Tuesday Tidings

On a sunny but cold Tuesday, here are some things going on:

From National Review, why is the U.S. lifting sanctions on Iranian oil when we're fighting a war against Iran?

From FrontpageMag, CNN repeatedly messes up its coverage of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D).

From Townhall, the medical reason why the illegal alien who allegedly killed a college student in Chicago missed his court appearance.

From the Washington Examiner, the incurable left-wing addiction to DEI.

From The Federalist, America's most infamous abortionist dies in a Pennsylvania prison.  (Reader discretion is advised.)

From American Thinker, then-President Obama thought that he could unite the Muslim world, but current President Trump did.

From NewsBusters, why doesn't anyone fact-check climate doomsayers?

From Canada Free Press, the sea level refuses to rise as predicted by the climate doomsayers.

From TeleSUR, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil honors Salvadorian Saint Oscar Romero.

From TCW Defending Freedom, HMS Dragon is the one U.K. naval ship that can stop Iranian missiles from hitting London, but it's on its way to Cyprus.

From EuroNews, peace talks for Ukraine stall as Russia starts its spring offensive.

From Free West Media, the U.S. has a missile problem.

From ReMix, police in Berlin are frustrated as migrant gang wars grip the city.  (If you read German, read the story at BZ.)

From Balkan Insight, an exhibit to mark the anniversary of NATO airstrikes against Serbia in 1999 is opened in Pristina, Kosovo.

From The North Africa Post, the African Development Bank hails Morocco's electricity network development programs.

From The New Arab, girls in the Gaza Strip take up boxing.

From Gatestone Institute, China is about to lose its bases in Cuba.

From The Daily Signal, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D) celebrates the end of Ramadan with an imam who faced deportation over alleged ties to Hamas.

From The American Conservative, whatever happened to the antiwar left?

From The Western Journal, Senator Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) prediction that having ICE at airports would lead to "trouble" couldn't be more wrong.

From BizPac Review, former CIA Director John Brennan claims that he tends to believe Iran more than he believes Trump.

From the Daily Caller, Egyptian archaeologists find a Christian monastery in the governorate of Beheira, dating from before the Muslim conquest of Egypt.

From Breitbart, the British judicial system decides to scrap short jail sentences in England and Wales.

From Newsmax, investigators probing the recent collision of an Air Canada jet with a firetruck are delayed due to long security lines manned by the TSA.

And from the New York Post, a Fox News reporter interviews youngsters on spring break and learns that Teh Stoopidt is alive and well.

Monday Mania

On a cool and cloudy Monday, now that I've had a chance to resume my normal routine, here are some things going on:

From National Review, "the Iranian mullahs go ballistic", as in missiles.

From FrontpageMag, the aforementioned Iranian mullahs execute wrestler Saleh Mohammadi.

From Townhall, according to an opinion column, the MAGA movement is not falling apart because some podcasters did not get their way.

From The Washington Free Beacon, former CBS correspondent Scott MacFarlane joins the left-wing media company MeidasTouch.

From the Washington Examiner, another innocent life is lost because of Chicago's sanctuary policies.

From The Federalist, Connecticut gets ready to put homeschoolers under surveillance.

From American Thinker, a San Francisco firefighter launches a petition to rename the city's Cesar Chavez Street after the recently departed Chuck Norris.

From NewsBusters, more on the aforementioned loss of innocent life in Chicago.

From Canada Free Press, the mystery of Jeffrey Epstein's death takes a new turn.

From TeleSUR, Venezuelans march in Caracas to demand the end of U.S. sanctions.

From TCW Defending Freedom, the sleight of hand that gave the U.K. abortion up until birth.

From Snouts in the Trough, have you heard of Africa's "Meningitis Belt"?

From EuroNews, the E.U. is set to provisionally implement the Mercusur deal starting on May 1st.

From ReMix, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó is wiretapped, for which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán calls for an investigation.  (If you read Hungarian, read the story at Mandiner.)

From Balkan Insight, the left-wing Slovenian governing party Freedom Movement narrowly defeats a challenge from the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party.

From The North Africa Post, according to the World Health Organization, a strike on a hospital in Sudan killed 64 people and injured 89 others.

From The New Arab, Syrian authorities walk back their plan to restrict alcohol sales in Damascus after protests and criticism.

From the Express, according to former U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, the firebombing of four Jewish community ambulances in the London neighborhood of Golders Green is terrorism.

From Gatestone Institute, begging Hamas to disarm is a misguided approach of U.S. President Trump's "Board of Peace".

From The Daily Signal, congresscritter Andy Ogles (R-Ten) challenges Muslim leaders to condemn terrorism by Islamic extremists.

From The American Conservative, Americans should "make families, not war".

From The Western Journal, 13 U.S. airports will soon get some ICE.

From BizPac Review, Democrats are accused of being happy about long TSA lines in airports.

From The Daily Caller, traumatic brain injuries have reportedly become the dominant would among American troops fighting in the war against Iran.

From the New York Post, the Chinese anti-communist dance troupe Shen Yun claims that the Chinese Communist Party is behind the death threats against them wherever they go.

From Breitbart, Trump pauses attacks on Iran due to "good and productive" negotiations.

From Newsmax, over 400 TSA agents have quit due to the Democrats stopping their funding.

And from The Babylon Bee, the TSA reduces delays at its airport lines by eliminating the colonoscopy portion from their searches.

Checking In

I have returned home after a very long drive, which means that instead of blogging, I want to wind down, unpack a bit, and sleep.  Some bills have come in during my time away and there's taxes to figure out, so I will be busy with some stuff.  See all youz soon.

Saturday Stuff

On a warm and mostly sunny day in western North Carolina, here are some things going on:

From FrontpageMag, an ally of farm labor activist Cesar Chavez who covered up his behavior for 60 years to protect the "movement".

From Townhall, you'll love President Trump's ultimatum to Democrats over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the legacy of the recently departed Dr. Paul Ehrlich.

From the Washington Examiner, CENTCOM says that it has destroyed Iran's intelligence support and the radars it used to track ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

From American Thinker, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is an E.U. maverick.

From NewsBusters, PolitiFact uses a double standard to benefit Senator Fake Cherokee (D-MA).

From TCW Defending Freedom, Muslims take over Trafalgar Square in London as an "expression of power and intimidation".

From Snouts in the Trough, why the author of SitT fears that the U.K. will never recover.

From Gatestone Institute, the case for permanently eliminating the Iranian regime and Hamas.

From The American Conservative, veterans have earned the right to ask questions, so it's time that they did.

From BizPac Review, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) observes the end of Ramadan by having breakfast with Muslim inmates at Rikers Island.

From the Daily Caller, some analysts think that the economic effects from the war against Iran will last for years.

From the New York Post, American leftists travel to Havana, Cuba and stay in 5-star hotels while the Cuban people are starved of food, water, medicine and electricity.

From Breitbart, the alarming research on the psychological impact of "AI companions".

From Newsmax, Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan) claims that Trump's goals in Iran are "90 percent there".

And from Fox News, Connecticut Democrats oppose Republican efforts to secure elections, but demand IDs from people who want to recycle cans.  (via the New York Post)

Chuck Norris 1940-2026

Martial artist, actor and author Chuck Norris passed away yesterday after a medical emergency while on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.  He was 86.

Carlos Ray Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma to Ray Dee Norris and the former Wilma Lee Scarberry, and was the oldest of three brothers.  Has named after his father's minister Carlos Berry.  When he was 16, his parents divorced.  He moved with his mother and brothers to Prairie Village, Kansas and later to Torrance, California.

In 1958, Norris joined the Air Force and started training in the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do.  He eventually earned black belts in five different arts.  He won several karate tournaments between 1967 and 1969.  He developed two martial arts forms, first American Tang Soo Do and later Chun Kuk Do, which is now known as the Chuck Norris System.  During one of his competitions, he met fellow martial artist Bruce Lee, with whom he developed a friendship and working relationship.

In 1972, Norris portrayed Lee's opponent in his film Way of the Dragon.  He went on to star in movies such as Breaker! Breaker!, Good Guys Wear Black, A Force of One, The Octagon, Forced Vengeance, Lone Wolf McQuade, Missing in Action, Code of Silence, The Delta Force, Sidekicks, and Forest Warrior.  He also played the title role in the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger.

In 2005, the interwebz broke out with numerous "Chuck Norris facts", which humorously exaggerated his toughness, masculinity and abilities, sometimes to impossible degrees.  For example, Norris was allegedly able to divide by zero, slam a revolving door, and push the earth down when he did push-ups.  The discovery of such "facts" has continued since that year.

Politically, Norris was a conservative Republican, and wrote for the right-wing website World Net Daily.  He wrote nine books, the most recent one being a compilation of his favorite "Chuck Norris facts".

Norris married his high school classmate Dianne Kay Holechek in December 1958.  They had two sons, and divorced in 1989.  In November 1998, he married model Gena O'Kelley.  They had fraternal twins.  He also a daughter from an extramarital affair while married to Holechek.  He is survived by his second wife, his five children, and his 17 grandchildren.

Read more at KTVB, AP News, The Hollywood Reporter, People and the Los Angeles Times.

Friday Fuss

On a sunny and mild Friday, as I take it easy for a while, here are some things going on:

From National Review, Russian oil tankers have a rough week.

From FrontpageMag, the sex offenses of labor activist Cesar Chavez.

From Townhall, CBS News Radio calls it a day.

From The Washington Free Beacon, two anti-Israel academics who resigned from Harvard are hired by the Columbia-affiliated Union Theological Seminary.

From the Washington Examiner, why Democrats love gun control and violent criminals.

From American Thinker, how President Trump's strategy, as set out in a speech he made in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is boxing in Iran.

From NewsBusters, NBC goes Sergeant Schultz on new photos showing the destruction inside a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan from an attack by a radical Muslim.

From Canada Free Press, rising beef prices bring back the "where's the beef?" question.

From TeleSUR, International Court of Justice authorizes Guatemala to intervene in a dispute between Belize and Honduras over the island group Sapodilla Cayes.

From TCW Defending Freedom, U.K. energy minister wants U.K. citizens to pay for more solar panels.

From Snouts in the Trough, was there a major error in the film Titanic?

From EuroNews, the Strava fitness app reportedly reveals the location of a French aircraft carrier.

From Free West Media, Israel is allegedly at war with its neighbors and wants to annex them.

From ReMix, Polish authorities arrest six suspects allegedly involved in the illegal employment of foreigners.

From Balkan Insight, the Romanian parliament adopts a cost-cutting budget despite tensions within the governing coalition.

From The North Africa Post, the two sides in the Sudanese civil war blame each other for a drone strike that killed 17 civilians in Al-Tina, Chad.

From The New Arab, despite devastation by Israeli forces, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip celebrate Eid al-Fitr.

From News(dot)com(dot)au, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blames the backlash over the banning of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir for heckling at Australia's largest mosque.

From Gatestone Institute, Pakistan steps up its persecution of religious minorities.

From The Daily Signal, how the media erased then-President Obama's confession about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.

From The American Conservative and the "you can't make this up" department, the U.K. finds a way to tax its people for paying taxes.

From The Western Journal, the U.S. is reportedly sending more troops and ships to the Middle East.

From BizPac Review, homelessness goes out of control in some blue states.

From the Daily Caller, degenerates use pretzel logic to justify sleeping around.

From Breitbart, First Lady Melania Trump will host the leaders of nearly 50 nations at the "Fostering the Future Together" summit at the White House.

From Newsmax, Trump calls NATO a "paper tiger" when it comes to the Straits of Hormuz.

And from the New York Post, for over $2 million, you can buy a home in a trailer park in the Hamptons on Long Island.

Traveler's Rest State Historic Site

After driving through South Carolina, I turned westward and went into Georgia.  Just on the Georgia side of the border along U.S. route 123 is the Traveler's Rest State Historic Site.  From what I can gather from the interwebz, it was originally an inn and later the main house for a plantation.  It's open only on weekends, but I still explored the grounds.  Here's the front of the old inn.

On The Road In South Carolina

Today I ventured southward from my undisclosed location into South Carolina.  Somewhere along S.C. route 107, I unexpectedly came across this monument to a military plane crash that happened in 1943.  On top of it are coins, mostly pennies, left by various people who likewise stopped at this place.

Music Break

It's once again about time that I put up a musical post.  I have planned this one for a while, and finally found the time to go through with it.  The first song is an original version of one that I used to hear back in the 1970s by a band called Black Oak Arkansas, named after their place of origin.  Their lead singer Jim Mangrum even used the song's title as a stage name.  But in reality, Jim Dandy (to the Rescue) was first sung by R&B singer LaVern Baker in 1955.

Return To Judaculla Rock

Almost 11 years ago in April of 2015, I visited Judaculla Rock, near Cullowhee, North Carolina.  Since it's not too far from my current undisclosed location, I decided to return to the place.  The rock is named after the "slant-eyed giant" Judaculla, who according to Cherokee folklore had seven fingers on each hand and could jump from one mountain to another.  In one story, he landed on the rock but had to steady himself with one hand, resulting in his fingers digging out some petroglyphs.  The rock is partially surrounded by a viewing platform, as seen in this shot looking down from the adjacent road.