Author Archive: Stephen Green

I’D NEVER HEARD OF HIM: The Most Brilliant Man You’ve Never Heard Of. “What’s of greater interest is how this extraordinary man with incredible insights into the way the mind works lived such an obscure life.”

I LIKE THE CUT OF HIS JIB: Nevada governor breaks his own record with 87 vetoes.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has broken the state record for most vetoes during a single legislative session with 87.

It’s a record he set himself after the previous session in 2023 when he vetoed 75 bills. Nevada is one of four states where the Legislature meets only during odd-numbered years.

This year Lombardo signed 518 bills into law, and his 10-day window to decide on bills passed on Friday.

Despite all of the noise made around Nevada legislators’ efforts to push bills through the state’s narrow 120-day session window, they still have to make it off the Republican governor’s desk. And the Democratic majorities in the Assembly and Senate don’t have enough seats to override Lombardo’s vetoes.

“I did not take lightly the decision to veto 87 bills,” said Lombardo in a press release. “I do not enjoy using the veto pen, but as Governor, it is my responsibility to protect Nevadans from legislation that goes too far, expands government unnecessarily, or creates unintended consequences that hurt families, businesses, or our economy.”

Mister, we could use a lot more men like Joe Lombardo again.

ENDORSED:

X is much better than Twitter was, but it still needs some serious work.

NOT SO HARMLESS: Weed legalization more dangerous for road safety than previously believed.

Marijuana, the THC-containing part of the cannabis plant, impairs driving performance by diminishing motor coordination, multitasking abilities, reaction time and distance perception, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Impairment also lasts up to five times longer than alcohol intoxication, which usually wears off within eight hours.

But few Americans know about these dangerous effects or how long they persist, posing serious road safety concerns as drugged driving becomes more common.

In a March study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, found roughly 85% of 2,000 cannabis users reported driving the same day they use the drug. Only 19% thought their driving became worse after cannabis use and 34% believed they drove better after use.

To be fair, smoking the stuff never made anybody any smarter.

HEH:

Full text:

Joking aside, the reason the online isolationists are having such a meltdown is actually not even that they are “anti-war”. Current events are shattering the illusion that their hot takes are representative or influential. This is why they’re so upset.

The reason they have been able to maintain this illusion in their minds despite the fact that President Trump has always been pro-Israel and a hawk on Iran is that the illusion was flattering to them.

Thousands and thousands of likes on their posts about how Churchill was the chief villain of WWII and Israel is the root of all evil went to their head. They thought they had power. The thought they had influence. And now that they’ve realised they don’t they’re calling for Trump to be impeached 🤡

My thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time.

Trump is proving to be the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House, and at the time they needed one most.

NICE SHOOTING, FELLAS:

EVERYTHING GETS HACKED: U.N. Report Warns Terrorists Could Weaponize Driverless Cars.

The report, Algorithms and Terrorism: The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence for Terrorist Purposes, details ways emerging AI technologies could be weaponised by extremists and was first covered by The Times.

Self-driving cars, drones and other automated systems to target crowded public spaces could all be seized and remotely controlled by terrorists to deliver deadly consequences in crowded public spaces.

“Vehicles, particularly cars, vans and trucks, have long been used in terrorist attacks,” the U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism warned.

It added: “Reflecting on the extensive history of terrorism and vehicles, ­increased autonomy in cars could well be an amenable development for terrorist groups, ­allowing them to effectively carry out one of their most traditional types of attacks remotely, without the need for a follower to sacrifice his or her life or risk being apprehended.”

I gave a similar warning last week — no hacks required: How the Rioters Blew It. “Imagine a few dozen strategically-placed rioters hailing Waymos to the intersections and bridges necessary to completely cut off part of a city — and then setting them ablaze. An EV can burn for hours without major intervention, thanks to a process called thermal runaway.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Randi Weingarten Will Still Have Plenty of Pull at the DNC. “Randi Weingarten is one of the most evil women in American politics. She’s also one of the most influential on the Democrats’ side of the aisle. There’s likely to be far more fallout for Ken Martin and the rest of the current DNC hierarchy over Weingarten’s departure than there will be for her.”

UM… FAVORING BY RACE IS ILLEGAL, ACTUALLY:

THAT WOULD BE NICE, BUT…: Here’s a Thought: A Killer’s Politics Shouldn’t Matter at All.

Just minutes after Vance Boelter, 57, was caught, disarmed and arrested in a field near his Green Isle, Minnesota home by one of the 20 SWAT teams that had been searching tirelessly for him, the legacy media began speculating about his personal politics and motivations.

Boelter was an extreme threat who had a lengthy list of additional victims. Police said they found three AK-47s and a 9mm Beretta handgun in his SUV, which he left at his second crime scene after committing two murders.

As a native Minnesotan who grew up hunting and fishing in L’etoile du Nord Boelter’s horrific killings should be difficult for me to understand, but as an ex-cop I don’t even bother. We will probably never understand his true motive(s), and all the media blather about his personal politics is just a waste of our time.

I’m much more concerned about his victims and their families: Minnesota DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor Party) leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, both of whom Boelter assassinated, and state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who were both horribly wounded but will likely survive.

It would be nice not to focus on the political motivations of these murderers, but with most of the political violence coming from the Left, I’m not sure how wise that would be.

HMM:

China buys 80-90% of Iran’s oil exports — often using questionable methods to avoids sanctions, and presumably at a discount.

Whatever change is coming, Beijing presumably isn’t happy about it.

THE ECONOMICS OF WAR: Israel’s air superiority lets it strike Iran on the cheap — and force Tehran into costly retaliation.

The effective Israeli strikes on Iranian air defenses and military airports “will degrade Iran’s ability to restrict Israeli operations in its airspace,” the Institute for the Study of War, a conflict studies think tank in Washington, DC, said on Sunday.

Weapons analysts have identified Israeli fighter jets armed with Joint Direct Attack Munitions. JDAMs, which are made by the US defense contractor Boeing, are dumb bombs fitted with relatively cheap guidance kits that turn them into precision-guided munitions. These weapons are not considered stand-off weapons.

Analysts have also spotted Israeli aircraft armed with SPICE bombs. Like JDAMs, guidance kits that turn dumb bombs into precision weapons. They are made by the local defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Open-source intelligence accounts have noted the use of JDAMs and SPICE — which stands for Smart, Precise Impact, Cost-Effective — bombs in the airstrikes across Iran, including around Tehran. Israel’s ability to fire these munitions suggests it is less concerned about defenses and does not necessarily have to employ its more expensive missiles for high-value targets. It has more options.

It’s nice to have affordable options.