Currently, folks can be locked up for feeding homeless, stashing rain water, growing plants, recording public servants and owning guns. What a time to be alive.
Maj Toure @MAJTOURE
Tweeted on February 22, 2019
[Look on the bright side. There is lots of opportunity for improvement because there is so much low hanging fruit.
Or is that, “Fruits that should be hanged”?—Joe]
But then, progress to what? Progress to Hell?
Colion Noir
At 23:20 in Seattle: The Utopian Lie | NOIR S7E8
[Via email from Stephanie.
I knew there was a big homeless issue. Until the weather got cold late last fall there was a guy you lived on a bench in Bellevue next to the street which I drove by on the way to work. In downtown Seattle you can see tents next to parking areas on the streets. But I didn’t realize there were piles of used needles on some streets and schools had to pick up needles from the sports fields before they could use the fields.
Government officials are enabling these things (watch the video). Someone in the area dies from illegal drug use every 36 hours. And the politicians want to demonstrate their hatred, prejudice, and bigotry of gun owners who are among the most law abiding and productive members of society. Screw that. We aren’t a problem. But if they keep it up, we could be. And the police are likely to look the other way when we ignore the politicians stupid and hateful laws.
The video is a bit long and is mostly about heroin use with a little bit of gun rights stuff mixed in. But the points that really stuck with me is that Seattle city officials:
My guess is that “progress to hell” isn’t the intent they discuss even when they talk among themselves. But they do know that is where they are headed. They are almost certainly suffering from their own addiction. An addiction to power and an addiction to a failed belief system and it’s difficult to kick their habits. And as one of the people in the video points out, 95% of junkies cannot get cleaned up until they hit bottom. And politicians are a long way from hitting bottom. They will die of old age while still a junkie.—Joe]
Via email from Insights. I wish it was some other time than Boomershoot weekend. Some people might be interested in doing both:
One of the ultimate expressions of this class was done during the Vietnam War and was known as MACV-RECONDO school. This school was set up by Project Delta (yes, the guys who later founded Delta Force) and then turned over to 5th SFG. This was the basis for LRRP/Ranger type operations in Vietnam. This course will be modeled after that school but with a modern backdrop and modern planning procedures.
Taught by Army Green Berets, Army Rangers, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol members and other select Special Operations personnel. The best of the best. Each combat patrol will have at least one cadre member and larger patrols will have two or more per patrol. Cadre will be teaching, mentoring, and leading the patrols.
The course will be taught inside of a scenario wargame, just like all military exercises and like the Special Forces Qualification Course which uses “Pineland”. In this course we will be using the scenario of “Red Dawn”. A foreign military force has invaded America and now you are in the resistance fighting against them. Luckily US Army Green Berets have infiltrated your area to provide you training and leadership!
Immersive scenario based training is far more effective than a conventional course. Everything is “real” and has context and pieces learned on one day connect back in later in the scenario. This course will have over a dozen live role players playing the part of the enemy, have real people as part of the “underground” etc. FULLY IMMERSIVE TRAINING. InSights will be offering numerous “linked” courses around this scenario in the future.
Besides the patrolling track we will be offering a Tactical Operations Center track. These are the guys who make the missions run, produce and give intelligence briefings, run radio networks, debrief teams after missions, coordinate with underground forces and assets, meet and interview intelligence sources, “Battle track” teams and the enemy. Learn intelligence preparation of the battlefield, operational security, and tradecraft for the resistance environment. The TOC track is perfect for those who might not be up for four days and nights of moving through the woods but who still want to learn to contribute to the team.
Class dates: May 2-5, 2019
Location: 3 hours from Seattle (location provided upon registration)
Tuition: $1600
Prerequisite: Concealed Pistol License or documentation of good character
Minimum required equipment:
Optional equipment:
A full field kitchen with cooks will be present so students will not have to worry about meals or snacks, etc. You will be able to dedicate yourself 100% to training.
Large squad tents are also provided.
To register, call us at 1.888.958.0884 or email us at: info@insightstraining.com.
Stay safe and we’ll see you in class!
Boomershoot territory received some fresh snow recently. Then the sun came out (webcam and current weather conditions are available here):
Only 69 days left before Boomershoot 2019. That plenty of time for the snow to melt but not that much time to make all your preparation for long range precision rifle shooting at highly reactive targets.
It’s going to be a great event this year with lots of explody goodness. Just today I bought almost all of the remaining chemicals needed.
Boomershoot 2019 is currently 57% full. Sign up now while there are still positions left.
This is an individual who wants to ban guns — except he wants to kill people.
Ozzie Knezovich
Spokane Sheriff
February 21, 2019
Washington Man Arrested For Allegedly Vowing Sheriffs Who Oppose Gun Control Law ‘Will Be Shot. By Me.’
[Well, of course. As Lyle pointed out a few days ago when the question “Why are anti-gun activists so violent?” came up again:
When you turn that question around and ask it the other way (Why are the violent so opposed to honest people being armed?) then it pretty well answers itself.
That an obviously violent person thinks it is so vitally important that the guns of common people must have their guns taken away is one of the best reasons possible to hold on to your guns and prepare to use them.
Here is a picture of the thug:
Be on your guard. He may not remain in jail long enough to cure him of his violent and Marxist ways.—Joe]
I have an issue with having to go to a dealership and do a background check before you can even trade a gun or sell a gun to your brother or your best friend. That’s my concern, that’s infringing upon our second amendment rights.
Russell Shafer
Quay County Sheriff
February 20, 2019
‘Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties’ Declared in New Mexico
[I like this trend (see also the map here).—Joe]
Caity: Do you remember the time we had to write the report on the electromagnetic pulse? A solar storm or something?
Joe: I remember the report on the possibility of North Korea setting off a nuke and creating an EMP.
Kelsey: I remember that! That was really depressing. It was like, “Time to go to Idaho and hide in a bunker.”
[Laughter from everyone and they all look at me.]
Joe: I don’t have a bunker in Idaho! I may have an explosives production facility in Idaho but I don’t have a bunker.
[laughter from everyone]
Joe: It’s all about offense, not defense.
Timbs is a good reminder of how ridiculous the argument in favor of civil asset forfeiture really is. During oral arguments in November, Indiana’s solicitor general got boxed into a corner by Justice Stephen Breyer, who managed to twist the government’s lawyer into arguing that Indiana should be allowed to seize vehicles for as small an offense as driving 5 mph over the speed limit, which literally elicited laughter in the courtroom.
After Wednesday’s ruling, there’s a better chance that more civil asset forfeiture cases will be laughed right out of court for being what they obviously are: unconstitutional, excessive punishments that don’t fit the crime.
Eric Boehm
February 20, 2019
Supreme Court Delivers Unanimous Victory for Asset Forfeiture Challenge
[And as Tam said:
When Clarence AND Ruth are on the same side of an argument, you gotta be kind of a weirdo to be on the other side of it.
This is great news.—Joe]
Finding and arresting the armed criminals, that’s what makes you safer. That’s what we all seek, or should. Keep the dangerous, the repeat offenders, the people who have guns by the millions who should not have them — isn’t that what you want?
Spending all this money and police effort and computer power to find and write down the name of every innocent citizen who goes out and buys or transfers a gun — what does that do but make people who don’t understand feel good?
Americans buy and transfer tens of millions of guns all the time, all of it legal, none of it connected with crime. Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Bernie, Hillary, the solid block of knowing (and unwitting) Democrats in both houses of Congress, they want to control THAT. That’s what their H.R. 8 background checks are aimed at. Checks have nothing to do with making us safe and controlling crime and danger. Their leadership is 100% aware of this.
Alan Korwin
February 15, 2019
Background Checks Are…Wrong
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Most people in sexual partnerships end up facing the conundrum biologists call “habituation to a stimulus” over time, a growing body of research suggests that heterosexual women, in the aggregate, are likely to face this problem earlier in the relationship than men. And that disparity tends not to even out over time. In general, men can manage wanting what they already have, while women struggle with it.
Wednesday Martin
February 14, 2019
The Bored Sex
[I’d like to see the research on this. I’m a bit skeptical that women are more likely than men to have these feelings. However, I have talked to a number of women who identify with this.
One women asked me to take some sexy pictures of her. It turned out it was for one of her boyfriends. Not her husband. The husband wasn’t supposed to know about them. “How many boyfriends do you have?”, I asked. Her answer was a bit of a surprise to me, “Enough for my own basketball team.”
Another woman was married a couple years to a really nice guy when she started getting “restless”. She felt she just had to have sex with someone other than her husband. She decided there was something wrong with her mate selection and divorced him. She found someone else, thought things were great, then after a couple years the same thing happened. She ended up finding a local sex club that she started attending regularly.
Another woman had been married something like five to seven years and found she could barely stand to have sex with her husband. He was a really nice guy and she liked him a lot, he was good looking, but sex just wasn’t something she wanted to do with him. What about sex in general? Did she have an interest in sex with some other men? Ahh…. yes, she would like to have sex “with like seven guys at the same time”. The last time I talked to her she was meeting a married man several times a week but still had no interest in her husband.
Another woman “stopped counting” after she had 200+ sex partners (both male and female) before she finally “settled down” and got married. After a couple years she was “climbing the walls”. She got her husband to regularly go to a sex club with her and her cravings were brought under control. But her husband didn’t really care for that solution and the last I heard from her there were a lot of compromises on both sides but without either being very happy about the situation.
Those are just the few I can think of off the top of my head. I could go dig through my notes and find many more examples. The point is,I am quite sure what Martin is saying has some truth to it. “Conventional wisdom” on this topic is at least not universally applicable. I’m willing to consider the hypothesis that a significant portion of the female population is content being monogamous but there is a lot of data that says it is not universal and that women who have very ordinary childhoods with no discernible “damage” are not comfortable with monogamy.
See also Sex at Dawn (Sex at Dusk is a counter argument) and Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, and Infidelity Is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free.—Joe]
The problem is I am not going to sit in a state that is going to try to take away our firearms, either by regulation, by cost or by confiscation, are you? So if they try to do that the only solution left is the 51st state. A lot of people say, ‘Why do you want to do that?’ It would better represent downtown Seattle’s values and our values in Eastern Washington if we split. They would stop calling us the welfare freeloaders, as one publication said. They would stop calling us names, we’re the ignorant hicks. Have your socialist values in downtown Seattle. It’s awesome. Go and do that do that experiment, but let us live free.
Matt Shea
Washington State representative
February 15, 2019
Supporters of forming 51st State of Liberty gather at capitol rotunda
[As Richard said yesterday:
Absolutely right about CW2. I have never experienced it, thank God, but have studied it enough to know I want no part of it. Trouble it takes only one side to start it. That is why I want a civil divorce before it is too late.
Sounds like a plan. Make it so.—Joe]
Last Thursday evening Barb, some friends, and family members went to the courthouse to watch as Barb and I signed some papers.
This was our point of view:
This was their point of view:
Photo by Mark.
Photo by Jaime.
Check out the judge’s boots! It was because of the Snowpocalypse.
The next two pictures were after we had finished.
Photo by Jane.
Photo by the judge.
Then most of us went back to our house for dinner and cake.
I would have been certain “it would work out” had we gotten married after the first couple of months we were together. After several months the topic of marriage would occasionally come up and Barb didn’t see the point and then after a year or three she was quite clear that she did not want to get married. It wasn’t my preference but I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it and it almost never came up between us.
Then last June she proposed to me (the proposal blog post has been in draft form for months and I just now published it). There were some tax and other issues to resolve and we finally sort of settled on Valentines Day by the November/December timeframe. Valentines Day saves some hassle because you have one less card and/or gift to worry about during the year and you are less likely to forget about it. A bonus is that it is the 65th anniversary of when my parents got married.
Most of the information you obtain from the mainstream media on guns has to do with the adverse effects of the ownership and use. What follows is a glimmer of light in a very dark landscape–Any Study Of ‘Gun Violence’ Should Include How Guns Save Lives:
But regardless of whether “gun violence” research is being conducted by the federal government, states, universities, or private organizations, there are three key principles all public health researchers and firearms policy analysts should remember.
The first principle is:
* Firearms save lives as well take lives.
…
A second key principle in judging gun violence research:
* The value of firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens should be measured in terms of lives saved or crimes prevented, not criminals killed.
…
Finally, a third principle to remember in analyzing public health gun violence research:
* The right to self-defense does not depend on statistics and numbers.
The first principle should be obvious but it is extremely rare this is brought up in the media.
The second principle is obvious to most people when you point out. And you have to point it out to most people. And in the case of the anti-gun people you have to really “rub their noses in it” before they will even acknowledge your mention of it.
The third principle is will probably take some convincing to a most people and it is an extremely rare anti-gun people who acknowledges you even bringing this point up.
Regardless of the difficult it getting acceptance, and even acknowledgement, these things have to be said whenever someone wants to talk about gun policies.
This ban was completely unjustified and a great concern for gun owners.
…
These bans are not about public safety. They are merely political theater and an excuse for City Councils to ‘virtue signal’ for publicity and personal aggrandizement.
Dean Rieck
Buckeye Firearms Foundation executive director
February 11, 2019
Buckeye Firearms Foundation Wins Legal Battle Against Cincinnati over Bump Stock Ban
[I’m close to giving up with the legislative arena in Washington State. We are getting some traction in the courts and I suspect that with the anti-gun hysteria sweeping the nation our best chance to stop it is in the courts. The law is on our side and many judges have a little better connection to reality through the written law than do the legislators and the executive branch.—Joe]
The temperatures weren’t anything like what recently happened back east but Seattle had it’s own extraordinary weather over the last couple of weeks. Here in Bellevue we had snow over 16 inches deep. The weather historians said it was the most snow since the winter of 1968-1969. With all the hills around here there were lots of cars which didn’t make it home and were abandoned on the side of the street. Some of them were badly crumpled.
We were without mail service for about 10 days. No Amazon deliveries for a simlar timeframe. No garbage or recycling pickup for three weeks. Our power stayed on except for a few outages that lasted no more than 30 seconds. Others, within a quarter mile of us, were without power for a couple days.
I worked from home for about six days as no one else on my team could make it in to work. I could have made it with my car. I could even walk to and from work if I really wanted to. But I didn’t see a point to it. Just stay put and don’t risk getting smacked by someone who didn’t have the proper tires on their vehicle.
Barb’s brother had a surgery scheduled for last Friday in downtown Seattle. His wife had little or no experience driving in the snow so Barb and I volunteered to bring them home after another snowfall. He lives on a hill close to the hill Barb and I live on. The street we live on had not been plowed and had several inches of snow on it. With no idea what his street conditions were like I took off the all season tires which would have been adequate for our street and getting into Seattle and replaced them with studded mud and snow tires. We had no problems traversing the snow and made the trip to and from downtown Seattle without any unexpected adventures.
What was odd to Barb and I was the run on groceries. The shelves of bread, milk, meat and fresh produce were almost completely bare. We got a few things before the snow came but not really much more than usual. I did fill the gas cans for the generator and topped off the tank in my car but we would have been just fine without the extra supplies.
The only issue we had was the snow damaged a gutter as it slid off the roof over the deck.
The Seattle Times reported heart warming stories of people helping others. Daughter Jaime, also in Bellevue, spent many hours shoveling snow in her condo parking lot to help clear a path to the street. She also helped numerous people get out of their car ports with cars poorly equipped for the adventure.
Below the break are pictures of the snow around our place.
I’m probably the only commenter here who has arrested and convicted a genocidal mass murderer. During my investigation, I interviewed witnesses in two countries, and their statements still disturb my sleep fifteen years later. (Quick example: A witness was being chased by the murderer, and only escaped because the murderer stopped to shoot a baby.)
So whenever I read about a new barbarity, it dredges up unwanted memories that I can only try to dispel through sick humor. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
I remember reading somewhere about judging and being judged. Or maybe not.
Old 1811
February 13, 2019
Comment to Quote of the day—Benedict Rogers
[Yeah, I’d bet he is the only commenter with those credentials here. Those experiences are rather rare.
Old 1811, thank you for what you did. Are there things you can share which will help others avoid enabling more mass murderers? Any advice on any related topics?—Joe]
If the president can declare an emergency on something that he has created as an emergency, an illusion that he wants to convey, just think of what a president with much different values can present to the American people.
…
You want to talk about a national emergency? Let’s talk about today—the one-year anniversary of another manifestation of the epidemic of gun violence in America. That’s a national emergency.
Nancy Pelosi
U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives
February 14, 2019
Pelosi Warns GOP: Dem POTUS Could Declare Emergency for Gun Control
[Hell must have frozen over. I agree with Nancy Pelosi on something.
Allowing the anyone to have too much power is a very dangerous thing.—Joe]
AOBC’s customer base of knowledgeable, law-abiding firearms purchasers views criminal acts solely as the responsibility of the criminal actor, and does not blame manufacturers of firearms, including Smith & Wesson, for criminal behavior. Actions which seek the approval of non-customers or anti-gun groups would not only be futile, they would damage AOBC’s business and reputation.
Smith & Wesson
February 8, 2019
Smith & Wesson Spurns ‘Smart Guns’ Despite Pressure from Investors
[There was a time when people were saying “Smith & Wesson must die.” And there was a significant chance that might have come about because of the backlash against their misbehavior.
Apparent they learned their lesson this time.—Joe]
The problem with socialism is that you can vote your way into it but you need to shoot your way out of it.
Larry Lambert
January 30, 2019
Threat Assessment
[Via Oleg:
It’s not the only problem, but it certainly is a significant one.—Joe]
The response is not as bad as I was afraid it might be. He didn’t say he was going try to prosecute them or anything. The worst he said was:
I am deeply concerned that the failure of local law enforcement to perform Initiative 1639’s background check requirement will jeopardize public safety in our state by allowing the sale of semiautomatic assault rifles to dangerous individuals not lawfully allowed to own a gun. State law provides immunity to local law enforcement officers who run these checks “in good faith.” However, in the event a police chief or sheriff refuses to perform the background check required by Initiative 1639, they could be held liable if there is a sale or transfer of a firearm to a dangerous individual prohibited from possessing a firearm and that individual uses that firearm to do harm. In short, the taxpayers of your city or county assume the financial risk of your decision to impose your personal views over the law.
I find it very telling that he doesn’t address the possibility of liability if someone is denied their right to keep and bear arms is harmed because they were unable to defend themselves.
Near the end of the letter he attempted to peg the irony meter:
Under Article 1, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution, “All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights.” As public officers, our duty is to abide by the will of the people we serve, and implement and enforce the laws they adopt.
He acknowledges the purpose of the constitution is to protect the rights of the people then he claims it is the duty of public officers to infringe upon the right of the people.to keep and bear arms.
Analogies to marijuana and immigration law enforcement are misplaced. This is not a situation where the
federal government is trying to force the state to enforce federal laws.
So… is he saying that it would be acceptable if they were to refuse to enforce Federal gun laws?
He might have been inspired to write the letter because of this map:
I’m keeping a copy of Ferguson’s letter in multiple places for use as evidence at his trial.