Category Archives: Quote of the Day

Seattle is Going to Get Worse Before it Gets Better

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Quote of the Day

We are walking down a very well taken path. And this board will be the ones leading us.

Tammy Morales
April 28, 2023

Watch through the end pic.twitter.com/PjKeMtCWn9

To be fair, there are others on the board as well. See this announcement for more information. There is damning material it is as well. I especially “like” the part about “social housing” where the rental price is according to what people can afford to pay. This slogan echoes from 150 years ago:

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

This is indeed a well taken path.

Living in Bellevue Has Advantages

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These new findings offer detailed estimates of death rates by cause, year, and sex among the county’s nearly 400 census tracts. Residents in census tracts on Mercer Island and in Bellevue have the highest life expectancy, while those in Auburn and other areas of southeast King County have the lowest. In 2014, the top causes of premature death were: ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, self-harm, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, drug use disorders, cerebrovascular disease, cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, diabetes, and colon and rectum cancer.

Nationally, the average life expectancy in King County is in the 95th percentile among all US counties. With a population of more than 2 million, King County ranks among the top 5% of counties in household income and life expectancy.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (University of Washington)
September 5, 2017
Life expectancy varies by up to 18 years in King County

Interesting. Barb and I probably mention the “Bellevue Bubble” to each other once a month or more.

And example: A couple weeks ago I got a chip in my car windshield fixed near a strip mall in Renton. While waiting I walked past a few shops on my way to Wal-Mart. When I got home I started to tell her about my adventure with, “The chip repair place was across the street from Wal-Mart…” And she interrupted me, “Oh no! The Renton Wal-Mart! What happened?” I told her of the three people, I saw as I walked to 200 yards to Wal-Mart, either openly using drugs or standing and swaying like they were about to fall. On the way back I saw a fourth person sitting on a bench bent over looking as if he were about to vomit being told by a cop that he could not loiter there and had to leave. And there was a homeless looking (filthy clothes and body, carrying a tattered bag) guy wandering up and down the aisles of the Dollar Store.

We shook our heads and told each other how glad we were to live in the Bellevue Bubble. We just don’t see that sort of thing in our neighborhood or where we shop.

I expect the life expectancy differences are probably due to better attention to health, ability to afford health care, less tobacco, probably less alcohol use, more exercise in the later years, lower violent crime rate, etc.. Another thing we notice is the people in south King County are much more likely to be overweight.

I still want my underground bunker in Idaho for when the Bellevue Bubble pops.

Fix Your Statistics

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Some simple things that could be done to reform Earth science from its present disaster state:

– Discard the idea of ‘p-values’ and ‘statistically significant’ data. Report likelihood functions and as much raw data as possible; have an epistemology in which different effect sizes are different hypotheses (since they make the data differently likely). A large experiment that suggests an effect size of 0.05 has *failed* to replicate a small experiment with an effect size of 0.2.

– This will also make “meta-analyses” much easier; point up when different hidden experimental conditions are producing different effect sizes and naively implying incompatible states of reality; reduce positive bias in reporting experimental results by averting the idea that an ‘insignificant’ result is a failure; etc etc. A lot of the problems in modern science really are just the result of using epistemically awful math!

Eliezer Yudkowsky @ESYudkowsky
Tweeted on April 24, 2023

This applies to more than statistics for Earth science.

Of course, I could be biased. I like working with likelihood ratios/functions.

Read the whole thing for suggestions beyond just the math.

You are Not Paranoid

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to tarnish its own reputation by vastly downplaying — by a factor of more than 10 — the number of incidents in which armed Americans stop spree killers. According to the FBI, the same people who can find no evidence of crime on Hunter Biden’s laptop, only 4.4% of these incidents were stopped by a good guy “civilian” with a gun. Analysis by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows the actual number is closer to 50% or more in some instances.

John Boch
October 7, 2022
FBI Massively Understates Shooting Statistics: Analysis Show Armed Americans Stop About Half of Active Killer Attacks

When I read things like this I frequently think, “You are not paranoid if they really are out to get you.”

Their Case is SO Weak

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Are you compensating for something?

William Wallace @bwoll1219
Tweeted on January 24, 2023

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

It’s sometimes amazing how quickly they fall back to middle-school insults. This shows just how weak their case is.

The Second Amendment is Nonsense

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For years, an element of the gun-owning community has been belligerently defensive without ever acknowledging this problem. They certainly have not proposed any real, viable solution.

So I would say that the rest of us need to stop mollifying them. Forget all that nonsense about the Second Amendment…

If others won’t say it, I will: We do not need 400 million guns in our society — and there are very strong reasons to get rid of almost all of them.

Russ Baker
April 24, 2023
Why Nearly All of America’s 400 Million Guns Have Got To Go

Stack up buttercup.

Don’t ever let someone get away with telling you no one wants to take your guns.

Happy Preliminary Injunction Day, Illinois!

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The Supreme Court in
Bruen and Heller held that citizens have a constitutional right to own and possess
firearms and may use them for self-defense. PICA seems to be written in spite of the clear directives in Bruen and Heller, not in conformity with them. Whether well-intentioned, brilliant, or arrogant, no state may enact a law that denies its citizens
rights that the Constitution guarantees them. Even legislation that may enjoy the
support of a majority of its citizens must fail if it violates the constitutional rights of fellow citizens. For the reasons fully set out below, the overly broad reach of PICA
commands that the injunctive relief requested by Plaintiffs be granted.

Stephen P. McGlynn
April 28, 2023
Harrel v. Raoul

It is a nice ruling but it is at the district level. I don’t think the appeals court will be as friendly.

Via Miles in the comments. The title of this post was stolen from him.

See also SAF Wins Preliminary Injunction Against Illinois Semi-Auto Ban. The FPC was also involved in this. I donate thousands of dollars to them each year. It is money well spent. Please consider donating as well.

The decision has already been appealed.

Self Defense Is Murder

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NOBODY deserves to be fucking MURDERED, fucking SHOT in the head, just because they’re trying to break into your home with a fucking crowbar. Stop perpetuating gun violence.

Neily Dan @neily_dan
Tweeted on April 25, 2023

Defense of your home from someone forcibly entering your home with a lethal weapon is murder. I’ll have to think about that….

Hmmm… No. And I’ll just keep saying no until I run out of ammo.

My Guns Must Be Malfunctioning

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These weapons of war, assault weapons, have no reason other than mass murder. Their only purpose is to kill humans as rapidly as possible in large numbers.

Jay Inslee
April 25, 2023
Washington Is Now the 10th State With a Logically and Constitutionally Dubious ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban

If they really where “weapons of war” then that means they are protected by the Miller decision.

If their “only purpose really is to kill humans as rapidly as possible” then all my AR-15s must be malfunctioning because I have probably fired 10,000 rounds through them without killing anyone.

It is very clear Inslee is delusional or evil. And my bet is on evil.

SAF filed a lawsuit the same day as Inslee signed the bill into law.

I think there is a fair chance of getting a preliminary injunction. And I have a sliver of hope that someday we will get to see Inslee enjoy his trial.

Anti-gun Activist has Delusional Beliefs

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Those of us who are not gun fetishists are supposed to “keep our powder dry” on the subject, but it must be said: The Second Amendment is as antique as a muzzle-loaded long gun, and should be treated as a historical artifact.

…

The need for a well-regulated militia, crucial to the early history of the country, is no longer in play. We need to rewrite the amendment, dispensing with the oddball capitalization and punctuation, to fit the times:

The right of the people to serve in the armed services or the National Guard, or to serve as law enforcement officers if duly qualified, shall not be infringed.

Kirk Swearingen
April 23, 2023
The Second Amendment is a ludicrous historical antique: Time for it to go

It is as if he misses the entire point of the 2nd Amendment. It is for the people to preserve their free state by defending against a tyrannical government. It is not the right of the people to learn to shoot guns under the direction of government.

Reading the entire screed, I find it very telling that he ignores that in the Heller decision all nine Supreme Justices agree that the Second Amendment protects an individual right. They were not unanimous on the application to the particulars of the application of it to the D.C. law. But, they did all agree on the individual right aspect. Swearingen apparently believes he is a better constitutional scholar than all nine SCOTUS justices combined.

Lots of other “errors” could be pointed out but with that delusion, ignorance, or indicator of evil intent in your pocket you know you can confidently ignore anything further he has to say.

But don’t ever let someone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.

Checkpoint WA-ID

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You can’t help but wonder how long before the border, for decades little more than a welcoming line on maps, becomes hardened somehow.

It already is, psychologically. It’s getting so you have to remind yourself that the two states are still part of the same country, with a common history and traditions. (The governors definitely need this counsel.) But when one side is threatening doctors in say, Coeur d’Alene, with a crime for even suggesting that citizens might travel to the other side — to Spokane, say — for their health care, wouldn’t a logical step at some point be to try to stop the citizens from going?

Same with buying assault weapons, except in the other direction?

I am not making a prediction that we will someday have a literal “Checkpoint Charlie” on the Idaho-Washington border.

But everything else written in this column sounds completely insane, yet it’s all true. So I’ve learned in this era of America fracturing — don’t shrug about the prospect that the crackup may be only just beginning.

Danny Westneat
April 22, 2023
The Cold War between WA and neighbor Idaho gets hotter

I have sometimes wondered about a similar checkpoint. Although I envisioned it at the line between King County (which contains Seattle) and anything east of there.

In any case, the difference in gun availability will be resolved in a year or two as the most oppressive of Washington gun laws will be struck down by the courts. I expect the abortion issue will remain for some time.

As Expected they are Incoherent, Ignorant, Emotional, and Insulting

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Once again, you’re living in a fantasy world.

You couldn’t defend yourself against a rabid chipmunk.

Go take your flaccid penis and your micro ego and try posturing to someone else.

You are nothing to me, traitor.

If I saw you drowning I would give you a glass of water.

ANTIFA CHRIST * You are better than MAGA! @ClayMoore1966
Tweeted on January 22, 2022

It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

The entire thread is almost incoherent. But, what do you expect from anti-gun people?

Well, as we now know, we can expect ignorance, emotionalism, and childish insults.

Enemy of the State

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History is repeating. In today’s America, the rightists are those who don’t conform. They are labeled as the extremists, racists, the bigots, the white supremacists, domestic terrorists, haters..  in short, they are regarded as the enemy of the state.

Xi Van Fleet @XVanFleet
Chinese by birth; American by choice. Survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Defender of liberty.
Tweeted on April 21, 2023

Data and concise arguments worked?

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The turnout was very good, overflowing into other rooms with about six to one against the ban. The witnesses laid out concise arguments with good data and delved into the actual causes of mass killings.

Shawn Herrin
April 19, 2023
Blue State Shoots Down Ban On So-Called ‘Assault Weapons’

I’m surprised! Data and arguments of any type are usually pointless in opposition to gun grabbers.

UR a Smart Ass, Carl @Ur_a_Smartass_C

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After I got shot, laying in my hospital bed, I said to myself. “There will never be another person standing over me with a gun, holding all the power to determine if I will live or die”

I have never supported gun control since. It’s not gun control, it’s the power to control the defenseless.

UR a Smart Ass, Carl @Ur_a_Smartass_C
Tweeted on March 31, 2023

A lot of people have stories to tell about why they are “gun nuts” of some flavor or another.

Barb has hypothesized that my abusive and sometimes brutal grade school experience contributed to my interest in guns and self defense. I told a coworker about one of my experiences and he said, “If that were to happen today it would make the national news.”

I suppose Barb could be right. But I did not get emotional involved and buy my first gun until the Ruby Ridge incident occurred. That was long after the time when I could have legally purchased a gun and my own children were in grade school.

The Everything Collapse

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The inevitable consequence of the current Global Debt Bubble will be the Bankruptcy of the financial system and many of its participants.

The one Swiss and three US banks that just went under is just a foretaste of what is to come.

As the US and European banking systems come under pressure, The Everything Collapse will cause a collapse in financial markets of a magnitude that has never before been seen in history. Since the global financial system is a mesh which reaches every financial player in the world, from sovereigns to private individuals, no-one will be able to escape the The Everything Collapse.

Egon von Greyerz
April 16, 2023
FIRST GRADUALLY THEN SUDDENLY – THE EVERYTHING COLLAPSE

The author is trying to sell you gold. There is a strong potential for bias in the analysis and claims.

However, with the U.S. debt increasing by a trillion dollars per year it seems more plausible.

Open Season

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By removing the deterrent factor, and making it impossible for people to fight back if attacked in a public place, the City of New York and lawmakers in Albany have essentially given the green light to thugs for this kind of behavior. When you make it impossible for people to defend themselves, and then publicize it, you may as well declare an open season, especially against those most vulnerable to attack.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
April 17, 2023
CCRKBA CONDEMNS VIOLENT TIMES SQUARE ATTACK ON GAY COUPLE

This is not new information. This is well known. It applies to attacks on individuals. It applies to mass murders. It applies to everything in between.

It is long past time to prosecute those who create these environments..

7 Reasons Gun Control Will Make Your Family Safer

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To help you understand why putting new gun control laws in effect will make you and your family safer, The Babylon Bee has compiled this helpful list.

  1. There were no guns in the Bible: If God thought guns would keep you safe, He would have created them a long time ago and written about them in His Word.
  2. It allows you to trust the government to protect your family: And the government does EVERYTHING well and efficiently!
  3. Firing a gun gives people PTSD, which kills at least 12 million families per year: We’re getting PTSD just writing this article. You don’t want it. Trust us.
  4. There will be less conflict when your kids are taken to be raised by the state: No one will get hurt, and everyone will be better off in the long run!
  5. If you take guns away, all bad guys instantly become good guys: After all, it’s the guns that are evil, not human beings.
  6. If you don’t have a gun, you don’t have to spend money on ammo, and that money can then be used to purchase more COVID masks to protect your family: Forget the threat of crime and violence — everyone knows COVID is the real danger!
  7. Everyone respects laws: Even criminals know it’s best to follow the rules!

See? Gun control isn’t so bad after all!

The Babylon Bee
April 17, 2023
7 Reasons Gun Control Will Make Your Family Safer

You can always count on the Babylon Bee.

Quote of the day—Geraldo Rivera @GeraldoRivera

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Heard the Daily Caller and fellow travelers are ranting about my incorrect definition on-air of “AR” as in AR-15. Whatever. Point is, there is no place (other than sporting clubs and similar skilled settings) for assault rifles.
They’re substitute appendages.

Geraldo Rivera @GeraldoRivera
Tweeted on January 17, 2023
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

He almost seems proud of his ignorance. And, as is so boringly typical for anti-gun people, he resorts to the same childish insult.—Joe]

Blame the Victim

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Oftentimes, the guns end up in the wrong hands. So, what do we do to make sure, hey, if you’re practicing responsible gun ownership, don’t leave your gun in an unlocked car. Don’t leave it unsecured in your car.

Gary Carter Jr.
Louisiana State Senator (D)
April 15, 2023
A large number of gun crimes are committed using guns stolen from unlocked cars. A Louisiana lawmaker now wants to hold those car owners liable.

Of course he wants to make the liable. Anything to increase the cost of gun ownership. It seems to me, under Bruen analysis, this is unconstitutional.

It is never about quickly locking up the criminals who have actual responsibility. For them, it is catch and release. By the time they go to prison they typically have been arrested many times:

image

This guy thinks it is entirely acceptable to blame the victim of a gun theft. I blame politicians like him.