Drugs and Alcohol Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

They can cause you to do things that end in you getting shot. Deputies: Homeowner shoots, kills suspect during home invasion

Initial calls indicated a man who appeared to be under the influence was banging on the window of an apartment attached to the house. He then broke into the apartment and assaulted the tenant, according to Lt. Austin Aamodt with the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Department.

After that, he tried to break into the main part of the home. The homeowner shot him.

Michigan’s Castle Doctrine law states a person can use deadly force if someone “is in the process of breaking and entering a dwelling or business premises or committing home invasion or has broken and entered a dwelling or business premises or committed home invasion and is still present in the dwelling or business premises, or is unlawfully attempting to remove another individual from a dwelling, business premises, or occupied vehicle against his or her will.”

Muskegon County, Michigan, is on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Egelston Township is about 20 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, or about 5 miles east of downtown Muskegon.

The investigation is just beginning, but the cops did not arrest anyone, and even assistant professors at the local university are talking about legal self-defense. I have no idea how the DA in that part of Michigan has acted in the past.

Self-defense is a human right, and Michigan has developed a fairly clear respect for the legal right, at least since they legalized concealed carry. I don't know how they were much before that.

Diplomacy, Spying, and More

The Other McCain has some observations on the nature of spying. An Unjustified Arrogance

The word “diplomat” is often a synonym for spy. The functions of diplomacy and espionage are so closely intertwined that if someone’s resumé includes a stint at the State Department, you are not wrong to suspect them of also being a CIA operative. Over the past decade, Americans have learned that our “intelligence community” does not merely spy on foreigners or seek to subvert hostile regimes overseas, but is also willing and able to foment “color revolutions” right here.

But this is really about one person. Well, we start there.

Rory Stewart was literally born into MI6, went straight from Oxford into the Foreign Office — hint, hint — and at age 30 turned up running the occupation government of Iraq, and went straight from there to Afghanistan where he founded an NGO — hint, hint — then returned to England where he joined the Tory party and magically got elected to Parliament. In all of this, he has been associated with failure, serving in the cabinet of the disastrous Theresa May ministry, unsuccessfully opposing Brexit, and ultimately quitting the Tories in a tantrum.

Read the whole thing.

FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026

The other Candidates tournament, aside from the Open tournament, is the Woman's tournament. FIDE Women’s Candidates 2026: A clash of generations

FIDE, stands for the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or the World Chess Federation in English. It is the governing body for chess on the world stage.

Also taking place in Cyprus this year, the field is as follows:

• Zhu Jiner (China, 2578)
• Tan Zhongyi (China, 2535)
• Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2534)
• Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine, 2522)
• Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan, 2516)
• Kateryna Lagno (FIDE, 2508)
• Divya Deshmukh (India, 2497)
• Vaishali Rameshbabu (India, 2470)

Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina are both Russian grandmasters, but are not competing with any association to the Russian Federation. Aleksandra Goryachkina is the highest rated Russian woman in chess history

The article linked above is from early March. Since then Hump Koneru of India has indicated she won't participate due to security issues in Cyprus. Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine has replaced her.

The winner of the Candidate's tournament will face GM Ju Wenjun, a Chinese grandmaster, and the reigning Women’s Champion. She has been Champion since May 2018.

The purse for the tournament is €300,000. It will be distributed as follows. The winner will recieve €28,000. The runner up will recieve €17,000. Third place will take home €8,600. The rest will recieve €2,200 for every half point scored.

BLACK$NAPE

Parody and ridicule are powerful weapons.

If you're living under a rock, you might not know that Papa Essiedu has been cast as Severus Snape in the upcoming HBO TV show adaptation of Harry Potter. It has proven to be unpopular with a lot of people.

This is Pierry Chan's (Nerdrotic Daily) video BLACK$NAPE - I'm Black Snape (Official Music Video)

Chicago Cannot Afford Its Pensions

This is not new really problem, but it is getting to the point no one can hide from it. From Meep at STUMP we get the following. Chicago Pensions Watch: DROP Will Not Save the Pensions

The issue is that Chicago has the worst-funded pensions of all cities in the U.S.

Not among the worst. Not in the bottom five. The worst. Either first or last place, depending on your point of view.

The City of Chicago's Pension "crisis," that is the unfunded liabilities, currently amounts to $35.8 billion.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has a "strategy." It won't work.

Chicago really can’t afford any of it. It’s not just a matter of timing of cash flows; it’s a matter of the promises made.

I wrote that in May 2023. Since then, the situation has gotten worse, and it’s not all Johnson’s fault: the state legislature and Governor J.B. Pritzker have made the promises bigger for the police and fire pensions:

That's right. In a pure political move, that everyone told him was a bad idea, J.B. Pritzker, known not-so-affectionately as Fatso, made the situation worse by increasing the liabilities. The "sweetener" will make the situation worse by $11 billion.

Chicago, and Illinois, are very nearly at the point where they are, in the words of Margaret Thatcher, out of other people's money.

They are also out of their own money, because they never saved any to pay the pensions. Illinois has unfunded pension liabilities of $148.6 billion, and unfunded retiree health care liabilities of $21.7 billion. That is the State of Illinois, not including Chicago.

If you add all of those numbers together, you get unfunded liabilities in excess of $200 billion.

Anyway, click thru for the details. It is a cautionary tale if ever there was one. Someone should read the old fable of The Ant and Grasshopper.

I find it interesting because Chicago, and Illinois were home, and I still have family in Illinois. But you know the Democrats will want to bail out Chicago, and Illinois if they get the chance.

Loyola College Paper Apologizes for 'Illegal Immigrant' Label

Because DEI is not dead. Loyola paper apologizes for calling classmate's killer an 'illegal immigrant' - CWB Chicago

Sheridan Gorman was murdered by Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national, in the country illegally. The Loyola Phoenix apologized for calling Medina an illegal immigrant. Why? Because because calling the murdering, illegal alien, and illegal alien is mean. Or something.

We acknowledge the harm such language can cause and the power and importance of the words we choose to use

That was the phrase they published in their correction/apology.

We aren't going to make it as species.

Lockdown Orders During COVID Cost Lives

They are only counting lives lost to missed/delayed medical treatment, and they are only studying the UK, but at least they are admitting to something. From The Times (of London). Stay at home advice during Covid cost lives, inquiry concludes

The refrain was, "trust the science." There was no science involved.

The message was drawn up by the Cabinet Office in Boris Johnson’s government, without any input from health leaders, the report said.

Say that again. No input from the health care community. Just a bunch of political hacks doing political hack stuff. Just people trying to increase their power.

Here is one example: People were told to stay, so people suffering medical emergencies did.

It meant patients suffering heart attacks did not go to A&E because they did not want to “burden” the NHS, which led to a rise in deaths from heart attacks.

Then there was the cruelty.

Restrictions on visitors meant many died in hospital alone and their families could not visit them on their deathbeds. Hallett recommended that in future pandemics, limits on visitors should be “the least restrictive possible”.

Read the whole thing.

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 28 March

The Right Way starts things rolling with Top of the News

3,000 Troops from Army’s Elite 82nd Airborne Set for Rapid Mideast Deployment - Breitbart News
The Breakfast Club - Evi. L Bloggerlady

EBL - Christos Anesti (Χριστὸς ἀνέστη) and Dionysius Exguus

25 March 31 AD : Dionysius Exguus and Easter celebrated
AoSHQ: Morning Report 03.25.26

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.26.26 (Afternoon Edition)

Upstream Reviews: Project Hail Mary Wins For Lord & Miller,
L’Ombre de L’Olivier: Iran & The Axis of Evil

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 27 March 2026: Where The Winds Wind Edition

Reddit has a bot problem and plans to tackle it by verifying the notbots. (Tech Crunch)
The notbots are rioting at the thought of being verified.

Small Dead Animals - Wednesday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – Cesar Chavez. Twilight of the transgenders. A medicare fraud scheme. Islamic terrorism. Marvel’s Daredevil.
Conman Carney’s Canada: Stolen land. Doing our job. Another church set ablaze.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 3/25/2026

Markets Rally, Oil Prices Fall as Trump Signals Iran Talks
Oil prices fell more than 4% and European shares gained on Wednesday on the possibility of a de-escalation in the Iran war.

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - Iran Strikes: Day 27

“Mosayeb Bakhtiari, a commander in the Iranian navy, was killed in airstrikes on Bandar Abbas.”
Israel also hit two “key naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.26.26 (Evening Edition)

Transterrestrial Musings: The New Direction In Space Policy, The Four Boxes Of Freedom, Recognition, and My “Smart” TV
Victory Girls: Chicago Politicians’ Shameful Silence About Sheridan Gorman’s Murder

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - Iran Strikes: Day 27

Iran claims it has reinforced Kharg Island.
Haaretz is claiming that Strikes on Basij headquarters have been almost entirely ceased. Targeting Basij forces has ceased.” Grains of salt are probably in order

The Glibertarians - Thursday Morning Links

Trump ‘May Call Up’ Natl Guard to Help ICE at Airports
Trump Asks Congress to Pass Clean Reauthorization of FISA Spy Powers

Vlad Tepes - Looking at the agents of the communist revolution, predicting the results of massive fraud reveals and a few thoughts about ‘minority’ rights: Links 1 for March 27th, 2026

2. The Democrat Party is nothing other than a communist plot to destroy America.
3. Mass unvetted immigration is going well for Canada.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 03.27.26

Cafe Hayek: More on Trade and Mortality, also, Yet More on Trade and Traumatic Economic Change
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday

A View from the Beach - The Morning Reading Assignment

Stacy McCain, Guess What Time It Is, ‘Iranian Leaders
Hopefully, I’ll be back to using my regular computer instead of the iPad, and I can resume the normal “Flotsam and Jetsam” posts.

Again from Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm For March 27, 2026

The Biden corruption was just as bad as we thought it was. “Tulsi shares declassified docs suggesting Ukraine planned to spend hundreds of millions in USAID money to fund Biden’s campaign.”

Maggie's Farm - Wednesday morning links

Allies are lining up behind Trump to open the Strait of Hormuz — cue the media fury
I Told You So...Lefties Have to Back Off Claims That Trump Lied About Negotiations With Iran

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 3/26/26

The threat is real. The willful blindness is the problem.
Trump vs. Iran Denial

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Trump ends TSA hostage crisis

• Inside the Criminal Gangs Planning to Steal 2026 - Elizabeth Nickson
• Cross Silo Information Sharing Has Begun Within the “Russiagate” Accountability Process - CTH

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 03/27/2026

A researcher finds tons of unsecured Flock security cameras watching public places, and is horrified. The researcher talks about being horrified by it, and how creepy it is.

I leave you with Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3520 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, Midweek Memes from Granite Grok, Thursday Meme Drop from Midwest Chick's Place, and More political and current event memes than you can shake a stick at from Wirecutter.

Crazy People Are Dangerous

That doesn't mean that self-defense doesn't apply against them. Homeowner shoots intruder near Westwood, MPD reports

Just before 5 a.m., officers reported a shooting at a residence on West Valley Circle near McClain Road.

Upon arrival, officers found a woman lying in front of the residence with visible gunshot wounds on her upper leg.

The homeowner woke up to noise, and found her in the back of his home. She said she wanted to buy the place.

Cops said she was having a "mental health episode."

She was taken to a local hospital, and then to lockup.

Self-defense is a human right, and this didn't take place in New York City.

FIDE Candidates Tournament for 2026

The winner of the tournament will have the right to compete against the reigning world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju of India, in the 2026 world championship match.

The winner will also take home €70,000. The runner up will get €45,000. Third place will collect €25,000. The rest will receive some funds based on their score in the tournament.

The Open tournament starts 29 March and runs through 16 April. FIDE Candidates 2026: Eight contenders, one dream

FIDE, stands for the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or the World Chess Federation in English. It is the governing body for chess on the world stage.

The players, and their associated federation and current rating, are as follows:

• Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2810)
• Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2795)
• Wei Yi (China, 2754)
• Anish Giri (Netherlands, 2753)
• Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan, 2745)
• Praggnanandhaa R (India, 2741)
• Matthias Bluebaum (Germany, 2698)
• Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2698)

Esipenko is Russian, but is competing without association to that country or its chess federation.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway, with a current classical rating of 2840, also qualified for the tournament. He was world champion from 2013 through 2023, and has stopped competing for the classical world championship. He did not defend his title in 2023.

This year's tournament will be taking place in Cyprus, at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia.

The tournament is a double round robin, which means each player will play every other player twice, once playing as the white pieces, and once as black. As this is a classical tournament, as opposed to Rapid or Blitz Chess, players will have 120 minutes for the first 40 moves. This will be followed by 30 minutes sudden-death, with a 30 second increment for each move starting with the 41st move. (That is notated as 120/40, SD 30+30)

Surrender

Lindsey Stirling is a musician I listen to frequently. I like most of the music she has produced. I even own a few of her albums, because you need to support the musicians you like. It is hard-to-impossible for most of them to make a living off what streaming services pay.

This song is "Surrender" by Lindsey Stirling. It is part of her 2024 album, Duality, and the 2025 Deluxe edition. It was released to YouTube as a single yesterday.

Friday Links - 27 March

Miguel Gonzalez is up first with She has served me well.

I posted a bit back about removing the plastic “upgrades” from my WASR-10 and taking it back to its somewhat original state. This past weekend I had a chance to finally shoot it in it sold/new configuration (or is it new/old?)

Area Ocho - Felons and Guns

This blog has long been opposed to the whole “prohibited person” category because we have redefined “felony” to mean some pretty silly things. For example: [Editor's note. Click thru for the insanity]

The Other McCain - Guess What Time It Is, ‘Iranian Leaders’?

Do me a favor: Somebody translate this into Farsi, and bring it to the attention of the surviving “leadership” in Tehran, because they obviously don’t know what time it is — it’s time to quit, fellows:

Flopping Aces - Champagne Communists enjoy a luxury vacay in Cuba

A company of Communists from America, including the Democratic Socialist Party, Jodie Evans, Code Pink and the appropriately named Hasan Piker, descended upon Cuba in support of the current regime.

Chicago Contrarian - Her Name Was Sheridan Gorman

This reluctance to engage with uncomfortable policy implications is not unique to this case. It is part of a consistent editorial posture in which systemic connections are downplayed, inconvenient facts are softened or omitted, and narrative coherence is prioritized over empirical clarity.

Clayton Cramer - Another Victory in a Case On Which I Worked: Baird v. Bonta (9th Cir. 2026)

Count on an appeal to an en banc panel by California but this is then likely to end up before the Supreme Coiurt.

The Gun Writer - New Jersey State Police officially ignoring First, Second Amendments

New Jersey State Police may be violating both state and federal law.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 25 March 2026: Slugs Vs Skinks Edition

OpenAI has shuttered its Sora AI-generated video app just six months after it first launched. (Hollywood Reporter)

Disney was planning to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and license some of its IP to be used in Sora. That deal is as dead as the app itself.

Meep at STUMP - Geeking Out: Were COVID Deaths Undercounted in the U.S.?

A paper was published in Science claiming 150,000 more COVID deaths occurred in the U.S. over 2020 and 2021 than originally recorded.

The tl;dr: Yes, probably, U.S. COVID deaths were undercounted in those years.

Texans Are Still Armed

You should not break into homes in Texas. Bleeding man shot after kicking in Houston homeowner's door: police | FOX 26 Houston

This guy knew the home was occupied.

According to police, two men were running down the street, and one of them – who was already injured – was knocking on doors. Police say he was bleeding from the head.

At some point, police say the bleeding man started beating on a door, and the homeowner looked out and saw him.

Instead of talking or asking for help, or whatever he wanted. He kicked in the door, and gained entry to the home. He was shot multiple times.

The other guy left the scene, because at that point he realized whatever he thought was going to happen, he was wrong.

The guy who got shot was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in critical condition.

Self-defense is a human right. And this took place in Texas.

AI - It's Not a Bubble

That was quick. OpenAI Shutting Down Sora AI Video App – Disney’s $1 Billion Deal Collapses in Major 2026 Shakeup

OpenAI announced that Sora AI was shutting down. It only in launched in September of last year.

The surprise decision came this afternoon when the official Sora X account shared a statement telling its users that the app would be shut down. Few details were given, other than that OpenAI is “saying goodbye to Sora” and that the company will share more information soon, “including timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work.” The message is signed, “The Sora Team.”

The details are huge, since Disney invested heavily in OpenAI and Sora.

In December, Disney made a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, and the deal included Disney characters from various franchises – Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and more – being brought to Sora for its users to play with as they made their AI videos.

Disney is once again looking for an AI partner, because they expect to need AI to cut costs.

Microsoft or Microslop?

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog has some info on Microslop. Has Microsoft Finally Gotten The MicroSlop Message?

When last we checked, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was busy trying to shove Copilot, their AI tool, into every crevice of every Microsoft product. Finally, enough users seem to have complained loudly enough to get them to rethink the strategy.

The complaints have been so loud that the guy in charge of Windows has promised to focus on “performance, reliability and well-crafted experiences” for Windows.

That sort of suggests that “performance, reliability and well-crafted experiences” were not priorities for Windows in previous years, doesn’t it?

Anyone using or supporting Windows knows that has not been a priority. Security has also not seemed to be a priority for Microslop in a very long time.

As for whether or not Microsoft can really change, I will wait to see what they do. Words are cheap, especially when you are getting beat up in the press everyday.

Not that I care all that much.

Self-Defense in Connecticut

It isn't clear if it will be considered legal at this point. News 12 | Investigation into Darien home invasion looks at potential link to Fairfield burglaries

Don't hide keys outside your home.

A trio of masked suspects located a key hidden outside one of the homes and used it to open the front door, according to [Det. Sgt. Mauricio] Vigil, who said the homeowner told them at least one of the suspects was armed.

“The homeowner confronted the three masked suspects and fired one shot at the suspects. He was fearing for his safety and the safety of his family, which included two small children,” Vigil explained.

Once there was gunfire, the 3 masked, would-be, bad guys ran like rabbits. Later a juvenile was admitted to Bridgeport Hospital with a gunshot wound. Police are investigating to see if that is related to the break in.

There were other incidents the same day in Fairfield, Connecticut, which is about 15 miles east of Darien.

Self-defense is a human right, but Connecticut is a deep blue state, so what the DA will determine about charges is beyond my ability to guess.

Buyers of Luxury Cars Don't Really Want Electric

Two stories about true, high-end, luxury cars: Bentley and Rolls Royce.

First: Bentley Scraps Four Future EVs, But One Model Still Survives

The British luxury brand had big plans to go all electric, but consider that plan delayed big time.

Next: WATT HAPPENED Rolls-Royce scraps 2030 all-electric car target as ‘drivers prefer the feel of V12 engines’

No kidding.

ROLLS-Royce has become the latest major car brand to back away from its earlier commitment to become a fully electric carmaker by 2030.

This is the MGUY Australia video Yay! LEGENDARY British car brands ABANDON "electric only" plans

A Comparison of Florida and New York State

I saw this bit on the relative populations of New York and Florida, and some data about how much the states spend. I found it to be interesting.

First the population data that I ran across. I'm surprised that New York has stayed that stable. I would have expected a decrease in the population.

25 years ago, Florida was 16% (3M) smaller than New York.

Today, Florida is 19% (3.8M) larger. pic.twitter.com/Gu4vrxV8Iq

— RIP MASSACHUSETTS (@theripsnorter) March 22, 2026

It made me wonder about the respective state budgets. So I turned to an AI app for some info. I was mostly limited to proposed budgets, as opposed to what they actually spent based on the time I had for additional research.

First NY State: NYS Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget Proposal – January 22, 2025

Overall, the Executive Budget proposes total spending of $252 billion in FY 2026, an increase of $8.6 billion or 3.6% from revised FY 2025 estimates.

Because of course there needs to be an increase.

Now let's look at Florida: Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Florida Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget

Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025–2026, totaling $117.4 billion after $567 million in line-item vetoes.

Florida has a population that is 19% larger than New York State, and yet has a budget that is only 46.6 percent of the budget of New York State. Less than half.

Now there may some reasons for spending more in certain areas. Florida doesn't have to plow snow, after all. But to spend twice as much as Florida, on a smaller population... I think someone might need to open a fraud investigation in Albany. They certainly need to ask what they are spending money on.

Britain’s Naval Preparedness

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog has an update on our ally's readiness. “The Shocking State Of Britain’s Navy In 2026”

Many have criticized the Royal Navy for not doing more to assist the U.S. against Iran, even after Iranian missiles hit an RAF base on Cyprus. But Mark Felton tells us the reason why, just as he did last year with The Navy With More Admirals Than Warships: The Royal Navy is so radically shrunk that it’s already inadequate even for the tasks it’s already assigned to carry out.

This is the Mark Felton Productions video The Shocking State of Britain's Navy 2026