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Typical of Government…

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Spend money in droves to solve a problem when they could be making money instead.  What am I talking about?

Killing seven members of a wolf pack that repeatedly attacked a Northeast Washington rancher’s cattle cost about $76,500, according to preliminary state figures.

You cannot obtain wolf tags within the state of Washington.  Not even depredation tags which would allow the wolves to be taken as they’re a problem to live stock.  Think about that for a second, instead of allowing the public to hunt, control, and otherwise reign in this problem, the state spends almost a half million dollars a year on the problem.

The best part is they aren’t even really maintaining the status quo, overall they’re loosing and the problem is getting worse.

Idaho finally got the right idea and made tags dirt cheap because odds are you won’t see a wolf, they’re too damn smart, but if you do see one, shoot the bastard!  As usual animal rights activists I’m sure will end up in an uproar because they live in places like LA or Seattle where they don’t get to experience the problem first hand.  If we could relocate the wolves so the animal lovers could live with the problem I’d be in full support.

As an FYI my buddies who went elk hunting in Idaho this year informed me the hunts were a total bust.  Why?  Wolf tracks were on the tail of any elk tracks they found.  The packs are out of control and decimating wildlife.  Remember though, according to the animal rights folks, all will work itself out.  Never mind there is no other predator to hunt the wolf, I guess their solution is the extinction of the elk and deer herds.

Lets not forget increasing the state deficit in Washington by having to pay farmers for damaged stock and then the state trying to hunt them down.  Know what’s easier?  Hunters will pay you for the opportunity.  Hell I would go out of my way a few times to go wolf hunting.

Truth as Drawn by Gabe and Tycho

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That right there is a heaping dose of truth.  My inbox has been full of “Black November” deals.  There are a few things I would like to get, one of which I would like to order enough in advance so I have it prior to a business trip just after Thanksgiving.

But I digress.  The rule growing up was Christmas was a forbidden item until the day after Thanksgiving.  After that we could put up decorations and the like.  For the most part when I was real little that was even avoided.  One we had a live tree so the longer it was in the house the more likely it was to combust.  The other reason was to provide a demarcation line between my birthday and Christmas.

Overall the obsession with sales the day after Thanksgiving has always bugged the hell out of me.  Even more than that with it now encroaching on Thanksgiving dinner itself it just seems all sorts of wrong.

One, I don’t like masses of people, especially if something spooks them its a great way to end up in a bad situation.  The other is you know what I really would rather do that try to buy the newest Tickle Me Elmo?  Sit around with friends and family, chat, drink, and enjoy each other’s company.  If you’re so obsessed with buying something that you forget the little things, try living in a house where layoffs usually occurred around Christmas.  It certainly helps you realize what the real priorities are.

Gabe nailed this on the head, people who shop on Thanksgiving are monsters and should not be encouraged.

SSCC #457 – Pinellas Park

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Try to stop the flames of a fire from reaching your house because the fire department still hasn’t arrived, the police will tase you for it.

But after a few minutes passed without firefighters arriving, a frustrated Jensen stepped forward and leaned down to grab the skinny gray garden hose once again.

That’s when he heard the order.

“Hit ’em! Take him down! Tase him!”

The claim is that by attempting to defend his house from the fire he was endangering the officers and supposedly himself.

Well if the officers don’t want to get dirty, stay the hell back.  Second there was 10 feet between the fire and his house, plenty of room to maneuver.  My personal favorite though is this claim by the department.

Pinellas Park Capt. Sanfield Forseth told the Tampa Bay Times authorities could have even charged Jensen with obstruction, but decided against it.

Uhh, listen sparky, I can tell you exactly why the prosecutor, not your deputies, refused to press charges.  No jury in the world would convict or sympathize because what he was doing does not fit the legal definition of obstruction.  Tell me, how was he interfering with officers of the court?  Was he attempting to lie, give false information, or otherwise inhibit the investigation of a crime?

At best you could attempt to hold him for contempt of cop except honestly your officers didn’t have authority there either.  Personally if this guy is married, his wife should have grabbed the AR and shot every last one of them.  Seriously, that was uncalled for and unnecessary.

Personally had I been an officer there I would have helped keep the fire from his house, since if it spreads fighting it gets a lot worse.  This is what happens when you create monkeys who only know how to pull a trigger and are trained not to think.

What really pisses me off:

He said that when they arrived on the scene, they told him to back off and let insurance take care of it. He did for a few minutes but grew impatient and irate. He picked up the hose again because he thought firefighters weren’t getting there soon enough.

Hey assholes, some things are irreplaceable and there’s still this thing called a deductible   But it’s not your money right?

State Sponsored Criminal #457: Officer John Doe

Because a man attempting to prevent loosing his house to fire is an immediate threat to the public and requires the use of force to a level of which involves incapacitating him and could still be lethal.*

*It’s less lethal, not non-lethal there idiots.

h/t Uncle

Wounded Warrior Foundation Puts Foot In Mouth…

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So it appears the Wounded Warrior Project went and shoved their foot in their mouth with regards to a large segment of the population which graciously throws money at them.

“WWP does not co-brand, create cause marketing campaigns or receive a percentage or a portion of proceeds from companies in which the product or message is sexual, political or religious in nature, or from alcohol or firearms companies.“

Screenshot in case they memory hole the end statement.

In case you didn’t read the first link, this includes doing interviews with firearm related talk  radio.  Given that it would also prevent firearm events raising funds for their cause,  including donations of firearms to be raffled to raise funds.

Now they are free to do whatever they would like, just the same I am free to send my funds to groups as I would like.  I will say that refusing to talk on a radio show because they are gun related show isn’t probably the brightest thing to do.  In the grand scheme it certainly feels like a snub, especially when someone is going out of their way to give them free publicity.

So instead from now on when I would normally give to WWP I will instead send it to Soldiers’ Angels.  Honestly this is where I send most of my support anyway.  If you would like to continue donating to the WWP, that is your call and I am not knocking their cause or mission.  I will say I am offended that they would politicize a stance over a fundamental right and use their mission and purpose as a screen.  It appears that I’m not the only one thinking about cutting WWP off from their wallet either.

If the WWP wants to discriminate against gun owners or otherwise snub our overwhelming generosity to those who need it, especially those in uniform, we will find someone else who does want it.  It’s what we do.

I will say that Soldiers’ Angels was at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous this year and the fundraising was directed at them.  Patti Patton-Bader’s youngest son was there as a representative of the group and had a blast shooting steel and even got him interested in USPSA.  We even got him hitting the steel out at 950.

So at least it appears that Soldiers’ Angels has their head on straight and realizes that it doesn’t matter where it comes from, what matters is the mission and the cause.  It pains me that I even have to think about it, but they made the choice not me.  So, if you’d rather not donate to WWP but still want to support wounded troops, Soldiers’ Angels works, quite well I might add.

You don’t just have to donate money, there are many options from sewing to writing letters to support the troops.  Honestly, when you consider it, Soldier’s Angels has the benefit of being much more personal in their approach, especially for the wounded.

I’ve spoken my piece. Wounded Warrior Project will no longer get a cent out of my wallet.  Instead I will send that and more to a project fully focused on the mission of providing support to wounded warriors as well as their brother’s in arms.

You want to see why the power is still out in parts of NY?

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Just look at this picture.

Image via WFTV

What did that man do to get assaulted?

Applewhite said he had just finished working a 13-hour day and was going to get dinner with the rest of his crew when he stepped out of his utility truck and was attacked by a resident.

Honestly if I was with any utility crew that was in the area to help restore power I’d pack up and leave.  They were up all the way from Florida to help.  Even if I lived in the area and worked locally, I’d pack up and move.  When you attack the people trying to help you, you don’t deserve help.  You deserve to suffer and be stuck solving the problem on your own.

He left his family to go help and work long hours in the process.  His reward for that was a broken jaw and multiple fractures.

Can someone please explain to me how this was some how supposed to aid in the restoration of power?  Does a black eye and broken jaw help a lineman do his job safely?  Does it some how give him magical powers to see what needs to be done to the line to bring it back into service?

What I do absolutely love though is that idiot Mayor absolutely doesn’t care because it didn’t involve the use of a firearm.  Heaven forbid he actually bring in the National Guard to help maintain order and provide a safe working environment for utility crews.  Nope, only his anointed class can carry firearms in the city.  In the mean time utility workers are being assaulted for trying to get the lights back on.

Personally, I say leave them in the dark and let them rot if that’s how they’re going to behave.  Things aren’t magically fixed overnight no matter how bad you want them to be.  Evidently massive damage can be magically undone with a snap of the fingers.  Up to and including transformer replacement, line replacement, pole replacement, substation replacement, protective relay replacement, and line communication replacement.  Will the individual who discovered this ability to fix things at the snap of their fingers please start a company to provide services, they could certainly be used in a time like this.

As for dealing with this problem, at minimum leave the lights off till that man’s buddies turn him in.  You know he went and bragged to someone about beating up a utility crew to “show them they mean business.”  Well just leave the lights off until the car and owner is found.

Seriously, incidents like this piss me right the hell off and I am being quite honest about letting them fix this crap themselves if that’s how they’re going to behave.  You think a couple of weeks are bad, try a couple of years when no one helps next time.

SSCC #452-#456: Socorro

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Alvarez, Orta, Varela and Delgado are accused of official oppression, but no further details were released. In addition, Varela and Delgado face charges of aggravated perjury and tampering with governmental records.

Now yes they got busted and they seem to be tight lipped as to the problems.  But there are two serious notes, one this bust accounted for 15% of the department.  The second:

Alvarez, who has been in and out of the police department in the past couple of years, was rehired by the city in July 2011 as lieutenant. He took over as the leader of the police department after the Police Chief Jaime Avalos went on medical leave in September 2010. Avalos continues to be absent from the department, and Garcia would not say whether he has been fired or is still employed.

Alvarez was involved in a previous internal investigation in 2008, when he was accused of dereliction of duty and prisoner abuse. He was investigated for allegedly using unnecessary force against Ricardo Landeros during an arrest. A grand jury declined to prosecute.

Imagine that, there was a history with these officers and the department had a reason to be concerned about their behavior.  Have no fear though because the department is arguing these men are the exception rather than the rule.  Given the history involved here, that claim is highly suspect.

State Sponsored Criminal #452: Jose Alvarez

#453: Refugio Orta

#454: Raul Huerta

#455: Javier Varela

#456: Israel Delgado

Because the people shouldn’t pay attention to the history surrounding officers, remember the whole department is infallible. 

Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

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So Garand Gal relayed a story that I highly suggest you go and read.  Seriously, go read it, I’ll still be here when you’re done.

Did you read it? Good.  Now there are some serious take aways from this incident.  First it is another data point in my philosophy of “Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.”  Second, absorb and retain her first four bullet points.  Most especially paying attention to what the dog is telling you.

That dog knew there was a problem and was quite aware of it, long before the owner did.  This isn’t as much to say the owner wasn’t paying attention, but animals have a serious knack for picking up on ques that you or I might miss.  If you have a pet and they start acting funny, listen and pay attention, odds are they’re telling you something.    It doesn’t even necessarily have to be with regard to self-defense.  Our cats let us know one of our toilet tanks was leaking and also informed us of our mouse problem.  If we hadn’t paid attention we’d have bigger problems than we currently do.

As for what she did, that was about the best possible outcome.  In that case how can you tell who the good guy and who the bad guy is?  I will say that anyone who gets out of the safety of their car and then starts shooting at another one probably needs an immediate shot of lead to their center of mass.  Especially if the vehicle they’re shooting at isn’t trying to run them over.  Remember, if you’re in a road rage incident, stay in your vehicle, which honestly this could have easily been mistaken for a case of road rage.  If someone starts shooting at you while you’re in a vehicle… you’re in a 3,000 lbs weapon, use it!  A note about the guy following in the Jeep, I applaud your initiative, but next time, call 911 first and be ready because criminals don’t like people interrupting them most certainly those who try to stop them.

I’m not sure what Garand Gal could have done differently other than engaging, except she had no clear cut defining line of who was friend or foe.  The fact one fled on foot certainly also helps color who was in the right and who was in the wrong, but we are still playing the game of hindsight.  As it all went down she kept something between her and the questionable parties.  When she finally did pay attention to the dog, her attention went to where it needed to be.

My big crux is read her story and learn what you can from it. You don’t get second chances in these types of incidents and getting a solid write up of an experience like that helps you learn what to look for and most importantly can crush false misconceptions you might have.

Quote of the Day – RobertaX (11/12/2012)

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This is how liberty is lost: one bedwetting do-gooder law at a time.

Roberta X: Scary — Go- BOOM!
November 9th, 2012

[There’s a common saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” and whoever said that was right on the money.

As usual this is a bed wetting politician who has gone into PSH over the fact that people can shoot targets that go boom!  I think his real problem is that while he may be NRA – A rated, he’s upset because reactive targets are loved by new shooters.

Senator Merritt, while this video I created was originally directed and Joan Peterson of Brady fame over pumpkins, I find that it could be easily directed at you.  Yes, we packed every one of those pumpkins full of explosives.  Yes we shot them.  Yes they exploded in a shower of pumpkin guts.  So I guess Senator you’re a perfect replacement for Joan in this video as well.

I suggest you stop being a puritan and just accept the fact that yes, there are people in this world who want to have fun by blowing stuff up.  No one is forcing you to do it and despite what you think, the majority of the public is quite safe with it. -B ]