New York state sues to attempt to break up the NRA.

New York Attorney General Letitia James. Reuters.

New York State has filed a lawsuit to break up the NRA after allegations of corruption. Reuters. The lawsuit alleges that the NRA's leadership used funds on family trips to the Bahamas, private jets and expensive meals, which caused a $64 million reduction in funds for the group. Four people were named in the suit, including Wayne LePierre. Gun control groups celebrated the suit but the NRA says it was a cynical attack on the organization done for political reasons. 

My Comment:

Just as a quick disclaimer, though I am not a member of the NRA, I have given them some money via the Amazon Smile program. It's a trivial amount of money, less than $10, but I thought a disclaimer was in order. Since the donation was free for me and I thought that Amazon would hate having to give the NRA money I thought it was a good way to use the Amazon program. 

With that being said, I have mixed feelings about this. For sure, I think this is a politically motivated move which has the main goal of destroying America's biggest gun rights group and hurting the 2nd amendment. It's also an attempt to interfere with the 2020 elections as the NRA are a very large and powerful lobbying group as well. 

I would also say that it's very obvious that the goal isn't to punish any possible bad guys in the NRA, it's to break up the organization. If Wayne LePierre is dirty, why not go after him and not the entire organization? By choosing to try and break up the organization they are not looking out for justice, they are destroying their political opponent. 

That being said though, I have been uncomfortable with the NRA for quite some time now. Though I am not sure of the allegations against LePierre and the other top NRA officials is true or not, I would not be surprised at all if they were. I have long questioned where the money for the NRA goes and I long suspected that it goes into LePierre's pockets. 

I also have been very disappointed in what the NRA has been doing. Far from focusing on gun rights they have been constantly distracted and on the defensive. A good example of this was trying to blame video games, of all things, for mass shootings. Not only was the idea totally idiotic they read younger gun owners completely wrong. I know that those "violent" video games are one of the reasons I'm into guns today and you would think that two groups of people that have been unfairly blamed for violence for years, gun owners and video gamers, would be natural allies. Instead the NRA pissed away that potential ally and blamed them for something they had nothing to do with, which is exactly what the NRA's enemies do to them. 

The NRA has also ignored some very important cases. Though I understand why they didn't back Philando Castile, since he wasn't legally allowed to carry a gun because he had drugs in his system, doing so would have gotten them good press and helped with the black community. And not standing up to President Trump on bump stocks was unforgivable. At the very least they should have tried to have President Trump leverage the ban on things that the gun rights community have been demanding for years like legalizing suppressors or CCW reciprocity

It's important to note that the NRA isn't just a gun rights group. They also provide insurance, training and operate gun ranges. They also help with gun manufactures and are generally a very large part of the gun rights community. 

I have no idea how this lawsuit will work out. I'm not a lawyer so I'm not sure how strong the case is and how bitter the battle will be. However, I am thinking that the NRA and their allies are going to pull out all stops and they will be right to do so. Even if the NRA is corrupt trying to destroy them is out of line. 

That being said, I don't think it would be the worst thing in the world to have the NRA go away. If that happens their donations will go to the Gun Owners of America or the 2nd Amendment Foundation. Both the GOA and the SAF are less likely to compromise and actually tend to get results. Having them in charge of things instead of the NRA might be a good thing. 

And it's also possible that the NRA could end up reformed from this. I have said for a long time that the NRA desperately needs new leadership and if Wayne LaPierre and others were forced out by this lawsuit it would probably be a good thing. Though the lawsuit is obviously overstepping their bounds it might end up being the best thing for gun rights in a long time. Even if they aren't corrupt they are clearly out of touch and ineffective in fighting for gun rights.  

Facebook and Twitter removed a President Trump video that contains correct information.

Clip from President Trump's conversation with Fox News. BBC/Fox News.

Facebook and Twitter have removed a President Trump video from his accounts that contain factual information. BBC. The clip showed President Trump saying that children are "essentially immune" to the Coronavirus and that is a reason why schools should open up. Both Twitter and Facebook claimed the post is "misinformation". However, children are at an extremely low chance of dying from the Coronavirus when compared to adults and the elderly. In the largest study only .08% of hospital patients were under 19. In an American study only seven children died out of almost 8000 studied. The removal is also controversial as a similar tweet from Elon Musk was not removed. 

My Comment:

This is obviously election interference. The bias here is terrible as President Trump said something that was essentially correct but Twitter and Facebook removed it anyways. And they didn't do anything to Elon Musk who said the same thing. It's clear their motivation isn't to inform their users, it's to prevent President Trump from reaching the American people. 

It's also bad since Facebook and Twitter are trying to force policy regardless of what the science said, and I think they are doing it for political reasons. If the schools open up that means the economy will do better and it will also prove that Facebook and Twitter (along with their Democratic allies) that Coronavirus is not a huge threat to children. 

And their is no doubt in my mind that President Trump is correct here. Children are at a much lower risk of dying or becoming sick from the Coronavirus. Most of them, if they have symptoms at all, only have minor symptoms. And the younger the children are the more resistant to the virus they are. This doesn't mean they have immunity but using common language isn't not that different. I've used the same phrasing and though it's not technically correct it's still extremely petty for the tech companies to do this. Immunity and resistance might not mean the same thing medically but for all intents an purposes for a lay person it's the same thing. 

You could argue that older children (ie late teenagers) are not as safe from the virus, but that's not what Twitter and Facebook are doing here. Indeed, they are pedaling misinformation themselves. Even the BBC article, which was more fair than the western press, didn't differentiate from older children and young ones. 

As far as the schools opening, I'm in favor of it, for elementary and middle school students at the very least. I don't see much danger there and what little there is, isn't worse than the average flu season. There is some danger for teachers but the most vulnerable ones can be sent home. 

I have little sympathy for the teachers complaining about this. For the longest time they have argued that they are the most important people in the country as they are the ones that teach the children. I never bought that regardless but if they really are that important then they can be classified critical workers as well. If a cashier at McDonald's or a worker in a slaughterhouse is a critical worker than shouldn't teachers be considered the same thing? 

As for the tech companies it's extremely dangerous to have them be the arbiter of what is true or not when it comes to medicine. Especially with an emerging virus where there isn't anything near settled science. With the hydroxychlorquine example there are studies that go both ways proving and disproving it but according to big tech, it's settled science when it couldn't be further from the truth. About the only thing that is settle science is that the virus is not very dangerous to children and even that is labeled as misinformation. 

As for President Trump and the Republicans, they really screwed up badly by not dealing with the tech companies back in 2016 when they had control of all three houses of government. Had they done so they probably would have kept the house in 2018 and it is not helping their chances in 2020. They had every right to do so and an obvious motivation to do so but instead they just kind of trusted that the tech companies would do the right thing. They didn't and now it might be too late... 

Could the massive explosion in Lebanon cause a food crisis?

An image of the massive shockwave caused by the blast. Reuters.

The massive blast that rocked Beirut Lebanon may cause issues with food distribution for the country. Reuters. Lebanon's main grain silo was destroyed in the blast leaving the country with only a month's supply of grain. Lebanon's food minster said they have enough flour to get by, but that they need enough storage to have a three months supply of food. Lebanon was already having food issues before the crisis, caused by economic instability. The problem will likely become worse due to the massive amount of damage the blast has made. Food may have to come into Tripoli, which is a much smaller port. 

The blast has killed at least 100 people and has wounded at least 4000 more. Reuters. The blast sent up a huge mushroom cloud and was felt 100 miles away in Cyprus. The cause of the blast was 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate which was improperly stored. The preliminary investigation blames inaction and negligence for the blast while the fire that started the blast may have been due to welding. 

My Comment:

I'm a little late on this story so I figured I'd take a different approach. By now everyone has seen the video from the blast so there is little reason to repost it. Instead I wanted to focus on what the repercussions of this blast will be. 

It does seem like Beirut was totally devastated by this explosion. It was an extremely powerful blast from the video I have seen, with the people recording it often blown off their feet. The entire port area looks to have been destroyed and I wouldn't be surprised if the final death count is in the hundreds. 

The devastation goes beyond the lives lost and the damage done. This will be crippling to Lebanon's economy. They won't be able to import or export anything from Beirut for some time. They have other ports, like Tripoli, but they probably won't be able to keep up with the demand. Without a port it will be very hard to bring food in and bring products out of the country. 

This will of course be damaging to the economy. From what I understand Lebanon was already in a financial crisis, most likely due to the Coronavirus. This will make this much worse as it will drive tourists away and prevent trade from happening. 

The food issue is a dire one. I tend to think that the food minster may be downplaying how dangerous things actually are. They may have enough food in the short term but in the long term they are going to have massive problems getting food into the city and country. And that small supply of food that wasn't destroyed in this disaster might run out fairly quickly.

Complicating things is that there are a lot of other countries in a food crisis as well. China is dealing with a massive three pronged disaster where they are dealing with flooding, African Swine Fever and a locust swarm. Those locusts are also attacking Africa so there is a lot of compitition for food aid. Things could get bad if people don't help, though there might not be as much help to give as there would have been in normal years. 

Another problem is storage. Though I am sure some storage is available, much of Beirut's storage supply was destroyed or damaged in this blast. Without storage space they will be unable to use much of the grain and food they are given. And it will take time to build or free up more storage space. 

The good news is that Lebanon will likely get a lot of help. In this kind of disaster people tend to lend a helping hand and even the governments of the Middle East will be willing to help. How much help may be limited as they are dealing with their own crisis due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Hopefully Lebanon gets the help they need so they can recover from this disaster. 

New poll shows President Trump on track to win in November.

President Donald Trump. Express/Getty.

A new poll shows President Trump on track to win a 2nd term this November. Express. The poll, done by the non-partisan Democracy Institute (and the obviously partisan Daily Express) shows President Trump with a two point lead over Joe Biden, 48-46. President Trump crucially has a lead in swing states such as Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The poll shows President Trump getting higher marks for the economy. The poll also shows that 71% of Trump voters are unwilling to admit it to people. However, a potential sticking point for President Trump is his approval on the Coronavirus pandemic, which is underwater at 41-49% approval and disapproval. 

My Comment:

A few caveats about this poll. First of all, I am skeptical of any poll that doesn't show the methodology and sample size. I will say that at least they included the party affiliation and other demographic information but I'm not sure what is going on as the numbers don't make any sense as they all add up to more than 100%.

That being said, I do think this matches up with other polling I trust. Rasmussen has Trump's approval rate at 51%, better than it has been in months. That outlet was one of the few that got the 2016 election right, even if they didn't do as well in the 2018 midterms. 

Of course a lot of other polling has shown that President Trump is behind, sometimes by double digits. I don't really trust those polls either as they have the same problem the Democracy Institute has but worse. These polls have been massively oversampling Democrats, just like they did in 2016. 

So with none of the polls all that reliable, can we trust any of them? Probably not. I'd also point out that we are still a ways out before the election, at this point in 2016 the polling was way off but got a little bit better closer to the election. 

If the Democracy Institute and Rasmussen polls are correct and not an outlier, what is the cause? I think part of it is that Americans have different priorities that just the Coronavirus. In the poll it showed that the economy was a big factor and though President Trump hasn't been perfect on the economy he has been better than the Democrats. After all, he isn't pushing for another round of lockdowns like many Democrats are and I think voters have realized that doing so would be ruinous for the economy. 

And I think President Trump's handling of the Coronavirus might be viewed more positively now. Why? Largely because a few other countries that have been praised for the virus response are now dealing with a resurgence. Australia, who once had almost completely defeated the virus, has now resorted to a new round of lockdowns. Even if there is criticism of President Trump for his response this is showing that there isn't much he could have done. 

Another major issue is the George Floyd riots. President Trump's hands off approach where he only threatened to use force in the vast majority of cases made the debate not about him. After seeing cities burning, people getting beaten and people even killed by Antifa and Black Lives Matter most people turned on the protesters. People are rightly blaming the Democrats for the violence and it's helping President Trump.

Also helping President Trump is the fact that Joe Biden is basically a non-factor. He's not making speeches and not reaching a large audience. He has the media covering for him but it's also pretty clear that he appears to be declining mentally. Biden was always a gaffe machine but the gaffes are becoming more frequent. 

Biden's VP choice is going to be a huge problem for him regardless. Given his poor health and mental abilities a vote for Biden is a vote for his VP and the choices he has floated have been controversial to say the least. Given his self imposed limitations to ensure that a black woman is the candidate that alone might be enough to ensure that he doesn't win. But if he picks a radical like Karen Bass he will scare moderates. And if he picks Harris he undermines the entire Democratic Party's pitch, that criminal justice is unfair against black, by picking someone who has been historically very unfair to the black community. 

Still, a lot can happen between now and November. Back in January nobody could have predicted the Coronavirus (well some people did) or the George Floyd riots. There are a lot of things that could dramatically change the race like China's Three Gorges Dam collapsing or Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying. 

Without a crystal ball nobody sure what could happen but my guess still remains that President Trump wins a 2nd term. It would have been totally certain if it wasn't for the Coronavirus. But Biden is such a weak candidate, the Democrats so out of control and the power of incumbency so strong I'd be shocked if he didn't win. 

ISIS takes responsibility for attack on a prison in Afghanistan. UPDATED

The flag of ISIS.

ISIS has taken responsibility for an attack on a prison in Afghanistan. AP. The attack involved a suicide car bomb and several gunmen and left three people dead and 24 injured. The attack occurred in Jalalabad and the casualty figures are expected to rise. The attack comes as a cease fire between the Taliban and the Afghan government was put into effect and a day after a senior ISIS commander was killed by Afghan special forces. Violence has been increasing in Afghanistan lately with the vast majority of attacks coming from ISIS. ISIS still has around 2,000 troops in the country and though they are losing ground they are still more than capable of launching attacks. 

UPDATE: Fox News is reporting that 21 people have died and 43 have been wounded with more casualties expected. Three attackers have also been killed. ISIS fighters fled the prison and are thought to be hiding out in the surrounding residential areas. Prisoners have escaped during the fighting and that is suspected to be the motive for the attack as several hundred ISIS fighters are held in the city.

My Comment:

Not often we hear about ISIS these days. Outside of Afghanistan they are an afterthought and they haven't had a major attack on a Western target in a long time. One thing that President Trump doesn't get credit for is the fact that he was able to destroy ISIS as a major force and push them out of Iraq and Syria. 

It does seem that Afghanistan might be turning a corner. The Taliban and the Afghan government do seem to be making progress with the peace deal and are honoring a cease fire. It almost seems possible that peace could break out and we could finally get our troops out. 

Unfortunately ISIS still hangs on. They are not much of a fighting force but they are just big enough to launch attacks and kill people. Indeed, they even have enough people to launch suicide attacks, which doesn't make much sense for a group that is low on members. 

The big fear is that if a peace deal is made that the Taliban will shelter ISIS. They did so with al-Qaeda back in the day and if they did again ISIS could make a resurgence. However, I don't think this fear is valid. ISIS has attacked the Taliban as well and they have killed quite a few of each other. And amazingly enough the depravity of ISIS is notable enough that even the Taliban hates them for it. 

I wouldn't be to disappointed if we took more active action against ISIS in Afghanistan. Though we should be pulling troops out, I don't have a problem with bombing the hell out of what is left of ISIS. There's only 2000 fighters left and it would be nice to see all of them gone.

With the new information I do think this attack makes sense. ISIS is clearly in need of fighters and the ones held in the prison come already trained and battle hardened. Even if the attack only released a few of them it could mean that they have more fighters for further attacks. And given how many casualties they inflicted it seems like this attack was worth the price they paid, at least in the short term.