More Guns, Less Crime summary

In his book More Guns, Less Crime, John R. Lott,  Jr. talks about a robber named Darnel “Bubba” Lowery and his accomplice robbed and murdered a musician. He said basically they picked the musician because he was “vulnerable.” After taking the money from the musician Mr. Raglin asked if the man’s car was a stick or an automatic. Then he shot the guy. The musician cooperated and just handed over the money.

What’s interesting is this: Lowery and his accomplice decided against robbing cab drivers or drug dealers because they both sometimes carried guns.

Serial killers, rapists, muggers, etc. are just predators. Their prey is the victim. They size-up the situation when they look at a victim and think to themselves: Is my reward greater than my cost when I attack the victim? The cost being arrested, seen by a bystander or policeman or even being harmed by the victim? If the answer is yes, then they will pounce. Just like a lion attacking the weakest in the herd a criminal will go after the most vulnerable. Probably someone alone, someone not very strong or physically fit, someone not aware of their surrounding, and even someone as a study suggested who is not showing confidence in their behavior. And if the criminal believes his potential victim is not armed, like with a gun, then so much the better for the criminal. I wonder if the victims of Jack the Ripper had guns would they had a chance to survive? Keep in mind England back then banned firearms. It still has the ban. So, those victims never had the opportunity to use a gun to defend themselves. Maybe one would have survived. Ripper himself used a knife to commit the crimes.

In the book the author provides strong evidence that concealed-handguns laws reduce violent crime and that higher arrest rates deter all types of crime.

Massive killings drop dramatically when states adopt nondiscretionary concealed-handgun laws*.

Nondiscretionary concealed-handgun laws have equal deterrent effects on murders committed both with and without guns.

Mr. Lott says a gun-control advocate from the Violence Policy Center did not even want to look at his original study. Why? Because the advocate didn’t want to give publicity to the paper. That’s the stated reason. The real reason I believe is because the Left is arrogance and small minded. They never want to learn because they know all the answers or at least they believe they do. That and they are afraid they might be proved wrong. It was only after his paper got publicized did the advocate want to read it. Even then it was only to criticize it. Even Congressman Schumer attacked not only the paper but the author too (which is not surprising. That’s what the Left does. When you attack their narrative you are attacking a basic tenet of their religion. The quicker conservatives or anyone else learns this the better off they will be.)

Source: More Guns, Less Crime. Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws (1998) by John R. Lott, Jr.

*Nondiscretionary concealed-handgun law- the term nondiscretionary means that once a person meets certain well-specified criteria for obtaining a concealed-handgun permit, no discretion is involved in granting the permit—it must be issued.

Explaining God Away

An evolutionary scientist says, “Ah, the answer is that it’s hard-wired into us by the process of natural selection.” That is, belief in God is something that helped our ancestors survive. Therefore, in a sense, evolution selected that trait, so that's why we all have it. But there's a problem with this.

The problem with saying that belief in God or morality is hard-wired into us—that our belief-forming faculties or moral impulses are the product of evolution and therefore can’t tell us the truth about things but only help us survive—is that you’ve proved too much. If we can't trust what our belief—forming faculties tell us about God and morality, because it’s just to help us survive, why should we trust our belief—forming faculties when they tell us evolution is true? How dare you use the scalpel on every other thing, everybody else’s belief, but not your own?

Alvin Plantinga of Notre Dame has argued this at a very high level in a number of his books. He’s a philosopher, and he says: If we believe that everything in us is only the product of evolution, and that all our belief-forming faculties are there only because they help us survive, not because they tell us the truth, then we cannot trust our cognitive faculties to tell us what’s really out there. In fact, if anything, a mildly paranoid take on reality will certainly help us survive more than an accurate take on reality. And therefore, if we can’t trust what our faculties tell us about God or morality, how dare you say, “But you can trust what your faculties tell you about the theory of evolution?” Therefore, if we have a theory like evolutionary theory, we can’t trust our mind.

At the end of the Abolition of Man, regarding people who explain away religion and morality as “Well, it’s just evolutionary” or "It's just this, just that,” C. S. Lewis writes:

You cannot go on "explaining away” forever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on "seeing through" things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? It is no use trying to “see through” first principles. If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To "see through” all things is the same as not to see.

So if as Nietzsche says, “All truth claims are really just power grabs,” then so is his, so why listen to him at all? And if, as Freud says, “All views of God are really just psychological projections to deal with our guilt and insecurity,” then so is what he says about God. So why listen to him? And if, as the evolutionary scientist says, what our brain tells us about morality and God is not real, it’s just a chemical reaction designed to pass on our genetic code, then so is what their brains tell them about the world and evolution itself, so why listen to them? In the end, to see through everything is the same as not to see anything. And if we try to explain away belief in God like that, by appealing to evolution, then we’ve explained away everything. So we can’t explain it away.

Source: Timothy J. Keller, “Reason for God: The Exclusivity of Truth,” A Place for Truth, ed. Dallas Willard (2010).

Parent ‘Manhandled’, Arrested While Speaking Out Against Common Core at Public Forum

From The Blaze.com (Sept. 20):

A parent in Towson, Md., was arrested Thursday night at a public forum after vocally expressing his concerns about the Baltimore County School District’s plan to use Common Core standards in its curriculum.

Robert Small, a concerned father, was forcefully removed from the meeting by a police officer after he interrupted Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance during the question-and-answer portion of the forum.

The meeting apparently didn’t allow parents to stand up and ask questions or comment. Parents and other attendants were instead asked to write their questions on a piece of paper and officials would read them.

However, Small began speaking out against the district’s use of Common Core, prompting a security guard, who was also a police officer, to approach him and order him to leave. “Let’s go!” he said sternly.

When Small didn’t immediately comply, the officer began pulling his arm and pushing him towards the exit. Some audience members gasped at the cop’s use of force.

“Don’t stand for this,” the father said as he was dragged out. “You are sitting here like cattle! Is this America?”

Small also urged other parents to demand answers on Common Core and the curriculum being used to educate their children.

Small was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and faces a $2,500 fine and up to 10 years in prison. He was also charged with disturbing a school operation, which carries an additional $2,500 and up to six months in jail.

[read more]

The good news is (if you can call it that) the charges were dropped by the state attorney. He said “in the interest of justice, further prosecution will not accomplish anything more.” Not that what Small did was constitutional or legal (the attorney said Small “disrupted the meeting”), but having him arrested was good enough. Also, he said the security guard did nothing wrong. Okay, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the security guard who thought he was just doing his duty.

Clearly arresting Small is bordering on 1st amendment right violations.

I wonder why the parents could not ask questions out in the open anyway. Could it be the superintendent wanted to filter out any questions or comments he didn’t want the other parents to hear because maybe he believes the Common Core curriculum has issues or even dare I say a fraud? Or maybe he thinks the parents are like raucous cattle (like Small suggested) who need to be controlled. Or both? Yes, to either answer should any sane person nervous.

I hope this isn’t a trend where parents are treated like children in public school forums and  seen but not heard. After all parents have to trust the gov’t public schools and not question them like good sheep followers.

The 7 Characteristics of a Conscious Culture

1.        Trust: Conscious business have high levels of internal and external trust.  Internally, there is a high level of trust between the leadership and employees, within the leadership team itself and across teams at all levels. Externally,  there is a high degree of trust between the company and its customers, suppliers, other business partners, the communities within which it operates, investors and governments.

2.        Accountability: Conscious cultures combine high levels of trust with and caring with a strong emphasis on accountability. People stick to their commitments and hold esch other responsible for performance, efficiency and deliverables. Suppliers are accountable to the company and vice versa.  Accountability goes hand-in-hand with high levels of decentralization and empowerment, both of which are the norm in conscious businesses.

3.        Caring: The human need to care and be cared for is an extremely powerful motivation – often equal to and sometimes even exceeding the need to pursue one’s self-interest. Conscious cultures are marked by genuine, heartfelt love and care for all stakeholders. People in conscious cultures behave in ways that are thoughtful, authentic, considerate and compassionate.

4.        Transparency: There are few secrets in a conscious culture because there is little to hide! Financial books are usually open, salary information is more readily available, and strategic plans are widely discussed and disseminated. Conscious firms embrace the fact that most information of genuine significance soon becomes known in this age of instant digital connectivity.

5.        Integrity: A Conscious culture is marked by strict adherence to truth telling and fair dealing. Conscious firms readily forgive lapses in judgment, but do not tolerate lapses in integrity. The commitment to integrity goes far beyond mere adherence to laws. Conscious firms typically set global standards that exceed the requirements placed on them by law; they are guided by what they believe is ethically right, not merely by what is legally required or socially acceptable.

6.        Loyalty: Conscious businesses exist in a system of high loyalty. All the stakeholders are loyal to each other and the company. This is a natural consequence of the relationship mind-set that permeates the business. Stakeholders are more patient and understanding with each other when short-term blips or other unusual situations occur. High accountability ensures that those who consistently fail to live up to expectations experience consequences for their non-performance.

7.        Egalitarianism: Conscious companies do not have a class system that separates leaders from front team members at large. The salary differential between the top and front lines is smaller than typically found in traditional companies. Senior executives do not enjoy special privileges and perks that are not available to others. To a large extent, all employees have input in to how the company is managed and led. There is usually an open-door policy so that employees can communicate with the leadership team in an informal way.

Source: Conscious Capitalism. Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business (2013) by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia.

Those characteristics above could also be applied to gov’ts (especially the federal gov’t).  Wouldn’t that be nice? As for the transparency (which Obama promised when he ran for POTUS), the State cannot be completely transparent about military secrets. I understand that especially during war time, but that doesn’t mean it can’t try to be transparent in other areas. Isn’t that what a democratic republic supposed to be?

I like to see the feds have more integrity and accountability too. That’s a good starting place. Yea, I know I’m dreaming.

In the book, the authors say every conscious business should have these tenets or building blocks:

1. Conscious leadership. Types of intelligence: Emotional, Spiritual (morals, deepest meanings, values), Systems. Servant leadership.
2. Higher purpose and core values. Higher purposes: The Good (service to others), The True (furthering human knowledge), The Beautiful, The Heroic (courage to do what is right)
3. Conscious culture and management.
4. Stakeholder integration.

One last thing. In the book the authors mentioned Nordstrom Rule #1: Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.

Not a bad suggestion for everyday life.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 30

• If killing Jihadists with drones ticks the Jihadists off and make them want to cause even more terrorism then why the heck did Obama have Bin Laden killed? After all Bin Laden was their leader. Wouldn’t that action really tick them off?
• To the Left group identity is the only identity that is important and relevant.  The Left really need to think outside the group.
• I wonder if Native Americans of the past had people who blamed bows-and-arrows for crime.
• If all of humanity is downloaded to a supercomputer who is going to maintain the supercomputer’s physical structure? I mean someone or some group has to be still in their skin so to speak to make any repairs. You can’t do that bodiless inside a computer.
• If I was a defendant in court, I would be nervous being judged by low-information jurors.
• Creativity requires risk-taking, questioning the status quo, and individuality. A collective therefore cannot be creative.
• A penny saved is a penny taxed.
• I believe there hasn’t been a law in a country where owning a firearm is mandatory. Think about it.
• Truth and reason are optional to the Left especially the far-Left.
• It’s too bad in those Star Trek shows that someone didn’t leave behind the Constitution in an underdeveloped planet. Then again it probably wouldn’t have made a good plot.

An Argument for Truth

Without truth there is only manipulation. In other words, many of our postmodern people suggest there’s a brave new world. Dismantle all these fancy claims to truth and we get down to the fundamental agendas of power. So just strip it all away and we’re in a great state. If our power game is stronger than everyone else’s, we’re in great shape. But what happens if we’re weaker than others? If there’s no truth and truth is dead, and knowledge is only power, then might makes right. The victory goes to the strong, and the weak go to the wall. That of course was what Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Vaclav Havel were standing against. They did not have the powers but they had truth. Because of truth, they could not and would not be manipulated.

But that’s true not only in the grand cosmic sense, like bringing down the Soviet Union, it is also true in all sorts of other ways, for example, when people have a family member who is a tyrant emotionally. or a boss is extremely controlling, or a professor is thoroughly unfair in his manipulations. Whatever the situation is in human life, the only way to stand is on the basis of truth. Without truth, there is only manipulation.

Without truth there is no freedom. When I was at Oxford, one of the grand old men of the university was Isaiah Berlin, the great Jewish philosopher. And repeatedly I saw him teasing American graduate students. He would say, “You know, in America you come across to England with only half of your freedom,” and they would look at him. He would expound freedom with two dimensions, and said that most Americans only had one dimension (but he said the same to the British too).

In other words, most people, for example, the archetypal teenager, would say that freedom is “freedom from.” The teenager is free from parents, from professors, from the police, from any parental supervision, and thinks that’s free: freedom from. And of course that is a very vital part of freedom, whenever there are tyrants and repressive authorities, becoming free from is a big deal.

Freedom is not just freedom from, it’s freedom for. As Lord Acton, the great Catholic historian, put it, “It’s not just the permission to do what we like, it is the power to do what we ought.” Real freedom depends on knowing who we are, because we’re most free when we are ourselves. G. K. Chesterton says we can free a tiger from its cage, but we can never tree it from its stripes. Stripes are part and parcel of the tiger. We can free the camel from the zoo, but for heaven’s sake don't free it from its hump. The hump is part and parcel of being a camel.

In other words, we have to discover the truth, the character, the nature of what something is in order for it to be itself and be free. We need to know the truth of what it is, And without truth, there is literally no freedom.

I suggest that many of our fellow citizens do, sort of half-consciously, believe in truth. But in a day when it’s unpopular, and now it’s associated with religious totalitarianism and Osama bin Laden and so on,  people are ashamed to say that they believe in truth, and we need to build back in some of these fundamental arguments for the importance of truth.

Source: Os Guinness, “Time for Truth,” A Place for Truth: Leading Thinkers Explore Life's Hardest Questions, ed. Dallas Willard (2010).

Usually when someone is not being himself he is hiding an agenda that involves power. Like a sociopath. Or the gov’t punishes the person for being himself. Or he is an undercover policeman.

Are terrorists setting U.S. wildfires?

From WND.com (Sept. 11):

As the 2013 season of devastating wildfires continues to rage across the American West, the question of arson as a form of major terrorism is again being raised.

Already this year, 35,440 reported fires have burned a total of 3.9 million acres, with a quarter-million acres scorched the iconic Yosemite National Park.

Large blazes continue to burn in several states, with six alive in Idaho, five each in California and Montana, and one each in Alaska, Louisiana, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, says at this time last year, 45,278 fires had burned 7.9 million acres, and in 2011, there were 55,619 fires devastating 7.2 million acres.

In July 2012, William Scott, a former National Security Agency official and Aviation Week editor, told the American Center for Democracy that terrorists are using fire as a tactical weapon of war.

“Perhaps the most simple form of economic warfare is wild land arson,” Scott said in his “Fire Wars” presentation. “That’s just setting fires in U.S. forests [and] grasslands.”

“For any terrorists that are determined to inflict significant damage with very little investment or risk, fire is an extremely high-leverage weapon of mass effect.”

Scott explained that after U.S. Navy SEALs killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, they “captured a treasure trove of material that provided some unprecedented insight into the al-Qaida plans. And one of those was a detailed campaign for starting fires throughout the [American] West.” [read more]

Magic Words and False Gods

Any productive action requires clear thinking on the part of the acting person. This is particularly true of communication. In The Ultimate Foundations of Economic Science (1962), Ludwig von Mises remarked that the “worst enemy of clear thinking is the propensity to hypostatize, i.e. to ascribe substance or real existence to mental constructs or concepts." 
In other words, there’s no such thing as “society.” 
Mises continues:
Hypostatization is not merely an epistemological fallacy and not only misleads the search for knowledge. In the so-called social sciences it more often than not serves definite political aspirations in claiming for the collective as such a higher dignity than for the individual or even ascribing real existence only to the collective and denying the existence of the individual, calling it a mere abstraction.
The fallacy of hypostatization, however, is not confined to people holding collectivist views. It is also practiced by people who stress the importance of individual liberty.
If the so-called collectivist falls into hypostatization fallacy in using the magic word society (“it's society’s fault”; “society will intervene”) the so-called individualist employs the same fallacy when he uses the magic word market.

When people use the terms “society” and “market” it would seem there is an overarching almighty entity that has a life of its own. This entity is supposed to do everything, to redress any tort, to administer justice, to increase well-being on earth, and lead us to the Promised Land.

Hypostatization should therefore be carefully avoided, because the fallacy is unreal, ambiguous, and divisive. It’s unreal because it is devoid of a proper empirical foundation that could clarify, with a certain exactitude, the features and sphere of reference of the hypostatization. It’s ambiguous because it signifies different things to different people; conflicting meanings could be attributed to the same hypostatization. So clearly it is also divisive. It can be taken up by politicians and demagogues in order to invent fake agents and fake enemies that become the convenient scapegoats of those in power.

One should: Replace sloppy uses of “the market” with the concrete expression people engaged in free exchanges; and then operationalize the expression by measuring the effective level of freedom (accessibility, universality, etc.) on the one hand, or impediments to those concrete exchanges (tariffs, quotas, etc.) on the other—noting any corresponding growth or diminishment in wealth.

Source: Gian Piero De Bellis, “Magic Words and False Gods,” The Freeman, Aug. 29, 2013.

Glenn Beck: Why I Am Against War in Syria

From The Blaze.com (Sept. 9):

I want to address everyone making the opposite argument today than they did 10 years ago:

Why have you switched?

Are you doing it merely because of politics or because of loyalty to Obama? Have you had an honest pivot point?

Too much is at stake to not know or admit the honest answer to this question. You may disagree with me on almost everything I say – that’s fine — but I defy you to look at the facts of Syria and come away concluding this is something America should be engaging in.

War with Syria is suicidal and here are just a few reasons why.

China’s Foreign Minister said American should ‘think thrice’ before acting and exercise ‘extreme caution’ in what is a clear declaration of support for Assad’s regime. Russia has unabashedly come to the aid of Assad by sending a steady stream of weapons and recently they bolstered their naval presence near the Syrian coast with a missile cruiser and a destroyer among other ships. Iran, of course, has vowed to support Syria ‘to the end’ in the face of possibly military strikes from the United States.

Since the Arab Spring the Middle East has come unraveled – something that didn’t seem possible given its already volatile nature. Egypt is on the verge of civil war, Libya is suffering in lawless ruin, and Syria is mired in a deadly civil war that’s killed hundreds of thousands of people. The Assad regime, the radical terrorists fighting against Assad, and the Obama administration itself all admit a limited and measured strike from the United States will neither end the civil war nor change regimes.

So why bother doing it? What is this really all about?  Here are a few of the keys:

-Assad saw what happened in Egypt and Libya and he’s making sure he does not suffer the same fate. He’s a dictator desperately trying to hold onto his power through any means possible.

-Iran doesn’t have many allies around the world, but Syria is one of them. Iran depends on Syria to funnel weapons to terrorist organization Hezbollah, whose main base of operation is in Lebanon. Hezbollah views any threat to the Assad regime as a threat to Palestinians and Lebanon.

-Syria hosts a Russian naval base on the Mediterranean and Russia needs the access to warm water ports or else they are either land locked or ice locked.

-Another major factor is oil & natural gas. Syria is one of the most strategic places for pipelines to flow into Europe. Qatar proposed a massive pipeline that would weave through Syria, but Assad turned that down in 2009 and instead partnered up with Russia and Iran to get the pipeline, which is due to open in 2016.

When questioned about the high cost of the war, Secretary of State John Kerry assured Americans by saying Arab nations have agreed to fund the entire cost of the war. Certainly this isn’t out of the kindness of their hearts or because they enjoy the United States getting militarily involved in Middle Eastern affairs – it’s because there’s a boat load of money at stake. If you want to figure out which side of the Syria conflict a particular nation is on, just figure out if they benefit or are harmed by the ‘Islamic pipeline’ and you’ll likely have your answer. [read more]

In the news:

Sept. 9: Assad’s Dire Warning to American Journalist: ‘Expect’ Retaliation.

Sept. 9: GOP Rep. Reveals Why He Believes the Benghazi Attack and U.S. Policy on Syria Are Likely ‘Intimately Related Issues’.

What is the difference between killing 1,000 people by conventional means like a machine gun and killing them by using chemical gas? I mean the result is the same: They’re dead. I guess being gassed to death could be more painful and slow than being shot to death. A bad death versus a good death you could say. But still you are dead.

If those four embassy people in Benghazi got gassed to death instead of being tortured then killed would Obama have got involved over there? Oh, by the way. If America does attack Syria we better boost security in our embassies. Should do that anyway around Sept. 11.

Elementary Students Taught Gov’t = Your ‘Family’

From The Blaze.com (Aug. 30):

Fourth-grade students in Illinois are learning that “government is like a nation’s family” because it sets rules and takes care of needs such as health care and education.

So says a worksheet for social studies homework that was distributed to students at East Prairie School in Skokie, Ill, complete with a drawing of Uncle Same cradling a baby that represents the citizens.

Students are then prompted to answer 10 questions comparing government and families, including how their family provides for their health care needs and how the government does the same, and what rules families set and what rules government sets.

The worksheet it titled, “What is Government?” and then goes on to answer that question.

“Government is all of the agencies, departments, organizations, groups, individuals in a nation who make, carry out, enforce, and manage conflicts about rules and laws,” the worksheet says. [read more]

So, we went from “It takes a village.” to “It takes the government.” To the Left a natural progression. This is pure indoctrination.

Let’s see now. Can a family tax its members? No. Can a family create money? No. Can a family make war and/or invade another family? It can but it is illegal to do that. But a government can do all the above.

So, what are the functions of a family if gov’t is equivalent to the family?

1. Regulation of sexual & reproduction. Well, I don’t think the Left wants this function since it is against abstinence. It thinks teenagers have no self-control (they are just wild beasts you know) and therefore should use condoms. Not to mention the Left is pro-abortion.
2. Teaching new generations values, norms, attitudes, and beliefs.  When the Left talk about gov’t is equivalent to the family this is what they really mean. But it is their values, norms, attitudes, and beliefs  they want to teach. That way the Left can stay in power by turning out progressive voters.
3. Protection of the young. Except for the fetus gov’t tries to do this but the real family can do it better.
4. Affection. To be affectionate to someone you have to personally know someone. A gov’t can’t have affection for its citizens because it is bureaucratic by nature and there are too many citizens to personally know. If it has any “affection” toward its  citizens it’s only because they “tow the party line” so to speak. Otherwise they are punished.

If a gov’t is a family then why is America not enforcing its border? A family doesn’t let strangers on its land or in its home without permission. Or all the governments of the world one big “happy” family? Hmmm.

Actually, a gov’t can be more like a cult than a family. Then again a cult pretends to be a family to its members.

So, what’s the lesson the kids are learning? Gov’t is more important than your own family. You don’t need your family to take care of you. That’s the gov’t job.

Inside North Korea

North Korean schoolchildren learn grammatical conjugations of past, present, and future by reciting “We killed Americans,” “We are killing American,” “We will kill Americans.” The learn elementary school math with word problems that subtract or divide the number of dead American soldiers to get the solution. Yet, at the same time, since 1964 the school curriculum has made English, not Russian, the mandatory foreign language of study.

Children are taught that Kim Jong-il gave them their clothes, toys, and books, and to love Kim more than they love their parents. They are taught they they can live without their parents but they cannot live without love for and undying loyalty to Kim il-sung.

US Geological Survey assesses N. Korea to have some of the world’s largest untapped reserves of coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, and other minerals akin to rare earth reserves (tungsten, molybdenum, and niobium-tantalum.) A Goldman Sachs report estimated the value of N. Korea’s mineral deposits at 140 times the country’s GDP.

Per capita gross national income has contracted from $1,160 in 1990 to $960 in 2009.

N. Korea is one of the world’s biggest counterfeiters of  U. S. currency. N. Korea’s fake $100 bill is so authentic-looking that US law enforcement agencies refer to it as the “supernote,” because it is based on printing technology and a specialized ink that is better than the original bills produced by the US gov’t. N. Korea is also one of the world’s biggest producers of counterfeit cigarettes and medications, including Viagra.

Source: The Impossible State. North Korea, Past and Future (2012) by Victor Cha.

North Korean news headlines:

Aug. 30: Kim Jong-un's Ex-Girlfriend 'Shot by Firing Squad'

Aug. 21:  Prison Camps in North Korea Routinely Torture, UN Inquiry Told

Feb 28, 2012: Expert: North Korea Can Flood World With Fake U.S. Cash

Honesty Pays

From The Blaze.com (Aug. 28):

Four football players from William Paterson University entered a local general store in Wayne, N.J., on Sunday afternoon in search of sunglasses and batteries. The door was open, so they let themselves in and got the items they needed, but there were no store employees to be found.

The four men were then captured on surveillance video…leaving money at the register and waving to the cameras. One of the players even dug through his pockets for change to make sure he paid the right amount in tax.

Marci Lederman, Buddy’s Small Lots store manager, said she was happy to see the football players pass on the opportunity to “ransack” or steal items from her store.

“They picked up a few items, and they left cash on the counter and waved to the cameras. Who does that?” Lederman told Yahoo! News. [read more]

Who does that? Honest people that’s who. In a world where hoodlums break into stores and steal items especially during riots it’s nice to see the youth of America doing the right thing by respecting other people’s private property. 

If you are wondering why there was nobody in the store when the boys entered, it was because the store was closed. The football players thought it was open because the store was half-lit and the front door’s lock wasn’t working.

Syrian rebels admit gas attack result of mishandling chemical weapons

From The Examiner.com (Aug. 30):

In a report that is sure to be considered blockbuster news, the rebels told Dale Gavlak, a reporter who has written for the Associated Press, NPR and BBC, they are responsible for the chemical attack last week.

Gavlak is a Middle Eastern journalist who filed the report about the rebels claiming responsibility on the Mint Press News website, which is affiliated with AP.

In that report allegedly the rebels told him the chemical attack was a result of mishandling chemical weapons. [read more]

Yea, Obama better think twice (or even thrice) before attacking Syria.