Math is hard, especially when the numbers don't tell the story that you want them to tell.
There is a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth on the part of the gun control group, Everytown. If you are interested, click thru. As far as I'm concerned, it's the same old song and dance.
While [Everytown for Gun Safety president Nick] Suplina credits the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and unnamed "improvements to state laws", he ignores the additional states that have adopted permitless carry over the past few years and seen their crime rates decline dramatically. In Alabama, for instance, homicides in Birmingham have dropped by 42% this year, despite Mayor Randall Woodfin's claim that the state's permitless carry law led to an historic increase in murders in 2024.
That is one city.
Louisiana also adopted permitless carry in 2024, and homicides in New Orleans have dropped 21% compared to the same time period in 2024. Other cities in permitless carry states that have seen double-digit decreases in their homicide rates include St. Louis (down 43.9%), Dallas (down 34%), Louisville (down 33%), Phoenix (down 33%), and Memphis (down 12.5%). According to the anti-gunners, these cities should be in the midst of skyrocketing murder rates, but we're seeing the opposite instead.
There are also a few words on the pro-2A stance of the current Trump administration. Click thru.
The situation is so bad, that in a recent livestream promoting the product in question, Marathon, they showed no footage of the game.
Marathon developer Bungie has been accused of, and has now admitted to, stealing artwork used in the current build of Marathon from an artist who first published the work in 2017.
That artist is ANTIREAL, who posted several comparisons of her work and existing Bungie Marathon assets which go far beyond “inspiration” and often are direct 1:1 lifts of images, words, symbols and even ANTIREAL’s own personal logo.
This was what was identified, and not by Bungie. Bungie eventually admitted to the theft, blamed it on an ex-employee, though several members of the art department apparently do follow @4nt1r34l on either X or Instagram.
There is no disputing the asset rips. They are 1:1 in many, many cases that are clear to see. The result of that, if Bungie will simply cut the artist a check and credit them, is unclear. It is possible that legal action could be pursued here but the artist did not seem to think they had the resources to mount the campaign. That could change, given the attention that this story has now gotten.
If you click the link at the top, the first image, of many, shows an image copied directly from Antireal's catalog into the game, with only the color grading being changed. Fewer changes were made in other places.
So if this was done so blatantly, did Bungie steal anything else from anyone else? A review is underway.
I believe it is too early to start naming and blaming specific individuals within Bungie, but the studio will need to do an intense investigation into this and come out with a lengthy explanation in addition to the terms they’ve come to with the artist, publicly. And they may promise this will not happen in the future but it has now happened four times in the past four years, the others with Destiny fan art that was lifted in some capacity for the game or in merchandise. That was third party contractors, however, and this is Bungie in-house. Or former in-house. Or whatever you want to believe.
So if something that should never happen, happened four times in four years, that means you have no procedures in place to prevent it, and you are not training your employees in the fine details of copyright. That would seem to be another problem.
This isn't the only example of the games industry stealing stuff. There were at least a couple of examples of similar insanity in Assassin's Creed: Shadows from Ubisoft, though only one example of plagiarism that I can recall. Aside from lifting a banner from a historical-reenactment society, Chinese architecture was included in a game based in Japan, and then there was the one-legged Torii gate fiasco.
It's almost like the large corporations think they will never get caught.
Chaos has engulfed Bungie after an artist, ANTIREAL, came forward to accuse Bungie of ripping off her 2017 work as its upcoming extraction shooter Marathon was starting to take shape as early as 2018. Bungie admitted to the plagiarism, supposedly the work of one ex-artist, and promised to make things right, but the story gained traction among gaming outlets and reaction streamers alike, and it’s poisoned the previous positive conversation about the aesthetic of the game.
But all of this is happening after another not-great time period for Marathon in the last few weeks, starting with the gameplay reveal and then its Closed Alpha, both of which received mostly mixed-to-negative feedback. A livestream on Friday addressed both the art plagiarism and Alpha feedback in what ended up being the most uncomfortable on-camera offerings I’ve ever seen from the studio.
Marathon was supposed to be released in a few months time, but that is questionable. Even if they come to some agreement with Antireal, they clearly need to review all of the art to see if anything else has been stolen.
The results of the alpha test may be a bigger hurdle.
Preliminary investigations found that Parker may have been attempting to break into the home. Once he entered, at least one person inside the home allegedly shot him with a “legally owned firearm,” the release said.
Or how would you respond to someone breaking into your home at 5 a.m.?
Lorain, Ohio is on Lake Erie, about a 30 mile drive west of Cleveland.
There are few details beyond that being released, because the investigation is just getting underway.
Self-defense is a human right, and Ohio has fairly decent laws defending that, at least when you are in your own home.
There’s no rule book for carjackers. But, if there were, “Don’t crash into a squad car occupied by an anti-carjacking task force” would undoubtedly be an essential chapter.
Perhaps Marshun Fort and Kayne Hunt can start scratching out a draft of that chapter while they await trial on carjacking and robbery charges in the Cook County Jail.
The amazing thing, aside from the sheer stupidity on display, is that they judge ordered these 2 detained pending trial.
The "End of 10" website is a cooperative effort to let people know that they have other options besides buying a new computer.
The campaign is a noble attempt to raise public awareness. It carries a simple, clear message in large, friendly letters: when Windows 10 reaches the end of its life in five months' time, you don't need to buy a new computer.
The article recommends a couple of options for a system that looks like Windows. I personally like Linux Mint, mostly because it is easy to install.
What do people use their computers for? Web browsing. Google Chrome, the slightly less-Google Chromium, Brave, Firefox, and more are all on Linux. Email. Thunderbird email client is the same as on Windows, if you don't care for the web interfaces provided.
For Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, etc. I have been using LibreOffice for a very long time. It is 99.3% like Office, but it doesn't come with a yearly fee. Or any of Microsoft's AI "upgrades."
One of the most interesting parts of the site is the list of places where visitors can find Linux support. There are over 70 around the world, but with a noticeable concentration so far in Germany. (Our favorite is the splendidly named Serious Cybernetics in Australia, and for clarity, nowhere near Sirius.)
Click thru if you're a bit miffed at Microsoft for this insanity.
Facebook is arguing in court that the FTC has no case that Facebook has become terrible because Facebook was always terrible. (Ars Technica)
They might have a point there.
ITEM 12: Zero Hedge reported, “Moody's Downgrades USA Credit Rating From Aaa.”
Sure, this will force higher interest rates on the national debt, but we’ll just borrow more money to cover that. Right?
Nick Arama at RedState watches Scott Jennings, Bill Maher Light It Up on Trump's Powerful Speech, Transformative Change He's Bringing, Scott Jennings @ScottJenningsKY, "President Trump has flipped "war and peace" to "peace and war
Father of Palm Springs Explosion Suspect Details Son’s Childhood
The father of Guy Edward Bartkus, the suspect in the Palm Springs in vitro fertilization facility explosion, says that he was “shocked” when a relative reached out and said his son ...
Don Surber: It’s not Trump they fear – it’s you
Gates Of Vienna: The Dawn of a New Day in Telephony, Honor Killings: Party Like It’s 1099, and Martel And Macron
The Lies in New York’s Assisted Suicide Bill
New York is close to passing a bill to legalize assisted suicide. Having passed the assembly, it is currently being considered in the senate.
Woke America: Will RFK jr win his battle? Trump posts wild clip. A New Jersey imam. Sharia Philly.
Lord Carney’s Canada: Will parliament recognize Palestinian Nakba Day?
REVIEW: ‘The Affirmative Action Myth: Why Blacks Don't Need Racial Preferences to Succeed’ by Jason L. Riley
Assessing the Wreckage of Affirmative Action
Report: DNC on Brink of ‘Chaos’ over Potential Ouster of Vice Chair David Hogg.
South Carolina Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Law Banning Abortion at Point When Heartbeat Can Be Detected.
18-year-old Tra'sean White was shot on May 12th. He did not survive his wounds. Deonte Calen Trevon Lancit, also 18, was arrested a day later and charged with armed robbery.
An investigation revealed that Lancit and White had been in the area attempting to rob someone. During the robbery, the intended target shot and killed White, Gebhardt told The Post and Courier.
You would think that by this time, the fact that legal concealed carry is a thing would be telling the would-be, bad guys that perhaps armed robbery isn't a good idea. If you thought that, you would be wrong.
Hanahan, South Carolina is about 10 miles north of Charleston.
The cops treated this incident like self-defense, and the DA agreed.
Authorities presented evidence to prosecutors at the Ninth Circuit Solicitor's Office who determined the shooting was an act of self-defense.
I'm a bit surprised that I haven't featured this song before. It is one of Coltrane's most popular, or at least most recognizable songs. It was probably his signature song, being included in most concerts.
The song was originally written in 1959 by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, and of course it was also in the 1965 movie.
It is longer than the songs I usually feature, at almost 14 minutes, so grab a beverage of your choice. At this hour, that would be coffee for me.
In 1960, when this was recorded, the band consisted of the following musicians, though Coltrane played different saxophones on different songs:
This is "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane. This was the title song to his 1961 album, but today we have the song by way of the 1995 collection Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings. It was remastered in the early 2000s, but I don't believe that is this version.
Like so many musicians, John Coltrane died too young. He died of liver cancer at the age of 40 on July 17, 1967 on Long Island. In fact, all of the quartet is gone.
Years ago we would joke that Rahm was desperately trying to obtain a Super Villain Weather Control Machine since weather was the only thing guaranteed to result in “crime is down”. Apparently Brandon found it in the basement of City Hall and spun up a dust storm (didn’t work) followed by a cold front (worked!).
Family members told me that the dust storm was strange. Not something I ever remember experiencing in Illinois.
The final tally was 2 killed, with another 22 shot and wounded. That is actually pretty peaceful by Chicago standards for this time of the year.
So is the decrease a win, or the fact that it is a "decrease" make it a travesty?
Click thru for the details, and links to a couple of stories, one from the River North entertainment district, where a lot of clubs, bars, and restaurants were, back in the day. Not sure I would be frequenting that area today, even if I was back in my 20s.
The expression "to 86 someone" is a well-known reference to killing them; and President Trump is the 47th President of the United States. The message was instantly understandable to anyone who knows modern slang and "street talk". For Mr. Comey to deny that he was aware of that hidden message is so ridiculous as to defy belief.
The recently released Hur tapes have ripped away the final veneer of normalcy surrounding the Biden presidency. In these painful recordings, we hear a man clearly struggling with basic cognitive functions—unable to recall the year his beloved son Beau died and appearing disoriented during questioning about classified documents.
As mystified as I was that few people seemed aware of looming doom, I became equally mystified at the collective refusal to weigh the costs and benefits of pandemic policy, or to consider the trade-offs of such actions in the short or long-term. I was a bleeding heart artist, but I was thinking like an economist. What would be the social, emotional, and psychological costs of induced hysteria and prolonged isolation?
What’s going on here? What we are witnessing is, I would argue, a consequence of the secularization of culture. The self-described advocates of Science and Reason have succeeded so well in their war against God that many young people now see no meaning or purpose to life. Without any sense of moral law — and no sense of duty or obligation toward the divine author of the law — some turn to hedonism, while others embrace a Nietzschean nihilism.
In 2021, the ATF branded Forced Reset Triggers (FRTs) as illegal machine guns, targeting DeMonaco with aggressive tactics. He was forcibly removed from a car at gunpoint, his property seized, and his life upended, as detailed in firsthand accounts. This wasn’t regulation—it was persecution, designed to intimidate a law-abiding citizen for challenging the ATF’s overreach.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley et Hamas delendam sunt.
Miguel Gonzalez has some photos of what NYPD and the denizens of NYC consider a "cache" of ammo. NYPD, always good for a laugh.
In the meantime in Free America, prepping for some fun shooting and testing next weekend. Just a few rounds, nothing to go crazy about unless you live in NYC or similar.
The Marxist, anti-white mayor of Chicago may now face federal prosecution for his stunning comments about his vile, racist hiring policy.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Mayor Brandon Johnson boasted that he only hires black people because they are the “most generous people on the planet.”
Ryan Hinton was an 18-year-old black man living in Cincinnati, Ohio. On May 1, 2025, he and three friends were pulled over by the police in a vehicle the police officers believed was stolen. The four youths took off running. The two police officers who had made the stop pursued on foot.
Seconds later, Hinton appeared from between two dumpsters with a semi-automatic pistol in his hand and pointing it at one of the police officers. He was shot dead.
Can you guess how the "community" and his family have reacted?
The father, Rodney Hinton, Jr., was upset. So, later that day, he got in his car and ran over a sheriff’s deputy directing traffic outside a University of Cincinnati graduation event. The officer was killed.
What happens when you buy critical technology from a country that might not consider you to be a friend? Nothing good.
Undocumented communication equipment discovered in renewable energy infrastructure could allow remote grid disruption
While it is typical for there to be internet connections for firmware maintenance, this is something else entirely.
However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S. experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, the two people said.
Yeah, this won't come back to bite the West in the ass.
According to police, the victim’s wife got a notification from a home surveillance camera that someone was in their driveway, and when he stepped outside to take a look, someone opened fire.
Now he is lucky, in some ways, he was shot in the foot twice. It could have been much worse. Oh, and his house is damaged by gunfire.
And just because he was "only" shot in the foot, for which he needed surgery, doesn't mean he won't suffer from this for a long time.
People need to make up there own minds about what they are willing to risk. I can't think of a single personal possession that is worth being shot over, but then every heirloom, mostly jewelry, I had was stolen in a burglary decades ago.
Roy Khan is an excellent vocalist. When I first became aware of him, he had already left Kamelot. He had been lead singer of that band for years, but needed a break due to personal issues. After taking a few years off from the music scene he reunited with his band from the 1990s/early 2000s. (I'm not sure of the dates.) Since then, they have released at least one EP and one album.
This song is "Waywardly Broken" by Conception from their 2022 album State of Deception. It was the first song from the album to be released as a single. It came out about a month before the album was released.
Unless it is a container ship that causes a bridge to fall down, as happened in Baltimore, or it is an unusual ship, like this one, people don't pay attention to it.
This incident was a slow-moving disaster, leaving multiple injured deckhands behind. A ship from the Mexican Navy, Cuauhtémoc, crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge. Onlookers captured the accident as mast after mast broke off when the vessel couldn’t clear the historic landmark. Sailors at the top of the masts were caught clinging for their lives
The link at the top has some video and still photos of the collision and the aftermath.
Social media was buzzing over this, and the title to this post was "borrowed" from a user on X. People were wondering why the sailors were on the top of the mast. That is how you control a tall ship, with men aloft. Modern safety concerns mean all of the sailors were in safety harnesses. Not something that would have been the case 100 or more years ago.
The video below has some explanation of what may have happened, though there is a lot of speculation on some fronts. What isn't speculated is the tidal current, and nature of the East River, which is covered in the video.
ARM Cuauhtémoc is a steel-hulled Barque, that is roughly 220 feet long, and 39 feet wide, drawing 17 and a half feet. It is a training vessel with 186 officer and crew, and 90 trainees.
The residents of the home were confronted by a man armed with an axe trying to enter their home through the back door, and in response, the homeowners fired multiple shots through the door,s striking the intruder. Authorities say that an axe was located, along with other weapons, near White's body, as well as damage to the back door.
The southern edge of Duplin County, North Carolina, is about a 50 mile drive north of Wilmington.
The investigation is not over, but this seem to clearly be self-defense, at least to me.
When the Vermilion Valley Resort in California’s eastern Sierra shut down for the winter, the staff left cabin doors unlocked just in case a wayward hiker needed shelter during the frequent mountain snowstorms. That decision may have saved the life of Tiffany Slaton, the 27-year-old Georgia woman who was missing for nearly three weeks in remote wilderness.
Owner Christopher Gutierrez spotted a cabin door ajar and a pair of shoes nearby when he arrived Wednesday morning to begin reopening the resort for spring. Suddenly, a young woman appeared in the doorway.
People don't take nature into account. The mountains are not like the plains. The north is not like the south. Usually people don't survive this kind of thing, so she is incredibly lucky.
Gutierrez gave Slaton a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and called authorities, who brought her to a hospital for evaluation. She was hungry and dehydrated, but otherwise in good condition, sheriff’s officials said.
So is this a "feel good" story, or a cautionary tale?
Travelers returning to Jacksonville International Airport are arriving to uncertainty and damage after a massive fire broke out in the airport’s Hourly Parking Garage on Friday afternoon, destroying approximately 50 vehicles.
Early on they were not letting people get their cars out of the lot, but they seem to have relented allowing people to remove cars that still function.
There is a fairly-good, one-minute video at the link above, that shows the fire in full swing. It will autoplay everything from the Yahoo news site if you let it.
This is the MGUY Australia video WHAT CAUSED the Jacksonville Airport fire? EV News. The first six minutes are devoted to the Jacksonville fire, and the rest is more renewable news in general. Sales of EV cars are down in several countries, the state of nuclear power, etc.
First we get a story about a particular carjacking. Then we get some statistics from Chicago about closure rates of Chicago PD. That is, what percentage of homicides result in an arrest? What percentage of non-fatal shootings result in arrest? Click thru if you want to be depressed; the vast majority of violent acts are never solved by the police.
But this is really about whether listening to college professors opine on the subject of crime and punishment makes sense.
So he says, although (a) the professor’s ability to make cause-and-effect analysis seems questionable, (b) he was still in college during the 1990s, and (c) he’s spent the past 18 years teaching at an Ivy League university and I’m not sure a faculty gig in Ithaca, New York, is the best place to formulate an accurate view about crime in America. The average cop in Chicago certainly knows more on the subject than does Professor Enns.
There is more. It's worth your time. Go take a look.
