NYC Residents Start to Realize that Police Won't Be There to Protect Them

That they are late coming to that realization is amazing to me, but better late than never. From the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF - the trade association for the firearms industry) we get a story from New York City. New York Understandably Seeing Surge in Second Amendment Interest, Gun Purchases

Gun store retailers are working overtime to quell anxious and worried residents of the nation’s largest city, even as those customers are shocked to realize they aren’t able to walk in, purchase a firearm, and leave with their new gun that same day – or week, or even month.

The Left goes on at length about how easy it is to purchase a firearm. Sadly, in places like New York City, that is just not the case.

The red tape in New York amounts to barricades against the exercise of a Constitutional Right, put in place by politicians who hate freedom, and self-reliance.

There are several reasons for the increase in permit applications. Riots during the Lockdown. Decreases in punishment thanks to "prosecutors" like Alvin Bragg. Police have been retiring at increasing rates, and the recent election of Zorhan Mamdani has created a new surge in police retirements. (Cops can't answer your 911 call, if they are not working for the city.)

Click thru for much more in the way of detail.

Hat tip to Bearing Arms: It's Not Surprising That Residents in Big Apple Are Turning to Gun Ownership

Mamdani is going to be the best gun salesman New York City has ever seen. He doesn't believe in prisons, policing, or literally anything other than letting criminals run rampant across the city. That may be fine for a nepo baby who will have taxpayer-funded security while he's in office--generally staffed by the same cops he's spent years demonizing, ironically enough--but the rest of us can't outsource our protection to other entities.

And this first came to my attention from Jews Can Shoot.

Democrats Hypocrisy on Guns and Cops

After decades of fighting against the Second Amendment, and years of clamoring for "Defund the Police," Democrats now want to be surrounded by guns and cops. Democrats push armed security for lawmakers

As members of Congress grapple with growing personal threats, top Democrats in the US House are lobbying Republicans to let each lawmaker’s office employ an armed staff member to accompany them in their districts, as well as a law enforcement coordinator.

Of course it is all Trump's fault. Democrats have had no part in the elimination of civility in public discourse. It is all Trump. Or something.

So go ahead and click thru for the insane details. (Hat tip to William Teach at Pirate's Cove. Surprise: House Democrats Want Taxpayer Funded Armed Security)

Asbestos Found in Chinese Wind Turbines

Are we shocked? Nationwide alert issued after asbestos is detected in Chinese-made wind turbines across the country

An urgent safety alert has been issued at wind farms across Australia after asbestos was discovered in Chinese-made wind turbines.

The deadly material was first found in brake pads used in wind turbine tower lifts at the Goldwind Cattle Hill wind farm in central Tasmania.

The asbestos is in brake pads used in wind turbine tower elevators. The supplier in question has provided these brake pads to wind farms all over the country of Australia, so people think the problem is not limited to one state.

This is the MGUY Australia video Health SHOCK: ASBESTOS found in Chinese wind turbines

Well, this is unfortunately what happens when governments drunk on net zero Kool-Aid rush headlong into a disastrous energy transition, not knowing the first thing about energy. Idiots like Chris Bowen have no scientific understanding and have spent their entire careers as Labor Party staffers and couldn't run a sweet shop in the real world. But suddenly, they're in charge of billions of dollars of government money pumped at the supposed climate crisis.

The video is about 5 minutes long.

One interesting thing is that Australia only outlawed asbestos in 2003, where the US did it something in the late 1970s

Wednesday Link Roundup - 3 December

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

bluebird of bitterness has your funnies.
Bunkerville has judge Sparkle.(Bunk OK?)

EBL - Josephine Baker

Zou Zou
30 November 2021: Josephine Baker honored at Paris' Panthéon

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 12.01.25 (Weekend Substack Sensation)

Postcards From Barsoom: The Simp-Rapist Complex
Stoic Observations: Spontaneous Thanks, also, Idempotent Kafka & Prompt Mania

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 1 December 2025: Leptospirosis Party Edition

Google Antigravity just wiped my D drive. (Reddit)
Not my D drive. It's AI shit and I don't give AI shit access to anything I don't want destroyed.

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

The Midwest Chick - Saturday Meme Drop………….
Pirates Cove - Oh Noes: Surprise: Socialism In Bolivia Causes Bread Shortage

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - The Venezuelan Double Tap

At Am Con, The Dangerous, Unhinged Reaction to Trump’s Ukraine Peace Plan, "Russia hawks could spoil diplomacy and doom Ukrainians." From RCW, Off Target: Ukraine’s Fighter Jet Pivot a Betrayal to U.S. Taxpayers.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 12.02.25 (Morning Edition)

Dana Loesch: Tim Walz Accused Of Fraud
Don Surber: Make Money Not War

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 11/29/2025

FBI Director Kash Patel says the contents of the burn bags containing Trump-Russia documents discovered at the FBI building will be made public one way or another.

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: Women’s brains are smaller than men’s brains. Americans reject college. Ken Burns burns America. Retarded outrage.
Carnival Carney’s Canada: Alberta’s Castle Law. The Islam problem. A legal battle.

Vlad Tepes - Canada’s MAiD as a Maoist means to get rid of the 5 “olds”, US and Canadian military spy-ops, Berenson shows a fraction of child deaths from the mRNA and more: Links 1 for Nov. 29, 2025

1. Druthers, a paper news periodical which is counter narrative, did this article on Canada’s attempt to offer MAiD to retired RCMP officers. One can only wonder if it is because older RCMP officers actually upheld the law, as opposed to state narratives

The Glibertarians - Sunday Morning Slow Recovery Links

Torpedoes might be a big ask, but does Australia not have flare guns?
The cure was worse than the disease?

Political Hat - News of the Week (November 30th, 2025)

Slovenian Voters Refuse to Legalize Assisted Suicide
The Slovenian National Assembly tried to legalize assisted suicide. But the country’s voters had a different idea.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 12.02.25 (Evening Edition)

Chicago Boyz: Nice Song for Early December, Minnesota Nice, and A Murderous Parallel?
Dana Loesch: Portland Lights The “Woke Tree”

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

ITEM 8: The Conservative Brief reported, “The Democratic National Committee has secured a substantial loan in preparation for next year’s midterm elections, as the party struggles with leadership and has little to demonstrate for its government shutdown efforts.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 12/1/2025

Harvard Hires Teacher Even After He Assaulted Student
Harvard University has hired a graduate teaching fellow after he completed a court-ordered diversion class for assaulting an Israeli classmate during a 2023 “die-in” protest.

Maggie's Farm - Saturday morning links

How Desperate Are the Dems?
Chicago mayor says imprisoning violent criminals is racist and immoral

JJ Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 12/1/25

No attempt by propagandist media to explain why.
Hey, Why Was the DC National Guard Shooter Naked Except for a Pair of Socks?

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Sen. Mark Kelly Continues “Seditious Six” Operation to Advance U.S. Color Revolution

• Anti-ICE protesters storm lower Manhattan, block garage, 18 arrests made - Nicholas Ballasy
• Fracas in Caracas and Six for Sedition - Clarice Feldman

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

Shawn Regan rightly applauds a Trump-administration proposal to clip the overgrown wings of the Endangered Species Act.

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 12/02/2025

A NGO headquartered in Minnesota is getting paid $2,375 for every Somalia immigrant they bring into the United States. That will be a CIA front.

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 11-30-25 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, Sunday Meme Drop from Midwest Chick's Place, Monday Memes from Granite Grok, and Fucking Mondays..... gifdump from Wirecutter.

Prosecutors HATE Self-Defense

Kansas City and its local NPR station also have their knickers in a twist. Missouri prosecutors fear ruling means deadly force can be self-defense against simple assault | KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR

Missouri prosecutors are concerned that a recent decision by the state Court of Appeals could open self-defense laws so broadly that the slightest threat of a minor attack could justify a person responding with deadly violence.

The prosecutors want to be able to Monday-morning quarterback you on the "was it really a reasonable fear" of death?

A judge prevented an argument of "self-defense" in which a defendant drew a knife. The appeals court said, that it should be up to the jury, not the judge to decide if force was reasonable.

Here is the point of law, that the Appeals Court relied on.

The Missouri Legislature changed the law on deadly force in 2007, the appeals court ruling said, allowing the use of deadly force when a person reasonably believes it is necessary to protect himself or herself or a third person “against death, serious physical injury, or any forcible felony,” which was defined as “included but not limited to murder, robbery, burglary, arson, kidnapping, assault, and any forcible sexual offense.”

And now the prosecutors are beside themselves. They actually mention that it would require them to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that it was self-defense. Isn't that what they are supposed to be proving?

Hat tip to Gun News Daily, and Keep and Bear Arms.

It Is Long Past Time For Europe to Handle Its Own Defense

They should think of it as growing up. From 1819 News - 'Bass Pro Shops has more guns': U.S. Senate candidate Morgan Murphy bashes military capabilities of NATO allies

In the late 1940s and even into the 1950s and '60s, it made sense for the US to provide all or most of the security for Western Europe. You can argue about when it stopped making sense, but certainly after the fall of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, Europe should have been able to handle its own defense. There are more Western Europeans than Americans, after all.

"It's unbelievable that our European partners aren't stepping up to take care of this war that is in their own backyard," Murphy told the host. "This is a European war, and frankly, we've got 20 European nations out there that have a smaller army than the average number of guns at a Bass Pro Shop. Literally, I'd rather go to war [on the side of] Bass Pro Shops than 20 of our 31 NATO partners. They're more better armed."

It's a classic rant. Click thru. (Hat tip to Keep and Bear Arms.)

This is not a new gripe of mine. I have been mad at the fact that the US has been funding Europe's security since before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Here are just a couple of posts from March of this year, mostly on Germany, the largest economy in Europe. (Or it was before they decided to sacrifice their industrial base on the alter of Net Zero.)

• The State of German Military Readiness
• Germany Gets a Wack to the Side of the Head
• Europe Finally Increases Defense Spending

There are more, but that is enough to be going on with.

Casino Royale

Do people even know that there was 1967 spoof of James Bond, staring Peter Sellers, with David Niven, Ursula Andress, and with Woody Allen playing a "Bond Villain?" It isn't very good, though I did like it as a kid. Some of the music was good.

The recent song by Herb Alpert sent me looking for some of his older work.

This is the Theme to the 1967 movie Casino Royale. It was written by Burt Bacharach and performed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

Tuesday Links - 2 December

MaddMedic at Freedom Is Just Another Word… is first with Uniparty Responsible for MN Tax Dollars Funneled to Muslim Terrorist Al-Shabaab Group …

To make matters worse, the reporting says that Minnesota taxpayers are the LARGEST FUNDERS of Al-Shabaab in the world!”

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Finally, A Winning Week

After weeks of getting beaten like the family mule, the Senators struck back with a sweep of the A’s plus two wins against the Twins.

Theo Spark - RUE BRITTANIA ..............from Rico

Wrong think and wrong speech are streng verboten in the home of the Magna Carta today, but Hell's Bells...now wrong music is too?

AmmoLand - ‘Permit-to-Purchase’ Requirements Turn Right into Privilege; They Cannot Stand

Yet anti-gun-rights Democrats in the four states mentioned above have all decided the right protected from government infringement by the Second Amendment is a second-class right, subject to government approval.

News2A - Understanding the Story Told in New Jersey’s Permit to Carry Dashboard Data

After Bruen, New Jersey, along with all the other may-issue jurisdictions, became a “shall-issue” state and was forced to begin issuing permits en masse to law-abiding residents because they could no longer use justifiable need to deny applicants.

Paul Vallas at Chicago Contrarian - Chicago’s Billion-Dollar “Reform” Industry

Windy City's lawsuit lottery: How suing Chicago Police has become a billion-dollar racket enriching criminals and trial lawyers alike — and the reforms we desperately need

Catherine Salgado at PJ Media - Injured National Guardsman Slowly on the Mend

Andrew Wolfe, the young National Guardsman who was injured in last Wednesday’s attack by an Afghan migrant that killed Sarah Beckstrom, is slowly but surely healing.

Wombat-socho again - Rule 5 Sunday: Snow. Ugh.

It’s getting to be that time of year when the water freezes and falls out of the sky.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 0 December 2025: Page Petronius Edition

Year of Linux on the Desktop? Part One: Does Linux actually account for 11% of desktops even in the US - and a higher number globally? (ZD Net)

Probably, yes. You get that number by adding together desktop Linux, ChromeOS (which is Linux) and "Unknown" numbers.

Globally Linux numbers are about 50% higher, and looking at US government website stats, 25% of requests come from some flavour of Linux (including Android).

The Daily Skrape - Walz Joins Democrats’ New Crisis Unit ‘Operation It’s Trump’s Fault Somehow’ After DHS Says He’s ‘100 Percent Responsible

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz reportedly went white as a vegan dairy substitute after DHS workers declared he was “100 percent responsible” for the massive fraud scandal, sources have confirmed.

Brazil Takes Baby Step Toward Self-Defense

Rio De Janeiro allows women to carry pepper spray. Sort of. With pepper spray authorized for women's self-defense, Rio de Janeiro becomes the first state to authorize civilian use with controlled sales, a monthly limit, and free access for women with a protective order in effect

With pepper spray released Officially for women's self-defense, Governor Cláudio Castro signed a law that makes Rio de Janeiro the first Brazilian state to regulate the civilian use of the product. The measure creates specific rules for sales, maximum quantities, and free distribution in cases of violence, directly targeting the protection of women in vulnerable situations.

In practice, the text defines where the spray can be sold, to whom, in what quantity, and with what concentration limit. The proposal combines pepper spray released for civilian use with a package of strict controls., trying to balance the right to defense of women and the concern about the misuse of the product on the streets of the state.

The limits are about 2.5 fluid ounces of spray (depending on exactly how they are measuring), which is about 5 of containers I usually purchase. Purchasing 2 per month... I usually throw them away when they expire, rather than because they are empty.

Brazilians can't purchase the large "home defense" cans (not quite as large as a can of spray paint) because those are more than the 70 gram limit.

Also men can't purchase or own pepper spray, which some people are bent out of shape over.

This isn't all of Brazil, just the state or Rio De Janeiro, but you have to start somewhere.

I suppose this is a recognition of the reality that Brazil is not a safe place. (Hat tip to Keep and Bear Arms.)

A Shooting in the Gun-Controlled UK

How can this be? There is so much gun control in the UK, and yet it isn't safe. Attempted murder arrest after teenage boy shot

The 16-year-old was found injured on London Road, Sheffield, at about 17:15 GMT on Monday and was taken to hospital.

South Yorkshire Police said a 26-year-old man had been arrested by Police Scotland in Aberdeen on Saturday night, along with a 23-year-old woman, who was being held on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Other people, juveniles, mostly, have been arrested; click thru for the details.

"This incident understandably caused a lot of concern and heartache in the local communities and our thoughts remain with the child's family," [Detective Chief Inspector Emma Knight, from South Yorkshire Police] said.

Sheffield, UK is about a 60 kilomter drive east of Manchester, or about a 260 kilometer drive north of London. South Yorkshire is one of 48 counties in the England.

So all the gun control, knife control, and soon to be blunt-object control, has not made the United Kingdom crime free. I'm shocked. Or maybe not. And while crime like this is going on the police are busy arresting people for songs, posts on social media, and other thought crimes. More like Airstrip One every day.

More 3D Printed Submachine Guns

Impro Guns has another story out of Brazil. More 3D Printed SMGs (Brazil)

Quite a number of these are being seized across multiple states.

Click thru for some photos of the FGC-9s being seized, along with some accessories.

Governments can't accept the fact that they are losing control - what little they ever had - of firearms.

Jet City Woman

Social Media isn't bad if you can avoid the insanity. It is harder to do all the time, but this song came to me via X.

I have to say that I really like Geoff Tate's singing.

While I don't think you will have trouble understanding the lyrics, here is a link.

This is "Jet City Woman" by Queensrÿche from their 1990 album Empire, though this is the remastered version from 2003. (It was released as a single in 1991.)

There is an "official music video." You can find it if you're interested. I don't care for music videos, in general. A few are good, but I usually find them distracting.

On the subject of Tidal links to songs. While it was a bit rough for a while, I believe Tidal has worked out their issues with web links. (They were timing out looking for cookies for a while, but that seems to have been sorted.) I like the Tidal links, because they give you a choice of streaming service or YT. Let me know if you are having any issues with them. Their support is not the best, but it is not the worst either.

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Chicago

From HeyJackass! we get the weekend totals. Turkey Shoot Weekend

While the extended Thanksgiving weekend has been known to put up summer-like numbers in the past, this year, officers Cold, Blustery and Stormy will be cracking down on the non-demonizable silly decisions.

And they did experience "the snowiest day in Chicago in November." They set a record, at least as recorded at O'Hare airport.

Final Turkey Tally: 5 killed, 13 wounded
2024 Thanksgiving: 6 killed, 19 wounded
2023 Thanksgiving: 3 killed, 29 wounded

And while that does look like a vast improvement over 2 years ago, that includes the fact that there were no shootings recorded between roughly 3 AM on Saturday, and 5 PM on Sunday. I'm sure mayor Brandon will declare that crime is down.

If you want to help HeyJackss! out you can get some of their merch in time for Christmas. These are the only crime stats to trust when it comes to Chicago, for a couple of reasons.

Now is the best time to disappoint your loved ones this upcoming holiday season with something sarcastic from ShopJackass!.

DOJ Takes on Los Angeles Sheriff Over Concealed Carry Permits

From the Los Angeles Daily News we get the following. Getting a gun permit in LA County shouldn’t be rarer than a Nolan Ryan no-hitter

As a lawsuit by the federal government details, just one in 2,000 concealed-carry permit applicants wins the legally required seal of approval from the LA County Sheriff’s Department. From the start of 2024 to March 2025, nearly 4,000 people sought permits. The Department deigned to grant just two of them their constitutional rights – “a mere 0.05% approval rate.”

That’s not how the system is supposed to work. It’s been three years since the U.S. Supreme Court held that “ordinary, law-abiding citizens have a…right to carry handguns publicly for their self-defense.” Apparently, the Sheriff’s Department has not gotten the message.

Or maybe it has, but it just doesn’t care.

It is a bit amazing to see the Dept. of Justice take on this case, since other parts of the DOJ appear to be fighting against the 2nd Amendment.

Appalled by the LA sheriff’s disregard for the Constitution, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought a civil rights lawsuit alleging that the county has a “pattern or practice” of violating the Second Amendment. Pattern-or-practice suits to protect civil rights, first authorized by Congress in the wake of the beating of Rodney King by LA law enforcement, are often a big sign that something’s gone very wrong.

My guess is that the Left will have a fit about this, if they aren't already.

I'll have to make some popcorn. Click thru for the details.

Australians Keep Making Firearms

And the Australian government won't have it! From Impro Guns: ‘Not-A-Glock’ pistols seized in Tasmania

3D printed .22lr ‘Not-A-Glock’ pistols seized during several police operations in recent weeks. Only basic easily obtainable hardware store parts including a small length of steel tubing (visible in the second photo) are required for assembly meaning these pistols can be pumped out in bedrooms anywhere around the world.

Click thru for the photos. The 3D printed guns are getting much better, at least judging by the photos. These include some suppressors.

I Miss Living in a Civilized Society

What were you doing at the age of 12? I'm guessing murder wasn't on the agenda. WTC worker who 'escaped' 9/11 beaten to death by three teens: cops | New York Post

A former World Trade Center worker who “narrowly escaped” the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks has been beaten to death by three teens — one of whom was just 12 at the time of the attack, according to officials.

He was fired from his consulting job at the World Trade Center in July of 2001. I'm sure he thought that was a horrible fate. I've been laid off, and it feels bad in the moment. I'm sure he reevaluated that on September 12th.

Long Island native Roger Borkum, 64, was found “severely beaten” just before midnight on Oct. 19 in Downtown Jacksonville, FL., after three teens were seen “kicking and stomping” him, according to an arrest report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

You can click thru for the details. They are gruesome.

So how did things fall so far, so fast?

"Numbers Matter"

The Other McCain has some observations about the Left. The ‘Magic Dirt’ Fallacy and Other Liberal Errors About Immigration Policy

He starts out by noting that if you disagree with a liberal they will call you a name, not because they can refute any argument you have, but because they assume that will stop all arguments.

Steve Sailer deserves a better reputation than he has, but as it is he is one of the most successful Thought Criminals of our age, having persisted in focusing on facts that liberals wish us to ignore, particularly regarding actual real-world racial differences. One of the problems we encounter in any discussion of race is that liberals always attribute mala fides to their critics. To disagree with a liberal is to stand accused of some malign motive — racism, sexism, “greed,” etc. — because of the unstated premises embedded in any liberal policy argument.

From there he goes on to discuss Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s shooting of National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., and immigration as a whole.

It may be true that “the vast majority” of immigrants “are freedom-loving,” but it very much matters how many of those immigrants are admitted. Suppose that 20% of immigrants are not “freedom-loving.” If the total number of immigrants is a million a year, this means we are adding 200,000 enemies of freedom annually.

There is a nice bit of Thomas Sowell thrown in.

Click thru.

Venezuela Prepares for War. Or Something

From Stephen Green, the Vodkapundit, at PJ Media we get the following. VIDEO: Venezuela Is Training for World War III and I Can't Stop Laughing

So, another great way to prepare your military for combat with an American aircraft carrier strike group and assorted stealth jets is by firing fake rocket-propelled grenades off a rooftop and into a busy metropolitan area in broad daylight.

I wish I were kidding, but we have the video.

According to an X post, it was part of an effort by Venezuela to conduct military training.

“Military” and “training” are punching way above their weight in that post.

Obama and Company decided to end the Monroe Doctrine, which has lead to China, Russia, and Iran seeking footholds in the Western Hemisphere. Now we are trying something new. Or old. Whatever.

Click thru for a smile.

2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament

The FIDE Candidates Tournament for the current round has been set. The location was announced previously, and now the players are known.

As for the location, they usually play in nice places at level. (Or as Murray Head said, "Don't you know when you play at this level, there's no ordinary venue.") Mediterranean Stage Set for Chess History: The 2026 FIDE Candidates Come to Cyprus

FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, or in English, The International Chess Federation. It is the governing body for chess.

The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 is an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament scheduled to take place between March 25 and May 1, 2026, to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2026 against reigning champion D. Gukesh. Organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), the tournament follows a revamped qualification system introduced in 2024, that follows a merit-based qualification pathways through major events, ratings, and the FIDE Circuit.

A double round-robin tournament is one in which each player will play every other player twice. That means there are 14 rounds.

The regulations are a bit complicated, but the time constraints are as follows.

The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 41. Players get 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.

Tie breakers are handled via rapid chess with each player getting 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the number of players tied, plus a time increment. If more rounds are required then the move to blitz chess with 3 minutes, and a shorter increment.

That is only ties for first place, other ties will be settled by more esoteric considerations of scores from the main tournament.

And it appears that the field is complete: Esipenko Grabs Last Candidates Spot, Final Goes To Tiebreaks

Player	Country	Rating (Nov 2025)	Qualification Path
Fabiano Caruana	United States	2795	Winner – 2024 FIDE Circuit
Anish Giri	Netherlands	2769	Winner – 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss
Matthias Blübaum	Germany	2680	Runner-up – 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss
Wei Yi	China	2752	Top 3 – 2025 FIDE World Cup
Javokhir Sindarov	Uzbekistan	2721	Top 3 – 2025 FIDE World Cup
Andrey Esipenko	FIDE	2681	Third place – 2025 FIDE World Cup
Hikaru Nakamura	United States	~2810 avg	Likely Rating Qualifier (99%)
R. Praggnanandhaa	India	~2775 avg	Likely Rating Qualifier (99%)

Whoever wins the Candidates Tournament will go on to face Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning champion, in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2026. The dates and location of that match have not been announced.

Among the notable absences is Magnus Carlsen. He was world champion for a number of years (2013-2023), but he has said he has no intention of participating in that championship in any way. He is still competing, just not for the FIDE Championship.

For those of you who don't know Murray Head, I refer you to "One Night In Bangkok."

... when you
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue

It's Iceland or the Philippines or Hastings or
or this place!

That song came from the musical Chess, which is apparently somewhat about chess. (I still haven't seen it.)

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 29 November

The Right Way starts things off with Top of the News

University of Minnesota website alerts ‘Whiteness pandemic’ - BlazingCatFur
GOP Worries About Midterms "Wipeout". - AoSHQ

Animal Magnetism - Animal’s Hump Day News

Yeah, Ukraine will never buy it.
She’d be better off going back to tending bar.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 11.26.25

CDR Salamander: The SECNAV Delivers Your Takesgiving Turkey
Chicago Boyz: When All Is Revealed

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 27 November 2025: Fireworks-Stuffed Turkey Edition

OpenAI needs to raise $207 billion by 2030 so that it can... Continue to lose money. (Financial Times) (archive site)
Someone remind me why we are doing this again?

EBL - Johnny Cash : Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving Prayer
AoSHQ: Morning Report 11.27.25

Small Dead Animals - Thursday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: They’re at it again. From Moscow to New York. Deport all Afghans.
Conman Carney’s Canada: CTV airs anti-Hindu slogans. Carney’s air force.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 11.28.25 (Afternoon Edition)

Defending The Wood Perilous: Books, stories, giving thanks, and more!
Stoic Observations: Stoic Horizons

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 11/28/2025

Treasury Department to End Federal Tax Benefits for Illegal Migrants: Bessent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that his department is working to end federal tax benefits for illegal migrants at the order of President Donald Trump.

Vlad Tepes - Muslim attacker dresses for the afterlife, Christianity being negated across the West, and more: Links 1 for November 27, 2025

4. The sub-headline is the lead in our opinion. It should be no surprise that a lesbian candidate for office is rejected by the Green Party because Muslims will never vote for she/him.xer/xit. But it should come as a huge shock to all of us that there are secret committees ...

The Glibertarians - Thanksgiving Morning Links

One example of the perhaps 5% of the time I agree with Trump.
Iranian technology at its best.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Guard Shooter Identified as Afghan Asylee, Fani Willis' Cases Dropped

Breitbart reports Jobless Claims Fall to Seven-Month Low as Employers Hold the Line on Layoffs. Joe Weber at JTN, Pharmaceutical companies agreed to cut prices on 15 prescription drugs on Medicare plans, HHS.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 11.28.25 (Evening Edition)

Victory Girls: Liberal Fascists Rev Up Hatred For National Guard Soldiers
Watts Up With That: “The Climategate Whitewash Continues” (scandal of a scandal)

Maggie's Farm - Wednesday morning links

The Death Rattle of Apocalyptic Environmentalism
Psychotherapist Who Claimed That Trump Derangement Syndrome is Real Now Getting Death Threats

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Key lawmaker says leftist attacks on military seek to undercut immigration enforcement

• Guard Member Dies After DC Terror Attack; Trump Pushes Emergency Migration Freeze ZH
• The Islamists’ Trojan horse Melanie Phillips

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 11/27/25

It’s working...for health insurers and Republican politicians, but not so much for you.
Obamacare: Higher Costs, Worse Healthcare, Endless Repeal Promise

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 11/28/2025

Afghan Refugees Killed 55 People, Wounded 92 in U.S.
This is malicious, and this guy is a dangerous psychopath

I leave you with Wednesday's gifs from Wirecutter, Thursday Memes … from MaddMedic, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3170 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and Thanksgiving Fun in the PM from Woodsterman.

Self-Defense Is Legal in Georgia

I suspected that it was. Murder suspect given immunity in Macon gas station shooting | Macon Telegraph

A murder suspect in Macon has been granted immunity on his most serious charges after he proved to a judge that the person he shot and killed was the aggressor in an incident between them, according to court documents.

There is no duty to retreat in Georgia.

There was also no evidence that Burke had a gun, but other people he was seen with at the gas station appeared to have firearms. The group had been the ones to shoot toward Andrews, prompting him to return fire, according to court documents.

“The evidence … strongly suggests that the Defendant was being shot at from one or more persons located at the front left side of the gas station and that he returned fire as he took cover behind the passenger side of the vehicle,” Mincey said.

He is no longer charged with murder, or manslaughter over the shooting, but it facing charges of being a restricted person in possession of a firearm.

Do I need to mention that Macon is about an 85 mile drive south of Atlanta? Probably.

Self-defense is a human right, and it appears to be a legal right in Georgia.

Your Life Means Nothing to The Bad Guys

They want your car or your money, and they will kill you for it. ‘Tried to take my life:’ Marion County man recounts being shot on his porch; 17-year-old arrested

No one died in this incident, but that is only thanks to excellent medical care.

A man is recovering after being shot on his own front porch, and deputies say they arrested a 17-year-old who is accused in the shooting.

Marion County deputies arrested 17-year-old Jeremy Pitts at Lake Weir High School on Nov. 14, just hours after the early-morning shooting at a home on Oak Lane.

This is was not a stranger. This was a neighbor, who he had paid to wash his car. 17-year-old Jeremy Pitts shot him anyway.

Proving again, that people you know can be a threat.

“It blew straight through my liver, and they had to remove my gallbladder,” [the injured homeowner] said.

Marion County, Florida is in the central part of the state. It is home to Ocala. It is about a 100 mile drive north of Tampa, or about a 90 mile drive northwest of Orlando.

Pitts is in juvenile detention awaiting arraignment, which is scheduled for late December.

Deliver Us

How about a bit of guitar to start the day? It might have too much energy for this early, and it might not.

This is "Deliver Us" by Andy Timmons Band from the 2006 album Resolution.

Just When You Thought Things Couldn't Get More Insane...

From The Other McCain we get another episode in an ongoing saga of the "Crazy People Are Dangerous" variety. Radical Vegan Transgender Cult Update: Ziz Claims to Be ‘Genocide’ Victim

What? Aren't victims of genocide usually dead?

The latest development in their crazy case is that cult leader Jack “Ziz” LaSota made a federal court appearance in Baltimore.

Click thru for the details.

DC Shooter and his Immigration Pass

From The Other McCain we get the following. Rahmanullah Lakanwal ‘Should Have Never Been Allowed to Come Here’

Rahmanullah Lakanwal is the person who shot two National Guard soldiers, killing one of them. Apparently he was part of an Afghan army unit that worked with the US. (They were not nice people.) He got a free pass into the US. Should he have?

Yes — Crazy People Are Dangerous., and when you’re shipping in tens of thousands of “refugees” from one of the most backward countries on the planet, you’re likely to get a few hundred lunatic killers in the bunch.

Click thru for details.

Friday Links - Black Friday Edition

And so we come to that time of year that I hate, and love. Christmas is wonderful in the abstract, and I loved it as a kid, but the commercialization has gone way beyond crushing the life out of Christmas and has morphed into a menace on its own. A couple of years back I bought some noise-cancelling earbuds, so I don't have to listen to the endless stream of Christmas carols. It would not be bad if it was an endless stream, but it is the same 12 Christmas carols wherever you go.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

Jews Can Shoot - Why Other Countries Envy Your 2nd Amendment

In an era when people around the world are debating freedom, safety, and government power, one truth stands firm: rights are only preserved if they are exercised, and rights abandoned are rarely restored.

Miguel Gonzalez - It is a train FFS! From Florida...

Two Blue counties apparently can’t deal with train crossings. I guess they figure they have the right of way and the train must stop for them. Welcome to Physics.

The Other McCain - Jared Loughner Is Newsworthy Again

Remember this guy? On January 8, 2011, Jared Loughner used a Glock-19 with a 33-round magazine to kill six people and wound 13 others, including Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords, at a political rally in Tucson, Arizona. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Democrats tried to blame the Tea Party movement generally, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in particular, for the shooting. These claims turned out to be false

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Rich Folks Very Concerned Immigration Raids Are Hitting Country Clubs And Upscale Shops

Do Democrats just see illegals/fake asylum seekers as cheap labor?

Warner Todd Huston at Chicago Contrarian - Chicago Mayor Demands the State up Its Tax Grabbing

Chicago's greedy tax-and-spend mayor, Brandon Johnson, is now demanding state lawmakers in Springfield up the ante and increase taxes even higher than the Democrat-dominated legislature already has to satisfy his spendthrift ways.

Borepatch - Road Trip VIII - Off The Interstate I

We crossed the Macinaw Bridge on to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and turned west on Rt. 2 along Lake Michigan. Even though the views were spectacular I was looking a road north to take us up to Lake Superior. I picked a road off the map and turned north onto the road less traveled.

Lone Star Parson - It's All A Larf Until...

...your outta control TDS gets people killed, as in two National Guardsmen who were shot near the White House today.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 26 November 2025: Random Thing Edition

Campbell's Soup's CISO and vice president Martin Bally has been put on leave after video of him surfaced declaiming that Chicken noodle soup is people! You're eating people! and I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. (The Register)

Although the audio is garbled, in a later section he appears to cry out You maniacs! You blew it up!

Meep at STUMP - 2025 Movember: Men and Suicide

It’s not just veterans. Men in general have a heightened risk for suicide. I’ll look at the stats below. But first… Movember!

Concealed Carry versus Chicago Rapper

Well, okay, he hails from a village south of Chicago. Rapper 4 Block Lil Mari got shot by concealed carry holder during botched carjacking, officials say - CWB Chicago

A south suburban teenager who raps under the name “4 Block Lil Mari” has been jailed after prosecutors accused him of shooting a woman during a botched South Shore carjacking that ended with the victim, a concealed carry holder, shooting him as well.

The incident took place in South Shore, one of the 77 neighborhoods Community Areas in Chicago. South Shore is just south of Hyde Park or about 9 miles south of The Loop. 4 Block Lil Mari is from Steger, a village 35 miles south of Chicago.

Prosecutors say, the victim, a 34-year-old woman, and a 31-year-old female companion were sitting in the victim’s parked car when “multiple individuals” approached and struck up a “brief conversation.”

Prosecutors said Bonslater tried to yank open the passenger door while pointing a gun at the women. The victim, a licensed concealed carry holder, reached for her own firearm, prompting Bonslater to shoot her in the leg before she returned fire, hitting him multiple times, according to prosecutors. She then sped away from the scene.

And surprise, surprise, he was out on "Pretrial Release" for a felony charge, when this happened. (I'm shocked!) He is the 20th person on pretrial release - there is no bail in Illinois - charged with killing or trying to kill someone in Chicago.

Bonslater, who has the word “Murda” tattooed on his neck, is charged with attempted second-degree murder, attempted vehicular hijacking, and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon.

The Criminal Justice System in Chicago, and in Illinois, seems to be incapable of keeping bad guys off the street.

Bad Risk Management

Also, I know it is cold in parts of the country at some seasons of the year. I grew up just outside of Chicago, and I worked downtown taking the trains in the Windy City. You want cold? Stand on an El platform 25 feet in the air in Chicago when the wind is howling in off the lake in February. Even so... Do not start your car and leave it running to warm it up. DO. NOT.

This is an examination of what happens when you try to stop someone from stealing your car, and all of the ways things can go wrong.

This is the Active Self Protection video Family Tries To Stop Car Thief But It Gets Very Dangerous!

In this case there was no gunfight, and no one was hurt. People are always on about how they have the right to protect their property. Which is fine. John C. and I think that is bad risk management, but you do you.

You here someone "messing" with your car, so you decide to go out and "confront" them. You are going to get into a gunfight with an unknown number of people, probably more than one, of unknown skill and intent. You might prevail, and you might be injured or die. For what? The deductible on your car insurance? Legal fees relating to a shooting incident will be orders of magnitude higher than your deductible, and probably more than the value of your car.

Friend, If you can't afford full coverage insurance on your car, you cannot afford to get into a gunfight with a car thief. Okay?

The video is 14 minutes.

Here is a short look at what winter can be in Chicago.

UK Government Refuses to Release Data on Excess Deaths

Because nothing says "trust us about the science" like hiding the data the science is based on. Government ‘withholding data that may link Covid jab to excess deaths’

The public health watchdog has been accused of a “cover-up” after refusing to publish data that could link the Covid vaccine to excess deaths.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) argued that releasing the data would lead to the “distress” of bereaved relatives if a link were to be discovered.

They also said that the public was too stupid to understand the data anyway. Almost.

“You have to ask yourself why it is that the public are considered incapable of handling this data. It reveals a patronising mindset, which also characterised the pandemic response – ‘do what we say, don’t ask any questions, we know what is best for you’.”

It is begining to look like they know what the data will show - they did release all of the data to Big Pharma - and they don't want the truth to come to light.

"Trust the science!" Fine. Let me verify your data. "Trust me and only me!" Not a chance.

Click thru.

Hat tip to Russell Brand and his video They Can’t Hide This Any Longer, and his Substack post Excess Deaths and Lab leaks

In an era when official narratives repeatedly collapse under the weight of suppressed evidence and shifting truths, how much trust can we really place in the institutions now asking us to accept their latest assurances?

How strange is the timeline, when Russell Brand has more credibility than ministries of the UK government?

How Would You Respond to 4 Would-Be Home Invaders?

When you know that your family is in the home. ‘Worst night of my life': Homeowner speaks after fatally shooting alleged intruder

A homeowner says he was forced to defend himself and his family during a attempted break-in that ended with one man dead Saturday night, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

The homeowner did give an interview to the press.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s the worst night of my life,” the homeowner told NBC6.

The point is that 4 guys tried to get into an occupied home in Florida, a place where you can expect a very large percentage for people to armed for their own defense. It isn't a good place to be a bad guy.

Cops arrived to find the one guy with a gunshot wound. They had him taken to a hospital, but he did not survive.

Kendall, Florida is an unincorporated part of Miami-Dade County. It is about a 20 mile drive southwest of downtown, or about a 15 mile drive south of Miami International Airport.

The other three guys ran, because that is what they do. Cops are still searching for them.

Self-defense is a human right. And this took place in Florida.

The Failure of Knife Control in the UK

Doug Ross brings us a story from that place where Great Britain used to be. The UK's Assault Knife Crisis: It's the kitchen utensils, not the migrants

Knife crime wasn’t generally measured in the United Kingdom until around 2015.

Now there are regular almanacs published on the topic, the most recent last month.

In typical liberal/progressive fashion, the Brits have decided that the problem is not the people who are wielding the knives, but the inanimate objects themselves.

Instead of finding and punishing the people responsible, and perhaps noting what groups are bring the crime to England, the geniuses in charge have proposed some "controls" that will fail to control anything.

• Blunting the Points on All Knives: every kitchen knife in the UK must be rounded off at the tip to prevent stabbings. Yes, that was a real policy discussed in a BBC documentary on knife crime.
• Installing Machete Drop Boxes: suggested in the UK, trialed in Australia, and ridiculed globally.
• Taxes on kitchen knives.

There were more proposals, equally, or perhaps more, insane.

Clearly the person who suggested that first item does no cooking, and certainly no cleaning of game, or filleting of fish. (There is a reason expensive chefs' kinves from Germany are pointed.)

Click thru, though none of it is surprising.

Maritime Piracy Is Kicking Off in the Caribbean Sea

Perhaps the title to this post should include the word, "again." This is a story out of Bahamas. From gCaptain: Grounded Trailer Bridge Barge Looted Off Bahamas Following Mechanical Failure

Jacksonville-based transportation provider Trailer Bridge reported an active robbery aboard its barge Brooklyn Bridge on the evening of November 13, with approximately 50 individuals looting cargo from the vessel while it sat stranded roughly three miles off the Bahamas.

The Bahamian authorities have decided to do nothing, and the US navy, even though we apparently have agreements with the Bahamas, is also doing nothing.

For details on that bit of piracy and more in other parts of the world see the following video. There are some additional links below the embedded video.

This is the Whats' Going on With Shipping? video The Real Pirates of the Caribbean...and Somalia...and Hormuz | Where is the Coast Guard & Navy?

Some additional stories about piracy, though I suppose the story out of Iran doesn't count. (They are claiming they have a legal right to sieze the vessel in question.)

• Houthis Declare Suspension of Red Sea Attacks, But Maritime Threat Remains
• EUNAVFOR Seizes Pirate Mother Ship Following Tanker Hijacking Off Somalia
• Iran Confirms Seizure Of Tanker in Gulf, Citing ‘Unauthorized Cargo’

You can see the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Map at this link.

Never Go Full Progressive

Robert Stacy McCain at The American Spectator: The Dangerous Delusion of ‘Equality’

Joe got pulled over by a cop in Portage County, Wisconsin, and could have gotten off with a mere traffic ticket — or perhaps just a warning — but he was defiant, looking for trouble. If you’ve watched a lot of police body camera videos on YouTube (it’s a hobby of mine), you’ve become familiar with this scenario, the routine traffic stop that “escalates,” sometimes fatally. It often begins with a motorist’s refusal to give the officer a driver’s license, proceeding to the demand that the officer summon a supervisor, etc. Joe ended up in handcuffs in the back of a squad car, charged with assault and other crimes, adding to his already lengthy history of run-ins with the law.

Your rights are not being violated by a traffic stop. Or, if they are, it is not the time or the place to adjudicate them on the side of the road. It won't end in your favor, even if - or maybe especially if - you're right. If you think your rights have been violated, then get the bodycam and dashcam video later, and sue. Good Luck with that. "You can't fight City Hall."

Real injustice and actual oppression are not so rare that they can be ignored, but the Cult of Equality conjures up imaginary victimhood — “heteronormative patriarchy,” “structural racism,” “systemic transphobia,” blah blah blah — to seduce its gullible followers into a delusional rage.

This is a medium-long article, that covers the Left's cult of equity, roadside-legal disputes, and more. Grab a coffee and settle in.

Hat tip to Robert Stacy over at The Other McCain - This Is Joe. Don’t Be Like Joe.

Why do some fools get the idea that a traffic stop is a good time to hold an impromptu hearing about their constitutional rights?

For a fairly funny example of when a traffic stop went south in a hurry see my post What Cops Have to Deal With. Rich Hy, better known as Angry Cops, breaks down one of these videos of a traffic stop that turned into "herding cracked-out cats."

Wednesday Link Roundup - 26 November

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

8. Chicks On The Right: Trump’s Sense of Humor Takes Center Stage During Mamdani Meeting
9. Cold Fury: It ain’t just Nashvile she hates

EBL - A Working Man

A Working Man
A typical Jason Stratham movie with co writing by Slyvester Stalone.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 11.24.25 (Weekend Substackery)

Based Books Sale: What Are 2025’s Top Based Books?
Stoic Observations: Career Acceleration

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 23 November 2025: From universe import * Edition

A CrowdStrike employee has been fired after being caught sharing company information with hackers. (Bleeping Computer)
Not a good look for a company that offers high-end security solutions.

Small Dead Animals - Monday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: What Mamdani never learned. Tribulations of an educator. The Left became Gollum. The evils of capitalism.
Carnival Carney’s Canada: Carney pledges money for healthcare (in Africa). Reconciliation.

The Glibertarians - Monday Morning Links

“Sorry we made your city safer by arresting people who commit crimes.” I guess they’ll just let them all out again, which is what cities seem to think is the appropriate response to crime nowadays. At least that’s what the arrest and incarceration stats say.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 11.24.25 (Evening Edition)

Don Surber: The Mamdani Effect
First Street Journal: World War III Watch: the neocons want to see the fruitless fighting in Ukraine go on and on and on

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 11/24/2025

College-Educated Oversupply Crisis Worsens
The widening mismatch between an oversupply of college-educated workers and a deepening shortage of talent for non-degree, hands-on jobs has grown even more pronounced.

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

ITEM 5: Patrick De Haan tweeted, “Hurricane season has just 2 weeks remaining, but so far, for the first time in a decade: ZERO hurricanes made U.S. landfall. ZERO Gulf hurricanes.”

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - X 'Glitch' Exposes Foreign Propagandists

Ward Clark at RedState sees A New Wrinkle: SecState Distances U.S. From 'Unacceptable' Ukraine Proposal. Althouse, "Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine??? Don’t believe it until you see it..."

Political Hat - News of the Week (November 23rd, 2025)

Now Is the Moment to Deregulate Obamacare
The window Republicans have won’t reappear anytime soon.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 11.25.25

This Ain’t Hell: Cory Mills in the spotlight, also, Recall to Active Duty?
Victory Girls: Laura Loomer Needs a Disclaimer – Literally

Vlad Tepes - Carney channels Orwell on the Climate Line of Operation, Migrants don’t need no stinkin’ vaccines and a bounty on Jewish academics … no not metaphorically: Links 1 for November 23, 2025

1. Two videos on fashionable energy production. Which one makes the most sense? Which one can be fact checked? Which one is by a person in a position to make major decisions that effect all of us based on their vision, or at least statements on the nature of energy production?

Maggie's Farm - A few Saturday morning links for busy people

Archaeologists Discover an Ancient Wine Press Older Than the Pyramids
Construction Sites In Charlotte Go Dark As Illegals Hide From ICE

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 11/24/25

Even though the main characters were white, the values imparted were color blind.
1950s TV Families Were Aspirational Models For A Good Society

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: 'They Threw A Grenade – Now Feign Outrage' – No Sympathy For the Sedition Six

• Made in America Again: Treasury Sec. Bessent Unveils First U.S.-Made Rare Earth Magnet in 25 Years - Leslie Eastman
• Denmark Made the Cows Sick for Climate Change - M Dowling

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 11/25/2025

A scoping review of 109 studies finds 56% of papers suggest a causal link between COVID-19 vaccination and at least six major autoimmune diseases: Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Type 1 Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Graves Disease, and Hashimotos Thyroiditis.

I leave you with Sunday Funnies for 11-23-25 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3161 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and Mondays..... gifdump from Wirecutter.