As much as Democrats made Juneteenth a national holiday in order to attempt to maintain America's racial wounds and keep Blacks on the Democrat plantation by pandering to the grievance mongers, we should instead celebrate it in line with its original intent:
Juneteenth commemorates Republicans taking action and freeing slaves from their Democrat masters.
Democrats have been mad at Republicans ever since.
Where gays and trannies don't get flying lessons by being thrown off buildings, is now considered by progressive LGBTQEIEIO idiots to be a "hateful symbol".
The Detroit News: Michigan LGBTQ group labels Israel flag 'harmful symbolism'
Apparently the mere presence of Israeli flag at the pride march caused trauma and, per the director of the pride festival, "real harm" to gay Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrian, and other LGBTQs from those hotbeds of toleration for LGBT rights.
This is, of course, totally unlike the trauma and "real harm" they might experience of being thrown off buildings or being stoned to death for being LGBTQ in those hotbeds of toleration like Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
Jane's Law says it well: “The devotees of the party in power are smug and arrogant. The devotees of the party out of power are insane.”
When five out of eight arrested terrorists in a single case are not just progressives but full fledged members of the Democratic party, it certainly constitutes evidence that the Democrats, the party out of power, has indeed gone insane, or at least back to their historic roots.
The Detroit News: 5 UM threat case suspects were Democratic Party members, ex-chair says
Yes, Democrat party members are the majority of the terrorist suspects. Five Democrat party members, and one of them not just a member but a paid campaign staffer for US Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Well, Democrats are currently busy supporting Hamas, Hezbollah, the Mullahs of Iran, BLM, and any other anti-American group they can find so it's really not a reach for the party membership to get hands-on, now is it?
The Guardian: Russian frigate fires warning shots at British yacht in Channel
Yes, in the English Channel, a Russian warship fired rounds at a British yacht that was getting too close for the Russian's liking.
A Russian warship fired warning shots within a few hundred metres of a British pleasure yacht sailing across the Channel on Tuesday morning amid a period of heightened tensions between London and Moscow.
The rare incident took place at 11.40am more than 20 miles south of the Isle of Wight and less than 40 miles north of Normandy, France, when the yacht, identified as the private vessel Bright Future, sailed close to the Admiral Grigorovich and ignored at least one warning.
“We assess that this is an isolated incident and not linked to the UK’s interception of the Smyrtos this weekend. HMS Mersey has been monitoring the Russian vessel and support has been provided to the crew of the yacht. ”British sources said initial indications were that more than one shot was fired by Russian sailors after the yacht had got close to the heavily armed frigate. “Following attempts to contact a British vessel in the channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots. These were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision,” the Ministry of Defence said.
Fox News: IDF announces elimination of Hezbollah commander behind murder of 5 American soldiers
ELIMINATED: Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior Hezbollah commander who held a series of 5 senior positions within Hezbollah," the IDF hailed on X. "Daqduq played a central role in advancing terrorist attacks and combat operations against Israel and IDF soldiers. In 2007, he orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of 5 American soldiers."
Good riddance to very bad rubbish. Daqduq was behind the killing of five US troops in Karbala, Iraq in 2007. Yes, Hezbollah, Iran, and Iraqi insurgents were working together to kill Americans then, and they still are now.
The murderer of CPT Brian Scott Freeman; 1LT Jacob Noal Fritz; SPC Jonathan Bryan Chism; PFC Shawn Patrick Falter; and PVT Jonathon Miles Millican has finally met justice.
Right along the way where, just a few months ago, a Hezbollah affiliated terrorist did a vehicle ramming attack at Temple Israel, a group that was until now unknown has apparently "adopted a road" and got the Road Commission to put up these signs:
Purely an attempt to intimidate, with the sign being placed right in the central area of the Jewish community here, right by a synagogue that had recently been attacked by an Arab terrorist.
There is no filed assumed name for the group in Oakland County, nor is there a state-level entity actually formed on record for this group. It does not legally exist as an organization.
We will have to see if the "group" whoever they are, ever show up to do the required twice per year cleanups as required for this propaganda stunt. My bet is they're not showing up as simply getting the signs up was the point.
So, in addition to the myriad of potholes, it seems we may now need to worry about IEDs on this stretch of road.
Update: The signs were taken down as of this morning (Monday June 15) and the Oakland County Road Commission is promising to review its "process" as to how the signs were ever approved to be issued and placed in the first place to a non-existent group.
Right when we need more mental health treatment in this state, Blue Cross Blue Shield is about to serious mess up insurance and thus the provision for mental health services in this state.
Click on Detroit: ‘Devastating’: Michigan mental health care workers concerned BCBSM billing change could cut access to counselors
BCBS is the big dog in Michigan health insurance coverage, and they run the vast majority of insurance coverage for people in this state. This change to mental health billing and in essence not covering therapy by limited license practitioners is going to massively reduce the number of eligible practitioners to be able to be provide treatment ,and prevent limited license practitioners from getting paid for hours they do in practice before they are fully licensed. And they can't ever get fully licensed without doing a ton of direct patient hours.
We already have a mental health crisis in this state and not enough practitioners to handle the load, and this is going to make it worse.
More mentally ill people and everyday people in crisis not getting covered treatment and thus not getting treatment - what could possibly go wrong?
One would think the government might intervene in such decisions, given BCBS' almost monopoly power in this state, but given the governor we have, don't count on it.
That's because BCBS has Governor Whitmer in their back pocket. Indeed, that would be an understatement. Her father was the former CEO of Blue Cross, and that's not the least of the ties.
Heck, she was practically installed as governor by BCBS.
Detroit Metro Times: Blue Cross has given more cash to Whitmer than any Michigan gov candidate in past decade
The Intercept: A Blue Cross CEO Encouraged a Michigan Woman to Get Into Politics. Now She’s Running for Governor and Says Single Payer Is Unrealistic
Don't expect the governor to step in against this destructive coverage decision anytime soon.
When it comes to the Gov's claims about being for "the people" of this state, the people sure take a back seat to the largest insurance company in the state.
So having reached and overrun my dealing with Stupid People tolerance level for the week, I left the office at noon and headed off to a lunch meeting with the guys.
We then headed to the range. Traffic there was hellacious for some reason.
I re-zeroed my IWI Masada. The re-zero was necessary as I had removed the RMR to change the battery and found getting it off rather more difficult than it should be.
After over 2,500 rounds, the plastic plate had the front posts that fit into the front holes on the RMR on the plate broken off sometime during shooting those rounds, transferring all the recoil energy to the screws, one of which decided to become very difficult to remove as a result.
As you can see, the front posts are no longer attached to the plate.
So, I changed the broken plastic plate for a CHPWS Metal plate. An easy swap and the metal plate fits perfectly and the RMR, complete with fresh battery, was reattached and secured with blue locktite, as one does.
Impressively, at the range it required no re-zeroing after the replacement and was right on target when shooting it, which was nice.
I also had brought out another handgun for the first time - a mix of classic and current technology.
Its a Girsan MCP35 PI LW Match High Power pistol.
The LW stands for lightweight, namely an aluminum frame. The PI is for the Argentine Detective style slide.
In short, its a handy Hi Power package suitable updated with a flat trigger, a larger beaver-tail, an optics-ready slide for direct mounting of RMSc footprint optics, an ambidextrous safety, and no magazine safety.
The magazine is also updated to a 15-round flush-fitting magazine with 2 rounds more than the original Hi Power capacity.
It is a Hi Power with a Glock 19 form factor.
It feels good and fits the hand very well. The G10 grips are nice and grippy, but not obnoxiously rough.
I added a Holosun 407K with a green dot to the top of the slide, and took it to the range. At 10 yards, it was shooting low, hitting close to the bottom of an 8.5x11 piece of paper when aiming dead center, and it took a fair bit of vertical adjustment, but was otherwise centered horizontally.
200 rounds and zero failures using 4 15 round magazines. Lots of fun to shoot, The trigger is heavier than it needs to be, and could be better. It likely needs to be broken in a bit. Still, it's fun to shoot and knocked plates down with aplomb and speed.
We'll see how it holds up but it feels nice and solid and it runs like a top so far and is a cool mix of new technology and sizing with the classic lines and feel of the Hi Power.
Not a bad Friday afternoon, I left the range suitably refreshed, and I got some more work done and then called it a day. Range Time certainly helps reset the stupidity tolerance and frustration level quite nicely.
While the average academic tends to be a progressive idjit who hates America, hates Israel and Western Civilization and spreads DEI garbage to further those ends, some members of the Red-Green alliance want to take it a step further and get more spicy:
The Detroit News: UM group orchestrated terror campaign to sever Israel ties, feds say
Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Wednesday against eight people linked to the University of Michigan accused of orchestrating plans to threaten university leaders, police and businesses with a wave of crimes designed to force the university to sever ties with Israel.
And who are these fine folk? The names are not surprising:
Those charged in the indictment unsealed Wednesday were:
∎ Zainab Hakim, 23, of Canton Township.
∎ Amatullah Hakim, 21, of Ann Arbor.
∎ Paige Feyock, 26, of Ann Arbor.
∎ Ahmet Korkaya, 28, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
∎ Jonathan Zou, 22, of Ann Arbor.
∎ Alexander Sepulveda, 23, of Chicago.
∎ Mariam Odeh, 24, of Dearborn.
∎ Colin Weger, 24, of Ann Arbor.
Oh, and it turns out Mariam Odeh happens to be an allegedly ex-campaign staffer for Democrat US Senate candidate Abdul Al-Sayed - even as she was paid by the campaign in March of this year, and was apparently on staff in April, so "ex" sounds rather recent don't it? Funny coincidence, that.
The Detroit News: Ex-Abdul El-Sayed campaign staffer charged in UM threat case
Progressives seek to destroy Western Civilization. Islam is simply not compatible with Western Civilization, even when you wrap it in academic garb.
About time we start taking this threat more seriously.
The people of Belfast are making their displeasure at unfettered third-world immigration and two-tier policing known.
The Nightly: Belfast race riot signals a backlash against Black Lives Matter movement
The horrific sight of an immigrant trying to behead a man on a Belfast street will increase the already heightened hostility in Britain towards foreigners . . .
The Belfast attack came a little after a week when a Sikh man, Vickrum Digwa, was jailed for fatally stabbing 18-year-old accounting student Henry Nowak. Digwa claimed he was racially abused and acted in self defence.
A decision by police officers to initially accept the false story, and handcuff Mr Nowak as he died from stab wounds, triggered an outpouring of anger towards what many people feel are police policies designed to protect minority groups at the expense of fighting crime.
One might say it just a "fiery but peaceful protest". You'd be a feckin' eedjit for saying so, but that would be simply copying the progressive line on such demonstrations, except the progressives these days are stating it is actually a riot and blaming it on the "far right". Don't expect the progressives to be taking a knee for Henry Nowak anytime soon now.
One might also say its a really bad idea to severely annoy people who really know how to put on a riot. And the people of Belfast KNOW how to riot like nobody's business.
When you have Northern Irish Protestants and Catholics on the same side rioting against these policies, it's gonna get, as some might say, extra fiery and extra peaceful, now innit?
The case against Aaron Spencer has been finally, and properly dismissed.
Dismissed it has been, but not because, as one would think, his conduct in defending the life of his daughter from a predator was justified.
Instead, it was properly dismissed because of police and prosecutorial misconduct - in spoliating evidence.
CBS News: Judge dismisses murder charge against Arkansas sheriff nominee who killed daughter's alleged abuser
A judge has dismissed a murder charge against an Arkansas man who won the GOP nomination for sheriff while awaiting trial for the shooting death of his teenage daughter's alleged abuser.
Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. dismissed the case against Aaron Spencer on Thursday afternoon — just a few weeks before his trial on the second-degree murder charge was expected to begin — because a dash camera memory card that may have captured the shooting was lost by law enforcement.
Apparently the dashcamera itself was initially withheld from the defense, and then only produced with the SD card, which had apparently been reviewed, and then conveniently went missing:
Spencer's attorneys filed the motion seeking to have the case dismissed, contending that video and audio of the dash camera from Fosler's truck may have contained evidence that would have cleared Spencer of any wrongdoing. According to court records, a detective with the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office removed the dash camera from the truck when responding to the scene of the shooting.
But the camera's internal settings were not preserved, and the battery of the camera was allowed to drain, and as a result, the camera went back to its default settings. When the camera was sent to the attorney general's office for a forensic exam, the memory card that was in it when it was collected from the truck was missing. The detective who collected the camera later admitted that it was not logged into evidence right away, but was instead stored in his personal office rather than the evidence room, according to court records.
Yep, that's not suspicious, at all.
Meanwhile CNN gave its salacious best: CNN: Judge dismisses murder case against Arkansas sheriff candidate Aaron Spencer
Spencer admitted to gunning down Michael Fosler in the early hours of October 8, 2024, after he found him with his daughter after midnight despite a no-contact order. Fosler, 67, was out on bond while facing dozens of charges, including internet stalking of a child and sexual assault in connection with Spencer’s daughter, who was 13 at the time.
Yep, a 67 year old, with a reputation for being a pedo, is released with charges of internet stalking and sexual assault on a 13 year old, while on bond takes the same 13 year old at night into his truck. Aaron Spencer, the girls father finds him and stops the truck. A fight ensures and Spencer then shoots him protecting his daughter.
One would think based on those circumstances, the defense of a third party alone the case against Aaron Spencer should never have been brought. Add to it the impressive mishandling of evidence, and the dismissal is more than justified.
On the upside, the detective that mishandled the evidence has been terminated, so that's at least something.
I certainly hope Aaron Spencer wins the election as Sheriff and helps to clean up the department accordingly so "mistakes" with evidence do not happen in the future.
Hijinks, in this case, of a very serious pathogenic nature.
The Detroit News: Feds: 2 researchers brought vials of monkeypox to DTW
The Detroit Free Press: Feds: 2 researchers smuggled monkeypox through Detroit airport
Two researchers with the National Institutes of Health have been charged with smuggling monkeypox into the United States and lying about it — an alleged crime that was detected at Detroit Metro Airport.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, one of the defendants is from the Netherlands, the other from Cameroon. Both are virus experts who work for the NIH at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana, in a lab that, according to the government, has the highest level of biosafety precautions for scientific research of known and potential human pathogens.
The "highest level of biosafety precautions".
Well, according to federal prosecutors, they allegedly bypassed proper procedures for transporting and importing dangerous pathogens, instead bringing the materials into the country in luggage and then lying about it.
Given their scientific expertise and workplace responsibilities, the allegations are especially striking.This is the latest in a series of biological-material smuggling incidents uncovered at the Detroit Airport.
Midwesterner: UM faces federal investigation after students from China repeatedly busted for crimes in Michigan
NIH Scientists acting like Mad Scientists is just not a good look.
Carney definition: a carnival worker, Carnies are junky ride jockeys that are here today and gone tomorrow.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is certainly putting on a clown show.
In response to a massive rise in antisemitism and assaults on Jews in Canada he has announced a new committee to deal with the problem:
Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, which will be chaired by Culture Minister Marc Miller. . . . its “first responsibility” will be to “address antisemitism.”
Sounds lovely, but as carnies are wont to do, it is a bait and switch.
This DEI committee replaces the special envoy to combat antisemitism post- but that envoy post has been vacant under Carney for almost a year now.
Instead of a focus on stopping antisemitism as announced this committee is basically a DEI clown show.
In another sign that the Prime Minister is clearly not serious on actually combating antisemitism, this committee announced to combat antisemitism has more Muslims than the Jews on the committee (there's all of one Jew on it) and those Muslims have rather colorful backstories:
The makeup of the new advisory council includes some questionable choices. Miller, for example, served as immigration minister from July 2023 to March 2025. Given that Canada has welcomed unprecedented numbers of newcomers over the past decade, many from countries with high rates of antisemitism, it seems unlikely that he will be willing to admit that some of his own policies may have contributed to the problem.
It also includes Avnish Nanda, the lawyer who represented the anti-Israel students who launched a Charter challenge against the University of Alberta after they were evicted from their illegal encampment, and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.
Alghabra, in particular, has faced considerable scrutiny for his views on Israel and questions over his support for Islamism. He’s the former president of the Canadian Arab Federation, a group that, after this tenure, lost federal funding for its apparent support of Hamas and Hezbollah. In 2022, he defended his attendance at a Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group reception attended by Nazih Khatatba, the editor of an Arabic-language newspaper accused of spreading antisemitism.
This is not to say that either Nanda or Alghabra are antisemites, but given their history, they are certainly odd choices to lead a council tasked with, as Carney put it, “preventing radicalization and addressing institutional biases.”
But, at fear not, there's also a progressive LGBT actisvist, a retired speedskater, and a Metis advocate for natives in society on the committee so there's that. I daresay the speedskater will be on thin ice with the group.
Yes, the committee announced with great fanfare and tasked to address antisemitism in Canada has people on it who are arguably on the side of the antisemites.
You really can't make this stuff up.
A little bit of political double-think going on in this post from CENTCOM:
Yep, it's an Islamic ceasefire - Iran can fire at others, but if you fire at them it is violating the ceasefire. We've seen these all around the Middle East.
In reality when one side continuously violates the ceasefire by firing at the other side, you do not, in fact, have a ceasefire.
That the US is accepting the concept that Iran can continue firing missiles at American forces and it is still an "ongoing ceasefire" is a bad sign.
In 2024, if you were suspecting someone was having a stroke, was the medical protocol in place at the time to immediately take them to a Waffle House?
Asking for a doctor.
USA Today: 'He's having a stroke': Jill Biden opens up about Joe's 2024 debate
MSN: Jill Biden took Joe to Waffle House after thinking he had stroke on stage
There's been a proposal to mint a commemorative dollar coin and engrave a $250 bank note, both with President Trump's likeness upon them, to mark the 250th Anniversary of our Republic.
Naturally this has certain people up in arms as well as being agog and aghast claiming it goes against all precedent.
Newsweek: Trump Wants His Face on New $250 Bill; an 1866 Law Says It’s Not Allowed
Newsweek in the article states that it is not allowed due to a law that prohibits living people from appearing on the currency:
The enthusiasm, however, runs directly into a long-standing legal barrier as federal statute prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. currency. The last time it happened was 1866, and Congress outlawed it immediately afterward.
The federal statute enacted in 1866 bars living people from appearing on U.S. currency, a rule created after the government briefly allowed a Treasury official’s portrait on a 5‑cent note. The restriction has remained in place ever since, meaning the Treasury cannot legally produce a $250 bill with Trump’s image unless Congress changes the law.
Well, that statement is not in fact correct, nor has the restriction has remained in place ever since 1866.
In honor of the United States Sesquicentennial, in 1926, a Half Dollar was minted with both President Washington and the then President Calvin Coolidge on the coin:
So, yes, there is precedent for a living seated president to be on money in the year of an important anniversary of our republic. Calvin Coolidge, being a darn good President certainly was worthy of the honor in any case.
However, these days, short of the coin and note being limited runs strictly as commemorative items, it would take legislation passing to have President Trump on a bill or coin in general circulation, and there is proposed legislation at the moment to do so.
It may be tacky to some, even as the mock-ups of the coin and note do look pretty good.
It may cause his opponents to go even crazier (which they seem to have no problem doing) -- which could be considered a bug or a feature.
But, it is not the first time it has been done and it is not unprecedented for a present president to be put upon the currency.
CBS News: Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield says city will address downtown teen takeovers:
After several incidents in which large groups of teenagers took over downtown Detroit, city leaders say they are developing a plan to address it.
. . .
While there is some perception that Detroit officials and the Detroit Police Department have been somewhat silent on the issue of these downtown takeovers, since these events began, Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield says a lot is happening behind the scenes to ensure that these takeovers don't get out of control.
"It's a comprehensive, interdepartmental, all-hands-on-deck approach to assure that we're addressing the needs of our young people," Sheffield said.
In a one-on-one interview with CBS News Detroit on Wednesday at DPD headquarters, Sheffield says the social media trend is top-of-mind with city officials, police and community intervention groups. Sheffield says the city is taking a holistic approach to addressing the issue and believes it's also an opportunity to serve the youth.
"We didn't experience what other cities did as far as safety," Sheffield said. "Kids came out; they wanted to hang out; they wanted a place for something to do. So we're trying to make sure that we're addressing that need of making sure that young people have a safe space to be occupied and engaged throughout the upcoming summer months."
The response from the teens in addition to continued takeovers, some fights and a shooting clearly has taken this strong and unambiguous message to heart:
Deandrae Morgan said he plans to continue organizing Detroit "teen takeovers," despite Detroit police officers asking him last week to remove social media posts calling for young people to congregate downtown during a weekend that saw one peaceful gathering and another marred by a nonfatal shooting and brawls involving hundreds of combatants.
Compare Detroit's wishy-washy response to that of Mayor of Pontiac and Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard when a Teen Takeover was threatened for Pontiac:
ClickonDetroit: Teen takeover gatherings spread to Pontiac, prompting safety warnings following Detroit chaos
Similar unpermitted gatherings are now being advertised on social media in Pontiac.
Mayor Mike McGuinness said Pontiac officials and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office moved quickly after seeing one such event promoted online Friday.
“If folks are looking to get crazy or act up, Pontiac, Michigan, ain’t the place,” McGuinness said.
McGuinness said deputies were stationed “at every major intersection in downtown Pontiac” as a precaution this past Friday.
Result: No teen takeover and no mass teen violence in Pontiac.
Funny how enforcing the law and not putting up with disorder and crime works.
A car jacking took place yesterday in Oakland County, resulting in a woman being shot during the event. The woman was with her child at the time in the parking lot of the mall.
Click on Detroit: Man who fled after shooting woman in random Oakland County carjacking arrested following police pursuit
The Detroit Free Press: 1 shot in carjacking in Orion Township Panera, Old Navy parking lot
Fox 2 Detroit: Carjacking suspect randomly targeted mother, shot her before stealing car in Orion Township
Do note that none of these stories identify the attacker, even as they note he is an "Ann Arbor Man" and is on probation for a prior violent offense.
Yes, you know why.
And the attack should never have been able to take place, as he should have been in jail at the time of this attack.
The Detroit News: Carjacker should have been in jail for prior violent attack, sheriff says
The "Ann Arbor Man" was previously convicted for a crime committed in late 2024. Said assault consisted of hog-tying and suffocating a woman in Washtenaw county. He should have been in jail for the assault with intent to do great bodily harm in Washtenaw County.
But he was not.
Instead, he was released on probation, because of the Washtenaw County prosecutor's progressive policies.
The Washtenaw County prosecutor is the woke progressive Eli Savit. The same Eli Savit that unleashed a raft of progressive policies in the County like ending zero tolerance policies, not accepting prosecution for illegal items discovered during traffic stops and for minor offenses, and other progressive pro-criminal policies. For equity and racial justice, of course.
This is the same person the Democrats are running for election this year as Attorney General of the State and who as Washtenaw County prosecutor.
So the criminal the progressive prosecutor let off on probation after assaulting a woman now went ahead and shot a woman.
Democrats talk about a war on women, and they are indeed fighting it - but not on behalf of women.
But, at the same time, they can't manage to run their own candidates' election without some serious problems that call into question if the winners actually won - including voters' votes not counting, and people voting who were not supposed to vote.
Then again, those are rather typical issues that crop up in Democrat-run elections, innit?
The Detroit News: Mystery lingers if some Michigan Democratic convention votes counted
Ten Michigan Democrats said initial records from the party's April 19 convention inaccurately reflected what they thought their votes were, raising new questions about the system used to nominate candidates for attorney general and secretary of state.
...
Candidates have already contended that more than 200 people cast votes from outside the convention hall when, according to party rules, they were supposed to be there in person to participate.
Ironically enough, numerous Democrat party personalities such as Dana Nessel are calling for an audit of the voting process for the candidate seleciton, which they otherwise shy away from. Funny, that.
The voting irregularities may have led to progressive Karen Macdonald losing the Attorney General selection to the even more progressive Eli Savit, as it is possible that enough votes to tip the balance seem to be shown to not having been voted at all - when voters believed they had done so.
Michigan Democrats can't even conduct their own internal election without major irregularities, but we are told they can definitively run the state's upcoming elections in a free and fair manner. And certainly, you better not even ask for an audit of the election results.
Some women choose the bear.
Some women choose the gator
One will eat you now,
the other will eat you later.
A photo shoot of a college graduate probably wins this year's contest for cool graduation photo shoots.
The New York Post: Glamorous coed takes insane graduation pics of her kissing 14-foot alligator
The graduate in the picture, in addition to graduating college, is a trained alligator handler and animal rehab worker.
Don't try this at home folks.
Summer is here, and the media, obfuscating as usual, describes the latest round of disorderly issues in Blue State Cities to be created by"Teens" just happening to be out and about:
The New York Post: ‘Teen takeover’ descends into wild brawl inside DC Chipotle — as feds promise to charge ignorant parents
The Detroit News: Teen takeover in Detroit results in brawls, shooting. Sheffield responds
The choice of words by the media is typical in that it is technically accurate yet does not nearly accurately describe the perpetrators of the disorder. These deliberate word choices are interesting as an apt demonstration in how the media chooses to obfuscate the facts.
Apparently, Detroit Mayor Sheffield's response to the "teen takeover" is to re-establish midnight basketball and other activities to give the "Teens" something to do other than blocking the streets, starting brawls, and assaulting people - instead of severely cracking down on the behavior and heavily prosecuting the miscreants to deter such behavior. That should work just swimmingly.
The Detroit News: Republican senator wants U.S. DOJ to probe Whitmer's ties to Beydoun
Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt asked the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday to investigate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's connections to businesswoman and political donor Fay Beydoun.
On May 6, state Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Beydoun of Farmington Hills with 16 felonies, alleging Beydoun had misused a $20 million taxpayer-funded grant
Well, the money trail is certainly there and it all point to Beydoun heavily investing in Democrats.
Beydoun gave heavily, as in tens of thousands of dollars to Democrat politicians and political organizations. Including $10,500 to the Michigan Democratic State Central Cmte (D), Over $7,500 in multiple donations over time to Gretchen Whitmer's campaign coffers directly and another $7,500 to her campaign committee.
That kind of money buys access.
Its not just that politicians can be bought its how cheaply they can be bought.
That roughly 15k in direct contributions to Gov Whitmer and her campaign helped get Beydoun a $20 million dollar grant that she promptly misused.
Heckuva return on political corruption, that.
So with the weather improving it was time for some self-improvement.
After doing a thorough cleaning around the place, and having an electrician friend assist me in adding some lights to some dark spots in the basement, it was time to go rucking again.
More than time to begin getting some of the winter hibernation worked off.
Unfortunately, I seem to have developed tendonitis in my right ankle which makes it ever so much more fun to do any workout at all over the past few weeks.
Today it had settled down enough so I threw on the ruck with 35 pounds in it and headed out.
I decided to take it relatively easy and did 2 miles and a bit in 45 minutes.
Nice and sunny and it was a pleasant ruck at a decent pace,
The ankle while still tender, doesn't feel worse than when I began so that's a good thing.
Might as well keep it up and get back in shape.
The link to the Silenced No More report documenting the sexual assault crimes of Hamas and participating Gaza civilians in the October 7 attack on Israel and in its aftermath can be retrieved and read here.
I'd strongly suggest not eating or drinking anything before reading it.
Know that the sexual attacks were systemic, planned and organized by Hamas beforehand and part of a deliberate strategy of atrocities, and these deliberate acts were, by any definition, atrocities.
If you can't make it through the report, and you very well might not, a decent summary can be found at The Medialine: How the ‘Silenced No More’ Report Documents Sexual Violence on October 7 and Israeli Civil Commission Report Says Hamas-Led October 7 Attack Included Organized Sexual Violence.
On a rather scenic route in northern Michigan, a rather large set of gallows has been setup:
Daily Press: Gallows built along M-28, generating controversy
Tom Pegenau, owner of Pegenau Builders, set up a wooden gallows structure with a noose outside of the Pegenau Builders business on M-28 in Chocolay Township, later painted with the words “bureaucrats,” “justice” and “freedom,” along with a banner reading “United States of America 1776-2026 250 We the MFin People.”
Kind of a bureaucrat, rope, gallows, assembly of one of each approach to things.
Mr. Peregnau, per the article is rather unhappy (as many people are) with government at the moment, and he stated he was rather frustrated with both sides of the aisle in many areas so he built the gallows as a matter of protest.
Chocolay Township, where the gallows are located, is unamused.
The Detroit Free Press: Marquette-area township orders gallows along major U.P. highway moved
In short the setting up of gallows along the roadway is claimed to be a zoning violation in the area. This may indeed make Mr. Peregnau even more annoyed with bureaucrats, but it is most likely that the gallows are headed for the gallows so to speak.
Quite interesting how the unsubstantiated opinion piece by Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times to bash Israel with lurid claims that Israel had prisons with dogs trained to sexually abuse prisoners, just happened to come out a day before a report on actual and documented sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas and the Gazans:
First on CNN: New report details ‘systematic’ rape and sexual violence during Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on Israel
Why, one might almost think it was not a coincidence and deliberately run to get the factual report of Hamas and Gazan depravity from the headlines and distract attention from it.
The New York Times did not cover the report on the October 7 attack at all.
Funny, that.
Funny also that one must point out that Israelis security personnel were previously criticized for refusing to rape Arab women, because racism, or something. Yep, that claim actually happened, twice.
As a Michigan Democrat, you can steal from the state, but you're not supposed to be overly blatant about it, or even worse, show highly conspicuous and gauche taste in doing so.
I mean, for Democrats, it's one thing to steal $20 million from the state as a non-profit, but to spend $4,500 of it on a coffee maker and $40,000 for personal furniture? How very déclassée!
The facts have been known for over two years now, but only now is Fay Beydoun, a prominent Democrat and Governor Whitmer's friend and fundraiser, to whom the governor steered the grant, getting prosecuted.
Michigan Department of Atotrney General: AG Nessel Charges Fay Beydoun with 16 Felonies for Stealing Global Link International Grant Funding
The Detroit News: Fay Beydoun hit with 16 criminal charges in $20M earmark scandal
The two year delay likely was done to further protect Whitmer from her role in arranging for the $20 million grant, and there are some cracks in the current Michigan Democratic coalition between the progressive-Islamic and the left-but-sane factions that are allowing some of this to bubble up.
Given how the Beydouns are a clan with ties and sympathies with Hezbollah, it'll be an interesting question as to how much of the stolen money went back to Lebanon or was used for propaganda purposes here in addition to Democrat graft.
Interesting political times for Democrats in Michigan.
This morning was a perfect day to get up and fly. Winds calm, sun bright and sky totally clear below 7,000 with only a few clouds above that.
I did the preflight and all was good. First time flying the Archer since it got a new engine.
The Archer started up immediately and it climbed into the sky like a homesick angel.
For the first pattern I had to do a go around as the prior aircraft to me did a bomber pattern and then decided to take their sweet time departing the runway.
So I got a nice go round in to stay sharp.
I then did 5 landings with three full stop and two touch-and -goes as most aircraft in the pattern were doing full stops, so Tower couldn't fit in my touch-and-goes in the traffic flow.
Lots of aircraft were flying this morning.
Landings were good and got better as I got more landings in.
So, I'm now current for carrying passengers, now on to throwing a safety pilot in the right seat and getting my IFR rating back in currency.
That's 0.8 and 5 landings.
The main graduaiton ceremony took place on Saturday.
Held in the Big House, With 14,000 graduating, there was really nowhere else to hold them all along with their families and guests.
Rather packed it was, and quite chilly, with temperatures starting in the high 30s and moving into the low 40s during the ceremony.
This was a landmark ceremony as the University was going to confer its one millionth degree since its founding. Graduating students received a commemorative tassel with 1M on it in addition to their department tassel.
The ceremony, of course, began with a land acknowledgement, which was, of course, both politically correct and purely performative.
The acknowledgment, from the first speaker, stated the land had been ceded by the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Chippewa under the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which it was, to forma college for educational purposes
The University of Michigan has, for some unknown reason, made no move to hand itself back to the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Chippewa, nor has the University offered the descendants of the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Chippewa a free education at the University's expense.
Funny, that.
Then honorary degrees were given out.
Shirin Ebadi was honored with a well-deserved Doctorate of Laws. Funny, as the majority of UofM students and much of the faculty are busy supporting the same theocracy that has stripped her of her titles and career and imprisoned her.
Michael Phelps alsp received an honorary doctorate, as did Jalen Rose. Engineer Ingeborg Hochmair received an honorary doctorate of engineering, which given her engineering accomplishments is only fitting. Regent Emeritus Ron Weiser and Kent Syverud, who was set to become the new president of the university before being diagnosed with brain cancer also received honorary doctorates.
Then a speech by Professor Peterson had to throw in a one-sided anti-Israel comment, supporting the pro-Hamas protesters on campus and equating them with actual civil rights heroes -- and not more appropriately with civil rights villains with their attacks on Jewish students and blocking them from classes, disruptions of classes and ceremonies, and, of course, support for terrorism.
Unfortunately many students cheered this bit of crap, but many people in the audience shouted "Bull Sh#t" in response.
In short, it went as one might expect from the progressives of the University of Michigan.
Aside from that bit of leftist performative foolery, the ceremony went quite well and each department rose in turn as graduates and were allowed to move their tassel to signify their new status as graduates.
That's one down, one to go!
Abby was awarded her degree this weekend in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Michigan.
The main graduation was on Saturday where 14,000 students earned their degrees and the University of Michigan conferred its one millionth degree since it was founded, which is quite a milestone. More on the Saturday ceremony later.
For the record, that she graduated with that degree means she is a heckuva lot smarter than I am.
In addition to that, at the smaller and much more personal graduation ceremony for the MCDB Department, on Friday evening, she walked and received her degree certificate and her thesis was announced.
She also received the award that is given to the honors undergraduate with the highest ranked thesis not just in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology but in the entire Biology Department. That make her the #1 graduate out of 600 graduates. The Review team for the award had comments that included that the thesis was not an undergraduate level but was instead a thesis at the doctoral level, which is amazing.
For the record, that means she is a heckuva, heckuva, lot smarter than I am.
The members of the lab she worked at, including the head professor of the lab, and two of her co-(and more senior) researchers and friends who had just earned their Ph.D.s were there to cheer her on.
She's going to work in the lab this summer as an actual employed (and paid!) Research Aisstant and then she will be heading out of town to a PH.D. program in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology to make her mark in the world doing some cutting-edge research in the field.
To say I'm beyond proud is an understatement.
Michigan Democrats are indeed profligate spenders.
The state's budget and spending has increased by 50% just under Governor Whitmer's term to date alone.
But that's still not enough spending for Michigan's Democrats.
Instead they want to increase it, and to do so have to tap into the state's emergency fund to do so.
The Detroit News: Michigan Senate dips into rainy day fund for $88B budget plan.
Everyday budgeting is not what a rainy day fund is for, but the Democrats see a pool of money and want to spend it now rather than wait for an actual revenue shortfall where the funds would be needed.
That means under this budget state government spending is around $8,800 for each and every resident of Michigan. If asked I don't believe most residents of Michigan would say they're getting their money's worth under this plan - especially those actually paying the taxes to cover it.
The 19 Democrats in the Senate voted for this increase, and 18 Republicans were opposed, so yet again the headline is a tad misleading. It wasn't the Senate, but the Democrats in the Senate pushing this through.
The House has not approved this yet, so there's still hope that some responsible budgeting may yet prevail.
So, what faction of the Democratic Party wants Mallory McMorrow out of the US Senate race for Michigan that they had CNN run with the dirt it found on her?
MSN: Mallory McMorrow campaign hit with resurfaced tweets showing progressive views
Not to mention the tweets show her clear disdain of Michigan, which is not a good look when you're running as the Democrat candidate for US Senate from Michigan.
So, after the Michigan Democratic Party endorsed progressive pro-Hamas Defund ICEr Abdul El-Sayed as their preferred candidate, the two remaining opponents in the race for the Dem Primary were Mallory McMorrow who is essentially progessive-lite, and Haley Stevens, who is a mainstream-ish Democrat, with Mallory trailing in the polls right behind Abdul.
So, was this timely drop the progressive pro-El Sayed faction trying to get her eliminated to clear the progressive space on the ballot?
Or, was this the more centrist and less insane pro-Stevens faction that figured hopefully correctly, that Michigan really wasn't ready for an Islamist Progressive Marxist candidate that hangs out with the guy that calls for murdering his political opponents and that America deserved 9/11?
So, anyone got K-Files to retrieve El-Sayed's deleted tweets yet, as his existing ones are bad enough?
Canada, under the Liberal party is, in an effort to expand diversity in its military, now running Officer candidate classes full of non-citizen immigrants from Africa and elsewhere.
This diversity plan, begun under Justin Trudeau, was touted as a good thing: CAF diversity up, as permanent residents join military.
This diversity push in reality is going as well as one might expect it to do:
Juno News: EXCLUSIVE: CAF training platoon with 83% non-citizens devolved into ethnic infighting
An explosive internal CAF report reveals a Quebec officer platoon dominated by non-citizens descended into ethnic infighting, a lack of "respect for women" peers and abysmal graduation rates.
Outsourcing your military defense pretty much never goes well.
Outsourcing your officer corps, who leads your military, to non-citizen third-world immigrants in an effort to increase "diversity", who have yet to adopt your culture, makes it so much worse:
One French-language platoon, which had over 80 per cent non-citizens, was reportedly wracked by an inability to communicate fluently, a lack of respect towards female CAF members and infighting between Cameroonian and Côte d’Ivoire candidates.
The Quebec platoon saw fewer than one in two recruits graduate, while allegations of racial discrimination were made in multiple directions, from candidates against staff and between candidates of opposing ethnic blocs themselves. Additionally, command saw “challenges” in training permanent residents as they lacked “respect towards women” peers and superiors.
“For many candidates it is the first time they have lived with members of a different sex, and for some it is also the first time they have been expected to treat women as their peers,” explained the confidential report.
“Platoons are also reporting inter-candidate cultural frustrations, with lack of respect towards women being the most common concern.”
The Canadian Armed Forces also reduced standards and the requirement for aptitude tests for candidates in this diversity push. The results are rather predictable.
And that ain't bad.
Yes, that happened, and it counts as a pretty major oops.
Reuters: Polish police chief who fired grenade launcher in office is charged two years later
Poland's former national police commander was belatedly charged on Monday with illegal import and unintentional endangerment after accidentally setting off an anti-tank grenade launcher in his office in 2022.
Jaroslaw Szymczyk received mild injuries when the grenade launcher, which he said he had received as a gift during a visit to Ukraine, went off as he was moving it. Pictures obtained by local media showed that it had blasted through the floor, damaging the office below.
Talk about keeping your booger hook off the Big Bada Boom switch.
Today, in The New York Times The Morning Newsletter, the paper decided to discuss the attempted assassination of President Trump yesterday with this lovely example of willfully avoiding a discussion of Leftist violence.
The guests at the dinner included many whose lives had previously been affected by gun violence, including Trump, Erika Kirk and Representative Steve Scalise, who was shot at a congressional baseball game practice in 2017.
The New York Times blithely ignores the common theme in all of these acts of "gun violence" - the perpetrator in question was a leftist in each and every one:
President Trump's current attempted assassin was a progressive leftist from California, spouting Democrat talking points. The prior one in September 2024 in Florida was also from a registered Democrat. The one before that in July 2024 in Butler, PA was yet another progressive.
Erika Kirk - Charlie Kirk, her husband, was, you guessed it, killed by a leftist.
Steve Scalise - shot by a Bernie Bro.
Funny how the New York Times fails to both notice and not comment on this trend, but just waves it away with the canard of "gun violence".
The Democrats were all against "Stochastic Terrorism" and political violence?
Good times, those. These days, not so much:
Yes, that is an official County-level Democratic Party post lamenting that the latest leftist assassination attempt against President Trump failed.
Beer Street Journal: Minocqua Brewing Is Going Viral. Not For Their Beer.
On Saturday night, authorities say 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen stormed the lobby of the Washington Hilton armed with guns and knives and opened fire before being subdued by Secret Service agents. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and several cabinet members were evacuated from the venue.
Hours later, Minocqua Brewing Company of Minocqua, Wisconsin posted to its Facebook page: “Well, we almost got #freebeerday. Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
The owner of Minocqua Brewing Company is a Democrat operative and former state-level candidate and runs a Democrat state-level PAC.
Yahoo News: Kimmel calls Melania Trump an ‘expectant widow’ before White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel mocked President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump in a White House Correspondents' Dinner parody this week, calling her "an expectant widow" and joking about her marriage, just days before the dinner was disrupted by a shooting.
The Democrats have continued their tantrum and refusal to accept democratic norms since losing the election, and have continued to advocate for violence against their opponents ever since.
The Democrats sure are Sowing the Wind, and it is more than high time that they stopped before this gets out of hand.
