3 Boxes of BS

That’s right boys and girls, it’s no longer your property that you have a right to do as you want with, it is now a potential revenue stream for the city of Dallas.

City managers have floated the idea of charging $5, as a way to help balance next year’s tough budget…

Jasso and Caraway estimate the fee could bring in $500,000 next year, and they recommend the money go toward senior dental services, cultural affairs programs, graffiti removal and animal services.

Think about that for a minute.

You would  no longer be allowed to sell your stuff, on your property, when you want to without giving a cut of your money to the city.

Oh, and they get their cut before you sell a single item. Heck at least the mob waits until you’ve sold things.

Please join the discussion.

I can not wrap my mind around the way some people think. I try. I really do.

Seek First to Understand, then Be Understood.

For a very long time, I’ve used this as a guiding principle and I usually have success. Even if it takes a while.

But I’m failing miserably with the mentality displayed by so many Far Left Nanny Staters.

For example, (emphasis mine below)

3.5 million people without homes; 18.9 million homes without residents.

While an array of legal and logistical obstacles present themselves, the math is staggering. It’s time to sort out the regulations and rates that would facilitate the solution: turning empty houses into homes for those in need…..

I’m not advocating giving houses away — such a move would create a host of political and fiscal problems — but government should be working toward a solution to match up the empty homes with those who need a roof to live under.

A homeless population equivalent to the size of Los Angeles is unacceptable, and with over five times as many empty houses, we have not only a moral obligation but also an economic imperative to come up with a creative way to fix this travesty.

I have some questions that might just illuminate how bad of an idea this is.

1. Ever hear of the concept of private property Bub?

It’s not about taking a residence from someone who can’t pay his or her bills and giving it to another person who can’t make payments either, it’s about using resources we have in excess.

The problem with your idea Bub, is “we” don’t have the resources in excess. Someone actually owns that property, someone has their money tied up in it. Just because it isn’t being used at this moment does not mean you or anyone but the owner can arbitrarily decide how it gets used.

2. Ever hear of the Constitution Bub?

It limits just exactly what the government can do and I’ve read that document — no where is there power to allowed to do what you want.

3. Ever think about the cycle you mentioned Bub?

the market will follow the same cycle: demand, saturation and then glut.

Taking houses out of that cycle will keep prices artificially high — meaning fewer people will be able to afford housing. Isn’t that a little self defeating?

4. Ever hear of Reality Bub?

Without someone to take care of it, a property will decline steeply. But with someone living in the house…actually taking care of them…well, that’s a far better situation.

Most people (again the caveat is most people, there are a few this doesn’t apply to) aren’t homeless because of one bad decision, one careless mistake.

Most people are homeless because they continue(d) to make bad decisions over and over again.

Giving a house to someone /unable/unwilling to make good decisions doesn’t guarantee they will ‘take care’ of the house. Far from it.

Look around that the public housing that is currently available, look around at the shelters, look around where the homeless people stay.

Do you see those areas getting better or worse?

5. Ever think that most “homeless people don’t need or can’t afford a home to take care of, Bub?

One researcher who examined a sample of homeless persons over a 2-year period found:

• Most, or about 80 percent, exit from homelessness within 2 or 3 weeks. They often have more personal, social, and economic resources to draw from than people who are homeless for longer periods of time.
• About 10 percent are homeless for up to 2 months, with housing availability and affordability adding to the time they are homeless.
• Another 10 percent are homeless on a chronic, protracted basis, for as long as 7 or 8 months in a 2-year period. Disabilities associated with mental illnesses and substance use are common. On any given night, this group of homeless persons can account for up to 50 percent of those seeking emergency shelter.

90% of homelessness resolved within 2 months.

How is ‘giving them’  a house going to help?

Never mind the fact that, out of the long term homeless, many have mental illness or substance abuse issues that make them ‘less the ideal home owner candidates’ shall we say?

6. Ever stop and think there is absolutely nothing stopping you from doing this right now Bub?

Not a single solitary thing but your desire to spend other people’s money on your ideas .

Honestly, I think I’m going to start calling the Far Left the “Other People’s Money Party”.

Let’s examine the concept here in a different light — Skippy gets together with some of his like minded friends and pools their money. Skippy and friends goes to the people who own the vacant houses and offers them a good price. Skippy and friends invite homeless people to live in those houses.

Homeless situation resolved without the government getting involved, without property being seized, without the laws and Constitution being violated.

But that isn’t what Skippy wants now is it?

From Richard Warnick at One Utah

Yes, like everyone in the middle class I have more than I need. Also, like everyone in the middle class under 65 I’m working without a net– I could lose those surplus assets almost overnight. For example, when Bush crashed the economy the assessed valuation of “my” house (that the bank owns) went down 40 percent!…

I pay Comcast about $100 a month for cable TV and Internet (which is outrageous).

To Sobeale discussing the flooding in Pakistan

I’m a little shocked and surprised that despite the growing humanitarian crisis in Pakistan, the disaster there hasn’t dominated our news cycle in the same way crises in other nations have. Where are the telethons and Twibbons and nightly stories of daring rescues and calls for massive aid to the flood-ravaged country. (emphasis mine – Bob)

Who responded to my comment with this:

Pretty weak, Bob S. Hypocrisy? Don’t think so. I’m a blogger writing about how it’s interesting that no one seems to give a damn about Pakistan and you call me a hypocrite for not organizing a telethon?

Right-o

Yes, I do Sobeale, I really do think it is hypocritical of you to complain about there not being enough in the news when you aren’t doing things to put the crisis in the news.

Yes, I think it is hypocritical of Richard to want to tax the ‘rich’ to provide a safety net he is unwilling to sacrifice a little to provide for himself.

Yes, I think it is hypocritical of Skippy to want to take other people’s money or property when he’s doesn’t seem to be willing to spend his own money.

So, if you think there is a problem; do you have a responsibility to act on it before you recommend spending other people’s money without their consent?

Please join the discussion.

Or Our Federal Government at Work Slacking off?

Really, folks — let’s think about our priorities here.
Federal agents have identified people in the country illegally, good.
They’ve processed the paperwork to start the deportation court proceedings, good.
Then the Obama Administration makes a decision to review those cases, Uh-Oh.

The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.

Every time I think the Obama Administration can’t do anything else to leave me dazed and confused, they prove me wrong.

Gonzalez said DHS attorneys are conducting the reviews on a case-by-case basis. However, he said they are following general guidelines that allow for the dismissal of cases for defendants who have been in the country for two or more years and have no felony convictions.

In some instances, defendants can have one misdemeanor conviction, but it cannot involve a DWI, family violence or sexual crime, Gonzalez said.

Given how often cases are plea bargained down, charges dismissed; this really doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy sense of comfort.

Patterns of criminal behavior usually don’t just stop and change for the better so I’m a little concerned about such a generous criteria being used.

I wondered why the administration would do something like this, then I read these two paragraphs.

Gonzalez called the dismissals a necessary step in unclogging a massive backlog in the immigration court system. In June, there were more than 248,000 cases pending in immigration courts across the country, including about 23,000 in Texas, according to data compiled by researchers at Syracuse University.

In a June 30 memo, ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton outlined the agency’s priorities, saying it had the capacity to remove about 400,000 illegal immigrants annually — about 4 percent of the estimated illegal immigrant population in the country. The memo outlines priorities for the detention and removal system, putting criminals and threats to national security at the top of the list.

So instead of stepping up our ability to remove people who are in the country illegally, let’s put a cap on the number of people we deport each year….a paltry 4%????

I don’t see any other conclusion for this other then it is a step in the process to grant amnesty to illegal aliens.

Maybe the should take the time, energy and money being spend on BackScatter Vans and add a few more people to ICE or even change the law removing firearm licensing requirements and add those people to immigration control.

Please join the discussion.

On the evening of July 30, armed men entered the village of Ruvungi, in North Kivu Province.

“They told the population that they were just there for food and rest and that they shouldn’t worry,” said Will F. Cragin, the International Medical Corps’ program coordinator for North Kivu, who visited the village a week after their arrival.

“Then after dark another group came,” said Mr. Cragin, referring to between 200 and 400 armed men who witnesses described as spending days and nights looting Ruvungi and nearby villages.

The gun control crowd — those I call anti-rights advocates – are very big on the whole ‘give them what they want and don’t fight back’ idea.

I have notice they tend to say so from the safety of their  homes – protected by the firearms of their neighbors, the law enforcement and the military.

And what did those villagers get from following the anti’s advice?

A mob of Rwandan rebels gang-raped at least 150 women last month during a weekend raid on a community of villages in eastern Congo, United Nations and other humanitarian officials said Sunday.

“They began to systematically rape the population,” he said, adding, “Most women were raped by two to six men at a time.”

The attackers often took the victims into the bush or into their homes, raping them “in front of their children and their families,” Mr. Cragin said. “If a car passed, they would hide.”

Wonder why they would hide from a car, could it be they feared someone who would fight back?

When the thief is in the house, there isn’t time to run out, buy a firearm and learn to use it.
When the rapists are brutalizing your wife, daughter, friends and neighbors; there isn’t time to run out, buy a firearm and learn to use it.

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms should be protected instead being subjected of ridiculous restrictions (can you say Chicago and Washington D.C.?).

Because no one should have to be subjected to things like what happened in that village without the opportunity to fight back.

Please join the discussion.

Some hoplophobes just keep getting better and better, New York City Michael Bloomberg definitely fits into this category.

The hike has already touched off a court battle, but Bloomberg called for Paterson to flex some frontier justice.

“I said, you know, get yourself a cowboy hat and a shotgun. If there’s ever a great video it’s you standing in the middle of the New York State Thruway saying, you know, ‘Read my lips — The law of the land is this and we’re going to enforce the law,’” he said.

That’s right boys and girls, in addition to the normal violent nature of anti rights advocates — Mayor Bloomberg now comes with Racsim.

The Seneca Nation resolution says it quite nicely

The Seneca Nation passed a resolution Saturday condemning the comments. They said the mayor was taking “contradictory positions” by targeting the tribes while at the same time expressing support for constitutional protections of those looking to build a controversial Islamic center near Ground Zero.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s cavalier attitude and inflammatory remarks, by which he encourages armed conflict as a means for resolution, evidences tremendous disrespect,” the resolution said. “Mr. Bloomberg’s hypocritical support of constitutional protections, only when they don’t impact the New York City budget, coupled with his uneducated and uninformed statements on the issue, serve to fan the flames of aggression, and undermine the potential for peaceful resolution of these matters, while perpetuating a long dormant policy of Indian termination which dates back to the days of General Custer’s failed battle of Little Bighorn.”

Side note to the members of the Seneca Tribal Council — if you are ever in the area; I’d like to buy you dinner. The wording of that smackdown is terrific.

Glad to see we gun bloggers aren’t the only ones who sees the hypocrisy in people like Mayor Bloomberg.

Please join the discussion.

It started with a thug with a knife but I can’t even begin to figure out how many lives were impacted.

Here is video from a local station of what I’m talking about.

And it shines a on the Lies of the Antis — it’s not just property, it’s people’s lives that are being impacted.

One Woman

The incident began about 2 p.m. Wednesday when a woman called 911 to report that as she left the Sheraton Hotel parking lot in the 1500 block of Calhoun Street in Fort Worth, a man walked up to the driver’s side window of her Chevrolet pickup, reached inside and demanded her keys, a Fort Worth police news release stated.

The man showed the woman that he had a knife and grabbed her purse and keys. The woman got out of the truck, and the robber got in and drove away. She was not injured, the news release stated.

The City

Reyes said Browne had carjacked the pickup in Fort Worth on Wednesday and committed a violent robbery in Dallas early Thursday. In fact, Reyes said, he is suspected in a string of violent crimes.

Let’s see — if he hadn’t been stopped trying to steal the car, is it likely he would have committed a violent robbery on Thursday?

I don’t have details about who was robbed, but do you think it was someone who could afford to loose the money? I don’t.

How many lives did this crime impact?

Nope, again ‘reasonable gun control’ laws contribute not to decreasing crime but its increase.

Early on in the pursuit, one of the rear tires on Browne’s vehicle blew out, and the entire rim soon came off. However, he continued driving on the axle for the duration of the chase, carving a deep groove into the streets on which he drove.

How money out of people’s pocket will go to repair the damage caused by this thug instead of being used to keep libraries or swimming pools open?

How many lives did this crime impact?

The chase wound through Dallas in the middle of the afternoon — took about an hour to cover 15 miles from Arapaho Road to Love field.

It ran through residential and business areas, it even went by a hospital.

How many lives did this crime impact?

The Airport

This is where the ripple effect really starts adding up on a national level.

9 Flights on the tarmac delayed up to 20 minutes, planes forced to delay landing. Doesn’t sound so bad, right?

Except when you consider the business people who were trying to get home or to that important meeting they were flying toward. How many people’s plans were changed, how many thousands of dollars were lost due to the actions of one thug?

How many lives did this crime impact?

Thousands of dollars in sales, in salaries; in deals which fed families or put kids through school.

How many lives did this crime impact?

School is about to start — how many people missed taking their kids to doctor’s appointments or had to wait longer.

The Truth

The sequence started with a woman doing what the antis recommend — giving up a truck because it is only property.

Except that is really isn’t ‘just property’ now is it?

Or does the intent?

Weer’d Beard has been running a series of posts about violent deaths where the instrument of choice was not a firearm.

I decided not to send this one to him but post about it myself. My excuse is that it happened here; like on the roads I travel on. My wife works off of West Lancaster and Rosedale. We travel on 287 occasionally. I work north of down town, heck I was on the streets of down town last week for jury duty.

The story starts out grim — a man kidnaps and kills his ex-girlfriend’s mother.

Police had been searching for Robertson since College Station police alerted them that he was suspected of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend’s mother from a College Station Walmart and stabbing her.

The body of the mother, 59-year-old Anne Toliver, was later found in the parking lot of a shopping center in the 4000 block of Camp Bowie Boulevard.

Later, officers found Toliver’s body. She had been stabbed multiple times, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.

Notice how he avoided the other cars and aimed directly at the police car — even when the cop tried to get out of the way?

Officer Kerry Gober was treated for injuries at a hospital and was released Sunday, police said.

Robertson remained hospitalized Monday under police guard. In addition to a capital murder charge, he faces a Tarrant County charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with Gober’s injuries.

I hope the police also charge Robertson with reckless endangerment for every car on the road and definitely for the 6 cars he passed while driving the wrong way. I believe if he had brandished a firearm at 6 people passing by he would have been charged, don’t you?

Violent thugs will find a way to be violent thugs; either with or without firearms. Making firearms harder to obtain and carry for everyone else only gives the advantage to the thugs. Really makes you wonder if that isn’t the goal of the gun controllers.

Please join the discussion.