Understandable, but ....

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This …

Democrats face backlash for leaving Biden out of Easter ‘better times’ post

X users questioned why former President Joe Biden was not referenced in a Democratic Party Easter post about the White House

But not this:

The Democratic Party is facing criticism after it posted an Easter-themed message about "Better times at the White House" featuring former President Barack Obama, while leaving out former President Joe Biden.

The post, published Saturday by the official Democratic Party X account, shows Obama from behind standing beside a person in an Easter Bunny costume with the Washington Monument in the background. The caption reads, "Better times at the White House." Biden is not pictured or mentioned in the post ….

But of course — they aren't Americans, they’re people who … well let’s be kind, and say they DO have values, just different values than ours (Updated)

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Weeks between German invasion and capitulation: six

UPDATE: As of this writing (12:45), Instapundit has posted a fantastic collection of X Posts on the rescue mission and our former allies’ reaction to it. If you go there now, and you should, if you can, they’re on top. If you hit the site later today and they aren’t leading, scroll down — it’s worth it.

A man from down under gets it

Wrong. We're not. Not even close. The laws, the mindset, and the behaviour, is totally different in this regard. Most of all, the governments are totally different.

The USA's convictions around core freedoms are on a scale we do not share.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump wins the popular vote, the electoral college, the House, and the Senate... a man who, in every other Western country, is held in open derision, if not contempt.

For these and other reasons, we are not the same.

… Yet the West, including Australia, fully expect to rely on the USA for our very survival. If the world turns bad (which will happen - only a question of time), then the whole West, without America, is toast.

So, you may ask - if we're not very aligned ideologically, then it must be that we bring something to the party militarily?

Well, no... actually... we don't matter that much militarily.

The USA has about 470 ships in its navy, including 11 aircraft carriers, 69 submarines, 75 destroyers... plus 110 new ships in the pipeline. Australia has about 30, including 3 destroyers, 7 frigates and 7 outdated submarines. The UK does a little better, with about 60. Meanwhile, the US has over 14,000 military aircraft. A staggering number. Australia has 252 military aircraft. The UK has 556. The US army has just shy of 1,000,000 uniformed personnel in its military. Australia has about 45,000. The USA spends 3.4% ($968 billion) of its GDP on defence. Australia spends 2% ($36.4 billion).

The US spends as much as the next 15 largest military-spending countries (including China) combined.

The USA has a fighting culture.

The men shoot things (a lot) and hunt things, the veterans get favoured in everything from parking spots to boarding planes. A uniformed young man is thanked in the street a dozen times a day.

"Oh, the Americans and their guns!" we say, in our smug way. Yes, they have a warrior culture. We do not. We don't have to, because we're a leech on theirs.

How many young British men are willing to fight for their country? Now ask the same regarding young American men.

…. Somehow, we have landed the deal of a lifetime with the USA that says, "when the baddies come, you'll save us ok?" Because we can't save ourselves. And we live in peace. But we keep gnawing away at freedoms, keep enabling China, and get flabby and disinterested about our military because Uncle Sam's got it.

And, let's be honest, Americans are widely looked down on. To add insult to injury, we don't think that highly of our protectors.

So, the USA is finally saying "enough."

I am here, I can tell you what the vibe is, and that's it. Trump is doing what people want in this regard. They're over it. And we come across all shocked and hard done by. We behave like people with no self-insight at all.

Yes, the global alliance system is all over the place now. From America's perspective, it's about time. And I must say, though I be a proud Australian, I am forced to agree. Something has to change.

Says the woman who's kept the DHS defunded since February 14th

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Senator decries new shoes-on security policy at US airports as ‘reckless’

Democrat Tammy Duckworth writes letter to TSA calling on agency to reinstate the shoes-off airport security policy

Nine months after US airports allowed passengers to pass through scanners without taking off their shoes, rescinding the stringent policy after almost two decades, a top senator claimed the “reckless” move could put passengers in danger.

The policy amounts to a “potentially catastrophic security deficiency”, according to Tammy Duckworth, Democrat for Illinois, and ranking member of the Senate commerce, science and transportation (CST) aviation subcommittee.

The no-shoes policy was rescinded last July; Duckworth only focuses on it now, issues a press release on it now, after DHS Secretary Noem has fallen from grace and is in the media spotlight? Hypocritical, self-serving idiot; in other words, a politician.

I once complained to a colleague as we left Stamford's criminal court, "our clients are so goddamned stupid". "If they weren't” he replied, "we'd be out of business". Here's an example

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(No, not this justin leslie — besides lacking a second “s” in his his name, he’s counsel for the house of commons, but his picture showed up when I searched for one of our miscreant, I thought it’d be amusing to use it.)

Mass. man arrested in Plainfield for reckless driving, drugs after going 105 mph, police say

PLAINFIELD — A Massachusetts man faces charges of reckless driving and drug possession following his arrest early Saturday morning during a traffic stop on Interstate 395, police said. 

Police said they seized 1 pound of marijuana, 300 THC vape devices, containers containing hallucinogenic substances and $10,351 in cash. 

Lesslie was charged with reckless driving, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and operating a drug factory, police said.

Plainfield Police Department said in a release that officers spotted a gray Volkswagen SUV speeding in excess of 105 mph at 1:05 a.m. Officers stopped the vehicle in the area of Exit 28 and the driver, 26-year-old Justin Lesslie of Hudson, Mass., was arrested, police said.

Lesslie was charged with reckless driving, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and operating a drug factory, police said. He was released on bond and is scheduled to appear April 16 at state Superior Court in Danielson, police said. 

How stupid? Well, Mr. Lesslie was apparently still out on bond for a similar arrest made last year, yet he still loaded his car with a pound of dope and sped along the highway at 105 mph, a speed pretty much guaranteed to draw the attention of the constabulary — that’s dumb.

From the Oxford Police Department’s FaceBook page, 2025:

Remember this guy? He's back

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Dem Senator Mourns Criminal ‘Asylum Seeker’ Who Caused Big Pileup While Fleeing ICE

Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is shedding crocodile tears over an “asylum seeker” who was “driving to work” when “he was rear-ended by an ICE vehicle.” The real story? He was an illegal alien with a years-old final deportation order who caused a massive vehicle pile-up while fleeing immigration officers. And the illegal alien caused severe injuries to immigration officers, too.

>>>>

“Ever Alvarenga, an asylum seeker, was driving to work Thursday morning when he was rear-ended by an ICE vehicle. He is still in the hospital after suffering significant injuries to his head, chest, back, & hands,” sniffled Van Hollen

>>>>

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin subsequently responded to Van Hollen to set the record straight. “DHS tells @FoxNews that this ‘asylum seeker’ is actually a Honduran illegal alien who has had a final deportation order since 2018, & when ICE targeted him in Baltimore, he fled in his vehicle at high speeds, slammed on his brakes and caused a multi car pileup, then he bailed out and ran away on foot before being chased down and arrested,” Melugin posted on X.

He added, “DHS says two ICE agents were hospitalized as a result of the crash, and they are accusing Sen. Van Hollen (D-MD) of misrepresenting what happened here.”

Mr. Alvarenga is entitled to as much of my sympathy as that nurse-with-a-gun who was shot dead while simply driving to his job emptying bedpans at the local hospital: none, that is.

To the contrary, it shows WE haven't learned a thing since 1914, 1940, 1960 ....*

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"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me." – General George Patton.

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." – General Norman Schwartzkopf.

Denying use of their airspace, cutting private deals with Iran, now this; France is a useless ally and has nothing to offer the world except smelly cheese and unshaved armpits — or the other way around — but either way, time to stop thinking they are useful to us or our interests.

*Earlier that, in fact; their uselessness was revealed as long ago as 1867, when Mark Twain visited and reported that “In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.”

Has the Greenwich Association of Realtors finally gone too far in its campaign to lure NYC buyers to our town?

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Not that they’re admitting that they brought these two lovebirds into the city and deposited them on the sidewalk, but ….

Boozy homeless honeymooners have sex, defecate in street in Mamdani’s old neighborhood — and cops can’t stop them

A homeless couple has turned a block of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s old neighborhood into a nauseating love nest where they booze it up, have sex, and poop in pizza boxes, ignoring disgusted locals who fruitlessly beg the city to take action.

The pair have been living in a mountain of their own trash on 30th Avenue near Steinway Street in Astoria for the last month, commandeering the sidewalk between a Duane Reade and a New York Sports Club.

“I’m on the way to the gym, 8:30 a.m., the guy is squatting over a camp chair and the other woman is holding a pizza box under him to defecate in,” said neighbor Chris Shingler.

“This is primetime, work day, kids going by to school, this is right out front in the middle of the sidewalk,” said the 46-year-old, who moved to the rising neighborhood with his wife in 2007.

“My wife goes to the gym at 5:30 a.m. and she saw the woman performing oral sex on the man,” he said. “Tough way to start your day.”

At least four schools — St. Joseph’s Catholic School, PS 070Q, PS 6 and Etoiles Preschools — are all within a five-minute walk of the putrid pad.

The Post witnessed a tense scene last week as the pair — who gave their names only as Michael and Marabel — angrily refused to move when cleaners hired by the adjacent building tried to oust them.

“F–k no!” roared Michael. “Go f–k yourself!” 

“If you bother my wife, I’ll f–k you up!” he screamed in between guzzling Voda brand Vodka.

He also warned a Post reporter, “I shoot people,” claiming to be a former US Marine. 

After an hour of failed attempts and more threats from Michael, the maintenance workers gave up.

Socialist Councilwoman Tiffany Caban, whose office is just blocks from the site, did not respond to a request for comment. [Bonus material: Caban, a member of the Democrat Socialists of America, declared last year during a Pride Month celebration that “queer liberation means ‘Free Palestine!'” [and] shared photos on social media throughout the month with posters reading “Queer as in Free Palestine” and “No pride in genocide.”]

Mamdani reversed his past opposition to clearing out homeless encampments last month at the height of NYC’s wintry blast that killed 19 people. But officials claim the couple’s seedy sprawl doesn’t qualify as an encampment because there are no built structures.

For the city to step in, police, Sanitation and DHS would need to be present for a coordinated and legally sanctioned action, 114th Precinct brass explained last week at a community meeting.

Cops acknowledged they received multiple calls about the couple but claimed they had no proof of illegal activities, and can’t take them off the street without consent.

It’s not illegal to defecate, copulate, display public intoxication, or assault another person in New York City? Hell, they’re making it too easy for us — Mamdani and the entire City Council membership are shoo-ins for this year’s Greenwich Realtors of the Year award.

This woman was granted asylum? Asylum from whom?

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Niece, grandniece of slain notorious Iranian Gen. Soleimani arrested by ICE while enjoying lavish lifestyles in LA

The niece of slain Iranian mastermind Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who showcased her luxe LA lifestyle on Instagram while bashing the US as the “Great Satan,” was arrested along with her daughter by ICE agents, the State Department announced Saturday.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, who celebrated attacks on US soldiers and military bases in social media posts, and her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny, were nabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday and had their green cards revoked over ties to the Iranian regime.

“While living in the United States, she promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the “Great Satan,’ and voiced her unflinching support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization,” a State Department letter confirming the arrests read.

Afshar entered the US in 2015 on a tourist visa, was granted asylum in 2019 — before securing a green card in 2021 from the Biden administration. 

She made at least four trips back to Iran since receiving her green card, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Hosseniy also entered the US in 2015 on a student visa and became a green card holder in 2023.

“It is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States of America. If we have reason to believe a green card holder poses a threat to the US, the green card will be revoked,” Lauren Bis, a DHS spokesperson, told The Post.

The State Department also referenced Afshar’s extravagant Los Angeles lifestyle which was allegedly frequently documented on her recently deleted Instagram account.

Afshar’s husband, who was not named by the State Department, is also now barred from entering the United States.

Fun Facts about U.S. law on asylum — see if you can find a place in it for the niece of one of the top leaders of Iran’s power structure, the IRGC, a woman who returned at least 4X to the country she “fled” from out of a fear of prosecution, and somehow made it back here alive.

To qualify for asylum in the U.S., you must be inside the country and demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in your home country based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

Key Grounds for Asylum (The "Protected Grounds")
You must prove that the persecution you fear is motivated by one or more of these five reasons:

  • Race: Persecution based on race or ethnic background.

  • Religion: Persecution based on religious beliefs, practices, or lack thereof.

  • Nationality: Persecution based on country of origin, or sub-groups such as ethnic, linguistic, or cultural groups.

  • Political Opinion: Persecution based on held political beliefs, whether or not they have been openly expressed.

  • Particular Social Group (PSG): Persecution based on shared characteristics that members cannot change (e.g., gender, sexuality, family ties).

Core Requirements for Asylum Claims

  • Well-Founded Fear: You must show a reasonable possibility of suffering persecution if returned.

  • Government Inability/Unwillingness to Protect: The persecution must be committed by the government or by groups the government cannot or will not control.

  • Nexus: The persecution must be directly linked to one of the five protected grounds mentioned above.

EVs — it's not that they're less popular, it's just that their appeal has become more selective

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Oops! Turns out, you have to pay people to buy one of these things.

Loss of tax credits led to a drop-off in EV sales. Will they rebound?

In October, once the federal tax credits were gone, [Connecticut’s own subsidy program] CHEAPR rebates for fully electric vehicles were increased to $1,000, while the amount available for plug-in hybrids remained at $500. Some vehicle owners may get up to $4,000 total in additional incentive under the Rebate+ program for low and moderate-income buyers, or people living in environmental justice communities.

(Did opening Tod’s Point, albeit under court order, make Greenwich an “environmental justice community”? Asking for a friend.)

Still, those increases have not been enough to spur demand for EVs after the loss of the more valuable federal tax incentives, according to Kresch.

“I think what we can say is the [state] incentive is too small on its own to fill the gap,” Kresch said. “It’s good that it’s there, but it’s only $1,000.”

This is Spinal tap

[Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes] noted that EVs accounted for about 6% of all new vehicles sold in Connecticut during the final quarter of 2025. While that number was a decline from over 10% throughout most of last year, it was on par with the market for EVs as recently as 2022.

“I think those folks who might have assumed that regulatory rollbacks … or rolling back federal tax credits would be the nail in the coffin of electric vehicles, have maybe not really been in touch with with consumer sentiment lately,” Dykes said.

She added, “the elimination of the federal tax credit has certainly had an impact on consumer consumer adoption, but I think it’s ultimately just going to contribute to maybe a slower pace of adoption.”

More GIGO:

One positive sign for EV adoption in recent months has been a national uptick in the number of people purchasing used vehicles, according to Barry Kresch, the president of the Electric Vehicle Club of Connecticut.

Kresch said that interest is being driven glut of used EVs entering the market as leases expire on cars that were originally eligible for the federal tax incentives under the so-called “leasing loophole” included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The wide availability of those used EVs has made their price more comparable with their gas counterparts.

“If you’re in the used car market and you’re seeing the price of gas, it looks like a pretty attractive deal,” Kresch said. “As far as the price of gas affecting new vehicle sales, I think prices would have to stay high for a while.”

EV’s depreciate far faster than gas-powered cars: 50-65% over five years, often 50% in just the first 12 months of ownership. So yes, that makes used EVs cheaper, but their hapless buyer is acquiring a dying battery that will cost between $8-$15,000 to replace and, thanks to ever-changing technology, already obsolete. Such a deal.

One company that saw the writing on the wall(et) two years ago was Hertz:


AI Overview

Hertz is scaling back its EV fleet, selling approximately 30,000 EVs (mainly Teslas) by the end of 2024, because high repair costs and rapid depreciation caused massive losses

The company halted some purchases due to crashing resale values, partly driven by Tesla’s new price cuts, leading to hundreds of millions in losses.

Key Factors in Hertz's EV Pullback:

  • Plummeting Resale Value: Rapid depreciation of used EVs, particularly Teslas, resulted in a $245 million write-down in 2023.

  • High Damage Costs: Electric vehicles incurred higher collision and repair costs compared to traditional, gas-powered vehicles.

  • Reduced Demand: Customer demand for electric rentals did not meet the company’s ambitious projections, prompting a shift back toward gasoline vehicles.

  • Initial Overestimation: The company's strategy of selling off used rental cars proved ineffective with EVs due to their volatile market value.

Hertz had initially planned a major, high-profile electrification of its fleet (e.g., 100,000 Teslas) but has shifted to align its fleet with lower-maintenance, lower-depreciation cars.