Wednesday Links - 20 May

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

Victory Girls Blog has Sunday morning cafe cocktails linkage.
Vlad Tepes has linkage.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 05.18.26

Upstream Reviews: Of All The Gin Joints in the Universe (2/4), also, Vertical Run
Cedar Sanderson: Reviews & Maturity

EBL - The Odyssey Firestorm Gets Worse

ZeroHedge: The Odyssey looking like a woke disaster
Instapundit: Camp and Bad Feelings

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News stuff 16 May 2026: Dipole Edition

OpenAI wants ChatGPT to access your bank accounts. (The Verge)
Not their bank accounts. Just yours.

Political Hat - News of the Week (May 17th, 2026)

A Private Call Reveals Democrats’ Desperation Over Tossing of Map
A conversation involving House members from Virginia and the top House Democrat reflected the fury and desperation that has gripped the party after Friday’s ruling

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - A Light Flow Day

At NottheBee, Listen to this trucker explain how “foreign” drivers are being sidelined just days after SCOTUS said companies are liable for them. GRANDPA’s FREE ADVICE @GOP_is_Gutless, "It took less than 24 hours for brokers to tighten the belt ..."

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEWS

ITEM 4: Daniel Greenfield reported, “Canada: Pro-Migration Pol Loses Election to Bangladeshi Pizzeria Owner.”
The loser helped import the voters who voted him out.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 05.19.26

Power Line: From Saint Paul to San Diego, All he is saying, ICE officer charged, The word from Aimee Bock, and Failure In Iran?
Shark Tank: Pinellas County Officials Endorse Byron Donalds For Governor

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: California hearing aids. Chinese spy scandal.
Conman Carney’s Canada: Francis Widdowson speaks out.
Stories You Won’t Find At Carney’s CBC: Paul Joseph Watson – The worst one I’ve seen.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 5/16/2026

Netherlands: Police Arrest 3 at Apeldoorn Asylum Protest for Second Night
Police arrested three people after intervening for the second time at a protest in Apeldoorn against plans for an emergency asylum shelter

The Glibertarians - Saturday evening Links

You want Skynet? Because this is how you get SkyNet.
Womp, womp.

Bacon Time - Sunday Linkange

Pirates Cove SCOTUS Denies Virginia 10-1 Redistricting Appeal
Freedom Is Just Another Word.. .Saturday Memes…

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

A bad day to be a terrorist or drug kingpin ....Trump is knocking them over, one after another, like bowling pins.
Democrat voters keep making the same mistakes

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 5/ 18/26

It is time to bring closure and victory to our conflict with Iran.
In War, There Is No Substitute for Victory

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Trump’s Cleanup Crescendo

• The ‘Free Trade’ Tax on Americans - Thaddeus G. McCotter
• The Last Privilege - The Rustbelt Reader
• Americans Face The Highest Memorial Day Gas Prices On Record - ZHp

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 05/16/2026

There is a rumor Trump is preparing a pardon for Snowden in return for testimony against Comey, Clapper, and Brennan, but it is unsourced.
US Supreme Court rebuffs Virginia Democrats in bid for new voting map

I leave you with Saturday Meme Drop from Midwest Chick's Place, Sunday Funnies For 05-17-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Memes … from MaddMedic, and Monday Memes from Granite Grok.

How Should a Woman Defend Herself?

If not with a firearm, how should she defend herself? Home invasion thwarted by armed homeowner - AOL

A man is accused of breaking into a woman’s house, only for her to confront the intruder with a gun, leading him out of the home. He was later arrested.

Given how this started, I think she should have shot him. Maybe more than once.

The suspect, Sergio Ruiz, 21, and the victim’s first interaction seemed innocuous as he texted her wanting eggs, as she had a sign outside saying she was selling them. However, the messages reportedly escalated into sexual and vulgar comments.

Although she blocked his number, Ruiz allegedly started texting her from a different one.

This doesn't sound like a guy who can take a hint.

Mesa County, Colorado, is on the state line with Utah, roughly 130 miles west of Denver.

Cops eventually located and arrested this guy, after he left.

Ruiz was booked in the Mesa County Detention Facility for stalking, second-degree home burglary and attempted non-consensual sexual assault. He was given a $100,000 bond, which the sheriff’s office stated, “has gone untouched.”

So I would like the gun-hating part of the Left (it isn't all of the Left, though it often seems that way) to explain exactly what this woman should have done, without a firearm? I am not expecting them to explain.

Self-defense is a human right.

The Justice System in Chicago is Broken

The inmates are running the show in Cook County. Releasing suspected cop killer on an ankle monitor wasn't a mistake, top judge says - CWB Chicago

You have to work hard to be this tone deaf.

The decision to release a five-time felon with four pending felony cases, including two violent robberies, on electronic monitoring was not a mistake, Cook County’s chief judge says, even though that man is now accused of going on to murder a Chicago police officer and gravely wounding the fallen officer’s partner.

He said, basically, how could you know what he would do?

Retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel had a response to Beach’s rhetorical question: “How do you predict another person’s actions? Start with the obvious—his criminal history.”

Click thru for all the details, including how he ended up shooting two police officers.

Hat tip to Second City Cop: The Chief Judge said What???

The fact that an asshole judge can say thing like this without any fear of political (or other) repercussions is truly a crying shame.

Could it be a factor that the top judge quoted in the article, and the judge who released this monster are friends?

Carry On

Here is a song I had not thought of in many years, when it came up on a YouTube channel I watch occasionally.

This song is "Carry On" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from their 1970 album Déjà Vu. The harmonies this band produced were amazing.

NY Post Can't Call a Felon a Felon

I usually like the New York Post, but they can't get things right with this story. Why? Because the credentialed class can't stand the idea that "college grads" are subject to FAFO, and Karma, like everyone else. ‘Exceptional’ NY college grad killed when boat taken without permission crashes in Boston Harbor

The original title to the article seems to have been "Student-athlete killed, three injured in Boston Harbor boat crash." They couldn't even say that the boat was "taken without permission." Most people call that stealing, but the NY Post is talking about a "college grad."

Here is what they want you to remember.

An “exceptional” New York college graduate was killed when a boat she and her friends were riding in without permission crashed into a pier in Boston Harbor, according to officials.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dankert, who played soccer for Union College in Schenectady, was killed when the recreational boat smashed into pier 4R, just off a runway at Logan International Airport, around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Massachusetts State Police.

If someone was "riding without permission" in my vehicle, I would consider it to have been stolen. Maybe that is just me.

"Smashed into pier" sounds to me like the boat was traveling at high speed. This tells me that whoever was driving probably had limited-to-no experience piloting a boat.

If you get far enough in the article, you get to some inconvenient facts.

“The vessel involved was taken without authorization and operated outside the knowledge and control of the Club, well after the Club had closed for the day,” the club told WCVB. “We are cooperating fully with all relevant authorities.”

Freedom Boat Club is a way to get access to boats, without owning one outright. Sort of like cross between a timeshare and car rental agency. The club never interested me, so I can't tell you much about it.

Dankert graduated from Union College in 2024. It is odd that they don't mention anything about what she has done since then. Or maybe not so odd. The job market, if you're a "student athlete" from "a small liberal arts school in Schenectady," is probably a tough market.

Hat tip to William Teach

Exceptional? Boat taken without permission? Seriously? She and her friends stole the boat. Little Miss Exception committed a felony, the FAFO to the extreme

Tuesday Links - 19 May

William Teach at Pirate's Cove is first with Bummer: Washington Sees Drop In SNAP Enrollment As “Immigrants” Ditch Program

Per Washington law, Basic Food is restricted from illegal aliens. I wonder how many were on it? Any chance of an audit is pretty much nil in uber-Leftist Washington. Legal immigrants are allowed to get it.

Holly MathNerd - The People's Republic of Vermont: update on a previous prediction

The political center of gravity in Burlington has moved. Not because conservatives won an argument — they did not — but because the conditions on the ground became impossible to defend from inside the coalition that produced them.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Bummer: DHS Going After Shady Green Card Holders

Oh, wait, this is a pretty straight article, noting why DHS is looking to strip green cards, which is not something that is actually unusual. In fact, thousands lose their green cards every year.

Clayton Cramer - More Fraud Convictions

A million here, a billion there, to paraphrase Sen. Bayh, after a while, it adds up to real money. If all this welfare state funding was making poor people better off, you might excuse the good intentions.

Disparu - The BBC is DYING and That's a Good Thing. (Video)

The BBC is dying and I'm here to piss on its grave.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 15 May 2026: Octopole Edition

The open source and right-to-repair community has declared war on leading 3D printer maker Bambu Labs. (Tom's Hardware)

At the core of this is Bambu's move to restrict access to its open-source software.

Again from William Teach - Huh: Democrats Upset Over Companies Making Money Off Stopping Illegal Immigration

They aren’t just upset over rounding up illegal alien criminals, they’re also upset that all that government money isn’t coming their way so they can skim it off

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Marking Time

No baseball stuff this week, just a poke at Nolan’s inane, politically-correct version of the Odyssey.

Meep at STUMP - Congressional Morbidity: Two Representatives Are Absent

As some of you may know, I have kept tabs on members of Congress (Representatives and Senators) who die while in office.

What about those who are absent?

(There is no leave-taking, as you will see, so I can’t call it AWOL.)

Echo Chamberlain - How To Critique Race-Swap Casting

How many steps are involved in race swapping Nick Fury to Samuel L. Jackson? Basically one – the character is black now, otherwise every fundamental of the character is coherent and in synch.

Now, Let’s look at Lupita Nyongo’s Helen.

The Other McCain - What’s the Over/Under on How Soon Barrett Brown Gets Arrested Again?

Given all the trouble in the world right now, my hunch is that Barrett Brown is somewhere near the bottom of the list of federal law enforcement priorities. It’s been nearly five years since I last devoted a post to him here (“Oh, Dear God: Barrett Brown Again!” July 13, 2021), after he’d gotten himself arrested in England.

Again from Wombat-socho - Rule 5 Monday: Everything Stops For Tea

Apologies for the late, late posting. Things were weird and difficult this weekend.

Australians Are Trying to Take Back Self-Defense

Or self-defence, as they spell it. I wish them luck, but the state will not want to relinquish the power that it has taken. ‘Everybody’s fed up’: Two home invasions, two intruders dead and the moral dilemma facing Victorians

The story covers a recent decision not to prosecute, and a similar case from 2015. Click thru for those details.

The problem for Victorians caught up in a youth crime crisis that has seen home invasions skyrocket to record levels in the past few years is that they don’t know whether the law supports them protecting their homes.

Under Victorian law, homeowners are allowed to defend themselves during a home invasion. But the amount of force they use must be proportionate and reasonable to the threat they face.

Which might sound good in theory, but how is a woman homeowner (the case from 2015) supposed to defend herself from a large man trying to choke her? Spoiler, she didn't defend herself, because firearms would be "disproportional," so her neighbor had to come to her aid. He was charged with murder.

In reality it means that the Monday-morning quarterbacks get to second guess the decisions you made at 3AM Saturday, when someone kicked in the door to your home. The state doesn't like self-defense, because it doesn't respect state authority.

Victoria, Australia, is a state in the southeastern portion of the mainland. It is home to Melbourne.

There is more, on the state of crime in Victoria, Australia, and some on the push to reform the laws around self-defense. Click thru.

Licenses Delayed = Rights Denied

Mark W. Smith, of the Four Boxes Diner channel on YouTube, and Rumble, had an article published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Licenses Delayed, Rights Denied: How Contemporary Firearm Carry Licensing Regimes Continue To Violate the Second Amendment. It is from the fall of 2025, but I only recently ran across it.

The Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen¹ was meant to vindicate the Second Amendment's text and historical traditions against discretionary state licensing schemes that denied ordinary citizens their constitutional right to bear arms in public. Yet three years after Bruen, a predictable pattern has emerged: jurisdictions hostile to gun rights have responded not with compliance, but with sophisticated resistance.

Click thru for some examples of the delaying tactics, which Smith calls "Obstruction By Design."

Mark W. Smith doesn't talk about if any lawsuits are directed at this resistance, he only mentions that the Supreme Court noted such lawsuits could be brought. Even so, I'm a bit surprised to see this in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. Maybe I have misjudged them. It isn't so much a "Pro-2A" article, as an article exposing how "Progressive" states are fighting against Bruen.

NYC Chases Wall Street South

Or I should say Mamdani chases Wall Street firms away from NYC. Mamdani won't be happy until he drives every financial business out of NYC, and he won't be happy then, because he won't have any money for his programs. Wall Street giant Apollo aims to open ‘second headquarters’ outside NYC — in latest fallout from Mamdani’s war on the wealthy

Yet another major Wall Street firm is poised to expand outside New York City – the latest blow to the Big Apple’s tax coffers thanks to Mayor Zohran Mandani’s war on wealthy residents and businesses, The Post has learned.

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management, headquartered in Manhattan, has decided to open a new business hub — internally dubbed its “second headquarters” — in either Florida or Texas with an official decision likely to be made public in the coming weeks, people close to the matter say.

I can't help but think "expand outside NYC" is really "we are moving, but we don't want to say that." They probably also have employees who don't want to leave NYC, though why, given what is going on anyone would want to stay in NYC is beyond me.

Apollo paid a whopping $1.276 billion in income taxes in 2025, up from $1.062 billion the year before. While filings don’t break down how much of that went to the Big Apple, the city stands to lose a hefty revenue stream as the firm looks to expand elsewhere.

I don't understand the Left. They want to provide all kinds of services, except police apparently, but they don't want the businesses that provide the funds for those services. I guess math is hard.

Apollo isn't the only firm looking to ditch NYC. Ken Griffin was singled out by Mamdani, and who did that help? NY leaders desperately try to stop billionaire bigs from fleeing city over Mamdani.

Most are not being that visible about the moves.

The splashy one-two punch of Citadel CEO Ken Griffin and Apollo Global Management honcho Marc Rowan pledging to expand outside New York City has been coupled with a silent wave of businesses “quiet quitting” the city over its hostile environment, insiders told The Post.

Wall Street firms typically don't want the publicity. I think Apollo only spoke out after Mamdani targeted Citadel. But it didn't start with Mamdani. New York (City and State) has impossibly high taxes.

Even before Mamdani, the Empire State has steadily watched its standing as a business haven slip.

New York lost $660 billion in economic growth over the past decade, leading all 50 states, according to economic data from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.

Red states, particularly Florida and Texas, have started to scoop up disaffected New York residents and businesses.

There is more. Statistics on people leaving NYC. Some info on the business that have left. The effort to get Bloomberg to run for mayor. Again.

The loss of Wall Street business could deal a major blow to New York City’s finances, which are buoyed by taxes on bonuses from the sector.

Math and politics. Probably not a winning combination.

Robotaxis Do Crazy Stuff

I think we can say that self-driving cars are still not ready for Prime Time.

We start with the serious bit. The Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis after vehicle drove into flood

Have they lost their Way-mo?

They weren't programmed to understand flooded streets, so it drove in. One of the most dangerous things you can do is drive into flood waters.

According to the NHTSA, which is probing the mishap, the software recall applies to Waymo vehicles that use the company’s fifth and sixth generation automated driving systems (or ADS).

The recall was prompted by an incident that occurred on April 20, when a self-driving car drove into a flooded creek in San Antonio amid inclement weather and was swept away, CNBC reported. Thankfully, there were no passengers aboard at the time.

That could have been a tragedy.

Waymo said that they have “identified an area of improvement."

Gee, ya think?

Now for a bit of levity from Atlanta. Empty Waymos won’t stop circling this cul-de-sac in Atlanta, unsettling residents. And while it is ridiculous, the people in the neighborhoods impacted (it is more than one) are not laughing.

A seemingly unending stream of Waymos have been rolling through a quiet, dead-end street in Northwest Atlanta in recent weeks, looping around the cul-de-sac — usually early in the morning — and clogging the road when residents tried to stop them.

The residents of that neighborhood contacted Waymo (a division of Alphabet/Google) and were ignored.

You can find the video of the Waymo taxis invading that Atlanta neighborhood at this link: Empty Waymos invade Atlanta neighborhood, circle cul-de-sac for hours with no passengers

The hat tip for all of this goes to MGUY Australia and his video Hilariously BAD week for Waymo.

The Tactical Rabbi in the News

I don't love this guy's videos, but I do watch them from time to time. NJ rabbi promotes gun ownership, offers weapons training to US Jews | World Israel News

Rabbi Raziel Cohen, 29, has built a public profile around teaching Jews how to use firearms, respond to active-shooter scenarios and organize security teams for synagogues and community institutions. His National Defensive Firearms Academy, founded in 2019, says it has trained thousands of people, including more than 5,000 over the past two years, according to Ynet.

The fact that he is in New Jersey doesn't make it easier. He is reaching a group usually associated with the Progressive Left; that has to make the Leftists a little crazy, all on its own.

You can find his YouTube videos at this link.

Sincerity (You Were Never There For Me)

I love knowing about new music, especially when I like the music. It isn't hard today, but most people are still only listening to the 200 songs that were popular when they were in high school.

Today we have an interesting song that was released in November, so maybe not that new. New-ish?

This song is "Sincerity (You Were Never There For Me)". It is a collaboration between Butcher Babies, Saliva, Harper, Lyric Noel, and Judge & Jury. That collaboration released an Extended Play in November.

Texans Are Still Armed

Bad Guys still are not getting that message. Texas Homeowner Fatally Shoots Intruder Through Front Door After He Smashed Glass and Reached Inside - USA Carry

A homeowner in northern Hopkins County shot and killed an intruder who smashed the glass on his front door and reached inside the home, according to the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office.

Hopkins County, Texas, is in the extreme northeastern corner of the state.

Deputies and investigators responded to the residence on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, after reports of a shooting. Ring doorbell footage at the home captured the encounter. The video shows a man, later identified as Buck Clary, striking the glass front door and yelling.

Self-defense is a human right, and while the investigation is just getting started, this did not take place in New York City.

Electric Bus Fire in Scotland

Electric vehicle fires are usually dramatic. This one is no different.

This is a YouTube short that captures the bus on fire, and the aftermath. Dramatic moment First bus bursts into flames on Scots road as fire crews race to tackle blaze. It is less than one minute.

The article, referenced below the embedded video, does not make mention of the fact that this is, or was, an electric bus. MGUY Australia figured that out by researching the registration of the bus. The bus was apparently manufactured by BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle company, that also sells batteries separately.

This is the MGUY Australia video Electric bus BURNS to ground in Scottish town

Here is the article referenced; it is from The Sun in the UK. BUS BLAZE Dramatic moment First bus bursts into flames on Scots road as fire crews race to tackle blaze

Firefighters were scrambled to Merkland Drive in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, at around 7.55 am today [29 April] after the alarm was raised.

Sweden Votes for Free Speech

I think it too little to late. Sweden Drops 'Islamophobia', Votes for Free Speech :: Gatestone Institute

Sweden's Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard recently announced that the Swedish government would be dropping not just the word but the entire concept of "Islamophobia," out of a preference for freedom of speech.

Sweden has been so worried about being Progressive, that they have let terror organizations set up shop.

In May 2025, a French Interior Ministry report, "Muslim Brotherhood and Political Islamism in France," cited evidence attesting "to [the organization's] active presence" in Sweden.

Hat tip to Pirate's Cove.

The Origin of Woke

And how Woke took over academia. From The Other McCain: ‘There Is No Truth … Only Power’

Any argument must stand or fall on its own merits. As every educated person knows, attempting to refute an argument by attacking the personality of its proponent is a logical fallacy known as ad hominem. Nonetheless, it has been my observation that advocates of unusual arguments — ideas that seem destructive or counter-factual — generally have something in their biography which helps explain their motives.

tl:dr on that - "Bad causes attract bad people."

The 3 people (that this article attributes) that formed the basis of woke:

1. Foucault taught that truth does not exist, only power exists. (Your truth)
2. Derrida taught that texts have no stable meaning (redone for a "modern audience")
3. Deleuze taught that we should prefer desire to the law, becoming to being, difference to identity. (feelings)

From three philosophers imported from France, we get the state of higher education today, which for the most part doesn't educate, but indoctrinates. We get a generation of "writers" who have no idea how to write a story that anyone is interested in; they can only write for themselves.

There is much more, and if you start following links, the rabbit hole is pretty deep. Still, I think it is worth a bit of your time.

The Dam Collapse that Didn't Happen

Since there was no catastrophe, this story didn't make much news, or I didn't see much about it, in the news. From Madalyn Buursma at WLNS Lansing: Water levels at Cheboygan dam stabilized

This was a story that was all too similar to the Edenville Dam collapse on 19 May 2020.

A series of storms dumping a lot of rain upstream of the dam. The spillways not in the best shape. The powerhouse not able to pass water through the turbines. The water got withing a few inches (5?) of overtopping the dam. Emergency crews brought in pumps to aid in getting water out of the reservoir.

The power house, which could pass a lot of water through the turbine, had been closed since 2023 when a fire in a nearby factor had caused the powerhouse to be shutdown. In what has to be a product of "lessons learned" from Edenville and Sanford dams, an emergency effort was undertaken, to get the equipment tested, the generators reconnected to the electrical grid, and the powerhouse back on line.

The result: Crews restart hydroelectric turbine at Cheboygan Dam

The hydro dam at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex is officially online and river water levels are dropping, according to Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division.

The announcement comes after Department of Natural Resources officials worked with Consumers Energy, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to restore a former hydro dam powerhouse. The turbine hadn’t operated since a 2023 fire.

Using the turbine to generate power allows the people managing the dam to increase water flow by 30%. Taking that amount of control away from the dam operators was never a good idea. And while low-head hydroelectric power is deemed to be to expensive today, clearly that installation is capable of generating power, which since the infrastructure is in place is clean energy. While you might not build it from scratch today, why not use it for the rest of its lifespan?

Cheboygan, Michigan is on the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula. It is on the shore of Lake Huron, at the mouth of the Cheboygan River. It is about 19 miles southeast of Mackinaw City, Michigan, or about a 285 mile drive north of Detroit. The dam is right in the middle of the city, about 1½ miles from Lake Huron.

With the extra effort, and some dry weather, the situation came back under control, with the water levels falling.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

If you put this in a movie 25 years ago, people would accuse you of being ridiculous. "That would never happen." Report: British student stabbed by Sikh man dies because police cuffed him on suspicion of being racist instead of treating stab wound

A Brit who was stabbed with an 8-inch blade was cuffed by cops and allowed to bleed out and die while the stabber told police that the white guy was being racist.

Click thru for photos, details, and links to even more details.

Does a Chicago Politician Breaking the Law Count as News?

Or is it just Tuesday? Chicago Mayor Sidekick Nabbed for Back Taxes After Years of Illegal Tax Breaks | Chicago Contrarian

Another member of Mayor Brandon Johnson's City Hall gang has been forced to pay back taxes after years of being a privileged scofflaw who felt she was above the rules under which the rest of us have to suffer.

The latest to get her tax dodge comeuppance is Mayor Johnson’s city budget director Annette Guzman, who for the last five years had been taking advantage of lower property taxes based on an illegal tax break she had wrangled. Now she is being forced to make up the difference and pay in what she should have been paying all along

Click thru for the details, some of the other people caught out in Chicago, for things like unpaid water bill, unpaid parking tickets, and all the rest.

It was a great city, even though it was always a little shady. People overlooked the shady because the city worked. Past tense.