That is a Relief

Quote of the Day

Previous research using seismology found that a large reservoir of magma sat beneath the caldera. However, the recent study, using a method known as magnetotellurics that tracks the electric conductivity of magma, found something different.

“When we used magnetotellurics, we were able to see, actually, there’s not a lot there,” said Ninfa Bennington, lead author on the study and a research geophysicist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. “There are these segregated regions where magma is stored across Yellowstone, instead of having one sort of large reservoir.”

Bennington added that her team learned that the percentage of magma stored in the reservoirs was actually quite low. This means that none of the reservoirs are capable of producing an eruption anytime soon. Their research suggests the northeast region of Yellowstone wouldn’t expect to erupt again for hundreds of thousands of years.

Angeli Gabriel
January 2, 2025
Scientists reveal when a Yellowstone volcano super eruption could happen | Fox Weather

Although I knew it was unlikely, being within the severely impacted zone of a Yellowstone eruption has been an item of concern for me. I have seen the devastation of the Mount St. Helen’s eruption and that was barely a hiccup compared to a Yellowstone supereruption*. Yet the speed of the pyroclastic flow reached speeds of 670 MPH and may have even briefly been supersonic. Imagine the effect of a huge mass of rock, sand, and dirt on the countryside when moving across it at supersonic speeds. The death of all life blast radius of a Yellowstone supereruption would be hundreds of miles. My underground bunker in Idaho would not be a suitable refuge in the face of a such a natural disaster. It is only a little over 300 miles from the probable center of the Yellowstone eruption.

Hence, the projection of the next eruption being hundreds of thousands of years from now allows me some comfort. I can probably expect dealing with such an eruption is someone else’s problem. i can concentrate on the more immediate threats of economic collapse, tyrannical governments, and other man-made disasters.


* Mount Saint Helen’s ash was about 1.3 km3. A Yellowstone supereruption is expected to be over 1,000 km3. See also the comparison of the ash fall boundaries of Mount Saint Helen’s to the Yellowstone supereruptions of the past.

Interesting Perspective

Quote of the Day

As I witnessed the despair and incomprehension of liberals worldwide after Donald Trump’s victory in November’s U.S. presidential election, I had a sinking feeling that I had been through this before. The moment took me back to 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, signaling the beginning of the end of Soviet Communism and the lifting of the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since the end of World War II. The difference was that the world that collapsed in 1989 was theirs, the Communists’. Now it is ours, the liberals’.

 Living through such moments in history teaches one many things, but the most important is the sheer speed of change: People can totally alter their views and political identity overnight; what only yesterday was considered unthinkable seems self-evident today. The shift is so profound that people soon find their old assumptions and choices unfathomable.

Trump captured the public imagination not because he had a better plan for how to win the war in Ukraine or manage globalization, but because he understood that the world of yesterday could be no more. The United States’ postwar political identity has vanished into the abyss of the ballot box. This Trump administration may succeed or fail on its own terms, but the old world will not return. Even most liberals do not want it back.

Ivan Krastev
January 3, 2025
Why Liberals Struggle to Cope With Epochal Change

I found this very interesting. I’m not sure I agree with it. I’m not even sure I understand it. But it certainly gives me some food for thought.

During the first quick reading, I was seeing the collapse of Marxism as being inevitable. The U.S. version was less deadly than the Soviet version and the collapse less disruptive. The replacement with a freer society is inevitable.

On the second, more careful reading, Krastev sees a darker future for the U.S. This is the part I don’t really buy. But prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future*. So, who really knows?


* Quote Origin: It’s Difficult to Make Predictions, Especially About the Future – Quote Investigator®

Ninth Circuit Court Scolded by One of its Own

Quote of the Day

And to paraphrase James Madison, if judges were angels, nothing further would need be said. But unfortunately, however else it might be described, our court’s Second Amendment jurisprudence can hardly be labeled angelic. Possessed maybe—by a single-minded focus on ensuring that any panel opinions actually enforcing the Second Amendment are quickly reversed. The majority of our court distrusts gun owners and thinks the Second Amendment is a vestigial organ of their living constitution. Those views drive this circuit’s caselaw ignoring the original meaning of the Second Amendment and fully exploiting the discretion inherent in the Supreme Court’s cases to make certain that no government regulation ever fails our laughably “heightened” Second Amendment scrutiny.

Until the Supreme Court forces our court to do something different than balance our view of the utility of some firearm product or usage against the government’s claimed harm from its misuse, the Second Amendment will remain essentially an ink blot in this circuit.

Lawrence VanDyke
Ninth Circuit US Circuit Judge
November 30, 2021
DUNCAN V. BONTA No. 19-55376

Via Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras -> Kostas Moros @MorosKostas -> Google…

SCOTUS needs to exercise force.

The First and Second Amendments Cannot Coexist

Quote of the Day

We don’t make this statement lightly, but the folks over at Giffords and Brady have filed an amicus brief in a matter, challenging all of Maryland’s new sensitive places, that actually argues that the First Amendment and the Second Amendment cannot coexist, and because of that, the 2A will always take a back seat to the 1A.

William Kirk
December 30, 2024
The Most Dangerous Gun Control Argument You Will Ever Read

What other rights must you only exercise one at a time? If you exercise your right to freedom of religion, do you forfeit your Third Amendment rights and you will be required to quarter troops in your house? Or how about, if you insist on a warrant before your house is searched, you then forfeit your “privilege” to a lawyer when being questioned by the police.

I don’t say “privilege” lightly, because this is what they are demanding. The government gets to decide when, where, how, and if you get to exercise a specific enumerated right. Their demands change the exercise of a right into a privilege.

I don’t think the courts will buy this argument. I would like to think the lawyers writing this brief know it too and are doing this just for the money.

I hope they get slapped down with extraordinary harshness.

Disregard for Court Rulings Must Be Soundly Rejected

Quote of the Day

from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.

John Roberts
Supreme Court Chief Justice
December 31, 2024
Roberts warns against ignoring Supreme Court rulings as tension with Trump looms

One has to wonder if there are specific cases he has in mind when he says this. More importantly, what actions will the court take to enforce their decisions?

It is About Bullying, not Crime Reduction

Quote of the Day

“Stupidity” may apply in terms of whether they honestly believe such restrictions will reduce or prevent crime, but rights-hating Democrats know such measures infuriate and frustrate gun owners, which is exactly what they want to do. Were they in elementary school, one might argue, this would be called bullying, because they know they can get away with it.

Dave Workman
December 30, 2024
WA Lump of Coal: Dems File HB 1132 Limiting Gun, Ammo Buys

They have been bullying us for decades. I expect it will get worse before it gets better. It will only get better when they start paying a price. I don’t know when or if that will happen, but I know it should happen.

There are at least two ways this can come about legally. 1), they are prosecuted; or 2), the court assigns a monitor to them. The monitor would report to the judge periodically.

I would like to see the politicians and activists supporting this crap spent time in prison. I’m thinking the sentence length should he double the number of days the offending law was in force.

Demonstrate Markley’s Law and Get Ratioed

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Needs a bigger dick.

Sara Spector @Miriam2626
Tweeted on December 25, 2023

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday; it is another science denier (see also here)!

This was in response to this tweet:

What is surprising is this is someone who claims she is a:

Political and Legal pundit. Midland Texas Criminal Defense Attorney.

A lawyer so at loss for words she invokes a childish insult. That is really telling you something about the strength of her position on guns and gun owners.

Of course she was totally ratioed. There were some memes I had not seen before, too.

Via Ron Swanson has had enough @Junglist1776:

Via Toshiro Grendel @ToshiroGrendel:

Via 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 @DissidentWillie:

Meanwhile, in your panties..

Great Britain as Our 51st State

Quote of the Day

Time is not on our side. As the Eurozone crumbles and American protectionism ramps up, our flimsy state will be crushed like an ant between two great elephants. To see Britain lose itself within America would surely be a tragedy of world-historic proportions. But the alternative – to sink complacently into powerlessness, spurred on by politicians who can hardly define what “nationhood” even means – doesn’t bear thinking about. The politics of self-interest is clearly beyond our miserable band of modern leaders. 

Why not jump on to the America First bandwagon and throw in our lot with the winning side? If nothing else, we might get better fast food out of it.

Poppy Coburn
December 26, 2024
It’s time to become the 51st state of the US

Coburn is advocating Great Britain join the U.S.A as our 51st state! That is a new one to me.

That deserves as least a little thought. My initial thought is that I need to be convinced it was a good idea.

Canada would bring a lot of natural resources to the union. The proximity would make productive use relatively easy. The political culture of central Canada could be considered a match. I think this would work to the benefit of both peoples.

As much as I would love to see the introduction of the 2nd Amendment to Great Britain. But other than a decade or so of amusement and plenty of work for firearms instructors and gun manufactures what do they have to offer. We already have decent access to our pick of their human resources. I have worked with numerous software engineers from there. My stepdaughter is going to school there. She was welcomed into a top-notch school for her doctorate in Computer Science. They have some awesome building and history. But we can already visit and partake the joys of that. The politics are painfully to the left of here. Their healthcare sucks. So why buy the cow when you can get the milk for a good price? What am I missing?

Global War Over 2+2=4

Quote of the Day

One day, in the near future, a global war break out will with every human on the planet participating.

On one side, their banners will proclaim the war cry, “2+2=4”.

On the other side, their rainbow banners will state, “That’s racist!”

Alice Smith (@TheAliceSmith)
Tweeted on March 29, 2022

While I think this is overstated to make the point, I do think it has more than a little truth in it. And that is very depressing. It is between the sane and insane. It is war about reality and delusions.

Did Isreal Use a Nuclear Weapon In Syria?

Quote of the Day

In a step that has shocked the entire world, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike on the weapons depot in Tartus, Syria on 16 December 2024. Through the massive strike, Israel reportedly destroyed the Scud missile facility located in Syria. However, reports are speculating that the damage caused by the strike was more serious and a small nuclear weapon might have been used by Israel. 

Reports have added that the European Union’s Radioactive Environmental Monitoring found that the amount of radiation increased in Turkey and Cyprus hours after the intense blast, pointing towards a small nuclear attack.

Abhijeet Sen
December 24, 2024
Did Israel explode a small nuclear bomb in Syria? Spike in radiation report says…

I cannot find any confirmation. So, I am going to say it probably is not true. Here is what I did find:

Even if they did not use a nuke, just the speculation will shift the Overton Window. This will make actual use more acceptable.

Prepare appropriately.

Never Underestimate the Power of Human Stupidity

Quote of the Day

If you need a license to kill deer why don’t you need one to kill humans?

David Hogg 🟧 @davidhogg111
Tweeted on April 2, 2024

This is so mind warping stupid I started wondering if he knew it was stupid but thought he would manage to sell it to the general population as something profound.

Looking further in the thread I found the answer 75 minutes later:

Plenty of people will think this is dumb- good for you. I’m not looking out for an election and I’m entitled to my own opinion no matter how much you disagree.

David Hogg 🟧 @davidhogg111
Tweeting on April 2, 2024

Yup. He is that stupid. He really thinks it is something profound.

It is people like this that we are up against. And yet, we came close to losing the war.

Change Our Culture One Person at a Time

Quote of the Day

Support for stricter gun laws has declined significantly over the years, while the desire for more relaxed laws has grown. In 1990, a substantial 78% of Americans favored stricter gun control, with only 2% wanting more lenient regulations.

By 2010, support for stricter laws had dropped to less than half (44%). However, it rebounded in 2020, rising to 57%.

In 2023, opposition to gun control reached a two-decade high, with 15% of Americans wanting less strict regulations.

Cassandra McBride
December 19, 2024
How Many Americans Want Stricter Gun Laws in 2024? The Decline in Gun Control Support

Via email from Sam J. at Ammo.com.

The support of the courts for the right to keep and bear arms is not enough. We must also change the culture. The trend is in the right direction, but we are far from where we need to be yet. We need a solid majority in opposition.

Here are some ways you can do that:

  • Come out of the closet as a gun owner and Second Amendment advocate.
  • Be active on social media and make sure the comments to anti-gun advocates are politely and factually ratioed.
  • Gun ownership is a civil right. Be a civil rights advocate.
  • Consider shaming those opposed to civil rights.
  • Take a new shooter to the range.
  • Introduce people virtually and/or physically to Boomershoot. The KING5 Evening Magazine video is the most effective introduction to the shooting sports I know of. It is a completely different reality from the world of gun ownership the mainstream media feeds them.
  • Attend town hall type meetings of your politicians and politely confront those who want to infringe upon our rights.

Change our culture one person at a time.

Gun control is Icarus

Quote of the Day

Gun control is Icarus…and it got too greedy, arrogant, and flew too high. There’s only one ending to this story and looking at cases around the country…fantasy is almost up. Enjoy losing.

Johnny Silverhand @MegaManX1984
Posted on X on December 21, 2023

A little something is lost without the entire context, but I wanted to have the above in case any of the below disappears. Here is the entire context:

Who Will Scream Into the Void?

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Why do I have to keep telling these rabid gun humpers to eff off? I don’t GAF about their gunsplaining.

I want stricter #gunregulation and #AR15s off the street. I don’t GAF they aren’t automatics and y’all are all muted. I SUPER DON’T GAF.

Scream into the void, donuts. SCREAM.

ToutdeSuiteLaSinner @ToutSuiteSinner
Tweeted on June 5, 2022

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday; it is another science denier (see also here)!

It is very telling that she thinks her ignorance is nothing to be concerned about. Her willful ignorance will only cause her more pain.

After the Heller, and especially the Bruen decision, the only screams we will be doing are victory screams. The long-term screaming into the void will be by the likes of ToutdeSuiteLaSinner.

Schadenfreude can be so sweet.

Don’t be a Science Denier

Quote of the Day

Thousands of gun shows take place in the U.S. each year. Gun control advocates argue that because sales at gun shows are much less regulated than other sales, such shows make it easier for potential criminals to obtain a gun. Similarly, one might be concerned that gun shows would exacerbate suicide rates by providing individuals considering suicide with a more lethal means of ending their lives. On the other hand, proponents argue that gun shows are innocuous since potential criminals can acquire guns quite easily through other black market sales or theft. In this paper, we use data from Gun and Knife Show Calendar combined with vital statistics data to examine the effect of gun shows. We find no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun homicides or suicides. In addition, tighter regulation of gun shows does not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths.

Mark Duggan, Randi Hjalmarsson, and Brian A. Jacob
September 2008
The Effect of Gun Shows on Gun-Related Deaths:
Evidence from California and Texas

Don’t be a science denier. Support deregulation of gun shows!

Taxation is a Form of Censorship

Quote of the Day

Taxation is a form of censorship.

It prevents citizens from expressing their own purchasing choices in the marketplace, and forces them to conform and contribute to government choices instead.

Alice Smith @TheAliceSmith
The great-great-great-granddaughter of Adam Smith.
Posted on X, December 20, 2024

This is an interesting way to think about it. I can’t say that she is wrong. But I’m not sure there is practical alternative to at least some limited form of government.

Planning Against the Poor Planners

Quote of the Day

If you survive the blast, and you survive the fallout, you’re going to have to survive the constant threat of mass home invasion from those whose disaster planning is just 3 days.

Tirno
December 19, 2024
Comment to Evidence of the Idiocracy

This is an excellent point. But once made, you realize there are going to be some exceptions. Maintain a large buffer zone between yourself and the hordes with poor planning. Doing this can minimize your risk of contact. The risk can be driven to almost zero.

Let time, distance, and others “thin the herd” before the Seattle hordes reach your underground bunker in Montana. Give yourself some good alarms and a thousand yards of open space in every direction. Then, with the right guns, ammo, optics, and shooting partners, you should not have a problem against the low life.

Of course, this is far easier said than done.

Evidence of the Idiocracy

Quote of the Day

Global security leaders are warning nuclear threats are growing as weapons spending surged to $91.4 billion last year. At the same time, private bunker sales are on the rise globally, from small metal boxes to crawl inside of to extravagant underground mansions.

Critics warn these bunkers create a false perception that a nuclear war is survivable. They argue that people planning to live through an atomic blast aren’t focusing on the real and current dangers posed by nuclear threats, and the critical need to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, government disaster experts say bunkers aren’t necessary. A Federal Emergency Management Agency 100-page guide on responding to a nuclear detonation focuses on having the public get inside and stay inside, ideally in a basement and away from outside walls for at least a day. Those existing spaces can provide protection from radioactive fallout, says FEMA.

Martha Mendoza
December 8, 2024
Nuclear bunker sales increase, despite expert warnings they aren’t going to provide protection

I have to know. Does it require special training to be that blind to incongruent statements? Or are some people just naturally impervious to irrational thought?

It is times like this that I could be convinced that our society has made life too easy. It was a mistake to prevent stupid people from removing themselves from the gene pool with demonstrations of their stupidity. I must conclude Idiocracy was brilliantly prophetic. And we should do almost anything to prevent that prophecy from happening.

Another thing to point out is that “government experts” are telling you that you don’t need an underground bunker. I wonder if anyone they have told that to has asked if they have access to an underground bunker?

And/or tell them to convince all the politicians they don’t need an underground bunker. And if they are needed, politicians must come after those necessary to rebuild a post-apocalyptic world. This would include all the construction workers, miners, and factory workers. It would also include teachers, engineers, and medical care people. Law enforcement, bankers, and business leaders are essential too.

I believe politicians should know they will not have access under any circumstances. It is the job of politicians to prevent us from getting nuked. If they fail at their job, they should pay a higher price for that failure than anyone else. This policy ensures they have the proper incentive.

Cut and Paste from the Playbook

Quote of the Day

With just over one month remaining in his disastrous term, Joe Biden just couldn’t restrain himself from once again rolling out his one-size-fits-all gun control wish list in his statement from the White House. Demanding that Congress quickly pass universal background check (registration) legislation and ban so-called ‘assault weapons’ and ‘high-capacity magazines’ in response to this terrible crime is one of the stupidest, but expected reactions from a career gun prohibitionist whose history of gaffes is legendary.

Joe Biden knows 15-year-olds can’t legally buy handguns anywhere in this country, so a call for background checks is irrelevant. Police have recovered a handgun which was used in the shooting, so calling for a ban on semiautomatic rifles and their magazines is also irrelevant and dishonest. Indeed, such demands underscore just how irrelevant Joe Biden and his gun ban agenda have become.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
December 7, 2024
CCRKBA BLASTS BIDEN’S REACTION TO WISCONSIN SCHOOL TRAGEDY | Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms

To be fair, I doubt Biden had any input into that statement. It is most likely some intern. Someone who does not know the difference between an AR-15 and a Glock 17. Of course, they know even less about the law. They just did a copy and paste from the “School Shooting” page in their playbook.

Every Single Male Must be Wiped Out

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women are the only hope for this wretched world. But even women have been brainwashed by moids for too long theyve internalized the patriarchy and turned on each other, always begging for for male approval and validation. Its disgusting. I realize the truth men are iredeemable. radfem hitler was is fucking vindicated now. They cant be reformed or redeemed. Theyre a fucking scourge upon the earth. The only solution is to total exterminate them and every foid who worships these fucking parasites. Every single male must be wiped out, from babies to the elderty. Only then can women be free to create a new world, ill be a pioneer, ill be the first to take the first step. i dont care if theyr fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, teachers, police, and especially niggers or politicians.ive been craving to kill them all. This is my mission. only when their parasitic sludge has been expunged from this earth is when Then the world will be clean and women can start over. It’s the only way. in aproximately 10 mintue si should be dead, its strange but it feels good.

Abundant Life Christian School mass murderer in Madison Wisconsin
Via a post on X by Andy Ngo 🏳️‍🌈 @MrAndyNgo on December 16, 2024

So sad. So terrible. Such a waste.

Abusive father?

Toxic femininity?

Mental health issues?

All of the above?

At this time, the only thing we know for sure is that the human behind the trigger is responsible. A gun did not do this on its own.