Don't Bring a Knife to a Gunfight

Trying bad stuff in Polk County, Florida, is a bad bet. Knife-wielding migrant stopped by armed citizens at Polk County Dollar General

Natalia Gaviria from Colombia, who is currently living in Kissimmee, Florida, went to the store in Polk County, and pulled out a knife. She was "intoxicated."

Sheriff Grady Judd had a few choice words.

“I didn’t stutter. She pulled out a knife, and she’s waving it around and threatening customers,” Judd said. “One of the managers starts running customers out the back door because she is afraid that she’s gonna stab some of them.”

At one point, Gaviria stabbed a soda bottle, Judd added.

That is when two armed civilians stepped up and held Gaviria at gunpoint until police arrived.

Click thru for more comments from Judd; he never disappoints.

And no one will be shocked to learn her immigration status.

Furthermore, Sheriff Judd revealed that Gaviria was in the country illegally from Colombia.

Judd had a comment on that, aside from noting it.

Polk County, Florida, is roughly halfway between Orlando, and Tampa. Self-defense is a human right, and Sheriff Grady Judd is a national treasure. (Hat tip to Breitbart)

October in Chicago

HeyJackass! brings us the October Wrap-up

How times have changed. An October with this kind of warm weather in 2020–2022 would’ve been more of a bloodbath (which they were) and even then, crime would still have been down.

The final tally for October 2026 is 35 killed, by any means, and 108 shot and wounded. This compares to 72 killed, and 294 shot and wounded in 2020, and 67 killed, 249 shot and wounded in 2022.

Click thru for the demographics of the victims, stats like #ShotInTheAss, Selfies,

So is this level of improvement a good thing, or are we just numb to the current numbers? I have no answer. I believe that in a truly civilized society, there would be more recognition of Right and Wrong. The Left hates the very idea of Right and Wrong, because it is too much like Good and Evil.

Still, it is better than it was, though now the chaos seems to have moved to Europe.

Virginia AG Demonstrates Complete Lack of Gun Knowledge

This would be funny, if he wasn't in a position of authority. Virginia AG: AR-15s Are Really Just Machine Guns That Shoot Semi-Automatically…Or Something

This is in a brief to the Supreme Court, about the case involving AR-15s, and the states that ban them.

“AR-15s are machineguns, except that they — at least to start — have semiautomatic fire rather than automatic fire,” [Virginia AG Jay] Jones also writes.

Read the whole thing and be disappointed in our politicians.

Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit

WHY IS IT THAT PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BAN GUNS NEVER SEEM TO KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEM?

I really need to create a category for Lawyers Behaving Stupidly.

Wednesday Link Roundup - 4 November

William Teach at Pirate's Cove starts us off with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Bustednuckles has math.
Don Surber has highlights of the week.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 11.02.26

Don Surber: Poland Belongs To The Poles
Elizabeth Nickson: Our Governments Have To Stop Hurting Us

EBL - Saturday Night Girls With Guns

31 October 1776: General Greene at Fort Lee, NJ
EBL: George Washington and the Battle of White Plains

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony -Daily News Stuff 3 November 2026: Crunchy Frog Edition

Yes we have no frozen bananas, part the two: Hackers have hit supermarket freezers across Belgium and Sweden, turning up the defrosting units, pushing temperatures up to 50C and destroying food. (Tom's Hardware)

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: Somali values. Sleazy Democrats. A Somali marriage.
Conman Carney’s Canada: Stories to make you puke. A yard in Montreal.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Today's the Day

At PJM, Ashli-Meghan Eskeldson hears an Expert Accuse El-Sayed of Hiding Muslim Brotherhood Ties Behind a ‘Modern’ Image and Tim O'Brien says Men Know That Abdul El-Sayed Is ‘That Guy,' Which Is Bad News for Him.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 11/2/2026

The cryptocurrency industry is pouring more than $200 million into congressional races ahead of Tuesday’s midterms, mounting a massive bipartisan spending blitz to elect crypto-friendly lawmakers and advance its agenda in Washington, CNBC reported.

Political Hat - News of the Week (November 1st, 2026)

Paper straws worse for the environment than plastic ones: study
A damning study out of South Korea has revealed that paper straws might actually be worse for the planet than plastic ones

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

ITEM 21: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said people owning RAM on their PCs is wasteful, and that it belongs in data centers instead.
And he wonders why people hate data centers.

The Glibertarians - Spoooooky Links

“…and give it to them, good and hard.”
I shouldn’t laugh as hard as I did about this.
“Well, see, Team Red was even worse!”

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

Pirates Cove Are These The 50 Best Horror Movies Of The 21st Century?
Freedom Is Just Another Word.. .Saturday Memes…

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

Why Do They Despise Musk?
NYC public schools deceived me into thinking my son was a straight-A math student —but he can’t do fractions, basic algebra

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 11/3 /26

Its TV columnist, a former Democratic operative, tells readers to avoid Fox News on election night
The New York Times Is Getting Really, Really Ridiculous

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Creation (Musk) vs Destruction (Democratic Party)

One Ongoing Scam Cost Medicare $15 Billion. Can Washington Shut It Down? - Christopher Jacobs
Russia’s Economic Decay Undercuts Putin’s Global Ambition - Pavel K. Baev

I leave you with Sunday Funnies for 11-01-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday’s Post Halloween Meme Drop 11-1-26 from Midwest Chick's Place, Election Day Libturds ~ AM from Woodsterman, DALEYBABES from DaleyGator, and Monday Memes from Granite Grok.

Relatives of Dead Criminals Don't Like Self-Defense

From Raleigh, North Carolina, we get the standard lament. Parents of NC Pizza Hut robbery suspect question why worker fatally shot their son

The media love to serve up the grieving family members, in this case the parents, when someone is killed in legal self-defense. Why? Because the media hate guns, and gun owners, and think you should have to rely on the state for your own protection, even though the state cannot provide it.

Police said Grace Jr. and two other people tried to rob a Pizza Hut in the 3200 block of Freedom Drive. During the incident, an employee fired his own handgun and killed Grace Jr.

Of course the parents don't believe that their son would ever hurt anyone. Little Michael Grace Jr. was a model citizen, right up until he decided to commit felony robbery.

Even though their son was in the process of committing a crime, the family thinks his death was undeserved and unjustified.

The guy who shot Grace, shot him in the side of the head near the ear. Another article says the employee shot an "armed robber." So I'm assuming that he took the time to line up the head shot because Grace Jr. was threatening someone. The Professional Journalist™ writing the article linked at the top of this post couldn't be bothered to say.

Hat tip to Miguel Gonzalez and Only Police can do that!

I do think it is interesting that the crowd that accuses police of shooting people indiscriminately are the same one demanding that only police should do the shooting … just like Liberal politicians want.

BTW. The other two miscreants ran like rabbits.

As for relying on the state, when seconds count, police are only minutes away. Also, SCOTUS has said that police do not have the duty to protect you. (See the Castle Rock v Gonzales decision, or the Warren v District of Columbia decision.)

Self-defense, and defense of others, is a human right.

Man Who Attacked Chicago Firefighter Had Outstanding Warrants

Is anyone shocked? Man who tried to attack Chicago firefighter had EIGHT outstanding warrants - CWB Chicago

A shirtless guy in Chicago attacks a firefighter, with a female cop standing right there, with her taser out. According to CPD, she deployed the taser, but nothing happened to our bad guy. The firefighter had grabbed a Halligan bar from the truck. He put it to good use.

The man who gained internet fame this week after charging at a Chicago firefighter—who then struck him with a steel prying tool—had eight outstanding warrants, according to Chicago police.

Yes, eight.

Note: The internet generally thinks the woman cop didn't use the taser, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt. A little, anyway. I think you can hear her fire the taser in the video, though it is probably too late for an accurate shot. Fancy technology can fail. A steel bar with a pointy end not so much.

The firefighter’s first swing with the Halligan bar missed, and Brown kept coming.

But the second swing dropped Brown like a sack of potatoes. Or, as CPD put it in its charging statement, “the victim struck him with a blunt object.”

32-year-old Lamar Brown is now charged with aggravated battery of a firefighter and aggravated assault of a firefighter, in addition to whatever those warrants were about.

If you're not aware, a Halligan bar is the premiere prying tool used by fire departments across the county. It was designed by an FDNY fire chief, Hugh Halligan, in 1948. They will get a firefighter through most locked doors when used with their axe.

If they didn't cost $300 or more, I would own one. Pry bars are important prepping tools in some parts of the country, where digging out of hurricane or earthquake or tornado debris should be on your list of things to be able to do.

The videos of the incident on YouTube are mostly blurred. This is not.

Guy goes after Chicago firefighter with female officer standing right there. Firefighter smacks him in the face with a halligan tool 😂 https://t.co/ZN4rlhe7aS

— Donut Operator 🍩 (@DonutOperator) November 2, 2026

Linger

The album that brought us today's song is not quite a concept album. It is "inspired by" Mayan Culture. So maybe it is a concept album.

Here is a link to the lyrics, though I don't think they are required.

This song is "Linger (Piano Version)" by Epica from expanded edition of their 2005 Consign To Oblivion. "Linger" was a bonus track included on the CD, and this version was included only on the expanded version of the album. The lyrics were written by Simone Simons, the vocalist.

Cheaters Are Going to Cheat

Right or Wrong? Good or Evil? The Left only cares about power. Kansas postal worker indicted for stealing Republican campaign mailers | Fox News

A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment Tuesday charging Kelly R. Cram, a 59-year-old postal worker, with stealing thousands of pieces of mail including hundreds of political flyers all related to Republican candidates, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas wrote in a release.

Is anyone shocked? (Hat tip to CPRC.)

I am shocked that there would appear to be some justice coming, though I will believe that when he is convicted, not just charged.

Election Results HQ

The Other McCain remains a committed journalist. MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS HQ

The first polls close in Kentucky and Indiana at 6 p.m. ET, followed at 7 p.m. ET by Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont. There are certain “bellwether” counties to watch in each of these states, to get an idea of whether a “blue wave” scenario is happening, and just how big such a wave might be.

Click thru. I expect updates through the night.

Tuesday Links - 3 November

Light Over Heat with Professor David Yamane is first with Visualizing the Shall Issue Wave

Beyond being boring, a static table also hides something important to understanding the concealed carry revolution: the pace of change. Shall issue laws did not spread evenly. They trickled, then surged.

Moonbattery - Here Comes Euthanasia Without Consent in Canada

Canadian leftists just slathered more grease on the slippery slope that is Medical Assistance in Dying. Soon authorities may not even have to inform you before they help you die.

OldAFSarge at Chant du Départ - Sure They're Ugly, But ...

The Royal Navy's newest aircraft carriers illustrate the sad state of that navy. The French under the Bourbons and Bonaparte couldn't destroy the RN, neither could the Germans in two World Wars, sadly, all it took was bad government at home.

Doug Ross - The Democrat Plot To Shred The Constitution

It starts small, and it starts in NYC. As mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani posted that “Nearly 80% support a rent-freeze. I’m running for mayor to deliver these exact policies.”

Bearing Arms - How State Supreme Court Election Could Change Everything in Anti-Gun Washington

Washington state was a pretty pro-gun place before all the locusts from California moved there. Silicon Valley pulled up stakes, changed its address to the Evergreen State, and immediately went to work creating the same political environment they left to the south.

The Other McCain - Brett Kimberlin: Still GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!

Kimberlin hates America, and America ought to hate him back twice as hard.

Cafe Hayek - Covidian Myth-making Re-emerges

It was clear as early as March 2020 that covid’s dangers are concentrated overwhelmingly among the elderly. Nevertheless, the public-health establishment, the major media, and (most) governments heedlessly hurled everyone into a panic by treating covid as if it would kill us all unless we obeyed their commands without question, including retreating into isolation – isolation that had its own very real dangers that covidians ignored.

Meep at STUMP - Movember 2026: 10th Year of Fundraising for Men’s Health Issues

Movember Foundation is a men’s health charity that focuses on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s mental health, worldwide.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 1 November 2026: F Edition

French lawmakers have decided to do what French lawmakers have always done: Make other people pay for the problems they created. (Tom's Hardware)

In this case, they are trying to charge the companies that send data over the internet to customers in France for the data they send - at an utterly absurd 6 cents per gigabyte.

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: The Continuing Crisis

Unlike previous seasons when our pitching was decent but our offense was weak, this year we have a good offense but our starting pitching is terrible.

The World According To Quinn - Special Edition: WILDWOOD (2026) Movie Review, CONJuration This Weekend

When I saw the near-perfect reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, both from critics and the audience, I knew I had to see it [Wildwood]. Some health mishaps caused delays, but here I am getting my thoughts to you at last.

Election Day

The Other McCain brings us The End of Polls and Predictions

Election Day 2026 has finally arrived, bringing with it the merciful end of polls and predictions being presented as “news.”

Personally I hope all of the emails, and SMS messages about the election also stop.

At some point, you need to get in touch with your inner Stoic, to seek calm amid the gibbering madness, to stop being a wired-in political junkie before it drives you bonkers.

Good advice. Hard to follow.

Pole, and a Knife versus a Firearm

This is another incident where that thing the gun-hating Left says never happens, happened. Again. Two Men With a Knife and a Pole Were Beating a Third. Then a Fourth Man Stepped In and Opened Fire. - USA Carry

By way of USA Carry we get this incident from September, that I had not covered before.

The attack happened in the area of Decatur Avenue and Tennessee Street in southeast Albuquerque, as reported by KOB 4. A preliminary investigation found two men were attacking a third man with a knife and a pole. A fourth man stepped in to help the victim. He shot one of the alleged attackers. That man died.

The stabbing victim fled, but police found him nearby, and had him taken to a local hospital.

What police describe here cuts most of that doubt down. Two men on one. A knife and a pole. A victim who was already being stabbed. The law lets you defend another person to the same extent that person could defend himself, and a man being carved up by two attackers armed with a blade and a club is facing an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm by any reasonable reading. The fourth man did not have to guess at that. He could see it.

Could you walk away from a stranger being stabbed? Do you have the ability, the tools, to do anything about it?

Self-defense is a human right.

The Fragility of Digital Infrastructure

This insanity has got to stop. Cyber attacks disable. . .refrigerators? - by Josh Slocum

Making something digital, and exposing it to the internet is not always an improvement.

It’s happened again. Refrigerators in Europe went warm because of a software hack.

Think it through. Refrigerators are boxes with compressors that move gas around to remove heat. They have one function: make the box cold to keep food fresh.

They are not computers. They are mechanicals.

These were refrigerators in grocery stores.

If you run a chain of grocery stores, you do not need to digitally interconnect the refrigerators among that chain. You do not need a computer turn the refrigerators on or off. You do not need a computer to monitor them.

All you need are mechanical controls that already do the same job, plus actual human people on site (it’s a store, remember) who are capable of walking over to a dial and turning it. Capable of walking into a cooler and reading the numbers on the thermometer.

But it was possible to put the refrigerators online, so they did. Which made it possible for the online refrigerators to be hacked, which they were.

This caused some stupid grocery store chains in Europe to lose a bunch of stock, and so lose a bunch of money. But your water supply is probably already online. Hospital equipment, power plant cooling systems, etc. are all moving that way. Why? Because we can, and no one wants to stop and ask if we should.

Click thru for more details, and more thoughts on the subject.

Which Comes First ...

The electric ferry, or the charging infrastructure?

This is what is known as putting the cart before the horse.

Projects need to be done in a certain order, but that doesn't give politicians the splashy PR that they like.

The city of Auckland, in New Zealand, bought some electric and some hybrid ferries, for their waterways. There is just 1 problem. They bought the ferries, but the charging infrastructure is still in the early stages of construction.

The electric ferry is just stuck. The hybrid ferry (ferries?) run around at night, doing pointless circles, to charge the batteries.

Well done Auckland!

Personally I wouldn't ride on an electric ferry, because the risk of fire at sea is bad enough, without adding in a giant lithium-ion battery. Even if it doesn't start the fire, if any of those batteries go into thermal runaway, it is going to be bad.

This is the MGUY Australia video You won't BELIEVE this ridiculous ELECTRIC ferry FIASCO!

So, it's not surprising that in the net zero adult minds of ferry companies, they do the easy bit first and put off the hard part till later. They buy the shiny new electric ferries to signal their environmental virtue and then put off worrying about the charging problems until another day.

But soon enough that day will come and they will discover that installing multi-megawatt charging facilities is both A) complex and B) eyewateringly expensive.

That is before the difference in cost of an electric versus a diesel ferry is calculated. The video is about 11 minutes.

Felony Violent Crime Is Falling

Media Bias? What media bias? From John R. Lott Jr. at The Federalist: The Media Won’t Tell You Felony Violent Crime Is Plunging Under Trump

Most people who follow the news probably missed Monday’s announcement from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): Felony violent crime plunged 25 percent in 2025. Rape fell 13 percent, robbery dropped 27 percent, and aggravated assault declined 31 percent. Property crime fell 19 percent. Except for rape, these represent the largest one-year declines since the government began collecting these data 53 years ago.

That marks a dramatic reversal from the Biden administration, when felony violent crime soared by a record 59 percent and property crime rose 8 percent between 2021 and 2024.

Murders are down. The rate fell in 2025 to 4.1 murders per 100,000 people. That is a record low.

And the media?

You might expect these unprecedented declines in violent and property crime and record low crime rates to dominate the news. Instead, most major media outlets ignored Monday’s announcement. While the New York Post and CBS covered the new data, the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, NBC News, ABC News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post apparently didn’t consider the historic reductions newsworthy.

Click thru for more details, and a consideration of the question, "Why?"

The policies that contribute to this drop in crime, are exactly those policies Democrats want to reverse. Almost like The Left wants crime and chaos.

Hat tip to The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC)

Apocalypse

Lacuna Coil came up on social media recently. Not this song, but another song off this album, which got me to listen to the whole album again.

I really like Lacuna Coil. The combination of Cristina Scabbia's clear vocals and Andrea Ferro's harsh vocals really work well together. (Though I know a lot of Americans don't like harsh vocals of this style.)

Here is a link to they lyrics. They are singing in English, but they're Italian, and it is Heavy Metal.

This song is "Apocalypse" by Lacuna Coil from their 2019 album Black Anima.

Concealed Carry Is Becoming a Thing in Chicago

The bad guys have not changed their ways. Concealed carry holder shoots suspect during altercation in North Lawndale

According to Chicago police, the 23-year-old man was walking in the 3100 block of West Cermak at approximately 10:25 a.m. when he was approached by two individuals.

An altercation was followed by the concealed carry license holder shooting one of the bad guys. Cops are speaking with a "person of interest," but the 2nd guy has not been arrested.

North Lawndale, is one of the 77 neighborhoods community areas in Chicago. It is located on the west side of the city.

HeyJackass! has 6 self-defense shootings listed for Chicago in 2026, through August. I am not sure how up-to-date that data is. (HeyJackass! announced they were stepping back from the daily grind, though the data does seem to be updated regularly. Or somewhat regularly.)

Self-defense is a human right, and the idea might be catching on in Chicago.

The $6.3 Billion Hack

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony brings us the insane story from the world of technology. Daily News Stuff 31 October 2026: Ween Edition

Binance was hacked by thieves who made off-ish with $6.3 billion. (Bleeping Computer)

I say "ish" for two reasons: First, half the funds were immediately frozen and cannot be transferred further; second, it's a bit like bank loans: When you lose $1000 in Bitcoin, you have a problem; when you lose $6.3 billion in Bitcoin the blockchain has a problem.

I'm old enough to remember when the Blockchain was going to solve all of our problems. No theft. No counterfeiting. No money laundering. Yeah, doesn't seem to be working out too well.

And as usual, the weakest link is the people.

The attack was bootstrapped through a compromised devops laptop. The developer themselves didn't have access to do this, but they had access inside the corporate firewall so more sophisticated attacks could be launched bypassing that level of security entirely.

I'll hang on to my cash if you don't mind. Maybe I need to buy some gold or something.

If you are interested in getting a bit more into the weeds, the Bleeping Computer story is Binance links $6.3 billion crypto theft to compromised DevOps laptop.

Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange.

Canada Embraces Euthanasia Without Consent

It is expensive to care for sick people, so Canada is just killing them. Here Comes Euthanasia Without Consent in Canada - Moonbattery

Canada - a much smaller country than the US - recorded more deaths by euthanasia in 2024 than the US did via gun violence.

And that is before this insanity.

Canadian leftists just slathered more grease on the slippery slope that is Medical Assistance in Dying. Soon authorities may not even have to inform you before they help you die.

Click thru for the details, that include not discussing ending a life with the person being ended.

I miss western civilization. (Hat tip to MaddMedic.)