The great thing and the hard thing is
to stick to things when you have outlived the first interest,
and not yet got the second,
which comes with a sort of mastery.
Janet Erskine Stuart
Parody of the Day
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| Courtesy of the Weekly Standard |
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Stop Collateral Damage of the Failed War on Drugs: Young Child Victims
No-knock early morning raids often affect innocent families unknowingly living in residences allegedly linked in dated information with a drug trade operator. Who can forget this horrific incident from a few months back?
In Habersham County, Georgia, on May 28 a 19-month-old boy was severely burned in a botched no-knock raid on his family’s house. In that case, sheriffs deputies threw a flash-bang grenade into little Bou Bou Phonesavanh’s crib, blowing off his nose and burning his face and chest, which has required him to undergo more than $1 million worth of surgeries and treatment. Habersham County has to date refused to pay for the toddler’s medical expenses. The Georgia deputies found no drugs or guns in the house. They arrested the targeted suspect hours later at another house for possession of a small amount of methamphetamine. A grand jury deliberated over the case as presented by the district attorney but, as WND reported on Oct. 6, decided not to indict the Habersham Sheriff’s Office on any criminal charges.It turns out there was a similar springtime incident in California; in this case, the injuries weren't as catastrophic, but the police ignored the family's pleas that there was a toddler in the room:
In the California lawsuit, the Salinas family says they were awakened by the sound of scuffling footsteps and vehicles outside their condominium. When Jose Salinas drew the curtains of his bedroom window, he saw the barrel of a policeman’s gun pointed at him.
Police broke the front windows of the home and set off three smoke bombs. Police then crashed through the front door with guns drawn, yelling, “Get down and put your hands to your head!”
With laser guns pointed at them, Paulina and Jose Salinas were handcuffed and put to their knees, Courthouse News Service reported. Their 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son were shoved into a corner.
As police approached one of the bedrooms, Paulina Salinas and her two older children told officers there was a 2-year-old in the room. Police ignored them, told them to cover their ears, and threw a smoke bomb into the room as 2-year-old Justin Salinas stood near the door.
When the smoke bomb detonated, shrapnel from the blast hit Justin in the foot, causing first-degree burns and glass cuts.
The family was detained for four hours but “there was no resemblance of any claimant to any of the previous tenants at the location,” according to the complaint.Economic Freedom in Action
Political Humor
Facebook Corner
(Reason). Parents complain that there's "questionable content" (a Christmas tree) in The Nutcracker.
I don't know which is worse--the politically correct authoritarian censors who decide a classic ballet is not educationally worthy because of some incidental symbol (why not focus on the non-Christian sugar plum fairy?) or the bores who use the occasion to lecture us presumptuously on the confounding of certain pagan traditions with the Christmas calendar and secular holiday symbols, a snide attack on Christianity. In an institution that celebrates academic freedom, we should not be engaging in pushing-on-a-string prohibitions of religious symbols or speech in the public arena. If some parent doesn't want his child to attend a performance of the ballet, let him opt out, but don't let condescending cranks/jerks veto an educational experience for other parents/taxpayers' kids.
(Independent Institute). Senior Fellow Robert Higgs: "If we must choose—and indeed we must—between the world’s most powerful and aggressive state, on the one hand, and a man who wishes to move to Yakima to support his family by picking apples, on the other hand, which side does human decency dictate that we choose? Unfortunately, in this situation, it is all too plain that many Americans are choosing to worship the state and to make a fetish of the borders it has established by patently unjust means. As for this wandering Okie, I’d sooner prostrate myself before a golden calf."
Well all be over to your house to live. Go get the groceries man, and my child needs braces too, get an orthodontist booked. Oh and get you front lawn ready for our cars, we gotta have some place to park. And be dammed happy about it. Property has no boundaries, you have it and we plan to take it. See you tomorrow.
Xenophobe right-wing authoritarian trolls should understand what an author writes before publishing their nonsense. I have personally lived, worked and paid taxes in several states; I never migrated to another state to freeload off other residents; I didn't have to apply for a visa to reunite with my family or work in Texas for a sponsoring employer; said troll doesn't recognize the unalienable right to liberty, including the right to travel. When I was a Texas high school student, I didn't get hassled attending a bullfight in Nuevo Laredo, and when I was a UTEP professor, I joined other professors for lunch at a favorite Juarez restaurant without hunting for my passport. Why do you Statist trolls believe that a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats should arbitrarily restrict the rights to travel, work where one prefers?
(Citizens Against Government Waste). The House GOP voted in favor of legislation that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing new environmental regulations without presenting scientific data to justify them.
Democrats claim that the move violates federal law as it could force the EPA to release confidential patient information, but Republicans claim the measure will save taxpayer money and increase transparency at the agency.
As a taxpayer, which view do you most agree with? Share your thoughts below!
So much for the hypocritical "most transparent" administration in history. We have a bureaucracy run amok without accountability, based on the whims of special interest environmental crackpots. All government regulations should be cost-justified, including economic burden to businesses and consumers. It is economic suicide to add to regime uncertainty discouraging job-creating investment. What about many corporations sitting on cash unwilling to invest under this lawless administration is difficult for people to understand?
(Cato Institute). "Governing by executive order is no way to run an immigration policy, let alone an entire government…The GOP-controlled Congress should respond to Obama’s executive order by passing a bill that simplifies the immigration system.”
Mr. Cato, you're right.... But Republicans did not lift a finger, forcing the President's hand..
Force his hand? The Fascist-in-Chief does NOT negotiate in good faith. He insists on capitulation. This is the same guy who sabotaged the immigration compromise of 2007 with a compromise-killing amendment. The GOP has been willing to negotiate legal status for long-term residents in good standing; they also want to allow temporary work permits, opposed by Democrat unions and to expand high-skilled immigration. Obama waited until after the midterms for totally political reasons--and was not even willing to wait for the new Congress to meet, despite Speaker Boehner's public commitment to pursue immigration legislation.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Cato Institute |
Glen Campbell, "Honey, Come Back".
