An enemy’s cheerleader wonders why he's not welcome at one of our military bases in an active war zone. Yes, the man’s that stupid.

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Chris Murphy says he was denied access to largest US military base in Middle East

“Senator Murphy’s office was informed before his trip to the Middle East that he would not receive Department of War support to access Al Udeid Air Base, consistent with the Secretary of War’s directive on travel restrictions in the region ordered on March 3, 2026,” the official said. “That decision was communicated in advance by the Office of the Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs. The Department applies the Secretary’s guidance evenly.”

In a press briefing on Thursday, Murphy reaffirmed the Pentagon’s statement: he had been told before his travels that he would not have access to the base. However, he said, he left the U.S. under the impression that he may have been able to receive a briefing from military officials during the trip.

No such briefing was provided.

Not even a military band to serenade him outside the gates, poor child.

Who says you can't eat the golden goose, again and again?

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(As was mentioned here when the jerk first made this claim, there are at least 6 soup kitchens and an equal number of food pantries in Waterbury, jason and keri’s hometown. whatever the reason they travelled to new haven for, it wasn’t food — a better quality and selection of drugs, perhaps? to access their private bank account? Who knows?)

Nick Shirley Discovers A $120 Can of Spam, Busts Open Seattle's Food Stamp Fraud

Victoria Taft, PJMedia

It wasn't bad enough that California hospice owners were driving Ferraris bought with stolen tax money, and that FireAID donations were given to nonprofits that had nothing to do with actual, you know, fire aid. Now we discover that food stamp fraud is taking place in the open on the streets of America, and nobody's doing anything about it, apparently.

Independent reporter Nick Shirley, with a group of other indy reporters, revealed the open-air federal food stamp fraud taking place on the streets of Seattle. 

Shirley, San Francisco-based street reporter Darren Stallcup, Seattle's Jonathan Choe, and other intrepid indy reporters followed the money. 

Choe tells Shirley that EBT cards litter homeless encampments, where they receive so many of them that they begin to throw them away. Many of those "homeless" drug zombies use their food stamp cards to buy drugs. 

Choe and Shirley found EBT cards and sought to follow the lucrative scam from beginning to end. Shirley lays out how simple this is in a new video displaying how one abandoned EBT card can buy drugs, sex, and a $120 can of Spam.

Watch a woman who's some kind of street broker drive Shirley and another reporter to a second location, a Seattle seafood store nearby, to turn the EBT card into a pot of gold.

Shirley tells her, "You've committed fraud." She replies, "I know." 

Watch the longer version that takes you through the interaction between the reporters and an apparently homeless guy named Devon who directs them to a place in downtown Seattle where they can turn the card in for cash. For interested law enforcement, Devon says the name of the place at minute 5:18.

On their way to the EBT money laundering place, they come across a Vietnamese lady who appears to be working with others. One woman seems to be calling a number on the back of an EBT card to perhaps find out the balance on the card. 

The woman who knows she's committing fraud asks one of the reporters how much is on their card. Shirley replies $120. She offers $60 and then tells them to hop in her car so she can launder it at the seafood market. 

"And magically, just like that, one can of spam and thing of sushi was $120," Shirley declares. 

Bonus Material: Look Inside the Luxury Tower Housing L.A.’s Homeless Bureaucracy

Stephen Green:

As broken down by Wall Street Apes on Tuesday, LAHSA "is headquartered in a luxury high rise building where employees enjoy VIP amenities like a fitness center, rock climbing wall, an infrared sauna, a cold plunge, and a helipad."

And the pay? Oh my, the pay:

  • Chief Executive Officer, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, $491,908

  • Chief Financial Officer, Janine Trejo, $299,912

  • Deputy Chief, Systems, Nathaniel VerGow, $257,196

  • Chief of Staff, Rachel Johnson, $252,079

  • Chief Operating Officer, Tifara Monroe, $248,367

L.A.'s homeless problem will remain unsolved as it remains so lucrative to "administer" to them instead.

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Produced with the cooperation and assistance of the british home office

Here's betting against it

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“extravagant proportions and brutalist minimalism” — they say that as though it’s a good thing.

MotorTrend’s out with a puff piece (it’s what they do) on the new Jaguar. Good for short, skinny midgets, otherwise, not so much.

2027 Jaguar Type 01 First Look: 1,016 HP, 400 Miles of Range, and Still Shocking

Jaguar’s radical reboot is more than a styling exercise—it’s a serious bet on the company’s future. 

The Type 01’s mission is to reinvent and relaunch the Jaguar brand, and success in the U.S., which insiders predict will be the car’s biggest market, will be instrumental in making that happen. “This is a big moment for us,” Jaguar boss Rawdon Glover said of the Type 01’s upcoming launch, calling it one of the most important in Jaguar’s 90-year history. And that’s not hyperbole.

Drivers and passengers over 5’6” need not apply

The Type 01’s interior is no less dramatic than the exterior, though you must duck and swivel under that low roof to get into it. The Type 01 might look like a big sedan on the outside, but the cabin is almost sports car cozy. In terms of its architecture and form language, it’s a masterclass in the modernist minimalism that obsessed former JLR design boss Gerry McGovern, under whose watch the Type 01 was conceived. As a result, the Type 01’s interior feels—to the front passengers, at least—airy and uncluttered.

Behind them, though, it’s a tight fit, with room for only two passengers thin and agile enough to limbo through the narrow door openings into the low-slung bucket seats on either side of the suspended center console that runs the full length of the cabin. If you’re a 6-footer, kneeroom and headroom are at a premium. It has four doors, but the Type 01 is for all practical purposes a 2+2 coupe. The Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe has more rear space, while the Ferrari Luce’s rear passengers lounge in limolike comfort. And both cars have more accommodating trunks—the load space in the Type 01 is basically an open shelf behind the rear seats.

Not that I’m the market for $150,000 two-passenger battery toys, but is anyone? Probably not.

From the same people who brought you this:

Stanwich sale, solar panels, and the resale value of homeowner “improvements”

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39 Stanwich Road, a beautiful 1900 house on almost an acre, was listed at $3.895 million last summer and has sold for $662,500 — 17% — less: $3,232,500. There are lots of reasons for a house to fail to fetch its asking price, the primary one being that the initial ask was too high, but I do wonder at the decision to install solar panels on the newish — 2024 — asphalt roof in 2026, presumably in contemplation of putting the house on the market. Was that part of the reason it failed to perform to their great expectations?

Start off with esthetics: the array of solar panels is located on the most visible part of the house, the side that greets potential buyers, and competes with the dormers that contribute to the architectural character of this home. So, rather than add to the home’s appeal, it detracts from it. The result is an expensive “improvement” that, to my eye, diminishes the appearance of an expensive house.

And that leads to my second point, the difference between economic value vs market value; the first generally adds nothing to home’s price, because buyers won’t pay for it. Residential buyers pay for what delights them, not necessarily for what saves them money. Early in my career, I dragged a bewildered couple down to the basement of a new house in Old Greenwich we were looking at to show them the beautiful, German manufactured Buderus gas furnace, which run at something like 98% efficiency. “Oh”, one of them asked in bored voice, “that’s very interesting — and how thick did you say the marble kitchen counters were?” I stopped spending much time pointing out energy-saving features in homes after that. A $30,000 kitchen upgrade can produce an emotional response (not in me) that a $30,000 mechanical upgrade never will. Never mind that the furnace will save thousands over its lifetime while the kitchen countertops save precisely nothing.

All of hwich brings up a third point: maintenance vs enhancements. Homeowners contemplating the sale of their house often believe that shelling out for a new roof or new chimney, both of which were done here, or a new furnace, new kitchen appliances, etc., is cash that will recouped upon sale: those are maintenance items, not improvements, and buyers rightfully expect mechanical systems to work. A new roof generally doesn't make buyers say, "Wonderful! I'll pay another $100,000!" Instead, an old, failing roof makes them say, "I'll deduct $100,000 for the inconvenience, uncertainty, and expense of replacing it." The takeaway: sellers get punished for deferred maintenance but are seldom rewarded proportionately for correcting it.

IMPROVEMENT LIST AS OF 2026:

The Rue of Law

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If you spot it, you got it

As has been pointed out by many observers, Democrats are experts of projecting their own despicable behavior onto their opponents.

Well this should do it

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it does have A three-floor elevATOR, SO THAT’S GOOD

After 36 days on the market with no buyer, 154 Valley Road’s price has been dropped 1.9%, from $2.850 million to $2.795. Built in 2007 as a spec project, its builder paid $850,000 for 0.52 acre lot here in 2005, split it and built two houses with a shared driveway. He put this house up for sale in July 2008 at $1.995 million and sold it to the present owners in June 2009 for $1.335, 30% less.

156 Valley Road, the second house, was initially priced at $2.295 million in September 2008 and sold for 23% less, $1.690 million, in June 2009. Something there is that doesn’t love a cliff.

Maple Leaf Rag

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It’s Political Debate Season, and Vermont Just Served Up This Gem

We’ll start with the author Tim O’Brien’s conclusion:

Why does any of this matter? It’s just confirmation that no matter where you go in this country, if you notice something bad that a Democrat does, you’re guilty of the offense of noticing. And if you say something, you’re a bully. Even in Vermont.

How his artical begins:

Just for shucks and giggles, let’s take a look at the Vermont lieutenant governor’s race. That’s where Democrat Molly Gray is running against incumbent Republican John Rodgers. They had a debate, following a format I think is pretty cool. The candidates get to ask questions of each other at one point, and they remain quiet while their opponent answers.

The other cool thing about this debate is this exchange when Rodgers asks Gray about her lack of activism on behalf of “migrant workers” on her own family’s farm, the same farm she’s bragged about in her own campaign ads and interviews.

Rodgers: Miss Gray, you talk constantly about your family farm. Your campaign website also says you believe everyone has the right to live with dignity and ensure humane treatment. But your family farm was at the center of serious labor violations around its treatment of H-2A migrant workers. Why did you not speak out against the mistreatment of migrant workers on your family farm, and did you use your influence to direct the investigation?

Gray: Wow. You know, John, seems like kind of a new low here. I’m on the ballot. My experience, my background, my policies are on the ballot. My family is not on the ballot. So I’m going to give you an opportunity to ask a different question.

Rodgers: That’s my question. You talk about your family farm throughout your campaign and on your website. You talk about being there. There’s tons of pictures of you there, and I’m just — that’s my question.

Gray: Vermonters have a chance in this election to really think about the type of leadership they want in the state. When I think about what we see nationally right now, I think about what I want for my kids. I don’t want a self-serving, self-interested bully who not only bullies this town and fails to follow the laws that he helped create. Yeah. I’m disappointed. I think that there’s all sorts of questions you could ask me today about policy decisions, but going after my family, that’s just a new low and we deserve better.

[Obrien] :

Okay, let’s get back to the farmer’s daughter who, all of a sudden, wants to make talking about her role as a farmer’s daughter off limits. That’s what she calls herself in this ad, using her connection to her family’s farm to get votes. Once you put something like this in a political ad, talking about it is fair game. Them's the rules.

Now, when certain shenanigans may have been happening on that farm, things which had to be addressed by the government, and her opponent brings it up, Gray goes to the leftist playbook so often used these days against conservatives. It’s a "new low" to notice just how low those Democrats will go.

Gray tried to shift the focus away from what was happening on her family farm to a story about Rodgers attacking Gray’s family. That’s not what he was doing. He was asking her about her decision on whether or not to speak up about labor violations on her own family’s farm. She never answered his question.

Instead, she not only attacked Rodgers for asking it, but also condescendingly directed him to ask another question.

Much more, including videos, at the link, but here, by golly, is Miss Molly’s campaign ad touting her farm roots:

And here’s my own contribution, an accompanying musical soundtrack:

Crim Law 1 Final Exam (Updated)

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(Photo credit: not the bee)

A 46-year-old man named Danilo Silva decided the best way to spend his Sunday was to vote in Brazil's election at Miami-Dade College and then sneak out to his car, slip on a replica ICE uniform, and start prowling the polling site to see how the Brazilians would react.

(Apparently, all the expats of South American countries have remote polling available in America.)

From the Miami Herald:

Uniformed sheriff's deputies and plain-clothes detectives with the agency's Homeland Security Bureau 'saturated' the campus when they received reports about him, the report states.

At one point a man confronted Silva and the two began arguing. That's when detectives stepped in, according to the report. Detectives asked Silva if he was an ICE agent, and he said he wasn't.

He said the ICE gear was a costume he bought on Amazon, according to the report. He was also defiant and told detectives he wasn't breaking the law by dressing as a federal agent, the report states.

Silva was charged with voter intimidation; conspiracy to commit bribery (he offered the arresting cops some cash if they’d release him); unlawful use of law enforcement insignia; disorderly conduct; and threatening or influencing a public servant”. They probably have him on the bribery charge and disorderly conduct, but are any of the other charges applicable to this case? I think not.

Problems with prosecution as I see it:

1. Federal voter-intimidation law probably doesn't apply

18 U.S.C. § 594, the federal criminal voter-intimidation statute. prohibits intimidation intended to interfere with voting, but expressly ties the prohibition to elections involving candidates for specified United States federal offices.

A Brazilian presidential election plainly doesn't satisfy that requirement.

2. Florida's own Voter Protection Act also — probably — doesn’t reach this behavior; did the legislature intend to criminalize interference with any election conducted on Florida soil, or only elections governed by American law?

A person may not directly or indirectly use or threaten to use force, violence, or intimidation or any tactic of coercion or intimidation to induce or compel an individual to:

(a) Vote or refrain from voting;

(b) Vote or refrain from voting for any particular individual or ballot measure.

The law doesn’t expressly mention domestic elections, but would a court rule that the state has any legitimate interest in foreign elections, or even jurisdiction? Doubtful.

3. Intent

Even if the statute covers Brazilian elections – doubtful — the prosecution still must prove the required purpose.

Silva told investigators that he only wanted to see people's reactions; he was pulling a prank on his fellow Brazilians. There’s a differrence between Intending to frighten people and intending, through intimidation, to compel people to refrain from voting.

4. Is it unlawful to wear a jacket, available on Amazon for thirty bucks, if it is emblazoned “ICE”? What if a street vendor selling cool drinks wears one in public to advertise his wares? Is that really an “unlawful wearing of law enforcement insignia”?

You have 30 minutes; remember to sign your exam booklet and return it to the Proctor as you leave.

Criminality on the sands of miAMI?

UPDATE: I had meant to add, but forgot to add this — now I will. The ultimate irony here would be if Mr. Silva is himself an illegal alien; he did try to bribe his way out of being arrested, after all. If he is, and the authorities are sure to check, he’ll be boxed and shipped back to Brazil faster than he can say “Vote cedo e varias vezes!”

"If they weren't stupid, we'd be out of business"

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That’s what a colleague pointed out to me on the steps of Stamford’s Criminal Court one morning as the two of us were leaving the Monday arraignment session and I’d complained, “our clients are so stupid!”

With that introduction, and following up on last weeks’ initial report on the bust of a credit card/stolen check thief on Greenwich Avenue, I present chapter two of Tales of the Nigerian Prince— the saga of Onyedikachi Chukwujekwu Agu “of New Rochelle”

The investigation began July 15 when undercover officers with the organized retail crime unit detained Agu and three other suspects at a bank on Greenwich Avenue. Agu prompted officers' suspicions in part by donning a face mask and hooded sweatshirt in 90-degree weather before walking to an ATM vestibule while constantly looking over both shoulders, according to an arrest warrant.