What we have here is a failure to tell the whole story

I have an issue with this story, but on the main point, what happens is wrong.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/01/civil-forfeiture-south-carolina-police-property-seizures-taken-exclusive-investigation/2716045002/

My issue is found in this quote:

“It just sort of reinforces an understanding we already knew — that black residents disproportionately come in contact with law enforcement given the way criminal justice policy is oriented in this country,” said Nicole Porter, spokeswoman at The Sentencing Project, a reform advocacy group.

TELL IT ALL

That is a correct statement, but it does not tell everything. The journalists writing this story did not tell it all.

Some years ago I did a study of calls to 911 for police assistance in the City of Ashburn. I split the City down Highway 41 and Highway 112 - quadrants.

Over six months the NE quadrant hand 1 call for law enforcement, a fight at the then-alternate school.

The SW quadrant accounted for nearly 75 percent of the calls for law enforcement. The SE and NE quadrants had the remainder.

I'm willing to bet you that LEAs are called to certain neighborhoods far more often in any given community than in other neighborhoods.

THEY ARE CALLED

The greater point which is not discussed is: Police go where they are called. They meet with people who call them. This is results in massively disproportionate contacts with law enforcement. This is NOT discrimination. This is law enforcement simply responding to calls.

It also follows that LEAs will make more arrests where they spend the most amount of time. They will make the most arrests from the pool of people they deal with the most.

That is not complicated.

Complaining and trying to draw racial inferences from this is like complaining nursing homes have most elderly and ill people as residents. It is true, but the base reason for this is not discrimination.

MORE TO IT

Not saying some people are profiled and targeted. This does happen. As the report points out, a certain group of people is stopped for traffic violations more often than others. This definitely smacks of being wrong. I wonder if there is more to it.

I've done ride-alongs with police officers. I cover law enforcement regularly. I know profiling happens. At the same time where the traffic stops are discussed, I just wonder what the whole picture has to show. I am reminded of the story of three blind men and the elephant. One described the elephant as long, muscular and strong. He had the trunk. Another said no, an elephant is round, solid and thick like a tree. He had a leg. The third said no, the elephant is short and somewhat stiff with coarse hair like a heavy hemp rope. He had the tail. Certainly, the court system is harsher to a segment of the population compared to other segments. That is flat wrong. Rich people get off much lighter than poor people when hauled into court.

REPORTING

The story does make a backhanded attempt at addressing the whole situation at the end of the report. It's pretty pathetic reporting too. "One police official said..."

One officer. One department. Stacked against in-depth research covering the entire state.

Is there more to this story? Betcha. Will the reporters cover it? Probably not. The resources and effort that went into this story were massive and I seriously doubt there was a return on investment. S. Carolina media simply does not have the money to invest in this kind of reporting on a regular basis, so we are stuck with a partial story.

IT IS WRONG

On the whole, the asset forfeiture as discussed in this story is flat wrong. It is nothing more than theft by government. Exactly the same as taxes. I really see no difference between the two. If you do, please explain.

Some help for the journalist

The Society for Professional Journalists is actually doing something useful.

For once. 

This is like using a belt-fed machine gun to hit a pie plate target at 1,000 yards. Sling enough lead and you're bound to hit the target, eventually.

Anyway, the SPJ is hosting a conference on stress and journalism March 9 in Savannah.

Some topics on the agenda:

• Are you having a hard time handling the stress of burnout?

• Do you need resources to help a colleague that is having a difficult time?

• Did you have a hard time processing the trauma of a crime scene or disaster?

• Are you afraid of the stigma of asking for help, to share your emotions?

• Do you need to know that you are not alone in how you are feeling and it's okay?

• How can we support ourselves as journalists?

In case you don't wonder, I answer:

Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes #1 thing - quit being flaming infected hemorrhoids toward each other.

IT'S A ROUGH JOB

Coming up through the ranks many years ago I was told journalists suffer an unusually high level of alcoholism compared to other industries. I no longer believe that to be as true. https://www.businessinsider.com/most-alcoholic-jobs-2011-10

Journalism is rough though. As I remember, France dictates a month of vacation for professional working journalists because of the stress. But France does a lot of things that make me wonder.

I don't know of any other career that has the same kinds of stress-inducers. Certainly, other professions have their share and many overlap. ER workers, law enforcement, and fire, EMS, dispatchers come to immediate mind. Some less-expected professions that have some of the same major stresses are minister or preacher, politician, human resources. You can probably add many more to this.

But journalism stands unique. Only journalists are called on to be in any profession at any time. We can spend one day being a police officer, another day as a commercial fisherman and yet another day as a funeral director. Good journalists try to understand the people we write about and that means learning what they do and how they do it. Sometimes it means hands on. It always means observation.

At the same time, journalism is unique because at the end of the day, we get to walk away from that job and move on to something which may be a polar opposite. Whether we can actually leave that temp job is another matter entirely. The rough stuff stays with us. The good stuff stays too, but the bad parts are more durable.

On any given day a journalist can see the very worst humans can do to each other and then all the way to the very best. Then, we have to process that and present it to our audience. That kinda stuff sticks with a person.

Journalists also don't have a lot in the way of stress support. Example: Journalists can get PTSD. I have it. Unlike soldiers who have a support network, whether it is effective or not is beside the point, journalists do not have that (however effective) safety net. Soldiers have thousands of comrades who went through the same thing. Journalists may have a handful.

So thanks to the SPJ for finally doing something worthwhile. I seriously wish I could attend the conference, but it is not gonna happen. Y'all who do attend, I hope you are able to find a way to beat down those demons that haunt us all.

Protection, bribes and theft

Imagine paying someone, someone carrying guns with a record of extreme violence, money just so you can:

• Keep living as you are living now.

• Keep your business open.

• Keep your job.

• Keep your property.

If you do not pay, this person will visit you and commit all sorts of extreme violence on you, your family, your property and pretty much anything else you have.

What would you do? Call the police?

HAND IT OVER

Out of a million people, 999,9999 pay. Pay whatever is demanded as often as demanded. That fraction of a percent refuses to pay. More about them in a moment.

Say you do refuse to pay. With violence inbound, what will you do?

Call for reinforcements? Few, if any, will show up. Likely you are on your own.

Then, the violence hits.

What will you do then? You protest? Deaf ears.

LEGAL OR LEGAL?

Extortion is illegal.

Except when it is not.

This is called "protection" in by some. It is extortion in reality. Call it bribes if you like. Theft is another good word.

It is taking something from someone else against their will. Verifiable, measurable economic harm.

"All taxes are bribes," says the character Earl Harbinger (the name is that for a reason in the book). "Just roll with it."

That tiny fraction of a percent who won't pay to play? The great majority of those people have mental problems, abuse problems or a combination. The bums, hobos, homeless.

Only a very few, I'm guessing less than 10,000 in the United States are sane enough to know what they are doing and, more importantly, how to get away with it.

VIOLENCE

My friends on the left decry violence, except when it suits their purpose. My friends on the right decry violence, except when it suits their purpose. So much for tolerance, eh? Their purpose is to bend everyone to their will, by whatever means necessary. This includes killing us.

No? How many IRS raids have you been on?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2016/08/15/irs-weapons-and-ammunition-spending-is-unremarkable/#1c552eda6c0a

If lethal force is not needed to collect taxes, whyinhell does the IRS need guns and ammo?

BOUT DAT CONTRACT

Frankly, I'm damned all tired of hearing about the "Social Contract" that allows legal extortion. Apparently, a group of people can come together, declare themselves to be a "government" and do whatever the hell they want to the rest of us.

That is exactly how it works. Prove me wrong, I will change my mind.

Majority rule?

Voter turnout in the United States fluctuates in national elections. In recent elections, about 60% of the voting eligible population votes during presidential election years, and about 40% votes during midterm elections. Turnout is lower for odd year, primary and local elections. 2018 turnout was the highest midterm turnout on record at 49.6% with more votes still to count. 

https://www.fairvote.org/voter_turnout#voter_turnout_101

Majority rule? If you are over 18 and legally allowed to vote.

Given that 80% plus of candidates do not receive a majority of the votes from eligible voters, we have minority rule. A minority imposes their wishes on the majority.

What then is the real difference between a group of thugs extorting a business owner and a business owner who pays some guys in the neighborhood to not trash his store?

Still disagree? How are cities created? Familiar with the annexation process which brings property into the corporate limits even against the will of the people who own that property?

https://fee.org/articles/involuntary-municipal-annexation-the-ugly-truth/

Speak ye not to me of democracy and majority rule for I shall laugh in your face.

About that tear gas at the border

This will not convince anyone to change their mind. However, I need to get it put down in words to make things clear in my head. I also need to just get it written. If you are a writer, you understand.

This week (last week of Nov. 2018) a bunch of people gathered at the US-Mexico border. Those on the south side started throwing stuff at the folks on the US side. Rocks mostly, but other stuff too.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/26/18112474/tear-gas-border-patrol-caravan-rocks

The US responded with tear gas.

This is a measured and appropriate response. Have a splodey head if you like and feel free to rip my argument to shreds, but hear me out first.

1) There were children in this group. 

Some are decrying the US response because of the children. My question is WTH were children doing in the middle of a riot in the first place? A riot? Yes. If this happened in a street in a city, it'd be called a riot. Again, why are children in a riot?

A bunch of people throwing rocks and other stuff at armed government personnel is a riot. Change my mind? Unlikely.

Children learn from adults. The kids see adults throwing rocks at people in the US. WTH do you think this is teaching the kids? If you saw one of your kids throwing rocks at someone, what would you do? 

In parts of the world children who learn to throw rocks "graduate" to firing rockets.

https://www.hrw.org/topic/childrens-rights/child-soldiers

This same week in a neighboring community a man was murdered and one of those accused of doing the shooting is a 15 YOA.

Children. Kids need to learn that actions have consequences. Adults too.

2) This happened at a border.

Yeah, it's an international border. So? Borders are artificial barriers created by man to say "Hey. That's your side. This'n is mine." Someone shows up on the street outside your house and starts throwing rocks, what would you do? 

This is simply a matter of magnitude. A border is a border is a border is a border.

Those of you who demand equality across the board (I do not), get over this. This is equality across the board.

https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/10/04/states-vs-feds-borders-and-the-constitution/

3) No one was killed in the tear gas response.

Cain killed Abel with a rock and it's been going on ever since. Even today.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oklahoma/articles/2018-04-16/oklahoma-woman-arrested-after-man-killed-with-rock

4) It needed to be stopped.

Yanno what happens when you let things go? They go. Yanno what happens if you do not kill a rabid animal? It infects more animals. The rabid analogy is going to offend someone. Good. Be offended. Point remains. Volatile situations can either be contained or allowed to expand and create even more destruction.

The tear gas response told those at the border: It is time for you to stop. If you don't, we're going to step up the response. Tear gas was a mild response to a situation that was - yes it had - been brewing for a few days. Sometimes you just gotta stop things. You step up the response until things are stopped.

https://www.kxly.com/news/national-news/your-questions-about-the-tear-gas-and-tensions-at-the-border-answered

Had this not been stopped, how far would it go?

Appeasement does not work.

http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=27051

https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/04/20/hows-that-appeasement-working-out/

5) These people want to come to the US.

My opinion on immigration is not changed by this instance at the border. Despite what you believe about my thoughts on immigration (and you are likely wrong), I still say this was an appropriate response. I also say let 'em in after some vetting.

We have rules in this nation. Even as a minarchist, I believe in rules. Do not hurt anyone. That rule applies here. People who were throwing stuff were engaged in an attack. Attacks need to be stopped. We do not tolerate attacks on people (unless it is the government attacking people which is another blog entirely).

https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/teen-arrested-accused-throwing-rocks-men-atlanta-beltline/YIz0JONIZDG0Nzr4JcsqpK/

They wanna come here, they need to play by the rules. Our rules say throwing rocks at people is not allowed.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states

6) The US should have retreated.

Someone throwing rocks at you and your house. Retreat?

Ok, say you own a vacant lot, no structures. You do not live on the lot. Someone starts throwing rocks at you on the lot. Retreat? OK. They keep coming. Now what? You either call law enforcement (um, DUH, that's what happened here!) or you fight back (ditto.) The simple fact here is, law enforcement stepped in to stop the attacks. It's just a matter of scale once again.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/former-pasco-officer-says-he-was-not-shooting-to-kill-rock-throwing-mexican-man/

Castle Ground.

https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/states-that-have-stand-your-ground-laws.html

Once you retreat, you have set a precedent. Sooner or later you run out of room. Start your defense immediately and make it clear that any advance is gonna be costly.

Again, appeasement does not work.

7) There is a fence in the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzjBuCBk9WQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2RtoRG4F4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tNFK7RHQZg - This one is stunning.

https://www.newsinenglish.no/2016/09/26/portions-of-new-border-fence-may-be-torn-down/

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Inside-look-at-how-Gaza-protesters-attempted-to-breach-the-border-fence-556447

8) This is legal.

I looked it up in the Geneva conventions. (NB - I have a degree in political science so yes, I am a scientist where politics are concerned.) Tear gas is a "riot control" agent. While its use is proscribed in war (and we ain't at war with Mexico), its use in convincing rioters to find somewhere else is OK.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/aug/26/facebook-posts/tear-gas-was-banned-warfare-1993-police-1997/

9) You don't have a frame of reference.

You get dismissive with me because of this. I extend the same courtesy to you.

http://changingminds.org/explanations/models/frame_of_reference.htm

Ever been in a riot?

I've been shot twice and shot at a third time. How about you? Ever had someone come to your house as a paid assassin to kill you? I have.

Only one (that I know of) person who'll read this has a suitable frame of reference. He says the response was inappropriate. Yet he still packs a heater. 

Until and unless you have faced down someone who is attacking you, can actually kill you with that attack and at that moment doesn't have a problem with killing you, you don't have a frame of reference. Rocks are a lethal weapon, see links above. 

You will tell me I can't understand some things because I lack a frame of reference. You are correct. I am also correct.

Teen brains and other folks' mental instability

"Raising the age to purchase from 18 to 21 to match our rules for handguns just makes sense. Studies show that people 18 to 21 years of age commit a disproportionate number of firearm homicides in the United States. We know from research that the brain does not fully mature until a later age, especially the part of the brain responsible for decision making, risk assessment, and impulse control."

This is from a gun grabber group in Washington State. Pay special attention to that last sentence.

Teens and younger people don't have the same brain as someone older. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=3051

The laws of this nation are even set up with this in mind. The US Supreme Court has handed down ruling after ruling using this as the basis. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/u-s-supreme-court-roper-v-simmons-no-03-633. For instance.

And yet, so many people are screaming, demanding and even reacting with violence to insist teens be treated exactly the same as a mentally competent adult of 25+ years of age. Except of course when it comes to other things.

I'm good with either course.

No, I'm not. Teenagers, as proven by SCIENCE!, do not have the developed brain of an older adult. Treating them as such is flat wrong and flies in the face of the SCIENCE! so many see as their god.

What I am good with is picking a direction. Either SCIENCE! is correct in this - in which case S.T.F.U. about holding teens to the exact same level of accountability across the board - or hold teens to the exact same level of accountability across the board, period.

Trying to have it both ways is cognitive dissonance, not that it will matter to people who are hypocrites on this issue.

Stick to the issue if you wanna debate. Opinions welcome, preferably backed up with SCIENCE! and laws. I've booted people in the past 14 days for personal insults, attacks and ad hominem. I don't like doing it, but I will do it again.

One of these things is exactly like the other

Why does government have any right to things I have and earn? Socialists and those otherwise on the left and most of those on the right as well come up with all kinds of excuses.

Me bud Paul makes the most concise case for this. The Social Contract.

Dictionary.com says it is "an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. Theories of a social contract became popular in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries among theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a means of explaining the origin of government and the obligations of subjects."

In other words, we as a society opted to do this. Don't like it? Three choices:

• Move

• Be beaten into submission

• Die

On the far fringes is the other side that calls for anarchy. No rules. Somalia then? No, these people say, that is a failed state. Me? I ain't able to find a difference between anarchy and the "failed state" of Somalia, but that's another blawg.

WE VOTED

The Social Contract is just another way of saying the people with the most physical power make the rules. Don't believe me? Cool. Show me an instance where the people with less physical power made significant changes. For every one you give me, I will give you 10 or more instances where the powerless were crushed, often literally. Maybe even 100:1.

STRETCHING YOUR LIMITS

So let's apply this "social contract" conventions in ways that will horrify people on the right and the left. I'll even use real life examples.

1) Women cannot drive. Yeah this is changing. Why? Canya say "superior power?" I knew you could. World opinion is against the Saudi idea that women should not be able to drive. That's enough physical force to mandate a change.

2) People are property. No? Don't pay your taxes. The IRS has the ability to arrest you, take you to court and throw your non-taxpaying butt in jail where you become a ward of the state and you are told where you can be, when you must be there, what you can wear, when you have to wear it, what you can eat, when you can eat it and so on.

3) Women are property. Aghast much? Under the "social contract" of the 1%ers, this is reality. Some women want out of this kind of life, but cannot get free. Murder is illegal, but it still happens. In much of the 1%er life, a man may make the beast with two backs with any woman he chooses, including the "old lady" of another biker brother with his permission. The lady has no say in this. S'called a social contract. This is also a reality in another subculture in "western" civilization. In some cases, men are also property, literal slaves, but this is much less common than owning a woman.

THE PROBLEM

These three examples of literally thousands illustrate the problem with the "social contract" and anarchy for that matter. The people with the power make the rules.

If the "social contract" suddenly declares raping women is OK, how many of you will go along with that?

Can't happen? Proof that it can, does and will is just above. I could give you plenty more instances of the "social contract" calling for things that will give you a splodey head. If you are willing to think about this rationally, you have enough on your mental plate.

ONE OF THESE THINGS

This next is really gonna cause splodey heads. Before you judge me, make sure you have a full understanding of who I am, what I have been through and how I survived. Else, you are making unwarranted assumptions, AKA likes. I am one who says taxation is theft. It is economic rape. It takes something a person is not willing to give for the satisfaction of someone else. One of these things is exactly like another.


The "social contract" may say it is proper and appropriate. Tell that to the person who objects.

Zebony & Faith

If Zebony Davis is any indication of the about-to-graduate generation, this world is in good shape.

The crown that was supposed to go to her instead went to her friend Faith Hobbs. Faith has Down syndrome. Faith walked the football field at Turner County High School in South Georgia this year, as a senior, escorted by Zebony and Zebony’s escort Quevan Lawson. They were on the field for the annual Homecoming event, something we Southerners take just about as seriously as our football.

When Tim Hunt announced the queen, Zebony and her family were naturally very excited. When it came time to receive the crown…

– Excuse me. Allergy attack. Lemme clear my eyes. –

… Zebony said “Give it to her.” The crown went to Faith. Zebony accepted the roses, banner and the cape for being elected Homecoming Queen.

Faith got the crown.

– Will someone PLEASE stop cutting up onions in here. Thank you.–

Plenty of tears rolling down faces in Alan Hobby Stadium on Friday night after that happened.

Pictures were taken. Zebony, Quevan and Faith together.

They started off the field. Faith complained her shoes were hurting her.

Dressed in a homecoming gown …

–Y’all, I ain’t cried this much writing a column since I wrote the story of my son Jesse being born. Jesse also has Down syndrome. He and Faith were classmates for years. He called her “My Doodblebug.”–

… in that most elegant gown, Zebony knelt down in front of stadium of people and helped take Faith’s shoes off. They walked off the field hand in hand, Zebony carrying the shoes.

Waterworks again.

The photo by Deborah Priest, Faith's teacher, is well on its way to being a viral sensation, as it should be.

We’re all in this together. People like Miss Zebony Davis live it.

Zebony Davis, words are not adequate to express the thanks from so many families. It is what we have.

May we all learn from your example. You are an inspiration. You are a true leader. You are what the people of this world should be.

May your future be as bright as you shined on Friday night.

October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

The biggest problem I see with cantservatives and liarberals is they are both willing to kill anyone who will not do as they demand. And, do as they demand. Death awaits no matter the choice made.

I'd appreciate someone proving me wrong, but it can't happen. (sigh).

DO AND DIE

In the war on guns (ar har har!) the biggest offender is rarely discussed. How about taking guns away from a group of people who killed 54 million in about seven years? Not unborn babies, but people already born.

In case you wonder, the decision to kill people was unanimous many times and an overwhelming majority the rest of the time.

More recent? Ok. Only one member of Congress voted AGAINST military action against Afghanistan. De Juri, this is was not a war. De Facto, eh well, that's why so many lawyers are in Congress.

Iraq? Again the "left" and the "right" saw fit to kill people.

DON'T AND DIE

Vietnam draft. Again, L & R united to kill people. While the reasons for this war are a varied as the people who talk about it ... never mind.

If you served in Vietnam, thank you for your service. If you served or served in the military, thank you for your service. You deserve better than this country provides.

Kent State

Waco. Which included children dying.

Ruby Ridge. A woman who was NOT wanted on any criminal charges was killed.

All the police shootings people are so excited about these days.

I could go on and on, but shan't.

DON'T AND GET RAPED

We are also hearing a metric s-ton about sexual assault. Once again, the L and the R unite to make sure if you do not do as they say, you run the very real risk of being physically raped. Don't pay income taxes? You stand an excellent chance of getting raped. Don't show up for court for a speeding ticket? Run the risk of being raped.

This situation can be handled but the L & R are happy with the current state of affairs. If they were not, things would change.

The sad truth is, the L & R crowd (and they are one in the same) are CAVE people with extreme NIMBY tendencies.

CRUEL & UNUSUAL

The US Constitution prohibits cruel & unusual punishment. This is a moving standard in the US. What was not C&U 150 years ago is today. We don't legally hang horse theives any more.

However, an insulated judiciary and out-of-touch legislative and executive branch decide what C&U are these days. Again, on this issue the L &  R in power are of one accord. For that matter. most of the plebes are in lockstep.

If you are an L or an R, I invite you to prove me wrong. Prove. Not just espouse opinions. Give me hard data and hard facts.

I am not interested in potential reasons for these deaths, assaults and so on. I am not interested in justifications. Excuses will be ridiculed. Besides which, once you start down that path, then "the end justifies the means" applies to everything. Speak to me of reality, cold hard facts.

If the truth hurts, then beat me up if you think you can. You can't.

Proof also requires a statement of who you voted to put into office.  Because, yanno, actions speak louder than words. Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.

Michael Jackson got it right

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his waysAnd no message could have been any clearerIf you want to make the world a better placeTake a look at yourself, and then make a change
Much truth packed into those words.


Which is the first introduction to today's dose of what we all hope is coherent.

Intro 2

Me brother in ink John LeViness asked on FB what are the two most life-changing events in your life except for getting married and a having a child.

I replied:

Accepting a faith

Forgiving

BELIEF

For me, accepting the Christian theology is not a matter of just belief. It is acceptance of what I see as truth.

I rewrote this several times. The 2 sentences above are as close as I've gotten to getting it right.

FORGIVING

I've written on this before. Won't belabor the point again.

I add this - Forgiving does not mean forgetting. It means remembering without hate.

I have a LONG way to go on this one.

In search of less hostility

If you lurk my FB feed, you mighta noticed something.

Lot less politics. Lot less divisive stuff. Lot more jokes, fun stuff and things to make people smile. If you did not notice this, you have now. Still gonna be a political post now & then. I am a political animal.

This is intentional.

I am tired of the hate. I am tired of the invective. So I made a change. I changed the way I post.

I look for good stuff to share. I want to see good stuff.

HATE EVERYBODY EQUALLY

Yassee, I'm of the opinion we ought to hate everybody equally.

That is a sentence 80 percent or more people who read it will misunderstand.

Semantically, it means exactly the same as "we ought to love everybody equally."

Yes, it does. Parse the words. The only qualifiers are "everybody" and "equally."

I'm also gonna continue to post things to try to make people think.

SEE YA!

I do not tolerate ad hominem on my pages. Someone does that. SEE YA! Dropped, block & banned.

When someone attacks me on another page, the boot is swift there as well.

I do not attack people who comment in threads on my page or others' pages. I realize this may be a novel concept.

I will try to explain. I will do my best to understand the other person's POV. I do really enjoy that. Had other people tell me the same.

SCARY THOUGHTS

I've been blocked by others because they don't want to hear my reasoned comments. Scary thoughts are enough to make the most courageous adult pull the covers over his head and start chanting a security mantra.

I feel sorry for them. Sometimes. I'm bastard enough to laugh at them too, especially when things do not go according to their perception of reality.

BYE FELICIA

In closed, I have Fluff Busting Purity overlaid on FB. This is far more effective than Ad Blocked at killing ads on FB. It also has custom filters, that allow me to block posts with certain words. Bye Felicia!

Current blocks?

trump
clinton
Trump
Clinton
Roseanne Barr
border
Kapernick
Colin Kaepernick
Kavanaugh
Nike

Is one other on the list, but you don't need to know that 'cause it is personal.

The list changes with the current news and Rage du Jour. Does it catch all of 'em? Nope. Better'n 80 percent though. I'll live with that.

Meantime, supper is about done and I'm hungry.

The mill doth grind

How many times have you heard something about yourself that was not true?

Did it make you mad? Did you want to go adjust someone's attitude?

Think about the last malicious gossip you heard about yourself.

Don't you WISH people would just come to you and get the truth?

Now that I have you riled up and bent in several directions...

How many times have you spread rumors about someone?

Ooooo. That sound I just heard musta been your toes breaking as I stepped all over 'em.

Rather than spread rumors, why doncha do one of two things?

1) Keep yo damfool mouf shut.

2) Keep yo damfool mouf shut.

If you cannot keep your piehole closed, then do everyone a favor. Go to the person you are gossiping about. Ask that person to tell you the truth. Then, see options 1 and 2 above.



You already admitted you want people to stop gossiping about you. You already admitted you want people to come and ask you about the truth.

Do the right thing. As we learned in Kindergarten, "do unto others as you want them to do to you."

Meantime, let the liars say what they will. You won't stop them. The mill doth grind.

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. William Shakespeare

Disposable memories

Just cannot do it.

Can't, I tell you, can't.

Need to. Really need to.

But, but, but...

These old computers at the office need to have space cleared up. I need to trash files. Need to get rid of old stuff

I  tried. I really did.

But I made the mistake of opening one of the old files, a picture file.

Pictures. Oy.

Ever looked at pictures of your great-grandparents? Ever look at old Polaroid pictures of yourself (if you are that old)?

Love them pix, right?

OLD PICTURES

Years ago, we had more than a bushel of old print photographs at the office. We opened the box to the public. People came in left and right to look through the pix for images of themselves, family and so on.

David Baldwin took the remainders and tried to get them to people who'd appreciate the pictures.

Pictures matter. They take us back. They remind us how far we've come. They tell us stories.

DISPOSABLE MEMORIES

I have image files in this computer I write from that are 20 years old. I open them every now and then and resave them.

Why? To make sure the format is current, Make sure the computer can still open the image. Make sure the software is a recent version.

This is important. I have electronic files that I can still open. The most modern version of the creating software will not open the original files.

Our pictures are disposable memories these days. Snap one. Post it to social media and forget about by tomorrow. Change phones, lose phones, clear out old pictures to make space for new ones. Disposable.

SAVING THE PAST

It was not always so.

In the course of a year, I probably take 10,000 pictures or more. Digital. That is 10,000 instances frozen in time. That is 10,000 points of time recorded for .. all eternity? No. A few minutes? No. A few months? Getting closer. A year or three? Yeah. That's it.

When we still used film, if I shot 40 pictures in a week, that was HUGE.

Hours in the darkroom. Chemicals that could peel the hide off. Develop. Stop. Fix. Dry. When everything was done, clip the negatives and file 'em.

We saved the past.

Not any more.

Shoot, dump, pick, edit and trash the rest.

Gone forever, unless it makes it into an archive.

Many people have said once it gets online, it is there forever. It only seems like it. Websites come and go. Images get lost; they really do.

How many pictures have you lost over the years to system upgrades, computer crashes, lost or replaced phones, dead SIM cards?

Yeah.

Disposable memories.

So, I just can't dump these old files. These pictures mean something to someone.

I wish I knew how to get these pictures to the people who will appreciate them enough to save them for future generations.

Self defense in your house

Me bud Mike Moore came by recently and we talked about self-defense in the home.

We were 100 percent agreed a shotgun is the best weapon. We mostly agreed on why. We had a difference of opinion of one item regarding the shotgun. That in a moment.

Why is the shotgun the best?

1) Loud. When you pull the trigger, everyone knows.

2) Easy to use. A shotgun has the quickest learning curve of any firearm.

3) Max damage.

More critically, a shotgun blast delivers significantly more damage than any other home-defense sized weapon per shot. I can't find it - dammitall - but I read a piece about the "stopping" power of various handguns from a .22 through a .44 mag in police and self-defense firing situations. Surprisingly, the little .380 was a top performing round.

Not surprisingly at all, the 12-gauge in home-defense distances blew (pun intended) everything else away.

With Federal Flitecontrol 8-shot 00 buckshot (THE recommended round for home defense), one shot is all that's needed. Get the 8 shot. Do not use the 9 shot. In 9-shot, one of the lead balls turns into a flier because of the way the projs are placed in the shot cup. 8-shot, all stay on target.

ONE v MANY

Look at this way.

In a handgun (or rifle for home defense if you have no sense), with each pull of the trigger you deliver 1 bullet.

In a shotgun with buckshot, you deliver a BUNCH of bullets per shot.

Someone now is going to talk about hydrostatic shock.

Yep. 1 .44 mag round delivers far more hydrostatic shock than a single buckshot. Every time.

But 8 buckshot at home defense range covers an entry area from a softball to a small plate. Each shot creates a separate wound channel and a separate shock channel. The total area affected is much larger with the 12-gauge than the .44 mag.

You can shoot someone 8 times with a 9mm in a 4-inch group. You can shoot once with a 12-gauge and accomplish the same thing.

4) If you get the Law Enforcement or low recoil buckshot, your chances of over penetration drop dramatically as compared to big-bore handguns or even mid-bore handguns with hot loads. If you use a rifle for home defense, please make sure you live several miles from me.

Also, high penetration rounds, like FMJ or solid brass are NOT SUITABLE for home defense. You do not want your bullets flying through several walls. The good stuff starts around 2:30 -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYLbmSp5itA

5) Do not get one of the shotguns with a 10-round magazine tube. Why? Too f'danged heavy. 3 shots are enough for home defense. Get a short barrel too.

So what did Mike & disagree about?

Sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Gz-A-XO8w

Sez me - When I rack that gun, I have done several things. I alerted the perp in the house that I am armed. I have told said perp he has 2 choices, leave or die. If the perp leaves, situation solved for me. If he keeps coming, I am committed to killing him.

Sez Mike - By racking the gun, you tell the perp where you are. By running him off, you have not solved the problem so much as you pushed it off probably on someone else.

Mike is correct. However, on the position issue, it's my house. I know the layout. The perp does not. I have the advantage there. I do not like the idea of having the thug run away to possibly harm or kill someone else. But if he runs away, I also eliminate the risk of me and my family being harmed.

The paperwork is a lot less too.

ONE WARNING

In the words of Mike, "Shotguns are not drop safe. People get shot every year from a loaded shotgun falling from a corner in the house/propped against the truck/leaned up somewhere. Your scattergat is not safe with a round in the pipe, and propped next to the bed. IMO, if you want to be safe, you have to rack the slide and put one in the pipe, in the event of an intrusion. Thus, making the 'to rack or not to rack' a moot point."

Of rights, wrongs and buying cat food

In one of the threads where I lurk, the question was asked:

Is academic writing ethical?

Down in the thread, the question was expanded. Is it ethical to write school papers for students? The great and vast majority of the writers chiming in said no. Two offered a bit of wit in their reply which could go either way to yes or to no, depending interpretations.

Me? I sezed:

Ethics and morals are pretty much the same in one sense. What is ethical and moral for you is not for someone else and vice versa.

You must live with yourself. 

If you do not try to force your ethics and morals on me, I shall do the same to you.

I have no issues with writing academic papers for students. 

YMMV.

So far no one has assailed me as the newest spawn of Satan, but I am certain several of the commentators thought that way.

One commentator said it is unethical and could get a student expelled.

Yes, that could happen. If so, that's a risk the student totally accepted in hiring someone to write a paper for him.

The ethics of the situation remain a personal matter.

In case you don't wonder, students have hired people to write papers for them since the first instructor demanded a student turn in a "research" paper. University professors in particularly hate it, which amuses me immensely. That's a subject for another post.

SHOW ME ON THIS DOLL

Those of a libertarian mindset like to say "No victim, no crime." A victim must be a living, breathing entity. A victim cannot be "the state," or "government" or a corporation, etc. Another way of putting it is: "Show me on this doll where you were harmed." Property damage is a crime.

Injury must be tangible. "Feelings" are not tangible. The L-crowd says no one is responsible for your feelings except you.

So who was harmed?

The school? No. The building and infrastructure remain intact.

The teacher? How? If anything, when a student hires someone to write a paper, that reflects on the teacher's ability to reach the student in question and instill a desire to learn about the subject. 

The taxpayers footing the bill for the student's education? Again, how. Can you prove economic damages?

The student? The student hired someone to perform a task. Provided the task was done to specs, how was anyone harmed? You say the student did not learn anything.

Au contraire! The student learned an extremely valuable lesson, far more valuable than learning about poor plotting and deus ex machina in the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (a term paper I actually did write for myself thankyouverymuchforasking).

The student learned capitalism beats socialism unless socialism is backed up by a gun.

A KINDER GENTLER MACHINE GUN IN HAND

Not backed up by a gun you say? Maybe not a physical gun in this case but certainly government-endorsed violence. A kinder, gentler machine gun in the hands of a kind person kills just as thoroughly as the same gun in the hands of a psychopath.

As one of the thread commentators says, "As an educator, a university sponsored (sic) help center will have strict ethical guidelines of what they can and cannot do. If a student hires a private individual to edit, write, etc, in their stead, it is both unethical and grounds for expulsion."

Violence. Officially endorsed violence. Expulsion is an action against a student that has provable economic harm. Is this OK because it is endorsed, encoded and legal violence?

Welllllll...

VIOLATION OF CONTRACT

This writing for hire COULD be a violation of a contract. Did the student agree to write his own paper? Did the student agree that hiring someone to write the paper is grounds for expulsion?

If so, this is a contract violation and the student is subject to the penalties of the contract. Again, this is a far more valuable lesson than having to research whatever the teacher wants examined. Again, the student learned about capitalism in a very direct and personal way.

Violence, yes, but violence explicitly agreed to beforehand. Not violence foisted on the student by the dictates of others.

If the student gets away with it, as most do, another valuable lesson is learned.

Money talks. Period. Even in a socialist society, capitalism will exist. It may be on the black market, but it's gonna be there and will not be stopped. The student learns to navigate the shady side of the economy. That is certainly a more important lesson than explaining what a dirty loaf of bread in Chaucer signifies. (Shoot me a message and I'll tell ya what it means).

KITTY GOTTA EAT

Sooner or later someone has to buy cat food, 'cause Kitty gotta eat. Last time I checked, stores that sell cat food insist on some form of cash. Students who choose to hire someone to write their papers have a choice. They could do the work and buy cat food or they could hire someone and not buy cat food.

Is this kind of write-for-hire unethical? Might be. Might not be. Ethics are a personal matter.

Ethics are wonderful, great and a needed stabilizing force in the world. Ethics don't pay rent, insurance premiums or the light bill. Money does.

Gotta find a balance in there.

Kitty gotta eat.

ONE LAST THING

If you are a student looking for someone to write a paper for you, shoot me a message. I know someone, not me, who does it. Whether or not it is ethical is up to you.