Self-Defense Is Legal in Maryland

This also brings up the question of, "How old do you need to be to defend yourself?" Charges Against Juvenile Shooter Dropped: Shooting Death of Hancock Man Ruled Self Defense

In late February there was a shooting Washington County, Maryland. Brian Keith Lavoie Jr. was shot, and he later died in a local hospital. The shooter was a juvenile.

The sheriff’s office reports that following an “extensive investigation” conducted by the department’s Criminal Investigations Unit, the juvenile who discharged the firearm acted “in defense of self and others” during the incident.

The Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office agreed with that determination and on Wednesday a Washington County Grand Jury also determined that the juvenile’s actions were justified and declined to return an indictment.

The Left wants to make it impossible for a juvenile to legally defend himself. "Safe Storage" means that trained teenagers are to be held defenseless in the face of violence.

Washington County, Maryland is about a 70 mile drive west of downtown Baltimore.

So self-defense remains a human right. Whether or not it is a legal right in Maryland seems to be up in the air, or seems to be at the whim of the DA.

The Secret Service: Not the Best and the Brightest

This is sad, and funny at the same time. So, That's the Story Behind How a Secret Service Agent on Jill Biden's Detail Shot Himself

The Secret Service continues to make headlines, though not always for the right reasons. In 2024, the agency’s actions, particularly its failure to protect Donald Trump during the July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, fueled calls for its dissolution. Moreover, there were serious security breaches involving Biden officials. In 2023, a drunk individual entered the home of then-National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, managing to bypass his Secret Service detail.

And now, an agent on Jill Biden’s detail shot himself in the butt while escorting the former first lady through Philadelphia International Airport on Friday.

This is so problematic and so many levels. His gun fell out of his holster, and he had a negliget discharge re-holstering the gun.

Hat tip to Midwest Chick's Place: If I was on that detail, I’d take a bullet to the keister also

But it would be worth it to me to take a bullet to get away from her.

Gluten Free Beer

Several years ago, I discovered that I needed to remove gluten from my diet. That is harder than it sounds, as gluten is added to everything. The local supermarket chain adds it to their house-brand coleslaw and potato salad in the form of "modified food starch." I guess it is even cheaper than corn starch as a thickening agent.

As you can imagine, this created a problem when it came to beer, which is a wheat or barley product. The early brands available convinced me to drink hard cider, and whisky on those occasions when people were drinking.

Stone Brewing, out of California, has several options of "gluten reduced" offerings. They can't claim gluten free status, because they employ a brewing process to remove the gluten via fermentation, but they meet the  Celiac  recommendations. (Or they have, whenever I actually checked the numbers.) But they have been hard to come by in Ohio recently for reasons known only to the gods of logistics.

I have always maintained that the very best gluten free offering is "Space Rock" from Short's Brewing in Michigan. But they are a craft brewery, and they produce extremely limited quantities. I have not seem "Space Rock" in a number of years.

So the lack of Stone, has caused me to try some other options. Some of them are good, if a bit expensive. But this weekend I tried Daura Damm's gluten free reduced IPA. Daura Damm's lager has been a staple in the gluten free beer arena for a while, but I've only seen their IPA recently, and had not tried it. Until this weekend.

Is it the best gluten free beer/IPA/whatever of all time? No. But it is solid. It holds a decent head (which GF beers struggle with) and it tastes like a real IPA. If you need to eliminate gluten, you could do worse.

April Fools Link Roundup

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

1. Independent Sentinel: Manhattan Can Be Cuba Too Without Lights & a New Law
2. This ain’t Hell…: Stupid people of the week

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.30.26

The Political Hat: Leviathan’s Hardware
This Ain’t Hell: Korean War era Navy Vet James Tolkan , 94, passes

EBL - Musique à la cour d'Aliénor d'Aquitaine

31 March 1146 : Eleanor of Aquitaine and Bernard of Clairvaux
Eleanor of Aquitaine

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 29 March 2026: Spin Gauge Edition

AI chatbots won't slap you upside the head and tell you you're an imbecile no matter how badly you need it. (Tech Crunch)
Which for many users is very badly indeed.

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEWS

ITEM 2: Just the News reported, “General McKenzie, top commander during Afghanistan debacle in 2021, named president of The Citadel.”
He’ll also teach a course called, “Surrendering Without Dignity 201.”

The Glibertarians - Saturday evening Links

Oh hey, look who’s at the top of the list.
If you have ever seen two male hummingbirds go at it, you already knew this.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - No Kings Bikers Arrested Attempting to Block Golden Gate

How These Patriots Responded to the Dems' 'No Kings' Protests Was Fantastic. One played the Trump victory speech through a loudspeaker. Kentucky Girl @Notwokenow, "“No Kings” they say. Let me remind you about: The government requiring you to stay home or face jail time.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.31.26

Gates Of Vienna: Rémi Brague: Islam is Above All a Legal Religion
The Geller Report: Hamas Isn’t Disarming — The Narrative Is

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 3/28/2026

Russian Strikes on Ukraine Kill 4 as Deal to End War Dims
At least four people have been killed and more than a dozen others wounded after Russia struck two Ukrainian cities

Political Hat - News of the Week (March 29th, 2026)

Euthanasia Claims More Humans Than Dogs in Canada In a chilling echo of the 1970s science fiction movie Logan’s Run, Canada now euthanizes more humans through its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program than it does dogs

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - Iran Strikes: Day 31

“The USS Tripoli and USS New Orleans arrived in the Middle East, carrying with them 2,200 Marines — with more on the way — hours after an Iranian strike left dozens of U.S. service members hurt at a Saudi air base.

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: A just war. Muslims in Florida. Stalinist revisionism. Hate America rallies.
China Carney’s Canada: Michael Ma. Solar wind bust. A polite pogrom

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

The Midwest Chick Saturday Meme Drop………….
Pirates Cove LOL: No Kings Protest Hits 3rd Time

Maggie's Farm - Saturday morning links

Texas and Florida Shatter the ABA’s Gatekeeping Power
American Bar Association has ‘100% Opposition Rate’ To Trump

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 3/31/26

Communist flags. Iranian regime banners. Weirdos in frog suits. It got weird.
All the 'No Kings' Crazies the Media Didn't Show You

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Susan Kokinda Give a Recap of the Latest U.S. Distancing from EU/NATO Alliance

• The End of Politics - Chris Bray
• The Left's Love Affair With Islam Is, Perhaps, Our Greatest Threat - David Strom

Anonymous Conservative News Briefs – 03/29/2026

Over at American Stasi – Foreigners Are Replacing Americans In Medicine Through The American Stasi’s School Operations

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 03-29-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3536 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and Monday Memes from Granite Grok.

It Took This DA a VERY Long Time to Decide Self-Defense Is Legal

Could it be because DAs HATE self-defense? Butler Island Road shooting death ‘justified’

The May 2025 shooting death of a 19-year-old Autryville man has been ruled a justifiable homicide, 5th Prosecutorial District Attorney Ernie Lee said earlier this week.

Ten months. I doubt it took the cops 10 months to complete their investigation. I doubt it took 10 months for the autopsy to be completed. I believe that it took 10 months for the DA to make this determination because the DA hates self-defense, and in that time he was looking for any excuse to bring charges.

What follows is from a statement from 5th Prosecutorial District Attorney Ernie Lee.

The general rules of self-defense and defense of others in North Carolina allow for the use of deadly force when the individual actually, or honestly, believed in the need to defend himself or others from death or great bodily injury and the individual’s belief is reasonable considering the circumstances as they appeared to him at the time. From the facts and circumstances of this case, the individual who shot the fatal shots was justified in using deadly force to defend himself and others from death or great bodily injury by Guin, who had already shot and wounded one individual.

Self-defense is a human right.

How Is That Criminal Justice Reform Working Out?

The Other McCain has an update on North Carolina. Because You Asked: ‘What in the Actual Hell is Happening in North Carolina?’

A pregnant woman with a toddler was stabbed in the parking lot of a grocery store, apparently because the stabber objected to families. Or something.

Readers will recall that Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., who fatally stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a light rail train in Charlotte, also had an extensive criminal history. It is natural that readers wonder why such leniency toward habitual offenders — a “revolving door” policy — has become standard practice in North Carolina. One word: DEMOCRATS.

You thought North Carolina was a conservative state? You would be wrong if you thought that, and even more wrong in some locations.

In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump carried North Carolina by a three-point margin, 51% to 48%, over Kamala Harris. However, Harris got 80% of the vote in Durham County, 75% in Orange County, 65% in Mecklenburg County and 62% in Wake County.

Hence the revolving door. Because keeping criminals in jail is unfair. Letting criminals stab pregnant women is apparently fair, according to the Left.

The grocery store where the pregnant woman was stabbed is in one of the “nice” parts of Charlotte.

Read the whole thing.

Eleanor Rigby

I have a cousin who is really into The Beatles, so I heard a bit of their music growing up. I never really cared for the most of the stuff I heard, but lately I have been revisiting some of their work, because a YouTube channel I follow is covering every Beatles album in order. I still don't like all of it, but I never do like everything a band or an artist produces. I thought that I should highlight a few of the ones I do like.

This song is notable because it doesn't make use of any of the usual rock-song instruments, but is only backed up by a string quartet.

This is "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver.

Tuesday Links - 31 March

Andy Ngo at Ngo Comment starts things off with Portland Strip Club Fundraiser for Illegal Migrants Features 'Mexican' stripper, Frog Costume Lap Dances, ICE Effigy Attack

A Portland strip club hosted an Antifa-themed fundraiser for illegal migrants featuring dancers grinding on a person in a frog costume and a staged terrorist killing of an ICE agent effigy.

Doug Ross - The 90-Day Empire: How the U.S. Is Quietly Taking Control of the World’s Energy

In under 90 days, the last two major non-dollar oil channels were neutralized. The only remaining large-scale energy supplier left standing is the United States.

Holly’s Substack - One Way that Sex Differences Matter

In this post, I’m going to explain why there are more men than women who win Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals (the most prestigious award in mathematics), and other such accolades — and why sexist discrimination is not the deciding factor.

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: August Blues

Well, it could have been worse. The Senators got swept in a two-game series against the Orioles last Tuesday, thanks mostly to the O’s powerful lineup.

The Other McCain - ‘A Massive Problem’: Free Speech for People Who Don’t Want Open Borders

If you’re my age, you may remember when the Left actually claimed to support free speech, and were opposed to censorship. But the U.K. nowadays is like Orwell’s Oceania, where the Left has become so dominant as to make England effectively a one-party regime, and people are literally being arrested for “problematic” Facebook posts.

Meep at STUMP - The Week in Meep: Palm Sunday Thoughts

Someone commented about Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday being so popular among Catholics, because the Church hands out stuff for free that you can take away!

Again from The Other McCain - ‘Retribution for Their Sacred Blood’: Hezbollah Inspired Synagogue Attack

How is the Hezbollah propaganda that radicalized this guy any different from the rhetoric of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Democrat who represents Dearborn in Congress? (See “The Terrorist and the 12th District.”) Some have taken notice of the fact that Ghazali “was not on any terrorist watch list” to suggest that the FBI wasn’t doing its job, but you must realize that if you’re targeting Jew-hating radicals Muslims, basically the entire population of Dearborn would be on a terrorist watch list.

Self-Defense in Indianapolis

This was a self-defense shooting from early in March. Indianapolis assault suspect shot on E. Washington Street

The victim said the man began following him and his girlfriend, which led to an argument between them. When asked by the man if he could “throw hands or fight,” the victim reportedly said he “wasn’t about that” and lifted his shirt to reveal a gun in his waistband.

After this, court documents say the two went their separate ways. The victim told police that two random men, later identified as Lamonte and Jamar Thomas, then surprised him in the street a short time later.

The two attacked, and the man defended himself and his companion.

45-year-old Jamar Thomas has died, and Lamonte Thomas, the 29-year-old nephew of Jamar is in police custody.

Lamonte Thomas is charger with robbery resulting in injury, criminal confinement, battery resulting in bodily injury, and strangulation.

The shooter was not arrested; he has not been named.

Self-defense is a human right. (Hat tip to Concealed Nation)

Executed for Being a Trump Supporter

Cassandra MacDonald at The Gateway Pundit: 61-Year-Old Woman Executed in Wisconsin by Deranged Ex-Coworker Who Targeted Her for Being a Trump Supporter, Legacy Media REFUSING to Cover This Politically Motivated Murder

Welcome to the political violence era brought on by the Left in 2026.

The complaint states Wallace blamed Jones for the termination, slashed the tires on her Chevrolet Silverado, and had previously accused her of being racist just because she supported Trump.

Go read the whole thing.

Robert Stacy McCain Has a Personal Story

The Other McCain brings us Thinking About Mogadishu

This is a story about his son, Staff Sgt. Robert McCain. It starts with remembering Black Hawk Down.

The intensity of that movie, which I took Bob and his twin brother Jim to see when it first came out, sort of caught me by surprise at the time. I grew up watching war movies like The Longest Day, and the TV series Combat, and playing with G.I. Joes, and so the thought of taking my kids to see a war movie seemed like a great idea. The graphic realism of Black Hawk Down was, as Bob later told that reporter, maybe too much for a 9-year-old, even if it did inspire his future career ambitions. In case you haven’t subscribed to my Substack newsletter yet, you may not understand why I bring that up now, given that I start today by talking about the war in Ukraine.

You can find the full story at the link, and the full story on Ukraine at the Substack post: Is Ukraine Winning Now?

Asking For A Friend

Foo Fighters announced a UK and European tour for 2026 back in October. They released a new single as part of the announcement. There is an album coming out in April. Your Favorite Toy will be released on April 24th.

After touring across the pond in June and July, they will touring the US and Canada starting in August, according to the info I can find.

This is "Asking For A Friend" by Foo Fighters. It was released in October 2025.

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.