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

Wednesday Link Roundup - 25 March

William Teach at Pirate's Cove is first with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

3. Virtual Mirage: Empire
4. Victory Girls Blog: ICE Funded Until 2029, But Democrats Still Vote No On TSA Funding

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 3.23.26

Racket News: The Swamp Log
STUMP: Paul Ehrlich & The Murder-Suicide of Expertise

EBL - Ghosts of Dachau

22 March 1933: Dachau opens
Ghosts of Dachau
Good Reads: Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 24 March 2026: Something Edition

Walmart tried using ChatGPT and in-chat purchases. It failed. Hard. (Search Engine Land)
Sales rates were one third of just directing people to the website.

The Glibertarians - Tuesday Morning Links

Senate confirms Markwayne Mullin as new DHS secretary
The Border Wall is Being Built

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 3/23/2026

5 More Plead Guilty in Minneapolis Fraud Case
Five more defendants have pleaded guilty in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme tied to the COVID-era Feeding Our Future child nutrition program in Minneapolis.

Small Dead Animals - Tuesday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: Bomber of humanity. Somali fraudsters. Islamopandering.
Carnival Carney’s Canada: Another Liberal lie. They forgot. Life in Chowtown.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.24.26

First Street Journal: You in a heap o’ trouble, boy!
Gates Of Vienna: We Love Our Prophet, Ramadan in Turin, Expect Delays Part III, Geert Wilders: “Our Country is Unrecognizable”, and Happy Vernal Equinox!

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - Iran Strikes: Day 25

“Iran launches 10 million rial note.” Hyperinflation is rarely a sign of military strength. Also: The 5 million rial note was introduced “just weeks earlier.”
Lebanon expels Iran’s ambassador.

Vlad Tepes - CBC as enforcers and amplifiers of Canadian state destructive narratives, population dilution and active measures: Links 1 for March 23, 2026

Terrorist cell in the UK sets ambulances on fire, which belong to a Jewish volunteer EMT service
While an elderly Jewish woman was stabbed in an Ottawa grocery store well before the Iran war started, or at least this round of it.

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

Pirates Cove CBS News: Hey, Voting ID Is Pretty Darned Popular
Freedom Is Just Another Word.. .Saturday Memes…

Political Hat - News of the Week (March 22nd, 2026)

Emotional four-hour debate ends with Scotland’s assisted dying bill failing
Members of the Scottish Parliament vote 69 to 57 against legalising assisted dying. One member abstained

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEWS

ITEM 7: Dr. Eli David tweeted, “Gholamreza Soleimani, head of Basij: ‘Israel can fight a war for at most 10 days.’ Today he was eliminated on the 18th day of the war.”

Maggie's Farm - Saturday morning links

Ukraine’s allies are falling away
Chokepoint Madness: Iran Refuses Hormuz Talks As Houthis Threaten Red Sea Strait

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 3/24/26

A war abroad — and a betrayal at home.
The Shadow War Against President Trump

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Trump Says ‘Good and Productive’ Talks with Iran Delivers Pause in Military Strikes

• As the world burns, Lloyd’s of London is missing in action - Ben Marlow
• Oil Plunges, Stocks Spike After Trump's Comments On Iran - ZH

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 03/24/2026

H1Bs are the last chance for the conspiracy to leverage some interest like business to help bring its overseas assets into CONUS, now that Trump has cut off the blatant subornation of open criminality.

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 03-22-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Spring Cleaning (a good-sized meme dump) from The Feral Irishman, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3516 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, and Monday Memes from Granite Grok.

Self-Defense is Legal in North Carolina

Or it seems to be. District Attorney rules self-defense in Burke County shooting.

I seem to have missed story from early March. Probably because almost no information was released at the time of the shooting. Not much information has been released with this annoucement.

On March 2nd a homeowner in Burke County, North Carolina confronted an intruder on his property, and fired several shots. The intruder did not survive. Police at the time believed it to be self-defense, but they had to complete their investigation before handing the information over to the District Attorney.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to the end of March, and that investigation is complete, and the DA has made a determination of self-defense. That is operating at warp speed for government agencies.

District Attorney Scott Reilly reviewed the case and believed the shooting was a case of self-defense.

Burke County, North Carolina, is about a 75 mile drive northwest of Charlotte.

Self-defense is a human right.

“Live by the blast, die by the blast.”

From Paul Serran at The Gateway Pundit. Anarchist Couple Die in Rome, After the BOMB They Were Assembling Goes Off

Political extremism is on the rise in Europe and around the world, with all the violence that goes with it.

But sometimes, the radical tactics they employ turn against themselves.

Alessandro Mercogliano, 53, and Sara Ardizzone, 36, were found dead in the rubble of a house. The debris was laced with ammonium nitrate.

Police believe it was to be used in an attack against a police station and a defense contractor, which made parts for F-35 jets.

My Love For Evermore

What is not to love about a Swiss rockabilly band?

I found today's song via social media, though I have heard of Hillbilly Moon Explosion in the past.

This song is "My Love For Evermore" by The Hillbilly Moon Explosion featuring Mark "Sparky" Phillips of Demented Are Go. It is from the 2019 album The Sparky Sessions.

Are the Democrats Dropping Feminism?

Or the craziest bits of feminism, anyway? I wouldn't count on it. Why Is Lindy West Getting Cancelled? : The Other McCain

Liberals judge everything by whether or not it helps Democrats win elections, and the experience of the past 10 years is such that we might say feminism has been “weighed in the balance and found wanting.”

Click thru for info on who Lindy West is, what her past was, what her current problems are, and how all of that relates to Hillary and Kamala, and what the Dems are trying next.

And the slow-moving spread of censorship and totalitarianism coming from the Left.

The slow-motion approach to totalitarianism means that most people don’t realize how we have gone, in the space of about 40 or 50 years, from prohibiting certain beliefs as “racist,” to now attempting to prohibit other beliefs, attitudes and opinions for no reason except that some people’s feelings are hurt.

It is an interesting read.

Tuesday Links - 24 March

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony starts us off with some news from Microsoft. Daily News Stuff 21 March 2026: Tuna Piano Edition

Press X to doubt: Microsoft says it is fixing Windows 11. (Nerds.xyz)

Almost everything on the list is reversing changes that they push on users against vehement objections, or side effects of those changes.

I'll believe it when I see it. Or six months after that, really.

Daley Gator - Ever notice how Democrats are always screwing normal Americans? (Glad he is back!)

Yep, tis a “shocking” accusation, but it is a fact. Just ask TSA employees

The Other McCain - D.E.I. + A.I. = O.M.G.!

One of my sons is a lawyer, and the youngest is currently a first-year law student, and the stories they tell me about the use of AI (artificial intelligence) by both law students and practicing lawyers are disturbing. You may think “fake news” is bad, but fake law is much worse.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Trump: Hey, Maybe I’ll Send ICE To Help Out TSA At Airports

Every problem has a solution, and, if Democrats want to keep playing games in refusing to fund DHS because they hate ICE and all immigration enforcement, well, Trump and his people will find solutions they never considered doing in Washington

Meep at STUMP - The Week in Meep: After DST, the Deluge

The grand sumo tournament just wrapped up today. For those who haven’t finished watching, I won’t spoil it. I’ll simply link to my other substack.

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: On An Even Keel

If you’re the sort of person who prays for others when they’re facing the Reflector Heads, please do so for Fritz, who blogs at A View For The Beach. He has been rendered humorless.

Matt Margolis at PJ Media - Trump Backs Republicans Into a Corner on Election Integrity

This is one of the most lopsided issues in American public opinion, and Senate Democrats are choosing to stand against it anyway. But Trump knows that Democrats aren’t the only ones to blame. Republicans have been too submissive on this issue for too long, and if they showed some backbone, it could get done.

Again from Wombat-socho - Rule 5 Sunday: Late Night With Daisy Dukes

Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

Victory Girls - Tone-Deaf Leftist Activists Party In Cuba During Power Grid Collapse

Cuba’s power grid collapsed for the third time in less than a month yesterday. All while tone-deaf leftist activists rocked out in their air-conditioned buses and 5-star $130-$520 a night hotel rooms. The entire country had no electricity with the exception of the places that had working generators.

Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0

The Left loves to go on about how if you own a gun, then you are more likely to shoot someone you know than a complete stranger. They miss the point of that statistic. Rancho Cordova homeowner shoots man during alleged break-in | ABC10

The person breaking into the home, in this incident, is known to the homeowner. That is apparently why he was there, trying to break into the home.

The Sacramento Sheriff and the Rancho Cordova Police Department responded to the 2900 block of Hunt Drive after 9:15 p.m. Thursday night to a report of an adult man trying to break into a home, the agencies' spokesperson said. The homeowner shot the man after he was told to leave multiple times and eventually broke a window to get inside.

The guy who got shot was taken to a local hospital, and when the doctors released him, he was booked into the county lockup.

Rancho Cordova, California, is about a 12 mile drive east of downtown Sacramento.

When the Left drones on about shooting people you know, what they want you to believe is that you will accidentally shoot a friend or a loved one, but the list of "people you know" is actually quite large.

The neighbor you are having a dispute with. The ex-coworker who morphed into a stalker. Ex-girlfriends/ex-boyfriends of you or your partner. Everyone you knew in high school you had an issue with. These are all people you know. They didn't say how this guy knows the people in the home, only that he threatened to kill one of them.

Outside of random crimes of opportunity, such as carjacking, or armed robbery, most issues/problems are going to be with people you know, and have longstanding issues with.

Self-defense is a human right, but I don't know how the district attorney in Sacramento is likely to treat it.

Massachusetts Chases Away High Earners

It is almost like economic incentives work. Massachusetts saw $4.2B income outflow after millionaire surtax took effect - InvestmentNews

Massachusetts residents who left the state took a net $4.2 billion in adjusted gross income with them in 2023, a year that marked the first full year of a new surtax on millionaires, according to recently released Internal Revenue Service migration data.

The outflow was among the largest totals in the country and represented an 8% increase from the prior year, even as the pace of departures slowed. The net number of tax returns from outgoing residents fell 36% from 2022 to 2023, the data from February showed, suggesting fewer movers overall but more income attached to those moves.

So they raised taxes on the "rich" - top earners - nearly doubling the tax rate from 5 percent to 9 percent. Is anyone shocked that those high earners left the state?

Beyond Massachusetts, several Democrat-led states have approved or are considering similar taxes on top earners – with California and New York being on the front lines – and Washington lawmakers advanced a millionaires tax proposal this month, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2028.

Two states people are already leaving as fast as they can find a UHaul truck.

It is always about raising taxes, never about cutting costs. It is never about rooting out the fraud, that we know exists. It is always about taking more money from the citizens.

Illegal Alien Executes Loyola Student

Are we shocked that the Biden Administration turned him loose? Illegal migrant accused of executing Loyola student Sheridan Gorman was cut loose into US twice under Biden: DHS

Loyola University is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago. It is in what used to be a nice neighborhood, on the north side of the city, near the lake. But there are no nice parts of the city anymore.

An illegal Venezuelan migrant accused of executing a Loyola University Chicago freshman from New York entered the US under the Biden administration, and was released under Chicago’s sanctuary city laws before the killing, the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.

Jose Medina-Medina, 25, allegedly murdered 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman early Thursday morning while she walked along the Chicago lakefront with her friends, according to a DHS release obtained by Fox News.

That group of friends was walking near the pier at Tobey Prinz Beach in the early morning, trying to get away from the city lights, and catch a glimpse of northern lights.

Click thru for the details.

The Democrats will not protest over this death, because the victim is not in one of their "protected classes," while the perpetrator is in one of those classes. And to admit there is a problem with crime in Chicago would also disrupt another narrative.

I miss civilization.

What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love And Understanding

The Defiant is a band that started during the COVID insanity. The first I heard of them was after Pete Parada had been fired from the Offspring in 2021 due to his following medical advice not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. That's right; his doctors told him NOT to get the vaccine. That wasn't good enough for the music industry. Others had similar problems due to their issues with the mandates.

The band consists of Dicky Barrett (vocalist from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones), Pete Parada (drummer from the Offspring), Greg Camp (guitarist from Smash Mouth), Johnny Rioux (bassist from Street Dogs), and Joey La Rocca (guitarist from the Briggs).

This song is "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love And Understanding" by The Defiant. It was released as a single on March 17th. It is a cover of a song originally recorded by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Self-Defense Is Legal in Pennsylvania

And the DAs seem to hate that. 2 found not guilty in killing of man outside Allentown supermarket

Oh, and family of dead people don't like self-defense either.

Following a five-day trial, Adalberto Morales Ortiz, 48, of Bethlehem and his nephew, Axel Gadiel Fontanez-Morales, 24, of Whitehall Township, both were acquitted March 13 of homicide in the May 14, 2023, killing of Jose Tirado-Ramirez. Attorneys for the men contended that they acted in self-defense during the shooting that happened outside the C-Town Market on Tilghman Street.

“The jury looked at this case and saw that Adalberto and his nephew were the people who were the true victims in this case,” Morales-Ortiz’s attorney, Stephen Patrizio, said Thursday. “Justice was done by this jury.”

As for the family, click thru for those reactions. Click thru for all of the details; there are quite a few around this case.

The whole thing, whole thing, from the arrest, to the 2 men spending more than a year in jail awaiting trial, to the trial seems to have been the result of rushed police actions, or that it what one of the defense attorneys had to say, and it sounds like it might be the case.

I looked, but I can't find any info on how long the jury deliberated.

Self-defense is a human right, but these guys got a close-up look at "The Process is the Punishment" in the criminal justice system.

No Respect for Former FBI Chief Robert Mueller

The Democrats will hate this. Scandal-Plagued Former FBI Chief Robert Mueller Dies in Disgrace at Age 81 : The Other McCain

De mortuis nil nisi bonum is always wise policy, which Democrats never follow whenever one of their enemies die. Democrats hate without apology, but become indignant if Republicans return the favor.

This headline is modeled on the headline that Variety used to announce the passing of Chuck Norris. Which they have not taken down. (See below) Norris was a lifelong Democrat, until that party was pushed so far to the Left that he believed he had been left behind, and finally called himself a Republican. Which is apparently an unforgivable sin to the Left and the media, but I repeat myself.

Readers might notice that the headline of this obituary is perhaps not a model of journalistic objectivity, but that’s the whole point. You see, I spent a decade at the Washington Times, which gave me a chance to study how our liberal competitor, the Washington Post, always slanted everything, including obituaries. Liberal journalists find ways to sneak in tendentious words and phrases like controversial and scandal-plagued when writing about their chosen enemies, and I think this is as good an occasion as any to repay the favor in the case of Bob Mueller.

Click thru for more on Mueller and on Journalism™.

Here is that headline on Chuck Norris, as posted to X.

Chuck Norris Was a Great Action Star -- but Politics May Overshadow His Legacy https://t.co/UK6kyjDREg

— Variety (@Variety) March 20, 2026

RIP Nicholas Brendon

Gone too soon. 12 April 1971 – 20 March 2026 Nicholas Brendon, Who Brought Xander Harris To Life On Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Dies At 54 - That Eric Alper

Nicholas Brendon, the actor who spent seven seasons as the heart and humor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, died Friday, March 20, in his sleep. He was 54.

He had longstanding health problems, including a heart defect, that lead to at least one heart attack.

Relatives of Dead People Don't Like Self-Defense

While I am not a lawyer, it is my understanding that every homicide in Texas is presented to a grand jury. San Antonio mother seeks justice after grand jury declines charges in son’s killing

Now I don't know what happened, but the whole "refer every homicide to a grand jury" was (it is my understanding) designed to take the bias, friendship, etc. out of the equation for whether or not a case would move forward. I get that this is a personal tragedy, but a no-bill from a grand jury is usually an indication that there is not enough evidence. Or at least that is how the process is supposed to work.

A San Antonio mother is demanding answers after learning the man charged in her son’s killing will not be prosecuted, following a grand jury finding that there was not enough evidence to move forward.

Edward Trejo, 28, was shot to death last December along Cincinnati Avenue on the city’s West Side.

Yes this is a tragedy, and while I can't imagine the grief of a mother whose son has died, her feelings are no substitutions for the law, not even in 2026.

Asked to explain the decision, the district attorney’s office declined an on-camera interview and instead emailed a statement saying it is following the grand jury’s decision. “This grand jury did not find probable cause to believe an offense occurred,” the statement said.

Click thru for the details.

Oh, and self-defense is still legal in Texas, and it is still your human right.

Even More on the AI Assault on Gaming

From Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony we get the latest AI pushback. Daily Tech News 18 March 2026: Download Some Stuff Edition. The memes have been brutal. (See the image.)

NVIDIA released a "demo" of their latest "Let's shove AI into gaming, even if no one wants that" scheme.

Overwhelmingly Negative: Everybody hates DLSS 5. (Ars Technica)

Ars Technica rounds up the response to Nvidia's showcase of its DLSS 5 $10,000 AI slop filter and concludes that... It's bad.

(Not kidding about the cost: The demo required two RTX 5090s and they currently cost between $4000 and $6000 each, depending on the model. Yes, they launch at $2000. That was then; this is now.)

I can't afford a 5090. In fact the PC I'm using right now doesn't have an NVIDIA GPU because when I needed a new GPU they were already either unavailable or unreasonably expensive. If things change in the future I can revisit the situation, but really the AMD GPU I'm using is doing fine with the workload I have right now.

And yes, I know, the 5090s can be had for about $3800 add in tax and see where you are, and the higher quality ones are more like $4500 and up. The highest priced one on Newegg is over $8000 as I type this, but that seems extreme.

NVIDIA will pinky swear that they will have it back down to one 5090 before release. Great. It still doesn't look good.

Mutahar at SomeOrdinaryGamers probably has one of the better reviews. He isn't completely negative, though he is negative overall. Nvidia, This Looks Terrible... As the meme above implies, the effect has been compared to Snapchat beauty filters.