NY Times Editors Continued War on Reality

The Times editors - yes, the folks who recently linked to an Onion wanna-be for factual support - continue their editorializing on guns, and the issue is far too important to let tedious facts get in their way:

Despair Over Gun Deaths Is Not an Option

Apparently staying within whistling distance of reality is not an option either, although I will find one point on which we might all agree. I am skipping the grieving Newton parents of murdered schoolchildren intro:

Whether that happens, of course, depends on whether Congress is ever going to break from the gun lobby. Could there be anything less controversial than denying gun purchases to people on the terrorist watch list? Yet Republicans prefer to express concern about “due process” for gun purchasers even as they propose blanket bans on Islamic refugees.

Yes, boring old "due process" for American citizens versus the non-applicability of due process to non-US citizens abroad [Posner, Volokh, Gershman of the WSJ, Krikorian of NRO].

The Brady Law Most needed is an expansion of this law so that dealers and others now buying firearms on the Internet and at gun shows are subjected to background checks. The law has barred 2.5 million risky applicants in the last 20 years from buying guns, but it does not apply to 40 percent of total gun sales.

"40 percent"? Seriously? Before you ask, factcheckers have debunked that claim since Obama and other top Democrats began promoting it post-Newton.; Glenn Kessler resurrected it when Hillary resurrected the claim last October.

PolitFact: Mostly False

Glenn Kessler, WaPo: Three Pinocchios (on a four point scale).

FactCheck.org: No flashy scoring system, so we have to prove their nuance, although the intro contains a clue:

Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series called “Party Lines” that will highlight misleading talking points by both parties.:

...

But with the exception of Biden, hardly anyone using the figure ever cautions that it may not be accurate, or, at the very least, that it was based on a survey of just a few hundred people in 1994, in which participants may have guessed whether they had acquired a gun that came from a licensed dealer. Instead, the number is quite often stated as fact when no one can say for certain.

These Times demand the Times, or, The Paper of (Broken) Record.

Back to the earnest editors:

Battlefield Guns and Ammunition A responsible Congress would restore the assault weapons ban and enact limits on gross ammunition clips that let shooters spray crowds of victims with up to 100-round bursts.

The burst you hear is laughter. Do they even know that semi-automatic weapons fire one shot per trigger pull, or are they having a flashback to the Imperial Storm Troopers in the Star Wars trailer?

Their own polling on that issue has gone against them, so it seems as if the Great Unwashed are figuring out just how phony the assault weapons debate is, even if the Times has not.

Now, shifting gears - here is a topic where the two parties could find common ground:

Mental Illness Services undoubtedly need to be improved for Americans with mental illnesses as a public health issue, but recalcitrant Republicans are invoking this to duck gun safety measures. They should be the first to embrace a practical law pioneered last year in California that allows concerned family members to alert a judge to issue a gun restraining order on a potState Laws Gun safety laws work in states where they are applied, even if other states are lax. Those with weak gun laws and high rates of gun ownership suffer the highest gun death rates, according to research. Alaska, where 60 percent of households have guns, had 19.5 gun deaths per 100,000 in 2013. The rate was 2.7 in Hawaii where 9.7 percent of households have arms.entially violent individual.

I don't know about the California law but it sounds like the sort of thing I have favored at cocktail parties (Yes, sometime we are not talking about real estate prices and golf scores. Inshallah). Whether Adam Lanza's mother or one of James Holmes (Aurora) associates could have/would have been able to use such a law will remain unknown.

The National Journal has more, including pushback from critics who say that, like other temporary restraining orders, the accused does not have an opportunity to participate. Those are details of the George Bernard Shaw "fixing my price" type.

And a Republican has a bill overlapping expanded mental health care access with gun violence, so there should be room for constructive debate here.

OK, back to Times-bashing:

State Laws Gun safety laws work in states where they are applied, even if other states are lax. Those with weak gun laws and high rates of gun ownership suffer the highest gun death rates, according to research. Alaska, where 60 percent of households have guns, had 19.5 gun deaths per 100,000 in 2013. The rate was 2.7 in Hawaii where 9.7 percent of households have arms.

Yeah, the South is violent, and, as usual, the Times is using "gun violence" to cover suicides as well as homicides (suicides are roughly two-thirds of total gun deaths). If the topic is mental health that seems appropriate, but the link between suicides and an assault weapons ban seems, well, unlikely - are people really firing bursts of  up to 100 rounds into themselves and then bleeding out? Folks looking at gun homicide rates versus weak/strong gun laws see no correlation, which still answers little, since the laws were presumably passed to bring violence down to acceptable levels; a state with a low crime problem, e.g., Wyoming, might well not pass any gun laws.

The "according to research" link provided by the editors takes us to the Violence Policy Center, which is a step up from their recent editorial linking to a rival of The Onion. At the VPC there is no clarification of the suicide/homicide split, but they explain weak versus strong gun laws:

The VPC defined states with “weak” gun violence prevention laws as those that add little or nothing to federal law and have permissive laws governing the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public. States with “strong” gun violence prevention laws were defined as those that add significant state regulation that is absent from federal law, such as restricting access to particularly hazardous and deadly types of firearms (for example, assault weapons), setting minimum safety standards for firearms and/or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm, and restricting the open and concealed carrying of firearms in public.

Of those "strong" measures, only improved background checks might reduce suicides.

And do let me add that I glanced at the gun suicide versus all suicide rate in different countries last week. As a snippet, the gun suicide rate was 6.7 per 100,000, versus 0.15 per 100,000 in the UK. Fewer guns saves lives!

Well, that is probably true since in some case, especially younger people, the suicidal impulse is transient but guns are quick and effective. However, the overall suicide rate in the US was 13 per 100,000; in the UK it was 11.8 per 100,000.

That difference, given the differing demographics, might well be statistical noise. In any case, it is far smaller a gap than the 6.5 per 100,000 in the gun suicide case. Ross Douthat was excellent on this post-Newtown, unlike many of his media compadres.

SUICIDE, HOMICIDE, SO CONFUSING: The NY Times closed their comments after receiving 521. The editors highlighted 15, including this one, which was recommended by 106 readers. Tell me whether he understands that two-thirds of deaths attributable to "gun violence" are suicides. Then tell me why the editors elevated this comment from among more than five hundred:

James

Hartford  20 hours ago

One word that does not appear enough in the New York Times coverage of gun violence is "murder." The constant repetition of the terms "gun violence" and "gun deaths" makes it seem as if death and violence simply arise unbidden from the inanimate substrate of guns.

This mangling of the language is purely politically driven. For every murder, there is a murderer. For every death there is a killer. Living in denial of the vicious, monstrous people in our midst might make you sound cool-headed, data-driven, and scientific, but it is actually ignorant and childish.

Accidental gun deaths represent the intrinsic danger of guns. Intentional gun deaths represent the cruelty and cold-bloodedness of our fellow citizens. There is a huge difference.

• 106 Recommend

"For every death there is a killer"? Do we normally call suicide victims "killers"? How about "Intentional gun deaths represent the cruelty and cold-bloodedness of our fellow citizens" - is that how we normally describe suicides?

I actually think that James is honestly confused about the homicide/suicide game the Times routinely plays, despite laboring through many NY Times editorials. The editors are promoting his post even though they realize (I hope!) that it is wildly misleading. But emotional and heartfelt, so it has that going for it.

Comments

[Cecil Turner]

Damn, lots of wars going on round here. What's the first casualty?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Most needed is an expansion of this law so that dealers and others now buying firearms on the Internet and at gun shows are subjected to background checks.--

Huh? Dealers are the guys who implement background checks. Any gun sold over the internet which is then shipped must be shipped to a dealer.

Are there statistics somewhere demonstrating any guns purchased at gunshows without going through a dealer have ever been used in crimes?
I have no doubt some might have been but once this "loophole" is closed and it does absolutely zero to reduce crime what will be next?
Are there stats which demonstrate a criminal who would have been stopped by a NICS gunshow check would not find another way to procure a firearm?

[Jeff Dobbs]

And so it begins...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-goes-ted-cruz-155700757.html

Donald Trump has a new target: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

In multiple interviews Sunday, Trump took aim at Cruz. He said the senator's tactics in Congress had demonstrated that he would be incapable of driving the legislative agenda from the White House, and at one point called Cruz a "little bit of a maniac."

"I don't think he's qualified to be president," Trump told Fox News' Chris Wallace in a pre-taped interview that aired on Sunday. "Look at the way he's dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there — like, you know, frankly, like a little bit of a maniac. You're never going to get things done that way."

In an interview on CNN, Trump added: "I actually get along with people much better than he does. You know people don't know that about me: I actually have a great relationship with people."

"Maniac" is an interesting word choice, and one I assume was deliberately chosen.

[jimmyk]

I posted a LAT editorial opposing the Feinstein legislation at the end of the last thread. This one's an op-ed that I'm sure the NYT would never accept on their pages:

The only thing unique about assault rifles is their menacing name and look, and it is these elements that make them such an appealing — if not particularly sensible — target of gun control advocates....

Little wonder then that a 2004 study commissioned by the Department of Justice found that the federal ban didn't lead to any decrease in gun crime or gun deaths. For starters, rifles, assault or otherwise, are rarely used in gun crime. Notwithstanding the two rifles used in San Bernardino (and a few other memorable mass killings), rifles account for only about 3% of criminal gun deaths. Gun crime in the United States, including most mass shootings, is overwhelmingly handgun crime.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-winkler-folly-of-assault-weapon-ban-20151211-story.html

I sent it to Mrs K, as she seemed to have been misled by all the "assault weapon" rhetoric.

[henry]

Jeff, Trump does well in choosing emotional words instead of logic. Absolutely intentional. Probably tested at his campaign stops.

[Threadkiller]

CNN has a segment with the CEO of NPR. They are talking about how to not talk about Trump for ratings bonanzas.

Trump seems to keep coming up, though.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

SE Cupp is talking about Trump and in the process defining herself as an idiot.

[glasater]

Tapper's talking with Trump right now.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Jazz Shaw with an excellent analysis, IMO, of Trump's effect on the country, the party and the talking heads.

[JMHanes]

What a depressing article (Cupp), Ignatz. I love this juxtaposition:

Shot:

Trump actually is leading a modern-day "Know Nothing" movement. His anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hatemongering are at least out of the 1850s if not the Middle Ages, and it has no place in today's Republican Party. His ideas are usually unconstitutional, un-American or un-conservative -- and very often an alarming hat trick of all three. Whatever group he claims to represent should have to embrace his dimwitted and divisive proposals without the imprimatur of the Republican Party or the conservative movement. And Republicans shouldn't have to defend religious tests, internment camps or Eisenhower's "Operation Wetback" just because Trump and his goon surrogates do.

Whining chaser (emphasis mine):

Democrats are convincingly using Trump to paint the entire Republican Party as racist, xenophobic and misogynistic.

[Jeff Dobbs]

I came across this Trump quote again out of the blue just now. There's that word...

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Donald-Trump-Ronald-Kessler/2012/11/26/id/465363/

“[Romney] had a crazy policy of self deportation which was maniacal,” Trump says. “It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote,” Trump notes.

[Jojo]

mostly all his campaign stops are livestreamed and he's never said anything like that about Cruz.

[henry]

Cheerlead away jojo.

[glasater]

Can't remember who said it re Trump but essentially it was that when Trump goes politically correct..watch out.

Trump just said on Tapper's show that Scalia's remarks on blacks should perhaps go on a slower educational track was wrong.

[Jojo]

if you think making stuff up is better than cheerleading that's your problem henry

[Janet]

This is a good idea -

http://unsavoryagents.com/?projects=jihad-free-zone

[Threadkiller]

I have completely glossed over the Scalia controversy.

Didn't TM give an analysis? I will scroll back.

[matt]

My military friends lost two people by suicide in the past week. One a former NCO the other a staff officer who we don't think had any direct combat trauma.

It is a huge problem in the military; vets and active duty taking their own lives. 22 to 23 individuals per day.

We are a wounded people in so many ways. Stigma, shame, helplessness all get in the way of seeking treatment and of better outcomes.

Mental illness like severe depression or PTSD is a disease just as cancer or diabetes or heart disease are. But there are no casseroles or friendly neighbors and family to offer support. It is very lonely.

I think the most important thing we can do is to reach out and let those who are struggling know that they are valued and loved.

A lot of people have lost the spiritual side and so rely on psychological and physiological treatment. And yet in over 2,000 studies the proof is incontrovertible that a strong spiritual component assists in significantly better medical outcomes.

We have to do better by our people.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jojo:
he's never said anything like that about Cruz....if you think making stuff up is...

Maybe I'm confused. You're not claiming that Trump calling Cruz "a little bit of a maniac" and saying "I don't think he's qualified to be president" is made up, are you?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--mostly all his campaign stops are livestreamed and he's never said anything like that about Cruz.

if you think making stuff up is better than cheerleading that's your problem henry--

You might want to break out the goalpost moving equipment;
Here is the video of him saying it.

[Threadkiller]

I think jojo was disputing that the hyperbole was tested on campaign stops.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

"Making stuff up" doesn't fit your scenario, TK.

[simply stupid]

Stupid GOPe rules allowing open primaries in many of these states. It was hoped that it will help their moderate Bush and all it will do now is do the reverse operation Chaos that Rush proposed in 2008 between Obama and Hillary. Who is not to say that Trump support is only for the primaries since there is no real opposition to Hillary on the other side.

Trump calling Cruz a maniac is pot calling kettle Black. Much disappointed that only one other republican senator was with Cruz during Climate control debate. Loved How Obama claims leadership for signing the bogus Climate summit bill.
Per Obama, action is signing bills that are unenforceable or will be due way in the future similar to his IRAN deal although he has made the unintended consequence of OPEC going belly up . But that may have been part of the Israel and Egyptian gas discoveries anyway.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Here's Scott Johnson at Powerline with what seems to me a very fair and respectful story on his attendance at a South Carolina Q&A with Trump.

[jimmyk]

Heh, in that video, a few minutes after calling "our leaders in Washington" "stupid, 'losers' isn't a strong enough term," he criticizes Cruz's temperament for supposedly calling them "liars."

[jimmyk]

That John Kerry is playing 3-dimensional chess while we peons are struggling at checkers:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/12/13/kerry_on_climate_deal_if_there_had_been_a_penalty_we_wouldnt_have_been_able_to_get_an_agreement.html

[henry]

A simple google reveals Trump called the following people maniacs:

Bernie Sanders (mid October)
The Colorado Springs Shooter

these in addition to Jeff finding on Romney above.

"Maniac" is without question field tested and deliberate in the Pavlovian MSM response and the emotional rather than logical attack on a competitor.

[JMHanes]

jiimmyk:

Next time my jaw drops, I'm thinking I might as well just leave it on the floor. Kerry was great on the Iran agreement too: If we call it a treaty we'd have to get it ratified! Apparently, getting Iran to sign it was also an obstacle not worth essaying.

[CayleyGraph]

Anyone else get the paragraph about State Laws somehow duplicated in the middle of the paragraph about Mental Illness?
My Internet connection's been acting weird lately, so it could be just me.

[Threadkiller]

"Making stuff up" doesn't fit your scenario, TK.

It does if this statement from henry is what jojo was talking about:

Probably tested at his campaign stops.

I don't know for sure, though.

[henry]

TK, that is a testable proposition... nothing made up or not made up. (of course disproving it requires proving a negative, but Jojo is an ass and deserves such a challenge).

[peter]

That Kristof quiz (LUN) on the op ed page of the Slimes is such a joke. A form of liberal taqiyya. Maybe there should be a word for when liberal media intentionally mislead for what they think is a good cause-- "Timesqiyya?"

[lyle]

Dear Lord,

Please let the long term effects of Botox lead to an excruciatingly long and painful death of which there's no effective ameliorative. Thank you.

Your Humble Supplicant,

lyle

[JMHanes]

CayleyGraph:

Yes, I get the same duplicated paragraph inserted between:
pot ….. entially violent individual.

[windansea]

Fmr. FBI Counterterrorism Agent: We’ve Received ‘Nearly Zero Help’ from U.S. Muslim Community Since 9/11

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/12/07/fmr-fbi-counterterrorism-agent-weve-received-nearly-zero-help-from-u-s-muslim-community-since-911/

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Trump appears to understand (verbalize) the most serious problems confronting us, but if elected, would he have the wisdom and determination to use the only weapon that will be effective turning back the leftist destruction that traps and enslaves us? Would he make the Constitution his first and foremost partner and use it as a benevolent club to, "Make America great again"?

I fear not - his ego is too large to allow the Constitution first billing.

[Threadkiller]

I will drop the topic.

[jimmyk]

Next time my jaw drops, I'm thinking I might as well just leave it on the floor.

JMH, use of the word "jaw" in any connection with Kerry is not recommended.

I especially liked how he described with a straight face (well ok, he can't exactly change his expression with all the stuffing in his jaw) a reporting requirement as "enforcement."

[narciso]

It does seem like many are being struck mad, like Nebuchanezzar in Daniel 4, however how to tell the difference with Lurch, Zaphod, et al, from their current behavior, until they start scarfing up plants in the garden like ruminants,

one way not to demonstrate madness is to remain unruffled with regards to challenges, and yes SE Cupp is clueless, the GOP included Know Nothings, free soilers, abolitionists, et a,

[boris]

"(of course disproving it requires proving a negative, but Jojo is an ass and deserves such a challenge)"

Looks like pointless contention to me.

Henry, 11;47 you added "probably tested on campaign stops"

Jojo responded "mostly all his campaign stops are livestreamed and he's never said anything like that about Cruz".

Valid inference: Jojo watched a lot of livestreamed campaign stops and disputes it was ever tested that way.

If that's all there is to the dispute ... nothingburger IMO.

[jimmyk]

Peter, "Timesspeak" works for me (evoking Orwell's "Newspeak").

[narciso]

shirley he can't be serious,

http://therightscoop.com/trump-says-scalias-remarks-are-racist/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I see what you're saying, TK.

However a minor point if he continues to say it in interviews, especially in light of comparing Carson to child molesters at a campaign stop.

[lyle]

Trump is testing my fortitude to continue to remain opinionless about his campaign.

[Thomas Collins]

Trumpster thinks he can peel off a part of the AA vote in the general election, narciso. I'll say this for Trumpster: His plan is to win the POTSEY, not to be a rich reality show candidate.

[JMHanes]

LOL, jimmyk. Gives entirely new meaning to Winston Churchill's "jaw jaw." I think it's time for a revival of Clarice's "bafflegab." It remains incredible to me that such idiocy is what passes for sagacity on the left.

[narciso]

I see that, but in this environment where they are weaponizing every perceived slight, it doesn't bode well,

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Trump seems more likely to win the RALPH MALPH seat.

[clarice]

Kerry , like Tom Friedman, married rich women and then figured that made him smart.

[Thomas Collins]

Dumping on Scalia and being tough on our enemies would not be unusual for a wheeler dealer pre-McGovern liberal Democrat, which is what Trump essentially is.

[JMHanes]

I don't know about anybody else, but I've got a serious, possibly terminal, case of Trump fatigue.

[lyle]

O Lord? It's me again.

Perhaps I need to clarify. My prayer is that the long term effects of Botox AND sedition leads to agonizing pain and suffering that torments just one dude. We both know who I'm talking about...

Thanks again.

lyle

[narciso]

much like prince talal, the son of the finance minister, who was considered a liberal in what passes for saudi politics, and a daughter of first
lebanese prime minister, connections are all,

[ThirdMan]

The differences in gun homicide rates between states is almost entirely explained by the differences in percentage of the population that is black. The correlation is 0.84.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

PJ O Rourke continues to demonstrate the period of latency for drug abuse is measured in decades, as he slowly spins down the drain of unfunny, substance-induced senility.
Few things are sadder than a man who once slayed dragons doddering about with his flaccid lance, feebly poking at the windmills he used to recognize as virtuous.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--The differences in gun homicide rates between states is almost entirely explained by the differences in percentage of the population that is black. The correlation is 0.84.--

That is true regarding the US vs Europe as well.

[Threadkiller]

However a minor point if he continues to say it in interviews

I agree.

[narciso]

he'll be grazing any day now, in the next link, Notre Dame, illustrates why a lightning rod is valuable architectural feature,

[lyle]

ThirdMan reveals truth. Too bad nobody cares about it any longer.

[Thomas Collins]

JMH, I think Trumpster's plan is that the number of conservatives with Trump fatigue will be outweighed by the number of new primary voters and crossover Dems in states like NH (as MM 2 noted earlier today in the case of NH).

[narciso]

another piece in the basilisk, earlier this week, tries to debunk la cosa's self image re the Islamic State, however it fails, by citing one of it's partners, the Nigerian EYE mob, which has a Salafi bent,

[BeenThereDoneThat]

That period of drug abuse latency seems to be popping up all over the place on Capitol Hill, and displays its malignancy most prominently in the White House itself.

[narciso]

and yet the name of dan lasater or roger clinton are rarely spoken in negative sense,

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2015/12/13/the-drug-smuggling-case-that-brought-anguish-to-marco-rubios-family/

[narciso]

parliament, was perhaps the apex of his career, he became more trite over time,

yes, musing over the influence of davis, ayers and wright, is a fools errand,

[narciso]

what to expect from the fellow who missed the japanese property bubble,

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2015/12/13/damn-obama-is-a-chess-master-on-foreign-policy/

[narciso]

maybe you should keep your helmet on, at all times,

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/12/13/nfl-quarterback-unleashes-on-donald-trump-in-series-of-instagram-posts-what-are-you-really-scared-of/

[rse]

jimmy-angus deacon's nobel lecture last week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7rJezyNK20

Behavior, welfare, and poverty

[windansea]

[T]he San Bernardino terrorists attended the Islamic Center of Riverside, which he said was a “a Muslim Brotherhood Center...

...there are over 2,200 Islamic Centers and mosques in America and the “vast majority of them are a part of this network — they’re hostile.”

...“over 75%” of these centers, based on their property records, are a part of the “Muslim Brotherhood network” since they are “owned by the North American Islamic Trust, which is the bank for the Muslim Brotherhood here.”

http://ace.mu.nu/

[maryrose]

Matt
Excellent points
TC
I am with JMH
In my degree of Trump fatigue
He needs a time out
I like Rubio and don't appreciate Trump's latest antics
I also fear Dems voting for Trump in primary and then Hillary in general

[maryrose]

Rubio should be Cruz but I am not happy with his comments just like I didn't care for Newt trashing Romney in South Carolina

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Fallows is largely correct in the premise that Barry has demonstrated considerable aptitude in getting his way.

That is why he will be considerably more detested than Jimmy Carter as the repercussions of his intentional perfidies play put over the long term compared to the relatively transient nature of most of Carter's hapless idiocies.

[daddy]

Good Morning. I just heard John Kerry on FOX say 2 things:

1) This new agreement is outside of Congress's influence so Congress has nothing to do with it.

2) We are required to monitor our annual Carbon Emissions and required to issue annual reports on our Carbon Emissions.

Since Congress controls the purse strings I recommend that Congress refuse to spend a nickel funding whatever new structure this reporting entity takes the form of.

[Miss Marple 2]

I have politics fatigue.

It's not just Trump. I am tired of the press and television coverage, sick of the analysts, tired of Lindsey Graham wasting everyone's time (ditto Huckabee and Santorum) sick of the debates because of the formats, and most especially sick of Obama and no one stopping him.

I think I will take a break for a few hours and do something productive.

I will come back this evening.

[windansea]

Report: R&A has decided Trump Turnberry won’t host British Open: http://glfdig.st/SuRLauU

[Threadkiller]

I also fear Dems voting for Trump in primary and then Hillary in general

My wife is surrounded by Dems at her work and their hatred for Trump is beyond compare. They will not hold their noses to facilitate the Stephanopoulos plan. The trick voting you speak will more likely be through voter fraud than clever liberals.

[narciso]

well at no point, can these 'achievements' be considered good for this country, he resembles the lefty successor president in DeBorchgrave's the Spike,

now Castro fanboi and antiCatholic shrike, Francia Roig, 'floor wax and dessert topping' goes back thirty years, to a relative obscure case, in order to slime Rubio, not unlike what a Federalist writer did to Trump, a few months back,

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

There used to be a short column in the sports pages called The Bottom Ten, ranking the worst football teams, usually college IIRC. At the time Northwestern was a perennial no 1.
He always had a "Crummy Game of the Week".
In the pros this week surely it has to be the 49ers vs the Browns.

[daddy]

The Paper of (Broken) Record.

Excellent TM:)

[rse]

MM-I mopped hardwood floors so the house would have that fresh smell when Red gets home from college. Nothing but Murphys oil soap quite works as well.

[lyle]

The Bottom Ten is still around for college FB. University of Idaho is a perennial habitant. Having said that, the NFL is--save about six teams--almost unwatchable this season. And yet I keep watching...

[Rick Ballard]

How can listening to tales told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, ever become boring? You can never know when the poor player strutting upon the stage might bite off a chicken leg rather than its head.

Wouldn't that be enough to keep attention focused?

[narciso]

re part of the Rubio/Cruz fewd, about surveillance, we labored under the COMINT/NSA rules for 25 years, and it's arguable they worked, in part because of
Mark Felt 'the gift that keeps on giving' and his corrosive effect on the security services, we got FISA, one of the Solon's bright ideas, which limited access to potential subjects, after it's failings, notably re the Moussaoui case, we got the Patriot Act, and perhaps some overreach with some of the tools it enabled, Comey soon came to be the town crier, in retrospect, about a much more limited net,

[narciso]

one of the eye opening bits I got from Robert Lacey's book 'Inside the Kingdom' was how much unlike Gerald Posner's portrait, they resented the moves the administration had put forward, putting the regime in it's place,

we see now how the VIPsers worked their magic, undermining the Iraq project, re the Plame scam,
that Comey again was party to, while the Ikwan did the handiwork, in part working with their Alawite rivals in Syria,

[daddy]

S.E.CUPP: "Democrats are convincingly using Trump to paint the entire Republican Party as racist, xenophobic and misogynistic."

misogynist |məˈsäjənist| noun
a person who hates women.
adjective
reflecting or inspired by a hatred of women: a misogynist attitude.

So to CE Cupp Trump is a misogynist?

He runs the biggest Female Beauty Pageant in the World, and is totally opposed to importing those who wish to install as Law:

---Honor Killings
---Bhurka's
---Arranged Marriages
---Pedophelia
---Female Genital Mutilation
---Women can't drive rules
---Women shouldn't be allowed too read rules
---Women can't go out anywhere in public without male chaperone rules
---Women should be stoned if they allow themselves to be raped
---etc

Methinks Misogyny should be made of firmer stuff.

[Jane]

I spoke with my mother this morning(who turned 90 today) and she declared she thought Trump was more honest than Cruz.

Last I knew she was a Hillary fan, but it is interesting the impression she gets from the NY Times and the WSJ, her only news sources.

The "maniac" label seems a little desperate to me. The biggest maniac to ever run for office is Trump, IMO. There isn't even a contest.

[Rick Ballard]

Narciso,

What is your opinion of Blaise Ingoglia? Will he push Bush or Rubio in the primary?

[clarice]

iggy, my thoughts exactly on the latest PJ piece. Got thru a few graphs and couldn't believe it was the same author who used to make me laugh out loud.

Jonah Goldberg has a good one today. Some compensation:http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/428437/new-york-times-downplays-islamist-facebook-posts?RX5iXzvCMp3SHLeH.01

[narciso]

yes, it had the flavor of 'other than the obvious, how did you like the play, mrs lincoln'

[narciso]

I recall how the now late El Shukrijumah's parents back in 2003, insisted to a local alt zine reporter, how it was a misunderstanding, we later came to know his ties went back to the Prestancia house in Tampa back in 2000, would subsequently work with Jose Padilla, and would end a mid manager in the Varsity team back in Pakistan,

[narciso]

there are many inconvenient truths like the spy ring that Pius ran against the Nazis, that Mark Riebling unearthed,

[daddy]

From Clarice's link to Jonah Goldberg:

According to the NYTimes:

[immigration officials do not routinely review social media as part of their background checks, and there is a debate inside the Department of Homeland Security over whether it is even appropriate to do so.]

Our Government is insane.

[narciso]

the likes of John Lott, have been demonized while the Joyce and Sara Diamond's (Soros's particular
contribution) has been circulated,

[clarice]

You won't get any dispute form me--Mush brains all.

[glasater]

Thanks, Narciso for finding that link @ 1:52. Trump essentially said the same thing on Tapper's show. But I do understand he doesn't want to further alienate black vote.

[narciso]

keeping with the star wars theme, there is a strong odor of 'these are not the droids you are looking for' Carlos Slim's mind tricks for the simple minded,

now take Kristof please, he spent a year at Cairo U, and then the Times, in their infinite wisdom,
sent him to the Moscow and Beijing bureaus,

[fixbadstats]

Many of the statistical assertions made in the article are flatly false, or at a minimum, very suspect. They are are errors made by rookie level statisticians, or they are deliberate deceptions.

One statistical sleight of hand is combining homicides and suicides, even those two things are not the same thing, and are not logically addable. However, adding them only serves to conceal structure in the data.

Another sleight of hand is supplying a crooked ruler called the Brady Grades. Brady Grades do take into account the strictness of state gun laws, but they also add in gun homicides and suicides as part of the score. If you then ask the question, do Brady Grades predict homicides and suicides, you are asking a circular question: Do homicides and suicides plus some other stuff predict homicides and suicides?

Straighten out all the nonsense, use the right metrics, and the answer is that the strictness of state gun laws does not predict (correlate with, have an influence on) either murder or suicide rates.

See https://notsofast2015.wordpress.com/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--there is a debate inside the Department of Homeland Security over whether it is even appropriate to do so--

They don't mind checking granny's bra at the airport but heaven forbid someone look at Achmed's PUBLIC postings about his new paisley vest with the C4 lining.

[clarice]

Genius, Iggy.

[daddy]

but heaven forbid someone look at Achmed's PUBLIC postings about his new paisley vest with the C4 lining.

"That's Not Who We Are."

Well done, Clarice:)

[narciso]

we are in the best hands,

http://www.bupipedream.com/news/52744/from-binghamton-to-the-department-of-homeland-security-bu-alumna-shares-her-story/