Crime and Response

For John, BLUF:  Reaching back in history 60 years we see a New York City indifferent to violent crime.  Now we have New York City prosecutivng someone for not showing indifference.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police; Apathy at Stabbing of Queens Woman Shocks Inspector

From The Old Gray Lady, 27 March 1964.

Here is the lede plus one:

For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law‐abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.

Twice the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom Iights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned ‐ the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead.

And today someone is on trial for not showing apathy.  Former Active Duty Marine Daniel Penny is on trial for the outcome of his coming between subway passangers and a deranged man.  The outcome ended up being the death of the man threatening passangers, Mr Jordan Neely.

Jurors Set to Weigh Penny’s Fate in Choking Case That Divided New York Prosecutors in Daniel Penny’s manslaughter trial finished closing arguments Tuesday.

The trial has touched on fears about crime and the city’s failure to help its most troubled residents.

It turns out that Mr Neely was not only having emotional problems, but he was physically in poor shape.  As a result, he died from being restrained by Mr Penny.

Unlike the neighbors of Ms Kitty Genovese, who ignored her murder while it was in progress,♠ Mr Penny acted like a stand-up guy.  The outcome of the jury decision may determine if we have more stand-up guys, or gals, or not.

In the mean time, the real culprit is the City and State of New York for not having the needed mental health facilities and the laws that would allow people like Mr Neely to be hospitalized and treated.  This was an unnecessaqrry death.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Subsequent reporting suggests the origiinal headline is an exageration of the indifference of the neighbors, but the fact is that there was no Daniel Penny to stand betwee Ms Kitty Genovese and her attacker.

The Mentally Ill

For John, BLUF:  In fighting homelessness, part of what we are fighting is mental illness.  And we aren't doing a very good joob.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dual Diagnosis

From Outnumbered, by Reporter Dagen McDowell, 14 November 2022.

While we were driving North on I-93 today we were intermittently listening to the Fox News Show, Outnumbered.  We caught Ms Dagen McDowell talking about the poor job we are doing with regard to the Mentally ill.  She was on target.

In particular, I was impressed by her analysis of how Cities are responding to those with a dual diagnosis (a mental illness and a comorbid substance use disorder).  Her point was that while the Cities (and their Counties and States) haven't funded mental health treatment, they are moving to provide free drug injection sites.  Thus, the mentally ill are being allowed, perhaps encoruaged, to self medicate.  This seems like malpractice.

Thanks for this insight, Dagen.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Homeless Problem

For John, BLUF:  We know there is a homeless issue, but many don't understand it, and the different factors that have gone into creating it, from mental health to drug addiction to domestic violence to lack of affordable housing.  We need a broader look and ore comprehensive solution.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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It’s mental health, stupid:  How Team Biden misunderstands homeless crisis

Here is the sub-headline:

From The New York Post, by Howard Husock September 20, 2021, 6:48pm.

Here is the lede plus four:

Team Biden is asking mayors, governors and tribal leaders to pledge to reduce homelessness in exchange for new federal rental assistance and support for new housing construction.  The initiative is called House America, but it should be dubbed Misunderstand America.

Yes, housing prices are up post-pandemic: Demand is growing, supply stalled.  But that isn’t why there are massive homeless encampments plaguing cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle — and even New York, where the de Blasio administration is forced to play whack-a-mole with tent encampments.

Some rough-sleepers would relish permanent housing, yes.  But many would also choose to stay on the streets.  That’s because untreated mental illness, not a housing shortage, is the real source of the problem for a significant share of the homeless.

In 2015 (the most recent such survey), the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that at least 25 percent of the US homeless, or 140,000 people, were seriously mentally ill; 45 percent suffered from mental illness of some kind.  Serious mental illness isn’t garden-variety anxiety or melancholy.  It’s the sort of paranoid schizophrenia that can involve voices instructing the patient to push a young woman toward an oncoming subway train.

Others are haunted by the demon of addiction.  As the Substance Abuse and Treatment Center has reported, “tragically, homelessness and substance abuse go hand-in-hand.  The end result of homelessness is often substance abuse, and substance abuse often contributes to homelessness.”  The National Coalition for the Homeless has found that 38 percent of homeless people are alcohol-dependent, while 26 percent are dependent on other harmful chemicals.

Across the nation our homeless programs are, by and large, a mess.  Yes, San Francisco is much worse than Lowell, but we all have problems, both in understand the breadth and depth of the proble and in executing solutions.

And here is a key point:

What links all these troubled populations is a desperate need for treatment.  There was a time not long ago when we understood this — and every state maintained an extensive network of residential psychiatric hospitals to provide care, or at least try to do so.

So, going for the dollar quote:

Now tent encampments (and jails and prisons) have replaced those inpatient facilities.

We need to bring back mental hospitals.  We need to train more mental health workers.  We can't build our way out of the homeless crisis.

That said, some current COVID-19 fighting economic policies will make affordable shelter less available and action will be neeeded in that direction as well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Whither Portland

For John, BLUF:  I get the need to fix homelessness, which requires jobs, housing and social mores, as well as mental health care.  This will require elected leadership, which, so far, appears to be absent.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Death Of A City:  The Portland Story?

From Forbes, by Senior Contributor Bill Coner ly, 28 January 2021, 07:30am EST.

Here is the lede plus three:

How long does it take for a city to die?  Downtowns across the country have emptied due to the pandemic, causing many stores and restaurants to close.  Suburbs are doing much better, in many cases hardly touched by the recession.  But in Portland, Oregon, continued violence and vandalism have combined with high housing costs, homelessness and poor community leadership to raise the question:  how long before this city dies?

Portland has been doing well for years, and current problems are not certain to end the city’s life.

But without significant change, decline is certain. In many other cities, leaders stepped up to the challenge and saved their cities. That will probably happen in Portland, but there are few signs of change at this point.

Cities can die. Death can be sudden, as with Pompei, or gradual, as with the Mayan city of Tikal and the Jordanian city of Petra.  The United States abounds with ghost towns in the mining country as well as communities left behind by economic change.  Down the road from Portland are a number of mill towns that have emptied out.

The Marxists trying to impose their view of how society should operate are not bringing about useful change, but are making life miserable for those they come in contact with.

We, as Americans, need to unite and work together for a better society, one based on reality and an understanding of economics and social interaction.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

COVID-19 Reaches Beyond the Illness Itself

For John, BLUF:  Five or ten yers from now, when we look back on the statistics, we may find that the ripples went around the world in areas bigger than COVID care.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Birth rates will drop, people will stay single for longer and women will sexualise themselves more: Scientists predict how society will change in a post-COVID world

Here is the sub-headline:

• A multidisciplinary team of experts reviewed 90 studies to make their forecasts
• The team predict various social impacts — even among those not infected
• Gender inequality could rise due to lockdown, as could social conservatism
• The ongoing pandemic is a 'worldwide social experiment', the researchers said

From The Daily Mail, by Reporter Ian Randall, 23 October 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

Psychological fallout from the pandemic will cause birth rates to drop, people to stay single for longer and women to sexualise themselves more, experts have predicted.

Experts from the US reviewed 90 studies to help them predict how COVID-19 could shift social behaviours and gender norms — even among those not infected.

They expect planned pregnancies to decrease in response to the global health crisis as people defer marriage and kids, leading some nations' populations to shrink.

Drops in birth-rates will have cascading impacts on society and economics, affecting such things as job opportunities and support for elderly populations.

Furthermore, the unequal division of the extra household labour brought by lockdown could see gender inequality rise and foster more social conservatism.

COVID-19 is not just about the Virus.  It is also about how it is impacting social life.

And, it is about what other required medical actions are being ignored, including heart and cancer treatments.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Abolishing the Police?

For John, BLUF:  This piece treats all police as alike.  I think that is unfair.  I don't think the police in Lowell are the same as the police in Chicago or the police in Phoenix City.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Harvard Law School Holds Lecture on Police Abolition

From The Harvard Crinson, by Staff Writer Kelsey J. Griffin, 27 February 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

Vitale serves as the coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College and on the New York State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  He also consults various international human rights organizations and police departments.

The talk, sponsored by Unbound: Harvard Journal of the Legal Left, addressed a range of challenges posed by current police reform efforts.  Promoting his book, “The End of Policing,” Vitale described what he views as the dangers of modern policing tactics and suggested alternatives to the police system.

He began the talk by recounting the story of Deborah Danner, a mentally ill woman who was fatally shot by a New York City police sergeant in 2016.  According to Vitale, Danner’s case calls into question the effectiveness of police training on mental health.

“The reality is that between a quarter and a half of all people killed by police in the United States are having a mental health crisis,” he said.  “It’s the number one indicator of likelihood of ending up being killed by police.”

I obviously have to read the book to understand what this thinks.  The mental illness issue makes some sense.  However, I fear a powerful government abusing this identification of people as mentally ill.  It reminds me of the old Soviet Union.

Looking to the future, we can continue as we are or we can change.  Treating much anti-social behavior as mental illness is one option.  Another is decriminalizing much behavior.  Or, we can surrender to those who would take what they want by force, becoming more like rural Mexico.  My preferred option is that the community pulll together to set standards and the police help.  This means that parents must set standards, for themselves and for their children.  For that to happen the parents must have hope.  And that requires local leadership.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

National Health Service to Teach Manners

For John, BLUF:  Once the bureaucrats have established they can ration service based on behavior, they won't sto p  The best of British luck to us.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NHS staff can refuse to treat racist or sexist patients under new rules

Here is the sub-headline:

The NHS will soon bar discriminatory patients from non-critical care - powers that currently only cover aggression or violence.

From Sky News by News Reporter Ms Clare Sibthorpe, 18 February 2020.

Here is the lede plus four:

Sexist and racist patients could be barred from non-emergency care at NHS trusts, under new rules to be enforced from April.

Currently, staff can refuse to treat non-critical patients who are verbally aggressive or physically violent towards them.

But these protections will extend to any harassment, bullying or discrimination, including homophobic, sexist or racist remarks.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock wrote to all NHS staff on Tuesday to announce stronger measures to investigate abuse and harassment towards staff, saying "no act of violence or abuse is minor".

"Being assaulted or abused is not part of the job," he said.

I like it.  Take people when they are highly stressed and hold them to their best tea party behavior.  That will work out well.

I wonder if Mr Matt Hancock has re-education camps in mind?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Another Look At Homelessness

For John, BLUF:  Homelessness is a complex problem, we’re not solving in the holistic manner required.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Homelessness Isn’t Just a Humanitarian Problem

Here is the sub-headline:

California activists are undermining their cause by ignoring and stigmatizing legitimate concerns about social disorder.

Notes that half of America's homeless live in California.

From Bloomberg, by Ms Virginia Postrel, October 3, 2019

Here is the lede plus one:

California has a homelessness crisis, but Californians don’t agree about what it is.

To homeless advocates, social service providers, many politicians and most journalists, it’s a humanitarian problem — a social tragedy of rapidly increasing numbers of men, women and families living without shelter, vulnerable to crime, disease and degradation. This state of affairs, they believe, is a “moral disaster.”

For sure, homelessness is a humanitarian crisis.  On the other hand, it isn’t just one thing.  The are those homeless due to a combination of addiction and mental illness (dual diagnosis).  Then there are those ended up homeless because housing prices keep creeping up, faster than their pay increases.  Then there are those who fell off the economic carousel, and haven't yet gotten back on.  Finally, there are those who just want to live free.

No one solution will deal with all those problems.  And especially, "Rent Control" is not a solution.

What did H L Mencken say?

There’s always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible and wrong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Suicide Problem

For John, BLUF:  Both suicides and drug overdose rates are a symptom of social breakdown.  But why?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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America’s suicide epidemic

Here is the sub-headline:

On a problem that literally has life-and-death significance for a pivotal portion of his base, Trump has been AWOL.

From Nation of Change, by Author Rajan Menon 19 June 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

We hear a lot about suicide when celebrities like Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade die by their own hand.  Otherwise, it seldom makes the headlines.  That’s odd given the magnitude of the problem.

In 2017, 47,173 Americans killed themselves.  In that single year, in other words, the suicide count was nearly seven times greater than the number of American soldiers killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars between 2001 and 2018.

A suicide occurs in the United States roughly once every 12 minutes.  What’s more, after decades of decline, the rate of self-inflicted deaths per 100,000 people annually — the suicide rate — has been increasing sharply since the late 1990s.  Suicides now claim two-and-a-half times as many lives in this country as do homicides, even though the murder rate gets so much more attention.

In other words, we’re talking about a national epidemic of self-inflicted deaths.

This is a serious problem.  I don't think the Author is willing to do the deep dive, which would reveal how the destruction of so many families, of all races and ethnicities and creeds, has resulted in more isolation and higher suicide rates.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mental Health Failings

For John, BLUF:  We took a wrong turn on mental health a while back, and we still have no path back.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How The Loss Of U.S. Psychiatric Hospitals Led To A Mental Health Crisis

From NPR, By Ms Samantha Raphelson, 30 November 2017.

Yes, this is almost two years old, but the facts persist.

Here is the lede plus three:

A severe shortage of inpatient care for people with mental illness is amounting to a public health crisis, as the number of individuals struggling with a range of psychiatric problems continues to rise.

The revelation that the gunman in the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting escaped from a psychiatric hospital in 2012 is renewing concerns about the state of mental health care in this country.  A study published in the journal Psychiatric Services estimates 3.4 percent of Americans — more than 8 million people — suffer from serious psychological problems.

The disappearance of long-term-care facilities and psychiatric beds has escalated over the past decade, sparked by a trend toward deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients in the 1950s and '60s, says Dominic Sisti, director of the Scattergood Program for Applied Ethics of Behavioral Health Care at the University of Pennsylvania.

"State hospitals began to realize that individuals who were there probably could do well in the community," he tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson.  "It was well-intended, but what I believe happened over the past 50 years is that there's been such an evaporation of psychiatric therapeutic spaces that now we lack a sufficient number of psychiatric beds."

Later in the story:

While President Trump and others have claimed a connection exists between mental illness and the rise in gun violence, most mental health professionals vehemently disagree.

"There is no real connection between an individual with a mental health diagnosis and mass shootings.  That connection according to all experts doesn't exist," says Bethany Lilly of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

There are two key points here.  First is the belief we could deinstitutionalize large numbers of the mentally ill and improve their lives.  Turns out it was not the case.

In the story, and today, we are told there is no connection between mass murder and mental illness.  Does that mean that mass murder is normal?  Or, maybe, there is some other way of classifying mass murders?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Root Causes of Mass Murders

For John, BLUF:  Mass murders need a better explanation if they are going to be halted.  Or maybe they are just the cost of our current culture, a price we are willing to pay for the satisfaction of other ego issues.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mass Shootings:  A Materialist Horror

From The American Conservative, by Blogger Rod Dreher, 13 August 2019.

We are told that Mass Murders are not the result of mental illness.  The knifing spree in Garden Grove, California, the same weekend as the El Paso and Dayton shootings, suggests it isn't guns, or just guns that cause mass murders.♠  We need a better explanation.

From Mr Dreher's Blog we have this start:

Tara Isabella Burton is telling us something very, very important about these mass killers:

Domestic right-wing terrorists, like the man accused of the shooting last weekend in El Paso, are not so different from their radical Islamist counterparts across the globe — and not only in their tactics for spreading terror or in their internet-based recruiting. Indeed, it is impossible to understand America’s resurgence of reactionary extremism without understanding it as a fundamentally religious phenomenon.

Unlike Islamist jihadists, the online communities of incels, white supremacists and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists make no metaphysical truth claims, do not focus on God and offer no promise of an afterlife or reward. But they fulfill the functions that sociologists generally attribute to a religion: They give their members a meaningful account of why the world is the way it is. They provide them with a sense of purpose and the possibility of sainthood. They offer a sense of community. And they establish clear roles and rituals that allow adherents to feel and act as part of a whole. These aren’t just subcultures; they are churches. And until we recognize the religious hunger alongside the destructive hatred, we have little chance of stopping these terrorists.

She goes on to describe how these ideological communities serve as pseudo-religions for their members. It’s hard to overstate the importance of what she’s seeing here. As I’ve been saying, Hannah Arendt says these factors are exactly the kind of thing that, when it went viral (so to speak), created 20th century totalitarianism.

Here is the last paragraph:

Tara Isabella Burton suggests that the apocalyptic violence we keep seeing in these mass shootings are social and psychological consequences of metaphysical materialism.  She’s right, I believe.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  While our laws do need to be strengthened with regard to background checks and "red flag" actions, adding more laws will never be enough.  Politicians who promise "gun control" as the answer are liars, or so misinformed as to never be qualified for your vote.

Violence in Society

For John, BLUF:  Last year the Lord Mayor of London came out strongly against knives with over a three inch blade.  Sort of a British version of New York's Sullivan Law.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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After murder rate passes NYC, London Mayor Sadiq Khan calls for sharper knife control

This is a flashback to April of last year.

From USA Today, by Mr William Cummings, 9 April 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a crackdown on knives Sunday in response to the rising levels of violence in London, which recently surpassed New York City's homicide rate for the first time.

"No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife," Khan tweeted.  "Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law."

While firearms may make killing easier, there seems to be no limit to the tools employed by those who wish to express their anger by violence.  Yes, guns are used in the United States (and elsewhere), but world-wide there is use of knives, airplanes, knives, fire, high explosives, poison gas and other tools of violence.  Remember, so called "Angels of Death" use medical tools to kill over time.

On the other hand, we are assured by the Media that the kind of violence we saw about ten days ago (El Paso, Dayton, Garden Grove) had nothing to do with mental health.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

School [and Other] Safety

For John, BLUF:  This is an interesting turn of events.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Florida school massacre panel recommends arming teachers with concealed weapons

Here is the sub-headline:

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission voted 13-1 to recommend the Legislature allow the arming of teachers, saying it’s not enough to have one or two police officers or armed guards on campus.

Usually, when the threat is presenting itself the First Responders are just minutes away.  That is when it is up to the Zero Responder—people like you.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Helping Others Cope

For John, BLUF:  We have to look out for each other.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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How suicide became my ‘family secret’ — and shaped who I am

From The New York Post, by Ms Salena Zito, 9 June 2018.

Here is the final paragraph:

In those hints, we need to be a caretaker of our fellow man.  It’s an obligation that far exceeds simple, dispassionate texts like “How are you doing?”

I am, per Myers-Briggs, an Introvert, so I am not big on digging into the lives of others, but we all have an obligation to be open to the needs of others, hard as it might be.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Bias Confirmation

For John, BLUF:  Remember, Psychopaths are just like us, only more goal oriented.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Washington, D.C.: the Psychopath Capital of America

Here is the sub-headline:

A new study ranks each state, plus D.C., by their psychopathic tendencies.  The race for first? It isn’t even close.

From Politico by Mr Derek Robertson, 23 June 2018.

Read it yourself.

Hat tip to the The Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff

Another Teen Death in Florida

For John, BLUF:  We need high quality analysis to figure out what is really happening.  "Guns" is the easy answer, but it might not be the correct answer.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Teen Radicalized by Islam Goes on Fatal Stabbing Spree; Nets Silent

Frankly, I don't see this as so much Islam as it is a disturbed youth who had been reported up the law enforcement chain, but ignored by officials, until something terrible happened.

From News Busters, by Reporter Kristine Marsh, 14 March 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

News broke on March 13 that a Florida teen had been arrested, after stabbing to death his friend and attempting to kill his friend’s mother and another peer at a sleepover.  The suspect confessed afterwards that he had recently converted to Islam and his beliefs motivated him to murder.

While the horrific violent act was covered by local news in Jupiter, Florida, and nationally March 14 by Fox News Channel, the big three networks have ignored the story thus far.

Florida’s The Palm Beach Post reported March 13 that “a Jupiter teen said his Muslim faith led him to fatally stab a boy on his 13th birthday and injure two others at a sleepover Sunday night.”

From a news point of view, if you don't fit the profile you don't get reported.  The TV Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) are not interested in a knife wielding convert to Islam.  It flows against the narrative.  Especially today, when students at a number of schools (including Greater Lowell Technical High School) are out as a protest against that happened at Parkland High School a month ago.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Pulling Together Re School Shootings

For John, BLUF:  And what is the point of reporting things if the law enforcement authorities aren't going to take notice?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Or Not

Joe Kennedy III bashes GOP response to school shooting

From The Boston Globe, by the Globe> Staff, 23 FEBRUARY 2018.

Here is the lede plus two:

US Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, in a fiery appearance on “The View” Friday morning, lashed out at the Republican response to the Parkland, Fla., school massacre last week, but struck a softer tone when he addressed the need for more bipartisanship in Washington.

A day after President Trump proposed arming some teachers as a way to help avert school massacres, Kennedy was unequivocal in his rejection of the concept.

“The idea that somehow the right way to protect our children in schools is to try to make sure more and more people have guns? . . .  There was someone with a gun outside this shooting and it didn’t make a difference at all,” he said, referring to the armed school resource officer stationed outside the building who failed to respond.

Blah, Blah Blah, when the shooter is only seconds away the policy are only minutes away.  Not every teacher needs to be armed, and many probably shouldn't be, but arming some teachers, if it deters a third of such incidents is a third fewer deaths.

If we could magically absorb every gun in civilian hands it would not end this sort of acting out.  The Boston Marathon incident was bombs.  People drive into crowds.  I guess we could force chefs and butchers to register their knives.  We are dealing with thinking human beings, so where there is a will there is a way.

As for mental health, the move to empty the mental health institutions has rebounded in many ways.  I believe Representative Kennedy is not taking a helpful stance here.  What is his real plan?

Regards  —  Cliff
-1, Fri 1.0

Gun Violence Across the World

For John, BLUF:  We fall between France and Canada, both with fairly strict gun control laws.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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UPDATED:  Comparing Death Rates from Mass Public Shootings and Mass Public Violence in the US and Europe

From the Crime Prevention Research Center, for the period of the Obama Administration.

The lede plus two:

1) In his address to the nation after the Planned Parenthood attack, Obama claimed:  “I say this every time we’ve got one of these mass shootings:  This just doesn’t happen in other countries.”

Senator Harry Reid made a similar statement on June 23rd:  “The United States is the only advanced country where this type of mass violence occurs.  Let’s do something. We can expand, for example, background checks. … We should support not giving guns to people who are mentally ill and felons.”

We prefer not to make purely cross-sectional comparisons, but this claim is simply not true.  The data below looks at the period of time from the beginning of the Obama administration in January 2009 until the end of 2015.  Mass public shootings – defined as four or more people killed in a public place, and not in the course of committing another crime, and not involving struggles over sovereignty.  The focus on excluding shootings that do not involve other crimes (e.g., gang fights or robberies) has been used from the original research by Lott and Landes to more recently the FBI.  We cover the period from the beginning of the Obama administration to the current date, from 2009 to the Charleston massacre (this matches the starting period for another recent study we did on US shootings and we chose that because that was the starting point that Bloomberg’s group had picked).  The cases were complied doing a news search.  The starting year was picked simply because it was the beginning of the Obama administration and it matched the time frame of a recent Bloomberg report (a report that we evaluated here).  A comparison across the entire world is available here.

I am not shocked that Senator Reid got it wrong, but I would have thought President Obama would have been given the facts.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Unbalanced

For John, BLUF:  There is a lot of talk about Trump mental stability, on the Democrat side and amongst reporters, but I repeat myself.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The psychiatrist who briefed Congress on Trump’s mental state:  this is “an emergency”

That should read "members of Congress", about a dozen of them, out of 535 (including Senators).  But, revolutions and coups usually begin with a small number of bold members.♠

The Vox article is by Ms Eliza Barclay (eliza.barclay@vox.com), on 6 January 2018.

Commentator Byron York tweeted about it, here:

Yale psychiatrist who briefed Hill Dems wants to physically restrain President Trump, force him to submit to evaluation, declare him unfit for office.  But she worries:  'This really will look like a coup.'  You think?  From Vox:  (link: http://ow.ly/fdlG30hCyqa)

Here is an excerpt from Ms Barclay's article:

Leading this call is Bandy Lee, an assistant professor in forensic psychiatry (the interface of law and mental health) at the Yale School of Medicine who has devoted her 20-year career to studying, predicting, and preventing violence.

She recently briefed a dozen members of Congress — Democrats and one Republican — on the president’s mental state.  And this week, she, along with Judith Herman at Harvard and Robert Jay Lifton at Columbia, released a statement arguing that Trump is “further unraveling.”  The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a collection of essays from 27 mental health professionals that Lee edited, was published in October.

Sigh.

Doesn't anyone remember "The Goldwater Rule" (Section 7 in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Principles of Medical Ethics).  Anyone besides my wife?

Then, from The Washington Examiner we have this 6 January 2018 piece by Eddie Scarry:

Why hasn't Michael Wolff's dementia-Trump ever been seen in public?

Here are some Instapundit excerpts from Mr Scarry's article about Mr Wolff's new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House♥:

In the book, Trump has an impossibly short attention span, refuses to learn from policy briefs and fails to grasp the fundamentals of U.S. government.

Where was this version of Trump when giving one of his dozens of interviews, hosting his rallies, or delivering public remarks at any point between 2015 and now?

Yes, Trump mostly spoke extemporaneously during the campaign, often repeating words and themes, a phenomenon otherwise known as speaking aloud.

But he’s also delivered dozens of speeches off teleprompters, proving he can actually read, frequently going off-script to offer commentary and then returning to the prepared remarks.

During the campaign, from January to September in 2016, he hosted more than four-and-a-half hours worth of press conferences, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 38 minutes worth.

Here’s an experiment:  Put a truly mentally slow older person, like Dana Milbank, for example, on stage in front of reporters to answer a succession of questions for one hour.  Then compare it to the multiple times Trump did it, and see who comes out sharpest.

As president, Trump frequently approaches the press pool in order to answer a range of questions, something former President Obama rarely did.

In Wolff’s book, he says Trump is perpetually distracted, can’t train his mind on substance, and couldn’t recognize his own friends.

Contrast that account with the transcript of a 30-minute interview Trump gave at his golf club in Florida on Dec. 28 to the New York Times.  It shows him talking at length about the Russia investigation, the threat from North Korea, and immigration.  He even interrupts his thoughts to speak with guests he presumably recognizes.

Here is what Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds had to say:

You never see dementia-Trump in public because he only lives in the heads of Democrats and reporters — but I repeat myself — who are desperate to believe, and who are making fools of themselves in the process.

Yup.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Of course, eleven of those dozen are Democrats and they don't even have what it takes to replace their House Leader, Ms Nancy Pelosi, who I judge to be further along than President Trump.  But, she is a Democrat.  And older, although not as old as my wife, who I would put in charge in a heartbeat.
♥  Don't look for me to be reading the book for you and posting extracts.

Gun Control Advocate Advocates Violence

For John, BLUF:  Then there are folks who are just plain over the top.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ohio Professor Calls For Shooting Up NRA Headquarters, Ensuring “No Survivors”…

Mr James Pearce, an adjunct professor at Southern State Community College (SSCC) in Ohio is under investigation for threatening to shoot up the NRA.

Here is his Facebook post on 13 June:

Look, there’s only one solution.  A bunch of us anti-gun types are going to have to arm ourselves, storm the NRA headquarters in Fairfax, VA, and make sure there are no survivors.  This action might also require coordinated hits at remote sites, like Washington lobbyists.  Then and only then will we see some legislative action on assault weapons. Have a nice day.

The source is the blog Weasel Zippers.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff