Elisjsha Dicken - Hero.

The key takeaway for me is that an armed citizen ended a terrorist act in 15 seconds. Could you even get through to 911 in 15 seconds?

So what happened and who is the guy who stopped the Indiana Mall Shooting? Armed bystander shot and killed mall shooter in 15 seconds | WTHR

First, what happened.

Greenwood PD said a review of surveillance video shows the suspect began firing at 5:56:48.

At 5:57:03 p.m., Elisjsha Dicken, an armed bystander, fired on the shooter from 40 yards away, according to police. Within 15 seconds from when the shooting began, Dicken fired 10 rounds hitting the shooter as the shooter tried to retreat into the bathroom but collapsed and died.

An autopsy found the shooter was shot eight times and none were self-inflicted.

15 seconds is probably the least amount of time you could hope for in a situation like this. You're sitting in the food court minding your own business, having a bite to eat, and then...

So who is this guy?

Dicken had no police training or military background, according to police. He was carrying under the new "Constitutional Carry" law and did not have a permit. Police said Dicken learned to shoot from his grandfather and that he had no military or police training.

"His actions were nothing short of heroic. He engaged the gunman from quite a distance with a handgun. Was very proficient in that, was tactically sound and as he moved to close in on the suspect, he was also motioning for people to exit behind him," Ison said about Dicken's actions. "Many people would have died last night if not for a responsible armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of this shooting."

That statement was amended to note that he did have a concealed carry permit, issued in 2021, but it is the case that he didn't need one under Constitutional Carry.

And in TRULY heroic fashion, Mr. Dicken has not spoken to the media, but only had his lawyer issue statements, which included a plea to respect their privacy.

There is more. Statements from police and politicians hailing Mr. Dicken's actions. It's worth a couple of minutes.

Hat tip to The Wintry Knight: Let’s learn about the Indiana hero who stopped a mass shooting with his gun.

I thought it might be good to talk about the Good Samaritan hero who used his legal firearm to stop a horrific crime.

That second link, to The Wintry Knight, has several other links of note.

The Failed Policies of Angela Merkel

Merkel, like a lot of politicians, went for what sounded good. Even if it didn't sound good to everyone. How Angela Merkel's Green Agenda Caused the Economic Collapse of Germany | FrontpageMag

Remember how the world, especially the American media, fawned over former German Chancellor Angela Merkel?

The adoration was so over the top that in 2015 Time magazine named Merkel its "Person of the Year." It described her as the "Chancellor of the Free World."

Time owes whatever readers it has left a solemn apology. Today, Germans are suffering the bitter fruits of nearly every major economic and geopolitical decision Merkel made as chancellor.

From her deciding to become dependent on Putin's Russia for natural gas, to believing the hype around solar and wind and shutting down coal and nuclear, everything she did turned out wrong.

But it was her determination go Green that killed German industry. Or is killing it. Germans will have to choose between heating their homes, and powering their factories. And if Putin has his way, they won't be able to do either.

Then there is the German refusal to spend 2% of their GDP on their military, in accordance with their NATO commitments. Would a strong Germany have stopped Putin from invading Ukraine? It might have made him think twice.

Both of those issues were brought up by President Trump, and the Germans laughed.

In 2018, Germany didn't have enough guns to outfit their military so some were making do with broomsticks painted black. (That sounds like a joke.)

And also in 2018, Germany had problems supporting a mechanized military.

A few of things that are wrong:

• Helicopter pilot training has been outsourced to a private company – most of the Bundeswehr helicopters are out of commission.
• Only 95 of 244 Leopard 2 tanks are in service.
• Only 29 of 93 commissioned fighter jets are combat-ready. (Only 66 are operational)
• In recent NATO war games they were forced to disguise broomsticks as machine guns to hide the fact that they don’t have enough equipment.

Things haven’t been getting better the past 4 years.

But back to the article linked at the top.

Even as an environmentalist, Europe's savior was a flop. Merkel hogtied German industries to expensive and unreliable "renewable" energy by spurning natural gas and closing nuclear plants. The experiment failed miserably, and now Germany is vastly increasing the share of its power that comes from burning coal. That's no strategy to stop climate change.

Merkel did what sounded good to the Left. Laugh at Trump being top of that list. Shut down nuclear power. (Nuclear - despite being carbon-free - is bad.) Bet on solar and wind, despite it being clear they don't work at scale.

There is more, click thru. (Hat tip to Flopping Aces.)

Wednesday Link Roundup - 20 July

Bacon Time!!!! is up first with Sunday Linkage

The Feral Irishman: Friday Femme Fatale Farrago….
Bustednuckles: Iron Sights……

Pirate's Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

3. Diogenes’ Middle Finger notes that some dog names are raaaaacist
4. Geller Report covers vaccines causing a rise in ...

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.18.22

Vox Popoli: “All Hell Will Break Loose”, No Gas for Germany, and On the Assassination of Shinzo Abe
Stoic Observations: Full Humanity For All

EBL - Hero Nick Bostick Saves Kids From Dying In A Fire 🏠🔥 With a link to a Go-Fund-Me, or something.

Nick Bostick Saves Kids From Fire
I am so glad Nick Bostick was where he was when this fire happened. In total disregard to his own safety, he saved these kids from a horrible fate. Well done Nick.

Political Hat - News of the Week (July 17th, 2022)

Are Republicans blowing their chance at winning back the Senate?
Legit question. Joe Biden’s not the only one who can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, after all.

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 14: The Daily Caller reported, "Harvard University is encouraging Congress to lower the endowment tax on the university to reduce the amount paid on their income from private donors, according to Inside Higher Ed, a move met with backlash from congressional Republicans.

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: How the Left Hopes to Seize Control of Local Election Offices

• 14 years after Obama won, Iran gets a nuke Don Surber
• Pakistan’s Coming Collapse Should Worry the World Michael Rubin
• Will China Shoot Down Explorers to the Moon? Gordon G. Chang

Maggie's Farm - Monday afternoon links

People Really, Really Do Not Want to Work for Kamala Harris
Biden’s Middle East Trip Ends in Fiasco, Fails to Get Arab Support on Oil Production, Security

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 7/19/22

"The Court nailed down important constitutional principles, but Governor Hochul vows to appeal this historic victory."
Court Strikes Down “Quarantine Camp” Regulation in New York State

Pixy Misa at Ace of Spades HQ - Daily Tech News 19 July 2022

Senate Democrats are preparing Net Neutrality legislation. (The Verge)
Net Neutrality is not in itself a bad idea because ISPs are garbage, but the solution is specific and narrowly targeted legislation.

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 07/19/2022

GOP establishment steps up push to block Trump ally in Ariz.
The Pulitzer Prize Board on Monday announced it is standing by awards given to the New York Times and Washington Post for their reports on the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.

I leave you with Sunday Funnies For 07-17-22 from Stately McDaniel Manor, F*cking Mondays gifdump From Wirecutter, and Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #539 from 90 Miles From Tyranny.

A Good Guy With a Gun...

That thing the Left likes to say never happens... Witness shoots and kills St. Charles QuikTrip robbery suspect | FOX 2

The dead guy is believed to have committed several armed robberies in the evening. The police were chasing several reports, from one convenience store to the next. That's when the guy picked the wrong store.

Out good guy with a gun had stopped to use the restroom and make a purchase, as he was leaving a black SUV stopped in front of the door without pulling into a parking space.

The witness saw the suspect who was carrying a backpack run into the QuikTrip and turn toward the coffee pot area where the 26-year-old female clerk was standing. The suspect dragged the clerk toward the front counter while she was screaming. The witness saw the suspect holding a knife to her throat.

The witness retrieved his 9mm handgun, entered the store and confronted the suspect. The suspect grabbed his backpack and told the witness, “I have something for you.” The suspect then came from around the counter and approached the witness who then fired several times at the suspect. The suspect fell to the floor. The witness and clerk were not harmed, and both called 911.

The SUV was also stolen, and contained items (it is believed) from previous crimes.

Concealed Carry? Maybe or maybe not. But he had a gun, and he stopped a crime spree.

Defense of self and others is a human-right. Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0. (Hat tip to Irons In The Fire: There should be a round of applause.)

Amazon: Privacy Is Such a 20th Century Concept

Amazon finally admits giving cops Ring doorbell data without user consent | Ars Technica

11 times in 2022.

There are higher security settings that Ring users can change on their devices to stop recording audio and start using end-to-end encryption for data storage, though. By changing these settings, users can ensure that no third parties (like Ring or the police) can access their recordings and know they're not recording any protected free speech that happens within 30 feet of their front doors.

But people don't change settings they don't have to, and so this is out there. And it will get worse.

Say something that the Thought Police think is Hate Speech? Ring is recording audio by default.

People apparently don't mind living in a panoptican.

Levis (Not the Blue Jean Company)

"Levis" (lé-vis: e as the e in English "get," i as the i in English "in") is a Latin word meaning "light" as in "a light touch" and not light from the sun.

Qntal is a German "electro-medieval" group. As per usual, I like some of their work, and I don't like other bits of it. I really do like this song.

So this song is in Latin. Not that it matters. It is an adaptation of an old song, "Levis exsurgit Zephyrus." There are translations of that lyric, but they are not exactly the same as the song we have today, and there are (of course) multiple translations that don't agree with each other. Here is a link to the translation of the original song. I'm not in love with every bit of that translation, but then I'm not a Latin scholar. It is slightly different from the lyrics we have today, in that the verses have been rearranged.

This song is "Levis" by Qntal from the album 2009 album Qntal V: Silver Swan.

Tuesday Links - 19 July

Gun Free Zone starts us off with Uvalde Report. This is actually much sooner than I expected to see any report out of Uvalde.

“There is no one whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making.”

Wow. Harsh words but nowhere near the anger I feel for the cowards that stood hiding from the shooter while children died.

Gun Free Zone - Theodore Dalrymple explains the hiring of Sam Brinton

Imagine you are an experienced engineer or scientist at the DOE.

I have worked with these guys. Believe it or not, many of them are conservative. Engineers and hard physical scientists tend to be because our work is grounded in reality and data.

The Other McCain - Historic Thoughts on ‘Our Democracy’

In the ensuing 233 years, many Americans have lost their fear of a tyrannical authority. Indeed, some of our “elite” seem to love such authority, which they hope to control for their own tyrannical purposes, and these elites have lately gotten into the habit of using the phrase “our democracy” as if there were a consensus agreement in favor of the nebulous concept this phrase is meant to express. Specifically, the elites who endlessly blather on about “our democracy” claim that it is threatened by Donald Trump and his supporters, so that “our democracy” can only be safe if 74 million voters are effectively disenfranchised.

Irons in the Fire - What? A watermelon is another lying bastard?

The Greens would rather people freeze in the dark than tell the truth.

Lone Star Parson - Butchers And Liars

When has the left gone too far? When it insists that the surgical mutilation of children has become a moral necessity.

Again from The Other McCain - ‘White People Don’t Ride the Bus’

Probably my old buddy Patrick would say, “See? Didn’t I tell ya?” But just try to imagine the media reaction if the roles were reversed in this Queens case, and three white people had beaten up a black person while making hateful comments like that.

Pirate's Cove - EV Makers Starting To Notice The Use Of “Forced Labor”. That is the Left's euphamism for Slavery.

It’s a long, long piece, but, come on, we all know China is using what’s essentially slave labor, and, at the end of the day, the climate cult will not care beyond making a few speeches, because Saving The Earth From Burning Up is more important to them than actual human rights, since, really, the climate cult shares the same Authoritarian beliefs as China. It goes well with the child labor in African nations so the climate elites can drive EVs.

And again from The Other McCain - Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

If you’re looking for family entertainment, skip the amusement park and just go to the zoo, where at least the dangerous animals are inside cages.

Impro Guns - Skeletons. As always, click thru for the photos.

A spooky shotgun carried by a Brazilian watch merchant.

And finally from Tam at View from the Porch: That’s not how any of this works.

Actually, neither the bad guy nor the citizen who cut his rampage short brought a gun into the mall illegally.

Carrying a gun into the mall is not a violation of any Indiana law nor any local ordinance in Indiana, no matter how many “NO GUNS“ signs they post.

Keep Fighting

Self-defense is a much about attitude as anything else. Philadelphia man turns table on robbery suspects, shoots after getting shot twice: police | Fox News

Two Latino males attack a black male at 2 PM in Philadelphia.

Police released surveillance video that shows the victim and one suspect in a physical struggle that spills from a sidewalk into the street.

The victim wrestled the gun away from the first suspect, and while still on the ground, a second suspect runs from down the street and began firing, the video shows. The victim returned fire and appeared to strike the second suspect at least once.

The victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition. The two would-be robbers escaped, and no one is in custody.

Citywide shooting victims also increased 4.24% to 1,229, up from 1,179 shooting victims during the same period in 2021, the public statistics show.

Murders were down 6.48% from 2019.

There are stills from security cameras in the area, but they seem to be worthless for identifying anyone.

Self-defense is a human-right. It isn't always your right in the large, Blue cities. (Ask Alvin Bragg.)

Federal Agencies Don't Serve the People

In this case it looks like Big Pharma is who they serve. Health experts are quitting the NIH and CDC in droves because they are embarrassed by 'bad science' | Daily Mail Online

Two of America's top health agencies are reportedly hemorrhaging staff as poor decision-making, described by staff as 'bad science,' has led to low morale.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are both suffering staff shortages, according to Dr. Marty Makary, a top public-health expert at Johns Hopkins University, writes at Common Sense, the Substack run by former New York Times columnist, Bari Weiss.

They are run by and for Big Pharma.

And the science behind the so-called vaccine, isn't the only place where politics of fear ruled the day.

Earlier this year, Makary told DailyMail.com that the decision to keep schools closed was one of the worst made in the pandemic, specifically citing that minority communities who disproportionately lived in these areas were set the furthest behind academically.

'CDC failed to balance the risks of COVID with other risks that come from closing schools,' an anonymous CDC scientist told Common Sense.

Anyway, go read the whole, depressing thing.

NIH Scientists in the Pay of Big Pharma

Conflict of Interest? There's no conflict of interest. Nothing to see here. Move along! Rand Paul's questioning Dr. Fauci's NIH royalty payments is right

The institute and its dozens of sub-agencies dole out roughly 32 billion worth of tax dollars annually in the form of research grants to pharmaceutical companies and the healthcare community, but they also receive a hidden stream of private royalty payments for their innovations.

The institute and roughly 1,800 of its scientists have received an estimated $350-$400 million in these payments, from entities like pharmaceutical companies, during the last decade. The public would have remained in the dark about this, but OpenTheBooks.com sued for the information after NIH ignored and denied lawful open records requests. Despite being forced to release the information, NIH is still redacting the amount of each individual payment, and which company paid it. Each royalty check is a potential conflict of interest left unexamined.

Go read the whole thing, about how the NIH ignored Freedom of Information Act requests, about lawsuits, about what Rand Paul is doing and how Congress is finally waking up to their "oversight" responsibility.

What really shocked me about this story was to see an opinion piece in The Cincinnati Enquirer that had good things to say about Senator Paul. I haven't read The Enquirer regularly in more than 20 years, mostly because they were slightly to the Left of Chairman Mao back then. Which is why, even though this story is almost a month old, I decided I should share it with you. And it plays into the next post as well.

Karma

Kamelot is a Power Metal band from the Tampa Bay area. While they've since had a major personnel change, in 2001 their founding, lead singer, Roy Khan, was still fronting the band. People say they don't like the Death Growl (originally from Death Metal) that has slowly been working its way through all kinds of Heavy Metal, but Kamelot is still based around clean, clear vocal work. Well, they've had guest vocalists, like Alissa White-Gluz, do harsh vocals on some songs, but not this song.

This song is "Karma" by Kamelot from their 2001 album Karma. Enjoy.

Ruined Leon on Carjacking.

Ruined Leon's take on an incident that happened recently in Texas, where a dad shot two would-be carjackers because they tried to enter the backseat of the vehicle were his two children were strapped into car seats.

You can find my original post on this incident at the following link: Texas Dad "Happened" to Be Armed. As I asked at the time, "What are the chances that a Texas dad would be armed?"

This is Ruined Leon's video: Dad Sends Teenage Robbers To The Gulag.

I could link to every Ruined Leon video and not feel bad. He is always entertaining, he is frequently upset with the insanity that reigns in America today, and I (almost) always agree with him.

Concealed Carry vs Bail Reform.

Since keeping violent offenders in jail is unfair, people have to protect themselves. #27: Concealed carry holder shot man who opened fire on his car at McDonald's, prosecutors say. (The 'man' has 3 pending felony cases in juvenile court) - CWB Chicago

A 19-year-old man who has three felony juvenile cases pending was shot three times by a concealed carry holder after he opened fire on the man’s car in a McDonald’s parking lot Tuesday, prosecutors said. The victim, 49, and his 11-year-old daughter, who was in the back seat, were both unharmed.

He was masked, and opened fire on the victim's car. The victim returned fire striking the miscreant in the hand, arm and foot.

He was granted bail of $300,000 (which means $30,000 must be paid), and given electronic monitoring. Electronic Monitoring has not been very successful in Chicago, but that is another story.

#27 comes from the following:

Giovanni Castanon has carjacking, burglary, and aggravated battery cases pending in juvenile court, according to prosecutors. He is the 27th person accused of killing or shooting—or attempting to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago while on bail for a felony this year. The alleged crimes involved at least 58 victims, 12 of whom died.

CWB Chicago started counting a few years back, when the judge who was in charge of this catch-and-release fiasco said that there were no bad outcomes. The number 27 is just for people arrested in 2022 who were on bail for some felony.

"They should have never let him out of jail"

So how is that criminal justice reform working out? Suspect in Harper Woods barricaded standoff was out on bail when he killed 2 people

Harper Woods, Michigan is a suburb of Detroit. It is northwest of Gross Pointe, but south of 8 Mile Road, and in Wayne County.

He killed his father, he killed his ex-girlfriend, Zlayiah Frazer, and stabbed his own mother, who ran next door for help. SWAT was called an he barricaded himself in the house.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office released a statement saying on June 12th the defendant received several charges including torture, using a harmful device to cause personal injury; home invasion 1st degree, [Criminal Sexual Conduct] 3rd degree, and assault with intent to commit penetration;

The statement added that the defendant was arraigned on June 12 and had a bond set at $100,000, 10% cash or surety with GPS tether and house arrest and no contact with complainants.

Torture. Criminal Sexual Conduct. Assault. Home Invasion. But keeping violent people in jail is unfair, so home he went. Two days later he killed two people and stabbed his mother.

"(The legal system is) definitely broken, they never should have never let him out," Breonna [the victim's sister] said.

The quote that forms the title to this post is from the sister.

And there was a young child in the house while the barricade situation was unfolding. Which included him setting a fire in the house.

So when is a felon NOT eligible for bail? I guess they will always let violent people out, because to do otherwise would be unfair.

The judge who let him out will not suffer a thing, unless it is a sleepless night or two over the tragedy he put in motion. And I doubt that will trouble an SJW much.

This was a complete failure of the system to do anything to maintain order.

What's The Opposite of Diversity? University

Free speech at a state university? What are you talking about? University of Washington professor sues school, alleging free-speech violation | Fox News

He challenged their latest Liberal Orthodoxy in a relatively mild way. They can't stand that. They wanted him to include a Liberal statement in his class syllabus. He went for a more conservative take, and "they freaked out."

"What makes situations such as this both newsworthy and troubling is that the rule prohibiting state infringement of the free speech rights of public employees has been settled for decades - but cases such as this come up anyway. Why? Because people in the world of academia are in such a bubble they can't fathom that their pet social justice initiatives could possibly be trumped by higher values," Ron Coleman, partner at the Dhillon Law Group, told Fox News Digital.

The First Amendment? They are a UNIVERSITY! Everyone must march in lockstep. (Goose-step?)

"The Dialog is Pure Cheddar"

Critical Drinker looks at a 1980s "classic:" Road House staring Patrick Swayze.

It is hard to believe that Patrick Swayze died more than 10 years ago.

I know I have seen this movie, but for the life of me, I can't remember when. Or why.

Dalton is your classic tough-guy 1980s protagonist with a dark past and suspiciously well-styled hair...

This is not great cinema, but then it wasn't trying to be great cinema. The 1970s and 1980s gave us Dirty Harry and its sequels, Death Wish and its sequels, Die Hard, the original Indiana Jones movie, Soylent Green, Top Gun, Robo Cop, Highlander, Escape from New York, and so much more. They weren't trying to be great cinema, they were just trying to entertain. Along the way a couple of them did make poignant statements about life and society. Sometimes. And they gave us a bunch of great one-liners. I'm not sure if we got any of that out of this movie.

But back to Road House...

It doesn't really invite deep analysis, or careful deconstruction because it's not trying to offer anything except a fun, easy-going, action-adventure with cool protagonists, evil villains, beautiful women, and kick-ass fight scenes.

This isn't my favorite movie, and I probably wouldn't go out of my way to watch it. But thinking about it, it is so much better than something laboring to impart some message, or tell me how horrible I am for existing.

This is The Critical Drinker's Extra Shot video on a 1980s classic: Road House.

This is link to the final bit of the final scene, so it contains spoilers, if there was ever a doubt. But it also has the funniest line of the movie, or one of them anyway.

Self-defense Is Legal in Maine.

You can never really be sure today if that will be the case. Mainer who killed man at Augusta towing company acted in self-defense, police say

According to the Kennebec Journal, Morin appeared to have been shot while trying to take a vehicle from the lot and nearly hit a company employee with the vehicle.

This incident happened in May, so the decision wasn't made at lightning speed, but not too bad for a New England state.

More Racism in NYC

I thought New York City was a bastion of Progressive Love.

Anti-white hate crimes? I thought that was impossible. Not that anyone will ever be prosecuted for an anti-white hate crime in NYC. NYC woman attacked on bus after anti-white sentiment

Ride public transportation, they say. Not until it is safe.

A 57-year-old woman was riding the bus in Queens. When an altercation erupted between her, and three black females.

She was then “struck in the head with an unknown object causing a laceration and bleed” as the individuals made anti-white statements, police said.

“I hate white people…the way they talk,” one of the attackers said, according to police sources.

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is on the job. Bets on the outcome?

Anti-Asian hate crimes are all too common. Man kicks Asian woman, tells her to ‘get out of this country’ in NYC street attack.

The 57-year-old woman was walking on West 16th Street near Tenth Avenue in Chelsea around 5:15 a.m. Tuesday when a man walking past her snarled, “Get out of this country” and kicked her in the hip, police said.

I guess I was mistaken about that whole Progressive Tolerance thing.

What Were You Doing at Age 11?

I'm guessing you were not carjacking people at 4 AM. 11-year-old arrested near 4:00 AM attempting to carjack woman

Chicago Police announced charges this afternoon against an 11-year-old arrested this morning after attempting to carjack a woman in the Douglas area on the city's south side.

The incident reportedly happened around 3:50 a.m. this morning on the 3400 block of S. Giles Avenue in the Douglas area on the city's south side.

I'm sure Mayor Lightfoot will blame the gun, since the group was armed. This child's parents, who apparently didn't know where their child was at 3:50 AM are completely blameless. Or something.