If This is Our Family I Want a Divorce

It appears as through the Obama administration is really ramping up the use of the phrase “federal family.” Everybody’s favorite federal agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has decided that we’re now all part of one big fucked up federal family:

“Under the direction of President Obama and Secretary Janet Napolitano, the entire federal family is leaning forward to support our state, tribal and territorial partners along the East Coast,” a FEMA news release declared Friday as Irene churned toward landfall.

The G-word — “government” — has been nearly banished, with FEMA instead referring to federal, state and local “partners” as well as “offices” and “personnel.”

“’Government’ is such a dirty word right now,” says Florida State University communication professor Davis Houck. “Part of what the federal government does and any elected official does is change the terms of the language game into terms that are favorable to them.”

“Family” can evoke favorable thoughts of motherhood and security.

Although I’m glad that government is starting to get such a bad image attached to it I don’t think renaming it “family” is going to help improve that image. The government’s image is poor because what they’ve done has been nothing but an endless series of bad decisions.

Honestly if my family was forcefully stealing from other people, killing neighbors outside of self-defense, making life difficult for productive members of the family to alleviate the pain of unproductive members, and constantly trying to control family members by enacting new rules regulating every form of behavior and thought I’d want a divorce. Of course the last time members of the federal family tried to file for divorce they were subjected to constant physical beatings until they finally submitted and withdrew their filings.

The United States Government Purposely Infected 2,500 Guatemalans with STDs

I have to apologize for a gross generalization I often make. It would be difficult to count the number of times that I’ve stated that governments are unable to do anything efficiently. This isn’t entirely true as there is one thing governments are very efficient at; causing harm. Take for example the recent reports released by the United States government that cover the medical experiments that they were running in the 1940s:

The number of infected people could be as high as 2,500, says the president of the Medical Association of Guatemala.

According to a US report released on Monday, 1,300 Guatemalans were infected without their knowledge to study the effects of penicillin.

US scientists knew they were violating ethical rules, the report found.

There is also enough evidence to conclude there was collaboration between US and Guatemalan authorities at the time of the tests, Carlos Mejia, a member of the commission established by the Guatemalan government to investigate the experiments, told BBC Mundo.

By collaborating with Guatemalan officials our own government was able to purposely infect guatemalan people with STDs without those peoples’ knowledge or consent. All of this was so they could study the capabilities of penicillin. Isn’t it always nice when your government does something that can be compared to the Nazis without Godwin’s law being enacted:

Of these, some 1,300 prisoners, psychiatric patients and sex workers were deliberately infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea or another sexually transmitted disease, chancroid.

Concentrations of bacteria were injected into the eyes, the central nervous system and male genitals. Mr Mejia says this was behaviour very similar to that of the scientists in Nazi Germany.

“It took place in the context in which they [the United States] were judging the German doctors who had been experimenting with typhus and malaria on prisoners of war. The Nazis used Poles, Russians and Jews, while the Americans made almost the same use of Guatemalans,” he says.

Of the group of 1,300, only about 700 received some sort of treatment.

This experiment can be added to the list of atrocities committed by the United States government along with the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Project MKULTRA. There doesn’t exist a government that is truly innocent and people need to call them on their malicious acts when they’re uncovered. Likewise people need to demand that such actions are never taken again (this is the hard part).

Citations and Anti-Gun Stupidity

Remember when I said that from here out I will demand citations when anti-gunners make claims? Here’s an example of why I am now making such demands:

Guns are not being manufactured in our neighborhoods. Somebody brings them in. Yet our Legislature and Congress refuse to do anything about gun trafficking.

Why can’t they require background checks before gun purchases at gun shows? The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has called gun shows a “major trafficking channel.”

Where did the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) say that? What study specifically? Because according to the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics less than 1% of crime guns came from gun shows:

In 1997 among State inmates possessing a gun, fewer than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show, about 12% from a retail store or pawnshop, and 80% from family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source.

The reason they say 2% in that paragraph is because they’re lumping gun shows and flea markets together. The raw data given shows gun shows being a source of only 0.7% of guns possessed by inmates. You know what else? The Bureau of Justice Statistics also isn’t smuggling guns illegally into foreign countries unlike the ATF. Just pointing that out.

On top of that background checks are required to purchase firearms from federally licensed dealers at gun shows and a vast majority of sellers are federally licensed dealers. If Mrs. Martens is so sure she can go and purchase a firearm without receiving a background check at a gun show I challenge her to try. From there she basically demonstrates that government regulations have lead to much of our social turmoil… while she’s demanding more government regulations. Hypocrisy thy name is Heather Martens:

We hear a lot about bad parenting, but less about the public policies that limit our ability to parent. The drug war has forced the mass incarceration of a generation of parents for drug offenses like possession of marijuana.

People of color are disproportionately sent to prison, despite similar rates of actual commission of crimes. Some parents can’t parent because they are in prison.

And when people come home after being in prison, they can’t get a job because most employers will not even look at an application from a person with any kind of prior conviction.

The result is that, for many people, it is easier to get a gun than to get a job.

So government regulations against the possession of certain substances have lead to parents being imprisoned which prevents them from being able to properly raising their children. Government regulations on the free market have lead to a collapsing economy which in turn has caused ever increasing unemployment. Yet if the government places further restrictions on firearms they will managed to not cause some kind of horrible series of side effects? That’s her logic? HA HA HA HA! I’m sorry I shouldn’t laugh but by Thor in Valhalla that’s a fucking hilarious attempt at logic if I’ve ever seen one. And she didn’t stopping shooting her argument in the foot there, not by any means:

The causes of gun violence are complex, while the effect of gun violence is very clear. It is devastating to families, communities and schools.

The causes of violence in general are complex. Yet with ever more liberal (using the classical definition of the word) gun laws violent crime has been on the decline nationally. On top of that violent crime in Minneapolis, the city where events have lead to the writing of the author’s article, is down.

That shows a negative correlation between stricter gun laws and decreases in violent crime but a positive correlation between more liberal (classical definition) gun laws and decreases in violent crime (again I’m not making the argument that correlation shows causality, I’m just pointing out that the author’s claims are wrong). Any person who had some basic cognitive capabilities would conclude stricter gun laws aren’t going to solve the problem. Finally she closes with the following:

It is time for us to stop assigning blame to others and to start looking at the policies we should support to make our communities safer.

If it’s time to stop assigning blame then why are you blaming inanimate objects? The blame is easy to assign, the person who initiated violence is at fault. Case closed.

We Can Do This Without You

It appears as though Obama is looking to continue his failed quest to restore the American economy using failed Keynesian methods. Namely Obama is asking Federal agencies to identify “high-impact, job-creating infrastructure projects” that can be done without the need for congressional approval:

On Wednesday, Obama took a now-familiar path in adopting a program–this time a jobs and infrastructure effort–that can happen entirely within his domain. Obama directed several federal agencies to identify “high-impact, job-creating infrastructure projects” that can be expedited now, without congressional approval.

One week before he will make a major address to Congress on jobs, Obama is making sure they know he plans to move forward without them. The president has also directed the Education Department to come up with a “Plan B” updating the 2001 No Child Left Behind law in the absence of congressional action. The message to Congress is clear: Do your work or we’ll do it for you.

Remember that system of checks and balances? Apparently neither does Obama or Congress (as they should be reigning Obama in right now). It looks like Obama is enjoying his near emperor status and has decided to run wild with tyrannical power. We may as well just call him the King of America since he’s able to do all these things without approval from any of our “representatives.” Corollary to that we should start calling Congress the Bitches of America since they seem to be more than happy to lay down while the title of President is slowly changed to King.

I do have a message for Obama though:

His message to lawmakers: We can do this without you.

Our message to the government: We can do this without you. Get the fuck out of our economy and let it become prosperous again.

National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011

Yeah I know I’m a bit late to the party on this but it’s better to be late than never show up right? H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, is a bill that once again attempts to require each state recognize carry permits from all other states.

I’m a big fan of any legislation that removes some teeth from the government (either state of federal). This bill would prohibit states from refusing to acknowledge carry permits from any other state (except Illinois since they are the last state without any form of legal carry). Although I have my doubts that this bill has a chance of passing I do hope it does. It would be nice if one of my so-called constitutionally guarantee rights were actually respected in this country.

This Must be Part of the Government’s Plan to Create Jobs

As Obama travels the nation on his Keynesian Tour of Destruction trying to spread the word about his plan to save the United States economy and create jobs, the rest of the federal government is busy telling companies to use foreign labor:

Tonight, in an interview on KMJ’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz confirmed that the US government wanted Gibson guitars to use foreign labor over American labor:
CHRIS DANIEL: Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor?
HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a [inaudible].
CHRIS DANIEL: Excuse me?
HENRY JUSKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a pleading.
CHRIS DANIEL: That your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of our labor?
HENRY JUSKIEWICZ: Yes

The United States government, the entity that claims to be watching out for the wellbeing of American citizens, actually told Gibson that they should use foreign labor instead of domestic labor to build their guitars. Had Gibson used foreign labor they wouldn’t have had agents with guns storming their factory and confiscating their property. This must be part of the government’s plan to save and/or create jobs.

A tip of the old hat goes go Uncle for this story.

Only the Government Could Lose Money Selling Alcohol

I believe the government is the only entity on the planet that could lose money by having a monopoly on wine and spirit sales. It makes sense though considering that government agencies design their contraptions and “services” around politically correct ideals instead of consumer demands:

In a report issued today, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner says the state liquor control board’s wine vending machines, a wonderful illustration of what happens when a government monopoly tries to act more like a business, are operating at a loss, costing taxpayers more than $1 million since they were introduced a year ago.

[…]

When they are working, the kiosks dispense a limited selection of wines at limited locations and times (not on Sunday, of course!) to customers who present ID, look into a camera monitored by a state employee, breathe into a blood-alcohol meter, and swipe a credit card.

I think I see how they’re losing money. When people want to purchase alcohol, like any other product, they don’t want to be hassled anymore than they absolutely have to be. In other words people want to walk in, make their selection, show their state issued identification, pay the cashier, and leave. Making a customer also submit to a breathalyzer test and having their image monitored by some hidden state employee are going to create a rather annoying hassle, especially when the selection of liquor is limited.

So Much Stupid it Hurts

Our old friend the broken window fallacy made a guest appearance on MarketWatch:

That said, the effects of the storm have the potential to boost the fourth quarter’s GDP by this much and more. This is because the need to clean up and rebuild will create numerous jobs — especially in the construction industry, which, as you know, is languishing from lack of activity in housing, shopping centers and office buildings.

Add to this spending on flashlights, batteries, generators, plywood and tools that would otherwise have not taken place. As these items are restocked, this will add to the GDP, as will the wages paid to construction, maintenance and utility workers.

You know what Mr. Kellner, I think your community needs economic stimulus. Would it be all right with you if I were to come over to your home, smash all of the windows in your house, and set fire to your car? Just think of all the work my arson will create for Home Depot, the local glazier, and the automobile company you’ll buy your new car at!

Fear of Vaccinations My Ass

No this post isn’t me not jumping on the anti-vaccination bandwagon; I just found a “study” with such an absurd conclusion that I had to call it out. A recent study released by a Mayo Clinic physician claims that the recent fear of the measles vaccine being linked to autism is having devastating effects:

More than 150 cases of measles have been reported in the United States already this year and there have been similar outbreaks in Europe, a sign the disease is making an alarming comeback. The reappearance of the potentially deadly virus is the result of unfounded fears about a link between the measles shot and autism that have turned some parents against childhood vaccination, says Gregory Poland, M.D. (http://www.mayoclinic.org/bio/10966366.html), of Mayo Clinic. In the September issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings (http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com), Dr. Poland urges doctors to review extensive scientific research that has found no connection between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.

Somewhere around 150 cases of measles in the United States is devastating? Really? Because according to numbers put out by the National Institute of Health 150 cases in one year is absolutely unworthy of noting if you look at the number of measles cases reported in the United States since the release of the vaccine:

Measles—Incidence (Historic)
During this century, there has been a dramatic decrease in measles epidemics. Prior to the development of the measles vaccine, 5.7 million people died each year from measles. (Some historians have suggested that measles might have contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.)

In 1920, the United States had 469,924 measles cases and 7,575 deaths due to measles. From 1958 to 1962, the United States had an average of 503,282 cases and 432 deaths each year. (Measles reporting began in 1912; prior to this time, no statistics are available.) In large cities, epidemics often occurred every two to five years.

When the measles vaccine came on the market in 1963, measles began a steady decline worldwide. By 1995, measles deaths had fallen 95 percent worldwide and 99 percent in Latin America. In the United States, the incidence of measles hit an all-time low in 1998, with 89 cases and no deaths reported.

There have been several epidemics in the United States since 1963: from 1970 to 1972, 1976 to 1978, and 1989 to 1991. The epidemic of 1989-1991 claimed 120 deaths out of a total of 55,000 cases reported. Over half of the deaths occurred in young children.

You’ll notice that since the introduction of the measles vaccine the number of reported cases dropped dramatically but have never hit zero. Likewise since the introduction of the vaccine there have been three epidemics of measles with a lower number of reported cases between each epidemic. These epidemics occurred before anybody noted a potential link between the measles vaccine and autism which means there must have been a different factor.

Instead of trying to blame the anti-vaccination movement (which isn’t even that big of a movement from what I’ve seen) for the sudden upsurge in measles infections maybe researchers should look into the cause of previous epidemics and use that data to determine likely reasons for the current upsurge in cases.