Get Government out of Research

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Quote of the Day

Promote the alarming papers! Don’t even send the other ones out for review. If you wanted to advance in your career, like be at a prestigious university and get a big salary, have big laboratory space, get lots of grant funding, be director of an institute, there was clearly one path to go.

Judith Curry
August 10, 2023
Scientist admits the ‘overwhelming consensus’ on the climate change crisis is ‘manufactured’

This sort of thing happens in research about crime and guns too.

Getting government out of the funding of most research* is probably part of the solution. Biases will always exist. But at least none of the biased parties will be spending essentially unlimited public money to produce garbage.

* I can see research directed at military objectives as being constitutional and appropriate.

Prosthetic Claim Not Unique

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Quote of the Day

“The Battle Cuck” posts pics of prosthetic penis replacement…

Jim Joneson @joneson_jim
Tweeted on September 11, 2023

In response to this picture:

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

I thought maybe this guy had come up with a unique variation of Markley’s Law with the use of the word “prosthetic”. But, no, that has already been used at least twice. Once in 2013 and again in 2016. So this guy is just one more of those tiresome examples of someone responding to our side having SCOTUS decisions by flinging childish insults.

People are Not Rational

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It would appear that New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s emergency order banning the carrying of firearms in Albuquerque has had an unintended consequence: Sales in the city’s gun stores are booming.

Melissa Fine
September 16, 2023
‘Busiest day I’ve had in months’: Guns flying off shelves in Albuquerque after gov’s anti-2A move

People buy banned books because they are, or are about to be, banned. The same applies to guns.

In this case the buying more guns in the face of a ban to carry them in public doesn’t make quite as much sense. But maybe they were buying them so they could carry them in public in defiance of their criminal governor.

You would think that a politician capable of getting elected governor would have a better sense of human nature. For someone that opposed to gun ownership one would think she would not engage in behavior that would, obviously, increase gun ownership and public carry. But, yet, she did.

People are strange. Rationality is just a thin veneer over a whirl of emotions. And many people don’t even have that veneer.

USC 241 Could be Applied to Governor

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The progressive activists who run the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division in Democratic administrations see civil-rights statutes as their license to overhaul the nation’s police departments and other institutions under the guise of “systemic racism.” There is no reason, however, why a Republican administration could not invoke them for their proper purpose — protecting the federal rights of all Americans.

Obviously, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D., N.M.) and her subordinates have conspired to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate Americans in New Mexico in the free exercise and enjoyment of their Second Amendment rights. Indeed, her acknowledgment that she expects to be challenged in court underscores both her criminal intent and the fact that the rights she has decided to “suspend” are well established in constitutional law.

Andrew C. McCarthy
Former Chief Asst. U.S. Attorney
September 11, 2023
Why Not Arrest Governor Lujan Grisham . . . Pursuant to the Civil Rights Law the Biden Justice Department Is Using to Prosecute Donald Trump?

The Overton Window is moving.

I hope she and her co-conspirators enjoy their trials.

Biden Banned High School Shooting Teams

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The BATF has been having a rough time recently in the courts with its attempts to redefine terms already well-defined in the law. But the BSCA gets around that obstacle and opens the door to new regulations that will cost lives.

Banning high school shooting teams and creating a comprehensive national gun registry makes the long game for gun control advocates clear—they are working to eliminate legal gun ownership in America.

John R. Lott, Jr. and Thomas Massie
September 13, 2023
Biden’s Gun Control Law Will Radically Change U.S. Gun Ownership

This isn’t about what Biden wants. This is what Biden achieved with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). There is more. It is worth the read.

The courts will almost certainly strike down most of it but it will do a lot of damage before that happens.

Political Reality

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Quote of the Day

Lujan Grisham’s diagnosis of the problem is surely correct; her proposed solution, however, is astoundingly misguided. The governor has leveraged an emergency health law to suspend a right protected by state statute, the state constitution, and Supreme Court precedent. Whether that right should exist is beside the point; it does exist in New Mexico today, pursuant not only to court decisions but also democratically enacted laws. By suspending it unilaterally, Lujan Grisham has claimed an alarming new power to revoke well-established individual rights by executive order. And she has done so in the most blundering way possible, ensuring a backlash that will only empower citizens, activists, and politicians who view all firearm restrictions as an existential threat to personal liberty.

Mark Joseph Stern
September 13, 2023
A Democratic Governor’s Public Gun Ban Is Already Backfiring

Stern is no friend of gun owners but he does have a reasonably good grasp of political reality.

In related news:

A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order in a Second Amendment Foundation challenge of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Sept. 8 edict suspending the constitutionally-protected right to bear arms, in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County.

District Judge David H. Urias issued the TRO, which extends to Oct. 3, when a hearing on the preliminary injunction request will be held. The TRO was effective immediately.

The executive order was dropped last Friday, SAF filed a lawsuit and had it blocked in three business days.

Take THAT Governor Grisham!

I still want her prosecuted. But that isn’t a political reality. Yet.

Crazy Talk! Or is it?

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Why do Republicans still fight for their beliefs knowing they will be wiped out, like any other minority group in history? Their beliefs are archaic and improper, so why fight against the advancement of the human species?

Anonymous question from Quora
2023

You have to wonder… Yes, it is crazy talk. But, it could be Russian or other bad guy trying to stir things up. Or it could be just some troll getting their jollies. But it also has a small chance of being someone sincerely believing what they are saying and not afraid to say, “the quiet part out loud”. Hitler’s Mein Kampf wasn’t taken serious by the majority of people when it was first written either but within a few years the mindset took over a nation.

Ideas are more dangerous than tools…

Biden Told to Stop Infringing

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The panel of judges, which is made up of two Bush nominees and one Trump nominee, asserted that it is inappropriate for President Biden, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FBI, and the surgeon general to exert pressure on social media platforms to remove content they deemed troublesome.

Froilan Bersamina
September 10, 2023
Appeals Court Upholds Louisiana Judge’s Ruling, Affirms Biden Admin Likely Violated First Amendment

I haven’t read the ruling yet but I’m disappointed it doesn’t apply to every representative of all government entities. But, it is a decent start down a long path. Does anyone know, assuming the ruling stands, whether the administration will have to pay reparations for this infringement?

Somewhere on that path I want the courts to issue a similar ruling stating it is inappropriate for a government representatives to exert pressure on gun stores to remove guns and other arms they deem troublesome.

And, of course, gun owners need reparations too.

No Originality or Cleverness

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This is a lot of words to let us know that your is the size of a vienna sausage.

Ryan Graney‍ (@RyanEGraney)
Tweeted on July 29, 2022

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

This is so lacking in originality and cleverness I have nothing else to say.

In Common Use

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In the Heller decision we find this:

United States v. Miller, 307 U. S. 174, does not limit the right to keep and bear arms to militia purposes, but rather limits the type of weapon to which the right applies to those used by the militia, i.e., those in common use for lawful purposes.

This is where the “common use” test comes from. This test is used by the forces of good to claim standard capacity magazines and semi-automatic firearms are protected from government restrictions.

But yet, there have been some cases where Federal courts have claimed AR-15s and AK-47 do not meet the “common use” test.

24/7 Wall St. has the list of the 50 Most Popular Guns of All Time. The AR-15 comes in at number four and the AK-47 at number 1.

As usual, the anti-gun forces have to lie and cheat to win.

Sending a Message

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But here’s what I do think. It’s a pretty resounding message.

Michelle Lujan Grisham
New Mexico Governor
September 9, 2023

The above quote was obtained from the video embedded in this tweet:

See also New Mexico governor issues order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque.

It’s interesting to me that she openly admits the order will not be obeyed by the criminals, but it is about “doing something” and sending a message.

Hence, you can believe she knows it is ineffective in the stated goal of making ordinary people safer and she is doing it anyway to “send a message” that she could not have sent by sending a statement to the media. Or her real goal is to infringe upon the rights of hundreds of thousands of people and use the old tired excuse of, “for the children”.

Via Kyle Seraphin @KyleSeraphin:

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Via the NRA:

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And perhaps one of the most surprising takes on the topic is from David Hogg:

I support gun safety but there is no such thing as a state public health emergency exception to the U.S. Constitution.

Even the anti-gun people realize one of their own has gone too far, too fast.

I assess, that with high probability, Governor Grisham’s order will not last the 30 days she proclaimed it would, Furthermore, with all the people pointing out 18 USC 242 and other legal remedies, she may even be removed from office over this.

She sent a message. The people are sending their own message. Who has the most effecting messaging?

We live in interesting times.

So Many Lies in so Few Words

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Gun violence is the leading cause of death for kids in the United States. Ending that should be bipartisan. … We should stand on the right side of history.

Anthony Portantino
California state Senator. (D-Burbank)
September 7, 2023
California Democrats approve new taxes on gun and ammunition dealers and manufacturers

I sometimes admire the ability of anti-gun people to pack so many lies into so few words. It takes me far more words to expose his lies than for him to express them:

  • The only way the claimed statistic is true is if they deceptively redefine 17 year-old’s as “kids”.
  • The 11% tax on all guns and ammunition cannot possibly reduce the gang violence which results in the death of the young thugs.
  • Bipartisan support cannot be expected when the legislation is clearly unconstitutional and cannot achieve the stated goals.
  • The trend now, and into the foreseeable future, is for laws like this to be struck down. The “right side of history” is more likely to be senator Portantino enjoying his trial than for laws like this to persist.

The FBI Cannot be Trusted

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Whether deliberately through bias or just incompetence, the FBI database of active shooters cannot be trusted,

Gary Mauser
Emeritus professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada
August 2023
Massive errors in FBI’s Active Shooting Reports from 2014-2022 regarding cases where civilians stop attacks: Instead of 4.6%, the correct number is at least 35.7%. In 2022, it is at least 41.3%. Excluding gun-free zones, it averaged over 63.5%.

From reading the article it is abundantly clear the quote above it true. But it really does not go far enough. From Ruby Ridge, to Waco, to the Hillary emails, to the Russian collusion hoax, and almost for certain hundreds of other items of major significance the FBI has proven they cannot be trusted.

From just the evidence in the article, there are numerous people in the FBI that should be prosecuted for conspiring to infringe upon our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.

Legal Issue in Cyber Security

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I’m deliberately changing the details to protect the guilty, but I’m nearly certain the essence of the situation are legally the same as what I describe below.

Suppose a cyber security professional (CSP) obtained the username and password credentials of a bad guy (BG) who had poor operational security. The BG didn’t intend to reveal the credentials but the CSP has them and knows the BG is in the process of obtaining credentials via deceptive means from the organization the CSP works for.

The CSP, by using the credentials of the BG, can rapidly mitigate damage done by the deceptively obtained corporate credentials.

While everyone on the CSP’s team sees this as morally justified, one team member (WB) throws a wet blanket on the CSP’s plan to use the BG’s credentials to get information the BG’s intended to keep private and use for ill gotten gains. WB claims that, legally, the BG credentials have been “stolen” and should the CSP use them to surreptitiously access the BG’s data the CSP would be committing a crime.

I’m almost certain this is a crime, if not the U.S. then some other countries which may or may not be involved. And, if the CSP were do this, I’m almost certain it would never be prosecuted. But committing felonies you think you are going to get away with doesn’t seem like a particularly good item to put on your resume or even admit to others.

What do you guys think of this?

Chicago Arrest Rate is 5%

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The decision to commit a crime in Chicago has never been easier. Criminals are almost guaranteed to profit because the chances of getting caught and punished have collapsed to near-zero.

…

image

Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
September 5, 2023
Chicago criminals have green light to rob, loot, burgle as odds of punishment collapse to near zero.

It seems all the major “blue” cities are getting overrun by criminals. And those criminals are not just the politicians. The criminal politicians appear to be deliberately catering to their constituents, the thugs, to the detriment of the peaceable citizens.

I just want retreat to my underground bunker in Idaho for a decade or two and wait for things to get better.

Existential Threat to the ATF

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The ATF has brought it on.

Time to challenge many of the 1968 Gun Control Act provisions.

There are no historical analogs for requiring a gov’t license to buy/sell used guns.

No analogs for stopping private sales of used guns across state lines.

2A Rights aren’t wheat.

2A History @2aHistory
Tweeted on August 31, 2023

While I’m in strong agreement with the goal and the correctness of the assessment, I am not certain the timing is optimal. The ATF has a lot of support with the current administration and will view this as an existential threat.

This existential threat to the ATF could likely be made an election issue and pull votes from the side of freedom.

Bonus points if your comments indicate you know what the reference to wheat is about.

A Good Start

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This is a good start:

D.C. will pay $5.1 million as part of a class-action settlement with gun owners who were arrested under laws that have since been found to violate the Second Amendment, according to the settlement agreement.

…

In this case, the six plaintiffs — including four non-D.C. residents — were arrested between 2012 and 2014 on gun-related charges. They filed a lawsuit in 2015.

It took eight years after the lawsuit was filed and they still don’t have their money:

The settlement agreement must still have a “fairness hearing” in December before final approval is given. Court records show D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) signed off on the $5.1 million settlement amount in June.

And, of course, the villains will not be paying the settlement with their own money. They will use taxpayer money. These people need to be prosecuted.

I hope this will be a warning for other politicians. I would like to think that if others ignore the law the following lawsuits will be easier and easier. The, eventually, an ambitious Federal Prosecutor will start prosecuting them under 18 USC 242. Then, with a few convictions, they will finally stop their unlawful persecution of gun owners.

We are at War

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We are at war. It has never been about Donald Trump—it’s about forcing Americans into submission. The sooner we realize it, the sooner you will begin to fight, and win.

Allen Mashburn
September 1, 2023
The Left’s Relentless War on Donald Trump and Everyone Who Disagrees with Them

Some people, particularly those who have little control over their own lives, have a burning desire to control others. This is symptomatic of most cases of personality disorders. This is an indicator that the claim, “Liberalism is a mental disorder” has more than a little truth to it.

Points for Articulation

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This is not going to be popular in liberal circles, but I’ve met with adult men who have legally purchased AR-15s and assault rifles, and their reasoning for ownership is valid and passionate and should be honored: Each one has a small, weird, or ineffective penis.

Bess Kalb @bessbell
Tweeted on July 22, 2022

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

Via a tweet from Jay (@jayhafe).

One has to give her points for articulation. That was well executed. But, as usual for her type, her insults are merely compensating for the complete lack of a practical, philosophical, or legal argument against our specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.