Every time I think we've reached peak insanity, someone proves me wrong

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A Marine Corps veteran was removed from a Delta flight before she was ordered to change clothes when a flight attendant ruled that the passenger’s shirt which brought attention to military suicides was “threatening.”

Catherine Banks, a 22-year veteran of the Marines, was onboard the Delta flight at San Francisco International Airport to visit family on Oct. 16, when she wore her dark gray outfit and sat in her extra-legroom seat she paid extra.

“Do Not Give In To The War Within. End Veteran Suicide,” Banks’ shirt read.

…. “He said that shirt you’re wearing is threatening,” she said. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me?”

A dumbfounded Banks questioned the Delta employee before explaining that she was a veteran.

“I’m a Marine Corps vet. I’m going to see my Marine sister. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 22 years and worked for the Air Force for 15 years. I’m going to visit her.”

Banks’ military background did not phase the flight attendant who issued her an ultimatum to return to the plane.

“I don’t care about your service, and I don’t care about her service. The only way you’re going to get back on the plane is if you take it off right now,” Banks recalled.

Banks, who was braless underneath her shirt, told the flight attendant to turn around so she could remove the seemingly polarizing shirt and replace it with a sweatshirt.

The shirt is sold by the Til Valhalla Project as part of the “22 a day collection,” which brings awareness to the estimated 22 veterans who commit suicide each day.

Suicides among active-duty military members are reportedly at an all-time high since 9/11, when records began, according to the USO.

Over 30,000 active duty personnel and veterans who served in the military after 9/11 have died by suicide – compared to the 7,057 service members killed in combat in those same 20 years, according to research published in 2021.

Banks says her shirt was a symbol of the work she does helping her fellow veterans and having it removed caused her to be humiliated.

“I feel like they just took my soul away. I’m not a bad person, and that T-shirt, I should be allowed to support myself and veterans,” she said.

Banks was brought to the back of the plane instead of the seat she paid for, which had already been given to another passenger.

All the more reason to have your boy transition to a girl before kindergarten: get it off to a good start.

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gene, gene, go away, come again some other way

Increased autism risk linked to Y chromosome, study finds

Increased risk for autism appears to be linked to the Y chromosome, a Geisinger Health System study has found, offering a new explanation for the greater prevalence of autism in males. The results are published in Nature Communications.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests and activities. ASD is nearly four times more prevalent among males than females, but the reason for this disparity is not well understood.

One common hypothesis involves the difference in sex chromosomes between males and females—typical females have two X chromosomes, while typical males have one X and one Y chromosome.

"A leading theory in the field is that protective factors of the X chromosome lower autism risk in females," said Matthew Oetjens, Ph.D., assistant professor at Geisinger's Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute.

The same technique can prevent sickle cell anemia, if blacks would just choose to self-identify as white.

Smart move; and a winning one

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U.S. — In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to keep Donald Trump from winning the election, Democrats have announced they are switching out Kamala Harris for a wheel of cheese with a sign reading "Not Trump."

…. "We feel the cheese is far more likable and, honestly, more intelligent," said one high-ranking Democrat who asked to remain anonymous. "We tried to give it a go with Kamala, but we're getting down to crunch time here. We didn't have many options left, so we all reluctantly agreed that it was better to go with the wheel of cheese. If nothing else, the cheese doesn't have that incessant cackle."

Media pundits said the late switch might turn the race upside down. "The cheese makes a strong point," said MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. "It's very up-front with its position that it is not Donald Trump, which is the most important issue and something millions of Americans can get behind. We're used to supporting politicians who can't answer questions, so the fact that the wheel of cheese is an inanimate object isn't that much of a departure. I'll be voting for the wheel of cheese in November."

373 Taconic Road gained the Bankruptcy Court's approval and closed today

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373 Taconic Road was priced at $7.1 million but has sold for $7.250. The owners of this house have either gone to jail, fallen into bankruptcy, fled the country, or endured a combination of the three. Its tale of woe reminds me of another haunted house, the late Leona Helmsley’s Dunnellen Hall (nee Topping Hill).

Greenwich mansion with cursed history up for sale again

Phil Hall April 10, 2017

A Greenwich property with a history of wealthy inhabitants who saw monumental bad luck upon taking ownership is back on the market at a reduced listing.

Round Hill Manor, formerly known as Dunnellen Hall, is now available for $39 million; last spring, it was listed at $49 million, and in 2014 it was listed for $65 million. Located on more than 40 acres with a vast view of the Long Island Sound, the property has nine bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and a new propane HVAC system has individual thermostats in every room.

The property at 521 Round Hill Road in Greenwich also boasts a rather creepy history. According to the Damned Connecticut website, it was built in 1918 by financier Daniel G. Reid as a gift for his daughter. [S]he lived there without incident until 1950, but Reid’s health failed dramatically a year after the estate’s construction and he was twice committed to psychiatric care before his death in 1925.

Subsequent occupants also experienced their share of unfortunate turns of fortune: steel industry tycoon Loring Washburn went broke several years after buying the estate from Reid’s daughter, financier Jack Dick died in 1974 after being indicted for questionable financial activities, oil man Ravi Tikkoo [oil supertankers]; less than a decade later, he had also gone bust, forcing him to sell the property to Harry and Leona Helmsley who bought the property as summer home in 1983 for $11 million [“ It was the subsequent renovation work at Dunnellen Hall — and the ensuing charges of tax evasion and eventual criminal trials — which began the Helmsley’s decline which included Harry’s death and Leona’s 18-month stretch in the slammer. After serving her sentence, Leona moved in year-round, living there until her death in August 2007.”] The Helmsley estate sold the property in 2010 for $35 million, after initially listing it two years earlier for $125 million.

There’s a fun article on one of the estate’s former owner, Jack R. Dick, dead of a heart attack at 45 in 1974. Quite an interesting, perhaps a bit shady, character.

Even after this article was written, the curse continued; the estate finally sold 2,178 days after being listed for $16.5 million in November 2020.

Maybe encouraging people to stop having children they can't support would be a more effective way to “pull them from poverty” ?

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Report: Poverty rose more than 40 percent in CT in recent years; child tax credit is needed

Or so “they” say. $300 per week, per child. That’s a lot of money for an unemployed 24-year-old unwed mother of three to manage, no? Add in food stamps, subsidized housing and free medical care, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.

Poverty rose more than 40 percent in Connecticut from 2021 to 2022 after the expiration of key federal programs, with an even sharper increase among children, a new report says.

According to the study, from the non-profit Connecticut Voices for Children, poverty jumped from 8.4 percent overall and 6.8 percent among children in 2021 to 12.1 percent overall and 11.6 percent among children in 2022. An additional 13 percent of residents, including 16.8 percent of children, lived "near poverty" in 2022, the report says.

Preliminary data suggests the rates remained at similar levels in 2023, the most recent year for which numbers are available.

Connecticut's steep and sudden increase in poverty, which also occurred nationally, appears to owe to the expiration of pandemic-era federal policies including an expanded earned-income tax credit and an expanded child tax credit, which greatly benefited families for a brief period.

"The big, real story is child poverty was cut in half in 2021 due to these well-targeted public benefits," said Patrick O'Brien, research and policy director for Connecticut Voices for Children and author of the new report. "And then when you pull those benefits back, child poverty — depending which measure you're using — doubled."

….

To address the recent rise in poverty, the report recommends a statewide child tax credit, which it says would cost the state about $275-300 million a year, depending on its specific design, while benefiting more than 500,000 children and lifting more than 6,000 Connecticut residents out of poverty.

"The child tax credit, if well-designed, essentially operates as a cash benefit for the poorest families," O'Brien said. "So it can help address poverty and really give the flexibility families might need to address some of these issues that are pushing families into poverty."

The expanded federal child tax credit, which provided families up to $300 per child, passed in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act before expiring the following year. Attempts to revive the program at the federal level have been unsuccessful, as have been attempts to introduce a similar policy at the state level.

Emily Byrne, executive director of Connecticut Voices for Children, said she hopes the group's data analysis will help lawmakers pass informed, thoughtful policies to combat poverty.

"We have a dual goal on our quest for economic justice, which is to eradicate child poverty and advance family economic security," Byrne said. "And we can't know we're making progress on these goals without being able to measure them."

“Economic justice” — definition, please.

The new study comes barely a week after a similar report published by the United Way of Connecticut, which found that more than 500,000 households in the state — about 40 percent in total — earned below the level at which they can comfortably afford essentials in 2022. That total, which includes families below the federal poverty line as well as those designated as "asset-limited, income-constrained and employed" had risen 13 percent since 2019, the report found.

40% of all households in CT should recieve cash from the other 60%? Ah, that’s what they mean by “economic justice.”

At a news conference, several state representatives endorsed the idea of a child tax credit and pledged to push for its creation during the upcoming legislative session. 

"We're getting worse, not better," said Rep. Anthony Nolan, a New London Democrat. "This is why this session we really need to come out and ... make sure we shift the money necessary to take care of our families in need."

There are an estimated 3,605,944 individuals in Connecticut, living in 1, 442,969 households. 10.3% of those people: 371,412, are considered impoverished and of those, 13.3% — 49,398 are < 18. The Census Bureau says under 50,000 children, the CT poverty pimps claim 500,000. That’s an interesting discrepancy.

By the way, here’s an interesting chart relating national poverty to educational attainment. Because we know that modern education teaches nothing, the relative correlation between education level and income is probably due to personality traits so loathed and denounced by progressives as bourgeoise and Middle-class: hard work, diligence, setting goals, promptness, and, from the skills department, if any, literacy, numeracy and a willingness to show up on time. High school drops outs display none of those, and their poverty rate shows it.

And just because it’s a Friday afternoon and I have nothing better to do that write lengthy posts, here’s a bit of a (Republican controlled) House Budget Committee’s press release on the 60th anniversary of LBJ’s declaration of The War on Poverty. Spoiler alert: it hasn’t been going well.

…Unfortunately, according to a recent National Review article, big government strategies for poverty reduction have been unsuccessful at winning this war and have come at the cost of trillions of dollars. Today, poverty remains one of the most significant–and costly–problems in America. 

Word on the Street Via National Review:  

  • “Six decades later, the nation has made tremendous strides… Yet we have not won the war. Success has come almost entirely from government transfer payments to poor households, not from improvements in the foundational aspects of a flourishing life.”
     

  • “The foundation of a thriving life reflects our collective values, such as getting an education, working hard, and raising a family. However, many of our safety-net policies do not align with these objectives. Our safety-net programs disincentivize work and marriage, and many low-income children still cannot access quality education due to our government’s policies.” 
     

  • “Unsurprisingly, this approach set the federal government on a disastrous fiscal path. Federal expenditures on means-tested programs have increased eightfold since the War on Poverty started, equating to an additional $800 billion per year in today’s dollars.”
     

  • “The vision outlined by President Johnson in his War on Poverty declaration 60 years ago today remains unfulfilled. Winning that war requires safety-net policies that align with the foundational principles essential for a flourishing life — education, employment, and marriage.”

The Big Picture:

The federal government operates nearly 100 interrelated welfare programs, spread across 14 government departments and agencies, and nine budget functions. 

Federal welfare spending costs taxpayers more than $1 trillion each year. Over the next decade, the federal government is projected to spend more than $12 trillion on welfare programs. This sum of aggregate spending doesn’t include the billions of dollars in state government contributions to federal welfare programs.


Despite this massive government investment, as of 2022, 37.9 million people were living in poverty. Welfare enrollment in 2022 was even higher in many programs than at the height of the pandemic and government lockdowns in 2020. As enrollment has grown, welfare spending has skyrocketed. Outlays for welfare programs have grown significantly even in inflation adjusted terms.

….

The Bottom Line:

President Johnson said before Congress that the “chief weapons” in the War on Poverty would be “better schools, and better health, and better homes, and better training, and better job opportunities to help more Americans.” 

Since taking office, however, President Biden has enacted policies that paid people more to stay home than to return to their jobs and waived work requirements for able-bodied adults. Across the nation, reading and math scores are at their lowest levels in decades. These policy failures risk trapping a whole new generation of Americans in poverty and government dependence.

Pending on Cat Rock

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155 Cat Rock, $4.5 million, pending after 17 days. Nice house, built in 2017, though I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the listed tax bill of $21,810; that’s not in any way a deceptive figure — it’s the actual tax, and that’s the number a broker must use, rather than some speculative figure — but the town has appraised it at $2,660,700, a value that is sure to be adjusted when the new Grand List comes out – next year?

mr. zebra’s cousin welcomes you

Typical "compassionate" liberal

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“nah, ma can’t have this; it belongs to my secretary — she shot it.”

“Besides, if she’s hungry, she can just eat cat food, like the rest of my worthless family.”

Walz, a millionaire, says 90-year-old mom has to wait for Social Security check to arrive “to feed herself”

"When my mom looks for that Social Security deposit to be made in her bank account, that's how she's going to feed herself. That's how she's going to get things done.”

Life at the public trough has hardened his heart while fattening his wallet

According to Forbes, Walz has an estimated net worth of over $1 million.

Walz has spent the better part of his career in the public service sector. He was a former public school teacher and Army National Guardsman who served six terms in Congress before becoming the governor of Minnesota in 2019. 

Rent-a-Punk — or two, or three ....

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printed T-Shirts, posters; who paid?

Where Do These Mobs Come From? We Have an Answer.

Victoria Taft, PJ Media:

Kamala Harris bused in "supporters" to a rally in what looked like an obvious effort to make her campaign look bigger than it is. Women dressed in "Handmaid's Tale" garb picketed in front of U.S. Supreme Court Justices' homes to pressure justices into changing their minds, insurrection-style, after the Dobbs draft decision was leaked. Democrat operatives sent agents provocateurs to Trump rallies to try and start fights while in line and disrupt his speeches in 2016. In 2008, at a Hillary Clinton speech, a couple of guys heckled her with "Iron my shirts!" 

Who are these people? Don't these people have jobs to go to? Where do they come from? 

Who are they, and how did someone know to be there to capture the weird scene and post it to a now non-existent TikTok account without explanation? Are they feds, or quirky guys who connected on Craig's List, Threads, or Reddit? Are they protesters-for-hire?

A TikTok video released the other day showed about 100 men in khakis and white masks holding odd flags and marching in (bad) formation to a snare drum cadence. 

I asked the CEO of a company that hires and deploys renta-mobs.

The founder and CEO of Crowds on Demand, Adam Swart, doesn't hide what he does. I got a press release from his PR folks a few months, back and Matt talked with him for a PJ Media story about the threat of violent mobs outside the Chicago Democrat convention in July. 

I thought I'd reach out to ask him about the flag-carrying khaki pants boys marching above. 

“I had never heard of this group previously and I don't have any specific information on it. Reducto ad absurdum, reducing your opponent's case to its most ridiculous part, can be an effective technique. 

“These folks seem dressed like neo-fascists marching in a militaristic style, which would likely make some folks pretty uncomfortable. Their style therefore seems designed to go viral online and spur fear. 

“While many online have speculated that this is an attempt by government agencies to make Trump supporters look like fascists, I think that is unlikely. 

“I think it is far more likely that an anti-Trump group would organize it for that purpose. However, it's important to note that these folks don't appear to be waving Trump signs, so if it is a fear mongering tactic then it's a subtle one.”

Or not so subtle. 

Swart's company does a bit of everything.

Crowds on Demand promises crowds "to move forward a healthcare, financial, energy, or other social initiative, we can organize rallies and get media attention for your causes and candidates."  

"If you need to hire protesters, we can get a crowd on the street, sometimes within 24 hours time," the company's website promises. 

They can "staff" city council meetings: "If you need speakers to present at a council meeting, we can provide talented and well-spoken individuals to advocate for the cause."

Need to make astroturfed phone calls to Congress? "We also have a dedicated team of phone-banking staff who can call Congressional Offices and convince government officials to support your cause and help you overcome opposition."

Are you trying to remove a popular TV host or need some other letter-writing campaign? "[W]e have a network of tens of thousands of individuals across the country who can send well-written constituent letters to their representatives."

And finally, "We are the ultimate guerrilla lobbying and government relations firm."

….

Some events attract grassroots activists, but many, like a Joe Biden speech, need help. Motivated activists might drop everything to go to a protest, but protesting doesn't pay the bills— or does it? I'm told that protesters can make a couple hundred to a few hundred dollars per day depending on the job. 

This kind of business model — which Swart didn't create but simply copied and perfected — should make you question everything.

The flag-waving episode was reminiscent of the tiki torch-carrying jacka**es in Charlottesville. An X user asked a good question about the edited and spliced video that went out on social media: "Who filmed the Hollywood-quality Tiki Torch march?" And why?

Was any of this activity an outpouring of genuine political zeal or is somebody trying to spin up something out of nothing? Were all of these astroturfed phony displays either by federal officers, opposition groups, or Lisa Fithian-inspired violent leftists trolling for coverage? Or were they paid protesters?

…. As a radio talk host, I visited the Occupy Portland charade every day. These union-paid activists destroyed the same parks where Antifa nearly destroyed the city only a few years later. They created clashes with police to get headlines.

It was all part of a show. They had a casting director and everything. Since I was keeping track of their communications, I saw their casting call for paid actors and actresses to play roles of "apologetic captains of industry" for the cameras. 

It’s not difficult to round up a few thousand useful idiots on college campuses to riot for your cause, but who organizes these love-ins? Why do the same ringleaders show up at disparate protests around the country, and who pays their expenses? Taft has provided at least part of the answer.

RELATED:

ASTROTURF IS THE ONLY THING THAT ‘GROWS’ UNDER GASLIGHT:  Democrats caught bribing TikTok influencers to mislead Generation Z.

We kept our guns for a reason, chumps

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The Redcoats Are Coming! U.K. Labour Party to Campaign for Kamala (Isn't This Election Interference?)


Amy Curtis — Twitchy:

Russia! Russia! Russia!

Remember that? Remember how the Left screamed and whined and clutched all the pearls about Russia 'interfering' in our 2016 election?

Prepare yourselves for DEAFENING silence as the U.K. Labour Party plans to stick its nose in our election. For Kamala Harris, of course.

Yes, this is illegal; no, the State’s DOJ will do nothing about it.

Foreign Interference in US Elections: Laws

Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last reviewed July 30, 2020

Amid the growing concerns over election interference, understanding the procedural safeguards in place is essential to ensure the integrity of election results.

The U.S. established regulations on election administration to thwart attempts against the U.S. electoral system, ensuring the protection of voting rights. This article offers an insight into the nature of foreign interference and its potential impact on U.S. elections. It highlights the importance of protecting the integrity of election offices.

What Is Foreign Election Interference?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defines foreign election interference as harmful actions by foreign governments or agents. The act aims to weaken the interests of the United States and its allies by:

  • Sabotaging the credibility of the electoral system

  • Influencing policy development

  • Creating discord

  • Altering public discourse or

  • Disrupting the markets

Foreign election interference takes many forms, but the goal is almost always the same. It is to influence an institution to move in a more beneficial direction for the influencer. Foreign election interference can be overt or covert, which is part of the reason it is so difficult to prevent. Some examples of foreign election interference include:

  • Overthrowing a particular regime

  • Spreading misinformation on social media

  • Funding a specific political candidate

  • Creating doubt in political institutions or processes

Is Election Interference a Federal Crime in America?

Election interference can constitute a federal crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation placed it under the Election Crimes and Security category. In general, an election crime is a federal crime if:

  • The ballot contains one or more federal candidates. This indicates the potential impact on the federal election outcome.

  • An election or polling place election official abuses their position.

  • The act involves false voter registration, sabotaging the integrity of the electoral process.

  • The crime intentionally targets minority-protected classes, violating their rights.

  • The action violates federal campaign finance laws.

These criteria emphasize the gravity of how the federal government looks at election interference.

What Is the Difference between Foreign Interference and Domestic Interference?

Foreign and domestic interference are two distinct concepts in politics and international relations.

Foreign interference is the actions of a foreign country against another. The foreign country intends to manipulate or influence the domestic matters of the other country. The foreign country also aims to advance its interests at the expense of the targeted country. One notable example of foreign interference was during the 2016 election. Here, Russian government agents hacked the email accounts of Democratic campaign officials. The emails were then published before the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to affect the election results. Other examples of foreign interference are:

  • Attacks on cybersecurity

  • Disinformation campaigns

  • Covert operations

  • Attempts to sway election results