FROM DAVE FREER:  If I Wake Before I Die.

#COMMISSIONEARNED

The Hotel Miroir, with it’s mirrored halls and endless repeated patterns – not all quite the same. A place of fractal patterns where universes — might have been and could be collide. A place where Lark had once danced with the man she would always wait for.

“WHILE HIS PROPOSALS APPEAR ON THE SURFACE TO BE AIMED ONLY AT MINORS, IN REALITY, THEY WOULD IMPLICATE THE RIGHTS OF ADULTS, TOO.” Check out my review of my good friend & previous co-author Jon Haidt’s latest book in which I address some First Amendment concerns with some of his proposed solutions.

HE’LL STILL HAVE TO PAY PROPERTY TAX:  NYC landlord forced to spend $100K to boot squatters — as Dems Ron Kim, John Liu push for law changes.

THE DECISION-MAKER PRIVILEGE IS: THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES (NOT FOR THEM, ANY WAY):  Tragic wrong decisions, nobody punished. Where’s the justice in that?

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT – THE AUTHORITIES HAVE DECLARED THE BORDER ‘SECURE’:  Boy, 14, fatally stabbed trying to protect girlfriend from two ski mask-clad teens in mall: authorities.

REPORTING FROM ISRAEL THE MSM WON’T DO:  100 Days after October 7.

16 MINUTE VIDEO

Is what we hear about Israel and Hamas the full story? On October 7, the world witnessed the devastating impact of terrorism on Israel. PragerU personality Xaviaer DuRousseau traveled to Israel 100 days after the horrific attacks to uncover the truth behind the headlines and explore the real effects of the conflict on its people. His journey reveals a narrative of resilience, sorrow, and the unyielding human spirit in the face of adversity.

WITH A SMILE AND A BOW:  How Dominic Cummings pushed us into lockdown.

ALLOWING THE INVASION OF YOUR COUNTRY IS NOT A ‘POLICY DISAGREEMENT’:  On Mayorkas, Chuck Schumer Suddenly Doesn’t Like Impeachment Being Used for ‘Policy Disagreements’.

FIRST SLOW, THEN VERY FAST, AND THEN NOT AT ALL WHAT THEY EXPECT:  Greg Gutfeld on ‘Death to America’ Chant in Michigan: ‘We Are on a Slow Roll Toward Our Own Little Gazas’.

OH, IS IT TIME FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF “STOMP, STOMP, PANIC?”  Despite No Serious Human Infections with “Super Bird Flu” in US, CDC Issues a Health Alert.

When will they realize that the entire covidiocy was “funny one time only.”

YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO FORTIFY ALL FUTURE ELECTIONS. THEY’RE JEALOUS OF PUTIN’S VOTE TOTAL:  Biden effort to use tax dollars to benefit Democrats heading toward a smackdown.

WELL… IT WOULD HELP IF THEY WEREN’T SO THOROUGH SH*TWEASELS:  Why trust in the media is at an all-time low.

IF WE WERE FAILING GIRLS AS BADLY AS WE’RE FAILING BOYS, THE FEMINISTS WOULD BE UP IN ARMS:  Why boys fall behind.

The question is, why aren’t those of us who retain some sanity more up in arms? My guess is because most don’t realize how awful it is. Many parents of boys think it’s only their kid struggling. Many don’t look closely.
Some of this is illusory. Girls are given all the prizes and advanced placements. I saw girls rewarded for performances for which a boy would be failed.  But you can only do that so much before the boys are discouraged. So, part of it is true. Our schools are treating our boys — and incidentally smart, unusual girls — as second class citizens. And it’s time the parents get very upset about it.

WHAT OUR PUBLIC SECTOR NEEDS IS MILEI’S CHAINSAW:  ‘Democracy’ Means Never Having to Hear ‘You’re Fired!’

WHEN A RADICAL LIFE-ALTERING TREATMENT BECOMES A FAD, THE RESULT IS NOT PRETTY:  “Puberty is not a disease”: New longterm studies show kids grow out of gender confusion, suicide is unrelated to gender issues.

PERHAPS IT IS STUPID TO DECLARE REFUSING TO PARTICIPATE IN COMPELLED SPEECH A “HATE CRIME”?  Scottish Police Overwhelmed by 8,000 Reports of “Hate Crime” in First Week of New Law: “Will Impact the Police Force’s Ability to Deal With Actual Crimes”.

AND YET HE BEGS US NOT TO TURN OFF THE SPIGOT OF TAXPAYER MONEY:  I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.

He’s not wrong, or at least not far wrong, that we need a place where people can discuss things openly. His bizarre and tragic misunderstanding is believing that government can promote and finance such.

THEY CAN’T HELP IT, THEY ALWAYS HAVE TO BLAME AMERICA: Getting the Hiroshima Argument Wrong … Still. “Germany and Japan were bad. They were murderous aggressors that had to be stopped. The worst weapon in history was being chased by a bunch of different combatants in this very morally one-sided war, and using that weapon ended it, with destruction that could not be immediately matched, so humanity had time to be appalled and establish a taboo on further usage.”

There was a time when I doubted the morality of Hiroshima, Tokyo, and Dresden. Watching the world today, I’m glad that our forebears had the courage and moral clarity that too many parts of our contemporary society lack. And it’s funny that the same people who were all “punch a Nazi” a few years ago are now opposed to violence in opposition to, you know, actual Nazi sympathizers.

OPEN THREAD: Enjoy!

MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: Confessions of a Former Rocket Boy.

20 MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE: Iran’s Plans for an October 7 in the West Bank.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was unimpressed by the EU’s move: “ArvanCloud is a key player in the Iranian regime’s project to cut off the Iranian people from the global internet and surveil them.… ArvanCloud maintains a close relationship to Iran’s ministry of intelligence and security, and senior managers of ArvanCloud are either current or former affiliates of the ministry of intelligence and security. So ArvanCloud remains sanctioned by the United States.”

Yet the Biden administration, for its part, is waiving billions in sanctions on Iran, and has been intervening diplomatically to ease pressure on Hamas in Gaza, which signals to Tehran that its current course of action is working.

In part, that’s because, as Ben Shapiro noted today: America Is Now in the Business of Losing Wars.

UTTERLY OUTRAGEOUS: The Daily Caller is reporting about a snot-nosed child at the Washington Post demanding verification from a Navy SEAL’s wife about her husband and Republican Montana Senate Candidate Tim Sheehy’s military service.

Not that anyone at the WaPo would know what a DD-214 is, but how can they disregard the photographic evidence Sheehy posted on X?

Now, do let’s talk about Senator Blumenthal…

** Disclosure: I was an embedded photojournalist with US units in Central America in the late 70’s and have the most profound respect for our vets. And even more personal, my older brother served in the USAF in Phan Rang from 67-69, which were pretty hairy years. So you’re G-D right I’m pissed off. **

COOL: Satellite views of solar eclipse 2024: See the moon’s shadow race across North America (video, photos).

YOU WENT FULL WEIMAR, GERMANY. NEVER GO FULL WEIMAR: Germany recognizes 71-year-old, trans, Muslim, male as having been ‘born a woman.’

ANALYSIS: TRUE. ‘With a Strat you can rule the world!’ Nile Rodgers, Bonnie Raitt and John Squire on the electric guitar that changed everything.

Celebrating its 70th birthday this spring, the Strat – or Fender Stratocaster – may now be the most recognisable musical instrument of all time. It is almost certainly the bestselling guitar, loved by legions of riffing stars. “The Strat is as sturdy and strong as a mule,” Keith Richards once said, “yet it has the elegance of a racehorse. It’s got everything you need, and that’s rare to find in anything.”

Bonnie Raitt got her first one in 1969, buying it on the street at 3am after a gig. She has played it at every one of her shows since, and it was pivotal to her 13 Grammy wins. “There’s just a tone that doesn’t happen with other guitars,” she says. “It’s all about that middle pickup – you just can’t beat it.”

Radio repair man turned inventor Leo Fender could not possibly have known what he was starting when he began designing the Strat in the early 1950s. Perhaps because he wasn’t a guitarist, he approached the design differently, with an eye on not just manufacture but also repairability. Hence the bolt-on, rather than glued-in, neck. He had hit the mark a few years earlier with the Broadcaster, later renamed the Telecaster due to a legal wrangle with rival manufacturer Gretsch. He also designed the Fender Precision bass. Both were instant successes, popular with western swing bands, but the Telecaster was and remains a slab-like, utilitarian workhorse – two pickups, no nonsense. And as much as musicians loved its sound, they often complained that its square edges dug into their ribs and banged their hip bones.

Exit quote: “So what does a Strat sound like? Anything you want.”