Find Life

Amaranthe is a Swedish Heavy Metal band (the sing in English!) that is often described as Melodeath, though that isn't how the band describes themselves.

Their ultimate mission: to explore the opaque realms between extreme metal and electronic tunes, to pioneer the invention of new approaches of joining two traditionally contradicting musical worlds, to boldly go where no metal band has gone before. [from the band's website]

I like a lot of the music they produce.

Here's a link to the lyrics, though you probably won't need them.

This song is "Find Life" by Amaranthe. It was released in 2022 (October?) as single. It was included in their 2024 album, Catalyst.

Texans Are Still Armed

Home Invaders are still getting shot. 1 dead, 1 hospitalized after East Side home invasion shooting, SAPD says

This incident took place in San Antonio, Texas.

Police believe the encounter stemmed from a home invasion attempt near Lamar and St. Charles Street, where the homeowner exchanged gunfire with two suspects.

One would-be bad guy was shot, fled to a home, where police caught up to him, and he was pronounced dead at that house. The other would-be bad guy ran like a rabbit.

The homeowner was also shot, and he was taken to a local hospital. Being armed in your own defense is not a guarantee of safety. It is a strategy for dealing with a violent encounter.

Self-defense is a human right.

Sociology of Guns Update from Professor Yamane

I find the Professor's posts about his seminar very interesting. I'm continually amazed that a university lets him run it every year, including a trip to a gun range. Light Over Heat with Professor David Yamane has the latest update. Illuminations #11. Seminars, Shooting, and Stringing (Tennis Rackets)

has the latest update.

Central to my Sociology of Guns seminar is the class field trip to the gun range. Students are required to go to the range but not to shoot, though every year since 2020, all of the students have at least tried each gun. This included 10 of the 16 students who had never fired a gun before.

Some, though not all, of his students usually grant him permission to publish their essays/reflections on the range trip. It has always produced some interesting perspectives.

As for the tennis rackets:

Some of you know that being a tennis racquet technician was a hobby that turned into a side hustle that turned into an insane adventure over the past 18 years.

Part of that insanity is spending 10 days every August since 2011 (excluding the COVID year 2020) stringing at Winston-Salem’s ATP 250 event. This year, because of age and the overlapping of the tournament with the first week of classes at Wake Forest, I moved from being one of the three main stringers to working the “front of house.”

There is more on both the field trip to the range, and tennis, and more, including a bit on Jordan Salinas, and stopping a mass shooting.

Massachusetts Still Ignoring SCOTUS Bruen Decision

Is anyone shocked that Massachusetts is in denial about Second Amendment rullings? SAF FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGING CARRY PERMIT DENIALS - Second Amendment Foundation

The brief argues that Massachusetts laws related to carry permit issuance, which empower licensing authorities to deny a license to carry based on a subjective determination that an applicant is “unsuitable” or “may create a risk to public safety,” are unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The statutes at issue allow precisely the kind of discretionary “appraisal of facts, exercise of judgment, and formation of an opinion” that Bruen’s footnote 9 held is incompatible with a shall-issue regime.

Click thru for the details. I expect that a court in Massachusetts will continue to live in denial, and this will have to go to a federal court.

Levels of Editorial Oversight

CNN needs to go away. CNN botches Gloria Steinem tribute days after embarrassing Dolly Parton impersonator mix-up

CNN aired a graphic that incorrectly said feminist icon Gloria Steinem died in 2006 — just days after the network was forced to apologize for mistakenly using a photo of a Dolly Parton impersonator in its coverage of the country legend’s death.

I guess they turned the research over to an intern who doesn't know who Dolly Parton or Gloria Steinem were.

So can we forgive a typo, 2006 versus 2026? What happened to copyeditors? But using the photo of an impersonator is just sloppy, careless, and stupid.

If you can't get the simple stuff right, why should anyone believe you about complex issues? (Hat tip to Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

Ex-Indiana Deputy Abuses Flock Cameras to Stalk Girlfriend

From the New York Post: Ex-Indiana deputy Skylar Thompson allegedly used Flock cameras to stalk girlfriend, charged with felony. Allegedly.

A former Indiana sheriff’s deputy was charged with abusing access to Flock camera technology to stalk his girlfriend for over the period of a year by allegedly conducting more than 2,000 searches for her license plate.

I am sure if you asked, that the department in question would tell you that they have appropriate safeguards in place.

He resigned from the sheriff’s department the day he was confronted about the alleged abuse.

That says a lot about what he knew about what he was doing.

Thompson reportedly listed his searches as “city planning/traffic analysis” despite never being assigned tasks involving either duty, prosecutors said.

Flock issued a statement.

Welcome to the Panoptican.

Cops Use Entire Neighborhood for Bait

Because people who live in mobile homes deserve to be exposed to danger, and ridicule, or something. From the New York Post: Exclusive | 49ers owner Jed York arrest sparks anger at Ohio mobile-home park

Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community in East Palestine, Ohio, has been used by police for multiple stings, including drug arrests, and most recently the arrest of the 49ers owner, Jed York.

Cops told management that the sting involving York was a “random stop,” according to Michelle. However, police records obtained by The Post indicated the opposite.

The police report said: “York was provided a meeting location address, which was a mobile home park but he was given a fictitious lot number. York arrived at the meeting location and advised he was pulling in.”

East Palestine, Ohio, is of course the community in which there was a toxic disaster involving a train derailment, after which the Biden administration, and Pete Buttigieg, did little to help the community.

One local, 72, who asked not to be named, told The Post: “We don’t deserve this. This is a beautiful park. Now we’re being labeled as running prostitution and drug rings and stuff out of this trailer park.”

I'm a bit surprised to see this in any media outlet. People who live in trailer parks are usually considered disposable. More disposable than most of us in live in Flyover Country.

THC Facility Explodes

Ethanol, and Butane are used to extract THC concentrates. Butane is especially problematic, because it is heavier than air, and pools in places like sumps, or just low places in the floor. Then it only needs the sump pump, or a refrigerator to kick on, or encounter a pilot light, and boom.

This case is particularly bad, because the fire marshal had ordered the business to cease operations because of a failed fire inspection.

This is the StacheD Training video THC Facility Explosion Kills 2: Owner Charged with Murder! This was in Oklahoma.

Is Diversity Our Strength?

I don't think the two victims would agree with you. Who was [the crazed gunman]? Tucson gay bar shooting suspect had LGBT venues list

A shooting at a gay bar in Tucson, Arizona, is being investigated as a hate crime after it emerged the suspect was carrying a note that listed several LGBTQIA+ associated businesses, authorities said.

The shooting took place outside of Venture-N, at 12:30 AM.

Officers who responded to the shooting found all three men with gunshot wounds. The victims, identified as Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, both died at the scene, police said.

The crazed gunman was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero called the shooting a “direct and devastating attack on our LGBTQ+ community.”

Gee, ya think?

And no, I won't publish the crazed gunman's name.

Saturday Roundup Addendum - 5 September

Wombat-socho is first with In The Mailbox: 09.04.26 (Early Evening Edition)

Vox Popoli: You Can’t Hate Boomers Enough
Cedar Sanderson: Lightly Toasted Marshmallow – Axis of Allies

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 4 September 2026: Tigana Edition

Salesforce says it wasn't able to keep its profit margins up because it was spending too much on Claude AI. (The Register)
I really have to wonder what these guys are doing.

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm For September 5, 2026

“Trump Urged to Surrender Quickly in Hormuz Before Success Becomes an Option.”
We can’t let American win in Iran because that might help Trump.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 09.04.26 (Evening Edition)

Shot In The Dark: QED The Political Hat: Is Opposition To Flock Cameras Doubleplusungood

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 5 September

Wombat-socho starts things rolling with In The Mailbox: 09.02.26 (Morning Edition)

Glenn Reynolds: Goodbye, Dolly
STUMP: RIP Tim Curry – All Men Must Die

The Right Way - Top of the News

Sen. Ron Johnson Says Chinese Propaganda Fueling Data Center Opposition - Briebart News
Eighties Girls - Evi. L Bloggerlady

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 3 September 2026: Fonted Edition

AI datacenter investment is projected to hist $32 trillion by 2050. (Tom's Hardware)
The future belongs to electricians.

EBL - Martini Culture 🍸

Instapundit: Martini Culture
AoSHQ: Morning Report 09.02.26

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 09.02.26 (Evening Edition)

Defending The Wood Perilous: Fanfic vs. Original Stories
The Bugscuffle Gazette: My apologies

Small Dead Animals - Thursday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – Obama did it. Moderate Democrats? The path to zero. Islamophobia.
China Carney’s Canada: Our one party state. Canada in crisis. Solar panels don’t make sense.

Vlad Tepes - ‘Jewish’ Michigan AG asks Jews to vote for the end of their survival, GOP bans the CBC, a brilliant explanation of Islam along with solutions to those who will not submit: Links 1 for Sept. 2, 2026

2. Personally if Canada was still anything like a Republic, and yes it was between WW2 and Trudeau Sr. and for sure Trudeau Jr to one degree or another, we would also block CBC from any kind of important event.

Political Hat - Quick Takes – The Future Of Euthanasia: Face Transplants; French Paradox; Terminal Sedation

Is it really euthanasia if the patient doesn’t want to die? In France, the answer is yes!
If you want to make sure your patient dies, knock ‘em out before they change their mind!

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 09.03.26

CDR Salamander: GOFO Accountability, Russian Style
Don Surber: Trump succeeded where FDR failed

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Lights Up Iran Again

@KurtSchlichter, "Remember for reasons that have never quite been explained Donald Trump can win an election, but doesn’t have a right to do the things the president does, again because reasons."

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 9/3/2026

Arsonist Arrested for Setting Fires Near Wildfires Raging in Nevada: Police
A suspected arsonist has been arrested near the site of a massive blaze that scorched over 200,000 acres along the California-Nevada border, according to police.

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: ‘Uncle Vicha’ and the Doom of California

Trump succeeded where FDR failed Don Surber
Report: DHS Launches Voter Fraud 'Surge' Probes In Nine States M.D. Kittle

The Glibertarians - Thursday Afternoon Links

“That [otter], sir! It has big, pointy teeth!”
Those don’t look like ancient artifacts, they look like the local commune’s bong shelf in a head shop.

Flopping Aces - The Week in Radical Leftism, 09/03/2026 – Washington Post Still Dying in Darkness!

He brought a guillotine to D.C. He didn’t expect to face a felony.
Because he’s an idiot.
Pentagon secretly installs military influencers in civilian roles

Don Surber - Donald “Jed Clampett” Trump: The world runs on oil. The USA is getting back to controlling the world’s oil

Xi ain’t the only one in trouble because another Asia Times story reported, “Venezuela is considering whether it should quit OPEC

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 9/ 3 /26

Hint: it’s not poverty.
Why People Commit Terrorism

I leave you with Midweek Memes from Granite Grok, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #4126 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and Your morning gifs from Wirecutter.

Chicago's Homicide Rate Is Worst Among Big Cities

Well, at least in this list of big cities. It is even slightly worse than Killadelphia. Chicago Homicide Rate: 2026 Analysis

I knew things were bad, but I didn't realize they were this bad.

This report analyzes murder rates in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, and other U.S. cities with high homicide rates.

Local databases and Chicago Police Department (CPD) press releases were used for city- and neighborhood-specific murder rates, which exclude justifiable homicides and involuntary manslaughter. The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer was used to extract homicide rates from cities across the U.S.

Chicago PD calculates murder rates that are different from the rates reported by the FBI. According the CPD, the 2025 murder rate in the city was 15.23 per 100,000 population.

But that means that to compare the CPD rates to the FBI rates would be ... problematic.

The following rates are from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Click thru for the entire list of cities.

• New York City - Population 8.3 million - 3.92 homicides per 100,000
• Los Angeles - Population 3.8 million - 6.95 homicides per 100,000
• Chicago - Population 2.6 million - 17.47 per 100,000

There are more cities listed.

Although cities like Houston and Dallas also have double-digit homicide rates, Chicago is an outlier due to the combination of its large population and high homicide rate.

I always say that New York is 4 times the population of Chicago. I guess I will have to stop saying that. It is only about 3 times the population. NYC is roughly 300 square miles of land, (it has a significant amount of water) while Chicago has 227 square miles of land. So Chicago has only about ⅓ of NYC's population but ¾ as much land. NYC has more than double the population density of Chicago.

I would have guessed that would contribute to a higher crime rate, but NYC hasn't had as much incompetent leadership for as long as Chicago has. They seemed determined to correct that, but they are still running on the accomplishments of the past.

Hat tip to MaddMedic at Freedom Is Just Another Word…

Seasons

I'm not sure why this song ended up in my drafts folder. Singles is a 1992 movie, which is notable (to me) because it features several performances by musicians from 1990s Grunge movement. I'm familiar with the soundtrack; I've never seen the movie.

This is "Seasons" by Chris Cornell from the soundtrack to the 1992 movie Singles.

Diversity Is Not a Strength in NYC

Civilized people don't cheer on the criminals. Palestinian-American filmmaker cheers murder of Erin Piacenti with Luigi Mangione meme

A Palestinian-American filmmaker who directed cult classic “Green Street Hooligans” celebrated the death of young executive and new mom Erin Piacenti by posting a meme about alleged CEO-killer Luigi Mangione.

Lexi Alexander, who was also nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for a short film she directed, posted an image on social media Tuesday of Batman staring up at a bat signal replaced with Mangione’s face.

The sick meme was shared in response to another post that identified Piacenti, who was killed by a mentally ill woman in Times Square, as a vice president at Bank of America.

I miss living in a civilized society.

Friday Links - 4 September

DaleyGator is first with a Doug update. Updates on me

Will hear from my Cardiologist Friday, prayers are, of course, wonderful so…. keep praying

Impro Guns - Homemade .22 Pepper Box Pistol (Argentina)

A six-shot .22 derringer type ‘pepper-box’ pistol seized by police in Argentina.

Open Source Defense - OSD 392: Guns and murder are surprisingly uncorrelated

The rise and fall of murder rates since 2020 showed gun ownership and murder moving independently, in a much more obvious way than we normally get to see. US murder rates are now lower than they’ve ever been, while gun ownership has spiked since 2020.

Meep at STUMP - International Overdose Awareness Day 2026: the Geography of Drug OD Deaths in the U.S

Good News on drug OD death decreases, but disparities among the states

Crime Prevention Research Center - One Reason Why Crime Rates have Gone Down in Heavily Democrat Areas: ICE snared nearly 2,197 illegal alien criminals — including convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers — in an August sweep across New York state

Arresting criminal illegal aliens takes these illegals off the streets so they can’t continue committing crime.

Midwest Chick's Place - The Law of Unintended Consequences

Because here’s the thing: if [Lindsay Clancy] can get off murdering her children due to hormones, then no woman can be trusted with anything of import. Because it creates a precedent.

The Other McCain - Crazy People Are Dangerous

Say hello to Pamela Cisneros and, while you’re at it, go ahead and say good-bye because the 49-year-old resident of Queens, New York, died Monday in the proverbial “hail of police gunfire” after she stabbed two people — one fatally.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - DOJ Threatens To Pull Funds From States That Do Not Report Their Illegal Alien Residents

I doubt they will actually do this, but, I wouldn’t be surprised if ICE agents in full ICE apparel show up around some polling places in the first days of early voting, simply to discourage illegals from showing up.

Don't Bring a Knife to a Gunfight

A Good Guy with a gun stops a bank robber. Armed witness shoots bank robbery suspect in Cedar Hill | FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth

Upon arriving at the scene, police determined an individual had entered the bank with a knife and demanded money from bank employees.

That was when an armed bystander, drew a gun and fired. The would-be bad guy ran from the bank.

Police located the guy, provided aid, and had him transported to a local hospital. He did not survive.

Because it is a bank robbery, the FBI is part of the investigation, but no one has been arrested.

The shooter is cooperating with the investigation.

Cedar Hill, Texas, is roughly 15 miles southwest of downtown Dallas.

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

The US Murder Rate - Good News and Bad News

Jeff Asher at Jeff-alytics When Will The US Murder Rate Catch European Rates?

The good news is good.

The US had the largest one-year drop in murder ever recorded in 2025. That followed the largest one-year drop in murder ever recorded in 2024. That followed the largest one-year drop in murder ever recorded in 2023.

The not-exactly-bad news.

As I frequently note about this dichotomy, it is both far too many murders as well as an extraordinary trend that should be celebrated.

Then on the subject of comparing across countries.

Comparing crime across US cities can be difficult, and comparing crime between countries can be downright impossible. Definitions differ between countries and differently trained law enforcement officers in different countries can record similar crimes differently.

Murder is more or less an exception to the challenge of comparing between countries, especially with respect to the US and Europe.

Click thru for the whole thing. I have not listened to the podcast... over the weekend, maybe.

Hat tip Open Source Defense and OSD 392: Guns and murder are surprisingly uncorrelated, which is an interesting read in its own right.

Darwin Award Near Miss on Mt. Shasta

The following headline tells you what you need to know about the level of stupid. California hikers used AI to guide them up Mt. Shasta. They had to be rescued

They used Gemini to "plan" their trip. They didn't have enough food and water. They didn't have the right food. They didn't have supplies for spending the night on the mountain. The recommended turn-around time is noon, to give you enough time to walk out in daylight. They didn't turn around until 7 PM, and then they veered off the trail, into steep terrain, where one fell, and was injured.

The trio had relied heavily on Google's Gemini AI for advice about their route and how much food and water to pack for what they expected would be an eight-hour climb to the summit. The chatbot's advice did not age well once eight hours turned into an overnight rescue.

Using AI to plan their trip was called a "critical misstep" by Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff's officials said hikers should contact the U.S. Forest Service ranger station at Mount Shasta for current conditions and trip-planning information before setting out and should never rely solely on artificial intelligence to plan a wilderness trip.

Click thru for details, and recommendations for wilderness hiking, including not betting your life on AI.

This is not the first time that people followed advice from AI, and nearly died. ChatGPT’s hiking advice left two hikers stranded on a mountain in Poland.

Those two had to be extracted by helicopter. (That is from July.) And there's more.

This is far from a one-off incident. A couple in British Columbia ran into similar trouble last year, when an AI-planned route left them stranded on Unnecessary Mountain without the gear or forecast awareness the terrain demanded, forcing a local rescue crew to step in. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s AI incident tracker has also logged chatbots inventing entire destinations, such as a “Sacred Canyon of Humantay” in Peru that simply doesn’t exist.

The future is stupid.

August Crime in The Windy City

HeyJackass! brings us August Wrap-up

We’re back. Sort of. More on that later. In the meantime, it would appear the city’s low-IQ retards never paused their low-IQ activities. Speaking of low-IQ retards, is the 🚨 Transfemicide State of Emergency 🚨 still in effect? We finally took delivery of our custom N95 masks from China and would prefer not to look stupid walking around if City Hall has already moved on to the next manufactured crisis.

The final count for August was 9 homicides by any means, with 168 shot and wounded.

As bad as that is, it is significantly better than the past few years.

Click thru for details like the demographics of the victims, the shot clock, the number of selfies, and #ShotInTheAss

And I'm glad that HeyJackass! is back. He was on a bit of a hiatus.