Lanterns

Because the show runner, Damon Lindelof, thought Green was stupid or something.

Green Lanterns isn't my favorite comic of all time, but if you are going to hire someone to adapt a superhero comic for TV, maybe you should hire someone who doesn't hate superhero comics.

This is Critical Drinker's video Lanterns - A Superhero Show That Hates Superheroes

Instead of making a show about intergalactic space cops going on cosmic adventures and battling all manners of weird and wonderful alien threats, they instead decided to make a Temu version of True Detective, complete with bleak, cynical, and mostly unlikable characters who constantly have to swear to prove just how edgy they are. Patched together with all the tedious tropes of modern Hollywood writing and the usual laundry list of safe, predictable political targets like Republicans, smalltown America, and immigration policy. And holy fuck balls is it tedious.

The video is seven and a half minutes long, which is much shorter than watching the actual episode.

I love the videos from folks like The Critical Drinker, because they save me from wasting time on shows and movies I might have been tempted to watch.

Nerdrotic also chimed in, on X, and YT.

Hal Jordan was fridged in Lanterns.
IYKYK

— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) August 17, 2026

This is the Nerdrotic video Lanterns - Green Lantern GUNNED Down. This video is 24 minutes.

How Should a Woman Defend Herself?

I wish the gun-hating part of the Left would explain what else should have done. Coroner IDs man killed in Fairpoint Avenue shooting in Harrison Township

According to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, James Cameron, 34, died on August 5 following a shooting on Fairpoint Avenue.

As of a press conference given by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office on August 5, Chief of Staff Jeremy Roy said information about the alleged shooter will not be released other than that she is a 33-year-old female with a concealed carry permit.

This was a burglary at 2:15 AM on 5 August. He broke in. She shot him. He did not survive.

Montgomery County, Ohio, is home to Dayton. Dayton is the county seat.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department is treating this as justifiable self-defense, though any charges will be up to the DA.

Self-defense is a human right.

Is Connecticut Using Technology to Block the 2A?

From The Gun Writer we get a story from a blue state. Connecticut gun dealers forced to suffer yet another no-sales day

Connecticut doesn't let FFLs run NICS checks. They dealers have to use the Connecticut system, which would be fine if that system actually worked.

Saturday was supposed to be a big sales day for Lock N’ Load Firearms, which is located in Southington, Connecticut. The gun shop has two major sales each year, and Saturday was its “Customer Appreciation Day.” The store spent a lot on advertising the event and on party goods. Several vendors came out for the sale.

The fun ended around 11:40 a.m., when the state’s computer system went down, and it stayed down throughout most of the day.

An employee of another gun store said the outages are becoming a regular thing.

And outages are not the only problem.

Common names, he said, like “John Smith” have become a serious issue for the state’s computer systems, which lack the clarity of a NICS Unique Personal Identification Number or UPIN, which gun owners can apply for.

Which is insane.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has begun to ask if the whole thing is a deliberate attempt to stand in the way of the Second Amendment.

Click thru for details.

Northwestern University Ends African Studies

The Post Millennial brings us the update. Northwestern University to end African studies program

OK, it isn't ending. It is "transitioning," to something besides "an Office for Research university-wide research institute and center."

Northwestern University is reportedly planning to end its African studies program by the end of the month.

According to The Purple Wire, two sources at the university said administrators informed staff that the program would end at the end of August. One staff member said that staff was not given a reason for the closing.

Wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Left to ensue in 3, 2, 1, ...

“They told us that the center is closing, so all staff are being laid off because there will be no center to employ you,” a staffer said.

There is some question about if, or how, some other part of the university will absorb the program.

Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois, directly north of the City of Chicago. It is bordered by Chicago to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north.

Wednesday Link Roundup - 19 August

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

Don Surber has highlights of the week.
Doug Ross has Larwyn’s Linx. And more Larwyn’s Linx.

Wombat-socho - In Th Mailbox: 08.18.26 (Afternoon Edition)

John C. Wright: Cliche, Archetype, Character
Stoic Observations: Bourgeois Fragility

EBL - Saturday Night Girls With Guns

EBL: The Liberty Tree
Saturday night is right for girls with guns...
Staten Island when the Hessians show up, 15 August 1776

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 18 August 2026: Lexx News Edition

Meta faces a $1.4 trillion fine in a case brought by multiple US stats over (checks notes) creating a product that people wanted to use. (Engadget)
May be time to pull some strings and drop space rocks on statehouses.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 8/18/2026

Iran Food Prices Soar 400% as U.S. Sanctions Bite Economy
Iranian citizens report food prices surging 400 percent under U.S. sanctions as annual inflation exceeds 80 percent and the rial collapses to 1.88 million against the dollar.

Small Dead Animals - Saturday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – Destroying norms. Electoral integrity.
Brookfield Carney’s Canada: A car accident. Come to Canada and get free stuff.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 08.18.26 (Evening Edition)

Don Surber: The perfect Democrat candidate
First Street Journal: Killadelphia, But it’s not my fault, You in a heap o’ trouble, boy ** Updated! **, Killadelphia (2), and So, what would Andy Beshear do?

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Jason Arday Dead

RedState's Teri Christoph sees Biden’s Former Press Secretary Calls Karoline Leavitt a Liar—Then Gets Hit With a Brutal Fact Check. Insty, QUESTION ASKED: Who could replace White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt? "AND ANSWERED:" Not a bad choice

Political Hat - News of the Week (August 16th, 2026)

Disaster Averted
There have been lots of bizarre primary results around the country–mostly on the Democrat side, to be fair–but it looks like here in Minnesota, reason has prevailed.

Don Surber - Highlights of the week

ITEM 3: The Last Refuge reported, “After Advocating for Illegal Alien Leniency and Amnesty, Mike Lindell Gets Crushed in Minnesota Primary.”
That put a pillow over his political aspirations.

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

Pirates Cove Judge Rules TPS For Somalis Can Be Ended
Freedom Is Just Another Word.. .Saturday Memes…

The Glibertarians - Saturday Morning Batshit Crazy Links

I wish there were a comments section. I can only imagine…
When everything is racism, nothing is rac… wait… OK, it’s racism.
Can I hate everybody in this story?

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

Here are further thoughts from Bob Graboyes on AI.
C. Jarrett Dieterle reports this unhappy news: “New Jersey revives the fight to reclassify gig workers as employees.”

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

Armed Good Guy Successful in Miami Gardens When 2 Street Entrepreneurs’ Business Plan Goes Badly
What Does It Take to Reopen a Nuclear Power Plant?

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 8/ 17 /26

Mass immigration can only work if immigrants are introduced to a common American culture and expected to assimilate.
America’s Stranger Problem

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: War

Is America Entering an Age of Unfreedom? - Zineb Riboua
Interactive Search Map for Flock Cameras Near You - CTH

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 08/18/2026

150 pages of FBI documents on Fang Fang and Swalwell document how she was laundering contributions to him in return for placing interns in his office.

I leave you with Bookworm Beat 8/15/26: The Apocalypse today meme edition from Bookworm Room, Saturday Memes …. from MaddMedic, Saturday’s First Day of the Weekend Meme Drop 8-15-26 from Midwest Chick's Place, Sunday Funnies For 08-16-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, and Monday Memes from Granite Grok.

We All Need More Time at the Range

But it is my understanding that there are no shooting ranges in the City of Chicago. Chicago shooting: Shots fired between 3 suspects, CCL holder near CTA Blue Line station on N. Milwaukee Ave. in Jefferson Park - ABC7 Chicago

Three people approached a man on the northwest side. They keep saying "near a Blue Line station" of the El, but I'm not really sure why that is an issue.

There was an argument. As the man walked away, the three other people began shooting. The man returned fire, but no one was hit, CPD said.

The guy who was approached is a Concealed Carry Weapon license holder, which is becoming more common in Chicago.

The Chicago PD claims to be investigating, but I don't expect them to find anything. The closure rate by Chicago PD is very low.

Must Keep the Poor Folks from Exercising Their Rights

This was illegal when the racists wanted to keep poor blacks from voting. My guess is that it is illegal today. SoCal City Jacks Up Concealed Carry Application Fee by 1000 Percent

As one X user pointed out in response to Moros's post, Glendale was "only" charging $100 for a concealed carry license a year ago. That's still about twice what I pay for my carry license in Virginia, but it's also almost 1,000 percent less than the $1078 Glendale is now forcing residents to cough up before they can exercise a fundamental civil right.

Say that again. Glendale is now charging $1,078 for new permits, and they are charging $828 to renew those permits.

There's already a legal challenge underway to the sky-high fees imposed in Santa Clara County, California, but it may be necessary to go after Glendale as well. And the Justice Department, which just entered into a settlement with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department over the lengthy delays in processing carry applications, should be very interested in what Glendale, Santa Clara County, and other jurisdictions are charging residents to exercise a right.

They will do blatantly illegal stuff to "get their way." It is the municipal version of 2-year-old throwing a tantrum in the grocery store.

Send Me On My Way

Another song that comes to us by way of WXRT's Saturday Morning Flashback. WXRT (Chicago's Finest Rock) was revisiting 1994 on 1 August.

I like Saturday Morning Flashback, because I hear music I wouldn't hear anyplace else. Music I heard regularly on the radio, that dropped completely out of my life, when the radio and the market moved on. Music I liked, but not enough to have purchased the CD.

This song is "Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Root from their 1994 album When I Woke.

RIP Frank Beard - Drummer for ZZ Top

Frank Beard. 11 June 1949 to 17 August 2026

The Feral Irishman brings us bad news. R.I.P. Frank Beard

Click thru for one video that contains the songs "La Grange" from the 1973 album Tres Hombres, "Gimme All Your Lovin'" from the 1983 album Eliminator, "Sharp Dressed Man," also from Eliminator, "Tush" from Fandango (1975), and "Legs" from Eliminator. And a couple of great photos.

Rolling Stone, which I have mostly abandoned in recent years, has Frank Beard, ZZ Top’s Hard-Shuffling Drummer, Dead at 77

The tireless drummer anchored the Texas band on hits like “La Grange,” “Tush,” and “Cheap Sunglasses” during its five-decade run

And an interesting headline from Newsweek (by way of MSN). Frank Beard had the most ironic name in rock. Now ZZ Top's drummer is gone.

Frank Beard, the ZZ Top drummer whose name became one of rock’s enduring ironies as the band’s only member usually without a beard, has died at 77.

Tuesday Links - 18 August

Wendy Laubach at Chicago Boyz starts us off with The un-scholarships

In 2011 Peter Thiel started the Thiel Fellowship program to award several hundred thousand dollars apiece and mentorship access to extraordinary individuals willing to skip college or drop out by age 22.

Take It Outside by Alice Jones Webb - The Softest Hands in Edgecombe County

You can learn a lot about a person by their reaction to being handed a “bear grease brownie.”

Matt E. at The Firearm Blog - Concealed Carry Corner: Realities of Self-Defense

This week, I wanted to look at some of the realities of self-defense and how it starts to change your behavior over time.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 15 August 2026: Twenty Essential Classical Elements Edition

Who are you and what have you done with France? France's Constitutional Council has found the French government's plan to block social media access to children under 15 unconstitutional for the burden it would place on everyone over the age of 15. (Reuters)

Cedar Sanderson - Competence Porn

Competence does not mean perfect. We should all like competent heroes. Take Miles Vorkosigan for instance. He was competent, but far from perfect.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Judge Rules TPS For Somalis Can Be Ended

I’m still not sure why this is so difficult, being that the 18 month renewal period had already ended, and the Supreme Court basically said that the Executive Branch has control, not the courts, but, whatever

Meep at STUMP - The Week in Meep: Capybaras, Falls, Liars, and Chocolate!

I was with my kids (all early 20s) and my parents (NOT early 20s) in the Poconos. I love being in the Appalachians, and these are very close to where I live. We always find something different to do each time we go there.

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Another Rough Start

After a horrendous wipeout at Fenway, the Senators bounced back and took two out of three from the Royals at Metropolitan Stadium

Granite Grok - MACDONALD: Impotent Anti-ICE Protests in Keene

There have been weekly protests around the Monadnock region in opposition to ICE enforcing federal law, and no one seems to have asked them about “no one being above the law”?

How Do Prosecutors Ignore Evidence in a Murder Trial for Months?

Ignoring evidence for 21 or 22 months seems like malpractice, somehow. MOM WALKS FREE: Prosecutors dump murder charges against mom who shot husband after 5-hour tape backs self-defense

So in October of 2024, Latoya Crabbe killed her estranged husband Curtis Crabbe. There exists an audio recording that covers 5 hours of the day in question. Prosecutors ignored that evidence until August of 2026.

In a statement released this afternoon, the office said prosecutors and investigators from the Manassas City Police Department recently accessed a previously unexamined five-hour audio recording recovered from a digital device seized during the investigation. The recording captured conversations and events immediately leading up to the shooting.

“Following an exhaustive review of the audio and its transcript, the Commonwealth has concluded that the recording introduces significant evidence that a reasonable jury could interpret as supporting a claim of lawful self-defense,” the statement notes

At least she hasn't been in jail, awaiting trial the entire time. She has been free on bond.

So what causes prosecutors to ignore evidence for months? October 2024 until August 2026 is a long time. Because they hate the idea of self-defense, and are happy to ignore anything that might interfere with their case. Well, that is how it seems to me. I'm sure if you asked the Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, they would have a more reasonable excuse reason.

At least the Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office eventually got to the evidence, and admitted that self-defense is legal in Virginia.

20 Times The Government-Media Complex Lied to America

From Doug Ross: Top 20 Times “Misinformation” Was Actually the Truth

Trust the science. Trust the experts. Trust the media. How often were we told that during the lockdowns? And the media (and the experts) are still confused about why we don't believe them anymore.

Most of the items have to do with the Wuhan Flu, which is understandable given how hard Fauci and Company were defending their friends in Big Pharma. But not all.

2. Platform and institutional suppression of the Hunter Biden story: Labeled disinfo to limit reach pre-election; authenticity later confirmed by forensics, media, and federal trials. Fifty-one intelligence officials, media, and tech all singing the “Russian disinfo” chorus right before voters headed to the polls—sheer coincidence, I’m sure.

Click thru. There are gain-of-function research lies, Wuhan funding lies, more Hunter Biden info, and Biden's cognitive decay.

Academia and Jason Arday

From Richard Hanania's Newsletter: They're the Ones Who Told Us to Pay Attention to Jason Arday

Jason Arday was a professor at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He was lauded as the “youngest black professor at Cambridge.” He had been guilty of excessive plagiarism, and when he had been called out, in a way that no one could dispute, he killed himself.

This reminds me of something an old professor told me when I was in graduate school. He was a historian who had grown disgusted with the direction in which academia had gone. In his class, we would dig deep into some of the work of prominent political scientists and expose the flaws in their papers and books. This was effective in puncturing the aura that surrounded high-status figures in academia, and we would wonder how they got away with producing such drivel. He told us that many academics saw their work “like a game.” You don’t care all that much if someone you know cheats in a board game. Who cares? Why start a conflict? We’ve all got a nice thing going here, and it’s better if we all just continue getting along.

I have seen several folks on the Left blaming the people who exposed the plagiarism for his death. As far as I'm concerned, that is just self-delusion. No one is to blame for his actions but himself. While you can make a case that the Left that celebrated him without bothering to validate any of his claims for some of the blame, in my estimation he is responsible for his own actions.

Still people are looking at academia over this issue. (Academia is under scrutiny for many reasons, but I'm just focusing on one thing.)

It’s become a cliché at this point to say that the Arday story is more interesting as an indictment of academia than of him as a person. The New York Times just ran a brutally frank article about how unqualified he was for his position, and how the committee that hired him at Cambridge had experts in autism who should have been aware that his story about being nonverbal until 11 and then becoming a scholar couldn’t have been true.

And this didn't happen at some 3rd rate college in the middle of nowhere. Cambridge University is one of the premiere universities in the UK, or Europe, or the world.

This may be the ultimate DEI fable.

Born Again

Beast in Black is a Power Metal band originally from Helsinki, Finland. Don't worry, they sing in English. And you also don't need to worry about the Death Metal, Death Growl. Yannis Papadopoulos, the lead singer, has an almost supernatural clarity in his singing, and despite the fact that he is Greek, I never have trouble understanding him. And anyway, today's video includes the lyrics.

And I can't call this is a Power Ballad. It's a love song, and parts of it are ballad like, but mostly it is just Heavy Metal.

This song is "Born Again" by Beast in Black from their 2017 album Berserker.

Texans Are Still Armed

And being armed for your own defense is not a cloak of invulnerability. 1 man killed, another injured in shooting at Fort Worth home, police say

Police say a male homeowner had returned home when he saw another man on his property. A verbal fight reportedly broke out between the two, which escalated to them exchanging gunfire.

The homeowner was shot, and taken to a local hospital. The intruder did not survive.

And this is apparently a domestic violence incident.

According to police, the man who was killed had an active protective order against someone who lived in the home.

Or was the order of protection against him?

Either way, this is very early in the investigation, as this happened Saturday afternoon.

Improvised Guns in South Australia

Impro guns has the details. Guns seized following vehicle stop in South Australia

A search conducted following a vehicle stop yesterday [August 12th] uncovered a jerry-rigged stapler and Aliexpress LifeCard®. Not a terrible effort I suppose. Get this man some more meth.

The stapler doesn't give me a good feeling, but the other efforts look good enough to inspire some confidence, including one that appears to have some 3D-printed parts.

South Australia is an Australian state in the south-central part of the continent. It contains some of the driest parts of the country, and it has a population of about 2 million.

Click thru for the photos, and follow the link for the statement from the police (and additional photos).

July Gun Sales Rebound

From The Firearm Blog: July's NICS Numbers Show We're Back In Business

After the election of 2024, gun sales showed a bit of a slump in 2025. Which is understandable. July of 2025 was the first time NICS checks has fallen below 1 million in 6 years. 2026 has shown a rebound.

The NSSF’s adjusted numbers show 1,061,883 relevant NICS queries in July of 2026. That’s a rise of 8.5 percent from last July, which was the first time in six years that NICS queries had dropped below a million.

With the tax cost for suppressors and SBRs falling to zero dollars, July also saw healthy NFA checks. Something that may or may not be possible to track going forward.

Click thru for details on how the numbers are checked, what the rise in concealed carry permits does to the statistics, and more info on NFA items.

'Coyote vs. Acme' Looks Like a Promising Film

Maybe Hollywood is healing. Probably not, but maybe. From DiscussingFilm: 'Coyote vs. Acme' Review - A Superbly Looney Comedy Worth Saving

Every animation fan has spent some amount of time wishing for another Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Robert Zemeckis’ 1988 masterpiece remains the gold standard for live-action and animation hybrids; a seemingly impossible balancing act of technical wizardry, timeless comedy, and genuine cinematic magic. Plenty of films have tried to capture that same lightning in a bottle, with varying degrees of success. The Looney Tunes themselves have taken a few swings at it, from Space Jam (1996) and its 2021 sequel to Joe Dante’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). Now, after an unexpectedly rocky journey to the big screen, Coyote vs. Acme (2026) gets its chance.

Like The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Coyote vs. Acme was almost shelved as a write-off. Instead, both films were rescued by Ketchup Entertainment.

Wile E. Coyote is suing Acme for selling defective products. Seems like an interesting place to start.

This is the Official Trailer for Coyote vs. ACME. While it was shown at San Diego Comic-Con in July, it opens August 28th. And it is 103 minutes, which is a reasonable length for a movie.

Floridians Are Heavily Armed

This case also highlights the fact that people you know can be a threat. Man shot, killed inside Fort Pierce home after attacking homeowner; no charges filed

The gun-hating part of the Left (it isn't all of the Left) loves to go on at length about how if you own a gun, you are more likely to shoot someone you know, than a perfect stranger. The implication is that shooting someone you know is always bad, but it can be justified self-defense.

Also, relatives of dead people don't like self-defense.

A 37-year-old man was shot and killed after deputies say he entered a St. Lucie County home and attacked a 22-year-old man during a dispute.

These two guys knew each other, and had been in a "dispute" that involved both verbal and text-message exchanges.

Investigators say the suspect, who has yet to be identified, made several threats before showing up at the home.

Deputies say he knocked on the front door and was let inside before a brawl broke out.

The 22-year-old homeowner "disengaged" from the brawl, drew a weapon, and fired one shot.

The suspect was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

St. Lucie County, Florida is about 80 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, or about 40 miles north of Palm Beach, Florida.

As for the family...

"It's not fair, 'cause my son has no father now. He's five years old, and what am I gonna tell him? We didn't even get to say goodbye," said Naomi Pallarez, the girlfriend of the man who died.

The homeowner is cooperating with the investigation, and no charges have been filed. The ultimate decision on charges belongs to the State Attorney's Office for St. Lucie County.

Self-defense is a human right, and this didn't take place in Massachusetts.