fox files

Here’s A Parting Shot

What The Mainstream Media Won’t Tell You About Violent Crime, is that
Annually, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) publishes national data on the prevalence of crimes of all types. Recently, the FBI’s “2018 Crime Statistics” revealed that, yet again, violent crime in America has declined.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media, in its never-ending quest to promote more gun control, gave this data little to no coverage. Why not? Given their biases, it doesn’t feel cynical to say they don’t want to let people know about this wonderful fact because it runs counter to their narrative that America is an increasingly violent place.

If the mainstream media were to truly examine the numbers and then print what they found, they would have to explain how the FBI’s 2018 statistics mostly show a 30-year decline in violent crimes. A decline, it should be noted, that coincided with a huge increase in the number of civilian-owned firearms and with the expiration of the “assault-weapons” ban. Many in the media told us in 2004, when the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 sunset, that ending this gun ban would cause the homicide rate to go up.

Data gathered by the FBI tells a different story: “The [2018] violent crime rate fell 3.9% when compared with the 2017 rate; the property crime rate declined 6.9%… The estimated number of three violent crime offenses [murder, nonnegligent manslaughter and aggravated assault decreased when compared with estimates from 2017…. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses fell 6.2%, and the estimated volume of aggravated assault offenses decreased 0.4%

Violent-crime rates in America hit a low point in 2014, according to the FBI-the lowest since 1970. The violent-crime rate in 2018, by comparison, represented the third-lowest rate since 1970.

To the extent the mainstream media even dealt with the FBI statistics, based on a search of 20 major media outlets, they briefly noted the general decline and then talked about places where violent-crime rates were higher than average—they did this, however, without noting that these areas tend to have the strictest gun-control laws.

Some media outlets opted to focus on the one category where the numbers are up: rape. But these articles didn’t then mention that gun rights also empower women. What a missed opportunity. They could have interviewed victims who have since armed themselves or firearms instructors who teach women how to protect themselves. But again, that wouldn’t fit their narrative.

Meanwhile, another very interesting statistic was circulating among the gun community, though as always, the mainstream media ignored it. According to Dr. John Lott and the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), “The number of concealed handgun permits has increased for the third year in a row. The figure now stands at over 18.66 million, a 304% increase since 2007. It’s also an 8% increase over the number of permits we counted a year ago in 2018.”

And the actual numbers are even higher because we don’t have precise data regarding how many people lawfully carry firearms in 16 states. And why is that you ask? Well, I’m very glad that you asked. It’s because those 16 states have some form of ‘Constitutional’ carry.

Constitutional carry means anyone who is normally allowed to carry a weapon because they have no criminal background or felonious history can do so without any application to the state for licensure and granting. It’s their God-Given and Constitutionally backed right to carry if they so wish, and that is exactly how it should be in all 50 states and the way our smart Forefathers meant it to be. PERIOD!

So, the FBI data proves that violent crimes are down, and the CPRC data shows the number of concealed-carry permit holders is increasing fast. Does this mean that the increase in people carrying concealed is making America safer? The mainstream media won’t even entertain that question. Why, you ask again? Well happy you once more asked. It’s because they fear doing so because it ultimately wouldn’t fit their bottom dollar line narrative(s). That’s why.

Scientifically speaking, there are many factors at work here. These include various crime-prevention programs, local economic conditions and a host of other sociological and legal factors that can affect violent-crime rates. Still, it is dishonest of the media to ignore the fact that more people are carrying.

Unfortunately, we don’t often see honest analysis of gun-related issues from the mainstream media. They prefer to push the provably false narrative that violent crime is plaguing America because of the availability of firearms. They like this storyline because they want people to believe we need more gun-control laws.

Another constituency that was silent on the new FBI findings were, surprisingly, <- (not) the gun-control groups. An internet search of the websites for the Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action found no reference to the FBI crime report and no mention that violent crimes are in a steady decline. Actually, all three websites made rather sensationalist claims about violent-crime increases.

Perhaps that’s not shocking; after all, if these groups admitted the truth about the decline in violent crime, their reason for being would dry up, as would, one suspects, their fundraising efforts as well.

GETTING THE POINT ACROSS

1. The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. (Albert Einstein)
2. All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent (Thomas Jefferson)
3. Softest on the people who need discipline, hardest on people who need compassion (Unknown)
4. He who does not oppose evil, commands it to be done (Leonardo Da Vinci)
5. What you allow, you encourage (Carrie Heinze-Musgrove)
6. Your silence is consent (Plato)
7. If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. (Desmond Tutu)
8. Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor (Ginette Sagan)
9. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. (Martin Luther King Jr)
10. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (Martin Luther King Jr)
11. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends (Martin Luther King Jr)
12. There are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice (Ayaan Hirsi Ali)
13. I chose to defend human rights because I cannot maintain my silence in the face of injustice (Chen Guangcheng)

Loserthink And Fake News

“If you buy into the full-scary narratives promoted by either the political left or the political right,” says Scott Adams in his book Loserthink, “you’re probably experiencing loserthink.”

I’m going to talk about two unconventional ways to get informed in the age of “fake news.”

1] Spotting loserthink

2] Getting skin in the game.

First things first:

Loserthink 101

Loserthink is the phrase Adams’ uses in his book to describe the many ways humans engage in unproductive thinking.

Unproductive thinking, says Adams, is how we accidentally build mental prisons for ourselves.

We do so by mimicking arguments we hear from pundits…

Making bad assumptions about why things happened…

Believing we can manage events in the present to fix the past (and not seeing how paths and opportunities to successfully fix most problems)

Believing someone only because they are an expert, and for no other reason… And on.

Adams asserts that by giving specific unproductive ways of thinking a name — loserthink — it makes them easier to spot and control.

The idea that naming something gives you power over it is nothing new.

The famous Greek philosopher Socrates reminds us that if we want to understand something, we must first give it a name.

Only then can we begin to differentiate it from what it isn’t and move accordingly.

Adams puts it plainly: “If you have a negative word for something, it will be easier to avoid than if you don’t.”

That said, spotting loserthink is all the more important in an age that capitalizes on all forms of unproductive thinking.

The goal is to replace loserthink with more useful ways of looking at the world.

The mainstream media, which have become masters of capitalizing on unproductive thinking, is the easiest place to begin.

Rather than taking the news at face value: “A more useful way to think of the political news,” says Adams, “is that nearly every major story is exaggerated to the point of falsehood, with the intention of scaring the public.” It’s what sells and it’s what creates the bottom line in dollars.

Therefore, news is NOT news, but rather ENTERTAINMENT.

There can not be honest news and reporting from ANYTHING that is funded by the almighty dollar at the bottom line. NOTHING.

It’s easy to forget, but the doom and gloom press is not a reflection of the world.

The mainstream map no longer even tries to show the territory. 

Rather, the current state of the media is a reflection of the way news has changed.

The technological change that fully “broke the news,” says Adams, is our ability to measure audience reaction to every headline.

“Once you can reliably measure the income potential of different approaches to the news,” he writes, “the people who manage the news have to do what works for profitability or else they are abandoning their responsibilities to shareholders.”

ONCE AGAIN. A BUSINESS (ENTERTAINMENT) FUNDING THE BOTTOM LINE WITH THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR. PERIOD, AND PERIOD AGAIN DAMMIT!

Thus, there’s been a slow creep from presenting the facts (once known as journalism) to outright manipulating people’s brains to garner more views.

But if we are aware of this, we can shield ourselves from its influence.