April 7, 2026

WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHAT THEY’LL DO, BELIEVE THEM:

Posted at 12:58 pm by Stephen Green

RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Iran hangs another young man as regime steps up executions of protesters under cover of war.

Most of those executed are young men, including teens, alleged to have been either involved in the protests that were brutally suppressed by the regime — with thousands shot dead in the streets — or members of banned opposition groups.

Undeterred by the war, the Islamic Republic continues to exact its revenge, and exiled opposition groups and rights organizations said they feared that hundreds more could be executed in the coming days.

Ali Fahim, 23, was hanged Monday after being found guilty of involvement in an attack on a Tehran base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij militia during the protests, according to rights groups who have followed the case.

Iranians need guns.

Posted at 12:43 pm by Stephen Green

TWO GUYS WHO DESERVE JOURNALISM MEDAL OF HONOR: David Delaiden and Jan Jekielek. Here’s why.

Posted at 12:39 pm by Mark Tapscott

THE NOT SO FINAL COUNTDOWN: The Legacy of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth 20 Years Later.

In 1983, Michael Barkun, a professor at Syracuse University, identified the rise of a “New Apocalypticism” in American life. He described a secular variant of religious millenarianism — rooted not in scripture but instead in science, yet structurally identical in its essential features.

Barkun explained:

“The so-called “New Apocalypticism” is undeniably religious, rooted in the Protestant millenarian tradition. Religious apocalypticism is, however, not the only apocalypticism current in American society. A newer, more diffuse, but indisputably influential apocalypticism coexists with it. Secular rather than religious, this second variety grows out of a naturalistic world view, indebted to science and to social criticism rather than to theology. Many of its authors are academics, the works themselves directed at a lay audience of influential persons — government officials, business leaders, and journalists — presumed to have the power to intervene in order to avert planetary catastrophe.”

Gore’s orations perfectly followed the script of the “New Apocalypticism”: The identification of an existential crisis, the diagnosis of human sin as its cause, the urgency of transformation, and the comfort of redemption for those who heed the warning. The climate science community readily embracted this script and adopted the language of believers and deniers to differentiate those with faith and those yet to be converted, and who risked excommunication.

Barkun explained that scientific “predictions of “last things” generate the feelings of awe that have always surrounded eschatology, even if in this case the predictions often grow out of computer modelling rather than Biblical proof-texts.”

Gore was an extraordinarily skilled evangelist and he took his message to scientists on their own terms — with a PowerPoint presentation.

But even so, An Inconvenient Truth was not really about science; it was a sermon — complete with a moral arc (with those who are evil and those who are righteous), a clear account of sin (fossil fuel emissions), a warning of coming judgment (floods, storms, tipping points), and a path to redemption (political will, renewable energy, personal responsibility). The film ends with a call to conversion.

Scarcity for thee, but not for me. Gore’s credibility ended in 2013 with a really fat check from Middle East petrostate Qatar.

Al has sold Current, for the magnificent sum of $500-million, $100-million of which is his alone. Not bad for a TV station with less reach and inferior programming to most billboards.

To whom did the Lord of the Upper Atmosphere sell? Why to al Jazeera — which is to say, effectively to the ruler of Qatar, a wealthy country that has nothing else to sustain it but the sale of its huge petroleum resources.

Qatar is about oil, oil and more oil. It is a global warmer’s hell.

But what a paycheck! When Al Gore emerged from his energy-guzzling mansion to address the Senate in 2007 only to refuse to take his own energy reduction pledge from An Inconvenient Truth when presented to him by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Ann Coulter quipped, “I kind of respect him more, it shows he is not stupid enough to believe all this global warming nonsense. He’s trying to get us to believe. Okay, fine, he may be a hypocrite but at least he’s not a moron.”

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

MOST INDICATIONS ARE THAT TRUMP’S CEASEFIRE TALK ARE A SIDESHOW TO KEEP MARKETS CALM AND EUROWEENIES FROM YAPPING TOO MUCH:

Posted at 12:27 pm by Stephen Green

ROGER SIMON: Mr. President, Keep the Oil!

The desire of the regime to exploit children has resurfaced, according to LTC Nadav Soshani of the IDF:

“In recent weeks, as Israeli and American operations expanded inside Iran, a clearer picture began to emerge of how the regime is operating under this sustained pressure.

“One of the most alarming findings is the recruitment of minors into the Basij, a paramilitary force under the Iranian regime.

“This is not speculation. It is an openly declared policy.

“On March 26, 2026, Rahim Nadali, a deputy in the IRGC Mohammad Rasoul Allah Corps of Greater Tehran, announced a recruitment campaign titled ‘Homeland-Defending Combatants for Iran.’ The campaign explicitly invited volunteers aged 12 and above, with registration taking place through Basij bases operating out of mosques across Tehran.”

In addition, Throwback Iran writes on X:

“HOLY SH*T
Iran’s state TV is encouraging Iranian youth and students to form human shield circles around power plants and other infrastructures ahead of tomorrow’s deadline day. Where is UN? UNICEF?”

You’ll have to ask Throwback Iran why they even bothered to ask the last questions.

The mullahs’ rule, much like communism, was always only about the oppression of the masses for the benefit of the overclass. The mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard Corps own most of the industry, from energy to the lucrative pistachio plantations. Just as communist leaders used tired Marxist rhetoric to distract as they enriched themselves (cf. Fidel Castro), the mullahs used the nostrums of Khomeinist Shiism as a cover.

So, Mr. President, take the oil. Most of us will be with you in the end. Just explain the process. Give as much as possible, in an organized and fair manner, back to the Iranian people, but keep a little off the top for the USA “for service rendered.” You’ve already done it in Venezuela.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 12:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

CHUTZPAH:

I’m so old, I remember when California’s reputation as the Golden State required no burnishing.

Posted at 11:56 am by Stephen Green

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Illinois gun owners plan rally in wake of Supreme Court order.

The Illinois State Rifle Association says gun owners have run out of options in a case challenging the state’s prohibition of carrying concealed firearms on mass transit.

The case Schoenthal v. Raoul dealt with whether the state’s ban of carrying firearms on mass transit, even for those with concealed carry permits, is constitutional.

A district judge said the measure is unconstitutional. An appeals court differed. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday turned down a petition to hear the case.

“We are very disappointed by the Court’s decision, especially since law-abiding public transportation riders in Illinois are less safe as a result of the law,” attorney David Sigale, who represents plaintiffs, told the The Center Square. “We know that groups like the ISRA will continue to fight this prohibition in the legislative and political arenas, as well as the courts, so that Illinoisans’ Second Amendment rights will be respected.”

Richard Pearson with the ISRA said they’ve run out of options for that challenge. But, there are other cases the Supreme Court could take up.

“They have the Wolford [v. Lopez] case in front of them, which is from Hawaii, which is about public spaces and actually public transportation. So we’ll see what they do with that,” Pearson told The Center Square Monday. “So we were kind of hoping for a favorable ruling, at least to take our case. And that didn’t happen.”

Certainly disappointing.

Posted at 11:41 am by Stephen Green

SHE NEEDS HELP:

Posted at 11:25 am by Stephen Green

THAT’S BECAUSE IRAN ISN’T A THREAT TO HIS POLITICAL POSITION OR SELF-ESTEEM THE WAY TRUMP IS:

Posted at 10:57 am by Glenn Reynolds

HE IS A COMMIE, AFTER ALL:

Posted at 10:54 am by Stephen Green

A VERY PUBLIC EDUCATION:

Posted at 10:23 am by Stephen Green

YOU STILL DON’T HATE THEM ENOUGH:

Posted at 10:08 am by Charlie Martin

NEW WAYS TO BOOST DHS DEPORTATIONS: Official claims of 600,000 deportations to date by Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration lack credible backup, but new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has multiple new tactics at hand for speeding things up, according to experts interviewed by The Washington Stand’s S.A. McCarthy.

Posted at 9:58 am by Mark Tapscott

TO BE FAIR, PERFORMATIVE OUTRAGE IS TAPPER’S ENTIRE SCHTICK:

Maybe Tapper’s schtick would be less tiresome if it weren’t entirely one-sided.

Posted at 9:52 am by Stephen Green

HEY, BIG SPENDER: OpenAI doesn’t expect to be profitable until at least 2030 as AI costs surge.

Spending on AI training will be staggering. In 2028, OpenAI projects spending $121 billion on computing power for its AI research. The estimate for 2029 is slightly higher, before AI model training costs dip back below $100 million in 2030. (This year, for perspective, the company expects to spend just over $25 billion on AI model training.)

Anthropic’s totals are smaller but still climb steadily, surpassing $30 billion in 2029.

These losses come despite an expected surge in revenue at both companies. OpenAI’s revenue is projected to nearly double annually, reaching roughly $275 billion in 2030. Anthropic expects to approach $150 billion in 2029.

YOY revenue doubling is in line with OpenAI’s growth since the company debuted OpenAI, so we’ll see.

Posted at 9:37 am by Stephen Green