Despite the continual uproar over "gun violence" and the need to eliminate the 2nd Amendment and whatall, it remains that in terms of human lives and financial impact, gun violence is a piker.
The death toll from binge drinking and other forms of excessive alcohol use in the United States is just shy of 88,000 a year, according to a new nationwide analysis.
"Gun violence" isn't even close to being in the same league, Friday nights in Chicago notwithstanding. It's abundantly clear that the gun-grabbers don't really give a rat's heinie about public safety; they just want a visible "fix" so that they can show they care. And it's so much easier to whip up peoples' emotions over something that goes "bang" than it is to deal with the more deadly, yet more complex issues.
A Florida woman has been arrested and her child taken into protective custody due to her peculiar implementation of a vegan lifestyle.
Local news station WESH reports that Sarah Anne Markham’s pediatrician alerted authorities after the woman’s 12-day-old baby appeared dehydrated during a doctor visit. The doctor said that Markham refused the medical advice to admit the child to the hospital or take the medicine offered, on the grounds that “it contained ingredients that came from animals.” After police were summoned to her home, Markham reportedly told them that she’d purchased organic soy formula for the baby, and that “she wanted to pursue a religion-based treatment and she had contacted a ‘natural’ or vegan doctor, but police said she did not share any proof of this to them.” Police added that “They asked Markham if the product was confirmed with a doctor that it was safe to give the newborn, and she replied saying that since it was organic, it must be OK.” The baby remains in protective custody.
There are some unresolved issues that this 23 year-old has which extend far beyond merely wishing to pursue a vegan lifestyle. For one thing, she apparently subscribes to that whole "sovereign citizen" malarkey; police forcibly entered her place after she told them that she doesn't need to acknowledge their presence.
Looks like she can ignore them from the comfort of a cell. She probably also believes that if a product is labeled "natural", it had no pesticides or fertilizers or other stuff, though of course companies are free to slap that label on anything they want. And "if it's organic, it must be okay". Sheer idiocy.
No detraction intended to educated people who choose to pursue veganism, and it's certainly feasible to raise children in a vegan environment - but - those people aren't buying products merely because a label says "organic". Hell, strychnine is an organic alkaloid, but it's best avoided. People like this kid, apparently incapable of independent thought and analysis, desperately need neutering.
She can do what she wants to herself, but raising a kid involves ensuring that basic nutritional requirements are met.
Yeah, about that. Here's what happens in eastern Oregon's Umatilla County when the much-ballyhooed Umatilla pack gets hold of a rancher's cow:
Oh, it's much worse; this is just one shot.
According to an ODFW investigation into the matter, “multiple large-carnivore bite wounds” were found on the cow’s right-side flank area and on both hind legs between the hock and rump. The exposed bite caused muscle tissue damage on the left hind leg, which was “especially severe,” according to the report.
This is quite surprising, because as Everyone Knows, the reintroduced wolves will only hunt deer and elk. We've been told that for years. And as we All Know, wolves are incredibly important to ecosystems; so much so that when they move into southern Oregon, logging sales must immediately be halted.
The preservationists keep telling us how important they are, and that they don't go after cattle or sheep, so they won't endanger ranchers' livelihoods and besides, they only take one animal for sustenance and whatever.... Oh, wait:
The Umatilla Pack has depredated livestock irregularly since 2012, according to the ODFW report. However, on June 13 — two days after the wolf depredation on Lane’s cow — ODFW officials confirmed a wolf depredation of sheep in a pen less than one mile from the same pasture. In that incident, seven sheep were killed and five more were injured.
The sheep were in a pen. The wolves killed seven. What about all of that "they only take one, for sustenance" thing again? It'll be really great when the preservationists reintroduce grizzlies as well.
For years, I've spent most of my time standing, walking, etc. I often stand even when goofing around on a computer. I'm just not good at sitting for prolonged periods of time, and it appears that's a good thing:
A large review recently published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute confirms what we’ve been hearing for years: Sitting can be fatal.
Evidently, you can't undo the effects of prolonged butt-time even with exercise. Sitting is the new smoking - even for runners.
Politico has an oddly interesting assessment, and basically, it comes down to one thing - the race card, which Holder plays with abandon. Oh, to be sure, there are other reasons:
To start, it helps that he is one of the few administration figures to cross the threshold from employee to friend of the famously reserved president. Holder, in fact, is one of the only Cabinet members Obama routinely invites over for dinner and drinks (Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a hoops buddy from Chicago, is another) and the only one who times his summer vacation to hang out with the president on Martha’s Vineyard. Their wives are even closer, and Michelle Obama is a not infrequent drop-in guest for Friday pizza night at Holder’s house.
Pizza? Really? Does Mooch allow that to be served at schools during lunch? Um, it seems not. Of course, in this administration, hypocrisy is a feature, not a bug.
There have been a number of interesting developments on the legal front today; it seems to be the day this week: Today, former New York City Nanny Bloomberg's Big Gulp ban was uncerimoniously dumped by the state Supreme Court, which ruled it unconstitutional. Naturally, some people have a problem with this:
The decision most likely will be seen as a significant defeat for public health advocates who have urged state and local governments to actively discourage the consumption of high-calorie beverages, saying the drinks are prime drivers of a nationwide epidemic of obesity.
Or, as "outraged" commenter "Jeepbaja" puts it, it's all the evil Republicans:
Thank you Republicans and your CEO cronies who want to force sugary drinks down my children throats. Thank you for giving them diabetes and making them obese. Thank you for buying out the people who are supposed to take care of my children.
Someone needs to be held accountable for what our children are being exposed to. Our children should not be given 44oz soda's that do no nothing but line the bank accounts of the rich.
And good luck filing a lawsuit against these soda pimps. They will claim they are not at fault for our children's health issues and instead of rightfully taking the blame, they will blame those who have no power in this situation.
Jeepers, if you don't want your children to be given 44 oz. sodas, don't buy any for them. No "Republicans and CEO cronies" want to force anything down the throats of your precious snowflakes. Buy a life, Lefty!
But in other news, a 35 year-old Ohio loser stole 49 air conditioning units from homes and businesses last year. The state filed charges against him, and he'll be sentenced in August. But the feds got to him first - they charged him with violating the Clean Air Act by releasing Freon into the air when he cut the coolant lines during the course of the theft. And they got a conviction.
He's been sentenced to 31 months in federal prison as a result. When all is said and done, he'll likely be in his early 50s by the time he gets out of the various slammers.
These are both small taters, though, compared to the two US Supreme Court decisions - both unanimous - handed down this morning:
The high court's first-ever case involving the Constitution's recess appointments clause ended in a unanimous decision holding that Obama's appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in 2012 without Senate confirmation were illegal.
That's gotta leave a mark, there, Barry; it nullifies every decision that the illegal NLRB slapped on businesses across the country.
And poor Planned Parenthood pouting as well, because their eugenics centers abortion factoriesclinics stand to lose business. SCOTUS unanimously called BS on the "buffer zones" that PP's relied on for years to quickly whisk women in so that they can slice, dice, and suction out those icky little babies. Seems that the "buffer zones" violate the First Amendment.
“This decision shows a troubling level of disregard for American women, who should be able to make carefully considered, private medical decisions without running a gauntlet of harassing and threatening protesters,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement after the ruling. “We are taking a close look at this ruling, as well as patient protection laws around the country, to ensure that women can continue to make their own health care decisions without fear of harassment or intimidation.”
Heaven forbid that a pregnant woman be faced with a flier; how intimidating! Quick, somebody call Oregon's gun-grabber, state Senator Ginny Burdick - she's always ready to claim that someone's trying to "intimidate" her, so she's sort of an expert in that whole victimology thing.
The Cover Oregon site never got off the ground, and gov. Retread has decreed that after spending $250 million on it, we now have to move to the federal Obamacare site. But until that happens, Cover Oregon employees are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in "bonuses" to encourage them to stay on through the transition. Gotta love this place!
The exchange never launched a functional website which was able to enroll customers online, a problem which the state blames on its contractor Oracle. The company’s officials recently alleged that they did create a website which supported online enrollment — but that Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber, who’s running for reelection in November, chose not to launch it for political reasons.
On the other hand, a federal judge here in Portland has ruled that the government's "no fly" list is unconstitutional, despite warnings by the U.S. Government:
U.S. government attorneys cautioned the judge not to engage in "policymaking" were she to rule against them.
Umm...sorry, boys, but that's exactly what the Judicial branch is supposed to do when you goons get out of line.
And then there's the "Portland Street Fee" that mayor Charlie Hales and Councillor Steve Novick desperately want. And they're getting pretty upset about residents' reluctance to shell out more cash.
Hales said for anyone who can find misspent money in the past two budget cycles (2013-14 and the recently approved 2014-15 budget), "I'll show up on your doorstep with $10 and a TV reporter."
Whoops! People immediately started sending in examples of misspent funds, forcing Charlie to backtrack:
What Hales meant by "misspent" money, was money that is illegally spent outside the city's stringent budget requirements, his spokesman said on Tuesday.
Oh. Thanks for clearing that up. It's not illegal to shift $600,000 to "studies" of stuffing light rail down highway 99W in the Southwest corridor - it's just wrong to do it when voters have made clear that they don't want it. And it's not illegal to spend $56,000 to send 16 white boys to "diversity training" school, it's just wrong - especially when the only two folks in city government who seem to have had issues with "diversity" were a black guy and a woman, who both worked directly for Charlie.
A woman in Minneapolis heard someone trying to break into her home, so she used her T-Mobile phone to dial 911. The 911 operator in New York City was prepared to send first responders, but....
Yes, you read that right: Faye's call from Minneapolis went to NYC 911 dispatch.
A New York operator eventually ended up contacting Minneapolis with the emergency. Police arrived at her apartment 30 minutes later.
This is precisely why, despite all the panty-twisting and hand-wringing, it is only common sense to weaponize your abode. When seconds count, police are minutes - if not hours - away.
Oh, guns are terrible, guns are horrible...and guns may well make the difference when it counts. In a lot of cases, you don't even have to fire the weapon - lots of bad guys are going to back off when they see that little round hole pointed at them. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a gun freak and I don't have tons of guns. In fact, I don't have any.
I do, however, have a lot of weapons, and I'm extremely proficient in their use; so much so that a gangbanger with a gun is at a distinct disadvantage. That's because unless gangboy actually knows how to use the weapon (and most of them don't), he'll be down or dead before he can figure out how to point and shoot.
I don't advocate for any weapon, one way or the other, unless the owner is willing to become proficient in their use. That means training, folks. Yep, it's boring. It's also essential.
Just how bad is the measles outbreak in the midwest and east? It's so bad that those premier antivaxxers, the Amish, are now lining up for vaccinations.
A nurse in Knox County for nearly three decades, Fletcher had never seen the illness, but she knew the symptoms.
Jacqueline Fletcher readies a measles vaccine to give at a makeshift clinic in central Ohio. About 8,000 Amish people in the area have received measles vaccinations since April.
"The rash. They had the conjunctivitis in the eyes, their eyes were red," she says. "They don't want the light, they sit in the darkened room, wear dark glasses. I mean they were just miserable. High temperatures, 103, 104 temps. So this was the measles."
As a general rule, Amish don't do vaccines, but these days, horse-drawn buggies are filling the parking lot of makeshift clinics at the end of the workday. It's wedding season, but they're cancelling or postponing those celebrations as well. They've even stopped church services in an effort to keep the disease from spreading.
Generally speaking, we tend to think of disease eradication or near-eradication as a good thing, but there's also a downside: never having encountered the disease before, it takes medical professionals a bit longer to effectively diagnose it. In this case, they got lucky in that despite never having seen measles in her thirty years of practice, the nurse was nonetheless familiar with the symptoms. At the same time, since nobody knows exactly how many unvaccinated Amish are still in the wild, there's still potential for it to continue to spread.
And this is yet another reason why Resident Obama's destructive policies must be countered: he's encouraged hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated third-worlders to run across our southern border - and from there, to spread out across the country. While they most assuredly aren't Amish, they most assuredly are carriers.
