France to Boost Military Spending

It's amazing how European countries are suddenly interested in paying for military defense. French army's urgent call: boost artillery and defense now

Modern warfare is an exercise in logistics. Can you manufacture and move the material needed to fight a war in a reasonable time frame? For France, the answer to both those questions seems to be no.

According to the newspaper [Le Figaro], the initial additional financial resources will enable the acceleration of already planned deliveries, which include ammunition, vehicles under the Scorpion program (involving universal wheeled vehicles for the military), and optoelectronic systems for naval frigates. However, the French army's list of needs is much more extensive. It is worth mentioning that, according to French analysts, the precision aerial ammunition would only last Paris for three days of fighting.

Three days is an eye-blink in terms of modern warfare.

The flagship product of the French defense industry is the CAESAR (CAmion Équipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie) howitzer, which uses 155 mm caliber shells. Its 52-caliber length barrel provides a range greater than competing NATO artillery. However, production scale is an issue. In 2024 [???], the French company Nexter aims to produce 12 howitzers per month (in previous years, production was only a few units per year).

So I keep asking myself. Is Trump serious about walking away from NATO, or has he finally figured out how to get Europe to pay for more of its own defense, or both?

There is more, including vague plans for new naval vessels, and even talk of spy satellites. Read the whole thing.

California Is Driving All Insurance Companies Out of the State

Because they refuse to understand how the world works. The California crisis in homeowners insurance has only one real solution | Fortune

The people in charge in California have arranged things so that insurance companies are on the hook for properties that they do not insure.

Another unpleasant surprise lurks in the shadows for insurers—assessments from the Fair Access to Insurance Requirement (FAIR) plan, the state’s insurer of last resort.

When the FAIR plan’s capital is unable to cover losses (as is almost certain to be the case in 2025), the FAIR plan will make an assessment on regulated insurance carriers in California in line with their market share.

For example, the FAIR plan is likely to incur $4 billion of gross losses from the January fires. California regulators have already approved a $1 billion assessment against insurers to keep the FAIR plan solvent. Therefore, State Farm—which has approximately 20% share in California—already has a $200 million bill—for policies that it didn’t underwrite and aren’t on its books. And more assessments could be coming if loss estimates get worse.

No insurance company can do business under those circumstances, and so they are all heading for the exits. The only way to not be on the hook for FAIR assessments is to have 0% exposure to California.

Of course California refuses to understand that.

Wednesday Link Roundup - 12 March

Pirate's Cove is first with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

3. Never Yet Melted: Your Tax Dollars at Work
4. Newsbusters: Appeals Court Forces Seattle Church To Subsidize Abortions

DaleyGator - Weekend Links

ANIMAL
Feral Irishman
Irons in the Fire

EBL - Sam Bankman-Fried Interview With Tucker Carlson: Democrats Betrayed Him

Daily Mail: Bankman-Fried gets solitary for unauthorized interview
Weirdly benefiting from prison? Enjoy the time there.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.11.25

Don Surber: Can’t spell Triumph without Trump,
Protein Wisdom Reborn: Notes from a cluttered mind

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 11 March 2025: Idesn't Of March Edition

Volkswagen says it was a mistake to remove physical buttons from cars. (PC Magazine)
Yes. We know.

Theo Spark - Bits and Bobs................

The Origin of Global Governance
Bombshell stats the state doesn’t want you to see - Matt Goodwin

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony again - Daily News Stuff 10 March 2025: Entschuldigung Problem Edition

Can ants teach us how to build self-driving cars? (Scientific America)
We asked three leading ants and they said... Well, nothing, really.

Don Surber - Highlights of the week

ITEM 4: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service urged Americans to eat more invasive wildlife, saying, “Eating invasive species can help protect native wildlife by reducing their numbers and limiting the damage they cause to ecosystems.”

Small Dead Animals - Sunday On Turtle Island

Carney’s WEF Canada: Don’t upset the alphabet people. Audit our new dictator. Global warming in 1950. Carney’s goons.
Odds And Ends: The Eurotards. Healthcare in Australia.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - 50 Wins in 50 Days!

Hat Hair's Dave Strom sees Another Win for EU 'Democracy:' Leading Presidential Candidate Kicked Off Romanian Ballot /sarc. Sundance, Romania Has Barred Leading Candidate Calin Georgescu from Postponed Presidential Election.

Glibertarians - Saturday evening Links

This made me a little cross eyed.
I fly round trip to NY six or seven times a year. I approve of summary execution.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 3/8/2025

Germany’s far-left party, The Left, sees the exploratory agreements between the CDU and SPD on the way to coalition talks as working against the interests of most citizens.

Flopping Aces - The Week in Radical Leftism – More from The Washington Post!

Supreme Court seems poised to lower bar for Whites to sue for job bias
Sorry, Radical Left. The Civil Rights Act doesn’t give you a cutout for discrimination.

Vlad Tepes - The Democrats back then, Carney now, Trump’s game with Iran? Where does all that money go and more: Links 1 for March 8, 2025

1. A couple of fun examples of Democrats saying things
2. A commenter here on Vlad suggested a few days ago that Trump and Putin may be solving headaches for each other vis a vis Iran and Ukraine. That might explain the following video

Tam at View From The Porch - Tab Clearing...

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is worried about the so-called "Take It Down" Act.
As many as 12,000 North Korean troops involved in the Russian counteroffensive against the Ukrainian salient in Kursk.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - 50 Wins in 50 Days!

Hat Hair's Dave Strom sees Another Win for EU 'Democracy:' Leading Presidential Candidate Kicked Off Romanian Ballot /sarc. Sundance, Romania Has Barred Leading Candidate Calin Georgescu from Postponed Presidential Election.

Political Hat - News of the Week (March 9th, 2025)

$840 Billion Plan To ‘Rearm Europe’ Announced
The European Union will free up $840 billion in funding to funnel into defense across the bloc, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday.

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

GMU Econ alum Paul Mueller reviews Andy Puzder’s new book, A Tyranny for the Good of its Victims: The Ugly Truth about Stakeholder Capitalism.

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 3/ 11 /25

Lloyd Billingsley: And another Deep State force needs a reckoning as well.
The Department of Education’s Time Has Come

Maggie's Farm - Saturday morning links

The Democratic Party Must Adapt or Go Extinct
EU and Ukraine: Stop Blaming Trump, Look in the Mirror

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Kill the Admin State, Salt The Earth Beneath It, Eliminate Income Tax and Watch Us Soar

• China Ordered to Pay $24.5 Billion for Covid Deceit Truth Over News
• The Death of Europe John Stossel

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 03/11/2025

A reporter for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars, Jamie White, was brutally murdered outside his south Austin apartment late on Sunday night. Not much information. Might have been beaten, stabbed, or shot. No idea who did it. Jones blames the Soros prosecutor.

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 03-09-25 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, Cartoons and Memes : Saturday Night Special from IMAO, and Gifs to prove your Monday could be worse from Wirecutter.

The Process is the Punishment

Do DAs hate self-defense in Florida? Maybe. Ocala, Florida prosecutors drop case against woman who shot boyfriend

She shot her boyfriend and claimed self-defense. She was arrested and held in jail since February 1st. One day before she was to go in front of a judge, the DA finally realized that he couldn't "win."

Assistant State Attorney Adam Smith wrote in a memorandum filed with the court: "In considering the relevant self-defense laws applicable to the facts of this case, and the victim's desire not to prosecute the defendant, the state has determined that the evidence is insufficient to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial."

Ocala, is about a 75 mile drive north of Orlando on Interstate 75, or about a 100 mile drive southeast of Jacksonville.

So she sat in jail for a month, or more, her kids were taken from her. She probably lost any job she held. There is no mention of does she still have an apartment to go home to. Why? I'm sure her race didn't come into play, and I'm equally sure that it isn't because the DA's office couldn't be bothered to review the case until the day before the court appearance.

At least she did get released. I suppose the DA's office was hoping she would take a plea, because then they would get points for "winning." There are no points for Justice in the Criminal Justice System.

Click thru for the details.

Europe May Not Be Willing to Spend Money on Its Own Defense

Military spending is expensive, and they have votes to buy with lavish social welfare states. Europe is still dithering about defense

Instead of urgently ramping up defense production and building a self-sufficient security framework, European nations continue to lean on Washington for leadership and resources. Europe’s citizens, meanwhile, are left watching and waiting, hoping that NATO’s security umbrella will hold.

The Hill has a rosy view of NATO, but be fair, it was always mostly a one-legged stool. Having the US pay the bulk of bill probably made sense in 1955, or 1965, but by 1975 Europe, and in particular Germany, should have been paying more. The United Kingdom and France have done a credible job of having a military commensurate with the size of their economy, even if France did make a few questionable purchases - like a nuclear aircraft carrier that didn't have enough shielding around the reactor to make actually using the thing possible.

One of the clearest examples of NATO’s misaligned priorities is Germany’s extensive Air Force deployment across the Indo-Pacific, a region increasingly defined by military tensions, territorial disputes and strategic competition between China and the U.S. As part of its operations, Germany has sent fighter jets and support aircraft to Alaska, Japan, Hawaii, Australia and India for joint training missions.

Why is Germany prioritizing deterrence in the Indo-Pacific when European security remains fragile? The U.S. values European support in Asia, but what it truly expects is a stronger, self-sufficient defense framework in Europe that ensures NATO remains a collective alliance, not one dependent on America.

There is more. Click thru.

Nothing will be solved in the short run. After decades of NOT spending money on their militaries, they won't make up the difference with a couple of years of spending 2% of GDP. I've seen one estimate that Germany needs to spend an additional $432 billion to completely modernize their military. That isn't going to happen.

Collide

I tripped over this song on YouTube. It was playing in the background of another video, though it was obscured by the noise in that video. I'm not sure where I first heard this song, though it was probably on the radio, because I do remember it.

It was written by Howie Day, and Better Than Ezra front man Kevin Griffin.

This is "Collide" by Howie Day from his second album Stop All the World Now. The album came out in September of 2003, and the song was released as a single in June of 2004. The single made it to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is probably the song for which Day is best known.

Tuesday Links - 11 March

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony starts us off with weather a report from Down Under. Daily News Stuff 8 March 2025: Alfredon't Edition

Cyclone Alfred arrived. It fortunately declined to a Category 1 before making landfall, and damage and flooding is less than anticipated.

Where I am the rain has settled in, but it's just steady rather than torrential.

Miguel Gonzalez - Mentally broken people

Which is their way to say, “Nobody has talked about cutting Social Security and she is obviously full of shit, but we hate Trump too and we are just stirring the pot while trying not to be sued for spreading bullshit.”

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Return to Mediocrity

Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.

Mary Pat at STUMP - The Week in Meep: Death to DST (and not us), Sumo (again), The Little Mermaid

This unnecessary clock-changing leads to increased deaths in a few ways:

The College Fix - ‘Straight up illegal’: Conservative groups file complaint against ABA for discrimination in clerkship program ‘Straight up illegal’: Conservative groups file complaint against ABA for discrimination in clerkship program

Four conservative public interest groups and law firms have recently lodged a Title VII complaint against the American Bar Association, accusing it of racial and sex-based discrimination.

Geller Report - ICE Arrests Terror Leader of Columbia’s Jew-Hating Protests, Revoking Student Visa and Green Card: lawyer

Mahmoud Khalil is a Syrian national who was part of a group that assaulted police officers, assaulted a Barnard staffer, and violently took over the library.

Jews Can Shoot - When Reality Strikes: The Second Amendment Beyond Political Noise

Some still hold to the idea that eliminating guns would ensure safety—a comforting notion, often voiced in casual conversation. But that notion frays when you’re alone at night, a threat looms outside, and help is minutes—or miles—away. We recognize what they don’t: laws don’t restrain those already intent on harm.

Theo Spark - Not a Law Firm, but a Crime? ................from Rico

Barr, Barr, & Epstein may sound like the name of a law firm but given that there are no 'coincidences' it's more like there was a crime here...

Chicago's Mayor Doesn't Care About Crime Victims

He can't funnel money to his friends via ShotSpotter. Or that's my opinion. 17-year-old boy found fatally shot in an alley that used to be monitored by ShotSpotter - CWB Chicago

Usually in Chicago, no one reports gunfire, but this time 911 got a call. Not that it did any good.

The people who heard the shots didn’t see anything; they just heard it. After about ten minutes of searching, around 9:23 a.m., the cops found shell casings at the mouth of an alley. They then found 17-year-old Drevon Watson lying in that alley. He had been shot in the chest. At Stroger Hospital, a doctor pronounced him dead.

The hat tip goes to Second City Cop: Another Dead Body

Ten minutes is more than enough time to make a significant difference in living or dying.

If you click the link at the top, CWB Chicago is keeping track of the people shot and/or killed in areas where previously ShotSpotter would have alerted police to the incident immediately. There are a lot of dead bodies being found, because as I stated, people don't usually call 911 just because they heard gunfire.

Chicago was a great city, in my lifetime. Now it is just another Progressive hellhole.

Chicago's Mayor, Brandon Johnson, terminated the ShotSpotter contract after the 2024 Democratic Party Convention. Why? I don't remember his "reasoning" because it made no sense to me. I believe it is because he couldn't give the money to any cronies.

The State of German Military Readiness

It is actually worse today, than when Russia invaded Ukraine. What would it take for Germans to get serious about their own defense? ‘50% battle-ready’: Germany misses military targets despite Scholz’s overhaul

Since I was revisiting past posts on German military readiness, I thought a new post was in order.

It has been a couple of years since I looked at the state of German Military, but with all the talk of Europe "stepping up" to defend Ukraine, and provide for their own defense, I though it would be good to take a look. You don't have to look too hard to see that Germany is not interested in paying for its own defense.

"Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we had eight brigades at around 65% readiness," Colonel Andre Wuestner, head of the German Armed Forces Association, told Reuters in an interview. Sending weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine, as well as accelerating Germany's own drills, took a toll on the available equipment, he said.

"Together, this means the German land forces are down to a readiness of around 50%," he said.

Because purchasing weapons, and paying for training costs money, and the one constant is that Modern Germany doesn't want to spend money on defense. They see that as America's job.

Berlin has failed to fully equip troops for a division for NATO by the start of this year, and in any case has no air defences to support them, the sources said.

Its pledge for a NATO division by 2027 is "long out of our reach," said a military source.

Germany retired an air-defense tank in 2012, despite the fact that its replacement won't be operational for a couple of years at least. This leaves the ground troops they do have with no air support against planes or drones. They are also short a bunch of 155mm howitzers. Some were sent to Ukraine, but several batches of required weapons have not been ordered. There is info on the state of the guns, or lack of guns, there is no info on available ammunition for those howitzers. Modern warfare is an exercise in logistics.

There is more. Click thru.

Europe Finally Increases Defense Spending

For decades they couldn't take an interest in their own defense; they just expected the US to foot the bill. Europe Increases Defense Spending — But Still Are Decades Behind the U.S. and Unprepared for War with Russia

So the real question is, what do they expect to do?

Ironically, while these increases are being made in defiance of the U.S., they align perfectly with what Trump has been demanding since his first term: that Europe boost its defense spending and ease the burden on America.

I don't know how Europe increasing defense spending can be "in defiance of America." Trump was trying to get them to increase defense spending in his first term, and I've thought that Europe needs to do more to defend themselves for a long time. Defending Europe from Russia in the late 1940s made sense, when a lot of Europe was still recovering from WWII. By the time the Berlin Wall fell, and the Warsaw Pact disbanded, Europe was an economic powerhouse, and could have stood on its own, with some help from the USA. Instead the bulk of the tanks in Europe were American, etc.

This highlights another fundamental issue in Europe: some countries are relatively poor, and the socialist nature of their governments has accustomed them to expecting handouts rather than earning and spending on their own.

This raises a critical question—will countries like France and Spain fully commit to the plan if they are told they must repay the loans?

So if France and Spain don't want to pay for their own defense - they want grants. Who do they expect to pay? Germany? they need to expand their own defense spending. Germany has other problems, but at least they are meeting their NATO spending commitments, though I think they are losing more via waste than we are.

France is also meeting its commitments under NATO, and in 2024 was spending 2.06% of its GDP on its military. (The commitment has been 2% for a long time.) Spain is only spending 1.28% of GDP. source: NATO Spending by Country 2025. I have no idea how accurate those numbers are; that is just what a quick search of the intertubes turned up.

There is more. Click thru.

Here are some past posts, in which I bash on German Military preparedness. They were the largest economy in Europe before they decided to de-industrialize and embrace Green power.

• German military procurement is “one hell of a complete disaster.”
• If German Military Might is Non-existent…
• Remember When Trump Lit Into Germans Over Military Spending?
• Germany – Still Shirking Their Responsibilities to NATO

Blood, Tears, Dust

Lacuna Coil is one of my favorite European Metal bands, and they've even managed to get some attention in America. Not an easy thing for European bands, even when they are singing in English. The suits who run the music industry, for the most part don't like Metal, don't understand Metal, and can't be bothered about anything that isn't Taylor Swift.

The singers are Cristina Scabbia, who has a beautiful voice, and Andrea "Andy" Ferro who adds a bit of harshness to the mix. Together they work well. The rest of the band is Marco Coti Zelati on bass, Diego Cavallotti playing guitar, and Richard Meiz on drums.

This song is "Blood, Tears, Dust" by Lacuna Coil from their 2016 album Delirium. This is a lyrics video, though there is an "official music video" if you're interested. I find official video even more distracting than usual.

The Other McCain on Ian Carroll

He has questions. The ‘Investigative Journalist’ Grift and the Dangerous ‘Viral’ Style of Ian Carroll

So everybody now is talking about Ian Carroll, who was a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast this week, and the chatter on X was sufficiently annoying that I found myself wondering, “Who the fuck is this guy?”

Good luck finding any actual biography of Ian Carroll. You can find denunciations of him, or find hagiography of him, but like the basic stuff — age, hometown, education, career background — just doesn’t seem to exist. If you can turn it up with a Google search, please put the result in the comments.

Go read the whole thing.

What Would You Do If a Guy With a Knife Threatened You?

Was this another failure of the victim-selection process? Man shot in Wilmington, NC, died in act of self-defense, police say

A woman shot [36-year-old James] Scott after he pulled out a knife, came towards her and threatened to kill her, according to the news release. A firearm, knife, shell casing and cell phone were located at the scene. Detectives determined that Scott was the initial aggressor in the incident.

She was in a group of people. Maybe he thought she was the easiest target. He was wrong.

There is more, including a statement by a witness to the shooting. Click thru.

Police detained three people for questioning, but ultimately no one was arrested.

Self-defense is a human right, and North Carolina is not New Jersey.

Streamer Flaunts Wealth Online, Becomes Target

People have no appreciation for operational security, or security in general. And I suppose someone who has made her millions being famous, would not think that being famous is a problem.

I won't give the details because I never heard of this before before the incident, and I don't want to feed into it.

Suffice it to say that the 3 bad guys had guns, duct tape, and were clearly prepared to torture the streamer to get the info they wanted. Her husband was armed, and was able to drive the bad guys off, maybe shooting one of them

This is Colion Noir's video Twitch Streamer Husband Shoots Armed Crypto Robbers After She Shows Her 20 Million In Crypto Online

There is conflicting info about this story, but Dounut Operater, and ex-cop, has apparently confirmed this with friends/contacts in the department in question.

The Epstein Files Will Never See the Light of Day

Or not in my lifetime, anyway. AG Pam Bondi: Still-Unreleased Epstein Files to Be Redacted for ‘National Security’

Now, the plot thickens. In a recent interview with Sean Hannity, Bondi claimed that she is going to redact some of the “truckload” of files she finally got shipped in from the SDNY on “national security” grounds, with no elaboration on what that might mean.

What is means - as far as I'm concerned - that it was a blackmail scheme by the Deep State, and the Deep State doesn't want to let that go.

The Byrna Less-Than-Lethal Pistol

I was seeing ads for this pistol all over the place for a while. The "Legal in 50 states" claim is not something I have researched. There was a time that Mace was illegal in Wisconsin - had a bad effect on the cheese - but that was many years ago. (Decades ago?)

It is basically a CO₂ pistol that shoots either hard rubber bullets, or pepper balls. I suppose the hard rubber bullets would be available everywhere.

The Tactical Rabbi decided to put the weapon to the test, which you can see in the one minute video below. I think it might work with a combination of hard rubber and pepper balls. And in places where you can't have a firearm, at least you would have something.

This is the Tactical Rabbi video Can this PISTOL Stop an Attacker?!? #byrna

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 8 March

Animal Magnetism is first with Animal’s Hump Day News

No shit, Sherlock.
Feature or bug?
Worth doing, every day and twice on Sunday.

The Right Way - Top of the News

‘How The Far-Left Are Disrupting ICE Raids In Los Angeles - BlazingCatFur
Ave Imperator! - AoSHQ

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.05.25 (Afternoon Edition)

EBL: Democrat Messaging Disaster, also, UK Troops In Ukraine?
Twitchy: “We’re Not Gonna Put Up With It!”

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 6 March 2025: Oops All Pumpkins Edition

Google says to the DOJ, "Please don't throw us into that briar patch." (Yahoo)
I don't think Google quite grasped how that story is supposed to go.

EBL - Homestead

A nuke goes off in Los Angeles and things go bad all over the country. But there is a sanctuary in Colorado. Based on the Black Autumn series. Positive about Christian religious themes

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm For March 7, 2025

We touched on this in a previous LinkSwarm, but here’s more details on Stacey Abrams EPA-backed multi-billion dollar slush fund.

Glibertarians - Friday Morning Not Banjos Links

I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that there is corruption and mismanagement in political fundraising.
I have an alibi.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 3/5/2025

Another Machete Attack in a French Metro Station
Machetes seem to be becoming a weapon of choice in European street fighting these days. A brawl broke out among a group of men at the Bagatelle metro station.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 03.06.25 (Morning Edition)

Cedar Sanderson: Domestic Bliss
Bugscuffle Gazette: Iron Does Not Lie
Stoic Observations: Beware of Brainiac

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - They Liked It

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair watched an MSNBC Panel: Democrats Really FUBAR'd the Moment, Huh? Teri Christoph at RedState says Rep. Al Green's Obnoxious Antics at Trump's Speech Just Backfired—Here Comes the Brutal Reality Check.

Vlad Tepes - On the BBC, current German staziism and much more: links 1 for March 5, 2025

We all know BBC, CBC and a ton of broadcast media has been enemy propaganda for a long time. Its slide into enforcers of actual tyranny has certainly become measurably worse over the past 10 years.

Theo Spark - Bits and Bobs....................

When images lie From Hollywood to the BBC, a genocidal narrative of falsehoods is promoted as factually true - Melanie Phillips
Blunt Diplomacy: Trump’s Path to Peace in Ukraine - Amuse

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.06.25 (Evening Edition)

Victory Girls: Democrats Say ‘This Is Not Normal’—Irony Dies on Live TV, Trump To Democrats: You’re Just Never Going To Be Happy, and Bill Kristol Publicly Embraces His Inner Evil Clown

Political Hat - Quick Takes – Nature Rights: Forest Rights At The WEF; Nature vs. Lithium; Ecological Constitutional Rejection

Huge lithium deposits found that would free the U.S. from foreign dependency? Can’t have that, can we?
In a moment of sanity, Swiss voters decided to [not] enshrine Gaia and their Goddess of Law.

View From The Porch - Tab Clearing...

Mercedes-Benz was a pioneer in shitty future cars with terrible driver interfaces...
The shady Palau "residency card" used to skirt crypto laws...

Small Dead Animals - Wednesday On Turtle Island

Woke America: Yeah, this is sus. Victor Davis Hanson – Zelensky bites the hand. And grumpy old men.
Prime Minister Carney’s Canada: Well I guess they won’t have to worry about tariffs.

Flopping Aces - Trump pincers Zelenskyy and Putin

After Zelenskyy’s showboating at the White House I remarked in a few venues that I would not be surprised to see Putin ramp up the war, and that is exactly what happened yesterday.

Once again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.07.25

Dana Loesch: Gavin Newsom Is Running,
Don Surber: Trumping the bureaucracy
First Street Journal: Not everything has to be a federal government project!

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

GMU Econ alum Dominic Pino sensibly asks: If the tariff wand is as miraculous as Trump & Co. insist it is, why wait to actually wave it?

Maggie's Farm - Wednesday morning links

A $20 Billion Slush Fund—Paid by You to Progressive Nonprofits
Wake Up Call? Polls Show Half Of Democrat Voters Are Tired Of Far-Left Politics

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 3/ 6 /25

CNN found 69% of viewers had a positive reaction. A CBS News/YouGov survey found that number at 76%.
Strong Majority Of Viewers Had Positive Reactions To Trump’s Speech: Polls

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 03/06/2025

DOJ investigating Biden administration’s ‘very dangerous’ $20 billion ‘slush fund.’
USAID head Peter Marocco tells lawmakers he’s eyeing potential criminal charges for foreign aid fraud:

I leave you with Your mid-week memes from Wirecutter, Wednesday Memes … from MaddMedic, and Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #2381 from 90 Miles from Tyranny.

Self-Defense Is Legal in Indiana

I haven't seen whether or not this guy was fired from his job. No charges filed for shooter at Greenfield Amazon facility | WTHR. This incident took place in the middle of December.

A guy was working at an Amazon facility in Indianapolis, when another guy, also an Amazon employee, though not schedule to work that day, started a confrontation in the break room. The first guy tried to leave, to deescalate the situation, but the second guy was not having any of it.

The shooter then left Amazon and tried to "disengage from any confrontation," the release said. While the shooter was waiting for his ride to leave the Amazon facility, Riley followed.

The release said Riley "aggressively closed distance" on the shooter, creating "fear of injury" for the shooter.

The shooter then drew his gun and Riley said "I ain't worried about no gun" and continued to charge at the shooter and reaching into his pants as if he were also going to draw a gun, the release said.

The DA finally decided that they couldn't win, so the ruled self-defense. Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton made the following statement:

Given the totality of the evidence in this case it is clear that Unnamed Shooter made multiple attempts to disengage from Riley. It is also clear that at the time of the shooting the Unnamed Shooter had reason to believe that force was necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to himself from Riley.

I'm not sure why it took two and a half months to make that determination. Maybe he was waiting on police reports, or an autopsy, but my guess is that the DA hates self-defense was hoping something would turn up that could lead to a prosecution. Most DAs hate self-defense, and they care little for Justice; they like to win.

Self-defense is a human right.

EV Chargers Contain a Lot of Copper

While a lot of them are covered by cameras, not all are. Lidl EV chargers sawn off by copper-hunting thieves | Worcester News

It seems UK copper thieves have discovered a plentiful source.

THIEVES cut through electric vehicle chargers at a supermarket car park in the latest in a spate of cable thefts in Worcestershire.

Three rapid chargers outside Lidl in Kidderminster Road, Droitwich Spa, were stolen by criminals sawing off the cables.

Since not nearly enough copper is being mined/produced to meet the Net Zero goals that governments all over the world have set, copper is becoming more expensive. Which means more of it is being stolen.

I'm shocked. Not really. (Hat tip to MGUY Australia)