Sunday, May 31, 2026
Note to Ldotters:
Please remember, no duplicates, no blog posting
unless you have permission from staff, no local crimes and
no posting just to elicit nasty reactions.
Any post with three lines or fewer will be deleted.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Lucianne.com Ad-Free Subscription
Learn More or Enter Code
Latest Posts
The crazy sex toy scandal that blew up
the chess world — and its strange aftermath
four years later replies
the chess world — and its strange aftermath
four years later replies
Chess champ Magnus Carlsen, 32, lost to 19-year-old Hans Niemann at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, sparking Carlsen’s cheating claims.
Niemann, who admitted to prior online cheating, faced a wild “anal beads” theory for his win that went viral.
Niemann’s $100 million defamation lawsuit against Carlsen and Chess.com was dismissed, leading to a confidential settlement.
In September of 2022, Magnus Carlsen had won 53 consecutive classical chess matches.Then, he sat down across from Hans Niemann.
Carlsen, then 32 and a five-time World Championship, was widely considered the greatest player in the millennium-and-a-half history of the sport. The Norwegian had an Elo rating — a system that calculates a player’s relative skill level —
Mike Steger takes less than 20-minutes to walk through a year of President Trump’s multifaceted U.S. manufacturing policy initiatives that have positioned the U.S. economy for a massive surge in growth. Steger recaps several consequential moves by President Trump and his cabinet to fundamentally change economics in the Western Hemisphere. Each point is well delivered and well presented.
Steger then overlays the economic moves with the geopolitical moves in Venezuela (oil), Cuba (communism ended), Mexico (cartels, traffickers and corruption), Canada (globalism confronted) and finally Greenland (a new consulate is created). Put together, Steger notes how all of these move’s work together with a massive surge in energy, technology and productivity
The continual message from President Trump to President Claudia Sheinbaum has been clear, ‘clean it up or possibly we will’, as Trump has publicly and repeatedly said Sheinbaum and the Mexican government were under the control of Mexican cartels.Following the daring capture of Venezuela dictator Nicholas Maduro, Mexican President Sheinbaum took notice. In the past few months dozens of government officials and cartel members have been targeted, arrested, indicted, extradited and removed from positions of influence.
On May 29, 2026, in Modesto, California, Joaquin Escoto, 28, a Mexican national and illegal immigrant, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder.
He allegedly stabbed to death Fabiola Gonzalez, 23, a devoted mother, her own mother, and loving grandmother Silvia Nuñez, 54, and Fabiola’s 2-week-old infant son, Mateo Gonzalez.
A surviving child of approximately 4 years old was found in the home and taken into custody by Child Protective Services. [snip]
But San Joaquin law enforcement officials hogtied by California’s contested sanctuary law failed to notify the feds, and Escoto was set free, the official said.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) on Sunday ordered a curfew around an immigration detention center in the city where protesters and law enforcement officers have clashed for days.
“To ensure the safety and well-being of all residents, a mandatory curfew for a half-mile area surrounding Delaney Hall is being implemented, effective immediately. Beginning at 12 a.m., Doremus Avenue will be closed to all pedestrian traffic,” Baraka said in a statement, noting that the curfew is in effect from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.[snip]
“ANYONE who attempts to obstruct law enforcement or disrupt our facility will face the FULL weight of the law. WE WON’T BACK DOWN.”
Last Saturday, odious “Marxist” influencer Hasan Piker—nephew of Young Turk cofounder Cenk Uygur—was served a subpoena by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Piker visited Cuba in March as part of the “Nuestra América Convoy,” a delegation of “communist sympathizers, activists, and influencers” (Fox News) who took supplies to the island’s beleaguered, bedraggled Communist Party and provided a much-needed propaganda boost in the face of mounting U.S. pressure.
The investigation will consider whether Piker and others, perhaps as many as 40 people, violated U.S. sanctions and laws by visiting the island and, in particular, by supplying the regime with goods. U.S. law imposes a wide range of restrictions—
GOP members in Congress are joining TikTok after years of speaking out against the app and are going viral.
Following in the footsteps of Democrat lawmakers who have been on the app for years, Republican lawmakers are gaining millions of views and reaching the younger generation of voters.
Last year, TikTok, the social media platform known for its short-form video content and addictive algorithm, was at the center of a data privacy concern. The platform was created and founded by a Chinese technology company, ByteDance, with links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Many in the Republican Party were concerned the CCP had access to billions of Americans’ personal data.
Iran: Truce Doesn't End Wars
replies
Though Israel was included in the various ceasefires that President Donald Trump has declared, almost always without securing Israel's consent, it is clear that Israel will not be a party to the truce mediated by half a dozen countries, notably Pakistan.
Iran, as it is already threatening, intends to continue its war against Israel through the Lebanese Hezbollah. Last Tuesday, Tehran said $5 billion of any Iranian frozen assets that will be released under the truce will go to Hezbollah in Lebanon to "continue the resistance."
[M]ost of the targets hit by Tehran were civilian structures that had nothing to do with US or Israeli forces.
America’s most infamous tech company has a bold, potentially risky plan to supposedly reduce the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses, assuming the federal government will sign off on the proposal.
As The New York Post reported, Google wants federal approval to unleash approximately 32 MILLION mosquitoes into the states of California and Florida over the next two years.
This is supposedly part of an effort to halt the spread of several serious mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever.
Martina McBride was, once upon a time, one of country’s biggest stars. The emphasis there is once upon a time; a long time, unless you’re one of those types who thinks it’s only yesterday that Pearl Jam and the Strokes were on the radio and any large group of people still listened to any of those three. (No shame in that; I’m in your numbers.)
McBride’s last album that appeared in the Billboard 200 was released in 2014. Her last album certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America — for between 500,000 to 1 million sales or equivalent streams — was released in 2007.
We reported earlier on Saturday on Jill Biden's remarks about Hunter's pardon, and they truly did beggar belief as she tried to blame President Donald Trump for Joe Biden going back on his word not to pardon his son. Indeed, she claimed he had to do it because they were fearful Hunter would be targeted by Trump. That took some kind of gall, after the lawfare efforts against Trump for years. Jill also got a lot of backlash for saying she had never seen anything like Joe's confusion during the debate before or since, claiming she thought he was having a stroke or medical issue. That's hard to believe,
Michigan Democrat Senate hopeful Abdul
El-Sayed a protégé of firebrand Muslim
activist Linda Sarsour replies
El-Sayed a protégé of firebrand Muslim
activist Linda Sarsour replies
The frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to be U.S. senator from Michigan is a years-long protégé of controversial Muslim activist Linda Sarsour, whose endorsement of Abdul El-Sayed during his previous failed bid to be Michigan governor helped elevate him from relative obscurity nearly a decade ago.
El-Sayed, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2018, received Sarsour’s backing during that race and in this current one for Michigan’s soon-to-be open Senate seat, with Sarsour’s support in 2018 also seeming to subsequently bring the Michigan-born Egyptian-American key support from socialist Sen.
As my colleagues Brad Slager and Ben Smith reported on Saturday, Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner is the oppo gift that keeps on giving. Thus far, Platner has explained away a Nazi "Totenkopf" tattoo, tried to dodge a history of racist and antisemitic Reddit screeds, dissed two military heroes, and appears to be aroused by portable toilets. Yet, he still has not been disqualified by the Democrats, and whoever in Maine is still supporting him. This newest oppo drop is going to test whether Teflon flows through Graham Platner's veins and how much longer the Democrats can afford to keep propping him up as a winning candidate.
The confrontation is not with the Iranian people, heirs to a great civilization and among the first victims of the regime that rules over them. The confrontation is with the Iranian regime: the Revolutionary Guards, the militias, hostage diplomacy, ballistic missiles, nuclear ambitions, and the systematic destabilization of Arab states in the name of resistance.
[S]everal Gulf states continue to preserve relationships with the same Iranian regime that threatens their sovereignty. Some out of prudence. Some out of economic necessity. Some because ambiguity gives them room to maneuver.
The recent Trump-Xi summit in Beijing featured grand ceremonies, red-carpet pomp, and diplomatic flair, but it produced no major breakthroughs. This has allowed some media and analysts to promote distorted narratives about U.S.-China relations, the Iran conflict, and global power dynamics.
Myth 1: The Iran War Weakened the US and Trump Sought China’s Help
Critics claim the conflict bogged down U.S. forces, depleted munitions needed for a Taiwan contingency, kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, and drove up American gas prices, while China’s strategic reserves and green energy push supposedly insulated it and even strengthened its geopolitical leverage.
For years, much of the American media has operated under a peculiar assumption: that the best way to confront adversaries such as China and Iran is to accommodate them. If the United States applies pressure, the narrative quickly becomes that America is overextended, losing leverage, or somehow empowering its enemies.
That narrative has resurfaced during President Donald Trump’s confrontation with Tehran and Beijing. According to outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, both Iran and China are supposedly emerging stronger from the current conflict.
Spencer Pratt has jumped to a one point lead over incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, according to new polling.
That may not seem like much, but it’s huge in the context of this race. Bass is not only the incumbent mayor, she has the backing of the establishment in a blue city. No one even knew who Spencer Pratt was a month ago. For him to overtake her in a poll, any poll, by any amount, is nothing short of stunning. This just doesn’t happen.
A lot of this has to do with Pratt’s viral ad campaign, but it also has much to do with his willingness—
Deadlier than the male
replies
We often hear and read about men brutalizing women, and it is a national disgrace that so many women live their lives in terror. I’ve written many times about the battering situations I came across as a police officer in NYC.
But there’s another type of battering I’ve witnessed, albeit not nearly as often: women brutalizing men.
While working a tour in Brooklyn one night, my partner and I were summoned to an apartment to handle an assault in progress. When we arrived and climbed a few flights of stairs, we heard moaning sounds coming from behind an open door of one of the rooms. Other occupants
Did you imagine for a moment that the notion that the most openly diverse, democratic country in the Middle East, which goes to unheard-of lengths to protect citizens in enemy territory, was an "apartheid, genocider” sprung up spontaneously? That this defamation arose all on its own through large grassroots movements? Of course, this is not how so many libels against Israel took root.In an extensively documented report, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives found that the Biden Administration sent funds to NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) that used them to destabilize the Israeli government and fund anti-American and anti-Israeli activities here. These efforts, unsurprisingly,
CNN’s Michael Smerconish isn’t buying presumptive Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s explanations for once having a Nazi-linked tattoo.
On Saturday, Smerconish opened his show by calling out what he called a “blindspot” for the Democratic Party, which he explained is excusing certain behavior and troublesome candidates simply because they passionately oppose President Donald Trump.
Smerconish pointed to Platner as a prime example of this “blindspot,” citing both a Nazi-linked tattoo that has since been covered and recently-discovered Reddit posts where the candidate mocked a veteran over a video of him overseas in a firefight.
Former Press Secretary for First Lady Jill Biden Michael LaRosa said he has been "shocked" by the amount of Democratic support for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner and that the Platner campaign reveals a line in the sand within the Democratic Party.
"I am shocked at some of the people, some of the Democrats who I consider friends, being so all-or-nothing about this guy, and I don't really understand why," LaRosa told Fox News Digital. "He is not really representative of the values I would expect in a Democratic candidate, even by today's standards. I'm a little surprised at the number of people who are circling
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner can be seen in a shocking new topless, towel-wearing selfie from his account on an app widely used for hookups – as it emerged the Nazi-tattoo-wearing Democrat sexted with numerous women outside his marriage.
In the image obtained by The Post from his Kik account, the left-leaning Platner is clad only in a towel — with his entire torso bare and multiple tattoos visible.
His head is cut off in the picture, but he is seen standing in a bathroom and apparently taking the photo of himself in a mirror.
The wife of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said she was “deeply hurt” after details of her husband’s extramarital sexting became public Saturday, accusing a former campaign official and confidante of betraying her trust.
The statement from Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, came after both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that shortly after Platner announced his Senate campaign last year, Gertner flagged to campaign staff sexual text messages her husband had with other women.
“I know who Graham is,” Gertner said in a statement delivered through Platner’s campaign. “I know the man I married
As BRICS challenges Bretton Woods dominance, India balances de-dollarisation, sovereignty, and global financial realignment.
Deep in the vaults of the Reserve Bank of India, a quiet metamorphosis is unfolding. Over one decade, India’s gold reserves have doubled to $682 billion—the yellow metal’s share rising steadily. In Moscow, the Central Bank executed something more dramatic: a total liquidation of its $90-billion U.S. Treasury portfolio, replaced by 2,330 metric tonnes of physical gold now comprising 44 per cent of reserves—a sovereign reallocation without precedent in modern monetary history. These are symptoms of a tectonic shift reshaping global finance’s architecture