Monday, May 11, 2026

Gerrymandering

 On the gerrymandering front.   

 It sounds like TN DEFers are fighting to save a district represented by an old, white guy from being represented by a black woman.   All in the name of racial equity or some such nonsense. 

In VA, the DFL is so angry that the state supreme court struck down their gerrymandering effort because it didn't follow the state law (and bypassed the commission charged with redistricting),  that they have decided that their best course of action is to change state law to completely replace the state supreme court with puppets who'll bless their illegal scheme.   Because democracy is the most important thing.  

The Straits of Hormuz

 I haven't written a lot on the Iran conflict.   I agree that Iran should not have nukes and the the most recent/current regime is objectively evil.  So, I don't have much issue with the goals.  

What I find interesting is Iran claiming that it should have total control of the Straits of Hormuz.   As I look at the map there are 7 countries other than Iran that border the Persian Gulf, and 2 or 3 that actually border the Straits of Hormuz.   I can't help but wonder why Iran believes that it unilaterally controls a waterway that is bordered by other countries and which is the only sea access for multiple other countries.  How is it that this type of oppressive behavior is accepted and tolerated by the GSPL? (global, social and political left)  On what legal basis is Iran making this claim?   For people who quickly rush to impose international law on the US and Israel to fail to do so with Iran seems contradictory at best.  In general, the notion that the GSPL is indifferent to the Iranian regime's behavior and their goal of producing nukes seems to go against their alleged principles.  

Real Journalism

 https://www.instagram.com/p/DYC6RlKlWmB/?igsh=Znl3Y2N4M3dpZ2I5

 https://www.instagram.com/reels/DYGEr0GuGdd/

Actual "real journalism" by actual journalists pointing out actual  news.    

 

 

 

 

 https://www.instagram.com/p/DYDDixzj0ti/?igsh=MWtncDV0d2s1cGgxOQ%3D%3D

You literally cannot make this up

The photojournalist of this front page NYT piece Saher Alghorra just won a Pulitzer Prize

NYT had to issue a retraction because the entire story was fake

So you can win a pulitzer now after fabricating an entire hoax story 🤡

Unreal"

 

This is the "real journalism" Dan regularly touts as superior.  

More CA Nonsense

 https://x.com/realpeteyb123/status/2052921811998765526?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

The more I hear about the latest CA government give away, the more convinced I am that Newsome is simply buying votes. laundering campaign contributions, and enriching his cronies.  But the DFL seem convinced that the US needs him for POTUS.  

FWIW, there might actually be a critical need for free diapers in CA, although I kind of doubt it.   But why would anyone add a second layer of overhead to a straightforward program.   The stats buys the diapers, and gives them away.  It's not that hard.  Why bring in a group that's going to add cost to the program, especially one run by a Newsome crony?   

Let's Protest

 https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX6vNAXR3Hw/

Much like Maher, I'm not a big fan of SAS.   But he makes some really good points in this video clip.   

From a purely pragmatic point, it would be a huge statement for a large majority of black voters to either vote GOP or sit out as a protest against the DFL taking them for granted.   

Caution

 https://x.com/danburmawy/status/2053104285001343384?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Adolf Eichmann, a high-ranking Nazi and one of the architects of the Holocaust, fled to South America after World War II. In 1962, he was captured and brought to Israel for trial. During the proceedings, the prosecution brought in survivors from Nazi death camps to testify against him. One of them, Yehiel Dinur, entered the courtroom and came face to face with Eichmann, who was seated in a glass box. The moment Dinur saw him, he collapsed to the ground, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. Years later, in an interview with 60 Minutes, journalist Mike Wallace asked Dinur if his reaction had been caused by traumatic memories from the concentration camps. "No," Dinur replied. "It was not the memories that made me collapse. It was the realization that Eichmann was not a demon. He was an ordinary man. Hannah Arendt, a journalist for The New Yorker, attended Eichmann’s trial and later wrote about it. She noted that Eichmann was not a psychopath, not a man burning with sadistic hatred. He was ordinary. That is what made him so terrifying. He was a man who followed orders, who did his job, who justified the horrors he participated in without ever questioning them. All humans have the capacity for evil. We all have within us the ability to justify unspeakable horrors if the conditions are right. The question is not whether we are capable of evil, but what prevents us from committing it? Most religions restrain human evil. They set moral boundaries, condemning acts of violence, injustice, and cruelty. Christianity commands its followers to love their enemies, forgive those who harm them, and refuse vengeance. Judaism, despite its history of persecution, never formed a doctrine commanding global conquest or the extermination of non-Jews. Islam, however, does the opposite. When an ISIS fighter beheads a captive, he is not acting outside the teachings of his faith. He is following the example of Muhammad, who personally oversaw the beheading of hundreds of Jewish men in Medina. When Hamas terrorists slaughter Israeli families, they are not betraying Islam, they are fulfilling the doctrine of jihad, which commands war against non-Muslims until Islam dominates the world. Unlike Christianity, which calls for self-sacrifice, Islam calls for sacrificing others. Unlike Judaism, which focuses on preserving its own people, Islam commands the subjugation or destruction of all who reject it. We all have the potential for evil. But the difference between a person who commits atrocities and one who does not is the belief system that shapes them. A Christian who commits murder is violating his faith. A Muslim who kills an apostate is fulfilling his. A Buddhist who wages war is going against the teachings of his religion. A jihadist who slaughters unbelievers is doing exactly what his religion commands. The Nazis did not commit genocide because they were born different from us. They did it because they were indoctrinated into an ideology that justified mass murder. The same is true for every Hamas terrorist, every suicide bomber, every ISIS militant. Their faith tells them that their victims are not innocent, not human, not worthy of mercy. And so, they kill without hesitation. The reality is, Islam is the only major religion that actively commands the atrocities we fear. It is the only faith where genocide, subjugation, and violence are not historical accidents, but divine commandments. It is a mistake to think Islam is just another religion, rather than the most dangerous ideology the world has ever known."

More From My New Favorite Writer

 https://x.com/bskimike22802/status/2053526652068548667?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Oh, I love this argument. I genuinely do. Let me introduce you to a concept they teach in about third grade: the difference between a NOUN and an ADJECTIVE. "Democratic" — ADJECTIVE. It describes a PROCESS. A car with a fast engine is not a "fast." A library that is quiet is not a "quiet." And a republic that uses voting to select representatives is not a "democracy." The process does not rename the institution. This is not complicated. "Democracy" — NOUN. A specific form of government where the PEOPLE vote DIRECTLY on the laws themselves. Majority rules. No filter. No constitutional ceiling on what that majority can do to the minority. That is what the word means — and that is EXACTLY what the Founders said they were NOT building. (Federalist No. 10. Go read it. I'll wait.) Now, since you want to hang your entire argument on "but we vote" — here is my challenge to you: NAME ONE THING — just ONE — that you, as an individual American citizen, vote for DIRECTLY at the federal level. Not at the state level, at the federal level. Just one. One more question, if we are a democracy, can 51% of the people decide to get rid of the Constitution, get rid of the House, or get rid of the Senate... All of it? Just wondering because that is how Democracies work. I will be here. Scientifically. Patiently. Waiting."

 

 

I'm not going to copy/paste the whole exchange, it's available through the link above. However, this is an excallent response to those who insist that the US is a democracy.