Happy kick-off to Labor Day Weekend!

Due to the holiday, we will not be posting a Brew or an Afternoon Tea on Monday. However, we will be back in full force Tuesday morning with all the fits that are news to print.

New Labor Day Weekend Travel Record?

Travel this weekend is expected to be up 9%, according to AAA. In fact, the group is saying this is likely to be the busiest Labor Day travel weekend ever.

The good news? Gas prices are down 40 cents per gallon. Air fare is down about 5%. The bad news? Hotel costs are up 7%. And you’ll still have to put up with liberal Aunt Edna at the family picnic complaining that the cows who gave their lives for your hamburgers are causing climate change.

Which will still be better than what residents of a Denver suburb are dealing with, thanks to Kamala Harris’s open borders.

Aurora Apartment Complexes Taken Over By Venezuelan Gang

Denver, Colorado, is a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants and is now paying the cost for this privilege at the point of a gun. Several apartment complexes in the Denver suburb of Aurora have been taken over by the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to Aurora City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky.

“We currently have entire complexes under gang control — complexes where staff have been beaten up, they’ve been threatened, their families have been threatened [and] complexes where there are no staff left on the property,” she told Fox News.

“They start brokering apartments themselves when someone leaves out of fear or whatever. They go in and take pictures of the apartment themselves,” she continued. “Then, I’ve been told, within hours, a Venezuelan family moves in.”

A viral clip gives some idea of the Border Czar’s handiwork.

NEW VIDEO armed group at troubled #aurora #colorado apartment complex now home to many migrants. Councilmember @DaniJurinsky says gangs have taken over the complex @KDVR @AuroraPD pic.twitter.com/J1uie8Y2M6

— Vicente Arenas (@vicentearenastv) August 28, 2024

Tren de Aragua’s activities aren’t limited to becoming landlords in Colorado, though. Members of the gang have been on a crime spree across the nation, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the shooting of two NYPD officers in June.

An indication how little this administration cares about your safety: According to the New York Post, Tren de Aragua leader Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, who goes by the name “Galleta” or Cookie, has been arrested — and released — at least twice since illegally entering our country in 2022.

Group of Illegals Tries to Take California School Bus

As if parents didn’t have enough to worry about in sending their kids off to school.

At least twice this week, illegal immigrants have tried to hijack schoolbuses in San Diego County, California’s Jamul-Dulzura Unified School District.

BREAKING: Illegal Aliens in San Diego, California tried to hijack 2 school buses filled with children

pic.twitter.com/wvn6FwKb1l

— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) August 29, 2024

On Wednesday morning, a group of about 20 illegals allegedly tried to enter a schoolbus, according to Fox 5 San Diego. A day earlier, three men tried boarding a different schoolbus.

Superintendent Liz Bystedt sent a letter about the incident to parents, informing them that as the investigation continues, all bus drivers have been instructed to whiz past bus stops if migrants appear to be present.

“But,” you immediately think, “what about the kids left to the mercy of the illegals?”

“Please stay [vigilant],” she tells parents. “And if the bus drives by, please follow the bus to pick up your child at the next stop.”

So, in other words: Don’t use the schoolbus. Just drive your kids to school, because otherwise you may be chasing that bus all over town. Ummm … why do some parents rely on schoolbuses in the first place? Maybe we can thank Gov. Gavin Newsom’s good ol’ “sanctuary state” policies for this one.

Perhaps ABC News will ask Kamala Harris about this in the upcoming presidential debate.

How Does the Race Stand Today?

Where does the presidential race stand as we head into Labor Day weekend and prepare for the final sprint to Election Day?

Numbers out yesterday from Nate Silver’s 538 give Trump a 52.4% chance of winning versus Kamala Harris’s 47.3%. Quite a reversal from August 14, when Harris had a 56.7% chance of winning. Silver’s Swing State forecasts show Trump with the advantage in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, with Harris holding on to Michigan and Wisconsin.

Silver’s projection lines up with Polymarket’s, which shows Harris dropping and Trump rising, with Trump now the betting favorite at 52.4% to 47.3%.

Famed Pollster Frank Luntz agrees it looks like Harris’s honeymoon has “reached its peak.” Still, he tells CNN the election is “too close to call.”

ABC News Rejects Harris’s Request for Hot Mics at Debate

Kamala Harris wanted to change the previously agreed-upon rules for her September 10 debate with Donald Trump, including having open mics instead of muted when the other candidate is talking. However, ABC News has rejected the request, and thus, the rules will echo those of Trump’s June debate with Joe Biden. The candidates can only have a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water with them at the podiums. There will be no open mics, no audience, no sitting down, no props, no prewritten notes, and no having your running mate on stage next to you for support.

There’s a bit of an indication that ABC News might not go as easy on Harris as she hopes. After all, that network reported Thursday that Harris exaggerated her experience as a prosecutor and misled voters when running for San Francisco district attorney in 2003. In her campaign literature, Harris claimed she had “tried hundreds of serious and violent felonies, including homicide, rape, and child sexual assault cases.” However, her opponent, Bill Fazio, got her to admit she’d only tried “about 50 cases.”

Listen for yourself. Kamala Harris admitted to lying about her prosecutorial experience during her first run for office. She's been a dishonest politician her entire career. pic.twitter.com/MbgbTfQhYW

— Alex Pfeiffer (@__Pfeiffer) August 29, 2024

Now, compared to telling the world for three years that Joe Biden was fit as a fiddle, this isn’t much as far as fibbing goes. However, the fact that ABC News dug out this old story and reported it suggests that Harris might not be able to count on ABC News being in her back pocket at the debate or for the rest of the campaign.

Sniffle. Vance Addresses Firefighters One Day After Walz, Thanks Them for Saving His Mother

We mentioned on yesterday’s serving of Al’s Afternoon Tea that Tim Walz spoke to the International Association of Firefighters. Today was J.D. Vance’s turn. And he went right for the heart.

JD Vance tells the IAFF a story about how firefighters saved his mother’s life when he was 12-years old.

Listen👇 pic.twitter.com/kuCB9q9273

— TheeAmerican76 (@TheeAmerican76) August 29, 2024

He talked about calling 911 as a 12-year-old after one of his mother’s drug episodes.

“I called 911 like so many kids who have parents who struggle. … the firefighters, the EMT’s and the police came and they calmed her down,” he said. “But they [also] calmed me down. They calmed my sister down. They did that public service that only they can do.”

He then spoke of another time when firefighters saved his mom after an overdose.

“If you’re ever worried that you’re not making a difference, listen to this from a sad and tearful 12-year-old to a 40-year-old who’s now asking to be your vice president: You do make a difference,”

Thoughts Heading into Long Weekend

Joe Biden remains at the beach for a second straight week. Do you realize at this point he is more likely to be bitten by a shark than to be spotted in the Oval Office?

The Washington Post might think Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, is sexy. But they’ll never be able to say he’s inspiring — at least, not when he’s trying to get a crowd at a rally to chant “USA! USA! USA!”

Doug Emhoff tries to start a "USA" chant:

"You can say it!" pic.twitter.com/H2gJeu7s9N

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 29, 2024

Is that just a lazy crowd on a Thursday afternoon, or can you just not get the new Democratic Party get excited about America?

Yes, this video featuring celebs and political hotshots for The Late Show is cringe-worthy. However, isn’t it kind of cute to see Nancy Pelosi counting the beats?

Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Pete Buttigieg show off their dance moves as they take part in a TikTok dance trend to promote their appearance on The Late Show. pic.twitter.com/MTyrKdVJWi

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 25, 2024

Along The Stream

Over the weekend, look for Parts 5 and 6 of Stream writer Aliya Kuykendall’s “Hope Restored” series — the final installations of the Anne Edward story.

This one comes with a few tears for us: Aliya’s final day with The Stream is next Tuesday. She’s leaving us to get married (and hopefully have children) and whatever else God has planned next for her.

I’d like to take credit for bringing Aliya to The Stream. But this hire was all God. He insisted she was the pick out of the candidates, and when she came in for her first interview, it only confirmed He had sent us a unique and brilliant woman of God. To say it’s been a joy to have her as a colleague is an understatement. In addition to her huge heart and deep love of God and the Word, she has kept all of us around here on our toes with her quick wit, imaginative perspective, and probing questions.

We send her off with a heartfelt prayer for a wonderful marriage and all blessings on whatever task the Lord next puts in her hands.

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.