The Northern Muckraker

1. DFW doesn't even have Backscatter Xray mac...

2012-05-10T22:03:34.470-07:00

1. DFW doesn't even have Backscatter Xray machines. They have ATR/AIT machines which use millimeter wave and bounce it off you like a sonogram. Your cell phone puts off 10,000 times more radiation than the ATR/AIT machine.
2. The laws regarding pat down and such are approved or made by Congress, not TSA. TSA just has to enforce them.
3. Passenger know and it is posted before entering the security checkpoint that an airport is a sensitive security area and you are willfully submitting to have any and all property and yourself searched. If you visited a national site or the White House or a jail or a large public event, you know that if you choose to go there you may be searched.
4. Yes TSA leaves a lot to be desired but I would like to know what people would suggest instead of TSA. Let's shut down TSA and let everyone and anything onto the plane. Would you feel safer then?

I was told that I was too smart to be a cop as wel...

2011-12-10T17:37:48.550-07:00

I was told that I was too smart to be a cop as well. I often found training to be rudimentary and "dumbed down". Nonetheless, I excelled in the academy and did what I had to do, even if I was bored.

^Yet its white people that watch Fox News, vote fo...

2011-11-26T08:45:50.551-07:00

^Yet its white people that watch Fox News, vote for foolish Republican candidates, and think that Saddam caused 9/11 and that think that Obama's a secret muslim and born in Kenya.

Sad thing as any one reading this can say wow. Bu ...

2011-11-06T23:46:28.444-07:00

Sad thing as any one reading this can say wow. Bu this guy talked his way into a Chief of Police Job and now 12 long term employees were wrongfully terminated and are collecting unemployment adn he has destroyed careers and families which he claimes he is! Go figure but thanks to the people n Buckeye they never reported the termination to the police governing board to do something to his certification!!!

Hope you're doing well, Doug!

2011-10-19T17:05:31.396-07:00

Hope you're doing well, Doug!

8/31/11 "Short hiatus", eh?

2011-08-31T17:20:34.571-07:00

8/31/11

"Short hiatus", eh?

It's worth noting here that the Communist Part...

2011-08-10T06:15:53.689-07:00

It's worth noting here that the Communist Party stopped running candidates when Michael Dukakis was running for the Presidency. If you wonder how far afield the Democrats are, there you go.

Slacker. ;)

2011-08-09T18:25:48.585-07:00

Slacker. ;)

Greg, if federally funded birth control prevents a...

2011-08-02T06:25:05.919-07:00

Greg, if federally funded birth control prevents abortions and unwanted births, please explain to me why there are still over 1 million abortions annually, and the rate of unwed births has skyrocketed since LBJ started pushing birth control in welfare programs.

Reality is that it's not birth control that prevents out of wedlock births, but rather self control.

Regarding Dear Leader's act, I was under the impression that Article 1 gave legislative power to Congress. Unless that's been changed while I wasn't looking, I think it's time to remove him from office.

You and I are going to VEHEMENTLY disagree on this...

2011-08-01T22:37:21.576-07:00

You and I are going to VEHEMENTLY disagree on this topic. Access to basic healthcare services is something I believe in to the core.

How many abortions and unwanted babies have been born because of a lack of access to birth control? How many women are locked into cycles of poverty because they do not have real control over their reproduction? Think of how much money could be saved on welfare and other social service programs by simply covering basic birth control. An ounce of prevention...

Providing basic health care is not as difficult or as expensive as Fox News would have you believe. And you know what, I'd much rather have my tax dollars going to pay for programs that save lives than to cover continued corporate bailouts and tax exemptions. Without state sponsored healthcare, I would either be on my deathbed or in bankruptcy. How is our current system ethical, moral, right, or fair? I have yet to hear anyone from the right come up with a viable alternative.

I think some of your logic is flawed. No one is telling these companies to "give away" birth control products. These companies make HUGE profits off their customers through premiums, deductibles, etc. The law is saying that insurance companies can't refuse to provide access to a medication. As you know, there are other applications for birth control, other than as contraception. Oh yeah, and they're not that expensive. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but here in WA I can get a month supply for less that $20.

As for the other facets of women's health care: promoting breast feeding, pap smears, etc. It's more cost effective for the insurance companies to cover that, than to continue to have women not getting care, and ultimately costing MORE in healthcare costs than a simple preventative screening.

But let's address some of the real underlying issues: namely sexism and control over women. Would anybody really argue about this point if we were talking about covering Viagra or heart meds or diabetes care?

This is SUCH a complex issue, that I believe it's unfair to simply categorize it as a waste of $$ and taking away our liberties. We're talking about human beings and saving lives on a real level.

Some things are about more than dollars and cents.

An entrepreneurial "how to" book I read ...

2011-07-26T15:18:14.511-07:00

An entrepreneurial "how to" book I read once tells entrepeneurs to expect that their manufacturing partners in China (and Asia in general) to make a number of knockoffs to see on their own. They simply don't have the same view of intellectual property that we do.

Noticed that they're hanging out outside bars ...

2011-07-21T14:44:53.840-07:00

Noticed that they're hanging out outside bars at closing time. Colorado law prohibits cc permit holders from having a drink. The perps are wicked, but not dumb. It's like the Florida thugs targeting cars with car rental stickers for the same reason that gave us the band "Dead German Tourists."

It would be kinda heartwarming to hear about these...

2011-07-21T14:40:58.706-07:00

It would be kinda heartwarming to hear about these guys meeting somebody with something more deadly than a baseball bat. And not being able to hold a baseball bat after the proposed victim is done with them.

He is indeed one of the good guys. On the Issues: Leonard Boswell on Gun Control

We'll be lucky if next the federal government ...

2011-07-18T17:42:05.550-07:00

We'll be lucky if next the federal government doesn't run Amazon completely out of the country.

I thought they had ways of getting it anyways? I d...

2011-07-11T15:27:12.778-07:00

I thought they had ways of getting it anyways? I didn't think they needed the person's cooperation?

Huzzah! It's SOOO annoying to use the self-se...

2011-07-08T19:04:30.283-07:00

Huzzah! It's SOOO annoying to use the self-service, regardless of skill level or previous grocer experience. And yes, it's absurd to be paying the same as someone who uses a clerk. If you can give me a $.03 discount to bring my own bag, I should get something for checking myself out.

Grace, The Pinetop incident wasn't in the wil...

2011-07-08T18:19:25.627-07:00

Grace,

The Pinetop incident wasn't in the wilderness but in the town itself, near a country club. The lady was walking her dog when the bear, who had been digging in a nearby dumpster, attacked her without warning.

Not that it matters on the gun issue, but what'...

2011-07-08T17:35:05.266-07:00

Not that it matters on the gun issue, but what's a 61 yr old woman doing alone in the Arizona wilderness in July in the first place?

Melson's testimony is why I've made a prac...

2011-07-06T14:15:47.152-07:00

Melson's testimony is why I've made a practice of taking a document home with me when I suspect my employer might be getting on the wrong side of ethics and the law. Put gently, if I get a subpoena, I want a little more evidence than "he said/she said."

Hopefully Melson has this in his pocket, and hopefully Congress has enough nuts to make this one stick and get the issue as high as it goes.

Given Comrade Obama's penchant for duplicity, I'd not be surprised if the blame goes to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

He's just following the tone set by Dear Leade...

2011-07-05T16:54:04.606-07:00

He's just following the tone set by Dear Leader over the last two years.

God forbid that a peace officer would help people ...

2011-07-05T15:04:57.720-07:00

God forbid that a peace officer would help people avoid trouble, I guess. And of course, the article is hilarious in noting that the mayor will not tout statistics "No, because we have too many victims."

In other words, he did EXACTLY what the officer is accused of doing, and that not privately to a citizen, but in front of a TV camera.

By the way, I'm saying this as someone who spe...

2011-07-05T14:57:47.277-07:00

By the way, I'm saying this as someone who spent three days with my mother as she died of colon cancer. Suffice it to say that my step-father made **** sure that her needs were being met, as did her son, and we would NOT have been happy if her needs had been accomidated in "government time."

Sophia, they said they are trying. Meanwhile, in ...

2011-07-05T07:24:30.949-07:00

Sophia, they said they are trying. Meanwhile, in the United States, we're largely succeeding without their system. See the difference? At a certain point, results count.

The majority of voters in this state are certifiab...

2011-07-01T20:34:24.730-07:00

The majority of voters in this state are certifiably insane, by virtue of voting this cretin back into office for a third term. We'd leave, if we could.