When Government GEVeth, Government Can TakEV Away

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michigan's AG Nessel Joins The ICE Tracking Bandwagon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What could possibly go wrong? 

Putting Up Barriers After The Car Has Crashed Through

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

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

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

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

If You Can Keep Your Head When Others Are Donating Theirs

Your weird news of the day:

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

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

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

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

Mamdani Is Solving The New York City Homeless Problem

In the traditional Democrat/socialist way.

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

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

Either way, it's a win, right? 

Progressives Suddenly All About (Some) Effective Border Control

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

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

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

Interesting, that.

Progressive Democrats Lying For The Cause, Yet Again

The Detroit News:Washtenaw Co. sheriff admits she posted inaccurate information about ICE arrests

When told about ICE's responses to her claims, Dyer replied that the information she'd posted on Facebook wasn't accurate.

A major problem is that the anti-ICE leftists, with a compliant and complacent propaganda department in the mainstream media, send their lies around the world long before the truth can even get its boots on. 

Yep, it turns out the Washtenaw County Sheriff was being less than truthful when she claimed ICE grabbed illegals at a school bus stop. 

The Latest Media Euphemism

Generally, when the media fails to tell you the race or show you the face of the perpetrator of a  crime in the Detroit Metro area, you can generally guess, and guess correctly due to that failure.

The latest media euphemism to distract attention: "Suburban Men": 

The Detroit News: Suburban men, two ex-postal workers plead in $63 million stolen check scheme

Suburban men makes you think of Hank Hill from King of the Hill, amirite?

In this case it's "Suburban Men" going by the handles of:  DaQuan Foreman, 32, of Eastpointe and Jaiswan Williams, 32, of Rochester Hills.

Technically true that they are from the suburbs, but that's hardly the salient or newsworthy feature here. 

Their more urban confederates in crime are Crystal Jenkins and Vanessa Hargrove - both employees of the Post Office who stole the checks from the mail - Sixty-three million dollars worth of them.

After stealing the checks they gave them to suburbanite confederates in crime DaQuan and Jaiswan to sell off on the black -- oh, sorry -- suburban -- market.

Progressives Demand Safe Spaces For Illegals

The progressive Democrat Washtenaw County Sheriff is very mad that ICE dared detain illegals in his jurisdiction.

The Detroit Free Press: ICE 'targeted' Ypsilanti parents near bus stop, sheriff says

 Because ICE should ignore illegals near bus stops, right?  Does the Washtenaw County Sheriff ignore other criminals because they happen to be near bus stops?

Who knew a bus stop was a criminal empowerment and sanctuary zone? 

Michigan Democrat politicians are now demanding sanctuary spaces be created where ICE cannot enforce out immigration laws.

The Detroit News: Washtenaw Co. sheriff, Ypsilanti supt. slam off-campus ICE arrests of parents

 The bill package — introduced by State Sens. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield; Mary Cavanagh, D-Redford Township; and Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit — defines "sensitive locations" as "an educational institution; a place of worship; a hospital; the site of a funeral, wedding, or other public religious ceremony; a courthouse; or the site of an organization that is assisting children, pregnant women, victims of crime or abuse, or an individual with significant mental of physical disabilities,"

We will note that Federal Law trumps state law  (pun quite intended( - especially in the area of immigration enforcement - thanks to the Obama Administration suing states on the proposition that it is the federal government and not the states that enforce immigration law.

 So yes, the bill package is basically null on arrival thanks to the precedent set by the Obama administration's court action and these Democrat lawmakers should know that and thus are grandstanding and wasting legislative time with stupid bills virtue signalling on behalf of illegals rather than representing their legal constituents.

Or they are too stupid to now that, which makes one wonder why they are in our legislature and they're trying to be all hip and insurrection-y against the federal government in their quest to keep illegal aliens here at all costs, even above their legal residents.

Car Rams Into Detroit Metro Check-In Counter

On Friday, a driver rammed his car the check-in area at Detorit Metro Airport.

The Detroit Free Press:  Car crashes through Detroit Metro Airport's McNamara Terminal

Six people thankfully only had minor injuries.

This certainly showed one heckuva security hole at Detroit Metro, that the driver drove right through. 

The driver was arrested while ranting after the event.

Interestingly enough, even as the New York Post showed the driver getting hauled off into custody, he has still not been identified over 72 hours later.  There has been no news or updates of any charges or whether the driver was drunk, had a mental episode or this was something else.

Kinda strange, that.

Mixing Alcohol And Cold Has Consequences

The Detroit News: Body of missing teen recovered in Ann Arbor

A completely avoidable death and waste of potential.

Leaving a party to go out in sub-zero temperatures and brutal wind chill at 1 in the morning on your own after consuming a lot of alcohol  -- while wearing just a t-shirt and jeans is not going to turn out well.

In this case it did not turn out well at all. 

Apparently, he made it all of two blocks and then wasn't found for almost a day.

If you're going to be drinking underage at a party (or out drinking in any case, really), at least use a buddy system so you can look after each other, and be sure wear some appropriate clothes in winter for your own protection - not to mention just take an Uber home.

It's a damn shame this happened, and this kind of bad decision-making unfortunately keeps happening.

How Cold Is It Today?

It's so cold today, I saw something I haven't seen before:

A Democrat Politician with his hands in his own pockets.

Time To Sing The Cold Song

With the temperature now at -1 with a wind chill of -25 at the moment  -- and still dropping, it is time for the cold song:

It's Cold.  Cold.  Cold, Cold, Cold.

Colder than the frost on a champagne glass.

Colder than the hair on a polar bears a$$.

Colder than the nipple on a witches' t!t.

It's Colder than a pile of penguin sh*t.

Dress appropriately for the weather, and stay warm out there today folks. 

Yep, She's Going To Be Running

The Democrats so far have a rather thin and likely unelectable nation-wide field of candidates for 2028.

Kamala is just not going to win on a second attempt. 

Walz is neck-deep in corruption. 

Newsom may lead in California but his policies would make even most mid-western Democrats run away. 

Shapiro can't get past the anti-semites in his own party to make it to a VP slot, much less advance in the primaries. 

So it seems our own governor is prepping to throw herself into the ring creating a "social media empire" and laying the groundwork for a run:

The Detroit News:  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says U.S. is 'ready for a woman president'

She's running, bet on it. 

More On Progressives And Airplanes

So progressives in  Michigan are rather against ICE flying illegals out of the state.  

Possibly they are angry they'd prefer the illegals be bussed or even better taken by train out of the state, as progressives do love their trains.

We will note they didn't raise a peep when the Biden administration was flying illegals into the state. 

The Detroit News: Deportation critics target 'ICE Air' flights out of Willow Run airport

 Now, local activists are organizing a campaign to pressure the airport's authority from allowing detained immigrants to fly out of the historic Wayne County airport, even though legal experts say the authority is powerless to stop the flights. Activists oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and argue that Wayne County resources shouldn’t support the federal government’s goal of deporting 1 million people each year. 

No it really does not work that way.  You can't discriminate about flights from airports like that, especially federal flights at a federally funded airport.  This is just more leftist activists trying to get some publicity demanding something that they know or should know cannot be done - but it does get them some media coverage for their latest cause.

A New Flight School in Minneapolis

Apparently a new flight school has been opened in Minneapolis:

 

While a normal Airline Transport Pilot needs 1,500 hours to get their ticket, since this flight school isn't going to be training their students how to land, they may just get it done in eight weeks. 

Not Nearly Enough Time For The Crime

Yet again, soft-on-crime judges are not punishing bad behavior sufficiently.

What do you get for phoning in two bomb threats to a school? All of 11 days in jail and probation, and an impulse control class.

 The Detroit News:  Detroit woman sentenced for phoning in fake bomb threats to Lake Shore High School

 A Detroit woman was sentenced to a short jail stint followed by probation for phoning in two fake bomb threats to Lake Shore High School because her daughter was not allowed to participate in a school play, prosecutors said Thursday.

Phoning in a bomb threat is uncivilized and unacceptable behavior. 

So much so you can be jailed up to 4 years for doing so. 

If you want to discourage behavior like this you need to crack down on it and make the punishment be a deterrent both to the moron that phoned it in and to others contemplating doing the same thing.

Just 11 days in jail and probation for two felonies with a maximum time of 4 years in jail after disrupting 700 students and parents is almost a joke rather than a deterrent.  She got off far too lightly.

Nothing Says That's Detroit For Ya

Like having felons  . . .  on their Police Commission. 

The Detroit News:  Convicted felons on Detroit police board work on legal issues as video emerges

Yep not just one felon on the Detroit Police Commission but multiple. 

Note one of the felons, who has since resigned when it came to light he had outstanding charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm and had threatened a police officer had been placed on the commission. 

Interesting how the Democrats keep saying they are against gun-related crimes and gun ownership in general, but keep placing criminals who have used guns in crime or committed other felonies in positions of authority. 

Funny, that.

No, Signs Really Don't Work That Way

Had a call from a person looking for a lawyer.

He had quite the request:

He wanted me to draft up a sign that could be posted on his property all legal-like alerting all persons including federal law enforcement most specifically ICE, that if they came onto his property without a warrant they would be met with deadly force.  

As you may suspect, I politely declined to acquiesce to his request.

In other words, I said "Hell No". 

Such a sign has no legal effect at all, and basically will help send the moron to jail if someone is ever shot by him on his property.

Apparently, the latest trend is thinking a sign magically stops ICE from enforcing immigration law, and the idiot thought he could get on the bandwagon with a clever sign.  

Some people think that so long as you post a sign with some legalese, or otherwise use some legalese you find on the internet (especially if it uses Latin for some reason) then you can do a dumb and illegal thing with no consequences. 

You cannot. 

In Michigan you can use deadly force for only three reasons.

Someone trespassing on your property, federal agent or not, is absolutely not one of them. 

1984 Was Not Supposed To Be A How-To Guide

But leftists keep using it as such.

Yet another example of them doing it at Instapundit. 

Minneapolis Mayor Tries To Straddle The Fence

Mayor Frey is now walking back some of his prior rhetoric that helped overheat the situation. 

Fox9: Minneapolis ICE shooting: Mayor Frey says city is being put in 'impossible situation'

"We're in a position right now where we have residents that are asking the very limited number of police officers that we have to fight ICE agents on the street," Frey said.

The reaction from the Police Chief when he says that (about 12 seconds in on the video at the link) is rather priceless.

That Frey didn't immediately say that is absolutely bonkers as an idea, is all a part of the Democrat's on again/off again encouragement of rioting and bad behavior. 

The mayor is now sort of toning down his rhetoric after his fiery words that helped push the riotous conduct to begin with - not to mention his refusal to have MPD assist ICE in securing scenes and preventing situations where rioters are blocking federal agents doing their lawful jobs and the potential for incidents when "peaceful protestors" block vehicles and resist arrest leading to bad outcomes.

This call for the MPD to intervene is rather funny in a way. 

 After all, these residents asking police officers to fight ICE agents are the same activists that were calling for the defunding of the police not long ago, and likely still are calling for the police to be defunded. 

Calling for the MPD to take on ICE is rather insurrection-y, isn't it? 

Or, As The Rest Of The World Calls It, Tuesday

 From OSINT on X:

Yep, the Ayatollahs (and a large segment of the populace of Dearborn for that matter) have been constantly going on about "Death To America" and "Death To Israel".   Yet another call in the mullahs rather endless repetitive calls for global jihad is just same stuff different day.

Meanwhile brave men and women in Iran are busy protesting and fighting against the mullah's regime.

Meanwhile, I can still get better coverage of the momentous events in Iran on Instapundit and X than I can from the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press - as  both have not a peep about it today.  The lack of coverage is rather interesting.

As to why the media is impressively incurious with their coverage, one reason is that quite simply "No Jews, No News" as in no Jews to blame, so no coverage.

Another far more involved reason is given by Tahmineh Dehbozorgi and can be read here, and it is well worth reading in full. 

Same Players, Different Protest

Michigan has quite the crop of professional and enthusiastic amateur left-wing protesters.

So much so, the Detroit Free Press unironically juxtaposed this headline with the accompanying picture: 

Apparently this batch of protestors didn't have time to switch from Venezuelan that they had just got to anti-ICE flags.

It is rather hard for them to keep up with the cause du jour, after all. 

Iran Protests Finally Getting Some Notice

While no mention in either the Detroit News nor the Detroit Free Press -- Instapundit has better coverage than both of them which isn't hard because their level of coverage has been zero -- the massive protests in Iran are finally getting some media notice.  

Considering that the Iranian regime has blocked the country's internet services and  it is only thanks to Elon Musk and Starlink that we have an idea of what's going on.

And whats going on are very large protests against an actual theocratic and despotic authoritarian regime, where women get to unfortunately actually live A Handmaid's Tale, not just cosplay it.

Trump actively supporting the protesters is a big deal, unlike his predecessors who let them get crushed by the regime in for all intents and purposes silence, if not support for the regime.

An end to the terror-organizing mullahs would make for a far more peaceful Middle East and indeed the world at large.

Now That's A Take There Russia

A spit-take mind you, but quite a take all the same:

That the Russians are saying that is rather hilarious. 

That thread on Twitter of the Russians going on how the Maduro grab was unimpressive and they would have done it so much better is just amazing for its pure distortion and inversion of reality.

We will note the Russian special forces attempted just such a smash and grab in Ukraine and it happily failed spectacularly, leaving lots of dead "elite" Spetsnaz and VDV troops behind - smashing the myth of Russian Special Forces awesomeness and even their delusions of adequacy.

Heck, Russia went from being touted as the second best military in the world to being the second best military in Ukraine.

It Is Not Just That Politicians Can Be Bought

But how cheaply they can be bought.

The extensive Somali fraud that is now estimated at over $9 Billion dollars, while remarkable for the amount of the funds misappropriated, is unremarkable for the number  of kickbacks and donations the perpetrators were making to Democrat politicians.

Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz apparently received all of $10,000 in donations from Somali fraudsters: Washington Examiner: Walz received $10,000 from donors tied to Somali-run day care centers.

$10k in return for billions stolen with the state being remarkably, if not deliberately, incurious of the ongoing thefts and operations. 

The Feeding our Future scandal that bilked the state and feds of $250 million alone donated $50,000 to Minnesota Democrats.

A $50k payoff to the Dems in return for pocketing $250 million is not a bad investment at all for the fraudsters. 

Biden's Tweet Aged Like Milk

Yep, this tweet, among the many, didn't age well:

Funny how it took Trump to stand with the Venezuelan people and democracy to actually do something effective, eh?

2026 Starting Off With A Bang

Waking up to find Venezuela's dictator in custody, and Venezuelans around the world are celebrating is rather a nice way to begin a Saturday.

The US went in and grabbed Maduro, ostensibly for drug and terrorism charges and his role in importing illegal drugs into the United States.

The unsealed indictment makes for interesting reading.  

The drug conspiracy and terrorism charges  seem rather convincing, but some of the indictment, namely the firearms charges, reads like it was pulled off a domestic drug dealer form indictment.

The firearm charges - namely possession of machine guns, and the carrying of firearms in furtherance of a crime -  appear rather aout of place - considering there is no allegations that the firearms were ever carried in the US or US territory by any of the named defendants. 

Strange stuff indeed. On the upside that's one dictator removed and a chance for the actually elected opposition to have a chance to dismantle the chavismo dictatorship and have a free(r) country again.

In other news, protests against the regime continue in Iran, and those protests should be supported. With any luck the mullahs too will experience regime change and the middle east will become a lot more stable and free as well.

Certainly an interesting start to the year. 

The Sopranos Must Be Regretting Their Life Choices

All the drama, all the deaths, and all the hardship involved in racketeering, theft and garbage schemes -- and for what? A pretty mid take and most of their crew ending up in prison or in the ground.

Instead, they could have just opened some daycare centers and did some medicaid fraud in Minneapolis and stole billions the easy way.

MSN:  Somali scammers allegedly stole almost as much in Minnesota as entire Somalia GDP

Back After Quite The Voyage

Took the kids on a cruise last week.

It began well enough with a nice flight to New Orleans that was on time, easy transfer to the ship from the New Orleans airport, with the only downside that the fellow in front of me was coughing quite a bit -- more on this later. 

We then had a pretty quick embarkation onto the ship and settled in.

The first day at sea was great, a nice time wandering the ship, relaxing and having some nice meals, including a specialty meal at the steakhouse that was magnificent.

The second day we got to Cozumel and had decided to go to the Kuza beach and adventure park. 

We got there from the port and had a nice time on the beach and had a nice lunch, and more time on the beach, but then it started raining heavily. The rain would not stop and it was really coming down

So we got out of there a bit early and got back to the ship rather thoroughly soaked. 

Apparently, late December in the Western Caribbean is the rainy season. 

The next day we landed at Roatan.  It was raining a bit which meant the visibility for the planned dive would be less than great.

And it was rather choppy and wavy too. 

This meant the Leah got to experience being seasick for her first certified ocean dive.

She along with another diver were rather green.  She did the first dive anyways.

Luckily the surface interval was done back at the dock rather than on the boat.

Both she and the other diver decided that since the dock was still moving (it wasn't)  they were going to skip the second dive.

We then headed back to the ship.

The next day it was raining again as we docked in Belize.  The rain also came this time with a healthy dose of thunder and lightning.

Not good when you're signed up to do zip-lining.  High above the trees on a steel cable in a lightning storm- what could possibly go wrong?

Yep, that got cancelled.

We went ashore anyways in rain ponchos and wandered around a bit and went back to the ship. 

At this point I was coming down with a heavy cough and feeling rather lousy. 

I was feeling really out of it the rest of the day and the next morning, having coughed through the night and not gotten much sleep, and basically stayed in the room sleeping for most of it, coming out for dinner. 

The next day it was rough and rainy again so Costa Maya was skipped as a port and we had a day at sea. 

Still feeling lousy, I discovered that eating a honey packet actually stops a cough.  The ship had pretty much no cold or flu meds to buy and we had neglected to pack any.  But, the honey really helped.  Good to know.

We then had our scheduled day at sea.   Honey was consumed by me in mass quantities.

I was feeling a bit better.

The next day, Sunday,  we disembarked early and got to the airport early.  Had I known that early arrival and debarkation would happen, I would have booked the earlier flight out and the next bit of fun would not have happened.

The flight home was delayed, and then delayed some more, being stuck in Detroit for maintenance. So we were stuck in the airport for hours.

After a three-hour delay, the plane it arrived and the gate attendant said she had good news and bad news.

The good news - the plane was here.

The bad news - the flight attendants had timed out due to the delay and there was no replacement crew so the flight wasn't going anywhere. 

 That the airline hadn't anticipated this was a bit of a problem and was rather dumb. 

There were no scheduled flights to Detroit for the next day so they booked us on another airline through Chicago leaving at 6 am. At least they put us up in a hotel.

We finally got to the hotel after 9pm and went to sleep and then got up at 4 am and headed back to the airport.

At least we had some beignets and coffee for breakfast there.

The flight to Chicago was no problem.   Easy boarding and a smooth fliught with just a little turbulence

We then had to dash to the gate for the flight to Detroit, only to be told we were on standby as we were the last to check in and the flight was oversold.

We were the last to check in as we had just been delivered there.

 We did manage to get seats and were soon on the aircraft waiting to depart.

And waiting.

And waiting.

We got deiced and waited some more,

And more. Apparently waiting for the deicing paperwork.

We finally departed over an hour and a half later.

Quite a bit of turbulence. Funnily enough it didn't bother me at all but it really bothered the kids.

Finally got to the airport and then home and that was that. 

I promptly took some NyQuil and went to sleep. 

Not quite the vacation I wanted, but it was the one we got so we made the best of it.