The Wages of Gun free Zones is More Deaths.

Here is a pretty good (and recently updated) article from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) regarding the prevalence of mass public shootings in place where guns are prohibited for the unbadged versus localities where concealed carry is not meaningfully restricted. The author also explain how the propaganda from groups like "Everytown for Gun Safety" and "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" distorts the numbers to better serve their agenda.

I did not realize the the difference was so marked. In the 55 years since 1950, 98.4% of mass public shootings happened in places where carry for ordinary persons was prohibited either by local law or the venue owner's requirements. If only the years from 1998 to 2016 are considered that number drops slightly to 96.2%. While no solid conclusions can be drawn from just those two numbers, they do make it reasonable to consider the proposition that: If guns are a "Pubic Heath" problem, the best vaccine is not prohibition but empowering peaceable citizens to carry firearms for defense of self and, where appropriate, others.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Lets Loose On Facebook

Recently, someone posted a link to a rather silly Facebook screed from California's ex-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. A few minutes of fact-checking reveal some seriously misleading numbers. For example:

Seven million persons die each year because of pollution.

About 6 million of those 7 million deaths associated with pollution are in the relatively low income regions of South-East Asia and the Western Pacific Nations. Additionally, over half (55%) of that 6 million are related to *indoor* pollution not outdoor pollution. So, while the number is technically correct it is also misleading.

California gets 40% pf its power from "renewable" sources.

The California Energy Commission reported the percentage of in-State electricity generation for 2015 as

Wind	6.2%
Solar	7.7%
Small hydro	1.2%
Geothermal	6.1%
Biomass	3.2%
Large hydro	5.9%
Coal	0.3%
Nuclear	9.5%
Natural gas	59.9%

So about 70% is from non "renewable" sources leaving only 30% to fill out Arnie's 40% claim. If out-of-State source are also considered, the percentage of renewable sources drops to 22%.

I leave it as an exercise for the student to debunk the rest of it.

Disarming Old People.

Recently an article entitled Armed and Aging: Should Older Americans Face Tighter Gun Controls? came over the Facebook transom.

To her credit, the author tries mightily to pretends to be a balanced observer. She even includes a few quotes from older gun owners and some well-known facts about the reality of suicide. However, by the end I realized she simply has no grasp of the principles involved in the gun rights issue. She writes,

State lawmakers in California recently offered a unique solution that could appease both sides: the gun violence restraining order.

The statewide policy, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2016, is based on the domestic violence restraining-order system, in which concerned citizens can turn to the courts for help, said Frattaroli, who serves as associate director for outreach for Johns Hopkins’ Center for Injury Research and Policy.

No one with half a brain still functioning could think the California GVRO is a good idea. It is not just its obvious trampling of due process -- though that is certainly bad enough. The big problem is the enormous potential for abuse by angry, jealous or greedy relatives.

The penalty for a false accusation is a misdemeanor and, five'll get you ten, no false testimony will ever be pursued by a DA. This opens the GVRO to gossip being given force of law. On the victim's side, the penalties are being the subject of a false report of suicidal or homicidal intentions, losing his gun rights for up to a year (extensible to forever if the judge can be convinced he was right the first time) and being disarmed against those who would do him harm.

This from a group claiming it "promotes a positive view of aging."

Edited to fix link

That Moment When I Realize the Facepalm is Inadequate.

I used to think Kevin DeLeon was about as stupid on the subject of firearms as a person could get outside of a home for the mentally retarded. I still think that is true but Weld is definitely a contender to displace DeLeon. I guess it just goes to show that every time I think I've seen the bottom of the Well of Human Stupidity, someone will come along and start digging.

Bill Weld Just Compared AR-15s to “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” & Said Pistols Were Even Worse!

Nationalism

In an article somewhat unfortunately entitled The Enduring Allure of Hitlerism, Ex-Army writes:

When "nationalism" comes up on this blog, some bozo always equates it to Naziism. These bozos are almost always leftists, and are consequently anti-nationalist and anti-Western. Now, the bozos aren't entirely wrong, because they know that nationalism isn't good for their ilk, any more than National Socialism would be. No, globalism is best for the bozos, and they instinctively know it. And while nationalism is not equivalent to National Socialism, the latter of course entails nationalism.

I suppose it is easy for people to look back on the course of German history and interpret almost anything that happened as contributing to the rise of Nazism. However, this leads to all kinds of distortions such as selectively quoting Johann Gottfried von Herder about his ideas on organic nationalism or excerpting the worst of Martin Luther's anti-Semitic screeds. Out of social and historical context, they could support the notion of ingrained German traits of contempt for other nationalities and blind obedience to authority. Herder did believe Christianity should be Germanized but he also preached tolerance for those of other nationalities and believed that other countries should adapt Christianity to their particular needs. Famously, Martin Luther insisted on the right of the individual to rebel against spiritual and intellectual authority. Neither of these contribute to a narrow-minded contempt of others nor to blind obedience to the state.

Ideas do have a power but that power is always subject to social and political circumstances. That reality is often forgotten -- or maybe just ignored -- by those who generalize from fantasies about the German character or mind to essential characteristics of fascism or Nazism.

Those who deride "nationalism" as some kind of fascist/Nazi sine qua non are delusional. The essence of fascism is not nationalism but statism. A national identity and support within the nation for that identity is not dangerous by itself. It is the concentration of power within the state that turns nationalism toxic.

The Banana Republic where the United States Used to Be

OK, maybe not quite that bad but still pretty bad. Corruption is to the Federal bureaucracy as air is to decent people but this is really an extreme example.

There is no way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey ... Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18): With lawful access to highly classified information she acted with gross negligence in removing and causing it to be removed it from its proper place of custody, and she transmitted it and caused it to be transmitted to others not authorized to have it, in patent violation of her trust. Director Comey even conceded that former Secretary Clinton was “extremely careless” and strongly suggested that her recklessness very likely led to communications (her own and those she corresponded with) being intercepted by foreign intelligence services.

Yet, Director Comey recommended against prosecution of the law violations he clearly found on the ground that there was no intent to harm the United States.

Nothing in the legal definition of gross negligence requires that the individual act with intent to harm. It requires there be a conscious, voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care. That is why is called "negligence" instead of something else. Hillary's actions clearly departed from the conduct expected of a reasonably prudent person acting under similar circumstances.

Read more at: FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook

A final thought:

There are lots of people who think they're above the law. And then; there are those who can prove it, like the Clintons.

-- Martin McPhillips (via Billy Beck)

That's SEMI-autonomous!

Here is another wrinkle in the fatal Tesla crash I mentioned earlier. The driver might have been watching a movie on a portable DVD player. Emphasis on "might". A DVD player was found in the car but eyewitness account differ as to whether it was playing or not. It is still not determined if the it was operating and, if so, whether the driver was watching it.

The Tesla "Autopilot" mode is semi-autonomous. It is not designed to replace the driver but rather to assist him. Apparently, Some Tesla drivers just do not get this!

This may be just be a case of advanced technology meeting an irresponsible person.

Cultural Uplift and Evolution

This is a pretty good post by Ex-Army. I am sometimes critical of him but I think his heart is in a good place.

Though he hints at it I think he misses how important is the interaction between culture and evolution. There is a feedback loop between the two. (I am tempted to type "synergy" but that word is misused too often). For example, a factor in Western Civilization was the practice of primogeniture in the early and high middle ages. By forcing younger sons to find their own way, it allowed the genes from the upper classes to propagate into the lower classes. That probably helped raised average intelligence of the population and eventually gave rise to the middle class.

Martin Luther King was on a Watchlist

Many image memes are just plain silly but this one has considerable truth in it. It is true that Martin Luther King owned guns and, at times, was protected by armed volunteers. It is a matter of record that he applied for a concealed carry permit in Alabama. Unfortunately for King, Alabama was a de facto shall-issue state at the time and the local police decided he was not a suitable person.

It is also a matter of record that then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy approved the FBI’s wiretap and clandestine microphone campaign against King. This surveillance lasted until his assassination in April 1968.

Gays and Guns

An acquaintance once told me that gays are self-loathing and secretly want to be punished and die. I don't buy into collectivist nonsense but the fact the gay community -- via its putative leaders -- continue to advocate disarming in the face of a clear-and-present danger does make me wonder.

Fortunately, not all gays fall in line with the disarmament agenda. Erin Palette is one; Palmer is another. I am sure there are more and I hope they will speak up.

Gay Activist: 'We're Sitting Ducks' in Gun-Free Zones

Also see: Operaton Blazing Sword .

Oops!

While tragic, accidents are to be expected as the software and hardware for autonomous vehicles is developed. Even at this stage they seem safer than those guided by a human. Personally, I look forward to a time when I can plug in a destination and let the car take care of getting me there.

Consider how far aircraft have come.

Man Killed In First-Recorded Fatal Tesla Autopilot Crash

Good Guy with a Gun

Stops a bad guy with a gun.

Despite the oft-repeated claims by the controllists, good people can and do stop crimes in progress. The reason we rarely hear of them is the death toll is usually too small to titillate the media. They want gallons of blood to dance in.

This Concealed Carrier Just Stopped A Mass Shooting At A Night Club, And The Media Remained Silent

The "Cecil Effect" at work

Hwange National Park to Slaughter African Lions Due to Lack of Hunters

The fees paid by well-to-do hunters to kill game in Africa is a major source of funding for conservation efforts there. Now, because of the "Cecil Effect", the conservancy managers will have to pay someone to come in and kill up to 200 lions to bring the population back into balance.

A permit to kill a male lion, typically, costs about $20,000 USD. A lioness runs about $8,000. That is over-and-above the cost of lodging, a guide and transportation. Those two hundred lions represents over $2 million USD. That is just the loss from the lions. The fees for other dangerous game are similar. Now, $2 million may not be much to a self-righteous liberal asshole but in a dirt-poor, third word country like Zimbabwe is is a fortune. Losing that income means not just imperiling the preserve but also means fewer schools, clinics and, in some districts, no more meat to donate for the local human population.

Actions have consequences. Stupid actions usually lead to bad consequences.

Donald Trump as a Product of System 1 thinking.

I rarely delve into electoral politics but a recent essay I read on Facebook (of all places) started me thinking about the current election cycle.

In his book entitled Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman describes two modes of thinking in the human mind. He gives these modes the the innocuous names of "System 1" and System 2". System 1 is the fast, intuitive, and emotional side whereas System 2 is more deliberative, logical and slower.

The two systems as Kahneman describe them, make perfect sense in an evolutionary context. I recall reading that a human neuron has a clock speed of about 15 Hz to 20 Hz. That means human reaction times are, at best, measured in tenths of a second. In a world where threats and opportunities happen unexpectedly, a system for selecting quickly from the available alternatives was necessary for survival. The System 1 we inherited from our ancestors was refined by millennia of a brutally efficient system of natural selection and it works very well for what it evolved for. By contrast, the more deliberative System 2 was patched on top of the older intuitive System 1 and is heavily influenced by it.

So, what does this a have do with Trump? Well, first politics is the real mind-killer. It may be an important aspect of life and we should certainly apply our individual rationality to it. However, it is an awful place to learn to be rational. To have a rational political discussion, all sides must first be rational. Trump, I think, represents the triumph of our atavistic evolutionary nature over the much more recent and less well proven rationality. He is in effect a super politician when seen through the filter of intuition and emotion. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing only time can tell

Which brings me to the essay. Like Mr. Yudkowsky I do not agree with everything Mr. Monroe wrote but the following does have a good exposition as to how a man like Trump can rise toward political power in a manner that appears nearly inevitable. The fault is not in our stars but in our genes.

Read it here. This is a Facebook post so it may not be visible to everyone.

Never go full Retard

Apparently that warning does not apply in California.

The California Legislature continues its headlong race to full retard with its latest gun control bills. I wonder how they will try to top this. Perhaps a permanent vegetative state would be the appropriate endgame.

ALERT: Assembly Public Safety Committee Passes 2 Anti-Gun Bills, Makes One Far Worse Than Before