May 1, 2026

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE:

Posted at 9:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

JIM GERAGHTY: The Absurd Rise of Graham Platner.

Platner’s de facto primary win is dark, depressing, and sad. You can make a compelling argument that antisemitism was actually Platner’s biggest strength in the short-lived Democratic Senate primary:

On another occasion, he promoted a social media post from the neo-Nazi Holocaust denier Stew Peters, and he also sat for a lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist Nate Cornacchia, claiming he was a longtime fan. He has also described the U.S.-Israel relationship as “shameful” and praised a violent Hamas attack on Israel in 2014.

Two years ago, nobody had ever heard of this guy. He’s not remarkably accomplished. (As the new NRSC ad illustrates, he actually comes from a privileged background; his dad bought him a house.) In his early appearances, it was clear he didn’t know how the Senate appropriations process works. Out of nowhere, seemingly apolitical magazines like Bon Appetit started publishing glowing soft-focus profiles about this guy.

But there’s also something absurd about the rapid rise of Platner after the revelation in October that he had a death’s-head tattoo of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) on his chest for 18 years.

“It was not until I started hearing from reporters and D.C. insiders that I realized this tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol,” Platner said when the controversy emerged. “I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that — and to insinuate that I did is disgusting.” That is not how all of Platner’s old acquaintances remember it, and his former political director said he had told her he had a “problematic” tattoo in the summer of last year.

His life has been one enormous kampf struggle:

UPDATE:

Posted at 8:55 pm by Ed Driscoll

THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY: THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THERE:

Posted at 8:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

MUCH MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE:

Posted at 8:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

SPIRIT SET TO CEASE FLIGHTS AT 3AM TOMORROW, SPARKING FEARS OF BRAWLS AT AIRPORTS — ALTHOUGH DOOMED AIRLINE’S WEBSITE IS STILL LETTING PASSENGERS BOOK FLIGHTS:

Spirit Airlines is reportedly set to cease operations at 3am on Saturday after a bailout from President Trump has failed to materialize.

The airline, which began air operations in 1990, had been hoping for a $500 million lifeline from the federal government, but the deal has not been finalized in time due to financial complications, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Sources told the outlet that the budget airline has failed to get sufficient support from bondholders and the government to secure the funding before running out of cash.

The collapse of the airline could leave passengers stranded across the nation, and places over 14,000 jobs at risk.

Passenger Taylor Gonzalez, 27, told the Detroit Free Press that she fears being stranded in Los Angeles with her three-year-old son on Friday night, saying she ‘didn’t know about this until just now.’

Despite the reported end of its operations, Spirit’s website is still allowing customers to book flights before the 3am deadline.

The carrier previously filed for bankruptcy twice between November 2024 and August 2025, and it currently remains under Chapter 11 protection.

Exit quote:

UPDATE:

Posted at 6:55 pm by Ed Driscoll

I’M NOT SURE I WANT A “SOFTWARE DEFINED VEHICLE.” Hyundai Previews Next-Generation Infotainment System for Software-Defined Vehicles.

Actually, I’m pretty sure I don’t want one:

We’ve grumbled about this in the past but the push toward software-defined vehicles is effectively to make automobiles into smart devices. Vehicle features will be gatekept behind subscriptions and will likely need to be purchased via connected services.

We’ve seen this in modern cars via companies forcing customers to purchase things like remote start using a subscription and making activation exclusively available via a phone app. This not only has you paying more for hardware that has already been equipped to the vehicle, it also creates additional avenues for the manufacturer to harvest information about you. Exactly how far the industry plans on going with this isn’t clear. However, the assumption is that it will be as far as possible because that’s been the trend thus far.

Yuk.

Posted at 5:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS:

How it started: “No more Tuskegee experiments!”

How it’s going: “Idil Issak at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville is an anthropology student who wants to conduct research by interviewing eight female Ethiopian nationals working in the domestic service industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)..Issak’s experience with the IRB has been a Kafkaesque nightmare.”

NCLA does great work.

Posted at 4:55 pm by Robert Shibley

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE:

Posted at 4:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

DOMINIC GREEN: Antisemitism in the Yookay.

In his address to Congress on Tuesday, King Charles emphasized the common roots and unusual endurance of the English and American systems. Unlike France, where everyone expects the Fifth Republic to go the way of the previous four quite soon, the Anglophone constitutions remain the same while the political regime shifts beneath them. The high-immigration, high-welfare, multiculturalist regime that is now breaking down in Britain was created in 1997. If the leading party in the polls, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, wins the next election, it might be able to start laying the ground of the next British regime. It will restrict immigration, reassert the centrality of English culture, shrink the welfare state, and face serious opposition from the institutions through which it must govern.

Yookay Britain isn’t like Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It’s more like Tsarist Russia in the 1880s. A state that can’t reform itself indulges the anti-Jewish violence of Britain’s urban peasantry as a safety valve. Commissioner Rowley looked no more surprised than the police officer in “Fiddler on the Roof” who warns Tevye that a pogrom is in the offing. But British Jews aren’t isolated. While the Labour prime minister Keir Starmer wrings his hands and the Green Party leader Zack Polanski winks at Islamists, Mr. Farage demands action to protect Britain’s Jews. So does Kemi Badenoch, who leads the Conservative opposition. To Mr. Farage and Ms. Badenoch, securing the future of British Jews is part of restoring law and decency to British life.

Speaking of the Greens, question asked and completely dodged:

Posted at 2:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

JOHN PODHORETZ REVIEWS THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2: For the sequel to a beloved working-girl comedy, everybody forgot to find a plot.

You might enjoy The Devil Wears Prada 2 if you love dresses. I don’t know about or care about dresses, so I can’t really comment on the value of the fashion platery here, but the original did find a way to echo the emotional resonances of Working Girl and Pretty Woman as it converted Andy from a nerdy shlub to a radiant neo-Audrey Hepburn. Since Hathaway is gorgeous from the outset and has maintained her knowledge of how to dress well from the original movie, there’s no transformation here to make you ooh and ahh.

I have nothing against sequels, or legacy sequels, or fluffy movies that only seek to entertain. But Rule 1 is they need a story that makes sense. And Rule 2: They do need to entertain.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 1:44 pm by Ed Driscoll

NEW FOOTAGE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RELEASED. Here’s What It Shows:

The friendly fire theory just got buried — on video.

For days, questions swirled about whether a Secret Service agent wounded at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner had actually been hit by fellow agents in the chaos. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro put that narrative to rest Thursday night.

Pirro released new, high-quality security video from the Washington Hilton Hotel showing 31-year-old Cole Allen charging through a Secret Service checkpoint during the April 25 dinner, where President Trump was scheduled to speak. The footage, she noted, had already been submitted to U.S. District Court.

“Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Pirro said in her X post. “There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire.”

 

Related:

That’s a plausible theory, but which movie did Allen think he was starring in? Taxi Driver? JFK? The Manchurian Candidate?

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll