State AGs Are Right: DOJ Must Fix Its
Ticketmaster Settlement
Posted By: Mercedes44, 3/15/2026 5:28:56 AM
Unfortunately, in its first major antitrust action after the departure of Gail Slater—the tough-on-monopoly head of the Antitrust Division—Justice Department lawyers appear to have retreated to the same weak settlement approach that frustrated conservatives for years. The DOJ’s bipartisan lawsuit against Live Nation (also Ticketmaster’s owner), which 39 states and the District of Columbia signed onto, was a golden opportunity. Everybody hates inflated ticket prices and the ridiculous junk fees that accompany them, but we’re stuck paying them because Live Nation is pretty much the only game in town.
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During an interview with MS NOW on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to claims that he told the U.S. that Iran had enough uranium to make multiple nuclear weapons by saying that he did say they had enough material that, if enriched further, could make ten nuclear weapons, but claiming that this was actually just trying to convey how big of a concession Iran was willing to make and not making a threat.Araghchi said, “I never said that we are going to make the bombs.
Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick says he has traded California for Texas, joining a growing list of billionaires abandoning the state as lefty lawmakers push for a one-off tax their wealth.
Appearing on TPBN to discuss his robotics startup Atoms, Kalanick told hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays he relocated to Austin on December 18.
California lawmakers and activists are currently pushing a proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, which could appear on the state’s November 2026 ballot. The measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on fortunes exceeding $1 billion and would apply to people who were California residents as of January 1, 2026.
Unfortunately, in its first major antitrust action after the departure of Gail Slater—the tough-on-monopoly head of the Antitrust Division—Justice Department lawyers appear to have retreated to the same weak settlement approach that frustrated conservatives for years.
The DOJ’s bipartisan lawsuit against Live Nation (also Ticketmaster’s owner), which 39 states and the District of Columbia signed onto, was a golden opportunity. Everybody hates inflated ticket prices and the ridiculous junk fees that accompany them, but we’re stuck paying them because Live Nation is pretty much the only game in town.
This is not an overnight development that just happened in the past two weeks, after the Trump administration and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
Reports were emerging in January that even while Iranian citizens fed an uprising that led to the murder of roughly 40,000 of them at the hands of the Iranian regime, members of the regime have been quietly relocating to Canada.A news site called Justice In Conflict reported in January that “in 2021, a Tehran police chief was spotted at a Toronto-area gym. In 2024, it was reported that 700 Iranian nationals linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) resided in Canada –
Friday night was, I believe, night eight of the protests that have broken out across Cuba, and it was the biggest, boldest night yet. Of course, people are still banging pots and pans and marching in the streets, shouting things such as "Freedom," "Long live Trump," and "Down with communism," but night eight got a little more serious. In the town of Morón in the Ciego de Ávila province, the demonstrators brought their A-game. They stormed the Communist Party of Cuba headquarters in that town and set it on fire. There are multiple videos on X. In some,
Throughout his four years in office, Joe Biden fought for gun control laws. On what seemed like a weekly basis he implored Congress to ban commonly owned firearms, arguing that nobody needs an AR-15 to go deer hunting and falsely asserting that Americans couldn't own cannons at the time of the Founding. Even as Biden cracked down on legal gun owners, he and his Department of Justice were busy cutting criminals a break. Biden, of course, pardoned his son Hunter after he was convicted for lying about his drug use on a federal form when purchasing a firearm,
Watching the Florida legislature make statutory sausage has been an exercise in frustration for Second Amendment advocates in recent years as Senate leadership has stymied attempts to repeal bans on gun sales to adults under the age of 21, the state's "red flag" law, and pro-2A bills allowing for open carry and lawful carry on college and university campuses.Florida is now an open carry state thanks to the courts, not lawmakers, but the legislature did take a small step towards campus carry legislation this week when the Senate signed off on HB 757,
The economy unexpectedly flatlined in January ahead of the war in Iran, with the lack of signs of growth stoking fears of recession and another cost-of-living crisis. The Mail has more.
In January, the economy recorded zero growth, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Most economists had expected growth of 0.2%.
It underscores the economy’s fragility even before the outbreak of the Iran conflict, which has triggered an energy shock likely to raise inflation.The prospect of another energy crisis has stoked fears that the UK will fall into a period of stagflation – the combination of higher inflation and unemployment,
Hundreds of convicted criminals are being deported to Britain under Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal migrants and the UK is unprepared for the influx, campaigners have warned. The Telegraph has more.
Prisoner welfare campaigners have warned that UK Government agencies have done little to prepare for convicts and migrants being sent back, with many at risk of ending up homeless or turning to crime.
Figures obtained by the Telegraph have revealed that the number of people flown back to the UK by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials has doubled since Trump took office for the second time last year.
Planned Parenthood is having a rougher time than it once did. Fifty or so clinics have closed due to financial difficulties associated with defunding from the government.
Not to worry! As reported in the New York Times — a California clinic is offering cosmetic procedures to help keep the doors open.First, the Times’ reporter Alisha Haridasani Gupta, describes the core mission of PP clinics. Notice what she leaves out:
Nationwide, Planned Parenthood, which provides birth control, preventive sexual health screenings, prenatal care and primary care for millions of patients, many of them on Medicaid, is facing enormous challenges. These include significant cuts to Medicaid reimbursements, increased costs of treatments and staffing,
Donald Trump Checkmates Iran On Day 14
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Don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. The war in Iran will continue for at least another week, according to President Donald Trump, and probably much longer. There are still hundreds, maybe thousands of targets, human and places, to destroy, thousands of sorties to be flown by U.S. and Israeli forces, and American naval assets will soon be joined by up to 5,000 Marines. There undoubtedly will still be casualties to come, joining the 13 we've already lost in the last fortnight. But not only are we winning this war against Iran,the killer move that all but assures the final outcome in our favor—
Iran said Saturday that all countries besides the US and Israel may pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in a desperate attempt at coalition busting less than a day after the US bombed military targets on its oil-critical Kharg Island.
“As a matter of fact, the Strait of Hormuz is open,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
“It is only closed to the tankers and ships belong[ing] to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass,” Araghchi told MS NOW.
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James ‘Six Genders’ Talarico Says
White Guys Have ‘Greater Responsibility’
to ‘Love…Trans Kids’ 29 replies
White Guys Have ‘Greater Responsibility’
to ‘Love…Trans Kids’ 29 replies
James “God is Non-binary” Talarico believes white males have a greater responsibility to love trans kids.
Rep. Talarico (D-TX) is the Democrat nominee for the United States Senate.
Let me just state right here and right now that people who “love trans kids” do not — as Talarico constantly does — advocate for queering, sexualizing, chemically sterilizing, and performing irreversible “gender affirming” mutilations on them.
The bottom line is this: James Transarico is a full-blown monster deliberately perverting the Christian faith to obtain power. I’ve never seen anything like this guy. He’s a demon with a baby face.
Poet Robert Frost once said that "good fences make good neighbors." He apparently never met Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is being sued by his neighbors for effectively squatting on their land and then seizing it to install a fence along his $830,500 private residence in suburban Philadelphia. The litigation is likely to put Shapiro in a much different light for many who think of him as a 2028 contender. The irony of the case is crushing. Shapiro opposed Trump's plan to build a wall along the southern border, declaring that he would sue before a dime of Pennsylvania money went to pay for it. He apparently adopted
Iran said Saturday that all countries besides the US and Israel may pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in a desperate attempt at coalition busting less than a day after the US bombed military targets on its oil-critical Kharg Island.
“As a matter of fact, the Strait of Hormuz is open,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
“It is only closed to the tankers and ships belong[ing] to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass,” Araghchi told MS NOW.
Republican Senator Mike Lee says there has been major progress in the push to pass the SAVE America Act after mounting pressure on Senate leadership to move the legislation forward. In an update to supporters, Lee, the lead sponsor of the SAVE America Act, said recent discussions with Thune and his staff have led to meaningful progress on how the bill could be debated and brought to a vote.[snip] Lee confirmed the breakthrough in a new video clip: a HYBRID form of the talking filibuster is now set to be implemented.
Is he alive or is he dead? When it comes to the new ayatollah, the answer is ultimately Yes. If he is alive, it won’t be for long. Who wants to tell him?
Sadly, I don’t have any memes yet for Judge Lawrence Van Dyke’s amazing dissent at the 9th Circuit Friday. (If you haven’t heard about this, see the third item here.)
If you vote for Gavin Newsom for president, what do you get?
If you find out, tell him. He would love to know.
The Democrat governor of California recently had occasion to explain what to expect if he entered the Oval Office on January 20, 2029.
Alas for Newsom, his not-ready-for-primetime response recalled other politicians who had no clue why they ran for office.
In Michael Ritchie’s film The Candidate, Bill McKay (the great, recently late Robert Redford) wins a U.S. Senate seat. On Election Night, he is adrift. He is a victorious, albeit empty, vessel. He hides from his adoring crowd just long enough to corner his campaign manager (Peter Boyle) and plead:
Without The Save Act, We are Living in
a Slave State and Our Labor Is Harvested
by Crooks. 10 replies
a Slave State and Our Labor Is Harvested
by Crooks. 10 replies
The theft of the 2020, 2022 and 2024 elections has moved to the Grand Jury stage, probable cause established and records seized in Maricopa and Fulton Counties. Next up, Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. All five should and may well lie under close Federal supervision on voting day during the 2026 midterms. (Snip)Thune has, grindingly, consented to refer the Save Act to a vote, possibly next week.
Thune is, like most elected Republicans, pretendian MAGA counting the days when he can go back to playing defence and lining his pockets. The fact that voter fraud has deprived the Republicans of a clear unbreakable majority for THREE election cycles is clearly beyond him.
US Approval of Britain Plunges to Record Low
10 replies
US approval of Britain has plummeted to a record low as Donald Trump supporters shun Sir Keir Starmer over free speech suppression and other political differences, new data show. The Telegraph has the story.
The share of Americans who have a positive view of the UK has plummeted to 76% this year from 84%, according to polling by Gallup.
This is the lowest level since at least 1987 and the first time the share has ever fallen below 80%. Over the last four decades, the number has averaged 88%.
The slump was almost entirely driven by Republicans.
Trump’s release of strategic oil reserves
will lower stockpiles below Biden administration's levels 10 replies
will lower stockpiles below Biden administration's levels 10 replies
The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that it would be joining a global, coordinated strategic release of crude oil reserves in order to lower oil prices resulting from ongoing hostilities in Iran.
“Earlier today, 32 member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA) unanimously agreed to President Trump’s request to lower energy prices with a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil and refined products from their respective reserves,” Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
Of the 400 million barrels of oil that will be released, the U.S. will contribute 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
A federal jury in Texas returned a guilty verdict on all nine defendants charged in the July 2025 attack on the Prairieland ICE detention facility near Alvarado, Texas. The verdict was read on Friday for Benjamin Hanil Song, the accused Antifa organizer behind the attack, and eight associates who now await sentencing for their roles in the attack.
The jury delivered the verdict at the federal courthouse in downtown Fort Worth, finding Song, the alleged ringleader of the Antifa cell, guilty of attempted murder for his role in the shooting of an Alvarado police officer. The local police officer was responding to a request for assistance
President Trump's Justice Department has been looking with a narrowed gaze at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Following the president's eyes, they were specifically interested in the costly renovations of the Fed's offices. To that end, as part of an investigation being carried out by the DOJ, a grand jury has subpoenaed records having to do with those renovations.
On Friday, we learned that a federal judge has quashed those subpoenas, and you'll never guess who it was.Well, what do you know. Turns out that the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has some thoughts on all this as well.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a press conference on Friday on the status of the Iran war and blasted what he called "fake news" coverage of the conflict. Hegseth announced that today will be the highest level of strikes in Iran.
Hegseth criticized CNN for reporting the administration "underestimated" Iran's impact on the Strait of Hormuz, saying, "The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."
"More fake news from CNN," Hegseth said. "Reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always