Reporter flips 'the bird' at Marco Rubio

Thomas Escritt

They're not supposed to pick sides, are they? The media's sacred duty is impartiality and all that noble nonsense. But let's not kid ourselves; that ship sailed, sank, and got turned into reef long ago. 

They take sides and they don't hide it.

Exhibit A: this Bloomberg reporter, Thomas Escritt, now enjoying his fifteen minutes of viral infamy for all the wrong reasons. Caught on camera flipping off Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest on February 16. 

Classy move in the front row, no less.

It's not exactly breaking news that the establishment press corps is a dumpster fire, but moments like this just add another charming footnote to their obituary. They still haven't figured out what hit them with Donald Trump's rise or the similar populist waves rolling across Europe. They keep wagering that this whole thing is a passing fad, like low-rise jeans or whatever else they missed the memo on.

As an aside, if you're going to throw someone the bird, at least commit to it with some dignity instead of spaz-flailing like a malfunctioning robot. The guy has since locked his X account, which is the modern equivalent of hiding under the desk. 

Will he get fired? Now that would be the real shocker, wouldn't it? Color me skeptical. The media hates us. We don't care.

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Another trans shooting in Rhode Island: 2 dead, 3 critically injured

Robert Dorgan, who went by the name Roberta Esposito, had a documented history of mental illness, in addition to gender dysphoria, which is also a mental disorder.

Two people were killed and at least three others critically injured after a man who identifies as a woman opened fire at a high school hockey game in Rhode Island.

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves confirmed in a Monday evening press conference that Robert Dorgan, killed himself after what she said was likely a targeted shooting stemming from a family dispute. A clip circulating on social media appears to show Dorgan's daughter leaving a police station and telling reporters that her father "shot my family" and "he's dead now."  The woman added that Dorgan "has mental health issues," and "was very sick." [Yah think?]

Court records from 2020 confirm that Dorgan had undergone gender reassignment surgery, a fancy term that indicates his penis and testicles were surgically mutilated and reshaped to sort of look like a woman's genitalia.

Dorgan claimed to North Providence Police at the time that his father-in-law attempted to throw him out of the house following his surgery. Around that time, Dorgan's wife filed for divorce, initially citing "gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits" as the reason before crossing them out and writing "irreconcilable differences."

Authorities have not publicly identified the victims, nor have they confirmed the precise relationships involved in the apparent family dispute. Police have also not released information about the weapon used.

This is the latest shooting perpetrated by a transgender-identifying attacker. Earlier this month, a man who thought he was a woman and wore a dress to somehow prove it to himself, killed 10 people at a Canadian school. 

Transgender-identifying shooters perpetrated deadly attacks on schools in Nashville in 2023 and in Minneapolis in 2025. The latter attack was the subject of the last question Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was asked when he was assassinated in September.

Kirk's killer, Tyler Robinson, was, at the time of the attack, living with his so-called "transgender partner," a man named Lance Twiggs, a guy with gender dysphoria. 

The Trump administration was reportedly considering a ban on gun ownership for transgender-identifying people in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting, but that ban has seemingly stalled. 

A source familiar with the Trump administration's thinking said that the topic is not something that they have heard discussed since conservative outlet, The Daily Wire originally reported it in September. 

Monday's shooting occurred at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena during a game involving multiple high school teams. Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the suspected gunman is also dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Federal authorities, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, responded to assist state and local law enforcement at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena on Monday. 

Police said shots were fired inside the arena while spectators and players were present for what had been scheduled as a senior night celebration for the Blackstone Valley Schools cooperative hockey team. "You don’t know what’s going on at first," Melissa Dunn, the mother of one player, told reporters. "You just hear the loud noises … then you realize something is very wrong." 

A player who was on the ice at the time said multiple shots were fired and that players ran to the locker room for safety. :We pressed against the door and just tried to stay safe," he said. "It was very scary." 

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien intelligently called the shooting "a terrible tragedy" and said the city is working closely with law enforcement and the Rhode Island attorney general's office.

"What should have been a joyful occasion … was instead marked by violence and fear," Grebien said. "Tonight, Pawtucket is a city in mourning."

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Teen hero murdered in the Bronx by teens with guns

A tragic and utterly senseless shooting [aren't they all] in the Bronx has left a 16-year-old aspiring football star dead after he heroically stepped in to shield his friends from a group of illegally armed thugs, yet another grim chapter in the borough's spiraling youth violence epidemic that has residents fed up and demanding real action from city leaders, including their communist mayor.

Christopher Redding, a talented player on the John F. Kennedy High School tackle football team and the Fastbreak flag football squad (with prior stints on the Bronx Colts and LBX teams), paid the ultimate price for his courage. 

According to a GoFundMe page set up by his coach, "Christopher was defending his friends who were being targeted by a group of individuals who then opened fire on them in the Bronx. His last act on earth was one of courage and selflessness, protecting those he cared about."

The chaos unfolded last Wednesday after school dismissal near a bus stop in Kingsbridge, where crowds of teens had gathered. What started as a street dispute quickly escalated, because, as Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson bluntly put it, "This started out as some sort of fight on the street, and it escalated. And, guess what, someone had a gun. That is usually the issue." Gibson added that there's been "too much violence among young adults." But just how much is too much?

Police say four suspects, three males and one female, were involved. It's not yet known if these thugs identify correctly according to their actual gender.

The NYPD released footage of the group, and on Saturday, authorities nabbed a 17-year-old male connected to the incident. He's now staring down a laundry list of serious charges: murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, assault, and criminal possession of a loaded firearm. Two other young victims, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were shot in the right leg and are stable in the hospital. 

Local resident Regina Hall witnessed the panic from her window: after five gunshots rang out, she saw "hundreds and hundreds of kids" waiting for the bus scatter in terror. "You can't come to the stores," she told reporters. "I had a friend that went to the drug store, and she had to try to run from across the street there to here to get to her house." She described regular teen brawls spilling into the streets and noted the noticeable drop in police presence thanks to Mayor Mamdani: "I used to see a lot of policemen around here. But it's, you know, can't say anymore." 

The community is reeling, and frustration is boiling over toward city leadership. Redding's grieving father, Bryan Corley spoke to the New York Post about the remaining suspects still on the loose: "They're still out there, and nothing is really being done. Mayor Mamdani saying that the police is doing a good job. They're not doing a good job. It's disgusting." 

When asked if Mamdani's office had even reached out to the family, he said simply: "no." For his part, Comrade Mamdani addressed the recent Bronx shootings last Thursday, calling them "heartbreaking and horrific" and adding, "I am thankful for the work of the NYPD not only in responding to them but also in the actions they are taking to ensure that we work to prevent them in the future."

District Council Member Eric Dinowitz struck a more urgent tone on X: "guns in the hands of high school students should never be the reality, and we must put an end to this senseless violence." He added that with a new mayoral administration, "we have an opportunity to address this crisis once and for all. My colleagues and I in the City Council will do everything we can to support an anti-gun violence agenda that addresses the root causes and saves lives."

He failed to mention how this would be addressed in terms of getting illegal guns off the streets. It isn't as though criminals are going to give up their guns, and gun laws seem to only apply to law abiding citizens.

Gibson echoed the sentiment, noting the borough has seen a troubling rise in gun violence [as if it's the guns that are violent, not the shooters] that has "leaving too many of our families and community members feeling unsafe in their own neighborhoods."

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This isn't just another statistic, it's a heartbreaking loss of a promising young life cut short in an avoidable explosion of street-level stupidity and easy access to firearms among the youth. 

The guns don't commit the violence and the problem isn't just with access to them. The problem starts at home where, for example, missing fathers have no influence on their sons and daughters. The problem is primarily a social problem where cops are vilified and guns are glorified.

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USAF orders 30K lb. GBU-57 bunker busters to prepare for Iran

Bunker Buster GBU-57

The US Air Force just dropped a massive reality check on anyone who thought we could casually bomb Iran's nuclear sites and then call it a day without restocking the pantry.

After unleashing 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators during Operation Midnight Hammer back in June, the B-2 fleet needs more of these 30,000-pound bahdahbing bombs to keep the arsenal ready for whatever comes next. And yes, Boeing is getting the sole-source contract because surprise, they're the only ones who build this thing.

The partially redacted justification notice posted online last week lays it out plain: "this procurement and sustainment activity is critically needed to replenish the inventory of GBU-57’s, ended during Operation Midnight Hammer (21 June 25)."

Boeing has "uniquely acquired expertise over a period of 18 years of adapting this specialized weapon to meet evolving mission needs as MOP transitioned from proof-of-concept to Full Operational Capability," the document explains. Handing the job to anyone else? "Unacceptable delays." And the brass isn't mincing words on why speed matters: "No delay in award is acceptable for this effort. Delaying this requirement would undermine force readiness and efficient acquisitions for this key weapons program. A delay undermines Combatant Commanders’ capabilities, jeopardizes force readiness and strategic deterrence, hinders nuclear proliferation prevention efforts, and could result in loss of life."

The exact number of bombs being bought, the price tag, and delivery timeline? All classified or just not released. Because why spoil the mystery?

What is the MOP, anyway? Developed in the early 2000s by Boeing and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator exists for one job: smashing through Hard and Deeply Buried Targets like underground labs, command centers, and those pesky nuclear facilities.

An Air Force fact sheet calls it "a weapon system designed to accomplish a difficult, complicated mission of reaching and destroying our adversaries’ weapons of mass destruction located in well-protected facilities."

This beast weighs 30,000 pounds (13,600 kilograms), with the warhead alone tipping the scales at 5,740 pounds (2,600 kg) and stretching over 20 feet (6 meters) long. It can punch through up to 200 feet (60 m.) of earth or 60 feet (18 m.) of reinforced concrete, making it the heaviest non-nuclear bomb we've got.

Scientific American once compared the kinetic impact to "800 to 900 megajoules (about 758,000 to 853,000 British thermal units) of kinetic energy – comparable to a 285-ton (285,000 kg.) Boeing 747-400 touching down at 170 mph (274 kph) or a 565-ton (565,000 kg.) Amtrak Acela train moving at 120 mph (193 kph)." In other words, it's a flying freight train with bad intentions.B-2 bomber drops a GBU-57 during a test

Operation Midnight Hammer marked the MOP's combat debut in June 2025, when seven B-2 Spirits hammered sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan with those 14 bombs. US officials called it a win, but independent looks suggest the results were mixed: Fordow took a serious hit, while Natanz and Isfahan might bounce back quicker than hoped.

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The strikes exposed both the MOP's raw power and its real-world limits, from the sheer size limiting which planes can carry it, to the headaches of ultra-hardened targets, and Iran's ongoing efforts to build better defenses. Replenishing the stockpile now isn't just housekeeping. It's a reminder that deterrence doesn't come cheap, and the mullahs aren't going to stop digging just because we hit them once.

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Trump to grant refugee status to UK man prosecuted by Starmer government for Quran burning

The Trump administration is stepping up in a way that has the British establishment clutching their pearls tighter than a vegan at a barbecue: they're in talks to offer refugee status to Hamit Coskun, the guy who dared to torch a Quran outside the Turkish embassy in London.

If Coskun loses his so-called "blasphemy case" this week, the Crown Prosecution Service is pushing to reinstate his overturned conviction, the State Department is ready to bring him stateside as a refugee. This is one of several cases the administration has flagged, and it could turn the transatlantic free speech debate into a full-on shouting match.

Coskun, who fled Turkey after claiming Islamic terrorists wrecked his life and got asylum in the UK, made his point loud and clear by setting the book ablaze while yelling "Islam is religion of terrorism" and "f*ck Islam." 

A passerby promptly tried to stab him, then kicked him when he hit the deck. That attacker, Moussa Kadri, drew a mere 20-week sentence. Coskun however was originally hit with a religiously aggravated public order offense, which critics slammed as blasphemy-by-another-name, an offense the UK supposedly ditched 18 years ago. The National Secular Society and Free Speech Union jumped in, the conviction got flipped on appeal, but the CPS is back for round two in court Tuesday.

Prosecutors insist it was never about the burning itself, just "disorderly behavior in public." Sure, and one day chickens will blacken the skies.

Coskun told the Telegraph that if he loses, he may have no choice but to bolt.

"For me, as the victim of Islamic terrorism, I cannot remain silent. I may be forced to flee the UK and move to the USA, where President Trump has stood for free speech and against Islamic extremism," Coskun said. "If I have to do so, then, to me, the UK will have effectively fallen to Islamism and the speech codes that it wishes to impose on the non-Muslim world."

Look, the UK keeps sliding toward treating blunt criticism of certain ideologies like a felony, while the Trump team is signaling loud and clear: burn a book, shout your piece, get attacked for it, and then get prosecuted for offending the wrong feelings? Not on our watch. If the High Court sides with the prosecutors, don't be shocked if Coskun ends up trading rainy London for somewhere he can speak his mind without fearing a knock from the thought police. America still has room for guys who refuse to shut up.

What do you folks think? Is Trump right for getting involved in UK insanity?

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Terror attack in northwest Nigerian village kills at least 32

In the borderlands of northwest Nigeria, where the writ of the state has long since frayed, another atrocity unfolded with grim predictability. Armed men on motorbikes descended upon three villages in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, close to the frontier with Benin Republic. They killed at least thirty-two people, set houses and shops ablaze, and abducted an unknown number more. These raids form part of a relentless surge in violence across northern Nigeria, where so-called "bandits" have inflicted mass murder, ransom kidnappings, and the wholesale displacement of communities.

Were these terrorists jihadis? You make the call, because I don't know.

The Nigerian government finds itself under ever-increasing pressure to restore some semblance of order, yet the pattern persists: swift, savage incursions followed by retreat into the bush, leaving the survivors to count their dead and dread the next assault.

Wasiu Abiodun, the Niger State police spokesperson, confirmed the initial strike on Tunga-Makeri. "Suspected bandits invaded Tunga-Makeri village … six persons lost their lives, some houses were also set ablaze, and a yet-to-be ascertained number of persons were abducted," Abiodun said. He noted that the assailants then proceeded to Konkoso village, though further details remained sketchy.

Jeremiah Timothy, a resident of Konkoso who fled to a neighboring locality, described how the attack on his village commenced in the early hours with sporadic gunfire. "At least 26 people were killed so far in the village after they set the police station ablaze," said Timothy, adding that the attackers entered Konkoso around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT), shooting indiscriminately. Residents reported hearing military jets overhead, a distant reminder of state power that arrived too late to prevent the slaughter.

An anonymous witness spoke of more than two hundred motorbikes sweeping through the area, their riders targeting the villages with ruthless efficiency.

Auwal Ibrahim, from Tunga-Makeri, gave a harrowing account of the early-morning assault on his community at approximately 0200 GMT. "The bandits stormed our town around 3:00 a.m. (local time), riding so many motorcycles while shooting sporadically, beheading six people and killing others. They set shops on fire and forced the whole village to flee," Ibrahim said.

He added that many villagers now fear to return, knowing the gunmen linger nearby.

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What confronts Nigeria here is not mere criminality, but a profound failure of governance in vast swathes of the north: territories where armed groups operate with near-impunity, where the security forces arrive after the fact, and where ordinary people are left to pay the price in blood and terror. The "bandits" may wear no uniform of ideology, yet their methods and their dominance reveal a state that has ceded control of its own hinterland. Until that changes, these villages will remain vulnerable, and the cycle of massacre will continue.

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World's biggest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives in the Middle East

The world's largest aircraft carrier, the U.S. Navy nuclear-powered Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) (photo credit: Seaman Abigail Reyes/U.S. Navy)

The US military is gearing up for what could be weeks-long operations against Iran if President Trump gives the green light. Two US officials told Reuters this could turn into a far more serious conflict than anything we've seen before between the two countries.

"Sometimes you have to have fear. That's the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of," Trump said.

These officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive planning involved. It definitely ramps up the pressure on the ongoing diplomacy with Iran.

US and Iranian diplomats met in Oman last week to try reviving talks on Tehran's nuclear program, after Trump built up forces in the region and sparked fears of fresh military action. On the military side, US officials announced Friday that the Pentagon is deploying another aircraft carrier to the Middle East, along with thousands more troops, fighter jets, guided-missile destroyers, and other assets for both offense and defense. Carriers typically house over 5,000 personnel, and the USS Gerald R. Ford is bigger than them all.

Trump spoke to troops at a North Carolina base Friday and said it's "been difficult to make a deal" with Iran.

"Sometimes you have to have fear. That's the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of," Trump said.

When asked about preparations for potentially prolonged operations, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said: "President Trump has all options on the table with regard to Iran. He listens to a variety of perspectives on any given issue, but makes the final decision based on what is best for our country and national security." 

The Pentagon had no comment.

Last year, the US sent two carriers to the region for strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. But June's "Midnight Hammer" was basically a single strike: stealth bombers flew from the US to hit nuclear facilities, and Iran responded with a very limited attack on a US base in Qatar. This time, however, the planning is more involved, officials said.

In a sustained campaign, the US could target Iranian state and security facilities, not just nuclear ones, one official noted, without giving specifics. You can bet the Ayatollah isn't diddy-bopping above terra firma at the moment.

Experts warn the risks to US forces would be much higher against Iran, given its strong missile arsenal. Iranian retaliation could easily spark a wider regional war.

The same official said the US expects Iran to hit back, leading to ongoing strikes and counter-strikes over time. Iran is also preparing [allegedly] to strike Tel Aviv in the near future, and you can bet the IDF isn't playing with their dreidels and are instead preparing to retaliate.

The White House and Pentagon didn't answer questions on retaliation risks or regional escalation.

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Trump has repeatedly warned he'd bomb Iran over its nuclear and missile programs, plus its crackdown on internal dissent. On Thursday, he said the alternative to diplomacy would "be very traumatic, very traumatic." [Two 'very traumatics' is very, very serious.]

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have threatened to strike any US base if Iran is hit. The US has bases across the Middle East: Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Turkey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met President Trump in Washington on Wednesday and said any deal with Iran "must include the elements that are vital to Israel." 

Iran says it's open to discussing nuclear curbs for sanctions relief, but won't tie it to missiles because they obviously plan to go nuclear or already have done so.

So, with the IRGC killing Iranian citizens and both Israel and the US ready to launch an attack if necessary, it looks like history is soon to be made in the Middle East.

Am America/Israel Chai.

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Compromised News Network Loses 66% of Primetime Viewers

Once upon a time, in a galaxy not far away, CNN was the undisputed king of cable news. Now it's just another sad sack bleeding viewers like a stuck pig somewhere in the Middle East.

The primetime audience has cratered from roughly 1.3 million in 2016 to 553,000 now. "The decrease, from roughly 1.3 million in 2016 to 553,000 now, is fueling rumors of a possible network sale," The Daily Mail reported. 

Over the last decade, the once-mighty network has seen its primetime crowd shrink by nearly two-thirds. That's not a dip, that's a nosedive.

The numbers get even uglier when you zoom in on certain time frames. 

Sure, CNN had a nice little sugar rush during Donald Trump's 2016 ascent, but those gains eventually flipped into a full-blown catastrophe. In the golden 25-54 demo that advertisers drool over, things are downright apocalyptic. By early 2025, CNN was scraping by with a pathetic 118,000 primetime viewers in that group. That's about equivalent to an overloaded train in India.

The rot isn't confined to the evening hours either. Daytime viewing, once carried by reliable old hands like Wolf . . . Gasp . . . Blitzer, has plunged from 752,000 to 433,000. Compared to the same stretch in 2021, primetime is down 71 percent and daytime has tanked 73 percent.

All this glorious free-fall has unfolded amid a parade of executive musical chairs. 

Jeff Zucker bolted, Chris Licht's short reign was a dumpster fire, and now Mark Thompson is the guy trying to apply tourniquets. His big plan? Ditch the old-school TV roots and go all-in on digital, because apparently that's where the cool kids are these days.

The restructuring highlights include axing more than 200 staffers in early 2025 to fund the digital dreams, chasing mobile content that lets thumb-scrollers "flick" through stories like they're swiping on Tinder, launching a new streaming effort in late 2025 after the CNN+ fiasco proved what a genius idea that was the first time around, and somehow finding $70 million to throw at subscription food and fitness slop.

CNN lifers keep insisting this is just part of some grand industry migration to "alternative means" of getting news. Sure, tell that to the competition. 

In January 2025, The Daily Mail noted, "Fox News, however, has continued to fly high, capturing more than 70 percent of cable news’ audiences during primetime since (the 2024 election), as well as nearly 50 percent overall."

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The whole cable news landscape is shifting, except for the one network that's actually winning. Funny how that works.

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