JUST IN: Activity on several major U.S. political subreddits plunges following attacks on Russian data centers.

Just so everybody understands the reference, “Bella ciao” was the message allegedly written on one of the bullets from Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In case anyone did not fully appreciate the insanity of what Ashley St. Clair said in that clip.

My favorite fact is that no one’s name ever got changed at Ellis Island because it makes people *absolutely furious.*

Attention Young Men: I am surrounded by 20 year old girls in my life that are smart, capable, hard working and cute. Nobody is dating them. Not sure what the deal is, but I don’t get it. Step 1: Stop playing video games Step 2: Head to great clips and get that lettuce cleaned up Step 3: Hit a shower (when dating hygiene is critical) Step 4: Go clean your car Step 5: Sign up for a yoga class Step 6: Go to the yoga class Step 7: Ask a cute for her phone number at yoga class (yes you can meet girls IRL and not just on the apps - 10/10 the Dirt Dog highly recommends) Step 8: Follow up within 2 days with a phone call and ask them out for this coming weekend Friday or Saturday night. Step 9: IMPORTANT - come up with a good game plane for date night. Get a dinner reservation, get an activity planned. Let them know in advance what you are doing so they can dress appropriately. I know you are gunna roll off the couch and head to date night, but they are not. They are going to stress about what to wear and call at least 6 different people on FaceTime to ask their opinion. Step 10: I highly recommend you bring flowers to the door step. I’m not covering that you go to the doorstep, because if you don’t do that you have no hope here. Women want men to date them. You don’t need to break the bank on flowers. Head to Trader Joe’s. Grab 2 different kinds of flowers. If you don’t know what matches find the closest looking lady to your mom at TJ’s and ask her. Wrap the 2 flowers into 1 bouquet with paper. Bonus Points you can cut open a TJ bag and use that as the paper. Step 11: Be a gentleman on the date. She isn’t there to hear your life story. Ask her about her. For every 1 question you answer, ask her 3. Open Doors, pay for the meal, be polite. Provided you follow most of this guideline you are highly likely to get yourself an opportunity for date number 2. Keep going until you find someone that you can’t imagine not being around all the time. That’s when you have found a good one for you. My life is complete with my wife as my companion. I wish you the same fortune in life. Happy Hunting.

This is of the most Gen Z stories ever -- rather extreme and from Brazil -- but applicable to most of the world. A 21-year-old black law student named @aanaelisast built a very large YouTube following with daily pro-Lula and far-left political content. She just parlayed that into a stunning vote total to be elected to Brazil's national Congress at 21 (with more than 500,000 votes). Overnight she became the media darling. They all heralded her as the genius and pioneer to help Lula figure out how to use social media to reach young voters to help him overcome his deficit behind Flavio Bolsonaro. Lula's campaign put her on its communications team. Such a sweet, inspiring story . . . . BUT THEN: People started predictably looking into what she's been saying. And they found pretty much the worst possible messages for Lula's campaign at this stage: she called for the shutting of churches, expressed what appears to be anti-white hatred, called for Moraes to censor or shut Instagram, YouTube, X in order to block conservative messaging, etc. etc. Some of it was a bit out of context, some ironic, all of it written at a young age (since she's 21, that's true of everything). The only way to build a large internet following that quickly is through deliberately provocative and even extremist messaging that may or may not reflect the persons's true character and beliefs. But in political warfare, those nuances are irrelevant. At first she denied the worst messages, claiming they were forged and even threatened to sue those who fabricated them. Then she admitted they are all authentic, then closed and locked her social media accounts, and now Lula's campaign has to repudiate her. I've long said that the thing for which I'm most grateful is that I didn't have to grow up with every thought and traansressive view that I had at 17 and 19 and 21 years old permanently recorded online. As people increasingly enter politics whose lives were never internet-free, the only people who will escape this kind of negative scrutiny are soulless, bloodless people created in vats and labs to be US Senators: like the Pete Buttigiegs and Mitt Romneys of the world. Grim all the way around.

we’re actually doomed

BREAKING: US imposes sanctions on ICC

RE: the new Xitter fad I've dubbed Boomer Fatigue. TL;DR warning. This is me and my Dad from when he was about the age I am now. He got "right-sized" a couple years later. Took a job paying half of what he was worth because Big Corporate will happily cut you at the first sign of boardroom chart turbulence—then pay someone 20 years younger to do twice the work for a third less money. A couple years after that? Dad then had a heart attack. Bypass city. It was the worst thing he'd ever experienced to that point, and changed his whole diet and everything to keep himself alive because he could tell he'd be the one having to take care of Mom, who was already physically declining. World on his shoulders, et cetera. Now in 2026 my sister and I swap turns helping take care of them both. Not because we're selfless saints—well, my sister probably is but I sure as hell am not—but because the 5th Commandment is some real shit. And anyone who's flipping the bird at their parents over self-pitying Boomer Fatigue is making a big mistake. When you achieve majority your parents no longer owe you anything. That's just facts. It's nice if you still receive after becoming an adult, but your parents don't owe you squat. My Dad's helped my wife and I in all manner of ways since we got married in 1993 but we never demanded a dime. Not of his money, nor his time. And he's volunteered both anyway. Because he's a GOOD MAN. And he remembers all the ways his parents helped him. And he's a pay it forward kinda guy—as we all oughta be. It's a shame that some of you didn't get to have good men as fathers. Or, it's a shame if you did have good fathers that you now feel so bruised by the fact your fathers may not be in a position to cut you a big inheritance that you're willing to spit on them—even if it's just rhetorically from behind the safety of a social media alias. The only Boomer Fatigue *I* experience is with Boomer politicians. They're exiting D.C. with the country and the economy in dreadfully worse shape than when they found it in the 1990s—when Boomer pols rose to power as a herd. But that's not my Dad's fault. He's straight-as-a-rail honest in all his dealings, loathes the way D.C. has been conducting business, and has voted against the wrong as often as he's been able, to the best of his knowledge and ability. It is literally not his fault that society and our economy are in such a pickle in 2026. And I am willing to wager a great many of your fathers did the same. And if you were fortunate enough to have a responsible, worthy Dad who worked hard, paid his dues, invested in you as a child, then saw you off to a good life as an adult, you'd better goddamned jolly well stop with this Boomer Fatigue horseshit and fix yourself.

Being single is absolutely shit. Why would anyone prefer this life? No sexual obligation to anybody. Sex when you actually want it rather than because somebody else has decided tonight would be nice. Steak three nights running without anybody asking where the vegetables are. Leftovers still sitting in the fridge when you go back for them. Nobody asking what’s for dinner as though you’ve somehow been appointed Head of Catering. Three hours in the Mall without somebody following you around looking like they’re being held against their will. Nobody asking if you’re nearly finished when you’ve clearly only just started. Complete control of the thermostat. Cold? Heating on. Hot? Heating off. A remarkably efficient system. The cat is the only one leaving his crap around the house, and at least he has the excuse of being an animal. Your own money spent without having to explain, justify or ask permission. Bought something you didn’t need but just really wanted. A bathroom that smells normal. If something goes missing, you moved it yourself. No investigation required. Nobody commenting on your body, makeup, hair or clothes. Going out without getting texts every five minutes asking where you are and when you’ll be home. No work events where you have to stand around pretending to be interested in somebody’s colleagues while desperately trying to remember which one you’ve been told is an arsehole. Bed at 8pm if you fancy it. Bed at 2am if you fancy it. Who cares? Nobody requiring congratulations because they loaded the dishwasher. Imagine completing a basic household task without expecting some form of award. Holidays that are actually fun holidays instead of the same arguments in another country. Nobody comparing your cooking skills to someone else. No football. No rugby. No entire weekend being organised around the match. Being ugly at home in complete peace. Nobody eating the one thing in the fridge you’d been looking forward to all day. No splitting the food bill 50/50 with somebody who eats twice as much as you. Nobody standing at the door asking, Are you nearly ready? while possessing functioning eyes and looking directly at someone who clearly isn’t fucking ready. Nobody saying nothing is wrong and then behaving for the next four hours as though you’ve murdered their entire family. Sleeping peacefully with no one snoring and the whole bed to yourself. No empty promises to keep track of. Nobody picking a fight just before something important. No resentment about doing everything yourself because you’re actually doing it for yourself. No splitting the rent equally with somebody earning twice what you earn and pretending that somehow qualifies as equal. Nobody eating, drinking or using the thing you specifically told them not to touch. Furniture can be rearranged whenever you feel like it. The remote stays where you left it. The sheets remain their original colour and smell nice. Nobody ignoring you while simultaneously occupying half your house. And if the place is messy, at least you know which idiot made the mess. What’s the worst part I’ve missed?