Guns make us safe

If we are truly serious about reducing gun-related deaths and injury, then we must consider this:

Dealers sold 600,000 guns in California last year, up from 350,000 in 2002, according to records of sale tallied by the California Attorney General's office.

During that same period, the number of California hospitalizations due to gun injuries declined from about 4,000 annually to 2,900, a roughly 25 percent drop, according to hospital records collected by the California Department of Public Health.

Firearm-related deaths fell from about 3,200 annually to about 2,800, an 11 percent drop, state health figures show.

Most of the drop in firearm-related injuries and deaths can be explained by a well-documented, nationwide drop in violent crime.

Certainly, some of the drop in the mortality rate from gunshots is due to better trauma response. But that doesn't explain the reduction in injuries. The best response to a bad guy itch a gun is a good guy ... with a gun.

California gun sales increase - The Sacramento Bee


 

No one stopped him

Cindy Ann Yuille
Steven Mathew Forsyth

A shopper and a shopkeeper, gunned down by a 22 year-old man for no apparent reason.

The sheriff is taking credit, saying that mall security and the quick response of his agency prevented the gunman from taking more lives. Except there is a problem ... the perpetrator's gun jammed.

The police have a saying: when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

Once again, the police responded within minutes. 2 minutes? 15 minutes? Accounts don't specify. I can only wonder if the outcome might have been different if other, law-abiding shoppers had been armed. Would the gunman have even contemplated such an act if he knew that his targets might be able to resist?

End Collective Bargaining

There is no reason why a public sector employee requires collective bargaining. I can understand - to an extent - that it works for public safety employees. The police is essentially a local army, and there is a valid argument for payment based on rank. But the schools are not. And there is no reason why teachers should be paid based on anything but performance, as determined by their manager.

Why should a bad teacher with 10 years of service get paid more than a great teacher with 5 years of service?
Why should someone besides the principal get decide how much her employees get paid?

The whole collective bargaining system should be dismantled.

How a "grass roots movement" starts

From the Weekly Standard...

"I don't know what she's going to do, but I do know this: The Democrats want her to run," said Carville, in response to a discussion about Clinton's future. "And I don't just mean a lot of Democrats. I mean a whole lot of Democrats, like 90 percent across the country. We just don't -- we just want to win. We think she's the best person and shut it down. And that's across the board."

So the archetypical Washington insider declares that the "people" want Hillary to run for president in 2016. Remember this when the MSM begin to report on the "groundswell" of support for Mrs. Clinton in 2 years.

Falling behind

Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.7%. Unfortunately, inflation — as measured by the consumer price index — has risen by 2.2% over the past year, meaning average hourly earnings have fallen by 0.5% in real terms.

This will cause far more damage than the "fiscal cliff". What's worse is that most people have no idea this is happening to them ... yet.

From this point forward

I was hoping that the election had turned out differently. But I have become more troubled by larger issues. Among the most concerning is one that gets little to no attention in the press: the decline of traditional marriage.

The MSM only wants to talk about homosexuals getting married. But they refuse to acknowledge the great harm that results when fewer men choose to marry their girlfriends... or even worse, when fewer men marry the mother of their children. The facts are indisputable:

• Children borne out of wedlock are far more likely to suffer sexual and physical abuse
• Single men are more likely to be unemployed (or under-employed)
• Unmarried mothers are far more likely to be poor

Why is this happening? Some might say that pop culture has so glamorized the single lifestyle that people are sorely tempted to pursue it. I disagree. The single lifestyle has always been glamorized, and it has never delivered on that false promise.

What is new, though, is that the traditional family lifestyle has been turned into a punch line. Pop culture portrays the man of this life as far from ideal or attractive or aspirational. Instead it casts him the role of lovable idiot (at best), or malicious oppressor. Why would anyone want to be that guy?

the Likable lie

How can anyone say this guy was ever likable? Almost everything that comes out of Obama's mouth is arrogant, condescending, insulting, or all three! Here's the latest:

At a $20,000-per-ticket fundraising dinner at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, President Obama made a joke about Romney cracking down on the Muppets.

"Finally, somebody is cracking down on Big Bird," Obama quipped. "Elmo has been seen in a white Suburban. He's driving for the border."

Using a murder to score political points? He is unworthy of the office.

Credit where credit is due: Real Clear Politics. Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit

Sometimes the government is just stupid

Microscopically etch an identifying mark on a gun's firing pin. Every bullet casing would be engraved with that mark, and law enforcement would know which gun fired that bullet. Seems like a great idea, right?

Actually, it's hard to count how many ways this is a stupid idea. But Jazz Shaw at Hot Air and Bob Owens at PJ Media itemize just some of the problems with gun microstamping.

Included in the litany of idiocy:

1. The firing pin for most weapons are easily replaced with a $12 part
2. The stamping naturally wears down through normal use, rendering it unusable.

This is what happens when central economic planners get too much power.

No enforcement of the law?

More evidence that this administration seems to think itself above the law.

“We will not use levies, liens or criminal prosecutions if taxpayers have unpaid amounts related to the individual-coverage provision,” Steven Miller, an IRS deputy commissioner, said Tuesday at a House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing. “There will not be revenue agents involved in this. These will not be audits.”
Read more: at FoxNews.com

Not only do they decide what aspects of immigration law they will enforce.
Not only do they pick and choose whether to uphold duly passed laws regarding welfare and work requirements.

But now they are deciding that the funding mechanism for their own signature legislation will not really be enforced.

Open war is upon us, whether we would risk it or not

One of the great mysteries of progressives is how they seemingly refuse to believe that we are not the cause of wars in this world. The only explanation for the act of war perpetrated upon our sovereign land - as all consulates and embassies are designated - is that a specific, identifiable segment of the world's population desires to eliminate our country.

Identifiable? Yes. Islam seeks to rule the world. The infidel has two choices: convert or die. Christianity seeks to rule the world as well. However, the difference is that we do not take it upon ourselves to carry out the sentence of unbelief. True Christians leave that to Almighty God.

So Islam has, once again, attacked our nation. Our feckless leader will denounce it. Maybe he'll send out a few drones. But he refuses to view our situation as war. He refuse to risk open war! Well open war is upon us, whether he would risk it or not.

Why the political is personal

Remember when friends could disagree about politics? Unfortunately, it seems as though that time has past us by. What happened?

There was a time in our history that our interactions with government were quite rare. Daily decisions were not influenced by the policies of the state. If you wanted to build a barn in your backyard, you acquired the resources and built it. If you lacked the resources, you did not build it. If you were unemployed, you went to local merchants and offered to work. You did not visit a government agency to get money or to look for a job. If you needed money, you relied on the charity of your church and neighbors.

Today, the state is now involved in an incredible proportion of our very personal decisions. And since the government is, at its heart, a political entity, political preferences now have very personal ramifications.

In other words, my vote - a political act - now has a personal impact on you. The only way out of this is to shrink the size of the government ... to reduce its influence on daily life.

Will we be able to have a serious conversation

One of the things I truly admire about Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Chris Christie is that all three men speak to their audiences as adults. They assume that the listener is thoughtful & intelligent and will therefore ignore sweeping cliches.

I don't know that we can count on that assumption, especially with CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS looking for ways to distort the serious ideas these men have put forth.

The start of the religious war

One of the comments that got under my skin after the Ryan announcement was that it was the first time that there wasn't a Protestant at all on the ticket. The guys at Ricochet said that we're going to know everything about Mormonism by the time the election rolls around.

I suspect that somewhere along the line, a black "Christian" commentator is going to make an issue out of religion. It can't be a white man or woman; and it certainly won't be a Jew or Muslim. My gut says it will happen in mid to late September.

Is anyone paying attention?

I was speaking with a client last week. She had no idea that the only institution currently buying US Treasury Bills is the US Federal Reserve Bank. When I mentioned this to her, she instantly understood the ramifications. After all, she is the CFO of a large institution. If someone like her, whose entire career is focused on sophisticated financial matters, is unaware that we are just printing money, then I don't suppose that normal people can be expected to know.

It's too bad, though. We are headed to a financial disaster, and no one seems to care.

Posted with Blogsy

Obama's failed presidency isn't enough

I agree with my conservative friends that this president has done nothing - absolutely nothing - to merit reelection. Staggering deficits. Contempt for the constitution and due process. Stunningly ineffective foreign policy.

When we – on the right – see this record, it gives us hope for a conservative victory in November. But dissatisfaction with Pres. Obama will not necessarily mean victory for Mitt Romney. And the sooner we get out of our own echo chamber, the better off we will be.

Government for sale

Democratic senators comprise 13 of the top 15 recipients of lobbyist cash in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Couple that with the strong likelihood that the same senators will be lobbyists in just a few years, and you have a political climate that is ripe for corruption.

Choosing to make life harder for young workers

Karl Smith is the Assistant Professor of Public Economics at UNC-Charlotte, and he has studied retail employment over the past 20+ years. Given that retail sales have, in real dollars, risen nearly 40% since 1990, he posits that retail employment of teenagers (age 16-19) should be higher than it is.

In his article, What the 'End of Retail' Means for Young Workers, Dr. Smith ignores the fac that the minimum wage has gone up over that same period. Young people first entering the workforce are the least productive and least valuable workers in the world. Yet, the government has made it more and more expensive to hire them. Hiring less of them is a perfectly rational and predictable response by retailers.

The fastest way to get young people int the workforce and contributing to society is to eliminate the minimum wage. But the unions won't allow that to happen.

Obama rewrites history

Pres. Obama has once again attempted to revise history. Here are his remarks to reporters during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada and the president of Mexico.

"Ultimately I am confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary event by overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress."

Only in Obama's world does a vote along strictly partisan lines constitute a "strong majority". November can't come soon enough.

This is what we pay the senators to do?

It has been yearly 35 months since the United States Senate has passed a budget. Harry Reid, and other top Democratic senators, refuse to even vote on a budget. And yet, they make the time to hold hearings on possible bounty programs in NFL teams.

Conservatives must make it an absolute priority to win back the Senate in 2012.

Using gas to attack the middle class

Since 2006, the price of gas has increased by more than 55%. That is the effect of a Democrat-controlled Congress and Executive.

The tank of gas that once cost $20 to fill is now $30. To put that in perspective, let's do just a little math...

• In the U.S., the average driver drove 13,476 miles in 2010 (the last year for which data is available)
• The average MPG of a model-year 2007 car in the U.S. is 31.2 (combined)
• These numbers equate to a total of 432 gallons of gas purchased each year.

In 2006, a typical American would have spent about $975 for gas. At current gas prices, a typical American will spend nearly $1,600 for gas this year.

For the wealthy, this difference is trivial. But it matters a lot to a middle-class family. And the Democrats in the Senate and White House simply do not care.

Sources:

• Federal Highway Administration
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Death - Every 96 seconds

In 2010, Planned Parenthood performed 329,445 abortions. They will claim that this represents less than 3% of their activity, based on their count of serving 11 million women. However, the percentage is meaningless.

Those 329,445 lives represent an abortion every 96 seconds, every hour of every day. It is more than double the population of Syracuse, New York, and almost as many live in Charleston, South Carolina, or Cleveland, Ohio.

Those children are dead, victims of a ruthless and efficient business that claims to promote women's health.

A Great Use for Solar

Fox News reports that Nissan is launching a hybrid cargo ship, with 281 photovoltaic solar panels supplementing the vessel's massive diesel engines. 

Most cargo ships use diesel-powered electricity generators to power the thousands of electrical devices on-board - from radar equipment to lighting to coffee makers and iPod chargers. The solar panels render the generators unnecessary, thus significantly reducing the amount of diesel fuel burned on each trip.

This innovation is in addition to more conventional energy-saving elements like LED lighting throughout its hold and living quarters, and low-friction paint for the hull.

Look for more of these kinds of efficiency gains in the shipping industry. They realize it's a sound investment, and will help us stretch our finite natural resources.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/02/04/nissans-solar-powered-hybrid-cargo-ship/#ixzz1lVnuBD5W

Extortion on the Left

So now we know that if Planned Parenthood decides that it disapproves of a private organization's decisions, it will bring the full weight of its media machine to bear, painting it as evil and cowardly. How dare they?

Every day, private organizations chooses to fund or not fund initiatives, causes and other organizations. When the Komen Foundation made a corporate decision not to award a grant to Planned Parenthood, they did so based on their own policies and priorities. The uproar by those who felt slighted or offended was amazing to me. And what did Komen do? They caved. They said it was all a misunderstanding. How disgusting. They had an opportunity to show courage and strength. And they chose to show cowardice and weakness.

The Komen Foundation has done some good things over the years. The survival rate of women diagnosed with breast cancer has soared, thanks in part to the work of that organization. It's too bad that their legacy will soiled with the blood of innocent, unborn children.

The Useless U.N.

What is a resolution? In the parliamentary sense, it's a a body agreeing to make a statement, to declare its position. It is that group stating what it believes.

In the hands of a body with moral authority, it can be a weighty and substantial tool. In the hands of the the United Nations Security Council, it is yet another vapid expression of futility.

Even in a case so unambiguous as the legitimacy of Bashar Assad's presidency, China and Russia vetoed a resolution demanding that he step down. Of course, the UN has no power to enforce such a resolution ... at least not without the will and power of the United Status armed forces. But if it had possessed even the tiniest bit of moral standing, perhaps such a resolution would have been taken seriously. Since the UN has no moral standing, it may be just as well that the resolution failed to be adopted. The Devil of Damascus cannot defy a declaration that has never been made.

A Regressive President

Sometimes, it boggles the mind how something so blindingly obvious is utterly ignored by the intellectual elite.

The industrial age is ending, as the President himself acknowledged. Shouldn’t the administrative state be ending as well then? Instead, the President proposes more rules and regulations.
From Progressives and Regressives, Letters from an Ohio Farmer

The administrative state was created in response to the centralization of power in the hands of a few successful men (or, in the case of the Kennedys, Gores, Bushes and Daytons, their children). The administrative state has given us such gems as Sarbanes-Oxley, Frank-Dodd, the Great Society, the Social Security Act and McCain-Feingold. Haven't we seen enough?

Power ... political, economic, and even social ... is now more widely and evenly distributed than ever before. President Obama's desire to expand the administrative is simply an attempt to curtail this distribution, roll it back, and consolidate power in the hands of a few, privileged men.