Today, January 5
1781 – During the Revolutionary War, Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an 8 hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.
1919 – The Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers Party) the predecessor to the NAZIs – (National Socialist German Workers Party) is founded in Munich.
1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
1957 – During a “Special Message to the Congress on the Situation in the Middle East”, President Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine where any Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression
1991 – Due to the outbreak of the Somali Civil War, the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift.
2005 – The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California, later motivating the International Astronomical Union to define the term ‘planet’ for the first time.
What the Media Can’t – Or Won’t – Tell Us About Armed Self Defense.
Don’t confuse the news with the truth. The corporate news media is in the business of delivering eyes and ears to their advertisers. That is how they earn their money. The assignment editors, reporters and the copyeditors are not against honesty and proportion, but cash comes first. That means they are biased in their reporting. They must ignore the common but important stories in order to leave room for the shock and outrage that keeps us watching and listening. I study armed defense. Ordinary citizens like us defend ourselves, our family, and innocent strangers every day. You wouldn’t know that from watching the news. This is why the corporate media does such a bad job of reporting.
To be fair, we have our own biases. Most of us think that armed defense looks like something from a John Wick movie or from the Matrix. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I have to describe what ordinary people do because most of us are not even familiar with the terms.
Armed defense is when the intended victim of a violent crime uses a firearm to deter or stop the criminal.
That includes something as simple as grandma shouting for an intruder to go away because she has a gun and that she called the police. The police might not classify it as a defensive gun use, but grandma thinks it was. She thinks the home-invasion robber changed his plans because she had her firearm. The criminal thinks grandma’s gun was important too.
Armed defense is when an armed mom is crossing the parking lot late at night. She tells her kids to get back in the car, she turns toward three young men, and puts her her hand into her purse. She yells “Stop!” and the three young men change direction. They get back into their car and drive away.
Walter Cunningham, last surviving Apollo 7 astronaut, dies at 90.
Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from NASA’s famed Apollo 7 mission, died early Tuesday in Houston at age 90, officials said.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson confirmed Cunningham’s death in a statement. He described the late astronaut as having paved the way for future U.S. space travel as one of three members on Apollo 7, the first successful crewed space flight of NASA’s Apollo program.
“Walter Cunningham was a fighter pilot, physicist and an entrepreneur — but above all, he was an explorer,” Nelson said. “NASA will always remember his contributions to our nation’s space program and sends our condolences to the Cunningham family.”
Cunningham, along with Donn Eisele and Walter “Wally” Schirra, was aboard the 11-day Apollo 7 mission that launched on Oct. 11, 1968.
That the children are apparently purposefully deluded by their instructors and not taught that SCOTUS took care of this in 2008 in Heller, simply shows that it’s not teaching, but indoctrination
Also, JIC:
The meaning of the phrase “well-regulated” in the 2nd amendment
Anti-gun op-ed by student hardly the gotcha she thinks it is
Every now and then, we see some person who thinks they’re clever, only to trot out a tired, debunked argument that they’re sure is a “gotcha” moment.
That’s especially true with anti-gun arguments, of course.
I recently came across an op-ed written by a Los Angeles high school student that treads a particularly tired argument.
Titled, “Opinion: The 2nd Amendment requires gun regulation,” you already know it’s going to be good.
How can we decrease gun violence?
According to the 2nd Amendment, since “[a] well regulated Militia [is]…necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Although people have the right to bear arms for their own protection as stated in the Constitution, the Second Amendment also clearly states that this is based on the need for a “well regulated Militia”, not based on random people being able to have guns.
This can be interpreted to mean that no one except for law enforcement should have more than a number of guns or ammunition, because the right to bear arms is for a “well regulated Militia”. People do not need 10 guns to protect themselves from danger, and they certainly won’t need a gun that can shoot 600 bullets per minute either, like the AK-47 as detailed in Britannica.
If we limit a certain amount of guns per person, making sure that gun owners are “well regulated”, then the chance of a mass shooting will be less likely as a gun owner could only own a specific amount of guns and also have “regulated” ways to use them.
I’m sure the author and her teachers are very proud of her for this argument. Too bad it’s an anti-gun argument debunked ages ago by people far better versed in constitutional law than she is.
First, the phrase “well-regulated” means “properly functioning.”
Second, the militia refers to the whole body of free people who can be called upon to defend our nation. While many argue that this means the National Guard today, if you take a look at the Militia Act, you’ll see the unorganized militia is still people within a given age range who aren’t currently serving in the military or eligible for call-up.
Further, the young author here is illustrating just how poor the American educational system actually is, because she clearly didn’t grasp the totality of the Second Amendment.
See, she’s doing what many anti-gunners do, which is focus on the militia clause. Yet the rest of the amendment read, “the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
“[S]hall not be infringed.” That part alone debunks the entire premise on which the author based her work. It doesn’t say the right to keep and bear arms shall only be for militia purposes. It explicitly states that it shall not be interfered with by lawmakers.
I don’t blame her, though. I blame her teachers.
It seems no one adequately educated her about the context surrounding the Second Amendment. She likely was never taught about our Founding Fathers’ innate distrust of standing armies, or how they believed any government had the potential to become tyrannical unless held in check by the citizenry.
They never taught her how the Bill of Rights came to be, how many of the amendments were a direct response to actions carried out by the British, and how the Founding Fathers wanted to make sure their new nation wouldn’t go down that same road.
That includes removing arms from law-abiding citizens.
“But you don’t need 10 guns,” she argues, yet the Second Amendment doesn’t call for such anti-gun regulation as she claims. It explicitly precludes any such regulation by saying our right shall not be infringed.
It seems clear that this young woman hasn’t been taught by her teachers. Not about history and likely not even how to think for herself.
Homeowner shoots, kills burglar breaking into Lady Lake home
LADY LAKE, Fla. — Lake County deputies said a man is dead after he was shot while breaking into a home in Lady Lake.
Deputies said they were called to a home on Lakeview Street around 5:30 p.m. Monday for reports of a home invasion.
Officials said Ryan Michael Baldasare, 35, had broken into a home through a window and was shot by someone inside.
Baldasare was pronounced dead at the scene as deputies investigated the shooting.
Lake County deputies said that based on the evidence gathered so far, the incident appears to be a case of self-defense and the victim is cooperating with detectives.
Elderly man, homeowner shoots and kills 22-year-old during home invasion, armed robbery attempt
TOWN OF ELDERON, Wis. (WAOW) — A 22-year-old man is dead after it is believed he followed a 79-year-old man home from a local establishment in an armed robbery and home invasion attempt early Tuesday morning in Elderon, according to the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies from the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched at approximately 2:37 am to a residence in the Town of Elderon for a report of a man who was assaulted and stabbed in the face as he exited his vehicle in his garage, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The release also stated:
The (elderly) man was in possession of a firearm and fired one round that struck the (22-year-old) suspect prior to the firearm being wrestled away from him. The suspect suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and died while fleeing the scene. The suspect’s identity is being withheld pending family notification.
The 79-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is recovering at a local hospital.
Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, no further information can be released at this time. The Sheriff’s Office will provide updates as additional information is available.
Will Phobias About AR-15s Keep Schools From Adopting This Innovative Product?
Time is of the essence in mass public shootings. Civilians and police stop a lot of mass murders by carrying handguns, but sometimes you need a larger round than is available in a traditional handgun. It often simply isn’t practical to carry around a rifle. And school staff might not have time to run to a locker to retrieve the needed gun.
Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, died in the 2018 Parkland school mass murder that left 17 people dead, is fighting to give school districts the tools they need. Byrna, a company that makes innovative self-defense tools, has donated eight backpacks containing collapsible AR-15s to Pollack’s “Meadows Movement” nonprofit. These guns fire .223 caliber rifle rounds and are more powerful than traditional handguns.
On January 4th, Pollack will give the backpacks to the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office for use by school resource officers (SROs) and Will Hartley, superintendent of Bradford County Schools.
“The folding rifle is easy to carry throughout the day for a school resource officer inside the bulletproof backpack,” Pollack said. “The seconds to get minutes lost retrieving a rifle from a locker vs. pulling the bulletproof backpack into a vest and having the rifle on hand equates to the number of lives that could have been saved.”
The school superintendent echoes his comments. “I wish more people could have it,” Hartley notes. “Because if someone comes on your campus and they have a long gun, we need to be able to meet their force with the same kind of force.”
Bradford County Schools is smart enough to have multiple layers of protection. Even when school resource officers are in the right place at the right time, they have a tough job. Uniformed guards may as well be holding neon signs saying, “Shoot me first.” Attackers know that once they kill the sheriff’s deputy, they have free rein to go after everybody else.
To prevent that, the Bradford County schools are part of Florida’s Guardian Program. As in nineteen other states, teachers and staff are trained to use guns to protect people. But their guns are concealed. Permit holders make guards’ very difficult job easier. If an attacker tries to kill a school resource officer, he reveals his position and makes himself a target to someone with a concealed handgun. As with concealed handgun permit holders generally, the whole point is that the attacker doesn’t know who else he needs to worry about.
Instead of a sign in front of these schools saying “Gun Free School Zone,” they are replaced with signs warning: “Please be aware that certain staff members at Bradford County Schools can be legally armed and may use whatever force is necessary to protect our students.”
But, unfortunately, there are plenty of schools around the country that haven’t learned the lessons that Bradford County has. And these backpacks, with their built-in bullet-resistant vests and ARs will help protect school resource officers from surprise attacks from behind them and will give them more potent firepower if they get into a firefight with attackers. In literally just a couple of seconds, the bullet-resistant vest can also be put on their front side.
Technically these guns are called AR-pistols rather than AR-15s, but the difference in terms is entirely arbitrary and results from nonsensical government regulations on how to define a rifle. Instead of a stock, an AR-15 pistol usually has a tube, but the two guns are functionally identical.
Pollack so believes in Byrna’s products that he is now their chief public safety officer.
It will be a shame if school districts’ phobias about AR-15s prevent them from taking advantage of this innovative product.
Today, January 4
1581 – Irish archbishop and historian James Ussher is born in Dublin
1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state
1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison Film Company makes a movie of it.
1987 – The Amtrak 94 Colonial, en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 2 crew members, 14 passengers and injuring over 600 more.
1989 – 2 Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers” are shot down by US Navy F-14 Tomcats over the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea
2002 – U.S. Army Sergeant Nathan Ross Chapman is the first service member killed in action in Afghanistan.
2004 – The NASA Mars rover Spirit, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC
2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House
2010 – The 163 story Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world at 2,722 feet, officially opens in Dubai.
Guns don’t cause homicides. The real problem is everyone’s bubble of personal privacy
IT’S NOT THE GUNS
The “guns cause killings” idea is bogus. (Dec. 1, 8A, “Guns, not mental health issues, cause US mass shootings”) There are more guns than people in America.
If guns cause violence, then the annual homicide rate should be more than 1 million killed, with hundreds of thousands wounded. The streets of every city, town and village should be running red with blood, and the bodies should be stacked like cord wood in the streets.
Two classes of homicides dominate mass media today: gang warfare killings and mass shootings by lone killers. Gang warfare is concentrated in urban areas. One-on-one homicides are fairly rare and sprinkled across America. Mass shootings are even more uncommon.
Dealing with lone killers would require America to tackle the very tough issue of privacy. In the past 60 years, civil libertarians have invented an impenetrable bubble of privacy around everyone. This makes it difficult or impossible for employers, law enforcement and school officials to do anything before a mass shooting takes place.
A final observation: Every handgun sold to honest, law-abiding citizens is a vote of “no confidence” in government’s ability — or even willingness — to control street crime.
– Brian Bloedel, Accomac, Virginia
I’ll take : Mostly what the local prosecutor thinks it is, for $500
What Does “Brandishing” a Gun Mean?
For the purpose of our discussion, brandishing is the unnecessary and unlawful display of a defensive firearm. The most important thing for everyone to understand is that the specific legal definition of brandishing may differ from state to state. For this reason, it is critically important for every defensive shooter to contact his local district attorney or a criminal defense attorney and get an accurate understanding of the local interpretation.
Even if there were no brandishing law, I would strongly advise against unnecessarily displaying the firearm. We shouldn’t be carrying a gun in order to try to impress people because it usually does not impress them. And we certainly don’t want to give the criminal any advance notice of what he is about to be up against because, now that he is forewarned, he might just simply change his tactics.
Our society requires us to let the criminal make the first move—which means that we are already behind if his attack is serious. It is far better to surprise him, and ruin his day, by drawing our gun when he thinks he has everything going his way. Drawing against an attacker who is armed with a deadly weapon, in the middle of his attack, is not brandishing….even if you don’t have to fire a shot.
In dealing with criminal attacks, we should establish mental triggers. Seeing a person with a knife in his hand is not going to cause me to shoot him. But my mental trigger is: “If he ignores my commands to drop the knife and comes close enough to strike me then I am prepared to take deadly action.” If he complies with my commands, or simply runs away, I see no need to shoot. But you can be certain that I will report the incident to law enforcement immediately.
It is important to realize that not every criminal attack is deadly in nature. And, while it is an attack, it may not justify the use of deadly force on the part of the armed citizen. Producing a firearm during an argument with an unarmed neighbor, for instance, may be a violation of the law. We should produce the defensive handgun only when our life is clearly in immediate danger, or the lives of our family.
Everyone’s personal defense plan should include plans for dealing with these less-than-lethal attacks. Training in martial arts, stick fighting, or the use of less lethal defensive tools such as pepper spray, are all important in protecting life and limb. Not every criminal encounter justifies the use of a firearm.
Understanding the law regarding brandishing is very important. Equally important is the need to develop one’s defensive skills so that we can act within the law and still protect ourselves. Knowledge of the law and professional training are the best armor that we can put on.
CCI Blazer Brass 9mm fmj.
Well, fmj has worked well enough before, but folks, if you can afford a modern handgun, you can afford a box or two of the well tested jhp ammo available.
“True Hero” Eli Dicken Cleared of Charges, Praised by Police
No charges will be filed against Elisjsha Dicken, the 22-year-old armed citizen who stopped a mass murderer at an Indiana mall earlier this year.
The announcement came during a press conference on Dec. 21, where Greenwood Police Department Chief James Ison released new details about the perpetrator, and praised Dicken as “a true hero.”
Of the shooter, Ison painted a familiar picture of an anti-social loner who was estranged from his family and had a record of juvenile offenses. In fact, this individual had a spiraling history of online obsession with Nazi Germany and mass murderers.
An ex-girlfriend, who said she wasn’t surprised to learn of the killings, described prior abusive behaviors from this person, such as putting a gun in her mouth during an argument. She said that if he ever killed himself, he would take others with him. Others around him reportedly “joked” that he was “the school-shooter type.” The FBI had received a tip about his online account in 2019, but never located its owner.
Notably, when discussing mass murderers online, the killer had previously written that mass murderers select places where armed citizens can’t carry. “Gun-free zones are a recent phenomenon that by definition cause them to be easy targets,” the individual wrote.
According to police reports, three months prior to the act, the murderer purchased two AR-15 rifles and ammunition. A month before the killings, he had quit his job and, because his father had withdrawn financial support, was about to be evicted. Shortly prior to the murders, he disabled his apartment’s smoke detectors and burned his laptop inside an oven with a butane tank. (Police speculate this may have been an attempt to divert the public safety response.) An hour before the killings, the murderer posted a photo of himself holding a gun to his head and saying it was “a good day to die.”
The murderer then placed both rifles, four loaded magazines and a handgun inside a backpack, walked to the Greenwood Park Mall, and proceeded directly to the food-court bathroom. He spent an hour in the bathroom using the public wi-fi for activities such as searching for his ex-girlfriend online. Shortly before the mall closed, the murderer dropped his cell phone into the toilet, emerged from the bathroom at 5:56 p.m. and began shooting people. The first person he encountered, Victor Gomez, also happened to be carrying concealed that day, but was ambushed at point blank and never had a chance. The shooter then fired at nearby diners Pedro and Rosa Pinedo before firing indiscriminately into the food court.
One of those at risk of being shot was Elisjsha Dicken.
Dicken had come to the food court with his girlfriend for dinner, and was seated next to a column and trash can. The instant the shots rang out, Dicken pushed his girlfriend to the ground, drew his Glock 19, braced himself on the trash can and opened fire at a distance of 42 yards. At this distance, Dicken fired four times, hitting the murderer twice, with Dicken pausing only when panicked shoppers ran through his line of sight.
The injured murderer, rifle still in hand, retreated towards the bathroom. Dicken closed to within 20 yards and shot the murderer with another four shots. The murderer started to go down, but was still struggling to make it to the bathroom. Concerned for potential further carnage, Dicken closed in to about 25 feet and fired twice more. The murderer slumped over and didn’t move.
An unarmed mall security guard then ran up. Dicken told the guard what happened, and the guard intercepted and briefed arriving officers.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Eli Dicken saved many, many lives that night,” Chief Ison told reporters. “He is a true hero.”
America’s 1st Freedom caught up with Eli’s attorney, Guy Relford, as he was retrieving Eli’s handgun from police custody, to learn more about the Greenwood Mall hero.
“Eli is a somewhat shy, really hard-working, all-American man,” Relford explains. “He’s someone who doesn’t want the spotlight. He’s got a really good job as an auto mechanic; he has a girlfriend that he loves; and he really wants to get back to the life he had before the shooting. He knows that he saved lives and he appreciates the accolades and the thanks that he’s gotten. At the same time, he’s still struggling with the idea that he was forced into taking a human life. That’s a big thing for anyone who values human life as Eli does. He’s still coming to grips with that.”
Did he have any special training? “Zero,” Relford says. “Eli was taught by his grandfather how to shoot when he was just nine or ten. That was really it. After the events of 2020, and when he became eligible, he got a permit to carry. He actually didn’t need it because we passed constitutional carry this year, but he had it, and carried as part of his routine, thank God.”
Officers say it only took seconds for Dicken to stop the murderer.
By all indications, there was nothing special about Dicken. He was just a young car mechanic with a Glock. No specialized training. No formal preparation. No fancy equipment. His magazine was loaded with full metal jacket Blazer brass ammunition, and his pistol sights had actually been mangled in a motorcycle accident, weeks prior, and been filed down to make them functional again.
“Having seen the video and seen the results, I have one theory, and it’s that the hand of God was on Eli,” Relford says.
There were also no flagrant warnings or actionable “red flags” for the killer’s behavior. He left no manifesto and no obvious motives. He gave no obvious indications to mall patrons of his impending murder spree, and entered the mall unobserved. “The fact of the matter is, it can happen anywhere,” Chief Ison noted. “When someone makes up their mind to do something evil like this, it’s really hard to stop. I don’t know how you stop that, short of putting metal detectors at every entrance. Sometimes all we can hope for is an Eli Dicken to be in the right place at the right time.”
Good Guy With a Gun’ Saves Woman After Two Men Tried to Kidnap Her in Memphis Parking Lot
The ambush occurred around 8 pm in the parking lot at the Shops of Saddle Creek on West Farmington Boulevard. A bystander filmed the incident.
The blonde woman, who has not been publicly identified, was getting into her SUV when two men in hoodies jumped out of their vehicle, which was parked next to hers. The woman attempted to fight them off but appeared to be overpowered.
Moments after the attack began, a man enters the frame holding a gun and confronts the attackers.
The woman is seen running away as the two men jump into the silver four-door and speed off.
“Attempted abduction at Saddle Creek yesterday!” Earle Farrell, who posted the video, wrote on Facebook. “Be aware of who you are parked near. If it looks suspicious. Don’t get out or avoid going back to car! Note all of the empty parking places around her car. Yet this car is right up next to her car! Stay alert at all times! Thank God for brave man who steps in and stops crime!”
The Daily Mail reports that the armed good samaritan has not been identified.
The woman reportedly sustained multiple minor injuries.
Germantown Police Department PIO Captain Kevin Simpson confirmed to the outlet that they are still seeking three suspects.
“The investigation is still active,” Simpson said. “We are still following up on leads, and we do have some things that are pertinent to the investigation.”
The vehicle appeared to be a Ford.
No suspects have been taken into custody, and police are asking anyone with information to contact the Germantown Police Department at 901-754-7222 or tips@germantown-tn.gov.
Andrew Pollack Teams up with Byrna to Make Florida Schools Safer
On January 4, 2022, Parkland father Andrew Pollack’s 501c3 “Meadows Movement” will be donating eight backpacks, each containing an AR pistol, to Florida’s Bradford County Sheriff’s Office for use in Bradford County schools.
Pollack lost his 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, in the heinous criminal attack that claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman High School on February 14, 2018.
He says he founded “Meadows Movement” as a way to fight to “[ensure] sure that other parents never have to go through what I (and so many other parents) have had to endure.”
When Pollack presents the backpacks to the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, each one will be coupled with an Adams Arms AR pistol.
The backpacks/AR pistol combination means sheriff’s personnel serving as school resource officers (SROs) will not have to run to a locker or a patrol car in order to retrieve a firearm chambered in a round larger than a traditional handgun. Instead, the AR pistol will be on their person and immediately accessible. This saves time and time saves lives.
By the way, the backpacks are also equipped with body armor to help protect the SROs as they confront and stop attackers.
The backpacks were donated to “Meadows Movement” by Byrna, a company focused on self-defense tools.
Pollack told Breitbart News, “I was fortunate enough to link up with Byrna, which is such a great company. They have the same vision as I do. They to save lives and give law enforcement the tools to even the playing field against evil.” (Pollack and Byrna have grown so close via their work together for safer schools that he is now their chief public safety officer.)
Breitbart News also spoke with Will Hartley, the superintendent of Bradford County Schools. Hartley noted that his district has a total of six facilities and those already have certain teachers and staff who are armed for classroom defense.
He believes the addition the SROs with the AR pistols is an added–and necessary–layer of protection to keep kids safe.
Hartley said, “I wish more people could have it. Because, if someone comes on your campus and they have a long gun, we need to be able to meet their force with the same kind of force. The backpacks with AR pistols fit perfectly with our belief that if someone comes on your campus we should have every right to stop that threat with whatever means necessary.”
Hartley’s desire for other school districts to be prepared was echoed by Pollack, who stressed that “Meadows Movement” has more funding available to help other police departments and/or school districts get life-saving tools into the hands of SROs.
Today, January 3
1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
1749 – New Hampshire Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
1777 – The Colonial Army under General Washington defeats General Cornwallis’ rearguard under Colonel Charles Mawhood at the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey
1861 – Delaware votes not to secede from the United States
1870 – Construction work begins on the Brooklyn Bridge
1947 – Proceedings of Congress are televised for the first time.
1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
1959 – Alaska enters the Union as the 49th state
1961 – The SL-1 nuclear reactor at the National Reactor Testing Station, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is destroyed by a steam explosion, killing all 3 of the operating technicians on duty, the only reactor incident in the U.S. to cause immediate fatalities.
1990 – Under siege in his estancia in Panama City, Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces
1992 – CommutAir Flight 4281, a Beechcraft 1900, crashes on approach to Adirondack Regional Airport, in Saranac Lake, New York, killing 1 passenger and the co-pilot of the 4 people aboard.
1993 – In Moscow, President Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA.
2009 – The first block of Bitcoin is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
2020 – Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is killed by an American airstrike near Baghdad International Airport
Depends on what the purpose was. Control the virus, or control the people…
The COVID lockdowns were all for naught.
How different it feels this time around. Broadcasters are lustily cheering anti-lockdown protesters in China. Members of Congress offer unqualified support. President Joe Biden, although more guarded, is sympathetic.
No Western politician, as far as I can see, is insulting the protesters. They are not dismissed as selfish or sociopathic, nor as dupes of conspiracy theories. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) captured the mood: “To the people of China — we hear you and we stand with you as you fight for your freedom.”
Broadcasters and columnists who spent 2020 calling anti-lockdowners kooks and criminals are now uncomplicatedly applauding their Chinese counterparts. They see ordinary people standing up against an authoritarian government the anti-COVID policies of which were crushing liberty.
So, what changed? Perhaps pundits tell themselves that the disease is less virulent now, or that vaccination has altered the balance of risk, or that, in some other way, Beijing’s crackdown is less proportionate than those of 2020. But none of these explanations stacks up.
Yes, the coronavirus became less lethal. All viruses that spread through human contact eventually become less lethal because they have an evolved tendency to want to keep their hosts up and active and therefore more infectious. For this to happen, they require a critical mass. Enough people need to be incapacitated or killed by the original version to give milder strains an advantage. And, yes, the vaccines helped, too.
But the trade-offs are essentially the same in China today as they were three years ago — coronavirus deaths versus other deaths. The current unrest was sparked by a fire in Xinjiang, which was allowed to become needlessly deadly because the authorities were following COVID protocols. In other words, they were elevating COVID above other forms of harm.
Most countries did the same in 2020 with, as we now see, disastrous results. The lockdowns did not just cause an economic meltdown from which we will take years to recover. They also failed on their own terms. They killed more people than they saved.
Guess which developed country had the lowest excess mortality between 2020 and 2022. Go on, have a guess. That’s right. Sweden, which refused to close shops or schools or to impose a mask mandate, saw cumulative excess deaths rise by 6.8%, the lowest figure in the OECD. By way of comparison, the equivalent figures were 18% in Australia, 24.5% in the U.K., and 54.1% in the U.S.
At this stage, various authoritarians, hypochondriacs and mask fetishists trot out bizarre arguments about Sweden having a low population density, as if Swedes were evenly spaced across their birch forests rather than living mainly in cities comparable to ours. What is striking about this argument is not so much its dishonesty (in March 2020, lockdowners claimed that Sweden faced total catastrophe, not that it might end up with a slightly higher mortality rate than Finland ) as its desperation.
There’s no good reason to ban the AR-15 in US
In response to the Dec. 25 letter writer on AR-15s, I am one of those who does not believe that rifles such as the AR-15 should be banned in our nation.
First, to answer your question, nobody wants to be shot by anything! Surgeons report the most deadly caliber to be shot by is a .22 long rifle. It will enter in one spot and bounce around inside the body, making it very difficult for a surgeon to locate.
As to your claims about your friends who are hunters, I find this to be quite the stretch that they would think the AR-15 chambered in .223/5.56 would be so deadly. Surely, if they are true hunters, they would have rifles that are far more deadly.
The claim this round destroys the meat of deer is false. In fact, it is illegal in Ohio to hunt deer with any rifle chambered in this caliber because it is inefficient for hunting mid-sized to large game. Our soldiers have also complained to their commanding officers the round isn’t great for combat either, which is why the military is actively transitioning to a larger caliber, 6.8mm.
The AR-15 is the most common rifle in America and one that is used for sporting, self-defense and even hunting smaller game (or if chambered in a larger caliber it can be used for hunting larger game). Had you spent just a few moments on Google you could have learned a lot about this great rifle platform.
I hope you take the time to educate yourself more thoroughly about these rifles in the future. If you’d like, I’d be glad to show you them in person at my store and compare them to real hunting rifles.
I truthfully believe you’ll be surprised that these are not the evil machines the media have made you believe they are.
DAN SKINNER
Owner, Eagle Creek Tactical
Newton Falls
The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) recently gathered in Kansas City, Mo., for its annual meeting and expo. This year, industry members enjoyed the opportunity to share and discuss new products in the works for 2023 without wading through often inconvenient COVID-19 restrictions or regulations. Here is a sneak peek at a few of the new models that will be heading out to local dealers in the near future.