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Clayton Cramer's BLOG
Clayton's commentary on news and events of the day. Broadly speaking, I'm a conservative with libertarian sympathies (getting more conservative as my children get older).
Relocating to Boise? Use my realtor, neighbor, and friend, Cindy Smith csmith@1realtyone.com.
Sorry, high pressure isn't included.
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Friday, February 14, 2003
France's Committment to World Peace
Here's an interesting article from an Irish source, suggesting that French interest in a peaceful resolution of the Iraq crisis has a lot to do with French commercial interests:
Richard Perle, a former US Assistant Defence Secretary, said the French anti-war stance was driven by economic interests. French oil giant TotalFinaElf has exclusive exploration contracts worth €60bn - €75bn to develop the massive Majnoon and Bin Umar oilfields in southern Iraq, he said.
"What's distinctive about the Total contract is that it's not favourable to Iraq, it's favourable to Total," Mr Perle, the chairman of the Pentagon's Defence Policy Board, said during an address in New York.
"One can suspect that there's some arbitrage there, that in between the real value of that contract and the cash value of that contract there's a certain amount of political support.
"It's entirely possible that Saddam negotiated that deal because that along with the revenues, he could get something else."
He said oil experts who had analysed the deal described it as "extraordinarily lopsided" in favour of the French company.
"This is not your normal oil exploration contract."
Total is currently barred from working on the oil fields because of the economic sanctions against Iraq.
If Saddam is overthrown the new regime is likely to nullify existing contracts and invite oil companies from around the globe to compete for new deals.
"The French interest in the propagation of contracts that will only go forward with this regime is perfectly obvious."
Why Germany Isn't Interested in Stopping Saddam Hussein
Very interesting article in National Review Online by General Ion Mihai Pacepa, a Romanian intelligence service defector, in which he gives evidence that suggests that Germany's current foreign minister was an active participant in terrorist acts in the 1970s:
Fischer is an indirect product of the old anti-American intelligence community to which I once belonged. In 1975 Libya's dictator, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, informed Romania's tyrant, Nicolae Ceausescu — through me — that he was preparing a terrorist attack against the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and asked my boss to provide him with blueprints of OPEC's temporary headquarters in Vienna. Ceausescu agreed, and the Romanian espionage service (the DIE) complied. The December 1975 takeover of OPEC's headquarters in Vienna resulted in the seizure of 60 OPEC officials and staff members as hostages. The kidnapping was organized by Qaddafi and the infamous Ilich Ramírez Sánchez — "Carlos" or "the Jackal."
...
After Carlos was arrested by the DST, German journalist Bettina Roehl (daughter of the late Ulrike Meinhof, co-leader of the terrorist Baader-Meinhof organization) revealed that Fischer did indeed belong to a Frankfurt/Main terrorist group during the 1970s. She also provided pictures showing a helmeted Fischer beating a German police officer during an April 7, 1973, violent demonstration in Frankfurt/Main. The pictures show Fischer fighting side by side with Klein, Carlos's deputy in the 1975 attack on the OPEC headquarters in Vienna. In 2002, after these photographs had been authenticated by the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Fischer publicly apologized to the beaten police officer. Bettina Roehl also disclosed that Fischer had been the main advocate of using petrol bombs in a 1976 demonstration in which a policeman almost died of terrible burns. This information was also vehemently denied by the German foreign minister.
Veteran German terrorist Margrit Schiller asserted in her book Es war ein harter Kampf um meine Erinnerung that in the 1970s, Fischer had been in contact with illegal members of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in Frankfurt/Main (a terrorist organization my DIE station was at the time supporting with information and money), and that he had thrown stones at representatives of West Germany's pro-American government. Once again, Fisher has denied both accusations. But Schiller, who in the 1970s belonged to the RAF, remembers staying in 1973 at the Frankfurt apartment of "Herr Fischer and Daniel Cohn-Bendit," having breakfast with Fischer, and going on a pub crawl with him. In October 2002, Fischer was asked by a German prosecutor about this statement — but he dodged the question, replying simply that his flat had not been a hostel for terrorists.
Really powerful article by someone in a position to know. Go ahead, read it all. posted by Clayton at 9:06 AM permalink
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Challenging DC's Handgun Ban
This article in the Washington Times is about the lawsuit filed by some attorneys at the Cato Institute. It's unfortunate (but unsurprising) that the NRA didn't file it. It isn't ideal--the perfect case would be a defense against criminal charges filed against wheelchair-bound black lesbian using a handgun to defend herself from a neo-Nazi skinhead who breaks into her apartment after repeated complaints to the police have gone unheeded. But there's still enough diversity in this suit to make it interesting.
DC's law, unlike state gun control laws, is clearly a question of the authority of the federal government, and avoids messy and complex problems with whether the 14th Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment or not.
Another advantage of this challenge is that handguns don't have the negative image to judges that assault weapons do (since, I suspect, a fair number of judges who support restrictive gun control carry handguns for their own protection). In addition, the DC law isn't just overly restrictive in practice (e.g., the Sullivan Act in New York City), but overly restrictive as written. There is no lawful way for even the squeakiest clean of adults to legally buy a handgun in the District of Criminals.
You've probably already seen this story; everyone is running it because it is incredibly stupid. Parents of a first grader in Canada objected to the word "gun" being on a spelling list. (They are up to the G-words now.)
"The word gun is synonymous with death. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out why a seven-year-old would need to learn this word," said Mrs. Sousa, who admits she was hesitant to bring her views forward for fear of backlash from the school toward her daughter, and because some may view her problem with the word gun as another political correctness issue gone too far.
"For a split second I considered whether or not I should raise this issue, but I knew I had to stand up for what I believe in. This was not right," she said.
"I don't think this is an issue of political correctness. It's an issue of protecting your child from violence. Guns are violent. End of story," said Mrs. Sousa.
And how, Mrs. Sousa, does your child not knowing how to spell "gun" protect your child from violence? If she can't spell it, does this mean that bullets will magically not hit her? I guess I'm safe from the entire class of diseases that cause you to bleed everywhere; I can't spell hemorraghic fever (at least I don't think I can). posted by Clayton at 8:13 AM permalink
I Have a Gub
Eugene Volokh has an amusing reminder of a great moment in Woody Allen's film Take the Money and Run, in which the bank teller--and then her supervisor--insist that the holdup note he has scrawled says, "I have a gub."
True story: some years ago, when I was still a kitchen table gun dealer, I needed a money order made out to a company named "Southern Ohio Gun." So I go to the bank, and since we all know that there are some words that we don't say in a bank, I had written out "Southern Ohio Gun" on a piece of paper, and explained that I needed a money order for a certain amount of money made out to "this name." The bank teller says, "Southern Ohio Gum?" At least I didn't have to explain it to her supervisor as well. posted by Clayton at 8:01 AM permalink
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Another Ohio Judge That Knows How To Read
This piece of good news is from the Advertiser-Tribune apparently in or near Seneca County, Ohio:
A Seneca County judge has ruled that Ohio's law against carrying a concealed weapon is unconstitutional.
"The statute deprives Ohio citizens of an effective means of self-defense," said Common Pleas Judge Michael P. Kelbley in an 18-page ruling filed Tuesday. "The Constitution states in clear terms that the people of Ohio have the right to bear arms."
Kathryn J. Howard, 28, 1208D Peeler Drive, Fostoria, was facing one count of carrying a concealed weapon stemming from a June 2002 traffic stop in Fostoria in which a loaded 9mm pistol was found under her seat, according to papers in the now-closed case.
Howard, through her attorney Mark Klepatz of Tiffin, had filed a motion in November 2002 to have the case thrown out because the law governing concealed weapons was unconstitutional.
Kelbley said he based his ruling on the Ohio Constitution, and not the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Article One, Section Four of the Ohio Constitution states, in part, "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security."
...
Howard admitted that the loaded gun belonged to her and she was carrying the pistol for self-defense because she had been sexually assaulted in the past, according to court documents.
Gee, do you suppose this is why liberals are so terrified of decent people being armed? They might injure too many rapists?
going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without an accordion.
...
World War I – Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States. Thousands of French women find out what it’s like to not only sleep with a winner, but one who doesn’t call her “Fraulein.” Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline.
World War II – Lost. Conquered French liberated by the United States and Britain just as they finish learning the lyrics for “Deutschland Über Alles.”
Not Every Sheriff In California Is Corrupt or Stupid
Here's a shockingly good news story from the Appeal-Democrat, about concealed weapon permit issuance policies in Yuba and Sutter Counties. While the policies of both don't seem to be quite as open as say, Oregon or Idaho, it also appears that the sheriffs of these two counties believe that permits should be available to law-abiding adults who want to defend themselves:
More than 700 Yuba-Sutter residents have permits to carry concealed handguns - and that's just fine with local sheriffs.
In Yuba County, 293 people have permits. The total in Sutter County is 416.
Yuba County's latest batch of would-be pistol-packers recently finished a required eight-hour course offered by Yuba College.
...
Yuba County Sheriff Virginia Black defended the longstanding California law that allows qualified citizens to carry hidden guns. When "bad guys" don't know who's carrying, crime is deterred, Black said.
Besides, citizens have a legal right to defend themselves, and in today's violent world, anyone can become a victim, she said.
The sheriff said she can recall only one near-crime involving a legal concealed weapon. About 20 years ago, a Marysville man intervened in a domestic situation and pointed his gun at a man beating a woman, resulting in the loss of his permit to carry. The sheriff said she decided just recently to reissue the permit.
...
In Sutter County, the initial eight-hour course is given by rod and gun club members who belong to the National Rifle Association or by Yuba City gun dealers, said Undersheriff Bill Grove.
Gun permits are not issued to anyone on probation. A domestic violence or battery conviction may or may not disqualify an applicant, depending on how recent it is, Grove said.
Applicants are interviewed by the Sutter County Sheriff's Department support services commander, whose decision in a particular case may involve a certain amount of subjectivity, Grove said.
"The (applicant) has to be of good moral character. We try to get a feeling for what their intentions are," he said.
Applicants often carry money or valuables in connection with their businesses, he said.
Grove estimated the department revokes one permit a year, usually when the holder commits a felony or is involved in a bar fight.
Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. Gov. Davis represents everything that I despise about the "moderate" wing of the Democratic Party--it stands for nothing but crooked little deals to keep itself in power. posted by Clayton at 8:39 AM permalink
Glad To Be Back Home In Boise!
Great timing! I left for Dallas on Friday morning; I guess this was shortly after Orange was declared. All the tables that I am used to seeing at Boise airport, unused, were now in use. They were searching many (all?) of the checked bags before putting them on the conveyor belt. Of course, I was checking a handgun and two knives so big and threatening that they scare me a little when I'm holding them.
My wife thought I was being silly to take a handgun along to Dallas. Then she saw Dallas--with security guards driving through the Wal-Mart lot, "Elevator does not go to garage after 10:00 PM for security reasons" signs in the hotel, and mentally ill people approaching our car after dark. Yes, it was rather nice to have my Colt .380 with us.
The conference went well--though a little lightly attended. Perhaps the most interesting part of the conference was a young lady from the University of Essex in England. She's an American, working on an interdisciplinary PhD specialized in human rights. She decided to study the question of the right to keep and bear arms as a human right--and as you might expect, she has the field to herself. She was there to learn from the sessions, and to interview gun rights advocates, including yours truly.
As a social event, we went over to the DFW Gun Range and fired automatic weapons. The H&K MP5 is certainly the most controllable, most useful submachine gun I have ever fired. ("Useful," of course, is only a relative term, since I no longer live in California, gun control and criminal heaven.) Here's some video that my wife shot with my HP Photosmart 812 digital camera. (Warning: it's about a 5 MB file.) posted by Clayton at 8:28 AM permalink
