Edward Elgar is an English composer of the late 19th and early 20th century. Best known with most people for his composition Pomp and Circumstance March, the middle section is the processional music for many high school and college graduations.
Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Elgar composed it in the aftermath of the First World War, when his music had already become out of fashion with the concert-going public. In contrast with Elgar’s earlier Violin Concerto, which is lyrical and passionate, the Cello Concerto is for the most part contemplative and elegiac.
Enjoy, Jack
Jakc, thank you. here’s more about your selection:
puppy politics?, Talarico’s new way of campaigning
Aug 22, 2026
“This is how we’re gonna change the politics of this state and of this country, we’re going to keep showing up for all 31 million Texans. We’re even going to show up for our furriest Texans in the U.S. Senate. If we keep, building community, if we keep bringing people together, if we keep showing up for every one of our neighbors, including our four-legged neighbors, then we are going to win this election on November 3rd, and we’re going to do it together.”
anon, you might enjoy reading this from NYT yesterday Why Polling Chaos Could Create Big Problems for American Politics
Bad polls. Misleading betting odds. Surveys meant to shape narratives. Ahead of the midterms and 2028, there is suddenly serious confusion about candidate strength and voter sentiment.
By Reid J. Epstein
Reporting from Washington
Aug. 22, 2026
When Mandela Barnes dropped out of the Wisconsin governor’s race two weeks before the Democratic primary, he declared, “It has become very clear who our nominee is going to be.”
He meant Francesca Hong, who had a commanding lead in polls — not David Crowley, who ended up narrowly winning the nomination.
Politicians like Mr. Barnes have relied on public and private surveys of voters’ views to guide their decisions for as long as pollsters have sought to measure public opinion. But in this year’s midterm contests, misleading polling has shaped campaign narratives, donor behavior and news coverage like never before.
Polls are traditionally used to measure public opinion, not mold it. But this year, several Democratic campaigns have seized on unreliable polls to push the perception that their candidates are surging to try to solidify support, attract donors and scare off rivals. The rise of prediction markets has also created financial incentives for untrustworthy or even fake political polls at a moment when it has become even more expensive and difficult to conduct high-quality public opinion surveys.
Some Republicans — particularly President Trump — have for years pointed to dubious polling to advance their political goals, but the phenomenon has become far more acute in Democratic primaries this year. In recent weeks, questionable surveys have created confusion and warped perceptions of the results of key primaries for the party.
In Michigan’s primary for Senate, polls fueled a widespread belief that Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate Democrat, was a major underdog to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive. After she voted on Primary Day, the first question she faced from reporters was about how Dr. El-Sayed built such a large polling lead. She ended up losing by just a percentage point.
In Wisconsin’s primary for governor, polls that consistently showed Ms. Hong ahead by double digits created an air of inevitability around her nomination. When she lost, it was viewed as a stunning upset.
“After seeing the polls, I think everybody would have called me the underdog,” Mr. Crowley said. “During this race, I had to be a little bit recklessly optimistic.”
The polling world has also been rocked by recent revelations of made-up surveys and sketchy practices.
Three purported polls of the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the Wisconsin primary for governor and the Nevada governor’s race turned out to be entirely fake — a “short-term social experiment,” according to the website that released them. The fakery’s discovery, by The Los Angeles Times, came only after Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles posted approvingly about one of the polls, which showed her ahead.
Another pollster acknowledged that in a survey of Florida’s primary for governor, it had shifted some respondents’ support from the candidate they had said they backed to another candidate because the initial results “did not align with our read of the race.” (None of the polls above were included in The New York Times’s poll trackers or coverage because they did not meet its basic transparency and professionalism standards.)
All of this is happening at the dawn of the 2028 presidential primary season, when dozens of candidates are likely to be defined in part by polls that cement impressions and set narratives that may not be tethered to political reality.
“Every candidate in 2028 will have their own cooked poll factory,” said Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist who was a senior aide on Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign for president. “Polls now are not just a way of measuring the horse race. It’s a way for candidates and their allies to influence the horse race.”
‘Double Digit Down — It Cannot Be!’
In Michigan, the last eight public polls of Democratic voters found Dr. Abdul El-Sayed leading Ms. Stevens by double digits.
In an interview this past week, Ms. Stevens said she never believed the race was the blowout that the polls predicted. She won key late endorsements from figures including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a popular Democrat.
But the polling unquestionably shaped how the contest was perceived. Dr. El-Sayed, whose advisers privately predicted a big victory, was so confident that the weekend before the primary, he was pictured hanging out with social media influencers poolside at a party.
Ms. Stevens sent The Times a memo about her experience dealing with polling that did not reflect the reality of the race.
“At first the double digit down polls leading up to the election spooked me and potentially had the ability to paralyze,” she wrote. “But then after chewing on them,” she added, “I came to realize, NO WAY! Double digit down — it cannot be!”
In the interview, she attributed the polling miss to an industry that has largely moved away from expensive “live caller” phone interviews with voters. Instead, most contemporary polling is done online or through texting, mediums likely to include more young people even though the voting electorate skews older. (Live-caller polls can be seriously flawed, too, and it is generally considered best to analyze surveys from a range of pollsters using a mix of methods.)
“Sometimes we miss the plot with all the tweets and all the polls and all the prediction market stuff,” Ms. Stevens said. “In this American democracy, it is still about the people voting, and that remains the purest and most incredible thing, and it likely captures the least amount of our attention.”
The Odds of Confusion: 100 Percent
The biggest new phenomenon influencing how campaigns are viewed is the spread of prediction market data.
The day before Michigan’s primary, Kalshi gave Dr. El-Sayed a 97 percent chance of winning. The morning of Wisconsin’s primary, Polymarket gave Mr. Crowley a 3.6 percent chance of victory.
While betting-market odds are often based on the wisdom of crowds and opaque measurements, they are amplified by powerful companies and reported on by legitimate news organizations that in some cases have financial partnerships with the prediction firms. CNN has such an arrangement with Kalshi and regularly shows the prediction market’s betting odds on television. The Wall Street Journal’s parent company has a partnership with Polymarket to display its odds within Journal content.
Voters and donors now see those numbers, which can be manipulated by all manner of polling and news events, and use them as a proxy for how a candidate is faring.
Sean Clegg, a senior adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who is likely to run for president in 2028, said prediction markets had a growing influence on Democratic strategists, donors and primary voters.
“Momentum is everything and poll numbers move prediction markets, which influences strategic voting,” Mr. Clegg said. “The progressive subset of the political class is hyper online, and they are pushing these polling narratives like never before.”
What Can Anyone Do?
The modern polling industrial complex is a Wild West in which numbers often circulate online with little regard to whether they come from reliable sources.
“There is no polling cop,” John Anzalone, a prominent Democratic pollster who worked for former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said of the proliferation of low-quality surveys that flood the market. The news media, he said, is “going to report on every poll that has a university or college on it,” regardless of its methods. “Bad in,” he said, “bad out.”
Both good and bad polls have real-world consequences, driving decisions about messaging, spending and even whether to stay in a race. This spring, Gov. Janet Mills of Maine suspended her Senate campaign weeks before the Democratic primary, after low polling numbers starved her of money. The decision left Graham Platner to win the nomination without significant opposition. He later dropped out after a rape allegation that he denied.
The first 2028 Democratic presidential primary contest is set to be in South Carolina, where the electorate is dominated by older Black voters — the exact demographic that was most difficult to poll in both Michigan and Wisconsin.
Scott Huffmon, the director of the state’s long-running Winthrop Poll, said that like many other pollsters, he had abandoned live-caller surveys. “We just can’t afford it,” he said.
Polling problems may be less pronounced in the 2028 race, since presidential contests are easier to poll and produce more high-quality surveys. But the looming questions about how to accurately analyze the field in 2028 have left donors struggling with how to decide which candidates are worth the investment.
Few methods besides polling will be able to gauge who has popular support before the primaries begin in January 2028. But usually by the time voting begins, the field has been winnowed as candidates run out of money or perceive themselves to be lacking voter support.
“Given what’s happened over the last two weeks, the inaccurate polling really calls into question whether there’s any empirical value that donors can use to guide their giving,” said Shannon Hunt-Scott, a Democratic megadonor from California. “There’s going to be so many candidates and so many polls of variable quality. People will want to tout them and run around with them. The question is, will they have any real validity? You can’t know.”
Thank you Jack
Beautiful edition to the canon for a favorite string.
patD – Paxton sided with animal abusers twice. That’s why all of the puppies with Talarico; he gets to show he’s a decent person and it also reminds folks in Texas that Ken Paxton is a puppy-hating ghoul.
https://meidasnews.com/news/ken-paxton-helped-bury-the-records-on-400-tortured-lab-animals
Ken Paxton Helped Bury the Records on 400 Tortured Lab Animals.
In 2015, animal rescue groups from 23 states filed more than 100 public records requests trying to find out how more than 400 dogs were being treated inside Texas A&M University’s research labs. The push came after the university admitted, in disclosures to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that it had used 428 dogs and 15 cats for research, and that at least 100 of those dogs experienced pain during testing.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. In May 2011, as a member of the Texas House, Paxton was one of only 15 Republicans to vote against House Bill 963, a bill that made convicted animal abusers, not taxpayers or shelters, pay for the cost of housing and caring for the animals they’d abused while their cases were on appeal.
Baby wipes recalled for bacteria.
Someone tell Natalie.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/immediately-stop-using-popular-baby-wipes-at-target-recalled-over-bacterial-contamination-that-could-lead-to-life-threatening-infections/3945407/
Popular baby wipes sold at Target are being recalled after multiple customers complained of “discoloration,” which led to testing that found a bacterial contamination that can cause potentially “life-threatening” infections.
“In healthy individuals, use of the product on skin with minor lesions will more likely result in local infections, whereas in immunocompromised individuals, newborns, infants and young children, the infection is more likely to spread into the bloodstream, potentially leading to life-threatening sepsis or pneumonia,” the FDA said.
monarch in the garden
fuck trump and all his voters btw
so tired of them
constant fucking nonsense
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/19/politics/trump-cory-mills-election
After Trump-endorsed Cory Mills loses primary, Trump says he told him to drop out
“I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn’t listen. He thought he could win, so who can blame him?” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump endorsed Mills in February and never publicly rescinded his support, despite the Florida congressman facing significant scrutiny over accusations of assault, potential campaign finance violations and an ex-girlfriend alleging that he threatened to release sexually explicit images and videos of her. Mills has denied any wrongdoing.
Grifters
Oligarchs
Pedophiles
Well it aint no bent guitar, but that Cello is tuneful (and copyright safe for today’s diner). Thanks Jack.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/23/trump-sowing-election-distrust
Trump laying groundwork to impose national emergency by sowing election distrust
President’s speech, declassification of documents and heightened claims of noncitizen voting have experts concerned
*If CONGRESS and SCOTUS would follow the LAW instead of every evil whim of Orange Adolf, there would be no need for “concern,” because it isn’t a thing.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-indiana-storms-frustration-mounts-thousands-still-without-power/
Frustration mounts for thousands still without power after deadly Indiana storms
In Gary, the storm knocked out electricity for more than half of the city’s residents, where about one in three people lives in poverty, according to U.S. Census data.
*They will take advantage of natural disasters, and allow folks to suffer and even die. Depopulation is the name of the game, especially poor communities and extra-especially when they are POC.
Wait until there’s a huge blizzard and the power just happens to go out and they take their sweet time getting it restored.
hummingbirds loving my morning glories
will not permit photographing of them
thanks Jack… today’s meme…
SUNDAY NEWS SHOWS
Covering the Coverage
The Sunday shows delivered a predictable echo chamber, balancing administration talking points with performative outrage. The absurdist peak? Betting markets are now taking wagers on what cabinet members will say on-air, reducing policy to a casino game. Meanwhile, the media normalizes extreme partisan shifts, treating DOJ independence as optional while distracting with local political theater and health scares.
☕️Kick Back, Tune In
𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 Chat Now 🗣️
On YouTube🎙️11am (ET) until NOON
WATCH here 👇
Thanks Jack. I love this one:
Remembering Jacqueline du Pré: A Musical Legend’s Legacy
Today in the Diner…
Hakeem Jeffries Secret Kushner Meeting
Jake Lang gets arrested in Minneapolis after a wild clash with Spider-Man. Plus, Hakeem Jeffries holds a secret meeting with Jared Kushner.
It is always a normal day until Spider-Man gets involved. January 6 convict Jake Lang found himself back in handcuffs after a chaotic protest outside Minneapolis City Hall, where someone dressed as the Marvel hero literally jumped on his truck. Between Lang allegedly driving onto the sidewalk and his associate Jaden Scott getting arrested for stalking, it was a total mess in the Twin Cities.
Meanwhile in Washington D.C., Hakeem Jeffries is raising eyebrows by taking a private meeting with Jared Kushner. We are trying to figure out what the Democratic leader gains from bailing out the Trump family, especially with Kushner desperate to avoid investigations. Add in the absolute disaster of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix shutting down Pennsylvania Avenue, and the capital is looking pretty ridiculous this week.
Out in the Midwest, independent candidate Dan Osborn is shaking up the Nebraska Senate race against Pete Ricketts. Osborn says he wrote in UAW president Shawn Fain for president, and Democrats are quietly backing off to give him a clear shot. Throw in Kellyanne Conway suddenly shilling for data centers and a weird kitchen accident involving glass shards in olives, and you have a full plate at the Diner today.
Live Chat: https://trailmix.cc/chat
Website: https://trailmix.cc
Alerts: https://trailmix.cc/alerts
00:00 Intro and Broken Glass Olives
04:30 Jake Lang Arrested in Minneapolis
14:00 Jaden Scott Stalking Arrest
16:50 Erling Haaland Cuts His Hair
18:15 Hakeem Jeffries Meets Jared Kushner
28:10 Freedom 250 Grand Prix in DC
34:00 Dan Osborn Nebraska Senate Race
52:30 USS Abraham Lincoln and Israel
56:50 Kellyanne Conway Data Centers
01:02:30 Comedian Cigarette Bit
— Human directed and edited. Machine drafted (Gemini Pro).
here’s one for the permanent file
Kushner dodges jail:
🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu
Craig – Why do we know about this “secret” meeting between AIPAC Jeffries and Mossad Kushner?
Who leaked it?
Who benefits from us questing it?
***
Katie – Did it look like Jake Lang was doing a ride-along with ICE in Minneapolis?
I keep asking who is funding that nutjob, but I’m starting to think it’s being done with our tax dollars.
Remember the “What if there was a war and nobody came” ad? Well, what if nobody paid attention to pedos like Lang who feed off of attention? Hmmm, what happened with that 15-year old he contacted for a good time?
DEMOCRATS who HAVE worked with this administration ARE the reason we are in this mess. No pushback. They knew about Project 2026 and acted like a little lawsuit after the damage was done was enough. All of the AIPAC congressmembers voting for Israel first.
The little trick where a Dem voted for something so a Repug up for reelection can vote against it. And then there is a guy who seems totally compromised; Fetterman.
You know who was right about the way things work, even though I think she’s completely wrong on most issues? Tucker Carlson’s probable running mate, mTg.
well trump and gop voters/enablers are the reason we are in this mess, keep things in perspective
government we deserve
not all of you (i can also keep things in perspective)
but all of trump voters
The race track flyovers have begun. They’re rattling out house. Hope the art work in the museums are secure.
if Jeffies meeting Kushner in secret raises a red flag for you i don’t blame you
Here’s how to work with the administration:
Kiss Trump’s ass
as if it was a secret
Here’s a Trail Mix Free Link to the NYT breaking story about Jared Jeffries meetups.
if you get arrested protesting it will be great for the website!
satirical post i swear
Mortonie
That Clinton video is AI. Is it him speaking or an impersonator? This is the AI disclaimer: “Made with AI Sounds or visuals were altered or fully generated.”
Craig,
Why does the Captcha sometimes change between hitting post comment and getting an “incorrect Captcha” that forces you to go back and change then repost?
https://web.archive.org/web/20241009170611/https://warningvote.com/knowledge-base/what-changes-does-project-2025-propose-for-food-assistance-programs/
Stringent Work Requirements
Implication for Vulnerable Groups: Reinstating strict work requirements will particularly affect single parents, disabled individuals, and low-income students who may not meet the mandated hours due to caregiving responsibilities, health limitations, or academic commitments. For many, the challenge isn’t just finding work but finding stable employment that accommodates their unique circumstances. This policy overlooks the realities of the gig economy and part-time work, which may not provide consistent enough hours to meet SNAP requirements.
Centralization of Welfare Oversight
Risk of Service Disruption: Centralizing program oversight might streamline some processes, but it also risks creating a monolithic structure that could struggle to address localized needs effectively. This could lead to delays in addressing appeals or changes in circumstances, a critical issue for recipients facing immediate food insecurity.
Cost-Cutting Measures Masking Service Cuts
Economic Pressures on Vulnerable Populations: By focusing on fiscal impacts without a corresponding analysis of why more Americans are depending on these benefits, Project 2025 may lead to cuts that disproportionately affect the elderly, the chronically ill, and those in high-cost living areas. The increase in program costs can reflect deeper economic trends, such as wage stagnation and rising living costs, rather than mere program inefficiency or abuse.
Restrictive Eligibility Criteria
Concerns Over Stigmatization and Exclusion: The emphasis on curbing supposed widespread fraud and abuse by tightening eligibility criteria (such as asset tests) risks excluding many who live on the edge of poverty. These changes could stigmatize recipients, casting them as needing to prove their worthiness for aid, rather than recognizing food assistance as a fundamental need that could affect anyone in a financial downturn.
*The White Heritage Foundation is full of minions doing the devil’s work. Not a believer in Jesus Christ among them. Surprised that the crosses many probably wear haven’t caused them to burst into flames like vampires in sunlight.
how often are you getting the captcha Jamie? that Should only happen once, when you log in the first time. anyone else with capture issues? I will look into this.
Craig – Can you record the sound from your kitchen deck?
BiD, I definitely could but I never know when they’re coming. by the time I rush out there they’d be gone.
Craig,
It’s intermittent but happens often enough to be aggravating, but seems to be related to posting a video in the body of the message followed by typing commentary. You fill in the captcha correctly, post, and get the “wrong captcha” message. Go back change captcha, post and it works.
Trotting out Melania for a public race appearance and interview. She Loooooooves racing because her daddy had a Ferrari and looooooooove racing.
Jamie: I was thinking that his voice sounds rather strong. This was sent to me by an American friend who now lives in Toronto. His son, my godson, just posted that he thinks it’s AI too. I wonder if Clinton had anything to do with it? I never know anymore.
Testing captcha fix
if you get it off facebook it’s ai slop
The entire Facebook service is just a trap to try and manipulate senior citizens because they are the only people who use it
whatever it takes to keep you scrolling
HOUSEKEEPING:
NO MORE CAPTCHA
Thank you Jamie for calling that to my attention. I have learned that our new server”s security system made our old captcha plug-in obsolete and I needed to delete it. Now there should be no captcha requirement at all for anyone.
This is why it helps so much when anyone calls attention to an issue. Mos anything can be fixed — I just need to know about it.
Apparently these Clinton AI videos are real deep fakes. Here is what I got on research:
First big crash – two cars into the barrier. Drivers look to be okay.
Anon
This was off You Tube. You Tube takes them down, but they keep multiplying. Check for the disclaimer under all videos and report any you suspect that aren’t marked.
Tod Maffin brings up Smoot Hawley and other times US wouldn’t learn from history.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D2rG5H9EH/
yeah the sloppers are ruining YouTube quick
Craig & David – Hang in there! Only 80 more laps to go!
Thought we had CAPTCHA to keep out the no-goodniks.
Fun fact: Every time we ID’d the motorcycles, stoplights or staircases, we were training Ai for free.
The race doesn’t appear to be well-attended. Another big waste from Dumbass.
Nap time.
Fake AI music videos are all over youtube anymore. I was almost caught yesterday as I searched for todays music. I was looking for something different, non European. I ran across a video of African choral music. It sounded good and almost went with it. fortunately the video creater admitted it was AI created in an African style. If not for that I would have assumed it to be authentic as I have no knowledge of that music.
You protection , at least for now is research using unconnected search engines. Don’t use google to check out youtube as an example.
Jack
meme #2…
BiD. our new server comes with a built-in spam filter that works behind the scenes. Instead of forcing us to prove we are human by clicking on pictures of crosswalks or typing blurry letters, this new system analyzes incoming traffic and silently quarantines the bots before they can post.
Our New Digital Bouncer
Our new spam filter eliminates the CAPTCHA requirement and is incredibly effective at keeping the automated garbage out. However, because it is still getting to know the neighborhood, it might occasionally be a little too aggressive. It relies on automated machine learning, which means it can accidentally quarantine a perfectly legitimate comment from a regular.
If you post a comment and it seems to vanish into thin air, please don’t panic and don’t take it personally. Once I green light a held comment it won’t happen cagain. Bear with me while the new system learns who the good guys are!
Craig, it may have done that to me, I just thought I hit the wrong button.
Jack
Ah looking back through comments it now shows up as “awaiting moderation” before it just disappeared.
Jack
Yes Jack, congratulations, looks like you were the first collateral damage of the new no-captcha security system. Now that I have clicked “not spam” the machine has learned to leave you alone going forward.
Anyone who experiences this please let me know immediately. I will check the pending comment bin often during this learning phase.
I asked the server’s AI to explain what happened:
Too pudgy nose!
Listening to all the GOP raging about “Socialism” reminded me of an old blog article. Since they seem to worship Adam Smith and the “invisible hand”, may a little history lesson would be helpful:
22 April 2012
A Message from Jefferson & Smith
“I don’t know what the Founding Fathers and President Thomas Jefferson would have thought about TV, cars, spaceships, cellphones, skyscrapers, computers or nuclear weapons. But I do know what Jefferson would have thought about the Buffett Rule. He would have liked it.
The Buffett Rule is the Obama Administration’s proposal to adopt a 30% minimum tax rate on personal income above $1 million a year (idea courtesy of and named after Warren Buffett). It would promote one of the central tenets of progressivism: that the burden of taxes should fall on the rich, not the poor.
In 1811, two years after Jefferson left the Presidency, Jefferson wrote a letter to General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a hero of the American Revolution. Jefferson said that he supported taxes (then tariffs, since there was no income tax yet) falling entirely on the wealthy. As Jefferson explained: “The farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of this country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings.”
Here is someone else who was an outspoken proponent of progressive taxation: Adam Smith, who literally “wrote the book” on capitalism. In 1776, in The Wealth of Nations, Smith wrote:
“The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. A tax upon house-rents, therefore, would in general fall heaviest upon the rich; and in this sort of inequality there would not, perhaps, be anything unreasonable. It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”
(I wonder: When Adam Smith wrote about the “luxuries and vanities” of the rich, was he contemplating Mitt Romney’s elevator for Romney’s car? Or is that simply beyond contemplation?)
Two hundred years ago, when America was founded, progressive taxation was viewed as just common sense. We still have common sense, don’t we?
First, let’s see the Buffett Rule for all types of income for individuals. Then the Buffett Rule for corporations. That would be progressive. And that would be progress.”
Spider-Man fights fascists:
🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu
the people arguing that criticism of harp is out of bounds as if she is an innocent are mentally impaired
she’s handmaiden to hitler
bring back captcha
😃
You enjoyed the math puzzles, Anon? You still have Connections for brain exercise.
LOL
A bit like our video that got blocked. words will get you in trouble. are we going to have to go back to the old use net/early web tactics to avoid detection to. substitute an x for vowels in offensive words.
Jack
i just want the world to get my edits as quickly as possible
they need them
Red state revolt:
Independent Dan Osborn terrifies Nebraska Republicans. Democrats quietly step entirely out of his way.
🍽️ From today’s Digital Diner menu
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/21/texas-big-bend-border-wall-barrier-republicans-paxton-trump/
Cornered by Big Bend backlash, Texas Republicans tread carefully around Trump
Most of the state’s GOP leaders have hedged on the White House’s plans for the region, welcoming a construction pause without breaking from a president they’re loath to cross.
After initially declining to say where he stands, Paxton issued a fresh statement that pushed back on Big Bend construction in starker terms.
Ken Paxton is choosing his words carefully. The Republican Senate nominee, a reliable ally of President Donald Trump, said in a statement that the administration’s plan “is not smart border security,” representing a rare break from the White House.
The source of all the anger are plans from the Trump administration to build an access road and vehicle barriers in Big Bend National Park and 30-foot tall barriers on private land outside the park.
Adding to the furor, the plans — consistently shrouded in secrecy — have changed repeatedly with little communication, as some residents and ranchers learned of developments through a government website or when they received letters from U.S. Customs and Border Protection threatening to take their land via eminent domain.
“It is a huge liability,” said former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican who has been outspoken about the political vulnerability presented by construction in the beloved region. “This issue has become big, really big, and it’s going to become bigger.”
Rep. Wes Virdell, one of three GOP state lawmakers to sign a letter asking the governor to step in, said during an interview last week with KXAN News. “If people are watching Republicans not stand up for them down in South Texas, I think we’re going to lose the vote down there.”
The Big Bend sector is the largest and quietest. It covers 77 Texas counties and 517 miles of the 1,954-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. That area accounted for just 1.3% of the 237,538 apprehensions recorded across the entire border last fiscal year.
“In other words, we don’t have a problem,” Patterson, the Republican who held statewide office for 12 years until 2015, said. “And we’ve got, so far, a $7.5 billion fix in no-bid contracts.”
*Money laundering; destruction of public lands; land grab via eminent domain.
Here is Dan Osborn, the Nebraska independent who is in a one-on-one with the incumbent Republican because Democrats decided to drop their challenge and get behind him…
Let’s see how this no captcha works.
Cool
I have seen a few ads recently attacking Abdul. The first one was “Abdul in his own words”. Using clips of him saying, “I’m a dangerous man!” Talking about how his state wouldn’t spend another dime on enforcing illegal immigration laws. Asking, “Do cops need guns?” Saying that Abdul is a “Dangerous Radical”. Another ad ended with, “The United States didn’t deserve 9/11 and Michigan doesn’t deserve Abdul El-Sayd.” The latest ad I saw last night said that Abdul was a “Millionaire Bureaucrat” and that he owned a 2nd home in Dubai! These ads are coming from the “Senate Leadership Fund” and “Americans for Prosperity” among others.
Melania making another appearance.
yep. corey, they announced a $6 million buy for that ad. Sometimes that’s just media hype so it’s interesting to know whether they’re actually on the air.
Are you seeing pro Abdul ads? Before the primary Schumer’s PAC said they budgeted $21 million dollars for the eventual nominee. They ran one really strong ad for a couple of days and now aren’t saying anything about their Michigan plans.