James Schmeling

Where José Andrés eats in Washington DC ‘I’m telling you, we have one of the best food scenes in the country,’ says the chef and humanitarian, who has called the city home for more than 30 years

Love José Andrés - great article: www.ft.com/content/6cb0...

Note this was far past sunset so all the Illumination was from the moon.

Night sky with long exposure. Full moon backlighting clouds.

Moonlit sky. Maryland super moon with clouds.

#cloudscape #supermoon #fullmoon #clouds #sky

Moonrise behind trees

Moonrise behind trees

Moonrise behind trees

Moonrise.

Or listening to the local radio station when you were way more rural than a local TV station could serve.

How Venezuelan Gangs and African Jihadists Are Flooding Europe With Cocaine Surging trans-Atlantic drug flows mean that cocaine seizures in Europe now exceed those in North America.

www.wsj.com/world/americ...

www.nbcnews.com/news/militar...

insightcrime.org/news/shiftin... - noting connections to Venezuela, Maduro, state actors

www.cato.org/blog/trumps-... - not fentanyl

features.csis.org/tracking-tra... - good from CSIS

But, NY Times on US www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Reporting I've seen on drug trade using those boats seems to indicate that they are transshipping cocaine through Caribbean islands to Europe. Fentanyl seems to be manufactured in other places, transported by land. But I have no independent expertise. I'll see if I can find the reporting I read.

And I have yet to see what missiles were deployed that were ineffective enough to leave an operational boat with an operational radio with two people able to get back on board in one piece who could potentially keep going. It's just not that believable, or likely, even if it is potentially possible.

And not just for this strike, but for every strike, every recording, every order, every legal opinion, and every plan. I don't understand the idea that probably cocaine trafficking, likely to Europe, constitutes an act of war toward the US, nor how arms purchases there threaten the US.

On the boat with an operational radio asking for assistance to continue the drug run with the cocaine seems according to one story I saw today, again, quite different than the "clinging to wreckage in the water" that I had heard earlier. My 2 cents - the relevant committees need to see every record.

No-strings-attached, zero-means-testing, no-questions-asked cash payouts have been proven, over and over again, to be the most effective form of charity/aid going.

It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.

Cairn peeking around right side of the laptop.

Cairn looking around the left side of the laptop. Maybe this will work?

Progressively less patient.

Blue, our Cairn terrier, laying close to my feet and intermittently whining for dinner time.

Blue is (im)patiently waiting for it to be dinner time. Which is not until 5 pm.

As explained further below, however, your status as an inferior officer under Article II of the Constitution renders you an “at-will” employee, and your removal is beyond the purview of Title VII. Regarding your client’s claim that her employment as an Immigration Judge was terminated, this decision was a lawful exercise of the Attorney General’s authority under Article II of the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution allows the President and heads of departments exercising his power to remove inferior officers without cause, subject to only narrow exceptions that do not apply to your former position. No statute provides otherwise, and even if it did, the statute would run afoul of Article II.

DOJ says immigration judges, as "inferior officers," may be fired on the basis of sex, religion, race, or national origin. Leaving aside the law, it's *politically* remarkable they're taking this position.
washingtonlitigationgroup.org/news/former-...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I confess to having written many grants with one, the other, or both, and having had them funded.

Poland to receive 96 Apache helicopters in new Boeing deal Boeing will build 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for Poland under a US Army foreign military sales contract valued at nearly $4.7 billion.

Boeing will build 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for Poland under a US Army foreign military sales contract valued at nearly $4.7 billion.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/?p=64479

Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings

Lol, Zillow tried to rate the climate risks facing individual properties. The real estate industry *hated* it, precisely because it worked -- it made selling risky properties more difficult. So they rebelled & Zillow caved.

Don't look up!

Me, too. Except it was today.

Fascinating thread.

I’m from Iowa - studded snow tires!

No fan of ice, either. Not much here too often but no one is used to it either.

I need no snow anytime soon, so hoping you live far from DC so we can both get the snow we (don't) want!

Wow, phenomenal captures, and what beautiful color!

I may be wrong but I can’t think of any members of my family (biological, not wife or mother-in-law) who would have any opinion on tests, yields, or any nuclear history.

Panoramic photo of trees, white clouds and grey rain clouds near sunset.

Panoramic skyscape.

The COVID-era could be fun.

How do I know I used to travel way too much? When I see a scene in a movie and go "I know that parking garage entry, it's the Westin in Atlanta."

Rubio in the hot seat after telling senators the 28 points is a Russian plan US is passing along to Ukraine

Rubio in the hot seat after telling senators the 28 points is a Russian plan US is passing along to Ukraine
According to Republican Senator Mike Rounds, Rubio told senators that the 28-point peace plan drawn by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dm...

Unusually recent satellite imagery of a Chinese port uploaded to Google Earth shows Chinese extra-large uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) undergoing trials

Nuremberg trial records made available online after painstaking 25-year project Launch of digitisation project marks 80th anniversary of start of legal effort to bring Nazi leaders to justice

“A fully digitised collection of the records of the Nuremberg trials is being launched online to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the groundbreaking legal effort to bring Nazi leaders to justice.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...