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Interesting Map

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So I stumbled across this from Kiro TV in Seattle today.

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That is the distribution of CPL licenses by zip code.  The deeper the red, the more self reliant the community.  What I found interesting is major urban area’s had a much lower rate, with Seattle having a rate as low as 1%.  What is most telling about that though is that when you get into the rural areas there is a realization you cannot depend on the police.  I’m not making that up either:

“People understand it might take a while for the sheriff to get to Lyman,” Hills insisted.

Mayor Debbie Heinzman also runs the local tavern. She agrees that “everybody has guns” in Lyman to protect themselves and their property.

Next I’d like to see a map that overlays property and violent crime rates by zip code.  Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but I think it would still be an interesting thing to see.  Doubly so since I’m sure it would counter the “more guns equals more crime” myth as well as the “concealed carry means blood in the streets” myth.

I’m reasonably sure this would be the case because:

KIRO 7 Investigators calculated only 2.8 percent of Seattle residents, overall, have sought the right to carry.

In the six zip codes to the east of I-5 (the International District to Capitol Hill, to north of the UW) the number is even lower — just 1.6 percent.

I lived in Seattle for 2 years in the U-District and there wasn’t really a day that went by that I didn’t hear about either violent crime or property crime.  There is an anomaly in that theory as Kent, which is not exactly the nicest part of the area, has a carry rate equal to where I live.  Even worse is Tacoma, which high urban area also has a much higher carry rate than the state average.

So when you pull all that in, it’s like the gun is merely a tool and what really matters are the people carrying it and what their intent is.

SSCC #444–NYPD

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I saw this last week and I kept trying to come up with something to put with it and then a reader bumped it to me over the weekend.  This one is just disturbing in so many ways.

A New York City police officer who allegedly planned to kidnap, cook and eat as many 100 women has been arrested following a joint NYPD and FBI investigation.

This one makes the count because of the following:

Gilberto Valle III, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to a federal criminal complaint, as well was using the National Crime Information Center database to access unauthorized data.

This is why I have serious issues with databases created even with the most noble of intentions.  Just because the intent is good at the beginning or even the majority of users doesn’t mean that it cannot be turned by one individual set upon evil.  The details are just sickening.

It makes me wonder if he came across this(NSFW, Not Safe For Work, seriously do NOT click at work!  What can I say? GBC has corrupted me.) and didn’t realize that was all fake.

This is disturbing and sickening on so many levels.

State Sponsored Criminal #444: Gilberto Valle

Because the state exists to enable criminals and cannibals to find their unwitting victims to prey upon.

via Lone Wanderer for the reminder.

Stuff is Stuff…

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I got an email from my mom about a friend, our parents also happen to be friends, I went to high school with who is currently living in New York.  I was thinking most of my friends made it through this without much of a problem, evidently not so.

Would you please let everyone know that Heather is okay.   She lost everything last night to the 12 foot storm surge but is safe.  They stayed in their house and had to sit out the storm on the second floor. The fires in the Breezy Point neighborhood were just across the road and luckily didn’t get to her side of the street.  Things are still burning but they have it under control.   There isn’t any way to contact her as they are trying to conserve their phone power since there won’t be any electricity for several days.

I’m glad she’s OK and while she may have lost possessions, she at least came out alive and didn’t have to deal with fire compounding her issues.  I don’t know how prepared she was to deal with the aftermath, hopefully this overall is just a bump in the road.

Take stock of what you have and be thankful.

This has to be some sort of sick joke…

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First, this video describes my emotional state quite well right now.

Now why would I have Nerd Rage right now?  Well, the wife just sent me this:

The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday it is acquiring Lucasfilm LTD and will produce a seventh “Star Wars” film, targeted to come out in 2015.

I’ve checked my calendar 15 times, it still doesn’t say April 1st on it, because honestly if this was I’d be laughing.  But don’t worry, it’s not just Episode VII coming out!

“Star Wars: Episode VII” is targeted for release in 2015, with Lucas serving as a creative consultant. More feature films are expected to continue the saga.

What The !@#$ is left to tell!?  Seriously, you went back and told the story of the rise of the evil empire, which honestly lets admit it, could have been left to our imaginations.  George went and remastered the originals  screwing them to the point where he attempted to claim that Han didn’t shoot first.  We all know that’s a LIE.

Seriously how badly do they have to kill this series?  Seriously WTFO?!

Continuing on My Series About the Food Chain

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So I saw this today and wanted to make a quote of the day but just couldn’t figure out how.  The stupid is so heavy it hurts.

An Irvine resident is requesting that the city install a sign to memorialize the hundreds of fish killed in a traffic crash in early October as they were being taken to Irvine Ranch Market.

In the letter, Dina Kourda, on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, asks the city’s street maintenance superintendent to place the sign at the site of the crash on Walnut and Yale avenues.

I think my favorite though was this quote from the boy genius himself:

“Research tells us that fish use tools, tell time, sing, and have impressive long-term memories and complex social structures, yet fish used for food are routinely crushed, impaled, cut open, and gutted, all while still conscious. Sparing them from being tossed from a speeding truck and slowly dying from injuries and suffocation seems the least that we can do,” the letter continued.

Tell me, what hands do the fish use to pick up their “tools”?  They were food there sport and while you may be well intentioned, the fact is, death is a part of life and humans are omnivores.  That’s right, we eat both plants and animals.  You do realize a plant is a living organism too right?  It is the behavior of people like you who have created an environment where things like this occur.  Today I got a new one to add to the list.

Berlin authorities say they shot and killed a 120 kilogram (265-pound) wild boar after it attacked and injured four people including a police officer in a residential neighborhood.

I’m sure that Mr. Kourda weeps for the wild boar, that could have easily killed someone, and I’m sure he wishes that they erect a sign to remember the boar time immemorial.  This is what happens when animals stop viewing you as a predator.  We, as a species, have progressed to the point where many just go to the store and pick up food.  Many, like Mr. Kourda feel that it is no longer necessary to kill animals for food.

Well, here’s a random though, that pile of grain you eat because it’s not from the back of an animal?  How many mice were killed to prevent them from eating it so it can be on your table?  Say you avoid producers and go “organic” which doesn’t use pesticide or kill the little vermin, the reason for the higher costs, which not everyone can afford, is because the lower crop yield due to the pests.

Tell me, what about mouse infestations in your house?  See I live on the edge of town surrounded by farm fields.  The little bastards have chewed their way into my crawlspace and now into my house.  Would you like to put up memorials for all the mice I’ve had to kill Mr. Kourda?  They bring with them disease and damage to property.  Hire an exterminator I hear you say?

Well I’ve done exactly that, and they poison the little bastards so that people like you can think that they’ve just ran off to live somewhere else.  That way you don’t their handy work, or in this case my handy work.

We have been steadily removing ourselves as being a predator in the pool of animals.  Many, like Mr. Kourda would like to forcefully prevent those who still act predatory to stop.  The thing is, just because we stop being predatory, doesn’t mean other animals won’t view us as prey.

If you would like to voultarily vacate your position at the top of the food chain, that’s your choice.  Me, I’m going to stay right here at the top and keep my family and my self free from disease and vermin while keeping them healthy and well fed.

Over Reliance Can Get You Killed…

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Over reliance on both the government and technology can get you killed.  Why would I combine the two, well fearless leader has an over reliance on technology which he then passed onto his drones in the middle of a disaster area.

When President Barack Obama urged Americans under siege from Hurricane Sandy to stay inside and keep watch on ready.gov for the latest, he left out something pretty important — where to turn if the electricity goes out.

Despite the heightened expectation of widespread power and cable television failures, everyone from the president to local newscasters seem to expect the public to rely entirely on the Internet and their TVs for vital news and instructions.

Because complex interconnected systems are reliable when operating out of the their normal range of operation?  Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to say that social media and the internet isn’t a tool worthy of use or note.  What I am saying is it is not the only tool in the tool box.  Seriously, if you’re power goes out, the only internet connection you’d have left is your smart phone.  Smart phone batteries don’t last forever, especially after you take an update from Google and removes battery saving features, I digress.

The point is  about the most reliable form of emergency communication is radio.  Period, full stop, end of discussion.  AM Radios can be built that do not require extensive antennas or even batteries.  I have handheld HAM radios that no only work on the HAM bands but can also receive shortwave radio sent from thousands of miles away.

That’s the thing about radio, it can be broadcast from outside the disaster area.  All you need within the disaster area is a capable receiver, which most are small compact, and some are even battery free.  Take these for example that I found on Amazon* (not visible in RSS).

[amazon_enhanced asin=”B00658Z3UI” /]

[amazon_enhanced asin=”B0071BTJPI” /]

Reliance on cellphones, while you can certainly get [amazon_link id=”B007CGTUG0″ target=”_blank” ] hand crank chargers[/amazon_link] doesn’t mean your cell towers will stay in operation.  Cellular signals are on a shorter wavelength and will not travel as far.  Now most cellular sites have 72 hours of emergency power, but this also assumes their back haul remains active and intact.

I find it unbelievable how over reliant people are on technology to protect them and save them.  Yes it can help you survive, but just like a firearm it isn’t some magic talisman that will save you.  You need to understand how it works so you know it’s limitations.  You need to be familiar with how it can fail so you know what you need to do for plan B or C.

Yes you may not be able to communicate out for help but I have some bad news on the cell phone front during a disaster.  It will probably fail, like it has done in NYC.  Even if you have signal it probably wont work.  For example during the Nisqually Quake in 2001 communications throughout the Puget Sound went down, even emergency dispatch centers lost their primary radios.  Cell phones for the most part were dead, mainly because they were jammed with people trying to communicate in the area.    I got lucky and was able to make a connection to a location 300 miles away, local calls I got nothing.

The key is this, do not count on anything that requires established infrastructure in an emergency.  You could easily lose radio towers however, temporary antennas are easily set up to replace them.  This again was proven during the Nisqually Quake when emergency HAM nets were activated and operationally moving traffic throughout the Puget Sound in under 30 minutes after the quake.

So, have a plan, plan on that plan failing.  No plan survives first contact with the enemy.  Being able to communicate out is a very nice tool to have, but for most instances you just need to be able to hear and receive traffic.

*This is not an endorsement of these products, I have not used them.