15 minutes for Maddy

Maddy, a juror (juror B39) in the Zimmerman case, says that the trial ruined her life. She claims that it resulted in her being fired from her job, and has cost her financially. She goes on to say:

she questions whether she was right to acquit Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. She says she has followed reports on Zimmerman since the trial ended this summer.
"We all know who's guilty," she says. "George Zimmerman thinks he didn't do anything wrong."

 I want you to keep in mind that this is the same juror who went on the air just after the trial, and claimed that Zimmerman "got away with murder" for killing Trayvon Martin and feels she owes an apology Martin's parents. She also went on air to say:

George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God.

 As a single mother with eight small children, who were recent transplants to the area, she easily could have gotten dismissed as a hardship case, but she didn't. Why not? My guess is that she saw a chance to make money and jumped at it. As one of the jurors that convicted Zimmerman, she would have made a lot of money and been a celebrity of sorts. That didn't happen, so the money and fame isn't there. Not like

The other jurors stated that there was a single holdout for conviction, and it was Maddy. According to her own statements:

Maddy went into deliberations believing Zimmerman was guilty of second-degree murder. "I was the juror that was going to give them the hung jury. I fought to the end," she said. "But as the law was read to me, if you have no proof that he killed him intentionally, you can't say he's guilty."

This is a woman who seems to be against self defense. She admits that she wanted to find Zimmerman guilty, but the law "thwarted" her:

 A lot of us wanted to find something bad, something we could connect to the laws,” said Maddy, who had recently moved to Sanford, Fla., from Chicago. “But as the law was read to me, if you have no proof he killed him intentionally, you can’t say he’s guilty,” she added.

Still, Maddy is hoping to cash in by selling her story to Inside Edition. Welcome to your 15 minutes, Maddy.

Attacks on EMS

Fifty two percent of all EMS responders report having been physically attacked on the job at some time within the previous twelve months. According to the University of Maryland, the risk of nonfatal assault resulting in lost work time among EMS workers is 57 cases per 10,000 workers per year. The national average for all professions is about 1.8 cases per 10,000 workers per year, making the relative risk for EMS workers about 30 times higher than the national average. This isn't just EMS getting hurt: in 1999, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 2,637 nonfatal assaults occurred to hospital workers--a rate of 8.3 assaults per 10,000 workers. Healthcare providers are twice as likely, and EMS workers 15 times as likely, to be assaulted on the job than are police officers or prison guards. Some locations and cities are obviously seeing injury rates that are far above the average.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has identified violence in the medical setting as a potential hazard, and found the training of medical staff to identify and deal with potential violence ineffective. It is the third leading cause of on the job injuries in EMS (only lifting patients and vehicle collisions injure more EMS workers) and the second leading cause of on the job fatalities (behind vehicle accidents), yet the only training we get is "don't enter the scene unless it is safe." This approach is obviously not working.
There remains a reluctance on the part of EMS agencies and hospital administrators to provide training to effectively address workplace violence. Why are EMS agencies so reluctant to face this issue? In most agencies, there is no policy for dealing with violent encounters, training for dealing with such encounters is rare, yet the problem seems endemic. There appears to be a variety of reasons for this: some may not recognize the extent of the problem, and thus don't perceive the need for training personnel in basic defensive measures, while others erroneously perceive using defensive tactics as fighting or a form of aggression. Still other agencies feel that the liability that defensive uses of force would bring upon the agency is greater than the costs of treating injured employees.

Whatever the reason, allowing the situation to continue as it is now is resulting in seriously injured workers, and the problem is not going to get any better until we as a profession find a way to deal with this issue. Some changes are desperately needed if we are to see an improvement in the number of injuries that are inflicted upon EMS workers by their violent patients. It is obvious that the current policy of "scene safety" is not working. There is a definite need for research into this area that impacts the safety of our medical workers, so that a solution can be found for preventing and dealing with this epidemic of violence.

References 

 Maguire BL. Hunting KL. Smith GS. Levick NR. Occupational fatalities in EMS: A hidden Crisis. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2002; 40(6): 625-632.

Maguire BL. Hunting KL. Smith GS. Levick NR. Occupational Injuries Among Emergency Medical Services Personnel. Prehospital Emergency Care. 2005, 9:405-411

Maguire BJ. Walz BJ. Current Emergency Medical Services Workforce Issues in the United States. Journal of Emergency Management. 2004; 2(3): 17-26.

Economy

The economy drags on in its doldrums. I retired two years ago, so that I could attend grad school. After a few months of not being educated, I decided that I had had enough, and I would simply get another job. That was a year and a half ago, and aside from short term, part time jobs, there is nothing out there.

One of the local theme parks won't hire part time medics unless they are already working full time somewhere else. The manager that I spoke with, a friend of mine, tells me that this is because of Obamacare. See, if you already have a full time job with health insurance, they won't have to worry about providing you with any.
I made it all the way to a job offer with another theme park in the area, but then the Union complained about hiring more paramedics to work in the park stating that there were part time medics that should be getting more hours. The offer was withdrawn as a result.
This leaves few options for a person of my age. My pension means that I cannot work for a fire department, or that pension will be suspended until I again retire. Even so, few fire departments want to hire a man in his late 40's. I could do interfacility, but they aren't hiring.
So, I pick up odd jobs, and count myself lucky to have a pension that pays the bills and a house with no payments.
Thanks Obamacare

Some pigs are more equal than others

If you are suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, the FHP will require that you take a sobriety test. If you refuse, to take the test, your license will be suspended for one year for your first refusal. Unless you are a cop, I guess.
According to a May 5 arrest report, Sgt. Meyer was driving an unmarked sheriff's department pickup truck with the emergency lights flashing, en route to an off-duty job at Walt Disney World, when he rear-ended a car on County Road 535 near Windermere. No one was injured injured in the crash, which occurred just after 9 p.m.
1 So he was driving to an off-duty job in his official vehicle with his emergency lights flashing?
2 He was intoxicated while operating a department vehicle?
3 He pled "no contest," which is the same legally as a guilty plea. He should be terminated immediately.

Except that he is a cop.

Gonna riot

So Salon magazine is claiming that the stimulus fueled increase in food stamps better not end in November, or people are going to riot. That's right- if the food stamp recipients lose that extra $36 a month they get, they are going to burn your shit down.
Margarette Purvis, the president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, told Salon that policymakers “are attempting to punish people for being poor.” So in NewSpeak, it is punishing someone to tell them that they can't have my money, even though many of them are selling their benefits on Craigslist.

My sister is a waitress at TGI Fridays. She makes between $100 and $150 a night in tips. Her live in boyfriend does not have a job. She gets several hundred dollars a month in food stamps. She is not scraping by. She goes out to theme parks with her season pass almost every chance she gets, taking the kids and her boyfriend with her. She even bought a "Frequent Fear" pass for herself and her boyfriend. She is constantly posting pictures of herself on FaceBook, sitting in a bar, drink in hand.

She, along with the rest of the welfare community, could use a few cuts.

Fan mail

I got this email from a "fan"

So, I guess Martin had no right to stand his ground? He was being unlawfully
perused by that fat coward, who needs a gun to feel like a man. Like most
of you gun nuts compensating for something, cowardness, small penis, unfounded fear that the boogey man is going to get you. I feel bad for you.

 Here is my reply:
1 All "Stand your ground" means is that a person is not required to retreat before responding with force when attacked by force. Nothing in the law allows you to attack a person when they are merely following you.
2 There is no law that says you cannot follow someone. Show me where Zimmerman's following of Martin was unlawful.
3 This entire email is a validation of Markley's Law, which states:

As an online discussion of gun owners' rights grows longer, the probability of an ad hominem attack involving penis size approaches 1.

 4 In Zimmerman's case, his fear was not unfounded.

Posers

While I was on one of the dive boats this weekend, we had a man riding along with his wife. He said that he had not been diving since he got out of the Navy in 1992, and was out of practice. I asked him what he did, and he replied "I was on Special Teams."

Blink. He was a punt returner?

I told him I used to be in the Navy, and that I was an Electrician's Mate Second Class. I told him that I went to boot camp in Orlando. He told me how lucky I was, and said that he had done boot and A school in Great Lakes. 

So I asked him where he was stationed, and he replied that he was stationed at New London, CT. He then told me that he was a Machinist Mate First Class. He started to tell me stories about how he would be inserted into places by exiting the submarine through a small tube.

So I asked him what his BUD/S class number was. He replied, "Buds? What's that?"

I immediately knew that he was a poser. He wasn't a SEAL, because he didn't know what BUD/S was. I know at least 4 people who claim that they were at one time SEALs. They are all likely lying.

Why do so many feel the need to make themselves look cool by claiming to be something that they are not?

Good work, if you can get it

Ever since I retired from the fire department two years ago, I have been doing little jobs to make extra cash. My latest is my dream job: I am an underwater tour guide/ SCUBA trip coordinator. Let me tell you how a weekend working is for me:

I had to spend the weekend working in south Florida. I made the two hour drive down to West Palm Beach, and spent the day SCUBA diving on the reefs there. My job is to ensure that all of the divers in my charge are taken care of and safe. The biggest issue is dealing with divers who have equipment issues or have forgotten stuff that they needed. I also SCUBA with them, and deal with any issues that come up. Smooth as silk, usually. Other than a broken fin strap and a diver with no anti-fog for his mask, the day looked a lot like this:

Some of the divers on this trip only dove Saturday, some only Sunday, and others did both. For the divers who did both, I had to arrange to get their tanks refilled, then we had dinner at the Outback and headed to South Beach. We spent the night at the Miami Airport Hilton. I am an Honors member, so they fed me free breakfast. Since I never get seasick, I helped myself to a Mexican Omelet with Jalapeno peppers and salsa, some bacon, potatoes, and topped it off with coffee and orange juice.

We headed out to do some diving, and the water conditions were simply perfect. There were no waves, and from the surface, we could see the bottom, 70 feet below us. My partner, Mike, and I took 7 divers out for a sightseeing tour of a wreck. I missed most of the first dive, because it was a dive on a wreck in a pretty brisk current, and a diver got blown off the site about 4 minutes into the dive, so I had to go get her and tow her back to the boat. By the time I got back with her, I didn't have enough breathing gas left to finish the dive. Fighting a current while towing a diver is pretty tiring, especially since I had to do it at a depth of 30 feet in order to avoid a school of jellyfish that were drifting by.

My partner had to keep up with the group by himself for the remainder of the dive.

Here is a video of the second dive of the day, a reef that is 40 feet under water:

This job doesn't pay much, as I only made $40 in profit for two days' work after paying for fuel, equipment, hotel, meals, and everything else, but I have my pension, and you can't beat the working conditions.

The only ones

... qualified to DUI. A Volusia County Deputy is caught on video, driving while intoxicated in her patrol car, and a 7 year old child in her car.

It is time for taxpayer funded take home patrol cars to come to an end.

Fail deadly policy

A 7-11 store is robbed by a man who attacks a clerk with a cup of hot coffee, pulls a knife, and attempts to steal the contents of the register. The clerk, who had been robbed several times during his six years there, drew a handgun and the robber fled without anyone getting hurt.

The clerk lost his job for violating a 'no weapons' policy.

Like I have said before, the employer faces liability if they do not prohibit weapons. They face no liability if a defenseless employee or customer is killed by a criminal. The truth here is that the business thinks that their bottom line is more important than the lives of its customers and employees.

That is why I don't care what your policy is: I carry everywhere I am permitted to by law. I don't give two shits about your policy.

Password foolishness

Passwords. I understand that many web admins want to ensure the security of their systems. I recently had to change my password for a site, and here are the requirements:
1 Password must be changed every 90 days.
2 Password cannot be a repeat of any of your last ten passwords.
3 Password must contain three of the following: Capital letter, number, punctuation mark, lower case letter
4 Password cannot be a variation of your name

Seriously, most of my online accounts are not that important. Places like pizza delivery, sandwich shops, online forums, and the like don't need that sort of security. I have to try to remember 100s of passwords. Sure, I can use a password wallet, but that is kind of a weak point, isn't it? After all, if a hacker wants to get my accounts, he can hit paydirt from getting the password from my wallet...

Plural of anecdotes is not data

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, violent crime is up 15% in 2012 over 2011, the second year of increased crime. Sounds scary, right? Until you look at where this information came from. The survey is conducted in 40,000 or so homes by the National Opinion Research Center for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and is intended to determine if the respondents were victims of crimes that they did not report to police. In other words, it is purely unverified and anecdotal.
The results are then assigned a score, and a weighting factor is assigned. The score is then used to determine how much crime is being committed. In other words, it is pure garbage.
The National Opinion Research Center is located on the campus of the University of Chicago. See the pattern? In order to support more gun laws, Obama needs more crime. Since he can't show increasing crime using police records, he invents it himself using Chicago politics.

Domestic violence ap

There is an ap that is supposed to calculate and determine whether or not a person is in an abusive relationship. I decided to head on over and take a look at it, to see where we stand. I took the assessment. My answers are in red.

The first two questions are about the gender of you and your partner. If you answer that you are a male with a female partner, the ap kicks you out. Apparently, they don't care if men are victims of violence perpetrated by women. I answered that I am a female with a male partner.
Question three: "My partner and I fight a lot, and sometimes it gets physical." (Notice that it doesn't ask WHO starts the violence) No
Next Question: Do you feel owned and controlled by your boyfriend/ex-boyfriend? Yes
Question five: Does your boyfriend or ex-boyfriend make you feel unsafe? Yes

Question six: Has the physical violence increased in severity or frequency over the past year? No
Question seven: Does he own a gun? Yes
Question eight: During the past year, have you left him or broken up with him after living together, having sex, or being a couple (even if you got back together)?(subquestion: if you never lived together, check here) Yes, no
Question nine: Is he unemployed? no

Question ten: Has he ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a lethal weapon? no

Question eleven: Does he threaten to kill you? no

Question twelve: Has he avoided being arrested for domestic violence? yes

Question thirteen: Do you have a child that is not his? no
Question fourteen: Has he ever forced you to have sex when you did not wish to do so? no
Question fifteen: Does he ever try to choke you? no

Question sixteen: Does he use illegal drugs? no

Question seventeen:Is he an alcoholic? no

Question eighteen: Does he control most or all of your daily activities? For instance: does he tell you who you can be friends with, when you can see your family, how much money you can spend, whether or not you can use birth control, or put a GPS tracker on your phone? no

Question ninteen: Is he violently and constantly jealous of you? no

Question twenty: Have you ever been beaten by him while you were pregnant? no

Question twenty one: Has he ever threatened or tried to commit suicide? no

Question twenty two: Does he threaten to harm your children? no

Question twenty three: Do you believe that he is capable of killing you? yes

Question twenty four: Does he follow or spy on you, leave threatening notes or messages, destroy your property, or call you when you don't want him to? no

Question twenty five: Have you ever threatened or tried to commit suicide? no

I scored a "14" which, according to the app, puts me in severe danger. Reading my responses above, the "risk factors" are: A woman who recently broke up with a man that has a job, owns a gun, and has recently broken up with his girlfriend. There have never been any physical altercations between the two, the woman has no children.
Being a man and owning a gun makes you a suspect for committing violence against women, according to One Love. I would have taken it again, but the app only lets you take the test once.

Blackfish

Tonight: Thursday, October 24 at 9 pm, CNN will be airing the documentary "Blackfish" which provides a look at the life of the killer whale that was involved in the death of three people, the last in 2010. OSHA cited Sea World for numerous deficiencies, and demanded that the company provide a copy of their safety procedures, which the park has thus far refused to do, claiming that it is a trade secret.

I know the paramedics who were there. I know Sea World employees. Many of them defend the park, and say that Dawn died the way she wanted. I doubt that. No one wants to die by drowning after having your skull popped open by a whale, having their arm torn off and eaten, and then being a whale's underwater play toy for more than half an hour.

Any business that has a death of an employee needs to look at the circumstances of that death, and make real changes that will prevent a recurrence. Sea World has steadfastly refused to do so, and they need to be held accountable.

 I will watch the show tonight and see what they have to say.

Like us, only better

A married guy is stalking his mistress and threatening suicide if she breaks up with him. His wife gets in a fight with her, and beats her up. He shows up at her home in the middle of the night, and she is so scared, she calls 911:

"I'm in my room. I am armed right now. I don't know what he's going to do,"

The woman is so afraid of the man and his wife that she won't even go home. The police won't investigate, and claim that there are no violations of the law here. Why do they say that?

All three of the individuals involved are cops.

Food stamps for sale on Craigslist

Food stamp recipients are turning the government handouts into quick cash with ads on Craigslist, despite efforts to stem fraud.

Thought for the day...

Red Light Cameras

In Florida during 2010, there were 53 fatal accidents that were caused by red light running. In 2011, Florida began allowing red light cameras, for safety reasons, they said. That year, there were 72 fatal crashes caused by red light running.
The tickets are not reported on the violating driver's license, and so they cannot be a factor in suspending a license, nor can the insurance company raise your rates as a result. What these cameras do is perform as a cash cow for local governments that are eager to take more of your money. The scheme does not ticket the offender. Unlike an officer-issued ticket, the scheme tickets the vehicle owner, relies upon a guilty until proven innocent clause in the law to provide government leverage to ensure private sector profit, and thus turns a function of government into a for-profit enterprise. The huge amount of money involved is a source of corruption for those in government.
 Meanwhile, in Texas, American Traffic Solutions (ATS) is threatening Texas vehicle owners with drivers' license suspensions if they fail to pay up when a red light camera ticket is sent in the mail. Under state law, the company cannot make good on its threat. A red light camera ticket fine is $75, or $100 if not paid within thirty days. To encourage payment, ATS includes a brochure with the citation that purports to describe additional consequences of not sending in a check immediately.

Just a worthless piece of paper

So Schwarzenegger wants to run for President. There is a Constitutional issue here, in that he is not a natural born citizen.

This sets up an interesting dilemma. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the birthers' theory that Obama is not a natural born citizen, the court battles surrounding the claim raised an interesting point: According to the US Court system, no one has standing to enforce the Constitution in the even that someone is elected President in defiance of the Constitution.

Concealed carry for women

I stumbled on a website where women can buy fashionable articles of clothing to hide their concealed weapon. I have no idea about quality or suitability, I am just aware that many women have problems finding things like this, and thought I would pass it along.

Like us, only better

A couple gets arrested for having oral sex on a plane. Consensual activity. They are fined $250 each in a plea deal. The man loses his job.

A Federal Air Marshal gets arrested for taking pictures up women's skirts on board an airplane while he is supposed to be looking for terrorists. A non-consensual act. Bartsch was arrested, and according to a police report had taken 10 to 12 photos. He told authorities he had done it before. He MAY be suspended or terminated. He is charged with 'disorderly conduct' (a misdemeanor) instead of being charged under Tennessee's video voyeurism law. That law is a class E felony, and carries a penalty of 1-6 years in prison.

This guy was charged for the same thing in my neck of the woods. It must be good to be one of the anointed ones.

On your own

A woman is attacked in a Wal Mart parking lot, and an employee of the store tried to help her. He was fired, because the retail store has a policy against it.Businesses do not care about you. To them, you are a walking wallet with a potential lawsuit attached, and they will do whatever the law will allow to escape that liability.

This is why I do not follow "no guns" signs. The law says that they can avoid the liability of a lawsuit if they prohibit weapons, even if prohibiting weapons means that the criminals are free to kill everyone in the store. It also says they are liable if there is not a policy, and someone with a weapon injures someone. No brainer: they prohibit weapons.

The law also says that they are liable if one of their employees uses force to injure someone, even if that someone is a criminal. So the result here is that you, as a customer, are on your own.

However, at least in Florida, the law also says that I am free to ignore your silly sign, and that is exactly what I do.

Party of principles

The Republicans prove that they pay mere lip service to their stated principles:

We can preempt the debt explosion. Backed by a Republican Senate and House, our next President will propose immediate reductions in federal spending, as a down payment on the much larger task of long-range fiscal control. We suggest a tripartite test for every federal activity. First, is it within the constitutional scope of the federal government? Second, is it effective and absolutely necessary? And third, is it sufficiently important to justify borrowing, especially foreign borrowing, to fund it? Against those standards we will measure programs from international population control to California’s federally subsidized high-speed train to nowhere, and terminate programs that don’t measure up.

 They always tell you that they want to cut the deficit, but never do. The politics always get in the way. The recent government shutdown was ended because certain Republican congressmen were paid off with pork being sent to their districts.

Key Republicans get pork for their district, Federal workers got paid for the time they missed during the shutdown, proving that this was political theater and politics as usual in Washington. Party of principles, my ass.

This train wreck is not going to be avoided. We are on a road to ruin, and there is no avoiding it. $17 trillion already borrowed, more printed, and $100 trillion promised. Sooner or later, the house of cards will fall.

Violent act, obcene gesture, or what?

The Osceola School Board admitted wrongdoing Tuesday night after administrators suspended an 8-year-old for using his finger as a toy gun in September. After a public outcry, the school initially offered to change Jordan's punishment from an “act of violence” to an “inappropriate or obscene gesture,” but the boy's mother refused to accept the punishment.

After some debate, the school board agreed to reinstate the boy, and count the suspension as an excused absence. I want to know which school board members were on the side of the debate that wanted to keep the suspension in place. That way, we know who to campaign for removal from office, come next election.

EDITED TO ADD ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

Video of the school board meeting can be found here. The portion of the meeting that is applicable begins at 49:00 and ends at 61:03 of the video labelled "October 01, 2013 Board Meeting."

Board Members with common sense:
Jay Wheeler "We are elected to represent the public, not the school district."
Kelvin Soto "That doesn't mean that you can't come to us. I don't subscribe to the idea that the principal has the final say. The parents do have a voice through us, the school board."


Board members who deserve to lose their jobs in the next election. Each of them adopted an attitude towards the parent that it was not the school board's place to second guess the principal, and basically told the parent to sit down and shut up.

Tom Long "It is not this board's job to intervene in individual cases of discipline." That is exactly your job, tool. That is why we have an elected board.
Tim Weisheyer
Barbara Horn

In addition, the school superintendent Melba Luciano and deputy superintendent Tom Phelps need to be out as well. They are appointed by the board.

She had to hire a lawyer, Mr Nejame, to protect her son for making a finger gun. The county's attorney pointed out that there is no appeals process for a child being suspended: the principal has the final say in all discipline matters. This is insanity. A child attends school under mandatory order of the government, and the child is having his or her permanent school record damaged by this discipline, there needs to be a review process.
I will be voting accordingly in the next election.

Monster Control Bureau in action

Last year people the news was buzzing about a drug called Bath Salts. This year the buzz is about a drug called Krokodil. But according to a confidential source the reality is these drugs are a cover up for zombies.

(BTW- this is a site that is well known for satire.)

Extortion

While researching this post, I came across the story of Turbeville, SC. This town is a small town that sits astride the route between I-95 and Myrtle Beach, a popular tourist destination. This town passed an ordinance that allows the cops in the town to write speeding tickets that are much higher than the state penalty for speeding: Up to $500 each.
The way it works is that the speed limit drops from 60 mph to 35 mph in a matter of a half mile or so. Cops sit there and catch motorists (tourists, mostly). They threaten to arrest them and give them 30 days of jail time. Then they offer to let them go in exchange for paying cash to the officer.

The officer didn't arrest Hudson for driving without a license, instead he made Marques an offer.

"He asked me for $488, so they can let me go," he said.

"So, it was either you pay the money or go to jail?" Barr asked.

"Or go to jail, yep," Marques said.

The chief gave Marques a receipt for the bond he posted, then allowed one of the other men in the van to drive away from the scene.

"At the end though, you decided: either you comply, pay the ticket or you go to jail?" Barr asked.

"Yeah, I pay the ticket, I don't want to go to jail because I'm working, so I just pay him cash," Marques told WIS.

According to the report, the reporters watched the chief of police write 8 of those tickets in just two hours. All but one of the drivers was from out of state and paid the fine rather than stay around to go to court. Lucrative for the city. This way, the city keeps the entire fine, while writing an actual speeding ticket causes them to split the money with the state.



The town encompasses only 1.3 square miles and has a population of  only 766 people. This town has 4 cops that write $650,000 a year in traffic tickets. (pdf warning) The total city budget is $1.9 million a year, with traffic tickets comprising a third of the city's income.Even more amazing is that the per capita income of the city is $13,465, and the per capita cost of city government is $2,482, or about 18%.

It is things like this that make me believe that we are becoming a third world, banana republic police state. Since this is illegal under state law, how are the cops in this case any different from any other armed robber?

Cop arrests woman for spurning his advances

An off duty cop, drinking in a bar, propositions a female soldier in a bar. She rebukes his advances, so he goes out to his car and retrieves his handcuffs, gun, and badge, and then arrests her. Here is the story.When other bar patrons try to intervene, he threatens to arrest them for interfering with police business.





At one point, he says "This is how a Marine deals with soldiers." He even orders them to stop recording and to leave the bar, threatening them with arrest for not obeying his orders. He also, according to the patrons on the recording, displayed a firearm. The patrons discuss the fact that concealed weapons are not allowed in bars. They are mistaken.

Cops are allowed to carry guns almost everywhere, even when drunk in a bar. It is illegal to resist an officer in most states, even if the cop in question is breaking the law himself. This means that anyone that tried to stop him would have wound up shot or in jail. We need to do away with the idea that cops are always on duty. If that is the case, then they should never drink, and should all be placed on salary with no overtime pay. After all, if they are always on duty, then they need their wits about them at all times, right?

The sheriff stands behind his deputy, and insists that he did nothing wrong.

However, Sheriff Leon Lott says the CPD made a mistake in arresting Derrick.
Lott says columbia police believed Derrick did not have the authority to make an arrest. He says Derrick does have that authority.
The sheriff also disputes a suggestion in the CPD incident report that Derrick was making an advance on the woman but had been rejected. He says his deputy was trying to calm the soldier. 

 I'm betting you that he will be back on the job in a few days, with no consequences.

EDITED TO ADD YOUTUBE VIDEO 

Disney employee pedphilia

A Disney employee was arrested yesterday for possession and solicitation of child pornography. This happens at Disney with a fair amount of frequency. With Disney being such a target rich environment for criminals of all types, it doesn't surprise me.

What does surprise me is Disney's attitude towards the problem. When an employee of the company is arrested for child pornography, Disney suspends them, pending the outcome of the charges. The company states that the accused employees are innocent until proven guilty.

That same courtesy does not apply to employees that are found to have a firearm in their car. Doug and Linda Gray, had been faithful employees of the company for a decade, and were fired in 2007 after it was discovered that they had a firearm in their car. They also were given a trespass warning that barred them from ever again entering company property.

A security guard was fired for having a gun in his car in 2008, despite the fact that Florida had recently signed a "guns in parking lots" law that prohibits an employer from taking action against employees who bring guns to work and leave them in the car. Disney claims that they are exempt, but that is smoke and mirrors.

In short, pedophiles are innocent until proven guilty of a crime. Gun owners, having committed no crime, are guilty. Disney, whose policy violates the law, denies being guilty of anything.

Thanks for enabling the child molesters, Disney.

Astroturfing the Exchanges

I managed to get an ObamaCare Quote:

$399.40 a month for what is called a "Silver Plan." The costs are:
Copay: first three PCP visits is free. $55 copay after. 
$75 copay for specialist, plus you need a referral from PCP.

First ER visit $75, then $750 for each visit thereafter. 
Imaging copay for MRI, CT, etc. is $350, except Xray which is $150. 
Physical and speech therapy is $75 per visit.
Prescritions are $10 for generic, otherwise $60, $100, $150, depending on the drug.
There is a $5,000 deductible.

Of course, people who actually can sign up are another matter entirely. The article here says that two Orlando area students were able to sign up. The problem is that the MSM apparently didn't bother to do their jobs and research the report. A Google search discovers that the two students that got cheap insurance from the exchange are probably plants for some Democrat Astroturf campaign.

According to the article:

Florida CHAIN, a statewide consumer health advocacy group, has highlighted the story of

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/13/3685595/obamacare-enrollees-become-urban.html#storylink=cpy

Vincent Mutia, a 24-year-old political science student at the University of Central Florida.
Mutia said he tried to enroll on the first day but ran into problems that kept him from shopping the available plans, applying for a subsidy and making a purchase.
“In the last few days,’’ Mutia told the Herald on Friday, “the experience became more fluid. I was able to put in all my information. After the security questions, I created an account.”

 According to his Linked In profile, Vincent Mutia held the titles of  "Deputy Field Organizer" and "Organizing Fellow" for Obama for America in 2012. He has a BA in Political Science. The group that "highlighted" the story is Florida CHAIN. Who are they?

 Florida CHAIN is a statewide consumer health advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health of all Floridians by promoting access to affordable, quality health care. We fulfill the critical role of building the capacities for and linking consumer, community and service organizations with health care advocacy. We provide policy education, collaborative networking, training, and communications and organizing tools to the public, allied partners, media and policy makers.

 How about Daniel McNaughton? According to HIS Linked In profile, his specialties include "Political Organizer" and "Volunteer Coordinator." He also claims to have been an intern for a Democrat State Senator, Dave Aronberg, in 2009. His girlfriend appears to be a member of  NASW-FL, which is the National Association of Social Workers. 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/13/3685595/obamacare-enrollees-become-urban.html#storylink=cpy

Living large with other people's money...

There are a number of Congressmen who are trying to spend $31.50 a week, claiming that this is the average that people receiving food stamps are allotted. What they don't tell you is that the SNAP system is a scam.

Let's use my home state as an example: Florida's minimum wage is $7.79 an hour. That means that a person making minimum wage earns $16,203 a year. SNAP is limited to those who earn no more than 130% of the Federal poverty line. That means that a  family of three is considered to be SNAP eligible if they are earning about $26,000 a year.

Let's use that as our example: A single mother of two, ages 10 and 6, who is earning minimum wage. She would receive $396 a month in SNAP benefits. That same woman would get $5,372 a year in Earned Income Credit. There are other aid programs out there that will get her more benefits, but let's concentrate just on this for now. This woman's take home pay is $25,159 a year, counting her pay minus what payroll taxes she would pay, plus EIC and SNAP.

Many of you will say that $25 a year doesn't sound like a lot, especially with two kids to feed, and you are right, it isn't. It is still enough that this mom can afford luxuries, since she is getting about ten grand a year worth of our money. I know this makes me sound heartless, but let me tell you why this is on my mind:

I know that woman. She has two girls from two different husbands. She works as a waitress, since that is all of the work that she can get with a GED. You see, she dropped out of high school to marry her sweetheart when she was 17 years old. Still, she earns far more than the minimum wage that she tells the government about. In fact, she gets up to $150 a day in tips working at TGI Friday's. 

Does she put that money away? No. Instead, she bought passes to Universal Orlando for her, her two children, and her unemployed boyfriend. They have money aplenty for booze. Her first husband and his new girlfriend come over to drink with them. The girlfriend is collecting disability for her debilitating fibromyalgia that somehow only manifests when she wants to use it to her advantage, and doesn't prevent her from riding roller coasters, but that is a story for another time...

So don't feel too sorry for them, they are doing better than you are. Let the SNAP system stop, and it is the white people's fault...

Feminism makes women into sex objects

Last year, I took a college course and met a woman named Danielle, who was telling me that she was attending college in order to meet a man that would care for her. She said that she knew she was pretty, and was going to use her youthful body and good looks to land herself a man that would be her meal ticket.

The feminist movement has been telling women for years that they do not have to learn cooking, cleaning, and laundry, because that is part of some sort of misogynistic man's idea of womanhood, and they should not stand for it.

This is how you wind up with women like Jennifer, who have this viewpoint. Jennifer doesn't even see that her attitude is a big part of the reason why she is a 38 year old woman who once told me that she longs to find her "Prince Charming" but is still single, and can't understand why.

Women want men to assume the traditional role of breadwinner, while still maintaining their own career and their own money, and refusing to support the household by cleaning, cooking, or any other chores.

I can cook fairly well. I clean. I do laundry. I have my own money. That is not the case with the women out there. It is rare indeed to find a woman who can cook or clean house. Most women today know nothing about how to do laundry. The things that were considered women's work half a century ago have faded from the modern woman's vocabulary.

So that leaves us with a question: What does a woman who cannot cook, clean, keep house, and has no real job skills offer a man? At this point, all she brings to the table is sex.

Each and every woman that I have dated or had as a girlfriend knows less about cooking, cleaning, and other household chores than I do. The vast majority of them have no career skills or training. In short, the majority of today's women bring nothing to the table but sex, meaning that they have been reduced to nothing more than life support for female sex organs...and they have the feminist movement to thank for it.

As Sunshine Mary has to say:

Despite over forty years of feminist indoctrination, most women still have a maternal drive, the instinct to nurture a child.  However, after spending all of their fertile years earning degrees and climbing the career ladder, once they finally stop and take a breath and realize how very much they want a child, women are often unable to produce their own children.  

Men look around and see what? They marry a woman who makes less than they do, is so busy with a career that she doesn't want kids, she can't cook, can't clean, and can't offer anything to the man that he doesn't already have. Except sex. Even if he does marry her, there is a 50% chance that he will lose half of everything that he owns, even though the woman didn't contribute to 50% of the financial portion of the marriage. She didn't even contribute the intangible contribution of maintaining the household.

Seven out of ten divorces are initiated by the wife. In college educated couples, 90% of divorces are initiated by women. From Byrdeye's post "Divorce is highway robbery."

More shockingly still, a woman can simply accuse her husband of sexual or physical abuse (or simply express a fear of it) and instantly win a restraining order forcing him away from his home and children, without so much as a hearing. In fact, most divorce lawyers will advise a woman to do this, and those who do not can be sued for legal malpractice.

So, with all of the risk, and considering that the only thing that women bring to a relationship is a commodity that not only becomes less valuable as the woman ages but is freely available without marriage, it is no wonder that many men are staying single.

Drug history

Weerd claims that

the world would be a scary place if you could buy Heroin at every drug store

 and I want to reply to him, but this is going to be long enough that it will require its own post, so here goes:

Drugs like Heroin, cocaine, and morphine used to be available over the counter. By the late nineteenth century, countries such as Britain and Germany had enacted pharmacy laws to control dangerous drugs, but under the US Constitution, individual states were responsible for medical regulation. Late in the century some state laws required morphine or cocaine to be prescribed by physician, but drugs could still be obtained from bordering states with laxer regulation.

There were many "tonics" and other products that could be bought over the counter, and contained strong drugs. Bayer marketed and sold a heroin based syrup. It was frequently used to soothe a teething baby's gums. Coca Cola had cocaine as its active ingredient. Aspirin was also invented and widely marketed in those days. Had the same processes been in effect then as today, Aspirin would never have seen the light of day.

In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed the Harrison Narcotic Act, which exploited the federal government’s power to tax as a mechanism for finally enabling federal regulation of medical transactions in opium derivatives or cocaine. The main impetus for national drug laws in the US was diplomatic. As today, China was seen as the greatest emerging market, to which the Americans sought improved access. To help the massive Chinese opium problems, the US had led an international campaign culminating in the Hague Opium Convention of 1912, which required signatories to enact domestic legislation controlling opium trade.

During the early 1920s a number of New York addicts supported themselves by collecting scrap metal from industrial dumps, so earning the label ‘junkies’. Heroin addiction was blamed for a number of the 260 murders that occurred in 1922 in New York (which compared with seventeen in London). These concerns led the US Congress to ban all domestic manufacture of heroin in 1924. Two years later, however, US Narcotic Inspector S.L. Rakusin declared that heroin seemed ‘more plentiful than it ever was before’.

Just like the laws of today, the government used its taxing power to get the nose of the camel into the tent. Also like today, they used the difference in murder rates between US cities and London to blame an inanimate object, to facilitate the outlawing of that object.

Now, I will grant you that addiction was a problem. During this period,about 1 in every 304 people was addicted to one of these drugs. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the rate of addiction of heroin is now 1: 97,000.  That isn't due to heroin being any less available, just less popular due to availability of better drugs. The rate of addiction of all illicit drugs today is much higher. One in 13 people has used an illicit drug in the past month, 1 in 70 if marijuana is not counted. One in 125 Americans has used cocaine in the past month. 

So you see, drugs are more of a problem today, now that they are regulated, than they were when you could buy them over the counter. Along with that, we have other problems:
The police raids, asset forfeiture, and intensely high incarceration of people for drug offenses. The abuses of police power that go with it, and the monetary costs to society.
Street gangs and other criminal enterprises are deriving much of their money from the sale and smuggling of illicit drugs. The fact that these drugs are illegal is what drives much of the profits.

The war on drugs is a complete failure. The number of people taking and using drugs is higher now than when they could be bought over the counter, and there was no such thing as prescription only drugs. The number of people in this country that are in prison, being murdered because of the illicit trading of drugs, and property and lives lost to the police, not to mention our lost liberties, has skyrocketed to the point where we are almost living in a police state. 

Elections have consequences

I came across this piece, and I agree.

Back in 2008, when then-candidate Obama promised Joe the Plumber and the rest of America that he intended to spread the wealth around, most democrat and liberal voters embraced the notion of wealth redistribution under the guise of equality. A universal health care plan, that would be free for all Americans, was the promise from the candidate of hope and change.
Tens of millions of Americans jumped on the bandwagon waving their flags, fainting at his appearances, and fawning over his every word.

There's more:

You, and the rest of the 50 million people who elected Barack Obama to not one, but two terms, deserve the pain that’s coming.
You asked for it. Now bask in it.

Go. Read the whole thing.

L&R Armory again

Back in April of this year, I posted that L&R Armory, a gun shop in Central Florida, was selling stripped lowers for $900. When I gave them a low rating on Facebook, they deleted my rating along with my comments, and blocked me from rating them further.
Now, an anonymous poster with a Central Florida IP address who landed on my blog by Google searching the name of the store, has commented that I am a crybaby for complaining about high prices and poor service.
Unlike L&R Armory, I welcome comments. If Anonymous is in any way affiliated with L&R Armory, I invite you to man up and send me a comment and own up to it. Explain why you felt that you should charge $900 for a stripped lower.
If it is because you wanted the extra profits, own up to it.

New York School removes children's balls

A school in New York has announced that children will not be permitted to have any balls during recess, and will not be allowed to roughhouse without supervision.

The neutering of America.

I also couldn't resist the title.

Obamacare and credit scores

Floridians that are attempting to sign up for Obamacare under the new Affordable Care Act are finding out that a low credit score will increase your premiums. So under this plan, an insurance agency cannot charge more for a preexisting condition, but can charge more if you have a ding on your credit...

Psychological manipulation continues

Back in 2009, I posted about how the press uses subtle means to manipulate the opinion of the public. That trend continues. Consider the pictures that are circulating from the MSM about the government shutdown. Here are some pictures of the president:

Angry, resolute, surrounded by a halo. That is the message here.


Here are some pictures of John Boehner:

 Vacant, ill, looking stupid. That is the message here.

 We are being manipulated by the press. Obama the Lightbringer, that is the theme:

Boondoggle

The Mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer, signed a bill that will see Orlando constructing an $85 million soccer stadium. Just in June, he had to dip into reserve funds to balance the city's budget and cover a $12 million budgetary shortfall. He claimed that the "belt had been tightened to the very last hole" and that the city was reducing the size of the workforce in order to make ends meet. Of course, he may have been lying, since he tried to give himself a 21% raise just weeks later.

Sports venues cost taxpayers far more than they ever bring in to taxpayers. In Orlando's case, the city has a tax base of 238,000 people, meaning that an $85 million venue will cost $350 per resident. It is difficult to see how this venue bringing in a soccer team will bring in that amount of additional revenue. Why can't the team play in the largely unused Citrus bowl?

The Amway arena opened in 1989, after costing $110 million to build. It was open for 21 years, and was demolished in 2011. Why didn't they just refurbish it? Since it was open for 21 years, the cost to taxpayers was over $5 million for every year it was open, and that didn't include operating costs.

The Amway Arena was replaced in 2010 by the Amway Center, at a cost of half a billion dollars. The bonds for that project have been downgraded to 'junk' status. The reason that this place was rebuilt was because Rich Devos, the owner of both Amway and the Orlando Magic, wanted to have a venue with a higher number of lucrative executive suites. When taxpayers originally refused to fund the project in 2001, he retaliated by shutting down IHL's Orlando Solar Bears, leaving the city without a hockey team. This was a clear message to the taxpayers of the city: Pay up, or else.

 Several other teams were attempted in the area, but they failed.

Once the Arena was replaced by the new venue that Devos wanted, the Orlando Solar Bears were reincarnated as an ECHL team, and Devos allowed hockey to return to Orlando.

Do we really want yet another rich guy pulling the strings in Orlando at taxpayer expense?

Video of a shooting

This video of a police shooting shows us just how quickly things can go badly, and why magazine restrictions can hurt us.
Trooper Zistel stopped a man for speeding. Resisting multiple commands to get back in the car, the motorist draws a handgun and begins firing. During the gunfight, the assailant accidentally hit his magazine release, which may have saved the trooper's life.
The driver, with a bullet in his chest, jumped back in his car and made it about a half mile down the road before dying of his injuries.
Incredibly, he had his three children in the car with him.

From Fox 12 in Oregon.

Oregon State Police released a dashcam video showing a gun battle that unfolded Aug. 29 off an Interstate about 100 miles east of Portland and ended in the death of the suspect.
The video shows Trooper Matt Zistel, 26, pull over a Cadillac for speeding on I-84.  John Van Allen, 34, was the driver of the car, but when he is pulled over he immediately exits the car and stands next to it as the trooper commands him to step back inside his car.
Allen does not budge but asks why he was pulled over.  Remaining in a military stance, Allen refuses to obey the officer’s orders to get back inside his car.  He then drew a sidearm and began firing at the officer.
- See more at: http://gunsnfreedom.com/shootout-on-i-84-when-trooper-pulls-over-cadillac-caught-on-dashcam/#sthash.WfMs6gCu.dpuf

Patents and Copyrights

The Constitution grants Congress the power:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries

That power is being abused. Let me illustrate:

Pelagic is a company that makes SCUBA diving computers. The purpose of these computers is to allow a diver to manage his life support equipment. Pelagic used to offer computers that would not only allow a diver to monitor the amount of breathing gas left in their own tanks, but to wirelessly monitor their buddy's gas pressure as well. According to the manufacturer, that feature was removed on November 1, 2011, due to a patent infringement claim. To my knowledge, no other manufacturer offers this feature. Meaning that the patent is not furthering the arts, but is merely keeping competitor's products from reaching the market.

The "Happy Birthday Song" cannot be performed in public, because the Copyright's owner, Warner Music, demands royalties. The problem is that the song was written in 1893 by a pair of sisters, and was not copyrighted until 1935 by entirely different people. Even if not, does a 120 year period seem like a "limited time" as stated in the Constitution? After all, the exclusive right was said to be "for limited Times to Authors and Inventors." Over a century later, the beneficiary of a writing or discovery is certainly not the author or inventor, it is most likely going to be a corporation. In the case of Warner Music, the company makes $2 million a year from royalties for singing the birthday song.

Where did this come from? Well, the latest came from the Copyright Term Extension Act, passed in 1998. Before that time, Copyrights were good for the life of the author plus 50 years. The Act extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.

This was done at the behest of the Walt Disney Company, to preserve the copyright on Mickey Mouse, and Mary Bono, to preserve the profits she was making from her father's works. Walt Disney died in 1966, and this law is in place to protect the profits of the corporation until 2019.

How does this further the Arts? Or science? Instead of furthering the Arts and Sciences, Copyrights and Patents have been twisted to suppress them in order to preserve and increase corporate profits. Instead of encouraging the arts, this law is simply allowing the companies to sit on their laurels and collect royalties.If the term were shortened, the entertainment companies would be forced to innovate and create in order to maintain profitability, rather than simply market and license century old ideas.

I understand that Authors and Inventors need to profit from their work, but I am not sure that one needs to profit for the rest of their lives, or for a century.

I think that 10 years is more than enough time.

Huh?

Since when does the President get to order Congress to do anything? Apparently, this President can order Congress to buy a certain level of insurance. Obama has decreed that Congress must buy the "Gold" plan under Obamacare. Where does that power come from?

 Is there no limit to what this government thinks it can do?

Camera control

Every time a person commits a crime with a firearm, we hear people come out of the woodwork, demanding that we place more restrictions on gun ownership. A man is being sought in Orlando for using the camera on his cell phone to take upskirt pictures of little girls.
We should take immediate action:
There should be a waiting period for any electronic device with a camera.
Mandatory background check for all camera sales.
All camera sales should be required to go through a dealer, so that a background check can be done.
To prevent surreptitious filming, no cameras of less than 8 inches in length, or less than a combined length and width of 14 inches. Additionally, they must make a loud noise when filming/taking pictures.
No camera devices may use more than 20% imported parts.
Must have a license to buy a camera.


It's for the children.

Tom Clancy dies

I must have read each of Tom Clancy's novels a dozen times. He died yesterday at the age of 66. It seems that as of late, I read of deaths and think: "Man, he isn't that much older than I am."

When I was in the Navy, Clancy was easily my favorite author. I remember waiting to buy each novel as it came out. (Until he began allowing others to publish and use his name. That was when the suck began.) I must have worn out three copies of Red Storm Rising, until ebooks came out.

He was a smart man that seemed to be prescient. He predicted that a highjacked aircraft would be used to attack the United States. 

Sad day

Petulant children.

If you go to a Federal Government website today, you will notice that the page has been replaced. For example, the USDA's site has this notice:

The FTC has this one:

Never let a crisis go to waste. The Whitehouse has the following:

Note what it says:

Because Congress did not fulfill its responsibility to pass a budget, much of the federal government is shut down.

Conveniently ignoring the fact that Obama has been running the country for his entire Presidency without a budget. His proposed budget for last year was rejected 414-0 in the House, and 99-0 in the Senate. His budget the year before went down 97-0 in the Senate. In fact, Obama has failed in his own legal obligation to deliver a budget to congress on time. He has failed to do so in three of the last four years. In fact, the last time that congress passed a budget was April 29,2009.

This is not about a budget, this is about the president wanting Congress to increase the debt limit, and essentially give Obama unlimited access to whatever funds he desires. Obama is using this to push his agenda.

Irony

A new law banning texting while driving goes into effect today in Florida. Tam said it best:

The irony of this law being enforced by a guy carrying a pager, a cell phone, a two-way radio and playing Solitaire on the laptop bolted to his transmission tunnel while he keeps one eye on the readout of his radar gun is duly noted.