Canales News Briefs

December 9, 2009

To All,

One would have to suppose that the editors at Golf Digest and the PR flacks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue utterly forgot the old maxim of "...Timing Is Everything..." when they published this month's cover.

In other news:

Let's Be Careful Out There:

There is now another example justifying the premise of shall-issue concealed carry of firearms for personal self-defense outside the home, if this latest story from the ABC affiliate in Denver is noted.

Alan Gathright of 7News notes that gangs had been roaming sections of downtown Denver and assaulting lone victims "...during a four month crime wave...". Many of the assaults appear to have race as a basis for the assaults and battery involved, though robbery seems to also be a primary motive.

It is eminently clear that, in this case, police delayed warning the public at large about the crimes for several weeks at least. Also withheld from the public at the time was that such events were sufficient for Denver police to have asked for FBI assistance roughly 5-6 weeks into crime wave.

Perhaps it is fine for the police to "be careful" about misreporting statistics before a clear trend could be established and verified. In a way, some of our "friends" in the various wildlife agencies should take note of such reticence. And given the current pandemic of political correctness washing through governmental departments from sea to shining sea, one can understand a hesitation to finally pull the red alarm on what appears to be a sensitive racial issue.

But all that collective decision making matters little to an individual on the street when confronted with the specter of bodily harm. 3 minutes is a long time for one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat for a modestly trained fighter in the ring. It is a lifetime, and potentially a life-ending event, when one is faced with multiple assailants in a "wilding" attack.

Laughably, gun control proponents have been making much of the proposition that folks who have been vetted by the various "shall issue" protocols should still not be allowed to carry firearms when entering restaurants or bars where alcohol is served. In Denver at least, it seems that one actually needs to be well armed and vigilant just when travelling to and from bars and restaurants. Especially if they intend to survive the experience. Perhaps it's time to revisit the various restaurant and bar restrictions that currently exist, if such businesses expect their customers to survive a visit to their establishments.

Stay tuned.

Link at:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21868721/detail.html

Ouch:

Stephanie Strom reports at the New York Times that a "...longtime anonymous donor..." to the ACLU is not able to make a $ 20 million-plus donation this year, apparently due to economic conditions.

Welcome to the Obama Recovery, where even his erstwhile supporters get hosed.

Strom "outs" the donor as David Gelbaum, someone who has had success as a hedge fund manager and apparently has invested significantly in "clean technology" (whatever the heck that is.).

Gelbaum is listed by Forbes.com as being on the boards of a variety of "penny-stock" companies listed on Nasdaq. Most if not all seem to be ventures related to the Algore Green job model, which means right now they are lower than the lint in a snake's bellybutton. In the case of ThermoEnergy Corporation, the entire market value of the stock is less than the annual donation that Gelbaum has been making to the ACLU.

It is interesting in the extreme that, while at the height of political power, the American Left is bankrupting friends and enemies alike. Left-wing groups such as ACLU, and possibly our friends at Sierra Club, stand to be hurt significantly in the wallet if it proves to be Gelbaum pulling the plug on the gravy train. To paraphrase the Harvey Korman character in "Blazing Saddles", it may mean they will have less means by which to do "...the ee-vell that they do so well...".

Oh well, too bad, so sad.

Links at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09aclu.html?_r=1

http://people.forbes.com/profile/david-gelbaum/87180

Respectfully,

Anthony Canales

SFVMC-NRA