Excellent piece on Gun Violence, Domestic Terror and Military Adventure

7 Comments

1. 

   Oui on December 5, 2015 at 1:21 pm

   New York Times takes a position in gun debate | De Volkskrant |

    « click for image front page NY Times - June 18, 1920
   NY Times: "The Nomination of Harding"  

   ○ NY Times headines with President Harding

   See front page story by BooMan – NYT’s Page One Editorial Against Guns

2. 

   Oui on December 5, 2015 at 3:56 pm

   Obama: It’s ‘insane’ that people on the ‘no-fly’ list can buy guns | CNN News |

   President Barack Obama said Saturday that it is “insane” that people who are not allowed to fly on planes are allowed to buy guns.

   “Right now, people on the No-Fly list can walk into a store and buy a gun. That is insane. If you’re too dangerous to board a plane, you’re too dangerous, by definition, to buy a gun,” he said in his weekly address. “And so I’m calling on Congress to close this loophole, now. We may not be able to prevent every tragedy, but — at a bare minimum — we shouldn’t be making it so easy for potential terrorists or criminals to get their hands on a gun that they could use against Americans.”

   Republicans have leveled withering criticism of Obama for tying the massacre to gun control. And also for not, in their view, playing up the terror aspect most immediately.

   Obama’s Resigned Anger After San Bernardino | The Atlantic |

   ○ NRA, Republicans block proposed law to stop suspected terrorists from buying guns in U.S. | Source: NY Daily News | Nov. 18, 2015 |
   • 

     RidgeCook on December 6, 2015 at 7:21 pm

     I’m afraid I have to agree with the Republicans on this, as much as it pains me.

     The current Supreme Court has ruled there is a Constitutional right to firearm ownership, just as it ruled that Obamacare is legal.  You can’t accept the authority of the Court in one instance and deny it in another.  If the court changes or a Constitutional Amd passes, then circumstances will change.

     The current “watchlist” proposal will deny a Constitutional Right to ownership based ONLY on a secret list compiled in secret by secret people.  The ACLU estimates that there are over 1 mill. people on that list.  If 1% are US citizens, then over 100,000 Americans will be denied their rights for no other reason than an entry on that list (which has been know for a decade to be wildly inaccurate).  

     If one is comfortable with that, then what other rights can be curtailed based on a list?

     Ridge

3. 

   Oui on December 5, 2015 at 4:25 pm

   Man hugged girl, 7, at soccer practice, then killed her

   Emma Watson Nowling took a quick break from soccer practice Thursday night to greet a man walking by the sidelines.

   “Little Emma went up and gave the guy a hug,” Emma’s soccer coach, Mario Scicluna, said.

    « click for more info
   Emma Watson Nowling, 7, died after neing shot, along with her mother (Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Police Department)

   Later that night, that man, Timothy Nelson Obeshaw, shot 7-year-old Emma and her mother, 37-year-old Sharon Elizabeth Watson, in the parking lot of the Taylor Sportsplex before turning his 9mm pistol on himself, according to Taylor police. Authorities described Obeshaw as a family friend.

   ○ How release of mental patients began NY Times | Oct. 30, 1984 |
   ○ Reagan’s New Federalism and Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981
4. 

   Oui on December 5, 2015 at 11:01 pm

   Assad exit not necessary for Syria transition, says Fabius | France24 |

   In an interview published on Saturday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he no longer believes that Bashar al-Assad’s departure is a necessary requirement before a political transition can get under way in Syria.

   “A united Syria implies a political transition. That does not mean that Bashar al-Assad must leave even before the transition, but there must be assurances for the future,” Fabius told the French regional newspaper Le Progrès.

   France’s top diplomat underscored that “the fight against Daesh is crucial, but it will only be totally effective if all the Syrian and regional forces are united”, he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (IS) group.

   The comments mark a change in France’s position on the Syrian president, as it has previously demanded the removal of Assad, describing him as a “butcher” of his own people.

   But there had been signs Paris might moderate its position as its priority shifted to tackling the IS group which carried out the Paris attacks last month.

   Making matters worse – France arms delivery to Syrian rebels

   France in particular – no doubt prompted by Saudi Arabia and Qatar – has played a crucial role in arming the Syrian opposition over the last few years. Throughout this time, as various groups – including what the US and its allies insist calling `moderate Islamists’ (in other words, allies of al Qa’eda) – have lost ground to IS, these weapons have found their way into the latter’s hands. At a time when Hollande is talking of waging war, we should remind French citizens and the rest of the world who armed Islamic State.

   Furthermore, now that France has declared “war” on IS, promising to “destroy the organisation”, will the French president take the necessary preliminary steps? Will he end France’s arms deals with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the main backers of Islamic State? Will he call on France’s allies to impose sanctions against those countries that openly finance and arm IS – notably Turkey, Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Persian Gulf?

   Paris: The War ISIS Wants

   ○ Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria | NY Times – October 2012
   ○ French aircraft carrier to move to Gulf ‘in a few days’, says Hollande

   My earlier diaries:
   ○ Failed ME Foreign Policy – More Terror, More Backlash.
   ○ Obama Sidelined on Syria, Hollande and King Abdullah Deliver Arms to Syrian Rebels

5. 

   Oui on December 12, 2015 at 11:45 am

   Obama a symbol of gun control? LMAO

   Dealer: Gun linked to Paris attack came through Delray firm

   A gun linked to the Paris terror attacks that left 130 people dead and wounded 368 others has been traced back to a Florida arms dealer. It is the same arms dealer that sold arms to the Contras of Nicaragua at the time the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal.

   The revelation came during an interview with the head of a Serbian arms factory, who said the M92 semi-automatic pistol’s serial number was the same as one that his company delivered to an American online arms dealer, Century International Arms, in May 2013.

   “[It] is a semi-automatic weapon, a hunting and a sporting weapon … cannot fire barrage fire, only single shots … which are legal in America,” Milojko Brzakovic, head of the Zastava arms factory, told the Associated Press.  

   ○ Gun in Paris terror attacks linked to ‘Iran-Contra’ Florida arms dealer | RT |
   ○ WASR-10 produced by Century International Arms found repeatedly at crime scenes Mexican drugs war
   ○ Century International Arms Inc. $256,382.42 Contract Issued by Department of the Army – Aug. 2012

6. 

   Oui on December 14, 2015 at 3:55 am

   Romanian weapons modified in the U.S. become scourge of Mexican drug war

   The Romanian AKs — sold by Florida-based Century International Arms as the WASR-10 — have become the most common gun purchased in the United States since 2006 to be traced to crimes in Mexico, according to a review by the Center for Public Integrity.

   The article goes on to say that the expiration of the domestic “assault-weapons ban” means U.S.-made guns can have features such as threaded muzzles, folding or collapsing stocks and bayonet lugs. But since the import laws continue to restrict those features, Century threads the muzzles and welds on and machines new bayonet lugs after they have entered the United States.

   The rifle also comes with a batch of accessories, including two 30-round magazines, and a bayonet, according to the American Rifleman report.

   …
   A picture of the X Caliber storefront in Phoenix, Ariz. The store was shuttered after authorities arrested owner George Iknadosian for conspiracy, money laundering and fraud, among other alleged crimes. The charges against him were later dismissed.

   Credit: ATFA group of more than 50 mostly-Democratic members of Congress, led by then-House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere subcommittee chairman Eliot Engel, wrote Obama in February 2009 that the ATF’s interpretation of the law and its reaction to the reality of the situation has effectively abrogated the ban on imported non-sporting weapons. A similar letter was written just this week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

   The lawmakers claim that Obama could close the existing loopholes using executive powers — and avoid a battle over gun-control legislation with congressional Republicans. But the President, they say, seems unwilling to do so.