It was never "alive" to begin with

Townhall: "Iran Just Killed the Memorandum of Understanding."

The problem with negotiating with Iran is that nobody knows who is in charge.  The civil government is regularly undermined by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who is being directed by a gay ayatollah in a coma.

I'm leaving today

Jonathan Turley: "“Start Spreadin’ the News”: New York Losing Billions as Millionaires Flee the Big Apple." 

If you "make it here, you can make it anywhere" is true.  You can make it in Florida or Texas.

Extra - Get ready for the Texas Stock Exchange:

The Wall Street Journal reported in recent days that the Texas Stock Exchange is now officially open for business, and trading is expected to start soon. Everything is big in Texas, as the saying goes, so New Yorkers should take this rival stock exchange seriously.

In some ways, the idea that Dallas could become the new financial center makes sense. Texas has no income tax. New York City has the highest income tax, capital gains tax and dividend tax. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is threatening even higher "soak the rich" tax increases as part of his goal of making NYC a socialist mecca. Housing will be free, groceries will be free, health care will be free, buses will be free.

This isn't Democratic socialism. This is unmitigated socialism.

New York was already losing to Texas before any of this happened. Over the past decade, nearly 2 million residents of New York state have fled. Many of them are now in Texas. New York has lost almost $1 trillion of income cumulatively over the past 12 years.

Sadly, these socialists will never learn.  These cities will go bankrupt gradually, then suddenly.

The source of much eye-rolling

Washington Post: "The rise and fall of a corporate fad - DEI mentions took off in 2020 and started collapsing in 2024." 

The important thing is that feelings weren't hurt

Hot Air: "Progressives in Cambridge, Mass Eliminated Shot Spotter. There Were Consequences."

Grinding gears

Washington Post: "The death of the stick shift is almost here - Driving a manual vehicle is a lost art. Hopes of a revival have fallen flat. With the rise of EVs and autonomous vehicles, only a few die-hards are holding on."

Less than 1 percent of new vehicles made for the U.S. market in 2025 were stick shifts, according to preliminary government data. At just 0.6 percent, it was an all-time low.

My first car was my father's hand-me-down Volkswagen Rabbit which (nobody recalls) had a helpful "shift up" light in the center of the dashboard console.  Soon the knowledge of operating a manual transmission will fade from memory like an ancient language.

NDAs? For an internal meeting?

PJ Media: "Democrats Are Panicking and Scrambling to Hide Something Big."

The DNC had their own officials sign non-disclosure agreements before a finance meeting.  The scuttlebutt is that the DNC is deeply in the red with debt exceeding money on hand. 

The intolerance factory

Hot Air: "Bluesky Gave Up on Competing with X."

Bluesky's actual problem is the one that no one there wants to talk about. It is a political silo for left-wing extremists that has a reputation for death threats and cancel culture. In fact, the last time I noticed something happening on Bluesky was when Popehat was banned for suggesting it would be good if someone murdered Elon Musk.

The stories I've heard about Bluesky is that the slightest deviation from the most left-wing positions will trigger a swarm attack like something from "The Birds."

Swalwell's pal

NY Post: "Swalwell pal Sen. Ruben Gallego had sexual relationships with two House staffers, sources reveal to The Post." 

The autopen must be exhausted

Ace: "Biden Slurs and Stumbles His Way Through Ad for His Ghostwritten "Memoir"."

Biden go vroom vroom! 

Brandon Gill: Superstar

Red State: "Like a Boss: Brandon Gill Ends an Ayanna Pressley Rant on Women's Rights With One Perfect Question."

Brandon Gill is like the Scott Jennings of Congress.  He does his homework and then confronts witnesses and opponents with simple questions that lead to unsatisfying responses.

After making NY too expensive

These guys need a raise: "NYC Council members want to give themselves 18.2% pay hike — and set automatic increases every year after." 

"Have you seen how much it costs to rent an apartment?" they cried.

The Left hates free speech

Hot Air: "A Case of Campus Cancel Culture Finally Goes to Trial."  Pushing back against the heckler's veto.

Cheating at Brown

Free Press: "I’m a Brown University Professor. Half My Students Are Cheating."

I saw this story elsewhere and the proof of cheating is the wide chasm in scores between the take-home midterm exam and the in-class final exam.  The funniest part is that there are two students - one got around a 95 on both exams and the other got around a 57 - who were clearly playing it straight.  I feel like the 57-score guy should be allowed to pass the class just on honesty.

The textbook definition of suicidal empathy

NY Post: "NY mom Jamey Carney’s migrant beau asked her for hefty dough a week before her murder in Ireland."

The migrant boyfriend suspected of murdering a New York mom at her home in Ireland allegedly asked her for a bunch of money just a week before her death.

Jamey Carney, 43, had told a pal that her beau, Ahmad Al-Saqar, sought the equivalent of around $5,700 about a week before her murder at her house in Killarney, the Irish Independent reported.

Al-Saqar is now wanted for questioning by authorities in connection with the murder of Carney, who is believed to have been beaten and then suffocated in her bed early Tuesday.

This woman absolutely bathed in the moral vanity of her bottomless tolerance and her pro-Palestinian causes.  She leaves behind a 13-year-old daughter.

Another business eyes the California exit

Semafor: "Paramount weighs leaving California over Warner Bros. rift."

As California tries to derail Paramount’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount CEO David Ellison’s friends and advisers have been pushing the media executive to consider shifting his business out of the state.

There's no saving that state.  Wait until the wealth tax hits.

Shocking news

Fox News: "Longtime GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after 'brief and sudden illness'."

Ukraine is winning

Hot Air: "Russia Closes the Kerch Strait After 76 Ships Hit With Drones."

The Russians recently had their yearly military parade and there were no vehicles, only marching soldiers and a brief flyover.  And then, last week, Russia suspended exports of diesel because the entire country is running out of gas.

Entitled graduate students

Manhattan Contrarian: "What makes a person become a Communist?"

One requirement seems to be never holding a real job.

A man needs to have principles

Still rollin'

LA Times: "Every Rolling Stones album, ranked worst to best."

It's always crowded at the bottom but this list correctly names "Exile on Main St." as #1.

I saw the Rolling Stones at Shea Stadium in 1990 (I think) and - although the show was good - I swore off stadium concerts forever.  With my binoculars I could see the giant TV screens broadcasting the concert.

Free stuff for everyone

Paid for by the billionaires!  That's the shallow and childish ideology of the Socialist left: "Washington Post: Yes, the DSA Really Does Want to Destroy Capitalism." 

You can vote yourself into socialism but you have to shoot your way out.

Dozen red flags

WSJ: "The Red Flag That Led to Graham Platner’s Implosion Was Hiding in Plain Sight."

Hot Air: "Guess Who Was a Red-Flag Parade For Months (That We Never Spotted)?"

This opens the door for me to cite a great little country song: "Dozen Red Flags" by Mackenzie Carpenter.  It opens with these lyrics:

He deletes all his texts

Still talks to his ex

Flirts with my friends

His dad pays his rent

Hey!  Sounds like somebody we know!

"Mistakes were made"

Townhall: "The New York Times Is Trying to Do Damage Control After the Graham Platner Implosion."