by Bob Walsh
The formerly great state of California is asking that question right now. They are out of resources to fight the huge fires that are tearing thru the tinder dry state. They have been importing fire fighters from Australia. Last week more than 900 requests for equipment went unanswered because the equipment was not available.
In the 2012 fire season there were 134 unwilled mutual aid requests for fire engines and water tenders. In the 2016 fire season that number was 3,029.
The basic structure for California's mutual aid system is 75 years old and is considered to be one of the best in the country. Trouble is when you have many more requests for aid than you have aid available the old "we used to be good" doesn't mean much.
Friday, August 3, 2018
IT WAS JUST TOO FUCKING HOT IN BACK OF THAT PATROL CAR
Texas Deputy Fired After Robbery Suspect's Escape to Top of Moving Patrol Car
By Hannah Ortega
The Dallas Morning News
July 31, 2018
A deputy has been fired after a robbery suspect broke out of a patrol car and rode on its roof on a highway last week.
Sgt. Cliff Griffin, a Taylor County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said in an email to the Abilene Reporter News that the deputy was fired “for violating Taylor County Sheriff’s Office policies concerning the safety and security of the inmate.” Griffin did not name the deputy.
The inmate, 31-year-old Martin Gregory Estrada of Abilene, is believed to have broken free of his handcuffs and used them to shatter one of the patrol car’s windows while on U.S. Highway 277 in Archer County. He was being transferred from Wichita Falls to Abilene.
Estrada threatened suicide after climbing out the window and sitting atop the car’s roof. Wichita County deputies were called in for backup, and the man was taken back into custody once the patrol car pulled over.
Estrada faces five counts of evading arrest, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of robbery, two counts of possession of methamphetamine and one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He remained in the Taylor County jail Tuesday, with bail set at $680,000.
By Hannah Ortega
The Dallas Morning News
July 31, 2018
A deputy has been fired after a robbery suspect broke out of a patrol car and rode on its roof on a highway last week.
Sgt. Cliff Griffin, a Taylor County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said in an email to the Abilene Reporter News that the deputy was fired “for violating Taylor County Sheriff’s Office policies concerning the safety and security of the inmate.” Griffin did not name the deputy.
The inmate, 31-year-old Martin Gregory Estrada of Abilene, is believed to have broken free of his handcuffs and used them to shatter one of the patrol car’s windows while on U.S. Highway 277 in Archer County. He was being transferred from Wichita Falls to Abilene.
Estrada threatened suicide after climbing out the window and sitting atop the car’s roof. Wichita County deputies were called in for backup, and the man was taken back into custody once the patrol car pulled over.
Estrada faces five counts of evading arrest, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of robbery, two counts of possession of methamphetamine and one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He remained in the Taylor County jail Tuesday, with bail set at $680,000.
POLICING FOR $14 AN HOUR WILL DRIVE ANY COP TO STEAL AND USE DRUGS
Ohio Police Chief Overdosed on Drugs Taken From Evidence Room
Officer.com News
August 2, 2018
Officials say that an ongoing investigation shows that a Kirkersville, Ohio police who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose took the drugs from the department's evidence room.
Police Chief James Hughes Jr., 35, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of his Reynoldsburg home on May 25 and was pronounced dead a short time later, according to The Newark Advocate.
Reynoldsburg Police Lt. Ron Wright said the department is still investigating, but evidence shows the drugs were possibly evidence in other cases taken from the evidence room.
"There was packaging that indicated that he was taking controlled substances from there," he told the newspaper.
An autopsy conducted by the Franklin County Coroner's Office indicated Hughes died of an "acute intoxication by fentanyl." Records from the coroner's office indicate two syringes were recovered and tested for the presence of substances which may have contributed to Hughes' death.
One syringe had no drugs in it, while the other was positive for fentanyl. A plastic sandwich bag found at the scene also tested positive for cocaine and a third syringe containing a liquid was determined to be positive for fentanyl.
Hughes was named police chief on March 13 and his hiring came less than a week after the prior chief, Jeff Finley, had unexpectedly resigned.
Prior to his death, the village had been planned to increase Hughes' weekly schedule from 20 hours to 32 hours for the chief who was making $14 an hour.
The village has not yet named a replacement for Hughes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I suspect this is one of those villages with a cop shop consisting of four part-time officers, a chief, captain, lieutenant and sergeant. $14 an hour for the chief? Shit, he could make more than that flipping burgers at McDonald’s. And if that’s what the chief makes, what do they pay the sergeant?
Officer.com News
August 2, 2018
Officials say that an ongoing investigation shows that a Kirkersville, Ohio police who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose took the drugs from the department's evidence room.
Police Chief James Hughes Jr., 35, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of his Reynoldsburg home on May 25 and was pronounced dead a short time later, according to The Newark Advocate.
Reynoldsburg Police Lt. Ron Wright said the department is still investigating, but evidence shows the drugs were possibly evidence in other cases taken from the evidence room.
"There was packaging that indicated that he was taking controlled substances from there," he told the newspaper.
An autopsy conducted by the Franklin County Coroner's Office indicated Hughes died of an "acute intoxication by fentanyl." Records from the coroner's office indicate two syringes were recovered and tested for the presence of substances which may have contributed to Hughes' death.
One syringe had no drugs in it, while the other was positive for fentanyl. A plastic sandwich bag found at the scene also tested positive for cocaine and a third syringe containing a liquid was determined to be positive for fentanyl.
Hughes was named police chief on March 13 and his hiring came less than a week after the prior chief, Jeff Finley, had unexpectedly resigned.
Prior to his death, the village had been planned to increase Hughes' weekly schedule from 20 hours to 32 hours for the chief who was making $14 an hour.
The village has not yet named a replacement for Hughes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I suspect this is one of those villages with a cop shop consisting of four part-time officers, a chief, captain, lieutenant and sergeant. $14 an hour for the chief? Shit, he could make more than that flipping burgers at McDonald’s. And if that’s what the chief makes, what do they pay the sergeant?
LEROY WANTS THAT SUMBITCH
A filthy rich Florida man decided that he wanted to throw a party and invited all of his buddies and neighbors. He also invited Leroy, the only Redneck in the neighborhood.
He held the party around the pool in the backyard of his mansion. Leroy was having a good time drinking, dancing, eating shrimp, oysters and BBQ and flirting with all the women.
At the height of the party, the host said, 'I have a 10 foot man-eating gator in my pool and I'll give a million dollars to anyone who has the nerve to jump in.'
The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a loud splash.
Everyone turned around and saw Leroy in the pool! Leroy was fighting the gator and kicking its ass! Leroy was jabbing it in the eyes with his thumbs, throwing punches, head butts and choke holds, biting the gator on the tail and flipping it through the air like some kind of Judo Instructor.
The water was churning and splashing everywhere. Both Leroy and the gator were screaming and raising hell. Finally Leroy strangled the gator and let it float to the top like a dime store goldfish. Leroy then slowly climbed out of the pool.
Everybody was just staring at him in disbelief.
Finally the host says, 'Well, Leroy, I reckon I owe you a million dollars.'
'No, that's okay. I don't want it,' said Leroy.
The rich man said, 'Man, I have to give you something. You won the bet. How about half a million bucks then?'
No thanks, I don't want it,' answered Leroy.
The host said, 'Come on, I insist on giving you something! That was amazing!
How about a new Porsche or a Rolex?
Again Leroy said no.
Confused, the rich man asked, 'Well, Leroy, then what do you want?'
Leroy said, 'I want you to show me the Sumbitch who shoved me in the pool!'
He held the party around the pool in the backyard of his mansion. Leroy was having a good time drinking, dancing, eating shrimp, oysters and BBQ and flirting with all the women.
At the height of the party, the host said, 'I have a 10 foot man-eating gator in my pool and I'll give a million dollars to anyone who has the nerve to jump in.'
The words were barely out of his mouth when there was a loud splash.
Everyone turned around and saw Leroy in the pool! Leroy was fighting the gator and kicking its ass! Leroy was jabbing it in the eyes with his thumbs, throwing punches, head butts and choke holds, biting the gator on the tail and flipping it through the air like some kind of Judo Instructor.
The water was churning and splashing everywhere. Both Leroy and the gator were screaming and raising hell. Finally Leroy strangled the gator and let it float to the top like a dime store goldfish. Leroy then slowly climbed out of the pool.
Everybody was just staring at him in disbelief.
Finally the host says, 'Well, Leroy, I reckon I owe you a million dollars.'
'No, that's okay. I don't want it,' said Leroy.
The rich man said, 'Man, I have to give you something. You won the bet. How about half a million bucks then?'
No thanks, I don't want it,' answered Leroy.
The host said, 'Come on, I insist on giving you something! That was amazing!
How about a new Porsche or a Rolex?
Again Leroy said no.
Confused, the rich man asked, 'Well, Leroy, then what do you want?'
Leroy said, 'I want you to show me the Sumbitch who shoved me in the pool!'
Thursday, August 2, 2018
BLASPHEMY ... MAYBE EVEN SACRILEGE.
by Bob Walsh
This is truly disgusting and horrible. It is a recipe for fake bacon made by dipping rice paper into a marinade. It takes a lot of time and makes a lot of mess and you have to be very careful cooking it or the paper base burns.
What's the point. Real bacon is fast and easy and actually tastes good.
This is truly disgusting and horrible. It is a recipe for fake bacon made by dipping rice paper into a marinade. It takes a lot of time and makes a lot of mess and you have to be very careful cooking it or the paper base burns.
What's the point. Real bacon is fast and easy and actually tastes good.
NYPD PILOTS PROBABLY REGRET SHOWING THEIR BOSS HE IS A PRICK
Five NYPD pilots flew a counter-surveillance plane in a giant penis-shaped route while feuding with their boss
Daily Mail
August 1, 2018
Five New York Police pilots who were feuding with their boss flew a $4 million counter-surveillance plane in a giant penis-shaped route in a bid to troll him.
The phallic flight pattern showed up on the NYPD's tracking system back in March when the pilots opted to protest against Aviation Unit head Inspector James Coan, the New York Post reports.
Supervisors monitoring the flight-tracking software immediately alerted Coan when they noticed the penis shape.
Two of the pilots were removed from the unit as a result and the others disciplined after a departmental hearing.
The pilots staged the protest after they questioned whether the federally-funded plane was safe to fly over water at low altitude.
They were concerned about crashing into the ocean if a propeller happened to blow.
The pilots said they were ordered to start carrying out the flights in July last year.
Coan reportedly increased the number of runs in March.
'Any of the people who complained about the mission — they got the s–t end of the stick,' a source told the Post.
'They had to do all these menial tasks outside their job description, including washing (Coan's) car.'
The NYPD agreed in May to stop the missions until meeting with union representatives.
The plane in question was the same one the NYPD used to shuttle Mayor Bill de Blasio to and from vacation in Canada last month.
Daily Mail
August 1, 2018
Five New York Police pilots who were feuding with their boss flew a $4 million counter-surveillance plane in a giant penis-shaped route in a bid to troll him.
The phallic flight pattern showed up on the NYPD's tracking system back in March when the pilots opted to protest against Aviation Unit head Inspector James Coan, the New York Post reports.
Supervisors monitoring the flight-tracking software immediately alerted Coan when they noticed the penis shape.
Two of the pilots were removed from the unit as a result and the others disciplined after a departmental hearing.
The pilots staged the protest after they questioned whether the federally-funded plane was safe to fly over water at low altitude.
They were concerned about crashing into the ocean if a propeller happened to blow.
The pilots said they were ordered to start carrying out the flights in July last year.
Coan reportedly increased the number of runs in March.
'Any of the people who complained about the mission — they got the s–t end of the stick,' a source told the Post.
'They had to do all these menial tasks outside their job description, including washing (Coan's) car.'
The NYPD agreed in May to stop the missions until meeting with union representatives.
The plane in question was the same one the NYPD used to shuttle Mayor Bill de Blasio to and from vacation in Canada last month.
THE GUNS CRIMINALS WANT
Two Studies, One Troubling Takeaway: The Guns Best at Killing Are the Same Guns Criminals Covet
By Alex Yablon
The Trace
July 31, 2018
The same weapons that the gun industry pumps out in ever greater numbers are more likely to fatally injure people, a new study shows. The public safety risks of popular medium- and large-caliber firearms models are compounded by another fresh research finding: Criminals are seeking out those same guns.
In the first study, scholars dug into Boston Police Department investigative files and sorted shootings by the caliber of the guns with which they were committed. Caliber is a measure of a bullet’s diameter, which in turn affects the force with which it strikes a target and the size of the channel as it penetrates. Sure enough, the researchers found that, in Boston, gunshot wounds from medium- to large-caliber rounds were significantly more likely to kill victims than wounds from smaller-caliber bullets. According to the paper by Anthony Braga of Northeastern University and Philip Cook of Duke University, victims were 2.3 times more likely to die when shot with what the authors call medium-caliber handguns like the 9mm or .380 than they were if shot by weapons that fire small bullets like the .22.
The study shows, Cook says, that “the type of weapon matters separately and in addition to the intention of the attacker, skill of the attacker, and the circumstances of the attack, in terms of likelihood that the victim will die.”
Victims shot by what the authors classify as large-caliber handgun rounds, like the .45, were even more likely to die, with Braga and Cook’s analysis showing those wounds were 4.5 times more fatal than those from small-caliber rounds.
“Homicides were more likely to involve large-caliber firearms relative to nonfatal shootings,” the authors wrote. “The implication is that if the medium- and large-caliber guns had been replaced with small caliber (assuming everything else unchanged), the result would have been a 39.5% reduction in gun homicides.”
Not only are larger-caliber handguns deadlier than smaller pistols, they have exploded in popularity among legal gun buyers. Guns like the 9mm have become synonymous with the “good guy with a gun,” civilians who go armed in public for purposes of self-defense.
According the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, American gun companies produced approximately 2.3 million 9mm semiautomatic handguns in 2016, the most recent year for which manufacturing data is available. That’s more than four times the combined number of all small-caliber semiautomatic pistols manufactured the same year.
Compare that to data from 1990 when gunmakers produced just shy of 350,000 semiautomatic 9mm pistols, slightly fewer than the number of pistols that fired the relatively puny .22 round they made that year.
As we reported in 2016, the gun industry’s shift from producing more small, cheap “Saturday Night Special” pistols so common from the 1960s through the 1980s to more large-caliber, deadlier handguns depended on the expansion of concealed-carry laws.
In 1981, 19 states banned concealed carry in any form. But after decades of lobbying by the National Rifle Association, today all 50 states allow residents to carry in public to one degree or another. As a result, people who in a previous age would never have considered going armed in public now consider concealed carry acceptable. In certain parts of the country, the practice has gone mainstream: In Florida, more than 1.9 million residents — or one out of 10 people — currently have an active concealed weapons license.
To take advantage of the opportunity presented by loosened public carry laws and fear-based demand, gunmakers market weapons that pack the most powerful round into the most concealable gun frame possible. But “good guys with guns” aren’t the only people who hear that pitch.
Another study published this month in Criminology by Braga and David Hureau of the University of Albany examined the dynamics of Boston’s criminal market for guns. The authors interviewed criminals who were keenly aware of the differences between weapons, and who pay a premium for the kinds of newer semiautomatic pistols also favored by concealed carriers.
“All respondents acknowledged that the most desirable guns were larger caliber semiautomatic pistols,” Braga and Hureau wrote.
The most popular caliber among the criminals interviewed was the 9mm. The gang members and drug dealers who spoke with Braga and Hureau told them they preferred these kinds of guns because they fire a powerful cartridge, can store many rounds in a magazine, and are easily concealed in a waistband.
Cook says empirical research like these two papers get to the heart of gun policy.
“There are two fundamental empirical issues in the debate over gun control: does the type of weapon matter to lethality, and does the general availability of guns increase crime?” he said. “If you believe those things matter, then you can make policy to save lives.”
By Alex Yablon
The Trace
July 31, 2018
The same weapons that the gun industry pumps out in ever greater numbers are more likely to fatally injure people, a new study shows. The public safety risks of popular medium- and large-caliber firearms models are compounded by another fresh research finding: Criminals are seeking out those same guns.
In the first study, scholars dug into Boston Police Department investigative files and sorted shootings by the caliber of the guns with which they were committed. Caliber is a measure of a bullet’s diameter, which in turn affects the force with which it strikes a target and the size of the channel as it penetrates. Sure enough, the researchers found that, in Boston, gunshot wounds from medium- to large-caliber rounds were significantly more likely to kill victims than wounds from smaller-caliber bullets. According to the paper by Anthony Braga of Northeastern University and Philip Cook of Duke University, victims were 2.3 times more likely to die when shot with what the authors call medium-caliber handguns like the 9mm or .380 than they were if shot by weapons that fire small bullets like the .22.
The study shows, Cook says, that “the type of weapon matters separately and in addition to the intention of the attacker, skill of the attacker, and the circumstances of the attack, in terms of likelihood that the victim will die.”
Victims shot by what the authors classify as large-caliber handgun rounds, like the .45, were even more likely to die, with Braga and Cook’s analysis showing those wounds were 4.5 times more fatal than those from small-caliber rounds.
“Homicides were more likely to involve large-caliber firearms relative to nonfatal shootings,” the authors wrote. “The implication is that if the medium- and large-caliber guns had been replaced with small caliber (assuming everything else unchanged), the result would have been a 39.5% reduction in gun homicides.”
Not only are larger-caliber handguns deadlier than smaller pistols, they have exploded in popularity among legal gun buyers. Guns like the 9mm have become synonymous with the “good guy with a gun,” civilians who go armed in public for purposes of self-defense.
According the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, American gun companies produced approximately 2.3 million 9mm semiautomatic handguns in 2016, the most recent year for which manufacturing data is available. That’s more than four times the combined number of all small-caliber semiautomatic pistols manufactured the same year.
Compare that to data from 1990 when gunmakers produced just shy of 350,000 semiautomatic 9mm pistols, slightly fewer than the number of pistols that fired the relatively puny .22 round they made that year.
As we reported in 2016, the gun industry’s shift from producing more small, cheap “Saturday Night Special” pistols so common from the 1960s through the 1980s to more large-caliber, deadlier handguns depended on the expansion of concealed-carry laws.
In 1981, 19 states banned concealed carry in any form. But after decades of lobbying by the National Rifle Association, today all 50 states allow residents to carry in public to one degree or another. As a result, people who in a previous age would never have considered going armed in public now consider concealed carry acceptable. In certain parts of the country, the practice has gone mainstream: In Florida, more than 1.9 million residents — or one out of 10 people — currently have an active concealed weapons license.
To take advantage of the opportunity presented by loosened public carry laws and fear-based demand, gunmakers market weapons that pack the most powerful round into the most concealable gun frame possible. But “good guys with guns” aren’t the only people who hear that pitch.
Another study published this month in Criminology by Braga and David Hureau of the University of Albany examined the dynamics of Boston’s criminal market for guns. The authors interviewed criminals who were keenly aware of the differences between weapons, and who pay a premium for the kinds of newer semiautomatic pistols also favored by concealed carriers.
“All respondents acknowledged that the most desirable guns were larger caliber semiautomatic pistols,” Braga and Hureau wrote.
The most popular caliber among the criminals interviewed was the 9mm. The gang members and drug dealers who spoke with Braga and Hureau told them they preferred these kinds of guns because they fire a powerful cartridge, can store many rounds in a magazine, and are easily concealed in a waistband.
Cook says empirical research like these two papers get to the heart of gun policy.
“There are two fundamental empirical issues in the debate over gun control: does the type of weapon matter to lethality, and does the general availability of guns increase crime?” he said. “If you believe those things matter, then you can make policy to save lives.”
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