Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

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Category: Culture

RIP, Kenosha

by | 0559, 1 Sep 20 | , , | 31 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Go pick up a copy. Here’s a taste to incite you… a little ironic that I use the word “incite” when referring to a column about the Kenosha riots.

On the second night, one videographer followed a young man as he yelled for the children to go home because it was going to get bad. Sure enough, as the sun set, protesters turned into rioters as they tore down street lamps, stood on cars to break their windows with bats, smashed store windows, and looted the contents. Then the fires started. Multiple fires were started simultaneously to overwhelm the fire department, who could not enter the area safely anyway to put them out before they spread. I watched as family businesses burned and nearby homes were evacuated.

On the third night, the chaos worsened; multiple law enforcement agencies took a more aggressive posture to quell the riot. I watched from the angle of the rioters as police formed a human wall and used armored vehicles and nonviolent means to clear the streets. The rioters kept up a steady counterassault with rocks, shields, rolling burning dumpsters, bottles, and fire.

It was on that third night that one journalist came upon several armed citizens who were defending a gas station. They had had enough of the riots and were determined to protect life and property from the marauding horde. I watched as rioters confronted

the armed defenders. Words were exchanged. Spittle spewed. Tempers flared. On my way to bed, I commented to my wife that someone was going to die that night. The next morning, we learned that they did.

Watching several hours of immersive coverage of the riots illuminated a few things. First, traditional media is failing us. When I read the stories in traditional outlets the next day or caught the television newscast, it did not reflect what I watched. This was not a “mostly peaceful” protest where a little scuffle broke out. This was a full riot that raged for several nights. There may have been a peaceful protest during the day, but as soon as the sun set, it was anything but peaceful.

Second, many of the same people who were just shouting and taunting during the day were the same people who were smashing and burning in the night. This was not a case where the peaceful protesters went home at sunset and a shift of criminals and malcontents took their place. These were many of the same people. And many of them are ardent anarchists and Marxists who are intent on destabilizing our republic. You can see it in their graffiti and hear it as they shout it. They are not hiding. The shooting incident that precipitated the uprising was merely an excuse to launch a violent uprising.

Only 6% of COVID Deaths Were Due to ONLY COVID. 94% Had Comorbidities

by | 1517, 30 Aug 20 | , , | 43 Comments

This seems relevant.

Table 3 shows the types of health conditions and contributing causes mentioned in conjunction with deaths involving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death. The number of deaths with each condition or cause is shown for all deaths and by age groups. For data on comorbidities,

Oh, and this… when thinking about kids returning to school.

 

What does this mean? This means that this is a serious disease that disproportionately impacts those with serious underlying health conditions. This is particularly concerning for elderly people who are more likely to have an underlying health condition.

As a matter of public policy, we should be encouraging sanitary and behavioral actions to limit the spread of disease and take particular care for our elderly and sick people. It does not mean, however, that we should shut down our economy or strip people of their civil liberties. This is a serious health concern that needs some attention. It is not something for which we should abandon our way of life.

Mobs Threaten and Harass White House Guests

by | 0850, 28 Aug 20 | , | 54 Comments

Watch some of these videos and the ones of the mob forcing restaurant patrons to raise their fists to support the cause. These are fascist shock mobs that are using intimidation and violence to force submission. This is not a movement about liberty. It is a movement about totalitarianism. And the Democratic Party supports it.

Kentucky senator Rand Paul and his wife were last night attacked by a large mob of Black Lives Matter protesters who shoved the police escorting him out of the RNC conference, knocking one of the officers into the Senator.

Video shows Paul and wife Kelley being surrounded by dozens of activists and aggressively accosted as they leave the Republican National Convention, where Trump had just accepted the party’s nomination, as police officers try to hold the crowd back.

At one point an officer holding a bicycle to shield the couple from the demonstrators was shoved backwards, stumbling into Paul and almost knocking the Kentucky senator to the ground.

[…]

Later, video showed Black Lives Matter activists aggressively harassing people leaving the White House after Trump’s speech.

One man was punched in the back of the head and later knocked to the ground by a mob of activists who also threw water over him.

Meanwhile RNC committeeman Chris Ager and his wife were repeatedly abused by a balaclava-wearing protester who threatened to ‘f*** you up’ as they tried to get into the doors of their hotel.

Downtown businesses crumble in liberal cities

by | 1752, 27 Aug 20 | , , , | 21 Comments

And feckless local leaders twiddle around.

Construction workers boarded up broken windows Wednesday along Gorham Street and University Avenue after a third night of unrest in Downtown Madison.

John Theisen said security cameras showed several people smashing the windows of his Domino’s Pizza shop on Gorham Street and then leaving after finding nothing to steal.

[…]

Tuesday night’s destruction came just as shopkeepers and building owners had largely removed plywood that covered windows along State Street and its offshoots since protests earlier this summer after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

Now virtually every window on Capitol Square, State Street and part of University Avenue is boarded just as UW-Madison students return to campus.

Tiffany Kenney, executive director of the Central Business Improvement District, said it could be months before business owners feel comfortable without protection over their windows.

“This is a giant setback for us,” Kenney said. “They are fearful. There has been damage, there’s been violence and we’re back, way, way back.”

Kenney said many are worried about the November elections and may leave their boards in place through the end of the year, which “could be devastating for our Downtown.”

Drinks to Go

by | 1737, 24 Aug 20 | | 8 Comments

I’m a bit shocked that this craze hasn’t come to Wisconsin.

At least 33 states and the District of Columbia are temporarily allowing cocktails to-go during the pandemic. Only two — Florida and Mississippi — allowed them on a limited basis before coronavirus struck, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Struggling restaurants say it’s a lifeline, letting them rehire bartenders, pay rent and reestablish relationships with customers. But others want states to slow down, saying the decades-old laws help ensure public safety.

Governor Evers Politicizes Killing of Black Man in Kenosha

by | 1724, 24 Aug 20 | , , , | 14 Comments

Shame on him. The governor is fanning the flames of violence for political gain.

A Wisconsin county has again declared an emergency curfew following a night of protests over a video that appeared to show police officers firing several shots at close range into a Black man’s back Sunday night.

The curfew will be in effect from 8 p.m. Monday night until 7 a.m.Tuesday, according to the Kenosha Police Department. The Wisconsin National Guard was headed to Kenosha on Monday, according to the Kenosha News.

The state Department of Justice is investigating after officers from the department responding to a domestic incident shortly after 5 p.m. “were involved in an officer involved shooting,” according to a news release.

The man who was shot, identified by Gov. Tony Evers as Jacob Blake, was airlifted to a Milwaukee hospital in serious condition as of early Monday, police said. Tyrone Muhammad, a member of the group Ex-Cons for Community and social change, said Blake’s father told him Blake was out of surgery and was expected to survive.

On Twitter, Evers said he and his wife are hoping for Blake’s recovery.

“While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country,” Evers wrote on Twitter.

[…]

Evers is calling lawmakers into session to take action on a package of bills aimed at reducing the prevalence of police brutality a day after Blake was shot. The move would ban police chokeholds and no-knock search warrants and make it harder for overly aggressive officers to move from one job to another.

Like most people, I look at the video and have some serious questions. I don’t know why non-lethal force was not used first. I question why they shot him when he was moving away. I wonder what happened before the video started. But I also understand that the police were responding to a domestic call, thought he had a gun, and perhaps thought that the kids were in danger.

We. Don’t. Know. What we do know is that a thorough investigation should be done to find out the facts. And if the police are found to have acted illegally, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But if they are found to have acted appropriately, then we should laud their actions while lamenting the sad results.

But before we even know the facts, the governor is out with a statement intimating that it was an unjustified shooting by racist police. His statement gave tacit permission for rioters to burn down Kenosha. And he has called a special session to pass a bunch of bills that have nothing whatsoever to do with this shooting. But since the bills are about police brutality, the governor is sending the message that he thinks this shooting is the result of racist, brutal police.

Governor Evers’ actions are repugnant and they have endangered the lives, health, and property of all Wisconsinites.

Collegiate Sports Begin to Topple

by | 2032, 21 Aug 20 | | 7 Comments

The first wave. For all of those people who gripe about the attention that college football and basketball get, those sports pay for a lot of other sports. I expect a lot of schools will have to limit their sports offerings.

Iowa will drop four sports programs as part of the athletic department’s response to a projected loss of $100 million in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic.

School president Bruce Harreld and athletic director Gary Barta said Friday that men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s swimming and diving will be discontinued after the 2020-21 academic year.

Barta said the Big Ten’s decision to postpone football and other fall sports until the spring will create an overall budget deficit between $60 million and $75 million this year.

“A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome. We have a plan to recover, but the journey will be challenging,” Harreld and Barta said.

Profound societal shifts are underway

by | 0820, 19 Aug 20 | , , , | 21 Comments

Here is my column that ran in the Washington County Daily News yesterday.

Last week I took a mind to head to the pistol range for some practice. After a quick assessment of my current inventory of ammunition, it was clear that I had let it dwindle to the point of needing replenishment. I headed to the store to stock up only to find the shelves stripped bare. All told, I went to five stores that day for ammunition. One store had five boxes that had just arrived but would only sell two of them to me. The fifth store would sell me more, but it cost me almost twice the normal price. Clearly, something is going on.

Earlier this year, a friend approached me about advice on a weapon to carry concealed. A quick search of the internet will find very strong and contradictory opinions on this topic and I certainly have my own thoughts after carrying a weapon for the majority of my adult life. My friend had used a gun before but did not currently own one. However, with the civil unrest, defunding of law enforcement, and general anarchy roiling our nation, my friend thought it was time strengthen his defensive posture for himself and his family.

My friend is not alone. I also sat in a class for concealed carry holders this month and it was packed. One older lady in the class had taken her first handgun class the week prior. A middle- aged couple had long guns already, but had decided to get their licenses to carry concealed. According to the instructor, he has never been so busy as the past few months. The statistics about the incredible rise in gun ownership have been on display for months and much of it is being driven by people who are buying their first gun for the purpose of defending themselves. They have lost confidence in our government to maintain order.

2020 is proving to be a fulcrum year where events are shifting our society and culture in ways yet unknown. The swiftness with which our government stripped us of our rights in an overreaction to a public health concern at the same time that fascist mobs are given license to maraud by the very same government has shocked the sensibilities of many Americans and undermined some of the principles that have cemented our nation’s foundation since its inception. As our society shifts, it will be seen in what people do — not what they say. One thing they are doing is buying a lot of guns.

Another thing that many more people are doing is moving out of cities to more suburban and rural areas. This movement would be a reversal of recent migration patterns. The reasons are myriad. Coronavirus has made some people realize that urban living is a perfect environment for the spread of diseases at the same time that the widespread closures of cultural attractions has diminished the allure of city living. When one combines that with the increase in violence and crime that many cities are suffering, it is easy to see why a young family might choose to look elsewhere to raise their children.

Another enabler of city flight is the move to virtual work. Coronavirus shoved many workers from their offices into their homes. The shock of that movement is over, and many businesses are finding that remote workers are just as productive without the need of providing a large office complex or amenities. Furthermore, virtual workers reduce the potential liability and disruption of a disease outbreak. Right now, many businesses are having to shut down their offices if a single employee tests positive for COVID-19. That is not a risk with virtual employees.

Helpfully for the businesses, many workers found that they enjoyed, or could tolerate, working virtually even if they had not previously thought so. REI has already decided to abandon its eight acre office campus in Washington state in favor of smaller offices and a much larger remote workforce. In Wisconsin, Epic Systems faced an employee revolt when they attempted to force workers back to their desks in Epic’s massive office. Northwestern Mutual’s brand new office tower in downtown Milwaukee sits almost empty and may never reach capacity. The trend of large office campuses and towers is being supplanted by home offices and virtual backgrounds. This trend also makes it economical for knowledge workers to seek communities with a bit more elbow room and less crime.

Societal shifts take years to unfold. The decision to buy a gun can be done quickly, but moving one’s family to a new community may take months or years. As 2020 has shown us, our society can shift very quickly, but America in 2025 looks like it is going to be more suburban, more virtual, and abundantly armed.

Profound societal shifts are underway

by | 0729, 18 Aug 20 | , , , | 51 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

2020 is proving to be a fulcrum year where events are shifting our society and culture in ways yet unknown. The swiftness with which our government stripped us of our rights in an overreaction to a public health concern at the same time that fascist mobs are given license to maraud by the very same government has shocked the sensibilities of many Americans and undermined some of the principles that have cemented our nation’s foundation since its inception. As our society shifts, it will be seen in what people do — not what they say. One thing they are doing is buying a lot of guns.

Wisconsin Ranks Last in Racial Equality in Education

by | 0727, 17 Aug 20 | , | 10 Comments

Let’s be honest… this is roughly 96% the failure of Milwaukee Public Schools. At this point, we are doing more harm than good keeping that district operating.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin came in lowest in a new study by the WalletHub website that examines equality between white and black students in educational progress among the 50 states, based on six key dimensions.

Wisconsin earned a total score of 13.44 in the study by the personal finances website, with the maximum score being 100. The key educational dimensions in terms of differences between blacks and whites are the share of adults with at least a high school diploma, share of adults with at least a four-year degree, standardized test scores, mean SAT score, average ACT score and public high school graduation rate.

People Are Lying to Contact Tracers

by | 0729, 14 Aug 20 | , | 7 Comments

People are less and less trusting of government officials who have continually abused that trust. Nobody wants to rat out their favorite bar or store or neighbor to the government health department and risk having the government shut down society again.

As the number of people contracting COVID-19 across Wisconsin continues to rise, tracking down everyone who people infected with the virus have been in contact with is becoming increasingly difficult, county health department directors said.

Their challenge comes not only from the growing volume of cases, they said, but from people infected with the coronavirus being less than forthcoming about where they’ve been and who they’ve been around.

[…]

Quickly getting in touch with people who are infected is only part of the battle. Lindsay Sarauer, who holds various roles related to COVID-19 at the Kenosha County Health Department, said contact tracers there have been incredibly successful getting in touch with people who test positive, but fewer and fewer people are giving truthful answers to questions about where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with.

“We’re seeing, ‘No, I didn’t go anywhere. I’ve never been to the grocery store. I don’t have anybody in my household. I don’t have a significant other,’ or things like that,” Sarauer said. “So, they’re taking contact tracing and quarantining into their own hands instead of us giving them the guidance that’s needed from a health department aspect.”

MLS Soccer Players Booed for Taking a Knee

by | 2213, 13 Aug 20 | , | 12 Comments

Good.

Major League Soccer players from FC Dallas and Nashville SC were met with some boos from a small crowd after they took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before a match Wednesday night in Frisco, Texas.

The boos came as MLS for the first time allowed up to 5,000 fans to attend the game in the 20,500-seat stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing guidelines, with estimates showing a smaller number attending.

“You can’t even have support from your own fans in your own stadium,” FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon said. “It’s baffling to me.”

Ohhh… so they can take a knee to show that they won’t honor America and the flag, but when fans show their disapproval of their actions, it’s out of bounds? Whatevs. If they insist on making their entertainment product a political statement, then they shouldn’t be surprised when people express opposing views.

On a related note, I still don’t get the stupidity of these sports teams. Their revenues are already in the toilet because of COVID and they still insist on pissing off a sizable number of what’s left of their fans. Those handful of fans paid good money to be one of the first ones to attend a game again and are greeted with players crapping on our country. How many of those fans will pay for another ticket anytime soon? These players can pound sand when they are whining about having to dust off their barista skills.

REI Selling Brand New Campus as Employees Go Virtual

by | 2143, 13 Aug 20 | , | 1 Comment

This is a shift that will accelerate and be permanent. I’ve been a remote worker for over 15 years. I can’t imagine having to actually go to an office every day anymore and it would take a LOT of money to make me do it again. I expect many others will find the virtues of remote working to be alluring.

Outdoor retailer REI is selling its newly completed — and currently unused — 8-acre corporate campus in Bellevue, Washington, instead shifting to a “less centralized approach to its headquarters presence in the Seattle area.”
“The dramatic events of 2020 have challenged us to reexamine and rethink every aspect of our business and many of the assumptions of the past. That includes where and how we work,” said REI CEO Eric Artz in a statement. “As a result, our new experience of ‘headquarters’ will be very different than the one we imagined.”
The future “headquarters” will instead consist of multiple satellite campuses in the Seattle area, the retailer said, rather than one central location. Remote working will be the “normalized model” for headquarters employees.
The new strategy, Artz argued, has benefits. Remote working offers greater flexibility for employees to live outside of the Puget Sound region, he said, which would shrink the retailer’s carbon footprint.

Yale University is Racist

by | 2037, 13 Aug 20 | , , | 15 Comments

So says the Justice Department.

A Justice Department investigation has found Yale University favored black students and illegally discriminated against white and Asian American applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law, officials said.

The findings were detailed in a letter to the college’s attorneys on Thursday, following a two-year investigation after students had complained about the application process at some Ivy League schools.

It marks the latest action by the Trump administration aimed at rooting out discrimination in college admissions.

2nd Amendment advances as 1st Amendment retreats

by | 0644, 7 Aug 20 | , , | 15 Comments

Here is my column that ran in the Washington County Daily News earlier this week.

Our country is engaging in cultural and civic (not civil, yet) war that is challenging some of the national principles that used to be held inviolable. As we watch the 1st Amendment make a confused retreat, we are seeing the 2nd Amendment make a vigorous advance.

The 1st and 2nd Amendments refer, of course, to the Constitution’s prohibition of the federal government from infringing on our natural rights to speak (among other things) and to keep and bear arms, respectively. But they are also used as shorthand to express our collective support for the underlying natural rights.

While the practice of our 1st Amendment right to free speech has ebbed and flowed throughout our nation’s history, the general ethos has been robust support for people to say anything they want as long as it does not drift into defamation or incitement – and even then we have generally been very generous with where that boundary lies.

I am reminded of a comment by Jim Croce: “I don’t care, as long as they don’t be putting their hands on me. I don’t mind people talking and saying different things. Everybody gotta say something.” That pretty well sums up what our attitude used to be about people speaking their minds. Now we are seeing the onset of outrage mobs that seek out people who express opinions with which they disagree and try to destroy them personally and professionally. This is the so-called “cancel culture” where we no longer meet objectionable speech with more speech. Instead, these mobs consider contrary opinions to be so fundamentally immoral that they must not be spoken, and the people speaking them must be ruined to force adherence to the current, if fluid, orthodoxy. What is even more chilling is that the opinions being canceled are views that were mainstream as recently as a few months ago. Support for law enforcement, standing for the National Anthem, celebrating Independence Day, honoring George Washington, etc. are things that were commonplace and integral parts of the national psyche. Now such views are just as likely to attract an online or physical mob to your doorstep. There has been a very rapid and scary retreat of our collective support for free speech.

Meanwhile, support for the right to keep and bear arms is exploding. I recently witnessed a couple of protest marches in suburban communities. In both cases, firearms were plentiful and visible in the hands of both protesters and counter-protesters. Furthermore, as the mobs and the elected Democrats who support them defund the police and force law enforcement into a defensive crouch, The People are taking the hint and arming themselves for personal protection.

Across the nation, federal background checks, which serve as a proxy for measuring the sale of all guns, were up 69% in June versus last year. Background checks specifically for handgun purchases were up 80% over last year. In many cases, people are buying multiple guns at a time with Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting showing a 145% increase in guns sold in June compared to the same month last year. The June estimates are on top of similar trends for April and May. According to industry analysts, roughly 40% of gun purchases in the past few months are being made by first time buyers. A quick trip to any gun store will find empty shelves and depleted inventories.

At the heart of the surge in gun ownership are two trends. First, there is the general concern for personal safety. Democrats are echoing the mob’s demand to defund the police and several cities have already started the process. With fewer police with fewer resources, law-abiding people are empowering themselves to defend themselves and their families. The old saying that “when seconds count, the police are minutes away” has become a stark realization for many people.

Second, Americans are watching Marxists and anarchists violently take over parts of our country. Often, they are doing so with the permission or support of government officials. We are witnessing the violent overthrow of portions of our government with the intent to rebuild something that is no longer American. The right to keep and bear arms has always been the last resort for a free people to ensure their right to self-governance. An armed citizenry cannot be easily subjugated.

Our natural rights, as secured in our Constitution, are the bases and guardians of our government and way of life. While we continue to push our nation toward our founding ideals, we must never surrender the ground we have fought so hard to gain.

 

2nd Amendment advances as 1st Amendment retreats

by | 0653, 4 Aug 20 | , | 62 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

I am reminded of a comment by Jim Croce: “I don’t care, as long as they don’t be putting their hands on me. I don’t mind people talking and saying different things. Everybody gotta say something.” That pretty well sums up what our attitude used to be about people speaking their minds. Now we are seeing the onset of outrage mobs that seek out people who express opinions with which they disagree and try to destroy them personally and professionally. This is the so-called “cancel culture” where we no longer meet objectionable speech with more speech. Instead, these mobs consider contrary opinions to be so fundamentally immoral that they must not be spoken, and the people speaking them must be ruined to force adherence to the current, if fluid, orthodoxy.

What is even more chilling is that the opinions being canceled are views that were mainstream as recently as a few months ago. Support for law enforcement, standing for the National Anthem, celebrating Independence Day, honoring George Washington, etc. are things that were commonplace and integral parts of the national psyche. Now such views are just as likely to attract an online or physical mob to your doorstep. There has been a very rapid and scary retreat of our collective support for free speech.

Meanwhile, support for the right to keep and bear arms is exploding. I recently witnessed a couple of protest marches in suburban communities. In both cases, firearms were plentiful and visible in the hands of both protesters and counter-protesters. Furthermore, as the mobs and the elected Democrats who support them defund the police and force law enforcement into a defensive crouch, The People are taking the hint and arming themselves for personal protection.

 

Illinois Rep Wants to Stop Teaching History

by | 2204, 3 Aug 20 | , | 3 Comments

Destroy history so that they can write a new one. I’m all for teaching all kinds of history. I’m a history junkie and read constantly. But those old white guys did some pretty neat things too.

In a press release received by the outlet before Sunday’s event, the state representative called for the “abolishment of history classes” and demanded that the Illinois State Board of Education “take immediate action by removing current history books and curriculum practices that unfairly communicate our history” until “appropriate alternatives are developed.”

Sturgis is On

by | 2139, 3 Aug 20 | | 14 Comments

Love the bikers.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Sturgis is on. The message has been broadcast across social media as South Dakota, which has seen an uptick in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, braces to host hundreds of thousands of bikers for the 80th edition of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

More than 250,000 people are expected to rumble through western South Dakota, seeking the freedom of cruising the boundless landscapes in a state that has skipped lockdowns. The Aug. 7 to 16 event, which could be the biggest anywhere so far during the pandemic, will offer businesses that depend on the rally a chance to make up for losses caused by the coronavirus. But for many in Sturgis, a city of about 7,000, the brimming bars and bacchanalia will not be welcome during a pandemic.

Though only about half the usual number of people are expected at this year’s event, residents were split as the city weighed its options. Many worried that the rally would cause an unmanageable outbreak of COVID-19.

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