It’s not quite Fort Sumter, yet, but we seem to be drifting that way (Updated) and Updated again

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It Has Come to This: Chicago Police Told to Abandon ICE Officers Who Were Attacked in a Gunfight

David Strom: I guess it is on-brand for the Chicago Police to ignore gunshots, but generally speaking, law enforcement officers respond promptly when other law enforcement officers request assistance when their lives are endangered.

Local cops were initially readied to help the agents, but were ordered to stand down by the chief of patrol, according to shocking dispatch audio transmissions.

“Younger male Hispanic wearing all black … wanted for the hit and run, this guy fled from the scene,” a female dispatcher blares in response to a call for help by the surrounded ICE agents on audio shared by ExxAlerts.

“When the offending vehicle crashed, they ran the federal agent off the road, they fled on foot westbound.”

A male voice then comes on the radio channel, telling the dispatcher to direct officers to head to the scene and “stay put” a few blocks away and await further instruction, which she relays.

A few seconds later, the male voice is heard again, saying tersely: “Per the chief of patrol: clear everybody out, we’re not responding over there.”

No agents were injured in the incident. An armed woman who tried to run over fleeing agents was shot but drove herself to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The female dispatcher then tells officers on the way to the distress call, “per the chief of patrol, all units clear out from there, we’re not sending anybody out to that location.”

A male officer responds over the sound of sirens wailing in the background, saying, “We’re going to clear out as soon as we can, we’re like blocked in over here so we’re going to do the best we can to get out of here as soon as we can.”

An internal department memo sent to Chicago cops and obtained by Fox News confirms the shocking reversal.

“PLEASE CHIEF OF PATROL NO UNITS WILL RESPOND TO THIS AS RELATED FROM 04-Oc5-2025/12:34:44…CALLER IS 1 OF APPROX 30 ARMED PATROL AGENTS (ICE) WHO ARE BEING SURROUNDED BY A LARGE CROWD OF PEOPLE REQUESTING CPD,” the dispatch message read.

The Chicago Police Department disputed the claims, saying its officers were on the scene.

CPB officers requested help from the Chicago Police, but they were instead ordered away from the scene. We have the actual audio of the exchange between dispatch and the officers, and written confirmation. Yet the Chicago Police are disputing the facts, because...Democrats. 

UPDATE: Victor Davis Hanson sees the same theme:

In blue cities across America—Portland, Oregon, especially—often violent protesters now seek to surround ICE facilities to stop federal officers from fulfilling their assigned and legal duties of arresting illegal aliens.

Some 10 million or more illegal aliens were allowed to enter the U.S. during the Biden years—illegally and thus without criminal or health checks.

Neither Antifa nor liberal urban America objected to such a flagrant disregard for the law. But both are now as intent on obstructing the legal enforcement of the law as they were earlier in favor of its illegal non-enforcement.

Much less did they care about the consequences of sending millions of foreign nationals into cities and counties where they swamped social services, spiked crime, and flooded emergency rooms and schools.

ICE has repeatedly presented data that show in its first rounds of deportations, it is concentrating on removing either criminal illegal aliens or those who have already been processed with deportation orders, somewhere between 70 and 90 percent of all current apprehensions.

No matter.

Left-wing protesters are swarming ICE headquarters in Portland to violently oppose all deportations, even those of known criminals and those who have already exhausted efforts to remain here illegally.

Why? The Democratic Party apparat knows that the public wants both secure borders and deportations of illegal aliens. Indeed, in part, it lost an election by its open-borders advocacy.

But Democrat officials feel that if street thugs like Antifa can surround and besiege ICE facilities in Portland, Oregon, then deportations will stop. Then, a de facto amnesty will follow for millions who entered the U.S. illegally—and will soon become Democratic constituents.

As a result, they do not fully enforce the law when thugs attack federal law enforcement. Antifa and its spin-off groups favor the night, when they try to block all entries and exits of ICE vehicles and personnel, and can commit their violence with greater anonymity.

The masked rioters assault anyone in their way. They count on exemption from punishment for committing violence against federal officers through the goodwill or indifference of kindred local and state officials who hate the Trump administration more than they respect the law. An Orwellian scenario follows in which federal officers are attacked by Antifa, which in turn counts on the non-intervention of local police.

Summed up: the city of Portland’s armed officers are in a de facto proxy war with their federal counterparts—in our version of something out of 1860, on the eve of a real civil war.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek feel their constituents want open borders and thus should have the right in their own city and state to do as they please—and federal law be damned.

But by doing so, both the Democrat Party officialdom and the street armies of Antifa are on the proverbial wrong side of history.

America for almost 200 years has already decided, in formal law and court rulings, that no local or state entity can disrupt the enforcement of federal laws or usurp Washington’s powers. To do so with impunity would unravel the American nation in short order.

We know that from our own violent history. Andrew Jackson, in 1832, like Trump, threatened to send troops to stop South Carolina’s nullification of federal tariff laws.

America fought a Civil War over Confederate states’ efforts to ignore federal law and confiscate or occupy federal property within their state jurisdictions.

As late as 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace thought he could nullify federal law by using his state guard to deny black students’ enrollment in the University of Alabama—until the Kennedy administration federalized all state troopers and sent in additional federal troops.

So what we are witnessing in Portland—and elsewhere—is a neo-Confederate attempt to supersede federal law and, in reactionary fashion, invoke states’ and cities’ rights.

Oregon and Portland believe that they are more moral than the federal government and thus have a natural right to side with street mobs by both not enforcing their own laws against Antifa violence and ignoring the innate civil rights of ICE personnel.

The latter are denied freedom of movement, association, and the ability to fulfill their job duties by what has turned out to be a near city-sanctioned siege of their facilities.

The Democrats are fine with all this. They think the violence against ICE will be portrayed daily as general chaos by their allied media. Thus, the proverbial people who keep clear of the siege and its detritus will simply want all the bother to go away—and supposedly blame those enforcing, not breaking, the law. In sum, the Democratic Party is the official face of the left. Antifa provides the street shock troops, and the media serves as its propaganda arm.

So, the left-wing logic is to allow the violence and siege to continue in a “safe space” for Antifa. A strapped ICE will supposedly eventually shut down operations and move on. And any violence that occurs can be chalked up to Trump’s federal government “baiting” Portlanders.

UPDATE II

Told you it would work

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Just 17 days ago I reported that 49 Sumner Road had been put up for sale for $3.495 million, and noted that, although its last foray onto the market in 2020 had lasted 270 days and resulted in an ultimate selling price of just $2.640 million, this new agent had changed the description of the otherwise-untouched kitchen from a mere “state of the art Gourmet Kitchen” to a “sun-filled Gourmet Kitchen” and that, I promised, would make a huge difference in market performance. It went into contract Friday.

It’s not (just) about killing Charlie Kirk; this is who they are, this is what they do

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It's not a retreat, we're just attacking in the other direction!

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their appeal has become more selective

Global Warming Cooldown: Net-Zero Banking Alliance Melts Away after Member Exodus

Supporters of “climate crisis” policy activism assert this isn’t a set-back, but a “strategic course correction”.

Back in January, there were signs that the globalists’ plans to impose their green utopia on the world were in deep trouble.

At that time, six major U.S. banks withdrew from the United Nations-guided Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a UN-backed coalition of banks that were committed to aligning their financial activities with net-zero carbon emissions goals by 2050.

It turns out it wasn’t the Earth’s climate that was in crisis, but the progressives’ political one. Now the NZBA has officially ceased operations.

This marks the end of a potentially disastrous, power-grabbing climate finance initiative which, at its peak, included nearly 150 banks representing over 40% of global banking assets.

The alliance, set up in 2021, was the banking industry’s main body leading the sector’s global effort to cut carbon emissions. An overhaul was proposed in August after many big banks left, to create a “framework initiative” rather than a membership-based organisation.

“As a result of this decision (vote), NZBA will cease operations immediately,” a spokesperson for the group said.

Its resources, developed over several years, will remain accessible to banks seeking guidance on how to set decarbonisation targets.

“The Guidance for Climate Target Setting for Banks and supporting implementation resources are the most widely used global banking framework focused specifically on setting decarbonisation targets and will remain publicly available,” the spokesperson said.

Supporters of “climate crisis” policy activism assert this isn’t a setback, but a “strategic course correction“.

While noting that the NZBA announcement “may seem like a setback for global progress,” Gill Lofts, Global Financial Services Sustainable Finance Leader at EY noted that it also presents a new opportunity for banks to drive the net zero transition, reflecting “a pragmatic and transparent reassessment of the scientific, economic and political realities we face today.”

Lofts added: “This shift is not a retreat from climate action, but a strategic course correction that opens the door to broader global participation, particularly from banks in emerging markets and the global south that were previously unable to meet the commitment. The new framework will foster inclusivity and emphasize implementation through technical capability building and engagement with policymakers – critical foundations for driving real progress.”

However, most normal people are delighted that another green activist plan is melting into a puddle of leftist tears. More and more people have become aware of the pseudoscience that the climate-media complex has created, and are onto the financial manipulations that are nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme.

Interesting (Updated)

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Shock: New York Cell Service Disruption Plot Now Much Larger Than We Thought

On Friday, we reported on what appeared to be a coordinated attempt to disrupt cellular phone services in New York City, including service near the United Nations building. This attempt involved many thousands of "Subscriber Identity Modules", or SIM cards, set up in several hundred SIM servers.

This is a serious matter; it's not just interfering with Sam's ability to text his buddy Joe to meet up for beers. This has the potential to disrupt emergency services, law enforcement, business, navigation, and much more. What's more, a nation-state actor is implicated, and indications are that it's China.

Read More: New: 'Nation-State Actors' SIM Farm Threatens The American Cellular Phone Network

On Friday, we reported:

 Disrupting even a local network, like in the New York area, has the potential to disrupt not only personal communications but the media, business communications, emergency services, and government services. It's unclear how much damage could be done or how long-lasting it may be. These SIM farms do not appear to have the capacity to physically damage cellular infrastructure; such an attack could still have far-reaching consequences, and this particular instance took place in the vicinity of the United Nations building at the time of the recent General Assembly, as the Secret Service points out.

Now, things are much worse than initial findings indicate.

Note that ABC News is now reporting that this is a "China-linked plot that could have crippled every cell tower in the nation's largest city, jammed 911 calls, and unleashed chaos on communications networks." This could have disrupted communications over much of the New York metropolitan area. Maybe farther.

Secret Service personnel, along with officers from multiple agencies, seized hundreds of servers and over 100,000 cellphone SIM cards from around New York. Enough equipment to send 30 million anonymous texts every minute, which would collapse the telecommunications system.

They found empty apartments with servers and server walls capable of making millions of phone calls in and around New York City," said Donald Mihalek, an ABC News Contributor who was formerly with the Secret Service.

But this week, that number expanded. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that agents from Homeland Security Investigations found an additional 200,000 SIM cards in New Jersey.

These devices allowed anonymous encrypted communications between potential threat and criminal enterprises," said McCool.

The U.S. Secret Service is still working to figure out a motive and whether or not there was a specific target. It's also still not clear if the equipment was supposed to be triggered during the United Nations General Assembly, which took place in New York during the last full week of September.

So far, no arrests have been made but McCool did mention that forensic examination is underway. He also indicated there was cellular communication between foreign actors and individuals known to law enforcement.

….. Which begs the question: are there more of these SIM farms in other cities?

….The worst part of this is that there may be more of these SIM farms, maybe more in the New York area, maybe also in, say, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. A coordinated disruption in those key cities could take down our information and communications infrastructure over much of the lower 48.

Finally, and perhaps most chilling of all, such an attack on our information infrastructure would likely only be a prelude to something much more serious.

UPDATE: A reader/friend who has some experience in this field writes:

Re: China's cell phone disruption plot, read Jim Olson's book, To Catch a Spy. Olson was formerly the head of Counter Intelligence at the CIA. Now a professor at UT. The furthest thing from a MAGA alarmist.

The book is truly eye-opening.  Very disturbing!

In fact -- and you would have to really scour the web to find this -- I believe I read that two CCP agents have been recently deported by the USA. 

IMO, many of the Invisibles', and other demonstrations (eg, "from the river to the sea,"), are funded/organized by agents or money from the CCP and/or Qatar. They're simply trying to destroy America. The Dems couldn't be happier to help out.

Unbelievable.

Except, it isn't.

It's Cryin' Time Again

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Sen. Kennedy Just Exposed More Absurd Things Democrats Shut Down the Government For

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) took to the Senate floor this week and laid out, in his trademark blunt and hilarious fashion, exactly what Democrats are trying to shut the government down over—and it’s every bit as ridiculous as you’d expect.

“Basically, President Trump just said, ‘We want you to take some stuff out of the budget that we think is wasteful,’” Kennedy began. “And we did — and that upset the congresswoman.”

That “congresswoman,” of course, is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who, according to Kennedy, went ballistic when Trump and congressional Republicans started cutting some of the more absurd Biden-era spending priorities.

“We found that under President Biden, they were spending $3 million for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia. We took that out. The congresswoman says, ‘We’re gonna shut down government until you put that back in.’”

“We found $500,000 of American taxpayer money for electric buses in Rwanda,” Kennedy continued. “We found $3.6 million for pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti. I kid you not. I’m not making this up. It was in the budget under President Biden.”

Kennedy went on to rattle off even more examples of this insanity:

  • $6 million for media organizations for the Palestinians.

  • $833,000 for transgender people in Nepal.

  • $300,000 for a pride parade in Lesotho.

  • $882,000 for social media mentorship in Serbia.

  • $4.2 million for LGBTQI people in the Western Balkans and Uganda.

Republicans, Kennedy noted, stripped out each of these items as they tried to rein in wasteful foreign spending. But Democrats—with AOC and the “socialist wing” of the party leading the way—are threatening to shut the government down until every last one of those absurd expenditures is put back in.

“I could spend the rest of the afternoon here,” Kennedy said. “We took all that out. It upset Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. It upset the socialist wing of her party. And now they’re threatening all other Democrats and saying, ‘You’ve got to shut that government down until we get what we want.’”

So, just another Democrat then

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Family man: Shoot the republican speaker of the house and his wife, after making her watch her “little fascist children” murdered.

Dem Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones fantasized about a GOP pol getting ‘two bullets to the head’ in shocking text messages 

Jay Jones, Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general, sent a series of disturbing text messages to a former colleague in 2022, where he suggested the state’s then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R) deserved to be shot in the head. 

“Three people, two bullets,” read a text from Jones, obtained by The Post from a source. 

“Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot,” the former member of the Virginia House of Delegates continued, presenting the recipient of his text with a dark hypothetical. 

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones wrote, adding, “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.” 

The texts, first-reported by National Review on Friday, were sent by Jones at around 8 a.m., on Aug. 8, 2022, to Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner – who was clearly troubled by the messages. 

“Jay,” Coyner wrote back. “Please stop.” 

“It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them,” she added. 

Jones initiated the exchange after he appeared to accidentally text Coyner bemoaning the “glowing tributes” centrist Democrat Joe Johnson Jr., a former state legislator who died just days before, had been receiving from Republicans, including Gilbert. 

“If those guys die before me,” Jones said of the Republicans praising Johnson Jr., “I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves.” 

“Send them out awash in something.” 

Jones called Coyner during their text exchange and reportedly doubled down, suggesting that he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her children die, to perhaps change the former House speaker’s political views, according to National Review, citing a source.

“You weren’t trying to understand,” Coyner texted Jones after she reportedly hung up on him. “You were talking about hopping [sic] jennifer Gilbert’s children would die.” 

The Democratic AG candidate responded: “Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” 

“I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes,” Jones continued. 

Meanwhile, Jones did not apologize for the texts and accused his GOP opponent, incumbent Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, of “dropping smears,” in his initial statement addressing the controversy.

Since when is quoting someone accurately a smear? When a politician is hugely embarrassed by being caught out. Fortunately, there’s alway the Orange Man to act as the squirrel.

“Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign,” he added. “This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia. This race is about whether Trump can control Virginia or Virginians control Virginia.”

But wait, there’s still more!

Jones’ disturbing texts mark the second scandal the Democratic candidate has faced this week. 

On Wednesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Jones was busted for reckless driving in 2022 – when he was caught driving 116 mph down a Virginia interstate – but avoided jail time by completing 500 hours of community service with his own political action committee.

“His own political action committee” — interesting form of community service, except for a man deeply embedded in the Virginia political machine.

In the candidate’s own words:

Unless you’re a Republican, married to one, or are a republican’s child