Tag: Your Government Doesn’t Love You

Gun “Buy Back” Equates to Crime Coverup

I have a problem with the term gun “buy back” because buying something back implies it was originally owned by the future purchaser. The police can’t buy back a firearm unless they previously possessed it thus the name of these programs is a complete lie. I propose we rename these events to crime coverup programs. It would be far more accurate as Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry pointed out to his local police department:

Curry said his office didn’t like that the police could be collecting — and destroying — guns that might have been used in crimes.

“On the one hand, we’re completely supportive of any effort to reduce illegal guns on the street,” Curry said Monday. “But nevertheless, we have the responsibility of investigating existing crimes and coordinating with federal agencies to trace how these weapons are ending up on the streets in the first place.”

That’s what these programs accomplish, the destruction of potential crime scene evidence. There has been no evidence brought forth that these programs reduce violent crime yet there is no denying that the possibility of destroying a gun used in a crime is there. Hell that’s something the police even realize by stating no questions will be asked about the firearms.

So why are the police using taxpayer money to purchase firearms only to potentially cover up a crime?

Fixing Our Budget

It appears as through we face the happy situation of our federal government shutting down for a while because they can’t agree if we should have a $1.23 trillion deficit or only a $1.21 trillion deficit:

US President Barack Obama has said it would be “inexcusable” for lawmakers to fail to reach a budget that would fund the government to September.

Mr Obama spoke after he and Congressional leaders were unable to reach a budget deal on Tuesday.

Without a new budget, the US government will shut down on Friday.

Ironically if our federal government were to shutdown they couldn’t spend any money and the deficit problem would be a non-issue. I think it would be smart to lobby the “representatives” to support shutting down the government as a means to fix the deficit problem this country is facing.

Carry Permits Used as Justification for Deploying the SWAT Team

Here’s another chapter for my future book on police abuse (which will never be released because a no-knock raid will be performed shortly before publishing due to the fact I hold a carry permit). A Mr. Bellotte made the mistake of getting photographs contained *gasp* nudity developed at Wal-Mart. This is always a mistake because any nudity can be contrived as being child pornography which is what the Wal-Mart employee claimed when he called the police. The Frederick County police responded in kind by deploying their SWAT team to perform a no-knock raid on Mr. Bellotte’s residence because he held a carry permit:

In order to execute the warrant, Detective Edwards sought and received approval from the ranking Jefferson County law enforcement officer for the assistance of the Jefferson County Special Operations Team (“SORT Team”). The SORT Team leaders decided that their involvement was justified due to the possibility of a violent reaction from Mr. Bellotte and the concealed carry permits held by both Mr. and Mrs. Bellotte. After the three SORT squads were assembled and briefed, they arrived at the Bellotte residence around 10:15 p.m.

I’m certainly no expert on tactics in storming peoples’ homes but it seems to me knowing somebody has a carry permit would be grounds to perform a knock and announce entry. By busting down the door and storming into a residence a home defense situation has been created by the fact unknown assailants have entered the building. As the police never announced the fact that they were police and that you can’t know if the police actually are police without at least some kind of proof (a warrant) it would be a valid reaction for a home owner to take measures to defend himself in a no-knock raid.

Of course when the accusation of child pornography is being made absolutely any tactic the police wish to use is considered valid by most of the populace. When this accusation comes from a photo developer who can’t reasonably be assured a person in a picture is a child though, then there is no grounds for anything beyond a cursory investigation. Can you guess what the police found after storming the residence and performing an investigation?

Mr. Bellotte, it turns out, had spent that night in his hunting cabin in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The next morning, when his wife told him what happened, he went to see Detective Edwards at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. He gave a recorded statement and later produced a passport and birth certificate showing that the female in the photo was not a child, but in fact a 35-year-old woman who lived in the Philippines. Thus Mr. Bellotte did not in fact possess any child pornography, and no charges were ever filed against him.

Apparently our potential child was 35 years-old. The police created a potential home defense situation for people whom have had no history of violence because some punk at Wal-Mart said a carry permit holder may have produced child pornography. Just thinking about the fact that the police took action that could have caused a peaceful and innocent person to need the use of violence in apparent self-defense just makes my head spin.

If Mr. Bellotte had shot one of the police thinking they were generic cooks you can guarantee he’s be in prison for murder while the police officers would be off scot-free.

Quote of the Day

I don’t do quote of the day type posts often but this quote in reference to the War on Drugs was golden:

If the Government gave a fuck about being consistent… shouldn’t Marijuana be considered an endangered species at this point? Shouldn’t it be protected by the EPA? It’s amazing so many people are comfortable hunting that particular species to extinction… but when we at Absolute Despotism propose using the Navy to hunt sharks to extinction, or fire bombing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Operation “Caribou Holocaust” we’re the assholes?

Child Abduction Services Knows Best

You know what’s great? Using Child Abduction” Services to bar parents from taking their newborn baby home. It’s nice to know that the state has this kind of power to protect our children from those evil little serfs we call parents. Take this instance:

“They said, ‘Well, if you leave the hospital I’ll have to arrest you and your husband.'”

Cecilia is referring to the police officer who was sent to her room just hours after giving birth, all because she and her husband told the nurse they didn’t want to keep Lilia overnight in the NICU to be treated for jaundice.

I guess I don’t really have grounds to make a complain if the parents if the parents were going to put the child’s life in danger. It would be crazy to let the parents go against the wishes of the doctor… oh wait:

The couple says it got a second opinion and spoke with a pediatrician at Summerlin Hospital, who agreed that it would be okay if the couple took the baby home with minor jaundice as long as they signed a medical release form.

What the Hell? The doctor signed off on the parents taking the baby home and yet Child Abduction Services were still called? Who the Hell called them?

But the nurse they originally worked with called Child Protective Services to report these new parents for not agreeing with the recommended hospital care.

Oh, it seems the nurse knew more than the doctor. Likewise the goons send by abduct the child also knew better than the doctor. I must have missed when they changed the curriculum for nurses and government stooges. At what point did the required education for becoming either involve heavy training in pediatrics?

Yes this is yet another case of the state coming in and imposing its will against the slaves… er, citizens, of the United States. It’s also frightening to see that the recommendations of a doctor will be completely ignored by the very goons who are supposed to protect children from abusive situations.

Fixing Bribery

What’s one way to fix the problem of bribery that has run rampant throughout… well everywhere? A policy pointed out by Bruce Schneier’s blog looks to be effective and simple, legalize the giving of bribes:

Under the current law, discussed in some detail in the next section, once a bribe is given, the bribe giver and the bribe taker become partners in crime. It is in their joint interest to keep this fact hidden from the authorities and to be fugitives from the law, because, if caught, both expect to be punished. Under the kind of revised law that I am proposing here, once a bribe is given and the bribe giver collects whatever she is trying to acquire by giving the money, the interests of the bribe taker and bribe giver become completely orthogonal to each other. If caught, the bribe giver will go scot free and will be able to collect his bribe money back. The bribe taker, on the other hand, loses the booty of bribe and faces a hefty punishment.

Not only does this policy take away the incentive of covering up the fact a bribe was accepted but it also tosses in motivation to rat the bribe taker out. I like it. Obviously such a proposal will never likely be passed into law anywhere as that would go against the self-interest of those creating laws but it’s still a nice proposal.

They Were Just Joking About Fixing the Deficit

Remember all that talk about reducing the deficit made by many of the Republicans during campaign season? Much like Obama these clowns were just kidding:

Republicans on Monday night introduced a measure to fund the military through September and government operations for one more week.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference about the legislation — which contains $12 billion in spending cuts — during a Monday night meeting, his office said. The move is intended to prevent a government shutdown that would start after Friday unless Congress approves another measure to fund the government.

So we’re going to continue funding the military at our current levels until September? The Department of Offense Defense is one of our largest money sinks. Also you know how much $12 billions is to our $1.27 trillion deficit (not to be mistaken with our $15.1 trillion debt)? 0.9%. Yes that $12 billion cut is less than one percent of the yearly deficit. How the fuck can they justify that as cutting the deficit? I also absolutely love this quote:

“We’re serious about trying to prevent a government shutdown. We’re also serious about cutting spending,” he told reporters after the GOP meeting.

Shutting down the government would actually save us tons of money. Hell I’m going to go so far as to say shutting down the government would be the most effective plan for slashing our deficit. I think I’m going to start a “Shutdown the Government” campaign.

The Real Reason Behind United Nations Involvement in Libya

Prepare yourself to have your personal beliefs rocked to the core forcing you to question all you know about reality. It seems the real reason the United Nations has gotten involved in helping the Libyan rebels has finally been unveiled:

The first export of oil from rebel-held areas of eastern Libya for almost three weeks is due to begin later.

Libya’s opposition groups are making plans to load a tanker believed to have now docked at a terminal near Tobruk.

Oil. Are you surprised? I didn’t think so. Nobody in the United Nations gave two shits about the rebels. If that were the case they would also have forces entering Syria now that the government is killing protesters.

More Zero Tolerance Stupidity

Zero tolerance is synonymous with zero common sense. I like to think of zero tolerance rules as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints at airports. Much time an is dumpt into enforcing TSA and zero tolerance rules but neither has lead to any instances where people were protected but wouldn’t have been had the checkpoints of rules not been in place. Well here’s another one for the record books:

Harassment, Disorderly Conduct – On March 24 police charged a student they say is responsible for writing a note that referenced a gun. “Gun 25 Love It” was found written in a girls bathroom at Saucon Valley Middle School, and police subsequently compared students’ handwriting samples with the handwriting found in the bathroom, reviewed surveillance video and confronted an 11-year-old female suspect, who they say admitted to writing the note. The juvenile has been charged with both misdemeanor harassment and disorderly conduct, police said. Several other incidents involving the discovery of notes referencing a gun and specific days or dates have been reported at both the middle school and high school since February.

I could see the kid being made to clean the writing off whatever wall she wrote it on. Hell in a twisted sort of way I could see some validity in a charge of vandalism. But harassment? Who did she harass? Why were the police even involved in this situation? This sounds like something a school administrator should have taken care of. Oh, yeah I forgot the word gun appears which instantly means we need to call in the police and charge the kid with some kind of crime. I guess you need to start charing children with trumped up crimes early so they get used to the police state when they’re adults.

Using Obama’s Words Against Him

Remember when Obama was talking about the two wars Bush involved us in? If not he said, “The President does not have the power to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” Of course this was before he decided to drag our force over to Libya to bomb targets in support of rebeles we know nothing about.

Thankfully Rand Paul is calling Obama on this:

The Rand Paul resolution, co-sponsored by fellow Senate Tea Party Caucus member Mike Lee (R-Utah), says: “The President does not have the power to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” Senator Obama used precisely that language in a December 20, 2007 interview with the Boston Globe when he was campaigning for the presidency. President Obama neglected to mention any actual or imminent threat to the nation in his address to the American people on Libya March 18.

It should come as no surprise that various members in Congress aren’t happy with somebody calling out their leader on this. After all it was only bad to engage our forces in military action without Congressional approval when Bush did it. To this end Congress appears to be refusing to vote. According to Rand Paul:

Right now, my resolution has been basically taken off the table. For three days now, we’ve had no votes. And they’re not going to vote again today, maybe because I think they don’t want to vote on whether or not Congress should have this authority. They’re embarrassed that the President took them to war precisely with the same kind of reasoning that they’ve always criticized up here.

It is my belief that a majority of Congress is more than happy to let the President engage our forces without any overhead. This is a cowards move on their behalf as it is simply a way of avoiding blame when popular opinion moves against any of these engagements. Giving the President this kind of authority allows Congress to effectively say, “Don’t blame us we didn’t approve this engagement.” I also really like this quote by Rand:

There are some of us who have a respect for the Constitution who are worried about the precedent that is set by allowing a President to go to war with no debate, no discussion. He had time to go to the UN. He had time to go to the Arab League. He had the time to go just about everywhere in the world to ask for permission, except for down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Congress which the Constitution says he has to come here. And he went everywhere else but here.

Zing! So Obama went to everybody but Congress to get approval for this war? If nothing else I have to say I’m really liking the fact that Rand is willing to call the President on these types of things. For too long it seems members of Congress were unwilling to call the President on actions that shouldn’t have been taken or were embarrassing when taken.