Ilhan Omar and 9-11: Never Forget

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9-11, American religious tolerance, dar al-harb, dar al-Islam, Female Genital Mutilation, First Amendment, honor killing, Ilhan Omar, Islamists, Muslims, Nancy Pelosi, President Trump, The Muslim Brotherhood/terrorists, Thomas Jefferson

Americans are extraordinarily tolerant people, particularly when it comes to religion.  As Thomas Jefferson, the author of American religious liberty, said:

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

The Justine Damond Case, Update 32: Things To Keep In Mind…

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a bad shoot, BCA, Justine Damond, Minneapolis PD, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mohamed Noor, Patrick Lofton, Peter Wold, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice

In this update, I’m going to step away from the courtroom for a while and comment on forensic and media issues.I’ll add an update Friday or Saturday about what has been happening in the trial this week.

Guns And Liberty: A Rationale, Part 10, 2019

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Chuck Taylor, combat shotguns, Crimson Trace, double action revolvers, double action semi autos, Glock, Revolvers, sami-automatic handguns, shotguns, single action semi autos, single actors revolvers

credit: join

This article focuses on the general characteristics of revolvers and semi-automatic handguns.  I’m making the assumption readers contemplating what I’ve had to say in the first nine installments intend to do more than purchase a firearm exclusively for home defense.  Our lives don’t lose their value outside the home–though some “gun safety” laws embody that bizarre idea–and one is, depending on a variety of factors, arguably more, rather than less, likely to need to defend their life—or the lives of others–-outside their home.

Sunday Funnies, 04-14-19

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avocados, barack obama, community organizer, FBI witch hunt, flogging a dead horse, groping' Joe Biden, Jussie Smollett, Kirsten Gillibrand, special snowflakes, tactile nuclear weapons

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Shut Up You White Supremacist), running for president, demonstrated her qualifications for the job recently, by referring to “tactile” nuclear weapons.  But hey, Barack Obama’s qualification was “community organizer,” so what greater qualification does one need?  The Jussie Smollett saga continues in Chicago:

The Justine Damond Case, Update 31: How Dark Is Dark?

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Adam Castilleja, Amy Sweasy, BCA, Justine Damond, Lt. Dan May, Matthew Harrity, Minneapolis PD, Mohamed Noor, Peter Wold, Scott Aikins, situational awareness

How dark is dark, and is the dark a free fire zone?

We begin with reporting on the second day of testimony, Wednesday, 04—11-19 and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a reliable leftist organ.  They prepared the narrative: 

Jurors on Wednesday heard 911 audio and saw video and photos of the crime scene in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, who is charged with killing Damond on July 15, 2017, after responding to her call about a possible rape behind her home. Evidence was introduced as disputes between the defense and prosecution continued to mar the proceedings.

The Freddie Gray Case, Update 57: There’s A Lesson In There, Somewhere…

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Baltimore PD, blue flight, Catherine Pugh, Freddie Gray, high homocide rate, Marilyn Mosby

credit: zerohedge.com

I last visited the rapidly deteriorating City of Baltimore on October 26, 2018, hoping it might be, after 56 articles, the final installment of the Freddie Gray case.  In that article I noted that Baltimore gained the distinction of replacing Chicago in having the highest homicide rate (they’re Number one!), and had the second highest violent crime rate in the nation.  Way to go, Baltimore!  The SMM Freddie Gray case archive is here. 

The Justine Damond Case, Update 30: If Social Justice Rules…

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a reasonable police officer, blind panic, deadly force, Don Damond, imminent ambush, Justine Damond, Matthew Harrity, Mohamed Noor, Patrick Lofton, Peter Wold, Zach Damond

Don Damond on the witness stand

Opening statements in a criminal trial are an opportunity for the prosecution and defense to preview their cases, what they claim the evidence will prove, though they present no evidence.  The lawyers are not allowed to testify, or to offer interpretations, though defense attorneys will often try to do just that, as was the case in the first day of the Mohamed Noor trial.

License To Kill: The Murder Of Erik Scott, 02-27-19 Update

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Aaron Rouse, Erik Scott, FBI, Joe Lombardo, Judge Melanie Tobiasson, Kevin White, Las Vegas Metro, License To Kill The Murder Of Erik Scott, Patrick Brodsky, police corruption, Stephen Paddock, Tod Fasulo

Television has long portrayed the FBI as staffed with brilliant, dedicated and near-supernatural profilers and investigators who always catch the bad guy, arrive in the nick of time, know all there is to know, and are paragons of virtue. Recent events suggest that fictional portrayal of the FBI is, well, fictional, as Reuters reports:

Reading: The Preservation Of Civilization

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digital texts, digital v. print, e-books, eduspeak, iPads, Mandatory High-Stakes Testing, Mark Twain, technology, transformative internet devices

E-books vs. real books: aren’t e-books trendier and better?

As regular readers know, I am not a fan of “technology” in education. I don’t mean I’m an old fogey—though I’m well on my way to old fogeyhood—incapable of dealing with computers and similar innovations, quite the opposite.  I simply don’t see such devices, and various programs on Google and other sites that purport to revolutionize education, as revolutionary or, in most cases, helpful.