Friday, August 30, 2019

Another Trump Tragedy

8/30/19 Business Insider:
The low unemployment rate in the US has created 'worker deserts' across the country, with more than 1 million more jobs available than there are people to fill them
What happens when supply decreases and demand does not?  Prices (wages in this case) have to rise.  Hence the constant lamestream media whining about the coming recession.  They made it happen President Bush in 1991.

HuffPost, of course, had bad news:
The report noted that while unemployment rates for all college graduates aged up to 65 and young workers without a bachelor’s were at the lowest levels of the current cycle, the market for recent graduates bucked that trend.
Maybe degrees in Victim Studies are not in demand?

Hasbro Moving Out of China

Is there anything more profoundly offshored than toy production?  When I was young, toys were usually made on Taiwan.  They were often made of poor quality pot metal.  I am thinking of a Tommy gun cap gun that I had as a firstgrader.  It was really cool for a few weeks at which point, part of the interior mechanism broke.

8/28/19 CNBC:
Hasbro shifting its business out of China has been positive for the company, according to its CEO. “It’s gone very well for us,” Brian Goldner told CNBC on Tuesday.
The toy company has been focused on diversifying its manufacturing operations since 2012 due to “enterprise risk reasons,” he said.
“We’re seeing great opportunities in VietnamIndia and other territories like Mexico. We’re doing even more in the U.S. We brought Play-Doh back to the U.S. last year, ” Goldner said on “Squawk on the Street. ”
As the U.S.-China trade dispute has intensified over the past month, President Donald Trump last week urged U.S. companies to leave China. He said in a tweet, “Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.”
Of course, Trump has no authority to order American companies out of China, but like Hasbro, many American companies can see that building in America (or at least outside China, which will likely be a military opponent in the next couple decades) makes sense.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Not Much Activity for a Few Days

That Declaration took a lot out of me.  Going on vacation to Salt Lake City with my daughter and son-in-law this weekend.  Zoo, dinosaur museum (but not dinosaur zoo), In-And-Out Burger, and while I won't be going, my daughter's favorite recreational activity, the Ikea store.  She hasn't been out of college long enough, I guess.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Today's Scam

The voicemail says if I do not call them back concerning Social  Security, an arrest warrant will be issued.  These scammers must think Americans are really stupid.

What Sort of Trouble Have I Been Creating This Last Couple of Weeks?

The Declaration for Baird v,. Becerra.  The final form will be filed with the court on Friday.  It is about 6MB, so be patient, those of you still on dialup.  I received a few typo corrections.  Thanks to all.


Tuesday, August 27, 2019

What Were They Thinking? Look near the bottom


Relative to Chinese Americans in California.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  July 17, 2009. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACR 42, Fong. Chinese Americans in California.
This measure would acknowledge the history of the Chinese in California, recognize the contributions made to the State of California by Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants, and express regret for past discriminatory laws and constitutional provisions which resulted in the persecution of Chinese living in California.
Fiscal Committee: no  

BILL TEXT


WHEREAS, The California gold rush triggered one of the largest mass migrations in world history and captured global imagination as the destination for wealth and opportunity. That global migration made California one of the world’s most diverse states which would serve as the foundation for its economic, academic, and cultural growth in the 20th century; and
WHEREAS, The California gold rush paved the way in funding and manpower for the creation and building of the western leg of the transcontinental railroad. The transcontinental railroad was considered the greatest American technological feat of the 19th century, was a dream of Abraham Lincoln’s, and was what many considered the most important aspect in strengthening the position of the United States in the international spotlight. The track served as a vital link for trade, commerce, and travel by joining east and west, further transforming the population and economy of California; and
WHEREAS, The Central Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad recruited the Chinese in America and later tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants as a source of labor. Chinese in America and Chinese immigrants were paid less than their white counterparts and slept in tents while white laborers were provided both food and shelter. The Chinese laborers worked under grueling and treacherous conditions in order to lay thousands of miles of track. On May 10, 1868, alone, Chinese workers laid 10 miles of track in less than 12 hours in order to complete the last leg of the railroad. Without the tremendous efforts and contributions of the Chinese in building the transcontinental railroad, the development and progress of our nation and California would have been delayed by years; and
WHEREAS, Once the transcontinental railroad was complete, Chinese in California transitioned to other types of employment, making considerable contributions to the progress and growth of our state. Chinese in California built ships for fishing along our coast and developed the abalone and shrimp industries. In the Delta and the central valley, the Chinese in California helped to recover the tule swamps, to build irrigation systems, and to harvest various fruits and vegetables for California’s agriculture industry; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature enacted discriminatory laws targeting Chinese in America and Chinese immigrants in order to discourage further immigration from China and sought to severely limit the success of the Chinese laborers already here; and

WHEREAS, Among other things, these laws denied the Chinese in California the right to own land or property, the right to vote, and the right to marry a white person, denied children of Chinese descent access to public schools, denied Chinese immigrants the right to bear arms, unfairly targeted women of Chinese descent by imposing special requirements in order for them to be allowed to immigrate into the state, authorized the removal of Chinese immigrants to outside town and city limits, denied Chinese laborers employment in public works projects and through state agencies, prohibited the issuance of licenses to Chinese in California, denied Chinese in California the right to fish in California’s waters, and unduly taxed Chinese businesses and individuals who employed Chinese laborers; and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Need Some Help

The PDFs do not reproduce well in a Word document.  I need someone to open these in Acrobat then capture them with Snipping  Tool as JPG files and email them to me.  I can do it, but time is short. If you can help, even just one PDF, email me at Clayton@claytoncramer.com.

Thanks.  All PDFs taken.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

This Brief I Am Working On

California apparently banned open carry a couple of years ago.  It appears that the Peruta  decision on its first try at the 9th Circuit decision (in which my work was cited) had argued that at least one method of carry had to be available.  If concealed carry was regulated tightly (as it is in California) then open carry must be available, or the right to bear arms means nothing.  Because an en banc decision of  the 9th Circuit overturned the first 9th Circuit decision , California felt pretty confident banning open carry as well.  Open carry in cities has had to be unloaded since 1967, but at least in most rural areas it was still legal and I have done it many a time.

Anyway, I have been writing what is apparently called a declaration which is a sneaky way to get around the limits on page length for a brief, I guess because I am an expert on this subject.  So far, I have demonstrated that their claim that the Statute of Northampton (1328) banned open carry for centuries is based on a mistranslation of the Norman French "arme" as arms when really it prohibited the wearing of armour  to the terror of the people.

Then I went through their list of Early Republic laws that they claimed banned the carrying of firearms, and found that many of the laws they cited were not there.  (Copying citations from antigun academies is easier than looking up  the laws yourself, but that is what Californians are paying the California Attorney-General to do.)

They also like to claim that it was unlawful to carry in the early  Republic because some states had laws that allowed anyone who had a reasonable basis to fear someone carrying a gun to require posting of a "peace bond" which would be forfeited if you carried a gun or killed the guy.  But none of those laws prohibited carrying a gun except if a judge decided that your carrying represented a threat to someone else.  (Sort of like  Red Flag Law, I suppose.)  Of course they misrepresent this as a general ban on carrying of guns.

Then they get into what is going to be serious doo-doo, even with an antigun judge: quoting a few words here errors here and there to misrepresent what particular court decisions actually said.

Then I discuss how at the 1850 California Constitutional Convention, delegates discussed whether to add a right to keep and bear arms to the state constitution.  The argument presented by some delegates with no disagreement from others is that it was not needed, because the Second Amendment already took care of that.  The biggest opponent was the guy trying to ban blacks from moving into California.

And because they tried to smear gun carrying as an artifact of slavery, I pulled out the racist history of gun control and specifically in California, where the current concealed weapon law was passed for the stated purpose of disarming Mexicans and Chinese.  It was signed by a governor endorsed by the KKK who refused to answer whether he was a KKK member.

This really is not as long as it sounds. Most of the work has been turning PDFs from books.google.com into pages in the Appendix.  When you accuse someone of voting laws that are not there, it is always good to have copies of the cited pages as part of the document, so the judge does not have to wonder who is correct.

Anyway, great fun, a lot of work, exorbitant pay, hence limited blogging.  I should have it ready for the attorney on Tuesday. Still need to sleep on it and do some editing. I will probably make it available for you all to read and look for typos  Sunday night.

Friday, August 23, 2019

RoboCalls

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/22/753524482/phone-companies-ink-deal-with-all-50-states-and-d-c-to-combat-robocalls NPR  reports on how the phone companies are responding to the new FCC rule allowing phone companies to block voIP robocallers.  Funny how this never happened under Obama.  This cannot be a bad thing for Trump 2020.  The ads writes itself:  "on my watch, robocallers became a painful memory.  And my FCC appointment was part of it."

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Here It Is

Amazing YouTube Video

If I were not resting, I would put an embed of this video.  How to Make AMAZING Bullet Resistant Armor for$30.  Yes.  It stops 9mm, buckshot, slugs, but not.223.  And he made it at home with fiberglass .  Hard body armor, but still effective, and useful I'd the idiots decide that banning body armor makes us safer from crazy people with guns.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Today's Request for Intelligence

When my students ask what my hobbies are, I tell them amateur astronomy and subverting California government.  I am being paid to do that for an upcoming challenge to California's ban on open carry.

Their side has written a brief that is embarrassingly bad: citations to laws that are not even remotely similar to their claims.  What I need are examples from 1789 - 1830 demonstrating that guns were commonly carried in the U.S., most usefully in cities.  Using the Library of Congress' Chronicling America website, I have searched for pistol with 10 words of carry, tavern, bar, street.  Any other suggestions?

Challenging California's new open carry ban.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Lovely Autumn Evening Last Night

Yes, I know it is still summer, but only in direct sunlight in the day does it feel like it.  I am sitting on my back porch with the cool wind blowing past me.

We had a number of people from church up last night for dinner and astronomy.  The sky was clear and relatively calm.  At 156x, Jupiter's multiple clouds bands were highly visible, with good contrast.  All four Galilean satellites were visible, and bright enough against a dark motionless sky that everyone immediately recognized that they were not stars.  A couple of the adults did not realize that satellites are not always artificial.  But once they mastered that idea, they realized that they are like our Moon.

As expected, no one looked at Saturn without be overwhelmed.  Cassini's Division was very obvious on the east and west sides of the planet.  This was at 78x.  I should probably have gone up in power, but the Moon was rising.  At least one of the adults immediately recognized that he was looking at several of Saturn's larger satellites.  Titan, in particular, is so bright and non-twinkling that it sort of hours itself away.

I showed them Antares to show them why stars twinkle and planets, except of very turbulent nights, do not. The column of light from even the closest stars is at best an arcsecond across.  Planets have light that is tens of arcsecond across, and this less beat up by air currents. Even at 39x, Antares is a little twinkling fireball. 

The Moon rose through the trees a bit north of Bogus Basin and it was a very nice sight to see the trees against the face of a nearly full Moon.  But the burble of the air passing through an extra 4000 miles of atmosphere meant the Moon's limb was alive.  I hope to have them up again with a first quarter or younger Moon, when contrast is higher and there is less burble.

One irritation: while some people use the word "moon" to refer to any natural satellite, this is not correct.  Moon (capital) is the proper name of our satellite, and like Sun should be capitalized.  I wish the built-in spell checker in the Blogger app knew this, instead of trying to force Moon into moon.  If you read The Stand, just spell it M-O-O-N.  If you did not read it, you might enjoy it.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

A very Troubling Article

Read it, and get schedule open for sniper practice.  Let us hope that it does not come to this but the left's racial hatred is getting worse.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Probably Not Enough to Qualify As a Mass Murder

But not for lack of trying.  8/13/19 U.K. Daily Mail:
Blood-soaked man 'shouting Allahu Akbar' in Sydney's CBD attempts to stab multiple people - with one woman rushed to hospital and another found dead with her throat slit in a nearby building
But no gun, so move along, there's nothing here to see.
Police are investigating whether the alleged attacker, Mert Ney, 21, from Blacktown in the city's west, had escaped from a mental institution.
That seems likely in spite of  Allahu Akbar.


If Only There Wasn't This Climate of Hate Being Promoted by Politicans

8/13/19 NBC San Antonio:
FBI agents are searching for suspects in connection with shots fired at two ICE buildings early Tuesday morning.
The shooting first reported took place around 3 a.m. Tuesday on the 1700 block of NE Loop 410 near Brookhaven Drive. We're told another shooting happened at a separate ICE facility around the same time.
Investigators say that multiple shots were fired on two floors targeting ICE officials. No one was hit, but windows were broken in the building. One person was injured, it's not clear how they were, though.
"I don't think there's a question that they knew which floors the ice offices were," FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Combs said Tuesday. The building shot at has multiple tenants, with the ICE facility located on upper floors.

"All of the shots that we have found are on the floors where ICE had offices," Combs explained. "This is no question a very targeted attack. It's not a secret facility, you can go online, it's out there. So they did some research, they knew what floors ICE was on, they knew what buildings they were and and they hit those."
Imagine if BATF offices had been targeted in the Clinton or Obama Administrations.  The hollering about Republicans promoting hatred would be never ending on CNN.  The left wants a Civil War.  They are going to be very disappointed at the results. 

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Partially Blocked Small Colon

No, it is not the name of a 1980s punk band.  I woke up at 2:00 AM with a distended and painful stomach.  In the ER AT 7:00. AM I thought it was food poisoning, but I could not vomit.  CAT scan showed a partially blocked small colon.  I am in the hospital.  The goal is to see if the lower bowel turns its self around, so wet can avoid surgery.  I am beginning to pass gas, and I can feel stuff moving into my intestines. I may be out tomorrow.

MONDAY update: Waiting for the paperwork to be completed and then I go home.

Once again, St. Alphonsus' Medical Center was showing their Jesus.  As usual not just caring, but profoundly caring employees.  Even Julio who wheeled me downstairs for abdominal X-ray was deeply concerned about my comfort, as was Marisa, the day shift RN, and Olga, the day shift CNA.  (I cannot remember the names of the night shift RN and CNA, but also wonderful and caring people.)   The gal from food services, who I suspect is not well paid, did an exemplary job of not only ordering my meals (which were at first only clear liquids) but also showing concern for my medical condition.  I have not ever had what I would call a bad experience at St. Luke's, their Protestant competitor here in Boise, but St. Al's just go above and beyond my expectations.

The trauma surgeon who came up to discuss possible surgery was also a caring person.  The guy was Trauma Services who up after the X-rays, ditto.  "The good news is you do not need a surgeon."  And a sense of humor: "A surgeon stabs you until you get better."

If you know someone who works for St. Al's, please share this with them.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Epstein Succeeds on 2nd Suicide Attempt

Yeah, right.  There are already four big names exposed.  I suspect even more would have come out of a plea bargain.

Is Trump Going to Throw the Next Election?

He is backing mandatory private party background checks.  I am hoping this is like Bush's willingness to renew the assault weapons ban in 2004, if it ever reached his desk.  Republicans in Congress made sure it never got there, and Bush probably breathed a sigh of relieve.

Contact your senators and remind them that the Dept. of Justice found that a fraction of 1% of criminally used guns came from private party sales, All of the recent mass murderers bought guns after passing background checks.

Friday, August 9, 2019

No Wonder He Turned to Crime

Over at the Civilian Gun Self-Defense blog I posted about this incident.  From 8/8/19 Fox channel 46:
Police say the two teenage suspects, identified as Qwanterrius Stafford and Brenna Harris, first robbed the customer of his wallet before turning their attention to the store clerk.
I'm sorry sir.  You have taken too long filling in the application form.

Biden is So Incredibly Incapable of Putting Brain in Gear Before Opening Mouth

8/9/19 New York Post:
Gaffe-prone presidential hopeful Joe Biden put his foot in his mouth during an Iowa campaign stop on Thursday when he told a group of predominately Asian and Hispanic voters that “poor kids are just as bright, just as talented, as white kids.”
I ran into this when I was applying for college in 1974.  Almost by definition at the time, there were no poor white kids.

Attempted Suicide By Cop?

8/8/19 KY3:
The Springfield Police Department arrived on scene within three minutes of the call. Police stated that a young white male, appearing to be in his twenties, pulled up to the Walmart, where he donned body armor and military fatigues. Police say the man had tactical weapons.
Police then say the man walked into the Walmart: Neighborhood Market where he grabbed a cart and began pushing it around the store. Police say the man was recording himself walking through the store via a cell phone.
He was srmed and carrying 100 rounds.  That he wasn't shooting at anyone says that he either wanted to scare people, make a political statement, or get killed.

Projection Again

8/8/19 CBS Miami:
PORT ST LUCIE (CBSMiami/CNN) – A Florida man ran into some trouble with police on Thursday, after he reportedly asked a Walmart clerk for “anything that would kill 200 people.”
This coming a few days after the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, in which at least 31 people were killed.
Officers found the man, who told them he was trying to make a political point.
“I was in the Walmart in Port St Lucie and I just spoke my mind, said Phil Attey.
Attey admitted that might not have been the best way to make a point, but he insisted he wasn’t serious and he’s a gun violence prevention activist.
“I’m in a Walmart a few days after El Paso and I’m seeing a white nationalist looking guy purchase a gun and I got mad,” Attey said.
What do "white nationalists" look like?

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Another Mass Murder: Knives

8/8/19 MSN News:
A man went on a two-hour crime spree in Orange County on Wednesday, fatally stabbing four people and wounding two others in Garden Grove and Santa Ana, police said.
Authorities said the man and all of his victims were Latino.
Garden Grove Police Lt. Carl Whitney said the motive appeared to be robbery, as well as anger and hate. Police said there was no indication that the attacks were racially motivated.
“These were random acts of violence — our suspect was not involved with any of the victims,” Whitney said at a news conference.
The violence came just days after a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, leaving a manifesto vowing to kill “as many Mexicans as possible.” On Sunday, another gunman killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio. The FBI has opened a domestic terrorism case in the El Paso shooting as well as one in Gilroy, Calif., on July 28 that left three people dead.
The suspect in the Orange County stabbings was not identified. Officers arrested him at a 7-Eleven in Santa Ana after spotting his silver Mercedes, authorities said.
It's almost starting to look like there is some deeper problem than gun availability going on.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Read This Description And Ask Yourself, Is Civil War 2 Coming

8/7/19 Hollywood Reporter:
In the wake of a trio of deadly massacres, the studio is evaluating its strategy for the R-rated Blumhouse satire in which elites stalk "deplorables."
The trailer is not quite this explicit:

Dayton Shooter Hallucinations

It appeared in the Washington Post, but "Democracy Dies in Darkness" needs revenue to keep promoting fascism so I am relying on HotAir's quote and the description in news.google.com:
During his senior year of high school, [the shooter] seemed to always have caffeine pills in one hand and an energy drink in another. He was unable to sleep, he told his then-girlfriend Lyndsi Doll, because of dark, animal-like shadows that tormented him at night.
Seven years after they dated, Doll recalls [the shooter] as a serious and reserved kid who wrestled with hallucinations and menacing voices in his head.
While they were in high school, [the shooter] told Doll that he had suffered from psychosis since he was young and feared developing schizophrenia…
[A]s their relationship progressed, Doll became increasingly concerned that [the shooter] was far from normal and desperately in need of professional help. He talked a lot about the “dark, evil things” he heard in his head. He would sometimes check out midway through the conservation, when it seemed like his mind would drift elsewhere.
The reports of the "hit list" and "rape list" that led to his suspension from high school sound like they should probably had led to involuntary commitment.  Anyone who was not focused on disarming the peasants would have to admit the mental illness probably underlying so many of these mass murders.  Write to your Congresscritters right now and remind them all of these recent mass murderers passed background checks so mandatory checks on private party sales would not have stopped these crimes; mass murder is so easy to do with other weapons (cars, arson) that gun bans and "Red Flag" laws only change the method.  If someone is that dangerous, involuntary commitment is the correct response.

Just sent to Congressman Fulcher:
I realize that the Democrats are trying to stampede Republicans into  abandoning their safe votes by passing more gun control laws.  The recent tragedies in El Paso and Dayton demonstrate that once again, the gun control lobby is chasing the wrong problem.  
Today's Washington Post reports that the Dayton shooter's ex-girlfriend describing him as having hallucinations and calling himself psychotic.  Severe mental illness is quite common among mass murderers: the Navy Yard shooter, Sutherland Springs shooter, Parkland, Virginia Tech, Stockton in 1989, the Aurora theater shooter just to list the ones that immediately come to mind.  (There are many others.  I am currently compiling an encyclopedia of mass murderers.  Of the 504 that I have identified so far, about 1/4 were mentally ill.)  The core problem is that the destruction of the state mental hospital system in the 1960s and 1970s means that many people with dangerous mental illness problems are never involuntarily committed (which would cause a firearms purchase disapproval).
The recent tragedies demonstrate that a mandatory background check system for private sales  is unneeded.  All of these recent mass murderers passed background checks.  (If the Air Force had reported the Sutherland Springs shooter's domestic violence conviction or his involuntary commitment, to the FBI's firearms background check system, he would have been disqualified for a purchase.)
"Red Flag" laws?  If someone intends mass murder, there are many alternate methods.  About 1/4 of American mass murders 2006-17 were non-guns: arson, vehicles, knives, blunt objects.  If someone is that dangerous, they need to be in a hospital.  Taking away their guns only changes the method.  Arson mass murders in the U.S. have very high death counts: 32 in a 1973 New Orleans gay bar; 78 in a 1990 New York City night club; 97 in a San Juan, P.R. casino.
Insist on hearings to examine the mental health crisis caused by the deinstitutionalization of the mentally in the 1960s and 1970s.  So many other problems came from this as well, such as homelessness.

Ignoring Racially Motivated Gun Violence

Bearing Arms points to a racially motivated gun attack that was ignored by the national media, because it was black on white, and therefore cannot be blamed on Trump https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2019/08/06/racially-motivated-attack-mainstream-media-ignoring/

Anyone who trusts the national media wants to be taken.

National Review Article by Me


Tuesday, August 6, 2019

The Left Keeps Focusing on This as a White Male Problem

No, this is an equal opportunity employer:

Now, If Only Somewhere Will Print It

Is Our Mass Murder Problem New?
It seems as though mass murder is a recent and horrific addition to American culture.  Yes... and No.  For the last 18 months I have been collecting American mass murders, starting in 1657.  So far, I have found 504 mass murders (3three or more dead, or two dead and at least one wounded, in a 24 hour period, excluding all governmental killings) with a total of 6,568 dead   I know that there are at least 300 more yet to be added to my Spreadsheet of Horror.

Curiously, less than half of these mass murders were committed with firearms.  You may be wondering what weapons were used before repeating firearms: Axes, hatchets, knives, poisons, blunt objects, arson, aircraft (and not just on 9/11), and in 1931, blowtorches.  Where there is an evil will, there’s a way.  Even today, about ¼ of our mass murders do not involve firearms: instead, blunt objects, arson, explosives, and motor vehicles, as is the case in countries with much stricter gun laws. 

You probably can’t name the mass murders that killed 87 people in 1990 ;or 97 people in 1986; or the 1973 New Orleans gay bar with 33 dead.  All were arson, and are nearly unknown because there were no guns.  The 1990 murders were with $1 of gasoline bought a nearby gas station; the 1986 murders with a can of camp stove fuel; the 1973 murders were with a can of cigarette lighter fluid bought down the street.

I have recorded the proximate causes of these crimes.  So far, 22% are unknown; often the killer was unknown, and no other evidence established a reason.  Terrorism: 4%.  Mass lynchings: 8.4%.  The single biggest proximate cause?  Murderer with unquestionably severe mental illness: 24%.  Another 3% are likely mental illness and a few other categories certainly hint at it: 2% where usually the father murdered his family and commited suicide to avoid them falling into poverty.

Among the graphs I have produced is one that shows the mental mass murder deaths/100,000 population by decade.

Yes, those rates are very low because mass murder is less than 1% of U.S. murders.  But why these two peaks, one in the 1860s and 1870s, and another one starting in the 1980s.  I suspect the 1860s and 1870s were PTSD-related.  The Civil War was our first war where PTSD has been identified, and an enormous fraction of our population served and were scarred.

What about this recent peak?  In the 1960s and 1970s well-intentioned people trying to force the government to spend more on mental health care; they formed common cause (they thought) with ideologues who believed that mental illness was invented as a tool of oppression.  They destroyed our state mental health care systems.  By making involuntary commitment almost impossible, except for those in imminent danger to self or others, mental hospitals emptied out and those just developing severe mental illness were not hospitalized.  (This included my late brother, who wasted almost 50 years because of a failure to receive treatment when it is most effective, in the first year.)

Instead, these deinstitutionalized mentally ill people became a large part of our homeless population, living in alleys, begging, eating out of garbage cans, annoying people in public libraries, freezing to death: wasn’t this a grand result?  Some became a large fraction of our current mass murder problem.  An involuntary commitment is a lifelong firearms disability.  But because this tool is now largely off the table, people with serious mental illness problems may lawfully buy guns.

The Navy Yard shooter?  He told police that he was being controlled by microwaves.  He was not taken in for observation.  The Virginia Tech shooter? A judge told him to go to a mental hospital, but it wasn’t mandatory.  He left after one day.  The Sutherland Springs church shooter?  The military involuntarily committed him, but neglected to inform the FBI that this guy was now prohibited for life from buying or owning a gun.  The 2012 Aurora shooter?  His psychiatrist warned the police that he was dangerous, but Colorado law essentially asks a person to show up to discuss if he is crazy.  The Parkland shooter?  School staff had wanted involuntary commitment; Florida’s Baker Act would certainly have allowed that commitment  if the police had used it.  As with everything else, they dropped the ball.  Unfortunately, I can give you lots more.  I am writing the least cheery book in history.

If we solve the mental illness issue, the guns do not matter.  Focusing on the guns just directs the severely mentally ill to other weapons.
--------------------------------------------------
Clayton E. Cramer teaches history at the College of Western Idaho.  His ninth book Lock, Stock, and Bqrrel was published in 2018.

Monday, August 5, 2019

What I Have Just Sent to the Few News Media Contacts That I Have

If only there was an organization with media contacts that cared about this issue:
I have been collecting American mass murders for a year and a half now, starting in 1657.  I have identified 504 incidents with 6568 dead, d I know of least 300 more mass murders to add. (Definition: Three or more murdered in a 24 hour period, and of course excluding acts of war by state actors.)  Just over 26% of these mass murders have either severe mental illness or likely mental ill as the proximate cause.  The attached graphs come from my spreadsheet of horror.  You will notice two major bursts of mental illness caused mass murders: one in the 1860s and 1870s coincident with our first war that produced noticeable PTSD.  The second rise is after the state mental hospital system was destroyed in the 1960s and 1970s.  Of course, this includes all mass murders, of which less than half involve firearms.  Axes, hatchets, knives, and poison have always been very popular. 

Sunday, August 4, 2019

I Getb So Frustrated That No One at a National Level Cares About the Clear Mental Illness Aspect of Mass Murder

And the El Paso Murderer

Along with hate Mexicans he was also apparently an environmentalist.
A manifesto, allegedly posted by Patrick Crusius, the El Paso shooter, claimed that he was acting, among other things, in defense of the environment.
"The American lifestyle affords our citizens an incredible quality of life. However, our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country. The decimation of the environment is creating a massive burden for future generations," the El Paso shooter wrote.
"This phenomenon is brilliantly portrayed in the decades old classic 'The Lorax'", Crusius wrote, citing a children's story commonly used as a text by environmentalists.
"We even use god knows how many trees worth of paper towels just wipe water off our hands. Everything I have seen and heard in my short life has led me to believe that the average American isn’t willing to change their lifestyle, even if the changes only cause a slight inconvenience. The government is unwilling to tackle these issues beyond empty promises since they are owned by corporations." 
At this point the El Paso shooter seems to be channeling Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders.
"Corporations that also like immigration because more people means a bigger market for their products. I just want to say that I love the people of this country, but god damn most of y’all are just too stubborn to change your lifestyle. So the next logical step is to decrease the number of people in America using resources. If we can get rid of enough people, then our way of life can become more sustainable." 
Sounds pretty crazy too.   Go nowhere unarmed.  The left seems to be starting the 2nd civil war.

Why?

The Dayton, Ohio shooter seems as far from the stereotype the leftists want as could be:
Betts’ Twitter profile read, “he/him / anime fan / metalhead / leftist / i’m going to hell and i’m not coming back.” One tweet on his page read, “Off to Midnight Mass. At least the songs are good. #athiestsonchristmas.” The page handle? I am the spookster. On one selfie, he included the hashtags, “#selfie4satan #HailSatan @SatanTweeting.” On the date of Republican Sen. John McCain’s death, he wrote, “F*ck John McCain.” He also liked tweets referencing the El Paso mass shooting in the hours before Dayton.
On Nov. 2, 2018, he wrote: “Vote blue for gods sake.” 
“This is America: Guns on every corner, guns in every house, no freedom but that to kill,” he wrote in December 2018. And, “’Tis! The pistol is a Beretta 93R, called the REK7 in BO4. Do love me some guns!” He also wrote, “Hammer, brick, gun.” On Feb. 14, 2018, he tweeted this at Sen. Rob Portman: “@robportman hey rob. How much did they pay you to look the other way? 17 kids are dead. If not now, when?” That was the date of the mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida. ...
 In response to a Buzzfeed story that read, “Virginia has declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the ‘Unite the Right’ rally anniversary in Charlottesville this weekend,” he wrote: “Kill every fascist.” ...
On the Twitter page, Connor Betts indicated he’d vote for Elizabeth Warren for president but not Kamala Harris, responding to a person’s tweet suggesting they be co-presidents. “Nahh, but only cuz Harris is a cop – Warren I’d happily vote for,” he wrote. 
Gun control advocate, registered Democrat, Sen. Warren backer and then mass murder.  Maybe mentally ill?


Saturday, August 3, 2019

That Monitor Flicker/Color Problem

It does seem to be the SVGA cable is not staying tight.  Next step is trying a different SVGA cable.  Fortunately, I have at least one spare cable for everything for the last 20 years.  At first glance the missing red problem is solved.  I will wait a day or two before discarding the suspect cable.

Because this ancient Viewsonic rotates for portrait mode, I tried it.  For Word documents, this looks like it might be very nice.

I have seen loss of red once, but it went away when I hand tightened the screws.  Being in potrait mode may help by reducing gravity's pull on the plug.  (Putting the plug on the bottom means it is also a nuisance to plugin.)  I think I will use one of my precision screwdrivers to tighten the screws a bit more and see if this helps in landscape mode.

Short Wave Radio After High Altitude Nuclear Explosions

I do not worry much about this.  I think North Korea is just an extortion racket on a national scale, and even if Short Fat were crazy enough to try for an EMP attack on the U.S., his commanders would recognize the glass parking lot result and probably strangle him with bare hands if needed.

But if you know any preppers with ham radio plans for such an unlikely disaster, the following may be of interest.  I am reading Glasstone's The Effects of Nuclear Weapons. In Seconds 10 54 through 10 58, he discusses the effects of high altitude nuclear explosions on HF radio.  There might be disruption of ham radio for many hours over very large areas, even if you're ham rig is adequately shielded from EMP.

Friday, August 2, 2019

DC Abuse of Power (Where else?)

7/30/2019 Washington Post.  The reporter interviewed me about justifiable vs. excusable homicide but none of it survived the editor.  At least the VPC claim that there are 34 murders for every justifiable homicide is not in there, so I guess that I accomplished something.

Four masked men attempt armed robbery at a vaping shop.  Security guard kills the one shooting at him.  Thug's mother thinks it is unfair that just because police had video of the robbery, and by her own acknowledgment Javone and her other son had been “out in the street,” which I am guessing is inner city slang for not pursuing an education or bourgeois employment.  Anyway, security guard is charged with a weapons violation which is dismissed.  But his security business (8 employees) is now shut down by DC police.  Can't have masked armed robbers dead in the street, I guess.  You might not think it is Baltimore.

I see this reaction a lot.  Someone raises a thug who threatens to kill someone for their property, which shows that her thug thinks the lives of others are worth less than a watch or a wallet.   Then she decides it is unfair that someone else applies the thug's ethical system to the thug.

Do Any of You Have the Oregon Trail on Your DOS 5.0 PC?

I really would like the, "You've got cholera" sound clip.

Here is the game.  My whole party died shortly after fording the Snake River, but no one got cholera.

In Case You Need An Example of a Handgun Ban

 session law 590 of 1902  Acts of the General Assembly of South-Carolina::
No. 590.
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: That section 1 of an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the carrying, manufacture and sale of pistols, and to make a violation of the same a misdemeanor," approved 20th February, 1901; by striking out at the end of said section all after the word "or" and inserting in lieu thereof the following, "to the carrying or keeping of pistols by persons while on their own premises," so that said section when thus amended shall read as follows:
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Manufacture and sale and carState of South Carolina, That from and after the first day of July, 1902,1902, it shall be unlawful for any one to carry about the person, whether concealed or not, any pistol less than 20 inches  long and three pounds in weight. And it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to manufacture, sell or offer for sale, or transport for sale or use into this State, any pistol of  less length and weight. Any violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, and in case of a sale by a person, firm or corporation the sum of one hundred dollars shall also be forfeited to and for the use of the school fund of the County wherein the violation takes place, to be recovered as other fines and forfeitures: Provided, This Act shall not apply to peace officers in the actual discharge of their duties, or to the carrying or keeping of pistols by persons while on their own premises.
Approved the 25th day of February, A. D. 1902.

Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, No. XCV"

SEC. 3. Any person who shall sell, barter or exchange, or
otherwise dispose of, or in any manner furnish to any person any person any dirk or bowie knife, or a sword or a spear in a cane, brass or metal knucks, or any pistol, of any kind whatever, except such as are used in the army or navy of the United States, and known as the navy pistol, or any kind of cartridge, for any pistol, or any person who shall keep any such arms or cartridges for sale, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. " https://books.google.com/books?id=0xo0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Acts%20Arkansas%20pistol&pg=PA191#v=onepage&q=Acts%20Arkansas%20pistol&f=false

Why Isn't This Child Abuse?

Parents of children who have endured puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and permanent medical procedures as a part of their new gender identity are asking the United States Surgeon General to increase public awareness of the dangers of such practices.The Kelsey Coalition, a non-partisan group, has delivered a petition signed online by people across the country to US Surgeon General Jerome Adams. The petition advises how doctors are "now administering powerful puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to a growing number of gender non-conforming pre-adolescents. 'Gender-confirming' surgeries — including mastectomies, radical hysterectomies, vaginoplasties, and orchiectomies — are now being performed on teenagers."The petition also points out how parents are oftentimes being misled by clinicians."Parents who consent to these treatments are often misled to believe that their child will be at greater risk of suicide if they do not," the petition states. "There is no evidence to support this claim. In Oregon, parental consent is irrelevant: the law allows 15-year olds to receive state-subsidized hormonal treatments and surgeries without parental knowledge or permission."
Some states have defined therapy to help gay minors become straight as abuse.  But this isn't?

Thursday, August 1, 2019

It Finally Happened

I just rejected a ScopeRoller order because I am moving the business to a new owner.  Tomorrow's last shipment is invoice 710.  My guess is that these orders have averaged $150-$200 each over these 14 years.

You Are Offended?

I am offended that you are offended.  So there!

YouTube: Disposer of History

An important film  to understanding the Nazi T4 project is Dasein ohne Leben (Existence Without Living).  It is still available on YouTube but with a warning that I think is intended to avoid being a spoiler for the progressive agenda.