Thursday Things

On a sunny and mild Thursday, here are some things going on:

From National Review, "Iran is losing its planes, ships, drones, and missiles" because of the U.S. military.

From FrontpageMag, the Israeli military strikes the headquarters of Iranian authorities who attacked anti-regime protesters.

From Townhall, President Trump fires Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

From The Washington Free Beacon, after senatorial candidate James Talarico (D) wins the Democratic primary in Texas, some of his old Tweets resurface.

From the Washington Examiner, a "third-party" auditor investigating fraud in Minnesota received millions of dollars from the state's Medicaid agency.

From The Federalist, 10 times when Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) betrayed Trump and the MAGA movement.

From American Thinker, 47 years of Iran's economic war against the U.S.

From NewsBusters, the IDF debunks a left-wing media myth that Israel dragged the U.S. into a war against Iran.

From Canada Free Press, why attack Iran now?

From TeleSUR, Venezuelans observe the 13th anniversary of the passing of dictator Hugo Chávez.

From TCW Defending Freedom, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch's call for racial integration in the U.K. comes way too late.

From Snouts in the Trough, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is "the Muslim pander-man".

From EuroNews, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands sends naval ships to Cyprus.

From ReMix, Sweden's highest prosecutor decides against seeking the deportation of a teenage migrant who killed a man outside a restaurant in the city of Uppsala.  (If you read Swedish, read the story at Upsala Nya Tidning and a related story at SVT.)

From Balkan Insight, Croatia responds sarcastically to being labeled "orange" on Serbia's list of "unsafe" destinations.

From The North Africa Post, the Canadian mining company Trigon Metals starts drilling in the Moroccan province of Tata.

From The New Arab, Hezbollah terrorists return to southern Lebanon to fight against Israeli troops.

From the Daily Mail, Iranian drones strike an airport in the Azerbaijani region of Nakhchivan.

From Arutz Sheva, the recently eliminated Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei bragged in 2025 that the U.S. couldn't do anything against Iran.

From Gatestone Institute, Israel and Somaliland show that size and location both matter.

From The Daily Signal, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) decides to call it a career.

From The American Conservative, boomer foreign policy produces lots of small fires.

From The Western Journal, congresscritter Brandon Gill (R-TX) grills Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) over Somali fraud in his state.  (Let's go, Brandon!)

From BizPac Review, CNN gins up some new outrage as the approval nears for Trump's East Wing ballroom to be built.

From the Daily Caller, Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduces a bill to eradicate fraud from unemployment programs.

From the New York Post, meet Trump's proposed replacement for the aforementioned Kirsti Noem.

From Breitbart, after U.S. forces sink an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, a second one is sent to Sri Lanka.

From Newsmax, Trump backs former federal prosecutor Kurt Alme to succeed the aforementioned Senator Daines.

And from the Genesius Times, watch the new movie Fat Gun: Doughboy.

Point Lookout Confederate War Memorial

While driving back from Point Lookout State Park, I made a brief stop at the Point Lookout Prisoners of War Memorial, dedicated to Confederates who were held prisoner at the Point Lookout POW camp.  The memorial includes a statue and a model of a wooden fort, both on top of a brick structure and surrounded by flagpoles.

Point Lookout State Park

After my visit to Historic St. Mary's City, I continued on to Point Lookout State Park, which is the southernmost point in Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay.  Within the park are the remains and reconstructed buildings of a fort built during the Civil War.  Here are some of its earthworks.

St. Mary's City, Maryland

Although my undisclosed location is in Virginia, I was able to drive to some places in Maryland today.  I first went to Historic St. Mary's City, which was the capital of the British colony of Maryland from 1634 to 1695.  This is the reconstructed State House, behind some trees.

Tuesday Tidbits

On a cold and rainy Tuesday, which is thus unsuitable for exploration, here are some things going on:

From National Review, the new era of drone warfare spreads across the Middle East.

From FrontpageMag, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) promotes Islam.

From Townhall, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirms that Iran was close to getting nuclear weapons.

From The Washington Free Beacon, Israel forces "flatten" the building where Iran's Assembly of Experts were gathered to select the country's next supreme leader.

From the Washington Examiner, how Trump can avoid a "forever war" in Iran.

From The Federalist, how to stay sane and not appear stupid when discussing the war against Iran.

From American Thinker, there are people and things that the Democrats hate, but whom do they love?

From NewsBusters, while ranting against Trump, Politico finally admits that the Biden administration was "dysfunctional".

From Canada Free Press, migrants and left-wingers are a greater terror threat than Islamists are.

From TeleSUR, the poetry of Jose Marti shapes Cuba's musical identity.

From TCW Defending Freedom, the Little Ice Age was the climate change that modern doomsayers ignore.

From Snouts in the Trough, weep for the U.K.'s future or lack thereof.  (The article's date is March 2nd, but I will let it slide because it's a "Tuesday=Wednesday blog".)

From EuroNews, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy clash over the Druzhba oil pipeline, with the E.U. caught in the middle.

From Free West Media, "when rules collapse".

From ReMix, 501 Afghans sue the German government for not letting them enter as previously promised.  (If you read German, read the story at Welt.)

From Balkan Insight, Serbia has a growing network of "slippery" surveillance technology.

From The North Africa Post, NGOs call for the protection of human rights in the Tindouf camps in Algeria and praise U.N. Security Council Resolution 2797.

From The New Arab, a drone strike on a power plant causes a blackout in El-Obeid, Sudan.

From the Daily Mail, the Albanese government in Australia is under pressure due to a promise to an Islamic group that mourned the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

From Gatestone Institute, Iran is at a strategic turning point.

From The Daily Signal, NCAA football legend Tim Tebow testifies to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism about child trafficking.

From The American Conservative, the "colonization" of the U.K. comes for soccer.

From The Western Journal, the rock band Radiohead doesn't like ICE using one of their songs in a tribute video to Americans who were killed by illegal aliens.

From BizPac Review, for the second time in recent history, an airplane lands in the Hudson River near New York City.

From the Daily Caller, a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan honors the aforementioned Ayatollah Khamenei and trashes the U.S.

From the New York Post, the sickening reason why an illegal alien with 30 prior arrests was released by a judge in Fairfax County, Virginia before he allegedly hacked a woman to death at a bus stop.

From Breitbart, a loss of phone and interwebz services in Medina County, Ohio is blamed on a squirrel.

From Newsmax, according to special envoy Steve Witkoff, Iranian officials last month claimed to have produced enough enriched uranium for 11 nuclear bombs.

And from The Babylon Bee, former President Biden asks why Trump simply didn't bomb the twice-aforementioned Ayatollah Khamenei in the leg.

Two Sites In Virginia

Today I drove around to two places near my undisclosed location in eastern Virginia, which is in the same general area where I was during September of 2023.  A short walk from the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center west of Fredericksburg, Virginia is this monument to Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.  The road behind it is Virginia route 3.

A Traveling Sasquatch's Dozen To Start March

Now that I've settled into my latest undisclosed location in eastern Virginia on a sunny and mild Sunday on the first day of March, here are 12 things going on:

From the Daily Mail, a man wearing a shirt that said "property of Allah" shoots and kills two people and wounds 14 others.

From Caliber, high school students in the German state of Nordrhein-Westphalia are told that terror by Muslims has nothing to do with Islam.

From the eponymous site of Daniel Pipes, how will the war against Iran end?

From Arutz Sheva, will the U.N. hold a moment of silence for the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei?

From Gatestone Institute, does Iran have six scenarios for another war?

From The American Conservative, the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS) is a "National Hostage Situation".

From TCW Defending Freedom, being suspicious of the U.K.'s ruling class is not paranoia.

From Snouts in the Trough, the BBC should get its international editor into Iran to tell us the "truth".

From American Thinker, Jews help U.S. hockey teams win gold medals in this year's Winter Olympics.

From Townhall, a breakdown of what happened during the first wave of strikes against Iran.

From FrontpageMag, no, large numbers of Americans are not leaving the U.S.

And from National Review, the Iranian people can't overthrow their government without having weapons.

Saturday Stuff For The End Of February

Now that I'm back after walking in a forest like a good Sasquatch on a sunny and mild Saturday on the last day of February, here are some things going on:

From National Review, the U.S. and Israel (again) bomb Iran.

From FrontpageMag, the Iranian people might have a chance to have liberty.

From Townhall, left-wingers stage astroturfed pro-Iran protests, and they are as bad as expected.

From The Washington Free Beacon, Israeli officials claim that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in strikes by Israel and the U.S.

From the Washington Examiner, President Trump believes that reports of Khamenei's death are correct.

From American Thinker, Trump makes a "masterful" statement about the attack on Iran.

From NewsBusters, ABC chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl suggests that the attack on Iran will prompt "significant blowback" from Trump's supporters.

From TCW Defending Freedom, why U.K. parliamentcritter Rupert Lowe is wrong to regard halal and kosher as equivalent to each other.

From Gatestone Institute, U.N. funding empowers the Iranian regime and other opponents of freedom, peace, and human rights.  (Due to the events reported above, the current Iranian regime might not be around for much longer.)

From The American Conservative, let's hope that the war against Iran is over quickly.

And from the Humor Times, testifying under oath, former First Lady/Senator (D-NY)/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admits that she never met Mr. Bill.

Neil Sedaka 1939-2026

Before I put my intended regular post, I must acknowledge the passing of singer/musician Neil Sedaka, which happened yesterday in Los Angeles after an undisclosed medical emergency.  He was 86.  He had a successful career during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and later had a comeback during the mid-1970s.

Neil Sedaka was born in the New York borough of Brooklyn to Mordechai "Mac" Sedaka and the former Eleanor Appel.  In 1947, after taking some piano lessons, he successfully auditioned for a piano scholarship at the Juilliard School of Music's Preparatory Division for Children.  When he was 13, he started writing songs with his neighbor Howard Greenfield.  Although he turned to pop music, he maintained a fondness for classical music throughout his life.  Among his hits during the fifties and sixties were Calendar Girl, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Next Door to an Angel, and Oh! Carol, which was inspired by his former girlfriend Carol Klein, later known as Carole King.  Sedaka and Greenfield also wrote songs for other artists including Connie Francis and Jimmy Clanton, before agreeing to part ways.

Sedaka had his lean years from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.  He still was popular in Australia and the U.K.  He joined up with new lyricist Phil Cody.  Their first song Solitaire was a hit for the Carpenters.  His comeback started in 1974 with the song Laughter in the Rain.  He joined Elton John's company Rocket Records and had a no. 1 hit with Bad Blood, on which John sang backing vocals.  Sedaka and Cody contributed English lyrics to ABBA's first hit Ring Ring.  He rerecorded Breaking Up Is Hard to Do as a slow ballad.  He reunited with Greenfield and wrote Love Will Keep Us Together for The Captain & Tennille, which went to no. 1 in 1975.  He eventually left Rocket and signed with Elektra Records.

Sedaka married Leba Strassberg in 1962.  They had two children.

Read more at AP News, Variety, People, ABC News and the Los Angeles Times.

Friday Phenomena

On a sunny but cool Friday, here are some things going on:

From National Review, yet another shooting suspect is transgender.

From FrontpageMag, yes, global warming has come to New York City.

From Townhall, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) reveals which possible heir to the MAGA whom he's most afraid of.

From The Washington Free Beacon, CNN climate correspondent Bill Weir can't believe that people are skating on frozen ponds in New York City's Central Park.  (I remember walking on the frozen Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. during the 1980s.)

From the Washington Examiner, testifying before the House Oversight Committee, Mr. Bill denies knowing about the late Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.  (If you're asking whether the "sex offenders" label applies to Epstein or to Mr. Bill, the answer is "yes".)

From The Federalist, if the U.S. military "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program last June, as claimed by President Trump, why are we possibly attacking Iran again?

From American Thinker, the Democrats represent everybody except Americans.

From NewsBusters, today's journalism is viciously against Trump.

From Canada Free Press, in a video, Dr. Willie Soon tells the truth about climate change.

From TeleSUR, an interview with Cuban journalist Boris Luis Cabrera.

From TCW Defending Freedom, the U.K. needs an ICE.

From Snouts in the Trough, stop the boats, smash the gangs, and deport the illegal aliens.

From EuroNews, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen moves to implement the controversial Mercosur trade deal despite a judicial review launched by europarliamentcritters.

From ReMix, the Cologne Administrative Court rules that the German party AfD should not be classified as right-wing extremist.  (If you read German, read the story at Welt.)

From Balkan Insight, Montenegro's government road construction company Monteput signs a deal with the Chinese company PowerChina-Stecol to build a second section of the Bar-Boljare highway.  (While Bar is a seaport in Montenegro, Boljare is in Serbia, next to the border between the two countries.)

From The North Africa Post, Morocco closes its southern fishing zone to protect juvenile sardine populations.

From The New Arab, a man is detained after driving a jeep bearing Israeli flags into a crowded area in Kerdasa, Egypt, thus injuring six people.

From the Daily Mail, a woman jailed in Morocco for wearing a T-shirt that said "Allah is a lesbian" could possibly have her arm amputated.

From Gatestone Institute, the Middle East presents a pile of fake narratives, a fake "Palestinian state", and a real threat to the West.

From The Daily Signal, more on Mr. Bill denying knowledge of Epstein's crimes.

From The American Conservative, why Trump is right to pursue peace between Ukraine and Russia.

From The Western Journal, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reveals that DHS staffers installed spyware on her phone until the Chief Twit caught them.

From BizPac Review, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth tries to return some sanity to the organization once known as the "Boy Scouts of America".

From the Daily Caller, a serial child predator is rearrested on the day when he was set to be released from prison.

From the New York Post, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi, 30 more people have been charged in the storming of a church in St. Paul, Minnesota during an anti-ICE demonstration.

From Breitbart, a statue of U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square is vandalized by pro-Palestine activists.

From Newsmax, Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran calls for interest rate cuts.

And from The Poke, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posts a spoof commercial for his own action figure.