Random News and Notes 3 September
I told you about the deployment of ships and 22 MEU to the southern Caribbean a few days ago. The segment in question was about the US going to war with Venezeula. In that piece I predicted that it was not going to be war and invasion but interdiction of drug runners. Well I was right. At least so far. President Trump announced the first kinetic interdiction of a smuggling boat in a press gaggle yesterday afternoon. The White House then released video. Watch:
Buh-Bye.
I am curious to know what the Navy used on that boat though. It isn’t particularly clear in the video.
During the same press event, the President announced he was moving US Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville Alabama.
Huntsville is home to Redstone Arsenal, where the vast majority of US missile and rocket tech is created and built.
The 5th Circuit just declared the Trump use of the Alien Enemies Act to fast track deportations of TdA members unconstitutional. The 183 page decision – one that will likely be overturned at SCOTUS – is a mess. There are partial concurrences, partial dissents, and – according to some legal scholars I read and trust – twisted logic. Professor MJ Cleveland breaks it down in this thread:
I have issues when courts – any court – abrogates executive authority as the 5th circuit seems to do here. The AEA lays out who can make the determination of who is “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States” and it is not a court.
You can be sure this one is going to SCOTUS, and likely on the rocket docket. I wonder how Roberts is gonna f*ck this one up. . .
An odd occurrence happened in the Yankees/Astros game last night. Houston ace Framber Valdez was on the bump in the top of the 5th. With two outs, Yankee outfielder Trent Grisham comes to the plate. On a 1-0 sinker, Grisham hit a grand slam. It appears that ‘stros catcher César Salazar tried to get Valdez to back off the rubber before he threw the pitch that left the park. Two pitches later, with Yank short stop Anthony Volpe at the dish, Valdez drilled his catcher right in the chest. Watch:
It looked intentional. Salazar looked like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.5th Even Volpe was like WTF, did he just do that on purpose? Valdez claims it was a simple miscommunication, but I dunno. I’ve been watching Baseball for a very long time and I have never seen anything like that before.
Apparently it is a TikTok trend to tow ICE vehicles to impede enforcement actions. Need I say this is not a good idea? Well, a dude named Bobby Nunez did just that. He is now facing charges for stealing government property.
. . . behind bars while he faces justice. Nunez is looking at up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted.
I wonder if the 15 minutes of fame and the tiny bit of worthless internet clout was worth it. Bobby looked a little irritated about the whole perp walk thing. Hopefully there are more of them.
