Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Eighteen Trillion, thirty billion, one hundred thirteen million, three hundred fifty-six thousand, seventy-six dollars and five cents

As of today, our national debt is $18,030,113,356,076.05.

In just 70 days, the national debt has grown by $130,797,271,522.68. Big Gov has added $1,063 to the debt of every producer in America. You now owe $146,585! Aren't you lucky.

From my earlier post:
Roughly $145,522 for every maker in the US. That's right. Not only do you lucky 123 million Americans have to support the other  124 million American adults that are not producing anything, (and the 70 million children), you also have to pay interest only payments on this very large loan you don't get to spend! 
Yay for big government!
Where else on Earth do they spend nearly $2 Billion dollars a day over their budgets?  Oh, right.  Nowhere.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Is this the way the dollar fails?

China is lending money; and when I say lending money, I mean tens of billions of dollars worth.  From Bloomberg:
China and Russia signed a three-year currency-swap line of 150 billion yuan ($24 billion) in October, a contract that allows Russia to borrow the yuan and lend the ruble. While the offer won’t relieve the main sources of pressure on the ruble -- which has lost 41 percent this year amid plunging oil prices and sanctions linked to Russia’s annexation of Crimea -- it could bolster investors confidence in the country and help stem capital outflows.  
Funding from China has helped raise Argentina’s foreign reserves to a 13-month high of $30.9 billion, a boost for a country that has been kept out of the international capital market since defaulting on foreign obligations in 2001.
Argentina received $1 billion worth of yuan earlier this month as part of the three-year currency-swap agreement with China, a central bank official in the South American country, who asked not to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly, said Dec. 11. That extended the funds transfered to Argentina to $2.3 billion since October. The swap is for a maximum of $11 billion over three years.

In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro last month added $4 billion he borrowed from China to the country’s reserves after they fell to an 11-year low. The country now has about $21 billion in its coffers, equal to the amount of debt it has coming due in 2015 and 2016.
China is clearly positioning to take over as the lender of last resort. With the US mint printing presses running at full steam and with China the only real winner with crashing oil prices, perhaps they will soon be offering up their Yuan to replace the US dollar as the reserve currency of the world. The Captain is prescient, as always.


I would also store cigarettes and fuel in your bunker.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Seventeen trillion, eight hundred ninety-nine billion, three hundred sixteen million, eighty-four thousand five hundred fifty-three dollars and thirty-seven cents.

As of today, our national debt is $17,899,316,084,553.37.

Roughly $145,522 for every maker in the US. That's right. Not only do you lucky 123 million Americans have to support the other  124 million American adults that are not producing anything, (and the 70 million children), you also have to pay interest only payments on this very large loan you don't get to spend!

Yay for big government!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

It's Constitution Day


If you've never read it, you should. You should also read the arguments for and against its ratification. To get a more full understanding of how it came to be, you may also want to read the Articles of Confederation.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

How do you get around the Posse Comitatus Act?



Easy: first you transform all agencies into law enforcement agencies, then you equip these new law enforcement agencies with military gear, and finally, you gather them up under the control of the executive branch
We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded. 
- Barack Obama 
If not Obama, then the next president, or the next. It's coming, folks. Be ready.

Update:

The ball is rolling.
The NYPD will launch a unit of 350 cops to handle both counterterrorism and protestsriding vehicles equipped with machine guns and riot gear — under a re-engineering plan to be rolled out over the coming months. 
The Strategic Response Group, or SRG, will be devoted to “advanced disorder control and counterterrorism protection,” responding to the sort of demonstrations that erupted after the Eric Garner grand jury decision and also events like the recent Paris terror attacks. 
It will be equipped and trained in ways that our normal patrol officers are not,” Commissioner Bill Bratton said Thursday. 
“It will be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and the machine guns that are unfortunately sometimes necessary in these ­instances.”


Friday, September 5, 2014

Has the economy recovered?

Last year I took a look at employment.  I watched the unemployment numbers fall with skepticism, and wondered what was really going on.  Here's a brief recap of that analysis:
I took a look at St. Louis Fed data today, both the civilian employment to population ratio and the working age civilian population.  I then combined the data into a chart of deltas with their initial values pegged to Dec-2007.  The result is the following:


What does this chart mean?  It means that whilethere are about 2.5 million fewer people employed than in 2007, but that we've also got 12.5 million more people of working age - that is, 15 million more unemployed today than we did five and a half years ago.  This is due to an increasing population that has completely given up trying to find work.  It means, that though the recession destroyed something like eight million jobs and the post recession has created around five million jobs, we've added more than twelve million non-working civilians in the same time. 

That's staggering - utterly and completely staggering.  That means - follow me here - that means that not a single working age person added to our population since 2007 is working.  We've added twelve million takers but not one new producer.  Not one.
Today I decided to revisit this.  Using the same methodology, but extending out a year further. Take a look at the updated chart.  We can unequivocally say that the number of employed people has improved.  In June, (a year after my previous analysis), we finally caught up to, and passed, Dec-07 employment.  It took 6 and a half years to recover the jobs lost in the recession.


Yet as you know that does not tell the full story, not by a long shot. This simple graph here also shows how many more people have joined us who are of working age, but not working. In fact that number has barely changed at all. 14,800,000 new takers - adults who aren't working but should be.

Here's a chart that shows this.  Virtually unchanged from a year ago. About 4% of the working aged population has simply removed itself from the pool.  BLS verifies this for us again, with 13.5 million more Americans "Not in Labor Pool" now than in 2007.


Where did they go?  Probably to their living rooms, waiting on a government check. The rest of us are, on average, making due with close to 10% lower income and substantially higher than reported inflation. (I like to use a few real items that I purchase, such as chewing gum or fast food.  Prices for Big Macs, for example, have risen about 24% since 2007.) 

More takers, less income, and less for your money. That's the real economic situation. When politicians start to pat themselves on the back over the official inflation rate or employment numbers, keep in mind how far from reality Washington DC is.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Vitriole

Yeah. This is the same guy who offered $100,000 for nude photos of hunter Kendall Jones because he wanted to destroy her life. Despicable.

Oh, he claims to have a regular spot on a radio show. This may be an opportunity to cause an effect.
Tell the radio station to drop him, if he truly is a regular.

Tell them you will be contacting their advertising supporters as well:
http://www.whanradio.com/our-adverti...upporters.html

Monday, August 18, 2014

Unintended Consequences: solar plants scorch birds in mid-air

No matter how often you point it out, no matter how hard you try to beat them over the head with it, they just won't see the unseen. Crusaders, one and all, are blind, deaf, and stupid. One can only wish they were dumb too, but unfortunately not. When the consequences they never saw before they started on their pet projects finally arrive, they're shocked, shocked I tell you!

IVANPAH DRY LAKE, Calif. – Workers at a state-of-the-art solar plant in the Mojave Desert have a name for birds that fly through the plant's concentrated sun rays — "streamers," for the smoke plume that comes from birds that ignite in midair.  
Federal wildlife investigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, reporting an average of one "streamer" every two minutes, are urging California officials to halt the operator's application to build a still-bigger version.  
The investigators want the halt until the full extent of the deaths can be assessed. Estimates per year now range from a low of about a thousand by BrightSource to 28,000 by an expert for the Center for Biological Diversity environmental group.  
The deaths are "alarming. It's hard to say whether that's the location or the technology," said Garry George, renewable-energy director for the California chapter of the Audubon Society. "There needs to be some caution."  
The bird kills mark the latest instance in which the quest for clean energy sometimes has inadvertent environmental harm. Solar farms have been criticized for their impacts on desert tortoises, and wind farms have killed birds, including numerous raptors.
... 
Federal wildlife officials said Ivanpah might act as a "mega-trap" for wildlife, with the bright light of the plant attracting insects, which in turn attract insect-eating birds that fly to their death in the intensely focused light rays. 
Federal and state biologists call the number of deaths significant, based on sightings of birds getting singed and falling, and on retrieval of carcasses with feathers charred too severely for flight. 


Saturday, August 9, 2014

The separation of church and state?

Some statements are so clearly correct you just have to repeat them, and spread them as far and wide as you can.  GeekWithA.45 lays down god's honest truth, that the separation of church and state is just more smoke and mirrors when the state is their church! via The Smallest Minority: Quote of the Day - GeekWithA.45 Edition

The separation of church and state is an awesome idea... 
until you meet folks whose church IS the state.  
With high minds, noble virtues and the very best of intentions, they dance around their altars like neolithic savages, gathering followers to help them implore their $DEITY to accept their sacrifice and to provide for them; to organize their economies, to calm their storms, to heal their sick, to teach their children, to pave their streets, to collect their trash, and above all, to punish their enemies.  
The saddest thing is that most of these folks deem themselves to be evolved, and recognize no part of their atavism.  
Yep, separation of church and state is an awesome idea until you meet the folks whose church is the state.  
Then it's irrelevant.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Moral, logical, and practical arguments against more laws

When I talk to people about being a libertarian, they often think I am an anarchist. It's not true, but it's what they think. When it happens, their brains appear to shut down - they just can't or won't think about any further concepts I try to discuss. Tom Woods' interview with a zombie is a perfect caricature of this behavior.

Here are some things I would like to communicate to anyone who thinks "anarchist" when they hear "libertarian". 
First, repealing some laws does not make one an anarchist.
Second, all people are individuals, so necessarily each libertarian you meet will have a different opinion on which laws should be repealed, and which should be kept.
Third, and this is the big one, there are many arguments against using the force of law to handle a problem.  These arguments are moral, logical, and practical.

Moral arguments follow this line of reasoning: is what the person doing harming someone else? While we certainly have a moral obligation to protect ourselves from harm, it gets less clear when we discuss harm to someone else. It may be that we have a moral obligation to assist others, but we do not have an obligation to intercept harm intended for others - in other words, there is no moral obligation to throw ourselves upon the sword to protect someone else. Since this is the case, how could there be a moral obligation to protect a stranger from himself?  The answer is there is no such obligation.  A person's life is his own, and the risks he takes are his own.  His mistakes, his failures, his successes, are his own. 

Logical arguments are built on the premise that government authority is derived from the people. This form of government consists of various authorities delegated to the few from the many. Logically this means that the authorities being delegated to the few are naturally held by the many - that is to say, in the absence of government, each one of these delegated authorities or powers naturally belongs to the individuals comprising the many. That is what delegation means - you have a responsibility or power, and you authorize someone else to use that power on your behalf. The wonderful thing about logic, what makes it useful, is that it works in both directions. So because authority derives from people, and because all powers of government originally belonged to individuals, there can be no government power that individuals did not once have. Powers cannot come from nowhere - they come from the people.  So logically, if you or I do not have the right, power, or authority to do something, then government simply cannot have such a right either.

Practical arguments are based on the concept of practicality, or workability. Does it work? Is it cost effective? Does it do more harm than good? This argument looks at the real results and costs. If your proposal passes moral and logical arguments, does it still pass practical arguments? Will your proposal solve the problem you want to address? If it will solve it, does it create other problems in doing so? How will you solve those problems? What is the cost of your proposed solution, and what savings does it produce? If your proposal doesn't work, then stop right there. It doesn't matter whether you've got the moral and logical authority to implement it. It is a waste of resources and effort and will not solve a problem. Throw it in the bin!  If your proposal would work, but at great cost, so great that it would impoverish or severely impact the people, stop again. There needs to be an analysis of the effect - a cost-benefit analysis. If the net cost is too high, throw it in the bin. Does your proposal do more harm than good? Are you creating the desired effect, but harming others in doing so? If the harm your proposal causes greater than the benefits produced, throw it in the bin. The bottom line is that not all ideas work, even if you think there is both moral and logical support for them.

You can see how these three arguments can be used against the justifications for various laws. Take the war on drugs. Does personal drug use harm others, or self? It certainly harms the self. It may harm the relationships with others. However by itself, it does not harm others. If you smoke weed in a room by yourself, you are not harming me. I have no right to harm you and claim I and defending myself. This doesn't mean I approve of drug use - only that I see it as a personal mistake, and often a personal illness, not a criminal or aggressive act that harms a second party. Drug use is harmful to one's self, and there is no moral obligation to protect people from themselves

But let us suppose there is such a moral obligation. Let us suppose that the drug war laws fulfill a moral responsibility. Do they pass the logical arguments? If the government has the logical right to bust down someone's door, and arrest them and imprison them for harming themselves, then you and I have the same right. I can kick down my neighbor's front door, knock him to the floor, tie him up and kidnap him or members of his family, and then lock them in my basement for several years. After all, the authority that government has must have come from individuals like me. Does this fly? Does it "pass the smell test"? Of course not. You and I cannot do such things. Breaking and entering, assault and battery, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment. These are all crimes, and we would end up in jail if we committed them. So logically, there is no government right to enact a war on drugs and imprison drug addicts.

But again, let us suppose that the war on drugs does pass the logical arguments. Does it pass the practical arguments? Does it do what it sets out to do? No, the drug war has not stopped, or even slowed drug abuse. Is the cost of the program less than the benefit produced? We'd need to do a cost/benefit analysis on this. There are costs that are associated with drug addiction, including things like emergency medical care and many others. If the cost goes down more than the cost of the programs, then it would pass this test. I doubt it does though, since these costs are rising with the rising costs of the drug war itself. Does it cause more good than harm? Again, we'd need data. Does the drug war cure drug addicts? If so, how many? How many drug addicts go to prison and become hard core criminals while inside? It is well documented that prison does not reform criminals. Certainly sending non-violent drug addicts to prison doesn't do them any good if they come out still addicted, or with broken families and destroyed lives, though clearly that may have already been the case. This last test possibly is a wash.

In my examples I've made moral, logical, and practical arguments against the drug war, but again, I am vehemently against the use of drugs, and certainly not an anarchist.

If you read up to this point you know a bit more about how I think, so when you discuss government and law with me, these will help you start to understand why I think the way I do. There is more, much more, as there is with every person, but that can wait for some other post.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

University offers female students extra credit for hairy pits

The Captain's favorite major - Women and Gender Studies - has once again proven how useful it is to society! Arizona State University offers female students extra credit for not shaving their armpits:

Women and Gender Studies Professor Breanne Fahs, encourages her female students to cease shaving their underarms and legs during the semester and document their experiences in a journal. 

"One guy did his shaving with a buck knife."    

Student Stephanie Robinson said it was a “life changing experience.”

“Many of my friends didn’t want to work out next to me or hear about the assignment, and my mother was distraught at the idea that I would be getting married in a white dress with armpit hair,” Robinson told ASU news.

Men are also allowed to receive extra credit, as long as they shave their bodies from the neck down.

As the Director of the Center for Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group at ASU, Fahs has been very active in women’s issues. Her academic journals have been published in outlets such as Feminism & Psychology, Psychology of Women Quarterly and Gender and Society. She has also authored books including Performing Sex, Moral Panics of Sexuality and her newest biography on the life of radical feminist and attempted assassin, Valerie Solonas. Participant and student Jaqueline Gonzalez said the experience allowed her to start on a path of activism.
It's so nice that kids can go to university today, even one funded by taxpayers, in order to learn how to have hairy pits and become community activists.  They should change the school name to occupy armpits university.

Fucking hell.  If I had a say in how my tax dollars were spent they would only go to engineering scholarships.

Oh boy, it get's better.  What are Professor Breanne Fahs' qualifications? She's a specialist in radical feminism and political activism, and the author of a book on Valerie Solanas, another radical feminist who is best known for her assassination attempt on Andy Warhol.
Breanne Fahs is an associate professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University, where she specializes in studying women's sexuality, critical embodiment studies, radical feminism, and political activism.  She has a B.A. in women's studies/gender studies and psychology from Occidental College and a Ph.D. in women's studies and clinical psychology from the University of Michigan.  She has published widely in feminist, social science, and humanities journals and has authored three books: Performing Sex (SUNY Press, 2011), an analysis of the paradoxes of women's "sexual liberation," The Moral Panics of Sexuality (Palgrave, 2013), an edited collection that examines cultural anxieties of "scary sex," and Valerie Solanas (Feminist Press, 2014), a biography about the controversial and politically significant life of author/would-be assassin Valerie Solanas. She is the director of the Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group at Arizona State University, a group that engages students and faculty to fuse activism and rabble-rousing scholarship, and she also works as a private practice clinical psychologist specializing in sexuality, couples work, and trauma recovery.

Friday, July 4, 2014

The economy has finally recovered all jobs lost during the recession...

Or has it?

True, the number of employed persons is now equal to what it was back when the recession started in 2007, and that is good news, but does that tell us the whole picture?

Take a look at the Civilian Employment to Population ratio.


This graph seems to tell us that the employment situation hasn't improved at all!

What about the loafers?  And I do mean loafers - those who have given up, not those who have successfully retired.


Am I right that 13.5 Million working aged Americans have completely given up looking for work and are living on the dole?  Well, if we assume most true retirees come from a pool of people over 55, we should see a large portion of people over 65 retiring.  Do we?


About half.  So 3 million people who joined the 55-64 age group decided not to work.  If we choose to believe that all of those are happily retired, there are still 10.5 million more people who aren't working.  How many are 65 and over?

From BLS data here and here, we know that we've gained 8.364 million people over 65. We also know that 2.2 million of these people have joined the labor force.  That may mean that the other 6.164 million are happily retired.

It is true that labor force participation rates are growing for the 55 and over crowd - they are the only group that is growing.  So it very well may be true that no one over the age of 54 is discouraged from working, they are happily retired.

We still have 4.336 million people of working age who are considered "long term discouraged" or perhaps disabled, but in any case, not working but not counted as unemployed.

Although I find it personally heartening that most people over 55 who are retiring are probably doing so intentionally, the numbers still mean that in the best scenario, we should add several million to the number of unemployed people. Even so, scenarios are models of reality, not reality itself.  In reality, it doesn't matter if people are happily retired or not.  If they aren't working, they must live off of savings or someone else's labor.

The bottom line is that while we have just returned to the same number of producers that we saw in 2007, those producers have to work harder to take care of those additional 15 million people that have joined the population who aren't able - or willing - to produce.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The EPA has a problem: employees are shitting in the hallways

If there was no other reason than this, it should be enough.  Just shut them down already.
Environmental Protection Agency workers have done some odd things recently. Contractors built secret man caves in an EPA warehouse, an employee pretended to work for the CIA to get unlimited vacations and one worker even spent most of his time on the clock looking at pornography. It appears, however, that a regional office has reached a new low: Management for Region 8 in Denver, Colo., wrote an email earlier this year to all staff in the area pleading with them to stop inappropriate bathroom behavior, including defecating in the hallway.
This rampant decadence reminds me of the drugs and sex scandal that rocked the Minerals Management Service before it was shut down and it's directives rolled into other departments.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

150,000 Detroit residents delinquent on their water bills

Detroit Water & Sewage is threatening to cut off the water to one hundred and fifty thousand dead-beat customers.  I say it's about damned time!  On average these customers owe about $800 for water they've already used.  That comes out to 10 months for me, and I live in Texas!

Of course, the local politicians are decrying the move as a human rights violation and asking the United Nations (!!!!!!) to intervene.  Can you believe that? 
A coalition of activist groups took the rare step Monday and appealed to the United Nations over reports that cash-strapped residents in Detroit are being left without access to water. 
The appeal to the U.N.’s special rapporteur comes after reports that nearly half of the Detroit Water and Sewerage customers are delinquent on their bills and owe the department about $118 million. The department has reportedly started shutting off water to these delinquent customers.
It's clear that some people want services for nothing.  They want to make virtual slaves out of working folk. I hope honest folk don't put up with it.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

They want this woman to be President

In Hillary Clinton's own words, the family arrived at the White House without a cent to their name, and left it with $12 million in debt.  Factoring in Bill's $200,000/yr ($100k after taxes, approximately) salary, the Clintons spent nearly $13 million in just 8 years.  That's a hell of a lot of spending.  Even more so when your recall that their primary and secondary residences are paid for by us, as is all of their transportation, security, food, utilities, phone bills, etc.. I'd be willing to bet their vacations were all on the tax-payer's time as well.

Just how many mansions and Prada purses did Mrs. Clinton buy?
As I recall, we were something like $12 million in debt. 
... 
We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt. We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy.
And they want her to be President?  When she outspends her household income by almost 1600%?   Will she propose a $40 trillion budget for FY 2017?

California Teacher Tenure Found to Violate Student Rights

First shall issue, and now this.  Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu sided with students in finding that tenure is unconstitutional.
California's teacher tenure statutes are unconstitutional and shouldn't be enforced, a judge said in handing a victory to a group of students in the broadest legal challenge to date against laws that guarantee public school teachers' jobs.  
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu, who heard two months of evidence, agreed in a tentative ruling today with the nine students who brought the lawsuit that the statutes violate their right to equal educational opportunity under the California constitution.
The ruling, when final, will prohibit the state from enforcing a law that gives teachers permanent employment after less than two years on the job, as well as laws that the students say make it too expensive and too time-consuming to dismiss ineffective teachers. Treu put the order on hold until any possible appeals are resolved.  
"Both students and teachers are unfairly, unnecessarily, and for no legally cognizable reason, let alone a compelling one, disadvantaged by the current permanent employment statute," the judge said.  
Perhaps this will open the door to some serious reform, such as I discussed two years ago in my San Diego school post. Lord knows California needs it! If we ever want a good and efficient school system, free market ideas, such as performance based hiring and advancement, must be allowed to permeate through them.
Here is how I would change the school system in order to evaluate instructors' abilities:
  1. K-12 changes to year round quarter system with no elevator (Students must take a comprehensive test to pass each grade).
  2. Test the students at the start of the quarter. No curves.
  3. Test the students at the end of the quarter. No curves.
  4. Evaluate their degree of improvement.
  5. Rank instructors from A to F.
  6. Send D instructors to retrain for a weekend every month of the quarter.
  7. Send F instructors to retrain for an entire quarter.
  8. Fire FF (2 Fs in a row) instructors. (No more tenure.)
  9. Send DF (D followed by F) instructors to retrain for an entire quarter.
  10. Rotate classes so all instructors are tested with all students.
  11. Repeat.
1 would prevent students who didn't know earlier material from being pushed into material they won't understand. 2 gets a baseline for every student. 3 establishes their new level of knowledge, and 4 documents their improvement during their studies. 5 ranks the net improvement of each instructor's students against the other instructor's statistics, while 6 & 7 try to salvage failing instructors. 8 eliminates bad instructors and 9 gives failing instructors one last chance to be salvaged. 10 and 11 ensure "good instructors" won't be "stuck with crap students." 
You could also sweeten the deal by giving bonuses to AA instructors. This would take time, but continual review on a quarterly basis like this might work.
I'll bet the Captain will be ecstatic; I know I am.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

There is no logic, there is only magic

This is, without doubt, the most apt description of the taker mindset to have ever come from the mouth of a taker.  Read it all.
"I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can’t afford to live here anymore."

- Gretchen Gardner, an Austin artist who is unable to afford her property taxes.
And here's one of the things drives me crazy with these people:
A key problem, critics say, is that the current system has shifted a disproportionate share of the burden of paying for schools and local services on homeowners, in favor of commercial and corporate interests who can afford to appeal their values and win big reductions year after year. The share of property taxes from homeowners to support public schools grew from 45 percent to 54 percent over a 12-year period, while commercial and industrial owners’ share has declined to less than 20 percent. (Other sectors, from oil and gas to personal property, make up the rest.)
A "key problem"? It's a problem that homeowners are paying for more of the services they demand, such as the education of their children? No! If there's any problem it is that businesses are taxed at all for the public education system. In fact, I think only homeowners who have children should be taxed for public education, and they should bear 100% of that cost. If anyone else, individual or business, wants to contribute, it should be through voluntary donations.

I'd love it if businesses offered on the job training and mentoring, and I think it is in their best interest to do so. And even though I think that it is in their best interest to support the education of the public, I don't think it's right that a small group of legislators appease homeowners by making the businesses pay for more parks, libraries, and light rail.

I think public works should be paid for by donations. Put it out there - "We want to build a park, please donate online, or put in a little extra in your property taxes with a note for the purpose.  Construction will begin when the funds are available!" No need for bonds or higher taxes. Hell, businesses will win approval of the public by donating to such things. Voluntarism goes a long way.

Update:
09rubicon on Calguns had this to say:
Here's a novel idea. Tie tax votes (tax votes only) to SSN. If you voted for it you pay it, if you voted against it you don't.

I know it would never work, but it would be fun to see all the liberals bay 3-4 times more taxes than others.
In the same vein of thought, one could tie student enrollment to parents' social security numbers, and tax the parents directly for their children's education.  Make it a local tax withholding. That would work for me!  I am certain, absolutely certain, most single men and women would appreciate the burden of paying for other people's babysitters be borne by those who need them. Perhaps we can make a campaign issue out of this?

Monday, May 19, 2014

Dr. Ignatius Piazza of Front Sight points to Psych Drugs, Not Guns, Doing the Killing

It's clear as day - we don't have a gun violence problem. And I am certain we also do not have a mental health problem.  The problem that we have is a drug pushing government sponsored industry.  As Dr. Piazza points out,  drugs are being given to children (even to two year old toddlers) in order to suppress "challenges of youth that every prior generation had overcome naturally through the process of social maturity."
Front Sight Special Blog: Psych Drugs, Not Guns, Doing the Killing: In “Your Legacy,” I interviewed people of age who actually experienced an America when guns were so freely available to children and youth, that you could order them through the mail with no ID required, no waiting period, and literally carry them to school to place in the back of the classroom with no problems at all.  
During this time, when guns were the most accessible in our country’s entire history, there were no school shootings, drive by shootings, or murderous teenage rampages.   
What changed? Here is what changed: Powerful psych drugs were developed and became the profitable, prescription answer to a wide variety of extremely questionable if not outright fabricated mental disorder diagnosis of youth.  
Little Johnny doesn’t want to go to school? Take this pill… Little Johnny isn’t learning? Take this pill…  Little Johnny feels anxious? Take this pill… Little Johnny is sad? Take this pill… Little Johnny is restless?  Take this pill… Little Johnny is rebellious? Take this pill…  
And once Little Johnny started taking the brightly colored pills to handle the normal challenges of youth that every prior generation had overcome naturally through the process of social maturity, Little Johnny began the downward spiral of adverse prescription drug side effects leading to multiple prescription, psycho drug cocktails… stronger drugs… physical and psychological dependency… and the now infamous and reoccurring homicidal and suicidal reactions caused by these very powerful, mind bending drugs.
The evidence is there.  These drug pushers are destroying us, and have fooled us into embracing their acts.
Some 90 percent of school shootings over more than a decade have been linked to a widely prescribed type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, according to British psychiatrist Dr. David Healy, a founder of RxISK.org, an independent website for researching and reporting on prescription drugs.
...
In many school shootings carried out by minors, court documents are sealed and the extent of chemical use is unknown to the public. 
But in a number of high-profile cases, the link has been reported:

  • Kip Kinkel was withdrawing from Prozac and had been prescribed Ritalin when he murdered his mother and stepfather then shot 22 classmates, killing two, in 1998.
  • Christopher Pittman was withdrawing from Luvox and from Paxil when he killed his paternal grandparents in 2001.
  • Elizabeth Bush, who fired at fellow students in Williamsport, Pa., in 2001, wounding one, was on Prozac.
  • Jason Hoffman, was on Effexor and Celexa when he opened fire at his El Cajon, Calif., high school, wounding five.
  • Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho, was on antidepressants when he fired a shotgun on students and staff.
  • T.J. Solomon, on antidepressants, wounded six at his Conyers, Ga., high school.
  • Eric Harris was taking Luvox when he and fellow student Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 24 others before turning their guns on themselves at Columbine High School in Colorado.
  • At Virginia Tech in 2007, where 32 were murdered, authorities found “prescription medications related to the treatment of psychological problems had been found among Mr. Cho’s effects,” according to the New York Times.

 
Some 90 percent of school shootings over more than a decade have been linked to a widely prescribed type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, according to British psychiatrist Dr. David Healy, a founder of RxISK.org, an independent website for researching and reporting on prescription drugs.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/psych-meds-linked-to-90-of-school-shootings/#kU2Ze1CwSfCBPiI7.99

Thursday, May 8, 2014

43% of homes sales this year have been cash purchases

Nearly half of all home sales this year have been paid for in cash.
All-cash deals hit a record 43% of home sales during the first three months of 2014, according to RealtyTrac. That's up from 19% a year earlier and the highest level reported since RealtyTrac began tracking the deals in early 2011.
...
Interestingly, the increase in cash sales is occurring despite a downturn in purchases by institutional investors -- firms that have been active in buying foreclosures and short sales with cash.  
"As institutional investors pull back, there is still strong demand from other cash buyers -- including individual investors, second-home buyers and even owner-occupant buyers -- to fill the vacuum," said Blomquist.  
Cash buyers paid an average of $207,668 for homes during the first quarter, a 13% discount to the properties' average estimated value, according to RealtyTrac.
So almost half of home sales have been cash, and on average, that was over $200,000 in cash?  Is this an amazing recovery, or what?!? 

Errr..  Or what.  In fact this very likely means that foreigners with money are buying up houses as investments.
Wealthy Chinese with a few million yuan to burn will spend billions on U.S. real estate in the years ahead, according to a report released Wednesday by CB Richard Ellis, a large global real estate firm. 
The United States is the country of choice for China buyers.  Canada and Australia come in next at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. That rich Chinese individuals and savvy corporations are buying up real estate in world class cities is no surprise at this point. 
News of new Chinese real estate deals are popping up every quarter.  Similar moves happened with the Japanese back in the 1980s. Now it’s China’s turn. And by most estimates, they are snatching up high end real estate in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, in particular. In California, China is the third largest foreign buyer of real estate, following Mexico and people from the Philippines, according to Realtor.org.
USA today ran an article on the topic last month.
International homebuyers are attracted to the United States for a number of reasons. These include favorable housing prices, good weather, the country's relative economic stability and an attraction to America in general. As the housing market improved and home prices rebounded, the interest of foreign buyers in U.S. properties has soared. 
Interest in U.S. property increased dramatically in a number of countries between 2009 and 2013. In all, interest in home buying, according to housing market firm RealtyTrac, increased by 95% or more in 10 countries, and at least doubled in nine of these nations. Interest in U.S. property by residents of the United Arab Emirates rose 352%, the most out of any country. Based on subscription data provided by RealtyTrac, these are the 10 countries where interest in buying American homes is on the rise. 
Overseas buyers likely see value in the U.S. housing market. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, said, "The U.S. real estate market is coming off of a rough patch and entering recovery mode. And so international buyers see it as a great time to jump in and catch the U.S. market on the upswing."  
According to the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index, the U.S. housing market is just beginning to rebound from its lows set in March 2012.

Monday, May 5, 2014

School where knife attack took place now requires clear plastic backpacks

I shit you not. The school which was the site of a mass stabbing has responded by issuing plastic bags to it's students, to give them "peace of mind."
MURRYSVILLE, Pa. - Franklin Regional High School, where a teenager is accused of stabbing over 20 fellow students and a security guard, is changing its school backpack procedure in light of the recent attack, reports CBS Pittsburgh. 
The station reports that, while students will still be permitted to carry regular backpacks to and from the school, carrying belongings from class-to-class will require the use of new, clear bags. The see-through backpacks - which all read "FR Strong" - were distributed Monday by the Murrysville school, located 15 miles east of Pittsburgh. 
... 
"Our goal with [the backpacks] is to give an added sense of safety and security," said Mary Catherine Reljac, Assistant Superintendent of the Franklin Regional School District.  
Two students remain hospitalized as a result of the mass stabbings. 
I wonder if they will deliver the clear plastic bags to the two students who are still in the hospital. Seriously, we've said this over and over, that this could happen, that it's a violence problem, not a "gun violence" problem. In response, we're mocked, or they charge us with having blood on our hands. Or they say the NRA is making money off of dead children. And here it is, a mass knifing. They have no idea how to respond, so they hand out clear plastic bags.

When a kid brings a knife in his pants, will they mandate speedos?

Update:
Thanks to Trenchfoot on Calguns, we now know what the future school uniform will look like!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

A tale of two screen captures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here's two for your viewing pleasure.


vs.


The energy sector has been the one shining light in an otherwise dismal 7 years, and where is California on that score? They hate energy companies. They hate them so much, they'd rather raise taxes and chase businesses out of the state than create 10s or 100s of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. The ultimate in stupidity, they heap scorn on the very businesses that light their homes, power their cars, even put the clothes on your back - petrochemicals products are a core part of society, and most people don't even know it.

Friday, May 2, 2014

No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money: Purdue University Homeland Security Institute: Guns In Schools Save Lives

Via No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money:
Dr. J. Eric Dietz, director of the Purdue University's Homeland Security Institute, presented research at the recent NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis regarding active shooters in schools. Their threat assessment modeling program examined the active shooter scenario and looked at factors that would be most effective in reducing casualties. These factors included locked doors, school resource officers, and staff carrying concealed.  
The control scenario was just a school with locked doors and no resource officers or staff with concealed carry permits. The researchers found that the control scenario had the most casualties and the longest response time. Their model showed that the response time would be 10-12 minutes and an average of 20 casualties. Their model used historical active shooter data to arrive at this.  
When a school resource officer is introduced to the scenario, response times dropped to a quarter of the original times and casualties were reduced by two-thirds.
It makes perfect sense, if you think about it calmly, rationally, and without any bias against firearms. If Lauren Rousseau or Rachel D'Avino had been armed, they might not have lived through Sandy Hook. They might still have been killed, along with all of the children in the room with them.  However, no one in their right mind could argue that things might have been different. Instead of helpless victims, they might have been survivors.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Thought of the day: wean people off of SNAPS

If the US Postal Service was the only entity allowed to accept EBT, and they were required by the Federal Government to sell EBT only food, the typical poor service provided by these Post Offices would be such a PITA no one would want to stay on food stamps for long.

Monday, April 28, 2014

California chases away another one: Toyota moving headquarters to Texas

Read 'em and weep, Sacramento. Your stupid decisions and excessive taxes and regulations have chased another 5000+ jobs out of state.
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to move large numbers of jobs from its sales and marketing headquarters in Torrance to suburban Dallas, according to a person familiar with the automaker's plans. 
The move, creating a new North American headquarters, would put management of Toyota's U.S. business close to where it builds most cars for this market. 
North American Chief Executive Jim Lentz is expected to brief employees Monday, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Toyota declined to detail its plans. About 5,300 people work at Toyota's Torrance complex. It is unclear how many workers will be asked to move to Texas. The move is expected to take several years.
Jerry Brown must think that the only things businesses care about is the humidity, but he's wrong.  You can't beat low taxes.
The automaker won't be the first big company Texas has poached from California.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. said in February that it was relocating from Los Angeles to Houston, making it one of around 60 companies that have moved to Texas since July 2012, according to Texas Gov. Rick Perry
Perry last month visited California to recruit companies. The group Americans for Economic Freedom also recently launched a $300,000 advertising campaign in which Perry contends 50 California companies have plans to expand or relocate in Texas because it offers a better business climate. 
Like these other companies, Toyota could also save money in an environment of lower business taxes, real estate prices and cost of living. 
Frank Scotto, Torrance's mayor, said he had no warning of Toyota's decision. He said he did know that the automaker planned a corporate announcement for Monday. 
"When any major corporation is courted by another state, it's very difficult to combat that," Scotto said. "We don't have the tools we need to keep major corporations here."
The mayor said businesses bear higher costs in California for workers' compensation and liability insurance, among other expenses. 
"A company can easily see where it would benefit by relocating someplace else," Scotto said.
The temporary reprieve California experienced by boosting taxes only lasts until everyone with money leaves.  After that it's adios muchachos.  My plan is to wait for California to go feral like Chicago, and then buy up Beverly Hills for a couple of hundred bucks.  Till then, I will laugh at the news and at astute cartoons like this.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

More women are exercising their firearms rights

In Indiana, women holding handgun permits has increased by 42% in just two years!  I've always thought this was a good idea, for one main reason, stated by Carrie Lightfoot in the article.
"Women are moving into the role of self protector, when historically they were the protected," said Carrie Lightfoot, an NRA certified instructor and owner of The Well Armed Woman. "Life has really changed for women, and they are realizing that they must learn to protect themselves as the men in their lives and law enforcement can't be there."
The word from the folks on the ground is very good as well, lots of expansion. :)
Since its founding in 2012, The Well Armed Woman has grown to 183 chapters in 42 states with 4,600 paid members. 
Indiana has seven chapters, including three in the Indianapolis area at Beech Grove Firearms Range, Eagle Creek Pistol Range and Tim's Shooting Academy of Westfield. 
Not only is the program designed to equip women with gun knowledge and skills, it's a place for camaraderie. 
... 
Women who go to chapter meetings range in age from 21 to mid-70s. They are stay-at-home moms. They are professional women in the fields of healthcare, IT and law. Young has had pregnant women attend. She's had female members of a motorcycle club show up. 
Young's chapter has grown to 50 members since the first meeting in February. The monthly meetings have gotten so packed, she sometimes splits the class into two nights.
It's great that so many women are taking an active role in their own safety, and the safety of their families as well.  Train, train, train!  If you develop the muscle memory and good habits, you will never have an accident and you will be able to respond to threats.  Go for it! :)

Comms director for Everytown for Gun Safety "not against guns 4 self defense" in public.

In response to why ETFGS had armed security at a public rally, the Comms Director stated:
Clearly this means they now support public carry, whether concealed or open, right? haha!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

CGN Community dog rescue - play by play!


Have you ever read a story like this???


Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemoe1
Okay, well on my way to work i see this chocolate lab sitting in the middle a field. No shade. Just dirt and a firehydrant next to the dog. This is the second day I see him just standing next to it. 4 times in 2 days, it seems like he is waiting for his owner to return. I bet his owner abandoned him their and the poor guy has no clue. I feel like approaching him and giving him some water but I'm not sure how it will react. I don't really want to contact animal control because I would hate for it to be put down what do you guys think I should do? The location is next to March Airforce Base by the street Iris. I don't remember the other one I'll try to see if I can remember the cross street.

What would be the best animal rescue group to call to ensure this guy gets a good home? He's obviously an extremely loyal companion if he has been their for the past two days. Tomorrow if he is still their, I will try to approach him slowly and offer him some water and food. God knows how many days he's been their without both.

I would [take her] if the place i live at allowed large dogs. I live in a condo and in order to have pets I would have had to mention it in the lease. I'm sure calguns has lots of dog lovers. I'm going to try to see if he wants to come with me tomorrow and leave him at my girlfriends. If will update tomorrow if he's still in the field. Hopefully this guy finds a good home.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
OP... Are you going to do something? If not please PM me so we can communicate effectively. I will do something. Chances are time is running out....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemoe1
Okay, on my way to work I saw the dog. He's still sitting down next to the firehydrant going down heacock before you reach the street iris. Next to [March] Airforce field! I will try to get him after work. If anyone can go before I can please do so!

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
You don't think some a-hole chained him to the hydrant, out in the sun, do you?

If he's chained out there with no water after work may be too late. Call a shelter............

Screw it, what town is this in? I'll call a local shelter.....

Never mind. Moreno Valley Animal Services. Closed until 9:30.
Message machine told me to call Riverside County Sheriff's Office to speak to an animal control officer after hours.
Riverside County Sheriff's office message machine told me to call Moreno Valley Animal Control.
A**holes!!
If no one can get out there before 9:30, I will be calling the shelter at 9:30 sharp.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I will not be able to get there until after 1200

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Check for my PM please. I don't want to call if you are planning on going there..........

I would go myself, but I'm up in Ventura area.

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Latest News:

Ronin2 is headed out to rescue the Lab within the next couple hours!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemoe1
Thank ronin! Please keep us updated!

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Moe, can you pin down the location a little better and I will text Ronin the info.
Right now he is headed for the intersection of Iris and Heacock.
Maybe a corner such as NE corner or SW corner?
Thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemoe1
Man I'm on my phone right now, it's going down heacock towards the street iris. He's in the middle of the field before hitting heacock! Message me your phone number I will try to pin it on my maps

By gentian ave. and heacock!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I'm leaving Newport in 20 min or so.

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Moe, narrowed location has been forwarded to Ronin.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I'm in route about 35 min out ? I have with me gloves, a large thick blanket, collar/leash, water bowl/water, treats, food, a fire extinguisher .....

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Ronin must have been a Boy Scout, "Always Prepared"

The fire extinguisher?
You just never know when a chocolate Lab might spontaneously combust.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemoe1
Any updates???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I'm here. The dog appears healthy. It seems to be a female lab /?? Mix. Someone has left containers of food and water for it at the base of the fire hydrant. I approached to a lot of barking and threw some treats that it ate as I retreated. I have not approached the fire hydrant situation yet as the dog is protective of the food there. Will report back in a few. I will have photos to up load once I'm home regardless of how it turns out.

SJF

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemoe1
Thank ronin! Glad you found her! Kinda hard to see her from the road

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I'm just sitting on the blanket I will use to try and capture the dog after she gets a little mor use to me...

Trying to decide if I should try and capture her. While I'm a dog owner and not afraid, she is.... Body language ... Tail well tucked between legs and keeping her distance regardless of treats, water etc...

Ill let the calguns members here help me decide...try and capture her or report to animal control

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Here she is





In first pic she does not look receptive, like you said, tail well tucked in.

Looks like she's been there a little while anyway, I would think the local shelter must know about her.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
She seems to have made the fire hydrant her home and locals are feeding her and forcing her water based on what I see,

I'm willing to wait her out. She has been standing keeping her distance and barking at me the whole time. She must be wearing out... And I'm willing to wait a bit.

She is sledging closer to me and the fire hydrant as I chat on Calguns. I have also situated myself upwind from her

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
Animal control just rolled up and she is a smart dog... She took off to five times the distance she kept from me.... Lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
The animal control officer, Stephanie, said that while the shelter the dog would be taken to is a kill shelter, that being a Lab, as long as she is not aggressive if she is not adopted, the local lab rescue will take her.

I will donate a few hundred $$$ to make sure she is not destroyed and keep tabes on her. I did the same thing ten years ago with a female pitbull and all her pups living near my dojo.. I was able to capture them, take them to my vets for de-worming and shots and then pitbull rescue for them all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
ACO is luring her closer with canned food.......


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
Animal control officer says she clearly is not aggressive. That's what makes her hard to capture. She said that the aggressive dogs are easy to get,.. They come right for you.

The officer has to go to another call. I will hang out here, try to capture her if possible, until the AC officer returns with a partner and a box trap.

One of the problems is that people have been feeding her and she isn't hungry enough to effectively use food as bait.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
If she is adoptable I will get her and give her to kestryll as a gift from the calgunner community at large if he can take her.

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Ronin, when you get home, let me know about this "sponsorship".
I'll try and help with the $$, OK?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I appreciate it but truely, its ok. I retired at 42 from the investment fund business. Pay it forward with someone who genuinely can use the help.

Thank you!

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Latest update from Ronin:

"No luck yet"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
Well I just threw her a rope bone of my dogs and she picked it up and walked away and hid it behind a distant bush and came back without it... Lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
another calgunner S&W the thread and dropped by with his son and daughter. I can't remember his screenname but he has gone back home to get his lab mix to bring back and see if we can catch her while the play.

She is bedding down now in the hole she dug next to the fire hydrant. If she falls asleep I will attempt to capture her.

Unlike many"other people" , I'm not afraid of a dogs bite.....

Till then I'm just sitting here in the truck about 20 ft away on the iPad

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
Animal Control is there now en force with a trap



Poor girl looking for a little shade : (


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
They just set it. She doesn't venture far from the hydrant. Now its just a matter of waiting. She has gone most of the way in a couple times but not far enough to set the trap. She is one smart girl.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
The AC Officers got her! She. Immediately went to into submission. I was able to pet her ... She was very sweet. Following AC to the shelter now.

I am going to pay for all her expenses if they will let me. Which cal gunners are SERIOUS about adoption if they deem her adoptable? I will establish a claim for whomever ....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
She will be available for adoption on April 30 @ 1555 hrs. Anyone interested in adopting her can contact me and I am willing to act as your agent in the matter.

She was very sweet and submissive as soon as she was caught. She is in here cage, quiet and a bit nervous but in a much better place. I will post photos when I get home.... About a 1.5 hr drive for me back to the beach.

Cheers and thank you all for your support and concern for a innocent little dog left by the road by another of the monsters that should be purged from society.

Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorFranko
The catch



The carry



Safe and warm until she finds a good home


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
FYI... Calgunner "Onebadjack68" who saw the thread on this little dog and stopped by with his daughter and son to help this morning was hoping to adopt the dog. They were taking his son to meet a USMC recrituer!! Semper Fi! When seeing that the dog wasn't hungry and staying distant, Jack and his two children went home to get their male Lab to possibly help lure her into capture. They stayed and waited around for several hours as we tried to "take her into custody". They intend to adopt her as soon as her 7 day hold (in case an owner comes forward claim her) is up.

Try as hard as I did, I was unable to pay any money towards her care. The shelter would only accept money from the person adopting the dog at the time of adoption. There was no way to place any kind of a "claim on her". They still need to process her and judge here fit for adoption and I am 150% certain she will pass muster. In any event, I intend to be there when she is released for adoption in case Jack and his family are unable to, I will adopt her as a foster parent until I can find a good home. That said, Jacks daughter was hoping to have taken her home today had I been able to catch her andihace no doubt they will give her a loving home and a good life.

I will, upon her adoption, make a donation to the shelter which was impressive... Large clean and very attentive staff. While it is a kill shelter a shelter tech informed me that the work hard and successfuly minimize the number of animals euthanized. Needless to say, I will be making a phone call or writing a "atta boy" letter to the Animal Control officers superiors.

I have to give a huge THANK YOU to Animal Control officer Stephanie Loraas and her two partners who worked this case all day with professionalism and clearly love and concern for the welfare of the animals they come into contact with. The dogs capture was all them.

I also want to extend a big thank you to CalGunner "VictorFranco" for acting as a conduit for reports and posting of photos. He too is a dog animal lover and very concerned and empathetic this sweet, innocent young dogs plight.

Thanks to you all who have expressed support they this ordeal. It's amazing what can happen when the good people come together for the right reasons.

FYI to all the LEO's out there...while the dog barked and blustered, when captured she became immediately submissive and allowed the ACO's and myself to pet her immediately. While being taken to the truck, she urinated on the ACO...another submissive behavior indicating a scared, sweet dog, NOT a creature to fear and gun down!!! In fact she nev growled, barred her teeth or snapped at anyone once humans had their hands on her.

(Given the rash of LEO' shooting family pets "barking at them", It's time we stop giving cowards and mouth breathers guns and badges IMHO simply because they can pass the background)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin2
I overlooked thanking CalGunner Moemoe1 who was alert and aware of his surroundings on his drive to work and noticed the dog out of place and let us all know about it. He stopped by the site this afternoon on his way home from work to introduce himself to me and check on how things were going...THANK YOU SIR! Without you this sweet innocent creature's plight may have gone unnoticed until her death.

I'm standing in Rifle Gear right now picking up a new weapon and in a good mood and my faith in humanity renewed thanks to YOU ALL. THANK YOU CALGUNNERS!