway was even built in the first place - just one of many challenge fighting in the American Ice Box.
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Well, Mr. Khalil will receive due process because by now his lawyer has already filed a writ of habeas corpus. Mr. Khalil was involved in the protests. He was a Columbia student under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. If you support a terrorist organization you can be deported. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Mr. Khalil's side of the story, I understand to be that I don't support Hamas, I just support Palestinians. All I did was file some -- post some Facebook posts. I wasn't involved in any of the illegal protests or the illegal occupation of student buildings or physically intimidating the Jewish people and Jewish students. We'll find out who's right.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act, though, is fairly broad. And if the administration can show acts directly and probably indirectly supporting Hamas, they'll deport him. And he should be deported, if that's what's shown in court.
TAPPER: It sounds like you think that the evidence should be presented, which is obviously the definition of habeas corpus, produce it.
KENNEDY: Yeah.
TAPPER: So, that makes a lot of sense to me as well. //
Will Chamberlain
@willchamberlain
·
Follow
Really straightforward why Mahmoud Khalil is getting deported
You don’t get to endorse or espouse terrorist activity as a non-citizen - even if you have a green card
Bye bye
10:12 PM · Mar 9, 2025
The funny thing about this is that some of these memes started as leftist attacks, but the right co-opted them and ran with it. Why would they do it?
I think Tim Pool actually nailed it in a conversation he had about the memes. There are going to be people who don't get why Vance's own supporters would make memes that make fun of Vance, and a lot of these people are going to be women. Not bashing women, but the way men and women communicate is different.
When men like each other, they'll actively make fun of one another. It's how we express ourselves to one another in a way that might not seem close, and possibly even confrontational, but it's actually an expression of appreciation and respect. //
These memes are communicating to the public that Vance is fun, culturally relevant, and culturally irreverent at the same time. He can laugh with us, even at himself, making him more relatable and approachable. His levity stands in stark contrast to leftist severity, which makes him even more endearing to the people. //
Politics is downstream of culture, and Vance is being inserted into the culture in a way that is more or less unlooked-for but powerful nonetheless. Memes are a powerful cognitive tool, especially in the age of the internet, and Vance starring in so many — especially in the form of good-natured mocking — is making him a cultural mainstay.
It's the kind of popularity politicians wish they could get, but rarely do.
The White House moves have sent a chill through the world of Big Law, at a time when litigation has emerged as one of the few checks on the president.
In private conversations, partners at some of the nation’s leading firms have expressed outrage at the president’s actions. What they haven’t been willing to do is say so publicly. Back-channel efforts to persuade major law firms to sign public statements criticizing Trump’s actions thus far have foundered, in part because of retaliation fears, people familiar with the matter said. //
nothing in those orders prevents anyone from engaging either firm to defend, nor does it prevent anyone from associating with them.
The real complaint is that both firms, under Obama and Biden, had taken on the air of quasi-governmental law shops. Some of their lawyers held high-level security clearances without any need. Apparently, the US government maintained SCIFs at Perkins Coie offices, allowing easy access to highly classified intelligence. Some of their lawyers and staff held permanent passes permitting unescorted entry to some federal agencies. The orders do nothing to prevent either law firm from representing clients needing access to top secret information; they are just required to play by the same rules as every other law office in the country. Attorneys can get clearances on a case-by-case basis, they have to access top secret information in government SCIFs, and their attorneys can't meander through federal buildings without an escort and appointment.
McQuade's sniveling really rings false when one considers the concerted campaign by Democrats to disbar and socially disappear lawyers who worked for President Trump after the 2020 selection of Joe Biden to contest election results in Georgia and Arizona. //
If law firms want to be neutral parties, they must stop being political guns-for-hire. As former RedStater Bill Shipley noted, he took on January 6 defendants pro bono because major law firms would not touch these cases even though they would defend known terrorists. //
But if they want to be combatants, they have no reason to complain when they become targets. //
Mrminwnc T_Edward
a day ago
When you’re used to special treatment, equal treatment feels like discrimination.
Simon then started running clips of "Gutfeld!," which hypocritical MSNBC apparently believes qualify as "insult conservatism." One example, which was said by Greg in a monologue:
"According to a new survey, nearly 10% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ. The other 90 percent identify as who gives a [expletive]."
Again, Gutfeld was unfazed:
What I meant to get at is that nobody cares. I actually have a very serious, I guess, philosophy about identity politics. I think it's a terrible thing to lead with. I am all for being an individual. And when you start talking about these characteristics that define you, it's actually not defining you at all. And you can see the misery on people's faces who kind of buy into identity politics.
Again, how true — with the best example being the "self-identity" focus of a so-called "transgender" whose "self-identity" is defined by a homogenous group.
After going back and forth about "racist" this and "racist" that, Gutfeld tried to explain his show to Simon — to no avail.
See, this is what's great, is I'm explaining - I have to explain this show to you, which is actually more entertaining to me than anything. It's like, I don't find this funny at all. That's the point. You need to get outside your bubble, Scott — and have some fun.
Ahh, and not to nitpick with Greg, but leftists are incapable of having fun while spewing bilge about President Donald Trump or anything conservative. As the late conservative political commentator Charles Krauthammer observed:
Conservatives think liberals are stupid, and liberals think conservatives are evil.
In the eyes of Greg Gutfeld, both sides should be able to "have fun" while disagreeing.
Unfortunately, the left disagrees. //
Red blip in a blue city
a day ago
Hilarious, "insult conservatism". The lib late night shows + SNL have been a non-stop hatefest on all things right of Teddy Kennedy for going on 25 years. //
NavyVet Red blip in a blue city
21 hours ago edited
When Greg jokes about leftist lunacy, he's poking fun and getting laughs. If they are insulted, it is due to lack of intelligence.
In contrast, when the media(D) insults us with labels like "racist" "fascist" and "Nazi", they are doing it in hate and deliberately insulting us with the intent that it offends and angers us.
While the media(D) tactics continue to offend, they no longer anger, because they have been doing it for so long, that we have been desensitized. We just consider the source, and recognize that it is projection, therefore they are describing themselves, not us. //
Jim Stewart
a day ago
Old Scott nearly wet his diaper over that joke about Asians not being able to drive. Come on pal, lighten up.
I love jokes about white people!
Why are white prison gangs the scariest? Because they had a fair trial and still ended up in prison.
Why is it called white noise?
Because if it wasn’t white, it’d be called disturbing the peace.
Sure, white people can't say the "N word" but at least we can say things like, "Thanks for the warning, Officer" and, "Happy birthday, Dad."
"Recruiting in the trade fields is a big problem for American companies today. We have millions of positions open and an untrained labor force to fill them," he said. //
The culture has caught up with his message, so much so that Rowe says they have 10 times more people applying for the scholarship his foundation offers. //
He's right about the shift in culture. People want to be part of this movement. You see it in TikTok accounts of plumbers, farmers and mechanics with insane numbers of followers and shares. It's the same on Instagram, X and Facebook. //
Rowe stressed that young people like Bambino are needed desperately to maintain and build our maritime industrial base.
"There are 15,000 individual companies building our nuclear-powered subs, which now, by the way, are the pointy part of the stick. If things go sideways with Taiwan and our aircraft carriers are very vulnerable, we need these submarines," he said.
Rowe said companies such as BlueForge deliver those submarines and are desperate to hire skilled tradespeople in areas such as additive manufacturing, computer numerical control machining, welding and more. //
And if Rowe gets his way, with a little help, he becomes not unlike George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life": a man who has had an effect far beyond what he'll ever fully realize.
When starting a reform process, the rule generally is: You only need to fire one person. After that, word gets around quickly.
It only took the Trump administration one action to impose the funding equivalent of a termination. Columbia University got the “set an example” treatment late last week. The White House announced Friday that they would immediately cancel $400 million in grants and other funding. The new Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism (JTFCAS) warned that they could eventually end billions of dollars in financial support for the school’s refusal to defend its Jewish students and faculty from organized anti-Semitic intimidation campaigns.
That got the attention of two other Poison Ivies yesterday. //
Get ready for more financial reckonings in Academia. The JTFCAS sent warning letters to 60 schools today over their failures to abide by federal law in ensuring access for students regardless of religious affiliation. "All 60 colleges — which include high-profile institutions like Columbia University, Yale University and University of Southern California – are under investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights,” reports Higher Ed Dive. Five of those investigations have apparently escalated: //
Update: A number of commenters wonder why we're funding Academia at all. Just to remind everyone, I've been making that argument for the last 18 months. But this is an excellent start in the "hoist by own petard" sense.