TANSTAAFL - Los Angeles' Gun Buyback - a waste of money and a bad way to reduce crime

Come one, come all! Welcome to to one of the most futile exercises in modern law enforcement! Some really smart people, like someone who failed the California Bar four times think that you can reduce crime by giving away gift cards for groceries for ANY guns, in any condition.

Do you have a rusted, .32 caliber revolver where the firing pin busted off and it won't shoot? Handgun = $50!!

How about a .22 caliber, single shot where the entire trigger group is thoroughly corroded - the only way it is lethal is if it is used as a bludgeoning object. Rifle = $100!!!

And a $200 gift card for an "assault rifle as classified in the state of California"! Uhm, no way does anyone turn in a working semi-automatic rifle (or even fully auto) that works for this amount. You can't even find these so-called assault rifles anywhere in the county (let alone all of California), and when they do show up for $2000 a piece they get snatched up within seconds of the store opening its doors.

According to John Lott and anyone with the ability to think rationally, no criminal is going to turn his primary tool in. If he did, it'd be to either a) get rid of a weapon used in a crime or b) get rid of a crappy gun and use the money towards a better, working gun. I'm sure Ray Ray, Jose or Tyler will be showing up to this to turn in their primary tool.

Most guns used in crimes aren't these guns being turned in. If a gun is used, there's a really good chance it was stolen. The only way a gun buyback reduces any crime is by depriving the potential thief or burglar of a weapon. If you turn it in, they can't steal it now. Is that worth all this promotion and outlaying of cash?

Whatever - this city's going to hell in a handbasket. The illegitimacy rate is astounding, the poverty rate is not to be believed, the schools suck (even with social promotion and bogus standards, the dropout rate is one out of every five.) and if people think that giving up a good source of self-defense for a few days' worth of groceries is a good idea then they deserve what they get. What I do care about is the 2 - 4 hours worth of fucking paperwork I would have to complete should anyone turn in their guns that they don't want anymore that I am now saved by this futile crime reducing endeavor. I'm full Ron Swanson on this issue: go ahead, do your foolish, ill-advised, feels-good-but-does-no-good leftist thing - I'll root for the smart person getting $50-$100 for paper weights.

Using Twitter to Expand Liberty

Dear (Celeb, Journalist, Politician, Media Member, etc.) affiliated with Liberty:

You could really help out the liberty movement by following your Twitter followers back.

Long story short; if you follow back your followers, you then allow them to follow more people and thus have a much broader reach, thus spreading ideas about Life, Liberty, Private Property & Free Enterprise.

If you're wondering WTF I'm even talking about, please allow me a quote from @dbargen's excellent blog on this matter:

Twitter has a 2k follow limit. Before they allow you to follow more than 2000, you have to have a balance of followers: 91% or 1821 followers and then twitter will allow you to proceed past 2k.
You can simply wait until your following numbers reach 1821, but for now you cannot follow back any of those new followers. Note: Even after you pass 2000, you will need to maintain a balance of approximately 90%. However, it is easier to do with larger numbers.

The more Twitter followers of yours that you follow back, the broader their reach will be. Please help us out.

Thank you in advance & God bless.

Thank you, Sarah Brady.

Finally out of the Twitter Gulag.

“@criminalsunion: We accept your invitation to join your mafia, @bradytwitt! twitpic.com/6ugsp9”OMG too great!#VictimDisarmament
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 20, 2013

Then we had Sarah Brady immediately flip out.

@bradytwitt I was just retweeting something @criminalsunion tweeted.
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 22, 2013

And we have our smoking gun. Because @bradytwitt now has me blocked. Well done.

Twitter's response as to why I was suspended.

From: Twitter Support <support@twitter.zendesk.com> Date: April 15, 2013, 12:46:21 PM PDT To: bluesidetales <truebluetwentytwo@gmail.com> Subject: This is about the first or sixth time this has happened ... Reply-To: Twitter Support <support+id8756009@twitter.zendesk.com> ##- Please type your reply above this line -## Hello, This account was suspended for sending multiple unsolicited messages using the @reply and/or mention feature. These features are intended to make communication between people on Twitter easier. Twitter monitors the use of these features to make sure they are used as intended and not for abuse. Using either feature to post messages to a bunch of users in an unsolicited or egregious manner is considered an abuse of its use, which results in account suspension. For more information about these features, please visit our @Replies and Mentions help page: http://support.twitter.com/articles/14023 Your account will be unsuspended within 24 hours. Please note that it may take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal. Be sure to review the Twitter Rules, as repeat violations may result in permanent suspension: http://twitter.com/rules Thank you, Twitter Support support.twitter.com @support Message-Id:1VHTKZBF_516c590d3d35f_64968e107027063aa_sprut The craziest thing is that EVERYONE tweets to multiple people!

OUT of the Twitter gulag, after 70 hours! The twenty tweets prior to being suspended.

Shortly after being sent to the Twitter Siberia I blogged it. Now that I'm un-suspended, here's a list of the last twenty tweets before I was suspended.

@dljholt hey I know you're busy, but l4l.org HQ's closer to u than me. We need someone to pick up the torch from Doris Gordon
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

Political pain = felony: Tea Partier charged for threatening lawmaker over Agenda 21 salon.com/2013/04/10/tea… via @salon
— Donna Holt (@dljholt) April 12, 2013

@ldnjr I'd still be #stuckat2000 w/o @dbargen
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

R.T. If agree twitter.com/Airborne80/sta…
— Michael Weiss (@Airborne80) April 6, 2013

@writchie I'm following u. Can I get u to #FFBACK?
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@basruttenmma damn what's a guy have to do to get @verified?
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@basruttenmma I can't remember if I showed u this streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/blog/the-fear-… re: Fallon Fox
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@elcuervoes nice piece on MMA streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/blog/the-fear-…
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@marcyathanbucy us conservative/ libertarian Californians need to stick together.
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@iknowright2513 u will get more followers by including a graphic or pic rather than egg @dbargen has great strategies dbargen.blogspot.com
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

Post Reporter: Gosnell is Just a Local Crime Story: This tweet from the Post's Sarah Kliff is pretty revealing... bit.ly/12O5f9Q
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 11, 2013

@bollbar I'm not kidding standfirminfaith.com/?/sf/page/21537 #CultOfMolloch #Gosnell@steveha_rris @chicodelainky @patriciaheaton @chico
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

As gross as @bollbar comments r, @episcopalcafe agrees w/ her as does #RevRagsdale @steveha_rris @chicodelainky @patriciaheaton @chico
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@chicodelainky @windycitygirl21 is this when you pretend that you care about our military?! Most ex military are pro 2nd, random fact ;)
— A Bomb of Brilliance (@Oddly_Normal) April 12, 2013

Kudos (once again) to @patriciaheaton And, when will we hear from Pro-Abortion activist @evalongoria?
— [r]epublican (@JTofCaroline) April 12, 2013

@cnnbrk u DIG for this story, yet u wont simply cover #Gosnell. Your agenda is obvious.#lnyhbt#pjnet#TGDN#prolife#gettheblaze
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@piersmorgan the most disgusting thing @bourdain could eat would be your character.
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@piersmorganlive great. U'll cover @itstonybennett supporting #victimdisarmament, yet u r silent on #Gosnell.I know how to spell hypocrite.
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

.@piersmorgan so u'll RT a hurtful, incendiary piece about Rick Warren's family YET you're silent on #Gosnell. I know how to spell hypocrite
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

@ebbv what's it like to be a gelding?#IReallyWantToKnow
— Francisco Murphy (@bluesidetales) April 12, 2013

I guess I'm odd. Some leftist who screams about Reddit being sexist and racist is kind of a gelding.

Female Police Officers

My latest from Street Carnage.

Babies Are Not Weapons

"C'mon you're turning in a firearm. It’s not like you’re surrendering an infant!"

You can be guaranteed I’ll say something really close to those words whenever I’m assigned the desk. People turning in their firearms can be impatient. When turning in a firearm to a police station it requires 2-4 hours of paperwork (thank you, BATFE). At the semi-regular gun buybacks held in Los Angeles and other places people can quickly drop off their guns, get a gift card to a supermarket (in Los Angeles it was Ralph’s) and then within minutes be on their way.

Turning in your gun during a gun buyback is almost as easy as safely surrendering a newborn. Sorry, no Ralph’s gift card for babies. Although, that might be a good way to cut down on the number of abortions, besides making paid adoptions legal.

People turn in firearms to the police station for any number of reasons. A spouse dies, and the surviving spouse doesn’t know what to do with them. A relative dies and the surviving relatives don’t want them. Or they don’t want to go through the hassle of selling them because they have trashy, lame guns that are all rusted and won’t even work. If you are one of the very few who have goofy “I did this for Newtown” reasons, you can be sure the local news will put you on camera, even if you are the only person there with that goofy idea. If you’re an opportunist merely taking advantage of an easy way to ditch your crappy guns, no camera time.

The mayor is under the impression that this expensive program actually reduces crime. I’m not sure what crimes are being thwarted by taking already fired rocket launchers and mostly rusty guns no one is going to use off of the streets. What criminal is going to give up their tool in exchange for some groceries? The great economist John R Lott has several awesome reasons why gun buybacks are pointless.

Safely surrendering an infant is quick, anonymous and easy throughout the state, especially so in Los Angeles County. This law was put into place because of this type of evil shit was happening way, way too often through the 1990s.

In the Twitter Gulag ... again

My twitter account has been suspended as of about 1200 PST. Again. Once I'm un-suspended I'll list my last ten tweets and you all can see what I did, and why I possibly got suspended. I'm more than a little fucking pissed because this is the fifth or sixth time this year I've been suspended, and I never know what totally ambiguous Twitter Rule I may have broken to deserve suspension.

RT @bluesidetales is in the #twittergulag again. pls help! here's the story bluesidetales.blogspot.com/2013/04/in-twi… #TGDN
— Dale (@Dbargen) April 13, 2013

The only thing I can think of is that I piss off progressive leftists. Seeing as how they're so easily offended by facts, logic & reason I don't see that stopping any time soon. And if I continue to get suspended for merely speaking my mind it'll just harden me and piss me off more.

Here are some links chronicling exactly what I'm talking about:

#freeshanewright22 and more: Conservative users still trapped in #twittergulag; Update: Shane Wright freed, spam block attack confirmed

The #twittergulag saga continues: @gopfirecracker suspended, others still trapped; Update: @gopfirecracker’s account restored

#TwitterGulag denier Charles Johnson advocates suspension of conservatives’ Twitter accounts
(I have a very strong suspicion it was Charles Johnson who had something to do with suspending me. I won't make an actual accusation until I have at least a shred of evidence. DEVELOPING...)

Twitter CEO busts prisoner out of #TwitterGulag

Dissent for me, but not for thee: liberals justify Twitter gulag for conservatives

#TGDN: Hashtag to power! Grassroots set up Twitter Gulag Defense Network

#TGDN boot camp: Twitter Gulag Defense Network founder shares tips for avoiding #TwitterGulag

Twitter Gulag Defense Network’s website goes live, offers tips for conservative tweeters

Fuck You, Maddox

My latest, where I take down ridiculously popular and phony pirate Maddox.

UPDATE 12:00 hours:

Maddox replied via email. He shared some sensitive information that he'd rather not have put out on the internets, so an edited version will be made available soon.

UPDATE: 4/9/13 04:40 hours PST, Maddox's response is at Street Carnage here.

UPDATE: 4/9?13 20:05 hours PST, My initial response to Maddox's response.

UPDATE: 4/10/13 19:15 hours PST, My response to Maddox's response. (Keep up people!)

This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - Part IV

(Also on Street Carnage as LAPD DIARY: ENTERING THE LESBIAN-COP NO-FUN ZONE)

Here we go again ... 

You have a good working relationship with a supervisor. His job is to make sure you're doing what you're supposed to. You work for the police department as a police officer. You're gay. You're a woman. Your partner in the unit is also a lesbian. You all trade back and forth some really colorful and completely politically incorrect barbs at each other. One day the supervisor really gets on your case to actually do some actual work rather than goof off. You get mad. Then the captain of the division dies.

Do you A) go on as normal and ride it out until you retire in a few months, maybe a year? or B) conspire with your partner and concoct a story that you told the now dead captain repeatedly the discrimination and harassment you suffered and nothing was done.

If you chose B, you're smart enough now to collect a total of $1.24 million and split it with your attorneys and your partner.

You're probably thinking of telling me, "Hey Francisco, you dumb ass, you weren't there you don't know the truth." True. I wasn't there. However, I have met both plaintiff officers, and I do know from multiple sources that whenever either officer had a problem with anyone they didn't hesitate to tell their superior whether it was a lieutenant or captain immediately.

The department will soon be the No Fun Zone. All that witty banter you saw in End Of Watch (and that I get to experience every day I work) will soon be history if this continues unchecked. There's too much at stake to let any gallows humor to continue if someone is going to cry "racism!" or "sexism" or any other "ism" to get a seven figure settlement. If there is a huge financial incentive to lie, enough people will in order pad their Deferred Compensation.

This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Part III or You Mean it PAYS to cross the Thin Blue Line?

Ohh, where to begin with this one?

Well, we can start with the sad fact that the best, most objective and most in depth reporting on the above case wasn't any local or national news, but some downtown LA news website I've never heard of. They make a great point that establishes some context as to why this case is utter bullshit,

One veteran LAPD official with close knowledge of Central Division, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, maintained that the office is not rife with racism or sexual harassment.
"There was no maliciousness," the official said. "What's very common within police departments is there's a kind of a tête-à-tête that goes on between people, and it's kind of what you would call, not from a racial standpoint, but black humor. There's a joking, a self-effacing humor that goes on that in many respects is tolerated, and in many effects is tit for tat and recognized as humor." 

Fuck, I don't know how I'd have made it ten years (let alone ten months) without the ability to joke about shit in some of the most politically incorrect, crudest and darkest ways possible. This job is fun, but it's also dangerous and you see and experience shit the average American just never will. Lots of times you have to let off steam. You can be irresponsible and abuse alcohol or you can tell some off color jokes that are funny, but out of context in a courtroom will have an LA jury clutch at their pearls, gasp in horror and award a seven figure settlement.

One thing you didn't see reported anywhere, was the defendant's star witness never testified because he was too busy being arrested and booked for a home invasion burglary. Alleged burglar Daigle was a supervisor at Central Division who wasn't chosen to head the Community Relations Office. Instead that position went to Sgt Foster. Daigle's finances were a mess and he was desperate for a payoff and was willing to throw Foster under the bus. He couldn't wait for this trial to conclude, and in true deus ex machina fashion he commits a crime before he can testify against his nemesis Foster.

Surprisingly, the LA Times didn't do a completely awful job of reporting. They put in witness testimony that the plaintiff (Earl Wright) was a willing participant in the shenanigans. Between the lines, it's clear that it wasn't until the defendant saw the possibility of getting his thirty pieces of silver that he began to cry he was harassed and humiliated.

No good deed goes unpunished. No one was going to celebrate the defendant's 20 years with the department. Sgt Foster insisted on buying a cake because he felt bad that no one was going to recognize the defendant's truly significant milestone. In the LA Times piece, it is a fellow black officer who testified that it was he who put the watermelon and fried chicken on the cake. I suppose Sgt Foster shouldn't have bought a cake in the first place, then? I suppose he should have forgotten Wright and worried about himself. Maybe then Foster would have his job and his marriage.

Oh yeah, Foster's wife didn't believe in "'til death do us part" and as soon as he was in professional trouble she separated and began sleeping with a supervisor (a captain maybe? I can't get a straight answer). It's like a regular Joseph Wambaugh novel with this one!

Please pray for the good-hearted, yet dark humored Foster. He didn't deserve this, and there's serious talk within City Hall that they're getting a hold placed on Wright's judgement. Hopefully Foster will land on his feet, and may everyone else get exactly what they deserve.

SUCH swagger!

How did Obama win the election? Like this; (big h/t to Patterico)


The above clip is a perfect analogy for Obama's '08 campaign, his first four years and his '12 campaign. You can read a long-winded, nonsensical and altogether not at all analogous, "hey look at me!" piece right here by Tucker Max.

Keep failing, then only highlight your success and have a completely complicit media edit, spin and do all they can to make you look cool and hide all mistakes.

Turning over a new (red) leaf

Hey fellow readers,

After much careful thought and prayer I've decided everything I've ever believed was wrong. Almost.

Jim Wallis is truly a prophet and should be treated as such. He is not a Marxist in reverend's clothing, he truly does speak for Jesus!

The above is FAR superior to the old stars & stripes. I can't wait to vote for Obama in '16 (Oh come on, you don't think Michelle O won't run, do you??)

I've finally got my J.D. degree, I'm ready to clerk at the ACLU, pay my dues and then clerk for as many progressive legislators in local, state or federal government and then run for office myself. I've had it with actually trying to prevent and solve crimes. The police are the problem!

I think there are too many guns in this country. Tony Kornheiser was and is right. The problem is too many guns, not crime, not our culture - not a lack of religion.

I'm going to change my name from Francisco Murphy to Francisco Ignacio Gomez-Murphy in keeping with my Spanish roots. I've learned much more Spanish and will become fluent and I will appoint myself a spokesperson for the Hispanic American community. Uhm... I'm SPANISH, not Mexican so ... advocating for Aztlan will be difficult. I'm thinking I have to somehow hate on my colonialist-imperialist roots ... I'm thinking I'll just bullshit my way through it like all of the other "privileged" spokesmen for the left have in the past, actually coming from "privilege" while speaking about being a member of the proletariat. Whatever, seemed to work just fine for Ida Tarbell and Sean Penn and a whole host of other fine, upstanding fighters for international workers.

Our greatest challenge as a nation isn't that we're spending tons of money needlessly, it's that we're under taxed!

MrColionNoir, Ben Carson and David Webb are traitors to their race. The only acceptable views to speak of in public for black people are those that are espoused by Russell Simmons, Toure, Eric Michael Dyson, Rob Parker and the like.

I think that women ought to be free to choose when to abort their babies. I agree with high level Planned Parenthood execs that the decision of life and death is between a woman and her doctor even after a baby is born. I think Rev Katherine Ragsdale is a wonderful voice of reason in this debate.

And today is April 1.