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.

They Are Still Lying About Iraq

The lack of shame exhibited by the US government as it lies about Iraqi improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that killed thousands of American service members to justify its new war on Iran is breathtaking. President Trump led off his press conference today, the first since the attacks began Saturday morning, with this lie. Trump’s proxies on cable news, in the newspapers and online have been repeating it non-stop.

The lie is essentially that American soldiers were killed and wounded in Iraq at the orders of the Iranians. That the people responsible for blowing up American vehicles and sending home US soldiers in caskets or without body parts were Iranians, not Iraqis. The reality, of course, is that responsibility for those deaths and mutilations belongs to George W. Bush and every politician, general, government official, journalist, pundit and citizen who supported that war. I put myself into that disgraceful camp as someone who twice went voluntarily to that war.

This lie gets recycled whenever the prospect of war with Iran is present. For example, in 2019, the allegation appeared as the US imposed severe sanctions on Iran and labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization (the first time the US government designated a government or a military as a terrorist organization). These actions, following the unilateral abrogation of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran by the US, led to year-long tensions that culminated in the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who the American government and press labeled as having “American blood on his hands”, and retaliatory Iranian missile attacks on US forces in Iraq.

To begin with, the majority of US service members killed and wounded in the occupation of Iraq were killed by Sunni resistance groups, NOT Shia resistance groups. Sunni groups accounted for more than 80% of American deaths. These Sunni groups did not receive any support from Iran. These Sunni groups, like the Taliban in Afghanistan, did get a great deal of support from persons and institutions throughout Sunni countries in the Middle East, especially from the Gulf monarchies, Saudi Arabia chief among them. Yet, in Washington, DC’s calculus, these states don’t have the blood on their hands that Iran does, even as 4 out of 5 Americans were killed by Iraqi Sunni groups.

Sunni groups did fight against Shia groups that may have had a relationship with Iran. The Shia groups also fought against each other. Some Shia groups fought against the Americans. The Americans killed and wounded by Shia groups using IEDs were killed and wounded by Iraqis, not Iranians. Yes, there was a small Iranian presence in Iraq, acting as advisors to the Shia groups. However, the Iranian role was dwarfed by organic Iraqi resistance to occupation and sectarian commitments to one side or the other in intra-Iraqi fighting.

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Congress Is Considering Abolishing Your Right to Be Anonymous Online

In August 2024, the Biden administration hosted hundreds of influencers at the White House for the first-ever Creator Economy Conference. Neera Tanden, a senior Biden adviser, took to the stage and bemoaned anonymity online. The influencers alongside her agreed, pushing the idea that anonymous speech on the internet is harmful, and regulation is needed to force the use of real names on social media. The audience whispered excitedly as those on stage spoke about how proposed laws like the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, could unmask every troll. 

This narrative of online safety, particularly in relation to children, has become central to the bipartisan effort to censor and deanonymize the internet for everyone. Today, a package of a dozen “child online safety” bills is moving forward in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The laws, framed as a way to crack down on harmful content and make the internet safer, would force social media companies to enact invasive identity verification measures in order to keep children from accessing online spaces.

The problem is that there’s no way to reliably verify someone’s age without verifying who they are. A platform cannot magically discern that a user is 16 without collecting identifying information, whether through government documents such as a passport, payment information like a credit card, or other identity-disclosing data. Whether that data is stored by the platform itself or outsourced to a vendor, the result is always the same: A user’s offline identity is forever linked with their online behavior.

Stripping anonymity from the internet would constitute one of the most sweeping rollbacks of civil rights in recent history. It would allow for unprecedented levels of mass surveillance and censorship, endangering the most marginalized members of society. Whistleblowers exposing corporate wrongdoing could be tracked and fired, government employees speaking out about illegal behavior or bad policies could face prosecution, and activists organizing protests could be identified and surveilled before ever setting foot on the street.

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Iranian warship hit by US torpedo was ‘defenceless’, former Indian official claims

An Iranian warship destroyed in a US torpedo strike on Wednesday was “defenceless” after taking part in an international naval exercise as a guest of the Indian navy, a former Indian official has claimed.

Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said in a post on X that “the Iranian ship will not be where it was if we had not invited it to talk [sic] part in our Milan exercise.

“The Iranian naval personnel had paraded before our president,” he added.

The IRIS Dena, described as a destroyer, had taken part in an international naval exercise in India last month and was making its way back to Iran from Visakhapatnam, where the joint exercise ended on 25 February.

According to reports, the rules of the exercise stipulated that no ammunition was allowed on participating ships.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Vijitha Herath, told the country’s parliament that the vessel was sailing outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Wednesday when it sent a distress signal at 5:08 am local time.

Sri Lanka responded by sending naval ships and its air force to the endangered vessel. Around 87 bodies and 32 survivors were rescued, with some found to be “seriously injured,” Herath said.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the sinking illustrated that the US-Israeli war on Iran was stretching beyond its borders.

The Iranian ship “thought it was safe in international waters,” but “instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth said.

“America is winning, decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” he added.

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New Jersey Cities Must Explain Marijuana Business Denials, Court Says

New Jersey’s cannabis industry scored a victory Tuesday when a state appellate panel ruled that municipalities must explain why they deny requests for local support to open dispensaries, a decision that could have implications for legal weed retailers statewide.

The 23-page decision rejects an argument by the Burlington City Council that it is allowed to reject those requests without explaining why. The council was sued by the owners of a planned cannabis dispensary after council members denied the owners’ request for a resolution of local support, a document required to open recreational cannabis dispensaries in New Jersey.

“While the City Council was permitted to consider all relevant evidence and has wide discretion under its general police powers to deny the issuance of an ROS, we hold that the City Council has to provide a discernible reason for its determination,” reads the ruling by Judge Lisa Perez Friscia.

Tuesday’s decision rejects a lower court judge’s ruling that required Burlington to issue the resolution of support to the owners of the planned dispensary, called Higher Breed. The newer ruling requires the Burlington council to reconsider Higher Breed’s request for support and then issue a resolution that provides a basis for the council’s decision.

A request for comment from Higher Breed’s attorneys was not returned.

New Jersey voters opted in 2020 to legalize cannabis, but the state’s legalization law allowed towns to opt out of cannabis sales, and about 70 percent of towns did so. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which is tasked with approving cannabis retail licenses, requires prospective license holders to obtain a resolution of local support from the town where they plan to operate.

In December 2023, Higher Breed, owned by Jim and Karen Waltz, applied to the Burlington City Council for a resolution of local support for a store on East Route 130. After hearing from a real estate broker who does not live in Burlington and claimed the property’s owner was “dishonest” and owed him a real estate commission, the council ultimately rejected Higher Breed’s request for a resolution of local support. Higher Breed then sued.

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Mayor of Baltimore spent nearly $1M on lavish perks like crab feasts and tabs at Ravens football games for staffers

It’s hard for taxpayers to stomach!

The Baltimore mayor’s office spent more than $890,000 on lavish meals and parties — including crab feasts, catered “farewell” bashes and massive tabs at Ravens football games, according to a report Wednesday.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration blew taxpayer cash on over-the-top perks for staffers — including $52,589 on grub in the Mayoral Suite at Ravens and Orioles games — in a gross violation of the city’s “public funds” rules, according to baltimorebrew.com.

One of the elaborate meals was served at a $3,636 farewell “office party” for Scott’s former campaign manager Marvin James, which featured a $324 balloon arch, a $217 cake and a $2,600 catered spread with crab balls and grilled salmon in March 2025, according to the outlet.

James, however, didn’t actually leave City Hall and is still on the payroll as the mayor’s $190,000-plus-a-year senior adviser.

In total, the office spent $801,839 on meals and catering, $42,691 on floral arrangements and funeral services, and $45,646 “unreconciled” expenses between July 2022 and November 2025, according to the outlet.

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Israel’s Mass Murder of Palestinian Children Set Up the Iran School Bombing

On February 28, 2026, the last thing most of the now one hundred and sixty-eight dead elementary schoolgirls saw was a fleet of missiles fired by the US or Israel. Their coloring books were painted red, later retrieved by parents forced to identify their newly dismembered children.

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Israel’s cutthroat, merciless attacks on Palestinian children during the Gaza genocide – a campaign that has fostered a climate of impunity among the upper echelons of Israel’s government, who appear to believe they can evade punishment for countless war crimes against innocent children. The estimated death toll of Palestinian children since October 2023 is a staggering 20,000, according to UNICEF. Twenty thousand innocent lives – children punished for the circumstances of their birth, for an identity they did not choose, for a conflict they did not create.

This, sadly, is what we’ve come to expect from modern-day Israel – some of the most heinous war crimes witnessed since the early 2000s. Schools and children are heavily protected under international humanitarian law, yet those protections seemingly never apply to Israel. The strike on this elementary school, filled with wide-eyed children eager to learn, crosses a universal moral boundary – because war does not suspend morality. In a just world, Israel would answer for this inhumane attack. But this world is dark, godless, and depraved.

This comes shortly after the IDF shot a fourteen-year-old Palestinian boy, Jad Jadallah, last winter – as reported by the BBC – and left him to bleed out, even blocking emergency vehicles from reaching him. Anyone could argue that Israel has been intentionally targeting children in its attacks.

Each of the one hundred and sixty-eight schoolgirls (ages 7–12) at Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls’ Elementary School had a future – a family, friends, dreams, creativity, and innocence. Last week, they were pulled from the rubble; their small bodies shattered by missiles that brought nothing but destruction and despair.

The longer Israel and the US are treated as above the law, the more tumultuous the world will become – especially in the Middle East. It is time for real accountability for Israel and Netanyahu before it is too late. This situation has long been volatile, but we are now on a one-way flight to the point of no return – where it becomes acceptable, perhaps even encouraged, to bomb elementary schools, starve children, and put bullets into skulls that should be filled with toys, dreams, and love.

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Donald Trump’s Unjust and Unconstitutional War

Over the past weekend, some apologists for President Donald Trump’s recently ordered attacks on Iran argued that because Trump’s plans call for a quick strike, the attacks do not constitute a war. George Orwell is vindicated yet again.

These apologists believe that calling a war something else means it is not a war, and so moral and constitutional justifications are unnecessary.

No rational observer looking at 2,000-pound bombs being dropped on military targets and thousands of missiles being fired indiscriminately at both civilians and military personnel in Iran can conclude that these events constitute anything but a war.

That recognition triggers a series of analyses — moral, constitutional and legal.

The moral dimension addresses both the causes and the conduct of war.

The standard requirements for a just war are that war is a last resort to avoid truly imminent violence or profound massive injustice. It must be triggered by a legitimate authority, its purpose must be clear and just, and the damage it produces must not outweigh the evil it purports to eliminate. Its conduct must avoid killing non-combatants, and the weapons and tactics used must be proportionate to the war’s objectives.

Just war, of course, prohibits the employment of any weapons that fail to discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.

Trump’s war in Iran fails all these. It was not commenced by a legitimate authority as Congress has not declared war on Iran. The president and his folks have not identified any imminent violence Iran was about to inflict upon the U.S. They have confused the public on the war’s purpose. Is it to force out the current Iranian government or to destroy its offensive weaponry and nuclear capabilities or — the newest condition — to eliminate its navy?

None of these is a just cause as the U.S. has no moral or legal basis for removing a foreign government or emasculating it in the face of its enemies. As for damage, we have seen already the killing of 150 little girls while at a school last weekend and the attacks on a Tehran hospital.

The failure of Trump’s war to comply even minimally with moral standards is also exemplified by the constitutional implications raised by a presidentially initiated war. When James Madison and his colleagues were addressing the war clauses in the Constitution, they were in easy agreement that if the president could both declare war and wage war, he wouldn’t be a president, he’d be prince.

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The Biden Autopen Probe Ends the Way So Many Others Do

Tell me if you’ve heard this before.

Former President Joe Biden avoids charges after federal prosecutors closed the probe into his use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Prosecutors in Washington reviewed the case, examined whether Biden authorized the signatures himself, and decided there were no crimes committed.

Like March that comes in like a lion, the investigation launched with big promises but ended quietly, adding to the increasingly rotten pattern in which scandals evaporate without consequences.

Last June, President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into whether the Biden administration used an autopen to sign key presidential documents, such as pardons, months after Mr. Trump had claimed his predecessor’s pardons were illegitimate.

Mr. Trump told Attorney General Pam Bondi and the White House counsel in a memo to probe what he claimed was a “conspiracy” to “abuse the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline.”

The order cited a number of executive actions by Biden, including pardons and judicial appointments, and argued: “There are serious doubts as to the decision-making process and even the degree of Biden’s awareness of these actions being taken in his name.” 

Despite concerns that lawmakers and conservative media had about Biden’s lack-of-mental state in his final months, suggesting staff overstepped their roles … crickets.

What are we left with? Another grand declaration of justice that crumbles into nothing, leaving everyone to wonder if some secret shield protects the powerful or if the whole thing was just hot air from the beginning.

Jeanine Pirro leads as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and her office reviewed Biden’s pardons and actions. Prosectors couldn’t find any law that bans the use of an autopen if the president approves it. Without proof, the case gets dropped.

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TN School Clears Record of Christian Teacher Punished for Refusing to Read LGBTQ+ Book to First-Graders

An elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, has cleared the record of a Christian teacher who was punished for refusing to read a book about same-sex marriage to his first grade students. 

Teacher Eric Rivera declined to read the LGBTQ+ propaganda book to his young students, citing his Christian beliefs, and instead asked a colleague to read the book, Fox News reported. In response, KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary issued a “final warning letter” in January to Rivera for declining to read the book, according to legal group First Liberty Institute. 

The following day, Rivera was asked to the principal’s office and threatened with firing, according to the report. School leadership reportedly told him he must maintain “fidelity” to the curriculum, “and a discipline letter was placed in his personnel file.” 

Before the incident, Rivera had no previous warnings or history of discipline, according to First Liberty. After facing pressure from school leadership, Rivera asked for a religious accommodation but was instead reassigned to a lab and technology position and then to a kindergarten class, per the report.

First Liberty sent a letter to the school on behalf of Rivera in February. After receiving the letter, KIPP Antioch agreed to clear Rivera’s record, First Liberty said on Monday. The school additionally will allow “all teachers to ask another employee to read materials objectionable to their faith.”

“We are pleased that the school has made the right decision by accommodating Mr. Rivera for his deeply held religious views,” Senior Counsel at First Liberty Cliff Martin said in a press release.  

“Our client is deeply devoted to teaching and is grateful that his record has been cleared and reasonable accommodations will be provided going forward,” he continued. 

The elementary school did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment by time of publication.

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LOL: Jasmine Crockett Speaks to Supporters After Brutal Democrat Primary Loss — Claims “Republicans” Are Cheating Despite Previously Saying Voter Fraud Is a ‘Conspiracy’

Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) appears to have discovered election “irregularities” but only after losing.

On Tuesday night, as the results in Dallas County began to look grim for the firebrand Democrat, Crockett didn’t just concede gracefully. Instead, she took a page out of the very book she’s spent years condemning.

Despite her previous claims that voter fraud was nothing more than a “conspiracy theory,” Crockett is now blaming “cheating” and “Republican tactics” for the mass confusion at the polls.

The reason for the chaos? A simple rule change that required voters to cast ballots at their assigned precincts rather than just wandering into any polling location they happened to see.

Apparently, following basic rules is now considered “suppression” in the eyes of the radical left.

Crockett: “We encourage each and every one of you to remain resilient. We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded because so long as they know that they can win, even if it means cheating, then they will continue to do it.

So, I am asking you, I am begging you, to make sure that you go ahead and figure out where it is that you are supposed to vote, stand in line, wait in line.”

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