Welcome to Thursday, October 22, 2026 and National Nut Day. One of their more tasty incarnations is in pies, particularly pecan pie. Here are some of the pecan pies that competed in (and were on sale after) last year’s South Side Pie Challenge. I will be at this year’s competition on November 8, ready to buy four or five prizewinning slices.
It’s also Eat A Pretzel Day, National Tavern Style Pizza Day (meh), and Wombat Day. If you don’t know by now that wombats are the world’s only organism that produces cubic poop, well, now you know. See the video below, and read this paper for more explanation.
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the October 22 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*The WSJ, in an article labeled an “exclusive,” says that Elon Musk was responsible for slowing Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite data that provides it with military intelligence. Musk had earlier denied he bire any responsibility for this, blaming Trump or the administration.
Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.
Both Musk and President Trump have expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high energy prices. Last week, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network, the people said, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless.
Musk and Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning last week, two of the people said. One of the people also claimed Musk and Trump discussed the matter prior to the decision to throttle Starlink.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public complaints—namely that Ukrainians could die if the unrestricted service wasn’t restored—led to widespread confusion about who ordered the slowdown, and to an informal investigation inside the White House.
, , ,Musk himself posted on X hours after the slowdown became public, “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” using the acronym for president of the United States. Trump told reporters Monday that he didn’t know who was responsible for the Starlink slowdown, “but I would like to find out.”
Some U.S. officials say that Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump didn’t specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. But a person familiar with the situation said Musk talked to multiple senior administration officials, including with Trump, before imposing the new speed cap, which Ukrainian officials said had allowed Russian missiles to evade their defenses.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration didn’t make any request for a throttling of Starlink. “There was no foreknowledge,” he told reporters during a visit to India.
Did Rubio lie? Who knows? But it’s clear that both Musk and the Trump administration worked together in a way that hurt Ukraine in its war with Russia. It’s reprehensible for the U.S. to help the Russian oligarchy merely to punish Ukraine for supposedly driving up the price of oil in the U.S.,
*Over at It’s Noon in Israel, Amit Segal argues in a post called “Sooner or later,” that yes, Israel and the U.S. will attack Iran, but not before the midterms. But Iran might attack Israel between their elections (October 27) and the U.S. midterms (November 3), trying to get the U.S. involved so that the Republicans would lose seats in the House and Senate.
It’s Wednesday, October 21, and according to the Financial Times, Benjamin Netanyahu attempted what many suspected he might: start a war before the election. Three people familiar with the matter told the paper that Donald Trump shut down a multi-day campaign set for the weekend of October 10. “We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterms,” Trump has declared, and he seems to be sticking by it.
This would undoutbly be a story about a rift if Trump hadn’t spent Sunday writing Netanyahu an endorsement that made the most ardent Bibi supporter blush. Add Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s visit to Israel on Monday, and it is clear that Washington and Jerusalem are in lockstep on everything but timing.
If Netanyahu did float an earlier date, I doubt he meant it in earnest. For a man with his ear firmly pressed to White House grounds, I doubt he would have missed Trump’s clear timing preferences. If it happened, Netanyahu was testing the waters, not drawing a line.
The plan the FT describes is roughly what many expect: a multi-day bombing campaign over a weekend, before markets reopen, hitting nuclear sites, the regime’s apparatus of repression and its energy infrastructure. Though not stated in the report, the plan afterward is likely to maintain the blockade and wait for the streets to fill with protesters.
The smooth plan obscures what will be far from a clean process. The fallout will send energy prices soaring, as the regime tries to take as much of the world’s energy capacity down with it. Meanwhile, whatever spring arrives to the streets would be far from bloodless.
But the enemy also gets a vote, and I doubt Iran is casting it for Trump. If Tehran takes his many statements at face value, or reads anything into the third aircraft carrier on its way, it knows an attack is coming and that it can do little to stop it. Waiting politely until every vote is counted and the markets close for the weekend buys it only a few more days of slow strangulation. The price of that reprieve is the initiative, and after twice seeing what Israel and the U.S. can do with it, Tehran knows exactly what waiting costs.
There is a week between Israel’s election and the midterms; there’s a good chance the Iranians won’t let it go to waste.
Yes, it will be messy, and yes, oil prices will rise. And no, I am not at all sure that the people will rise up and force regime change. But Iran has not yet gone to ground, and I am in favor of Israel and the U.S,. finishing the job.
*This morning I see a NYT article reporting that Israel and the U.S. are indeed hatching plans to attack Iran after the midterms.
The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections, according to U.S. officials and other people briefed on the deliberations.
As planning for a short but intensive operation progresses, the U.S. and Israeli militaries have stepped up exercises, flying planes over Iraq to practice strike maneuvers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week to discuss new strikes, U.S. officials said.
The targets would likely include Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenal. Some officials say one more big round of attacks could push Iran’s economy over the brink and force the country to make diplomatic concessions after nearly eight months of conflict.
Still, there are reasons to be skeptical that a renewed war would be any more successful than the first phase of intense U.S.-Israeli strikes between February and April. Those rounds of fighting drove up energy prices and inflation around the world, eroded security in the Middle East and severely strained the Pentagon’s supply of missile interceptors.
It is also far from certain Mr. Trump will approve fresh strikes. Repeatedly this year he has vetoed plans for a return to major combat operations, including this month when the U.S. and Israeli militaries were nearly ready to attack.
All of the officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss military planning.
Iranian officials have promised to retaliate this time by expanding their targets beyond commercial ships and energy infrastructure in the region to data centers and underwater internet cables.
They say the fighting will neither be quick nor limited.
Note that although this is a “news” piece, the NYT’s subheadline and text raise doubts about the success of the planned strike. This is not news but opinion, and of course the NYT wants the war over soon, with the U.S. sustaining a loss.
*Representative Ilhan Omar seems to have disappeared after the feds searched her house, also getting samples of her DNA (this site implies through “dumpster diving”) and taking her passport. The Times of India notes this:
Is Ilhan Omar missing from public view? The Minnesota Democratic congresswoman has reportedly not been seen in public since federal agents raided her Washington, D.C., residence last week as part of an investigation into alleged immigration fraud. According to Fox News Digital, Omar’s daughters have been spotted arriving at the property in recent days, while her husband, Tim Mynett, has intermittently appeared outside the home. Sources cited by the outlet said investigators are examining whether Omar or her father provided false information in her citizenship paperwork. Omar has strongly condemned the raid, accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of weaponising federal law enforcement against political opponents. Vice President JD Vance has denied that the investigation is politically motivated, saying it should be guided by the law and the facts.
Omar reappeared yesterday riding in a car, promising to reappear and asking for campaign money. (She doesn’t need it; her reelection is a sure thing.) Click on the screenshot to go to her Instagram post:
I’ve said that if the whole case is about Omar or her father lying about her age (by one year) to get her American citizenship, it’s not only making a molehill into a mountain, but it’s governmental persecution right before an election—something traditionally avoided. Alan Dershowitz, someone not widely admired, says that Omar seems to be in deep trouble, though (h/t: Jay). Have a listen even if you don’t like Dershowitz.
Where is Rep Ilhan Omar? She used to be one of the Democrats loudest voices and most effective fighter — and now 2 weeks before the midterms she is missing in action. That may say quite a lot about the scope of the fraud case against her. https://t.co/B0ApuF0bIZ
— Leland Vittert (@LelandVittert) October 21, 2026
And a spoof from the Babylon Bee that’s hilarious (h/t Anna):
*The common wisdom of how magician and escape-artist Harry Houdini died at 52 is that he was subject to a “sucker punch” to the stomach from a visiting student who wanted to test Houdini’s claim that his muscles could withstand any blow. And, so the story goes, that blow either caused appendicitis or aggravated an existing case of appendicitis, causing Houdini’s death nine days later. Now, says the NYT, a urologist went back, looked at the data, and has another theory, one involving Chinese-American food. After running through a panoply of existing and probably incorrect theories, the urologist says this:
. . . . Many consider it more likely that the student’s punches simply brought attention to an existing case of advanced appendicitis.
Now Larrian Gillespie, a 77-year-old retired urologic surgeon, has deployed the skills of a forensic medical investigator to challenge the conventional wisdom and clear Whitehead’s name.
“This isn’t just a story about Houdini’s death,” Gillespie writes in “Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice,” released in July. “It’s a story about how truth disappears — and why, sometimes, it takes science to bring it back.”
. . . When she reviewed Houdini’s city death certificate, she thought it seemed off. Information was scratched out. Names were inaccurate. It was signed by a physician who had not been present when Houdini died.
“I knew immediately things were wrong, that this was not the way a death certificate is normally filled out,” she said in an interview. Gillespie was intrigued, even though she “had no interest in Houdini whatsoever,” she said, adding, “I’m not into magic.”
. . .To research Houdini’s death, Gillespie consulted 1920s medical textbooks, affidavits, death certificates, letters and newspaper accounts. She interviewed experts, medical practitioners and a Houdini relative.
Gillespie said that, in addition to the Michigan death certificate, there had been two others, one filed in Detroit and another with Houdini’s insurance company. The city one was later proven to be invalid by the head of fraud at the Michigan State Vital Statistics Department, Gillespie said, because of several indications of tampering.
Gillespie said she found a paper trail of misstatements and actions by more than a dozen people close to Houdini, including relatives and employees. Among them, she asserts, several helped to cover up of the date he died, in part to make it appear to be Oct. 31 — “we remember Houdini because of the association with Halloween,” she said.
. . .The accepted account is that Houdini died when appendicitis, aggravated by the blow, led to Streptococcus pyogenes peritonitis, a form of infection.
Gillespie argues that the appendicitis was not the primary cause, and that the punch was not a critical factor. Rather, she argues, the culprit was a bowel obstruction, brought on by a fibrous mass of chop suey that Houdini ate on Oct. 28.
The obstruction led to emergency surgery on Oct. 29 in the late afternoon, Gillespie argues, an enterotomy to evacuate the bowel. But it was too late; according to the author, septic shock set in, Houdini’s fever spiked to 105 and his rapid breathing led to muscle spasms and unconsciousness.
“You don’t expect someone to survive 24 hours in this condition,” she said, “and so he doesn’t.”
But the bowel obstruction was never mentioned in any of the death records.
Houdini was operated on a second time on Oct. 30. Gillespie’s research into the death certificates indicates that the magician died that afternoon at 1:26 p.m., not on the following day at 1:30 p.m. But the documents were manipulated to change the date.
“Not identifying on the death certificate the second surgery is the critical tip-off,” she said. “That’s the smoking gun. Why was that not mentioned?”x
. . .The accepted account is that Houdini died when appendicitis, aggravated by the blow, led to Streptococcus pyogenes peritonitis, a form of infection.
Gillespie argues that the appendicitis was not the primary cause, and that the punch was not a critical factor. Rather, she argues, the culprit was a bowel obstruction, brought on by a fibrous mass of chop suey that Houdini ate on Oct. 28.
The obstruction led to emergency surgery on Oct. 29 in the late afternoon, Gillespie argues, an enterotomy to evacuate the bowel. But it was too late; according to the author, septic shock set in, Houdini’s fever spiked to 105 and his rapid breathing led to muscle spasms and unconsciousness.
“You don’t expect someone to survive 24 hours in this condition,” she said, “and so he doesn’t.”
But the bowel obstruction was never mentioned in any of the death records.
Houdini was operated on a second time on Oct. 30. Gillespie’s research into the death certificates indicates that the magician died that afternoon at 1:26 p.m., not on the following day at 1:30 p.m. But the documents were manipulated to change the date.
“Not identifying on the death certificate the second surgery is the critical tip-off,” she said. “That’s the smoking gun. Why was that not mentioned?”
Death from chop suey!? I’m not surprised. But really, the truth is far less romantic than often described (including the claim that, contrary to Gillespie’s research, Houdini died on Halloween). It does, however, exculpate, Joscelyn Gordon Whitehead, the McGill University student who supposedly struck Houdini in the stomach.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is trying to be profound:
Andrzej: What can you see from this rooftop?
Hili: A wider horizon.
In Polish:
Ja: Co widać z tego dachu?
Hili: Szerszy horyzont.
*******************
From Meow Incorporated. I knew a guy who had a white cat and a black cat, and named them Null and Void respectively (true!):
From Give Me a Sign:
From Bad Spelling or Grammar on Signs and Notices:
This tweet from Masih can’t be embedded, but I wanted to put it up anyway, and apologize if it upsets you. But these are public spectacles, and Iranian children are sometimes forced to watch them. The hanging is done on cranes that are slowly raised, so I suspect that the victims (protestors in this case) are slowly strangled rather than the faster process of “long drop” hanging that snaps the neck. Click the screenshot to go to the tweet:
From Luana. You can read the article here.
Accreditation standards were saturated with DEI for years, and the AAUP was fine with it.
The one kind of diversity they can’t stand is diversity of ideas. https://t.co/ekyx4Epivg
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) October 16, 2026
Like me, Larry is peeved at hos Trump & Co. is treating Ukraine:
The stated position of the Trump administration is that the President of Russia is a humanitarian and that the President of Ukraine should be removed from office.
The American electorate have a chance to make their feelings about this known in less than two weeks.— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) October 21, 2026
From Jeff Maurer. Sadly, I don’t subscribe so can’t read the whole thing:
“If AOC is trying to memory hole past wokeness like it’s an ill-advised Mumford & Sons phase, she’s doing it in a weird way. Since her remark, she has repeated virtually every trope that most people now agree was, indeed, crazy with four ‘y’s.” (link in next tweet) https://t.co/rtNTBO1vnN
— Jeff Maurer (@JeffMightBWrong) October 21, 2026
The link to the above is here, and below is an excerpt:
AOC’s recent comment that “woke 1 was crazyyyy” rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. The problem, as I see it, is that she wasn’t saying “woke was crazy and we should not repeat those mistakes,” but rather “woke was crazy and you can’t hold me responsible for what happened way back five years ago.” At least, that’s how it seemed — I’m deducing meaning from the timbre of her laugh and the number of “y”s in “crazyyyy”.
But if AOC is trying to memory hole past wokeness like it’s an ill-advised Mumford & Sons phase, she’s doing it in a weird way. Since her remark — which was in August — she has repeated virtually every trope that most people now agree was, indeed, crazy with four “y”s. She’s like an ex-alcoholic informing us that she’s a reformed and sober person now while dropping the whiskey shot into an Irish car bomb.
Perhaps the most memorable woke 1 trope was the upgrading of institutional violence against Black people from “problem” to “the defining aspect of American society”. That habit was why at woke 1’s peak, large numbers of left-leaning people overestimated police shootings of Black people by several orders of magnitude. Last month, AOC recreated this logical flaw by tweeting this misrepresentation in response to an initiative by fellow Squad member Ayanna Pressley. . . .
Two from my feed. The first is funny, though a lot of kids don’t seem to have any idea what their dads do:
These kids were asked what their daddies do for a living, and their answers were absolutely hilarious and completely unexpected! 🤣🤣 https://t.co/zcGAVoNxet
— Simply Amaka (@StelxyG) October 20, 2026
I had no idea. It’s a good thing I don’t have a cat or I’d test it:
Did you know?
Cats are far more sensitive to sounds than humans, and they can hear frequencies that we cannot. So, when your cat hears the teeth of the comb being flicked around, it irritates them enough to make them gag. https://t.co/ybV7qHCMB9
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 21, 2026
And one I retweeted from The Auschwitz Memorial:
Four Dutch Jewish children were gassed together as soon as they arrived in Auschwitz. Betsy, pictured on the left, was seven years old.
— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2026-10-22T10:58:47.113Z
Two from Doc Cobb. Matthew didn’t know about beetles mimicking bees, and neither did I:
An insect from a different tribe altogether that's pretending to be something it isn't. Eurasian Bee Beetle, as the name suggests, is rocking a bumblebee look this season to deter bird predators that don't fancy dealing with a sting in the tail.
This was a real name; check the link. (He was called “Formalin” for short.)
My son very kindly sent me a link to the Wikipedia page for this gentleman, Preserved Fish. “There were at least ten other Fish family members with the Quaker given name Preserved, whose lineages are often confused.”en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserv…
— MꙬse Allain (@mooseallain.bsky.social) 2026-10-21T09:48:11.621Z
Today’s song is “Taxi,” written and performed by Harry Chapin, who recorded it in 1972. (Chapin died at only 38 in a car crash on Long Island.) It’s a sad song about a weed-smoking cab driver who picks up an old girlfriend who, in contrast to the driver’s meager life, has become wealthy. They recognize each other and make plans to meet again, which are futile.
A lot of it is semi-autobiographical: Chapin got a cab license, but never drove a cab, and he did have an on-and-off romance with a woman who dreamed of becoming an actress (see Chapin’s intro below).
From Wikipedia:
Chapin debuted the song on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which prompted calls and telegrams from viewers requesting that Chapin return to the show. It was the first time in the show’s history that host Johnny Carson brought a performer back the very next night for an encore performance. “Taxi” helped to establish Chapin’s musical style and emerged as his early signature song, with Chapin often associated with taxi-related imagery.
. . .Chapin said, “there’s not a single line that tells how the guy or the girl felt. It’s a very cinematic technique. But it’s also a very uneconomical technique. That’s why my songs are so long. I literally put you in that cab and let you experience. It’s a more involving form of music than sitting and hearing somebody sing ‘I’m lonely’.
Record World called it “spell-binding,” saying that Chapin “sets up, develops and resolves a situation in 6:40. A very short 6:40.” Billboard called it “a strong piece of folk ballad material while lengthy, should garner hefty top 40 and FM play with sales and chart action to follow.”
The falsetto part is performed by John Wallace, one of Chapin’s backup musicians (3:38 in the video below). The version below is live; the original recording is here and the lyrics are here. Before the song starts at 1:08, Chapin is interviewed by John Denver and explains what factual basis there is for the song. The live performance ends at 7:35 and is followed by the recorded version.
It’s a beautiful but bittersweet song about romances that fade away, and it reminds me a bit of the Eagles song, “Lyin’ Eyes”.
On religious names that of Praise-God Barebone, who gave his name to the Barebone’s Parliament of 1653 stands out alongside that of a relative:
Dershowitz is 100% right on Ilhan Omar…I concur.
Search warrants are very pro forma so for a judge to spend six hours… Goodness.
I was interested in the fact it was a pre-dawn search warrant – SURPRIZE & GOOD MORNING! – which means they’re afraid she’ll destroy evidence. Not a good look. Ditto DNA.
He’s correct on the immigration stuff.
I don’t want her deported where she’ll end up in a mansion in Dubai. I want her in jail!
D.A.
NYC
Ilhan Omar was investigated by immigration officials in 2019, and nothing incriminating seems to have been found at that time.
Yes, Art. her crimes are less in the immigration department, more in the financial area, I think.
best
D.A.
NYC
Shouldn’t it be: to WHOever the idiot is?
“Harry, keep the change.” I’ve always liked the line.
I think you’re right. The object of “to” is the entire phrase, within which “whoever” serves as the subject of “is”. I’m not a professional grammarian, though, merely someone with an interest in language, particularly my own (English).
Yes, I believe it is a hypercorrection. Of course, the distinction between who and whom seems to going the way of “compare with/to” and “different from/than,” just to mention a couple.
Today is the 31st anniversary of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. It is a day when, like Americans who were alive during the Kennedy murder, we remember where we were when we heard the news. (I was a postdoc in the US, and it was Shabbat afternoon, and there was a knock on my door. It was one of my fellow postdocs, a woman from Spain, who came to tell me and give me a hug if needed. It was needed: thank you, Professor Loretta.
During those days, all the postdocs hung out together, ususally going out for beer one day a week. Spanish, Argentinian, Brazilian, Israeli, Dutch, French, British, German, Canadian, American…we didn’t discuss politics too much. Most of the conversation was about beer, food, and the difficulty of getting jobs as assistant professors.
Rabin’s death affects me even today. I did not know him, but his role in Israeli history is unquestionable. He refused enhanced security for himself, believing that no fellow Jew would harm him. (There was plenty of warning, and he knew about it.) He was a statesman of a type that we have not seen in Israel for quite some time.
Terrible day. Great, bold, and brave statesman.
I remember his granddaughter giving his eulogy.
Funny you should mention that. I can clearly remember the experience I had telling a Jewish co-worker about it at work. She’d been away from work for a day or two after he was killed. When she came back I casually remarked something like “I thought you may’ve taken some time off to mourn”. She looked at me and said “What do you mean?”
Me : Haven’t you heard?
Her : Heard what?
Me : It’s been front page news for the last couple of days!
Her : What has?
Me : About Yitzhak Rabin.
Her: (Now looking very alarmed) “What about him?”
Me : He was assassinated two days ago.
I can still remember how deeply shocked she was – almost had a heart attack on the spot. In fact her eyes did tear up especially when I told her the killer was a fellow Jew. And how surprised I was at her reaction. For me, anyone being murdered is a tragedy but if it’d been an Australian pollie being killed my reaction wouldn’t have even come close to hers. It highlighted to me the depth of feeling Diaspora Jews (for want of a better term) have for all things Israel.
There are beetles that mimic bees, and several that mimic wasps or ants.
The throttling of Starlink’s data speed seems to be part of the administration’s recent series of small actions aiming to force Zelensky to admit defeat and negotiate an end to the war. I don’t like it, as Ukraine in no way should have to give up territory to Russia. But Trump wants credit for negotiating a cease fire and ending the war, so he seems willing to harm Ukraine’s war effort in order to force an end on his watch. His selfishness has gotten the better of him.
Regarding the planned three-day war, Iran indeed has a vote. If the U.S. and Israel don’t wipe the regime out during the three-day operation, Iran will attack U.S. interests and bases in the region as well as other Gulf state countries, forcing the U.S. and Israel to keep fighting. I don’t think that a three-day operation can be so crisply contained.
Omar’s infraction is probably a tempest on a molehill. If her late father lied about her age, then wouldn’t the father be liable? He’s no longer available to be put in jail. If Omar was eighteen and went along with her father’s lie and she was complicit in lying about her age, then maybe there’s a little more there there. But proving that she was complicit in the lie will be difficult. Hasn’t this sort of age discrepancy happened before? And isn’t there a procedure for dealing with it—something as simple as restating her age? There must be precedent. Did Omar marry her brother? “Not to my knowledge,” she quipped. We’ll see.
Combs cause cats to wretch? That’s crazy—especially if it’s true!
Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” is a great song, and so is his “Cat’s in the Cradle.”
Somebody should cover “Taxi” but make it an Uber driver instead…
Or sung with a mechanical voice and make it a Waymo driver. The passenger could be Siri or Alexa…
There is an angle to consider other than pressure on Zelensky. In exchange for our slowing the Starlink data speed, purchasing diesel fuel, and lessening the sanctions, I expect Putin will temporarily withdraw military targeting support and other crucial intelligence from Iran. The open question is whether China will fill the gap.
People don’t have to like it, but it wouldn’t be the first time (nor the last) that we deal with one devil to defeat another. And, yes, I would trust Putin in such a quid pro quo if we correctly assess his relative advantages. The man is ruthless, but he is also rational and calculating. And he is “trustworthy” in that he will do what he sees as in Russia’s interest and will abide by any agreement that advances it.
Yes, at least as “trustworthy” as Trump is in doing what he sees as in his own personal interest, and similarly will abide by any agreement precisely to the extent that it is useful to him.
What I don’t get is the naïvety of many Westerners when dealing with Chekists. The only Chekist I’d trust is a dead one (and even then, I would drive a stake through his ass, just to be sure).
What, you want the ЧК to enjoy the process??
And FWIW, sociopaths come in all sizes, shapes, colours, nationalities, political persuasions, and occupations. “And hey, let’s be careful out there.”
I’m sure that Omar is not the only person to ever do something like lie about their age in order to get US citizenship. But most people who do that try to remain obscure and on the down low for the rest of their lives, and sure as hell don’t do something that will get them as much attention as running for Congress.
And from what I understand, the investigation is also investigating whether her father ever got naturalized at all, not just what her age was at the time of the supposed naturalization. It’s not entirely clear that her father ever got naturalized at all.
Alas, the Biden DOJ was also investigating Omar.
Harry Chapin wrote a sequel to Taxi, in which he meets his former lover again.
https://youtu.be/bD8sZFe9zxw?is=gmZfobC60k57pPS4
The AAUP used to stand for academic freedom and independence. But now it stands for boycotting Israeli academics because they are Israeli. There are many articles by the former president of the organization, Cary Nelson, on the subject. Just one more organization of academics that has lost its way, preferring woke politics to their original purpose.
Whether or not Omar is found to be criminally liable for the immigration shenanigans, one might think that (if found to be true) her participation in them would render her unfit to serve as a memento of congress. Unfortunately, respect for the law does not seem to be required for US government officials.
Of pies, pecan and blueberry are at the top. The best pecan pie I’ve ever had was Minnie Jackson’s in Williamsburg, wife of the grand old man of the English Dept @ W&M in the ’50s. They were from Alabama, where they know their pecans. As far as I vaguely recall, it had no egg white in it, just yolks, and light + dark Karo syrup. Probably also some minor but important ingredients. The filling was golden translucent. But the recipe was either lost or my ex absconded with it. If this sounds like a recipe that anyone knows, pls reply.
Things not to put in a pecan pie: molasses, sugar, chocolate
Those are the things I like most in a pecan pie🤓No Karo syrup for me😵💫
Our progressive friends were loudly (well, it was after a couple glasses of wine) proclaiming Omar’s innocence and the illegality of the warrantless garbage search to us last night. I reminded them that garbage searches didn’t need warrants, but they were adamant that they do in certain cases like this one so therefore Trump violated the law. They also brought up a couple of other recent instances of the administration going after political opponents which I was not aware of, and they were of the opinion that the only choice for Democrats to do is to resist at the state level, with force if needed, and to jail all members of the administration immediately after regaining power. I need to research to see how much farther to see how much this is actually going on; it may be bigger than just Omar.
That said, I have no issue with politicians being prosecuted for violating the law, and in fact I hold them to a higher standard than a normal citizen due to their positions. As for Republicans prosecuting Democrats, or vice versa, that’s the way it must be, as most of the time a party isn’t going to go after their own members. This is the check and balance side of the two party system that we have here.
Regarding Iran, what the heck are we doing? What’s the end goal? Regime change didn’t happen, and they’re still killing people they don’t like, and meanwhile higher oil prices are driving up the cost of everything. What is the expected “win” here? I thought we eliminated the nuclear threat many months ago.
If the search was done without a warrant, then evidence found is generally inadmissible in court.