Adaptive Curmudgeon is Cooler than You

He sails a boat the he built himself. He rides a dirt bike. This is about the dirt bike. Dirt Bike Americana: Epilogue

Actually there are 3 posts before the Epilogue, and one equipment review, and photos. "Photos or it didn't happen!" You really should read it, if only to live vicariously, but AC always does make me laugh.

For example, on a random radio talk show, on his drive home, after having damaged both the bike and himself (not seriously in either case) from interactions with the flora (he ran into a tree) he stumbled on a conversation that had to do with hazards.

It was NPR. Goddammit! America’s ever-present, continuously preaching, massively woke, propaganda distribution system never sleeps.

Some unaccomplished retread was interviewing a balless wonder. The topic was ‘how to make sure your housecat is safe from Covid’. That’s the ‘hazard’ they were talking about. I listened a bit more just in case it was satire. Does Babylon Bee do radio?

It wasn’t satire. They were serious, or at least as serious as something that unserious can be. Does a cat owner’s vaccine protect the cat during risky behavior, like letting fluffy sit on your lap?

Like most stuff AC does, I find this interesting, and he writes better than I do. Though that is not a high bar to get over. Enjoy.

Chevy Bolts Recalled Due Fire Risk

I wouldn't park one of these in my garage under any circumstances, not even after they are "fixed." GM extends recall to cover all Chevy Bolts due to fire risk

This is the defect they know about. What about the ones they don't know about?

The GM recall announced Friday adds about 73,000 Bolts from the 2019 through 2022 model years to a previous recall of 69,000 older Bolts.

GM said that in rare cases the batteries have two manufacturing defects that can cause fires.

They tried to blame the manufacturing defect on a plant in South Korea, but the batteries from Holland, Michigan also have the same (or a similar) manufacturing defect. This tells me it is more like a process problem or a design issue.

The total cost of the recall (old and new models) is $1.8 billion. That is billion, with a "B."

GM said owners should limit charging to 90% of battery capacity. The Bolts, including a new SUV, also should be parked outdoors until the modules are replaced.

Once a lithium-ion battery catches fire, it is very difficult to extinguish the fire. Which is why I would never park one in a garage.

Waking Dream & Abyss

Unleash the Archers is a mix of Old School Heavy Metal, Power Metal and Melodeath. Since they are out of British Columbia, language is not an issue, though it is interesting to note that like other North American Metal bands (Kamelot and Tremonti spring to mind), they had to go to Europe to find a record label, since the American music industry is run by idiots.

I've come to like their work. Or most of it anyway. Brittany Hayes has a great voice for Power Metal.

This is "Waking Dream / Abyss" by Unleash the Archers. These are the first 2 songs off their 2020 album Abyss, except it is hard to say where one stops and the other begins.

"Biden lied" — OR — "Biden doesn’t know"

The NY Post doesn't much care for Biden's handling of Afghanistan. Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal shows a disengaged, befuddled president

Shortly after President Biden on Friday claimed that Americans had safe passage to the Kabul airport, and the Taliban weren’t harassing anyone, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told members of Congress that some Americans trying to escape had been beaten by the Taliban. The next day, the US Embassy in Kabul said it wasn’t safe to go to the airport.

Which leaves us with the two choices in the title to this post. The Post thinks that Biden doesn't know. Which answer do you choose?

It’s not that Biden doesn’t lie, it’s that all of his statements and actions of the past week show a disengaged, befuddled president who doesn’t care about Americans and their allies in Afghanistan. He has waved away all criticism, pretended everything is fine, flew off to Camp David.

There is more; click thru. Hat tip to Pirate's Cove.

When a Democratic President Has Lost CNN...

You know we are in deep yogurt. CNN Anchor Grills Jake Sullivan on Biden’s Misleading Afghanistan Claims: ‘We Know That’s Not True’

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar confronted National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday morning over claims President Joe Biden made on Friday about the Afghanistan withdrawal, wondering aloud why the president was “misleading with his words.”

Of course the question itself is insane. "Why is he misleading?" Beause the Truth sucks from Biden's point of view. Harris is so disgusted she ran away to Vietnam, of all places, which will be sure to remind everyone - who is old enough, anyway - about the Fall of Saigon, and how this is the 21st Century version of that fiasco. Situation Normal, All F*#@ed Up.

In the same press conference, Biden also claimed that al Qaeda is “gone” from Afghanistan, even though the United Nations Security Council determined in June that the terror organization still has a presence in nearly half of the Afghanistan provinces and the Department of Defense recently reported that “the Taliban continued to maintain its relationship with al Qaeda, providing safe haven for the terrorist group in Afghanistan.”

The Democrats are used to being able to say whatever the hell they want, and having the media cover for them. It must be quite a shock to have the media reciting facts, and quoting authoritative sources, like The Pentagon, to refute what they have to say.

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was relentlessly grilled by anchor Chris Wallace on Biden’s al Qaeda assertions as well as the president's insistence that he hasn’t heard any criticism on the chaotic withdrawal from America’s international allies.

What do you mean, challenging Blinken with facts?

As for Jake Sullivan, see this link.

Another Failure of the Victim-selection Process

He apparently thought breaking into an armed home was a good idea. He was wrong. Man shot and killed after kicking in back door

The Spartanburg Police Department responded to the shooting around 9:30pm. According to the occupants of the residence, Henderson entered their home by kicking in the back door. The homeowner confronted Henderson and shots were fired.

The would-be bad-guy was shot once in the throat. He died at a local hospital.

The investigation continues, but self-defense is a human-right.

Atlanta Rapper versus Police

Any guesses as to how this story ends? Dash cam video shows intense moment police take Atlanta-area rapper into custody after chase

An armed rapper, whose online presence includes video of him flashing cash, and he was driving a sports car.

Durr got out of the car on the highway, they said. In the video, it appears something is tossed in the air. Police said Durr fought with officers as they tried to take him into custody.

The audio isn't great, but I think he asks "What did I do?" as officers tackle him. That was after he ran from police and crashed into two vehicles. And he had a gun in his possession. The crash also injured two officers, though not seriously. And he was originally wanted in connection to an aggravated assault. So that's what he did.

This is the video for Atlanta Rapper Paper Lovee Arrested Following Chase /Sandy Springs Police. It isn't great, though it shows the moment he was taken into custody, it doesn't show the crash.

California Cops Behaving Stupidly

The attitude is "The Rules don't apply to cops." 2 former Torrance policemen accused of spray painting swastika

For those of you who are geographically challenged, The City of Torrance is in Los Angeles County, right up against the ocean.

Two former Torrance police officers accused of spray painting a swastika on a vehicle used by suspects last year while still on the force face felony charges, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said on Thursday, Aug. 19.

Further, in recent weeks evidence has surfaced that 13 current officers sent anti-Semitic or homophobic messages between themselves and have been placed on paid administrative leave, Torrance Police Chief Jeremiah Hart said.

The 2 were fired last year, though the case is just making its way through the courts.

The 2 had a car towed, because they thought it had been used in a crime.

When the vehicle’s owner came to pick the vehicle up, officials said, he found a happy face spray painted on the front passenger seat and a swastika on the back seat, officials said, with items in the vehicle strewn about.

The investigation into the 13 is ongoing.

Several weeks ago, the Police Department expanded the administrative investigation and found evidence of anti-Semitic and homophobic messages between the 13 current patrol officers, the police chief said, without elaborating on how those messages were disseminated.

My guess: the messages were disseminated using department email, or department phones, or both. Either of which would leave a trail of evidence. Those 13 cops may face misdemeanor charges.

Prosecutors are going to go through a bunch of cases that the 15 officers were involved in, to see if there would be any issues.

Woodsterman Musical Man

Click thru for Am I the Only One ~ Aaron Lewis from Woodsterman.

I couldn't have said it better, let alone sing it.

Quote of the Day - Afghanistan Fiasco Edition

This is classic. How Are Those Mean Tweets Looking Now? by Kurt Schlichter

This is a disaster on every level. Look, I’m crusty. I’m old. I’m not Joe Biden old, and I don’t sit in a rocker with a shawl on watching ‘Murder She Wrote’ reruns eating gruel and wetting myself, but I am old. I am old enough to remember Saigon and the fall of Saigon. I think I was about ten years old. But I remember it vividly. I remember what a disaster it was. This is worse.

It seems like we have seen all of this before. Well, those of us who are old enough to remember, and not so old, like Hiden Joe Biden, who can't remember anything. (Hat tip to Instapundit.)

Biden Lied and NATO Allies Are Pissed Off

But then his lies were a big deal. Biden Gave Allies Security Assurance on Kabul, Afghanistan in June - Bloomberg

President Joe Biden told key allies in June that he would maintain enough of a security presence in Afghanistan to ensure they could continue to operate in the capital following the main U.S. withdrawal, a vow made before the Taliban’s rapid final push across the country, according to a British diplomatic memo seen by Bloomberg.

Yeah, that didn't happen.

The circumstances surrounding the U.S. withdrawal have served as a harsh wake-up call to European leaders struggling to adjust to the reluctance in Washington to operate as a global policeman. They had discussed with Biden at the G-7 summit the need to continue supporting the government in Kabul in order to prevent the country once again becoming a haven for terrorist operations. Those discussions continued at the NATO summit a few days later.

So NATO countries, who absolutely HATED Trump, were counting on the Biden Administration to just carry on as usual and do the heavy lifting. How's that working out?

So who will move next? My money is on China, though Russia has to be moving too. The Obama Administration - which as bad as it was, managed to be MUCH better than the Biden Administration - was caught completely flat-footed by the invasion of Ukraine. Biden has a bunch of the same brain trust as Obama, starting with Jake Sullivan.

The real question, is there anyone available to stand up to China or Russia? I was looking at Germany a few years back, as the NATO member I was most upset with. (Actually I've been pissed off at Germany's freeloading for quite some time.) You can find those Germany posts at this link. Though there are a few WWII posts sprinkled in, it highlights such things as all of Germany's submarines being out of commission in 2018, Germany not having enough rifles to outfit its infantry, and tank divisions, most of its tanks being out of service, etc.

So are we hoping the French will stand up? The Poles were convinced that NATO would not honor its commitments if Russia invades Poland. Hard to blame them really.

Is there any country who can stand up to China in the Pacific? It would have to be Australia, and they are probably too small relative to the PRC. Japan is forbidden by its constitution to fight foreign wars. The Phillipines were a force at one point, but I don't where they stand today. And all of those countries were probably counting on supporting America.

Naked, Erratic Men Are the Worst

How would you respond? 2 killed in 2 Birmingham incidents: Naked, erratic man shot by motorist; man shot outside motel

Authorities said a motorist, whose name has not been released, was sitting inside a disabled vehicle awaiting assistance when Williams “approached the vehicle naked and acting erratically.”

Williams reportedly opened the motorist’s door and that’s when the motorist shot him.

I'll ask the question again. How would you have responded to this situation?

Birmingham seems to be a bad place to be bad guy.

The deaths are Birmingham’s 73rd and 74th homicides of this year. Of those, 10 have been ruled justifiable and therefore aren’t deemed criminal.

And the reporter is either unclear on the difference between homicide (not a a crime) and murder (which is a crime), or doesn't think the readers know the difference.

Self-defense is a human-right. It appears to definitely be your legal right in Alabama.

Chicago's Affordable Bail Plan

It works about as well you would suspect, if you have more than 2 brain-cells to rub together. #37: Man's charged with trying to kill 2 cops while on a recognizance bond for injuring 2 cops who tried to arrest him in March

And a reminder that there is more than one weapon available to most people.

A four-time convicted gun offender who was free on a recognizance bond for allegedly injuring two officers who tried to escort him out of a hospital in March nearly killed two more cops with his car last week as he tried to escape a traffic stop, prosecutors said. And the man allegedly had another gun when police caught up with him on Tuesday.

Jermaine Little is the 37th person accused of killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago this year while on felony bond.

Does It Help To Have the .gov Say This?

Nobody listens to the industry experts. Will they listen to the government? I doubt it. CISA shares guidance on how to prevent ransomware data breaches

Also, can I say that I HATE the CISA logo? The circut in the eagle's wing is okay, but the radio tower looks like a logo from the 1950s.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released guidance to help government and private sector organizations prevent data breaches resulting from ransomware double extortion schemes.

Their recommendations are even good. But nothing is brand new, or ground-breaking, or anything. It is basically what the security industry has been saying for some time. So why is it better coming from the .gov? Well, they can lord it over government agencies, but the rest is just a suggestion. And an old set of suggestions, really.

The first item in the list is as follows.

Maintain offline, encrypted backups of data and regularly test backups

Testing is a problem. Offline is also a problem for most businesses. (If it is online, it is not a backup, it is only a copy.) Click thru for the rest.

And just because you are not running a government department out of your home office, or have a political campaign's email server tucked away in you family room, doesn't mean you can't get hit. And of course ransomware isn't the only hazard. Little things like fires can destroy a lot of data.

How to Find Info on Hurricane Henri

Below there are some links to where you can find the official info on Hurricane Henri, and some unofficial links that I like.

But first, De Blasio has noticed there is a hurricane taking aim at NYC. Nothing like waiting till the last minute. De Blasio declares NYC state of emergency over Hurricane Henri

I wonder how many city trains and vehicles have been moved to high ground. Have any sandbags been emplaced to combat the expected storm surge. The New York coast is expecting storm surge in the range of 3 to 5 feet, which is probably too high to fight with sandbags, though that will be right on the coast. Inland will be less. Nothing like the 15 feet, or more, Miami saw during Hurricane Andrew. Though a lot of it will depend on when high tide is, relative to when Henri makes landfall.

But de Blasio said the storm would “not affect” his pro-vaccination concert, scheduled for tonight in Central Park.

Hizzoner advised concertgoers to “go home right after,” however.

Becasue the show must go on, or something.

And I'm surprised that they are only calling for rainfall of 3 to 6 inches from a hurricane. That is the levels you see from just a bad storm in Florida. I've been in tropical storms that dumped more than 12 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. That is a lot of water.

If you want to follow along, the official site is the National Hurricane Center They have predictions, and status, and watch and warning areas and all that. Personally I perfer Mike's Weather Page, since it includes most of the stuff from the NHC (or links to the NHC) and some stuff they don't. And if you like the satellite images, those can be found at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES Image Viewer. The standard view for Henri is pretty good, and they offer all of the filters (Dvorak, etc.) There are a lot a acronyms. It is the .gov after all! Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES) is run by NASA, but the data is all about weather.

I have also found that it is most helpful to find a local TV station, that is close enough to be nervous, but not in the direct path of the eye, and view their web footage. Some station in New Jersy, perhaps, will have gone to all Henri, all the time, because that is really the only news that matters to people that close to a Hurricane. There is The Weather Channel, but I haven't liked their coverage in a very long time.

My Prediction: No One Will Evacuate Ahead of Hurricane Henri

People have been urged to evacuate, but they won't. Coastal evacuations urged as Hurricane Henri heads north

It's only a Category 1 Hurricane. How bad can it be?

Aside from not evacuating, they also won't have any water, canned goods, anyway to cook, any way read. They won't have any cash - they're too cool for cash, they use Apple Pay! - but with no power there will no internet.

What was that about no power? Hurricane Henri could leave millions of people in New England without power for up to 10 days.

Long Island Power Authority, or PSEG-LI, which serves over 1 million people, said some residents should brace for outages of 7-10 days. It also urged people to be prepared.

That is why I wrote "canned goods" and not "frozen food" above. And you had better not leave all of that food in the freezer for 7 days. Unless you want to buy a new freezer that is. (I know because of a work fridge in Florida that was without power for a long weekend. Nasty.)

So. In short. No water, no food, no money, no gas in any cars, with maybe one or two bridges out. The screaming for the .gov to "save me" because "it is somebody else's job to protect me from completely foreseeable events." Or something.

The Afghanistan Withdrawal - From Forever War to Clusterf*ck of the Century in the Blink of an Eye

The so-called experts said that Trump was an amateur in the area of foreign policy. The guys currently in charge look like the Keystone Cops. And I think they have managed to piss off absolutely everyone. Except maybe for the Taliban.

Our one-time allies, who were not warned about the Afghanistan withdrawal, are paying the price. German man SHOT in Afghanistan as Taliban's chilling reign of terror begins - chaos erupts

AFGHAN citizens fleeing the airport at Afghanistan capital Kabul today were trampled as gunshots rang out, resulting in a German civilian being shot trying to reach the airstrip.

Are we surprised that the "strongly worded press release" from our ambassador to the UN hasn't had much impact? Taliban's barbaric regime kicks in as woman brutally 'set on fire' for 'bad cooking'

The former judge [Najla Ayoubi] claimed one woman had been "put on fire because she was accused of bad cooking for Taliban fighters".

And yes, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, did issue a "strongly worded" press release on the subject of human rights under the Taliban.

Joe Biden can't be bothered to talk to our allies. Maybe they are former allies at this point. Farage slams Joe Biden's 'contempt' for UK after he ignored Boris' calls for 36 hours. The headline says it all, really.

And of course the media will take it seriously when the MEDIA are targeted. Relative of DW journalist killed by the Taliban

The Taliban have raided the homes of at least three DW journalists. Nematullah Hemat of the private television station Ghargasht TV is believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban, and Toofan Omar, the head of the private radio station Paktia Ghag Radio, was, according to government officials, targeted and shot dead by Taliban fighters.

Though the American media probably doesn't even know of Deutsche Welle.

There is more of course, but I have things to do, and this is only making me depressed.

Schadenfreude is a Dish Best Served Cold

Remember when Biden was going to save our foreign policy, relations with NATO allies, etc. How's that working out? Living Well Is the Best Revenge, Except for Rubbing Your Enemies’ Faces in Their Shameful and Irreparable Failure

While schadenfreude is cold comfort, it is the only comfort that there is in this situation.

Winning an argument is good. Seeing your antagonists exposed as fools is also good. But is victory so sweet, if won at such cost? An absolute catastrophe is now unfolding in Afghanistan because the guy that all the Smart People™ told us would Restore Our Precious Norms has turned out to be a blundering dimwit. And as much as we enjoy this vindication — “We told you so, you damned fools!” — it does not alleviate the horror of watching America’s reputation go up in a cloud of smoke.

Click thru for the details, which include links to Ace "doing a happy dance on Allahpundit’s face," and to Allahpundit admitting that Biden and his administration are lying to the American public. And more.

The temptation toward dark sarcasm is overwhelming, quite the way Ace is tempted to make America’s humiliation in Afghanistan an excuse to do a happy dance all over Allahpundit’s smug neocon face. We must strive to resist this temptation, however. Our gloating is unseemly, at a time when we need to be praying to God that, by some kind of miracle, our nation can survive until January 20, 2025. Tough years ahead, folks.

I don't think it is our nation most immediately at risk today. Ukraine, Poland and Taiwan are at risk, though not necessarily in that order.

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups - 21 August

Wombat-socho starts things rolling with In The Mailbox: 08.18.21

Da Tech Guy: The Business Of Writing, -30-, and Afghanistan & The Border – Reality Upstages The Left’s Spin
Don Surber: It’s Cuomo Time For Biden

The Right Way - Top of the News

Kamala Harris tries to flee Joe Biden's sinking ship - American Thinker
BIDEN LIED! He Ignored Afghanistan Disaster Warnings From Military AND Intelligence - The Lid

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 2: A reader told Glenn Reynolds, "None of the experts in our government thought to contact our NATO allies before our disastrous decision to leave, and now the UK is openly debating in Parliament the usefulness of NATO and if they can trust the United States going forward

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 08.19.21

Cafe Hayek: On Corporate Social Responsibility
Da Tech Guy: We’re Now Paying A Tremendous Price For Surrendering The Culture War To The Left, also, Administration Channels Yes, Prime Minister

EBL - Guess Who: Undun

MAGA Afghanistan vs. Bumbling Biden 🇦🇫😬☀️, The Fall of Afghanistan 🇦🇫😬, Wahid Muradi: Afghani Song, and Leaving Afghanistan 🇦🇫😬
Noor Bin Laden

A View from the Beach - Election 2020: Fleebaggers Trickle Back to Texas

The Federalist, Tristan Justice details how Rep. Jim Jordan Launches Investigation Into Federal Agencies Hiring Private Companies To Spy On Americans and at HE, Rep. Jordan Demands DHS Admit Whether it Plans to Use Contractors to ‘Spy’ on Americans’ Social Media.

Battleswarm Blog - Afghanistan: The Inevitable Disaster, More Disastrous Than Necessary

Defeat has long been baked into the Afghan pie by the failure of every Administration since Bush43 to grapple with the fact that Taliban has been armed and run by the Pakistani ISI essentially since their inception.

Vlad Tepes - Biden’s sr. staff contradicts him, Canada to cover funeral costs for Vaxx deaths: Links 3, August 20, 2021

1. The presser of the Ontario MPP who chose to be removed from the Conservative party caucus for Ontario than accept an ultimatum on taking an experimental gene therapy.

And again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 08.20.21

Shot In The Dark: Downfall, also, The Next Time
This Ain’t Hell: John McCain Warned That Blinken Would Be Dangerous To America, also, Okie Mom Rescues Afghan Girl Students

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 8/19/2021

Dozens of Protesters Attend Duncan Plaza Rally Against COVID-19 Mandates
Around 60 unmasked people gathered across from City Hall to protest mask and vaccine mandates Thursday morning

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 8/19/21

"U.S. allies 'embittered,' as rogue states and terrorist groups cheer Taliban victory."
Germany Calls Biden's Afghanistan Pull-Out the "Biggest Debacle" for NATO

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 08/19/2021

Republicans celebrate flip of Dem-held seat in Connecticut State Senate in a district Biden won by 25%. Are the fraudsters spooked by the current trajectory?
Six California democrats are charged with election fraud are hauled into court in handcuffs.

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: VDH, Taibbi, Roggio and More

Biden insists no mistakes were made in US exit from Afghanistan: Naomi Lim
Billions in US weaponry seized by Taliban: The Shill

Maggie's Farm - Thursday afternoon links

Now even rape victims are being called bigots
Requiem For Afghanistan

I leave you with Thursday gifdump from Wirecutter, Thursday Memes .. from MaddMedic, and Have A Wonderful Libturd Thursday Morning and Have A Wonderful Libturd Thursday Afternoon from Woodsterman.