When Marco Rubio is likened to shooter Nikolas Cruz, we’re not being serious.
By William McGurn
The Wall Street Journal
February 26, 2018
“Do you want to do nothing? Do you want to do nothing? Do you want to just do nothing? Just leave it the way it is?”
The words belong to Geraldo Rivera. He emoted them Thursday on the Fox News Channel during a live broadcast of Sean Hannity’s show from the Conservative Political Action Conference. In a perfect encapsulation of what the gun debate has become, Mr. Rivera was yelling at the crowd for booing his assertion that the National Rifle Association needed to back raising to 21 the age for purchasing an assault weapon—even though he’d just admitted “it won’t solve the problem.”
Still, the mini-drama on “Hannity” was nothing compared with the Two Minutes Hate on CNN the evening before. At a CNN-sponsored town hall held in Broward County, Fla.—home to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the latest school shooting occurred—the NRA’s Dana Loesch was greeted with shouts of “murderer” as she tried to argue her point of view.
The rest of the broadcast was just as elevated. A high-school junior who survived the shooting said that when he looks at Florida Sen. Marco Rubio it’s hard not to see shooter Nikolas Cruz. A freshman said she wanted to ask the NRA: “Was the blood of my classmates and my teachers worth your blood money?” Meanwhile, Sheriff Scott Israel pointed fingers at everyone but himself—this of course before America learned that as many as four of his deputies opted to stay safely outside the school rather than go inside to engage the killer.
In short, the public debate about how Congress ought to respond to this latest mass shooting is guided by two broad principles. Dubious on their own, they are even more witless when combined. The first is the idea that the most important thing is to “do something.” The second is that we ought to look to high-schoolers for the answer.
As goes CNN so goes the nation. The high-schoolers who survived Mr. Cruz’s Valentine’s Day massacre are taking to Twitter , TV and Tallahassee statehouse rallies to pressure politicians to “do something.” In response, some on the right, entirely missing the point, have accused them of being “actors” or “scripted” by the news media.
These teens do not need to be scripted. Their youth and earnestness makes it all but impossible for any adult to advance a counterargument without looking indifferent to the horror these kids have been through. If you don’t agree with what they want, they seem to suggest, you’re OK with mass shootings—as Mr. Rubio and Ms. Loesch found out the hard way.
Quick show of hands for those with children: How many of you look to your teens for political wisdom, whether it’s the daughter obsessing over her Snapchat streaks or the son who would spend his day eating Doritos and binge-gaming “Grand Theft Auto” if you let him?
This in no way diminishes the barbarity of what happened to the Parkland students. It is, however, to insist on the obvious: As terrible as their experiences were, the attack gives them no special insight into the complex array of public policies that might have prevented the slaughter.
Ditto for the “do nothing” accusation. Is it really so unreasonable to insist that those pushing specific legislation or regulations provide evidence that the something they want done will in fact produce the results they claim?
Even keeping the focus solely on school shootings, the challenge here is daunting: how to pick out potential school shooters from the thousands of young men who post ugly things on social media, have no fathers, or have an unhealthy fascination with guns—especially if they have no criminal records and haven’t been diagnosed as mentally ill. Are we confident government has the Solomonic wisdom to sort through the 8.4 million boys in high school and identify the ones who would shoot up a school?
Surely the facts invite skepticism. The FBI call center didn’t forward a January warning to its local Miami office. Sheriff Israel’s deputies answered nearly two dozen calls regarding Mr. Cruz before his rampage, and then hid outside the school when he went active. Some callers said they thought this kid would be a school shooter. Will a new law fix this?
It’s not just conservatives who have doubts. In an October 2016 article in GQ, the Guardian’s full-time gun-politics reporter conceded she was “shocked by how little evidence there was behind some of the most prominent gun control policies.” The year before, right after the San Bernardino killings, the Washington Post fact checker backed Mr. Rubio’s claim that gun laws would not have prevented any of the major shootings the nation had seen in recent years.
Maybe there are “common sense” gun restrictions that could do some good. But that would first require an honest debate. Instead, ours holds up teenagers on national TV who tell us they can’t distinguish between Marco Rubio and Nikolas Cruz.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
KNOCKED OFF FOR SELLING KNOCK-OFFS TO A MEXICAN CARTEL
3 from Naples Italy, disappear after selling fake equipment to CJNG
By Chivis Martinez
Borderland Beat
February 26, 2018
January 31, 2018, via WhatsApp was the last time anyone heard from three Italian men from Naples. Family members report that 60-year-old Raffaele Russo, his 25-year-old son Antonio Russo and his 29-year-old nephew Vincenzo Cimmino, were in Tecalitlán, Jalisco, on that last day of January when they last spoke to the men.
In the conversation with relatives they relayed that they had been stopped by police that day.
WhatsApp to Russo’s son Daniele :
"Daniele, we were putting gasoline and stopped by the police, two police motorcycles and a police car ordered 'follow us' [...] now we are behind the motorcycles that said 'follow us' [...] and the car is behind us." That was the last communication from the men.
At that point the trio disappeared, along with the two white SUV’s they were aboard.
That is until this weekend, when Jalisco State Attorney General Raul Sanchez, conducted a news conference to announce that four municipal police officers in Tecalitlan, three men and a woman, “confessed” to “handling the Italians over to members of an organized crime group who operate in the municipality of 13 thousand people.
Although Sanchez did not name the group, it is CJNG that has control of the area.
It is a fact that any municipality that is a “narco plaza,’ is controlled by whichever cartel has dominance in the area. This includes city hall and municipal police. Police are used to pick up people and delivering them to the cartel in charge. Presumably that is what happened in this case.
Mayor Victor Diaz Contreras stated that this was an “isolated occurrence”.
The officers “confessed” to the abduction, and declared their orders came from the highest command of the Tecalitlán police department.
Sanchez says that both the mayor and police chief are under investigation. As of now, the Jalisco United force has taken over the police department. Sanchez also stated that Russo was using a false ID, passing himself off as Mexican when checking into hotels, under the name “Carlos Lopez’.
Authorities chastised the family of the missing men for giving them false information that impeded the investigation. They were projecting the men as simple tourist only in the region for the day. As it turns out they had been at a hotel for several days in nearby Ciudad Guzmán.
The family says they were told by authorities, that police from Tecatitlán, would have received a thousand pesos to deliver the Italians to organized crime. That amounts to 53 USD.
Records indicate that Raffele Russo was arrested three years ago in Campeche, for fraud and corruption, but there is no information as to the disposition of the case.
The men sell equipment and machinery.
Reports say the goods are “knock-offs” or counterfeit and the goods recently sold was construction tools and also counterfeit plant lights bearing the Bosch, the high end German manufacture. A family member says the good are manufactured in China.
It is reported knocked-off machinery and “Bosch” plant lights and generators had been sold to CJNG.
Family member concede that Russo has a criminal record but say “just for small things”. But he did spend three years in an Italian prison for organized crime.
However, Italian press reports indicate he is tied to the Italian Mafia and may be involved with money laundering. Some Mexican media are saying it is not about counterfeits goods, which they can get direct from China, but about drugs specifically Meth.
This was posted on El Universal; “The Russo family belongs to an Italian mafia gang called The Magliari, (the merchants)- Rafaelle spent three years in jail for fraud and at the time of his disappearance was selling fake Bosch machinery in Guadalajara. They suspect he sold fake machinery to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación.”
The Magliari are dedicated to counterfeiting and fraud.
By Chivis Martinez
Borderland Beat
February 26, 2018
January 31, 2018, via WhatsApp was the last time anyone heard from three Italian men from Naples. Family members report that 60-year-old Raffaele Russo, his 25-year-old son Antonio Russo and his 29-year-old nephew Vincenzo Cimmino, were in Tecalitlán, Jalisco, on that last day of January when they last spoke to the men.
In the conversation with relatives they relayed that they had been stopped by police that day.
WhatsApp to Russo’s son Daniele :
"Daniele, we were putting gasoline and stopped by the police, two police motorcycles and a police car ordered 'follow us' [...] now we are behind the motorcycles that said 'follow us' [...] and the car is behind us." That was the last communication from the men.
At that point the trio disappeared, along with the two white SUV’s they were aboard.
That is until this weekend, when Jalisco State Attorney General Raul Sanchez, conducted a news conference to announce that four municipal police officers in Tecalitlan, three men and a woman, “confessed” to “handling the Italians over to members of an organized crime group who operate in the municipality of 13 thousand people.
Although Sanchez did not name the group, it is CJNG that has control of the area.
It is a fact that any municipality that is a “narco plaza,’ is controlled by whichever cartel has dominance in the area. This includes city hall and municipal police. Police are used to pick up people and delivering them to the cartel in charge. Presumably that is what happened in this case.
Mayor Victor Diaz Contreras stated that this was an “isolated occurrence”.
The officers “confessed” to the abduction, and declared their orders came from the highest command of the Tecalitlán police department.
Sanchez says that both the mayor and police chief are under investigation. As of now, the Jalisco United force has taken over the police department. Sanchez also stated that Russo was using a false ID, passing himself off as Mexican when checking into hotels, under the name “Carlos Lopez’.
Authorities chastised the family of the missing men for giving them false information that impeded the investigation. They were projecting the men as simple tourist only in the region for the day. As it turns out they had been at a hotel for several days in nearby Ciudad Guzmán.
The family says they were told by authorities, that police from Tecatitlán, would have received a thousand pesos to deliver the Italians to organized crime. That amounts to 53 USD.
Records indicate that Raffele Russo was arrested three years ago in Campeche, for fraud and corruption, but there is no information as to the disposition of the case.
The men sell equipment and machinery.
Reports say the goods are “knock-offs” or counterfeit and the goods recently sold was construction tools and also counterfeit plant lights bearing the Bosch, the high end German manufacture. A family member says the good are manufactured in China.
It is reported knocked-off machinery and “Bosch” plant lights and generators had been sold to CJNG.
Family member concede that Russo has a criminal record but say “just for small things”. But he did spend three years in an Italian prison for organized crime.
However, Italian press reports indicate he is tied to the Italian Mafia and may be involved with money laundering. Some Mexican media are saying it is not about counterfeits goods, which they can get direct from China, but about drugs specifically Meth.
This was posted on El Universal; “The Russo family belongs to an Italian mafia gang called The Magliari, (the merchants)- Rafaelle spent three years in jail for fraud and at the time of his disappearance was selling fake Bosch machinery in Guadalajara. They suspect he sold fake machinery to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación.”
The Magliari are dedicated to counterfeiting and fraud.
THE FLYING PUBLIC IS MUCH SAFER NOW
TSA disclosed the following Airport Screening Results
2017 RESULTS FROM U.S. AIRPORTS FULL BODY SCANNING BY TSA
Terrorists Discovered - 0
Transvestites - 133
Hernias - 1,485
Hemorrhoid Cases - 3,172
Enlarged Prostates - 8,249
Balloons (heroin) in digestive tract - 274
Breast Implants - 859,350
Tampons – 47,294
Diamond ring inside vagina - 1
Penile Implants – 17,476
Lice in pubic area – 4,184
EDITOR’S NOTE: I really do not feel all that safe now. I wouldn’t want to sit near a passenger with lice.
2017 RESULTS FROM U.S. AIRPORTS FULL BODY SCANNING BY TSA
Terrorists Discovered - 0
Transvestites - 133
Hernias - 1,485
Hemorrhoid Cases - 3,172
Enlarged Prostates - 8,249
Balloons (heroin) in digestive tract - 274
Breast Implants - 859,350
Tampons – 47,294
Diamond ring inside vagina - 1
Penile Implants – 17,476
Lice in pubic area – 4,184
EDITOR’S NOTE: I really do not feel all that safe now. I wouldn’t want to sit near a passenger with lice.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
OFFICER TRACY SHERIDAN BEATS UP BOYFRIEND, ATTACKS RESPONDING COPS
Heather Locklear gets busted for beating the shit out of her boyfriend and attacking the officers who were trying to arrest her
BarkGrowlBite
February 27, 2018
Heather Locklear, who starred as Officer Tracy Sheridan alongside T. J. Hooker in the 1982-86 cop TV series by that name, was arrested Sunday night for felony domestic violence and 3 counts of misdemeanor battery on an officer.
The whoop de doo took place at Heather’s Thousand Oaks, California home. TMZ reports that:
According to the 911 call, Heather's brother came to her home and saw Heather and her boyfriend fighting. The brother called 911. We're told cops observed that the boyfriend had a visible mark.
Law enforcement sources tell us when cops tried putting Heather in custody she became combative, flailing, kicking and struck 3 deputies. Heather was cuffed and taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Heather, now 56, has a troubled past. She’s been a prescription drugs junkie and has been busted for DUI. In 2011, she and her then boyfriend engaged in a knock-down-drag-out brawl.
Heather must have learned how to beat the shit out of people while playing Officer Sheridan on the cop TV series, but now she could use some close supervision by Sgt. Hooker (William Shatner) or else it’s off to the funny farm with her.
BarkGrowlBite
February 27, 2018
Heather Locklear, who starred as Officer Tracy Sheridan alongside T. J. Hooker in the 1982-86 cop TV series by that name, was arrested Sunday night for felony domestic violence and 3 counts of misdemeanor battery on an officer.
The whoop de doo took place at Heather’s Thousand Oaks, California home. TMZ reports that:
According to the 911 call, Heather's brother came to her home and saw Heather and her boyfriend fighting. The brother called 911. We're told cops observed that the boyfriend had a visible mark.
Law enforcement sources tell us when cops tried putting Heather in custody she became combative, flailing, kicking and struck 3 deputies. Heather was cuffed and taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Heather, now 56, has a troubled past. She’s been a prescription drugs junkie and has been busted for DUI. In 2011, she and her then boyfriend engaged in a knock-down-drag-out brawl.
Heather must have learned how to beat the shit out of people while playing Officer Sheridan on the cop TV series, but now she could use some close supervision by Sgt. Hooker (William Shatner) or else it’s off to the funny farm with her.
FLINTLOCK MUSKETS NOW BANNED WEAPONS IN CALIFORNIA
by Bob Walsh
After a full nine months of planning a Revolutionary War Reenactment Festival planned for April in the Elk Grove Regional Park has been cancelled due to the fact that there would have been 13 dangerous military weapons (flintlock muskets) used during the reenactment.
The Historical Society asked the Cosumnes Community Services District board to grant them a waiver. The board refused, suggesting the reenactors use wooden sticks in place of actual dangerous firearms. The Historical Society suggested the Board go fuck themselves.
I'm sure they were actually somewhat more polite than I would have been.
After a full nine months of planning a Revolutionary War Reenactment Festival planned for April in the Elk Grove Regional Park has been cancelled due to the fact that there would have been 13 dangerous military weapons (flintlock muskets) used during the reenactment.
The Historical Society asked the Cosumnes Community Services District board to grant them a waiver. The board refused, suggesting the reenactors use wooden sticks in place of actual dangerous firearms. The Historical Society suggested the Board go fuck themselves.
I'm sure they were actually somewhat more polite than I would have been.
SCOTUS TO HEAR THE CASE OF THE FORGETFUL FELON
by Bob Walsh
Vernon Madison is a murderous turd. He killed a cop in Alabama in 1985. He was supposed to be scragged last month but his execution was put on hold pending review of this case. His shysters are arguing that he has had strokes and is suffering from dementia and that he is now unable to remember the murder or understand his execution. They therefore believe, or at least SAY they believe, this murderous ambulatory turd should NOT be executed.
There is apparently no question that he committed the crime for which he was convicted. He killed the officer when the cops responded to a domestic violence case involving Madison.
SCOTUS will hear the case this fall.
Vernon Madison is a murderous turd. He killed a cop in Alabama in 1985. He was supposed to be scragged last month but his execution was put on hold pending review of this case. His shysters are arguing that he has had strokes and is suffering from dementia and that he is now unable to remember the murder or understand his execution. They therefore believe, or at least SAY they believe, this murderous ambulatory turd should NOT be executed.
There is apparently no question that he committed the crime for which he was convicted. He killed the officer when the cops responded to a domestic violence case involving Madison.
SCOTUS will hear the case this fall.
SCOTUS MAY KILL PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS NEXT WEEK
by Bob Walsh
Next week SCOTUS is scheduled to hear the case of Janus vs. AFSCME, out of Illinois. This case will determine the future of what is commonly called Fair Share or Agency Fee. This is the process by which an public employee union can compel non-members to pay a substantial "fee" to the union for the costs of providing representation for them, but allegedly NOT including costs of political action. That, of course, is a lot of horsecrap and the unions mostly manage to bury a lot of overhead into their agency fees.
Some public employee unions, mostly those in the public safety sector, will I suspect do just fine. The association that represents the California Highway Patrol does NOT charge a fair-share fee and has a membership in the high 90% range. I do, however, fully suspect that a lot of members would bail on many of the more liberal, more mainstream associations like AFSCME.
In my experience members of those organization are actually much more conservative than the hierarchy of those organization and do not like what the organizations do with their money. In addition many of those organizations are not really democratic and their paid staff makes many of the determinations about the direction in which the organization moves. Such decisions IMHO SHOULD be made by the membership via their elected officials, not by paid staff.
In any event it will be REALLY INTERESTING to see which way SCOTUS goes.
Next week SCOTUS is scheduled to hear the case of Janus vs. AFSCME, out of Illinois. This case will determine the future of what is commonly called Fair Share or Agency Fee. This is the process by which an public employee union can compel non-members to pay a substantial "fee" to the union for the costs of providing representation for them, but allegedly NOT including costs of political action. That, of course, is a lot of horsecrap and the unions mostly manage to bury a lot of overhead into their agency fees.
Some public employee unions, mostly those in the public safety sector, will I suspect do just fine. The association that represents the California Highway Patrol does NOT charge a fair-share fee and has a membership in the high 90% range. I do, however, fully suspect that a lot of members would bail on many of the more liberal, more mainstream associations like AFSCME.
In my experience members of those organization are actually much more conservative than the hierarchy of those organization and do not like what the organizations do with their money. In addition many of those organizations are not really democratic and their paid staff makes many of the determinations about the direction in which the organization moves. Such decisions IMHO SHOULD be made by the membership via their elected officials, not by paid staff.
In any event it will be REALLY INTERESTING to see which way SCOTUS goes.
SEXUAL PREDATOR-IN-CHIEF’S WORLD FAMOUS BLOWJOB RECALLED AGAIN
Monica Lewinsky on How the #MeToo Movement Has Redefined the Clinton Scandal
By Maria Pasquini
People
February 25, 2018
Monica Lewinsky is speaking out about the power and impact of the #MeToo movement, revealing it has enabled people to see the “gross abuse of power” that transpired between her and then-President Bill Clinton over 20 years ago.
In a powerful new personal essay for Vanity Fair, the 44-year-old reflected on the scandal that followed after her sexual relationship with Clinton, now 71, was revealed in 1998, leading to his impeachment trial and eventual acquittal. At the start of the affair a few years prior, Lewinsky was a 22-year-old White House intern.
Lewinsky wrote that the influx of women across industries speaking out against sexual harassment has enabled her — and the country — to view what happened through a different lens.
Still, Lewinsky — who has spoken before about being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the public-shaming she experienced at the time — revealed that she’s only just beginning to “consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern.” It’s a change she attributed to living in a post-Harvey Weinstein world.
“Until recently (thank you, Harvey Weinstein), historians hadn’t really had the perspective to fully process and acknowledge that year of shame and spectacle,” she wrote in Vanity Fair, adding that even though what occurred between herself and Clinton wasn’t sexual assault, “we now recognize that it constituted a gross abuse of power.”
Lewinsky also went on to reveal that viewing her past trauma in a new light has been challenging.
“The reason this is difficult is that I’ve lived for such a long time in the House of Gaslight, clinging to my experiences as they unfolded in my 20s and railing against the untruths that painted me as an unstable stalker and Servicer in Chief,” she wrote in Vanity Fair.
“Given my PTSD and my understanding of trauma, it’s very likely that my thinking would not necessarily be changing at this time had it not been for the #MeToo movement—not only because of the new lens it has provided but also because of how it has offered new avenues toward the safety that comes from solidarity,” she added.
But because of the #MeToo movement, Lewinsky said, “I now see how problematic it was that the two of us even got to a place where there was a question of consent. Instead, the road that led there was littered with inappropriate abuse of authority, station, and privilege.”
“I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot,” she continued.
Given the new conditions in which the country is able to view sexual misconduct, Lewinsky added in her Vanity Fair essay, “My hope, given the two dec¬ades that have passed, is that we are now at a stage where we can untangle the complexities and context (maybe even with a little compassion), which might help lead to an eventual healing—and a systemic transformation.”
The lengthy piece covered numerous topics related to the anniversary of the scandal, including an accidental run-in Lewinsky had with Kenneth Starr — the independent counsel who lead the investigation into the relationship now two decades ago — last December.
As recently as last November, several former top advisers to President Obama and the Clintons voiced their support for Lewinsky. During an interview with MSNBC, Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for Hillary Clinton who also worked for former President Clinton’s administration, said that she was sorry for everything Lewinsky had undergone.
“Monica Lewinsky was my intern and the relationship the president had with her was very inappropriate,” said Palmieri. “It was a consensual relationship, but he was the President of the United States and she was a 24-year-old intern — that is taking advantage of a power dynamic on a historic scale.”
(Lewinsky’s essay will be available in the March 2018 issue of Vanity Fair, available on newsstands nationwide on March 6)
By Maria Pasquini
People
February 25, 2018
Monica Lewinsky is speaking out about the power and impact of the #MeToo movement, revealing it has enabled people to see the “gross abuse of power” that transpired between her and then-President Bill Clinton over 20 years ago.
In a powerful new personal essay for Vanity Fair, the 44-year-old reflected on the scandal that followed after her sexual relationship with Clinton, now 71, was revealed in 1998, leading to his impeachment trial and eventual acquittal. At the start of the affair a few years prior, Lewinsky was a 22-year-old White House intern.
Lewinsky wrote that the influx of women across industries speaking out against sexual harassment has enabled her — and the country — to view what happened through a different lens.
Still, Lewinsky — who has spoken before about being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the public-shaming she experienced at the time — revealed that she’s only just beginning to “consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern.” It’s a change she attributed to living in a post-Harvey Weinstein world.
“Until recently (thank you, Harvey Weinstein), historians hadn’t really had the perspective to fully process and acknowledge that year of shame and spectacle,” she wrote in Vanity Fair, adding that even though what occurred between herself and Clinton wasn’t sexual assault, “we now recognize that it constituted a gross abuse of power.”
Lewinsky also went on to reveal that viewing her past trauma in a new light has been challenging.
“The reason this is difficult is that I’ve lived for such a long time in the House of Gaslight, clinging to my experiences as they unfolded in my 20s and railing against the untruths that painted me as an unstable stalker and Servicer in Chief,” she wrote in Vanity Fair.
“Given my PTSD and my understanding of trauma, it’s very likely that my thinking would not necessarily be changing at this time had it not been for the #MeToo movement—not only because of the new lens it has provided but also because of how it has offered new avenues toward the safety that comes from solidarity,” she added.
But because of the #MeToo movement, Lewinsky said, “I now see how problematic it was that the two of us even got to a place where there was a question of consent. Instead, the road that led there was littered with inappropriate abuse of authority, station, and privilege.”
“I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot,” she continued.
Given the new conditions in which the country is able to view sexual misconduct, Lewinsky added in her Vanity Fair essay, “My hope, given the two dec¬ades that have passed, is that we are now at a stage where we can untangle the complexities and context (maybe even with a little compassion), which might help lead to an eventual healing—and a systemic transformation.”
The lengthy piece covered numerous topics related to the anniversary of the scandal, including an accidental run-in Lewinsky had with Kenneth Starr — the independent counsel who lead the investigation into the relationship now two decades ago — last December.
As recently as last November, several former top advisers to President Obama and the Clintons voiced their support for Lewinsky. During an interview with MSNBC, Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for Hillary Clinton who also worked for former President Clinton’s administration, said that she was sorry for everything Lewinsky had undergone.
“Monica Lewinsky was my intern and the relationship the president had with her was very inappropriate,” said Palmieri. “It was a consensual relationship, but he was the President of the United States and she was a 24-year-old intern — that is taking advantage of a power dynamic on a historic scale.”
(Lewinsky’s essay will be available in the March 2018 issue of Vanity Fair, available on newsstands nationwide on March 6)
Monday, February 26, 2018
WHO OWNS THE BEACH?
by Bob Walsh
A really interesting legal action has been moving thru the courts with relation to Martins Beach, a very pretty spot near Half Moon Bay on the California Coast. Within the next few months it seems that SCOTUS will actually make the decision.
Nobody is apparently disputing the fact that gazillionair Vinod Khosla owns the beach and the surrounding property. The question is can he restrict access to his own property.
He bought the property ten years ago for a paltry $32.5 million. He shut off access eight years ago, citing maintenance and liability issues. The previous owners had permitted public access for about 70 years.
About four years ago a San Mateo County Judge said that Khosla should have obtained a permit from the California Costal Commission before closing off access. The CCC is a bunch of radical idiots who have been known to deny permits to people to rebuilt houses that have burned down in areas they claim control over. The state supreme court has denied a hearing on the issue.
Khosla has offered to open the land if the state pays $30 million for the easement.
It will be an interesting ruling no matter which way it goes.
A really interesting legal action has been moving thru the courts with relation to Martins Beach, a very pretty spot near Half Moon Bay on the California Coast. Within the next few months it seems that SCOTUS will actually make the decision.
Nobody is apparently disputing the fact that gazillionair Vinod Khosla owns the beach and the surrounding property. The question is can he restrict access to his own property.
He bought the property ten years ago for a paltry $32.5 million. He shut off access eight years ago, citing maintenance and liability issues. The previous owners had permitted public access for about 70 years.
About four years ago a San Mateo County Judge said that Khosla should have obtained a permit from the California Costal Commission before closing off access. The CCC is a bunch of radical idiots who have been known to deny permits to people to rebuilt houses that have burned down in areas they claim control over. The state supreme court has denied a hearing on the issue.
Khosla has offered to open the land if the state pays $30 million for the easement.
It will be an interesting ruling no matter which way it goes.
LAPIERRE DECLARES JEWS ARE PLOTTING TO DESTROY AMERICA’S FREEDOM
In NRA's Response to School Massacre: Dog-whistle anti-Semitism, a Star-spangled Protocols of Zion
By Bradley Burston
Haaretz
February 23, 2018
Longtime National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre Thursday addressed criticism of his organization following the Florida school massacre, and his combative defense included expressions of dog-whistle anti-Semitism reminiscent of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," with descriptions of a powerful plot to destroy America's freedom by "European-style Socialists" who he said had taken over the Democratic Party.
LaPierre vowed that the NRA intends to go far beyond its role as a gun lobby, to warn Americans that all of their individual freedoms are being destroyed by a condescending intellectual elite. "I promise you this - the NRA will not only speak out, the NRA will speak out louder and we will speak out stronger than ever before," with its own television station and expanded media operations to resist "the Socialist corruption of our government."
Again and again in his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, LaPierre identified the enemies of the NRA, and of America, as Jews - from Karl Marx to Bernie Sanders, from Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor George Soros to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. LaPierre singled out Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York as one of the Democrats who are "liars to the core."
"History proves it. Every time, in every nation in which this political disease rises to power, its citizens are repressed, their freedoms are destroyed, and their firearms are banned and confiscated. It is all backed in this country by the social engineering, and the billions, of people like [philanthropists of Jewish lineage] George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and more."
LaPierre, who has led the NRA for three decades, outlined a vision of a vast conspiracy led by "European-style Socialists" who, he said, have turned the Democrats into a "party which is now infestedwith saboteurs" and which has infiltrated and taken over such bodies as the FBI, the U.S. intelligence community, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.
Their goal? "Absolute control, in every corner of our government, is their ultimate dream. These intellectual elites, they think they're smarter than we are. They think they're smarter than the rest of us. And they think they're better than we are. They truly believe it, and you know it, the privileged and the powerful. They think they deserve to be in charge of every lever of power.
"But you know what? The United States Constitution makes it absolutely clear that they are not in charge. We, the People are in charge of this country!"
"As usual the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain - Saul Alinsky would have been proud," LaPierre said at the beginning of the speech, implicitly linking the vocal survivors of the shooting which killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, to Alinsky, the late community organizer and political activist who was the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Russia.
Some 40 percent of the Stoneman Douglas high school student body is said to be Jewish.
"The shameful politicization of tragedy - it's a classic strategy right out of the playbook of a poisonous movement," which, he went on to suggest, was the Democratic Party.
"During the last decade, the Obama decade, many of those leaders [older Democrats who worked with the NRA] have been forced out, and a tidal wave of new, European-style socialists seized control of the Democratic Party."
Democrats are "a party which is now infested with saboteurs, who don't believe in capitalism, don't believe in the Constitution, don't believe in our freedom, and don't believe in America as we know it," LaPierre declared, his speech interrupted by enthusiastic applause at nearly every sentence.
"President Trump's election, while crucial, can't turn away the wave of these new, European-style Socialists bearing down upon us." First on LaPierre's list - Bernie Sanders.
"They hide behind labels like 'Democrat,' 'left-wing,' and 'progressive,' to make their Socialist agenda more palatable. And that is terrifying.
"And that should terrify every citizen who values the American ideal in this country of individual liberty," he continued. "They've politicized the Department of Justice, they've weaponized the Internal Revenue Service, the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], perhaps crippled the FBI and the intelligence community, and seized and embedded leadership in all of them to advance their agenda.
Many of the student survivors, seeking a ban on assault rifle sales and other gun safety measures, have sought to highlight and cut the ties between politicians and the powerful lobbying group.
LaPierre laid the blame for mass shootings not on the availability of assault rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines, but on the "failure of school security, the failure family, the failures of America's mental health system, and the unbelievable failure of the FBI."
"It's a bizarre fact that jewelry stores all over this country are more important than our children, our banks, our airports, our NBA games, our NFL games, our office buildings, our movie stars, our politicians, are all more protected than our children at school."
"Do we really love our money and our celebrities more than we love our children?"
LaPierre suggested that background checks could be abused to violate privacy and destroy the foundations of America itself.
"This growing Socialist state dreams of manipulating schoolchildren to squeeze and squeeze information about their parents. They'll be asking your kids if mommy or daddy spanked them, or what mommy and daddy feed them for dinner, they'll want to know what TV shows you watch, what magazines or newspapers you read - and, oh yes, do mommy and daddy own a gun.
"And all that private information will be entered into that ultimate list, that cloud of data storage, that couldn't care less about due process and constitutional freedom, and your privacy as an American citizen - and then it's just a short hop to the systematic destruction of our most basic freedoms in this country.
"And you all know what they are, but let me say them: family, faith, individual responsibility and self-destiny, a free-market economy, patriotism, respect for our national flag and our national anthem, personal liberty, and justice for all."
As it is, LaPierre said, "On college campuses, the Communist Manifesto is one of the most frequently assigned texts. Karl Marx is the most assigned economist."
He reserved particular scorn for the words "Hollywood" and "Washington." In the nation's capital, he said, "no one speaks out, no one challenges authority, everyone keeps their mouth closed and their heads down, and that's exactly how Socialistic societies function."
"Anyone who attempts to resist is smeared into submission," he added. "Yep, you know it. Ah, yes, the Art of the Smear - we do live in the Socialistic age of the Art of the Smear. It doesn't have to be true. It just has to stick somewhere, anywhere. It's designed to degrade, to destroy, and it's all over the national media to serve their agenda, and is a movement that loves a smear - 'Racist,' 'Mysogynist,' 'Sexist,'
'xenophobe' and more."
According to LaPierre, for America's Socialists, "You name a group, and they'll find a way to turn them into victims. They keep their movement growing by finding someone to be offended by something, every minute of every day." Citing the Occupy movement, Black Lives Matter and Antifa, he said they "agitate the offended, promote uncivil discourse, and ignore any sense of due process and fairness, to destroy their enemies."
"Evil walks among us," LaPierre said, "and God help us if we don't harden our schools and protect our kids."
EDITOR’S NOTE: I dropped my longtime membership in the NRA back in 1982 when LaPierre declared his opposition to a ban on teflon-coated cop killer bullets. I will not consider rejoining while that anti-Semitic asshole continues to head the NRA.
For those who are wondering what ‘dog-whistle anti-Semitism’ means, it’s like a dog whistle that only a dog can hear. Although LaPierre does not come right out and use the word ‘Jews’ as those plotting to destroy America’s freedom, the ant-Semitism comes out loud and clear when all those plotters he names are Jewish.
By Bradley Burston
Haaretz
February 23, 2018
Longtime National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre Thursday addressed criticism of his organization following the Florida school massacre, and his combative defense included expressions of dog-whistle anti-Semitism reminiscent of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," with descriptions of a powerful plot to destroy America's freedom by "European-style Socialists" who he said had taken over the Democratic Party.
LaPierre vowed that the NRA intends to go far beyond its role as a gun lobby, to warn Americans that all of their individual freedoms are being destroyed by a condescending intellectual elite. "I promise you this - the NRA will not only speak out, the NRA will speak out louder and we will speak out stronger than ever before," with its own television station and expanded media operations to resist "the Socialist corruption of our government."
Again and again in his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, LaPierre identified the enemies of the NRA, and of America, as Jews - from Karl Marx to Bernie Sanders, from Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor George Soros to former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. LaPierre singled out Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York as one of the Democrats who are "liars to the core."
"History proves it. Every time, in every nation in which this political disease rises to power, its citizens are repressed, their freedoms are destroyed, and their firearms are banned and confiscated. It is all backed in this country by the social engineering, and the billions, of people like [philanthropists of Jewish lineage] George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and more."
LaPierre, who has led the NRA for three decades, outlined a vision of a vast conspiracy led by "European-style Socialists" who, he said, have turned the Democrats into a "party which is now infestedwith saboteurs" and which has infiltrated and taken over such bodies as the FBI, the U.S. intelligence community, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.
Their goal? "Absolute control, in every corner of our government, is their ultimate dream. These intellectual elites, they think they're smarter than we are. They think they're smarter than the rest of us. And they think they're better than we are. They truly believe it, and you know it, the privileged and the powerful. They think they deserve to be in charge of every lever of power.
"But you know what? The United States Constitution makes it absolutely clear that they are not in charge. We, the People are in charge of this country!"
"As usual the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain - Saul Alinsky would have been proud," LaPierre said at the beginning of the speech, implicitly linking the vocal survivors of the shooting which killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, to Alinsky, the late community organizer and political activist who was the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Russia.
Some 40 percent of the Stoneman Douglas high school student body is said to be Jewish.
"The shameful politicization of tragedy - it's a classic strategy right out of the playbook of a poisonous movement," which, he went on to suggest, was the Democratic Party.
"During the last decade, the Obama decade, many of those leaders [older Democrats who worked with the NRA] have been forced out, and a tidal wave of new, European-style socialists seized control of the Democratic Party."
Democrats are "a party which is now infested with saboteurs, who don't believe in capitalism, don't believe in the Constitution, don't believe in our freedom, and don't believe in America as we know it," LaPierre declared, his speech interrupted by enthusiastic applause at nearly every sentence.
"President Trump's election, while crucial, can't turn away the wave of these new, European-style Socialists bearing down upon us." First on LaPierre's list - Bernie Sanders.
"They hide behind labels like 'Democrat,' 'left-wing,' and 'progressive,' to make their Socialist agenda more palatable. And that is terrifying.
"And that should terrify every citizen who values the American ideal in this country of individual liberty," he continued. "They've politicized the Department of Justice, they've weaponized the Internal Revenue Service, the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], perhaps crippled the FBI and the intelligence community, and seized and embedded leadership in all of them to advance their agenda.
Many of the student survivors, seeking a ban on assault rifle sales and other gun safety measures, have sought to highlight and cut the ties between politicians and the powerful lobbying group.
LaPierre laid the blame for mass shootings not on the availability of assault rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines, but on the "failure of school security, the failure family, the failures of America's mental health system, and the unbelievable failure of the FBI."
"It's a bizarre fact that jewelry stores all over this country are more important than our children, our banks, our airports, our NBA games, our NFL games, our office buildings, our movie stars, our politicians, are all more protected than our children at school."
"Do we really love our money and our celebrities more than we love our children?"
LaPierre suggested that background checks could be abused to violate privacy and destroy the foundations of America itself.
"This growing Socialist state dreams of manipulating schoolchildren to squeeze and squeeze information about their parents. They'll be asking your kids if mommy or daddy spanked them, or what mommy and daddy feed them for dinner, they'll want to know what TV shows you watch, what magazines or newspapers you read - and, oh yes, do mommy and daddy own a gun.
"And all that private information will be entered into that ultimate list, that cloud of data storage, that couldn't care less about due process and constitutional freedom, and your privacy as an American citizen - and then it's just a short hop to the systematic destruction of our most basic freedoms in this country.
"And you all know what they are, but let me say them: family, faith, individual responsibility and self-destiny, a free-market economy, patriotism, respect for our national flag and our national anthem, personal liberty, and justice for all."
As it is, LaPierre said, "On college campuses, the Communist Manifesto is one of the most frequently assigned texts. Karl Marx is the most assigned economist."
He reserved particular scorn for the words "Hollywood" and "Washington." In the nation's capital, he said, "no one speaks out, no one challenges authority, everyone keeps their mouth closed and their heads down, and that's exactly how Socialistic societies function."
"Anyone who attempts to resist is smeared into submission," he added. "Yep, you know it. Ah, yes, the Art of the Smear - we do live in the Socialistic age of the Art of the Smear. It doesn't have to be true. It just has to stick somewhere, anywhere. It's designed to degrade, to destroy, and it's all over the national media to serve their agenda, and is a movement that loves a smear - 'Racist,' 'Mysogynist,' 'Sexist,'
'xenophobe' and more."
According to LaPierre, for America's Socialists, "You name a group, and they'll find a way to turn them into victims. They keep their movement growing by finding someone to be offended by something, every minute of every day." Citing the Occupy movement, Black Lives Matter and Antifa, he said they "agitate the offended, promote uncivil discourse, and ignore any sense of due process and fairness, to destroy their enemies."
"Evil walks among us," LaPierre said, "and God help us if we don't harden our schools and protect our kids."
EDITOR’S NOTE: I dropped my longtime membership in the NRA back in 1982 when LaPierre declared his opposition to a ban on teflon-coated cop killer bullets. I will not consider rejoining while that anti-Semitic asshole continues to head the NRA.
For those who are wondering what ‘dog-whistle anti-Semitism’ means, it’s like a dog whistle that only a dog can hear. Although LaPierre does not come right out and use the word ‘Jews’ as those plotting to destroy America’s freedom, the ant-Semitism comes out loud and clear when all those plotters he names are Jewish.
BEING A COP CAN BE A SHITTY JOB
Texas woman shits in pants to hide drugs during arrest, forcing officers to sift through her turds for the evidence
Associated Press
February 25, 2018
CORSICANA, Texas — Police say a Texas woman attempted to hide evidence during an arrest by defecating in her pants and using the feces to conceal drugs.
Officers in Corsicana, about 55 miles (88 kilometers ) south of Dallas, were investigating a report of a theft at a grocery store on Wednesday when they attempted to subdue a female suspect and take her into custody.
Police say they placed Shannen Martin in the back of a police cruiser where they say she intentionally defecated in her pants then hid a crack pipe, 2.3 grams of crack cocaine and a Valentine's Day card in her excrement.
Officers had to sift through the woman's feces to retrieve the evidence after Martin was booked on charges of tampering with evidence and possession of a controlled substance.
EDITOR’S NOTE: When I was working dope cases it was not unusual for dopers to hide their heroin inside a commode filled full of piss and shit, thinking we would refuse to search through that stinking, filthy mess.
Associated Press
February 25, 2018
CORSICANA, Texas — Police say a Texas woman attempted to hide evidence during an arrest by defecating in her pants and using the feces to conceal drugs.
Officers in Corsicana, about 55 miles (88 kilometers ) south of Dallas, were investigating a report of a theft at a grocery store on Wednesday when they attempted to subdue a female suspect and take her into custody.
Police say they placed Shannen Martin in the back of a police cruiser where they say she intentionally defecated in her pants then hid a crack pipe, 2.3 grams of crack cocaine and a Valentine's Day card in her excrement.
Officers had to sift through the woman's feces to retrieve the evidence after Martin was booked on charges of tampering with evidence and possession of a controlled substance.
EDITOR’S NOTE: When I was working dope cases it was not unusual for dopers to hide their heroin inside a commode filled full of piss and shit, thinking we would refuse to search through that stinking, filthy mess.
TRUMP IS SPITTING IN THE FACE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ….. GOOD FOR HIM!
Trump Accelerates US Embassy Transfer to Jerusalem
Israel Today
February 25, 2018
Much to the chagrin of the Palestinian Authority, US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he'd be accelerating the transfer of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The US mission is slated to being moving in phases to its consular facility in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona starting in May.
The first stages of the move are expected to see Ambassador David Friedman and a small personal staff take up offices at the Arnona facility, officially granting it the status of "embassy."
Later, a full embassy annex will be added to the complex, with a new embassy facility to be built elsewhere in the city during the years to come.
Israeli government ministers called Trump's announcement and "Independence Day gift," given that the May transfer coincides with Israel's 70th anniversary celebrations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to extend a formal invitation to Trump to visit Israel at that time to both join the anniversary celebrations and oversee the embassy's initial transfer.
Unsurprisingly, Palestinian leaders were furious over the announcement.
Lead Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat, who recently told US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to "shut up," issued the following overly-dramatic statement:
"The US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and now to move its embassy on the eve of marking 70 years since the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of at least 418 Palestinian villages, and the forcible displacement of two-thirds of our people, shows the determination of the US administration to violate international law, destroy the two-state solution and provoke the feelings of the Palestinian people, as well as of all Arabs, Muslims and Christians around the globe."
__________
Hamas slams US Embassy move as 'declaration of war' against Muslims
Israel Hayom
February 25, 2018
Palestinians voiced outraged Friday following reports that the United States plans to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem within months, saying the move threatens to destroy the prospect of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the Gaza Strip, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, said, "Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem is a declaration of war against the Arab and Muslim nation, and the U.S. administration must reconsider."
He also called on Muslims to unite against this "despicable decision."
Clashes erupted in Gaza and the West Bank earlier on Friday in a weekly protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on Jerusalem, which has also angered Arab political and religious leaders across the region and dismayed European allies.
Palestinians were particularly irked by Trump's Dec. 6, 2017 declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel because they envision east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Trump's declaration set the embassy relocation in motion, thereby contravening decades of policy by the international community.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator in peace talks that have been frozen since 2014, said the U.S. move showed a "determination to violate international law, destroy the two-state solution and provoke the feelings of the Palestinian people as well as of all Arabs, Muslims and Christians around the globe."
Erekat, who is also secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said, "Trump and his team have disqualified the U.S. from being part of the solution between Israelis and Palestinians; rather, the world now sees that they are part of the problem."
A U.S. official on Friday said the United States was expected to open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May. This would be shortly after Israel's 70th anniversary.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, called the move "unacceptable."
"Any unilateral move will deprive everyone of legitimacy and will be an obstacle to any effort to create peace in the region," he said.
Abbas has rejected U.S.-led Middle East peace efforts as "impossible" since Washington's decision.
Abu Rudeineh said the only way to achieve peace, security and stability was to adopt Abbas' proposal – outlined in an address to the United Nations Security Council in New York on Tuesday – calling for an international conference to kick-start the peace process, including the establishment of a "multilateral mechanism" to oversee it.
Abbas remained in the U.S. for medical exams in Baltimore on Thursday, but headed back to the West Bank over the weekend, Abu Rudeineh said.
Ankara also condemned the move, which the Turkish Foreign Ministry called "highly worrisome."
A Turkish official said the U.S. plan to relocate the embassy "reveals that the U.S. insists on undermining the foundations of peace by disregarding international law and United Nations Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem."
"Turkey will sustain its efforts, together with the vast majority of [the] international community, to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," the official said.
A number of Israeli lawmakers also condemned the American decision. Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said, "We all want to see Jerusalem recognized as the [Israeli] capital by the nations of the world. But the decision to unilaterally move the embassy will not help [attain] that goal, but will do the exact opposite. If we want all the embassies, not just the American [Embassy], to relocate to Jerusalem, we need to reach a peace agreement, end the occupation and determine agreed-upon and recognized borders."
Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen said the decision was comparable to spitting "in the face of the international community, which in an absolute majority, voted against the Trump declaration."
"The embassy should remain in Tel Aviv, and there is no room for its transfer to Jerusalem. The status of Jerusalem will be determined in a comprehensive peace agreement and with the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, as agreed upon by the international community," he said.
Israel Today
February 25, 2018
Much to the chagrin of the Palestinian Authority, US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he'd be accelerating the transfer of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The US mission is slated to being moving in phases to its consular facility in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona starting in May.
The first stages of the move are expected to see Ambassador David Friedman and a small personal staff take up offices at the Arnona facility, officially granting it the status of "embassy."
Later, a full embassy annex will be added to the complex, with a new embassy facility to be built elsewhere in the city during the years to come.
Israeli government ministers called Trump's announcement and "Independence Day gift," given that the May transfer coincides with Israel's 70th anniversary celebrations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to extend a formal invitation to Trump to visit Israel at that time to both join the anniversary celebrations and oversee the embassy's initial transfer.
Unsurprisingly, Palestinian leaders were furious over the announcement.
Lead Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat, who recently told US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to "shut up," issued the following overly-dramatic statement:
"The US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and now to move its embassy on the eve of marking 70 years since the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of at least 418 Palestinian villages, and the forcible displacement of two-thirds of our people, shows the determination of the US administration to violate international law, destroy the two-state solution and provoke the feelings of the Palestinian people, as well as of all Arabs, Muslims and Christians around the globe."
__________
Hamas slams US Embassy move as 'declaration of war' against Muslims
Israel Hayom
February 25, 2018
Palestinians voiced outraged Friday following reports that the United States plans to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem within months, saying the move threatens to destroy the prospect of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the Gaza Strip, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, said, "Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem is a declaration of war against the Arab and Muslim nation, and the U.S. administration must reconsider."
He also called on Muslims to unite against this "despicable decision."
Clashes erupted in Gaza and the West Bank earlier on Friday in a weekly protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on Jerusalem, which has also angered Arab political and religious leaders across the region and dismayed European allies.
Palestinians were particularly irked by Trump's Dec. 6, 2017 declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel because they envision east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Trump's declaration set the embassy relocation in motion, thereby contravening decades of policy by the international community.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator in peace talks that have been frozen since 2014, said the U.S. move showed a "determination to violate international law, destroy the two-state solution and provoke the feelings of the Palestinian people as well as of all Arabs, Muslims and Christians around the globe."
Erekat, who is also secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said, "Trump and his team have disqualified the U.S. from being part of the solution between Israelis and Palestinians; rather, the world now sees that they are part of the problem."
A U.S. official on Friday said the United States was expected to open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May. This would be shortly after Israel's 70th anniversary.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, called the move "unacceptable."
"Any unilateral move will deprive everyone of legitimacy and will be an obstacle to any effort to create peace in the region," he said.
Abbas has rejected U.S.-led Middle East peace efforts as "impossible" since Washington's decision.
Abu Rudeineh said the only way to achieve peace, security and stability was to adopt Abbas' proposal – outlined in an address to the United Nations Security Council in New York on Tuesday – calling for an international conference to kick-start the peace process, including the establishment of a "multilateral mechanism" to oversee it.
Abbas remained in the U.S. for medical exams in Baltimore on Thursday, but headed back to the West Bank over the weekend, Abu Rudeineh said.
Ankara also condemned the move, which the Turkish Foreign Ministry called "highly worrisome."
A Turkish official said the U.S. plan to relocate the embassy "reveals that the U.S. insists on undermining the foundations of peace by disregarding international law and United Nations Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem."
"Turkey will sustain its efforts, together with the vast majority of [the] international community, to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," the official said.
A number of Israeli lawmakers also condemned the American decision. Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said, "We all want to see Jerusalem recognized as the [Israeli] capital by the nations of the world. But the decision to unilaterally move the embassy will not help [attain] that goal, but will do the exact opposite. If we want all the embassies, not just the American [Embassy], to relocate to Jerusalem, we need to reach a peace agreement, end the occupation and determine agreed-upon and recognized borders."
Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen said the decision was comparable to spitting "in the face of the international community, which in an absolute majority, voted against the Trump declaration."
"The embassy should remain in Tel Aviv, and there is no room for its transfer to Jerusalem. The status of Jerusalem will be determined in a comprehensive peace agreement and with the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, as agreed upon by the international community," he said.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
PROTECTING HOUSTON-GALVESTON AREA SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM CRAZY SHOOTERS
Radical measures must be taken to make our schools safe because gun controls will not do so
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
February 24, 2018
In the wake of the Florida school massacre there have been shrill calls for stricter gun controls, including raising the age to 21 for the purchases of semi-automatic weapons and an outright ban on AR-15-type rifles. If Congress passes any of those measures it will only be feel-good legislation because that will no protect our schoolchildren from crazy shooters.
Right now there are over five million military-style rifles in the hands of American gun owners. Some of these gun owners are already crazy and there is no telling how many of them will turn into nutjobs. It is obvious that we cannot protect our school children from these crazies. Having an armed cop in every school will not prevent a shooter from killing students and teachers, although it could cut down on the carnage.
I’ve noticed that schools in the Houston-Galveston area have surrounded their campuses with fencing to keep intruders out. Wrought iron fencing is decorative but if it’s only 6-8 feet high, it will hardly keep out some nutjob determined to slaughter a bunch of schoolkids. So what can we do to protect our kids?
As I’ve said, armed cops on campus could cut down on the carnage, but those cops would have to be in the right place at the right time to incapacitate a shooter before he has a chance to open fire on any students. The same can be said about armed teachers.
Locked bullet-proof classroom doors are effective while classes are in session but won’t protect students when the hallways are crowded during class breaks and when the school cafeteria is filled. How then can we make sure our children are protected while in school?
There is a radical measure that can be taken to make our school safe. Security fencing is the answer. None of that wrought iron decorative fencing!
The school campus perimeter should be surrounded by a chain-link fence at least 12-feet high and topped off with razor wire. A double fence would be even better. Any access point must have a guard post with a metal detector. And for very large campuses, having someone patrol outside the fencing with a vehicle would not be a bad idea.
All that is expensive, but how much are our kids worth?
School boards spend millions of dollars building palatial-looking schools and such fencing would certainly detract from that. Looking at it from the outside, one might think they are seeing a prison. But that is the price we may have to pay to make sure no crazy shooter will gain access to a campus.
Instead of constructing palaces, school boards should put up no-frills buildings and they should stop using a different architectural design every time they plan for a new school. That way they would save tons of money which could be used for the fencing, guards and metal detectors.
I’m sure some of you will think I’m the one that’s nuts. But I do not propose letting a snarling bunch of Rottweilers or Dobermans run loose inside the double fencing. At least not yet.
Seriously though, security fencing with guarded access points appears to be the only real answer for the prevention of school shootings.
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
February 24, 2018
In the wake of the Florida school massacre there have been shrill calls for stricter gun controls, including raising the age to 21 for the purchases of semi-automatic weapons and an outright ban on AR-15-type rifles. If Congress passes any of those measures it will only be feel-good legislation because that will no protect our schoolchildren from crazy shooters.
Right now there are over five million military-style rifles in the hands of American gun owners. Some of these gun owners are already crazy and there is no telling how many of them will turn into nutjobs. It is obvious that we cannot protect our school children from these crazies. Having an armed cop in every school will not prevent a shooter from killing students and teachers, although it could cut down on the carnage.
I’ve noticed that schools in the Houston-Galveston area have surrounded their campuses with fencing to keep intruders out. Wrought iron fencing is decorative but if it’s only 6-8 feet high, it will hardly keep out some nutjob determined to slaughter a bunch of schoolkids. So what can we do to protect our kids?
As I’ve said, armed cops on campus could cut down on the carnage, but those cops would have to be in the right place at the right time to incapacitate a shooter before he has a chance to open fire on any students. The same can be said about armed teachers.
Locked bullet-proof classroom doors are effective while classes are in session but won’t protect students when the hallways are crowded during class breaks and when the school cafeteria is filled. How then can we make sure our children are protected while in school?
There is a radical measure that can be taken to make our school safe. Security fencing is the answer. None of that wrought iron decorative fencing!
The school campus perimeter should be surrounded by a chain-link fence at least 12-feet high and topped off with razor wire. A double fence would be even better. Any access point must have a guard post with a metal detector. And for very large campuses, having someone patrol outside the fencing with a vehicle would not be a bad idea.
All that is expensive, but how much are our kids worth?
School boards spend millions of dollars building palatial-looking schools and such fencing would certainly detract from that. Looking at it from the outside, one might think they are seeing a prison. But that is the price we may have to pay to make sure no crazy shooter will gain access to a campus.
Instead of constructing palaces, school boards should put up no-frills buildings and they should stop using a different architectural design every time they plan for a new school. That way they would save tons of money which could be used for the fencing, guards and metal detectors.
I’m sure some of you will think I’m the one that’s nuts. But I do not propose letting a snarling bunch of Rottweilers or Dobermans run loose inside the double fencing. At least not yet.
Seriously though, security fencing with guarded access points appears to be the only real answer for the prevention of school shootings.
MORE (POSSIBLE) PROBLEMS FROM FLORIDA SHOOTING
by Bob Walsh
Assuming the media is to be believed (always a dangerous prospect) at least two more Broward County Sheriff's Deputies are under investigation for slow-dragging their response to the active shooting incident that just occurred there.
When you take the oath and put on the gun and the badge the rules change for you. You are EXPECTED to go into harms way to protect others. The state gives peace officers a great deal of power and authority, and expects a great deal back from them in return. While I admit going with a pistol up against a man with a rifle is not the best move in the world generally speaking sometimes that is the job. In addition I doubt very much any of those school corridors were 100 yards long so we are not talking about a suicide mission.
The modern doctrine for dealing with an active shooter is pretty simple. You go in RIGHT NOW with whatever force you have available. You don't hang out to direct traffic. You don't even stop to render aid. You locate and engage the shooter. Most of the time when that is done the shooter surrenders or self-rehabilitates. It is dangerous, but it is not insanely dangerous. That's the job. If you can't do it you should hand in the badge and the gun and get a job at the library. They need good people too.
Assuming the media is to be believed (always a dangerous prospect) at least two more Broward County Sheriff's Deputies are under investigation for slow-dragging their response to the active shooting incident that just occurred there.
When you take the oath and put on the gun and the badge the rules change for you. You are EXPECTED to go into harms way to protect others. The state gives peace officers a great deal of power and authority, and expects a great deal back from them in return. While I admit going with a pistol up against a man with a rifle is not the best move in the world generally speaking sometimes that is the job. In addition I doubt very much any of those school corridors were 100 yards long so we are not talking about a suicide mission.
The modern doctrine for dealing with an active shooter is pretty simple. You go in RIGHT NOW with whatever force you have available. You don't hang out to direct traffic. You don't even stop to render aid. You locate and engage the shooter. Most of the time when that is done the shooter surrenders or self-rehabilitates. It is dangerous, but it is not insanely dangerous. That's the job. If you can't do it you should hand in the badge and the gun and get a job at the library. They need good people too.
AMERICANS WIN GOLD MEDAL IN "WATCHING WATER FREEZE"
by Bob Walsh
The American Curling Team beat out Sweden by a score of 10-7 in that "riveting" sport that is pretty much akin to watching water freeze. Whoop de fucking do.
EDITOR'S NOTE: To me curling is more like watching a janitorial contest.
The American Curling Team beat out Sweden by a score of 10-7 in that "riveting" sport that is pretty much akin to watching water freeze. Whoop de fucking do.
EDITOR'S NOTE: To me curling is more like watching a janitorial contest.
OKLAHOMA PISTOL-PACKING MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SHOOT SHOTGUN-WIELDING LIQUOR STORE ROBBER
Liquor store clerks shoot armed robbery suspect, fight over gun
by Jessica Remer and Angelica Brown
8 ABC Tulsa
February 23, 2018
TULSA, Okla. -- The owner of Forest Acres Liquor Store has released graphic surveillance video showing a violent run-in with an armed robber.
Tulsa police responded to the store near 12th and Memorial just after 6 p.m. Thursday after the clerk called 911, saying they shot the suspect multiple times. The suspect was gone by the time officers arrived, but he later showed up at a local hospital.
Police have identified the suspect as Tyrone Lee and believe he's connected to 10 other robberies in the area. They say Lee walked into the liquor store Thursday evening with a shotgun, demanding money.
Surveillance video shows the suspect behind the counter before walking out of the camera's view. The owner and her daughter both grab their guns, and when the suspect returns, the owner opens fire.
The suspect again appears to leave but comes back, prompting more gunfire. Video shows the owner's daughter shoot him at close range. Even after being shot multiple times, the suspect fights with the owner for her gun, pistol-whipping her.
Video shows the man chasing the women around the counter before they leave the store.
The owner suffered a gash to the head, which required staples. Both she and her daughter declined an interview but gave us permission to share the video. The owner's son said their guns saved their lives.
"We're not going to be victims," said Justin Christen.
The suspect remains in critical condition at the hospital.
The liquor store was back open Friday.
EDITOR’S NOE: If this had happened in California, them gals would probably have been charged with attempted murder because they shot poor ole Tyrone more than one time.
And Black Lives Matter would have screamed about white chicks trying to kill a young black man.
Rev. Moses Washington of the Second Antioch African Baptist Church said Tyrone was a good boy just trying to support his dear mother and his seven brothers and sisters.
by Jessica Remer and Angelica Brown
8 ABC Tulsa
February 23, 2018
TULSA, Okla. -- The owner of Forest Acres Liquor Store has released graphic surveillance video showing a violent run-in with an armed robber.
Tulsa police responded to the store near 12th and Memorial just after 6 p.m. Thursday after the clerk called 911, saying they shot the suspect multiple times. The suspect was gone by the time officers arrived, but he later showed up at a local hospital.
Police have identified the suspect as Tyrone Lee and believe he's connected to 10 other robberies in the area. They say Lee walked into the liquor store Thursday evening with a shotgun, demanding money.
Surveillance video shows the suspect behind the counter before walking out of the camera's view. The owner and her daughter both grab their guns, and when the suspect returns, the owner opens fire.
The suspect again appears to leave but comes back, prompting more gunfire. Video shows the owner's daughter shoot him at close range. Even after being shot multiple times, the suspect fights with the owner for her gun, pistol-whipping her.
Video shows the man chasing the women around the counter before they leave the store.
The owner suffered a gash to the head, which required staples. Both she and her daughter declined an interview but gave us permission to share the video. The owner's son said their guns saved their lives.
"We're not going to be victims," said Justin Christen.
The suspect remains in critical condition at the hospital.
The liquor store was back open Friday.
EDITOR’S NOE: If this had happened in California, them gals would probably have been charged with attempted murder because they shot poor ole Tyrone more than one time.
And Black Lives Matter would have screamed about white chicks trying to kill a young black man.
Rev. Moses Washington of the Second Antioch African Baptist Church said Tyrone was a good boy just trying to support his dear mother and his seven brothers and sisters.
AND AWAY HE GOES
Despite Long Odds, Drivers Still Attempt to Outrun Police Pursuits
By Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
February 22, 2018
LOS ANGELES — For a few moments Tuesday night, it looked like a pickup driver had finally done what so many other car chase suspects could not: elude police during a high-speed pursuit.
With officers on his tail, the driver veered his truck off the roadway and into a Metro subway tunnel in Boyle Heights, disappearing from view of helicopters broadcasting the chase. Metro officials shut down the Gold Line as officers went into the tunnel and checked the subway station at Soto Street.
It turned out not to be a perfect getaway. The suspect was captured, but his passenger managed to get away, at least so far.
Televised car chases have long been a source of fascination in Southern California, even though the vast majority end the same way, with drivers eventually being stopped and arrested. Sometimes, they simply give up or run out of gas. Other times, police use spike strips or the “pit” maneuver to spin the vehicle and stop it.
Yet watching these chases involves a certain faith that maybe, just maybe, the driver will outrun the cops.
Against the odds, some do get away. A Los Angeles Times analysis found that the Los Angeles Police Department reported making arrests in 82 percent of chases from 2006 to 2014, well above the state average of 68 percent. More recent data were not immediately available.
“People are always going to try and get away, but it is pretty hard to escape,” said Greg Meyer, a retired Los Angeles police captain and pursuit training expert.
In November, three suspects thought to be involved in an armed robbery of a Laguna Niguel wireless store managed to escape police after a lengthy pursuit from Orange County to Pasadena, where they jumped out of their vehicle at the Paseo Colorado mall. They have yet to be caught.
A Los Angeles County civil grand jury report studied 421 police pursuits in the county that were reported to the California Highway Patrol in a 12-month period beginning October 2015. The report found that suspects were immediately apprehended in 67 percent of the chases, leaving 139 pursuits that did not end in an arrest. Fifty-nine involved vehicles that escaped, and 47 ended because police abandoned the pursuit, usually for safety reasons.
The report concluded that some pursuits caused “unnecessary bystander injuries and deaths” and that law enforcement officers need better training to reduce the risk of crashes during high-speed pursuits.
The Times analysis showed that LAPD pursuits injure bystanders at more than twice the rate of police chases in the rest of California. From 2006 to 2014, 334 bystanders were injured — one for every 10 LAPD pursuits, according to the review of pursuit data reported to the CHP.
Both the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have tightened their policies on pursuits, pushing away from chasing nonviolent offenders or suspects whose behavior at the wheel becomes so dangerous it is likely to lead to injury to pedestrians or other motorists.
Meyer predicted that police pursuit escapes will be more difficult in coming years.
“Some of the technology coming along will really make it much harder to escape. We are talking drones launched from police cars to track the getaway car,” he said.
Over the years, pursuit suspects have tried to evade police by driving into parking garages or into Los Angeles International Airport, where there are flight restrictions for news choppers, or by simply bailing out of cars and running onto freeway medians.
Eighteen months ago, one particularly resourceful car thief, after an hourlong pursuit, headed into the hills above Whittier. With the stolen Honda Accord still moving, he climbed out of the driver’s window and jumped while the car continued to coast down the tree-lined road.
But the action Tuesday night was something new.
It began when Ralph Lopez Jr., 26, of Los Angeles allegedly stole a truck in Huntington Park. Police from that city gave chase. At one point, Lopez slammed into a yellow cab, sending two passengers to the hospital. Later, he drove on a sidewalk before driving into a subway tunnel. At that moment, there was concern that the truck could hit a train inside the tunnel. But Metro quickly shut off service, and it turned out there were no trains in the short tunnel, which runs through a portion of Boyle Heights.
“The tunnel — it was a first for us in a pursuit,” said Huntington Park Police Lt. Al Martinez. “We don’t like firsts.”
Police eventually arrested Lopez but are still looking for his passenger.
Videos of the truck’s descent into the subway made the rounds on social media Wednesday. But Meyer worries it could have another effect.
“People are going to copycat what this guy did and end up getting hit by a train,” he said.
By Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
February 22, 2018
LOS ANGELES — For a few moments Tuesday night, it looked like a pickup driver had finally done what so many other car chase suspects could not: elude police during a high-speed pursuit.
With officers on his tail, the driver veered his truck off the roadway and into a Metro subway tunnel in Boyle Heights, disappearing from view of helicopters broadcasting the chase. Metro officials shut down the Gold Line as officers went into the tunnel and checked the subway station at Soto Street.
It turned out not to be a perfect getaway. The suspect was captured, but his passenger managed to get away, at least so far.
Televised car chases have long been a source of fascination in Southern California, even though the vast majority end the same way, with drivers eventually being stopped and arrested. Sometimes, they simply give up or run out of gas. Other times, police use spike strips or the “pit” maneuver to spin the vehicle and stop it.
Yet watching these chases involves a certain faith that maybe, just maybe, the driver will outrun the cops.
Against the odds, some do get away. A Los Angeles Times analysis found that the Los Angeles Police Department reported making arrests in 82 percent of chases from 2006 to 2014, well above the state average of 68 percent. More recent data were not immediately available.
“People are always going to try and get away, but it is pretty hard to escape,” said Greg Meyer, a retired Los Angeles police captain and pursuit training expert.
In November, three suspects thought to be involved in an armed robbery of a Laguna Niguel wireless store managed to escape police after a lengthy pursuit from Orange County to Pasadena, where they jumped out of their vehicle at the Paseo Colorado mall. They have yet to be caught.
A Los Angeles County civil grand jury report studied 421 police pursuits in the county that were reported to the California Highway Patrol in a 12-month period beginning October 2015. The report found that suspects were immediately apprehended in 67 percent of the chases, leaving 139 pursuits that did not end in an arrest. Fifty-nine involved vehicles that escaped, and 47 ended because police abandoned the pursuit, usually for safety reasons.
The report concluded that some pursuits caused “unnecessary bystander injuries and deaths” and that law enforcement officers need better training to reduce the risk of crashes during high-speed pursuits.
The Times analysis showed that LAPD pursuits injure bystanders at more than twice the rate of police chases in the rest of California. From 2006 to 2014, 334 bystanders were injured — one for every 10 LAPD pursuits, according to the review of pursuit data reported to the CHP.
Both the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have tightened their policies on pursuits, pushing away from chasing nonviolent offenders or suspects whose behavior at the wheel becomes so dangerous it is likely to lead to injury to pedestrians or other motorists.
Meyer predicted that police pursuit escapes will be more difficult in coming years.
“Some of the technology coming along will really make it much harder to escape. We are talking drones launched from police cars to track the getaway car,” he said.
Over the years, pursuit suspects have tried to evade police by driving into parking garages or into Los Angeles International Airport, where there are flight restrictions for news choppers, or by simply bailing out of cars and running onto freeway medians.
Eighteen months ago, one particularly resourceful car thief, after an hourlong pursuit, headed into the hills above Whittier. With the stolen Honda Accord still moving, he climbed out of the driver’s window and jumped while the car continued to coast down the tree-lined road.
But the action Tuesday night was something new.
It began when Ralph Lopez Jr., 26, of Los Angeles allegedly stole a truck in Huntington Park. Police from that city gave chase. At one point, Lopez slammed into a yellow cab, sending two passengers to the hospital. Later, he drove on a sidewalk before driving into a subway tunnel. At that moment, there was concern that the truck could hit a train inside the tunnel. But Metro quickly shut off service, and it turned out there were no trains in the short tunnel, which runs through a portion of Boyle Heights.
“The tunnel — it was a first for us in a pursuit,” said Huntington Park Police Lt. Al Martinez. “We don’t like firsts.”
Police eventually arrested Lopez but are still looking for his passenger.
Videos of the truck’s descent into the subway made the rounds on social media Wednesday. But Meyer worries it could have another effect.
“People are going to copycat what this guy did and end up getting hit by a train,” he said.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (NIOSH) STUDY ON POLICE INJURIES
Law Enforcement Officers Three Times More Likely to Be Injured Than Other Workers
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2018
An estimated 669,100 law enforcement officers were treated in emergency departments across the nation for nonfatal injuries between 2003 and 2014, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Law enforcement officers have historically high rates of fatal and nonfatal injuries. The new research shows that officers are three times more likely to sustain a nonfatal injury than all other U.S. workers.
The study, Nonfatal Injuries to Law Enforcement Officers: A Rise in Assaults, which is the first to examine nonfatal injuries among officers on a national scale, was published online this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. It is also the first to capture nonfatal injuries sustained from assaults and unintentional injuries such as accidental falls or motor vehicle crashes.
“Studies based on evidence are an important feature of public health and this principle extends to studying the law enforcement community and their work,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “The safety and health of both police and citizens depend on understanding how policing tactics impact officer and citizen injuries.”
The study researchers, whose aim was to provide national estimates and trends of nonfatal injuries to law enforcement officers from 2003 – 2014, found the following:
__The law enforcement officer nonfatal injury trend increased across the 12-year period studied; this is in contrast with the trend for all other U.S. workers which significantly decreased
__Assault-related injury rates significantly increased almost 10 percent annually from 2003 to 2011.
__The three leading reasons for on-duty injuries were assaults and violent acts (36%), bodily reactions & exertion from running or other repetitive motions (15%), and transportation incidents (14%).
The study used nonfatal injury data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System – Occupational Supplement (NEISS-Work). Data were obtained for injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments from 2003-2014.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2018
An estimated 669,100 law enforcement officers were treated in emergency departments across the nation for nonfatal injuries between 2003 and 2014, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Law enforcement officers have historically high rates of fatal and nonfatal injuries. The new research shows that officers are three times more likely to sustain a nonfatal injury than all other U.S. workers.
The study, Nonfatal Injuries to Law Enforcement Officers: A Rise in Assaults, which is the first to examine nonfatal injuries among officers on a national scale, was published online this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. It is also the first to capture nonfatal injuries sustained from assaults and unintentional injuries such as accidental falls or motor vehicle crashes.
“Studies based on evidence are an important feature of public health and this principle extends to studying the law enforcement community and their work,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “The safety and health of both police and citizens depend on understanding how policing tactics impact officer and citizen injuries.”
The study researchers, whose aim was to provide national estimates and trends of nonfatal injuries to law enforcement officers from 2003 – 2014, found the following:
__The law enforcement officer nonfatal injury trend increased across the 12-year period studied; this is in contrast with the trend for all other U.S. workers which significantly decreased
__Assault-related injury rates significantly increased almost 10 percent annually from 2003 to 2011.
__The three leading reasons for on-duty injuries were assaults and violent acts (36%), bodily reactions & exertion from running or other repetitive motions (15%), and transportation incidents (14%).
The study used nonfatal injury data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System – Occupational Supplement (NEISS-Work). Data were obtained for injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments from 2003-2014.
RELIGION AND METH A BAD MIX, LEAVING YOUNG WOMAN IN A WORLD OF DARKNESS
Woman, 20, blinded after she gouged out her own eyes in front of a church when she was high on meth and heard voices telling her that she had to 'sacrifice' them to get to heaven
By Keith Griffith
Daily Mail
February 23, 2018
Fresh details have emerged in the horror case of a woman who gouged her own eyes out in front of a church.
Kaylee Muthart, 20, had been using meth for about six months when she freaked out on February 6 in Anderson, South Carolina, her mother told People in a new interview published on Thursday.
Katy Tompkins, mother to Kaylee and six other children, said she thinks Kaylee first started used meth unintentionally last year, when someone gave her marijuana laced with the drug.
Doctors believe that the meth she smoked earlier this month was also laced, with a chemical that caused her to hallucinate.
She thought the world was 'upside down' and heard voices that told her to 'sacrifice her eyes' in order to make it to heaven.
Just days before the incident, Kaylee had told her mother that she was ready to go into drug rehab.
‘The day before it happened, which was my birthday, I was getting ready to have her committed, just to get her off the streets and away from it,' said Tompkins. 'But I was too late.'
Parishioners at the South Main Chapel and Mercy Center heard Kaylee's screams and ran outside to find her holding an eyeball in her hand.
She fought them off as they tried to help, and by the time paramedics arrived she had gouged out the other eye.
A team of deputies finally managed to control Kaylee and she was airlifted to the trauma unit at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
'I can't even explain that feeling when I found out, it was horrifying. Complete terror,' Tompkins said of first hearing what her daughter had done. 'I was thankful she was alive, but I knew something was wrong with her.'
Kaylee remains hospitalized and doctors have cleaned and treated her orbital sockets to prevent infection.
Doctors recommend that she get prosthetic eyes to preserve her facial structure and keep bacteria out of the sockets.
Kaylee insists that she get aqua green prosthetics to match her natural eye color, her mother said.
Tompkins said that after Kaylee gets out of the hospital and learns how to live without sight, she wants to share her story with others and warn young people of the dangers of drug use.
'I don't know how I'm getting through it, but she has given me strength. It's weird to say, but she uplifts me right now and she's the one that can't see. That's just the kind of person she is,' Tompkins says. 'I'm thankful. It's a horrible thing, but I'm still thankful because God spared her life.'
The family has created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a seeing eye dog for Kaylee.
By Keith Griffith
Daily Mail
February 23, 2018
Fresh details have emerged in the horror case of a woman who gouged her own eyes out in front of a church.
Kaylee Muthart, 20, had been using meth for about six months when she freaked out on February 6 in Anderson, South Carolina, her mother told People in a new interview published on Thursday.
Katy Tompkins, mother to Kaylee and six other children, said she thinks Kaylee first started used meth unintentionally last year, when someone gave her marijuana laced with the drug.
Doctors believe that the meth she smoked earlier this month was also laced, with a chemical that caused her to hallucinate.
She thought the world was 'upside down' and heard voices that told her to 'sacrifice her eyes' in order to make it to heaven.
Just days before the incident, Kaylee had told her mother that she was ready to go into drug rehab.
‘The day before it happened, which was my birthday, I was getting ready to have her committed, just to get her off the streets and away from it,' said Tompkins. 'But I was too late.'
Parishioners at the South Main Chapel and Mercy Center heard Kaylee's screams and ran outside to find her holding an eyeball in her hand.
She fought them off as they tried to help, and by the time paramedics arrived she had gouged out the other eye.
A team of deputies finally managed to control Kaylee and she was airlifted to the trauma unit at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
'I can't even explain that feeling when I found out, it was horrifying. Complete terror,' Tompkins said of first hearing what her daughter had done. 'I was thankful she was alive, but I knew something was wrong with her.'
Kaylee remains hospitalized and doctors have cleaned and treated her orbital sockets to prevent infection.
Doctors recommend that she get prosthetic eyes to preserve her facial structure and keep bacteria out of the sockets.
Kaylee insists that she get aqua green prosthetics to match her natural eye color, her mother said.
Tompkins said that after Kaylee gets out of the hospital and learns how to live without sight, she wants to share her story with others and warn young people of the dangers of drug use.
'I don't know how I'm getting through it, but she has given me strength. It's weird to say, but she uplifts me right now and she's the one that can't see. That's just the kind of person she is,' Tompkins says. 'I'm thankful. It's a horrible thing, but I'm still thankful because God spared her life.'
The family has created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a seeing eye dog for Kaylee.
A NEW FACIAL RECOGNITION COMPANY IS TOUTING A 99 PERCENT ACCURACY RATE. I CALL THAT BULLSHIT
African-Americans recognized as gorillas by one facial recognition system
BY Trey Rusk
Running Code 3
February 21, 1018
The website Nextgov posted an article today that stated the 99 percent statistic.
I wouldn't call that bullshit if I didn't have some experience with camera reading. I ran a license plate reader that could alert to stolen, wanted and amber alerts based on cameras mounted on a vehicle reading the plates. False or bad reads were not uncommon. I will say the technology is improving but 99 percent accuracy? I don't think so.
On February 18, 2018, The New York Times ran an article about facial recognition technology. It admits that facial recognition is improving by leaps and bounds. The 99 percent accuracy rate was for white men.
It turns out that there is up to a 35 percent false read rate on darker skinned black women. The article goes on to read that real world biases seep into artificial intelligence.
In modern artificial intelligence, data rules. A.I. software is only as smart as the data used to train it. If there are many more white men than black women in the system, it will be worse at identifying the black women.
One widely used facial-recognition data set was estimated to be more than 75 percent male and more than 80 percent white, according to another research study.
in 2015, for example, Google had to apologize after it's image recognition systems photo app labeled African Americans as "gorillas."
People a lot more educated about artificial intelligence than me predict that the biases in the facial recognition/artificial intelligence data systems need to be addressed now because the industry is growing.
I am writing about facial recognition technology because I predict that it will be introduced into the criminal justice system. I am not a fan of what I call junk science that may be capable of convicting innocent people.
The reason polygraphs are not admissible in court is that they may be only as reliable as the operator. That means in my opinion that the operator's prejudices and biases may be built into the outcome of a polygraph test.
Let's remember that some junk science that was used to convict people has already been thrown out. I'm referring to Bite Mark Technology and now questions are arising about the effectiveness of hypnosis.
I'm also wary of repeated interrogations. Investigators are looking for inconsistent statements that may have been made years apart. They have the video of the previous interview to rely on. The suspect only has their memory coupled with the nervousness of being interrogated by law enforcement.
If you think I'm wrong about memory, just ask yourself, have you ever walked down the hall to retrieve something and when you arrived, forgot what it was you were looking for?
Now try to remember the item sitting in a chair across the table from two detectives referring to you as a person of interest.
I rest my case.
BY Trey Rusk
Running Code 3
February 21, 1018
The website Nextgov posted an article today that stated the 99 percent statistic.
I wouldn't call that bullshit if I didn't have some experience with camera reading. I ran a license plate reader that could alert to stolen, wanted and amber alerts based on cameras mounted on a vehicle reading the plates. False or bad reads were not uncommon. I will say the technology is improving but 99 percent accuracy? I don't think so.
On February 18, 2018, The New York Times ran an article about facial recognition technology. It admits that facial recognition is improving by leaps and bounds. The 99 percent accuracy rate was for white men.
It turns out that there is up to a 35 percent false read rate on darker skinned black women. The article goes on to read that real world biases seep into artificial intelligence.
In modern artificial intelligence, data rules. A.I. software is only as smart as the data used to train it. If there are many more white men than black women in the system, it will be worse at identifying the black women.
One widely used facial-recognition data set was estimated to be more than 75 percent male and more than 80 percent white, according to another research study.
in 2015, for example, Google had to apologize after it's image recognition systems photo app labeled African Americans as "gorillas."
People a lot more educated about artificial intelligence than me predict that the biases in the facial recognition/artificial intelligence data systems need to be addressed now because the industry is growing.
I am writing about facial recognition technology because I predict that it will be introduced into the criminal justice system. I am not a fan of what I call junk science that may be capable of convicting innocent people.
The reason polygraphs are not admissible in court is that they may be only as reliable as the operator. That means in my opinion that the operator's prejudices and biases may be built into the outcome of a polygraph test.
Let's remember that some junk science that was used to convict people has already been thrown out. I'm referring to Bite Mark Technology and now questions are arising about the effectiveness of hypnosis.
I'm also wary of repeated interrogations. Investigators are looking for inconsistent statements that may have been made years apart. They have the video of the previous interview to rely on. The suspect only has their memory coupled with the nervousness of being interrogated by law enforcement.
If you think I'm wrong about memory, just ask yourself, have you ever walked down the hall to retrieve something and when you arrived, forgot what it was you were looking for?
Now try to remember the item sitting in a chair across the table from two detectives referring to you as a person of interest.
I rest my case.
ENGINEER TO BE EULOGIZED FOR SOLVING A MECHANICAL PROBLEM
A priest, a drunkard, and an engineer were led to the guillotine for their crimes. The executioner pulled the priest forward first and asked him if he wanted to be facing up or down when he met his face.
"Upward," said the priest. "I want to be looking toward heaven when I die."
The blade zoomed downward, but stopped just an inch short of the priest's throat. All assembled agreed that it was divine intervention, and let the priest go free.
The drunkard was pulled forward next, and decided to copy the priest, hoping he would get as lucky. Again the blade zoomed down but stopped just short of the drunkard's throat. So the authorities released him as well.
It was finally the engineer's turn.
He, like the others, decided to face upward. The blade slowly raised back into place. "Oh, hey, I think I know what the problem is." The engineer exclaimed. "That cable to the left appears to be catching the rope!"
May he rest in peace.
"Upward," said the priest. "I want to be looking toward heaven when I die."
The blade zoomed downward, but stopped just an inch short of the priest's throat. All assembled agreed that it was divine intervention, and let the priest go free.
The drunkard was pulled forward next, and decided to copy the priest, hoping he would get as lucky. Again the blade zoomed down but stopped just short of the drunkard's throat. So the authorities released him as well.
It was finally the engineer's turn.
He, like the others, decided to face upward. The blade slowly raised back into place. "Oh, hey, I think I know what the problem is." The engineer exclaimed. "That cable to the left appears to be catching the rope!"
May he rest in peace.
Friday, February 23, 2018
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT.
by Bob Walsh
Donald Trump announced yesterday that because of the sanctuary cities he is considering withdrawing all of ICE from California and letting things turn to shit (even more than they have already) until the state begs for them to come back.
If it wasn't for the fact that I live here I would seriously consider endorsing the idea. I wonder if Trump is just pissed off enough to do it?
Donald Trump announced yesterday that because of the sanctuary cities he is considering withdrawing all of ICE from California and letting things turn to shit (even more than they have already) until the state begs for them to come back.
If it wasn't for the fact that I live here I would seriously consider endorsing the idea. I wonder if Trump is just pissed off enough to do it?
THOUGHTS ON TAKING THE FIFTH
by Bob Walsh
David Kramer is a former State Department desk monkey and a road dog of that famous former war hero and current bitter elderly curmudgeon Senator John McCain. You might remember a few months ago when talking to congress about what has come to be known as the Steele Dossier he told the powers that be that he was in fact aware of the source(s) of that document, but refused to tell them. They subpoenaed his happy ass. He refused to appear, and took the Fifth. One wonders why.
Does that mean that his deposition in December was in fact false and now he does not want to cop to being a perjurer? It seems likely. Does he think he can stall until after the next election when the Dems may take over and perhaps bury things? Possibly. One thing for sure, the stench is getting worse all the time.
David Kramer is a former State Department desk monkey and a road dog of that famous former war hero and current bitter elderly curmudgeon Senator John McCain. You might remember a few months ago when talking to congress about what has come to be known as the Steele Dossier he told the powers that be that he was in fact aware of the source(s) of that document, but refused to tell them. They subpoenaed his happy ass. He refused to appear, and took the Fifth. One wonders why.
Does that mean that his deposition in December was in fact false and now he does not want to cop to being a perjurer? It seems likely. Does he think he can stall until after the next election when the Dems may take over and perhaps bury things? Possibly. One thing for sure, the stench is getting worse all the time.
‘HAVE FUN IN HELL, BITCH’ ….. WHY WOULD THIS BITCH TWEET THAT?
Lauren Duca, a Teen Vogue columnist, posted some vile tweets on the passing of Billy Graham
BarkGrowlBite
February 23, 2018
Although Billy Graham made some anti-Semitic remarks during a visit with then President Richard Nixon, I have always liked and respected him. Indeed, I put Billy Graham right up there with Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lauren Duca, who will celebrate her 27th birthday Saturday, is a columnist for Teen Vogue. Apparently she does not hold the Rev. Graham in the same esteem that I do. Upon Graham’s death, Duca tweeted:
“The big news today is that Billy Graham was still alive this whole time. Anyway, have fun in hell, bitch.”
After getting battered by a shitstorm of social media comments condemning her irreverence of the dear departed evangelist, Duca responded with the following tweet:
“Respecting the dead only applies to people who weren’t evil pieces of shit while they were alive, thanks.”
Why would this bitch tweet that about Billy Graham? What could he have possibly done to Duca for her to publicly show such hateful disrespect for the deceased evangelist? It’s hard to believe this bitch is a columnist for a teen magazine.
Duca must have been looking in the mirror when she wrote ‘evil pieces of shit’ because that describes the bitch exactly.
BarkGrowlBite
February 23, 2018
Although Billy Graham made some anti-Semitic remarks during a visit with then President Richard Nixon, I have always liked and respected him. Indeed, I put Billy Graham right up there with Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lauren Duca, who will celebrate her 27th birthday Saturday, is a columnist for Teen Vogue. Apparently she does not hold the Rev. Graham in the same esteem that I do. Upon Graham’s death, Duca tweeted:
“The big news today is that Billy Graham was still alive this whole time. Anyway, have fun in hell, bitch.”
After getting battered by a shitstorm of social media comments condemning her irreverence of the dear departed evangelist, Duca responded with the following tweet:
“Respecting the dead only applies to people who weren’t evil pieces of shit while they were alive, thanks.”
Why would this bitch tweet that about Billy Graham? What could he have possibly done to Duca for her to publicly show such hateful disrespect for the deceased evangelist? It’s hard to believe this bitch is a columnist for a teen magazine.
Duca must have been looking in the mirror when she wrote ‘evil pieces of shit’ because that describes the bitch exactly.
UBER EATS...HOT LEAD
by Bob Walsh
Uber Eats driver Robert Blivens, 36, is currently a guest of Fulton County, Georgia pending legal action. Blivens admits to shooting the customer, claiming self defense. He said the customer threatened to "fuck him up" and reached into his pocket. Blivens thought he was going for a gun and shot him.
Since the customer was at his front door and Blivens was in his car at the time the shots were fired there might be some difficulty with the self-defense claim. In addition Blivens fled the scene, though he did turn himself in later.
Uber Eats driver Robert Blivens, 36, is currently a guest of Fulton County, Georgia pending legal action. Blivens admits to shooting the customer, claiming self defense. He said the customer threatened to "fuck him up" and reached into his pocket. Blivens thought he was going for a gun and shot him.
Since the customer was at his front door and Blivens was in his car at the time the shots were fired there might be some difficulty with the self-defense claim. In addition Blivens fled the scene, though he did turn himself in later.
HEALTH CARE PROVIDER CHARGED IN JAIL DEATH
by Bob Walsh
The Milwaukee District Attorney has just charged Armor Correctional Health Services, Inc. a Miami based corporation, with seven misdemeanor charges of falsifying health records relating to the death of Terrill Thomas, 38. The unfortunate Mr. Thomas was (allegedly) held in a cell without water for seven days.
Armor company records say they checked on him during this time, but surveillance film shows them walking right on by without checking on him at all. They appear to have fabricated vital sign readings.
Last week prosecutors filed criminal charges against three specific Armor employees. Armor is backpeddling away from this like crazy.
Thomas had "mental health issues" and had previously flooded his cell. He was in the slammer for shooting two people.
The Milwaukee District Attorney has just charged Armor Correctional Health Services, Inc. a Miami based corporation, with seven misdemeanor charges of falsifying health records relating to the death of Terrill Thomas, 38. The unfortunate Mr. Thomas was (allegedly) held in a cell without water for seven days.
Armor company records say they checked on him during this time, but surveillance film shows them walking right on by without checking on him at all. They appear to have fabricated vital sign readings.
Last week prosecutors filed criminal charges against three specific Armor employees. Armor is backpeddling away from this like crazy.
Thomas had "mental health issues" and had previously flooded his cell. He was in the slammer for shooting two people.
JEWISH SETTLEMENTS ARE A GOD GIVEN RIGHT ….. SO SWEAR ISRAELI SETTLERS
American Ambassador Warns Israel Could Descend Into Civil War
Israel Today
February 21, 2018
Israel, despite being the homeland of the tightly-knit Jewish people, is not immune to civil war. It's happened before in the nation's history.
And top American officials apparently fear it could happen again.
Israel's Channel 10 News reported on Tuesday that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman had stated in private remarks his concern that forcing the Jewish state to evacuate settlers from the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria could lead to deadly internal conflict.
On the sidelines of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, Friedman came down hard on the Palestinian Authority as the primary obstacle to peace, but also reportedly said of Israel:
"The command echelon in the IDF is going more and more to the national religious [sector]. These are people who feel duty-bound to this land as land given to them by God. The expulsion of hundreds of thousands of settlers could lead to a civil war in Israel."
Ongoing Palestinian intransigence and the potential for a catastrophic rift in Israeli society has, in Friedman's estimation, led the Trump Administration to be more "realistic" about the peace process. "We do not want to raise expectations about the chances of reaching a peace agreement too much," he was quoted as saying.
The US Embassy in Israel later issued a statement that didn't deny Friedman had made those remarks, but did call out the sources for failing to provide full context:
"The Channel 10 report is based upon three attendees at the conference who failed to provide much of the context behind Ambassador Friedman’s comments as well as significant additional and related remarks by the Ambassador."
Of course, civil war in any context is a bad thing. And the fact that Washington believes it to be a real possibility is frightening, but also echoes warnings of many experts in Israel itself.
Israel Today
February 21, 2018
Israel, despite being the homeland of the tightly-knit Jewish people, is not immune to civil war. It's happened before in the nation's history.
And top American officials apparently fear it could happen again.
Israel's Channel 10 News reported on Tuesday that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman had stated in private remarks his concern that forcing the Jewish state to evacuate settlers from the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria could lead to deadly internal conflict.
On the sidelines of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, Friedman came down hard on the Palestinian Authority as the primary obstacle to peace, but also reportedly said of Israel:
"The command echelon in the IDF is going more and more to the national religious [sector]. These are people who feel duty-bound to this land as land given to them by God. The expulsion of hundreds of thousands of settlers could lead to a civil war in Israel."
Ongoing Palestinian intransigence and the potential for a catastrophic rift in Israeli society has, in Friedman's estimation, led the Trump Administration to be more "realistic" about the peace process. "We do not want to raise expectations about the chances of reaching a peace agreement too much," he was quoted as saying.
The US Embassy in Israel later issued a statement that didn't deny Friedman had made those remarks, but did call out the sources for failing to provide full context:
"The Channel 10 report is based upon three attendees at the conference who failed to provide much of the context behind Ambassador Friedman’s comments as well as significant additional and related remarks by the Ambassador."
Of course, civil war in any context is a bad thing. And the fact that Washington believes it to be a real possibility is frightening, but also echoes warnings of many experts in Israel itself.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
IF YOU WANT AN AR-15, YOU BETTER BUY IT BY THE END OF THE YEAR
There is a good chance that Congress will pass an assault weapons ban in 2019 with bipartisan support
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
February 21, 2018
The Florida school shootings have led to a youth uprising against assault rifles like the Ar-15. Calls for gun control in the wake of mass shootings at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School and in Las Vegas all faded away, but this time it seems different. Once you get high schoolers energized on a cause designed to protect them from gun violence, their fervor will not fade away for months to come. And don’t think that parents aren’t listening.
The students are mobilizing a ‘March For Our Lives’ rally in Washington on March 24. This march will be well funded. George Clooney and his wife have pledged $500,000 to support the march and Oprah said she will match that. Other celebrities are sure to follow suit. And look for George Soros to toss in a substantial amount from his billions.
Soros will also outspend the NRA by pouring millions of dollars into the campaigns of congressional candidates that favor strict gun controls. Those scoffing at the calls for gun control better think twice. The Florida school shooting is a game changer.
President Trump says he now favors expanded background checks and he has ordered the Justice Department to outlaw bump stocks like those used by the Las Vegas shooter. Several Republican congressmen have said they would now support an assault weapons ban. Of course, if the Democrats had their way, they would ban civilian ownership of all firearms.
We should remember that Congress has once before passed an ‘assault weapons ban’ law which prohibited the sales of semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15. That law became effective in 1994, but it expired in 2004. It is quite possible that like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Congress will pass a similar assault weapons ban in 2019 with bipartisan support. And if that bipartisan support is strong, President Trump is unlikely to exercise his veto.
So if you want an AR-15, you better buy it by the end of the year.
The AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the U.S. Congress is not likely to enact a total ban on assault weapons. That would make instant criminals out of more than 5 million law abiding citizens because sure as shit, they are not going to turn in their beloved AR-15s and AK-47s. Paraphrasing the late Charlton Heston: “I'll give you my AR-15 when you take it from my cold, dead hands”
Will a ban on the sales of assault rifles prevent future school shootings? Of course not! Such a ban would only serve as feel-good legislation. How many of those more than 5 million AR-15 gun owners are nut jobs, or will become nut jobs, and decide to take out a bunch of school children? Only God knows the answer.
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
February 21, 2018
The Florida school shootings have led to a youth uprising against assault rifles like the Ar-15. Calls for gun control in the wake of mass shootings at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School and in Las Vegas all faded away, but this time it seems different. Once you get high schoolers energized on a cause designed to protect them from gun violence, their fervor will not fade away for months to come. And don’t think that parents aren’t listening.
The students are mobilizing a ‘March For Our Lives’ rally in Washington on March 24. This march will be well funded. George Clooney and his wife have pledged $500,000 to support the march and Oprah said she will match that. Other celebrities are sure to follow suit. And look for George Soros to toss in a substantial amount from his billions.
Soros will also outspend the NRA by pouring millions of dollars into the campaigns of congressional candidates that favor strict gun controls. Those scoffing at the calls for gun control better think twice. The Florida school shooting is a game changer.
President Trump says he now favors expanded background checks and he has ordered the Justice Department to outlaw bump stocks like those used by the Las Vegas shooter. Several Republican congressmen have said they would now support an assault weapons ban. Of course, if the Democrats had their way, they would ban civilian ownership of all firearms.
We should remember that Congress has once before passed an ‘assault weapons ban’ law which prohibited the sales of semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15. That law became effective in 1994, but it expired in 2004. It is quite possible that like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Congress will pass a similar assault weapons ban in 2019 with bipartisan support. And if that bipartisan support is strong, President Trump is unlikely to exercise his veto.
So if you want an AR-15, you better buy it by the end of the year.
The AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the U.S. Congress is not likely to enact a total ban on assault weapons. That would make instant criminals out of more than 5 million law abiding citizens because sure as shit, they are not going to turn in their beloved AR-15s and AK-47s. Paraphrasing the late Charlton Heston: “I'll give you my AR-15 when you take it from my cold, dead hands”
Will a ban on the sales of assault rifles prevent future school shootings? Of course not! Such a ban would only serve as feel-good legislation. How many of those more than 5 million AR-15 gun owners are nut jobs, or will become nut jobs, and decide to take out a bunch of school children? Only God knows the answer.
STATES HAVE THE RIGHT TO ENFORCE GUN RESTRICTIONS, INCLUDING BANS ON ASSAULT RIFLES
Supreme Court leaves in place California's 10-day wait for gun buyers, rejects 2nd Amendment challenge
By David G. Savage
Los Angeles Times
February 20, 2018
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court made clear again Tuesday that the government has broad power to restrict and regulate firearms, dismissing a 2nd Amendment challenge to California's 10-day waiting period for new gun purchases.
While the court has ruled that the 2nd Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns, the justices have repeatedly refused to go further by blocking strict gun regulations, including state bans on the sale of semi-automatic weapons or limits on who can carry a weapon in public.
Dissenting alone, Justice Clarence Thomas said "the 2nd Amendment is a disfavored right in this court."
In 2008 and 2010, the high court struck down ordinances in Washington, D.C., and Chicago that prohibited the private possession of handguns as violations of 2nd Amendment. Americans have a right to have guns at home for self-defense, the court said in 5-4 decisions.
But since then, the justices have turned down gun rights advocates who have sued to challenge gun regulations based on the 2nd Amendment.
"There are simply not four justices who are eager to jump back into this fray," said UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, an expert on gun rights. It takes the votes of at least four justices to grant review of a case. "The California case highlights that the gun debate will play out in the legislatures and in Congress."
Many gun rights advocates have insisted the 2nd Amendment includes the right to buy rapid-fire, military-style rifles, which are among the most popular weapons sold in the nation. But in December 2015, the high court refused to hear a challenge to an ordinance in Highland Park, Ill. that banned the sale and possession of semi-automatic rifles that have been used in several mass shootings. California and seven other states have similar laws.
Last June, the court also turned away a constitutional challenge to ordinances in San Diego and Los Angeles which strictly limit concealed carry permits. While gun owners may obtain a permit from a county sheriff if they can show "good cause," many California counties set a very high bar for who qualifies under this standard. In upholding the restrictions, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said "the 2nd Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public." Only Thomas and new Justice Neil M. Gorsuch dissented then.
On Tuesday, the court let stand a ruling of the 9th Circuit Court that called California's 10-day waiting period for gun purchases a "reasonable safety precaution" and one that does not violate the constitutional right to own a gun.
California, eight other states and the District of Columbia impose waiting periods for the purchase of a firearm. The others are Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
California's 10-day period is longer than all but Hawaii's. And California's waiting period applies to new gun purchases even if the owner already possesses another legal weapon.
Jeff Silvester, a gun owner, and the CalGuns Foundation sued, contending the 10-day wait is too long and unnecessary for gun owners who are purchasing a second weapon. They said the state's claimed need for a "cooling off period" makes no sense if the buyer already has a gun.
But the 9th Circuit upheld the regulation. The judges said they agreed with the state's argument that "waiting 10 days may deter subsequent purchasers from buying new weapons that would be better suited for a heinous use."
The justices considered the appeal at several private conferences, but announced Tuesday they would not hear the case of Silvester vs. Becerra.
Thomas filed a 14-page dissent and lamented the court's "general failure to afford the 2nd Amendment the respect due an enumerated constitutional right." He cited examples of where the court had intervened to hear cases about waiting periods or delays for abortion, protests or police searches.
"The court would take these cases because abortion, speech and the 4th Amendment are three of its favored rights," he wrote. "The right to keep and bear arms is apparently this court's constitutional orphan."
By David G. Savage
Los Angeles Times
February 20, 2018
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court made clear again Tuesday that the government has broad power to restrict and regulate firearms, dismissing a 2nd Amendment challenge to California's 10-day waiting period for new gun purchases.
While the court has ruled that the 2nd Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns, the justices have repeatedly refused to go further by blocking strict gun regulations, including state bans on the sale of semi-automatic weapons or limits on who can carry a weapon in public.
Dissenting alone, Justice Clarence Thomas said "the 2nd Amendment is a disfavored right in this court."
In 2008 and 2010, the high court struck down ordinances in Washington, D.C., and Chicago that prohibited the private possession of handguns as violations of 2nd Amendment. Americans have a right to have guns at home for self-defense, the court said in 5-4 decisions.
But since then, the justices have turned down gun rights advocates who have sued to challenge gun regulations based on the 2nd Amendment.
"There are simply not four justices who are eager to jump back into this fray," said UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, an expert on gun rights. It takes the votes of at least four justices to grant review of a case. "The California case highlights that the gun debate will play out in the legislatures and in Congress."
Many gun rights advocates have insisted the 2nd Amendment includes the right to buy rapid-fire, military-style rifles, which are among the most popular weapons sold in the nation. But in December 2015, the high court refused to hear a challenge to an ordinance in Highland Park, Ill. that banned the sale and possession of semi-automatic rifles that have been used in several mass shootings. California and seven other states have similar laws.
Last June, the court also turned away a constitutional challenge to ordinances in San Diego and Los Angeles which strictly limit concealed carry permits. While gun owners may obtain a permit from a county sheriff if they can show "good cause," many California counties set a very high bar for who qualifies under this standard. In upholding the restrictions, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said "the 2nd Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public." Only Thomas and new Justice Neil M. Gorsuch dissented then.
On Tuesday, the court let stand a ruling of the 9th Circuit Court that called California's 10-day waiting period for gun purchases a "reasonable safety precaution" and one that does not violate the constitutional right to own a gun.
California, eight other states and the District of Columbia impose waiting periods for the purchase of a firearm. The others are Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
California's 10-day period is longer than all but Hawaii's. And California's waiting period applies to new gun purchases even if the owner already possesses another legal weapon.
Jeff Silvester, a gun owner, and the CalGuns Foundation sued, contending the 10-day wait is too long and unnecessary for gun owners who are purchasing a second weapon. They said the state's claimed need for a "cooling off period" makes no sense if the buyer already has a gun.
But the 9th Circuit upheld the regulation. The judges said they agreed with the state's argument that "waiting 10 days may deter subsequent purchasers from buying new weapons that would be better suited for a heinous use."
The justices considered the appeal at several private conferences, but announced Tuesday they would not hear the case of Silvester vs. Becerra.
Thomas filed a 14-page dissent and lamented the court's "general failure to afford the 2nd Amendment the respect due an enumerated constitutional right." He cited examples of where the court had intervened to hear cases about waiting periods or delays for abortion, protests or police searches.
"The court would take these cases because abortion, speech and the 4th Amendment are three of its favored rights," he wrote. "The right to keep and bear arms is apparently this court's constitutional orphan."
DETROIT-AREA MAN SUCCEEDS IN RIDDING HOME OF SKUNKS ….. BUT HIS METHOD ALSO BURNS DOWN HIS HOUSE
Smoke bomb forces skunks out and leads to Ferndale house fire
By Ann Zaniewski
Detroit Free Press
February 20. 2018
A Ferndale man who used a smoke bomb to try to rid his crawlspace of skunks succeeded — but also nearly burned down his house.
"We suggest citizens hire pest control professionals, however if one is an absolute die-hard do-it-yourselfer, please read and understand the directions and warning labels before applying an incendiary (smoke bomb) to your home or garage," Ferndale Fire Chief Kevin P. Sullivan said.
Firefighters were called at 10:30 a.m. Monday to a home on the 300 block of West Webster after the renter who lived there used a smoke bomb in his crawl space to get rid of the skunks that lived there. When they arrived, flames were already in the crawlspace and on the first floor.
The man told fire authorities he waited 15 minutes after the fire started before calling 911.
"Fire can double in size every 30 seconds at a slow rate, doing basic math he let the fire grow approximately 30 times the original size," Sullivan said.
The fire spread up from the first floor through the walls to the attic.
"The house was a complete loss, the occupant lost most (of) his possessions, the structure was severely damaged, fire burned through the floor and the roof, several access holes were cut to fully extinguish the fire," Sullivan said.
One firefighter suffered a sprain. No one else was injured.
Sullivan said no skunk carcasses were found at the scene.
It's not the first time a metro Detroiter ended up setting a fire trying to get rid of a household pest. In 2015, a Detroit woman set her apartment and the entire building ablaze when she used rubbing alcohol to exterminate bed bugs.
A year later, a Detroit man was so overwhelmed by the bedbugs in his Midtown apartment that he sprayed himself with alcohol and then tried to light one of them on fire, badly burning himself in the ensuing flames.
By Ann Zaniewski
Detroit Free Press
February 20. 2018
A Ferndale man who used a smoke bomb to try to rid his crawlspace of skunks succeeded — but also nearly burned down his house.
"We suggest citizens hire pest control professionals, however if one is an absolute die-hard do-it-yourselfer, please read and understand the directions and warning labels before applying an incendiary (smoke bomb) to your home or garage," Ferndale Fire Chief Kevin P. Sullivan said.
Firefighters were called at 10:30 a.m. Monday to a home on the 300 block of West Webster after the renter who lived there used a smoke bomb in his crawl space to get rid of the skunks that lived there. When they arrived, flames were already in the crawlspace and on the first floor.
The man told fire authorities he waited 15 minutes after the fire started before calling 911.
"Fire can double in size every 30 seconds at a slow rate, doing basic math he let the fire grow approximately 30 times the original size," Sullivan said.
The fire spread up from the first floor through the walls to the attic.
"The house was a complete loss, the occupant lost most (of) his possessions, the structure was severely damaged, fire burned through the floor and the roof, several access holes were cut to fully extinguish the fire," Sullivan said.
One firefighter suffered a sprain. No one else was injured.
Sullivan said no skunk carcasses were found at the scene.
It's not the first time a metro Detroiter ended up setting a fire trying to get rid of a household pest. In 2015, a Detroit woman set her apartment and the entire building ablaze when she used rubbing alcohol to exterminate bed bugs.
A year later, a Detroit man was so overwhelmed by the bedbugs in his Midtown apartment that he sprayed himself with alcohol and then tried to light one of them on fire, badly burning himself in the ensuing flames.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
TOP COPS WANT BAN ON CIVILIAN OWNERSHIP OF MILITARY-STYLE ASSAULT WEAPONS LIKE THE AR-15
Police Chiefs Push for Gun Control, Including Ban on Assault Rifles
By Charles Rabin and Jay Weaver
The Miami Herald
February 20, 2018
MIAMI -- For Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, the anguish of Florida's worst school shooting remains raw. Families are still burying some of the 17 students and faculty members killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, victims of a deeply troubled ex-student with an assault rifle.
For Miami Beach Police Chief Dan Oates, the scars are six years old but still deep. He headed the police department in Aurora, Colorado, when a mentally ill killer armed with a similar high-power rifle killed a dozen and injured 70 others in a movie theater.
These two South Florida police chiefs share the up-close and personal horrors of overseeing mass shooting investigations that have reinforced their beliefs about gun control:
First, they want military-style weapons like AR-15 rifles, the weapon used in both events, out of the hands of civilians. Second, they argue that lenient state and national gun laws and mental health privacy laws are hampering the mission of police to keep the public safe from gun violence, prohibiting officers from confiscating weapons -- often even from people who have produced a trail of warnings like Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.
"Based on the law, if someone [who has weapons] says I want to grow up and be a serial killer, there's nothing you can do about it," Israel told the Miami Herald on Monday. "We can't arrest for something a person is thinking about."
They're not alone among top state law enforcement officers calling for lawmakers to tighten gun control and reverse decades of bidding by the powerful National Rifle Association. The Florida Police Chiefs Association called for an emergency meeting Monday night that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to attend. Exactly what suggestions might emerge, is not yet clear.
Kevin Lystad, the Miami Shores police chief who is president of the FPCA, said the plan is to offer gun legislation to state lawmakers in the coming weeks. Lystad said he's focused on assault weapons and background checks.
"Congress messed up when they didn't renew the assault weapons ban [in 2004]. I think that was problematic," Lystad said. "We need to deal with assault weapons, background checks. It's about finding common ground."
One immediate change that Oates and Israel want to see: Ban the legal sale of the AR-15s used in both massacres.
"In only one condition should you have an assault rifle, if you've joined the Marines and you're going to fight," Israel said.
The chiefs have joined a growing chorus of gun control advocates statewide that is suddenly being led by the young survivors of Stoneman Douglas shootings. A number of the students are busing up to Tallahassee and expect to meet with state legislators on Wednesday.
One thing clearly on the agenda will be how to restrict weapons access to people like Cruz and Colorado shooter James Eagan Holmes, who issued threats while also undergoing mental health care. It's an issue where protecting mental health privacy will likely clash with increasining public safety.
Aurora killer Holmes, for instance, "was in psychiatric treatment for months before the shooting,'' said Oates. "There were indicators in his digital profile for months before the shooting. Like all the rest of the cases, it was out there."
According to Oates, a psychiatrist who had been treating Holmes told a university police department that her patient had been fantasizing about killing lots of people. The police chose not to Baker Act Holmes and did not pass along the information.
Law enforcement sources say Cruz had purchased at least five guns other than the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he used to mow down the students. A call to an FBI hotline in January that warned Cruz was planning a school shooting, was never forwarded to the Miami field office. And the Broward Sheriff's Office received dozens of calls about Cruz's erratic behavior.
It's far from the first time that issues of gun control and mental health have become national talking points.
Despite similar massacres in Aurora, at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and at a concert on the Las Vegas strip only last year, Congress has largely rejected calls for gun control -- even those from first responders they so often praise after massacres.
Many police chiefs, particularly in big cities, have long pressed for tougher gun laws to protect the public and their own officers to largely no avail.
Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said he has first-hand knowledge of the difficulty of monitoring an unstable person who poses a serious potential threat.
He said he has been contacted repeatedly by someone he says exhibits signs of mental illness. Police went to his home, Perez said, and found a cache of weapons, including a hunting rifle. There's little police can do, Perez said, because the person has not committed a crime.
"This guy has hunting rifles," said the director. "There has to be reform on both sides -- on mental illness and on firearms."
Carlos Baixauli, a retired agent who worked at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Miami, said reform of any kind is a "major problem because of the conflicts between privacy laws and gun rights."
Baixauli, who spent his 30-year career in South Florida, said at the very least there should be universal background checks on all gun sales, including private sales, which are unregulated. He also praised several states that have passed firearms-restraining laws that -- patterned after the Baker Act -- would allow a family member or friend who knows that a person is exhibiting "red flags" to go and apply for such an order.
Baixauli said that politicians in Washington, under the sway of the NRA, also have blocked efforts for a national gun registry. Under current federal regulations, a gun store owner keeps the record of a criminal and mental background check on a buyer.
An ATF agent or investigator only sees the form if a trace of a specific weapon is requested or during a gun shop inspection. The agency doesn't keep any copies of the background check. In fact, whether the gun buyer clears the background check or not, the federal Brady law requires the history of that search be purged as a record.
"I don't see why they [law enforcement] shouldn't be allowed to keep the background checks on persons prohibited from buying guns," Baixauli said.
The difficulties of reform have been well chronicled. The NRA, one of the most powerful lobbies in the country, has successfully fought to restrict waiting periods for gun purchases and to avoid limits on the number of bullets in magazines used with assault rifles. It has successfully opposed a national gun registry and universal background checks.
While the NRA is the most powerful lobbying voice against gun-control, strong regional and cultural resistance also has defeated past efforts to tighten national gun laws. In more rural regions, residents have made it clear that backing gun control would be political suicide for lawmakers.
Colorado state senators John Morse and Angela Giron, for instance, were recalled from office after the Aurora shooting when they voted for new laws that would have imposed universal background checks on gun purchases and limited magazines to 15 rounds.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County have enacted more restrictive weapons purchase laws than the rest of the state. To buy a weapon in South Florida's largest counties -- as Cruz did in Broward last February -- there is a five-day waiting period for a background check. In the rest of the state there is a three-day wait for a handgun and no wait for a rifle.
To purchase an AR-15 like Cruz did at Sunrise Tactical Supply in Coral Springs, all he needed to do was fill out a firearms transactions record form issued by the Department of Justice. Cruz gave his name, address, date of birth, sex and height and included a copy of his driver's license. Cruz checked off "no" in the section that asked if he'd been adjudicated or institutionalized for mental illness.
Oates, the Miami Beach police chief, called it a "given" that at the very least a person should not be able to buy an assault weapon until 21. Federal law allows such a purchase at 18. The Miami Beach chief said he'd like to see lawmakers pass a bill that would put the burden of proof on the suspect after he or she is Baker Acted.
Israel struck a similar tone, saying police would be more likely to employ the Baker Act if they knew it would keep guns out of the hands of unstable people for more than 72 hours. He believes they should not be able to retrieve their weapons until a doctor clears them as mentally healthy.
State social workers were called to Cruz's home in 2016 when he became despondent after breaking up with a girlfriend and made a Snapchat video of himself cutting his arms. They chose not to hospitalize him. It was one of a number of episodes of erratic behavior.
"When we release someone from a mental health facility, they're not healed," Israel said. "You have to be an immediate threat [to others or yourself] or by law your weapon has to be returned. Absolutely, we're handcuffed and our hands are tied."
EDITOR’S NOTE: The AR-15 is the most popular rifle among gun owners. If a total ban on AR-15-type rifles were to be passed which would not only ban their sales, but would also require all such rifles already owned by private citizens to be turned in, several million Americans would instantly become criminals. They are simply not going to turn their beloved Ar-15s in.
Paraphrasing Charlton Heston: “I'll give you my AR-15 when you take it from my cold, dead hands”
By Charles Rabin and Jay Weaver
The Miami Herald
February 20, 2018
MIAMI -- For Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, the anguish of Florida's worst school shooting remains raw. Families are still burying some of the 17 students and faculty members killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, victims of a deeply troubled ex-student with an assault rifle.
For Miami Beach Police Chief Dan Oates, the scars are six years old but still deep. He headed the police department in Aurora, Colorado, when a mentally ill killer armed with a similar high-power rifle killed a dozen and injured 70 others in a movie theater.
These two South Florida police chiefs share the up-close and personal horrors of overseeing mass shooting investigations that have reinforced their beliefs about gun control:
First, they want military-style weapons like AR-15 rifles, the weapon used in both events, out of the hands of civilians. Second, they argue that lenient state and national gun laws and mental health privacy laws are hampering the mission of police to keep the public safe from gun violence, prohibiting officers from confiscating weapons -- often even from people who have produced a trail of warnings like Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.
"Based on the law, if someone [who has weapons] says I want to grow up and be a serial killer, there's nothing you can do about it," Israel told the Miami Herald on Monday. "We can't arrest for something a person is thinking about."
They're not alone among top state law enforcement officers calling for lawmakers to tighten gun control and reverse decades of bidding by the powerful National Rifle Association. The Florida Police Chiefs Association called for an emergency meeting Monday night that Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to attend. Exactly what suggestions might emerge, is not yet clear.
Kevin Lystad, the Miami Shores police chief who is president of the FPCA, said the plan is to offer gun legislation to state lawmakers in the coming weeks. Lystad said he's focused on assault weapons and background checks.
"Congress messed up when they didn't renew the assault weapons ban [in 2004]. I think that was problematic," Lystad said. "We need to deal with assault weapons, background checks. It's about finding common ground."
One immediate change that Oates and Israel want to see: Ban the legal sale of the AR-15s used in both massacres.
"In only one condition should you have an assault rifle, if you've joined the Marines and you're going to fight," Israel said.
The chiefs have joined a growing chorus of gun control advocates statewide that is suddenly being led by the young survivors of Stoneman Douglas shootings. A number of the students are busing up to Tallahassee and expect to meet with state legislators on Wednesday.
One thing clearly on the agenda will be how to restrict weapons access to people like Cruz and Colorado shooter James Eagan Holmes, who issued threats while also undergoing mental health care. It's an issue where protecting mental health privacy will likely clash with increasining public safety.
Aurora killer Holmes, for instance, "was in psychiatric treatment for months before the shooting,'' said Oates. "There were indicators in his digital profile for months before the shooting. Like all the rest of the cases, it was out there."
According to Oates, a psychiatrist who had been treating Holmes told a university police department that her patient had been fantasizing about killing lots of people. The police chose not to Baker Act Holmes and did not pass along the information.
Law enforcement sources say Cruz had purchased at least five guns other than the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he used to mow down the students. A call to an FBI hotline in January that warned Cruz was planning a school shooting, was never forwarded to the Miami field office. And the Broward Sheriff's Office received dozens of calls about Cruz's erratic behavior.
It's far from the first time that issues of gun control and mental health have become national talking points.
Despite similar massacres in Aurora, at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and at a concert on the Las Vegas strip only last year, Congress has largely rejected calls for gun control -- even those from first responders they so often praise after massacres.
Many police chiefs, particularly in big cities, have long pressed for tougher gun laws to protect the public and their own officers to largely no avail.
Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said he has first-hand knowledge of the difficulty of monitoring an unstable person who poses a serious potential threat.
He said he has been contacted repeatedly by someone he says exhibits signs of mental illness. Police went to his home, Perez said, and found a cache of weapons, including a hunting rifle. There's little police can do, Perez said, because the person has not committed a crime.
"This guy has hunting rifles," said the director. "There has to be reform on both sides -- on mental illness and on firearms."
Carlos Baixauli, a retired agent who worked at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Miami, said reform of any kind is a "major problem because of the conflicts between privacy laws and gun rights."
Baixauli, who spent his 30-year career in South Florida, said at the very least there should be universal background checks on all gun sales, including private sales, which are unregulated. He also praised several states that have passed firearms-restraining laws that -- patterned after the Baker Act -- would allow a family member or friend who knows that a person is exhibiting "red flags" to go and apply for such an order.
Baixauli said that politicians in Washington, under the sway of the NRA, also have blocked efforts for a national gun registry. Under current federal regulations, a gun store owner keeps the record of a criminal and mental background check on a buyer.
An ATF agent or investigator only sees the form if a trace of a specific weapon is requested or during a gun shop inspection. The agency doesn't keep any copies of the background check. In fact, whether the gun buyer clears the background check or not, the federal Brady law requires the history of that search be purged as a record.
"I don't see why they [law enforcement] shouldn't be allowed to keep the background checks on persons prohibited from buying guns," Baixauli said.
The difficulties of reform have been well chronicled. The NRA, one of the most powerful lobbies in the country, has successfully fought to restrict waiting periods for gun purchases and to avoid limits on the number of bullets in magazines used with assault rifles. It has successfully opposed a national gun registry and universal background checks.
While the NRA is the most powerful lobbying voice against gun-control, strong regional and cultural resistance also has defeated past efforts to tighten national gun laws. In more rural regions, residents have made it clear that backing gun control would be political suicide for lawmakers.
Colorado state senators John Morse and Angela Giron, for instance, were recalled from office after the Aurora shooting when they voted for new laws that would have imposed universal background checks on gun purchases and limited magazines to 15 rounds.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County have enacted more restrictive weapons purchase laws than the rest of the state. To buy a weapon in South Florida's largest counties -- as Cruz did in Broward last February -- there is a five-day waiting period for a background check. In the rest of the state there is a three-day wait for a handgun and no wait for a rifle.
To purchase an AR-15 like Cruz did at Sunrise Tactical Supply in Coral Springs, all he needed to do was fill out a firearms transactions record form issued by the Department of Justice. Cruz gave his name, address, date of birth, sex and height and included a copy of his driver's license. Cruz checked off "no" in the section that asked if he'd been adjudicated or institutionalized for mental illness.
Oates, the Miami Beach police chief, called it a "given" that at the very least a person should not be able to buy an assault weapon until 21. Federal law allows such a purchase at 18. The Miami Beach chief said he'd like to see lawmakers pass a bill that would put the burden of proof on the suspect after he or she is Baker Acted.
Israel struck a similar tone, saying police would be more likely to employ the Baker Act if they knew it would keep guns out of the hands of unstable people for more than 72 hours. He believes they should not be able to retrieve their weapons until a doctor clears them as mentally healthy.
State social workers were called to Cruz's home in 2016 when he became despondent after breaking up with a girlfriend and made a Snapchat video of himself cutting his arms. They chose not to hospitalize him. It was one of a number of episodes of erratic behavior.
"When we release someone from a mental health facility, they're not healed," Israel said. "You have to be an immediate threat [to others or yourself] or by law your weapon has to be returned. Absolutely, we're handcuffed and our hands are tied."
EDITOR’S NOTE: The AR-15 is the most popular rifle among gun owners. If a total ban on AR-15-type rifles were to be passed which would not only ban their sales, but would also require all such rifles already owned by private citizens to be turned in, several million Americans would instantly become criminals. They are simply not going to turn their beloved Ar-15s in.
Paraphrasing Charlton Heston: “I'll give you my AR-15 when you take it from my cold, dead hands”
WHERE IS BLACK LIVES MATTER? OH I FORGOT, BLM IS ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT WHITE COPS KILLING BLACK MEN, NOT BLACK MEN KILLING BLACK MEN
Baltimore Named Nation's Most Dangerous City, Ahead of New Orleans and Detroit
By Justin Fenton
The Baltimore Sun
February 20, 2018
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's highest-ever per capita homicide rate in 2017 also made it the deadliest big city in the country, USA Today reported Monday.
Though official data from the FBI won't be available until later in the year, USA Today reviewed the homicide rates in the nation's 50 largest cities and Baltimore came out on top. The 342 homicides the city experienced in 2017 were a 17 percent increase over the prior year, and translated to a rate of 56 killed per 100,000 people.
That easily outpaced New Orleans and Detroit, which both had about 40 killings per 100,000 people, according to the report.
Baltimore had more homicides last year than New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, all considerably larger cities. Only Chicago, also a considerably larger city, had more.
USA Today used the nation's top 50 cities, which omits St. Louis, a city of about 315,000 people that had 205 killings in 2017. St. Louis' homicide rate of 65 would easily top Baltimore's rate.
The review showed killings across the country decreased by at least 1 percent in large jurisdictions compared with 2016.
So far in 2018, Baltimore is seeing a decline in homicides. Through Sunday, 31 people had been killed, compared with 47 killed at the same time last year -- a decline of about 34 percent. Other types of crime are also down across the board.
Mayor Catherine E. Pugh fired Police Commissioner Kevin Davis in late January, replacing him with department veteran Darryl De Sousa. State and federal authorities have been stepping up arrests using open warrants, and residents organized a recent Ceasefire weekend.
By Justin Fenton
The Baltimore Sun
February 20, 2018
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's highest-ever per capita homicide rate in 2017 also made it the deadliest big city in the country, USA Today reported Monday.
Though official data from the FBI won't be available until later in the year, USA Today reviewed the homicide rates in the nation's 50 largest cities and Baltimore came out on top. The 342 homicides the city experienced in 2017 were a 17 percent increase over the prior year, and translated to a rate of 56 killed per 100,000 people.
That easily outpaced New Orleans and Detroit, which both had about 40 killings per 100,000 people, according to the report.
Baltimore had more homicides last year than New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, all considerably larger cities. Only Chicago, also a considerably larger city, had more.
USA Today used the nation's top 50 cities, which omits St. Louis, a city of about 315,000 people that had 205 killings in 2017. St. Louis' homicide rate of 65 would easily top Baltimore's rate.
The review showed killings across the country decreased by at least 1 percent in large jurisdictions compared with 2016.
So far in 2018, Baltimore is seeing a decline in homicides. Through Sunday, 31 people had been killed, compared with 47 killed at the same time last year -- a decline of about 34 percent. Other types of crime are also down across the board.
Mayor Catherine E. Pugh fired Police Commissioner Kevin Davis in late January, replacing him with department veteran Darryl De Sousa. State and federal authorities have been stepping up arrests using open warrants, and residents organized a recent Ceasefire weekend.
SHOULDN'T THEY CUT OFF THIS GUYS HEAD TO SEE IF HE HAS RABIES?
Tarzana suspect bites LAPD officers multiple times
City News Service
February 20, 2018
TARZANA — Two Los Angeles Police Department officers were bitten several times Monday night by a 30-year-old man who had triggered a cash register alarm at an AT&T store in Tarzana, police said.
Officers from the West Valley Division responded to an alarm at the AT&T store at 18640 Ventura Blvd., between Reseda Boulevard and Wilbur Avenue, around 7:15 p.m., said LAPD Officer Tony Im.
It’s unclear what the man was doing in the store, or if he was trying to rob it, Im said.
While interviewing the man, the officers got into a physical altercation with the suspect, Im said. Both officers suffered multiple bites from the man during the struggle. The officers then used a Taser to subdue him.
Both officers went to Providence Tarzana Medical Center for treatment of their bite wounds, according to Im. The suspect was also hospitalized for treatment of injuries he suffered in the struggle.
The charges the suspect would be booked on were not immediately known, Im said.
“However, at the very least I would expect he would face assault with a deadly weapon — his mouth — on the officers,” Im said.
City News Service
February 20, 2018
TARZANA — Two Los Angeles Police Department officers were bitten several times Monday night by a 30-year-old man who had triggered a cash register alarm at an AT&T store in Tarzana, police said.
Officers from the West Valley Division responded to an alarm at the AT&T store at 18640 Ventura Blvd., between Reseda Boulevard and Wilbur Avenue, around 7:15 p.m., said LAPD Officer Tony Im.
It’s unclear what the man was doing in the store, or if he was trying to rob it, Im said.
While interviewing the man, the officers got into a physical altercation with the suspect, Im said. Both officers suffered multiple bites from the man during the struggle. The officers then used a Taser to subdue him.
Both officers went to Providence Tarzana Medical Center for treatment of their bite wounds, according to Im. The suspect was also hospitalized for treatment of injuries he suffered in the struggle.
The charges the suspect would be booked on were not immediately known, Im said.
“However, at the very least I would expect he would face assault with a deadly weapon — his mouth — on the officers,” Im said.
WHY SHOULD ISRAEL PAY TERRORISTS WHO HAVE MURDERED ISRALIS?
Palestinian Leaders Angry That Israel Won't Pay Terrorist Salaries
Israel Today
February 19, 2018
The government of "moderate" Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday condemned Israel for deciding to no longer help it pay the salaries of jailed Palestinian terrorists.
Under the terms of various signed peace agreements, Israel is obligated to collect tax revenues on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, and transfer those funds accordingly.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority is obligated to cease all incitement to violence against Israel. And Israel considers providing handsome salaries to those who attack and kill Jews to be incitement, or, at the very least, incentive.
As such, Israel's Ministerial Committee for Legislation has approved a bill promoted by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to deduct any amount the Palestinian Authority pays to terrorists from future tax revenue transfers.
The Palestinians called the move an act of "piracy, a theft of money, and yet another crime added to the Israeli occupations' ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people."
Israel Today
February 19, 2018
The government of "moderate" Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday condemned Israel for deciding to no longer help it pay the salaries of jailed Palestinian terrorists.
Under the terms of various signed peace agreements, Israel is obligated to collect tax revenues on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, and transfer those funds accordingly.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority is obligated to cease all incitement to violence against Israel. And Israel considers providing handsome salaries to those who attack and kill Jews to be incitement, or, at the very least, incentive.
As such, Israel's Ministerial Committee for Legislation has approved a bill promoted by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to deduct any amount the Palestinian Authority pays to terrorists from future tax revenue transfers.
The Palestinians called the move an act of "piracy, a theft of money, and yet another crime added to the Israeli occupations' ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people."
WARNING: DO NOT GET A COLONOSCOPY IN SAN FRANCISCO
Being nervous, and embarrassed about my up-coming colonoscopy, on a recommendation, I decided to have it done while visiting friends in San Francisco, where the beautiful nurses are allegedly more gentle.
As I lay naked on my side on the table, the gorgeous nurse began my procedure...
"Don't worry, at this stage of the procedure it's quite normal to get an erection," the nurse told me..
"I don't have an erection," I replied.
"I do." replied the nurse.
Never get a colonoscopy in San Francisco.
As I lay naked on my side on the table, the gorgeous nurse began my procedure...
"Don't worry, at this stage of the procedure it's quite normal to get an erection," the nurse told me..
"I don't have an erection," I replied.
"I do." replied the nurse.
Never get a colonoscopy in San Francisco.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
TO THE FATTEST POLICE DEPARTMENT IN THE COUNTRY: NO MORE DUNKIN DONUTS AND CUT WAY DOWN ON THE BEER
Fat cops are weighing down the NYPD
By Shawn Cohen, Aaron Feis and Bruce Golding
New York Post
February 18, 2018
The NYPD is being dragged down by overweight cops — and the brass isn’t doing anything about the ballooning problem, police sources told The Post.
“We really are the world’s largest police department,” said one veteran cop who’s worked in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
“We’re the fattest police department in the country … because we have no requirement to stay in shape.”
Some cops are terrified that their out-of-shape colleagues won’t be able to provide backup in physically demanding situations — even if they don’t keel over from the exertion.
“If you have a 300-pound partner who can’t even run up a flight of stairs. … it’s dangerous for everybody,” one cop said.
Ex-NYPD cop Jose Vega provided a vivid example of the problem last week when he filed suit for a job-related disability pension — because his weight soared from 180 to 395 pounds during 17 years on the force.
Multiple NYPD sources blamed the situation on the lack of any fitness mandate once cops graduate from the Police Academy.
“You see some of these officers out there: They’re fat, they’re sloppy, they’re disgusting and they’re not healthy,” one cop said.
The FDNY, by contrast, requires that firefighters and emergency medical technicians undergo comprehensive, annual physicals that include weigh-ins, cardiac exams, blood tests, X-rays and hearing and vision checks.
Those who fail to meet official standards are sidelined until they do, the FDNY said.
In 2015, then-Commissioner Bill Bratton was considering the implementation of a British program that requires bobbies to pass fitness tests, but NYPD officials said nothing came of the idea because it would have to be written into union contracts.
“We don’t have the London model — we have the London broil model,” one NYPD source joked.
Some police departments across the country use incentives to keep their cops in shape, with Chicago awarding a $350 bonus for passing a fitness test and Columbus, Ohio, giving out cash, vacation days and ribbons.
In 2015, surveillance video caught two tubby NYPD detectives unable to chase down a shooting suspect who escaped from custody and outran them in Harlem — with both hands cuffed behind his back.
Some cops are so overweight, they struggle to buckle up inside patrol cars and “need to literally move the seat back so they could fit,” another source said.
One cop told The Post about having to use the stairs with the elevator out while responding to an incident in a Brooklyn housing project. His partner was a woman about 5 feet tall and more than 250 pounds.
“Around the fourth flight, I turned around because I couldn’t hear her anymore,” the cop recalled. “I had to go down to the third flight and find her. She was folded over, hanging on to the wall.
“God forbid there was an emergency, I’m pretty much on my own,” he said.
Another cop recalled how an elite NYPD counter-terror unit set up an obstacle course for applicants, but quickly dropped the test because so few could complete it.
“There was a wall you have to climb, and there were guys who had to walk around the wall because they’re so out of shape,” the cop said.
“It was a 4-foot wall, not the Hoover Dam.”
Only one NYPD union leader, Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins, said he favored enforcing weight and strength requirements.
“More needs to be done to address the physical and mental demands on police officers,” Mullins said.
“Fitness requirements would be a first step toward improving officers’ health and conditioning throughout both their careers and lifetimes. Simply put, it’s vital to officer safety.”
By Shawn Cohen, Aaron Feis and Bruce Golding
New York Post
February 18, 2018
The NYPD is being dragged down by overweight cops — and the brass isn’t doing anything about the ballooning problem, police sources told The Post.
“We really are the world’s largest police department,” said one veteran cop who’s worked in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
“We’re the fattest police department in the country … because we have no requirement to stay in shape.”
Some cops are terrified that their out-of-shape colleagues won’t be able to provide backup in physically demanding situations — even if they don’t keel over from the exertion.
“If you have a 300-pound partner who can’t even run up a flight of stairs. … it’s dangerous for everybody,” one cop said.
Ex-NYPD cop Jose Vega provided a vivid example of the problem last week when he filed suit for a job-related disability pension — because his weight soared from 180 to 395 pounds during 17 years on the force.
Multiple NYPD sources blamed the situation on the lack of any fitness mandate once cops graduate from the Police Academy.
“You see some of these officers out there: They’re fat, they’re sloppy, they’re disgusting and they’re not healthy,” one cop said.
The FDNY, by contrast, requires that firefighters and emergency medical technicians undergo comprehensive, annual physicals that include weigh-ins, cardiac exams, blood tests, X-rays and hearing and vision checks.
Those who fail to meet official standards are sidelined until they do, the FDNY said.
In 2015, then-Commissioner Bill Bratton was considering the implementation of a British program that requires bobbies to pass fitness tests, but NYPD officials said nothing came of the idea because it would have to be written into union contracts.
“We don’t have the London model — we have the London broil model,” one NYPD source joked.
Some police departments across the country use incentives to keep their cops in shape, with Chicago awarding a $350 bonus for passing a fitness test and Columbus, Ohio, giving out cash, vacation days and ribbons.
In 2015, surveillance video caught two tubby NYPD detectives unable to chase down a shooting suspect who escaped from custody and outran them in Harlem — with both hands cuffed behind his back.
Some cops are so overweight, they struggle to buckle up inside patrol cars and “need to literally move the seat back so they could fit,” another source said.
One cop told The Post about having to use the stairs with the elevator out while responding to an incident in a Brooklyn housing project. His partner was a woman about 5 feet tall and more than 250 pounds.
“Around the fourth flight, I turned around because I couldn’t hear her anymore,” the cop recalled. “I had to go down to the third flight and find her. She was folded over, hanging on to the wall.
“God forbid there was an emergency, I’m pretty much on my own,” he said.
Another cop recalled how an elite NYPD counter-terror unit set up an obstacle course for applicants, but quickly dropped the test because so few could complete it.
“There was a wall you have to climb, and there were guys who had to walk around the wall because they’re so out of shape,” the cop said.
“It was a 4-foot wall, not the Hoover Dam.”
Only one NYPD union leader, Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins, said he favored enforcing weight and strength requirements.
“More needs to be done to address the physical and mental demands on police officers,” Mullins said.
“Fitness requirements would be a first step toward improving officers’ health and conditioning throughout both their careers and lifetimes. Simply put, it’s vital to officer safety.”
PEOPLE NEED TO PUT THEIR BRAINS IN GEAR
by Bob Walsh
The drivers of two press vans in the President's entourage in Florid were jacked by the Secret Service for carrying weapons. They were in legal possession of the guns but there is sort of a mobile exclusion zone around the President where you can not carry. These guys should have been aware of that and acted accordingly. As far as I know nobody got arrested, but you need to think people.
I remember years and years ago a yahoo wanted to watch the President's motorcade come by his apartment building and he wanted a good look so he went out onto the apartment roof, with his scoped rifle. He didn't get shot, he didn't even get arrested, but it could have gotten real interesting. After it was all over the guy was very contrite, recognizing that it wasn't one of the smartest things he had ever done.
The drivers of two press vans in the President's entourage in Florid were jacked by the Secret Service for carrying weapons. They were in legal possession of the guns but there is sort of a mobile exclusion zone around the President where you can not carry. These guys should have been aware of that and acted accordingly. As far as I know nobody got arrested, but you need to think people.
I remember years and years ago a yahoo wanted to watch the President's motorcade come by his apartment building and he wanted a good look so he went out onto the apartment roof, with his scoped rifle. He didn't get shot, he didn't even get arrested, but it could have gotten real interesting. After it was all over the guy was very contrite, recognizing that it wasn't one of the smartest things he had ever done.
SUSPECT SLIPS CUFFS, ESCAPES FROM COP CAR AND STEALS DIFFERENT COP CAR
Heroin trafficking suspect escapes squad car, leads deputies on chase in Adams County, Wisconsin
WMTV
February 13, 2018
ADAMS COUNTY, Wis. -- A 27-year-old man arrested during a traffic stop escaped through a squad car window and led deputies on a chase in a stolen squad car Monday night.
Around 10 p.m., members of the Adams and Marquette County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle driven by Levi Hedding, age 27 of Coloma, in the 2800 of STH 13. Hedding had active warrants for his arrest and was a suspect in a heroin trafficking case.
According to the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, while deputies were processing evidence, Hedding slipped out of his handcuffs and escaped through the rear window of an Adams County squad car. He then got into a Marquette County squad car and fled the scene. Hedding led deputies on an 18 mile chase until the squad car he stole entered a ditch and hit a tree on County Highway EE near 2nd Avenue.
Authorities say Hedding attempted to run away on foot, but was caught by a Marquette County K9 and deputies from both agencies. Hedding was taken to a local hospital for injuries received from the K9 arrest.
Hedding is currently in custody and faces charges of Possession of Heroin with Intent to Deliver, Escape, Operate Vehicle Without Owner’s Consent, Operating with a Restricted Controlled Substance, Reckless Driving, Obstructing/Resisting an Officer, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operate Without a Valid Driver’s License, Felony Fleeing and Felony Bail Jumping.
WMTV
February 13, 2018
ADAMS COUNTY, Wis. -- A 27-year-old man arrested during a traffic stop escaped through a squad car window and led deputies on a chase in a stolen squad car Monday night.
Around 10 p.m., members of the Adams and Marquette County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle driven by Levi Hedding, age 27 of Coloma, in the 2800 of STH 13. Hedding had active warrants for his arrest and was a suspect in a heroin trafficking case.
According to the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, while deputies were processing evidence, Hedding slipped out of his handcuffs and escaped through the rear window of an Adams County squad car. He then got into a Marquette County squad car and fled the scene. Hedding led deputies on an 18 mile chase until the squad car he stole entered a ditch and hit a tree on County Highway EE near 2nd Avenue.
Authorities say Hedding attempted to run away on foot, but was caught by a Marquette County K9 and deputies from both agencies. Hedding was taken to a local hospital for injuries received from the K9 arrest.
Hedding is currently in custody and faces charges of Possession of Heroin with Intent to Deliver, Escape, Operate Vehicle Without Owner’s Consent, Operating with a Restricted Controlled Substance, Reckless Driving, Obstructing/Resisting an Officer, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operate Without a Valid Driver’s License, Felony Fleeing and Felony Bail Jumping.
14,000 POUNDS OF COKE WITH A WHOLESALE VALUE OF $190 MILLION HAULED IN BY SEVEN USCG BUSTS
U.S. Coast Guard Brings in 7 Tons of Cocaine
By Joe Cavaretta
Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
February 15, 2018
PORT EVERGLADES, Florida -- Traffickers continue to use the eastern Pacific Ocean as a transit route for drugs and the U.S. Coast Guard — and other international agencies — continue to pursue and catch them.
The estimated 14,000 pounds of cocaine that arrived at Port Everglades Tuesday morning aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton is the result of seven recent busts of suspected drug smuggling boats, officials said.
The offloaded drugs have a wholesale value of about $190 million and were seized by five different Coast Guard crews in international waters off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America, according to the agency.
The Hamilton, Northland, Diligence, Venturous and Harriet Lane were the cutters involved in the interdictions.
The effort to interrupt drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific involves numerous U.S. agencies teaming up with international partners to locate, track and ultimately board vessels suspected of carrying drugs.
“It truly is a team effort stopping these drugs from entering the United States,” said Capt. Mark Gordon, the Hamilton’s commanding officer.
In recent years, the Coast Guard has made it a regular practice to showcase the offloading of seized drugs at various ports in Florida and elsewhere in order to emphasize the ongoing effort to deter narco-traffickers.
The agency’s efforts have been noticed by some people with a stake in public health.
“We value the courageous and heroic work to stop these drugs from entering our country. We honor the work of interdiction and law enforcement alongside prevention and recovery to keep our communities safe,” said Gonzalo Cadima, director of the United Way of Broward County’s Commission on Behavioral Health and Drug Prevention.
More than two dozen people connected to the alleged drug smuggling have been detained, officials said. Eighteen were brought to the U.S. while the others were taken to another country.
The seized drugs will be tested by federal authorities and then given to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to be processed for evidence before being disposed.
By Joe Cavaretta
Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
February 15, 2018
PORT EVERGLADES, Florida -- Traffickers continue to use the eastern Pacific Ocean as a transit route for drugs and the U.S. Coast Guard — and other international agencies — continue to pursue and catch them.
The estimated 14,000 pounds of cocaine that arrived at Port Everglades Tuesday morning aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton is the result of seven recent busts of suspected drug smuggling boats, officials said.
The offloaded drugs have a wholesale value of about $190 million and were seized by five different Coast Guard crews in international waters off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America, according to the agency.
The Hamilton, Northland, Diligence, Venturous and Harriet Lane were the cutters involved in the interdictions.
The effort to interrupt drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific involves numerous U.S. agencies teaming up with international partners to locate, track and ultimately board vessels suspected of carrying drugs.
“It truly is a team effort stopping these drugs from entering the United States,” said Capt. Mark Gordon, the Hamilton’s commanding officer.
In recent years, the Coast Guard has made it a regular practice to showcase the offloading of seized drugs at various ports in Florida and elsewhere in order to emphasize the ongoing effort to deter narco-traffickers.
The agency’s efforts have been noticed by some people with a stake in public health.
“We value the courageous and heroic work to stop these drugs from entering our country. We honor the work of interdiction and law enforcement alongside prevention and recovery to keep our communities safe,” said Gonzalo Cadima, director of the United Way of Broward County’s Commission on Behavioral Health and Drug Prevention.
More than two dozen people connected to the alleged drug smuggling have been detained, officials said. Eighteen were brought to the U.S. while the others were taken to another country.
The seized drugs will be tested by federal authorities and then given to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to be processed for evidence before being disposed.
THE NUMBER OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS IS FLAT WRONG
No, there haven’t been 18 school shootings in 2018
By John Woodrow Cox and Steven Rich
The Washington Post
February 15, 2018
The stunning number swept across the Internet within minutes of the news Wednesday that, yet again, another young man with another semiautomatic rifle had rampaged through a school, this time at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in South Florida.
The figure originated with Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit group, co-founded by Michael Bloomberg, that works to prevent gun violence and is most famous for its running tally of school shootings.
“This,” the organization tweeted at 4:22 p.m. Wednesday, “is the 18th school shooting in the U.S. in 2018.”
A tweet by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) including the claim had been liked more than 45,000 times by Thursday evening, and one from political analyst Jeff Greenfield had cracked 126,000. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted it, too, as did performers Cher and Alexander William and actors Misha Collins and Albert Brooks. News organizations — including MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Time, MSN, the BBC, the New York Daily News and HuffPost — also used the number in their coverage. By Wednesday night, the top suggested search after typing “18” into Google was “18 school shootings in 2018.”
It is a horrifying statistic. And it is wrong.
Everytown has long inflated its total by including incidents of gunfire that are not really school shootings. Take, for example, what it counted as the year’s first: On the afternoon of Jan. 3, a 31-year-old man who had parked outside a Michigan elementary school called police to say he was armed and suicidal. Several hours later, he killed himself. The school, however, had been closed for seven months. There were no teachers. There were no students.
Also listed on the organization’s site is an incident from Jan. 20, when at 1 a.m. a man was shot at a sorority event on the campus of Wake Forest University. A week later, as a basketball game was being played at a Michigan high school, someone fired several rounds from a gun in the parking lot. No one was injured, and it was past 8 p.m., well after classes had ended for the day, but Everytown still labeled it a school shooting.
Everytown explains on its website that it defines a school shooting as “any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds.”
Sarah Tofte, Everytown’s research director, calls the definition “crystal clear,” noting that “every time a gun is discharged on school grounds it shatters the sense of safety” for students, parents and the community.
She said she and her colleagues work to reiterate those parameters in their public messaging. But the organization’s tweets and Facebook posts seldom include that nuance. Just once in 2018, on Feb. 2, has the organization clearly explained its definition on Twitter. And Everytown rarely pushes its jarring totals on social media immediately after the more questionable shootings, as it does with those that are high-profile and undeniable, such as the Florida massacre or one from last month in Kentucky that left two students dead and at least 18 people injured.
After The Washington Post published this report, Everytown removed the Jan. 3 suicide outside the closed Michigan school.
The figures matter because gun-control activists use them as evidence in their fight for bans on assault weapons, stricter background checks and other legislation. Gun rights groups seize on the faults in the data to undermine those arguments and, similarly, present skewed figures of their own.
Gun violence is a crisis in the United States, especially for children, and a huge number — one that needs no exaggeration — have been affected by school shootings. An ongoing Washington Post analysis has found that more than 150,000 students attending at least 170 primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. That figure, which comes from a review of online archives, state and federal enrollment figures and news stories, is a conservative calculation and does not include dozens of suicides, accidents and after-school assaults that have also exposed youths to gunfire.
Just five of Everytown’s 18 school shootings listed for 2018 happened during school hours and resulted in any physical injury. Three others appeared to be intentional shootings but did not hurt anyone. Two more involved guns — one carried by a school police officer and the other by a licensed peace officer who ran a college club — that were unintentionally fired and, again, led to no injuries. At least seven of Everytown’s 18 shootings took place outside normal school hours.
Shootings of any kind, of course, can be traumatic, regardless of whether they cause physical harm.
A month ago, for example, a group of college students were at a meeting of a criminal-justice club in Texas when a student accidentally fired a real gun, rather than a training weapon. The bullet went through a wall, then a window. Though no one was hurt, it left the student distraught.
Is that a school shooting, though? Yes, Everytown says.
“Since 2013,” the organization says on its website, “there have been nearly 300 school shootings in America — an average of about one a week.”
But since Everytown began its tracking, it has included these dubious examples — in August 2013, a man shot on a Tennessee high school’s property at 2 a.m.; in December 2014, a man shot in his car late one night and discovered the next day in a Pennsylvania elementary school’s parking lot; in August 2015, a man who climbed atop the roof of an empty Texas school on a Sunday morning and fired sporadically; in January 2016, a man in an Indiana high school parking lot whose gun accidentally went off in his glove box, before any students had arrived on campus; in December 2017, two teens in Washington state who shot up a high school just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, when the building was otherwise empty.
In 2015, The Post’s Fact Checker awarded the group’s figures — invoked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) — four Pinocchios for misleading methodology.
Another database, the Gun Violence Archive, defines school shootings in much narrower terms, considering only those that take place during school hours or extracurricular activities.
Yet many journalists rely on Everytown’s data. Post media critic Erik Wemple included the 18 figure in a column Wednesday night, and Michael Barbaro, host of the New York Times’ podcast “The Daily,” used the number to punctuate the end of his Thursday show.
Much like trying to define a mass shooting, deciding what is and is not a school shooting can be difficult. Some obviously fit the common-sense definition: Last month, a teen in Texas opened fire in a school cafeteria, injuring a 15-year-old girl.
Others that Everytown includes on its list, though, are trickier to categorize.
About 6 p.m. Jan. 10, a bullet probably fired from off campus hit the window of a building at a college in Southern California. No one was hurt, but students could still have been frightened. Classes were canceled, rooms were locked down and police searched campus for the gunman, who was never found.
On Feb. 5, a police officer was sitting on a bench in a Minnesota school gym when a third-grader accidentally pulled the trigger of his holstered pistol, firing a round into the floor. None of the four students in the gym were injured, but, again, the incident was probably scary.
What is not in dispute is gun violence’s pervasiveness and its devastating impact on children. A recent study of World Health Organization data published in the American Journal of Medicine that found that, among high-income nations, 91 percent of children younger than 15 who were killed by bullets lived in the United States.
And the trends are only growing more dire.
On average, two dozen children are shot every day in the United States, and in 2016 more youths were killed by gunfire — 1,637 — than during any previous year this millennium.
By John Woodrow Cox and Steven Rich
The Washington Post
February 15, 2018
The stunning number swept across the Internet within minutes of the news Wednesday that, yet again, another young man with another semiautomatic rifle had rampaged through a school, this time at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in South Florida.
The figure originated with Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit group, co-founded by Michael Bloomberg, that works to prevent gun violence and is most famous for its running tally of school shootings.
“This,” the organization tweeted at 4:22 p.m. Wednesday, “is the 18th school shooting in the U.S. in 2018.”
A tweet by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) including the claim had been liked more than 45,000 times by Thursday evening, and one from political analyst Jeff Greenfield had cracked 126,000. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted it, too, as did performers Cher and Alexander William and actors Misha Collins and Albert Brooks. News organizations — including MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Time, MSN, the BBC, the New York Daily News and HuffPost — also used the number in their coverage. By Wednesday night, the top suggested search after typing “18” into Google was “18 school shootings in 2018.”
It is a horrifying statistic. And it is wrong.
Everytown has long inflated its total by including incidents of gunfire that are not really school shootings. Take, for example, what it counted as the year’s first: On the afternoon of Jan. 3, a 31-year-old man who had parked outside a Michigan elementary school called police to say he was armed and suicidal. Several hours later, he killed himself. The school, however, had been closed for seven months. There were no teachers. There were no students.
Also listed on the organization’s site is an incident from Jan. 20, when at 1 a.m. a man was shot at a sorority event on the campus of Wake Forest University. A week later, as a basketball game was being played at a Michigan high school, someone fired several rounds from a gun in the parking lot. No one was injured, and it was past 8 p.m., well after classes had ended for the day, but Everytown still labeled it a school shooting.
Everytown explains on its website that it defines a school shooting as “any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds.”
Sarah Tofte, Everytown’s research director, calls the definition “crystal clear,” noting that “every time a gun is discharged on school grounds it shatters the sense of safety” for students, parents and the community.
She said she and her colleagues work to reiterate those parameters in their public messaging. But the organization’s tweets and Facebook posts seldom include that nuance. Just once in 2018, on Feb. 2, has the organization clearly explained its definition on Twitter. And Everytown rarely pushes its jarring totals on social media immediately after the more questionable shootings, as it does with those that are high-profile and undeniable, such as the Florida massacre or one from last month in Kentucky that left two students dead and at least 18 people injured.
After The Washington Post published this report, Everytown removed the Jan. 3 suicide outside the closed Michigan school.
The figures matter because gun-control activists use them as evidence in their fight for bans on assault weapons, stricter background checks and other legislation. Gun rights groups seize on the faults in the data to undermine those arguments and, similarly, present skewed figures of their own.
Gun violence is a crisis in the United States, especially for children, and a huge number — one that needs no exaggeration — have been affected by school shootings. An ongoing Washington Post analysis has found that more than 150,000 students attending at least 170 primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. That figure, which comes from a review of online archives, state and federal enrollment figures and news stories, is a conservative calculation and does not include dozens of suicides, accidents and after-school assaults that have also exposed youths to gunfire.
Just five of Everytown’s 18 school shootings listed for 2018 happened during school hours and resulted in any physical injury. Three others appeared to be intentional shootings but did not hurt anyone. Two more involved guns — one carried by a school police officer and the other by a licensed peace officer who ran a college club — that were unintentionally fired and, again, led to no injuries. At least seven of Everytown’s 18 shootings took place outside normal school hours.
Shootings of any kind, of course, can be traumatic, regardless of whether they cause physical harm.
A month ago, for example, a group of college students were at a meeting of a criminal-justice club in Texas when a student accidentally fired a real gun, rather than a training weapon. The bullet went through a wall, then a window. Though no one was hurt, it left the student distraught.
Is that a school shooting, though? Yes, Everytown says.
“Since 2013,” the organization says on its website, “there have been nearly 300 school shootings in America — an average of about one a week.”
But since Everytown began its tracking, it has included these dubious examples — in August 2013, a man shot on a Tennessee high school’s property at 2 a.m.; in December 2014, a man shot in his car late one night and discovered the next day in a Pennsylvania elementary school’s parking lot; in August 2015, a man who climbed atop the roof of an empty Texas school on a Sunday morning and fired sporadically; in January 2016, a man in an Indiana high school parking lot whose gun accidentally went off in his glove box, before any students had arrived on campus; in December 2017, two teens in Washington state who shot up a high school just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, when the building was otherwise empty.
In 2015, The Post’s Fact Checker awarded the group’s figures — invoked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) — four Pinocchios for misleading methodology.
Another database, the Gun Violence Archive, defines school shootings in much narrower terms, considering only those that take place during school hours or extracurricular activities.
Yet many journalists rely on Everytown’s data. Post media critic Erik Wemple included the 18 figure in a column Wednesday night, and Michael Barbaro, host of the New York Times’ podcast “The Daily,” used the number to punctuate the end of his Thursday show.
Much like trying to define a mass shooting, deciding what is and is not a school shooting can be difficult. Some obviously fit the common-sense definition: Last month, a teen in Texas opened fire in a school cafeteria, injuring a 15-year-old girl.
Others that Everytown includes on its list, though, are trickier to categorize.
About 6 p.m. Jan. 10, a bullet probably fired from off campus hit the window of a building at a college in Southern California. No one was hurt, but students could still have been frightened. Classes were canceled, rooms were locked down and police searched campus for the gunman, who was never found.
On Feb. 5, a police officer was sitting on a bench in a Minnesota school gym when a third-grader accidentally pulled the trigger of his holstered pistol, firing a round into the floor. None of the four students in the gym were injured, but, again, the incident was probably scary.
What is not in dispute is gun violence’s pervasiveness and its devastating impact on children. A recent study of World Health Organization data published in the American Journal of Medicine that found that, among high-income nations, 91 percent of children younger than 15 who were killed by bullets lived in the United States.
And the trends are only growing more dire.
On average, two dozen children are shot every day in the United States, and in 2016 more youths were killed by gunfire — 1,637 — than during any previous year this millennium.
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