The Blaze linked an episode of the BBC production Newswipe With Charlie Brooker which featured a forensic psychologist named Park Dietz who warned against creating the next mass killer with saturation coverage. Dr. Dietz from the video (embedded below the fold):

We've had twenty years of mass murderers, throughout which I have repeatedly told CNN and our other media, "If you don't want to propagate more mass murders, don't start the story with sirens blaring. Don't have photographs of the killer. Don't make this 24/7 coverage. Do everything you can not to make the body count the lead story, not to make the killer some kind of anti-hero. Do localize this story to the affected community, and make it as boring as possible in every other market. Because every time we have intense saturation coverage of a mass murder, we expect to see one or two more within a week.

He elaborated further in an article about him appearing in The Independent:

"Here's my hypothesis," he said. "Saturation-level news coverage of mass murder causes, on average, one more mass murder in the next two weeks." The reason, he says, has something to do with the USA's size. In a country so large the likelihood of one or two people snapping becomes quite high.

"It's not that the news coverage made the person paranoid, or armed, or suicidally depressed," Dietz said. "But you've got to imagine this small number of people sitting at home, with guns on their lap and a hit list in their mind. They feel willing to die. When they watch the coverage of a school shooting or a workplace mass murder, it only takes one or two of them to say - 'that guy is just like me, that's the solution to my problem, that's what I'll do tomorrow'. The point is that the media coverage moves them a little closer to the action.

Posted by: rdbrewer at 11:24 AM | Comments (234)
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Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent has been on a rip about gun control following the Newton massacre. I pointed him to this article as an example that anti-gun enthusiasts might not be having the desired effect.

His response was this.

@drewmtips Still fighting for maniacs to have easy access to mass child slaughter machines, in the name of "liberty," I see

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 19, 2012

After a bit of back and forth about ad hominem attacks he asked a serious question.

@drewmtips Fine. Do you believe Americans have a constitutional right to assault weapons and high capacity magazines?

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 19, 2012

To which I replied.

@theplumlinegs Depends on definition of"assault weapon" I think this for example should be legal. Do you? survivaldisasterplan.com/wp-content/uplÂ…

— DrewM (@DrewMTips) December 19, 2012

After some back and forth about how I don't think banning high capacity magazines will do much (have you heard of, "reloading"?) and an acknowledgement by me that several states and localities already have restrictions on magazine size (pdf), and my concceding that the 2nd Amendment doesn't protect every conceivable "weapon" (a strawman of the first degree) we get to the crux of the matter...how does Sargent, an advocate of an assault weapons ban define the term "assault weapon".

@drewmtips Question is legitimate. Short term answer would be for ban on more military style guns. Needs to be fleshed out in debate though

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 19, 2012

So there we have it. He doesn't have a definition of "assault weapon" or Obama's new term "military style guns". But if you don't agree with him, then you're, "fighting for maniacs to have easy access to mass child slaughter machines,".

It's impossible to have an actual conversation who demands you agree with him but he'll let you know later what you're agreeing to, in the meantime, you're pro-child slaughter.

My guess is what Sargent wants or will want once Obama tells him the right position to take is a ban on either "scary looking guns" or banning all semi-automatic rifles leaving only single shot, bolt action rifles.

It's an idiotic position but in fairness to the people promoting it, they haven't a clue what they are talking about.

Added: I should say I appreciate that Sargent at least engages with critics. The Washington Post's (allegedly) conservative blogger simply refuses to do the same.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:06 AM | Comments (274)
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The pathetic little man the American people have seen fit to elect President twice just wrapped up a press conference. The purpose of the event was to announce Joe Biden will head up a task force on what steps should be taken in the wake of the Newtown massacre. Most of the questions however focused on the "fiscal cliff".

Obama then when went where no decent human being would. He tied his tax proposals to the deaths of 20 innocent children.

It is a deal that can get done, but it is not going to be -- it cannot be done if every side wants 100 percent. And part of what voters were looking for is some compromise up here. ThatÂ’s what -- thatÂ’s what folks want.

They understand that theyÂ’re not going to get 100 percent of what they want. And for some reason, that message has not yet taken up on Capitol Hill. And when you think about what weÂ’ve gone through over the last couple of months -- a devastating hurricane, and now one of the worst tragedies in our memory, the country deserves folks to be willing to compromise on behalf of the greater good and not tangle themselves up in a whole bunch of ideological positions that donÂ’t make much sense.

Obama is forever pretending to be Mr. Middle of the Road, the one person willing to put his ideology aside. It's always the evil Republicans who bitterly cling to their positions. Why Republicans are so mean that not even 20 dead children will change their mind about tax rates, entitlement reform and deficit reduction.

Disgusting.

In more traditional news, Obama says Boehner's Plan B is a non-starter because raising taxes on millionaires is really a tax cut for them and a tax hike on the middle class.

The speaker is now proposing what he calls Plan B. So he says, “Well, this would raise taxes only on folks making $1 million or more.” What that means is, an average of a $50,000 tax break for every millionaire out there. At the same time as we’re not providing unemployment insurance for 2 million people who are still out there looking for work. It actually means a tax increase for millions of working families across the country, at the same time as folks like me would be getting a tax break.

Why negotiate with someone who is living in an alternate universe? Just pass Plan B and go home for the holidays. The GOP is going to get slammed no matter what so do what you think is best and let Obama do what he wants.

Speaking of Plan B....Grover Norquist is cool with it. So there's that. Or something.

It's going to be a very long 4 years.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:14 AM | Comments (268)
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PeopleÂ’s Daily Online says China has the ability to build high power aircraft carriers.

Well, they bought their current one and only carrier off the shelf. But a brief review of the video of the launch and recovery of the J-15 fighter shows they slavishly copied US Navy deck procedures, modifying them mostly to accommodate the ski-jump take-off method.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:53 AM | Comments (100)
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Homemade pizza isn't trivial, but once you get the hang of forming the dough (easy) and sliding it off the peel and onto the stone (not so easy), it's a great way to impress your friends and potential mates. This one is an artichoke and arugula pizza with fresh mozzarella and a bit of ricotta.

There are a bunch of dough recipes on the intertubes, but I have found that a little aging in the refrigerator makes all of them better.

And...less is more. It is tempting to load up the pizza with pounds of your favorite ingredients, but they become unwieldy and you can't taste that great homemade dough!

When I started, I bought a cheap pizza stone and a cheap peel. The stone broke after five pizzas, but the peel is still going strong three years later.

[addendum] And here is a more traditional pizza:

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:06 AM | Comments (328)
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The review board, chaired by former Ambassador Thomas Pickering and vice-chaired by retired Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen found multiple systemic failures which lead to the events of September 11, 2012 in Benghazi.

A couple of highlights from the report (pdf) that address issues which became the topic of conversation following the attack.

Not mentioned in the ARB? ”YouTube video”

-“The Board concluded that there was no protest prior to the attacks”

...

-In the weeks and months leading up to the attacks, the response from post, Embassy Tripoli, and Washington to a deteriorating security situation was inadequate. At the same time, the SMCÂ’s dependence on the armed but poorly skilled Libyan February 17 MartyrsÂ’ Brigade (February 17) militia members and unarmed, locally contracted Blue Mountain Libya (BML) guards for security support was misplaced.

...

-“At the direction of the U.S. military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), DoD moved a remotely piloted, unarmed surveillance aircraft which arrived over the SMC shortly before the DS team departed. A second remotely piloted, unarmed surveillance aircraft relieved the first, and monitored the eventual evacuation of personnel from the Annex to Benghazi airport later on the morning of September 12.”
...

-“The interagency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time given the speed of the attacks for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference.”

On the larger issues of how state handles security at temporary

“Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department (the “Department”) resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.

Security in Benghazi was not recognized and implemented as a “shared responsibility” by the bureaus in Washington charged with supporting the post, resulting in stove-piped discussions and decisions on policy and security. That said, Embassy Tripoli did not demonstrate strong and sustained advocacy with Washington for increased security for Special Mission Benghazi.

-The short-term, transitory nature of Special Mission Benghazi’s staffing, with talented and committed, but relatively inexperienced, American personnel often on temporary assignments of 40 days or less, resulted in diminished institutional knowledge, continuity, and mission capacity.”

Amazingly, the so-called “Accountability Review Board” either chose not to or was not empowered to actually hold anyone ACCOUNTABLE.

“The Board found that certain senior State Department officials within two bureaus in critical positions of authority and responsibility in Washington demonstrated a lack of proactive leadership and management ability appropriate for the State Department’s senior ranks in their responses to security concerns posed by Special Mission Benghazi, given the deteriorating threat environment and the lack of reliable host government protection. However, the Board did not find that any individual U.S. Government employee engaged in misconduct or willfully ignored his or her responsibilities, and, therefore did not find reasonable cause to believe that an individual breached his or her duty so as to be the subject of a recommendation for disciplinary action.”

4 Americans, including an Ambassador, are dead and there will no “disciplinary action” recommended? So it was a total clusterfuck and no one in authority stepped up to deal with it because, that’s how business was done. Shrug.

The attack started at approximately 9:45pm local time. The board found that after the fight and rescue efforts, the survivors reached “the annex” (the CIA location) by 23:30. While the fight continued at the annex after that time, Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith were already dead. It’s nice to think of the US military as all-powerful but they aren’t cops on the beat who can be anywhere in the world in under an hour.

The reality is almost everything in this unclassified ARB report was covered two months here at the HQ by Robert Caruso. If you missed it at the time, I highly recommend you listen to my talk with him. YouÂ’ll come away with a greater appreciation for the challenges facing the State department, intelligence community and the US military as diplomats work from isolated posts, in semi-permissive environments where the usual support of a strong host nation is absent.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:07 AM | Comments (326)
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• Breaking:Judge Robert Bork Has Died
  
• Ignoring Fast And Furious, Obama Announces Gun Control Task Group
  
• Memo To Hollywood, Deleting A Tweet Doesn't Make It Go Away
  
• High Magazine Clip And The Shoulder Thing That Goes Up
  
• Can I Get Me A Secretary Of Statin' License In Here?
  
• Opie, From Opie & Anthony, Gets Into Twitter War With CNN Over Its Newton Coverage
  
• The Sandy Hook Effect: Gun Sales Rise, As Gun Stocks Fall
  
• Cheaper Than Dirt Suspends Firearm Sales
  
• Texas Dem Party Official Makes Threatening Tweet Against The NRA
  
• Did Adam Lanza Fear Being Committed?
  
• UK Punching Below Its Weight?
  
• NYT: Black Republican Tokens
  
• Instagram Claims Right To Sell Your Photos
  
• Is Obama Actually Serious About Gun Control?
  
• WaPo Not A Fan Of Chuck Hagel
  
• Farming In The Sahara AndThe End Of Malthusianism
  
• Boy Arrested In Celebrity Swatting
  
• McDonald's Urges Stores To Stay Open On Christmas
  

Remember, if you have to do any last minute holiday shopping online, please do so using the Ace Of Spades Amazon store.

Follow me on twitter.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:47 AM | Comments (193)
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Happy Wednesday.

South Carolina state legislators are proposing to nullify Obamacare by enacting criminal penalties for any state or federal official caught implementing it. This is a stupid, unconstitutional idea, as I wrote almost two years ago when nullification first came up in the context of Obamacare, but I bet you a beer these legislators think they're real smart.

Fact: data shows no connection between violent video games and gun murders.

Benghazi report slams State Department for lack of security. You can see the full report here (PDF).

CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson is still on the trail of Fast and Furious. This time she's reporting that a Fast and Furious gun was found at site of the murder of a Mexican beauty queen.

Treasury is planning to sell its shares in two-thirds of the remaining TARP banks who have yet to pay their loans back.

Planet in the "Goldilocks zone," that is the range of orbits thought to be conducive to life, is in orbit of solar neighbor Tau Ceti.

Poll explains GOP "Let It Burn" faction.

Update: Courtesy of DrewM., the DOD press office is denying the DOD IG's report that Michael Vickers was the UBL raid film leaker.

The denial is, to say the least, unpersuasive. The press release fesses to one meeting between Vickers and the filmmakers and very carefully explains that Vickers didn't pass the name of the spec ops planner for the UBL mission at that meeting. It then further obscures the issue by noting that Vickers offered but ultimately didn't arrange a meeting for the filmmakers with a spec ops planner not associated with the UBL raid. But the release doesn't even try to suggest that Vickers had only one meeting with the filmmakers, nor does it directly deny the IG's conclusion that Vickers passed the name of a spec ops planner to the filmmakers.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:50 AM | Comments (296)
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Crazy video below shows a Golden Eagle swooping down and snatching a toddler in a park and trying to fly away with him. Only the child's weigh saved him. This does not look like a hoax. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:05 AM | Comments (57)
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DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE EWOK THIS CHRISTMAS!!

Buying stuff from Amazon through the link on the right keeps the blog afloat and Ace eating brand-name ramen.

Are You A Ginger Carrier?

You never know although having a reddish beard or cursing soul-challenged children might be a sign.

Research to be released this week indicates millions of Britons carry 'silent' genes for redheadedness.

While this does not turn their hair ginger, it may expose them to a range of increased health risks that afflict redheads, such as increased sensitivity to pain, skin cancer, Parkinson's disease and even Tourette's syndrome.

In England, 6 per cent of people have red hair; in Scotland, the rate is estimated at 13 per cent. Across the rest of Europe the figure is only around 4 per cent.

There is strong statistical evidence for a link between hidden red-hair genes and a significantly increased risk of Tourette's syndrome, the neurological disorder characterised by repetitive involuntary movements and vocalisations called tics.

...Furthermore, more than half of the Tourette's syndrome patients had relatives with red hair, suggesting a genetic link.

Oh Noes - Watching Online Pr0n Makes You Lose Short-Term Memory

But luckily only while you're actually watching it. Fappatory multi-tasking is pretty much a myth anyway.

Oh and for good measure Nativity plays gone bad, slut riots, and broken MMA penises.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:13 PM | Comments (852)
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