Trump’s Return: The Prospects for Cuba Are Even Grimmer

Above, yours truly in Havana at the Plaza de la Revolución in 2019. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

Back in 2019, it was within a couple of months after I had taken a cruise to Havana, Cuba that then-President Donald Trump slapped on restrictions for travel to the communist island.

Some expected Joe Biden to reverse course and reimpose Barack Obama's Cuba travel policies when he entered the White House. He didn't. The Trump policies still stand.

One may surmise that with Donald Trump's election, the prospects for Cuba are "grimmer".

According to Inkstick Media:

Throughout this year’s US presidential campaign, the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were largely silent on Cuba. Now, Trump will return to the White House for a second time in January, and his administration will likely maintain the same hardline policies he previously employed toward the island.

Biden maintained the status quo created by Trump’s re-designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Under the National Endowment for Democracy, Biden spent $20 million annually in “democracy promotion,” according to former CIA analyst Fulton Armstrong. He also promoted Cuban-American interests to the point that some prominent Cuban exiles in Miami and their descendants called for military intervention instead of lifting the embargo on Cuba. 

Cuba is already facing immense hardships, but Trump will likely double down on his past policies, increase sanctions, and introduce more severe restrictions on travel to Cuba, as well as maintain the SSOT designation that has already caused the island widespread difficulties. It is probable that just as in the case of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 and its eventual expansion to encompass the needs of the US government, Trump will be closing any possible loopholes in the existing legislation that is already driving Cuba to the brink of economic collapse. 

Trump’s choice for US Secretary of State is also likely to play a role in foreign policy towards the island. US Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American living in Miami, stands out from the majority of Cuban exiles as his family immigrated to the US during Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship. But Rubio still cast his lot with the Cuban exiles calling for the overthrow of the Cuban revolution. 

 To read more, go here.

CIA Cover-Up On Havana Syndrome Attacks Alleged

Above, the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba during a drive-by. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This really doesn't surprise me in the least.

Considering the shenanigans the CIA (and FBI) engaged in over the past several years, it would not surprise me that a cover-up is taking place on the "Havana Syndrome" attacks at the Havana, Cuba U.S. Embassy.

The Washington Times reported:

A former CIA officer who says she was attacked by some type of foreign energy weapon is charging the CIA with covering up the attacks.

The medically retired CIA officer, identified only as “Alice” because of her past agency work in Africa, revealed that she still suffers debilitating injuries after hearing a strange sound in her home in 2021, resulting in what the federal government is vaguely describing as an “anomalous health incident,” or AHI.

The malady, however, is known widely as Havana syndrome by the hundreds of U.S. diplomats, intelligence personnel and military members who say they have been afflicted after being posted overseas. An FBI agent also reported suffering head injuries from some type of energy device attack in the United States.

China and Russia are suspected of conducting the attacks that some analysts say are part of cognitive warfare — efforts to affect brain function. Sonic or microwave weapons are also suspected.

To read more, go here. 

Police Probe: Are The New Years Terror Incidents Related?

Above, the Las Vegas Trump Hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Investigators are looking into the terror incidents on New Years to see if they are related.

It seems quite possible since they came within hours of each other.

According to the BBC:

Police in the US are investigating whether an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is linked to the deadly car-ramming attack in New Orleans.

The driver of a Tesla Cybertruck was killed and seven other people were injured in Las Vegas after the vehicle - filled with fuel canisters and firework mortars - exploded. Officials said all injuries were minor.

In the New Orleans attack, a 42-year-old US citizen is believed to have driven a pick-up truck into a crowd on a busy street, killing 14 people and injuring 35, before being shot dead by police.

President Joe Biden said investigators were looking into whether the two incidents were linked, but "thus far, there is nothing to report".

To read more, go here. 

Terror Attacks Add Urgency To Trump's National Security Priorities

 

New Year’s Day terror attacks add urgency to Trump’s plans to reprioritize national securityhttps://t.co/C9VwrZsfjD pic.twitter.com/ZN6o877F4H

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) January 3, 2025

Tips For Senior Shooters

Above, at our shooting range in New Mexico. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Everyone with whom I hang out with in New Mexico are all of the same age group as I am (60+).

Years ago, some of us 30-somethings used to laugh when we were on camping trips with various chapters of E Clampus Vitus. Sitting around campfires with senior members, it seemed that all they just talked about were their aches and pains along with other ailments. 

Now that friends and I are at the age they were at, we are discussing the same things. That also goes for our "Jamestown gang". They is now us!

Aging is still better than the alternative, even though we have to find ways to cope with what it brings.

That goes for shooting. The eyes aren't what they used to be (along with hearing). The American Rifleman, the online magazine version by the NRA, has an article from 2022 with tips for senior shooters.

It starts with:

In his January 2020 article, “The Aging Defender,” then-Managing Editor Kelly Young did an admirable job in chronicling his interview with doctor of physical therapy Joseph Logar—who is also national manager of the NRA’s Adaptive Shooting Program—about the effects of aging on today’s shooters. And while Young’s article should be required reading for every NRA member, I had some issues with it—primarily that it was the article I had wanted to write ever since my personal odometer passed the 65-year mark more than a few birthdays ago.

But Kelly beat me to the draw, editorially speaking, and, to make matters worse, there was the irony of his surname. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, Young readily admitted to being “… a few years shy of 40” at the time. I, on the other hand, have spent more than 40 years (and counting) in a gun-writing career that has taken me from the deserts of Arizona to the jungles of Africa. In the process, I have encountered countless .22 rimfires, muzzleloaders, handguns, rifles and shotguns, from both the hunting and collecting perspectives. Consequently, I feel I am eminently qualified to write about the challenges of being a senior-citizen shooter. So, as an addendum to Young’s article, here are a few other age-related tidbits that I have personally discovered and that will hopefully be of benefit to some of our more “seasoned” NRA members.

To read the full article, go here. 

Winchester 94 A Woman's Favorite Deer Rifle

Above, Winchester 94 .30-30 rifle. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I have rarely, if ever, noticed articles on the Winchester 94 by women shooters/hunters.

One has just been posted at Outdoor Life by Alice Jones Webb. It is about her hand-me-down Winchester 94 that she inherited from her grandfather. It is her favorite deer-hunting rifle.

It is a pre-64 made in 1942.

Here's a snippet from her article:

A Hand-Me-Down Cowboy Gun

I was only 19 when I inherited my grandfather’s beat-up old Winchester 94. My uncle claimed the gun had a lot of character. I thought it looked like it had been dragged 100 miles through gravel, soaked in a mud puddle, and then left to rust in a dusty corner. 

I’d had my heart set on a shiny new semi-automatic rifle chambered in something fast and topped with some high-class glass. Mine would be a rifle that would turn heads at the deer check station and mark me as a serious deer hunter. But that fantasy was crushed by this rusty, scratched-up old cowboy gun that spit empty cases out the top, making a top-mounted scope thoroughly impractical. 

Now that I’m older, with decades of deer seasons under my belt, that Winchester 94 chambered in the immortal .30-30 is one of my prized possessions. I still think that flashy guns, hot rod cartridges, and shiny new optics are fun to shoot. But shooting isn’t deer hunting. 

I now realize that Winchester Model 94 was exactly the gun I needed. 

To read the full article, go here. 

Flying J Building EV Charging Station

The Jamestown, New Mexico Flying J Travel Center is adding an electric vehicle charging station.

The construction is almost done. Unfortunately, we lost many parking spots where they decided to put it.

Here's what it looked like yesterday:

 

Montana Gov. Gianforte Sues Yellowstone National Park Over Bison Plan

Above, lounging bison and their calves in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A legal battle is brewing in the state of Montana over a plan by the National Park Service and Department of the Interior over a bison management plan.

Governor Greg Gianforte and the Montana departments of Livestock and Fish, Wildlife & Parks are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle: 

Citing a failure to cooperate with Montana state agencies and violation of federal laws, Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration has sued to have Yellowstone National Park’s bison management plan nullified.

The 51-page lawsuit, filed on Dec. 31 in Billings District Court, names the National Park Service, Department of Interior and its leaders — including Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly — as defendants.

In addition to Gianforte, the Montana departments of Livestock and Fish, Wildlife & Parks are plaintiffs in the suit.

Yellowstone’s bison plan was finalized in July 2024 amid protests from the Gianforte administration, first outlined in a 17-page letter in 2023.

Under Gianforte’s leadership, the state has sought lower bison populations in the park to lessen the chance of the animals migrating into Montana in the winter.

The state wants the park bison population to number no more than 3,000 animals, a target agreed to in 2000 when the Interagency Bison Management Plan was adopted.

In the new plan, however, Yellowstone cited updated scientific findings to justify a population range between 3,500 to 6,000 animals after calving. That would put the population at an average of 5,000 head a year.

To read more, go here. 

John Wayne's "Stagecoach" Rifle

Above, John Wayne in Stagecoach with his Winchester 1892 rifle. 

Ever wondered what lever-action rifle model John Wayne used in the 1939 western classic, Stagecoach? 

According to the Internet Movie Firearms Data Base:

Henry "The Ringo Kid" (John Wayne) uses a Winchester 1892 "Saddle Ring Carbine" with a large lever loop. It is the shorter "Trapper" model that was often the weapon of choice for the actor throughout many of his films.  

The large lever loop allows for one-handed reloading that the actor would make famous in numerous Westerns.

For more on the Winchester 1892 and other guns featured in Stagecoach, go here.

Gun Control Is Racist

Besides being a stupid and ineffective policy (or policies) and much of it deemed unconsititional, gun control policies appear to be racist.

This is according to an article by John Stossel in Creators Syndicate.

It begins with:

Media scream, "Too many people have guns!"

Second Amendment activist Maj Toure says more people should carry guns.

"Everybody should be walking around," he says in my new video, "like, 'Oh man, I left my gun in the house. Let me go back and get it.' It should be as normal as a cellphone."

Activists and some politicians want gun control.

Toure says, "All gun control is racist!"

All?

"It was literally started to stop Black people from having the means to defend themselves."

To read more, go here. 

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year!

January 20th can't come soon enough!