So, they're the state version of the US DOE, eh?

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Two-thirds of the product churned out by the nations’ education factories is illiterate and innumerate. If those were quality control numbers from, say, a shoe factory, a complete overhaul of the process would be conducted, or the factories would be closed; in no way would the managers and top administrators be retained and given huge pay raises instead.

World ends, for some; wine snobs, Irish hardest hit

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Drunk on Power: Arrogant EU Taxes Whiskey, Trump Threatens Higher Tariffs

A toast to the international comeback of America! Furious that the many decades of Europe tariffing U.S. goods without reciprocal tariffs are over, the European Union has imposed a new tariff on American whiskey, triggering a threat from Trump against imported European alcohol.

The mainstream media does not want Americans to know that Germany, Japan, and other nations after World War II were allowed to tariff American goods without having tariffs imposed on their own goods, a long outdated and grossly unfair system that Trump is determined to change. And if Trump follows through on his new threat, the EU’s multibillion-euro American alcohol market could be in jeopardy.

Trump responded furiously to the arrogance-drunk EU’s whiskey tariff on his Truth Social platform. “The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump warned.

“This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.,” he added. The United States reportedly accounts for a whopping €13.1 billion beverage import industry from Europe, with a significant amount of that being alcohol. America also, incidentally, largely funds Europe’s military and defense. The EU, therefore, has a lot to lose by infuriating Trump and launching a trade war with America.

I previously reported on Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explaining how the post-World War II-era Marshall Plan and similar projects continued in place long after they were justifiable, creating a system that is now rigged against American manufacturing and in favor of our competitors in both Europe and Asia:

Whatever's happening to this country, it's ominous; when the right begins responding in kind, we're in for interesting times.

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“I am overwhelmed by — and grateful for — everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,”

Cities are burned down without consequence; universities invaded and damaged to the tune of millions of dollars yet the perpetrators are forgiven and released by prosecutors and judges; Tesla cars, charging stations and dealerships are vandalized, shot up and burned, and the murder of a corporate executives is considered “acceptable” by a huge number of Americans.

Two news items relating the latter caught my eye recently:

Luigi Mangione gets largest donation yet from mystery giver: ‘Quite exceptional’

A mystery donor has given the biggest donation so far to Luigi Mangione’s defense fund, inspired by the “quite exceptional” support for the man suspected of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The “anonymous giver” gave a staggering $36,500 earlier this week — topping the previous record of $30,000 as the total exploded to over $722,000.

The nameless benefactor said he or she was inspired by the huge swelling of support from a wide cross-section of people for the 26-year-old UPenn graduate charged with the shocking murder outside a Manhattan hotel in December.

41% of young voters say UnitedHealthcare CEO killing "acceptable": Poll

New logo, same Democrat party

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Mahmoud Khalil is the head of (and founder?) of the “protest group” Columbia University Apartheid Divestiture. I posted yesterday about who this man and CUAD are, and their call for the “total eradication of Western Civilization”.

Even the NYT recognized CUAD for what it was, before it and the rest of mainstream media developed amnesia after Trump moved against him.

This is from the NY Times in October:

The pro-Palestinian group that sparked the student encampment movement at Columbia University in response to the Israel-Hamas war is becoming more hard-line in its rhetoric, openly supporting militant groups fighting Israel and rescinding an apology it made after one of its members said the school was lucky he wasn’t out killing Zionists.

“We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance,” the group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, said in its statement revoking the apology.

The group marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by distributing a newspaper with a headline that used Hamas’s name for it: “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood, Revolution Until Victory,” it read, over a picture of Hamas fighters breaching the security fence to Israel. And the group posted an essay calling the attack a “moral, military and political victory” and quoting Ismail Haniyeh, the assassinated former political leader of Hamas.

AND THIS IS WHO THE DEMOCRATS ARE — WE REPORT, YOU DECIDE

A new logo for the Jackass Party (and a handy comparison chart)

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Democrats Abandon Much Needed Soul-Searching, Opt For New Logo Instead

Democrats have a new theory explaining their abysmal performance last November: poor graphic design.

At least, this is what one concludes based on their X activity. At noon yesterday, they proudly bared a new logo.

The triple-starred donkey silhouette replaces their former profile picture, a letter “D” encircled by a white ring.  One refrains from speculating as to what words the letter may have represented. 

Legions of Democrats can be found celebrating the change in the reply section, with insights like “We’re so unbelievably back,” “YES,” and “Slay.”

Meh — they're just strangers they haven't met yet: like William the Bastard and the rest of his Normans

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Mahmoud and friends stop by to visit, perhaps to stay.

FAIL, BRITANNIA:

In This English Village, Asylum Seekers May Soon Outnumber the Locals.

The British government is using the old air base at Wethersfield as a camp for asylum seekers. It’s unclear when they came to the UK, as the government does not release information on how long their processing takes. But we do know this: All are adult men. Many crossed the English Channel from France, arriving on small boats and claiming asylum when they hit the beach. They are from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. They are allowed to come and go freely from the camp, to the village and beyond.

Currently, 580 of them live on the base. Their number is about to rise to 800. The government won’t say exactly when, but it had initially stated that a total of 1,700 migrants would eventually move here.

Before the migrants arrived, the village of Wethersfield reportedly had a population of 707.

Gad Saad calls it “suicidal empathy,” and maybe that’s how it started. But now it’s more like a culturally murderous vindictiveness on the part of Britain’s elites against the British people.

Well, that was quick

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this isn’t Havemeyer

This is (or was)

30 Arnold Street, a 1948 cape that was doubled in size and “reimagined” in 2015 was listed 8 days ago at $2.895 million and is already reported pending and ready to go. When this property hit the market last week I noted the relocation of Havemeyer Park into a tonier-sounding, albeit mythical “North Mianus”, and I’ll admit the removal makes sense: there’s no resemblance between the original Gene Tunney development and what it looks like today.

“We’ll put the three million dollar houses over there, in north mianus.”

Darien closes its doors

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I HAD BEEN ASSURED BY ALL THE VERY BEST PEOPLE THAT THIS WAS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT AN ACT OF CONGRESS:

Migrant crossings through Panama’s Darien Gap drop 99% after Trump takes office.

The report found that only 408 migrants traveled through the treacherous jungle route in February 2025, a 98.8 percent decrease from the 37,166 who made the journey in February 2024. Of those migrants, 151 were from Venezuela, 43 from Cameroon, 22 from Bangladesh, 21 from Colombia, 17 from Iran, and the rest from various countries across Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

The Darien Gap is a well-known jungle trail used by migrants passing through South America to Central America, as it is the only land bridge connecting the two regions. In 2023, the area saw record crossings, with Panama documenting over half a million migrants—more than double the number from 2022. Many Venezuelans have used this route in recent years to flee the socialist regime of President Nicolás Maduro.

The February total marks the lowest recorded number of migrants crossing the region since April to November 2020, when travel was significantly reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, data from Panama’s Migrant Authority shows that no Chinese nationals were recorded crossing the Darien Gap in February. A report by Breitbart noted how there has been a steep decline from nearly 3,000 Chinese nationals in January 2024 to just five in January 2025.

Context:

January 26, 2024:

Biden promises to ‘shut down’ the border if given the authority in a bipartisan bill

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said Friday night. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

But, uh-oh: Even with a new law, you still can’t possibly stop the flow

January 30 2024:

Current and former DHS officials grumble about Biden's talk of shutting down the border

Current and former officials at the Department of Homeland Security are expressing concern over President Joe Biden’s assertion this weekend that he wants the authority to “shut down” the border.

…. Two former and two current DHS officials say that in order to shut down the border and block asylum-seekers, the U.S. would need the cooperation of Mexico to take back far more migrants.

One of the two former officials said Biden is sending a political message but not one that is based in logistical reality.

“You can’t shove back 8,000 migrants a day without the Mexicans’ approval,” the former official said. “What you would create is frantic surges in the weakened parts of the border.”

On his very first day in office, Biden used his executive authority to throw open our borders and invite in the world. Only when the political heat grew intolerable and the 2024 elections neared did he even pretend to want to reverse his decision, but claimed that he lacked the authority to do so. And the Department of Homeland Security then chimed in and said that nothing could be done, with or without new legislation.

They were both deliberately lying.

Speaking of roads ....

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we had to kill the trees to save them

Amazon forest felled to build road for climate summit

A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.

It aims to ease traffic to the city, which will host more than 50,000 people – including world leaders – at the conference in November.

The state government touts the highway’s “sustainable” credentials, but some locals and conservationists are outraged at the environmental impact.

The Amazon plays a vital role in absorbing carbon for the world and providing biodiversity, and many say this deforestation contradicts the very purpose of a climate summit.

Along the partially built road, lush rainforest towers on either side - a reminder of what was once there. Logs are piled high in the cleared land which stretches more than 13km (8 miles) through the rainforest into Belém.

Diggers and machines carve through the forest floor, paving over wetland to surface the road which will cut through a protected area.

Claudio Verequete lives about 200m from where the road will be. He used to make an income from harvesting açaí berries from trees that once occupied the space.

"Everything was destroyed," he says, gesturing at the clearing.

"Our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family."

He says he has received no compensation from the state government and is currently relying on savings.

He worries the construction of this road will lead to more deforestation in the future, now that the area is more accessible for businesses.

"Our fear is that one day someone will come here and say: 'Here's some money. We need this area to build a gas station, or to build a warehouse.' And then we'll have to leave.

"We were born and raised here in the community. Where are we going to go?"

His community won't be connected to the road, given its walls on either side.

"For us who live on the side of the highway, there will be no benefits. There will be benefits for the trucks that will pass through. If someone gets sick, and needs to go to the centre of Belém, we won't be able to use it."

…. The Brazilian president and environment minister say this will be a historic summit because it is "a COP in the Amazon, not a COP about the Amazon".

The president says the meeting will provide an opportunity to focus on the needs of the Amazon, show the forest to the world, and present what the federal government has done to protect it.

But Prof Sardinha says that while these conversations will happen "at a very high level, among business people and government officials", those living in the Amazon are "not being heard".

With any luck, we’ll have pulled out of the United Nations by the time of this November’s conference, thereby leaving it to other countries to pay for their grifters’ and the politically favored’s housing. One might ask, or would, if this weren’t a UN project, why 50,000 people have to fly into Brazil from across the globe to be personally present at a festival that could be accomplished via Zoom, but regardless, the housing for this swarm is going to come dearly, and is the perfect symbol for the grift that is the hallmark of the Global Warming hoax:

Surreal prices for COP30 in Brazil’s Amazon leave attendees scrambling for a place to stay

SAO PAULO (AP) — Nine months ahead of this year’s annual U.N. climate summit, known as COP30, lodging prices in the Brazilian host city of Belem are turning heads—and may soon turn off would-be attendees from the first such meeting in the Amazon rainforest.

With a shortage of housing and high interest, property owners and rental companies are feeling emboldened to charge five-digit rates, even for cramped rooms with shared bathrooms.

On Booking.com, one of the last available hotel rooms listed, a flat apartment, is going $15,266 for one person, up from $158 for the same category currently—a 9,562% increase. A 15-day stay during the conference in November would total $228,992, enough to buy a four-bedroom apartment in one of Belem’s top neighborhoods.

On Airbnb, a room with a shared bathroom in Ananindeua, a poor city near Belem, is listed at $9,320 per day. A comparable room today could be rented for as little as $11 per day. In more upscale neighborhoods, renting an apartment that accommodates eight people costs up to $446,595 for a two-week stay.

“This one scared me,” joked local architect and digital influencer Renato Balaguer about a dilapidated apartment listed at $10,000 for an 11-day stay.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who champions himself as a protector of the environment, has boasted about hosting the event in the Amazon, which helps regulate the climate by storing large quantities of carbon dioxide, a gas that causes climate change.