Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Vanderboegh in Hospital for Observation

Mike just called me and wanted me to pass on that his wife Rosey just took him to the hospital following symptoms indicative of a heart attack (chest pain, numbness in left arm, indigestion/nausea, etc.), and they will be keeping him overnight for observation.

It is important that we do not overreact -- we do not yet have an official diagnosis and prognosis. That message goes to to his readers, his friends, and the One Hundred Heads Life and Casualty Company.

I'm not going to release the hospital name at this point per Mike's instruction, as he does not want a bunch of people making uncoordinated calls. I will remain on telephone standby day and night, and will report any changes in blog updates as I learn of them.

For now, share this information with anyone you know who is interested. Also, if you're the praying type, please do. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, we'll be getting news directly from the man himself over at Sipsey Street Irregulars.

WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE:

Mike just called to update me on his condition, which is a good thing, him being in a condition to call 'n all.

He is frustrated because the hospital wifi system blocks SSI, so he cannot post updates himself.

In terms of what's going on, at this point things are speculative. He is scheduled for more tests this morning.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:

It turns out it was a severe magnesium deficiency causing the symptoms. Mike expects to be released tomorrow, when he can explain in detail.

THURSDAY UPDATE:

Mike's home and getting ready to do his first SSI blog post since this latest adventure began.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Tunisian Mass Murderer Counted On Gun Laws and Culture for Success

Again, Per GunPolicy.org, as far as world rankings go, “In a comparison of the rate of private gun ownership in 178 countries, Tunisia ranked at No. 178.” 
Mull that over for a minute. [More]
My latest TTAG entry notes nothing quite says "Success" for mass murderers like a disarmed victim pool.

Suggested Reading

I've got a bit of a break this morning from behind-the-scenes scrambling, so I can do some limited links to stuff written by friends that I think is important.  For today, here are two I find attention-worthy, meaning read them, and if you agree, tell others:

Friday, June 26, 2015

Gun blogger, others sue ATF over records request

Three gun rights advocates sued the ATF on Tuesday after filing a records request they say wasn’t fulfilled by the federal agency. [More]
Guns.com picked up on the story.

Now on to the big "conservative" sites, and I've even approached some newspapers.

Care to help?

Update...

...to the ATF FOIA Lawsuit...

Per attorney David Hardy:
I'm sending them copies of the summons and complaint today (the courts require service of hard copy), they'll have 30 days to reply (and probably ask for an extension, since for the government, 30 days is too brief a period in which to do anything).

Garden Party

But it's all right now
I learned my lesson well. 
You see, you can't please everyone
so you got to please yourself

I've been getting numerous congratulatory messages on the move to TTAG.

Thank you.

I've also received comments from some who are less than thrilled with my choice for a new platform.

Everybody's got their beefs. Cases in point:
  • Some have told me they won't go to GUNS because the magazines are all in thrall to the manufacturers.
  • When I wrote for Examiner, some refused to read the articles because of popups and autoplay videos.
  • When I started writing for The Shooter's Log, some let me know they would not be reading because of CTD business practices they've objected to.

I'm pretty sure there's no place I could go that won't turn off some.

That's their choice. But I routinely work 12+hour days at this and need to go where I can, plus to go where I can attract more readers to grow exposure opportunities. And so far, no one from the syndicates or papers or networks has come knocking.

My hope is to expand the reach. But I can't do that without your support, that is, if you're one of those who gets more value from the work than reasons to avoid it. I need grassroots boosts from readers who have told me they appreciate what I'm trying to do, because I won't get it from anyone else.

Before this latest development, some were urging me to change my policy and accept contributions. I always have, but the currency I request is something everyone can afford: If you think a piece merits it, take a moment and share the link with others. And leave a comment under it. And forward it to one of the big outlets and ask them to take a look at it.

Especially my latest. Get someone else to report on it. I'm going to spend a good part of today trying to do just that, and I could really use a hand if you've got a few minutes to spare.

If you really want to help. But only if you get value. And if you do, why wouldn't you?

This new gig is one of a few irons in the fire. I'll keep you posted on new developments when I have something concrete to announce.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Lawsuit Seeks ATF FOIA Compliance, Determination and Rules Request

A complaint filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeks an order to compel the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request filed in March and ignored in violation of federal law. The FOIA sought copies of policies and rulings relied on in enforcement and determination actions. [More]
My inaugural TTAG report notes you can't very well follow the rules if they're not the same for everyone, or if won't even tell you what they are. We just filed an action aimed at changing that.

If you agree with our goals, please share this one far and wide, including with establishment media.

TTAG Announcement

BREAKING: David Codrea Leaves Examiner for The Truth About Guns [More]
This is one of the developments I've been working on.

Those of you who have been asking how you can help and if I will accept contributions, the answer is yes, of course, I always have. It's just that the currency I ask for has never been money -- it has always been if you get value from an article, be a force multiplier and share the link with others. And ask them to do the same.

So if you get value from what I produce in new gigs like this one, then please help spread the word and bring in readership. That's a contribution everyone can afford.

My first article should be out shortly. It's an exclusive and it has the potential to help change the way ATF does business. Stay tuned.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Thank You for the Kind Words

I don't know about being anything more than just me, but I appreciate the sentiments, Dean, very, very much. [More]

The break has allowed me to focus on what had been a back burner issue that I did not previously have time for. That said, I'm exploring all options. When I have something concrete to share, I will.

Friday, June 19, 2015

It'll Never Be Enough

One key part of this horrific scheme -- the weapon -- came in April, when Roof bought a .45-caliber handgun at a Charleston gun store, the two law enforcement officials told Perez and Bruer from CNN, the first network to report this development. His grandfather says that Roof was given "birthday money" and that the family didn't know what Roof did with it. [More]
So he went through a "background check"?  And the antis say we still need more infringements?

How many more?

Trump Donations to Clinton Foundation Add to Gun Owner Concerns

First we need to make sure the fingers behind his back aren't crossed.
I see Pat Buchanan and Ilana Mercer just came out with approving columns on Donald Trump that do not mention the following concerns I raised in my May 15 Gun Rights Examiner column (and previous columns). Because so few seem to be aware of these concerns, I am reposting that article with minor corrective edits here:

Potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and his daughter have donated “at least $105,000 to the Clinton Foundation,” The Hill reported Thursday. Contributions, per the Foundation website, “advance the work of any part of the Clinton Foundation, including the Clinton Global Initiative.”

That would be the same group behind the Clinton Global Citizen Award, presented to anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg by Vice President Joe Biden for being the “most fierce and most effective advocate that we have on the matter of gun sanity.”

Trump has come across as effectively bipolar on guns.

“I love the NRA, I love the Second Amendment, so you have to know that,” Trump proclaimed at April’s National Rifle Association Leadership Forum in Nashville. “I promise you one thing, if I run for president, and if I win, the Second Amendment will be totally protected, that I can tell you.”

That doesn't exactly square with past statements -- by a long shot. True, he’s not against the concept of guns in private hands, under controlled circumstances, as Trump is one of the few elite recipients of a New York City concealed carry permit. But where does he stand on other aspects of the right to keep and bear arms that will interest gun owners looking for candidates worthy of their support?

Trump has a record on the issue from a prior time he was thinking about tossing his hat into the ring.

“Dems and Reps are both wrong on guns,” he declared in 2000, offering what he presumed to be an acceptable middle ground. “Democrats want to confiscate all guns, which is a dumb idea because only the law-abiding citizens would turn in their guns and the bad guys would be the only ones left armed. The Republicans walk the NRA line and refuse even limited restrictions.

“I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun,” he elaborated.

Add to that a troubling history of not just generous financial support for the Clinton Foundation, but to a host of anti-gun Democrats, enabling them to retain their ability to attack the right to keep and bear arms.

“Over the past decade, Trump has given massive amounts of money not only to Democrats but the most liberal and most corrupt Democrats, such as Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenberg, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Charlie Rangel,” former Rep. Tom Tancredo noted in 2011. He has given $116,000 in recent years to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He supported John Kerry in 2004…”

Asking if he's a "secret liberal," Business Insider noted "Donald Trump Has Given Much More Money To New York Democrats Than Republicans."

Still, Trump found another issue that resonates with NRA members who are seemingly unaware that their association intentionally ignores it (when not promoting those enabling it): Illegal immigration leading to a "pathway to citizenship."

“You look at what’s happening with Mexico, the border is a sieve,” Trump continued, broaching an issue NRA has thus far been deliberately indifferent to under a “single issue” excuse that does not withstand close scrutiny. “Everybody’s coming in illegally, millions of people coming in illegally, we've got to stop it at the border, and we have to stop it fast.”

The room ate it up, along with his "American jobs first" theme, and ended up giving Trump a standing ovation. Perhaps their enthusiastic reaction would have been tempered had his inspiring sentiments been compared to his record.

Again, Trump appears to have learned the right words. He recognizes Republicans are on a “suicide mission” in which “11 million people will be voting Democratic," that “anchor babies” becoming citizens “was never the intention behind the 14th Amendment,” and that even “legal immigrants do not and should not enter easily ... we must take care of our own people first.”

With that being the case, Trump’s “D-“ grade from Numbers USA in 2011 (including an "Abysmal" rating on "limiting unfair foreign worker competition") points to a serious disconnect between rhetoric and substance on immigration. Likewise, his donations to the Clinton Foundation and to vehemently anti-gun Democrats raise serious doubts over what he told cheering NRA members and what he actually would enable if they entrusted him with political power.

As this column observed in 2012, Trump could be a great friend if his seeming enthusiasm for the Second Amendment is real. How we could go about determining that, aside from doing things backwards -- trusting him and then seeing if he ends up earning it -- is unclear.

The bottom line: The guy has some serious explaining, disavowing and apologizing to do, and that includes outlining unequivocal ways to prove he is being sincere, as opposed to self-serving and manipulative.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Hold Fast


We don't know enough yet to credibly conclude anything -- except that an evil being has struck and the danger for all just increased. We see an agenda already surfacing. What we learn as this unfolds will be filtered. You and I didn't do it. If we can be blamed, and if rights we hold dear can be attacked, they will be.

For now, observe. And if you're the praying type, now might be a pretty good time, for those whose lives were brutally stolen from them, for their loved ones now suffering unimaginable grief, and for all of us.


Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Lock-N-Load Redux

My Monday interview with host Bill Frady is now archived. [Listen]

Monday, June 15, 2015

Lock-N-Load Radio


I'll be rejoining Bill Frady this morning at 10 EST. [More]

Click here to listen in.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Daily Defense Redux

My Friday appearance with Mark Walters on Armed American Radio's Daily Defense, in which we talk Ann Coulter, the "pathway to citizenship" threat to RKBA, New Jersey/Chris Christie, and what's up with me, is now archived.

Click here if you'd like to hear it.

UnExamined in Knoxville

A totality of negative conditions have induced Liston Matthews to hang up on his Knoxville Gun Rights Examiner column. He will now be posting at Knox Gun Guy.

Friday, June 12, 2015

The GUNS of August

The August 2015 issue of GUNS Magazine, including my Rights Watch column "Defying the Defilers" (pg. 66), is now on sale at newsstands throughout the Republic.

They also post the digital edition online.

Kindness of Strangers


Several of you have graciously contacted me and asked if there is anything you can do to help in this time of uncertainty following last week's forced interruption in my daily work. I appreciate those of you who have expressed support since then, more than I can adequately express. Most of us have never met and probably never will, so that makes it all the more gratifying to know some have been moved enough to reach out to me.

First, I'm not going to dwell on the falling-out. I've already said my piece. Anything further I say could be dismissed as sour grapes, and there are much more important and interesting things to talk about.

Sorry, and thank you to those who have asked, but I cannot accept donations. That goes to the core of who I am. If I cannot create a sufficient and sustainable market demand for my RKBA reporting and commentary, then it's time to focus on what I can offer.

So to those now asking if there is anything you can do, there's nothing really different I can ask of you now that I haven't been asking all along: If I put out something, and if you get value from it, spread the word and share the link. If I write an article you agree with and have gotten insights from, leave a comment, or let the editor know to keep 'em coming. If I have a media appearance you think may be interesting, tune in --  and tell others. If there are other media outlets -- including "establishment" ones, which is where it could really make a difference to move the discussion to, contact them and tell them so.

The type of stuff I crank out is not something I can do part-time. 12+ hour days have been the norm for me. I have to be either all in or all out in terms of being a daily internet presence. It could be I've had my run except for the monthly GUNS Magazine column and occasional gigs at The Shooter's Log.

It is what it is.

Coulter Warns Against 'Immigration' Threat to RKBA

Author, columnist and commentator Ann Coulter joined nationally-syndicated "Armed American Radio's Daily Defense" host Mark Walters yesterday to talk about her most recent best seller, "Adios, America!: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole."

In that interview, Coulter confirmed what very few of us who primarily emphasize gun rights have been consistently warning about -- that government "immigration" policies and practices present an existential threat to RKBA, or at least to "legal" recognition of it.  She also had some very enthusiastic things to say about Larry Pratt and Gun Owners of America, the only national "gun group" that has raised the alarm and mobilized its members on this.

Click here to listen to what may turn out to be a pivotal point in convincing the "other" groups to get on board now that a national figure with mass media reach has unequivocally weighed in.

And check back in to the program this afternoon at 4 Eastern when I'll be joining Mark to follow up on the interview.  Click here to listen live.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Much Ado About Nothing

[More]

But it sure distracts gun owners from real issues, doesn't it?

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

About that "Single Issue"

Yeah, this, combined with a "pathway to citizenship" and the impact on elections and court confirmations will have absolutely nothing to do with RKBA, right? [More]

That no "gun groups" besides GOA are raising the alarm says much. As does the number of popular "gun bloggers" saying nothing.

I'll have more to say about this later in the week.

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Exclusive: Mad Men

“[I]t does, at least, suggest—indeed, demonstrate—that minds can be changed on the matter,” Nudd insisted. “And it’s chilling in the video to see the actual guns that were used in notorious crimes, and must have been that much more so in person.” [More]
My latest GUNS Magazine "Rights Watch" column notes the way public opinion is influenced by professional liars is nothing short of madness.

Sunday, June 07, 2015

It's a New Day

View from the back porch -- this pretty girl paid a visit:


That window needs some serious squeegeeing. It'll have to wait, as I took some large dead branches down yesterday and need to spend today cutting them down to size.

I'm moving on from my recent misadventure. No new outside gig is in sight, so I'm working on creating an inside job, now that I finally have the time to devote to a project that's been back-burnered for a while...

Friday, June 05, 2015

New Examiner "Review" Criteria May Explain What Staff Refuses To

Long-time readers who have supported my work deserve an explanation, so here's an update for those of you who have been wondering what's going on with Gun Rights Examiner. Sorry it's so long -- there are many pieces to consider.

I've been writing for them since 2008, and never had a column pulled before. Now they've sunk two in a row, and have clammed up on their reason, to boot.

A full week after Examiner.com "unpublished" my Hastert column, and five days after they torpedoed my follow-up column about a media subscriber news service including that story in an alert to members, they still have not responded to multiple inquiries asking why. That's in spite of their instruction to "Contact support with any questions."

That they would  let a content provider spend hours researching, writing, publishing and publicizing an article, pull it, and then go into hiding, is indicative of the "leadership" routinely endured over the years, and leads to natural speculation as to what "offense" against "standards" could have possibly occurred this time. If tough to know what's allowable when anti-gun "progressives" are permitted to outright lie and call gun owners who believe in their rights "ammosexuals" (that's actually a keyword tag on the Examiner site).

It looks like that assumption was wrong -- albeit with no explanation followed by the silent treatment, it was an understandable conclusion to jump to. They just sent out an email to their list defining new criteria for both acceptability of an article as "newsworthy," as well as general editorial criteria for all articles.

Understand that Examiner does not submit all articles to the Google news feed. They have requirements, like the story must be under 48 hours old, you have to link to sources they consider credible, you can't reference other Examiner links, you can't use the first person, etc. That's been understood, even if it's self-defeating for those of us who actually dig out stories on our own, as opposed to linking to what someone else has uncovered and rewording it to take advantage of keyword and topic trending. In other words, those of us doing investigative journalism, where we are the ones breaking stories, and where we have nothing else to refer to as a source but our own prior work, are penalized for deviating from the content farm model.

They now appear to be extending that to all articles, not just the ones submitted to the news feeds. And it appears not complying with "review criteria" they just sent out today may be the reason behind "unpublishing" articles published a week ago.

Their criteria, incidentally, corroborate the valuing of search ranking manipulation over content. Case in point, from the Examiner Support Center "Basic Editorial Requirement writing Tips":
Please refrain from using one-sentence paragraphs, paragraphs consisting of only a few short sentences or paragraphs made up of incomplete sentences whenever possible. Google rejects pieces that are formatted that way.
Compare that to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab, teaching journalism students how to write:
Tips for Writing a Lead ... Brevity: Readers want to know why the story matters to them and they won’t wait long for the answer. Leads are often one sentence, sometimes two.
The "review criteria" also list some of the "sins" committed in my Hastert and follow-up articles:
Self-promotion: Not allowed in article content. No click-baiting or product marketing is permitted ... Third Person: Avoid first-person references ("I," "me," "my," etc.) The focus of the article should be on the story, not on the person writing it.
That depends on the meaning of the term "self-promotion." and the qualifications of  the person making that assessment. My columns never contain "click-baiting or product marketing." What they do contain are references to original work that no one else has uncovered, and if not called to reader attention, will remain unknown to everyone but me. We certainly know the "mainstream media" has no interest unless it's to take a story uncovered by small fry, bigfoot it, and claim it as their own.

Yes, my Hastert story contained a link to one of my articles from 16 years ago, an open letter I wrote to him (that was subsequently published in a Libertarian Party publication at the request of one of their officials), and that necessitated a first-person reference. It couldn't be helped.

Everybody and his brother are "reporting" on the Hastert scandal and charges the guy's got himself embroiled in. Not one writer was informing gun owners about his betrayal of their interests when he was Speaker, and how in spite of that, he was still given an "A" rating from NRA. That's legitimate information for a gun rights advocacy readership to be aware of. It's not my fault no one else knew about and was reporting that. I guess the Examiner solution for original and unique offerings is to "unpublish" and suppress them.

Using that criteria, that reference to self or to prior works of original investigative journalism is verboten, let's look at some of the other stuff, allowed in the past, but now evidently in violation of the new criteria:

My FOIA-based exposé on the fake Ceasefire "PSA" that yielded a permit saying “Actors are interviewed on camera in a fake gun store” comes immediately to mind. It included my email correspondence with the Mayor's Office and also linked to my piece at The Shooters' Log. Is that "self-promotion" or is that telling and expanding on a dimension of a national interest story no one else is? And for that matter, if they're going to be consistent why hasn't that article been "unpublished"?

How about my other stories resulting from FOIA requests I filed? Who is going to report on those if not me? We know the "partial response" I got from ATF proved a whistleblower had been called on the carpet for talking to the Senate. We also know the Senate was publicly pressured -- by me -- to interview and protect Gunwalker whistleblowers in the first place.

As a matter of fact, look at all the reporting Mike Vanderboegh and I did on this before anyone in major media said word one about Fast and Furious. By Examiner's "review criteria," this all needs to be pulled from the site. And future stories -- and Mike has arranged to share documentation with me on a huge one -- cannot, as a matter of their "rules," appear there.

So what else, just off the top of my head, must go?

It looks like I can't tell readers how ATF claimed -- to me -- an Administrative Procedures Act exemption from their recent ammo ban "framework" trial balloon. Nor can I tell them how -- after my reports -- the "real reporters" discovered the B. Todd Jones leaving ATF for NFL story, or the Armatix management split story, or how an anti-gun "filmmaker" broke the law regarding bringing imitation firearm onto school premises without permission, or...

Nor can I include links in future articles to information vital to understanding a complex and ongoing story that appears nowhere else, such as the series of reports I have done containing exclusive information on the Reese family case, John Shipley, ATF's Vince Cefalu and Jay Dobyns, the '68 GCA and other legal challenges, and those are just off the top of my  head as topics where I have to refer and link to earlier reports I posted in order to validate claims. And who knows what this will do to the innumerable source documents I alone have archived on Scribd? How is linking to my account there not "self-promotion"?

I guess I can forget about telling you things I'd like you to help be a force multiplier for. That's a major reason I do this, to provide information that no one else does or will, and to then rely on activist readers to help me bypass "legitimate media" gatekeepers. And sometimes, the action just happens to center on my activities. So if I interview Rand Paul, or appear on a television panel, or get interviewed on a network show, or help write lyrics to a song for a political video produced by a multiple-award winning filmmaker and premiering on a nationally-syndicated radio program, or give a speech in front of a state house, those are all things I'm evidently no longer allowed to tell regular readers about in my column -- a column I started and expanded to a national presence on the premise and promise that I could.

That's in spite of a pledge made to me by Examiner only three months ago after one of their reviewers had rejected my ATF ammo ban piece from news feed submission on the grounds that I did not link to a recognized news source.

"As for the main premise of my story having no link, what am I supposed to do when this is original investigative journalism based my telephone conversation held today with an ATF official identified as the point of contact on a new proposed rule?" I asked. "There IS no other source to link to, as no one else has this development but me. I repeat: What am I to do?"

This was the last official word received on the matter:

Click to enlarge
I guess the "welcome" has been pulled back, or at least my being able to identify myself as the one who made the story happen in the first place, and to reference and link to an exclusive in follow-up reports.

Several of you have reached out to me, asking if I want you to do anything, maybe write to Examiner. Thanks, but no. These conditions are intolerable. I'm probably going to need to post a bare minimum article once a month just to keep them from declaring my account inactive and not sharing page view revenues from past articles, but it looks like their rules will no longer allow me to do much of the original stuff that requires self-referencing and linking.

How this will play out and if I'll land anywhere else is anybody's guess, but it doesn't look promising. Ultimately, I have to admit the failure to figure a way out of the box is mine, as my stuff is unacceptable to big boy media as well as to "lobby groups." That's because I do this to say what I want to say.

I'll keep writing for the magazine as long as they want me, and also do occasional contract assignments that don't dictate information-stifling restrictions, but without a replacement gig, this is probably going to require stepping back and refocusing energies on something that values my efforts enough to actually pay the bills. For now, look for this blog and all of my social media activity to be limited to dreaded "self-promotion."

UPDATE: Well, that was quick. At least it shows they can move when motivated. They fired me, and warned me not to show anyone the termination notice because that would violate a confidentiality agreement.  I'll match their agreement violations over the years against mine if they want to pursue this, because I maintain this is definitely in the interests of pursuing a story about cheesy Examiner.com practices:

[Click to enlarge]


Thursday, June 04, 2015

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Trip Advisor

Just got off the phone with Mike. He is en route from Salt Lake City to New Mexico, and has had trouble posting updates on SSI, so he asked me to pass along his assurances that he is OK and having a very productive trip.

UPDATE: He had to cancel NM and just called me from Shooters Grill in Rifle CO ("Guns are Welcome on Premises"), and from there will begin the long trek home.

6/4 UPDATE from Mike:
Google refuses to let me into blogger while on the road without changing my password, which I refuse to do. All posts will have to wait until I get home, apparently. Made it to Hays KS tonight, will go on to Nashville tomorrow to drop off co-driver then will head home to Birmingham. Probably be home by Saturday and posting normally.

Chronic and Habitual


PJTV's Trifecta, with Scott Ott, Steve Green, and Bill Whittle, focuses on chronic and habitual practices.

States United offers clarification of sorts, that the "actors" were actually "focus group" participants, if you can believe them. After all their other deceptions, the case for why anyone should suddenly trust them with being forthright in their claims has not been made. After all, their permits clearly say "Actors are interviewed on camera in a fake gun store."

How such participants were identified and selected as suitable -- or rejected -- is not disclosed, nor is it clear if there are any outtakes that didn’t make the final cut. I'd also be curious to find out if they just gave of their time out of the goodness of their hearts, or if any form of making things worth their while was offered.

For some reason, this exchange comes to mind:

I'm not sure what more I can find out, but I'm still looking into this from various angles.

Tuesday, June 02, 2015

#wearingorange

[More]
And more...

Armed American Radio Redux

For those who missed Sunday's live broadcast with host Mark Walters, the show is archived on the Armed American Radio Website. [Listen]
  • Hour 1: Alan Korwin of GunLaws.com.
  • Hour 2: Radio host Anthony Cumia, Human Events Guns & Patriots Editor Neil McCabe.
  • Hour 3: Yours truly.

InfoWars Interview

Here's my chat yesterday with Alex Jones:


Here's the InfoWars write-up that precipitated them reaching out to me.

As an update of sorts, PJ Media is looking into this. The States United people, themselves the creation of pr folks, are now insisting that the "customers" were not "actors," but "focus group participants."  Why it didn't say that on the official NYC permits is anybody's guess. The producer isn't talking, because he is claiming to have received death threats.  I'm sure we can now find reports have been filed with NYPD to investigate, right?  In any case, does this mean we have another deception, that the "customers" were all transported in, as opposed to walking in off the street? Will they be forthcoming with who put together the "focus group," who chose them to participate, what documented criteria was used, if they signed a release authorizing use of likeness and voice?

Funny, how all of a sudden they're in a rush to "clarify" things.  Funny how, when trade publication Ad Week told the industry the guns were real (and had been used in the crimes the tags claimed!), the customers were real first-time gun buyers, and real minds were changed, nobody saw fit to try and "correct" any misinterpretations.

Funny how the boy who has repeatedly cried "Wolf!" is so indignant that an official NYC permit which they applied and paid for, that is, initiated and accepted, says "actors."

We started out on this adventure with a video--why not end with one?

Monday, June 01, 2015

Addendum

To this:

It would appear the "professional editors [who] provide subject-customized news monitoring and distribution 'for journalists and other professionals world-wide who are deeply involved in very specific topics [to] reach industry leaders and decision makers...” thought the column was worthy of calling to the attention of their subscribers. That's gratifying to know.

Unfortunately, with Examiner "disappearing" the article, the email alert link now only goes to a "not found" page.

The Times, They Are A-Changing

Very busy right now finishing a GUNS Magazine column deadlined today and prepping to be interviewed this afternoon by Alex Jones-- more details on that to follow.

Because I have not yet heard from Examiner management and don't yet know how things will play out (see posts from the past weekend if you don't know what that's about), I'm holding back on expending energy there until I know more. I suspect management will back the weekend person's call. That means a column on the Oregon rally and Mike's speech is on hold. In the mean time, the transcript of his speech is here, and you can watch it here.

All email tips for this blog are also on hold -- I do this as an "extra," with the goal of persuading people to see more inside the tent. If that folds, my ability to sustain WarOnGuns (beyond something to exclusively promote my work appearing on other sites) becomes problematic unless I can find another gig, which candidly, would have happened by now it one was likely. And while I appreciate the offers I've received to write for other websites in exchange for the name recognition that provides, I can't offer the same deal to the people who send me bills every month, or for that matter, the supermarket.

With that in mind, please hold off on sending more tips until I get things sorted out. I can't help spread what's important to you until I can figure out a sustainable way to spread what's important to me.