Saturday, August 24, 2013

Concealed Carry: What Do Police Think?

Every concealed-carry permit holder has more than likely wondered how the law enforcement community feels about the “average Joe” carrying a concealed weapon. So did I. Fortunately, I have friends who are police officers in my area—some who trained me in the police academy, some who were a classmates—and could ask the questions that many of us have pondered.
image compliments of Thearmedcitizen.net
Image courtesy of thearmedcitizen.com.
HOW DOES A SWAT OFFICER FEEL ABOUT CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS?
I asked this of one of my friends (name withheld for his safety, but we’ll call him Billy) who currently works as a SWAT officer, in the narcotics unit, and as a police academy instructor. I asked him how he feels about the “average Joe” carrying a concealed firearm in public. Billy stated, “Honestly, I love the idea of what the concealed weapons permit offers to the public. In the 10 years I have been a police officer, I have learned that crime finds you, no matter if you are ready or not. It does not make me nervous knowing that the person behind me at the store may be armed, it actually relaxes me to know that there is someone ready if crime knocks on his door.”
DO YOU GET NERVOUS WHEN PULLING SOMEONE OVER WHO REVEALS THEY HAVE A PERMIT AND ARE ARMED?
Billy calmly said, “A traffic stop is the main cause to be nervous, as they are very dangerous. But when I am informed that the occupants are armed and they have an active permit, it tells me that they aren’t trying to hide anything.”

Tougher gun laws would not have saved Chris Lane

The prosecutor of an Oklahoma murder case, called a thrill-killing in which a man was shot while jogging, said more gun laws would not have saved the victim.
"These kids were not supposed to have a .22-[caliber] revolver in the first place," Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks said of the two teenagers charged with first-degree murder and a third charged with accessory to murder.
The three are accused in the death of Christopher Lane, 22, an Australian citizen in Oklahoma on a college baseball scholarship. Charged with murder are James Edwards Jr., 15, and Chancey Luna, 16, and charged with being an accessory and with use of a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon is Michael Jones, 17. All three are from Duncan.
Prosecutors allege Luna fired the fatal shot as Jones drove.
Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said Monday Jones claimed the shooting occurred because the three suspects were bored.
"All the evidence that we have suggests that they drove up next to him (Lane), pulled the trigger and took off. Very random," Hicks said.
"We've got statutes right now that prohibit those three from having a firearm. They're not legally entitled to have a .22-caliber revolver in the first place. You can give me another five, 10, 100, 1,000 laws. It's not going to stop them."

TEXAS RODEO TO FEATURE OBAMA CLOWN

A Texas rodeo isn’t shying away from controversy — instead, they are doing the opposite and promoting an appearance of a rodeo clown wearing a mask of President Obama this weekend.
Missouri Fair Obama Mask“You’ve heard about the controversy surrounding the Obama clown in Missouri,” read an announcement from the Mesquite Rodeo, according to the Dallas Observer.
“This weekend, an Obama clown is a special guest star as the Mesquie Rodeo puts on the grand finale to its 2013 season with non-stop action you will only find in the aptly named ‘Rodeo Capital of Texas,’” the announcement added.
As TheBlaze previously reported, an appearance of an Obama rodeo clown at a Missouri rodeo made national news in August, ultimately resulting in the rodeo clown being fired and banned for life from the fair.
Mesquite Arena General Manager Steve Gander reportedly said presidential rodeo clowns have been a long standing tradition at rodeos and that Obama will be joined at the event by three other presidents this weekend.
“Presidential and celebrity clowns and dummies have been in rodeo and other sports and entertainment events since before Richard Nixon,” Gander reportedly wrote.
“We are just being current and exercising our freedom of speech,” he added, assuring it will be “good clean family entertainment” and that the rodeo clowns will be “respectful.”

Appeals court rules against NYC soda ban

sodaban640.jpgAnother court ruling has taken the fizz out of New York City's ban on big, sugary sodas. 

A New York appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the city Board of Health exceeded its legal authority and acted unconstitutionally when it tried to put a size limit on soft drinks served in city restaurants. 

"The Board of Health overstepped the boundaries of its lawfully delegated authority," the court said in its decision. 
The state Supreme Court Appellate Division, with its opinion, upheld an earlier ruling that stopped the ban from taking effect in March. The rule would stop many eateries from selling non-diet soda and other sugar-laden beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces. 

The beverage industry and other opponents say the measure is riddled with exceptions, unfair and ineffective. 
The city's law department has promised an appeal. "Today's decision is a temporary setback, and we plan to appeal this decision as we continue the fight against the obesity epidemic," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

Via: Fox News


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CARTOON - Government Whistleblowing

August 22, 2013
Via: California Political Review

Conservatives Must Remove Traitor RINOs in Primaries or By Recall

Why is it that the overwhelming number of such ‘Benedict Arnolds’ are RINOs and have residence in the Republican Party?


The most nauseating of all political actions is the betrayal of the trust the voters place in their elected candidates after they get elected.  It tears down any promised platforms for the future of the country as stated in the Party’s mission during the election campaign and tells the voters of that Party that it’s OK to go back on the promises they made; in other words, become a lying traitor to the Party’s pledges of action on the issues.  Why is it that the overwhelming number of such ‘Benedict Arnolds’ are RINOs and have residence in the Republican Party?

If you want to find out who these double dealing and confused individuals are, follow closely the votes taken in both houses of Congress.  Of course you’ll find RINOs only in the Republican Party in keeping with the translation of the cited capital letters R. I. N. O., “Republicans In Name Only”.  There is no nationally known nickname for Democrats who practice this form of treachery that I have ever heard, such as D. I. N. O., “Democrats In Name Only”. 

Plainly speaking, it is the practice of going against what their Party has promised during the campaign intra-actions for the sake of their own pleasures, causing the public to view the offenders as traitors who easily break their campaign promises proving themselves as being untrustworthy. Democrats absolutely LOVE RINO’s. 

Democrats are great at lying to and betraying the entire country; Clinton and Obama being at the leadership for that mendacious madness, but the practice of comparing their votes with their political platforms usually finds more conformity than is found in the Republican Party votes.  It’s their platforms that are anti-American and would be better left ignored; bigger government, bigger spending, bigger taxes, amnesty for lawbreakers, more jobs for illegal aliens, and a whole litany of errors against the public good.


OBAMA DELAYS KEYSTONE PIPELINE DECISION AGAIN TO 2014

Delay after delay has kept the Obama administration from giving a final go ahead for construction of the Keystone pipeline and the upwards to 42,100 jobs it would create. Now the State Department is saying the decision will be pushed off again–this time until 2014.

This newest hurdle was put in place with a demand by environmentalists that the government investigate a supposed conflict of interest with the contractor that was hired to write a report on the pros and cons of the pipeline project. The review rated the project favorably.
The State Department’s Office of Inspector General announced on August 23 that the results of the investigation into whether or not Environmental Resources Management has ties to pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. won't be ready until January.
This late release of the results of the investigation almost assures that the government won't begin making any decisions until 2014.
The President has done everything he can to distance himself from having to make this final decision. He's demurred many times to definitively say where he stands on the project and has even diminished the number of jobs the pipeline will create, characterizing the whole project as inconsequential.
Earlier in the year, Obama said that the pipeline would only create 2,000 jobs and that the whole project was just a "blip" in the big jobs picture. This is a claim even the left-leaningPolitiFact.com called false.
Not long after that, the President absurdly downgraded his estimate even further, claiming that only 50 jobs would be created by the project.
Still, even Democrat backers of the project say they are "optimistic" that the whole thing will be approved eventually.
After a recent visit to the Canadian oil sands, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said she believes the pipeline will eventually get the green light.

NYPD cops say they won't go above and beyond the call of duty over 'stop-frisk' lawsuit risks

featured-imgNYPD beat cops posted a police-union warning in every precinct yesterday instructing officers not to go above and beyond the call of duty — or risk losing their jobs because of the new stop-and-frisk laws, The Post has learned.
“All officers should take action if he or she sees a crime in progress, or if he or she sees that his or her life or the life of another person is in danger . . . [But] all officers should be careful not to initiate any law-enforcement action that could be construed as violating the new legislation and subject the officer to legal action,” read the memo by Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch.
Several rank-and-file cops said yesterday that they plan on following Lynch’s advice rather than risk their careers.
“We are being told not to look for perpetrators of crimes because then we are opening ourselves up to a lawsuit and the job isn’t going to represent us,” a police source said.
“Crime is about to skyrocket. We are going to show up and take reports. This was the safest city in the country . . . Now most crimes will go unsolved.”
Another source added: “These rookies are just getting on the job out of college. They’re not going to risk their pensions. Arrests are going to drop, and crime’s going to soar.
“It really puts a wrench into law enforcement. They’re going to be second-guessing everything they do.”
Another cop agreed that fear of being sued will hinder investigations — even in rape cases.

VA giving big bonuses to absent, unlicensed, incompetent doctors

featured-imgPerformance bonuses were paid to Department of Veterans' Affairs doctors who were disciplined for practicing with an expired license, refusing to see emergency room patients, and leaving the operating room during surgery, according to a report issued Friday.
Every medical professional eligible for extra pay got it, regardless of performance or discipline, at the four hospitals studied by the Government Accountability Office.
The VA has no clear policy on what constitutes exceptional performance that should be rewarded by financial incentives, GAO found.
In the 2011 fiscal year, about 80 percent of the 22,500 doctors and dentists who work for the Veterans' Health Administration received performance pay boosts, which are annual awards in addition to their base salary, at a cost of about $150 million.
In addition, about 20 percent of those medical professionals received performance bonus awards that cost more than $10 million.
Not all VA medical professionals are eligible for performance incentives. Performance pay is supposed to be tied to meeting specific goals, while the bonus awards are supposed to be for exceptional work. However, GAO found even doctors with serious breaches of medical standards got the extra money.
For instance, one surgeon who was supervising residents left the medical center during an operation, leaving it to the residents to continue the procedure. They were unsupervised until another surgeon was found to oversee the operation.
The departing doctor was suspended without pay for 14 days, but received $11,189 in performance pay.
Another physician continued to practice medicine for three months at a VA facility on an expired medical license. The doctor was reprimanded when administrators found out, but still took home $7,663 in performance pay.

U.S. government sues to block vouchers in some Louisiana school systems


Gov Bobby Jindal Voucher Rally.jpgThe U.S. Justice Department is suing Louisiana in New Orleans federal court to block 2014-15 vouchers for students in public school systems that are under federal desegregation orders. The first year of private school vouchers "impeded the desegregation process," the federal government says.

Thirty-four school systems could be affected, including those of Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes. Under the lawsuit, the state would be barred from assigning students in those systems  to private schools unless a federal judge agreed to it. A court hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 19.

The statewide voucher program, officially called the Louisiana Scholarship Program, lets low-income students in public schools graded C, D or F attend private schools at taxpayer expense. This year, 22 of the 34 systems under desegregation orders are sending some students to private schools on vouchers.

Last year, at least 570 students were affected; the program has expanded since then. The federal petition would require the state to analyze this year's vouchers to see how they affected school desegregation. (Read the petition.)


Obama to ICE agents: Don't deport illegal parents of minor children

Just in time for the immigration debate in the House, the Obama administration sent a memo to ICE agents telling them they couldn't arrest and deport illegal alien parents who had minor children.
Washington Times:
The Obama administration issued a new policy Friday that says immigration agents should try not to arrest and deport illegal immigrant parents of minor children. The move adds to the categories of people the administration is trying not to deport.
In a nine-page memo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents should use "prosecutorial discretion" to try to avoid detaining parents and, if parents are detained, agents should make sure they have the ability to visit with their children or participate in family court proceedings.
The move won praise from immigrant-rights groups who said it's a step toward a less harsh detention policy. But a top Republican blasted the memo as another effort by the Obama administration to circumvent the law.
"President Obama has once again abused his authority and unilaterally refused to enforce our current immigration laws by directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to stop removing broad categories of unlawful immigrants," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte, Virginia Republican.
Mr. Goodlatte, whose committee is in charge of many of the immigration bills the House could consider later this year and who is working on a legalization bill for young illegal immigrants, said the Obama administration move "poisons the debate" and shows the president is trying to "politicize the issue" rather than work for a compromise bill.
Via: American Thinker

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Thousands attend 50th anniversary of King's speech in Washington

King_march.jpgTens of thousands of people marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and down the National Mall on Saturday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of King's famous speech and pledging that his dream includes equality for gays, Latinos, the poor and the disabled.

The event was an homage to a generation of activists that endured fire hoses, police abuse and indignities to demand equality for African Americans. But there was a strong theme of unfinished business.

"This is not the time for nostalgic commemoration," said Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the slain civil rights leader. "Nor is this the time for self-congratulatory celebration. The task is not done. The journey is not complete. We can and we must do more."

Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, said he would not be in office, nor would Barack Obama be president, without those who marched.

"They marched in spite of animosity, oppression and brutality because they believed in the greatness of what this nation could become and despaired of the founding promises not kept," Holder said.

Via: Fox News Politics


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Sen. Brown weighs in on Bernanke replacement

WASHINGTON — Sen. Sherrod Brown circulated a letter yesterday calling on President Barack Obama to appoint Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The letter, written by the Ohioan and signed by as many as 20 other Senate Democrats, commended Yellen’s career, saying she has had a “solid record as a bank regulator.”
Brown’s office declined to make the letter public. However, TheWall Street Journalreported yesterday that Brown was the letter’s author.
Yellen, 66, vice chairwoman of the Fed, is competing against former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers for the position. Summers, a former president of Harvard University, served as chairman of Obama’s National Economic Council.
Brown said in the letter that Yellen is a stronger candidate because of her “significant monetary policy experience,” including as deputy under Bernanke since 2010. She previously was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
In the letter, Brown praised Yellen’s ability to recognize the housing bubble of 2008 as a national threat, saying it was a feat that “speaks to her … intellectual rigor and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom regarding deregulation — traits essential for a successful Fed chairman.”
Yellen is a 1966 graduate of Brown University and earned a Ph.D. in economics from Yale in 1971. If Yellen were to be nominated and confirmed, she would be the first female chairman of the Fed board.
Bernanke’s second term as chairman ends on Jan. 31.

Pat Buchanan: 'Whites Are the Only Group That You Can Discriminate Against Legally in America Now'

Syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan made a statement Friday guaranteed to make liberal media members' heads spin.
During a discussion about Affirmative Action on PBS's McLaughlin Group, Buchanan said, "Whites are the only group that you can discriminate against legally in America now" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, HOST: Are you saying college admissions should be based on diversity?
ELEANOR CLIFT, NEWSWEEK/DAILY BEAST: Yeah, I mean, I think lots of factors go into diversity. I think race can be one of them, and I think the Supreme Court so far agrees with that.
MCLAUGHLIN: 67 percent opposed it, 28, you’re in the minority. Only 28 percent are in favor of it.
PAT BUCHANAN: It should be based on excellence, John.
CLIFT: As long as the Supreme Court agrees with me, I’m fine.
BUCHANAN: It should be like the NFL: whoever’s the best player plays, and whoever does best academically should be advanced. What is wrong with that?
MICHELLE BERNARD: Here’s a question I have. One of the things I always say because I think you can measure diversity in a lot of ways, but I think there’s an argument to be said that the greatest Affirmative Action program that there is in the country is being born white. There is a natural assumption when you are applying to institutions of higher education that you are excellent or you are more superb than others.
BUCHANAN: With due respect, whites are the only group that you can discriminate against legally in America now.
It may be a shocking thing to say on television, but is Buchanan right?
Via: Newsbusters

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American People to Barack Obama on Gun Control: “Our Eyes Are Wide Open!”

As the gun control issue rages on – and rest assured, friends, it is raging on – gun-grabbing criminals tell one contrived or fabricated lie after another, acting under the guise of representing the people while they continue down the road of pushing their illegal agenda “forward” in the face of the American people. 

If it is not Gabby Giffords receiving three illegal contributions through Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC (which amounts to $15,250), why, then it is Barack Hussein Obama attempting to give over control to the United Nations through illegal and unconstitutional means. 

Why is Barack attempting to circumvent “We the People”? Because the American people stood up and shouted out, “Our eyes are wide open!” 

Need I remind the American people that Eric Holder, the attorney general of the United States, empowered illegal drug dealers through “Fast and Furious” in Mexico with guns, only in turn to blame the crimes committed on the American people – crimes such as the deaths of border patrol agent Brian Terry, one Mexican beauty queen, as well as hundreds of Mexicans? 

Via: Freedom Outpost
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Pesident Obama Weekly Address: Making Higher Education More Affordable for the Middle Class

In his weekly address, President Obama notes that while college education has never been more important, it has also never been more expensive, which is why he proposed major new reforms this week to make college more affordable for middle class families and those fighting to get into the middle class.

Weekly Republican Address: Gov Mike Pence, Indiana: How Obamacare Hurts Jobs

GOP: In the Weekly Republican Address, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana discusses how Obamacare is "costing jobs, discouraging investment, and making the future bleak for too many families" nationwide. Unlike the Washington-knows-best mandates in Obamacare, Gov. Pence explains how his state has "lowered costs and improved outcomes" by "letting freedom and personal responsibility work together" through "a nationally--recognized program called the Healthy Indiana Plan."

Gov. Mike Pence: GOP Making Greatest Gains at State Level

Republican governors are passing laws that "preserve freedom" and protect themselves from federal mandates like Obamacare rather than waiting for Washington lawmakers to make meaningful change, first-term Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said in Saturday's weekly GOP address.

"The over-regulation, higher taxes and new mandates coming from Washington, D.C. are stifling our economy and hurting efforts being made in states across the country," Pence said.

Obamacare and its looming mandates are leaving business owners and workers in his state in "survival mode" as they try to "figure out how to survive the new normal of more regulations, higher taxes and the impending costs and mandates."

And as implementation of the law comes closer in October, Americans are learning about the burdens it will cause, said Pence.

"In Indiana, the Affordable Care Act will raise the average cost of health insurance in the individual market by an unaffordable 72 percent," said Pence. 

"In addition, the Obama administration is creating confusion in the marketplace, from its suspension of the cap on out-of-pocket expenses, to providing subsidies without verifying income, to a one-year suspension of the employer mandate, this health care law is weighing down our economy. It's costing jobs, discouraging investment and making the future bleak for too many families."

Thirty Republican governors nationwide are pushing back, Pence said, to "preserve freedom."

Via: Newsmax


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