Now Ain't This A Kick In The Head...

Well, well, well...

Mark Zuckerberg Gave New Jersey $100 Million To Fix Newark's Schools, And It Looks Like It Was A Waste

In the fall of 2010, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Oprah that he'd be making a generous gift to Newark, New Jersey.

As Oprah said in her Oprah way, "one ... hundred ... million ... dollars" would be given to Newark Mayor Cory Booker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as the three began the Startup:Education foundation.

The plan was to turn Newark into what Zuckerberg called "a symbol of educational excellence for the whole nation," spent on retaining the best teachers, and creating environments that would produce successful students and, one day, graduates.

Isn't that what we're always hearing? We need to invest in education. Teachers should be paid more. Children are our future. Aren't these the kinds of things that the left loves to trot out? Aren't these the same tired cliches we've heard for decades? Throw in the one about it being a good day when education has all the money it needs and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber and you've got the perfect storm of platitudes.

Except this:

Between 2010 and 2012, The New Yorker reports that "more than twenty million dollars of Zuckerberg’s gift and matching donations went to consulting firms with various specialties: public relations, human resources, communications, data analysis, [and] teacher evaluation." Many of the consultants were being paid upwards of $1,000 a day.

Got that? Twenty million dollars was blown on consultants without a damn thing to show for it. The project was shuttered, not a single child was bettered, and the program was forced to close early after two years, with $20 million wasted. Oh, consultants were paid handily, but it doesn't seem to have translated into, well, anything.

So, no, we don't need more money. Newark was already spending more per pupil than most other school districts before Zuckerberg came along with the magic Facebook fairy dollars. With a hundred million smackers on the line, that should have hired hundreds of teachers, bought thousands of computers for classrooms, and made all kinds of difference.

But instead, cronies were rewarded, money was squandered, and the kids were the true losers.

That is all.

Standards of the Double Variety...

We saw a fair bit of news about the two people shot dead by a teenaged skateboarder in Maryland. How come another tragic story with a higher body count gets ignored?

NYC stabbing suspect of wife, 2 daughters snapped after seeing photos of her with another

NEW YORK – New York City prosecutors say a 29-year-old man hugged and kissed his two young daughters before stabbing them to death and killing their mother.

Prosecutors say Miguel Mejia-Ramos rifled through his wife's phone and Facebook page on Sunday night and snapped when he saw an image of her with another man. Prosecutors say he grabbed a knife and stabbed 21-year-old Deisy Garcia to death, then killed 2-year-old Daniela and 1-year-old Yoselin.

Burn in hell, you monster.

I love my kids more than life itself. I would sacrifice myself if it meant saving them, and I would do it gladly. I would also kill to save them, and I will stand before a judge, jury, and the face of G-d Himself unrepentant about my actions if they were committed to save my kids. The thought of consciously doing harm to them is so incredibly foreign to me that I literally cannot even consider how someone could do it.

As far as I can see, there's two possibilities. Either the person accused of the killings is mentally ill (and there's a decent case for that to be made regardless), in which case more [certain tool] control wouldn't have worked, or he's a psychopath of the highest order. Also, again, in which case more [certain tool] control wouldn't have worked.

And because he used a different tool, he doesn't push an agenda, so no one gives a rat's ass about those two kids.

That's wrong. I don't care which side of the debate you're on. You can't claim that a mass shooting is a tragedy because of the young lives lost yet ignore two little girls brutally murdered by their own father simply because he didn't use the correct tool. It's all a tragedy. The tool used doesn't matter. Focusing on the tool is short-sighted and will not change a damn thing. And they know that. And the ghouls will go on dancing in the blood of the innocents - but only certain innocents - and claim that we need more [tool type] control.

Those of us who believe in freedom and personal responsibility are horrified by all acts of violence towards our children, not just the acts committed with a certain tool.

That is all.

Another Gun Control Success Story...

This has been all over Facebook and social media.

Caution. This is a frightening video:



If you can stomach it, watch it through to the end. There's more of the beating later in the video. This animal - for lack of a more descriptive word; I hate to malign animals this way - brutally beat a woman who offered no resistance whatsoever simply because he could. He punched and kicked her in the face, choked her, threw her to the ground, hurled her down the stairs, and basically did everything he could to physically hurt her short of sexual assault. With no resistance offered, whatsoever. She didn't try to run away, she didn't yell for help, she didn't resist his attack.

This is exactly the world that the MAIG, the Bradys, and the CSGV envision for us.

What happened to this woman is exactly what will happen in their gun-free paradise. The strong will prey on the weak. Nothing would have stopped that POS from beating her to death, or sexually assaulting her, or hurting her young daughter. Frankly, it's amazing that this wasn't worse - not that it isn't stomach-churning enough. This is what happens when the best tools for defense are removed from the scenario. The only thing she could do was take the beating and hope that this POS didn't kill her or her daughter. THE. ONLY. THING.

What you won't hear, either, is this being called a hate crime. I think we all know why. I'll wager he won't be charged with a hate crime, either, if he is caught. I'll wager he pleads out to assault and battery and doesn't serve any serious jail time, either. We'll hear no end of psychologists testifying as to why he'd lash out at the racist system that keeps him down; no end of wailing and gnashing of teeth over why he would feel that this was his only option.

There are several lessons to take from this. First and foremost, whether you carry a gun or not, whether you own a gun or not, whether you hate guns or not: HAVE. A. PLAN. Decide RIGHT NOW what you would do if someone came through the door. Think about what tools you would need, how you would signal for help, what backup items you could have available. Have an escape route. Have a trusted neighbor you could get to quickly. Secondly, LOCK YOUR DAMN DOORS. The way he surprises her in the beginning leads me to believe that he found an unlocked door.

And lastly, carry your gun, and be prepared to use it. Imagine how much different this video would have been if when he entered the room he'd been shot five or six times. A small woman - no matter how badass she is - is at a significant disadvantage to a larger, feral male. End of story. You can have all the equality goodness and kumbaya you want, but there is simply no denying the advantage that muscle mass and upper body strength has. An advantage that is instantaneously negated by Mssrs. Smith and Wesson and a couple magazines of 230 grain hollowpoints.

There's more to it, though, than simply having a firearm. You need to be fully prepared to drop the hammer on another human being. That's not something that should be taken lightly, even in the heat of seeing something as disgusting as what happened in that video. Know the laws of your state with regards to self-defense, both in and out of the home. Simply owning the gun isn't enough, either - it wouldn't have done this woman any good to have a firearm upstairs in a safe.

Be safe, folks, and be prepared to confront evil if necessary - ideally with a whole bunch of firepower.

That is all.

Can You Feel The Love Tonight...

Anti-hunting mob urges Team USA shooter Corey Cogdell to shoot herself, advocates violence against family

Go read some of the sentiments expressed against Cogdell because she hunts:

Levy @LuluLevy

@CoreyCogdell So you like killing animals? I hope you suffer a long, painful death. I trully do.

Natascha Bracale @TaschaB13

@CoreyCogdell pity the bus didn't crash. You are a waste of oxygen and an embarassment to the human race.Karma is a bitch.

 @CoreyCogdell I hope that someone someday shoot your whole familly just practicing.— Pablo Honney (@pablito_honas) August 02, 2012

Lookit all that there tolerance right there on display. Can you dig it? Groovy, man! It's a good thing that the left is the side of peace, love, and tolerance, isn't it? I mean, not like those bloodthirsty righties who advocate such horrible tactics as supporting businesses...

No wonder they support gun control. They view the rest of us as just as out of control as they are - full of hate and vitriol, ready to murder someone's entire family because they choose to hunt. They are so unhinged that they cannot conceive of anyone thinking differently - that they cannot control their emotions, so therefore no one else can, either.

Imagine living your life that way. Imagine thinking that everyone else out there is just as hate-filled as yourself. Imagine a life so bereft of meaning that you are reduced to trolling Olympic athletes on Twitter. Imagine having such a low opinion of yourself that you have to post barely veiled death threats against young women online, most likely behind a pseudonym. 

You'd fit right in with the Klan - congratulations.

That is all.

Thanks to reader Gerry for this BP-spiking link...

Why We Need To Bring Back The Stocks, Part???

Courtesy of the BLNN, we have this positively infuriating story:

NJ woman hit with ball sues Little League player

MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey woman who was struck in the face with a baseball at a Little League game is suing the young catcher who threw it.

Elizabeth Lloyd is seeking more than $150,000 in damages to cover medical costs stemming from the incident at a Manchester Little League game two years ago. She's also seeking an undefined amount for pain and suffering.

To my eye, there are three (four) villains in this story. First and foremost, the woman bringing the lawsuit (and her husband). I cannot conceive that $150K worth of medical bills was accrued by an 11 year old's errant throw. Adding in loss of consortium? That smacks of villain #2 (3): The scumbag ambulance chaser John Edwards wanna-be lawyer that took this case and decided to push forward with personally suing the parents. The judge - if this case isn't thrown out and the lawyer immediately disbarred - should join the list, but for now, that leaves us with the last villain.

For the local Little League to leave someone involved with the program out to dry like this is unconscionable. I find it incredibly hard to believe that their insurance policy does not cover bystanders - I know from Cub Scouts that any event we hold, we need to cover every single person at the event, not just the Scouts and the leaders. Something's not right with this, either someone skimped on the coverage or they're trying to remain uninvolved. It sounds like the kid in question is a real baseball fan, and the dad has been helping out, and for the organization to leave them in the lurch is awful.

But, first and foremost, the kind of person that would sue an 11 year old for "pain and suffering" is a great candidate for the stocks. Rotten fruit, eggs, perhaps spoilt meat would be available for throwing, and general mocking, laughing, and pointing and hooting would be encouraged. What you tolerate you validate, and what you validate you deserve - wise words from a lawyer here in town who frequented the local gun boards and took no guff from anyone.

Shame on you, Mrs. Lloyd. Shame.

That is all.

No Justice, Just Us.

In line with the "don't be prey" and "carry your damn guns", comes this story, which surprisingly is not from MA:

Woman fatally stabbed in Garfield Heights identified as Danielle Coleman

GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The 25-year-old woman who was fatally stabbed and found Monday outside a Grace Avenue home has been identified as Danielle Coleman, of Oakwood.

Police continue to look for her boyfriend, 41-year-old Marlon Ricks, who lived at the house in the 10000 block of Grace.

A domestic disturbance gone wrong? Certainly. But unpredictable? Hardly:

Ricks was paroled in April after serving 20 years in prison for murder, kidnapping, aggravated burglary and felonious assault using a gun. He killed a man and kidnapped and assaulted a woman.

20 years for first degree murder, kidnapping and assault. Twenty years. That's what a "life" sentence means. And he was out of jail less than a year before he killed again - yeah, he was a productive member of society to be let out. Remember that. The police are under no obligation to protect you; this point has been driven home so many times it's in danger of no longer actually being a point. The courts sure as hell aren't going to protect you, letting violent criminals out on parole after serving small fractions of their sentences.

Notice, too, that all the gun control laws in the world didn't stop this murder from happening. No gun, no gun death, right? He used a knife; could have pulled it from the butcher's block in the kitchen (it doesn't even have to be one of those evil "assault knives" like you hear about in DC...). This is the brave new world of gun control, folks, where the big and strong and evil have their way with the small and weak and good. Take away Samuel Colt's "equalizer" and it comes down to who can hit hardest, fastest, and first.

Any bets on whether he'll kill someone the next time he's let out on parole?

That is all.

Another dispatch from...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)

This Line, and No Further

New edition removes Mark Twain's 'offensive' words

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Mark Twain wrote that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." A new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" will try to find out if that holds true by replacing the N-word with "slave" in an effort not to offend readers.

Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who is working with NewSouth Books in Alabama to publish a combined volume of the books, said the N-word appears 219 times in "Huck Finn" and four times in "Tom Sawyer." He said the word puts the books in danger of joining the list of literary classics that Twain once humorously defined as those which people praise and don't read."

No. In fact, I'll go so far as to say hell no.

What's next? Shall we collect up all of the copies of "Huck Finn" and have a giant book burning to purge our collective consciousness of "unCorrect" books? Shall we authorize overtime for Winston Smith to expurgate all instances of words we currently don't agree with? Perhaps it's time to fire up the Salamander and the Hound and punish those who hoard these banned tomes? It appears as though the dystopian views of our society that pervade science fiction in the post WWII era have all come about, but not with a bang but a whimper.

In a way, I'd prefer they burned the books - burning books we don't agree with is a sure sign that these books have power and therefore represent danger. Censoring books is far more insidious - after a generation or two has passed, folks begin to accept the bastardized version as the original, and the author's intent is diluted and diminished. As one who writes, this notion is as abhorrent as door-to-door confiscation of firearms to my gunnie side. By allowing the nanny state to change Mark Twain - even in the slightest - we might as well remove his works from the collective and pretend he never existed. The words that will appear in "Huck Finn" are not those of Mark Twain, but of folks today who wish that he had written it their way...

Be sure to get your pre-ban versions of "unpopular" books now, so we can all be criminals when the Thought Police start looking for them.

That is all.

Phoning It In...

Yemen Releases Female Suspect in Mail Bombing Case

Authorities in Yemen have released the female computer engineering student from custody that they suspected of mailing explosive packages, Fox News confirms.

Yemeni authorities concluded this was a case of stolen identity by an individual who knew the detained suspect's name, address and telephone number.

By now we've all seen the news (or lack thereof) about the bombs put on planes disguised as standard packages allegedly bound for delivery to Chicago-area synagogues. It's frightening, of course, to think about these explosives being able to be loaded on planes like this; however there's one thing that I think is being overlooked:

Al Qaeda is phoning it in now.

Think about it. They've been reduced to sticking bombs in parcel post and hoping they make it to their targets. They've been reduced to Unabomber status. Either they've gotten so lazy that this is the best they can do, or we have worn them down to a point where third- and fourth- tier attacks. I'm not saying we should complacent; far from it - it's when they get desperate that they're at their most dangerous - but that it seems like their operational capacity has been diminished in recent years.

On the other hand, of course, it shows that they're still out there, hating us, trying their damnedest to kill us. We ignore the real threat at our peril - we can wand/pat down/x-ray passengers until we glow in the dark and have fingerprints all over, but there are many factors outside our control entirely. Rather than focusing on harassing American citizens, perhaps we should investigate ways to prevent attacks originating outside the use - remember, the shoe bomber originated in the UK, and this recent attack originated in the middle east. Tormenting American air travelers is not going to keep us safe from shoddy - or malevolent - security forces in other countries.

Once again, it boils down to whether we want real security, or just a farcical parody thereof...

That is all.

Another link sent by PISSED that's gonna keep me up at night...

Eco-Nazis...

By now, most everyone has seen and/or commented on that video making the rounds. It's the one put out in support of the 1010 project, which as far as I can surmise consists of empty-headed feel good BS wrapped in neon colors and marketed to the feeble-minded. The video is violent, gory, and, to be quite honest, pretty damn frank in exposing the loons behind this project as, well, loons. In a series of vignettes, a person in an authority position tells a group of subordinates about participation in the 1010 program, then violently murders those that fail to show sufficient zeal.

I don't think this was satire. I think this was a stark look at the way they'd ideally like to implement their "Save the planet" bullshit - kill those that aren't on board. The folks responsible would like us to believe that this was a lighthearted, over-the-top parody, but it's really a road map for the only plausible way they can get their message across - pure, violent brute force. They've been exposed as the charlatans that they are, with the cratering "climate change" being shown more and more every day for the fraud that it is.

Well, fuck that shit. I'm calling for our own 10/10 folks.

On October 10th, go to the range. Send a shitload of lead right into the goddamn ecosystem. Raise your carbon footprint by burning a bunch of it in the form of gunpowder. Go to the range. Shoot up a bunch of dead trees. Think of your favorite hippies crying as you piss all over Mother Gaia by defouling her with eeevil lead and desecrating precious paper products. Best of all, you'll be honing a skill you might need if these sick, sadistic fucking fascists ever get into power - they want to kill you, you better train to kill them first.

"No pressure, no pressure" a got-damn .308, motherfucker.

That is all.

Thanks to reader Jeremy for sending along this infuriating piece of liberal enviroloon claptrap...

Nine Years Later...

I still remember.

I'm still angry.

I still want to see someone pay for what happened.

My flag still flies - everyday - but today it is at half-staff.

I don't forgive.

And I will NEVER forget.

Today's our "Hometown Days", where we have games, activities, etc. down at the town complex. All of the local groups have booths to sign people up for various activities, and I'll be manning the Cub Scout booth all day like I've done for the past three years. It starts at 10, and I'll be leaving at 9 to go set things up, my truck packed with Cub Scout memorabilia from my son's Tiger, Wolf, and Bear years. We'll have Pinewood Derby cars, rockets from the Rocket Launch, patches from camp, and all sorts of other little reminders of the fun things that Cub Scouts do.

The events of nine years ago will be in my thoughts all day today. I wonder how many others will remember. I wonder how many will even care. In our microsecond attention span, September 11th, 2001 might as well have happened during the Renaissance; minor unpleasantness brought about because of [a] the incompetence of the previous administration; [b] the incompetence of the administration in charge; [c] insert your own reason here; [d]fanatics who cling to a forgotten age willing to kill innocents over centuries-old slights. Far too many are too eager to pick [a] or [b]; too few realize how pervasive the enemy we truly is.

They're still out there. They still want us dead. Far too few of us realize this, and even fewer wish the reverse - let's kill them before they kill us. Personally, I liked the policy of going to where they are and killing them there as opposed to letting them come here and dying as they kill thousands of us, but we seem to have forgotten the horror of nine years ago. We've lost the willingness to fight this war, preferring the 15-minute conclusion (that's really about 14 minutes too long for the average American's attention span). We've moved onto the next thing, and the next thing after that.

Remember, please, where you were that day.



And never forget - or forgive.

That is all.

Not All Abductions End Tragically...

Missing 4-year-old girl found alive, police search for suspect

(CNN) -- Authorities have found a missing 4-year-old Missouri girl and are searching for a mysterious dark-colored car with a loud muffler that may be connected to the case, police said early Wednesday.

Alisa Maier, whose disappearance prompted an Amber Alert, was found in Fenton, Missouri, about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday (11:15 p.m. ET) at a car wash and taken to a hospital, the St. Louis County police department said.

It sounds like she was gone a little over 24 hours, which fits the general mold for a successful return - I tried finding the exact stats, but IIRC either 24 or 48 hours is considered to be the best time frame for a return. A quick search of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children shows that over 58,000 kids are abducted by strangers every year - that's almost 160 kids a day. There's one happy family in Missouri right now, I can guarantee; the most fitting bookend to this would be to find the SOB who grabbed Alisa and get him behind bars (ideally after taking a swing at a couple really big cops...)

I think abduction has to rank right up there with cancer in "shit parents worry about a lot". You never know if that kindly old guy down the street that watches your 5 year old with a little too much interest is simply a grandpa with kids far away or a sicko; in busy places like a shopping mall or even the supermarket there's so much going on that it's a full time job just keeping track of where the kids are. Losing sight of your kid - even for a couple of seconds - is a heart-stopping flash of fear. Situational awareness is king - even for the parents of older kids (maybe even moreso).

It's great to read one of these stories that doesn't end badly, that's for certain.

That is all.

Still Furiously Angry...

Remains of 72 people found at World Trade Center site

New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains.

The sifting of more than 800 cubic yards (612 cubic meters) of debris recovered from ground zero and underneath roads around the lower Manhattan site began in April and ended Friday.

I'm glad that 72 more families will finally have closure. It's pretty eerie, realizing that they're still finding victims almost nine years later. How many countless dozens - or hundreds - will never been found? How many will never be identified? What does it say about the magnitude of the attack that it's taken this long to find these victims?

And it's especially telling that they're using terms like "remains" and "ground zero" (as opposed to "Ground Zero") in these reports - the vast majority have forgotten the horror of that day.

That is all.

Link sent by PISSED.

Doesn't Fit the Narrative

So we had a horrible, horrible crime happen here in MA. A father, distraught over the direction his marriage had taken, kills his two small kids, his wife, and his mother-in-law, then runs for the border. Yet there's little talk on the national news about this killing; I wonder how much press it would have received here in MA had it happened in, say, WV or WY.

Father arrested in family slayings

The 43-year-old Winchester sales executive accused of killing his family, including his two young children, was caught in a small, rural town just south of the Vermont border yesterday, a day after fleeing his home, where police said he left letters confessing to the crime and describing his marital and financial problems.

Thomas Mortimer IV was arrested in Bernardston on four counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, mother-in-law, 2-year-old daughter, and 4-year-old son, whose bloodied bodies were found in the house by firefighters and emergency medical technicians, said District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. Leone appeared shaken during a press conference following Mortimer’s arrest.

This is exactly the kind of heart-rending, tragic story that the anti-gun forces love to seize upon. They love to point out that you're "43 times more likely" to be killed with a gun in your home. They trot out the statistics that show people are killed by friends, family, and acquaintances far more often than by strangers. And yet the VPC isn't dancing in the blood of the innocents here.

Why not, you ask?

Leone said Mortimer used “blunt force trauma and sharp objects’’ to kill his family, though he did not specify the weapons.

No firearm, no firearm death. Not that I suspect the Boston Globe of chicanery or anything, but I do find it worthy of note that the manner of death is left for page two. Had he shot his family to death I am fairly certain that information would have been in the headline, or at least in the first paragraph. Since it doesn't fit the narrative, though, it's left for the "continued on page 134" section. And this is precisely the problem I have with the "blame the gun" types who would have us believe that it's the tool that's the problem, not the people using said tool. Those types would outlaw all guns under the guise of preventing tragedies like this one; completely oblivious to the fact that nothing is going to stop an insane killer hellbent on causing death and destruction.

My heart goes out to the surviving family. I cannot fathom the crushing pain they must be feeling right now - a family lies dead, murdered at the hand of one of their own. As a father I am appalled; the thought of harming my children is so completely alien to me that I cannot even begin to comprehend how someone could do this. Words cannot express how deeply I loathe the person responsible; nor how little it matters to me what tool he used. I have sworn a sacred oath to keep my family safe at all costs; as the father, as a parent, I owe my children nothing less than my very life to keep them safe from harm. I would gladly give my life if it meant they could live; I am equally ready to take any measure needed to keep them safe, up to and including keeping firearms in the home as our line of self-defense. Gun control proponents would strip me of these tools, oblivious to the cold, harsh realities of life.

For one family in Winchester, MA, all the gun control in the world was meaningless.

That is all.

Upon Further Reflection...

The more I think about the proposed "One Gun A Month" law, the more it vexes me. Even in the most free states, limiting those who would arm themselves to one firearm a month seems to be an exercise in futility. We already have Federal laws against transferring firearms to those who are not eligible to own them; such laws limiting the purchase of arms only serve to hinder and otherwise outright infringe on the law-abiding. If a Federal law - punishable by five years in a Federal penitentiary - won't stop someone from giving a gun to a felon, why on earth would anyone in their right mind think that a law limiting folks to buying one gun a month will?

Not only does it not make sense any way you look at it, but the data themselves don't bear it out. According to the BATFE itself, only 8.5% of firearms used in crimes come from straw purchases. 40% come from family members - think about that; almost five times as many guns are given to criminals by folks related to them as are sold illegally through strawman sales. If the thought of limiting gun purchases in the interest of reducing guns used in crimes appeals to you, think about the next logical step - taking guns away from any and all family members convicted of a felony. Uncle Joe got his third OUI? Kiss your Second Amendment rights goodbye.

The other part to this - the more insidious part - is what my good friend Weer'd Beard calls (and I'm paraphrasing here) the tyranny of numbers. One gun a month is the proposed limit; so if you buy twelve guns in a year you're fine, but if you buy thirteen it's a felony. Does that make any sense to anyone? That thirteenth gun is the one that's going to be used in a crime? Sold to a gangbanger? Shoot up a bus full of nuns and orphans all on its own? It's a number made up arbitrarily and capriciously to start the process of denying all gun sales.

What's the logical (and I use the term loosely) conclusion to be drawn when criminals continue to get guns despite limiting law-abiding citizens to twelve guns a year? Well, to the vast majority of us, we'd say the "One Gun A Month" law was an abysmal failure (much like "Cadillac" Deval himself) and repeal the stupid thing. But if you're a gun-grabber, you seize on this failure like Rosie O'Donnell seizing a Twinkie and you say that it didn't go far enough - that since criminals are still getting firearms, those dastardly law-abiding gun owners are still selling them.

And presto! Now you can only purchase one gun every two months. Or four guns a year. Or one gun a year. Before you know it, you're in England, where you're allowed to own a double-barreled shotgun and a single-shot .22LR, provided they're kept, disassembled, at a gun range under lock and key. What better way to get guns off the street than to slowly but surely limit the number that people can buy over time?

Of course, the criminals will continue to get firearms. As others have shown, time and time again, firearms are not terribly difficult to make - heck, Afghani forges were turning out full-auto AK clones during the Soviet occupation. There are millions of privately-owned firearms in the US and will continue to exist - firearms are durable goods with lifespans measured in centuries if properly cared for. We're not going to legislate away the existence of firearms unless we're willing to go door-to-door - and no one has the political will for that.

It's the creeping incrementalism that's going to get us in the end, unless we are ever vigilant...

That is all.

Dishonest or Just Stupid?

With this crowd, I opt for dishonest:

Welcome to Massachusetts!

That's the "Stop Handgun Violence" billboard near Fenway Park facing I-90 (a.k.a. the Mass Pike). It's the brainchild of John Rosenthal, arguably the poster child for "I'm a gun owner but" movement (as exemplified by John "$10,000 shotgun" Kerry).

It's dishonest on many levels. First off, in Massachusetts, there is absolutely ZERO loophole of any sort - for any transaction to take place, either at a gun shop or between private citizens, the receiving party must hold a valid MA gun permit. End of story. Do not pass go, do not collect the "gun show loophole". Any transaction that does not result in a licensed gun owner taking possession of the firearm is flat-out illegal.

In other states where no permit is needed to own a firearm (read: America), state laws dictate whether private transactions can occur between citizens. Some states do not allow private transactions; others do not - generally there are regulations on the transfers such as the person receiving must prove they are a resident. In any case, there are strict penalties for transferring a firearm to a prohibited person - the onus is on the seller to prove that the recipient of their firearm is not a prohibited person.

There is no "gun show loophole". It is a complete fabrication made up by the anti-freedom brigade to create a crisis where none exists, in a pathetic attempt to frighten the sheep into supporting more gun control. Study after study shows that the number of firearms used in crimes bought at gun shows are infinitesimally small compared to those outright stolen from law-abiding citizens or obtained through other illegal means.

Yet they persist in telling these lies, and for what end? I think we all know the reason.

That is all.

*That* Video...

You know the one I mean. The one from MO with the cops kicking the door in to bust someone for pot distribution. The one where they shoot his dogs, terrorize his family, and drag him from his home in the middle of the night for... misdemeanor levels of marijuana.

This one.

I've refrained from comment thus far as this story kicks around the blogosphere. This is one of those stories where raw emotion takes over and the first thing that comes to mind is something I don't want committed to print with my IP address attached to it, suffice to say. Leaving aside the incredible idiocy of the "War" on Drugs (can we surrender yet?) and the mystifying span of time between the issuing of the warrant and the raid itself - if they were so concerned about the disposal of marijuana before the arrest, why did days elapse between the warrant and the raid; there's a larger issue at play here, and one that comes up from time to time in the gun blogosphere.

What if it were your house?

There's enough instances of wrong addresses and improper information out there to have this at least in the back of your mind. I think that a pounding on the door in the dead of night would at least have us reaching for our firearms; what if they're yelling "POLICE" or "WARRANT" or some other possible LE code word? The general consensus is that the average person commits three felonies a day on average without even meaning to - it's entirely possible they could be coming for you for any reason, especially if you're a gun owner. Even if you are 100% squeaky clean, odds are good that if you engage the SWAT team you will lose, and even if you do manage to survive the engagement, you'll end up on death row if you kill one of the officers.

Now, that said, if someone's kicking in my door in the middle of the night there's a good chance I'm not even going to have a chance to reach for my sidearm. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, and although the Mrs. is a light sleeper, chances are she wouldn't get me up until the door was actually broken. I might have a chance to grab the katana near the bed or the 5 cell maglite, but not get the P226 out of the safe or the Mossberg out of the lock. Even assuming I could reach a firearm in time, I'll have my personal weapon ready while a team that trains specifically for this sort of thing invades my house.

Odds are pretty good I'm going to die.

This isn't something we can train for, not realistically. The average person does not have at their disposal the means to replicate a multiple hostile invasion; nor do even the most advanced IDPA stages have a "from the bed in your tidy whiteys" stage, at least that I'm aware of. This ventures into the realm of the purely theoretical, mainly - whereas those that would kick in our doors have no such limitations. We're at multiple disadvantages here - we don't have the tools, we don't have the training, and we don't have the law on our side. So what can we do?

Well, first of all we need to keep the heat on the heat when they screw up - and this raid was screwed up six ways to Sunday. If the judge who approved the warrant is an elected official, throw him out. If he's appointed, throw out whoever appointed him. Make sure the police officers are held responsible - they need to account for every single bullet that leaves their guns just like we do. Secondly, work to repeal the idiotic laws that give the police these incredible powers. There's simply no reason to kick down a homeowner's door because you suspect they're selling marijuana. End the "Always Think Forfeiture" mindset. Prosecute.

And keep the pressure on cases like this one where the police should have handled things differently.

That is all.

Raising Awareness...

Apparently, and I suppose I should consider myself fortunate for not knowing this, yesterday was "Alice Day", a day used by pedophiles to ply their wicked craft. My good friend Strings, who does yeoman's work through BACA, pointed me to this post from Jade at The Ultimate Evil about this despicable holiday. There's some good information there about spotting a pedophile and reacting appropriately. Go take a read, it's well worth your time.

We can't protect everyone at every time - not by ourselves - so the more awareness we can raise of this monstrous evil the better.

That is all.

It's Not Just Massachusetts...

Troopers raid popular bars for unlicensed beers

IT WAS ELIOT NESS and the Untouchables, as played by the Keystone Kops.

More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive ales and lagers, now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location.

The alleged offense: Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board - a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.

So let me see if I've got this straight. The bars purchased the beer legally, but because the importers didn't give the state of PA their pound of flesh 30 pieces of silver piece of the action proper "fee", the state remedied this by... confiscating property from the place that legally purchased it???

Rather than go after the importers for the fees, the state chose the easy target. Bars are highly unlikely to raise much of a stink - get that exalted liquor license pulled, and you're little more than a high priced McD's. Basically, the state out-and-out stole from each bar they "confiscated" beer from, and if that beer hasn't been brought home to a couple dozen elected official homes by now I'll be very surprised.

And yet some people think that the state should have a monopoly on force...

That is all.

Link sent to me by reader PISSED, who apparently didn't think my blood pressure was high enough today... ;)

Political Correctness Kills

Ft. Hood suspect was Army dilemma

WASHINGTON - Army superiors were warned about the radicalization of Major Nidal Malik Hasan years before he allegedly massacred 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, but did not act in part because they valued the rare diversity of having a Muslim psychiatrist, military investigators wrote in previously undisclosed reports.

An obvious “problem child’’ spouting extremist views, Hasan made numerous statements that were not protected by the First Amendment and were grounds for discharge by violating his military oath, investigators found.

Thirteen people died, senselessly slaughtered because it was more important to be able to check off a box on a checklist than remove a dangerous fanatic. This isn't someone who made a passing comment taken the wrong way; this is a person who gave seminars to soldiers, allegedly in the guise of helping us understand the Islamic mindset, that expressly defended suicide bombers. The man repeatedly stated that his adherence to Islamic law took precedence to his conduct as a member of the US Armed Forces.

Yet, because he was a Muslim psychiatrist, his many contradictions went unpunished - or even uninvestigated. It was more important to have the label he represented - Muslim - than the sort of person that was given security clearance and access to our soldiers. Rather than investigate the claims he was making; rather than find out exactly where his allegiance lie, the 800 pound gorilla of political correctness made it more important to gloss over his deficiencies in favor of his minority status.

We have sacrificed thirteen soldiers on the altar of diversity. How many more will perish?

That is all.

The Scarlet "B"

South Hadley Holds Meeting About Teen's Suicide

The small town of South Hadley is wrestling with a very big problem. A problem blamed for the suicide death of a teenaged girl. "Our lives have changed," said resident Carol Constant. "As we know it, South Hadley is a different community."

A large crowd turnout out for the regularly scheduled selectmen's meeting, but they didn't want to talk about budget concerns. "I saw the sun come up this morning, Phoebe didn't," said Joe Marois.

It's a tragic story, no question about it. A young girl, tormented by others for being "different", finally succumbs to the pressure and takes what she thinks is the only way out. A family is devastated, a young life extinguished for no good reason, a tortured soul driven to extremes by uncaring peers. It plays out across America in small towns and big cities alike; the well-to-do every bit at risk as the middle and lower class. Any time it's viewed as acceptable to ridicule those different than us - and Rahm Emmanuel proved recently that even the so-called tolerant left isn't immune from this temptation - someone will push it too far, and someone else will suffer.

I take odds with this idea, though:

"These are the individuals that need to wear a yellow smock that says bully on it and be escorted from class to class," he said.

First off, the sheer manpower needed to escort anyone accused of bullying is staggering. Secondly, I was bullied in grammar school. Most of the kids who did the bullying would have worn the yellow smock as a badge of honor akin to gang colors. Hell, most of the group would have fallen over themselves pushing younger kids into mud puddles just to get the smock and thus be seen as the "tough kids" that people should fear. Identifying the bullies in a public manner gives them the power they so desperately seek.

Offering this idea as a solution shows the true problem - a profound lack of understanding of bullying in general and bullies in specific. Kids aren't going to stop bullying other kids because they're afraid of public notice; quite the opposite. Typically kids bully out of their own low self esteem and a burning desire to pull the other guy down to make themselves look better by comparison - hence why the geeks/nerds/band members etc. are frequent targets. Giving the bullies the notoriety of a special class - which is what a yellow jersey and a special escort amounts to - is exactly what they want most in life.

There's also a striking lack of ideas on what to do *outside* the classroom - while keeping a constant watch on the offenders during school hours might prevent bullying during school hours, the kids are only in school for ~ 7 hours of the day. There's after school activities, online events, and social situations - both school sanctioned and not - where bullying can occur. The school may be able to punish bullies for actions on school grounds or at school events, but try punishing a kid for something they wrote at home and posted to Facebook on their own time. The ACLU would rightly have a field day.

What can we do about it then? Sadly, there's little we can do to stop the bullies. In my own case, it took achieving a height of 6', a weight of 220 pounds, and a daily regimen of lifting weights before the torment stopped. For others, the self-confidence brought on by following the martial arts is frequently enough to deter a bully - they look for the weak and the timid, and a brown belt with the knowledge and confidence to block, par, and return blows is likely to be left alone. The bullies themselves tend to be a self-correcting problem, as even in this day and age random acts of violence are rarely tolerated outside of school halls.

Rest in Peace, Phoebe. My heart breaks for the senseless loss of your life, for your family who have to soldier on in your absence, for all those who suffer at the hands of the bullies. We can't all be the beautiful people. We can't all be rich and afforded all of life's advantages. Sadly, there are still those who place an inordinate amount of worth on what one owns or what kind of power one has rather than what someone is like inside. I doubt we'll ever see that time as long as human beings are, well, human.

The biggest lesson I take from this is that I need to make sure I remain as involved as I possibly can in my kids' lives.

That is all.