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.

Airport security–including FOUO material

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Someone released a For Official Use Only (FOUO) document from the TSA and MSNBC posted it online. The basics are:

A surge in recent suspicious incidents at U.S. airports may indicate terrorists are conducting pre-attack security probes and “dry runs” similar to dress rehearsals. Past terrorist attacks and plots show that such testing generally indicates attacks will soon follow, according to a joint FBI and Homeland Security assessment.

It’s mildly interesting in that it seems to confirm people are probing our airport security system. My view is that airport security as it’s currently implemented is a lost cause (see also this posting from David Mackett, the president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance). Those resources would be far better spent on finding the bad guys before they ever arrive at the airport and implementing something else for on board security.

Update: Via Bruce–at least one of the reports was bogus:

The TSA bulletin said the ice packs were covered in duct tape and had clay inside of them.

Sanfilippo said they weren’t covered in duct tape and didn’t have clay inside of them. “It is a little bit off,” he said of the bulletin.

The chief said a Harbor Police officer found what appeared to be hardened old gel that had seeped out of the ice packs and dried, leaving a clay-like substance around the outside edge of the pack.

I wonder if it was incompetence or if the TSA was trying to justify their existence. Both are plausible.

It must be the season

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My sister-in-law got hers this spring. I had mine two months ago. Ry had his today. President Bush is having his on Saturday.

Same Template, Different Story?

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Reading Joe’s recent post got me thinking.  Every time there’s a shooting, we see reports on the type of firearm used, its features, where it may have been obtained, and what gun laws might “prevent this sort of thing” in the future.  Given that criminals by definition don’t obey gun laws, and that this sort of thing isn’t going to be prevented by more Prohibitions, what sort of reporting might actually benefit the consumers of news reports?  Newsies: I’m asking you to think outside the usual story templates.

News pieces on the firearm models and types used in a particular crime are unhelpful, mostly because they’re useless unless you’re pushing an anti-gun agenda (one exception might be the LA bank robbery, in which police responded to a rifle fight with nothing but pistols and shotguns. There the types of weapons involved were actually relevant to the response tactics) and also because the reporting is typically done by people who know next to nothing about firearms (believe me, Newsies, it shows.  It really, really shows).  I submit that the public could benefit more from reports on exactly what happened from minute to minute, once all the hysteria has died down and the evidence has been evaluated.  Interview police and citizen defense trainers on what responses would be most appropriate, how the police view the role of the armed citizen, and so on.  Then we may be better able to respond to an incident more appropriately, or to stay out of it entirely when needed.

For certain, I think its a bad idea to grab a gun and run head-on toward the sound of gunfire.  Stealth, People.  Also consider the fact that it may be impossible to know friend from foe when there are armed citizens in the same area as armed criminals.  Start a discussion on when to stay out of the way, or, if presented an easy shot on a hostile target, when to take it, where to get the training and equipment, what would the police chief or sheriff’s department would want you to do?  You might let us know where to sign up for a local gun club, range development plan or self-defense course, and so on.  “Public Interest” in other words, could be served by some far more diverse reporting.

Semi-auto/full-auto what does it matter?

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Last week I took a reporter (Omie) and photographer (Geoff) for the Daily News to the range. Full automatic firearms was the topic. I didn’t have any but I showed them an AR-15 and taught them to shoot it. Omie told me one of the firearms used by Jason Hamilton a few weeks ago was converted from semi-auto to full-auto. I was skeptical but hadn’t really stayed up on the topic. It’s non-trivial to do the conversion and generally you don’t expect losers like Hamilton to have the brain-power and/or strength of will to follow through on something like that.

At least from the editorial standpoint it was pretty clear to me the article was intended to be a hit-piece on owners of machine guns with undercurrents of hostility toward owners of semi-auto firearms. It now turns out both the firearms used by Hamilton were semi-auto. From the Lewiston Morning Tribune:

Gun in Moscow shooting was a semiautomatic

July 2, 2007, 11:04 am

MOSCOW — The AK-47 Jason Hamilton used in his May 19-20 shooting spree is semiautomatic, not fully automatic as was earlier reported by officials investigating the case.

Sgt. Ed Westbrook with the Idaho State Police confirmed Monday that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has determined the gun is a semiauto, which fires one bullet with each trigger pull.

Westbrood said he didn’t know how the AK-47 was initially thought to be fully automatic, which would keep firing as long as the trigger is depressed.

Hamilton used that gun and a semiautomatic Springfield M1A rifle to assault the Latah County Courthouse late in the evening on May 19, firing nearly 200 rounds. He killed Moscow police officer Lee Newbill and church caretaker Paul Bauer before killing himself early in the morning of May 20.

Hamilton had also killed his wife at their home east of Moscow before driving to town to start his shooting spree.

I’m wondering if the Daily News will now publish a correction on their article from Saturday. The entire premise of their article was based on a falsehood. I just wish I knew when the ATF released the info on the gun in question. Did the Daily News have access to that prior to publishing the hit-piece? Of course if they did know that it would probably have just changed the focus from a hit piece on full-auto to a hit-piece on semi-auto firearms. But it would have also completely changed my discussion and interaction with Omie and Geoff.

Coming soon

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It’s happening in the U.K. and it will be happening here before long:

‘Firebomb’ car rams terminal at 30mph

The first afternoon of the Scottish school holidays meant the terminal at Glasgow airport was packed with families queuing at check-in desks.

Outside the building’s glass doors travellers waiting to be collected saw an erratically driven dark green Jeep Cherokee approach at speed. The Asian driver began to rev the engine furiously before wrenching the wheel and smashing the tough four by four vehicle directly into the terminal building.

Security bollards blocked the path of the vehicle as the driver tried to ram the main doors. The air became heavy with the stench of petrol. Driver and passenger, described as burly Asian men, leapt from the vehicle and it burst into flames.

Airport staff described the men as screaming “Allah” as the driver doused the burning vehicle with more fuel soaking himself in the process. His passenger began to smash bottles of petrol and his own clothes now ablaze the driver fell to the floor as police, passengers and airport staff reacted.

I had a discussion with someone recently who agreed “we have a problem” with Muslim extremists but disagreed on the solution. He insisted we just need to “contain” them. He also worried about Christian extremists too. Really? How should have the people in the U.K. “contained” the extremist Muslims bombers? And could someone give me a list of the video taped civilian beheadings and suicide bombings committed by “Christian extremists” in the last year? I have a number of issues worthy of discussion with “Christian extremists” but killing large numbers of innocent people isn’t one of them.

We need to destroy their culture. Porn for peace!

Communism victims memorial

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We now have a memorial to the millions of victims of communism:

President Bush, attending Tuesday’s dedication of a memorial to an estimated 100 million victims of communist regimes, compared the fight against radical Islam to the Cold War battle against totalitarian communism.

…

The ceremony was held on the 20th anniversary of President Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in which he implored Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Two years later, the wall fell.

The Victims of Communism Memorial is a bronze Goddess of Democracy statue. It is a replica of a replica – a reproduction of the papier-mache statue that Chinese students modeled on the Statue of Liberty and carried into Tiananmen Square during pro-democracy protests in 1989.

What amazes me is that there are still people in this country who are advocates for such a murderous and failed economic/political system. A survivor of Russian communism when asked what he thought of “trying to do it right this time” said something to the effect of, “There are 100 million corpses from the previous efforts. Do you want to donate your body to the next attempt?” That was a pretty good verbal response. Numerous non-verbal responses come to mind as well but such hand signals can cause you to be talked about.

Man on rampage kills 9 (with a machete)

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Damned good thing none of the victims had firearms, ’cause, you know, violence is never the answer and it only begets more violence:

The man then barged into a neighbor’s house, where he stabbed and hacked to death a 37-year-old pregnant woman and her three daughters and two sons, aged 1 to 9.

All I want to know is; who sold him the machete, how much money did he make on the sale, and is he proud of it?  How is it that a madman can so easily get hold of such a deadly instrument?  Why are iron and carbon made so widely available when we know things like this are going to happen as a result?  What are the Filipino legislators going to do about this?  What do the Filipino cutlery manufacturers have to say for themselves and their irresponsible production of such deadly products?

 

There is one word missing in all the descriptions of the victims, which bears notice:  “Unarmed”.  Add the correction and it makes more sense: 

“The man then barged into a neighbor’s gun free house, where he stabbed and hacked to death the unarmed 37-year-old…”

 

Here’s a news headline you’ll never see:  “Machete-wielding madman kills eight concealed pistol carriers.”

 

But some of our Great and Compassionate Leaders would prefer several dead innocent women and children to one dead criminal, shot by his intended victim.

Quote of the day–Marcel Granier

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This has exposed the abusive, arbitrary and autocratic nature of Chavez’s Government, a government that fears free thought, that fears opinion and fears criticism.

Marcel Granier
Chief of RCTV, the country’s oldest broadcaster
May 28, 2007
Venezuelan TV channel shut down
[Chavez is just being true to his socialist ideals. Socialism, The Road to Serfdom.–Joe]

Hamilton wasn’t married

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All the early reports on the nut case known as Jason Hamilton that killed a bunch of people in Moscow last weekend said he shot his wife Crystal first. An email from Mike informs me that Crystal was his ex-wife:

The couple filed for divorce on Aug. 3, 2004, citing irreconcilable differences. Hamilton and Jones said in court documents they had no children. The couple had been separated since March 2004 and listed separate home addresses in Moscow.

There was no dispute over the division of assets or debts. The divorce was granted the same day it was filed, records show.

It looks to me as if she should have read How to be Invisible and then disappeared after the divorce.

Roots of Jason Hamilton

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Mike has researched the genealogy of Jason Hamilton. Hamilton is the guy that shot up Moscow Idaho last weekend before terminating his branch of the family tree with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

He was a real piece of work

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Via Ry we find the Spokemans Review tells us all we need to know about the Moscow shooter. The following is just a sample:

Jason Kenneth Hamilton, the man responsible for the deadly shooting spree in Moscow, Idaho, was a card-carrying Aryan Nations member…

…

Hamilton had an extensive criminal history in Idaho, Arizona, California and Oklahoma, including arrests for violent crimes, domestic battery and drugs, according to court records obtained Tuesday by The Spokesman-Review.

…

He was arrested in September 2005 for attempted strangulation of his on-again, off-again girlfriend. A jury convicted Hamilton of a reduced charge of misdemeanor domestic battery in June 2006.

As he was awaiting trial, he was arrested for allegedly grabbing another woman by the hands and throwing her to the floor, injuring her. The case was dismissed.

Prior to moving to Latah County, Hamilton was charged with felony aggravated assault in 1992 in Lake Havasu, Ariz., and placed on probation. He was charged a few months later with possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license; both charges were dismissed.

Hamilton was arrested in 1995 by the Tulsa, Okla., city police on a cruelty to animals charge that was reduced to malicious injury. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but the sentence was suspended.

He needed to be locked up a long time ago. But you never know for certain until it’s too late.

See also Ry’s report on the conversation we had today at lunch about the police response.

Quote of the day–Dan Weaver

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It is not a help. In fact, it’s a hindrance and it greatly places people in danger. The police are liable to shoot someone with a gun.

Dan Weaver
Moscow Police Chief
May 21, 2007
UI senior tried to help but became victim
Referring to Peter Husmann who grabbed his pistol and went to help stop the person shooting up the Latah County Courthouse.
[I’m in total agreement with Weaver. In addition the evacuation and care of Husmann consumed resources that could perhaps have been better allocated to other tasks had Husmann not been collecting bullet wounds. If you are there when the shooting breaks out and can stop the shooter then by all means do so. But you don’t leave a safe area and seek out the shooter. There may be some exceptions such as when the police will not be arriving for many minutes or perhaps hours and your loved ones are in danger but Husmann’s actions were clearly wrong. This event took place just outside the Sheriff’s office and maybe three blocks from the Moscow Police Station. In this case the police response time could be expected to be within one or two minutes and perhaps even in seconds. A person out of uniform with a gun in hand in these circumstances when the police arrive have special names–they are call a “Target” or “Bullet Magnet”. I understand Husmann’s motivation. I am glad there are people willing to put themselves in danger to help others. But this wasn’t the time or the place.–Joe]

More Details

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It turns out that the Moscow shooter had multiple issues.  According to the police chief, the guy had been convicted of domestic violence, had tried suicide earlier and failed, had been involuntarily committed to a mental facility.  In the past he had told people he was going to off himself and take others with him.

Saturday night he went to a local bar and had some drinks, then went and killed his ex, then attacked the courthouse complex.

Side note:  Though several major news sources said there was an SKS “assault rifle” involved, spoke of ten-round clips, etc., and repeatedly showed a photo of an SKS, there was in fact no SKS.  There was an AK and an M1A used– a big difference to people who know guns, but of no real significance otherwise.  The lesson here is that rumors can spread like wildfire and be totally wrong.

There is the issue of urban response and combat tactics, which leave me curious.  The guy apparently was shooting at anything that moved.  He was on a hilltop surrounded by mostly residential streets and a high school, but also surrounded on two sides by solid buildings.  What do you do?  That’s my question, and I don’t have a good answer, mainly because I have no exact details and maybe never will have them.  IF (if) there is guy in a parking lot firing shots at everything around him (was he maneuvering? was he behind cover?  we don’t know) he might be a fairly easy target for someone intent on stopping him.  Certainly a SWAT team arriving hours later was in this case of no use.

These are my thoughts and questions.  It is a given that the occasional, random douche-bag will go off like this.  What are the best ways to handle it?

 

Shooting suspect information

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Via Dale and the Lewiston Morning Tribune we have more information about the suspect in the shooting over the weekend:

Crime scene investigators began searching the suspect’s brown, single-story house at 1020 Juliene Way. Neighbors gawked at the FBI suburbans and a Kootenai County crime scene trailer parked out front. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted with the search.

Juliene Way is in a rather poor, isolated, and unkempt part of town. While in high school our daughter Kim had a friend just a block or so further east she frequently spent the night with. The friends father was in jail and her mother, in her late 30’s, was living with a 19 or 20 year old boyfriend. Then the boyfriend committed suicide and things got so messed up that Kim didn’t visit much anymore. What I’m trying to say is that some of the people in this area of town have more than their share of problems.

I find it very interesting that the FBI and ATF are involved. Some Federal law(s) must have been broken. The first thing that comes to mind is that perhaps the SKS rifle had been converted to full auto. That would explain the reports of “automatic rifle” in some of the early news reports and what the assistant Police Chief said at the news conference yesterday. It’s a little odd that Kootenai County would be involved too. Kootenai County is 90 miles north of Moscow.

Something that bugged me on the drive back to the Seattle area and as I was trying to go to sleep last night was that part of the Federal Building and Post Office were taped off by the police:

The picture above is looking north at the Post Office. The one below is looking south at the taped off area with the Post Office just out of the picture to the right. 5th and Jefferson is the intersection where the barricade is in the middle of the street. Use the two police cars parked there on 5th street for reference between the two pictures.

The Post Office/Federal Building is two blocks west of the dispatch center that was shot up. It’s out of sight, down a hill, and on the opposite side of the building from the window and door that were shot up. But looking at maps and where the police officer was killed it looks like bullets intended for him could have continued down the hill and street and connected with the Federal Building. I suppose this could also be reason enough for the Feds to get involved.

The next news conference is in 90 minutes. We’ll all learn more then.

Pictures from Moscow Idaho shooting

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From the air we have these pictures. At the center bottom is the Latah County court house, sheriff’s office and dispatch center. The at the junction of the white roofed north-south building with the darked roofed east-west building is the dispatch center where the first shots occurred. If we could stand in the parking lot you could see through the glass in the door through a glass window into the dispatch center itself. There were three people in the dispatch center when the bullets came through the glass. Two women, one a trainee, and a man. They called for help and were escorted to the basement where the jail is.

At the press conference they reported the dispatch center was messed up pretty good. There is broken glass everywhere, bullet holes in the wall, and some equipment was broken, etc. They have an alternate dispatch center at the drivers license office at a shopping mall at the east end of town. They opened it up and are “back in business”.

It was at this Sheriff’s office that I got my Idaho concealed carry permit. I taught a NRA Personal Protection firearms class in a room at the north east end of the courthouse, just across the street from the high school.

The Moscow police officer that was killed came to investigate and was shot some place outside. The second officer shot was a Latah County Sheriff’s officer who was attempting to come to first police officer’s aid.

Just north of the court house is another white roofed building. This is the high school Xenia attends. The shooter entered the building just to the east of the high school which is the First Presbyterian Church and killed the caretaker.

Police attempted to negotiate with the shooter but to the best of my knowledge never got a response from him. The last shot heard was about 1:00 AM this morning. This was probably a self inflicted gunshot to the head.

When I arrived about 7:30 this morning the police were still taping off the area:

I walked their perimeter as did numerous news people:

There were lots and lots of police present. Officers from Lewiston, Whitman County (just to the west from Washington State), and Washington State University Police officers came. Idaho State Patrol from Coeur d’Alene to Twin Falls (by airplane from hundreds of miles away) were there as well. The ISP will be doing the investigation since both city and county police officers were victims.

The Sheriff’s deputies below were well armed. AR-15’s or maybe M-16’s. I did not see any unloaded guns or unsafe gun handling. All appeared to have iron sights.

The picture above and the one below were taken facing north at the intersection of sixth and Adams at the south west corner of the Latah County Courthouse, Sheriff’s office, and jail. In the picture below you can see the radio tower for the dispatch center. One block further north is the Moscow High School.

The 9:00 AM press conference was at the Moscow City Court House at 3rd and Washington. It was well populated with news crews:


(Photo by Xenia)

Xenia and I took lunch to Barb at the hospital. While waiting for her to meet us across the street at Therapy Central I took a picture of someone lowering the flag outside the hospital to half-mast:

IMG_4197Web.jpg

Update: Complete video of the press conference Xenia and I attended is here. It includes my question about the SKS rifle being an automatic.

Shooting in Moscow Idaho

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Some of the main stream media coverage is here:

Xenia and I got back from the press conference a few minutes ago.

Two police officers were shot. The first one shot took multiple hits at about 11:31 PM last night. He wasn’t able to be evacuated until 12:05. He was dead on arrival. The second officer was shot a few minutes later and was taken to Gritman hospital (where Barb works) his condition is “serious”. A private citizen was shot in the same time frame as he came out of his house and approached the area to “try and help”. He has been in surgery for hours and his condition is satisfactory.

The police did not fire any shots. None of the police officers could determine the exact source of the gunfire. The shooter is believed to have started shooting while on the street then moved to the church nearby where additional shots were fired. At about 1:00 AM this morning the last shot was fired. About 5:45 AM three police entry teams went into the church while a diversion was taking place at the opposite end of the building. They found two people dead inside. One of them had a rifle next to him and is believed to be the shooter.

David Duke, assistant Police Chief, reported that a “SKS type rifle” was found. Earlier he had said the rifle was an “automatic” so I asked, “You said the rifle was an SKS but the SKS is not normally fully automatic. Are you sure it was a fully automatic rifle?” He only clarified to say, “It was an SKS type rifle. The exact rifle has not been determined.” He also said that four empty magazines were found. He did not know the capacity of the magazines or the type of ammo used.

Barb came home a few minutes ago to change her clothes after a patient vomited on her (unrelated to the shooting). She reports police officers are outside a patient room at the hospital.

Xenia wanted to go to the press conference. One of her best friends, Jessa, is the daughter of the Paster of the Church where final shots were fired. Jessa wasn’t answering her cell phone and calls to the house went unanswered. Xenia reports on her Live Journal here. At the press conference we learned, indirectly, that Jessa’s father is OK.

More later after I take a shower and get some breakfast.

Update: The best coverage I have seen so far is from the Daily News (you need an account to read the article but Dale has a copy up) and KXLY. KXLY has officer Newbill’s time of death wrong. He was probably dead at the scene and certainly was dead on arrival at the hospital.

Quote of the day–Ry Jones

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You’re alive!

Ry Jones
7:16 AM May 20, 2007
[I was in bed. A call came in from Ry and those were the first words he said. He then told me what he knew about the shooting in Moscow were I live. I went to investigate. I took lots of pictures and had a minor confrontation with the police. Xenia and I just now got back from the Press Conference. More blog posts and pictures to follow.–Joe]

“Power Sharing”

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One of the marvels of the United States has always been Her “Melting Pot” status, wherein people from all walks of life, from all around the world have come together to produce the most successful society in human history.

That’s why it bugs me when I hear people who should know better discussing the political situation in Iraq, for example.  We hear about the various and disparate groups in that country having trouble coming to an acceptable “power sharing” agreement.  What does that mean– power sharing?  That’s something that might be arranged between one king or one dictator and another, or between rival gangsters, but in a free society?

No, Grasshopper!  In a free society all individuals have the same rights, so the term “power sharing” has no meaning.  That one race, religion or other demographic might outnumber another in a certain region is, rightly, of no consequence for the simple fact that they haven’t the political power to trample on the rights of the minority.  If that ideal is not the foundation of their Constitution, then the Constitution needs a serious rewrite.

I am reminded of a quote from Ayn Rand (thanks to “The Smallest Minority” web site):  “The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.”

Its time more of the freedom-hungry people in Iraq understand and embrace this simple concept if they are to have any hope of realizing their dream.  It would be nice if more Americans understood it too.

Quote of the day–Tamara K.

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The guy’s as popular in France’s Muslim ghettos as a bag of pork rinds, which rates another thumbs up in my book. If non-assimilating misogynist welfare leeches hate him, he can’t be all bad.

Tamara K.
May 9, 2007
My reaction to the Frog reaction to the Sarkozy win…
[Sarkozy has a big job ahead of him. But his election gives me hope for a world where the Islamic extremist demands for world domination are thwarted.–Joe]

It’s all about feeling safe

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From The Roanoke Times January 31, 2006:

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

…

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.”

As the evidence from today illustrates it was not actual safety. Just feeling safe. Feeling safe yielded the largest mass shooting in US history. A bunch of people lost their lives today because some politicians deprived the people of their right to keep and bear arms. Those politicians should be tried for accessory to murder.

[Thanks to Jerry. I did little more than copy and paste his email to make this post.]