Yep, You’re Doing Just Great

The No Kings protest can indeed be described, to reference the Bard as “All sound and fury signifying nothing”.

We will note that America has not had a king since 1776, and still does not. So I suppose the progressives can go home and congratulate themselves on a job well done today.

After all, with the close of their latest tantrum, we still have no king. Nor do we have an Ayatollah nor dictators for that matter — but these same protesters rather support the ayatollahs and the dictatorship in Cuba now don’t they?

Anyway job well done yelling that we do not have a king. A great success, I’m sure, as we did not have a king before the protest nor during the protest, nor after. 

 

Senator Chris Murphy Says The Quiet Part Out Loud

Democrats are for illegal immigrants over Americans every darn time. Now they’re saying so out loud. 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): “The people we care about most, the undocumented Americans that are in this country.”

Amazing how the Democrats time and time again will butn this country down to stop immigration enforcement and prevent the removal of illegal aliens including murderers, rapists and scum, all to the detriment of American citizens.

It seems the Democrats took the saying dissolve the people and elect another as a how-to guide. 

 

Where All The Students Are Above Average

In the continued inflation of American education, it is now admitted that students are getting higher grades on their college entrance classes for less effort and knowledge.

Education Next: The Dumbing Down of Advanced Placement Tests

The College Board, the agency in charge of the AP program, admits its questions are easier and passing scores have been lowered on key tests like the English Language exam. They justify the easier tests as an adjustment to a less demanding curriculum in high school and lowered expectations by colleges and universities. In other words, AP is simply adapting to a broad decline in educational standards.

Or to simplify: Grade inflation comes to the AP college admission tests.

Meanwhile, education costs continue to outpace inflation with lesser results.

While prevailing wisdom is that throwing more money at a problem leads to better results, Mississippi now leads in reading scores with funding per pupil far below states with far higher per pupil spending. That is, of course, because the money spent per pupil wasn't actually reaching the pupils.

The increase in Mississippi were due not to more dollars thrown at the problem but to reforms that focused on real results.

It is more than past time to stop inflating grades and dumbing-down tests and instead focus on actual reforms in our public schools.  How about we stop just throwing money at administrators, bureaucrats, and teacher's unions and getting the same results and instead focus on reforms that work?

Maybe, as a modest suggestion, how about less DEI for kids and more learn to read for starters?

Bury That Lede There Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Free Press: Eid celebrated by thousands in Michigan as war abroad dampens mood

Thousands of Muslims across Michigan celebrated Friday, March 20, the Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of Ramadan, a month of spiritual reflection and fasting marred by wars abroad this year that affected many in metro Detroit. 

Nice job Detroit Free Press on skipping right past the elephant in the article: three Islamic terrorist attacks in the United states during Ramadan, including one in metro Detroit a few short days ago. 

No mention at all of that rather important local event, that most certainly "affected many in metro Detroit" funny, that. 

Meanwhile, the 2026 Ramadan Hostility Scoreboard includes a worldwide total of at least 133 Islamic terrorist attacks with 499 people murdered in those terrorist attacks.

No other religion has quite the reputation and track record for annually going out and committing murder during their proclaimed holy days. 

Iran Lied Yet Again

Remember how Obama giving Iran billions under a deal that specifically not limit Iran's ballistic missile development? 

Remember how in addition to claiming they weren't developing nuclear weapons they swore their ballistic missile program was restricted to a  range of 2,000 km?  

Good times, those. 

Anyone actually believed them was a credulous idiot, because yet again, not surprising anyone who knows about the Iranian regime, they lied. 

They just launched two missiles at Diego Garcia, 4,000 km away.

While the two missiles failed to hit their targets, this is a their revealing a capability they had sworn they were not devleoping. 

Fox News: Trump proven right on Iran's long-range missile capability as regime targets US-UK base, experts say

This officially puts Iran into the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Club, and they now have missiles that can reach Paris, London and Berlin.  Hopefully that is a wake up call to European powers, and yet another reaosn to ensure the Mullahs do not remain in power.

Who Controls The Past Controls The Future

So a former patron saint of the Democrats, Cesar Chavez, a historic labor and union leader feted and revered by the Democrat, with statues and streets named in his honor, is getting the Damnatio Memoriae treatment. This is complete with statues of him being covered up pending removal from their plinths.

Why now? After all, the allegations of his sexual improprieties date from the 1960s and 1970s, but as a famous Democrat and his usefulness of his legacy to the Democrats for both the Hispanic and union votes, he's gotten a complete pass. 

Until now.

A couple possible reasons:

 1. His very well-known stance against illegal immigration and its depressing legal workers wages is becoming very politically inconvenient at this time. Chavez was not just against illegal immigration, he was vociferously against it, even ordering the beating of the heck out of illegals who moved in on his farm workers union labor and reduced their wages - even forming his own "Border Patrol" to turn them back- and not with gentle processing, either.

This is just Democrats putting illegal immigrants above Americans as usual, and rewriting history to claim they have always supported the "undocumented".  

2. One of his descendants, Julie Chavez Rodriguez is one of the éminence grise, the powers behind the throne, of the Democrat party.  Her credentials include being a former campaign manager for Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign, right after being a campaign manager in President Joe Biden's 2024 re-election campaign. She was also working behind the scenes for President Obama and has come up through the farm union - with its prior stance against illegal immigration. 

It is quite possible that there is some internecine struggle for power inside the Democrat party, and someone wants her gone, and is attacking her by attacking her grandfather's legacy.

For whatever reason, the Democrats are proceeding apace with airbrushing Cesar Chavez from Democrat political history. 

Temple Israel Attack Aftermath

There's now videos online of the various police agencies clearing the synagogue and rescuing children from the school that were there at the time of the attack. 

Unlike the Cowards of Broward or the Unqualified of Uvalde, they went about aggressively clearing the building and rescuing everyone, and ensuring everyone was taken out of the burning building. While they knew the attacker was dead at that time, having been pinned by the security guards leading him to shoot himself,  the police didn't know if there were any other attackers still there and they searched and cleared the entire building. 

They did a great job, got everyone out at serious risk to themselves, with quite a number of them suffering from smoke inhalation as they put their lives on the line to save innocents,  and  make sure everyone was out.

In short, the responding police agencies did their jobs, and did them well.

The pictures of the interior show the extensive damage from the fire.

The Detroit News:  Temple Israel shows inside of synagogue in aftermath of attack.

It's going to be quite some time before the synagogue can be used again and it needs to be extensively repaired and renovated. 

When Even Al Jazeera Says It

Then mayhaps the US is indeed winning, and decisively winning,  the current conflict with Iran.

Al Jazeera: The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why

For Al Jazeera, the Qatari, pro-Iranian media to publish this piece means things are likely going very, very, well for the US in this conflict - so much so that the results can't be hidden:

- Top Iranian leadership dead and successors keep getting eliminated as they get announced

- Achieving Air Superiority on the way to Air Supremacy in the skies over Iran

- Iranian nuclear, weapons, and command and control and communication sites getting worked over repeatedly.

- Dismantling of Iran's air defense network, touted as some of the finest Russian and Chinese technology available.

- Sinking Iran's Navy wherever it can be found including it's mine-layers.

- Reducing Iran's ballistic missile and drone attacks by 90% so far 

 -Now playing whack-a-Basiji thug in the streets on demand via drone. Iranian citizens are reporting locations of Basiji checkpoints, and the US and Israel send drones over to whack them and thus save civilian lives from those thugs.

The Democrats and the Mainstream media both want the USA to lose and Trump to suffer a defeat in time to boost the Democrat's chances for the midterms.   Party over country for them, every time.

In short by any metric the US and Israel are winning, and are on the way to winning decisively.  Don't let the Democrats and the Media tell you otherwise.

Victor Davis Hanson puts it rather succinctly: Victor Davis Hanson: This Is A Surreal War, What Is Actually Happening In Iran Is Not Being Reported

Well worth a watch, that.  In short don't be misled by claims that 2 weeks in we're somehow in a "forever war" and Iran is winning.  It is not. But Iran's regime and the Left and the media are desperately hoping a propaganda campaign can save them and deal a defeat to President Trump, America, and Israel in spite of the facts on the ground and in the air.

Still No Word From Megan Rapinoe

Of the members of the Iranian women's Soccer Team who originally were going to seek asylum in Australia or the USA rather than return to Iran, all but three have reversed that decision and will be returning to Iran, where they will likely be killed for publicly daring to defect, not to mention removing their hijabs.

CBS News: 3 more members of Iran women's soccer team change course, decline to accept asylum in Australia

Have your families remaining behind in Iran being threatened with death or worse by the regime if you do not return will do that to you. 

Meanwhile, Megan Rapinoe, that "champion" of women's issues and soccer, who is all for men participating as women in women's sports, and who has "most stunningly and bravely" called out the US men's hockey team for celebrating their victory, apparently can't be bothered to publicly support real women in her own sport who are in very real danger.

Fox News: Piers Morgan rips Megan Rapinoe as 'hypocritical' over silence on Iranian women's soccer team

Then again, the left and progressives have been remarkably silent, if not outright supportive of the Iranian regime, so it is not really a surprise. 

Three Attacks. Three States. Democrats Still No On DHS Funding.

There were three Islamic terrorist attacks in the past week.

One in New York.

One in Virginia.

One in Michigan.

And all six Democrat senators from these states have uniformly continued to refuse to vote for funding the Department of Homeland Security.  

Verily, they have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

CBS News:  Senate fails again to advance funding for DHS as tempers flare over stalemate

Only Democrat Senator Fetterman had the basic common sense among Democrats to vote for funding DHS.

The Democrats are once again prioritizing illegal aliens over Americans. 

Sunday Range Trip

Given recent events, there was more of a rationale to get to the range and get better.

Met up with Tosh at the range. It was in the low 30s and breezy, 

I had just put a new suppressor on the PS90 , so I took it to the range and got some trigger time in.

It's a Polonium K, replacing the SilencerCo Hybrid 46 that is going to be used on another rifle.  

The Polonium K is both thinner and smaller than the 46 and took only two days of ATFE processing from start to finish (compared to the 46's over a year to get approved) and no tax. Thank you President Trump!

It looks much better on the PS90 than the 46, and given the suppressor bore size, suppresses better than the 46.

 

 

I'm quite happy with it, makes the PS90 package footprint even smaller, and the PS90 keeps running like a champ.

After some rifle and PDW fun, we got on to practice with pistols.

I ran the Walther PDP, and it ran through all the drills without any issues. 

All drills were done from concealment and given the weather we had on rather heavy sweatshirts for the drills. 

We started with the single shot from concealment to the 7 yard A-zone drill.

I definitely had some rust to shake off.  I was getting hits in around 1.5-1.4 seconds once I settled in, with some much higher times as well.

We then did the 3&2 drill and I did better with that  getting under 3 seconds pretty regularly and some runs under 2.5 which was good.

Then on to Bill Drills.  I was able to get under 3.0 seconds which was good, and I'm still chasing the sub 2 second time - from afar.

For the final drill,  the one shot from concealment to an A-Zone at 25 yards we ended with a bang.  My best times were two at 1.60 seconds, and generally I was around 1.78-1.70 on average, which was pretty happy-making for me.

Tosh, by comparison, was averaging a fast 1.65, and had a couple at 1.6, and one at a blazing fast 1.35 seconds which is fantastic. The man can shoot.

A most challenging bit of practice, and it just points out I've got lots to work on to improve.

Active Shooting Attack At Temple Israel In West Bloomfield

So far details are sketchy, but police are warning that there has been an active shooting  and vehicle ramming attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.

Schools in the area went into lock-down and there is a heavy police response, as it should be.

The Detroit News:  Active shooter incident at West Bloomfield Twp. synagogue

 Waiting on more details, but its unlikely to be the Amish, just saying.

Update 2:36pm:  A fire was caused by the vehicle ramming attack, and the shooter has now apparently been effectively engaged and is now deceased. 

Update 8:46pm:  Attacker was stopped and killed by Armed security.

And, exactly as predicted it was not the Amish.

Attacker is Ayman Ghazali of Dearborn Heights and he's an expatriate from Lebanon, likely with ties to Hezbollah. 

FBI has described it as a targeted attack against the Jewish community. No kidding. 

Mug Him Again!

There was a joke, coincidentally told first in New York City, about a liberal judge, known for being soft on criminals and giving them light sentences for crimes due to, in his mind, that they were just misunderstood victims of society.  

This judge related during a presentation on his lenient sentencing policies that he had just been mugged on the way to the same presentation.

"Not to worry", he told the approving progressive crowd, "this unfortunate mugging will not change how I rule from the bench!".

An old lady in the crowd then yelled "Mug Him Again!". 

When the Islamists threw their bombs at the Gracie Mansion, there was a similar but absolutely real display of progressive suicidal empathy.

During the demonstration,  a man, Walter Masterson, who happens to be a far-left comedian (which is kinda fitting but he's not particularly funny) with a megaphone on the pro-Islamist side of the demonstration, had in fine progressive leftist fashion just piously announced: 

"as a born and raised New Yorker, we welcome everyone into this city"

Just as he said that, "Pennsylvania teenager"  Emir Balat threw a bomb right over his head, complete with an  "Allahu Akbar" which apparently, per leftists,  is Arabic for "Thank you for your welcoming feelings":

Masterson ducked. 

Has this experience changed Mr. Masterson's outlook on welcoming jihadists to the city of New York at all?

No, it has not. Instead he proudly stated the event has not changed his leftists outlook at all, and he "didn’t become a xenophobic bigot” from the experience.

Thank goodness for that.

In short, he has learned nothing from it. 

An impressive display of leftist suicidal empathy. 

Maybe throw a bomb over his head again? 

No Matter How Much You Disdain The Mainstream Media

It's probably Not Enough.

After the attempted bombing in new York City of an anti-Islamic demonstration by two Islamists, the mainstream media hasn't just bent over backwards but twisted themselves in knots to obfuscate, downplay, confuse, cover-up and outright lie about the attack.

CNN started off by depicting the two Muslim attackers as "Pennsylvania men" who just happened to be going to New York City but whose trajectory somehow took a dark turn:

 No mention at all of them yelling "Allahu Akbar" prior to throwing the devices, and in reading the glowing description of them, you would think they threw the bomb as part of an anti-Muslim protest rather than AT an "anti-Muslim protest". No mention of them making the ISIS Islamic salute after they were captured, either.

CNN then doubled down, as noted by Instapundit, reporting falsely that the bomb was thrown at Muslim Mayor of New York Mamdani. 

If your news source is CNN, you have simply no clue as to the actual facts of this occurrence (and likely any other news of import that a journo would not wish to shade to favor progressives or Islamists), at all. 

The Misjudgment And Misbehavior Of The Millennial Attorney

As you might gather from the headline, my opposing counsel on a case is not just a new attorney but a millennial new attorney.

She unfortunately is living up to, if not proving the negative stereotypes about millennials. 

She represents two clients: Child 1 and Child 2, the children of the sister of my client.

The sister, who has passed away, was the conservator for the mother.

Sister and Child 1 during the conservatorship, provably proceeded to embezzle or misappropriate over $100,000 from the mother's accounts and hide that  until the sister's death and the mother's death soon thereafter. We don't think Child 23 had anything to do with it.

My client, the son of the deceased mother, discovered the misappropriations when he became the estate's personal representative.

In short, he offers to divide up the estate with the children of the deceased sister receiving a share equal to his minus the 100,000 they have already taken.

Rather a fair offer, that.

Our Millennial Attorney declared that to be mean, and such an offer was "threatening".

No kidding.

Since then, she has refused and failed to respond to emails, including discussing potential resolution of the case and  emails from the court mediator.

Mediator sent out an email in early February for dates in March for the mediation, as there is a mediation cut off date of March 20, and we had proposed March 12.

Our Millennial Attorney does not respond at all.

March rolls around and millennial attorney has still not responded so I send out an email at the start of last week asking if March 12 is going forward.

Millennial Attorney finally responds that March 12 won't work and asks for dates in April - past the mediation cutoff date.

Mediator gives some April dates and I reply with some matching dates, noting the scheduling order now needs to be changed. 

Millennial Attorney does not respond at all to either of us.

I email Millennial Attorney asking her to draft up a stipulated amendment to the scheduling order as we're now going to be late due to her delays.

Millennial Attorney does not respond. 

I also email Millennial Attorney about accepting service on a related complaint against Child 1 and deceased sister for the misappropriation.

Millennial Attorney does not respond. 

Yep, she is freaking ghosting me. 

Millennial Attorney also does not answer discovery requests I had sent to her in January.   This hoses her client nicely as she didn't respond to Request for Admissions which means they are deemed admitted.  Oops on her part, as this will certainly help at trial.

I have to, and do a motion to compel her to answer the interrogatories and document requests and file it with the court. And I ask for sanctions.

I expect she may answer that, likely a day to two before the hearing so I can't get a reply brief in. 

Again today, I email her with all the outstanding issues:  The mediation, changing the scheduling order dates, and if she is accepting service for the complaint and asked her for the courtesy of a reply.

I'm not holding my breath waiting for an answer. 

Sigh. 

Progressives Protesting Against Their Own Progressive Interest

So what leads women who dress up like this:

To protest in support of the Islamic mullah-led government of Iran, that makes women dress up like this:

 Heck, how do you explain how progressive Calla Walsh, a former campaign worker for  Senator Elizabeth Warren can get on stage in Iran, complete with the obligatory hijab, and on live Iranian TV recite "Death to America". ?

She is progressively propagandizing for a regime that, among other heinous things, requires women protestors seeking freedom to be raped before they are executed to prevent them under Islamic law from going to heaven, which they would if they died as virgins? 

These progressive women are quite simply fantasizing when they claim the government under President Trump and Republicans is a burgeoning theocracy that will force them to wear the snazzy red outfits.  Not going to happen.

Indeed, the Trump administration is taking active steps to free women currently trapped under the material of such similar outfits in Iran, far beyond the platitudes and lack of action of the progressives and prior Democratic leadership both. 

At the same time this is going on, these progressive women protest on behalf of a Islamic regime that, by any metric, abuses women in a fashion even the fictional wankers of the women's fantasy that run the theocracy in the Handmaid's Tale would find repugnant.

How to square that circle? 

It's basically a combination of fantasy, ignorance, and the Red-Green progressive alliance.

After all, with the fall of the Soviet Union, it looked to progressives that western civilization was in its ascendancy and communism and its promise of socialist paradise just wasn't going to happen.

So instead, they sought out support of regimes and peoples that while anti-progressive by word, act and ideology, stood the best chance of destroying western civilization that these progressives had convinced themselves was the source of all evil.

This is how you get progressive LGBT-ers protesting on behalf of peoples and regimes that think that the best LGBTer is one who is given a flying lesson - off a multi-story building. And it is how you get women protesting on behalf of regimes and ideologies that, if these same women were under their control that regime would systematically strip them of their rights including their rights to protest.

Never mind that women and indeed all mankind have never been freer than they are now in places where western civilization is ascendant. The progressive believe it is a hellhole where any moment now they will be forced into handmaid's suits and a socialist paradise waits around the corner if they just protest enough.

The Socialist Paradise they work for never actually arrives mind you, and if it does it inevitably fails in hunger and poverty, and is discarded by them as not a real "Socialist Paradise".  Progressives then try out the next one to lay their hopes upon.

So why the Red-Green alliance?  

Well, Islam is the only force, aside from Communist China, that right now has a real capability of tearing down western civilization, especially if the progressives in positions of power give it a helping hand with open immigration,  protection of it from criticism, and giving Islamism a free rein in their countries.

Somehow, the progressive figure, just like the gnome underpants theory of value, that if they stuff in enough Islamists, it will bring down western civilization and then lead to a socialist paradise where the enlightened progressives end up on top like white saviors to lead the unwashed Islamic hordes to paradise.

This cunning plan of the progressives has holes in it, a lot of them, to say the least.  

It doesn't have a good track record. Indeed the progressive leftists in Iran who supported the overthrow of the Shah by the Ayatollahs were among some of the first to be executed by the regime of the Ayatollahs.

But the plan is what they've got, even as it lacks any logical consistency, and it explains the rather inexplicable love the progressives have for people that are decidedly the very definition of UN-progressive.

Also, this irony of progressive women demonstrating in favor of regimes that are decidedly un-progressive towards women is not just found in the United States: Daily Mail: Ironic moment women's rights activists swear and jeer at protesters demonstrating against Iranian regime... which has brutally oppressed women for decades

MrGarabaldi over at My Daily Kona also chose today to write about the Red Green alliance.  

In The UK, When The Data Goes Against Your Progressive Preferences

You stick with the progressive preferences, and ignore the data.  

At least that is what the UK, under Two-Tier Kier Starmer, has  decided to do.

The Labour Party of the United Kingdom's own report shows that:

Islamists are responsible for three-quarters of the police’s counterterror workload and 94 per cent of all terror-related deaths in the past 25 years. The plan also rejects calls, predominantly from British Muslims, for blasphemy laws in the UK.

And what has the Labour Party government decided to do about it?

They've decided to appoint an anti-Islamophobia Tsar and further crack down on people being "divisive"  when it comes to Islam, LGBTs (and there's a fine paradox right there), or simply not reflecting Labour Party progressive preferences.

The Spectator: Revealed: Britain to get Islamophobia tsar.

No, Don't Do That

Stupid decisions by stupid people often lead to completely avoidable tragedies.

WXYZ Detroit: Detroit mother charged for unsafe storage of weapon after six-year-old killed in accidental shooting

Detroit mom decided to go to a restaurant and left her five, yes five, children ages 2 through 11 years old in her car, along with a firearm that was simply shoved under her seat and into the restaurant she went.

Left to themselves, the 11-year-old then retrieved the firearm and shot and killed the 6-year-old. 

Do not leave an unsecured firearm, shoved under the front seat, which is not a good idea even if alone, and especially not where kids can get it.

The mom should have had the firearm on her person, or at the very least taken all her kids into the restaurant with her and not left them alone in the vehicle.

But, she likely couldn't take the firearm in to the restaurant with her, as while the reporting is confused, it appears she was a felon in possession at the time, as she's been charged with 4 counts of felony firearm as in addition to the gun left in the car, other firearms were also found at her house. 

Tonya Charisse-Annie Johnson, 41, has been charged with:

• Firearms — Safe Storage Violations — Premises Under Individual's Control — Minor Present and Inflicted Death upon Self or Another
• Three counts of Second-Degree Child Abuse
• Four counts of Felony Firearm

In short, be responsible and do not leave your firearms where they are readily accessible to unsupervised children.

F-35 Scores Its First Air-To-Air Kill

An Israeli F-35 Lightning II has shot down an Iranian Yak-130 over Tehran.

The Times Of Israel: In world 1st, Israeli F-35 shoots down Iranian jet in air-to-air combat over Tehran

This successful air-to-air kill for the F-35I marks the first time the F-35 has shot down another manned aircraft in combat so it is now 1-0.  

Yes, the Yak-130 is a light attack aircraft and jet trainer, but it is capable of air to air combat, and a kill is a kill.

This is just a first in a hopefully long string of air-to-air successes for the F-35.

Why Is Iran Regretting Using The Metric System?

Because they've lost a Kilo. 

TWZ.Com: One Of Iran’s Most Advanced Wacky Catamaran Warships Sunk In Epic Fury 

The single Kilo class submarine, Iran’s most advanced, which was docked at the base, also appears to have been sunk, and a large scorch mark sits next to where it was tied-up pier-side. U.S. Central Command confirmed it had targeted the “most operational Iranian submarine” in ongoing strikes last night.

In addition to the sinking of the Kilo, the other historic news, also submarine related, is that we now have an active-in-service US Navy Warship, other than the USS Constitution, that has destroyed an enemy warship:

FoxNews: US submarine sinks Iranian warship by torpedo in a first since World War II.

In addition to that milestone, the submarine successfully sinking the Iranian frigate marks the first time since the Falklands War, when the HMS Conqueror sank the ARA General Belgrano, that a nuclear submarine has torpedoed and sank an enemy vessel. 

The Imam Within

Yep, Imam Mohammad Elahi, from the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn is, true to form, busily praising the now deceased Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khamenei and condemning America and the US military as evil.

Memri:   Dearborn Heights Shi’ite Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi EulogizesIranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei 

Imam Elahi is very much of the Mullah's regime.  

Prior to his travel to America to propogandize on behalf of the Islamic regime, he was appointed the head Imam to the Iranian navy- as the regular navy was insuficiently zealously Islamic - in other words he was the religious zampolit for the Mullahs. He's very much a Shia twelver true believer and believes and backs the Islamic theocracy in Iran, and propagandizes on the regime's behalf here.

He's also rather popular among Democrats seeking the Islamic vote. Is he also acting as a conduit or connection between Democrat pols and the Islamic regime?  Who knows?

So, the interesting question is: Why is a known member of the Iranian Mullah's regime and propagandist for same free to unrestrictedly spread this hostile foreign regime's propaganda in America and proselytize on its behalf and their apocalyptic fanatical religion while we are in a state of open hostilities with said regime?

The Catch And Release Of Illegal Alien Criminals Kills Yet Again

The illegal alien, Abdul Jalloh, that is the center of this story was arrested not once, not twice, not three times, but THIRTY times.

Before he was released yet again to stab Stephanie Minter to death in Virginia.

Because Virginia is not just soft on crime, but it also doesn't turn over illegal criminals to ICE even when there was already an order issued for their removal from the country . . . in 2020.

NBC 4: How Fairfax County bus stop stabbing suspect avoided jail and deportation

So, how much longer will people put up with sanctuary states and cities letting illegal criminals keep going free until they kill someone? 

Virginia under Dem Gov Spanberger is doubling down on the policy, and Democrat Congress-critters have already demonstrated that they do not support American Citizens over illegal alien criminals.

AWFULs, while supporting such sanctuary state and city policies, are very much in the pool of victims from the failure to deport criminals under these  polices they support. 

Must be something about AWFULs and not understanding the concept of consequences from the support of these virtue-signalling policies.

The Motive May Never Be Known

The killer wore a sweatshirt that said "Property of Allah".

He also had an Islamic Republic of Iran flag t-shirt on under the sweatshirt. 

CBS News: Texas gunman wore "Property of Allah" hoodie, Iran flag T-shirt during attack

This clearly means his motive may never be known. It is a Complete mystery.

Indeed, per the FBI,  the Bureau is searching hard for a possible motive and possible link to terrorism for this Islamic immigrant.

The Detroit News:  FBI probes Texas mass shooting for terrorism link

I daresay Director Kash Patel needs to remove Agent Magoo and his fellow Biden-era agents that can't identify Islamic terrorism  --when it is literally on the killer's shirt -- from the investigation.

Iran's Mullahs Getting Massively Mauled

Its now confirmed that Khamenei and a whole host of the upper echelon of the Mullah's government in Iran have indeed been sent to meet their maker.

Included in that host is former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who had repressed his own people harshly, and announced that he would wipe Israel off the map. He has himself now been wiped off the map.  Poetic justice, that. 

The Israeli and American action against Iran seems to be focused on decapitating the despotic regime in order to assist the people of Iran change their regime to a less oppressive one, and also eliminating Iran as a regional threat and source of world terrorism. 

This is all to the good. 

The Detroit News: U.S. strikes over 1,000 Iranian targets, military says

So far, 9 ships of Iran's navy have been sunk with the sinking of the remainder pending. 

The Detroit News: U.S. sinking Iran's Navy, Trump says

Meanwhile, protesters, here in America who can be counted on to protest against the USA are at it yet again, exchanging their Venezuelan flags for Iranian ones.  

These protestors regularly protest claiming that the USA is a despotic, theocratic, and anti-woman country (quick note - by any objective measure it is not any of those), are now busy protesting against the USA on behalf of what IS objectively a despotic,  theocratic, and anti-woman regime.

Meanwhile, the people of Iran are cheering the attacks against the Mullahs, demonstrating in the streets in support of the attacks, and shedding their theocraticaly-mandated-on-pain-of-death hijabs.

Iranians in the USA are similarly grateful for the actions to help end the theocratic regime. 

Funny, that. 

Bye Bye Khamenei?

Reports, so far unconfirmed, is that Ayatollah Khamanei has gone on to meet his appointment with judgment for his multitude of evil deeds, both to his own citizens, and to people around the world.

Times of Israel:  Israeli TV report, citing unnamed Israeli sources: Growing indications that Khamenei killed.

The Iranian regime seems to have been effectively decapitated in the initial Israeli strike, and the US strikes are cleaning up hitting Iranian command and control centers.  The Iranians are currently reacting by firing blindly, attacking the gulf states that were effectively neutral in this conflict until Iran started dropping missiles and drone attacks on them.

If this gives the Iranian people a chance to overthrow their despotic regime, which has just this year killed over 36,500 of its own people, this is a very good thing and an opportunity to stop the number one regime sponsoring terrorism through the Middle East and the world.

In Between Her World Travels, Social Media Shows, And Planning To Run For President

Someone might want to remind Gretchen Whitmer that she is still (unfortunately for us) governor of the state of Michigan.

The Detroit News: 'Big Gretch out?' Michigan needs a governor who's still in.

Then again, she may do best running away from her record here rather than running on it.

The results of her governorship makes that rather clear.

In Michigan under "Big Gretch" Whitmer, literacy and education scores have declined,  economic growth has gone down, and yet the state budget has steadily increased by 57% during her term in office, far in excess of the rate of inflation.

Now at $88.1 billion compared to the $56 Billion before she came into office, the budget now spends almost $9,000 per resident of this state. Even worse, it now spends around $21,487 per each and every one of the 4.1 million Michigan taxpayers actually paying for it - and not much to show in results for this excess and excessive spending either.

Well, Waddiya Know?

Yet again, The "International Community" and the Gazans have been caught lying.

A fellow named Fadi Al-Waddiya was killed in an Israeli strike.

Israel noted he was a enemy combatant at the time. 

Doctors Without Borders immediately decried the strike, claiming Waddiya was just one of their medics and a family man.

Well, waddiya know, it turns out that Palestinian Islamic Jihad has now confirmed that Fadi Al-Waddiya was indeed the deputy commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s manufacturing unit when he wasn't moonlighting for Doctors Without Borders.

Doctors Without Borders was shocked, simply shocked, on hearing the news - and refuses to allow a vetting of their local staff for terrorist ties.

Commentary:  Get Used to Saying It: ‘Israel Was Right Again’.

SOTU, So Good

President Trump's showmanship and brashness was fully on display last night.

From the honoring of the US Hockey team to the the well-deserved publicly made awards for valor and gallantry to heroes assembled in the visitors' galley, it hit all the right notes, with a little over the top boasting that we have come to expect from President Trump.

The energy he had giving a very long speech certainly gives an indication of his continued fitness as President, and gives lie to the idea that he is tired or incapable of holding office as was his predecessor at this stage,the SOTU showed a very clear divide between Democrats and the rest of the country.

The State of The Union address yet again publicly and firmly put the Democrats on the 20% side of 80/20 issues.

The Democrats simply could not support the idea that they should represent the interests if Americans over illegal immigrants - and everyone watching saw that quite clearly.

That the Democrats could not stand and honor those who lost their lives to illegal alien criminals, and to criminals released on no-cash-bail and Democrat soft-on-crime policies was also clearly seen. 

From Rashida Tlaib's F___k ICE! badge, which was very classy; to Ilhan Omar getting all out of sorts when the $18 billion in Somali Fraud in Minnesota was pointed out, to Al Green's acting out and getting ejected yet again, the Democrat's performative outbursts for their base likely made their base happy, and turned everyone else off about them if they were watching.

Not all Democrats showed up in white as had been previously announced as a form of protest, but some did.  Democrats have a habit of dressing in all white for protesting major political events.  Perhaps someone pointed out the optics of doing so this time would be less than optimal.   No pointy hats on the Dems this time, thankfully.

In short Trump, while being bombastic firmly fixed the Dems on multiple issues as being out of step with ordinary Americans - and got coverage for many issues the Dems would rather be swept under the rug. 

The speech was overall very good, albeit overly long, with an energetic and optimistic look ahead for the country -- and it properly honored numerous American heroes. 

Muslim Grooming Gangs Now In Canada

The ongoing scandal of multiple Muslim grooming gang scandals in the United Kingdom continues.

Now Muslim Grooming gangs may be spreading to Canada.

The Toronto Sun: WARMINGTON: 15-year-old boy charged by Peel cops in human trafficking of girls as young as 11

The perpetrators have, as one might have expected good Canadian "suburban youth" names: Mohamad Omar Al-Saleh, Mustafa Abdo and Yousif Al-Gburi. 

Import the third world and all that. 

Unlike in the UK, at least the police in Peel Region seem to be actually enforcing the law against the perpetrators rather than either ignoring or outright aiding and abetting it.  

I will note Peel Regional Police tend to have a positive reputation as hard chargers and solid law enforcement, and it is good to see them going after these scum.

Woe Canada!

It's bad enough that Canada lost both Women's and Men's Olympic hockey to the USA.

 But Canadians woke up to read in the Globe and Mail that their entire  country's economy has dropped below that of .  .  .  Alabama.

You know, Alabama, a place Canadians with insecurity complexes as to their place in the world looked down their noses at as backward, uncultured, and everything that was not as "good"and enlightened as Canada.

 The Globe and Mail: Out of nowhere, Canada became poorer than Alabama. How is that possible?

The wakeup call was so ugly the Globe and Mail even had to change the headline on their website, even as the http: remains the same, to soften the blow. 

It now reads: How Canada became poorer than Alabama

Note that the Globe and Mail is to Canada what The New York Times is to the US - the newspaper written for, and read by the country's bien pensant elites.  

For them to have to report on this ugly truth had to be rather uncomfortable. 

11 years of Liberal one-party rule, corruption, and socialistic economic decision-making will do that for you. 

But keep those elbows up Canada!  You're doing just great. 

This Should Not Be Controversial

But I'm sure it will be.

 Flying: FAA Orders Merit-Based Hiring at Airlines

In what it framed as a reversal of Biden-era policies, the FAA on Friday said it will require commercial airlines to commit to “merit-based hiring” for pilots.

The directive comes in the form of an “operations specification.” To comply, Part 121 carriers must certify that their hiring process for pilots is exclusively based on merit, as demonstrated by experience, technical aptitude, and other factors. The operations specification takes effect 30 days from February 13.

That merit was not the only and sole consideration the entire time is a sad commentary on the progressives woke-addled DEI-craziness that has been badly affecting safety.

Given some recent major aircraft accidents had DEI-oriented practices as a factor, such a return to only merit-based hiring is rather refreshing and indeed there should never have been a departure from a purely merit-based approach.

More On California's High-Speed Train Corruption

Not only is the corruption and over-spending in the California high speed rail project bad enough that it is at 135 Billion dollars in spending with no tangible results -- from a budget that was supposed to be 10 billion dollars total for the project when it was announced in 2009 with no end in sight.

It's now bad enough that the Democrats in California are pushing a law to make the  news of how corrupt the high-speed rail project has been, and continues to be, a secret from Californians.

Daniel Greenfield:  California Politicians Propose Law Hiding Corruption from the Public

 You could say the California Democrats are running a train on the residents of California, and you wouldn't be wrong.

Oh, and if you're not reading Daniel Greenfield on a regular basis, you are missing out.

What Is It About Democrats And Choo-Choo Trains?

I suspect it is mainly about the opportunity for grift, massive government spending, control, and land speculation not to mention lots of make-work jobs for their supporters.

Our current Secretary of State and Democrat candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson is jumping on the train bandwagon.

 Bridge Michigan: Jocelyn Benson wants to bring high-speed rail to Michigan. What would it take?'

Democrats' high-speed rail programs have led to utter failure and the lack of real results. 

The massive spending as can been seen with high-speed trains to nowhere in California with over 17 billion spent without accountability, and not a track even laid in years, and a budget that has already gone over by 200% has been a massive failure - except that failure has been a boon for Democrat bureaucrats and grifters.

 It sure looks like Michigan Democrats want a similar failure here so they can get a piece of that high-speed massive wasteful spending pie.

Yet Another S-Hole Country That Needs Sorting Out

Hopefully, someone turns President Trump's attention to two pilots currently being improperly jailed in Guinea.

AVweb: U.S. Pilots Detained In Guinea During Fuel Stop

New York Post:  US pilots jailed in Guinea during fuel stop now asking Trump to step in: ‘Very scary’ 

Two American pilots have been imprisoned in the Republic of Guinea for six weeks — after authorities said they violated the country’s airspace for a simple fuel stop, The Post has learned.

Fabio Nicolas Espinal Nunez, 33, of Ewing, New Jersey and Bradley Scott Schlenker, 63, of Chicago are now asking the Trump administration to step in to secure their release as they remain locked up since Dec. 29 in a prison in Conakry, Guinea’s capital city.

Perhaps one of the aircraft carriers on their way to the Gulf could make a brief stop. 

The ATC tapes show they were cleared to land, but they've been jailed anyways on ridiculous charges without much action being done to free them from their captivity.

That should change. 

Two Months In, And He's Already Running Out Of Other People's Money

 Mamdani's grandiose plan of spending an additional 11 billion dollars to New York City's already grossly inflated budget is running into a brush with reality.

He can't fund it without raising taxes, and he'd prefer that other people do the tax raisin' and get other people's money to pay for it.

New York Post: Zohran Mamdani unveils record $127B budget — fueled by proposed NYC property tax hike

So, in searching for other people's money to fund this insane spending spree, he demanded that the New York governor increase everyone's taxes to pay it, which is going as well as can be expected:  IJR: Tax War Erupts Between Mamdani And Hochul.

With this budget, NYC will spend $127 Billion for the government of a single city.

The government for the entire State of Michigan by contrast, has a Budget of $88.1 Billion, even after the budget has been bloated over 50% by Governor Whitmer's increases over the course of her governorship.

Of course, the proposed speeding is chock-full of DEI and make-work jobs for his supporters, while defunding the police, even as the budget grows by 11 Billion.  Fox News: Mamdani plan pours millions into ‘racial equity’ offices and six-figure diversity jobs, cuts 5,000 NYPD jobs

New Yorkers are about to get what they wanted, good and hard. 

DEI Means Failing Upwards

So he went from being one of the reasons for the Flint. Michigan water crisis to heading what is now potentially the largest wastewater spill in United states history - in Washington DC.

Because of DEI and he's a Democrat and a favored minority both.

DEI: Why did Washington DC hire David Gadis after he lied to Flint residents that their water was safe to drink despite knowing it was contaminated with lead? Diversity, plain and simple. When he got to DC Water he fired all of the white male executives and replaced them with… pic.twitter.com/YTofhsO6MK

— @amuse (@amuse) February 18, 2026

So after failing and misleading the community in Flint about the lead contamination, he was then appointed to head DC's water system. He then systematically removed experienced white executives to replace them with minorities to ensure the executives looked like the people they served.

That all worked out just great: Daily Caller: DC Water’s CEO Oversaw $520 Million In DEI Contracts — And The Biggest Sewage Spill In US History.

Detroit Police Chief To Police: If You Don't Ignore Crime, You'll Be Fired

Traffic stops often catch criminals goign about their criminal business

For most people, traffic stops that help prevent crime and catch criminals is a good thing. 

In these two cases, it caught illegal immigrants, one with a felony warrant who apparently did not (or decided not) to speak English.

The officers contacted border patrol to communicate with them and indeed detain them as illegals. 

For this the Detroit police chef is going to fire them. 

The Detroit News: Detroit police chief plans to fire officers who used border agents at traffic stops

This won't make Detroit safer, indeed it will result in the opposite, but it will make the progressives feel good about themselves.

What other ongoing law violations, pray tell, are supposed to be ignored by police officers in Detroit?

Yet Another One

And yet another mentally ill Trans (kinda repetitive, that) did a mass killing, this time killing his own family and a family friend in a hockey arena.

Certainly it is a disturbing but unfortunately not an unexpected trend, and trans individuals are now quite disproportionately represented in mass killings.

The New York Post: Transgender father Robert Dorgan ID’d as RI hockey shooter who gunned down family as sick posts are revealed

In a less progressively enlightened age, we used to consider someone who wanted to cut off their genitals to be a danger to themselves.

Those who are diagnosed as a threat to themselves or others are typically are prohibited from buying and possessing  firearms, which seems more and more like a good idea, doesn't it?

This guy was indeed both a danger to himself and others, but instead of being declared mentally ill and treated for his psychosis he likely got celebrated and got some hormone treatments to make him even crazier and unstable to boot.  

Instead of treating mentally ill people as mentally ill, we just put them on opposing-gender hormones, and watch them go off and kill people. The left then gets more up in arms when the killers are "mis-gendered" than with the fact that they killed a bunch of people.  Oh, and the left instead of addressing the problem of feting the mentally ill will instead call for generalized gun bans against those who are not mentally ill and not a danger to themselves or others.

Maybe that approach and failed trendy belief system should change.

Hypocrisy And Double Standards Are A Progressives' Stock-In-Trade

Billie Elish made quite a show at the Grammys, stunningly and bravely declaring a progressive bromide that "No one is illegal on Stolen Land" to an approving left-wing audience.

That she doesn't appear to actually believe beyond the progressive required virtue signalling this is demonstrated by two separate incidents:

 1.  Her mansion sits on land, that if you buy her "stolen land" argument is thus not hers and instead is belonging to the Tongva tribe, and she has yet to give back her "stolen land".

2.  She has cetianly not come out in support of the Australian performative artist who was refused entry to the USA after announcing he was taking her up on her stolen land argument by announcing he was coming to occupy her stolen mansion:

Blast: Billie Eilish 'Got' Activist 'Deported From U.S.' After Her Mansion Was Targeted

An Australian activist’s viral stunt has come to an abrupt end at LAX. Drew Pavlou says he was deported from the United States after attempting to enter the country on what he describes as a “performance art” mission targeting Billie Eilish’s California mansion. The activist had publicly announced plans to camp outside the singer’s property following her controversial Grammy speech criticizing ICE. Instead of pitching a tent in Glendale, Pavlou found himself detained by immigration authorities for more than 30 hours before being sent back home.

So much for no one is illegal on stolen land. I didn't realize there was an exception for Australians.

Who knows, maybe she'll write a song about it.

Oh, and Billie, it was conquered, not stolen,  There's quite a difference. 

If Illegal Aliens Aren't Allowed To Vote . . .

Then why does an ICE office opening in Southfield, Michigan raise fears among Democrats of "Voter Suppression"?

The Detroit Free Press: ICE office lease in Southfield draws concern from advocates, Democrats

The move has sparked concern from immigrant advocates and some Democratic leaders who fear the site at One Towne Square near the M-10 and Interstate-696 freeways could be used to target some communities and be used for voter suppression in Michigan in the November elections. 

Rather curious, that.

Giggle Box Status: Resurrected

Saw this and couldn't stop laughing out loud:

It's by Dead on a Sunday. The full song is here and it's damn catchy and rather appropriate for Friday the 13th.

A very nicely done parody cover of an 80s Pop classic.

Yet Another "Known To Police" Trans Killer

So we have yet another Trans school shooter. This time in Canada.

In yet another abuse of language, the murderer first was  being referred to by Canadian authorities as a gun-person for they don't want to acknowledge it s a trans male that did the killing. 

The RCMP has now switched to calling the killer a female because that was how the killer referred to itself. The CBC is referring to the male killer as "she" and "her", because of course they are.

Had the killer called themselves a Queen would they have been referred to by the RCMP as her highness?

Of course the killer was well known to police to have mental problems and had been visited by police multiple times including being hospitalized  with no effective result.  

Let's see - taking someone who is known to be mentally ill, filling them with sex hormones that are not of their own biological sex, and add on people not just tolerating such mental illness but buying into it, and praising it, and add some recreational drugs into the mix, and turn them loose towards an undefended school and bad stuff is going to happen.

Trans are a very tiny subset of the mentally ill community, but they're certainly becoming a impressively disproportionate source of school killers. 

Then againm it is Canada, so they might just record these deaths as MAID deaths. After all it was the medical treatment "transitioning" this mentally ill individual that was a major cause in these deaths.

Certainly, it also didn't help that it s a rather small town and the local emergency room is only open from 9-5 Monday to Friday, and there often was not more than one ambulance and often no ambulances available - and no one did anything about a clearly mentally deranged person in their midst until it was too late.

Expect further calls for gun bans from the Canadian Liberal government to be made shortly.

Without Government, Who Would Create A Shortage Of Road Salt?

The Detroit Free Press: Salt shortage has Michigan scrambling to keep roads clear

Yep, there was a clear lack of planning ahead and the governments expecting a mild winter and not ordering enough.  Likely they bought into the idea that  global warming was making winter a thing of the past - which it clearly is not doing.

Slippery-er than normal winter roads are the result with not enough salt being used due to the failure to stock up when demand (and prices) were low.  Now they're ordering salt at highly inflated prices and waiting on deliveries due to production and shipping bottlenecks.

Seriously, if we placed these same government officials in charge of the Sahara Desert, within a couple years they would be announcing a shortage of sand.

How Much Fraud Is In The US Economy?

Mr. B. looked with some dread at the question: How much of the US economy is fake?

If you consider US state and federal government going to waste and fraud, the answer is a heckuva lot. 

US Government Accountability Office puts annual fraud in US government programs at 233 Billion to 521 billion per year.

Elon Musk had an estimate of annual fraud in US federal government spending at 1.5 trillion – equivalent to slightly over half of all the 2.5 trillion dollars in taxes collected from American individual taxpayers per year.

In other words, if we got rid of the fraud at the federal level, we could pay half the federal income taxes we pay now with the exact same results.

This isn't even touching wasteful government spending at the Federal and State level.

At the State level, there's quite a lot going on as we saw in Minnesota and California which ranges into the billions of dollars.

We've got some of that here in Michigan, such as the billion dollars  spent on increasing student reading scores, only to have the effect be minimal and barely measurable:

 

The Detroit News: Michigan falls short of reading goal despite $1 billion in spending

 

Any bets that some of that spending went straight to waste and fraud at the Michigan variation of Learing centers? 

 

Nor does it cover the golden parachutes politicians prepared for their cronies in Dearborn Heights, to the tune of millions of taxpayer money spent 

 

The Detroit News: Former Dearborn Heights mayor inked severance contracts worth over $1M, records show 

 

Nor even the $20 million that went from Gov Whitmer's MEDC diect to embezzler Fey Beydoun.  Small potatoes in the world of government spending fraud, but $20 million is $20 million, after all.

 

Nor does this cover the nominally non-fraudulent but inefficient government spending such as on internet broadband connectivity and EV chargers and California high-speed rail to nowhere (which may indeed have fraudulent spending as a part of it).

 

Nor does it count the wasteful spending of billions of dollars by businesses at government directive or urging such as the spending on trying to wholesale replace internal combustion vehicles with electric ones. 

 

Fraud and wasteful spending combined at the federal and state levels easily exceeds a couple trillion dollars each year and every year. 

 

Perhaps it is time that stops? 

When You Pay The Fulani-Geld, You Never Get Rid Of The Fulani

One Nigerian town under attack by Islamist Fulani-tribe gunmen decided that the best course of action was to buy them off.

It went as well as you might have expected. 

The Detroit News: In Nigeria, a deadly bandit attack exposes fragile local peace efforts

When leaders from Doma town in Nigeria's northern Katsina state struck a deal with local gunmen last September, everyone hoped the attacks would end and they could go back to tending their farms in peace.

The agreement held, at first. Then on February 3, armed men from the same gang charged back in, survivors said, shooting as they moved house to house, killing at least 21 people and leaving the six-month truce in tatters.

Paying jizya is not a guarantee against future Islamic bandit raids, but it did give them a hudna for 4 months, but no longer once the Islamic bandits ceased to be sated by the money they were paid.

A pity that they couldn't spend that money towards their own defense rather than using it to try to bribe their attackers to not attack them, which never really works as a long-term solution. 

Gov Whitmer Picking Losers and Supporters Yet Again

A Democrat proposing a tax reduction?  

Well, yes, but more as a political ploy: The Detroit Free Press: Whitmer budget to propose $90M property tax break for Michigan seniors

Now, property taxes aren't levied by the state here in Michgian. This proposal instead allows a favored group of some seniors to pay lower property taxes with the state making up the shortfall to the local governments for doing so - and it would be a property tax credit only.

Not all Michigan homeowners, nor even all seniors, would benefit from such a tax credit which of course will be income adjusted to disappear as you earn more (and likely pay more property taxes), thus benefiting few.

Democrats here really hate broad-based tax reductions where everyone who pays taxes can benefit.  Instead, they like convoluted tax reductions that can benefit their voters and supporters or that sound good but in actuality reduce very little in actual taxes paid by most people in this state - even going so far as to sue to prevent a reduciton int he state's sales tax.

This is more media gaming on Whitmer's part as she pivots towards a higher office and most likely a White House run. 

The Rather Bad Bunny Show

Watched the Superbowl yesterday with friends.

The game had impressive defenses on both sides and the Patriot's offense couldn't rise to the occasion.  Former Michigan State Spartan K-9 Ken Walker put in some serious work for the Seahawks to win but otherwise it did not feel like a particularly exciting game.

The half-time show was worse than the game.

All in Spanish, with lewd lyrics at that, complete with the Bad Bunny busily and repeatedly clutching his crotch, along with some shots of male dancers grinding on each other.

Not exactly representative of America.

It was, however, an interesting tale of Puerto Rican culture:  

It showed Puerto Ricans' transition from working in the fields; to opening a bodega in New York City; then falling through a roof for some reason; and then getting shocked to death after trying to steal copper from a power line atop a pole - all the while grabbing your crotch with one hand (which could explain how you got shocked to death stealing copper) - and then marching with a bunch of Latin American countries' flags during the funeral for the dead thief.

That may not have been the actual story.

But, with everything only in Spanish* including the subtitles that seemed to be the best explanation for what was going on.

*except for Lady Gaga's lyrics -- and due to the sound mixing her lyrics did not really come through at all and could not be heard which may well have been deliberate.

In short, the half time show was not exactly directed to the Superbowl and football fan audience at all.  Jay Z needs to turn over the half time show selection power to someone that actually gets the fans and football. Just saying.

Happy Superbowl Day!

Also known as "Happy Party with Pizza, Wings, and Chili Day" here in the currently really frigid environs of Metro Detroit.

That alternative name is because no Lions are involved, yet again. 

 

May your team of choice win, or at least score sufficiently so you win your square. May at least some of the commercials be clever or funny, and may you have a fun event with friends, family, or both.

When Government GEVeth, Government Can TakEV Away

GM, Ford and Stellantis all jumped on the EV bandwagon in compliance with President Biden's edict to shift to electric vehicles.  The edict came with the carrot of many government subsidies for doing so, including $7,500 direct to each consumer.

The problems that then ensued is that the infrastructure for such vehicles is still not in place even after billions spent by the Biden Administration to force such to be created - only to have it bogged down in  Democrat-created red tape that basically spent the funds to create jobs for Democrat functionaries with little actual results to show for it. Even Democrat cheerleader and mouthpiece John Stewart was appalled. Nor are the vehicles themselves suitable to fully replace ICE vehicles on a one-for-one basis.

But the market for electric vehicles was pretty much created and expanded by these edicts and subsidies.  Now that President Trump's administration has ended the taxpayer give-aways and drunken spending on electric cars, economic reality has set in.

The current limits on electric cars still make them a niche vehicle that are only good for certain conditions - and not for the Democrat-Greenie-demanded total replacement of internal combustion engine vehicles.

The results are that the manufacturers that went all-in and complied with the Biden Administration's edict and promise of government subsidies while ignoring economics and the actual current use case for electric vehicles are now realizing reality:

The Detroit News: Stellantis writes down $26.5 billion from EV investments

Yahoo Finance: What Ford Motor (F)'s $19.5 Billion EV Reset and Hybrid Pivot Means For Shareholders

 GM Authority:  GM Writing Down Another $6 Billion For Cutting Back On EV Investments

 Jumping on the Biden EV bandwagon cost the automakers over $58 Billion dollars so far and the losses continue to pile up.

Again, EVs do have some niche uses and appeal, but to expect based on government edict and the promise of tax breaks and subsidies alone that they would replace ICE cars and especially work trucks was foolhardy in the extreme. 

Michigan's AG Nessel Joins The ICE Tracking Bandwagon

The Detroit News:  Nessel launches ICE, fed action tracker as agency urges cooperation

Yes, the Democrat Attorney  General of a state is launching a tracker for people to report Federal immigration enforcement activity.

Again, we note that it was a most prominent Democrat, President Barack Obama, who successfully sued the states and ensured that enforcement of immigration laws is solely a federal matter.

Now why would she want a tracker?  Maybe because all these illegal aliens who support Democrats in Michigan are being removed: 

The Detroit News:  Venezuelan man accused of entering U.S. illegally arrested in Hazel Park

The Detroit News:  'Godfather of Chaldean Mafia' deported to the Middle East, attorney says

The Midwesterner: Detroit ICE raid ends in arrest of twice-deported illegal immigrant — and two agitators

The tracking will lead to more encounters like these: Bird-flipping driver pleads guilty to 'brake checking' Border Patrol van, and perhaps produce a martyr for the cause or two as Democrats believe they have a right to resist arrest after they try to obstruct immigration enforcement activities. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

Putting Up Barriers After The Car Has Crashed Through

Better late than never, and it's certainly about time that car-sized security hole was fixed.

The Detroit Free Press: Metro Airport adds barriers outside McNamara Terminal after crash

The new barriers aren't pretty, and do take up some of the drop-off lane as pictured, but they should be effective.

In related news, ten days after the deliberate ramming into the airport, the driver still has not been publicly identified nor apparently criminally charged, which is rather curious.

If You Can Keep Your Head When Others Are Donating Theirs

Your weird news of the day:

The Detroit Free Press:  Apparent human skull donated at Goodwill heads to U-M for analysis

Talk about losing your head, or just plain giving it away.

 It should be noted that Goodwill is not normally accepting of  body parts for donations.

Update:  Turns out after testing that it was not an actual skull but a man made "artifact".  

Mamdani Is Solving The New York City Homeless Problem

In the traditional Democrat/socialist way.

New York Post:  NYC homeless freeze to death in the icy grip of Mamdani’s ‘warmth of collectivism’

For a Democrat or socialist, you solve the homeless problem by either letting them die, or spending billions creating a bureaucracy to employ your adherents and not actually solve the problem.

Either way, it's a win, right? 

Progressives Suddenly All About (Some) Effective Border Control

So, the Minneapolis anti-ICE and anti-Trump mostly peaceful protesters have setup barriers and blocked roads in the city and are demanding and checking the ID of people entering those areas to keep ICE officers out.

Amazingly, the open border, pro-illegal immigrant, progressives have found the value in effective border walls, ID checks, and  the value of allowing residents of a territory being able to not allow entry to those who do not follow their rules and beliefs.

 Your News: Minneapolis Groups Erect Street Barricades, Stop Vehicles and Check IDs to Block ICE Activity

Interesting, that.