Category Archives: Current News

This is about stuff in the mass media that generally has a short interest life span. Speculation about an election outcome a few days before the election is an example.

Are they getting a clue?

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Appeals court upholds restraining order on Illinois gun ban

An Illinois appellate court on Tuesday upheld a temporary restraining order on enforcement of the state’s three-week-old law banning semiautomatic weapons, enacted largely in response to the mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

A three-judge panel for the 5th District Appellate Court affirmed the restraining order issued Jan. 20 by a circuit judge in Effingham County.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, plans to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

The Protect Illinois Communities Act prohibits the manufacture or possession of semiautomatic handguns and rifles. Those who owned them before the Jan. 10 effective date of the law must register them with the Illinois State Police by Jan. 1, 2024.

You would think the Heller Decision would be sufficient information for these people to know a ban on all semi-automatic handguns would fail to pass constitutional muster. But no, either they are doubling down on their failure to connect with reality, or they believe they are above the law.

That the courts are imposing restraining orders on them only shortly after the ink is dry on their legislative turds should give them a clue. But I don’t think they will respond in a rational manner. I believe they will continue insisting 2 + 2 = 5 until law enforcement is approaching to put the cuffs on them and haul them away for contempt of court.

They are just that delusional and/or evil.

Downtown Seattle

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3rd Avenue between Pike and Pine is ground zero of Mugme Street. This happened near 4th and Pike on a Friday afternoon about 2:15 PM:

According to court documents, officers with the SPD were in the area conducting a narcotics surveillance operation when an officer saw Martin near a bus stop with a hammer in his hand. Martin’s actions concerned the officer, so they took a cellphone photo of Martin and sent it to the other officers in the area working the operation.

A plain-clothes officer also saw Martin in the area waving the hammer and having verbal altercations with other people in the area, court documents said.

Before the attack, the plain-clothes officer saw the 53-year-old who was killed “attempting to cut the lock off of a bike using an orbital grinder which was sending sparks into the air,” according to court documents.

Martin approached the man, documents said, and when the 53-year-old walked away, Martin followed.

Witnesses told police they saw Martin hit the 53-year-old in the head with the hammer. Court documents state the 53-year-old took “a hammer strike to the right temple area of the head,” resulting in a skull fracture.

Surveillance cameras in the area captured Martin “raising the hammer above his shoulder, swinging it at the victim’s head, and the victim collapsing to the ground,” according to court documents. The documents said Martin then stood over the 53-year-old, grabbed his backpack and walked away.

There are multiple clues in the quoted material to guide your plans for visiting Seattle.

The entrance to a building I used work in is within a couple hundred feet of the attack location.

See also this article. People are not shocked or even surprised this happened.

Moscow murder suspect arrested

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Here are a sample of the stories.

The new information is essentially the same in all articles:

A 28-year-old man, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested Friday morning in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains in connection with the murders of four University of Idaho students, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Sources said that authorities knew who they were looking for and had tracked Kohberger down to Pennsylvania.

A SWAT team entered the location where he was staying in order to take him into custody Friday. Kohberger appeared before a judge Friday morning.

Moscow police officers, members of Idaho State Police, Moscow city leaders and University of Idaho officials will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. local time Friday.

It will be interesting to find out how they came to suspect and track him to Pennsylvania. One of the stories suggest it was the white car:

But the case broke open after law enforcement asked the public for help finding a white sedan seen near the home around the time of the killings. The Moscow Police Department made the request Dec. 7, and by the next day had to direct tips to a special FBI call center because so many were coming in.

I wonder if I was close to the target with my suggestions.

This is also interesting:

A Ph.D. student by the same name is listed in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, which is a short drive across the state line from the University of Idaho. Messages seeking more information were left for officials at WSU.

Quote of the day—Matthew Rice

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As the Supreme Court assesses the emergency brief, it is increasingly likely that Second Amendment jurisprudence will take center stage in this term.

Matthew Rice
December 27, 2022
Gun Rights Advocates Seek Supreme Court Intervention to Block New York Restrictions
[Since Heller was nearly 15 years ago, I expect SCOTUS will be hearing appellate court rulings regarding the 2nd Amendment for at least another 15 years.—Joe]

Another step in the right direction

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Texas withdraws appeal to court order blocking gun law that banned adults under 21 from carrying firearms:

“We applaud Texas for doing the right thing and accepting the district court’s ruling against its law prohibiting 18-to-20-year-old adults from carrying firearms in public,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC’s senior attorney for constitutional litigation. “Not only do young adults have the same constitutionally protected right to bear arms as all other adults, they are also among the reasons we have a Second Amendment, Constitution, and Country in the first place.”

…

Pittman noted the Second Amendment does not contain any mention of age as a restriction, unlike other portions of the Constitution.

“To start, the Second Amendment does not mention any sort of age restriction,” he wrote. “This absence is notable—when the Framers meant to impose age restrictions, they did so expressly.”

This only the Fifth Circuit. I would not be surprised to see the Ninth Circuit tap dance their way into believing they can set the age as 65 and over. Then the next day saying “Red Flags” laws allow confiscation for people over 60 because they are of unfirm mind.

Quote of the day—J.D. Tuccille

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It’s difficult to see the future as anything other than more closely surveilled, and in a more coordinated way. Law enforcement agencies are likely to coordinate their efforts through multi-jurisdictional efforts such as the U.S. Department of Justice’s Regional Information Sharing Systems which increase reach while reducing costs and technical challenges. They can also sign up as subscribers to one or more privately developed plug-and-play surveillance networks.

Those of us who are especially surveillance-averse will still take active measures to obscure our trail, through purchases made in cash, face masks, clothing that confuses algorithms, and leaving our cellphones at home. But we will still be watched, and chances are that making efforts to preserve anonymity will itself come to be seen by the powers that be as suspicious.

J.D. Tuccille
November 21, 2022
See the Surveillance State at Work in Your Own Community: The Atlas of Surveillance lets us monitor the agencies that snoop on the public.
[Via a message from Stephanie.

The Atlas of Surveillance gives you some clues as to how thoroughly you are surveilled. It’s not complete so just because your area of operation shows as relatively clean doesn’t mean it actually is. Bellevue, where Barb and I live, doesn’t show anything at all. Yet, I can show you cameras on traffic lights and know people who have received automated tickets from those type of cameras in Bellevue.

I have to agree with Tuccille. It is only going to get worse.

I was talking with Mike B. last night night about cellphone location data and how it might apply to the mass murders in Moscow a few days ago. And, as suggested by Tuccille in the last sentence quoted above, I suggested surveillance cameras in Moscow could be used to identity time and place of vehicle activity. Combine data around the time of the murders with cellphone location data. If a camera visible car did not have a cellphone, then it is suspicious and should be investigated.

Other suggestions included:

  • The, obvious, look for cell phones visiting the house during the time of the murders.
  • Look for cellphones which were turned off during the time of the murder.
  • Get location data from popular phone apps as well as the cell providers. I know the Facebook app collects location data. Probably Twitter and others do as well.

We live in interesting times.—Joe]

Never waste a crisis

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You’ve head that politicians never let a crisis go to waste. Now we apparently can add never waste a crisis:

President Joe Biden would veto a proposed U.S. Senate resolution that would terminate a national emergency declared in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said on Tuesday.

Moscow mass murder update

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More information on the tragic mass murder in Moscow Idaho last Sunday as been slowing dribbling out. It seems that the information raises as many questions as it answers.

Here are the points of interest I have found:

University of Idaho victim’s friend says dorm door-lock code wasn’t usually activated. I’m not too surprised. When my family lived in Moscow we always locked our doors. But I know people that leave the keys in the ignition of their vehicles when at home.

Over the last few days, police officers have come knocking at a local home improvement store to inquire about potential sales of a Ka-Bar knife – as they continue to try to locate the murder weapon. They appear to be specifically looking for a knife “with a smooth edge on one side and a serrated edge on the other.” But the picture they provide is of a knife without any serrations. My reading on Ka-Bar knives seems to indicate that Ka-Bar’s an not typically serrated.

Autopsies were conducted on November 17th. The Latah County Coroner confirmed the identity of the four murdered individuals and their cause and manner of death as homicide by stabbing. The coroner stated that the four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times. There was no sign of sexual assault. This same posting tells us, “At this time in the investigation, detectives do not believe the two surviving roommates … are involved in the crime.” Also, there are over 128 people in law enforcement involved in the investigation. This includes the Moscow Police, Latah County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Patrol, and the FBI.

The 911 call that led to the discovery of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle’s bodies was not made by their roommates, I don’t really trust parts of this report. It could just be former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman wanted another 15 minutes of fame and speculated on things for the camera.

One of the University of Idaho murder victims called the same person seven times shortly before she was killed, her sister claims… “Kaylee calls [the man] six times between 2.26am and 2.44am. From 2.44 to 2.52 Maddie calls [the man] three times, then Kaylee makes a final call to him at 2.52am,” Alivea said. If this was after the attack started, why didn’t they call the police? See also this report which identifies the person the victims called as “Jack”.

Mass murder with edged weapon

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Four University of Idaho students were ‘left to bleed out’ in brutal targeted stabbing attack: Blood is seen oozing through walls of home – as cops call the scene ‘the worst we’ve ever seen’:

  • Sources in Moscow, Idaho, say the house where four students were brutally murdered Sunday was the worst they have ever seen
  • There was so much blood that it oozed through the walls of the three-story house near the University of Idaho campus
  • ‘We have investigators who have been on the job for 20, even 30, years, and they say they have never seen anything like this,’ one police source said
  • Police are now trawling through the contents of trash cans near the scene looking for the ‘edged weapon’ the killer used

This hits harder than it would have had it happened in some distant city, I drove through Moscow on Monday night on my way to Boomershoot territory. I graduated from the University of Idaho as did my ex-wife, one of her sisters, and her mother. My brother and his three children all attended the U of I. My three children, my father, and numerous cousins and high school friends attended the U of I as well. I owned a home and lived in Moscow, at least part time, from about 1990 to 2012. One of my daughters and my ex still live less than 20 minutes away.

It got even more disturbing with this:

Fry said investigators believe two other roommates were home during the attack, but they were “not injured.” When asked if they had been involved in a hostage situation, Fry said no. He did not speculate on why the crime was not reported until noon when uninjured, living people remained in the home, and, to protect the “integrity of the investigation,” would not confirm if the surviving roommates were the ones who called 911. Fry did say that the roommates were still at the house when police arrived.

“We don’t know why that call came in at noon and not in the middle of the night. … We’re investigating everything still to try to pull all the pieces together,” Fry said.

I found out about the murders via a text message from Mike B. Mike played a big role in getting “campus carry” through the Idaho legislature. It didn’t help these students but it might give a number of students comfort and safety in the coming weeks.

One has to wonder… Since this is getting so much attention, and the murderer(s) have got away with something like a nine or ten hour head start on the police, if there will be copycats. Knives are almost completely silent, never need to be reloaded, unrestricted sales, no serial numbers, easy to make, found in every home, etc..

If the murders had been with a gun it would have been called a “mass shooting” and more calls for gun control would have been in the headlines before the bodies were cold. So what will the gun control advocates have to say if “mass stabbing” becomes a trend here? “Common sense knife control”?

What I will say about the potential for copycats is, “People, show any copycats why you don’t bring a knife to gunfight.”

Quote of the day—Anders Hagstrom

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A top-of-the-line Russian nuclear-powered submarine has gone missing from its harbor in the Arctic along with its rumored “doomsday weapon,” according to multiple reports.

NATO has reportedly warned members that Russia’s Belgorod submarine no longer appeared to be operating out of its White Sea base, where it has been active since July. Officials warned that Russia may plan to test Belgorod’s “Poseidon” weapons system, a drone equipped with a nuclear bomb that Russia has claimed is capable of creating a “radioactive tsunami,” according to Italian media.

The drone can be deployed from the submarine at any time and detonated at a depth of 1 kilometer near a coastal city. Russian state media has claimed the device can create a 1,600-ft. wave that smashes into the coast and irradiates it.

Anders Hagstrom
October 3, 2022
Russian nuclear submarine armed with ‘doomsday’ weapon disappears from Arctic harbor: report
[A fallout shelter in Idaho is looking very good to me right now.—Joe]

They are doing it wrong

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Really?

The fear of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Ukraine looms over the current crisis, but some Ukrainians have found a… creative solution.

A large group of Ukrainians has decided to organize a mass orgy to take place on a hill outside of Kyiv in case Putin does launch a nuclear bomb.

More than 15,000 have already registered on Telegram for the sex party. The mass orgy will take place on a hill outside the city where the participants would be asked to decorate their hands with colored stripes, symbolizing their sexual interests. If you are considering participating – three stripes are for anal sex lovers and four stripes are for oral sex lovers.

That’s pretty messed up as far as I’m concerned. You should stay in your bunkers.

The orgy is after you know you have survived all the firestorms and fallout.

Winning via one lawsuit at time

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New York’s most recent infringement upon gun owner rights just got kneecapped:

A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked parts of the state’s revised concealed-carry gun law on Thursday, finding that it is too strict and should not have barred weapons from being carried in areas such as public playgrounds and health care facilities.

…

A group of gun owners filed suit in federal court in Syracuse, charging the new law violated their Second Amendment rights. In his ruling Thursday, Suddaby agreed some of its restrictions are unconstitutional.

“Simply stated, instead of moving toward becoming a shall-issue jurisdiction, New York State has further entrenched itself as a shall-not-issue jurisdiction. And, by doing so, it has further reduced a first-class constitutional right to bear arms in public for self defense … into a mere request,” Suddaby wrote.

I look forward to the day judges get fed up with the defiance and start levying fines of $100K/day to be paid to the plaintiffs for contempt of court while the politicians are being prosecuted.

Putin’s next move?

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Via “reliable sources” which I am not at liberty to share* the resistance to the war by the Russian people is getting energetic. At least 13 military recruitment offices have been burned down. Police shooting in the air has been failing to to break up protests, and people are burning Putin’s portrait. And an estimated 260,000 men of military age have left the country.

So, what is Putin to do?

This should not come as a surprise:

Nuclear weapons convoy sparks fears Putin could be preparing test to send ‘signal to the West’:

A train operated by the secretive nuclear division and linked to the 12th main directorate of the Russian ministry of defence was spotted in central Russia over the weekend heading towards the front line in Ukraine.

The pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar shared the footage showing the large freight convoy hauling upgraded armoured personnel carriers and other equipment.

Konrad Muzyka, a defence analyst specialising in Ukraine, said the 12th directorate operated a dozen central storage facilities for nuclear weapons.

Is he bluffing?

If he isn’t and pops an mushroom cloud, then what does NATO do? If they don’t have a vigorous response then Putin can annex any piece of ground without a NATO stamp on it, and maybe even non-nuclear possessing NATO countries. And with an energetic response from NATO, then what?

My understanding is that all the war games against Russia with scenarios that result in just one nuke being used result in everything being released.

Prepare appropriately. I want an underground bunker in Antarctica.

* There are open sources for all the information in this paragraph, but my source is a meld/analysis of the open sources.

St. Javelin

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Via email from PKoning:

Today’s WSJ had an article about a group that’s ridiculing Putin online, calling itself “NAFO”.  The article came with a photo of a mural on a building depicting “St. Javelin”.  It reminded me of an article a week earlier, describing the “ragtag army” that saved Kyiv from the invading Russians.  One of the soldiers featured in that article is a lady anti-tank missile operator, who in civilian life was a journalist.

As depicted in popular media:

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In real life:

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Super volcano awakens

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This is ominous:

A supervolcano has had its alert level increased in the wake of 700 earthquakes occurring nearby.

Taupō volcano, which is a supervolcano situated underneath New Zealand‘s largest lake, Lake Taupō, had its Volcanic Alert Level (VAL) increased from 0 to 1 on September 20. Level 1 indicates minor volcanic unrest, according to GeoNet, a geological hazard agency in New Zealand.

Lake Taupō sits within the giant caldera of a supervolcano on New Zealand’s North Island, roughly six miles above the magma chamber. The volcano has erupted 25 times in the last 12,000 years, most recently in the year A.D. 232, resulting in the largest and most violent eruption on Earth in the past 5,000 years.

If it erupted 25 times in the last 12,000 years, that is an average of once every 480 years. With the most recent eruption in 232, then it is “overdue” (these things are not anywhere near that regular) by about 1,300 years.

Even now, pools of water 30 miles away boil from the heat.

By definition, a super volcano erupts with 1,000 km3 (about 240 cubic miles – a cube of material over 6.2 miles on a side) of material ejected. An eruption like that will give us some “climate change” to deal with.

Prepare appropriately.

Quote of the day—Eric Schmitt

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The creation of a Merchant Category Code for sales at U.S. gun stores will not only not accomplish its intended goal, but is rife for misuse and abuse. Missourians value their Second Amendment rights and oppose any attempts to create a de-facto gun registry. I’m proud to stand up for those rights and will oppose this decision by the major credit card companies at every turn.

Eric Schmitt
Missouri Attorney General
September 21, 2022
Missouri Attorney General slams credit card companies for violation of Second Amendment rights
[Twenty four attorneys general signed a letter sent to American Express, Master Card and VISA CEOs.  I can’t imagine this accomplishing anything more than some positive publicity for the signers of the letter. But it doesn’t hurt our cause any either.—Joe]

We live in interesting times

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UN warns up to 345 million people marching toward starvation:

The U.N. food chief warned Thursday that the world is facing “a global emergency of unprecedented magnitude,” with up to 345 million people marching toward starvation — and 70 million pushed closer to starvation by the war in Ukraine.

Because of the wettest and longest spring we have ever experienced, my brothers on the farm were only able to get about 1/3 of the spring crop in this year. The little bit of lentils they were able to plant did not yield nearly as much as usual. I think the mid-west yields are below average as well.

We live in interesting times.

Make this work both ways

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Via Chet, Richard, and other sources.

Interesting development. It’s another attempt at an end run around the 2nd Amendment:

Credit Card Code to Track Gun Sales Approved by Standards Group:

“I’m pleased that the ISO voted to advance a key step to prevent the next tragedy,” Lander said in a news release. “American Express, Mastercard, Visa and other credit card companies now have a responsibility to implement the new merchant category code, so that financial institutions can do their part to flag suspicious activity and save lives.”

Guns bought through credit cards in the US will now be trackable:

Credit card purchases of firearms in the US can now be tracked and purchases deemed suspicious can even be shared with law enforcement, according to a new measure approved by an organization that sets parameters for business transactions.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) voted in favor of creating a merchant code for firearms stores, according to Reuters.

Visa To Categorize Sales At Gun Stores In Win For Gun Control Advocates:

Visa’s decision will allow banks to make decisions with enhanced information on whether they will allow purchases at gun shops on their cards.

Visa, Mastercard, AmEx to start categorizing sales from gun shops:

Visa’s adoption is significant as the largest payment network, and with Mastercard and AmeEx, will likely put pressure on the banks as the card issuers to adopt the standard as well. Visa acts as a middleman between merchants and banks, and it will be up to banks to decide whether they will allow sales at gun stores to happen on their issued cards.

There were some attempts at balanced reporting. ABC and NBC had identical articles which included this:

Gun rights advocates argue that tracking sales at gun stores would unfairly target legal gun purchases, since merchant codes just track the type of merchant where the credit or debit card is used, not the actual items purchased. A sale of a gun safe, worth thousands of dollars and an item considered part of responsible gun ownership, could be seen as a just a large purchase at a gun shop.

“The (industry’s) decision to create a firearm specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time,” said Lars Dalseide, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association.

Credit card firms to code gun, ammunition purchases, making them easier to track:

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, on Wednesday morning, also tweeted in support of an MCC.

“Together we can help stop gun trafficking & keep New Yorkers safe,” she posted.

Opponents of the measure included the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

In a statement to The Center Square, Mark Oliva, the organization’s managing director for public affairs, slammed the move, saying the creation of the code was “flawed on its premise. Those who believe it will help law enforcement do not provide details on what should be considered suspicious purchases.”

“This decision chills the free exercise of Constitutionally-protected rights and does nothing to assist law enforcement with crime prevention or holding criminals accountable,” he said. “The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics consistently shows in their own reporting that 90% of felons convicted of their crimes involving a firearm admit they illegally obtain those guns through theft or trading on the black market. Attaching codes specific to firearm and ammunition purchases casts a dark pall by gun control advocates who are only interested in disarming lawful gun owners.”

I have three takeaways:

  1. Continue using cash whenever I can (online is still going to be a card).
  2. Encourage others to use cash.
  3. Publicize and advocate boycotts for banks that refuse to let their cards be used for the exercise of 2nd Amendment rights.

Make this work both ways. They want to use it to cast a chilling effect on the exercise of constitutionally protected right. We can use it to out the enemies of the constitution and freedom. And by using cash you enable others to avoid paying our oppressors more tax money.

Update: This is a good article on the topic which includes more from the civil rights viewpoint.

Banking rights?

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Over the years we have seen banks close the accounts of gun stores simply because they sold a constitutionally protected item. This was wrong and the U.S. Senate telling them to back off probably helped.

I’ll grant that you might have to squint a little to see it but this is an analogous situation with the 1st Amendment:

Over the weekend, Rolling Stone broke the news that half a dozen of the bank’s clients had their banking accounts with Wells Fargo canceled with no previous warning. What do they have in common? Each has previously or is currently working in the adult entertainment industry. Some performers have held accounts with the bank for 25 years or more.

I’m a bit torn on this topic. Should a company (and/or an individual) be forced by law to do business with someone?

There is the wedding cake case for possible insight. There I was inclined to side with cake makers freedom of religion claim over the same sex couple wanting a wedding cake.

In the gun maker/distributor/seller and the adult entertainers banking cases I’m having a tougher time siding with the businesses. Sure, the Feds don’t have constitutional authority (like that has ever stopped them) to tell the banks they must do business with someone. Unless, of course, there is a “banking right” hidden in the constitution someplace. But the individual states could legislate such requirements.

Aside from the legal authority there are other issues. If a business can discriminate on the basis of occupation (assuming the risk is equivalent for the favored and disfavored occupations) then why can’t they discriminate on the basis of skin color, religion, gender, etc.? Perhaps, from a philosophical viewpoint, should they be allowed this freedom. But I’m not comfortable with that conclusion either.

Thoughts?