Assault rifle used in U.S. agent's killing in Mexico traced to Texas

Once again, there’s proof that cartels are buying AK-47s in the states, but does the NRA admit this?

Right now, thanks to the NRA, a person can walk into a gun shop and buy two semi-automatic rifles a month, until the cows (lobbyists) come home!

What kind of person needs to purchase 24 semi-automatic rifles every year? I’ll tell you; someone who is selling those rifles to the first bidder (and they don’t care who the bidder is). Until weapons become really difficult for the cartels to get, they will continue to come across the border and buy weapons wherever they feel like it. For those of you who have never heard of “straw dogs” they are people who are legitimate buying weapons for people who aren’t. Simple. happens every damn day thanks to the NRA!

“U.S. authorities say one of three men they arrested this week purchased an AK-47 at a Texas gun shop that was used in the attack last month that killed a Border Patrol agent and wounded his partner.” FULL STORY

Pallbearers carry the casket of ICE agent Jaime Jorge Zapata, who was shot and killed in Mexico on Feb. 15. (Delcia Lopez / Associated Press / February 22, 2011 

I can’t believe the Supreme Court ruled Anti-gay funeral protests OK

What would happen if American al Qaeda followers were demonstrating against the Pentagon’s tactics against them worldwide?

Would that be okay? I’m thoroughly disgusted with our Supreme Court. I thought it hit an all-time low when the justices declared corporations had the same rights as individual citizens.

But, Hell No! Where has common sense gone? When is enough…enough? This decision allows a hate group to threaten gay and lesbian’s very existence in this country… while they advocate DEATH for them!

I know many journalists in America were concerned about First Amendment Rights being watered down if the judges ruled against Phelps and his crazed family and followers. However, these great legal minds that are supposed to be interrupting cases that challenge the Constitution don’t seem to have a lick of sense. There could have been a better outcome than this. Forget about trying to get money from the Phelps psychos and look at the real-world effect they are having on innocent Americans who can’t bury their war dead in peace.

Yes, I’m a veteran, and that makes me somewhat bias. That’s why I’m blowing off steam here. That doesn’t mean that the Supreme Court did the right thing. I honestly feel they dropped the ball again. The Phelps Hate Club isn’t demonstrating for the right to vote, or over some human rights violations committed against them. They are taking advantage of a system that can be exploited by legal minds who have no idea what it’s like living in the real world – instead of their Ivory Towers.

What a sad day this is. 

“The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount attention-getting, anti-gay protests outside military funerals.”

Full Story

Why do we believe in electrons, but not in fairies?

By Benjamin Kuipers

“No one has directly observed either electrons or fairies. Both of them are theoretical constructs, useful to explain observations that might be difficult to explain otherwise. The "theory of fairies" can actually explain more things than the "theory of electrons". So why do we believe in electrons, but not in fairies?

Is the issue a political one, where the "electron" fans got the upper hand in the nineteenth century, so by the twentieth century the "fairy" fans were a scorned and persecuted minority? Or, have we proved for sure that fairies don't exist?

No, to both. The real difference is that for electrons, we have accumulated a set of quite narrow and specific rules about how electrons will behave under various circumstances. Those rules let us make very specific predictions about electron behavior, and about the observations that will result. If those predictions don't come true, we know that either we didn't set up the circumstances correctly, or there is something wrong with the rules. But over many decades, we have repeatedly fixed problems with the rules, so we can now make really good predictions about electrons, especially in certain highly contrived circumstances (i.e., circuits).

Fairies are much more free. A fairy does what it decides to do. We haven't been able to find any useful rules for predicting how a fairy will behave under particular circumstances, or even for telling when a fairy has been involved in a particular observation. (At least I don't know of any such rules. I stand ready for correction on this.) Over many, many decades, it has not been possible for people to try out pretty-good sets of fairy-prediction rules, find out where they make mistakes, and replace them with better sets of rules.”

Read The Rest here

Health Alert: E. coli found on 50 percent of shopping carts

This is one of those things that I almost wish I didn’t know about; shopping carts carrying infectious bacteria. Yuck! The researchers said that the carts were worst than the bathrooms in the supermarkets! Now, that’s bad.

Apparently no one routinely cleans and disinfects shopping carts. Now I have to worry about salmonella and campylobacter bacteria attacking my grandchildren when I take them to the market or other type of store with shopping carts.

Excerpt:

 “Every day, parents blithely drop their toddlers into the baskets of shopping carts, never giving a moment’s thought to who might have had their hands on the handle last. Preliminary results from a new study show that may be a mistake.

Researchers from the University of Arizona swabbed shopping cart handles in four states looking for bacterial contamination. Of the 85 carts examined, 72 percent turned out to have a marker for fecal bacteria.”  Full Story

Parting shot…where the heck was this photo taken?

I was Stumbling around the web and found this stunning shot. Problem is, there was NO information about it. Do you have any idea where it was taken? Please share if you do.

Guest Opinion: Ted McLaughlin, ‘The (Un) Fairness of Income Tax’

“Does this seem fair to you? Is there any justification for someone making over a million dollars a year to pay a smaller tax rate than those making less than $170,00 a year (many of them making far less than that)?

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Statistics are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Internal Revenue Service.

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The richest Americans make most (or all) of their income from interest income or stock gains.

That means they pay the Capital Gains Tax (15%) instead of Income Tax (about 35% in their bracket).

This must be changed. The Capital Gains Tax should be raised to equal the Income Tax, or eliminated and the rich forced to pay their tax in the Income Tax system. Continuing this system of taxation is unfair to most Americans.”                                                                                           Link to original post

Check out this interesting mobile homeless shelter…

Design enthusiast, paul elkins, develops mobile units, and other small scale vehicles.
He previously designed the burning man bicycle camper and his latest development
is a mobile homeless shelter which he designed as part of a competition asking individuals
to meet the demands of the rapidly growing homeless society - a kind of substitute for the
grocery cart situation. Elkins wanted his design construction to be a simple, lightweight,
watertight insulated box on wheels, built with an area for displaying and selling handmade wares.

 

(Photo right) toilet seat storage and bucket. the mid section of the floor is movable which allows for ample room for use of the bucket.

(Photo Left) the shelter includes a sleeping / resting area, a kitchen and makeshift washroom

GO HERE to see all possible views.

 I want to let the viewer know that this interesting mobile homeless shelter is being sold for profit.

I’m only sharing it because I find it fascinating, and not because I’m promoting it for the company involved.

If you want to know more GO HERE

Awesome Human Rights Ad Campaign - Dictators Afraid of White Mice

 

GO HERE to see a couple of more terrified dictators. How do you like the mouse they’re afraid of?

Carl’s Corner: Documenting 2011 Snow in Fortuna

 

My friend Carl Young, who lives in Fortuna, can be seen wandering around on any given day taking photos. These two pics were taken at his place when it snowed the other day.

Frank Buckles: America's last World War I veteran dies

Frank Buckles, the last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, has died. He was 110.

Buckles, who also survived being a civilian POW in the Philippines in World Wa

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The roll call has be called up yonder–all present and accounted for!

r II, died peacefully of natural causes early Sunday at his home in Charles Town, biographer and family spokesman David DeJonge said in a statement. Buckles turned 110 on Feb. 1 and had been advocating for a national memorial honoring veterans of World War I in Washington, D.C.

Buckles lied about his age to join the army at age 16.The Missouri native was among nearly 5 million Americans who served in World War I in 1917 and 1918.

"I knew there'd be only one (survivor) someday. I didn't think it would be me," he was quoted as saying in recent years. Full story

As It Stands: Can you name all the dictators America does business with?

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 02/27/2011 01:30:34 AM PST

Hello, America, and welcome to “Name That Dictator.” I'm your host today and with that, let's get started:

1. Name seven of America's Favorite Dictators worldwide. Remember the amount of money we pour into their economies is a big measuring stick.

U.S. Taxpayer: “I'd have to say King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia; Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan; Paul Biya of Cameroon; Teodoro Obiange Nguema of Equatorial Guinea; Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia; Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov (or Berdymukhamedov) of Turkmenistan; and Idriss Derby of Chad.”

Fantastic! You got them all. You correctly named the countries we're happily sinking billions of dollars into regardless of their stance on freedom or human rights. You guessed right that democracy is secondary to getting what we want from dictators whose countries are strategic to us.

2. Name five of the World's Worst Dictators. Take a moment because you have about 50 (give or take) to choose from. We do business with most of them.

U.S. Taxpayer: “I'm going with Hu Jintao of China; Kim Jong-Il of North Korea; Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya; Hosni Murbarak of Egypt; and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, whose nasty little pastime of boiling his political opponents to death makes him a must pick.”

I'm sorry! Looks like you are not keeping up with world events. Hosni Murbarak was recently hounded out of power by the Egyptian people, and Muammar Qaddafi is on borrowed time after declaring war upon the people of Libya.

3. Here comes another tough question, so pay attention: Of the African dictators, whose life seems a parody of the dictator genre? Hint, Peter Maas said this about him.

U.S. Taxpayer: “I'm leaning toward Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, but my gut instinct says Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.”

Is that your final pick?

U.S. Taxpayer: (pause) “Yes ... I'm going with Teodoro.”

Even more dramatic pause. You're correct! Congratulations! That was a secret bonus question and you're getting double points! Are you ready for the next question?

U.S. Taxpayer: “Sure, let's roll. It's only my money we're talking about.”

4. Name the dictators who rule the following countries: Belarus, Swaziland, and Syria.

U.S. Taxpayer: “OK ... I know the answers. Aleksandr Lukashenka for Belarus, King Mswati III rules Swaziland, and Sayyid Ali Khamenei for Syria. Wait a moment! I'd like to change Syria to Bashar al-Assad in charge.”

The clock stops ticking and the bell goes off! You did it again! You're correct-a-mondo. Let's wrap this game up with the final question of the day: How many countries practice capitalism? This is a tricky question so think before you answer.

U.S. Taxpayer: Let's see ... 15, no 52, no ... 189?

Is that your final answer?

U.S. Taxpayer: Yes it is ... 189.

Buzzers blare! I'm sorry, but that's wrong. Capitalism is an economic policy. It's not a political system and it relies on little government control. Just about every country in the world practices a version of capitalism.

This game show host is still amazed to find any taxpayer who knows as much as you've answered today. Thank you for participating. America has looked the other way for decades as these dictators looted their countries, and it's important the public should know that.

Most Americans probably couldn't name three dictators we do business with on a regular basis. You know why? Because the corporate media doesn't talk about dictators unless world events force them to. Like Egypt, for example. How many Americans were aware it was ruled by an oppressive dictatorship? Look at Libya's mad dictator Qaddafi slaughtering his own people because they want freedom.

“Capitalism is freedom -- and freedom leads to prosperity,” according to Capitalism Magazine. The idea being you can determine levels of capitalism by looking at a country and the rights its citizens enjoy.

It's inescapable; the dictators we do business with are not “good” capitalists by that standard. Does it matter? We need to get that straight if we expect the rest of the world to believe our message of democracy and freedom for all.

As It Stands, if we don't want to appear hypocritical we should re-examine our relationships with the world's dictators.