Home front – killing people in the big urban areas

Posted on 2013-08-04 by TPOL Nathan

Home front – Killing people
L.A., Chicago hold nation’s top slots — for murder: Report
(Washington Times)  Los Angeles leads the nation in the number of gun murders, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The overall number of gun murders among the United States’ 50 most-populous metropolitan areas for 2009-2010, the most recent years for available data, are as follows:

1. Los Angeles: 1,141
2. Chicago: 1,139
3. New York: 1,101
4. Philadelphia: 729
5. Houston: 701

Mama’s Note: Typical newspeak. No criminals were involved in the “gun murders,” evidently, or the young folks “killed by guns.” Where do they get all these self shooting guns anyway?

Nathan: The Wizard provides them, I think.  Remember, the CDC (as good minions to the “messiah”) and the mainstream media both promote the idea that guns are inherently deadly, like botulism toxin or hydrogen sulfide. Worse the staffers in both are victims of their own fearmongering.  Of course, since this is the Times and not the Post, there is probably another reason: incompetence and lack of training and experience:  The Times is usually more balanced, but they still use the same journalism schools as the Mainstream Media. In this case, the underperforming writer seems to have taken the CDC press release and didn’t bother to do much with it (as usual).

Mama: Houston being fifth was a little surprise. I figured it would be New Orleans.

Nathan: Of course, after Katrina, a LOT of the thugs which N’Orleans has been inflicted with since Butler ruled the city went to Houston, so maybe that is why.  Of course, Houston is also a LOT bigger than modern N’Oleans.  As you found, the death rate is much lower for Houston.

Mama: What they don’t say in the article is how this was counted. The sheer number is misleading, since these places all have a large population. How many per 100,000? How many criminal on criminal? Are they counting the justifiable self defense homicides? Those are the kind of facts that make the numbers mean something, and I worry that their definition of “murder” is a little too fluid.

Nathan: As are numbers which show deaths other than “gun murders” – like knife stabbings and hit-and-run and such.  But those distract from the message AND would only be done by someone who is NOT incompetent.  And as even old, liberal, press retirees are willing to admit, the current crops of reporters and writers are unbelievably stupid and lacking in many traits normally associated with basic literacy.

The actual report does give the rate per 100,000. Interestingly:
New Orleans – 2009–2010 -449 (total) 19 (rate)
Chicago – 2009 – 2010 – 1,139 (total) 6.0 (rate)
Denver –  2009 – 2010 – 117 (total) 23 (rate)

Mama: The murder RATE is far higher in Denver than in Chicago, but the demographics are totally different too. Correlation is not causation.

Nathan: The major reason is definitely demographic.  Both Chicago and Denver are the core cities and have most (not all) of the inner city zones where murder is common.  But the City of Chicago has 5.2 million of  the 9.5 million people in Chicagoland (Greater Chicago) (60% or so), whereas the City and County of Denver has just 620 thousand of 2.6 million people in Metro Denver (not even 30%).  Looking at it that way, the Denver rate is well under the Chicago rate.

CNS News reports: “The Los Angeles, Chicago and New York metropolitan areas also ranked one, two and three for the number of young people, ages 10-19, who were killed by guns in 2009-2010, with 251 10-19 year olds being gunned down in Los Angeles, 213 in Chicago and 203 in New York.”

Nathan: Again, since these are the three largest cities and metroplexes in the United States, it is natural to have this the case, but note that Chicago is second in dead “children” while it is third in population.  And by a big margin; according to Wikipedia, Greater New York has 20 million, Ellay has 13 million, and Chicagoland has only 9.5 million.  The simple answer (for the media and the establishment, at least) is that New York is “civilized” whereas Chicago is ruled by mobsters, and LA is just psycho.  Of course, maybe it is just that Chicago children can duck more quickly.  Not that an 18 or 19 year old is a “child” anyway.  Again, the CDC picks the stats to push their agenda.

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Government terrorism: the animal “welfare” excuse

Posted on 2013-08-03 by TPOL Nathan

Stupid government – terrorism
Wisconsin: SWAT team gets baby deer
(World Net Daily) “It was like a SWAT team. Nine DNR agents and four deputy sheriffs, and they were all armed to the teeth,” animal shelter employee Ray Schulze told WISN-TV. Two weeks ago, Schulze was working in the barn at the Society of St. Francis in Kenosha, Wis., when a swarm of squad cars screeched up and officers scrambled onto the property with a search warrant. Were they hunting down an armed robber or escaped prisoner? Conducting a drug raid? Incredibly, they were gunning for a 2-week-old baby fawn.

Nathan: Thanks to Scott for this one; I’d heard the story but hadn’t found a link.  The picture below shows A face of evil in 21st Century America: a callous, powermad woman who KNOWS that she is right and everyone else is wrong, and who will do her “duty” in as thuggish a way as possible.  Unfortunately, she has LOTS of thugs to do her dirty work: state-sponsored terrorism.  Sadly, this is what Claire’s SSS: Shoot, shovel, and shut-up, is all about:  but if you are running an animal shelter, you don’t expect to have to defend yourself against an armed invasion.  One other thought:  vile as this woman and her crew are, there is a special place in Hell for the “do-gooders” who ratted out the shelter.  They apparently have nothing better to do with their time:  may they spend an eternity being tortured by the likes of these thirteen business-invaders!

The woman who ordered the invasion

It is her kind that give a bad name to the 1 to 2 percent of game wardens who do a good job of managing wildlife and protecting the public.  The face of evil all too often has a smile, and loves small children (and sometimes, although not in this case, apparently, small animals). We must not be deceived.  Evil finds a natural home in government, especially in agencies like the “environmental protection” and “wildlife” divisions or operations, where their perversions and sense of power can be easily fed.  It is like the attraction of pyromaniacs to the fire service, except that this is NOT a healthy sublimation of their character “twists” – since fire crews seldom have the opportunity to abuse and tyrannize humans the way wardens and “environmental inspectors” do.  Other forms of this evil can be found in PETA (People for Ethical [sic] Treatment of Animals) and the Dumb Friends League and too much of the ASPCA.

This isn’t about the animal as much as it is about the people:  the animal (and its senseless, brutal killing) was and is an excuse for Niemeyer and the local sheriff to brutalize and tyrannize people: in this case the volunteers and the family that was concerned about an animal.  This incident also shows the “militarization” of the former peace officers of this nation.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-30F: Government dirty tricks

Posted on 2013-08-03 by TPOL Nathan

This week is a nightmare for the formerly united States of America, at least by standards of the last fifty years: by standards of the next fifty, we will no doubt think of these as the good old days.  Government and society and economy are all grinding slower and slower, and much is coming to a halt: except for the power of the courts, the military we jokingly call the police and law enforcement, and the Neronian court at 1600 PA.  Here are some comments on a few of the stories in the last 24 hours or so.

Self-defense – Government-ruined, theft-funded schools
Arkansas school district’s plan to arm teachers ruled illegal
(NBC News) A controversial program to arm teachers and school staff members in an Arkansas town was shot down Thursday as illegal under state law.

Mama’s Note: Wish I could write to these people and remind them of the real and lasting answer to this problem… get the children OUT of the “public schools” altogether.

Nathan: More and more, the various legislatures and courts are hemming in people:  I would fully expect this school to go ahead and violate the law – or (as we both hope) secede from the public school machine and go private.  These people seem to be serious. Serious enough to give up public welfare.

Stupid scientists – New religions: global warming
Rise in violence ‘linked to climate change’
(BBC News)

Mama’s Note: Whatever happened to everything being Bush’s fault? Naturally, the weather affects people… in all sorts of ways. I was out in 100 – 120 degree heat occasionally for many, many years and never once considered doing violence. And I don’t know anyone else there who did.  Violence usually has a personal motive, and environmental factors can influence behavior, but I seriously doubt it’s much more than coincidental.

Nathan: No, of course it couldn’t be coincidental!  We all know that violence is NOT caused by a lack of morality (or moral teaching), is NOT caused by following the example of their “betters” and “peers” and “leaders” who use violence in every possible way, and is NOT caused by years or decades or centuries of being taught hatred and “might makes right.”  Seriously, these people are grabbing at anything to justify global warming as an excuse for tyranny.

Stupid people – Political correctness
WA: Seattle idiot pols call for ban on “potentially offensive” language
(Fox News) “Government workers in the city of Seattle have been advised that the terms ‘citizen’ and ‘brown bag’ are potentially offensive and may no longer be used in official documents and discussions. KOMO-TV reports that the city’s Office of Civil Rights instructed city workers in a recent internal memo to avoid using the words because some may find them offensive. ‘Luckily, we’ve got options,’ Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo obtained by the station. ‘For ‘citizens,’ how about ‘residents?”” (08/02/13)

Nathan: Now, why would the word “citizen” be offensive?  “Citizen” is and has been a proud title for people to claim, all the way back to Roman times.  Although libertarians may dispute this word, that is clearly not the reason for the Office of Civil Rights to do so.  Is it, just maybe, because border jumpers and even – gasp – legal residents (with green cards, ya know?) are not “Citizens” and so it “demeans” them to be “non-Citizens” in official documents.  Frankly, I find the word “resident” offensive because it disregards the importance and honor of citizenship – why don’t they just go ahead and use more honest terms like “inmate” or “subject” or “slave of the state.”  This applies to anyone stupid enough or unfortunate enough to have to live in Seattle.  As for “brown bag” – the only reason I can think that would be “offensive” is because (“obviously”) only poor people have to bring their lunch to work or school and can’t afford a fancy lunch box.  I wonder what Sonic is going to do (assuming there any in Seattle: they might be too plebian for the elites of that city).

Mama’s Note: I remember going to school in 1955 with my lunch sandwich tied in a large (reusable, washable) handkerchief because both paper bags and lunch boxes were too expensive. Offensive? Why in the world should I have cared? Oh, and we didn’t know we were “poor.”

The Abominable Act – Congress in action
Congress to be exempted from ObamaCare
(Market Watch) The White House has approved a deal that will create a regulatory fix for members of Congress and their staff related to some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, according to media reports. Under the law… lawmakers and their aides were required to source health insurance “created” by the law or offered through one of its exchanges; and without the subsidies they currently have, the members of Congress would have faced thousands of dollars in additional premium payments each year… However, the Office of Personnel Management now plans to rule that the government can continue to make a contribution to the health-care premiums of the lawmakers and their staff, according to unnamed congressional sources and a White House official.

Debby: Well, we knew that was coming.

Nathan: Yes, but so blatantly?  This shows the kind of scum we have serving in Congress, and the incredible lowlifes that work for them.  It is not like Congress’s members don’t get a very handsome salary – one that has no mandatory furloughs and includes exceptionally generous pension and employee expense benefits, while allowing them to rake in money from the outside in stupendous amounts.  But no, they must have their cake and eat it, too, all at the expense of the taxpayers and businesses and customers who support the 1,000-pound albatross hanging around their necks.

Crash of 2009 – Scummy government lies (3 stories)
July: 988,000 ‘Discouraged’ Americans Concluded There Were No Jobs for Them
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: While we are told that the recovery is progressing and jobless rates are down, THIS bit of data explains why: more and more people giving up trying to work, instead staying on the dole or going underground.  Not least of which are the minorities, as the next story relates.

Unemployment Climbs to 9.4% Among Hispanics; Double What It Was 7 Years Ago; Never Below 9.0% Under Obama
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: It isn’t just Hispanics, of course: blacks, AmerInd, and so forth expose the lie that the economy is improving.  Wall Street is up?  Well, look at inflation; even though gold and silver prices are down or stable, try buying what you need at the store or the gas station and compare to 2009 or even 2012.  good luck!  We can find the lies in this next “story” (actually a piece of propaganda published by the FedGov).

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION—JULY 2013 – Bureau of Labor …
(PDF file) In July, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.) Among the marginally attached, there were 988,000 discouraged workers in July, up by 136,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in July had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Nathan: Don’t you LOVE the way they can tap dance around the truth?  And this doesn’t point out that black youth unemployment is over 40 percent.  Nor that employment on reservations is DROPPING like a stone, as more and more businesses go under.  And it doesn’t take into account dirty tricks like furloughing “civilian” National Guard and Reserve Technicians for 11 weeks – a 20% cut in their pay and benefits (although at least they will still have SOME income, as these technicians are also drill-attending members of the National Guard and various military Reserve, and will get paid for the four-hour drill they will still serve each week they are furloughed).  Meanwhile, the spending by DC keeps going up and up and up.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-30E: Scummy government extreme

Posted on 2013-08-02 by TPOL Nathan

Once, years ago, I ran into a very obnoxious Sergeant Major (not my own unit’s but another unit which I was working with).  When I addressed him as “Top” (as in “Top Soldier,” a common familiar address by officers to the senior NCO in a unit), he was very upset:  “Scum,” he told me, “rises to the top.  Don’t call me that.”  Of course, I didn’t – he was obnoxious but he was competent and had his act together: if it bothered him, I would certainly be willing to avoid that term of familiarity.  We got along fine after that.

But his statement is true: scum DOES rise to the top of a waste water tank or septic tank or sewage lagoon.  And the world’s biggest and richest sewage lagoon in the second decade of the Twenty-first Century is located in the District of Criminals and (thanks to people like the late Robert KKK Byrd) about 100 miles around it.  And the scum DOES rise to the top, and has for decades.  Elected, appointed, military, civilian: don’t breath too deeply, or you will truly be sick to your stomach.  Maybe today’s stories aren’t the worst smelling, but they show the point.

Abominable Act – Scummy government
Liberal Activist: ‘Thousands of People Will Die Every Year’ Under Obamacare
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: But is that not one of the key objectives of the Abominable Act (I mean, after trashing the economy and giving government almost total power over a major sector of the economy)?  People, there IS an alternative to government paying for or providing health care:  letting people VOLUNTARILY buy and provide health services, in a FREE MARKET.  Even then, guess what – PEOPLE WILL DIE.  We ALL will die, sooner or later.  But by having this kind of evil ObummerCare regime, we will just die poorer, more quickly, and in more misery.

Stupid government – Theft by government
EPA to Spend $6 Million for ‘Sustainable and Healthy Tribes’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Never mind that the Indian Health Service, another government agency, has been “responsible” for the health (public and private) of the tribes for a century plus.  Obviously, the EPA doesn’t even consider other federal government agencies to be competent: they want to do it all.  And as you’d expect, they will prove to be as incompetent in this as in other things, and as other agencies are.

Congress in Action – Theft by government
Rubio: If Obama Vetoes CR, Blame Him for Resulting Government Shutdown
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This is FAR too sensible a thought to have originated with ANY member of Congress, especially with a Republican.  How can they again be the fall guy for the “messiah” if they actually do this?  And will their words of blame be heard over the noise of their kissing his shoes on everything else? Of course, we know this will NOT happen: the GOP will cave as usual, the government will continue to operate illegally, and the money will continue to be stolen and wasted.  No change, right?

The “messiah” – Stupid government
Obama: ‘Economy Would Be Much Better Off’ With More Government Workers
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Ah, the useful idiot of all the wrong people shoots his mouth off again: getting to be more like his chief minion (you know, Uncle Joe) all the time.  It is so insane that so many people believe this sort of garbage, either because they are too stupid to understand or because they are so enamored of this evil monster.  Anyone recall Jim Jones?  At least he was a private-sector loonie, unlike what we have in DC these days.

War on some drugs – Scummy government
Wildlife Biologists: Illegal Pot Farms Wreaking Havoc on Endangered Species
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: One more reason to end the war on some drugs, is it not?  One more reason to wake up to the fact that government does NOTHING well except tyrannize and terrorize people.  Of course, with the scummy government we have today, this is just an excuse to crank up the war on some drugs even more – it’s for the flora and the fauna, after all.

Islamic wars: Thugocracy – War on religion
Harsh ‘Blasphemy’ Sentence as Saudi Arabia Continues to Evade US Religious Freedom Sanctions
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: when will people understand that the ONLY reason that the FedGov imposes “religious freedom sanction” is when it is an avowed enemy and NOT a false friendly nation like Saudi Arabia, run by a gang of thieves and slavers and religious fanatics, that is doing the “religious abuse.”  The Saudis KNOW that they control enough that the US has to dance to their tune on all but the most critical of matters.  Especially when they have a useful idiot like the “messiah” in office.  There is more similarity between the FedGov and the Saudi regime than most people can imagine or are willing to believe.

Home front – Congress in action
Sen. Cardin: ‘But For Racial Profiling…Trayvon Martin Would Be Alive Today’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This democrat from Maryland does not seem to agree with the Martin family attorney or reality.  Betcha he gets brownie points from his black constituents for speaking nonsense?  Martin isn’t dead because he was “racially profiled,” he is dead because he attacked a man who was armed and able to defend himself.  But that doesn’t matter to our Conscript Fathers these days.  Scummy is as scummy does:  any excuse to pander to the extremists and parasites.

War on some drugs
Uruguay: MPs back marijuana legalization bill
(BBC News)”Members of Uruguay’s House of Representatives have passed a bill to legalise marijuana. If it goes on to be approved by the Senate, Uruguay will become the first country to regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana. The measure is backed by the government of President Jose Mujica, who says it will remove profits from drug dealers and divert users from harder drugs. Under the bill, only the government would be allowed to sell marijuana.” [FND editor’s note: Half a loaf then; but still a good sign! – SAT] (08/01/13)

Nathan: Good news, sort of, but hardly accurate.  First, if I am recalling correctly, it would be the FOURTH country to do so; the Dutch (Netherlands) did it years ago, and Washington State and Colorado did it last year.  Secondly, even the Tranzi thugs in Colorado’s General Assembly and Washington’s legislature didn’t try and make it a government monopoly.  “Half a loaf,” really?  Maybe a couple of slices.  I wonder just how Uruguay will deal with the UN and the American FedGov if this DOES pass?

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-30D: Lies and more lies

Posted on 2013-08-02 by TPOL Nathan

Lies and more lies
The Government “Revises” 84 Years Of Economic History This Week
(Zero Hedge) Don’t like how high debt-to-GDP figures are? Revise ’em. Unhappy at the post-‘recovery’ growth rates? Revise ’em. Disappointed at the pace of economic improvement in the last decade or two compared to the rest of the world? Revise ’em. This week “we are essentially rewriting economic history” as the BEA is set to revise GDP data from as far back as 1929. The ‘adjustments’ to account for intangibles (that best known of micro- accounting fudge factors) and as we noted previously in great detail, will increase GDP by around $500 billion. Of course, these changes are defended aggressively (just as the hedonic adjustments to inflation calculations ‘make perfect sense’) as GDP will now reflect spending on research, development, and copyrights as investment – and reflect pension deficits for the first time (think of all that potential future GDP from massive pension deficits now). With Q2 GDP growth estimates set for a dismal 1.1%, expectations are for the short-term economic data to be revised upwards (and with any luck the great recession never happened at all).

Mama’s Note: Just in case you had any lingering trust in government studies, reports, or functions…

Nathan: The growing incompetence of government at ANY level is frighteningly obvious.  They seem to have gotten so arrogant that the various managers and administrators and politicians think that people will believe anything.  L. Frank Baum had it right, with his portrayal of the “Wizard” – or should we say “Forecast” instead?  The next story shows that even with the tinkering with history and facts, they STILL identify this period as an economic disaster.

The “messiah” – Crash of 2009
1%: Average Annual Economic Growth Under Obama
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: So?  The “messiah” and anyone else sitting in the White House cannot make the economy GOOD, they can only make it BAD.  Especially when that seems to be the goal: to push us into crisis, to make more and more people dependent on the government for everything, to destroy families and communities and businesses.  I am sure that the Tranzis are as disappointed in this as conservatives are, because the Tranzis would hope (as in Europe) for a decline in the economy. And seriously, I cannot and do not believe this number in any way: the economy has contracted nationally, over the past four-plus years in this “recession” and the administration and government agencies have made up and changed and twisted numbers to try and pretend otherwise.  With VERY few exceptions (like North Dakota), things are MUCH worse off than five years ago.  And it is this administration and the FedGov that deserves blame, immediately followed by the PREVIOUS administration.

Mama’s Note: What most people seem to ignore or fail to see is that no measure of “growth” is necessarily an indication of HEALTH for either a living being or an economy. Cancers GROW, and grow fast, but that does not mean the body is healthy. Government theft, coercion, regulation and control are all serious and obvious signals that the body of our society is suffering from a terrible cancer, and that the condition will be terminal if there is no radical surgery soon.

Stupid politicians – World wide
Japanese Finance Minister angers more people
(The Diplomat) Taro Aso has done it again. This time, the terminally gaffe-prone deputy prime minister has invoked the ire of a New York City-based Jewish human rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, after suggesting that Japan could learn a thing or two from Nazi Germany when it comes constitutional reform. “First, mass media started to make noises about Japan’s proposed reforms, and then China and South Korea followed suit,” Aso said in a speech at a right-leaning think tank on Monday. “The German Weimar Constitution changed, without being noticed, to the Nazi German constitution. Why don’t we learn from their tactics?”

Nathan: This is like what he said several months ago, as far as outraging people:

“Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government,” finance minister Taro Aso said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. “The problem won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die.” (Emphasis added.)

Aso’s remarks constitute a classic gaffe, defined by journalist Michael Kinsley as a mistake that occurs “when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.” (As befits such a gaffe, Aso was forced to backtrack; outright lying, on the other hand, seldom gets a politician into serious trouble.)

Nathan: Truth accidentally told by a politician, or just callousness?

Mama’s Note: This is an incredibly incoherent statement, unfortunately all too typical of our supposedly highly educated masters. But if I understand what he’s saying, it is the classic error that comes when people believe that if the government doesn’t build the roads, nobody will – or worse, that nobody CAN build them. Same with things like “the poor,” and “national defense,” of course.

Politicians telling the “truth” accidentally? I don’t know about that. They’d have to recognize and understand what was true in order to do that. So far, I’ve seen little sign of that.  Oh, and I wasn’t aware that Vice Pres. Biden had a Japanese brother…

Stupid government
Government Fiddles, Our Nation’s Forests Burn
(TownHall.com) Over the past two decades, timber harvests in the 155 national forests have plunged 80 percent from 12 billion board feet per year in the 1980s to less than 2.4 billion board feet per year, says H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis…

Nathan: The destruction of the nation in a simple and easy-to-understand examination of just a small part.  Timber and lumber come now from Canada and Latin America, because government regulations and the cost of doing business in the US drove domestic producers out of business.  Even in the Black Hills, there are fewer trees cut and fewer and fewer sawmills – from 1990, I’ve seen the industry all but vanish.  It is very difficult for small businesses to get going, and meanwhile, every year, more and more trees burn and are lost completely, except as more air pollution and more damaged areas of our economy.

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Home front: Vicious tyranny and fear

Posted on 2013-08-01 by TPOL Nathan

Three stories came across my desktop in the last 24 hours that share a common theme a lot of people have spoken about.  It is not just the militarization of the police force that we must be aware of and take action against, it is the attitude and the actions of the police and the courts that we must be aware of and change.

That attitude has elements of superiority and paranoia (“us” versus “them”), but increasingly it is an attitude of FEAR on the part of the cops, the court officials, and the politicians for whom they work.  They FEAR the people, each of us from the most elderly to very nearly the youngest.  They fear us individually and they fear us in groups: families, churches, companies, crowds, and mobs.  And their fear drives their actions.  These three stories are perfect examples.

Home front: Vicious tyranny
Arizona Court: Cops can take your guns
(CBS News) A new Arizona court ruling says police can take temporary custody of a person’s gun for officer-safety reasons even if the person’s contact with police was voluntary.

Nathan: “Temporarily” of course.  This in Arizona where they assault the “wrong” house and kill an American Marine defending his family – by letting him bleed to death after they shot him full of lead.  Where cops beat people up because the lights on their bicycle aren’t working.  Where mayors use cops to intimidate their political opponents.  Sure, “temporary.”  Just until you are dead.  Of course, there is a reason that the cops “have” to take your gun, even if you are contacting THEM for “aid” (which is, of course, an increasingly stupid idea): they are afraid that you will hate them and fear them as much as they hate and fear you, and will take advantage of the slightest opportunity to kill them.

Home front: Vicious tyranny
California man claims he was attacked by LA cops for no lights on bike
(CBS Local, Los Angeles) A 34-year-old man is recovering Monday from several injuries he said he sustained from a violent encounter with Los Angeles Police Department officers late last week.

Nathan: The cops came to the scene seemingly loaded for bear: guns drawn, aggressive, hyped with fear and eager to ensure “officer safety” by attacking first.

There may be more to this story, but the photos are pretty gruesome, although we know that LAPD officers are incredibly careful to treat EVERY citizen (and especially EVERY border jumper) with proper respect, courtesy, and kid-gloves. (sarcasm here, folks!)  It appears that the cops aren’t even worrying about offering the slightest justification for viciously attacking anyone; their report was that the contact with this man was a “routine traffic stop” and didn’t even try to claim that he resisted them, talked back to them or anything else.  Of course, the Arizona case above just gives them more of an excuse: everyone knows that people who ride their bikes at night without lights are armed to the teeth (and probably Hells Angels).  And if they hadn’t beat the guy, he might have escaped like the next guy.

Home front: Vicious tyranny
Cops: Escaped Suspect Drives Home With Hands Cuffed Behind Back
(Breitbart, by Jon David Kahn 31 Jul 2013) BURIEN, Wash. – Police say a man in custody on suspicion of driving with a suspended license escaped from Burien District Court on Friday, and the proceeded to drive to his home in Renton with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Mama’s Note: Handcuffed for paperwork? A “suspended license?” Oh brother… I still can’t figure out how he drove that way. But why did he go home? Seems pretty obvious he’s no criminal, but then again, he doesn’t seem too bright either. Clever, I’ll grant you, but not too bright.

What IS it with the handcuffs? The same stupid knee jerk reaction to everything. Tiny children and elderly, even those in a coma… insane. It’s about humiliation and absolute control, not much else.

Nathan: Not only that, but apparently driving with a suspended license (or being suspected of it) now requires that you be taken into CUSTODY?

This ties in with the LAPD brutality.  It IS about control, but I think that humiliation is third because the way that cops are trained/indoctrinated (in POST [“Peace Officer Standards and Training”] and other training) to fear ANYone that they come in contact with.  They are taught and rehearsed to react as though EVERY person that they contact hates them and has both the means and desire to kill or injure them.  Yeah, it doesn’t matter whether it is a “routine traffic” stop or a kid “illegally” selling lemonade or someone whose neighbor complained because their dog pooped in the yard:  in the eyes of a “properly trained” cop, we are ALL vicious, psychopathic would-be homicidal maniacs.  It is the same reason that they want us disarmed.  Yeah, there is a minority (small minority of 49% or so) of cops who get off on humiliating and demeaning anyone that they can get away with humiliating, but the fear justifies the control.

And we are full-circle back to the Arizona case: the judges apparently have the same sort of training and fear that cops do:  every person appearing in front of them, whether accused or witnesses or even plaintiff is assumed to be a vicious evil would-be judge killer. Or cop killer, or both.

In many ways, it is the fear that drives even the militarization of the police:  there is safety in numbers, in the brotherhood of the gang, and of course, armor is a necessary “security blanket.”  They see that (unlike the 1970s) the military are both honored and feared, and therefore, they want the trappings in the hope that they will be honored, and therefore less likely to be targeted by the normal citizens.  Not only that, but they want to and do recruit as many veterans as possible, to get a little of the glow from them – but they also get the instincts honed in Mesopotamia and Afghanistan of treating everyone on the streets as an enemy.  An enemy to be feared.  It feeds on itself.

I don’t know what the solution is – but maybe the Founding Fathers had the answer: a prohibition on standing armies.  What ARE the police today but a standing army?  For every cop that actually does things like protect people and property or solve crimes, there are five or ten that “patrol” – the same thing as in Germany 1945-55 or Mesopotamia 2003-12.  They are an occupation force, and the way occupation forces (usually outnumbered 100 to 1) keep themselves safe is by fearing the population and keeping them under control.

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Free State Wyoming Forum – RIP

Posted on 2013-07-31 by MamaLiberty

[Mama’s Note: The FSW forum is functioning again and the “Mavericks” forum has been taken down permanently.]

The Free State Wyoming forum was “suspended” about a month or more ago, and the members have not been able to contact Boston or discover any reason for the suspension since then.  The original website is still available, but may not be for long.

The Free State Wyoming organization was started some time around 2003 when Boston T Party (Kenneth W. Royce) split from the Free State Project when they elected to go to New Hampshire. Click the link here if you are interested in the back story of the FSW.

After some discussion among the FSW members, it was decided to go ahead and establish another forum, Wyoming Mavericks, independent of FSW and Boston. If the FSW forum is restored at any time, there should be no conflict. We wish Boston well in whatever he’s doing, and hope he finds the very best life has to offer.

The Wyoming Mavericks are not any kind of “organization.” We have no bylaws, meetings, officers, dues or any political agenda for “the country,” though individual members are and have been politically active. We mostly want to live in peace, minding our own business; being good neighbors to all who wish the same. The forum is our meeting place and source for mutual encouragement and assistance, especially for those contemplating moving to a place with greater personal freedom.

The Wyoming Mavericks are very, very grateful to the administrator and members of The Mental Militia for hosting our new forum. We invite you to visit both fora. They are very different, but have similar goals: Individual liberty through voluntary association.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-30C: Martyr to Liberty

Posted on 2013-07-31 by TPOL Nathan

Home front: war on tyranny – Liberty tree
Bradley Manning Cleared Of Aiding Enemy Charge, Still Faces Possible 150 Years In Prison
(Personal Liberty) On Tuesday, a military judge acquitted Pfc. Bradley Manning of the serious charge of aiding the enemy which was levied against the serviceman for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military reports and diplomatic cables to the website Wikileaks.

Nathan: This bird colonel apparently decided that the American people were NOT the enemy – which is a good thing.  On the other hand, she found Manning guilty on 19 of 21 charges. The tree of liberty requires shedding the blood of tyrants and patriots, and the time of fertilizing that tree is closer yet.

Mama’s Note: For an excellent short review of what the outcome should have been, look at Thomas Knapp’s latest blog entry: Bradley Manning: What a Just Verdict Would Have Looked Like.

But, of course, I don’t think it should even pause there. Every single politician, bureaucrat and military big wig needs the same treatment as the “judge” in this case.

Scummy government – Theft by government
70 Straight Days: Treasury Says Debt Stuck at Exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00
(CNSNews.com) On May 17, the day the debt began its long stay at $16,699,396,000,000.00, Treasury Secretary Lew sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner. In the letter, Lew said the Treasury would begin implementing what he called “the standard set of extraordinary measures” that allows the Treasury to continue to borrow and spend money even after it has hit the legal debt limit.

Nathan: Is this a lie or just an evasion, or are they so stupid that when the guy who did the programming quit they can’t figure out what to do?  Or so stupid that they can’t add the numbers up to see that they are IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW?  Of course, that doesn’t matter to the minions of the “messiah,” who is above the law.

The “messiah’s” minions
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew: We’ve ‘Already Done a Lot of Deficit Reduction’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Oh?  Is THAT why the debt clock has been unmoving?  Sounds like a big fat lie to me.  Sounds like this man figures that all Americans are idiots.

Stupid Tranzis
Al Sharpton: ‘Some People Exploiting Differences Between Us for Their Own Advantage’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Wow!  Sharpton is looking in the mirror these days, isn‘t he? Can’t imagine he is being so honest, so maybe his eyesight has gone and he thinks he sees someone else.

Stupid government – World wars
No Gay Diplomats: U.S. and British Promotion of LGBT Rights Abroad Sparks Backlash
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Clearly, the Fedgov is out to offend and insult everyone possible these days, instead of appointing people who will be listened to when they present America’s side of things, which was the original intent of having diplomats.  (Of course, today, American diplomats are little more than little gauleiters who deliver the dictates of DC to foreign countries.)  So we have women appointed to be ambassadors to nations who consider women to be barely human (if that), Jews to Muslim countries, anti-monarchists to kingdoms, and of course, people who despise European civilization to ancient European countries.  As the “most powerful nation in the world” we can enjoy being arrogant idiots.

The “messiah” – Shysters and Conmen
Obama Suggests Only Lawyers Understand the Constitution
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: This reminds me very much of the attitude of Popes and Primates (Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches) in the “old days” when the Bible was a forbidden book for the “laity” to read because it led them to ask unwanted questions and learn things that the powers-that-were did not want them to learn.  For this piece of work to make such a claim does indeed show that his attitude is one of superiority and arrogance.  The problem is, too many politicians of all sides think the same thing; they just don’t say it.

Tranzis – Culture wars: war on the family
Pelosi: Day Care Lets Moms Work ‘Without Carrying Burden of Child Care’
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Like so much else that this woman says, the idea is perverted from reality and what is needed:  these are not “moms” but simply “bearers of children.”  Mothers, moms, are nurturing and do not shuffle off their responsibility.

Mama’s Note: Not to mention that the tax and regulation burdens from government make “employment” a necessity for many women, not an option.

Culture wars: War against free speech – Scummy government
San Antonio Considers Prohibiting City Workers from Expressing Bias Against Bisexuals
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: The City of San Antonio apparently has repealed the First Amendment, and not just for City workers: ANYone that the City does business with, from an appointment to neighborhood volunteer groups to purchases of goods and services, to allowing participating in “stakeholder” groups must all be vetted and if they have ANY evidence of past or current “bias” against ANY racial or sexual or any other kind of protected group, they are prohibited.  Fun, huh?  Especially when people can be attacked constantly for their religious and moral beliefs.

Islamic wars: South Asian front
Pakistani Taliban Springs Hundreds of Prisoners, Kills Shi’ite Inmates
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Funny, the mainstream media didn’t mention anything about killing Shi’a inmates, just all the jailers killed.  Clearly, Talibani commandos are not the US Special Forces, unless “free the captives” includes killing the captives in order to “free” them.  Also clearly, the US should have nothing to do with this pitiful excuse for a 7th Century society and government and nation.

Scummy local government – Theft by government
19 U.S. Cities Have Proportionately Bigger Workforces than Bankrupted Detroit
(WASHINGTON EXAMINER) One of every 28 of San Francisco’s 800,000 residents is on the city payroll…

Nathan: Stupid people, stupid government, evil intentions. Surely does sound like San Francisco to me.  Imagine – of every hundred people you know in SanFran, at least THREE are CITY government employees.  And keep in mind, that there are scads and scads of feral and state employees, and all those special districts (BART, Golden Gate Transit, etc.).

Economy – Scummy government
Minimum Wage Increases Do More Harm Than Good
(Forbes) More than 10 million young people are either unemployed or underemployed…

Nathan: Of course, it is NOT JUST young people, but all the poor and unskilled who are harmed by minimum wages, and for a “mainstream” magazine like Forbes to be willing to admit  this is a very important step in getting the truth out.  Not that the Tranzis will pay any attention.

Theft by government
GAO Report: USDA Subsidizing Dead Farmers
(Personal Liberty)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture paid out more than $32 million in crop insurance and soil and conservation payments to farmers who are dead between 2008 and 2012, according to the findings of a recent Government Accountability Office Report.

Debby: This sounds like what was reported a few years ago, so what we are hearing is that they still don’t have their act together.

Nathan: Surprise, surprise.  What I want to know is, how many of those are (a) corporations and (b) paid to widows or children/heirs who are still farming?  Crop insurance, for example, generally requires there to be a crop which can be insured and last I checked, dead people don’t plant crops – they get planted.  So what do we see? Is it the GAO that is ALSO incompetent?  (By the way, how many cattle guards did the GAO say that USDA should fire as being excess personnel this year?)

Self defense – Government-run, tax-funded schools
Faculty, Staff At Arkansas School To Carry Firearms
(Personal Liberty) More than 20 teachers and administrators at schools in one small Southern town will be concealed-carrying firearms on campus this fall, after the school district in Clarksville, Arkansas, a family-friendly town of about 9,000 people, agreed to train and license certain employees as armed security guards.

Nathan: Oh the screams and more screams of outrage.  Some afternoon newscast will report that these 20 people all went bizango all at once and shot and killed all the children under their care, I’m sure.

Congress in action – Abominable Act
Cruz: End Obamacare Before President’s Delaying Tactic Makes Repeal Impossible
(Personal Liberty) Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is sounding an alarm over President Barack Obama’s real intentions in delaying the tiered implementation of his signature first-term accomplishment – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Nathan: Congressional stupidity is what makes the Abominable Act impossible to repeal.  If there WAS a serious chance of a vetoproof repeal, you KNOW that enough GOP idiots would jump ship, just as they did on the NSA debacle.  They are NOT our representatives, they are our MASTERS – at least in their eyes.  And they are apparently so afraid of what the “messiah” can do to them or their families that they dare not challenge him openly.  These aren’t just Quislings or any other sort of traitor, they are pukingly weak but power-hungry judases.

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Libertarian Commentary on the News, #13-30B: Freedom to and to not

Posted on 2013-07-30 by TPOL Nathan

What is freedom?  What is liberty?  Today, let’s look at just a very few stories and try to remember what it means to be free in this evil modern world.

Tranzis stealing freedom
Dismantling Freedom of Association
(Conservative Action Alerts) During the years before the American Revolution, the British Empire did not allow citizens to assemble in groups in public. The King’s government feared that citizens assembling in groups could lead to the attempt to overthrow the government. William Penn, in 1670, was convicted for public preaching. As the call for independence approached, deeper restrictions on public assembly were enforced, to restrict the colonists from assembling to protest the various Acts passed by Parliament that attempted to tax and control the colonial population….

Senator Ted Cruz says that we are on the doorstep of the government going after preachers for hate-speech if they dare preach in opposition to homosexuality. What if you have a history of attending churches that preach the same? Will you be penalized for daring to associate with such defiant churches? The San Antonio City Council in the State of Texas is working on a proposed change to its nondiscrimination ordinances that will target those who take the Bible at its word and follow it. Any past association with people, groups, or churches that teaches the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality will be punished with a permanent ban on participation in city government, business or employment – because such an association exhibits a “bias” not acceptable to the local government. …

Nathan: The article is alarmist, and well it should be.  The British government did not restrict its controls on assembly and association to the American colonials.  The history of such goes back nearly 400 years before that.  It was aimed at those who did not subscribe first to Roman Catholicism, then from the early 1500s on to those who did not accept Anglicanism and the Monarchy and then Parliament (starting about 1640).  Those who met illegally were hunted, arrested, jailed, tortured, and often killed: burned at the stake or drawn and quartered. The same thing can and will happen in America.  Indeed, it is again happening in the UK and other Commonwealth nations, as long-standing and hard-won constitutional rights are thrown away by the elected dictators in the Houses of Commons.

Like the King’s and Queen’s Officers of old, the new bureaucrats and their parliamentary masters in the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, and the thugs, cops and bureaucrats and more, who work for the “messiah” and Congress and General Assemblies and County Commissions and City Councils have no mercy for those who do not grovel before them.  Although their techniques are different, they all boil down to the same thing: the fist, the boot, the sword, the gun: power and violence and legalized robbery of some and then all:  if not the actual taking of dissenters’ and protestors’ lives, then destroying those lives and those of their families, friends, and communities.

Are YOU prepared?  Am I prepared?  Not just to defend against the physical violence, but against the innuendo and slander and theft large and small, the spying (not just drones, but the “humint” (Human Intelligence) of traitors and snitches, provocateurs and infiltrators?

Stupid government stealing freedom
Syria: Fatwa against eating crescent rolls
(Personal Liberty)  A new fatwa in the Syrian city of Aleppo targets people who dare to eat croissants.[ Story in Sina news website:] “Al-Nusra Front fighters come up every day with a new unimaginable fatwa, or religious edict,” such as the fatwa against croissants, said the Syrian, identified only as “Ahmed.” The fundamentalists claim croissants are particularly relished by European infidels as a celebratory food (because of their “symbolic” crescent shape), which they allegedly tear into with gusto to commemorate historic victories over the Muslims.

Nathan: I know that this sounds ridiculous, and just what we would think that these vicious, evil, Islamists would come up with.  So let us talk about Nanny Bloomberg and 24-ounce sodas, or Miz “messiah” Consort’s attacks on sodas and candy bars in vending machines in schools, or prohibitions on butchering and selling horse meat, or selling raw (non-pasteurized) milk.  All things being done right here in the United States.  How is this different?  “Scientific” proof that such is bad for you?  Elected officials instead of religious leaders making the decision?  ALL of these things are wrong: they are EVIL.

Home front – Scummy government stealing freedom of speech and thought and more
Sitting Senator Warns About Smartphone Surveillance
(Personal Liberty) U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden warns. “The government will not state clearly what the rules are with respect to tracking Americans on their cellphones, and I have asked this repeatedly at public hearings in the Intelligence Committee,” the Oregon Democrat and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee told the C-SPAN program “Newsmakers.” “I can’t get into the details of any specific operation, or whether it’s being conducted, but … having that computer in your pocket increases the potential that certainly people could be tracked 24/7,” he told the program, which aired Sunday. “Under the Patriot Act, the government’s authority to collect is essentially limitless.”

Nathan: NO senator of the US can be trusted to be on the side of liberty – no, not even the semi-deified Rand Paul.  So do we believe Wyden or not?  It is obvious that the Republican Party has no real concern about whether Americans can be spied on continuously by the FedGov (NSA) or anyone else.  Indeed, their almost unanimous condemnation of Snowden as “traitor” and “spy” indicates exactly the opposite: the Senate and House of Representatives AS A WHOLE and including virtually ALL members thereof, believe that it is the American people: the people of the Fifty States, who are their enemies – enemies of the state, and must be treated as enemies.

Now it is just spying and denying the truth, for the vast majority of us.  But more and more of us are being killed, arrested and imprisoned, made homeless or jobless or penniless for the convenience of the federal and state and local governments, a web of evil and deceit and tyranny which seeks to control the entire world.  Even Wyden’s words indicate that HE is part of the powers-that-be: he considers that the USA PATRIOT Act is authority – NOT that it is claimed to be “authority” but is on its face unconstitutional and immoral.  And he blames US for “having that computer in your pocket” and NOT the government for being the tyrants.  It is OUR fault that we are targets of government spying, according to him.

Liberty and money: freedom to do or NOT to do
The Greatest Food in Human History
(New York Post, by Kyle Smith) What is “the cheapest, most nutritious and bountiful food that has ever existed in human history” Hint: It has 390 calories. It contains 23g, or half a daily serving, of protein, plus 7% of daily fiber, 20% of daily calcium and so on. Also, you can get it in 14,000 locations in the US and it usually costs $1. Presenting one of the unsung wonders of modern life, the McDonald’s McDouble cheeseburger.

Nathan: Freedom is just that: you are free to eat and drink and smoke and live what you want.  Tranzis don’t want you to have your freedom: they want to tell you what to do.  You MUST eat this, you can NOT eat that.  This was sorta written tongue in cheek, but it is the truth: what can you live on when you HAVE to?  I’m not (and Smith is not) saying a steady diet of McDoubles is the best way to go, but consider the alternatives.

Mama’s Note: This is a hard one for even some who at least seem to understand individual liberty most of the time. A recent discussion left me scratching my head when these “freedom folk” insisted that the government should “ban,” or at the least mandate the labeling of anything remotely possibly connected to “genetically modified” plants, foods or substances. This seems to be one of the new religions, and the faithful so often are completely uninterested in any sort of facts or logic about it.

The idea that they can and should simply NOT buy or use anything they consider to be contaminated with “GMO” genes – by labeling “GMO Free” or whatever means – is not nearly good enough. They demand the “freedom” to buy anything they want and be assured, by government or SOMEBODY, that it is free of modified genes. They fall into the same trap as those who insist that things like health care and a “living wage” are part of the natural rights of human beings, unwilling to admit that these things can only be provided by theft and force.

And these same people have no problem condemning the USDA guidelines for nutrition as the cause of American obesity and poor health. Not their free choice to eat what they please and can afford… oh no… it’s the fault of the same government they want to have even more control of the food supply – as long as it is done the way they wish.

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Assessing the Threat

Posted on 2013-07-28 by MamaLiberty

After talking to some people over the weekend about the “dry fire” article, “Too Hot To Shoot,” I realized that I need to back up a bit and write more about self defense and why the exercises make that more effective. All of the dry fire exercises will make much more sense and be far more useful with that information.

Preparing to defend ourselves usually means starting with some serious self assessment and changing the way we do some things. Without this, a gun is apt to be of little more use than a paperweight. And, if you are counting on the gun to make the difference, more or less alone, you may wind up in worse danger than ever.

Vulnerability to violent attack or home invasion has a lot to do with where you live and where you work, play and shop. But statistics can only tell you so much, usually not more than how many such attacks are reported per 100,000 or so population in any given area.

That’s not nearly enough information, unless you are content to ignore reality and rely on your “luck.” And that would be true even if the statistics were complete and accurate, of course. Did you know that a large number of non-fatal attacks, usually without significant injury, and a great many thefts are never reported at all? Yet any one of those incidents might well have resulted in the death or serious injury of the victims. Add in those who are, increasingly, afraid to call the police under any circumstances, and you can see that trusting to either luck or statistics is probably not a good idea.

Very few people actually go looking for trouble, or are in a position to prevent crime committed against others, but everyone can do a lot to avoid victimization for themselves and their families. And each person who conscientiously works to decrease their own vulnerability actually increases the peace and safety of their whole community. (This is an important subject for a future article, but I don’t want to digress too far now.)

First, let’s consider what criminals look for. How do they decide whom to attack and why? Most, rather obviously, don’t want to take any chance of being hurt themselves, or being captured and prosecuted. They prey on the elderly, children, women and the disabled. Criminals, especially these days, have demonstrated that they prefer weak, frightened, victims who are unable or unwilling to defend themselves.

Most people are woefully unaware of the signals they send with their body language, posture, walk, and even their talk. The old adage is quite true: If you look like food, you will be eaten. If you are elderly, disabled, or generally fearful at any age, you may be sending clear signals to criminals that you would be an easy victim. If you stand, walk, and talk “tall,” demonstrating by all of your actions that you are aware and confident in yourself, the criminal is most apt to pass you by and look for an easier victim – even if you are young, old, small, female or in a wheelchair.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are psychotic killers who don’t really care whether or not they are hurt or killed. There are always going to be a few who target people at random, regardless of anything the victims might do or not do. There is no place on earth that will ever be 100% risk free, but such psychopaths are rare in this country. The goal is to decrease one’s every day vulnerability and make sound choices to improve overall safety for oneself and family.

So, how can you stop sending those weak, crime inviting signals? How do you become less vulnerable? I’m glad you asked.

Several serious studies have revealed that incarcerated criminals fear ordinary people who are armed much more than they fear the police. That is very encouraging, but far too many people don’t understand that there is a great deal more to effective self defense and reduced vulnerability than owning or even carrying a gun. And that is true no matter how well you shoot. Remember that the best possible “gunfight” is the one that never happens.

First, you must become aware of your surroundings. You must train yourself to be alert and anticipate danger early enough to avoid it or mount a defense. If your attacker gets his hands on you (or a knife into you) before you are even aware of his presence, you won’t have much chance to save yourself even if you are well armed.

Think about your “personal space.” How close do people come to you before you get uncomfortable? People who live in a crowded city are often less sensitive to people inside this “space,” and some people are disturbed long before anyone gets close enough to touch them. Most human beings have a natural, built in aversion to anyone or anything that they see as too close, out of place, or not perceived as “normal.”  Yet a great many people have desensitized themselves to this and/or indulge in things that dull the perception or distract them from noticing it. How many people drive or walk down the street talking on the phone, daydreaming, ignoring everything else? Who is able to pay full attention to their surroundings if they are very sick, exhausted or under the influence of a drug?

So, the first requirement for effective self defense is to become aware of your surroundings, identify the people and things in your environment that do not “belong” or which might be a threat. This is called “situational awareness.” Read about this and the drills outlined on the linked page and begin to practice it. It may take some time and real effort to be comfortable with this all the time, but you should begin to reap the benefits immediately.

This description of situational awareness and the drills are taken from my book, “I Am NOT A Victim.” Look at this link if you are not familiar with it. The first chapter is the story of the man I had to shoot to save my life.

As always, your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

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