• Last year, I purchased a Sig P365 XMacro. This is the “large” version of the P365, longer barrel, and a 17 round mag.

    It turns out that my nephew wanted the same pistol, having looked at mine, he offered to buy it.

    Being a good uncle, I sold it to him at my cost, plus shipping to his local FFL.

    Because I was selling it so close to the time I had purchased the gun, we figured the safe thing to do was to send it to his local FFL for the 4473 BS.

    The day I shipped it, I knew I had made a mistake. I really wanted that pistol, it felt good in my hand. It pointed like my 1911s. It rang steel.

    One issue I have with it, is the magazines. This is a double stacked, single feed magazine. It holds 17 rounds, but the grip is narrow compared to most other double stacked pistols, my Glock and H&K for example.

    You cannot load this without a reloading tool. I could get maybe 12 rounds into it before it would become too difficult to do with just my thumb, I could not get 17 rounds into it with just my thumb.

    Even with the reloading tool, that final round is a bitch. I hold the magazine flat on the table, slap the tool hard to make room for that final round, then slip it under the feed lips. Without the tool, this is a 15 round magazine. Still better than regular 7 round 1911 mags, or 8 round extended 1911 mags.

    So I’m in the process of changing out my EDC pistol. The holster system is the same as I use for the 1911s, but because the Sig weighs less, there is less pulling that side of my pants low. I’ll be picking up a mag holder shortly.

    Currently, I’ve got an Alien Gear IWB Cloak Tuck. It has the same adjustments as the Shapeshifter system I use for my other pistols. The difference is in the retention system, the shell doesn’t move to other backers (OWB, Appendix, Shoulder, or paddle), it is only an IWB, and it is slightly slimmer than the Shapeshifter shells.

    It isn’t all that difficult to go from 8+1 and a mag to 17+1 with no quick access mags.

    Over the coming weeks I’ll do some range time to become comfortable drawing, presenting and hitting what I aim for.

    Exciting times.

            

  • “Well, bless your heart.”

    “Even the gun nuts want assault weapons bans, they keep telling me ‘come and take it’”

    “May you live in interesting times.”

    All of these sound polite yet are not. They have meaning that is decades or even centuries old.

    “Bless your heart” is a southern way of politely saying, “you can go F yourself.”

    “Come and take it.” is a reference to Mexico attempting to take a cannon from a small Texas town. They didn’t. It means that we will not go quietly into the dark.

    “May you live in interesting times” is a translation of a Chinese curse.

    “My estimated colleague” is a term of phrase used in congress to mean, “That MFing AH.” Or similar words.

    “My friend” in oral arguments means, “That stupid ass that is arguing with me.”

    In the Supreme Court, the majority opinion refers to “the principal dissent” or “JUSTICE KAGAN’s dissent”. If there is only one dissent, they will refer to it as “the dissent.”

    They do not call each other out by name. It isn’t polite, it isn’t respectful.

    Think about what this position means. If a judge in the District of Alaska holds that a criminal statute is unconstitutional, can the United States prosecute a defendant under that statute in the District of Maryland? Perhaps JUSTICE JACKSON would instinctively say yes; it is hard to imagine anyone saying no. But why, on JUSTICE JACKSON’s logic, does it not violate the rule of law for the Executive to initiate a prosecution elsewhere? See post, at 2 (dissenting opinion). Among its many problems, JUSTICE JACKSON’s view is at odds with our system of divided judicial authority. See, e.g., this Court’s Rule 10(a) (identifying conflict in the decisions of the courts of appeals as grounds for granting certiorari). It is also in considerable tension with the reality that district court opinions lack precedential force even vis-à-vis other judges in the same judicial district. See Camreta v. Greene, 563 U. S. 692, 709, n. 7 (2011).
    —Trump, President of The United States, et all., v. CASA, Inc., et al., 2025 606 U.S., n. 17

    Justice Barrett wrote this. And 5 other justices signed on to it. This is a public spanking of the least qualified justice on the Supreme Court. “…view is at odds…” is court speak for “is wrong.”

    The principal dissent focuses on conventional legal terrain, like the Judiciary Act of 1789 and our cases on equity. JUSTICE JACKSON, however, chooses a startling line of attack that is tethered neither to these sources nor, frankly, to any doctrine whatsoever. Waving away attention to the limits on judicial power as a “mind-numbingly technical query,” post, at 3 (dissenting opinion), she offers a vision of the judicial role that would make even the most ardent defender of judicial supremacy blush. In her telling, the fundamental role of courts is to “order everyone (including the Executive) to follow the law—full stop.” Post, at 2; see also post, at 10 (“[T]he function of the courts—both in theory and in practice—necessarily includes announcing what the law requires in … suits for the benefit of all who are protected by the Constitution, not merely doling out relief to injured private parties”); see also post, at 11, n. 3, 15. And, she warns, if courts lack the power to “require the Executive to adhere to law universally,” post, at 15, courts will leave a “gash in the basic tenets of our founding charter that could turn out to be a mortal wound,” post, at 12.
    —id. at 21–22

    I can’t find the words to express how much of a slap in the face this language is. This is the Law Professor talking down to a C- student that didn’t bother to do their homework.

    Rhetoric aside, JUSTICE JACKSON’s position is difficult to pin down. She might be arguing that universal injunctions are appropriate—even required—whenever the defendant is part of the Executive Branch. See, e.g., post, at 3, 10–12, 16–18. If so, her position goes far beyond the mainstream defense of universal injunctions. See, e.g., Frost, 93 N. Y. U. L. Rev., at 1069 (“Nationwide injunctions come with significant costs and should never be the default remedy in cases challenging federal executive action”). As best we can tell, though, her argument is more extreme still, because its logic does not depend on the entry of a universal injunction: JUSTICE JACKSON appears to believe that the reasoning behind any court order demands “universal adherence,” at least where the Executive is concerned. Post, at 2 (dissenting opinion). In her law-declaring vision of the judicial function, a district court’s opinion is not just persuasive, but has the legal force of a judgment. But see Haaland v. Brackeen, 599 U. S. 255, 294 (2023) (“It is a federal court’s judgment, not its opinion, that remedies an injury”). Once a single district court deems executive conduct unlawful, it has stated what the law requires. And the Executive must conform to that view, ceasing its enforcement of the law against anyone, anywhere.
    —id. at 22–23

    The highlighted phrase indicates that this is not just Justice Barrett with this opinion of Jackson, it is all the Justices that signed on to the majority opinion. There is no mistaking this for anything than what it is. The majority is calling out Jackson as being unqualified to sit on the court.

    We will not dwell on JUSTICE JACKSON’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself. We observe only this: JUSTICE JACKSON decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.
    —id. at 23

    There are dozens of articles out there talking about how the end to Universal Injunctions is good for this country. This case will end most of the legal battles against the Trump Administration.

    The only reason these cases were being filed was to stop the Trump Administration from carrying out their actions. There have been no findings of merit in any of these cases. Merely inferior court judges saying they think the plaintiffs (bad guys) might win, and because it is so important, they are blocking the Administration.

    Under normal circumstances, this would be a 3 to 10 year block on the Administration.

    Now that the delay tactic is gone, there is no reason to file losing cases. The money will dry up, and these cases will just evaporate.

    Conclusion

    I have been disappointed that Amy hasn’t voted for cert in a number of Second Amendment cases. What I have noticed is that her arguments are clear and well-founded in our Nation’s history and traditions of regulations. She is doing the right thing, even if I don’t like the outcomes.

    This case is still another “plain text, history, and tradition” result. This court has been standing firm in that belief.

    When Kagan wrote the majority opinion in S&W v. Mexico, she referenced the plain text of the constitution, the plain text of the regulation, and the history and tradition of this Nation’s regulations.

    I’m looking forward to a great Second Amendment opinion in the 2025 Term, likely released in June, 2026.

            

  • So what I do, when I’m out and attending events, is I set up a historically inspired or historically accurate (depending on the event) encampment. I dress the part, I cook meals either inspired by or directly from recipes of the time period. While I’m not perfect, I try to be very aware of what’s modern and what’s not, so that I can explain to any interested onlookers.

    This lends itself well to gadget building. Not modern camping gadgets, though. While those are nice, they’re not replaceable. I can enjoy them, but only in moderation. I’m talking about the kind of gadgets you can build on site, for each event. Or they take so few resources that you can carry said resources with you. When looking into these types of items, I almost always turn to the Boy Scouts (mostly “of old” because the modern ones seem to have lost some of the sauce that made them special, but whatever). They have great publications, both on and offline.

    Laundresses at a Revolutionary Army camp, circa 1780. (Image: National Park Service)

    When you look at paintings and sketches and such of earlier time periods, you learn things. A lot of the images contain people doing normal human things. Laundry, cooking, writing home, lounging, and the like. It’s the details I look for, though. What do they have around the fire? Are their tools laying on the ground, or hanging, or what? Where are their towels? How do they hang their wet laundry? What do their tables look like?

    Chris is making some shelves for me, and probably a box that is both dry larder and a hide for my very modern cooler. It will look like a standard wooden chest, but will contain some build in shelves for canned and other dry goods, and a big section to slide my cooler into. When the lid is closed, it’ll be just like any other piece of camp furniture. And it will break down and flat-pack in the truck, which is a personal requirement I have of most items.

    Garbage bin

    But there are other, little gadgets that I need in my encampment, and I’m in the process of learning how to make them. The first and most important one for me is a garbage bag holder. I know it seems stupid, but I need to have a modern garbage bag on hand for my very modern garbage… but I don’t want it in plain view. I’m going to be using a “three stave” version (the pic to the right is a four stave style), with either twine or small branches going between the tops of the staves. My garbage bag will be inside a large cotton canvas bag, which will in turn be draped over the staves. Voila, something that doesn’t take away from the camp look, but allows me easy access to my rubbish bin.

    Pot holder

    The Boy Scouts have a bunch of cool gadget pages, but the best is the Scout Pioneering “camp gadgets” page. If you read through, there are literally hundreds of projects, some large and many small. The second gadget that I’ll be making is a pot holder. This one, like the garbage bin, doesn’t require any twine or tying. For each end of the two sticks, you drive a criss cross of pegs which can be made of any bits of wood laying around. Lay the rods or sticks on top, and now you have a place out of the dirt to put your washing to dry, or the lid off your dutch oven. I have a trivet that I’ve used previously, but this is a much better alternative and one I can install along the far side of my fire. It will have the added benefit of keeping patrons from walking into the fire pit (which is actually a larger problem than you might think).

    (more…)

            

  • Trump Wins, Again

    My hope is that in 10 years, my grandchildren can read about the 12-day war. Read how the man who did not want to be president became president and brought peace to the middle-east.

    President Trump played better than anyone could have expected. And it started on the 20th of January.

    When Trump took office in 2016, he was a businessman. He knew that even if it was a hostile takeover, you kept the top people. Everybody wanted things to work. They might hate your guts, but they wanted things to work so they could continue to take home a paycheck.

    The government is not like that. Trump was sabotaged before he even took office. People he trusted shouldn’t have been trusted. People he wanted in his team were forced out. The swamp creatures latched on, the media tried to destroy him.

    In some ways, losing to Biden is one of the best things that has ever happened to this country. Trump 2.0 is so much better.

    Trump started this term as if he were a Democrat. He fired everybody who wasn’t on his team. He is still working on that. And it worked.

    He got people in as directors and at cabinet level that believe in him and believe in his vision.

    There were no leaks about the bombing attack. None.

    D.C. has been a cauldron of leaked secrets since I was a child. Most of those leaks served Democrat interest.

    After the attack, there was a leak. A highly placed source, or a person with access to high-level intel, leaked part of a BDA. They seemed to have omitted the part where it was a preliminary BDA with low confidence.

    A day later, Trump declared a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. When both parties tried to “empty their tubes” he slapped them both down.

    As I write this, there does not seem to be any more exchanges between the two major parties.

    In The Supreme Court

    Trump keeps winning cases that get to the Court. Sotomayor, Brown, and Kegan keep writing dissents.

    It is important to note that the agenda-driven justices have not yet written a single thing about the merits of the cases that are being brought to The Court. It is all about waiting.

    As far as I can tell, everyone who is not a sheeple knows that the Trump Administration is going to win these cases.

    The leftists don’t care. For them, it is the cost to the Trump Administration and delay, delay, delay.

    If these cases were to proceed through the courts as the leftist want, Trump will be out of office before they are resolved.

    Consider Duncan, which was filed in 2016. The case went through the District Court, through the merits panel of the Ninth Circuit, through the en banc Ninth Circuit, through a motion for writ of certiorari, was granted certiorari, the Ninth Circuit’s opinion was vacated, the case was remanded to the Ninth, which remanded it to the district court, where another full finding of facts, post-Bruen, won, was appealed to the Ninth, was taken by the original en banc panel, against Ninth Circuit policies, the district opinion was vacated and remanded for final disposition, and is now seeking certiorari for the second time before the Supreme Court.

    Nine years! I could easily see rogue inferior courts dragging out cases for years and years.

    Regardless of the agenda-driven justices, the Supreme Court has handed out win after win to the Trump Administration.

    Truck Sounds

    Wednesday, I drove the truck 50 miles or so. It had this really weird sound.

    That sound was silence.

    It turns out that there really was a second bearing going bad, or which had gone bad.

    Because my dude is cool, I was able to observe the work done on my truck. Watching the mechanic use the same methods that I was questioning was nice. On the other hand, watching him do some things just blew my mind.

    Even when the metal does not rust, two metal parts in close contact will stick. The axle on the passenger side of the truck was seriously stuck to the hub. It took some heavy work with a 5 lb sledge and a punch to break the axle free.

    Jess picked up the air chisel, put a punch in it, walked over to the axle and triggered the air chisel. That axel backed out almost instantly.

    Doh, I have that tool. Never even occurred to me to use it.

    The cost of the hub for the driver’s side was $10 more than I would have paid at the local shop. With his profit built in, having him (shop owner) source the hub didn’t really cost extra.

    It turns out that the job I wasn’t willing to do, replacing the bad flex brake line in the left rear, was a simple job of unscrewing the hose from the two hard lines and replacing it.

    I saw that and was irritated that I didn’t do that work myself. Easy, right?

    That was, until I saw, as part of the miscellaneous shop items, two new lengths of hard line. Jess had to replace the hard line after they failed while replacing the flex line.

    The truck is good for a few thousand more miles.

    Stock Market

    On the first two days the stock market was open after the start of the 12-day war, my accounts dipped, hard. It was extremely scary.

    So I dropped another chunk of money into the market to make some purchases.

    As of last night, the market has recovered everything from that dip and a bit more. I expect to see it go up again today.

    Woodworking

    I’ve started making my workbench. Instead of pulling out the chop saw, I set up a pair of saw horses and used hand tools. I don’t think I’ve ever made cleaner cuts by hand. After 58 years of using handsaws, I might actually have learned how to do it.

    One end of the bench has been glued and screwed, and I’m working on the half lap braces. This is my first half lap.

    It is finished, the fit is good, as long as I don’t want the other end to touch the opposite leg. I’ll have to refine the joint tomorrow.

    Tools

    I haven’t been able to find one of my marking gauges. The one I did find didn’t work for me.

    The nice option was the 3/4 wide chisel I pulled off the wall. It was properly protected by a cap. It was properly sharpened and worked perfectly.

    The other side of this was finding out that I seem to have let somebody borrow the 1″ chisel. How do I know? Because there are chips in the cutting edge. It looks more like a saw blade than a chisel.

    It is going to take a bit of work on the grinder to get that edge back. Thank goodness for slow speed 320 grit diamond wheels. Without a grinder, it would take hours to recover that edge.

    Oh, those bench chisels are the cheap box store chisels, they are Marple’s.

    I now have a “working” No.4 Stanley. I have one of unknown condition of the same general size, and one that seems to be junk. It is nice to have the tools I need.

    Question of The Week

    How concerned were you that we were about to get stuck in another war?

            

  • THE BREAKDOWN: Lower Income Overwhelmingly Voted for Cuomo, Majority of College Educated Vote For Jihadi Mamdani
    https://gellerreport.com/2025/06/the-breakdown-lower-income-overwhelmingly-voted-for-cuomo-majority-of-college-educated-vote-for-jihadi-mamdani.html/
    This election confirms what we already know—American universities have become Marxist indoctrination centers. The low income people in New York City voted en masse AGAINST the guy who promised to create government-run grocery stores and “freeze” the rent. American universities have systematically destroyed the minds of Americans.

    CUOMO CONCEDES: Jihadi Zohran Mamdani Wins NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary in Stunning Upset
    https://gellerreport.com/2025/06/cuomo-concedes-jihadi-zohran-mamdani-wins-nyc-democratic-mayoral-primary-in-stunning-upset.html/
    How does New York come back from this?
    via Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_ https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/1937848923172782529
    Some of the things socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has previously called for: Abolish NYPD – Abolish prisons – Abolish medical bills – Abolish private health insurance – Ban all guns – Legalize sex work – Safe injection sites – End cash bail – Decriminalize drug possession – End sentencing enhancements – End all cooperation with ICE
    (Q: What will happen if Wall Street, the Jewish population, hospitals, the smart population who didn’t vote for a terrorist, and major business centers leave NYC? – jlr)
    (A: You will have a terrorist enclave in the NE USA – jlr)

    Alligator Alcatraz
    https://miguelgg.substack.com/p/alligator-alcatraz
    Everybody in the left are losing their minds about this place. From the “Human Rights” people claiming it is a constitutional violation to the Environmentalists saying it will destroy the Everglades.

    “Civil War Comes to the West” – Part 1
    https://grayzoneresearch.substack.com/p/civil-war-comes-to-the-west-part
    First, thank you to the handful followers who sent me David Betz’s fantastic essay entitled “Civil War Comes to the West.” Betz, a professor of war at King’s College London, concludes that the greatest threat to Western countries is not external, but internal. This means civil war is coming to Western countries. Here’s a summary of the high points of his essay:………………….
    (read this synopsis and see if you want to read the whole thing – jlr)
    https://www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/civil-war-comes-to-the-west/
    https://www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/civil-war-comes-to-the-west-part-ii-strategic-realities/
    (This is truely eye opening and disturbing – jlr)

    Supreme Court upholds ban on Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/supreme-court-planned-parenthood-medicaid
    The Supreme Court upheld South Carolina’s decision to bar Planned Parenthood from accessing federal Medicaid funding for non-abortion-related services on Thursday.

    YES, THEY ARE THIS STUPID
    Start buying lots of popcorn…and find the best NYC livestreams
    https://miguelgg.substack.com/p/start-buying-lots-of-popcorn
    Why I say buy popcorn? This video is all I need to explain.
    embeded video – 00:00:33

    THIS IS WHERE LIBERAL POLITICIANS, LIBERAL JUDGES, THE MSM, RAP MUSIC, AND NO CONSEQUENCES FOR ANYTHING BY ANYONE HAVE GOTTEN US TO!

    ‘Just end him’: 5th-grade girls allegedly plotted to stab boy to death at school and make it look like a suicide
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/5th-grade-murder-plot-girls
    A shocking plot from 10- and 11-year-old girls to murder a boy and then stage his death as a suicide was thwarted when another student overheard them, police say. Details of the plot from the group of girls at the Legacy Traditional School’s West Surprise campus in Surprise, Arizona, were released in a police report. Police said the four girls planned the plot during a lunch and recess on Oct. 1, 2024. The student who overheard them reported the conversation to school officials. The plot had a role for each of the girls. One was supposed to have forged the suicide note to make it appear that the boy had committed suicide. Another girl was tasked with bringing the knife to school. Another girl was supposed to act like a lookout while the last girl would commit the stabbing. The girl who overheard the plot said she heard one girl say, “Just end him.”. Police said the girls might have been motivated to kill the boy after an alleged breakup and cheating incident. The police report said two of the girls were aged 10 years old, while the other two were 11 years old. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office confirmed that the students had been charged as juveniles, and police had said they were suspended, pending expulsion. The Surprise Police Dept. said they did not plan to release any more details about the incident.

    2 teenagers accused of shooting homeless man to death took photos of themselves with a gun
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/nm-teens-shoot-kill-homeless
    A23-year-old homeless man found dead in his tent was shot to death by two teenagers, according to New Mexico police. Christopher Sturluson was living in an arroyo in Albuquerque before workers at the Albuquerque Community Safety Department found his body on the morning of May 1. Albuquerque Police Department officers responded after ShotSpotter alerts indicated that about 10 gunshots were fired around 9 p.m. April 30. Police talked to Sturluson, who told them that people had fired in his direction. Later that same night, the ShotSpotter picked up another six gunshots in the same area between 10:15 and 11:50 p.m. Police identified two suspects through surveillance video and later arrested 18-year-old Joshua Curtis as well as a 17-year-old. Police said they were able to recover bullet casings from the scene. Police also found photographs the pair allegedly had taken of themselves with a gun, according to a KOB-TV report. The 17-year-old suspect turned out to be on juvenile probation after he was caught with a gun at Sandia High School in 2022. He was expelled from that school. The 18-year-old suspect has a criminal history that includes a pending case for assault on an officer. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said the fatality is clear evidence that the system is broken. “We have two teenagers accused of killing a homeless person,” said Bregman. “The frustration level, quite frankly, is at a boiling point. This will be, I believe, the 47th juvenile that we’ve charged with murder in this office since I’ve been district attorney.” Bregman has been calling for greater consequences for juvenile criminals. “If we don’t start doing something, we will continue to see this kind of result. We’re not teaching our kids anything when we’re not giving them consequences,” Bregman added. Bregman also said that “if convicted, this juvenile is facing the rest of his life in prison. We didn’t do any justice for the poor homeless person that’s dead, and we certainly didn’t do any justice for the kid that’s now charged with murder because we didn’t teach him anything when we had the chance.

    10 people charged in connection with alleged murder of homeless man reportedly kidnapped from encampment in New York
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/ithaca-homeless-murder-kidnap-jungle
    Officials in upstate New York said 10 people were arrested in relation to the alleged kidnapping and murder of a homeless man who was living at an encampment in Ithaca. On May 20, 33-year-old Thomas Rath was forcibly abducted from an encampment called “the Jungle” located in a rustic area behind a Lowe’s home improvement store, according to investigators. About a hundred days later, his remains were discovered in a shallow grave on state land in the village of Candor in Tioga County, police said. Ithaca city police and New York State Police were alerted on May 26 about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Rath’s disappearance. After serving more than 40 search warrants in several locations as a part of the investigation, officials announced that nine of the 10 suspects were being charged with first-degree kidnapping while two suspects were being charged with second-degree murder. Officials also said more arrests were expected in the coming weeks. “[A]s this missing person case evolved, it revealed a particularly disturbing and heinous series of events which ultimately revealed the kidnapping and murder of Mr. Rath,” said New York State Police Troop C Commander Major Jeffery VanAuken at a media briefing Monday. Investigators were unwilling to reveal the victim’s cause of death in order to protect the ongoing investigation, but they did reveal that the victim had been “familiar” with the suspects and that it was not a random act of violence. “Some of these details will have to wait for court, unfortunately,” said investigator Captain Lucas Anthony. “It is an ongoing investigation, more arrests are coming. So some of that information is limited as to what we can release at this time.” Residents of Ithaca had been complaining about crime and drug abuse by homeless people who had camped at the Jungle.

    Boys, just 7 and 9 years old, wrestle for loaded gun — and 1 points it at deputies during tense standoff
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/boys-loaded-gun-armed-standoff-new-mexico-video
    Newly released video shows two young boys engaging New Mexico deputies in an armed standoff. The boys, ages 7 and 9, both handled a loaded handgun — and one of them even pointed it at Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Feb. 16. The two young boys, seen in the video dressed in “Minecraft” and “Star Wars”-themed pajamas, are standing next to an air-conditioning unit while handling a loaded handgun. During the nearly seven-minute video, the boys are seen struggling with each other to take control of the gun. A female voice is heard saying in the drone video, “Put it down, baby. Put it down, babe.” A deputy tells the children, “Just throw it on the ground, bud. Come talk to us. You’re not in trouble.” After more than five minutes into the standoff, police fired a warning shot — a non-lethal projectile — near the children, and the boy holding the gun immediately pointed it at officers. Deputies scream in unison, “Drop it! Drop it!” The boy who was not holding the gun put his hand up and hid behind the air-conditioning unit. Police fired another warning shot. As both boys took cover between the air conditioning unit and a house, a deputy rushed toward the children and wrestled the gun away from the boy, after which other deputies converged on the scene and took the pair into custody. The sheriff’s office said in a statement, “Utilizing BCSO’s drone program, deputies were able to monitor the situation in real-time, providing critical updates and enhancing situational awareness. This technology allowed deputies to secure the area swiftly and safely, ultimately preventing a potential deadly force encounter with the juveniles.” Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen stated, “I will tell, if it was not for our drone program, we would have probably went in there a little bit more blind and been into a deadly force confrontation pretty quick, and as you can imagine, it would have not gone well with us killing and shooting a 7- and 9-year-old.” Police said the drone program has been “instrumental in providing deputies with additional tools to manage diverse and high-risk situations.” Sheriff Allen said, “This case illustrates the complex intersection of juvenile crime, mental health, and public safety. We are taking important steps to close service gaps and expand our ability to work with juveniles involved in firearms or violent crimes.” Allen added that his department previously had been called to the home at least 50 times due to issues with the boys and their family, according to the Albuquerque Journal. BCSO Behavioral Health Unit Clinical Manager Michael Lucero said members of the unit immediately went to the boys’ home to assist the family with “numerous issues they’re experiencing” and conducted psychiatric evaluations of the children. Lucero said the unit is working on getting help for the children and the parent who reportedly has an extensive history of trauma. The family’s case agent, Danielle Smith, told KRQE-TV, “I don’t know how much I’m able to say, so I’m just gonna leave it very vague, but we know where the children learned the behavior from, and that is being addressed as well.” BCSO Deputy Deanna Aragon said the boys were not arrested, and no charges were filed against the children. She noted that the children have not been removed from the home. Law enforcement did not divulge where the boys got the gun but said the firearm was seized after the standoff. Sheriff Allen said the boys “were taught how to use the firearm.” Police said the case is still under investigation, and the parents could face charges. “We’re dealing with a 7- and 9-year-old, so now we’re looking at the adult side, how they had the firearm, are they gonna be charged with the Bennie Hargrove law, we’re looking into all of that,” Allen stated. The Bennie Hargrove law holds adults criminally liable for negligently allowing minors access to firearms. Allen also pushed back against critics who called for the arrest of the young boys. “Children are our future, and we know one side is going to say, ‘Lock them in jail.’ They’re 7 and 9 years old. I told you before, numerous times in numerous interviews, that I understand the frontal lobe,” Allen said, referring to children’s incomplete brain development. Allen added, “Arresting people isn’t the only way out of this crisis of juvenile crime. … You have to look at it from a bunch of different avenues and use the resources you have, and then criminal elements can come later.” Allen did note that if the boys were several years older, the department would “probably be speaking differently and doing it the reverse route.”
    (LOTS OF VIDEO HERE – jlr)

    IN HUMORE EST VERITAS – (I don’t always agree with all of them – jlr)
    Truth Bomb Central: Memes that Expose the Deception (356th Edition)
    https://www.dukeofgood.com/p/truth-bomb-central-memes-that-expose-28b

    Dear New Yorkers: Texas Will Break You
    https://redstate.com/brandon_morse/2025/06/26/dear-new-yorkers-dont-move-to-the-state-of-horror-and-pain-that-is-texas-n2190933
    …You really don’t want to move here. Texas is like Hell, only worse, because the living conditions here are so chaotic and difficult that the devil himself thinks it’s a bit much…………..

    Anxious New Yorkers: You Should Avoid Alaska at All Costs
    https://redstate.com/wardclark/2025/06/26/anxious-new-yorkers-you-should-avoid-alaska-at-all-costs-n2190936
    if one is planning to bail on one place to head for greener pastures, and my good friend and colleague Brandon Morse has presented some cautions about New Yorkers thinking of coming to his home state of Texas; he makes some excellent arguments. But he ends with this sentence: Go to Alaska. They’ve got a ton of room up there.

    “Avoid crowds – Get Out of the Cities. – NOW. A year too soon is better than a day too late” – John Wilder @ https://wilderwealthywise.com/

    “God created all men, but Samuel Colt made them equal.” – Unknown

    “A Smith & Wesson does more for empowering women than Feminism ever could” – Greg Gutfeld 29 Jul 2017

    Don’t Do: stupid sht, with stupid people, in stupid places, at stupid times. – paraphrasing John Farnam, firearms instructor

    “An armed society is a polite society” – Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” ― Robert A. Heinlein

    “People sleep peaceably in their bed at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – Eric Arthur Blair (AKA – George Orwell)

    “If your plan is to come to my house when things get bad, you need a better plan”- like being invited, having a useful skill, bringing food, or ammunition – jlr76380

    “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero” – https://www.zerohedge.com/

            

  • Considering my post from yesterday and the “Nazi salute” that prompted it, I thought this was germane to the moment. 😉

    https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16rizNSXqL/

            

  • There are people who blame their actions on “The ’tism’.

    I had not heard this term until recently. My oldest son is “on the spectrum.” He barely functions, not from emotional out bursts, but because he just isn’t mature enough.

    My youngest son is also “on the spectrum”, he is high function, going to collage, doing well. His issues tend to be socal in nature. In other words, he has not had much success in finding new friends.

    My youngest is also on the spectrum. She is very high functioning. You would not suspect she is autistic when interacting with her. She is social and she makes friends.

    I was born before the great “autism” hunt. I do not have an official diagnosis of autism. There are many indicators that I am autistic.

    A side effect of this was I was able to teach some of my coping methods to my children, to help them.

    What does this have to do with making friends?

    It means it is hard. It takes an effort.

    What you might consider to be a friend is unlikely to be a friend in my eyes.

    Just because we are co-workers, and we are friendly with each other, does not mean we are friends.

    Most people would have no difficulty in ticking off a dozen friends. Maybe even a dozen close friends.

    I’ve had 4 true friends in my lifetime. Two of them were good friends. I say “were” because one is dead, and I am out of contact with the other.

    Of the other two, one I have not seen since I left high school. The other is in prison because he is a kiddy diddler.

    One I thought was a friend decided that anybody who supported the Supreme Court’s Dobbs’ opinion was no longer a friend to her. And later went as far as to say that anybody who voted for Trump was not a friend and could just fuck off.

    Ally tells me that there are people attempting to be friends. I can almost see it, but I don’t feel it.

    In 2008, Obama was running for office. It is the moment when I felt my country start to fracture. Friends were starting to turn on each other in ways I had not seen before.

    I went to speak to a black co-worker. “Who are you voting for?” “Obama”, “Why?” “Because he’s black.”

    Anybody who expressed any hesitation or discomfort about voting for a one—term senator from Illinois, who’s most common vote was “Present” was a “racist”.

    It was that bad. Since I was working in a deep blue state at the time, I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t care who they were voting for. I wish they had better reasons than “He’s black.” It was their choice.

    Oh, it wasn’t just the black co-workers, it was all the lefties.

    How did I spot a lefty? Those were the ones openly talking politics, expressing their opinion about anyone who wasn’t voting for Obama.

    From that moment on, I have been called racist, for my beliefs, constantly.

    Look at Rep. Hunt. Now there is a black man. I like him. Why? Because he echos my beliefs. He stands up for America.

    Now compare him to the half white Obama.

    Obama’s mother was white, his father was black, he’s brown.

    He ran as a black man. So what?

    If every single person of color had voted for him and every single white voted against him, he would not have become the President of the United States. A majority of the people of the United States decided that he was a better man to be president than McCain.

    For the next 8 years, I wasn’t allowed to say a negative thing about my President. To do so was to “prove I was racist.”

    When Hillary ran for President, I suddenly became misogynistic. No change of my positions, just a different candidate by the Democrats.

    And every lefty screamed at me that I was a bad person if I didn’t support every belief they held.

    There was a TikTok sketch Ally showed to me. A woman says to her Republican friend that she is leaving the GOP.

    Her friend responds with, “I’m sorry you feel you need to leave. We’ve been friends all our lives. You will continue to be my friend and are welcome here, anytime.”

    The sketch then changes to a woman leaving the Democrat party. “I’m leaving the party. They just don’t match my core beliefs. You’ve been my friend all my life. You will still be my friend.”

    The remaining Democrat woman turns to the first and, with a sneer on her face, “I’m not friends with Nazis”

    That is what my life felt like during the Obama era. It was worse under Biden.

    Our friendships became defined by our beliefs.

    Going out in public, I would hear leftists yapping about how anybody who wasn’t like them was horrible, evil people. Nasty labels were everywhere.

    I’ve seen “DemocRAT” from time to time. I’m “MAGAot”, a “fascist”, a “racist”, a “white supremest”, and every other nasty label you can think of.

    Those people won’t speak with me. They can’t handle being asked for examples. They can’t handle being called on bullshit. They can’t be bothered to verify any of the narrative they spout with no evidence to back them.

    I’m sorry for Ally.

    She is a good person. We are good people. If you are in need, we will do our best to help you. When a “co-worker” had an emergency, she didn’t ask, “What are your politics? I only help good people.” No, she opened her pantry to them. She did it with no expectation of anything.

    When they tried to repay her, she said, “Pay it forward.”

    Well, they did pay it forward. Until they had to treat people by what they do instead of what they were told they do.

    Make sure you keep your friends close. Make sure they know you are friends.

    Stay strapped. Keep your head on a swivel. Don’t be in stupid places at stupid times.

            

  • Iranian General: We’ll Chop Off Trump’s Hand, Annihilate Israel
    https://gellerreport.com/2025/06/iranian-general-well-chop-off-trumps-hand-annihilate-israel.html/
    The Iranian regime tried to assassinate President Trump And it just threatened to “chop his hand off.” The mullahs have to go.
    General Ebrahim Jabbari, senior advisor to the IRGC commander-in-chief and former commander of Supreme Leader Khamenei’s security unit, appeared on Channel 3 ***(Iran) on June 23, 2025. ( A pure unadulterated propaganda thrater interview – jlr)

    Shocking Poll Shows Jew-Hating Jihadi Zohran Mamdani Leading Andrew Cuomo in NYC’s Rigged Ranked Choice Primary
    https://gellerreport.com/2025/06/shocking-poll-shows-zohran-mamdani-leading-andrew-cuomo-in-nycs-rigged-ranked-choice-primary.html/
    G-d help New York City if this lunatic becomes mayor. The radical Marxist and jihadi Zohran Mamdani is dangerous, and would destroy the greatest city in the world.
    more
    9/11’s FINAL BLOW: Mayor Primary Election Today as Islamic Terrorist Operative Zohran Mamdani Takes The Lead
    https://gellerreport.com/2025/06/jihad-for-nyc-mayor.html/
    In the city blown up on 9/11……in the city with the largest number of Holocaust survivors in the world…The biased and discriminatory adoption of Democrat-rigged ‘ranked choice voting’ makes this terrorist’s election not just possible but probable.
    The FINAL on the NYC Democrat Primary
    CUOMO CONCEDES: Jihadi Zohran Mamdani Wins NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary in Stunning Upset
    https://gellerreport.com/2025/06/cuomo-concedes-jihadi-zohran-mamdani-wins-nyc-democratic-mayoral-primary-in-stunning-upset.html/

    New York City Just Voted to Destroy Itself, and It’s Time to Let It Happen
    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/06/25/new-york-city-just-chose-to-destroy-itself-and-its-time-to-let-it-happen-n2190880
    As the vote totals rolled in on Tuesday, it quickly became clear that a major upset was brewing… left-wing Muslim socialist who wants to “queer the police” while also defunding them…Zohran Mamdani had emerged victorious, and with that, New York City’s fate appeared to be sealed…it looks like New Yorkers saw the destruction of Chicago’s socialist lunatic of a mayor and decided they wanted that too, but even worse…you might be asking how New York City ended up in this position. After all, who in their right mind would vote for someone like Mamdani? The answer is the same as it’s been for a while when discussing the elevation of left-wing radicalism in America: Affluent, white, female liberals.

    DOJ Accuses Biden-Appointed Judge Of ‘Unprecedented Defiance’ After Rejecting SCOTUS Ruling Allowing Deportations
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doj-accuses-biden-appointed-judge-unprecedented-defiance-after-defying-scotus-ruling
    Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling however, District Court Judge Murphy declared in a court order late Monday night that his previous order preventing the deportation of the dangerous criminals to South Sudan “remains in full force and effect.”…White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller accused Murphy of trying to “overrule the Supreme Court.”…“A Boston judge openly defying and nullifying a Supreme Court order is a radical escalation of the communist coup taking place within the judiciary,”…Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff at the Department of Justice described Murphy’s defiance as “an Article III insurrection.”…“When a single district judge immediately and flagrantly defies the Supreme Court, that is not the rule of law—it is an Article III insurrection.”…On Tuesday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed a motion at the Supreme Court addressing Murphy’s “unprecedented defiance” of the court’s authority, calling his order “untenable.” This Court should immediately make clear that the district court’s enforcement order has no effect, and put a swift end to the ongoing irreparable harm to the Executive Branch and its agents, who remain under baseless threat of contempt as they are forced to house dangerous criminal aliens at a military base in the Horn of Africa that now lies on the borders of a regional conflict.

    Silver Price Shows What Government Has Done To Our Money
    https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/silver-price-shows-what-government-has-done-our-money
    You hear about gas prices everyday…in real terms gas prices have gone down…I’m old enough to remember 25-cent gas…“Silver’s rally has made it worth the effort to sift through coin jars looking for old dimes, quarters and half dollars. The melt value of 25-cent coins minted from before 1965, when they were made of 90% silver, is more than $6.50.”…

    Harvard Wins Injunction Against Trump Admin’s Student Visa Ban
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvard-wins-injunction-against-trump-admins-student-visa-ban
    Federal District Court Judge Allison Burroughs on Monday issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of President Donald Trump’s proclamation that bars foreign nationals from entering the United States through Harvard’s student exchange visa program.
    (Once again, a DISTRICT Court Judge is trying to set national policy from the bench – jlr)

    covid vax and conception rates
    https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/covid-vax-and-conception-rates
    there was certainly a coordinated collapse of birth rates around the world and a lot of this trend smelled fishier than a gumbo shack dumpster after madri gras, but there was never really quite enough data to really do the analyses that seemed warranted.
    (VERY math heacy and geeky – BUT IF you can wade throught it there are som interesting convlusions and thoughts on the COVID jabs vs pregnancy – jlr)

    Popular Fox Rescuer Commits Suicide After Degenerate Redditors Launch Character Assassination Campaign
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/popular-fox-rescuer-commits-suicide-after-degenerate-redditors-launch-character
    There are vast communities across America that most of you might not be aware of – full of people living free, satisfying lives – and often using their little slice of happiness to help those in need. Yet it seems no good deed goes unpunished, thanks to mentally ill degenerates who take pleasure in stalking, harassing, and otherwise tearing people down. These basement-dwelling assholes love attacking tradwives and homesteaders (who are apparently white supremacists). They can’t stand rugged individualism and self-sufficiency, or nuclear families, or people who are thriving while carving their own path. What’s more, these haters form ‘snark’ groups on Reddit and other platforms with the sole purpose of character assassination. And now, they’ve driven someone to suicide.

    FOOD for THOUGHT
    There’s a New Poll Reporting Mental Illness by Political Party, and You’re Going to Love It
    https://redstate.com/wardclark/2025/06/24/theres-a-new-poll-reporting-mental-illness-by-political-party-and-youre-going-to-love-it-n2190862
    Far more Democrats are far more likely to “identify” as mentally ill than Republicans…Nine in 10 conservatives self-report their mental health to be excellent (51%) or very good (39%). Those who consider themselves liberals are struggling, with only 20% saying their mental health is excellent and 26% believing it is very good…Only 19% of conservatives say their mental health is poor, while 45% of liberals say they have poor mental health.

    The Mental Health Crisis Among Young Liberal Women
    https://www.mensvoicesireland.com/articles/the-mental-health-crisis-among-young-liberal-women/
    https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/young-liberal-women-statistically-unhappiest-most-mentally-ill-demographic-america
    Much data has shown that young women who identify as liberal are much less happy and fulfilled than their more conservative counterparts…liberal women often view marriage and childbearing as “oppressive”… liberal people are less likely to prioritize activities that bring them personal fulfilment, such as a faith community, marriage, and family. Only 37% of liberals are married, while 56% of conservatives are married. Marriage has long been associated with better health, increased happiness, and even longer life expectancy…a Pew survey in 2020 in the US which looks at mental health according to gender, age and politics…
    https://www.thefp.com/p/why-the-mental-health-of-liberal
    https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/03/02/mental-health-and-the-pandemic-what-u-s-surveys-have-found/

    TEXAS
    Finally: Karmelo Anthony at Long Last Indicted for Stabbing Murder of Fellow Teen at Texas Track Meet
    https://redstate.com/terichristoph/2025/06/24/finally-karmelo-anthony-indicted-for-murder-at-high-school-track-meet-n2190863
    It was never a question of if Karmelo Anthony was responsible for the stabbing death of fellow teen Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, high school track meet back in April. Anthony himself admitted to carrying out the deadly act at Kuykendall Stadium, apparently telling police, “I’m not alleged, I did it!” when law enforcement arrested him for the killing. There were also eyewitnesses and video evidence showing Anthony as the aggressor…The question these last few months was, instead, when would Karmelo Anthony finally face justice for killing Austin Metcalf?…be prepared for the “Karmelo Anthony is the real victim here” narrative to go into overdrive as Collin County, Texas, officials have, at long last, indicted Anthony for first degree murder in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf…Anthony’s defense attorney, Mike Howard, said the teen looked forward to his day in court: “We expect that when the full story is heard, the prosecution will not be able to rule out the reasonable doubt that Karmelo Anthony may have acted in self-defense.”
    there’s more
    Alleged Murderer Karmelo Anthony Enters Grifter Hall of Fame After What He Did With Donations
    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/04/16/alleged-murderer-karmelo-anthony-enters-grifter-hall-of-fame-after-what-he-did-with-donations-n2187913
    Now, we know what Anthony and his family did with a good portion of the money they received…they bought a new car and moved into a $900,000 home in a gated community…They took money intended for his “legal defense” and hit the upgrade button with it.
    but wait it gets even better
    Karmelo Anthony spokesman urges fight against ‘white supremacy’ after Anthony’s murder indictment for Austin Metcalf stabbing
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/karmelo-anthony-spokesman-urges-fight-against-white-supremacy-after-anthony-s-murder-indictment-for-austin-metcalf-stabbing
    Dominique Alexander — president of Next Generation Action Network — posted on X: “To the racists, the bigots, and those filled with hate who’ve targeted Karmelo, his family, and even myself — you do not intimidate us. We are not backing down.”… “stand with us in the fight against white supremacy”… “This case is yet another example of what it means to be Black in America, where even our self-defense is questioned, scrutinized, and politicized.”…Anthony’s GiveSendGo fund as of Wednesday sits at over $538,000…TV host Auron MacIntyre had the following to say about the state of the criminal case and Alexander’s “white supremacy” reference: “The fact that Anthony and his family have claimed victimhood, even in the face of the incredible forgiveness offered by Austin Metcalf’s father, says it all. It is a sad truth that the narratives about ‘white supremacy’ taught to many minorities in the U.S. through the educational system and media quickly become a blank check for violence against white Americans.”

    IN HUMORE EST VERITAS – (I don’t always agree with all of them – jlr)
    Truth Bomb Central: Memes that Expose the Deception (355th Edition)
    https://www.dukeofgood.com/p/truth-bomb-central-memes-that-expose-3da

    Some ‘Predictions’ For The Latter Half Of 2025… (Scary but somewhat possible – jlr)
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/some-predictions-latter-half-2025
    Back in mid-January I issued “My Predictions For The Rest Of 2025.” We are half a year in, and I thought I should issue an update.
    Ergo, I hereby present to you “My Updated Predictions For The Last Half Of 2025:”
    *June 25—A lone federal district court judge rules that President Trump must re-rename the large body of water between Florida and Mexico “The Gulf of Mexico.”
    *June 26—A lone federal district court judge, installed by Barack Obama in 2015, rules that all African-Americans must be given $2 million each in reparations—and a $1,000 IHOP gift card.
    *June 27—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) takes to the Congressional podium to vehemently declare that illegal aliens’ right to vote must be immediately codified and enshrined in law, while white people “and other infidels” should not be allowed to vote, in order to “save our democracy.”
    *June 28—Yes, the Chicago White Sox are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
    *July 7—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney jointly issue a stunning announcement: Minnesota will become Canada’s 11th province as of August 1st.
    *July 24—A lone federal district court judge rules that President Trump must “immediately restore the White House to exactly as it looked at the very moment when President Biden left office on January 20th, 2025.”
    *August 12—With the Canadian wildfires raging as strong as ever, four months in, President Trump, citing national security and health concerns, decides to annex Canada and put out the fires. This also reunites Minnesota with the United States. Sort of. Trump says, “I must protect the rights of American citizens to go outdoors, play golf, and breathe without being forced to inhale toxic smoke that could eventually kill them.”
    *August 30—A lone federal district court judge rules that Trump must un-annex Canada and restart the Canadian wildfires.
    *September 10—Elon Musk, continuing to try to patch things up with President Trump, says that he misspoke when his tweet implied that Trump visited Epstein Island. Musk says what he meant to tweet was that Trump had once visited Gilligan’s Island. “My bad,” says Musk.
    *September 23—A lone federal district court judge rules that, contrary to recent Trump administration directives, the United States military must be at least 50% comprised of members of the LGBTQ Community by Jan. 1, 2027.
    *September 30– Extensive new studies find that COVID-19 vaccines injured or killed far more people than originally thought…prompting the mainstream media to immediately launch a series of programs revisiting the “January 6 Insurrection.”
    *October 12—Kamala Harris is found passed out on a San Francisco street, empty wine box to her side.
    *October 29—Nancy Pelosi is found passed out on a San Francisco street, empty Haagen Dazs containers and vodka bottles to her side.
    *November 18—It is revealed that CNN became the first cable news network ever to have a negative ratings share for any week. Lifesitenews brands the network’s Nov. 9- Nov. 15 performance “a miracle.”
    *November 20—Congressional Democrats propose a bill that would require the payment of reparations to Blacks and mandate that the U.S. return the southwestern states to Mexico, the middle of the country to France, and the Eastern seaboard to England. An amendment to the bill calls for all English-speaking folks to subsequently return to England, effectively returning the erstwhile United States to the Indigenous Peoples.
    *December 10—A lone federal district court judge’s ruling declares that President Trump must only wear boxers, never briefs.
    *December 31—Yes, CNN’s Anderson Cooper does accidentally vomit on air after guzzling a glass filled with a mix of Wild Turkey and Clorox Bleach– and taking several prolonged bong hits to celebrate the New Year.

    A sneak peek at 2026:
    *January 9—Al Gore says that, unless all human activity on planet Earth immediately ceases, the planet will spontaneously combust by the end of the year.
    *January 27—The U.S. observes the 10-year anniversary of Al Gore stating that, unless the Earth took “drastic measures,” it would reach the “point of no return” in 10 years.
    January 29—A lone federal district court judge invalidates the 2024 presidential election, finding that “the American people are incapable of voting in a way that furthers and supports our precious democracy.” He rules that Kamala Harris be immediately installed as president and Tim Walz as vice-president. He adds, “There are no kings in this country. I have spoken!”

    “Avoid crowds – Get Out of the Cities. – NOW.  A year too soon is better than a day too late” – John Wilder @  https://wilderwealthywise.com/

    “God created all men, but Samuel Colt made them equal.” – Unknown

    “A Smith & Wesson does more for empowering women than Feminism ever could” – Greg Gutfeld 29 Jul 2017

    Don’t Do: stupid sht, with stupid people, in stupid places, at stupid times. – paraphrasing John Farnam, firearms instructor

    “An armed society is a polite society” – Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” ― Robert A. Heinlein

    “People sleep peaceably in their bed at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – Eric Arthur Blair (AKA – George Orwell)

    “If your plan is to come to my house when things get bad, you need a better plan”- like being invited, having a useful skill, bringing food, or ammunition – jlr76380

    “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero” – https://www.zerohedge.com/

            

  • My kid has been harassing me to go to a friend’s wedding at an event this fall. I didn’t want to go to the event, but I did want to go to the wedding. These are friends who showed up to their first event and had a catastrophic failure with their food, and ended up at a 4 day event with nothing to eat but nuts. My household “rescued” them, fed them, loved them. They, in turn, adopted my kid (they’re only a couple of years older than my kid, though at the time they were young adults working full time and mine was still in high school). I’ve always been proud of that, the concept of being there to help and offer a hand up to people.

    Now, those people are definitely on the Left. But they were, I thought, good people. And on one level they are. They do help others, support people down on their luck, and pass along the help we gave to them. But they are not the type of good people I thought they were.

    Today, my very disturbed (adult) kid came to me and said that they’d spoken to those people… and that they didn’t want me at their wedding. I was too extreme. Apparently, when I “supported Elon Musk doing a Nazi salute” they were all done with me, and deleted me. Kid is gutted, apologetic, unsure of what to do.

    I’d assumed they’d stopped following me. I’ve unfollowed a few people on social media that I’m still very good friends with. Sometimes, your religion or your politics or some other belief is just too much, and you don’t want to see it. You unfollow them but remain friends, as they say on Facebook. That way, I don’t have to read their posts about their parakeet, their love of Kamala Harris, or their hatred of their job. Or whatever it is I’m tired of seeing. Sometimes I “snooze” people, and sometimes I unfollow them. I VERY rarely unfriend someone, though. I actually want to know the other side of things, and seek out diverse input about various things. To me, that’s vital if you want to be good at … well, pretty much anything.

    In any case, I knew they were very Left, and had assumed I’d been unfollowed, just as I’d unfollowed them. No harm, no foul. Despite the mismatch of political beliefs (and I can’t say opposite, because there are still things I heartily agree with them on), I’d always gotten along with them in person. They decided no.

    These are people who know me to be kind, helpful, and generous with my time, my resources, and my knowledge. They know all my various niches and labels. But they were so offended that I had a thought opposite to their political ideology, that they had to not only not read my stuff (understandable) but had to remove themselves from me entirely. Online, offline, whatever, they don’t want anything to do with me.

    Once more, I find myself disappointed, in people I considered friends, and in myself. Perhaps it’s the sting of the rejection, but I ask myself, was I so poor a judge of character? Again, I haven’t changed. My beliefs are still the same. Some of my opinions have changed because I’ve learned more and educated myself on subjects, but my morals and ethics are still the same.

    The thing is, I’m sure they think the same thing. I’m absolutely certain that they were concerned for my kid, worried about her having a parent who thinks like I do. And that concern is likely genuine. But how am I supposed to trust in that again? It makes me ill and I really just don’t know what to think about the whole thing.

    I’m disappointed in them. They accepted my hospitality when it suited them, but turned their back the moment it wasn’t all unicorn farts and rainbows. And that hurts.

    My (former) best friend walked away because of my politics. That hurt more than I can describe. And you know what? If she showed up on my doorstep tomorrow, asking for help, I would help her. That’s me. That’s what I do.

    But man, my patience is starting to wear awful thin.

    I can’t write more about this right now. I’m too raw and angry and frustrated. And I’m too damn hot, because the lowest temperature my room has been at in 48 hours is 82*F.

            

  • The district courts have been attacking the Trump administration wherever possible. Many have overstepped their authority to intrude on the Article II executive.

    A judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts decided that he was a final arbitrator of United States foreign policy. To that end, he issued a preliminary injunction stopping the deportation of criminal illegal aliens to third-party countries.

    The criminal is detained in the United States. He is taken before an administrative judge, where he is given full due process. The judge can order the criminal released into our country with orders to report for further legal actions. He can decide that the person is not a criminal alien, and turn him loose or to other authorities. Or he can issue a deportation order.

    At times, the criminal is not just here illegally, he has committed some other crime. In those cases, they are given a full trial. When they are found guilty, the judge can sentence them according to sentencing guidelines. After serving their sentence, they are then deported. The Article III judge will have ordered them deported, as part of their sentence.

    In the alternative, the judge can just deport them. Make them someone else’s problem.

    When we deport somebody, the rules say that they should be deported to the country of origin or to the last country they came through to reach the United States.

    I’m not breaking it down. Some people hold multiple citizenships. Some people are citizens of their birth country and then move and become citizens in another country. Just assume that they are being sent to the correct country of origin.

    Unfortunately, some of these criminal, illegal, aliens are nasty pieces of work. Many countries will refuse entry to people that they deem to be undesirable.

    That includes many countries that feel that somebody convicted of murder is undesirable. Regardless of their citizenship.

    My understanding is that under international law, a country is required to accept a deportee who is a citizen of their country.

    As we well know, international law doesn’t really mean much. Countries have and do refuse entry to people that commit heinous crimes.

    Having all of that in hand, let’s look at the facts of this case, according to Sotomayor.

    The person being deported, O.C.G., had a removal order in place. He was being returned to his origin country, Guatemala.

    When he learned of this, he begged an Immigration Judge to grant “withholding of removal to Guatemala”. Ok. This means that the next place he can be deported to is the last country he was in. Namely, Mexico.

    Now, Sotomayor says that the Immigration Judge granted that withholding of removal to Guatemala and not to Guatemala and Mexico because there was no removal order to Mexico.

    There is no record of why the Judge did this, only Sotomayor’s statement. The Judge knew that O.C.G. didn’t want to go to Mexico. He could have granted a withholding of removal to Mexico at the same time.

    The judge did not.

    Under the Trump administration, they looked at what they had. They had a legal removal order. It is legal to send him back to Mexico or Guatemala by statue, but he can’t be sent to Guatemala.

    Bingo, he’s now on his way to Mexico.

    When he arrived in Mexico, they said, “We don’t want your ass here.” and promptly deported him to Guatemala. It appears that there was no Immigration Judge in Mexico willing to grant a withholding of removal to Guatemala. Poor O.C.G.

    From someplace in Guatemala, O.C.G. reached out to lawyers in the United States to start a class action suit to stop the administration from deporting criminal aliens to third-party countries.

    Lacking in Sotomayor’s dissent is anything about O.C.G.’s criminal record. Nor was there was no evidence in the record that O.C.G. suffered any torture in Guatemala.

    There is only O.C.G.’s claims.

    The Immigration Judge who granted the withholding of removal found that O.C.G. was likely to suffer if deported to Guatemala. Therefore, the United States did not. The United States has no say on what Mexico does with its criminal illegal aliens.

    This district judge feels that the United States is responsible for making sure nothing bad happens to these criminals after they are kicked out of our country.

    The case is, DHS v. D.V.D. et al., No. 24A1153 606 U.S. ____ (2025).