HOLD ON THAR PARDNER: Chicago police department chief has a message for the [Teddy] Bear of Little Brains.

HEH: Internecine warfare.

THE INSURRECTION ACT: A short guide to President Trump's options.

THE UPSIDE OF LOSING: Why not winning the Nobel peace prize is one of Donald Trump's greatest victories.

HOW OPEN CARRY is changing police responses to certain 911 calls.

Probably not in my very rural neck of the woods. It wasn't that very long ago that I was in a checkout line at a grocery store with the man ahead of me openly carrying a holstered handgun with his preschool daughter at his side. No one noticed.

HUDNA IN GAZA?

The real question, I think, is whether Hamas still speaks for Gaza. By rights, given the disasters they have spawned, the leaders of Hamas should be strung up like Mussolini at the end of World War II. But if there is a movement among the people of Gaza to leave fanaticism behind and become a normal polity, I am not aware of it.

I think it's safe to assume that Hamas has no intention of giving up power and further that the Gazans as a whole are comfortable with that.

THIS COULD GET INTERESTING: Republicans could draw 19 more House seats aafter an upcoming Supreme Court ruling.

STACY McCAIN explains the Great Mystery of Our Time.

CHICAGO RESISTANCE: "[Illinois Gov. JB} Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson ... perform in a 'two-man play' of local resistance to federal authority. If this were a buddy-cop movie, Johnson would be the crazy one and Pritzker would be the heavy (pun probably intended)."

PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA: banning pet sales.

We've had cats since, well, forever, every one of which was either feral, dumped at the side of the road, or adopted from a local animal shelter.

A WRITER'S TAKE on the state of the American left.

The author is not pro-MAGA either. I disagree with some of his observations, but for my money, he is remarkably fair.

FALLING LEAVES 2025, Week 3: The weather has been 'interesting' this last week, being dryer and less humid, and a bit nippier at night, so the forest seems to be getting the message. Flowers are still late-stage blooming, but the grass is finally browning and the trees (those that haven't already lost their leaves) have begun to show colors. I'll start with my usual pond picture, followed by two more taken from the stair going down to the pond:

And now, without any further comment, a series of photos that have been taken from around the house:

And finally a view from outside my 'office' window.

Until next week then....