Blumenthal (D. Conn) said the American public would be as shocked as he and his fellow Senators were when the details of the DHS's incompetence were revealed. The report is now public.

/

• Majority of DHS personnel unfamiliar with security protocols

• Only training received by many HSI agents was a single two-hour webinar

• Law enforcement was supposed to be on roof where Crooks shot Trump, post was abandoned

• Night before the rally, Secret Service denied offers to utilize Butler County's drones

• USS Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) did not perform routine pre-event surveillance

• Gunman would have been handcuffed after being spotted with range finder if USS CSD present

• Secret Service lead agent lacked competence and experience

• Secret Service preemptively informed Pittsburgh field office the Butler rally was not going to receive additional security resources

Hawley's whistleblower report concludes:

"Two months have now elapsed since former President Donald J. Trump was nearly assassinated. And the American people still know far too little about why this happened."

"The Secret Service, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security have not been forthcoming with the American people. Far from it: they have closed ranks, refused to confirm or deny whistleblower allegations, and resisted meaningful oversight. In fact, sources with direct knowledge of Secret Service’s own internal investigation have alleged to Senator Hawley that the Department of Homeland Security is leaning on Secret Service not to comply with document requests from Congress." [...]

"Left alone, these agencies will not reform themselves. They will continue to stonewall and obfuscate. Plainly, it is now up to Congress and the President to clean house at these failing agencies at the earliest possible opportunity."

Just sayin'

Remember when all the best people scoffed at the notion that the Replacement Theory was a right-wing myth? They lied. (UPDATED)

/

Coming to our rescue: "As many communities struggle with labor shortages in key professions like teachers, nurses, and doctors, refugees have a critical role to play in filling staffing gaps."

Nearly 500 Elected Officials Call for MORE Migrants to Be Admitted

David Striom, HotAir:

As the open borders crowd takes this opportunity to make their case, they have fallen into a trap: exposing their agenda to flood the country with noncitizens who need welfare, get rent subsidies, drive up housing costs, and drive wages for Americans down. 

Yep. We are importing Haitian doctors and teachers. Uh-huh. 

UPDATE: If you follow the link to the original X post and scroll down the replies, you’ll find, alphabetically by state and name, a complete list of the signatories.

I won't say I'm ready to buy an AR-15, but it wouldn't surprise me if others are taking out insurance for the post-election years

/

Justice elana Kagan: last bastion of liberty

Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit: EVERY INSTITUTION HAS BEEN CORRUPTED: The Supreme Court Trump Leaks Are Worse Than the Dobbs Leak.

First, this leak is far worse than the Dobbs leak. In Dobbs, one or more people exfiltrated a draft opinion from inside the Court, and somehow that opinion made its way to Politico. (Maybe Jodi Kantor can tell us how that happened!) It was devastating for the draft decision to become public, and it nearly led to the assassination of Justice Kavanaugh. But the aftermath of the leak was swift and overwhelming: the Court was placed on lockdown, and a sweeping investigation was launched to find the culprit(s). But the Trump leaks are systematic and thorough. We have insights of confidential memoranda, detailed conversations at conferences, KBJ’s changed vote, Justice Alito losing the Fischer majority, and information about many Roberts clerks were working on the case. This tapestry would require insights from so many different people. Moreover, all of this comes after the Dobbs leak when Chief Justice Roberts (apparently) put strict limitations on access to Court information. What did all of those measures accomplish? Apparently not much.

Second, and I alluded to this point in my earlier post, Justice Kagan is absent from this reporting. There is absolutely nothing about what she thought or did during these deliberations. There are insights into all of the other eight Justices, but nothing on Kagan. This isn’t new. Back in the day when Biskupic got the scoops, Kagan was also largely absent. I think it likely that Kagan, or at least Kagan surrogates, are behind these leaks. If Kagan is willing to publicly undermine her colleagues in a speech at the Ninth Circuit, why would she do any less off-the-record? Moreover, this entire story is consistent with Kagan’s MO, and describing the Court as bending over backwards for Trump. On that point, I would be willing to place a bet that the three Trump appointees rule against Trump in any election case that comes to the high court. Like in the tax return cases, Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett will gladly knock Trump off the scene and declare their independence. Would you take the opposite bet?

Reynolds:

That’s probably the goal. Though ruling in a particular way to demonstrate your independence is the antithesis of independence. And doing it out of fear is just another species of corruption.

But if every institution has been corrupted, then every institution is corrupt. And if every institution is corrupt, how much loyalty do they deserve from the citizenry? And if the answer is “not much,” then what right does the current government have to exist?

Glenn Reynolds is a sober, calm, law professor who’s written an enormous number of scholarly legal articles as well as keeping his very intelligent blog InstaPundit going since 2001; if he’s worried, so am I.

A buyer's rep will tell them what's in store two lots down — when those reps disappear, don't count on the listing agent to (voluntarily) disclose it; she’s not allowed to, by law.

/

Pending after 2 days

/

6 Miltiades Avenue, Riverside, $2.375 million, gone in 60 seconds. 1936 construction, $2,508 square feet, which works out to $946.97 square feet and will undoubtedly be higher when the sales price is reported. A great location for trainspotting, because the tracks are in this one’s back yard.

Interior pictures are still up, so feast your eyes on them while you still can.

Now you see it, now you won't

/

Welcome! The silverware's hidden under the couch

The trend to remove interior shots from the Internet began on the Greenwich MLS began several years ago, but until now has been mostly limited to the most expensive homes. But those pictures are usually posted on the real estate sites like Zillow while the house is on the market — I suspect that pictures, other than, perhaps, a single exterior shot, will start disappearing even from active listings and even for more modestly-priced homes. This will pose a problem for house hunters, who by terms of the recent antitrust settlement, will no longer have buyer reps to assist them.

Interesting times.

New threat facing homeowners whose properties are featured online

Criminals can use sites like Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Google Streetview to surveil homes

Burglars once lurked around neighborhoods and scanned obituaries to determine whom to target. Now, with free services easily available online, they can plan potential robberies from their computers or phones.

Although hard data on burglar's methodologies is hard to come by, California's Riverside Police Department has seen a number of criminals using these online means after they are arrested for prospective burglaries, or after completing one successfully. 

The revelation comes as roving international crime gangs have victimized communities in California, Michigan and Arizona, according to Fox News Digital coverage earlier this year.

"Our detectives confiscate digital devices and things like that [after they arrest suspects] and we try to get search warrants to get into those devices," Public Information Officer Ryan Railback told Fox News Digital. "That's where you're finding internet history. Our detectives have gone on their Google Maps and found that they're searching certain addresses, that they were on Zillow or Redfin."

ELITE MIGRANT CRIME RING TARGETING MICHIGAN HOMEOWNERS ON SPRING BREAK: SHERIFF

Google shows high-definition aerial footage of 36 million square miles via Google Earth and Google Street View footage on 10 million miles of road worldwide, telling CNET that it has mapped out the streets in 98 percent of places where people live. 

'BURGLARY TOURISM' PLAGUES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AS UNVETTED FOREIGNERS RAID LUXE HOUSES

Meanwhile, Zillow, one of the most popular real estate sites in the country, reported approximately 130 million listings in the U.S. as of July 2024. Sites like Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com often show detailed interior photos of homes, and they stay on the website even after the home is sold in some cases. 

"Right now you metaphorically case the joint out by going on these platforms with a cup of coffee in the comfort of your chair, and you gain more relevant data and intel than you ever did with [binoculars] and a vehicle outside the home," former NYPD detective and security expert Pat Brosnan told Fox News Digital. "You really get the inside baseball."

Brosnan said that prospective sellers can protect themselves by limiting what they include in their online home profiles.

"If you're going to sell your home, of course you're going to want to get your best foot forward," he said. "The balance is to submit accurate, telling and professionally taken photos, but you don't have to give a boatload. And I would always advise against doing a 360 video, really common with sales."

Brosnan said that videos like these can be paused and enhanced, allowing criminals to "know every crack and crevice of the home, including windows, cameras and locking systems."

"You can identify alarm systems and ways to get around them," he said. "You can identify secondary and third points of entrance and egress."

Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy & Access Council of Canada, said that Google Maps imagery is also a useful tool for prospective car thieves. 

"Car thieves can get a good idea of the type and number of vehicles at an address. A home with children’s toys scattered in the yard might be an unlikely place to get a high-end sports car; but a house with flags used as window coverings might be more likely to have an older vehicle — with lower value and therefore lesser criminal charges," she told Fox News Digital.

"Anyone who steals cars to order can use Google Maps to see if a vehicle on their shopping list is in the driveways, and use that information to ensure they bring the appropriate software to be able to program blank key fobs needed to steal the vehicles," Polsky said.

In listing photos on realty service websites, Brosnan suggested, avoid including photos of your security cameras, locks, security systems, gates, windows and doors whenever possible. 

He also advised against showing photos of the home at night that reveal where any motion-activated spotlights are located. 

Former FBI agent and cybersecurity professional Bill Daly advised those selling their homes to make sure that any valuable furniture or artwork is stashed away before taking photos for a real estate listing.

Polsky said that when working with realtors, hopeful home sellers should "build it into the contract that the house number must not be revealed in the listing or photos.

"Doing that makes it only a bit less convenient for tire-kickers and potential renters/buyers who have to contact the realtor to get the address, giving the realtor an opportunity to talk to each person and build their own contact list). More importantly, not revealing the house number makes it a lot less convenient for thieves."

GANG OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TARGET HIGH-END PHOENIX-AREA HOMES IN BURGLARIES, AUTHORITIES SAY

Photos on real estate websites can show entrance and egress points, camera locations and other elements that could help criminals hatch a plan to burglarize your home. (Fox News)

Railsback advised homeowners to put prominent security cameras and signage for alarm systems outside their homes, and to befriend their neighbors.

"If a criminal wants to get into my house, with all my safety measures, I want to make him at least think about the risk he may be taking," Railsback said.

Brosnan also suggested having your home blurred on Google Maps Streetview, which can be done by finding your home on the service and clicking "Report a problem," which gives you a short form to fill out.  

A Google spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it generally takes their team about a week to blur out an address after a request, and that once an address has been blurred, the change is irreversible. The spokesperson noted that the company uses AI technology to blur license plate numbers and faces in Streetview images. 

A Zillow representative also told Fox News Digital that their service makes it "quick and easy" to take ownership of home listings. The option can be accessed by finding your home on the site and clicking "More options," which reveals the "Claim ownership" function. After proving that they own the home in question, homeowners can remove photos or the entire listing.

"We take privacy and security very seriously," the spokesperson said. "The photos on Zillow come from sources like the multiple listing service that real estate agents use to market homes for sale. We always encourage homeowners to claim their home on Zillow, which allows them to change or remove photos and edit their home facts." 

These are the true Republicans — they've just finally come out of the closet

/

the uniparty revealed

Anti-Trump Republicans Secure $35 Million In Funding To Support Harris

A group of Republicans opposing former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid raised over $35 million funds to support Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming November election.

Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) aimed to bolster Democratic efforts to keep the White House by setting a $50-million campaign target earlier this year, a significant increase from the $10 million the group raised in the 2020 election cycle, according to Newsweek. Last week, spearheaded by conservative strategist Sarah Longwell and including figures like Bill Kristol and Tim Miller, RVAT launched an $11-million advertising campaign targeting key battlegrounds in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.

As of Sept. 4, RVAT received contributions from over 6,200 donors in all 50 states, ranging from $1 to seven figures, with spokesperson Tony Franquiz highlighting the group’s broad and committed support base dedicated to protecting democracy, Newsweek stated.

RVAT unveiled an $11.5 million advertising initiative in several crucial swing states, aimed at persuading disillusioned GOP voters to back Harris. Funded largely by Democratic contributors, the campaign allocates $4.5 million to Pennsylvania, $3 million to Michigan, $2.2 million to Wisconsin, $1.5 million to Arizona and $375,000 to Nebraska’s second congressional district.

“Funded largely by Democratic contributors” says it all.