"At one point, Le Pen whispered: 'Incredible.' She then abruptly left without warning, before her sentence had been handed down."

From "Marine Le Pen barred from running for French presidency in 2027/Far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement of European funds and immediately barred from running for office" (The Guardian).

What kind of "embezzlement" was this? Is it anything like what Elon Musk and DOGE are finding in the United States?

"I have a tendency to do things that scare me, just for the sake of it. I've done skydiving, parachuting; I rode a motorcycle across India aged 63."

"I've also driv[en] semi trucks for a living, hauling 53 foot containers across the country. One day, parked at a huge truck stop in Texas, I got it into my head that it wasn't fair that I, a burly man in his sixties, could no longer skip like I did when I was seven. I asked myself why the case might be, and of course it was one of self consciousness. Had I been with my wife or a friend we could certainly do it. We'd be two adults playing like kids for a lark. But do it alone?"

That's the top comment on "Is Skipping Really a Good Workout? It feels like play. Here’s what fitness experts say about using the activity as a training tool" (NYT).

"Argentinian President Javier Milei has ordered the release of documents related to Nazis who fled to Argentina after World War II."

"These documents have sparked discussions and claims on social media that Adolf Hitler escaped to Argentina and lived there until the mid-1960s. The claims suggest that Hitler may have been aided by the United States and its allies, and that he fathered two children during his time in Argentina. However, these assertions remain speculative and are subject to ongoing debate and scrutiny regarding their historical accuracy."

Says the summary of a trending topic — "Milei Releases Documents on Nazis in Argentina" — on X.

"I'm not worried about whether I would be protected or not at said institution. I'm, you know, Privileged White Woman..."

Tim Walz’s daughter announced that she was accepted into a graduate school but has decided not to attend, stating that as a “privileged white woman,” she does not want to support institutions that fail to protect student protesters. 🤡 pic.twitter.com/F995YVHPrl

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) March 30, 2025

Nothing more privileged than choosing to do nothing. She's just doing nothing for a year. But that's okay. She's "not really in a rush."

I wonder which institution "said institution" was. It would help in understanding how much of a sacrifice this is. In some cases, an ambitious person, who can afford to take a year off, could do things to bolster her credentials and gain access to a more prestigious school. Why, this public declining of an offer is itself a credential! Especially in some fields... so I have to wonder what she majored in, undergrad. Sociology? I looked it up. It was indeed sociology! And a minor in women’s gender and sexuality studies. 

So, great viral video. Great audition tape. 

I remember when feminism involved seeing woman as the victim, but now we see young women contemptuous of that viewpoint and not worried about whether I would be protected. 

"The American people would have been disenfranchised if the machine represented by the Kamala puppet had won."

Asserts Elon Musk:

Yes, it is utterly insane.

The American people would have been disenfranchised if the machine represented by the Kamala puppet had won.

Thankfully, we have President Trump. https://t.co/DMQQlKkP9a

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2025

Donald Trump tells us everything about his dinner with Bill Maher.

A post on Truth Social:

I got a call from a very good guy, and friend of mine, Kid Rock, asking me whether or not it would be possible for me to meet, in the White House, with Bill Maher, a man who has been unjustifiably critical of anything, or anyone, TRUMP. I really didn’t like the idea much, and don’t like it much now, but thought it would be interesting. The problem is, no matter how much he likes your Favorite President, ME, he will publicly proclaim what a terrible guy I am, etc., very much like the Democrats at my recent Address to the Joint Session of Congress, where I stated, correctly, that no matter what I said or did, they wouldn’t stand, they wouldn’t applaud, they wouldn’t smile or laugh and, certainly, they wouldn’t be in any way “nice.” Who knows, though, maybe I’ll be proven wrong? In any event, I’m doing a favor for a friend. I look forward to meeting with Bill Maher, Kid Rock and, I believe, even the Legendary Dana White will be present. It might be fun or, it might not, but you will be the first to know!

Is that a way to treat a dinner guest? Does Maher get to bring 2 charismatic chatty confederates to balance the table?

ADDED: Kid Rock was on Bill Maher's show a few weeks ago. 

So is [blank] [blank]'s [blank] or not?

If you watched the new episode of "White Lotus," I invite you to discuss it, with spoilers, in the comments.

We watched as soon as it became available. Waiting for that moment to arrive, we were straining to follow the stammering silhouette, Elon Musk, that paced in front of a screen-filling, lit-up American flag. The flag image was so intense that when I averted my eyes, I hallucinated a flag that looked like this....

ADDED: Here's a look at the stage in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with Musk leaning into the "cheesehead" ethos:

pic.twitter.com/1eaWcy3LfW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2025

At the Sunday Night Café...

 ... you can talk about whatever you want...

... including the Elon Musk/Wisconsin event that's about to unfold. Here's the live feed:

"You're pretending that these people are all coming out to see you. But they're coming out to see you 'cause you're giving them money and free food, right?"

"And you know, you're handing out water bottles, and everybody gets a sign, and everybody seems like they're kind of a part of a team. And for a lot of losers, a lot of people that don't have things going well in their life.... I was a loser at many points in my life. If somebody called me up and said, Hey man, you wanna make 400 bucks and just go to this Kamala Harris rally? I'm like, yeah, let's go. I would 100% go.... and I'd be like, yeah, I'm fucking voting for her, dude. He's Hitler, that guy. We gotta stop Hitler. And I'd be holding up that stupid sign — if you found me when I was 21. 100%. I would've taken that 400 bucks."

 

"Trump won’t rule out seeking a third term in the White House, tells NBC News ‘there are methods’ for doing so."

 NBC News reports.

“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in a Sunday-morning phone call with NBC News, referring to his allies. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.... I’m not joking...."...

NBC News asked about a possible scenario in which Vice President JD Vance would run for office and then pass the role to Trump. Trump responded that “that’s one” method.

“But there are others too,” Trump added. Asked to share another method, Trump simply responded “no.”

That's for him to know and for NBC to find out. 

"Just a heads-up."

Liberal woman informs everyone that she won't be dating white men anymore.

Groundbreaking information.pic.twitter.com/2lC5Kqm0Qb

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) March 29, 2025

Ridiculous on so many levels, but I'm just going to highlight the exaggerated enunciation — "as a WHiTTTTe woman."

It made me think of this TikTok video criticizing Rachel Zegler ("Snow White") for over-enunciating:

"How far Ms. Ocasio-Cortez can go is a hot topic for many Democrats right now."

"With her youth, charisma, social media skills and political savvy, she is being talked about nowadays as not only the obvious heir to Mr. Sanders as leader of the progressive movement, but as a possible presidential contender for 2028. This both recognizes her potential and feels premature at best.... Her mere existence spins up Republicans to a degree reminiscent of their reaction to Nancy Pelosi in her heyday.... The Fighting Oligarchy tour organized by Mr. Sanders and featuring her as a 'special guest' drew fired-up crowds in numbers worthy of a presidential campaign: about 15,000 in Tempe, Ariz.; 11,000 in Greeley, Colo.; 34,000 in Denver.... Democrats freaked out by Mr. Trump are clamoring for leaders who share their sense of urgency. Fighting Oligarchy, with its revolutionary fervor, is working to scratch that itch.... [A]lthough Mr. Sanders is the tour’s headliner... it is Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, serving as his fresh-faced, supportive warm-up act, who has many Trump-traumatized Democrats dreaming of a counterrevolution...."

Writes Michelle Cottle, in "What Ocasio-Cortez Wants for the Democrats" (NYT).

Her mere existence spins up Republicans!

Meanwhile, Democrats are itchy, and AOC is scratchy.

This is so good, it feels scripted. Not saying it's scripted. Just saying it's so tightly worded and delivered.

Nah, I just increased his exposure. https://t.co/CiCACHrnE0

— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) March 29, 2025

"Do better; this is simply not possible."

Immediately after this video, the 18-year-old intern was right back in playing with your account.

Nobody believes that you are the global top 3 player in between running the federal government and managing world companies.

Do better; this is simply not possible.

— Tom Navarro (@NavarroThinker) March 29, 2025

"At some point, we gotta be upset about this," says Ezra Klein, nervously chuckling.

Yeah? What point?!

Ezra Klein explains how it feels to be a Democrat in under 30 seconds:
Ezra Klein: "The stimulus bill under Obama, that had 3 big headline projects for reinvestment.
High speed rail, smart grid, a nation wide system of interoperable health records. 0 for 3"
Gavin Newsom: "I… pic.twitter.com/Rlq1z8fGRb

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) March 26, 2025

Via Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, who's put together a nice series of clips and quotes on the theme "The Democratic brand is toxic right now."

This is a theme that gets my tag "Democratic Party in Trumpland."

BUT: Really, the problem Klein chuckles over pre-dates the Trump era. It's the failure of the Obama agenda:  "The stimulus bill under Obama — that had 3 big headline projects for reinvestment. It had high speed rail. It had smart grid. And it had a nation wide system of inter-operable health records.... 0 for 3."

New York City just legalized jaywalking.

The NY Post reports. 

The decriminalization won’t do much to change New Yorkers’ lives — few people faced ticketing for jaywalking even before the change.

Good then. I don't like to see a law that's not enforced lying around waiting to be enforced on someone. Who? Why?

I'm the sort of person who follows rules because they are rules, and I think it's unfair to people like me to get stuck with limitations that are not restricting the freedom of the people who merely factor in the likelihood of getting caught and punished.

We need to worry about "'pretext offenses' — acts that are criminalized to give cops a pretext to stop, arrest or otherwise manage an unruly or dangerous actor," which may be "a license for cops to harass innocent New Yorkers, particularly black and brown ones."

And: "Jaywalking is, as many have claimed, a 'New York tradition.'"