Emails Show Biden State Department Sought to Protect China During Spy-Balloon Fiasco.

With so much domestic rancor going on as the next election season heats up, it’s worth remembering that there are serious foreign policy issues to deal with. It’s also worth remembering that the Biden administration is doing its level best to screw every single one of them up.

A new report backed by leaked emails and inside sources is shedding light on a shocking policy Joe Biden is pursuing in regard to China. According to Reuters, during the Chinese spy balloon fiasco that captivated the nation in early 2023, embattled Secretary of State Antony Blinken was actually seeking to protect the communists.

When an alleged Chinese spy balloon traversed the United States in February, some U.S. officials were confident the incursion would galvanize the U.S. bureaucracy to push forward a slate of actions to counter China.

Instead, the U.S. State Department held back human rights-related sanctions, export controls and other sensitive actions to try to limit damage to the U.S.-China relationship, according to four sources with direct knowledge of U.S. policy, as well as internal emails seen by Reuters.…

Rick Waters, deputy assistant secretary of State for China and Taiwan who leads the China House policy division, said in a Feb. 6 email to staff that has not been previously reported: “Guidance from S (Secretary of State) is to push non-balloon actions to the right so we can focus on symmetric and calibrated response. We can revisit other actions in a few weeks.”

The sources said many measures have yet to be revived. The decision to postpone export licensing rules for telecom equipment maker Huawei and sanctions against Chinese officials for abuses of Uyghurs, has damaged morale at China House, they said.

In other words, instead of punishing China for its insanely provocative violation of US airspace and sovereignty, Blinken had his lackeys pause major human rights and trade measures. That included already planned actions to sanction Chinese tech companies like Huawei and to combat China’s genocide of the Uyghurs.

It gets worse. Though the buck stops with Blinken, he apparently farmed out US policy toward China to Wendy Sherman, his second-in-command.

Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, they said Blinken had largely delegated China policy duties to Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the United States’ second ranked diplomat.

Who is Wendy Sherman? She’s the China-loving official who led the lobbying effort against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of 2021. So not only is Blinken derelict in his duties by passing off the biggest US foreign policy issue in existence to an underling, but he gave those duties to someone with a long history of being suspiciously soft on the Chinese.

Sherman was also at the forefront of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, infamously proclaiming that the “Taliban seek legitimacy.” If there’s a diplomat with worse instincts, I’m not sure who it would be. Sherman is just terrible and has managed to be on the wrong side of just about every major foreign policy issue she’s been involved with.

But as I’ve speculated in the past, it’d be a mistake to chalk all this up to sheer incompetence. The Biden administration continually operates as if it is bought and paid for by the Chicoms. From COVID to economics, the Chinese are allowed to dominate. It’s long past time for people to start asking why.

Man shot, killed near Harry Reid International Airport after attempted carjacking

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A person was shot and killed near the Harry Reid International Airport on Wednesday afternoon after placing graffiti, running from officers, and possibly attempting a carjacking, according to the Las Vegas Metro police.

Officers were patrolling in the area around Paradise and Russell roads, when they observed a white four-door Mercedes with spray paint on it at around 1:20 p.m., Lt. Jason Johansson said.

A few minutes later, those officers received a call that a man in a vehicle matching that description that was placing graffiti in the area of Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue. The officers then found that vehicle at University Center Drive and Hacienda Avenue.

When they arrived, the driver had exited the vehicle and was spray painting a wall while wearing a mask. When confronted by officers, he removed his mask and threw his spray paint can down before running away.

Officers observed that he had a gun in his hand. The suspect went over the barrier onto traffic on Paradise Road. He left the officers’ sight shortly before they heard two gunshots.

When he entered traffic on Paradise Road, he immediately began pointing a gun at passing cars, stopping a silver vehicle. He pointed his gun at the person who was driving the vehicle, a man in his 50s. That driver was armed and shot the suspect.

The driver appears to be the victim of a possible carjacking, and at this time is not facing any charges, Johansson said.

Officers found the suspect, described as a man in his 30s, shot on the ground. He was taken to Sunrise Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

I believe that every individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other men’s rights.
— ABRAHAM LINCOLN

May 12

1551 – The National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.

1780 – In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

1846 – The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California.

1865 – More than a month after General Robert E Lee surrendered his Confederate forces at Appomattox Court House, the last battle of the civil war begins at Palmito Ranch, east of Brownsville, Texas along the banks of the Rio Grande river, even though the commanders of both sides had been informed of the surrender.

1926 – On a flight from from Ny-Ålesund at Svalbard Norway, to Teller, Alaska, the Italian built dirigible Norge, piloted by Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Umberto Nobile becomes the first aircraft to fly over the North Pole.

1932 – Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is found dead near Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the family home.

1933 – The Agricultural Adjustment Act, which restricted agricultural production through government purchase of livestock for slaughter and paying subsidies to farmers when they remove land from planting, is signed into law by President Roosevelt.

1942 – During World War II, the U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.

1949 – Thwarted by the western nation’s continuous airlift of supplies to the city from the previous June, the Soviet Union lifts its failed blockade of Berlin.

1989 – A runaway Southern Pacific freight train derailment on Duffy Street in San Bernardino, California kills 4 people.

2002 – Former President Carter arrives in Cuba for a 5 day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first President, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.

2003 – al Qaeda terrorists attack a foreign worker’s compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 26 people including 9 U.S. citizens.

2008 – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers conduct the largest ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting  398 illegal aliens.

2015 – An  Amtrak Northeast Regional train derailment in Philadelphia kills 8 people and injures more than 200.

Fraser v. ATF
Judge strikes down the federal law banning FFL handgun sales to young adults, saying that doing otherwise “would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantees.”

gov.uscourts.vaed.524643.47.0

Ordinary Men Will Save Our 2nd Amendment

U.S.A. — The 2nd Amendment is one of the most important barriers to tyranny. Our Founders knew that he who has the guns, has the power. The fight for those guns, between those who want control and those who want to preserve freedom, has become especially fierce in recent decades. The enemies of freedom have become much craftier and have been able to use the legal system to their advantage in many cases. However, every once in a while, ordinary men do extraordinary things and often don’t realize the impact on future generations they will have.

In the Bruen case out of New York State, an extraordinary new precedent was created when Judge Clarence Thomas declared gun laws must meet “historical tradition.” Did he know the impact he would have? Did he know that he would be giving the 2nd Amendment new life?

Let’s go back a bit further to two men named Brandon Koch and Robert Nash. Koch and Nash were denied their concealed carry permit in the State of New York because they did not show “proper cause” according to the State. The State of New York had decided, despite the 2nd Amendment, that they would be the authority to which New York residence would plead their case and request permission to carry a gun outside their home. The anti-gun group The Giffords Law Center agreed that licenses are only granted to individuals who show “proper cause,” which means applicants must “demonstrate a special need for self-defense.” The irony of course would be in whom would determine the parameters of “special need” and “proper clause.”

You’ve heard the anti-gun crowd use terms like, “nobody needs to carry a gun in public,” or “nobody needs an AR 15,” or “Nobody needs ten rounds to kill a deer.” The word “need’ is used to get people comfortable with the idea that rights are not actually rights but government issued privileges measured by a metric of need that Democrat legislatures will determine. The New York legislature literally wrote “need” into law when they implemented the “proper cause” requirement. New York Citizens would now be required to demonstrate a compelling “need” prior to being allowed the “privilege” of exercising a “right.” God granted the right to self-defense, New York Democrats believed they can take it away.

Brandon Koch and Robert Nash had a different understanding of rights and privileges and proceeded to take on the fight of their lives. In the process, reminding all those who were watching why it is important for ordinary men to stand up in the face of tyranny. With help from the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, the nearly 8-year process to shut down the State’s overreach had begun.

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Missouri: Time Running Out for Self-Defense Bill

The 2023 legislative session will soon draw to a close and the critical self-defense bill, House Bill 282, has still not been brought to the floor for a vote. Please contact Senate Majority Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin by phone, at 573-751-7985, and by clicking the button below, to ask her to please bring HB 282 to the floor for a vote.

House Bill 282 repeals arbitrary “gun-free zones” that do nothing to hinder criminals, while leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless. It removes the prohibition on law-abiding citizens carrying firearms for self-defense on public transit property and in vehicles. This ensures that citizens with varying commutes throughout their day, and of various economic means, are able to exercise their Second Amendment rights and defend themselves.

The bill also repeals the prohibition in state law against carrying firearms for self-defense in places of worship. This empowers private property owners to make such decisions regarding security on their own, rather than the government mandating a one-size-fits-all solution.

Again, please contact Senate Majority Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin and ask her to please bring HB 282 to the floor for a vote.

but anyway, this is grandstanding because the demoncraps in the Senate won’t pass it and SloJoe out of partisan spite would veto it.

Federal Stand Your Ground Measure Coming Soon
While many states recognize the right to self-defense, there isn’t a national recognition of stand your ground measures. Hopefully, that will change soon.

We told you last month about how the Washington Post was trying to resurrect the debate over “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) laws even when the example the newspaper focused on wasn’t even a case involving SYG. What those anti-gun “journalists” at the Post didn’t realize was that their resurrection of the “debate” topic has fueled a fire on the other side of the gun-control movement, with two strongly pro-freedom federal lawmakers now planning to introduce a national Stand Your Ground measure in Congress.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, plan to introduce the measure soon. If passed, it would allow the use of deadly force to prevent “death or great bodily harm” without the duty to retreat that is still on the books in some states.

“States like Oklahoma and Florida recognize that in some cases, the use of lethal force is justified to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm,” Sen. Mullin said in a news release announcing the measure. “Every American should have the right to defend himself or herself against imminent threats to personal safety without the duty to retreat.

“I’m proud to introduce the Stand Your Ground Act in the Senate to codify these common-sense self-defense protections for all law-abiding Americans.”

The legislation specifically states: “A person is justified in using, threatening, or attempting to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using, threatening, or attempting to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses, threatens, or attempts to use deadly force in accordance with this paragraph does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using, threatening, or attempting to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.”

The topic of Stand Your Ground came to the forefront recently when an elderly Missouri homeowner shot a young black man who allegedly came to the homeowner’s door mistakenly because of going to the wrong address. The incident had little to do with SYG and more to do with Castle Doctrine laws, yet many in the media used it as an excuse to trash SYG laws in the 30 states that have them on the books.

Two other incidents—one in New York, the other in Texas—shortly after the Missouri shooting caused further media consternation about SYG, even though such laws also weren’t applicable in either of those cases. Rep. Gaetz apparently took the sudden assault on SYG laws as an indicator that something needed to be done nationally, spawning his decision to author such a measure in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he serves on the Judiciary Committee.

“Every American has the right to defend themselves and their loved ones from an attacker,” Gaetz said. “If someone tries to kill you, you should have the right to return fire and preserve your life.”

It’s time to reaffirm in law what exists in our Constitution and in the hearts of our fellow Americans. We must abolish the legal duty of retreat everywhere.”

Who wants more “gun-free” zones?

You must have seen the news stories about the attack outside a shopping mall in Texas. If you didn’t read the whole article, at least you scanned the headlines. It was awful that innocent people were attacked and many were killed. In response, some gun-control politicians said we should have more gun-free zones. That makes good headlines, and “gun-free” zones have the support of a surprising group of people. Like us, they just want to feel safe as they go about their business. Maybe you feel the same way, so let’s see if you agree.

Everyone wants to feel a degree of safety. Unfortunately, what makes one person feel safe might make the next person feel at risk. Let’s slow down and look at gun-free zones one step at a time.

We agree that it is easy to put up a plastic sign. Unfortunately, that thin plastic decal on a window doesn’t stop a murderer’s bullet. It might protect the business owner from legal liability, but does it do anything else? Come to think of it, the “sign” doesn’t even need to be a real object that is posted near the business’s doorway. It can be the words “No weapons allowed.” on the mall owner’s website somewhere. Does that make you feel safer?

I’m skeptical that the words on a website will stop a criminal. I don’t think that criminals check websites before they choose where to attack us.

Maybe you want real physical signs that say “No Guns Allowed” outside of every door. Maybe you want the business owner to wand everyone who enters the store just like they do to the audience at a rock concert. That means they need a security team at every entrance whenever the business is open. Maybe that means that there can only be one entrance. That sounds safer too. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out too well in practice.

One of our largest mass-murders was at a bar with two off-duty police officers who were checking people at the front entrance. The murderer shot his way inside past the guards. Once the murderer was inside, there was no way for the unarmed victims to escape. That attack went on for hours.

Maybe the facts don’t matter because we’re talking about what feels better. Maybe you want everyone disarmed because it makes you nervous to think that there are people around you who have guns. You are not alone.

Some people feel exactly the same way. I’ve read about them and how they felt. I’ve studied them. These people felt much safer where ordinary citizens were disarmed. They searched out “gun-free” zones. They were mass-murderers looking for easy victims.

Mass-murderers intensely search for “gun-free” zones so they can murder at will.

I’m not that smart, but even I can see a pattern here-

  • We saw mass murderers deliberately attack us in theaters that were called “gun-free” zones.
  • They attacked us at county fairs that were called “gun-free” zones.
  • They attacked us in secure areas of airports that were called “gun-free” zones.
  • They attacked us in bars and restaurants that were called “gun-free” zones.
  • They attacked us in churches that were called “gun-free” zones.
  • Mass-murderers attacked us in grocery stores in towns where the police chief and sheriffs made sure that ordinary honest citizens were disarmed.
  • Mass-murderers also attacked us in schools that were called “gun-free” zones, and that is an interesting test case.

Schools are frequent targets of mass-murderers, but we have never seen a mass-murderer attempt to attack a school that had a program to train and arm school staff. I think that tells us a lot. It says that mass-murderers feel safer in “gun-free” zones. That certainly makes sense from their point of view, but it leaves us with other questions.

Why do people who are not mass-murderers feel safer in a gun free zone?

I’m not sure, but I have a guess. We know that mass-murderers target us in “gun-free” zones. The people who are afraid of guns would rather face the remote risk of a mass-murderer than be around their harmless neighbors who might be armed.

If I’m right, then that tells us a lot about the people who are afraid of their neighbors, but it doesn’t tell us much about guns.

Attempted carjacking in Dallas ends in shooting, one suspect killed

DALLAS — A man is dead after an attempted carjacking ended with a shooting Wednesday at an Oak Cliff gas station

The incident happened outside the Quick Trip on S. R. L. Thornton Freeway at Glen Oaks Crossing in Oak Cliff. Police say three suspects attempted to rob a man at gunpoint, who then shot two of them in self-defense.

“I’d seen a youngster grab another youngster and put him in the car. But his feet was still hanging out. They drove off and tried to make a turn but the door was still open,” said William Hughes, who was standing nearby when the shooting happened.

The suspects sped from the scene. The group drove to Methodist Charlton Hospital, where investigators said one of the suspects died from his injuries. Police said the other suspects sustained non-life threatening injuries and are currently in custody.

Some people who live in the area said neither the attempted carjacking nor the shooting is surprising.

“Oh man, there’s always problems in this area,” Anthony Walker said. “I mean, the violence is always. Just last night, you had the helicopters flying around looking for people, you know.”

Police said the victim drove to his home and called 911.

The Dallas Police Department said this investigation is ongoing.

Federal judge upholds constitutionality of law against possessing guns without serial numbers
Judge William Martínez agreed that guns lacking serial numbers are not ‘typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes’

Although a major U.S. Supreme Court decision last year made it easier to strike down gun safety regulations as unconstitutional, a federal judge agreed on Monday that a law banning the possession of guns that lack serial numbers does not run afoul of the Second Amendment.

Within months of his indictment for possessing a firearm with an “obliterated” serial number in Denver, Jonathan Avila moved for dismissal of the criminal charge, arguing the law violated his constitutional right to bear arms.

But in a May 8 order, U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez disagreed, noting the Supreme Court has interpreted the Second Amendment as protecting the right to own weapons for the lawful purpose of self-defense.

“Reason and the experience of law enforcement counsel is that obliterating a firearm’s serial number serves another purpose: making the identity of a person who possesses a particular firearm more difficult to determine,” Martínez wrote. “This feature makes firearms with obliterated serial numbers useful for criminal activity.”

Consequently, he determined guns lacking serial numbers are not within the Second Amendment’s protection.

Martínez is one of many federal judges who have had to grapple with the fallout from the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. The court’s conservative majority voided New York’s licensing regime for the public carry of weapons, but also laid down a new legal framework for analyzing the constitutionality of gun regulations broadly.

The government, when defending the constitutionality of a firearm law, “must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas for the majority.

He added that if a law addresses a “general societal problem that has persisted since the 18th century,” the lack of a regulation from the 1700s comparable to a modern restriction is “relevant evidence” that current policies are unconstitutional.

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Comment O’ The Day
As with electric cars, the environmental benefits of fake meat are more claimed than proven.

Eat Meat! (2)

In today’s developed world, average people can achieve a higher standard of living than has ever before been possible. In fact, the difference between an “elite” standard of living and that enjoyed by people of average, or a little more than average, means, has dwindled to near-insignificance. It is fair to say that today, an “elite” American has little more chance of living a satisfying and happy life than the average American.

Our “elites” consider this situation intolerable, a fact that explains much of our current political turmoil. Liberals are trying to drive down the standard of living for all Americans. True, their own standards will suffer slightly. But if you are a multi-millionaire, how much do you care if your electricity bill doubles? The salient fact is that a general decline in standards of living will increase the disparity between the “elite” and the rest of us. That, I think, is the goal of many liberal policies, and the main reason why most rich people are liberals.

Today, a person of ordinary means can toss some steaks on the grill on Memorial Day. That is a good thing, in most people’s opinion, but it galls “elite” leftists, who eat steak themselves but are annoyed that the rest of us can afford to do so, too. Hence the Left’s war on meat, the point of which is to drive up prices so that they can afford steak, pork chops, bacon, etc., but you can’t.

As always, “the environment,” in the form of CO2 emissions, is the excuse. But does that actually make any sense? One of the alternatives to cows, pigs and chickens is lab-grown meat, which has been touted as an environmentally-friendly substitute for the real thing. But a recent study casts doubt on that claim:

Lab-grown meat has been touted as a way to save the planet, but a new study suggests its green credentials are not as solid as many believe.

Researchers have revealed that lab-grown or ‘cultured’ meat, produced by cultivating animal cells, is up to 25 times worse for the climate than real beef.

Which is to say, it produces up to 25 times the CO2 emissions. What are we talking about here?

Lab-grown meat is different from plant-based ‘meat’, which is not meat at all but uses vegan ingredients such as vegetable protein to replicate the look and taste of real meat.

Lab-grown or ‘cultured’ meat is generally seen as more ethical than real meat because it requires a sample of body tissue rather than the death of the animal, although many vegans and vegetarians will not touch it because it is made of animal.

I won’t touch it either, but not for these reasons:

In the study, the scientists estimated the energy required for stages of lab-grown meat’s production, from the ingredients making up the growth medium and the energy required to power laboratories, and compared this with beef.

They largely focused on the quantity of growth medium components, including glucose, amino acids, vitamins, growth factors, salts and minerals.

They found the global warming potential of lab-grown meat ranged from 246 to 1,508 kg of CO2 equivalent per kilogram of lab-grown meat, which is four to 25 times greater than the average global warming potential of retail beef.

Whatever. If it didn’t come from a cow, a pig, a sheep, or a fowl or fish, I don’t want to eat it.

And scientists are pushing back against the Left’s attack on meat:

[T]he war on meat is only just getting going – and it has some very powerful supporters. ESG (environmental, social and governance) rankings and corporate social responsibility checklists reward companies for creating vegan products, even if nobody buys them. Meat taxes are being considered to price it out of our reach. The Dutch government is spending €25bn (£22bn) to buy out its livestock farmers and close down their farms. But it’s all based on some very dubious pseudoscience.

Now the scientific establishment has begun to fight back. Last month, over 900 scientists signed the Dublin Declaration, a milestone in the defence of livestock farming. The declaration explains how ruminants, such as cows and sheep, rescue marginal land.

“Well-managed livestock systems applying agro-ecological principles can generate many other benefits, including carbon sequestration, improved soil health, biodiversity, watershed protection and the provision of important ecosystem services.” They add that a drastic reduction in animals “could actually incur environmental problems on a large scale”. It will also hurt three billion of the world’s poorest, who could use the iron and protein that comes from real meat.

Plus, meat is nutritious, and it tastes good. The author of the Telegraph piece explains the war on meat with a classical reference:

I wonder if even the most compelling rational arguments for meat will wilt when faced with such furious medieval zealotry. The motivation is not really saving the climate, or concerns about nitrogen – it’s simply that something so nutritious and delicious should be being enjoyed at all.

As Macauley wrote of the Puritans: they “hated bear-baiting not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.”

Exactly. The spectators here being ordinary people who can afford to buy meat. In the eyes of our “elites,” that can’t be allowed to continue.

We Have to Talk About the Texas Shooter’s Deeply Weird Origins.

There’s a lot about the Texas shooter that doesn’t add up and that the mainstream media doesn’t want to talk about.

Was the Texas Shooter Some Kind of Fed?

Texas Shooter
(Via social media.)

I have to admit I hesitated for a couple of days before tackling this story. Texas has barely even begun to mourn after Saturday’s terror, and here’s some new media columnist going all conspiracy nut over the Texas shooter’s weird origins.

But every time I look, the story just gets weirder — and, of course, the mainstream media won’t touch it.

So here we are.

The Texas shooter “posted pro-white supremacist and neo-Nazi materials,” according to an FBI bulletin, and by now everyone is aware that the man who murdered eight people and wounded several more had various Nazi tattoos. By the looks of the swelling (see above), the SS lightning slashes ink might be new, depending on the age of the photograph. He also showed off a bulletproof vest with “Punisher” patches and another patch with “RWDS” on it. That stands for Right Wing Death Squad.

(That National Socialism is a leftwing ideology is a subject previously discussed ad infinitum.)

In some ways, it’s all a little too convenient. In others, it’s all too weird.

As inevitably happens after one of these deadly attacks, some took to social media to question whether the alleged neo-Nazi was actually a neo-Nazi. The BBC on Tuesday attempted to dispel such notions… but, after reading the Beeb’s article, I came away for the first time suspicious:

The BBC has examined the material and we can be confident the suspect was the person behind the posts.

Garcia appeared to use the account, on a social network popular in Russia, as an online diary. He posted multiple documents including his name, date of birth and other identifying details, including a plane ticket, a speeding ticket and an ID card.

Zero followers on a Russian social media site? Personal documents including his I.D.? As Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Readers™ know, I’m usually the first to dismiss a conspiracy theory. But if the feds wanted to put something incriminating on social media where no one would find it — until it was convenient to do so — that’s not such a bad way to do it.

Then there’s this from Andy Ngo, whose honest reporting has landed him in hot water more than once:

An anonymous Twitter account (with a paid-for blue check) with the handle Insurrection Barbie put all the mysteries together in bullet points:

  • Hispanic man
  • praised the trans shooter who shot up the christian school
  • has a social media account on a Russian website (wtf)
  • loves Hitler but also a fan and follower of Libs of Tik Tok, who btw is Jewish
  • hates LGBTQIA but he shot up an outlet mall, which is a place that typically has housewives and families
  • he was not targeting anyone he just shot at whoever was in range
  • obtained his weapon illegally if he was in fact dishonorably discharged
  • Neo Nazi white supremacist who is not white

We’re left with lots of questions but few answers, despite all the information that’s been made available so quickly.

I’d just add that we were told an awful lot about the Texas shooter’s motivations within 48 hours of his crimes but we still aren’t allowed to see the Tennessee trans shooter’s manifesto nearly two months after she murdered six.

If you need me, I’ll be watching YouTube videos on how to fashion a functioning tinfoil hat.

May 11

1792 – After completing the first circumnavigation by an American, merchant sea captain Robert Gray commands the first expedition to sail up the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest

1846 – Following years of dispute over the annexation of the Republic of Texas and nearby territorial claims, President James K. Polk asks Congress for a Declaration of War against Mexico.

1865 – Confederate Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson surrenders at Jacksonport, Arkansas.

1858 – Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd state of the United States.

1889 – Carrying an Army payroll of over $28,000 in gold and silver from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas, Arizona, Major Joseph Wham and an escort of 11 soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment are attacked by bandits who make off with the money after wounding most of the detail during a lengthy gun fight. Even so, 2 of the defending soldiers, Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays are awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions under fire.

1900 – Fighting on Coney Island, James J. ‘The Boilermaker’ Jeffries KOs James J. ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett in 23 rounds to take the heavyweight boxing championship.

1910 – Glacier National Park in Montana is established by act of Congress.

1943 – During World War II, U.S. troops invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.

1945 – During World War II, while supporting invasion forces off the coast of Okinawa, despite massive screening anti-aircraft fire from the cruiser CL-64 USS Vincennes, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill is hit by two Mitsubishi Zero fighters in a kamikaze attack, killing 393 sailors and airmen and wounding 264 more.

1949 – United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273 is adopted to admit the State of Israel to membership in the United Nations.

1953 – An F5 force tornado hits Waco Texas, killing 114 people and causing $39 million in damage, while an F4 force tornado hits San Angelo Texas, killing 13 people and causing $3.4 million in damage.

1960 – SS Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann is captured by the Mossad in Argentina and returned to Israel to stand trial on charges of committing war crimes for devising the Holocaust during World War II.

1970 – An F5 force tornado hits central Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 people and causing $250 million in damage.

1973 – Citing government misconduct, District Judge Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr, dismisses Daniel Ellsberg’s espionage charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times.

1987 –SD Hauptsturmführer Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon, France for World War II war crimes for deporting people in France to Death Camps in Poland and personally torturing prisoners.

1996 – ValuJet flight 592, a Douglas DC-9,  crashes in the Florida Everglades 10 minutes after departure from Miami, due to a fire started by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold, killing all 110 passengers and crew on board.

1997 – Playing in New York City, the IBM Deep Blue chess playing supercomputer defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of a rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world champion level chess player in a classic match format.

2009 – Taken back to his unit after an argument is broken up at a counseling center in Camp Liberty, Baghdad, U.S. Army Sergeant John Russell returns and opens fire on fellow soldiers, killing 5 and wounding 3 before being subdued and later sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.