The danger of fists | Gun Nuts

The danger of fists | Gun Nuts: "If you watch enough MMA fight footage you will even see instances where fighters who have someone in a mount will stop on their own, knowing that the other fighter is done and not wishing to cause him any more injury than they already have. This doesn’t happen on the street. There’s no referee to stop the fight. It’s over only when the person who is throwing blows gives up or decides to move on to other methods of inflicting damage."

"Police use of force policies treat an officer being knocked unconscious or mounted as lethal force events. Firstly because as we’ve shown it’s extremely easy for the officer to be gravely injured just by the ongoing assault of fists, but also because when the officer is seeing stars or unconscious the perp will often go for the officer’s weapon and use it to kill them."

"that makes fists and feet a more popular instrument of lethal criminal violence than rifles and shotguns combined over the same period of time."

USA Today: Johnson says no to Detroit bailouts - Press Releases - Newsroom - Ron Johnson, United States Senator for Wisconsin

USA Today: Johnson says no to Detroit bailouts - Press Releases - Newsroom - Ron Johnson, United States Senator for Wisconsin: "an average 58-minute police response time, four out of ten streetlights are broken, and the highest per-capita tax burden in Michigan"

Massachusetts couple may face fine for helping injured baby seal | Fox News

Massachusetts couple may face fine for helping injured baby seal | Fox News: "The couple told MyFoxBoston.com that when a volunteer from the Boston-based New England Aquarium  arrived, they didn't want to touch the seal, which was placed back into the water.

Seals are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, which makes it illegal to touch or harass the mammals. The couple said they may face a $5,000 fine.

Aquarium officials told the station that even though the couple's intentions were good, anyone who thinks a seal is in distress should instead call the U.S. Coast Guard or emergency officials."

They're "protected" so you can't help them!?!

Survival lessons from an airplane accident

Survival lessons from an airplane accident: "After the accident, there was a limited opportunity to escape further injury or death. Even with the awesome response, a majority of people would have died if they had just sat there and "waited for the professionals to handle it." "

"police officers on the ground threw utility knives up to crew members so they could cut the seat belts of those who remained trapped as rescue crews removed the injured.

When you ban knives, you prevent people from being able to use them to save others."

Man dies after heart attack at JFK airport after doors at new terminal delay responders | Fox News

Man dies after heart attack at JFK airport after doors at new terminal delay responders | Fox News: "The trouble delayed the Medical One [EMT] team for two vital minutes, but then they were able to get into the building by another route and get to Adekunle."

"At about 7:10, the Fire Department responders were denied entry when the security system refused to recognize an ID access card used by a PA cop escorting them. The delay robbed the dying man of more precious seconds."

Ohio police department sparks controversy with fake drug checkpoints | Fox News

Ohio police department sparks controversy with fake drug checkpoints | Fox News: "Police in Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights recently posted large yellow signs along Interstate 271 that warned drivers that there was a drug checkpoint ahead, to be prepared to stop and that there was a drug-sniffing police dog in use.

There was no such checkpoint, just police officers waiting to see if any drivers would react suspiciously after seeing the signs."

Welfare for the rich disguised as welfare for the poor - Campaign for Liberty

Welfare for the rich disguised as welfare for the poor - Campaign for Liberty: "When the Committee was drafting the bill, most staffers paid more attention to the concerns of the food industry lobbyists than to the poor women who were the program’s supposed beneficiaries. One staffer even told me directly that “this is about helping agribusinesses, not feeding poor people.”"

"According to the Congressional Research Service, food vendors participating in WIC received $9.86 billion in Fiscal Year 1997–75% of the total funds spent on the WIC program! This fiscal year, producers of food products approved by the federal government for purchase by WIC participants are expected to receive $10 billion in taxpayer dollars! Small wonder the lobbyists who came to my office to discuss WIC were not advocates for the poor, but rather well-healed spokespersons for corporate interests!"

"one of the most contentious issues debated at Committee mark-up was opposition to an attempt to allow USDA to purchase non-quota peanuts (currently the only peanuts available for sale are farmers who have a USDA quota; all other farmers are forbidden to sell peanuts in the US) for school nutrition programs. Although this program would have saved the American taxpayers $5 million this year, the amendment was rejected at the behest of supporters of the peanut lobby."

"Under the law, all the food purchased by the government for distribution has to come from domestic producers and be shipped overseas on US ships. The Obama Administration proposed using a portion of the food aid funds to buy locally produced products on the grounds that this would be a cheaper and more effective way of providing aid. The Senate rejected this rare attempt at fiscal responsibility from Obama. According to my Capitol Hill sources, it was after fierce lobbying from the shopping industry.

Representative Ed Royce offered an amendment to the Farm bill requiring that at least 45% of foreign food aid be used to purchase food from locally produced sources. This amendment was defeated by a vote of 203-220."

Admitted mastermind of 9/11 terror attacks allowed by CIA to design vacuum cleaner in prison | Fox News

Admitted mastermind of 9/11 terror attacks allowed by CIA to design vacuum cleaner in prison | Fox News: "Mohammed had endured the most brutal of the CIA's harsh interrogation methods and had confessed to a career of atrocities. But the agency had no long-term plan for him. Someday, he might prove useful again. Perhaps, he'd even stand trial one day.

And for that, he'd need to be sane."

"the CIA may be in possession of the world's most highly classified vacuum cleaner blueprints"

"By the CIA's own account, the program's methods were "designed to psychologically 'dislocate'" people. But once interrogations stopped, the agency had to try to undo the psychological damage inflicted on the detainees."

"Any type of prolonged isolation in custody — much less the settings described in the press — have been known to have a severe impact on the mental condition of the detainee"

"Agency officers and contractors forced him to stay awake for 180 hours, according to a CIA inspector general's report. He also underwent 183 instances of waterboarding, or simulated drowning."

"The prison had a debriefing room, where Mohammed, who saw himself as something of a professor, held "office hours," as he told CIA officers. While chained to the floor, Mohammed would lecture the CIA officers on his path to jihad, his childhood and family. Tea and cookies were served."

"For security reasons, after a prisoner finished a book, they tediously checked every page to ensure detainees weren't passing messages.
They once caught detainees trying to hide a message in a book warning one another not to talk about Osama bin Laden's courier. The courier would later lead the CIA to bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, where U.S. Navy SEALs killed him in 2011."

"It sounds ridiculous, but answering this question, or confirming or denying the very existence of a vacuum cleaner design, a Swiffer design, or even a design for a better hand towel would apparently expose the U.S. government and its citizens to exceptionally grave danger"

Protesters of acquittal in Trayvon Martin shooting take to the streets of SF, LA and Oakland | Fox News

Protesters of acquittal in Trayvon Martin shooting take to the streets of SF, LA and Oakland | Fox News: "Demonstrators protested in three California cities against the acquittal of George Zimmerman and officials say they broke windows and vandalized cars in Oakland."

Freakonomics » What Would the World Look Like if Economists Were in Charge?: Full Transcript

Freakonomics » What Would the World Look Like if Economists Were in Charge?: Full Transcript: "And [my 3 year old] had figured out how to game a system that a world-leading economist had come up with. It’s really a cautionary tale to economists – when you come up with incentive schemes that even your three year old daughter can undo in a few days? What does that mean when you come up with an incentive scheme the whole world – you know, two, three hundred million people are out there strategizing against it, trying to beat you? You know you’re going to get beaten."

The Truth About SwedenCare - Klaus Bernpaintner - Mises Daily

The Truth About SwedenCare - Klaus Bernpaintner - Mises Daily: "Without the profit motive, there is no incentive to adapt to reality, to utilize expensive equipment to the optimum capacity, to improve the level of service, or treat patients with dignity. All change will have to be pushed down from the planners above by decree. Doctors and nurses will be frustrated because they are not free to exercise their art to the best of their ability and help people as much as they would like to. Many of the best leave for other fields."

"An American medical student and friend of mine spent a year at a major Swedish hospital. He was shocked when he realized that students never spent any of their spare time in the operating room; there was no drive to become the best."

"It was recently revealed in one of the major newspapers that doctors were told to prioritize patients based on their value as future taxpayers. Old people naturally have a low future-taxpayer-value, so they naturally became low priority in the machine and less likely to receive proper treatment. In a private healthcare system you can make your own priorities, you can for example sell your house and spend the proceeds on becoming well. In a socialized system somebody else sets the priorities."

"For non-emergency cases in Sweden, you must go to the public “Healthcare Central.” This is always the starting point for anything from the common flu to brain tumors. You must go to your assigned Central, according to your healthcare district. Admission is by appointment only. Usually they have a 30-minute window every morning, when you call to claim one of the budgeted slots. Make sure to call early or they run out. Rarely will you get an appointment for the same day. You will be assigned a general practitioner, probably one you have never met before; likely one who does not speak fluent Swedish; and very likely one who hates his job. If you have a serious condition, you will be started on a path of referrals to experts. This process can take months."

"This healthcare “bread line” is where people die. It happens regularly that by the time a patient gets to see an expert, his condition has progressed beyond remedy. It also happens frequently that referrals get lost."

"The emergency room is a different experience altogether. Unless you are suffocating or are hemorrhaging profusely, you should expect to wait 5-7 hours to see a doctor. You can only hope for this “high” level of service if you arrive on a workday and during office hours. After hours, or on weekends, it is worse. Doctors are mostly busy filling out forms for the central health care authorities, scribbling codes in little boxes to report services rendered, instead of seeing patients. There have been cases reported where patients have seen a doctor immediately, but such cases are rare.

It is important to plan any major health problems you intend to have outside of June, July, and August, because during the summer months, hospitals are virtually shut down for vacation."

"The politicians have private health care, though, naturally paid for by taxpayers. Apparently they are such special people that the healthcare systems they have designed for others are not good enough for them.

When I moved to the U.S., our family health insurance took three months to kick in. One of my family members broke a leg in this period. We found a “five-minute clinic” half an hour away, had the leg X-rayed, straightened and casted, with no waiting time — all for $200 cash. That kind of service is non-existent in Sweden."

The Carbon Tax: Washington's Latest Bad Idea, Oddly Shepherded by Republicans | Cato Institute

The Carbon Tax: Washington's Latest Bad Idea, Oddly Shepherded by Republicans | Cato Institute: "One can use the EPA’s own model (curiously, acronymed MAGICC) to assess the effects on global temperature of emissions reductions that would be caused by a carbon tax. Assuming outrageously high taxes that would reduce them by 83% (giving Americans the per-capita emissions of 1867), the amount of warming that would be prevented is too small to measure on the 50-year time scale."

Employer Mandate Delay Spells Trouble for Obamacare | Cato Institute

Employer Mandate Delay Spells Trouble for Obamacare | Cato Institute: "a study in the American Academy of Actuaries’ magazine found that 80 percent of young adults aged 18–29 not eligible for Medicaid will face higher costs, and that 20- to 29-year-olds on the individual market not eligible for subsidies will see their premiumsincrease 42 percent."

Trust us: A brief history of government spying | The Daily Caller

Trust us: A brief history of government spying | The Daily Caller: "The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were passed by a Federalist Congress during the Quasi-War with France. The Sedition Act made it illegal to criticize federal government officials, even if the criticism was true. The act was politically motivated and aimed at silencing Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party. In fact, while it was illegal to criticize Federalist officials, it was perfectly okay to slander Jefferson because the office of the vice president, which Jefferson held at the time, was omitted from the list of offices which were protected from criticism. Prominent Democratic-Republicans refused to use the postal service out of fear that their mail would be intercepted and they would be prosecuted for sedition. Fearing arrest themselves, Jefferson and James Madison wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which urged the states to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts, in secret."

"During World War II, Project SHAMROCK gave the Armed Forces Security Agency — which became the NSA — daily access to the communication records of Western Union, RCA Global, and ITT. SHAMROCK was legal during WWII, but the program did not stop when the war did, continuing until 1975. At its height, the program collected and analyzed over 150,000 messages a month with no search warrants or court oversight."

"The government expands its surveillance powers in response to crises. At first, the limits, targets, and duration of these programs are clearly defined. However, as with all government programs, as time passes these programs expand well beyond their initial objectives. While we all agree that the government should have the tools necessary to protect Americans, we should also recognize that these tools are easily abused and require transparency and tangible safeguards, not merely the promises of politicians.

Historically, Americans have held a skeptical view of government. As James Madison said, “the essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” "

Scandals at NSA and IRS Are Equally Alarming | Cato Institute

Scandals at NSA and IRS Are Equally Alarming | Cato Institute: "Project SHAMROCK, the NSA program that collected the content of virtually all cable traffic entering or leaving the United States from 1945 to 1975, and which “at its height would collect 150,000 messages a month, illegally.”

Using SHAMROCK, the NSA “acted as an information broker to the FBI and CIA” — which the agency referred to as its “customers.” Watchlists of potential subversives “eventually became blanket requests,” expanding to track Americans suspected of drug trafficking, as well as Vietnam War opponents, including such dangerous characters as folksinger Joan Baez and peace-activist pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock."

Pa. mom whose baby was taken away for days over poppy seed drug test settles lawsuit | Fox News

Pa. mom whose baby was taken away for days over poppy seed drug test settles lawsuit | Fox News: "Lawrence County's child welfare agency and Jameson Hospital have paid $143,500 to settle"

"Mort says a poppy seed bagel spurred a positive test for opiates in 2010. Her baby was returned five days later, after officials determined there was no evidence of drugs. Hospital policy called for giving drug tests to all obstetrics patients.

ACLU officials said Tuesday the hospital and county have implemented policy changes so newborns aren't taken from parents based only on maternal drug tests, which can be inaccurate."

Virginia college student arrested after buying bottled water | Fox News

Virginia college student arrested after buying bottled water | Fox News: "Daly had bought a carton of water, cookie dough and ice cream at a Charlottesville store on April 11. ABC spokeswoman Kathleen Shaw says a plainclothes agent conducting a sting suspected Daly had a case of beer and identified herself to Daly."

I wonder if the identification was very good. Anyone can say that they are police. :-(

If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify - Campaign for Liberty

If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify - Campaign for Liberty: "The mandatory E-Verify system requires Americans to carry a “tamper-proof” social security card. Before they can legally begin a job, American citizens will have to show the card to their prospective employer, who will then have to verify their identity and eligibility to hold a job in the US by running the information through the newly-created federal E-Verify database. The database will contain photographs taken from passport files and state driver’s licenses. The law gives federal bureaucrats broad discretion in adding other “biometric” identifiers to the database. It also gives the bureaucracy broad authority to determine what features the “tamper proof” card should contain.

Regardless of one’s views on immigration, the idea that we should have to ask permission from the federal government before taking a job ought to be offensive to all Americans. Under this system, many Americans will be denied the opportunity for work. The E-Verify database will falsely identify thousands as “ineligible,” forcing many to lose job opportunities while challenging government computer inaccuracies."

"Just as the PATRIOT Act was only supposed to be used against terrorists but is now used to bypass constitutional protections in matters having noting to do with terrorism or national security, the national ID/mandatory E-Verify database will not only be used to prevent illegal immigrants from gaining employment."