More On Canada

Yes, pun intended in the title.

Understand dear readers, the main element of the Canadian identity is one thing and one thing only.  It's not poutine, it's not hockey, it's not peacekeeping, its not even the reason the Geneva Convention is now referred to as the Geneva checklist. 

It is one thing and one thing only:

 They are not American. 

The Canadian psyche is locked in on differentiation from being American.

Ask them what is a Canadian, they're going to almost reflexively say Not American.

They may then proceed to other elements of their national essence like Government-run healthcare and gun control, but again these are simply enumerating ways how the country is different from America.

Indeed so much of Canadian identity is simply being not American or trying to differentiate itself frrm the US.  From a reaction to the USA's  melting pot, Canada announced the policy of multiculturalism. Most things Canadian are simply reactions to America.

So much so that they threw the election to the Liberals, after almost a decade of Liberal misrule and decline.  

The Liberals immediately got a campaign issue by immediately championing standing up to Trump for Canada and claiming to be preservers of Canada's unique (non-American) identity.

This  championing is even as the Liberals have: consistently degraded the Canadian identity; gone woke on the nation's history; imported tons of immigrants with no attempt to Canadianize them; and have tried to trade in what it means to be Canadian for a more universalist, citizen-of-the-world, euro-type definition. 

And Trump came along and threw the Liberal party and Mark Carney, who is perhaps the very definition of a citizen of the world, not just a lifeline, not just some red meat patriotism to campaign on, but a literal red carpet to hold onto power.

Even further polling showed that Trump running his mouth cost the conservatives. Politico: Poll: Canadians despise Trump and distrust US

Had Trump not decided to inject himself into Canadian politics with the repeated stupid "51st state" nonsense, and then did his quixotic tariff attack over the questionable claim of fentanyl being illegally smuggled over the border,  there would be a conservative in power in Ottawa right now to turn Canada around. 

So yes, the results of this election is Trump's fault.  This was an absolute blunder and completely counter-productive.

The more on Canadians certainly share the blame and will get the government they voted for good and hard as a result. But, had Trump not decided to run his mouth, the results would have been far different.

The Conservatives would have been a far better friend and ally to the USA than what we're about to get.

On the upside, with the Liberals back in power and likely pushing ahead full steam with corruption, net zero, and other progressive economic bromides, it can be predicted that Canada's per capita GDP for the entire country will now continue its drop and slip below that of the state of Mississippi.

So, they've got that decline going for them, which isn't nice, but, at least it will be very Canadian.

Shri Thanedar Moves Farther Left To Protect His Flank

Facing a challenge in Detroit due to his not being Black enough,  and for not being crazy progressive enough, Shri Thanedar decides to dabble in leftist performative irrelevance.

Congressman Shri Thanedar Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald J. Trump for High Crimes and Misdemeanors

The announcement about the impeachment has all the right proggy buzzwords, like tyrannical overreach" even though it doesn't actually identify any real impeachable offenses, basically it is "Orange Man Bad".

Shri is facing at least two primary challengers, both from the farther left end of the spectrum:

From the more left:

The Detroit News:  Adam Hollier running for Congress again, aiming to defeat Shri Thanedar

Hollier is basically running as a challenger yet again on the "Thanedar is not Black and I am so you Black Detroiters should vote for me" angle, with likely the same results as last time.

But, Thanedar is also facing a challenge from the much farther and less sane left:

 The Detroit News: Detroit lawmaker Donavan McKinney jumps into race to unseat Shri Thanedar in Congress

[Donovan] McKinney, first elected in 2022, starts out with the backing of the progressive group Justice Democrats that helped elect Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, and the endorsements of 14 current and former  state lawmakers, many of them representing parts of Thanedar’s district that covers a swath of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes and Downriver communities.

So Thanedar, after basically acting as a relatively sane Democrat in Congress, loudly announces he is impeaching President Trump in response to this announcement of a progressive challenger.

Because nothing, absolutely nothing, helps establish your far-left bona fides and gets the progressive left vote like tilting at windmills by filing impeachments against President Trump.

Since the 13th District is a complete Democrat lock, the winner of the Democrat primary is the representative in Congress so Shri is just trying to catch some of the loony left vote early and shore up his vulnerabilities in that area with this forlorn hope of an impeachment filing.

President Trump's Unforced Error - Woe Canada

An election that Canada's conservatives had in the bag after years of Liberal Party misrule and the promise of further misrule was lost due to President Trump unnecessarily injecting himself repeatedly into the race.

The Detroit News:  Mark Carney’s Liberal Party wins a Canadian election upended by Trump

The Liberals looked headed for a crushing defeat until the American president started attacking Canada’s economy and threatening its sovereignty, suggesting it should become the 51st state. Trump’s actions infuriated Canadians and stoked a surge in nationalism that helped the Liberals flip the election narrative and win a fourth-straight term in power.

Yep, Trump unfortunately often says stupid stuff, and then keeps saying stupid stuff, and this just cost him an ally as a result and put a

 Instead of the campaign being about Liberal party misrule, it became all about Trump.

CBC: Carney vows to govern for all Canadians after winning election upended by Trump

Mark Carney achieved what seemed like an impossible feat just a few months ago, leading the Liberals to another victory after an election that was shaped by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and threats of annexation. 

. . .

Then came Trudeau's early January resignation, U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and persistent barbs about making Canada the 51st state — flipping the political script.

With Trump announcing, pausing, then re-announcing devastating tariffs on Canadian goods, the campaign largely became a race about who is best to steer Canada through global uncertainty.

Carney focused campaign on Trump

Carney tried to define himself as a steady, mature outsider who is best to deal with the unpredictable president and map out a new economic and security relationship. Heading into the campaign, Carney did not have a seat in the House of Commons. That changed Monday as CBC News projects he's won the Ottawa riding of Nepean.

While criss-crossing the country, the freshly minted leader pointed to his time as the governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 global financial crisis and head of the Bank of England during the Brexit years as evidence that Canadians should trust him to steer the country's economy through turbulent times.

This is the result of a completely unnecessary and unforced error on Trump's part.

Catching And Deporting Predators From Michigan

The Detroit News: 2 accused of trying to meet girl for sex, being undocumented immigrants arrested in Livingston Co.

First things first:  Kudos to Bikers Against Predators for their work, including this latest excellent job in catching two alien scumbags trying to take advantage of underage girls.

These two illegals possibly arrived in to Michigan via one of Biden's many illegal alien flights to our state,  or simply perambulated along to end up in Livingston county. These two illegals instead of "doing jobs Amwericans won;t do" as the bromide goes, instead decided to do some highly inappropriate conduct with underage girls.

Thanks to Bikers Against Predators, they got caught.

Second, it's high time to quite using the term "undocumented immigrants" and restore the accurate and legal term illegal aliens as the proper description for those whom illegally cross our borders.  

While we have yet to call drug dealers undocumented pharmacists, nor shoplifters undocumented purchasers, one can expect the progressives to do so eventually.  

Let's quit using language designed to mislead and not reflect reality.

Flying - A Pleasant Ride To Mt. Pleasant And Back

Today was a great day to fly.

Absolutely gorgeous weather.

Got the Dakota pre-flighted and was soon on my way to Mt. Pleasant to meet up with Mr. B.

 

 The weather was nice and I was soon doing 140 knots groundspeed at 6,500 feet.

After a very pleasant 45 minute flight I landed at Mt. Pleasant on Runway 9. Bit of a crosswind, but a nice, easy landing.

Soon afterwards, a very nice Scottish Aviation British Bulldog aircraft landed.

 Had a chat with the owner. Very nice guy. Not a lot of Bulldogs are in the USA apparently only 35, and his is now out of a fresh annual and ready for flying.  It does look absolutely amazing.  He soon took off and went on his way.

 

Mr. B. arrived soon after that with his friend.

We then took the shuttle to the casino and played craps there for a couple hours.

I managed to come out a little bit ahead which was nice and bought dinner with the winnings.

Then we headed back to the airport, got our preflights done, and headed on our ways home. 

The flight home was as smooth as the way there, flying at 5,500 feet.  I had flight following and did a practice RNAV approach to 27L.

 

 

Soon I overflew Flint Airport.

Then I got handed off to Detroit Approach and had Pontiac airport in sight.

 For practice I did the RNAV 27L approach and did a very nice landing on 27L. Will need to do some simulated instrument approaches soon to maintain proficiency, so this practice one was not a bad way to get back into the procedures.

 Then I crossed 27R, and headed back to the hangar.

Got the plane refueled, cleaned off the bugs, and put it to bed in the hangar for the night.

That's 2.1 with 2 good landings and a great pleasant time with Mr. B. in Mt. Pleasant. Flying is better when you can do it to meet your friends.

Range Trip - Shooting The Rust Off

Went to the range today with Tosh. It had been quite awhile since I got some shooting time in.

Did a little bit of everything today.

First, shotgun.  

I shot the Tavor TS-12  and ran it through its paces.  Birdshot, buckshot, and slugs all functioned through it flawlessly. Nothing like pumping out 16 rounds of shot as fast as you can pull the trigger and rotate the next tube into firing position. Much fun was had.

I patterned some 9-pellet 00 Buck Federal Flite Control I bought at Lucky Gunner with very good results at 10 and 25 yards. The buckshot was a nice tight group at both distances, staying in the chest of the USPSA target. Quite spiffy, that Flite Control.

I also shot some Federal Truball slugs and again they hit their mark most impressively.  The first one, shot at a steel reduced size USPA target Tosh had setup, knocked the heavy steel target right off the post at 25 yards, even with the retaining clip being in place.  Slugs tend to have a lot of kinetic energy and all of it got transferred to the target there.

I also got to shoot Tosh's Mossberg 590, which was very nice indeed and a joy to shoot, and he got to shoot the Tavor.  Much shotgun fun had by all.

Next was rifle.  I had my SBR'd AR-15 300 Blackout along.  With the AAC 7.62 SDN suppressor and shooting subsonic ammunition, it was pretty much hearing-safe shooting and the loudest sound was the bullet hitting steel 25 yards away. Much fun, and very civilized in terms of noise level.

Next we did some handgun.

I brought the Israeli marked FN Hi-Power to the range and as expected it ran flawlessly. Shooting an all-steel pistol in 9mm after shooting polymer pistols really makes you realize how much a steel pistol sucks up recoil, as in it didn't feel like there was recoil by comparison. Plates fell with aplomb to the pistol and it functioned 100%. Tosh liked it as well. The Hi-Power feels great in the hand, points onto the targets very naturally, and the single-action trigger is rather nice.

It was good to get some iron sight practice in after regularly using red dots.  Fundamentals are the same, but it does feel different, but the time with the dot seems to have made even my iron sight acquisition and accuracy better, whioch is interesting.

Next I got out my Sig P365 and at 7 yards we ran single shot drills form concealment and then bill drills on an A-Zone target, and then shifted to single shot from concealment at 25 yards.

In short I sucked.  7 Yard singles were around 2.0 - 1.7  seconds, and Bill Drills were in the 3.4+ second range.  Single shot at 25 yards were 2.0+.  

Pretty ugly, and certainly shows what happens when you don't practice and haven't shot recently.  Pistol shooting is a perishable skill.

I could of course make an excuse that I'm using a rather small pistol to do the drills, but since I often carry it, I ought to work to be good with it.  I will do the drill with the larger handguns as well as I should get better with them, too.

So, lots more handgun practice is needed, and I expect to get to the range more regularly, especially now that winter has left the building.

A darn nice morning at the range.  Then home to give them all a nice thorough cleaning. 

Harvard Sues For The Right To Discriminate And Still Get Paid

So what is Harvard objecting to exactly>

The letter to Harvard that is conditioning federal funding on the University complying with the demands in the letter can be read here - Letter to Harvard.

Take a moment to read it.

There's really nothing in the demands in the letter that a reasonable person would find objectionable - Harvard needs to end a pattern of discrimination and hire faculty and administration and intake students based on merit alone; end a tolerance for antisemitism and related threats and vilenceeat the University; build up tolerance and viewpoint diversity in higher education; and actually reform and enforce current student disciplinary rules.

Harvard is apparently fighting in order to be allowed to keep on discriminating, not hiring on merit,  and tolerating antisemitism and student disruptions on campus - and to continue to receive Federal funds while doing so.

Quite a noble hill for Harvard to die on, but they can do themselves.

Harvard of course claims it is its first amendment right to make its own rules.  As a private institution it can - and indeed the Federal Government is not saying it cannot.

Instead, it is stating - correctly - that the Federal Government is allowed to condition funds on adherence to federal policy objectives.

For Harvard to be able to claim that the Federal Government cannot condition spending on adoption of certain policies and conditions in return for the funds is ludicrous and  goes against quite established constitutional law.

If Harvard wishes to continue its actions, all it needs to do is forgo Federal funding and then it can be as discriminatory and non-compliant with Federal guidelines as it may wish. 

But instead, Harvard is suing to have its cake and eat it too.

One should note well that Harvard, the Left, and progressives in general didn't make a peep when the Obama administration sent out his "Dear Colleagues" letter to Colleges to change their procedures on Title IX matters -- to reduce the due process due to the accused in such matters -- and "disparate impact on racial groups" in disciplinary actions -- or else.

Harvard's case should be dismissed and Harvard should be required to make the choice everyone else must make when deciding to accept Federal Government funding - accept the strings that come with the dollars, or forgo the dollars.

Happy Compost Your Girlfriend Day

It should not need to be said, but to be clear, this blog does not condone nor advocate composting your romantic interest. 

If it's reached the point where it is clearly absolutely not working out, don't try to bury your problems, just say goodbye, get on with your life, and handle it like a rational adult.

The co-founder of Earth Day didn't quite figure that part out. 

NBC News: Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend - NBC News

Ira Einhorn was on stage hosting the first Earth Day event at the Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on April 22, 1970. Seven years later, police raided his closet and found the "composted" body of his ex-girlfriend inside a trunk.

That's taking recycling way too far, and one would think in this day and age having that on your record would have you disowned by the Left rather than being celebrated.

However, his tactic of extorting corporations to pay his organization and in return be free from harassment has been copied and adopted as a model shakedown tactic by multiple leftist groups over time.

Ira Einhorn died in a US prison in April 2020, after having fled the country after the murder to Sweden and then France before being extradited back to the USA in 2001.  

There's no word on whether his remains were composted after his demise, but it would have been appropriate.

Michigan Becoming More Bear-able

The Detroit News:  More black bears seen in Lower Michigan. Here's how to avoid them, DNR says

Black bears are expanding their territory in Michigan's Lower Peninsula and as they roam about, state officials say the best way for residents and bears to both stay safe is to ensure they can't find a reliable snack in their human neighbor's backyard. 

Indeed, do not feed the bears.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources gives some advice for what to do if you encounter a Bear, but a key effective tool is not mentioned for some reason:

If someone does encounter a black bear, the DNR said, they should not play dead (that will only work on a grizzly) and they should not run away (that can trigger the animal's chase response).

Instead, stand your ground, back away only when the bear stops its approach and make yourself look bigger by raising your arms and jacket, and/or standing on a rock or stump, state officials suggested. One can also yell at the bear loudly and always provide a clear, unobstructed escape route for the bear.

If the bear makes contact with you, fight back, the DNR advises, by hitting, kicking and using anything available like a knife, sticks, rocks, binoculars or a backpack.

 I'd recommend using something that is a lot more effective than a knife, sticks, rock, binoculars or a backpack if you're being attacked by a bear. Funny how they don't list the far more effective tool as an option.  

Flying: 3 Up And 3 Down

3 up and 3 down is either the end of an inning, or enough takeoffs and landings to be current to carry passengers.

So I did 6.

It was a beautiful day to fly today, with a negligible crosswind of 10 knots from 060-080 using Runway 9L. A nice cool and sunny day with great performance from the Archer. 

I did touch-n-goes rather than full stop landings.

I was the only one in the pattern so I had no delays. and could get the touch-n-goes in quickly. 

 Tower on occasion had me extend my upwind for spacing for other arriving aircraft which was fine.  Kinda neat to know why he would extend based on the other radio traffic.

The first pattern wasn't perfect, but I got it dialed in more and more with each pattern.  I soon had it right where I wanted it performance-wise and soon was right on the numbers.

It was great to shake the rust off and get back in the air.

That's 6 landings and 0.7 to start off the flying season.

If At First You Don't Succeed, Tee Up To Fail Again

Apparently, there is a little-known progressive group, run by a convicted sex offender, who had announced a prior economic boycott on February 28 that fizzled and had no measurable effect.

So now they've announced a second attempt at it with Boycott 2.0 to be held on Good Friday.

The Detroit Free Press: Economic Blackout 2.0 boycott dates set for this weekend

Clearly, they are getting closer to days when people are not typically shopping. 

I suggest for Boycott 3.0 to be set for April 31st. The assured lack of any shopping activity will certainly show 'em, and thus be a great success.

When Prosecuting Someone For Mortgage Fraud

It's generally best not to be doing it yourself.

 NY AG Letitia James (D), who was elected on the promise of "Getting Trump" and who prosecuted President Trump for alleged mortgage fraud for allegedly overstating the value of his properties in securing a loan (which was paid back in full), now faces prosecution for mortgage fraud in connection with a house she bought in Virginia.

CBS News: New York Attorney General Letitia James accused of possible mortgage fraud

New York Attorney General Letitia James has been referred for federal criminal prosecution for alleged mortgage fraud related to a Virginia home and a New York property.

William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), wrote a letter obtained by CBS News New York to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleging that James "has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms."
Details of the allegations

Pulte alleges James may have falsified her residence status at a home in Norfolk, Virginia, to get a better mortgage rate.

According to Pulte, in 2023 James granted Shamice Thompson-Hairston power of attorney to make the Norfolk property, purchased in August of that year, her "principal residence," despite James actually living and serving as attorney general in New York at the time.

But wait, there's more: 

Pulte also alleges James bought a five-family property in Brooklyn in 2001 with a loan that is only available for homes with four units or less.

"Spanning the last two decades, Ms. James has consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications," Pulte wrote. "It appears that Ms. James may have listed the Brooklyn, NY property as four units instead of five units in order to meet the conforming loan requirements, and thus receive better interest rates."

But wait, there's even more!:

It's also alleged James and her father signed mortgage documents in 1983 stating they were husband and wife.

"Ms. James, for both properties listed above, appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms," Pulte concluded, adding that it could lead to charges such as wire fraud, mail fraud and bank fraud, along with making false statement to a financial institution. 

Talk about keeping the fraud in the family.

Not a good look when you made your bones prosecuting someone who you allege did something you yourself have done, apparently on multiple occasions.

Worse for Ms. James, she's allegedly  committed federal crimes with her acts of mortgage fraud, and she defrauded federal government lenders as well,  so she can't count of the New York state judiciary to help her out. 

Bring popcorn, this should get good.

PA Arsonist Is A Mentally-Deranged Leftist

So, a bit of an updated for those who leapt to conclusions and claimed the scum who broke in and set fire to Governor's Shapiro's mansion was "MAGA".

Well, as it turns out, not so much.

Instead, he's apparently the run-of-the-mill, mentally ill, Leftist.

A Pro-Palestinian, run-of-the-mill, mentally ill, Leftist:

NBC: Arson suspect angry with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over Palestinian stance, search warrants say

The man accused of setting fire to Pennsylvania's executive mansion early Sunday dialed 911 after the attack and suggested he was upset by Gov. Josh Shapiro's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to newly released search warrants.

       . . .

But Balmer's mother said she was concerned about his mental health in recent days, and told The Associated Press on Monday that he was not taking his medication and that "nobody would help" when she called authorities last week. 

Yep, and a further piece of evidence, in addition to his joining the parade of a long list of leftists going forth and burning things they disagree with,  helps point to his progressive pedigree:

As noted in the Daily Wire: Arsonist Arrested For Attack On Josh Shapiro Hated Israel, 911 Call Reveals

Balmer’s storage unit in Swatara Township reportedly had stickers of South American Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara inside a toolbox.

I daresay damn few MAGA types have Che Guevara stickers. Che is after all, the darling of the progressive left, and certainly not the right.

Yeah, so those who jumped to conclusions and proclaimed this was a "MAGA"  attack may need to do a correction. 

In short, burning other's peoples things is wrong. Burning other people's houses while they are in them is wrong.  Leftists apparently have forgotten this lesson yet again.

Scammers Take Their Toll

Gotten texts saying you owe a toll?  It's almost 100% going to be a scam. I've gotten quite a few such texts, allegedly from states that I have never even driven through.  Yes, not only is the cake a lie, but the text is a scam.

Especially so if they claim you owe for a toll in Michigan.

That's because Michigan doesn't have any toll roads.  As in none, zero, nada.

The Detroit News: Scammers run toll scheme with imposter government website, MDOT says

Government agencies are not going to send you a text saying you owe a toll.   

Nor do governments want payments in gift cards, crypto, or wire transfers.

Your best course of action is to not click on any links in the text, and immediately delete the message and mark it as junk when you do so.

Update:  Talk about timing! A few hours after I posted this I got the following text:

Yes, it is very, very fake.

Stupid Criminals: Not Cruisin', Gettin' A Deserved Bruisin'

A Michigan man gives Florida man a run for his money over being left behind on vacation. 

NBC News: Michigan man upset that girlfriend went on cruise is sent to prison for ship bomb hoax

A Michigan man who was upset that he had to watch pets while his girlfriend’s family went on a cruise was sentenced to eight months in prison Monday for making a false bomb threat.

The email forced Carnival Corp. to check more than 1,000 rooms after the ship had departed Miami in January 2024, prosecutors said.

While it is Carnival, and people mainly go on a Carnival cruise to get bombed, they're not there to get bomb threats.  

Way to get a felony record over not going on a vacay with your gal there pal.

I daresay the ship has sailed on that relationship.

Tax Day 2025

This is the day where the IRS demonstrates it's got what it takes to take what you got.

I wish today was also Election Day so people could reflect and vote on whether they were getting their money's worth from the taxes they pay. Politicians are too smart to do that.

I've already completed my taxes and filed my business and personal returns. Not enjoying the, in my view, rather excessive amount I'm paying to both the state and the feds, that's for sure.

For those of you who haven't, it's time to get it done or file an extension quickly.

For those of you who think there's some magical incantation in the tax code that can let you out of filing, you're sadly wrong.

Anybody who tells you not to file on the basis that: the tax system is "voluntary"; that you're a state citizen and not a United States citizen; that you're not an "individual"; that wages are not income; or that Section 869 of the tax code says you don't have to pay taxes is setting you up for a really bad fall.

This fall can include not just penalties and interest on top of the taxes you owe, but also possible misdemeanor and felony convictions for being a dumb-ass and willfully failing to pay your taxes and/or filing false returns.

There is no magical incantation or distorted, partial, and out-of-context reading of the tax code or portion of a case that lets you out of filing and paying taxes on income. It doth not work that way.

The IRS has pages and pages devoted to taking apart these scams, along with the cites to the court cases demolishing them: The Truth About Frivolous Arguments.

It's a very extensive series, as it's impressive as to how many dumb arguments are out there and how they've been shot down.

Short of permanently moving out of the United States and renouncing your citizenship while doing so and never working in the USA again, which I wouldn't recommend, you're going to have a very hard time coming up with a valid argument as to how income you receive is somehow not subject to income taxation.

If you want to stop filing taxes and paying income tax then stop having an income --  which is kinda hard. 

 Or, you can spend your time working on campaigning and voting for politicians who will end the income tax, which is also rather hard if not well nigh impossible. Indeed it is much harder than simply falling for a fake don't-pay-your-taxes scheme, but at least it doesn't result in interest, penalties, and a criminal conviction, so it has got that going for it, at least.

Happy Passover!

Tonight is the first night of the Passover Holiday.

So, goodbye to bread and other prohibited grains for the next 8 days. Yep, chametz ain't happening around here.

Happy Passover to those who celebrate! 

So, Penguins Really Can't Fly

At least, they certainly can't fly rotary wing aircraft.

BBC: Unsecured penguin caused helicopter crash in South Africa

Send that bird to flight school.

The Revolving Door Stabbing Plan

More revolving door criminal justice in Michigan, this time out of Washtenaw County:

MILive: Man sentenced to year in jail, 2 years probation for slashing man’s neck

A man who pleaded guilty to slicing a man’s neck in downtown Ann Arbor will spend roughly 90 days in jail.

Kimani Angelo Hamilton, 30, was sentenced to one year in jail and two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to two counts each of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault less than murder, according to court records.

And this isn't his first jaunt into stabbing and attempted stabbing. 

The other charges stem from a second aggravated assault around 1 p.m. May 26 near South Fourth Avenue and East Huron Street, Page said.

He pleaded guilty Jan. 28.

Hamilton has previously been convicted of a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery after he pulled a knife on a 35-year-old man while inside The Blind Pig, 208 South First St. in November in Ann Arbor. [for which he got all of 93 days in jail]

So he'll now be out in 90 days after slashing someone in the neck.  Any bets on how long it will be until his next stabbing will take place?

Better Late Than Never Doesn't Quite Apply

It's good that the Oakland County prosecutor is going after a murderer and seeking enhanced penalties for a the fact that the scumbag has a very long rap sheet of violent felonies and use of firearms in crime.

The Detroit News: Tougher penalty sought for man accused in Oxford Christmas Eve shooting

In December, after driving his car into a ditch, the felon in question went on a killing spree, shooting motorists who had stopped to assist him after his crash.

His list of crimes is rather extensive, the punishments for them not so much.

The kicker is that had the law been fully enforced on this criminal, he would still have been in jail and unable to kill anyone:

While in prison, Webb was also charged in 2019 with possessing weapons as a prisoner. He pleaded guilty in 2020. The conviction could have added another five years to his sentence, but the time was served concurrently with his previous sentence, leading to his July discharge from prison. 

In short, he was able to do a crime, while in prison no less for a slew of serious felonies, effectively for no penalty at all, and get out to commit multiple murders when he should have been in prison for that crime.

It's nice that the prosecutor is now declaring this is a case oif double secret probation and treating him as a "super habitual offender" - it's just a pity that he wasn't effectively punished and interdicted before he went off and shot a bunch of people.

Well This Is Some BS

Woke up this morning and:

Snow on April 10.

After no snow for weeks we get this.

Yuck.

Just Michigan winter's standard way of saying: Didja miss me? I ain't gone yet!

One May Hope

Given that the Michigan Republican Party more often resembles a circular firing squad than not, one may hope that Jim Runestad can get the party back on track as he claims he will do.

The Detroit News: Buss: State GOP chair says party is clicking

As he continues to clean up the Michigan Republican Party, newly elected Chairman Jim Runestad is also running an aggressive messaging campaign to put Republicans in a competitive spot for 2026. 

He's urging the GOP to focus on delivering the promises they made in the last election cycle.

The party definitely needs to clean up and improve its message if its going to be competitive in 2026.

When Proggy Law Students Overvalue Themselves

Leftist law students at elite law schools tend to have oversized sense of self importance and the egos to match, not to mention a highly developed yet undeserved sense of entitlement.

They also, in a fit of TDS,  seem to have forgotten the dynamic of the employer-applicant relationship.

Forbes:  Law Students Push Back On Firms That Have Capitulated To Trump

This week, first year students at Georgetown Law were required to submit their final rankings of which law firms they most wanted to interview with—for summer associate jobs in 2026, after their second year. The hiring of summer associates hit an 11-year low last year, but these summer gigs are still highly coveted. That’s because they pay more than $4,000 a week and boost the chances students will snag a Big Law job paying $200,000-plus when they graduate after year three, assuming, that is, they excel in law school and don’t have a prestigious judicial clerkship or a public interest law job lined up.

But this year, the 1Ls (as first year law students are known) are confronting an unusual question: Whether or not to rank Skadden Arps; Paul Weiss; Milbank; and Wilkie, Farr and Gallagher among their choices. These four firms have one thing in common: They’ve bent the knee to Trump following the threat of, or the actual signing of, executive orders that aim to restrict their ability to represent clients with government contracts. All four have agreed, for example, to provide a combined total of at least $340 million in pro bono legal work for causes Trump favors and to swear off any “illegal” programs aimed at promoting diversity.

Read the article to see the entitlement inherent in the (rather privileged if one might borrow the term) leftism!

“The legal recruitment process is the only leverage that we really have to influence the behavior of law firms,” says Caleb Frye, a 33-year-old second-year law student and copresident of the Georgetown Law Energy Group

That's not how this works, verily that's not how any of this works. 

By not applying, you don't get considered for employment.  

Publicly announcing that you're a TDS-infected entitled brat who criticizes decisions of your potential employer and demonstrating you will noisily put your own interest ahead of your potential employers likely renders them as a less-than-desirable hire.

University Of Florida Visit - Go Gators!

So, this weekend I went to Gainesville to visit the younger child at University of Florida.

With the weather being sunny and in the low 80s it sure beat the wet and cold of Michigan this early April.

Flew into Jacksonville and drove the couple hours to Gainesville.

Met up with the kid and we watched the Gators advance into the finals.

Victory for the Gators was assured as Leah took us out that night to feed the campus feral cats. 

Quite a few ferals around and apparently it's lucky to feed them prior to exams for good results, and during various sportsball games to ensure the Gators do well.

The offerings to the cats must have worked, as the Gators ended up beating Auburn to earn a place against Huston for a shot at the national championship in b-ball. 

Much cheering throughout the dorm was heard when they game resulted in the Gator's victory.

The next day we did more sportsball, in this case Gator Baseball.

 Got some grass seats on the left berm, inside the foul ball danger area and had a great view of the game. Gators vs the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Initially during the warm-up, it appeared it was unclear to the Commodores as to what sport they were there to play.

 Yes, he's throwing a football around.

The game got off to a good start with hits by both teams in the first but no runs.

By the third inning it was tied 1-1.

 

That would change.

Sadly, an offering to the cats had not been made, as the Commodores swept the series and harvested the Gators 11-3 in the game we watched.

Still, even ending in a loss, it was a lot of fun to watch and the atmosphere at the ballpark was very family friendly and had great sportsmanship.  The crowd applauded for great plays regardless of which team made them, and it was a highly enjoyable time.

After that we head back to her dorm where she studied preparing for an exam that was set to occur tonight - right at the same time as the championship game - and I did some work.

She then found out via email that the prof, recognizing the historic nature of the championship game was offering all students the opportunity to defer the exam so they could watch the game as part of the college experience. This was happy-making and she'll be viewing the game with friends tonight and taking the exam another day.  Pretty cool on the part of the professor.

So she had three classes today so I did some work as she did and then took her to lunch. 

On the way to lunch we passed by the pond near her dorm.

 

They're serious about that sign.

Did you see the gator to the lower right in the picture?

 Gilbert, the dorm gator, was back from brumating for the winter.  He's been known to sunbathe on the grass and even hang out by the dorm entrance at times.

That he's back has been declared to be a good sign that the Gators will do well tonight. 

It was a great visit.  Good luck to the Gators tonight.

Worst Genocide Ever - Hamas Actual Casualty Figures Get Reduced Yet Again

Hamas' Health Ministry just revised its casualty figures yet again.

Israel Hayom: Study exposes: Hamas 'quietly' erases thousands of deaths from Gaza death toll

Yahoo News/The Telegraph: Hamas ‘quietly drops’ thousands of deaths from casualty figures

The result is rather interesting.  In short Hamas has been lying yet again about casualty rates and even more importantly who the casualties are in Gaza.

With this revision, instead of the casualties being 70% women and children as falsely claimed by Hamas' Health Ministry, and believed by the gullible around the world, the new percentage when looking at the revised Hamas' Health Ministry stats is that 72% of casualties are males of Hamas combatant age. 

Funny, that.

In short, even Hamas' own stats are showing that Israel is not only not committing a "genocide"  but also that the civilian casualty rate is again lower than claimed by Hamas and they're caught lying- yet again.

Don't expect the media and those who have been reporting and believing Hamas' lies to apologize for such anytime soon, nor to be at least a tad bit skeptical before reporting claims from Hamas as credible.  It's clearly too much to as news agencies to state when they republish Hamas' casualty claims that Hamas has been caught making these casualty figures up multiple times now.

Cruise Day 7 - At Sea

The last day of the cruise was at sea, heading back to New Orleans.

Quite a perfect day it was, too.  Taking it easy, going to the hot tub, imbibing adult beverages, and watching a show.

Sadly, we then had to pack up and be ready to go.

This was tempered by having an excellent diner at the French Bistro on board as our final dinner on the ship.

To say it was fantastic is an understatement. Service was the best we had experienced on board and the food was beyond amazing.

I had escargot for the appetizer, and the sole grenobloise for the main course. Quite superb.

 Dessert was the marquise au chocolat. Which was the best dessert I've had in a long time.  A chocolate aficionado's dream.

 Really fantastic food. Norwegian certainly has some of the best food at sea, or anywhere, really.

After that, we took a walk around the ship and we had left the Gulf of America and were on the Mississippi River.

It was a bit foggy out and the tightness of the channel led to ships appearing seemingly out of nowhere to be right close by.

 

Neat to see and it was a very pleasant night to be walking laps of the deck.

Heading back inside, the lights were low in the main areas, and decoratively lit up for the evening.

 

Headed back to the stateroom, and the luggage was already picked up.

In the morning we were back in port in New Orleans.  So we got up, had breakfast, disembarked, and headed to the airport back home.  That had been a great vacation.

Media Sympathizes For Laid-Off Feds

The Detroit News: ‘I am going through hell’: Job loss, mental health, and the fate of federal workers

I don't recall these kinds of empathetic and sympathtic reportage when pipeline workers were fired en masse due to Biden's policies.

Instead the journos and Democrats told them and laid off miners and pipeline workers to get another job and  "learn to code".

This is different, because after all, these are their people being laid off.

These are credentialed, right-thinking, registered Democrat (vast majority if not all), Washington Post NPR-listening and NY Times-reading folks.

These federal workers being laid off aren't those unwashed working-class union members who Democrats claim they represent but don't really want to associate with. These federal workers are people who look and dress like the journos do, think like they do, shop at all the right stores like they do, and go to all the right places just as they do. 

Quite a difference in handling, isn't it?

China Spy Games

ABC:  U.S. bans govt. personnel in China from romantic or sexual relations with Chinese citizens

Of course, this has various proggies crying racism.  

Given Chinese intelligence is pervasively (if not perversely) n using honey traps - see Congressman Eric Swallwell (D) and Chinese spy Fang Fang, to compromise Americans to gain intelligence it’s probably an appropriate limitation to stop the ongoing attempts at the compromising of diplomatic personnel. 

Going Fast And Breaking Things Has Consequences

While Trump is right to be proceeding with reforms, in doing so he and his administration are going a tad too fast. This is causing a lot of own-goals and public embarrassments, not to mention unnecessary disruption and collateral damage, which serves to reduce the enthusiasm and support for the reforms.

For example it has caused some major and completely unnecessary turmoil at the National Institute of Health :  The Transmitter: U.S. health agency purge includes 10 lab heads at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

This firing included one of the world's top researches on Parkinson's disease.

This firing led a lot of people to calmly ask:  "WTF?".

Well, turns out the firing was apparently a mistake caused by a "coding error" that mislabeled employees -- once people started making noise about it they were rehired.

The Transmitter: Coding error caused layoffs at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke this week, source says  

Thirty employees—including 11 lab heads—at the institute should “immediately return to work,” according to an email the institute’s Office of Human Resources sent to top administration at the institute Wednesday evening.

Reform is a good thing,  doing it stupidly and making the reformers look incompetent in doing so is not helpful to actual reform of the many, many, real problems in government agencies.

The blanket reductions and stoppages in research funding is having a major effect on good solid research in addition to the wasteful stuff that should be defunded.

"Hasten Slowly" is good advice.

Chesterton's Fence, while usually applied to progressives tearing down institutions, also applies to the Right when they tear down stuff without understanding the direct and indirect effects and implications of what they are doing.

Getting rid of fraud and waste and ridiculous programs that are little more than grants to progressive organizations along with associated graft  is a good thing, burning down the entire research "village" in order to do so is quite another.

Do it smartly, and quickly if need be, but make sure above all that you do it competently and show positive results.