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The Wall Street Journal embarrassed itself Thursday by hyping a so-called Trump-Epstein “bombshell” that amounted to nothing more than a disputed birthday card from 2003 that they won’t show, and that Trump denies writing and is now suing over. The rest of the story was recycled material long in the public domain. Desperate to revive the left’s failed narrative tying Trump to Epstein, the Journal grasped at straws while ignoring Epstein’s far more substantial connections to powerful Democrats like Bill Clinton, who flew on Epstein’s jet multiple times and visited his island — facts the media still downplays to this...

A poet said his career skyrocketed within the liberal literary scene by taking on minority personas to promote his work to publishers. Aaron Barry, 29, of Vancouver, experienced the most success when he posed as writers with identities far from his own, even if the poems were blatantly 'trash.' His reasoning behind the scheme was simple - to prove the poetry world is more concerned with writers' identities than the quality of their work. 'My thinking was that, if the industry - from small magazines to full-on publishing imprints - could get away with showing a clear preference toward certain...

step one: how does this image make you feel? remember your answer. there will be a test. Image narrator: action was not coming. this movie seems to be on auto repeat all over social media right now. it’s astonishing the breakdowns and breakage that seem to have been triggered by two weeks of “the donald.” leaving aside the rightness or wrongness of all this opinion and histrionic hurdy-burly, i find the overall pathology fascinating. i also think it likely means something very different than most are inclined to assume. why is becky from vassar not only having this meltdown, but...

Indian Americans born in the US are displaying a marked increase in cultural and identity-based affinity with their Indian heritage, with 86% taking pride in calling themselves "Indian-American", according to a new report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This is a significant increase from the 2020 report, when 70% of US-born Indian American respondents said that being Indian was "very" or "somewhat" important to them. At the same time, the percentage of those who considered their Indian identity unimportant was halved – from 30% to just 15%, according to the report.

Perhaps we should look at some recent trends for indicators. Many of us can recall when Barack Obama eagerly proclaimed on the eve of his election "we are five days away from transforming the United States of America" to thundering cheers of adoration back in 2008. Very few failed to ask why America, a constitutional republic, with self-governance as its cornerstone, would need a transformation; and what would America be transformed into? What if Barack Obama was a fraud, a communist Muslim plant ensconced into the highest echelons of our government by the U.N. and the World Economic Forum to...

There’s an old saying that goes, something that can’t go on forever won’t. Chicago is now in the early stages of learning that this applies to their public school system. They’re facing a massive budget deficit of $734 million and are on pace to lay off almost 1,500 teachers and staffers. Perhaps Mayor Brandon Johnson should have been more focused on delivering the services that American citizen taxpayers paid for and less on the needs of illegal immigrants and Chicago’s ‘sanctuary city’ status. ... Chicago Public Schools parents and community members sounded off on Monday, three days after the district...

A speechwriter for former President Barack Obama suggested in a guest essay on Sunday that it might be time to stop shunning conservatives over a disagreement with their politics. David Litt wrote in The New York Times that he felt "a civic duty" to be rude to his brother-in-law, citing his support for Joe Rogan and disagreements over the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. "My frostiness wasn’t personal. It was strategic. Being unfriendly to people who turned down the vaccine felt like the right thing to do. How else could we motivate them to mend their ways?" Litt wrote.

Swap meet vendors say Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias’ comments about an immigration raid that never occurred cost them business. Now, they want the council to sanction their colleague while also calling for Arias to resign. During the June 12 council meeting, Arias said from the dais that a “massive immigration raid” would take place at the Cherry Avenue Auction that weekend. “So I would advise our immigrant community that they should stay away from the Cherry Auction this weekend, as they would put themselves and their families in the most vulnerable position to be picked up and taken out...

Remember Kilmar Abrego Garcia? Back in the spring, Democrats tried to turn Garcia (an illegal alien) into a political martyr, a victim of President Donald Trump and his administration’s cruel whims and treatment of immigrants. It backfired, however, and as more information was revealed about Garcia’s background and alleged crimes, including charges of human trafficking, Democrats simply … stopped talking about him. They knew better than to die on a political hill for a man who may have smuggled migrants, narcotics, and firearms throughout the country. Democrats, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, are once again repeating their fatal mistake:...

It sounded like a great idea. Governor Andrew Cuomo, before he was unceremoniously forced out of office, convinced state lawmakers to shell out over $100 million to purchase decorative LED lights to enhance the beauty of some of New York's most iconic bridges. The cost seems excessive, but this is the government. You have to make room for paying double or triple to satisfy all the people with their hands out--they need to make an excessive profit, pay exorbitant salaries to preferred workers, throw some money at consulting and design firms, and leave some money left over to recycle into...

Forty years ago this month, Bob Geldof unleashed his “global jukebox”. With the help of Midge Ure and promoter Harvey Goldsmith, he staged a concert across two venues on either side of the Atlantic, starting at midday on Saturday July 13 1985 in London and ending at the John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia 16 hours later. Around the world, 1.7 billion people tuned in, and it is seen as one of the great charity success stories of all time, raising $140 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.* Live Aid was so big that it has its own folklore: Status...

Today, I recorded a Substack Live with Mike Pesca of The Gist. Mike’s a great interviewer, and in contrast to the previous Lives I’ve posted here, this was more of him interviewing me than the other way around. Still, I think you’ll enjoy the conversation; the full video is above. We touched on a bit of poker at the beginning, and New York mayoral stuff at the end. However, most of the conversation centered on the differences in mental attitudes between liberals and conservatives and how this may be affecting political outcomes. Mike had reached out after I published my...