June 29, 2016 -- A Quick Run Around The Web

--something I took a few weeks ago--

• "'There was blood and body parts everywhere': Terrifying moment ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul airport terminal in Brussels-style attack that left at least 41 dead and 239 injured"--Daily Mail.
• "Murders, violence on rise as parched central India battles for water"--Yahoo News.

As northern and central India continue to suffer thorough severe drought and oppressive heat, police in Bundelkhand and several other regions are reporting a rise in violent – and often deadly – clashes over water.

After almost 10 years of below-average rainfall and several consecutive years of drought, the region’s rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wells are drying up.

Disputes are a common problem in many places in India that face water shortages. But Indian police report that the fighting is getting more frequent and bloody. In many parts of the country, neighbors, friends and family are turning on each other, desperate to protect what little water they have left, police records suggest.

• "It’s Time for the Elites to Rise Up Against the Ignorant Masses--The Brexit has laid bare the political schism of our time. It’s not about the left vs. the right; it’s about the sane vs. the mindlessly angry."--James Troub at Foreign Policy. Troub has let the mask slip. He acknowledges that "[t]he issue, at bottom, is globalization." He goes on:

The Republican Party, already rife with science-deniers and economic reality-deniers, has thrown itself into the embrace of a man who fabricates realities that ignorant people like to inhabit.

Did I say “ignorant”? Yes, I did. It is necessary to say that people are deluded and that the task of leadership is to un-delude them. Is that “elitist”? Maybe it is; maybe we have become so inclined to celebrate the authenticity of all personal conviction that it is now elitist to believe in reason, expertise, and the lessons of history. If so, the party of accepting reality must be prepared to take on the party of denying reality, and its enablers among those who know better. If that is the coming realignment, we should embrace it.

The current political system, relying on a "mandarin" class to fill the bureaucracy, was devised at a time that most people in the industrialized world did not have educations past the 6th or 8th grades. Today, the population, as a whole, is much more educated than before; and significant numbers are as educated, if not more so, than the elites that despise them. So, Troub's use of the term "ignorant masses" is not only incorrect, but represents the blind hatred of which the author is so critical. It's especially rich because these same elites, that despise the "ignorant masses," are so intent on encouraging immigration from countries where the populations are, in general, uneducated or under-educated relative to the populations in industrialized nations. 

• Related: "Frontex Chief: 300,000 More Migrants Headed from Africa to Europe"--Breitbart. 
• Related: "Could Brexit Be Canceled? Here's How Vote Might Be Reversed"--NBC News. Basically, Brexit requires invocation of Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty. The author suggests that the British government could simply not invoke Article 50, or delay any action until enough immigrants have arrived to hold a second referendum and obtain a different outcome.

•  Duh! "Study Learns Chicago Criminals DON'T Buy Their Guns Legally"--BuzzPo. The author writes: "The study learned that virtually zero criminals have ever used the internet or gun shows, because that method is easily traceable. It’s much safer for a criminal to acquire firearms on the streets where they’re harder to keep track of, and that’s most criminals method of choice." Also: 

The vast majority of the inmates used handguns to commit their crimes or protect themselves, very few cited using “military-style assault weapons.” And they said their habit was to get rid of a gun after one year because of the “legal liability” of being caught with a gun that could be linked to crimes they or others committed.” [ed: The real reason for gun buyback programs?]

As for specifics regarding sources for purchasing guns, some of the inmates indicated that gangs have individuals with a Firearm Owners Identification Card who buy guns then sell them to gang members. Others indicated using “corrupt cops” who seize guns then “put them back on the street.”

• "Officers waited for SWAT at Orlando Pulse Shooting"--The Truth About Guns. From the article:

... The police response was very quick.  Additional officers arrived at the scene, formed up, broke out a large window, and went in.  But it still took time.  It appears about six minutes passed from the initial shots until the police entered the Pulse club.  During that period, the murderer was shooting and killing people inside the club.  The shooting continued as the police entered.

Once in the club, the officers could not locate the murderer.  They were uncertain how many there might be.  They continued to hear shots, and determined that the shooter was in the bathroom area.  They did not shoot at the murderer.  It does not appear that he fired at them; and it does not seem that they “drove him into the bathroom area”.

Then they were ordered to wait for the SWAT team.  It took about 15-20 minutes for SWAT to get there.  We do not know if more shots were fired during that period.

• "The First Remington R51 Gen 2s Are HERE"--The Firearms Blog. Comments and video at the link.