Tonight’s (Oct. 13) Democrat debate on CNN is likely not worth watching.
Donald Trumps live-tweeting of it, however, might very well be.
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-13-15
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-13-15
The first hockey puck was a piece of frozen animal manure.
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-12-15
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-12-15
The wheel is a Polish invention. At least that where the earliest known example was found.
Swarthmore Trigger Warnings Protect Precious Pumpkins
Stephanie Schuster of The Phoenix tells us that “trigger warnings” are common at Swarthmore College.
The Phoenix is the college’s campus newspaper. “Trigger warnings” inform students that course material has the potential to evoke physiological or emotional response to a past trauma.
“Trigger warning” advocates claim they are not censorship as they do not seek to ban content. An unspoken understanding, however, that one will get grief if one broaches certain subjects or expresses certain opinions is most certainly censorship. Trigger warnings obviously create such an unspoken understanding.
Further, they are infantile. One has to understand that the vast majority of college students are legal adults who can vote.
It used to be that some censorship was considered necessary for pop culture things — movies, music, the Comics Code Authority etc. — that would be seen by children and not-so-deep thinkers whereas in higher education the restrictions would be off as those getting such an education would need to be able to face the ugly stuff as they would be our leaders.
My how things have changed.
It is especially ironic that inspiration for “trigger warnings” comes from so-called “feminists”. Remember when women would get mad if someone told them they needed to be protected from the ugly things of life? LOL.
If someone is that unable to deal with traumatic experiences that person is far better off in therapy than in an intellectual free-for-all where open discourse and the free flow of ideas are what should not just be expected but demanded.
It’s not concern for trauma but the need for drama that pushes trigger warnings.
To its credit, the American Association of University Professors has come out against trigger warnings. Maybe there is hope.
Hat tip Bob Small.
Swarthmore Trigger Warnings Protect Precious Pumpkins
William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 10-10-15
William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 10-10-15
Finnish sniper Simo Hayha killed 542 Soviet soldiers in 100 days when the USSR was invading his country in 1939-1940.
He wore camouflage that let him blend in perfectly with the snow and was known by the enemy as “The White Death.”
The enemy tried to kill him numerous times with counter-sniper teams and artillery, and did manage to blow off half his face.
He lived, however, to the age of 96 dying in 2002.
Hat tip Bob Small
Simo Hayha
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-9-15
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-9-15 
Wild Bill Hickok shot Phil Coe in Abilene, Kansas on Oct. 5, 1871. Coe, the owner of the Bull’s Head Tavern, had painted a picture of a bull with a large erect penis on the side of his building as an advertisement. Townsfolk objected and demanded that Hickok, the town marshal, do something. So he painted it over infuriating Coe. This led to Coe plotting his demise. The plot was not successful.
Wild Bill Hickok shot Phil Coe
Mental Health Mass Murder
I wholeheartedly believe the president.
Despite seven years of foisting gimmicks on the American people, designed to score cheap political points while leaving substantive issues unaddressed, President Obama has finally unleashed his true passion. Speaking off-script, he fired with both barrels at America’s lack of stringent gun control laws, blaming that, and ultimately the American people, for the mass shooting at an Oregon community college.
For speaking with the courage of his convictions, the President gets an A.
But for failing to understand even the most basic “cause and effect” relationship — a concept mastered by fourth graders — Mr. Obama earns an F, illustrating a disturbing lack of judgment.
It’s one thing if a politician thinks blaming guns for the nation’s violence will be a winning issue in the polls. That kind of naked political calculation, while repugnant, is at least understandable.
But how is it possible the president of the United States actually believes guns themselves are the root cause for so much blood in the streets? It is unfathomable.
Let’s review this situation with our eye on the real target:
1. Enough is enough. It is time, once and for all, to stop ignoring the white elephant in the room: guns are not responsible for these mass killings. And let’s stop the feel-good fairy tale rhetoric that sounds good but accomplishes absolutely nothing: getting bulletproof backpacks for our kids, placing metal detectors in schools, and advocating over-the-top gun control laws all in the name of this “never happening again.”
It’s time to get down to the business of “why,” and identify the real problems, because you can’t provide an answer if you don’t know the question.
And until we truly look in the mirror, this will happen again. You can do everything discussed above, and it will still occur, because they are tactics, not strategy. Big difference.
This didn’t happen in the 1950’s — or even the 1980’s or most of the ‘90’s — when access to guns was considerably easier than now. We didn’t bolt school doors a generation ago. We didn’t have lockdowns. We didn’t whitewash everything. We didn’t coddle our kids all the time, and we didn’t get a trophy even when we lost. Oh, and we didn’t kill people when something didn’t go our way or we had hurt feelings.
It is time to stop kicking the can down the road while patting ourselves on the back for “solutions” that won’t solve anything except to soothe our own egos.
2. Are people — the president included — really that naive to think that a mentally ill person with no intention of seeing tomorrow’s sunrise would not try killing as many as possible, even if he didn’t have guns?
In other words, we are supposed to believe that a would-be murderer wakes up one day and thinks, “If I had guns, I would go shoot everyone I see, including myself, but since I don’t, I’ll just grab a latte, mosey down to the gym, drop off the dry cleaning and get a jumpstart on those reports my boss needs.”
Sorry, but in The Real World, it doesn’t work that way.
Instead, radicals and people with mental illness do whatever it takes to “succeed,” guns notwithstanding. They make crude but lethal bombs out of household items such as pressure cookers (Boston Bombers). Or they grab a knife and start wildly stabbing (Pittsburgh, where 22 were injured by a student, and China, where 29 died and 130 were injured in a knifing spree). Or they drive through a crowd to kill as many as possible with their car. And some, of course, steal guns and murder gun owners in preparation for their mass killings (Sandy Hook).
Taking the call to ban more guns to its “logical” end, we must therefore ban kitchen appliances, cutlery, and yes, even automobiles. And we should punish law-abiding gun owners who were victimized by criminals, making them the “bad guy.”
The lack of common sense in such “reforms” is simply astounding.
3. What should we do about guns? Implement reasonable laws to close loopholes, such as mandating that all people buying firearms at gun shows and via the Internet be subjected to a 60-second background check. Sounds simple enough, but is it opposed by many gun-rights organizations.
Despite claims by conspiracy theorists, background checks are not federal gun registries, nor do they lead to them. Background checks are not a conservative/liberal, Republican/Democrat issue. Since they do not impede or infringe upon a law-abiding citizen’s right to own a firearm, it’s not “gun control” at all. It’s criminal control.
And the checks work: there have been 1.8 million denials since 1998. In 2010, half of those denied had felony convictions or indictments, almost 20 percent were fugitives, and 11 percent violated state laws.
To allow convicted felons or the mentally ill to buy a gun with quasi-legal impunity is crazy. Granted, they aren’t legally allowed to possess firearms, but any criminal with half a brain will get his gun via this loophole rather than risk getting caught in an undercover sting.
Background checks are useful, but not a panacea. The FBI database is only as good as the information it receives from states. If criminal and mental health records aren’t routinely sent and/or updated, it won’t be as effective as it could be. It’s not perfect, but that’s not a reason to scrap expanding it.
Nothing can or will ever fully prevent lunatics from engaging in a shooting spree, but a background check system is a solid first line of defense.
4. Address mental health issues. America must better fund mental health services, and make the system considerably more effective. A good start would be passing Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s Mental Health And Safe Communities Act — legislation designed to help mental health patients before they strike.
According to the Washington Post, “the bill would clarify the types of mental health records required to be forwarded to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and encourage states to send more information to the database by creating a stick-and-carrot compliance system. It would also encourage ‘best practices’ for responding to mental health crises, including the use of specially trained response teams by federal and local law enforcement agencies.”
Prevention, rather than overreaction, is critical to keeping the peace.
5 .Perhaps most important, we need to stop coddling our children. Doing so has left them unable to cope with everyday life, leaving many dysfunctional. But for some, any type of rejection leads to violence against anyone and anything, snapping when something finally doesn’t go their way. Someone doesn’t like them, they get fired, a teacher or boss disciplines them — and they go on a rampage. We are raising generations of extremely risk-averse and thin-skinned individuals who are “offended” by everything — a complex fueled by a woefully misguided sense of entitlement. It has become a dangerous condition, exacerbated by a romanticized outlook of going out in a “blaze of glory.”
Parents need to stop being their children’s friend, and start being parents again. Back to basics.
There is no single cause for these mass shootings, and it will take a comprehensive effort to stop such tragedies. But that can only happen if we stop shooting blanks, and keep the real issues that need addressing squarely in our crosshairs.
Mental Health Mass Murder
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-8-15
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-8-15
The Great Peshtigo Fire destroyed several towns in Wisconsin and Michagan and killed at least 1,500 persons. The Great Michigan Fire destroyed Port Huran and killed at least 50 persons. The fires occurred Oct. 8, 1871, the same date as the more famous Great Chicago Fire.
Great Peshtigo Fire and Great Michigan Fire
Golf Outing Benefits Honor Flight
All proceeds from All American Day Charitable Trust 4th Annual Golf Outing will benefit Honor Flight Philadelphia, according to even organizers.
It will be held Oct. 16 at Broad Run Golfer’s Club, 1520 Tattersall Way, West Chester, Pa. 19380.
Foursome’s are $360 and must be paid in advance. The cost for individuals is $110 or $100 on the day of the event.
Check is 8 a.m.
For information or to register call Greg Biester at 610-209-6311 or email him at greg.biester@gmail.com,
Honor Flight Philadelphia provides an all-expense-paid day of recognition for veterans.
Delco Passes Budget Sans Tax Hike Again
While Gov. Wolf was playing political games with the Pennsylvania budget, Delaware County Council, this afternoon, Oct. 7 passed theirs and without a tax hike. 
It was the second straight year it has done so.
The county is controlled by people with the philosophy that while government is necessary those who pay for it are not bottomless pits of money.
“In recent years, the state and federal budget cycle is filled with talk of programs cuts, austerity, tax hikes and hiring freezes. We are pleased that at the county level we are finalizing a budget that both addresses the needs of our residents and protects the interests of our taxpayers,” said County Vice Chairman Colleen Morrone.
Delaware County’s Home Rule Charter spells out the timing and process of formulating the budget each year. The executive director is expected to deliver a proposed budget to County Council on Nov. 2. A public hearing is scheduled for the first week in December.
“This is really good news for Delaware County,” said Councilman John McBlain.
As the liaison for Emergency Management, McBlain said the county is committed to public safety. He said county officials have worked for months to convince state officials to restructure the funding process for 911 systems.
“With the passage of Act 12, which was signed into law this summer and went into effect on Aug. 1, we anticipate a restructuring of fees that will be returned to the county to fund our 911 service,” McBlain said.
Councilman Mike Culp said the county also anticipates an increase in Medicaid reimbursements for Fair Acres, the county’s skilled care facility that is home to 900 residents who are elderly or fragile.
“We feel strongly about maintaining the quality of services that help vulnerable populations maintain their quality of life,” Culp said. “That includes Fair Acres, Children and Youth Services and all of our Human Services.”
Culp explained that Council worked with elected leaders at the state and federal level to secure Medicaid reimbursements that will ensure the quality of care at Fair Acres without the county incurring a large deficit.