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Palm Beach Sheriff Bradshaw: Turn In Your Neighbors

Stasi spy camera, from the Stasi Museum in Berlin 

“We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him,” Bradshaw said.

Didn't the Stasi have a similar program? Apparently, if you don't like the government, you best keep it under your hat; in Bradshaw's county, theyll be sending folks to your door if they hear about it.

Without invoking Godwin's Law, his new program seems to bear a striking resemblance to those enacted by the Nazis, the Soviets, and others of that ilk. Perhaps Gov. Rick Scott will whip out his veto pen. If not, Bradshaw has a million dollars to play with.

Wasn't this country founded by a bunch of fellers who hated the government at the time?

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Dems, Unions, Occutards, and Illegals Gear Up

Immigrant rights march for amnesty in downtown Los Angeles, California on May Day, 2006. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wednesday is the long-celebrated Communist holiday known as May Day, and all of the usual suspects are gearing up for demonstrations and "protests". Look for heavy turnouts in New York City and around California in particular; in NYC, occutards plan to kick things off with a "solidarity march" in support of the Transport Workers Union, followed by an illegal alien "immigrant justice tour" and other activities. California can look forward to numerous demonstrations across the state by occutards and illegal aliens:

In California, large protests are expected because some undocumented immigrants and their supporters view this as their best chance in many years for immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

Meanwhile, as the "reform bill" pushed by the Gang of Eight continues to shuffle along toward passage, some interesting provisions have emerged; specifically, while it requires illegal aliens to pay a small fee, the businesses that have been employing them get a free pass:

Employers who have allowed illegal immigrants to work off the books can come forward safely and provide their work history without fear of prosecution, and businesses that knowingly employed someone using a bogus or stolen Social Security number likewise would get a pass, according to an analysis of the bill by the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that wants a crackdown on immigration.

And Nanny Pelosi has come out with a new "next pillar of government" (another entitlement): "free" childcare for all.

“I need your help on this because we talked about - Social Security a pillar of economic stability for America’s families,” Pelosi said at the City Club of Cleveland on April 15. “Medicare and Medicaid another pillar of health security. Affordable Care Act -another pillar, we put it in that league as making a difference. “

“What we have to do and not necessarily as, shall we say, as transformative as Social Security and Medicare and the Affordable Care Act for everybody– but I think very important to our country is to have affordable quality childcare for all of America’s children. If we are going to unleash all that women have to offer we have to really get to this point.”

She's absolutely convinced that we're never going to run out of other peoples' money to spend on entitlements and kickbacks. The fun just never stops. Suddenly, just about everything (except guns) are fundamental civil and human rights. Just ask Eric Holder.

 

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King Bloomberg: Screw The Constitution

Apparently not content with banning Big Gulps, trans-fats, and pretty much anything else he decides he doesn't like, New York City Nanny Bloomberg has now set his sights on the US Constitution:

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks.

“But we live in a complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

This guy's really long past his pull-date. He's made it abundantly clear that to him, our Constitution is an impediment to his benevolent rule. Apparently, we must destroy freedom in order to save some of it.

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An Inconvenient Tooth (reprise)

Portland city council, acting on a whim (as is so often the case), decided to start contaminating clean Bull Run water with silicofluorides - a decision that would affect not only Portlanders, but residents of nearby suburbs who purchase water from the Portland Water Bureau because It's For The Children™. There's a health crisis going on!

Fortunately signatures were gathered in record time; forcing the matter to a vote of the people. And now it emerges that in the midst of this dental health crisis they've been banging on about, cavity rates have significantly declined not only in Portland, but around the state - in some cases by as much as 50% - over the past five years.

The report doesn't examine why cavity rates have dropped, but it's likely due to multiple factors. Those may include increased awareness programs about the importance of brushing and flossing, the state's dental sealant program and similar efforts, and possibly the expansion of Healthy Kids, which extended dental coverage to thousands of youths.

As opponents have noted, fluoride is already not only readily available, you actually have to search to find a toothpaste that doesn't contain the stuff. And on each tube is a warning not to swallow the product. Somehow, it's okay to dump it into our drinking water, but you're not supposed to swallow fluoridated toothpaste. Go figure.

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No Doubt Coming Soon To Portland

Yep. That's her job. She's a city Trash Inspector; paid by the taxpayers and hired by their benovolent government overlords to paw through trash, starting each morning at around 5 a.m. Actually, they aren't called Trash Inspectors; the city prefers the more refined term of Cart Auditors.

Armed with clipboards, flashlights, and nitrile gloves, they take notes about the trash sorting behavior of each household, which is later entered into a database and given to the outreach crew. Oh yes, they have "outreach" crews, too. If you haven't been "properly sorting" your trash in San Francisco, expect a visit from your friendly, city-employed minders, who will "educate" you on proper garbage sorting. They are, of course, referred to as "Environmental Outreach Associates".

Department of the Environment Director Melanie Nutter, who seems appropriately named, says that as yet, they've yet to issue a fine for non-compliance with garbage-sorting law. Their Outreach Coordinators evidently do a fine job of training the Outreach Associates.

What's nutters about this is creating a department devoted to monitoring residential trash, and hiring people to sort, document, and "educate" those who don't "properly" sort their trash. You may argue that it's great training for the "green economy", but it's over the top, and a needless waste of taxpayer resources.

It's about ever-increasing degrees of control by government over every aspect of peoples' lives.

Allowing, and worse yet, paying for this sort of thing is absolute insanity. What idiot tolerates it - and why?

Another Happy Marriage Fight

English: King County (Washington, US) Council Member and candidate for State Attorney General Bob Ferguson speaking at his 6 th Annual Shrimp Feed (a tradition he took over from former Washington governor ), Northgate Community Center, Seattle, Washington. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, having apparently solved all other problems, has decided that it'd be a wise use of taxpayer resources to file a lawsuit against a florist who refused to put together a flower arrangement for a couple of guys who plan to get married. 

Ferguson acknowledged in an interview with The Stranger today that filing the lawsuit this way is unprecedented; anti-discrimination suits must be brought by the Washington State Human Rights Commission or the aggrieved party. But as of this week, neither had taken action. Ferguson says he has legal authority to file the suit as a consumer protection case because the alleged discrimination occurred "in a consumer setting."

"Right now she's getting away with it, and that sends the wrong message to all the businesses around the state," said Ferguson.

Whatever, Bob. It's unlikely you're going to win this one, as the florist's barristers have some interesting counter-arguments:

Stutzman claimed that "discrimination is not the issue," but rather that she is entitled to exercise her religious conscience and that arranging flowers is an act of personal expression, and as such, any restriction on how and where she sells flowers arrangements infringes on her First Amendment right to free speech.

It's an interesting argument, to be sure - can the state require a musician to arrange a musical score for someone? More importantly here, comes the question: can the state require a person to do anything that conflicts with that person's religious beliefs? Courts have struck down Obamacare provisions mandating that employers provide abortion coverage as part of their health-care plans for employees on grounds of religious freedom; at what point (if any) can the state demand that an individual ignore his or her religious beliefs?

This isn't going to end any time soon; doubtless Washingtonians across the state will appreciate the AG's decision to expend their resources in a thorough exploration of this particular can of worms.

We stand for Tolerance™ and Diversity™ - as long as you conform. 

 

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Leftist Paradises

Oregon is reportedly the fourth worst state in the nation, as far as employment is concerned, and unsurprisingly four of the worst five are on the left coast. All have been run by Democratics for decades, and two of them - Washington and Oregon - boast the highest minimum-wage requirements in the nation. Portland, it seems, really is where young people go to retire.

On the east coast, counties in Maryland are taxing rain, as Democratics there last year enacted a new law requiring counties to collect fees to pay for stormwater management as well as stream and wetland restoration projects. For some unknown reason, Democrat governments and their bureaucrats have determined that ordinary people are too stupid to manage things on their own, and so government must do it - and tax them for doing it.

We had a similar experience in Southwest Portland, at our former property: it was a fairly large piece, with a small house at the front and, down at the back end, a small stream. We managed the area around the stream by removing invasive species of plants and allowing only native species to remain; for nesting habitat, we left dead trees in place down there.

Over the years, we spotted over 120 species of birds, including blue heron, tricolor heron, wood ducks, quail, several species of woodpecker - including pileated - and several species of raptors. Beavers moved in, building a dam and other enhancements. Apparently, in the Peoples Republic of Portland, this wasn't good enough: the bureaucrats at the Bureau of Environmental Services slapped an environmental overlay on "our" property, and mailed several hundred pages of documents to us. These outlined what we could not do on our land, and noted that they could henceforth enter our property whenever they wished.

According to their edicts, no non-native plants were allowed within fifty feet of the stream, meaning that existing lawn and vegetable gardens were to be removed despite the fact that areas thirty feet up from the bank were managed for native species only. That remaining twenty feet had to go; apparently, their Magic 8-ball said fifty feet was the minimum acceptable.

As well, any structural changes to the house, located some 100 yards uphill, would have to be approved by BES. Now, when we'd purchased the property, the back deck was in bad shape, and we knew it would need to be replaced. According to BES, we might be able to do that if we provided them architectural renderings and a nonrefundable payment of $1200. They would then deign to examine the rendering and determine whether or not we would be allowed to proceed.

By now, we'd had just about enough of their shiat. So, down went the old deck and up went the new - a much sturdier and more aesthetically pleasing one, in fact. No architect was paid, nor was BES - that money went toward the $3000 in materials costs.

We then decided that, it being apparent that BES was intent upon continually interfering in our lives, it was time to sell the place and bid the wildlife goodbye. We relocated to a hilltop, where BES presently cannot reach.

To any sane people who may be living in Maryland: pray for drought.

Just A Spoonful Of Bureaus Makes The Medical Go Up

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”

~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006

That was then. Today, he's the Food Stamp President. And the hipsters who voted for him are finding out that they get to pay a heavy price, as businesses across the country slash jobs and hours due to Obamacare.

Even hip and trendy "Juicy Couture" in New York City has cut full-time employees from 128 to 19, replacing them with part-time workers capped at 21 hours a week. The employees are freaking out:

See, it was hard enough for us to make ends meet in New York City as full-time retail workers. But by keeping hours under 30 per week, Juicy Couture will no longer be required to offer their workers affordable health care – part of the Affordable Health Care Act’s plan to make sure more working Americans have basic health care. Further, we were told we’re only eligible for paid time off in case we’re sick or have other responsibilities if we work 1400 hours in one year. We did the math, and realized part-time workers would never hit the 1400 hours in a year at 21 hours per week. This means that the vast majority of Juicy Couture’s workers will not ever get one single paid sick day. [Emphasis added.]

Note to hipsters: reality bites. It's what happens when you lack common sense. You buy the sales pitch without a second thought; you lose. Unfortunately, you take the rest of us with you.

Under Obamacare, health insurance premiums will drop, and more people will be insured. And you can't be denied coverage. And for the Flukes out there: free birth control pills! And it won't add one thin dime to the national budget, whatever the hell that is. And if you already have coverage and you like it, you can keep it. And if you want to change coverage, you can get it through one of the free Exchanges. And you'll get a credit on your taxes for buying health insurance. And the duckies and the bunnies will hold hands as they dance around the Maypole singing "Everything Is Beautiful". And the oceans will cease to rise, and the planet will begin to heal.

You bought it, kiddies. You own it. No returns.

 

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An Inconvenient Tooth

Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and that seems to be the situation today in Portland as the professional alarmists and litigators at Sierra Club cannonballed into the fluoridation issue surrounding Portland's water supply. Oddly enough, they oppose the unanimous decision by Portland's authoritarian City Council to add the toxin into the water (sorry, Tualatin, Beaverton, and you other folks who purchase water from Portland - you don't get a say in the matter).

The Council's unilateral decision ticked off many residents, who quickly hit the 30,000 mark on a petition to halt the plan until the matter could be put to a vote, and a support group - funded primarily by those who stand to profit should the project move forward - has been campaigning extensively in favor of the measure.

Two other environmental groups, Columbia Riverkeeper and Food and Water Watch, joined the Sierra Club in opposing Portland's fluoridation measure.

It's interesting to see the professional alarmists climb aboard the concept of leaving the water the hell alone; generally if something can have an adverse impact upon people, they're all over it; litigating to push it through if they feel it necessary.

At present, the battle rages on amid the intertubes, where the pro- and anti- fluoride factions have been duking it out:

The page contains status updates satirizing pro-fluoride arguments: "How many times do we have to tell you hippies, fluoride's not a poison in small doses? Just because there's no way to regulate the dose that you drink from the water supply doesn't change that. We're still pretty sure it's a small dose. Right? Yeah, it's small. Definitely smallish."

This is, for lack of a better term, a watershed moment in Portland politics; the first time in recent memory that the old It's For The Children™ chestnut hasn't been unquestioningly consumed.

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SCOTUS: No Dogs Allowed

They may be playing coy about homosexual marriage, but the US Supreme Court isn't playing around with drug-sniffing dogs. Perhaps surprisingly, Justice Antonin Scalia was joined in his opinion by Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in ruling that police can't bring a drug-sniffing dog up to your front door and then use any "hit" as a pretext for obtaining a search warrant.

Reliably Progressive Justice Samuel Alito disagreed, stating that the ruling "stretches expectations of privacy too far. The conflicting opinions in regard to this case just may provide some insight in regard to how the current Justices might rule when the inevitable litigation over the use of drones comes up. It seems likely that the "Progressives" will favor largely unfettered use.

 

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