Sleepless in Midland

Valerie Plame -- Senator of New Mexico?

Voters in the state of New Mexico passed up a chance to elect Steve Pearce, a fine fiscal conservative, as governor last year in favor of Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham.

But a new spot will open up as Senator Tom Udall announced that he will not seek reelection when his current term ends in 2020.

And look who is actually considering running for that Senate seat: Valery Plame. She was made famous by the Joseph C. Wilson scam, her alleged victim status as having been outed as a CIA employee, and the movie which put forth the Wilson/Plame version of the story.

Perhaps former Representative Pearce will seek that seat. Although New Mexico is currently a blue state and Trump will be on the ticket in 2020, maybe they'll both have a fair shot on election day.

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2:23 PM 3/30/2019

Waze relies on volunteers for updates

They're working for free and providing a valuable service to others on the road. They are Waze volunteers who help keep the information available on Waze current.

My first exposure to Waze was as a passenger in a vehicle with a built in GPS which was connected to the driver's voice controlled Waze app. And it made quite an impression.

So this recent article really got my attention: ‘It Takes Over Your Life’: Waze Volunteers Work for the Love of Maps (Alternate link here):

But for much of its information, the company relies on Mr. Richey and about 30,000 other volunteers who devote nights, weekends and the occasional odd hours to fine-tuning its maps by adding streets and businesses, updating road closures and responding to user requests for map updates and fixes. In an era of the gig economy, Waze has found a better business model—unpaid labor.

Unpaid? Well, there's this:

The volunteers—whom the company calls “editors”—accrue points for each map update, rising through the ranks and earning new avatars as they gain the ability to edit wider areas and more important roads. There are six levels of editors and people can also earn additional titles, showing they oversee a specific region.

So they've got that going for them.

Meanwhile, system certainly seems like a significant upgrade from the type of built-in GPS my old car has -- which would cost a couple of hundred dollar just for a map update.

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4:02 PM 3/29/2019

Fox Friday 3-29-19

The foxes look so much alike the only way to distinguish them is by some tail feature. Lately there have been three foxes visiting the bait station. And here's a little montage which will show those tail distinctions.

In the photos below, on the left is Stumpy. In the middle is Black Tip. And on the right is Young Crooked Tail.

Crooked Tail and Black Tip look very similar, but notice not only the crook in the tail but also the white marks on the tail. Like bird watching must be, they are much more fun to observe when you can tell them apart.

Speaking of bird watching, here's a White Winged Dove coming in for a landing.

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1:25 PM 3/28/2019

Cheollima Civil Defense raided Nor-Kor embassy in Spain

It seems like a conspiracy in search of a theory.

Allegedly, the Cheollima Civil Defense raided the North Korean embassy in Madrid, Spain, on February 22. The story says the group took documents and computers and tied up the staff before leaving. Source: Cheollima Civil Defense: Group claims raid on North Korea's embassy.

Spanish police say the intruders were CIA agents.. So there's the conspiracy. Whatever information was purloined is anybody's guess. Just seems like the CIA would have utilized a higher tech way of accomplishing that.

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3:12 PM 3/27/2019

Let's hope the Smollett treatment isn't a preview of the treatment of the spies and agents involved in the Trump frame-up

The evidence that Jussie Smollett concocted the scheme which framed some fictitious Trump supporters for a hate crime overwhelms Smollett's denial. Yet he was let off the hook by the higher-ups in the Illinois justice system.

Move on to the false claim of collision between team Trump and the Russians. That claim was concocted by anti-Trump forces in high places: James Comey, Andrew McCabe, John Brennan, and James Clapper, to name the most well known of the key players.

An investigation into that is certainly warranted. What a disaster if the outcome is ultimately the Smollett result.

Meanwhile, if the Russians really did want to sow discord in the American public, someone in Moscow should be in line for a huge medal for achieving that result through the useful idiots within the U.S. government.

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10:24 AM 3/27/2019

End red light cameras -- the only people wanting them must have something to gain from them

End red light cameras -- the only people wanting them must have something to gain from them

The concept of a Robocop must have some appeal for movie goers. But in the real world that appeal is quickly overshadowed with a quite rational fear of any computer with the power to punish for the purpose of enhancing revenue for government entities. Red light cameras fall into that category, and, voters who have been given a choice have rejected them as too invasive.

Red light cameras are legal in Texas, and while 34 Texas cities have them, most jurisdictions have exercised the good judgment not to implement them. Texas state house representative Jonathan Strickland authored H.B. No. 142 in 2015 to outlaw them. But that bill was left pending when the session ended.

Texas legislative session #86 has started, and Representative Strickland is trying again with H.B. No. 1631. He's got the backing of none other than the governor of the great state of Texas, Greg Abbott. Let's hope they can get it through the sluggish Texas legislature this time for the governor to sign.

Further reading:
Proposed Ban On Red Light Cameras Gaining Traction In Texas Legislature
Don’t like red light cameras? These Texas lawmakers don’t either — and want to ban them
Attempts to outlaw red-light cameras hit a slowdown

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2:53 PM 3/25/2019

Arthur C. Brooks challenges us to love our enemies

There was a recent interview on C-Span's Washington Journal with Arthur C. Brooks who talked about his book, "Love Your Enemies." (Watch that interview here.)

He made some interesting observations about how people get too heated in their interactions about politics. And the solution, to love our enemies, is a tough prescription. But it's one worth considering.

The interview lasted about an hour, and rather than trying to summarize, we'll touch on some of the highlights. First off, his website contains a one paragraph description of the book, as follows:

Love Your Enemies
A NEW BOOK
America has developed a “culture of contempt.” We increasingly view people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect or misguided, but as worthless. This is warping political discourse, tearing us apart as people, and even wrecking our health. But we can fight back. Drawing on ancient wisdom, cutting-edge behavioral science, and examples from history’s greatest leaders, Arthur Brooks shows how we can bridge national divides and make progress as a society, all while becoming happier and more effective people. Love Your Enemies is a guide to building a better country-but more than that, it is a roadmap to the happiness that comes when we choose to love one another, despite our differences.

Authors these days boil everything down to five main rules. And here are Mr. Brooks' rules:

1. Stand up to the man (i.e., stand up to our own side on behalf of people on the other side);
2. Escape the bubble (get out, get to know people with whom you disagree);
3. Say no to contempt (don't hold people with whom you disagree in contempt);
4. Disagree better, not less (acknowledge that people with whom you disagree are not evil); and
5. Disconnect (turn off the TV for a couple of weeks).

Taking an hour out of one's day to watch an interview is probably a lot to ask of people in this day and age of instant internet dopamine supply. But it was worth my time to watch it. Maybe it will be worth yours, too. (Oh, and wait to exercise rule #5 until after watching this.)

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2:57 PM 3/24/2019

Conservatives are tuning out Fox News

Seems to happen weekly -- some prominent conservative blogger declares that he/she will no longer watch Fox News Channel.

The network does seem to have changed somewhat. With Old Man Murdoch having left the boys in charge, it's easy to suspect they've been doing some back stage manipulating. Not too long ago the network was being charged with being a megaphone for Donald Trump. While there were some commentators on the network who would have had a hard time refuting that, for the most part, the news people were pretty even handed, Bret Baier, for example. After all, many of them are Democrats, Chris Wallace, for example.

Anyway, the other day Donald Trump criticized the late John McCain following the disclosure McCain was instrumental in the delivery of that fake dossier to the FBI. That evening on Special Report with Bret Baier the very first report came from Fox's White House reporter, John Roberts. He started out by saying that Trump had a win that day, but then Roberts added the unnecessary editorial that Trump stepped all over his win by criticizing McCain.

It would have been better if Roberts had simply reported the facts and left the editorializing to the commentators. But all the news shows editorialize now and call it news. Maybe Fox is trying to broaden its appeal, but this sort of thing drives away some of Fox's previously loyal viewers.

Instant update: POTUS Trump Gives Fox News The Cold Shoulder – Calls On OANN Instead.

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2:24 PM 3/23/2019

Use it or lose it is the taxing entity attitude about excess revenue

One of the things that is or at least should be annoying to voters is the "use it or lose it" mentality of the agencies on the receiving side of the tax equation.

It probably occurs at the top of the top agencies and works its way down to the bottom levels.

Here's an example of that happening in plain sight, albeit at the lower level. Midland College is a taxing entity in Midland, Texas. And there's a plan on the books to build a new dining hall even though the old one is quite sufficient to serve the students and the public. But with the booming economy, tax revenue is high, and the college has money to burn.

The article on the right was in the March edition of the school newspaper -- the Midland College Press.

The budget for the new dining hall jumped up by a million dollars simply because they had the money, not because of any need. It's almost as if they searched for a way to spend the money.

The students will not learn any lesson about fiscal responsibility from this. In this era of "free everything," that lesson will have to wait for the next recession. Or as Margaret Thatcher famously said, "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

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2:32 PM 3/22/2019

Fox Friday 3-22-19 -- Son of Old Crooked Tail

I placed a floor mat on the ground for a dining area for the foxes. Sure enough ...

Black Tip on stage

My, what a long tail you have, Black Tip.

The foxes look very much alike, but often their tails tell the tale. A few years ago "Old Crooked Tail" was a frequent guest. But he's been absent for quite a while. Yet here's that physical characteristic. He looks a lot like Black Tip except for that crook. Maybe it's ...

Son of Old Crooked Tail. (Note the time stamp: about a half hour after Spring Equinox.)

Finally, something more colorful:

A blue jay.

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1:51 PM 3/21/2019

Steven Levitsky's four authoritarian behaviors attributed to Trump are more common on the left

Steven Levitsky was on C-Span's Washington Journal talking about the book he co-authored with Daniel Ziblatt titled "How Democracy Dies." (Watch it here.) An onscreen graphic shown at least twice during the program displayed the authors' four behaviors that precede the collapse of democratic countries they've studied. A book review found here tells us what they are:

There are four main indicators of authoritarian behavior that the authors highlight: 1) the rejection of democratic institutions, or at least a weak commitment to them; 2) the denial of the legitimacy of political opponents; 3) the toleration or encouragement of violence; and 4) the desire or willingness to reduce civil liberties (see 23ff., 61ff.). Even before his election, Trump displayed all four in ways by now familiar. The Republicans abdicated their responsibility to democracy, failing to take a principled stance against him. Often for reasons of expediency, they supported him despite his unfitness for office and of the clear danger even to the constitutional order that many of them indicated he presented.

For simplification, here they are in outline form:

1) the rejection of democratic institutions;
2) the denial of the legitimacy of political opponents;
3) the toleration or encouragement of violence; and
4) the desire or willingness to reduce civil liberties.

Professor Levitsky didn't try to disguise the obvious source of his fears, Donald Trump and his followers. Perhaps Trump espoused some of those tendencies in the campaign and afterwards. But we should all do well to remember that Trump is a bombastic blowhard. It's good that enemies of the U.S. take his threats and insults seriously, but most us out here in flyover country don't. And a president alone will not be able to transform the U.S. from it's current form of government to authoritarianism without a lot of public support. Trump probably knows better than to think his supporters would follow him down that path.

Meanwhile, if one looks at Mr. Levitsky's list and recalls recent newsworthy incidents, it becomes obvious that people on the left are more likely to commit them than people on the right.

Any observer can tell you that conservatives are more likely to uphold democratic institutions, more likely to uphold civil liberties, and less likely to encourage violence than those on the left.

Just look at what political front runners on the left want to do. Here's a short list: Abolish the electoral college, restrict free speech, restrict gun rights, convict without due process, and brutalize people with whom they disagree.

Professor Levitsky gives us a wake up call, all right. But his targets should be the people with whom he most likely agrees politically.

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3:05 PM 3/20/2019

Mark Riddell -- smart test taker, dumb business man

Mark Riddell was the guy hired by William "Rick" Singer to take college entrance exams for the rich parents who were willing to pay big bucks to get their kid into a prestigious school. Riddell was so smart he was able to get just about any score he thought might be plausible for the kid.

But get this. Riddell was only paid around $10,000 per test. Meanwhile, the ringleader, Singer, charged the parents "anywhere between $200,000 and $6.5 million for this service."

Talk about income inequality! But while this might appear on its face to be unfair to Riddell, it helps to remember who actually brought the buyer and seller together. Riddell just wasn't a very good negotiator. Oh yeah, it might also help to remember that everyone involved in the scam was scum.

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4:35 PM 3/19/2019

Shootings in New Zealand and Brazil -- governments go in opposite direction on gun control

Mass shootings in two countries, and the reaction by lawmakers is the opposite. For an example of government reaction in New Zealand see New Zealand's Prime Minister Says Gun Reforms Are Coming. "Reforms" means tighter gun control laws.

Move on to Brazil and we see this: Deadly School Shooting Renews Debate on Gun Laws in Brazil:

Shortly after the shooting, Senator Major Olimpio, one of Bolsonaro’s main supporters in Congress, said the tragedy could have been avoided by an armed teacher or school worker. “Disarmament policy has failed,” he later wrote on his Twitter account. “We can’t allow anyone to take advantage of this tragedy to say that disarmament is the solution.”

President Bolsonaro has made it easier for Brazilians to own firearms. And it should be noted, the opposition is trying to damage him for it.  However, he should go farther and seek to allow citizens to carry firearms.

Meanwhile, leaders in both countries might do well to consult gun crime researcher Dr. John R. Lott, Jr., founder of Crime Prevention Research Center, for evidence that guns in the hands of law abiding citizens is more likely to save lives than cost lives.

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3:29 PM 3/18/2019

Eggs -- once good for you, then bad, then good again, now bad

Here's Ryan W. Miller at USA Today, Eggs linked to higher risk of heart disease and early death, study says:

Are eggs good for you? The long-standing dairy discussion may have more answers, and it looks like bad news for egg lovers.

A new study suggests people with a higher consumption of eggs or cholesterol may be at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease and early death.

And here's Marla Paul at Eating Eggs and Cholesterol Linked to Heart Disease and Death Risk:

The new study looked at pooled data on 29,615 U.S. racially and ethnically diverse adults from six prospective cohort studies for up to 31 years of follow up and found:

-Eating 300 mg of dietary cholesterol per day was associated with 17 percent higher risk of incident cardiovascular disease and 18 percent higher risk of all-cause deaths. The cholesterol was the driving factor independent of saturated fat consumption and other dietary fat.
-Eating three to four eggs per week was associated with 6 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease and 8 percent higher risk of any cause of death.

It's the yolks that contain the cholesterol. So it may still be safe to eat milk carton egg whites. Oh, and hold the bacon.

P.S. Here a link to the abstract of the JAMA article they're relying on.

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3:10 PM 3/17/2019

Elizabeth Warren -- socialist without admitting it

Liz Warren tries to distance herself from the far left wing of the Democrat party by claiming that she's not a Democratic Socialist. To wit: Elizabeth Warren: 'I am not a' Democratic Socialist. And adds this about her own viewpoint:

"Markets have to have rules. They have to have a cop on the beat," she said, adding that "markets without rules are theft."

So is the "cop on the beat" in the market a euphemism for a socialist central planning committee? Seems so.

Richard A. Epstein explained it last year in Elizabeth Warren’s Surreptitious Socialism:

Like many proposals for radical reform, her Accountable Capitalism Act would destroy the institution she says she wants to save. The bill’s central provision tells the whole story: all corporations whose annual revenues exceed $1 billion dollars would be required to receive a federal corporate charter to remain in business. Those charters will come with conditions attached, to force corporations to pay due attention not just to their shareholders, but to their employees, suppliers, and their local communities.

Warren believes the federal government can attach whatever conditions it wants to the charters it issues, and she further claims that it should act to reverse the purportedly dangerous trend of top corporate officials making cash distributions to their shareholders instead of plowing those proceeds back into their own businesses. Her intellectual nemesis, no surprise, is Milton Friedman, who in a seminal 1970 article argued that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”

The most obvious problem with Warren’s proposal is that it would likely lead to the largest flight of capital from the United States in history. Foreign investors will see little reason to put their wealth at the mercy of some crusading federal board that can override a company’s board of directors. Current covered American corporations would have powerful incentives to dump assets or relocate overseas. Make no mistake about it, her proposal calls for the outright confiscation of wealth through the nationalization of corporate boards that would be forever beholden to political figures. Surreptitious socialism turns out to be her way of saving capitalism. And for the worst of all reasons.

"[H]er proposal calls for the outright confiscation of wealth through the nationalization of corporate boards that would be forever beholden to political figures." Government control of industry -- isn't that socialism?

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1:52 PM 3/16/2019

Cyber threat watchdog finds js-sniffer hack which sniffed out thousands of customer info from online rertailers

The news release can be found at Group-IB: payment data of thousands of customers of UK and US online stores could have been compromised. Here's an excerpt:

Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence team first discovered GMO on the FILA UK website. The malicious code was detected in early March 2019. In the course of further research it was revealed that GMO JS Sniffer has presumably been collecting customer payment data since November 2018. According to Alexa.com, the number of fila.co[.]uk unique monthly visitors is estimated at around 140k per month.

Just the other day we were advised of this: Report: Navy is under ‘cyber siege,’ national secrets leaking from the hull.

Can a reasonable person assume that anything can be hacked?

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3:10 PM 3/15/2019

Fox Friday 3-15-19 -- Fox vs Food. Fox wins.

Stumpy battles a piece of cooked egg yoke. Wins!

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3:14 PM 3/14/2019

Should sheriffs be deciding what is or isn't constitutional?

In one sense, it's amusing and somewhat admirable to see the left's sanctuary city tactic turned around and used against them. Defiant U.S. sheriffs push gun sanctuaries, imitating liberals on immigration:

(Reuters) - A rapidly growing number of counties in at least four states are declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, refusing to enforce gun-control laws that they consider to be infringements on the U.S. constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Organizers of the pro-gun sanctuaries admit they took the idea from liberals who have created immigration sanctuaries across the United States where local officials defy the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce tougher immigration laws.

And this. Rural Sheriffs Defy New Gun Measures:

For instance, in New Mexico, 30 of 33 county sheriffs have signed a letter pledging to not help enforce several gun-control measures supported by Democrats in Santa Fe, according to the state’s sheriff association. The sheriffs, who are elected, say they are heeding the wishes of voters in the counties they serve. More than two dozen counties in the state have enacted “sanctuary” resolutions backing the sheriffs and affirming that no tax dollars in their jurisdictions should go to enforcing the proposed laws.

Nationwide, some see their battle as a conservative version of the “sanctuary” resistance to the Trump administration’s illegal-immigration crackdown led by Democratic mayors in major cities like New York and Los Angeles.

“If a state or city can become a sanctuary for illegal immigration, then we can become a sanctuary for Second Amendment rights,” said Russell Shafer, sheriff of Quay County in eastern New Mexico.

That's a cute turnabout. Maybe the publicity points scored with the tactic might be worth it. But is it really the job of law enforcement officers to interpret the constitution? Actually, that's the job of the Supreme Court. They should take another page from leftist's book and find a friendly forum in which to sue for enforcement of the 2nd amendment.

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3:19 PM 3/13/2019

Organ harvesting -- a gruesome side of China's organ transplant industry

The sad truth is that the list of people awaiting a donated organ is significantly larger than the organs available for transplant. One source says this: "Currently, more than 115,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants in the United States. On average 22 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant."

I recently saw an article about how trades are made from time to time which allowed the loved one of someone needing a new organ but who isn't a match to team up with a similar couple who are a match with the first couple. But when looking for that article again I came up empty.

So instead, this post will center on something sinister -- the practice of killing a prisoner for his or her organ. It's hard to prove because no one who benefits from such a program wants to admit it. But the circumstantial evidence is substantial.

Organ Harvesting In China And The Many Questions To Be Answered by Ewelina U. Ochab, Oct 16, 2018 :

The research of Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann sheds light on two important issues concerning organ harvesting in China.

First, organ harvesting volume in China is larger than identified in the official statistics that (highly likely) relate to organ transplantations only. The report identifies that while the official China's central government's statistics suggest that approximately 10,000 organ transplantations take place per year, the numbers may be as high as between 60,000 and 100,000 organ transplants per year. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief have already queried this large discrepancy. However, they were not able to significantly advance the issue. 

Second, the report suggests that prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong, Uyghurs, Tibetans and House Christians became specifically targeted groups for the purposes of organ harvesting. In an oral evidence hearing of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representative, Gutmann explained how the practice of organ harvesting has been used as a method of persecution against Falun Gong members and to maintain the supply of the demand for human organs. Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann claim that “there are only two places where one can receive the full range of organs from a prisoner of conscience: China and more recently, the territory under the control of the Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS.”

More here: Organ Harvesting in China By Benedict Rogers, June 29, 2016:

Three researchers – distinguished human rights lawyer David Matas, former Canadian member of parliament and government minister David Kilgour, and journalist Ethan Gutmann – have published a detailed tome that argues, on the basis of forensic research into the public records of 712 hospitals in China carrying out liver and kidney transplants, that the scale of organ harvesting is far, far bigger than previously imagined. All three have previously published reports on the topic, but they now conclude that between 60,000 to 100,000 organs are transplanted each year in Chinese hospitals. The numbers and the extraordinarily short waiting times for transplant patients suggest that prisoners of conscience, from the spiritual movement Falun Gong as well as Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, and house church Christians, may be the primary victims.

Self defense is one thing, but killing someone so his/her organs can keep you alive is something altogether different.

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4:09 PM 3/12/2019

RIP Officer Nathan Hayden Heidelberg

There was an impressive display of sympathy in the form of flowers, posters, and other items decorating his police vehicle in the front of the police station in Midland, Texas. It had been removed by the time I got there with my camera, however there were some memorials still on display in the station lobby.

Officer Heidelberg was killed in the line of duty the other day -- we talked about that in a previous post -- see Cop shot by homeowner in Midland fearing home invasion.

It was an unfortunate mishap, but regardless of how it happened, police officers come out in force to honor one of their fallen brothers. They form a tight, exclusive, fraternity.

Here are some photos of the lobby display.

For background, see Texas Police Officer Killed by Homeowner Who Mistook Him for Intruder and Midland community mourns loss of Officer Heidelberg.

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4:09 PM 3/11/2019

Democrats are masters of the message -- from net neutrality to save-the-internet

Democrats run rings around Republicans when it comes to the language, slogans, and the message. It doesn't hurt to have the msm repeating those messages ad nauseam, and one has to wonder how they would fare without that strong wind at their backs.

So here they are attempting to resurrect Net Neutrality by calling it by a new name. Democrats unveil 'Save The Internet Act' to restore net neutrality laws.

The net neutrality issue pitted the big tech companies versus internet service providers. And no doubt both sides of the issue have poured buckets of money into campaign coffers to see that their side prevails.

But once again, Democrats have proved their mastery of the message.

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3:39 PM 3/10/2019

Spring forward to daylight saving time -- OK, but can we leave it there for good?

Here we go again. Twice a year we have to reset our timepieces if we want to stay in sync with practically everyone else. But it's such a hassle, and anything that requires us to adjust our biological clocks is a nuisance.

Last year Senator Marco Rubio introduced a bill which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. Unfortunately, the bill went nowhere.

Senator Rubio, this time with the Senator Scott, the other Florida senator, introduced another bill which would do the same thing.

Can't they just do it this time?

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2:18 PM 3/9/2019

What if Ilhan Omar is part of Islam's grand plan?

The tolerance Democrats have for the recent antisemitic remarks of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) sounds very wrong to most Americans. We've had "diversity is our strength" drilled into our skulls so long that it's numbing. So maybe that's why Democrats seem deaf to intolerance by those who seek to discriminate against Jews.

If one watches enough of the confirmation hearings when the appointee under consideration is a Christian one comes away with the feeling that there's a high degree of Christian-phobia out there. Now we can add Jew-phobia to that list, too. But when it comes to Islam, it's as if their minds are so open their brains fell out.

Anyway, to the point. Maybe Ilhan Omar is part of Islam's grand plan. Let's revisit James Mitchell's book, "Enhanced Interrogation" where he recounted some of his conversations with Jihad mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Here's an excerpt (bold added for emphasis):

"It would be nice," he said, if al Q'ida or like-minded Islamists could bring America to its knees with catastrophic attacks, but that was unlikely to happen; "not practical" is the wording he used. From his perspective, the long war for Islamic domination wasn't going to be won in the streets with bombs and bullets and bloodshed. No, it would be won in the minds of the American people.

He said the terror attacks were good, but the practical, way to defeat America was through immigration and by outbreeding non- Muslims. He said jihadi-minded brothers would immigrate into the united states, taking advantage of the welfare system to support themselves while they spread their jihadi message. They will wrap themselves in America's rights and laws for protection, ratchet up acceptance of sharia law, and then, only when they were strong enough, rise up and violently impose sharia from within. He said the brothers would relentlessly continue their attacks and the American people eventually would become so tired, so frightened, and so weary of war that they would just want it to end.

"Eventually," KSM said, "America will expose her neck to us for slaughter."

Ilhan Omar and a few others are leading the attack on the American system. The long plan would have American citizens and non-citizens adopting Sharia law voluntarily. However, the only uncertainty at this point is which alternate system will ultimately prevail.

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3:17 PM 3/8/2019

Fox Friday 3-8-19

Stumpy stands guard while Black Tip eats.

Stumpy eats.

Hey you! Get out of there! That food is for the foxes!

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10:05 AM 3/7/2019

Poli Sci profs say democracy isn't necessary for prosperity

For a long time Americans have been proud of the accomplishments and prosperity of the United States, and we were taught that we owed that to the democratic form of government. Now two political scientists tell us that democracy may not be that important to prosperity.

See Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk in When Democracy Is No Longer the Only Path to Prosperity. Here's a snapshot:

Since the 1890s, countries like the U.S., Great Britain and a small band of other democracies have dominated the global economy. As recently as 1995, 96% of all people who lived in a country with a per capita income over $20,000 (in today’s terms) were citizens of a liberal democracy. With the exception of a few oligarchs perched atop stagnant and repressive societies, only democrats got to enjoy real affluence.

Today’s reality is very different. Our analysis of International Monetary Fund projections shows that sometime in the next five years, the total GDP of countries rated “not free” by Freedom House will surpass that of Western democracies. The combined economies of democratic countries like the U.S., Germany, France and Japan will be smaller than those of autocracies like China, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Rather disappointing. But perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that given a choice, people would rather be rich under a dictator than poor under democracy. The ideal would seem to be rich and free.

However, in many autocratic countries the prosperity flourished in the time prior to the shift to autocracy. Foa and Mounk added this to the mix:

a growing number of countries have learned to combine autocratic rule with market-friendly institutions, and they have continued growing economically well beyond the point at which democratic transitions used to occur.

Should those autocracies continue prospering at the current pace let's hope Americans don't decide that maybe a dictator is a better basis for government than democracy. In that regard, the current push for socialism isn't an especially good sign.

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3:07 PM 3/5/2019

Cop shot by homeowner in Midland fearing home invasion

Texas homeowner's have a dilemma. Someone enters the front door at 1:00AM while shouting. The homeowner grabs a gun, fires a shot, and the potential invader is killed.

If the invader was a police officer, then the homeowner gets arrested, faces a grand jury, and may face trial for manslaughter.

That's what happened yesterday in Midland, Texas, according to the morning paper in Affidavit: Officer hears Heidelberg announce presence of police before shot was fired:

Midland Police Department officers who were dispatched to a residence early Tuesday morning with Officer Nathan Heidelberg heard a gun shot and then found Heidelberg face down, according to documents released late Tuesday night by the Midland County District Attorney’s Office.

Homeowner David Charles Wilson told Texas Ranger Cody Allen that he was inside the residence in the 3300 block of Eagle Cove and fired a handgun in the direction of Heidelberg, according to Wilson’s arrest affidavit.

Wilson faces second-degree manslaughter charges, according to the affidavit. He was released on a $75,000 bond, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article.

Heidelberg and Officer Victoria Allee were dispatched to Wilson’s home at about 1:16 a.m. Tuesday in reference to an alarm/panic alarm call. Upon arrival, officers walked the perimeter of the residence and did not observe anything out of the ordinary. Then Heidelberg noticed the front door of the residence was unsecure, according to the affidavit.

Another article provides Mr. Wilson's side of the issue:

"We would like to express our deepest sympathies to Officer Heidelberg’s family and the Midland Police Department for the events that lead to his death.

We are cooperating with investigators to attempt to learn all the material facts as soon as possible.

David Wilson believed that his family was experiencing a home invasion and only fired his weapon to protect his family."

There are some substantial questions so far unanswered. Was the police officer inside the house when the shot was fired? Other than shouting, was there anything else any of the police officers did to alert a homeowner that they were, in fact, police officers? Were the red lights on the police car flashing?

It's a homeowner's dilemma -- hold back and hope like hell that the person shouting is a police officer and not a home invader attempting to mislead the homeowner into compliance.

I've written about this issue at this blog. In particular, see this post from 2009 titled Citizen Police Academy about a question I asked of a SWAT team officer, who, by the way, is currently the Chief of Police. Here's that part of the post:

Here's one little tidbit that may or may not be helpful to know. A SWAT team leader gave a lecture and showed some of the gear they use. And he answered questions.

Sample question: "A Midland citizen is lying in bed at night, he's got his handgun by the side of the bed, and he hears a commotion at the front door. If it's the police he would comply with what ever they demanded. But how does he know whether it's a home invasion or the SWAT team?"

Long answer made short: "There have been home invasions in Midland where the invaders said they were police. ... You don't know."

So when a homeowner hears someone shouting and banging on the door, how does he/she know whether the potential invader is a police officer or a home invader intent on doing harm?

It would certainly help the homeowner if police car red lights were flashing in view of anyone occupying the house. If the counter argument is that the lights would scare away a burglar, well, that's one outcome, but it's preferable to the death of police officer or the homeowner.

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8:59 AM 3/6/2019

Is assisting illegal immigration a protected religious freedom? Nope.

This case was an attempt to excuse crimes on the basis of religious freedom. The group of volunteers trying to help illegal immigrants was accused of trespassing into a wilderness area. One of their defenses is described by one of the lawyers in Tucson court cases could upend long-standing status quo for border aid:

Warren’s lawyers also asked Velasco to dismiss two human-smuggling counts, arguing he was acting according to his sincerely-held beliefs that his actions were protected by religious freedom.

Not so fast, counselor. 'No More Deaths' Volunteers Face Possible Jail Time For Aiding Migrants:

Volunteers who've been caught leaving water and food for migrants have gotten into big trouble. Four No More Deaths volunteers were convicted after leaving supplies in the Cabeza Prieta refuge. Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco found them guilty of abandonment of property and of entering the refuge without a permit. They face sentencing on Friday.

Statement by #Cabeza9 defendants:

We may have been found guilty but the real crime is the government’s deliberate policy to use “death as a deterrent” at the US/Mexico border. The criminalization of those acting in solidarity is a classic example of the ramping up of an authoritarian regime.

Breaking the law to help others break the law -- isn't that trying to say two wrongs make a right? And would a border wall have deterred illegal immigration in the first place?

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3:49 PM 3/4/2019

Italy's universal basic income -- one more experiment to watch

The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) has been met with resistance from several quarters. One view of it is that it will stifle initiative and dampen the desire to work. Well, most countries are doing that already with generous welfare programs.

The best approach to this idea came from Charles Murray a few years ago. His UBI plan called for replacing all other forms of government outlays to individuals. And that plan would be cheaper than the programs it replaced. So far, none of the governments or entities that have experimented with UBI have done that. Now the latest experiment will take place in Italy. And they'll be doing it wrong, too.

One of the problems is that there's a big underground economy in Italy, and it's likely to get bigger as people angle to get their incomes low enough to qualify for UBI. Another problem is that there are already plenty of taxpayers who are comfortable with cheating. They could probably be counted on to cheat the UBI system as well.

For the longest time I was in favor of a UBI for the money savings as a way to pay off the federal debt and ultimately reduce taxes. But the more evidence that pours in, the less likely it appears to be a system that would do what the original proponents hoped. After all, it's just people who design and implement it. And there simply isn't a genius smart enough to anticipate and overcome all the problems. Think Obamacare.

Meanwhile, check out these two articles, both of which describe the problems Italy will encounter:
Italy Starts Handing Out Free Money by Ferdinando Giugliano; and
Italy Institutes a Universal Basic Income. Is the U.S. Next? by Adam O’Neal.

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1:37 PM 3/3/2019

Happy Texas Independence Day 3-2-2019

It's probably politically incorrect to display pride on Texas Independence Day. Tough luck, SWJ's.

The history of Texas was taught in state public schools at one time. Now there's probably a watered down version about a border dispute.

But that time in history was filled with tension for the residents of territory. And they had to flee for their lives until they had to take a stand and fight the good fight. After enduring some horribly atrocities, the Texans prevailed, and Texas became an independent nation.

Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Hooray for Texas, and happy Independence Day!

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2:48 PM 3/2/2019

Many crime novelists don't know guns

Just finished reading a pretty good crime novel titled "August Snow," a first novel by Stephen Mack Jones. It's about a former Detroit cop with the same name as the book title. And the tale involves lots of conspiracies in high places along with some close-in combat with lots of gunfire. Fans of David Baldacci will feel right at home with this book.

Here's my issue, and it's relatively minor. In several instances the hero pulls out his Glock handgun and clicks off the manual safety. Huh? Glock handguns don't have manual safeties.

Gaston Glock, the man who developed the Glock brand intentionally omitted a manual safety because he was trying to mimic the ease of handling a revolver. And besides, it was too cumbersome. (I've written previously about that issue.)

A novelist can't know everything his readers know, but many novelists talk to lots of experts to avoid amateur mistakes. So hopefully Mr. Jones can learn from his mistakes and continue crafting good yarns.

Previously at Sleepless in Midland: Where Glocks came from

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6:06 AM 3/2/2019