Oh, Perhaps That's Why The NAACP Issued A Travel Advisory To Florida

On Memorial Day, a shootout between "two different groups" led to 9 people many not a part of the two "groups" being shot and wounded on a crowded beach.

Florida Today: Florida Memorial Day shooting: What we know about injured, suspects in Hollywood Beach

Yahoo news:  Hollywood, Fla., Memorial Day beach shooting leaves 9 injured: What we know

Both of these initial reports, and every other one I've come across so far very much did not state what they know.

All stories actually deliberately failed to truly identify an important piece of information that was known about the suspects, leaving out a rather important piece of identification that was pretty relevant tpo potentially apprehending the criminals.  

The stories also happened to fail to report on the identity and the nature of these groups.

Not until now do we get photos of the suspects and those in custody, and yep they are very much as you might suspect based on the deliberate lack of prior identification. At least people can now stop pointing fingers at the Amish for this event.

Verily, the NAACP is doing quite a public service warning Black people to stay out of Florida to prevent them from being shot by other Black people.

That was after all why they issued their travel warning, right?  Oh right, that wasn't the reason for it at all. Pity, that.

Michigan Democrat Misleads About "Child" Marriage in Michigan

The Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Child marriage is legal in Michigan. That has to change.

First let's start off by saying the headline and opinion is as one might suspect, misleading.  Michigan doesn't allow "child" marriages if by child you mean little children, indeed, that has been banned since 1887.  Funny how the Democrat Rep in her op-ed fails to disclose that relevant and important fact that has a bearing on the discussion, neh?

But, current law does allow 16 year olds and 17 year olds to marry with parental consent or 18 year olds to do so on their own without consent, because we have a charming notion that 18 year olds are adults, sort of.   That is what this Democrat representative is against.

Of course in the gun death stats, Democrats declare 19-year-olds are children so there's that. 

So as one would imagine this op ed is an opportunity to try and dunk on the Republicans for not agreeing to the change (along with a lot of other junk in her bill as a reason for not passing it) while implying they are for "child" marriage. 

Then again, given the Democrats dominate the government right now they could pass such a ban if they wanted to, but they clearly do not really want to do so, and would rather make hay with the Republican's objection to the change (and the other lousy parts of the proposed bill) and claim this is about child marriage.

Now, I do believe that in this day and age,  given the maturity of today's teenagers, 16 for most is too young to get married. This 16-plus-parental-consent law is a carry-over from days gone by when there was both a need for such, and kids grew up a lot faster and weren't as infantalized as they are today. Now, some 16-year-olds may indeed be mature enough to be married and there's a current safety valve to allow such. In short, there's no evidence this law is actually causing a problem.

But, remember, according to Michigan Democrats, a "child" should be able to have an abortion at any age without parental knowledge, much less parental consent. Also, according to Michigan Democrats a "child" should be able to have surgery to change their gender at any age without parental knowledge, much less consent. 

But, to allow a 16- or 17-year-old to marry with parental consent?  Well, for the Democrats, that's just going too far and must be stopped. 

Memorial Day 2023

So for this Memorial Day,  we honor and remember all those who lost their lives in service to our country. I felt it fitting to specifically remember the sacrifice of some of our best within recent and living memory.

On October 3, 2009 beginning at 6 am, the Battle of Kamdesh took place in Afghanistan. Over 350 Taliban armed with heavy machine guns, RPGs, rockets, and numerous small arms, attacked the 79 soldiers at Combat Outpost Keating and Observation Post Fritsche.

Located at the bottom of a valley surrounded and dominated by Taliban-occupied mountains, the placement of the base was almost a deliberate affront to sound military tactics, and an insult to the realities of basic geography.

The base was quite simply dominated from the higher terrain, and fire could be poured down onto and into it from the surrounding heights. On top of that, there were no usable roads to the base, and the helicopter landing zone was across a river from the base and also massively exposed to enemy fire from the surrounding mountainous terrain.

Combine this with some bad leadership prior to the attack, and a stalled plan to shut down the base, resulting in defenses not being enhanced, and it went from horrendously bad to worse.

The battle and the events leading up to it are well recounted in both the book and the movie The Outpost, and the book Red Platoon by Medal of Honor recipient Clinton Romesha (the Audible audio book is narrated by Clinton Romesha and it's worth a credit if you like audio books).  If you haven't read both these books, you really should. The movie is also worth a watch. More than worth your time to learn about some incredible Americans in a horrendous situation.

Thanks to the professionalism and incredible heroism of the American soldiers on the ground (and two Latvians there as well), and the heroism and professionalism of US Army and US Air Force aviators,  the outpost was retaken after being initially partially overrun and the attack repelled.  To say it was a close-run thing, barely preventing the complete destruction of the outpost and the massacre of all within it, would be an understatement.

Eight American soldiers were killed in the battle that day, 14 years gone by now:

SSG Justin Timothy Gallegos, 27;

SGT Christopher Todd Griffin, 24;

SGT Joshua Mitchell Hardt, 23;

SGT Joshua John Kirk, 30;

SPC Stephan Lee Mace, 21;

SSG Vernon William Martin, 25;

SGT Michael Patrick Scusa, 23; and

PFC Kevin Christopher Thomson, 22.

Today, we take the time to remember them, and all those who died while serving in the US military.

Sunday Range Day - A Great Match

Shot a USPSA match today at Wayne County Racoon Hunters Club, which is always a challenging match.

Spencer came along and it was his first WCRHC match.

8 Stages, around 220 rounds.

Fun, challenging, sunny and warm out, and a good time was had.

Overall, I think I did rather well.

I shot two of the 8 stages clean with all Alphas, a personal best.

On top of that, I did not skip over and fail to engage a single target. Every target was addressed and engaged - even the rather tricksy ones.

On top of that, I had 2 and only 2 missed shots in the entire match -  I thought I only had 1 miss (a hit on the target but on the blacked-out hard cover rather than the brown scoring zone. But, in seeing the stats it says 2 so we'll go with the official count.

Overall I'm pleased with that performance and just have to start getting faster.

After that, we headed to meet up with friends from Jitsu at Great White Buffalo Brewing Co. Brew Pub in Northville, owned by a friend of ours and fellow jiu jitsu practitioner. The beer was excellent, and the bison burger rocked.

That was a very good day.

Electric School Bus 2: Electric Boogalo and A Little Democrat Corruption Too

Turns out Electric Buses aren't as reliable nor as cost-effective as they are cracked up to be, shocking, I know.

Washington Free Beacon: Biden Spent $1 Billion To Get Schools Electric Buses. This Michigan District Says Theirs Hardly Work. 

During an April 19 presentation to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education, the district's environmental sustainability director, Emile Lauzzana, highlighted a number of issues with the district's electric bus fleet. Those buses, Lauzzana said, have "a lot of downtime and performance issues" and aren't "fully on the road," despite the fact that they are "approximately five times more expensive than regular buses." The infrastructure upgrades required to use the buses, meanwhile, were "originally estimated to be only about $50,000" but "ended up being more like $200,000," according to Lauzzana. "I have a number of colleagues in different states who are facing similar challenges," the district official lamented. "For the school bus market, it's been challenging for us."

Note that this is in solid-Blue Ann Arbor.  When even the enviro-nut, quasi-commies of Ann Arbor are complaining about these electric green busses, you know it's bad.

But, no worries, Democrats still made bank on the deal, and that, after all is what matters along with the "green" virtue signalling at the public' expense:

The Biden administration has faced intense criticism from congressional Republicans over its ties to electric bus maker Proterra. Administration officials repeatedly showcased the company while Biden's energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, held up to $5 million in Proterra stock. Granholm eventually sold her 240,000 Proterra shares in May 2021, with the former Michigan governor earning a cool $1.6 million.

Nice bit of insider trading if you can get it, neh?

Michigan Red Flag Laws And Democrat Double Standards

So the badly flawed Michigan Red Flag Law has been signed into law, and those who have signed it have yet to point out a single incident in the past that would have actually been prevented by its existence.

Quite a few Michigan County Sheriffs have expressed reservations with the lack of due process in the law and stated they will not enforce it.

This has further revealed that for Michigan Democrats,  when it comes to standards, that if they didn't have double standards, they'd have no standards at all.

Both Governor Whitmer and Attorney General Nessel are absolutely aghast and dismayed at the thought that the law might not be enforced by law enforcement or county prosecutors:

For those who are in law enforcement who refuse to enforce these important orders, let me say this loudly and clearly: I will make certain that I will find someone with jurisdiction who will enforce these orders," Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Note this is the same AG Nessel who, less than a year ago, when enforcement of a law was on the subject of abortion, took the following stance:

Nessel says she won’t enforce the ban in Michigan, along with at least a dozen law enforcement officials across the country – a bold statement that sets the US up for a complex legal landscape with different enforcement regimes in different states, and even within them.

Governor Whitmer had this to say on the potential that a prosecutor or sheriff may not enforce the Red Flag law:

When it does take effect, Whitmer told reporters, law enforcement will be expected to enforce a judge's order.

"Every prosecutor has taken an oath to uphold the laws of the state of Michigan, and that's the expectation," said Whitmer, who did a stint as Ingham County's prosecutor before running for governor in 2018.

Verily, note well that this is the same Governor Whitmer who having taken an oath to uphold the laws of this state, that when the question came up on enforcing an abortion ban law in this state immediately sued the state to prevent that enforcement and ensure the law was not upheld. Again this was less than a year ago and they've both now flipped their principles as to the enforcement of laws 180 degrees.

Wonderful consistency there on their part, isn't it? Then again it is about power and politics, not principled enforcement of laws.

Detroit City Council Comes Up With The Expected Answer To Detroit Gun-Related Crimes

Detroit is currently going through a notable spate of violent crimes that is also hitting the downtown and Greektown areas where the casinos are  (and where the money is of course). This is hampering the happy image of Detroit being a safe place to come and do business or enjoy yourself.  This makes the Detroit City politicos a tad nervous as it is bad for their image and the sweet tax money the Greektown casinos bring in.

Now, Detroit politicians aren't urging a crackdown on the criminals doing this crime.  Of course not. They're not, for example, pressing the prosecutors and Detroit judges to require bail, and not so easily let violent criminals back out on the street.  They're not calling for strict enforcement of the law, nor curfews on bands of unaccompanied "youths".  They're certainly not calling to quit the revolving-door-justice system, and absolutely not pushing to - dare I say - fund the police.

Nah, they're not actually going after criminals. 

But they have a solution that fits their progressive Democrat ideals, and it's the one they always turn to as their one-trick pony: 

Gun Control! - this time more (legal) gun (owner) free zones!

The Detroit Free Press:  Detroit City Council moves ahead with proposing gun-free zones, if state agrees

Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters has a message for state lawmakers: Change existing gun laws to allow cities to establish gun-free zones.

As a result of increased violence in and around downtown Detroit, Waters proposed the establishment of gun-free zones by calling on state lawmakers to expeditiously approve changes to current gun laws, which council members approved on Tuesday.

. . . 

Council passed the two resolutions. The first calls for urging state lawmakers to pass a Senate bill that would give municipalities control over establishing gun-free zones on public grounds and the second calls for drafting a gun-free zone ordinance, complying with existing laws, that would require public or private events of 500 people or more that receive a permit from the city to be established as gun-free zones.

The second resolution also suggests areas like the riverfront, Greektown, Hart Plaza, Spirit Plaza and Campus Martius be designated as gun-free zones.

So instead of actual crowd control, or maybe trying some criminal control and enforcing the law, hiring more police,  or something else that would be effective, they're decided to fall back on symbolic gun control. 

Proposing that these areas that people visiting Detroit want to go to become "gun-free zones" means people have to go unarmed into gun-free zones to ensure criminals have easy pickings, as criminals don't care about these gun-free zones.  

Basically this is a post-Bruen-tantrum proposed law to create a whole bunch of "sensitive places" out of just about every single public space in the city.  So, the idea seems to be to ban law-abiding people from carrying firearms to protect themselves instead of actually dealing with the crime wave they've created with their "Defund The Police" / BLM / criminal empowerment song and dance.

Unfortunately, we have a Democrat-dominated state government that may just give it to them, and allow for a patchwork of ridiculous no-carry zones for the law abiding around the state.

Out Of The Running For Mother Of The Year Award

When you think you've found the depths of depravity of the human condition, horrible depraved people dig down a little deeper:

The Detroit News: Detroit mother accused of giving her son, 4, fentanyl

As one would expect, the child died after being poisoned by his own mother with the fentanyl.

A Detroit mother has been charged in connection with the 2022 death of her 4-year-old son from fentanyl, officials said Monday.

Chavon Caprice Boone, 40, was arraigned Sunday on charges of felony murder, first-degree child abuse, and delivery of a narcotic-causing death, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said. If convicted, she faces up to life in prison for the murder charge.

 Words fail and are inadequate on this one.

It Would Take A Heart Of Stone Not To Laugh

So I'm LMFAO over this entirely predictable outcome.

You see, an anti-capitalist coffee shop opened in Toronto, run on good, solid, communist anti-capitalist principles.

It went pretty much exactly as you would expect it to:

The Calgary Sun: Anti-capitalist café shuts down due to lack of capital

Barely a year after opening, an “anti-capitalist” Toronto coffee shop is closing its doors due to a lack of capital.

The Anarchist — a provider of “sweet and savoury” pastries and “trendy” coffees — was founded last April as a “subversive” alternative to what it called the usual model of workers “producing wealth for their parasitic employers.

Instead, it will close permanently on May 30, according to a statement appended with the slogans “abolish work,” “people over profit,” and “land back.” The café was never able to employ more than one person, so the proprietor, Gabriel Sims-Fewer, will be its only layoff.

The Anarchist had featured a “pay what you can” option, but the café’s very lengthy FAQ page explained that the system lost them money, for which the rich were to blame.

Indeed, to no one's surprise, the good socialist nomenklatura patronizing the shop failed to pay according to their ability, and instead exercised their limousine liberal privilege:

“One of the issues with a lot of my ‘pay what you can’ oriented ideas is that the more money people have the less they’re willing to pay. I get people in designer suits paying $1 for a coffee"

Sad that, totes unpredictable, really. 

A definite pity that he didn't get some good socialist government subsidies to keep the whole thing going, or have the necessary and proper communist ability of having force to lock people in the coffee shop until he could make them pay according to his view of their ability.

As is par for the socialist course, everything but economic reality is to blame:

The café announced its demise with a lengthy screed denouncing its various enemies, including “professional class-traitors,” “Libertarians,” “the rich,” and Canada itself, which it called a “colonial death camp.”

Of course. It's always the wreckers and kulaks that are at fault when socialism collapses from its own inherent contradictions, isn't it?  

Everything but economic reality and the owner's inability to manage a business with a proper and realistic business plan is to blame. I mean if you can't get it right to generate sufficient support among the socialists in Toronto, of which their are many, to keep your anti-capitalist fever dream bean shop going,  what chance do you have?

We will note that so far Mr. Gabriel Sims-Fewer, who is clearly now possessing fewer dollars than he started with, is still living in his self-proclaimed "colonial death camp". 

One surely expects him to move to a more socialistic utopia, any day now, one that is more in accordance with his anti-capitalist principles. 

Warning! Alter Ego Firearms LLC Has a Scammy Alter Ego Impersonator Out There

First off, the actual Alter Ego Firearms LLC has done nothing wrong, at all.  They are a legit business.

Unfortunately, there is a scammer out there using Alter Ego's FFL, SOT,  and address, but of course the scammer's own bank account wiring info, claiming to sell NFA Class 3 items.  They also had a great -- and fake Form 3, with a serial number matching the serial on the pictures sent.

The scam is real good - scammer is using an altered copy of the actual FFL, and replaced the signature and owner name to match that on the wire instructions with what may very well be the scammer's own real name, or yet another fake identity - Ros M. Charles.

Note well, there is no Ros M. Charles at the real Alter Ego Firearms.  

So do not buy an NFA item online from Alter Ego Firearms or anyone else for that matter without calling their real number first to verify you're dealing with the actual company and not a scammer.

First clue I had it was a scam was their using multiple email addresses.

Second clue - a demand to quickly send a wire transfer rather than a money order to the actual address of the real shop and a weird bit of grammar.

I did notify Alter Ego Firearms about this and they are taking action as well.  I also notified the listed bank that the account was being used as a scam, so they are at least on notice, but it sounds like they as a bank are not going to do anything.

I expect I will email the scammers that the bank couldn't send a wire so I sent a money order to their FFL address to see what they say to that.

Unfortunately, NFA items are very spendy due to the Hughes Amendment, and getting spendier all the time.  If the spammers get you for half up front and run, you're hosed and out of a significant chunk of change.

Sadly, due to the antiquated nature of the NFA process, the NFA transaction is based very much on trust - trust that the seller has the item and can actually sell it to you, and that trust and the system itself is ripe for abuse.

I highly recommend not sending wire transfers for any NFA or other firearms purchase to prevent this kind of scam.  Also use the ATFE FFL lookup to verify the address and number on the FFL you're given, and only send money to that address, and finally, call the actual business number (not one found in the fake email, but in a proper business directory) to verify who you are dealing with before proceeding with the transaction.

So A Candidate For President From New York . . .

So, let me get this straight. 

A candidate for president with New York residency is accused of hiding a payoff by classifying it as legal fees.

Sounds real bad, doesn't it?

So, when exactly can we expect Alvin Bragg to charge Hillary Clinton (New York residency baby!) with felonies for hiding her payments for the Steele Dossier and other false election activities to influence the election. Not to mention her acts to the whole false Russian collusion story and investigation that many on the left still cling to, Durham report notwithstanding.  remember that she was running them through the law firm Perkins Coie falsely labelled as legal fees?

Hillary Clinton and the DNC have indeed even admitted to doing it.

AP: DNC, Clinton campaign agree to Steele dossier funding fine

Politico: Federal campaign watchdog fines DNC, Clinton campaign over dossier spending disclosure

Should be an absolute slam dunk case for Alvin Bragg, given the investigation is already done for him and tied up in a very neat package.

I'm sure he'll get around to it any day now.  Really, any day now he'll assemble a grand jury and enforce justice without partisanship nor favor.

If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn in great shape to sell you, along with a corrupt partisan district attorney.

Kinda Neat: The Titanic Scan of The Titanic

More than 111 years after she sank, we have a new and impressive view of the Titanic as she now rests on the ocean floor.

The Detroit News: First full-size 3D scan of Titanic shows shipwreck in new light

Using submersibles Magellan / Atlantic scanned the entire wreck, and over 700,000 images were then put together.  The images included scans of the ship itself and an area around it of 3 miles to capture debris that had fallen from the wreck - shoes and even watches are visible in the composite image.

The BBC has a portion of the video of the composite image and it's pretty darn amazing what this technology can do.

The wreck of the Titanic is slowly rusting away and collapsing upon itself on the seafloor, 12,500 feet down.

How A Journo Can Tell Me She Doesn't Know WTF She's Talking About, Without Telling Me She Doesn't Know WTF She Is Talking About

The trouble with Leftist Journalists is not so much their ignorance as the tremendous number of things they know that ain't so.  But their ignorance doesn't help, either. 

Let's take this intrepid Washington Post (as rebroadcast in the Detroit News) correspondent, who in the very first sentence of her article shows she has no idea what she is talking about:

Q: Why are Republicans not reading the sentiment of the country and cobbling together a bill to make automatic weapons of war illegal for civilians?

Yep, read that over again.  So much ignorance and smugness to unpack in one short sentence.  

The combination of the smug assumption as to "the sentiment of the country" combined with the pure ignorance of urging Republicans to support "a bill to make automatic weapons of war illegal for civilians" is rather indicative. Not sure she could have fit in another narrative-approved buzz-word about semi-automatic firearms that are lawfully possessed by millions of Americans for legal purposes if she tried.

It's a great way for the journo to let us know she has no clue what she is talking about, and to count her opinion accordingly. The problem is that she influences people who who have infinitely more things they know when it comes to crime, firearms, and firearms law in this country that ain't so.

Grrl Power Burns

You really can't make this stuff up.   

When diversity is prized more than competence, unfortunately stuff like this happens. We've been told for years that gender doesn't matter in people being able to do a job. That is, until now, when we're told gender and diversity are the vital parts of doing a job.

The Western Standard: Female firefighters planned burn goes awry in Banff

To say it went "awry" is an understatement.

A prescribed burn highlighted on the agenda of a women’s firefighting conference, held to promote “diversity and inclusion” in a male-dominated field, didn’t go well.

Accidentally setting Banff National Park ablaze wasn’t part of the plan.

The prescribed burn was carried out in Compound Meadows, adjacent to the Banff townsite, by Parks Canada and participants in Canada’s first-ever Women-in-Fire Training Exchange (WTREX).

It raged out of control Wednesday forcing the temporary evacuation of horses from the Banff Light Horse Association and hundreds of area residents and tourists in the Rocky Mountain Resort. 

The conditions that day were actually against doing a prescribed burn, but it was on the agenda, and girl power over environmental conditions and the patriarchy, right?

They also had some non-binary firefighters there for more diversity, which was nice. 

The May 1-12 conference attracted certified firefighters from Canada, the US, Bolivia, and Ecuador to, among other things, combat adversity in a male-dominated profession.

Instead of a nice gender-affirming and adversity-combating controlled prescribed burn, they got a wildfire burning out of control in a National Park.

Even worse, men had to be called in to help put it out:

The calvary was called in to help fight the blaze.

Five helicopters raining down buckets of water, firefighters from both Banff and Canmore, Alberta Wildlife, and RCMP were needed to help Parks Canada and WTREX participants stop the fire from spreading further, control the traffic situation, and help with evacuation efforts.

To make matters even worse than that, when concerned residents saw the smoke and called the Women-in-Fire Training Exchange to ask what was wrong they were told:  

"Nothing, it's fine.", and then silence.

Thanks, But No Tanks, For The Parade

Russia does love its Victory Day parade.  

But this year's parade seemed impressively short on Armor:

Russia only had a single, solitary, World War 2 vintage T-34 tank to clank on the  parade route, rather than the columns of armor in years (see here for 2019 for example) past.

Per observations by OSInt, there was a distinct and marked shortage of armored vehicles on display this year.  Most of Russia's armor is now parading not in Red Square but instead on parade as hulks situated along Ukrainian roads with their turrets blown off.  

There were also no flyovers in the parade, unlike in years past. The war in Ukraine is clearly going badly for Russia, as demonstrated by a lack of armor and armored crews to spare for their premier parade.

When Manufactured Concern Over Race Trumps School Safety

This Detroit Free Press article starts off rather normally:Parent of student expelled from Detroit public schools for firearm offense asks to return

A student in Detroit was expelled for bringing a gun in his backpack into his school.

Most if not all students know by now that you're not supposed to do that.

His parents want him returned to school. 

The article helpfully notes that out of 50,000 Detroit public school students all of 11 were expelled in the 2021-2022 year. Sounds rather normal with less than a quarter of a percent of students being expelled for bad behavior.

So far, pretty reasonable.

Then the article goes off the rails.

Black students were disproportionately expelled statewide, making up 31% of the state's total expulsions, while making up about 18% of the student population as a whole. White students made up about 49% of the state's total expulsions, while constituting about 64% of the student population as a whole. School suspension and discipline data has long shown inequities between the ways Black students are disciplined compared with white students.

Is the article suggesting a white student that smuggled a gun into Detroit Public Schools, or indeed any other public school statewide these days, would not be expelled?  Any evidence for such an assertion, at all? If not, and I bet there is not, then why bring this up in the article? Perhaps the Freep needed to meet a quota for DEI content.

We may also want to note the bad use of statistics in declaring that Black students are being "disproportionately" expelled and announcing of inequity.  

In fact this analysis makes a critical error:  They're comparing the wrong populations to arrive at their conclusion of racial inequity and iniquity.  

They should be comparing expelled students not from the population as a whole but rather compare the expelled students from the miscreant population as whole. 

Indeed 31% of the expelled population being Black actually fits rather well with the overall population of criminals who happen to be Black, as Blacks in this country overall are statistically responsible for 50% of violent crime overall, even being 13% of the overall population. This fact makes people rather uncomfortable.

If anything, the stats would suggest school officials are under-expelling Black student miscreants by about 38%  (from 50% to 31% is a 38% decrease) if it was normed to Black criminality in the population as a whole.

Or, it may instead hopefully and happily suggest that Black students are less likely than the overall Black population as a whole to commit violent offenses on school grounds that may meet the threshold for expulsion.

This is the problem when you focus solely on statistics, neh?

Either way, the statistics do not actually suggest an inequity based on race in school discipline, and may instead suggest Black students in Michigan are the recipient of leniency in their favor in school discipline matters. 

Or, you know, we could instead maybe focus on addressing student's bad behavior on a case-by-case and individual basis, and applying appropriate punishments for bad actions, such as smuggling a gun into school results in a student's expulsion, rather than trying to make a racial argument out of it.

Michigan Moronrail: Let's Talk About Choo-Choos for $100 Million Dollars

High-speed rail is a Democrat fever-dream they just can't give up on.  They problem is their only answer for their fever is instead of more cowbell is more of your tax dollars.

MLive.com: High-speed rail a $100m conversation starter in early Michigan budget 

The state Senate’s initial budget proposal for the Michigan Department of Transportation, which a committee on Tuesday passed to the full legislature for negotiations, includes $100 million “to encourage high-speed rail development.”

The catch, however, is that this number, which represents more than 14% of MDOT’s proposed budget increase, is “just trying to start the conversation,” says the lawmaker who took point on crafting the Senate’s transportation proposal for fiscal year 2023-24.

$100 Million to "spark a  conversation" about high-speed rail,  Not build it mind you, but to talk about and study it.

Given the stupidly high cost of Michigan's road repairs, that $100 million is about 100 miles of roads that could have been fixed for this money earmarked to study and "spark a conversation" about trains. Still, 100 miles of rebuilt roads is nothing to sneeze at and far more worthy than sending the money to discuss  high speed rail.

 Of course they want it to move leftists to places they like:

One proposal MARP has given lawmakers would expand passenger rail service into and out of Detroit, and another would create a route that goes from Ann Arbor to Traverse City and Petoskey.

Yep a subsidized a high-speed route for well-off leftists to travel between Ann Arbor and their cottages in Petoskey/Traverse City.  Maybe we can  name it the SWPL Rail Line - assuming it ever gets built for less than a few billion. 

I'd instead propose talking to them to about the cautionary tale of California's cost overrun budget-busting experience with building or in reality not building High Speed rail . I might also explain how California has a larger population to support such a project and they can't even make it work - except for the lovely amount of graft and pay that has been making its way to Democrat constituencies in the process. 

I'd even have an in depth "conversation" for a heckuva lot less than $100 Million dollars.

Michigan Democrats: Public Schools Can't Be Graded F if We Stop Grading Them

More importantly, getting rid of the grading system make it harder for parents to see how their schools are doing.

The Detroit Free Press: Bill to repeal A-F public school ranking system headed to Whitmer

Note that this bill will not improve education in any way, it simply removes an easily understandable  reporting system for people to understand how their public schools and the teachers are performing.

Apparently, it's bad to give schools an F as it is a "punitive label" and their feelings might be hurt.  

Let's not make it easy identify continuously failing and under-performing schools but instead hide their failure and keep on keeping on. After all, teachers are, and the teacher's union is, a core Democrat constituency and covering for Democrat failure is the Democrat way.

 

Did The Uber Eats Driver Get Et?

A rather strange and brutal crime out of Florida, where an MS-13 gang member and felon seemed to be confused about how things are supposed to work with delivery services:  

The rule is you're supposed to tip your delivery driver, not rip them into pieces and stuff them into garbage bags.

Another rule is you do not eat your Uber Eats driver, you eat the food they bring you.

The criminal's picture in the article shows he's a very well adjusted fellow.  Or, er,  not so much.

The Detroit News: Sheriff: Uber Eats driver slain, dismembered making delivery

A Florida man is charged with murder and other offenses in the slaying and dismemberment of an Uber Eats driver who had brought food to the assailant's house, authorities said Tuesday.

Oscar Solis Jr., 30, is charged with killing the driver during a delivery Wednesday at a home in Holiday, Florida, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference. The remains were found at the house in trash bags and a cooler, which also contained a receipt with Solis' name on it, according to a police affidavit.

Is he really a Florida man if he just moved there in the last few months after getting out of prison in Indiana? In any case back to prison he goes, hopefully for a heckuva lot longer than his last sentence.

Illegals Doing Murders Americans Won't Do

Yet another mass killing that doesn't fit the narrative and will drop form the news soon.

I mean it was a good starting narrative: Some whacko in Texas kills neighbors when they ask him to stop shooting his AR-15 in the part of his backyard near their property. 

Reports then identified the shooter as Hispanic, which started to chip away at the narrative.

Next, reports indicated his immigration status was "unclear" (sadly that story was later "updated" and that reference erased) - that's called a clue.

Now that he has been arrested we  find out that, per the Detroit News Sheriff: Suspected Texas gunman caught hiding under laundry:

The alleged shooter is a Mexican national who has been deported four times, according to U.S. immigration officials. The gunman was first deported in March 2009 and last in July 2016. He was also deported in September 2009 and January 2012.

So he wasn't just illegal, he was repeatedly deported as a criminal illegal.

We also find out that 4 of the 5 victims were also illegals, with the fifth victim arriving illegally but getting her status "adjusted" afterwards.

A secure border sure would be nice, now wouldn't it?  After all we really don't want illegals doing murders Americans won't do, now do we?

"No guns for illegals" is hardly going to be a good rallying cry for the gun banners, now is it? 

After all, that's already the law.  But, the progressive gun banners also argue that no person is illegal, so it's a bit of a conundrum for them.

This is What Happens When A City Doesn't Pay Its Bills For 10 Years

The City of Highland Park decided it was going to refuse to pay its water bills for 10 years, claiming it was being overcharged.  

That didn't stop them from using the water all that time, collecting payments form the city residents, and racking up $24 Million with an M in non-payment.   Other municipalities in the region were getting soaked with Highland Park's unpaid bills through higher water rates to their residents.

Now the Piper (of water) has demanded to be paid:

Since the ruling, Highland Park officials have said the bill will financially sink the city. The majority Black city has a population of 8,900 residents, a per capita income of $19,401 and a 41% poverty rate in 2021, according to the Census Bureau. The estimated $24 million tab, the exact amount with interest is still being determined, is two and a half times larger than the $9.6 million Highland Park collects annually in property tax revenues.The Detroit News: Highland Park mayor: City in state of emergency

Yet another Democrat-run city, now hoping for a state-level bailout for its profligate actions. They certainly could have escrowed their water payments over those 10 years, but they apparently spent it on whatever corrupt local units of government spend stuff on, and now they have to come up with the money - or get bailed out.

So of course our dear Governor Whitmer instead of having them responsibly handle the situation of their own making,  suggested the city should be bailed out: 

Whitmer's office for months has suggested that GLWA could help solve the debt issue by tapping a $25 million state clean drinking water grant that the Democratic governor and Republican-led Legislature approved last year. Whitmer's office didn't immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.

So instead of using that grant money for the purpose that it was appropriated for - ensuring clean drinking water for the region (kinda an important use of the funds, yes?), the governor wants to use it to bail out a Democrat scofflaw city that failed to pay its water bills for 10 years.

So the politicians and city that messed this up for 10 years should face no consequences and should be bailed out for their failure. That's Michigan under Whitmer for you.

This Tik Tok Challenge Can't Possibly End Badly

Tik Tok, that Chinese Communist tool for, among other things,  dumbing-down non-Chinese youth, has come out with a new challenge:

The Door Kick Challenge: Attempting to kick down a stranger's door and then run away without getting caught.

This one seems almost like a Darwinian plot on Tik Tok's part to winnow out the stupid conformist types who might try this challenge. 

It should not need saying, but apparently it does need to be said, as there's plenty of dumb teens doing this challenge:  

Do NOT go around late at night (or any other time for that matter) trying to kick other people's doors in.  

Nothing good is going to come out of acting like a home invader attempting a forced entry into an occupied dwelling.

Learning Fun, More Learning Fun, Ouch

Saturday, I attended a Jiu Jitsu seminar at the training center.

Visiting was Chet, a 4th Degree Back Belt who is an incredibly skilled practitioner, an engaging and wonderful teacher, and an all-around nice guy.  

To say he really knows his stuff and can make a technique understandable and effective is an understatement.  Always an amazing time when he visits, even if it feels like you're drinking from a fire hose.  You always get more than your money's worth from any seminar he instructs.

We started with something that seems simple, but with a few little tweaks becomes a lot more effective - the initial clinch.

Basically in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the philosophy when your being attacked is you're either in or out.  Out meaning far enough away you can't get punched or kicked, or In - you're close enough that the attacker's punches or kicks lose effectiveness as you're already too close for them to generate power in their punches. You typically don't want to hang out at arms-length absorbing your attacker's punches.

Clinching is being very In. Basically, you're attached to them smothering their attacks and in close enough to then do a takedown or other technique to stop the attack or get away.

The two tweaks sound really simple and then made a huge difference.  They were: Look up and leg pressure.

Simply by looking up while you're cinching changes your body posture and helps break the opponent's posture.  Putting pressure on their leg further reduces their stability and further breaks their posture.  Not very comfortable for them and it absolutely makes the position more effective with these two very tiny modifications.

I was teamed up with Jesse, a 4-stripe white belt.  Jesse is quite a bit bigger and stronger than I am, which is great practice. After all, it's most likely that in real life you're going to be attacked by someone who is bigger and stronger than you rather than the other way around. This can get uncomfortable with all his weight on you during ground techniques, but it helps to learn to be comfortable while being uncomfortable, and knowing you can still handle yourself with a big heavy guy trying to smother you.

The only downside, is that while practicing dynamic clinching, all his bigness and strong-ness accidentally came down on the 2nd little toe from the end of my left foot and it came down just right (or just wrong) that there was a snapping sound and some rather instant pain. 

Weird accidents happen.

So, with one broken toe later, with it immediately turning black and blue, I taped it to the next toe and carried on, albeit being careful with that foot.

The rest of the seminar dealt with some really neat ground techniques.  These included a sneaky arm triangle choke you can do when the attacker on top of you decides to put his forearm over your throat and press down trying to choke you. Instead, they get choked out and get to reevaluate their life choices and regret their choice of being so rude as to try to shove their forearm through your throat.

After the teaching portion of the seminar ended, we had some free rolling time, and along with rolling with my friends, I got an opportunity to roll with Chet. This was pretty incredible as he can see what you're trying to do about 20 moves ahead of you actually doing it. He moves so well and smoothly it is just fantastic to experience. This was a fun time and it was very neat to again experience how good someone at that level can be at this. Learned a lot rolling with him. 

In short should you decide to try and attack a 4th degree BJJ Black Belt, my best advice is instead to run in the opposite direction as fast as you possibly can. This advice also applies to BJJ Black belts of all levels; also Brown Belts; Purple Belts; and any Blue Belt who is better than me -- which is just about all of them, just saying).

A lot of fun and learning occurred.  Toe is still rather sore today, and I've iced it and re-taped it to the next toe. 

After the rolls, a bunch of us headed out for tacos and camaraderie with Chet and it was an end to a great seminar.  It was a darn good time, even with the ouchie.  Worth it.