Newsom Played While LA Was Burning

/in , , , /by

By Conlan Salgado

Written by Conlan Salgado

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Gavin Newsom, forgetting that words are occasionally indications of thought, claimed that the LA riot-crisis was “manufactured”. Apparently, he assumed this was a smacking rebuke to the President, completely missing the fact that no one on the right suggests the crisis isn’t manufactured; we simply say it is manufactured by the Governor, the Mayor of LA, and the well-funded professional protest groups organizing the current violence.

On another point, these protests remain the most stark example thus far that the Democrat Party is not reforming itself in light of its wildly unpopular Biden-era brand. Instead, it is quadrupling down. Mostly, the pundits have attributed this ideological inertia to Trump Derangement Syndrome, and I certainly don’t wish to dismiss this explanation entirely, since, as the old phrase goes: if it acts like a cook, and screams like a cook, it probably is a cook.

Then

This notwithstanding, it is important to remember that the Democrat party is resilient in a way that only cockroaches and Michael Myers are; post-Civil War, the Democrat Party was not only a ruined political party, but it had lost its culture as well–the plantation culture of the ante-bellum south–and as the sole political party of the “new nation” of the Confederacy, it had not only lost tens of thousands of soldiers, but was being militarily occupied by the Union.

Beginning with the leadership of Martin Van Buren, however, the Democrat Party transformed from the Party of the cotton plantation to the Party of the urban plantation, quickly assimilating the new immigrant classes flooding into America from the late 19th century onward as a new indigent constituency. It is perhaps ironic, though tragic, that the ethnic blocs–such as the Irish or blacks–who garnered enormous political power under the hospices of the Democrats, remained relatively poor and ghettoized in the cities, while immigrant groups which did not garner significant political power–such as the Chinese–remain to this day on average more successful than white people.

I review this history not to dampen the joy of my fellow populists who secretly hope they are witnessing the long-deserved demise of the Party of the Klu Klux Klan; rather, I use it as a counter-frame which helps explain why America’s Donkey is as stubborn as a mule.

One reason why the Democrat Party re-fashioned itself from a slavery party into an immigrant party is precisely because the Civil War saw it totally decimated. Afterwards, it had none of its old capital left. The main ante-bellum institution of the Democrat Party was in fact the institution of slavery, which supported the Southern Plantation Culture–the culture from which Democrat politics was downstream in that particular era.

Slavery was the cornerstone of the Democrat political identity and program to such an extent that by the start of the Civil War, the Democrats could not articulate their defense of states rights and sovereignty outside the defense of slavery itself. Recall too how the Democrat-controlled Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act and strongly supported the Dred Scott decision, quite possibly the worst Supreme Court decision in American History (excluding Roe v Wade).

Following the Civil War, the Democrat Party could not, for obvious reasons, condition its identity on the institution of slavery, and although it never abdicated its worst impulses–racism, a tendency for violent activism, elitism, and reliance on institutional coercion rather than popular appeal–it necessarily had to make itself into a new-seeming entity.

Now

According to the foregoing understanding, the 21st century Democrat Party will not remake itself because it still has dozens of powerful institutions under its control–institutions which exist to sanction and protect its ideological identity. Or, more cynically expressed: it is not an efficient use of resources, of political capital, for the Democrat Party to reconfigure itself.

Consider the grand causes of the Democrat policy platform: mass immigration/open borders, transgenderism, unrestricted access to abortion, LGBTQIA+. . . . Out of these four Raison d’êtres, which has been accomplished through honest populism?

Biden absolved our borders in open defiance of the law and the will of the people, who support mass deportations by a majority; the unfettered right to abortion was created by a cowardly and progressive Supreme Court, specifically in opposition to the 44 states which had laws in place that either banned abortion entirely or restricted it to specific circumstances, such as when necessary to save the life of a mother; gay marriage was once again rights-ified by the Supreme Court, contradicting centuries of history and tradition and under the guise of a movement which went from claiming a right to perform consensual sex acts privately to claiming the right to perform sex acts on MainStreet; at the same time, the exploitation of children by LGBTQ activists is perpetrated by the public school system, public libraries, educational bureaucracies, and media corporations, though MOST PARENTS are strongly against any sexual content being taught to elementary aged youth.

Under Joseph Biden, parents who publicly and loudly protested against their school boards were targeted by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, almost as if they resembled domestic terrorists.

In each and every case, these agendas were obtruded on the People by institutional power. Systemic institutional indoctrination campaigns–movies, commercials, NGO-funded activism, university and corporate seminars, public health policy guidance, et al–sanction and proffer these causes to America and her youth.

Consider the case study of transgenderism.

At once, major medical organizations, including those entrusted with the care of family and pediatric health, accredit mutilation and gross hormonal manipulation as “necessary and appropriate gender affirming care”, while political aristocrats such as the Pritzker women and Mackenzie Scott donate millions or hundreds of millions to transgender advocacy groups and university medical departments. Hollywood produces and then awards transgender parables such as the recent Emilia Perez, or The Danish Girl. Media Moguls celebrate the unsexing or androgenizing of their children: Charlize Theron, Cher, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rosie O’Donell, among others. . . The hadiths of secularism–Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Sports Illustrated, and Time–have each role-modeled and visually celebrated transgenders on their covers.

It is a coalition of associations, rather than one or two, which countenance and propagate the pet priorities of the Left. The imposition is across every social sector, through every media, by every power-broker.

Forever

Having acquired a network of such astonishing resources and capacity, it may strike one as especially odd how the Democrat Party does not use its diverse resources to perpetrate a politically expedient rebrand. The rebrand, however, is entirely unnecessary.

Those who chide the Democrat Party regarding their electoral loss mistake its political character entirely. An election is a measure of popular approval, which is nearly superfluous to the realpolitik clout amassed by the Left. It has not accomplished its overarching political goals through proper populism since the era of FDR. It agitates through institutions.

After all, even though they lost the House, the Senate, and the White House, through their network of lawyers and judges, they have effectively collared the executive branch. Elections are bonuses, but losing them is not an insurmountable obstacle to policy implementation.

Even when it presents as populist–for example, when it pretends to inspire mutli-city grassroots protest movements–the truth is much simpler: these are centrally funded and centrally organized activist street syndicates.

Additionally, we must consider how this network itself is controlled not by a person, or even a group of people, but by an ideology. To be blunt, this ideology is extreme, being well-represented by ideas the likes of transgenderism and late-term abortion.

To “moderatize”, as its critics suggest, would threaten to fracture the Leftist coalition, making it ideologically incoherent. Even if the Democrat Party were to soften its stance, would the ACLU, Hollywood, or MSNBC follow suit?

The objective of this ideology and its ant-hill of alliances is also too close to being achieved. The Left recently lost an important battle, but they are not yet losing the war. The creation of images, narratives, regulations, moral norms, still lies squarely with leftist institutions.

I celebrate Donald Trump and I sing Donald Trump, but anyone who deceives himself into believing that the Bureaucracy cannot survive four years of onslaught is an ignoramus and a fool. THEY plan to sit Mr. T out.

They plan to rage against the dawning of the light. They plan to ignite a fire in your home, if not in your heart. They plan to burn down your city to pass the time.

Perhaps there is a difference between hell and LA, but it is not fire and hatred.

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Governor Gavin Newsom Played While Los Angeles Burned

/in , , , /by

By Conlan Salgado

Written by Conlan Salgado

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Gavin Newsom, forgetting that words are occasionally indications of thought, claimed that the LA riot-crisis was “manufactured”. Apparently, he assumed this was a smacking rebuke to the President, completely missing the fact that no one on the right suggests the crisis isn’t manufactured; we simply say it is manufactured by the Governor, the Mayor of LA, and the well-funded professional protest groups organizing the current violence.

On another point, these protests remain the most stark example thus far that the Democrat Party is not reforming itself in light of its wildly unpopular Biden-era brand. Instead, it is quadrupling down. Mostly, the pundits have attributed this ideological inertia to Trump Derangement Syndrome, and I certainly don’t wish to dismiss this explanation entirely, since, as the old phrase goes: if it acts like a cook, and screams like a cook, it probably is a cook.

Then

This notwithstanding, it is important to remember that the Democrat party is resilient in a way that only cockroaches and Michael Myers are; post-Civil War, the Democrat Party was not only a ruined political party, but it had lost its culture as well–the plantation culture of the ante-bellum south–and as the sole political party of the “new nation” of the Confederacy, it had not only lost tens of thousands of soldiers, but was being militarily occupied by the Union.

Beginning with the leadership of Martin Van Buren, however, the Democrat Party transformed from the Party of the cotton plantation to the Party of the urban plantation, quickly assimilating the new immigrant classes flooding into America from the late 19th century onward as a new indigent constituency. It is perhaps ironic, though tragic, that the ethnic blocs–such as the Irish or blacks–who garnered enormous political power under the hospices of the Democrats, remained relatively poor and ghettoized in the cities, while immigrant groups which did not garner significant political power–such as the Chinese–remain to this day on average more successful than white people.

I review this history not to dampen the joy of my fellow populists who secretly hope they are witnessing the long-deserved demise of the Party of the Klu Klux Klan; rather, I use it as a counter-frame which helps explain why America’s Donkey is as stubborn as a mule.

One reason why the Democrat Party re-fashioned itself from a slavery party into an immigrant party is precisely because the Civil War saw it totally decimated. Afterwards, it had none of its old capital left. The main ante-bellum institution of the Democrat Party was in fact the institution of slavery, which supported the Southern Plantation Culture–the culture from which Democrat politics was downstream in that particular era.

Slavery was the cornerstone of the Democrat political identity and program to such an extent that by the start of the Civil War, the Democrats could not articulate their defense of states rights and sovereignty outside the defense of slavery itself. Recall too how the Democrat-controlled Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act and strongly supported the Dred Scott decision, quite possibly the worst Supreme Court decision in American History (excluding Roe v Wade).

Following the Civil War, the Democrat Party could not, for obvious reasons, condition its identity on the institution of slavery, and although it never abdicated its worst impulses–racism, a tendency for violent activism, elitism, and reliance on institutional coercion rather than popular appeal–it necessarily had to make itself into a new-seeming entity.

Now

According to the foregoing understanding, the 21st century Democrat Party will not remake itself because it still has dozens of powerful institutions under its control–institutions which exist to sanction and protect its ideological identity. Or, more cynically expressed: it is not an efficient use of resources, of political capital, for the Democrat Party to reconfigure itself.

Consider the grand causes of the Democrat policy platform: mass immigration/open borders, transgenderism, unrestricted access to abortion, LGBTQIA+. . . . Out of these four Raison d’êtres, which has been accomplished through honest populism?

Biden absolved our borders in open defiance of the law and the will of the people, who support mass deportations by a majority; the unfettered right to abortion was created by a cowardly and progressive Supreme Court, specifically in opposition to the 44 states which had laws in place that either banned abortion entirely or restricted it to specific circumstances, such as when necessary to save the life of a mother; gay marriage was once again rights-ified by the Supreme Court, contradicting centuries of history and tradition and under the guise of a movement which went from claiming a right to perform consensual sex acts privately to claiming the right to perform sex acts on MainStreet; at the same time, the exploitation of children by LGBTQ activists is perpetrated by the public school system, public libraries, educational bureaucracies, and media corporations, though MOST PARENTS are strongly against any sexual content being taught to elementary aged youth.

Under Joseph Biden, parents who publicly and loudly protested against their school boards were targeted by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, almost as if they resembled domestic terrorists.

In each and every case, these agendas were obtruded on the People by institutional power. Systemic institutional indoctrination campaigns–movies, commercials, NGO-funded activism, university and corporate seminars, public health policy guidance, et al–sanction and proffer these causes to America and her youth.

Consider the case study of transgenderism.

At once, major medical organizations, including those entrusted with the care of family and pediatric health, accredit mutilation and gross hormonal manipulation as “necessary and appropriate gender affirming care”, while political aristocrats such as the Pritzker women and Mackenzie Scott donate millions or hundreds of millions to transgender advocacy groups and university medical departments. Hollywood produces and then awards transgender parables such as the recent Emilia Perez, or The Danish Girl. Media Moguls celebrate the unsexing or androgenizing of their children: Charlize Theron, Cher, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rosie O’Donell, among others. . . The hadiths of secularism–Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Sports Illustrated, and Time–have each role-modeled and visually celebrated transgenders on their covers.

It is a coalition of associations, rather than one or two, which countenance and propagate the pet priorities of the Left. The imposition is across every social sector, through every media, by every power-broker.

Forever

Having acquired a network of such astonishing resources and capacity, it may strike one as especially odd how the Democrat Party does not use its diverse resources to perpetrate a politically expedient rebrand. The rebrand, however, is entirely unnecessary.

Those who chide the Democrat Party regarding their electoral loss mistake its political character entirely. An election is a measure of popular approval, which is nearly superfluous to the realpolitik clout amassed by the Left. It has not accomplished its overarching political goals through proper populism since the era of FDR. It agitates through institutions.

After all, even though they lost the House, the Senate, and the White House, through their network of lawyers and judges, they have effectively collared the executive branch. Elections are bonuses, but losing them is not an insurmountable obstacle to policy implementation.

Even when it presents as populist–for example, when it pretends to inspire mutli-city grassroots protest movements–the truth is much simpler: these are centrally funded and centrally organized activist street syndicates.

Additionally, we must consider how this network itself is controlled not by a person, or even a group of people, but by an ideology. To be blunt, this ideology is extreme, being well-represented by ideas the likes of transgenderism and late-term abortion.

To “moderatize”, as its critics suggest, would threaten to fracture the Leftist coalition, making it ideologically incoherent. Even if the Democrat Party were to soften its stance, would the ACLU, Hollywood, or MSNBC follow suit?

The objective of this ideology and its ant-hill of alliances is also too close to being achieved. The Left recently lost an important battle, but they are not yet losing the war. The creation of images, narratives, regulations, moral norms, still lies squarely with leftist institutions.

I celebrate Donald Trump and I sing Donald Trump, but anyone who deceives himself into believing that the Bureaucracy cannot survive four years of onslaught is an ignoramus and a fool. THEY plan to sit Mr. T out.

They plan to rage against the dawning of the light. They plan to ignite a fire in your home, if not in your heart. They plan to burn down your city to pass the time.

Perhaps there is a difference between hell and LA, but it is not fire and hatred.

*****

Image credit: Ali Thanawalla

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Stephen Miller Makes The Case For The Big Beautiful Bill thumbnail

Stephen Miller Makes The Case For The Big Beautiful Bill

/in , , , /by

By Neland Nobel

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Everyone is discovering that rules and procedures highly complicate the appropriation process. It can lead to misunderstandings, such as Elon Musk’s tirade about not cutting enough from entitlements.

Although our general criticism stands, we also did not fully appreciate the arcane rules.

What would you expect from more than a century of lawyers running our politics? Complexity keeps us from understanding what they are doing and helps make their functions more critical.

  • The appropriation process can be confusing due to its multiple types (regular, supplemental, etc.) and the interplay between discretionary and mandatory spending.
  • Reconciliation is often politically significant because it allows major fiscal changes (e.g., tax cuts or healthcare reforms) to pass with a simple Senate majority, bypassing the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

  • Appropriation and reconciliation are distinct U.S. federal budget system processes, with different purposes, mechanisms, and outcomes.

We agree with critics that there have been insufficient budget cuts and progress in lowering the deficit. However, reconciliation bills only pertain to mandatory spending, not discretionary spending. Maybe some work requirements for Medicaid can be included in a reconciliation bill, but not major reform.

Because of the narrow majority Republicans have, they are using the reconciliation process right now, so a simple majority vote can get things done.

Remember, about 85% of the budget is mandatory and on autopilot. Most of the fights are over just 15% of the discretionary budget.

As we have often argued, we must reform entitlements to reduce spending. However, this has rarely been done because entitlement reform is the third rail of American politics. The main takeaway is that it can’t be done as a reconciliation bill, and the Big Beautiful Bill is of that genre.

Yes, we need more spending cuts, especially a lot of the COVID-era spending, but not everything can be done simultaneously. A damaged Republic cannot be repaired in a day.

Based on the 80% Reagan principle, we back the BBB and hope Congress will cut more later. But we can’t get everything done in one move.

This interview with Stephen Miller on the Charlie Kirk show is essential to understanding what is presently in the Big Beautiful Bill and is worth your time.

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Mexican President Threatened To ‘Mobilize’ Against U.S. Two Weeks Before L.A. Riots

/in , , , /by

By Brianna Lyman

Written by Brianna Lyman

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Just weeks before violent riots broke out in Los Angeles in defiance of immigration enforcement, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threatened to “mobilize” against the United States after Republicans sought to tax remittances to Mexico.

One proposal in the “big, beautiful bill” would tax remittances sent by immigrants to their home country at 3.5 percent. Remittances accounted in 2023 for roughly 7.5 percent “of global remittance flows,” according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

According to the New York Post, citing an estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the remittance tax would bring in roughly $26 billion over the next ten years.

Sheinbaum reportedly called the proposal “unacceptable.”

“If necessary, we’ll mobilize. We don’t want taxes on remittances from our fellow countrymen. From the U.S. to Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.

Her threat came just weeks before rioters descended on Los Angeles to oppose immigration enforcement measures. Rioters have lit vehicles on fire, thrown rocks at police vehicles and fireworks at officers on horseback, looted, and disrupted traffic. In response, the Trump administration sent 2,000 National Guard troops to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.”

Sheinbaum later reacted to the riots, saying “We do not agree with violent actions as a form of protest” before reiterating a call to action, telling the “Mexican community” to “act pacifically and not allow itself to be provoked.”

Still, Sheinbaum’s threat now looks less like bluster and more like a preview. Just weeks after her vow to “mobilize,” chaos has erupted on American soil over immigration enforcement. Her latest call for Mexicans to remain active — but “pacifically” — is merely part of a continued pressure campaign.

What we’re witnessing is the geopolitical consequence of mass migration. With millions of foreign nationals — legal and illegal — now living in the United States, Mexico has effectively built a soft-power network within our own borders. The mask has now slipped, and large numbers of migrants have now made clear that they aren’t merely illegal aliens treating the United States as an economic opportunity zone — they are political instruments of a foreign state.

When a foreign president can threaten to “mobilize” and, within weeks, riots targeting U.S. laws and law enforcement erupt, that’s not just migration — it’s infiltration.

*****

This article was published by The Federalist and is reproduced with permission.

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

The Legal Insurrection

/in , , , /by

By Conlan Salgado

Written by Conlan Salgado

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

 

This is the third video in a new series of videos which The Prickly Pear will publish as part of its effort to expand its content creation and reach. It aims to reduce important ideas, facts, or events into ten minute videos. In short, it aims to make conservative thought rhetorically attractive and lucid in its expression.

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Democrats’ Latest Media Venture Flops On First Day thumbnail

Democrats’ Latest Media Venture Flops On First Day

/in , /by

By Robert McGreevy

Written by Robert McGreevy

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

The second episode of the Democrats’ latest media venture, a daily live YouTube show, had less than 500 views in four hours, YouTube analytics showed.

The Democrats released the first live streamed episode of “The Blueprint” on Monday morning, garnering under 8,000 views in over 24 hours.

The second episode debuted Tuesday morning to even less fanfare, amassing just 499 views in the first four hours.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the project in an exclusive Axios article Monday, crowning DNC Deputy Communications Director Hannah Muldavin as the show’s host.

The new YouTube show comes as the Democrats spend massive amounts of time and money on trying replicate the Trump campaign’s winning alternative media strategy, which focused on cultural podcasts and new media outlets.

Billionaire Democratic-backers, including George Soros’s Open Society and Apple widow Laurene Powell Jobs, met with influential left-wing media figures like Crooked Media in February to game out a strategy to recapture the national conversation.

The latest DNC-sponsored venture pales in comparison to the regular viewership of podcasters like Theo Von and Joe Rogan, who leftwing pundits bemoaned as boosting President Trump’s 2024 electoral campaign.

Furthermore, the new initiative dropped amid other inner turmoil at the DNC.

DNC Chair Ken Martin recently admitted in a leaked audio clip that he regrets accepting the chair position.

“The other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,” Martin reportedly said in the clip, obtained by Politico.

Martin reportedly made the comments during a Zoom call May 15, which included DNC vice chair David Hogg. Hogg is currently facing a DNC vote to nullify his election as vice chair.

*****

This article was published by The Daily Caller News Foundation and is reproduced with permission.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Jon Voight Takes on Gavin Newsom Over Blame Game in California Unrest

/in /by

By The Editors

Written by The Editors

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published by Breitbart

In a whirlwind of engaging critique, Jon Voight calls out Gavin Newsom for pinning California’s anti-ICE riots on others, labeling him a chaos-monger. This no-holds-barred takedown exposes the governor’s deflection tactics amid social turmoil, urging a focus on real solutions. Voight’s compelling style draws readers in, highlighting how such leadership failures fuel division and erode trust, making for a riveting read on celebrity and politics.

Key Takeaways

  • Voight accuses Newsom of causing chaos through poor leadership, which could escalate social unrest in California.
  • The riots stem from anti-ICE sentiments, illustrating a conflict between state policies and federal enforcement.
  • This exchange underscores the impact of political blame-shifting on public discourse and national security.

Read the Original Article

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Biden’s Border Policies Leave a Lasting Legacy of Chaos

/in /by

By The Editors

Written by The Editors

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published by Frontpage Mag

Oh, the irony—Biden’s border nihilism, with its open-door fiasco, will haunt us long after he’s golfing in obscurity. This administration’s deliberate inaction has unleashed a flood of illegal immigration, overwhelming communities and straining resources, all while pretending it’s some noble cause. It’s a masterclass in self-inflicted wounds: policies that ignore basic security for political points, leading to crime spikes and economic burdens. Time to call it what it is—a disgraceful legacy that demands reversal for the sake of national sovereignty.

Key Takeaways

  • Biden's policies have facilitated massive illegal immigration, which could overwhelm border states and lead to long-term security threats.
  • The article points to the consequence of unchecked entries, increasing crime and straining public services, as argued by the author.
  • This highlights a conflict between humanitarian rhetoric and practical enforcement, potentially eroding public trust in leadership.

Read the Original Article

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Al-Qaeda Leader Issues Ominous Call to Muslims in America

/in /by

By The Editors

Written by The Editors

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published by PJ Media

PJ Media reports on a chilling directive from an Al-Qaeda leader, urging Muslims in America to act, in a clear, non-partisan breakdown of the threat. This development raises alarms about radicalization and its implications for domestic security. With concise details on the message’s content, the article equips readers to understand the broader risks, emphasizing the need for vigilant, informed responses to protect communities.

Key Takeaways

  • The leader demands action from U.S. Muslims, which could lead to increased terrorism risks, as per the article.
  • This highlights a global conflict involving extremist ideologies and their infiltration into Western societies.
  • Authorities are warned to enhance surveillance, potentially strengthening national security measures.

Read the Original Article

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Ciattarelli Secures GOP Nod in New Jersey Governor Race Amid Tight Competition

/in /by

By The Editors

Written by The Editors

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published by Just The News

In a compelling narrative of electoral resilience, Jack Ciattarelli has clinched the GOP nomination for New Jersey governor, bolstered by former President Donald Trump’s endorsement in his latest bid. This development underscores the dynamic interplay of party loyalties and voter sentiments in a state known for its competitive politics. Meanwhile, Mikie Sherrill’s Democratic win highlights contrasting visions for the state’s future. Such outcomes reflect broader trends in American elections, where personal liberty and fiscal responsibility often clash with expanding government roles, urging voters to weigh the long-term implications carefully.

Key Takeaways

  • Jack Ciattarelli won the GOP nomination with Trump's backing, which could energize conservative voters and lead to a closer race against Democrats in New Jersey.
  • His 2021 narrow loss to Murphy illustrates the consequence of strategic endorsements in swing states, potentially influencing future election integrity.
  • This election pits GOP focuses on economic freedom against Democratic priorities, highlighting ongoing conflicts in state-level governance.

Read the Original Article

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Scientists Challenge U.K. Court’s Definition of Biological Sex in Heated Debate

/in /by

By The Editors

Written by The Editors

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published by City Journal

In a measured examination of contemporary societal shifts, the U.K. Supreme Court’s recent affirmation in For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers—that terms like ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ pertain to biological realities—has sparked significant pushback. A group of scientists, through an open letter, contests this ruling, arguing it oversimplifies complex gender identities and could undermine inclusive policies. This development reflects broader tensions in how legal systems grapple with scientific and social evolution, potentially leading to a reevaluation of statutory language in an era of rapid cultural change. Ultimately, such debates underscore the need for deliberate, evidence-based approaches to balance individual rights with enduring biological truths, ensuring that policy evolves without eroding foundational principles.

Key Takeaways

  • Scientists in the open letter oppose the U.K. Supreme Court's ruling that 'woman' and 'sex' refer to biological sex, which could lead to ongoing legal challenges for gender-inclusive policies, according to the article.
  • The ruling in For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers highlights a conflict between biological definitions and social interpretations of gender, potentially impacting women's rights advocacy.
  • This debate emphasizes the consequence of judicial decisions on everyday language, as critics argue it risks marginalizing transgender individuals in public and legal contexts.

Read the Original Article

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Silver Makes A Move thumbnail

Silver Makes A Move

/in , , , /by

By Neland Nobel

Written by Neland Nobel

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

If you have followed this financial column over the years, readers likely know that the author is fond of precious metals. In an era of “Modern Monetary Theory”, where half-baked economists argue that the government is free to print and borrow as much money as it likes, it is an environment where the precious metals are likely to shine. We never found owning a mixture of stocks, bonds, real estate, and precious metals challenging. However, some people do, feeling the arguments to own the metals undermine arguments to own other investments.

We buy precious metals primarily to hedge against the decline in money’s purchasing power and as a diversifier against volatility. 

Other times, we buy them because we see a speculative opportunity to make money. In that sense, they are no different than buying semiconductors or drilling stocks. You do it not out of philosophy, but speculative possibility.

One need not be a “gold bug” to dabble in precious metals; one needs to have an open mind for speculative opportunity. Occasionally, the metals and the shares associated with mining the metals can make spectacular returns. Not only do they occasionally present speculative opportunities like any other group, but historically, they have had a low correlation with Wall Street. Hence, the low or opposite correlation provides an asset class that often does not move, or moves in the opposite direction of other assets, thus dampening portfolio losses and volatility.

If we define volatility as a form of risk, the most efficient portfolio is that which provides the highest return with the least risk.

The precious metals can languish sometimes for years without providing much excitement. Silver is a good example. Although silver has been money as long as gold, silver is currently not a central bank asset and has not attracted the attention that gold has gotten. Central banks have been buying gold at a pace not seen since the collapse of the monetary system back in August of 1971. For that and other reasons, gold has risen significantly in price over the past few years, but silver has lagged.  But that seems to be changing, so we bring the whole subject up for your consideration.

Relative value and strength are two ways of looking at an investment opportunity. Ideally, it is good to identify an opportunity where the price is inexpensive and has a lot of upside possibilities. Then, you couple that with good relative strength, which means the price action is better than other alternatives. Good value plus good price action doesn’t ensure success, but it raises the odds considerably.

Both relative value and relative strength can be determined by setting up a ratio chart of the two metals, and then using conventional technical analysis (trendlines, moving averages, momentum measures, sentiment, and formations) to determine if any shifts in trend are in the offing.

In ancient times, the ratio was lower, often below 10:1. As mentioned, when both were money in the US, a ratio around 15:1 was typical. This ratio closely mirrors the availability of the metals in the Earth’s crust, which is around 17:1.

In the past 50 years, the low was 14, and the high was over 120. As the very long-term chart below indicates, silver has been priced at less than 1/100 of gold on rare occasions.

 

Recently, the ratio has been well over 100, and as we write, it is still elevated at around 92. That means silver is relatively cheap compared to gold. But it may be cheap for a good reason, and that alone is not sufficient cause to buy it. However, silver has been showing better relative strength lately, and the ratio looks like it has peaked and will continue to fall.

Above, we have a five-year chart of the gold-to-silver ratio. You can see that the intermediate moving averages have rolled over and through the 50-day moving average. Silver will likely continue to do relatively better for this and other reasons.

Silver’s dollar price action looks promising, regardless of its price relative to gold. Using conventional momentum analysis, silver has had difficulty getting above $34 an ounce even as gold soars to new highs. It remains well below its two historic peaks of $50 per ounce. But recently, silver has broken through a cluster of previous tops.

In addition, silver has broken an almost 20-year bear market trendline. It displays the classic falling tops and rising bottoms of the “pennant” or megaphone formation. These are typically powerful formations, and the rules are that once it exits out of the pennant, the upside is equal to the “opening” or mouth, roughly from $8 to $50. This formation and its “rules” suggest substantial upside potential well above silver’s old high of $50.

There is an old wisdom in technical analysis that says, “The bigger the base, the bigger the bang.” Given the enormous multi-year formation that has been broken, the base is large enough for one hell of a bang.

We won’t discuss other formations, such as a giant cup and handle, because of the need for brevity. Suffice it to say that silver’s actions have many technical types excited.

Besides the metal itself, some companies mine silver. All things being equal, if the metal’s price goes up, their free cash flow goes up, their earnings go up, and presumably the stock values go up. It is a small universe, with a total market capitalization of only around $73 billion. This is smaller than the average company in the S&P 500, and the entire silver mining industry has a value about equal to one mid-sized company, like Honeywell, which has a market cap of $75 billion.

Why is this important? From a performance perspective, relatively little money is required to flow to this small industry group to drive the price strongly higher. 

What is an investor to do?

First, if this idea appeals to you, acquire some silver bullion and own the metal cash outright. You can call our long-term sponsor, American Precious Metals, at 602 840-5500 or 1-800-522-GOLD. Please be sure to mention Prickly Pear. If you do, they will offer you a special deal. If you don’t mention us, you won’t get it. 

You might consider mining shares once you have purchased silver bullion or rounds. Most of the mines are not of the quality one finds in the gold space, so buying the silver mining ETF ticker symbol SIL might be easier unless you know the mining space well or have a knowledgeable advisor.

This move in silver has been going on over the last few months, but the major breakouts from the long-term charts are relatively new, just over the past few weeks. Still, the gains year to date are impressive.

Year to date, silver bullion gains are about 24%, and gold bullion gains are up about 26%. Silver stocks (SIL) are up about 52%, and gold mining shares (GDX) are up about 52%. This is subject to change daily, but the group is having an excellent year so far. Year to date, the S&P is up about 2% in comparison, so having a metals diversification has made a “normal” stock portfolio perform better than the stock index itself.

SIL can be quite specualtive.  Since 2016, it has risen more than 230% in the space of only a year or two on two occasions. It is not for the faint of heart.

We don’t know what the future holds, but it does not appear that a significant breakthrough to correct our chronic deficits will likely happen soon.  Thus, the long-term fundamentals and the price action suggest that gold and silver will go higher.  What has changed of late is that it appears silver has finally awakened to its destiny.

*****

Long-term gold/silver ratio chart, GROK AI. Individual price charts courtesy of Stockcharts.com were created by the author.

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Demand in the Housing Market Just Got Even Worse, as Supply Piles Up thumbnail

Demand in the Housing Market Just Got Even Worse, as Supply Piles Up

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By Wolf Richter

Written by Wolf Richter

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Editors’ Note: Employment remains pretty strong, and consumers keep buying, although default rates on various kinds of credit are reaching uncomfortable levels. And while the economy seems to be avoiding a downturn, sectors like housing look soft, and we know that a housing crisis has the nasty habit of creating trouble. The housing market seems frozen, with purchases and mortgage applications falling, but prices remain sticky. For the market to clear, prices, interest rates, or both will likely have to fall. This is important because the home is the primary asset of most Americans.  Between the price of homes and the cost to finance them, owning a house, an integral part of the American dream, is becoming increasingly complex and out of reach.

Waiting for lower prices, higher incomes, and lower rates.

Applications for mortgages to purchase a home fell again in the latest reporting week, having collapsed by 39% from the same week in 2019, according to data by the Mortgage Bankers Association today. Mortgage applications are an early indicator of demand in the housing market, preceding “pending sales” and “closed sales” for this period.

This 39% plunge in purchase mortgage applications compared to 2019 documents the extent to which demand in the housing market has vanished, after prices spiked in just two years through mid-2022 by 50% and more – substantially more in many markets. Demand destruction sets in when prices are too high, a fundamental economic principle.

For two-and-a-half years, mortgage applications to purchase a home have been wobbling along above the record lows of November 2023 and February 2024 in the data going back to 1995.

This lack of demand is now coinciding with, and is contributing to, the surge in supply, as listings sit longer and get stale. Supply of existing homes rose to 4.4 [months] in April, the highest for any April since 2016, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Back in 2022, they blamed the collapse in demand on the lack of inventory for sale. Inventory had dropped to very low levels as enough home buyers saw the historic price spike in progress and decided to ride it up all the way with their old home after they’d already moved into their new home, thereby taking one home off the market, and not putting their old home on the market. Now, those vacant homes are coming on the market, with impeccable timing after demand has vanished for price reasons:

Mortgage rates have stabilized between 6.6% and 7.1% since October last year. In the latest week, the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticked down to 6.92%, according to the MBA today, the same as two weeks ago.

Mortgage rates in this range were normal to low in the pre-QE era before 2009. So that’s not the problem.

The problem is that home prices have exploded in a fantastical way during the Fed’s interest rate repression in 2020-2022 that generated the now infamous below-3% 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. That was a brief blip in history, but it did a lot of damage to the housing market by inflating home prices to absurd levels, the consequences of which are now here for all to see…..

*****

Continue reading this article at Wolf Street.

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

The Speech Trump Needs To Give – Now

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By Charles M. Strauss

Written by Charles M. Strauss

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

I don’t know President Trump, but some of you do. (You know who you are.) Please, would you ask him to give the following speech?

“Today I am speaking to all those students and faculty at Columbia and Harvard and elsewhere, and to all their fellow travelers who are spouting all that nonsense about Israel committing genocide, and “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea. Listen carefully. Are you listening?

You’re wrong.

I’ll say it again: you’re wrong.

Israel is not committing genocide against anybody. You read that somewhere, or you heard it on a podcast or from one of your professors, and you just believed it, without ever looking up the facts for yourself.

You have been lied to – many times. You were told that Joe Biden was sharp as a tack, and you believed it. Now the truth has come out – he was not sharp as a tack; he had senile dementia. Are you not angry about being lied to? Most people hate being lied to; why don’t you?

You were told that Hunter Biden’s laptop was not real. People from your own government said it was “Russian disinformation.” You were gullible. You believed it, and you never checked it out for yourself.  Now that you know that Hunter Biden’s laptop was real, and that your government lied to you, how does that make you feel?

The Democrats – politicians and media – told you that the Wuhan Virus did not come from the Wuhan Virus Lab. They told you it came from Chinese people eating strange animals from street markets. The fact that there happened to be a virus lab nearby was just a coincidence, right? Now that the truth has come out, aren’t you bothered that they lied to you?

The same people who told you Biden was sharp as a tack told you that Israel is committing genocide. Why on earth would you believe them this time? How can you believe anything they say?

So maybe you’re thinking “OK, they lied to me, many times, but that’s still better than supporting Trump, because he is a racist!” Who told you I was a racist? The same people who told you all those other lies. What makes you think they are not lying about that, too? They told you I said that white supremacists are “very fine people.” There is a video — look it up online — of me saying the exact opposite, that white supremacists should be condemned. Look it up! Even Snopes finally admitted that the “very fine people” hoax is false.

Did you know that for many years, Israel has provided most of the food for Gaza, because in Gaza, they don’t produce their own food, just rockets to launch at Israeli civilians? Did you know that Hamas steals much of that food, and either eat it themselves, or sells it to Gazans, when it was supposed to be free? If any Gazans are starving, it’s because Hamas is stealing the food Israel is trying to give them!

Did you know that Hamas builds their headquarters and rocket launchers inside schools and hospitals, trying to get Israel to kill children, so they can tell gullible people like you that Israel is targeting civilians?

Did you know that when Israel plans to bomb a Hamas headquarters located under a school or hospital, they try to warn everybody to evacuate, to minimize civilian casualties? They make phone calls and send texts. They drop leaflets warning people to get out of the building. And did you know that sometimes Hamas will shoot civilians who try to leave, because Hamas wants to increase civilian casualties, to show as propaganda to gullible people like you?

Do you know the difference between a “terrorist” and a “freedom fighter”? A freedom fighter targets enemy soldiers. A terrorist intentionally targets non-combatants: children, women, teenagers like the ones who were dancing at a “peace” music festival – ironically organized to show support for Gaza! 

A terrorist also uses “terroristic” methods to kill people. They don’t just shoot them; they cut their heads off, they rape them, they mutilate their genitals, they burn them alive. You don’t have to take my word for it – look it up. On October 7, 2023, the Hamas terrorists made GoPro and iPhone videos of themselves beheading, raping, mutilating, and burning.  Look it up online!

Freedom fighters don’t kidnap people. Terrorists kidnap people, including babies. What kind of savage kidnaps babies? Hamas terrorists, that’s who. Oh, do you think kidnapping babies, and raping women and girls is justified, in retaliation for genocide? First of all, it’s not, which is why you heard about the French Resistance in World War II killing German soldiers, but never targeting their families. Rape, kidnapping and targeting civilians is never justified. Civilized people don’t do that. Second, let me repeat, in case you missed it before: Israel is not committing genocide. That’s a lie.

Those words that you chant – “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free.” You don’t know what that means, do you? Quick, pop quiz. What river? What sea? You have an iPhone, but you never looked it up, did you? Go ahead, look up a map of Israel. It is bordered on the east by the Jordan River, and on the west by the Mediterranean See. What that chants means is “Kill all the Jews between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.” So next time you are out protesting, try being honest for a change, and say what you mean. You mean “Kill all the Jews in Israel,” so just come right out and say it, OK?

What about “Globalize the intifada”? You chant that, but you don’t know what it means. It means “No just in Israel; kill all the Jews in the world.” Ok, if that’s what you mean, at least be honest enough to come out and say it.

“Queers for Palestine”? Don’t you know that homosexuality is against Sharia law, and that in Gaza, the punishment for homosexuality is death? Seriously, you didn’t know that?

What about you feminists? You’re worried that you might be forced to wear bonnets like in “Handmaid’s Tale.” You’ve seen pictures of the women in Gaza. They are forced to cover themselves from head to foot in black burquas. Not bonnets – burquas! They can’t vote. They can’t even leave the house without a male escort! Why are you not protesting for their rights?

Look, it’s hard to admit that you are wrong, and that you fell for a con. But grow up and just do it. You were lied to and you believed the lies. Let go of the lies, and move on with your life. Get the hate out of your heart, and replace it with love.  You’ll be a better person, and you will be happier.

Free Israel! Free Gaza from Hamas!”

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

Poll: Taylor-Robson Beating Biggs In Arizona Republican Gubernatorial Race thumbnail

Poll: Taylor-Robson Beating Biggs In Arizona Republican Gubernatorial Race

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By Zachery Schmidt

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A new poll from Noble Predictive Insights shows Karrin Taylor Robson beating U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs in the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary race.

The poll indicated Taylor Robson has a 7-point lead over Biggs, R-Chandler, with 24% to 17%. However, despite this lead, 37% of Arizonans who participated in this survey said they are unsure. 

Between the two candidates, the poll found Arizona registered voters thought Taylor Robson was a more loyal supporter of President Donald Trump: 46% to 37%.

For this question, NPI surveyed 406 registered Republican voters. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.76 percentage points.

In a press release after the poll was released, Taylor Robson said she was honored to have the “trust and support of Arizonans.”

“With President Trump’s endorsement and a growing coalition of law enforcement, parents and small business owners behind us, we’re building the kind of grassroots movement that has the momentum to win next year,” she said.

Trump endorsed both Republicans – Biggs in April and Taylor Robson in December.

David Byler, chief of Research at NPI, said the race between Biggs and Taylor Robson is “still extremely close.” Byler noted “voters don’t have well-formed opinions” on either candidate.

This poll was conducted between May 12 and May 16 and released last week.

As NPI finished its surveying, Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, endorsed Biggs in the race. 

NPI said this “may shift the race dramatically.” The polling company explained that Kirk’s endorsement gives Biggs an opportunity to gather conservative grassroots support and “potentially leapfrog Taylor Robson as the frontrunner.”

And Kirk’s endorsement allows Biggs to appeal to voting blocs beyond the traditional Republican base, NPI said.

“The moment Kirk stepped out and backed Biggs, the math changed,” Byler said.

“Biggs now has the opportunity to inherit a young, digital-savvy base that Kirk built, which could be decisive,” he said.

When it comes to matchups against Gov. Katie Hobbs, these races are close. Hypothetical matchups between the Democratic governor and the two Republican candidates are within this question’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. This means the races are virtually tied.

NPI surveyed 1,026 registered voters in Arizona for this question.

Hobbs has a “foundation, but not a fortress,” Mike Noble, the NPI founder and CEO, said.

“With Republicans energized and the Trump factor still strong, this is shaping up to be a close and unpredictable race this early on,” he explained.

Taylor Robson ran for Arizona governor in 2022, but lost the Republican primary to Kari Lake. Hobbs defeated Lake in the general election.

*****

This article was published by The Center Square and is reproduced with permission.

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Hogg is a Four Letter Word

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By Thomas Reiner

Written by Thomas Reiner

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

No one is above the law . . . unless one is a Democrat

Say hello to the modern Democratic Party, which has devolved into separate, tiny, warring fiefdoms, each clutching its list of grievances. This division has been slowly growing since President Kennedy’s assassination, but has gained Category Five destructiveness with the Dynamic Duo of Obama and Biden.

There are so many disparate teams of Leftist knuckleheads that the Democratic Party should be aptly renamed the NFL, aka Neuroses Fueled Lunatics. They wage combat against one another, vying to transform America into the Socialist Paradise that it was never meant to be. Here are some of the front-running “teams”.

“The Supremes” is led by Katanji Jackson and her team of 677 District Judges known as “the Little Presidents”. “The Sharpies”, are led by The Most Reverend Al Sharpton, and his band of “The Reparations”, who strangely feel that they are owed something for doing nothing. A fan favorite is “The AWFLs”, led by Pocohontas and her “Army of Karens”. Never underestimate “The Jew Haters”, led by “the Hamas Assassination Squad”. They are killers on the field. One 8-year-old team is simply “Not Gaga for MAGA,” whose motto is “Spew but don’t Do”. The newest team, soon to become Democrat voters, is “The Invaders” with no leader but ten million squad members. The team expected to lose this season is, “The Boomers”, led by Pelosi and her Octogenarians. This is promising to be the best Demolition Derby in years. Place your bets on “The Trumpers and the MAGAMEN” to completely make the NFL a far distant memory.

The newest despot to become a Commissioner of the NFL is David Hogg, who was recently elected as a vice chair to the Democratic National Committee. This little twerp is ripping the Democratic Party apart by acting as a judge, jury and executioner of any Democrat of whom he disapproves. His actual job, which he is failing to do, is to promote all Democrats to winning elections but all he is capable of is to yell “Okay Boomer” on any television camera pointed in his direction. His “leadership” will lose many Democratic seats in Congress.

Hogg is going to throw $20 million into the arena to primary any Democrat over the age of 26 (Hogg is 25) because “everyone” knows that those oldsters don’t know anything. Just ask any teenager. Hogg probably doesn’t realize he is an unwitting practitioner of Machiavelli’s “The Prince”, the bible of divide and conquer. He is suspected to be an agent of the MAGAMEN.

It is time for the Democratic Party to wage a civil war against itself and divide into the Traditional Democratic Party and the Socialist Democratic Party. If they fail in this endeavor, the American People will send the entire Democratic Party into the dustbin of history, like the Whigs.

The Republican Party is far from perfect, but it has reinvented itself into the Party of the Working Man, whereas the Democratic Party is the Party of the Coastal Elites. America’s best chance for survival is re-industrialization, lower taxes, and strengthening legal Migration.

A civil war is erupting inside the Democratic Party so grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.

*****

This article originally appeared on https://thomasreiner1.substack.com/

Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot Scripps News

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

LOS ANGELES: THE WORLD’S RIOT CAPITAL

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By Mark Wallace

Written by Mark Wallace

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

It happens like clockwork: once every several decades, the City of Los Angeles has a major riot resulting in lost lives, burnt buildings, and the massive destruction of property. In 1965, it was the Watts Riots. 27 years later, in 1992, the Rodney King riots. And now, in 2025, Los Angeles is in the midst of yet another carnival of rioting precipitated by the lawful actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) in rounding up murderers, human traffickers, child rapists and other vile criminals who happen to be illegally present in the United States.

But all riots are not equal. For perhaps the first time, the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Governor of California are lined up not on the side of law enforcement but on the side of the criminals. Local law enforcement has apparently refused to come to the aid of fellow ICE law enforcement officers. Unwilling to permit ICE officers be murdered by hooligans throwing Molotov cocktails, President Trump quite rightly has federalized the California National Guard and ordered 2,000 troops to Los Angeles to defend these ICE  officers and to protect federal government property within the City of Los Angeles, such as the Roybal Federal Courthouse. 

It’s been ugly and violent. Insurrectionists waving Mexican flags have burned automobiles. The American flag has been burned as well. One wonders if these criminals love Mexico so much and hate the United States so much why they don’t all just go back to Mexico and save us all a lot of trouble.

The fact of the matter is that Los Angeles, a so-called “sanctuary city,” is a target-rich environment in which ICE has a lot of work to do. ICE has begun that work, and has been met with threats and violence. It’s important for ICE not to back down, and to administer swift justice to those who seek to prevent ICE from doing its job. If that means arresting these miscreants by the thousands, so be it. California has lots of desert land owned by the federal government, totally appropriate for building barbed wire-rimmed camps to hold them pending trial should existing detention facilities be filled to capacity.

Article One, Section Nine of the Constitution of the United States provides that “[t]he Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” (Italics added). Perhaps Los Angeles is at that point now. Thousands of criminals in Los Angeles are fighting to prevent ICE from enforcing immigration law. That sounds like a “Rebellion” to me. If Habeas Corpus is suspended, the thugs who seem bent on burning down Los Angeles can be arrested and held without court hearings until things simmer down. We can’t have lunatic left-wing judges turning these thugs back on the street to riot and burn some more while the problem is still ongoing. In the old days, when people had more respect for the law, the saying was “habeas corpus be damned, we’ll give them post-mortems.” There’s no need to go that far, but firm, direct and timely action is required to prevent Los Angeles from being ceded to the lawbreakers.

Predictably, California has now filed a lawsuit to require President Trump to withdraw federal troops and to leave ICE agents to the mercy of those whose main objective is to slaughter them. Here is yet another instance of Blue State Democratic officials siding with the criminals instead of law enforcement. We’ll soon see if they can find a judge who is sufficiently corrupt to side with the bad guys and issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction requiring President Trump to take away ICE’s protection and leave ICE officers exposed to murder and mayhem.

Article Two, Section Three of the U.S. Constitution provides that the President “shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Undoubtedly, President Trump is doing precisely that in sending the National Guard to Los Angeles to protect ICE. If some rogue judge orders President Trump not to obey the Constitution and to withdraw all federal forces immediately, is President Trump required to obey such a patently unlawful order? Who has greater authority, a rogue judge or the Constitution? Suppose China sent a flotilla and invaded the United States at San Diego, and a judge friendly to the Chinese Communist Party ordered President Trump not to deploy federal troops to resist the invasion. Would President Trump be required to obey such an order? Would he have to delay sending in the Army and Marines while an appeal of the order was pending?  

These are weighty questions, and if the carnage in Los Angeles continues on its present course, we may soon have an answer.  

*****

Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot Forbes

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR

LOS ANGELES: America’s Riot Capitol thumbnail

LOS ANGELES: America’s Riot Capitol

/in , , , /by

By Mark Wallace

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

It happens like clockwork: once every several decades, the City of Los Angeles has a major riot resulting in lost lives, burnt buildings, and the massive destruction of property. In 1965, it was the Watts Riots. 27 years later, in 1992, the Rodney King riots. And now, in 2025, Los Angeles is in the midst of yet another carnival of rioting precipitated by the lawful actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) in rounding up murderers, human traffickers, child rapists and other vile criminals who happen to be illegally present in the United States.

But all riots are not equal. For perhaps the first time, the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Governor of California are lined up not on the side of law enforcement but on the side of the criminals. Local law enforcement has apparently refused to come to the aid of fellow ICE law enforcement officers. Unwilling to permit ICE officers be murdered by hooligans throwing Molotov cocktails, President Trump quite rightly has federalized the California National Guard and ordered 2,000 troops to Los Angeles to defend these ICE  officers and to protect federal government property within the City of Los Angeles, such as the Roybal Federal Courthouse. 

It’s been ugly and violent. Insurrectionists waving Mexican flags have burned automobiles. The American flag has been burned as well. One wonders if these criminals love Mexico so much and hate the United States so much why they don’t all just go back to Mexico and save us all a lot of trouble.

The fact of the matter is that Los Angeles, a so-called “sanctuary city,” is a target-rich environment in which ICE has a lot of work to do. ICE has begun that work, and has been met with threats and violence. It’s important for ICE not to back down, and to administer swift justice to those who seek to prevent ICE from doing its job. If that means arresting these miscreants by the thousands, so be it. California has lots of desert land owned by the federal government, totally appropriate for building barbed wire-rimmed camps to hold them pending trial should existing detention facilities be filled to capacity.

Article One, Section Nine of the Constitution of the United States provides that “[t]he Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” (Italics added). Perhaps Los Angeles is at that point now. Thousands of criminals in Los Angeles are fighting to prevent ICE from enforcing immigration law. That sounds like a “Rebellion” to me. If Habeas Corpus is suspended, the thugs who seem bent on burning down Los Angeles can be arrested and held without court hearings until things simmer down. We can’t have lunatic left-wing judges turning these thugs back on the street to riot and burn some more while the problem is still ongoing. In the old days, when people had more respect for the law, the saying was “habeas corpus be damned, we’ll give them post-mortems.” There’s no need to go that far, but firm, direct and timely action is required to prevent Los Angeles from being ceded to the lawbreakers.

Predictably, California has now filed a lawsuit to require President Trump to withdraw federal troops and to leave ICE agents to the mercy of those whose main objective is to slaughter them. Here is yet another instance of Blue State Democratic officials siding with the criminals instead of law enforcement. We’ll soon see if they can find a judge who is sufficiently corrupt to side with the bad guys and issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction requiring President Trump to take away ICE’s protection and leave ICE officers exposed to murder and mayhem.

Article Two, Section Three of the U.S. Constitution provides that the President “shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Undoubtedly, President Trump is doing precisely that in sending the National Guard to Los Angeles to protect ICE. If some rogue judge orders President Trump not to obey the Constitution and to withdraw all federal forces immediately, is President Trump required to obey such a patently unlawful order? Who has greater authority, a rogue judge or the Constitution? Suppose China sent a flotilla and invaded the United States at San Diego, and a judge friendly to the Chinese Communist Party ordered President Trump not to deploy federal troops to resist the invasion. Would President Trump be required to obey such an order? Would he have to delay sending in the Army and Marines while an appeal of the order was pending?  

These are weighty questions, and if the carnage in Los Angeles continues on its present course, we may soon have an answer.  

*****

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So-Called ‘Maryland Father’ Indicted for Smuggling Children, Guns and Drugs

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By Hans von Spakovsky

Written by Hans von Spakovsky

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Editors’ Note: This story could be considered amusing if it were not so serious. Democratic leaders selected this particular case of a “Maryland father” as a poster boy for their political theatre antics, only to find he is indeed a hardened criminal, the kind Democrats let in by their unvetted, government-subsidized, mass immigration policies. Arguments about due process don’t look so appealing as the background of this character is revealed. The fact is, Democrats were breaking immigration laws by letting this mass migration take place over the past few years. We want to see some “due process” for Biden Administration officials like Alejandro Mayorkas.

A federal grand jury in Nashville has issued a searing criminal indictment of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran in the U.S. illegally whom Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., referred to as “his constituent” and a “Maryland father.”  

Garcia may be a Maryland constituent, but he won’t win any Father of the Year awards, according to the indictment. He is accused of being involved for almost a decade in organized human trafficking and arms and narcotics smuggling. This is the person whom Van Hollen went all the way to El Salvador to visit over his “illegal detention” and to demand his return to Maryland.

Garcia was, according to the indictment, a member of MS-13 who conspired with six others to “transport and move aliens” illegally into and throughout the country starting in 2016. These conspirators “facilitated the travel” of illegal aliens from “El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico, and elsewhere” and many of those individuals “included MS-13 members and associates.”

Garcia’s job, apparently, was to pick up illegal aliens and gang members in Houston and then move them, which is what he was doing when he got stopped by the Tennessee State Patrol in 2022 while driving a Chevrolet Suburban he did not own. He had an expired driver’s license and there were nine other unrelated male Hispanics with no IDs and no luggage in the car.

All of them said they lived with Garcia and, according to the officer, Garcia “pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to put the encountering officer offtrack by responding to questions with questions.”

You’d have to lack any common sense not to understand what was going on at that traffic stop. But then, it seems, unfortunately, that Garcia’s supporters lack common sense. The indictment says he made at least 100 trips and transported from six to 10 aliens on each trip.

If the allegations in the indictment are true (of course, he is presumed to be innocent unless and until the government proves his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt), one can’t fault Garcia for not being a “good provider” for the abused wife who wants him back. The indictment says that Garcia and his cohorts required the illegal aliens to pay “in cash for facilitating their transport.” The conspirators “later transferred, via Western Union and other means, at least some of these monies … to other co-conspirators in foreign countries such as Mexico and Guatemala as part of the wider alien smuggling operation.”

A “wider alien smuggling operation?” Perhaps Van Hollen may get a few more stamps on his passport if he has to travel to other countries besides El Salvador to visit some of his other “constituents.”

But the indictment says Garcia wasn’t just picking up illegal aliens. He also “occasionally and simultaneously transported firearms illegally purchased in Texas for distribution and resale in Maryland,” the state in which many of Van Hollen’s other constituents were likely victimized by criminals using the weapons Garcia brought into Maryland.

Oh, and in addition to the aliens and guns, Garcia is accused of transporting “narcotics purchased in Texas for distribution and resale in Maryland.” 

The grand jury claims Garcia and his fellow hoods “routinely” took the aliens’ cellphones so they couldn’t contact anyone during the trips. They transported them in “an unsafe manner, including using reconfigured vehicles with aftermarket unattached seating rows, and they transported children on the floorboards of vehicles in order to maximize profits.”

So apparently “Maryland’s father,” as alleged by the Justice Department, was not only involved in trafficking adults, but he was also smuggling children in a way that risked their lives in traffic accidents.  

The indictment even says that Garcia was disciplined by one of his fellow conspirators after Garcia “abused some of the female” illegal aliens. Garcia’s coconspirator disciplined him because it was “bad for business,” lest you think he was motivated by humanitarian concerns. Abusing females? Sounds familiar.

This is the guy that Van Hollen has been spending his time and effort on trying to bring back to Maryland. In a letter the senator sent to the El Salvadoran ambassador, Van Hollen said he had met with Garcia’s wife—the one who accused him of domestic abuse—and Garcia’s mother and brother, who were “extremely worried about his health, safety, and continued illegal confinement, as am I.”

Speaking of relatives, the indictment alleges that Garcia “sometimes brought close relatives with him when he picked up undocumented aliens in Texas and transported them to other parts of the United States.” But the indictment doesn’t identify who those “close relatives” were, which raises a serious question: who were the relatives on those smuggling trips with him? Anyone we know?

Too bad Van Hollen doesn’t have the same worry about the “health and safety” of the residents of Maryland who were victimized—if the indictment is correct—by Garcia’s trafficking humans, guns, and narcotics for a decade as a member of a dangerous, deadly gang in the state Van Hollen represents.

Supporters of illegal immigration and open borders have picked the wrong poster child to glorify. And I, for one, am glad that Garcia is in “confinement.”

*****

This article was published by The Daily Signal and is reproduced with permission.

Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot CBS News

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Biden’s Autopen Scandal: A Deeper Look at White House Shenanigans

/in /by

By The Editors

Written by The Editors

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published by American Thinker

In a style that’s as engaging as it is direct, this piece uncovers the use of autopens in the White House, raising eyebrows about transparency and authenticity in governance. It’s not just about Biden—it’s a window into how automated signatures might mask deeper issues of accountability. The author points out the irony: in an era demanding openness, such tools could erode public trust. With a compelling narrative, the article argues that this practice exemplifies broader problems in federal operations, urging a return to genuine oversight. All in all, it’s a stark reminder that shortcuts in leadership often lead to long-term consequences.

Key Takeaways

  • The White House's use of autopens for signatures is automating decisions, which could undermine transparency and lead to unchecked executive power.
  • Critics argue this practice erodes democratic norms, potentially fostering more corruption in government processes.
  • As highlighted, 'Pay no attention to the male-identifying person behind the curtain'—a quote underscoring the deception at play.

Read the Original Article

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