We previously covered the absolute disaster of an investigation that led to a 23-year-old Florida woman spending 13 days in a maximum-security jail over a fatal hit-and-run she had absolutely nothing to do with. read more
Global oil stockpiles are "scarily thin" owing to the U.S.-Iran war, Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said Monday, days after G7 nations agreed to release more of their inventories to ease supply concerns. read more
The head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency also cautioned that NATO countries must beware of Moscow's "little green men." read more
City police say they were not aware that a white supremacist group was demonstrating outside their department Saturday night until after they were gone.
Tony Lyons, the leading organizer of the Make America Healthy Again movement, promised to raise $100 million to support Republicans this year. He's nowhere close. read more
Hey, have you heard this tune from over a half-century ago?
Ten Years After - I'd Love To Change the World (1971)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Everywhere is freaks and hairies, ----- and fairies
Tell me where is sanity?
Tax the rich, feed the poor, 'til there are no rich no more
I'd love to change the world - but I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you
Population - keeps on breeding, nation bleeding,
Still more feeding economy
Life is funny, skies are sunny, bees make honey
Who needs money? Monopoly!
I'd love to change the world - but I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you... Oh yeah
World pollution, there's no solution, institution, electrocution
Just black and white, rich or poor, them and us
We'll stop the war!
I'd love to change the world - but I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you...
...
Prescient? ...
China's crude oil imports fell in the second quarter (July 2026)
www.eia.gov
... China, the world's largest importer of crude oil, imported less crude oil in the second quarter of 2026 (2Q26) following higher crude oil prices that resulted from disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz. China's lower imports reduced global demand, softening the upward price effects from the disrupted supply through the strait.
Monthly data from China's General Administration of Customs indicate that China imported just 8.1 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in 2Q26, 32% less than the previous quarter. In May and June, imports fell below 8.0 million b/d for the first time since 2016. ...
Yup, and fwiw, the above substantial decrease was mentioned in a comment here on this most august site back then.
OK, that was then, and this is now ...
China's Crude Buying Rebounds as Fuel Exports Jump 29% (September 2026)
oilprice.com
... China's crude oil imports rose for the second consecutive month in August as refiners turned to additional non-Middle Eastern supply and boosted overseas fuel shipments amid eased export restrictions.
China imported 37.93 million tons, or 8.93 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in August, up by 6.2% compared to July, and further recovering from the decade-low seen in June, official Chinese customs data showed on Tuesday.
The August import level was still 23.4% lower compared to the same month last year, but it's a marked improvement from the June lows of just 7.1 million bpd.
China slashed its total crude oil imports to a decade low in June, culminating three months of very low import levels amid high prices and constrained supply from the Middle East.
Beijing, having amassed about 1.4 billion barrels of crude before the war, could afford to dramatically reduce its crude buying, slashing import volumes in June by an estimated 4.4 million bpd compared to the 2025 average. ...
Interesting ...
Flock Safety Patent Reveals Facial Recognition and People-Tracking Capabilities
usajournal.news
... A U.S. patent granted to Flock Safety in 2022 describes surveillance capabilities far beyond license plate reading, including facial recognition, race identification, and pedestrian tracking, contradicting the company's own public statements. ...
@#6 ... It's just another lie. ...
Looks that way.
Where are the promised DOGE checks?
Trump is dangling the idea of government checks to get people to donate to his campaign (August 2025)
www.businessinsider.com
... President Donald Trump is fundraising off of checks from the government that he's unlikely to send.
In recent months, Trump's political operation has sent several fundraising emails that mention either the "DOGE Dividend" or tariff rebate checks, both of which theoretically involve sending checks to some Americans worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
In the case of DOGE checks, tax-paying Americans would receive checks of up to $5,000 based on purported savings from DOGE. ...
Have you received that DOGE check?
... The Homeland Security Department signed a multi-million dollar agreement to buy five aircraft from a company owned by a political contributor of the secretary on her last day, documents show. ...
This looks even worse when the details are shown ...
(non-pay-walled)
www.seattletimes.com
... The Department of Homeland Security agreed to pay the donor's firm $108 million for a Boeing 737 airliner that had been converted into a massive private jet, complete with a stand-up bar, two bedrooms, marble showers and a table covered in manta ray skin.
The firm, Daedalus Aviation Corp., had bought the same plane a few months earlier from a seller who had asked for less than $90 million, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.
At the same time, the agency agreed to buy two smaller Gulfstream luxury jets at prices that also seemed to yield a hefty profit for the seller. Daedalus spent about $83 million to buy the pair, but resold them to the agency for $106 million, the documents show.
The agency also paid the company $45 million apiece for a pair of 17-year-old Boeing 737 passenger planes, the documents show. The Times spoke to six aviation experts, who said that those prices were millions of dollars higher than the typical market value for jets of that age. ...
After taking over, Mullin explored backing out of the deal, according to two White House officials, but feared a significant financial penalty. The officials said that Mullin consulted White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who shared his concerns about the possible financial ramifications and told him that he should not seek to block the purchase. He did not.
Mullin's staff did not address specific questions about that account but provided a statement saying that "these planes were purchased prior to Secretary Mullin's arrival at DHS." ...
My comments on another thread ...
imo, this rapid exit is more serious than that.
For example, the bombers seemed to have been removed before the refueling planes were ready to accompany them.
iow, it looks like a scramble to get those bombers the f*** out of there. And quickly.
OK, if this was all just a routine security incident that led the US to remove the bombers from that RAF base, then the haste with which they were removed just handed the Iranians a significant PR upside.
Iran eventually may be crowing, ~hey, look what we caused to happen...~
But for now, Iran seems to be staying silent in their denials.
imo, more to develop here.
The Planes Left Before the Tankers Were Ready
americanlibertypac.com
... On Sunday the United States pulled every B-1 bomber off a British airfield and sent it home. Twelve of them, parked for seven months at Fairford in Gloucestershire, where they had been flying the war against Iran. The crews were ordered up so fast that the tankers meant to get them across the Atlantic were still being fueled when the bombers rolled. By Sunday night at least three had landed in South Dakota. The rest followed. A peacetime ally, a base we have used for decades, and the planes left in a day. ...
@#20 ... Everywhere is freaks and hairies, ----- and fairies
Tell me where is sanity? ...
Sounds like Sec Def Hegseth strutting around the stage in one of his performances. ...