Rhode Island to change state name

Via email from Paul K.:

Democrat Gov of Rhode Island Moves To Change State Name with Executive Order

The smallest state in the union has found itself in the crosshairs of the ongoing culture wars, as Rhode Island’s Democratic governor, Gina Raimondo, removed part of the state’s official name from several documents via executive order Monday.

While the Ocean State is known to the rest of the country simply as Rhode Island, it has had the official name “the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” since it became the 13th state in 1790.

Detractors of the name argue that the word “Plantations” invokes the legacy of slavery. As demonstrated by her decision to sign an executive order to eliminate part of the state’s name from government documents, the governor agrees with that analysis.

Apparently these people don’t realize the enormity of what they are doing by attempting to appease the terrorists. The simple version is:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller
First they came …

But it’s far more complicated than that. There is a deadly psychology that goes along with this. Sociopaths have muted emotion responses.

The thugs and terrorists who beat people because of their skin color or political persuasion and vandalize buildings and monuments and loot stores get a thrill they don’t get and perhaps have never experienced before in their lives. The high they get from this requires greater and greater levels of violence and domination of others to recreate.

Read The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, and/or Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, and/or Hitler’s Willing Executioners.And read my blog post from nearly 13 years ago: Drawing a line in the sand.

What these history lessons demonstrate is that there exist people who, once they “taste blood”, are never satisfied. They will not stop when they accomplish what you might think, and even they think, is their end goal. As they acquire more and more power without significant resistance there comes a point where they become genocidal and murder millions. It feeds that hunger for power and emotional high which can no longer be achieved with mere rioting, looting, and beatings of innocent people.

As they run out of victims the “purity test scores” to avoid death become higher and higher. Those who were once favored supporters become victims to the almost unstoppable murderous thugs. They “eat their own” after leaving rivers of blood in their wake.

These people must be stopped now. They must not be appeased.

Quote of the day—Steve Mylett

Bellevue has seen many peaceful protests since Mr. Floyd’s death, and we welcome them all.  But the criminals who engaged in the violence are on notice; they won’t get away with it. We have dedicated extensive resources to investigate these crimes and will take as long as necessary to identify and arrest those responsible. I cannot emphasize it enough, the criminal behavior leading to these arrests has absolutely nothing to do with people raising their voices in opposition to Mr. Floyd’s death or demands to end systemic racism.

Steve Mylett
Bellevue Washington Chief of Police
Residents’ video clips lead to looting arrests
[Also from the same post:

Bellevue police have arrested 23 people connected with the looting and destruction in downtown Bellevue and have recovered more than $50,000 in merchandise.  Detectives have also identified nearly a hundred other suspects and are continuing those investigations.

Last Friday, Bellevue police served a warrant on a looting suspect in Renton.  A 26-year-old man, seen driving the red truck in the video, was arrested on charges of Burglary 2nd, Possession of Stolen Property, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Dangerous Weapons. Investigators recovered $19,000 worth of suspected stolen merchandise, alcohol, and tobacco products.  Detectives also confiscated an AK-47, a 10 mm Glock, stockpiles of ammunition, drugs, and cash.

We are just beginning to make arrests in these cases.  The public has shared at least 10-thousand pieces of video and photographic evidence of the looting and violence. The public’s assistance has been a tremendous help. We will continue to work with our regional and federal partners to hold these individuals accountable.

Barb read the blog post to me over dinner. She has a very high opinion of the Bellevue police. This is especially true when compared to her opinion of the Seattle police department (“They don’t do anything.”). The blog post quoted above further bolstered her opinion of Bellevue.

It’s a good start. I hope they are able to follow through to convictions and non-trivial sentences for the guilty. These people need to pay a heavy price for their crimes.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Juanita Broaddrick @atensnut

[A little bit of lightness after so much darkness the last few days.

There would be a long line for that opportunity. But, I’m pretty sure nearly everyone would let Ms. Broaddrick take whatever position she wanted in that effort.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Frank J.

We don’t need democracy, we just need to trust angry mobs. Who can ever get the biggest mob and makes them the angriest should make the rules.

Frank J.
Random Thoughts: JK Rowling and Angry Screaming
June 17, 2020
[SCOTUS dropping (almost) all of the 2nd Amendment cases on Monday made the truth of the quote above all the more clear.

Monday was extremely depressing for me. I’ve been donating thousands of dollars per year to SAF and FPC to pursue these court cases, I write letters to representatives, I follow the rules, and urge others to do the same. And what are people going to learn from current events?

The lesson to many is going to be exceptionally clear. You are a fool if you follow the rules. The proper way to get your way, no matter how delusional you are, is to riot and loot. This will not end well. And all I will be able to do is say I tried and failed.

I still have a tiny sliver of hope. And that is Trump wins in landside this November, Republicans continue their hold in the Senate and another 2nd Amendment supporting SCOTUS justice or two are appointed by the end of 2024. By that time I will have been fighting this fight and following the rules for 30 years.—Joe]

I know her

From The State of CHAZ:

On June 10, with the goal of building consensus and designating leadership for the movement, protesters organized the first CHAZ People’s Assembly. After setting up a stage and PA system, one of the initial speakers raised the question of legitimate authority, asking the audience: “What’s the structure, how are we going to achieve some sort of communal hierarchy that we all feel comfortable with?” The audience booed and insisted that the movement should remain “horizontal” and leaderless. At the end of the People’s Assembly, racial-justice activist Julie Chang Shulman conceded that no leadership had been established but that the group had settled on the ideological principles of an “abolitionist framework” and “commitment to solidarity and accountability to Black and Indigenous communities.”

I’ve known Julie since she was a toddler when I worked at the same company with her parents. Julie is within a few months of being the same age as my oldest child. We are Facebook “friends”. We occasionally message each other back and forth on Facebook.

I taught her father to shoot in the late 1990s. I taught her mother to shoot in 2009. Then, in 2012, I taught Julie to shoot.

Insanity?

Via email from Jeremy N. we have this:

In the hours leading up to the violence Monday, protesters faced off with members of an armed group that calls itself the New Mexico Civil Guard and counterprotesters toting “All lives matter” signs.

One group sought to tear down a monument to Oñate, a 16th-century despot who massacred indigenous people. The other set out as self-designated protectors of the statue, creating a heavily armed presence at the park in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town. Aside from a few scuffles over signs near the monument, the protest had largely been peaceful, although tense at times.

Then a white man in a blue T-shirt appeared to rile the crowd, according to video obtained by KOB4. People erupted in shouts, and the man took a few steps back.

The man in the blue shirt, identified as Baca, seemed to be protecting the statue in a bystander’s video, police said in the criminal complaint. An undercover police detective saw protesters pursuing Baca, who used pepper spray on them, the complaint adds. “The group appeared to maliciously pursue” Baca, hitting him with their hands and legs, police state.

In the video obtained by KOB4, a masked protester swung what police identified as a longboard and struck Baca in the shoulder. The man backpedaled out of the crowd but continued to exchange shouts with protesters.

Someone in the video encouraged people to follow the man and get his license plate number. Several people followed him, and one tackled him to the ground.

According to the complaint, Williams – the gunshot victim, dressed in black – can be seen on bystander video retrieving the board and swinging it toward Baca’s upper body and head. Then, the complaint says, Baca fired several shots. The crowd scattered.

Baca was arrested. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and the governor said:

The shooting tonight was a tragic, outrageous and unacceptable act of violence and it has no place in our city,” Keller said in a statement. “Our diverse community will not be deterred by acts meant to divide or silence us. Our hearts go out [to] the victim, his family and witnesses whose lives were needlessly threatened tonight.”

State leaders have denounced the armed civilian group that gathered in the area. Some of its members were taken into custody, police said. The group says it is not affiliated with the shooting suspect.

“The heavily armed individuals who flaunted themselves at the protest, calling themselves a ‘civil guard,’ were there for one reason: To menace protesters, to present an unsanctioned show of unregulated force,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a statement. “To menace the people of New Mexico with weaponry – with an implicit threat of violence – is on its face unacceptable; that violence did indeed occur is unspeakable.”

The article describes the person shot as the victim. I can find nothing in the article that indicates he was anything other than the perpetrator. Everything indicates Baca had a valid reason to fear for his life, used non-lethal force without success then as a last resort used lethal force. So why is he considered the bad guy?

If “protestors” can attack, maim, and potentially kill those who stand in the way of their destruction something other than peaceful solutions will be implemented.

This is insanity.

Update: I understand now. We are reliving The Gulag Archipelago. Criminals are the natural allies of the political left.

The story of how CHAZ was created

Read the whole thing. This is just how the terrorists won the last battle and created CHAZ.

A Shocking Eye-Witness Account Of What’s Really Happening During The Seattle Riots

SPD must have had some really good intelligence, or they were anticipating Antifa’s response from Durkan’s concessions. They installed permanent metal barriers at the intersection of 11th St and Pine St. A second line of barriers was also in place in between us and the initial barriers at the intersection. Everything kicked off per usual, with the “protesters” trying to provoke us with their words, umbrellas, and signs. This time, though, we didn’t give them an audience. We all stayed inside the East Precinct, as they did their normal agitation methods at the first barrier.

Suddenly, we were told the “protesters” began jumping the first barrier, heading towards us. We rushed out to the road and staged roughly 1/3 of the way up the block from the intersection of 11th St and Pine St, creating a large safety buffer between us and the “protesters” who had jumped the fencing. They were warned to return over the barrier, which they didn’t. They then began disassembling the barrier. They were warned not to disassemble the barrier, but they continued. They then walked towards us. They were warned to stop, but they didn’t. They continued walking towards us. They were warned again, but they continued. They reached the second barrier.

We later found out they brought a plasma cutter (blow torch) to cut through the barriers… (not that they are the provocateurs, or are planning to escalate, right?!)

They began cutting barriers so they could be used as weapons against us. They were warned about cutting the barriers, but they continued. They then picked up the second barriers and began walking towards us. They were warned again not to move the barriers, but they continued. They then jumped the last barrier. They were warned again to turn back, but they continued towards us. As they continued to approach, they were continuously warned. HOW MANY WARNINGS DOES IT TAKE?!

It started to get dark… The portable lights were turned on. The “protesters” then produced foil covered signs and were trying to blind the Officers and Guardsman. They were warned again, but they continued. They then threw a glass bottle at a Guardsman, the glass bottle shattering on a riot shield. They were warned again, but they just booed at us. They continued to walk slowly towards the Officers until they were within 2-3 feet. They then started using their umbrella’s and other objects, putting them in the face of the Officers. They were warned again to not do that.

As expected, objects were then thrown at us. They amplified things, this time. Instead of throwing glass bottles containing urine and other bodily fluids, they began throwing glass bottles full of gasoline. They then lit and threw fireworks at us, trying to light us on fire.

FINALLY the SPD Administration gave the green light and LESS LETHAL forms of riot control were deployed. As objects were continued to be thrown at us, SWAT finally deployed CS gas. The “protesters” proceeded to start vandalizing everything in the area. They smashed business windows, burned U.S. flags, lit dumpsters and other items on fire, and threw things on fire at us. We pushed them back in all directions about half a block but for some reason, we stopped pushing them back. They then regrouped and continued to vandalize the area with spray paint, breaking windows, and lighting things on fire. Around that time, the Guard was pulled back and we left East Precinct.

My big takeaway from this is also an observation made by, IIRC, the Bellevue Chief of Police after the Bellevue looting a couple weeks ago. The terrorists are well organized. This is not some impulsive, spontaneous, outburst of rage.

The organizers, in particular, must be tracked down and punished.

CHAZ characterization

Via daughter Kim:

123_1

From my visit there this seems somewhat overstated. But not by much.

Quote of the day—Thomas Sowell @ThomasSowell

People sometimes ask if I have tried to convince black “leaders” to take a different view on racial issues. Of course not. I wouldn’t spend my time trying to persuade the mafia to give up crime. Why should I spend time trying to convince race hustlers to give up victimhood?

Thomas Sowell @ThomasSowell
Tweeted on June 7, 2020
[See also Reality is difficult.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Lauren Footman

The disease of racism spreads in an America where justice, fairness, and the rule of law do not work for everyone. The system is not broken — it is working exactly the way it was designed to. This is the same system that first enslaved Blacks, then segregated Blacks, then imprisoned Blacks, and now blatantly kills them.

Lauren Footman
May 2020
CSGV Responds to Unrest in Minneapolis and the Arrest in Killing of George Floyd
[What? Please show me where, in the U.S. Constitution and/or Federal law, it is “designed” to spread “the disease of racism”.

One has to wonder what color the sky is in Footman’s universe. She’s working for CSGV (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence) and, as we know, delusions are common in the anti-gunowner crowd so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the delusion extend into this context as well.

But more likely than Footman being delusional, is that she is deliberately trying to destroy our country. Anti-gun as well as insisting the country as designed is fundamentally at odds with equality before the law can only mean one thing as far as I can tell. She wants a completely new design for our country. And the quickest way to accomplish that is to destroy it.

Fanning the racial tension flames, without evidence to support racism was even an issue in the precipitating event, is worse than actual racism. It’s deliberate deception which directly lead to the deaths of dozens of people and 100s of millions of dollars in property loss. It’s easy to conclude this is by design.—Joe]

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)

There has been some blog and reddit posts about Antifa taking over part of the Capitol Hill area in Seattle:

There are a few conventional media stories but not many:

As I reported some of the links people have been sending me and what I have read on the blogs Barb kind of rolled her eyes.

25+ years ago Barb lived on Capital Hill. For another 20 years she worked not far from there. She describes the people who live there as “in transition”. “They’re mostly young and trying to figure out who they are.” That some people moved some barricades isn’t all that much out of character for that demographic. They think of themselves as revolutionaries but it’s more of an extended teenager rebellious phase they are going through.

Today I visited CHAZ. It’s kind of a nothing burger. I half expected checkpoints with masked armed people and snipers in windows and on the rooftops. I brought my telephoto lens and planned to take pictures from a block or more away. I worried about someone seeing me, multiple people flanking me, taking my camera, and/or hurting me. I hid my camera under my loose fitting flannel shirt.

Continue reading

Timely

Once a week my kids (all adults scattered among three different states) and I have a video call over dinner. After dinner we play some Internet games or watch a movie together. Weekend before last we watched Back to the Future.

That made this tweet from HollyCabot @HollyCabot all the funnier:

image

Gather evidence for the trials

Via Milo we have news confirming it’s time for the adults to take charge (see also here and here):

A group of Minneapolis City Council members have announced their intentions to proceed with disbanding the city’s police force.

Council president Lisa Bender made the announcement at a Black Visions Collective and Reclaim the Block rally at Powderhorn Park Sunday, just blocks from where George Floyd lost his life at the hands of police on May 25.

Bender says that the plan is to “end our city’s toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department.”

“It’s our commitment to end policing as we know it, and recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe,” she said.

One could make the case these people have carefully reviewed the history of the police in our country and others, decided the early 1800s skeptics were correct and we should go back to volunteer or privately paid watchmen and inspectors rather than a publicly paid professional organization.

Anyone making such a case would risk a charge of manslaughter as I might laugh myself to death upon hearing such a claim. The political left is composed of some of the most ignorant people I have ever met. Among other topics they appear to have no knowledge of relevant political history and/or how it might apply to the present day. The history of professional police forces? No. There is not any possibility of them taking that into consideration in this decision.

One could make the case these people don’t understand what they are doing. They don’t understand that the police actually provide a justice system for criminals rather than have them exposed to mob justice. Mob justice has no due process. Mob justice has not right to be represented by a lawyer. Mob justice has no consistence and proportionality of sentencing. Mob justice results in false accusations leading to being beaten to death within hours.

Maybe they merely clueless. Assuming no evidence to the contrary, at their trials they probably could claim to be useful idiots and get a lighter sentence.

The case could also be made these people know exactly what they are doing. This reminds me of the Sullivan Act. They are deliberately enabling criminals to prey upon innocent citizens.

You don’t think so? Look at the history of the Sullivan Act in the link above. They knew what they were doing.

As incredible as it might seem, they could be deliberately engineering the end of our constitutional form of government. We have people openly stating this is their goal. While I’m not entirely convinced this is the case for everyone advocating the apparent insanity I am certain it is true for many of them. And because of this people should be gathering the evidence for their trials.

Riots are justified

There are people claiming the riots are justified:

Apparently if you can’t get the change you want via peaceful means then riots and massive destruction of property, injuries, and death are part of the acceptable solution space.

If you happen to have someone make such a claim to you please ask them the nature and extent of the violence they would recommend for gun owners such that we can eliminate the oppressive laws we struggle with every day.

Protestor advice

Via Drishti @Drishti

SoldierPatch

I probably laughed longer and louder than I should have.

Very nice

Roberta reported on how the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Force and the deputy mayor handled things last night such that there were no violent confrontations associated with the large protest:

The police and protestors marched the rest of the way to the Governors house intermingled.  The protestors agreed to disperse afterward, and police walked with them back downtown to their cars.

No one got hurt.  There were no riots in Indianapolis last night.  There was no looting.

I’m proud of the people of my city.

I read someplace else, I forget where, that research from the 1960s and 1970s on crowd control came up with a solution similar to what Roberta described which resulted in similar outcomes.

Nice. Very nice.

Quote of the day—Grady Judd

I would tell them, if you value your life, they probably shouldn’t do that in Polk County. Because the people of Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns, and they’re going to be in their homes tonight with their guns loaded, and if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I’m highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns. So, leave the community alone.

Grady Judd
Polk County Florida Sheriff
June 1, 2020
Peaceful protesters gather in Polk County; curfew in effect at 8 p.m.
[We live in interesting times.—Joe]

Reality is difficult

Via Red Dog: who references this blog post of mine.

RealityIsDifficult

Thank you Red Dog.

It may be that we have another very public example of reality being really, really difficult to understand.

We have probably 100s of thousands of people protesting, getting all worked up, killing police officers, and doing 100s of millions of dollars worth of property damage over the death of George Floyd.

From every thing I know about the event it should be considered an unlawful death and those responsible should be prosecuted. I talked to a former cop about it and he said, paraphrasing, the head and neck action, in addition to being totally unnecessary, was extremely strongly “discouraged” (forbidden) since at least 1994 when he first went through training. He is also of the opinion that the other cops should be charge with participating in the illegal death of Floyd as well. I have no reason to disagree with his analysis.

That said, the theme of probably 99.9% of the protests and public discussion is about racism. But is it? What evidence do we have that this cop is a racist thug? It could be that he does this crap with people he arrests regardless of their race. There are supposedly has many prior complaints against him. It’s entirely possible that he is an equal opportunity thug. It’s even possible he gives white suspects rougher treatment than non-whites.

I’m really looking forward to the cops public trial(s). I want to know what is in those prior complaints about his behavior. My bet is that describing him as an equal opportunity thug is more accurate than as a racist thug.

The racist theme met the preconceived beliefs of the vast majority of people and that theme spread across the country at almost the speed of light. It infected far more people, far faster, than any viral pandemic. And yet, it may well be nothing but a delusion. A deadly delusion of massive proportions and consequences, but still a delusion.

While the belief may be true, until we know for certain, the focus of the demands for reform should be on that which we have evidence for:

  • The handling of a person in restraints does not require pressure on their head, neck, or even chest. That the cop mistreated the suspect in this manner suggests he was inadequately trained and/or violated policies without being disciplined.
  • Police have qualified immunity which makes it far too difficult to punish bad behavior.

But that’s not my main point. My main point is that people believe things without evidence. Evidence is almost irrelevant to the beliefs of most people. And this tragic, almost for certain, illegal death is another example of why I believe rational thought is nothing but a thin veneer over the belief systems of the minority of the human population.

Communists being communists

From here:

Individual Sign On: Support the Call to
Defund the Seattle Police Department

By signing on to this document, you are endorsing the following statement:

Police reform efforts—from Minneapolis to Seattle—have failed. To stop police violence, the police must be reduced in size, in budget, and in scope. The police have never served as an adequate response to social problems. They are rooted in violence against Black people. In order to protect Black lives, this moment calls for investing and expanding our safety and well-being beyond policing. To that end, we demand:

1- Seattle’s Mayor and City Council must immediately defund Seattle Police Department (SPD). The city faces a $300 million budget shortfall due to COVID-19. Seattle City Council should propose and vote for a 50% cut from the $363 million already budgeted for SPD.

2- Seattle’s Mayor and City Council must protect and expand investments to make our communities safe, prioritizing community-led health and safety strategies. Full access to affordable housing, community-based anti-violence programs, trauma services and treatment, universal childcare, and free public transit are just a few of the non-police solutions to social problems.

3- The Seattle City Attorney must not prosecute protesters, including those arrested violating curfew, and those living in encampments. Protesters took to the streets to call for the end of the murders of Black people by police, and SPD unnecessarily escalated tensions and violence.

Our schools, workplaces, and government offices frequently collaborate with police. The police are an occupying force in Black communities. Their brutality towards Black people is condoned and accepted as business as usual. We urge all local governmental and non-governmental entities to cut ties with the SPD. When they put on their badges, police officers cease to be members of the working class. In fact their primary role is to surveil, control, and silence all forms of dissent to support the continuity of a racist, harmful, murderous status quo.

#BlackLivesMatter #DefundSPD #DisarmSPD #DismantleSPD #DecriminalizeSeattle #CareNotCages #FreeThePeople #FreeThemAllWA #DecriminalizeSeattle #CharleenaLyles #ShawnFuhr #TommyLe #CheTaylor #JTWilliams #IsaiahObet #JesseSarey #JusticeForStoney #SayTheirNames


*These demands are prepared by COVID-19 Mutual Aid Seattle, a network of organizations and individuals who came together in response to COVID-19 to demand an abolitionist, anti-racist public health response to the COVID-19 crisis.

You can reach us at covid19mutualaidsea@gmail.com. You can follow us on Instagram at @covid19mutualaid, on Facebook at @covid19mutualaid, and on Twitter at @covid_mutualaid. Thank you for supporting this important effort.

Want to sign on behalf of an organization? Sign here: tinyurl.com/defundSPDorg

The police are some of the biggest supporters of the right to keep and bear arms. The communists can’t have those types around. And besides they get in the way of direct, individual, “redistribution” of wealth by the masses.
It’s good to have clarity.

Antifa America clarity

Via Essential Fleccas @fleccas:

TonightsTheNight

From the same tweet:

TonightsTheNight2

This should provide clarity for both sides.