POWERLINE: No Kings at the Old Folks’ Home. “They were leaving an assisted living facility. But still–they epitomize the demographic of those who turn out for Dem rallies. The Democrats’ violent rioters and looters, admittedly, trend younger.”
June 16, 2025
ICYMI: NO KINGS, JUST COMMISSARS? I report from “No Kings” Boston.
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN THINKING THIS: Is Israel About to Do the (Almost) Unthinkable?
READER FAVORITE: Toniiq NAD+ Supplement 1500mg. #CommissionEarned
INCENTIVES MATTER: Nearly 1 million illegal immigrants have ‘self deported’ under Trump, which has led to higher wages.
One of those tracks relies on arrests and deportations of aliens unlawfully here, which at the outset has focused mainly on criminals (the “worst first” strategy).
The other track is more subtle but also cheaper for taxpayers and arguably much more effective —encouraging illegal migrants here to self-deport.
It began with an Inauguration Day Trump directive requiring DHS to ensure all aliens present in the United States — legal and otherwise — have registered with the federal government, and to prosecute those who don’t comply.
…
One way to track the program is by checking employment numbers. One financial wiz cited by the Wall Street Journal calculated a decline in the immigrant population of 773,000 in the first four months of Trump II.The Washington Post claims “a million foreign-born workers have exited the workforce since March.” The Post frames this as “a sign of the weakening labor supply.” Yet the paper also notes, “Average hourly wages accelerated, rising by 0.4 percent over the month, to $36.24 in May, as earnings continue to beat inflation in a boost to workers’ spending power.”
In other words, with fewer illegal immigrants, businesses had to raise wages to attract workers.
Unexpectedly.
RAYMOND IBRAHIM: The Queer Origins of Islam’s War on Dogs.
GET RID OF PESTS: Buzbug LED Bug Zapper Indoor Outdoor. #CommissionEarned
BAD FAITH: Another UNC system administrator gets caught on camera defending efforts to protect DEI.
She looks exactly like you’d imagine a determined defender of mediocrity would look.
THE HORROR… THE HORROR…:
LOS ANGELES WOMAN SLAMS ICE: "I have friends texting me…my gardener didn't show up, housekeeper didn't show…farmer's market is closed…everyone's scared…you're gonna have to do your own dishes, clean your own house, mow your own lawn!"pic.twitter.com/yLQPoCUS6d
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 15, 2025
“Crazy Ladies Lecturing Their Selfie Cameras” is the worst show on TV.
“LOVE TRUMPS HATE” OR WHATEVER: Brookline Police launch hate crime investigation after brick thrown through kosher grocery store window.
“This morning we received a report from the owner of The Butcherie that a brick had been thrown through their window overnight,” Brookline Police said in a statement Sunday. … “Written on the face of the brick in large red letters were the words ‘Free Palestine.’”
Just after midnight Sunday, police said, multiple suspects in masks approached the local kosher grocery store at 428 Harvard St. from Coolidge Street and threw the brick through the window.
The preliminary investigation indicates that there were at least two suspects in the incident, though the exact number was no confirmed, Brookline Police stated. The suspects allegedly fled back down Coolidge Street to an unknown location after the vandalization.
No other businesses appear to have been targeted “as of now,” the police said Sunday.
Brookline Police identified the case as a “hate crime investigation” with malicious damage of property.
More to come, probably.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: You Know, I Rather Enjoy Being on the Side of Patriotism. “It was rather warm like that here all weekend, so we didn’t have a much of a ‘No Kings Day’ presence here in the Old Pueblo. Apparently, the kids were successful: I checked, and we don’t have a king. In fact, there are no extra kings anywhere in the world as of yesterday. Well done, ‘No Kings’ marchers.”
THEY GOT HIM: Minnesota Shooter Vance Boelter Apprehended.
SOCIAL JUSTICE KILLS:
New in Washington Post:
During Covid, scientists at CDC selected policies that promoted “social justice” even when CDC data showed this would cause more deaths. pic.twitter.com/ivGazYGx88
— Kevin Bass PhD MS (@kevinnbass) June 16, 2025
Lives matter less than their hare-brained ideas — but there’s nothing new about that.
OY: Iranian media claims to hit Israeli planes, but footage was actually a video game.
Iran initially claimed to have shot down a jet and captured a pilot. The news was denied by Israel, which spoke bluntly of fake news. A few hours later, a new announcement from Iranian sources: an Israeli plane was shot down and there is also a video. The clip bounces on social media, showing a jet being hit by anti-aircraft fire.
There is something wrong, however. The doubts are more than well-founded. The clip is nothing more than an excerpt from a video game, Arma 3. The realistic images, among other things, are cyclically re-proposed to document alleged jet shootdowns. Further detail: the plane inserted in the video game is not even Israeli but, apparently, it would be a Russian model.
Then there’s this:
This image is circulating in Irani telegram channels. Some say its fake, but I say its proof of 3 meter tall Iranians around a super sized F-35, which until now was top secret. pic.twitter.com/IUKzccWTLY
— Montoya 🎗️ (@montoya_test) June 15, 2025
Losers glom on to what they need to, I suppose.
ANALYSIS: TRUE. A Fatherless Nation Cannot Prosper.
Hence the war on fathers. “In 1965, nearly 80% of Black children were raised in two-parent homes.”
JOEL KOTKIN: AI is killing jobs and fuelling campus radicalism.
Today we may again be creating an assertive and angry class — as evidenced in the recent LA riots and the pro-Palestine protests on US campuses over the last year and a half — made up of degree holders. We can see this in recent reports that show the job market getting tougher for graduates. Hit hardest are those professionals on the “soft” side of the economy (finance, accounting, law, coding) whose jobs are increasingly threatened by the rise of artificial intelligence.
These industries tend to have a higher proportion of humanities graduates and countries in the West more generally have a problem with elite overproduction. As AI grows, there won’t be enough jobs to go round, and even if those graduates do get a job, their employers, with so many candidates to choose from, won’t pay well.
Related: The Coming “Symbolic Analyst” Meltdown. “As Eric Hoffer wrote, ‘Nothing is so unsettling to a social order as the presence of a mass of scribes without suitable employment and an acknowledged status.'”
NICE WORK, FELLAS: Israeli Car Bombs Take Out Iranian Nuclear Scientists.
UNEXPECTEDLY!
So much for that tariff hyperinflation.
New inflation numbers came at 1.2% — way below the Fed’s target.
For the 4th time in Trump’s 4 months.
Yet not a word about easing from the fed. Who’s now moving the inflation goal-posts to 2026 or even 2027. pic.twitter.com/nwzSCABrbR
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) June 16, 2025
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Craftsman VERSASTACK Mechanics Tool Set. #CommissionEarned
DECLINE IS A CHOICE:
Los Angeles resident records what the mall looks like right now in Downtown LA
Every store is boarded up and fortified. This is California, this is supposed to be one of the most prestigious iconic places on earth
Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have made it a 3rd world country pic.twitter.com/ExCrwYUO4I
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) June 16, 2025
Sad.
WEATHER VANES TURN AROUND LESS OFTEN: After brief moderation, California’s Newsom swings back to left with ICE protests.
When Newsom ran for governor in 2018 and for re-election in 2022, his platform included progressive causes like universal healthcare, climate change policy, criminal justice reform, and expansion of social welfare programs.
While presumably well-meaning, Newsom’s tenure as governor has exacerbated many of the state’s challenges like prolific homelessness and rising crime. As of 2023, California is home to over 180,000 homeless people, including over 10,000 veterans. Public safety has taken a demonstrable hit since California’s passage of Proposition 47, which, in addition to making drug possession no longer a felony, also classifies five property offenses for which the dollar value is less than $950 as misdemeanors: 1) theft, 2) receiving stolen property, 3) shoplifting, 4) check forgery, and 5) writing bad checks. Before the passage of the proposition, these offenses could be charged as either felonies or misdemeanors.
Prior to his term as California’s governor, in San Francisco, where Newsom was mayor from 2004 to 2011, shoplifting and property crimes spiked, with police reporting a 15% increase in theft-related incidents from 2022 to 2024.
Additionally, it is increasingly harder for residents of the Golden State to purchase a home. California’s median home price has surged to over $900,000, pricing out many middle-class families. Newsom’s policies have also increased taxes and regulatory burdens on businesses.
“Presumably” is doing an awful lot of work in that second graf.
WHY WAS THE NONPROFIT DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE PARTICIPATING IN THE ANTI-TRUMP “NO KINGS” MARCH IN BOSTON?
YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THEM FOR A MINUTE:
Trump 1.0 had Paul Ryan, who conned him on the wall. Trump 2.0 has Rollins, who's already done huge damage to his deportation efforts, sabotaging them at the worst moment (when they're starting and under attack by the press and the left). https://t.co/DfR5t1PKrj
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) June 16, 2025
