IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™: City to Become ‘Sanctuary’ for Men Who Dress as Women.
Author Archive: Stephen Green
April 18, 2025
SPACE: Strange Objects Are Flying Through Our Solar System — And Now NASA Wants to Chase Them.
Astronomers have confirmed that interstellar objects—cosmic bodies originating from other stars—are passing through our solar system, and now scientists are preparing to go after them. According to a report shared via Phys.org, objects like ‘Oumuamua and Comet Borisov may be just the beginning of a flood of alien visitors, and new technologies are being developed to intercept these mysterious travelers before they vanish into deep space once again.
These interstellar objects (ISOs) offer a unique chance to study material from other planetary systems without leaving our own. Formed from massive collisions and gravitational ejections around distant stars, these cosmic nomads could reveal clues about the chemistry, geology, and formation processes of exoplanets and even entire star systems.
Despite the staggering estimate of over 10 septillion ISOs in the Milky Way, only two have been confirmed passing through our solar system.
Remember, the Ramans do everything in threes.
I FEEL YOUR PAIN:
The police can forcibly take my blood at a traffic stop and there’s a $10 billion data center in Utah spying on everything I say.
The media is telling me I’ll lose my due process rights if we don’t allow a wife beating illegal alien gang member back into the US.
I’m tired. https://t.co/WhRVAET65V
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) April 18, 2025
THE ECONOMIC HEADLINES ARE MOSTLY DOOM AND GLOOM BUT THEN THERE’S THIS: U.S. Jobless Claims Dip, Signaling Trump Labor Market Remains Strong. “Weekly jobless claims, a key measure of layoffs, have consistently ranged between 200,000 and 250,000 over the past few years, indicating steady employment conditions. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly variations, also decreased by 2,500 to 220,750, further confirming the labor market’s resilience.”
WOW, THE WHITE HOUSE WENT THERE, BIGLY: Lab Leak.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Biden Just Discovered His True Worth and I Can’t Stop Laughing.
WHAT CHOICE DO THEY HAVE? Israeli troops will remain in Gaza buffer zones indefinitely, Defense Minister Katz says.
On Wednesday, Hamas appeared to reject an Israeli-proposed ceasefire deal that would see the return of nearly a dozen hostages who have been held captive for more than 550 days. Israel resumed combat operations in the strip last month after a previous ceasefire agreement fell apart before Israel and Hamas could reach phase two.
“Unlike in the past, the IDF is not withdrawing from areas that have been cleared and captured. The [Israeli Defense Forces] IDF will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and Israeli communities under any temporary or permanent arrangement in Gaza — just as it does in Lebanon and Syria,” Katz said in a statement on Wednesday.
The buffer zones that Israel established along the Gaza border make up 30% of the strip, according to the Times of Israel. The outlet also reported that Israeli troops have been working to create the Morag Corridor, which would cut off the southern city of Rafah from Khan Younis.
Israel withdrew completely from Gaza in 2005 and Oct. 7 was the thanks they got.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Is There Any Question Which Party Is Fighting for Americans? “You won’t believe who else is ready to swoop in and save Abrego Garcia. Ok, maybe you will. It’s James Carville.”
Carville used to have better instincts.
OH, CANADA: Liberal candidate who replaced Paul Chiang attended Chinese military parade in 2015.
Peter Yuen, the party’s newly minted nominee in a Toronto-area riding, attended a massive military parade and show of martial strength in Beijing a decade ago at the invitation of a Chinese agency dedicated to influencing ethnic Chinese in other countries.
The former Toronto deputy police chief and about 75 other “overseas Chinese” from Canada were put up in a Beijing hotel, principally to watch a parade marking the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in the Second World War, stories from Chinese-language media indicate.
Another Canadian invited to the event, who asked not to be named because of the issue’s sensitivity, confirmed in an interview that Yuen was among the attendees who stayed at the DoubleTree Hilton and sat on bleachers in Tiananmen Square to watch the parade pass by.
Is there anything left the CCP hasn’t infiltrated?
COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM: Yes, Some of Them Are Considering Killing You. A Substack Says So.
CORN, POPPED: SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Challenge on Birthright Citizenship.
What does this mean? It means that at least four of the justices want to debate this case now, rather than later. But are they debating the merits of the order, or the reach of the stays?
Today’s cert and consolidation doesn’t offer any direct clues, as usual. Occasionally, the court will issue an order defining the scope of its review, but this order contains no such limitation. It appears that the Trump administration wants to challenge district courts in their habit these days of applying stays and injunctions nationally or at least more broadly than the parties involved in these disputes. But that doesn’t mean that the Supreme Court has to limit itself to those issues; they have plenary jurisdiction over cases in the federal judiciary and can decide to hear all issues at hand if four or more justices desire. (It takes four justices to approve the writ of certiorari necessary to hear an appeal.)
ABC News reports that this was the argument that the Trump administration put before the court.
Much more at the link, courtesy of Ed Morrissey.
KRUISER’S BIG IDEA: A Scumbag Gulag Where the Dems Can Frolic Forever.
April 17, 2025
BREAKING: Google holds illegal monopolies in ad tech, US judge finds.
Alphabet’s Google illegally dominates two markets for online advertising technology, a judge ruled on Thursday, dealing another blow to the tech giant and paving the way for U.S. antitrust prosecutors to seek a breakup of its ad products.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, found Google liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in markets for publisher ad servers and the market for ad exchanges which sit between buyers and sellers.
The decision, opens new tab clears the way for another hearing to determine what Google must do to restore competition in those markets, such as sell off parts of its business at another trial that has yet to be scheduled. It is the second court ruling that Google holds an illegal monopoly, following a similar judgment in a case over online search.
Whatever the remedy is, it will be slow in coming.
I MISSED THIS EARLIER BUT IT’S KIND OF A BIG DEAL:
BREAKING: Texas House just passed UNIVERSAL SCHOOL CHOICE.
The vote was 85 to 63.
The Senate already passed a similar bill 19 to 12.
Texas will be the 16th state to pass universal school choice.
This is the way. pic.twitter.com/l78MEiaZMy
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) April 17, 2025
School choice coming to the second-largest state in the union — and unlike California, still growing — is a very big deal.
WELL SAID:
His son was stabbed to death. I’d say that was pretty “disrespectful,” you scum. https://t.co/MdDp1fEE9E
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 17, 2025
Previously: Being an accused murderer with multiple witnesses ain’t what it used to be.
DON’T TOUCH OUR SHIPS IS THE THEME OF THIS WEEK’S THURSDAY ESSAY [VIP]: Houthis, China, and Us: The Great Game on the High Seas. “Most Thursdays, I take readers on a deep dive into a topic I hope you’ll find interesting, important, or at least amusing in its absurdity. These essays are made possible by — and are exclusive to — our VIP supporters. If you’d like to join us, take advantage of our 60% off promotion.”
VDH: Will Harvard Go Full Hillsdale?
Harvard University has rejected various demands of a presidential commission on anti-Semitism.
The task force wants to persuade Harvard to ensure Jewish students on its campus are no longer harassed, or else lose its federal funding.
Harvard retorts that it won’t be bullied by Washington.
Among its other requirements, the Trump administration also warned Harvard to cease using race as a criterion in its admissions, hiring, and promotion, contrary to law.
And it also directed the campus to ban the use of masks that, in the post-COVID era of protests, have emboldened violent demonstrators with anonymity.
The administration’s order to stop race-based bias was in accordance with civil rights statutes, and a recent Supreme Court decision specifically banning affirmative action at Harvard and elsewhere.
No matter. Harvard claimed that the Trump administration infringed upon its First Amendment rights.
So, it has temporarily rejected the administration’s orders. At least for now, Harvard has lost its annual $2.2 billion grant of federal funds.
Former President Barack Obama, among others, lauded Harvard’s rejection of the demands of the administration’s anti-Semitism task force. He claimed the Trump administration’s efforts were ham-handed.
But what academic freedom are Harvard and Obama talking about? The freedom to discriminate and segregate by race in hiring, admissions, dorms, and graduations?
…
Hillsdale does not take federal money, period—whether doled out by either a Democrat or Republican administration.
If Harvard cares for its principles, such as they are, more than your money, they’ll have to go Full Hillsdale.
CHRISTIAN TOTO: Why the Left Self-Censors in Trump 2.0 Era. “Stars are either censoring their own work or finding their voices silenced by fellow progressives. This time, it’s all tied to President Donald Trump. The Commander in Chief, they fear, might punish them for speaking up.”
Everybody wants to believe they’re Trump’s Enemy #1.
HMM: Astronomers say they’ve found strongest ever ‘hints’ of life beyond our solar system.
Astronomers announced Thursday that they had detected the most promising “hints” of potential life on a planet beyond our solar system, though other scientists expressed skepticism.
There has been vigorous debate in scientific circles about whether the planet K2-18b, which is 124 light-years away in the Leo constellation, could be an ocean world capable of hosting microbial life, at least.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a British-US team of researchers detected signs of two chemicals in the planet’s atmosphere long considered to be “biosignatures,” indicating extraterrestrial life.
On Earth, the chemicals dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide are produced only by life, mostly microscopic marine algae called phytoplankton.
Developing. Slowly, but developing.
WELL, YES: Trump Plans to Use Tariff Negotiations With 70 Nations to Isolate China.
Trump is also trying to engineer another Sino-Russian split, but that effort isn’t going as well and is likely premature.
WHAT IS A WOMAN? JK ROWLING IS A WOMAN, A GENUINELY TOUGH WOMAN:
Maugham has an unblemished professional record in the same way that I have an unblemished karaoke record: misplaced confidence followed by making a complete tit of yourself. pic.twitter.com/a3gR3bWRBA
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 16, 2025