The Idiocy Goes Forward

So, H-L school district is going to go ahead with signing on some geriatric Dirty Harry wannabees to patrol the halls.

Warren County supervisors on Thursday gave the go-ahead to county Sheriff Bud York’s plan to hire part-time sheriff’s officers to work in Hadley-Luzerne Central School, but some expressed concerns about costs for the program that won’t be picked up by school districts.

It's nice to see there are some supervisors looking at reality. They didn't seem to follow it as far along as I did, but it's a start. 

Some supervisors had concerns about costs that the Sheriff’s Office will have in outfitting the officers, with firearms, uniforms and other equipment to be purchased, and with the officers going on the county’s liability insurance policy. Handguns can cost up to $400 apiece.

Taxpayers of Hadley Luzerne Arise!

I'd be an unhappy Fort Edward taxpayer anyway.

Hadley-Luzerne School Superintendent Beecher Baker said the district’s Board of Education has authorized up to $60,000 a year to fund part-time officers to be present at each of the district’s two buildings, and at school functions such as sports games and night events in the school buildings.

Combined, those towns have a population of 5,318.  

Vegan Propaganda and Timing Meals

Despite the fact that I'll likely eat a bit of ham on Sunday and some turkey on Thanksgiving. That's why my diet is called AVAP, though. As Vegan As Possible. Let's feed everyone.

“Concurrently replacing all animal-based items in the US diet with plant-based alternatives will add enough food to feed, in full, 350 million additional people - well above the expected benefits of eliminating all supply chain food waste,” the study states.

On the subject of easy weight loss. 

A researcher at the Salk Institute in San Diego, Panda argues that eating within a certain time window each day can help people lose weight and may help prevent illnesses including diabetes , heart disease and cancer. In animal studies, he and others have shown that limiting food intake to a period of eight to 12 hours can boost cognitive and physical performance, and may even lengthen life span. Known as time-restricted feeding, or TRF, the approach is simple: Eat more or less what you want, but don't consume anything before or after the allotted time.

What could be easier than that? Actually I've been doing it a few days and my tummy gets a little grumbly before bedtime. I brush and floss early, though, because then I won't eat again. 

Wow, can't believe I didn't have a Vegan Propaganda label. 

York Letter Final Draft

     I'm responding to Sheriff York's talk to the superintendents about putting armed officers (SRO's) in the schools. He says, "It's not about guns for me. It's about protecting our kids." He's dismissive of state Democrats for not providing funding for this. On the goal of limiting access to guns, "That's just a political statement that the politicians use to get elected." So, Governor Cuomo and the Assembly don't care about protecting kids, just getting re-elected. Mr. York says it's safety, not politics though.

    The article mistakenly states the Maryland shooter was killed by an SRO. In any case, the shooter was armed with a handgun. That state has laws similar to ours. The sheriff might say SRO's worked. Alternatively, the situation may have been different if the shooter had access to assault weapons. Most would agree, I believe, there's an advantage to being armed with a rifle over a handgun. That's even without throwing a bump stock on it.

     There's a recent Sheriff's Association release that requests, "Sufficient funding to provide at least one armed SRO at every grade school and high school in the state." There are over 6,700. At $30,000 just for salary, that's over $200 million per year. Add in regular training, weapon maintenance, uniforms and so on. Possibly state Democrats see gun control as more cost effective. From statements I've seen of Sheriffs York and Murphy they seem opposed to gun control. Can someone ask if they have a problem with New York gun laws? It seems to me that sensible regulation makes their jobs easier and relieves the need for armed officers in our schools.     

York article

Renewed push for armed officer

Lehman's blog

Options to keep guns out of schools - which is kind of odd since that's not what they're doing.  

My Letter Gun is Empty

So, I saw this letter in the PS this morning. I don't know if I would have responded to it, but it's terrible to see something like it and realize you've used up your quota of submissions for the month (two). Starting at the end.

We need to use logic, not emotions, when responding to problems.

Well yeah, I can't disagree with that. The only thing is that it was the most illogical letter I've read in some time. 

Some people want to ban all AR-15s because of this. Some want to ban all rifles. Some want to ban all guns. 

What percentage of people want to ban all guns? .0003? So, that's pretty much a straw man. 

Suppose a very troubled teen boy drove a big black Ford F-150 with a fast engine and big tires into a crowd of school kids on the sidewalk, killing some and injuring others. (Terrorists in Europe have done this.)

I'm going to call that a red herring leading into a second straw man. 

Would the same critics want to ban scary Ford F-150s? How about all Ford trucks? Would they ban any truck with a powerful engine and big tires? How about banning all vehicles?

I'd dare say there wasn't a spot of logic in the whole letter. How do you get that F-150 into a school, church, movie theater, concert, etc. Unfortunately, his thesis was tested by a sociopath in Charlottesville with the killing of Heather Heyer. 

When it becomes an issue of mass casualties due to homicide by auto then I believe we will discuss that. In the meantime, guns are the issue. 

In Defense of Elise Stefanik

I did this once before. Don't remember what the situation was, but I believe the Stefanik may, at some point, ask me to stop defending her. Here's a link to the Dylan Ratigan piece.

     I'm writing to defend Elise Stefanik from the charges made by Dylan Ratigan.  He said, "My number one problem with Rep. Stefanik is that she's a career politician and she's part of the system." First, that’s just meaningless cliches. Second, I don't believe she is a career politician. Before coming back to the district, long enough to get elected to Congress, she was a gofer in the Bush Junior White House. She's been in Congress for only 3 years. Third, it presupposes that there's something wrong with being a politician with experience. I'm getting a hip replacement in a couple of months. I'm not looking at my doctor and saying, "I don't want him operating, he's a career surgeon!" Not being a career politician was supposed to be a selling point for Donald Trump's election. How's that working out? The White House running pretty smoothly? Like them or don't, politicians like Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell know how to get things done.

     I don't like hearing nonsense attacks from Republicans. I like them even less from Democrats. One of the reasons I'm supporting Tedra Cobb is because she has been involved in politics. She won an election to the St. Lawrence County Legislature. She has served in government. If elected, she has more maturity than Ms. Stefanik did going in. I like prepared people. Mr. Ratigan has run a business and has been on CNBC. Those qualifications are pretty similar to what Mr. Trump had going for him. He needs to explain how those prepare him for the US Congress. I have problems with our rep, as regular readers will attest. I can tell you what they are without making ad hominem attacks on her, though. Her opponent should be able to as well.