Not Even Tom Cruise Can Save a Woke Movie

The last movie star doesn't have enough box-office-draw to save a movie that is a lecture about climate change. Hard to believe that Hollywood couldn't see that. From Breitbart: Nolte: Tom Cruise’s Global Warming Propaganda ‘Digger’ About to Lose $100+ Million

When the teaser trailer was released, I thought this looked interesting. Cruise is a good actor, and before he became Hollywood's action star (and even after) he had a bit of comic timing. When the first full trailer came out I lost all interest. (I don't need a 2 hour lecture from people who live in huge homes, and fly in private jets.) John Nolte has the details on the development of the movie, and the current projections.

Here’s a movie designed in a Woke Lab to hit the sweet spot of critics…

• Evil white men.
• Evil businessmen.
• Oil bad.

There is more in that list.

And now we have box office projections.

And now it’s about to open wide all across America and, per the professional estimates, humiliate itself and its star with an $8 million to $12 million opening. If these projections hold, a movie made for no Normal Person could lose more than $100 million.

There is more, including the current state of Hollywood. Click thru.

That $8 to $12 million projection is apparently from Box Office Theory and Shawn Robbins. As I type this on Thursday night, his projections are $7.5 million to $12 million, while the studio is looking for $12 to $15 million. Either way this is a disaster. The Numbers has the production budget at $125 million, not including marketing.

Since studios get about half of the take at the box office (it turns out movie theaters don't show movies for free), The movie would need to gross about $250 million just to cover the production budget. I have no idea what the advertising and marketing budget would be for a film like this, but I would think that $80 million would not be out of the question for a film staring Cruise.

The only way Hollywood is going to stop making Woke movies, is when they decide that they need to actually make money to survive. You would think that they are there, but apparently not quite.

Friday Links - 2 October

Light Over Heat with Professor David Yamane is up first with Are You a Lumper or a Splitter?

Darwin divided scientists into “Lumpers” vs. “Splitters.” As Christakis summarizes this view in his book Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, “Lumpers seek to group similar things together; splitters identify fine distinctions.”

Holly MathNerd - When Everything Is Racism

my review of Colin Kaepernick’s book

Chicago Contrarian - Leadership Vacuum in Chicago Creates Chaos on Parking Meters

The City Council made its original catastrophic parking-meter deal in 2008, when it foolishly leased the system to private investors for 75 years for a measly $1.15 billion after only three days of consideration.

Granite Grok - Morning Update: We’re Winning (Don’t You Dare Give Up Now)

Today, on the Morning Update, a reminder that normal people are winning. Republicans are winning. America is winning; the system is working, and we’ve got proof, but if you give in or give up, we’ll not just lose; we could lose everything.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Supreme Court Once Again Allows Deporting Illegals To 3rd Party Countries

This is deja vu all over again, after the Court ruled in 2025 that it was OK to send them to 3rd party countries

Chicago Contrarian - Only the Department of Justice Can Stop Chicago’s Outrageous Wrongful Conviction Payouts

The wrongful conviction racket could be the biggest scandal in modern Chicago history. It's time to bring it to an end

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 30 September 2026: Underfrog Edition

Anthropic announced not long ago that it was paying SpaceX $1.25 billion per month to lease capacity in datacenters that actually existed. The number now looks to be closer to twice that. (WCCFTech)

The only way to win is to own the stadium.

Another Failure of the Victim-Selection Process

I suppose they thought folks at an Airbnb would not be armed. Airbnb Renter Shoots Man, 18, Who Allegedly Broke Into Home

So how would you respond to two armed men breaking into your vacation rental?

This incident took place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The police department said that two armed men allegedly broke into an Airbnb and they got into an altercation with the renter. The renter then shot one of the suspects, who has since been identified as Dareon Pubien, in the chest.

Pubien, 18, then fled the scene on foot, and police later found him near his home.

Cops caught up with the other would-be bad guy, Sean Thompson, 25, and arrested him.

Both Thompson and Pubien have been charged with attempted murder and home invasion with a firearm.

Neighbors were shocked. Apparently because the Liberals in Broward County don't believe that crime can exist in the zip codes that cover Fort Lauderdale. Or maybe that is just the "Professional Journalist" behind the article.

The incident has left local residents in shock, while some even heard it happening in real time. Arthur Butler Jr. told CBS Miami that he heard “at least 10” gunshots coming from the house when the robbery was taking place.

Self-defense is a human right, and Florida has not morphed into Massachusetts.

You Can't Take the BBC Seriously in 2026

They were once a respected, if Leftist, news organization. Today they are just crazy. From William Teach at Pirate's Cove: Clear Nail Polish Is Apparently Now Raaaaacist

The BBC published an article saying that the new fashion trend, clear nail polish, was promoting white supremacy. Then, when they got beat over the head for being insane, they pulled the article. Click thru for those details.

They don’t need any sort of drugs to be batguano insane moonbats. Anyhow, the BBC originally took it down saying it needed “editorial review”, and now it’s just a 401. The link in the 2nd paragraph goes to an Internet Archive version. From that piece

They discount things like more women going to gyms, and not wanting to spend a lot of money on manicures, and then have them chip on a weight machine.

Also, manicures are expensive, and a bit time consuming. Especially when you factor in that can do it yourself, if you are not going crazy. Times are also a bit tough. Maybe the folks at the BBC didn't notice, on their government/tax-supported salaries.

Dutch Government Looks to Dump Microsoft Windows

Can you blame them? From The Register: Dutch government turns to NixOS for a sovereign desktop

The Netherlands is looking to create a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) solution for their PCs, based on NixOS. NixOS is a version of Linux built around the Nix package manager. (That is the software updater for that distribution.)

DAWO stands for "Digitaal Autonome Werkomgeving Overheid," or "Digital Autonomous Government Work Environment." Rather than a single product, its blueprint combines replaceable components for the operating system, cloud infrastructure, AI, communications, and collaborative working. Development remains at an early stage, but small-scale pilots are already under way within Dutch public bodies.

They started by working in 4 cities, since expanded to 8. And they didn't start with NixOS.

For its client OS, the project initially experimented with openSUSE, then Fedora, before settling on NixOS. The Reg FOSS desk has written about NixOS several times, including its radical approach to package management and the arrival of NixOS 22.11.

NixOS offers more than a conveniently Dutch pedigree. It is not controlled by a commercial vendor, while its declarative configuration and reproducible deployments make it attractive for managing and auditing large fleets of machines.

Microsoft is making the Windows experience so painful, that people are deciding to be done with it. Stuffing AI down everyone's throats, whether they want it or not. The entire Windows 10/Windows 11 PC support insanity. That doesn't even cover the security issues. And the cost - Software as a Service sounds great to shareholders of Microsoft, but not so much to people who have to pay for things. And the alternatives today are not limited to Apple, though I know some companies are giving more employees Apple laptops.

How Should an Elderly Homeowner Defend Himself?

If he doesn't have a firearm, what is he supposed to do? Homeowner shoots man who allegedly broke into his Montrose home, police say | KENS5

He kicked in the front door, in the middle of the afternoon.

An HPD officer at the scene told KHOU 11 that the man appeared to be a stranger to the homeowner. According to the officer, the homeowner, described as an elderly man, repeatedly told the alleged intruder to stop and leave the home.

The homeowner was able to retrieve a 38-caliber handgun, and he shot the intruder.

For more details and excellent commentary, see Colion Noir's video Elderly Texas Man Shoots Intruder After His Front Door Gets Kicked In

There are a lot of bad decisions a person can make on a Wednesday afternoon, but breaking the front door of an elderly man's house in Texas has got to be sitting somewhere near the very top of that list.

The video is 5 minutes long.

Sheriff Discontinues Use of Flock Cameras - Another Cop Caught

This seems to be a thing. Sheriff: Franklin County detective fired for misuse of Flock Camera system :: WRAL

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will guard the guards themselves.

Sheriff Kevin White of Fraklin County, North Carolina, has stopped using Flock cameras after a decade because of violations of privacy.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office has stopped using Flock surveillance cameras after it found an investigator used the cameras to track an unnamed person.

Detective Janet Leonard was fired after using the system to “track every movement of a single, private citizen,” White said in a release sent to media outlets Friday morning.

I would think more than firing is in order, but I am more interested in the ending the use of Flock cameras.

“This is unacceptable, unconstitutional, and a complete violation of privacy by someone whose entire career should have been dedicated to protecting the public,” White said.

Franlin County, North Carolina, is about 15 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Click thru for the details. And thank you to Sheriff White.

So You Decided to Trust Microsoft With Your Data

That didn't work out for a group of nonprofit organizations. From The Register: Microsoft tells nonprofits their deleted M365 data isn't coming back

Microsoft accidentally wiped some nonprofit customers' M365 data before their retention period expired – and now says it cannot tell them what disappeared, or even whether they lost anything.

Microsoft was hosting data for a group of nonprofits subject to a grant. The grant ran out, so Microsoft gave a date by when the data needed to be moved. And then they deleted the data before that date. No backups available. Oops.

The problem arose after the subscriptions were deactivated. In an email to one affected customer seen by The Register, Microsoft admitted that, "due to an error," it had deleted remaining data before the retention and export window closed. Attempts to recover it had failed.

"We have now investigated the recovery options, but unfortunately, the data cannot be recovered," Microsoft said.

Professional management. Industry-leading process control. Or something.

If you have asked (or paid) someone to back up your data, how sure are you that it is backed up? How sure are you that you can get it back when you need it? How secure is it in the face of hackers? How sure are you that an accounting glitch won't cause it to be permanently deleted? What is you recourse it if is?

No one cares about your stuff as much as you do.

Don't Buy a Refrigerator That Needs Internet Access

I feel sad that I even need to type that title. Ars Technica brings us a story of insane use of tech, and the mishaps it causes. Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges - Ars Technica

Samsung released an update for their "Smart Fridges." It bricked the fridge. It didn't just kill the internet access for the fridge, it killed the freezing and cooling function.

Affected fridges “suddenly lost power and stopped functioning immediately after” trying to issue a firmware update through SmartThings, Samsung’s smart home platform, per Star News Korea. The SmartThings app then showed the devices as offline. Some users said that their fridge’s internal display was stuck showing the message “Checking SmartThings app during update.”

This seems to be limitied to Korea, but they were stupid enough to release the update right before a Korean holiday.

The complaints seem to originate only from Korea, where the problem has been made worse because it’s happening during a major Korean holiday, Chuseok, which celebrates the autumn harvest and starts Thursday.

“Customers only trusted Samsung Electronics and made an official update, but it is so absurd and embarrassing that they can’t even use refrigeration and refrigeration functions before the Chuseok,” a forum user wrote, per a Google-provided translation.

Samsung's "support" initially said that options were limited due to the holiday. That was before they realized they shot themselves in the head.

I don't want a smart fridge. I don't want a washing machine that connects to the internet. I want appliances that last, though as Keon notes in the video (see link below) that is from a bygone era. My position is summed up by the image below.

The hat tip goes to Kneon at Clownfish TV and the video Samsung Smart Fridges Made WORTHLESS by Update...

Why? Why? Why are we putting AI into our refrigerator?

Wednesday Link Roundup - 30 September

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

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

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 09.28.26

Da Tech Guy: The Question Nobody is Asking About the War in Ukraine
Don Surber: Midterms diplomacy

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 29 September 2026: Blockdrain Edition

OpenAI still doesn't seem to have a handle on all its rogue AI activity. (Tech Crunch)
Because they are idiots.

EBL - The Get Out

An Albanian night club owner in LA wants a buy out...
Teresa Palmer as Sunny

Political Hat - News of the Week (September 27th, 2026)

Conservative talk-show host Steve Deace wrote earlier this week, “Iowa House Republicans were informed by their own pollsters that if you are in a +15 district you’re within the margin for error

The Glibertarians - Tuesday Morning Links

Let them open their mouths. And they’ll tell you who they are every single time.
Thank God they’re doing this. Nobody would have ever known otherwise.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Weekend Cleanup

Misty Severi at JTN reports Hegseth announces Army National Guard has achieved its 2026 recruiting goal, "The Army reached its own recruiting goal for the current fiscal year in May, months before the Sept. 30 deadline.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 09.29.26

Victory Girls: Ellen “Elliot” Page Goes Topless for New York Magazine’s Men’s Style Issue
Watts Up With That: Repealing Power Plant Limits Is a Good Start

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: The Lindsay Clancy case. A lesbian bar.
Conman Carney’s Canada: A U.S. invasion. The EU blunder. A pronunciation guide.
Stories You Won’t Find At Carney’s CBC: Full force of the law. The border.

Vlad Tepes - I guess just journaling the one sided war to destroy Western nations in every possible way at this point? Links 1 for Sept. 26, 2026

1. I wish Trump and Netanyahu would have spoken to the UN the way Javier Milei did
2. Personally, I have always wanted to know more about the Byzantine Empire.

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEWS

ITEM 6: Shooting News Weekly reported, “Illinois Wants Gun Makers to Pay the Costs of the Crime Its Dysfunctional Criminal Justice System Enables.”
But they get a discount if the woman is acquitted for post-partum depression.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 9/26/2026

Polish President Uncomfortable With Putin at G20 But Will Attend
Polish President Karol Nawrocki will attend the G20 summit in Miami despite disapproving of Russia’s invitation

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

Pirates Cove Oh Noes: Trump Threatens Entire US Healthcare System
Freedom Is Just Another Word.. .Saturday Memes…

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

Columbia professor wins award for book on ‘white paint’ being racist
Un-Gifted and Talented
More fake news

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 9/ 29 /26

“In March, explosives were detonated outside a Liège synagogue.”
Belgium’s Intelligence Agency: Iran Behind Synagogue Bombing, Arson Campaign

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Muslims In Texas Lay Out Vision For Islamic America

80 Years a Hostage to the Anti-Progressives Doug Ross
EU tells countries to curb energy demand as gas prices face winter squeeze EuroNews

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 09-26-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, Sunday Meme Drop 9-27-26 from Midwest Chick's Place, Fall funnies from bluebird of bitterness, and Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #4228 from 90 Miles from Tyranny.

He Suffered a Failure of the Victim-Selection Process

Missouri is not a good place for bad guys. St. Joseph man shot in groin after allegedly attempting to burglarize home - KQ2 | St. Joseph, Missouri News, Weather & Sports

A St. Joseph, Missouri, man is behind bars after he was shot in the groin for allegedly attempting to burglarize a home early Sunday morning.

He fled, but cops found him nearby and had him taken to a hospital for treatment before being sent to lockup.

St. Joseph, Missouri, is about a 50 mile drive north of Kansas City, Missouri. It is bordered on the west by the Missouri River.

So how would you respond to an intruder at 2:45 AM? (Hat tip to USA Carry)

School Admits Violating 4th Amendment Rights

From AmmoLand: School Officials Admit Search of Gun-Owning Student’s Truck Was Unconstitutional

A student legally owned a gun. He did not have that gun on school property. He did talk about the gun on school property. The school illegally searched his vehicle.

New Hampshire school officials have formally admitted that they violated former student Jack Harrington’s Fourth Amendment rights when they searched his pickup truck after learning that he lawfully owned a handgun.

The admission resolves Harrington v. Crawford, a federal lawsuit supported by the Second Amendment Foundation. In a stipulated declaratory judgment, Hillsboro-Deering School District Superintendent Jennifer Crawford and Hillsboro-Deering High School Principal James O’Rourke agreed that the April 24, 2025, search of Harrington’s truck and glove box was unconstitutional.

Click thru for the details, the admissions, why they thought it was a good idea to violate the 4th amendment, etc. (Hat tip to Jews Can Shoot)

Kentucky State Trooper Hayden Phillips

End of Watch. Fallen Kentucky State Police trooper arrives in Glasgow following procession from Louisville

According to KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Phillips stopped a vehicle around 2 p.m. on I-65 in Warren County. He was assigned to KSP Post 3 in Bowling Green.

Officials said Emonnie Branch, 51, of Portland, Tennessee, was inside the vehicle. Police said Branch shot Phillips and fled the scene, triggering a statewide manhunt. Branch was taken into custody in Louisville. He was charged with murder of a first responder in connection with Phillips’ death.

Click thru for the details.

The man charged with killing KSP Trooper Hayden Phillips was on probation in Tennessee and had an active warrant out for violating it.

Emonnie Branch, 51, was supposed to be supervised.

He was supposed to be picked up.

Instead he was on I-65 with a gun, and a husband and… pic.twitter.com/Nwo4lzeswe

— Kentucky Girl (@Kentuckygirl1) September 29, 2026

Gypsy Nights

Craig Chaquico gets some grief over his association with Jefferson Starship, and Starship. Which I guess is fair, because a lot of that music from the end of that run isn't good. But he joined Jefferson Starship in the first year after Jefferson Airplane ended, when he was 21; it was probably financially rewarding. (Look up their gold and platinum records.) And he is an excellent guitar player.

Do I like all of his work? Of course not.

This song is "Gypsy Nights" by Craig Chaquico from his 1993 album Acoustic Highway. It was also included on the "best of album," Panorama: The Best Of Craig Chaquico from 2000.

The Chicago Tylenol Murders

A history lesson from 90 Miles From Tyranny. September 29, 1982: The Chicago Tylenol Murders Begin

A 12-year-old girl named Mary Kellerman dies in the suburbs of Chicago after taking an Extra-Strength Tylenol, becoming the first of six people in the area to soon turn up dead after taking that same medication. Investigators later found cyanide in the capsules.

No one was ever convicted of these crimes.

I have seen this reenacted on at least one procedural, cop show. Except Hollywood, in the times before MeToo and COVID, loved a happy ending, which meant the bad guy being brought to justice of some kind.

Click thru for more history.

Tuesday Links - 29 September

William Teach at Pirate's Cove is first with A Bunch Of Left Wacko Groups Launch “Day Of Action” To Keep Haitians In US

Hey, maybe if they spent their money on making Haiti a nice place (didn’t they say Haiti was a nice place?) Haitians could return home, right?

Campus Reform - Universities hire legions of H-1B workers, lawmakers advance legislation to rein in ‘visa scam’

As universities across the country continue to pursue hiring foreign labor via the H-1B program, Republican congressmen have advanced legislation seeking to crack down on the “H-1B visa scam.”

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 25 September 2026: Bleh Edition

People training OpenAI's AI have been fired for using AI. (404 Media)

Well, yes. Exactly.

Training AI on AI output rapidly leads to something called model collapse. It's the computer equivalent of drinking your own urine.

The Other McCain - Deranged Stalker Deborah Frisch Is Out of Prison, But for How Much Longer?

More than two decades have elapsed since Deborah Frisch, Ph.D., lost her position as a psychology instructor at the University of Arizona because of her harassment of “Protein Wisdom” blogger Jeff Goldstein.

Again from William Teach - State Which Can’t Even Build A Train Crows Over “Climate Week” Participation

Say, what’s the carbon footprint of all those Warmists flying across the country?

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: An Awful Road Trip

Meanwhile, for those of you more interested in college football, here’s the marble game standings.

My Kickstarter for The Hawk, the Fox, and the Princess is at 33% with two weeks to go!

Even in Austin, Texas, Homeowners Are Armed

Austin is often described as San Francisco, Texas, but it is still Texas. South Austin homicide: Man shot by homeowner during burglary | FOX 7 Austin

Austin police responded to a report of a burglary at a home in the 200 block of Virtus Bend just before 4 a.m.

When officers arrived, they found 24-year-old Dmario Antonie Jones with gunshot wounds. EMS attempted life-saving measures, but Jones was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:10 a.m.

How would you respond to an uninvited guest at 4 o'clock in the morning?

A preliminary investigation determined that Jones entered the home and went into the bedroom. Jones was then shot by the homeowner while burglarizing the home.

The investigation is just beginning, and while I am not a lawyer, it is my understanding that every homicide in Texas gets referred to a grand jury.

Still, self-defense is a human right.

Another Cop Caught Abusing Flock Cameras

And it looks like this might be the first of many in one department. NC police officer allegedly used Flock license plate cameras to track boyfriend's ex-wife - ABC11 Raleigh-Durham

The Mooresville Police Department was conducting an audit of its Flock license plate reader system when it discovered officer Elizabeth Snowman allegedly accessed the system 31 times for personal use, Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani said.

"She accessed the computers, the LPR [license plate reader] cameras, to find information and track her boyfriend's ex-wife," Campurciani said at a news conference Wednesday.

The lack of security is amazing. The officer in question didn't need to be on duty to access the data. Still think you are in favor of Flock? People always say, "If you have nothing to hide..." What did the ex-wife have to hide? Just her constitutionally protected privacy. You have to be doing anything bad to have a stalker.

Mooresville, North Carolina, is roughly a 25 mile drive north of Charlotte.

Snowman, 36, was arrested and charged Wednesday with accessing computers, police said.

Welcome to the Panoptican.

Majority Supports Arming Teachers

When there is a mass shooting, the first thing people do is call for people with guns to come and deal with the situation. But the police are not there to start with, and will not arrive for some time. New Survey: Voters by a 51.4% to 35.7% Margin Support Armed Teachers, Parents with Children in K-12 Support by an Even Larger 57.3% to 30.2% Margin - Crime Prevention Research Center

The CPRC hired McLaughlin & Associates to survey 1,000 general election voters on August 25th, 2026 (cross tabs available here) regarding general election voters’ views on allowing teachers to carry concealed handguns at schools. While voters overwhelmingly approve of the idea by a 51.4% to 35.7% margin, voters with children in K-12 schools are significantly more supportive by a 57.3% to 30.2% margin.

When seconds count, police are only minutes away. And that assumes that they won't hide outside, the way the geniuses did in Uvalde, Texas.

Only three demographic or political groups oppose armed teachers: Democrats (51.3% opposed to 35.7% supportive), liberals (48.9% to 35.1%), and those classified as “other race” (47.8% to 39.2%). Regionally, respondents in the East are essentially evenly divided, with opposition narrowly exceeding support, 42.8% to 42.3%.

Why Does ATF Want to Limit Legal Triggers?

From Shooting Weekly: SAF Wants to Know Why ATF Thinks Rare Breed’s Patent Litigation Is Any Of Its Business

Forced Rest Triggers (FRT) have been declared to be legal. The ATF hates that. The ATF told the court dealing with patent issues that they want to restrict FRT sales and development.

In a September 23 letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, [The Second Amendment Foundation] asked DOJ to explain the factual and legal basis for ATF’s position, including why the agency claims an interest in limiting FRT distribution and why the federal government is inserting itself into private patent litigation in a way that could favor one marketplace participant over others.

Those questions matter because DOJ has already established the basic premise. ATF sees Rare Breed’s private patent litigation as useful to its own policy objectives. What SAF wants to know is why that should be ATF’s business in the first place.

Click thru for the rest of the details. (Hat tip to Instapundit.)

Mayday

I have to say that Tidal does a much better job of serving up music I like than Spotify ever did. YMMV, but Spotify had problems with my musical tastes, which, granted, are a bit bizarre. And to be fair, I'm not sure about this song. I don't hate it, but I'm not sure if it will be added to any of my playlists.

This song is "Mayday" by Three Days Grace from their 2025 album Λ𝖫𝖨𝖤𝖭Λ𝖳𝖨Ø𝖭.

Armed Self-Defense — South Africa Edition

You could also title this, "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight." Pretoria homeowner shoots intruder after being stabbed in bedroom | Rekord

A 66-year-old Pretoria homeowner allegedly shot and wounded an intruder after being stabbed during an attempted house robbery in Garsfontein.

Garsfontein is a suburb of the city of Pretoria, South Africa.

When the homeowner questioned the suspect about what he was doing in the house, the intruder allegedly produced a knife and stabbed him in his upper left arm.

The homeowner managed to retrieve his firearm and fired five shots at the suspect.

Police had both taken to a local hospital. The would-be, bad guy remains in under guard.

The investigation is in early days.

Black Man Attacked Over Fender Bender

Attacked by a bunch of black people. I have little to say. Watch the video below. ‘None of That Was Justified’: Suspects Go on Apology Tour After Video Shows Them Brutally Attacking Black Elderly Man, But Sorry Isn’t Enough

Lance Jeffries, a retired truck driver, rear-ended another vehicle Saturday in Jennings, according to St. Louis County police. Jeffries reportedly got out of his vehicle to check on the people involved in the crash when several people from the other vehicle confronted him.

No they did not "confront" him. They attacked him. Even the few media outlets that are covering this, are sugarcoating the incident.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Davion Alfred, 30; Martinez Logan, 25; Tamara Logan, 48; and Mary Moore, 26, with third-degree assault, second-degree robbery and second-degree burglary charges on Thursday.

According to probable cause statements, Alfred first punched the victim, causing him to fall. Alfred and the three others then “repeatedly punched, kicked, stomped, and dragged” Jeffries.

This is The Officer Tatum video Black Community IS SILENT After Black Elderly Man ATTACKED By THUGS

Cops or Bad Guys? It Can Be Hard to Tell Them Apart

I'm no longer shocked by how bad the bad cops can be. Two [Phoenix] officers under criminal investigation after victims describe violent traffic stop that wasn’t reported

Two Phoenix police officers are under criminal investigation after two people reported being beaten, tased, and held at gunpoint during a traffic stop that victims say was never documented — and that police records show no agency reported conducting.

This incident was from August, but I only just became aware of it. The article above only describes the incident, it does not name the officers in question. That information became available at the beginning of September. Phoenix police officers plead not guilty after violent 'off the books' stop

Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez Jr. are the two former cops. Apparently the officers were put on administrative leave, but then the news broke of who they were, and they were arrested, and the chief of police fired them.

They are facing a long list of felony charges including aggravated assault, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence.

The hat tip goes to Liberty Doll and her video Cops Kidnapped, Beat Victims During Unreported Traffic Stop

So, here we are with another episode of Bad Cop Bad Cop. What you going to do when they handcuff you?

The video is about 18 and a half minutes long.

Journalist Who Said Trump Would Increase Crime Baffled

A liberal journalist (but I repeat myself) who said Trump's anti-crime initiative was all propaganda, and that it would probably make things worse, is unable to understand how things got so much better. Liberal journalist SHOCKED that DC crime has plummeted for some strange reason 🤔

Matthew Yglesias, a New York Times opinion writer, is shocked to discover the CVS near is home in DC has stopped locking the cabinets they installed during the Biden years. He can't understand how this came about, but it is a great improvement in his standard of living.

Over the past two years, D.C. has been thoroughly cleaned, with multiple restoration projects and law enforcement on the streets. The liberal media spent months wailing about this, even arguing that the deployment of the National Guard was akin to Hitler deploying S.S. troops to take over the capital.

Because they don't care about truth. They really don't care about crime, unless it impacts them, by making their trip to the drug store that much more inconvenient. They only care about Orange Man Bad.

pic.twitter.com/OPafiXT6ND

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) September 27, 2026

Click thru for the post on X that started this, though I expect it will be deleted, which is (I'm guessing) why Andy Ngo took that screenshot. Also several of the more spicy reactions to his complete lack of understanding of cause and effect.

Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas"

The Left hates County Music. Not just the music, but the fact that it is mostly wholesome in its message. From The Baltimore Sun: How Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ became the longest-running No. 1 hit of all time.

Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” a simmering, midtempo, country-and-then-some heartbreak song released last October, is indisputably 2026’s biggest hit.

“Choosin’ Texas” is also the longest-running No. 1 hit in the U.S., having spent 23 weeks at the top spot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, it was announced Tuesday.

That means the track has surpassed various records set by Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and most impressively, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Her holiday classic held the previous record, with 22 weeks at No. 1.

The article linked above does a pretty good job of analyzing the musicality, and the lyrics of the song. They do try to throw some shade at Langley for not being as well known as either Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey when their songs topped the charts, but Langley's career started in 2023, this is her first big hit, and most people don't know the names of bands, aside for a few monster groups like The Rolling Stones, and the Zoomers don't even know them.

The hat tip, indirectly, goes to Benny Johnson and his video PROOF Rap Is DEAD…Homeschool Christian Country Superstar Breaks ALL-TIME Chart Record at Number 1🔥🎸

In years 2020 through 2023 Rap was 34% of songs reaching the Billboard Top 10, while Country Music was 7%. In 2025 through 2026 Country Music is 27% of charting songs, and Rap is 17%. That is a cultural shift.

Johnson's video is 10 minutes long.

I featured "Choosin' Texas" a while back, when it first started pissing off the Left. You can find it at this link if you want to listen again.

Legal Self-Defense During May 2026

Crime Prevention Research Center's ongoing roundup of cases of justified self-defense. Defensive Gun Uses By People Legally Carrying Guns: 28 Cases During May 2026

Cleveland, Ohio, on May 2nd, through Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 31st, CPRC has a roundup of the cases they could find.

Click thru for the list.

The Mystery of the Disappearing EV Grants

I can't even pretend to be shocked. From the New York Post: Exclusive | Less than 40% of EV school buses purchased with Biden-era EPA grants have been delivered

Less than 40% of electric school buses purchased under a multibillion-dollar Biden-era program have been delivered, new statistics released by the EPA Thursday reveal.

The slow pace of deliveries, coupled with concerns over the reliability of the EV buses, have prompted many school districts to pull out of the $5 billion “Clean School Bus Program,” for which some $2.7 billion in taxpayer funds has already been doled out — and almost exclusively on electric buses versus other alternative fuel vehicles.

It doesn't help, that a major manufacturer, Lion Electric, went bankrupt in early 2025, canceling the warranties of any bus not sold to an entity in Quebec. Seems that they had more problems, more warranty claims, than they could afford. This left school districts with buses that they couldn't afford to repair, and couldn't get spare parts for anyway.

“Instead of following Congress’ directives to effectively provide safe and reliable transportation for American school kids, the Biden-Harris administration rushed money out the door without enough thought or oversight,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.

“This carelessness resulted in 90% of the money going to ‘buy’ electric school buses; yet over 5 years later, there are very few tangible buses to show for it,” Zeldin continued. “In essence, American taxpayer dollars vanished into thin air, and our children were left without school buses.”

Hat tip to William Teach at Pirates Cove, and Surprise: Tons Of Biden Era Money For EV Buses Disappeared

This is government in a nutshell: rush the money out, it disappears into graft, waste, overspending, people’s pockets. It can pass through multiple NGOs, who all take their cut to pass it on, before finally being spent.

Here are a few stories on electric school buses that I've highlighted in the past.

• Electric Buses Versus Winter Weather
• EV Buses - A Safety Hazard
• Liberal, Wealthy Enclave Wastes Close to $200 Million on Electric Buses
• Canada Is Having Problems with Electric Buses

Public Funding of Private EV Bus Company

What could possibly go wrong? Proterra Government Funding: Sources, Bankruptcy Claims, and Key Takeaways

When leading U.S. electric transit bus manufacturer Proterra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2023, it sparked widespread public scrutiny of the hundreds of millions in government funding the company had received over its 19-year history. For taxpayers, transit agencies, and policymakers, the collapse raised urgent questions: Where did all the public funding go?

Click thru for details. (Hat tip to Small Dead Animals: We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Buses.)

Turn the Page

Another song that came by way of a YouTube channel I listen to from time to time. (That I forgot to schedule last night...)

This song is "Turn the Page" by singer-songwriter Bob Seger. It was originally on his 1973 album, Back in '72. This version is from the 1976 album Live Bullet. The album was recorded in September of 1975 at Cobo Arena in Detroit.

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 26 September

EBL starts the roundup with John Jay

24 September 1789: John Jay nominated by Washington as first Chief Justice
AoSHQ: Morning Report 09.24.26

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 09.24.26 (Afternoon Edition)

Glenn Reynolds: A Tale of Two Centuries
Mark Steyn: Live Around The Planet: Wednesday September 23rd, also, Maskh*les

The Right Way - Top of the News

Immigration without assimilation: Death knell for the West - American Thinker
Thousands Protest Iran Regime Outside UN - NEWSMAX

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 23 September 2026: Blep Edition

Apple's latest version of iOS has ads. In the Settings panel. (Tech Radar)
And the only way to turn them off is to buy the product being advertised.
Well, I'm safe.

Small Dead Animals - Thursday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – The midterms. We are all CNN. Fake Palestinians.
Stories You Won’t Find At Carney’s CBC: Moderate Muslims. Drag Queens for Gaza.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Having Xi for Tea

PJM's Sarah Anderson is not happy, Venezuela: Trump and Delcy Pose for a Picture. María Corina Machado Denied Entry. At Hat Hair John Sexton considers Is Another Russian Mobilization Coming?

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 09.24.26 (Evening Edition)

Transterrestrial Musings: Media Hoaxes, also, A New Anti-Aging Theory
Victory Girls: Karoline Leavitt Outs WH Press Corps As Perfomative Phonies, also, Damn the Facts! Full Speed Into Getting The Results We Want!

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm For September 25, 2026

“Supreme Court Clears Trump Admin To Use Voter Citizenship Verification.”
“USDA Targets 170 NYC Retailers in SNAP Fraud Sweep. ‘SNAP benefits should go to Americans, not fraudsters or illegal immigrants,’ White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud”

Flopping Aces - The Week in Radical Leftism, 09/25/2026 – Washington Post Continues to Die in Darkness!

Resistance to Trump’s D.C. crackdown is taking many forms
Yes, we’ve reached the point where The Radical Left is protesting in favor of more crime. It really is a mental illness.

The Glibertarians - Last Thursday of the Month Afternoon Links

That crazy snatch will make a man crazy.
Based on previous winners, this guy is a shoe-in for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Vlad Tepes - Some interesting counter propaganda and looking at the left’s efforts to use Islam to destroy all Western identity: Links post for Sept. 24, 2026

3. The tolerance of the left
4. Quite often, it is the small things that mean everything. What the judge said, tells you everything you need to know, and what this site has been saying for years now.

Again from Pixy Misa - Daily News Stuff 25 September 2026: Bleh Edition

People training OpenAI's AI have been fired for using AI. (404 Media)
Well, yes. Exactly.
Training AI on AI output rapidly leads to something called model collapse.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 9/23/2026

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, on Wednesday introduced a 12-month moratorium on new data centers amid concerns about the industry’s effects on the city’s power grid

Once again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 09.25.26

Sensurround: Speak Softly & Point Out The B-2
Ammo.com: How Criminals Get Guns

Political Hat - Quick Takes – Meanwhile In Academia: No Reverse Racism At Auburn; DEI Leadership Programs At Kentucky; Teaching Institutionalization In New Jersey

Apparently not having DEI doesn’t mean you can’t train people into spreading it.
In New Jersey, courses still teach that “White Privilege” is “Institutionalized” (Pepsi hardest hit).

Maggie's Farm - Thursday morning links

Schrödinger’s blunder created the quantum measurement problem. Quantum reality has both waves and particles
My late friend Peter Max filled my home with art — and my life with memories

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 9/ 24 /26

Even as manufacturing jobs decline, Alaska offers lucrative work for men without college degrees.
America’s Shifting Blue-Collar Landscape

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Beware of CCP Unrestricted Warfare

Mexico's Government Funds Gun Grabbing Group - BattleSwarm
'We Hacked the FBI:' Hackers Say They Have Data on All FBI Employees - Joseph Cox

I leave you with Midweek Memes at Granite Grok, Thursday Memes … from MaddMedic, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #4210 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, Bookworm Beat 9/25/26: The “America the…uh…beautiful” meme edition from Bookworm Room, and Your politics and current events in memes from Wirecutter.

More on a Self-Defense Incident in California

Today the original story is a Humboldt County Sheriff's Office press release. Parolee Shot by Resident during Home Invasion Burglary

This is a story I covered on 18 September, but we have more information today, and we have commentary by Mr. Colion Noir. He usually has interesting things to say.

On September 14, 2026, at approximately 4:34 p.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call from a resident in ... Eureka reporting that he had shot a male subject who had forcibly entered his residence.

Humboldt County, California, is about 165 miles north of San Francisco. It is right on the Pacific coast.

The guy who got shot ran off, but cops arrested him a short time later. He faces charges of burglary, Felon/Addict in Possession of a Firearm, Unauthorized Entry of an Occupied Dwelling, and violating his parole.

This is Colion Noir's video A Parolee, A Forced Entry, And A Homeowner Who Refused To Be A Victim. Mr. Noir gets the hat tip. He points out all of the important parts of the press release, and covers the stuff omitted by, or just touched on, by the Sheriff's Office.

Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, deputies determined the victim acted out of fear for their life when Aubrey was shot. The victim was not arrested in connection with the shooting. The case has been forwarded to the Humble County District Attorney's Office for review.

The video is four and a half minutes long.

The Wild West Comes to Chicago with Train Robberies

From CWB Chicago: Apple Watches, TVs and laundry detergent: Chicago freight train thefts fuel $200 million national problem - CWB Chicago

Freight trains passing through Chicago have increasingly become moving targets for thieves who board railcars, sometimes while they are moving, force open shipping containers and haul away cargo ranging from large-screen televisions and laptops to air conditioners and laundry detergent.

It is a problem that has been growing, and because Chicago is a rail crossroads, it is a big problem. (Chicago does not have the larges railcar switching yard, but it has several yards, and several freight lines that converge on the region. And at times, freight trains move slowly.

The article starts with a mention of the crime from 2015, and then moves to 2 years ago.

In August 2024, Chicago police arrested four men accused of stealing 39 big-screen Roku televisions worth $12,441 from a Norfolk Southern railcar near 63rd Street and South Wentworth Avenue. According to a police report, a CPD camera operator saw the men loading the televisions into a pickup truck at a gas station next to the tracks.

There are more incidents, including one from this year.

Crime does pay in a place like Chicago, because while some people are caught, not all are.

It Is Almost Like Good News Is Bad News to the Activists

Not the Bee never fails to entertain, and enlighten at the same time. Climate reporters strangely quiet as Atlantic reaches fall with zero hurricanes for the first time in 112 years

112 years of data, and this is the first year with no recorded hurricanes before the start of fall in the Atlantic basin. (Yes, I know there is currently a category 5 hurricane in the eastern Pacific Ocean. That isn't part of this record.)

I'm sure the climate desks will get right on this.

I'm not holding my breath.

This part made me laugh out loud.

We changed the name to "Gulf of America" and now the hurricanes disappeared? Coincidence??

But if the climate is getting better, how will all of those "scientists" justify their funding.

Here is what Fox Weather had to say.

🗓️ 112-YEAR-OLD RECORD: For the first time in 112 years, the Atlantic Basin hasn't seen a single hurricane—a streak not matched since 1914. Driven by El Niño, high wind shear is suppressing storm development and keeping the basin historically quiet. Stay with FOX Weather all… pic.twitter.com/fQDhnKU1cA

— FOX Weather (@foxweather) September 21, 2026

Friday Links - 25 September

Echo Chamberlain is up first with The National Book Award: A D.E.I Fever-Dream

One of the main reasons mainstream men don’t read is that the publishing industry is too ideologically skewed to appeal to them. The National Book Award has released its 10 longlist picks, novels encompassing autistic trans protagonists identifying as they/them, gay black men, Palestinian diaspora and indigenous peoples.

Clayton Cramer - Yesterday's 9th Circus En Banc Decision

Nelson goes on to point out these laws did not develop based on public concerns about safety but as part of a not very subtle attempt to ignore Bruen:

Not the Bee - Montreal makes it illegal to insult police officers and other municipal employees

Yes, Montreal, no more insulting your city staff. Just go about your day; and remember, banning people from criticizing the government is what the good guys do!

Legal Insurrection - Judge Temporarily Blocks U. California From Enforcing Misgendering Policy Against Conservative Group

Enforcing this policy would be compelled speech, wouldn’t it?

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 22 September 2026: Where Can You See Pirates Edition

Apple's new M5 Ultra Mac Studio outperforms even a 64 core AMD Threadripper until you run anything other than Geekbench 7 whereupon it immediately doesn't. (Tom's Hardware)

I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying it's annoying to watch idiots trumpet its speed based on one obviously broken benchmark. At least Tom's Hardware ran one realistic multicore benchmark which immediately left the Mac Studio face down in the dirt

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Gavin Newsom Takes Cross Country Fossil Fueled Flight To Yammer About Climate Doom At UN

Nothing like being lectured by a guy who took a private fossil fueled flight across the country, who can’t even get his choo choo train running

Don't Bring a Pickaxe to a Gunfight

That is not a title I expected to type. Lehigh Acres pickaxe attack suspect arrested after victim shoots him in self-defense, sheriff says - WBBH

He was told to leave a property. He didn't leave and shoved the victim with the pickaxe, causing him to fall to the ground. He then stood over the victim, and made threats. The guy on the ground shot him in the shin.

At first the guy didn't want to pursue charges, but after a second incident, he decided he had been through enough. Cops arrested the guy with the pickaxe a few days later.

Lehigh Acres, Florida is on about 5 or 10 miles east of Fort Myers, which is on the Gulf Coast, about due west of Palm Beach.

The hat tip goes to Concealed Nation, and The Ground Defense: Lehigh Acres Resident Shoots Attacker Wielding Pickaxe on Lake Avenue

Concealed Nation has a rundown of the legal aspects of the case. One part of that info follows.

Deadly Weapon Threshold: An object not traditionally considered a weapon—such as a pickaxe, hammer, or crowbar—is legally categorized as a deadly weapon when used in a manner likely to cause death or severe bodily injury.

Both links have more information.

Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0.

Female Students Spoke Harshly to the Criminals

It didn't end well for the students. York Pennsylvania: Female Students Brutally Assaulted by Mob

I don't like to blame victims, but I do have to call out stupidity. And this is monumental stupidity. No, mountainous stupidity. This is stupidity that exists on a planetary scale.

According to testimony provided by the victims, a crowd of at least 30 people associated with illegal street racing had gathered near their property when the assault occurred. The altercation escalated after one of the racing vehicles crashed into a car parked outside the students’ home, prompting the residents to ask the crowd to clear their private property.

In response, the mob surrounded one of the students, dragged her into the street, and beat her severely. The victim reported being kicked simultaneously by as many as 12 individuals, causing her to lose consciousness twice from repeated strikes to her head and ribs. Other female students who attempted to intervene were dragged by their hair and physically assaulted.

York, Pennsylvania, is about 45 miles north of Baltimore, or about a 95 mile drive west of Philadelphia. It is home to York College, whose administration made a statement about student safety. Penn State has a satellite campus in the area. They don't call the home occupied by a bunch of coeds a sorority, but that is sure what it sounds like.

Now these are college coeds, so they are slightly to the Left of Chairman Mao, and none of them would be caught in possession of a firearm. But how stupid do you have to be to confront a group of 30 criminals with nothing more durable than a strong word. What did they think would happen? Why didn't they call 911 before the assaults started? Did they really think that street racers would just bow down to their complete-lack-of-authority, and decide to suddenly start obeying the law? Or are they so entitled that they think they deserve to be obeyed, and will therefore be obeyed, by anyone to whom they give orders?

But then I expect these are all Karens in training. What do you call a group of Karens? A flock? A sorority? A homeowners association?

They did call 911 after the bad things started happening, and then they were dismayed by the fact that cops didn't arrive instantly. (Seconds count... minutes away.) Click thru for those details.

Ex-Florida Cop Might Face Justice

I'm not optimistic on that point. But at least he will face a trial. ‘Can’t Just Kill People Because You Wear a Badge’: Florida Cop Who Killed Black Airman Running Out of Options as Judge Denies Self-Defense Claim

The former Florida sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed U.S. Airman Roger Fortson has resorted to several tactics over the past two years to either delay or dismiss the manslaughter charges against him.

But a Florida judge denied Eddie Duran’s latest attempt to get the case dismissed on Sept. 11., putting him on track to face a jury later this month for killing the 23-year-old Black man.

Duran went to U.S. Airman Roger Fortson's apartment in the middle of the night. There was a distrubance in the apartment below Fortson's apartment, but in addition to not being able to read maps, it seems cops also have trouble with floor numbers.

Duran pounded on the door, and screamed about being police, but he was not standing in a place where Forston could see him through the peephole, because no one can scream "police" except the police or something. Fortson answered the door armed. The gun was pointed at the ground, and he never threatened Duran. Duran shot an killed him within a couple of seconds. Why? Because he is a cop, and your 2nd Amendment right to armed in his presence is moot. Or something.

Since May 3, 2024, Meka Fortson has driven from Georgia to Florida for every hearing in the Okaloosa County courtroom where her son died, just seconds after he opened his front door with a gun pointed downward at his side.

Meka Fortson told Atlanta Black Star in a June interview that a judge denied Duran’s trial 17 times since prosecutors charged him with manslaughter on Aug. 23, 2024.

“You want all this time, but you killed Roger so fast,” she said in the most recent interview.

Click thru for more details.