Pete Hegseth Is Blaming the Media for His Mess in Iran - Esquire

Out on the Weekend

(Permanent Musical Accompaniment to the Last Post of the Week from the Blog’s Favourite Living Canadian)

Wait, now. Vermont? *Vermont? *New England’s New England? New Hampshire with a conscience? The place where Muffy and Trey from Brooklyn go when the Hamptons get dreary? *That *Vermont? Honestly, now. I’m sure that it is mere coincidence that this is Bernie Sanders’s state. From VPR:

It marked the first major confrontation between protesters and federal immigration authorities in Vermont. Federal law enforcement deployed tear gas and flash bangs on a normally busy street in the state’s second largest city to disperse the activists who had surrounded their vehicles. Roughly 60 local and state law enforcement officers were also on scene, though the departments sought to distance themselves from ICE’s conduct.

That last part is very Vermont. However, it might draw the attention of the brainiacs in Washington on charges of pine-scented Wokeism. Nevertheless, ICE did what ICE does.

When the warrant came through after roughly nine hours, federal agents approached the front door with tactical gear and weapons drawn. They were supported by Vermont State Police troopers. Police wrenched away protesters blocking the front entrance and ICE agents broke down the door. Federal agents removed three people from inside, forcing them into an unmarked car. They attempted to drive off, but protesters linked arms and blocked the street. Confrontations ensued, and the agents eventually managed to drive off by running over a median and exiting via a driveway.

But lest we forget, this is Vermont.

South Burlington Deputy Police Chief Sean Briscoe said the owner of the Dorset Street house told him that protesters were free to occupy the property. They set up a tent filled with drinks and snacks and sang songs to pass the time. Some protesters heckled or berated the ICE officers who stood sentry over the scene. They used their fingers to scrawl expletives on the sides of their unmarked cars and danced around them. As more officers arrived, the activists formed a human chain around the entire perimeter of the house and roped off the entrance with a garden hose.

Never underestimate the ability of Vermonters to turn everything into a county fair. It’s a rare gift.

Personally, when it comes to the Nobel committee, he may be making up their minds for them. From Truth Social:

We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning. Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth. We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time - Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

What an honor it is to blow up nearly 200 schoolgirls, to be Robert Chambliss with an air force at your command.

In related sociopathy, Secretary of Talking About War Pete Hegseth has his blurry eyes on the real enemy. From The *Guardian*:

Singling out CNN by name, Hegseth said: “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.” Ellison, a Trump ally, is the frontrunner to acquire CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, and has reportedly told Trump administration officials he would make sweeping changes to the network should the deal close. As has been his habit at these briefings, Hegseth concluded his opening remarks with an appeal to divine providence, asking Americans to remain “on bended knee” in prayer for U.S. troops and saying he served “God, the troops, the country, the constitution and the president of the United States—and answer only to those.”

We have the Cahaba River Boys conducting a war. My doubts are not assuaged by this.

Weekly WWOZ Pick to Click: “Dead Presidents” (Little Walter) – Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.

Weekly Visit to the Pathé Archives: Here, from 1957, is an uproar in the House of Lords because one of them was impolite to the queen and her court. One of his fellow peers slapped him in the face and got fined a pound. This past week, a bill ending hereditary peerage passed the parliament. Time to go to work, Squiffy.

The Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota are at the top of my Bucket List. Unless, of course, the nation’s organized greedy bastards poison the whole place before I get there. From the Minnesota Reformer:

House Republicans voted Wednesday to undo former President Joe Biden’s 20-year moratorium on the extraction of copper, nickel and other minerals across more than 225,000 acres near the popular Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. If approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, the resolution would next go to President Donald Trump, who has indicated he would sign it into law. The resolution requires only a[simple majority vote]to pass the Senate, rather than a filibuster-proof majority. Republican Congressman Pete Stauber, whose Duluth-based district covers the area, introduced the resolution last year. It uses an obscure but increasingly popular[procedural tool]that allows Congress to void certain Executive Branch actions. In a[statement Wednesday], Stauber hailed the resolution’s passage as a win for the regional economy, national security and congressional prerogatives. The resolution would[prevent future administrations]from imposing similar bans in the future.

Organized labor cheered the move, too, albeit in terms more palatable to the Democratic base. “One of the most important contributions Minnesota can make to the fight against climate change is leading the world in setting the highest bar for labor and environmental protections in the responsible production of copper, nickel and other critical minerals,” Joel Smith, president and business manager of LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota,[said in a statement,]also mentioning the promise of “family-supporting careers” for union members and “community-supporting jobs at schools, hospitals, public and private sector employers.”

If this legislative gambit succeeds, look for more greedy bastards, gobbling more of our public lands. Jerbs!

Discovery Corner: Hey, look what we found! From the BBC:

The structure, which was found inside[the Ring Nebula]—a famous, colourful cloud formed when a dying sun-like star released its outer layers—was roughly 500 times wider than Pluto’s orbit and sits 2,283 light‑years away. ... Scientists observing it say its origin is unclear, but their theories about how it formed suggest it could hint at the Earth’s future. The first theory is the cloud may have formed during the nebula’s creation, as the parent star collapsed. Alternatively, experts believe it could be[space plasma], left behind from a rocky planet that was destroyed as the star expanded. If true, it could offer a preview of Earth’s future as the sun—Earth’s parent star—expels its outer layers in a similar way, engulfing Earth, in a few billion years.

A few billion years. I don’t think we have that kind of time.

Hey, Morocco World News, is it a good day for dinosaur news? It’s always a good day for dinosaur news!

Discovered in the Tendrara area, the find marks a major milestone in paleontology, confirming that Eastern Morocco served as a significant habitat for massive prehistoric creatures over 100 million years ago. The discovery is the culmination of years of meticulous excavation. Faculty sources revealed that the team has worked tirelessly to recover the[fossilized remains], employing specialized scientific techniques to safely extract and preserve the ancient bones. “This discovery is unprecedented for the region,” a faculty source told SNRTnews. “It reflects the rich fossil heritage of Eastern Morocco—an area that continues to hold untapped secrets regarding the history of life on Earth.”

Why not? They lived then to make Moroccans happy too.

I’ll be back on Monday for whatever fresh hell awaits. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line and wear the damn masks, and take the damn shots, especially the boosters and any New One. In your spare time, spare a thought for all the people in ICE detention, and the victims and their families in the Tumbler Ridge school shooting in Canada, and for the shooting victims in Austin, and in Michigan, and in Virginia, and for the brilliant journalists of The Washington Post, and for the citizens of the occupied cities of Minneapolis and South Burlington, Vermont, and for all the people suffering from the severe cold brought by the current polar vortex, and the people in the flooded areas of southern Africa, and in the flooded areas in Ireland, and in the flooded areas of Brazil, and for people suffering from the outbreaks of measles, a particularly brutal flu, and Legionnaire’s disease outbreak in Harlem, and for our LGBTQ+ citizens, who deserve so much more from this country than they’re getting.