•         

  • I have been a fan of shawarma since I tried it back after the first Avengers movie. I wanted to see what it was like because I knew the scene of them all eating shawarma at the end of the movie was actually them eating, and it sparked my interest. I totally fell in love. The flavors are amazing, and it’s very easy to make dairy free. This is a fairly quick dinner if you set the meat to marinate the evening before. It comes together fast, and hits the table with a minimum of mess and fuss.

    Ingredients:

    • zest and juice of 1 lemon
    • 1 tbsp tomato paste
    • 1 tsp ground coriander
    • 1 tsp ground cumin
    • 1 tsp smoked paprika
    • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
    • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
    • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
    • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 2 tbsp plus 1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt, divided
    • 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
    • kosher salt
    • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced into 1/2″ strips
    • 2 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
    • 2 tbsp tahini
    • 2 tbsp plus 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
    • 1 cup cucumber, finely chopped
    • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved
    • 1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/4″ to 1/2″ wedges
    • toasted pita, for serving

    In a large bowl, mix together the lemon zest, tomato paste, coriander, cumin, paprika, black pepper, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, 2 tbsp yogurt, 2 tbsp oil, and 2 tsp salt. Alternatively, you can use a pre-made shawarma mix, which is what I did, though I still added the tomato paste in. I get mine from Auntie Arwen. Add chicken and toss to coat. Let marinate 30 minutes or overnight.

    When you’re ready to make your meal, use a small bowl to whisk garlic, tahini, lemon juice, 2 tbsp oil, and the remaining ½ cup yogurt together. Stir in 2 tbsp parsley. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes or until you’re ready to use it.

    In a medium bowl, toss together the cucumbers, tomatoes, a heavy pinch of salt, and the remaining parsley. Refrigerate until ready to use.

    Arrange a rack in lower third of your oven; preheat to 425°F. In a small bowl, toss onions, ½ tsp salt, and the remaining 1 tbsp oil until onions are coated. Transfer onion mixture to a large baking sheet. Arrange marinated chicken around and over the onion wedges in a single layer. You’re going to need to use your hands, and it’s messy, but it’s worth it. If there’s any marinade left in the bottom of your bowl, drizzle it over the chicken on the pan.

    Roast the chicken until cooked through and some lightly charred bits form. If you want to be sure it’s ready, an instant-read thermometer should registers 165°F, and it will take about 25 minutes to cook. During the last ten minutes of cook time, add a pizza pan or baking pan with pitas on it, to toast. You can put them in dry, or you can brush them lightly with olive oil. Take the pitas out before they get too crispy; you want them to be able to fold taco-style around your other ingredients.

    To serve this, put out the salad, tahini yogurt sauce, and the meat in separate containers. Give everyone a pita or two, and then layer the ingredients onto the pita. Fold like a taco around your ingredients, and eat. Alternatively, you can halve your pitas and stuff the meat and veg inside the pockets.

            

  • You and I have morals. We have a moral compass. Everybody has morals.

    As Allyson likes to say, “My morals haven’t changed.” She is the same person today as she was last year. Morals are consistent.

    According to Denise Prager, “Thou shalt not murder.” This was mis-translated to “Thou shalt not kill” much later.

    I have no problems with “Thou shalt not murder” being a part of my moral code. “Thou shalt not kill” is not a part of my moral code.

    I eat meat, this means that an animal was killed by me or for me. I have no issues looking evil in the face and deciding that my life is worth more than his life.

    I do not believe I would ever commit murder.

    “Thou shalt not steal” is another one. For me, this has turned out to be situational. Have I taken things that do not belong to me? Yes. That’s stealing.

    Did I have good cause to do so? At the time I thought I did.

    Regardless, not stealing is part of my moral code. I strive to maintain my moral code. Not for the love of God above or the fear of hell below, it is because I believe my moral code is the right thing to do.

    I was taught my moral code by my parents and the environment which I grew up in.

    When I was at University, we used to play poker. One of the players was very lucky. Not good play, but too many good cards. So I learned how to manipulate cards. Yes, he was cheating. I caught him out. Once I did, the game was played more fairly.

    But that ability to manipulate cards fascinated me. I did a lot of practice and was ok at it. Not good. I knew enough to be a little dangerous.

    At one of the local bars, I was playing with a deck of cards, it was a bar where you could request many sorts of games, such as Acey-Deucey.

    The waitress was interested, so I bet her, cut for high card. If you cut high, I’ll pay double, if I cut high, I get the drink for free.

    Four rounds and I won each round. With the ace of spades if I needed high and the 2 of diamonds if I needed to go low. That deck was cold

    This was cheating. It was stealing. It was and is against my morals. When I left, I left a tip to cover the cost of my drinks plus another 50%. She didn’t get the double she was hoping for, but she didn’t lose money either.

    Note, at the time the standard tip on a $2 drink was $0.25. She got $12 for my 4 drinks, not the $9 if she had not played.

    This is morals in action.

    The left has a set of morals that appears to be very situational.

    J6 is a riot, an insurrection, an armed coup attempt. People running around burning cities is a protest.

    They approve of the people doing the burning; thus the situation says that it is a moral protest. They disapprove of the right gathering to protest, that means it is an evil insurrection.

    Judge Dugan is an example of that. Their moral compass has spun because they approve of what she did. Because they approved of what she did, the arrest warrant was “fake”, all she did was misdirect the agents, people exit through that door all the time.

    Their moral compass shifts depending on “who”. Their moral compass shifts depending on the “intentions” of the person acting.

            

  • All references can be found at United States v. Dugan.

    In looking for a good image to use of the Judge, I found an article written in the third person by Hannah Dugan about how wonderful she is and all the good she has done, and that she will not answer any other questions.

    She is lawyered up HARD. Which is the only correct thing to do.

    The Armed Attorneys described using a lawyer for communications with authorities as “you can’t incriminate yourself when you use a lawyer.” The example the gave went something like:

    FBI agent: Do you know Jim Jones?

    You: No, I don’t know Jim Jones.

    FBI: You’re under arrest for lying to a federal agent.

    Why? They have video proof of you interacting with Jim Jones 9 months, 7 days, 14 hours ago at a party where he was introduced to you. Along with 50 other people.

    FBI agent: Do you know Jim Jones?

    You whisper in your lawyer’s ear: No.

    Lawyer: My client disavows knowing Jim Jones.

    You walk out free. Your lawyer’s words are hearsay, not an admission or statement by you.

    IANAL.

    Back to Dugan.

    The Charges

    18 U.S.C. § 1505 Obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States.

    18 U.S.C. § 1071 Concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.

    My reading of §1505 is that it wasn’t the judge physically obstructing or impeding, it was that the judge impeded the arrest which impeded the proceeding to get him out of the country. The act of concealing an individual to prevent his arrest is also impeding.

    The Internet Lawyer Wanna Be (like I am) are focusing on only one part of the complaint. That seems to be because they can’t defend the other part.

    Prosecutor: Mr. V. Illen then used his 9mm Glock to put two rounds into the victim’s head. Killing him.

    Mr. Illen: I don’t own no Glock in 9mm, I used a .45. You got to set me free, you made a mistake.

    It doesn’t work like that. A single error does not entirely invalidate a charge. There will be parts that people get wrong.

    It is also the case that the word “or” has meaning in the law. Impeding is a word like “infringing”, it doesn’t take much to meet the requirements of impeding. It takes more to get to obstructing.

    The Charging Document

    ECF No 1 is the complaint in this case. The complaint is the charging document.

    The Charging Document must contain the name of the accused, the specific crimes allegedly committed, the date, location, and relevant facts surrounding the alleged crime, and a clear and concise statement of the elements of the offense.

    This document is what leads to an arrest warrant.

    This complaint has a Judge’s signature on it. From this, I will guess that the magistrate judge found probable cause to issue the arrest warrant. In other words, I can’t find the actual arrest warrant.

    What was the initiating event?

    Eduardo Flores-Ruiz was charged with three counts of Battery, Domestic Abuse, Infliction of Physical Pain or Injury.

    In other words, another wife beater.

    When he was charged, his identification was transmitted to the federals. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations were notified and did a records search.

    That research found his Alien Registration File (“A-File”). Turns out that Flores-Ruiz was issued a Notice and Order of Expedited Removal on January 16, 2013. He was kicked out of the states into Mexico through the Nogales, Arizona, Port of Entry.

    This happened under Obama.

    This is an illegal alien that has an order for removal. Who has had all due process afforded him under the Obama DoJ. Who was removed from the country. He then crossed the border illegally, again.

    An arrest warrant was issued for Flores-Ruiz by an immigration official.

    This is the normal procedure. He had his due process in 2013.

    The Feds went to the courthouse to arrest Flores-Ruiz. This is a common procedure.

    The arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz

    The two types of warrants that we are used to are “arrest warrants” and “search warrants”. These fall into two different categories, judicial and administrative.

    The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
    — Fourth Amendment

    The Constitution does not tell us who issues warrants. This comes from case law.

    The Supreme Court, through its case law, has established that it requires a judicial arrest warrant to enter a private location owned by the target of the warrant.

    An arrest warrant for you allows the cops to enter your home to arrest you. They cannot search your home under that arrest warrant, but they can observe that which is in plain view.

    They cannot enter your mother’s home to arrest you without consent, with just an arrest warrant.

    With a judicial search warrant, they can enter the location identified by the search warrant without consent. The search warrant would list you as the thing they are searching for. Once they find you, they can arrest you with an adjacent arrest warrant.

    With an administrative arrest warrant, the cops need consent to enter any private location, including your home. This is why you hear about agents waiting outside of courtrooms to affect an arrest. If all they have is an administrative warrant, they can’t legally enter the courtroom (private area) to arrest someone.

    The arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz was an administrative arrest warrant. After he was arrested, he would be able to contest the removal order. No need to send him through a court process.

    This warrant does not require the Judge to do a damn thing to help Law Enforcement in arresting Flores-Ruiz.

    …hive of scum and villainy…

    Six ICE ERO members arrive to arrest Flores-Ruiz. ERO A, CBP A, FBI A and B, DEA A and B. They were in plains clothes.

    ERO A and CBP A presented credentials to security guard, stated they were there to make an arrest. The guard passed them on to the Sheriff’s office. The Sheriff’s office requested that the arrest wait until after the completion of the scheduled hearing. This is standard. ERO A and CBP A agreed. They moved to the public hallway outside the courtroom.

    Before ERO A and CBP A arrived, FBI A and FBI B had advised the courtroom deputy that they were there to arrest Flores-Ruiz. Again they agreed to wait until after his hearing before the judge.

    The deputy notified a shift sergeant at the Sheriff’s Office.

    A public defender came out and took pictures of some arrest team members. Fortunately, not all of them were together, so she missed at least one.

    Flores-Ruiz arrived and was greeted by his attorney, and then the two entered the courtroom together.

    The public defender spoke with the judge’s clerk. She told the clerk there ware ICE agents in the hallway. She described them to the clerk.

    The clerk then informed Judge Dugan. Dugan became angry, left the bench to enter her chambers. Flores-Ruiz was in the gallery, waiting for his hearing.

    Judge Dugan and another Judge came out into the public hallway to confront the known arrest team members. Dugan was visibly upset, angry, and confrontational. After determining that they were there for a court appearance, she ordered them out of the courthouse. They refused.

    She then demanded to see a judicial warrant. They replied they had an administrative warrant. She said that it was no good. They argued that it was within the public areas of the courthouse.

    She then ordered the arrest team to the chief judge’s office to talk to him.

    The unidentified agents remained on post.

    Judge Dugan then proceeded to look for more arrest team members before returning to her chambers.

    The team members at the Chief Judge’s office learn that he is not in the building. They are then connected to him via phone.

    (It appears that the Chief Judge had no problems with arrests being made in the courthouse, as long as they were done in public areas. It sounds like it was a cordial conversation)

    The courtroom deputy reported to the other team members that Judge Dugan was attempting to expedite Flores-Ruiz’s hearing.

    Flores-Ruiz was moved from the gallery to the Jury Box. The deputy reports that this is highly unusual.

    Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer started to towards the public exit of the courtroom. Judge Dugan then ordered them to come with her. She took them to the “jury door” which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse.

    Conclusion

    This judge actively worked to obstruct and impede the arrest of a wife beating illegal alien. She actively hide him for agents seeking to arrest him.

    She broke the law. The government now needs to prove that in a court of law.

            

  • So what is this giant proof of “fascism”?

    There was an illegal alien in this judge’s court. There was a detainer issued for the illegal alien. There was an ICE agent there to detain the illegal alien.

    When the judge heard this, she told the illegal alien to hide in the jury room. When the ICE agent asked where the illegal alien was, the judge indicated that he had left via an alternative door.

    The illegal alien then made a run for it but was captured by ICE.

    After an investigation, an arrest warrant was issued and the FBI arrested this judge for obstructing an ICE arrest.

    I’ve not looked further than Kash’s statement and the NPCs screaming. The more they scream, the more I know they are on the wrong side of the issue. I have no proof that there was an arrest warrant issued. If the FBI did not have an arrest warrant, then this arrest was illegal (IANAL). Since I have trust in Kash Patel, I will assume with confidence that they did have that warrant.

    To get an arrest warrant, the FBI must submit evidence establishing probable cause to a federal magistrate or federal district court judge. This is how it is done.

    Judges are not above the law. If she had made a legal ruling, there are different paths, instead she stepped outside of her authority as a judge, outside of her position to obstruct the arrest of an illegal alien.

            

  • A.A.R.P. with SCOTUS

    This is just sitting there, waiting for the Justices to give an opinion. This is a motion for terrorists being removed under the Alien Enemies Act to be paused.

    The legal argument is that the terrorists haven’t been given enough warning to petition for a hearing. The argument also includes statements that the warnings are only printed in English, so the terrorists don’t know what is being put in front of them.

    This is mostly a nothingburger. I suspect the Supreme Court will let the Fifth Circuit do something then will say, yes, what they said.

    Trolling Garcia

    The amount of world-class trolling going on makes my heart sing. The RNC is offering to pay Democrats to fly down to El Salvador to attempt to see Garcia.

    There is a question of the Login Act, but all in all, this seems to be a gift that just keeps on giving.

    His wife has taken to posting all images of herself with her wife-beating husband, with cute hearts over his tattoos. It doesn’t matter, the images are already out there.

    Ally is reporting that even some of her leftist friends are starting to get a clue about this.

    It Is Always A Surprise

    I ordered a small fiber switch (L2) from somebody in China. It arrived. What I was expecting was a box around 1U high, 6 inches wide, and 4 inches deep along with a 12v wall wart.

    What I got is 1U high, 9 inches wide (have rack), and 4 inches deep. It has an internal power supply and uses a standard three prong power cord for 110v AC feed.

    I’ve not tested it yet. If it handles jumbo packets, this is a going to be a winner for me.

    Oh, it showed up with this cute power cord. Standard female at one end, to plug into the box, and the other end had two round prongs with the third prong removed/missing. I think that what I am seeing is a British style power cord.

    Fun with CSS

    Every time I start working with CSS, I end up frustrated. Why? Because I’m generally starting with somebody else’s base and I need to modify things.

    In this case, I needed to make the logo a little larger. Look it up in the debugger. Add a new class, modify the height, no change. Turns out that somebody was taking advantage of SCCS and so had created a more specific selector of .header .logo img which was firing instead of my .trog-logo

    Used the correct selector, things got much better.

    Also JavaScript

    JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap, jQuery-ui, custom.css, main.css, bootstrap.css, oh my.

    Everything is magic when significantly complex. Don’t breathe hard, it will break.

    Question of the Week

    What is the most ludicrous thing you’ve heard somebody on the left say this week?

    And on the right?

            

  • These things round between $40 and $90. They weigh about a pound. This is in Rock Maple. I have one in some exotic wood I purchased years ago.

    Yesterday I started my third. Why three?

    Well, it is much more likely that I will have more than three.

    This simple wood turning is a great way to turn small logs into wood chips. In doing so, I’m learning how to do wood turning.

    I’ve watched a half dozen videos on how to use a skew to rapidly turn a rough piece round. Most of what I’ve accomplished is catches and ouches.

    A catch is when the chisel catches in the wood and the chisel has a great deal of force applied, rapidly. If you are holding the chisel correctly, with a light controlling grip, nothing bad happens. It is scary, loud, and your chisel will move.

    If you have a death grip on the chisel, it is much worse. In that case, you can throw the wood out of the lathe, you can have a piece of wood ripped out of the work, and you can feel the jolt to the bottom of your soul.

    The tool I would like to learn is the skew chisel. This is a straight chisel, no curve, 1/2″ to 1.5″ wide and about 1/4″ thick. It is sharpened on both sides to an edge.

    I’ve watched a few videos on how to do this right. And I’ve been failing.

    Yesterday I made some real progress. The first thing I learned is that the speed at which you advance the chisel is dependent on the surface speed of the work.

    My lathe is a light weight, only a hundred or hundred fifty pounds. If the work is out of balance, it will vibrate the entire lathe. You fix this by slowing the lathe down.

    The slower it turns, the lower the surface speed. This means that when doing a pealing cut, you have to slowly work inward because you have an interrupted cut. If you advance too quickly, when the high spot comes around at speed, you will be cutting too deeply, which is a type of catch.

    It just takes time to get most of the high spots worked down enough that you can turn up the speed. I’m still running it to slowly.

    So I’m slowly turning this rough-cut log into something of value to me, and learning skills as well. I’m doing ok with the peeling cut — now. I’m also doing better on the shearing cut.

    The thing about the shearing cut is that it leaves a nearly finished surface. It only takes a very light touch up with the sand paper to take it to a finished product.

    Now to take this skill to the treadle lathe at The Fort.

            

  • Sorry for posting so late, lately. It’s almost fair season, and I’m having a minor procedure done on my foot tomorrow, so I’ve been going crazy getting things ready. With any luck at all, after tomorrow I might be able to heal up and start to wear shoes again. Oy.

    The Left is going nuts over the knuckle pic posted of Garcia by Trump. Because Trump had his people label the tats with “MS13” so people understood, the Left is now saying that the “MS13” is photo shopped. Um. Yeah. Like, Trump had the letters and numbers put there. The Left is NOT saying the tats are fake. Just the numbers. You can’t make this shit up.

    I’ve seen a number of articles and videos talking about how American citizens have been “wrongly detained” in the immigration crackdown. Of course, if you read through, you find out that they were pulled aside, had their documentation verified, and then released. Sometimes, if it was busy, it took a few hours. Yes, that sucks. No, I don’t like it. But yes, right now it’s going to happen to anyone who looks like they don’t belong in America. Please note, that doesn’t mean a different skin color. It means people who don’t speak English, people who seem to want to destroy American culture, etc.

    Still, I firmly believe in what Heinlein wrote:

    “When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.” — Robert A. Heinlein, from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

    It sounds like China is about to give in with regards to Trump’s tariffs. Some 50 other countries have already caved. The Left is still melting down over how horrible it is that we’re trying to force other countries to pay more to sell things here in America, and how Americans will suffer. I’ve become rather unpopular for presenting the (admittedly VERY Leftist, imo) view that if you Buy Local [tm], you avoid tariffs altogether. Aren’t we all supposed to be buying local? *I* buy local, don’t you? That usually leaves them confused and unable to respond.

    I admit to being concerned over Trump pushing AI into schools. I’d like to see LESS electronics in schools. Let’s face it, AI used incorrectly is basically just theft. It takes an inherently ethical person to use it without stealing from others surreptitiously. I really don’t think we can expect elementary or high school kids to have that kind of responsibility. At this point, teachers are having to work their asses off to find out which essays come from AI and which are actually written by the students. It was bad enough when the parents were doing the homework, but now it’s Siri and ChatGPT, and teachers can’t always tell because AI is better at it than the parents were. I’d like to know more about what kind of AI Trump wants in our schools, because based on what I’ve read in mainstream media, I’m concerned.

    And of course there’s still the overarching panic over making the government smaller. It’s amazing how many Dems seem to be down on trades people, negative about buying local, and pissed off to have more control at local levels. TDS is still in full bloom.

    On the other hand, I’ve seen more and more people on the Left questioning their own folks. Of course, they immediately get tossed out of the party, which leaves them floundering. I offer cookies and a place to catch their breath. I’m unhappy that the Left has no leadership and no direction right now. This country works best with a two party system, and while I’d support the idea of MORE parties, I definitely don’t want one party, and that seems like where we’re headed.

    Alright, time for bed. I’ll try and write something for Friday, but if I don’t, forgive me. 😉

            

  • I’m saddened when I read the blog of somebody I respect, I’m looking at you Divemedic, gets it wrong because it is everywhere.

    The inferior district court judge has claimed (lied) that the Supreme Court agreed with him and that the Government had to “Facilitate the return of Abrego-Garcia”. The Supreme Court did not say this.

    The Supreme Court used polite court speak to slap this inferior court judge around the block. The judge then decided to take a victory lap because he refused to read the Supreme Court’s ruling correctly.

    What does that “polite court speak” require? First, it requires that you respect all parties. Second, it requires you to treat all statements by the lawyers as being truthful. And it requires that you treat any willful error by the inferior courts as being honest mistakes.

    The District Court judge ordered the United States Executive Branch (Article II) to “facilitate and effectuate” the return of Abrego-Garcia. The judge was ordering the government to put Abrego-Garcia in his courtroom.

    Under the standard legal dictionary meaning, facilitate means “get out of the way, do what you can do to help get this done.” “Effectuate” means “get it fucking done.”

    The inferior court judge cannot order the Article II branch of the government to “effectuate” the return of Abrego-Garcia because the US Government does not have control of Abrego-Garcia.

    Thus, the “effectuate” becomes an order to the government to start a war or otherwise do diplomatic things at the whim of the court.

    Instead of saying, “You are a fucking arrogant worm. What the hell did you think you were doing when you ordered the Article II branch to do things? You are a co-equal branch, you don’t get to determine US policy, that is the job of the Article II branch.” Instead, the Supreme Court said, “We know you couldn’t have meant what you said, so you must clarify what you meant by ‘effectuate’.”

    Sort of like when a little guy is starting to square up against a bigger dude and says something nasty.

    Little dude, “Your mother wears army boots!”

    Big dude, “I think I misunderstood you, you didn’t say my mom wears army boots, did you?”

    This particular rogue judge decided to misunderstand. According to the documents that were available to me when I researched this article, the district court judge has not clarified what he meant by “effectuate”.

    Instead, he has lied and changed “facilitate” to “effectuate” by claiming the Supreme Court said that the Article II branch must “facilitate the return of Abrego-Garcia”. Nowhere did the Supreme Court say that.

    The Supreme Court told the government they had to talk to the judge and provide him with what information the government felt was acceptable to share.

            

  • I have always loved this song. I first heard it some 20 odd years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. There’s a specific verse that comes to mind once in a while, when I’m feeling down or bad or wrong…

    Now, depression’s not a million laughs
    But suicide’s too dang’rous
    Don’t go leapin’ out of buildin’s
    In the middle of the night
    It’s not the fall but landin’
    That’ll alter social standin’
    So go first and ask your father
    And I’m sure he’ll set you right

    I miss my father. I was always a daddy’s girl when I was young, and even as an adult, it was dad that I wanted to spend time with. My mother was an abusive cunt, and I had little interest in anything to do with her, and we’ll leave it at that. Dad made a hard choice, some years ago, when he chose to stick by his wife and to let go of his daughter. I barely talked to him the past 20 years, and he died a couple of years ago. It hit me funny. Until that schism, I could have gone to him with anything, and he would have shared good advice. I miss that.

    Anyhow, this isn’t political, it was just… introspective. I hope you enjoyed.