Somebody Better Get Ahold Of John Wick

The Detroit News: Genesee County Jail inmate accused of assaulting support dog

Yes an inmate without provocation attacked a 13-month-old 15 pound puppy that was in the jail to act as a support animal, hitting her hard enough to cause a concussion and sending her flying.

 

The scumbag is facing a 4-10 year felony for the assault on the dog, which was caught on video. He was already in jail on an assault charge, and pretty clearly is right where he belongs. With luck, he'll get to rot in prison a while longer.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Welcome to the year 5785.

This is the second day of celebration of the Jewish New Year.

Yesterday, I went to services and they were quite meaningful, especially with all that has gone on this year both locally and in the world.

To my readers, I wish that you have a sweet and good year and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Iran Launches Over 200 Missiles At Israel

So far, Iran has fired over 200 missiles at Israel.

Most have been successfully intercepted by Israel's missile defense systems.

Some have gotten through, destroying a school in Gedara, Israel and destroying houses and wounding people elsewhere. 

Ironically, or more demonstrably to show that the Iranians, just like their puppets in Hamas and Hezbollah really don't care who they may hit with their missiles, an Iranian missile killed a Palestinian in Jericho.

The Jerusalem Post: Iran launches hundreds of rockets into Israel in massive aerial attack

We will see how Israel responds, hopefully quite severely.

Not An Assasination Attempt, Just A "Normal" Crazy Democrat

The Detroit News: Michigan man charged after claiming he had bomb, fleeing police outside Trump rally

A Sand Lake man was charged with a false threat of terrorism after claiming he had a bomb and speeding through a security checkpoint near President Donald Trump's rally Friday in Walker.

Steven Nauta faces four counts in Kent County: Making a false threat of terrorism; possession of bombs with unlawful intent; fleeing a police officer; and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer.

He was stopped at the checkpoint outside Trumps rally on the west side of the state, and then threatened he had a bomb and tried to flee police before his arrest.  He apparently had multiple bags of fertilizer in the car and a device he claimed to be a bomb.

He was arrested and now faces multiple felony charges.

Trump Derangement Syndrome certainly makes people do stupid things, as does the regular and rhetorical encouragement of violence (dare we say stochastic terrorism?) against Trump.

Back From Gainesville

Had a great weekend in Gainesville. Good to catch up with the kid and see her settled in her new element.

We had a great time, getting her away from dorm food and taking her out to brunch and other meals; going to a bookstore; and going to a movie theater see Deadpool and Wolverine, which is hilarious and well worth watching if you haven't seen it yet.

Aside from power still being out in spots, and lots of trees being down you couldn't tell a storm had come through.

 

Utility linemen were out in force clearing fallen trees and restoring power to the city and then did a very good job of it. Gainesville missed the bulk of the storm for sure, and thankfully got off easy.

Weather during the visit was beautiful being nice and sunny.

The sunset while in the plane flying home was stunning.

It was a pleasant journey home, not nearly as rough as the outbound leg as turbulence was minimal. We actually arrived in Detroit early and I then made decent time getting home, which was nice.  A great weekend trip.

Meanwhile, In The Red Sea

On Septemebr 27, US Naval forces in the area came under attack from a "complex"  attack from the Houthis.

Stars and Stripes:  Navy ships shoot down ‘complex’ barrage of Houthi missiles and drones in Red Sea, Pentagon says

Navy ships intercepted a Houthi barrage of missiles and drones launched from Yemen at the shipping lanes of the Red Sea, the Pentagon confirmed Friday, while also denying reports that any ships were hit in the attack.

“We did see a complex attack launched from the Houthis that ranged from cruise missiles and [unmanned aerial vehicles],” said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Defense Department.

The Iran-backed Houthi claimed Friday to have damaged three U.S. Navy warships in a bombardment of 23 missiles and bomber drones. The Navy destroyers, the Houthis’ military spokesperson said in a televised speech, were targeted as they transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen.

Sure would be nice if instead of passively and simply absorbing attacks (with rather spendy anti-missile missiles, not to mention the risk of an enemy weapon getting through and killing or injuring Americans), the rules of engagement were changed to allow the US Navy to proactively engage the launchersand those firing them before the weapons were fired at the ships.  

I daresay some renewed deterrence and an application of Finding Out to the Houthis of the consequences of flinging missiles and drones at the US Navy would be most appropriate at this time and is long overdue.

From De-Ballification To Decapitation

Hezbollah has now confirmed what Israel has already announced - that their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his bunker placed under a civilian residence in the Dahiyeh district in Lebanon.

That makes almost the entire command structure and leadership of Hezbollah being eliminated in this action, leaving the terrorist organization effectively decapitated. Thousands of their middle management have effectively been paged out of action as well.

I wonder if Hezbollah is regretting firing thousands of rockets at Israel since October 7 of last year, as well as regretting the rocket attack that killed 12 Druze children in Israel that really got Israel understandably cross with them.  Not to mention their plan for a mass rocket attack on Israel that Israel preempted, leading to this current battle.

Apparently, Iran, the puppeteer behind Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, has just announced that their leader Ayatollah Khamenei has decided to go hide in an undisclosed "secure" location.

Onward to Gainesville

I had planned to go to Gainesville, Florida to visit the younger heir at U Florida.

A little thing like a hurricane wasn't about to stop me. 

I flew into Jacksonville after an hour delay due to aircraft repositioning to avoid the hurricane yesterday.  Overall a good flight with a decent amount of turbulence even as the pilots routed around the remains of the storm. Jacksonville appeared practically untouched and it was an easy drive to Gainesville.

Gainesville didn't get hit by much except for winds that have knocked down trees, power in areas, and many traffic signals.

Aside from that, luckily the area is pretty unscathed, unlike other areas in Florida that took the brunt of it and some serious damage.

London Trip 18: What Is The Capital Of Assyria?

If you don't know and get asked by the Bridge Keeper, it is Assur, at least it was until 879 BC, when it was moved to Nimrud, then it was moved to Dūr Šarrukīn and thence to Nineveh, which remained the capital until the Assyrian empire fell to the Babylonians/Medes in 612 BC, so any of those should suffice to let you cross.

The Mespotamian collection is rather impressive at the British Museum.

 Two colossal statues of winged lions with human heads that used to stand at the entrance to the royal palace of King Ashurnasirpal  II (883-859 BC) in Nimrud

The Museum in its Assyrian exhibit has a display containing the world's first known library.  The Library of Ashurbanipal, King of the Neo-Assyrian Empire:

 Clay tablets, with many still in their clay envelopes, as they would have been at the time. The envelope both kept the tablet secure from being read by the unauthorized, and also had a label describing what was on the tablet within. The library contains many tablets works, including an archive  of  royal communications including one demanding that rare tablets to be sent to the library.

Quite cool.

The Assyrians were less famous for being librarians than their fame, if not infamy, for the warfare that led them to expand and control their empire, and their extremely brutal treatment of all who resisted them.

An Assyrian carving showing an attack:

The next carving shows them removing enemy deities from a captured city while they sack it:

This carving shows an arms-bearer of Tiglath-Pileser III

An Assyrian iron helmet from the era is also on display:

The Assyrian exhibit at the British Museum is extensive and quite impressive to see. Just standing beside one of the huge lions gives you quite an appreciation for the grandeur of this long-ago empire that at its height dominated much of the Middle East.

An Awful Lot Of That Going Around: Democrat Corruption Edition

Quite a few Democrat Mayors getting indicted and convicted for accepting bribes and other financial malfeasance.

We have the now well-known indictment of New York Mayor Eric Adams for wire fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges.

Locally in Michigan, there is the conviction of the Mayor of Inkster, which took place yesterday, also for bribery, but he was bought for much less in bribes than Adams: The Detroit  News:  Former Inkster mayor pleads guilty in bribery case, U.S. attorney says

Meanwhile the Detroit Riverfront CFO is going to plead guilty after stealing millions from the Riverfront program.  And there's a further Federal case filed against him.

On the federal level while not a mayor,  Senator Bob Menendez  is still awaiting sentencing for his conviction for accepting bribes.