Last month I speculated the wind was a factor in the missed shot at former President Trump. Later, with more information, I concluded the wind was not a factor.
Dean Weingarten digs deeper into the data and also concludes the wind could only have been a minor factor: GUN WATCH: Wind and the President Trump Assassination Attempt.
Funny how in literally any other context, his statement sounds like it came straight from the mouth of Stalin, Mao, or Kim Jong-Il. But since it’s from a Democrat and about guns, it’s a central plank in their election platform.
Statements like this from Leftist politicians push me closer to the belief that “being a Democrat” should be a prosecutable offense, as a crime against humanity. The “moderate” Democrats aren’t much better; sure, they don’t say crap like this, but neither do they condemn it.
Archer
August 9, 2024
Comment to Prior Restraint
I hope they enjoy their trials.
The biggest cause of death of children in the USA is by guns. You morons are happy to sacrifice young lives for your phallic symbols. Grow up.
Chaeyoung 채영 Park @Susan16Park
Posted on X, July 31, 2024
It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier (see also here)!
The only way you can conclude guns are the biggest cause of death of children is if you include all teenagers as “children”. This lets you include 17 through 19 year-old gang members as “children”. Hence she is, being generous, distorting the truth in her attempt to achieve her evil goals.
She describes herself as
I
Kpop & horizontal folk dancing.Queen of the Sooky La la’s & a hypersexualised atheistic bisexual commie satanic childless cat lady
She then uses a childish insult and tells us to “grow up”? Wow!
From practically the time bitcoin launched in early 2009, I have been wondering what the heck it is good for.
In the beginning, there were two basic theories: One said this first cryptocurrency was a refuge from government, and the other — possibly the one embraced by bitcoin’s creator — said it was an alternative to the corruption, instability and self-dealing in a financial system that had just finished wrecking itself, and everyone else along with it.
Alas, neither of these theories has panned out. Indeed, as in Monday’s market meltdown, cryptocurrencies have often done the opposite of what they were supposed to do.
…
It seems less like digital gold than a digital slot machine. I can’t shake the feeling that most people use it not because it’s a good substitute for anything they need, but because it’s fun to watch the reels spin without knowing whether they’ll pay off. In other words, bitcoin’s not good for much of anything except giving people who have money to burn a novel way to set it on fire.
Megan McArdle
August 8, 2024
When markets get scary, crypto proves its worthlessness
A team at work uses Bitcoin all the time. They use it to catch the bad guys.
But for me, I don’t see how it would do me any good. The volatility makes it just too risky for my tastes.
Rolf’s comment about the lava flows of Washington I posted about lead me to reading more. I then realized Barb and my visit to Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho last month was totally relevant. It was the same hotspot that created the lava flows from British Columbia through Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and finally Wyoming where we it created the features of Yellowstone National Park
Here is the governments video of the Craters of the Moon National Monument:
Here are some of my pictures:
The picture on the sign was taken in the late 1950s. A core from the tree showed it was at least 1,350 years old. The lava flow the tree grew from is radioactively dated at about 2,000 years old.
I have wanted to visit Craters of the Moon since grade school. My cousin Janis told our class about visiting with her parents. I would occasionally mention to my parents I would like to visit it someday, but it was over 400 miles from home and not on the way to or from any other place we routinely went. I was eternally envious of Janis’s visit.
Early this year Barb asked if there was anything I wanted to do over the 4th of July. I told her not particularly. Someday, I would like to visit the Craters of the Moon but that didn’t have to be anytime soon…
Of course, Barb being who she is, couldn’t help but make it happen. We flew into Boise, rented a car, visited Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, Craters of the Moon, and the Shoshone Ice Caves.
Via email from Rolf:
Footnote 2 on page 87:
This unorthodox procedural posture bears some explanation. After hearing the case in December 2022, the initial panel majority reached a decision and promptly circulated a draft opinion. Yet for more than a year, no dissent was circulated. The panel thus held the proposed opinion in accordance with our custom that majority and dissenting opinions be published together. A year later—as the proposed opinion sat idle—a different panel heard arguments in United States v. Price (No. 22-4609), which also involved interpreting and applying Bruen. The Price panel quickly circulated a unanimous opinion that reached a conclusion at odds with the Bianchi majority’s year-old proposed opinion. Facing two competing proposed published opinions, the Court declined to let the earlier circulated opinion control. Rather, in January 2024, we “invoked the once-extraordinary mechanism of initial-en-banc review.” Mayor of Balt. v. Azar, 799 F. App’x 193, 195–96 (4th Cir. 2020) (Richardson, J., dissenting). I hope that we will not find ourselves in this posture again soon. Cf. United States v. Gibbs, 905 F.3d 768, 770 (4th Cir. 2018) (Wynn, J., voting separately) (suggesting that majority opinions may be issued without awaiting dissenting opinions to prohibit those dissenting opinions from exercising a “pocket veto” to “deny or delay fairness and justice”).
The one judge on a three-judge panel who is hostile to the 2nd Amendment deliberately did not release her dissent for over a year in order to create a ‘pocket veto’ long enough for an anti-2nd Amendment opinion from a different three-judge panel to create a conflict and prevent the first case from establishing a precedent.
I hope those judges enjoy their trials.
On a recent trip to Idaho I saw this sign at a rest stop in central Washington:
Over 50 lava flows! Each of them from more that 100 miles to the east!
I knew Idaho was mostly covered by lava flows but I didn’t realize so much of Washington was too.
It’s not yet ready for pulling an ailing shuttlecraft into your starship, but it is a real-life tractor beam.
A tractor beam—a special beam of electromagnetic radiation that draws particles toward it instead of pushing them away—might be a concept straight from Star Trek, but scientists from the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) have recently taken steps toward a more portable way to generate one in real life.
…
To be clear, this paper details the new metasurface—the “plate” that turns regular light into a spiraling tractor beam. It’s not about the beam’s ability to then draw in particles, which is well established at this point.
As with many latecomers to the gun control movement, Walz considers his anti-Second Amendment views appropriately constitutional because, well, they help “keep our kids safe.” Lost in his probably cursory study of the historical underpinnings of the Second Amendment, and even as reflected in recent Supreme Court decisions (most notably the 2022 Bruen decision), is the fact that “keeping kids safe” is nowhere to be found even impliedly in any writings by our Founders justifying the Second Amendment (or elsewhere in the Bill of Rights for that matter).
To Walz, as to his gun control colleagues in Washington, including Kamala Harris, “common sense” equates seamlessly to “constitutional.”
Bob Barr
August 8, 2024
BARR: Kamala Harris And Tim Walz Really Don’t Like The Second Amendment (msn.com)
I’m not sure I agree with all this. In particular, I have my doubts as to whether Harris and Walz have any concern for the constitutionality of anything they do.
Molecule restores cognition, memory in Alzheimer’s disease model mice
In a study, published in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a molecule identified and synthesized by UCLA Health researchers was shown to restore cognitive functions in mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by effectively jump-starting the brain’s memory circuitry.
If proven to have similar effects in humans, the candidate compound would be novel among Alzheimer’s disease treatments in its ability to revitalize memory and cognition, the study authors said.
Mom, her only sibling, and her mother all had severe dementia before they died. My brothers and I watch the medical news for stuff like this in hopes that even if the dice roll the wrong way there will be an effective treatment for us.
We have a serious gun epidemic in the United States, and we must stop gun violence before it starts.
Robert Garcia
U.S. Representative for California’s 42nd District
This sounds to me like prior restraint of a specific enumerated right.
I hope he enjoys his trial.
Perhaps sensing his time is limited, Maduro has now turned to a Soviet-style playbook of violent repression as his strategy for remaining in office. In the eyes of the New York Times though, Venezuela’s problems come from a different source. The culprit is not the Marxist strongman who’s desperately clinging to power or even the socialist economic policies that have thrust Venezuela into hyperinflation, poverty, and a massive exodus of its population. To Times reporters Anatoly Kurmanaev, Frances Robles, and Julie Turkewitz, Venezuela’s troubles come from “brutal capitalism.”
Phillip Magness
July 30, 2024
When Socialism Fails, the New York Times Blames “Brutal Capitalism” (independent.org)
The New York Times never disappoints.
It seems they are always able to find a way to defend socialism and communism. Their reporting on the issue of private ownership of guns also supports this claim.
As of early 2024, twenty-nine states in the United States allow individuals to carry firearms without a permit. Sixteen of these states have adopted permitless carry laws since 2019. This trend has sparked interest in how allowing concealed carry impacts crime rates.
Overall, permitless carry does not appear to increase crime rates. Some states have seen decreases in crime, while others have experienced no significant change. Notably, three of the five safest states in the country allow permitless carry.
Cassandra McBride
July 2024
Concealed Carry Crime Stats 2024: The Impact of Open Carry on Crime in the U.S. (ammo.com)
Via email from Sam Jacobs.
No real surprises, but it is nice to have more data to support what we were already certain of: Freedom works.
Power is not awarded to truth; power comes from truth. Believing true things ultimately makes you better at persuading people and manipulating reality, and believing untrue things does the opposite. The best ideas don’t need bayonets.
Adam Mastroianni
July 30, 2024
Good ideas don’t need bayonets — OR: Keep stomping necks until utopia arrives
Via email from John S.
This was some good stuff. I could have pulled multiple quotes from his blog post.
That said, there are many cases where making an imperfect decision is a better choice than endlessly debating which is the best choice. You don’t let your kids argue for hours about whether to go to McDonald’s or Burger King. You don’t dither over what the company logo should be for years before you put all your resources getting your first product to market for your startup.
He didn’t mention it in the blog post but as I was reading it I was thinking of “climate change” and “gun control.” It is my understanding that “climate change deniers” have lost their jobs and/or lost funding for their research. And of course gun owner frequently stay in “the closet” to avoid punishment in social and work situations.
It would be a better to have a society where all ideas are free to be explored.
The people debating “climate change” would both create their climate models and as the years go by everyone compares the model predictions to reality and they keep the best models and archive the ones which failed to match reality.
The violent crime and genocide rates in countries/states/cities with and without gun control could be modeled and compared to historical data and predictions made about the future and, again, publicly compare model predictions to reality and keep the best models. Even if it turned out we pay a high price in violent crime and/or genocide for having no, or oppressive, gun laws, at least we have a good idea of the price we paid for those decisions.
But that isn’t how humans’ psychology is wired. Perhaps on planet Vulcan, but not on planet earth.
open carry also signifies that you are likely afflicted with micropenis
Konayuki @chillindrdude
Tweeted on April 6, 2022
It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier (see also here)!
I have never heard of the affliction ‘”micropenis”. I’m wondering if Konayuki is speaking from personal experience.
No, we don’t have to “deal with” shit.
On the other hand, you have to deal with us keeping our weapons of war no matter what.
Fuck off.pic.twitter.com/M2bPXOgi5y
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) July 31, 2024
It is extremely rare that I use foul language and I don’t like to encourage others to use it either. In this case, however, I fully endorse what the FPC has to say about this wanna be dictator announcing she will infringe upon our specific enumerated rights.
Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you no one wants to take your guns.
Plaintiffs’ motion (Doc. 39) for summary judgment is GRANTED in part. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against Commissioner Paris with respect to plaintiffs’ challenge to Section 6107 and the vehicle provision of Section 6106 of the UFA. The court finds those provisions to be facially unconstitutional and Commissioner Paris is enjoined from enforcing them.
Christopher C. Conner
United States District Judge
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Binderup-Order.pdf (saf.org)
July 24, 2024
In easier to understand language:
SAF SCORES VICTORY IN PENNSYLVANIA CARRY CASE – Second Amendment Foundation
District Judge Christopher C. Conner with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued an order granting summary judgment to SAF and its partners, finding the state’s law banning carry of a firearm in a vehicle without a license unconstitutional. He further declared that a ban on firearms possession without a license during a state of emergency is facially unconstitutional, and enjoined Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris from enforcing those provisions.
These are small steps. But they create a slippery slope in the direction of eliminating even more egregious gun laws.
It would be difficult to find a more perfect example of the core flaw within the gun-control movement’s approach to politics than is provided here. Throughout the interview, both Arney and Vargo simply assume that the answer to the problem must be more gun control. They assume that the only important question is why America’s legislatures have not yet passed restrictions on our freedom.
In their estimation, the destination is set; what matters is how the media can build sufficient enthusiasm, anger or heartbreak to get the voters there. That the country might be filled with people who disagree with their monomania seems never to have occurred to them. To them, gun control is the obvious solution, and, if it hasn’t happened yet in the ways they favor, then it must be because Americans are a frivolous people who consider the criminal use of firearms to be “unimportant,” who resist calls for regulation out of childish spite and who prefer to ignore the issue than consider it seriously—none of which is true.
Charles C. W. Cooke
July 31, 2024
More Proof That Gun-Control Activists Just Aren’t Thinking | An Official Journal Of The NRA (americas1stfreedom.org)
I will accept the average “person on the street” isn’t thinking and/or they believe making private firearm ownership illegal will make people safer (it never has and never will). But the long time advocates and politicians? No. They have had it pointed out to them so many times by so many people and the data is so clear, they know better. And yet they still demand gun control. These people have an agenda other than public safety.
Prepare and respond appropriately.
Free question to ask #KamalaHarris for any #Journalist out there who wants to do First Amendment stuff instead of PR for the #DNC
When she says she intends to ban guns, or #AssaultWeapons to make American safer, ask her this:
J: What if you are wrong?
KH:Come again?
J: What if you are wrong? Suppose you are able to peacefully confiscate all (so-called) Assault Weapons. No civil war. No armed resistance. No states seceding. And you end your term in office, proud of making all those rifles disappear.
****Here’s the important part ****
But then someone like Donald Trump, or some other MAGA extremist manages to get elected POTUS. You know, someone you and your party labels as racist, Hitler, deplorable, etc……. And when they take office and actually start to round up political enemies, including you, what will you do?
J:So again, what if you are wrong? What if you are wrong that confiscating guns will make Americans safer.
Don Kilmer @donkilmer
Posted on X, July 29, 2024
Good question. Don’t expect an answer from any gun grabber. They will change the subject.
Although I saw it in my own feed, Michael B. also sent me an email about it as well.
Via Elon Musk @elonmush:
If you let people say and view what they want instead of suppressing people posts and restricting access the total communication goes up.
Imagine that.
Who could have predicted such a surprising outcome?
