Where debating everything under the sun is only the beginning

The 22-foot bronze figure, covered in gold leaf, depicts Trump raising his fist in the gesture he made after surviving an assassination attempt in 2024. Titled “Don Colossus,” the statue was unveiled Wednesday at Trump National Doral, the president’s golf course in Miami, Florida, Barron’s reported.

Burns, who led the dedication ceremony, posted on X the same night: “Let me say this plainly: this is not a golden calf.”

“This statue is not about worship. It is about honor,” Burns wrote. “It is a celebration of life and a powerful symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, courage, and the will to keep fighting for America.”

We present findings from a reference-integrity audit of 2·5 million biomedical papers spanning 3 years, showing that fabricated references are embedded in the peer-reviewed literature at scale, and that the rate of fabrication is accelerating.

As always, Euro-centric intellectuals fail to recognize the difference between a republic and a democracy.

We cannot allow there to be an Election that is conducted unconstitutionally simply for the “convenience” of State Legislatures. If they have to vote twice, so be it. We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done. That is more important than administrative convenience. The byproduct is that the Republicans will receive more than 20 House Seats in the upcoming Midterms! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Two Royal Air Force Eurofighters were scrambled from Romania as Vladimir Putin's forces attacked ports on the River Danube in Ukraine.

The crew engaged and downed the Russian drones in Ukrainian airspace, said the Romanian Ministry of National Defence.

'On the morning of Saturday, April 25, Russian forces resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania, in Tulcea County,' said the Bucharest statement.

'The National Military Command Centre notified IGSU [General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations] regarding the establishment of measures to alert the population in the localities of Grindu and Isaccea, in Tulcea County, and at 02:14, a RO-ALERT message was transmitted.

'The Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft had radar contact with a target located 1.5 km [1 mile] from Reni, above Ukrainian territory.

'The pilots had authorisation to engage the drones.'

Colonel Cristian Popovici, head of the Information Directorate of the Ministry of National Defense, stated that the British pilots did NOT fire on the drone...

The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as “insurrectionists” and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government. In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection by certifying a fraud-ridden election, ignoring widespread irregularities, and weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters, all while Pelosi’s own security lapses invited the chaos they later exploited to seize and consolidate power. This gaslighting narrative allowed them to persecute innocent Americans, silence opposition, and distract from their own role in undermining democracy.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has issued a decree establishing a Universal Health Service, enabling all Mexican citizens to access any public medical institution. Beginning April 13 with a new unified health credential for seniors, the system will integrate fragmented healthcare facilities by January 2027, removing bureaucratic barriers that have long divided care options.

In a pair of Truth Social posts, Trump said the U.S. military would begin blockading ships entering or leaving the strait, and would also intercept any vessel that has paid tolls to Iran to transit it safely. He also said that any Iranian who fires on the U.S. military or other, peaceful vessels will be “BLOWN TO HELL” while the Navy works to de-mine the strait.

Good afternoon.

The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.

The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility, and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather, I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.

I have never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach.

To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trivial note.

I am not Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband, by chance, at a New York City party in 1998. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in detail in my book, MELANIA.

The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000, at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings.

Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been circulating on social media for years now. Be cautious about what you believe. These images and stories are completely false.

I am not a witness or a named witness in connection with any of Epstein’s crimes. My name has never appeared in court documents, depositions, victim statements, or FBI interviews surrounding the Epstein matter.

I have never had any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of his victims. I was never involved in any capacity—I was not a participant, was never on Epstein’s plane, and never visited his private island.

I have never been legally accused or convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein’s sex trafficking, abuse of minors, and other repulsive behavior.

The false smears about me from mean-spirited and politically motivated individuals and entities looking to cause damage to my good name to gain financially and climb politically must stop.

My attorneys and I have fought these unfounded and baseless lies with success and will continue to maintain my sound reputation without hesitation. To date, several individuals and companies have been legally obligated to publicly apologize and retract their lies about me, such as The Daily Beast, James Carville, and Harper Collins UK.

Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn’t amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth.

I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress, with the power of sworn testimony. Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record.

Then, and only then, will we have the truth.

Maybe he should have bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki again?

Your take (and Bloomberg's) is myopic: How can we spin this to hurt Trump?

To your point: Is China getting oil through the Hormuz Straights?

But you don't mention what this kerfluffle will do to NATO....

The ceasefire in Iran has reinforced views among both adversaries and the NATO alliance that President Donald Trump’s campaign against the Tehran regime marks a strategic setback, bolstering China and Russia while squandering American strengths, according to people familiar with the thinking across capitals in Europe and the Middle East.

Manjaro is at the end of its lifecycle, flirting with the lower 2% of usage share on ProtonDB. Sometimes I hear people recommending Manjaro here and there - and it’s probably because their Linux distro knowledge is outdated. Nobody should be recommending Manjaro in 2026, it’s worse than all of the other Arch-based distros available.

Edit: I did not know there was a YT channel called Predictive History

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y_hbz6loEo

Democracy is back to 1978 levels for the average global citizen.

Nearly three quarters of the world population (74%, or 6 billion) live in autocracies.

The USA loses its long-term status as a liberal democracy - for the first time in over 50 years.