LinkSwarm for January 5, 2016

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Lawrence Person

I hope everyone else has had a happier New Year than I, since my father passed away after a long battle with cancer Sunday.

On the plus side, I saw the new Star Wars and the Texans made the playoffs. Doesn’t quite balance out, though…

  • Remember: It’s OK to rape 13-year olds as long as you’re a well-connected Democratic Party donor. Remember, this is the case that had Bill Clinton taking the Lolita Express to Pedophile Island.
  • “Nobody needed criminal convictions to drop Cosby – just multiple accusations of sexual assault and some out-of-court payouts. But multiple accusations of sexual assault, out-of-court payouts and the loss of his law license are apparently not enough to bar Bill Clinton from another eight years in the White House.”
  • Hillary Cliton’s many conflicts of interest:

    At Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing for secretary of state, she promised she would take “extraordinary steps…to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

    Later, more than two dozen companies and groups and one foreign government paid former President Bill Clinton a total of more than $8 million to give speeches around the time they also had matters before Mrs. Clinton’s State Department, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

    Fifteen of them also donated a total of between $5 million and $15 million to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the family’s charity, according to foundation disclosures.

  • Six things a Washington Post reporter found out following Ted Cruz around. “The majority of the undecided voters I have spoken with have said they were very impressed after hearing Cruz speak. Many of them said they were undecided coming into a rally and supported him when it was over.”
  • Obama to judicial branch: “Screw you, I’m going to give work permits to illegal aliens you’ve ordered deported.” (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
  • “Unfortunately, 2016, the little of it that we have so far seen, is already beginning to look like another year of Grim Slide, of a world stumbling down a slippery slope to become less secure, less stable, and less free.”
  • People are forgetting what an awful festering hellhole the Soviet Union was.
  • Iran and Saudi Arabia have severed diplomatic relations over Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric, and Kuwait has recalled their ambassador from Tehran; don’t be surprised if the other Sunni nations follow suit. Good thing we have a Nobel Peace Prize winner in the White House…
  • Turkey’s Prime Minister: Hey, you know who was a model of effective leadership? Adolf Hitler.
  • Swiss General: Europe “On The Verge Of Civil War,” Citizens Must Arm Themselves.
  • Oslo police: “We Have Lost the City.”

    It looks like Karachi, Basra, and Mogadishu all rolled into one. People sell drugs openly just next to the Gronland subway station.

    It’s not Norway or Europe anymore, except when there is welfare money to be collected. The police have largely given up. Early in 2010 Aftenposten stated that there are sharia patrols in this area, and gay couples are assaulted and chased away.

  • Mass sexual assaults involving up to 1,000 Arab men on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.
  • “IRS Employee Whose Job Was Assisting Victims Of Identity Theft Charged In $1 Million Identity Theft Tax Fraud.” (Hat tip: Instapundit)
  • Rahm Emanuel’s failure in Chicago is emblematic of the blue model failure in America’s cities. “The city’s bloated pension obligations have already forced Emanuel to make severe education cuts. It will continue to force cuts in city services in various cities, making it harder and harder for mayors to govern, and increasing the antagonism among various constituencies.”
  • “Murder rates drop as concealed carry permits soar.” Plus this: “Between 2012 and 2014 the number of black permit holders increased from 10,389 to 17,594, according to the report.”
  • Mississippi Democratic City Councilman urges constituents to hurl rocks and bricks at the police.
  • Armed mother successfully defends home and children against three armed thugs. But gun-grabbers want to disarm her…
  • Bahamas resort project gives in to Chinese demands to secure more construction loans. Result: Bankruptcy.
  • Ben Carson’s campaign staff quits. There’s a reason president of the United States isn’t an entry-level job…
  • Former feminist now a pro-life activist who is disillusioned with feminism. (Hat tip: John C. Wright.)
  • Confessions of a social justice warrior white knight. “Their communities thrive on self loathing disguised as elitism…SJWs insist their goal is to make everyone equal, and for a long time I believed it, but their communities actually enforce factionalism and division.” (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
  • Wendy Davis: Still digging.
    • Posted in Border Control, Communism, Crime, Democrats, Elections, Foreign Policy, Guns, Jihad, Obama Scandals, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, unions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    .50 BMG vs. Printer Paper Reams

    Posted on January 2, 2016 by Lawrence Person

    Here’s a little Saturday video showing how many reams of paper it takes to stop a .50 BMG round:

    And it’s not necessarily conclusive, since both bullets started skewing in the second box of paper…

    (Hat tip: Daily Caller via Ace of Spades HQ.)

    Posted in Guns, video | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

    Happy Open Carry Day!

    Posted on January 1, 2016 by Lawrence Person

    Happy New Year! Today the open carry law went into effect, meaning that if you have a Concealed Handgun License, you may now openly carry a handgun in most (but not all) locations where it was legal to conceal carry before. (It was already legal to openly carry rifles and shotguns without a CHL, and the open carry law didn’t change that.)

    The Houston Chronicle has some pointers on open carry, though annoyingly, they are in slideshow form. Some highlights:

  • Open carry of handguns is only allowed for those who already hold a valid CHL.
  • You need a belt or shoulder holster to open carry, even in your car. Your gun must be holstered while driving or otherwise hidden.
  • Primary and secondary schools, hospitals, sporting events, and nursing homes are still “gun-free zones.”
  • Handguns cannot be taken into amusement parks, churches, hospitals and bars and public meetings if they post notice it’s a gun-free zone.
  • CHL holders can open carry unless it’s been prohibited by the private property owner. (I am given to understand that HEB is allowing concealed carry, but not open carry.)
  • “If you do not leave you could be charged with criminal trespass and/or unlawful carry. You will also most likely lose your rights to carry a handgun too.”
  • A 30.06 sign means no concealed carry on premises but open carry is allowed.

  • A 30.07 sign ONLY means no open carry on premises but conceal carry is allowed.

  • And you still can’t carry (open or concealed) in an establishment that derrives 51% or more of its income from the sale of alcohol:

  • You can’t open or conceal carry beyond the security checkpoint in an airport (duh).
  • Reciprocity still applies, so if you’re licensed to conceal carry by another state, you’re licensed to open carry in Texas.
  • The separate campus carry law which allows CHL holders to conceal carry in most buildings at most public universities does not go into effect January 1, but rather August 1, but you still won’t be able to open carry on campus then. Private colleges and universities may opt out, and junior colleges do not need to comply until August 2017.

    • I think the touches all the highlights. If you think I missed something important, let me know in the comments.

    Posted in Guns, Texas | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

    Arsonist Who Set Fire To Houston Mosque Was Muslim Who Attended the Same Mosque

    Posted on December 31, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    Police have found out who set fire to a Houston Mosque on Christmas day. Guess who did it.

    Go ahead. Guess.

    Using surveillance video from other area businesses to identify the arsonist, Gary Nathaniel Moore, 37, was arrested and charged with starting the Christmas Day fire that devastated a Houston, Texas mosque. Moore is a devout Muslim who attended this same mosque for years, praying up to five times a day every day of the week.

    Funny how the majority of high profile “hate crimes” against Muslims or black activists seem to be committed by the supposed “victims”…

    Posted in Crime, Jihad, Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    The NSA Spied on Congress

    Posted on December 30, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    So the NSA spied on congress in the course of spying on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    NSA snooping allegedly found Netanyahu and his aides leaked details of the negotiations gained through Israeli spying, coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal and asked those lawmakers who were undecided on the deal how it could get their vote, according to the report.

    The administration decided that monitoring Netanyahu served a “compelling national security purpose,” according to the Journal, which cited unnamed current and former U.S. officials.

    Of course, the “compelling national security purpose” was that Netanyahu was making Obama look bad by opposing his asinine Iran nuke deal.

    When you’re as lawless as the Obama Administration, and spy on as many people as the NSA spies on, Stuff Happens. Including, evidently, Separation of Powers violations.

    Is there any abuse of power by the Obama Administration that would surprise us at this point?

    (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

    Posted in Obama Scandals | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

    Five Gunfighting Myths Debunked

    Posted on December 29, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    Here’s a very solid piece on five myths of gunfighting by noted expert Massad Ayoob. Also includes a mention of Austin tower sniper Charles Whitman.

    Worth reading.

    (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

    (Edited to add: Link fixed.)

    Posted in Austin, Crime, Guns | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

    LinkSwarm for December 28, 2015

    Posted on December 28, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    I hope everyone had a merrier Christmas than I did. (My father recently went on hospice care after a two year fight with cancer, so I was back home helping my mother care for him.) Here’s a LinkSwarm to start your week with.

  • Inside Obama’s pity party.
  • Remember, Obama’s policies never fail, and all opposition to him is because his opponents are bitter clinging racists.
  • We live in a nation founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
  • “Many Obamacare customers pay more than 10 percent of their incomes toward coverage (and some paying considerably more).”
  • What would Democrats do to defeat the Islamic State? Not a damn thing.
  • Iraqi government forces retake Ramadi, the Anbar province city the Islamic State took in May.
  • “Two weather occurrences – the Arctic Oscillation and El Niño – are combining to shake up temperatures from coast to coast in the U.S., bringing springlike conditions to the Northeast for much of this month and leaving parts of the West colder and wetter than usual.”
  • 2015: The year Europe reached the breaking point:

    Adjusting for inflation, the gross domestic product of the 19 countries now sharing Europe’s common currency, the euro, was less in 2014 than it was in 2007. Widespread joblessness and diminishing opportunities confront an entire generation of young Europeans, especially in Spain, Italy, France and Greece. The economic malaise tinges everything: Young people resist marriage for lack of economic opportunity. Poorer European countries are experiencing brain drains as many of their best young professionals and college graduates move abroad. Numerous Greek doctors, for instance, now work in more prosperous Germany while Greece’s health system is in crisis.

  • Sweden tries to force a cash-free society on its citizens. Wait, did I say “citizens?” I meant “vassals.”
  • Spain continues to be screwed.
  • Democrat Jim Webb contemplating an independent run for President.
  • Pennsylvania’s insane, disgraced Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane accused of suborning perjury.
  • Democrats in congress have proposed a sweeping gun control bill. Because that’s always such a big electoral winner. It just kills liberals that free citizens are allowed to remain armed…
  • The left eat their own.
  • Black teenagers riot, shut down mall in Kentucky.
  • Another entry in the annals of criminal SUPERgenius. (Hat tip: Moe Lane.)
  • “Database Leak Exposes 3.3 Million Hello Kitty Fans.” This is a real headline from the real world we live in…
  • Here’s a swell Christmas story from Dwight.
    • Posted in Border Control, Crime, Democrats, Economics, Elections, Global Warming, Guns, Military, ObamaCare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

    Dave Barry 2015 in Review

    Posted on December 25, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    Merry Christmas! Instead of a Friday LinkSwarm, enjoy something more in keeping with the festive nature of the holiday: Dave Barry’s 2015 year-end roundup:

  • “Wait a minute! Surely there were some positive developments in 2015! How about the fact that, after so many years of sneering judgmentalism and divisive, overheated rhetoric, we were able to have rational, open-minded conversations about such issues as gun ownership, gay marriage, race relations and abortion, so that, as a nation, we finally began to come together and … Whoa! Sorry! Evidently I am high on narcotics.”
  • “In Paris, two million people march in a solidarity rally following the horrific terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eyebrows are raised when not a single top U.S. official attends, but several days later, Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in France with James Taylor, who — this really happened — performs the song You’ve Got a Friend. This bold action strikes fear into the hearts of terrorists, who realize that Secretary Kerry is fully capable, if necessary, of unleashing Barry Manilow.”
  • “NBC suspends Nightly News anchor Brian Williams after an investigation reveals inaccuracies in his account of being in a military helicopter under fire in Iraq. ‘Mr. Williams did not actually come under fire,’ states the network. ‘Also technically he wasn’t in a helicopter in Iraq; it was a Volvo station wagon on the New Jersey Turnpike. But there was a lot of traffic.’ A contrite Williams blames the lapse on post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from killing Osama bin Laden.”
  • “In business news, troubled retailer RadioShack files for bankruptcy, citing the fact that in the past six years, the chain’s 4,000 stores had made a nationwide total of one sale, that being a home email server purchased by Hillary Clinton.”
  • “There is troubling news from Baltimore, where the death of an African-American man in police custody touches off a conversation on race that lasts several days, resulting in 250 arrests and extensive property damage. The Rev. Al Sharpton rushes to the scene but is unable to prevent things from eventually calming down.”
  • “Hackers announce that they have broken into the Ashley Madison website and obtained personal data on millions of clients allegedly seeking to have affairs. A statistical analysis will later reveal that, of the 37 million accounts hacked, only 23 belonged to actual women, 21 of whom were Ashley Madison employees posing as clients. The remaining two belonged to Miley Cyrus.”
  • “On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton continues to have no choice but to roll her eyes over all these pesky scandals that her enemies keep dreaming up to prevent her from serving the American people, especially women. The current scandal involves the email server she used as secretary of state, which, in a deviation from government-security standards, was located in her home and had Mrs. Clinton’s personal secret password (‘PASSWORD’) written on a sticky note stuck to the front. A Clinton spokesperson, speaking through another Clinton spokesperson who was briefed by a third Clinton spokesperson on condition of anonymity, denies that the server ever held classified emails and promises that it will be turned over to the FBI ‘as soon as it has been melted down to a softball-sized blob.'”
  • “After much agonizing, Vice President Joe Biden announces that he will not run for president, stressing that the decision had nothing to do with the severed horse head wearing a HILLARY! button he found in his bed, which Biden says he believes ‘was meant in a supportive way.'”

    • Read the whole thing.

    Posted in Economics, Elections | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    MSM Monkeys Around

    Posted on December 24, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    It’s been an odd week, for a number of reasons, so I’m a bit late on the “Washington Post cartoonist draws Ted Cruz’s 5 and 7 year old daughters as monkeys” story. Because nothing says “reasonable” and “rational” like attacking children because you dislike the politics of their father. On the off-chance you missed it, it featured Cruz as an organ-grinder and his daughters as monkeys on leashes. The ostensible rationale for the doodle was Cruz featuring his daughters in that parody Christmas ad that ran during Saturday Night Live, making them “fair game.”

    Right.

    Though the Washington Post editor took the doodle down (calling it a cartoon would suggest there was an actual attempt at humor), we all know that if someone attempted the same drawing featuring Obama and his daughters, it would have been denounced as racist and the cartoonist fired so fast they wouldn’t have been allowed to pack their desk. Of course, the MSM have always been hypocrites when it comes to different standards for Democrats and Republicans. Anything that hurts Republicans is fair game, while anything that hurts Democrats is a source of high moral outrage.

    The question is: Will cartoonist Ann Telnaes pay any price for such a gross transgression of basic decency?

    The irony is that the episode provided a palpable boost to the Cruz campaign, which had an outraged fundraising mailer (“They attacked my children!”) out within hours. I bet they raised at least $1 million off of it.

    Here’s Mollie Hemingway with the 10 stupidest things about the monkey cartoon.

    Of course, Cruz got the last laugh as well:

    And this one is even better:

    (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

    Posted in Elections, Media Watch | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

    The Great Liberal Gun Control Mystery

    Posted on December 23, 2015 by Lawrence Person

    Most people learn from their mistakes.

    Liberal gun control advocates are not “most people.”

    This Sean Davis piece shows two of their more persistent errors on display: Their inability to learn what an “assault weapon” was legally defined as, and their inability to figure out that their actions make owning a gun more popular, not less.

    More than one pundit has observed that pushing for gun control legislation accomplishes two things: 1.) Sends gun sales through the roof, and 2.) Gets Democrats defeated come election time.

    Notably absent from that list: Decreasing firearms deaths.

    Of course, for liberals gun control has never been about keeping criminals from using guns. The purpose behind gun control has always been to disarm the law abiding civilian population, all the better to implement their big government/culture war schemes.

    There was a time when Blue Dog Democrats would keep the gun-grabbing instincts of their liberal brethren in check, but the last two decades have seen those Blue Dogs ruthlessly purged from the party. No the Democrats are All In on gun control, even if it kills them.

    Let’s hope that Democrats have the same sort of election in 2016 they had in 1994…

    Posted in Democrats, Guns | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment