Wednesday Potpourri

First, well before the waters had crested Democratic political operatives were out shrieking that the Texas flood was Donald Trump’s fault. 

Some argued that it was the fault of the most recent Big, Beautiful Bill that Trump had just signed. Others blamed it on climate change.

For people who believe that everything is Trump’s fault, the flood was not just Biblical. It was a gift from Heaven, that is, God’s judgment.

One is not going to rehearse all of the arguments, but Chris Martz offers some cogent analysis:

Okay. Let’s talk some facts. The Camp Mystic flood disaster in Texas is very unfortunate, and I hope that all of the missing girls are found. The usual suspects are exploiting this tragedy to score political brownie points. 

Some left-wing activists are blaming this flood on “climate change,” others are blaming the deaths and missing persons on inadequate warning caused by low staffing at the National Weather Service (NWS) caused by Trump administration federal RIFs. 

First of all, staffing cuts played no part in this tragedy. The NWS issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the flood. They also issued a flash flood warning for Hunt and Ingraham THREE HOURS before the Guadalupe River began to climb. There was plenty of lead time with respect to the forecast and issuance of warnings. 

The flood was caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry becoming embedded into a broad mid-level trough over central Texas. These remnant lows are typically slow-moving and drop heavy rain over a large geographical area where the troposphere destabilizes. 

This particular one stayed quasi- (fairly) stationary, and caused massive flooding along the Guadalupe River, something that has happened many times before. In 1987, a flash flood on the same river killed 10 teenage campers from the Pot O Gold Christian Camp, with another 33 swept away who survived. 

Camp Mystic is built on a floodplain. It is on sediment that has been deposited by hundreds, if not thousands of floods over the last millennium. The event has nothing to do with climate change. 

And, the tragedy had nothing to do with DOGE cuts. If you are someone who has exploited this catastrophe because you just don’t like Trump, you need to take a serious look in the mirror. 

As for staffing, the National Weather Service had extra staff on duty at the time.

Second, as noted before, Zohran Mamdani, candidate for New York’s Mayor, is a gift that keeps on giving.

As does his father. 

Zohran Mamdani's father believes: 

The Allies and Nazis had the same goal 

Abraham Lincoln was Hitler's inspiration 

White people are the oppressors, America is the root of all evil 

BLM is the resistance Blah blah blah. Another wealthy leftist who hates America. Now we know who Zohran gets it from.

Not just a wealthy leftist. A Columbia University professor, too.

Third, on the Mamdani front, the candidate’s association with notable anti-Semites is certainly troubling:

Socialist New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani visited a controversial Brooklyn mosque to pray while on the campaign trail — just months after the imam had called for the destruction of Israel.

Mamdani posted a picture of himself speaking at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, alongside firebrand cleric Sheikh Muhammad Al-Barr, on his social media in January.

Fourth, and then there is this, the image of Mamdani ridiculing the Jewish holiday of Chanukkah. Via Newsmax:

A Jewish advocacy group harshly criticized democratic socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over the weekend for posting a "sick" video mocking Hanukkah and "cosplaying Jews," the New York Post reported.

Mamdani shared a video on his X account last year from the Geeta Brothers Duet Group, which showed two men wearing wigs dancing behind a menorah, spinning dreidels, and celebrating with Punjabi-style music.

The pro-Jewish group Stop Antisemitism group wrote on X that "Zohran Mamdani posts Indian men cosplaying Jews, spinning dreidels and lighting the menorah." The post continued that "our holidays and traditions are sacred and not for your comedic pleasure @ZohranKMamdani — this is sick."

Fifth, the New York Post reports that some senior Palestinian officials are now interested in joining the Abraham Accords:

A group of five top Palestinian officials in the West Bank’s Hebron district said they are willing to leave the Palestinian Authority and join the Abraham Accords, recognizing the state of Israel.

The sheikhs penned a letter to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, expressing their desire to transform The West Bank’s largest district into an emirate that “recognize[s] the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari — one of the most influential leaders in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest region — urged Israel and President Trump, who oversaw the Abraham Accords in his first term, to back the plan for self-governance.

Sixth, meanwhile, back in Germany, migrant crime advances exponentially. Via Zero Hedge.

In the last 10 years, we’ve welcomed a lot of ill-behaved and criminal young men into our country for no discernible reason, and along the way we’ve had the dubious privilege of discovering whole new categories of crime. There is the hostile-immigrant-drives-his-car-into-a-crowd-of-unsuspecting-innocents crime, there is the hostile-immigrant-stabs-a-bunch-of-random-people crime, there is the immigrant-gang-collectively-rape-underage-girl-in-park crime, and there is the immigrants-at-swimming-pool-molest-or-assault-various-children crime.

The latter has been stealing the headlines since the latest (allegedly carbon dioxide-induced) ‘heatwave’ in Germany. Recent stories include this one about a 25 year-old man of undisclosed background (who is almost certainly a migrant, otherwise authorities would not be so secretive about his origins) exposing himself to a bunch of underage teenagers at a pool in Asperg (Baden-Württemberg). Or this one, about a 21 year-old Syrian at a pool in Schweinfurt (Bavaria) caught exposing himself to four boys. Or this one, about men of “dark complexion” who severely beat an 18 year-old and threw him down some stairs. Or this disturbing one, about two Syrians who groped and assaulted a 12 year-old girl at a pool in Hof (Bavaria), forcing her beneath the water repeatedly and leaving her with a bloody nose.

Stories like this often come in groups, and what set off the present cascade was a particularly grim incident from June 22nd in Gelnhausen (Hessen), in which a group of Syrian migrants aged 18 to 28 molested eight or nine underage girls at the local pool. When the girls first complained about what was happening, pool personnel sent them back into the water. After this incident became a nationwide story, the Mayor of Gelnhausen, Christian Litzinger (CDU) gave an interview in which he appeared to ascribe the crime to “high temperatures”, which can cause “tempers to flare up”.

Seventh, what would we do without experts? Consider the case of Argentina and the administration of their new libertarian president, Javier Milei:

Javier Milei has lowered Argentina’s monthly inflation rate from 26% to just 1.5% The economy grew 7.6% in Q2 YoY Never forget… the media and professional class labeled him a dangerous “far-right” lunatic because he wanted to cut spending.

Eighth, on the therapy front, there’s  relatively recent therapy that seems to be producing good results. 

Consider the case of one Miley Cyrus. She claims that EMDR cured her stage fright:

Miley Cyrus has performed for some of the world’s biggest audiences — but for years, she quietly battled stage fright behind the scenes.

In a recent interview, the pop icon revealed that a therapy called EMDR was instrumental in curbing her anxiety.

“Love it. Saved my life,” she told The New York Times in May. “I’ve never had stage fright again. Ever.”

In another recent interview with Vogue, Cyrus said that EMDR felt like watching a movie in her mind — vivid and emotional, but grounding.

What is EMDR?

EMDR — or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing — is an alternative therapy designed to help people process unresolved trauma and emotional pain….

“EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, often through eye movements, tapping or sound, to help the brain reprocess those upsetting memories,” added Campbell, who leads a team of EMDR professionals.

She elaborated, “On a neurological level, EMDR helps shift the memory from being stored in the emotional part of the brain (the amygdala) to the more logical, rational part (the prefrontal cortex).”

I have no personal experience with EMDR, but I have it on good authority that you can produce a similar effect by fly fishing. I think that the same would apply to golf.