From Facebook:
Uncategorized
Arming teachers
Currently, there are twelve shall issue states where the law allows teachers with concealed weapons permits to carry weapons at school. How many shootings have taken place on campus while students were present in those states since those laws were passed?
Hypothesis:
Does allowing teachers who have concealed weapons permits affect the number of school shootings?
Methods:
I wanted to control the variables, so here is how I made sure that there were as few variables as possible:
Any shooting that happened before the law passed was excluded, as were shootings that took place while there were no students or teachers present (like nights and weekends), shootings by police officers where the subject who was shot was not armed, or shootings that took place off campus (such as the street in front of the campus).
I also excluded shootings that occurred at colleges, because I think that college carry includes the possibility that students are carrying, and that is outside of the scope of what I wanted to study with this post.
These exclusions eliminated
I looked up each state, when the law arming teachers passed, and then looked up when and where school shootings took place.
This is what I found:
Ten states have armed teachers on campus, and have not had a single recorded school shooting since the law arming teachers was passed: Alabama, Kansas, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Mississippi(1) and Oregon (1) each had one shooting that fit the criteria.
Conclusion
Twelve states. Two shootings. We need to stop making decisions based upon “common sense” and on emotion, and instead look at the data. Look at what the facts are telling you. We know that the current scheme of “gun free school zones” isn’t making our schools gun free or shooting free. Perhaps there is a better way.
Teachers have been finger printed and background checked.
People with concealed weapons permits have been fingerprinted and background checked.
In fact, teachers have been more thoroughly checked out than have police officers.
In the state of Florida, a police officer is required to demonstrate proficiency with a firearm by putting 32 out of 40 rounds on target in a certain set of conditions. So perhaps a teacher with a CCW permit who can pass the above test could carry a firearm on school grounds.
Here is that qualification test:
- 4 rounds at less than 3 yards in 8 seconds from holster
- 6 rounds in 3 seconds at 3 yards
- draw and fire 6 rounds in 12 seconds at 7 yards
- draw and fire 3 rounds in 5 seconds at 7 yards
- draw and fire 12 rounds in 45 seconds with a mandatory reload at 7 yards
- draw and fire 6 rounds in 30 seconds at 15 yards
A passing score is hitting the target 32 out of 40 times. A hit is any hit inside of the torso or head (4 or 5 zone) of a B21 target. The B21 target is a target designed for 25 yard shooting, and is being used here at ranges from 1 to 15 yards. It is difficult to miss.
For those of you who do not shoot, this is a pretty easy standard to meet, but if teachers could meet this standard and have a concealed weapons permit, what is the difference between a them and an armed school resource officer?
Uncategorized
Nasty
Recently, a video surfaced of a contract employee at Disney mopping a table with the same mop that was being used to clean the floor. See for yourself:
During the mid 90’s, I worked for the Disney company for about three months as one of the electricians who maintained the animatronic figures. We once had an employee management meeting where the executives told us that Disney’s goal was to have no permanent, full time employees by the year 2010. The idea was that we would be replaced by contract workers who would be provided by subcontractors.
This would allow Disney to employ illegal immigrants with plausible deniability, as Disney can claim that they hired the subcontractor and didn’t know that the employees of that subcontractor were illegals. They would save money through lower wages and not having to provide benefits. Under the ACA, this is even more attractive.
What you see here is a direct result of that policy. A contract employee has no pride in ownership
Uncategorized
Trump
I am registered as an independent voter. I have not considered myself a Republican for years, mostly due to the fact that there is no functional difference between the two major parties. For that reason, I have to stake in the Trump versus Cruz, versus whoever race that the Republicans are so busy destroying their party over.
What I *do* have a stake in, is in deciding which candidate will get my vote, come November. My choice is apparently going to be Trump or Clinton. I really have little idea as where Trump truly stands on the issues, but I do know a few things:
1 Clinton is directly opposed to me and my political views in EVERY single case where I have an opinion.
2 Clinton and her supporters absolutely HATE Trump. they hate him so much that they are willing to commit violence to stop him.
3 Mexico has committed what is, in my opinion, an act of war in meddling in the internal affairs of this nation. This should be dealt with using sanctions and other means, if not by the current President, then by Trump himself, should he win the election.
While it is true that someone being an enemy of your enemy is not proof that they are your friend, it is also true that your enemy *is* your enemy, and it is better to vote for a temporary ally than it is your enemy. Anyone who is hated THAT much by the Republican establishment that brought us Romney and Christie, the Clintons, the BLM movement, the Press, and other assorted idiots cannot be ALL bad.
For that reason, I will gladly select Trump over Clinton, even without knowing how he will act once in office.
Uncategorized
Violence in schools
This is what it is like to be a teacher in many of our schools. Behold the state of American public schools:
Why do teachers have to put up with this? Why aren’t these ne’er do wells being expelled? What are the odds that this violent child will become a doctor?
Uncategorized
Concealed weapons permit numbers
Last February 28th, there were 1,374,341 concealed weapons permits in the state of Florida. A year later, there are now 1,529,132 Florida concealed weapons permits. That is an eleven percent increase from just a year ago. The wait for a new permit is longer than the 90 days permitted by Florida law, but the backlog is due to the large numbers of applications that are being processed. One in 10.3 adults in the state of Florida have a concealed weapons permit.
My own permit expires this June, and I am going in to the licensing office this week to renew it.
Uncategorized
Convention shenanigans
In support of my opinion that the powers that be select our politicians for us and our votes don’t matter, I would like to point you to the 2012 Republican convention, held right up the street from me in Tampa.
During that convention, Mitt Romney’s supporters wanted to change the rules for delegates in order to freeze out the delegates who wanted to vote for Ron Paul. When the rule change was voted on, Boehner declared that the rule change passed, and the Republicans were so convinced of the outcome of the vote, it was preprinted on Boehner’s TelePrompTer.
There you have it. Since 2010, I have been saying this:
Just because the Democrats are your enemy does not make the Republicans your friends, and just because the Democrats are lying does not mean that the Republicans are telling the truth.
Both parties are incredibly corrupt, and blinded by money and power
Uncategorized
Cracks in opposition to SCOTUS
This right here is why voters are selecting Trump. When the Republican party cannot even oppose a lame duck President’s election year SCOTUS appointment of a liberal anti-gunner, they have become indistinguishable from the Democrats.
Voters are fed up, and they are preparing to nuke the site from orbit.
It’s the only way to be sure.
Uncategorized
Record turnout
In Florida, there were no Presidential primaries before 1972. The turnout in primaries has been spotty at best, with voter turnout not being more than 45% since 1980, the year that Reagan was in the race. In fact, the last primary where there were candidates running in both parties was 2008, with a turnout of 42%.
This year, turnout is estimated to have been 46%. That is more remarkable, considering that Republican turnout was 103,288 in Orange County, putting Republican turnout at 51.3%. Democrat turnout was 104,441, putting Democrat turnout at only 35.8%.
Trump seems to be energizing the Republican base. Hillary does not.
Uncategorized
Out of body experience
According to psychologists, scents are the most powerful of triggers for memory. This happens due to the anatomy of the brain: the olfactory bulb, which processes scents in the brain, is located right next to the amygdala and hippocampus, which are the parts of the brain that control emotion and memory. There are no other senses whose signals pass through these parts of the brain. This means that the memories the we have that are attached to a particular scent are the most emotionally powerful memories that we have.
I have known this for years, but I got to experience it for the first time today. My fiance and I were shopping to buy me some new after shave, and she had me smelling different ones that had been sprayed on sample cards. I smelled one, and I had an immediate flashback. It was the most powerful and stunning memory that I have ever experienced.
A true out of body experience. In an instant, I was no longer standing in the store. I was standing in my boyhood home, I was 12 years old, and I was hugging my father. The smell of my father tickled my nose. The experience was complete: the smell, the sounds, the sights. I was once again a 12 year old boy who was hugging his father. My father has been dead for more than a decade.
I looked to my right at where I knew my fiance was standing, and I remember croaking out, “It’s my father.” Then I was back. the flashback was over, and it had only lasted for 2 or 3 seconds, but it was emotionally stunning. I broke out into tears, and it took me a minute or two to come to my senses and realize that it was not really happening. I left the store shaking.
This flashback was by far the most powerful memory that I have ever experienced, and it was all triggered by the smell of an aftershave. My fiance asked me if I wanted that one, and I told her no. I will be sure to avoid that one in the future.