Blog
Crime
Shoplifter Caught on Video
A Shreveport, Louisiana store's video surveillance camera caught this shoplifter in the act recently:
Somehow, the term "shrinkage" just doesn't seem to fit this case!
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Civil Rights
Still Not Finished
One month after the Confederate surrender in 1865, Frederick Douglass urged federal action to stop state and local infringement of the right to arms. Until this was accomplished, Douglass argued, “the work of the abolitionists is not finished.”
Weather: 2017 Tropical Storms
Harvey rapidly strengthening
Forecasting models; the red line is the "official forecasted track."
According to Dr. Jeff Masters:
At 6:42 am CDT Thursday, an Air Force hurricane hunter plane found that Harvey had formed a partial eyewall, with a 986 mb pressure. By 8:04 am CDT, the eye had completely closed off, and the pressure had fallen another 2 mb, to 984 mb. By 10 am CDT, the pressure had fallen another 2 mb, to 982 mb. This is the central pressure that a Category 1 hurricane typically has, but the Hurricane Hunters measured top surface winds of just 65 mph. It takes up to six hours for a tropical cyclone's winds to respond to a fall in pressure, so I expect that Harvey will be a hurricane by the 4 pm CDT Thursday advisory.
Conditions in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday morning were very favorable for intensification. Satellite images showed that Harvey was a large storm, whose high-level cirrus clouds were already spreading over extreme southern Texas. Harvey had an intense ring of heavy thunderstorms surrounding the eye, and solid low-level spiral bands were forming. The eye was just beginning to appear on both visible and infrared imagery at 10 am CDT. High cirrus clouds streaming away from the center showed the presence of upper-level outflow to the north and east, which was ventilating the storm and allowing intensification to occur. Wind shear was light, 5 – 10 knots, which is favorable for intensification. The atmosphere had a high mid-level relative humidity of 70%, and the ocean was very warm, with sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of 30.5°C (87°F.) Warm waters extended deep into the ocean, providing a large reservoir of heat for the storm to draw upon. The outer bands of Harvey are visible on Brownsville long-range radar.
Now that Harvey has a well-formed structure, I don’t see any impediments to it intensifying right up until landfall. I expect Harvey will be a Category 2 hurricane by Friday morning and a Category 3 hurricane by Friday night. Harvey probably does not have enough time to become a Category 4 storm, though we cannot rule that possibility out yet.
The current favorable conditions for development will remain in place through Friday night, according to the 12Z Thursday run of the SHIPS model. Wind shear will remain light to moderate, and the atmosphere will be moist. SSTs will remain near 30°C (86°F), and warm waters will extend to considerable depth, with a total ocean heat content of 50 – 80 kilojoules per square centimeter. From Thursday night into Friday, Harvey will get an extra boost in energy as it passes over a warm-core eddy that broke off from the Loop Current. The oceanic heat content within the eddy exceeds 75 kilojoules per square centimeter, enough to support rapid intensification. However, the heat content of this eddy is not as high as the heat content available to Hurricane Katrina of 2005, when it moved over a similar warm-core eddy.
This morning’s runs of our top intensity models—the HWRF, LGEM, COAMPS-TC, and DSHIPS—all predicted a Category 2 or 3 hurricane at landfall.
It looks like the Alamo is going to get a bath, and everyone in between had better hunker down!
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The Great Society
On changing the facts of life
The old Soviet Union was very adept at manipulating history to fit a political agenda. It looks like the art is being domesticated. Some members of the Great Society seem to feel that tearing down historical markers and statues will somehow erase history. Or not.
The recent mob error, in mistakingly tearing down an historical statue that was unrelated to the Confederate cause, along with some beautiful words of wisdom from Condoleezza Rice illustrates the fact that the heart of the problem is more about cognition than it is about pigment.
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The Great Society
Marijuana company buys entire California town for 'hospitality destination'
The State of California has become an undignified subculture in and of itself. It's understandable why some people in that state don't want citizen's owning firearms. They have bought into the deception that a "gun-free zone" is a safe place, and that outlawing outlaws is an effective way to keep the peace. It's not!
Now we see one of the reasons why they don't want "Joe Citizen" bearing arms. It's because they cannot bear arms themselves.
There are whole sections of society that are voluntarily giving up their right to bear arms; i.e. the moment that a citizen consumes or ingests marijuana, even the so-called "medical marijuana", they have voluntarily set themselves up to fail the mandatory NICS background check. They will no longer be able to make a legal retail purchase of a firearm.
This means that whole areas like the proposed Nipton, CA will likely become vulnerable to those to whom the law means nothing. But then, maybe the law means nothing to them either; extra-legal hedonism is an element found in anarchy.
Time to remember the old maxim "stay out of stupid places where stupid people are doing stupid things." It applies to California too!
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The Great Society
Shannon Watts, Moms Demand Action blame Charlottesville violence on NRA
Moms Demand Action [Attention?] founder Shannon Watts took to Twitter on Saturday to vilify the National Rifle Association and gun laws in Virginia as the reason behind the violent protests taking place in Charlottesville.
Watt began retweeting various tweets with the same phrase: “The radicalization of America has been encouraged by the @NRA and open carry laws, which enable armed intimidation. #Charlottesville.”
I think that Shannon Watts is possibly smarter than she acts; she was probably up against a "do something" deadline in order to justify her Bloomberg income. What she is saying in her "tweet" obviously doesn't make any sense.
The reason why citizen's, a big bunch of whom are NRA member's, support the civil right guaranteed by the second amendment is because it enables them to live a normal life around people who would intimidate others.
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The Great Society
Was Larry Verne a Democrat?
According to Wikipedia: "Unlike much of Virginia, Charlottesville was spared the brunt of the American Civil War. The only battle to take place in Charlottesville was the skirmish at Rio Hill, an encounter in which George Armstrong Custer briefly engaged local Confederate home guards before he retreated. The mayor surrendered the city to Custer's men to keep the town from being burned."
Times change. And, we are all familiar with the culmination of Custer's military career. Is that where the state of Virginia is headed?
In 2013, the year that Larry Verne died, the "people" of Virginia elected the proclaimed hustler Terry McAuliffe as their governor.
We see what happens when the "progressive" man-made change in the social climate places the destruction of historical markers ahead of infrastructure maintenance, but that's the Democratic way, right?
The irony in the current unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia (trigger-word alert) lies in the fact that the state of Virginia has a Democrat governor; the city of Charlottesville has a Democrat mayor; yet, according to CNN, the blame for the turmoil in that jurisdiction belongs to a Republican president.
Here is an example of the Democrat's version of "responsibility" when there is a Democrat in the White House:
The 'Great Society' has become a cesspool of vitiation and denial!
I'll let Larry Verne have the final word:
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Law and Order
Truth About Citizen Self Defense
On January 12, 2017, the New York Times editorial board claimed, “The grim truth is that concealed-carry permit holders are rarely involved in stopping crime.” And that very same day a concealed carry permit holder in Arizona used his gun to save the life of a state trooper who was under attack on I-10.
Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck’s research shows that the minimum number of defensive gun uses (DGUs) is 760,000 annually.
AWR Hawkins lists, with some detail, 24 examples that occurred between June 27 and August 10, 2017.
The prevalent "rarely involved in stopping crime" line is an outright lie aimed at a specific audience in order to push an agenda! Truth doesn't fit that agenda.
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Wisdom and Politics
Are Democrats Dumb Enough To Go After The NRA?
Democrats and the media attempt as much as possible to make the NRA appear as if they’re a dangerous paramilitary organization.... Democrats tried to frame the NRA as a sinister group [following] the Oklahoma City bombing....
As an NRA life-member and 'law-and-order' guy, I can say with certainty that I/we have been considered social outcast's by the Democrats since the advent of the "Great Society" in the late 1960's. That was about the time that Morris Dees and his ilk started corrupting the minds of all-too-accommodating "Democrats", and the metastasis of that movement has been the only thing "progressive" about the Democrat party since then.
A word to the wise is a threat to the fool! Always has been; always will be!
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Law and Order
Looking Into The Belly of The Beast
A New York federal court judge on Thursday ordered the writers(s) of the New York Times editorial that falsely linked former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to the assassination attempt on then-Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) to testify next Wednesday in an evidentiary hearing that legal experts have described as an unusual move that may benefit Palin.
Who knows how many ghost's of Jayson Blair will be revealed if the light is turned on...
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Law
Guilt by Location
There may exist a citizen's right to peaceably assemble, but beware where you assemble yourself, especially if you are coincidently exercising your right to bear arms. Forget about any intent or mens rea liability requirement when traveling interstate. If you're a citizen who relies on a legally licensed (in your home state) firearm for self defense, you can innocently become an instant felon if you cross the wrong political boundary — inside your home nation.
Just ask Patricia Jordan.
When leaving the city, Jordan followed the TSA's rules again. At the airline counter, she again told the agent she wanted to check her gun. But this time, she was told: "Wait."
"Next thing I know, they're getting ready to arrest me," she said.
Her daughter was crying, "Please don't arrest my mom!" But New York City cops arrested her, jailed her and told her she was guilty of a felony that mandates a minimum 3 1/2 years in jail.
It's time for Congress to do their job and provide some remedy for this kind of scenario. It's long overdue!
In the meantime, there is a way to instantly ensure peace of mind and financial security.
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Education and Training
Firearms Safety Training
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democrats pushed back Thursday against a Republican measure that would allow Wisconsin high schools to offer gun safety courses, arguing such classes aren't appropriate and could generate fear in classrooms.
It sounds to me like the fear is already there; they are going to have to deal with their fear before they can successfully address the safety issue. Ignorance drives fear, and the problem is not unique to Wisconsin.
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Navrules
Remembering Rule 5
RULE 5
Look-out
Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.
Mermaid painted house floating through the Gulf of Mexico
The importance of preserving good night vision: I doubt that the 'mermaid house' was displaying any lights when underway at night.
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Culture
From 'The Mothership'
Transparency can become almost insufferable sometimes. The 'fantasy industry' lives in a world all its own. Naturally the constituency have developed their own inbred worldview. And all too often that worldview insults reality. The behavior pattern is well documented. During times of stress, be it financial or ideological, the community congregates in support of one another, like Aesop's mice in conference, in and around mothership "Hollywood."
Their latest proffer: Tom Hanks for president. We watched in amusement as hollywood rockstar-politician Joe Scarborough groomed himself in the image of Tom Hanks.
Now it's Tom Hanks for president. Nominated by Michael Moore. Of course.
A good time for a contextual review of the etymology of the word hypocrisy.
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Law and Justice
Law Enforcement
Three months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to crack down on illegal firearm possession, prosecutions of these crimes have risen by 23 percent. Violent criminals are now facing consequences for their illegal actions. At the same time, the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners are being respected under the Trump administration.
The Department of Justice report released today shows the administration’s commitment to getting violent criminals and gang members off our streets. After suffering an all-time low during the Obama administration, federal prosecutions of illegal firearm possession are now being taken seriously.
Well, what do you know, the 'system' shows signs of working when the law is actually enforced!
Now for some CCW interstate reciprocity action in the Halls of Congress....
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"Gun Control"
The Aftermath: More Grief and Crickets
On May 22, 2012, James Holmes purchased a Glock 22 pistol. Six days later, on May 28, Holmes bought a Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun. On June 7, 2012, he purchased a Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifle. All of the purchases, made at three different Colorado gun stores, were in accordance with Federal and State laws —including a NICS background check for each of the separate purchases. In other words, all of Holmes' purchases were "legal transactions" made in compliance with statutory 'safeguards' put in place over the years by the likes of the Brady Campaign.
On July 20, 2012, James Holmes entered Theater 9 at the Century 16 multiplex, located at the Town Center at Aurora shopping mall at 14300 E. Alameda Avenue. Police said Holmes bought a ticket and sat in the front row. There were about 400 people inside the theater. About 20 minutes into the film, Holmes left the building through an emergency exit door, which he propped open with a plastic tablecloth holder.
Holmes then went to his car, which was parked near the exit door, changed into protective clothing, and retrieved his guns. About 30 minutes into the film, police say, around 12:30 a.m., Holmes reentered the theater through the exit door and began indiscriminately murdering people sitting in the audience. Twelve people died.
According to Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler, Holmes chose the Century 16 theater for his attack because he liked movie theaters and the specific theater had doors that he could lock in order to increase the number of casualties, as well as being in an area where police response would take longer. Holmes allegedly considered other locations for a mass shooting, but ruled them out because there would be "too much security." Holmes was looking for a gun-free zone.
In the aftermath of the murders, Brady Campaign leadership encouraged the parent's of victim Jessica Ghawi to sue the business that had sold ammunition to Holmes.
The Brady Campaign told [Jessica Ghawi's] parents to file a hopeless suit against a gun dealer. The result was bankruptcy.
[W]hat, one wonders, is the excuse of the Brady Campaign, which gave Phillips the idea, and told her erroneously that she had [a case?]
Phillips’s lawsuit was dismissed under the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which was meant to protect lawful business from politically motivated lawsuits that the plaintiffs claim were responsible for the criminal acts of third parties beyond their control.
In throwing out the case, the judge ordered the family to pay the defendant's legal fees — which totaled more than $200,000.
Why, one must ask, isn’t the Brady Campaign stepping up to help with the legal fees that the [parents] have incurred on their behalf?
Good question! But what would a person really expect from people who are trying to take away a citizen's right to defend themselves?
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Public Safety
Will the Real First Responder please stand
There can be no quicker response than being at the scene when some miscreant tries to inflict harm. The challenge, and reality, of that fact is slowly sinking in throughout the body politic, and across party lines.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County, FL, who has posted videos declaring “we can’t afford to sit back and wait for the next act of terrorism”, doesn’t worry about being politically correct, “just correct.”
“If you are a concealed carry permit holder, carry your guns with you. It’s not doing you any good at the house, it’s not doing you any good in the car.”
Ivey and his office advocate for what Ivey calls the four A’s of survival: Arm yourself, Awareness, Avoidance, and Attack.
“You have to be prepared to be the first line of defense,” he advises.
Semper Paratus
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