“Banning weapons is the most white privilege idea ever. Rich liberals scoffing at the idea that a person might need to defend their own life is a tower so ivory you can’t look at it in direct sunlight. It’s the personal safety equivalent of “just have the maid do it.”
– Caleb Howe

Try “well known but – poorly – covered up, before the 2020 election”

Yes, Our President Was Senile for a Long Stretch.

On the menu today: Before we dive into the latest detailed anecdotes of President Joe Biden’s undeniable senility in his final year in office, we ought to look back at the on-the-money prediction of these all-too-late tell-all books from back in 2022. I knew this was coming and there’s an extremely good chance you knew this was coming, too. Democrats can’t wait to move on; it’s humiliating to learn Biden couldn’t function in the evenings, his staff told Democratic donors that Kamala Harris was incompetent and unelectable, and that Tim Walz was terrified of debating JD Vance. But how do you learn from a mistake if you refuse to ever admit them?

Everyone Recognizes George Clooney . . . Except Biden

The Morning Jolt, June 20, 2022:

I think the single most predictable “bombshell” of the coming years is that sometime in 2025, someone like Bob Woodward or Robert Costa will publish a book with a title like “Perpetual Crisis: Inside the Biden White House,” and we will “learn” something like:

The president’s official health report said he was in fine shape for his age. But behind the scenes, Jill Biden, Ron Klain, and Susan Rice were deeply concerned the president’s health was rapidly declining, and that he would soon be unable to perform his duties.

His speech was becoming less and less coherent, his thinking more erratic, his mood shifts more intense, and he angrily lashed out at routine advice or recommendations. He insisted he had not been told things he had been briefed on and that his wrong statements were correct. He repeatedly insisted the U.S. had committed to protecting Taiwan, when no treaty required it.

When asked about this, Biden insisted no policy had changed. At almost every public appearance, no matter how much he had been instructed to stick to the teleprompter’s prepared remarks, Biden would go off script and add some comment or outburst — like “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power!” — that undermined his message and created new foreign-policy headaches.

But the first lady, Klain, and Rice all concurred that Biden’s problems could be hidden from the public, at least for now, and that Vice President Harris taking over was unthinkable — both because it would be too traumatic for the country and because they had little faith in Harris’s ability to defeat Trump or DeSantis in 2024.

Either man entering the Oval Office in January would put nothing less than all of American democracy at risk. For the good of the country, Biden had to stay in place, and his cognitive decline hidden — much as FDR’s disability, JFK’s back pain, and Woodrow Wilson’s stroke had been hidden before. 

Biden’s public appearances grew less and less frequent, and he virtually stopped doing sit-down interviews. Late at night, Klain and Rice would get together, satisfied they had kept the ship sailing for another day. All the while, the public had no idea that Biden was in such rough shape.

Though it will be treated like a bombshell revelation, the fact is we all have eyes and ears and can see and hear Biden.

I just wish the lottery numbers were so easy to predict.

Enjoy these days of Joe Biden getting knocked around like a piñata, because after Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson have sold all the books they can, the story of the coverup of Joe Biden’s failing physical and mental health is going to disappear like the subject of a David Copperfield prime-time special. It’s just too embarrassing, too harmful to the Democrats’ priorities now, too much of a benefit to Donald Trump and Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer yesterday, on CNN:

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Trump admin reverses Biden’s gas stove ban, take aim at climate-inspired start-stop car tech

The Trump administration has slashed regulations concerning standards over the width of shower heads, bans on a swath of gas stoves, as well as other regulations for standards ruling over other household appliances that were imposed by the Department of Energy. This also comes as EPA head Lee Zeldin is taking aim at start-stop technology in cars, or the system that automatically turns off a car when it is stopped at a light to save gas.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Energy Department took sweeping actions on Monday to slash dozens of regulations for household appliances from dishwashers to dryers that were issued under former President Joe Biden. The regulations included restricted sales on certain types of gas stoves, faucets, shower heads, and microwaves.

“It should not be the government’s place to decide what kind of appliances you or your restaurants or your businesses can buy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright commented about the regulations. “Everybody wants clean air and wants to lower their energy costs and run their factories good as they can. The big hand of government doesn’t actually help that process at all.”

“We will look for every way we can to protect freedom of the American worker and pursue President Trump’s agenda, get rid of the nonsense, bring back common sense, make life more affordable, and opportunities greater,” Wright added.

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So, basically China’s version of our Nitro Zeus.
What really does interest me is whether or not they had an actual ‘Nitro’ (Direct Action – do not ask) part of that.

US Officials Find ‘Rogue’ Communication Devices in Chinese Power Inverters

Remember “Volt Typhoon?” That was the name given to a group of Chinese hackers who were identified last year by Microsoft. Volt Typhoon was a state sponsored effort to gain access to US infrastructure including communications and utilities. At the time, FBI Director Christopher Wray said this about the effort.

“The fact is, the PRC’s targeting of our critical infrastructure is both broad and unrelenting,” he said. And, he added, the immense size—and expanding nature—of the CCP’s hacking program isn’t just aimed at stealing American intellectual property. “It’s using that mass, those numbers, to give itself the ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” he said.

Here we are just over a year later and US officials are now expressing concern about another element of our energy infrastructure: solar power inverters. Solar panels generate DC power but the electrical grid runs on AC power. A solar inverter converts the DC power into AC power compatible with the grid. Many of these power inverters are made in China and now officials are finding evidence that some of them have “rogue” communications devices built in to them.

While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility companies that use them typically install firewalls to prevent direct communication back to China.

However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, the two people said….

The rogue components provide additional, undocumented communication channels that could allow firewalls to be circumvented remotely, with potentially catastrophic consequences, the two people said…

Using the rogue communication devices to skirt firewalls and switch off inverters remotely, or change their settings, could destabilise power grids, damage energy infrastructure, and trigger widespread blackouts, experts said.

“That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid,” one of the people said.

So, how this might work is the US finds itself in a conflict with China. Say, for instance, China invades Taiwan and the US attempts to stop them. Suddenly, power grids around the country start misbehaving or fail completely. This is clearly the kind of attack on domestic infrastructure that Volt Typhoon was aimed at as well.

The unnamed US officials don’t name and names but we have a pretty clear idea which Chinese companies could be involved just based market share.

Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of inverters, accounting for 29% of shipments globally in 2022, followed by Chinese peers Sungrow and Ginlong Solis, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie…

While Huawei decided to leave the U.S. inverter market in 2019 – the year its 5G telecoms equipment was banned – it remains a dominant supplier elsewhere.

Though discovered in the US, the presence of unregistered equipment has raised alarm in Europe.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), the body which represents the interests of some Europe-based PV companies, said that: “With over 200GW of Europe’s solar capacity relying on these inverters—equivalent to more than 200 nuclear power plants—the security risk is systemic.”…

Last week, PV Tech spoke to a leading European inverter manufacturer at the Intersolar Europe trade show in Munich, who said that the risk of cyberattacks to cut power supply from solar inverters was “real”, and that “it’s very clear inverter companies could switch off the grid if they want to.”

All Chinese companies are legal required to cooperate with CCP intelligence services, giving them anything they ask. So it’s not really a shock that this would happen. China has shown for years that it will attempt to exploit every opportunity to spy, steal our technology and gain control of our networks. At this point we really should just assume this is happening everywhere, all the time.

Of course, politicians (I’m pointing a finger at both the Texas House and Senate) can’t simply pass the same bill in both houses of their legislature.
It’s like they’ve never heard of email, text messages, or the telephone where they can coordinate things.

Texas House Lawmakers Pass Self-Defense, Pro-Second Amendment Measures

Texas House members have passed legislation that would strengthen Second Amendment rights and expand protections for individuals who lawfully exercise self-defense.

House Bill 170, filed by State Rep. Ryan Guillen (R–Rio Grande City), would prohibit civil actions against an individual who threatens or administers force or deadly force if a grand jury does not indict them, or if charges are dismissed or the person is acquitted.

In addition, if the person pursuing the civil action is found to be prohibited from seeking it, Guillen’s proposal would require them to pay court costs and the defendant’s attorney fees.

The measure is similar, but not identical, to Senate Bill 1730 by State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), which senators passed 26-3-2 on Monday afternoon.

Like Guillen’s measure, Hall’s would extend civil immunity protections to those who exercised self-defense and never faced grand jury charges. However, unlike Hall’s measure, Guillen’s proposal would extend immunity to those who merely “threaten” the use of force.

“This strengthens the Texas castle doctrine by extending civil immunity to individuals who lawfully threaten to use force or deadly force in self-defense, without requiring the force to actually be used,” said Guillen.

HB 170 finally passed in a 118-20-3 vote by representatives on Tuesday.

Another proposal, HB 2458 by State Rep. Wes Virdell (R–Brady), would provide a defense to prosecution for aggravated assault when an individual threatens death or serious bodily injury by displaying a deadly weapon if they:

  1. Successfully demonstrate that their threat constituted legally justified self-defense.
  2. Reasonably believed that using the deadly weapon was immediately necessary to protect themselves from aggravated assault.

The legal term “defense to prosecution” is a type of total affirmative defense. These defenses, even if the prosecution proves the elements of the crime, present additional facts that could otherwise negate the defendant’s liability.

“This is just saying that if you have to unholster your weapon while you’re acting in self-defense, then it’s a defense to prosecution,” explained Virdell.

Lawmakers passed HB 2458 in a 119-18-2 vote.

Two proposals dealing with citizens’ gun rights were also approved by representatives on Tuesday, but they faced more pushback from Democrats than those related to self-defense, with both votes splitting largely along party lines.

HB 3053, filed by Virdell, would ban local municipalities from adopting or enforcing firearm buyback programs—government initiatives intended to remove guns from circulation by purchasing the firearms.

State Rep. Gene Wu (D–Houston) pushed back on the proposal, arguing that cities should be able to decide for themselves if they want a buyback program.

While Virdell contended that cities often ignore their citizens in passing the programs, Wu argued that the buyback program in Houston was widely supported by residents.

“I have been to multiple gun buyback programs in my districts that were overwhelmingly popular—that people lined up around the block for hours and hours and hours to trade in their weapons,” said Wu.

Virdell noted that most firearms bought through the programs are not destroyed entirely, with the government auctioning off parts of the weapons to private contractors who then resell them back to the public.

“At millions of dollars per city that’s doing this, and the estimate by The Trace over the time period this has been going on is over a billion dollars right now,” said Virdell.

The measure passed 85-56-2.

HB 1794, filed by State Rep. Carl Tepper (R–Lubbock), would permit those with a license to carry (LTC) to bear concealed handguns at certain polling locations, unless carrying at the location is otherwise prohibited by state law.

Primary or secondary schools are examples of polling locations at which Tepper’s proposal would not apply.

“I would also like to add here that private property owners get to keep their own policies,” said Tepper. “So, if the grocery store doesn’t allow handguns, the polling place will also not be allowed to have handguns.”

Tepper’s measure passed 83-50-2.

All four of the measures will now be sent to senators, who have increasingly limited time to read over and consider the hundreds of measures that representatives have stacked up for them.

We already have that in Missouri

Texas Senators Approve Measure Strengthening Right to Self-Defense
While Texas is already a castle doctrine state, individuals whom a grand jury declines to prosecute may still face civil action after exercising self-defense.

Texas senators have approved a measure strengthening the state’s protections for justified use of force or deadly force in self-defense situations.

Senate Bill 1730, filed by State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood), passed 26-3-2 on Monday.

The measure would prevent a claimant from recovering civil damages for personal injury or death if a grand jury has declined to pursue, thrown out, or acquitted the defendant of criminal charges.

In addition, if the claimant is found to be prohibited from seeking civil action, the proposal would require them to pay court costs and the defendant’s attorney fees.

Hall explained when laying out the measure before lawmakers that Texas is a castle doctrine state, meaning individuals are permitted to use force or deadly force in order to defend themselves on their own property.

“However, under current Texas law, individuals may file civil lawsuits seeking damages for personal injury or death resulting from the use of force or deadly force, even in cases where the defendants’ actions have been deemed lawful in a criminal proceeding,” claimed Hall.

The senator further argued that the current system creates “a substantial financial and emotional burden” for defendants who are faced with lawsuits after having already been cleared of criminal charges.

State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt (D–Austin) pointed out that the standards for civil and criminal actions are different, with criminal action requiring proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” and civil action having lesser standards.

Hall said that, although he is not an attorney and could not speak on Eckhardt’s comments directly, the intent of his measure is to “protect someone who has acted lawfully in their home … from an arduous civil case.”

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SOMEONE SHOULD BE FIRED AFTER CNN ANALYST GOES ON RACIST RANT AGAINST WHITE AFRIKANERS

Things got wild on CNN on Monday night after a former Obama staffer and current CNN analyst decided to go on a racist rant over President Donald Trump admitting 48 South African refugees.

As RedState has reported, South Africa’s ruling party has infamously made singing “Kill the Boer,” which translates to “kill the farmer,” a staple of their political rallies. For context, the song specifically refers to white farmers (Afrikaners) and dates back to the country’s apartheid days. Laws to confiscate their land and extra-judicial killings have taken center stage over the last several years.

For some reason, though, that has greatly offended Democrats, who have finally found refugees they do not want to admit into the country. Funny how that works, right? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. On the other hand, here’s Ashley Allison making it clear that it’s not one.

ALLISON: So if the Afrikaners don’t actually like the land, they can leave that country. 

JENNINGS: They are. They’re leaving to come here. These refugees are coming here.

ALLISON: No, they can leave and go to where their native land is, which is probably Germany or…

JENNINGS: Are you against them coming here?

PANELIST: Holland…

ALLISON: Holland, yes. 

JENNINGS: Are you against them coming here? 

ALLISON: I’m against the hypocrisy of this administration…

JENNINGS: No, no, that’s not the question. The question is are you against them coming here. 

ALLISON: If there was actually a genocide happening like there is other places in Sudan and the Congo, I would not, I’m not opposed for Congolese and for the Sudanese to come to Africa [America?] just like I’m not opposed to Venzualans and South Americans coming to America if they are fleeing and looking for asylum. What I am against…

JENNINGS: So just these 50 people, you’re against…

ALLISON: What I am against is that they are being given special treatment when there is not a genocide happening in South Africa, and they just don’t like the law of the land!

What an absolutely deranged thing to say on so many levels. Imagine, for a moment, if a Republican CNN panelist told black Americans that they can “leave and go to where their native land is” if they don’t like laws that physically and financially persecute them. Do you imagine that person would still have a job right now? Heck, they kicked Ryan James Girdusky off the air permanently for making a beeper joke about terrorist-supporter Mehdi Hasan, and the conservative commentator chimed in to provide this bit of insight on Allison’s rampant racism.

It should also be mentioned that pretending all South American refugees are legitimate and worthy of entry while singling out these South Africans is completely transparent. Most of the illegal aliens who crossed the border and claimed asylum were economic migrants. At no point did Allison have a problem with that or decry the standards by which they were being admitted. Let some white farmers with hundreds of years of lineage in Africa show up, and suddenly she wants to proclaim only the persecutions she approves of count. There’s no good explanation for that except that she’s exactly what she appears to be, which is a blatant racist.

Understand that as much as Trump brought these Afrikaners over to help them, he also did it because he knew Democrats would react like this and expose themselves. He threw the bait out there, and they gobbled it up because they just can’t help themselves. Meanwhile, CNN is just fine with racism on their airwaves as long as it comes from the “right” people.

South African Government Releases Terrifyingly Chilling Statement on Fleeing White Afrikaners

The case of around 50 white Afrikaner refugees from South Africa has turned the political discourse upside down. After years of never finding a migrant they didn’t approve of, Democrats and their press allies are suddenly greatly offended that President Donald Trump would dare grant asylum to a statistically insignificant number of people.

On CNN, former Obama campaign official and current analyst Ashley Allison went on a racist rant, proclaiming they should go back to “Germany” if they don’t like the “law of the land” of being persecuted financially and physically. Notably, Afrikaners, who migrated to South Africa some 400 years ago, aren’t from Germany, nor would Allison ever suggest that about any other racial group in any other country.

But while the left was busy taking the bait and going out on a limb by claiming that granting refugee status wasn’t justified, South Africa’s government came right out and said the quiet part out loud.

Here’s the key line.

What the instigators of this falsehood seek is not safety, but impunity from transformation. They flee not from persecution, but from justice, equality, and accountability for historic privilege.

Reading that sent a chill down my spine. These are people whose ancestors have been in South Africa for nearly half a millennium. They are as much South Africans as black Americans are Americans, which is to say, fully. To claim they are fleeing “transformation” while citing “justice” and “accountability for historic privilege” is terrifyingly Orwellian. Everyone knows exactly what that means, which is the continued ethnic cleansing that has been endorsed by South Africa’s ruling party.

At this point, the United States should not even consider reopening diplomatic ties with South Africa (the ambassador to the U.S. was expelled in March). The Trump administration should likewise pressure Europe into speaking out or face consequences. They have sat idly by, ignoring the forcible seizure of land and extra-judicial killings committed under the guise of punishing “historic privilege” simply because it’s been coming from an African government.

If this were Russia, they’d all be denouncing it, and everyone knows it. The color of someone’s skin should not dictate whether they are treated fairly as refugees, and assuming that just because someone is white, they couldn’t possibly be facing persecution is grotesque.

Make no mistake. This is what “equity” initiatives inevitably lead to, whether they are carried out in South Africa or Western nations. It’s never enough for everyone to ensure everyone has equal rights. Eventually, you end up with the seizure of money and property to pay for “reparations” and worse, punishing people for things their ancestors did hundreds of years in the past. The next time someone questions the dangers of DEI and why the right has fought so hard against it, just point to South Africa and what’s happening to the Afrikaners.

Senators Grassley, Ernst on Warpath v. ATF in Letter to Bondi

Alleging a pattern of “gross and substantial waste, fraud and abuse, as well as potentially criminal false certification of government records and whistleblower retaliation” involving two senior officials at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst want Attorney General Pamela Bondi to take “immediate corrective action.”

In a letter to Bondi, Acting ATF Director Daniel Driscoll and Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Lauria, who heads the Justice Department’s Administration Justice Management Division, Grassley and Ernst assert their previous efforts during the Biden administration went essentially unanswered.

“The Biden administration’s ATF illegally lined employees’ pockets with tens-of-millions of taxpayer dollars,” Grassley said in a joint statement. “These Washington bureaucrats must answer for their misconduct, and if heads don’t roll, nothing will change. Without the continued persistence of brave whistleblowers, ATF’s illegal scheme would’ve likely continued. As always, sunshine is the best disinfectant. Attorney General Pam Bondi should take strong action to hold these Biden-era pencil pushers accountable and end the fraudulent waste at ATF.”

Named in their letter and statement are ATF Senior Executive Lisa Boykin and Justice Management Division (JMD) Acting Deputy Director of Human Resources (HR) Ralph Bittelari.

According to their May 9 letter to Bondi, both GOP senators recall their request for the ATF Internal Affairs Division (IAD) report and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Human Capital Management Evaluation (HCME) audit report, following allegations about ATF’s “illegal scheme to misclassify human resources (HR) and other administrative positions as law enforcement, which was substantiated by the Office of Special Counsel.”

In our previous letters, we requested the agencies provide us with the ATF Internal Affairs Division (IAD) report and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Human Capital Management Evaluation (HCME) audit report.

“The IAD report was completed on January 5, 2024,” the Grassley-Ernst letter notes, “and it highlights considerable evidence of gross waste, fraud, and abuse; substantial misconduct and mismanagement; abuse of power; and potential criminal misconduct…”

The ATF has been under intense criticism for many years, especially for activities during the past four years under the Biden administration’s “zero tolerance” policy against firearms retailers. Even small paperwork errors were targeted, critics have asserted. It was part of the Biden administration’s alleged “weaponization” of federal agencies against gun dealers and gun owners.

As evidence of how bad feelings on Capitol Hill have been running against the ATF, in January Republican Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri, introduced H.R. 129, known as the “Abolish the ATF Act.” The legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Mike Collins (GA-10), Bob Onder (MO-03), Andy Ogles (TN-05), Mary Miller (IL-15), Keith Self (TX-03), and Paul Gosar (AZ-09). It was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

Grassley and Ernst asked Bondi for a response by May 23 to include “the strategy the Justice Department will take in addressing the issues raised in this letter, as well as answers to our January 30, 2024 and September 23, 2024 letters.”

Homeowner kills man with ax trying to break in

DUPLIN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – No charges have been filed after Duplin County deputies say a man was shot and killed while trying to break into a home Sunday morning.

It happened on Sheffield Road near Magnolia around 6:30 a.m.

Deputies were told David White was using an ax, trying to break in through the back door.

A news release says the homeowners fired multiple shots through the door, hitting White. Deputies say they found the man lying on his back at the bottom of the steps with multiple gunshot wounds.

They say a large ax and other weapons were near White’s body.

Deputies say after consulting with the D.A.’s office, no charges are being brought against the homeowners at this time.

Menendez Brothers Have Murder Sentence Reduced & Are Now Eligible For Parole

Erik and Lyle Menendez, who have served roughly 35 years of a life-without-parole prison sentence for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills, were re-sentenced today to 50 years to life, immediately making them eligible for parole.

The decision by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic does not automatically mean the pair will be released from prison. They will have to appear before a parole board, which will recommend whether they should be available for parole. The recommendation would then go to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who could reject their release.

More to come…

It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.
— Justice Robert H. Jackson