Hard At Work on My Next Book

Mass Murder: Who, Where, When, Why

I am trying to find where the FBI defines mass murder as four or more dead including the murderer in one location within a limited time.  Not having any luck finding the FBI report that uses this definition.

Mostly a Reminder for When I Get Home

The 9th Circuit insists that the right to possess arms says nothing about the right to buy or sell?   Planned Parenthood of Southeast v. Strange, 172 S.Supp.3d 1275, 1290 n. 5 (M.D. Ala. 2016) apparently points out that the right to an abortion is not very meaningful if there is no doctor able to provide one.

I am not keen on abortion (less so,  the older I get), but the analogy is strong.   If Susanville,  California,  refused to allow abortion clinics,  the 9th Circuit would unquestionably strike it down for violating the magic, invisible clause that guarantees a right to abortion.

I Shudder to Think How the Book is Presented

In Wyoming,  a multiple choice test on Animal Farm includes as one of the choices,  "shooting at Trump."  http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/school-gives-kids-shooting-trump-option-multiple-choice-quiz

Sea Level Falling

NASA's chart of sea levels show a very small drop in sea level since 2015.  Not huge, but the panic about warming flooding us out seems to be questionable.

And Another Amazon Dropping

I am thinking of starting a retail business called AmazonDroppings.com.

You May Possess But Not Buy Them

TEIXEIRA v. County of Alameda (9th Cir. 2017).  En banc decision overturning a previous ruling that the Second Amendment protects the right of gun stores to sell guns.  While admitting that the Second Amendment protects a right to possess guns, they claim no right to sell them or buy them.  Shall Not Be Questioned points out:

That’s like arguing for freedom of the press, but it’s illegal for anyone to sell presses. 

Or the right to have porn in your home, while making sale or purchase illegal.  Or the right to be secure in your home, and banning owning or renting a home.  The Supreme Court needs to whack these idiots on the nose.

What impresses me is that racist colonial gun laws are evidence that there is no right to sell guns. Any other racially discriminatory law back then would be an argument against such laws.

When Did West Point Become Stanford?

A tragic letter from a recently retired West Point professor has many horrifying examples:

Even the curriculum itself has suffered. The plebe American History course has been revamped to focus completely on race and on the narrative that America is founded solely on a history of racial oppression. Cadets derisively call it the “I Hate America Course.” Simultaneously, the plebe International History course now focuses on gender to the exclusion of many other important themes. On the other hand, an entire semester of military history was recently deleted from the curriculum (at West Point!). In all courses, the bar has been lowered to the point where it is irrelevant. If a cadet fails a course, the instructor is blamed, so instructors are incentivized to pass everyone. Additionally, instead of responding to cadet failure with an insistence that cadets rise to the challenge and meet the standard, the bar for passing the course itself is simply lowered. This pattern is widespread and pervades every academic department.

Other parts of the letter point to widespread cheating and lowering of standards:

Academic standards are also nonexistent. I believe this trend started approximately ten years ago, and it has continued to get worse. West Point has stated standards for academic expectations and performance, but they are ignored. Cadets routinely fail multiple classes and they are not separated at the end-of-semester Academic Boards. Their professors recommend “Definitely Separate,” but those recommendations are totally disregarded. I recently taught a cadet who failed four classes in one semester (including mine), in addition to several she had failed in previous semesters, and she was retained at the Academy. 

"She": Any guesses why she was retained?  Doubtless many female appointees know what they are doing, but the focus on quotas is a strong incentive to lower standards for members of any group likely to be underrepresented at graduation.

The few remaining members of the staff and faculty who are still trying to hold the line are routinely berated, ignored, and ultimately silenced for their unwillingness to “go along with the program.” The Academy’s senior leaders simply do not want to hear their voices or their concerns. Dissent is crushed-I was repeatedly told to keep quiet at faculty meetings, even as a LTC, because my dissent was neither needed nor appreciated.

LTC=lieutenant colonel.  Gee, I wonder under what president this PCing of West Point started?