Much like Art, I will not be checking the blog regularly over the next few days. Don't get impatient, don't get your panties wadded, and chill out, if I don't approve or respond to your comments as quickly as you'd like.
Monday, December 22, 2025
BoT, Fraud, Venezuela Hypocrisy, RoP, Incoherence, And More
https://x.com/i/status/2002767292782760347
https://x.com/laralogan/status/1999926620103254425?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/charliek_news/status/1999483215417922003?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
More fraud fun
https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/2002033335510741371?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Our very own human feces map.
https://x.com/govtstheproblem/status/1999536820296511624?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
More DFL leaders advocating for more criminals running free.
https://x.com/gunthereagleman/status/2000976782925693125?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/lancegooden/status/1999546593230442725?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/ianonpatriot/status/1999198852717424957?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
What could possibly have changed?
https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/1999553320311026066?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
This whole narrative that the Epstein files was going to sink Trump looks stupider and stupider every day.
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1999256337419555044?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
The whole BLM movement was a massive fraud which did nothing except enrich a few black women.
https://x.com/johnkonrad/status/1999121027675099213?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
I might have posted this, but am not sure. But more legal justification for Trump's actions around Venezuela.
https://x.com/radiogenoa/status/2000119306403664092?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/lauraloomer/status/2000206483913400742?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/realmaalouf/status/1999997819009286539?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/repfine/status/1999844546818232440?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/rubinreport/status/1999504803706097843?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/realmaalouf/status/1999496902266478881?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/trobinsonnewera/status/1999278085003444335?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
The very simple reality is that the policies supported by the politicians that people just like (and including) Dan are to blame for all of the above. The rapes, the attacks, the shootings, the kidnappings, the mass killings, the attempts to impose Sharia, that have been visited upon Western countries should be laid squarely at the feet of Dan and his fellow progressives. They advocated for unlimited immigration, a revolving door judicial, and supported those who pushed it through. Now we have billions in fraud, attempts to have actual insurrections, and crimes going (mostly) unpunished. If you supported Biden's immigration policies, this is on you.
More CS
“I must, of course, admit that the actual state of affairs may sometimes be so bad that a man is tempted to risk change even by revolutionary methods; to say that desperate diseases require desperate remedies and that necessity knows no law. But to yield to this temptation is, I think, fatal. It is under that pretext that every abomination enters. Hitler, the Machiavellian Prince, the Inquisition, the Witch Doctor, all claimed to be necessary. The first tendency is the growing exaltation of the collective and the growing indifference to persons. The philosophical sources are probably in Rousseau and Hegel, but the general character of modern life with its huge impersonal organisations may be more potent than any philosophy. Secondly, we have the emergence of ‘the Party’ in the modern sense – the Fascists, Nazis, or Communists. What distinguishes this from the political parties of the nineteenth century is the belief of its members that they are not merely trying to carry out a programme, but are obeying an impersonal force: that Nature, or Evolution, or the Dialectic, or the Race, is carrying them on. This tends to be accompanied by two beliefs which cannot, so far as I can see, be reconciled in logic but which blend very easily on the emotional level: the belief that the process which the Party embodies is inevitable, and the belief that the forwarding of this process is the supreme duty and abrogates all ordinary moral laws. In this state of mind men can become devil-worshippers in the sense that they can now honour, as well as obey, their own vices. All men at times obey their vices: but it is when cruelty, envy, and lust of power appear as commands of a great super-personal force that they can be exercised with self-approval.”"
"Another excerpt: “I believe that no man or group of men is good enough to be trusted with uncontrolled power over others. And the higher the pretensions of such power, the more dangerous I think it both to the rulers and to the subjects. Hence Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant, a robber baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations. And since Theocracy is the worst, the nearer any government approaches to Theocracy the worse it will be. A metaphysic, held by the rulers with the force of a religion, is a bad sign. It forbids them, like the inquisitor, to admit any grain of truth or good in their opponents, it abrogates the ordinary rules of morality, and it gives a seemingly high, super-personal sanction to all the very ordinary human passions by which, like other men, the rulers will frequently be actuated. In a word, it forbids wholesome doubt. A political programme can never in reality be more than probably right. We never know all the facts about the present and we can only guess the future. To attach to any party program – whose highest real claim is to reasonable prudence – the sort of assent which we should reserve for demonstrable theorems, is a kind of intoxication.”"
Friday, December 19, 2025
C.S. Lewis Has A Point
"I’m reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and I came across a fascinating idea I’ve never heard presented before. Lewis doesn’t state it directly—only its implication—but for his conclusion to hold, it must be inferred. It appears in the chapter “The Cardinal Virtues,” on the final two pages. Lewis distinguishes between performing a just or temperate act and actually being a just or temperate person. A poor tennis player might hit a great shot occasionally, but that doesn’t make him a good player. We all agree on that. Therefore, isolated acts of obedience don’t make one virtuous, character is revealed in consistency. From there, Lewis argues that God wants more than mere obedience. Obedience matters, but God cares far more about our character. He wants us to become people who naturally produce obedient behavior. Then comes the part I've been contemplating for the last few days. Lewis notes that we might assume virtues are needed only for this life, because in heaven there will be nothing to quarrel about (so no need for justice) and no danger (so no need for courage). But he adds that while God won’t refuse entry to heaven for lacking certain qualities, heaven offers no further opportunity to develop them. As a result, we will never attain the “deep, strong, unshakable kind of happiness” God intends. The inference that struck me is this: we may have only our time on earth to become the people God intends us to be. This life forms our capacity for joy, virtue, and glory. Heaven fulfills it but does not expand it through suffering. In heaven there are no trials to forge bravery, self-control, patience, humility, resilience, integrity, gratitude, or joy in the midst of hardship. Those qualities are shaped here, not there. So here's the unsettling question: once we die and enter eternity, is our development finished? Is this life our only chance to become the best version of ourselves? If so, it’s sobering. All the time wasted scrolling Instagram reels or behaving poorly without seeking growth would carry eternal consequences. I should live each day with urgency, taking massive strides toward becoming the man God intends. The day I die, the work ends. My capacity for joy and virtue can no longer grow. I’m not sure if this idea is theologically sound. Maybe it's not. I’d love some insight from theologians who could explain why it might not hold. But if this life truly is our only training ground, delay is far more dangerous than I ever realized. That thought alone makes me want to live with far greater urgency than yesterday."
That Thing That Never Happens, Happened Again
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/17/fulton-county-we-dont-dispute-315000-votes-lacking-poll-workers-signatures-were-counted-in-2020/
Well, one more "conspiracy theory" that falls victim to reality.
We were told this never happens...
We were told that even if it did happen, that it wasn't enough to make a difference.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
When A DFL Senator Is Convinced
https://x.com/overton_news/status/2001114723190735162?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Interesting position from a democrat.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
A Good Laugh
https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/2000604264209527213?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
This is absolutely hilarious.
Monday, December 15, 2025
A God Who Acts
Luke 1 seems to present some difficulties to those who insist that YHWH does not act or intervene in events and with people. Likewise for those who dismiss anything supernatural.
"1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[a] among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."
We start the Gospel of Luke with the author assuring the recipient that he is compiling an account based on eyewitness testimony, which the author investigated, with the intent of giving the reader certainty about the recorded events. To me this seems to exclude the author repeating things that were not testified to be eyewitnesses or things about what the author doesn't have certainty.
"5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside."
This section set the stage in the historical context, and starts the story of Jesus with the birth narrative of John the Baptist.
"11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”"
Given the introduction, it would follow that the author is certain about what he is reporting. That YHWH sent an angel to speak with Zechariah and to tell him that YHWH Himself had heard the prayers of Zechariah and Elizabeth and that YHWH will intervene to answer those prayers. Also that YHWH's answer takes place outside of the normal, natural, course of events. YHWH is acting through a woman thought to be barren, in order to make a point. Further, the restrictions on John recall the restrictions of Nazarites of the OT at least in some sense. Finally, John's role is that of an OT prophet. To prepare the way for "The Lord" (referring to Jesus in terms that are usually applied to YHWH), and to turn people to righteous obedience and wisdom. Strangely enough, not one mention of any economic issues.
"18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”"
Zechariah's response to Gabriel was quite the contrast to Mary's later in the chapter. His response is doubt and he demands proof. Given the circumstances, it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask but doubting an angel sent from YHWH does seem foolish. Gabriel then provided his resume, so to speak. He is clear that he stands in the presence of YHWH and the he speaks on behalf of YHWH. That there is an "appointed time" for this to happen has always interested me. It seem to indicate that these events were a part of a larger plan of YHWH and had been "appointed" long ago.
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Elizabeth, however, managed to respond in a much more appropriate way.
"26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”"
Once again we see the claim that YHWH sent Gabriel to someone to tell them that YHWH was going to intervene in time and space, and that He was going to use Mary as a part of His plan. It seems germane to note that Gabriel specifies what the child's name is to be (YHWH Saves) and that Gabriel is giving Mary a glimpse of who/what Jesus really is. This seems to be a reasonably clear statement of the deity of Jesus, and of His Kingship.
"34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her."
Note Mary's response compared to Zechariah. She seems much more willing to accept what she is being told, and her questions seem to suggest sincere curiosity rather than disbelief. The final statement about the "word of YHWH" never failing is interesting.
"39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”"
Given that the author of Luke is clear that he is repeating eyewitness testimony, for the purpose of giving the reader certainty, it seems difficult to dismiss this episode as anything but accurate. That Elizabeth knew, through the Holy Spirit, who and what Jesus was to be and do, seems impossible to attribute to anything except the intervention of YHWH. Eliazbeth reiterates an unshakable confidence in the promises of YHWH.
As I read the first part of Luke 1, I am left to draw the conclusion that the author either spoke with eyewitnesses to these events and is recounting them accurately, or that the author undercuts his own claims by including events that didn't/couldn't happen because YHWH "doesn't work that way in time and space". Personally, I can't reconcile a God who doesn't intervene in the world He created with the events recorded in Scripture. Either YHWH is a trustworthy God who keeps His promises and is actively intervening in the lives of His people, or He's not. If He's not, then how can we trust anything we read in Scripture, especially the Gospels?
Thursday, December 11, 2025
BoT
https://x.com/nldrmedia/status/1998861580407288256?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Great example of how awesome some of these Somali immigrants are.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09726-0
Woopsie, I guess following the science doesn't help the greens extremists.
"NATURE JOURNAL RETRACTS MAJOR CLIMATE STUDY THAT CLAIMED $38 TRILLION IN ANNUAL DAMAGE BY 2049 The "science" strikes again. Nature has retracted a highly publicized 2024 climate study from Germany's Potsdam Institute that projected climate change would cause $38 trillion in economic damage annually by 2049 and a 62% reduction in global GDP by 2100. Progressives hyped it relentlessly. Axios called it a study that "shines a new light on the patterns and severity of climate change's economic impacts." It was used to justify electric vehicle mandates and other costly government interventions. One problem: the study was garbage. Scientists found rows of data were "wrongly printed as a decimal, rather than a percentage point." When corrected for statistical uncertainty, the results became "statistically insignificant." And here's the kicker: the entire projection was driven by data anomalies from one country, Uzbekistan, where economic data from 1995-1999 was inaccurate. Remove Uzbekistan, fix the math errors, and suddenly the economic harm from climate change is no longer distinguishable from the costs of doing nothing. The Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks including the Federal Reserve, had already incorporated this junk study into their climate stress tests. The Fed withdrew from that network in January. Why didn't peer reviewers catch obvious errors? Conformity bias. Nobody wanted to question findings that supported the narrative. This is why Americans don't trust climate "science." Source: Wall Street Journal / Nature"
https://x.com/alphanews/status/1998860940196892830?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
The more you know.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
BoT
https://x.com/nancyrpearcey/status/1995277952259645825?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Somehow the ASPL has foisted the narrative on us the slavery is uniquely a sin of the US, yet history tells a different story.
https://x.com/alexduncantx/status/1995247833428160809?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Sounded Good Enough To Share
https://x.com/trad_west_/status/1995080364063400006?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
"Did you know you say a prayer every time you say "goodbye"? The word "Goodbye" is a contraction of the phrase used in the late 16th century: "God be with ye." Over time, it was shortened to "God b'w'y" and finally "Goodbye." You are literally blessing someone every time you say it."
This should be True even if it isn't.
St Thomas Aquinas On Immigration
https://x.com/imperatoraus/status/1994513402656690232?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
In his Summa Theologiae, St Thomas Aquinas laid out one of the most charitable yet practical arguments concerning immigration that effectively shaped the West for almost 1,000 years. 1. Immigration must always be proportionate so that foreigners can properly assimilate into the culture and mode of worship of the state. 2. Citizenship – and associated rights – should only ever be granted after the third generation to preserve the culture, mode of worship, and constitution of the state. 3. The common good of the citizens must remain the highest priority of the state, meaning, the state's obligation to provide aid to its neighbours can never be at the expense of the citizens. However, Aquinas ends with the sobering reminder that some peoples and states are incompatible with one another, and these must be held as "foes in perpetuity". Check out my article with
to read more.Fraudapalloza!
https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/1997340090092433647?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
This is how the Somali community assimilates apparently.
https://x.com/rightanglenews/status/1997309689965543854?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
I'm sure that every dollar has been earned absolutely legally, ethically, and morally, right?
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1997068460015145178?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Because DFL luminaries hanging out with criminals is not a problem at all, right?
https://x.com/immeme0/status/1997044347938766864?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Clearly his culture didn't prepare him for life where theft from the government is frowned upon.
https://x.com/amuse/status/1996292456237703468?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/conceptualjames/status/1995931298377154946?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
When people tell you who they are, believe them.
https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/1996187671568306297?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Yet, we've been assured that this never happens. Ever.
https://x.com/covid_clarity/status/1996024880353989119?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Elsewhere I've published similar stats for various European countries. It's not a surprise that we see similar negative results here.
https://x.com/covid_clarity/status/1996024880353989119?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Absolutely we should be celebrating those who've engaged in massive fraud.
https://www.americanexperiment.org/feeding-our-future-keith-ellison-caught-on-tape/
Great job Keith. Wonder if the connections to Ellison and Walz will ever be investigated.
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1995689564271165453?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Yeah, he'd have been a great VP.
https://x.com/amuse/status/1995217809903894635?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
https://x.com/realjameswoods/status/1995062272977502690?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
When state employees say things are bad...
https://x.com/gragedustin/status/1995509062776352792?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
High character and ethics right here.
https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1995189540433039600?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
When it comes to "demonizing and entire community" don't forget that the MN Somali community actively participated in the autism fraud, and stayed silent as their fellow Somalis stole from them.
https://x.com/troyapeterson/status/1995141194934796576?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Judges are increasingly overstepping their authority.
https://x.com/gragedustin/status/1994814588127515106?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Let's not forget Walz hateful rhetoric against his political enemies.
https://x.com/gragedustin/status/1994829847269707937?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
This was literally state sanctioned fraud.
https://x.com/toreyvanoot/status/1994827375084023904?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
No one on the left seems particularly upset about any aspect of this massive fraud. That the maney stolen was intended to feed the poor and help the sick doesn't even get them particularly engaged.
https://x.com/billglahn/status/1994421674301669563?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Why is the state of MN withholding public records from the Strib?
https://x.com/gragedustin/status/1994475156795003355?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
6.5 BILLION dollars gone. Who's going to be on the hook?
x.com/dc_draino/status/1992981097093972315?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
Don't leave MPLS city government out of the fraudapalloza.
https://x.com/bonchieredstate/status/1992966676854272432?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
It is absolutely stunning that the revered NYT, hoe of "real journalism" somehow attempts to make the guy who stole someone else's SSN out to be some kind of sympathetic victim.
https://x.com/gragedustin/status/1992967062847676527?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw
They weren't even trying.
Reportage
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSAqoIIDT7q/?igsh=cnIydTBtc2lya2Nj
This is an excellent example of Dan's hypocrisy when it comes to "sources". Lou Raguse is a well known local journalist who works for news department the local NBC affiliate as an investigative reporter. He is reporting news in a manner that is not traditional. In essence he's using this IG video to point people to the more traditional outlet for his reporting. Yet that choice of a non traditional medium doesn't (or shouldn't) invalidate the reporting that he has done/is doing. It doesn't somehow make the facts of the massive fraud he's reporting on less damning, or less True. Yet, as Dan has demonstrated, this medium of reporting will be ignored or minimized because it's not the traditional way that Dan learned about reporting in JUCO back in the '80s.
Truth is Truth, accuracy is accuracy, facts are facts, and reporting is reporting, whether it's over the air or on cable/satellite or on a social media platform.
Maybe it's time to live in the 21st century.
Monday, December 8, 2025
This Is Something I Was Unaware Of
This seems germane to the sinking of the drug smuggling boats. From a quick read, it appears that any boat refusing to sail under a national flag automatically assumes some degree of risk of being presumed to be involved in illegal action, and the risk of being dealt with accordingly.
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A vessel in international waters is required under UNCLOS to sail under the flag of a specific nation. If it does not, it is legally considered a stateless vessel. A stateless vessel has no right to the protections normally afforded to ships under a national flag, including immunity from interference by other states.
UNCLOS Articles 92, 94, 110, and customary maritime law spell out the consequences clearly:
1. Stateless vessels have no sovereign protection. A flagged ship is an extension of its flag-state’s sovereignty. A stateless vessel is not. This matters because “war crimes” presuppose protected persons or protected property. A stateless vessel is legally unprotected.
2. Any state may stop, board, search, seize, or disable, a stateless vessel. UNCLOS Article 110 explicitly authorizes boarding and seizure. The law does not require states to risk their own personnel or assets while doing so. Disabling a vessel that refuses inspection, including firing on it, is legally permitted under both UNCLOS and long-established state practice.
3. War crimes require an armed conflict. You cannot commit a “war crime” outside an armed conflict. War crimes occur only within the context of international humanitarian law (IHL). Enforcing maritime law against a stateless vessel is a law enforcement action, not an IHL situation.
No armed conflict = no war crime possible.
4. Lethal force may be used when a vessel refuses lawful orders. The International Maritime Organization’s “Use of Force” guidance for maritime interdiction recognizes that disabling fire, even lethal force, is lawful when a vessel refuses lawful boarding, attempts to flee, poses a threat, or engages in illicit activities such as piracy or narcotics trafficking.
Once again: law enforcement rules apply, not IHL.
5. Sinking a stateless vessel is not prohibited by UNCLOS. UNCLOS permits seizure of a stateless vessel and leaves the means entirely to the enforcing state so long as necessity and proportionality are respected. If the vessel flees, attacks, or refuses lawful commands, sinking it is legally permissible. Many states routinely do this to drug-smuggling vessels (e.g., semi-submersibles) without it ever being treated as a war crime.
6. No flag = no jurisdictional shield. The entire reason international law requires ships to fly a flag is to prevent this exact situation. Flagless vessels are legally vulnerable by design.
Because a stateless vessel has no protected status, because UNCLOS authorizes interdiction of such vessels, because lethal force may be used in maritime law enforcement when necessary, and because war crimes require an armed conflict that is not present here, sinking an unflagged ship in international waters is not a war crime.
How Many Is Too Many?
I have a simple question. Which should result in a simple answer. Failure (at least for now) to answer with anything more than a number will result in your answer not making it through moderation. After, we see some simple direct answers, things will loosen up.
One simple question.
How many rapes should one person be allowed to commit before they are sentenced to serve prison time?
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Ignorance Isn't an Excuse
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/us/fraud-minnesota-somali.html
Since Dan claims to be ignorant of the massive, and extensive, frauds primarily engaged in by the Somali community in MN I've wanted to do another post on the topic to educate him. Unfortunately, I have the material but not the time to put a post together.
So, I'll start with a source of DATA that Dan can complain about because it's not an example of "real" journalism. But to summarize that Somali community has defrauded federal taxpayer dollars intended to feed the "poor", and federal tax dollars intended to provide care for those with autism, 50% of MN Somali immigrants have engaged in immigration fraud, @30% of CDLs issued are fraudulent, both Walz and Ellison honored and took money from those involved in these massive frauds, the Somali Muslim community and at least one Mosque spoke in favor of a Somali man who kidnapped and raped a 12 year old girl, and a judge unilaterally released one of the men convicted of defrauding US taxpayers out of over 7 million dollars.
I'll add more DATA as I have time. But you'd hope that the NYT would be enough to deal with Dan's ignorance.
