James L. Paris's Blog, page 56
October 10, 2017
Former Navy SEAL: This is How to Escape Active Shooter Situation
Brandon Webb is a digital publishing and e-commerce business owner who has spoken with the folks over at Entrepreneur magazine through the years about his experiences as a business owner.
But Brandon Webb is something else, something that has great relevance right now in light of the recent, terrible shooting event in Las Vegas.
Brandon Webb is a former Navy SEAL.
As a matter of fact, in his capacity as a SEAL, Webb had the opportunity to train some of the military���s most dangerous snipers, including the legendary Chris Kyle of American Sniper fame.
Webb recently shared with Entrepreneur his tips on how to survive an active shooter situation. The basis for Entrepreneur, of all magazines, publishing Webb���s thoughts on this subject is that business owners these days are frequently traveling, are out in public and among large crowds, and otherwise in environments that serve as soft targets for terrorists and other nefarious individuals.
Here, writes Webb, is how to stay alive (from Entrepreneur):
As a former military guy and a SEAL, I���m a big fan of the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) rule when it comes to planning. The important thing is to have a plan that everyone knows and can follow.
Establish a leader who makes the decisions in an emergency. Everyone knows to follow the leader: Dad, mom, your boss, whoever is most comfortable taking this role.
Run like hell. It���s extremely hard to hit a moving target. Snipers train hours to do this with skill. For someone who is nervous, or is an amateur, it will be very hard to hit a moving target, especially under stressful conditions. You need to create as much distance as possible between you and the shooter.
Hide only as a last resort, and with the idea that you will eventually need to move. If it���s a single shooter, listen for lulls in gunfire. This could indicate a weapon jamming or the shooter is reloading. Either one creates an opportunity to run and distance yourself from the shooter and escape with your life.
Know the difference between cover and concealment. Cover is stuff like concrete, large planter beds and columns -- things that actually stop bullets. Concealment -- hiding behind tables, glass and curtains -- will not keep you safe.
Have a communications plan (who is going to call or contact who) and a rallying point in case people are separated. This should be clear and simple: the entrance coffee shop down the block, the entrance to the parking lot, etc.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr.
October 9, 2017
Cost to Remove Confederate Statues Already in the Millions
Erasing history doesn���t come cheap.
An article over at Fox News is highlighting just how expensive it has been for municipalities to remove Confederate monuments all across America, a cost that has only exacerbated the controversy over the purges.
For example, in San Antonio, Texas, the removal of a single Confederate statue last month from a city park cost just over a quarter of a million dollars.
The city of Dallas, Texas recently rid itself of a statue of Robert E. Lee. The price tag on that effort? Around $450,000.
Dallas, which now has something called the Confederate Task Force Committee, recommended at its meeting last month to also remove another elaborate Confederate monument that���s currently located next to the convention center. To move the statue, which portrays a Confederate soldier on top of a six-story tower that���s surrounded by four Confederate leaders, it���s estimated the cost will run upwards of $800,000.
The total figures associated with statue removals include costs well beyond the labors involved in physically removing and relocating the memorials. For example, the price tag of police staffing alone in support of the San Antonio removal was a little over $100,000. The costs of replanting? $7,000.
What���s more, there have even been human tolls incurred as a part of the purging process that have far exceeded any financial costs; a crane that was hired to remove the Lee statue in Dallas collided with a semitrailer, killing the semi���s driver.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Clear Majority of Americans Uneasy About Rise of Robots in Society
In a survey that addressed the growing deployment of robots in society, Pew Research has revealed that Americans, by and large, have serious misgivings about the increasing role the machines appear to be playing in everyday life.
According to The Guardian, over 4,000 Americans were polled by Pew, and greater than 70 percent of those expressed concern, in one way or another, about the continuing trend to have robots replace humans in a variety of capacities.
The Pew survey queried respondents on the influence of robots in four areas: As autonomous (self-driving) cars; as substitutes for human workers; as decision-makers in the workplace hiring process; and as caregivers.
While reticence toward a robot-oriented society is surely understandable at this point, what���s especially interesting is the degree to which Americans seem opposed to those particular uses of robots that have seemingly gained widespread favor.
For example, on the matter of driverless cars, while the consensus on behalf of technology proponents seems to be that such vehicles are going to make driving safer, a majority of ���regular Americans��� surveyed don���t seem to agree. According to the poll results, 54 percent said they are more worried than enthusiastic about autonomous vehicle technology, with 56 percent saying they���re disinclined to even ride in a driverless vehicle. Contrary to the ���party line��� being touted by driverless car advocates, a full 30 percent of those polled say their use will result in an increase in road fatalities.
The poll results on the subject of reliance on robots to make hiring decisions are considered surprising, given the degree to which artificial intelligence (AI) is already incorporated in the realm. 76 percent of those polled say they aren���t interested in applying for jobs where the hiring decisions would be made by a computer.
Said one respondent: ���A computer cannot measure the emotional intelligence or intangible assets that many humans have. Not every quality can be quantitatively measured by a computer when hiring someone; there is much more learned by face-to-face interactions.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Gods & Thrones: Nachash, Forgotten Prophecy, & the Return of the Elohim
On this episode, author and pastor Carl Gallups joins Jim to discuss his new book, Gods And Thrones - Nachash, Forgotten Prophecy, And The Return Of The Elohim. What really happened in the garden of Eden? Who are the Elohim? Do angels have a physical form and are they walking the earth today? What will believers be doing for eternity? What is the significance of the recent return to the worship of Baal? Are we living in the very last days? and much more.
Las Vegas Shooting, What Is The Government Hiding?
On this episode, investigative reporter Laura Loomer joins Jim live from Las Vegas. Loomer discusses a myriad of unanswered questions and suspicious circumstances surrounding the Las Vegas shooting. Were there two people served room service in the shooter's room? Why did it take so long for first responders to locate the shooter's room? Is ISIS ultimately behind the attack? What other evidence found in the room gives us a clue that a very experienced shooter was involved? Where is the security camera footage? In the second half, Jim explores the murky finances of the shooter and the more than 200 suspicious financial transaction reports that were made about him by casinos, gambling millions of dollars, paying cash for houses, and wiring money overseas.
October 6, 2017
No Surprise Here ��� ESPN Joins in on Media Anti-Gun Rant in Aftermath of Las Vegas Shooting
Your favorite non-sports network remains as non-sports as ever.
Apparently not wanting to be left behind in the breathless effort by major television networks to demonize guns and gun owners in the days immediately following the massacre in Las Vegas, ESPN wasted absolutely no time in weighing in with its own, vociferous, anti-gun take.
One notable network personality who went right for it is Rachel Nichols. Nichols has been a mainstay at ESPN for years now, and part of her current duties is to host The Jump, a daily show about the National Basketball Association.
As reported by ���For the Win,��� here���s how she opened Monday���s edition:
���Officials say [the Las Vegas shooting] is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, a phrase I guess they���re getting used to because it was only 14 months ago they were saying that about the shooting in Orlando. The Orlando shooting claimed more lives than Virginia Tech, now this one claims more lives than what happened in Orlando. I don���t know how we���re going to solve the debate about guns in this country ��� I just know that while we���re all arguing the body counts keep going up and more and more families are suffering.���
First of all, debates aren���t ���solved.��� Debates are open, free exchanges of ideas, and they shouldn���t be put away anywhere.
But we all know what she means; she means what everyone else who says we must ���somehow��� solve the problem means. She means confiscate the guns.
We���ll pass, thank you.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Thinking About a Career Change? Prepare Your Finances Before You Make the Jump
We would all love to love our jobs. Unfortunately, it���s just not possible in a lot of cases.
The fact is, they call it ���work��� for a reason.
Still, it doesn���t mean you shouldn���t try to love your job. And part of getting there may mean going through a career change.
Career changes can be fraught with risk, including the risk that what you thought was going to be a dream job ends up being, well, not so much.
That���s not the only gamble, however. There���s the financial risk you take during the transition period.
When you transition to a whole, new career, you will usually have to begin at the bottom of the totem pole. And that typically means enduring a pay cut ��� a big one.
As an article over at CNN Money explains, perhaps the most important step you will take in anticipation of a career change is ensuring that you���re financially prepared to withstand the challenges.
Kimmie Green, a money expert at budgeting app Mint is quoted in the CNN Money piece as saying, ���If you���re not happy where you���re at right now, you want to make sure you have enough runway for whatever it is that���s going to make it a better fit. And if you only have one month, one month can fly by -- you can���t even catch up on past episodes of Game of Thrones in one month, let alone make a job transition.���
In other words, make sure you have enough set aside to ensure that salary shortfall is covered for several months ��� six is a good target.
Because everything worth having costs something. Especially a chance at getting your life back.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
October 5, 2017
In Wake of Vegas Shooting, Speaker Paul Ryan Caves on Bill to Deregulate Suppressors
House Speaker Paul Ryan has long been accused of being a classic RINO (���Republican in Name Only); someone who, while carrying the Republican banner and seeking to electorally benefit from those voters with traditional American values, actually reflects little in the way of conservative ideals when it comes to taking political action.
Well, just two days after the deadly Las Vegas attack, Ryan has decided to put off any more work on a piece of legislation designed to deregulate firearms suppressors, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The legislation at issue, the Hearing Protection Act, was introduced into Congress back in January. The point of the bill is to significantly unwind the process associated with purchasing a firearms suppressor (known in layman���s terms as a ���silencer���). Suppressors are not illegal, but the hoops through which citizens have to presently jump to actually purchase one are many. The Act seeks to make it much easier to buy one, and eliminates a federal tax associated with the process.
Now, however, high-profile Democrats have successfully managed to turn a gun tragedy into an opportunity on behalf of their liberal agenda. Here was a tweet from none other than Hillary Clinton soon after the shooting:
���The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get.���
Who knows? That tweet may well have been Ryan���s cue.
Regarding the future of the legislation, Ryan did not sound a hopeful tone for those interested in seeing it passed. The Tribune quotes Ryan as saying that the bill ���is not scheduled right now. I don���t know when it will be scheduled.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr.
Kimmel Joins Crowd of Unwatchable Celebrities, Blames Republicans for Vegas Massacre
A lot of people are probably wondering when and how comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel became such an outspoken leftist.
Was he always this way? Or is it a case of ���if you spend enough time in Hollywood, you���re bound to become a screaming leftist���?
After his newborn son suffered a health scare, Kimmel used his opening monologue one evening last May, in part, to rail against President Trump���s efforts at doing away with Obamacare. He went after those same efforts again via his monologue in late September.
Now, in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, Kimmel is using his television pulpit to pound away on guns and show his support for gun control.
On Monday night, Kimmel went all-out, hollering about gun control for a good ten minutes, and declaring that ���now is the time for political debate��� and that ���there���s something we can do about��� these kinds of events such that they don���t happen again.
Rhetorically disagreeing with those who say nothing can be done, practically speaking, Kimmel charged, ���There are a lot of things we could do about it. But we don���t, which is interesting because when someone with a beard attacks us, we tap phones, we invoke travel bans, we build walls, we take every possible precaution to make sure it doesn���t happen again. But when an American buys a gun and kills other Americans, then there���s nothing we can do about that.���
Right out of the liberal playbook.
He had lots more to say, and continued again on Tuesday night, declaring that gun owners, en masse ��� or people who he described as ���gun nuts��� ��� essentially ���bear some responsibility��� for the Las Vegas massacre.
Well, that���s nice.
Many may still continue to enjoy Kimmel, but as is the case, over and over again, when celebrities become ardently political���and, in the case of Kimmel, make their politics a part of the act���they become entirely unwatchable to a vast group of other Americans.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
