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Archive for category Opinion
Supreme Court Needs To Clarify Second Amendment
From CATO:
While Heller clarified that the Second Amendment secures an individual right, the ruling left many questions about the scope of that right unanswered. Since then, several courts have made clear that they plan to take only as much from Heller as they absolutely have to.
Since Heller struck down D.C.’s ban on functional firearms in the home, recalcitrant courts pretend that the Second Amendment is limited to the right to keep arms and that legislatures can for very little (or no) reason to ignore the right to bear them outside the home.
6 Reasons to Own a Survival Bow & Arrow
Posted by Gary in News, Opinion, Warrior Tools on 22/Feb/2014 14:54
Interesting article on the use of a portable take-down bow from The Art of Manliness
The American Public’s Indifference to Foreign Affairs
“The American Public’s Indifference to Foreign Affairs is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
Last week, several events took place that were important to their respective regions and potentially to the world. Russian government officials suggested turning Ukraine into a federation, following weeks of renewed demonstrations in Kiev. The Venezuelan government was confronted with violent and deadly protests. Kazakhstan experienced a financial crisis that could have destabilized the economies of Central Asia. Russia and Egypt inked a significant arms deal. Right-wing groups in Europe continued their political gains.
Any of these events had the potential to affect the United States. At different times, lesser events have transfixed Americans. This week, Americans seemed to be indifferent to all of them. This may be part of a cycle that shapes American interest in public affairs. The decision to raise the debt ceiling, which in the last cycle gripped public attention, seemed to elicit a shrug. Read the rest of this entry »
“Common Sense” Regulations in Massachusetts
http://youtu.be/C7PJstjs17c
Massachusetts can pass all these (reasonable) impediments to purchasing a gun but when Texas requires a photo ID to vote that means the sky is falling.
Economist Recomends Bug-out Bag
Posted by Gary in News, Opinion, Threat Watch on 27/Dec/2013 10:58
From: Washington Examiner
I, along with many other economists, agree with many of the concerns expressed in these dire warnings. The growing debt and deficit spending is a tax on those holding dollars. The devaluation in the U.S. dollar risks the dollar’s status as the reserve currency of the world. Obamacare was the worst legislation in the past 75 years. Socialism is on the rise and the NSA really is abrogating vast portions of the Constitution. I don’t disagree with their concerns
Letter from Kurdistan
“Letter from Kurdistan is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By Reva Bhalla
At the edge of empires lies Kurdistan, the land of the Kurds. The jagged landscape has long been the scene of imperial aggression. For centuries, Turks, Persians, Arabs, Russians and Europeans looked to the mountains to buffer their territorial prizes farther afield, depriving the local mountain dwellers a say in whose throne they would ultimately bow to. Read the rest of this entry »
Keep Anti-gun Navy SEAL Off Of NRA Board
From the Bang Switch:
I don’t have all the solutions on this issue but I do know that I’m personally ready to compromise to limit mass shootings, and I’m ready to have an intelligent conversation on this issue.  If leading gun organizations like the NRA don’t take a leadership role in proposing realistic solutions, then they will have failed to truly represent gun owners. — Brandon Webb, Jan 9th 2013
If Guns Were Regulated Like Cars
Over at The Truth About Guns they make the argument that if guns were really regulated like cars the anti-gunners would be appalled.
- Car dealers don’t need to be licensed by the federal government. Gun dealers do.
- Car dealers don’t need to keep meticulous records of all transactions under penalty of law. Gun dealers do.
- Cars don’t require registration to own or licensing to operate. Neither do guns.
- Cars can legally be sold across state lines. Selling a gun across state lines is a felony.
- Driver’s licenses are valid in all states. Concealed carry licenses aren’t.
- I don’t need to tell the ATF when I take my short wheel-base car to another state. I do need to tell them when I take my SBR hunting rifle.
- Cars aren’t banned just because they look scary. “Assault weapons†are.
- I get a tax credit when I buy certain cars. I don’t get a tax credit for my new hunting rifle.
China’s Inevitable Changes
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 18/Nov/2013 08:57
“China’s Inevitable Changes is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By Rodger Baker and John Minnich
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will convene its Third Plenum meeting Nov. 9. During the three-day session, President Xi Jinping’s administration will outline core reforms to guide its policymaking for the next decade. The Chinese government would have the world believe that Xi’s will be the most momentous Third Plenary Session since December 1978, when former supreme leader Deng Xiaoping first put China on the path of economic reform and opening.
Whether or not Xi’s policies will be as decisive as Deng’s — or as disappointing as those of former President Hu Jintao — the president has little choice but to implement them. China’s current economic model, and by extension its political and social model, is reaching its limits just as it had prior to Deng’s administration. The importance of the upcoming meeting is that it comes at an inflection point for China, one that its leaders can hardly afford to ignore. Read the rest of this entry »
The Increasing Police State and Backlash
Posted by Brian in Law, Opinion, Threat Watch on 16/Nov/2013 08:56
From Reason.com:
The hidden secret of law enforcement is that it’s largely dependent on public cooperation. When laws have less than near-universal support—when they’re a majority preference jammed down the throats of the minority—they beg for defiance. Cops then are “forced” to become arm-twisters, trying to intimidate the minority into submission through increasingly brutal tactics, or else they just give up.
Analyzing Breaking Events
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 11/Nov/2013 08:43
By Scott Stewart
In last week’s Security Weekly, Tristan Reed and I provided a little bit of an “inside baseball” look at how we analyze the transnational criminal cartels in Mexico. We tried to explain some of the challenges that analysts face while analyzing a human network – Los Zetas in this instance — that is by its very nature a criminal and clandestine organization.
But cutting through the misinformation and disinformation surrounding murky human networks is not the only difficult task Stratfor analysts are faced with. Indeed, perhaps one of the most difficult things we are asked to do is untangle, decipher and contextualize breaking events for our readers and custom intelligence clients. Sometimes we are able to do so pretty well — a rapid reaction piece I wrote on Sept. 14, 2012, “Understanding What Went Wrong in Benghazi,” continues to be a highly read analysis. But on occasion, we’ve even fallen into the trap set by erroneous reporting. For example, our very first analysis on the attack in Benghazi incorrectly stated that the casualties were caused by rocket-propelled grenade attacks on the motorcade leaving the compound and that the incident was the result of violent protests over a derogatory movie about the Prophet Mohammed instead of a calculated assault by a well-trained and heavily armed militia. Read the rest of this entry »
Geopolitical Intelligence, Political Journalism and ‘Wants’ vs. ‘Needs’
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 4/Nov/2013 08:38
By David D. Judson
Just last week, the question came again. It is a common one, sometimes from a former colleague in newspaperdom, sometimes from a current colleague here at Stratfor and often from a reader. It is always to the effect of, “Why is Stratfor so often out of sync with the news media?” All of us at Stratfor encounter questions regarding the difference between geopolitical intelligence and political journalism. One useful reply to ponder is that in conventional journalism, the person providing information is presumed to know more about the subject matter than the reader. At Stratfor, the case is frequently the opposite: Our readers typically are expert in the topics we study and write about, and our task is to provide the already well-informed with further insights. But the question is larger than that.
For as the camp of those who make their living selling — or trying to sell — words and images grows exponentially via the Internet, the placement of one’s electronically tethered tent takes on a new importance. This campsite has its own ecology, something scholars have taken to calling the “media ecosystem.” We co-exist in this ecosystem, but geopolitical intelligence is scarcely part of the journalistic flora and fauna. Our uniqueness creates unique challenges, and these are worth some discussion in this space that is generally devoted to more specific geopolitical themes. Read the rest of this entry »
Mexico’s Zetas Are Not Finished Yet
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 2/Nov/2013 08:08
“Mexico’s Zetas Are Not Finished Yet is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By Scott Stewart and Tristan Reed
During the question-and-answer portion of our quarterly Mexico Security Monitor webinar, we were asked a question pertaining to the current status of Los Zetas. The question was something to the effect of: “Some Mexican media outlets and analysts claim that Los Zetas have been dismantled as an organization and are now little more than a ‘ragtag operation.’ Why do you disagree with that assessment?”
This question apparently came in response to our quarterly cartel report (an abbreviated version is available here), in which we wrote that despite the leadership losses suffered by Los Zetas, including the arrest of their leader, Miguel “Z-40” Trevino Morales, there were no signs that other leaders were challenging the current leader and Miguel’s brother, Omar Trevino Morales. We also wrote that we believed Los Zetas have maintained their operational capabilities in terms of drug smuggling and other criminal activity, and that they have retained the ability to defend their operations and to continue conducting offensive operations deep in their rivals’ territory. Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. Foreign Policy from the Founders’ Perspective
“U.S. Foreign Policy from the Founders’ Perspective is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By George Friedman
Last week I discussed how the Founding Fathers might view the American debt crisis and the government shutdown. This week I thought it would be useful to consider how the founders might view foreign policy. I argued that on domestic policy they had clear principles, but unlike their ideology, those principles were never mechanistic or inflexible. For them, principles dictated that a gentleman pays his debts and does not casually increase his debts, the constitutional provision that debt is sometimes necessary notwithstanding. They feared excessive debt and abhorred nonpayment, but their principles were never completely rigid.
Whenever there is a discussion of the guidelines laid down by the founders for American foreign policy, Thomas Jefferson’s admonition to avoid foreign entanglements and alliances is seen as the founding principle. That seems reasonable to me inasmuch as George Washington expressed a similar sentiment. So while there were some who favored France over Britain during the French Revolutionary Wars, the main thrust of American foreign policy was neutrality. The question is: How does this principle guide the United States now? Read the rest of this entry »