The Terrifying Truth About the B-17’s Ball Turret Gunners . . . "He could not stand, kneel or turn around. His parachute stayed outside, in the aircraft. If the hydraulics failed and the guns froze pointing down, the door was blocked by the ground. And if the aircraft came home without its landing gear, he was the one problem nobody on board could solve.
A poem written in 1945 fixed that job in the public mind as the deadliest in the war. The Army Air Forces' own casualty survey said something completely different — and this video goes through their numbers.
Also here: the man who fell twenty-two thousand feet without a parachute and lived to be eighty-four; why the turret had a maximum height for the man inside it; why the Liberator's version was worse; and why, by the end of the war, the turrets were coming off the aircraft altogether.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Lindsay Clancy's Lawyer Just Crossed a Line With the Holdout Juror
. . . "Reddington hasn't asked to comb through the phone records of the 11 jurors who sided with his client. He wants the one holdout's texts, calls, and data, and nobody else's. If Sullivan grants that request, the message to future jurors is unmistakable. Vote the wrong way, and your private life becomes evidence."
"When a Massachusetts jury deadlocked in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial, her defense team went hunting for someone to blame, and it zeroed in on the one juror who refused to find her not guilty.
"Clancy’s lawyer argued that severe postpartum psychosis made her not guilty by reason of insanity for brutally murdering her three young children. Prosecutors told a different story. They pointed out how Clancy planned the killings in advance and even schemed to get her husband out of the house long enough to carry out the murders. One juror, Michael Desronvil, a hero in my book, refused to call that insanity. His vote deadlocked the jury, and Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial earlier this month.
"Now Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, wants Desronvil investigated. His motion asks Sullivan to look into whether Desronvil gave inaccurate answers during jury selection and claims he used his cellphone during deliberations. Reddington also wants the judge to order Desronvil's phone carrier to hand over call and text records for every day of deliberations. He also wants Desronvil forced to surrender his phone to a "neutral examiner" who would dig through its data.
"Think about the implications of this. A private citizen answers a jury summons, sits through a gut-wrenching trial about three dead children, votes his conscience, and his reward is not only being forced into hiding, but also having the defense lawyer demand access to his phone.
"Reddington's case leans heavily on fellow juror Nick Dargie, who told ABC News in an interview that Desronvil ignored the other panelists and scrolled on his phone during deliberations. However, according to Desronvil, he was hardly the only one looking at a screen." . . . More.
Student Who Put El-Sayed on the Spot at Town Hall on IRGC Hits Him Even More in Interview
"Dashti said he thought it was because a lot of El-Sayed's supporters were supportive of these institutions and the Iranian regime, and "he doesn't want to alienate them."
"Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was put on the spot by a young student during a town hall at the University of Michigan.
"The student, Iman Dashti, has family in Iran, and he told El-Sayed about some of the horrors they had been through. Dashti asked a couple of simple questions. First, he asked about El-Sayed's statement on holding back on any criticism of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because it might make people in Dearborn sad. Then, secondly, Dashti asked if El-Sayed would condemn the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
"El-Sayed didn't do either. Now, Dashti has done an interview with Fox's The Will Cain Show, explaining what he thought of El-Sayed's answer. [He begins speaking at about the one-minute mark.] . . .
. . . "But then Dashti realized El-Sayed hadn't actually answered the questions; that it was a "terrible answer." Dashti pointed out to host Will Cain how El-Sayed never condemned the IRGC, didn't answer about Khamenei, and never said he stood with the Persian people, "the one thing I asked him to say."
"'It's unbelievable. You know, you can be charismatic. You can say the right things. You can weave and duck. But he didn't answer the question. And I think it's a huge mask-off moment for Abdul," Iman said.
"As Cain noted, El-Sayed said he stood up for democracy-seeking people around the world, and yet he wouldn't address the specific issue Dashti asked him to: condemning the IRGC.
"Dashti nuked him, "I could not have given him an easier layup. I mean, it's so simple. Just say it. Just say you're against the world's largest sponsor of terror. Just say you're against the government that has killed hundreds of thousands of Persians. And Americans. But he didn't.'" . . .
Report: Male Athletes Have Taken More Than 2,293 Gold Medals From Women
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee: “How many more women and girls will be subjected to an uneven playing field?”
. . . "CWALAC’s research discovered the following:
- Trans-identifying males have stolen over 2,293 gold medals from women and girls in the United States, pushing each rightful champion down to second place.
- Trans-identifying male athletes have stolen over $501,498 in prize money from women in professional sports.
- In California alone, over 611 women and girls have taken silver below a male allowed to compete in the women’s category.
- Trans-identifying males have competed in more than 14,301 female sport events, amateur and professional.
“It is shockingly unfair for biological women to have to compete against trans-identifying men,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWALAC. “Our research finding that trans-identifying males have stolen over 2,293 gold medals from women in the United States is an outrage. Biological men have distinct advantages over biological women. This reality not only puts women in harm’s way, but it eliminates opportunities for biological women to earn a living and win competitions. Congress must act to protect biological women.”
"CWALAC found increases in all of those categories since its July 2025 report.
“How many more women and girls will be subjected to an uneven playing field?” demanded Nance. “It’s time to put an end to this inherent unfairness and protect women’s sports.”
"CWALAC also used data compiled from HeCheated, a program that tracks everything male athletes have stolen from female athletes." . . .More.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says 'we don't need an election on November 3rd'
How can a country exist as a nation and world leader when its people repeatedly select such morons as leaders? TD
The California governor's race, she asserts, 'is over.'
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| Babylon Bee |
"Los Angeles Mayor Karen (‘Largemouth’) Bass recently joined repulsive ex-ESPN personalities Jemele Hill and Cari Champion on something called the ‘Flagrant and Funny’ podcast to talk about her reelection campaign, the runoff, and the Palisades and Altadena fires.
"She breezily, confidently, and snarkily dismissed the state’s governor race like the Biden administration dismissed thoughts of border control. (And like she dismisses concerns about her role in the aforementioned fires.)
"This most karen of Karens stated of Californians, “All They needed to see was the ‘R’ behind his name. That’s why the governors’ race right now is over. Our governor’s name is Xavier Becerra. You don’t need an election on November 3rd. A Republican cannot win in this state!”
"From the same people who lecture us on "our democracy."
"How about focusing on your own race and the SQUALOR in your city, Karen!
"Sieg Heil!
"So, Californians are so intolerant, close-minded, unwelcoming, and exclusionary that they won’t even consider voting for anyone with an ‘R’ behind their name?
"Amazing. She claimed that the governor’s race “is over” and that Xavier Becerra has effectively already won? And that the upcoming election isn’t needed, because “a Republican cannot win” in California?
"The fix is in?" . . . More.
James Talarico’s Strange Religion
“'Whether or not Jesus existed doesn’t really matter to me,” said one of the pastors at his church."
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| Shutterstock |
"Over the past day, the Daily Wire and the Blaze published twin interviews showing two pastors at Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s home church, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, disavowing Jesus Christ and Christianity in shockingly blunt terms.
"The first, from the Daily Wire, features the “nonbinary and lesbian” Rev. Babs Miller.
"“Whether or not Jesus existed doesn’t really matter to me,” she said. “The fact remains that that message that was delivered by someone named Jesus, supposedly, and it could have all been made up for all I know.”
"While the Rev. Babs maintained epistemic uncertainty as to Christ’s existence — “We have no way of knowing if Jesus really existed any more than we do of knowing that the original Buddha existed” — she was confident enough in His lack of love for us so as to conclude that He “didn’t die to save our sins.”
"Quite clearly, much of the reason the Rev. Miller proclaims herself to be a pastor is that she is titillated by doing so while at the same time mocking God and His Church.
"If the “nonbinary” pastor’s statements are unbelievably outrageous, the head pastor’s comments — obtained by the Blaze — are even more so.
"The video interview starts off with the Rev. Jim Rigby (whom James Talarico has referred to as one of “the biggest influences on [him] as a Christian, as a human being”) being asked if he believes in the virgin birth.
"His answer was clear: “I don’t.” . . .
"“I don’t believe in a progressive or conservative Christianity; I believe in a biblical Christianity,” Talarico also told the Times. “My faith is rooted in Scripture and the teachings of Jesus Christ.”
"But a man who has chosen to make St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church his home church has in fact entered into a world that is hardly Christian. It is a place that professes a different religion, one where the existence of Christ is unknowable and all human spiritualities are equivalent made-up mythologies that attempt to understand man’s role in the cosmos. Each person is understood to be, as Rigby put it, “a child of the stars” — and not, in fact, a child of God.
"James Talarico wants to make his “Christianity” the center of his Senate campaign. But this is very much not Christianity at all.
"When you claim Christ’s Incarnation proves we should be able to murder unborn children, you can no longer claim to belong to His Church." . . .
Ellie Gardey Holmes is Reporter and Associate Editor at The American Spectator. . . . She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she studied political science, philosophy, and journalism. Ellie has previously written for the Daily Caller, College Fix, and Irish Rover.
How about a new White House press pool?
How about a new White House press pool? - American Thinker . . . "Imagine a more respectful press pool, without the jackals that normally use these meetings to undercut the president, and by extension, America.
"Again, the American media have worked hand and glove with the Democrats for more than a generation. They are not a free and fair press, but the tip-of-the-spear of Democrat party narrative-crafting apparatus." . . .
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| Uncle Paul's Parodies |
UPDATE 9/23: Judge Declines to Immediately Block White House Ban of 3 News Outlets | The Epoch Times
That included CNN’s reporting “top-secret” details related to the construction of a new White House bunker and Politico’s reporting that officials were considering lifting sanctions on Russia, even though the Trump administration has actually intensified sanctions on Russia, according to the letters.
"Journalists for CNN, MS NOW and Politico were allowed back onto White House grounds Thursday, hours after a judge ruled in the outlets’ favor following President Trump’s decision to ban the media organizations from the building last week. The networks reported on air that their reporters and photographers were initially denied access early Thursday but were allowed into the building after attorneys for the companies petitioned a judge urging him to compel the White House to respond to their requests for re-entry."
Should MSNOW Be Trusted for Straight News or Opinionat... "MSNOW is broadly categorized by professional media-watchers as a left-leaning outlet whose mix of news and opinion makes it stronger as a source of opinionated coverage than as an uncompromisingly neutral daily news feed; watchdogs cite recurring editorial slant and mixed factual reliability while the channel remains a significant player in cable ratings [1][2][3][4]. Viewers seeking straightforward, neutral headlines should treat MSNOW like a partisan outlet and cross-check critical claims; those seeking analysis and progressive framing will find the channel delivers what it promises [5][6].". . .
For consumers deciding whether to use MSNOW as a primary source, the pragmatic approach is to combine it with outlets of varied ideological slants and fact-checking tools to triangulate truth rather than assuming MSNOW provides fully straight, unopinionated news [2][4].
2025: MSNBC gets mercilessly mocked over new MS NOW name: 'Most Surely No One Watching' . . . "Left-leaning cable channel MSNBC – home to Rachel Maddow and other Trump-bashing anchors – was derided on Monday for the worst rebrand since New Coke after announcing a name change to MS NOW.
"The head-scratching acronym for My Source News Opinion World was mercilessly mocked. Social media users quipped the ratings-challenged network’s new name stands for “Majorly Skewed News Overly Woke” or “Most Surely No One Watching.” . . .
Thursday, September 24, 2026
Individualism Versus Collectivism is on the Ballot in November
Defeating democratic socialists is imperative.
- "In a modern capitalist economy, hundreds of thousands of enterprises produce millions of distinct products—far too complex for any administrative body to allocate rationally . . .Without market prices, planners have no way to know what is genuinely scarce and what is abundant, so they cannot plan well even granting them the best of intentions."
"Six years ago, the rise of the “Bernie bros” supporting avowed socialist candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised the question of whether decades of soft indoctrination about the “horrors” of capitalism by the Democrat-media complex and the oft-promised but never delivered benefits of socialism had finally produced enough voters willing to elect their way out of free enterprise.
"Fortunately, that didn’t happen. However, in 2026 the evidence supporting that question is harder to wave away. A self-described democratic socialist now runs City Hall in the nation’s largest city, and a slate of Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidates is on ballots nationwide for Congress, statehouses, and mayor’s offices. The question is no longer academic. It is on the ballot on November 3.
"Zohran Mamdani’s November 2025 victory in the New York City mayoral race was the biggest win for the DSA since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 upset,
built on a platform of rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, free buses, and steep new taxes on the wealthy. DSA leaders have called it proof that “democratic socialist ideas are very popular.”
built on a platform of rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, free buses, and steep new taxes on the wealthy. DSA leaders have called it proof that “democratic socialist ideas are very popular.”
"Heading into the midterms, at least eleven DSA-aligned candidates are running for offices from Colorado to Rhode Island, Ocasio-Cortez just won her own House primary with 87 percent of the vote, and Rashida Tlaib is on the ballot again in Michigan. Even sympathetic Democrat strategists are nervous about the label. One Third Way official has even conceded that socialism hands Republicans “a pretty potent set of weapons” in competitive races. A CBS News poll found only 22 percent of Democrats actually support socialist economic positions, which tells you the argument inside the Party is far from settled.
"That makes this exactly the moment to make the case against socialism from the outside, too. Most of the pushback on socialism is economic or historical, and both cases are strong. However, there is a different argument, rooted in older and more fundamental conflict between individualism and collectivism, that should be carefully considered by all Americans before going to the polls this year.
"The purpose of this article is to educate, inform, and proselytize against socialism in all its forms." . . . More.
Invisible American Lasers Now Destroying Iranian Weapons and Infrastructure
"The Pentagon and the military contractors have been experimenting with laser weapons for some time now. But we are now seeing them used in the field against real targets, and the initial indications are that they are working."
Video: Golden Dome US Space Force | AiTelly
"Technology is a great force multiplier. We learned that, and our Iraqi opponents learned that, in 1991, in Operation Desert Storm, which was one of the first well-publicized mass uses of smart-weapons. We are still seeing that proved true today, with the use of high-tech weapons against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and in Iran itself.
Now, in the latest example of Iran's lessons in "you had no idea who you were messing with," American forces are using powerful infrared lasers to target Iranian weapons and equipment.
The US military has been deploying lasers in the Strait of Hormuz to knock out regime hardware, taking out “drones and incoming cruise missiles at a much lower cost than using more expensive kinetic weapons like missiles,” the Department of War recently confirmed.
The US project to harness laser power has been 50 years in the making and outstrips the capabilities of any other military on Earth.
“We can very specifically track and target drones and put the spot exactly where we want it, [in order] to disable its sensors or kill [i.e. explode] the drone itself,” Mark Neice, president of Directed Energy Consultants, which works with the military, told The Post.
The best part is the control system.
Somewhat surprisingly, the laser weapons are operated by soldiers using reconfigured Xbox game console controllers.
“The video games industry figured out what the best controller was and now the US military is saying, ‘Well, why reinvent the wheel with a specialized control system where you can just use an Xbox controller or something really similar to do the job?'” . . . More.
Ward Clark hails from Alaska’s Susitna Valley, where he maintains his rural household in one of America’s last free places.
UPDATED: ‘Dancing on Her Grave’: Kennedy Slams Sunny Hostin’s Cannibal Killer Boast
"And sitting on a jury should be sacred," [Kennedy] continued. "But for her, she didn't seem to care at all, and it's almost as like she's recounting the story with absolute glee."
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| Wikisimpsons |
"When Sunny Hostin took a victory lap on The View for helping a notorious killer avoid a murder conviction, Kennedy made sure somebody remembered the woman he killed.
"Daniel Rakowitz, the man New York tabloids dubbed "The Butcher of Tompkins Square Park," killed Monika Beerle and cut up her body in a bathtub. He then cooked her remains into a soup, ate some of it, and passed out portions to homeless people in the park.
"Back in the early 1990s, The New York Times reported that a single holdout juror "was principally responsible… for preventing them from returning a guilty verdict." Hostin cheerfully claimed the credit. "That was me," she declared. "And it was because I saw clearly that he was psychotic."
"Then she walked her stunned co-hosts through the killing as if she were pitching a true-crime podcast. "He did not mean to kill her, and once he killed her, he panicked," Hostin said. "He chopped up her body parts, yes, boiled her body parts, tried to commit the perfect crime…"
"A man who sets out to commit the perfect crime understands that he committed one. Hostin's own version of events pokes a massive hole in the insanity defense she fought so hard to deliver.
"Hostin’s co-hosts were understandably shocked by the admission, but it was Kennedy on The Five who really went after her." . . .
. . . "That's the point Hostin keeps missing. Monika Beerle was a human being with a real future, and the man who butchered her ended up in a psychiatric hospital instead of a prison cell. She spent nine days in a jury room making sure of that, and more than three decades later, she still wants applause for it. I’m not sure many people see it the way she does. But then again, after the reactions to Lindsay Clancy murdering her three children, who knows?"
But wait! There's more! Update: Ruh-Roh: MASSIVE Receipt Shows Sunny Hostin LIED About Being a Holdout Juror... Shocking, We Know "Earlier this week, Sunny Hostin spent Tuesday on The View treating a 35-year-old cannibal trial like a personal origin story, casting herself as the lone holdout who dragged 11 angry jurors to a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity verdict for Daniel Rakowitz, the so-called Butcher of Tompkins Square Park.
This sounds like a horrible movie plot from the get-go, yeah? Anywho ...
That version lasted about as long as it took someone to pull the 1991 clips.
The Daily News from the day after the verdict names Asunción Cummings, before the TV glow-up — as the juror annoyed with the holdout, arguing the defendant knew what he was doing. Other contemporaneous accounts pointed to an unemployed man who liked the $15 a day and the free meals.
It would appear Asunción Cummings (Hostin) was ANNOYED with the holdout juror ..."
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to New Moms: ‘Hi, I’m Here to Help’
"If we’re going to insist that ‘it takes a village,’ let’s agree that the government isn’t that village."
"Any time the government shows up to our door and offers to help, we should be suspicious. Especially when it comes masquerading as our community."
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| Uncle Paul's Parodies |
"It takes a village,” I was assured even before my daughter was born.
A village to provide for a child. A village to help with the child. A village to educate the child. A village to instill morals into the child. For a phrase popularized by Hillary Clinton, nominally hailing from some remote place in the massive continent of Africa (no one is quite sure where), “it takes a village” certainly gets a lot of traction. At this point, saying the words feels akin to invoking some great and intractable rule of the universe.
"It wasn’t just the mom-themed social media posts my algorithm magically figured I needed to see — it was my mom, my sisters, the lovely women who came to my baby shower, and even the grandmas in the grocery-store checkout line.
"Presumably, most of us say “village” and mean something along the lines of “a community — friends or family — I’ve chosen and would trust with my life.” Statistically speaking, that kind of community is more dream than reality for most young families today. So, because nature abhors a vacuum, something must step into that community’s place.
"Enter Gov. Maura Healey of Massachusetts.
"Last week, the governor’s office published a proposal to allocate an additional $2 million to an existing program that sends nurses to mothers’ homes during their postpartum period with the aim of making that program universally available.
"The program wouldn’t be mandatory, by any means. Anyone who opted in would have a nurse stop by their home to answer questions about basic childcare, screen for postpartum depression and anxiety, and evaluate the home for risk factors like substance and physical abuse. The proposal also suggests allocating an additional $250,000 toward a program dedicated to addressing maternal mental health.
"All of this, of course, comes in the wake of the Lindsay Clancy trial.
"Whether Lindsay Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children or not, the whole incident has led to a veritable storm of internet folk pontificating on the subject of postpartum mental health in the public sphere. Suddenly, we’ve decided postpartum anxiety, depression, and psychosis are national problems amounting to an epidemic caused by our society’s systemic failure to support mothers (a devastating side-effect of the patriarchy, the pink-clad hordes will tell you). (RELATED: Lindsay Clancy, Motherhood, and a Culture That Has Forgotten Sacrifice)
"Surely, the only remedy is yet another government program; specifically, a program that has the government inviting itself into your living room." . . .More.
Aubrey Harris is a graduate of Hillsdale College (2023), the former Intercollegiate Studies Institute fellow at The American Spectator and current columnist. She writes Spectator P.M. Newsletter for American Spectator subscribers where she rambles on current events, historical topics, and life in general. When she isn’t writing, Aubrey enjoys long runs, solving rock climbs, and rattling windows with the 32-foot pipes on the organ
Gavin Newsom Pretends He Governs California, As He Cosplays at the UN Over Climate Change
"I feel stupider having had to listen to this gasbag of a speech. However, it will be useful as opposition research. The benefit: It is loaded full with fodder for anyone running against Newsom in 2028, with eight years of provably horrible governance and all the receipts to back it up." . . .
"California Governor Gavin Newsom is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly to make fake agreements with world leaders and pontificate about his favorite grift: climate change.
"Newsom claims he won't run for president in 2028 if former VP and failed 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris chooses to. Yet another hedge by the king of hedges, because while he says one thing out of his mouth, his actions telegraph his true plans. So, what have been Newsom's actions this week? Cosplaying at being presidential while insulting the sitting one, photo ops with fellow communists and world leaders, and signing memorandums of understanding with those who are still all-in on the Green New Scam.
"Thus, climate change and a renewable future comprised much of Newsom's five-minute snooze address before the assembly. Newsom's moments were already filled with maligning President Donald Trump and pontificating about how much smarter California is. His speech continued in that vein of slander and criticism." . . .
. . . "But why let facts get in the way of a good yarn? The most personally offensive part of this yarn: The man who ended the livelihoods of thousands of independent professionals through Assembly Bill 5 claims that California's "entrepreneurial spirit" and "regulatory system" created Elon Musk and Tesla. How much was he smoking when he came up with that one? Particularly since Tesla and Elon Musk are no longer in California, in part thanks to California's regulatory system!"
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