June 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson

First tango at Lake Lucerne

Featured image The United States is now deeply invested in the removal of the architecture of sanctions that has handicapped the Iranian regime. As of this morning, Secretary Bessent commenced the unraveling with a 60-day license allowing Iran to engage in all aspects of the oil trade in dollars. This move was in exchange for the apparent restoration of the status quo ante in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian regime last »
June 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson

In a golden eye

Featured imageI’m traveling home from Washington, D.C. and thought I would draw on something I wrote last year to kick things off on an apolitical note this morning. Over the weekend TCM played Reflections In a Golden Eye (1967) with an unilluminating introduction by Dave Karger. The movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando perhaps somewhere past the peak of their powers but close enough for enjoyable viewing. Relatively faithful to »
June 21, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Make Colombia great again

Featured imageFrom Bloomberg, Conservative lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly won the preliminary vote count in Colombia’s presidential election, likely sweeping aside Gustavo Petro’s leftist movement and realigning Bogotá with the US. There is a mandatory recount that will occur over the next few days, but Wikipedia, for what it’s worth, has already awarded Espriella the victory. I’ve been following the presidential election in Peru, where the “far-right” candidate Keiko Fujimori »
June 21, 2026 — John Hinderaker

A Climate Model That Works

Featured imageThe standard climate models that show skyrocketing temperatures in response to increases in atmospheric CO2 are well known to be wrong, as their predictions grossly exceed the amount of warming that is actually observed. But what can replace them? Willis Eschenbach has a fascinating post at Watts Up With That about a new, dynamic model. I will excerpt briefly, but you should check out the whole thing: To understand the »
June 21, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Omar Changes Her Mind

Featured imageA year ago, Ilhan Omar’s official ethics filings showed a meteoric rise in her net worth, from close to zero to as much as $30 million. Her husband, she explained, was a high-flying investor through his company Rose Lake Capital, and a winery owner. But now the mighty have fallen. Omar’s net worth is back down to less than zero and husband Tim Mynett is more or less unemployable: Scandal-scarred »
June 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson

At SPA, the Ottley treatment

Featured imageI’m an alumnus, a parent of two alumnae, and a former teacher at St. Paul Academy in St. Paul. I’ve known just about every head of school going back to Ed Reid with the exception of Luis Ottley. Ottley is the current head of school. Ottley has now presided over a series of incidents that reflect his poor judgment, his thin skin, and his tyrannical inclinations. Ottley must rank as »
June 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Color him father

Featured imageI wrote this on Father’s Day in 2010. It is a post that struck a chord with at least a few readers. I amplified it in 2020 and am taking the liberty of reposting these reflections in honor of the day. My father was a thoughtful man in his own way. In the last years of his life he recited for me the things for which he was most grateful. »
June 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Starmer to Resign?

Featured image“Two-Tier Kier” Starmer apparently is on the way out as Britain’s Prime Minister. The London Times says he may resign on Monday: Sir Keir Starmer is under intense pressure to stand down and last night it was reported that he was preparing to set out a timetable for his departure after concluding that recent days have made his position untenable. The election of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, to Parliament »
June 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Happy Saturday

Featured imageI’ve had a few Twitter videos up on my tabs for a day or two, and thought I may as well post them. Their general theme is the awesomeness of America. First, a couple of Euro-tourists (like Freddy) in our country for the World Cup: I can’t get enough of Europeans experiencing America. This couple received challenge coins at a bar in Texas! ♥️♥️♥️ pic.twitter.com/LJFwfZnN0O — CCP IS ASSHOE (@CCPISASSH0E) »
June 20, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Blue states (heart) illegals

Featured imageFrom the New York Post Editorial Board, Blue states are obsessed with protecting illegal-migrant criminals — and only voters can make it stop. The Board gives examples from Virginia, New York, Illinois and California where local authorities coddle violent criminals, lest they fall into the hands of federal immigration authorities. No regard is given to crime victims, or to the mayhem on the streets. I could give my own examples »
June 19, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Dr. Fauci Exposed

Featured imageOn her last day as Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard released documents relating to Dr. Anthony Fauci and his role in the covid epidemic. Her office issued a press release, and you can read the documents here. This is how the ODNI describes these documents: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is releasing never-before-seen communications and documents exposing how Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the Intelligence Community »
June 21, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Democrats Surging on Taxes

Featured imageThis, from Rasmussen, is depressing with the midterms just a few months away: The question of which party is more trusted to handle taxes now slightly favors Democrats, less than five months ahead of the midterm elections. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 44% of Likely U.S. Voters trust Democrats more to handle taxes, while 41% trust Republicans more and 15% are not sure. In »
June 20, 2026 — Bill Glahn

The blame game

Featured imageVideo posted by Fox News, The proximate cause of Minnesota Attorney General’s public fit was the unseen reporter’s poor manners in bringing up an $8 billion estimate for Medicaid fraud under his watch. “The newspapers” have done nothing resembling a “forensic accounting” of the fraud. But they (the Minneapolis Star Tribune) have floated many lowball numbers to try to minimize the scandal. The only entity with access to all of »
June 20, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Sabotage!

Featured imageFrom the New York Post, American Olympic canoeist arrested for allegedly vandalizing Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Yes, the Reflecting Pool on the Capitol mall. You are meant to care deeply about the algae problem in the pool. Trump’s failure to solve the problem is held up as the top example of the need to impeach him and remove him from office. Or so I am told. Yesterday in The Hill »
June 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Catching Up With Freddy [Updated]

Featured imageI wrote here about Freddy, the German World Cup tourist whose discovery of America has taken the internet by storm. He now has 708,000 followers on X, where you can see all of his posts. Freddy and his two companions spent several days in Houston, where they attended a German World Cup game and were put up in a fabulous hotel suite by JJ Watt. Freddy did a post from »
June 20, 2026 — John Hinderaker

The Week In Pictures: World Cup Edition

Featured imageThis week was Steve Hayward’s turn for TWIP, but this afternoon I got an email from him, saying that he was “in the middle of the north Pacific Ocean not far from the Kamchatka peninsula right now, sailing east to Vancouver from Tokyo, in a raging gale with high seas (I love it!), but am having trouble logging in to Power Line to post.” To the best of my knowledge »
June 19, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Iran, Gaza and Ukraine

Featured imageI was on the Rowan Dean Show on Sky News last night. The Sky News hosts have been very pro-Trump, and I wasn’t sure how Rowan would react to my negative take on the Iran Memorandum of Understanding. I needn’t have worried: Rowan was more outspoken in his condemnation than I was. We also talked about Gaza and Ukraine’s drone strikes against Russia. It is a short appearance, just five »