Blog
Law
No duty to protect
Yet another example of the fact that the government has no duty to protect individual citizens from criminal acts by another person.
The latest court ruling arises out of wrongful death suits filed against the Commonwealth of Virginia by the administrators of the estates of two murder victims of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech.
It is best to be able to protect yourself.
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Law
Stand Your Ground
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has a way of keeping people focused on the issue—much to the chagrin of those who are driven by emotional fantasy. The challengers to good Stand Your Ground law were shown the facts by John Lott and Ilya Shapiro in the Senate hearing held on October 29, 2013.
As Andrew Branca noted in his blog article “Stand Your Ground” opponents mangle law and Trayvon facts at Senate Hearing :
Cruz opened up by noting that if the Federal government was really concerned about violent crime they certainly had a strange way of showing it. Of the many thousands of attempts to illegally purchase firearms and the many thousands of gun crimes that fall under the purview of Federal criminal law, the Department of Justice prosecuted virtually none of them...
My first general observation is that the anti-SYG folks were, as experience would suggest, big on emotion and small on actual facts, law, or data.
One of the anti-SYG witnesses, Professor Sullivan from Harvard Law School, did raise some actual data–but when these were utterly destroyed by the later testimony of Dr. John Lott and Elliot Shapiro of CATA [sic], Professor Sullivan was swift to discount the use of data (which he himself had introduced into the testimony) and instead focus on the “real people” behind the data. In sharp contrast, the testimony of the pro-SYG speakers was focused and direct.
Second, the anti-SYG folks persistently conflated the legal concept of Stand Your Ground with utterly discrete legal concepts, such as presumptions of reasonableness and civil/criminal immunity.
When this is done by people without legal training or experience, such as Sabrina Fulton, one can of course accept it as an unknowing error. When it is persistently done by a Harvard Law Professor and a head of an (allegedly) leading association of State Prosecutors, one can only wonder at either their actual intent or their underlying intelligence.
Indeed, their misstatements of the law were so egregious that at one point Dr. Lott was obliged to read aloud from the actual Florida statute they had badly mischaracterized, to which they naturally had no substantive response. In that case they were claiming that even criminal aggressors could claim Stand Your Ground privilege under Florida law, a claim that the plain language of the statute read by Dr. Lott clearly destroys.
In any case, it is clear that their effort is intended to be a broad attack on all three fronts — likely with immunity being the true target, as it represents the largest pot of gold for their supporters — rather than any focused concern on Stand Your Ground, per se.
Ah yes, that pesky immunity clause... Why do the "anti's" look so uncomfortable when that is mentioned?
The webcast of the 2 hour Senate hearing can be seen here.
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Safety
Statistics
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) releases statistics showing the most common "unintentional" causes of death in the United States. The following graph, tabulated for the year 2007, shows that firearms-related deaths are not the "plague" that some would have us believe.
According to the CDC, "overexertion" seems to be under control.
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Patriots
Orice Larson honored
MonteNews.com - By Bruce Olson - Montevideo, MN - Orice Larson has several medals and mementos from his service to his country with the United States Army in World War II, but he was visibly deeply touched by the honor accorded him Saturday at the conclusion of the Burnt Powder Festival at the Watson Hunting Camp.
This is sweet!
I've never met Orice Larsen, but I've been honored to know many men like him. True Patriots all.
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Business World
Do you see any corollaries here?
A Hawaii woman says the man who stole her family’s 47-foot charter sailboat not only devastated their memories but he also took their livelihood when he ran aground.
The man allegedly broke into the boat, brought his guitar and luggage aboard, and asked a fisherman for help leaving the slip before he grounded a few miles north of the marina. Co-owner Laura Mascari told the Honolulu Star Advocate that authorities quickly realized the man who was rescued from their sailboat had no sailing experience, knew nothing about the boat and likely stole it. He was arrested at the scene.
Fact: When you let someone take over your business and run it aground, you're out of business.
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Bad News—Good News?
"We're lost—but we're making good time!"
In mankind's quest to develop a robot with human capabilities, it appears that we are making real 'progress' in developing a human with robot capabilities. The temptation to place responsibility, and blame, on the electron is overpowering. People that are eager to turn their thinking process over to a circuit board have been given another recent nudge—this time by NOAA.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the end of traditional paper nautical charts, but NOAA-certified print-on-demand partners will continue to sell up-to-date paper charts.
NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, which creates and maintains the nation’s suite of more than 1,000 nautical charts of U.S. coastal waters, announced major changes ahead for mariners and others who use nautical charts.
Starting April 13 [2014], the federal government will no longer print traditional lithographic nautical charts, but will continue to provide other forms of nautical charts, including print-on-demand charts and versions for electronic charting systems.
As David Patraiko stated recently in The Navigator, "the age-old adage for mariners has always been 'never rely on one source for positioning'."
We'll have to see if "print-on-demand" can fill the shoes of lithography when it comes to providing a necessary tool for the responsible navigator.
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Navigation: Intracoastal Waterway
End of The Line?
The “magenta line” has guided mariners on the ICW for 70 years, as this detail from a NOAA chart from the 1930s shows. Now the line may be going away. In fact, it has already been removed from charts on some sections of the waterway. Can the magenta line be saved? If not, what should replace it? Read more...
It has been evident for quite awhile that the old way of doing things doesn't just pass away, it evolves into an aimless state of flux—which seems to be the status quo. Yet another dysfunctional 'system' to be paid for, but not to be trusted...
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Hearing Protection
Suppressors
I sure wish that we would have had the Gemtech HVT, or something similar, years ago when I was shooting .30-06. No doubt, it would have saved some of my hearing.
Tailwags to Nutnfancy (Part 1 of Silencerco Tour) (Part 2 of Nutnfancy Silencerco Tour)
The Silencerco website has more information about suppressors.
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Gun-free zones
Venue's of Violence
The fact that "an armed society is a polite society" has been well documented. Inversely, we see rampant violence where citizens are prohibited, by local laws or ordinance, from carrying guns.
Here is another example that occurred in the same region as the recent Lien family incident.
“Get those crackers!” some of them screamed, according to court papers. “Get that white whore!”
The confrontation erupted about 7 p.m. Monday, as the marauding group crossed Avenue U at E. 58th St. near Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Mill Basin.
Ronald Russo, 30, and his wife, Alanna, apparently had the green light and the husband honked at the group to get out of the way. The rowdy kids started kicking the car, according to the criminal complaint. Ronald Russo got out to check on potential damage to his vehicle.
And that’s when all hell broke loose....
“It’s not just a black and white thing. It’s stupid teenagers thinking they can do whatever they want,” [a] neighbor said.
Hello!
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Weather
Invest 96E has become "Raymond"
For the moment, Raymond has decided to meander West and stay in the Pacific instead of coming East toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Raymond has become better organized over the past few hours. Infrared satellite imagery shows an increase in deep convection near the center...and a 1018 UTC trmm pass showed signs of an inner core beginning to develop. The initial intensity has been raised to 45 kt based on the latest Dvorak estimate from SAB. An environment of warm water and low shear appears conducive for strengthening during the next couple of days. Later in the period...some southwesterly wind shear may result in a little weakening...but Raymond is expected to remain a hurricane through the end of the forecast period...
Raymond is expected to move slowly northwestward and then turn northward or even a little east of due north. After the trough lifts out... steering currents will remain weak on days 2 and 3...with a slow and erratic motion likely during this time. Late in the period...a mid-level ridge will build north and northeast of Raymond...which should impart a steadier westward or west-southwestward motion away from the coast. While the guidance is in general agreement on this overall scenario...there are considerable detail differences in the track of Raymond...especially how close it will get to the coast of Mexico...
[I]t is likely that there will be a hurricane meandering near the coast of south-central Mexico for the next several days.
Heavy rainfall from this system will likely spread northward into south-central Mexico during the next several days...and these rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mud slides.
Weather
This is a little different
There is a low pressure area (Invest 96E) a couple hundred miles south of Acapulco that is forecast to track across Mexico and turn East into the Gulf of Mexico. Not much being said about it at the moment; you can see that there is quite a bit of disparity in the models.
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Climate
Frisky Weather
If you have animals around, you're aware that you don't need a thermometer to tell when fall has kicked in.... A nice cool breeze today.
This is the first day since last spring where the forecast high is below 80º.
Rocky hasn't seen the forecast, but he wants to celebrate anyway.
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Westgate Mall incident
Kindness is not the proper response
The thing that makes this scene particularly upsetting is the realization that there are "Americans", like Michael Bloomberg for example, who would have us all crawling around like the victim's in this video.
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Quote of the day
Quotation
"Understanding of the law and confidence in one’s conclusions about it are inversely related." —Orin Kerr
Florida Law
"Stand Your Ground" interference
In case anyone missed it before, here is Andrew Branca reiterating the real reason why some people want the SYG law changed.
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Politics and gun running
Shootout linked to "grenade-walking" scandal
This is not about a problem with armed citizens in the United States, or gun shows, or mom and pop gun stores in border states.
CBS News has learned of a shocking link between a deadly drug cartel shootout with Mexican police last week and a controversial case in the U.S. The link is one of the grenades used in the violent fight, which killed three policemen and four cartel members and was captured on video by residents in the area...
evidence connects one of the grenades to Jean Baptiste Kingery, an alleged firearms trafficker U.S. officials allowed to operate for years without arresting...
If one of the grenades was supplied with the help of Kingery, as believed, it adds to the toll of lives taken with weapons trafficked by suspects U.S. officials watched but did not stop.
The Kingery case was overseen by the same Arizona U.S. Attorney and ATF office that let suspects traffic thousands of weapons to Mexican drug cartels in the operation dubbed Fast and Furious. The [alleged] strategy was to try to get to the cartel kingpins, but it was halted after CBS News reported that Fast and Furious weapons were used by cartel thugs in the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry on December 15, 2010. Weapons trafficked by other ATF suspects under surveillance were used two months later in the cartel murder of Immigration and Customs Agent Jaime Zapata in Mexico on February 15, 2011.
It almost looks as though someone is now trying to build a case for a U.N. Treaty.
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Fire Safety
Fire Aboard
The following report from latitude38.com serves as a good reminder of how fast an electrical (Class C) fire can start aboard—especially when Direct Current (e.g. 12v.) is being used to power appliances.
"Despite all the sensational stories of whale-caused sinkings, fire is and should be the greatest concern for cruisers," writes South Pacific cruiser Andrew Rosen of the Marina del Rey-based Beneteau 46 Murar’s Dream. "It can happen so quickly and so unexpectedly."
Having done the 2011 Baja Ha-Ha and the 2013 Pacific Puddle Jump, he was cruising in Fiji when a sudden fire on board threatened both the boat and his life.
"After docking at Vuda Point Marina between other boats in very close proximity (Med-mooring separated only by fenders), we settled into our new, temporary home as we planned the next leg of our journey to Australia via New Caledonia. That evening I turned on our air conditioning unit, which cools our aft cabin and operates via shore power (using a 220-110 step down transformer) or generator at 110 volts. It just did not sound right, so I quickly turned it off. Thinking nothing of it other than it would need to be checked out by the local electrician, I sat down at our navigation station and began to write one of our sailblogs.
"About 20-30 minutes later, I was interrupted by the smell of smoke and, upon entering the aft cabin, saw flames behind the air return vent coming out of the A/C unit. Fortunately, I was still awake and not sleeping, so I quickly grabbed one of our two, one-lb [sic] fire extinguishers and shouted, “Fire, fire, fire!” to get help from other cruisers. Within only a few minutes, the port side of our aft cockpit was in full flames and, with the aid of four other cruisers, seven fire extinguishers, and lots of water from two garden hoses (but only after turning off the electric power to the boat), it took us almost a half-hour to finally extinguish the flames.
"But for the fact that we were docked at a marina with access to water and additional fire-fighting equipment, I am sure that Murar’s Dream would have sunk...
Improperly sized wire, or loose or corroded electrical connections create electrical resistance; electrical resistance creates heat; and heat is one of the three required ingredients for fire.
It can happen fast! That is why EVERY electrical circuit and/or appliance MUST be protected with a healthy circuit breaker or fuse. NEVER wire an appliance into an electrical circuit without a fuse or breaker protecting the circuit. It's a good idea to periodically check all electrical connections, fuses, and circuit breakers for any sign of corrosion or problems. Abnormal heat buildup in electrical circuits or breaker panels can be detected with an inexpensive infrared thermometer.
And, don't forget to check your fire extinguishers.
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2nd Amendment
Supreme Court Will Decide in January
Does a citizen's right to "keep and bear Arms" include the right to legally purchase a firearm with the intent to later transfer that firearm (through an FFL) to another citizen whom the transferrer knows to have no criminal history or record—in this case their uncle?
The BATFE threw their hankie...
Arguments for Abramski v. United States will take place in January. Bruce Abramski, a retired police officer, bought a handgun for his elderly uncle because he could get it at discount as former law enforcement. Mr. Abramski checked the box on the federal background check form that said he was the “actual buyer."
ATF pursued the case against Mr. Abramski for saying he was the “actual buyer” in the original sale.
Stay tuned.
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Arms Trade Treaty
Opposition Letters Issued Today
Bipartisan Letter Signed by 181 Members of Congress
Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued [a] statement today after submitting a bipartisan letter to President Obama in opposition to the administration’s recent signing of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The letter is backed by 180 co-signers from both parties and includes members of House Leadership
Half of Senate to White House: U.S. Will Not Be Bound By U.N. Arms Trade Treaty
Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) led a bipartisan group of 50 U.S. Senators, including Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), in reiterating to President Obama that the Senate overwhelmingly opposes the ratification of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and will not be bound by its obligations.
"Under no circumstances should this country surrender our gun rights to the control of the United Nations," Senator Manchin said. "While we can work toward improving the regulation of the international trade of weapons, I am very concerned that the rights of law-abiding Americans would be violated by entering into this agreement. I strongly oppose any treaty that infringes on our Second Amendment rights."
The Big Hurt
Obamacare’s Website Is Crashing Because It Doesn’t Want You To Know How Costly Its Plans Are
“Healthcare.gov was initially going to include an option to browse before registering,”
A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.
"But, we passed the bill without knowing what was in it, the least you can do is register without knowing what it will cost you......"
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Rules Of The Road
Collision Trial
A Royal Navy lieutenant crashed his racing yacht into an oil tanker after sailing 'perilously close' to the 120,000-ton vessel despite having seen it from five miles away, a court has heard.
Roland Wilson, 32, from Stanley in Perthshire, is alleged to have been negligent after his boat, Atalanta of Chester, was involved in the collision which took place on the first day of the Cowes Week racing regatta in August 2011.
The Navigation Rules (COLREGS) are designed to prevent collisions; they favor the least maneuverable vessel when a collision situation exists. While small sailing yachts are governed by wind direction, they are still more maneuverable than a large tanker proceeding at "Slow Ahead." Whether or not the Pilot of the tanker should have been proceeding through a yacht race is another question. Plenty of blame to go around here.
To paraphrase one of the comments posted when this video first appeared, "those tankers are hard to see—they should be required to paint them orange!"
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Illegal Mayor's Against Guns
Another Bloomberg mayor bites the dust
Kwame Kilpatrick, former Detroit mayor and member of MAIG, just was sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption.
"Kilpatrick spent $800,000 more than he earned. He billed his city credit card for trips to Las Vegas, and bought concert tickets and football tickets along with an $850.00 steak dinner. He leased two Lincoln Navigators for his wife with public money.
"Managing a city with no money is hard every single day," Kilpatrick told the court.
Too typical!
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Civility
Human nature, or a sign of things to come?
I've seen Wal Mart's helpful logistical support in action during the aftermath of tropical storms, but they weren't too well prepared for this 'EBT storm'.
Self Defense
Florida Law
I'm reminded of the old saying that "a camel is a horse designed by a committee." Well, the committee has been working on the Florida statute that deals with self defense.
There seems to be a maze of perspectives when it comes to laws that deal with the interaction between a victim and an aggressor. The law should always place the burden on the outlaw. Burdening the victim with a 'duty to retreat' is dangerous for several reasons. Trying to retreat can place a victim in even greater danger. If the victim cannot safely retreat or flee, as is often the case, and they (the victim) are successful in defending themselves from an outlaw, then the victim should not be burdened with having to prove a negative. The committee didn't go so far as to require a victim to retreat, but what they did could prove equally as bad.
The change in the wording of 776.032,
A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force,
to now read:
A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action by the person, personal representative, or heirs of the person, against whom force was used for the use of such force,
which is supposedly designed to allow innocent third parties the opportunity for some relief at the expense of the victim. Who is naïve enough to believe that victims will be secure from all plunderer's who are not a "personal representative" or "heir"?
Also addressed in the change were new rules for regulating "neighborhood watch" volunteers.
There is nothing wrong with holding people accountable for their actions, but the burden needs to be diligently applied to the outlaw—in a clear manner.
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Justice and Self Defense
Florida Senate “Stand Your Ground” panel advocates for lawsuits against people who lawfully defend themselves
This debate has alway been about money—not about justice, as pointed out in this article from Andrew Branca.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that an ad hoc Florida state Senate panel, drawn together specifically to advocate changes to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, has emerged to announce that there should be changes to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
The key change sought by the panel is to impose limits on the immunity from civil liability for people who lawfully defend themselves against lethal attack. In other words, civil damage lawsuits even after an acquittal.
Ironically, the changes advocated by the “Stand Your Ground” committee do not target Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” statute at all–§776.013(3). Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm—but rather seek to undermine Florida’s self-defense immunity statute—§776.032. Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.
Even a cursory reading of the law reveals that the Stand Your Ground statute has nothing whatever to do with the Self-Defense Immunity statute, other than having been adopted by the same session of the Florida legislature.
Indeed, the legislators have simply cloaked their desire to re-impose criminal and civil liability on law-abiding people, who act in genuine self-defense, under the guise of “fighting” Stand Your Ground. In doing so, these feckless legislators merely reveal the duplicitous nature of their actions.
Under current Florida law, an unlawful aggressor who seeks to sue their victims for harm suffered at the hands of the defending victims will be compelled to reimburse the victim if the victim’s use of force is judged to have been lawful self-defense. It is precisely this provision that keeps the lawyers advising the Trayvon Martin family from bringing suit against George Zimmerman. [Emphasis added]
The legislators favoring these changes justify them in terms of re-imposing legal liability on people who while acting in self-defense negligently injure or kill an innocent bystander by “spraying bullets in the air.”
Some of the legislators are also seeking to hamstring community watch programs, presumably to ease the ability of some constituents to criminally prey upon others by reducing the risks that this suspicious conduct will be observed and reported to the police.
Proponents of change also reveal their ignorance of existing law by arguing that Florida’s Stand Your Ground should be changed so that it cannot be claimed by aggressors. This is already the law, as Stand Your Ground applies only to innocent defenders attacked by criminal assailants.
Proponents also argue that Stand Your Ground should not serve to limit the ability of the police to investigate a defensive force incident—there is no such restriction currently in place, as current law explicitly states that police “may use standard procedures for investigating the use of force”.
In fact, these legislators are engaged in Obamian political theater. Both the “Stand Your Ground” and “Self-Defense Immunity” statutes are overwhelmingly favored by the large majority of Florida’s residents who wish to be able to lawfully defend themselves against criminal predation, and no substantive changes to either is expected to have any hope of passage on the floor of either the Florida Senate or House.
Florida law, as it exists now, allows a citizen to defend themselves from an outlaw attacker without having to contend with a second attack, led by unscrupulous lawyers rushing in to "represent" the outlaw or their next of kin. That kind of travesty occurs all to often in jurisdictions that have no statutory protection for innocent citizen's who get caught up in self defense cases. It is that 'statutory shield' that makes the existing Florida law a good law.
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Semper Paratus
Duty has no shutdowns!
A Coast Guard aircrew flew approximately 1,036 miles to airdrop blood and medical supplies to a cruise ship northeast of the Hawaiian Islands Sunday.
Personnel aboard the cruise ship Oosterdam contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu at approximately 4 a.m. requesting medical assistance for an ailing passenger. The ship's onboard doctor was treating the 70-year-old man for internal bleeding. A Coast Guard flight surgeon was consulted and recommended an airdrop of blood, platelets and transfusion equipment.
At approximately 11:30 a.m., a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from Air Station Barbers Point successfully dropped six units of blood, one pack of platelets and two transfusion kits received from Tripler Army Medical Center and the Blood Bank of Hawaii via parachute to medical personnel aboard the Oosterdam.
The cruise ship will maintain communication with the Coast Guard until it arrives in Lahaina, Maui, Tuesday.
Coast Guard aircraft are equipped to drop lifesaving equipment to individuals in distress. Life rafts, radios, emergency rations and medical supplies are the most common, but flexibility in operations is necessary in order to save lives at sea.
Don't recreate here!
"Sir, you are recreating..."
Never mind that you are on public land that you and other taxpayers own—land that has been paid for by sacrifice and a lifetime of paying taxes. Never mind that you have been looking forward to enjoying, what will probably be your last opportunity to see, the great outdoors of the country you love, with a group of your friends. Just shut up and go back to your room!
Pat Vaillancourt went on a trip last week that was intended to showcase some of America’s greatest treasures.
Instead, the Salisbury resident said she and others on her tour bus witnessed an ugly spectacle that made her embarrassed, angry and heartbroken for her country...
Vaillancourt took part in a nine-day tour of western parks and sites along with about four dozen senior citizen tourists. One of the highlights of the tour was to be Yellowstone, where they arrived just as the shutdown went into effect.
Rangers systematically sent visitors out of the park, though some groups that had hotel reservations — such as Vaillancourt’s — were allowed to stay for two days. Those two days started out on a sour note, she said.
The bus stopped along a road when a large herd of bison passed nearby, and seniors filed out to take photos. Almost immediately, an armed ranger came by and ordered them to get back in, saying they couldn’t “recreate.” The tour guide, who had paid a $300 fee the day before to bring the group into the park, argued that the seniors weren’t “recreating,” just taking photos.
“She responded and said, ‘Sir, you are recreating,’ and her tone became very aggressive,” Vaillancourt said.
The job of 'Park Ranger' used to be an honorable and respected position; not any more.
If the government cannot help a few seniors enjoy a park, how can they possibly help millions of them with a health care system?
The point has been made, and the answer is very clear.
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Politics
ATF tries to block whistleblowing agent’s Fast and Furious book
1st Amendment battle over ‘gun-walking’ expose
ATF officials permitted more than 1,700 semi-automatic weapons to flow through the hands of straw buyers for the Mexican cartels, with many crossing the border...
...hundreds of the weapons began showing up at crime scenes on both sides of the border, including at the December 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry...
The Justice Department initially denied guns knowingly had been allowed to flow across the border, then months later reversed course and admitted the tactic had been used for more than a year. The change in story led to allegations of a cover-up...
President Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. both claimed they knew nothing about [operation Fast and Furious], but the president has invoked executive privilege to block Congress from seeing certain documents...
Like other administration scandals, this one has been dragging out long enough; the truth needs to be disclosed to the American public—including the family of Brian Terry.
For some background information regarding the "whistleblowers" behind operation Fast and Furious, see the website Clean Up ATF.
Tropical Storm Karen
Not a sneeze, but a snuffle
Tropical Storm Karen degenerated into a post-tropical low pressure system this morning, done in by dry air and high wind shear. Karen's demise brings the seasonal Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) in the Atlantic up to 27, which is about 31% of average for this time of the year.
A view from just West of Pensacola at Orange Beach, Alabama
If only all 'storms' ended this way...
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Politics
Update on Federal Government Shutdown
Several federal agencies that provide customer services to the firearms and ammunition industry are affected by the ongoing shutdown. The FBI's NICS Section is remaining fully operational and maintaining normal business hours. On the other hand, ATF's Office of Enforcement Programs and Services (EPS), which includes the imports, firearms technology, NFA branches, the licensing center and firearms industry programs branch now processing marking variances, is effectively shut down, operating only with minimal staff.
While President Obama and Congressional leaders remain at an impasse on approving a spending measure to keep the federal government fully open, the partial shutdown has not affected state-owned public lands across the country. Many states where whitetail season is now open continue to offer opportunities for hunters on public lands. Check with the appropriate department in your state for more information.
-Tail wags to NSSF
Politics
The peril of letting a good waste go to crisis......
Shutdown Highlights Basic Fact: Most of Government is ‘Non-Essential’
After learning that 95 percent of Department of Education employees were deemed “non-essential” during the government shutdown and furloughed, I’m still wondering: Is that all?
Whoda' thought...
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Violence
Reason for anxiety
Here is the reason why the police act fearful at times. Who wouldn't be anxious while doing their job?
As soon as Oregon State Police Trooper Matthew Zistel pulled over the Cadillac for speeding it was clear something wasn’t right.
The driver, 34-year-old John Van Allen, got out of his car and turned to face Zistel before the trooper could even bring his patrol car to a complete stop. The whole time Allen kept one arm behind his back.
“Police! Get back in the car for me,” Zistel said with an authoritative tone.
“Sir, get back in the car for me now!” Zistel repeated when Allen didn’t comply.
The exchange between the trooper and suspect was caught on Zistel’s dashboard camera. Oregon State Police officials released the video to the media Thursday afternoon. The shooting happened on August 29.
The video shows Allen continued to disobey Zistel, whose tone grew increasingly stern.
Less than 30 seconds after they stopped, Allen started walking toward the trooper. Allen then pulled out his arm from behind his back, drew a handgun from his waistband and started firing.
Zistel was shot in the side, although did not suffer a serious injury and was released from the hospital later the same day.
“Shots fired! Shots fired! 53-26 shots fired!,” Zistel yelled into his radio as Allen retreated to his own car, gun still aimed at the trooper. (53-26 represents Zistel’s unit number.)
Zistel returned fire when Allen drew his gun. Investigators said he struck Allen in the chest, although the injury is not clear in the video.
Other troopers found Allen down the road slumped over his steering wheel. He was dead.
Investigators said Allen had his three children in the car – a 10-year-old girl, a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy.
The Sherman County district attorney later found that Zistel was justified in using deadly force when he shot Allen.
Tropical Storm Karen
Given the spread of the guidance...the forecast of the landfall position is low confidence.
The intensity forecast is rather problematic...
We have little skill forecasting intensity, and I expect that at landfall, Karen has a 20% probability of being a Category 1 hurricane with 75 - 85 mph winds, and a 20% chance of being a minimal tropical storm with 40 - 45 mph winds. One possible scenario is a repeat of what happened with Hurricane Ida of 2009. Ida took a track very similar to Karen's, and was a hurricane with 75 mph winds just south of the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. High wind shear from an approaching trough of low pressure, combined with cooler ocean temperatures near shore, combined to cause a sudden weakening of the storm. Ida became extratropical a few hours before making landfall on the Alabama coast, and brought top sustained winds of 40 - 50 mph to the coast from Shell Beach, Louisiana to Waveland, Mississippi.
Tropical Storm Karen
Karen
Karen continues to have a somewhat sheared appearance on satellite imagery...with the deep convection displaced to the northeast of the low-level center. This is consistent with the 20 or so kt of shear analyzed over the cyclone by the SHIPS model. The initial intensity is raised to 55 kt based on several bias-corrected SFMR winds in the 50-55 kt range reported by the aircraft. With moderate shear expected to continue...only gradual strengthening is expected before the shear increases further in about 48 hours. Some weakening is anticipated as Karen approaches the Gulf Coast...but the storm could still be near hurricane strength at landfall. The NHC forecast is close to the SHIPS and lgem models through the period. Karen should be involved with a frontal zone by day 4 and absorbed by the front by day 5.
The initial motion estimate is still a relatively uncertain 330/10.
The track forecast reasonins has not changed...as Karen will move
around the periphery of the subtropical ridge during the next day
or so and then accelerate northeastward ahead of a mid/upper-level
trough. There remains considerable east/west spread in the track
guidance...with the GFS remaining well east of the other global
models and its ensemble mean. The track guidance has shifted a
little to the west this cycle...and the new NHC track is close to
the multi-model consensus and about a half a degree left of the
previous track through 48 hours. Note that a stronger storm would
likely mover farther east...while a weaker system would be more
likely to take a track farther west.
Forecast positions and Max winds
init 03/1500z 22.2n 87.9w 55 kt 65 mph
12h 04/0000z 23.8n 88.7w 60 kt 70 mph
24h 04/1200z 25.4n 89.4w 60 kt 70 mph
36h 05/0000z 26.9n 89.5w 65 kt 75 mph
48h 05/1200z 28.2n 89.1w 60 kt 70 mph
72h 06/1200z 31.0n 87.0w 45 kt 50 mph...inland
96h 07/1200z 35.0n 81.5w 25 kt 30 mph...Post-trop/extratrop
120h 08/1200z...absorbed by front
$$
forecaster Brennan
Law
The Law of Self Defense
The law recognizes a citizen's right to defend themself, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong in the process. If you don’t know EXACTLY how to preserve your right to argue self defense in court, The Law of Self Defense is essential to preserving your liberty.
Andrew Branca points out that there are at least 10 common ways that armed citizens who use force to protect themselves or their families end up losing the right to argue self defense in front of a jury:
- Claiming the use of force was an accident
- Not meeting your burden of production to qualify for self-defense
- Being perceived as the aggressor (the one who started the conflict)
- Resorting to self defense under inadequate provocation
- Using excessive force either in degree or duration
- Failing to use a safe avenue of retreat
- Returning to an initial conflict
- Pursuing an attacker
- Fleeing the scene of conflict
- Saying too much, or not enough
In this video, Branca discusses his book.
Justice
Judge: 'Fast and Furious' lawsuit can proceed
(WASHINGTON TIMES) A federal judge ruled Monday evening that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee could indeed proceed with a lawsuit against the Justice Department to access certain Fast and Furious documents.
Attorney General Eric Holder had attempted to dismiss the suit. But U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson turned aside that request, asserting the House claim: President Obama could not claim executive privilege and halt certain “Operation Fast and Furious” records from being turned over to Congress for review, Politico reported.
The decision came via a 44-page ruling.
This is good news for all those seeking truth and justice for Brian Terry. The wheels of justice turn slow—especially if they are as misaligned as they appear to be at the moment.
-fl