Wednesday Link Roundup - 3 June

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

13. Gates Of Vienna: Knife Jihad in Winterthur
14. Don Surber: Making DC worthy of our greatness

EBL - Charlemagne

1 June 794 AD : Council of Frankfurt
AoSHQ: Morning Report 06.01.26

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 06.01.26

Don Surber: Trump’s Coalition of the Gulf States
Elizabeth Nickson: #WhiteBoySummer – Are You Ready For It?

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 2 June 2026: Rainy Rene Edition

Hackers have been stealing high-profile Instagram accounts via the cunning plan of asking Instagram for them. (404 Media)
Well, that and using a VPN so that they appear to be in the right general geographical region

Small Dead Animals - Monday On Turtle Island

China Carney’s Canada: Blackie’s climate warriors. She destroyed him. The 10m dollar conference.
The Democratic Party’s America: A Buffalo imam. Assault on detention facility.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Another Plate Full of Platner

David Klion @DavidKlion, "It's fascinating to me how many randos don't grasp why Collins is evil, so let me spell it out like you're children: -Republicans are evil -They support Trump's evil agenda -By posturing as a "moderate," ..."

Political Hat - News of the Week (May 31st, 2026)

Will Trump’s Reverse Midas Touch Cost the GOP Texas?
The president’s emphasis on loyalty in primary endorsements has a habit of turning winnable races into losses.

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEWS

ITEM 8: Just the News reported, “A federal judge on Thursday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to implement his executive order tightening mail-in voting

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 5/31/2026

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that he will call a special legislative session, beginning on Monday, to consider a constitutional amendment to sharply expand Florida’s homestead property tax exemption.

The Glibertarians - Sunday Morning I’m Gonna Kill Someone Links

Speaking of which… here’s an even dumber idea.
Maybe say that they’re all a bunch of spoiled millionaires with low IQs whose speech should be ignored? When Jameis Fucking Winston is your spokesman, it’s time to re-evaluate your lives.

Vlad Tepes - Bataclan, More Ackbarists stabbing people in Europe, UK police accessories after the fact? Stinging dialectics and more: Links 1 for May, 31 2026

4. Listen to the answer this MP gets from the Ruling Communist Liberal Party about how it is more important to cater to every need of a rapist and murderer and disease spreader because of his group identity as a “vulnerable refugee” than protect the Canadians he victrmizes

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

The Feral Irishman Friday Femme Fatale Farrago…..
The Shekel – Coins, Law, and Commentary – The President Trump $1 Coin and $250 Note?

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - The Talafreakco Menace

There are a couple more, but I think you get the idea. It’s like he heard the most cringey social justice pandering from all the failed 2020 Democratic presidential candidates and went “Hey, I want to try that in Texas!”

Maggie's Farm - Saturday morning links

Never Admit These 7 Things When a Cop Asks ‘Do You Know Why I Stopped You?’
Even the Big, Blue Towns Are Sick of the Democratic Freak-Show

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 6/ 2 /26

"Because I won't say that she's a boy whatsoever, they won't let me have a relationship with my daughter."
She Wouldn’t Call Her Daughter ‘Trans.’ The State Took Custody.

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: A Reckoning Comes for the Congressional Baseball Shooting

• GOP Battles Sharia: Is Islamic Law a Threat or Dog Whistle? - Paul Sperry
• Cuban-American congresswoman calls for Democrats aiding Cuba to be investigated for treason - JTN

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 05/31/2026

Tony Seruga says he sees by Speilberg’s Cellphone GPS he was meeting with intelligence and that his new alien disclosure movie is an intel operation. Whether it is predictive programming, preparation for the truth, or psyop, he has no idea.

I leave you with Saturday Meme Drop from Midwest Chick's Place, Sunday Funnies For 05-31-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Monday Memes … from MaddMedic, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3751 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and DALEYBABES from The DaleyGator.

Dropped Wallet Leads to Home Invader

Oklahoma is a bad place for bad guys. Tulsa homeowner shoots suspected burglar during overnight break-in - NewsOn6

Tulsa police say a suspected burglar is in the hospital after being shot by a homeowner during a break-in overnight near 21st Street and Mingo Road.

After a confrontation, that ensued when the homeowner saw the guy on his security system, the homeowner shot him. At that point he ran, but he dropped his wallet along the way.

Investigators used identification found inside the wallet to help search for him while officers established a perimeter around the neighborhood.

I'm guessing that isn't how he saw his day working out.

Cops caught up with him, but he resisted, to the point of biting one officer.

Lt. JT Snoddy with the Tulsa Police Department said the suspect appeared to be under the influence.

I'm shocked.

It is early days in the investigation, but it is my understanding that Oklahoma has a fairly robust castle doctrine. Why? Because self-defense is a human right. (Hat tip to USA Carry)

Meta’s AI Support Bot Used to Seize Instagram Accounts

Kerbs on Security has the story: Hackers Used Meta’s AI Support Bot to Seize Instagram Accounts

I am not shocked.

No hacking required. Just find the account you are interested in, and ask the Meta support AI to help you reset your password.

The Instagram accounts for the Obama White House and the Chief Master Sergeant of the U.S. Space Force were briefly defaced with pro-Iranian images and messages over the weekend, after instructions began circulating on Telegram showing how to trick Meta’s “AI support assistant” bot into resetting account passwords.

It isn't really a hack. The bad guys asked the AI tools to send the password reset link to a "new email address." It bypassed 2-factor authentication. It accepted AI-generated videos for selfies. (Grab a photo, and ask your favorite AI to make a 30 second video, and your in.)

What?

Meta has not responded to requests for comment on the video’s claims, but Meta’s Andy Stone said on Twitter/X that the issue had been resolved and that they were securing impacted accounts. The security blog thecybersecguru.com reports that Meta pushed an emergency patch over the weekend, and clarified that no back end database was breached.

So are you really sure you want AI involved in everything? Everything related to security?

Here is Mutahar's SomeOrdinaryGamers video So Instagram Got Completely Hacked...

How did we even get to this point? What the F- is going on?

The video is 17 minutes.

Summertime

Today's song is stolen shamelessly from Miguel Gonzalez and his May 3rd Sunday Repose. Miguel has a musical interlude every Sunday morning. You should listen to them. And you should read his writing.

"Summertime" has been covered by many artists, but I had never heard this particular version. It is wonderful.

This song is "Summertime" by Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald. It is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess.

Tuesday Links - 2 June

Paul Vallas at Chicago Contrarian is first with a story from my home town. Chicago Mayor’s Political Ideology Is Costing Lives

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s public embrace of a UChicago Justice Project report that claims police response times improved after ShotSpotter was disconnected is another instance in which political ideology appears to trump public safety.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Seattle Residents Put Up Barricades To Keep Gun Fire Out

Nowhere in any of the stories have I read about the shots coming from people driving through. Also, they never seem to mention who is doing all the shooting and prostitution and such (illegals, perhaps?). Or that guns are heavily regulated in Dem run Washington and Seattle.

Meep at STUMP - New York Pensions: Making Things More Expensive in Latest State Budget

To make it clear, two things have occurred in this New York State budget passage: ...

I hate both of these things

The Other McCain - Our Sudden Alaska Road Trip

The walls at my son’s house here are adorned with hunting trophies — deer, caribou, turkey, duck, etc. His military exploits are just his day job.

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Technical Difficulties

As y’all probably noticed, we’ve been having some problems here at The Other McCain, what with hackers and such, and without dragging all the dirty laundry out in public (because there isn’t any) suffice it to say that when Stacy gets back from Alaska, he and I and Smitty need to have a talk and decide what we’re going to do with this site.

Margaret Flavin at The Gateway Pundit - Girl Power? Dem Reps. Say Employers Who Won’t Pay Women to Stay Home from Work During Menstruation Are Committing ‘Economic Violence’ (Video)

For the crowd that doesn’t seem to be able to define what a woman is, Democrat Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) recently went full ‘girl power’ during a press conference.

Alice Jones Webb at Take It Outside - They Think They're Better Than You

Rural, working-class life has become a popular aesthetic.

Robert Stacy McCain at Born Lucky - Platner in the Führerbunker

Hit by scandal after scandal in recent weeks, Platner’s status as “rising star” is now at risk because Democrats have belatedly realized that there might be even more damaging revelations to come — worse than his SS Totenkopf tattoo.

Again from Wombat-socho - Rule Five Sunday: Outstanding In Her Field

It’s that time of year when gals in overalls get out there and start getting ploweddoing farming stuff.

Professor Yamane at Light Over Heat - Illuminations #8. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Rational Discourse

Welcome to Illuminations - your monthly dose of light over heat.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 30 May 2026: Phlegmish Edition

Microsoft is under fire for threatening a "security researcher" with criminal investigation. (Tech Crunch)

The "security researcher" in question is anonymous and definitely no White Hat. The moment "Nightmare Eclipse" finds a security flaw, he goes public with it, regardless of the chaos that might ensue.

On the other hand, Microsoft could do well to put fewer security flaws in their code in the first place.

Crime in Chicago - It Is Not a Law and Order City

I miss living in a civilized society. I miss when Chicago was a great city.

First we have a story about Public Transit. The Left loves to say that people should take transit, so it would be nice if there was some safety. Crazed Man Kidnaps Chicago Bus Driver at Knifepoint, Leads Her to Jump Out Window | The Gateway Pundit | by Michael Austin, The Western Journal

A bus driver in Chicago was kidnapped at knifepoint, prompting her to flee the assailant by jumping out of the vehicle’s window.

The Chicago Transit Authority is not blind to the conditions in that city, so the bus drivers have a silent alarm. She was able to trigger it, calling for help.

He ran, but the cops tracked him down a short time later.

He has been charged with aggravated armed kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, and aggravated assault.

And in a notable change, he was held in jail.

From the New York Post, we get a story of a "teen takeover." Shouldn't this be called a riot? 5 officers struck by car after ‘teen takeover’ hits Chicago’s West Side — as 19 people hurt in shootings

This article was published on Sunday afternoon, so that 19 number doesn't include anything that happened on Monday.

At least five officers were struck by a driver during a “teen takeover” event early Sunday in Chicago’s West Side, only the latest in the viral trend hitting American streets.

Elsewhere, 19 people were shot and wounded on Memorial Day in the Windy City.

So what is the difference between a "teen takeover" and a riot?

It used to be a wonderful city.

Professor Yamane Attended the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association Annual Meeting

I would not use the word crashed. Professor David Yamane at Light Over Heat has an interesting article. I Crashed the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association Annual Meeting

Last summer, I attended the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association (SWCA) annual meeting in Concord, North Carolina to give a presentation about my book, Gun Curious. The SWCA then made me an Honorary Member of the Association. And this spring, they published the text of my presentation in their journal.

For someone whose focus has been on defensive gun culture (Gun Culture 2.0) rather than collecting and other aspects of Gun Culture 1.0, this experience was as gratifying as it was surprising.

Like all of Professor Yamane's writing, it is worth reading.

Late Stage TDS in the Media

Another story of Trump Derangement Syndrome from The Other McCain. How We Got Here: ‘Susan Collins, One of the Most Evil People in Public Life’

In this case we have a Professional Journalist™ from The Nation, namely David Klion.

“TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP!” The deranged obsession so warps David Klion’s perception that, when challenged on his over-the-top rhetoric, his response is to post a syllogism, the first premise of which is, “Republicans are evil,” and believes that he has thereby vanquished his critics.

Click thru for the insanity.

The Platner Campaign Is Entertaining

Watching the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) twist themselves into pretzels to claim that the guy with Nazi tatoo is not a Nazi has been something to watch. I shocked to discover that he has other probems. Platner Staffers Bodycheck Journalists Asking Questions About His Sexting Scandal

In case you don't know, Graham Platner is running in the Democratic Primary in Maine for senator. His campaign has hit a few speed bumps along the way.

I wouldn't call it chaos exactly, or call what was done a "bodycheck" (I watch hockey when I'm with family), but shoving reporters isn't called for.

Staffers could be seen shoving signs in the view of cameras to prevent journalists from capturing footage of Platner as he returned to a vehicle. The Maine Wire, an investigative news outlet located in the state, accused staffers of “bodychecking” journalists who desired to ask the candidate questions.

The current scandal - not the Nazi tatoo scandal, that's the old scandal - is about the candidate and his "disturbing sexual deviancy."

Click thru for those details.

Angel of Midnight

Rick Beato is searching for new rock songs. That is fine, but he seems to be stuck in a pop-influenced set of songs. (I can't recommend the video, as I hated all of the songs.)

So I went searching for new songs, from bands I like, and a found a few... Here is one. We will get to others eventually. And this band is described as "pop-infused," but I like it.

Battle Beast is a 6 piece band out of Helsinki, Finland. I generally like their music.

This song is "Angel of Midnight" by Battle Beast from their October 2025 album Steelbound. The song was released as a single shortly before the album. (September?)

Domestic Violence and Self-Defense in Ohio

Austintown, Ohio police release details of May 13 shooting on New Road

Police are calling this a road rage crash, but then point out the fact that is a domestic violence attack. OK. I think of those things as being two very different things.

In a news release, Chief Valerie Delmont said a vehicle driven by Zachary Fisher, 30, was involved in a crash with a car driven by his ex-girlfriend during a “domestic situation.”

The woman had two children in her car, along with a man in the passenger’s seat, the release said.

The release said following the crash, Fisher got out of his vehicle with a gun in his hand and got in a physical altercation with his ex-girlfriend before coming up to the passenger’s side where the man was sitting.

That passenger was armed, and he shot once, incapacitating Fisher.

Zachary Fisher died at a local hospital.

Austintown, Ohio, is about 3 miles west of Youngstown, or about 55 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Cops are treating the shooting as a case of justified self-defense, but the DA will make the final determination on charges.

Self-defense is a human right, and while Ohio law isn't perfect, it is pretty good (in my opinion - I'm not a lawyer) on self-defense and concealed carry. (Hat tip to Concealed Nation.)

NC Violated Law by Letting Nonresidents to Vote in Federal Elections

From Just The News: NC court rules state violated law by allowing nonresidents to vote in federal elections

The Wake County Superior Court sided with the RNC in the ruling Tuesday after the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled last year that people who have never lived in the state cannot vote in state elections.

The state stopped nonresidents from voting in state elections in the wake of the state Supreme Court ruling, but did not change its policies when it came to federal elections.

This is insane, but that is the way Democrats steal elections.

Hat tip to William Teach at Pirate's Cove.

Kind of wild that a pretty Dem court in Dem controlled Wake County, NC voted this way

Police Chief Accused of Selling Evidence to Pawn Shop

It can be hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys some days. New Chicago, Indiana, police chief accused of selling pawn shop a gun being held as evidence - CBS Chicago

New Chicago police Chief Earl Mayo was charged with theft, official misconduct, and attempted obstruction of justice, as well as unlawful possession of an anabolic steroid, according to court documents.

New Chicago, Indiana is roughly 13 miles east of the Illinois State Line, about 4 miles south of Lake Michigan, 3 miles southeast of Gary, or about a 40 mile drive southeast of downtown Chicago.

The gun was a Taurus G3. It was sold to the Mega Cash Pawn shop in Hobart, Indiana. (Hobart is just to the south of New Chicago.) He apparently sold 12 guns to the pawn shop over several years. No one said those were from evidence or problematic.

In a bit if irony, his father is running for Sheriff of the local county, Lake County, Indiana. The father and mother issued a statement that basically says, if he's found guilty, then he has to face the consequences.

This is a link to Steve Lehto's video Police Chief Arrested When Evidence is Sold to Pawn Shop. He gets the hat tip, though the video is a bit longer than it needs to be at 11 minutes.

Late Stage TDS

And once again the party that claims to be for peace, love, and understanding, (that would be the Democrats) are vile, and wishing ill on people who dare to disagree with them. Trump Derangement Syndrome: Some Historical Perspective on Political Manias : The Other McCain

How can it be that someone working as the assistant vice president of a financial institution could think this way? And believe she could post something like that online without consequences?

The problem is not just that a lot of Democrats are insane — although, of course they are — but that so many people, including Republicans, are incapable of thinking outside of the here-and-now of politics, the 24/7 news cycle reinforced by constant immersion in social media noise.

Click thru for the details, including how a financial VP lost her job over wishing a painful death on Pam Bondi, and some great historical perspectives on the issue of this kind of partisan insanity.

The Absolute Collapse of Star Wars Box Office

Odin is a member of the Friday Night Tights crew, and he is a movie reviewer who focuses heavily on the financial aspects of the movie industry. And I love the numbers and the statistics. He also writes for Geeks + Gamers. It’s Official: Independent Films Backrooms and Obsession Embarrass Disney’s Mandalorian and Grogu – Box Office Breakdown

He took aim at the box office numbers Sunday afternoon, as he often (usually? always?) does.

Just when you thought that the movie business had lost any sense of intrigue or surprise, two independent films made by YouTubers blasted their way to the top of the box office discussion. For the last few weeks, the horror film Obsession has been doing things I haven't seen since I started covering the box office back in 2018. Not only did it make 39% more in its second weekend than its first without any massive change in theater counts, but it has now increased again, making another 10% gain, according to current weekend #3 estimates.

There has been much written and recorded about the implosion of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu at the box office. It has been beaten by two independent horror films. Backrooms had a budget of about $10 million, and came in at #1 in its first week in release. Obsession had a budget of about $1 million and came in at #2 in its second week in release.

Compare those numbers to the current Star Wars movie, that had a budget in the 100s of millions of dollars, came in at #3 in its second week in review.

This is the OMB Reviews video Backrooms and Obsession Just Destroyed the Hollywood Machine

Odin is not the only person covering this. Here is the Midnight's Edge video Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu is Dead, Kathleen Kennedy the Culprit

If you are interested in looking at the raw numbers, see The Numbers.

A Miguel Gonzalez Musical Interlude

Miguel Gonzalez brings us a lovely musical interlude. Sunday Repose

And a short review of Amazon Prime's series Spider-Noir, staring Nicholas Cage.

Not a bad series. A mixture of Marvel comics and old timey serials of the 1950s with a good dash of Noir gangster cinema

I am going to find time this week to watch it. (There are only 8 episodes.) You can watch in either color or black and white. Black and white is recommended because it is shot in the Film Noir style, which doesn't work in color. And it was filmed shot with the idea that it would be in black and white.

Click thru for "Dream a Little Dream of Me" from the soundtrack to Spider-Noir as performed by Li Jun Li.

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" was written in the 1930s, but you (might) know it because it was covered by Cass Eliot with the Mamas and the Papas in 1968.

Homeowners in Florida Are Armed

Bad guys haven't gotten that memo. Homeowner fires warning shot after man tries to break in, threatens to kill family, Volusia deputies say

The homeowner told deputies he was inside with his family "when he heard loud banging coming from the front door" of the home.

When Self couldn't get in through the front door, the homeowner told deputies, "Self moved to the carport entrance and began striking the carport door" while "screaming incoherently and aggressively."

The homeowner fired a warning shot into the ground. I don't like warning shots, and they are not legal in every jurisdiction. If you need to fire a weapon, it should be because the threat is imminent. If you want to send a message use your cellphone.

It did, however, convince Nathaniel Self to leave. Police caught up with him a short time later and took him into custody.

DeLand, Florida is in Volusia County. It is about a 35 mile drive north-northeast of Orlando. This incident took place "near DeLand."

Is this an issue of crazy people are dangerous, or were drugs involved?

Neighbors who spoke off camera said they believe Self came from a homeless encampment nearby. They said it's been a problem for some time, with people banging on their doors at all hours of the night, and they hope something gets done about it soon.

Self is charged with several things including attempted burglary of an occupied dwelling.

Self-defense is a human right.

Academics Have Noticed that the Value of Higher Education Is Falling

Campus Reform brings us some observations from Rob Jenkins, who is a Higher Education Fellow with Campus Reform and a tenured associate professor of English at Georgia State University - Perimeter College. Dear Academe: You have done that yourself

After a bit of reminiscing about Star Wars, as it was before it was destroyed by Disney, we get to the heart of the matter.

I think about that scene every time I hear academics complaining about the current state of higher education—the fact that trust in the institution has plummeted and the value of a degree isn’t what it used to be. “It’s your own fault,” I want to tell them (perhaps a bit less stoically than ObiWan). “You have done that yourself!”

Apparently, I am not alone. A recent report from Yale University, of all places, reached much the same conclusion. According to Campus Reform, the report blames the ongoing erosion of trust in higher ed on lack of intellectual diversity and political conformity, among other things.

I would say that the lack of rigor in various studies, and the wildly increasing costs of an education relative to the salaries that graduates can command isn't helping.

I have a degree in mathematics, but I attended a Great Books college. We read Plato, and Plutarch. We studied the history of the Roman Empire, and the founding of the Soviet Union, with all of the atrocities that involved. We read Alexis de Tocqueville and Descartes. We studied both Marx and Adam Smith. I am no opposed to higher education that includes things like literature, and philosophy, and history. But the current state of higher education is almost completely worthless.

Read the whole thing.

89 Children Rescued in Texas

The media seems to be (mostly) ignoring this completely. 276 Arrested, 89 Children Rescued in Massive Child Exploitation Sweep in Texas | The Epoch Times

The only mainstream media mention I could find on Saturday afternoon was from Fox. No one else seems to care about the welfare of children. Or they are just committed to NOT giving the Trump administration (and Homeland Security) credit for anything.

A massive child exploitation task force operation in north Texas in March and April this year resulted in 276 arrests and the rescue of 89 children, the FBI announced May 29.

The FBI’s Dallas division joined forces with the Dallas Police Department and other local authorities for Operation Soteria Shield in an effort focused on rescuing children from online sexual exploitation.

Click thru for the rest of the details.