Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Dallas Airport Cancels Plans to Install Islamic Foot Washing Stations After Governor Abbott Intervenes

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Friday evening canceled plans to install Islamic “Wudu” foot-washing stations.

As TGP reported this week, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project “consists of adding Ablution stations to existing concourse level restrooms in Terminal D, one Men’s ablution station in existing men’s restroom and one Women’s ablution station in the existing women’s restroom,” and is privately funded.

The construction was set to begin in about a week and would have cost $300,000.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) earlier Friday evening announced he was working to block Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) from installing Islamic wudu washing stations.

Governor Abbott ordered a review of all state grants to DFW and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for possible revocation.

“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” said Governor Abbott in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

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How The First World War Destroyed The Gold Standard

As Trump’s “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth demands a fifty-percent increase to the war budget—topping an eye watering $1.5 trillion—it may be instructive to remember that war spending has always and everywhere been the primary enemy of sound money. Some advocates of the warfare state like to lay the blame on social spending, but it has historically been wars that end up ruining currencies and blowing the top off the public fisc. While social spending can indeed be crippling, and certainly empowers the ruling class, it is the fiscal demands of war that cause enormous surges in public spending to levels that would have never been politically unjustifiable for mere pension programs. Rather, it is during wars that government budgets will triple or quadruple, or, —in the case of Britain during the Great War—increase by a factor of twelve. Moreover, it’s important to note that in cases like these, tax revenues rarely keep up. During the war in Britain, for example:

Part of the military spending was paid for with cuts to other spending; civil spending fell from 10% of GDP to 5%. Still, even together with tax increases, this could not match the growth in war-related spending. While tax revenues quadrupled during the war years, expenses increased by a factor of twelve. So, only 25% of spending was met by taxes in the five fiscal years starting April 1, 1914. 

More “moderate” increases were also enormous. In France total government spending, fueled by war spending, increased from 10.5 billion francs in 1914 to 46.9 billion francs in 1918. The German state’s spending rose 17 fold during the war, rising from 3 billion marks in 1914 to 52 billion marks in 1918. 

In France, as in Britain, the United States, Germany, and the other belligerents of the war, massive war debts made up for enormous gaps between tax revenue and total government spending. The European governments generally chose to monetize much of this debt, rather than raise taxes enough to cover war costs. France, the UK, and Germany, “relied much more heavily on debt and inflation than on taxation to fund government spending.” Consequently, monetary inflation was significant: 

German debt … became monetized and the volume of new currency exploded. German currency in circulation rose 599 percent over the course of the war … Great Britain and France saw an increase of money in circulation of 91 and 386 percent respectively.

These enormous surges in deficits and spending over such a short period are rarely, if ever, seen in connection to social spending. Rather, runaway government spending, to the point of increasing total spending by five or ten fold, is justified on the back of a complex of nationalism, fear, and propaganda claiming that “winning” the war—what constitutes victory is defined by the elites, of course— is worth any expense.

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Two Nashville Teachers Say Bureaucrats Pressured Them to FABRICATE Grades for Failing Students — One Suspended After She Refused to Cook the Books

Two former Metro Nashville Public Schools teachers say administrators directed them to change failing grades so the district’s performance would look better on paper.

Samira Hardcastle, an eight-year art teacher at John F. Kennedy Middle School who was named the school’s 2025–2026 Teacher of the Year and recognized as a district Blue Ribbon Teacher of the Year, resigned in May.

Hardcastle said a student failed to complete an art project and received a failing grade. After the student’s parent challenged the grade, three administrators met with the parent and concluded that Hardcastle had not supplied an adequate rubric. Hardcastle refused to change the grade herself. According to her account, administrators then changed it.

Hardcastle described the episode in her resignation letter as grade fabrication and told WSMV that she believes such changes make district performance appear better than it really is.

At Tuesday’s Metro Nashville Board of Education meeting, Hardcastle also alleged that teachers were being discouraged from formally reporting some student misconduct. She warned that the numbers were being skewed to protect the district instead of children, according to FOX 17’s report on her appearance.

Samira Hardcastle: I was Teacher of the Year at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Antioch this past year and Blue Ribbon Teacher of the Year for the district. What you have in front of you right now is my resignation letter. I resigned in May. You can read those three pages at your leisure, but I’ve heard a lot of positive data in this meeting, and I just wanted to give you some facts from my firsthand experience.

So, first, district leaders asked me to fabricate grades for a parent who sat in the office for hours until her daughter’s failing grades were changed.

It creates false entitlement. What happens when these kids lie, cheat, and cry their way through school and end up as future doctors, police, or politicians? When will you protect the future of our society?

Second, that same parent has harassed over 30 teachers. Teachers have filed police reports, and entire schools have had restraining orders against her, yet she’s still allowed on school property, showing up to field trips her child didn’t earn and filming other students.

When will you stop prioritizing parents’ feelings over the safety of our teachers and our students?

I heard you also mentioned that we’re closing gaps in teacher vacancies. I want the public to know that many of those are filled with uncertified teachers.

My third point: HR withheld money from my employee paycheck, as well as many others. They took $500 from me specifically, and it put me behind on my mortgage. And then they sent out an email saying that they had to do it to pay other employees. When will you pay teachers what they are owed?

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AOC’s student debt unpaid as she embarks on costly egg-freezing journey

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has made at least $174,000 annually for nearly eight years as a member of Congress, but like many of her “Squad” colleagues, she has yet to put a substantial dent in her student loan debt, according to House financial disclosures.

The Bronx and Queens Democrat has owed between $15,001 and $50,000 in federal student loan debt since her election to the House in 2018. That’s the same amount she owes now, according to her August disclosure, where lawmakers report ranges for debt and income.

The “Tax the Rich!” pol reported less than $81,000 in total assets.

Recently, Ocasio-Cortez has suggested that she’d been saving up for some time instead to freeze her eggs, a process that can cost between $10,000 and $20,000 per cycle.

“I got sworn into the House of Representatives when I was 29 years old,” she said in an Instagram video. “There’s this flip side where you have to then grow up in the public eye in a time that most people usually get to grow more privately.”

Ocasio-Cortez amassed the loans while attending Boston University as an international relations and economics major between August 2007 and May 2011 — and went on to tend bar in Manhattan before her successful run for Congress.

The “Squad” Democrat has consistently backed student debt cancellation. During former President Joe Biden’s term, she even pushed the 46th commander-in-chief to cancel as much as $50,000 in debt per student borrower. But she’s not the only US lawmaker who’s still holding student loans.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has held up to $50,000 over the past eight years in student debt — despite her net worth ballooning for a time to as much as $30 million due to her husband’s winery and venture capital businesses.

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Trump to declare Strait of Hormuz as U.S. territory

President Donald Trump on Friday stated that he would declare the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. territory after the end of the Iran war.

Trump made the remarks during a speech at the Nassau County Police Academy in New York.

“And after we finish defeating Iran… pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he said, to raucous applause.

The U.S. currently maintains a naval blockade of the critical waterway, through which as much as 20% of the world’s oil supply flows. Iran, meanwhile, has harried commercial vessels moving through the Strait.

The war began in late February with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The conflict was in a state of nominal ceasefire for weeks until the breakdown of negotiations.

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CBS star Matt Gutman accused of sexual harassment in bombshell lawsuit amid ratings fight

CBS star Matt Gutman is facing a bombshell sexual harassment lawsuit as his turn behind the “CBS Evening News” desk helped deliver the struggling network a ratings boost.

The show averaged 4.1 million viewers for the week of July 27, according to Nielsen, its best weekly audience in 17 weeks and its first time topping 4 million viewers since late March.

Gutman was filling in for vacationing anchor Tony Dokoupil.

Gutman, 48, was sued Friday by former ABC News field producer Samira Said, who accused him of making inappropriate sexual remarks during two assignments several years ago.

Said filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, naming Gutman, ABC News and parent company The Walt Disney Co. as defendants.

In one alleged incident, Said claims Gutman began discussing and rating the appearance of a female correspondent while the two were waiting on a public line during an assignment.

The suit says Gutman “initiated a discussion rating a female correspondent’s appearance and reducing her professional standing to a numerical score based on her physical attributes.”

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DSA Members Can’t Bring Themselves to Admit Cuba is a Dictatorship – Immediately Try to BUT TRUMP!

During a recent conversation with Latino journalist Jorge Ramos, high ranking members of the DSA turned into a stuttering mess when they were asked a simple question about whether or not Cuba is a dictatorship. HINT – It is.

They immediately try to make the issue about Trump and the blockade on Cuba, because they cannot answer this question honestly.

Ramos keeps trying to give them an opportunity to answer the question, pointing out that Cuba has not had real elections in decades, engages in all forms of censorship and has political prisoners, but they just won’t embrace the truth.

From Stu Smith:

DSA Co-Chairs Squirm When Pressed on Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua

This is a longer clip, but it captures the best parts of a broader discussion DSA national co-chairs Ashik Siddique and Megan Romer had with The Moment hosts Jorge Ramos and Paola Ramos.

Jorge repeatedly presses them on whether Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua are dictatorships. They repeatedly avoid giving him a direct answer.

Romer eventually responds that “Cubans have access to their democracy in a way that we do not,” pointing to Cuba’s 2022 Family Code referendum as evidence. That referendum was only four years ago, making it an especially curious answer to Jorge Ramos repeatedly pressing her on decades without multiparty elections.

Ashik Siddique fares little better. Asked whether Cuba is a dictatorship, he pivots to the U.S. embargo and the state of American politics, responding that “it’s hard for us to judge other countries being dictatorships when we have Donald Trump as president.”…

When it comes to international politics, DSA is often at its most revealing. Siddique and Romer are not even among the organization’s most die-hard internationalists. This is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how radical DSA’s international politics can get.

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Jason Arday, ex-Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism, found dead in UK week after investigation launched

Embattled ex-Cambridge University professor Jason Arday was found dead Friday after quitting his job at the school over allegations that he plagiarized and lied about past jobs, according to a report.

Arday, 41 — the youngest ever black professor at the lauded university— was found “unresponsive”  in his south London home and later pronounced dead at the scene, according to the UK Telegraph.

“Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by officers,” a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the paper.

“At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. The case is being investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South Command Unit. A file will be prepared for the coroner.”

University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice expressed sympathy over his death Friday.

“We are desperately saddened to hear this tragic news. Our heartfelt sympathies go to Jason Arday’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time,” Prentice said in a statement.

The sociology professor, who became a poster boy for diversity,  resigned from the job on Aug. 5 as the school launched an investigation into accusations that he plagiarized parts of his Ph.D dissertation and lied about positions he held at other schools.

He cited an “unrelenting level of public scrutiny” as his reason for resigning.

“[It’s] simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure,” he said at the time.

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Report: SFPD Already Using Surveillance Video From Self-Driving Cars

An internal SFPD document obtained by VICE News shows that not only can the SF Police Department pull the camera video from autonomous Waymo and Cruise cars, but more chillingly, that they have “already done this several times.”

We all had a good laugh last month at the “Ain’t nobody in it!” video when SFPD pulled over a driverless car that had no human being inside. A sensible conclusion to draw was that law enforcement was having a hard time coming to terms with these strange new fleets of robot cars that are suddenly ubiquitously all over San Francisco streets. But a new report from VICE News suggests that the relationship between the SF Police Department, and Google-owned Waymo and GM-owned Cruise, is far more advanced than we’d realized.

“‘Autonomous vehicles are recording their surroundings continuously and have the potential to help with investigative leads,’” says a San Francisco Police department training document obtained by Motherboard via a public records request,” VICE News reports. “‘Investigations has already done this several times.”

VICE News has the goods in a three-page SFPD training document outlining policies and procedures for dealing  with autonomous vehicles when encountering issues with them on the road. A lot of it is perfunctory, nuts-and-bolts stuff, like where to send the citation if the self-driving car commits a traffic violation, or what to do if the car becomes disabled.

But the very chilling phrase that really jumps out is “Autonomous vehicles are recording their surroundings continuously and have the potential to help with investigative leads,” and “Information will be sent in how to access this potential evidence (Investigations has already done this several times).”

Privacy advocates are of course worried. “​​As companies continue to make public roadways their testing grounds for these vehicles, everyone should understand them for what they are—rolling surveillance devices that expand existing widespread spying technologies,” Chris Gilliard, Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center, told VICE News. “Law enforcement agencies already have access to automated license plate readers, geofence warrants, Ring Doorbell footage, as well as the ability to purchase location data. This practice will extend the reach of an already pervasive web of surveillance.”

For their part, Waymo said in a statement to VICE News that the company “requires law enforcement agencies who seek information and data from Waymo to follow valid legal processes in making such requests (e.g. secure and present a valid warrant, etc.). Our policy is to challenge, limit or reject requests that do not have a valid legal basis or are overly broad.”

Cruise took a similar line, saying, “ We share footage and other information when we are served with a valid warrant or subpoena, and we may voluntarily share information if public safety is at risk.”

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Somali Daycare Owner with Long List of State Violations Wins DFL Primary for Minnesota House

Abdi Daisane, a Somali-born daycare operator, has won the DFL primary for Minnesota House District 14A, setting up a November showdown in a seat Republicans have held for years.

Abdi Daisane, a St. Cloud childcare-business owner, won Tuesday’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary for Minnesota House District 14A with 2,262 votes—62.52% of the total—defeating Paul R. F. Schumacher, who received 1,356 votes. The figures come directly from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s election results.

Daisane will face Republican Mike Conway in the November 3 general election. Conway won the Republican primary with 62.25% of the vote. The open district covers St. Augusta and portions of St. Cloud, Waite Park, and St. Joseph, according to KNSI’s election-night report.

Daisane, 38, was born in Somalia, spent 18 years in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, and resettled in the United States in 2009.

He later moved to St. Cloud, earned degrees from St. Cloud State University, and opened Blooming Kids Child Care Center (licensed capacity 113). He has made expanding childcare funding and assistance a centerpiece of his campaigns.

The problem? His own daycare has a documented history of state violations.

Daisane is listed by Minnesota’s Secretary of State as the chief executive officer and registered agent of Blooming Kids Child Care Center Inc. The company was formed in 2017 and remains active and in good standing, according to the state’s business filing.

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