Tag: You’re Doing it Right

Mutual Aid in Action

If something positive can be said about tragic situations it’s that people will often come together to help those in need. Several hospitals that worked on the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting have stated that they will limit or eliminate the medical bills:

Some of the victims fighting for their lives after being wounded in the movie theater shooting rampage may face another challenge when they get out of the hospital: enormous medical bills without the benefit of health insurance.

Members of the public, along with Warner Bros., the studio that released the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises,” have contributed nearly $2 million to help victims, though it’s not clear how much of that will cover medical expenses. One family is raising money on its own online.

And three of the five hospitals that treated victims said Wednesday they will limit or completely wipe out medical bills.

If a notable chunk of the $2 million donated by Warner Bros. goes to help pay the medical expenses for the victims of the shooting I’ll have to give them some major kudos as well. Either way the hospitals that are working to actively help out the victims of the shooting deserve recognition:

Children’s Hospital Colorado announced it would use donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. For those who do have insurance, the hospital says it will waive all co-pays.

“We are committed to supporting these families as they heal,” according to a statement from the hospital, which treated six shooting victims.

HealthOne, which owns the Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center, also says it will limit or eliminate charges based on the individual circumstances of the patients. Those hospitals have treated 22 shooting victims. However, the company cautioned its policy may not apply to all doctors working in its hospitals.

This is what mutual aid is all about, voluntarily helping those in need. We don’t need a state to put a gun to our heads to coerce us into helping our neighbors. Humans, generally, actively want to help each other but are often prevented from doing so by the state (for example, many major cities actually ban individuals from feeding the homeless). If the state would get out of our way we could actually get to work making a better world.

Why Gun Control is Impossible

Advocates of gun control like to believe access to firearms will become more difficult if the government restricts legal access. Perhaps this was true at one time but guns are, mechanically, simple devices and the equipment to manufacture them is becoming more affordable every day. Behold, the first (to my knowledge and the knowledge of the creator) firearm manufactures on a 3D printer:

As 3D printer technology becomes more affordable gun control will become more pointless. The obvious solution to this problem, according to gun control advocates, would be to place tight restrictions on 3D printers. Fortunately such controls would be equally pointless because there are already people working on do it yourself 3D printers. One the genie is out of the bottle it cannot be put back in.

Audit the Fed Bill Passes in the House

Persistance does pay off as Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill has finally passed in the house:

At long last, Ron Paul has his day.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the Texas Republican’s bill to increase the transparency of the Federal Reserve. With bipartisan support, the measure passed 327-98.

For Paul, the path to getting his bill approved in the House has been a long, and often lonely one. He first introduced the bill to a skeptical House a decade ago. While his efforts were ignored at the time, the call to audit the Fed” has gained support from mainstream Republicans and Democrats.

While this is good news and there is obvious massive support for the bill Harry Reid has made it clear that he intends to block the bill from being voted on in the Senate:

While Wednesday’s passage in the lower chamber is a victory for Paul and his supporters, the bill is considered dead on arrival in the Senate. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and Nevada Democrat, has vowed not to put it to a vote.

Needless to say I’m not surprised. The last thing the state wants to do is audit the organization that makes the endless wars and entitlement programs possible.

Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight

As the old saying goes, never bring a knife to a gun fight. Thankfully some criminals do bring knives to gun fights, which makes them much easier to stop:

A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith’s store.

[…]

Espinoza says, the knife wielding man seriously injured two people. “There is blood all over. One got stabbed in the stomach and got stabbed in the head and held his hands and got stabbed all over the arms.”

Then, before the suspect could find another victim – a citizen with a gun stopped the madness. “A guy pulled gun on him and told him to drop his weapon or he would shoot him. So, he dropped his weapon and the people from Smith’s grabbed him.”

It’s nice to see that the good guy was not only able to end the situation but was able to do so without firing a shot. Many self-defense cases involving armed individuals end without the need to employ the arm beyond presentation. Criminals often look for easy victims and surrender upon the first indication of armed resistance, something advocates of gun control usually fail to take into consideration.

On an unrelated side note I found the following line in the story armusing:

Police say the suspect purchased a knife inside the store and then turned it into a weapon.

How does one turn a knife into a weapon? I think a knife fits the description of a weapon no matter how you look at it.

Sometimes Doing the Right Thing Doesn’t Involve Punishment Afterward

It isn’t always the case that no good deed goes unpunished, sometimes people get away with doing the right thing:

The 71-year-old Florida man who fired his gun at two men trying to rob a crowded Internet café will not face criminal charges, an assistant state attorney general told FoxNews.com

Bill Gladson, the attorney, said he reviewed the security video from the Palms Internet café in central Florida.

The video shows patron Samuel Williams pulling a handgun and shooting. He continues firing while the suspects fall over each other as they run out the door.

Gladson said in the memo Williams’ use of force was lawful under Florida’s statutes regarding individuals rights to use deadly force when resisting a forcible felony, like a robbery.

Although a rare sight, it’s nice to see the justice system actually deliver justice. There is no reason that a man should face punishment for firing on armed aggressors. Some people have pointed out that one of the suspects claimed his firearm was nonfunctional:

‘The gun was broken and rusty and wasn’t loaded. Nobody was going to get hurt,’ he told the paper; the plan was to ‘barge in, get the money and leave.’

He said that neither of the two teens ever ‘expected anyone to be armed.’

Just as the teens didn’t expect anybody to be armed the man who fired on them didn’t expect their guns to be nonfunctional. When you initiate force you can’t expect to blame anybody who defends themselves because you didn’t really mean it. It should surprise nobody that a negative correlation exists between the number of lawful armed individuals and violent crime. The teens in this story admitted that they didn’t expect anybody to be armed, they thought the risk of robbing the Internet cafe was very low compared to the potential reward. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for everybody else, the teens’ risk assessment was wrong and they met armed resistance.

As the number of armed individuals increases the risk of aggressing also increases. Since every action is a risk/reward assessment increasing the number of armed individuals can effectively lower violent crime, since the risk of being hurt or killed while perpetuating a violent crime becomes too high.

Protester Who Stripped at Airport Security Found Not Guilty

It’s nice to know that there are a few judges left in the United States that aren’t upholding the statist agenda:

An Oregon man who stripped nude at Portland’s airport security to protest what he saw as invasive measures was found not guilty of indecent exposure.

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge David Rees ruled Wednesday that John Brennan’s act was one of protest and therefore, protected speech.

[…]

When he reached the gate, he declined to go through the airport’s body scanners, instead choosing the alternative metal detector and body pat-down. After the pat-down, Transportation Security Administration officer Steven Van Gordon detected nitrates on the gloves he used to check Brennan.

“For me, time slowed down,” Brennan said. “I thought about nitrates and I thought about the Oklahoma City bombing.”

Brennan said before his trial that after months of angst every time he went through security, the nitrate detection was the final straw for him, a wordless accusation that he was a terrorist.

So he took off all his clothes.

Good on the judge and good on Brennan. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) thugs like to flaunt their power by embarrassing air travelers so it’s only right that air travelers do everything in their power to embarras TSA thugs. Hopefully this ruling will lead to more such incidents. I’d love nothing more than to see airport security checkpoints turn into scenes of chaos as air travelers rebel against being irradiated, sexually molested, and treated like a terrorist suspect.

Stubbs for Mayor

I’m sure everybody is aware of my distain for authority and especially political figures. I can happily say that I’ve finally found a politician that I can support, Stubbs the cat:

TALKEETNA, Alaska — A cat named Stubbs has been the mayor of Talkeetna for nearly all of his life — no joke.

It’s been that way for more than a decade in the small tourist town that boasts nearly 900 residents.

[…]

As the story goes, 15 years ago several of the town residents didn’t like the candidates who were running for mayor of Talkeetna, so as a joke, they encouraged enough people to elect Stubbs the cat as a write-in candidate, and he actually won.

Now, thanks to Stubbs, local tour guides have a little fun with the thousands of tourists who come through the town each summer.

A small mammal that generally keeps to itself, is incapable of using force to coerce you into actions you don’t want to take (seriously, if a cat can coerce you then you’ve got issues), and eats rodents that periodically attempt to damage your property and pilfer you food, what’s not to like? On top of that he also boosts tourism so is actually brining money to the community (as opposed to take it from the community as most mayors do). It is my hope that more municipalities will find wisdom in the actions of Talkeetna, Alaska and vote cats into political office.

That’s Quite the Rap Sheet

It’s good to see that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) manages to find time to deal with real criminals like Matthew Swaye and Christina Gonzalez who have the audacity to film police officers being tyrannical dicks:

The flyer featured side-by-side mugshots of Matthew Swaye, 35, and his partner Christina Gonzalez, 25, and warned officers to be on guard against them. It was spotted by multiple people, including the couple, when it was taped to a podium outside a public hearing room in the 30th Precinct house last Thursday, where residents met for precinct council meeting.

“Be aware that above subjects are known professional agitators,” read the flyer, which bears the NYPD shield and a seal of the NYPD’s Intelligence Division. It also gave the home address of the couple.

“Above subjects MO is that they video tape officers performing routine stops and post on YouTube,” the sign said. “Subjects purpose is to portray officers in a negative way and too deter officers from conducting there [sic] responsibilities.”

How dare they film public officials, who are paid by the individuals through taxes, while they’re performing their work in public places! If citizens start holding the police accountable for their misdeeds the police state could be put at risk.

In all seriousness I find it funny that the NYPD are putting so much effort into “warning” officers about these two instead of realizing what the officers are doing is deplorable and should be stopped. The police have no right to stop and frisk individuals and any officer performing such action should themselves be arrested. Imagine what would happen if you stopped a police officer, threatened force against him if he didn’t submit to your authority, and began frisking him.

Good on Matthew Swaye and Christina Gonzalez, I hope other individuals follow in their footsteps. I would love to see police officers under constant surveillance by the people.

Using Guy Buybacks Against Gun Control Advocates

Gun buyback programs are, to put it bluntly, idiotic. The police use proceeds gathered from tax victims and civil forfeiture laws (i.e. direct theft) to buy firearms. While the gun control advocates claim these programs get guns off of the streets they only serve as evidence disposal since the police promise to ask no questions or perform any forensic analysis on the arms brought in. Criminals keep their firearm, individuals who have zero concept of the value of inherited firearms get sucked, and murders have a convenient method of getting the police to dispose of evidence. Fortunately not all is lost, a pro gun group managed to find a way to use a Chicago gun buyback against the police:

Sixty of the guns and several BB guns were turned in by the Champaign-based Guns Save Life. In return, the group received $6,240 in gift cards, said John Boch, president of the group.

Guns Save Life is known for the pro-gun signs the group posts along Interstate 57 between Chicago and Champaign. It also publishes a monthly gun journal.

Most of the money will go toward buying ammunition for an NRA youth camp in Bloomington. The rest will pay for four bolt-action rifles that will be given away to campers.

“This was rusty, non-firing junk that we turned in,” Boch said. “We are redirecting funds from people who would work against the private ownership of firearms to help introduce the next generation to shooting safely and responsibly.”

How great is that? Guns Save Life disposed of rusty nonfunctional junk and used the proceeds to introduce the next generation to firearms. The state may think it’s smart but individuals are smarter and will always find a way to use the state’s weapon against it.

A Slight Victory in the Donor Market

It’s not a secret that there is a severe shortage of organ and tissue donors in the world. Much of this can be attributed to law that prohibit those donating organs or other bodily substance from gaining financially. Thankfully it has been ruled that those donating bone marrow are no longer guilty of a crime when receiving compensation:

The Institute for Justice today announced a major legal victory for cancer patients and their families from across the nation when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declined to seek Supreme Court review of a March 2012 decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that compensating most bone- marrow donors is not a crime. This decision will give doctors and their patients a powerful tool in the fight against deadly blood diseases.

“This decision will not only save lives, but also reinforce the principle that doctors and patients should have the freedom to make their own choices when confronted with deadly diseases,” said Jeff Rowes, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice and lead counsel on the case.

Many hold the erroneous idea that organs sold for money are somehow so inferior to those donated that they should not even be accepted. This has created a major shortage because people, being self-interested creatures, desire compensation for giving up their property. Laws barring organ donors from receiving compensation is a direct violation of voluntary association as it prevents those wanting to sell their organs from doing so. These laws have also created a black market for organs, which have lead to stories of individuals waking up in a bathtub full of ice missing their kidneys. Hopefully this ruling will set a precedence and we’ll see the act of receiving compensation for donations become legal.