“There comes a point where you have to suspect sabotage, or a conspiracy.”

If you’ve read much of this blog, you know that I have a few recurring themes, one of which is “Our Collapsing Schools.”

Well, Friday Connie du Toit posted about that particular subject – and I am in full agreement with her. Money quote:

The other day our Carpenter’s helper heard me say something along the lines of, “it is difficult to conclude that incompetence is the reason why our public schools have deteriorated. There comes a point where you have to suspect sabotage, or a conspiracy.”

Go read. She’s right.

#@$K!

My internet service was down – again – when I got up Saturday morning, and it was down all day with the exception of about a 1 minute window Saturday afternoon. (You can tell by watching the blinking lights on the cable modem.) Called Comcast – next service tech available FRIDAY THE 26th!

When I got up this morning, again, no-go. Went to the range with my wife and spent a pleasant morning plinking, stopped at a restaraunt and had a nice lunch, got home and still no ISP. Sat down to watch a video tape. WTF? VCR is buggered. Run the video feed off the VCR, all I get is snow.

A little bell rings in the back of my head.

I disconnect the cable from the VCR and tie it directly to the TV. Good picture. (Quality had been not quite up to snuff recently.)

Bingo! I’ve got internet service again.

Guess I need to get a new VCR.

And I need to cancel that service call.

And Some People Believe that Only Cops Should Have Guns

Via Say Uncle comes this heartwarming story of Thomas Martin McGouey and his attempt to commit suicide-by-cop. He does everything right. He leaves a suicide note telling the cops where he is. He has a gun. He paints a bullseye on his chest and adds the words “Let me die.” The cops are called with a report that there is a man shooting a gun, threatening to kill people and himself. They arrive – at least six of them – and find the man in a field. (Mr. McGouey apparently ensured that any stray rounds would not endanger others – and a good thing, too.) He approaches while the officers tell him to show his hands. When he gets to within 30 yards of the officers, he brings his hands out from behind his back, and points a gun (a pellet gun, but they couldn’t know that) at the cops.

The results?

Twenty eight (28!) rounds fired by the officers.

Mr. McGouey was later treated for one superficial gunshot wound to the shoulder.

I think that was just bad luck.

Oh yeah, only police officers receive the hours of training necessary to use firearms effectively.

Thank Jebus there wasn’t a crowd in the background.

More Guns, Less Crime

Via Instapundit comes the latest on the John Lott saga. Professor Reynolds says:

As I wrote a while back, Lott has been the subject of so many bogus attacks that I’ve been skeptical of this one. But I trust Jim Lindgren as a neutral arbiter with expertise in the area, and it seems to me that this time Lott’s critics have him dead to rights, and he’s failed to mount a convincing response.

For me it was the “Mary Rosh” bit that discredited Lott in my eyes. Defending yourself through a pseudonymous alter-ego was, IMHO, dishonest. If he was willing to be mendacious about that, then why should I trust his word on other matters?

I would also say that I never was accepting of the 2.5 million annual defensive gun use estimate. I certainly don’t accept the National Crime Victimization Survey estimate of 108,000 as accurate, but I’d be amazed if the actual number much exceeded 250,000. Then again, how many does there need (Get it, “need?”) to be? 108,000 DGUs a year is 295 a day.

Lott gives the appearance of being the gun-rights Michael Bellesiles, and James Lindgren, who Eugene Volokh notes seems pretty neutral on the entire gun-rights issue, was instrumental in showing Bellesiles’ flaws. That he is doing so with Lott makes his criticism more believable, not less.

One fact remains, though: There are more guns. There isn’t more crime. Correlation does not mean causation, but spin this however they wish the gun control forces cannot point to Dodge-City shootouts and blood running in the streets. Crime levels haven’t been this low since the 1960’s. Guns do NOT CAUSE crime.

Some Views on Dean Clark, and One More Recall Cartoon

Chuck Asay of the Colorado Springs Gazette has this take on Wesley’s entry into the fray:

Choreography by Hillary Clinton.

Somehow, I don’t think that John Deering of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette thinks very highly of the Democratic candidates, including Clark:

Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press isn’t gushing enthusiastic either:

Nor is Henry Payne of the Detroit News:

Finally, Larry Wright, also of the Detroit News, has this warning to the Dems:

And one more on the 9th Circus recall decision, Mike Ramirez of the LA Times weighs in:

OUCH! Touché, Mike!

Still Being Railroaded

Publicola has the latest in the Roderick Pritchett saga. This has been commented on by several gun-bloggers, not the least of whom are Spoons and Kim du Toit, but Publicola has stayed on top of the story.

Here is what Mr. Pritchett has to say.

It certainly appears that the powers-that-be in Chigago are making absolutely sure that Mr. Pritchett will be severely punished for having the temerity to carry a firearm when said powers-that-be have proclaimed that the masses shall be dependent on government for their protection. The latest move: A change of venue with the apparent intent of ensuring that the jury box will be filled with unsympathetic whites rather than sympathetic blacks.

You know, a jury of his peers.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Liberal

Via On the Third Hand comes this story of a High School freshman willing to screw with buck the system.

Student’s proposed Caucasian Club meets some resistance

A Freedom High School freshman has run up against opposition in her quest to start a Caucasian Club.

A local NAACP leader says Lisa McClelland’s proposed club, which would be open to all races and ethnicities, smacks of racial division, a charge the 15-year-old denies. McClelland says she and some of her friends simply feel a bit slighted since other school clubs cater to specific cultures and races, such as the Black Student Union and the Asian Club.

So, let’s get this straight: Clubs exclusively for blacks, or Asians, or American Indians, or whatever other self-identified ethnic groups do not “smack of racial division,” but one that includes all groups does – because it includes caucasians?

Can you say “hypocrisy?”

I knew you could.

“It’s not racist because we’re not excluding anyone, and we’re just trying to solve the issues of racial disparity,” McClelland said. Her ethnic background is American Indian, Latino, Dutch, German, Italian and Irish.

In other words, your average hardy Amercan mongrel. No hyphen needed.

So far McClelland has gathered 245 signatures from an array of students, adults and others on and off campus in support of the formation of her Caucasian Club. She’s looking to gather additional signatures before submitting the petition to Freedom High principal Eric Volta this week.

The high school has dealt with thorny racial issues in the recent past. In 2001, a black teacher found a noose made out of a shoelace hanging on the doorknob of his classroom. Tensions mounted again last year when a roped noose was found dangling from a redwood tree on campus.

So of course this means the KKK has a chapter running right downtown, right?

Darnell Turner, vice president of the East County chapter of the NAACP, spoke out against the 2002 incident and says McClelland’s Caucasian Club sounds like a bad idea at a time when the campus is trying to heal fresh emotional wounds.

“It will not allow us to heal that divide that we’ve tried to overcome in the past couple of years,” Turner said. “If her motivation is to bring harmony, as she alleges, this is not the way to go.”

I submit, in keeping with Mr. Turner’s logic, that having exclusively black, Asian and other clubs that exclude individuals based on race aren’t “healing that divide” or “bringing harmony” either. You don’t get it both ways, Darnell.

Some of McClelland’s classmates, however, support her effort.

“It’d be tight because they can learn more about their history,” said 14-year-old Tyleisha Crooks, a fellow freshman at Freedom who is black.

And isn’t that how they justify the racial separatist clubs? “Learning about their history?” But our children are apparently not supposed to learn about the history of white Europeans, are they?

Elliott Perez, 14, a sophomore at Freedom who is Hispanic and white, also said the school could benefit from McClelland’s club.

“I think it’s fair for white people to have their own club, because every other race has their own club,” he said.

See? A 14 year-old understands hypocrisy. Apparently you have to be a brainwashed liberal an adult to be able to hold two or more mutually exclusive beliefs simultaneously.

Both Crooks and Perez signed the petition in support of the formation of the Caucasian Club.

Oakley is located about 50 miles east of (The People’s Republic of) San Francisco.

It’s Over. I Declare a (Small) Victory

The debate I have had with Jack, an Irishman living in London, over at The Commentary has ended. Since it started on May 17, it has been a fairly long and involved one.

The conclusion?

So, what has been achieved? Well,

1.) I’ve accepted the lack of a link between the right to keep and bear arms and membership of a militia,

2.) I’ve been enlightened about the ‘shall-issue’ concept and it’s superiority, compared with normal licencing.

3.) I’ve learnt a great deal about the whole issue, ranging from the origin of the right enumerated in the Second Amendment through to some of the restrictions placed on gun ownership by various US states.

So, for me, at any rate, the process has been useful and enlightening.

I think that my position now is actually more liberal (in terms of my approach to gun control) than when we started.

That’s “liberal” in the traditional sense. In other words, I changed his mind – a bit.

I can live with that.