Step #1: "Have A Plan"

if someone wants to get into a school to create havoc, they can do it.”

During the last part of my tour in Viet Nam, I was "in the Rear Echelons" (assigned to a base camp) where we paid regular visits to orphanages and Childrens' Hospitals.  I met kids as young as 7 or 8 years old who had been "injured".  Land mines (ours, theirs, whatever) took a terrible toll on children who would pick up a toy, only to have it blow up on them.  I met children missing arms, legs ... and parents.

It didn't matter whether the land mine which had taken their limbs were set by our side or the other side ... usually, the children of Viet Nam were delighted to see us because we brought them  food, fruits, candies and other treats.  It was hard to accept that we were sent on these visitation to "win the hearts and minds" of children who were missing body parts,  and who had terrible battle scars much worse than our friends in the company had suffered from similar war wounds

A seven year old girl with burn scars over her chest from Napalm, but still smiled at us, is enough to make a grown man cry.  And we did ... but not until we left their "safe" compoind.

I've been around the world and I've Seen The Elephant, but after all these years I've not seen worse than this.

I was lucky; I never saw children die. And I hope I never will.

Now ... today ... we have American children suffering the same kind of wounds.

But we have met the enemy, and the enemy is us.

Santa Fe school had a shooting plan, armed officers, and practice. And still 10 people died. – The Denver Post:

They thought they were a hardened target, part of what’s expected today of the American public high school in an age when school shootings occur with alarming frequency. And so a death toll of 10 was a tragic sign of failure and needing to do more, but also a sign, to some, that it could have been much worse. “My first indication is that our policies and procedures worked,” J.R. “Rusty” Norman, president of the school district’s board of trustees, said Saturday, standing exhausted at his front door. “Having said that, the way things are, if someone wants to get into a school to create havoc, they can do it.” 

Is This The New "American Angst"?

Have we become a colony of lab-rats who are so insular that we begin to feed upon our own?

Did we sink so far that we have evolved a National Paranoia which inevitably requires us to self-destruct?

I know that any society has its portion of insane people who are so far out of sync with 'normality' that they are not bothered by enjoy wreaking havoc on their neighbors.  Call them Schizophrenic, call them paranoidal, call them crazy ... they exist in any societal group sufficiently large to support  non-productive members.

All I know is that we have an emerging sub-class of people who feel no obligation to support the well-being of Society,  and they are running wild in America.    Their politics don't matter; whether or not they support the Second Amendment doesn't matter.  They will use any weapon, any societal meme, any trick of rhetoric to undermine American society/values/peace.

They have always been here, but today they are given free reign to use our "Acceptance" to attack the  rest of the rats.

We are the rats, and we are under attack.

What are we going to do about it?

Putting a "Brave Face" on Mayhem

It's Chi-Town.

Violence leaves about 60 shot, 8 of them dead, for July 4th weekend - Chicago Tribune:

"The important thing to me is at this point we've had 230 (fewer) people shot this year," First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro said Friday. "I think that's a start, definitely. But every time we have one less person shot, that's a win for us."

If that's "The Important Thing", Chicago, why don't you go after criminals who use guns in the commission of a crime?  Instead, you go after honest citizens who have a firearm to defend themselves, their families, and their homes.

There are few risks to a career criminal in illegally carrying a gun where only Bad People carry guns.   Illinois in general, and Chicago in particular, need to re-evaluate their policy vis-a-vis gun control.

If you want to get guns off the street, prosecute every crime which involves a firearm.   Not the people with no record .. the felon who is caught in the act.

It's a "rider" if you're convicted of a felony while in possession of a gun.

But everyone knows that the "rider" (extra penalty of imprisonment) is the first thing that is on the table when a District Attorney is negotiating with a defense attorney.  The State is too often willing to waive the added crime of firearms possession by a felon if the defense attorney is willing to plead guilty to the original offense.

Stop doing that!

If firearms are a danger to society ... apply your limited resources to prosecuting crimes with a firearm.   Spend less time prosecuting pick-pockets, and more times getting the guns off your streets

When you give away the "enhancement" of "felony with a firearm", you undermine your only way to discourage the use of a firearm in a felony.

What's more important? Convicting a robber of a mugging, or getting guns out of the hands of felons?

Instead, you add laws to prosecute honest citizens who have a firearm.  What could be more illogical?

Tough Love?

It's not easy to get inside the mind of a man who is so consumed with hate, and I'm not going to try.

I'm just glad I'm not "That Guy".

Trinity College Professor on Congressional Baseball Shooting: 'Let Them F*cking Die' - Breitbart:

A professor at Trinity College wrote that the first responders to last week’s congressional shooting that nearly took Rep. Steve Scalise’s life should have let him and others die because they are white.

Hillary an Alcoholic???

Secret Service Detail: Hillary Clinton Was Drunk Morning of Campaign Rally | True Pundit:
(Posted on October 31, 2016)

Hillary Clinton had been drinking vodka the morning of a New Jersey campaign rally and was “visibly intoxicated,” a law enforcement source told True Pundit. “She’d been hitting it (alcohol) early,” one member of Clinton’s Secret Service security detail told True Pundit. Amazingly, the source acknowledged it wasn’t the first time Clinton enjoyed multiple cocktails prior to taking the stage at a campaign rally, fundraiser, or television appearance.

See, it's crap like this which makes us think that somewhere, some "pundit" is casting aspersions against a candidate for political purposes.

I hadn't seen any of the webposts which supported this charge until today, and it didn't make any difference to my vote back in November:  Hillary is a lying shrew, and nobody blames her husband quite so much for his can't-keep-it-in-his-pants ways now that we've got to know Hillary a bit better.

Sure, I think that Hillary is a lying, conniving manipulator who would say anything to gain a high office ... but I'm trying to think of another politician on the national level who doesn't also fit the mold.

(The short list is VERY SHORT!  I'm thinking a General who was responsible for the European Theater of Operations in WWII ... and he was not exactly a competent President even if he was our first American president to demand that we put a 5 pound satellite into orbit.   Post-Sputnik joke at the time:  "Why can't Eisenhower ride his horse at night?  He doesn't have a Saddle-light!"  But .. Integration, Civil Rights, Highways, Budget .. Korea!)
Sorry .. I digress in favor of one of few presidents I admire.

And of course, Hillary is married to Bill ... any woman who puts up with that pusillanimous p*ssy-hound has either a heart of gold, or she wants "Higher Office" so desperately that she is willing to put up with anything to further her political aspirations.

It's obvious to most oblivious that Hillary is not the fortunate possessor of a "Heart Of Gold".

And I would not be disappointed if she disappeared from the political fold forever.

But is she an alcoholic?

Hell, I don't know,  I'm the LAST person to ask.

Still,  on  9.11.16 when Hillary stumbles and had to be helped to her car, the explanation was both "allergies" and "Pneumonia", as well as "Dehydration".

No, I'm not persuaded by three contrasting medical explanations, advanced by "experts" within hours, not days, of her "Stumble" episode.   The comments (by people who have probably never evaluated her physical condition her in the examining room) are not convincing.   Surely, a politician would not have a personal physician who couldn't keep his mouth shut in a politically charged "event".

When that many people are eager to explain away what would have been a mere "stumble" in the average citizen ... I'm not persuaded, but I'm still unconvinced.

You tell me which is the most denigrating explanation, versus the most reasonable.   Hillary's political opponents are quick to offer unqualified opinions.   Her supporters provide so many alternative explanations, it muddies the field.

I'm still waiting for a reliable first-party (independent attending physician?) who is willing to go on the record to provide a definitive explanation for that momentary lapse in coordination,

Anybody?

Nope.  Not going to happen.  We still are left with no better explanation than our own private political opinion, and that's perhaps not the best way to judge the physical competency of a political candidate.

My personal opinion is not worth the paper it's not written upon.

Bottle Control

N.Y. liquor store owner beaten to death with wine bottle in heist - NY Daily News:

A Rochester liquor store owner was beaten to death with a wine bottle during a heist that occurred inside her shop, police say. Mother-of-three Charlotte Lahr, 46, was found lying unconscious inside South Ave. Wine and Liquor Thursday when a customer called for help to the scene. Authorities’ efforts to revive the woman were unsuccessful. Local parolee Kevin Quander, 59, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and robbery the next day, thanks to surveillance footage of the crime and fingerprints that investigators were able to retrieve from the scene.

The problem isn't Gun Violence.

It's Violence.

This tragedy didn't have to happen.   You have to be desperate, or an idiot (or both) to commit such a heinous crime.

The Snake

Why do gun purchases spike after mass shootings? - CNN.com:

"the world seems to suddenly be a more violent and disturbing place than people thought," said public health expert David Studdert, a professor of law and medicine at Stanford University.

Here's a thought:  the world has always been a "violent and disturbing place", even in our fantasy literature.

Here's another thought:    We are potentially importing violence. We are making ourselves more vulnerable, but in our naivete' we refuse to protect our core values.

 Peter Pan, Eliot Ness and Superman

We have iconic "defenders" in our culture,  We like to think that, when the going gets tough, someone will magically appear from the background to defend us.

The rest of us don't have super powers, we're not bullet-proof, We don't have a pixie sidekick.

But we still have pirates, REAL Pirates. Even "Land Pirates".   They use guns, and violent intimidation of their victims is their stock in trade.   The potential for violence has been firmly grounded in our American culture since the Revolution of 1776.

Who you gonna call?  Ghostbusters?
They don't exist.

Are you going to call the police?
They have no legal obligation to protect you against violence.  It's in the book; look it up.

When people are newly awakened (again!) to the fact that Bad People Exist, and they live on your block, people tend to look around for someone to protect them; and they find ... nobody home.

Eventually some folks realize that the person responsible for your own personal protection is...
... yourself.

People are beginning to arm themselves, to learn the techniques of self-defense, and to carry a gun.  Because there's nobody out there to rescue you.  There's only yourself.

 Nobody else.


ON A NATIONAL SCALE:

Now the main-stream media have roused themselves just enough to bemoan the "fact" that the world is becoming a more dangerous place.   They haven't figured out that it has always been dangerous, and is becoming more violent .... because of liberals!

In this "Kinder, Gentler" World, we accept into our community people from a much more violent culture; from countries where racial, religious and economic paradigms are much different from our "kinder, gentler" society.   (Although, in many ways, Americans are neither "kinder", not "Gentler".)

We expect immigrants to immediately understand that the societal "norms" are different in their new home.

But they don't assimilate; they bring their hatreds and their violence with them.

Germany is learning that lesson today, because in their Gestalt of Guilt the Germans offer themselves as sacrificial lambs; and they are confused when their new neighbors not only refuse to accept their Angst, but take advantage of the naivete they find in their new home.  They accept the sanctuary, but they do not accept the culture:

Sexual violence in Germany has reached epidemic proportions since Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed into the country more than one million mostly male migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.(link above)

Obviously, the new citizens in Germany are not willingly "assimilating".   And why should they?.

Their new hosts are being nice, they are welcoming their 'new neighbors' with open arms.  The German People provide refuge, sustenance, comfort and acceptance to these people who so need a new home.


Bah!

They/we could learn from Al Wilson:

The NRA Admits: "Water is Wet"

Guess what?

One of the most murderous cities in America is Chicago.

And the reason?

Chicago has more than it's fair share of young black men who are disadvantaged.
(Translation:  they can't find a job, so they turn to crime.  DUH!)


America's 1st Freedom | Who Can—And Who Can’t—Solve Chicago’s Murder Problem:

 The bonds of trust between law enforcement and high-crime communities in Chicago have been battered, and in some cases shattered, over the last few years. These are two groups that must work together in order to drive down the shootings, robberies and assaults that plague Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods.

Chicago has a lot of problems, not the least is a high volume of criminal actions.

The answer is simple: find jobs for young men who have "successful criminals" as their role models:

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as it sounds.  These young men have no skills, little education (many of them drop out of school in their teens

I've written about "The Gun Problem In Chicago" so many times, it's not worth working my way through it again.  But the good thing is, this article is paying attention to the REAL PROBLEM in Ciraq.

It's not the guns.

It's the society.

Poverty, unstable home life, promiscuity, single-parent families, welfare, and children raised with no hope for a better future than the drug-runner on the corner with the nice car and 15-year-old hookers.

Sharks!

FBI Obtains Warrant for Newly Discovered Emails in Clinton Probe — as Reid Accuses Comey of Hatch Act Violation - NBC News:

The FBI obtained a warrant to search emails related to the probe of Hillary Clinton's private server that were discovered on ex-congressman Anthony Weiner's laptop, law enforcement officials confirmed Sunday.

You got to swing to the left, swing to the right, because you're the only girl in town!
Like your husband said, it all depends on what the meaning of "IS", is.

No, I never understood what that meant, any more than you probably do.  But the Hillary-Beast has once again found herself with her tits in the wringer.  And she brought it on herself when she demanded that the FBI re-think its  earlier (soft pedalled) determination/re-evaluation of the Clinton Emails.

Turns out, it wasn't as bad as they said.

It's worse.

Don't go there, Hillary.  The sharks are in the water, and they smell blood.

That it wasn't a 'Battle' ... That was the Point

That Time the NRA Tied the Tiananmen Square Massacre to American Gun Rights - The Trace:

 Andrew J. Nathan, a political science professor at Columbia University, tells The Trace that if the Chinese students had handguns at Tiananmen Square, “the result would have been an even worse disaster than what occurred. The students were outmanned by huge numbers” — an estimated 10,000 troops — ”and there is no way that, even armed, they could have won that battle.”

The egrigious comments made at the "The Trace" website demonstrate how far The Left is from understanding the underlying character of the American Citizenry.

In 1989, citizens in Communist China rallied by the thousands to protest against governmental controls on their (non-existent) political rights     There were thousands of unarmed (by fiat) citizens; there were thousands of armed troops, along with tanks, sent by the government to put down a 'riot' by 'hooligans'.

Not a protest by citizens, but a "riot by hooligans".

There never was a battle; nor was a battle planned by the protesters.

Instead, there was a massacre by armed government, with tanks and mortars to back them up, against their own citizens.

Think about that.


ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Today in America ...

... free citizens demand their First Amendment Constitutional Rights to protest, to assemble, to speak; and they are not machine-gunned by federal troops because of one of the Constitutional Rights which has received a lot of bad press in the past few decades:  the Second Amendment.

Yes, the Chinese in Tienanmen Square would have still been massacred; against tanks, and massed troops with fully automatic weapons, any citizen who tried to fire upon the Government Troops would have been shot down, or crushed by tanks.

Which, by the way, was exactly what happened.   But what if those unarmed citizens had been armed?

They would still have been machine-gunned, still have been crushed by the treads of tanks, and the "rebellion" would still have been crushed along with their bodies.

... but in America there is a constitutional right to be armed.   And as bad as the Chinese devastation of their own people was, an American devastation would not be entirely one-sided.

That would result in more than a highly publicized protest; that would result in a Civil War.  One which was not sparked by regional differences, or a demand to Secession  as our own Civil War was.

This would have been clearly understood as a People demanding their right against a Totalitarian, Tyrannical government ... and  it would have resulted in blood being shed on both sides.  It wouldn't been 10,000 troops against unarmed civilians.  It would have resulted in many, many deaths on both sides.  American troops are reluctant to fire on unarmed civilians, but they are more reluctant to fire on armed civilians who are protesting their rights.

OREGON:

Earlier this year we witnessed an attempted protest by ranchers in my home state.  It wasn't settled by the murder of hundreds of protesters; it was settled by the murder of a single leader of the protest.

(And aren't we SO much more 'civilized' than the Red Chinese?)

WAS this a murder?   It was a protest, not a battle.   One can't help but wonder how Andrew J. Nathan, a political science professor at Columbia University might have compared it to Tienanmen Square.

The only difference between China and the current administration in America is that the Chinese government is at least open in it's thuggery; the current administration in America is more .....
,,, selective.

It's nice to live in a civilized society, isn't it?

My Daughter’s Teacher Did Her Hair! Who does she think she is?

It Happened To Me: My Daughter’s Teacher Did Her Hair | MadameNoire:

Thursday afternoon, like every day I went to pick up my daughter from her school playground. As she ran toward me, all I could do was mouth to myself was, WTF!? Seeing my reaction her teacher scurred behind her, quickly offering an exonerating explanation as to why my daughter didn’t look the way she did only a few hours earlier. “I did her hair, I hope you don’t mind?! She said she was hot.” I was furious. My blood was boiling, and there were no nice words I could find. I offered a limp smile, and could barely utter, “it’s fine.” I was fuming. My daughter’s hair had been brushed, with whose brush? I couldn’t tell you, parted, and braided in plaits, and embellished with rubber bands and barrettes, out of the teachers own supply.

(H/T)

I can't comment on this article without I check my "White Privilege" to perform a kind service for a child who as been left in my care by a mother who just hasn't the time to tend to her own daughter.

Bummer, Dudette.  And I suspect that this was a bogus story, because .. WTF???

If not ... I was once married to a woman who was quick to take offense.
It had a "Bad Ending"!

(H/T)