Quote of the Day — Lyle (October 30, 2014)

Derived from his comment to Joe's Quote of the Day post:

To say that restrictions or encumbrances on gun ownership have “no effect” on crime is to defend those restrictions and encumbrances. … It is somewhat like saying that slavery has no effect on the general welfare of the slaves, being that good slave masters see to it that their (rather expensive) slaves are housed, fed, trained, cared for, and so on.

[…]

When Progressives claim “no effect” on crime, what they should be saying is that their gun restrictions failed to reduce crime rates. Failing to reduce is very different from having “no effect”, and it’s a way of letting them off the hook for their role in encouraging violent crime through their wholesale violation of a human right.

To add: "no effect" implies a "no-harm-no-foul" on violations of fundamental civil rights. That's not how this works. If you're going to restrict the free exercise of an enumerated right - especially via a prior restraint - there must be some definitive, measurable, and overwhelming benefit to doing so.

"No effect" fails to meet that burden. The somewhat more honest* "fails to reduce violent crime" fails even harder, and the strong possibility that "gun control" laws actually increase crime undermines it completely.

When we let the anti-rights people claim "no effect" without qualification, we're letting them claim that a given law has no effect on either violent crime rates OR gun ownership. That might be true for the former**, but is absolutely not true for the latter. And yet, they will shriek like banshees if you try to repeal a law that restricts a fundamental right by creating an entire class of victimless crimes (and "criminals"), but at best provides zero net public safety benefits.

The question we need to be asking — and demanding a response to — is, "Why?" But we already know the answer.
------------
* - But who really expects statists and collectivists to be honest, anyway?
** - Again, the numbers show a negative correlation between gun ownership and violent crime, meaning "no effect on crime" is statistically the BEST result the antis can hope for.

Countdown: Ferguson?

The hacktavist group Anonymous is claiming to have obtained government electronic documents and files related to the Michael Brown shooting and Ferguson, MO.

IJR: Anonymous Claims It Has Hacked Into Govt. Info on Officer Wilson That May Lead to Ferguson Riots

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson
(5NEWSOnline)

The information that has been release is hardly surprising: it has all been speculated about before. However, there is a new wrinkle, Anonymous has put a date sure to the release of the Grand Jury findings: On or about Monday, November 10, 2014.

What is different about the Anonymous leak is its definitive tone. They state that Officer Wilson will not be indicted, and the police and jails are preparing for widespread civil unrest. Governor Nixon has alerted the National Guard.

I'm not sure I completely believe Anonymous. Okay, I don't. The above information is presented with that caveat in mind. Still, we urge everyone to be mindful of the possibilities in the first two weeks of November, and prepare accordingly.

HT: IJR and Stacy Penland

Gun Cleaning Accident

 Jose Canseco Shoots Finger In Gun Cleaning Accident

(riveraveblues.com)

Hey, hey, hey: be careful out there!

HT: TMZ

VIDEO: The Hickenlooper Blues

Presented without (much) comment beyond this: Any Colorado readers we might have, there's only one week left! Post it, share it, spread the word! Vote the bum out!

(via the Examiner.com article, ‘Armed American Radio’ premieres ‘Hickenlooper Blues’, by David Codrea)

Storm Signs: Ferguson

(flicker.com)

I’ve done some blue water sailing. Years ago, I was off Baja California savoring my morning instant coffee, when I noted a long, oily swell hiding beneath the calm Pacific. It was coming from the NNW, down from the Arctic seas, running crosswise to the normal westerly wind chop. Throughout the beautiful Mexican day that swell built. The next day, the blue sky above was filled with wispy white cirrostratus, bent and torn by the winds clashing miles overhead. By nightfall, the intruding swell was quite apparent. The third day dawned an angry, sullen red.

(theatlantic.com)

The crew had been pushing the boat hard for several days, heeding the storm signs. Late on the third day, our boat blew into San Diego Harbor, just hours ahead of the wicked, fast moving Alaskan storm. We hung off the quarantine buoy, safe and warm and dry; as gale force winds thundered and that now mountainous swell pounded the California coast.

I fear that experience is a good analogy for Ferguson.

This last week was a pivotal one for Ferguson. The leaked official autopsy report largely supported Officer Darren Wilson’s version of what happened that August afternoon. Seven or eight independent witnesses are also said to have agreed with the policeman. It now appears that Michael Brown was first shot within the police car, ran away, turned, then was shot again and killed rushing Wilson. It was found Brown had consumed a significant amount of marijuana in the hour before his death, likely to the detriment of his judgement. From a neutral perspective, it now looks like Michael Brown was the aggressor and Officer Wilson acted in lawful self-defense.

Al Sharpton
(Business Insider)

Tensions have not diminished; the new facts seem to have only escalated them. Unfortunately, Ferguson hasn’t been about Michael Brown for a long time, if ever. This situation is in the hands of activists and the agitators, anarchists, angry, disaffected, bored, violent, or just plain crazy. Add to the mix the professional racialists in their five thousand dollar suits, other looters and opportunists, pandering politicians, and the media, greedy for controversy, eyeballs and ad revenue.  All these have created a situation primed to explode. Any opportunity could serve, or it could be the expected mid-November release of the Grand Jury findings.    

(slate.com)

There are far too many desiring the burning, the violence, and the destruction of order. The racialist, politicians and media continue to agitate. My wife tells me of the brittle peace holding the various St Louis factions apart. The hunger for destruction is not limited to the St Louis area, nor to any race. Strata of disaffection exist throughout the United States. I feel the same tensions here in Los Angeles/ Long Beach: the posturing on the street corners, the micro-aggressions on the roadway, the aggressive surliness of some in the stores. There seems to be a swell of discontent everywhere.

(girlsjustwannahaveguns.com)

There are storm signs aplenty. We have been warned.

It’s time to prepare, to look to you and your’s safety. I’ll readily acknowledge that things are not perfect and there are many areas still to be improved. However, if someone expects me to pay with my life or the lives of my loved ones for their perceived slights, for something I have not done -- we will have words.  

I’m imploring our readers to:

•  Lock your car and home doors
•  Keep a full tank of gas in all your vehicles
•  Avoid areas or events where large groups of youths gather 
• Pay attention: to news radio, social media, sirens, helicopters, smoke
•  Keep your head on a swivel
•  Have three days’ worth of supplies on hand. Once you have that, add four more days. When you have a week’s worth of supplies where you can live without going outside your locked doors, add another week. Then another.
•  And look to your personal protection. The 2^nd Amendment was written with these times in mind. Fortunately ammo, magazines, and training are currently readily available and for a good price. I can personally attest to the calming influence of a full magazine as the world burns around you.

(usbacklash.org)

Best of luck – I fear we will all need it.

Other links of interest:

http://www.prageruniversity.com/Political-Science/Who-Are-the-Racists-Conservatives-or-Liberals.html#.VEVIyPl4qUQ

http://chrishernandezauthor.com/2014/08/24/a-dose-of-reality-for-ferguson-missouri/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-kass-met-0822-20140822-column.html

Sunday Truth: "Common Sense" Gun Control Laws

“This battle for 'common-sense' gun control laws pits emotion and passion against logic and reason. All too often in such a contest, logic loses. So, expect more meaningless, if not harmful, 'gun control' legislation. Good news - if you're a crook.”  ―Larry Elder

(anexcellentspirit.com)

St Crispin's Day: The Battle of Agincourt

This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say “These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.”
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.
     Henry V, William Shakespeare

On 25 October 1415, a badly outnumbered English army defeated a vastly superior French one, through better tactics and a revolutionary new technology: the English longbow. The "bow of yew" was the arm of the English common soldier. With that tool, the nobility were no longer safe within their suits of armor. 

Predictably, the English nobility later sought to ban the bow from the hands of the peasants. The newly empowered common man would have none of that. And so, the seeds of democracy were sown.   

Remember all this when it looks like you are facing insurmountable odds.

California Voting Guide

The NotOneMoreGunLaw California Voter's Guide:

Vote for everything that has "Party Preference: Republican" behind the name.

Vote NO on all the propositions.

It is that easy here in California.

Frankly, my dears, I don't give a damn. I'm out of this nuthouse in little more than a week.  :)

Quote of the Day — Robb Allen (October 23, 2014)

In response to Linoge's "Graphics Matter" series updates (part one and part two), which I discussed the other day.

We have numbers, charts, references, open discussions, facts and history.

They have dick jokes.

I have nothing to add. :)

New York Ebola -- and the Obama Admin

Dr Spencer's walkabout of New York with nascent Ebola has the city in an uproar. 

It should be noted - but, somehow the media is failing to note - that a travel ban and/or quarantine of the Ebola hot zones of Western Africa could have prevented this threat to the 8.4 million tightly packed into NYC. In defiance of centuries of experience and effective practices, the Obama administration has refused to implement these preventative measures. Instead, they have slowly rolled out a patchwork of partially effective airport screenings and self reporting.

There are pervasive rumors - RUMORS - that the large NYC Liberian community is hiding
Ebola deaths within the city. 

 

There's every expectation that this Ebola outbreak is just a pre-test for some truly nasty future infection. A test the Obama administration is failing miserably. 


Remember this November 4th: Elections Have Consequences. Competency Maters.

Post The Colors of Freedom!

A Monster Fisking

You keep using the term, but last time I checked “wishful thinking” and “emotionally laden nonsense” weren’t synonyms with “common sense”.
        Larry Correia, Fascist Cisgender Normative Male and Author

 

Larry Correia
International Lord of Hate
and Combat Accountant

Larry Correia writes some of the most violent, blood-soaked, bullet and explosive laden, misogynistic, unapologeticly cisnormative, non-vegan, best selling and downright fun fantasies around. You'll find his Grimnoir, Monster Hunter International and Dead Six series perennially perched in the best seller lists. They're diverting, oft bloody romps, with encompassing world builds, surprising characters, and fast paced plots. The author is known for his creativity, wicked sense of humor, weapons-grade sarcasm, sheer inability to suffer fools gladly, and what is assumed to be an epochal case of the 'roids.

Some paper's Social Justice Warriors got all butthurt when a feminist cancelled her appearance because the Utah State University couldn't cancel the audience's 2nd Amendment Rights. The Deseret News editorial staff saw fit to publish an emotional, cliche riddled, bitterly anti-CCW editorial. Unfortunately for them, they happened to be Larry Correia's local paper. This caused Larry to put down his side of beef, gird up his keyboard, and carpet bomb some logic and facts all over their sloping foreheads. In a deliberate, brutal, line by line Fisking, Correia knifes through the feldercarb to cut away the misrepresentations and unicorn-based assumptions of the unsigned editorial.

Fisk me, baby!

The Deseret News' own summary of the editorial: "It’s time Utah law stood up for safety, not the empowerment of bullies" gives just a hint at the over-emotional fear and fuzzy thinking it contained. Larry not only makes short work of the editorial's overheated verbiage, but he provides a damn good basis for the necessity of concealed carry. He also provides a link to his seminal work supporting gun rights that he wrote shortly after the Sandy Hook tragedy. Both of his posts are HIGHLY recommended.

It should be noted that Correia writes fantasies that some see as excessively violent. In reality, they're simply entertainment. The blood splattered across his books is ephemeral, existing only in the imagination. On the gripping hand, the editorialists advocate for laws that disarm the law-abiding populace, leaving them helpless before the true threat.

The blood that can flow then is very, very real.

HT: Miggy of GunFreeZone.com

Excuses, Excuses

Been a busy time here.  Our daily pace of blogging will return when things stabilize.

Archer will continue his excellent postings. I'll post when time permits.
 
Until then, we've got an election of historic proportions coming up. We have it in our power to frustrate an administration bent on "fundamentally transforming America" through un-Constitutional means. 

I'm no fan of the current ossified Republican Party. However, they are an order of magnitude better than the progressive controlled Democrats. Obama's final two years may see 1 - 3 Supreme Court judges replaced, as well as countless lower court justices. With Harry Reid's revised judicial appointment approval process and Democrats in control of the Senate, Obama could put his ultra-liberal stamp on future decades.

So VOTE!  Get your friends to vote. Now is not the time to petulantly sit this one out.  

Oh, hell.... I buried the lede!

Plus... Dianne Feinstein is rumored to be considering retiring if the Dems loose the Senate. My god, if the possibility of getting that corrupt, old harpy out of politics doesn't make you want to vote Repub...  ;)  

DiFi With Her Fetishes
(bearingarms.com)

     

"Graphics Matter" — Five Years and Counting

Linoge, who runs the excellent Walls of the City blog, just posted up the latest in his annual "Graphics Matter" series:

• graphics matter, year the fifth (part one, comparing U.S. population, firearms ownership, and firearm-related homicide [a.k.a. "gun deaths"])
• graphics matter, year the fifth, part two (comparing U.S. population, firearms ownership, and firearm-related crime [a.k.a. "gun crime"])

To anyone who's kept track of these things, his conclusions are no surprise. However, unlike the anti-rights crowd, Linoge publishes his numbers and sources, and welcomes people to go over them checking for errors.

Spoiler alert (highlight the text between the brackets to read): [The negative correlation between U.S. gun ownership and "gun death"/"gun crime" is even stronger than in previous "graphics matter" posts, once again utterly disproving the "more guns == more 'gun deaths'" and "more guns == more 'gun crime'" hypotheses.]

Now, personally, I don't buy the statistical arguments against gun ownership to begin with. Rights are rights, and are therefore not subject to popular opinion or statistical references. If they were, they would be privileges, to be revoked at any time if the popular opinion (fickle and arbitrary thing that it is) goes against them — and good luck getting them back once gone.

That said, Linoge once again shows (using delightfully-colored and easily-readable charts and graphs) that the anti-rights folks don't even have the statistical analyses on their side. The science is becoming increasingly settled, and not in their favor.

Previous installments of the "Graphics Matter" series can be found here.

Sunday Funnies

"Borrowed" From Modern Musket and We Will NOT Be Disarmed

Love those guys.

On Oregon's 2014 Ballot Initiatives

2014 is actually a fairly light year for ballot initiatives. Some years there are dozens. This year it's just seven.

Here's a quick run-down, according to Ballotpedia:

• Measure 86: Amends Oregon Constitution to create fund for Oregonians pursuing post-secondary education; authorizes debt to finance
• Measure 87: Allows judges to be hired by the National Guard and public universities; allows school employees to serve in the legislature
• Measure 88: Upholds four-year driver licenses for those who cannot prove legal presence in the United States
• Measure 89: Guarantees equal rights regardless of sex
• Measure 90: Creates an open, top-two primary election system
• Measure 91: Legalizes recreational marijuana; tasks Oregon Liquor Control Commission with regulation of its sale
• Measure 92: Mandates labeling of certain foodstuffs that contain genetically modified organisms

For reference, the actual Oregon Constitution can be found here. Also note that although only measure 86 says it in the description, measures 86, 87, and 89 all amend the Oregon Constitution.

What follows is a wall skyscraper of text that will mean next-to-nothing to non-Oregonians — although I see some under-handed tactics here that may play in your state, too. Click through if you're still interested. (It won't offend me if you're not.)

Why Haven't the West African Flights Stopped?

"Of course, you can’t expect our government to be as competent as Nigeria’s."

Scott Johnson sums it up rather succinctly in his Powerline article Ebola Panic and the Limits of Political Sanity.  Go read it now; we'll wait.

This president is refusing to institute travel bans and quarantines. All for reasons of his own political beliefs, calculations, appearances and future plans. He has willingly chosen this path to the detriment of the men, women, and children of the United States. This is an inconceivable dereliction of a sacred duty. Except... it is completely believable for this president, his fellow-travelers and party.

(Drudge via Powerline)

Feeling the pressure of the public's well-founded concern, Obama appointed the "Ebola Czar" that he was adamantly against, then receptive to the possibility, and then finally wholeheartedly in favor of. This appointment is political eyewash; certainly not as anywhere near as constructive as a quarantine. It's telling that Obama's Ebola Czar is not a doctor, but a lawyer and political apparatchik.

Czar Ron Klain is the former chief of staff to Gore and Biden, a current press flack and lobbyist, and as a well-connected, reliably progressive, and administration-friendly political hack; absolutely loyal to the Obama administration. He has not a whit of infectious disease, medical, or health care system experience. Not the appointment that 'Boma would make if he was concerned with stopping the spread of a Cat 4 infectious disease within America's borders. It reaks of an effort to "massage the message", "keep a lid on things", and "control the damage" (all traditional political flack functions) -- 19 days before the critical Mid-term elections.   

Political Hack - And Ebola Czar - Ron Klain
(indystar.com)

Tell me again how America's in the best of hands.

  

More Thoughts on Ebola, Civilization, and Government Incompetence

Ebola virus (source: Legal Insurrection)

Following up on Charlie Foxtrot's piece on Ebola and civilization, I have a few more thoughts to add.

I'll start off by being blunt: I have little-to-no faith in the various responses we're hearing or the powers-that-be from whom we're hearing them.

(This became a bit of a rant, so I'm hiding the rest below the fold. You have been warned.)

Thoughts on Ebola - And Civilization

An Evolving List:

Citizens! You Have Nothing To Fear!
(Times of India)

21st Century Homo Sapiens is a fantastically interconnected, interdependent species. Where someone sneezing in Liberia can result in someone dying in Texas. 

Political Correctness is more powerful than millennia of experience and science.

Race can be injected into anything.

There is wisdom in admitting you do not know all the facts and are taking a conservative, risk mitigating approach until the situation becomes clearer. Wisdom has never been behind the podium at a 'Boma press conference. 

One point of infection can quickly become thousands of potential points in a modern mobile society; especially when assisted by political posturing and bureaucratic incompetence.

It is fantastically expensive to control a point of infection in a modern, interconnected, mass-service society; best to fight it over there. Sound familiar?

The best way to fight an infectious disease might just not be the 1st Armored. Completely different skill sets. I fear for our soldiers.  

The CDC is a $16 Billion a year clown show. And we're not laughing. 

Viruses evolve. Bureaucracies have a demonstrated ability not to.   

This'll keep me from commercial aircraft, cruise ships, malls, movie theaters, basketball games, DMV lines...  See, there's an upside to Ebola. 

Ye gods, what happens when we get a truly nasty virus? In all likelihood, this Ebola outbreak is nothing more that a pre-test. Somebody has got to go back to school.    

Reality has a rude habit of destroying carefully constructed fantasies. 

Elections have consequences.

Competency matters.

Paranoiac preparations are suddenly less paranoiac. 

7 Tips for First-Time Handgun Buyers

7 Tips for First-Time Handgun Buyers

Excellent article from the NRA's American Rifleman.

I'd only add that, if possible, your first handgun should be a .22LR rifle. That's a great way to build the skills for a long, successful and safe shooting career. Add a heaping amount of training and mix well with practice. 

Ruger 10/22 Equipped as an
Appleseed Liberty Training Rifle
(Author)

Shoot the Heaviest Rifle Round… and Then Shoot It Again

Always good to get first-hand reports and get back to first principles. An EMT, trauma tech and combat medic who's seen hundreds of gunshot wounds (371) passes on his observations. To wit, there's no such thing as a Hollywood one-shot pistol stop. And bigger IS better. 

Combat Medic’s Advice: “Shoot the heaviest rifle round…shoot at what (you) can hit, and then shoot it again”

Fascinating and sobering reading. Recommended for those that might have to employ a firearm in defense of loved ones or themselves.

Wisdom attributed to Clint Smith: "All Handguns Suck - Some Suck Less Than Others."

HT: The Truth About Guns

The Powerless Are Despised by the Powerful - Sunday Truth

Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised.        ―Niccolo Machiavelli