Police officials said they received a report about 6:30 p.m. of smoke coming from a Nissan Pathfinder parked on 45th Street just west of Seventh Avenue. The authorities found a smoking package in the vehicle. A bomb squad was sent to the scene.
The police were searching for a suspect.
A New York City firefighter who told Reuters he arrived early on the scene said that the vehicle was smoking and that he saw “a flash” from the back of the it. “We put two and two together” and the evacuation was ordered, he said.
And the general thought would probably be "I'd damn well hope so!" But get this, early in the article:
Reports said the vehicle contained a package that did not explode, and late Saturday night it was not clear whether the package was a bomb. A federal official said the incident was not considered it a terrorist threat and that the New York Police Department had told the Department of Homeland Security to stand down.
Now, maybe I'm just getting too picky about inspecting wording, but 'not considered a terrorist threat' could be interpreted as "Well, it was a dud bomb but that's not a threat, you see, it's a bomb that didn't properly go off." Which would fit right into Napolitano & Co., and the administration hesitating to call ANYTHING a terrorist act. And I imagine the NYPD telling DHS to 'stand down' would be a sight to see; possibly make the pissing matches between FBI and BATFE look a bit mild in comparison.
Any doubt that if the car had exploded(whether that was the intention or not) it WOULD have been called a terrorist act?
Saturday, May 01, 2010
The Jews in the Attic test
I explained to the others in my little band of activists that I looked at all laws that restricted freedom with a view to the impact it would have in a worst case scenario of our government run amok. Will this law make it difficult or impossible to protect innocent life from a government intent on their imprisonment or death? Although I pretty much made everything up on the spot I told them I called this test my "Jews In The Attic Test". Furthermore I told them that if it fails this test no further discussion is really needed, the law must be opposed in the most vigorous manner possible.
Some laws that fail the test and why:
 | Government mandated ID cards and the authority to demand them at any time. The oppressed class will be unable to masquerade as a member of the neutral or oppressor classes. |
| Searches without probable cause. Imagine you are attempting to smuggle your "Jews in the attic" to a safer hiding place. If the police at the roadblock can search all vehicles then you and your precious cargo are headed to the "work camps". |
| Government monopoly on medical care. This is a bit surprising -- isn't it? If it is illegal for you to pay someone for anonymous health care then how can your "Jews in the attic" receive health care? |
| Firearm or firearm owner registration. The registration information can be used to confiscate the firearms used to protect innocent life -- as it was under the 1938 Weapons Control Act in Nazi Germany. |
| Elimination or severe restriction of anonymous financial transactions. The purchase of food and other supplies for your "Jews in the attic" would show up in the records as being excessive compared to what your needs were. Just as power consumption records are used today to catch home marijuana growers. |
I continue to use this test to this day and advocate it's widespread use by others.
Mr. Huffman put this together some time ago; it's still a very good test of any law.Question is, if the personal disarmament laws in Chicago
are so wonderful, where are all those people getting the guns they turned in?
Oh, it's that everyone else in the country isn't disarmed, THAT'S why criminals in Chicago have them. Right. Sure.
Hanging around with mobsters must've warped Daley's mind even more than it already was.
Oh, it's that everyone else in the country isn't disarmed, THAT'S why criminals in Chicago have them. Right. Sure.
Hanging around with mobsters must've warped Daley's mind even more than it already was.
Also from Uncle, in the heading of "Jerks who should not be wearing a badge"
if this is their normal attitude
After getting off the phone he went back to Officer Overcash and asked him if he could please give him his badge number and name. That is where the video is recorded. You can see my client approach calmly and request his badge and name. Without hesitation Officer Overcash immediately puts my client in cuffs, and ultimately charges him with resisting without violence and disorderly intoxication.
Officer Overcash, you need to either get your attitude adjusted on a major level, or be fired.
After getting off the phone he went back to Officer Overcash and asked him if he could please give him his badge number and name. That is where the video is recorded. You can see my client approach calmly and request his badge and name. Without hesitation Officer Overcash immediately puts my client in cuffs, and ultimately charges him with resisting without violence and disorderly intoxication.
Officer Overcash, you need to either get your attitude adjusted on a major level, or be fired.
New Point Knives: for those who can't be trusted with a point*
Kitchen knives without points, because you people can't be trusted with pointy ones.
Ignore the fact that you could slice somebody open, or cut a throat with them; nevermind that a few minutes with a grinder would point them; and COMPLETELY DISREGARD the fact that a kitchen knife with no point can be a first-class pain in the ass for some cooking chores. None of that matters, because these are 'safer'. Oh, they allow you to have a teeny little point, they'll trust you that much, but a real POINT? Forget it.
Perhaps in time the long pointed kitchen knife will be relegated to the history books... says Dr. Beckett; to which I say "Screw you, doc. I use the points on my kitchen knives, thank you very much.
Formerly Great Britain: where the next bright idea will probably be a button-tipped bayonet so as not to cause horrible injuries to the enemy.
Found at Uncle's place
*Which, from the endorsements, would be everybody
Ignore the fact that you could slice somebody open, or cut a throat with them; nevermind that a few minutes with a grinder would point them; and COMPLETELY DISREGARD the fact that a kitchen knife with no point can be a first-class pain in the ass for some cooking chores. None of that matters, because these are 'safer'. Oh, they allow you to have a teeny little point, they'll trust you that much, but a real POINT? Forget it.
Perhaps in time the long pointed kitchen knife will be relegated to the history books... says Dr. Beckett; to which I say "Screw you, doc. I use the points on my kitchen knives, thank you very much.
Formerly Great Britain: where the next bright idea will probably be a button-tipped bayonet so as not to cause horrible injuries to the enemy.
Found at Uncle's place
*Which, from the endorsements, would be everybody
I could have started this with the Dodd story, but I thought
he deserved mention all on his corrupt own. So I'll open this with Since the clowns in DC don't want to enforce the borders, this kind of thing happens and causes states to say "Screw you, DC, we'll do something ourselves."
Considering this is drug smugglers out of Mexico from the sound of it, they might actually have real AK47's; what was that crap about 'guns being smuggled INTO Mexico from the US'?
Be interesting if it turns out the National Inquirer is doing the reporting the professional major media won't do. But then, as Insty says, When was the last time they got one of these things right? . . . .
Free Speech wins one against sharia, but it took a threatened lawsuit to get the bus weenies to honor their contract.
On April 13 our ads began running on Miami buses. On Friday, April 16, after CAIR complained, Miami-Dade Transit pulled our ads. The reason? Karla Damian, a spokesperson for Transit, said they might be “offensive to Islam.”
It was an outrageous denial of our free speech rights, and a stunning capitulation to Sharia. Even worse, it was a blatantly inconsistent application of Miami-Dade Transit’s policies: CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups ran campaigns on buses across the country last year, including Miami, inviting people to convert to Islam and claiming that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were Muslim prophets. Miami-Dade Transit allowed the CAIR bus ads, despite how offensive they were to Jews and Christians.
In December 2008, the Miami Herald ran a glowing piece on the CAIR bus ad campaign, which ran in Miami-Dade and Broward counties for eight weeks. No one took offense, despite the Islamic supremacist nature of the ads. No one breathed a word of protest.
It was important to counterbalance this offensive appropriation of the founding figures of Judaism and Christianity and outright deception with a healthy message. But although Miami-Dade Transit had no trouble with CAIR’s offensive message, they found our defense of religious freedom unacceptable.
'Citizen Gore', hehehehe...
Famed in American legend is the origin of the Gore legend. Raised in a humble Georgetown penthouse, he was left the deed to a supposedly worthless abandoned Tennessee Senate seat. Instead it housed the famed 1992 Clinton lode. For 50 years thereafter, there was no American issue on which he took no stand, no microphone by which he would pass. He urge America to one war, and later condemned America's participation in another. Oh, wait. That was the same war.
In politics, always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
From Theo, we find eight nasty ways to die in the jungle. They do leave out anaconda and python, but these are definitely nasty ways to go.
I've heard of troubles with neighbors, but damn...
Giovannini told police that after being struck, he looked and observed his neighbor, later identified as Robert Wood, 41, entering his home. The victim then noticed an arrow protruding from his back and yelled for his girlfriend to call police and an ambulance arrived immediately.
Gee, a bill put together by a bunch of nanny-state jackasses to control the auto companies and so forth.... what could possible be/go wrong?
Damn, it's raining again.
Ah, the mind of(to quote Kim) Richard 'The Turd' Daley: if he can't get what he wants, he'll ask the international nannies to force us to give it to him.
Friday, April 30, 2010: Fearful that America’s Supreme Court will soon strike down Chicago’s handgun ban, frustrated by the Illinois legislature’s rejection of his anti-gun agenda, and repudiated by American courts and legislatures over his plan to sue federally licensed manufacturers and dealers of firearms for third-party crimes, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) is showing contempt for his own country’s and state’s institutions, by seeking a foreign entity to enforce his anti-gun agenda against the American people. This week, Daley called for “redress against the gun industry” in the World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. Forgetting or not caring who his constituents are, Daley blurted “This is coming from international mayors. They’re saying, ‘We’re tired of your guns, America.’”
Attention Daley, you statist bastard: WE'RE tired of your corruption, your desire to control our lives and you; so fuck off. You think we like the idea of 'international mayors' telling us how to live? What we can own? Fuck you twice, you miserable little dirtbag. Your little friends want to call in the National Guard to try and control crime in the city your family has run for decades, and this is what you want to do?
Ah, the sun is out, and I've got some stuff I need to pick up. So you're on your own for a while.
Pinal County sheriff’s Lt. Tamatha Villar says the deputy suffered a superficial wound to his abdomen after being shot with an AK-47 assault rifle Friday afternoon.
Villar says the deputy was doing smuggling interdiction work and found bales of marijuana in the desert. He then encountered five suspected illegal immigrants, two armed with rifles, and was shot.
At last check, the suspects were shooting at police helicopters in hot pursuit. More from CNN:
Pinal County is located between Phoenix and Tuscon and has been described as a key transit point for illegal immigrants. Sheriff Paul Babeu told CNN that an estimated 80 percent of illegal immigrants eventually pass through his county along the way to other locations.
Considering this is drug smugglers out of Mexico from the sound of it, they might actually have real AK47's; what was that crap about 'guns being smuggled INTO Mexico from the US'?
Be interesting if it turns out the National Inquirer is doing the reporting the professional major media won't do. But then, as Insty says, When was the last time they got one of these things right? . . . .
Free Speech wins one against sharia, but it took a threatened lawsuit to get the bus weenies to honor their contract.
On April 13 our ads began running on Miami buses. On Friday, April 16, after CAIR complained, Miami-Dade Transit pulled our ads. The reason? Karla Damian, a spokesperson for Transit, said they might be “offensive to Islam.”
It was an outrageous denial of our free speech rights, and a stunning capitulation to Sharia. Even worse, it was a blatantly inconsistent application of Miami-Dade Transit’s policies: CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups ran campaigns on buses across the country last year, including Miami, inviting people to convert to Islam and claiming that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were Muslim prophets. Miami-Dade Transit allowed the CAIR bus ads, despite how offensive they were to Jews and Christians.
In December 2008, the Miami Herald ran a glowing piece on the CAIR bus ad campaign, which ran in Miami-Dade and Broward counties for eight weeks. No one took offense, despite the Islamic supremacist nature of the ads. No one breathed a word of protest.
It was important to counterbalance this offensive appropriation of the founding figures of Judaism and Christianity and outright deception with a healthy message. But although Miami-Dade Transit had no trouble with CAIR’s offensive message, they found our defense of religious freedom unacceptable.
'Citizen Gore', hehehehe...
In politics, always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
From Theo, we find eight nasty ways to die in the jungle. They do leave out anaconda and python, but these are definitely nasty ways to go.
I've heard of troubles with neighbors, but damn...
Giovannini told police that after being struck, he looked and observed his neighbor, later identified as Robert Wood, 41, entering his home. The victim then noticed an arrow protruding from his back and yelled for his girlfriend to call police and an ambulance arrived immediately.
Gee, a bill put together by a bunch of nanny-state jackasses to control the auto companies and so forth.... what could possible be/go wrong?
Damn, it's raining again.
Ah, the mind of(to quote Kim) Richard 'The Turd' Daley: if he can't get what he wants, he'll ask the international nannies to force us to give it to him.
Friday, April 30, 2010: Fearful that America’s Supreme Court will soon strike down Chicago’s handgun ban, frustrated by the Illinois legislature’s rejection of his anti-gun agenda, and repudiated by American courts and legislatures over his plan to sue federally licensed manufacturers and dealers of firearms for third-party crimes, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) is showing contempt for his own country’s and state’s institutions, by seeking a foreign entity to enforce his anti-gun agenda against the American people. This week, Daley called for “redress against the gun industry” in the World Court, in The Hague, Netherlands. Forgetting or not caring who his constituents are, Daley blurted “This is coming from international mayors. They’re saying, ‘We’re tired of your guns, America.’”
Attention Daley, you statist bastard: WE'RE tired of your corruption, your desire to control our lives and you; so fuck off. You think we like the idea of 'international mayors' telling us how to live? What we can own? Fuck you twice, you miserable little dirtbag. Your little friends want to call in the National Guard to try and control crime in the city your family has run for decades, and this is what you want to do?
Ah, the sun is out, and I've got some stuff I need to pick up. So you're on your own for a while.
Sen. Chris Dodd(Corrupt National Socialist Democrat-CN*)
really is a slimy little bastard.
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) is at the center of negotiations shaping a bill that he promises will add transparency to the complicated, furtive world of financial derivatives, but he cannot remember how much he paid for his house on 10 waterfront acres in Ireland. No wonder confidence in government’s competence continues to erode.
Dodd’s office told me early last year that he paid $127,000 in 2002 for his co-owner’s 2/3 interest in a house on 10 waterfront acres on the island of Inishnee in a tony region of western Ireland. The next month he told reporters at The Hartford Courant that since he’d also paid off his co-owner’s portion of their joint mortgage on the property, he really paid about $50,000 more than what he’d said.
A month after that revision, Dodd told Newsweek that he’d paid $207,000 for the 2/3 interest in the property that he’d purchased with a Kansas City real estate developer William Kessinger in 1994. The 5 term senator provided no details on what sort of Jethro Bodine ciphering he did to get that number.
None of those figures matches the amount Dodd reported to Irish authorities when he purchased Kessinger’s interest in the property.
And on and on, including
That lucrative 2002 transaction came the year after Dodd wangled a full presidential pardon from Bill Clinton on his last day in office for Dodd’s friend and Kessinger’s business partner, New York boulevardier and convicted inside trader Edward Downe. Downe had introduced Dodd and Kessinger, and served as a witness on the deed conveying Kessinger’s 2/3 interest to Dodd for far less than its value. In the 1980s, Downe subsidized and c0-owned a Washington condominium with Dodd until the investigation of Downe’s insider trading began to get hot.
But we're supposed to trust this Friend of Angelo to regulate the financial world. Uh huh. Talk about a rabid fox in the henhouse.
*Talk about repeating yourself...
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) is at the center of negotiations shaping a bill that he promises will add transparency to the complicated, furtive world of financial derivatives, but he cannot remember how much he paid for his house on 10 waterfront acres in Ireland. No wonder confidence in government’s competence continues to erode.
Dodd’s office told me early last year that he paid $127,000 in 2002 for his co-owner’s 2/3 interest in a house on 10 waterfront acres on the island of Inishnee in a tony region of western Ireland. The next month he told reporters at The Hartford Courant that since he’d also paid off his co-owner’s portion of their joint mortgage on the property, he really paid about $50,000 more than what he’d said.
A month after that revision, Dodd told Newsweek that he’d paid $207,000 for the 2/3 interest in the property that he’d purchased with a Kansas City real estate developer William Kessinger in 1994. The 5 term senator provided no details on what sort of Jethro Bodine ciphering he did to get that number.
None of those figures matches the amount Dodd reported to Irish authorities when he purchased Kessinger’s interest in the property.
And on and on, including
That lucrative 2002 transaction came the year after Dodd wangled a full presidential pardon from Bill Clinton on his last day in office for Dodd’s friend and Kessinger’s business partner, New York boulevardier and convicted inside trader Edward Downe. Downe had introduced Dodd and Kessinger, and served as a witness on the deed conveying Kessinger’s 2/3 interest to Dodd for far less than its value. In the 1980s, Downe subsidized and c0-owned a Washington condominium with Dodd until the investigation of Downe’s insider trading began to get hot.
But we're supposed to trust this Friend of Angelo to regulate the financial world. Uh huh. Talk about a rabid fox in the henhouse.
*Talk about repeating yourself...
May 1: Victims of Communism Day
May Day began as a holiday for socialists and labor union activists, not just communists. But over time, the date was taken over by the Soviet Union and other communist regimes and used as a propaganda tool to prop up their regimes. I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes’ millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century’s other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so. I suggest that May Day be turned into Victims of Communism Day....
The main alternative to May 1 is November 7, the anniversary of the communist coup in Russia. However, choosing that date might be interpreted as focusing exclusively on the Soviet Union, while ignoring the equally horrendous communist mass murders in China, Camobodia, and elsewhere. So May 1 is the best choice.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Well, well, this could get really interesting for Hockeystick Mann
In papers sent to UVA April 23, Cuccinelli’s office commands the university to produce a sweeping swath of documents relating to Mann’s receipt of nearly half a million dollars in state grant-funded climate research conducted while Mann— now director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State— was at UVA between 1999 and 2005.
If Cuccinelli succeeds in finding a smoking gun like the purloined emails that led to the international scandal dubbed Climategate, Cuccinelli could seek the return of all the research money, legal fees, and trebled damages.
“Since it’s public money, there’s enough controversy to look in to the possible manipulation of data,” says Dr. Charles Battig, president of the nonprofit Piedmont Chapter Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment, a group that doubts the underpinnings of climate change theory.
I'd wondered when something like this might happen, and it's about time.
“Mike is an outstanding and extremely reputable climate scientist,” says UVA climate faculty member Howie Epstein. “And I don’t really know what they’re looking for or expecting to find.”
Well, considering what came out in the CRU e-mails,
Among the documents Cuccinelli demands are any and all emailed or written correspondence between or relating to Mann and more than 40 climate scientists, documents supporting any of five applications for the $484,875 in grants, and evidence of any documents that no longer exist along with proof of why, when, and how they were destroyed or disappeared.
I'd imagine they're looking for more of the same. And, Mr. Epstein, he's not nearly as 'reputable' as he used to be.
One former UVA climate scientist now working with Michaels worries about politicizing— or, in his words, creating a “witch hunt”— what he believes should be an academic debate.
“I didn’t like it when the politicians came after Pat Michaels,” says Chip Knappenberger. “I don’t like it that the politicians are coming after Mike Mann.”
Got news for you: this got politicized a LONG time ago, when people like Mann were trying to destroy the careers and lives of anyone who doubted their theory and got a lot of politicians involved; and when Mann and others and a bunch of the politicians were using Mann & Co. work to try to control our lives. So deal with it.
If Cuccinelli succeeds in finding a smoking gun like the purloined emails that led to the international scandal dubbed Climategate, Cuccinelli could seek the return of all the research money, legal fees, and trebled damages.
“Since it’s public money, there’s enough controversy to look in to the possible manipulation of data,” says Dr. Charles Battig, president of the nonprofit Piedmont Chapter Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment, a group that doubts the underpinnings of climate change theory.
I'd wondered when something like this might happen, and it's about time.
“Mike is an outstanding and extremely reputable climate scientist,” says UVA climate faculty member Howie Epstein. “And I don’t really know what they’re looking for or expecting to find.”
Well, considering what came out in the CRU e-mails,
Among the documents Cuccinelli demands are any and all emailed or written correspondence between or relating to Mann and more than 40 climate scientists, documents supporting any of five applications for the $484,875 in grants, and evidence of any documents that no longer exist along with proof of why, when, and how they were destroyed or disappeared.
I'd imagine they're looking for more of the same. And, Mr. Epstein, he's not nearly as 'reputable' as he used to be.
One former UVA climate scientist now working with Michaels worries about politicizing— or, in his words, creating a “witch hunt”— what he believes should be an academic debate.
“I didn’t like it when the politicians came after Pat Michaels,” says Chip Knappenberger. “I don’t like it that the politicians are coming after Mike Mann.”
Got news for you: this got politicized a LONG time ago, when people like Mann were trying to destroy the careers and lives of anyone who doubted their theory and got a lot of politicians involved; and when Mann and others and a bunch of the politicians were using Mann & Co. work to try to control our lives. So deal with it.
Well, we have one more celebutard to put up with
Latina pop star Shakira condemned Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigration, saying it promotes discrimination and robs Latinos of human dignity.
Visiting Phoenix City Hall on Thursday, the Colombian-born entertainer told more than 100 members of the media: "I'm in opposition to this law because it is a violation of human and civil rights. It goes against all human dignity, against the principles of most Americans I know.
"As a person and Latina(gee, who knew latinas were not persons?) who believes in equal opportunities and who believes that this country has values that I have always admired and defended," she added, "I'm worried about the impact that implementation of this law will have on hard working Latinos."
Well, dumbass, we're worried about the impact of illegal aliens on this country. So go sing and shimmy, and stay the hell out of our politics. Which you admit you don't know crap about.
Visiting Phoenix City Hall on Thursday, the Colombian-born entertainer told more than 100 members of the media: "I'm in opposition to this law because it is a violation of human and civil rights. It goes against all human dignity, against the principles of most Americans I know.
"As a person and Latina(gee, who knew latinas were not persons?) who believes in equal opportunities and who believes that this country has values that I have always admired and defended," she added, "I'm worried about the impact that implementation of this law will have on hard working Latinos."
Well, dumbass, we're worried about the impact of illegal aliens on this country. So go sing and shimmy, and stay the hell out of our politics. Which you admit you don't know crap about.
Two things: first, 'attempted attack' my ass
A lecture given by Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to Britain Talya Lador-Fresher at the University of Manchester deteriorated Wednesday into violence when pro-Palestinian protesters stormed at the diplomat in an attempted attack.
The protesters were waiting for Lador-Fresher outside the lecture hall, but this did not deter her from entering as planned. Immediately upon her exit, the protesters lunged at the diplomat, prompting security guards to whisk her back into the hall. Following a consultation on the site, it was decided to escort her out of the premises in a police car.
Second, any police department worth shit would have dealt properly with this:
The deputy ambassador was removed from the hall and into the police vehicle. However, this did not block the protesters, who surrounded the car and climbed on the hood, trying to break the windshield.
They're climbing on a friggin' police car and trying to break the windshield to attack a woman inside; the proper response is either A: police dragging the assholes to jail or B: driving over those in the way, braking to throw the others off, then taking the lady to her destination while other officers arrest the assholes and take them to jail.
Israeli Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor praised his deputy for her determination and fighting spirit and emphasized that the embassy expects a sweeping denunciation of the event from the local authorities and universities in Britain.
Ooooh, a 'sweeping denunciation', that'll REALLY warn the BTMs, won't it?
The protesters were waiting for Lador-Fresher outside the lecture hall, but this did not deter her from entering as planned. Immediately upon her exit, the protesters lunged at the diplomat, prompting security guards to whisk her back into the hall. Following a consultation on the site, it was decided to escort her out of the premises in a police car.
Second, any police department worth shit would have dealt properly with this:
The deputy ambassador was removed from the hall and into the police vehicle. However, this did not block the protesters, who surrounded the car and climbed on the hood, trying to break the windshield.
They're climbing on a friggin' police car and trying to break the windshield to attack a woman inside; the proper response is either A: police dragging the assholes to jail or B: driving over those in the way, braking to throw the others off, then taking the lady to her destination while other officers arrest the assholes and take them to jail.
Israeli Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor praised his deputy for her determination and fighting spirit and emphasized that the embassy expects a sweeping denunciation of the event from the local authorities and universities in Britain.
Ooooh, a 'sweeping denunciation', that'll REALLY warn the BTMs, won't it?
Liars, liars, pants and panties on fire
On Monday the American Spectator reported that a damning health care report generated by actuaries at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department was given to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the health care vote. Sebelius and the Obama Administration reportedly hid the report from the public until a month after democrats rammed their nationalized health care bill through Congress.
...
Sebelius and the Obama Buttmonkeys all insist 'No!'. But
Our sources stand by the facts that prior to final passage of the health care reform bill on Sunday, March 21, the Office of the Actuary had provided senior leaders inside HHS with data that indicated the then-bill would increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on Americans. And that data was not provided to anyone publicly until after the legislation was passed.
That the report was issued after the bill’s passage is not in dispute. What is in dispute is who had data and when were those estimates initially available.
Bunch of damned liars who want total control over our lives. And our kids, and grandkids, and...
...
Sebelius and the Obama Buttmonkeys all insist 'No!'. But
Our sources stand by the facts that prior to final passage of the health care reform bill on Sunday, March 21, the Office of the Actuary had provided senior leaders inside HHS with data that indicated the then-bill would increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on Americans. And that data was not provided to anyone publicly until after the legislation was passed.
That the report was issued after the bill’s passage is not in dispute. What is in dispute is who had data and when were those estimates initially available.
Bunch of damned liars who want total control over our lives. And our kids, and grandkids, and...
Thursday, April 29, 2010
We cannot fail to keep pointing out: Al Gore, you're a miserable little
hypocrite.
Never forget, this bastard and all the enviroweenie buttmonkeys lecture us about using too much energy, too much land, too much of everything.
There are no published estimates of how much carbon it will take to heat the lagoon-shaped pool or cool the six-car garage at The House Gisele’s Assets Built. However, I’ve made a rough estimate using another leader in the green movement’s mansion in Tennessee. Al Gore’s place is actually about 10 percent smaller than the Bradys’ house. Even so, in 2008 Gore used as much power each month as the average American family uses in a year.
Never forget, this bastard and all the enviroweenie buttmonkeys lecture us about using too much energy, too much land, too much of everything.
There are no published estimates of how much carbon it will take to heat the lagoon-shaped pool or cool the six-car garage at The House Gisele’s Assets Built. However, I’ve made a rough estimate using another leader in the green movement’s mansion in Tennessee. Al Gore’s place is actually about 10 percent smaller than the Bradys’ house. Even so, in 2008 Gore used as much power each month as the average American family uses in a year.
Is there ANY excuse for the United Nations anymore?
"Without fanfare, the United Nations this week elected Iran to its Commission on the Status of Women, handing a four-year seat on the influential human rights body to a theocratic state in which stoning is enshrined in law and lashings are required for women judged "immodest."
It appears the Quincy Police Department is full of crap
C'mon, guys, when you know there are cameras all over, why make such an idiot statement?
Thoughts on Cowardly Central in particular and Hollywood in general
The liberal Hollywood elite—who bravely compared President Bush to Hitler—will submit.
In fact, a prominent Hollywood producer said to me: “Parker and Stone should have known better.”
Thus, the victims become the aggressors.
It's like cutting off a man's leg and blaming him for limping.
Producers will insist on alternative antagonists: Neo-Nazis, right-wing militias, Evangelical Christians, Tea Party members, multinational corporations, the Pope, and oh yes, the frightening Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh.
Comedy Central should have run the episode. And every network and cable station should have broadcast the episode at the very same time.
The American airwaves should have been wall to wall with this episode.
Such defiance is the only way to fight radical Islam.
But cowardice and appeasement have won the day.
Welcome to Dhimmi Hollywood.
Where the future bodes well for 7th century Islam.
From the sound of this, the feds case didn't impress the judge too much
A federal judge challenged prosecutors Wednesday to show that nine members of a Michigan militia accused of plotting war against the government had done more than just talk and should remain locked up.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts heard nearly 10 hours of testimony and arguments over two days. She did not make a decision about whether the nine will remain in custody, saying only that a ruling would come soon.
...
An undercover agent infiltrated the group and secretly made recordings that have been played in court. While there is talk about killing police, it's not specific. In one conversation, there are many people talking over each other and laughing.
Roberts pressed that point more than once as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet argued in favor of keeping the nine in jail. The judge suggested she didn't hear or read in the transcripts any indication that violence was imminent.
"Mere presence where a crime may be planned is not a crime. ... How does this add up to seditious conspiracy?" Roberts said.
Waterstreet said the government is not required to show all its evidence at this early stage of the case(The judge must have loved being basically told "You don't get to see all our stuff"). He referred to the words of militia leader David Stone, 44, of Clayton, Mich., who was recorded by the undercover agent while they drove to Kentucky earlier this year.
"It's now time to strike and take our nation back so that we may be free again from tyranny. Time is up," Waterstreet said, quoting a transcript.
Later, putting the transcript aside, the prosecutor said: "The theme is the brotherhood is the enemy - all law enforcement."
Now, the obvious question that comes to mind is "What is the context of that remark? What was the course of the conversation?" Very damned important in determining what that statement means. Of course, we don't have that; I'd be very interested to see the rest of the transcript of that conversation. I wonder if the judge got to read it?
As to the 'talk about killing police', over at Tam's there was a discussion in comments about the People's Republic of MarylandStasiState Police clown who got himself in the news; some of the talk noted that in some places, jumping out of an unmarked car in plain clothes with a drawn gun could get you shot or run over; want to bet prosecutor Waterstreet would consider that evidence of 'planning to kill cops' if someone in the discussion was charged with something?
I repeat: the Hutaree members may be first-class assholes and dangerous, or they may not; it's the job of the government to prove that they broke the law, and if this stuff so far is what their evidence is comprised of, their case sucks. And if this is the level of evidence, the feds may have screwed a bunch of people over for the sake of a bunch of headlines over a lousy or nonexistent case. And if the latter, anyone want to bet whether some of the feds involved were making political points too?
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts heard nearly 10 hours of testimony and arguments over two days. She did not make a decision about whether the nine will remain in custody, saying only that a ruling would come soon.
...
An undercover agent infiltrated the group and secretly made recordings that have been played in court. While there is talk about killing police, it's not specific. In one conversation, there are many people talking over each other and laughing.
Roberts pressed that point more than once as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet argued in favor of keeping the nine in jail. The judge suggested she didn't hear or read in the transcripts any indication that violence was imminent.
"Mere presence where a crime may be planned is not a crime. ... How does this add up to seditious conspiracy?" Roberts said.
Waterstreet said the government is not required to show all its evidence at this early stage of the case(The judge must have loved being basically told "You don't get to see all our stuff"). He referred to the words of militia leader David Stone, 44, of Clayton, Mich., who was recorded by the undercover agent while they drove to Kentucky earlier this year.
"It's now time to strike and take our nation back so that we may be free again from tyranny. Time is up," Waterstreet said, quoting a transcript.
Later, putting the transcript aside, the prosecutor said: "The theme is the brotherhood is the enemy - all law enforcement."
Now, the obvious question that comes to mind is "What is the context of that remark? What was the course of the conversation?" Very damned important in determining what that statement means. Of course, we don't have that; I'd be very interested to see the rest of the transcript of that conversation. I wonder if the judge got to read it?
As to the 'talk about killing police', over at Tam's there was a discussion in comments about the People's Republic of Maryland
I repeat: the Hutaree members may be first-class assholes and dangerous, or they may not; it's the job of the government to prove that they broke the law, and if this stuff so far is what their evidence is comprised of, their case sucks. And if this is the level of evidence, the feds may have screwed a bunch of people over for the sake of a bunch of headlines over a lousy or nonexistent case. And if the latter, anyone want to bet whether some of the feds involved were making political points too?
Let's start this morning with Obama proving again how thin-skinned he is
Apparently those people quietly demonstrating and singing subversive songs like God Bless America were just so threatening...
Since Mexico is still whining about and threatening Arizona for daring to enforce the law, let's note one of the conditions illegal aliens in Mexico face:
Amnesty International called the abuse of migrants in Mexico a major human rights crisis Wednesday, and accused some officials of turning a blind eye or even participating in the kidnapping, rape and murder of migrants.
The group's report comes at a sensitive time for Mexico, which is protesting the passage of a law in Arizona that criminalizes undocumented migrants.
...
Central American migrants are frequently pulled off trains, kidnapped en masse, held at gang hideouts and forced to call relatives in the U.S. to pay off the kidnappers. Such kidnappings affect thousands of migrants each year in Mexico, the report says.
Many are beaten, raped or killed in the process.
You'll notice the wording from the AI clowns, 'migrants' instead of 'illegal aliens'. But once again we are brought face-to-face with the fact that Mexico
A: Has very strict enforcement of borders and immigration laws and
B: Has lots of illegals being badly mistreated
while they're bitching, whining and blaming us for their problems.
Sen. Arlen Specter(Backstabbing Turncoat) is playing "I was justified and it was just wonderful of me to turn Democrat." Specter, you betrayed people and turned your coat just because you want to stay in that seat more than you care about anything else; which means you should have been thrown out of it a LONG time ago.
New law makes illegal aliens want to leave state; this is supposed to be a bad thing?
Arizona’s sweeping immigration bill allows police to arrest illegal immigrant day laborers seeking work on the street or anyone trying to hire them. It won’t take effect until summer but it is already having an effect on the state’s underground economy.
“Nobody wants to pick us up,” Julio Loyola Diaz says in Spanish as he and dozens of other men wait under the shade of palo verde trees and lean against a low brick wall outside the east Phoenix home improvement store.
Many day laborers like Diaz say they will leave Arizona because of the law, which also makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and directs police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants.
Obama said he did not “begrudge” wealth that is “fairly earned.” But in a departure from his prepared remarks, he added, “I think at some point you have made enough money.”
Well, well, I wonder if Dear Leader has told George Soros that he has enough money? And how many millions did Obama make last year? Was that 'enough'?
And, closing with lawyers and politicians in uniform and political correctness at all costs.
Since Mexico is still whining about and threatening Arizona for daring to enforce the law, let's note one of the conditions illegal aliens in Mexico face:
Amnesty International called the abuse of migrants in Mexico a major human rights crisis Wednesday, and accused some officials of turning a blind eye or even participating in the kidnapping, rape and murder of migrants.
The group's report comes at a sensitive time for Mexico, which is protesting the passage of a law in Arizona that criminalizes undocumented migrants.
...
Central American migrants are frequently pulled off trains, kidnapped en masse, held at gang hideouts and forced to call relatives in the U.S. to pay off the kidnappers. Such kidnappings affect thousands of migrants each year in Mexico, the report says.
Many are beaten, raped or killed in the process.
You'll notice the wording from the AI clowns, 'migrants' instead of 'illegal aliens'. But once again we are brought face-to-face with the fact that Mexico
A: Has very strict enforcement of borders and immigration laws and
B: Has lots of illegals being badly mistreated
while they're bitching, whining and blaming us for their problems.
Sen. Arlen Specter(Backstabbing Turncoat) is playing "I was justified and it was just wonderful of me to turn Democrat." Specter, you betrayed people and turned your coat just because you want to stay in that seat more than you care about anything else; which means you should have been thrown out of it a LONG time ago.
New law makes illegal aliens want to leave state; this is supposed to be a bad thing?
Arizona’s sweeping immigration bill allows police to arrest illegal immigrant day laborers seeking work on the street or anyone trying to hire them. It won’t take effect until summer but it is already having an effect on the state’s underground economy.
“Nobody wants to pick us up,” Julio Loyola Diaz says in Spanish as he and dozens of other men wait under the shade of palo verde trees and lean against a low brick wall outside the east Phoenix home improvement store.
Many day laborers like Diaz say they will leave Arizona because of the law, which also makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and directs police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants.
Obama said he did not “begrudge” wealth that is “fairly earned.” But in a departure from his prepared remarks, he added, “I think at some point you have made enough money.”
Well, well, I wonder if Dear Leader has told George Soros that he has enough money? And how many millions did Obama make last year? Was that 'enough'?
And, closing with lawyers and politicians in uniform and political correctness at all costs.
I hadn't heard the details of the murder of Border Patrolman Rosas
before now. This was a prepared ambush, and anybody who thinks they didn't plan to kill him from the first it too stupid to be out without a keeper to prevent them running into traffic.
But trying to enforce our border is 'racist'. Yeah.
But trying to enforce our border is 'racist'. Yeah.
Sometimes Glenn Beck is a real drama queen, BUT
he also does find a lot of stuff and pass it on. I'd suggest reading this, and then calling your congresscritters and yelling. Loudly.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Ref the 'get home' bag
I set ten miles as a max distance; like I said, you're out running errands/at the store/whatever and find yourself in a situation where you have to walk home, so what basics would you like to have along?
In the event of some type of disaster, might take quite a while longer to walk in than in normal conditions, so some water would be good. Spring/summer you could have warm to hot weather(water good) with a chance of rain. So I've got two bottles, and a poncho. I've almost always got a hat with me or in the truck, if I didn't I'd throw one in; sun out of my eyes and rain off my glasses.
I've got a MRE for food, or just some jerky or trail mix or whatever would probably do; something to munch on if the walk takes a while, or weather or other conditions cause you to decide to find a spot to hole up for a while.
Tam brought up 550 cord, a lighter and Charmin, all good thoughts. Strong cord can come in useful for all kinds of things, some way of starting a fire(just in case), and for either needing to blow your nose or wipe the backside the tp would be very nice. I think I've got a handful of those little packs they put in MREs, I need to throw a couple in. There's a box of kleenex in the truck, if had to could stuff a handful in.
A knife? You don't carry one? If you don't, or work won't allow or something, put one in.
A while back that horrible place Sportsman's Guide(damn them!) had some British web gear on sale and I picked up a set: shoulder straps and web belt, two magazine pouches in front, two cargo pouches in back. The ammo pouches hold water bottles, the cargo pouches the rest(and the stuff I'll add in after this). Bad part: it stands out more than a backpack would. Good part: better balanced than a pack.
Thoughts?
In the event of some type of disaster, might take quite a while longer to walk in than in normal conditions, so some water would be good. Spring/summer you could have warm to hot weather(water good) with a chance of rain. So I've got two bottles, and a poncho. I've almost always got a hat with me or in the truck, if I didn't I'd throw one in; sun out of my eyes and rain off my glasses.
I've got a MRE for food, or just some jerky or trail mix or whatever would probably do; something to munch on if the walk takes a while, or weather or other conditions cause you to decide to find a spot to hole up for a while.
Tam brought up 550 cord, a lighter and Charmin, all good thoughts. Strong cord can come in useful for all kinds of things, some way of starting a fire(just in case), and for either needing to blow your nose or wipe the backside the tp would be very nice. I think I've got a handful of those little packs they put in MREs, I need to throw a couple in. There's a box of kleenex in the truck, if had to could stuff a handful in.
A knife? You don't carry one? If you don't, or work won't allow or something, put one in.
A while back that horrible place Sportsman's Guide(damn them!) had some British web gear on sale and I picked up a set: shoulder straps and web belt, two magazine pouches in front, two cargo pouches in back. The ammo pouches hold water bottles, the cargo pouches the rest(and the stuff I'll add in after this). Bad part: it stands out more than a backpack would. Good part: better balanced than a pack.
Thoughts?
Ok, crap like this is why I didn't jump on the Hutaree bandwagon
and say ANYTHING about it.
DETROIT - An FBI agent who led the investigation of nine Michigan militia members charged with trying to launch war against the federal government couldn't recall many details of the two-year probe yesterday during questioning by defense lawyers.
Even the judge who must decide whether to release the nine until trial was puzzled.
"I share the frustrations of the defense team … that she doesn't know anything," U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said after agent Leslie Larsen confessed she hadn't reviewed her notes recently and couldn't remember specific details of the case.
...
Prosecutors fought to keep Ms. Larsen off the witness stand, saying the defendants had no legal right to question her.
But the judge said the agent's appearance was appropriate because the burden is on defense lawyers to show their clients won't be a threat to the public if released.
The nine lawyers asked specific questions about each defendant. Ms. Larsen said she had not listened entirely to certain recordings made by an undercover agent who infiltrated the group.
She said that because they were still being examined, she didn't know if weapons seized by investigators last month were illegal.
At other times, Ms. Larsen couldn't answer questions because she said she hadn't reviewed investigative reports.
Defense lawyer William Swor asked if the No. 1 defendant, Hutaree leader David Stone, had ever instructed anyone to make a bomb.
"I can't fully answer that question," the agent replied.
My first thought, on reading this bullshit, is "Well, this agent decided she didn't actually want to commit perjury after all. And is trying desperately to talk around the lies." I mean, come on; she 'hadn't listened entirely to'? She 'couldn't remember specifics'?
And I must point out that, assuming you're being honest about it, it doesn't take long to determine if a firearm is legally owned. Is the barrel or overall length below legal minimum? If so, does the NFA database show a permit? Is it automatic or semi? If auto, see 'NFA database for permit'. And so forth. If they've had the stuff for a month and still can't decide, either they haven't actually checked or they're legal and the feds don't want to admit it.
And that crap about "You have no right to question her"? She was part of the investigation, wasn't she? In charge of it, in fact? So why the hell should the defense NOT be allowed to question her?
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet played an audiotape of what he said were several militia members talking freely about killing police.
The participants talked over each other, often laughed and made goofy noises and disparaging remarks about law enforcement.
Prosecutors objected to questions about interpreting the secretly recorded conversations, but the judge said they were fair game.
The judge will resume the court hearing today.
Well, hell YES they're fair game, since they're part of the evidence. And if nobody actually said what the EffingBI claims they did...
I borrow Insty's line: Well, they got the headlines they wanted after the arrest, anyway.
These guys may actually be the kind of people you wouldn't want as neighbors, they may actually have done something illegal: but the burden is on the state to PROVE IT, by legal and correct means. If they can't legitimately do that, then either they effed-up the case and blew it, or the case was bullshit.
At this point, how many votes for 'bullshit'?
DETROIT - An FBI agent who led the investigation of nine Michigan militia members charged with trying to launch war against the federal government couldn't recall many details of the two-year probe yesterday during questioning by defense lawyers.
Even the judge who must decide whether to release the nine until trial was puzzled.
"I share the frustrations of the defense team … that she doesn't know anything," U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts said after agent Leslie Larsen confessed she hadn't reviewed her notes recently and couldn't remember specific details of the case.
...
Prosecutors fought to keep Ms. Larsen off the witness stand, saying the defendants had no legal right to question her.
But the judge said the agent's appearance was appropriate because the burden is on defense lawyers to show their clients won't be a threat to the public if released.
The nine lawyers asked specific questions about each defendant. Ms. Larsen said she had not listened entirely to certain recordings made by an undercover agent who infiltrated the group.
She said that because they were still being examined, she didn't know if weapons seized by investigators last month were illegal.
At other times, Ms. Larsen couldn't answer questions because she said she hadn't reviewed investigative reports.
Defense lawyer William Swor asked if the No. 1 defendant, Hutaree leader David Stone, had ever instructed anyone to make a bomb.
"I can't fully answer that question," the agent replied.
My first thought, on reading this bullshit, is "Well, this agent decided she didn't actually want to commit perjury after all. And is trying desperately to talk around the lies." I mean, come on; she 'hadn't listened entirely to'? She 'couldn't remember specifics'?
And I must point out that, assuming you're being honest about it, it doesn't take long to determine if a firearm is legally owned. Is the barrel or overall length below legal minimum? If so, does the NFA database show a permit? Is it automatic or semi? If auto, see 'NFA database for permit'. And so forth. If they've had the stuff for a month and still can't decide, either they haven't actually checked or they're legal and the feds don't want to admit it.
And that crap about "You have no right to question her"? She was part of the investigation, wasn't she? In charge of it, in fact? So why the hell should the defense NOT be allowed to question her?
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet played an audiotape of what he said were several militia members talking freely about killing police.
The participants talked over each other, often laughed and made goofy noises and disparaging remarks about law enforcement.
Prosecutors objected to questions about interpreting the secretly recorded conversations, but the judge said they were fair game.
The judge will resume the court hearing today.
Well, hell YES they're fair game, since they're part of the evidence. And if nobody actually said what the EffingBI claims they did...
I borrow Insty's line: Well, they got the headlines they wanted after the arrest, anyway.
These guys may actually be the kind of people you wouldn't want as neighbors, they may actually have done something illegal: but the burden is on the state to PROVE IT, by legal and correct means. If they can't legitimately do that, then either they effed-up the case and blew it, or the case was bullshit.
At this point, how many votes for 'bullshit'?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Ok, here's a question
Not a full bugout bag but a 'get home bag'. As in, say, you're up to ten miles from home and something happens; terrorist attack, weather disaster, quake, whatever. And you have to walk home.
For the moment let's say this time of year: cool to warm weather, chance of rain.
Aside from your sidearm(if you're in a place that remembers this is America) that should always be with you, what would you want to have in a bag to help you get home?
For the moment let's say this time of year: cool to warm weather, chance of rain.
Aside from your sidearm(if you're in a place that remembers this is America) that should always be with you, what would you want to have in a bag to help you get home?
One more story of the wonderful British National De- uh, Health System
If you can stomach reading all of it.
In another case of "Screw you, Mexico",
Recent violent attacks have prompted the U.S. Embassy to urge U.S. citizens to delay unnecessary travel to parts of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua states (see details below) and advise U.S. citizens residing or traveling in those areas to exercise extreme caution. Drug cartels and associated criminal elements have retaliated violently against individuals who speak out against them or whom they otherwise view as a threat to their organizations. These attacks include the abduction and murder of two resident U.S. citizens in Chihuahua.
...Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana. Travelers on the highways between Monterrey and other parts of Mexico to the United States (notably through Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros) have been targeted for robbery and violence and have also inadvertently been caught in incidents of gunfire between criminals and Mexican law enforcement. Such incidents are more likely to occur at night but may occur at any time.
...In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens living in Mexico have been kidnapped and most of their cases remain unsolved. U.S. citizens who believe they are being targeted for kidnapping or other crimes should notify Mexican law enforcement officials and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City or the nearest U.S. consulate as soon as possible. Any U.S. visitor who suspects they are a target should consider returning to the United States immediately. U.S. citizens should be aware that many cases of violent crime are never resolved by Mexican law enforcement, and the U.S. government has no authority to investigate crimes committed in Mexico.
But Mexico is telling its people to avoid Arizona, because actually obeying US laws on immigration is just too horrible to contemplate.
Screw you, Mexico
...Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles in border areas including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana. Travelers on the highways between Monterrey and other parts of Mexico to the United States (notably through Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros) have been targeted for robbery and violence and have also inadvertently been caught in incidents of gunfire between criminals and Mexican law enforcement. Such incidents are more likely to occur at night but may occur at any time.
...In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens living in Mexico have been kidnapped and most of their cases remain unsolved. U.S. citizens who believe they are being targeted for kidnapping or other crimes should notify Mexican law enforcement officials and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City or the nearest U.S. consulate as soon as possible. Any U.S. visitor who suspects they are a target should consider returning to the United States immediately. U.S. citizens should be aware that many cases of violent crime are never resolved by Mexican law enforcement, and the U.S. government has no authority to investigate crimes committed in Mexico.
But Mexico is telling its people to avoid Arizona, because actually obeying US laws on immigration is just too horrible to contemplate.
Screw you, Mexico
So while Dodd, The Friend Of Angelo(he who provides special deals
to corrupt senators) is still at it while he's lecturing everyone else about honesty and responsibility:
The Senate bill, sponsored by Democrat Chris Dodd, claims to subject all "too big to fail" institutions to greater federal supervision, but in fact it only mandates such regulation for bank-holding companies. Regulators would have to make a case-by-case decision on whether to apply it to other financial companies.
That's no minor oversight, because insurance companies, like AIG, tend to have thrift charters rather than bank charters. So, as the bill stands now, AIG and other insurers that accepted massive bailout funds, such as The Hartford, would not be automatically covered. That's a head-scratcher only if you forget that most insurance companies reside in Dodd's home state, Connecticut.
In other corrupt Democrat news,
Four weeks after the Independent gubernatorial candidate was fingered for sending illicit fundraising solicitations to official State House email addresses, the state Democratic Party is defending as a mistake similar emails disseminated by party chairman John Walsh.
And next time someone you know yells about the nonexistent tea party member violence, send them to this. And ask them what they'd have thought if a conservative/libertarian/Republican had kids beating on an effigy of a Democrat politician.
The Senate bill, sponsored by Democrat Chris Dodd, claims to subject all "too big to fail" institutions to greater federal supervision, but in fact it only mandates such regulation for bank-holding companies. Regulators would have to make a case-by-case decision on whether to apply it to other financial companies.
That's no minor oversight, because insurance companies, like AIG, tend to have thrift charters rather than bank charters. So, as the bill stands now, AIG and other insurers that accepted massive bailout funds, such as The Hartford, would not be automatically covered. That's a head-scratcher only if you forget that most insurance companies reside in Dodd's home state, Connecticut.
In other corrupt Democrat news,
Four weeks after the Independent gubernatorial candidate was fingered for sending illicit fundraising solicitations to official State House email addresses, the state Democratic Party is defending as a mistake similar emails disseminated by party chairman John Walsh.
And next time someone you know yells about the nonexistent tea party member violence, send them to this. And ask them what they'd have thought if a conservative/libertarian/Republican had kids beating on an effigy of a Democrat politician.
Possibly being able to repair damaged nerves...
Wow.
Researchers started experimenting on guinea pigs. They first isolated and compressed a segment of the rodent’s spinal cord. Subsequently, they applied the chemical and a fluorescent dye that could only enter the cells through damaged membranes. Scrutinizing the tissues under the microscope, the investigators noted that all the neurons in the spinal cord tissue remained unstained by the dye. Moreover, while measuring the guinea pigs’ brain response, they observed that the signals failed to reach the brain because of the damaged spinal cord. Thirty minutes after injecting the sugar mixed with sterile water into the bloodstream of the animals the researchers found that the damaged cells had been repaired.
The experts stated, “However, 30•min after injecting chitosan into the rodents, the signals miraculously returned to the animals’ brains.” Researchers theorize that the injected sugar migrates to the spinal cord injury where it plugs holes in the coating of the nerve cells.
Borgens added, “Science has moved in a new direction. Previously we have been looking at drugs which would potentially reduce damage. Now we are looking at complete repair.”
Researchers started experimenting on guinea pigs. They first isolated and compressed a segment of the rodent’s spinal cord. Subsequently, they applied the chemical and a fluorescent dye that could only enter the cells through damaged membranes. Scrutinizing the tissues under the microscope, the investigators noted that all the neurons in the spinal cord tissue remained unstained by the dye. Moreover, while measuring the guinea pigs’ brain response, they observed that the signals failed to reach the brain because of the damaged spinal cord. Thirty minutes after injecting the sugar mixed with sterile water into the bloodstream of the animals the researchers found that the damaged cells had been repaired.
The experts stated, “However, 30•min after injecting chitosan into the rodents, the signals miraculously returned to the animals’ brains.” Researchers theorize that the injected sugar migrates to the spinal cord injury where it plugs holes in the coating of the nerve cells.
Borgens added, “Science has moved in a new direction. Previously we have been looking at drugs which would potentially reduce damage. Now we are looking at complete repair.”
Well now, that IS a good question
Why are warmists incompetent at Arctic exploration?
Last week Tom Smitheringale became the latest global warming alarmist to need rescuing from his own foolishness. His attempt to reach the North pole was, of course, to ‘bring attention’ to the issue of ‘climate change’.
followed by a listing of some others, and then this:
Compare all those incompetent warmists with the British couple that walked to the arctic unsupported to raise funds for injured war veterans. No eco-ego trip and no rescue required.
Or the ex-Royal Marine that flew his 9-year old to meet him at the Pole after successfully guiding a group of Chinese business-people to the top of the planet. No eco-ego trip and no rescue required.
In fact, getting to the Pole isn’t hard at all. You can book your own adventure right here. Top Gear famously drove it.
So why do only warmists always need rescuing?
Could it be that because successful trips over the Arctic are so commonplace that ‘dramatic’ rescues are the only way to get the headlines they crave? Say it ain’t so.
Last week Tom Smitheringale became the latest global warming alarmist to need rescuing from his own foolishness. His attempt to reach the North pole was, of course, to ‘bring attention’ to the issue of ‘climate change’.
followed by a listing of some others, and then this:
Compare all those incompetent warmists with the British couple that walked to the arctic unsupported to raise funds for injured war veterans. No eco-ego trip and no rescue required.
Or the ex-Royal Marine that flew his 9-year old to meet him at the Pole after successfully guiding a group of Chinese business-people to the top of the planet. No eco-ego trip and no rescue required.
In fact, getting to the Pole isn’t hard at all. You can book your own adventure right here. Top Gear famously drove it.
So why do only warmists always need rescuing?
Could it be that because successful trips over the Arctic are so commonplace that ‘dramatic’ rescues are the only way to get the headlines they crave? Say it ain’t so.
I mentioned finding some very high rings
Here's how they worked out
Found them here. A full inch of rise from the top of the rail to the bottom of the scope body. Got to the range today, and there's a world of difference between this rifle/scope with these rings and regular extra-high. These put it high enough that you get a good cheek weld on the stock, as opposed to forcing your cheekbone into it to get low enough. They're aluminum, well finished and seem very solid; and seven bucks total.
I'm looking forward to getting to the outdoor range with this combo; I think the 50-yard and 100-yard groups will improve, as it'll be easier to get my eye properly aligned with the scope. I want to try some groups with every ammo it cycles, see how tight I can keep them. Maybe next week, as starting tomorrow it's supposed to turn very windy again.
I should say that this 15-22 is holding up well; no problems other than the Remington Golden Bullet ammo. Today tried it with Remington Viper, Federal Champion and some Federal HP; the Viper had one failure to fire, all others went bang normally and grouped quite well at 30 yards. I had some older Remington GB I tried; one wouldn't go into the chamber, the others all fit but had one FTF out of ten rounds.
Found them here. A full inch of rise from the top of the rail to the bottom of the scope body. Got to the range today, and there's a world of difference between this rifle/scope with these rings and regular extra-high. These put it high enough that you get a good cheek weld on the stock, as opposed to forcing your cheekbone into it to get low enough. They're aluminum, well finished and seem very solid; and seven bucks total.I'm looking forward to getting to the outdoor range with this combo; I think the 50-yard and 100-yard groups will improve, as it'll be easier to get my eye properly aligned with the scope. I want to try some groups with every ammo it cycles, see how tight I can keep them. Maybe next week, as starting tomorrow it's supposed to turn very windy again.
I should say that this 15-22 is holding up well; no problems other than the Remington Golden Bullet ammo. Today tried it with Remington Viper, Federal Champion and some Federal HP; the Viper had one failure to fire, all others went bang normally and grouped quite well at 30 yards. I had some older Remington GB I tried; one wouldn't go into the chamber, the others all fit but had one FTF out of ten rounds.
A couple of years ago I tried loading some hollowpoints in 7.62x25
and had a notable lack of success. Trouble was, after firing one or two rounds some of the others in the magazine would not allow the slide to close completely. And occasionally, before firing, one or two would not allow it when cycled through by hand. Drove me nuts.
Well, a while back I bought one of the Lee Factory Crimp Dies for the cartridge and tried it again. Maybe the crimp from the seating die just wasn't cutting it; if I seat only with that die, then use the FCD to do the crimp, the stuff works fine. Today was the second time I've put a couple of magazines of Hornady 90-grain hollowpoints through, all with no problem.
I'd still like to know exactly what the problem was, but I can live without it.
Well, a while back I bought one of the Lee Factory Crimp Dies for the cartridge and tried it again. Maybe the crimp from the seating die just wasn't cutting it; if I seat only with that die, then use the FCD to do the crimp, the stuff works fine. Today was the second time I've put a couple of magazines of Hornady 90-grain hollowpoints through, all with no problem.
I'd still like to know exactly what the problem was, but I can live without it.
A little further on the Stasi of the People's Republic of Maryland
McKenna was charged with disorderly conduct, a charge that as of last week was still pending but now seems certain to be dropped. Prince George's County has since suspended four police officers, the three captured on tape beating McKenna and the sergeant who supervised them. But were it not for those iPhone videos, it would have been McKenna's word (and possibly those of whatever celebrating student witnesses he could round up) against the word of three of Maryland's finest. Or at least three. It seems likely that a number of other cops would have come forward to lie on behalf of those who beat McKenna.
If that sounds harsh, consider this: After the iPhone video of McKenna's beating emerged, investigators subpoenaed 60 hours of surveillance video from the College Park campus police. The only video police couldn't manage to locate was the one from the camera aimed squarely at the area where McKenna was beaten. Funny how that works. Campus police claimed that a "technical error" with that particular camera caused it to record over the footage of the beating. As public pressure mounted, police later found what they claimed was a recording of the lost video. But two minutes of that video were missing. Coincidentally, those two minutes happened to depict key portions of McKenna's beating. The kicker? The head of the campus video surveillance system, Lt. Joanne Ardovini, is married to one of the cops named in McKenna's complaint. (Washington D.C.'s ABC News affiliate, WJLA, a station with a history of deferring to police spokesmen without bothering to verify the accuracy of their statements, quaintly referred to this as "a bizarre coincidence.")
When police video of something just 'happens' to disappear/be unusable/otherwise unavailable when the officers are accused of doing something wrong, there's no 'bizarre' or 'coincidence' about it; it's tampering with records by the police to protect themselves. And should be dealt with as such.
In the other, remember the guy arrested because his helmet camera caught a Maryland cop acting like a jackass?
According to an interview Graber gave to photography activist Carlos Miller days after posting the video of his encounter with Trooper Uhler to the web, six officers from the Maryland State Police raided Graber's parents' home at 6:45 in the morning on April 14. Graber and his family were held for 90 minutes while the cops rummaged through their belongings. Graber was then charged with felony eavesdropping and spent 26 hours in jail. As an "official" told WJLA of Graber, "He had been recording this trooper audibly without his consent." The report from WJLA added, "That kind of recording is against the law in Maryland."
In fact, under Maryland law what Graber did isn't actually a crime. For a recording to be illegal, one of the parties being recorded must have a reasonable expectation of privacy. A cop, acting as a cop, with his gun drawn, while standing alongside a public roadway, has no such expectation. On April 15th, Graber was released and the charges against him were dropped. As he told Miller, "The judge who released me looked at the paperwork and said she didn’t see where I violated the wiretapping law."
That's because the 'law' you actually violated was the "Don't make a cop look bad or we'll screw you over" law; unofficial and illegal and- unfortunately- widespread.
And why the 'raid'? Why not knock on the door at eight, or after they're home from work? Because that doesn't scare hell out of people, that's why.
And it's even worse than that:
Graber was harassed, intimidated, illegally arrested, and jailed for an act that clearly wasn't illegal. According to Graber, the name of the judge who signed off on the raid of his parents' home doesn't appear on the warrant. As Graber told Miller, "They told me they don’t want you to know who the judge is because of privacy." If true, that statement is so absurd it's mind numbing. A judge issued an illegal warrant for police to invade the private residence and rummage through the private belongings of a man who broke no laws, and we aren't permitted to know the judge's name in order to protect the judge's privacy?
Fire the judge. Fire the cops who damn well knew he hadn't broken the law and did this anyway. Prosecute all of them if possible. Every damned time they do something like this.
If that sounds harsh, consider this: After the iPhone video of McKenna's beating emerged, investigators subpoenaed 60 hours of surveillance video from the College Park campus police. The only video police couldn't manage to locate was the one from the camera aimed squarely at the area where McKenna was beaten. Funny how that works. Campus police claimed that a "technical error" with that particular camera caused it to record over the footage of the beating. As public pressure mounted, police later found what they claimed was a recording of the lost video. But two minutes of that video were missing. Coincidentally, those two minutes happened to depict key portions of McKenna's beating. The kicker? The head of the campus video surveillance system, Lt. Joanne Ardovini, is married to one of the cops named in McKenna's complaint. (Washington D.C.'s ABC News affiliate, WJLA, a station with a history of deferring to police spokesmen without bothering to verify the accuracy of their statements, quaintly referred to this as "a bizarre coincidence.")
When police video of something just 'happens' to disappear/be unusable/otherwise unavailable when the officers are accused of doing something wrong, there's no 'bizarre' or 'coincidence' about it; it's tampering with records by the police to protect themselves. And should be dealt with as such.
In the other, remember the guy arrested because his helmet camera caught a Maryland cop acting like a jackass?
According to an interview Graber gave to photography activist Carlos Miller days after posting the video of his encounter with Trooper Uhler to the web, six officers from the Maryland State Police raided Graber's parents' home at 6:45 in the morning on April 14. Graber and his family were held for 90 minutes while the cops rummaged through their belongings. Graber was then charged with felony eavesdropping and spent 26 hours in jail. As an "official" told WJLA of Graber, "He had been recording this trooper audibly without his consent." The report from WJLA added, "That kind of recording is against the law in Maryland."
In fact, under Maryland law what Graber did isn't actually a crime. For a recording to be illegal, one of the parties being recorded must have a reasonable expectation of privacy. A cop, acting as a cop, with his gun drawn, while standing alongside a public roadway, has no such expectation. On April 15th, Graber was released and the charges against him were dropped. As he told Miller, "The judge who released me looked at the paperwork and said she didn’t see where I violated the wiretapping law."
That's because the 'law' you actually violated was the "Don't make a cop look bad or we'll screw you over" law; unofficial and illegal and- unfortunately- widespread.
And why the 'raid'? Why not knock on the door at eight, or after they're home from work? Because that doesn't scare hell out of people, that's why.
And it's even worse than that:
Graber was harassed, intimidated, illegally arrested, and jailed for an act that clearly wasn't illegal. According to Graber, the name of the judge who signed off on the raid of his parents' home doesn't appear on the warrant. As Graber told Miller, "They told me they don’t want you to know who the judge is because of privacy." If true, that statement is so absurd it's mind numbing. A judge issued an illegal warrant for police to invade the private residence and rummage through the private belongings of a man who broke no laws, and we aren't permitted to know the judge's name in order to protect the judge's privacy?
Fire the judge. Fire the cops who damn well knew he hadn't broken the law and did this anyway. Prosecute all of them if possible. Every damned time they do something like this.
By the way, I don't think the new Arizona law on illegal aliens
is a just completely wonderful thing(Kevin has some thoughts here); I think this is the kind of thing you get when the federal government doesn't/won't do their job of controlling our borders.
Someone who should be remembered
Robert Hicks has died.
Who?
From The Times-Picayune:
Robert Hicks, a lion in the Louisiana civil rights movement whose legal victories helped topple segregation in Bogalusa and change discriminatory employment practices throughout the South, died Tuesday in his home. He was 81.
What does that have to do with the right of the people to keep and bear arms?
The Hicks family opened their home to white civil rights workers and national figures such as entertainer Dick Gregory and Congress of Racial Equality head James Farmer. Because of that, the family was targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, which in turn motivated the formation of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an armed band of African-American men who stood guard at the Hicks' home and protected civil rights workers in the city. The 2003 Showtime movie "Deacons for Defense" was loosely based on the group.
So why don't we hear more about him?
Back to The Times memorial:
By 1968, the Deacons had pretty much vanished. In time they were “hardly a footnote in most books on the civil rights movement,” Mr. Hill said. He attributed this to a “mythology” that the rights movement was always nonviolent.
Mrs. Hicks said she was glad it was not.
“I became very proud of black men,” she said. “They didn’t bow down and scratch their heads. They stood up like men.”
As should we all.
A lot of people forget, or just don't know, that the reason behind a LOT of personal disarmament laws was keeping blacks from owning arms. Never forget this from the Dred Scott decision:
(Citizenship) would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, singly or in companies, without pass or passport, and without obstruction, to sojourn there as long as they pleased, to go where they pleased at every hour of the day or night without molestation, unless they committed some violation of law for which a white man would be punished; and it would give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own citizens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went.
Who?
From The Times-Picayune:
Robert Hicks, a lion in the Louisiana civil rights movement whose legal victories helped topple segregation in Bogalusa and change discriminatory employment practices throughout the South, died Tuesday in his home. He was 81.
What does that have to do with the right of the people to keep and bear arms?
The Hicks family opened their home to white civil rights workers and national figures such as entertainer Dick Gregory and Congress of Racial Equality head James Farmer. Because of that, the family was targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, which in turn motivated the formation of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an armed band of African-American men who stood guard at the Hicks' home and protected civil rights workers in the city. The 2003 Showtime movie "Deacons for Defense" was loosely based on the group.
So why don't we hear more about him?
Back to The Times memorial:
By 1968, the Deacons had pretty much vanished. In time they were “hardly a footnote in most books on the civil rights movement,” Mr. Hill said. He attributed this to a “mythology” that the rights movement was always nonviolent.
Mrs. Hicks said she was glad it was not.
“I became very proud of black men,” she said. “They didn’t bow down and scratch their heads. They stood up like men.”
As should we all.
A lot of people forget, or just don't know, that the reason behind a LOT of personal disarmament laws was keeping blacks from owning arms. Never forget this from the Dred Scott decision:
(Citizenship) would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, singly or in companies, without pass or passport, and without obstruction, to sojourn there as long as they pleased, to go where they pleased at every hour of the day or night without molestation, unless they committed some violation of law for which a white man would be punished; and it would give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own citizens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went.
Just because this stuff should be pointed out repeatedly,
especially when illegal alien groups whine about 'fairness' and so forth,
Mexico welcomes only foreigners who will be useful to Mexican society:
Mexico welcomes only foreigners who will be useful to Mexican society:
* Foreigners are admitted into Mexico "according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress." (Article 32)
* Immigration officials must "ensure" that "immigrants will be useful elements for the country and that they have the necessary funds for their sustenance" and for their dependents. (Article 34)
* Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets "the equilibrium of the national demographics," when foreigners are deemed detrimental to "economic or national interests," when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican laws, and when "they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy." (Article 37)
* The Secretary of Governance may "suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest." (Article 38)
...
*Foreigners with fake papers, or who enter the country under false pretenses, may be imprisoned:
* Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned. (Article 116)
* Foreigners who sign government documents "with a signature that is false or different from that which he normally uses" are subject to fine and imprisonment. (Article 116)
So I don't want to hear another damned word from Mexican government officials about the 'unfairness', etc., of us wanting to secure our borders. Or from the useful idiots who help them whine and bitch.Well, let's start of the the SPLC being a bunch of leftist
tools:
The Southern Poverty Law Center seems to think so. In a special report called “Meet the ‘Patriots’” issued last week, the SPLC named Bleish as one of 35 people “at the heart of the resurgent movement.” The report — which also names WorldNetDaily publisher Joseph Farah and Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media — describes the movement thus:
“In the last year and a half, militias and the larger antigovernment ‘Patriot’ movement have exploded, accompanied by the rapid expansion of other sectors of the radical right. … [T]he so-called Patriots [are] people who generally believe that the federal government is an evil entity that is engaged in a secret conspiracy to impose martial law, herd those who resist into concentration camps, and force the United States into a socialistic ‘New World Order.’”
Slight problem: the SPLC is full of crap.
Bleish says she’s not sure why the SPLC — which typically monitors hate groups like the KKK and the Aryan Nations — is now targeting libertarians like herself.
(Because the bastards make a lot of money doing it)
“They’re indirectly associating people who aren’t violent and aren’t racist with violence and racism, and that’s unfortunate,” Bleish said in a telephone interview.
If Bleish is considered a “conspiracy theorist,” that’s probably because of her group “Operation: De-Fuse,” which depicts the Department of Homeland Security as part of a “police/surveillance state” that is “militarizing and federalizing our police forces.”
Bleish and others say that this isn’t conspiracy theory, but conspiracy reality. The name of Operation: De-Fuse is a reference the DHS “fusion centers” such as the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which issued a controversial 2009 report identifying Ron Paul supporters and pro-life activists (as well as fans of Rambo movies and Tom Clancy novels) as potential terrorists.
To borrow from Insty, "It’s not that the SPLC is a bunch of partisan political tools employing guilt by association and wild overreaches. I criticized Morris Dees on that to his face, on PBS Newshour back in 1995. It’s that they’ve become such an obvious, unsubtle, transparent bunch of tools."
The Everyone Draw Mohammed blog. The artist who started the idea decided it was getting to be too much and backed off, but Everyone Draw Mohammed Day is still on.
Some more thoughts on Comedy Central tucking tail, and associated 'sensitivity' displays.
Well, that’s America in 2010 — almost a full decade after we were attacked, we cower in fear of the people who attacked us; Sgt. York and Audie Murphy would be so proud. Why, it would be as if, after the attack on Pearl Habor in 1941, the country suddenly banned all depictions of the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, ceded Hawaii to the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and went on a prolonged sushi orgy.
Oh yeah, it's tea party people who're violent... And note the asshole with the 'invade Arizona' message on his back.
Message to the congressclowns who yelled 'Racism!': put up or shut up. Your lies have caused quite enough damage, and you're making it worse.
Ah, President Obama, praising coal miners while he's trying to put them out of work:
President Obama praised the coal industry at the miner memorial service.
But, the president forgot to mention a thing or two.
Less than one month ago his adminstration enforced new rules that will cost the mining companies hundreds of jobs. His administration has even been coordinating protests against the coal mining industry from the White House.
The Prowler reported:
The White House and some Obama Administration staffers at the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have been coordinating with left-wing environmental groups to launch protests in West Virginia over such techniques as “mountaintop removal mining.” This enabled the EPA to cite such protests as support for their new rulemaking. Earlier this month, the agency imposed rules sharply curtailing that form of strip mining in such states as West Virginia. The rules may end up costing several hundred West Virginians their jobs.
A damning health care report generated by actuaries at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department was given to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the health care vote. She hid the report from the public until a month after democrats rammed their nationalized health care bill through Congress.
The results from the report were troubling. The report released by Medicare and Medicaid actuaries shows that medical costs will skyrocket rising $389 billion 10 years. 14 million will lose their employer-based coverage. Millions of Americans will be left without insurance. And, millions more may be dumped into the already overwhelmed Medicaid system. 4 million American families will be hit with tax penalties under this new law.
Of course, these were ALL things that President Obama and Democratic leaders assured us would not happen.
More of the current wonderfulness later; the range calls.
The Southern Poverty Law Center seems to think so. In a special report called “Meet the ‘Patriots’” issued last week, the SPLC named Bleish as one of 35 people “at the heart of the resurgent movement.” The report — which also names WorldNetDaily publisher Joseph Farah and Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media — describes the movement thus:
“In the last year and a half, militias and the larger antigovernment ‘Patriot’ movement have exploded, accompanied by the rapid expansion of other sectors of the radical right. … [T]he so-called Patriots [are] people who generally believe that the federal government is an evil entity that is engaged in a secret conspiracy to impose martial law, herd those who resist into concentration camps, and force the United States into a socialistic ‘New World Order.’”
Slight problem: the SPLC is full of crap.
Bleish says she’s not sure why the SPLC — which typically monitors hate groups like the KKK and the Aryan Nations — is now targeting libertarians like herself.
(Because the bastards make a lot of money doing it)
“They’re indirectly associating people who aren’t violent and aren’t racist with violence and racism, and that’s unfortunate,” Bleish said in a telephone interview.
If Bleish is considered a “conspiracy theorist,” that’s probably because of her group “Operation: De-Fuse,” which depicts the Department of Homeland Security as part of a “police/surveillance state” that is “militarizing and federalizing our police forces.”
Bleish and others say that this isn’t conspiracy theory, but conspiracy reality. The name of Operation: De-Fuse is a reference the DHS “fusion centers” such as the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which issued a controversial 2009 report identifying Ron Paul supporters and pro-life activists (as well as fans of Rambo movies and Tom Clancy novels) as potential terrorists.
To borrow from Insty, "It’s not that the SPLC is a bunch of partisan political tools employing guilt by association and wild overreaches. I criticized Morris Dees on that to his face, on PBS Newshour back in 1995. It’s that they’ve become such an obvious, unsubtle, transparent bunch of tools."
The Everyone Draw Mohammed blog. The artist who started the idea decided it was getting to be too much and backed off, but Everyone Draw Mohammed Day is still on.
Some more thoughts on Comedy Central tucking tail, and associated 'sensitivity' displays.
Well, that’s America in 2010 — almost a full decade after we were attacked, we cower in fear of the people who attacked us; Sgt. York and Audie Murphy would be so proud. Why, it would be as if, after the attack on Pearl Habor in 1941, the country suddenly banned all depictions of the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, ceded Hawaii to the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and went on a prolonged sushi orgy.
Oh yeah, it's tea party people who're violent... And note the asshole with the 'invade Arizona' message on his back.
Message to the congressclowns who yelled 'Racism!': put up or shut up. Your lies have caused quite enough damage, and you're making it worse.
Ah, President Obama, praising coal miners while he's trying to put them out of work:
President Obama praised the coal industry at the miner memorial service.
But, the president forgot to mention a thing or two.
Less than one month ago his adminstration enforced new rules that will cost the mining companies hundreds of jobs. His administration has even been coordinating protests against the coal mining industry from the White House.
The Prowler reported:
The White House and some Obama Administration staffers at the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency have been coordinating with left-wing environmental groups to launch protests in West Virginia over such techniques as “mountaintop removal mining.” This enabled the EPA to cite such protests as support for their new rulemaking. Earlier this month, the agency imposed rules sharply curtailing that form of strip mining in such states as West Virginia. The rules may end up costing several hundred West Virginians their jobs.
A damning health care report generated by actuaries at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department was given to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the health care vote. She hid the report from the public until a month after democrats rammed their nationalized health care bill through Congress.
The results from the report were troubling. The report released by Medicare and Medicaid actuaries shows that medical costs will skyrocket rising $389 billion 10 years. 14 million will lose their employer-based coverage. Millions of Americans will be left without insurance. And, millions more may be dumped into the already overwhelmed Medicaid system. 4 million American families will be hit with tax penalties under this new law.
Of course, these were ALL things that President Obama and Democratic leaders assured us would not happen.
More of the current wonderfulness later; the range calls.
What Mark Steyn said
About Bill Clinton's bullcrap and real terrorists
Faced with this explicit threat of violence, what did Comedy Central do?
Why, they folded like a Bedouin tent. They censored "South Park," not only cutting all the references to Mohammed but, in an exquisitely post-modern touch, also removing the final speech about the need to stand up to intimidation. Stone & Parker get what was at stake in the Danish cartoons crisis, and many other ostensibly footling concessions: Imperceptibly, incrementally, remorselessly, the free world is sending the message that it is happy to trade core liberties for the transitory security of a quiet life. That is a dangerous signal to give freedom's enemies. So the "South Park" episode is an important cultural pushback.
Yet in the end, in a craven culture, even big Hollywood A-listers can't get their message over. So the brave, transgressive comedy network was intimidated into caving in and censoring a speech about not being intimidated into caving in. That's what I call "hip" "edgy" "cutting-edge" comedy: They're so edgy they're curled up in the fetal position, whimpering at the guy with the cutting edge, "Please. Behead me last. And don't use the rusty scimitar where you have to saw away for 20 minutes to find the spinal column."
Terrific. You can see why young, urban, post-modern Americans under 57 get most of their news from Comedy Central. What a shame 1930s Fascist Europe was so lacking in cable.
Fifteen years ago, Bill Clinton set out to hang Timothy McVeigh around the necks of talk radio and, with a further stretch, Newt and the congressional Republicans. It was an act of contemptible but undeniably brilliant opportunism. It worked out so well for him, that a couple of years later, after the Princess of Wales' fatal car crash, George Stephanopoulos enthused to Christopher Hitchens: "Tony Blair's handling this really well. This is his Oklahoma City." As Hitchens remarked, this is the way these people think.
(and one of the reasons I hold Stephanopoulos the Pretend Journalist in such contempt)
Which works fine when you're up against phantom enemies of the kind Clinton preferred to take on, while giving real threats the run of the planet. If the Tea Partiers were truly the murderous goons they've been portrayed as, they would draw the obvious lesson from the kid gloves with which Comedy Central strokes Islam. They would say, "Enough with peaceful rallies where we pick up the litter afterwards. Let's just threaten to decapitate someone. You get more respect that way. At least from the media."
But they won't do that. Because, notwithstanding their outrageous demonization by the media, they're not terrorists. So, in the end, Comedy Central has incentivized Islamic violence and nothing much else.
Nevertheless, we should be grateful to its jelly-spined executives for reminding us that the cardboard heroes of the American media are your go-to guys for standing up to entirely fictitious threats. But for real ones? Not so much.
Faced with this explicit threat of violence, what did Comedy Central do?
Why, they folded like a Bedouin tent. They censored "South Park," not only cutting all the references to Mohammed but, in an exquisitely post-modern touch, also removing the final speech about the need to stand up to intimidation. Stone & Parker get what was at stake in the Danish cartoons crisis, and many other ostensibly footling concessions: Imperceptibly, incrementally, remorselessly, the free world is sending the message that it is happy to trade core liberties for the transitory security of a quiet life. That is a dangerous signal to give freedom's enemies. So the "South Park" episode is an important cultural pushback.
Yet in the end, in a craven culture, even big Hollywood A-listers can't get their message over. So the brave, transgressive comedy network was intimidated into caving in and censoring a speech about not being intimidated into caving in. That's what I call "hip" "edgy" "cutting-edge" comedy: They're so edgy they're curled up in the fetal position, whimpering at the guy with the cutting edge, "Please. Behead me last. And don't use the rusty scimitar where you have to saw away for 20 minutes to find the spinal column."
Terrific. You can see why young, urban, post-modern Americans under 57 get most of their news from Comedy Central. What a shame 1930s Fascist Europe was so lacking in cable.
Fifteen years ago, Bill Clinton set out to hang Timothy McVeigh around the necks of talk radio and, with a further stretch, Newt and the congressional Republicans. It was an act of contemptible but undeniably brilliant opportunism. It worked out so well for him, that a couple of years later, after the Princess of Wales' fatal car crash, George Stephanopoulos enthused to Christopher Hitchens: "Tony Blair's handling this really well. This is his Oklahoma City." As Hitchens remarked, this is the way these people think.
(and one of the reasons I hold Stephanopoulos the Pretend Journalist in such contempt)
Which works fine when you're up against phantom enemies of the kind Clinton preferred to take on, while giving real threats the run of the planet. If the Tea Partiers were truly the murderous goons they've been portrayed as, they would draw the obvious lesson from the kid gloves with which Comedy Central strokes Islam. They would say, "Enough with peaceful rallies where we pick up the litter afterwards. Let's just threaten to decapitate someone. You get more respect that way. At least from the media."
But they won't do that. Because, notwithstanding their outrageous demonization by the media, they're not terrorists. So, in the end, Comedy Central has incentivized Islamic violence and nothing much else.
Nevertheless, we should be grateful to its jelly-spined executives for reminding us that the cardboard heroes of the American media are your go-to guys for standing up to entirely fictitious threats. But for real ones? Not so much.
Monday, April 26, 2010
As Insty says, lame-ass Californicated cops
And I hope Gizmodo
A: Sues the hell out of them, and nails the judge in any way possible, and
B: Runs the noisiest possible expose of the lame-ass cops.
And Apple? Screw you, you nasty little bastards.
A: Sues the hell out of them, and nails the judge in any way possible, and
B: Runs the noisiest possible expose of the lame-ass cops.
And Apple? Screw you, you nasty little bastards.
Few years back, somebody said "The next time I hear some adult speak of 'The Wisdom of Children',
I'm going to beat him with a fencepost." Or maybe it was a bat? Anyway, here's a journalist named Andrew Revkin who works for(who else?) the NYEffin' Times who needs the cluebat. And the arrogant little bastard he's pimping needs a kick in the ass, too.
From the kid:
When he was just 12-years-old, Alec Loorz founded Kids Versus Global Warming, because he was feeling the weight of the situation and sensed he could make a difference. “I just felt this sense of calling, that I was called to do something about this crisis. That I was being called to stop global warming within my lifetime.”
There's the next Obama for you.
Then we have the dirtbag Revkin:
“I’ve begun focusing on younger audiences for many reasons, one being a growing realization that many adults I’ve met in 20 years of covering global warming have been locked into rigid views of the world that distort how they absorb what scientists are saying,” Revkin said. “To me, communicating to young people simply raises the odds that information about the environment and humanity’s role in shaping it – for better or worse – gets to where it’s most likely to be put to good use.”
And, as Blair puts it, Also, kids are easier to scare.
From the kid:
When he was just 12-years-old, Alec Loorz founded Kids Versus Global Warming, because he was feeling the weight of the situation and sensed he could make a difference. “I just felt this sense of calling, that I was called to do something about this crisis. That I was being called to stop global warming within my lifetime.”
There's the next Obama for you.
Then we have the dirtbag Revkin:
“I’ve begun focusing on younger audiences for many reasons, one being a growing realization that many adults I’ve met in 20 years of covering global warming have been locked into rigid views of the world that distort how they absorb what scientists are saying,” Revkin said. “To me, communicating to young people simply raises the odds that information about the environment and humanity’s role in shaping it – for better or worse – gets to where it’s most likely to be put to good use.”
And, as Blair puts it, Also, kids are easier to scare.
Remember the statement that "Gun control laws are what politicians do
instead of actually doing something"?
Two state representatives called on Gov. Pat Quinn Sunday to deploy the Illinois National Guard to safeguard Chicago's streets.
Chicago Democrats John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford said they want Quinn, Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis to allow guardsmen to patrol streets and help quell violence. Weis said he did not support the idea because the military and police operate under different rules.
"Is this a drastic call to action? Of course it is," Fritchey said. "Is it warranted when we are losing residents to gun violence at such an alarming rate? Without question. We are not talking about rolling tanks down the street or having armed guards on each corner."
Well, first, isn't it kind of unpossible for there to be all this crime involving firearms? I mean, it's illegal to buy or carry a handgun, rifles and shotguns are restricted... according to the VPC and other Brady weenies, this place should be paradise.
Second, you actually put armed troops on the streets(in violation of various laws, but hey, it's Chicago!) and they shoot some gangbangers who attack them, bet you these same politicians would scream like stuck pigs. And every RWPP boob in the region would have purple kittens with pink spots. I don't know if you remember, but during the King riots in LA, one night some clown tried to run over a couple of Guardsmen; they dodged twice, and when he came around for the third time one of the troops shot him. The mayor threw fits that they'd DARED to shoot one of the dirtbags, and to placate him the Guard had to turn in all ammunition. I don't doubt the same kind of shit would happen here.
Two state representatives called on Gov. Pat Quinn Sunday to deploy the Illinois National Guard to safeguard Chicago's streets.
Chicago Democrats John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford said they want Quinn, Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis to allow guardsmen to patrol streets and help quell violence. Weis said he did not support the idea because the military and police operate under different rules.
"Is this a drastic call to action? Of course it is," Fritchey said. "Is it warranted when we are losing residents to gun violence at such an alarming rate? Without question. We are not talking about rolling tanks down the street or having armed guards on each corner."
Well, first, isn't it kind of unpossible for there to be all this crime involving firearms? I mean, it's illegal to buy or carry a handgun, rifles and shotguns are restricted... according to the VPC and other Brady weenies, this place should be paradise.
Second, you actually put armed troops on the streets(in violation of various laws, but hey, it's Chicago!) and they shoot some gangbangers who attack them, bet you these same politicians would scream like stuck pigs. And every RWPP boob in the region would have purple kittens with pink spots. I don't know if you remember, but during the King riots in LA, one night some clown tried to run over a couple of Guardsmen; they dodged twice, and when he came around for the third time one of the troops shot him. The mayor threw fits that they'd DARED to shoot one of the dirtbags, and to placate him the Guard had to turn in all ammunition. I don't doubt the same kind of shit would happen here.
Finally heard from Rep. Dank on the 'ban the militia' amendment
Basically says 'The amendment was passed and sent to conference as a courtesy to Rep. Shelton; the bill's author objects to some the language- including the mention of militias- and the bill will die in conference if the objected-to language is not removed.'
Yeah, it's good the thing doesn't have the kind of support indicated by the vote; it's really annoying that an amendment like this would be almost unanimously passed just as a 'courtesy'.
Yeah, it's good the thing doesn't have the kind of support indicated by the vote; it's really annoying that an amendment like this would be almost unanimously passed just as a 'courtesy'.
Ref the 'unauthorized militia' amendment,
No answer from Rep. Shelton. What really ticks me even more is no answer from my rep., David Dank, either. Which leads me to think either some game is going on they don't want to let us in on, or Dank voted for the damn thing without actually thinking about it and doesn't want to answer for it.
Oh, this is a wonderful thing to read on Monday morning
Meantime, the administration says it's going to refuse the requests of Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joseph Lieberman, leftist of Connecticut, for more information on the Fort Hood massacre.
"Disclosure of some of the material you have requested could compromise the pending prosecution," administration lawyers wrote to the two senators earier this month.
"The administration said it does not want to generate pretrial publicity that could taint a jury pool or make witnesses reluctant to cooperate, and wants to avoid a barrage of defense lawyer requests that could force the government to reveal information it wants to save for a criminal trial," The AP reported, again on April 15.
Um ... jury pool? Criminal trial? An army officer shoots down and kills a dozen of his own men during time of war, and the administration is worried about "jury pools" and "criminal trials"? And here I thought verdicts in courts martial were handed down by a small group of superior officers. Massacring your own men is no longer a court martial offense?
Are they going to try this one on The People's Court, or before Judge Judy?
Found at Theo's
"Disclosure of some of the material you have requested could compromise the pending prosecution," administration lawyers wrote to the two senators earier this month.
"The administration said it does not want to generate pretrial publicity that could taint a jury pool or make witnesses reluctant to cooperate, and wants to avoid a barrage of defense lawyer requests that could force the government to reveal information it wants to save for a criminal trial," The AP reported, again on April 15.
Um ... jury pool? Criminal trial? An army officer shoots down and kills a dozen of his own men during time of war, and the administration is worried about "jury pools" and "criminal trials"? And here I thought verdicts in courts martial were handed down by a small group of superior officers. Massacring your own men is no longer a court martial offense?
Are they going to try this one on The People's Court, or before Judge Judy?
Found at Theo's
Understand two things: if they want to build a house this size,
and they've got the money to pay for it, go right ahead; doesn't bother me in the least. But when the jerks building it are also lecturing me to use less of everything, to take the stairs(but put an elevator in the house), AND they're a UN 'environmental ambassador' AND like flying in private choppers, THEN I tell them to kiss my ass, that they're hypocritical asshats and can go to hell.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
A Plague of 'A' Students
Go read. Things like
Barack Obama is more irritating than the other nuisances on the left. Nancy Pelosi needs a session on the ducking stool, of course. But everyone with an ugly divorce has had a Nancy. She’s vexatious and expensive to get rid of, but it’s not like we give a damn about her. Harry Reid is going house-to-house selling nothing anybody wants. Slam the door on him and the neighbor’s Rottweiler will do the rest. And Barney Frank is self-punishing. Imagine being trapped inside Barney Frank.
...
Why are A students so hateful? I’m sure up at Harvard, over at the New York Times, and inside the White House they think we just envy their smarts. Maybe we are resentful clods gawking with bitter incomprehension at the intellectual magnificence of our betters. If so, why are our betters spending so much time nervously insisting that they’re smarter than Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement? They are. You can look it up (if you have a fancy education the way our betters do and know what the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary is). “Smart” has its root in the Old English word for being a pain. The adjective has eight other principal definitions ranging from “brisk” to “fashionable” to “neat.” Only two definitions indicate cleverness—smart as in “clever in talk” and smart as in “clever in looking after one’s own interests.” Don’t get smart with me.
The other objection to A students is what it takes to become one—toad-eating. A students must do what teachers and textbooks want and do it the way teachers and texts want it done. Neatness counts! A students are very busy.
Found thanks to Cold Fury
Barack Obama is more irritating than the other nuisances on the left. Nancy Pelosi needs a session on the ducking stool, of course. But everyone with an ugly divorce has had a Nancy. She’s vexatious and expensive to get rid of, but it’s not like we give a damn about her. Harry Reid is going house-to-house selling nothing anybody wants. Slam the door on him and the neighbor’s Rottweiler will do the rest. And Barney Frank is self-punishing. Imagine being trapped inside Barney Frank.
...
Why are A students so hateful? I’m sure up at Harvard, over at the New York Times, and inside the White House they think we just envy their smarts. Maybe we are resentful clods gawking with bitter incomprehension at the intellectual magnificence of our betters. If so, why are our betters spending so much time nervously insisting that they’re smarter than Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement? They are. You can look it up (if you have a fancy education the way our betters do and know what the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary is). “Smart” has its root in the Old English word for being a pain. The adjective has eight other principal definitions ranging from “brisk” to “fashionable” to “neat.” Only two definitions indicate cleverness—smart as in “clever in talk” and smart as in “clever in looking after one’s own interests.” Don’t get smart with me.
The other objection to A students is what it takes to become one—toad-eating. A students must do what teachers and textbooks want and do it the way teachers and texts want it done. Neatness counts! A students are very busy.
Found thanks to Cold Fury
Lots of painting this weekend
Doorframe and truck.
Frame because whoever painted it before I bought the place didn't prime first, and the paint was faded and peeling. So a quart can of primer and a quart of suitable paint(damn, that's stuff's expensive!), and spend parts of the last couple of days scraping, then priming, then two coats of paint. It looks much better now
Truck, because about three weeks ago someone scraped the right side of the bed. Not horribly, but bad enough. I got the worst of the dents smoothed out reasonably well, and today got a bottle of rubbing compound and a can of paint. Happily, you can get a can of spray(as well as a bottle of touch-up) that matches the original. So a little sanding, then the rubbing compound, clean that off and hit where needed with some very fine wet/dry paper(wet, of course), clean that off, and paint. Right now it's got three light coats and looks pretty good. Tomorrow I'll decide if it needs a very light polishing with the compound, and either way give it one more coat(maybe two), then after that's well-dried I've got some clearcoat left over from son working on his truck.
Down the road, I may do the whole 'body hammers and anvils' job, but right now, unless you actually look, the only thing that stands out is how much cleaner that area is than the rest of it.
Maybe give it a bath, too, next couple of days.
Speaking of son, he's still up in northern Iraq. Currently out of touch, they're off somewhere doing something, and the somewhere doesn't have net access. I should note, he said that during the last election they had exactly one fatality: an old man, after voting, had a heart attack while leaving the polling place.
By the way, I've mentioned this before, but do you ever reflect on how things have changed in communications? WWII, you were lucky to get a letter once in a while, pretty much the same up through the First Battle of Iraq; now, unless they're out in the boonies somewhere you can send e-mail, and occasionally get a phone call from them. Better Living Through Electronics.
Frame because whoever painted it before I bought the place didn't prime first, and the paint was faded and peeling. So a quart can of primer and a quart of suitable paint(damn, that's stuff's expensive!), and spend parts of the last couple of days scraping, then priming, then two coats of paint. It looks much better now
Truck, because about three weeks ago someone scraped the right side of the bed. Not horribly, but bad enough. I got the worst of the dents smoothed out reasonably well, and today got a bottle of rubbing compound and a can of paint. Happily, you can get a can of spray(as well as a bottle of touch-up) that matches the original. So a little sanding, then the rubbing compound, clean that off and hit where needed with some very fine wet/dry paper(wet, of course), clean that off, and paint. Right now it's got three light coats and looks pretty good. Tomorrow I'll decide if it needs a very light polishing with the compound, and either way give it one more coat(maybe two), then after that's well-dried I've got some clearcoat left over from son working on his truck.
Down the road, I may do the whole 'body hammers and anvils' job, but right now, unless you actually look, the only thing that stands out is how much cleaner that area is than the rest of it.
Maybe give it a bath, too, next couple of days.
Speaking of son, he's still up in northern Iraq. Currently out of touch, they're off somewhere doing something, and the somewhere doesn't have net access. I should note, he said that during the last election they had exactly one fatality: an old man, after voting, had a heart attack while leaving the polling place.
By the way, I've mentioned this before, but do you ever reflect on how things have changed in communications? WWII, you were lucky to get a letter once in a while, pretty much the same up through the First Battle of Iraq; now, unless they're out in the boonies somewhere you can send e-mail, and occasionally get a phone call from them. Better Living Through Electronics.
Why so many have such a low opinion of federal agencies in general,
and BATFE in particular.
It was only a month ago that a bizarre story broke in the Pacific Northwest, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers trumpeted their seizure of what they claimed were more than two dozen machine guns disguised as toys.
The problem with the CBP claim was that the items seized were 16 WE TTI (WE Tech) M4A1 and 14 WE TTI (WE Tech) M4 CQBR gas blowback Airsoft rifles that shoot plastic BBs.
They really were toys.
But instead of admitting they can’t tell a toy gun from a real one, CBP turned these Airsoft rifles over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the agency agreed that these pot-metal made, plastic BB-shooting plinkers were honest-to-God firearms.
To put it mildly, things got interesting.
And, when faced with requests to provide information,
The ATF’s written response to the FOIA request was less than helpful. Instead of providing information about the WE Tech rifles seized from Airsoft Outlet Northwest at the Port of Tacoma, Washington, ATF responded with what appeared to be a clumsy bait-and-switch:
We would like to bring to your attention our oversight on the subject of your request in our letter dated April 13, 2010; Springfield, Inc instead of record pertaining to Airsoft rifles intercepted by Customs and Border Protection; as maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Perhaps an expert in FOIA law can explain this interesting redirection to those of us less versed in the finer points of the legalities, but it would seem quite bizarre that an agency subject to FOIA requests has the authority to randomly determine that the requester really wanted something entirely different … and entirely useless. Airsoft Outlet Northwest’s Ben Martin confirmed receiving apparently identical information in response to their FOIA request as well.
...
Hope is not lost for Airsoft Outlet Northwest, however. The government recently released some of the $20,000 in inventory they’d seized, including 15 other Airsoft machine guns made by WE Tech and 20 bolt-action Airsoft guns. Perhaps with some patience — and a bit of tenacity — the ATF and Customs can finally be convinced to return these toys to their rightful owners.
Getting them to admit they were laughably wrong may be an entirely different matter.
Part of the problem is that instead of manning-up and saying "We screwed up" and making it right, BATFE* will play games with FOIA requests, play games with the property and the people and desperately hope that everyone gets so sick of it(or runs out of money) and gives up. Which brings us back to the 'low opinion' problem.
* There are honest, good agents there; but an awful lot of their higher-ups are assholes. Or fools. Or both. God knows why the honest ones hang around.
It was only a month ago that a bizarre story broke in the Pacific Northwest, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers trumpeted their seizure of what they claimed were more than two dozen machine guns disguised as toys.
The problem with the CBP claim was that the items seized were 16 WE TTI (WE Tech) M4A1 and 14 WE TTI (WE Tech) M4 CQBR gas blowback Airsoft rifles that shoot plastic BBs.
They really were toys.
But instead of admitting they can’t tell a toy gun from a real one, CBP turned these Airsoft rifles over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the agency agreed that these pot-metal made, plastic BB-shooting plinkers were honest-to-God firearms.
To put it mildly, things got interesting.
And, when faced with requests to provide information,
The ATF’s written response to the FOIA request was less than helpful. Instead of providing information about the WE Tech rifles seized from Airsoft Outlet Northwest at the Port of Tacoma, Washington, ATF responded with what appeared to be a clumsy bait-and-switch:
We would like to bring to your attention our oversight on the subject of your request in our letter dated April 13, 2010; Springfield, Inc instead of record pertaining to Airsoft rifles intercepted by Customs and Border Protection; as maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Perhaps an expert in FOIA law can explain this interesting redirection to those of us less versed in the finer points of the legalities, but it would seem quite bizarre that an agency subject to FOIA requests has the authority to randomly determine that the requester really wanted something entirely different … and entirely useless. Airsoft Outlet Northwest’s Ben Martin confirmed receiving apparently identical information in response to their FOIA request as well.
...
Hope is not lost for Airsoft Outlet Northwest, however. The government recently released some of the $20,000 in inventory they’d seized, including 15 other Airsoft machine guns made by WE Tech and 20 bolt-action Airsoft guns. Perhaps with some patience — and a bit of tenacity — the ATF and Customs can finally be convinced to return these toys to their rightful owners.
Getting them to admit they were laughably wrong may be an entirely different matter.
Part of the problem is that instead of manning-up and saying "We screwed up" and making it right, BATFE* will play games with FOIA requests, play games with the property and the people and desperately hope that everyone gets so sick of it(or runs out of money) and gives up. Which brings us back to the 'low opinion' problem.
* There are honest, good agents there; but an awful lot of their higher-ups are assholes. Or fools. Or both. God knows why the honest ones hang around.
Would you be surprised if Schumer(Corrupt Hypocrite-NY)
was knowingly involved in this?
I wouldn't.
And note all the other lefties and bureaucrats involved in this.
I wouldn't.
And note all the other lefties and bureaucrats involved in this.
So they're having the Memorial Run or whatever the hell it is today,
and a whole bunch of streets, including major ones, are blocked off for it. Because people actually trying to get somewhere cannot be allowed to dusrupt the sacred RUN!
Eff this. There's a damned trail all the way around Lake Hefner, but noooo, they've got to block streets here in the city.
It's enough to make you want a Bradley. Or a MRAP.
Eff this. There's a damned trail all the way around Lake Hefner, but noooo, they've got to block streets here in the city.
It's enough to make you want a Bradley. Or a MRAP.
So the FBI closed tha anthrax case, after getting their ass sued
by Hatfill for effing up; but it seems there are doubts about their blaming Ivins for it, too.
As Insty says, it seems to be one of those cases where they want someone to blame it on, so they can stamp it 'Case Closed' and drop it.
As Insty says, it seems to be one of those cases where they want someone to blame it on, so they can stamp it 'Case Closed' and drop it.
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