The deceitful propaganda that voter ID laws suppress the vote and disenfranchise voters was spread only to demonize efforts to make elections more secure. //

The report noted that while “it is likely too large of a leap to say voter ID has increased turnout due to the correlational nature of our analysis, it seems that there is no negative relationship.” Further the report found there is “no evidence of a negative effect” on minority voters “from the implementation of voter ID.”

President Donald Trump declared any pardons signed by former president Joe Biden via autopen are officially "void," directing his ire very specifically at the House Select Committee behind the investigation of the January 6th protest at the Capitol.

Trump's comments were posted on his Truth Social media platform in the early hours of Monday morning.

"The 'Pardons' that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen," the President wrote.

"In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden.". //

Laocoön of Troy
an hour ago
This crap is why for millenia Kings, nobles, generals, Popes, and others who wield power employed heavy wax seals, signet rings, witness signitures, and other seals applied to documents to verify authenticity. The Sumerians used them for goodness sake!

At the bare minimum, physical access to the autopen machine must be as tightly controlled as the nuclear launch codes. Nobody should ever be authorized to use it solo. At least 1 other individual should be required for the machine to even work.

Indylawyer Laocoön of Troy
an hour ago
Note that those rings did allow the ruler to choose one aide to have the authority to use the ring and make decrees in his name, but the identity of that aide was therefore well known so that he could be held accountable for abusing the authority. See, for example, the fate of Haman in the Biblical book of Esther 3:10, 7:5-10, 8:2.

Hank Reardon
an hour ago
And let’s not forget that Biden DOJ senior executive and pardon attorney Liz Oyer was suddenly relieved of her job and escorted from the building two weeks ago. Because, stuff’s going on . . .

Shipwreckedcrew reported in Red State last week that Oyer was suddenly fired, had her government phone(s) confiscated, and was immediately escorted out the door before she could access any government computers. The long play here seems to be the full investigation of precisely how all of Dementia Joe’s pardons were vetted. And whether he even knew.

That gets into the issue over who was controlling the auto pen. I hope this stays front and center.

https://redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2025/03/10/pardon-attorneys-n2186488

El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele has won a landslide victory in the country's presidential election, earning him a historic second term and underscoring his status as one of the world's most popular political leaders.

Posting on the X platform, Bukele announced that he had won the election with over 85 percent of the vote.

"According to our numbers, we have won the presidential election with more than 85% of the votes and a minimum of 58 of 60 deputies in the Assembly," he wrote. "This is a record in the entire history of the democratic world... God bless El Salvador.". //

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok
·
Follow
Nayib Bukele is expected to win re-election tonight in a sweeping landslide victory.

Why is he so popular? He did what he was elected to do. He cracked down on crime, jailed criminals & gang members, and murder rates dramatically decreased by 70% last year.

In 2023, El Salvador became safer than the US. Destruction is a choice."
Last edited
6:38 PM · Feb 4, 2024

On Sunday Trump posted a savagely funny reaction to the scandal on Truth Social. //

Now, that's just epic, he has a wicked sense of humor. He posted his "45" and "47" official photos. Then in the middle was the autopen. But that's right on target.

On Friday, Trump commented on what a problem the autopen under Biden created, terming it a "big deal." He said it was disrespectful to the office and raised questions about the validity of the actions that were signed. //

The Trump team released a statement saying they don't do what Biden did.

"We do not use the autopen for documents that exercise the powers of the Presidency. So, for example, we do not use the autopen for executive orders, presidential memoranda, decision memoranda, nominations, appointment orders or commissions, or bills to be signed,” he wrote.

That's the way it should be done. It should only be used for things that don't involve such powers, maybe general correspondence or copies of things.

Erick Erickson @EWErickson
·
To the left: u chose to engage in ideological capture of institutions. The right has no choice other than razing those institutions. We would have taken neutrality. You chose to use the neutral institutions to advance progressivism. This is you losing now.
politico.eu
Trump’s move to silence pro-democracy media sparks outrage
11:23 AM · Mar 16, 2025

This sequence of events tees up a court fight that challenges the ability of the Trump administration to use the Alien Enemies Act to rid the US of known members of terrorist groups.

The deportation of TdA members is one of at least three sets of court cases that, in my opinion, put the US on the cusp of a constitutional crisis due to activist and anti-Trump judges using an imagined ability to impose nationwide orders stopping the administration from acting. So far, a judge has ordered probationary employees rehired, another has ordered the government to spend money according to his rather than the administration's timetable, and now this judge has decided that illegal aliens who are members of a terrorist group can stay in the US; //

Spartan Conservative
an hour ago
I believe this is the key sentence to this post:

While the J6 defendants had to beg for help or rely on public defenders who may not have had much sympathy for them, somehow, the airborne terrorists, like Hamas provocateur Mahmoud Khalil, were able to come up with high-powered and very expensive legal help on very short notice to keep them from being speedily deported.

Like Orwell said, "some of us are more equal than others." Follow the money path going into those lawyers' pockets.

the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua which has been terrorizing cities across the country—and then the administration sent at least one planeload of members of the “Foreign Terrorist Organization” back to their country of origin.

It didn’t take long for Obama appointed Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to kneecap the effort. Not only did he issue a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation of any Venezuelans, but he also ordered that the plane (or planes; it’s unclear) return the gangsters to the U.S.

The actions against the president began even before he signed the order. Mind-boggling:

Hours before the proclamation was signed, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward and the ACLU of the District of Columbia, claiming it could be used to deport any Venezuelan in the country, regardless of whether they are a member of TdA.

At a hearing Saturday afternoon, Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. Circuit granted a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation of the five Venezuelans, who had already been in federal custody for two weeks.

Two planes that may have been en route to deport illegal immigrants were ordered returned by the judge. However, it is unclear as of Saturday night if they have done so. //

Bukele is a tough character whose uncompromising stance on law and order has transformed El Salvador from the most dangerous to the safest country in Central America; see El Salvadorian Hardman, President Nayib Bukele Wins Blowout Re-Election Victory – RedState. I'd much rather have Venezeuelan terrorists held in El Salvador than detained in America, and if it costs less in the process, that's a bonus. //

I remain of the view that this is a test case the Trump Admin has purposely triggered in order to RE-establish POTUS authority to use the AEA [note: Alien Enemies Act] to address the consequences of the Biden Admin "Open Border" policy. That policy allowed millions of unvetted migrants to enter the country illegally. The ability of the Administration to deport a substantial number of those illegal aliens is limited by the physical facilities necessary to arrest, detain, and hold them while deportation proceedings take place. Having the ability to execute mass deportations of the worst criminal offenders without going through the processes set forth in other federal statutes would increase significantly the pace by which large numbers of such individuals could be removed without burdening the facilities we do have.

...

What makes me think this is a test case is that the complaint was filed before President Trump issued an Executive Order stating that he would be using the AEA to remove these five individuals. The exercise of authority under the AEA begins with a Presidential “Proclamation” that certain factual circumstances have arisen, and extraordinary Presidential authority granted by Congress is being invoked to respond to those circumstances.

At the time the complaint was filed, no such proclamation had been issued by President Trump, but the Complaint was specific to an extent that would be highly unlikely if the Plaintiffs’ attorneys had not been given a preview of what it was likely to say.

the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua which has been terrorizing cities across the country—and then the administration sent at least one planeload of members of the “Foreign Terrorist Organization” back to their country of origin.

It didn’t take long for Obama appointed Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to kneecap the effort. Not only did he issue a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation of any Venezuelans, but he also ordered that the plane (or planes; it’s unclear) return the gangsters to the U.S.

The actions against the president began even before he signed the order. Mind-boggling:

Hours before the proclamation was signed, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward and the ACLU of the District of Columbia, claiming it could be used to deport any Venezuelan in the country, regardless of whether they are a member of TdA.

At a hearing Saturday afternoon, Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. Circuit granted a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation of the five Venezuelans, who had already been in federal custody for two weeks.

Two planes that may have been en route to deport illegal immigrants were ordered returned by the judge. However, it is unclear as of Saturday night if they have done so.

When the media all comes out at the same time, pushing the same talking points—that’s collusion.”

He criticized the media’s portrayal of ActBlue’s fundraising success, suggesting that the notion of millions of small-dollar donations from everyday Democrats is an illusion designed to mask financial misconduct.

Johnson shared the previously reported story of an 80-year-old woman from Richmond, Virginia, who allegedly made over 22,000 donations, totaling nearly $800,000, despite living in a rent-controlled apartment and relying on income from Social Security. //

Comer further suggested that ActBlue’s system was deliberately designed to facilitate fraud, referencing Sen. Marco Rubio’s past concerns about the platform not requiring credit card verification (CCV) codes (the 3-digit security code on the back of every credit card]. He implied that this loophole made it easier for foreign entities, possibly from China or Iran, to funnel money into U.S. elections through ActBlue.

According to Comer, “If they [ActBlue] were innocent, they’d be going on TV, trashing me. They’d be calling me a conspiracy theorist. … But they’re not saying anything. … Their lawyers are leaving. And when the lawyers leave, that’s a pretty good sign that something bad is going on.” //

“And if ActBlue goes down—if people go to prison—if there are frog marches for ActBlue executives—the Democrat Party is finished.”

“They’ll have to rebuild from the ashes. If ActBlue collapses, the Democrats have no party left,” Johnson said.

To which Comer replied, “Exactly. ActBlue is their financial lifeline. Without it, it’s over.”. //

DC_Draino
@DC_Draino
·
Replying to @elonmusk
All I know is that when the very unpopular Kamala overthrew Biden and raised more ActBlue donations in a single day than Trump did after he got indicted and shot, I knew they were money laundering
10:22 AM · Mar 8, 2025

But if you’ve seen this thorium ball for the 653d time, you may start wondering what exactly the ball summarizes. And what size it should be – apparently, there are different opinions here.

Does it supply all the energy needed to sustain the life you live? Does it include your yearly trip to the Bahama’s? Your kilometers made for commuting? Or just the electricity to last you a lifetime? It looks so small.

Fortunately, we have David MacKays great calculations of what we actually use. A handy number is the consumption of 195 kWh’s per person per day: the amount of energy used by the average affluent person, including household electricity, heating, transportation, food, energy contained in the ‘stuff’ we buy: everything that fits our western lifestyle.

From here, it’s easy to calculate how much energy we need for a lifetime. Let’s say we live 80 years. Of course, we live a bit longer, but I assume we use a bit less energy at infancy and at old age. That means we need 80 x 365 x 195 kWh’s = 5.694.000 kWh’s. This equals 0,00065 GWyr. And in our previous Numbers page, we saw that 1 tonne of thorium or uranium equals 1GWe-yr. This means the energy of a lifetime can be produced with 650 grams of metal.

In the case of Thorium, which has a density of 11,7 kg’s/ltr, 650 grams, equals 55,5 ml. In that case, the ball would be 4,74 cm diameter.

If the ball would be made of Uranium, which has a density of 18,95 kg’s/ltr, the same 650 grams would eaqual 4,04 cm diameter.

On my screen, Sorensen’s hand measures 7,5 cm, and the ball 2,3 cm. If I compare this to my own hand (11 cm wide), the ball should be slightly bigger, about one third in the case of Thorium (the slightly less dense and bigger ball of the two).

But although slightly bigger, it’s still perfectly possible to hold the energy for a lifetime in the palm of your hand, if this energy is produced in a molten salt reactor. //

I went over my calculations again – and realized I had made a mistake. In my calculation, I had used the grams to kWh ratio for electric power, where MacKay provides his number (195kWh per person per day) for thermal power.

This means my thorium balls are … too BIG! The weights should be divided by about 2,5…

But the most ridiculous thing she says there is that Democrats "do not, in fact, use [the filibuster] when we need it." She then goes on to say, "It's only used to block Dem policies. Never to block harmful GOP ones." Not only is that not true, it's the complete opposite of the truth. In fact, Democrats, during the first Trump administration, pioneered the extensive use of the filibuster as a legislative tool, using it 327 times in one year alone to halt Republican policies. Does that sound like Democrats "never" use the filibuster "to block harmful GOP ones?" //

Kyrsten Sinema
@kyrstensinema
·
Follow
Literally zero Senate Democrats support the filibuster.

38 voted to filibuster the continuing resolution yesterday.

8 who previously voted to eliminate the filibuster (1/19/22) did not filibuster.

1 who previously campaigned against the filibuster did not filibuster.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

@AOC
Still no.

In fact, the same Dems who argue to keep the filibuster “for when we need it” do not, in fact, use it when we need it.

It’s only used to block Dem policies. Never to block harmful GOP ones.

Could have proved us wrong. Instead they proved the point.
12:50 PM · Mar 15, 2025 //

What Sinema is pointing out is what should have been obvious from the beginning of this entire discussion. Democrats have no boundaries. They do not actually believe anything they say at any given moment. Everything they do is in pursuit of raw power. The ends always justify the means. Sinema stood up to that notion, and Democrats took her out. Now, those same Democrats get to roll around in the disgusting sludge of their own hypocrisy as they cling to the filibuster as a tool against Donald Trump.

With a penetrating gaze reaching deep inside his own soul, Hill touches a universal nerve of all humanity: a desperate need for God. //

When Dorothea von Ertmann, a friend and student of Beethoven’s, lost her only young child, Beethoven learned of her inconsolable grief. Instead of offering words of consolation, he sat at the piano and played for her, improvising for an hour before he squeezed her hand and left. It was Beethoven’s highest offering: using his greatest gift to express ideas and emotions of comfort and solace.

Dr. Jason Hill performs a similar service for readers in his moving new book, Letters To God From A Former Atheist. Hill, a philosophy professor at DePaul University, reasoned that if he were to find his way back to God, it also would come through his most developed faculty and his greatest gift, that of writing.

Hill shares this powerful journey of faith through his real-life story written as invocations to God: an autobiography told through the fearless and humble language of unfiltered and impassioned prayers.

“I seek to find You in these letters,” he prays.

These consecrated letters are filled with pathos, intimacy, joy, and a depth that is difficult to attain through other literary forms, helping to account for their unparalleled sublimity. //

Dorothea von Ertmann later recalled that Beethoven’s impromptu recital “said everything to me” and “finally gave me consolation.” I am confident this book will give similar consolation to its readers as only unvarnished prayer can.

Hill prayed to become the person he most wanted to be with a heart for humanity and a hunger for God’s presence in life’s every aspect. To his delight, he was not disappointed, and neither will the reader be.

A key aide to former President Joe Biden may have exceeded their authority by liberally using an autopen to sign official documents, according to two former White House sources, as President Trump’s aides set up “far more restrictive” rules governing the use of the mechanical device.

A document obtained by The Post outlines the narrow set of circumstances in which Trump’s signature can be affixed to documents, following controversy this week kicked off by a Heritage Foundation analysis of Biden signatures on various records, including last-minute pardons. //

One Biden White House source told The Post they suspect that a key aide to the then-president may have made unilateral determinations on what to auto-sign. The Post is not publishing that staffer’s name due to the lack of concrete evidence and refutations by other colleagues.

The Biden aide, who did not respond to requests for comment, would frequently make mention of what “the boss” wanted, the source said, but compatriots would have “no idea” if it was true because the internal culture was to not ask questions. //

The autopen, housed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House, hasn’t been used only for weighty documents — such as pardons issued to former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Dr. Anthony Fauci in the closing days of Biden’s term.

In fact, the pen has been used by White House staff to ink everything from kitchen utensils to sports memorabilia. //

An internal memo drafted Thursday by Trump staff secretary William Scharf, who for the past two months has publicly described and presented documents to Trump for his signature in the Oval Office, lays out the restrictive current use of the autopen.

“We have gone significantly further than [the] need for express approval, both in this Administration and in the First Trump Administration,” Scharf wrote.

“Our practice around autopen usage is far more restrictive than most previous administrations. We do not use the autopen for documents that exercise the powers of the Presidency. So, for example, we do not use the autopen for executive orders, presidential memoranda, decision memoranda, nominations, appointment orders or commissions, or bills to be signed,” he wrote. //

Chelan Jim
5 hours ago
The Biden administration combined two movies "Dave" where a lookalike takes over for a president on life support and "Weekend at Bernie's" where the deceased was carried around to give the appearance he was still around.

In either case, if this is ever proven, this would be very much worse than the fabricated charges against the J6'ers.

mopani Chelan Jim
13 minutes ago
Throw in "Waking Ned Devine" for the hat trick.

Keyways, Inc. buys - sells - repairs - trades DEC and DEC-compatible parts.

WE HAVE OVER 75,000 MODULES AND OTHER PARTS IN STOCK.
We now have 30,000 sq. ft. facilities to better serve our customers.

An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server.

What is Tailscale
Tailscale is a modern VPN built on top of Wireguard. It works like an overlay network between the computers of your networks - using NAT traversal.

Everything in Tailscale is Open Source, except the GUI clients for proprietary OS (Windows and macOS/iOS), and the control server.

The control server works as an exchange point of Wireguard public keys for the nodes in the Tailscale network. It assigns the IP addresses of the clients, creates the boundaries between each user, enables sharing machines between users, and exposes the advertised routes of your nodes.

A Tailscale network (tailnet) is private network which Tailscale assigns to a user in terms of private users or an organisation.

Design goal
Headscale aims to implement a self-hosted, open source alternative to the Tailscale control server. Headscale's goal is to provide self-hosters and hobbyists with an open-source server they can use for their projects and labs. It implements a narrow scope, a single Tailscale network (tailnet), suitable for a personal use, or a small open-source organisation.

On its face, the administration's application for a partial stay simply asks the Supreme Court to narrow the scope of the injunctions as to birthright citizenship (rather than decide the merits of the argument at this juncture). But the application also seeks to strike at the heart of an even larger issue — the explosion of universal injunctions being issued in recent years.

The rationale is spelled out succinctly in the application's next-to-last paragraph:

There are “more than 1,000 active and senior district court judges, sitting across 94 judicial districts.” DHS, 140 S. Ct. at 600-601 (Gorsuch, J., concurring). Years of experience have shown that the Executive Branch cannot properly perform its functions if any judge anywhere can enjoin every presidential action everywhere. The sooner universal injunctions are “eliminated root and branch,” “the better.” Arizona, 40 F.4th at 398 (Sutton, C.J., concurring)

If nothing else, the Trump administration is prompting a thorough examination of the separation of powers and the scope of executive authority.

Climate change alarmist Michael Mann's ill-conceived lawsuit against the online critics continued to go pear-shaped Wednesday as a federal judge sanctioned Mann and his legal counsel for acting in "bad faith." That, of course, could easily describe Mann's entire career as a climate grifter. "Here, the Court finds, by clear and convincing evidence," wrote DC Superior Court Judge Alfred Irving, Jr., (George W. Bush appointee), "That Dr. Mann, through [his lawyers] Mr. Fontaine and Mr. Williams, acted in bad faith when they presented erroneous evidence and made false representations to the jury and the Court regarding damages stemming from loss of grant funding."

The saga began in 2012 when Mann, bruised from the email leak that seemed to indicate his famous "hockey stick" graph was a deliberate fraud (remember "hide the decline?"), decided to go after a handful of particularly vocal critics who dubbed him the "Jerry Sandusky of climate change," a hat tip to Penn State's legendary football coach. They were the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a CEI blogger Rand Simberg, National Review, and NR contributor Mark Steyn. //

The fact that the jury awarded him only $2 in actual damages and $1,001,000 in punitive damages (send a message!) supports this interpretation — The defense won on merits, and Mann won on the framing and the politics.

There was celebration on the left: Michael Mann climate scientist wins defamation case: NPR.

But it didn't last long. Last Tuesday, the trial judge, citing the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, reduced the punitive damages against Steyn to $5,000. But the hammer really fell Wednesday when the judge found that Mann and his attorney had lied about Mann's financial losses to inflate the jury verdict. //

Now Mann and his lawyer will be sanctioned.

I'd like to say that Mann lost this trial, but I'm not sure that's the case. He'll find deep-pocketed friends to pay off the money he lost. He's still employed at Penn State. Simberg and Steyn lost 13 years of their lives and have been largely sidelined from climate change debates. I have no knowledge of their finances, but I'm willing to bet they suffered a lot more than Mann. And Mann's suit has served the purpose for which it was intended. I didn't write about half of the very witty things I wanted to write about Mann because I don't have the time or money to fight off even a bullsh** lawsuit by someone with Mann's backing and resources. I'm sure others have made the same calculation.

The sanctions for lying will be mildly embarrassing to Mann, but what survives are the two judgments for defamation he won, which will serve as a precedent in the future.

The Government of Liberia has officially launched the new Visa on Arrival (visaonarrival.lis.gov.lr) and Re-entry Permit (reentryvisa.lis.gov.lr) Issuing System in collaboration with the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) and the project contractor - consortium CETIS, one of the Europe’s leading companies in security printing and identity management, and ZIP SOLUTIONS, on 11 March 2025. Following the successful launch of the modern digitalized Work Permit Issuing System in 2022, this new system marks another significant step forward in Liberia’s efforts to modernize and digitalize public administration. This new system is designed to simplify the process for foreigners entering Liberia and enhance the effectiveness of border controls at Monrovia-Roberts International Airport - whether as tourists, business visitors, or investors. These initiatives are expected to result in increased tourism and business travel, which are crucial to the country’s economic growth.

I'm not one to use the term "Constitutional crisis" loosely, but if this ruling stands, I think we are at that point. Alsup's decision means federal agencies cannot legally respond to a White House directive to reduce their headcount. It also changes the legal status of probationary and term appointments to tenure rather than how they have been traditionally viewed. IANAL, but I think the ability of the American Federation of Government Employees to intervene on behalf of employees who are not represented by a bargaining unit in an employment matter is highly suspect.

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.