Winter

It is the beginning of summer. Sort of. So let's listen to a song that is not about summer. (Offically it started yesterday. Memorial Day is NOT the start of summer, not really.)

I don't know when I first heard Tori Amos' music. I did own (still do) a copy of the Under the Pink CD, which came out in 1994. My friends and I were all into, what at the time was called, "Women's Music" (sometime styled Womyn's Music), because by and large with very few exceptions, radio stations would not play the music. That lack of support was also the impetus for Lilith Fair; very few female artists were booked on Loolapaloosa's stages.

Tori Amos, the artist we have today, has an amazing voice. All the songs on this album let that voice shine.

This song is "Winter" by Tori Amos from her 1992 debut album Little Earthquakes. The version we have today is the 2006 remastered edition.

Gun Control Was Never Subject to a "Debate"

From The Other McCain - ‘Cryptic Messages’

The “debate” over gun control is never actually a debate. Democrats keep trying to take our guns away, and we keep saying, “Hell, no!”

Enter Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

Wolf is full of "reassurances" about red-flag laws. He's lying of course. Click thru.

Candace Owens on Freedom.

I love the work that Candance Owens is doing.

Freedom. The work ethic. Brainwashing that is going on in schools.

Freedom only comes from personal responsibility.

That is the money quote, as far as I'm concerned.

This is Candace Owens' video: Freedom Feels Nice – But It's Hard.

Home Prices and Mortgages Skyrocket - LGBT Community Hit Hardest.

Or something. Why LGBTQ homebuyers say rising mortgage rates are hitting them hard

I hate the way The Community™ is all about victimhood today.

Mrad, a gay man living in the Los Angeles area, has spent much of his adult life commuting several hours a day to his job at the NASA jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, California. When he found an apartment closer to work, he noticed a major improvement in his life.

But he wants to buy a house, and Los Angeles is expensive.

He began looking for homes early this year, and that five-mile radius soon expanded to 30 miles. At the same time, the Federal Reserve began hiking its benchmark interest rate, sending mortgage rates soaring. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage jumped to 5.78% the week of June 16, according to Freddie Mac, seeing its biggest one-week jump since 1987.

Oh. Since 1987. Heavens. We didn't even have the Internet in 1987, though it would only be a few years after that Al Gore invented it. Or something. Also no smart phones in 1987. I didn't even own a cell phone in 1987. (I can't remember if they were generally available in that year.) I bought a ½ interest in a house in 1986 or it might have been 85. I would have to look to be sure.

So, he has skills. I'm willing to bet he could get a job in Huntsville, Alabama (missile capital of America), but he would have to put up with some chaff, and the nightlife wouldn't be what he is used to. Oh, and he couldn't claim victimhood about housing, and might have to embrace his second amendment rights for self-defense. Bets on whether or not he will move out of his comfort zone?

Back when Reagan was trying to clean up after Carter and Nixon and the "just pay for it crowd" of the 1970s, and mortgage rates were still north of 15%, though coming down, I bought that ½ interest in a house. It was in one of the most expensive, and fastest rising, markets in America at the time, the San Francisco Bay Area.

When we sold the house, I knew I couldn't get ahead in California, so I left. California was in many ways a comfortable place to be, and in other ways it sucked. My friends mostly said I would be back in a year. I don't even miss it; I never did.

But then my friends were having a great time. Living in luxury apartments, driving new cars, eating out at restaurants regularly - nearly everyday. Oh, and they were going to clubs and enjoying the nightlife. Me? I was eating mac & cheese, eating a sandwich at my desk (which I brought from home), and generally saving every penny I could. It is why I was basically able to retire when I wanted to. Without having to get permission, or assistance, from the government.

Back to the link at the top...

“I can’t win in this market. There’s no way,” Mrad said.

OK, then choose another market. I know you can buy a nice house in Greater Cincinnati for less than $500K, because friends (okay, friends of friends) just closed on a house for less than half that. But hey. Keep complaining the LA is an expensive place to live. It's not like the rest of the country doesn't think you're crazy for living there in the first place. (There is a defense contractor here, though his background may not be a perfect fit

My point is I am sick to death of victimhood.

Part of This Story Is Just Sad

A sad commentary on the stupidity of people. NYPD reports 51% surge in stolen cars

Police say about 5,420 vehicles have been reported stolen — and roughly 2,200 of them were cases where motorists left their vehicles with the engine running, or unlocked, often with the keys or key fobs inside.

If you leave the fob in your car, anyone can drive away with it. But I guess people don't understand that. And just because you are only going to be away for a minute, doesn't mean that leaving the car running is ever a good idea. (Not even in the dead of winter.)

It would be nice if we didn't have to worry about crime. But we do.

The Woke Life Will Have No Fun.

Fun is not all inclusive, I might not like what you like, so neither of us will be allowed to enjoy life. Stanford's War on Social Life

Stanford’s new social order offers a peek into the bureaucrat’s vision for America. It is a world without risk, genuine difference, or the kind of group connection that makes teenage boys want to rent bulldozers and build islands. It is a world largely without unencumbered joy; without the kind of cultural specificity that makes college, or the rest of life, particularly interesting.

Since 2013, Stanford’s administration has executed a top-to-bottom destruction of student social life. Driven by a fear of uncontrollable student spontaneity and a desire to enforce equity on campus, a growing administrative bureaucracy has destroyed almost all of Stanford’s distinctive student culture.

What happened at Stanford is a cultural revolution on the scale of a two-mile college campus. In less than a decade, Stanford’s administration eviscerated a hundred years of undergraduate culture and social groups

Go read the whole thing. It is what the Woke, the Equity Police, want for the entire culture. No History. No Traditions. No Fun.

Tuesday Links - 21 June

Glenn Greenwald starts us off with The UK's Decision to Extradite Assange Shows Why The US/UK's Freedom Lectures Are a Farce

The eleven-year persecution of Julian Assange was extended and escalated on Friday morning. The British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, approved the U.S.'s extradition request to send Julian Assange to Virginia to stand trial on eighteen felony charges under the 1917 Espionage Act and other statutes in connection with the 2010 publication by WikiLeaks of thousands of documents showing widespread corruption, deceit, and war crimes by American and British authorities along with their close dictatorial allies in the Middle East.

The Other McCain - How to Get Shot by the Cops

This story is a perfect example of how the media undermines law enforcement by giving voice to bogus criticism, especially in cases like this one in Florida, where an armed felon was shot by sheriff’s deputies investigating a string of crimes in the community. Simply because the suspect is black, many in the media seem to believe, he must be a victim of injustice.

Impro Guns - DIY 9mm revolver. Click thru for photos of somewhat impressive work.

A homemade manually indexed revolver from the Scrap Metal Small Arms series but chambered in 9×19 rather than .38spl.

The College Fix - Smith College whistleblower, told not to rap because she’s white, finally performs her music on iconic NYC stage

Shaw is the Smith College whistleblower who famously resigned from the elite institution in January 2021 after producing a series of videos that exposed the school’s divisive racial ideology.

She quit in part due to an incident in 2018 when a supervisor told Shaw she could not perform a rap song to students because as “a white staff member [it] could easily be perceived as insensitive or cultural appropriation.”

Tatum Report - Speaker Nancy Pelosi Will Not Condemn Leftist Violence

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi will not condemn the hundreds of devastating riots, lasting months, committed by Democrat Party militias since 2020. While, simultaneously, she’s overseeing a partisan show trial fabricated to “investigate” the Jan. 6th, few-hour, schizophrenic “riot” in Washington D.C.

Again from The Other McCain - Metaphor Alert!

So, apparently the idea for this escapade was to showcase how fit and healthy the 79-year-old alleged president is. There has been a lot of talk that Biden is too old to run for re-election in 2024, and so his handlers put him on a bicycle and sent him out to show that the septuagenarian is a fine, vigorous specimen. Great idea, right?

Lone Star Parson - The Most Popular President Ever

Joe Biden is head and shoulders the most popular President ever, getting a massive 81 million votes in the last General. And no wonder, look how hard the soon-to-be octogenarian campaigned.

Small Dead Animals - A Peek Behind the Curtain of the Fascist Mindset

Susan Wojcicki is the CEO of YouTube. She is supposedly American of Polish descent, but has clearly not learned a thing from the history of either of these countries.

One more time from The Other McCain - The Cul-de-Sac of Feminist Stupidity

By the way, it’s easy to discover that (a) this woman’s ex-husband is Russian, (b) he suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after which (c) he became abusive toward her.

There is no such thing as “bad luck,” according to the leftist worldview, there is only systemic oppression, so if you’re a woman who married a foreigner who suffered a brain injury that changed his personality, this isn’t just your personal misfortune — no, you’re a victim of social injustice!

Proving Once Again That Criminals Are Not Smart

Polk Sheriff: Car burglaries solved by accidental shooting

Detectives got a break in the case just after 9 p.m. Wednesday when authorities were dispatched to a shooting in the Medulla Oaks neighborhood off Old Road 37. The sheriff's office said the one boy had accidentally shot himself in the arm at one of the other teen's homes while all three were present.

The kid who shot himself will be OK. In addition to the stolen gun, the police found IDs and a debit card that were stolen.

The sheriff's office said all three teens would be charged with armed burglary, burglary of a conveyance, grand theft of a firearm, conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to commit theft, possession of a firearm by a juvenile, possession of personal identification and petit theft.

In the words of Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon."

And as always, I have to give some space to one of my favorite sheriffs.

“Most car burglaries occur to vehicles that are left unlocked, and as a law enforcement officer, that is very frustrating," Sheriff Grady Judd wrote in a statement. "Even more frustrating is when a firearm is stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Fortunately, the boy should have a full recovery, and hopefully everyone involved has learned some valuable lessons here.”

And don't leave a firearm in a car. And REALLY don't leave a firearm in an unlocked car. Yes, I know sometimes you need to leave a firearm behind to go someplace where they are not allowed. They make safes for that. (OK, so they are really little more than lock boxes; they should stop a smash and grab. And anything is better than an unlocked car.)

This almost, but not quite, qualifies as Peak Florida.

Because Keeping Criminals in Jail is Unfair

He couldn't be held on bail on 5 cases, then he stabbed a random person in NYC and ran off to Baltimore. NYC subway attack suspect Subhan Zaib tied to Baltimore rape

Subhan Zaib, 26, was being sought in connection to the June 10 attack on a 19-year-old woman — whom he allegedly approached from behind, put in a chokehold and slashed multiple times as she walked down the stairs at the Delancey/Essex Street station, the sources said. [SNIP]

After the attack, Zaib headed down to Baltimore — where he allegedly raped and robbed a victim four days later in the area of Shipping Place in Dundalk, cops in the Charm City said.

So, how's that Criminal Justice Reform working out? How do you think the victims would answer that question?

LA County DA George Gascon: 'He has insane ideas'

He's not the only Democrat DA who has become a non-prosecuting attorney. Mother of slain California police officer blames LA County DA George Gascon: 'He has insane ideas' | Fox News

The mother of a slain Los Angeles police officer is placing blame for her son’s death at the feet of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon and his policies that she says allowed her son’s killer to be out on the streets rather than in jail.

"Gascon is just letting all these criminals out and they just keep doing one crime after the other," Olga Garcia, the mother of slain El Monte Police Officer Joseph Anthony Santana, said. "That guy should have been in jail. If he wouldn’t have been out my son and the other officer would still be here."

This isn't the only story about this mother's grief, of course. When she decided to speak to the media, they were all ready to print what she had to say.

As for the Los Angeles DA, and his soft-on-gun-crime attitude toward prosecution:

Sources within the district attorney's office told Fox News that Flores would have likely been handed a sentence of up to three years in prison if he was prosecuted in February 2021.

Democrats want more gun laws, but won't prosecute criminals under the ones that they have. Because keeping violent offenders off the street is unfair. At least it is, if you listen to George Gascon.

Mass Shootings Are Not What You Think They Are

Most are not the lone-nut that the national media likes to concentrate on. Because if the media wasn't lying-by-omission, a narrative that they don't like might develop. Important Truths About ‘Mass Shootings’

Ninety-six percent of mass shootings don’t fit the “lone gunman” scenario, and yet you don’t hear about “gang beefs” in this context.

Because if it came to light that most mass shootings are perpetrated by people with criminal histories, then there may be more support for putting violent criminals in jail. But that would replace mass shootings - or some of them anyway - with what the Democrats love to call "mass incarceration." The Democrats don't want to do that, because keeping violent criminals in jail is unfair. They would rather see a lot of dead people.

AfterLife

New Music from FFDP sounds like a great idea for a Monday afternoon.

Five Finger Death Punch now own the record for the most consecutive #1s on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart with “AfterLife,” their 8th straight chart-topper. They have 12 #1s total. [From Eric Alper]

Here's a link to the lyrics, because someone is doing "harsh vocals" during parts of the song.

This song is "AfterLife" by Five Finger Death Punch from the 2022 album Afterlife. As far as I can tell, from looking at the Band's website, the album and the song are spelled slightly differently. (It is all about Capitalization.) Anyway, the album is due to be released in August.

The Problem with Red Flag Laws

From Robert Stacy McCain: Crazy People Are Dangerous (and the Problem With ‘Red Flag’ Laws)

You should click thru and read the entire thing, including the entire twitter thread for all the details...

Jeff makes some important points here. The way our legal system operates — the built-in prejudices of courts, based on decades of precedents intended to “protect” the rights of the mentally ill — it is very difficult to get a dangerously deranged person locked up. Whenever a mentally ill person commits an atrocity (or gets shot by the cops), you’ll see commentators saying that this shows problems with our nation’s mental health system, when in fact it was liberal judges in the 1970s and ’80s who decided it should be nearly impossible to keep crazy people locked up in lunatic asylums, where they belong. These same judges, however, will probably be willing to sign “red flag” orders based on unproven claims, without due process for those targeted by such orders.

Like I said, read the whole thing.

Why Does The Los Angeles DA Get to Make These Proclamations?

Why is he a dictator that gets to spend county money on anything he wants to spend money on? Report: D.A. George Gasc�n's Policy Makes L.A. County Pay for Cop Killer's Funeral

A directive issued by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in 2020 means the county must pay for the funeral of the suspect who killed two El Monte police officers Tuesday.

And there is a reasonable chance that the dead miscreant would have been in jail on a gun charge except for the soft-on-crime policies of the DA. Doesn't the Left always want more gun laws? Why don't they prosecute the ones they have, first?

The suspect who killed the officers was a gang member who was out on the streets because Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón’s office presented him with a plea deal that gave him just ten days in jail, instead of three years, on a gun charge.

And because I know people hate and do not trust Breitbart...

For the soft-on-crime bit, see the LA Times article at this link.

“If you are going to implement a blanket policy, you are always in danger of having a Willie Horton moment,” she said, “where that decision applied to one case results in a horrible outcome.”

And actually, his ability to ignore the law was held to be a figment of his imagination by an appeals court. So there is that.

For the funeral expense, you can see the NY Post article at this link.

When Gascon was elected in late 2020, he introduced a directive that states his office, through the Bureau of Victims Services, will “contact the families of individuals killed by police and provide support services including funeral, burial and mental health services immediately following the death regardless of the state of the investigation or charging decision.”

So since these funds are out of the budget for running his office, I think that his budget needs serious trimming.

Or maybe he just needs to go, but I don't live in Los Angeles (thank God), and so I don't get a say in those matters. I'm sure the people of LA are basking in the knowledge that they are Woke, and have a DA to prove it.

Are We Surprised He Removed an Ankle Monitor?

Because keeping violent criminals in jail is unfair, he was on supervised release. Or whatever they call it in Texas. 17-year-old shot by man he was trying to rob in Texas, court documents say | KECI

And Texas is still not New Jersey, not even Deep Blue Austin.

You can click thru for the details of the shooting. The victims, I think, did everything right. They valued life over property, and when life was threatened took action.

Reed has an extensive criminal history of aggravated robbery, according to the arrest affidavit, and had been ordered by a County Judge to wear an ankle monitor, which had been removed. Police say he's also a suspect in multiple robberies in the past several weeks.

I wonder if they will put him back on an ankle monitor once he gets out of the hospital.

Self-defense is a human-right, and this took place in Texas.

Because Putting Violent Criminals in Prison is Unfair

So do they consider anything a crime worth prosecuting in Kim Foxx's office? Uber driver accused of sexually abusing a female passenger gets probation - CWB Chicago

Faith Nkereuwem, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual abuse by force and received the two-year probation sentence from Judge Ursula Walowski. Prosecutors dropped five other felonies in the plea deal.

Maybe the plea will save his victim more pain, but I still think that creeps need to do time.

I'm old enough to remember when the idea of getting into a car with a stranger was considered a bad thing to do.

You can click thru for the details.

And I get that people don't like guns. They are not for everyone. But pepper spray goes a long way. And it is legal in Chicago. (As far as know - it certainly used to be!)

Sparky Cars Gonna Spark

The post I had Saturday, about Tesla Motors and doors that won't open, sent me looking for other info. It didn't take long to find some.

Strange, but I guess problems with electric cars are not of national interest, because I don't remember seeing any of these stories. Several Tesla Fires in a Few Days Bring Back Concerns About EV Safety - autoevolution

May 14th. A Tesla caught fire while parked in front of a home (a relative of the car's owner). No crash. Not charging. Just parked.

Ruiz told the source that his car was insured by Tesla, but that he could not contact anyone until May 16. When the company sent him a Tesla Road Assistance vehicle to collect his burned EV, the representative said he could not transport it because the ashes would go everywhere on the freeway. The Tesla customer will only get a new car in October and is now using a rental.

May 20th. Vancouver. A guy was driving when his eight-month Tesla shut down. The electronic locks stop working. He kicked out the windows when smoke started coming out of the vents.

Although the car has a manual release, the Model Y owner said it is not “entirely intuitive” and that he just wanted to escape the car. Now that his car is a write-off, he has to look for a replacement, but decided not to buy another Tesla.

May 22nd. Coral Gables, Florida at the Tesla Motors service center. A video was posted to F*c*book showing a Model S in flames.

May 23rd. Brooklyn, Illinois. Tesla catches fire on Route 3 in Brooklyn, Illinois. The two people in the car were able to get out.

The woman told police the man had bought the car within the past week.

Both of the linked articles above were sourced from www.tesla-fire.com. You can find individual news articles on the 3 stories at the top. And more. That is just the month of May.

I know that internal combustion engines have problems, and the gas-powered vehicles do catch fire. They don't often lock the doors and make it a puzzle of how to get out in an emergency.

And it isn't just Tesla, of course. Here is a link to a video of a fire in an electric-vehicle parking lot in India from a week or two ago. Delhi: Fire in Jamia Nagar’s metro parking burns down nearly 100 vehicles

Nobody

I have come to value the reviews of the Critical Drinker. At least when it comes to action movies. I tend to like what he likes, and what I hate he pans. For most stuff - to date - I am watching his reviews AFTER I've seen a movie or TV show. I'm sure that will change in the future.

I've been going through his past recommendations and reviews.

If you liked John Wick, you will probably like Nobody. Hutch Mansell is an unassuming guy, with a dead-end job, and a family he is having trouble relating to. He also has a past that is very different. Then his past pulls him back in. Along the way, he takes a beating, but keeps on going. This is classic action stuff - like the original Die Hard, but without Christmas.

My local library has it as DVD. So there's that option if it is not streaming someplace you have access to. It is also available on Hulu, Amazon, and it tends to be playing on HBO. I do have friends far enough out in the country that they still have satellite TV. (It is hard, or impossible, to stream HD video over incredibly slow internet!)

And it is the best thing RZA has done since he produced the music to Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Vol 2.

(If you don't know who RZA is, you are hopeless. He was (is?) a member of The Wu Tang Clan - the best use of one of their better songs is below.)

There might be some minor spoilers in the review, but I saw it before I saw the movie, and I enjoyed the movie very much.

This is Critical Drinker's review of Nobody - The Perfect Antidote To Modern Action Films

And there's a nice Han Solo reference from the first movie (the first movie was "Episode 4" for reasons that still make no sense) in the movie Nobody. Extra points to anyone who knows what it is. And there is the obligitory easter-egg scene shortly after the credits start to roll.

So this is a scene from the Netflix version of Luke Cage. It is season one, though I can't remember if it is episode 2 or episode 3. It has "Bring Da Rukus" by Wu Tang Clan. It is not in HD - apparently Netflix and YT have a thing about HD clips. Still. (Most - not all - of the Netflix/Marvel stuff is worth a look.)

A Musical Interlude from The Feral Irishman

A song - an album - worth listening to. I Can't Believe I Heard This For The First Time Tonight ♪♫♪ Reminder: This is a live show, not studio.

Anyway, Pandora was streaming different songs and this one caught my ear.

It made me stop the mower and grab the phone from my pocket to see who it was.

The song is "The Main Monkey Business" by Rush from R40 Live, the last live audio album release, and the live video release from the Canadian band.