Zenzizenzizenzic

Caption Graphic: The IRS is on target.

Captioned Title: The eighth power of a number

Music to watch a Solar Eclipse by:

Days late/dollars short

Bullet Points:

** Eclipse, etc.

** Anyone other than one of America’s elite would be in prison if they molested their daughter over and over for years. Joe gets a pass and takes a lap. It’s all good.

** The Biden Regime called for a change in the government in Israel, not the government in Iran. That tells you all you need to know about US foreign policy.

** Those Pesky States – One of the salutary features of federalism is that different states can govern themselves differently, making them, in the words of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, “laboratories” of democracy, free to “try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” Examples of this abound. For example, Nebraska alone has a unicameral legislature. Some states have term limits; others do not. Some states do not levy a state income tax, while most do, and so forth.

State-level innovation also affects the mechanics of lawmaking. Texas, for instance, exalts democracy by making most government officials—including judges—subject to popular election. Tennessee’s approach is in the opposite direction, with the state attorney general uniquely being appointed (for an eight-year term) by the state supreme court, the members of which are appointed by the governor.

Some states, such as California, have a populist tradition that embraces lawmaking by initiative and referendum. In the Golden State, citizens can propose, enact, and repeal laws—and even constitutional amendments—as ballot measures.

This kind of “direct democracy” makes it easier for voters to change the law, which promotes responsiveness to the people, but this fluidity also contributes to the passage of laws that are impermanent—as easily erased as the image on an Etch-A-Sketch. Proposition 209 (also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative [CCRI]), the landmark anti-discrimination measure passed by the voters in 1996, is a case in point. Prop. 209, enacted in the Bakke era when racial preferences by state universities were permitted but not required, amended California’s state constitution to prohibit the state from “discriminat[ing] against, or grant[ing] preferential treatment to, any individual or group based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” (more)

** Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) was a notorious traveler and swordsman of the Victorian era. While at Trinity, the half-Irish Burton challenged another student to a duel for mocking his mustache. Burton learned 29 languages and became proficient in fencing. During an expedition to Africa, he was impaled with a native spear, the point entering one cheek and exiting the other and leaving a scar that can be seen in this photo. He was forced to make his escape with the weapon still stuck through his face.

Along with participating in clandestine operations, Burton was renowned for his fighting skills. He earned the nickname “Ruffian Dick” because he had “fought in single combat more enemies than perhaps any other man of his time.” Burton authored several important texts on the sword (including Sword & Bayonet Exercises, a classic book on the history of the Sword, and his “Sentiment of the Sword” about fencing). He translated important Eastern cultural and mythological texts. A scholar, spy, and world explorer, he was interested in the occult, native sexual practices, drugs, runes, and snake charming. He was initiated into an esoteric Sufi brotherhood and a Hindu sect, all of which made him a subject of controversy and fascination in his time. A linguist, he reportedly learned to identify up to 60 monkey “words,” which he recorded in a “monkey vocabulary.” In 1886, Queen Victoria made him Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George.

** This very rare form of rainbow—(right) sometimes called a fire rainbow—is caused by the angle of sunlight hitting cirrus ice crystals in the atmosphere. The effect is fleeting, usually only lasting a few seconds before disappearing or turning normal clouds white. Yes, of course, the clouds are racist. The fire rainbow is a play of light weather phenomenon, a form of Circumhorizontal arc.

** Pro-Life: President Donald Trump announced his stance on abortion ahead of the November election, sticking, as expected, with the Supreme Court decision that the states should decide the matter.

** Conservative lawmakers are calling for an end to warrantless surveillance of Americans ahead of a House floor vote on Wednesday to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The bill, titled the “Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act,” would extend section 702 of FISA, which, according to the FBI, “authorizes the targeted collection of foreign intelligence information from non-U.S. persons located abroad.”

Conservative Republicans and some Democrats, such as Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have teamed up to push for a warrant requirement as a condition for reauthorizing FISA. However, the legislation up for a vote on Wednesday does not include a warrant requirement in its current form.

“No matter how hard the deep state cries, Congress must NOT reauthorize FISA 702 without requiring a warrant to search U.S. citizens,” wrote Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on X.

Edward Snowden, branded a traitor by some, tried to expose the USGOV’s widespread spying on US Citizens. The Constitution provides judicial review of the process of obtaining warrants to search and seize for a reason. The documented widespread abuse of FISA demonstrates that the FBI can’t be trusted.

** (American Thinker – Olivia Murray) Yesterday afternoon, Joe Biden visited Wisconsin and announced a new student loan bailout program, “a proposal that would cancel at least some debt” for more than 30 million borrowers.

Then, last night, Alexandria Ocasion-Cortez joined Stephen Colbert on the Late Show to discuss the move, applauding Biden’s gift of “hope” for college graduates who will now have the opportunity to… “travel abroad” on trips they would have been otherwise unable to afford if they were held to the original stipulations of the loan.

By passing the debt onto people who didn’t incur it—er, I mean, by implementing loan “forgiveness,” Biden is buying votes—er, I mean, giving kids a chance to gallivant across Europe or find themselves in Bali, on Instagram-worthy trips. What benevolence!

Meme of the Day

Identify the Aircraft

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Parting Shot

h/t Frank