Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Doesn’t this just take the cake? The people who refuse to vaccinate are NOT ignorant, inbred, redneck right-wing trailer trash as we might conclude from the vitriol in the media and on the Internet; they’re Mac-Groveland types: wealthy, educated, White, English speaking Liberals as proven in a 2011 government study.

I particularly like this guy’s quip about mapping anti-vaccers by drawing a circle around Whole Foods stores.

Liberal parents won’t risk their precious children getting sick from vaccines.  Instead, they depend on everybody else’s kids getting vaccinated.  That way, their own kids get a free ride because the rest of the herd is immune.   Which works fine until all the Liberal free-riding parents put their unvaccinated kids together at, say, Disneyland, then they all get sick.

Liberals steal a free ride off everybody else . . . disaster results.  Who woulda thunk it?

Joe Doakes

Academically, I can see the libertarian case for making vaccinations voluntary.

I can also see the flip side; practicing social stigmatizing of anti-vaxxers, and barring them from any privately-sanctioned event or business to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

But I revel in the brutal irony of it all; the liberal anti-vaxxers that live in those circles around those Whole Foods stores are the same people who chant along with NPR that man-made glerbal werming is “settled science” and that they are “reality-based”, unlike those superstitious Faux-News-addled conservative rubes who hate them some science.

I hate see people put out of work.

And I really hate to see more small, independent bookstores spinning in.

But if there’s any silver lining to this situation, it’s that it’s a bunch of lockstep Obama voters taking it in the shorts, here.

Back in 2005, I started writing a series – “Twenty Years Ago Today” – about various episodes that have happened in my life 20 years previously, starting with my decision to move to the Twin Cities.

As I worked my way through 130 episodes of that series over the course of about six years, I often marveled at how much things changed over the six years in the story – and in the 20 years hence.

And I’m getting close to the same, whack upside the head moment right now. Because it was 13 years ago today that I started writing this blog.

13 years ago today, I was an angry, incoherent, voiceless guy with a couple kids working at a misbegotten dotcom that was rapidly swirling down drain of the post 9/11 tech bust. This will probably be the 12th time I related the story – I read an article in Time Magazine about Andrew Sullivan, a leading “conservative intellectual” voice in the new, do it yourself medium of blogging.

And that night, after I hustled the kids to bed, I sat down at “blogger.com” and tapped out the first ever installment of “Shot In The Dark”. And suddenly, I was…

… Well, still angry and incoherent – but I had a voice.

It goes without saying a lot of things of happened since then; the blog led me to the talk show; the talkshow lead me to the regional forefront of blogging as a brave new medium, in the middle of the last decade.

That, of course, was then. Blogging has receded from the bleeding edge of cultural consciousness since then, and with that a lot of bloggers. There are people who ask why keep blogging?

Because I enjoy it.

Which isn’t to say there haven’t been periods of intense burnout. I just went through one of those, in fact; postelection fatigue and unexpected job change over the winter led to one of those, from which I’ve just emerged over the past couple of weeks. And writing through those periods of burnout has, in its own way, then even more personally instructive and interesting than the periods where I feel like I’m on fire; I’ve learned a lot from prevailing over my own mental limitations in those situations

Of course, writing when you are absolutely on fire is a lot of fun too.

Anyway – as always, I think all of you readers for having gotten, and stayed, interested over this past 13 years. I know you won’t take it as ingratitude when I say “I do it even if none of you to dinner every day” – I do it because I enjoy writing – but having all of you here every day is certainly a kick, too.

So thanks!

Back during the 2008 presidential campaign, John McCain was right about one thing, anyway; despite all of governments foul-ups the fundamentals of the American economy are basically strong.

We have ideas, and entrepreneurial energy, I don’t labor force that (2008 and 2012 elections not withstanding) we’re pretty smart and capable, and one of the worlds larger, wealthier consumer markets. Those, among other things, give the American economy’s a degree of resilience that is going to be hard to extinguish, even after 14 years of flagrant overspending and six years of crypto-socialism.

That’s the economy. Not the governments massive piling up of debt. That’s a whole ‘nother thing.

Why does it matter? Because the fact that the American private market is bigger, stronger, and smarter than its government – for now – may be the only thing that saved it from complete collapse six years ago.

Some of my fringe-libertarian, as well as “progressive”, friends are fond of chanting “Anti-Zionism isn’t Antisemitism”.

Give to the “National Metaphor Society”.  Because a mind that stops developing its metaphorical facility in fourth grade is a mind the world doesn’t need to have unleashed on it.

That’s a little like saying “I endorse the policies that involved the destruction of Native American culture, the near-extinction of their people and the carving of their conquerors’ chiefs’ faces into their holiest piece of real estate – but I sure *admired* the Lakota”.

Remember – the reason to distrust the alternative media, and keep your faith in the mainstream media’s veracity, is their reams and reams of gatekeepers and fact-checkers that ensure the story you get is the unvarnished truth:

On “NBC Nightly News” Wednesday evening, Williams read a 50-second statement apologizing for his characterization of the episode.

“After a groundfire incident in the desert during the Iraq war invasion, I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago,” he said. “It did not take long to hear from some brave men and women in the air crews who were also in that desert. I want to apologize. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by [rocket-propelled grenade] fire. I was instead in a following aircraft. . . . This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and, by extension, our brave military men and women, veterans everywhere, those who have served while I did not.”

Good thing “Politifact” got to this story…

…Oh, wait.

Well, good thing the media-ethics watchdogs at NPR’s “On The Media…”

…Dammit.

Snopes?

It’s both utterly true, and a fart joke.

What could go wrong?

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

New York Times now says regime change is bad?

US interventionism in WW II made things worse for a short time, especially in Germany. So we shouldn’t have sought to change Hitler’s regime? Washington and Jefferson were right all along about entangling alliances in European affairs? Is that what we’re saying?

Wouldn’t really bother me that much.

The European Union is about to collapse because Germany won’t subsidize Greece and the Russians can’t pay their bills because the Saudis are winning the oil price war while a bunch of vicious Middle East tyrants may be replaced with different vicious Middle East tyrants. Nothing I can do about any of it and for damned sure, Obama won’t. Boehner and McConnell don’t seem to have a clue between them, so I don’t count on the Republican Establishment for anything, either.

The “radical shift in American foreign policy” sought by the Times requires a courageous leader: Winston Churchill, fighting on the sands and beaches; Harry Truman, ending the war by dropping the bomb; Ronald Reagan, growing our military so fast the Russians collapsed their economy trying to keep up; Margaret Thatcher sending England’s baby flat-tops halfway around the world to kick Argentine ass over some tiny islands nobody really wanted but damn it, they’re ours.

No such American leader in sight.

Joe Doakes

Oh, I think there are. In 2016. If we deserve them.

The alleged straw buyer who is believed to have supplied Ray Kmetz the riot gun used to shoot two New Hope cops last week has the Feds on his back.

No “gun show background check” wod have stopped this – although it would have caused a lot of law abiding citizens to have to jump through pointless hoops at best, get registered at worst.

Remember Cindy Sheehan?

The woman whose soldier son was killed in action in Iraq, and became an anti-war crusader, and a hero of the left (until she started attacking Barack Obama, when she became an untouchable).  Before she parted ways with the left, the left said her ordeal gave her “absolute moral authority”.

And indeed it’s not unusual for people to grant a little extra credence and tolerance to people who’ve directly suffered because of something they’re protesting against.

So I expect lefties with integrity to belly up behind a Colorado bill drafted by a Columbine survivor, which would allow law-abiding citizens with carry permits to carry at schools:

Colorado Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, was a student at Columbine High School in 1999 when two seniors went on a massacre that killed 13. Now he has introduced legislation that would allow anyone with a concealed weapons permit to be able to conceal and carry in public schools, according to The Denver Post.

“This bill will allow honest law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed firearm for protection if they choose to,” Neville said in a statement. “But most importantly, it will give them the right to be equipped to defend our children from the most dangerous situations.”

Can you hear that?  That’s moral authority talking.

When was Mark Dayton’s last alcoholic relapse?

What sort of psychotropic medications is he on? And why?

Our media here in the Twin Cities doesn’t think you, mere peasant, have a “need to know”.

But never let it be said the Twin Cities media won’t hold big government’s feet in the fire over the tough issues!

Because, boy howdy, they sure will!

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Revenge. Don’t hear many World Leaders talking about that nowadays. Refreshing.

The article asks if Abe has some plan to enhance or create an ability for Japan to actually make good on the threat of revenge. Hmmm: does the phrase “ninja assassin” ring any bells?

That would be a great video. Ninjas beheading some terrorists as they are huddling in their caves. I’d pay money to see that.

Joe Doakes

Wow it sounds like fun, there’s a complication; if there’s a country in the world that has done more than Germany to mothball it’s warrior past, it’s Japan.

If you live in St. Paul, and I’m a Republican, or conservative, or just someone who’s tired of St. Paul being a one party city, then I hope you can turn out tonight.

It’s the St. Paul Republican City Committee caucuses, and they’re being held tonight in the auditorium at St. Paul College.

It’s hard enough being a Republican in StPaul – and over the previous few years, the city committee fell into near complete your relevance. There’s new leadership – full disclosure, I’m part of it – and we’re hoping to change that. Starting tonight.

We’ll have a couple of guest speakers – Sen.Dave Thompson, and Andy Richter of “CommunitySolutions”, which has turned around politics in the city of Crystal. Will also be talking about the nuts and bolts of turning the cities political culture around.

St. Paul College is a block north of the Cathedral, at Summit and Marshall. If you park in the college’s parking lot, save your ticket – vouchers will be issued, so parking won’t cost you.

Come on down!

It’s been a busy couple of years for Real Minnesotans (and Real Americans) [1].

We’ve had an anti-gun president for six years, and we spent two years with a completely DFL government – and the DFL platform calls for restricting guns in the hands of the law-abiding (“Reasonable gun control that promotes public safety and crime prevention”).  They were energized by the Sandy Hook massacre and, moreso, hundreds of thousands of dollars of Michael Bloomberg’s money.

And it all came to nought, due to the efforts of Minnesota’s pro-Second-Amendment grass roots, especially the Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance and the Minnesota Gun Owners PAC.

Now, we have a GOP majority in the State House – including several members elected with direct support of Real Minnesota – and a Senate DFL majority that has many significant pro-gun members.

It’s time to go on the offensive.

And that’s precisely the agenda that GOCRA announced on Monday.  Here are the highlights:

•  Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution – I wasn’t aware that the human right of self-defense wasn’t in the Minnesota Constitution.  Notwithstanding the fact that McDonald v. Chicago incorporated the Second Amendment onto the states, it’s high time our constitution said so too.
•  Ban “Emergency” Orders for Gun Confiscation – Minnesotans are expected to trust to the integrity of the cops.  But New Orleans residents found that that trust was misplaced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as cops went door to door confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens.  This needs to be explicitly banned under Minnesota law.
•  Legalize Firearm Suppressors – Forget what you see in the movies; they don’t “silence” firearms, and they’re not a tool of assassins.  They’re like a muffler for your firearm, just like the one you’re legally required to put on your car, preventing harmful levels of noise from damaging peoples’ hearing.
•  Constitutional Carry – The law-abiding citizen doesn’t have to jump through hoops to exercise their right to speak, worship, publish or assemble or, theoretically, be secure in their homes and possessions (we’ll need to work on that, too).  Why should guns logically be different?
•  Stop Police Departments from Delaying Purchase Permits – Some police departments exercise passive-aggressive liberties in issuing “permits to purchase” firearms.  This needs to be addressed.
•  Remove Redundant Capitol Complex Carry Notification – Back in the 1990s, when the state didnt’ have computers for most of its record-keeping, and carry permits were typed out on Selectrics at your local police station, the current law – you must notify the head of Capitol Security to carry in the Capitol complex, including the History Center – made sense, sort of.  Today, when Capitol Security has access to permit information in real time, it does not – except as a felony trap.  Time to fix it.
•  Self Defense Law Reform – Minnesota self-defense law is fairly simple in statute – but quite complex in its case law.  There are a lot of hidden “gotchas” in self-defense, that can put a law-abiding citizen in jail even though they behaved objectively correctly.  Law with “gotchas” is bad law.  It’s time to fix it.  This is actually the most important one, in my book.

[1] Minnesotans/Americans who believe all ten amendments of the Bill of Rights are rights of the people.

OK.  Deep breath.  It’s game time.

I tried twice yesterday to get through a piece by Rochester TV reporter Devin Bartilotta of WTTC television in Rochester.  There were two references to “Packing Heat” in the first ten seconds of the report; I just couldn’t go on.

But with that out of the way, it wasn’t a complete lost cause:

Bartilotta:

BCA data indicates a 312 percent increase in the number of permits issued to women from 2011 to 2013 in the zip code zones that are mostly in Olmsted County. In 2011, 122 permits were issued to women in that area. In 2012, the number jumped to 134. Then in 2013 it nearly doubled to 381 permits. 36 percent of those permits issued to women in 2013 were issued to women who were younger than 40-years-old. Those numbers are still dwarfed by the more than 1,200 men who got permits in 2013 in the same area.

Lisa Polowski, who processes the gun permits in Olmsted County, says the national 2013 firearm bump could be prompted by the 2012 shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut.

“Things like that in society were really feeding into this, that people really feel the need to protect themselves” Polowski said. “Our numbers went up by probably 60 percent for a permit to purchase.”

But in generally safe and quiet Southeast Minnesota, women might still feel threatened.

“Self defense is what it boils down to,” said Marquette.

“Many times it’s an equalizer. Because many times their attackers are bigger, stronger, and this may help them,” Bierly said.

OK, after a couple of false starts, that’s not bad.  And incredibly, we actually saw a news report about a Minnesota that doesn’t bring in an obligatory comment from the useless Heather Martens – perhaps an advantage to getting news from a Greater Minnesota outlet.

So that’s all to the good.

We almost made it to the end without another cliché.

I said almost:

But in an increasingly violent world, the need for personal protection is putting more women on target.

Ms. Bartillota – does that sentence actually mean anything?

To the extent it does, it’s wrong; the idea that the world is getting more violent is, like “packing heat”, another media cliché – and unlike “packing heat”, it actually does some harm.   The world is not “increasingly violent”.  Violent crime is plummeting – in the parts of the country where guns are least “controlled”, anyway, where violent crime is off by half in the past twenty years.

But hey, at least we got to the end!

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Police reassured citizens that downtown St. Paul is Safe, despite a string of violent attacks on innocents by groups of yutes wearing gang colors.

You keep using that word . . . .

Joe Doakes

According to the SPPD and it’s statistics, in 2014 the Downtown district had 14 rapes. 71 robberies, 60 aggravated assaults, and other violent crimes averaging out to about 14/month.

Among the responses from some city and light rail apologists: “It’s a city. What do you expect?”

Let’s try this again.

This morning, I started trying to dissect a report by Devin Bartolotta at Rochster’s KTTC-TV on the number of women with carry permits in southeastern Minnesota (numbers which are reflected statewide and are not limited to Rochester).

In my first attempt to write about the story this morning, Bartolotta’s report jumped into groaning cliché so early I had to abort my report this morning, and decided to take another run at it now, over the noon hour.

So let’s try it again.  Bartolotta’s report focuses on the number of women who are getting carry permits in the greater Rochester area:

Chris Marquette is a permit to carry instructor. His weekly classes are packed with women who want to learn more about packing heat…

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME?

“Packing heat?”

HOLY MARY MOTHER OF JESUS H. CHRIST ON A HARLEY DAVIDSON!  That’s TWICE IN THE FIRST TEN SECONDS OF THE REPORT!

Good Lord.

OK.  I’ll try again tomorrow morning.  If I have to kick off the day with a shot of bourbon to mellow out, I’ll do it.  But I’ll get through it.

Honest.  I will.

Western women are invited to celebrate “World Hijab Day”.

Don’t get me wrong – religious freedom is for everyone. I’ll fight as hard to defend Muslim womens’ right to cover themselves up as I will to defend Presbyterians rights not to.

But like a lot of Western Christian conservatives, I’m slightly amused by Western feminists unwillingness to tackle a fairly significant, not to mention real, “war on women”.

Gun control in America, since pre-Revolutionary times but not letting off in the least over the past 50 years, is largely about disarming African-Americans.  Because while #BlackLivesMatter, our powerstructure doesn’t think they “matter” enough to give them the means to defend themselves like any other citizen.

But I digress.

Along with ethnic and social minorities, the left is intensely skeevy about the idea of women with firearms.  Because as everyone knows, nothing “empowers” women like being completely dependent on external parties like the police to defend womens’ lives and safety.

And it shows in this piece from Rochester’s KTTC TV from last week, about the number of women getting carry permits in southeastern Minnesota.

The report, by reporter Devin Bartolotta, starts:

More Minnesotans are packing heat…

Scraaaaaaaaatch

What?

“Packing Heat?”

(facepalm)

WHY IN THE FLAMING HOOTIE-HOO DOES THE REPORT HAVE TO RELY ON THE DIMMEST, DUMBEST CLICHÉ IN THE ENTIRE AMERICAN MEDIA?

We’re four words into the story, and already KTTC can’t help but resort the Mike Hammer/Mickey Spillane-vintage honker “packing heat” to refer to “carrying a firearm”?

I’m sorry.  It’s completely thrown off my approach, here.

I’ll try again over the noon hour.

http://m.kttc.com/w/main/story/125765940/

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Technology to track citizens is a Good Thing because cops can find suspects (and also make some nice coin selling license plate data).

Technology to track cops is a Bad Thing because ordinary citizens can find speed traps (and thereby save some nice coin on speeding tickets).

Cops want dash-board cameras to film encounters with citizens, but don’t want citizens to film encounters with cops.

Cops should be allowed to use guns for self-defense, but citizens shouldn’t.

Cops are Government Agents; Government Agents analyze every problem as a power-struggle between Us and Them; and Government Agents always come to the same conclusion: heads they win, tails we lose. That’s one reason the Founders insisted on the right to keep and bear arms – so ordinary citizens could resist the enemies of freedom, foreign AND domestic.

Joe Doakes

And if our founding fathers had known about ubiquitous video and open source cryptography, then put those in the constitution, as well.

… And every poor schnook being dragooned into signing up for Obamacare have in common?

Red Squirrel knows.

I’m sitting in for Brad Carlson on the Northern Alliance today.

Subjects today:

• Saint Paul’s schools are reinforcing failure, and finding nonexistent success.
• The New Hope shooting
• Killing the daycare bill
• So whose “economic recovery” is it, anyway?

…and much more!   Here’s how to join the show:

• AM1280 in the Metro
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Join us!