California

Episode 1174 – Dems Caused This Oil Problem!

Let’s talk about oil and why the costs are so high. Then let’s look at how California is dealing with the oil crisis.

Finally, I’ll tell you why the oil crisis is not much of a crisis.

Before I Rant

Here is some news:

  • The new Supreme Leader of Iran missed his own coronation. Apparently, he’s in a coma and is missing a leg thanks to an Israeli missile.
  • The citizens of Cuba are protesting again , asking for a new government. President Trump is not counting out the thought of helping the Cuban people take over the government. Remember, Marco Rubio is Cuban.
  • Fifty-three percent of voters questioned in the poll, which was conducted Friday through Sunday, said they oppose the U.S. military action against Iran, which was ordered by President Donald Trump, with 40% supporting the operation.
  • Yamaha has decided to ditch California and head to Georgia.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/where-american-support-trumps-iran-strike-stands-new-polls-roll

I Don’t Want to Hear It!

Gas prices are going through the roof because of the war. The reason is simple: The Middle East countering are having trouble delivering their of because of the war in Iran. Not because the don’t have oil. In fact, countries like Kuwait have so much oil they’re stopped producing because the do not have anymore storage capacity. This is a very important point and I will get back to that later.

The problem is that gas has jumped $0.30 over the last few days and is expected to continue to go up until the war is over and deliveries can resume.

Democrats, including my brother-in-law, are jumping all over this, whining about how Trump doesn’t care about the working man. I don’t want to hear a damn thing from Democrats about the price of gas. They have gone four years raising the price of gas under the Biden administration and all they did was talk about how great Biden’s policies were and how great the economy.

Let’s go over what the Biden administration inherited from the first Trump administration and what they did.

When Biden took office:

  • Gas was averaging $2.17 a gallon.
  • The United States was energy independent.
  • The oil reserves were at 95% to capacity.
  • The XL pipeline was being constructed.
  • Regulations were being wiped off the map.
  • We left that stupid climate agreement that smothered the oil industry with regulation.
  • Oil was $10-20 a barrel. At one point, the cost of oil was at a negative. People were paying us to take their oil.

When Biden left office:

  • Gas prices were $3.30 and maxed out at over $5 a gallon.
  • Construction of the XL pipeline was cancelled.
  • They rejoined the Climate Agreement, pouring regulations onto the oil industry.
  • Biden regulated the transportation of oil across state lines.
  • Biden cancelled drilling leases on federal lands.
  • Biden overregulated refineries, forcing the closure of several refineries.
  • He insulted the OPEC nations. They refused to produce oil.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-was-the-average-gas-price-kxac1zvSSyKcoZGv5ufD.Q

He’s a Sneaky Dick!

According to the New York Post:

Californians have torn into Gavin Newsom for plotting new legislation that will likely spike gas prices even further, claiming he is “taxing us to death.”

The backlash centers on draft regulations tied to the state’s Cap-and-Invest program, overseen by the California Air Resources Board, which sets a statewide cap on greenhouse gas emissions and requires major polluters to purchase allowances for each ton of carbon they emit.

Critics say tightening those caps — strongly backed by Newsom — could further drive up the cost of gasoline and diesel in a state where drivers already pay far more than the national average.

According to the California Energy Commission, the Cap-and-Invest program currently adds about 24 cents per gallon to the cost of gasoline in the Golden State.

Gas prices averaged around $4.80 per gallon in early March, compared with roughly $3.25 nationwide, according to AAA data.

The system works by limiting emissions from large polluters — covering roughly 80% of the state’s greenhouse gases — and forcing companies to buy allowances for each ton emitted. Each year, fewer allowances are issued, gradually tightening the cap.

Revenue from the program flows into California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which finances climate initiatives such as transit projects and environmental programs.

But critics argue the tightening rules could ripple through the fuel market and land directly on consumers.

Oil companies and energy groups have warned that stricter regulations could threaten the viability of California’s remaining refineries. In a letter to regulators, energy giant Chevron warned that the proposed amendments could “cripple the survivability” of the state’s refining industry, potentially leading to more shutdowns, job losses and higher fuel costs.

The company noted that the oil and gas sector supports more than 530,000 jobs statewide and contributes about $64 billion annually in tax revenue.

Meanwhile, environmental groups are urging regulators to go even further.

In a letter submitted to CARB, advocacy organization Biofuelwatch called on the board to close what it described as a “biogenic CO2 exemption loophole” that allows biofuel producers and distributors to avoid buying carbon allowances for certain emissions.

The group argues that these exemptions reduce demand for carbon credits and suppress carbon prices, costing the state potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Using 2024 emissions data, the organization estimated that more than 23 million tons of emissions linked to biogenic fuels were exempted from the program — representing as much as $593 million to $712 million in potential revenue, depending on allowance prices.

But while policy experts debate the mechanics of the program, many California residents say they’re simply tired of paying more at the pump.

Some also blamed the state’s energy policies for weakening the local industry and increasing reliance on imports.

Other residents also argued the state is moving too aggressively toward electrification without the infrastructure or affordability to support it.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/08/us-news/californians-slam-gavin-newsom-stealth-plan-for-more-gas-hikes/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter

Sounds Like a Good Idea!

According to the New York Post:

California Republicans are saying Donald Trump could take control of the state’s spiraling oil crisis amid concerns it impacts national security.

Some suggest the president may intervene over fears that if it gets worse it will impact the Golden State’s huge military build up due to its reliance on fuel.

Gas has skyrocketed across the region over the last week, averaging $5.159 on Sunday — more than the $3.450 national average — with one hitting $8.21.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has tried to blame it on the conflict in Iran, but experts have also pointed to crippling taxes in the state that has driven up the cost for years.

State Senator Suzette Valladares told the California Post on Sunday: “California is in a death spiral when it comes to our gas and oil prices. If the President sees our gas crisis as a national crisis he could step in.”

That national crisis she predicts could be the conflict in Iran and keeping America safe.

She continued: “California produces jet fuel for commercial and military use, they could use some sort of war order to at least keep up California production because of what’s happening in the Middle East.”

California refineries supply gasoline and jet fuel to military installations throughout the state, most of which is currently produced by in-state refineries, according to State Senator Tony Strickland.

That includes 11 Air Force bases, along with dozens of Navy, Marine Corps, and Army facilities. They use about 370 million gallons of fuel annually.

Trump could use the Defense Production Act of 1950 to override California laws and regulations that are blocking offshore oil operations in the state.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/08/us-news/republicans-call-for-trump-to-seize-california-oil-production-over-national-security-fears/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=capost&utm_medium=social

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Episode 1172 – Rest in Peace, Lou!

Boots may be on the ground in Iran, but not American boots.

A horrible story comes out of Miami and there are some big questions we should ask.

And football loses one of its greatest coaches.

News

Here is some news:

  • Legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz has died at the age of 89, the university announced on Wednesday.
    • Holtz was considered one of the most influential coaches in college football history, winning 249 games as a collegiate head coach. He began his coaching career at William & Mary in 1969 and spent one season in the NFL before returning to college football.
    • One hundred of those wins happened at Notre Dame, where he served as head coach from 1986 until 1996.
    • Holtz was also a close friend and longtime supporter of Donald Trump. The president honored Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in December of 2020 for his contributions to the nation.
  • The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that federal appeals courts must defer to immigration judges when reviewing asylum decisions.
    • The court’s ruling, written by Biden-appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, stated that immigration laws require federal courts to use a “substantial-evidence standard” when reviewing immigration judges’ decisions regarding whether an asylum seeker would face “persecution” if deported from the country. 
    • Jackson noted that courts must meet a high bar before overturning an immigration judge’s findings. “the agency’s determination whether a given set of undisputed facts rises to the level of persecution under §1101(a)(42)(A) is generally ‘conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary.’”
  • The Senate voted against a resolution that would have required President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before taking further military action in Iran.
  • Boot are on the ground in Iran. The Kurds, a group located in the western portion of Iran and have been contained by the IGRC have joined the fight.
  • Britain and France may have to join the fight in Iran because of an attack of a British base in Cyprus and attacking French bases.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/beloved-notre-dame-football-coach-lou-holtz-dies-at-89?author=Amanda+Harding&category=undefined&elementPosition=9&row=3&rowHeadline=Latest+News&rowType=Vertical+Carousel&title=Beloved+Notre+Dame+Football+Coach+Lou+Holtz+Dies+At+89
https://thepostmillennial.com/scotus-unanimously-rules-courts-must-defer-to-immigration-judges-in-asylum-cases
https://thepostmillennial.com/senate-rejects-resolution-requiring-trump-to-seek-congressional-approval-for-further-action-in-iran

Sick

According to Perplexity:

A Georgia father, Colin Gray, was just convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter over his teenage son’s 2024 high school shooting, and a Michigan father, James Crumbley, was earlier convicted of involuntary manslaughter for his son’s 2021 school shooting.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/father-gets-convicted-of-mansl-K.9st21JRvSyRH5l4bUteg

The Padres Have Enough Problems

According to the New York Post:

Once California tax laws entered the equation, two was greater than three for Merrill Kelly.

The math was done by the veteran pitcher at some point this offseason, when he was a free agent deciding between two options for his MLB future.

No. 1 was a two-year, $40 million contract with the Diamondbacks. No. 2, at least on paper, seemed better.

It was a three-year, fully guaranteed deal with the Padres that appeared to have a similar average annual value.

Kelly, though, chose the former — and during a sitdown interview with Foul Territory’s Scott Braun and A.J. Pierzynski this week, he explained the decision was almost entirely due to the Golden State’s tax system.

“I don’t think it’s any secret on how much money you get taken out of your pocket when you go to California,” the 37-year-old right-hander said.

There were, of course, other factors that pulled Kelly toward Arizona. He went to high school at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale and played collegiately at Arizona State.

And, the father of two young kids has called the Phoenix area home while logging innings for the Snakes in each of the past seven seasons.

“Coming back here,” he admitted, “it was always the priority.”

But after Pierzynski jokingly told him he was “the first person ever that’s been offered a bunch of money to go live in San Diego and said no,” Kelly made it crystal clear that giving away a significant portion of his income to a state government was ultimately a dealbreaker for him.

“I love San Diego,” Kelly said. “It’s just, like I said, they take too much money out of my pocket, man. The taxes over there are a different level.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/27/sports/merrill-kelly-turned-down-padres-contract-due-to-california-taxes/?utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

What A Shock

According to the New York Post:

The number of properties sold in California over the past three years was 24% lower than the same time period before the Great Recession, sparking fears of a statewide crash.

The Golden State had 954,423 property sales in 2023-25, down from 1.25 million in 2007-2009, according to figures from real estate data provider Attom.

That means homebuying in California was 24% slower over the past three years than it was in the run-up to the apocalyptic housing crash that triggered the Great Recession.

California’s sales pace over the past three years is down 31% compared to the previous 18 years, while the nationwide drop was 6%.

But while the statewide median property price plummeted 55% — from nearly $600,000 in 2007 to roughly $275,000 in 2009 — prices have actually increased over the past three years, the Orange County Register’s business columnist Jon Lansner reported.

California’s median home price rose 9% from December 2022 to December 2025, reaching $710,000, just 5% below its all-time high.

When the subprime mortgage market collapsed, many homeowners couldn’t find a buyer and walked away from their houses after foreclosures, as the Fed lowered interest rates.

As people were forced out of homes they couldn’t afford, the resulting oversupply tanked property values.

But the current Mexican standoff in California stems from the lock-in effect: owners with 3% mortgage rates refuse to sell and move into a new 7% rate, keeping the market frozen.

Sellers reluctant to lose their low rates and buyers unable to afford high ones result in today’s stagnant market, keeping prices high because inventory is scarce.

On top of that, the first-time buyer affordability index shows less than a third of California households could qualify for a starter home in 2023-25.

Only 30% of households in the state qualified, down from 49% in 2007-09, according to figures from the California Association of Realtors.

Earlier this year, 30-year mortgage rates dipped below 6% for the first time since 2022, offering potential relief to would-be homeowners.

But Lansner warned that no rapid price correction is likely.

In the three years after the Great Recession, California housing sales grew by just 8% while home prices recovered by 15% through the end of 2012, according to official figures.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/us-news/california-housing-crash-fears-as-buying-rates-plummet/?utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

He Shouldn’t Be Running

According to the California Post:

An elementary school in Fresno was forced to file a police report after a child sex offender running for city council held a press conference just steps away.

Rene Campos, 41, a candidate in Fresno City Council‘s District 7 race, spoke Friday on a street outside St. John’s Cathedral to address outrage over his past, the Fresno Bee reported.

He was about 10 feet away from Big Picture Elementary School, a public charter school, which later contacted local cops.

Until 2015, under Jessica’s Law, California prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 2,000ft of any school or park in the state.

The law was later declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court, which ruled that residency restrictions must be applied on a case-by-case basis.

It remains unclear whether Campos is subject to any specific court orders, restraining orders or individualized restrictions related to his offense, or whether his limitations fall solely under California’s general sex offender registration requirements.

Campos, who is running to unseat incumbent Nelson Esparza, has not publicly clarified the scope of any conditions that may apply to him. The Post reached out for comment.

Esparza said the council is considering legislation to prevent people like Campos from seeking office. Other city leaders were also furious.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/04/us-news/registered-sex-offender-holds-press-conference-near-school/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=capost

A Hero!

According to the New York Post:

A Nashville elementary school has cleared the record of a first-grade teacher who was disciplined for refusing to read a book about same-sex marriage to his young students, according to a report.

KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary issued a “final warning letter” to teacher Eric Rivera in January after he declined to read an LGBTQ book to his class that was included in the language arts curriculum. 

Due to his Christian beliefs, Rivera said he could not in good conscience read the book to his class, according to legal group First Liberty Institute, and he asked a colleague to read the book instead.

The next day, Rivera was summoned to the principal’s office and threatened with termination. He was told he must maintain “fidelity” to the curriculum, and a discipline letter was placed in his personnel file.

First Liberty said Rivera had received no prior warnings and had no discipline history. Afterward, he asked for a religious accommodation but was instead reassigned to a lab and technology position and then to a kindergarten position, according to the legal group.

After facing a warning letter from First Liberty in February, KIPP Antioch agreed to clear the incident from Rivera’s record, according to a press release Monday from the legal group.

The school will now also allow “all teachers to ask another employee to read materials objectionable to their faith.”

https://nypost.com/2026/03/03/us-news/nashville-teacher-eric-rivera-gets-record-cleared-after-being-disciplined-for-not-reading-lgbtq-book/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social

This Probably Is Not Going to Fix Anything

According to the California Post:

The effort to breathe boozy life back into the state’s struggling downtown comes courtesy of a pair of San Francisco lawmakers who want to let cities create special zones where bars and restaurants can serve drinks until 4 a.m., two hours past the legal closing time.

“The nightlife economy is responsible in our state without a doubt for tens of billions of dollars in revenue, hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Matt Haney, a Democratic state assemblyman who introduced the bill, told CBS News.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the number of people visiting businesses in downtowns across the Golden State. California cities are recovering at different rates, but none have reached the levels saw in 2019.

“Getting people back out in the streets is key to the economic recovery of cities across California,” said Wiener, a Democratic state senator who introduced the bill along with Haney.

“By creating Entertainment Zones, we’re giving people a reason to go back to areas where recovery has been slow while creating a vital new revenue stream for bars and restaurants.”

Should the bill pass, bars would need to pay an extra $2,500 each year for a permit to sell alcohol until 4 a.m.

“When the sun goes down, there is so much that is economic and culturally important,” Haney told CBS News.

https://nypost.com/2026/03/03/us-news/california-lawmakers-push-bill-to-extend-last-call-to-4-a-m/?utm_campaign=capost&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

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Episode 1168 – The Perverts are Uniting!

I just heard a review of the new Wuthering Heights movie. They took a very sad, passionate, romantic and tragic novel and made it into porn.

Perversion has become acceptable and even defended in our culture. We are going to take a look at a few stories and an opinion piece that proves this.

It is important because perversion is usually what starts the decline of a civilization.

Sick Bastard

https://nypost.com/2026/02/21/us-news/trans-minnesota-dem-leigh-finke-argues-queer-kids-need-access-to-porn-sites-for-educational-reasons/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter

More Perversion

https://nypost.com/2026/02/25/us-news/registered-child-sex-offender-runs-for-council-wont-be-able-to-visit-schools/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=capost

That Was Close

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Following major backlash about the scheduled release of a serial child molester through California’s elderly parole program, the 64-year-old is now facing new charges that could keep him behind bars.

News that David Allen Funston was set to be freed was met by outrage among victims, politicians and others. The former Sacramento County district attorney who prosecuted Funston said she was strongly opposed to his release: “This is one I’m screaming about.”

Funston, granted parole earlier this month, was set to be released on Thursday from state prison — but was rearrested that same day on new charges from a decades-old, untried case. The charges he’s facing are from a 1996 case in which he is accused of sexually assaulting a child in Roseville, according to the Placer County district attorney’s office.

In 1999, he was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation and had been serving three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life and one sentence of 20 years and eight months at the California Institution for Men in Chino. The sentences followed a string of cases out of Sacramento County in which prosecutors said Funston lured children under the age of 7 with candy and, in at least one case, a Barbie doll to kidnap and sexually assault them, often under the threat of violence.

He was described by a judge at his sentencing hearing as “the monster parents fear the most.”

Prosecutors in Placer County, at the time, decided not to pursue the case against Funston in Roseville given the severity of the sentences he received in Sacramento County.

But given his scheduled release from state prison, prosecutors decided to file new charges against him. Placer County Dist. Atty. Morgan Gire said “changes in state law and recent parole board failures” led to his improper release.

“This individual was previously sentenced to multiple life terms for extremely heinous crimes,” Gire said in a statement. “When changes in the law put our communities at risk, it is our duty to re-evaluate those cases and act accordingly. David Allen Funston committed very real crimes against a Placer County child, and the statute of limitations allows us to hold him accountable for those crimes.”

He is now being held without bail in the Placer County jail, booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts against a child, according to prosecutors. Funston’s attorney, Maya Emig, said she had only recently learned about his arrest and hadn’t yet had time to fully review the matter.

But she noted that she believes “in the justice system and the rule of law.”

Emig called the Board of Parole Hearings’ decision to grant Funston elderly parole “lawful and just.”

California’s elderly parole program generally considers the release of prisoners who are older than 50 and have been incarcerated for at least 20 continuous years, considering whether someone poses an unreasonable risk to public safety.

In Funston’s case, commissioners said they did not believe Funston posed a significant danger because of the extensive self-help, therapy work and sex offender treatment classes he completed, as well as his detailed plan to avoid repeating his crimes, the remorse he expressed and his track record of good behavior in prison, according to a transcript from the Sept. 24 hearing.

At the hearing, Funston called himself a “selfish coward” for victimizing young children, and said he was “disgusted and ashamed of my behavior and have great remorse for the harm I caused my victims, their families in the community of Sacramento.”

“I’m truly sorry,” he said.

But victims of his crimes, as well as prosecutors and elected leaders have questioned the parole decision and called for its reversal.

“He’s one sick individual,” a victim of Funston’s violence told The Times. “What if he gets out and and tries to find his old victims and wants to kill us?”

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the governor also did not agree with Funston’s release and had asked the board to review the case. However, Newsom has no authority to overturn the parole decision.

Some state lawmakers also cited Funston’s case as evidence that California’s elderly parole program needs reform, recently introducing a bill that would exclude people convicted of sexual crimes from being considered by the process.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-26/serial-child-molester-rearrested-day-hes-set-to-be-freed

Just Sick

According to the New York Times:

THINK back to your first childhood crush. Maybe it was a classmate or a friend next door. Most likely, through school and into adulthood, your affections continued to focus on others in your approximate age group. But imagine if they did not.

By some estimates, 1 percent of the male population continues, long after puberty, to find themselves attracted to prepubescent children. These people are living with pedophilia, a sexual attraction to prepubescents that often constitutes a mental illness. Unfortunately, our laws are failing them and, consequently, ignoring opportunities to prevent child abuse.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines pedophilia as an intense and recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children, and a disorder if it causes a person “marked distress or interpersonal difficulty” or if the person acts on his interests. Yet our laws ignore pedophilia until after the commission of a sexual offense, emphasizing punishment, not prevention.

Part of this failure stems from the misconception that pedophilia is the same as child molestation. One can live with pedophilia and not act on it. Sites like Virtuous Pedophiles provide support for pedophiles who do not molest children and believe that sex with children is wrong. It is not that these individuals are “inactive” or “nonpracticing” pedophiles, but rather that pedophilia is a status and not an act. In fact, research shows, about half of all child molesters are not sexually attracted to their victims.

A second misconception is that pedophilia is a choice. Recent research, while often limited to sex offenders — because of the stigma of pedophilia — suggests that the disorder may have neurological origins. Pedophilia could result from a failure in the brain to identify which environmental stimuli should provoke a sexual response. M.R.I.s of sex offenders with pedophilia show fewer of the neural pathways known as white matter in their brains. Men with pedophilia are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous, a finding that strongly suggests a neurological cause. Some findings also suggest that disturbances in neurodevelopment in utero or early childhood increase the risk of pedophilia. Studies have also shown that men with pedophilia have, on average, lower scores on tests of visual-spatial ability and verbal memory.

The Virtuous Pedophiles website is full of testimonials of people who vow never to touch a child and yet live in terror. They must hide their disorder from everyone they know — or risk losing educational and job opportunities, and face the prospect of harassment and even violence. Many feel isolated; some contemplate suicide. The psychologist Jesse Bering, author of “Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us,” writes that people with pedophilia “aren’t living their lives in the closet; they’re eternally hunkered down in a panic room.”

While treatment cannot eliminate a pedophile’s sexual interests, a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and medication can help him to manage urges and avoid committing crimes.

But the reason we don’t know enough about effective treatment is because research has usually been limited to those who have committed crimes.

Our current law is inconsistent and irrational. For example, federal law and 20 states allow courts to issue a civil order committing a sex offender, particularly one with a diagnosis of pedophilia, to a mental health facility immediately after the completion of his sentence — under standards that are much more lax than for ordinary “civil commitment” for people with mental illness. And yet, when it comes to public policies that might help people with pedophilia to come forward and seek treatment before they offend, the law omits pedophilia from protection.

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibit discrimination against otherwise qualified individuals with mental disabilities, in areas such as employment, education and medical care. Congress, however, explicitly excluded pedophilia from protection under these two crucial laws.

It’s time to revisit these categorical exclusions. Without legal protection, a pedophile cannot risk seeking treatment or disclosing his status to anyone for support. He could lose his job, and future job prospects, if he is seen at a group-therapy session, asks for a reasonable accommodation to take medication or see a psychiatrist, or requests a limit in his interaction with children. Isolating individuals from appropriate employment and treatment only increases their risk of committing a crime.

There’s no question that the extension of civil rights protections to people with pedophilia must be weighed against the health and safety needs of others, especially kids. It stands to reason that a pedophile should not be hired as a grade-school teacher. But both the A.D.A. and the Rehabilitation Act contain exemptions for people who are “not otherwise qualified” for a job or who pose “a direct threat to the health and safety of others” that can’t be eliminated by a reasonable accommodation. (This is why employers don’t have to hire blind bus drivers or mentally unstable security guards.)

The direct-threat analysis rejects the idea that employers can rely on generalizations; they must assess the specific case and rely on evidence, not presuppositions. Those who worry that employers would be compelled to hire dangerous pedophiles should look to H.I.V. case law, where for years courts were highly conservative, erring on the side of finding a direct threat, even into the late 1990s, when medical authorities were in agreement that people with H.I.V. could work safely in, for example, food services.

Removing the pedophilia exclusion would not undermine criminal justice or its role in responding to child abuse. It would not make it easier, for example, for someone accused of child molestation to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

A pedophile should be held responsible for his conduct — but not for the underlying attraction. Arguing for the rights of scorned and misunderstood groups is never popular, particularly when they are associated with real harm. But the fact that pedophilia is so despised is precisely why our responses to it, in criminal justice and mental health, have been so inconsistent and counterproductive. Acknowledging that pedophiles have a mental disorder, and removing the obstacles to their coming forward and seeking help, is not only the right thing to do, but it would also advance efforts to protect children from harm.

Margo Kaplan is an assistant professor at Rutgers School of Law, Camden.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/pedophilia-a-disorder-not-a-crime.html

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Episode 1167 – The Exodus from California Continues!

California loses another billionaire after the state threatens to implement a wealth tax.

Joe Biden’s FBI has been proven to have been acting badly. Will anything come of it?

And CNN is about to release a documentary on Christian Nationalism. This raises a couple of questions.

News

Here is some news:

  • Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg is the latest billionaire to escape California ahead of a hefty proposed wealth tax. The director recently purchased a home in the iconic San Remo co-op in New York City overlooking Central Park.
  • Public Storage announced it is leaving California and moving its corporate headquarters from Glendale to Frisco, Texas.
    • Public Storage operates thousands of self-storage units across the country.
  • Blu Zeke Daly, 26, of Manchester, previously known as “Cullen Zeke Daly,” reportedly pulled a vehicle up to a closed gate at the US-Canadian Pittsburgh Port of Entry and fired gunshots at a Border Patrol agent when approached.
    • The suspect is trans nonbinary.
  •  The FBI under Joe Biden subpoenaed the phone records of now-FBI Director Kash Patel and now-White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens. The phone records grab was part of the Biden administration’s investigation into Donald Trump.
  • New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is proposing to spend $70 million on his plan for a network of government-owned grocery stores, a sum $10 million higher than he pledged on the campaign trail, even as his administration warns of a multibillion-dollar fiscal shortfall and raises the prospect of higher property taxes.
  • Cuba’s Interior Ministry reported that four men aboard a US-registered speedboat were killed after opening fire on a Cuban coast guard vessel near Cayo Falcones on Wednesday morning. Six additional passengers were wounded and received medical care.
    • The ministry said the Florida-registered vessel, carrying at least 10 people, was detected in Cuban waters off the country’s northern coast in Villa Clara province. When five members of the Cuban border guard approached the speedboat to verify its identity, the crew allegedly opened fire, injuring the Cuban commander.
    • The Cuban government later said that the 10 passengers who opened fire on soldiers were Cubans who had been living in the US and were seeking to infiltrate the island nation for the purpose of committing terrorism, the AP reports. The government claimed that the passengers on the boat “have a known history of criminal and violent activity.”
  • No movement on Iran.
    • They continue to talk in Geneva.
    • Iran refuses to give up their “peaceful” nuclear ambitions.
    • Iran refuses to giver up their ballistic missile program.
    • Iran refuses to giver up their nuclear materials.
    • The Trump administration says both Iranian demands are unacceptable.
    • The United States shipped a bunch of F-22s to Israel.
    • We should know more over the next 48 to 72 hours.

Just fucking dumb! Here is Rep Jenelle Bynum saying that Trump asking politicians to stand if they believe government should protect American citizens over illegal aliens. You’ll be shocked at what she says:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15574969/steven-spielberg-mark-zuckerberg-calfornia-billionaire-tax.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=social-twitter_mailonline
https://thepostmillennial.com/suspect-in-shooting-of-federal-border-patrol-agent-in-manchester-nh-identified-as-cullen-blu-zeke-daly
https://thepostmillennial.com/bidens-fbi-subpoenaed-phone-records-of-kash-patel-susie-wiles-during-probe-of-trump
https://thepostmillennial.com/mamdani-budgets-70-million-for-city-run-grocery-stores-as-nyc-hemorrhages-cash-report
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-cuban-coast-guard-shoots-kills-4-wounds-6-aboard-us-registered-speed-boat-during-gunfight
https://abc7.com/post/public-storage-announces-corporate-relocation-glendale-california-frisco-texas/18651951/?linkId=911778654

This Sounds Good!

Some things:

  • She doesn’t call this “White Christian Nationalism”. They take the racial component out of it.
  • She says that the country was based on Judeo/Christian principles. It was.
  • She says that Judeo/Christian principles should influence our laws and culture. It should. We aren’t kicking anyone out of the country because they have a different religion.
  • Charlie Kirk’s death did create a revitalization of Christianity. So did the assassination attempts of Donald Trump.
  • Notice, all the violence is coming out of the Left.

They Might As Well As Cancel It Now

According to the Post Millennial:

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy features a gay Klingon cadet. The show features a lesbian relationship between a mixed Klingon and Jem’Hadar and Tig Notaro, who plays a teacher at the Academy, as well as a Klingon man who dates a human.

“I won’t pretend that I wasn’t scared to take on this role. Part of me still is. Not because of the character himself, but because I knew the reaction that could come with it,” actor Karim Diané said of his character, Jay-Den Kraag, per Pink News.

To those who aren’t crazy about the warrior race being displayed as gay, Diané says their concerns are just “rooted in homophobia, racism, bigotry.” In the Star Trek universe, Klingons are a warrior race who are always ready for a fight and go into battle under the mantra “today is a good day to die.”

“But what matters more is this,” said Diané, “over the past few weeks since this show premiered, I’ve received countless messages from LGBTQ+ people around the world… people who feel seen, validated, and inspired by Jay-Den. Those messages outweigh every bit of negativity. Every single time.”

Episode 7, which aired this week, showed the Klingon character heading off to Ibiza to party down with his gay lover Kyle for spring break, or “All Worlds Day,” as it’s called on the show. Jay-Den Kraag didn’t even end up making it on the trip; he got sidetracked by another plot line, but Kyle came back terribly sunburned. Other cadets spent their All Worlds Day holidays with their families.

Of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Diané said he imagined a future that expanded who gets to be seen, heard, and valued. “A future where diversity isn’t merely tolerated but celebrated. Jay-Den doesn’t exist outside of that tradition. He exists because of it. ‘Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations’ isn’t just a catchy phrase Roddenberry tossed around. I believe he truly meant it,” he said.

Trekkers and Trekkies on X spoke out against the absurdity of taking a Star Trek series and making it about sexual identity, with one user saying “life long star trek fan but have not even started watching starfleet academy, i just can´t. from captain picard fighting the borg which was beyond epic to increasingly woke and insane storylines with every new series of star trek that has made it impossible to watch.”

“And then they wonder why people only watch the old shows, is because they were fun and entertaining not a platform to push an agenda,” said another.

https://thepostmillennial.com/new-woke-star-trek-show-features-first-gay-klingon

You Don’t Say!

What a Dolt

According to the Daily Wire:

Actor Ted Levine apologized recently for his iconic turn as cross-dressing serial killer Jame Gumb in the 1991  horror classic “The Silence of the Lambs,” saying that it was “f*cking wrong” that the film had “vilified” the apparent gender confusion of his character.

Levine told The Hollywood Reporter that his intent had always been to play Gumb — nicknamed “Buffalo Bill” — as a “f*cked-up heterosexual man” despite the fact that the character dresses in women’s clothing, wears makeup, and skins his female victims in an effort to make himself a suit of female flesh.

“There are certain aspects of the movie that don’t hold up too well,” he said. “We all know more, and I’m a lot wiser about transgender issues. There are some lines in that script and movie that are unfortunate.”

Levine said that when they were making the film — based on the 1988 Thomas Harris novel by the same title — he had not been particularly concerned, but that “over time and having gotten aware and worked with trans folks, and understanding a bit more about the culture and the reality of the meaning of gender — it’s unfortunate that the film vilified that, and it’s f*cking wrong. And you can quote me on that.”

“I didn’t play him as being gay or trans. I think he was just a f*cked-up heterosexual man. That’s what I was doing,” Levine explained.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/silence-of-the-lambs-actor-apologizes-to-trans-folks-for-iconic-cross-dressing-role

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Episode 1162 – DEI IS Toxic Empathy and Racist!

Canada has a mass shooting in a school. Canada is giving up the real story without saying it.

California loses another high-profile name because of its tax policies.

And a judge makes a common sense decision concerning ICE.

News

Here is some news:

  • A major mass shooting occurred on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, with at least nine people killed and more than two dozen injured at a secondary school and a nearby home.
  • Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest tech billionaire to ditch California in search of greener pastures and has ended up in Florida. The move from Zuckerberg comes as California is considering a 5 percent tax on the ultra-wealthy in the state.
  • The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a flight restriction that had grounded all flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas on Wednesday, after previously warning that the U.S. government “may use deadly force” against any aircraft in violation.
    • A Trump administration official told Fox News that the initial lockdown came in response to “Mexican cartel drones” that breached U.S. airspace.
    • The FAA had announced Wednesday morning that all flights to and from El Paso were being grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. The restriction was initially set to be effective from February 10 at 11:30 p.m. MST to February 20 at 11:30 p.m. MST.
  • January jobs report came out.
    • 130,000 private sector jobs were created. Unemployment went down to 4.3%.
    • There was an adjustment for the year 2025, down 425,000 jobs.
  • Wages have gone up beyond the inflation rate, but not a lot.
    • Prices are not going to go down to 2019 levels. Unfortunately, inflation wasn’t transitory.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/faa-halts-all-flights-el-paso-international-airport-10-days-special-security-reasons
https://thepostmillennial.com/mexican-cartel-drones-forced-temporary-closure-of-el-paso-international-airport-airspace
https://thepostmillennial.com/zuckerberg-ditches-california-for-the-free-state-of-florida

Because It’s Unconstitutional?

According to the Daily Wire:

A federal judge ruled Monday that California can’t enforce a law banning federal immigration agents from wearing masks.

Judge Christina A. Snyder from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that California’s “No Secret Police Act” both discriminates against the federal government for solely applying to federal law enforcement and violates its power granted by the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law in September to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks while making arrests, forcing them to show their faces. The Department of Homeland Security quickly jumped to condemn the law, calling it “a flagrant attempt to endanger” federal officers.

ICE agents currently face a more than 1,000% increase in assaults, a surge in doxxing efforts, and a roughly 8,000% jump in death threats, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-rules-california-cant-stop-ice-agents-from-wearing-masks?topStoryPosition=undefined&author=Jennie+Taer&category=News&elementPosition=2&row=1&rowHeadline=Top+Stories&rowType=Top+Stories&title=Federal+Judge+Rules+California+Can%E2%80%99t+Stop+ICE+Agents+From+Wearing+Masks

Toxic Empathy

According to Perplexity:

In February 2026, Davis sharply reduced the sentence that a Jefferson County jury recommended for defendant Christopher Earl Thompson, convicted of a 2023 kidnapping, armed robbery, and sexual assault in Louisville. The jury reportedly recommended a 65‑year sentence, but Davis imposed 30 years, citing the defendant’s age and potential for rehabilitation, while adding more than four years for his contemptuous conduct toward the court.

The case involved Thompson abducting a woman in her own vehicle, forcing her to perform oral sex at gunpoint, robbing her at an ATM, and sexually assaulting her again, with DNA evidence tying him to the crime. Local Republicans, including Louisville Metro Council Minority Caucus Chair Anthony Piagentini, publicly denounced the reduced sentence, arguing it disrespected the jury’s decision and endangered public safety.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/judge-tracy-davis-wo0vTD._Qje422ttTiS.gw#0

That’s What Los Angeles Needs!

According to the New York Post:

A radical left-wing group in Los Angeles has published a shocking 40-page roadmap to transform the nation’s second-largest city into a bizarre socialist experiment.

The Democratic Socialists of America’s LA chapter wants to straight-up seize private property through a “creative use of eminent domain,” take control of your neighborhood grocery store, and replace cops with unarmed social workers while shutting down jails.

The 3,500 member group has already helped elect several candidates to local office, and previously backed Nithya Raman, a DSA-member now running for mayor. They openly trash the Democratic Party establishment as capitalist sellouts and want to build “working class power” through what they call a “socialist mass organization.”

The manifesto, published in 2025 is more than 9,000-words long and gives an insight into the policies that a potential Mayor Raman has signed up to as a DSA member and could try to implement in LA. It targets the “status quo coalition” of elected officials, real estate developers, billionaires, nonprofits, and even some union leaders who’ve supposedly sold out workers.

They think they can actually pull this off in six to eight years through local elections and organizing.

“We are on the burning edge of the economic, climate, and moral crises that define this generation,” the manifesto warns, adding ominously: “The choice remains socialism or barbarism.”

So, what are the goals of the Democratic Socialists of America?

  • Seizing privately owned housing using eminent domain to seize private property and convert to public/social housing
  • Build city-owned municipal enterprises and expropriate corporations in essential industries (grocery, restaurants, internet, etc.)
  • Decommission Men’s Central Jail and don’t replace with any carceral facilities
  • Execute shift to 100% renewable energy by 2035 — complete fossil fuel elimination in 11 years
  • Make all public transportation free (buses, trains, bike share)
  • Publicly acquire and operate all energy systems — full public takeover of utilities
  • Reclaim private and public golf courses via zoning/legislative means for housing/parks
  • Divest public pension investments from war profiteers, defense contractors, and fossil fuel companies
  • Replace armed police with unarmed alternatives for traffic enforcement and mental health crises
  • End all contracts between public agencies and corporations profiting from war/fossil fuels (including Metro’s contracts)
  • Ban all unhosted short-term rentals (Airbnb, etc.)
  • Prosecute and permanently decertify all cops who kill
  • Noncitizen voting in all local elections
  • Vacancy tax on empty housing units
  • Universal rent control statewide
  • Automatic rent freezes and eviction moratoriums with any state of emergency
  • Decriminalize all drug use and fund safe injection sites
  • Restore voting rights for all former felons
  • End all means-testing for child development programs

https://nypost.com/2026/02/09/us-news/inside-dem-socialists-extreme-plan-for-los-angeles/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=capost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1770645713

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Episode 1161 – So Much For Winning The Super Bowl!

The NFL may rethink playing the Super Bowl in California after they get the tax bill.

Olympians themselves are giving Americans a reason not to watch the Olympics.

And I don’t want to hear anymore about racists memes when Leftists are calling for the genocide of white people.

Don’t Play in California

According to the Daily Wire:

The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are in for a hefty California tax bill following their 29-13 drubbing of the New England Patriots on Sunday, with some players expected to pay more in taxes than their Super Bowl earnings.

Each Seahawks player receives an individual bonus of $178,000 as negotiated by the NFL Players Association, while Patriots players will each receive $108,000.

Both Super Bowl teams are subject to California’s notorious “Jock Tax” imposed on out-of-state professional athletes, which will tax both respective teams on income from the eight “duty days” spent practicing and playing in the Golden State.

Jeffrey Degner, a research fellow in economics at the American Institute for Economic Research, told FOX Business that this tax alone will cut the average player’s Super Bowl bonuses in half at a minimum — without even taking into account additional state and federal taxes.

“What that means here is that the winning team, their take-home pay will be approximately $86,000. If you’re on the losing side, the take-home would be about $49,800,” Degner told FOX Business.

Each “duty day” includes any day spent in California practicing, participating in team meetings, traveling, playing in a game, or doing media events. The state taxes each player by applying the ratio of their duty days in the state to their total duty days overall, then claiming that share of the player’s income.

“The players have a really complex tax situation where they can have 10 or more different states that they’re having to file taxes for,” Degner said. “This is why a lot of these young players, it’s really important for teams to settle them in with sharp financial advisors and tax advisors so that they don’t lose their shirts, so to speak.”

Sport business reporter Kurt Badenhausen estimates that Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, with 8+ duty days taxed out of his massive three-year, $105 million deal with Seattle and a $178,000 bonus, will pay $249,000 in California state taxes.

Stanford University Finance Professor and Hoover Institution Fellow Joshua Rauh commented on the numbers, sarcastically complimenting California’s tax system for ensuring the “incentive to win is preserved” by taxing the Super Bowl loser more than the winner.

“If his team wins, Darnold will receive $178k and pay $249k to California in taxes for his time here, losing $71k. If his team loses he gets $103k and still pays over $235k in taxes, losing $135k. I presume California is declaring victory, as his incentive to win is preserved,” Rauh quipped.

California has the highest state income tax rate in the nation, while several states with NFL stadiums — including Tennessee, Texas, and Florida — impose no income tax on their residents or visitors, leading many to question whether future Super Bowls should be held in California.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-taxes-could-cost-nfl-stars-more-than-their-entire-super-bowl-paychecks?topStoryPosition=undefined&author=Nathan+Gay&category=News&elementPosition=4&row=1&rowHeadline=Top+Stories&rowType=Top+Stories&title=California+Taxes+Could+Cost+NFL+Stars+More+Than+Their+Entire+Super+Bowl+Paychecks

The Olympics

In some Olympic news, Lindsey Von suffered a terrible crash in the downhill skiing. Last week, she tore her ACL but she decided to ski. About 200 yards into her race, she lost control and broke her left leg. She needed to be air lifted out and had surgery. Pray for her.

I am not watching the Olympics because I am tired of a bunch of privileged athletes, who make tons of money in their sports, making asses out of themselves. It turns me off.

What has been happening recently is these athletes have been disparaging the United States, which has always been weird to me. The athletes from no other countries do this.

Here is Mikaela Shiffrin.

Here is Amber Glenn bitching about how bad lesbians have it.

Here is Hunter Hess:

Here is Chris Lillis:

Some things:

  • I hope they all lose.
  • This is not the time to practice free speech.
  • What was the media thinking asking these questions?

I Don’t Want To Hear About Memes

https://thepostmillennial.com/texas-dem-gene-wu-says-minorities-can-take-over-the-us-to-make-things-fairer

T

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Episode 1159 – More Bad News for California Drivers!

More bad news for California drivers will be coming on Saturday.

Nike has some explaining to do.

And Virginia Democrats have decided to go after a hundred and fifty year old institution. The Trump administration is looking to save it.

The News

  • The Washington Post is laying off 300 employees, about 1/3 of its staff. This comes on the heels of Amazon laying off 16,000 employees due to restructuring.
  • Valero is closing an oil refinery in California four months ahead of schedule.
    • Refineries are fleeing the Golden State as regulations drive operating costs 26 to 37% higher than the national average. Chevron moved its operations from the Bay Area to Texas, while Phillips 66 powered down its 140,000-barrel-per-day Los Angeles refinery in October.
    • California has the second highest gas prices in the country at $4.37. We’re going for number 1!
    • This comes before California is set to raise gas taxes by $.03 in July.
    • Get ready for $7 dollar gas.
    • The national average is $2.88 a gallon. It is Lefty states like Hawaii, California, Illinois, and New York that are keeping the average gas prices that high.
  • Embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass secretly altered the official Palisades Fire response report to downplay the failures made by the city and fire department when the deadly blaze erupted, a new report said.
    • Bass, after seeing an early draft of the after-action report, wanted key findings of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s shortcomings scrubbed or watered down — and even warned then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva the unedited conclusions could expose the city to legal liability, sources close to the Democrat’s staff told the Los Angeles Times.
  • The federal agency that enforces U.S. workplace discrimination laws said Wednesday it is investigating Nike over allegations that its diversity initiatives unlawfully discriminated against White employees and job applicants, according to a court filing.
    • Reuters reported that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said Nike has refused to comply with a subpoena seeking information, including data on the racial and ethnic makeup of the global athletic apparel and footwear company based in Beaverton, Oregon.
    • The commission said the investigation centers on claims that Nike deliberately treated White employees and job applicants unfairly, including allegations that they were disproportionately targeted for layoffs.
    • The agency said it is seeking the records to determine whether Nike violated federal anti-discrimination law.

https://twitter.com/peterbakernyt/status/2019069689582723333?s=20

https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/la-mayor-karen-bass-secretly-altered-palisades-fire-analysis-to-downplay-las-failures-report/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1770242914
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/nikes-diversity-initiatives-under-eeoc-scrutiny-alleged-discrimination-against-white-workers
https://nypost.com/2026/02/04/us-news/valero-shuts-california-refinery-early-as-gas-prices-poised-to-spike/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1770232527

They Only Destroy

According to the Daily Wire:

The War Department is monitoring efforts by Virginia Democrats to potentially cripple the Virginia Military Institute, The Daily Wire can first report.

Cadets at VMI, the nation’s first state-sponsored and supported military college, have grown increasingly anxious about the fate of their institution since Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger entered office and appointed former Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to VMI’s Board of Visitors.

Northam had ordered an audit into alleged racism and sexism at VMI in 2021, amid the Democrat-led wave of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion measures in universities across the nation — measures supported by then-President Joe Biden and his administration.

Now, Virginia Democrats suggest that the military institution is still rife with racism, sexism, and cultural barriers. They proposed two measures taking aim at the school: their proposed House Bill 1377 establishes a task force evaluating whether VMI should still be funded by the state, and House Bill 1374 would end VMI’s Board of Visitors and give the state full oversight of the institution.

Revoking VMI’s state funding would likely lead to the school’s demise.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Daily Wire on Tuesday that the War Department “reserves the right to take extraordinary measures to protect the integrity of VMI.”

So why do these people hate VMI?

Some state representatives who support the measures, like Democrat Michael Feggans of Virginia Beach, point to VMI’s roots in the Civil War, arguing that the institution has buildings on campus named for Confederate military figures.

Democrat state Rep. Dan Helmer of Fairfax, frustrated that VMI did not renew the contract of VMI’s first black superintendent, told one local outlet: “For those of us, like me, who care deeply about service and care deeply about producing leaders of character, we need to ensure that VMI has turned the page.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-says-it-will-fight-virginia-dems-to-save-historic-military-college?topStoryPosition=undefined&author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&category=Exclusive&elementPosition=1&row=1&rowHeadline=Top+Stories&rowType=Top+Stories&title=Trump+Admin+Says+It+Will+Fight+Virginia+Dems+To+Save+Historic+Military+College

That’s Going to Fix the Prison System

According to the Post Millennial:

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed ex-convict Stanley Richards as the city’s newest Department of Correction commissioner. Per Gothamist, Richards spent two-and-a-half years on Rikers Island on robbery charges in the 1980s and spent an additional four-and-a-half years in state prison before being released in 1991. This marks the first time an ex-convict has held the role.

Mamdani said in a news conference, “Stanley will make history in this role as the first ever formerly incarcerated person to serve as commissioner. That achievement is not merely symbolic. It is a testament to the thought and leadership he will bring to every member of correction staff and incarcerated New Yorkers underneath his purview.”

After his release, Richards began working as a counselor with the Fortune Society, which provides housing and re-entry services for ex-convicts leaving jail. He served as the society’s president until his appointment, as well as a deputy correction commissioner under former Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city’s Board of Correction.

Richards said, “The future of Rikers is not endless confinement, scapegoating or demonizing. It is safety, transformation and rehabilitation.”

Benny Boscio, the president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association union said in a statement, “Despite the many false narratives that have portrayed COBA as an ‘obstacle to reform,’ we have been ready, willing and able to meet and work with anyone, as long as they respect the rights of our Correction Officers and understand that their safety and security matter. The jails cannot and will not operate as safely as possible if the concerns of our members are brushed aside. It is our hope that Mr. Richards understands that dynamic as he takes on this new role and demonstrates a commitment to putting safety and security before any political ideology.”

Richards said in a statement, “I am deeply honored and grateful to Mayor Mamdani for this appointment. This role represents the culmination of my lifelong commitment to criminal justice reform, drawing directly from my own experience of incarceration on Rikers, which fueled my decades of work at The Fortune Society and with the Department of Correction, helping thousands rebuild their lives through reentry programs, leadership roles, and advocacy.”

“This appointment is an opportunity to lead from the top, advocating for both incarcerated individuals and correction officers to create safer jails and real pathways to rehabilitation. This is a chance to drive upstream change, connecting people to services like those at Fortune Society that transformed my own life. I will work tirelessly with this administration to ensure that we prioritize humane and safe conditions and ensure justice for all New Yorkers.”

So, what is the Fortune Society?

Mission and Purpose

The organization’s core mission is to support successful reentry from incarceration and promote alternatives to incarceration, with the goal of strengthening communities. It emphasizes belief in individuals’ capacity to change and works to create a more fair, humane, and rehabilitative justice system.

What They Do

The Fortune Society provides a “one-stop-shop” of services for people with justice involvement, including help with housing, employment, education, health, mental health, substance use treatment, and family support. Each year, it serves thousands of people—over 8,000 to 13,000 annually in recent descriptions—through both direct services and advocacy.

Key Programs and Services

Major service areas include supportive and transitional housing (such as its residences The Castle and Castle Gardens), job readiness and placement, educational programs (literacy, GED, and college prep), and counseling. The organization also helps with benefits enrollment, health and mental health care connections, substance use treatment, and creative arts programming.

Advocacy and Systems Change

Beyond direct services, The Fortune Society engages in policy and advocacy work aimed at reducing barriers to housing, employment, and education for people with records. It works to advance reforms that make the criminal justice system more rehabilitative and less reliant on incarceration.

https://thepostmillennial.com/mamdani-appoints-ex-con-as-nyc-department-of-corrections-head
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-is-the-fortune-society-onhlxeSjTw2fZgucFc5EDQ

I’ve Got a Weird Take

According to Fox News:

A string of recent incidents in which ICE agents and Department of Homeland Security leadership have been refused service at corporate gas stations and hotel chains has raised questions about whether private businesses can lawfully deny service to federal law enforcement officers.

The incidents — including ICE agents who were turned away from hotels and a Border Patrol commander being denied service at a gas station — have prompted debate over whether such refusals amount to lawful private discretion or illegal discrimination against federal law enforcement carrying out official duties.

The most recent flashpoint unfolded at a Speedway gas station, where video captured by conservative activist Cam Higby showed U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino being followed out of the store by a man identifying himself as a manager.

Bovino himself was silent on the matter when asked by Higby among the crowd outside Speedway, while Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said similar situations had transpired at several different gas stations where agitators stalked agents.

When Higby asked the man why he refused Bovino service, he replied: “Because I wanted to. I don’t support ICE and nobody here does.”

The man remained silent when asked if he thought it was legal to deny service to federal agents based on their role, while the employee could be heard saying, “If it is [illegal] I personally don’t care.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/i-dont-support-ice-gas-station-refusal-ignites-debate-over-denying-service-federal-agents

They Have a Big Opinion of Themselves

According to the Post Millennial:

A few leftist men out in Minnesota decided to make a parody of the Iwo Jima flag raising, only instead lifting up the Minnesota flag, which was recently scrutinized for looking somewhat similar to the flag of Somalia.

Video of the “flag raising” was posted by Anton Treuer, who is a professor at Bemidji State University and claims to be an “Indigenous language warrior” on X.

Treuer, although it is unclear if he was pictured in the video, said in the caption, “We stand for justice and a future worth fighting for! #MNStrong #iceout #Minnesota #peace #solidarity.” The clip, which has not gone viral on social media, depicts six people holding up the Minnesota flag in the position from the famous Iwo Jima flag raising photo from World War II.

Many reacted to the post online, slamming the group of leftist as people wanting to cosplay as soldiers as the Trump administration has been surging ICE into the region to detain illegal immigrant criminals.

Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec said of the video, “Leftists in Minneapolis are now staging the flag-raising of Iwo Jima with their fake Somali flag Good Lord, we’re reaching levels of cringe that have never been seen.”

https://thepostmillennial.com/leftists-mock-classic-iwo-jima-photo-by-raising-new-somali-inspired-minnesota-flag

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Episode 1158 – The Sacrifices to the Trans Gods Are Over!

The whole mutilation of children for the sacrifice to the trans gods seems to be done, thanks to the courts.

Billie Elish f-ed around and found out.

And California is in some trouble.

Huge News

According to the New York Times:

In the first malpractice verdict against providers of gender-affirming care for minors, a jury in New York State has awarded a woman $2 million in damages for a double mastectomy she received as a teenager that she said had left her disfigured.

The plaintiff, Fox Varian, 22, of Yorktown Heights, had accused her psychologist and the plastic surgeon who performed the operation of failing to obtain adequate consent about the risks before she agreed to undergo the procedure in 2019.

She also claimed that the providers had deviated from standard practices governing gender-related medical care.

Ms. Varian, who was 16 at the time of the surgery, was assigned female at birth but as a teenager identified as a man. She later came to regret the decision to transition and now identifies as a woman, an example of a process known as detransitioning.

The verdict, which was announced on Friday following a three-week trial in White Plains, was first reported by the Free Press.

Individuals who decide to detransition have often been cited by the Trump administration in its efforts to ban gender-affirming care for minors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/health/gender-surgery-malpractice-varian.html

They Always Eat Themselves

According to the New York Post:

The Native American tribe that owns the land under Billie Eilish’s multimillion-dollar Los Angeles mansion said celebrities should “explicitly” reference the tribes if they want to use them to virtue-signal.

The Tongva tribe confirmed the “Bad Guy” singer’s $3 million home does sit on its “ancestral land,” after the 24-year-old used her Grammys acceptance speech to rail against ICE and insist that “no one is illegal on stolen land.”

The indigenous inhabitants of the Los Angeles Basin, known as the “First Angelenos,” said they appreciate Eilish’s sentiment, but noted that the performer hasn’t contacted them directly — and insisted that next time, she explicitly reference them.

“Eilish has not contacted our tribe directly regarding her property, we do value the instance when public figures provide visibility to the true history of this country,” a Tongva spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

“It is our hope that in future discussions, the tribe can explicitly be referenced to ensure the public understands that the greater Los Angeles Basin remains Gabrieleno Tongva territory,” the spokesperson added.

Eilish was widely mocked for her comments on Sunday, as she yelled, “F–k ICE” from the stage while denouncing the US as stolen land.

Of course, CNN, who thinks celebrities help the Democrats, decided to get in a fight when one person says that celebrities should just keep out of politics.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/03/us-news/native-american-tribe-has-message-for-billie-eilish-after-grammys-speech

Was a Law Broken?

According to Fox News:

More Fraud

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Episode 1157 – Bill and Hillary Are Back!

Yay! We get to hear from Bill and Hillary again!

The Los Angeles Police Department shows there is some sanity in California.

And, speaking of California, they think they may have a solution when it comes to dealing with their budget deficits.

News

Here is some news:

  • Bill and Hillary Clinton have dropped their opposition and agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
  • Every federal immigration officer on the ground in Minneapolis will now have a body camera following two recent fatal shootings of anti-ICE agitators.
  • Christopher Nolan is doing a movie about “The Odyssey,” Homer’s epic poem, and he has cast Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy — the face that launched a thousand ships, the most beautiful woman in the Greek world.

Uh, Yeah!

According to the New York Post:

Federal agents who defy California’s new mask ban won’t face enforcement from the LAPD, the police chief said.

“It wasn’t well thought out,” Chief Jim McDonnell said in a press conference Friday.

“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction, it doesn’t make any sense,” McDonnell added.

The law, known as the “No Secret Police Act,” mandates visible identification and permits violations to be cited as misdemeanors. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law, it took effect January 1st. The Trump administration has challenged the statute, arguing it interferes with federal operations.

The Department of Justice is challenging the “No Secret Police Act” saying it’s unconstitutional, and creates risks for agents, including harassment.

Exceptions to the law include masks permitted for undercover operations, medical reasons, or specific protective gear, such as tactical helmets. 

https://nypost.com/2026/02/01/us-news/lapd-wont-enforce-federal-agent-mask-ban-it-wasnt-well-thought-out-chief-mcdonnell/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1769993474

You’ve Got to be Kidding?!

According to the New York Post:

California drivers and Republican legislators are furious over a Democrat-led proposal that could see motorists taxed for each mile they drive.

With the state staring down a budget deficit in the billions and more Californians switching to electric vehicles, Democratic lawmakers are searching for new ways to shore up declining gas tax revenue.

Californians pay the second-highest gas price in the nation behind only Hawaii. In January, the average price was $4.23 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.

On Thursday, state legislators advanced Democrat Lori Wilson’s bill, AB 1421, which would direct the California Transportation Commission and the state Transportation Agency to continue studying options for a mileage-based tax, rather than implementing one.

Opponents of the proposal were out in force Saturday, with activists gathering at Cal Expo in Sacramento to collect signatures opposing a raft of new Democratic tax measures, including a potential mileage charge.

Under concepts outlined in the study, the tax could range from two to nine cents per mile. With California drivers logging roughly 11,400 miles a year on average, a mileage charge could cost motorists between $228 and $1,026 annually.

Beyond the price tag, critics warn that tracking drivers’ mileage could be both logistically complex and deeply invasive.

In its current form, the bill would commission a report examining equity concerns for low-income drivers who often travel longer distances in less fuel-efficient vehicles, analyze the potential impact of a weight-per-mile fee on commercial and electric vehicles, and outline regional and statewide options for implementing a road usage charge.

California has a $73 billion deficit according to the Hoover Institute.

(a) State funding for transportation comes mainly from six different fuel taxes and vehicle fees dedicated to specific purposes. These sources generated about $14,000,000,000 in the 2023–24 fiscal year.

(b) The gasoline excise tax is by far the largest of these charges. The tax is 57.9 cents per gallon and generated about $7,800,000,000 in fiscal year 2023–24.

(c) California relies on gasoline and diesel tax revenue to build and maintain its highways, public transit, and other transportation infrastructure, which is a problem in a state aggressively pushing a transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

(d) Since the passage of Senate Bill 1 (Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017), gas taxes have begun to lag, in large part due to Californians adopting lower emission vehicles. The state’s climate goals, including the switch to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and reductions in statewide per capita vehicle miles traveled for light-duty vehicles, are projected to reduce fuel tax revenues in the coming years.

(e) California’s gas revenues have steadily increased over the last decade as lawmakers hike tax rates, but that curve is projected to turn downwards as more drivers switch to EVs.

(f) Californians have purchased more than a million EVs in the last four years, according to the California Energy Commission. Those numbers will continue to increase as a result of the state’s mandate for all new car sales to be ZEVs by 2035.

(g) The Legislative Analyst’s Office projects revenues will decline by as much as $2,000,000,000 annually by 2030 and up to $4,000,000,000 annually by 2035. A study by the Mineta Transportation Institute estimated a reduction in revenues of between $4,800,000,000 and $12,100,000,000 by 2040.

(h) The California Transportation Commission projects that the state will collect $31,300,000,000 less in fuel excise tax revenue due to increased fuel efficiency and the proliferation of ZEVs over the next decade.

(i) Collectively, various states and the federal government have undertaken research and exploration of possible revenue mechanisms to supplement or replace the fuel excise tax.

(j) In 2014, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1077 (Chapter 835, Statutes of 2014) which created the Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee (RUC TAC). The RUC TAC was charged with the development and evaluation of an authorized pilot program to assess the potential for a mileage-based financing mechanism for California’s roads and highways as an alternative to the fuel excise tax system.

(k) In 2017, California completed the SB 1077 pilot program, which enrolled more than 5,000 vehicles that reported more than 37,000,000 miles over a nine-month period. Importantly, the collection of revenue was simulated in the pilot program through mock invoices and payments.

(l) The final pilot program report found further testing of the revenue collection processes should be the next step to undertake in order for California to evaluate revenue flows and identify challenges, efficiencies, and synergies for possible road user charge implementation.

(m) Presently, the state is analyzing the financial impacts of a road user charge on supercommuters, as well as additional engagement with rural communities and tribal nations to better inform constituencies on a road charge concept.

(n) The benefit of a road use charge is that it could be structured to provide gas tax relief to low-income drivers.

(o) Implementing a road use charge in a way that appeals to both low- and moderate-income households and urban and rural communities across the state’s diverse geography will require significant education, negotiation, and compromise.

https://nypost.com/2026/01/31/us-news/california-drivers-are-a-step-closer-to-paying-per-mile-tax/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=capost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1769911977
https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1421/id/3137105

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Episode 1151 – Hello? Didn’t You Know Envy is a Sin!

We are learning a little more about the people who crashed that church on Sunday.

California’s education system could be in some big trouble soon.

And Eric Swalwell, who lives in Washington D.C. has decided to run for California governor, makes a promise on what he’s going to do to ICE officers when he’s governor.

Arrest Her

According to Fox News:

Far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was one of the organizers of the storming of a Minnesota church to protest ICE on Sunday, raked in over $1 million during six years leading a Minneapolis civil rights nonprofit that addresses anti-poverty issues.

Armstrong, whose website identifies her as a civil rights lawyer and “scholar-activist,” helped to organize the storming of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. 

In a Facebook post, she claimed that one of the church’s pastors is a leader at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The demonstration is one of many throughout the Twin Cities in protest of the federal government’s surge of immigration enforcement officials to crack down on widespread fraud taking place in the state. 

Armstrong, who is currently the founder and CEO of a cannabis company called Dope Roots, led the nonprofit as executive director for at least six years, from 2019 through 2024, according to tax filings by the Wayfinder Foundation.

The post features a video of anti-ICE activist Mike Anderson outside a church, defiantly denying disruption of a worship service while challenging Attorney General Pam Bondi to arrest him.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2013796507577692165

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/far-left-agitator-who-organized-minnesota-church-storming-raked-over-1-million-from-nonprofit

What an Idiot

https://twitter.com/i/status/2012662698039771336

https://nypost.com/2026/01/17/us-news/eric-swalwell-vows-to-revoke-ice-officers-drivers-licenses-good-luck-walking-to-work-a-holes/?utm_sf_post_ref=653885087&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_sf_cserv_ref=17469289

Finally

According to Fox News:

A top Trump administration Education Department official exposed a pair of blue states that he says are among the worst for federal student aid fraud as officials crack down on scammers who are exploiting the taxpayer-funded programs.

In 2025, the Department of Education said it prevented $1 billion of fraud in the aid programs. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said these schemes are not only a waste of taxpayer money, but also disproportionately affect low-income students trying to pay for their education.

We talked about California being certainly a hub of fraud, waste and abuse, but we also see Minnesota, for example,” Kent told Fox News Digital. “You know, one of the things that has been brought to light over the course of the last couple of weeks is the enormous amount of fraud, waste and abuse under the governor’s leadership there, and this is something that the federal Department of Education had lifted up and highlighted months ago.”

“And to kind of put that into perspective, that’s 1,700 Pell Grants for low-income students that that money could have gone toward,” Kent continued. “So when we think about limited resources, we think about taking away these things that low-income and middle-income students really need in order to get in and through their educational journey.”

During a 12-month period between 2024 and 2025, scammers stole at least $10 million in federal financial aid from community colleges in California. According to one report, 34% of applications to community colleges in the state last year were likely fake.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/top-trump-admin-education-official-exposes-blue-state-financial-aid-fraud-offenders

This is the Mentality

https://twitter.com/i/status/2012629751291138056

Gee, Why Is There So Much Crime in Illinois?

https://twitter.com/i/status/2012455293138157592

Here’s One Company That Will Leave New York

According to Fox News:

New York City reached a $2.1 million settlement with A&E Real Estate covering 14 buildings in three boroughs, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying the agreement will force repairs and stop what he described as tenant harassment.

“Today, I am proud to stand here … to announce that New York City has come to a settlement with A&E Realty regarding 14 buildings across three boroughs,” Mamdani said Friday at a news conference in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Asked during the news conference how aggressive the new administration plans to be with landlords, Mamdani said, “We want to make it clear to everyone in this city that no one is above the law and that if you are a landlord violating the law, then this administration will hold you to account.”

Mamdani said the settlement requires A&E to pay “$2.1 million in restitution” and includes “injunctions preventing them from harassing their tenants” while compelling the company “to correct more than 4,000 building code violations across these 14 buildings.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-announces-settlement-major-landlord-tenants-describe-nightmare-conditions

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