Iran Military Alive Person: Renewed War with US 'Likely'

IRCG Military Leader: Mohammed bin Mo

A senior Iranian military officer who has yet to be neutralized, said on Saturday that renewed fighting with the U.S. was "likely," hours after President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with an Iranian negotiating proposal.

Iran dropped the new draft on mediator Pakistan Thursday evening, state media reported, without bothering to tell us what was actually in it.

The war, which the United States and Israel kicked off in late February, has been on hold since April 8. One round of peace talks in Pakistan has already flopped since then.

"At this moment I'm not satisfied with what they're offering," Trump told so called reporters, blaming the stall on "tremendous discord" within Iran's leadership.

"Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever or do we want to try and make a deal?" he added, saying he would "prefer not" to take the first option "on a human basis".

On Saturday morning, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, some big shot in the Iranian military's Central Command who has not yet been sent to his goats, announced that "a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely," according to quotes in Iran's Fars News Agency.

"Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements," he added.

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Friday that his country had "never shied away from negotiations," but would not accept an "imposition" of peace terms. Sure, buddy.

The White House is keeping the details of the latest Iranian proposal under wraps, but Axios reported that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff tossed in amendments that put Tehran's nuclear program back on the table.

The changes include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites or restart anything there while talks are going on.

News of the Iranian proposal briefly knocked oil prices down nearly five percent. They are still sitting about 50 percent above pre-war levels, thanks to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has kept its stranglehold on the strait since the war started, cutting off major flows of oil, gas, and fertilizer to the world economy. The United States has answered with its own blockade of Iranian ports.

Speaking at a rally on Friday, Trump said "we're like pirates" while describing an earlier helicopter raid on an oil tanker caught in the blockade.

Despite the ceasefire in the Gulf, fighting continues in Lebanon, where Israel has been hammering targets despite a separate truce with the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.

Lebanon's health ministry said 13 people were killed in strikes in the south, including in the town of Habboush, where the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning.

Meanwhile, Washington announced late Friday it had approved major arms sales to its Middle East allies, including a $4 billion Patriot missile deal with Qatar and nearly $1 billion in precision weapons systems to Israel.

Back in Washington, lawmakers are tangled up in a legal fight over whether Trump missed a deadline to get congressional approval for the war.

Administration officials say the ceasefire hits the pause button on that 60-day limit. Democrats, naturally, disagree because, you know . . . Trump.

Trump is facing increasing pressure at home, with inflation climbing, no decisive win yet, and midterm elections coming up.

"There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026," Trump said in letters to congressional leaders, adding that the hostilities "have terminated".

In Iran, the economic pain from the war is getting worse by the day.

Washington slapped new sanctions on three Iranian currency firms and warned others not to pay the "toll" Iran is demanding for safe passage through Hormuz.

The U.S. military says its blockade of Iranian ports has already halted $6 billion in Iranian oil exports. Inflation in Iran, which was bad enough before the war, has now shot past 50 percent."Everyone is trying to endure it, but... they are falling apart," 40-year-old Amir, a Tehran resident, told an AFP reporter based outside the country.

"We still have not seen much of the economic effects because everyone had a bit of savings. They had some gold and dollars for a rainy day. When they run out, things will change."

In other signs that everything is going great in the Islamic Republic, Iranian authorities executed two men on Saturday who were convicted of spying for Israel. This is just the latest in a fresh wave of executions.

One of the men was found guilty of helping Israel during last June's 12-day war.

hank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

Americans Continue Voting With Their Feet, Apparently Preferring Not To Be Taxed Into Oblivion

New Census data reveals a massive migration shift as high-tax states lose residents to the booming Southeast and Sun Belt. Experts are baffled why anyone would leave paradise for lower taxes and functioning streets. Hmmm?

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host Charlie Hurt discuss an exodus of residents from Democrat-led states due to taxes.

Americans appear to be voting with their feet as the country’s most iconic cities continue to see declining populations or struggle to regain their pre-pandemic footing, shocking no one with two brain cells to rub together.

On the East Coast, New York City is facing a renewed exodus. 

According to a Citizens Budget Commission study released earlier this month, the Big Apple lost more residents than it gained last year. The report found that New York City lost approximately 114,000 more domestic residents to other U.S. cities than it gained in 2025, reversing two years of marginal growth.

The decline has become so pronounced that even New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has sounded the alarm. Pleading in March for "high net worth" individuals to return, Hochul noted the erosion of the Empire State’s tax base is threatening "the generous social programs that we want to have in our state."

A nervous Hochul admitted that New York is "in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden," specifically citing "Wall Street businesses looking at Texas" as a primary concern.Further north, Boston is struggling to retain its next generation of workers. 

In Massachusetts, a 2026 Young Residents Survey from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Foundation, released in April, revealed that 26 percent of residents aged 20 to 30 plan to leave the area within the next five years.

Of those planning to move, nearly half are looking to exit the state entirely, with a majority eyeing the Southeast and Southwest. High housing costs remain the primary driver for those planning to leave, followed closely by the irresistible urge not to fund endless progressive experiments.

The trend is part of a larger drain on the Commonwealth. 

An analysis by the Pioneer Institute shows Massachusetts has suffered a net loss of approximately 182,000 residents due to domestic out-migration over the last five years. At this rate the state bird will soon be the U-Haul.The West Coast is seeing similar patterns, particularly in Los Angeles County. The latest U.S. Census data released in March 2026 shows that between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, 53,421 residents left the county. The largest numeric decline of any county in the nation. Since 2020, Los Angeles County’s population has shrunk from roughly 10 million to 9.7 million, proving once again that even the weather cannot overcome terrible governance.

In San Francisco, the population has failed to recover from its pandemic-era low. Despite a localized boom in the artificial intelligence sector, newly released Census estimates show the city’s total population remains well below 2020 levels. AI may be the future, but apparently it still cannot convince people to live around  the homeless and human feces, drugs and violence.

While the coastlines struggle, the Southeast is booming like it just discovered low taxes and personal responsibility. The Census Bureau reported in March that many of the fastest-growing counties in the country are now concentrated in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

South Carolina has officially claimed the title of the fastest-growing state in the nation. Between July 2024 and July 2025, the Palmetto State’s population surged by 1.5 percent, fueled by a net influx of 66,622 domestic migrants who probably just wanted grocery stores without bulletproof glass.

In terms of "income migration," Florida remains the undisputed king. The Florida Chamber of Commerce reports that the Sunshine State leads the nation with a net income migration of nearly 36.1 billion dollars annually. Turns out people enjoy keeping more of their own money rather than giving it to, say, Somalia businesses.

A new study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation released on April 7, 2026, confirmed that taxpayers are fleeing high-tax environments for more fiscally friendly states. While Texas and Florida remain the top targets, states like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee are also seeing record gains. Notably, the NTUF "Migration in Minutes" metric found that Texas surpassed Florida in 2022 as the state gaining a new taxpayer most frequently. One every 4 minutes and 40 seconds. That is not a migration, it's more like a stampede of J.B. Pritzker look-alike contestants at a free pizza grand opening.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s March report highlighted that the nation’s most populous counties. Including Los Angeles, Cook County (Chicago), Harris County (Houston), and the five boroughs of New York City. Are feeling the sting of lower Net International Migration.

Historically, these hubs relied on international arrivals to offset domestic losses. However, the CBC reported a 70 percent drop in international migration to New York City in 2025 compared to the previous year.

"The nation’s largest counties . . .  are often international migration hubs," said Census Bureau demographer George M. Hayward. "With fewer gains from international migration, these types of counties saw their population growth diminish or even turn into loss."Translation: Even the replacement population is starting to notice the vibe is off.

Communism much?

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

Gov. Newsom tries his Trump impression on Joe Rogan after he called Gavin a "f----ing con man"

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom got his skivvies in a knot after Joe Rogan referred to him as a f---ing con man." Newsom's press office account slammed Rogan's podcast as "failing" and claimed the host is being "relegated to irrelevancy."
I asked Grok if Joe Rogan's webcast is losing subscribers. Here is the answer: 

No, Joe Rogan's webcast (The Joe Rogan Experience) is not experiencing significant subscriber losses overall. It remains one of the most dominant podcasts globally, though there have been some short-term fluctuations in monthly downloads/views tied to political events.

California Governor Gavin Newsom completely lost his waste product on Joe Rogan via his official press office X account. The trigger? A resurfaced clip where the podcast giant labeled Newsom an "f---ing con man."

The all-caps meltdown read: "JOE 'LITTLE GUY' ROGAN IS TOO CHICKEN TO HAVE ME ON HIS FAILING PODCAST BECAUSE HE KNOW I'D CRUSH HIM, SO HE TAKES CHEAP SHOTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY AS HE GETS RELEGATED TO IRRELEVANCY. ALL TALK, NO ACTION. I'M READY WHEN YOU ARE, 'LITTLE GUY.' OR KEEP HIDING!!!! — Governor GCN."

It was vintage Trump-style bravado from the California governor's team, aimed at a 2023 clip of Rogan chatting with Patrick Bet-David about the 2024 race.

In that old conversation, Rogan did not hold back: "Nobody wants President Newsom either. Nobody believes in that guy. That guy’s a f---ing con man. I mean, everything he did in California, from trying to mandate vaccines for kids when it was totally unnecessary to being caught out in public without a mask and lying about the fact that he was outdoors. All of it. It’s just, nobody believes in the guy. He’s just a politician, just a stone-cold, narrative-driven politician, you know, and nobody thinks he’s a real human."

Rogan has kept the heat on Newsom more recently too. After Newsom's press shop mocked an investigation into daycare fraud by posting what looked like a satirical AI-generated image of investigator Nick Shirley, Rogan called it out on his show.

"Did you see what the governor posted, what Newsom’s press office posted?" Rogan asked his guest. "They posted a photo of Nick Shirley, like a fake Nick Shirley, like a meme — like Nick Shirley peeking into windows."

Back in October, Newsom had already taken to his personal X account to whine that Rogan was too scared to book him. 

The specific clip Newsom's team was having multiple hissy-fits over featured Rogan tearing into the governor's record: "You can’t ruin a city and then go on to ruin a state and say, ‘Guys, that was just practice. Once I get in as president, I’m gonna fix it all.'"

Rogan piled on: "Like, everybody’s LEAVING. You have the highest unemployment. You have the highest homelessness. Money’s missing. You killed Hollywood. Like, Hollywood doesn’t exist anymore. It’s literally gone. You mandated vaccines for kids that didn’t need them. He did horrible s---."

California's one-party disaster under Newsom keeps delivering the receipts, and Rogan is more than happy to read them aloud. Newsom can scream "little guy" all he wants. The numbers, the exodus, and the body count of failed progressive experiments do not lie.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

USDA fraud crackdown to end loophole that has the ultra rich get food stamps

The USDA is finally getting serious about cracking down on food stamp fraud all over the country, going after a loophole that’s been letting wealthy people qualify for government benefits they have no business touching.

[H/T Fox News]

Secretary Brooke Rollins dropped a post on X this week noting that one single state has 14,000 individuals on SNAP benefits who are also tooling around in Ferraris, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis. You can’t make this stuff up.

She put fraudsters on notice that the USDA is working to shut down that loophole under the Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility policy, the one that lets people qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits even when they’ve got the cash to drop hundreds of thousands on luxury cars.

Rollins told Fox Business this week that the department is "getting very, very close to being able to fix that" loophole.

SNAP, the biggest federal anti-hunger program in the United States, has been a favorite punching bag for conservatives demanding reforms for years. Rollins went on "The Ingraham Angle" Thursday night to highlight just how insane some of the waste and abuse has gotten.

"We've found 500,000 people getting more than one benefit illegally. We found 244,000 dead people. This is just the red states," Rollins said about what she's discovered going through the data from the states that have agreed to provide it since her first day on the job.

"We have arrested 895 different people in the last year for illegally using the food stamp system and, of course, now we're talking about what is happening with that money."

USDA numbers show 4.2 million fewer food stamp recipients during President Trump’s first year in office as the administration keeps swinging the axe amid endless reports of misuse from coast to coast.

"Food stamp waste and fraud is out of control," Republican congressional candidate in Orange County and CAL DOGE Director Jenny Rae Le Roux told Fox News Digital. "California alone loses nearly $14 million every day from SNAP to EBT skimming, out-of-state and country beneficiaries and eligibility lapses at a time when technology exists to close every gap, quickly."In March, Fox News Digital reported on Minnesota millionaire Rob Undersander, who somehow qualified for food stamps anyway. He’s been ringing the alarm on this nonsense ever since and has testified about it in Minnesota and before Congress.

"Reintroducing basic guardrails like an asset test is a commonsense step to restore integrity, ensure benefits go to those who truly need them and protect the long-term viability of the program," America First Policy Institute Health & Harvest Campaign Director Matt Schmid said in March.

"This isn’t about taking help away. It’s about making sure SNAP works the way it was intended to."

On top of that, the USDA put out a press release Thursday detailing Rollins’ plan to reorganize the SNAP program, including shipping food nutrition resources and staff out of Washington, D.C., to places like Indianapolis, Dallas, Denver, and Kansas City. About time some of these bureaucrats got a taste of real America.

A USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital Friday the announcement "aligns with the Food and Nutrition Administration’s mission, to nourish those in need through financially sound programs that promote health and work, as well as champion the productivity of American agriculture."

"As the Food and Nutrition Administration begins its refocusing of operations, all 16 federal nutrition programs will continue without disruption. Pertaining to Indianapolis, it has a lower cost of living, one of the top airports in the country, and has excelled at innovative program delivery."In the end, the administration says these fixes will actually help the people who really need the assistance.

"Since its inception, SNAP has helped our most vulnerable citizens afford the essential and nutritious food they need," Rollins and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a Fox News op-ed in March. "At least, that is what the program is supposed to do.

"Over time, however, SNAP has been taken advantage of, allowing many to game the system and leaving millions of vulnerable Americans without healthy, nutrient-dense food options."

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

Spirit Airlines after bailout fais: UPDATE

UPDATE: President Trump has said that it will not bail out Spirit Airlines at this time and it's likely the airline will shut down, making airport videos less entertaining.

Spirit Airlines is circling the bowl after a $500 million bailout deal went belly-up, leaving the budget airline teetering on the edge of oblivion.

The carrier couldn’t wrangle support from the Trump administration or its key bondholders because, surprise, everyone involved started bickering over terms. Asked about the mess on Friday, President Donald Trump said, “We’re looking at it,” adding, “If we can do it, we’d do it,” even as reports indicate operations could be winding down as soon as this weekend.

This no-frills flying clusterfrack could go dark as early as Saturday unless some Hail Mary deal materializes at the last second. Government aid talks cratered when the bondholders dug in their heels, and now Spirit’s got barely days of cash left. U.S. officials are watching closely while everyone holds their breath.

For the moment, Spirit is putting on a brave face, insisting it’s “operating as usual” and keeping flights running with crews focused on getting people where they need to go safely. A spokesperson wouldn’t touch the negotiations with a ten-foot pole.

If this thing actually folds, thousands of passengers who thought they were scoring rock-bottom fares are about to get a harsh lesson in airline karma. Spirit runs dozens of routes, hopping between places like Dallas-Fort Worth, Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville, New Orleans, and Newark. Good luck if you’ve got a ticket booked.

This mess is unfolding while budget carriers everywhere are getting hammered by sky-high jet fuel prices fueled by global chaos. Those razor-thin margins that depend on selling seats for pocket change aren’t looking so clever anymore.

A trade group for low-cost outfits, including Spirit, just begged the Trump administration for $2.5 billion in short-term help, whining that the little guys are getting squeezed hardest even though they haul tens of millions of passengers a year. They claim it’s all about preserving competition and stopping more industry consolidation. Sure.

Spirit has already been through bankruptcy court twice since 2024, so this isn’t exactly their first rodeo. They’ve been scrambling for any lifeline, including government-backed cash. With talks stalled and the clock ticking, America’s most infamous flying discount bin is now one failed lifeline away from becoming a cautionary tale.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

Seattle's New Socialist Mayor Tells Fleeing Millionaires "Bye" As City Prepares For Vibrant Post-Wealth Utopia

In a bold masterstroke of economic genius, Seattle's freshly minted self-proclaimed socialist mayor Katie Wilson has solved the city's millionaire exodus problem by simply not caring if they leave.

While speaking at a forum at Seattle University earlier this month, the new socialist mayor said, "I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown. And the ones that leave, like, bye," she continued, waving her hand and laughing. 

The line drew laughs and applause from the adoring trained seals who presumably do not pay the city's bills, but online it landed about as well as a tax hike on successful people.

"Seattle's Socialist Mayor responds to exodus of wealth from Washington State by saying "BYE" ... then laughing. We're doomed," wrote Brandi Kruse.

Kruse's post has been seen over 4 million times on social media as of Friday morning, which is roughly four million more people than will be left in Seattle once the last productive resident packs up.

Popular conservative account "End Wokeness" also posted on X, writing, "Mayor Wilson seems to welcome the idea of a wealth exodus from Seattle. This is the FA part. FO coming soon.""Enjoy, Seattle," Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.

"What do socialists think happens when the most productive, highest revenue driving members of their tax base leave their jurisdictions?" Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted on X.

"Socialists are driven by hate for the rich, not concern for the poor," Manhattan Institute scholar Daniel Di Martino posted on X.

"This is the reaction of a spoiled child whose parents paid her bills up until the point that she became mayor… She has no grasp of reality or economics," comedian Tim Young posted on X. "Seattle is extra cooked."

Discovery Institute Senior Journalism Fellow Jonathan Choe posted on X, "Seattle, you voted for this."

"This clip will live in infamy," the Washington State Republican Party posted on X. "
@MayorofSeattle Katie Wilson is not only unfit to be mayor, she lacks grace and gratitude. Perhaps, she's the one who should leave #Seattle."

Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson will become the city's next mayor after defeating incumbent Bruce Harrell. (Katie Wilson for Seattle)

Wilson shocked many political observers when she was elected Seattle's mayor last year, and many chalked up her victory to her ability to tap into a similar voting bloc that socialist Zohran Mamdani used on his way to becoming New York City's next mayor. Experts call this demographic "people who think other people's money grows on trees and also hate trees because they're not diverse enough."

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported on city advocates who say they are struggling to find solutions as homelessness and open-air drug use spread across Seattle’s streets, amid growing concerns about the direction of Wilson's new administration.

"You can just see the foil is like blowing down the sidewalks like autumn leaves," Andrea Suarez, founder and executive director of We Heart Seattle, told Fox News Digital in an interview."Very common to see property damage of our parks and shared spaces. You can see Narcan is used to reverse an overdose, so you'll see cartridges. But at least we're remodeling the bathroom to be gender-neutral. I'm not [kidding] you, that's where our priorities are."

City officials remain confident that once every last millionaire has been waved goodbye with a cheery "like, bye," the remaining citizens will thrive in a glorious, revenue-free socialist paradise where the tents are gender-neutral and the discarded drug paraphernalia forms a beautiful mosaic of progress.

By the way, Starbucks has made a significant move to Nashville, TN. They may move their HQ there too, they've already built a new building there for a headquarters, but we'll see.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

Sergey Brin Corners Gavin Newsom At Treehouse Party, Announces He's Ditching California Before Billionaire Tax Vampires Strike

The tense exchange reportedly took place at a treehouse party hosted by crypto investor Chris Larsen in December.

"The Big Money Show" discusses California's $267M hospice fraud bust as Gov. Gavin Newsom defends the state’s record on fighting theft.

An exclusive holiday gathering just north of San Francisco turned into a stomach-churning fiscal nightmare for California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Back in December, Newsom and Google co-founder Sergey Brin attended the same "treehouse party" hosted by crypto investor Chris Larsen. It was there, according to a Bloomberg report, that Brin broke the news that he would be leaving the state in response to a proposed wealth tax.

According to the report, it was a tense, private confrontation so jarring that Newsom reportedly complained about a "lingering cold" he attributed to the interaction for months afterward.Brin allegedly explicitly cited the Billionaire Tax Act, a 5% one-time excise tax on individuals with a net worth exceeding $1 billion, hitting his nearly $289 billion net worth hard.

Just this week, the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) said it has collected more than 1.55 million signatures, according to a press release, nearly double the 875,000-signature requirement, to put the one-time tax on billionaire assets on the California ballot this November.

If the measure is approved by voters, anyone who was a California resident on Jan. 1, 2026, would owe the tax, according to the proposal.

Brin effectively shielded his wealth from the retroactive reach of the proposed tax by buying properties in Nevada and Florida. He has also committed at least $45 million to a group called "Building A Better California" to fight the initiative, with his total spending to kill the tax already reaching $58 million this year.

The Corcoran Group agent Julian Johnston exclusively speaks to Fox News Digital about the new wave of California billionaires migrating to South Florida due to a proposed wealth tax. "I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don't want California to end up in the same place," Brin told The New York Times this week regarding a story by the outlet that discussed his move.

Newsom has publicly opposed the billionaire tax, warning the measure would damage the economy and drive away investment. Since January, it’s estimated that more than $1 trillion in capital has left California.

"This is my fear," Newsom previously said in a Politico interview. "It’s just what I warned against. It’s happening."

"The evidence is in. The impacts are very real, not just substantive economic impacts in terms of the revenue, but start-ups, the indirect impacts of . . .  people questioning long-term commitments, medium-term commitments," he continued. "That’s not what we need right now, at a time of so much uncertainty. Quite the contrary."

Look, even the guy who helped invent the modern surveillance state is bailing on Gavin Newsom's People's Republic of California because the tax vampires have finally gone full Dracula. Sergey Brin did not mince words at that fancy treehouse soiree. He looked Newsom in the eye and basically said, "I'm out before you clowns try to loot me like it's a Bolshevik yard sale."

And poor Gavin spent months nursing a "lingering cold" from the encounter. Must have been rough realizing that even your billionaire buddies are done pretending California's socialist experiment is anything but a slow-motion train wreck.

Brin is not messing around. He has already parked assets in Nevada and Florida, dropped tens of millions to kill this idiocy, and reminded everyone that he actually escaped real socialism once before. Now he's watching Newsom's crew try to recreate it on the West Coast with extra failure and homeless encampments.

Meanwhile, the governor is out there sounding shocked that his warnings about driving away wealth and talent are coming true. Shocked, I tell you. The same guy who turned the state into a high-tax, high-crime, open-air toilet is now watching the productive class vote with their feet and their fortunes.

This is what happens when you treat success like a crime and then act surprised when the successful start packing. California is not "progressive." It is progressively broke, progressively empty of anyone who actually creates jobs, and progressively run by people who never met a tax they didn't love until it starts costing them donors.

Brin saw the writing on the wall and got out. Smart man. The rest of us are stuck watching Newsom try to spin this disaster as someone else's fault. Same script, different treehouse.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet

Islamic terror group kidnaps 416 women and children--deadline passes, executions imminent

The Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad faction of Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of 416 women and children from the Ngoshe community in Borno State. The victims were seized on March 4, 2026 after the insurgents overran a military base and fell upon the surrounding village. In late April 2026 the group escalated the horror by releasing a video in which they issued a 72-hour ultimatum, demanding a ransom of ₦5 billion, roughly three and a half million dollars, for the captives’ release.

The details chill the blood. 

Insurgents stormed Ngoshe in the small hours, torching military vehicles, murdering several people, and dragging hundreds of residents away towards the Mandara Mountains. On April 19th they published their ultimatum on video, giving the Nigerian government three days to pay or face the consequences: the captives would be moved to places “where they may never be seen again” or simply executed. 

Senior officials, among them Senator Ali Ndume, have rightly rejected the payment of ransom and called instead for a determined military rescue and a strengthening of security operations. A small mercy arrived on April 23rd when the Borno South Youth Alliance reported that twelve victims, ten female and two male, had escaped during a military bombardment of the terrorists’ camp. That left 404 souls still in captivity.

As of April 30th the deadline has long passed. The terrorists have reportedly abandoned any pretence of negotiation. The fate of those 404 human beings hangs in the most desperate uncertainty.

And where, one is compelled to ask, is the world? Where is the United Nations, so swift to condemn when it suits the narrative? Where are the campus activists and their chants of moral certainty? Where is the Western media, that self-appointed guardian of the vulnerable, otherwise so eager to amplify certain causes? 

The silence is as eloquent as the violence itself. It is, in its way, another crime against humanity, no less damning than the unspeakable acts visited upon these non-Muslim victims.

Only Israel seems capable of concentrating the mind. Everything else fades into indifference, as though a peculiar and compulsive form of Jew-hatred has narrowed the moral vision of our age to a single, obsessive point. The rest of the world’s suffering, especially when perpetrated in the name of radical Islam, barely registers. 

That selective blindness does not merely dishonor the dead and the abducted; it reveals the moral bankruptcy of those who claim to speak for conscience.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. If you really want to help support my work here, please visit the sponsors on this page, or you can Buy Me A Coffee for any amount--it really helps. You can even subscribe to Brain Flushings--it's free.

Tweet