Chicago Celebrates 4th of July With Patriotism and Deadly Gunfire

Posted on | July 5, 2025 | Comments Off on Chicago Celebrates 4th of July With Patriotism and Deadly Gunfire

Seven people were hospitalized following another mass shooting Friday night in Chicago, this time on the city’s Southwest Side.
It happened after 11 p.m. in the 4800 block of South Justine Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Chicago police said officers responded to a call of multiple people shot. Preliminary reports indicated that two unknown men approached the victims on foot, pulled out guns, and shot into a crowd of people who were standing outside, hitting the seven victims.
A 27-year-old woman was hit in the left leg, a 21-year-old woman was hit in the right thigh, and a 21-year-old man was hit in the right quad and right foot. They were taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in serious condition.
Four others were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
A 29-year-old man was shot in the left arm and is listed in serious condition. A 25-year-old woman was hit in the left flank and is in serious condition. A 25-year-old woman was hit in the rear and is in critical condition, and a 42-year-old man was hit in the left calf and is in critical condition.
As of Saturday, no one is in custody. Area 1 detectives are investigating.
This is the fifth mass shooting in the city since Wednesday. That’s when 4 people were killed and 14 others were wounded in a shooting outside a River North nightclub, where an album release party for Chicago rapper Mello Buckzz occurred.
Two other mass shootings followed in less than 24 hours. Four people were wounded in a mass shooting early Thursday in the Riverdale neighborhood. Four other men were also wounded in the West Englewood neighborhood later that evening.
Early Saturday morning, four other men were shot while sitting inside a parked car in the Marshall Square neighborhood.

The media don’t offer descriptions of the suspects, so I’m just going to guess they were Trump supporters wearing red “MAGA” caps.

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Category: Chicago, Crime

In The Mailbox: 07.04.25

Posted on | July 5, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 07.04.25

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
The famous Gettysburg Address was actually delivered on October 19, but it’s the logical capstone to posts about the battle. What people tend to forget is that Lincoln’s now-famous speech wasn’t the main event that day. Rather, a then-famous orator, Edward Everett, went on for two hours and almost 14,000 words (as was customary in those days), while Lincoln’s remarks lasted only two minutes…yet those brief remarks are what everyone remembers about that day.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

President Lincoln delivers his remarks at Gettysburg, Nov. 19 1863.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: The Mythical Modern Audience Also Doesn’t Buy Cars
EBL: James Brown – Living in America, John Adams – Declaration of Independence, and Happy 4th of July
Twitchy: They Can’t Even Win A Meme War, Creative X Users Enjoy Reimagining Jimmy Gomez’ Staged Capitol Steps “Crying” Pic, and Scott Jennings Lays Out Why The Democrats Keep Bleeding Voters
Vox Popoli: China Backs Iran, also, War in the Middle Ages
According To Hoyt: How Bloggers Are Paid, Uniformly Spherical Countries in Frictionless Vacuum, This That And The Other Thing, and Happy Fourth
Monster Hunter Nation: Academy of Outcasts 2
Upstream Reviews: Rebel Heart
The Bugscuffle Gazette: Happy Independence Day!
Stoic Observations: My Teenaged Bedroom

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Trump Makes the Right Move on Syria
American Greatness: ‘Make American Elections Great Again’ MTG Proposes Census Reform Bill, also, Biden Claims European Leaders, Dems and Republicans Are Calling Him as Trump Unravels His ‘Accomplishments’
American Thinker: Happy Birthday USA: A Simple Fix for Healthcare Fraud, and Healthcare Too!
Animal Magnetism: Happy Independence Day!
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For July 4
Behind The Black: ULA finally begins stacking Vulcan for next launch, A Martian meteorite discovered in Africa is up for auction, Two Russian satellites are maneuvering toward an American military satellite, and A nation founded on the idea of allowing people to pursue happiness
CDR Salamander: Happy July 4th
Chicago Boyz: Gell-Mann Revisited, The Spirit of ’76, and Shall It Be Sustained?
Da Tech Guy: Hermit of Loreto 2 Planned Parenthood 0
Don Surber: Republicans talk, Trump does
First Street Journal: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran?
Gates Of Vienna: We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident, also, Groping the Crippled Negro Boy is Forbidden!
The Geller Report: July 4th: Did you know?
The Lid: Liberals Claim Illegals Pay Taxes and Add to Society…The Numbers Don’t Show That at All
Legal Insurrection: China Poised to Target Europe’s Energy Underbelly via Libya, EPA Suspends over 140 Toxic Employees Who Wrote Letter Denouncing Trump Policies, Illinois Keeps Hemorrhaging Young People, Hezbollah Reportedly in Disarray as Thousands of Terrorists Quit After Terror Chief Nasrallah’s Elimination , and Elizabeth Warren 2.0 – NYC Socialist Zohran Mamdani Identified as “Black or African American” on Columbia Application
Matt Taibbi: America Is More Than A Political Argument
Outkick: Michael Kay Gets Roasted As Juan Soto, Mets, Extend Yankees Losing Streak, Chicago Cubs Set New Home Run Record On Historic Fourth Of July, One NHL Team Is Bringing A Wild Horse To Its Development Camp, Joey Chestnut Wins Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest In Return, Downs 70.5 Dogs To Claim 17th Mustard Belt, and NASCAR’s Natalie Decker Has A ‘Hot Mommy’ Day, MAGA Bikini Congresswoman Bears Her Arms & Deportation Machine!
Power Line: $500k For A Lifeguard Job, The People’s Justice, The Eternal Meaning Of Independence Day, and Thoughts From The Ammo Line
Shark Tank: DHS Says These Convicted Illegals Could Be Heading To Alligator Alcatraz
Shot In The Dark: Happy Independence Day
The Political Hat: When in the Course of Human Events
This Ain’t Hell: Charges in Houston Afghan killing still unfiled, Valor Friday, Just 36% of Democrats are proud to be an American, Transgender swimmer to have titles stripped, and Trump’s “big beautiful bill” clears the House, to be signed by President Trump on Independence Day
Dark And Harrowing Time On July 4th Per Nancy Pelosi
Victory Girls: Dark And Harrowing Time On July 4th Per Nancy Pelosi
Watts Up With That: Met Office Cannot Back Up Their Claim That Springs Are Getting Drier, Why Your EV Won’t Fill Up In Five, Energy Independence Day – Freedom from the Climate Cult, Inter-American Court Rules Nations Must Reduce Emissions and Censor Skeptics, and “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that” there is no energy transition!
The Federalist: Independence Day Sounds So Much Better Than ‘Fourth Of July’, Route 66 Diner Owners Share What They Love About The All-American Nostalgic Road Trip, This Independence Day, Ditch The DNA Test And Learn More About Your American Ancestors, and Men Listen To Podcasters Like Andrew Schulz Because Women Have Invaded Their Real-Life Spaces
Mark Steyn: Border Jumping

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Thank You, Tip-Jar Hitters!

Posted on | July 4, 2025 | Comments Off on Thank You, Tip-Jar Hitters!

A finale board from our 2019 show

Thinking back on the history of our family’s pyrotechnical celebrations of American independence, the 2020 show was probably the apogee, the zenith, the ne plus ultra. We had 35 cases worth of fireworks that year, and the grand finale was nearly a minute of extreme intensity.

That was the conclusion of an 11-minute show and, really, you shouldn’t go longer than that. I’ve watched a lot of videos of backyard shows, including some d0ne with electrical firing systems that make possible a greater precision of effects. But no matter how excellent your planning and execution may be, if your show is much longer than 10 minutes, the audience will get bored. There are only so many different effects available, and after a few minutes of boom-boom-boom, it becomes repetitive. What we do — how I learned it, back 20 years ago when I was haunting the online message boards of fireworks enthusiasts — to help avoid this problem is what is called the “roller coaster” approach. You build up to a peak, then go back down, then peak again, and back down until at the end, you blow their minds with a massive finale barrage.

What really counts in a finale is intensity, which can be expressed mathematically as “breaks per second” (BPS). The bursting of a fireworks shell is called the “break,” which is not always synonymous with the number of shots being fired, because not every shot has a break. Some shots are comets or mines that don’t produce an exploding break. In our shows, we usually include what are called Color Pearl cakes (48 or 96 shots) that are just small red and green comets, in order to Create a multilevel effect — the little comets going up from the bottom, with the big shells breaking up top. You can also do this using roman candles.

Roman candle racks from our 2020 show

We’ll be shooting a dozen 48-shot Color Pearl cakes in one of our finales this year, which means 576 little red and green comets flying into the air in the span of about 20 seconds. You’ll notice I said “one of our finales,” because part of the “roller coaster” method of doing a fireworks show is building up to at least one fake finale before you do the massive barrage of the Grand Finale. If you execute this properly, with the fake finale intense enough to make people think this is the end, then give about a 10-second delay (“pause for applause,” as we say), it’s a pretty shocking thing for the audience when you hit the fuse for the real finale.

Thanks to generous donations from the tip-jar hitters, I’m now looking at an inventory list that tells me we’ve got 374 shots in the 30-second real finale — an intensity of 12 shots per second. Is that enough?

Well, there’s no such thing as “enough,” probably, but I’ve sent thank-you notes to several of y’all who chipped in to help me acquire this year’s fireworks stash. That includes Bernard in Wisconsin, Stephen in Arkansas, a certain resident of Connecticut, and a young Virginia fellow who says he might be able to make it up to see our show when we shoot next Saturday, July 12, in West Virginia. The reason for that delay is that one of my grandsons is at camp this week, so in order for him to be able to see the show, we had to postpone it by eight days. Which means . . .

Maybe I could hit the fireworks stores again this coming week and take advantage of their deep post-4th of July discounts to add even more boom-boom to that finale! It’s certainly not too late to remind you that the Five Most Important Words in the English Language are:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!

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Of Declarations and Independence

Posted on | July 4, 2025 | Comments Off on Of Declarations and Independence

Today is the 249th anniversary of the publication of the Declaration of Independence. The Fourth of July is celebrated as Independence Day because it was on this date in 1776 that printers in Philadelphia issued the first public copies of the declaration. The Second Continental Congress had voted for independence two days earlier, but took time to revise and ratify the final wording of the declaration. As we approach the 250th anniversary of that event, there are a few key points about this which must be emphasized for the sake of historical accuracy and a true understanding of what our independence actually means.

First, it was not the words of the declaration, but rather the military action of soldiers, to which Americans owe our independence. By the time Congress in Philadelphia issued the declaration, the American colonists had been in a de facto state of war against Britain for more than a year. The “shot heard ’round the world” — the battles of Lexington and Concord — had happened on April 19, 1775. Patriot militia then besieged the British troops in Boston, and the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, which was five weeks after Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga. All this military action preceded the words of the Declaration of Independence by more than a year, and the war lasted another seven years until the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783. While it is good that we celebrate the Fourth of July to commemorate the Declaration of Independence, we ought not forget that it took a war to give practical meaning to those words.

A second error is to misunderstand the meaning of the Declaration of Independence by confusing it with the Constitution. It was the late historian Forrest McDonald who pointed out how common it has become for writers to scramble up phrases from the preamble to the Declaration of Independence with various bits of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, creating a sort of philosophical gumbo of liberal sentiment, sometimes with a few scraps and pieces of the Gettysburg Address and lyrics of patriotic songs thrown into the mix for seasoning.

There is no “We the People” in the Declaration (that’s the Constitution), and while the words “rights” or “right” appear nine times in the Declaration, most of these are in reference to accusations against King George III for violating those rights, e.g., “He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. . . . He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.”

What you see in those passages is that the Americans had, over the course of more than 150 years since the establishment of the first English colonies here, become accustomed to self-government, and considered themselves as possessing “the right of Representation in the Legislature.”

Here we reach the third point I wish to emphasize, namely that the sentiments of the Declaration of Independence express a specifically English understanding of political “rights.” As I’ve said before, the Declaration’s famous phrases about “self-evident truths” and “unalienable rights” cannot be removed from their historical context. If these “truths” were indeed so “self-evident,” why had they never been declared somewhere else at some other time by some other people?

No, it was the English-speaking colonists at Philadelphia who made that declaration, and their beliefs had a specific history that can be traced back to Magna Carta in 1215. It was in England alone that the idea of parliamentary “rights” developed into a practical system limiting the royal authority. Not long after the first settlers arrived at Jamestown, the quarrel between Parliament and the Crown became so fierce that it led to the English Civil War (1642-1651), and the beheading of King Charles I in 1649. For 11 years, England was a Commonwealth, acknowledging no king at all until, in 1660 — after the death of Cromwell — the monarchy was restored under King Charles II. But the example of the 1649 regicide was ever thereafter a reminder to any English monarch that there were limits to his authority, and that the rights of his subjects (as expressed through their representation in Parliament) were not to be disregarded.

It was by war, you see, that the English established their rights. The delegates at Philadelphia in 1776 were, in political terms, the heirs of those Roundheads who had accomplished that feat.

The Battle of Naseby, 1645

There are, in America today, probably not 1 in 50 high school seniors who could tell you anything at all about the English Civil War, and even most college graduates know almost nothing about the history by which the Americans in 1776 came to think of themselves as possessing rights, which they considered “unalienable.” This is perhaps the most ironic part of what is called “American exceptionalism,” the specifically English pedigree of those “self-evident” rights. There were European colonies all over the Western Hemisphere — the Spanish, the Portuguese,the French and the Dutch were England’s chief colonial rivals — but nowhere else prior to 1776 had the colonists of those other European powers risen in rebellion over the infringement of their rights. Why? Because only an Englishman would think in such terms! The whole business of writing up a petition to express a collective grievance against the crown — when had any collection of Spaniards or Frenchmen ever done such a thing?

It is the prevailing ignorance of history that makes so many Americans vulnerable to demagogues whose rhetoric about “rights” is intended to make envy a source of political power. People are deceived into thinking that have a “right” to this, that or the other thing — free medical treatment, free education, etc. — and then told that they are being oppressed by some conspiracy to deprive them of those things.

Such a concept of “rights” had nothing to do with the motivations behind the Declaration of Independence, the first paragraph of which states:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Everything else in the Declaration was written in service to this “decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” It had become “necessary” for the American colonists to part ways with their English motherland, and thus they would “declare the causes” that led them to take that step. They invoke “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” as their justification, being thereby entitled to “assume” their status as independent states.

It would be foolish to overlook the fact that this language was written with a European readership in mind. The Americans knew they had little chance of defeating the British military without assistance from France, Spain or other rivals to Britain’s power. So at the end, after announcing themselves “to be Free and Independent States . . . Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,” the Americans are careful to add:

“. . . that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”

Translation: “Hey, France, we could be useful to you.”

The practical aims of the Declaration of Independence are nowadays seldom taught — or at least, it’s evident that these lessons are not learned very well — because our schools are run by liberal idiots whose chief purpose is to turn their students into duplicates of their own idiocy.

The men who signed their names to the Declaration of Independence were not engaged in some faculty lounge moot discussion of political philosophy. There was a war going on and, for more than a year, the delegates at Philadelphia had been among the leaders of an armed rebellion against the world’s most formidable military power.

By signing their names to the Declaration of Independence, they were in effect signing their own death warrants — if America lost the war.

The good news is, we won the war. Now, 249 years after the Declaration of Independence, the question remains to be answered whether we are still capable of self-government, and preserving our independence.

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In The Mailbox: 07.03.25

Posted on | July 4, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 07.03.25

— compiled by Wombat-socho

For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it’s still not yet two o’clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break out and Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one hand probably and his sword in the other looking up the hill waiting for Longstreet to give the word and it’s all in the balance, it hasn’t happened yet, it hasn’t even begun yet, it not only hasn’t begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those circumstances…- William Faulkner

Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

Lewis Armistead leading his brigade to Cemetery Ridge as part of Pickett’s Charge.

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Pickett’s Charge, Remembering the Great Auk – A Tragic Tale of Extinction, Declaration of Independence Vote, and MAGA Big Beautiful Bill
Twitchy: Zohran Mamdani Claimed He Was Black On His College Application, The Best Tantrums After Big Beautiful Bill Passes, and Kilmar Abrego’s Lawyers Claim He Was Starved & Tortured In El Salvador – Let’s Roll The Tape
Louder With Crowder: Blue state pushing new law that gives non-family members a say in YOUR child’s medical care without telling YOU, MSNBC’s favorite legal “expert” demands other countries start to sanction America, Scott Jennings explains it slowly to GOP holdouts afraid of the allegedly “unpopular” Big Beautiful Bill, and Zohran Mamdani’s latest “don’t call it Communist” scam is to convert NYC real estate into communes
Vox Popoli: Conservative is Another Word for Surrender, The Price of Takeover, Who Comes After Xi, and Not All Cancellations are Created Equal
Based Book Sale: The 2025 Summer Sale After Action Report
Cedar Sanderson: Keeping Track of it All
Weird Catholic: Relics – An Introduction

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: The U.S. Needs Its Own Drone Industry to Counter China
American Greatness: UPenn To Apologize to Female Athletes for Title IX Violations, Strip Swimmer ‘Lia’ Thomas of Medals, also, House Advances Big Beautiful Bill in Dramatic Overnight Vote; Trump Plans 4th of July Signing Ceremony [Update: BBB Passes]
American Thinker: With Zohran Mamdani On The Cusp of Becoming Mayor, NYC Embraces Its Own Demise
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Red Thursday News
BattleSwarm: More Iran Strike Followup
Behind The Black: China launches technology test satellite, European capsule startup wins $15 million grant, Mars is not dry, Russia launches Progress freighter to ISS, and Two more former SpaceX employees sue the company for harassment and discrimination
Cafe Hayek: Another Open Letter to Howard Lutnick
CDR Salamander: Shipbuilding – Patience or Despair?
Don Surber: The Semiquincentennial
First Street Journal: Irreconcilable differences, also, Bad causes attract bad people
Gates Of Vienna: Trump Administration Gets High Marks for Middle East Actions, But Gaps in Understanding Remain
The Geller Report: “Moderate” Jordan Refuses to Play Israel’s Under-19 Basketball Team in World Cup, TRUMP’S WINNING STREAK, Trump-Russia “Collusion” Report Was Corrupt From Start – CIA Review, and THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL PASSES!
Glenn Reynolds: Trump 2.0 Is A Wrecking Ball
Hollywood In Toto: SHOCK – Superman Skips Mile High City, also, Adam Carolla on Calif. Fire Recovery – ‘Nothing Is Going On’
The Lid: California Cities Canceling July 4th Events Because They Care More About Illegals Than America
Legal Insurrection: Sean Duffy to States – ‘Roads are for Safety, Not Politics’, Waffle House Takes Its Egg Surcharge Off the Menu, Trump Admin Investigating George Mason University Over Allegations of Antisemitism, Blue State Governor Seemingly Sacrifices Landmark Environmental Rule on Altar of Presidential Ambitions, and SCOTUS Overturns District Court Defiance Of Prior Ruling, Decries Sotomayor’s “Provocative Language”
Matt Taibbi: Explosive New CIA Report Details Russiagate Fraud
Outkick: Boxing Association Calls For Imane Khelif To Return Olympic Gold Medal, Dodgers’ Max Muncy Provides Injury Update After Scary Collision, Cleveland Guardians Pitcher’s Bizarre Pitches Prompt Gambling Investigation, Placed On Paid Leave, The Athletics New Stadium In Las Vegas Is Already In Serious Financial Trouble, and Was Sydney Sweeney Invited To Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sanchez’s Wedding Because Of Her ‘Enormous Breasts?’
Power Line: We Can’t Pay Everyone, Blowout Jobs Report, and Claire Shipman Is Sorry
Shark Tank: DHS & FEMA Say Florida Hasn’t Applied For Alligator Alcatraz Reimbusement
Shot In The Dark: Violating The Laws of Physics
The Political Hat: Magna Carta And The Birth Of The Rule Of Law
This Ain’t Hell: Immigration update, also, Sgt Maj of the USMC shoves his foot square in his mouth
Transterrestrial Musings: AI, Emerson, The Diamond Age, and Education, also, Gettysburg
Victory Girls:Hakeem Jeffries – Fighting Battles On Behalf Of The American People #OBBB
Watts Up With That: Quiet Archipelago’s Embrace of Hydrocarbons Speaks Loudly, BBC Complaints Director Takes Six-Month Sabbatical to Learn How to Promote ‘Climate Crisis’, Africa’s Renewable Leapfrog Is a Mirage—A Dangerous One, and Berlin Moves to Ban Autos from Inside the City. Widespread Chaos Looms
The Federalist: This Is Your Sign To Shoot The Biggest, Baddest Fireworks On Independence Day, Trump Wins Again. Big Beautiful Bill Headed To The President’s Desk, After Federalist Inquiry, National Parks To Review DEI Signage In California For Violations Of Trump Order, In Latest Term, Supreme Court’s ‘Conservative Majority’ Plays By The Left’s Rules, and In ‘Judicial Power Grab,’ Wisconsin Supreme Court Twists Words To Strike Down 1849 Lifesaving Law
Mark Steyn: Life is a Hike

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Big Win for President Trump as House Votes to Pass the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Posted on | July 3, 2025 | Comments Off on Big Win for President Trump as House Votes to Pass the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

This is the kind of blogging I very seldom do, because the legislative process is generally boring, when it’s not painful. Grant that sometimes, the process is both boring and painful, but only the ultra-nerdy policy wonks ever get excited about this stuff, and I’ve never been one of those.

Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune deserve praise and gratitude for getting the votes necessary for passage of H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (yes, that’s the official name). Given that Republicans have a razor-thin House majority, and they’re six votes shy of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, this was a near-miraculous accomplishment. Bradley Jaye at Breitbart:

Republicans successfully met Trump’s Independence Day goal – belittled as unrealistic by the establishment media – clearing the path for a bill signing ceremony Friday that undoubtedly will be one for the ages.
Trump, in a Thursday morning Truth Social post, accurately called the legislation “one of the most consequential bills ever.”
The bill, which codifies into law much of what Trump has done through executive action and unlocks much more that required Congressional approval, may be considered by history as Trump’s crowning achievement. . . .
[T]he legislation manages to include almost every campaign promise Trump made on his Shermanesque march through all seven swing states, delivering wins conservatives never could have dreamed of during the Barack Obama or George W. Bush — or even Trump 45 — administrations.
Although Democrat fearmongering on Medicaid reforms has received outsized attention from the establishment media, the legislation not only extends or makes permanent Trump’s 2017 tax cuts — including no taxes on tips, overtime, or social security – but delivers on Trump’s signature issue of border security.
In many ways, the big, beautiful bill realizes the promise of Trump’s 2016 win, during which the mogul destroyed the open borders globalists’ stranglehold on the Republican Party.

Even discounting for the MAGA fever hype factor of that description, this is nevertheless a major win for Team Trump, and may help congressional Republicans stem the expected 2026 mid-term backlash. Historically, the president’s party loses seats in mid-term elections, but the Democrats are in disarray, demoralized and discombobulated after the wretched end of Biden’s embarrassing one-term stint in the White House, so it’s possible the GOP can avert the typical mid-term defeat. Meanwhile, let me throw out a somewhat crazy take on how and why this deal got done:

The Israel-Iran war.

What was the biggest threat to passage of the Big Beautiful Bill? A Senate filibuster. Mike Johnson could whip his caucus and twist arms to get enough votes to pass the bill in the House, but how could it ever get past the Senate, where it takes 60 votes (or 59 senators, plus the VP’s vote, if necessary) to get “cloture” and let a bill proceed to an up-or-down vote.

OK, so the Big Beautiful Bill got final House approval on June 10. Three days later, Israel launched its attack on Iran, targeting their military leadership and nuclear weapons program. The war culminated June 22 with the U.S. striking three Iranian nuclear facilities, and two days later, Trump announced a ceasefire ending what he called “The 12-Day War.”

Trump’s decisive action as Commander-in-Chief served as a stark contrast to Biden’s weakness and now let me ask you, who is the Democratic Party leader in the U.S. Senate?

Say what you will about Chuck Schumer — and I’m pretty sure I’ve never said anything good about him — he has always been pro-Israel, and as much as Chuck hates Trump, you have to imagine that him seeing Trump standing strong against the mullahs in Iran counted for something.

Perhaps my hunch on this is crazy, but how else do you explain why Schumer didn’t wage a filibuster to stop what is obviously a major legislative victory for Trump? As much as our “America First” friends may lament it, I say Trump won by playing the Zionist card.

Anyway, Stephen Miller is in the gloat zone.

The communists know that if this bill passes the invasion is reversed. https://t.co/2etOMrMHCN

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) July 3, 2025

Congress just passed the most populist, pro-worker, pro-American, pro-sovereignty, pro-freedom and pro-growth legislation in American History.

The agenda President Trump campaigned on—and won a historic mandate to implement—is now the law of the land.

THE GOLDEN AGE IS HERE!!!

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) July 3, 2025

Really, this is a big win, and we don’t get many of those on Capitol Hill, so it’s best to gloat all we can when we get the chance.

Hakeem Jeffries: “A deportation machine will be unleashed on steroids” if the BBB passes

YES! ? That’s what 77 million Americans voted for ? pic.twitter.com/14xkI3ZD9R

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 3, 2025

Chants of "USA" break out on the House floor ?? ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/aLr0YQ75nv

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) July 3, 2025

FACT CHECK: True! pic.twitter.com/OWyeFGvs04

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 3, 2025

VICTORY: The One Big Beautiful Bill Passes U.S. Congress, Heads to President Trump’s Desk ??? pic.twitter.com/d1nbOlL21G

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 3, 2025

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Category: Budget, Congress, Donald Trump, Taxes

In The Mailbox: 07.02.25

Posted on | July 3, 2025 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 07.02.25

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Hopefully today’s note on Gettysburg won’t accidentally enrage the boss like yesterday’s…anyway, just about everyone knows about Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine’s stand at Little Round Top. Less well known is the suicidal charge of the 1st Minnesota into the teeth of Wilcox’s brigades attacking Cemetery Ridge, ordered by General Hancock to buy time for reinforcements to come up. Colonel Colvill and his 262 men charged without hesitation, and within five minutes 215 Minnesotans were dead or wounded…but they bought the time needed. The 82% casualty rate stands as the largest loss by any surviving U.S military unit in a single day’s engagement ever; the regimental colors are still displayed at the state capitol in St. Paul.
Silicon Valley et Hamas delenda sunt.

“The First Minnesota”, by Don Troiani

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Not What I Would Want to Do
Director Blue: CIA Declassifies Indictment Of CIA
EBL: Cha Cha Real Smooth, A Freako is not a R.I.C.O., and SIXTY MINUTES/CBS/PARAMOUNT PAYING MILLIONS TO DONALD TRUMP FOR BIASED REPORTING DURING THE 2024 CAMPAIGN
Twitchy: Etsy Threatened With Boycott For Alligator Alcatraz Merchandise, Boulder Terror Suspecr’s Wife Struggles With Modesty In ICE Detention, and Turns Out Pope Francis’ Ban On The Latin Mass Was Based On A Lie
Louder With Crowder: UPenn erases Lia Thomas, gives “her” titles to the girls they should have gone to, Scott Jennings nukes Democrat hack Paul Begala with truth bomb on Medicaid “cuts”, Drag queen lashes out at Donald Trump, proclaiming it’s better to “be a f***** than a fascist”, and Tim Walz’s daughter goes on a BANANAS rant over “Alligator Alcatraz”
Vox Popoli: They Tell You It’s Not Real, Self-Determination, JD vs VD, It’s Really Not a Flex, and Shipbuilding is Naval Power
Upstream Reviews: My Dragon Awards Ballot
Cedar Sanderson: Twofer
The Bugscuffle Gazette: So, Iran (Part 2)
JIm McCoy: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, & Onyx Storm
Gab: Our Faith Is Not A Suicide Pact

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: SCOTUS Finds No ‘Right’ to Medical Care From Planned Parenthood
American Thinker: The Life Cycle of a Mail-In Ballot, also, BBB – Congressional Democrats Turn on Blue-Collar Workers and Retirees
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
BattleSwarm: Xi Out?
Behind The Black: Methane climate satellite fails, Astronomers discover supernovae that apparently exploded twice, Another interstellar object identified entering the solar system, New data: the ozone hole occurs mostly because of the sunspot cycle and cosmic rays, not CFC pollution, and Senate reconciliation budget bill includes Cruz’s big spending additions to NASA
Cafe Hayek: “America Firsters,” Of All People, Should Welcome Subsidized Imports
Don Surber: Trump sets tariff revenue record
First Street Journal: You in a heap o’ trouble, boy!
Gates Of Vienna: A Deadly Incident in the Dorsten Forest
The Geller Report: Poll Says Only 36% Of Democrats Are Proud To Be American, BDS (Boycott the Jews) Movement Defeat; $9.3B raised marks strongest half for Israeli startups since 2022, Head of Virginia School Kenneth Nysmith Glorifies Hitler, Kicked Jewish Children Out of His School After They’re Bullied, Major Victory – Senate Passes Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’, and CORRUPT USAID OFFICIALLY CLOSED, FBI To Move Into USAID Building
Hollywood In Toto: Can Trump Make Hollywood Great Again?
The Lid: Waffle House the Latest Proof of Trump’s Success
Legal Insurrection: Senate Hearing Reveals CCP-Linked Organization’s Influence on Climate Lawfare to Harm US Energy, Denaturalizing Citizenship For Immigration Fraud Comes Into DOJ Focus, Pro-Trump Legal Group Launches Website Tracking the Hundreds of Lawsuits Blocking Trump’s Agenda, Eco-Cult Website ‘Climate.gov’ Being Shuffled Off to a New NOAA Webpage, and Let’s Celebrate Deborah Harry’s 80th Birthday With These Classic ‘Blondie’ Songs
Matt Taibbi: Welcome Back, Wells Fargo!
Outkick: NHL Makes It Officially Official That Players Are Headed Back To The Olympics, Dodgers Pitcher Clayton Kershaw Powers to 3,000 Strikeouts, Joining MLB’s Elite Group, Paul Finebaum Thinks Arch Manning Could Be The Best College QB Since Tim Tebow, Lakers Add Former Top Draft Pick Deandre Ayton Who’s Rumored To Have Behavior Issues, and Nancy Mace Rattles The Swamp In Just Her Pajamas, CBS Golf Girl Amanda Balionis & Alligator Alcatraz Reviews!
Shark Tank: DeSantis Mocks Mamdani – “Makes DiBlasio Look Like Reagan”
Shot In The Dark: Glaucoma
STUMP: Social Security Insolvency Gets Closer…Again
This Ain’t Hell: Cannibal illegal alien reportedly started eating himself after being seated on a deportation flight, Better late than never, Bad Form, That, and DOGE Should Look at the Fed
Transterrestrial Musings: Light Blogging
Victory Girls: Columbia Acting President Shipman Has Some Explaining To Do
Watts Up With That: Ted Cruz Demolishes Activist’s “Climate H*micide” Claims, Solar Tax Credits: 1978–2025 (never enough), Natural Gas to the Rescue…Again, Burning Trash for Energy, People and Planet , and Decline of the Great North American Decarbonization Charade
The Federalist: You Can’t Celebrate 1776 While Ignoring The Invasion We’re Dealing With In 2025, CIA Review Blasts John Brennan’s Role In Launching Russian Collusion Hoax, Documents Show Burbank Unified School District Pushes Segregation, Transing Kids Behind Parents’ Backs, Ketanji Brown Jackson Was Appointed To Be A Political Activist, Not A Judge, and Numbers Behind Trump’s Biggest Win Could Doom Dying Democratic Party
Mark Steyn: Live Around the Planet – La Donna E Immobile, also, Happy Dominion Day!

Amazon Warehouse Deals
The Last Full Measure – The Life & Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers
Best Sellers – Snacks & Sweets
Survival Food

Category: Linkagery

The Hills Are Alive … With Rachel Zegler?

Posted on | July 2, 2025 | Comments Off on The Hills Are Alive … With Rachel Zegler?

First, let’s get the actual “news”:

Rachel Zegler is reportedly in talks to play the main role in The Sound of Music. Zegler is known as a skilled actor on both the stage and screen. On the film side of things, she got her start playing the role of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story. This year, she returned to the musical genre when she played the titular princess in Disney’s live-action Snow White. . . .
Zegler is now reportedly in talks to play the protagonist in The Sound of Music. According to the source, the Snow White actor is in conversation to play the role of Maria von Trapp, a part originated by Julie Andrews, in a stage production of the series at Lincoln Center in New York City. It was noted by the source, however, that Zegler’s Sound of Music role is not yet confirmed.

Note that this is merely a rumor, and involves Zegler playing the Julie Andrews role in a stage production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. This is absurd enough, but some people mistakenly got the idea that someone was planning a movie remake starring Zegler, an idea so obviously crazy that not even ultra-woke Disney executives would try it.

OK, but what if they did? Thanks to AI, we can get a glimpse of what such a project might look like, and it’s hilarious: