Analysis: Will Tennessee GOP Governor’s Red Flag Proposal Change the Debate?

The Volunteer State is the place to watch for the country’s most interesting gun law debate right now.

As gun policy moves forward along preestablished partisan lines in red and blue states, Tennessee is the one place where a policy outside those lines has some chance of passing. Republican Governor Bill Lee, motivated by last month’s Nashville school shooting, is pushing the Republican-controlled legislature to pass a modified “red flag” law, which he has relabeled an “order of protection” law. But, unlike many previous proposals, Lee appears to be working to address common critiques levied against the temporary gun confiscation orders.

“Throughout the last couple of weeks, I have worked with members of the General Assembly – constitutionally minded, second amendment protecting members – to craft legislation for an improved Order of Protection Law that will strengthen the safety and preserve the rights of Tennesseans,” Lee said last week. “We all agree that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons. And that should be done in a way that requires due process and a high burden of proof, supports law enforcement and punishes false reporting, enhances mental health support, and preserves the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens.”

Since gaining prominence as a possible solution for mass shootings in the wake of the 2018 Parkland shooting, “red flag” laws have been dogged by complaints that they don’t offer sufficient protections for the rights of those accused of being a threat to themselves or others.

In most states that have adopted them, the civil orders can be filed by a wide array of groups, including some where nearly anyone can file for one. They don’t provide a public defender for those accused. They can be granted in ex parte hearings where the accessed isn’t even notified of the proceedings. And it can take weeks after their guns are seized before subjects of the orders can challenge them.

Lee identified these shortcomings as the main problem with policies in other states that he said “don’t deliver the right results.”

“They don’t actually preserve the constitutional rights of Tennesseans in the best way possible, and they don’t actually get to the heart of the problem of preventing tragedies,” he said. “This is hard. I’ve said that all along.”

He’s announced plans for a special session to pass the expanded protection orders. That was requested by GOP House Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison, who said it was unlikely a bill could be put together with enough support to pass before the end of the regular session. While Lee hasn’t backed any specific bill yet, he has announced the sort of changes he wants.

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‘Times are changing,’ more women buying guns for self-defense

SAN ANTONIO – National data shows that more women are becoming gun owners. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, gun sales reached record highs in 2020, and women accounted for 40% of all sales.

Carmen Santana is a first-time gun buyer. She has been practicing at the Mission Ridge Shooting Range and Academy on the Northwest Side of San Antonio.

Camilla Rambaldi talks to women who have purchased and trained to use their guns.

“It was more toward protection than anything,” said Santana.

She started a self-defense firearm course six months ago.

“I have two little ones at home. Learning the proper way to handle it, the proper way to hold it,” explained Santana.

The Wall Street Journal reported nearly half of new U.S. gun buyers since the start of 2019 have been women, according to a new study. It’s an increase San Antonio gun ranges have also seen over the last few years.

“We have seen this rise in new gun ownership in women but also those who seek professional level training,” said Corey Molinelli, an instructor at Mission Ridge Shooting Range and Academy.

According to a 2017 Pew Research Survey, women are more likely than men to cite protection as the only reason to own a gun.

“We are getting more women interested in the sport itself of shooting but also the self-defense classes. We see single women who are recently divorced or have never been married and out are on their own,” added Molinelli.

“It’s unfortunate to think that women are coming into situations where they feel like they need to be armed more and more every day,” said Jennifer Knight, Director of Retail Development with U.S. Law Shield and Realtor.

In 2020, she came face to face with an intruder at home she was showing to a client. When they got to the home, she said there were several red flags.

“[We] quickly discovered that there was somebody else in the home with us. There was no real estate sign in the front yard; the grass was overgrown. When we walked into the home, there was an immediate smell,” explained Knight.

The experience motivated her to create a self-defense and situational awareness program for realtors. In 2021, Knight launched her program, Salty Grits.

“Be aware of your surroundings at all times, and don’t ever let your guard down,” said Knight.

The San Antonio mother is hoping her program can help empower other women who want to learn how to defend themselves.

“I think about us, banding together; I think about women helping women. If I could give advice to any woman, it would be never to allow your husband, boyfriend, father, or anybody else to purchase a firearm for you. You’re going to be the one who shoots it. You’re going to be the one carrying that firearm,” added Knight.

Back at the shooting range, Santana said she feels more confident.

“Comfortable. I feel more empowered,” added Santana.

NSSF PRAISES MONTANA GOV. GIANFORTE FOR SIGNING FIND ACT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF¼, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praised Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte for signing the Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act. The law, HB 356, prohibits state agencies from entering into contracts with corporate banks that discriminate against the firearm industry. Gov. Gianforte signed the law at Noreen Firearms in Belgrade, Mont.

Montana’s FIND Act will prevent “woke” corporate banks with discriminatory policies against firearm industry members from collecting taxpayer dollars through state contracts. Montanans will choose to do business with those companies that do not discriminate based on an industry these corporate banks may not like or with which they disagree.

“Montana is planting the flag in the ground to say Second Amendment rights are not for sale to ‘woke’ Wall Street corporate banks,” said Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for NSSF. “Montana’s tax dollars will be protected from being used to fund efforts by these corporate banks that benefit from state contracts while denying essential services to firearm-related business simply because they are politically-disfavored by Wall Street. Governor Gianforte’s signature makes clear that Montanans won’t bend to corporate pressure and discrimination to diminish Second Amendment rights.”

Montana’s FIND Act will require corporate banks and financial service providers seeking contracts valued at $100,000 or greater with Montana and its municipalities to certify that they hold no discriminatory policies against firearm industry businesses. Contracts that are certified and later discovered to be out of compliance with the law will be subject to cancellation.

Armed Defense and the Use of Force in Texas

I comment on the use of force. Some of my readers and listeners know more about an incident than I do. I’m lucky that they contacted me and made me smarter. Here is what they said.

Samuel left this comment-

I listen to the Polite Society Podcast every time it comes on and I get a lot out of it. I do have one important thing to please see that you correct.

There was the story recounted of the man who tracked down his stolen car by use of an airpod, and wound up shooting the thief he found in the car. Y’all said he was not yet being charged because Texas allows the use of deadly force in defense of property. That wasn’t the reason. The man confronted the thief and in the course of that confrontation, he shot the thief because he thought the thief was going for a gun. This was self defense, not property defense.

The Texas statute would not have protected him in any case, because the fracas happened during the day. The Texas statute, cited below, specifically applies at night with certain other limitations. I enjoy the show. Keep up the good work.

News source for the story- https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/san-antonio-airtag-shooting-17871230.php

Legal reference on use of force in Texas to protect property- https://lawofselfdefense.com/statute/texas-sec-9-42-deadly-force-to-protect-property/  

Greg is a firearms instructor in Texas, and he sent in a comment also-

My comments are based on public information solely. Any changes to the relevant fact patterns might alter my conclusions.

Texas Penal Code 9.42 offers a bit more wiggle room. An actor ( the victim) may use Deadly Force to recover stolen , robbed or burgled property IF, IF the actor cannot recover the property by other means without exposing themselves to Death or Serious Bodily Injury AND , I say AND , the Grand Jury concludes that the action was reasonable under the circumstances.

The bank manager can use Deadly Force and shoot at the fleeing bank robbers and the Grand Jury Will generally consider that action reasonable.

I tell my students DO NOT shoot a thief, even if they are stealing your new Maserati. Let them go. Call the Sheriff, Constable or city cops. Then call your insurance company.

The “get out of jail free” card in the cited incident was the fact that the car THIEF was reasonable believed to be armed. He was thus not legally a thief but instead had graduated to the status of a “Robber.” If the Robber has a weapon, the offense, in Texas, is called “Aggravated Robbery”. He (the attacker) reasonably and articulably ALSO, in addition to his status as “Aggravated Robber”, poses a reasonable deadly threat to the victim.

Texas Penal Code 9.32 (B) explicitly states that a Defender is JUSTIFIED in using Deadly Force to defend against a Robber/ Aggravated Robber. TPC 9.32 (A) says the Defender May use Deadly Force to Defend against unlawful Deadly Force.

An Aggravated Robber generally falls into both categories. (lethal attacker, and aggravated robber)

As for a thief? Call the cops.

While it took 111 years to happen, by SCOTUS in Bruen,  in October 1911, the editor of Forest And Stream (which later merged with Field And Stream), predicted the overturning of the Sullivan Act of New York by incorporation under the 14th Amendment.

Now Comes ‘Equitable Grading’ to Dumb Down Our Children.

The Wall Street Journal  reports on a growing trend in high schools to ditch homework and move to an “equitable grading” system, which is supposed to measure whether a student knows the classroom material by the end of a term without penalties for behavior like skipping class.

“We’re giving children hope and the opportunity to learn right up until [the class is] officially over,” said Michael Rinaldi, the principal at Westhill High School in Stamford, Conn.

But some students and teachers in Las Vegas claim that some kids are gaming the system and that equitable grading ignores accountability.

“If you go to a job in real life, you can’t pick and choose what tasks you want to do and only do the quote big ones,” said Alyson Henderson, a high-school English teacher there. Lessons drag on now, she said, because students can turn in work until right before grades are due.

We’re really setting students up for a false sense of reality,” Ms. Henderson said.

Equitable grading still typically awards As through Fs, but the criteria are overhauled. Homework, in-class discussions and other practice work, called formative assessments, are weighted at between 10% and 30%. The bulk of a grade is earned through what are known as summative assessments, such as tests or essays.

Extra credit is banned—no more points for bringing in school supplies—as is grading for behavior, which includes habits such as attendance.

The system is set up to give laggards and the terminally lazy as many chances as possible to pass a course. The scale starts at 49 or 50 so that if a student misses a few assignments they won’t just give up and fail. They will still have a chance to pass as long as they complete other tests and essays.

“There’s an apathy that pervades the entire classroom,” said Samuel Hwang, a senior at Ed W. Clark High School in Las Vegas. Hwang has spoken out against the grading changes, saying they provide incentives for poor work habits.

Erin Spata, a science teacher at Westhill High in Connecticut who favors the change, said her students are moving away from constantly asking how many points an assignment will be worth and instead understand the importance of practice work, whether or not it is counted toward the final grade.

So at least the teacher’s students aren’t bothering her about insignificant stuff like a student’s progress in the class and other, you know, teacher stuff.

What I’ve come to realize with all this equity BS in schools is that the cream will still rise to the top. No matter how hard the DEI crowd tries to “level” scholastics, the really smart kids will continue to shine.

The problem with that is that kids who are in the middle of the pack or slightly lower will be left behind. They will still want to go to college, however, and in order to stay in business, colleges are also dumbing down coursework, cheapening a college degree even further.

This cancerous attitude is turning primary and secondary education into factories of uneducated and barely educated students. What will America look like when DEI has done its work and we’re all “equal” in our ignorance?

Federal Judge Rules Felons Aren’t Protected by Second Amendment

Convicted felons do not have gun rights, according to a new federal ruling.

Judge Holly A. Brady, who President Donald Trump appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in 2019, denied a request last week to have a felon’s gun possession charge tossed on constitutional grounds. She found the Second Amendment does not protect Detric L. Cummings’, a convicted felon, ability to own a firearm. She further ruled that barring felons from owning guns is consistent with historical gun restrictions.

“The long list of colonial laws excluding felons from possessing firearms either shows that he is excluded from the protections of the Second Amendment or that § 922(g)(1) is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” Judge Brady wrote in United States v. Cummings. “Either is enough to defeat Defendant’s motion.”

The ruling is another example of how little success convicted felons have had in asserting protections under the Second Amendment, even in the wake of last year’s landmark New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Despite the doubt cast on many modern gun restrictions by Bruen’s new standard for deciding gun cases, felons have had little success convincing courts that the Second Amendment forstalls prohibitions on their ability to own guns. In fact, Pepperdine University Professor Jake Charles recently released a report that found there hasn’t been a single successful Second Amendment claim brought against the federal law barring possession of firearms by convicted felons.

The recent setbacks come despite a handful of rulings and prominent dissents that questioned the federal lifetime prohibition on at least some, namely non-violent, felons owning guns. Justice Amy Coney Barrett dissented in favor of restoring the gun rights of a non-violent felon in 2019’s Kanter v. Barr. A similar case brought by a Pennsylvania man barred from owning guns over a welfare fraud conviction, Range v. Garland, recently lost before a panel of the 3rd Circuit but is currently awaiting a decision from the full court after oral arguments were held in February 2023.

United States v. Cummings does not deal with the question of non-violent felon gun rights, though. Cummings was arrested by Fort Wayne, Indiana police last summer for selling methamphetamine, fentanyl, and a revolver to an informant, according to WANE. The 40-year-old was convicted of shooting a woman over an unpaid debt in 2005. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison before being released in 2020.

Judge Brady was indignant at his attempt to have the gun possession charges tossed, arguing his plea flies in the face of “a virtual mountain of case law.” She said, “ninety-plus defendants that have hoed the same row in the past” and been denied. She dismissed his legal argument as little more than “academic.”

“Defendant has chosen the first step as the hill he will die on, arguing that he is one of ‘the people’ whose right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment, regardless of his extensive criminal history,” Judge Brady wrote. “And, to be sure, there is a healthy debate in the case law about who ‘the people’ are. But that debate is interesting only if you view the law as a zesty academic affair rather than a way to run an ordered society.”

She argued that, even if Cummings is part of “the people” mentioned in the Second Amendment, historical tradition would allow the government to restrict his access to guns. She briefly pointed to colonial bans on carrying firearms in a way that terrifies people and an 1866 South Carolina ban on “disorderly” people bearing arms. And she cited the Supreme Court’s notice in 2008’s Heller that its ruling did not cast doubt on felon gun bans.

Ultimately, in her two-page opinion, Judge Brady found the debate is settled and unworthy of a lengthy discussion.

“To spend judicial resources agonizing over which the Court should hang its hat on is little more than spilled ink,” she wrote. “More than ninety judicial opinions bear this out.”

Gun rights group files emergency petition to SCOTUS on gun ban case

Illinois has been going above and beyond as of late to make Second Amendment related news. The National Association for Gun Rights filed a lawsuit last year challenging the city of Naperville’s so-called “assault weapons” ban. That case, Bevis et al v. City of Naperville was amended earlier this year to include the State of Illinois as a plaintiff, which enacted a ban in January. The request for an injunction against the law made its way all the way to the Seventh Circuit, and Bevis et.al. were not granted any temporary relief. It was announced in a release that an emergency appeal has been filed to the Supreme Court of the United States on the matter.

There was a similar situation in the Second Circuit Court of appeals, with a challenge to a New York law that’s unconstitutional – also enacted post NYSRPA v. Bruen – and the plaintiffs were moved to make an emergency appeal to the high court. In that case, the Second Circuit refused to respect the NYSRPA v. Bruen decision. While SCOTUS did not intervene in that case, Justice Alito did state in an unsigned order the following:

Applicants should not be deterred by today’s order from again seeking relief if the Second Circuit does not, within a reasonable time, provide an explanation for its stay order or expedite consideration of the appeal.

Appealing to SCOTUS at these stages in the game for emergency relief is not necessarily something that’s commonplace, but may draw the ire of the justices on how the lower courts are disobeying their orders.

The National Foundation for Gun Rights (NFGR) is asking the United States Supreme Court to provide emergency relief from two assault weapons bans in place in Illinois.

NFGR argues that the Illinois ban violates the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees the right of individuals to bear arms. NFGR’s lawsuit also challenges an AR-15 sale ban enacted by the City of Naperville, IL.

NFGR initially requested a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois blocking both the state and local bans on behalf of fellow plaintiff, Naperville gun store owner Robert Bevis, whose livelihood has been severely impacted by both bans. The district court trampled multiple Supreme Court precedents to rule against gun rights, so foundation attorneys appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, pleading that Plaintiff Bevis was facing the loss of his business without speedy relief.

The Seventh Circuit declined to temporarily block the two semi-auto bans pending its review of the preliminary injunction appeal, so NFGR is filing an Emergency Application for Injunction Pending Appellate Review with the U.S. Supreme Court.

It’s interesting to note that in many cases, lower courts have been getting the orders correct. In this case, the Seventh Circuit, and in the case of Antonyuck v. Nigrelli, from the Second Circuit, they are not willing to enjoin bad laws while the cases play out. We’re likely to see cases out of New Jersey challenging the so-called “carry killer” law there, head to the Third Circuit as soon as an opinion is delivered by Judge Bumb in a Federal Court.

Is this going to be the trend? Are the Circuit Courts of Appeal going to completely ignore the Supreme Court on all these issues concerning firearms by reversing the enjoinment/restraining orders of lower courts, or not enjoining them themselves?

“The assault weapons ban is a blatant violation of the rights of law-abiding citizens and does nothing to address the causes of gun violence,” said Dudley Brown, President of the National Foundation for Gun Rights. “Between them, Illinois and the City of Naperville are about to drive a law-abiding gun store owner into bankruptcy just because they don’t like his business. That’s grossly unconstitutional, and we’re asking the Supreme Court to put a stop to it.”

NAGAR’s opening remark in their filing to the high court hits at the core of the issue:

This is an exceedingly simple case. The Second Amendment protects arms that are commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, especially self-defense in the home. See New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111, 2128 (2022) (citing D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 629 (2008)).

The arms banned by Respondents are possessed by millions of law abiding citizens for lawful purposes, including self-defense in the home. Under this Court’s precedents, “that is all that is needed for citizens to have a right under the Second Amendment to keep such weapons.” Friedman v. City of Highland Park, Ill., 577 U.S. 1039 (2015) (Thomas, J., joined by Scalia, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari). There cannot be the slightest question, therefore, that the challenged laws are unconstitutional.

Kudos! to NAGAR for punting this case into the lap of the Supreme Court. Eventually one of these lower courts’ decisions is going to tick off the high court at one of these stages and they’re going to have to step in. At least, one would think so.

Given the way the Circuits behave, we can almost assume that whenever the pending cases in California make their way to the Ninth Circuit, that we’ll be dealing with similar malfeasance within the judicial system, and who knows what’ll come of the cases in the Third Circuit. We’ll be watching the progress of this case and report back with any new developments.

Hackers Are Breaking Into ATT Email Accounts to Steal Cryptocurrency.

Unknown hackers are breaking into the accounts of people who have AT&T email addresses, and using that access to then hack into the victim’s cryptocurrency exchange’s accounts and steal their crypto, TechCrunch has learned.

At the beginning of the month, an anonymous source told TechCrunch that a gang of cybercriminals have found a way to hack into the email addresses of anyone who has an att.net, sbcglobal.net, bellsouth.net and other AT&T email addresses.

According to the tipster, the hackers are able to do that because they have access to a part of AT&T’s internal network, which allows them to create mail keys for any user. Mail keys are unique credentials that AT&T email users can use to log into their accounts using email apps such as Thunderbird or Outlook, but without having to use their passwords.

With a target’s mail key, the hackers can use an email app to log into the target’s account and start resetting passwords for more lucrative services, such as cryptocurrency exchanges. At that point it’s game over for the victim, as the hackers can then reset the victim’s Coinbase or Gemini account password via email.

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April 28

1788 – Maryland becomes the 7th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1789 – Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on HMAV Bounty, setting Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift and then returning briefly to Tahiti before sailing for Pitcairn Island.

1869 – Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First Transcontinental Railroad lay 10 miles of track in one day, a feat which has never been matched.

1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico, killing Deputies J.W. Bell and Bob Olinger.

1930 – The minor league Independence Producers host the Muskogee Chiefs in the first night game in the history of professional organized baseball at Shulthis Stadium, in Independence, Kansas.

1944 –  Off the Slapton Sands coast in Devon, England, 9 German E-boats attack US and UK units during Exercise Tiger, the rehearsal for the Normandy landings, killing 746 service members and wounding 200 more.

1945 – An Italian Partisan firing squad summarily executes Benito Mussolini and his captured retinue in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra.

1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and crew set out from Callao, Peru on the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.

1952 – On the day General Of The Army Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in order to campaign in the 1952 United States presidential election, the Treaty of San Francisco comes into effect, restoring Japanese sovereignty and ending its state of war with most of the Allies of World War II, while the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (Treaty of Taipei) is signed in Taipei, Taiwan between Japan and the Republic of China to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War.

1965 –  During the Dominican Civil War, U.S. diplomats request increased security forces to protect an evacuation. A battalion of U.S. Marines land at Haina and move to a hotel where 684 civilians are airlifted to the carrier USS Boxer.

1967 – Cassius ‘Muhammad Ali’ Clay refuses his induction into the U.S. Army and is subsequently stripped of his championship and boxing license.

1970 – President Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to operate in Cambodia during the Vietnam war.

1975 – General Cao Văn ViĂȘn, chief of the South Vietnamese military, departs for the US as the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon.

1978 – The President of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, is overthrown and assassinated in a coup led by pro-communist rebels.

1986 – High levels of radiation resulting from the Chernobyl disaster are detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden, forcing Soviet authorities to publicly announce the accident.

1988 – Near Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle “C.B.” Lansing is blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when part of the plane’s fuselage rips open in mid-flight, the only fatality of the incident.

1994 – Former CIA counterintelligence officer and analyst, Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia and is sentences to life imprisonment without parole.

2004 – CBS News releases evidence of the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq.

GloBULL Warming

Baby, it’s still C-O-L-D outside

I know a lot of people have their hearts set on eating bugs, and the world ending with pestilence and fire devouring humankind. Cranky as they are in their native, foaming-at-the-mouth state, the sort of intermission we seem to be in right now on our march to our self-induced, fiery (or watery, if you’re, like, on an island or in Miami) climate change doom just makes them worse. You know, the scrabbling around in Saharan dust looking for excuses to explain why we’re
well
frustrating as it is
not all dead yet. Or drowned. Or at least have wet ankles.

Considering the weather outside lately, if we were expiring in any great numbers from Global Warming/Climate Change/anything AL Gore’s ever predicted, our bodies would be well preserved into early summer.

Take the U.K.: “Balmy” is not the word for springtime in England this year.

This morning, -7.4C (18.7F) was the UK’s official low temperature, set at Loch Glascarnoch, Scotland. This breaks the nation’s coldest-ever low for the date, previously held by Glenlivet’s -6.1C (21F) set in 1956.

Mainland Europe is also enduring a late-season freeze, bringing heavy show [sic] to the higher elevations–most notably the Alps.

Our very own wild west is wooly, too, but that’s what they’re wearing, not a state of mind. Records have fallen over like frozen antelope. The snow and ice coverage extent measurements have only started since the advent of satellite monitoring in 2001, but when you approach doubling the average?

HELLO


Starting with the chill –and according to ‘warm-mongering’ NOAA data– the U.S. has set 7 ‘all-time’ low temperature records so far this year (to April 24) vs just the 1 for heat; while in April alone (again to the 24), 321 ‘monthly’ lows have fallen vs 66 for heat.

Moving onto the snow –and in official books dating back to 2001– prior to this year, the highest-ever area of Western U.S. land covered by snow/ice at the onset of April was the 398,000 square miles posted back in 2019. This year, however, has blown past that benchmark, with satellite imagery revealing more than 444,000 square miles of the West was under snow/ice as of April 1.

For reference, the average snowpack in the Western U.S. by the end of March stands at 242,000 square miles.

That crucial mountain snowpack is at record stages in many parts of the west.


The estimated water content of the western snowpack on March 15, 2023, expressed as a percentage of 1991-2020 average for that time of year. Areas in darkest blue, from parts of California into Nevada, northern Arizona and southwest Utah, were most above average. A number of 150 means it is 50 percent above the average for March 15.

T​he Central Sierra Snow Lab at Donner Pass has tallied 668 inches – over 55 feet – of snow this season, their third-snowiest season since the end of World War II.

Screencap The Weather Channel

That’s a boatload of frozen goodness that will be joining the rain in the rivers and reservoirs when it starts to melt, besides causing mayhem with flooding already saturated hillsides and inland valleys.

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NAZIs ( National SOCIALISTS) are only “the far right”, to you, if you share the same ideology as Joseph Stalin (an INTER-National SOCIALIST more often called Communist)

What Puts Nazism on the Right?


 

[nothing for the uninformed. It’s used leftists have run out of anything else to try and shut down their opponents]


This is a sincere question to which I’ve never had a satisfactory answer. I may have even asked it here before. We all know what Nazism is, but I think we need to define what we mean by “Right,” and specifically the American Right. I know some people prefer the quadrant model of political ideology to the linear one. Libertarian to authoritarian on one axis and communism to free markets on the other. But, where’s the overlap between Hitler’s Germany and American conservatism?

Do law-and-order righties fall on the far right of the axis in opposition to the chaos-and-destruction (2020 summer of love) lefties? I don’t think law and order is all that authoritarian, at least in America. If laws are just and equally applied (increasingly not the case), that would appear to be in a sweet spot near the political middle.

Economically, I don’t see American conservatives as radically free-market fundamentalists, although there are some who seem to hold that position. Personally, I’m more of a fair trade kind of gal. I see tariffs as useful to counteract those who would exploit our entrepreneurial capitalism by dumping their products and putting our industries out of business (cough China cough). But economic fascism seems more related to the hand-in-glove state and corporate cooperation the Left adores (see Big Pharma, Big Media, Big Education, . . . ).

So where’s the overlap with Nazism? Here’s what I think. I think the Left uses the Nazi/fascist slander to suggest that American nationalism (sometimes associated with patriotism or love of homeland) is just like the poisonous ethnic nationalism of Nazi Germany — Hitler’s Aryanism. It’s the basis for charges of “inherently racist” and “white supremacist.”

It’s an absurd notion. Is all nationalism Nazism? Are the French Nazis for loving their culture and language? How about the Swedes or the Spanish? It’s particularly slanderous given that America has never been ethnically pure and hasn’t even aspired to it, except in pockets where Democrats and the KKK (but, I repeat) held sway.

None of which is to say that patriots are required to believe America is faultless. I happen to believe there’s a fatal flaw in our Constitution — a sin of omission that allows the federal government to buy votes by redistributing our tax dollars. That’s a limit on government power (the raison d’etre of our Constitution) I’d like to see, but I’m not an idealist on the matter.

When American right-wingers assent to the idea that Nazis and fascists are on the Right, they’re submitting to the notion that American patriots are racist white supremacists. I dissent. And don’t even get me started on how any form of moral, academic, or artistic excellence is now considered “white supremacy.” As if nonwhites are incapable of high achievement. Who’s the racist now?

Maine legislators consider expanding adult access to guns on school grounds for school safety

AUGUSTA, Maine —
With more than one mass shooting a day in America so far this year, including many in schools and on college campuses, Maine legislators are taking a closer look at improving school safety by potentially expanding adult access to guns on school grounds for self-defense.

One bill that underwent a public hearing before the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on Wednesday, LD 52, would let teachers and other school staff be armed at school following police-style training to use their guns.

Since there’s never been a school shooting in Maine, the bill’s sponsor sees lessons learned in mass school shootings in other states.

“In all of them, a quick response time would have saved lives, if we had the right person there that knew what they were doing for an active shooter situation was willing, obviously, to be that person and did so,” Rep. Steve Foster, (R) Dexter, said in an interview. “My district has one school resource officer with four buildings. So, this whole bill is about an immediate or almost immediate response in a building, and if you look at some of these past incidents around the country, the response time was a big key issue, and that’s what this is hoping to address.”

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