Random News and Notes 18 July
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was rushed to the hospital yesterday afternoon. At the time the reasons for the ambulance ride were unknown. DC being DC, speculation was rampant.
It turns out she had an allergic reaction and was taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution.
In a clear cut case of FAFO, NYC comptroller Brad Lander wound up getting his dumb ass arrested outside an immigration courtroom at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City. Lander was ‘accompanying’ defendants entering and exiting the courtroom.
In the video below, Lander can be seen linking arms with a man as ICE agents effect an arrest. He can be heard asking for a ‘judicial warrant’.
This was clearly a stunt. Lander was looking for the pub. He is running for NYC mayor and is a very distant 4th in that race. He is currently polling around 6%. By contrast the leader in the most recent polls, Andrew Cuomo, is garnering around 43% of the votes.
Lander was released without charges late in the day yesterday. Frankly, they should have thrown the book at him. A couple of high profile convictions will end this crap tout suite.
Some good news from the southern border. There were zero releases of illegals into the interior of the country last month. Yep, zero. How does that compare to say last year? Well in May of 2024 there were 62,000 illegals released into the country at the southern border.
Quelle suprise. A new administration is all it took. Who knew?
There is a quick sports note to pass along. America’s hat doesn’t get Lord Stanley’s Cup again this year. This is the 32nd straight year that the Cup has been in American hands. Last night, the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 to ice the series 4 games to 2 and win their second straight NHL Championship.
The last Canadian team that won the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The NBA playoffs go to a game 6 tomorrow, but frankly nobody cares, and it shows in the ratings.
The FBI, IRS and DOJ are joining forces to figure out exactly who was/is funding the anti-ICE riots across the country. United States Attorney for California Bill Essayli, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis, and IRS Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher held a presser laying out what they are doing and what those found responsible for funding the riots could expect.
The process of rolling up those responsible has already begun. Last week, the FBI arrested they guy who was distributing high-end face shields to rioters in Los Angeles.
Now on to the Israeli-Iran conflict. Yesterday the Ayatollahs released a video of a pair of presumably Iranian hands lovingly caressing a nuclear bomb. it contained the caption ‘maybe’.
This video was accompanied by vague threats from official Iranian accounts.
Unless the surprise is the fact that the Iranian military is an ineffectual paper tiger, there wasn’t much of a surprise overnight. In fact, last night marked the fewest number of missiles fired from Iran since the conflict began. I’m seeing conflicting launch numbers, but the consensus seems to be about 15. Regardless, there were no Israeli casualties reported.
It gets worse for Iran militarily. They have launched more than 400 ballistic missiles and only 20 have gotten through to do any damage. The rest have either failed – there is video of missile parts landing in Iraqi Kurdistan and the eastern parts of Jordan – or been intercepted by the Israeli missile defense systems.
The percentages get worse for Iranian drones. They are batting a big fat zero.
Meanwhile, the IAF has established complete air dominance over Iran. There are tons of videos and images of unarmed IDF drones flying unmolested over sensitive areas of Iran. Today the IAF is striking regime targets like police and intelligence service buildings. In broad daylight.
For those interested, Nioh is an Iranian jew who fled Iran because of the religious repression under the Ayatollahs.
The Supreme Court dropped (somewhat unexpectedly – at least to me) 4 decisions this morning. Two – Oklahoma v EPA (8-0, Alito recusing) and EPA v CALUMET SHREVEPORT REFINING, L.L.C. (7-2 with Gorsuch and Roberts dissenting) were both written by Thomas – limit EPA rulemaking ability about where suit can be brought. They are interesting cases regarding agency overreach, but highly technical and of limited broader interest, so this is all I am going to say about them. A third case looking at the technical issues of forcing review by non-involved parties called NRC v Texas was decided 6-3. Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, Thomas wrote a dissent, joined by Alito and Gorsuch.
That leaves us with a case called US v Skrmetti. Respondent Skrmetti is the Tennessee Attorney General. He represented the State when the US government sued over Tennessee Senate Bill 1. SB1 prohibits healthcare providers from prescribing, administering, or dispensing puberty blockers or hormones to any minor for the purpose of enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s biological sex, or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s biological sex and asserted identity. At the same time, SB1 permits a healthcare provider to administer puberty blockers or hormones to treat a minor’s congenital defect, precocious puberty, disease, or physical injury.
Well, sanity has prevailed. In a 6-3 decision Chief Justice Roberts ruled SB1 constitutional.
I’m going to copy who wrote what directly from the opinion, because its . . . well you’ll see.
ROBERTS, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which THOMAS, GORSUCH, KAVANAUGH, and BARRETT, JJ., joined, and in which ALITO, J., joined as to Parts I and II–B. THOMAS, J., filed a concurring opinion. BARRETT, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which THOMAS, J., joined. ALITO, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which JACKSON, J., joined in full, and in which KAGAN, J., joined as to Parts I–IV. KAGAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion.
Of course the three liberals dissented. I have not yet taken the time to read the entire ruling, but I expect when I do, I will merely scan the dissent.
