| US to become like Japan...'s "lost decade" |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|10:37 am] |
Oh this is good.
The AP reports that America is at risk for repeating Japan's lost decade:
Heavy government stimulus spending and near-zero interest rates did little to end a "lost decade" of stagnation and mushrooming debt in Japan. Some economists and lawmakers say the U.S. may wind up following the same trajectory.
Despite early signs of recovery and a strong U.S. stock market rally, fears persist that the failure to generate new jobs or ignite more consumer spending could drag the economy back into recession, or result in a protracted Japan-like period of poor economic and stock-market performance.
That would be a trip--and considering it would happen under Obama's and the Democrats' watch, it would be all the more enjoyable. But some say it won't happen here, because of "demographics:"
David Wyss, chief economist for Standard and Poor's, said a drawn-out period of economic stagnancy like Japan's is a possibility.
"But I don't think it's as likely over here. For one thing, one of the problems in Japan was the demographics. And we don't have the problem of a declining population to deal with, although the labor force is going to slow down considerably as soon as the baby boomers retire," Wyss said. He predicted "a very sluggish recovery here."
I love this guy. At once he says that demographics will make it different, and then says it will make it the same! You can't make this crap up. Boy how I love news services that cite dopes. (For the more obtuse readers, in this case, Japan's "declining population" and our "slowing labor force" work the same as we have less people working. Ergo, Wyss is a dope.)
Of course, why has it dragged on for so long? Well, "some analysts say..."
Some analysts say that Japan's example doesn't show how stimulus can be ineffective so much as it shows the dangers of spending too little up front — or withdrawing it too quickly.
Of course, its always government not doing enough. And who are these analysts, you may wonder? Why, the IMF of course! There's a guurrreeeaaatttt source right there....
It's particularly worrisome because Japan may lose its #2 GDP slot to China, and if we do the same thing we'll lose to China too. Actually, I fully expect this to happen, what with the Reserve Bank of India selling off dollars, our debt being outrageously high ($12 trillion, according to the AP article, which is almost our $13.6 trillion economy), and China openly suggesting breaking the dollar hegemony. We're headed for a fall, and we're going to have no one but us to blame. (Well, we could have politicians. And Ben Bernanke.)
Oh, and just as an aside, Japan may lose its high credit rating if it keeps up its rate of spending. Hmm...I wonder if that would ever happen to the US? Nah... |
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| Trivia Tuesday |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|10:24 am] |
Prima Italian Restaurant
3500 N Decatur Rd, Scottdale, GA
Trivia Tuesdays, 8pm
Last night's winners... us... got free desserts.
And there was a Muppets question.
In related news, HERE is what had happened that had part of North Decatur Road closed.
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| Running for Office |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|05:05 pm] |
This is a mass email that needs to be circulated. Just getting folks to run in a space has been a tactic for years to keep us on the ballot - except in OK as we all know. 'Firecracker' Norm Westwell advocates just filing and collecting the mail for the first year. He is now a school board member in Orange County - acquired on his 2nd run - and well on his way to abolishing the school board given his last movements and several other board members not keeping their pants nor mouths zipped. ;-) (Firecracker is the nickname acquired as he initially ran to have the freedom of firecrackers back on the beach as when he was a kid growing up around OC.)
Note the final paragraph. Gee, Libertarians bitch to one another? NAH! They wouldn't do that! ;-0
--------------------------------------
November 9, 2009
Dear Friend of Liberty,
I want you to run for office.
You may have already responded to my call to run for office and asked me how to go about it. Don't take it personally if I've failed to respond to any of your questions. I'm getting more and more emails, so the percentage of people I can respond to personally is going down. I need to give priority to questions from Libertarian National Committee members and Libertarian state chairs. Besides me, we just have three full-time staff members and three part-time staff, and they are doing their best to help.
Although we have a small staff, we're busy organizing and re-engineering our processes to maximize our effectiveness with the resources you contribute.
Here's a summary of how to run for office as a Libertarian:
1. Fill out this form. The form generates an email to your state party and puts you in our national candidate prospect database.
http://www.lp.org/run-for-office
2. Contact your state party and local organizations by email or phone. State and local parties are your first means of support. Some states are more organized than others. Our national office will monitor state progress, and we will try to help out later as much as we can where gaps exist.
http://www.lp.org/states
( Read more ) |
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| My hometown newspaper: sometimes, I really love it |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|10:52 pm] |
My newspaper is notorious for spelling errors, having the bulk of its writing come from the AP, and not, in general, being that great a paper: except when it comes to editorials.
Read this and tell me if you think its libertarian or not.
Its from Upstate New York, right next door to the special election in NY-23 that recently played out. The variety of conservatism or Republicanism up there is not at all like the stuff you hear from Rush Limbaugh. Sure, they're Christian, and they're conservative--but the majority believe its not their place to judge gays, there are exceptions to being pro-life (well, at least my mom holds that view), and in general, the government should not be telling people who to marry or run their bedrooms. Its far more libertarian than conservative, although it definitely has a cultural conservative tint to it. Maybe "paleolibertarian" is the word. I was particularly enthused by this paper also bashing Republicans and Conservatives (which are a very large third party in New York State.)
Well, anyways, I thought you might get embolded by seeing at least one paper that was embracing libertarian rhetoric. At least some of the media has gotten the message. |
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| Religious NON-taxation; a 'modern' view and QUESTION |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|01:35 pm] |
This morning I went to the Mega-church 3 blocks away from my new abode. It was on my list of experiences of the 'Leaving America, must do' visiting contemporary events of these times particularly avoiding them having lived in Texas for several years.
http://www.centralchristian.com/onlinecampus/
I was completely DUMBFOUNDED by the mass media show to mass consumerism from bookstore, coffee shop, online donations, videos, Universities to "Neon Faith" (this is Vegas) movement - better than some of the shows i've seen on the strip complete w/ banal Christian rock band.
AND THESE GUYS PAY NO TAXES!!!!. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology and mass-sci-fi writer fame, had it right apparently from statements of forming one's own religion as the ultimate business model. What prosperity would each family in America be able to experience if we didn't have to pay any taxes like these folks? I've known of people who have followed the 'in-solo-corp' model never filing income tax or paying sales tax again as it's all for their 'church' etc. but they're usually way under anything close to $100K.... and then there was the internet site we all joined during the dotcom boom for small dollar shits' n' giggles, getting others to join - man, if i had 10 more i could have been a SAINT!
So, Discussion... I sincerely doubt given the lack of separation between church and state in this country that there will ever be a change in the tax code for these folks despite the fact that our founding fathers never foresaw the boom in christian businesses to mass-book sales, religions intertwined w/ parties and Religious PACS as major forces, nor would they have seen Churches as the 'ultimate business model' (well, there was the Catholic Church & church of England but that's a whole other discussion) but this just doesn't seem 'fair' whatsoever. I'm reminded of my Grandparents stopping through Jim & Tammy Faye Baker ala' Jesus-land complete w/ Jesus water slide while enroute through on vacation to see us sometime in the 80's before the big 'fallout.' And then all the beggars around ornate, ancient cathedrals worldwide... topics in themselves...
But bottom line question - why shouldn't we tax them at some small amount in the States as the REST OF US = individuals to legit 'for-profit' businesses - are being practically taxed to death?
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| Congressman Dennis Kucinich on tonight's health care vote |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|12:07 am] |
“But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies — a bailout under a blue cross.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Is he actually admitting that health care is currently not really a free market? |
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| Why the Innocent flee from the police & Qbytes quote |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|10:50 am] |
http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w115.html
IMHO, the article doesn't go far enough discussing all the people who are harmed by basic arrest tactics, how much money is made by issuing tickets (though there are several settled legal cases learned about in law school) resulting in people who have to hire attorneys and how much it costs the state to imprison people who are then never-charged or get off when they've paid said attorney to remind the state they are innocent... but yet have the fingerprints forever on a DB.
and for those who don't know, the Las Vegas PD have killed two other folks in the inside of a week - death grip and another w/ taser. yes both had health problems but the entire situations are suddenly obfiscated. today's missive from Peter McFarlane at Q Bytes regales the UK police en-masse raiding secure lock boxes at various banks. "But we are not here to scare you. At Q Wealth we believe in presenting practical solutions for your freedom, wealth and privacy. What lessons can we learn from this fiasco?
In my view, the UK and the USA are probably the countries with the most out-of-control governments in the whole world. The expectation of privacy, and being considered innocent until proven guilty, seem to be things of the past in those countries. Others, in particular Australia, are playing catch up very fast. These are the kinds of places where raids like this could be expected again in the future." |
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| Actively Getting the Libertarian Message Out! |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|06:33 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
Okay, so I have to parade my accomplishment around shamelessly, since I'm shamelessly promoting Libertarianism.
I live in Winston-Salem, NC, the fourth largest city in North Carolina and finally (a small accomplishment, but an accomplishment-don't dare rain on my parade damnit!) published one of my "Letters to the Editor".
I invite you to take a look. Mine is the third one down called the "New Motivation for Schools":
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/nov/06/its-time/opinion-letters/
Read some of the responses as well! The thread gets kinda interesting.
The full text as published in the Journal is below:
New motivation for schools
I am writing to comment on the Nov. 1 New York Times article you reprinted, "States lower academic proficiency standards." New motivation is needed to get our public schools to teach our children properly and deserve the tax money we, the taxpayers, are forced to give.
The Libertarian Party has it right when stating that competition is a good way to motivate public schools (which would be competing with private and charter schools for money) to actually teach our children instead of dumbing them down and passing them along to graduation without the ability to read or write.
ZEKE COCHRAN
Kernersville
And if anyone out there in the journalsphere happen to be native to North Carolina and would like to see whats going on in the NCLP...you can subscribe to our blog:
 style="border: 0px;"
alt="Click to join LPNC"/>
In any case, thanks for looking!
Zeke
Click to join LPNC
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| Our Golden Age Arrives: The All-Libertarian Panel |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|09:50 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  silly | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The most obscure band, honest! | ] |
This must be a first. While squishy small-l libertarians have done well to rise in their places in the media, this may be the moment where the Libertarian has finally arrived. Beck is out and recovering in the hospital with an appendix rupture (I think), so Judge Andrew Napolitano subbed on FNC this afternoon. No, that's not the big deal. After all, this year started with Walter E Williams subbing for Limbaugh, so unambiguous Libertarians have hosted top-rated shows before.
What makes this segment special is that Napolitano was hosting, and his panel was John Stossel and Peter Schiff. Finally, all of my biases can be reinforced in one glorious mainstream echo-chamber! Normally, I have to watch a Reason TV video for this sort of validation. Question, are we ready for prime time?
Exit question: Are they sellouts for being popular? Libertarianism isn't grunge or punk, but it seems that way often.
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| Pagan "Libertarian" wins NYC Council Seat |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|11:39 am] |
From the Queens Chronicle.
Not sure if anyone really cares, but I thought it was interesting that a candidate endorsed by the Libertarian Party won a seat in the largest city council in America (at least, I think NYC is the largest.) Under New York's electoral fusion system, Halloran was on the party lines for not only the Libertarian Party, but also the New York Conservative Party, the New York Independence Party, and of course, the Republican Party. I wonder how much "libertarianism" will influence him considering this broad electoral alliance.
What pisses me off is that Halloran's opponent, a Democrat, actively circulated fliers in the district telling people not to vote for this guy because he's a pagan. So much for Democrat values and whatnot. And in New York City, no less!
I'm also glad that a candidate endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers lost. Even though its a tiny victory, I always get a surge of happiness in my heart whenever that organization of putrified pond scum gets thwarted. |
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| Constitution Lectures |
[Nov. 6th, 2009|01:28 pm] |
I found these videos a while back from a user whose pseudoscience debunking series I followed, and still follow. I thought these were pretty insightful and simply had to share! There's, like, eight of them, each one being about ten minutes long. Enjoy! If you have the time.
( Moar Here! ) |
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| New Social site for Libertarian women; announcement |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|10:02 am] |
Ladies,
I'd like to invite you all to check out (and join) the new social
networking site I have recently created called "The LIBERTARIAN WOMAN: A
Gathering Place for Today's Libertarian Woman at:
<http://thelibertarianwoman.ning.com/>
http://thelibertarianwoman.ning.com/ (An additional goal is to begin
publishing a magazine by the same name in 2010)
While many valuable liberty-oriented social networking sites exist, The
LIBERTARIAN WOMAN was created with the specific purpose of connecting
women within the Liberty Movement who clearly identify themselves as
Libertarian (philosophically/politically) with a shared interest in
living and promoting the Libertarian message.
The groups we are creating within this site reflect that intention and
can be seen in their titles, such as: Libertarian Women Candidates and
Campaigns, Libertarian Motherhood, The Illinois Libertarian Woman, The
Michigan Libertarian Woman, etc...
This is a gathering place for us Libertarian women educators, activists,
candidates, entrepreneurs, mothers (and those of us who happily blend
many of these roles).
Looking forward to your input via the site!
Jan |
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| Why I oppose federally mandated health insurance |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|11:22 am] |
This article explains it better than I can.
My favorite line: "The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States."
My second favorite line: ""Health insurance is a good thing, and everyone should have it. But there are limits to what Congress can do. It doesn't have the authority to tell you to buy something." (emphasis mine)
I especially bristle at the tired old argument of "Supporters of the mandate to buy insurance, including President Barack Obama, point to state laws that require motorists to buy auto insurance. To register a car, drivers in nearly every state must show they have liability insurance to cover the cost to others if they cause an accident."
What they fail to realize is that nobody is required to buy a car in the first place. There are other options that allow citizens to bypass that mandate. Bike, walk, bus, skateboard, rollerblade, hitchhike, whatever. Hell, some people choose not to buy car insurance and risk the consequences, but there are ways around it. I wish they would stop using this metaphor because it is inaccurate and unnecessary. Compulsory health insurance has no loopholes; every man, woman and child would be forced to carry it, and there is no escape.
I don't care if Canada or Britain has socialized medicine. I don't care if America is the one first-world country without it. We are not those countries! If it works for them, well good for them. We have different perspectives and values here that do not support that kind of socialized thinking. Our government has a history of waste and ineptitude, with a real risk that would make the health care system worse than it already is.
I am not willing to take that risk. |
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| UPDATE on Lib Lawyer shooting IN HIS OWN WORDS |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|05:15 pm] |
Forget all the banter of 144 comments on the blog, (tempest in teapot as usual lib-tard such) here's Jim's update. Most importantly, he is recovering well and will be out on Wednesday if all continues accordingly.
----------------------
Jim Duensing // Nov 1, 2009 at 6:42 pm
First, I’d like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes.
I have suffered a broken arm. It is currently pinned in 4 places. Additional surgery on it will probably take place on Wednesday.
The shots to my midsection missed all vital organs. Three shots were fired from behind me and to my right. The doctors believe that two of the shots made contact. It appears that one entered my right pec, bounced off my sternum, went through my left pec, then shattered my humerous just above my left elbow. The second shot went in my lower right abdomen and exited my left abdomen without hitting any vital organs.
I am well on the way to recovery. and expect to be released from the hospital shortly after my surgery on Wednesday.
I am disappointed that the CCLP issued a press release without having spoken to me first. As a result, it contains misstatements of fact.
Here is what happened.
I was pulled over for driving straight through an intersection in a right turn only lane. I did signal for my lane changes to the left.
After exiting the vehicle at the officer’s request, I was standing with my back to the vehicle. The car’s open door was to my right. My hands were raised above my head. I was calmly speaking to the cop attempting to talk my way out of being taken to jail over an unpaid High Occupancy Vehicle ticket.
With my hands raised above my head, the cop shot me with a taser in the chest. As I have had heart problems since my premature birth, I believe a Taser to be a lethal weapon. Several people without heart conditions have been killed by this weapon.
When the taser began electrocuting me, instinct took over. I have been shocked by standard 120 volt electricity, which is what is used in your home. That was bad enough. Metro’s tasers contain “50,000 volts of pain compliance” according to one of the cops at the family law court who was operating the checkpoint.
Let me tell you, it is quite painful.
I immediately turned to my left and began moving away from the source of the electrocution. By the time I got to the back of the vehicle, I had reached up with both hands, grabbed the electrodes, and pulled them away from my chest. The juice then flowed through my arms - not my heart. As I lay here in my hospital bed, I firmly believe this instinct saved my life.
I continued running away from the taser. I heard the cop fire it again, but did not feel an additional shock.
I was running down the sidewalk with empty hands. I heard three pops from behind me. At first, I thought it was another taser shot. Then, I saw my left arm dangling.
I was taken down by a second officer - who was nearby conducting a separate unrelated traffic stop. He had me lying facedown on my broken arm. It was at this point that he found my licensed and registered pistol in my right cargo pants pocket and my Emerson folding knife in my right front pocket.
Let me reiterate. I am a firearms instructor at the world’s largest firearms training facility. I always carry a gun and at least one knife. I NEVER pulled either of these items out of my pockets.
The shooter was on my right side and from his perspective had to have been able to see that my right hand was indeed empty. The officer that I was running toward never reached for any weapon.
I’d like to publicly thank the Trauma surgeons at the UMC Medical facility. They did an excellent job. The reason additional surgery on my arm is necessary is because the wounds to my chest took priority. For good reason, they worry first about life, then about limb.
Again, thanks everyone for their well wishes. I have spoken to several people on the phone since being released from custody - although I still have not heard from the CCLP or the NVLP chairs.
To my knowledge, the CCLP had not issued a press release in years. I’m not sure why it felt compelled to issue one in this instance which contained misstatements of fact and which clearly tried to distance the CCLP from one of its members. Although, not an officer, I am a voting member of the CCLP excomm. Needless to say, my editing advice was not sought on the press release before it was issued.
Incidentally, I was returning from a trip to Carson City, following the Teabagger Express in support of my 2010 Senate campaign to unseat the Senator from Searchlight.
The campaign website is http://www.HellForHarry.com. I feel compelled to mention this, because neither the RJ nor the LP included this information in their written statements.
Rather than send flowers, please send your condolences in the form of campaign contributions :)
In liberty, with eternal vigilance,
Jim Duensing |
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| HR 1207 End the Fed - not dead YET... |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|09:05 pm] |
So what i get from this is that it's referred to subcommittee and there's still a shot to put things back in though it's been largely gutted to audit. I wouldn't trust Barney Frank further than i could throw him so won't hold my breath on this one.
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| Halloweeness |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|06:35 pm] |
Last night I dreamt that we hadn’t really shot the show for “Fall Festival”, only a rehersal. This was because it all went down so smoothly that it could not have been real. We carved the three leftover pumpkins to take over to the show, then they got a strobe-pot in each and lit them to start the show… and they were awesome! They were on a hill off to the right of the show, and the smoke just came up out of the tops and crept down the hill, each pumpkin flashing a different color. Cool and creepy! Then we had a close-up, near deafening six or so minutes of fireworks, complete with ash and paper falling on the crowd with the wind change. AWESOME, for serious! We had scared children from the *booms*. Some people said it was the best show they’d seen, but it’s all about the proximity to it. This was nothing bigger than a 3″ shell, so we could be relatively close, and the crowd in the parking lot was on higher ground than the shoot site.
But anyway… I do babble. Shot at 7pm, cleaned up site and home by 8:30pm. Thus, it just felt like we’d done something wrong because there was still so much evening left to burn. At least we had Joyce & Pete’s newly lightning-replaced big screen to watch.
This morning we did a final disposal of our three carved pumpkins, with a couple of entertainingly dramatic quarter-sticks of dynamite for two of them. The lids seemed to fly sky-high with a slow rotation, while the rest of the pumpkins just chunked and blew in all directions.
The third pumpkin had a leftover titanium salute placed inside, which James proceeded to attempt to shoot. It was my favorite, carved with a smirky smile which we originally thought just looked like he was oblivious to the fact that he was about to go boom! After emptying a couple clips trying to find the salute shell inside the pumpkin, however, he just seemed to be mocking the shooters. After having shot enough to put us all off guard, and leaving the pumpkin looking more like swiss cheese, James finally hits his mark with a rifle. EVER so much more efficient than a quarter-stick, instead of flying chunks you could see, the salute exploding simply caused the pumpkin to cease to be, replaced by a huge puff of smoke. Almost looked like a magic trick… now you see it, now you don’t.
Anywho… trapped now in Winfield with the Talladega race crowd between us and home, we’re still hanging out. We’ve already gotten to go through a huge collection of Barbie’s and Ken’s today, and I have a couple pictures to post of their fabulousness. Unfortunately, only camera phone pics this weekend. James and I both neglected to pack a camera, and Joyce’s seems to have died. This was the first paid show we’ve done that I haven’t filmed. =\
Last funny note: When Joyce told Angela by phone that we were blowing up pumpkins this morning, Angela said we were retarded. Dennis, however, thinks we are the coolest people ever.
Mirrored from Flerly.com. |
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| They've gutted the End the Fed bill |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|09:55 pm] |
In case anyone's missed this sad tidbit... next chess move suggestions? hmm...
------------
Ron Paul's Audit the Fed Bill Gutted by Democratic Controlled Congress
Not like this would have been a surprise, but with over 300 co-sponsors we thought it might go through un-touched:
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who has called for an end to the Federal Reserve, said legislation he introduced to audit monetary policy has been “gutted” while moving toward a possible vote in the Democratic-controlled House.
The bill, with 308 co-sponsors, has been stripped of provisions that would remove Fed exemptions from audits of transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff, Paul said today.
“There’s nothing left, it’s been gutted,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is not a partisan issue. People all over the country want to know what the Fed is up to, and this legislation was supposed to help them do that.”
It is time to get on the phone with everyone in Washington...Congressman and Senators and demand action against the illegal Federal Reserve. Call the Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 and speak with everyone you can!
It is time for R3VOLUTION!! |
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| One of our local Lib attorneys shot by police |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|01:30 pm] |
http://www.lvrj.com/news/identity-of-man-shot-by-lv-police-revealed-67906552.html
Jim is an interesting character. I don't doubt that he didn't want to be arrested but if he wanted to take out a cop, having trained people at FRONTSIGHT which is THE national training center for gun enthusiasts, he damn well could have. The ACLU will have a field day w/ this one - a practicing attorney running from a cop for a misdemeanor traffic warrant who was shot multiple times in the BACK. Thank goodness he was smart enough to be in a highly visible area w/ witnesses who will counter the 'proper' investigation by the police.
more as I have it. Nate will have a press release out later today and Wes Benedict will be contacted. I'm sure the police will want to keep this quiet as they screwed up. best case scenario, Jim will get a nice settlement out of the PD in a civil suit after the 'criminal' matter is cleared-up.
x-posted to the Libertarianism forum. |
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