Shooting at Minneapolis Catholic School Leaves Two Children Dead, 17 Wounded; “Cruelty and cowardice”

The shooting was at the Parish of the Annunciation, a church and school that has “served the heart of the community since 1920.” Today, their hearts are broken. From their leaders: We are navigating an impossible situation together at this time. No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks (Annunciation). Minneapolis Star Tribune: Two children were killed in a shooting Wednesday at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, police said, and 17 people were injured, 14 of them children. Two are in critical condition. The suspected shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, according to police. The shooter attacked while the students were in the first Mass of the school year. Mayor Jacob Frey decried the “horrific violence in south Minneapolis,” which prompted a huge law enforcement response surrounding the area (Star Tribune). DHS Sec. Kristi Noem: We have confirmation that the shooter at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN was a 23 year-old man, claiming to be transgender. This deranged monster targeted our most vulnerable: young children praying in their first morning Mass of the school year. This deeply sick murderer scrawled the words ‘For the Children’ and ‘Where is your God?’ and ‘Kill Donald Trump’ on a rifle magazine (Noem). Mark Hemmingway responds understatedly: We’re seeing plenty of anecdotal evidence that giving already mentally unstable people large quantities of exogenous cross sex hormones makes them homicidal. We should probably stop doing this (Hemmingway). Yes: We should absolutely stop doing this. John Sexton of Hot Air: The NY Times has an article with the basic information on the shooting. Everything we know (at this point) is mentioned with one exception. Can you guess what isn’t mentioned at all. I guess the theory here is that being trans is totally unremarkable and not relevant. It’s so not relevant that they aren’t going to reveal it (Hot Air; New York Times).

Trump Pushing Crime Bill With House and Senate GOP Leaders

He knows the country is supportive of public safety. The announcement came on Truth Social: Speaker Mike Johnson, and Leader John Thune, are working with me, and other Republicans, on a Comprehensive Crime Bill. It’s what our Country need, and NOW! More to follow. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! (Truth). The Hill: Crime was a major part of the Trump and Republicans’ platform in the 2024 campaign, and he has targeted other cities run by Democrats — Chicago and Baltimore, notably — as the next places for troop deployments. Since the president first sent federal law enforcement into Washington on Aug. 7, and days later deployed the National Guard, more than 1,094 arrests have been made, according to the White House. Eight gang members have been arrested, including from MS-13 and Tren de Aragua; two missing children have been rescued; 115 firearms have been seized; and 49 homeless encampments have been cleared, the White House said (The Hill).

Strong Majorities Approve of Trump’s Public Safety Agenda; “About damn time that somebody did something”

Byron York comments on a new AP/NORC poll: majority approve of Trump’s handling of crime. Plus two-thirds say crime is ‘major problem in US (York). KTAR: As armed National Guard troops patrol the nation’s capital as part of an unprecedented federal takeover of Washington’s police department, handling crime is now a relative strength for President Donald Trump, according to the latest AP-NORC poll. Americans who aren’t happy about the Republican president’s handling of issues like immigration and the economy are more positive about his tough-on-crime approach, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Indeed, the vast majority of Americans, 81%, see crime as a “major problem” in large cities — a concern Trump has seized on as he has deployed the National Guard to the District of Columbia and threatened to expand that model to cities across the country. And his overall approval rating has increased slightly, from 40% in July to 45% now…. For now, many Republicans in particular feel extreme action needs to be taken, even as statistics show violent crime is down in Washington and across the nation following a coronavirus pandemic-era spike. “About damn time that somebody did something,” said Charles Arnold, 87, a lifelong Republican who lives in San Diego (KTAR).

DNC Pulls Anti-Israel Resolution Because It Was Insufficiently Anti-Israel; Only 7 Percent of Today’s Democrats Support Israel

Free Beacon: A Democratic National Committee meeting on Tuesday devolved into an anti-Israel slugfest, leading its chairman, Ken Martin, to pull a resolution many party members believed was not harsh enough on the Jewish state. Instead, Martin invited the anti-Israel members to join a committee to reevaluate the party’s position on Israel. The Martin-backed resolution, which the DNC initially approved, called for “unrestricted” aid to Gaza and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, language that moderate Democrats have long used. An alternate resolution championed by the party’s anti-Israel wing went significantly further, calling for a full-scale arms embargo on Israel, the suspension of American military aid, and recognition of “Palestine as a country” (Free Beacon). Allison Minnery is a 26-year DNC member who sponsored the arms embargo resolution. Her comments to the socialist outlet The Nation were revealing: I think it starts by acknowledging that this issue is not just something brought forward by me alone. It’s a conversation that is had by voters across the country right now, where we see that only 7 percent of Democrats support the Democratic Party’s current position [on Israel’s military action in Gaza] as of polling last week. So this is not just a sentiment that is echoed by one DNC member. This is the entire Democratic base that is really calling for this change, but also for a more clearly communicated stance. I think that there’s a much larger base of people that are really pushing this, and I’m just one person that has the opportunity and position through having a membership seat on the DNC to do it (The Nation).

Trump Sending Eight Warships to Venezuelan Coast

Trump and the administration have been talking about a willingness to use the military to deal with the drug cartels. Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro is a cartel leader with a country to boot. Washington Post: The U.S. Navy is surging eight warships to the Caribbean and Pacific waters near several Central and South American countries, a significant buildup for a region that has rarely seen such a large presence of U.S. military vessels and a move that has escalated tensions with nearby Venezuela. The ships are part of an “enhanced counter narcotics operation” to carry out drug interdiction missions in Latin America, a defense official told The Washington Post…. (Washington Post). Ward Clark of Red State: it’s almost certainly the old exercise, right out of the history books: Here we are, right off your coast, with our guns and missiles and Marines, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. That’s not a bad message to send someone like Maduro. As for any Venezuelan response: “But if the task force comes under Venezuelan attack, broader U.S. action to degrade Maduro’s military base of power may follow. In that scenario, unpredictable escalation is a distinct possibility.” You don’t say. Venezuela won’t attack. That’s a safe bet to make. Maduro is mean and autocratic, but he’s not stupid. The Venezuelan Navy, at last count, had one old German diesel-electric submarine, one light frigate, a few coastal patrol ships, and gunboats. That’s all. Anything Maduro has in his arsenal, anything he could send against U.S. Navy warships, would be sunk or shot down lickety-split. He knows this. And that’s one of the best parts about this exercise: A reminder for Maduro as to who the big kid on this block is, and that it’s not him (Redstate).

Mexico’s Drug Cartels Are Exporting Their Bloody Battles to Ecuador

An in-depth report from the Wall Street Journal chronicles the exportation of and expansion of Mexico’s brutal cartels: Killings are up by half in the first six months of this year, government figures show, and May was the bloodiest month on record. Ecuador’s homicide rate is approaching a high of about 50 per 100,000 people in 2025, roughly twice Mexico’s. In 2018, Ecuador’s murder rate was below six per 100,000, similar to the U.S.’s…. “They’re copying certain violent actions that we’ve seen in Mexico,” said Freddy Sarzosa, a former police general who directed investigations across Ecuador until 2024. “The only thing it is causing is terror.”  Mexican cartels began paying their Ecuadorean allies with drugs and high-powered weapons. Mexican pilots flew in guns and left with drugs, officials said. Ecuador’s Navy in 2023 intercepted a boat approaching the Galápagos Islands with 122 rifles, including M4 assault rifles. “They changed the rules of the game,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, U.S. ambassador to Ecuador from 2019 to 2024. Their tactics raised the stakes of local government corruption to life and death. In 2022, traffic officials in Manta pulled over a black Chevrolet Tahoe carrying $7 million in drug money. The officials kept the cash and released the driver, a Mexican Jalisco member. It was a fatal mistake. Assassins took revenge for Jalisco over the next year, shooting or stabbing to death officers who participated in the robbery. In a final act of vengeance, gunmen walked into the funeral of the last agent killed, Andrés Moreira, and shot up his casket—a common feature of cartel warfare in Mexico but almost unheard of in Ecuador. Sixteen people were injured and four were killed, including Moreira’s ex-wife, the mother of his children (Wall Street Journal).

A Weakened Iranian Regime Looks for a Path Forward; “Time to bring the whip down directly on the regime”

That path seems largely in the lane of concerns over self-preservation. The mullahs are feeling the pressure of domestic necessities, a frustrated populace and the need to keep their messianic fever dream alive. Andrew England for the Financial Times: There is consensus across Iran’s social and political divides that the conflict should be a catalyst for change given that Israel’s attack exposed the vulnerabilities of a system facing mounting domestic dissent and international pressure. Yet the debate taking place both inside and outside the system is about which direction the Islamic regime will take, at a moment when its instinct is to go into self-preservation mode….  there is growing impatience within the system, amid concerns that time is running out to ensure its survival, says Saeed Laylaz, an analyst from the reformist camp. Analysts even suggest that Khamenei could face increased pressure from within the ruling system to oversee the succession or amendments to the leadership structure to reduce the risks of instability. “From a political and social point of view, it’s not possible to continue running the country like this,” Laylaz says. “It’s very clear, we have no water, no gas, no hope for the future, no money to pay the salaries.” He predicts a shift towards what he calls “Bonapartism” — a doubling down on authoritarianism, but less ideological and with more moderate social and foreign policies. Hardliners, however, think the lessons of the war should convince the regime to go for a candidate who would be even more hawkish towards the west (FT). Meir Ben Shabbat, writing for Israel Hayom, sees the weakened regime and argues that now is the time for the West to double down on sanctions: Israel must press the US administration to influence the E3 decisively. Iran’s conduct provides full justification for renewing sanctions. It would be a grave mistake to use this leverage merely as a negotiating tool to push Iran toward an agreement, after it has repeatedly violated past commitments. Instead, it is time to bring the whip down directly on the regime. After the military setback it suffered in the recent 12-day war, and amid the severe domestic crises battering it, the reimposition of crippling sanctions could, if not immediately, then eventually, bring the most significant achievement in Israel’s struggle with Iran: destabilizing the radical regime itself (Israel Hayom).

Denmark Summons US Diplomats With Questions About Covert Operations in Greenland

In watching Trump and Greenland over these first 8 months in office, it all seems pretty overt—as opposed to anything covert. Financial Times: Denmark has summoned the top US diplomat in the country over reports that American citizens with alleged links to President Donald Trump have been conducting covert influence operations in Greenland. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s foreign minister, said on Wednesday that there were “foreign actors” attempting to influence the future of Greenland and that all such efforts were “unacceptable”. He has summoned Mark Stroh, the chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in Copenhagen and its most senior diplomat in Denmark at present, for a meeting at the foreign ministry. Denmark has been shaken by Trump’s repeated suggestions that the US wants to take control of the vast Arctic island — a semi-autonomous part of the kingdom of Denmark — from Copenhagen, and his refusal to rule out using force to do so (Financial Times). Beege Welborn at Hot Air sees more Trump dealmaking—with Denmark not at all happy that the current American administration is backing out of the most expensive form of power: wind: it’s far more Trumpian and cut-throat business world dealing than any couple of guys wandering the island, knocking on doors and jotting down answers and addresses in a trapper keeper. It was only the day before yesterday I told you how windfarm developer Ørsted’s fortunes were, literally, dead in the water. This past Friday, the Department of the Interior issued a stop-work order on its humongous Revolution Wind offshore project, even though it was well on its way to being over 80% completed. There were already 45 of the 65 planned turbines installed, and billions upon billions of dollars in sunk costs had been expended. Not only that, but Ørsted was in the process of setting up a $9.4B ‘rights issue’ lifeline intended to keep the company afloat and now? “…From what I read this morning, as of last week, that $9.4B ‘rights issue’ lifeline they were counting on to save them? Is all predicated on them finishing Revolution Wind.” With construction halted, the company and its shareholders couldn’t be in more dire straits. Speaking of shareholders, the largest Ørsted shareholder happens to be? The Danish government owns almost 51% of the company. If you don’t think this doesn’t put an entirely different wrinkle on this Revolution evolution, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you (Hot Air).

Saddest Portion of the Population Today: Our Young People

Historically, that has not been the case. In the modern era, middle age has been the low point for happiness—with the middle age crisis, the plight of the empty nest and the realities of aging. But things have changed. Economist reports: A study … by economists David Blanchflower, Alex Bryson and Xiaowei Xu finds that young people across the world are now reporting the highest levels of misery of any age group. “We’ve seen a change from a hump shape to a ski slope,” says Dr Bryson. The authors first spotted the shift in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a long-running survey of Americans. They calculated the share of respondents of each age who reported having poor mental health every day in the past month. Between 2009 and 2018, the familiar hump was present: misery peaked in middle age. But from 2019 to 2024, the pattern changed. Levels of unhappiness in middle-aged and older adults remained roughly stable while despair among younger people rose….  Generation X and millennials have slid into mid-life malaise earlier than boomers did, though, and Generation Z are starting their adult life far more miserable than any generation before. At a population level, these trends mean older people now look progressively less downcast than younger groups. Why youngsters are so depressed is still unclear. One clue may come from the labour market. In a separate study from July this year, Dr Blanchflower and Dr Bryson found that despair has risen most sharply among young American workers, particularly the least educated. In the past, having a job seemed to provide a protective effect against poor mental health. That effect appears to have weakened for young Americans, perhaps because of falling job satisfaction among the same group (Economist). The closing line of the journal article: The question this begs is what to do about this phenomenon of a global decline in youth well-being that shows no sign of abating? (PLOS).

Could Taylor Swift Marriage Spur a Marriage Renewal? “Maybe—just maybe”

It’s plausible. It certainly could. To say Swift is influential over her fan base is putting it mildly. Brad Wilcox heads up the Institute for Family Studies and has done solid scholarly work on marriage and family formation for years. He writes: The news about marriage has been so bad for so long, with rates steadily falling, that many Americans have despaired that not much, if anything, can be done to revive its fortunes. But maybe — just maybe — Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce might nudge things in the right direction. The pop singer’s immense popularity among young women puts her squarely in a position to influence the very demographic most sceptical about marriage. That scepticism runs deep: in 2022, only 73% of 12th graders expected to marry someday, with girls’ expectations dropping most sharply…. But is Swift’s influence enough to shift the tide of marriage culture in America? It’s worth considering. Swift’s sway over her devoted fanbase is almost unmatched in today’s pop culture landscape. As Forbes notes, her influence stems from a network effect: she acts as a social “barometer”, with followers adopting aspects of her identity in pursuit of approval and belonging — a phenomenon dubbed the “Taylor Swift Effect”. The power of this effect isn’t surprising when you consider that many Swifties describe her concerts as near-religious experiences. There’s reason to think the Taylor Swift Effect could extend to marriage. Media and cultural signals play a powerful role in shaping decisions about dating, marriage, children, and divorce (Unherd). Taylor is no fan of Trump, but wouldn’t it be a nice irony if the artist could help Make Marriage Great Again?