Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 6 July

The Right Way starts things off with Top of the News

Rudy Giuliani Disbarred in New York - Bongino Report
NY Times Wants You To Stop Using Fireworks On Independence Day - The Pirates Cove

Animal Magnetism - Animal’s Hump Day News

Get a load of Dick Tracy over here.
This may prove interesting.
Yeah, there’s no salvaging Joe Biden.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.03.24 (Afternoon Edition)

Vox Popoli: The Fourth Front, The Last Comics Publisher, AI Fraud and Fakery, and The USA Has Already Lost WWIII
Gab: Reclaiming Our Dignity – A Call For A Cultural Reawakening On The Right

EBL - MAGA SCOTUS ☀️💥🤯

Breitbart: Merchan delays Trump sentencing until September?
Interesting. Trump was railroaded on allegations before he was President. Yet this delay over the SCOTUS immunity decision. What is Merchan up to?

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 4 July 2024: Happy Freedom Day

Tech layoffs are a thing of the past. (GeekWire)
This time Microsoft firing another thousand people. The pace has certainly slowed down though.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.03.24 (Evening Edition)

Michele Catalano: no time for hate
Nebraska Energy Observer: Saturday – just for you, Canada Day, Debate Aftermath, Risk, Failure, and Success, Please stand, and Treason Day Eve

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm for July 5, 2024

Rigging the 2020 election through Zuckerbucks. “(a) tax-exempt non-profits are prohibited by federal law from engaging in partisan political activity, and (b) the Zuckerberg-funded ‘cabal’ had no other purpose except to guarantee Biden’s election.”

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - The Ashes from July 4

Da Tech Guy, Joe Biden and Jeffrey Epstein – It Wasn’t a Disaster Until YOU knew about it, An updated list of reasons to oppose J.B. Pritzker for president, Now You Know Why Joe Biden Bypassed the New Hampshire Primary, The DC Bubble

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 07.05.24 (Afternoon Edition)

Twitchy: “Looks Really…WHITE”, It’s Time To Play What’s That Stain! and Liz, Just Take The L
Vox Popoli: Mailvox: Debt Deflation in Action

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 7/4/2024

Most Americans Can’t Afford a Summer Vacation Anymore: Poll
Most Americans have given up all hope of a summer vacation because they just can’t afford it anymore, a new poll shows.

Flopping Aces - Biden: I’m in great shape except for my brain. The possible nightmare scenario that could follow dumping him

How the media went way too far defending Biden and his deteriorating mental state until there was no denying it:
Now for the scary news. Buzz Patterson thinks dems will force Biden to step down

Vlad Tepes - How the Palestinians and Communist LARPers are ramping up for war: Links 1 for July 5, 2024

2. A look at the Egyptian border wall with Gaza. Maybe the US needs to hire these guys.
3. July 4th celebrations saw the left attacking American iconography everywhere possible.

Once again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.05.24 (Evening Edition)

CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Don Surber: How They Wound Up With Kamala

Small Dead Animals - Friday On Turtle Island

Dementia Joe’s America: Jill Biden’s advisor. What time it is. The Collaborator Intelligence Agency.
Blackie’s Canada: More Chickens For KFC. The rewriting of Canadian history continues. Destroying freedom of speech is expensive.

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

Randy Barnett argues that libertarianism needs some updating.
Art Carden explains that producers of labor-saving machinery are fans of minimum-wage legislation government-imposed restrictions on the ability of low-skilled workers to compete for employment.

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 7//3/24

Unseating Bowman, a virulent anti-semite, is already being used to ratchet up more anti-white and antisemitic chaos...
Like all lousy leaders, Jamaal Bowman blames his loss on Jews

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: James Clyburn Visits 10 Key Precincts for Ballot Collection in Battleground Wisconsin

• Soros, The Rolling Stone, and the Progressive Blob - Robert W Malone
• Who's Really Running the Country? - Victoria Taft
• Stark Raving Made - Power Line

I leave you with Wednesday's gifs from Wirecutter, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #1862 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and Some memes and other amusements from the Feral Irishman.

There Are Healthier Ways to Vent Your Righteous Indignation

Confronting people over stupid stuff is not a smart idea.Homeowner shot after confronting a man urinating outside his home: police

Police said the suspect pulled over in front of the man's house and started urinating on the sidewalk.

The homeowner came out to complain and that's when he was shot in the arm, according to officials. The suspect jumped back into a vehicle and drove off.

Okay, I get it. You're insulted. You're mad. (I won't say it.) Going out to confront this guy is a bad idea.

He got shot in the arm. He might have been shot in the head or the heart.

We no longer live in a civilized society. Any interaction with a stranger can be deadly. You should pick and choose your interactions with care.

Cops are investigating, but unless the car's license plate was caught on a security camera, I don't know what they are basing investigation on that on. And that assumes that the car wasn't stolen.

I would say vent your righteous indignation by calling 911, but that is probably a hopeless cause in most cities. If you are not bleeding, or in danger of bleeding, it will be a low-priority call. Once he got shot it was a high priority call, of course.

Sweet Baby Inc. Is Not the Only DEI Consulting Company Destroying Gaming

A lot of people are familiar with the Steam curated list of games touched by the DEI consulting company, Sweet Baby Inc. That is of course not the only such consulting company, it is just the one that was associated with latest entry in the Batman: Arkham Asylum universe, which was universally hated.

DEI Detected's list of games is more inclusive, covering companies besides Sweet Baby, Inc. Filter on DEI Free, DEI Infested, search for a game you are considering purchasing. The DEIDetected curator list

Seems like a good resource to know about given the cost of games today.

Close to Me

One of the things I do is listen to 93xrt's Saturday Morning Flashback while I drink my coffee. They were flashing back to 1985 in November. Even when I don't like most the music from the 1980s, I remember most of it. (I was living in Chicago through most of the 1980s) WXRT manages to screen out most of the drek from that era, and I do like this song.

This song is "Close to Me" by The Cure from their 1985 album The Head on the Door.

Friday Links - 5 July

The Other McCain is up first with When You’ve Lost Nate Silver …

You’ve got to understand that Silver was one of those 20-something lefties who jumped into the political fray during the years when the Iraq War made George W. Bush very unpopular on college campuses. (One reason most conservatives my age roll our eyes at rhetorical symptoms of Trump Derangement Syndrome — the Hitler comparisons, etc. — is that it’s basically the same thing we heard about Dubya during the Bush Derangment Syndrome epidemic two decades ago.)

Clayton Cramer - Lots of People Want Machihe Guns

But when you use your position as a,police chief, thst is not okay. [SNIP]

He tried to buy a mini gun. Somehow, I am having trouble imaginingfor what a small town Iowa police department needs that.

Tam at View From The Porch - Automotif DXVII...

Here's a 1969 Corvette Stingray coupe in Can-Am White, out enjoying an ideal day for open-air motoring.

Instapudit (Glenn Harlan Reynolds) at Substack - Chevron, The Supreme Court, and the Law

So there we are. Rather than “brazenly seizing power from the other two branches,” the Supreme Court has returned power to Congress, where the Constitution put it to begin with. The brazen seizing, in fact, was undertaken by the unelected administrative state, what even FDR’s Commission on Administrative Government called a “headless fourth branch of government.” And that was in 1937; there’s been a lot more seizing since then.

The Daily Caller - ROOKE: The Sad Truth Joe Biden Is Realizing Right Now

Here is a man who is quickly losing his mental faculties, and the people around him, his closest family members, are actively feeding him to the wolves. In Biden’s moments of clarity, he realizes that his family doesn’t care about him or his dignity. He is a man dying alone.

Jews Can Shoot - The Founding Fathers and Guns– In Their Own Words

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, said this in that same year in drafting Virginia’s Constitution: “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 3 July 2024: Centrifugal Bumblefuck Edition

Everything new is old again: A critical vulnerability in OpenSSH that was fixed all the way back in 2006 is back again. (ZDNet)

Oops. Also, fuck.

Dubbed regreSSHion - it has a cute name, so you know it's serious the bug lets you log into a server by not logging into it.

Again from The Other McCain - Dumbest Car Thief Ever?

Anyway, don’t steal cars, but if you do, don’t steal a 30-year-old Honda and then expect to out-run the Georgia State Patrol, because we’re all going to be laughing at the video of the PIT maneuver, dummy.

And again from The Other McCain - Thinking of Christmas in July

Does it occur to you that, instead of celebrating the Fourth of July, when the Declaration of Independence was published, that instead we should celebrate our independence on the Nineteenth of October?

Even More Self-Defense in Chicago

The 31st Street Beach has been the scene of a number of violent incidents. Concealed-carry holder opens fire after being stabbed by teen near 31st Street Beach

The incident occurred at around 11:34 p.m. in the 3000 block of South Fort Dearborn Drive. According to police, a 17-year-old girl and a 26-year-old woman got into an argument when the teen stabbed the woman in her right arm with a sharp object.

The 26-year-old, who possesses a concealed-carry license and Firearms Owners Identification Card, produced a gun and fired shots, striking the teenager in the left shoulder, police stated. The 26-year-old was taken to an area hospital and said to be in good condition.

After the doctors were done treating her for being shot, she was arrested.

The woman who got stabbed in the arm was treated at a local hospital and was listed in good condition.

The 31st Street Beach, recently renamed the Margaret T. Burroughs Beach, is part of the Douglas neighborhood, named for Stephen A. Douglas, Illinois politician and Abraham Lincoln's political opponent. It was the center of the Great Migration to Chicago, and remains an important neighborhood. The Checkerboard Lounge, made famous when The Rolling Stones paid a visit, was located in the Bronzeville section of Douglas, until Buddy Guy left the Checkerboard and opened Buddy Guy's Legends in South Loop, in 1985.

Lately there have been a number of violent incidents at the 31st Street Beach, so that the city has instituted a curfew.

Aside from a standard story of concealed carry, this is another in the increasing number of self-defense/concealed carry stories coming from Chicago.

Who Is Responsible for Biden's Presidency?

From The Other McCain we get the following. The Zuckerberg Conspiracy: How a 501(c)3 Funded the 2020 Election ‘Cabal’

“The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency,” Glenn Reynolds wrote in December 2021. Nearly everyone now seems to agree about the “failed presidency” part of that headline, but is it too late to examine the nature of that “cabal”?

They thought they were smarter than the people as a whole. Witness the result.

However angry you are about this, you’re not angry enough. What these Zuckerberg-funded non-profits did was prohibited by federal law, and nobody so far has been sent to prison for those crimes.

Read the Whole thing.

Her Privilege Card Was Denied

Finally, a Leftist faces some repercussions. And she is distraught.

She destroyed a sign or a flag, because she disagreed with the message. Then she was shocked to discover that destruction of private property is against the law. While facing those consequences, she asked the person who she attacked, if they didn't have any mercy in their heart.

Without Consequences, behavior will not change. I hope this will be a lesson to libtards everywhere. Your violence is not protected free speech.

Though I hope for that, I really expect the judge to throw out any case because holding people accountable for their actions is just not done in 21st Century American. Not if you're a Democrat, anyway.

This is the Steve Inman video Unhinged Dem gets taught a valuable lesson. Keep Your hands to yourself.

Hope Everyone Is Having a Great Independence Day

This is a bit of a change up for Justin Johnson. He isn't, quite, channeling Hendrix, but it is a bit more rock heavy than I'm used to from him. It is good.

This is Justin Johnson's rendition of the National Anthem and more: STAR SPANGLED BANNER Slide Guitar Solo 🇺🇸 RED WHITE & BLUES Independence Day

If an Armed Homeowner Asks You to Leave, You Should Leave

Also, Texans are still armed. Homeowner shot, killed man saying he 'feared for his wife's safety,' police say

They asked him to leave twice. He came back a third time. It isn't entirely clear who had the shotgun, writing clearly is no longer a part of Professional Journalism, but I believe that the homeowner had the shotgun.

Investigators say that when the suspect tried to attack the homeowner, armed with a shotgun and fearing for his wife’s safety, he shot the suspect once in the stomach.

The suspect was hit once and died on the scene.

A shotgun will ruin your day.

The investigation continues, which is one reason the details are so sparse. Still, self-defense is a human right, and this took place in Texas.

Putting Banking on the Cloud Was Going to Make Everything SO Much Better. Or Something

The prospect of ALL that money online certainly made the hackers drool.

Synapse is (or at least was) a company that did financial web connecting. Connecting businesses to customers, and businesses to banks. There is (or at least was) a tiny problem. Probably more than one. The banks, and the big businesses figured out that they didn't need a middleman. And - oops - between $65 million and $96 million disappeared. (And aren't banks and such supposed to keep better records than that?)

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony brings us the details with Daily News Stuff 2 July 2024: Beanz Meanz Heanz Edition

Democratic senators on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs have sent a letter to fintech company Synapse, its major banking partner Evolve, and everyone else in the vicinity saying, and I quote, "What the f*ck guys? Get your sh*t sorted out or we'll come over there and sort you out." (Tech Crunch)

OK, so that isn't quite the headline from Tech Crunch say, but it does sum up the situation.

Synapse imploded a couple of months ago when its Chapter 11 reorganisation plans collapsed and it was left without enough cashflow to operate. The problem is that Synapse operated as an intermediary between its customers, their customers, and banks like Evolve. And now nobody can get their money because Synapse was handling the details and Synapse is toast.

Oh, and Evolve has been the victim of a cyberattack. Because Hackers Gonna Hack. Banks getting hacked is next level.

Synapse filed for Chapter 11 in April, but that deal collapsed. I don't think anyone has seen a dime of this money since then.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and a few others have written a strongly worded letter to the people involved, basically telling them to "get their sh*t together." Seems odd that it isn't coming from a regulatory agency. Because if millions of dollars have just vanished off the books, something is rotten somewhere.

And while the following image isn't exactly on point, it did come to mind. I don't have banking apps on my phone. (I don't like to think about how many phones I've lost.) My banking accounts are NOT tied the email account I use to communicate with family and friends. 2 factor authentication. I'm quite ready to go back to passport savings accounts - where most stuff was at least backed up on paper (I have seen the results of a building fire on bookkeeping systems), but I'm tempted. Trust the web? Trust a Johnny-Come-Lately bank? Not hardly.

Happy Fourth of July

This is "The Star Spangled Banner (instrumental)" as performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Wednesday Link Roundup - 3 July

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

4. Chicks On The Right notes AOC showing her racism
5. Climate Depot highlights the degrowthers

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.02.24 (Morning Edition)

Don Surber: Trump Court Rolls On
Glenn Reynolds: Chevron, The Supreme Court, And The Law

EBL - Tan, Rested, Ready

TOM: When You’ve Lost Nate Silver …, Democrats Singing ‘Suspicious Minds’, and In Defense of Cynicism
Legal Insurrection: Only 27% say Biden is mentally well

Political Hat - News of the Week (June 30th, 2024)

‘We Are Confusing Conservatism With Anger and Hate
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox doesn’t want political opponents to hate each other.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 1 July 2024: Independence Month Edition

Speaking truth to idiots: Rodney Brooks, MIT professor of robotics and founder of iRobot (the Roomba company) thinks that most of the present-day AI people are full of shit. (Tech Crunch)

Don Surber - Highlights of the week

ITEM 11: Axios cheered, “16 Nobel economists see a Trump inflation bomb.”
And 51 former heads of U.S. intelligence agencies said Hunter’s laptop was Russian propaganda.

Battleswarm Blog - Roundup Of Dem Panic Over Slow Joe

Who is demanding Biden step aside? The same MSM who refused to investigate his cognitive decline.
Maybe someone who “weeps” at a politician’s decline is too chummy to be a political commentator.

Small Dead Animals - Tuesday On Turtle Island

Blackie’s Canada: CBC thinks a man dressing as a woman is normal. The Chickens For KFC. Pro-Hamas activists block rail line. Pension plan invests in China. They knew millions were wasted.
Today In Islam: Diversity is our strength in Belgium. And diversity is our strength in Britain.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump's Immunity Decision Riles Democrats

Twitchy, Keith Olbermann, Rob Reiner, Eric Holder, OH MY! Here Are the Biggest FREAK-Outs Over Trump Immunity Case. Hat Hair's Dave Strom records Dems Fantasizing About Biden Ordering Trump Murdered.

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkage

The Air Vent - Trump Ad…..
Watts Up With That? - Mining For Hockeysticks

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 7/2/2024

A lesbian couple is recovering from their injuries after allegedly being beaten up by a mob of “Middle Eastern” men in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. Emma MacLean and her partner, Tori, were walking down the street on the evening of June 22 when she said members of the group accosted them

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

One of oldest women’s studies departments in U.S. on chopping block
SCOTUS Delivers a Kill Shot to Big Government

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Biden’s Debate Debacle Disqualifies His Entire Party

• Top Iranian general: Next attack on Israel will lead to ‘complete victory’ - JNS
• Democrats in Full Freak-Out While the Rest of the World Marvels at the U.S. Presidential Freak Show - Sonar21

I leave you with Meme Dump... from View From The Porch, Sunday Funnies For 06-30-24 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, and Tuesday's gifs from Wirecutter.

Self-Defense in Indiana

I know reporters shouldn't jump to conclusions, even though they often do, but it isn't much of a leap to see a domestic violence case here. Intruder shot dead by homeowner after entering home in Yoder | WANE 15

An armed man entered a home. He was confronted by the male homeowner, and shot several times. He died at the scene.

So far a typical home invasion/self-defense story.

Officers at the scene were told that the intruder was previously in a relationship with the female homeowner. It is unclear why the man entered the home.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume he was pissed off because she left him, and he was going to kill her, the man in the home, and maybe the kids as well. There were 2 kids in the home.

People need to come to terms with the statement, "It's over."

This took place in the town of Yoder, Indiana. Yoder is about a 10 mile drive from downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, or about 120 mile drive north-northeast of Indianapolis.

The cops didn't arrest anyone, but the DA will make the decision about any charges after the autopsy is complete, and the cops submit their report.

Lucasfilm No Longer Understands Visual Storytelling

Shadiversity critiques the fight scenes in Disney's Star Wars: The Acolyte. Weapons And Fight Scene Expert Mocks ‘The Acolyte’s’ Lightsaber Fight Scene: “They’re Not Even Aiming For Each Other”

Shad Brooks is a YouTube creator, author and historian. I found him because he is regular on Friday Night Tights. He took a tour of The United Kingdom, and reviewed a lot of castles, even getting a behind-the-scenes tour of at least one castle. If you like history, you might like that series. Most of Brooks' content is about European swords and armor, with a review of a few modern weapons as well.

Most of the complaints about The Acolyte are about the Woke messaging. This critique is about the failure of visual storytelling. Specifically, it is about fight scene choreography. Something that has been dear to my heart since I was watching Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in The Adventures of Robin Hood on Sunday TV as a kid. It was taken seriously in everything from the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie, to Highlander: The Series. (The best sword duel committed to film is probably from the 1940 film The Mark of Zorro. That link will take you to my thoughts on it.)

Brooks applied his knowledge of swords and sword fighting to the latest light saber fights in a recent episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte.

Brooks was unimpressed with the show’s lightsaber fights from the very beginning, pointing out that a number of the Jedi knights did not even aim at the Sith, who would later be revealed to be Qimir.

He noted, “Now, we get the first close up. And already we have a bit of a problem. You see, I call him Smylo Ren because of that awful looking helmet, alright. He is attacking a Jedi off to the side, but what about this guy right here. He’s just hanging back. That’s not a good sign. From the very beginning Smylo’s just completely open and this guy right here [doesn’t take the killing blow]. … He’s open. Small thing. Not a good start.”

From that not-a-good start it gets worse. From people waiting their turn, to literally not trying to hit the other guy, you have to wonder who came up with this choreography. Especially when the fight scenes were clearly intended to carry the narrative of the episode. There have been good fight scenes in Star Wars, and not so good fight scenes that still managed to propel the narrative of whatever story was being told. This episode fails on both counts.

Then there is the stupid stuff. In the middle of a sword fight you punch the guy. If he's open for a fist blow, why not hit him with your sword? Oh, because the director, or the fight coordinator thought it looked cool. It doesn't.

Brooks added, “I hate it. I hate it when someone in a fight scene resorts to using a limb, an unarmed attack when they’re holding a weapon and they could have just hit them with the weapon.”

I could go on but you can read the article yourself.

Shad has 2 videos, a 10 minute overview, and the full, hour and 20 minute, scene by scene dissection of the travesty of an episode.

• Star Wars THE ACOLYTE fight scenes are TERRIBLE!!! - Shadlands 10 minute overview
• Star Wars THE ACOLYTE - Fight Scene Autopsy - Shadiversity full 1 hr 22 min review

The first video is a heavily edited version of the longer video. I should note I have not finished the long review, I will get to that later today. The short video is quite good.

Looking for the Summer

Today we have a song I found via Social Media. It can be OK if you avoid the insanity; that is not easy to do.

Chris Rea is a British musician who had a fair amount of success in the UK and Europe, but didn't really make it on this side of the pond. Part of that was his own doing, as he refused to do an American tour for his big, early album. It's too bad really.

This song is "Looking for the Summer (New Generation Mix)" by Chris Rea. The song was originally on his 1991 album Auberge. I haven't been able to figure out when the remix was done. (There was a remix released when the album came out; it was on a 7 inch vinyl. This is listed as "Version 2" so I'm not sure when this was released.)

Tuesday Links - 2 July

Meep is up first with International Lightning Safety Day: 2024 Lightning Death Toll Already at 3.

I’m sorry to report that during Lightning Safety Week this year, we had a lightning strike death:

News 12 New Jersey: Police: Man who died while getting kids off Seaside Park beach was struck by lightning

The Other McCain - Democrats Singing ‘Suspicious Minds’

Democrats are caught in a trap. They can’t walk out. As much as they may want to dump Joe Biden, there are a few problems — perhaps insurmountable problems — with any scenario to replace him.

The Other McCain - A Substack About Nothing

You can and should read the whole thing, which is 3,600 words long, but I figured if I was going to introduce myself to a new readership, the introduction should be thorough.

Lone Star Parson - Who's In Charge?

Look how she roars! Jill Biden, maybe she will save us from Pompey Redivivus, aka Orange Man Bad. Maybe she will, maybe she'll keep the Corrupt Old Fraud in power, forcing him to run again, even though he's a husk of a man, a burned out shell whom the demons have left like a discarded toy.

Tam at View From The Porch - Plane Size

Wow, this photo really gives a good perspective of the relative sizes of these things.

Again from The Other McCain - In Defense of Cynicism

There is an unfortunate shortage of Cynicism among the young nowadays. Their idealistic conceptions of “social justice” make them automatic suckers for every “cause” that comes along.

Self-Defense Appears to Be Legal in Alabama

But then I thought that it was. Man shot and killed by another in self-defense, Tuscaloosa County authorities determined

Two men were shot. One died; one is in the hospital.

The [Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit] said after interviews were completed and the District Attorney's Office reviewed the case, it was determined that [the dead guy] appeared to be the aggressor in the incident and he was shot in self-defense.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama is about a 50 mile drive southwest of Birmingham.

No charges have been filed against the defender, because self-defense is a human right, and this didn't take place in NYC.

Considering that this event took place on June 29th, and cops and the DA made the determination of self-defense in one day, I would say that the evidence must be overwhelming. It can take DAs MONTHS to make a determination of self-defense.

The 5 Years Are Up, And We Aren't Extinct

From Samuel Short of The Western Journal at The Gateway Pundit. It's Been 6 Years Since Greta Thunberg Warned We Have 5 Years to Stop the Extinction of Humanity

Of course like everything that came out of (comes out of?) Saint Greta of the Thunberg, she was only parroting what she was told to say. In this case it was a misquote of someone else. With an emphasis on the Leftist part of her "pronouncement."

So either she was full of shyte, or we've passed the point of no return.

In January 2018, James Anderson, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at Harvard, gave a speech that was covered by Forbes.

Anderson remarked in that speech on damage he claimed climate change is doing to the “permanent ice” at the Earth’s poles, and its implications for the globe, according to Forbes.

“The chance that there will be any permanent ice left in the Arctic after 2022 is essentially zero,” he said, according to Forbes. “Can we lose 75-80 percent of permanent ice and recover? The answer is no.”

Go read the whole thing. From how the media protected their darling spokeswoman, because she was only a child, how dare you give her a hard time. (Well, maybe you shouldn't have used her as a spokeswoman then) to their refusal to fact check her or the article she quoted, and their willingness to attack anyone on the Right who had anything bad to say.

Mainstream Media Recognizes Current Star Wars Reality

Erik Kain of Forbes hasn't been shilling, exactly, for Star Wars: The Acolyte, but has been spinning it a bit in a positive light. That is changing. ‘The Acolyte’ Continues A Long, Tragic ‘Star Wars’ Tradition: Ruining The Jedi

There are two things he covers that highlight what a lot of Fandom has been saying for a long time: Modern Hollywood doesn't understand storytelling. They've also never heard of the idea, "Less is More."

First with one of my all-time, favorite stories, Lord of the Rings. "Less Galadriel was more Galadriel."

In The Lord Of The Rings movies, Galadriel is presented as faithfully to the source material as is humanly possible. She is beautiful, ethereal and mysterious. She is at once a source of courage for the Fellowship and somewhat terrifying when she meets with Frodo by her mirror. She is not in very many scenes and doesn’t have very many lines (though she gets to do the intro narration!) but her presence in the films looms large. You do not forget her.

In The Rings Of Power, Galadriel is transformed into the chief protagonist and in doing so is much diminished. She is a warrior here, the general of the Northern Armies (because elves are big on military titles!) and rather than mysterious and terrifying, she’s petulant and boastful. She is robbed of her power, so much of which came from how little we truly understand her in the books or films. She’s like an angel or a demigod, removed from conflict, apart from it though certainly still consequential in the bigger scheme.

Writers today claim to value mystery. Jar Jar Abrams built his entire production company, Bad Reboot Robot, on "The Mystery Box." But they really don't understand mystery or mysterious characters at all.

The same applies to the Jedi.

The more Jedi we’re given onscreen, the less awesome they become. That’s not to say that young Obi-Wan wasn’t cool, or that I didn’t enjoy Darth Maul (the same rule applies to the Sith) but as more movies have come out and more shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka arrive only to fall flat, the Jedi have just gotten less and less compelling. I didn’t hate old-and-bitter Luke Skywalker from the sequels, but the movies failed to really give him a worthwhile story. He didn’t earn the rushed redemption arc he was given. Face it, Luke’s story was over in Return Of The Jedi, and maybe so was the story of the Jedi.

And I should note that most people hate the "old-and-bitter Luke Skywalker," just as the hate the "old-and-bitter" Indiana Jones, even if Erik Kain didn't. (Hat tip to Echo Base Network.)

Zenith

Ghost is an odd band. Visually they are Heavy Metal through and through. (I guess that I associate corpse paint with Metal.) A lot of their music reminds me more of old school Rock & Roll.

This song is "Zenith" by Ghost from their December 2023 album 13 Commandments.

The Crimes Against Women That Are Ignored

From The Other McCain we get the following: Violence Against Women Update.

Four women ranging in age from late teens to early 20s were kidnapped in Pennsylvania. The ordeal was horrific. You can click thru for the details.

Strange to say, this crime has apparently gotten zero attention from feminists, who have made violence against women a subject of their activism for more than three decades. Likewise, we have heard nothing from the White House about this horrific crime, despite the fact that President Joe Biden frequently touts his credentials on the issue.

I can't imagine why the Left would ignore this story, can you?

Concealed-Carry In Chicago

It is really catching on. Englewood, Chicago shooting today: Concealed-Carry License holder critically injures man during gas station shootout, police say - ABC7 Chicago

A Concealed-Carry License holder shot and critically injured a man during a shootout on Chicago's South Side early Saturday morning, police said.

Englewood, a neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. It is currently listed in the HeyJackass! statistics as the most dangerous neighborhood in the city, with 20 homicides and 89 shot and wounded in 2024.

The investigation is ongoing, so not very many details have been released. I'm kind of shocked that self defense seems to be taking hold in Chicago as fast as it is.

The Demise of Chevron Deference and the Tech Industry

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony has some straight forward analysis of what this means for the tech industry. Daily News Stuff 29 June 2024: Unreal Estate Edition

Before getting to the general tech news, Pixy Misa covers two stories about Chevron and the FCC's regulatory overreach.

As with the previous article, the writers of this piece freely admit that the regulatory agencies are engaged in an unbridled and unconstitutional power grab; they just believe this is a good thing.

The article notes that the FTC's recent ruling against noncompete clauses is likely in trouble because - once again - the FTC never had the authority to make such a ruling in the first place.

People are wringing their hands over the fact that the FCC can't make shit up as they go, because the laws on the books haven't been updated in decades. Pixy Misa has some advice:

Write better laws.

One item of note in the general tech news:

Mustafa Suleyman, a less-successful clone of OpenAI's Sam Altman, has confirmed that Microsoft is taking all your data to train its AI and they don't give a shit what you think about it. (The Register) [SNIP]

Looks like it's take off and nuke the entire site from orbit o'clock.

Will Police Be Held Accountable for Uvalde?

This is a first step, but I doubt that it will come to anything in the end. Uvalde school shooting: Pete Arredondo indicted over police response

A 10-count indictment made public Friday accuses former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo of 10 missteps that led to the botched law enforcement response to an active shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers in May 2022.

Authorities booked Arredondo on Thursday into the county jail, where he spent about 90 minutes before being released on bond.

A grand jury also indicted former school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, whose role has been less public in the two years and one month since the shooting. He had not been booked into jail as of Friday, and an indictment in his case remains under seal.

There is the thing called Limited Immunity, which in practice, is more like Unlimited Immunity. It is a doctrine, created out of whole cloth, by the courts. It means you basically can't hold the cops accountable unless they violate your civil rights, in very specific ways. The cops have no duty to protect you, not even if you have a court order of protection. None of the students or teachers had such court orders. I don't see how the prosecution will overcome that. In the end, I believe this is a political move by the DA to gain points with the community.

And here is a reminder of who the biggest group of losers were, on that day in Uvalde, Texas. Namely, the Uvalde PD Swat Team. (They sure look cool in their fancy outfits, but they are about as useful as a screen door in a submarine.) The photo was taken from the Uvalde PD website around the time of the shooting. (Hat tip to Buddy Brown.)

Faustino Oro Youngest Ever International Master in Chess

I find this somewhat amazing. Faustino Oro Becomes Youngest Ever International Master At 10

He is 10 years old, from Argentina. His rating is 2351 in classical chess. By contrast the current World Chess Champion, Ding Liren of China, has a rating of 2762.

Oro went undefeated through the nine-round Club de Ajedrez Barcelona event, which took place from June 26-30 in the Spanish city. The 10-year-old won four out of his first six games and drew the last three. With 6.5/9 points, the young Argentinian finished shared first with [International Master] Cristian Andres Hernandez, half a point ahead of [Grand Master] Hipolito Asis Gargatagli.

The Club de Ajedrez Barcelona event is a 10 player round-robin tournament. That means every player plays each of the other players once, hence the 9 games. I looked but I couldn't find out how the players are invited to tournament.

At 10 years, eight months, and 16 days the Argentinian prodigy has met all the requirements for the international master (IM) title, pending formal approval by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). He had already cruised well above the 2400 rating requirement when he narrowly missed a norm in the Madrid Chess Festival earlier this month.

"Norm" in the above paragraph refers to what exactly is required to be promoted to an International Master, or a Grand Master by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or the World Chess Federation in English. It is the governing body for chess on the world stage. The organization's name, FIDE, is pronounced like Fee-day.