THEN THEY CAME FOR THE COPS: CALIFORNIA AIMS TO HALT POLICE PISTOL CARVE-OUT

A bill introduced in the California State Legislature last week will strip the exemption enjoyed by peace officers in the Golden State that allows them to buy “off-roster” handguns for personal use.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley-area Democrat, filed SB 377 on Feb. 9. The measure will both prevent law enforcement officers from being able to purchase pistols that are not on the state’s Roster of Certified Handguns, and eliminate the LE exemption from California’s controversial 10-day waiting period. In Skinner’s eyes, both are loopholes that are being exploited.

“Law enforcement officers are not allowed to purchase other illegal products in the state,” said Skinner in a statement. “Guns should be no different.”

Good!

Cops shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns that every other civilian can’t own.

They can be issued whatever duty weapon their department wants, but they should have absolutely no right to purchase a personal weapon that is anything that other civilians cannot personally purchase.

That is equality under the law.

No special privileges for badge holders.

If the Cops want to buy unrestricted personal weapons they can lobby for those guns to come off restrictions.

Until then, Fuck ’em.

Must Watch: Teen saves man and dog from an icy lake — and a drone caught it all

After a Jeep fell through the ice Saturday, 17-year-old Joe Salmon jumped into the water to save Thomas Lee, 83, and his dog Cooper, 6, who were trapped.

Lee was heading to his son-in-law’s fishing shack when his car fell through the ice, about 200 miles northwest of Des Moines.

“I want to thank the people who helped and the store that took the dog in and dried him off,” Lee said.

Corey McConnell, 30; Kody Harrelson, 26; Cody Chester, 27; and Chris Parks, 27; also helped pull the man and dog to safety, the sheriff’s office post said.

Salmon — a wrestler, football player and track runner — was ice fishing with his mother while watching snowmobile races on East Okoboji Lake when he saw the Jeep around 3 p.m.

Salmon grabbed his phone and dialed 911. Lee appeared to be in shock as Salmon and the four others told him to get out, he said. Then he heard someone say something was moving in the back.

“I took one step and [the water] went to about my chest,” he said. “I got on the bumper of the rear and tried opening the back door, but all the windows were locked, but one guy gave me a knife and I hit the back glass a couple of times.”

The young man, Joe Salmon, had the will and wherewithal to rush towards to danger to help someone but had to borrow a tool to do that.

I don’t know how kids are raised up north, but as a Miami boy I was raised to always have something capable of breaking a car window and cutting a seat belt on me or in my car.

That’s because there are so many canals in Miami that going off the road and into a canal and drowning is a real possibility.  It happens multiple times every year.

I would take that same attitude and multiply it a thousand times if I were driving on ice over a lake.

As the motto of the US  Coast Guard goes: Semper Paratus.

It’s the same motto as the Boy Scouts: Be Prepared.

There is no more critical and valuable tool in your tool box than a quality knife.

If you can, multi-tool or Swiss Army style knife is better, but have the tool on hand you need for emergency extrication.

Good job Mr. Salmon.  Now somebody buy him a quality knife.

B.L.U.F. Everytown out maneuvered Second Amendment supporters but managed an own goal by exposing a nasty biased Judge sitting on the Oregon Circuit Court.

H/T. to B.zH who made me spend to much time doing research. Enjoy.

Each person enlisting in an armed force shall take the following oath:

“I, ____________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

10 U.S. Code §892 – Art. 92. Failure to obey order or regulation

Any person subject to this chapter who–

1. violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation;
2. having knowledge of any other lawful order issued by a member of the armed forces, which it is his duty to obey, fails to obey the order; or
3. is derelict in the performance of his duties;

shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

One of the differences in our military traditions is that “I was just following orders.” is not an acceptable excuse. You have to be following lawful orders. Determining what is an is not a lawful order is what gets people in trouble.

An order given by a superior is presumed to be lawful. Regardless, if U.S. Military personal follow an order that is later determined to be unlawful, they can be court-martialed and punished.

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Oregan: Oath of Office:

OATH OF OFFICE
I, __________________, being first duly sworn, as a Deputy Sheriff, upon oath say and affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Oregon, the Clackamas County Code, and all the laws thereof, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties in accordance with the lawful policies and procedures of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

I hold my position and authority on behalf of the people. Through my professional and personal example, I shall uphold the public trust and meet the public’s high expectations of me through my observance of the Criminal Justice Code of Ethics.

In reverence for the law, I shall conduct my duties in good faith, with honesty, courage, and justice, to the best of my ability. In so doing, I shall build the peoples’ trust and confidence in my position. I shall never betray them by willfully abusing my powers, authority, or knowledge.

So what does it actually mean if a County passes an ordinance that says, in short “Follow the Law of the Land?”

In 2018 Columbia County passed Initiative Measure 5-270 (“SAPO”) and then in 2020 Initiative Measure 5-278 (“SASO”).

In April of 2021 three members of county, supported by lawyers from Everytown filed suit to have these ordenances overturned as “unconstitutional and inconsistent with federal and Oregon law”.

These two initiatives where then combined as ordinance no 2021-1 by the Board of Commissioners for Columbia County, Oregon.
Ordinance No. 2021-1

PROHIBITIONS

1. No agent, employee, or official of Columbia County, a political subdivision of the State of Oregon, while acting in their official capacity, shall:
   1. Knowingly and willingly, participate in any way in the enforcement of any Extraterritorial Act, as defined herein; or
   2. Utilize any assets, county funds, or funds allocated by any entity to the county, in whole or in part, to engage in activity that aids in the enforcement or investigation related to personal firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition.
   3. Authorize or appropriate governmental funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers or offices for the purpose of enforcing any element of such acts, laws, orders, mandates, rules or regulations, that infringe on the right by People to keep and bear arms, except as otherwise provided herein.
2. While within Columbia County, this Ordinance preserves the right of any person to keep and bear arms as originally understood; in self-defense and preservation, and in defense of one’s community and country, and to freely manufacture, transfer, sell and buy firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition, which are designed primarily for the same purposes and protects ancillary rights that are closely related to the right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment; including the right to manufacture, transfer, buy and sell firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition (“ancillary firearm rights”).

This case has complications because the different parties are not as expected. The players in this are:

• Plaintiffs(bad guys) supported by Everytown
• County Board of Commissioners, accused of being bad guys
• Intervenors (good guys), GOA, OFF, and others
• AG/State of Oregon (bad guys)

History

The people of the county were asked if they wanted to be a Second Amendment Preservation county and were later asked if they wanted to extend that into being a Second Amendment Sanctuary. In both elections the citizens of the county voted to be pro Second Amendment.

As initiatives, these have more “power” than mere ordenances. Ordinances are by the will of the representatives. In this case the Board of Commissioners. Whereas the initiatives are the will of the people and are presumed to be constitutional. IANAL. This is gleaned from reading the filings.

Intervenors’ Opening Brief

As a preliminary matter, Intervenors object to the validity of the Petition for Validation of Local Government Action (“Pet.”) filed by the Columbia County Board (“Board”), as this is not the proper proceeding for a county board to challenge the validity of either Measure 5-270 or Measure 5-278 (“Initiatives”). Neither is this validation proceeding the proper method for the Board to challenge its own Ordinance 2021-1 (“Ordinance”), which was enacted as a contrivance to undermine the legality and constitutionality of the Initiatives which were popularly enacted by the People.1 Indeed, the Petition seeks “a judicial determination and judgment of the Court as to the regularity,2 legality and effect” not only of “Ordinance 2021-1,” but also of “Initiative Measures 5-270 and 5-278.” Pet. at 3. The latter portion is impermissible.

Footnote 1 of the Intervenors’ Opening Brief:

The Board puts forth no argument and makes no claim that the Initiatives were not lawfully passed. Indeed, the Oregon Constitution provides that “[t]he people reserve to themselves the Initiative power, which is to propose laws and amendments to the Constitution and enact or reject them at an election independently of the Legislative Assembly.” Ore. Const. Art. IV, § 1(2)(a). The Initiatives in this matter were properly included on the ballots and passed by a majority vote (see Exhibits “6” and “7” to the Petition). As such, they are presumptively lawful and constitutional. See State v. Lloyd A. Fry Roofing Co., 9 Or App 189, 196, 495 P2d 751, 754 (1972) (“[l]egislative action is always supported by a strong presumption of constitutionality….”).

So this looks to be a strong case just from this brief read.

2021.06.24-Intervenors-Opening-Brief

The State AG weighed in on the side of the plaintiffs (bad guys) but the language is interesting. They are only asking for a summary judgement against Ordinance No. 2021-1. Not the Initiatives. It seems like the GOA, OFF et all had the right of it.

The Attorney General moves for summary judgment under ORCP 47, asking the Court to declare that the Columbia County Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance, enacted by Ordinance No. 2021-1, is invalid. The Attorney General’s motion is supported by the pleadings and papers on file and the points and authorities set forth below.

2021.06.24-Attorney-Generals-MSJ

Everytown replies to the Intervenor’s motion for summary with the same argument, that they are attacking Ordinance No. 2021-1.

Very interesting that they just ignore the Initiatives as well.

2021.07.08-Columbia-County-Residents-Response-to-Intervenors-Motion-for-Summary-Judgment

And the County’s reply:
2021.07.08-Petitioners-Reply-to-Intervenors-Opening-Brief

The county admits that they adopted Ordinance No. 2021-1 with the intention of requesting judicial review. This seems to be supported by law. I don’t know that they could have requested judicial review of the Initiatives.

The good news! Presiding Judge Ted E. Grove denied the request because the Petitioners(bad guys/Everytown) did not have “justiciable controversy.”

Petitioners do not seek to defend their ordinance from a challenge or resolve some conflict between parties. They do not attempt to overcome resistance from the Sheriff or State Police, nor, as apparent from their pleadings, would they defend their ordinance at all even if challenged. Instead, Petitioners seek what amounts to an advisory opinion designed to invalidate their own newly passed ordinance.

cc-court-decision1

Of course Everytown appealed, which lead to the the following opinion from the state appeals court:

Their appeal is that the lower court decided incorrectly. They bring nothing new to the argument and just tell the appeals court to read what was already presented.
2021.07.15-FINAL-Columbia-County-Residents-Reply-iso-Motion-for-Summary-Judgment

2021.06.24-Columbia-County-Residents-MSJ

The state circuit court of appeals says that there was “justiciable controversy.” That controversy was the threat of litigation. IANAL, it looks like Everytown got the Board to create the ordinance, then threatened to sue the county over the ordinance, at which point the county asked for judicial validation of the Ordinance No. 2021-1, which they didn’t need to do in the first place.

On the merits, the SASO fails. It is implicitly preempted by multiple state laws, ranging from state gun safety legislation (including recently enacted legislation) to the Oregon Tort Claims Act. The SASO is expressly preempted by Oregon’s Firearms Preemption Statute, ORS 166.170. It also is preempted by federal law, and therefore runs afoul of the Supremacy Clause. The SASO fails to address matters of county concern. The SASO is invalid, preempted and unconstitutional.

So there you have it. It is illegal to pass a law/ordinance that requires law enforcement to follow the law, because the law mentioned was a US Constitutionally protected right.

The SASO is rooted in the flawed premise underlying Measure 5-278 (2020), that local governments can ignore and disregard state and federal gun safety legislation. …

Emphasis added.

They are not gun safety laws, they are infringements.

The appeals court then says that the trial court was in error on controversy because the County did indeed pass an ordinance and as such could request the validation hearing, with no real controversy. If the County Board of Supervisors had not passed Ordinance No. 2021-1 there would be no case.

Opinion of the State Circuit Court of appeals:

1. The Court of Appeals Should Reach the Merits.
2. The Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance Is Invalid and May Not Be Enforced.
   1. The SASO Is Preempted by Oregon Law.
      1. The SASO Is Implicitly Preempted by Oregon Law.
      2. The SASO Is Expressly Preempted by Oregon’s Firearms Preemption Statute.
   2. The SASO Is Preempted by Federal Law.
   3. The SASO Does Not Address “Matters of County Concern.”
   4. The SASO is Inseverable.

The Oregon State court of appeals thus declared the “SASO” invalid and unconstitutionalColumbia_County_v_Oregon_Interested_Parties_Opening_Brief and found for the Plaintiffs(Bad guys).

But wait! There is more! Judge James Egan decided to use his position as a judge to write 27 pages of concurring “opinion”.

I must be clear that the flawed quasi-legal argument offered by Intervenors—viz., the UN wants to disarm Americans—and the proposed solution—viz., imposing a duty on county sheriffs to determine which laws are constitutional—have their origins in the insidious effort to oppress, in violation of fundamental notions of due process and equal protection under the rule of law. And in doing so, the Ordinance undermines, not elevates, the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

He justifies this screed with the following footnote:

This journalistic function of a concurrence was best characterized by Judge James in State v. Bledsoe, 311 Or App 183, 197, 487 P3d 862, rev den, 368 Or 637 (2021) (James, J., concurring):

“Judicial opinions serve many functions, and one of those is journalistic. Our opinions are dispatches from the edge—moments, recounted for posterity, of how Oregon’s laws * * * and the lives of its citizens, intersect.”

Here the judge brings forth his mind reading abilities to discern the motives of the people that sponsored the Initiatives, got them turned into an Ordinance, and then defended them in court.

“The Antisemitic and Racist Origins of the Ordinance”

CSPOA[Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association] claims to eschew racist ideology, but in fact its leaders embrace racist and white nationalist ideologies. The growing “constitutional sheriffs” movement intends to increase the risk of conflict between local law enforcement and federal authorities. The movement is animated by the deeply flawed and ahistorical view that county sheriffs hold ultimate law-enforcement authority in each individual county outranking federal and state authority. This deeply flawed and legally incorrect analysis holds that the superiority of county authority is deeply rooted in Anglo-American law. The anti-democratic ideas and quasi-legal theories propounded by the CSPOA and embedded in Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinances have their origins in the writings of William Potter Gale, who founded the posse comitatus movement in the 1960s. They also have their origins in the writings of the Aryan Nation, an antisemitic, white supremist group.

This Judge is telling us that the people that want Second Amendment Sanctuaries are racist and antisemitic because he things the movement is a direct continuation of some other nasty group.

If you want to read it for yourself: 2023-a176726

I’m still working on my photography. There is a huge learning curve moving from film to digital.

For a number of years I used a Nikon Coolpix 900 which I got from my mentor’s estate after he was killed. It produced JPG images.

When that died I stopped taking pictures because it was too expensive to do film and to expensive to buy an DSLR.

I now have a Nikon D4. It is a generation or more back but it is a camera I could afford. I just had to put that .50 cal bolt action on the back burner for a bit.

One of the things I had to learn is that RAW means RAW. The images that you normally get out of your phone camera or consumer grade cameras is processed by the camera into a JPG image. The processing done on the RAW image before turning it into a JPG is extensive.

When you work with raw files you get the image exactly as the sensor captured it. Your software needs to apply the correct processes to turn that into something that you are willing to look at.

In the Windows/Mac world the software that does that is Lighttable. I’m a Unix/Linux guy, so I use Darktable It does much if not all of what Lighttable does, but it is free.

So I apologize if my images are not right. I’m still learning the processing sequence and camera settings. I’m relearning lighting procedures. And I’m having to relearn post processing.

Let me know if you’d like more gun pictures. I do intend to do some more of that Model ’94 and its older brother.

Thursday’s post was a little weak. When I said “I’ve had to listen to people lie and miss represent gun rights” and was tired of it. I wasn’t talking about social media or the mainstream media. No, I was talking about reading briefings in court cases by infringement loving AGs in different states.

Friday has a LONG post coming out about an hour after this post regarding a local case out of Oregon. It is important because it again shows wins in the lower courts and losses at the higher levels.

This particular case was brought to our attention by B.Zh. I think I spent about 6 hours total reading and skimming filings.

Did you know that it costs $54/month to get access to Oregon state court filings? There is a free version but it only had the final opinion of the court. The cache of documents I did find was from Everytown. I downloaded and posted them here so we don’t have to give their website any more visits.

Finally, Hagar has agreed to an “Ask me anything”. Start collecting your questions. There will be a post early next week with open comments so that you can ask Hagar anything you want.

Be polite in your questions and we reserve the right to K/O any question for any reason.

Hope you all are looking forward to it as much as I am.

Let the commenting/roasting begin, thank you to all our fine readers.

Last month I covered how human colostomy bag Gersh Kuntzman was very proud of himself for going around New York City making sure people’s cars were ticketed by automated traffic enforcement cameras.

There is nothing more oppressive tyrannical than automated traffic enforcement.

A system of cameras and computers that read your plate and send you a fine.

The enforcement of the law should be a human endeavor.  Having that automated is a ruthlessly tyrannical way of using the law as a means of revenue generation.

So one must wonder what sort of person willingly makes it easier for automated traffic cameras to record and fine people, when it is not their job and they receive no compensation for it?

As it turns out, there is a militia of Kuntz men out there doing this.

I appreciate @BrianneKNadeau giving me the chance to testify about DPW’s enforcement of license plate laws. I did want to ask about the director’s assertion that they ticket and tow cars with illegal tag covers, which contradicts what DPW agents have told me. Can you clarify? pic.twitter.com/8NElfoyuuI

— Matt Ficke (@mattficke) February 15, 2023

Yet another vehicle with no tags that I’ve reported to @311DCgov multiple times without it being towed. Dark gray Jeep Compass at 702 Maryland Ave NE. Please tow this car, the driver just ignores tickets. pic.twitter.com/7QQo1QgkAf

— Matt Ficke (@mattficke) February 9, 2023

If you download the DC 311 app you can report these illegally parked bogus tag cars to the authorities. @mattficke turned me onto this and now I’m resolving to do it whenever I spot one.

Together we can get things back on track. pic.twitter.com/QHYRYmhFGa

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 16, 2023

Here we’ve got an illegal tags guy in motion so I can’t report him as a parking violation — but you’re on my list! pic.twitter.com/LjspXjt1Ti

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 17, 2023

Yglesias actually defends automated traffic enforcement.

Automated traffic enforcement is very good, but you need to be strict about license plate shenanigans or it won’t work. https://t.co/2gP4lkf1UO

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 13, 2023

Remember how in the Wake of the George Floyd riots, Leftists told us that we should NEVER call the cops on POC, regardless of what they are doing?

They told us we should allow shoplifters to take whatever they want because insurance will cover it.

They demanded that we defund the police.

But give them the ability to rat out a car to an automated traffic system so someone gets find and their erection lasts for more than four hours.

I have noticed that all of these people have general car hatred in their time lines.  Especially towards big trucks, which they want to ban, and sports cars and SUVs which they insult the owners of.

In The Last Of Us, collaborators with FEDRA were shot.

In Belgium, women who slept with Naziz were dragged into the streets, stripped naked, had their heads shaved, were beaten, covered with animal shit, and thrown out of town.

Everyone hates a collaborator.

These people aren’t even getting paid, they are doing it for the pleasure.

I really hope they rat out the car if some hard core pipe hitting thug.

Then we’ll never have to see one of their bullshit OpEds ever again either.

Turkey and Syria were hit with a massive earthquake on Feb. 7th. There’s a lot of coverage about it. If you’d like to see pics of the devastation you can look here. It’s not pretty. There is drone footage here, as well. You can also read a bit about the where and why of it here.

Yes, we can blame shoddy building for some of the damage. There’s the usual groups talking about how people are stupid for living on fault lines. Their president is being told he could have prevented it (sort of like Bush was supposed to prevent the levees breaking in New Orleans after Katherine?). There’s a small amount of merit in all of these statements, but not a lot.

The bottom line is that you cannot really prepare for this kind of destruction. Yes, it happens. Yes, it happens more often when you live on a fault line. But this is the largest quake in decades. It’s just not something you can plan for. In a world that’s rapidly becoming overpopulated, we can’t simply seal off huge tracts of land because “something bad MIGHT happen.”

Some of you reading this probably live in Tornado Alley. Some may live on fault lines. Others live near nuclear reactors. And so forth, and so on. There’s only so much you can prepare for, and only so much you can avoid. Humans aren’t meant to live in bubble wrap, after all.

But how can we prepare for survival? And what should we prepare FOR? That’s the question that you have to answer for yourself.

Me, I live in New England, on top of a hill, near a number of clean bodies of water. I don’t need to worry about floods, because by the time flood water gets high enough to affect my ho use, there will be too many other problems to worry about. I don’t have to worry about running out of water to drink and clean with. I do have to worry about cleaning that water, though, because if disaster happens, I can’t be certain that the water will remain clean and potable either due to the disaster itself or other people being idjits.

I am not near a major city, so it’s likely that if disaster does hit, it’ll be weather related. The most usual types of issues in my area are loss of power, loss of running water, and lack of food. I determined this over the past ten years, observing what happens in my area, as well as researching what’s happened here historically over the past 200 years.

I know how to cook without power. I do so on a pretty regular basis, actually. I have a nice fire pit that I use for fun. Still, cooking over an open fire is not a great way to do daily cooking. In an emergency that lasts more than a few days, an open fire pit will be detrimental to my own safety. For that reason, I’m working on plans for an outdoor kitchen behind the house, where it’s private and no one can see. I’ll be putting in a small wood burning stove of some type (likely cement with metal parts) that works like a rocket stove. I’m hoping to build a cobb oven in which I can bake breads and other foods.

My home is full of oil lanterns, solar lanterns, and stores of candles. Seeing what I’m doing in the dark is not going to be an issue. I have the means to carry water from nearby places to my home, and methods to use to clean that water so it’s safe to drink under most circumstances. I know how to grow a garden, hunt, and raise and butcher animals for food.

Whether the disaster that hits my area is ecological, weather-related, or political doesn’t matter. I have my plans, and all of them are tested. When the power goes out, it’s no big deal. I’ve gotten the kids to the point where power loss equals fun stuff, because we pull out the popcorn and make special foods, and we spend time around the wood stove in the living room reading and playing games. No panic, just preparation and readiness.

I can’t tell you how to prepare. Everyone is different. I look at the disaster in Turkey and I find myself in tears. But I know I would never live in a high rise apartment, even one that was supposedly earthquake proof. I’ve seen too many buildings go down like jenga blocks in the past 25 years. That’s MY choice. Other people make their own choices.

I would say that if you have to live in an apartment or multi level condo of some kind, make sure you have preps elsewhere. If your building is burning because someone played a stupid game and won stupid prizes, you may not have access to go back and get your preps. If you are facing a social uprising, you may want to get out of Dodge rapidly, and having 2000 lbs of goods isn’t going to be the least bit helpful. If you are running because of flooding, mudslide, or earthquake, there may be no time to load up with your preparations. Always have your eggs in more than one basket.

Even I do this, and I’m personally in a “best case” situation with my preps. I have most of my preparations “in big”… food, water, filters, weapons, ammo, etc. all stored neatly and out of the way. I cycle through some stuff (food, ammo) and leave the rest for long term storage. But I also have car kits for every car we own. Mini versions with food, shelter, first aid, water, and information. Why? Because we might be away from home when disaster strikes. We may be caught up in something. We may need to flee. We may need to hide temporarily, for a longer or shorter time. And for those reasons, I have caches of all those things, too. In several places. Because I cannot know what MIGHT happen, some random day between tomorrow and forever.

Beyond all of that, however, the single most important prep you can have? Skill sets. Learn to do for yourself. Think about what might happen, from most likely to least likely, and prep for what you can. Practice it. Turn off the power at the main breaker at odd moments and force the family to practice rusty skills. Learn how to cook over a fire. Know what foods you can eat from your local tract of land. Understand how to filter water. Practice making a fire (because if you lose your Bic, then what??). On and on. Continue to acquire skills until you literally cannot anymore (ie you’re dead).

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

I am DAMN proud that I can do most of those things. I’ve never had the opportunity to conn a ship, and solving equations is probably my weakest point. And I’ve never died gallantly, and hope to avoid it for some time to come. But I’ve done all the rest. What can you do?

Heuristic Hagar

Replace female with ‘egg-producing’ and avoid using the term ‘fitness’, woke scientists say in push to get rid of ‘harmful’ phrases

Woke scientists have called for the terms male and female to be replaced as part of a crackdown on ‘harmful terminology’ in science.

Instead, ‘sperm-producing’ and ‘egg-producing’ or ‘XY/XX individual’ should be used to avoid reinforcing ‘societally-imposed ideas of a sex binary’, researchers suggest.

Even the terms mother, father and fitness are in the firing line.

Some members of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Language Project, founded by scientists in the US and Canada, wrote that ‘much of western science is rooted in colonialism, white supremacy and patriarchy’ which ‘continue to permeate our scientific culture’.

To ‘address this history’, ‘harmful’ scientific terms should be identified and revised to ‘foster inclusion’, they argued.

This was Winston Smith’s job in the Ministry of Truth.  To re-define every word to crush the ability for people to think.

Male and female are not offensive terms.

This is not inclusive language.

This is a tiny fraction of people who want to controll other by using the insanity of an even small fraction of people as cover.

“Don’t say female because some sex offender who dresses like a woman will get angry that you don’t think he’s a woman.”

No.  This language is utterly dehumanizing.

I’m reaching my breaking point on this.

It’s not enough to not obey these people.

These people need to have their living guts stomped out.

If some doctor stands up at a conference of obstetricians and says “we can no longer say ‘breastfeeding mother’, we have to say ‘chest feeding egg producer'”, I want every other person in the room to rise up and lynch that person.

It’s not about being inclusive, it’s about flexing power.  It’s time for us to flex our power back.