Destroying Babylon

Babylon, in reggae and hip-hop slang, is a term for a corrupt place — it is sometimes used to refer to white society. Bascunan and Pearce interviewed more than 100 rappers worldwide for the book, to be published by Random House of Canada, talking about the role guns played in their lives.

"How many rappers have been shot, lost a brother, lost a friend?" asks Bascunan. "How much gun violence have we heard of? It seemed pretty obvious what the problem was. Guns escalate violence."

There you have it. The cause of violence in the gangsta community is white society and guns! It must be so, because more than 100 rappers say it is...(I wonder if they interviewed Proof?)

My favorite line comes from Ms. Dynamite, who started out strong and then blinked:

I want a man that has, if not a job, then is looking for a job.

Yeah, baby, I'm lookin'...

We've talked about crime and violence in "the community" before, and acknowledge this is fraught with the peril of being branded with today's Scarlet Letter, the dreaded "R." I will repeat myself:

[W]e also can't forget to look at race--not as a cause of violent crime, but as an indicator of populations most directly affected by and responsive to a continuing history of destructive government policies.

If we're afraid to even address this, we're never going to be able to make things right. And those hurt the most by this self-imposed blindness will continue to be the least properous and protected among us.

Hristos a Înviat!

Adevarat a Înviat!

"Student Safety Was Not in Jeopardy"

A lockdown at the West Bend High Schools Thursday yielded a gun in a vehicle that led to an arrest. No drugs, however, were found in any locker or vehicle.

The gun, a cased, 22-caliber rifle, was found in a West student’s truck in the parking lot. Ammunition was found in the Ford truck as well.

The driver, a 17-year-old town of Trenton male, said he was an avid hunter and forgot it was in the truck behind his seat, according to the West Bend Police Depart-ment and the school district. He was arrested and taken to the Washington County Jail on charges of possession of a dangerous weapon on school grounds, the police said.

The cased rifle was confiscated.

Students’ safety was not in jeopardy.

Sounds like they've taken the one kid who, in his spare time, pursues activities requiring patience, discipline, intelligence, work, knowledge and skill, and dropped the hammer on him for it.

The compulsory education system requires individuals to attend and report to a specific location for a specified time. To then turn around and require them to submit to warrantless searches and seizures sounds a lot like the state ordering you to surrender your unalienable rights--and assuming the power to punish you if you don't.

It sounds like that because it is like that. Not that you could ever get one of the black robed high priests charged with abiding by "the supreme law of the land" to agree...

We're the Only Ones Following You Enough...

A former police officer has been convicted of stalking a woman with whom he claimed to be romantically involved.

Yep, sure glad this creep spent decades carrying a gun where you and I could not.

We're the Only Ones Immune Enough

A former FBI agent accused of helping a ruthless mobster plot gangland slayings in Brooklyn more than a decade ago wants his case moved to federal court, his lawyers said in court papers.

State prosecutors have charged R. Lindley DeVecchio with four counts of murder in what they billed as one of the worst law enforcement corruption cases in U.S. history. They said on Tuesday that they would fight to keep the case in state court...

Attorneys for DeVecchio claim the case belongs in federal court because there -- unlike in state court -- they would be allowed to argue that he was immune from criminal charges arising from his duties as a federal agent.

It certainly sounds like he was operating by the book...and still is.

Second Amendment Sunday

Free Constitution shares some thoughts on the First and Second Amendments.

Mystery Gun

That gun was Aguilar's companion for the rest of the war. It stayed in his pocket for 21/2 days as he lay in the basement of a rural farmhouse, bleeding from shrapnel wounds to his knees, waiting for the Germans to come and finish him off. The pistol became a token of luck and survival.

He won't sell it.

It's nice to see a counterpoint to this.

We're in the Business of Public Safety

"We're in the business of public safety and our goal with gun amnesty was to reduce the risk of having the firearms stolen from residences and used for criminal purposes," said Deputy Chief Ken Leendertse.

Yeah, good job, Ken. We can all sleep better knowing another Brown Bess--made only for killing, and firing a .71 caliber projectile (much larger than the diameter of a .50 BMG. sniper rifle bullet that shoots through 12-foot armor plated airplanes at 7,000 miles and is the terrorists' weapon of choice for targeting underground bunkers, dams and, Oh God, we're not safe anywhere!)--off the streets.

I love the new law enforcement subterfuge that by removing our property, they're removing criminal temptation.

The idiot owner who didn't know what they had on their hands reminds me of the Eloi in the George Pal version of The Time Machine. They had a library at their disposal, but they weren't even curious enough to know what books were, let alone to learn what that the markings were symbols that could impart knowledge. Volumes still on the shelves crumbled into dust when picked up.

This is what heritage and the sacrifices of the past mean to far too many of our contemporaries. It's a major reason why we're in the mess we find ourselves.

Nagin Regime Forced to Begin Returning Stolen Property

More than seven months have passed since New Orleans residents were forcibly and illegally disarmed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and starting Monday, April 17, the City of New Orleans will be returning seized firearms to their rightful owners, thanks to legal action by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and National Rifle Association (NRA).

You will, of course, be subjected to a background check, that is, the people who stole your property want to make sure you're not a lawbreaker.

On a side note, anybody want to take my bet that if NRA puts out an announcement about this, it won't include mention of SAF?

Any takers?

Anyone?

We're the Only Ones Wrong Enough But We'll Assault Your Kids Anyway

A cop accused a fast food worker of short-changing him. Then he sprayed her in the face with mace. And it turns out she was right all along. [More]

What a big, brave man.

My favorite line:

"Officer McDonald was cleared of any wrongdoing."

Yes.

Of course he was.

[Via SayUncle]

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Night of the Evil Streets

Seven years ago, the streets swallowed up Clifton Montgomery and spat him into an Ohio prison after he was convicted of aggravated robbery and burglary...Money drove Montgomery, who was released from prison more than a month ago. Now he wants to steer youth away from the route he took.

Montgomery is one of many local people featured in Peace by Peace, an anti-gun violence documentary...

Yeah, the streets do that to me all the time, too. It's not like I have free will or anything.

Sorry, Clifton. You've only been out a month. You've got a lot of proving to do before I'll want you anywhere near me. In the meantime, if you don't mind, or especially if you do, I'll keep some firearms handy over here.

Just in case those streets work their mind-consuming magic on you again...

We're the Only Ones Off Duty Enough

A gun stolen from a high ranking San Antonio police officer's car is now in the hands of thieves.

It happened at Tokyo Steakhouse off of San Pedro Wednesday evening, while Deputy Chief Rudy Gonzales was at the restaurant off-duty.

Way to go, Rudy. Now, when some lowlife pops a cap into somebody with your negligently stored gun, maybe the San Antonio SWAT team can raid the wrong house again, and you can be out in front of the microphones swearing "everything was done by procedure."

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're NOT the Only Ones...

A 38-year-old man was kidnapped in front of his house Thursday morning by three men armed with guns and dressed as police, authorities confirmed.

And when you're conditioned to automatically submit to authority...

The 81-Year-Old Woman Could Only Watch Helplessly...

AN ELDERLY woman watched in terror as robbers shoved a gun in her son's mouth.

The 81-year-old woman could only watch helplessly after three men forced their way into her flat demanding cash and threatening her son at gunpoint.

What kind of sick control freak would demand a mother be helpless to protect her child? Or that a man should be helpless to protect his aged mother? And what degeneration of the human spirit must occur for sovereign, free-willed individuals to accept this as their lot in life?

Bloomberg Plots Surprise Suspension of 4th Amendment

As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained it, safety officers will use mobile scanners starting this spring, allowing them to make unannounced visits to city middle and high schools to check for weapons.

Students will be asked to go through detectors similar to those used in airports.

"Our reasons for doing this couldn't be clearer or more compelling," said Bloomberg. "We have zero tolerance for weapons of any kind in city schools."

Plus, our desire to indoctrinate them into the mindset of being inmates instead of citizens couldn't be more clear and compelling, either.

Any bets Mikey's taxpayer-funded bodyguards observe his zero tolerance policy when he visits a stalag...I mean...campus?

Mr. Darwin, the New Nominee Has Arrived...

Police officials said Barcott was visiting friends when he retrieved a gun and suggested they play Russian Roulette. He then loaded one bullet into the cylinder, spun it and closed it.

His friends told him not to fire, but Barcott put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, police officials said.

Maybe if California passed a law making it illegal to "sell a handgun to an individual under 21 years of age..."

What? They already did?

Then how did this happen?

Anti-Gun Film DOA

Guns are bad. They fire bullets. They hurt people.

That's the message "American Gun" hits its audience over the head with, using all the grace and finesse of a pistol whipping.

Boring, overbearing, repetitive and negative: Yep, sounds like the antis to me.

Suspect Restraining Techniques: An Open Inquiry

This is addressed to anyone who has knowledge and training in restraining suspects.

Look at the photo posted at here.

Is this a standard restraining technique for cuffed, prone suspects? Is there a name for this maneuver? Who teaches it?

I know LAPD was banned several years back from employing a chokehold, and there are guidelines specifying approved restraining techniques. Does anyone know of any reviewed and approved guidelines recommending the technique being employed in the photo, and if so, can you tell us the agencies that use it or provide documentation to substantiate it is a common and safe practice?

Proof--Say It Ain't So...

Word is hot all over the Detroit news that slain rapper Proof is actually the one who started the gun battle that ended with his death at an illegal Detroit, Michigan nightclub yesterday...

Who cares who started it? The point is, if it hadn't been for evil guns, we'd still have this role model elevating America's youth with such poetic inspiration as:

Just bring who you gon' bring on, who you gon' swing on?
I'm King Kong, guns blow you to king-dom come
Show you machine gun funk
Sixteen m-16's and one pump [click-clack]
The snub in my paw, shove it in your jaw
Have you runnin out this fuckin club in your drawers
We lovin the broads, there's nothin to applaud
But fuck it it's all good, the hood is up in The Source
It's fight music

Rest, my brother. God, I miss you so much.

No Guns Bank Robbed With No Gun

A man entered the bank and claimed to have a gun but didn't show one...

And it's a good thing he didn't! Fifth Third Bank doesn't allow guns!