A Fun [Non-] Report From South Of France… Riviera Edition

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Almost on a weekly basis, Hinderaker writes a story about how “red state” economies are doing “so much better” than blue state ones.

These are actually non-stories — based on statistics of who moves where year to year, or which states provide the lowest level of public service, due to not collecting any income tax — at the state level. That in John’s addled mind is his “progress.” Hilarious.

In fact, it more reliably offers us a “Misery Map” — of where federal aid is most overwhelmingly consumed — because the states do not do their duties to citizens of limited means, when they have “a red monopoly.” [So, in fact it’s just a shifting of the burden — from the state level, to the federal government.]

Well, okay — here in the early morning in France, I have an equally silly non-story for John.

It seems now (via August ’26 data) the areas of the US where home prices are falling most precipitously… are almost all red.

And also amusingly, home prices in Chicago rose by 3.6% last year, putting that deep blue city near the top of the list of “great real estate investments for homeowners”.

Like I say, these are non-stories because they don’t necessarily reflect quality of life or fulfilling jobs at living wages… but I will take it just the same.

Here is that — from the Faux non-news outlet:

…The report found that the median list price per square foot fell in 36 of the top 50 metro areas in the U.S. in August compared with a year ago.

The largest declines were in Austin (-8.1%); Tampa (-5.6%); and Memphis (-4.1%). Metros that saw the largest gains were Providence, R.I., (+9.3%); Indianapolis (+4.4%); and Chicago (+3.6%).…

So real estate prices declined significantly in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee — all largely red states… Though to be fair, the price declines were in the blue islands inside those states.

So — if I were as dishonest as John, I would spin the “story” to say that “life is becoming more affordable” on the blue islands inside red states (while obviously the point is that no conclusion — about politics, at least — can be drawn).

Even so, it always sells papers and draws eyeballs.

Here endeth the lesson.

New Remote Access/Phone Hearing — Against ICE — In Class Action In Chicago: USDC Judge Sara Ellis’ Case 26-cv-321 On September 11…

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On that morning here, I’ll be off grid in the South of France, but you may dial in (on mute), to listen if you choose.

But this case is drawing nearer a finding that would result in payouts to plaintiffs, and injunctive relief to the State of Illinois for the damage the ICE lawlessness engendered in our communities, last year and early in 2026. Here’s the latest order:

…MINUTE entry before the Honorable Sara L. Ellis:

The court sets a Telephone conference for 9/11/2026 at 10:00 a.m.

Attorneys/Parties should appear for the hearing by calling the Toll-Free Number: (650) 479-3207, Access Code: 2314 361 1508.

Entering an attendee code is not required. Throughout the telephonic hearing, each speaker will be expected to identify themselves for the record before speaking.

Please note that the conference call-in will be used by all cases that are on the court’s calendar for the said date, therefore counsel must be in a quiet area while on the line and must have the telephone muted until your case is called. Members of the public and media will be able to call in to listen to this hearing (use toll-free number). Please be sure to keep your phone on mute when you are not speaking. Persons granted remote access to proceedings are reminded of the general prohibition against photographing, recording, and rebroadcasting court proceedings.

Violation of these prohibitions may result in sanctions, including removal of court-issued media credentials, restricted entry to future hearings, denial of entry to future hearings, or any other sanctions deemed necessary by the Court….

Now you know. Smiling — she is one fine federal trial court judge indeed.

नमस्ते

The Trump Anti-Freedom FCC Proposed Rules Are At An End — For Limiting Democratic Committees’ Speech Rights. Solid Decision — From The Supremes.

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So, the Trump FCC attempts — to limit primarily Democratic Committee reach, on a “political ad spending” basis — have now failed. I don’t love committee spending, as a rule — but it is plainly consistent with the free expression / political speech precepts we’ve long held, in the US.

This one involves (in the succint prose of Amy Howe) Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) and three other Democrats who are/were candidates for the House or Senate went to the full FCC on April 29, 2026 — asking it to review the public notice. Approximately six weeks later, before the agency had acted on their application for review, they went to federal court, where they argued that the public notice was inconsistent with federal election laws. That is correct.

But as it now stands, both Democratic and Republican Committees will be able to buy ads at preferential rates (should they wish to) — going into the midterms.

This confirms my view of the First Amendment law. And whatever Trump’s FCC does (or tries to do, more precisely — beyond its charter), after the midterm cycle — will be litigated anew. Here’s the decision, of last evening, from the Supremes (and for the record, KBJ was the lone dissenter — I get her point; but I think freer speech is… better):

…Because the candidates’ application for review was pending when they filed their petition for review, the Fourth Circuit likely lacked statutory jurisdiction to address their challenge. Its holding to the contrary splits with every other Circuit to have considered the issue. Council Tree Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 503 F. 3d 284, 287 (CA3 2007); Alabama Power Co. v. FCC, 311 F. 3d 1357, 1366 (CA11 2002); International Telecard Assn. v. FCC, 166 F. 3d 387, 388 (CADC 1999) (per curiam). Accordingly, the first and second stay factors weigh in favor of granting the application.

The party committees have also demonstrated that they will likely suffer irreparable harm absent a stay. They represent that, in light of the Fourth Circuit’s decision — which the Fourth Circuit likely lacked jurisdiction to issue — broadcasters are already rescinding favorable rates. Current and future recissions will require the party committees to pay more for advertising space, thereby hampering their efforts to reach the electorate in the critical weeks leading up to the midterms. That injury, which implicates their First Amendment rights to speak and coordinate their political activities freely….

Now you know — blog outage begins on early Monday morning, now… flight plans are changing slightly — smile.

नमस्ते

Hold The Phone, Hinderaker — You’re Gonna’ Complain — About… “Criminal Copy-Cats”?!

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Well this is… precious.

John would tell us tonight that it is primarily “liberal women“ who are encouraging mentally ill, and in some cases, deeply depraved women… to murder their children in the most gruesome of ways.

R-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-GHT.

Just two nights ago, he blamed other mental-illness fueled mayhem / violence in Times Square… on the 1960s(!) “liberal judges” — who (he says) “emptied” what were then called insane asylums, all in his telling at least. But that woman hadn’t yet been born, when his supposed proximate cause occurred. Damn.

His theories of sociology / pathological killings are amazingly… pliable (always due to “liberalism, one way or another,” as he sees it) — except when a conservative named Vance Boelter does the serial killing. Of Democratic political leaders, in his own state — with an automatic weapon. That’s just ordinary run of the mill mental illness (for which preventative psychological health screenings might have intervened/avoided, were Obamacare still fully funded — but Trump gutted it) — because in Hinderaker’s telling, no true conservative is… ever profoundly mentally ill.

So… then again — he blames… liberals — in this case, his own MN Governor Walz.

And yet, he regularly covers up, for the Criminal in Chief — his boy, Trump.

The man is… senile — embittered, and lost — that he didn’t actually amount to very much, in life.

Precious. Out.

Paul Mirengoff Is Correct — But It Is His Fault, For Voting For A Known Crook — Three Times.

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I will leave this here, as I fly off to the South of France for a few weeks. Paul is correct, directionally — but in the same breath, utterly shirks his responsibility for voting for the felon who (he agrees!) is plainly acting lawlessly here — and elsewhere.

He made this damn monster — thrice.

Own that, man — but here is his view (hypocritical though it may be):

…I was doubly disappointed when, without congressional authorization, President Trump had the East Wing of the White House demolished so he could replace it with a huge ballroom that would fit in better at Versailles than on the White House grounds. My first disappointment was purely personal. I liked the old structure and dislike its replacement.

My second disappointment was law-based. Congress has prohibited the construction of any “building or structure . . . on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress.” 40 U. S. C. §8106. The White House is a building erected on park ground in D.C. and Congress has not authorized rebuilding it….

Spare me your fainting couch routines man.

This is your mess — get YOUR ppl to clean it (him) up.

Out.

A Very Improbable Comeback — But I Will Take It!

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Strictly speaking, this is off-topic.

But many here will recall that I had closely followed the University of Colorado Buffaloes during the era of Travis Hunter.

It was only a season opener — on the road in Atlanta — but all the critics had predicted that they would lose by a full touchdown, and look ugly doing it. And, at points they did look ugly. But they ran the ball when they needed to and stopped the run — also when they needed to.

They were losing almost the entire game until 30 seconds left — when they took a one point lead with their highly touted but lightly experienced quarterback who’s only made three career starts. He threw several spot on dart passes and managed the field under pressure — perfectly.

But on the ensuing series, Georgia Tech gained an improbable amount of yardage via a pass over the middle. Still 23 seconds on the clock, and in field goal range with their big footed kicker.

And so GT was (with three seconds left) sitting 43 yards away from the winning field goal.

But the Buff defense blocked Georgia Tech’s ace field goal kicker! Game over — CU wins down in Hotlanta — on a steamy night.

नमस्ते

Do Go Read All Of This — From Peterr, Over At EW. He’s Got The 2009 Nostradamus Edition, Up!

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Some things remain true for ages — but become amplified over decades, as we fail to learn the lessons, of those decades.

Today is a time like that. In abundance. Do go read this — all of it:

…Idiot America is not the place where people say silly things. It is not the place where people believe silly things. It is not the place where people go to profit from the fact that people believe in silly things. That America has been with us always — the America of the medicine wagon and the tent revival, the America of the juke joint and the gambling den, the America of lunatic possibility that in its own mad way kept the original revolutionary spirit alive while an establishment began to calcify atop the place. Idiot America isn’t even those people who believe that Adam sat down one day and named all the dinosaurs….

The rise of Idiot America, though, is essentially a war on expertise…. The rise of Idiot America today reflects — for profit, mainly, but also, and more cynically, for political advantage and in the pursuit of power — the breakdown of the consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good. It also represents the ascendancy of the notion that the people we should trust the least are the people who know best what they’re talking about….

Idiot America is a collaborative effort, the result of millions of decisions made and not made. It’s the development of a collective Gut at the expense of a collective mind. It’s what results when politicians make ridiculous statements and not merely do we abandon the right to punish them for it at the polls, but we also become too timid to punish them with ridicule on a daily basis, because the polls say they’re popular anyway. It’s what results when leaders are not held to account for mistakes that end up killing people….

[His] Three Great Premises:

1. Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units.
2. Anything can be true is someone says it loudly enough.
3. Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is measured by how fervently they believe it….

Yikes. That is the time of Trump, to a tee. As I say, do go read it all — it is spot-on, from top to tail — here over 16 years later. Onward.

नमस्ते

The Scourge Of Lassa Continues Apace, In Nigeria — Exceeding The Rates Of Infection, And Deaths — Seen Last Year…

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This is… unfortunate. And largely avoidable.

But here we are — with the outbreak still eclipsing last year’s run rates — on deaths and afflictions. So goes it, when the US’s moral public health for the world torch is… snuffed. Here’s the latest:

…Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak has claimed 252 lives so far this year, with confirmed cases reaching 1,035, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

The agency reported 14 new confirmed cases during epidemiological week 33, covering Aug. 10-16, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed infections in 2026 to 1,035, Anadolu agency reported….

The 252 deaths represent a case-fatality rate of 24.4%, up from 18.6% during the same period last year, when 159 deaths were recorded from 854 confirmed cases.

The NCDC said Lassa fever has been confirmed in 23 states and 117 local government areas across the country this year.

Five states — Ondo, Bauchi, Taraba, Edo and Benue — account for 87% of all confirmed cases, while the remaining 13% were reported across 18 other states….

Now you know… many a great moment coming with Fall, into Winter 2026, just the same. Smile….

नमस्ते

The Long-Planned Separation Has Begun, At Mercury: ESA/JAXA BepiColombo Mission Entering Residential “Mercurial” Science Phase…

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It has taken eight years of gravity assisted, but decreasingly-eliptical fly-bys… to trim the craft’s speed and trajectory — so that it might enter Mercury orbit with a minimum of extra / expended fuel burns.

But we are now at that moment — and the stacked craft is about to separate — to begin the transition into a multi-craft observatory — preparing for “Mercurial” science in Spring 2027. Here’s all that, from ESA:

…After eight years, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is about to enter its Mercury Arrival Phase. On 3 September 2026, ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate from BepiColombo’s two science orbiters – the first major step in one of the most operationally challenging planetary arrival sequences ever attempted by ESA.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will livestream the critical milestone from 13:45 CEST. Tune in and witness the first step of one of the most complex phases of the mission, live from ESA mission control….

BepiColombo’s arrival is one of the most demanding operational sequences ever carried out by ESA. MTM’s separation on 3 September is just the first step. After MTM has separated, in November ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) will enter orbit around Mercury together, before separating from each other in December 2026. Science operations will begin in April 2027….

Starting this weekend, blogging / updates will be scarce for a month. You will need to wear your bear ballet shoes… solo. Smile.

नमस्ते