If you need a laugh, be sure to check out John Wilder's collection of Franklin the Turtle memes.
Thursday, December 4, 2025
J6 Pipe Bomb Suspect Arrested
No, not the former Capital Police officer. "Brian Cole named as Virginia 'anarchist' accused of planting pipe bombs outside US Capitol on eve of January 6 riots"--Daily Mail.
The hunt for the suspect was one of the largest in FBI history, and investigators struggled for years to piece together evidence collected in the chaotic aftermath of the January 6 riots.
This included subpoenaing box store retailers for credit card data to find customers who bought specific kinds of battery connectors used to manufacture the bombs.
Agents tracked down purchasers of the battery connectors to those whose phones were locate near the DNC and RNC headquarters at the time the bombs were planted, but the FBI found there was no credible match.
The article says that the arrest wasn't based on any new evidence, but reanalyzing the evidence they already had. No information was given, though, about what evidence linked Cole to the pipe bombs.
A New Defensive Pistolcraft Newsletter
Jon Low has published his latest Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter. A lot of links and comments, as always. One issue that caught my attention because Jon discusses it at length has to do with right handed shooters hitting low and left. Jon writes:
There are a lot of videos on the internet purporting to teach you how to solve the PROBLEM of right-handed pistol shooters scattering low left (or left-handed shooters scattering low right). Almost all of these videos are wrong.
The REASON some right-handed shooters scatter low left is that they are anticipating the recoil, and pushing against it. This push is an autonomic nervous system response to the learned recoil. (It doesn't matter how small the recoil is. The recoil is felt, because it exists in reality.)
The SOLUTION to this problem and all other autonomic nervous system responses (push, jerk, flinch, freeze, etc.) to the recoil and report of the firearm is the "surprise trigger break". ...
He then goes on to describe how to achieve and train for the surprise trigger break. He also notes a similar concept with archery. Check it out, as well as the many other links, tips and comments.
China's Submarine-Ship Hybrid
From the War Zone: "China’s Mysterious Submarine-Ship Hybrid Breaks Cover". The craft it a trimaran with a long and large central hull, and two smaller hulls near the back of the craft which resemble nacelles on a science fiction spacecraft. It is believed to be a submarine-ship hybrid, capable of either partial or fully submerged travel, because it has design features of both submarines and surface vessels. "The overall design, as well as features like the depth marks on the sail and elsewhere on the hull, point to it being a hybrid submersible/surface craft, which would offer the benefits of stealth when submerged and relatively efficient travel while surfaced."
In terms of its purpose, one of the most persistent theories is that it’s an arsenal ship.
For some years now, there have been rumors that China is developing a vessel of this kind. The idea would be to have an uncrewed, hard-to-detect vessel that could emerge to launch its missiles (land attack and/or anti-ship) before disappearing below the waves.
Airburst "Impact" Events
An article from SciTech Daily relates "Scientists Uncover New Evidence of Ancient Airbursts That Ravaged Earth Without Leaving Craters." It not only goes over additional evidence supporting a Younger Dryas impact event, but other airburst events. The article begins:
Emerging evidence suggests Earth has endured far more hidden cosmic explosions than once believed.
Touchdown airbursts, a form of cosmic impact that may occur more often than the crater-producing events known for wiping out the dinosaurs, are still not fully understood. UC Santa Barbara Earth Science Emeritus Professor James Kennett and his colleagues continue to argue that these powerful explosions deserve far more scientific attention.
“Touchdown events can cause extreme damage through very high temperatures and pressures,” Kennett said. “And yet they don’t necessarily form a crater, or they form ephemeral surface disturbances, but they’re not the classic major craters that come from direct impacts.”
Four recently released studies from Kennett and his co-authors highlight evidence for multiple airbursts from different periods in Earth’s past. In these events, an incoming object such as a comet detonates above the surface and releases intense heat and shockwaves. The researchers documented new findings from locations ranging from the deep North Atlantic to the remains of an ancient desert community. Their work points to materials that form only under extreme conditions, such as rare comet-derived elements, molten glass, and spherules produced by high-temperature melting of Earth materials, and shocked quartz that contains distinctive fracture patterns.
It then goes on to describe impact proxies found in Baffin Bay, just west of Greenland, that support the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH). It is the first time evidence for the YDIH has been found in marine record. Researchers also examined sediment from the Tunguska event as an example of an touchdown event and revisited evidence from Tall el-Hammam, "the site of a major ancient city in the Levant that is thought to have experienced a similar-sized event about 3,600 years ago."
“The interesting thing about Tunguska is that it is the only recorded historical touchdown event,” Kennett said, and indeed, there are documented eyewitness reports of a fireball in the sky, and photographs of flattened trees. However, for all the studies of the fallen trees and the soils at the impact site, there had up until now been little effort in search of cosmic impact proxies. This study is the first comprehensive evidence of airburst/impact proxies at Tunguska.
The Elites And Their Immigration Fetish
The AP reports that U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary injunction sought by the ACLU and immigrants rights groups against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security blocking them from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation’s capital without warrants or probable cause that the person is an imminent flight risk. The ACLU argued that the DHS has a policy of "patrolling and setting up checkpoints in Washington, D.C., neighborhoods with large numbers of Latino immigrants and then stopping and arresting people indiscriminately."
In addition to blocking the policy, she ordered any agent who conducts a warrantless civil immigration arrest in Washington to document “the specific, particularized facts that supported the agent’s pre-arrest probable cause to believe that the person is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.”
Howell also required the government to submit that documentation to plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Which brings me to this piece from Quotulatiousness: "The elites will continue pushing high immigration despite the obvious social costs it imposes." He begins:
One of the very tip-top luxury beliefs is that massive immigration is always and under all circumstances a good thing. A great thing, even. One of the things about the holders of luxury beliefs is that they are almost always completely insulated from any of the consequences of their beliefs, and this is especially true in this case. As Lorenzo Warby points out, the elites’ devotion to this cause contributes to collapsing levels of trust in the society absorbing all those immigrants and deeply undermines confidence that the leadership have anyone else’s but their own best interests at heart[.]
And to condense Warby's explanation of why elites want lots of immigration, it basically comes down to what Peter Turchin termed the "wealth pump"--mass immigration makes the elites wealthier not just because the total GDP is going up, but they can drive down wages, meaning that they don't have to share that increased GDP with the suckers who work for a living. And damn the consequences to the common people of bringing in alien populations. Or, as Warby points out:
... Immigration does not only import workers—nor even just increase mutual-gain transactions — it imports people, so potentially affects all aspects of the receiving society. This means, of course, that there are a much wider range of possible concerns about immigration that “yes, but more gains from trade” is not an adequate response to.
Efficiency and number of transactions are not the only issues for a social order, particularly not a flourishing social order. There are also issues of social cohesion; social resilience; connections and social capital; the distribution of GDP gains; effects on relative prices; congestion costs; how well institutions are managing the influx; effects on local communities; cultural differences; social coordination issues and the ability to manage collective action problems; increased competition for positional goods — goods that cannot, or are blocked from, responding to increased demand.
These are all legitimate grounds for concern that are not answered by “yes, but more gains from trade“. How many of those “yes, but more gains from trade” folk have grappled with mass rape and sexual exploitation of young women and girls as a cost of culturally divergent immigration (and its systematic mismanagement)? How many of those “yes, but more gains from trade” folk have grappled with violent disturbance, even civil war, as a potential cost of immigration, even though we have historical examples of precisely that?
If, on one hand, the respectable people insist “yes, but more gains from trade” is an adequate response, and that other concerns are not legitimate, this will almost certainly be taken as the contemptuous dismissal it is. Not only will it not be persuasive, it will (and does) generate anger and resentment.
If people have concerns that the “reasonable”, “liberal-minded” folk will not deal with — or, worse, are dismissive of such concerns even being raised — then people will turn to unreasonable and illiberal folk, if they are the only people who will respond to their concerns. Significant gaps in political markets will be filled by political entrepreneurs.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Getting the Firearms Mfg Treatment: Kraft, Coca-Cola Being Sued By Blue City
From the New York Post: "Kraft, Coca-Cola among companies sued by San Francisco over ultra-processed foods in first-of-a-kind lawsuit." The article relates that "[t]he city of San Francisco sued Kraft, Mondelez, Coca-Cola and other makers of ultra-processed foods on Tuesday, accusing them of knowingly sickening California residents with addictive and harmful products." "The city is seeking restitution and civil penalties to offset its healthcare costs, along with a court order prohibiting the companies from engaging in deceptive marketing and requiring them to alter their practices," the article adds. Although this is the first U.S. city to bring such a suit, it probably won't be the last.
Diversity Is A Strength: The Decline of Baltimore
From the Daily Mail: "How deceitful foreign investors turned a once-proud American city into a complete eyesore." From the article:
Fernando Plastino convinced investors from his homeland to buy homes in Baltimore. He promised he would manage the properties, collect rent and pass it onto them for a fee.
However, the investors said they eventually stopped receiving payments - and realized they had been misled, the Baltimore Banner reported.
It's the latest example in an ongoing saga of foreign investors encountering problems when buying real estate in the city, which is now full of empty and dilapidated homes.
In addition to the recent Argentinian scandal, buyers from Hong Kong, Israel and Turkey have also experienced problems after having issues with companies promising them a fortune by investing in property in Baltimore.
The homes purchased by Plastino's company are in such bad shape that action has been taken by city officials.
So why is the U.S. allowing foreign investors to buy up houses in the U.S. and drive up housing costs?
Refugees Welcome: HIV Cases Surge In South Central Idaho
The local ABC affiliate reports that a "Sharp increase in HIV and AIDS cases prompts health officials to urge vigilance in South Central Idaho." The article relates:
South Central Public Health announced last week that the area recorded 15 cases of HIV in 2025, up from five cases in 2024. AIDS cases also jumped significantly, with 9 reported this year compared to just one last year.
However, the article is quite opaque about possible reasons for the increase, although one does come to mind:
Although I can't find specific information on the number and types of refugees, Idaho, overall, accepted 468 refugees in FY 2025, with 36% coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the refugee agency for Twin Falls states that "[r]efugees resettled in Twin Falls come primarily from Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of [the] Congo, Iraq, and Syria."
VIDEO: Best AR-15 Set Up For The Prepared Civilian
The author draws on his background in special forces operating in Afghanistan as a starting point, but then makes changes based on what he believes will be the needs of an armed civilian. For instance, he does not believe that an armed defender will likely be shooting at the ranges he did in Afghanistan, so he believes that a simple red-dot optic will suffice (and be lighter and less expensive to boot) over using an LPVO. He also believes that you should shoot the ammo you can afford (even if it is just 55 grain), although he suggests keeping some green-tip in reserve because of its better penetration capabilities. While the 16-inch barrel has advantages, he suggests a 14.5" with a pinned and welded muzzle device because the slightly shorter barrel offers the best compromise between CQB (i.e., inside your home) and shooting at extended distances. Interestingly, he recommends that when getting beyond just a basic rifle set up, you go first with a suppressor before getting night vision optics. But he thinks a white light and red dot is probably good enough for the prepared citizen. He also goes into a few different load outs, so be sure to watch the whole thing.
He mentions that he has free downloadable targets for zeroing your weapon at his website. Here is the link.
VIDEO: "Best AR15 setup and Tactical Loadout for the prepared civilian."
Modern Tactical Shooting (26 min.)
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