Terror Comes Again to America

thegatewaypundit.com

         Last week terror came again to American soil. Two ISIS affiliated terrorists sought to kill hundreds of people expressing their free speech rights by drawing the Prophet Mohammad.  The attack was stopped cold, ended by a policeman possessing a tremendous amount of bravery and skill -- and a commonly available pistol.

          A sixty-year-old Garland, Texas traffic cop responded to the gunfire that wounded his partner. From the available reports, he advanced into their rifle fire, wounding one terrorist, killing the second, then shot the first one again as he reached for a backpack possibly containing explosives. Details are very sketchy at this time, but in overhead pictures it’s possible to see the trail of shell casings left as the policeman took the fight to the terrorists.  

slate.com

        There are lessons aplenty in this incident. It appears now that the dead jihadis were not directly sponsored by any foreign terror organization. That is not the good news it may seem. The two were radicalized through social media, choosing to achieve ISIS’ ends on their own. ISIS infected malcontents could appear anywhere across the US in large individual numbers. With ISIS training camps a few miles from the deliberately opened southern border, better arms and training could easily be provided to enhance the skills of those sorry individuals.  

          ISIS boasts that they have 71 soldiers in 15 different states, with

foxnews.com

targets in 5. By chance or design, those five states are amongst the most gun restrictive. Concealed carry would be limited there, along with other defensive advantages of the gun culture. Several commentators have noted how much the Garland situation looked like an IPSC stage. Could Texas’ vibrant gun culture have contributed to the success of the gentleman? Would an anti-gun environment have hurt?  We know which way we would bet.

         Garland is very much an everyman’s triumph. An aging traffic cop armed with the ubiquitous Glock pistol defeated two armed and armored terrorists. The skills and equipment to make a difference are well within the grasp of the common man and woman. All of us will need to take them in hand. We need to get armed, frequently train, practice, carry everywhere, and stay alert. 

         There is no telling where we will be when the balloon goes up the next time.   

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

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. 

More Running the "Euphemism Treadmill"

You remember the "euphemism treadmill", right?

We're seeing it in action, right before our eyes.

Remember when "Ebola" was classified as a "hemorrhagic fever", being that it's a severe fever that breaks down the mucous membranes, causing hemorrhaging?

Well, the CDC (under pressure from the Obama Administration, I'm sure) apparently thought that description was too scary, and so has re-branded the virus as "Ebola Virus Disease".

(source)

[sarcasm] Oh, thank God! Ebola's not a hemorrhagic fever anymore! Now we don't have to worry about it! [/sarcasm]

We're seeing more of the same with Enterovirus D68 — you know, the one causing seemingly-random polio-like numbness, weakness, partial paralysis, and death in "children aged 0–18 years" (i.e.: all children), and sometimes adults. It's now being called "Non-Polio Enterovirus".

I can just hear the low-information-voter-types collectively sighing in relief, thinking it's no big deal — nevermind that the most recent child fatality showed none of the usual symptoms — thanks to the Fed.gov and the CDC.

Ebola and Enterovirus D68: just a "virus disease" and a "non-polio" affliction. No biggie. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Do any of you feel safer?

(Slightly off-topic, but is anyone else feeling the urge to check the Book of Revelation to see what comes after Pestilence? Just me? Hello?)