The Diversity Report #34

 A selection of articles showcasing the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion: 

• "Trump’s Science Report: Visa Migrants ‘Sideline’ Many American Scientists"--Breitbart. An excerpt:

    Nationwide, at least 1.5 million white-collar jobs are held by non-immigrant foreign contract workers, most of whom arrived via the H-1B program. The universities’ foreign scientists get their work permits via the controversial H-1B, J-1, and Optional Practical Training programs.

    The science sweatshops financially exclude roughly 50 percent of young American technology and science graduates. The Americans, unlike most foreign students from poor countries, need to get well-paid 9-to-5 jobs to pay off their college debt, live a normal life, get married, and have kids.

    One side result is large-scale discrimination against non-white Americans in favor of Asian migrants.

    Amid this replacement migration, foreigners on visas now comprise more than 40 percent of the PhD students in the hard sciences, and roughly 25 percent of students in “applied life sciences,” the Kratsios report says. This critical population includes many students from China and India who bring their own national loyalties and home-country economic ties with them. 

• "Sanctuary California: Biden-Released Illegal Alien Accused of Raping 6-Year-Old Girl at Daycare"--Breitbart. 

    An illegal alien released into the United States by the Biden administration is now accused of raping a 6-year-old girl at a daycare in Sacramento, California, a sanctuary jurisdiction.

    Last year, illegal alien Gokhan Bagci of Turkey was arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer against Bagci that same day.

    According to police, in July 2025, Bagci was working at the Mather Childcare Center when he allegedly lured a 6-year-old girl into a closet pretending to play hide-and-seek with her. Once in the closet, police allege that Bagci sexually assaulted her.

    Following the sexual assault, police allege Bagci took the girl into a bathroom where he raped her. Police have said there may be more child victims. 

• "ICE, FBI Agents Arrest Illegal Alien Accused of Attempting to Rape Girl in Indiana"--Breitbart. 

Javier Cereque-Perez, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested by ICE and FBI agents before being turned over to the Fishers Police Department to face two counts of attempted rape, one count of sexual misconduct with a minor, and one count of sexual battery. 

• "A New, Fungal STI Is Quietly Emerging: Everything You Should Know About TMVII"--Yahoo.

    Vasilios Papapitsios noticed a scaly, itchy rash on their buttocks after a shower on March 13, which raised alarm bells for the long-time STI awareness advocate. Papapitsios, a South Carolina resident who uses they/he pronouns, usually stays up to date on the latest on sexual health news. He had been reading about an emerging sexually transmitted illness (STI) just a few weeks prior: a fungal infection, with the largest known cluster of cases reported in Minneapolis in July 2025, colloquially called TMVII.

    "I just showed up [at my local health clinic] and said, 'I think I have a fungal infection that's a new STI,'" Papapitsios tells Them. "They didn't even know what I was talking about. My doctor had to look it up."

[snip]

    According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Infection (CDC), TMVII is a fungal infection that can spread through sexual contact, but also by sharing towels and linens or any skin-to-skin touch. Patients and experts alike are concerned about the lack of response to TMVII, given that most of its cases have presented in men who have sex with men. The U.S. government has a track record of mishandling, ignoring, and actively cutting research funding of infectious diseases that disproportionately impact queer people. Coupled with the fact that it can take weeks to run a test for TMVII, some experts are concerned that the fungal infection has silently been spreading to epidemic proportions without intervention. 

• "FBI captures fugitive on ‘Most Wanted Fraudsters’ list who allegedly led $547M Medicare scheme"--New York Post. 

Khalid Satary, 54, was cuffed in the Middle East on Monday after more than three years on the lam for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to defraud Medicare of over $547 million, the US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. 

• "Illegal Migrant Trucker from India Arrested for Allegedly Stealing $2.8M in Chemicals"--Breitbart. 

    Officials say Deepak Kumar, 31, illegally picked up the cargo in Pennsylvania on June 25, then drove off with the toxic compound.

    Tungsten oxide powder is used in armor-piercing bullets, ceramics, lasers, optical products, and high-tech windows, according to the New York Post.

    After the theft was reported to police, investigators used a Flock camera system to track Kumar’s semi and the vehicle was located in Indiana traveling on Interstate 70 near Greenfield.

• "Road rage driver who allegedly killed boxing star Hannah Rapp is career criminal with lengthy rap sheet"--New York Post.

Charles Eric Medina, 31, was arrested on manslaughter charges for fatally striking Rapp, a 26-year-old up-and-coming featherweight fighter, with his car while she was cycling with her boyfriend, Will Pollalis, in Brazos County, Texas, on Saturday.

• "California’s Fourth of July plunges into hell as stores looted, police horses charge and fires break out"--New York Post.  

    Fourth of July descended into mayhem across parts of Southern California as unruly crowds overwhelmed packed-out fireworks displays, looted stores, ignited fires and saw cops charge on horseback.

    The worst unrest erupted in Newport Beach, where Independence Day revelers poured into Orange County, choking traffic and triggering a police response as disorder spread near the pier.

    Authorities ultimately shut down businesses from the Newport Pier to Pacific Coast Highway as officers moved in to restore order.

• "Hasan Piker Calls Mao ‘One of the Great Leaders’"--National Review. From the lede:

    Hasan Piker, the leftist influencer, has millions of followers across Twitch, YouTube, and other platforms. And so it is not without interest that he has described Mao as “one of the great leaders of this world” and that, when challenged about this, he conceded that “there was a lot of f***ing excesses, let’s be real, but. . . .”

    Ah yes, there is always a “but.”

    The “but” in this case was that “the People’s Republic of China would not exist without Mao Zedong.”

    True enough. Then again there were tens of millions of Chinese who would have existed for quite a bit longer were it not for Mao or his republic. And many of those did not meet their deaths because of yet another catastrophic communist “reform,” but because they were, in one way or another, murdered.

 Reminder: Hasan Doğan Piker is the son of Turkish immigrants. 

• "Mystery as Democrat nepo-baby lands $411k-a-year council job over 400 other applicants... including THREE who scored better than her during selection process"--Daily Mail. 

    Questions are being raised over how the daughter of a congresswoman landed a $411,000-a-year council job over three other candidates who reportedly scored better than her in interviews. 

    Erica Lee Carter, 46, the daughter of late Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, was appointed as the Harris County Administrator earlier this year in a hotly contested hiring process with over 400 applicants. 

    The role is one of the best paid government jobs in Harris County, which covers over five million people including the city of Houston, with applications coming from CEOs and politicians across the country.  

• "Woke activist group says State of New York must offer reparations to ALL black people living there"--Daily Mail. 

    Civil rights groups in New York have released a report demanding reparations for black residents, arguing that decades of deliberate racial inequality must be amended. 

    The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) released a report last week titled, The Other New York: The Legacy of Slavery and the Case for Reparations Now. 

•  "Dr. Oz claims NY Medicaid program is being ripped off by Chinese crime syndicate"--New York Post. 

    Federal Medicaid czar Dr. Mehmet Oz said New York’s overblown $110 billion spending on medical bills is sickening — as he claimed Chinese crime syndicates are ripping off the Empire State.

    The TV doctor-turned-Trump administration official, blasted New York’s Medicaid program as rife with fraud in an interview Sunday as he outlined an alleged scheme that included millions of dollars in fraudulent medical bills.

    “Social safety net programs are being defrauded. They’re being hurt oftentimes by foreign governments or foreign-run criminal syndicate organizations,” Oz, administrator of the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said Sunday on 77 WABC ‘s the “Cats Roundtable” program. 

Gunman Walked Into LDS Church

The three videos below all pertain to an incident where a man, dressed all in black, walked into an LDS church somewhere in Utah with a revolver (unloaded as it turned out) and sat down in the foyer. The building was evacuated and police arrived and arrested the man without incident. If you just want the bare bones facts, I would recommend skipping the first two videos and go straight to the third video. 

    The first video is the host of the "Send Me" YouTube channel interviewing someone that was attending church when the incident occurred, and describes what happened.

    The second video is a follow-up to the first video, with the host of the "Send Me" channel explaining why he did not provide information as to the location where this incident occurred and why there weren't any news reports.

    The third video, from the Christian Warrior channel, provides commentary and analysis from someone who has helped train church security teams, albeit for other churches and not the LDS church; and, in fact, he is not affiliated with the LDS church. 

    As far as I can tell from my own interactions with other members, as well as comments I've read or heard, the Church's policy prohibiting the carrying of concealed carry weapons (unless a current LEO) seems to be largely ignored by those who regularly carry firearms. Individual bishops can try and organize a security team, but it would necessarily need to be current law enforcement officers per the policy. Not all congregations ("wards") have active LEOs; and some law enforcement organizations prohibit their officers or agents from participating in such teams. So, essentially you are on your own until police arrive, which is what the Church's active shooter training film basically tells you. 

    I understand why the Church has done this even if I disagree with the policy: many of the Church policies are driven by its risk management and legal departments. In this case, the Church faces less legal exposure by leaving the flock defenseless than if it permitted members to be armed or allowed security teams to be formed.

    But even if the Church did authorize teams, there are some practical considerations that would make it difficult to secure the buildings from someone getting in: that there is no single "main entrance". The typical LDS church building in the United States will have two "main" entrances on either side of the chapel and one or more "main" entrances at the rear of the building; and larger buildings will have additional entrances. For instance, up until recently I attended church at a building that had 8 entrances. Not all of these will be unlocked for activities during the week, but all will be unlocked on Sundays. 

    In addition to the aforementioned entrances, there will be one or more additional outside doors that will typically be locked--generally an outside door to the kitchen and possibly additional access or emergency exit doors depending on the design and layout of the building and code requirements.  

    These design considerations are because, on Sunday, there will typically be two or more wards (i.e., congregations) meeting in the same building plus people coming and going to other meetings for specific organizations (e.g., choir) or that have appointments with leaders. In short, the buildings are not designed for security; they are designed for easy ingress and egress.

 VIDEO: "EVACUATE! - Gunman in LDS Chapel"
Send Me (20 min.)

 

 VIDEO: "UPDATE - Gunman at the LDS Chapel"
Send Me (16 min.)

 

 VIDEO: "Armed Man Walked Into A Packed Church And Nobody Stopped Him"
Christian Warrior (19 min.)

Shilo Hendrix Found Guilty Of Using Racial Slur

MPR News reports: "Rochester jury finds woman who hurled racial slurs at a Black child on a playground guilty." Guilty of what? One count of disorderly conduct toward Sharmake Omar, the man who filmed her; but she was acquitted on a second charge of disorderly conduct for her conduct toward the kid that stole her baby's food. "She was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, was placed on probation and ordered to complete community service," the article relates. Since she isn't facing jail time unless she violates probation, it is doubtful she will appeal the case, which is probably what the judge is counting on since the conviction rests on very shaky Constitutional grounds as this article from FIRE explains: "Shiloh Hendrix’s conviction can’t be squared with the First Amendment."

    Unless the trial record contains some critical fact absent from public reporting, that conviction cannot stand under the First Amendment.

    The video merely shows a heated verbal exchange between Hendrix and Omar. No threats. No violence. Nothing beyond words. However much offense they caused, that simply does not justify the government imprisoning, fining, or otherwise punishing the speaker. A public argument does not become a crime because a speaker used a particular word.

    The jury reportedly was instructed on the quaint “fighting words” doctrine. Although still technically an exception to the First Amendment, the Supreme Court recently threw cold water on “fighting words,” observing it “has not upheld a conviction under the fighting-words doctrine in 80 years.” That case was 1942’s Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, involving a man who had choice words for a police officer. It’s a good thing the fighting-words exception has been sharply limited and arguably erased by the Court’s subsequent speech-protective decisions. Violent individuals shouldn’t have a veto over what others can say.

    Even if the “fighting words” doctrine still has a pulse, it’s very hard to see how it applies to Hendrix’s comments. The doctrine is, at most, confined to a tiny category of face-to-face insults that, under the circumstances, are likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction. But courts have made clear that even the most taboo racial slurs are not fighting words per se. And, as the video shows, Omar solicited Hendrix — who was walking away while carrying her child — to repeat the slur so he could capture it on video and shame her. She did so and then continued walking away. Nothing about the interaction suggests Hendrix’s words were likely to provoke an immediate violent response.

What this case is really about is punishing an uppity white woman. If the races had been reversed and she had been calling out "cracker" at a white kid, the prosecutor would have laughed at the mere suggestion that a criminal offense had occurred. 

    But perhaps the deeper lesson here is that we need to deport people like Omar. The kid's father obviously wasn't that upset about the incident. So why was Omar following a white woman around in a park and filming her? Had he been filming her before this incident? Or did he manufacture this whole incident in order to make money (he has raised over $40,000 on SpotFund)? 

Weekend Reading #66

 Some longer or more involved reading:

• Up first is Greg Ellifritz's Weekend Knowledge Dump.  Some of the links that caught my eye in particular:
• Near the bottom is a link to an article called "Dark Arts for Good Guys: Break on Through to the other side," which is about how to ram a roadblock. The author of that blog did security and investigation work, including some that took him oversees. As such, he has a bunch of other articles on "dark arts" that cover topics useful if things go FUBAR. Here is a link to the page listing these other articles. He also just has a generally interesting blog, so check out other posts.
• An article on starting a rucking exercise routine/training program. Probably a good idea for anyone who thinks they might need to bug out on foot.
• A link to a video with tips on concealed carry in hot weather.
• An article with some advice on using tactical pens for self-defense; but if this interests you, probably the better course is to simply read and follow Greg's advice in his comments concerning the article.
• An article on why you should use "target depth training"--i.e., have your targets are varying distances. 
• The second part in a series entitled "Defeating the Covert Accomplice" because robbers rarely work alone. 
• For those willing to do some of their own basic gunsmithing work, an article on some simple upgrades and modifications for the AK you can do at home.
• A couple articles warning about how you dress, the bumper stickers on your car, and more, can make you stand out as a gun owner--it's no different than how other types of clothing, hair styles, makeup, etc., can identify you as belonging to certain "tribes". 
• In the event that you are in need of a chuckle or two, be sure to check out John Wilder's latest: "64 Or So Pieces Of Very Bad Advice." I can envision a leftist going down the list and thinking "sounds alright to me". 
• "The DSA's Plan to Remake America"--The Everyman Commentary.  The DSA has released a manifesto which reads:

 “For the working class to govern, we need a new political system. End political corruption and legalized bribery: get rid of lobbyists, dark money, and Citizens United, and publicly finance all elections. Abolish the Electoral College. Replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.

Replace the two-party system with a multi-party democracy. Expand the House of Representatives, implement proportional representation and ranked choice voting in all elections, and abolish the Senate.”

The article explores what each of the elements of this communist wish-list entails, together with this warning:

    Our republic was created to tame the appetites of would-be autocrats, making tyranny unlikely, if not impossible to implement. Communists, by contrast, consolidate power.

    Lenin, for one, was notoriously unwilling to share power. He led a small faction of the Russian Social Democratic and Labor Party—Democratic Socialists’ presumed namesake—called Bolsheviks, or the majority. He labeled his opponents, usually in the majority, Mensheviks, as being those in the minority and it stuck. It’s not that his ideas weren’t attractive to the majority of socialists—they weren’t—but the future dictator deliberately cobbled together a cell of dedicated yes-men.

    Even after the coup, Lenin was unwilling to share power with fellow socialists which earned him criticism from old school Bolsheviks like Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev and the famed socialist writer Maxim Gorky. He survived an assassination attempt by the Socialist Revolutionary party member Fanny Kaplan who felt that the mastermind of the government takeover betrayed the revolution.

    After Lenin’s passing, Stalin placed his henchmen in local party cells and purged the opposition, starting with Lenin’s acolytes like Mikhail Bukharin, Kamenev and Zinoviev and the sometimes acolyte Lev Trotsky. Successive waves of repressions followed. By these and other methods, the population of the Soviet Union was successfully terrorized into obedience.

Reading this about the DSA brings to mind the famous quote from Rafał Gan-Ganowicz, a Polish anti-communist activist, mercenary, and writer. When a journalist asked him what it felt like to take a human life, he replied: "I wouldn't know, I've only killed communists."

VIDEO: China's Population Is Collapsing

China Uncensored's latest video returns to the topic of China's demographic collapse evidenced by the dramatic decline in the number of pre-schools and kindergartens, as well as some discussion of failed efforts by the CCP to increase birth rates. His thinking on why the Chinese refuse to have more children tracks my thoughts on the general decline in fertility rates: children have become a luxury that most young people can't or won't pay for. 

    On the other end, China is seeing deaths outpace births. The Rhodium Group published a paper earlier this year that predicts that China's population will decline by more than 60 million people in the next decade--roughly the population of France.  The report goes on to note that:

The headlines are bad, the regional breakdown is worse. The country’s most developed provinces are seeing falling populations, which will impact overall consumption and the future productivity of the labor force. The impact on household consumption is obvious, but the larger problem for Beijing may be the hit to social security funds. The fiscal subsidy to social security funds rose to a record 2.9 trillion yuan last year, or 10.1% of general budget spending, and appears set to rise in the future. 

It also states:

    The drop in China’s birth rate in the 2020s has been shocking, even in the context of continuous declines since 2018. The ratio of new births to total population reached only 0.563% last year, compared to 1.199% a decade ago in 2015. The total of 7.92 million new births for the full year was the lowest level since 7.57 million in 1939, when China’s population was closer to 400-500 million people.

    Admittedly, the number of women of child-bearing age has declined by 13% over the past decade to 213.7 million, but new births more than halved over the same interval. This reflects changes in behavior and preferences, as policy is now pro-natalist and has been far less restrictive since 2016, when the one-child policy was formally abandoned.

    Chinese citizens’ decisions to marry and have children later in life are the main reasons behind the collapse in new births. The average age of people married rose to 34 years old in 2024, from 32.4 in 2018. As a result, the number of marriages declined by 40% from 2018 levels to only 6.1 million in 2024 (Figure 2). The average age of women bearing children increased to 30.1 years old in 2024, from 28.4 in 2018. These trends correlate well with additional education and economic advancements in other countries, and these factors are likely having an effect in China as well.

    Another more recent factor that may be depressing births is the change in employment conditions. Alongside weaker economic growth, more workers have shifted to the gig economy, which does not provide security nor stable incomes. Additional discussions of potential AI-related job losses may be contributing to popular insecurity and uncertainty, which feed back into the birth rate as well. Social phenomena such as “lying flat,” “letting it rot,” or other societal trends developing within China’s youth also may be contributing to reductions in stable relationships and willingness to have children.

It doesn't help that China is an atheistic country as there is a strong correlation between religiosity and birth rates. (See also, "China’s Population Decline – The Impact on Business, the Economy, and Labor Markets" from China-Briefing). 

     China faces its own pension crises as well because of fewer workers to support a growing population of retirees. The Diplomat goes over this in a Feb. 11, 2026, article entitled "As China Ages, a Pension Crisis Looms." A key point:

    By 2040, roughly 402 million people in China are expected to be over the age of 60, more than a quarter of the population. By comparison, the total population of the United States is expected to reach around 379 million by that time. This shift marks a turning point for China, signaling the erosion of its long-standing advantage in abundant and affordable labor while presenting a formidable financial challenge in caring for an aging society. 

    These demographic pressures prompted China to begin a gradual adjustment of its statutory retirement age in 2025, the first such change in more than seven decades. The retirement age for men will gradually increase from 60 to 63 over a 15-year period while the retirement age for women will rise from 55 to 58, with adjustments varying by occupation. While delaying retirement may ease fiscal strain, it does little to alter the underlying demographic arithmetic driving the crisis. 

VIDEO: "China's Population is Collapsing"
China Uncensored (7 min.)

Some More Iranian War News

• "US beefs up military might in Middle East after unleashing powerful B-1 bombers to attack Iran"--New York Post. The headline is misleading as the article indicates that only a single B-1 was deployed. It also reports that "[m]ore than 150 medics have also been sent to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany — the military’s primary hospital for wounded troops from the Middle East," and that additional special forces are being sent to the region.
• "House adopts Iran war powers resolution as four Republicans join Dems to rebuke Trump "--New York Post.  Four Republicans joined all 210 Democrats to pass a resolution calling on Pres. Trump to “to remove the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, including potential ground forces in a combat role or used for occupation.”
• "Brent crude oil surges to $100 a barrel for first time since May after reports of Red Sea attacks"--The New York Post.  "Reports of fresh strikes in the Red Sea raised new fears that a second critical shipping route through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which carries about 7% of global oil supplies, could also be compromised – multiplying what is already the world’s worst-ever supply disruption," the article states. 

Israel To Sit Out The Rest Of The War?

Zero Hedge reported on some comments from Israel's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich--the second most powerful cabinet member according to the article--with the article relating (bold in original):

    “The State of Israel has no interest in joining the contained confrontation between Iran and the United States," far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a session at the Katif Conference for National Responsibility, which endorses Jewish settlement in Palestinian territories. "The current situation is the best one for us.”

[snip]

    In his latest remarks, Smotrich candidly acknowledged that Israel and the United States have different goals vis a vis Iran, but said America's continued military engagement furthers the Israeli agenda. “[We] must remember that the ultimate goal of Israel, and not necessarily the United States, is to undermine and weaken the regime in Iran – to the point of overthrowing it,” Smotrich said. 

    Disregarding the widespread victimization of innocents that the strategy entails, Smotrich said destruction of Iran's economy will help precipitate the Iranian government's collapse. "Currently, inflation in Iran is at 85 percent, food inflation of over 134 percent in a total of four months, and the Iranian rial is trading at an exchange rate of 1.9 million to the dollar - and it's going up." He then reiterated that "the current situation is good for us, and there's no point in pushing ourselves inward."  

That might work if the economic collapse was not clearly the result of outside agents; but, as Germany and Japan illustrated during WWII, economic woes will not spark a rebellion when there is a clear enemy to blame. 

    The article also recounts comments from an Israeli journalist opining that Israel staying out of the fight makes it less of a target for Iranian attacks, allowing daily life to continue and saving the country billions of shekels for air operations or interceptions of incoming missiles. 

    Larry C. Johnson at Sonar21 suggests another reason for Israel pulling back is because both of its oil refineries were damaged earlier in the conflict and now Israel faces a shortage of diesel and jet fuel; and any further damage to the refineries would severely limit Israel's ability to continue military operations in Gaza or Lebanon. And yet another source, quoting the Wall Street Journal, indicates that the U.S., under pressure from Arab states, asked Israel to sit out the war in hopes that doing so will keep Iran from striking more of the Arab states' energy infrastructure, and make it politically easier for those states to join in attacks against Iran. 

    I think this is a good example of the maxim "countries do not have friends, only interests". Israel's interests were to (i) destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities, which the United States has pretty much already done for it; and (ii) eliminate the Palestinians, which is easier to do if (a) the United States is distracted with Iran and (b) Israel can concentrate its efforts on Gaza and Lebanon. Besides, it increasingly appears that we are moving toward having boots on the ground in Iran; and there was no way that Israel was ever going to be part of that effort if for no other reason then it would outrage Muslims around the world. The best we can hope for is a limited invasion to capture the territory adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, followed by an extended occupation of that territory by a coalition of Arab states. 

    The question that needs to be asked is what are the United States' interests? I would say that our interests are limited to keeping open the Gulf of Arabia and the Strait of Hormuz to the free transit of oil, which was the situation before the war but is now impossible because of the war. And the reason we are in this situation is because our leaders lost sight of our interests and/or believed that Israel's interests were the same as ours. 

NY Post: Ethiopian Immigrant Murders Three, Hates American System

The New York Post reports that Tsegaab Binessu has been arrested for murdering three of the staff at the apartment complex where he lived after the landlord refused to terminate his lease of a garage. But he also told investigators that he hated the American system for not allowing him to bring his wife and children to the U.S. from Ethiopia. "The prolonged immigration process, he said, led to his divorce and separation from his kids. He claimed he quit his job as a truck driver due to the stress of the situation, the document states." He also complained that he was treated unfairly because he was an immigrant and black. "When he was arrested, he had newly purchased camping gear, his US passport, his Social Security card, an empty handgun magazine and his permit to carry a weapon, according to the complaint."

He could have renounced his citizenship and gone back to Ethiopia at any time.  

I Want

 If you can't get an American 180, this might be the next best thing. 

VIDEO: "THE TIPPMANN FRT - THIS 22LR SHOOTS FAST!"
22plinkster (11 min.)

Hungary Shows What Happens When The Left Achieve Full Control

David Strom at Hot Air asks: "How's It Going in Hungary?" Not good. 

    The EU put a target on Orbán's back years ago, and in the recent election, they finally got their wish. The Prime Minister was voted out of office, and did exactly what you would expect of a non-authoritarian. He left office quietly and without fuss, acknowledged his loss, and vowed to campaign for a return to power. 

    So what are the great "defenders of democracy" doing to prevent that? 

Today, prosecutors arrived without prior notice at the data center hosting Fidesz’s servers, intending to seize the party’s entire communications system and databases. Nothing like this has happened in Hungary since the end of communism in 1990.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Hungary’s Brussels-backed liberal authoritarian Prime Minister intends to eliminate his democratic political opponents, crush all resistance to his arbitrary actions, and use the country’s law enforcement authorities as instruments to achieve that goal. 

 [snip]

    They are coming down like a ton of bricks on Orbán and his political party, following the now-familiar EU plan to subvert elections by canceling them if their candidates aren't likely to win, banning political parties, disqualifying candidates, and rigging the rules.  

So is there any meaningful difference between this and what the Soviet Union did to Hungary in 1956? 

The Great Replacement -- American Style

Some salient comments from Eric Florack in his PJ Media piece, "The Great American Demographic Shift." He begins:

    Are culture and demography destiny? I say yes, and suggest that it's hard to argue otherwise.

    A nation isn't lines on a map or a stack of statutes. It's the people who live there, the values they bring, and the institutions they either sustain or slowly gut. Swap enough of a population—say, trade native-born Americans steeped in the country's traditional culture for large numbers of newcomers from, say, Islamic cultures—and you swap the politics, the economy, and the outcomes that follow. That's not a hot take. That's arithmetic, and arithmetic doesn't negotiate.

    Import the third world's populations without assimilation, and you import the third world's problems along with them. Nobody should clutch his or her pearls over this. 

    Countries differ wildly in educational attainment, institutional trust, corruption, civic participation, family structure, and cultural expectations—and none of that magically dissolves the moment someone crosses a border. Some immigrants assimilate fast and become genuine assets to the country. Others don't bother trying. Either way, that's a choice the immigrant makes, not a mystery anyone needs to solve.

    Push migration past the speed a society can actually absorb, and the receiving country doesn't just gain people. It inherits the statistical baggage those populations carry with them, whether anyone wants to admit it over dinner or not.

He goes on to note that in 1970, non-Hispanic whites made up roughly 83 percent of the population but, by 2022, was only 59 percent, adding: "Outside of literal territorial conquest, this country has never reshuffled its population this fast, and pretending otherwise doesn't make the numbers move back." I would suggest that we are, in fact, seeing territorial conquest of a sort. And, as the author notes, it appears to have been a conscious choice of the left. Just like the Devil they serve, the left stands for chaos, ugliness, divisiveness; and they have achieved it. 

Open AI's AI Hacked Another AI Company

And, according to this Associated Press article, the Open AI agent did it on its own volition.  From the article:

    OpenAI said the intrusion was caused by a combination of its AI models, including its newly released GPT‑5.6 Sol and an “even more capable” model that is still being tested internally.

    OpenAI said its AI used stolen credentials and discovered a previously unknown vulnerability to access Hugging Face servers.

    It went to “extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal” and “found ways to gain access to secret information that it could use to cheat the evaluation,” the company said. 

Shiloh Hendrix Trial Begins

You may remember Shiloh Hendrix. She is the young mother who confronted a black kid who stole apple sauce from her baby bag--food she had brought along for her baby. But she used the "n-word"; and although blacks constantly use it in reference to each other, no white is allowed to use it. Thus, as the article notes, Hendrix has been "charged with three counts of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor charge with a maximum of 90 days in jail."  

    Hendrix, who has pleaded not guilty, appeared on Monday in Olmsted County District Court as jury selection got underway for her trial. 

    The jury will decide whether her behavior was unlawful and likely to cause violence, or if her words are protected under the First Amendment.   

This is in reference to the "fighting words" doctrine in which it has been held that words, made face-to-face, “which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace” are not protected speech under the Constitution. You can read more about this doctrine in this article from the Freedom Forum: "What Are Fighting Words? Definition, Examples and More."

VIDEO: The Era Of Left Wing Violence

One of the ways that shows the power leftists have had over the government and main stream media is how attention on left wing terrorism has been minimized even though the vast majority of terrorism in the U.S. is carried out by leftists. Tellingly, some of the worst leftist terrorists were let off with little or no prison time, and given professorships at elite universities. The Trump Administration appears to be serious about cracking down on left-wing groups, but I think we will only see left-wing violence increase. 

One of the reasons I think so is that the Communists are flexing their political muscle. For instance, the New York Post reports that "Anti-Israel, Gen Z socialist who ousted 15-term Colorado incumbent calls for ‘more immigrants into office’." And what does DSA member, Ethiopian-born Ph.D student Melat Kiros want with more immigrants? 

    Kiros then called for more migrants to run for public office to ensure a shift in American foreign policy.

    “There’s a certain reckoning that we are going to have with the global world order as it exists today and the way that it fundamentally will have to shift going forward,” she said.

    “The responsibility that we have as Americans, the recognition that is going to be required of us, of the exploitative and extractive nature that we play on the global scale and the global stage is only going to be challenged if we are getting represented by people who understand that on a fundamental level.

    “And that means getting more immigrants into office. That means getting more people who have heritage in the global south into office because that’s where those decisions are made specifically.”

In other words, like all foreign invaders have done throughout history, she and her colleagues plan on pillaging the United States except, this time, using our political system and laws against us, in order to transfer wealth from Americans to the third world (with her and her cronies taking their cut, of course, because that is how things work where they come from).  

 VIDEO: "The Era of Left-Wing Violence is OVER"
America Uncovered (15 min.)

VIDEO: Testing Swords On Pig Carcass

A test of thrusting and cutting strikes against a pig carcass with several different sword styles including European long sword, rapier, and a Japanese tachi. As would be expected, the European swords excelled at thrusting attacks and the tachi excelled at cutting, but the European swords (other than the rapier, of course) did very well at the cutting as well. 

 VIDEO: "Medieval swords are WAY MORE DEADLY than you think - TESTED"
Shadiversity (28 min.)

VIDEO: GWOT Weapons And Gear That Were Failures

An interesting look at some of the weapons and gear that were rejected or useless by someone who actually had a hand on getting a couple of the items dropped from adoption or use:

• The Mark 23 Mod Zero pistol by HK (intended to be a primary CGQ weapon, it was too big for a handgun and its purpose was better fulfilled by the adoption of the M4A1);
• The SCAR Light in 5.56 (a weak lockup of the folding stock and a reciprocating charging handle system that permitted misfeads that would require the weapon being disassembled to clear, and offered no advantages over the M4--however the host notes that these problems have been fixed in the civilian version, and the SCAR Heavy in .308 was very popular);
• The XM25 Punisher 25mm grenade launcher (very little application in Afghanistan, with the host noting that the whole premise is now obsolete with the advent of small, explosive laden drones);
• The Spear-Bulk body armor system (poor quality, stupidly used vertical MOLLE);
• The Uniform Camouflage Pattern or UCP (actually made troops highly visible because the pattern didn't match any sort of terrain in which the troops operated);
• The improved outer tactical vest or IOTV (although it offered high level of protection, it was too heavy and bulky slowing down the troops). 

VIDEO: "Top 5 GWOT gun and gear fails: Barely used, not tested properly, or completely worthless."
Modern Tactical Shooting (28 min)

3rd Circuit Strikes Down N.J. Assaut Weapon & Mag. Ban

Ammoland reports: "Major 2A Victory: Third Circuit Strikes Down New Jersey’s AR-15 & Magazine Bans." From the article:

Sitting en banc [i.e., the whole court rather than a three judge panel as normal], the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled July 17 in Cheeseman v. Davenport, formerly Cheeseman v. Platkin, that New Jersey’s so-called “assault firearm” ban violates the Second Amendment as applied to every semiautomatic rifle covered by the law. The court also struck down the state’s prohibition on magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds.

 No word on whether New Jersey will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

    The article also explains the importance of this decision to other "assault weapon" ban cases that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear:

    The national importance of this ruling is difficult to overstate. Other federal appellate courts have upheld semiautomatic-rifle or magazine bans by treating commonly owned rifles as military weapons, minimizing lawful possession, or stretching late historical regulations beyond recognition.

    Judge Cheryl Ann Krause’s dissent acknowledged exactly what the majority accomplished. She complained that the ruling makes the Third Circuit “the only Court of Appeals in the Nation to afford constitutional protection to AR-15s and LCMs.”

    That admission identifies the real story. There is now a clean federal appellate split over whether the government may ban AR-15-style rifles and commonly owned magazines.

    The Supreme Court has already agreed to hear the consolidated Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins cases, which ask whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to possess AR-15-platform and similar semiautomatic rifles. The Third Circuit has now given the justices a detailed roadmap grounded in Heller, Bruen, Rahimi, Hemani, and Wolford.

The article warns against immediately treating the laws as void: "New Jersey gun owners should not treat the publication of the opinion as an immediate green light to disregard existing statutes. The appellate mandate, further district-court proceedings, and any request by the state for a stay must still be watched closely."

Over 10% Of Medicaid Funding Goes To Fraud

John Hinderaker, writing at Power Line Blog, asks "Fraud: More Than We Can Imagine?" He notes that the federal government spends $900 billion on Medicare each year, but Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. asserts that $100 billion is lost to fraud each year. 

The theft is incredibly brazen. And I suspect Kennedy’s $100 billion estimate may be low. In Minnesota, the authorities have estimated that at least one-half of the total spending on 14 Medicaid programs went to fraud. While our state government is uniquely incompetent, it may well be that other states approach those numbers. The fraud is probably less with regard to bills from doctors, clinics and hospitals, but there too, it is substantial, usually in the form of upcoding.    

But this is the key point, I believe:

At some point, one begins to wonder whether a central purpose of our government is to fund crime. If the purpose of an institution is what it does, supporting and encouraging criminals would seem to be an important aim of our government, both federal and state.    

Related:

• "Alturas Indian Rancheria members accuse leaders of misusing millions in federal and state funds"--New York Post. This is a "tribe" of only 5 members, which "has received more than $8 million in federal funding since 2013, according to USAspending.gov, the federal government’s spending database"; plus the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund Distribution, "which takes money from the bigger tribes and distributes a percentage to the smaller ones, has given the Alturas Indian Rancheria more than $26 million since 2005." And that is not all: "Factor in a gas station, casino, concrete company, moving truck company and cigarette plant that all operate as tribal [i.e., tax free] entities, and Alturas Indian Rancheria allegedly brings in millions every month, according to two members who are sounding the alarm."

Enjoy Your Street Food

From the New York Post: "Lake Hollywood Park rocked by wave of truly disgusting acts — before food is served." The Park apparently is below the famous "Hollywood" sign. But it lacks restrooms and, therefore, photographs show fruit vendors use the bushes to defecate and urinate before serving food.

The images were provided by outraged residents who say they have spent years documenting vendors relieving themselves in the park, dumping wastewater into the street and leaving behind piles of trash while city officials have repeatedly failed to stop the growing operation.

Probably because the city officials didn't want to be racist. A local resident told the Post:

“They go to the bathroom in the bushes … then they come back. Mind you, there’s no hand washing because there’s no bathroom. They’re urinating and defecating in a park space, and then they come back and cut fruit.” 

And like most illegal activities in blue states, it is part of a larger operation:

    Cobb also told The Post she believes many of the fruit carts are part of a larger operation rather than individual vendors.

    She said trucks regularly drop off multiple carts each morning and return to collect them at night. She says she suspects some workers may be exploited.

     “I think a lot of these people are trafficked to do the jobs. It’s not right.”

Houthis Declare Naval Blockade On Saudi Arabia

From the New York Post: "Yemen’s Houthis declare naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, widening threat to global oil supplies." The Houthis' statement "said the decision was in response to what they called 'an unjust and oppressive siege' imposed on Yemen by the Saudis," but the article notes that "Iran had pressed the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the US continued to attack Iranian power infrastructure."

The full closure of the Bab el-Mandeb strait would reduce global oil supply by 7% as it would leave most of Saudi oil exports unable to leave the region. The disruption would add to the massive cut to global oil flows from the war in the Gulf, which has already reduced shipments by 10% of global supply.

FDA Still Links Cyclosporiasis Outbreak To Mexican Taylor Farms Facility

You may have read or heard that the FDA test of the Taylor Farms' lettuce was a false positive. 

    In its statement on Sunday, the FDA said a sample of lettuce supplied by the company had reported a positive cyclospora result on July 18.

    However, 'due to the complexity in detection of cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re-reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive.'

    The statement continued: 'FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market. FDA and state partners continue to collect and analyze product samples.

However, the FDA has indicated that this does not clear Taylor Farms, and that they (the FDA) still believe that the outbreak was due to lettuce from the Mexican facility. 

Leftist Fire-Bombs NY ICE Office

The New York Post reports that "Armed loon sets off ‘incendiary device’ outside NYC fed HQ as terrorism task force probes anti-ICE attack." Not quite up to the number of bombings of the 1960s and '70s, but the left seems to be working toward it. The suspect has been named as Andrew Arrabaca, a veteran of the Army and National Guard. The article notes: "The nut was pulling a cart with the slogan, 'ICE off our streets' scrawled on the side, with two long guns and more fireworks, the sources said."

Gun & Preppings News #90

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Pistols in America Across 250 Years"--Guns & Ammo. With the quote of the day: "Free men own guns, and there’s perhaps no better symbol than a handgun to distinguish an American from another person living elsewhere in the world."
• "Reducing Violent Crime Isn’t Complicated, You Just Have to Want to Do It"--Shooting News Weekly. The author mentions the general points: "Governments must make crime riskier by increasing arrests and convictions, imposing longer prison sentences, and allowing law-abiding citizens to defend themselves." But he also points out:

Nor is it a coincidence that the record influx of illegal immigrants during the Biden administration coincided with a sharp increase in violent crime. It is equally unsurprising that crime has fallen as deportations have increased. Deportation records show that 70 percent of illegal immigrants deported during the Trump administration had either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges in the United States. Even those who avoid arrest understand that any contact with law enforcement could lead to deportation, giving them a strong incentive to stay off the police’s radar and avoid committing additional crimes.

• "Holding Zero: A Case Study of Your Scope's Nemesis"--Rifleshooter Magazine. The author notes:

The inability to get a rifle sighted in can come from several sources. Your rifle could have a problem. Or it just may not like the loads you’re feeding it. It could—(shocking thought!)—even be you, the shooter, that’s inconsistent. However, scope and scope mounting-system issues are frequently the culprit, and that’s what we’re here to explore in this article. 

And:

    Good bases and rings do hold quality scopes precisely in place. Not just for a while, but as hundreds, even thousands of shots create mini earthquakes.

    However, some scopes just won’t hold zero, and some bases and rings just won’t hold tight. Usually, that’s because they’re either cheap (let’s call it what it is), or they’ve been improperly mounted. Either is extremely frustrating. Both must be resolved before the rifle can perform properly.

    What causes scopes, scope rings, or bases to come loose? There are a variety of possibilities, but the most common ones are recoil—when a scope is mounted improperly—and vibration. As in, vibration in the belly of an airplane, or the rifle case mounted to your ATV, or behind the seat of your pickup. 

• And on the topic of precision shooting: "AR-15 Precision Long Range Shooting Basics"--AR Build Junkie.  An interview of Former Army Ranger sniper team leader, Ryan Cleckner, who is also the author of Long Range Shooting Handbook. There are also links to a few videos on long range shooting. And for those interested into getting into precision shooting with an AR, Cleckner says: "With long-range ARs, I would only worry about the barrel and the trigger.  Even if you have a budget AR and you just want to upgrade some parts and you put a decent quality barrel on it and a nice trigger, you are going to be fine." He has some more advice on upgrading an AR, so be sure to read the whole thing.

• Something that may be of interest to those of you with military surplus rifles: "Barrel Harmonics: How Shooting With a Bayonet Attached Affects Accuracy"--Shooting News Weekly. The author explains:

    Any person with knowledge and experience shooting precision rifles — or just shooting rifles precisely — knows that when a shot is fired, the barrel flexes and then returns to its original state in a fraction of a second. That’s called “barrel harmonics.” There are plenty of super slo-mo videos online that demonstrate this. 

    During a precision rifle course our instructor had us deliberately take shots with our bolt-action precision rifles and then stick them through a section of chainlink fence with the barrels purposely resting on the fence to see if our point of impact changed. Spoiler alert, the impacts were off dramatically. Our ½-size steel silhouette targets were around 200 yards away if memory serves. 

He then tested the shift caused by mounting bayonets on an AR15 and an AK style rifle: specifically, a Springfield Armory SA-16 (a semi-auto clone of the M16A2) and a Century Arms BFT-556 (a 5.56mm AK 74 style rifle). With the bayonet mounted, the SA-16 went from a 0.68 inch 5-shot group at 25 meters to 2.3 inches; and the group printed about 3 inches above point of aim. The BFT-556 had a 2.36 inch group at 25 yards without the bayonet; and, according to the author, the group size showed only a 0.5 inch different with the bayonet mounted, and the group only moved 1.5 inches higher. The author concludes:

    When we do our rifle ballistics math and extrapolate how a one-inch group at 100 yards translates to 2 inches at 200, etc., a 3-inch rise in impact between 25 and 50 yards translates to 6 inches of rise at 100 and a full 12 inches at 200. Being 12 inches off at 200 yards could definitely translate to missed targets.

    To be fair, we wouldn’t likely fix bayonets if we knew we were engaging targets beyond 100 yards. The cold steel of a bayonet is intended for up close and personal work. In a close quarters battle environment like the jungle or a MOUT situation, we expect targets to easily be inside of 100 yards.

    It’s safe to say that adding bayonets to fighting rifles negatively affects accuracy in longer distance shooting. However, for CQB situations, having a chunk of lethal steel affixed to the end of your barrel wouldn’t have such a negative effect on accuracy as to preclude its use. Just be sure to take it off — or take it into account — before engaging anything at greater distances.  

• "Unbreakable? Not Quite: Common AK Failure Points"--The Firearm Blog. Not surprisingly, these include the extractor claw and spring, fire control group springs, recoil springs, firing pin issues, bolt wear, rivet problems, cracked trunnions, gas block wear, ejector wear, and corrosion. I will comment from experience that there are many nooks and crannies where water can collect in an AK which are hard to reach with a rag to absorb the water. I would recommend that when returning from the field using an air compressor and/or hair dryer to blow out the water and dry the weapon. 
• "A Reliable, Affordable AR-Style Shotgun: The Tokarev TT-12 PRO"--Shooting Wire. What caught my attention about this was the author's assertion that this shotgun was reliable. Oh, and the price: an MSRP of $399, but the author claims that the street price is running about $250. 
• "Concealed Carry Corner: Concealing On A Motorcycle"--The Firearm Blog.  An excerpt:

The big difference between carrying in a regular car and a motorcycle is the fact that you're exposed to the outside world and elements while on a motorcycle, so there aren't many places to just outright hide your handgun. Not only do you have to worry about keeping your handgun concealed, but you also have to keep in mind that moving around and leaning on your bike can cause different strain on your holster than what's typically normal for carrying concealed. When going at highway speed, it's common for shirts to ride up in the wind without a heavier vest to keep things in place. It's important to think about where your handgun is positioned and if there's a chance of it being exposed at higher speeds when on the highway. 

•  "Pocket Pistols Are Dead: Here's Why You're Wrong"--Handguns Magazine. The author notes:

As we have laid out, you have 4 extremely general categories of pistols to choose from for CCW. So, if you’re choosing one of the extremes in a pocket pistol, how is it relevant in 2026? Maybe your occupation doesn’t allow for a pistol on your waist - not necessarily in a legal sense - but potentially because you are in a trade like carpentry, plumbing, etc., where your waist already has a toolbelt taking up all of the real estate around your waist. So, you need to resort to more creative methods of carry like your pocket.

He also explains:

    The primary scenarios where a pocket pistol may be a good application for you would be formal attire, hot weather, or extenuating circumstances at your job. We have already painted the picture for your job. You might have a carpentry belt around your waist, work in an office where a hip-carried firearm could be accidentally brandished, or other instances that demand your pistol should reside in your pocket.

    Another opportunity to pocket carry is while donning a suit and tie. Professional wear is often tight-fitting and doesn’t take into account the possibility for concealed carry. So, if you force it, it can be tremendously uncomfortable as well as open the door for scaring your co-workers or friends who have delicate sensibilities.

    Finally, there are the oppressively hot times in the summer where you’re only wearing a thin T-shirt and shorts. This type of clothing gives you a cooling factor in hotter temps but doesn’t lend itself well to carrying a firearm.

• Speaking of pocket pistols: "Phlster Introduces Enigma Micro For Pocket Pistols"--The Firearm Blog.
• "Big Woods Bucks x Henry Repeating Arms Long Ranger Big Woods Carbine"--The Firearm Blog.  Henry has produced an 18.5" barrel version of their .308 Long Ranger lever action rifle intended for hunting in dense woods. It still uses a 4-round detachable box magazine. 
• Since these are a type of insurrection, I believe it is a topic to which preppers should pay attention: "The Scourge of Teen Takeovers"--City Journal.  Key point:

    Police officers, district attorneys, and sheriffs offer a different explanation for the teen takeovers: they are the consequence of a decades-long demonization of the criminal-justice system.

    Asked how the Chicago Police Department would have responded to a stampede on the Magnificent Mile before that demonization took hold, a recently retired officer with over 30 years on the force replied: “We would have cleared the streets, arrested those breaking windows, looting stores, and assaulting passersby. We would have used pepper spray, fists, and batons to restore order—all of which we did during the Bulls riots [in 1992], the Democratic National Convention in 1996, NATO, and other localized disturbances that didn’t make the news.”

    But then, he says, “the bottom fell out. Officers were cast as the enemy by eight years of Obama.” After the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, followed by those of Laquan McDonald in Chicago that same year and of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015, “we were cleaning spit off our windshields on a daily basis. We were physically attacked more during those years than at any other point in our careers.” Officers feared being sued for lawful tactics that make for bad optics.

    The cops disengaged. “We drove by the dope sellers on the corner, asked no questions of the juveniles who were clearly up to no good, and ignored the cars running stop signs and weaving through traffic.” Better just to do your eight hours and go home.

    Another retired Chicago cop recalls asking his commanders in 2010 when mobs were storming downtown: Can we make arrests? He was told: just hold the line and move them around. Even were the officers to engage, the chance that the average detained teen would face serious consequences was already low.

    In the 1990s and early 2000s, officers had a protective attitude toward business; they took responsibility for the well-being of shopkeepers and their customers, says a Chicago sergeant still on the job. “It’s different now.”

    And then, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd died while restrained by a Minneapolis officer. The country’s elites proclaimed that systemic racism had killed Floyd. Politicians and business leaders rushed to explain the ensuing firebombing of police cars and stations, the attempted murder of police officers, and the destruction of businesses as an understandable, even justifiable, reaction to police oppression.

    The post-Floyd race-riot era is largely coterminous with the Covid era: lockdowns began in late March 2020, and the riots erupted at the end of May. That overlap has allowed policing skeptics to attribute the crime spike that began in 2020 to Covid rather than to de-policing and de-prosecution. Those same skeptics now apply the argument to teen takeovers as well.

    The rest of the world again provides a useful benchmark. Other countries did not experience a comparable surge in crime beginning in 2020, just as they did not experience a wave of teen takeovers. The United States experienced both because police and prosecutors shied away further from imposing consequences on antisocial behavior.

    The juvenile-justice system was similarly emasculated in the twenty-first century, for much the same reason as the adult system: to avoid disparate impact. The Obama administration sued school districts for disparities in school-discipline rates between black students and white students. Suspensions and expulsions plummeted. Rather than being punished, insubordinate pupils were directed to “peace circles” and other forms of restorative justice.

    Outside the school bureaucracy, cities and states loosened their already-permissive rules for holding juveniles accountable for crimes. From 2008, when Barack Obama was first elected president, through 2021, the rate at which black male juveniles received final dispositions for violent offenses fell 67 percent, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice. It is unlikely that this decline in adjudications reflected a 67 percent drop in violent crime among black juveniles, given victimization data and the reports of police officers. Instead, budding criminals were increasingly kept out of the juvenile system altogether, whether their misconduct occurred in schools or on the streets. Those who did enter the system encountered increasingly permissive rules.

VIDEO: Could The UK Stop Argentina From Invading The Falklands

I was in high school when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in the 1980s. At that time, Argentina was able to quickly take the largely undefended islands--the UK had no permanent military presence there--but the UK was able to assemble a military task force that was able to defeat Argentina at sea, achieve air superiority, and land troops who were able to recapture the islands.

The situation is different today. The British keep a small wing of fighters and some infantry on the islands, as well as an air defense system. And both countries can no longer deploy the air or navel assets they were able to in the 1980s. Thus, Mark Felton does not believe that Argentina currently is able to take the Falkland Islands; but neither could the UK send a taskforce to stop them. 

But Argentina is looking at increasing its military capabilities while the UK continues to let its military erode away. 

My take away from this video, though, was not primarily the current capabilities of the two sides, but the impoverishment of both the UK and Argentina in that they could no longer afford the militaries that they had in the 1980s. But the same holds true of most nations and their militaries. 

VIDEO: "Will Argentina Invade the Falklands? And Can Britain Stop Them?"
Mark Felton Productions (19 min.)

The National Security Threat Posed By UFOs

The UFO files released by the government demonstrate something that can circumvent our air defense systems and enter "secure" air space with ease. Moreover, because of institutional reluctance to report UFOs, Cappy warns that a foreign adversary mimicking a UFO would be ignored by air defense.  

 VIDEO: "The Pentagon’s New UFO Files Are Terrifying"
Cappy Army (23 min.)

Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Traced To Lettuce From Mexico

The New York Post reports that the Cyclosporiasis outbreak has been traced to products distributed by Taylor Farms:

    Taylor Farms, which is based in Salinas and has a facility in central Mexico, was identified as a possible source of tainted iceberg lettuce connected to the summer outbreak of cyclosporiasis, The Washington Post reported, citing two individuals with knowledge of the investigation.

    Taylor Farms, described on its website as a leading producer of salad kits, vegetable trays, cheese packs and other snack items, also supplies iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell — which investigators have linked to the diarrhea outbreak.

    A statement from California Department of Public Health noted that a federal investigation into the outbreak involves shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Taylor Farms emphasized that although the lettuce was sourced from a single "independent farm" in Mexico, it is recalling all of its iceberg lettuce products sourced from the region. 

Trump's Address About Election Integrity And Implications

Being bedridden after my heart attack, I was pretty much stuck watching television, so I was able to catch most of Trump's speech yesterday evening. The speech started out like a mini-State of the Union, touting various accomplishments, before moving on to the substance and primary point: the 2020 election was hacked by foreign powers and he has the evidence to back it up. Town Hall sums up the salient points:

    The documents highlight major areas of concern. Starting in 2020, Beijing carried out the largest-ever compromise of election data. Some 220 million American voters' files were meddled with by Chinese intelligence services. China signed a data exploitation unit for this project. 

   Members of the Deep State within the IC worked to suppress and downplay the scope and impact of China’s election interference. U.S. spy agencies discovered that the voter data breach in 18 states was bought, stolen, or hacked by China. That breach was kept hidden; Trump, who was still president at the time, was not informed, nor was Congress. The line was that the 2020 election was the most secure in history. 

   CIA reported in mid-2018 that the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy was to leverage all domestic and foreign elements opposed to Trump. In mid-2019, China’s approach was to undermine domestic confidence during the first Trump presidency. The Chinese government aimed to identify anti-Trump reporters and pay them large sums of money to produce stories that cast Trump in a negative light.

    The FBI obtained raw intelligence indicating that China’s activities included efforts to produce illegal ballots for Joe Biden. These were kept out of the presidential briefing. One analyst admitted to intentionally downplaying Chinese election activities. Another official stated she was running a shadow government to keep intelligence on China’s election interference away from the media and the White House. Numerous burn bags have been found. 

    Americans were lied to about the security of our election systems, including voting machines. They’re highly susceptible to attack. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and non-state actors have the ability to compromise our election infrastructure. 

    Michigan police raided a Democrat GOTV organization and were so concerned they contacted the FBI in Detroit. The documents state that canvassers signed voter registration forms in other people’s names, registered nonexistent individuals, and got paid based on the number of applications they produced. The FBI believed crimes were committed, but the Biden DOJ slow-walked and suppressed the case. 

    Trump also said they’re releasing a report from the Department of Homeland Security, where they found 270,000 noncitizens are enrolled to vote in our elections. The real number is likely higher since blue states refused to turn over their voter rolls. 

 You can view the documents here.

     Just looking at the bare bone facts and accusations above, there are two main conclusions that can be taken away from this:

1. Our foreign adversaries have hacked our elections and probably altered the outcome of the 2020 election; and,
2. The intelligence community knew of this and not only did nothing, but concealed the fact from the President and the public. 

But there is more to it than that. You probably remember the 50 intelligence officials that signed the letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop was fake. This shows that, in at least that one incident, the intelligence community actively intervened to influence the outcome of the election. We also know that they were trying to cover up what exactly went on based on the numerous burn bags that have been found which hadn't been destroyed. We can only assume that these represent only a small number of the total amount of documents and things earmarked for destruction. 

    But there is no reason to assume that it stopped with the intelligence community simply sitting back to let China do this. What comes up again and again, whether discussing the information released by Snowden about domestic spying, how the Russia dossier was arranged, and even the gain of function research carried out by Fauci, is that our government agencies often use cut-outs to do what they are not otherwise allowed to do. 

    For instance, the Five Eyes program is used to allow intelligence agencies to avoid laws prohibiting domestic spying by simply allowing a foreign intelligence agency to do the spying for them. Thus, if the NSA wants to spy on an American citizen, they simply have British or Canadian intelligence do the spying for them. 

    And we know that Fauci was doing gain of function research he was prohibited by law from doing by backdooring it through a Chinese biolab and award of contracts or grants to private companies. 

    My point with this is that we need to consider whether the intelligence community did not just bury foreign interference with U.S. elections, but actually solicited and/or directed that interference for their own ends. 

Weekend Reading #65

 Some lengthier reading for the weekend:

•  First up is Jon Low's most recent Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter. A few things that stuck out:
• Jon has linked to a 3-part series of articles by Matt Thornton entitled "The ABC’s of keeping our daughters safe." I liked this quote: "When it comes to the majority of problematic violence, masculinity is never the problem – a lack of masculine fathers in the home, is." His recipe for keeping his daughters safe is raising daughters that are (i) confident, (ii) assertive, and (iii) have mature intelligence. He goes on to explain:

Assertiveness requires confidence, and confidence in girls comes from a safe, stable, loving, connected, family environment. Where as sons need boundaries to keep in line, daughters need boundaries just to feel safe. Young girls who grow up without that feeling of safety, the kind of safety that a strong father maintains, are less likely to develop the trust and connection required to tell an adult when someone is trying to harm them. They become vulnerable to sexual predators and character-disordered creeps. They become more likely to be picked out as targets, and less likely to fight back. They become victims.

Note that leftism and feminism, if followed, creates women that will be victims. On that same note, Jon relates the following story (which he titles "Scared Bunny"):

     You need training because it will change your personality, your attitude, and of course, your behavior.  Especially, if you display scared bunny behavior.  

     Scared Bunny hears knocking on her door at 21:00.  What would you do?  Typically, you would not open your door.  You would ask, "Who is there?  What can I do for you?"  And go from there.  

     Scared Bunny does not answer the door.  She fears a home invasion.  So she calls the police.  As you might imagine, this leads to a horrible chain of events.  

     The neighbor was only trying to deliver mail that had been mistakenly delivered to his apartment.  The police charge the neighbor based on Scared Bunny's complaint.  So, the neighbor has to hire an attorney.  Huge expense.  The process is the punishment.  

     Scared Bunny complains to her friend (another resident of the apartment complex) and asks him to talk to the neighbor.  The friend thanks the neighbor for delivering the mail and tells the neighbor that in the future he may leave the mail on the welcome mat.  

     Scared Bunny calls the apartment manager to complain.  And runs her mouth (always a dangerous activity).  Mentioning that she had asked her friend, who is a firearms instructor to tell the neighbor not to bother her.  

     The apartment manager writes a letter, based on Scared Bunny's statements, telling the friend not to confront, intimidate, and threaten other residents.  And of course, that his lease is being terminated.  So he has to hire an attorney to handle the landlord-tenant action.  

     All of Scared Bunny's girlfriends tell her that she was right and that she behaved correctly.  Because Scared Bunny only associates with other Scared Bunnies.  

    Get training.  Don't be a Scared Bunny.  

The lesson here is to not unnecessarily interact with or help liberal women--they are crazy. 

• Another article Jon links to is: "He Had a Gun and Still Lost His Home Invasion Gunfight"
  by Jacob Paulsen. The gist of the story is that the dead victim had a gun, but not on him. He had to go find a gun in an upstairs bedroom. Although the victim got to his weapon and even exchanged fire with the attacker, he probably was shot trying to get his weapon. I've heard similar incidents, including one author describing a home defender shot in the back and killed as the defender was trying to open his gun safe to get to his weapon. Paulsen has a few recommendations:

• Carry on your body, even at home.
• Train for the attacker who doesn't flee.
• Know your cover. Stage it in advance.
• Have a plan for your family and the phone, not just the trigger.

•  Jon links to an article indicating that a judge is allowing a lawsuit to go ahead against the ATF for the death of Bryan Malinowski. Jon offers some thoughts about Malinowski's murder and the ATF. And, on a related note, Jon makes the following observation:

      This is why there is any support at all for "defund the police".  (Yes, it is crazy, but the effect has a cause.)  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5-uz39pAGVs  The process is the punishment and police (not the prosecutors, not the courts) initiate it.  This is why people are willing to kill cops to avoid arrest.  They know the result of being arrested:  loss of job, loss of children, loss of home, loss of reputation, etc.  And they are willing to take the risk because the probability of getting caught for the crime is about 50% (nation wide average, much lower in large cities).   

     Police alienate the good citizens by abusing their arrest powers.  False arrests directly cause protests and riots against police abuse of power under color of law.  

•  There is a lot more, so be sure to check it out, but I would leave it with this: Jon has links to a few videos addressing security and your cell phone, including a short video showing how Volkswagon spoofed the cell phones of the audience in a movie theater; how the FBI finds your real IP address even if using TOR or a VPN (and offering some solutions). I would also note the following article from PC Magazine: "A Hacker's Arrest Reveals Microsoft Can Track Users Via a Windows Device ID." From the article:

    The arrest of a teenage hacker has revealed that Microsoft can track a Windows PC and its online activity through a “Global Device ID" that seems to have no easy opt-out, sparking fears about potential surveillance. 

    Last week, the US announced it had extradited 19-year-old Peter Stokes from Europe for allegedly being a member of the notorious hacking group Scattered Spider. But the case stands out because Microsoft played a key role in linking Stokes to the suspected hacking crimes, according to an unsealed criminal complaint. 

    Stokes allegedly hacked an unnamed luxury jewelry retailer in May 2025 while using a VPN. The 39-page criminal complaint shows the FBI used Microsoft records to discover that his IP address was associated with a Microsoft device identifier known as Global Device ID (GDID). 

• Next up is Greg Ellifritz's Weekend Knowledge Dump at his Active Response Training blog.  The first thing that caught my attention was this warning from Greg (bold added): "An industry insider informed me that both Federal and Winchester will be raising their ammunition prices six percent starting August first." Moving on to the links and articles that I found the most interesting or useful:
• An article discussing different defensive shotguns and offering some advice on selecting one. Contrary to many such articles in the past, the quality control issues with Remington has led the author to recommend against the Remington 870 unless you get an older, used model.
• An article about the possibility of brain injury due to repeated, long term exposure of overpressure from using firearms. For instance, the article notes, "Twenty (20) rounds from an M4 exceed the daily recommended maximum exposure." The primary concern is shooting inside shoot houses or indoor shooting ranges; the article notes that, for instance: "Shooting outdoors cuts those waves in half. While the use of a suppressor cuts it by 70%." Large shooting glasses or goggles can also reduce pressure peaks, as well as hanging wool blankets (or tapestries?) inside the shoot house.
• An article from the CP Journal on examining the collective mood of people in a particular business or locale and using that to gauge safety.
• An article on "How to Overcome 'Condition One' Anxiety," or the anxiety that comes from carrying a weapon with a round chambered. I think the article sort of misses the point. The anxiety comes from either (i) the person carrying the weapon lacks confidence that the weapon will not go off of its own accord; or (ii) the person carrying the weapon lacks confidence that they won't do something stupid and accidentally discharge the weapon. Certainly training plays some role in overcoming this anxiety, and a good holster is always advisable, but mostly it comes from practice whether shooting the weapon, dry firing the weapon, or actually handling and carrying the weapon around. 
• A good article on astigmatism and using red dot sites. The author has some suggestions--one being as easy as focusing on the target and not the dot--but also acknowledges that a red dot simply won't work for some people, and so you may need to try something different like a prism sight.
• And, finally, "The Scourge of Teen Takeovers" from City Journal. Forget about the bleeding heart liberal slop about disadvantaged teens, food insecurity, and so on. It is the result of policy decisions by Democrats:

    Police officers, district attorneys, and sheriffs offer a different explanation for the teen takeovers: they are the consequence of a decades-long demonization of the criminal-justice system.

    Asked how the Chicago Police Department would have responded to a stampede on the Magnificent Mile before that demonization took hold, a recently retired officer with over 30 years on the force replied: “We would have cleared the streets, arrested those breaking windows, looting stores, and assaulting passersby. We would have used pepper spray, fists, and batons to restore order—all of which we did during the Bulls riots [in 1992], the Democratic National Convention in 1996, NATO, and other localized disturbances that didn’t make the news.”

    But then, he says, “the bottom fell out. Officers were cast as the enemy by eight years of Obama.” After the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, followed by those of Laquan McDonald in Chicago that same year and of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015, “we were cleaning spit off our windshields on a daily basis. We were physically attacked more during those years than at any other point in our careers.” Officers feared being sued for lawful tactics that make for bad optics.

    The cops disengaged. “We drove by the dope sellers on the corner, asked no questions of the juveniles who were clearly up to no good, and ignored the cars running stop signs and weaving through traffic.” Better just to do your eight hours and go home.

    Another retired Chicago cop recalls asking his commanders in 2010 when mobs were storming downtown: Can we make arrests? He was told: just hold the line and move them around. Even were the officers to engage, the chance that the average detained teen would face serious consequences was already low.

    In the 1990s and early 2000s, officers had a protective attitude toward business; they took responsibility for the well-being of shopkeepers and their customers, says a Chicago sergeant still on the job. “It’s different now.”

    And then, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd died while restrained by a Minneapolis officer. The country’s elites proclaimed that systemic racism had killed Floyd. Politicians and business leaders rushed to explain the ensuing firebombing of police cars and stations, the attempted murder of police officers, and the destruction of businesses as an understandable, even justifiable, reaction to police oppression.

    The post-Floyd race-riot era is largely coterminous with the Covid era: lockdowns began in late March 2020, and the riots erupted at the end of May. That overlap has allowed policing skeptics to attribute the crime spike that began in 2020 to Covid rather than to de-policing and de-prosecution. Those same skeptics now apply the argument to teen takeovers as well.

    The rest of the world again provides a useful benchmark. Other countries did not experience a comparable surge in crime beginning in 2020, just as they did not experience a wave of teen takeovers. The United States experienced both because police and prosecutors shied away further from imposing consequences on antisocial behavior.

• Finally, check out John Wilder's recent piece: "Sam Colt Made Men Equal. A.I. Won’t Even Try." He notes that historically new developments in technology initially acted as equalizers, but eventually led to an accumulation of wealth and power in those best able to take advantage of the technology. One of his examples:

    Personal computers and the early internet followed suit.  A motivated individual could reach a global audience or start a business with almost nothing but time and ingenuity.

    Barriers collapsed.

    Then the platforms that captured attention and data became trillion-dollar businesses that could control commerce and shut off channels to those with controversial opinions.

    Technology does not care about fairness.

    It amplifies existing differences in talent, effort, discipline, and capital allocation.  It lowers some barriers and erects new ones built around mastery of the new tools themselves.

AI, he argues, will have the same results.