Oh no, not the briar patch!

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Schumer vows to shut down the government, and there’s a problem with that — for him.

Government shutdown likely after Schumer says Senate Dems will block GOP funding bill

But:

“I’ve gone back and forth on this thing three times because it is two horrible choices,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) admitted to reporters before the lunch.

“If you shut down the government, the president is the person who decides what is essential,” Hickenlooper explained. “He decides what part of the government stays open, so you are actually giving him even more power.”

On the other side of the argument, a senior Senate Democratic aide told The Post that some members  “worry a shutdown leaves Elon Musk alone in the candy store,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts.

“It wouldn’t be your grandfather’s shutdown,” this source added,

And the news might be even better than envisioned, because it won’t be Elon directing the cuts, but the Democrat’s worst nightmare:

ERICK ERICKSON: Magic Mike Johnson Strikes Again.

If you think you’re having a bad day, you could always be a Senate Democrat. After Magic Mike Johnson magically passed a continuing resolution through the evenly divided House, Senate Democrats are left in an impossible position: Vote for a continuing resolution that cuts $13 billion from non-defense spending… or shut the government down and let my friend, OMB Director Russ Vought, be in charge.

That’s right, if the government is shut down, the most hated man in leftwing circles and the face of Project 2025 will directly manage the government shutdown.

I am begging Senate Democrats… fight the Republicans, filibuster the legislation, and shut the government down!!

But think of all the avocados they picked, the pools they cleaned!

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“Para usted, señor”

FL spent $660M on healthcare for illegals as hospitals ordered to verify legal status, report shows

The data shows 67,700 ER visits in Florida last year were by patients who entered the country illegally

The data for 2024 showed a total of 67,700 emergency room visits were made by patients who illegally entered the country, leading to roughly $76.6 million in Medicaid payments for their emergency care.

In total, the state paid nearly $660 million for the cost of care provided to immigrants inside the U.S. illegally. 

Its listing said it offered "a rare opportunity for renovation and customization", but I suspect the bulldozer won't care

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242 Taconic Road was listed in November for $1.395 million, went immediately to highest and best, and has closed at $1.5. It’s on just one acre in the 4-acre zone, but when I wrote about the property back in November, I said I liked its looks and would be perfectly happy here. And perhaps someone will, but I’m guessing that it will be replaced. The property sits on just one acre in the R-4 zone, so, technically the R-4’s FAR ratio would limit a new building to just 2,722.5 sq. ft (0.0625 X 43,560), but the existing house is 4,190 sq. ft., and new construction can probably be at least that large and, builders being the creative types they are, they can pump up that figure by using the basement and maybe even going up.

Pending on Sherwood

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70 Sherwood Avenue, priced at $4.295 million but going via highest and best bid, so final price will be higher. The history of the house is that it was sold, gutted, to the Frattaroli brothers in 2006 for $2.3 million; they completely renovated it and put it back on the market in September 2007 for $5.775 million. I toured it at that time and it was nice house, but the timing was unpropitious, because the great crash was just beginning. They eventually sold it for $3.375 in 2010, that buyer put in a pool, and resold it to these owners in 2021 for $3.495.

So, while the Frattarolis may not have done well here, this owner has.

Whatever their sins, and there are many, what did the poor Irish do to deserve this?

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waiting for barbara

The Unluck of the Irish: Rosie O’Donnell Flees Overseas with Trump Stowed Away in Her Head

Rosie O’Donnell has kept her promise and left the United States thanks to the election of President Donald Trump. Of course, she took Trump with her overseas as he is plainly still living rent-free in her head. On Tuesday, she explained it all in a nine-minute video.

Rosie O’Donnell confirms she has fled the United States for Ireland following the election of Donald Trump.

The 62-year-old says she left and dragged her 12-year-old daughter with her because not all Americans have equal rights now.

"I was never someone who thought I would move to another country, that’s what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child. And here we are."

"You know, I’m happy. Clay is happy. I miss my other kids. I miss my friends."

"I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back."

Looks like Trump finally did it...

X-clips are back up, thank goodness, and we can resume watching the best moments of our genius class

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word salad and corn chips: breakfast of champions

I’ve seen her worse, but it’s still a relief to realize that we won’t have to endure four more years of cackling hyena laughs bursting from the lips of the president of the United States. And I want to thank our ex-VP for confirming my long-held belief that the TV audience for the Academy Awards show was made up exclusively of mouth-breathing morons.

Kamala Harris roasted for trying to tie love of Doritos to Big Tech innovation during AI conference

Harris attended the Human[X] AI conference Sunday in Las Vegas, which was billed as Harris' "first post-election address." She took the stage with Nuno Sebastiao, the CEO of data science company Feedzai.

Harris recounted that on the night of the Academy Awards, March 2, she had a hankering for nacho cheese Doritos chips and had them delivered to her house via DoorDash, according to clips of the interview on social media. 

"We did DoorDash ’cause I wanted Doritos, and the red carpet part was about to start, and nobody wanted to leave to go to the grocery store," Harris said. "So it was DoorDash. … So I was willing to give up whatever might be the tracking of Kamala Harris’ particular fondness for nacho cheese Doritos for the sake of getting a big bag of Doritos as I watched the Oscars."

"But here’s the thing. At what point do we also uplift and highlight the consumer’s right to also expect — and you can debate with me if it should be a right — I think it should," she continued in the clip of the video. "To expect that the innovation would also be weighted in terms of solving their everyday problems, which are beyond my craving for Doritos, but about whatever — and I know the work is happening around — you know, scientific discoveries, for example. To cure long-standing diseases."

"But I’m going to throw out another one … I would love it if there would be an investment of resources in solving the affordable housing issue in America," she said. "Like help me with that. Help me with that."

Takes one to know one, I guess

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Check out the "turtlegender" person on the Oregon Consumer Advisory Council

Nope, this isn't satire. This is a real person on the official panel that makes policy recommendations for mental health services in the state of Oregon.

That's what made the lockdown so infuriating: anyone with a brain knew it was a useless gesture and would devastate society

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Ed Driscoll, on InstaPundit:

THIS MUST HAVE BEEN PAINFUL FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE TO PUBLISH: ‘The lockdowns were never really effective:’ New research shows COVID stay-at-home orders did more harm than good.

Sumbul Siddiqui remembers every detail about the morning of March 10, 2020. She remembers feeling anxious as she walked into a Somerville conference room packed with masked-up mayors from around Boston. She remembers grim-looking doctors from Italy appearing on a big screen, describing the horrors of people collapsing and dying from a mysterious respiratory illness.

After that, Siddiqui, then mayor of Cambridge, did what she never imagined she would have to do: She called top city administrators and the school superintendent to begin the process of shutting down every school and municipal building in the state’s fourth-largest city.

“We all left that meeting terrified,” she said. “I remember saying, ‘OK, we have to shut things down. We have to stop the spread. I don’t want people to die.’”

Five years later, Siddiqui is still torn about the implications of that decision. On that same day, Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts and, within days, suspended in-person learning at public and private schools and banned on-site dining at bars and restaurants across the state.

Knowing what we know now, she wonders, did public officials react appropriately? Did they adequately consider the trade-offs among competing values, including the devastating costs of closing schools, businesses, and places of worship?

No. Next questions?

And the masks, “social distancing”, school lockdowns and even the touted vaccines. We knew, and the people who imposed all that also knew; they did it anyway.