Link Me Up, Scotty - Weapons and Destruction Edition

Tuesday, December 8, 2015
The Muslim community here in the U.S. feels compelled to condemn bad behavior by members of its community as soon as possible. Why they choose to do this should be painfully, embarrassingly, obvious.
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Analysis on why your guns are not going to allow you to resist the government and other logical fallacies. There are a number of logically sound and defensible arguments in opposition of gun control, but this is not one of them. Using it as such makes you sound like an ignorant yokel.
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Speaking of Muslims and the San Bernardino shooting, they're raising money for the victim's families, as well.
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When even Exxon/Mobil is issuing dire warnings about climate change, you know we're well and truly fucked.
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Talking productively about guns and gun control isn't easy, and most partisans are hacks with nothing to say. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's sick to death of it.
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The Department of Justice has opened a wide ranging investigation into the Chicago Police Department as a result of a pattern of misconduct, racial profiling, and the use of deadly force. This is going to suck for the CPD, in the same way the Tailhook investigation sucked for those of us on active duty during that embarrassing time. But you know what? The Navy was a very different place post-Tailhook, a much better place, and I hope that the CPD will find itself in similar circumstances after the DOJ is done and reforms are put in place.
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New Popehat contributor Marc Randazza takes on the idea of 'safe spaces' and how academia doesn't provide them for conservatives, only for liberals. Speaking as a dirty, dirty liberal, I totally agree with Mr. Randazza on this point. I think "safe spaces" should be reserved for support groups, not politics, and it's ridiculous for there to be systemic stifling of free speech in an academic environment, regardless of which end of the spectrum is speaking. If you have an opinion and you choose to express it, you should NOT be prevented from doing so. The other side of that coin, of course, is that you should NOT be protected from the social consequences of your choice. No one should pull punches in refuting your idea, and if your idea is stupid/racist/illogical/unserious, then you shouldn't be surprised when people say so. And none of this speech should be censored, and no one should be shielded from it, especially in college. Grow an intellectual pair, why don't you, and gird your loins for battle in the marketplace of ideas. Complaints that someone's idea hurt your fee-fees do not go very far in discrediting those ideas or convincing others to your point of view.
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Neil Peart, one of the best drummers in several generations, has formally announced his retirement. Neil's not a young man anymore, and his music is very physically demanding, so I get why he's making this choice. He wants to spend time with his family, and the same is true of his band-mates. It's just the end of an era for me, as Rush's Moving Pictures tour was the first rock concert I ever went to. The Smart Man and I have also tried to attend their shows whenever they were in town, including their 40th Anniversary Tour just a few months ago. They're getting old, and by extension, I guess that means I am, too.

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