Not even if you paid me to hold it for a picture.

A man who was being robbed by two Norristown teens killed them in self-defense, prosecutors said

Two Norristown teens who attempted to rob a man late Friday died after their intended victim shot them with a gun he was licensed to carry, prosecutors said Saturday.

The shooting occurred about 8 p.m., as the man was walking to his car from a home nearby on Warren Street, according to a statement from Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. Steele did not release the man’s name because no criminal charges have been filed in the case.

Detectives determined that a fight broke out after one of the two 17-year-old males pulled a gun on the man. During the scuffle, the man shot both teens, Steele said.

The man called police and attempted to give medical aid to the teens, but both were pronounced dead at the scene. Officers found an illegal ghost gun — a firearm assembled from a kit that lacks a traceable serial number — with an extended 30-round magazine nearby, authorities said.

Steele declined to release the names of the teens, saying there is “a lot of work” to be done in the investigation.


The law considers using a fake gun the same as if it was a real one

Armed Robbers Had Replica Guns, One Robber Killed

FRANKFORT, IL — One person is dead following an armed robbery early Saturday morning at Ryan’s Pub, 7928 Lincoln Highway in Frankfort, according to Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles.

The WCSO said two armed men wearing masks, gloves and hoods went into the bar around 3:15 a.m. demanding money from patrons. The armed robbers threatened to shoot all of the patrons and employees if they did not comply with the robbers demands, according to the WCSO.

It was later discovered that the guns used by the robbers were “replica firearms,” similar to airsoft guns, according to an update from the WCSO. One of the replica guns was found near the body of the dead robber, and the other was found in a parking lot outside of Ryan’s Pub, according to the WCSO.

A patron in the bar was also armed and shot one of the robbers several times, according to the WCSO. The other robber fled the bar on foot into a nearby vehicle, which sped away heading eastbound on U.S. Route 30, according to the WCSO.

The robber who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene by Frankfort Fire Protection District, according to the WCSO…….


 

Park-goer walking dog with girlfriend at Memorial Park forced to shoot at ‘would-be’ burglars

HOUSTON – What officials say was supposed to be a peaceful trip to Memorial Park turned violent and dangerous Wednesday night around 9:30 when burglars targeted a car in a parking lot near East Memorial Loop and Arnot.

Instead of getting away with stolen property, the suspected bad guys were met with a fiery surprise.

“Our officers arrived on the scene and met with a complainant who witnessed his vehicle being broken into,” said Houston Police Department Lieutenant Mike Barrow.

On top of that, Houston police say one of the three would-be burglars had a gun, but so did the victim.

”The complainant took a shot and missed,” Barrow said.

No one was hurt, according to Barrow, who says officers patrolling the area were able to respond almost immediately. Police caught one suspect, Billy Ray Chavis, and arrested him. The other two suspects ran away.

Park-goers say they’ll be more vigilant. “It’s shocking to hear that something like that could happen here,” said Abiel Cano.

”Today’s world is very scary,” said Cindy Dickerson.

HPD says they have ramped up security in the park because they want the public to feel safe.

Investigators and the victim, who declined an interview, hope someone who knows where the other two suspects are, will give authorities a call.

Sen. Rick Brattin Amends Bill to Exempt Firearms and Ammunition from Sales Tax

JEFFERSON CITY —This week, State Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, successfully added language to House Bill 1606 exempting all purchases of firearms and ammunition from state and local sales tax in Missouri.

“Across our nation, there is a movement by anti-gun forces to tax guns out of existence,” said Sen. Brattin.  “We have to fight back against this and one way we can do that is stopping the unconstitutional taxing of our guns and ammunition. The Second Amendment is a basic constitutional right and there’s no reason any government should be taxing that right or putting up deliberate barriers to keep Missourians from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.”

Senator Brattin was elected to the Missouri Senate in 2020 after previously serving four terms in the Missouri House of Representatives and two years as Cass County Auditor. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Education Committee and also serves on General Laws; Local Government and Elections; the Joint Committee on Government Accountability; and Seniors, Families, Veterans and Military Affairs. Senator Brattin lives in Harrisonville with his wife, Athena, and five children. They are members of Abundant Life Church in Lee’s Summit.

Comment O’ The Day

The goal is not to save our planet from climate change, it’s to create a crisis which will give goobermint more control over the people.
It’s the perfect catastrophe hoax to coerce the population into being submissive and obedient to ‘authority’.
There’s no end to climate change, therefore there’s no end to the goobermint’s use of it for propaganda purposes.
Hungry, fearful, and destitute people don’t worry about rights or freedoms, but simply surviving, thus they can be more easily controlled to do the goobermint’s bidding.

This Eminent Scientist Says Climate Activists Need to Get Real

The “really” in the title of Vaclav Smil’s newest book, “How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going,” is doing some heavy lifting. Implicit in the renowned energy scientist’s usage is the idea that most of us are uninformed or just plain wrong about the fundamentals of the global economy. He aims to correct that — to recenter materials rather than electronic flows of data as the bedrock of modern life — largely through examining what he calls the four pillars of modern civilization: cement, steel, plastics and ammonia. (The production and use of all four currently requires burning huge amounts of fossil carbon.)

Which brings us back to that “really.” In the context of Smil’s book, which will be published May 10, the word is also a rebuke to those calling for rapid decarbonization in order to combat global warming. “I am not talking about what could be done,” says Smil, who is 78 and who counts Bill Gates among his many devotees. “I’m looking at the world as it is.”

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Woman fatally shoots man who broke into Southeast Side home with kids inside

SAN ANTONIO – A woman fatally shot a man who broke into her Southeast Side home on Thursday night, according to San Antonio police.

The shooting happened at 10 p.m. in the 600 block of Kashmuir Place, not far from Kellis Avenue and South Side Lions Park.

Police said a woman in her 30s was in her house with her three children when she heard a man break into her home. The man entered via the laundry room in the back of the house, police said.

The woman grabbed a gun and shot the intruder in the chest, police said.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found the injured man in the woman’s backyard, sitting on a chair and bleeding from gunshot wounds.

The man died on the way to the hospital. His name and age have not been released.

The shooting is under investigation.

Gov. DeSantis predicts Florida will pass constitutional carry
The governor is sure the bill will pass, but he did not say when.

At a press conference Friday morning in Williston, Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted the legislature will pass constitutional carry, but he didn’t say when.

“Well, the one thing I wanted the Legislature to do, and I think we will do it — I can’t tell you exactly when — but I’m pretty confident I will be able to sign a constitutional carry into law in the State of Florida,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said it is just a matter of time, and he took a swipe at Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who oversees Florida’s Concealed Weapon and Firearm Licensing program and is running to replace him as governor.

“We used to be a leader on the Second Amendment — there’s like 25 states that have already done it, and I think if you look now, you have a situation where the official in charge of these permits doesn’t support Second Amendment rights. So why would you want to subcontract your constitutional rights to a public official who rejects the very existence of those rights?” he said. “So, the Legislature will get it done. I can’t tell you if it’ll be next week, six months, but I can tell you that before I am done as governor, we will have a signature on that bill.”

There are several options DeSantis could use to prompt the legislature to consider a constitutional carry bill.

During the special session next month, which will address home insurance issues, he could issue a “communication from the governor” — a formal message to House and Senate leadership, telling them to consider constitutional carry during the special session.

After the special session ends, DeSantis could issue another proclamation calling the legislature back for another special session for the “sole and exclusive purpose” of considering constitutional carry.

Why Commemorate Black April?

Today marks the 46th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which signified the true end of the Vietnam War. Who could forget that famous picture of people queued up on a Saigon building (mistakenly thought to have been the US Embassy), getting on a UH-1 helicopter leaving Vietnam, as shown in this video:

There were some other great pictures in that video, too. However, the real last helicopter flight out was that of a CH-46 (Callsign “Swift 22”). The video describes the helicopter evacuation operations that were part of Operation Frequent Wind, the largest such operation in history, which commenced on 25 April 1975…………

The non-Communist Vietnamese who escaped the country have long referred to April 1975 as “Black April.” Those who escaped to the US have become some of the most patriotic and anti-Communist of all Americans. Many of them, as well as their progeny, mark Black April on 30 April each year. Here is a typical comment from one person on the 40th anniversary that explains what Black April means:

For Van Truong Le in Boston, this is a painful day, a time he and others who fled Vietnam call “Black April.”

“Because that was when folks from South Vietnam lost our country to the North Communist regime,” he said. “It was the day we lost our country. So we refer to it as Black April 1975. In fact for the last 40 years on April 30, the Vietnamese who have resettled here for the most part commemorate and observe that day as a day to commemorate the loss of Vietnam.”

And that name fits with good reason. Forced reeducation camps and a communization of the economy were in store for those who remained in Vietnam, as part of North Vietnam’s Communist takeover. Here is an excerpt of an account by Quyen Trong, who relates his father’s oral history:

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Ukrainian Politician Calls for More Civilian-Owned Guns, Support From American Gun Owners

Ukrainian gun-rights advocates are searching for greater support from American gun owners two months into their fight against Russia’s invasion.

Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of Urakaine’s legislature, visited Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to rally support for his country’s fight. He met with gun-rights activists and Capitol Hill insiders, according to The Washington Times. He said he’s hoping to cultivate relationships with people who can help arm his countrymen.

“I want to work more closely with the American government and gun owners so that maybe some of them can share their weapons to Ukrainians, at least to the regions that have been most affected by violence,” Zablotskyy told the paper.

He was also looking for advice on reforming Ukraine’s gun laws to make it easier for civilians to own guns. The country’s legislature passed a law expanding access to firearms and enshrining a right to self-defense in the immediate lead-up to the invasion. As Russian tanks began to roll into the country, the government handed out rifles en mass to any civilians willing to take up arms.

Even Ukrainian lawmakers began taking up arms when the capital city of Kyiv was threatened.

Still, Zablotskyy estimated only about two percent of Ukrainians own guns, and most of those are not rifles useful for resisting an invading army. He hopes to bring more rifles from the United States into the country. He also said the gun laws remain too strict.

“I received a firearm myself in Ukraine, but again, it was stipulated that after ten days or the war ends, I have to surrender it back to the government,” he told The Times.

He said there is now “overwhelming support” for expanding gun rights in the wake of the invasion. Ukrainians have mobilized hundreds of thousands of volunteer fighters to bolster their forces since the war began. Armed civilians have played a significant role in key fights throughout the country, including defending a strategically-important bridge town outside the capital.

Zablotskyy argued the war crimes carried out by Russian soldiers against civilians in Bucha, Ukraine would have been impossible if the population had been armed.

“I’m pretty sure that no massacre would ever have happened if residents of Bucha had firearms,” he told the paper. “They had zero. So, I want to arm those regions that have been most affected who understand the need for arms.”

Eric Swalwell Deploys More Lies About the Lies He’s Been Telling About Gun Control for Years

A repeated ploy of the gun control movement is to loudly proclaim law-abiding Second Amendment supporters are using “scare tactics” while opposing proposed gun control.

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), the “Honey Pot Congressman,” isn’t new to this charade. His record is one of support for strict gun control. That includes a failed presidential campaign playing second fiddle to Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke to carry the gun control water.

Rep. Swalwell published an op-ed in Newsweek and deployed the ruse.

“For decades, one of the most tried and true scare tactics by the gun lobby is that the government—specifically Democrats—are coming for your guns,” the Congressman wrote. “These misinformation campaigns have been used for years to scare law-abiding Americans into thinking they are going to be put under government surveillance to confiscate their guns.”

Lies About Lies

The thrust of Rep. Swalwell’s anti-Second Amendment screed is that President Joe Biden isn’t interested in confiscating lawfully-owned firearms.

“Let’s be crystal clear—the Biden administration has no secret plan to take away your guns,” he claimed.

He’s right, though – President Biden’s gun control plans aren’t secret. They’re very public and repeated often.

President Biden has on multiple occasions called the lawful firearm industry “the enemy.” A major selling point of his gun control agenda is that he claims he’s, “the only one to have taken on the industry and won.” “I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again,” he’s said.

The president was speaking about his ability to pass a ban on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), which he incorrectly and pejoratively terms as “assault weapons.” President Biden, in the 1990s, when he was in the U.S. Senate, voted to ban America’s most popular selling centerfire semiautomatic rifle. He continues to push for a new ban today on the commonly-owned firearm. He claims the ban will drive down crime, but data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the, “Assault Weapons Ban (AWB)…did not reduce crime rates.” In fact, when the ban expired, violent crime rates continued to drop even as MSR ownership skyrocketed to more than 20 million rifles in circulation.

The president has also repeated his favorite lie that the firearm industry is “the only outfit in the country that is immune,” from liability. This lie has been fact-checked into oblivion, with media saying, “Gun manufacturers can certainly be sued…Biden is wrong to say gun manufacturers are alone.”

The president lies about his wishes to ban certain lawfully-manufactured and legally-purchased firearms, as well as his wishes to shut down an entire industry that supports the ability of Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights. That would certainly qualify as, “taking away guns.”

Twisting Truth

Rep. Swalwell would ban MSRs as well and he’s not alone. He’d go even further, telling Fox News’s Tucker Carlson he’d implement a forced government buyback scheme of the firearms and even, “criminally prosecute any who choose to defy it by keeping their weapons.” Rep. Swalwell went so far as to absurdly suggest if Americans still refused to give up their firearms to a government confiscation scheme, the U.S. government would use nukes against holdouts.

Rep. Swalwell would make confiscation easier, if he had his way, by requiring a national firearm registry. That’s the only way a universal background check could work, a policy that both Rep. Swalwell and President Biden support. Universal background checks (UBCs) are unenforceable without mandatory registration – which is illegal under the 1986 Gun Control Act and 1993 Brady Act.

In his op-ed, Rep. Swalwell says claims about a national gun registry are “conspiracy theories,” and that, “The simple truth is that a gun registry does not exist and is not even being contemplated to illegally track law-abiding individuals who exercise their Second Amendment rights.” He even twists one of my tweets to suggest the firearm industry agrees with his bogus claims.

It’s true – the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) does not currently maintain a searchable national firearm registry. It does, however, keep an Out-of-business Records (OBR) database to trace firearms when they are used in a crime. That collection of records doesn’t allow anyone to run a search for how many and what kind of firearms are owned by any one individual.

About 30 percent of all firearm traces involve searching OBR data. The most recent ATF trace data shows that the average time between when a firearm was originally sold lawfully after a background check and before it was recovered by law enforcement has been close to 10 years as recently as 2017. Searching very old records rarely yields actionable intelligence to law enforcement. That’s why NSSF has long supported requiring ATF to purge records that are older than 20 years to save taxpayer money and to use those dollars to put more agents on the streets to stop crime from occurring in the first place.

Rep. Swalwell knowingly took the tweet out of context in order to lie again about what would be required if a universal background check were to be adopted.

President Biden is clearly doing the bidding of his gun control donors. After repeating his lies about the firearm industry and what his policies would do to law-abiding Americans, there is no doubt that President Biden would indeed go after lawful gun owners and dismantle the industry that provides for the exercise of the Second Amendment. Rep. Swalwell is simply carrying the president’s gun control water because he would do the same exact thing.

How much longer? As long as they can keep pumping him full of whatever anti-dementia drug cocktail that will keep the meat puppet at least able to function at a minimal level. That’s how long

And no, he’s not being too harsh on SloJoe™ who should be a patient in an Alzheimer’s unit.


HOW MUCH LONGER CAN THIS GO ON?
Today’s Biden struggle with the Teleprompter delivered this 15-second gem:

Back in 2010, P.J. O’Rourke said the Republican mid-term landslide was a restraining order against Obama. Maybe this year’s likely mid-term GOP blowout will be understood as a national intervention, in which the people will tell Democrats that it is time for Biden to be put out to pasture and the Democratic Party sent to rehab.

Chaser: Maybe I am being too harsh on Biden. It’s understandable that Democrats would have trouble pronouncing “kleptocracy.” It could just as easily happen to Elizabeth Warren.


 

WH Response on ‘Disinformation Board’ Shows Just How Desperate for Control They Are

It was not a coincidence that you had Elon Musk buying Twitter and then all of sudden, the Biden team found the need to form a Ministry of Truth run by the DHS — otherwise known as a creepy-sounding “Disinformation Governance Board.”

Now, the first reaction to such an effort by the Biden Administration that most people would have to this is how incredibly Orwellian it is. The second might be that it’s exactly what the First Amendment was designed to protect against. The third might be to take notice this says “governance,” and is being run by the Department of Homeland Security, which usually is pursuing threats and crimes.

So, can fully-declared speech crimes be far away, when you start to have things like this? And finally, this was formed specifically “ahead of the midterms” to deal with “misinformation” peddled to minority communities — which sounds like they’re going to do all they can to try to shut down speech that they think might hurt their chances, just as they did in 2020. And how typical of the Biden Administration to treat minorities as though they can’t make a judgment about the information they receive themselves — this is treating minorities like children to whom the government needs to explain things.

The very people who were upset about President Donald Trump calling media false stories “fake news” are just cool with the government now weighing in and determining what is “true” or not true. These are also the same folks who promoted the Russia collusion hoax for years, as well.

But when asked, White House Press Secretary (soon to be MSDNC propagandist) Jen Psaki acted as though no one could have an issue with their agenda.

“It sounds like the objective of the board is to prevent disinformation and misinformation from traveling around the country in a range of communities,” Psaki said. “I’m not sure who opposes that effort.”

How about any sane person who believes in the Constitution? Every American should oppose this — it violates everything for which we are supposed to stand.

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So You Found a Gun in a Public Restroom – – Now What?

GONE TO DROP TROU AND FOUND A GUN IN A PUBLIC LAVATORY? HERE ARE THE INS AND OUT OF SAFELY ADDRESSING THE SITUATION.

Finding a firearm in a public restroom is unfortunately not as uncommon as you may think and with CCW increasing across the board, it’s something you may come across yourself.

The problem starts when someone has to drop trou outside their home. The vast majority of on-person pistols ride in holsters that attach to a pants belt, regardless if it’s designed for inside- or outside-the-waistband. Many of these holsters don’t have positive retention, especially the soft-sided IWB variety, and rely on the pressure between your belt and your body to keep it in place. Sometimes this means a pistol flops when pants come off.

Consequently, some people remove their guns (with or without the holster) while they do their business to prevent it from falling onto the hard tile floor. So they take that pistol and place it on a toilet tank, commercial toilet paper holder, or even hang it on the hook on the back of the stall door. And forget about it. This is especially common with new or infrequent carriers. This article covers the mechanics of what you should do when carrying in public restrooms.

We know that some will be surprised one could be so mindless as to forget a Stacatto in a stall, but people leave their children accidentally in the back of cars all the time.

If you find a gun in a public bathroom, let’s talk about what to do.

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Mother says son shot 2 teens in self-defense in Orlando neighborhood

ORLANDO, Fla. – A mother said her son had a gun pointed at him while in their own driveway in Orlando early Thursday morning, so he fired back in self-defense.

Orange County deputies said the call first came in at 2 a.m. for a report of a car burglary with shots fired on Martinwood Drive in Pine Hills. Maria Vasquez told FOX 35 it started as two teenagers were trying to steal his car.

“He say, ‘what are you doing? Why are you watching my car?,'” Vasquez said.

According to deputies, the man told them he confronted two people who were burglarizing a car and when they made a threatening move toward him, he fired several shots. Deputies said the two teens were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

“Was your son injured?” FOX 35 reporter Valerie Boey asked Vasquez. “No he’s good,” the mother replied.

Vasquez said one of the teenage suspects broke into her car on April 8. Deputies confirmed that break-in. “He go to my car, open and taken my credit card and ID, and my ID for employers and copy,” she said.

She said they stole a copy of the key to her son’s car and came back around 2 a.m. to steal the Toyota Camry. Maria said investigators discovered her son’s car key in the suspect’s pocket. Deputies confirmed that one of the suspect’s in this burglary had evidence from the previous burglary.

“My son is a good person. He works a lot.,” Vasquez said.

According to deputies, the teens are ages 13 and 16. Investigators have to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate.

“He feared for his life. He was defending his space,” resident Judith Stokes, said. Stokes said the Pine Hills neighborhood is usually peaceful.

“To have something like this go on, it is startling,” Stokes said. She believes the teens should have been home, instead of out at 2 a.m.

Vasquez hopes they have a quick recovery.

“Do you hope the teenagers will be ok?” Boey asked, in which Vasquez replied, “Yes, I pray.”

White House defends DHS ‘disinformation’ board: ‘Not sure who opposes that effort’
Mayorkas announced the creation of the ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ on Wednesday

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday defended a recently-announced Department of Homeland Security effort to combat “disinformation” on issues related to COVID-19 and elections.

Asked by Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich for more information what DHS’ Disinformation Governance Board would be doing specifically, Psaki said, “I really haven’t dug into this exactly, I mean, we of course support this effort but let me see if I can get more specifics.”

The White House announced its support for an effort from the DHS to crack down on what it considers to be online disinformation.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified Wednesday that a Disinformation Governance Board had recently been created to combat online disinformation and Politico reported that Nina Jankowicz, who previously served as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, will head the board as executive director.

“We know there has been a range of [disinformation] out there about a range of topics, I mean, including COVID for example, and also elections and eligibility,” Psaki said, adding that she would check for additional information on what the board plans to do.

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Kansas Senate Overrides Governor’s Veto On Transgender Sports Ban Bill

The Kansas Senate on Monday voted to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto on The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a bill that would ban biological male athletes from competing in women’s school sports across the state.

Also known as SB 160, the legislation “requires interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams or sports that are sponsored by public educational institutions” to ban male students from joining teams or sports “designated for females.”

It does not ban female athletes or girls from participating in men’s or boys’ sports.

The bill was introduced by Republicans in February 2021 and vetoed by Kelly on April 15.

However, the Senate voted 28–10 on Monday to override the governor’s veto, and it now heads to the House for lawmakers to vote to sustain or override the veto.

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Woman pulls out gun to thwart would-be robber

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. — A man who pointed a gun at a woman after asking her for money, fled after she pulled out a gun of her own, according to court records. He is now facing one count of intimidation.

On April 25, South Bend Police responded to 27th Street and Mishawaka Avenue for reports of a man pointing a handgun at a woman.

The victim told police a man, later identified as Garland Adams, walked up to her and asked for money. When she didn’t give him money, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her face, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The woman then backed up and pulled out a pink handgun of her own, reports said.

The man then fled on his bike.

Two people at a gas station nearby witnessed the incident.

Officers searched for the suspect and located Adams at 36th Street and Mishawaka. Police said he had a black gun in his right hand, reports said.

When police knocked the gun to the ground, it broke into three pieces, police said.

The gun was a BB gun with the orange tip removed to make it look like a real gun, reports said.

Adams was taken to the gas station where the witnesses identified Garland as the man who pointed the gun at the victim, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Officers also obtained footage from the gas station that showed the incident.

The video showed Garland approach the victim as she backed away. Garland advanced towards the victim, pointing the gun at her, as she continued to try to back away, reports said.

The victim ran out of view and took up a firing position with her pistol behind some trash cans, the video showed.

The suspect pointed his weapon in her direction before getting on his bike and fleeing the area.

Adams was taken into custody on one count of intimidation. He was charged on April 27.

The victim was also arrested for carrying a handgun without a license, but was released with no charges filed.

The author barely gives any notice about ‘internal’ dissent, but that’s almost certainly a big part of this, as there’s too much going on in too many different places, that are far from the border, and covert infiltration in non-permissive areas is extremely difficult to pull off.


BLUF:
….it’s the nature of wars that were meant to be limited to spin out of control.

What the Hell Is Going On in Russia?

“What the hell is going on in Russia?” is the kind of headline you write when there’s so much weird stuff going on that it’s impossible to summarize it cleverly.

Maybe you’ll find this catchier: There’s a lot of stuff getting blown up in Russia, and it might not just be the Ukrainians blowing it up.

The weirdness got going in a normal way, with reports earlier this week of Ukraine’s “embrace of the British special forces model” to strike targets inside Russia that the regular Army (or even Ukraine’s inadequate Air Force) could never reach.

The Washington Examiner’s Tom Rogan reported that a major oil depot was hit on Monday in Bryansk, more than 60 miles inside Russia’s border with Ukraine. That’s outside the range of most of Ukraine’s drones.

While interesting, it isn’t exactly a “what the hell?” moment. British troops have been training Ukraine’s special operators since Russia annexed Ukraine and armed insurgents in Ukraine’s Donbas region back in 2014.

Two more such attacks were reported the next day:

Two explosions were reported in Voronezh, nearly 200 miles from Ukraine, and a Ukrainian drone was reportedly shot down over Kursk, about 70 miles from the border.

The attacks in Kursk and Voronezh, where air-defense systems were reportedly activated, raised the specter of a wider war, as they were farther inside Russia than previous targets.

If you had asked me last week if Ukraine could hit a target 200 miles inside Russia, I’d have been doubtful.

Actually, it’s still a bit hard to believe.

But maybe you’ll join me in asking “What the hell is going on in Russia?” after these next few items.

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Here’s a Fun Way for You to Stick It to Putin

Drones for Ukraine has a unique fundraising tool: Donate $1,000 or more to their effort to procure modern drones to defend against the Russian invasion, get a genuine piece of aircraft skin from a downed Russian jet fighter.

“Have you always wanted a Su-34 ‘Fullback’ strike fighter?” the Twitter pitch goes. “But $50M is a little bit pricey?”

As a matter of fact, $50 million is a little pricey. I’ve got two boys, and you should see our monthly food bill.

But: “Just donate $1000+ to support Ukrainian army and we’ll send you this tag recycled from a downed Russian plane (it’s literally a piece of it with little engraving).”

(Image courtesy of Drones for Ukraine.)

“Made in Russia, Recycled in Ukraine” is a pretty gutsy tagline, too.

“Your donations will help us supply the defenders in Ukraine with modern drones and equipment to counter the invasion,” according to the website. So your donation in exchange for a piece of a shot-down Russian jet might just help Ukraine shoot down another one.

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You Can’t Have a Functioning Nation without Free Speech.

A dozen of us were seated on either side of the long dining table.  Present were writers gathered from across the nation and around the world.  Beside me was a lady from Nigeria.  Facing me was a Romanian.  The woman next to her had flown in from Sydney, Australia.  This was a celebratory supper after a long day of book signings at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival — a major literary event.

The conversation among this group of lively intellects was a sparkling delight — light-hearted and witty.  Only for a brief while did it turn to the fashionable liberal topic of the moment: the benefits of censoring free speech.  I said nothing.  Why spoil the celebration?

It is odd that the notion that speech must be censored is the current fashion of people who call themselves liberal.  Liberalism is supposed to be the philosophy of individual freedom and free speech.  Well, language evolves, and true liberals are much more likely to be found in the ranks of conservatives than those left of center.

There really are true liberals on the left.  The people seated around me certainly were.  Unfortunately, they live in an almost impenetrable fortress of specious certainty.  Conservatives swim in a sea of progressivism, so they are well aware of the thinking of the left.  The converse is not the case.  In my experience, people left of center have a fantastically distorted concept of conservative ideas.  I suppose this is because they mostly listen to one another, to the progressive media, and to their thought masters, not to real conservatives.  Perhaps, too, they fear they might like conservative ideas and so become outcasts.

The current leading thought master is Barack Obama.  Despite his pretensions of being a liberal, he is not — he is something dangerously different.  “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America,” he so famously said in the last days of his presidential campaign.  You do not fundamentally transform something you love; you fundamentally change what you despise.

Obama later realized that he had given the game away.  In a subsequent interview with Bill O’Reilly, he said, “I don’t think we have to fundamentally transform the nation.”  But then he immediately changed the subject.  Now, once again, he is at it.

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