Mexico, Gangs and the Failed State

You need to watch this video report:

Citizens Fighting Crime in Mexico

The report, by Deutche Welle, shows what happens when the government and the police fail to control criminal gangs.  The people arm themselves any way they can and fight back.  I have often thought that the main reason Mexican gang violence has not spilled across the border is they know Americans are armed to the teeth and will fight back if pushed.

I suspect that the violence will spill over once Mexico completely collapses.  Its due. Think civil war.

Of course, the anti-gun crowd would disarm law abiding citizens in America and probably Mexico too, first.

Violent Gun Crime at Lowest Since 1993, So What is the Panic?

Even though I posted this to Facebook and Twitter I thought I better post this somewhere more permanent.

Here is the Reality Check:

Gun Violence Down 49% Since 1993 Peak Despite Public Perception Of High Crime


See the anti-gun crowd wants you to think that it is all about evil guns. The reality is that the aging of the Baby Boomer generation has probably done more to reduce violent crime than all the gun laws.  They want you to think it is all about guns, while they ignore the almost total collapse of institutional mental health care in the U.S. (Because they do not want to have to pay for it, IMHO.) Nor do they want to address the pernicious role of the news media in encouraging and facilitating the media notoriety that these mass killers crave, and which inspires new sick copy-cat killers.  (They argue that freedom of the Press is protected by the First Amendment, well my guns are protected by the Second Amendment, so why should their Amendment be any more sacred than mine?)

So if gun violence is at a low point, why all the panic? Is it political slight of hand, so that you do not notice that the politicians have done nothing about the too-big-to-fail-banks, wars, out of control spending, massive power grab against our civil liberties, crumbling infrastructure and lack of leadership?

You want to know why the anti-gun movement has no wind in its sails?  Its not the "evil" NRA, its that most Americans have a good sense that things are not nearly as violent as the liberals seem to want them to believe.

Gun used to defend against intruders.

Share : ‘Soft-Spoken’ Man Saves the Day After 2 Allegedly Break In: ‘I Had My Gun in My Hand in 5 Seconds’ - Yahoo! News

Easier Blogging with Android vs. iOS

The time has come for me to start posting news to a blog on a fairly regular basis.  This means I have to make it as easy as possible.

For some time, tablets have taken over my daily routine from my laptop, so any blog posting is going to have to be from some sort of tablet. What I mainly want to do is micro-blog, similar to what I do on Twitter: post a title and a link to an article I think my readers will find interesting, plus a couple of sentences saying what I found interesting.

Using the Tablet:

My main tablet is a 10 inch iPad 3. I scan lots of news on many topics on it.  But when it comes to posting an article I found, iOS will give me a few options, generally: Share to Facebook, Twitter, email, and sometimes services like Evernote and Pocket.  iOS does not give you the option of sharing with any of your blogging apps, either from Blogger or WordPress.

And that is a problem.  It turns what should be a fast action into a chore.

Of course, I could still post via email, but that limits my options for assigning categories to a post or delaying publication.  I've never really liked post by email.

Enter Android for the Save Share:

Android works totally differently.  Every time you add a new app that can be "Shared" to that app becomes available as a share menu option.  It can make for a long list, but if I want to share an article on my browser I click Share >> More and I get a huge list of apps. If I choose WordPress app then the title and link of the article are sent to my WordPress app which opens and is ready for me to edit and post.  Easy.

This is where the more free for all world of Android shines compared to iOS.

There are two downsides to Android on tablets however:

1. There still are not as many good news apps for Android Tablets as there are for iPads.  This makes it a bit harder to find news in the first place. Android may be the most popular operating system for smartphones, but the iPad still has Android beat in popularity in the tablet market.

2. Hardware: few Android tablets can match iPad for speed and smoothness.  They are out there but you have to hunt.

If you are not a blogger, none of this will effect you, if you are a blogger it might effect you depending on you work flow.  All I know is I hate finding an article on my iPad and having to either copy past titles and URL's to post it, or switch to an Androd tablet to post.

No Civil Discussion of Gun Control Found on Left

After reading all the trolling, anti-gun posts on social media for the last several days I don't think there can be a calm rational, nuanced discussion about gun control. On this issue, the Left is just as extreme and irrational as the Right is about their hobby horses of abortion and gay marriage.

New Life for My Old iPhone 3Gs

As some may know I my current phone is an HP Pre 3 running webOS.  While I like the phone it lacks one critical app: Amazon Kindle. My HP Touchpad has a Kindle app that works fine, but Kindle was never made for the Pre 3.

My problem was I often like to read a few chapters in bed before retiring and to do this I need a backlit screen and I like something small and light weight that I can hold in one hand and a tablet is just too large.  I suppose this is a leftover from bedtime reading back in the Palm PDA days.

Fortunately I remembered my old iPhone 3Gs which was sitting around in a drawer for almost a year.  I charged the battery, updated the version of iOS, updated all the apps and I have a perfectly functioning WiFi only PDA.

In some ways the lower resolution screen of the 3Gs works better than the high res screen of my Pre 3, because the higher resolution means tiny type which is hard to read on a small screen.  But the 3Gs screen is perfect for reading.

Still I would prefer to have a Kindle app on my Pre 3, but at least I have a work around and it cost me nothing to have the old 3Gs charging on the nightstand. Win.

Switching from Android to webOS Cellphone

The post office delivered the webOS HP Pre 3 phone I ordered today.  This means that Monday I will visit my local ATT Wireless store and switch carriers and phones.

I decided that trying a webOS phone was an itch that needed to be scratched lest it really bother me.  The Pre 3 was never released in the USA, but the phone I bought was made for ATT and it's network, just never distributed.  So I better try it now or forget it because no more Pre 3's will ever be produced.  That is a shame, since having held the hardware in my hand I can tell this is a very comfortable phone.  The shape of the Pre 3 has been described as a "river pebble" shape that fits in the palm of your hand and I think that is apt. The back is rubberized to provide a firm grip.

The phone battery is charging now.  On Monday it will get the SIM card and I will set it up with my various accounts.  Knock wood, I hope everything works.

Future:

IF I like the HP Pre 3 and if it proves reliable, I hope to use it over the next 24 months when maybe somebody will release an Open Sourced version of webOS on a phone.  Realistically, I don't think I will hold my breath, but it could happen.  At least I will have tried something new and gotten it out of my system.

Stay tuned.