Trump wins Iowa (and picks up Ted Cruz’s endorsement), Democratic party popularity becomes ever more selective, Hunter Biden’s laptop confirmed as Hunter Biden’s laptop (not that we ever had any doubt), two shithole countries exchange airstrikes, and a science fiction legend dies. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
A Gallup poll released on Friday reveals that a record low percentage of Americans who identify as Democrats in 2023 hit a record low, when independent ‘leaners’ are excluded.
Just 27% of Americans self-identify as Democrats, the smallest figure in the party’s history according to the survey. That said, self-identifying Republicans also hit 27%, though it did not mark the lowest figure in the party’s history – which was in 2013 when just 25% of Americans identified as such. The previous low for Democrats was in 2017 and 2015 at 29%.
Independents, meanwhile, take the cake – with 43% of Americans identifying as such.
‼️ In a new court filing today, the DOJ confirms Hunter Biden’s laptop is real, that he left it at a computer store, and that the contents matched what they obtained from a search warrant of his iCloud.
Don’t hold your breath for a retraction from Joe Biden (“It’s a Russian… pic.twitter.com/xSZ2YG8JIB— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) January 17, 2024
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
A Texas man is in federal custody after the FBI linked him to videos from the dark web depicting group sexual assault on toddlers in a mall.
Arthur Hector Fernandez, 29, was arrested Dec. 18, 2023 in Kingwood, TX as the result of a Dec. 14 criminal complaint filed in federal court in Houston, records show.
The FBI were led to Fernandez as a suspect after viewing videos of an assault of a three-year-old child; a relative of the child “recognized the bracelets an individual in the video was wearing as belonging to Fernandez.”
Hanging’s too good for him…
The executive director of the Rainbow Resource Center, a prominent LGBTQ+ support center based in Modesto, has been identified as one of 17 men apprehended on suspicion of attempting to engage in sexual activities with a minor.
The revelation was first reported by the Modesto Bee.
Gerad Slayton, 42, was taken into custody during a sting operation organized by the Turlock Police Department, targeting individuals believed to be seeking illicit encounters with minors. Slayton, recently appointed as the executive director of the Rainbow Center, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing resources for LGBTQ+ individuals across all age groups, faces allegations of pursuing sexual activities with minors.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Rape kits that should have been analyzed by the NYPD but were left in storage at hospitals across the city are now part of a sprawling Department of Justice probe into the department’s Special Victims Division, The Post has learned.
The revelation comes after The Post revealed the snafu, which meant that an unknown number of cases were not fully investigated, victims didn’t get justice, and countless rapists could be roaming free.
(Hat tip: 357 Magnum.)
*cracks knuckles* pic.twitter.com/AE36ThzE2P
— Chef Chris (@ChefJags) January 16, 2024
Tags: 2024 Presidential Race, Arthur Hector Fernandez, Austin, California, Crime, Democrats, Disney, Donald Trump, Elections, fraud, Gallup, gay, George Orwell, Gerad Slayton, Houston, Howard Waldrop, Hunter Biden, Iowa, Iran, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jihad, Jim Jordan, Kingwood, LinkSwarm, Media Watch, New York City, Nikki Haley, NYPD, Obituary, Oregon, Pakistan, pedophilia, Pixar, rape, Ron DeSantis, science fiction, sex offender, Sports Illustrated, Ted Cruz, Texas, TV, Vivek Ramaswamy, Welfare State
In most states, voters register by party due to closed primaries (or oddly enough, even in states that have abandoned them, like CA and LA), so that is the best measure of party identification.
Texas has an open primary with no party registration, but the voter’s choice of party primary is publicly recorded (although the ballot itself is still secret), so that is one way to measure party affiliation there, as imperfect as it might be since primary elections usually have very low turnout.
Pakistan and Iran have traded airstrikes in each other’s territory. “The unprecedented attacks by both Pakistan and Iran on either side of their border appeared to target Baluch militant groups with similar separatist goals. The countries accuse each other of providing a haven to the groups in their respective territories.”
I confess I’m at a complete loss on this one. I assume both countries hate the Baluch militant groups attacking them. So why in the world does either country care about the other one attacking any Baluch militant groups?
Do boht Iran and Pakistan have agreements with the groups in their country to only attack the other country?
I did not have “Iran launches its own War on Terror” on my 2024 bingo card …