National Worker ID Card Proposed for Immigration Plan

National Worker ID Card Proposed for Immigration Plan

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Quote:

A comprehensive immigration bill coming together in the Senate could include a requirement that all American workers obtain a national biometric identification card. Under the proposal, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would get an ID card with information such as fingerprints embedded onto it, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03...lan/#c26120015

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...igration-plan/

Ok....let me think about this for a moment.

In order to work "on the books", you go in a and show a legal ID, a Social Security Card, and complete both a W4 tax withholding form and an I9 proof of employability form.

... See More
This is of course to stop illegals and off the books employment.

The employer is required to keep these on file.

So....if the employer is not doing that now....what makes these idiots in office thing adding another layer of paperwork is going to change anything?

How about this.
Go to where illegals are likely to be working or seeking work, and check ID's, check permits and check paperwork. Deport the illegals, and fine the fuck out of the employers.

Where are these people? Check out the gas stations, home improvement stores and vegetable fields. Duh. There's a good start Uncle Sam.

Here's another hint. That teller at the bank, cop on patrol, or big box manager, is most likely NOT an illegal.

This isn't that hard, if you would actually, you know, ENFORCE THE FUCKING LAWS WE ALREADY HAVE YOU DUMB STONE PRICKS!!!!!!!!

Why is it that if you ask a Senator how to get from A to B, he has to take you through the Chinese alphabet by way of the Quard Dimension? What ever happened to a straight fucking line?

The US Transportation Security Administration - True Professionals, Highly Efficient! Not!

 

Derogatory 'Jeopardy' board launches TSA probe


STORY HIGHLIGHTS [Link]

• Managers ridiculed gay men, African-Americans, lesbians, sources say
• Board was made to look like categories in TV game show "Jeopardy"
• TSA's Office of Inspection is investigating at the Orlando Field office," statement says

The board, resembling the TV game show "Jeopardy," includes categories such as "pickle smokers," "our gang" and "creatures," which sources said were names used by managers for gay men, African-Americans and lesbians.
A photograph of the board was sent to CNN. The Transportation Security Administration confirmed the investigation in a written statement but did not elaborate on when the board was in use, where it was displayed or how it was used.
 

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I feel safer already knowing these true professionals, these credits to the honored field of law enforcement, these bastions of integrity, these guardians of our safety are on the job and protecting us from old people, gay men and Jimmy Walker.


Naw.

I've got respect for the real cops, not these police academy washouts who couldn't find a bomber if they were told 6 months in advance, had a picture of him and a description on where he'd shoved the grenade.

Here's some examples of the KeyStone Kops who "protect" our airports.
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TSA: Employee's actions led to Newark security breach
A security breach at the Newark, New Jersey, airport over the weekend was caused by an officer of the Transportation Security Administration who left his post unattended, an agency spokeswoman said Thursday.

TSA puts 5 on leave after security manual hits Internet
Five Transportation Security Administration employees have been placed on administrative leave after a sensitive airport security manual was posted on the Internet, the agency announced Wednesday.

TSA launches leak investigation
Federal officers charged with keeping terrorists off planes are now searching their own ranks for staff who told CNN that few flights were protected by air marshals.

Time.com: Airport Screeners Dress for Respect
The TSA thinks its screeners have an image problem. The solution: real badges and blue uniforms

Loaded gun slips through airport security
A passenger who went through an airport security checkpoint -- before remembering that he had a loaded gun -- is facing charges after going back to report his error, authorities said.

GAO: Investigators pass security at 19 airports with bomb parts
Investigators with bomb-making components in their luggage and on their person were able to pass through security checkpoints at 19 U.S. airports without detection, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Time.com: Holes Exposed in Airport Security
Government investigators smuggled liquid explosives and detonators past airport security, exposing inadequacies in the nation's ability to safeguard airplanes

Airport screeners failed to find most fake bombs, TSA says
Screeners failed to find most of the fake bombs smuggled by plainclothes investigators through checkpoints at two major airports from late 2005 until last fall, the Transportation Security Administration said Thursday.

Security breach reported at Charlotte airport
A man allegedly circumvented security Friday at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, causing headaches for screeners and passengers.

Airport security targets the inside threat
The Transportation Security Administration carried out surprise inspections on workers at five airports in Florida and Puerto Rico on Monday, one week after a baggage handler in Orlando allegedly used his airport credentials to smuggle more than a dozen firearms into a commercial jetliner.

New York TSA Agent Reassigned After Photographed Napping
AP| U.S.
… New York TSA Agent Reassigned After Photographed Napping ..... and posted it online. His link was sent to TSA officials. The unidentified agent has been ..... investigation. The agent might have been on a break. TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said agents have very …
Story|01/28/2010

TSA Worker Fired After Pulling Prank on Student at Airport
AP| U.S.
… TSA Worker Fired After Pulling Prank on Student ..... luggage. The worker is no longer employed by the TSA after the incident this month, a spokeswoman ..... that process was told that the man was training TSA workers to detect contraband. Two days later …
Story|01/23/2010

TSA Agent Arrested at Airport for Avoiding Pre-Flight Screening
AP| U.S.
… TSA Agent Arrested at Airport for Avoiding Pre-Flight Screening Saturday, July ..... again. It's unclear why Weems avoided the screenings. Officials with the TSA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport …
Story|07/04/2009

Are Latest TSA Regulations "Too Stupid for America"?
By Judith Miller| -                                  FOXNews.com| Opinion
… Article comments Updated December 28, 2009 Are Latest TSA Regulations "Too Stupid for America"? By Judith ..... shows, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, visit the TSA Web site for comic relief. The TSA , an acronym that appears to stand for “Too Stupid for …
Story|12/28/2009

TSA Allegedly Waited 80 Minutes Before Reporting Breach at N.J. Airport
FOXNews.com| U.S.
… TSA Allegedly Waited 80 Minutes Before Reporting ..... the incident, MyFoxNY.com reported. The TSA said they needed time to investigate the traveler ..... security officers stationed at the exit," the TSA reportedly said in a statement. "We're investigating …
Story|01/05/2010

TSA Confiscates Boy's Play-Doh at New Orleans Airport
AP| U.S.
… TSA Confiscates Boy's Play-Doh at New Orleans ..... Christmas flight out of New Orleans last week, the TSA confiscated young Josh Pitney’s Play-Doh ..... Doh." Pitney continued, "And the man from TSA was taking every can out at a time and putting …
Story|01/05/2010

Man Who Caused Security Breach at N.J. Airport Soon Left, TSA Says
AP| U.S.
… Caused Security Breach at N.J. Airport Soon Left, TSA Says Monday, January 04, 2010 NEWARK, N.J. A ..... thought he saw a man enter through the doors Sunday, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said. TSA reviewed surveillance video before sweeping the airport …
Story|01/04/2010

Man Arrested in Newark Airport Security Breach

AP| U.S.

… Congressional hearings. The breach led the TSA to shut down one of Newark Liberty International ..... because the investigation is in progress. TSA employees are not unionized, but the ..... declined to publicly identify him. The TSA has said the guard has been on administrative …

Story|01/09/2010

TSA Says Kid Bound for Grandma's House on No-Fly List

AP| POLITICS

… TSA Says Kid Bound for Grandma's House on No-Fly List Thursday, January 05 ..... t think he should go through the trouble of being harassed and hindered." TSA regional spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said the agency tells airlines not to deny …

Story|01/05/2006

Border Bullies - The Department of Homeland Security in Action

Border Bullies - The Department of Homeland Security in Action

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http://www.michaelyon-online.com/border-bullies.htm
From a year ago.
Excerpts:

Quote:

While the U.S. Immigration officer named Knapp rifled through all her belongings, Aew sat quietly. She was afraid of this man, who eventually pushed a keyboard to Aew and coerced her into giving up the password to her e-mail address. Officer Knapp read through Aew's e-mails that were addressed to me, and mine to her. Aew would tell me later that she sat quietly, but “Inside I was crying.” She had been so excited to finally visit America. America, the only country ever to coerce her at the border. This is against everything I know about winning and losing the subtle wars. This is against everything I love about the United States. We are not supposed to behave like this. Aew would tell me later that she thought she would be arrested if she did not give the password. The Government of the United States was reading the private e-mails of a U.S. citizen (me). The Department of “Homeland Security” was at work, intimidating visitors with legitimate visas. They had at least 24 hours to check her out before she landed in the United States. What kind of security is this? The Department of Homeland Security was at this moment more like the Department of Intimidation. Officer Knapp called my phone as I was driving to the Orlando airport. I was going to be there two hours early to make sure I would be on time, so that she had a warm welcome to my country. But instead, Knapp was busy detaining Aew in Minneapolis and was on my cell phone asking all types of personal questions that he had no business asking. Sensing that Aew was in trouble, I answered his questions. Mr. Knapp was a rude smart aleck. The call is likely recorded and that recording would bear out my claims. This officer of the United States government, a grown man, had coerced personal informati

Quote:

When I discovered that she had missed her flight, after about 24 hours of travel thus far, I called immigration at Minneapolis and asked to speak with Officer Knapp. Knapp got on the phone, but this time it was me questioning him. Knapp told me it was legal to read e-mails. I asked for his first name, but he was afraid to give his first name, which was rather strange for someone working within the confines of an airport where everyone has been searched for weapons. Where I work, in a war zone, soldiers give their first and last names and face Taliban and al Qaeda heads up, man to man. I write about al Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorist groups who kill thousands of people. My name is Michael Yon. My first name is Michael. Mr. Knapp hides behind a badge bullying a woman whose only activities are Yoga, reading, travel, and telling me what is healthy and unhealthy to eat. Knapp is a face of Homeland Security. How many other officers at Homeland Security bully 90-pound women, but are afraid to give their own names? Knowing that Homeland Security officers are creating animosity and anxiety at our borders does not make me feel safer. How many truly bad guys slip by while U.S. officers stand in small rooms and pick on little women? I have just returned from Afghanistan and Iraq on a trip with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and I can assure you that we can do better. We do not have to violate human rights and insult our closest allies to maintain our security.

_

Is aviation security mostly for show? By Bruce Schneier

Bruce Schneier pens a brilliant piece on the issues with our approach to Airplane and air port security. I highly recommend you read it.

Fragment:
"Once a society starts circumventing its own laws, the risks to its future stability are much greater than terrorism.

Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country's way of life; it's only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage. The more we undermine our own laws, the more we convert our buildings into fortresses, the more we reduce the freedoms and liberties at the foundation of our societies, the more we're doing the terrorists' job for them.

Today, we can project indomitability by rolling back all the fear-based post-9/11 security measures. Our leaders have lost credibility; getting it back requires a decrease in hyperbole. Ditch the invasive mass surveillance systems and new police state-like powers. Return airport security to pre-9/11 levels. Remove swagger from our foreign policies. Show the world that our legal system is up to the challenge of terrorism. Stop telling people to report all suspicious activity; it does little but make us suspicious of each other, increasing both fear and helplessness."

"http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/29/schneier.air.travel.security.theater/index.html

Pastor Tazed in US "Constitution Free Zone"

Pastor Tazed in US "Constitution Free Zone"

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http://immigration.change.org/blog/v...antless_search

Quote:

According to this pastor, the State Security Apparatus decided to break his car windows, taze him repeatedly, and then stomp on his head because he refused to consent to a warrantless search and seizure in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.

So, tell me again why US Border Patrol is manning road blocks outside Phoenix AZ? Isn't the border, quite a bit south of there?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes...red.pastor.cnn

I know, I know, shut up and do what they say, or else Osama will win.

The Rush Towards Socialism – and How To Stop It by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

The Rush Towards Socialism – and How To Stop It
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

It only took the Obama administration a couple of weeks to prove that the national leadership of the Democratic Party is guided by totalitarian-minded socialists who seek to create an omnipotent government. The U.S. government is now controlled by people who have been dreaming of living out their utopian socialist fantasies ever since the fantasies were brought to their attention in college decades ago by their Mao/Castro/Che Guevara poster-hanging, capitalism-hating, communistic professors.

The administration’s main agenda is an explosion of federal spending and debt so large and outrageous that America will soon exceed Sweden in the proportion of the economy that is controlled by government – if it hasn’t already. That’s just for starters. They also want to sharply increase taxes on the most productive and hardest-working people in society; increase the capital gains tax to deter private investment; expand the welfare state; spend trillions on pure, pork barrel spending in a massive vote-buying spree; set all corporate compensation levels by governmental fiat; tax away the wealth of unpopular business people (only starting with those AIG executives); regulate and control all risk taking by private entrepreneurs; enforce a civilian draft to create a modern-day, American version of the Hitler Youth (See Rahm Emanuel’s creepy, Stalinist-sounding book entitled The Plan); nationalize entire industries, starting with the capital markets (they understand that there can be no capitalism without private capital markets); and double, triple, and quadruple the number of "regulators" who already regulate all aspects of human life in America.

At the recent G-20 meeting Obama even signed off on the creation of an international regulatory "authority" that could set compensation policies in American corporations. On top of this, there is a never-ending drumbeat of anti-capitalist propaganda coming from the administration and its worshipful mouthpieces in the "mainstream media."

What can be done? How can this rush toward totalitarian socialism be stopped? Will the Republicans find another old, angry geezer to appeal to the angry white male vote? How about another mumbling and incompetent Bush family heir? Will there be another Reagan who will talk libertarian while governing more like a European Social Democrat? Will they trot out another old "war hero" who will plunge us into war with Iran, North Korea, China, or whomever, to divert our attention away from the economic mess government has placed us in? These are the likely alternatives if we cling to the fantasy that "throwing the bums out" at election time leads to something other than another group of slightly different bums.

The fact is that the American people have been servants or slaves to their government for generations. It wasn’t always that way. When the Adams administration enforced the Sedition Act that made criticism of the federal government illegal, Jefferson and Madison responded with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolves of 1798 that clearly stated that the people did not intend to allow the enforcement of this unconstitutional law within those two states. Section One of Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolve stated, for example, that "the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principles of unlimited submission to their General Government . . ." Other states supported Jefferson and Madison in their defense of free speech.

When President Thomas Jefferson imposed a national trade embargo and consummated the Louisiana Purchase, New Englanders, led by George Washington’s Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, loudly threatened to secede. They decided against it (for practical economic and political reasons) at the Hartford Secession Convention of 1814, but their actions sent a clear message to national politicians.

Outraged by the embargo, the Massachusetts legislature used the language of Jefferson’s own Kentucky Resolve to proclaim that the embargo "was not legally binding on the citizens of the state" while denouncing the federal law as "unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional" and reminding President Jefferson that "this state maintains its sovereignty and independence . . ." All the New England states, plus Delaware, did the exact same thing and nullified the embargo.

When Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of the United States, a precursor to the Fed, created 72 percent inflation in the first five years of its existence and corrupted politics with its politicized spending policies, citizens all over the country assisted President Andrew Jackson in eventually destroying the institution. The heroic Ohio legislature slapped a $50,000/year tax on each branch of the BUS, attempting to drive it out of business. "The states have an equal right to interpret the Constitution for themselves," announced the Ohio legislature, and it decided that the BUS was not constitutional. Kentucky, Tennessee, Connecticut, South Carolina, New York, and New Hampshire followed suit.

When the War of 1812 broke out the New England states effectively seceded from the union by refusing to participate. A proclamation by the Connecticut legislature was representative of the opinions of New Englanders: "[i]t must not be forgotten that the state of Connecticut is a FREE SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT State; that the United States are a confederated and not a consolidated Republic," and that it was refusing to support the war.

When the 1828 "Tariff of Abominations" created an average tariff rate of 45%, applying mostly to Northern manufactured goods, South Carolinians clearly understood that this was a pure act of political plunder at their expense. They convened a political convention to utilize the Jeffersonian idea of nullification and refused to collect the tariff. They even got the South Carolina legislature to allocate $160,000 for the purchase of firearms with which to fend off any would-be federal tax collectors. The result was that they forced the federal government to lower the tariff rate.

During the 1850s the "middle states" of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey developed a very active secession movement that sought to either join a Southern confederacy, form a middle-states confederacy, or support Southern secession. (See The Secession Movement in the Middle States by William C. Wright). Their overriding desire was to separate themselves from the imperious New England Yankees.

When the Southern states seceded in 1860–61, Abraham Lincoln pledged his everlasting support for Southern slavery in his first inaugural address, an address in which he endorsed a constitutional amendment (the "Corwin Amendment") that would have forbidden the federal government from ever interfering with slavery. In the same speech he promised a military invasion and "bloodshed" in any Southern state that ceased paying his beloved tariff on imports which, at the time, accounted for more than 90% of federal tax revenue. The average tariff rate had just been doubled by the Republican-controlled Congress.

The Southern states, along with most people in the North, still held the Jeffersonian belief that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and when that consent is withdrawn the citizens have a duty to abolish the existing government and form a new one. Jefferson never wrote in the Declaration of Independence that the citizens have a duty to abolish the government and form a new one "as long as the other states all agree that you may do so." If the right of secession depends on someone else’s permission, then one does not have a right of secession. That was a fantasy invented by Lincoln, which he used to "justify" waging total war on his own country, murdering some 350,000 American citizens, including some 50,000 civilians. From that time on, government in America was no longer "for the people, by the people, of the people," as Chief Justice John Marshal once said in a phrase that was later plagiarized by Lincoln. From that time on the purpose of government has been for those who run it to plunder those who do not. Nullification and secession were no longer tools with which the citizens could control their own government.

The final nails in the coffin of government by consent were pounded in during the year 1913 with the advent of the federal income tax, the creation of the Fed, and the Seventeenth Amendment calling for the direct election of U.S. senators. The income tax and the Fed gave the federal government the ability to do whatever it wanted to do regardless of the Constitution – even to wage "undeclared" wars. These vast "riches" were used to make millions of Americans totally subservient to the state lest they lose their tiny government subsidies, and to bribe or threaten state governments to do whatever our masters in Washington, D.C. decree, lest they lose their cherished federal highway grants. The ability of the citizens to oppose the federal Leviathan by organizing political communities at the state and local levels was finally destroyed and the centralized, monopolistic bureaucracy that rules America and much of the rest of the world today was created.

The direct election of U.S. senators, as opposed to the original system of having them appointed by state legislature, ended popular control of the federal government. Today, candidates for the senate go to New York, California, China, or wherever the big money is that can be raised as "campaign contributions" to finance their political careers. The interests of such "contributors" are not necessarily congruent with those of the folks back home.

If American citizens are to resist the rush to Obammunism they must first give up on the fantasy that the Republican Party is anything but another cabal of crooks, conmen and clowns, just like the Democratic Party. The only realistic route to freedom, including a restoration of genuine free enterprise, is through the devolution of power away from Washington, D.C. via peaceful secession and nullification, the original American ideals.

Thomas Jefferson understood that democracy could never work in a country as large as the U.S., let alone one with more than 300 million people. In a January 29, 1804 letter to Dr. Joseph Priestly he wrote: "Whether we remain one confederacy, or form into Atlantic and Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very important to the happiness of either part. Those of the western confederacy will be as much our children & descendants as those of the eastern." On the topic of secession, Jefferson continued: "[D]id I now foresee a separation at some future day, yet I should feel the duty & the desire to promote the western interests as zealously as the eastern, doing all the good for both portions of our future family which should fall within my power." When the New England Federalists were threatening secession, Jefferson wrote to his friend John C. Breckinridge on August 12, 1803 that if New England seceded and created a second confederacy, "God bless them both if it be for their good, but separate them, if it is better."

Unlike Lincoln, Jefferson did not believe in threatening "bloodshed" in the case of a "separation" or secession. He understood that such behavior would be a moral abomination and an unimaginable act of barbarianism. A civilized society does not wage total war on "our children," as Jefferson described the future citizens of a new state formed by an act of secession. Yet it is Lincoln, not Jefferson, who is portrayed by American court historians as a kindly, benevolent, and charitable angel.

The Constitution long ago ceased placing any meaningful limits on governmental power. This social contract between the American people and their government was destroyed long ago by Hamiltonian nationalists. Americans now live under a series of dictators (called "presidents") who all believe that they are essentially dictators of the world, capable of ordering the bombing of any place on earth without anyone’s approval. (Within weeks, Obama dipped his hands in blood by ordering a few bombs to be dropped in Pakistan).

As of this writing, several dozen states have reportedly issued resolutions in support of the Jeffersonian principle of nullification. These will all be completely meaningless unless the American public has the fortitude to actually enforce the resolutions and begin ignoring any and all federal government actions that they interpret as unconstitutional and illegitimate. In addition, citizens of every state should learn about the Second Vermont Republic which, for several years now, has been laying the groundwork for Vermont to secede and once again become an free and independent republic, just as all the states thought of themselves as being prior to 1865.

April 14, 2009

Thomas J. DiLorenzo [send him mail] is professor of economics at Loyola College in Maryland and the author of The Real Lincoln; Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed To Know about Dishonest Abe and How Capitalism Saved America. His latest book is Hamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution – And What It Means for America Today.

Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

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Counting Mexico's Guns

Obama says 90% are from the US, Fox says 17%, so, who's right?

From FactCheck: (click for full article and stats)
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Counting Mexico's Guns
April 17, 2009
Updated: April 22, 2009

President Obama says 90 percent of Mexico's recovered crime guns come from the U.S. That's not what the statistics show.

Summary
There's no dispute that thousands of handguns, military-style rifles and other firearms are purchased in the U.S. and end up in the hands of Mexican criminals each year. It's relatively easy to buy such guns legally in Texas and other border states and to smuggle them across.

But is it true, as President Obama said, that "[m]ore than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States?" Government statistics don’t actually support that claim.

The figure represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials. We can find no hard data on the total number of guns actually "recovered in Mexico," but U.S. and Mexican officials both say that Mexico recovers more guns than it submits for tracing. Therefore, the percentage of guns "recovered" that are traced to U.S. sources necessarily is less than 90 percent. Where do the others come from? U.S. officials can’t say.

Fox News has put the percentage of guns that have been traced to U.S. sources at only 17 percent, but we find that to be based on a mistaken assumption that throws its figure way off. We can't offer a precise calculation because we know of no hard information on the total number of guns Mexican officials have recovered. But if a rough figure given by Mexico's attorney general is accurate, then the actual percentage of all Mexican crime guns that have been traced to U.S. sources is more than double what Fox News has reported.
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BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

How to exercise your constitutional rights during encounters with police.

RON PAUL - Audit the Federal Reserve!!! - HR 1207

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlmXUiEgNO8

Encourage your representitive to support HR 1207 - the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. The Fed is a private institution and is therefore not subject to normal Governmental Freedom of Information requests, as Bloomberg recently found out.

HR 1207 will help to reveal where the Fed is funnelling trillions of dollars of taxpayer's money.

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/cam...

Coalition to Prevent Assault Weapon Violence.

Coalition to Prevent Assault Weapon Violence.

Help support these good people and their mission to prevent Assault Weapon Violence.

The Sham that is Airport Security.

The Sham that is Airport Security.
(Originally Posted at MartialTalk)10-17-2008

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Quote:

Airport security in America is a sham—“security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease. by Jeffrey Goldberg

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security

Reporter repeatedly manages to transport banned items, terrorist related goods, etc through the nations airports.


Doesn't seem like we're any safer now than 2 years ago.
"Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the starting points for the Sept. 11 hijackers, failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the major air hub's three terminals."
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive...screene_1.html

Or any more secure than we were in 2002
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...t-security.htm

So, today we have huge lines, long delays, must show up hours earlier than we used to have to remove our shoes, aren't allowed to carry a great many common items, can't take snapshots in the terminal, are at risk of losing our phones, pdas and laptops, all in the name of "security".

And someone wearing a McD uniform can walk in the employee entrance, catch a bag-o-bombs tossed ver the fence and blow the snot outta the place.

A search on Google for airport security failures generates over 400,000 hits.

Someone explain to me how we're so much safer than we were at 6am on 9/11/2001.

Kids and Guns? A possible answer.

Kids and Guns? A possible answer.

Maybe the solution to the kids being killed by guns is a simple one, and one more easily done than banning them or eliminating them.

Educate them. Require regular fire arm education through out school. Teach them the dangers, safe handling, how to shoot them, maintain them, etc. Show them why they are so dangerous. Explain to them the law concerning them, and most importantly their rights as citizens to have them -if they so desire-.

Enforce the existing laws for misuse. Harsher penalties for use in a crime. Harsher penalties for negligence. Harsher penalties for unlawful acts.

Better to raise an educated, experienced and informed generation of possible gun owners, than an ignorant, uneducated and ill-informed generation of potential victims.

There are of course risks. Some kids will still get hurt and die due to guns. Tragic, but not as bad as it could be.

We teach abstinence, yet teen pregnancy happens. We teach "Just Say No", yet drug use still happens, despite those drugs being quite illegal. We tell them not to smoke, yet smoke they do. "Don't drink, and don't drink and drive!". Both still happen. So, teaching gun education won't be a 100% cure. But, it will still improve the odds.

Gun accidents account for the majority of child gun deaths. Parents need to keep their weapons secure, and should face harsh penalty when they don't. Children need to know guns aren't toys. We teach fire hot, knives sharp, don't run with scissors, we can teach don't point the gun at anyone too.

Gun dealers who fail to follow Federal and State guidelines regarding weapon sales need to be fined, imprisoned and put out of business. Shut down the black markets and the underground shops. Encourage lawful sale and possession.

Put gun education as a part of gun ownership. Make ownership something within the reach of all citizens, not just the ones who can afford exorbitant taxes and permit fees.

Encourage kids to train with them, to join groups like the Boy Scouts or ROTC who encourage civic activity and responsibility.

In the end, we can build a more informed and safer future.

"the number of accidental deaths of kids by firearms is enough to cause me serious concern!"

"I dunno...the number of accidental deaths of kids by firearms is enough to cause me serious concern! Those aren't negligible numbers, as one sees just by reading the newspapers."

But can you trust the newspapers not to slant things? The 20/20 special was pretty stacked to create the results they wanted. Leaving aside the Constitutional arguments for now (which are available at MT or on my blog), a child has a greater chance of being injured in a car accident than killed by a gun.

In poor countries like Africa, the leading cause of child death is illness and malnutrition, even in the nations in civil war, or other gun-heavy situations.

Quote:

Accidents are, by far, the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. THE TOP THREE CAUSES OF DEATH BY AGE GROUP 0-1 years: Developmental and genetic conditions that were present at birth Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) All conditions associated with prematurity and low birth weight 1-4 years: Accidents Developmental and genetic conditions that were present at birth Cancer 5-14 years: Accidents Cancer Homicide 15-24 years: Accidents Homicide Suicide

Quote:

AUTO ACCIDENTS The automobile accounts for the largest number of these accidental deaths. Make sure that all infants and children use the proper child car seats, booster seats, and seat belts. Other top causes of accidental death are drowning, fire, falls, and poisoning.

Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/001915.htm

The NY Times also gives a more detailed picture
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20...hix.ready.html

There is also this; http://www.statisticstop10.com/Cause...eath_Kids.html

Most accidental gun injuries tend to fall into the negligence area. It was left where a child could access it in a ready state. This is a tragedy, but it can be treated by requiring gun owners to better educate themselves on proper gun safety, and properly securing the weapon.

More concerning is violence against children. Harsher laws only work after the fact as the criminal ignores them. The criminal also knows that his victim is at a disadvantage. Of course, a nation that has so far failed to educate it's children on safe sex, alcohol, cigarette and drug use, or civic responsibility can't be expected to properly educate it's youth on safe and responsible firearm use.

It is Un-American not to want to pay taxes???

It is Un-American not to want to pay taxes???

In reply to this article at IReport.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-244320

Yes, roads are crumbling, bridges are decaying, our health care system isn't perfect, people are homeless and hungry, etc.

At the risk of sounding callus, so what?

In 1773 British colonists in 3 colonies blocked the unloading of taxed tea, while those in Boston destroyed the tea in defiance of the Royal Governor. This was the famous "Boston Tea Party". Colonists were angered because they were being subjected to taxes from a government that didn't allow them a voice. This was a major point in the road to revolution, and the creation of the United States.

The commenter's points are valid. We need infrastructure repair. There is however more than enough money in the system to provide for all of that. If only our government would spend it wisely. I believe we are in a dangerous fall, heading towards the same type of unrest that led to the Revolution. One only has to look at how few American's were behind the over 15 Trillion dollars in bailouts that have so far been pass out to poorly managed big businesses to shore them up lest they fail. One only has to question the government or not blindly agree with it, to be labeled a traitor nowadays. The current tax code is so complex, even the IRS isn't certain about it. One only has to look at how many recnt goveernment appointees failed to pay to see a dual standard. They get forgiven, yet we mere serfs get fined and possibly imprisoned.

Not pay your taxes? How Un-American? No, How American!

Not paying taxes was a foundation stone of this nation. There is questionable legality to many of the taxes and fees (taxes in all but name) we are hit with. Our so called leaders no longer care what we want. They spend OUR money on their pet projects, at insanely bloated prices, to curry favor with each other. There isn't a single government agency in the US that doesn't have at least 1 political appointee who gathers a pay check yet does no real work. I've read countless cases where people are being paid yet haven't clocked in or shown up to the office in months, or where they sit and web surf or write their novels, because they fill a mandatory position yet have nothing work related to do because they are left over from the last administration.

In NY alone, we could return billions of much needed dollars to our general fund if we would eliminate the patronage jobs, cut government pay to the realistic yet very livable level of $50k per year per person, and require all hires and expenditures to be justified. Bids must be on par with what a civilian would pay, or less, to reflect bulk purchase. No more $1,000 hammers when you can get one just as good for under $25.

Another point is simply this. The argument goes that if we don't pay taxes, then others won't have shelter, or food, or medical treatment. I'm sorry, but that's not y faultand it's not my problem. More to the point, that is not the government's job either. "But if the governmt doesn't help them, who will?" you say? Feel free to help them all you want, out of your own pocket. Stop reaching into mine to finance it though. Taking something without permission has always been called theft. What is it when the government takes it without consent? It's still theft.

American's are a very giving people. The People don't have a problem paying a reasonable amount, for needed things. We do however take issue more and more with being seen as little more than a never ending supply of free cash to fund pork and keep an elite fat and rosy cheeked.

It's time to speak up and shout until the fat cats and career politicians hear us.

Visit http://taxdayteaparty.com/ and find a protest near you.
Add your voice to those who are tired of a deaf government.
Only you can retake your country from those who consider you litle more than an ATM.
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Should the U.S. move the battle against pirates to shore?

CNN is asking "Should the U.S. move the battle against pirates to shore?"

I say yes.

It was due to the actions of one group of pirates that the US Navy and US Marine Corp were created in 1794. Taking the fight against the Somali pirates would be a worthy action for both forces today, provided they are allowed to engage and destroy the pirates, and not handcuffed by politicians.

Piracy is glamorous when it's Johnny Depp. Reality, is far uglier.

From the Archives: A Nation of Wimps.

From 2004
========

A Nation Of Wimps

Author: Hara Estroff Marano Source: Psychology Today

Title: A NATION OF WIMPS
http://www.witchvox.com/wren/wn_detaila.html?id=11725

Maybe it's the cyclist in the park, trim under his sleek metallic blue helmet, cruising along th dirt path...at three mile an hour. On his tricycle

Or perhaps it's today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And...wait a minute...those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies--and especially their daddies--are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves.

Then there are the sanitizing gels, with which over a third of parents now send their kids to school, according to a recent survey. Presumably, parents now worry that school bathrooms are not good enough for their children.

Behold the wholly sanitized childhood, without skinned knees or the occasional C in history. "Kids need to feel badly sometimes," says child psychologist David Elkind, professor at Tufts University. "We learn through experience and we learn through bad experiences. Through failure we learn how to cope."

Messing up, however, even in the playground, is wildly out of style. Although error and experimentation are the true mothers of success, parents are taking pains to remove failure from the equation.

Submitted by and Thanks to: The good folks at Arts and Letters Daily (http://www.aldaily.com/)

[Read Full Story]

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When I was in school, I always heard about "the curve", and "blowing the curve". When I hit a snag, I had the "Needs Improvement" in red ink....my nephew gets 'feel-good' babble on his.

Growing up, my playground had huge slides, monkey bars, and a ton of swing sets.
Today, that same playground has 1 swing set with 'safety' seats, no slides, no monkey bars...but it does have a little 'play area'. Most of it is now a grassy field.

We now have helmet laws for bikes. My mother this last summer gave me the big lecture on how I need one. I'm 34. I've done the 'stuntman' bit so often, the old ECW guys are amazed. I've had at least 1 car-involvement accident. Never wore helmet, gloves, pads, etc. I'm still here.

I think sometimes, we worry too much. Yes, stuff can happen, but should we all walk around in armour 24/7 just in case? I'm reading a cook book, and there was a warning in there to wear safety glasses. Y'know, I've never seen anyone on any cooking show wearing em. Never seen them on Iron Chef. Not on Emeril, Mario or Alton. In 20 years of cooking, I've gotten hot oil once, on the eye. That was a few days ago. Is it risky? Yup. But no more than walking down the street, IMO.

Kids are too sheltered, too managed, to controled today. They need the room to make mistakes, to get hurt, to learn. Shelter them too much, and too long, and they will be eaten alive by the world. Is it any wonder kids are fatter today than before? The 30 minute scheduled play period isn't enough to burn it off...they want to run around, we call it ADD and drug them. If they act 'different', we tag them with a different name and start 'behavioral modification therapy'. 5 yr old makes a finger gun, goes 'bang bang', and gts a month off for violating the schools 'zero weapons' policy. 6 year old smooches a class mate, and is removed for class for 'sexual harassment'.

You know, if I was in school today, they'd have me executed fast. I used to play guns all the time...I used to kiss the girls and make em cry....I used to play DnD....oh my gawd! I even listened to heavy metal and wore a trench coat.

I truely feel for the kids today...I really do.

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It just seems to me, that everything is getting so sanitized, and structured, that the 'spontaneity' and 'randomness' of youth is being lost. We as adults do the getup, goto work, work, come home, dinner, take the kids to their event (classes, games, shows, etc), come home, and pass out "dance" 5 days a week. Part of being a kid is just 'doing', randomly, wandering and exploring. I think it's missing for too many kids today.

The predators are a problem, I admit. It seems like every time you turn on the tv or read the paper that there's another one out there. This priest, that teacher, this neighbor, that relative, that friend, that politician, etc. Who is there that you can trust? All you can do, is what you can do, and hope and pray that it is enough. A key point however, is to do that protecting without seriously impacting the child's ability to interact with others. I think that means that as time goes on, you must relax the restraint.

Sometimes, you can go too far. A person I know, 24, still lives at home, still has a curfew, has never had a 'sleepover', must check in regularly when out, all friends must be 'approved' by the mother, etc. She's a nice gal, but completely incapable of being on her own, without the maternal management. I knew a couple that got married to escape controlling parents...they've been evicted twice, apartments totally pigsties...they haven't got a clue when it comes to 'housework'. Mommy did it all for them.

There has to be a point, or series of points where they are allowed to "grow up".

[Read the full archived discussion at MartialTalk]