Flies Drawn to Refuse

A bipartisan group of senators announced a “commonsense” agreement on a gun package Sunday.

“Today, we are announcing a commonsense, bipartisan proposal to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country. Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities,” the group of senators said in a press release on the announcement.

The senators include Chris Murphy, John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, Kyrsten Sinema, Richard Blumenthal, Roy Blunt, Cory Booker, Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Chris Coons, Lindsey Graham, Martin Heinrich, Mark Kelly, Angus King, Joe Manchin, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Debbie Stabenow, and Pat Toomey.

Mitch (War Turtle) McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney are always running with the same crowd, aren’t they?

 

Charging an electric car in 1905

It’s the photo-of-the-day…

 

This Week in History – June 15, 1215

King John put his seal on the Magna Carta

Following a revolt by the English nobility against his rule, King John put his royal seal on Magna Carta, or “the Great Charter,” on June 15, 1215. The document, essentially a peace treaty between John and his barons, guaranteed that the king would respect feudal rights and privileges, uphold the freedom of the church, and maintain the nation’s laws. Although more a reactionary than a progressive document in its day, Magna Carta was seen as a cornerstone in the development of democratic England by later generations.

John was enthroned as king of England following the death of his brother, King Richard the Lion-Hearted, in 1199. King John’s reign was characterized by failure. He lost the duchy of Normandy to the French king and taxed the English nobility heavily to pay for his foreign misadventures. He quarreled with Pope Innocent III and sold church offices to build up the depleted royal coffers. Following the defeat of a campaign to regain Normandy in 1214, Stephen Langton, the archbishop of Canterbury, called on the disgruntled barons to demand a charter of liberties from the king.

In 1215, the barons rose up in rebellion against the king’s abuse of feudal law and custom. John, faced with a superior force, had no choice but to give in to their demands. Earlier kings of England had granted concessions to their feudal barons, but these charters were vaguely worded and issued voluntarily. The document was drawn up for John in June 1215, however, forced the king to make specific guarantees of the rights and privileges of his barons and the freedom of the church. On June 15, 1215, John met the barons at Runnymede on the Thames and set his seal to the Articles of the Barons, which after the minor revision was formally issued as the Magna Carta.

The charter consisted of a preamble and 63 clauses and dealt mainly with feudal concerns that had little impact outside 13th century England. However, the document was remarkable in that it implied there were laws the king was bound to observe, thus precluding any future claim to absolutism by the English monarch. Of greatest interest to later generations was clause 39, which stated that “no free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised [dispossessed] or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimized…except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” This clause has been celebrated as an early guarantee of trial by jury and of habeas corpus and inspired England’s Petition of Right (1628) and the Habeas Corpus Act (1679).

In immediate terms, Magna Carta was a failure—civil war broke out the same year, and John ignored his obligations under the charter. However, after his death in 1216, Magna Carta was reissued with some changes by his son, King Henry III, and then reissued again in 1217. That year, the rebellious barons were defeated by the king’s forces. In 1225, Henry III voluntarily reissued Magna Carta a third time, and it formally entered English statute law.

Magna Carta has been subject to a great deal of historical exaggeration; it did not establish Parliament, as some have claimed, nor more than vaguely allude to the liberal democratic ideals of later centuries. However, as a symbol of the sovereignty of the rule of law, it was of fundamental importance to the constitutional development of England. Four original copies of Magna Carta of 1215 exist today: one in Lincoln Cathedral, one in Salisbury Cathedral, and two in the British Museum.

May be an image of indoor

 

Chinese Imperialism

But will the PRC’s bubble pop?

(link) h/t Claudio – The slump in demand for Chinese goods is a blow to the economy, which is already forecast to grow at the slowest pace in decades this year due to a property market slump and the government’s aggressive Covid-related restrictions.

 

Where are the UFOs

Map of UFO sightings per capita by US state. Green = above average UFO sightings, yellow = below average. Washington State had the most UFO sightings per capita, with 8.8 sightings per 10,000 people. VT, MT, & AK were next. TX had the lowest sightings at 1.95 per 10,000 population.

Why are UFOs avoiding Texas and the American South?

 

Brown vs. blue eyes in Europe; the browner the country on the map, the more brown-eyed the people.

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56 COMMENTS

  1. A “common-sense gun agreement” ?
    I never would have guessed they’d legislate National Constitutional Carry, and actually arresting, charging, and punishing criminals.

    UFOs: Too much triple-A.

    Eyes: About what I would expect, but where are the green eyes? Egg Shen wants to know (don’t tell LoPan).

    -Kle.

  2. How soon before China’s African safari results in blowback manefested as a monkey pox plague?

    • That’s a fair question. We know that some Africans seem to enjoy the company of monkeys (ie-the pox) the question is whether or not the Chinese in turn enjoy the Africans in that same, special way as they penetrate the Dark Continent.

      The Chinese are having a lot of trouble back home and I wonder how long they can keep up their expansionist agenda.

    • Communicating with the “average American” is a challenge. These are the same licensed voters who serve on juries. But yes, they need to be removed from office.

      Term limits are the solution. Two terms and out (three if you’re serving two-year terms in the House – and no more national government jobs.

      • Term limits let Gretchen Whitmer move from the MI house to the MI Senate to the MI governorship. She got worse every step of the way. I met her when I was active in Michigan Democratic politics. Glad I left that, and the state.

        • You can blame term limits or misinfomed/illinformed/foolish voters. Michigan could do the same thing. Two terms in government and then wait 10 years to run again.

  4. China needs ports and airfields with drydocks and ship repair, re-fueling and re-arming capabilities, etc. to expand from being just a regional power. Like the Japanese knew in WW2, the power of a navy is dependent on how far it can travel and operate on it’s own without having to return to home ports. China is making moves on both coasts of Africa to that end. The health officials in the UK says 99% of the monkeypox cases there are from gay men. Move along, nothing to see here…”Look back there! Jan. 6th insurrection!”

    • If you bum-jug a chimp and get sick, or bum-jug somebody who bum-jugs a chimp, how is that a national crisis?

      • It’s just a different breed of squirrel with which to distract the proletariat. The plan is to encourage you to swallow anything and be happy. Prepare to be assimilated.

  5. Common sense….as defined by ne’er-do-wells, miscreants, and poltroons.
    UFOs – has anyone done an overlay of UFO sightings and recreational drug use?

  7. “Chip.Chip.Chip.”…the sound of those tasked with upholding The Constitution undermining it at every turn. Universal Red Flag laws are next, allowing hateful ninny’s to rat out their neighbors or family members on the thinnest of un-Constitutional search and seizure unlawfulness. God-forbid rational citizens point out that 2A is an inherent right…they’ll be labeled kooks or some made-up brand of terrorist that can only be defined by the Dem’s tortured logic.

    Curious how long the 1905 dry cell batt’s held a charge? (vs. the 1,000# Li-Ion ones in today’s EV’s)

    Those driving EV’s believe this is new tech so they have an air of social superiority, entitling them to require us to pay for their foolishness: “I’ll just park my EV on your hotel veranda so I can charge it with free electricity?”. Aren’t clean renewables just dandy?

    • Red Flag Laws: You know that informers will come out of the woodwork exact revenge for every perceived slight against their neighbors. It will be Holland under the Nazis all over again.

      • My father was an older boy and then into his teens during the Nazi occupation of Holland. He didn’t talk much about it but one thing he said was that you really had no idea who your neighbours were. Collaborators, informants and snitches. It was very common. Some were dealt with directly, durinmg the war or just after. Others were just shunned entirely from their families forever. They were simply never talked about again.

        Then seeing everything that happened here in Canada during Covid. People never change.

          • Citizens of Western countries all live under a kind of occupation now. We are in the middle of a very strange war. It’s entirely informational, political and cultural. No shooting, yet. You see the outlines of sides but nothing is clear. But it is very definitely there. A new generation of warfare but it’s no longer country against country. It seems to be about absolute control over all. With Russia and China, and nations outside the Western sphere, also getting a vote.

          • Yes, that is the case, but it’s a tenuous grip in the US with over 400 million firearms and many trillions of rounds of ammunition. The oligarchs need to get that under control first, which is why the assault on honest, law abiding gun owners.

          • America is special.

            In Canada we are occupied and full by traitors. I’ve worked in tech and seen Canadian companies taken down by Chinese infiltration. And people collaborated with them. Just for money. It’s very strange.

            Similar to the Dutch under occupation. And we are also unarmed.
            Another story my father told me was of my grandfather, his father, hammering a nail into the hoof of a horse they owned in order to lame it, so that the Germans wouldn’t take it.

            Sometimes that is what you are reduced to. Putting a nail into the hoof of your horse. Just to spite them.

      • Camels Nose-Tent…massive slippery slope to force good gun owners into subservience to the Lunatic Potentates. I’m Polish though, and as I recall they fought a good fight, it’s in my blood. I’m also part German, but would have camped out in the Black Forest to work it from that angle instead of watching the evil from the sidelines. Morality matters.

    • The electric vehicle of time gone by were lead-acid wet cells. Or perhaps an iron-acid cell. Definitely not “dry cells” which are considered “primary” batteries, and are generally not rechargeable.

      • Thx for the clarification…forgot the knowledge gleaned from The Boys’ Fourth Book of Radio and Electronics, which I devoured in those explorative formative years.

        • Glad I clarified it, Paul.

          I’m half Polish and half Irish. You really don’t want to get on my Bad Side. Or as one of my friends put it, I have a looong fuse, but Lordy does it burn quick!

  8. Colorado’s San Luis Valley is a hot spot for UFO sightings to the point there are dedicated viewing sites (tourist fleecing – you pay to enter). Strange place with a New Age town at the North end and even an alligator farm (tourist fleecing) around some hot springs.

    • Moons ago was up in the Flattops elk hunting, nature called at 3AM (of course). Went to the ridgeline a few hundred feet away from camp, sky was crystal clear, stars were amazing. The view included an orb with tail moving across the sky in the distance. Never saw anything like it before. Had to be some sort of comet or meteor but found nothing in the news. A true UFO but certainly not ET.

      I stand on our deck at night before heading up for the day, talk to God for a few minutes. As a joke I look up and tell ET they have a good spot to land with friendlies (at least my side of the equation). Nothing. Imagine my continued disappointment.

      • Colorado has fewer UFO sightings than Arizona if you believe the map. Then again, maybe the question is the willingness to report.

  9. China is turning the entire third world into client states. I did a motorcycle tour in Laos with an expat from Wales in 2018 and they were (still are?) funding and building a massive railroad project from Thailand straight on up to Kunming. It’s going to have an enormous impact. Maybe some good, I wouldn’t really know.

      • The Chinese rail network that I have traveled is modern and it appears to be efficient. Their Belt Road Project is designed to speed unfinished material to China where it will be turned into finished goods. Think of the British in India or the old Silk Road. Whether those efforts will pay off in light of internal problems in China is another matter.

  10. Common sense gun agreement: There is no intersection in the Venn diagram showing “Common Sense and Washington DC. After the shenanigans with the Washington State Supreme Court ( https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/06/washington-state-supreme-court-imposes-different-standards-on-police-seizures-for-bipoc-and-whites/ ) That diagram could be expanded to include a lot of politicians/judiciary in the US. What a train wreck and mostly we are just along for the ride with little or no ability to affect the outcome.

    UFOs: Darn it I live in WA, I should get to see a UFO too. Maybe since my recreational drug is Glenfiddich I don’t have the proper mindset.

    China: It almost looks like the only thing keeping the whole enterprise going is the expansion into Africa, South China se etc. Be interesting as they work out the kinks in the new carrier.

    • Africa is supposed to keep the supply of cobalt (car batteries), rare earths and other key items needed in cell phones and other big ticket items flowing. And you can see that there are those in US industry who directly benefit from the Chinese standing over Africa with a whip to keep it all flowing.

  11. Map of UFO sightings needs to have a Map of Drug Use overlay. My thoughts is that they would be similar.

    • OR – dropping acid helps the UFO aliens to reach into your mind and communicate with you. I’m just trying to offer an alternative.

      There are things like remote viewing that I believe can happen. Studies have shown that to be the case with disturbing accuracy. Not everyone seems to be capable of it, but the work done in that area is compelling. It has nothing to do with UFOs

  12. I got to thinking that list of “common-sense” gun-control-senators looked like a copy of CPUSA — and then I saw Joe Manchin? but I didn’t see Chuckie Schumer. Did I miss somethiing?

    • He’s driving it, this was the special group of advocates to show bi-partisan support. After the mid-term elections, I hope that the who’s who in that crowd will change.

  13. I highly dislike Senator J. Cornyn. As a Texan, I voted against him in the 2020 primary, but the jerk won. His Democrat opponent in the November 2020 election was an outright communist and when I selected Cornyn’s name I held my nose (I think I almost passed out 🙂 ). Voting for anybody else would have put the Democrat in office, but in retrospect voting for Cornyn put a pseudo-Democrat in office anyway, just not a Progressive. When his time comes round in 2026, if he doesn’t retire, I will again try to get him out in the Primary though he may have it fixed like any good Democrat does.

    I did write his office with my opposition to this legislation. I know that was like peeing into the wind.

      • Obviously his tone deafness allows him to think he’s God’s gift to Texas. He’s a turncoat bum.

          • Sometimes it’s not an outright bribe. Sometimes it’s blackmale of a politician or somebody close to that politician. Compromise with photos can be game-ending for the powerful. And do they ever trust you in a position of power unless they own you? I will tell you from first-hand experience that they do not…unless you have more on them. It’s a wicked game, DRJIM and I’ve seen all of it.

            Was Cornyn on the flight manifest to Epstein’s Fantasy Island?

  14. Why not many UFO sightings? Mosquitos.

    As to Red China, they’ve been doing the very Soviet thing of spending all their money outside the country while the inside country begins to fall apart. Whole sections of cities empty because the buildings are unsafe and so forth and so on.

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