I’d never heard of this “Arthur Frommer” guy before today. Apparently he’s a “travel critic,” someone paid to tell people where to and not to visit on vacation. He just unloaded this steaming pile of starship fuel onto his blog:
I am not yet certain whether I would advocate a travel boycott by others of the state of Arizona; I want to learn more about Arizona’s gun laws and how they compare with those of other states. But I am shocked beyond measure by reports that earlier this week, nearly a dozen persons, including one with an assault rifle strapped about his shoulders and others with pistols in their hands or holsters, were openly congregating outside a hall at which President Obama was speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there. And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more. And I will begin thinking about whether tourists should safeguard themselves by avoiding stays in Arizona.
In my opinion, the man is a blithering dumbass. Anyone who has ever considered paying any attention to him should give serious consideration to ignoring him from here on out. Open carry laws are hardly a secret… any “travel critic” who was so monumantally pig ignorant as to not only not know about common gun laws, but also the Consititution of the US, seems unlikely to be a man who actually knows the first damned thing about travel. Who would pay attention to a “travel critic” who suggested taking his AK-47 to Jolly Olde England for a fox hunting expedition?
I suggest boycotting Frommer and his works, since he has just come out and declared himself kinda stupid.
Note to Frommer: stay the hell away from Utah. We regularly carry loaded weapons onto sidewalks. I did so for many hours just today. You would crap yourself in fear if you knew that you might be in a restaurant where one or more patrons might actually be so barbaric as to have a concealed weapon. And we really don’t need you stinking up the joint.
13 Responses to “Here’s why you shouldn’t listen to critics”
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LOL! I was in a convenience store in Salt Lake a while back and there in front of me was a guy carrying a glock on his belt. As far as I could tell he was just your average guy. What came to mind? “Man I love living in Utah!”
Funny, this same idiot is AGAINST prosecuting criminals, because they are “downtrodden and misunderstood”, and in the same breath wants to stripo Americans of our Constitutional rights. Imagine that.
2Hotel9: I wonder if he’s a liberal š
Here in Minnesota, you can’t carry without a permit. But there’s a huge misunderstanding in that it’s actually a “carry permit” not a “conceled carry permit”. People who carry openly tend to get a lot of attention.
> Here in Minnesota, you canāt carry without a permit.
You’re in luck. If you are a US citizen in Minnesota, you *have* a permit. It’s called the Constitution. You no more need a permit to bear arms than you need a permit to speak or worship.
> āMan I love living in Utah!ā
Utah has a dual-level of laws for open carry. if you have a concealed carry permit, then go ahead and carry openly. If you do not have a concealed carry permit, then your weapon need to be two mechanical functions away from discharging. For an automatic, this is easy: insert magazine, but do not rack slide. Then, when The Time comes, you need to do this to operate the weapon:
1) Rack slide
2) Pull trigger
For a revolver it’s more complex.
I’m Austrian, as I’ve said before (don’t call me European, that’s not what I am, I resent this artificial and neo-fascist “European” idea, the only thing that the “Europeans” have in common is the simply fact we’re all sitting on the same continent, that’s not even remotely enough) and I’m going to tell you into which state in the US I’d travel:
Those where law abiding citizens have the right to bear arms and to use them in defense of their lives and their property.
Also, I support enforcing laws and I strongly believe that Europe should learn one or two things from Japan when it comes to laws and how to enforce them (I just love how Shamnesty International always bitches at Japan when they execute mass murderers and terrorists; Japanese prisons? I’d prefer not to end up on one of those, they’re not hotels like in Austria and Germany, there’s discipline, uniforms and you only get priviledges if you behave properly, what a concept!)
You know, saying things like this makes me a nazi and racist in the eyes of the left wing here in Austria (and the rest of Europe.)
Arthur Frommer would love it here. Self defense? Run away! Cooperate! Which always makes me wonder: what if a criminals is happily raping your daughter? Are you supposed to cooperate in order to “de-escalate”? (Note: “de-escalation” -meaning being spat on, having stuff thrown at you but not do anything about it- is the favorite strategy of the police here.) I know what I’d do in such a case:
1) Rack slide
2) Pull trigger
Thank you.
Badger,
the problem with learning from Japan on legal matters has one small problem: their judicial system is irredeemably corrupt.
Police in Japan can arrest anyone without need for pretext.
They can hold said person incommunicado for up to 23 days.
They can interrogate people for 10 hours of each day, without access to a lawyer. If they manage to get or force a confession it cannot be retracted.
Police and prosecutors work together to hide ‘unhelpful’ evidence: witnesses placing accused at places other than the scene of the crime are ignored, as is contradictory scientific evidence.
Once the accused comes to court he or she is as good as convicted: 99.5% of all Japanese cases result in a conviction. Often the Judges (there is no Jury in Japanese trials, though lay judges are being trialled at the moment) simply read out the prosecution’s opening statement in concluding the case.
Starviking, I take that system over what we have in Austria and Germany.
Any day.
Stab someone halfway to death… and walk away. That’s how it is here. Rape several little girls and get 6 years in a facility for criminals with mental problems. So called “honor killings” in Germany? The prison terms are a joke. That’s “justice” in Europe. Terrorists. Germany has been setting free RAF members, who murdered people. One guy sat 3 years per murder he committed. He was set free after 27 years in prison, because the law allows that, not because it’s a requirement, it’s allowed. Killing 9 people, getting life and then leaving after 27 years of vacation? Not so bad.
In Japan he’d hang. And I support that.
The conviction rate in Japan is also based on the simple fact that the judges there don’t buy the crap psychologists spew as easily as in Europe. There was a case, a re-trial of a man who had raped a young woman, then murdered her and also murdered her little baby. Defense came with psychologists, stating that he didn’t know he was committing a crime and that for him it was “returning into the womb of his mother”. He’s going to hang, because the judges didn’t buy this crap (yes, I call it crap, from my personal experience with psychologists I only say: keep those quacks away from me as far as possible.) Which is something I support right away. How many rapists and murderers walk away here by fielding good psychologists who technobabble the judges to death with utter nonsense? Tons of them. It’s always the victim’s fault in Europe, or society’s, or the criminal’s family, never the criminal’s. And don’t make the start on the “lawyers” who lack any and all morals and defend such beasts. Such a beast can have a lawyer if there are doubts, but if it’s clear as glass? No way.
See, that’s why the crime rate in Japan is decreasing. All the capital crimes are going down. Here in Europe, they’re going up. Why? Because here nothing happens to you even if you’re caught. If you go to prison you’re almost going into a hotel. In Japan they whack you with the big and ugly stick. And rightfully so.
My personal experience with Japanese police is excellent. They know their job. Unlike some cops here. We have female police officers that make Japanese women look huge and fat. They’re useless in daily operations, they’re not capable of dealing with a brawl, but they harass drivers at checkpoints over first aid kits past expiary date. Last time I rented a car in Japan I actually got a ticket. Afterwards I really almost said “thank you”.
The first lay judge trials over in Japan have handed out quite hefty penalties (despite some people expecting them to go more easy on the criminals.)
Also, the culture is different. A lot different. For example, taking the guilt of a superior on your shoulders is considered to be an honorable task. People there don’t seem to weasel out of problems as easily as Europeans, at least from what I’ve experienced.
Don’t like the system there? Don’t commit crimes there. It’s that easy. Stay out of trouble and no trouble will come to you, usually.
I still take the Japanese system over what we have in Europe. Any day. Any time.
Badger, give Tom Kratman’s “Caliphate” a shot. Reads the Demographic tea leaves for what’s happening in Europe in general, adds a dash of pushing the America Public past the point of politenes, and does it in a believable way.
Here’s a link to the Prologue through Chapter 6 as Sample Chapters provided by Baen Books, his publisher. “Try it out for free before spending any money, just so you know if you like it or not.”
> give Tom Kratmanās āCaliphateā a shot
I read it just a week or three ago, and will be posting a (positive) review here whenever I get around to it.
Badger,
having been a resident in Japan for over 6 years I’ll make a few comment:
1) “Germany has been setting free RAF members, who murdered people.
In Japan heād hang. And I support that.”
Only if the cops caught him, see the bumbling in the Lucy Harker case for example. Also, after 15 years they go scot free.
If you’re a cannibal who killed and ate foreigners, like Issei Sagawa, you do not time in Japan and are treated as a minor celebrity!
2) “The conviction rate in Japan is also based on the simple fact that the judges there donāt buy the crap psychologists spew as easily as in Europe.”
That’s false – psychological states are considered in Japanese courts.
Look at Katsunao Ujiie’s conviction for murder, inflicting bodily injury and theft. It came after a long legal battle over whether he was mentally competent to be held responsible for his actions. In the end he was given 22 years for killing a baby boy, as the judge – Shinichiro Ito – said “Schizophrenia gave him diminished capacity”
In Saga Prefecture a boy who hijacked a highway bus and killed a 68 year-old passenger in May 2000 got sent to a reformatory instead of a criminal court as the judge, Katsuki Nagatome said the boy needed medical treatment for a dissociative disorder.
Yuji Nishizawa got life instead of death for killling a pilot in the hijacking of ANA flight 61 as he was found guilty but of unsound mind.
Even when psychiatric tests are not accepted some people get off lightly: Masami Nomoto got 12 years for gunning down Dr. Takejiro Okazaki in Tokyo even though the ‘mental problems’ defence was rejected.
3) “See, thatās why the crime rate in Japan is decreasing. All the capital crimes are going down. ”
The murder rate rose by 8% last year Badger.
4) “My personal experience with Japanese police is excellent. They know their job.”
Please! Japanese police drive around all day in cars with lights flashing – but will not enforce traffic regulations unless it’s on their ‘to do list’, I kid you not.
Look at how the J-cops bungled the case of Lindsay Ann Hawker. They had her murderer’s apartment surrounded with 9 officers – but Tatsuya Ichihashi barefoot evaded them easily by walking out the front to and running when challenged. He has not been caught.
More cluelessness allowed Takanori Hoshijima to murder his kidnapped neighbour Rurika Tojo in his apartment despite a visit form the police.
If you want to see more cluelessness of this type just type in “stalker” and “murder” into a search engine and limit the search to Japan. The police have no idea how to deal with stalking and fail to protect the victims completely
5) “The first lay judge trials over in Japan have handed out quite hefty penalties (despite some people expecting them to go more easy on the criminals.)”
Who the hell thought there’d be lighter sentences – lay judges will go along with the professional judges every time – that society here.
6) “Also, the culture is different. A lot different. For example, taking the guilt of a superior on your shoulders is considered to be an honorable task.”
Errr…no – you’ve got it the wrong way around. Superiors are supposed to take the guilt of their underlings on their shoulders – that’s why the heads of companies and prime ministers resign in scandals over here.
“People there donāt seem to weasel out of problems as easily as Europeans, at least from what Iāve experienced.”
Blame gets shifted if it can be – that’s what I’ve observed.
7) “Donāt like the system there? Donāt commit crimes there. Itās that easy. Stay out of trouble and no trouble will come to you, usually.”
Got a pen-knife? Keep it on your person? You’re committing a crime in Japan. Defend yourself from an attack in Japan – you’re a criminal.
People can be arrested at the drop of a hat and interrogated for up to 23 days without a lawyer. If it were happening in Europe you’d be singing another tune.
8) “I still take the Japanese system over what we have in Europe. Any day. Any time.”
Do you value your civil liberties?
most people are considered de facto convicted before they even have their day in court.
Hmm, “8” followed with a “)” is a 8) here…