Are mass shootings due to “entitlement culture”? Don’t say it; we all know they’re due to the individual murderers. And yes, the article is anti-gun in a so-soish sort of way. Nevertheless, interesting article that makes good points.
Twenty photos that put the Holocaust in a different light. (H/T Y.B.b.A.)
That DEA surveillance program I linked in the last post? It is/was aimed in part at gun buyers. Even the usually anti-gun ACLU is alarmed.
The anti-Second AmendmentFirst Amendment crowd wants Emily Miller to be fired. Sign the petition to say no to this crass attempt to silence a journalist. (H/T 12)
In the rage over Islamist attacks on the west and western values, let us not forget that the worst and most helpless victims are Muslims and those who live in Muslim countries.
Lovely, starkly designed cabins from around the world But who lives in these things and how do they get by without bathrooms?
Three more hopeful looks at Western-Islamic relations: An imam says Muslims must reject violence and governments must change course; Glenn Harlan Reynolds points out that Muslim leaders are finally realizing that their “brand” is tarnished by the acceptance of intolerance; author Irshad Manji is optimistic about the future between Islam and the West.
Again, this is the opinion of a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. The following is not by me.
—–begin anon message, part II—–
I am not Charlie Hebdo, because I know that free speech is a lie. The Constitution is a dead letter, and I am a coward.
Charlie Hebdo published offensive speech that was found by a court of law to be worthy of protection. The speakers were killed.
Anwar al-Awlaki published offensive speech, and was killed. He was denied a day in court, and simply murdered.
I don’t want to be killed. I want to work for peace, but I’m not going to stick my head up and invite extremely well-armed people to shoot at me, no matter what costume they wear.
I did not write the following. It was sent to me by a friend who has concluded that free speech is now such a myth that anonymity is the only protection. These are my friend’s opinions. Because they’re long, I’ll split this into two parts and run them on successive days.
All the years since 9-11, I’ve scrupulously avoided and condemned the jingoistic notion that all Muslims are fanatics and terrorists. There’s a billion of them and most are pretty much like you and me. But. The strain of barbarism poisoning the Arab/Muslim world is growing more putrid by the moment.
Since the slaughter at the World Trade Center, I’ve been waiting and wondering when the peaceable moderates of Islam would rise up, condemn, shun, defund, and de-legitimize the monsters among them. Well, those moderate voices have been way, way too moderate — when they’ve spoken at all. And they’ve been 100% ineffective. The savages are triumphant.
Now we have these obviously well-planned, expertly (and ruthlessly) executed murders at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Over cartoons. Over satire. Over free speech.
And every sign says that the murders were perpetrated by Islamic terrorists.
Governments have proven utterly incapable of protecting people against these murderous loons. Our own government repeatedly categorizes slaughters by Islamist nutjobs as mere “workplace violence.” Now, believe me, I don’t want governments to go looking for terrorists under every rock — partially because we’re already seeing how ugly that kind of society looks and partly because … well, in the U.S. “the authorities” find it more politically correct to go after militia members and guys in NRA hats than after people who post “Allahu Akbar!” on their Facebook pages before going off to kill their neighbors and co-workers. I assume other countries would also choose convenient non-Islamic targets. And it would be as wrong as ever to consider all Muslims to be potential terrorists.
But these barbarians must be stomped into the mud and muck of history, and I think the primary people responsible for doing it are … other Muslims. Yes, yes, I’m aware that Islam is a distributed religion. It has no pope. It’s as fragmented as U.S. Protestantism. It has no mechanism for acting from one central source, or even to act reliably in concert. Nevertheless, we’ve got a world full of well-trained Islamist thugs who increasingly believe they can simply cut down (sometimes literally) anybody who disagrees with them. And IF most of those tens of millions of other, innocent Muslims — and their imams and their ayatollahs and their cultural, intellectual, and military leaders — really, truly are against this savagery, if they really, truly believe in the rights of their fellow human beings, then it’s time for the whole Muslim world to bring all its philosophical, economic, social, and moral might down — hard! — upon the putrid savages within their midst.
Individual Muslims aren’t to blame. But their religion is. It fosters savagery. They need to address that.
Meantime, a world of innocent people — not to mention those who were already as much at risk as the Charlie Hebdo editors, cartoonists, and writers — ought to be getting better armed — even if nobody gives them permission.
A Review The Testament of James
By Vin Suprynowicz
194 pages
December 2014, Mountain Media
The Testament of James begins, as good mysteries often do, with a death. Actually, TToJ begins with an imposing figure in a black cape sweeping in through the door of a rare book dealer, which may be even better.
The death? Well, that may have been from natural causes, though in unnatural circumstances. The caped, cultured Mediterranean man enters the scene to inquire about a book. A book that may have had something to do with the death. A book that may or may not even exist.
Well now, this is encouraging. Teenagers commit civil disobedience to protest a proposed new history curriculum that would de-emphasize strife and civil disobedience:
Hundreds of students walked out of classrooms around suburban Denver on Tuesday in protest over a conservative-led school board proposal to focus history education on topics that promote citizenship, patriotism and respect for authority, in a show of civil disobedience that the new standards would aim to downplay.
Yeah, yeah, I know that school curricula have always been political playthings. I came through prison school in one of those “shut up and obey” eras. Learning only the positive, patriotic, authority-respecting version of history and “civics” was oppressive and dishonest — and led anybody with a brain to distrust people who felt such a need to hide reality.
Actually, the propaganda of “my day” was about as oppressive and dishonest as all politically driven schooling inevitably is, whether “right” or “left.” Curricula have swung in all manner of weird directions since then.
And yeah, yeah, I know the answer is get rid of government schooling. But in a country that was born in defiance of law and authority, I still can’t help but think this is a smile-worthy development.
Irony. While Obama asks Ferguson, MO, police to quit attacking journalists, press-freedom advocates ask Obama to do the same.
In the “decline of civilization and common sense” department, two women are so terrified of an angry cat that they call 911. And this was their own cat, not some potentially rabid stranger. (H/T SC)
“The Soros Put.” The savvy, super-connected billionaire bets $2.2 billion (17% of his assets under management) on a coming stock market crash. H/T to Silver, who also comments.
The pink police state. How the country becomes more authoritarian and rule-bound at the same time some personal behaviors become more “allowed.”
Another scientific study that proves what’s blatantly obvious to dog people: dogs get jealous. (HRH Princess Ava Prettypaws has spent her whole life trying to insert herself between me and any other critter I ever pay attention to.)
Aw, do poo widdle senator. Him suffering so much him dust had to plagiarize. Him dust couldn’t help him widdle self. Yeah. I’m sure “mistakes were made,” too, and he never intended to “give the appearance of wrongdoing.”
You may have heard that Maryland-based Beretta, which had planned to expand into Tennessee, decided instead to move all its manufacturing there after Maryland passed bad gun laws. Better than that, even. In looking for a new location, Beretta explicitly rejected West Virginia because of Joe Manchin.
Apparently neither the Fourth nor the Second Amendment apply when it’s for your own good. (H/T PB from comments.)
The real problem, of course, would be solved by getting rid of government schools and all their rigid one-size-fits-allism. Still, this short video is an interesting analysis of what’s being done to boys. And to society’s future. (H/T MJR)
Related to the story Gunny alerted us to the other day, the intended target in that Texas case has been ordered to recant her statements to the press. As a condition of parole. Can you spell “First amendment abuse”?
What if female bodies in classical paintings were photoshopped as they are in modern ads? Ugh! (Amusing, but still ugh. Also: naked lady alert. But it’s okay because it’s Art.)
So you think nobody’s manipulating the metals markets? Here’s a known case where Barclays (remember them from the Libor manipulation scandal?) deliberately screwed with the gold market to cheat one of their own customers out of $3.9 million. Braaaazen.
Oh, so that’s what that new “trigger warning” BS is all about. Been hearing that phrase and wondered if it was some new antigunnery. Nope. Just more politically correct, infantilizing silliness from the crowd who believes their widdle feewings should never be hurt. No doubt, though, that anything more dangerous than a plastic spork will “trigger” some poor soul’s hysteria.
What Americans are really afraid of. Hint: It’s not terrorism. Anybody else notice that four of the top five and five of the top eight basically amount to the same thing? Or are at least as closely related as the Dionne Quints?
Aw, da poo widdle coppie. Him aw hurt because him being shunned after him was a bad coppie and … somebody decided to howl loud, long, and amazingly effectively for justice.
Apple, too. I suspect this question goes deep, deep down a rabbit hole: Why would any tech company help cover up police thuggery? (Via Wendy — authentic Canadian intellectual. :-) )
Woman’s cancer apparently cured by one mega-strong dose of engineered measles virus.
In many places this would not be news. In darkest blue, gun-loathing New Jersey, it’s a bigger miracle than seeing Jesus’ face in a tortilla. (H/T jw)
I think some school officials are going to be in trouble over this Sure hope so. (PT, who sent this, said she was reminded of Tonio Carolina from Hardyville. Yeah, me, too!)
Bet you didn’t know that Jim Bovard did stand-up comedy. But he pretty much did that at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum. Little rough in the first few minutes. Gets better as it goes.
