Yearly Archives: 2013

Few Dare Discuss Social Security and the Decline in Full-Time Employment

"If the global economy slides into recession in the years ahead, as seems increasingly likely, full-time employment in the U.S. could slip to 100 million while the number of beneficiaries continues to soar by 10+ million a decade. All the official projections assume steady, strong increases in payroll taxes and full-time employment; the system's deficits will explode higher if full-time employment sags while the number of beneficiaries increases from 57 million to 70 million and then on to 80 and 90 million. Anyone who cares about the viability of Social Security had better wake up to the widening divergence of full-time employment and SSA beneficiaries." Continue reading →

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NYPD: Largest-ever gun seizure by an undercover cop was thanks to ‘stop and frisk’

"The Commissioner was also quick to claim that, despite the undercover officers’ involvement and all other apparent evidence to the contrary, the seizure points to success of the 'stop and frisk' policy. Kelly’s claim rests on a wiretap of one of the accused, Eddie Campbell, who is heard to say that he prefers not to come to New York because of the stop-and-frisk policy: 'I’m in Brownsville,' Kelly quoted Campbell as saying. 'We got like, umm, uh, whatchamacallit, stop and frisk.' Campbell is accused of selling 90 guns during 24 meetings with the unnamed detective. Another alleged dealer, Walter Walker, is said to have sold him another 116 guns." Continue reading →

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Man finds 300 pounds of marijuana stashed in gun safe he bought on the Internet

"The 1,000-pound steel safe, ordered from Champion Safe Co. of Provo, Utah, was made in Nogales, Mexico, and shipped by truck from Mexico to Champion’s warehouse near Mansfield, Ohio, Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart said. The safe was delivered on June 19 to the customer in western Ohio by an independent driver working for Champion, Lenhart said. The marijuana, tightly wrapped in 10, 28-pound packages, has an estimated street value of $420,000, according to Lenhart. He said the truck’s shipment contained 25 to 30 safes, and that all the others were free of drugs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan finds 300 pounds of marijuana stashed in gun safe he bought on the Internet

Do You Like Guns? Sitting? Introducing the CouchBunker

"And you thought stubbing your toe on the corner of the couch hurts bad now. Introducing the CouchBunker, a fire-rated gun safe hidden inside a custom built couch. Oh but does it get better: every CouchBunker comes with a bullet proof cushions fit with carry straps, so that they can be used as shields. The CouchBunker is the finest in lounge-centric security from the BedBunker company, which makes — surprise — safes that you can sleep on. 'If you break it down and remove the cushions, you notice it looks like a normal sofa. But open up the lid, and you have a concealed gun safe,' explained the company’s Brian Poitevent to KHOU.'" Continue reading →

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Bolivian man claims to have lived for 123 years thanks to quinoa and coca leaves

"Bolivian indigenous farmer Carmelo Flores, who could be the oldest person to have ever lived, attributes his longevity to quinoa grains, riverside mushrooms and around-the-clock chewing of coca leaves. Speaking in the 4,000-metre (13,123-feet) high hamlet where he lives in a straw-roofed hut, Flores says the traditional Andean diet has kept him alive for 123 years. Flores is still strong enough to take daily walks in shoes made of recycled tires. Flores said he fought in the brutal 1932-35 Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, and had to hunt skunks to nourish himself." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBolivian man claims to have lived for 123 years thanks to quinoa and coca leaves

‘Drug free’ advocate: I smoked pot in college, of course

"David Evans, a criminal defense attorney and special advisor to Drug Free America Foundation, warned that marijuana combined the worst aspects of tobacco and alcohol. He said the drug was highly addictive and caused traffic accidents that killed young people and those who supported legalizing marijuana were naive and misinformed. 'You’re painting a very apocalyptic picture here, Mr. Evans, have you taken marijuana yourself?' Morgan asked. 'Yes, I smoked pot in college, of course,' Evans replied. 'You’re still alive,' Morgan remarked. 'You haven’t killed anyone. You haven’t gone crazy. You seem perfectly well. You seem reasonably rational.'" Continue reading →

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Yes, We Live in a Communist Country

"Since the hunger strike began in February, the gulag-keepers in Guantanamo Bay have employed the same tactic once used by their Soviet forebears in dealing with dissenters: They have been punishing the hunger-strikers by force-feeding them, an act widely recognized as torture. This involves shackling a victim to a restraint chair, immobilizing his head, and either forcing a feeding tube down his throat, or snaking it down a nasal passage through the alimentary canal into his stomach. Former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, who underwent force-feeding after being arrested by the KGB and sent to the Soviet psychiatric gulag, has described the experience." Continue reading →

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Government asks for 60-year sentence for Bradley Manning

"The US government has urged a military judge to sentence Bradley Manning to 60 years in prison, arguing that the solider, who leaked a huge collection of classified documents to WikiLeaks, 'deserves to spend the majority of his remaining life' in custody. Manning was found guilty last month of 20 counts, seven under the Espionage Act, but acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. Captain Joe Morrow, a military prosecution lawyer, told the court that there may not be a soldier in the history of the US who had shown such an 'extreme disregard' for US security interests." Continue reading →

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U.S. officials: We didn’t ask the UK to detain Greenwald’s partner

"U.S. officials did not ask the British government to question the partner of the journalist who first reported secrets leaked by fugitive U.S. intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden, the White House said on Monday. British authorities did, however, give their U.S. counterparts a 'heads up' before detaining the partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, Brazilian David Miranda, the White House said. 'This was a decision that they made on their own, and not at the request of the United States,' White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a briefing. 'This is something that they did independent of our direction,' he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. officials: We didn’t ask the UK to detain Greenwald’s partner

Paris suburb to fight dog poop with closed-circuit television cameras

"A Paris suburb has come up with an innovative plan to fight a plague of dog droppings on local streets — catching offenders on closed-circuit television cameras. The commuter town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne southeast of Paris said Monday that municipal police would begin using a decade-old network of CCTV cameras to track down dog owners who don’t pick up their pets’ droppings. 'This will allow us to identify and seek out pet owners with no sense of civic duty and fine them' 35 euros ($47), town mayor Yves Jego told AFP. He said using the cameras against irresponsible dog owners was no different from filming traffic offenders." Continue reading →

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