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Tonight: Thursday, October 24 at 9 pm, CNN will be airing the documentary “Blackfish” which provides a look at the life of the killer whale that was involved in the death of three people, the last in 2010. OSHA cited Sea World for numerous deficiencies, and demanded that the company provide a copy of their safety procedures, which the park has thus far refused to do, claiming that it is a trade secret.

I know the paramedics who were there. I know Sea World employees. Many of them defend the park, and say that Dawn died the way she wanted. I doubt that. No one wants to die by drowning after having your skull popped open by a whale, having their arm torn off and eaten, and then being a whale’s underwater play toy for more than half an hour.

Any business that has a death of an employee needs to look at the circumstances of that death, and make real changes that will prevent a recurrence. Sea World has steadfastly refused to do so, and they need to be held accountable.

 I will watch the show tonight and see what they have to say.

A married guy is stalking his mistress and threatening suicide if she breaks up with him. His wife gets in a fight with her, and beats her up. He shows up at her home in the middle of the night, and she is so scared, she calls 911:

“I’m in my room. I am armed right now. I don’t know what he’s going to do,”

The woman is so afraid of the man and his wife that she won’t even go home. The police won’t investigate, and claim that there are no violations of the law here. Why do they say that?

All three of the individuals involved are cops.

Food stamp recipients are turning the government handouts into quick cash with ads on Craigslist, despite efforts to stem fraud.

In Florida during 2010, there were 53 fatal accidents that were caused by red light running. In 2011, Florida began allowing red light cameras, for safety reasons, they said. That year, there were 72 fatal crashes caused by red light running.
The tickets are not reported on the violating driver’s license, and so they cannot be a factor in suspending a license, nor can the insurance company raise your rates as a result. What these cameras do is perform as a cash cow for local governments that are eager to take more of your money. The scheme does not ticket the offender. Unlike an officer-issued ticket, the scheme tickets the vehicle owner, relies upon a guilty until proven innocent clause in the law
to provide government leverage to ensure private sector profit, and thus turns a function of government into a for-profit enterprise. The huge amount of money involved is a source of corruption for those
in government.
 Meanwhile, in Texas, American Traffic Solutions (ATS) is threatening Texas vehicle owners
with drivers’ license suspensions if they fail to pay up when a red
light camera ticket is sent in the mail. Under state law, the company
cannot make good on its threat. A red light camera ticket fine is $75,
or $100 if not paid within thirty days. To encourage payment, ATS
includes a brochure with the citation that purports to describe
additional consequences of not sending in a check immediately.

So Schwarzenegger wants to run for President. There is a Constitutional issue here, in that he is not a natural born citizen.

This sets up an interesting dilemma. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the birthers’ theory that Obama is not a natural born citizen, the court battles surrounding the claim raised an interesting point: According to the US Court system, no one has standing to enforce the Constitution in the even that someone is elected President in defiance of the Constitution.

I stumbled on a website where women can buy fashionable articles of clothing to hide their concealed weapon. I have no idea about quality or suitability, I am just aware that many women have problems finding things like this, and thought I would pass it along.

A couple gets arrested for having oral sex on a plane. Consensual activity. They are fined $250 each in a plea deal. The man loses his job.

A Federal Air Marshal gets arrested for taking pictures up women’s skirts on board an airplane while he is supposed to be looking for terrorists. A non-consensual act. Bartsch was arrested, and according to a police report had taken 10 to 12 photos. He told authorities he had done it before. He MAY be suspended or terminated. He is charged with ‘disorderly conduct’ (a misdemeanor) instead of being charged under Tennessee’s video voyeurism law. That law is a class E felony, and carries a penalty of 1-6 years in prison.

This guy was charged for the same thing in my neck of the woods. It must be good to be one of the anointed ones.

A woman is attacked in a Wal Mart parking lot, and an employee of the store tried to help her. He was fired, because the retail store has a policy against it.Businesses do not care about you. To them, you are a walking wallet with a potential lawsuit attached, and they will do whatever the law will allow to escape that liability.

This is why I do not follow “no guns” signs. The law says that they can avoid the liability of a lawsuit if they prohibit weapons, even if prohibiting weapons means that the criminals are free to kill everyone in the store. It also says they are liable if there is not a policy, and someone with a weapon injures someone. No brainer: they prohibit weapons.

The law also says that they are liable if one of their employees uses force to injure someone, even if that someone is a criminal. So the result here is that you, as a customer, are on your own.

However, at least in Florida, the law also says that I am free to ignore your silly sign, and that is exactly what I do.

The Republicans prove that they pay mere lip service to their stated principles:

We can preempt the debt explosion. Backed by a Republican Senate and
House, our next President will propose immediate reductions in federal
spending, as a down payment on the much larger task of long-range fiscal
control. We suggest a tripartite test for every federal activity.
First, is it within the constitutional scope of the federal government?
Second, is it effective and absolutely necessary? And third, is it
sufficiently important to justify borrowing, especially foreign
borrowing, to fund it? Against those standards we will measure programs
from international population control to California’s federally
subsidized high-speed train to nowhere, and terminate programs that
don’t measure up.

 They always tell you that they want to cut the deficit, but never do. The politics always get in the way. The recent government shutdown was ended because certain Republican congressmen were paid off with pork being sent to their districts.

Key
Republicans get pork for their district, Federal workers got paid for
the time they missed during the shutdown, proving that this was
political theater and politics as usual in Washington. Party of
principles, my ass.

This train wreck is not going to be avoided. We are on a road to ruin, and there is no avoiding it. $17 trillion already borrowed, more printed, and $100 trillion promised. Sooner or later, the house of cards will fall.