Misplaced priorities

The Arizona Republic newspaper has a front-page story today detailing the tragic fact that 21 children drowned in Maricopa County in 2010, and that eight children have already perished in a similar manner so far this year.  That is a truly sad state of affairs, to be sure.

To put things in perspective, however, the CDC reports that in 2007 (the latest year for which data is available) three children ages 0-17 were killed in the entire state of Arizona as a result of unintentional firearm-related accidents.

So which is more dangerous again?

The question bears asking - why aren't clueless Brady Campaign front groups such as Moms Against Guns and GunFreeKids marching in the streets advocating the banning of swimming pools and bathtubs?  Their plaintive "it's for the children" argument would then at least make a tad more sense.

Jack-Booted followups

1.  In response to national criticism over their abusive treatment of a law-abiding resident who dared to exercise his rights by walking to a local auto parts store while legally openly carrying his holstered pistol the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Police have now announced that they will prone out at gunpoint "inconvenience" any other person who dares to do the same thing:

"The warning comes after Mark Fiorino, a suburban Philadelphia IT worker, posted an audiotape to YouTube of his tense, 45-minute encounter with police in February over his exposed handgun. The video went viral and captured national attention.

After Fiorino released the audiotape, he was charged with disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment. He now faces up to two years in prison."

For posting a legally-made recording on the Internet.

Ah, nothing like a little malicious prosecution to intimidate the peasants into giving up their freedoms.  Perhaps it's time for some of those residents to "inconvenience" the department with a civil-rights lawsuit seeking to immediately halt this outrageously thuggish and abusive behavior.

We have been enthusiastic (and lucrative) visitors to that city in the past.  We will not go there again until that rogue agency is reminded that their job description does not include making up laws as they go along. 


2.  Steven Taubenkibel, a public information officer with the Washington, D.C. Metro Transit Police, laughably insists that our eyes deceive us and that the disabled man two of his agency's officers were recorded body-slamming to the pavement while arresting the suspect for drinking in public in fact "fell"" out of his mobility scooter because he was resisting.

Sure he did.  How clumsy of him. It's a good thing those cops were right there to catch him and assist him gently to the ground.

Taubenkibel is also refusing to release the names of the officers involved in the incident, even though that information is usually immediately publicly available.  Maybe he will argue that once again we're seeing things and that the two fully-uniformed cops were in fact undercover and thus cannot be named.


The infuriating fallout from these two incidents firmly underscores the vital role citizens play in police accountability when they are able to freely practice their right to photograph and audio/video record government workers in public.  The age of departments getting away with "it didn't happen if we say it didn't" is over, and that is a very good thing.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 53

So that if ourselves and our German shepherd suddenly get attacked in a suburban park by three vicious off-leash pit bulls we will be able to successfully fight off the attacking canines, just like Kirkland, Washington resident Tim Lewis did last Saturday: 

"During the unprovoked attack, the man pulled out his concealed weapon and opened fire, hitting one of the pit bulls and scaring off the others."

Very bad things can happen to innocent people at any time, even in the local park on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Please acquire the means, training and mindset to defend yourself accordingly.

"Charles McLennan was nearby and watched in horror as pit bulls attacked.

'If he didn't have that gun, he would probably be dead,' McLennan said of Lewis."

By the way, Mr. Lewis happens to be a youngish black male, which certainly helps to counter the blatantly racist labeling of law-abiding gun carriers by some anti-gun zealots as "just a bunch of soft, [middle-aged] white guys".  (Former Dakota County, Minnesota Sheriff Don Gudmundson is the one who came up with that particular gem.)

Well said

Liberal author and radio-show host David Sirota explains in Salon magazine the importance of not allowing the police to bully, intimidate, threaten with arrest or otherwise prevent people from recording officers going about their public duties (from a respectful and non-interfering distance, of course).

"That's what the practice of cellphone recording is supposed to do -- not mimic the national security state's Big Brother culture, but prevent that security state from trampling our freedoms.

Law enforcement officials, of course, don't like the cellphone cameras because they don't want any check on police power. So they've resorted to fear-mongering allegations about lost lives. But the only police officers who are threatened by cellphone cameras are those who want to break civil liberties laws with impunity. The rest have nothing to worry about and everything to gain from a practice that simply asks them to remember the all-too-forgotten part of their "protect and serve" motto -- the part about protecting the public's civil rights."

We vehemently disagree with Mr. Sirota on just about every political issue, but on this particular topic he's spot-on.

English-style Nanny-statism is rapidly "spreading" to other European nations

Marmite, the extremely healthy British spread made from brewer's yeast, is now banned in Denmark "under legislation forbidding the sale of food products with added vitamins as threat to public health." 

The nutritious food in question had been outlawed in 2004 along with other apparently toxic health hazards such as Rice Krispies and Ovaltine but had somehow slipped under the radar until quite recently, when the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration noticed that it was still being offered for sale at a small English-themed shop in Copenhagen and demanded an immediate halt to its availability.

"'I don't eat it myself, I don't like it but Marmite was one of our best selling products. Not a day goes by without someone coming in and asking for it,' said Marianne Ørum, the shop owner. 

'All the English people here are shaking their heads in disbelief and say that it is insane. I agree but it is the law. It's becoming impossible to run a business in this country. We are not allowed to do anything anymore. It is the way Denmark is going.'"

Those Brits sure don't have much room to complain, seeing as how their own home nation is so consistently ahead of all other countries when it comes to such nonsensical bans.  One wonders when England itself will finally get around to removing its homegrown product from sale because of such spurious "health and safety" considerations.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 52

Because of events just like what happened today, when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state of California to immediately release upwards of 46,000 inmates, many of whom are violent felons, due to overcrowding in the mismanaged prison system there.

"[Dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia] added that 'terrible things are sure to happen as a consequence of this outrageous order.' Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with him."

We of course want prisoners to be treated humanely, but there's got to be a better solution to this crisis than simply opening the prison gates and letting so many predators back out among the law-abiding populace to once again wreak their mayhem.

California is one of the few states left that unfairly refuses to issue handgun carry permits to most law-abiding citizens, reserving that "privilege" for special persons such as Dianne Feinstein (virulently anti-gun politician for everyone else but her) and Sean Penn (rich and famous celebrity who has a long and violent police record, including an arrest for felony domestic assault).  That's too bad, because it certainly appears as if those innocent residents are going to need all the help they can get in very short order.

The Jack-Booted Thug(s) of the Week...

... are the two Washington, D.C. Metro Transit Police "officers" who body-slammed a scooter-bound man to the concrete sidewalk while arresting him last Thursday at the U Street Metro stop, causing a large bloody gash over the suspect's eye:



The alleged crime that precipitated this abuse?  Drinking alcohol in public, which hardly seems to justify such harsh treatment on the part of the goons.  Would one cop simply grabbing an arm apiece, picking the man out of the chair, walking a step or two and then setting him on the ground and subduing him have been too much to ask for?  That slam was completely unjustified brutality.

"Get on the ground"

He can't, you buffoons, he's obviously handicapped.  Why is it necessary for two big tough guys like yourselves to harshly toss someone in that condition to the ground simply to put a pair of handcuffs on?

"Move on, sir"

The witnesses did no such thing, to their credit.  The days of ignoring or hiding the sadistic behavior of bullies like these are thankfully quite over now that we're in the age of the cell-phone camera and the instant Internet upload.

Now we see why the "authorities" are so concerned about being filmed going about their duties in public, since they now actually have to act like the professionals they're supposed to be.

Pardon the interruption

Finishing up some assignments for grad school class tonight and then winging off early tomorrow to a family member's wedding on the East Coast.

Back late Sunday evening so most likely nothing new before Monday, May 23.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 50

UPDATE:  Blogger had a hiccup and lost this post for a few days.  It is once again visible so we are reposting it for completeness purposes.

So that if we happen to become the latest victims of a gang of vicious thugs on a multi-day violent mugging spree in an upscale neighborhood (crime can happen anywhere at any time, you know) we will be able to successfully defend ourselves, just like a 61-year-old former Marine did last night in Uptown Minneapolis, Minnesota: 

"'He had just parked his car in the parking lot,' said [Minneapolis Police Lt. Mike] Fossum. 'These guys blitzed him. They just started kicking his ass. He managed to get off three rounds.'

The suspects, one a heavyset Hispanic man and another a thinner Hispanic man, ran off but may have been injured, police said."

One would certainly suspect that to be true.  Marines don't often miss.

We are especially heartened to see the Minneapolis police tacitly approve of the victim's obvious justified use of deadly force in this incident.  Things are indeed beginning to improve up there for law-abiding gun carriers.

Your tax dollars at work

Remember when we were informed by those in power that General Motors (as opposed to the thousands of other businesses in the same dire financial straits at the time) was "too big to fail", which is why those feckless martinets subsequently used our tax dollars (confiscated from us on pain of imprisonment) to acquire 33% of the company?

Well, here's the return on our forced "investment":

"In late 2010, General Motors agreed to sponsor a propaganda film celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP made film titled (translated to English) 'The Birth of a Party' or 'The Great Achievement of Founding the Party' is set to premiere all over the Communist nation on June 15 reported China AutoWeb last September."

We currently drive two Chevrolets.  They are for sure the last GM products we will ever own.

What a coincidence

Naked favoritism such as this is precisely why placing everyone's health care under the direct control of partisan politicians is such a bad idea: 

"Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district.

That’s in addition to the 27 new waivers for health care or drug companies and the 31 new union waivers Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services approved.

Pelosi’s district secured almost 20 percent of the latest issuance of waivers nationwide, and the companies that won them didn’t have much in common with companies throughout the rest of the country that have received Obamacare waivers."

Orwell was correct - some animals are indeed more equal than others, especially when it comes to back-scratching cronyism amongst the pigs who currently run things in Washington.

ALL sides want your civil liberties to disappear

Just some of the latest assaults on everyone's basic freedoms from the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government:


1.  Charles Kadlec of Forbes magazine reports that President Obama is apparently about to issue an executive order requiring any company (no matter what size) competing for a government contract, along with its senior officers (such as the owner if the firm is a sole proprietorship) and political action committee (if one exists), to generate a single report listing all contributions these parties may have made to political parties and candidates for the last two years.

"Similar disclosure requirements were in a bill that last year’s Democratic Senate was unwilling to pass. By signing the order, President Obama would override the democratic process and rule, instead, by decree."

Mr. Kadlec is quite correct when he opines that this kind of information in a single easily-accessible government database will almost certainly be misused by Dear Leader to arbitrarily deny contract awards to any firms who happened to contribute to his political opponents. 


2.  In other chilling Dear Leader news, his administration has filed a memo in a criminal case maintaining "the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) gives judges the right to censor and withhold material that is 'unclassified'.'" 

Sorry, White House sycophants who are nominally all for "transparency".  Either material is classified or it isn't.  If the latter, common peasants (and especially criminal defendants, as in the case in which the memo was submitted) have every right to request and look at it.  We paid for it, after all.  The defendant's attorneys certainly agree:

"CIPA authorizes substitutions only for 'classified information,' not unclassified information."

Indeed, the CIPA makes no mention of "unclassified" materials being protected, nor does the word "unclassified" even appear in its text." 

Having something be that legally crystal clear doesn't mean the judiciary will pay the slightest bit of attention, as the next story shows us.


3.  The Indiana Supreme Court has overturned a cornerstone of American and English common law that has been in place as far back as 1215 by ruling that residents of that state have no right to resist an unlawful police entry into their home:

"In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

'We believe ... a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence,' David said."

And hence the problem with viewing the Constitution as a "living, breathing document" that only means whatever those currently wearing the black robes thinks it means through their ideological prisms, rather than their strictly interpreting the plain text of the document.

We wonder what "modern" opinions Justice David holds on the other absolute liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights such as freedom of speech and the right to a speedy trial, but fear those pronouncements would prove just as ludicrous. 


4.  We have just noticed that U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) last year introduced S. 3081, legislation that would permit the President to imprison anyone, even U.S. citizens, without charge or trial indefinitely merely by designating those people "enemy belligerents".

This proposed law almost certainly would not pass judicial review on Fifth Amendment grounds (except if Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David were to rule on the issue, no doubt), but the fact that someone who was held captive without trial for five and a half years in an undeclared war would think this legislation is a good idea simply boggles the mind.

Why I carry a handgun for protection, Vol. 51

A 53-year-old Duluth, Georgia woman was taking a shower in her home early Wednesday morning when she stepped out to find a knife-wielding stranger menacing her in her bathroom.  The intruder overpowered the woman and dragged her into the bedroom and threw her onto the bed, presumably to rape her or worse.

The woman (who apparently lives alone) alertly managed to reach into her nightstand and grab her unlocked and loaded .22 caliber pistol, which she used to shoot her attacker nine times.  The man then ran out into the home's backyard where he collapsed and subsequently expired.  Police are calling it a clear case of self-defense and the woman is not expected to face any charges.

If Sarah Brady, Paul Helmke and other anti-gun activists had their way this woman would be raped, maimed or dead right now, because in Ms. Brady's fantasy world these types of random home invasions by violent thugs simply don't happen, and thus there is never a single reason for a person to have a high-capacity handgun loaded and ready for instant use.  She's quite mistaken, as one can plainly observe from the outcome of this incident.

Firearms are very useful and efficient self-defense tools, especially when they are successfully used by women, the disabled, the elderly and others who are at a physical disadvantage when preyed upon by hulking thugs like this fortunately deceased example.  Please consider acquiring one and getting properly trained in its use and carry.  The life you save may be your own.

Atrocious cowardice all around

King County, Washington Sheriff's Deputy Matt Paul is still being allowed by his boss, Sheriff Sue Rahr, to prey on the public despite years of documented excessive force complaints as well as warnings by his supervisors to "avoid arresting people simply because they challenged his authority or were disrespectful", and after Paul recently cost local taxpayers a 10 million dollar settlement after slamming an innocent man into a wall, causing massive brain damage and crippling him for life.

KONG-TV has the details:



"I can't turn around and fire a deputy because I have concerns."

A 2000 page record of abusive and out-of-control behavior and a multimillion-dollar payout are now simply dismissed as "concerns".  Way to protect and serve your public, Sheriff.

What a statesman

Here's Dear Leader's warped idea of how to lead a "constructive and civil debate" on illegal immigration:

"'We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement,' Obama said. 'But even though we've answered these concerns, I gotta say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.'

'Maybe they'll need a moat,' he said mockingly to laughter from the crowd. 'Maybe they'll want alligators in the moat.'"

Yeah, that strategy is sure to win people who oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants over to your side, Mr. President.

Keep up your special community activist-learned brand of barely-disguised contempt for people who honestly disagree with you on issues and you'll be sure to "lead" yourself right out of a job in 2012.

A master at work

P.J. O'Rourke again displays his bonafides as a brilliant wordsmith:

"There are, of course, millionaires and billionaires who are leeches on society, who bleed our GDP and contribute nothing to the commonweal. There was, for instance, a bright young man who worked all the scholarship angles so that wealthy donors (with their tax-dodging charitable contributions) paid his way through fancy schools. He embarked on an urban scam called “community organizing.” Then he obtained a large sum for writing a book about his life and accomplishments at age 34 when he didn’t have any accomplishments and hadn’t led much life. He wormed his way into politics with all its perks and benefits. And now his big house, his stretch limousine and his luxury jet are paid for out of the public treasury."

Ouch.

Go read his whole piece.

It's about time

ICE is finally beginning to address the demand side of the illegal immigration dilemma. 

This kind of aggressive enforcement against employers who knowingly break the law in order to obtain cheap labor will do more than just about anything else to help resolve the issue in a humane and efficient fashion.

The Jack-Booted Thug(s) of the Week...

... are unfortunately too numerous this time around to name just one winner.

1.  A person was arrested at Denver International Airport on Saturday morning after "authorities" noticed he was videotaping the security lines. He was taken into custody "on suspicion of interfering with a transportation facility" along with three people in the security line.

We're not sure how openly photographing a security checkpoint counts as "interfering", especially when the TSA itself admits that doing so is perfectly legal and acceptable behavior.  Those cops had better have another, much better reason for arresting this person or they could find themselves in serious legal trouble.

Apparently the folks in line the person was filming didn't possess IDs or boarding passes.  That's certainly anomalous (but also not illegal) behavior but again, the cops wouldn't have found this out unless they wrongly detained the photographer in the first place, which will probably result in the suppression of any evidence of wrongdoing gained from their arrest (of which there have been no reports to date).

We certainly don't wish to be the victims of terrorist acts, but government officials have to follow the rules they themselves put into place or else we're no better than any other tin-pot Third World dictatorship. 


2.  17-year-old high-school student and anti-police corruption activist Robert Wanek was unlawfully arrested last Friday by "Officer" Dustin Hill of the Wahpeton, North Dakota Police Department for daring to film the cop on a public street as part of Wanek's independent investigation into alleged unwarranted raids taking place in the town.  Hill is ironically one of the officers accused of abusing his police powers, and in this incident he pretty much proves Wanek's allegations for him:



According to Wanek he was held in handcuffs and questioned by another officer for approximately one hour without being read his rights or his parents being notified (he is a minor after all), and upon his release was informed that he had been unlawfully detained solely because he "had pissed Dustin Hill off".  Apparently that's some sort of crime in that podunk burg. 

Wanek is asking all concerned individuals to call the Wahpeton Police Chief at 701-642-7722 to politely inquire whether an investigation into "Officer" Hill's clearly unlawful and bullying behavior has been opened, and if not why not.

(via CopBlock)   


3.  Chattanooga (Tennessee) Times Free Press reporter Kate Harrison last Thursday was interviewing volunteers cleaning up the damage from massive flooding in the area while also taking pictures when she was ordered by Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond, Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd and Hamilton County Director of Emergency Services Don Allen (way too many chiefs there, it seems) to stop taking photographs, a clear violation of her Constitutional rights as both a private citizen and a working journalist covering a legitimate news story in public.

"Harrison also was commanded by emergency services spokeswoman Amy Maxwell not to publish any of the photographs she had taken, and later was threatened with arrest. (We published one of Harrison’s photos.)"

This wasn't the only run-in the paper's reporters had with overreaching officials that day, by the way:

"In a similar incident on the same day, another member of our news staff — photographer Allison Carter — was threatened with arrest by a Catoosa County deputy sheriff if she did not cease photographing tornado damage at a Food Lion shopping center, and if she did not delete the pictures she had taken from her camera."

These incidents are completely unacceptable behavior on the part of those public "servants", and we hope the paper pursues all legal remedies available to it to have those bullies severely punished for their attempt at official intimidation.

(Jack Lail via Unc)

Obamacare's model physician

San Francisco, California (of course) pediatrician Ricky Choi seems to think being a doctor gives him carte blanche to snoop around into every aspect of his patients' lives, or at least those topics that are of interest to a obvious snooty liberal like himself:

"The scope of practice I am talking about we all can own. I have a responsibility to ask about, diagnose, educate, and treat obstacles to health. For those who see children in their practice, discussing topics such as swimming pool safety and smoke detectors are routine at regular check ups.

But let me take it a step further. I would argue that nutritious food, safe medications, air quality, domestic violence, affordable housing, access to health care, sex trafficking, cultural factors, schools, safe neighborhoods, voting, human rights, international trade agreements, and the state budget, to the extent they impact health of my patients and communities, are also in my scope of practice."

No, they're not.

Dr. Choi is all aggrieved over Florida's recently-passed law (now awaiting the governor's signature) that would sanction doctors for asking about guns in the home during routine exams.  That law was passed in response to Floridians' apparently having had quite enough of their doctors lecturing them about how dangerous and evil firearms are, even those owned and carried by responsible parents who know and utilize proper gun safety protocols.

We can certainly see the point of this law if in fact those Florida doctors are asking anywhere near as many intrusive and unnecessary questions during those exams as Choi.  We can't imagine being a patient of his and having to suffer through what must be excruciating multi-hour checkups:

"How are the cultural factors (?) in your life?  Have the recent local elections affected you in any way?  Are you sick from pondering the France-Canada trade agreement?  Is your mortgage affordable?  What ranking did your kid's middle school receive?"  Yeesh.  Hopefully he doesn't forget the weight and blood pressure checks after all of that.

"At issue is not only whether or not a gun should be in the home, but also the right of physicians, free of legal entanglements, to provide the anticipatory guidance for an environment where their patient can thrive."

Guidance is one thing.  Paternalistic pronouncements from a smug, arrogant know-it-all are quite another.

He's got some nerve

Retiring (at last) King Emperor Mayor-for-Life Richard Daley of Chicago, a longtime vehement opponent of "allowing" law-abiding citizens to carry firearms for personal protection, seems to be waking up to the fact that he very shortly is going to lose his pampered VIP status and become just another member of the unprotected populace he so favors:

"Sneed has learned Mayor Daley is requesting a retinue of at least three — around the clock — Chicago Police bodyguards from his mayoral security detail to accompany him into the private sector!"

Tough cookies, pal.  If you want 24-hour armed security then pay for it yourself, you blatant hypocrite.

That's some expensive tutoring

The White House has spent close to $100,000 of taxpayer money (violating another campaign pledge in the process, this one to end no-bid contracting and mandate a competitive bidding process on all jobs valued at over $25,000) to apparently help Dear Leader learn how to successfully read from his security blanket teleprompter.

President George W. Bush is constantly labeled by some as the dumbest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, yet we don't seem to remember his administration employing people to teach him to read from a machine.

"Spending records show that the company was hired under three contracts since late 2009 and has received a total of $60,000. The records variously describe the company as providing 'speech preparation training,' 'speech writing services' and 'speech coaching services.'"

The White House employs seven speechwriters at an annual cost of over $600,000, according to the article.  What do they do all day?

They don't know the first thing about "safety"

"[Arizona] joined Utah and Alaska as having the worst gun-safety laws in the nation, according to the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence."

We view such a ranking from the Brady Campaign, an organization whose (poorly-concealed) ultimate goal is the banning of all privately-owned firearms in America under the guise of "safety", as a badge of honor.

Arizona has a lot of pools and bathtubs as well and lots of children unfortunately drown in them each year, many more than are killed by firearms.  We don't see the Brady people calling for the criminalization of bathing and swimming, though.

Watch him squirm

Attorney General Eric "Neutral, leanings towards favorable" Holder positively wilts under questioning by Rep. Darrell Issa yesterday about his and his minions' neck-deep involvement in "Project Gunwalker", a failed attempt at a sting operation that directly led to the deaths of at least two U.S. federal law-enforcement officers as well as untold thousands of Mexican citizens:



That sure is a lot of brow-furrowing and mealy-mouthed "I don't know" and "I'm not sure" statements from someone who is putatively in charge of the entire Department of Justice. 

Holder:  "The notion that somehow or other this Justice Department is responsible for those deaths that you mentioned, uh, that assertion's offensive."

Issa:  "But what if it's accurate, Mr Attorney General?"

The A.G. never answered that particular question.

The lapdogs in the mainstream press reveal themselves

"At one point Wolf Blitzer and the gang admonished other news services for 'wildly speculating' about the nature of the announcement [Bin Laden's demise], saying that White House officials were pleased they had not said anything."

How nice of CNN to place keeping their masters in the White House happy far above aggressively investigating and reporting arguably the biggest legitimate news story of the decade.  We doubt they'd have been so compliant had a Republican administration made the same demand.

We haven't watched that amateurish channel in years and don't miss it one bit.

The rest of the story?

At least one apparently longtime credible source is alleging to NewsFlavor that it was in fact CIA head Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who gave the go-ahead for the raid on Osama Bin Laden, specifically overriding Dear Leader and his incompetent political minion Valerie Jarrett: 

"Please get this out ASAP. Want specific people to know we know.

RE Osama Bin Laden. Significant push to take him out months ago. Senior WH staff resisted. This was cause of much strain between HC and Obama/Jarrett. HC and LP were in constant communication over matter – both attempted to convince administration to act. Administration feared failure and resulting negative impact on president. Intel disgusted over politics over national security. Staff resigned/left. Check timeline to corroborate."

...

"IMPORTANT SPECIFIC: When 48 hour go order issued, CoC was told, not requested. Administration scrambled to abort. That order was overruled. This order did not originate from CoC. Repeat – this order did not originate from CoC. He complied, but did not originate."

A very thorough and plausible-sounding followup interview of the same source is here.

(We note with wry amusement that the accompanying picture of the war room clearly shows that the president had to cut short his weekly golf outing in order to go play Commander-in-Chief.  That must have irritated him to no end.)

This is a very interesting scenario if proven true, and sadly one which makes much more sense given the known personalities and political tendencies of both Clinton and Obama. We had been wondering where the president had suddenly found the guts to make such a quick and pointed military decision when we are so accustomed to seeing him do precisely the opposite over and over by waffling and wavering over every issue, especially those involving national security.  This kind of aggressive operation seems much more like Hillary than anyone else in that administration, and if that's indeed the case she deserves the resulting kudos and praise, not Dear Leader.

Now we just need an inquisitive mainstream media reporter to follow up on this story.  There's got to be at least one of them out there.

Pre-crime

Two of admittedly the politest and most deferential cops we've ever seen nonetheless show up at the London home of free-speech activist Charlie Veitch the day before last week's royal wedding and arrest him for allegations (not even formal charges) of "conspiracy to cause a public nuisance" and "suspicion of aggravated trespass", despite Veitch himself confirming the day before at Scotland Yard that he had no outstanding warrants.



Translation:  You rabble-rousers aren't going to put a damper on our worldwide PR event, and we're willing to violate your rights in order to ensure a trouble-free day for our inbred masters.

Great Britain - where you can be dragged downtown and locked up for something you might do.

No more bumping on the English bumper car ride

The "health and safety" shock troops in the Nanny-state paradise that used to be Great Britain once again get their padded selves all worked up at the prospect of some of their subjects actually having fun:

"Staff at all three Butlin resorts in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness are instructed to ban anyone found guilty of bumping into each other in the electric cars equipped with huge bumpers.

Bemused customers who assume that the ‘no bumping sign’ is in jest are told to drive around slowly in circles rather than crash into anyone else for fear of an injury that could result in the resort being sued." 

Sounds like a real swingin' time. 

"[Resort director Jeremy Pardey] said the rules are 'pretty vigilant' to avoid anyone being hurt, although customers are not asked to wear crash helmets."  (emphasis ours)

Good Lord.