End of an Era

Plus: Makeup company better than the MTA, phones and the birthrate, Ebola spreads, and more...

Massie's out: Yesterday, voters in Kentucky made their choice. Ed Gallrein, who is backed by President Donald Trump, defeated longtime representative Thomas Massie, who always skewed pretty darn libertarian. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near a close call; Gallrein won by a huge margin. The age breakdown is fascinating:

KY-04 GOP Primary: Results by Age Group

🟣 Age 17-25: Massie +25
🟣 Age 26-35: Massie +56
🟣 Age 36-45: Massie +38
🟣 Age 46-55: Massie +17
——
🔴 Age 56-65: Gallrein +18
🔴 Age 66-75: Gallrein +35
🔴 Age 76+: Gallrein +33@QuantusInsights | 5/11-12 | 908 LV https://t.co/H7juBRgxXr pic.twitter.com/pjcRguiF4a

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 13, 2026

Tons of money—$32 million, to be specific—was poured into this race by Trump and allies to get Massie out; he had earned Trump's ire by challenging the president on COVID relief bills, inflated spending, his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein (and lack of transparent disclosures), and his penchant this term for foreign adventurism.

"In various ratings systems maintained by groups such as Heritage Action and Conservative Review, Massie has always been an exemplary congressman. Once, that would have meant something," writes Reason's Eric Boehm. "When Massie was first elected to Congress in 2012, the Tea Party era was in full swing, and Republicans were expected to pass those purity tests or be cast out. Now, being liked by Trump is the only test that matters. Gallrein passed it."

Case in point: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R–Colo.), who campaigned for Massie this go-around, has earned Trump's ire for her perceived lack of fealty to him. "Boebert is campaigning for the Worst 'Republican' Congressman in the History of our Country, Thomas Massie, of the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, and anybody who can be that dumb deserves a good Primary fight!" wrote Trump on Truth Social. "Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my Honor to withdraw that Endorsement, and endorse a good and proper alternative."

It's not really clear what Gallrein is offering voters; this race has been rather light on how the people of Kentucky will be helped and rather heavy on who is (or is not) loyal to the president. It's a far cry from the Tea Party era Massie came up in, focused on cutting taxes, reining in the debt, and returning to more limited-government principles that have since fallen out of fashion. I'm now old enough to remember when minimizing the size and scope of the government was something Republicans in Congress cared about, instead of promoting feckless one-man rule.

But there's still something there, some relic of Tea Party DNA that animates maybe not a majority of GOP voters, but a chunk: "For the Republicans with an ideological identity, Thomas Massie is kind of their id," writes Matt Fuller for MS Now. "You want to talk about the national debt? Massie is just about the last Republican in Congress who takes that issue seriously. You want to preserve individual freedoms? Massie is the one annoyingly pointing out that your government surveillance bill would allow the National Security Agency to collect reams of data about your telephone calls. And, in the case of Epstein, you want to expose sex traffickers? Massie led the charge on the GOP side to release the files. He hasn't actually run away from Trump. In many ways, Massie is doing something more damaging: He's pointing out how Trump and Republicans are undermining Trumpism, how they're betraying their own voters, how Trump's governing prose is very different—sometimes antithetical—to his campaign poetry."

Check out this interview Zach Weissmueller and I did with Massie a few years back:

End of an era.

---

Scenes from New York: When a makeup company can do a better job than the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can:

why is a skincare brand fixing my biggest frustration with NYC transit https://t.co/rrEie1Srct

— kasey (@kaseyklimes) May 19, 2026

Related dynamic:

This is Central Park. Which was in such decay due to the City's horrible mismanagement that a non-profit took it over the 80s & the wealthy folks on the board did such an amazing job cleaning it up, that Low IQ posters like this enjoy it, without even understanding who to thank https://t.co/f2Nn4aoDib

— Sean Fitzgerald (Actual Justice Warrior) (@IamSean90) May 19, 2026

---

QUICK HITS

• "There are basically three main elements of long-run fertility change," writes Lyman Stone as a means of pushing back on Tyler Cowen, who is skeptical that smartphones are a driving cause of birthrate decline in the West (also covered by Reason's Elizabeth Nolan Brown in her wonderful newsletter). "This is not to say that other things don't matter, but we can conceptualize fertility change in three components and, when we adopt that conceptualization, my own experience has been that new information is very easy to incorporate with minimal creativity or rationalization. The three big factors are: Selection pressure via mortality and replacement; Recurrent emergence of cultural valuation of selfishness; Changing cost of fertility and especially intergenerational wealth transfer dynamics." Stone continues: "A demographer in 1700 would probably not have talked about mortality per se as a fertility regulator since low-mortality societies had simply never existed. What will be a big obvious factor the future sees that our historic models miss? To me, the answer is clearly related to the fact that young people are spending way less time socializing independently….Basically everything people do together is in decline. 'Bowling alone' but on steroids. What force would simultaneously cause all social life in person to decline?"
• How Brownsville, Texas, has changed since SpaceX moved in
• LFG:

instead of hostile architecture nyc should install public bloomberg terminals. let crazy guy generate shareholder value

— Elena Nisonoff (@elenanisonoff) May 19, 2026

• "Global health officials warned on Tuesday that the number of people infected in an Ebola outbreak in central Africa could be much higher than reported and that the outbreak could last for months," reports The New York Times. The outbreak is centered in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (a place I've actually spent a bit of time, by nature of my youngest siblings being adopted from there), and the likely death toll stands at 130 people. Horrible.
• I think the corrosive thing is that it feels like we're less in control of our own destinies in a lot of ways, despite having an explosion of options:

In general I think there's something fairly corrosive about living in a world where all material goods are extremely cheap compared to housing and healthcare, because it feels completely futile to be frugal on the small stuff. https://t.co/3RFAeGTF5o

— Kelsey Piper (@KelseyTuoc) May 19, 2026

Comments

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

HA Ha Massie lost.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Its funny to see reason decrying a purity test when Massie refused any compromise at all, often teaming to stifle the good that wasnt the perfect.

[Mickey Rat]

There is an interesting question of whether Massie's insistence on his own ideological purity led to better or worse results. Does being unwilling to compromise end up with a worse compromise being passed by having to attract less fiscally conscious representatives to get a budget passed (which is not something there is a choice about).

It calls into question just how effective Massie was as an advocate for his principles.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

An image of an uncompromising zealot dying on an ideological hill might be the libertarian party crest.

[creech]

One person, sure, no practical effect. But get ten congressmen doing it and the GOP leadership would have to take notice, placate them, and be pulled in a smaller government, more liberty direction.
Gadflies serve a purpose in politics.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

This is a good theory. In reality it has always failed leading to the forever one way ratchet.

In reality those 10 stifle all attempts at moving in the right direction. Usually by seeing which of the 10 can be most pure. And get nothing done. How many decades do you want to claim this despite the results?

Its also amusing you seem to want to give the power to the minority over the majority. When did big L libertarians start hating compromise and representative democracy so much.

My way or the highway isnt a principled view.

[Quicktown Brix]

**turns cognitive dissonance knob up to 11**

My way or the highway isnt a principled view.

[Dillinger]

a one or two vote difference and a cemented House opponent party requires teamwork not grandstanding. teams were chosen.

[Quicktown Brix]

Yes. Teams were chosen. We chose different teams.

I have no issue with you. Politically we disagree, but otherwise I find you quite likeable. Besides, your team is winning by a huge margin and my team can't get out of it's own way.

[Dillinger]

not you, Massie. you I like

[Quicktown Brix]

Cool. Got it.

[Mickey Rat]

If Massie chose a different team, then why all the griping that the GOP team stopped supporting him?

That is the heart of the matter. He was playing for a different team, especially lately.

[Quicktown Brix]

Good question.

I'm upset how the GOP changed their team. Massie stood for basically everything Trump campaigned on (tariffs being a big exception). I'm not so much upset that the GOP ousted Massie, but that it is a symptom of the GOP rejecting small government/libertarian principles.

[DesigNate]

I don’t think the base is necessarily rejecting those out of hand, but as Dave Rubin pointed out, when you have such a slim margin in the House, it really does become political war and they want someone on their team, not someone getting endorsed by Ro Khana and Rashida Talib.

[Quicktown Brix]

I disagree, otherwise they'd change their policies, not their personnel.

[DesigNate]

I think the voters are saying those policies dont matter as much as the policies they want more that are being obstructed by one of their own.

I think we can both agree that libertarian and libertarian-leaning types have a tendency to let the perfect be the enemy of the good and autisticly refuse to compromise (and then when they do, like Rand, they get ripped to shreds by other libertarians *cough*Reason*cough*).

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

**turns cognitive dissonance knob up to 11**

An unjustified ad hominem attack, as Jesse makes a valid point about how this unsuccessful strategy has benefitted the Democrats almost exclusively. If you don't agree, then provide the counterargument.

You purport to be better than this, but you never are. Then you act all indignant when people call you a disingenous twat and dismiss your comments out of hand.

[Quicktown Brix]

An unjustified ad hominem attack

Jesse has relentlessy attacked me with ad hominems for years so you can fuck right off with this.

unsuccessful strategy has benefitted the Democrats almost exclusively

*Evidence missing*

You purport to be better than this

I tried despite repeatedly being called "leftist" or "White Mike." I remained respectful when I thought we were all different grades of libertarian. Now that the remaining MAGA faithful here have outrightly and publicly rejected libertarianism, those days are over. The gloves are off.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

Lol! When provided the opportunity to be better and provide that counterargument, you instead flail and wail.

Your arguments are soft and doughy. The gloves are not why your punches are ignored.

Oh, and, "evidence missing" is no different than "cite", QB Mike. Jesse has alluded to numerous incidents that you are choosing to ignore.

[Quicktown Brix]

You did a very poor job convincing me to be respectful of your team's disrespect.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

How ridiculous is your supposition that opposing your dissembling, deflecting and distractions is a team effort and not the just the reasoned opinions of unrelated individuals? I have had a personal troll on this forum, and that is not what you are encountering.

You get called out when you spout fallacious nonsense. You earn the disrespect when you interfere with honest discourse.

[Quicktown Brix]

Team sport? I was talking only to and about Jesse until you stepped in.

Now you claim to know more about our interactions than I do? Seriously, fuck right off with this bullshit.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

Your response to me (not Jesse):

You did a very poor job convincing me to be respectful of your team's disrespect

See where you called out teams? And your gibberish about interactions is nonsensical. Are you a day drinker? You seem less coherent as the day goes on.

[Zeb]

The ratchet of ever increasing spending appears to still be in effect.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Yes. Massie was ineffective there as well. At least I can point to actual formalized cuts in the last 2 years. Cuts Massie actually voted against. Spending went up in other areas, but those cuts do exist.

[Squirrelloid]

Except there was no effort to move in the right direction. Republicans are largely also behind spending more.

If the compromise doesn't involve getting anything you want, it's not a compromise, it's surrender.

Fiscally, compromise would have to look like some amount of less spending, or there's no compromise. It's like when the democrats complain that money is being cut when budgets are simply going up less fast - that way lies madness.

Your view is apparently libertarians should just bend over and take it, and never get anything they want, and that's compromise.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Facing 1.2T over 10 in spending cuts and extending the 2017 tax cuts, he voted for 0 in spending cuts and 4T over 10 in new taxes. Voting for what democrats wanted.

He hasn't been at the forefront of reconciliation bills either. Quiet on DOGE/fraud findings.

He would rather complain loudly and get kudos than accomplish anything. He has been driven by ego the last 5 years. Similar to McCain.

[damikesc]

Others have pointed out that the most interesting part of Massie losing is who is very upset over it. Tons of far leftie commentators, Nick Fuentes, et al.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Yeap.

Ironically all of them are outraged that gop voters in Kentucky dont agree with their liberal anti Jewish urban views.

Massie ultimately stopped doing the will of his voters. He was actually destructive to their will. They overwhelmingly voted him out. Yet the left is now crying that he was the principled one. The one who refused to do what the voters in his district actually wanted.

He turned into McCain, letting his ego proceed his responsibility. Same as kizinger, as Cheney. They all went down the same paths.

Then Massie has to gaul to turn his not listening to his own voters into an anti Jewish diatribe.

Fuck him.

Massie isnt a god. He isnt a leader. He was a representative of his district. A job he openly and proudly violated.

This has turned into the usual reason shame of the citizen for the citizens views and choices. This is why the LP fails so often.

You can be both responsive to voters as well as principled. Instead they continue to push the "we choose the elite rulers" mindset found in globalists and statistics like democrats.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Global health officials warned on Tuesday that the number of people infected in an Ebola outbreak in central Africa could be much higher than reported...

We're done with hanta already?

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

Not scary enough. Ebola makes your eyes bleed.

Scared Minds. Controlled Markets.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And drug profits.

[Ajsloss]

It's almost monkeypox season!

[Ersatz]

I hear that at certain clubs in sanfrancisco its always MonkeyPox season

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

why is a skincare brand fixing my biggest frustration with NYC transit

Because government is dysfunctional.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Also, wrinkles.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Ro Khanna has the sads.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrat-angered-saddened-by-republican-s-primary-loss/vi-AA23CcPj

Democrat 'angered' & 'saddened' by Republican's primary loss
After working together to force the release of the Epstein files, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna speaks about Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s primary loss.

[damikesc]

I'll note that they have ALWAYS had the ability to leak any name they wanted in the House.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...he had earned Trump's ire by challenging the president on COVID relief bills, inflated spending, his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein (and lack of transparent disclosures), and his penchant this term for foreign adventurism.

The Epstein tangent was idiotic.

[mad.casual]

There is a libertarian case to be had that Trump/MAGA-aligned interests should be mercilessly hammering Democrats in, e.g., California's governor's race rather than necessarily Massie, but that would require an acknowledgement from Reason that Democrats as a party or ideology are clearly worse.

[Super Scary]

Him talking about Epstein is what got anti-Trumpers interested in him because they saw him as a vector to get Trump. It's the most anyone ever paid attention to him across his entire career.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Kelsey Piper
@KelseyTuoc
In general I think there's something fairly corrosive about living in a world where all material goods are extremely cheap compared to housing and healthcare, because it feels completely futile to be frugal on the small stuff.

She was so close to realizing why she can’t afford a house.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

Not really, have you seen the price of a sheet of plywood? But the real driver for both Healthcare and housing is labor. You can't demand "living wages" and subsidize illegal labor and expect cheap housing.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

See: Baumol.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Massie had a gell of a principled last stand. First tries to trick voters woth a text message saying trump endorsed him:

https://x.com/ZitoSalena/status/2056792127028261307

Then goes to claiming his opponent was biught by jews.

Eric Daugherty
@EricLDaugh
JUST IN — REP. THOMAS MASSIE CONCEDES: "I would've come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede."

"And it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv."

"I have called and conceded the race."

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2056891741161116032

Now his dem allies and corporate media are decrying Israel and promoting the epstein class.

What a great set of Massie supporters.

This is literally why he lost.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

Yep, I lost all respect for him. The very next words out of his mouth after the Trl Aviv crack was “we’ve been nothing but honorable, and will continue to be”.

Weird how voters were fine with him being a principled gadfly who drew attention to the debt, and turned on him when him began hanging out with progressives, obstructing for obstructions sake, and obsessively using Epstein as a cudgel

[damikesc]

Ditto. For me, it was the smearing of those innocent people with his announcement of Epstein associates.

His clear switch to being on the side of Democrats on many issues made him just another Jared Polis. He refused to accept the good because it was nor perfect --- ignoring that this massive debt was not generated in one fell swoop. It took decades and many laws passed to get there.

Fuck, he could have just demanded zero-based budgeting and started a process.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Lol. Mine was when he helped install McCarthy ironically. Then cried when mccarthy got replaced with Johnson.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"For the Republicans with an ideological identity, Thomas Massie is kind of their id," writes Matt Fuller for MS Now.

Lol. This is all it takes to get a glowing write up from MSNBC. A year ago Massie would be public enemy number one there while espousing the exact same policy views.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

A year ago Trump was only Hitler. Now he is Godzilla-Hitler and we need all the anti-Trump warriors we can get.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

The who said it quiz, Graham Platner or Nick Fuentes.

https://x.com/peterjhasson/status/2056847043637674259

And newly Graham Platner comments.

Jerking off to dick drawings in Porto potties abd laughing at American soldiers who were shot by Islamic fighters.

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/05/19/graham-platners-deleted-posts-have-been-exposed-and-theyre-revolting-n4953023

[mad.casual]

And, again, you don't need any "Cancel Culture"-style "we dug up some deleted tweets" reveal to know the guy is a scumbag (TBF: he didn't exactly dress in Aladin for a costume party). His own speech today is pretty dicey.

At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if he took up oyster farming to fight Zionism.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

That one os even more hilarious.

In 2021 there is a public plan for democrats to run "regular" people in Maine such as lobster farmers. Graham reserved a campaign site, started oyster farming, and a few years later was running.

[damikesc]

"At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if he took up oyster farming to fight Zionism."

Well, his Senate site was created about a year before the site for his "oyster company"

[Quicktown Brix]

I'm now old enough to remember when minimizing the size and scope of the government was something Republicans in Congress cared about, instead of promoting feckless one-man rule.

No you're not. You're merely old enough to remember the GOP congressmen giving lip service to minimizing the size and scope of the government, which they'll do again once they're out of power.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

I don't remember Republicans excoriating Trump for DOGE. Whereas Democrats lost their fucking minds.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

DOGE, the anti fraud actions being taken, reconciliation, firing of tens of thousands of government workers.

Where was Massie on these things?

[Quicktown Brix]

Growing government less than dems is very low bar and one that Trump managed not to reach.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Lol

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Go DOGE yourself.

[Quicktown Brix]

So like...cut something from my household budget for like $20 per month, but spend an additional $250 per month on new stuff?

[MT-Man]

It is a win, you would have still spent the 250 plus the extra 20...

[Quicktown Brix]

True

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

If you remember, the reason he was so against DOGE is he is funded by the government.

[Quicktown Brix]

If only you'd remember, I was in favor of DOGE.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

You say you are. You forgot the part where you just implied there is no difference between Rs and Ds, while ignoring the fact that they tried and were fought tooth and nail by the entrenched bureaucrats and judges, who are predominantly Ds, as evidenced by the voting history in the DC-VA-MD metro.

That $20 savings should have been $2,000, against which the $250 in new spending would be reasonable.

[Quicktown Brix]

This is mostly a fair criticism.

Still I suspect without dem opposition, the GOP would still increase spending with things like a $1.5T DOW budget, wars of choice and huge spending on ICE, slush funds, ballrooms etc. Why else would spending have increased every year in the past 50 years under GOP control.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

What D opposition to spending? Other than on immigration enforcement, of course?

Obamacare permanently fucked up health care costs and D states have opened the coffers for trillions in medicate fraud. A ballroom and a realistic budget to restore the badly deteriorated DOW is "just as bad"?

You really are not very good at identifying the real problems in government.

[Quicktown Brix]

What D opposition to spending?

I did not mean opposition to spending. I mean if R's were unopposed.

Obamacare permanently fucked up health care costs and D states have opened the coffers for trillions in medicate fraud.

Yep

A ballroom and a realistic budget to restore the badly deteriorated DOW is "just as bad"?

Yep

You really are not very good at identifying the real problems in government.

No? Well I've been fully indoctrinated by Ron Paul so...

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

"Well I've been fully indoctrinated by Ron Paul so..."

It didn't take. The deep state is deep blue. Maybe if the Ds imploded, you could garner opposition to the R machine, but right now they are the only sane path forward.

[Quicktown Brix]

they are the only sane path forward.

No. There is no sane path right now except to oppose both parties. This is not working for the people.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

"There is no sane path right now except to oppose both parties."

One party is problematic and one party is approaching Marxism on a logarithmic scale. If you opposed them equally, you would still be insane to do so.

The left takes advantage of people like you and Massie to implement Jesse's "rachet to the left" and you are too obtuse to see it.

"Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, ou la Mort". Emphasis on that last one.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

Lol

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Seems to be a new theme. Glad Massie got on board of the hotness.

StopAntisemitism
@StopAntisemites
San Antonio residents - meet Maureen Galindo, a Democratic Congressional candidate in your district.

Maureen pledges to send American Zionists to internment camp. She also states a Jewish cabal controls Hollywood, the media & local politicians.

Her runoff election is May 26th.

https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/2056715511543578794

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Poor sarc.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/one-americas-oldest-beer-brands-discontinued-after-177-years-us

[Zeb]

I'm a little sad. I'd take Schlitz over PBR anyway.

[Quicktown Brix]

Supposedly Schlitz was good stuff way back. I've only ever had it after it cheaped out. Not my favorite, but it got the job done back in my drinking days.

[Zeb]

I wonder what the "good stuff" really was back in the day. Modern cheap pilseners are much maligned by beer snobs (which I may be one of), but they are for the most part quality, consistent products, if a bit dull. Maybe Schlitz, PBR and all were the same back in the day, but the small scale brews that existed before were often inconsistent or bad or didn't transport or store well.

[Dillinger]

in the midwest Michelob was the "upgrade" beer we stole from our parents ... in New Jersey it was St. Pauli Girl

[Quicktown Brix]

Yuengling all the way in PA!

St. Pauli Girl is pretty good.

[Quicktown Brix]

Good question. Before or after Prohibition would make a huge difference on that too.

[rbike]

As a 6 year old, Schlitz was the only beer that was in the house and I would steal a sip when asked to get one for Dad. 1971 was a good year. Never did get a taste for alcohol.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Why reason is really upset with the compensation for victims of government wraponization.

https://www.declassified.live/p/reparations-set-for-j6ers

First order of business os for J6ers. Who were charged with 20 year threats using a law the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against. Often kept for months in solitary and no bail. Losing jobs and livelihoods. You know actual victims.

Reason didnt complain once when BLM violent rioters got millions for even being detained.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Reparations?

[Z Crazy]

When did they get millions?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

One of many examples.

https://www.today.com/video/blm-protesters-awarded-14-million-over-excessive-force-from-denver-police-136296517973

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Weingarten spent 1.4M in union dues to write a shit book to profit from that nobody read.

https://nypost.com/2026/05/19/us-news/aft-boss-randi-weingarten-tapped-union-resources-worth-over-1-4m-to-write-manifesto-book/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Judge blocks release of judicial ethics findings against 2 judicial candidates during election. Judge is Stacey Abrams sister. Candidates are far left judicial activists.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5883595-georgia-supreme-court-candidates-violation/

[I, Woodchipper]

judges are not impartial. if anything they are the most dedicated political apparatchiks of all. people need to wake up.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

KJB is out there badmouthing the whole court for deciding that the race of certain consttuents is not a good reason to redistrict. A disgraceful partisan hack. I would guess she wants the court packed just so she won't be remembered as the dumbest jurist ever to grace the SCOTUS.

[Mickey Rat]

British teenage victim died in handcuffs after his alleged attacker accused him of racism.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/05/a-fatal-stabbing-in-britain-is-the-stuff-of-dystopian-horror/

"Imagine this: An 18-year-old boy, in his first year of college, is walking home from a night out with friends. Suddenly, a man approaches him and, unprovoked, runs him through with a large knife. When police arrive, the attacker claims that the victim — who is writhing on the ground with a three-inch-deep stab wound in one of his lungs, drowning in his own blood — called him racial slurs. Hearing the allegation of “racial abuse,” officers proceed to arrest the injured 18-year-old. The boy, handcuffed and lying on the street, slips from consciousness and dies shortly thereafter."

"Nowak’s murder case is nothing short of an indictment of the modern British state itself. British institutions have been bewitched by the spell of cultural leftism to such a pervasive extent that accusing a stabbed, dying boy of being racist is sufficient to cause police officers to place him rather than his assailant in handcuffs. Let that sink in. Britain’s ideologically captured law enforcement agencies have been indoctrinated into a worldview wherein accusations of racism and racial abuse constitute the most severe form of transgression."

"Henry Nowak was attacked by a deranged man and died in handcuffs under police detention after being called a racist. In a country that in 2020 was rocked by weeks of protests and riots over the death of a man in America who had nothing to do with Britain, there have been no demonstrations for Henry. His story has attracted very little mainstream media attention. The prime minister, who posted a photo of himself kneeling in 2020, has not made any statement about Henry.

British society is deeply unwell."

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

The end game of woke and leftist bullshit.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And the opening game of the Woke Caliphate.

[Z Crazy]

They just hate white people.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Wait til they find out that saying they hate white people will not save them from the sin of being white.

[Zeb]

And they still pretend that they have free speech, while criminalizing the expression of certain beliefs.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Top 5 woman's college soccer team loses to U14 boys soccer team.

https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/u-washington-womens-soccer-team-played-high-school-boys-squad-youll-never-guess-won

[Z Crazy]

I wonder why women can not just accept the fact that they are men's physical strength.

[Medulla Oblongata]

I would have guessed correctly. Have a list of these sorts of events. WNT losing to U15 boys. Aussie Matilidas NT losing to boys. W olympic hockey team losing to boys...

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

BUT THE WOMEN'S TEAMS ARE JUST AS EXCITING TO WATCH ON TV SO PAY THEM LIKE MEN!

or something

[Medulla Oblongata]

Agree or disagree re: hate crime...but man does the media strawman much?

...but of course it is...

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book is The Epstein “Distraction”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-the-san-diego-mosque-s-shooters-continue-to-run-loose/ar-AA23DtwQ

Clark and Vazquez’s hideous rampage almost certainly would have been treated as a murder, charges if they had lived. But in the hands of the Trump DOJ they may well not have been slapped with federal hate crime charges. This glaring laxity is just enough space for the Cains and Vazquez’s of America to run loose.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Wonder if the peice of shit that stabbed the Ukrainian chick is facing hate crime charges after saying “I got that white girl” getting off the train? Probably not…..

……and that’s fine. Hate crimes shouldn’t be a thing anyway. Just empty virtue signaling. But spare me the angst over these dead assholes theoretically, maybe, possibly not facing hate crime charges for some reason. Plus, they’re dead.

Pathetic.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"There are basically three main elements of long-run fertility change"

Let's see. How about left-wing attacks on marriage and family, left-wing catastrophism propaganda, and left-wing egocentric coddling?

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Abortion not mentioned?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

OK, FOUR main things...

[BioBehavioral_View]

Medicine: A Poor Investment

“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -George Orwell (1903-1950)

The history of mankind testifies to the fact that there never has been a matriarchal society of importance. In a matriarchal society such as ours is becoming, self-described “humanitarians” gladly sacrifice the whole for a part, often unworthy. Example? American medicine.

As described in Retribution Fever, medical delivery to the old and unproductive (Medicare) and to the poor and relatively unproductive (Medicaid) is bankrupting this fragmenting, declining nation on fire. Those who receive the most return the least.

Yes, a civilized society does have some obligation, but there is a better way, not that it will be employed. The book describes in detail that better way. It is based upon Science not Politics. A preceding book, Healthcare Reform D.O.A. (1994; out-of-print), contained the original version of that better way; the book received, unsolicited, two nominations for national awards by the academic arm of the insurance-industry. No one cared. Still don’t.

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." -Matthew 7:6

To emphasize production of pharmacological agents inefficiently treating chronic diseases mainly among the elderly at the expense of antibiotics efficiently treating acute infections among both young and old is one example of misguided priorities in medicine and in other policies and programs. Meanwhile, microbiologists tell us that a worldwide plague is waiting in the wings. They labeled it “Disease X”. No anti-viral agents will be available. Count not on an effective vaccine being developed in time. Vaccines require 10-15 years to be developed properly not 10-15 weeks, Mr. “Operation Warpspeed” Trump.

As a forshpayz of that which awaits us, we currently face two, potential plagues, Hanta and Ebola. Neither is likely to become “Disease X”. Yet, one day . . . .

https://www.nationonfire.com/hanta-virus/ .

See “Hanta Virus: Plague Again?” under “Medicine” at the website, Nation On Fire.

“The single biggest threat to man's continued dominance on the planet is the virus.” -Joshua Lederberg, PhD (1925-2008)

Can we get our priorities straight in time? Unlikely. Votes! These United States have become a welfare-state sucking the financial blood of future generations via reckless governmental spending based upon debt by power-hungry politicians to buy votes. Medicare/Medicaid alone bankrupted the nation before CoViD.

“Every nation has the government for which it is fit.” -Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821)

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Gad Saads new book Suicidal Empathy is quite good, saying the same thing.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Also see Helen Lewis. We really have been feminized.

[Z Crazy]

Women are weaker than men in every way!

[Zeb]

Not every way. They are definitely way better at birthing and raising young children. Which is in no way a denigration of women. It's the most important thing there is if you want people to exist. The problem is that the traits that are beneficial for making sure children survive and thrive are different from those that are effective in organizing a society of adults.

[mad.casual]

“The single biggest threat to man's continued dominance on the planet is the virus.” -Joshua Lederberg, PhD (1925-2008)

This is a "not entirely accurate" assessment. Man is a threat to his own dominance and the two are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, since 1918 man has been more deadly to himself than any virus and, sum totals, the balance of lives goes back further than 1918. Moreover, the question isn't whether 2019-2022 was a man-made disaster vs. a natural disaster, the question is whether it was an *almost*-entirely-man-made disaster or an entirely man made (even if only "accidentally" at one or two points) disaster.

[Zeb]

And that virus made zero dent in man's dominance on the planet. Given all of history and lots of recent experience, I don't think viruses (natural ones at least, maybe we get really good at engineering them some day) are any threat to human existence or dominance. Especially with modern sanitation and medicine. The only recent example of a global pandemic could have been life as usual for almost everyone if not for governments freaking out and fucking everything up.

[Marshal]

The problem is that the people who control the system want to bankrupt it. that's the excuse to massively increase taxes which they will then spend on themselves.

[But SkyNet is a Private Company]

You are one stupid smug mfer.

Do you know how cheap antibiotics are? They have, far from being “deemphasized”, been overprescribed for generations leading to a decline in their effectiveness. Overprescribed BECAUSE they are so cheap and ubiquitous

And the idea that older people “contribute little” - GFY. As a soon to be old person, I’ve been contributing for decades while Millenial and Zoomer twats cry from the sidelines wanting their participation trophies instead of making a single material sacrifice to save for anything.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Moms & pops not at all happy with Comrade Mayor...and fearful for expressing the opinion.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/nyc-s-socialist-mayor-outrages-mom-and-pop-bodegas-as-he-unveils-first-city-run-grocery-store/ar-AA23zav3

She declined to go on the record under her name, saying she fears retaliation since local politicians support the project.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

"For the Republicans with an ideological identity, Thomas Massie is kind of their id," writes Matt Fuller for MS Now.

Heads up Liz. The fact you went to MS NOW for analysis should show you what Massie had become. A useful tool of democrats to stymie the GOP agenda to undo the Dem damages and undo the dem pillars. Which Massie was proud to be. Like many after a decade, his ego took over. Not his principles.

[Quicktown Brix]

[Massie's]ego took over. Not his principles.

...said a fervent Trump supporter. This is fucking hilarious.

[Dillinger]

unsarcastically, try a day of looking through a "maybe he's not about ego" glass.

[Jefferson Paul]

If she tried to get an analysis from Fox News (or you), it would just be "Thomas Massie bad and he's an antisemite." Why wouldn't Liz use such a nuanced take?

[Dillinger]

Massie was on fox yesterday blaming the Jews instead of appealing to voters. clip is everywhere

[Jefferson Paul]

Please stop conflating criticism of the government of Israel with hating Jews.

damikesc 4 hours ago
Flag Comment
Mute User
Nice of him to say he had a hard time reaching his opponent in Tel Aviv.

Libertarians for anti-semitism!!!

Jefferson Paul 1 hour ago
MAGA Republicans for the tactics of woke leftists!!

Please elucidate how that is antisemitic and not a critique of how the Israel lobby poured $30M into this race to unseat Massie over his objections to funding any foreign country, which includes Israel.

[Dillinger]

please stop conflating the government of Israel with Massie's "Israel Lobby" boogeyman

[Jefferson Paul]

If I complain about the China lobby trying to influence our elections and governance, does that make me bigoted against all Chinese people?

[Dillinger]

no but apples/oranges. Chinese Lobby = Chinese Government ... and all Chinese people are not free to decide whether they are bigoted

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

"You were biught by jews now youre lost in Aviv" is just normal criticism of Israel lol.

You cant even admit all of the other complaints, even in this very thread, regarding Massie.

Because as an acolyte of him it is the jews fault apparently.

Grow the fuck up.

[Jefferson Paul]

You put quotes around that "quote" but something tells me you paraphrased it yourself to make it about "Jews" and not AIPAC or Israel.

Or, was that what Massie said? Could you provide a source for that quote?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Congrats. You know what paraphrasing is.

Now address the actual substance.

There are many issues about Massie and have been that dont involved Israel or jews dumbfuck.

But like Massie you pretend that is the only issue.

Go watch some nick fuentes buddy.

[Jefferson Paul]

Do you normally put quotes around sentences that you've paraphrased? It seems dishonest to me that you're trying to get people to think he said that word for word.

When I read the comments in this article before commenting myself, the common theme I saw was that Massie was antisemitic, for which I've seen no actual evidence.

[Quicktown Brix]

Because as an acolyte of him it is the jews fault apparently.

What?! Jefferson hasn't said anything remotely antisemitic.

[Jefferson Paul]

You're not processing information through the JesseAZ filter, QB. To him, any criticism of an outsized foreign influence over our elections or governance IS "antisemitism." It's why the Jesse crew is out calling Massie an antisemite or "Jew hater," when they can't produce a single quote of Massie saying something actually antisemitic. But the filter takes over, so Massie criticizing the Israel lobby means he hates Jews.

I've never seen you post anything antisemitic, either, but that doesn't stop them from slandering you with that term either.

[Quicktown Brix]

That (sadly) makes sense.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

I see a lot of quotes. Are you paraphrasing? Lol. Retard.

Glad youre palling around with qb now. Just like Massie was with Omar, apv and young Turks.

Do you realize how retarded you look given the number of non Israel criticisms I have in this fucking thread.

Youre turning into the same regarding lying morons as sarc and qb.

Grow the fuck up.

[Jefferson Paul]

Yes, and in last Friday's article about Massie, where all of you purported libertarians were celebrating the likely ouster of the most-libertarian leaning Congressman, I addressed how you "libertarians" (quote intentional) didn't like how Massie was against the war with Iran, and how you don't like Massie getting some transparency over Epstein bc you believe it's a Democrat hoax.

Massie was trying to hold Trump to his promises to drain the swamp and not start new wars. Things you were cheering Trump on in 2024. Now it makes him a RINO for not following Trump in a 180.

[Jefferson Paul]

And stop with the bullshit that I'm the one brining antisemitism up with Massie, as though several of you in this very comments section and the other article about Massie aren't liberally throwing around that accusation already. I look at accusations of antisemitism when the target is simply criticizing Israel or AIPAC on par with BLM labeling everyone on the right as "racist." It pisses me off. I'm sick of woke tactics, whether they come from the wacky left or from the right.

[Jefferson Paul]

And AIPAC bragged about defeating Massie so they could get politicians elected who will support Israel.

https://x.com/AIPAC/status/2056914097971589465

AIPAC 🇺🇸🇮🇱
@AIPAC
Ed Gallrein’s victory in KY and Clay Fuller’s win in GA ensures two outspoken pro-Israel voices are positioned to fill seats previously held by outspoken detractors, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Our community was proud to help pro-Israel candidates win these races.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

And you have evidence this was the only reason Massie lost?

This is as bad as Massie blaming the jews, yet you criticize those pointing at Massie doing the same you just criticized AIPAC for lol.

Principles!

[Jefferson Paul]

When did I say it's the "only reason" Massie lost? I don't think any election has only one reason for how it plays out.

I think the fact this became the most expensive House primary race in history is good evidence that the money pumped into the race by the Israel lobby had a great effect on the outcome.

AIPAC is literally bragging about how it ousted Massie, and yet you ask for evidence that it had a major effect on the outcome?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

How many posts do YOU have that aren't accusing others of only carrying about massies Israel and tel aviv statements retard?

You really have chosen to go full qb.

Grow the fuck up.

A lobbyist group saying they made a change? Well I've never seen that before. Lol.

Meanwhile you keep ignoring the multiple comments from Massie. Hmm. And you woth the israel lobby hmmm.

Whats funny is you ignore the funding of masses, many woth anti Israel views. Yet you want to make a baldness claim that any dollar given against Massie is solely for Israel. Adhesion has more views than just Israel. But to you he is just only for that topic. Because Massie told you this and youre too fucking dishonest to look up the truth.

Youre as bad as the other people going down the tucker/candace/Fuentes bandwagons.

Have fun with jewfree, qb, and others.

[Quicktown Brix]

You really have chosen to go full qb

That's a low blow!

[Jefferson Paul]

I'm taking it as a compliment.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

I know right buddy. That is the only complaint in any of the threads regarding your god.

What fucking retarded framing.

[Jefferson Paul]

You're so dishonest, Jesse. You're now implying I'm basically in a cult worshiping Massie when you've railed against anyone saying that you're in a MAGA cult with Trump.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Ive criticized trump lol. Can you massie?

Here you keep trying to inferior that the only criticism of Massie is the jews despite all the other criticisms. Fuck off.

You cant criticize Massie for multiple anti israel statements blaming him for his loss. You've bought right into that narrative. Even pushing it in a thread with non Israel criticisms.

The reason he lost us he out himself above his voters and blamed the Jewish lobby for it. Polls were shifting away from him for fucking months. The epstein shit passed everyone off. His colleagues were tired of his shit. He ignored his constituents playing up to liberal media with best friend ro kanna. He voted against tax cuts. He voted against spending cuts. While pretending he was pure and principled.

Yet it was just those evil Israeli lobbyists. Lol.

Seriously fuck off.

He is riding off into the sunset like the other "one true conservatives/libertarians" who were voted out. The kizingers, flakes, Cheney, MTG.

You cant even criticize him for the Tel Aviv comment lol.

[Jefferson Paul]

Ive criticized trump lol. Can you massie?

Yes, Massie shouldn't have compromised so much, lol.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Democrats always ready to play Calvinball...they set it up this way on purpose, but now that there's a HINT that maybe it might work against them, they get all high-and-mighty with the "voter's choice" language.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/proposed-ballot-initiative-shows-democrat-arrogance-in-california-guy-benson/ar-AA23zygM

“I don't anticipate this [ballot initiative] needing to be the case, but there is a break-the-glass scenario, and there's many people that have a deep understanding of what it would look like if Democrats were locked out and we’re going to do everything to make sure that doesn't happen,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said on Thursday.

Democrat Steven Maviglio filed a ballot initiative to repeal the top-two primary system and return the state to traditional party primaries.

“Voters are too frequently forced to choose from just two candidates from the same political party in the general election. When that occurs, entire segments of voters are left without any candidate who reflects their views,” the initiative said. “It is time to end the experiment and return to a system that will expand voter choice and encourage broader participation.”

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

I like how they basically admit here the entire system was designed to keep the GOP from winning.

[Mickey Rat]

It happens over and over, when the gimmicky rules the Democrats rig to shut down opposition backfire on them then they scramble to change the rules back again. Their brazen, rank hypocrisy and outright cheating is amazing to see.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Hey, letting ordinary people choose their representatives is a threat to (D)emocracy.

[Mickey Rat]

Well, it is a threat to their (D)emocracy. Allowing that, Democrats might not win, after all.

[Marshal]

This reminds me of the 2002 US Senate race in New Jersey. Existing law did not allow Dems to change candidates after a certain date in the past. But the candidate who won the primary was going to lose so they replaced him. The courts allowed it claiming it was important that NJ voters have a choice, although they had that with the original candidate. The real justification was that Dems believe all rules exist to bind Reps. As such they can be set aside any time they work to Dems disadvantage. Since the left controls our law schools our courts are corrupting to accept this position.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

It's the left/feminine way.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'I'm now old enough to remember when minimizing the size and scope of the government was something Republicans in Congress cared about, instead of promoting feckless one-man rule.'

And I'm old enough to remember when Democrats in Congress at least pretended to support things like free speech and limiting government intrusion into private life. Now I'm old enough to hate both Democratic and Republican policies, but also see how the left poses a much greater danger.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I had problems with the religious right. The left has become way worse than them.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Yes. The last time I might have called myself a Democrat was when the religious conservative wing was calling the GOP shots. But the religious left, i.e. the woke zealots, are far worse.

[Michael Ejercito]

Part of it is due to having the support of the academic, media, and entertainment elites.

[Dillinger]

>>Now I'm old enough to hate both Democratic and Republican policies, but also see how the left poses a much greater danger.

good explanation.

[Medulla Oblongata]

I'm in touch with this sentiment.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Move over Minnesota Somali's...other ethno-political groups getting in on the grift.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/california-benefit-scams-make-minnesota-fraud-look-like-child-s-play-chris-rufo-tells-pod-force-one/ar-AA23Dxmt

“Individuals from all walks of life, all nationalities, even all parts of the country have recognized that the California government is essentially open to business for fraud schemes,” he told Devine.

Rufo, a filmmaker and author, pointed out that “fraudsters stole approximately $32 billion from the state’s unemployment insurance program” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In one notorious case highlighted by Rufo, Tennessee rapper Nuke Bizzle was caught ripping off taxpayers only after he released a music video “detailing precisely how he was able to defraud the state of California.”

“But there is also this ethnic, ethno-political element,” the influential author continued. “And you see certain populations, for example, the Armenians in Southern California, that seem to be perpetrating fraud at scale.

“One police detective I talked to said Romanians, Armenians, Nigerians, there are certain kind of sub-populations or national populations that have been caught over and over and over ripping off the state government.”

“For whatever complex historical and cultural reasons,” these groups, according to Rufo, “have a culture of exploitation, fraud, ripping off the government.”

“They come to the United States, they come to California in particular, and one insider told us the thing about California is this, you’re most likely to not get caught, and if you get caught you’re most likely to not face charges, and if you do face charges and get convicted, you’re most likely to not serve much, if any time at all,” he added. “And so, it’s a means, motive and opportunity. It’s a classic story of criminal conduct, and that’s why I think you see it happening in California at such scale.”

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Is there a single dem state or city that wasn't relying on massive fraud for funding?

[damikesc]

Those states adore NGO's for a reason.

All of this fraud directly benefits the politicians.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

And provides 6 figure salaries for humanities majors.

[I, Woodchipper]

it's late empire feeding-on-the-carcass phase of america.

[Mickey Rat]

"Tons of money—$32 million, to be specific—was poured into this race by Trump and allies to get Massie out; he had earned Trump's ire by challenging the president on COVID relief bills, inflated spending, his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein (and lack of transparent disclosures), and his penchant this term for foreign adventurism."

Which those people who found Massie obnoxious had every right to do. Reason's meltdown over Massie has also kind of ignored the details of what he has been saying and doing and what sorts Massie has been hanging about lately.

[damikesc]

Indeed. If he wants to do interviews with the Young Turks, people are free to take that into account.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'How Brownsville, Texas, has changed since SpaceX moved in'

Let me guess. Is it that affordability thing? You know, where people need actual money to buy houses and tacos and stuff?

[Dillinger]

for one thing a ton more cool shit goes down in Brownsville, Texas now.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

"Global health officials warned on Tuesday that the number of people infected in an Ebola outbreak in central Africa could be much higher than reported and that the outbreak could last for months"

Can we be mean and racist yet, and prohibit travelers from central Africa?

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

"Lawyer says Jan. 6 rioters deserve compensation"
[...]
"A U.S. lawyer is calling on Washington to compensate people who were prosecuted for storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, claiming they were the victims of political persecution.
Mark McCloskey wants the government to create a fund for the "J6ers," as they are known, and claims he met recently about this with top U.S. justice officials.
"No time else in the history of the United States have people gone to federal prison," for what he described as "misdemeanor trespassing," he said last week during an X livestream.
McCloskey said U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to take care of the J6ers, who were protesting his election loss to Joe Biden, and that "the time has come for [Trump] to step up" — an argument refuted by at least one legal expert and a law enforcement official who was injured in the riot..."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/jan6-rioters-seeking-compensation-1.7622967

Did the LEO trip and fall? Because, last I heard, not a one of the protesters (NOT "rioters"!) caused injuries.
Regardless of our resident slimy pile of smelly shit:
SRG2 12/23/23
“Then strode in St Ashli, clad in a gown of white samite and basking in celestial radiance, walking calmly and quietly through the halls of Congress as police ushered her through doors they held open for her, before being cruelly martyred for her beliefs by a Soros-backed special forces officer with a Barrett 0.50 rifle equipped with dum-dum bullets.”
Get reamed with a barb-wire-wrapped baseball bat, asswipe.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'I think the corrosive thing is that it feels like we're less in control of our own destinies in a lot of ways'

Post-modern oppressor-oppressed philosophy for the win!

[TrickyVic (old school)]

The bigger the government, the more control they have over you, the less control you have over your own life.

Feature, not a bug.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Welfare state in the UK is so off the rails...

https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/05/19/why-does-the-first-lady-of-sierra-leone-have-a-council-flat-in-london/

Most people would have clicked on the BBC’s recent interview with Fatima Bio expecting to be engrossed in her fascinating life story: she escaped child marriage, sought asylum in the UK and ended up as the first lady of Sierra Leone. Unfortunately for Bio, if the social-media reaction is anything to go by, most readers appear to have finished the interview feeling more anger than admiration. Why? Because several paragraphs in, we learn that this multimillionaire wife of a foreign head of state holds the tenancy to a council flat in London.

The first lady’s Southwark council flat confirms that the UK’s welfare state is fundamentally broken, especially when it comes to social housing. Bizarrely, this African property magnate is arguably not even the least deserving recipient of British welfare. In October 2023, The Times revealed that Muhammad Qassem Sawalha – a high-ranking member of Hamas – owns a two-storey council house with a garden in north London, which he bought with the help of a £112,000 ‘right to buy’ discount from Barnet Council. He has been kicking his heels up there since 2003, shortly after he stole into the UK on a relative’s passport, having evaded authorities in Israel. According to the US State Department, he continued to work for Hamas, laundering money in support of its terrorist activities in Gaza and the West Bank.

Of course, not everyone in a council flat is a foreign president’s wife or a wanted Islamist terrorist. But a staggering proportion of London’s social housing is used to subsidise mass, low-skilled migration. Across the capital, nearly half of social housing – 48 per cent – is occupied by a head of household who wasn’t born in the UK, well above the national average of 19 per cent. In areas like Westminster, this is as high as 59 per cent.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

David Biers dream right there.

[Spiritus Mundi]

There are basically three main elements of long-run fertility change," ....also covered by Reason's Elizabeth Nolan Brown...

Well, we know one of those elements isn't abortion if ENB is on the case. How can killing millions of unborn babies reduce the fertility rate?

[mad.casual]

A demographer in 1700 would probably not have talked about mortality per se as a fertility regulator since low-mortality societies had simply never existed.

Alternative interpretation: A demographer in the 1700s would've rightly recognized that the mortality rate for all societies is 100%.

Seriously, I'm beginning to think this is more of the divisive, Progressive, Marxist, feminist (misanthropist) claptrap (totally not opiates for the masses) that calls for ever greater amounts of public education and a larger working class to eat bugs and maintain the social safety net.

Again, when we're talking about FGM and fathers in the ME and Africa stoning their daughters to death for disobeying their wishes and learning to read, that's one thing. But instances of that are spotty at best in Western (and large parts of East Asian) history and for the majority of recent Western (and Asian...) history at this point, women have been relatively free to be physicians, midwives, scribes, seamstresses, etc., right alongside their brothers' ability to be illiterate farmers, coal miners, and child laborers.

To wit: The reason the richest women in the US are the ones having the most kids. Elizabeth Hamilton had 8 kids. Mary Todd Lincoln had 4. Margaret Sanger had 3. Is the argument really that Alexander Hamilton or social pressure or economic liberty forced Elizabeth Hamilton to have more kids than Mary Todd and Margaret Sanger combined? Or is/was it more or less a fashionable or preferential social choice? It should be obvious that, if it was the latter, it doesn't really support the "Women have always been the primary victims of war and/or (patriarchal) social oppression." narrative.

[creech]

"working together to force the release of the Epstein files,"
I guess I don't understand why Massie is being criticized for this.
After all, we all know there is nothing in the Epstein files that implicates Trump in any illegal activities with young women. So why not get the files fully and transparently released because those most likely to be implicated are big shot Democrats and the millionaires and billionaires who support them?

[Mickey Rat]

There seems to be an issue that releasing raw, unsubstantiated data is potentially defamatory to anyone involved who does not have a firm basis to accuse them of a crime and potentially could foul any criminal proceedings in the future.

The biggest evidence of the problems wit this has been Trump being known to have business and social dealings with Epstein has morphed into bold accusations of "Trump is a pedophile" based solely on guilt by association.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

The irony is the vast majority of trump mentions in the files were about how much epstein hated him.

[damikesc]

If you want to blow their minds --- ask them how many times Trump has been mentioned by, say, Nancy Pelosi. I guess she is friendly with him and does everything with him.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

Pelosi has mentioned Trump so much that we must assume they attended fuck parties together.

Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a bit...

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Because he falsely accused 5 people of crimes while in congress so he would have immunity.

He did this as a distraction in conjunction with democrats while ignoring the vast majority of those hit by the files were literally democrats, but he refused to mention that fact.

Instead of focusing on real problems like cutting spending. He was quiet on all efforts that had a chance to have cuts.

[damikesc]

Can anybody explain why he has not released ALL of the names he allegedly has?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

I expect Massie will go out feet stomping and bomb throwing more than even kizinger did.

[I, Woodchipper]

I dont understand the online hate for Massie. His voting record was one of if not the best in the House.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

In what way? He got nothing done and stifled many bills that would have helped. He has zero positive actions.

If what we are applauding is having a voice and criticizing others, he doesnt actually need to be in congress to do that.

He failed to pull anyone in his direction and had in fact alienated most of his colleagues, which is why he was palling around with democrats.

The reality. When dems in the majority, he accomplished stopping nothing. The gop as a whole did. When gop was in the majority he often stopped the gop from undoing what dems did. He was part of the one way ratchet leading to destruction.

[damikesc]

He was Justin Amash 2.0. A guy who talked a game but did not a damned thing to even start the pursuit of their professed goal.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Yeap. But youre part of the israel lobby if you recognize that fact.

[Marshal]

And, in the case of Epstein, you want to expose sex traffickers? Massie led the charge on the GOP side to release the files.

As I recall Massie's contribution was naming 4 rando's from Epstein's police lineup so they could be targeted for harassment. This is supposed to be one of his highlights?

[Quicktown Brix]

Accidentally suggests, but does NOT name, there are 6 people, some of whom where only in a photo line up, were “likely incriminated" = Unforgivable

Accidentally blows up a school killing ~250 school girls = No Biggie

[Super Scary]

"Yeah, well, what about this entirely unrelated thing?!"

You're really off your game today.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

He was broken by Marshall 2 days ago. He hasn't recovered.

Granted he has been broken for a long time.

[Marshal]

I'm so old I remember when you pretended to be against whataboutism.

But personally I have no difficulty being against more than one thing at a time. It takes a special sort of education to believe otherwise.

[Quicktown Brix]

You and many here treat Massie implicating a few individuals as a fatal flaw, while showing far less concern about far more serious harms when it involves Trump.

It may be a whataboutism, but it remains a valid criticism of inconsistent moral standards.

[Marshal]

You and many here treat Massie implicating a few individuals as a fatal flaw,

This cannot be reasonably concluded from my comment. As usual you can't come up with any serious criticism so you invent it by claiming I said it's "unforgivable". But I do see that his recently revealed flaws such as his willingness to damage others while grandstanding and adopting anti-Semitism appeals to you and other leftists.

[Quicktown Brix]

I overstated your position? OK. Why did you bring up this incident in an article about Massie being ousted from office? How much weight do you think it should carry?

You’ve criticized me for applying different standards to dems and reps. My point is that you seem to be doing something similar here: treating this relatively minor thing as highly significant, while saying far less about much more serious conduct by Trump.

[Marshal]

Why did you bring up this incident in an article about Massie being ousted from office?

You see the quoted part right? That means someone else brought it up.

How much weight do you think it should carry?

It was brought up as a positive issue, but I consider his involvement negatively. First he was all on the "the government is protecting pedophiles" moral panic, and then the specific nonsense with Khanna trying to manufacture more outrage and smearing a bunch of people in the process. It's a disappointment as was his anti-Semitism. There's nothing here to cite proudly and the comment is more about how Liz and the media are portraying the issue than it is about Massie himself.

You’ve criticized me for applying different standards to Dems and reps

Yes, so do you have a comment of me approvingly citing a Dem or anti-Massie Rep for maximizing the Epstein hysteria? If not wtf are you even talking about? You need to apply the same principle in analogous circumstances.

As far as I recall the only comment I made is wishing we know more about Epstein's original plea deal which seems corrupt as hell, but we're never going to find out what actually matters because people are so focused on calling their enemies pedophile defenders.

The interesting thing here is that your position is essentially that we can't criticize Massie (or anyone really) for anything because Trump. No doubt many Trump haters feel this way but they usually try to hide it better.

[Quicktown Brix]

I'm not saying Massie can't be criticized for this.

My point is narrower: in a discussion about whether Massie should lose his seat, this seems to me a relatively minor lapse rather than something disqualifying.

I'm not claiming you've defended this exactly. I'm saying that you are treating comparatively minor faults by Massie as highly significant while being much more forgiving of far more serious conduct by Trump.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

"in a discussion about whether Massie should lose his seat"

What? A thought experiment? He lost. past tense.

Not much of a libertarian if you don't believe that people won't see through propaganda and do what is in their own best interest.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Mike will never understand that Massie lost his seat because he lost the trust of his voters when he chose to push his ego over the will of his district. This entire idea is anathema to Mike.

[damikesc]

"treating this relatively minor thing as highly significant, while saying far less about much more serious conduct by Trump."

Massie SPECIFICALLY named them. He did not spend time to make sure they are guilty. Trump did not say "Hey, go bomb a school". They are not the same thing. At all.

[Quicktown Brix]

No Massie did not name them.

“What I saw that bothered me were the names of at least six men that have been redacted that are likely incriminated by their inclusion in these files. It took some digging to find them.”

And when reporters immediately pressed him on whether he would name them, he responded:

“I probably should do that from the floor or in a committee hearing.”
“I would like to give the DOJ a chance to say they made a mistake and over-redacted and let them unredact those men’s names.”

Ro Khanna, not Massie read the names on the floor.

And nothing happened.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

You may hope some here assume you have a 2nd brain cell, TDS-addled asswipe.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

"You and many here treat Massie implicating a few individuals as a fatal flaw"

They are treating proof that he is a grandstanding prick as proof he is a grandstanding prick. How dare they!

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

It is funny how many times I've called out Massie for being overcome by his ego and Mike still cant understand your very point.

[Dillinger]

>>Accidentally blows up a school killing ~250 school girls = No Biggie

lol okay emotional Dave Smith

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

That number keeps growing by the Iranian propaganda report!

[Dillinger]

>>End Of An Era

the era you believe ended last night was long dead. the democrat-loving jew-hating obstructionist era died last night.

[Dillinger]

>>I think the corrosive thing is that it feels like we're less in control of our own destinies in a lot of ways

okay in what ways? you have food shelter & means and wake up every day in America what could go wrong?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Because, of course...it's called taqiyya.

https://x.com/christopherrufo/status/2052078439243354484

CAIR-CA leader Zahra Billoo advises her followers that they can express hatred against Jews in private, but should not write "I hate all Zionists" on their social media profiles, in order to be "strategic."

Gavin Newsom gave her group $40 million.

"Now imagine your LinkedIn profile says, I hate all Zionists. Replace hate with whatever inappropriate must, like something I can't say here. Not strategic, right? Like, not strategic," she said. "Now you may say that sitting around Kahwa House on a Friday night, but you're not going to say it on your LinkedIn. And so one, we have to do the basics. We have to remember that Allah protects us. And then strategic versus reckless. And this is a ongoing process."

https://x.com/guypbenson/status/2052117585651462479

Notice, the message here isn’t ‘don’t hate people and don’t be bigots.’ The message is ‘we must hide our hatred and bigotry more strategically.’ Reminder: CAIR’s executive director openly celebrated the Islamist terrorist slaughter of 10/7/23, which killed dozens of Americans.

[mad.casual]

"strategic."

Ah, yes, the classic political strategy of *not* announcing that you're a genocidal maniac up front.

[Dillinger]

CAIR is a terrorist organization everywhere but here

[Agammamon]

Liz, did you see Massie's concession speech?

[MWAocdoc]

The end of the Tea Party in Congress was always a foregone conclusion. With Massie as the last remaining supporter of the original wording and intent of the Constitution of the United States of America the final phase and completion of its hollowing out will no proceed unhindered. Rear-guard actions are rarely awarded Medals of Honor, but those heroes surely deserve them. His efforts may have delayed the final collapse of Constitutionally limited government, but they were ultimately futile.

[Sevo, 5-30-24, embarrassment]

You have an active fantasy life.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

He is simply a midwit.

[damikesc]

Can you name the legislation he proposed to cut funding?

[MWAocdoc]

No, but I can name the spending bills he stonewalled to prevent deficit spending increases. In any event my comment was about preventing the destruction of the Constitution, which has very little to do with spending.

[damikesc]

So, he did even less than Trump has to cut spending.

[mad.casual]

Recurrent emergence of cultural valuation of selfishness; Changing cost of fertility and especially intergenerational wealth transfer dynamics.

Meanwhile, on planet Earth, the BBC portrays Afghan men faced with the plight of selling their daughters sympathetically.

Again, for over 400 yrs., if not longer in The West, women have been able to attain an education with or without the "intergenerational wealth transfer dynamics". Selling your daughters to their rapists future husbands hasn't really been a thing ever. Men, who inherited whatever wealth... or debts... their fathers had, were also frequently illiterate farmers and tradesmen.

The argument against cell phones as *cause* of decreased fertility is also an argument against feminism and greater social liberty in the other direction. Fertility didn't suddenly drop when women got the right to vote or the pill became available. Their incomes didn't suddenly spike. They weren't taking the 9n months they gained from not having children and putting in 9n man months of productive work to add 9n months of wages. They didn't study up on voting and politics. They didn't create their own sports leagues. They took the 9n months and make more vampire billionaire BDSM erotica and Victorian Era relationship dramas, gaslight each other on "affirmational" relationship podcasts, and tear each other apart on "Real Housewives" TV shows.