Tuesday Links - 24 February

The Register starts us off with a cautionary tale of AI. Amazon's vibe-coding tool Kiro reportedly vibed too hard and brought down AWS

Amazon's cloud platform suffered a 13-hour disruption affecting one service after resident engineers allowed Kiro to make changes, according to four sources who spoke to the Financial Times.

My Daily Kona - The Risk of Unrealized Tax Gain.

The "Cloud People" as I call them, don't want us owning anything, just resting and leasing. "You will own nothing and be happy" was something that Mao said as did Lenin and Marx. Of course they WILL own stuff.

Samizdata - The news has reached the Guardian

I am truly, non-sarcastically impressed that Ms Hinsliff and a few other left-wing commenters are now willing to admit that “there are likely to be consequences” to increasing the minimum wage. Hearing that word, “consequences”, enter left-wing discussions of workers’ pay is like a glimpse of a little mammalian form scurrying through the dust kicked up by a brontosaurus.

Echo Chamberlain - Progressive White Women Are Losing Cultural Capital

We had empowered girl boss characters on screen - and it didn’t work. The result wasn’t a brave new world in entertainment, but tedious Mary Sues, declining viewership and cultural fatigue.

The Other McCain - ‘Zizian’ Cult Member Gets Bailed Out

This isn’t too surprising During their initial hearing in Allegany County District Court last year, Blank’s case for release was clearly the most sympathetic.

Ed Driscoll at Instapundit - NO ONE IS ILLEGAL ON STOLEN LAND AND/OR IN STOLEN CARS!

Car thefts for thee, but not for me. Exit quote: “It is remarkable how quickly the traditional law enforcement model becomes essential when crime crosses the threshold of City Hall.”

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Was The Climate Scam A Massive Financial Scam?

Well, yeah. It was never about saving the climate, it was about spreading money around and implementing authoritarian government

Again from Ed Driscoll at Instapundit - WAS IT OVER WHEN JOHANNES VERMEER BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?

Senator Blutarsky approves this message!

OldAFSarge at Chant du Départ - To Fly, Or Not To Fly ...

It is, dear reader, almost time to head south again. The Missus Herself is off to California to visit LUSH for a fortnight leaving me, Your Humble Scribe, to once again fend for himself. As the invitation to visit The Nuke is always open, I decided to go there for a week, or so, rather than entertain myself at Chez Sarge.

Meep at STUMP - The Week in Meep: Shoveling Snow in New York, First Sunday of Lent, IKEA!

Warming up for the next snow dump, while some of the prior snow remains on the ground:

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Still Winning

Well, that went better than I thought it would. We played the Daytraders last Sunday and took two games out of three; we lost the opener to Vida Blue but won game 2 in extra innings on an RBI single by Tom Grieve, and in game three we pounded Larry Gura for 12 runs while holding the Daytraders scoreless.

Lone Star Parson - El Mencho Down

And dear punters, all three of you, have you cancelled your timeshares in Jalisco, walked back that all inclusive? Hope so, if not, shelter in place and hope the good guys catch up with you.

John Lott on Australia As a Defenseless Victim Zone

Topher Field is a Australian documentary film maker and libertarian political commentator. He also has a YouTube Channel.

John Lott is a researcher and author of the book More Guns, Less Crime.

These two had a conversation. This is an interesting, if brief (9 minute) excerpt of that meeting, about America's experience with armed self-defense. It is 9 minutes out of a conversation that lasted just over an hour. I have not listened to entire conversation, but I will try to get to that this week.

This is the Topher Field video What if everything you've been told is upside down? Topher Project Special with John Lott

95% of the time that people use guns defensively, they don't fire the gun. It's simply brandishing a gun is enough to cause the criminal to go break off the attack.

Of course those stories don't end up in the news, unless something "odd" happens, like the defender holds the attacker at gunpoint until police arrive. But mostly, there is no news story.

The extended conversation is The TRUTH about crime and G.u.n.s EXTENDED interview with John Lott Jr - Topher Project SPECIAL.

What's the Opposite of Diversity?

University. Survey: 1 in 4 Jewish students say they’ve been excluded from campus activities

One in 4 Jewish college students say they either felt or were excluded from a campus activity because of their Jewish identity, a new survey by the American Jewish Committee and Hillel International found.

The results add evidence to on-going concerns about rampant antisemitism on American college campuses.

Is anyone shocked that higher education is rampant with discrimination and hate? Read the whole thing.

Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit - WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF NAZISM?

Mercedes-Benz Electric SUVs Recalled

Sparky cars gonna spark. Mercedes-Benz Issues Recall for EQB Electric SUV over Fire Risk

Mercedes-Benz ordered a recall for 12,236 EQB electric SUVs, which could catch fire due to an issue within the high-voltage battery system. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

That will be expensive for each car, but I have no idea if that is a large number compared to the number sold, or if many more were sold, but only a subset were impacted.

The documents also state that any EQBs not included in the recall are already equipped with more robust batteries.

In the time before the replacement, owners are told to park outdoors, away from structures and other vehicles.

Of course the letters notifiying people which SUVs are affected won't go out until Friday the 27th, and the fix won't be available until April.

It's A Sin

Ghost is an interesting band. They go out of their way to provoke people with their theatrics. Quite a bit of their music has been reminding me of 1980s music lately, and today we have a cover from '89.

It might not fit Metal for Mondays exactly, but since I make the rules...

This song is "It's A Sin" by Ghost. It was released as a single on January 16th. It was originally a song by Pet Shop Boys from 1989.

Violence Spreads Across Mexico

From the New York Post: Deadly violence in Mexico spreads after cartel boss is killed — as Americans warned to shelter in place

The deadly violence sparked by the military killing of an infamous cartel leader has now spread widely across Mexico, as American citizens near the border were warned to shelter in place.

At least 20 of Mexico’s 31 states have seen violent clashes in the wake of the death of the country’s most wanted man, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Who had "Mexico Collapses" on their 2026 bingo card? Or would this be redundant?

Shootout in Chicago Ends With Man Dead, Concealed-Carry Holder Injured

Being armed in your own defense is not a guarantee of safety, but I still believe it to be a good strategy for dealing with violent encounters. Shootout near Bridgeview pool hall leaves man dead, concealed-carry holder wounded - Chicago Sun-Times

A group of people were playing inside the pool hall about 2 a.m. when another group walked in, Mancha said through a spokesman, citing preliminary information.

When the first group left about 10 minutes later, the second group followed them outside and “words were exchanged,” Mancha said.

Bridgeview, Illinois is a village in Cook County that is about 15 miles southwest of the Loop.

One guy attacked. One guy defended. Though it will be a while before the State's Attorney makes any decision on charges.

Beware Age Verification Schemes

Give your name, government ID, a photo, and other info to a phone app. What could possibly go wrong? From Anthony Spadafora at Tom's Guide: 1 billion personal records exposed in massive new data leak — full names, addresses, phone numbers and more

The company IDMerit uses an AI system to verify your age for various reasons. All well and good, except that they had a complete lack of security. Or maybe not complete, but certainly not enough security.

No, this wasn’t a data breach, and hackers weren’t involved in any way whatsoever. Instead, this was a data leak discovered by the team at Cybernews, where a company accidentally left all of those records unprotected online without a password.

Based on its findings, Cybernews believes the exposed database in question belongs to IDMerit, which is a digital identity verification solutions provider. The personal data in that database was used by other companies to verify users in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Mexico and loads of other countries.

Click thru for the details. The data includes enough to facilitate phishing campaigns, or account takeovers of cellphone accounts. Or more.

Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Paul Gosar Seek to End Big Pharma Giveaway

Was this downplayed in the media cycle, and I just didn't see it, or has it been buried by the media? Sen. Rand Paul announces legislation to end liability shield for vaccine manufacturers

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced legislation that would remove liability shields from civil claims for vaccine manufacturers.

The “End the Vaccine Carveout Act” was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Paul and cosponsored by Utah Sen. Mike Lee. The act was introduced in the House by Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar.

It is crazy to me that Big Pharma can release poorly-tested poison, and not face any repercussions. But that is Washington DC. This is especially true when you realize that they changed the definition of vaccine so that the COVID jab was covered by the liability shield.

“If a drug hurts someone, you can sue the company in court. You can hold them responsible through the normal legal process,” Sen. Paul said in a press release. “But when it comes to vaccines, and in many cases the COVID vaccine, the rules are rigged: you’re funneled into a federal no-fault program that limits damages, restricts your options, and — in many cases — leaves people without real justice. That’s cronyism."

You can easily send an email to your representative in the House of Representatives at House.gov, by typing your zip code into the search bar in the top right of the page, or to your senators at Senate.gov, by searching for your state. You can do this in under 5 minutes if you copy/paste the same message to everyone.

Death of Mexican Drug Lord Causes Chaos

People have been saying Mexico is a failed state for a while. Seems like maybe there is some point to that statement. Flight cancellations follow chaos at Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara airports

That headline is fairly tame, given the stuff on social media.

Flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara airports have been disrupted after Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed in a military raid. [SNIP]

Videos circulating on social media show panic at Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara airports in Mexico, with travelers dropping their luggage and running through the airport to take shelter behind chairs and flight desks. Photos and videos also show plumes of smoke swirling throughout the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco.

Here is one example from X/Twitter:

Puerto Vallarta is a war-zone, many Canadians and tourists are trapped in their resorts and villas as CJNG cartel and security forces battle on the streets. pic.twitter.com/kLqNwjCjiZ

— Toronto Crime Watch (@CrimewatchTO) February 22, 2026

Great place for a vacation.

What If Cops Don't Believe Your Legal Gun Is Legal?

This is not a shock, given that New Roads Police Department seems to have a bunch of problems. I-TEAM: Man jailed for 20 hours on stolen gun charges; gun was legal

The cops pulled over Maddox Livingston for a burnt-out headlamp, and a non-working plate lamp. He informed them that he had a firearm in the vehicle, in accordance with Louisiana law, so they disarmed him, and somehow determined that the gun was stolen. A neat trick, because the gun was not stolen.

An 18-year-old man spent 20 hours in jail this week after his attorney says New Roads police wrongfully arrested him on felony charges for allegedly possessing a stolen gun that was not stolen.

Eventually, his lawyer and his family provided documentation to prove the gun was not stolen, and the DA ordered his release. He is obviously concerned that the arrest will stay on his record.

Attorney Rob Marionneaux, who is representing Livingston, said the incident highlights ongoing problems with the New Roads Police Department.

“If I were the mayor and I were on the city council, I would abolish it,” Marionneaux said.

In five months, Marionneaux has represented two clients who claim they were wronged by the department’s officers.

Incompetence or corruption? Hard to say which is worse.

The officer involved, has since been arrested on a drug charge. New Roads police officer arrested on drug distribution charges. That makes me lean toward corruption over incompetence, but maybe he is just a stoner, and makes mistakes.

A New Roads Police Department officer was arrested on charges of distributing oxycodone after the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office narcotics agents conducted a controlled purchase operation.

This is the Liberty Doll video Man Jailed Over "Stolen" Legal Gun | Police Corruption Scandal

Chicago Mayor’s Lies about Budget Being Balanced

How stupid do you need to be to think that Chicago's budget is anywhere close to being balanced? What kind of a liar do you have be to make that claim? So, is he stupid, or lying? My money is on him being a lying politician. Audit Disproves Chicago Mayor’s Claim the Budget Is Balanced

And you need to pay attention, because the Chicago machine is expecting to be bailed out by the federal government.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has puffed himself up as Chicago's savior claiming he has miraculously implemented a balanced budget for 2026. But Johnson must be living in some sort of phantom zone because an independent audit shows the City of Chicago is suffering an astonishing $41.1 billion budget deficit.

$41 billion in deficit is NOT a balanced budget, unless you are Democratic Party politician. But then Chicago is where we got Mr. "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

He has been trying to pass a bunch of new taxes and raise fees and existing taxes. Not tax the rich. Tax everyone.

All this so he can keep throwing more than $600 million at illegal aliens. And that is on top of the more than $3 billion lavished on illegals by the state of Illinois.

I would love to see them actually cut the insanity, but it is the Chicago machine, or what is left of it, which is mostly insanity at this point.

Read the whole thing. As I said, they are going to expect you to bail them out, and although Chicago is one of the cities in the worst shape financially, they are not alone.

Minnesota Gun Permit Applications Spike

KAAL TV brings us a story from the deep blue state. Gun permit applications spike by 76% in January compared to the same time last year - ABC 6 News

Minnesota apparently has a "permit to purchase" a firearm. Though that may just be Minneapolis. This seems wrong on so many levels, but that is Progressive thinking. (The bad guys are not asking for permission to acquire a firearm.)

State data from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions reveals that 8,240 permit applications were submitted in January, a significant increase from 4,734 during the same month last year. This trend is also evident in Olmsted County.

Concealed Carry permits are also on the rise, as is interest in training courses. (Hat tip to INTERNED in Northfield!!!)

When You Get What You Ask For

... but not quite what you wanted. From The Other McCain: What Happens When Liberals ‘Succeed’

Liberalism is about winning elections. Whatever the actual results of liberal policies may be, in terms of the well-being of the people who vote for liberals, are of no real consequence. So long as liberals keep winning elections, they consider their policies successful. We see this all the time in places like Baltimore, Philadelphia and St. Louis where, no matter how objectively bad things get — no matter how much poverty, misery and violence prevail — Democrats keep getting re-elected.

There are several examples. The exodus of business, including the Chicago Bears, Caterpillar, Tyson, and more from the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. But this is really about an international comparison. It seems Alabama is more prosperous than Canada.

Yes, Alabama! If anyone wonders why Canada is now lagging behind Alabama, let me make a digression. About 30 years ago, I noticed an emerging theme in Democratic messaging. Our problem, they said, was a “growing gap between rich and poor.” This was the theme of numerous newspaper columns and a talking point in speeches by Democratic politicians, and it got me to wondering why this gap was growing.

Click thru for details.

I have been reading a few stories on this transformation. While Canada has been stagnating economically, and even falling behind, Alabama has spent a long time pursuing economic growth. Using the high-tech firms in and around Huntsville as a focus, using the universities as multiple foci, doing whatever they can to attract and reward growth.

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 25 February

Wombat-socho starts things rolling with In The Mailbox: 02.18.26 (Morning Edition)

Baldilocks: Liberty & Death – Revisited
CDR Salamander: So We Have A Maritime Action Plan

The Right Way - Top of the News

Man rushes US Capitol with shotgun - Boston Herald
Boston Makes Minneapolis Fraudsters Look Like Small Timers - IOTW Report

EBL - Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday
Bonus Saint: Blessed John of Fiesole aka Blessed Fra Angelico

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 20 February 2026: Tailguard Edition

Why Europe doesn't have a Tesla. (Works In Progress)
The article highlights the continent's absurdly restrictive labour laws which are certainly a key part of the problem.

The Glibertarians - Thursday Afternoon Links of Return to Normacly*

IRANIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST CALLS OUT UN, WESTERN LIBERALS FOR REGIME APPEASEMENT: From the top rope, with the folding chair. Shame that this will have exactly zero impact on anything.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 02.20.26 (Morning Edition)

Baldilocks: What’s Growing In Your Garden? also, Typing Small
CDR Salamander: Russia’s Middle-Aged Poor To The Grinder

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm For February 20, 2026

“Vast Majority Of Americans Want Voter ID And Democrats Don’t Care.”
That’s because they view voter integrity laws as an existential threat to their power. If they can’t cheat, they can’t win…

Small Dead Animals - Friday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – Rubio and Europe. Trumpism is working. Prayer.
Conman Carney’s Canada: The Carney government. Diversity is our strength tourism.

Flopping Aces - The Week in Radical Leftism, 02/19/2026 – More from The Nation!

Jesse Jackson Still Provides Light in These Dark Times
Like wiping MLK’s blood on your shirt so you could claim MLK died in your arms? Or how about harassing businesses into hiring your friends?

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Is Another Strike on Iran Imminent?

Beege Welborn, 'Whaddaya Have? Whaddaya Have?' Trump's a Hit at the Varsity and With the Ladies. "Yesterday was just a wonderful event at the White House - a massive reception celebrating Black History Month."

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 2/19/2026

Virginia judge on Thursday blocked an April 21 referendum in the state on redrawing the state’s congressional maps, marking the latest legal hurdle in a string of challenges to the Democratic-led initiative.

Vlad Tepes - When does a charge avoid making a charge and items for February 20, 2026

One of the first VPNs was actually a project called the Tor browser. It may still be a thing, but It was initially created and operated by the US navy. Not as a tool of control, but a tool to avoid control.

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: How To Get Away with Murder

• Antifa's days may finally be numbered - Tom Knighton
• Fight! Fight! Fight! - Melanie Phillips

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 2/18/26

One item on which Republicans need to do a better job is learning how to play the long game in politics, especially the courts.
The GOP and the Courts

Maggie's Farm - Wednesday morning links

Remembering Rush: Five Years On
Obama Center Gets Even Uglier As Massive Mind-Numbing Text Display Goes Up

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 02/20/2026

May Andrew be the first of many.
Send everyone you know to AmericanStasi.com, because you do not want your enemies smiling.

I leave you with Wednesday Memes … from MaddMedic, Midweek Memes from Granite Grok, Thursday Meme Drop from Midwest Chick, and Pissing off liberal trolls with memes, Part II from Wirecuttner.

18 Months After Being Paroled, He Faces New Charges

He was paroled from prison in 2024, while serving a "life" term for murder. 17 months later he shot another man. Nashville man paroled from life sentence for murder faces new shooting charges

Set the Wayback Machine for 1993.

Moore was 19 when he pleaded guilty June 2, 1993 to the first-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery of 43-year-old Danny Davis in Rutherford County.

He was paroled in March of 2024.

Moore was at the My Town Extended Stay on Antioch Pike Aug. 24 when investigators say he shot an unarmed man multiple times at point blank range on the balcony of the motel, according to court records.

There are witnesses to the murder, security video, and Moore admitted to pulling the trigger, but didn't say why.

This time in addition to state charges, he faces federal charges for felon in possession of a firearm.

Moore faces charges of attempted first degree murder, felon in possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence in connection with the August shooting in Davidson County Court.

Do we think the Parole board will face any repercussions? Of course not.

What Were You Doing at the Age of 12?

I'm guessing that murder, wasn't on the list of things to do. Third juvenile arrested in Portland store clerk homicide

Portland, Oregon seems to have abandoned all pretense of Law and Order.

Two 15 year olds, and one twelve year old have been arrested for the murder of Santi Ram Rai, as he worked at a local market.

Santi Ram Rai, 33, was shot and killed while he worked at 3D’s Market on Southeast 139th Avenue, police said.

The 12 year old appears to have pulled the trigger, and the 15 year olds are charged under what appears to be the felony murder framework.

Santi Ram Rai left behind a family.

One 15 year old was arrested recently and charged with second degree murder. The other two had been arrested previously.

The younger boy was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and the older boy on suspicion of murder in the second degree.

I miss civilization.

Gone Hollywood

I guess you could say that I tripped over this song by way of social media. I knew this song, as I owned the album on vinyl back in '79, Supertramp being one of the many groups I liked. This was not one of the singles from the album. "The Logical Song" reached #6 on the Billboard chart, and so it was on the radio a bit.

This is "Gone Hollywood" by Supertramp from their 1979 album Breakfast in America, though what we have today is the 2010 remastered version.

The Left Destroys One of Their Own

The Other McCain brings us as story of The Left turning on one of their own. ‘He Was Mr. BLM’

I had never heard of this guy, but then I stopped paying attention to Professional Journalists™ - with the exception of a few folks like Robert Stacy McCain - a long way back.

Ten years ago, Wesley Lowery was basically the poster boy for diversity in journalism.

He went on to become a university professor, and that is probably where his problems started.

Behind all this success, however, it appears that Lowery had a drinking problem and also a woman problem — the two problems were not unrelated — and while womanizing drunks have never been rare in the world of journalism, you can’t do that if you’re a university professor, because Title IX essentially criminalizes male heterosexual behavior.

Read the whole thing, it is basically a summary of the situation. More is probably coming to Born Lucky, either today or over the weekend.