THE OPERATIVE: “IT’S WORSE THAN YOU KNOW.”

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: “It usually is.”

Mal usually gets it right:

This is truly bananas: all of Europe appears to have been seconds away a continent-wide blackout.

The grid frequency across continental Europe plunged to 49.85 hertz — just a hair above the red-line collapse threshold.

The normal operating frequency for Europe’s power grid… https://t.co/5qyZLpammm pic.twitter.com/83eCl5B1Ux

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) April 28, 2025

Full text:

This is truly bananas: all of Europe appears to have been seconds away a continent-wide blackout.

The grid frequency across continental Europe plunged to 49.85 hertz — just a hair above the red-line collapse threshold.

The normal operating frequency for Europe’s power grid is 50.00 Hz, kept with an extremely tight margin of ±0.1 Hz. Anything outside ±0.2 Hz triggers major emergency actions.

If the frequency had fallen just another 0.3 Hz — below 49.5 Hz — Europe could have suffered a system-wide cascading blackout.

At that threshold, automatic protective relays disconnect major power plants, and collapse accelerates.

And it’s disturbingly easy to imagine multiple scenarios where that could have occurred…

Previously: The Power Is (Literally) Going Out All Over Europe.

BREAKING:

According to CNN, today’s incident in the Red Sea involving the loss overboard of both a F/A-18E “Super Hornet” and tow tractor from the main hanger bay of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), occurred while the Truman was carrying out “evasive maneuvers” to avoid incoming fire from… pic.twitter.com/zFoRZdCAnm

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 28, 2025

It certainly looks like something went seriously wrong, probably several things.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: Protester Confronts Vivek at a County GOP Event. What Happened Next Was… Unexpected. “”All right, if some few of you want to come as my guests, you’re welcome tonight. All I ask is keep an open mind… We’ll do the same. We’re not going to agree on everything, but as long as we’re talking to each other in a respectful, civil way, then I do think that we’re going to be successful as a state.”

WELL, GET TO IT: NATO calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defence spending, as annual outlay tops $1.3 trillion.

NATO nations boosted their collective spending on defence by around $120 billion in 2024 from the previous year, with the 32-strong alliance’s total outlay estimated to have been around $1.3 trillion.

Detailing individual nations’ contributions in its secretary general’s annual report, published on 24 April, NATO says: “European members and Canada invested a total of $486 billion in defence last year: a 19.4% increase in real terms.”

The commitment from Washington, DC was worth $818 billion, or 64% of spending, according to the alliance’s calculations, which were made using 2021 prices and exchange rates. This markedly exceeded the USA’s 53% share of the members’ combined gross domestic product (GDP).

Also, Europe has been more talk than action — during a great big shooting war going on right there in Europe.

YES, PLEASE: Making the U.S. Seafood Industry Great Again?

#METOO: Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer casts doubt on her suicide: ‘We’ve got big question marks over it.’

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: The Lamps Are (Literally) Going Out All Over Europe.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Data architecture is paramount for Golden Dome success — and the Department of Defense is not ready. “The primary limitation to achieving the capability will not be the physical hardware, but the ability to connect all the components. Of all the development tasks, the most critical technical hurdle in Golden Dome will be its data architecture. And of all the personnel hires, one of the most critical will be the Chief Data Officer (CDO), directly reporting to the Program Director, who will have direct control over the overall data architecture and network, and its implementation on Golden Dome hardware. In an environment with a greatly expanded number of interactions between sensors and shooters, the likelihood of a gap or security blind spot increases exponentially — unless the supporting data architecture is built to account for it from day one.”

VICTORIA TAFT: Times Have Changed Since a Portland Judge Helped an Illegal Alien Drunk Driver Evade Arrest.

THIS WAS CNN:

CNN's full-scale collapse continues rapidly. It reaches a remarkable new low led by @kaitlancollins and @abbydphillip: fewer than 500,000 viewers total in prime-time! That's almost impossible to do even if you wanted it.

Also, they're well below 100k for viewers under 55. pic.twitter.com/4gG4jMWBTH

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 27, 2025

CNN is drawing about the same number of primetime viewers as Real Housewives of Atlanta.

I’ll let readers decide which one is less fake.

RETURN TO NORMALCY (21ST CENTURY EDITION): Best Pride Month Ever! Alphabet Orgs Struggle to Stay Solvent as Corporations Drop Support.

THE COUNTERREVOLUTION HAS BEGUN: Tranny Bathrooms And The Counterrevolution. “In Houston in 2014, openly gay mayor Annise Parker pushed the city into passing an ordinance that (in addition to many other gay agenda items like protecting “gender identity”) legalized men in women’s bathrooms. The backlash was immediate and severe, with ordinary Houstonians quickly putting together a ballot initiative push to undo the ordinance. Parker was so incensed that she actually subpoenaed the sermons of church pastors that might have opposed tranny bathrooms, because what’s trivia like the First Amendment when in stands in the way of the greater glory of social justice? When actual voters had their say, tranny bathrooms went down in flames.”

FASTER, PLEASE: The Biggest Shot of Adrenaline Into U.S. Manufacturing Since WWII.

ORWELLIAN: Conservative Group Targeted by Michigan AG’s ‘Hate Crimes Unit’ Gets Day in Court After 4-Year Delay. “A Judeo-Christian law firm will finally get its day in court after Michigan’s Democrat attorney general targeted it when launching a ‘Hate Crimes Unit’ in 2019.”

I REALLY HAVE NOTHING TO ADD:

Every male member of the Court talks less than every female member of the Court.

Ketanji Brown-Jackson talks 3.2x as much as the Chief Justice, and 115x as much as the best Justice – Clarence Thomas.

Thoughts? https://t.co/ykVQI3L9rL

— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) April 27, 2025

TRUMP: Biden Auto Pen Operators Should Be ‘in Jail,’ ActBlue Is Corrupt.

COLONIALISM, STRAIGHT UP: Muslim Migrants Set Church in Wales Ablaze.

A church in Wales was set on fire by two Muslim migrants. Bethany English Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in Wales has stood since the 19th century. Over 1000 churches have been burned or vandalized in Europe.

Christianity under attack in the UK.

British churches are vandalised an average of eight times a day, according to new data by the Countryside Alliance.

A freedom of information request reveals there were 9,148 records of theft, burglary, criminal damage, vandalism and assault between January 2022 and December 2024.

Over three years, there were 3,237 cases of criminal damage to churches – including arson.

They aren’t “migrants.” They’re invaders.

IT’S (D)IFFERENT NOW BECAUSE SHUT UP:

they moved from “no one is above the law” to “illegal but heroic” the moment they lost control of the Justice Department https://t.co/Y1NUMecDBz

— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) April 28, 2025

KEVEN DOWNEY JR: Two Thug-Loving Judges Arrested—and Then It Gets Even Better! “Finally, a Democrat judge in cuffs. In the words of the immortal pitchman Billy Mays, ‘But wait, there’s more.'”

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: ‘First-of-its-kind’ operation with local law enforcement leads to nearly 800 immigrant arrests in Florida. “DeSantis and other Republican leaders in Florida have pushed local officials in the state to sign agreements with ICE under the 287(g) Program, which allows local authorities to be trained by and partner with ICE to enforce aspects of US immigration law. Florida leaders have warned that state law allows for the removal of officials who refuse to cooperate with the federal government’s immigration efforts.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Peace-Loving Trump Doesn’t Even Know How to Hitler. “Meanwhile, President Trump is out in the real world — the real real world, that is — doing things that are decidedly not very Hitlerian. Those of you who went to school when they still taught history will remember that the other Hitler was really into the whole war thing. In fact, he gave off the distinct impression that it was one of his favorite things to do.”

SLOUCHING TOWARD WORLD WAR III: Russia confirms North Korean troops fighting Ukraine as Trump’s patience with Putin wears thin.

In a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin from Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, published by Russian state media, the use of North Korean soldiers was disclosed.

“I want specially to note the participation of servicemen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Gerasimov said in the statement, which claimed they had repelled Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region.

The statement comes the same day Trump talked with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Vatican City, in what were described as positive talks. Trump also expressed his frustration with Putin, after earlier this week calling on him to stop attacks after a deadly attack on Kyiv.

“With all of that being said, there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Sanctions don’t work nearly as well as weapons do.

SCOTT PINSKER: Media Attacks Republican Women as Ugly — and Why It’s About to Get So Much Worse.

BREAKING:

#BREAKING: GERMANY, FRANCE, NETHERLANDS, FINLAND, AND GREECE ALSO REPORT BLACKOUTS https://t.co/AQ9iHemE43

— Hexdline (@HexdlineNews) April 28, 2025

More here, but the upshot is that nobody seems to know anything.

THEY’RE JUST HERE TO DO THE MUGGINGS AMERICANS WON’T: Man arrested in theft of DHS chief Kristi Noem’s purse is in the U.S. illegally, official says.

It is not believed the suspect targeted Noem because she was the Department of Homeland Security chief, Martin said.

“There is no indication it was because of that. It was frankly, it was a nice looking purse,” Martin said in a recorded telephone interview.

In the call, Martin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now involved.

“President Trump’s direction to us is we charge these folks that are here illegally and we prosecute them, as well as deport them when need be, you know, as soon as that can happen,” Martin said, adding: “What I can tell you is he won’t be back on the streets in America.”

Well, good.