Good Guys With Guns Mean Safer Cities

John Lott, respected researcher and a resident of Swarthmore, is noting  that Supreme Court decisions overturning gun-control laws in Washington D.C. and Chicago have brought about significant changes in the safety status of the those cities’ residents. Good Guys With Guns Mean Safer Cities

Namely, they’ve become more so.

Lott notes that in the first six months 2011, there were 14 percent fewer murders in Chicago compared to the first six months of last year   when having a handgun was illegal.

“It was the largest drop in Chicago’s murder rate since the handgun ban went into effect in 1982,” he writes.


He says that the murder rate in Washington D.C. is down 34 percent since the Heller decision in 2008, which overturned that city’s gun laws.

Thank you, President Bush for the judges you picked.

The same effect, by the way, can be seen closer to home. Harrisburg made “right to carry” applicable to residents of Philadelphia in 1995, a year in which there were 432 homicides. By 1999, homicides there plummeted to 292.

While there were some spikes in the ensuing years (406 in 2006)  it never reached the number of the gun-ban years.

Last year, there were 306 homicides in the city. The city’s population has been stable at a little more than 1.5 million over the last 15 years.

Of course, the ability to effectively protect oneself is not the most important marker for safety. A society that sincerely holds that people are designed and loved by a creator regardless of that person’s convenience to society will be a very safe place in which few will feel need to have a gun.

Believe it or not, Philadelphia once came fairly close to that ideal. In 1958,  the city — which then had population of 2 million — had just 117 murders.

Good Guys With Guns

Favorite Movie Mind Game — Off The Internet

Favorite Movie Mind Game (Courtesy of Cathy Craddock)

Be honest and don’t look at the movie list below till you have done the math!
Try this test and find out what movie is your favorite. This amazing math quiz can likely predict which of 18 movies you would enjoy the most. it really works!
Movie Test:

Pick a number from 1-9.
Multiply by 3.
Add 3.
Multiply by 3 again.
Now add the two digits of your answer together to find your predicted favorite movie in the list of 18 movies below.

Movie List:
1. Gone With The Wind
2. E.T.
3. Blazing Saddles
4. Star Wars
5. Forrest Gump
6. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
7. Jaws
8. Grease
9. The Obama Farewell Speech of 2012
10. Casablanca
11. Jurassic Park
12. Shrek
13. Pirates of the Caribbean
14. Titanic
15. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
16. Home Alone
17. Mrs. Doubtfire
18. Toy Story

 

Why We Need ‘Right To Work’


Reader Cathy C submitted an email she received from Mark Mix of of  National Right To Work Committee.

While Mix’s group is pushing for national reform,  Pennsylvania becoming a “right to work” state would likely do as much if not more to save the Delaware River refineries than relief from thoughtless environmental regulation.

BTW, Delaware County Daily Times columnist Gil Spencer, with this column and one written Friday, is joining the crusade to highlight the havoc stupid, quasi-religious regulations are creating with the lives of Delaware Countians.

Welcome Gil and thank you, Cathy.

Here is Mix’s letter.

Dear Cathy,

“You guys slash my tires, stab me in the neck, try to beat me up,” the construction company official explained to the union organizer.

Given all that, he asked, why should the company hire such aggressive union militants?

“The positives are that the negatives you are complaining about would go away,” the union operative reportedly replied.

According to the Buffalo News, the “negatives” include hot coffee thrown at independent-minded workers, sand dumped into the engines of company vehicles, and the wife of a company representative threatened with sexual assault.

And the union toughs just might get away with it.

You see, ever since the Supreme Court’s infamous 1973 Enmons decision, union bosses have been granted immunity from federal prosecution for acts of violence and vandalism they orchestrate in the so-called “pursuit of legitimate union objectives.”

AFL-CIO union lawyer Jonathan D. Newman told the Buffalo News that “we simply want to make sure that the [federal law] is not interpreted in a way that could have a chilling effect on legitimate union activity.”

The union violence in Buffalo is hardly an isolated incident.

As you may recall, the Associated Press reported that hundreds of Longshoreman union militants held security guards hostage for hours at the Port of Longview in Washington State on September 8.

Union thugs reportedly committed numerous acts of vandalism and violence including breaking windows, cutting brake lines on railroad cars, and threatening police officers with baseball bats.

Weeks later, local police have only made two arrests in connection with the September 8 raid.

And now Longshoremen union officials have launched a Wisconsin-style recall campaign against the county sheriff investigating the raid.

Union officials know that if they intimidate local authorities, they can get away with anything.

The loophole in federal law ensures that union officials who may have orchestrated and encouraged the union violence may never be brought to justice, especially where they can intimidate and use political connections to stop local or state prosecutions.

That’s why the Freedom from Union Violence Act (FUVA) is so vital. To learn more about FUVA and how you can help urge Congress to take action, please click here.

Your National Right to Work Committee has an aggressive plan of action to force the politicians in Washington, D.C. to stop turning a blind eye to union violence.

Thank you once again for helping us fight back.

Sincerely,
 
Mark Mix

How Oenophiles Can Cope In The Obamapression

With money getting ever tighter in these Obama years, wine lovers need not resort to suffering with Franzia to partake of the fruits of the vine.

They do, however, have to be unafraid of a little DIY.

Wine & Beer Emporium is a great little shop in the Old Ridge Village Shopping Center off Route 202 in Chadds Ford, Pa.

They sell everything you need to make your own personal vintage. The less expensive kits will come out to less than $3 per bottle the quality of which frankly exceeds the $20 bottles that you would get from one of Pennsylvania’s government-owned “Wine and Liquor Shoppes”.

Granted that doesn’t include supplies that will double the cost of a bottle for the first-go round. The supplies, however, are reusable except for the corks and cleaning powder.

If you go say hi to Joan or Paul.

New Season For ‘With Pen In Hand’

With Pen In Hand, the program for writers of all ages run by Dr. Cecelia Evans has begun a new season.

It meets 10 a.m., Saturdays at the Media Fellowship House, 302 S. Jackson St. It’s a wonderful time with warm people.

Here is a rather old link with some information about the program.

Deer Hunters Largest Army

From reader Tom C.

A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion:

There were over 600,000 hunters this season in the state of Wisconsin .

Allow me to restate that number. Over the last several months, Wisconsin ‘s hunters became The eighth largest army in the world. More men under arms than in Iran . More than in France and Germany combined.

These men deployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms, and no one was killed.

That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan ‘s 700,000 hunters, all of whom have now returned home.

Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

The point? America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower.

Hunting — it’s not just a way to fill the freezer.
It’s a matter of national security.

That’s why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed.

Food for thought when next we consider gun control.

We do not need gun control; we need criminal control!
Deer Hunters Largest Army

Deer Hunters Largest Army

Continuing Health Care Intrigue

Continuing Health Care Intrigue

By Jim Bowman

As each verdict is aired, it is now taking on the appearance of a judicial version of making a mountain out of a molehill.  If it was only that simple.  I mean really, just what is legal anymore?  How can one District Court find Obama’s Health Care legal while another finds parts illegal and another rules that the entire Health bill is unconstitutional?  Is this what is meant by a “living document?”

On January 31, 2011, Judge Vinson declared that “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” to be unconstitutional.  Within his conclusion, Judge Vinson wrote that, “Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void.”

From Judge Vinson’s seventy-eight page Summary Judgement, my excerpt,while brief conveys the heart of the the Judge’s ruling.  Again, with this iron clad conclusion, how can other black robes disagree and still maintain Constitutional integrity?

The vast majority of Americans have fought tooth and nail against this Health Care abrogation to our individual liberties.  When public opinion generates such a strong resentment against an institution which, in former times, was respected and dutifully obeyed, then the ugly head of judicial activism becomes hard to ignore.  With each passing contradiction, our granite like belief in the rule of law diminishes.

Much of what our Court system pivots around today comes from past interpretations which were in themselves, based upon past interpretations.  In fact, today’s Law School regimens incorporate a curriculum based not upon the Constitution but of Supreme Court decisions.  It stands to reason that this system of passing down words can and often does becomes an errant formula for the law’s strict adherence.

Consider the era when our Forefathers wrote our Government’s prescription.  Over time, word definitions under go change.  During this past year, I became familiar with Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary.  Even the dictionary’s format was different in that modern versions follow each word with a pronunciation breakdown.  Not so in Webster’s first edition.  Also, Webster’s definitions often contained religious connotations related to Christianity.  Ironically, this has fallen victim to modern standards of interpretation.

The difference between then and now is so dramatic that when confronted with the comparisons, one cannot help but wonder about the reasons for such diverse  thought and the extent to which it has become so prevalent.   Taken one step further, how can the current day study of American law be so enamored with definitions and interpretations which lacked relevance when our laws were written.  This is the very definition of lawlessness.

Added to this judicial mix of changing definitions and wide latitudes for interpretation is the art of improvisation. The infamous 1947 Supreme Court Everson v. Board of Education ruling presents the first reference to  “the wall between church and state.”  Today, this has received a reverberation of sorts as if it were a constitutional tenet.  In reality, the Everson ruling simply transposed a phrase from a privately written Thomas Jefferson letter.

It is necessary to understand that while the Supreme Court may rule upon Health Care’s illegitimacy, our Judicial Branch is not authorized to legislate.  At some point, we were led to believe that decisions from our highest court constituted law.  This wrong dovetails with the Court’s penchant for redefining, interpreting and improvising.  All with a quiet public nod.

If nothing else, these back and forth health care decisions come as a direct result of our Constitution’s modern day elasticity.  As such, it would be foolhardy to place any reliance upon a Supreme Court decision based upon the Constitution’s strict governmental limitations.

Continuing Health Care Intrigue

Christie Uncertainty Harming GOP

Christie Uncertainty Harming GOP


Here’s a message to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: Take care of
business or get off the pot. The “Is he running for president?” story
has to end, right now.

Your indecision is hurting the Republican Party, and, ironically, giving
Barack Obama a much needed reprieve. The time for games is over. It’s
in or out.

Christie is a firebrand, an extremely effective governor who has done
what few thought possible: reform bloated pensions, institute
public-sector union reforms, and balance the budget without raising
taxes. And all that was accomplished with a Democratic legislature. It
doesn’t get any more bipartisan, and miraculous, than that.

But more than anything, Christie’s hallmark is his brusque,
straightforward style. He tells it like it is, from state finances (“the
state is going to go broke” without reform) to yelling at people to
“get the hell off the beach” before an impending hurricane.

Sure, some view him as “in-your-face,” but Christie is far from rude. He
simply expresses himself in a concise, matter-of-fact way. And in
politics, that is rare.

Most endearing is that Christie speaks from the heart — no teleprompters
or note cards. His passion and sometimes aggressive style belies a very
articulate leader, one whose charisma has won over more than a few
adversaries.

People may not agree with Christie, but they always know where he
stands. As a result, he has achieved national status because he embodies
what Americans crave: a leader refusing to dance the Political Two-Step
to avoid tough issues.

Until now.

The governor made a speech this week which was covered by the national
media. It provided the golden opportunity to end speculation about
ambitions for 2012.

In one fell swoop, Christie could have revealed his intentions, and in
that unmistakable Christie way, put an exclamation point on his decision
so that questions would cease.

But he didn’t. Instead, he left the door wide open.

In doing so, for the first time, he looked political. Dare we say it,
but it almost seemed like he was doing the Trenton Shuffle.

And that’s not the Chris Christie we know.

His past statements that he is not running are meaningless. All
politicians say such things, and it was too early for even Christie to
be wholly believed. But it’s a different ballgame now. The primaries
begin in four months, which is barely enough time to organize a
campaign.

Could Christie overcome such obstacles? Absolutely, but only if he
announces within days. Should he ultimately not run, however, the
problem with his nondecision is that it’s hurting the only two viable
Republicans: Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

Because of the Christie factor, significant uncertainty remains among
Republican powerbrokers, donors, elected officials, and the grass roots.
Instead of a clear-cut race, the battle lines remain blurred, so many
of these folks are sitting on the sidelines, withholding money, effort
and endorsements until Christie makes a decision.

As a result, the front-runners have lost momentum as donations and
support stagnate, and they have been taken off message. Because of the
Christie buzz, anything Perry and Romney say is simply white noise.

Most damaging, however, is that Barack Obama has been given a reprieve.
As president, he is driving the ship, which is listing badly. So any
opportunity that takes the political focus off of himself is greatly
welcomed.

Until the Christie rumor mill is shut down, the president will be able
to regroup and attempt to stabilize his situation. It’s not a panacea,
but it certainly helps.

While that was not Christie’s intention, it is reality.

One of several things is true:

1. Christie has no intention of running, but is badly underestimating how closely people are hanging on his every word.

2. Christie is definitely running, taking advantage of millions in free
media coverage. While a brilliant strategy, its shelf life is measured
in days, and will backfire if played too long. One cannot run a stealth
campaign for president.

3. He really hasn’t made up his mind yet.

The last scenario is most troubling, because if a candidate’s heart is
not in a race, but he chooses to run anyway, it will be a total failure.
The American people can sense such insincerity immediately.

Need proof? Ask Fred Thompson. (And conversely, a tip of the hat to Mike
Huckabee and Mitch Daniels, who both admitted they were lacking the
fire in the belly in deciding not to run).

I have been fortunate to have had a front row seat covering some of Gov.
Christie’s triumphs, seeing firsthand the progress one man can make. It
would be a shame to see that legacy tarnished by indecision.

So with all due respect, Mr. Christie, given the impending political
hurricane, let me paraphrase a popular governor by saying, “Get the hell
in or out of the race!

 Christie Uncertainty Harming GOP

Kathryn Bolkovac Gives One More Reason To End The U.N.

Kathryn Bolkovac Gives One More Reason To End The U.N. ==  Kathryn Bolkovac was a policewoman from Nebraska who became part of the United Nations peacekeeping contingent in Sarajevo in 1999.

She found that some of her fellow peacekeepers — including fellow workers of the U.S. military contractor DynCorp — were enslaving young girls and sexual abusing them; keeping them docile by withholding food and with periodic torture.

She blew the whistle. The slavers went to their friends in the U.N. bureaucracy and obtained protection.

It soon became clear that much of the U.N. bureaucracy was using girls for slave labor — and sex — as well.

Ms. Bolkovac was threatened and lost her job. She wrote a book about it which became the film, The Whistleblower, which was released last year.

Has anything changed at the U.N.? No, according to this recent article on PajamasMedia.Com by former U.N. worker Phyllis Chesler.

Maybe passing HR 2829 which is called  United Nations Transparency, Accountability and Reform Act of 2011 and is co-sponsored by much of Pennsylvania’s Republican contingent, however, might what it takes to bring the needed change about.

 

 

Kathryn Bolkovac Gives One More Reason To End The U.N.