NY TIMES TELLS NYPD, "DO YOUR JOBS"!

NYPD OFFICER "HARD AT WORK"

The New York Times issued its second editorial against the NYPD in two days, this time excoriating the department for its alleged work slowdown.

The New York Post reported yesterday that police activity had plummeted since the union called for a work “slowdown” in response to Gotham Mayor Bill de Blasio’s remarks following the Eric Garner decision and the ambush-style murder of two NYPD officers. (The protracted contract dispute has a good deal to do with it as well.)

The department’s “list of grievances adds up to very little, unless you look at it through the magnifying lens of resentment fomented by union bosses and right-wing commentators,” the editorial board wrote Wednesday. (On Tuesday they chided the department for its “snarling sense of victimhood”.)

The Times reminded the NYPD Wednesday morning that de Blasio was elected by a landslide to enact the sort of reforms, such as ending Stop and Frisk and quota-based policing, that he had since implemented, and that he had pumped millions of dollars into the department while overseeing a 4.4% drop in crime.

“Do your jobs,” the paper advised. “The police are sworn public servants, and refusing to work violates their oath to serve and protect. Mr. Bratton should hold his commanders and supervisors responsible, and turn this insubordination around.”

[h/t New York Times]

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

CONGRESSIONAL THUG, CONVICTED FELON, REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL GRIMM TO RESIGN

CONGRESSIONAL BULLY AND CONVICTED FELON MICHAEL GRIMM SAID TO RESIGN

Rep. Michael Grimm who plead guilty to one felony count of tax evasion last week, will give up his seat in the House after talking to Speaker Boehner.

As MSNBC's Steve Kornacki discusses in the clip below, now figuring out what to do about Rep. Steve Scalise visit to a racist convention - will be Boehner's biggest conservative hemorrhoid when they return for the new session of Congress.

Video Courtesy of MSNBC




GRIMM THREATENING TO THROW REPORTER OFF BALCONY




Don't worry for Grimm, he'll be fine, as he now qualifies to be an analyst for Fox News.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

WHATS IN A NUMBER?

AFGHANISTAN, A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

Afghanistan, the astounding numbers it racked up:

The longest war in American history came to a close on Sunday, marked by a ceremony in Kabul 13 years after it started in 2001 following the terrorist attacks on September 11 of that year.

“Resolute Support will serve as the bedrock of an enduring partnership” between NATO and Afghanistan, said General John Campbell, commander of the International Security Assistance Force at the ceremony. He furled the ISAF flag and unfurled the “Resolute Support” flag, denoting the beginning of the new international mission, which will focus more on supporting Afghan troops that have faced a growing insurgency in recent weeks.

The decision to officially end the war, announced back in May, does not mean that there will be no U.S. or foreign troops on Afghan soil by any stretch of the imagination. In 2015 and 2016 the already-reduced levels of troops will drop by half, consolidating around Kabul and Bagram Air Force Base, and finally down to normal Embassy staff.

Here are some numbers to provide a sense of scope to the war’s impact, longevity, toll, and effect:

13: number of years the war lasted, making this the longest war in American history

140,000: highest number of U.S. troops present in the country, in 2010, during the surge begun at President Obama’s behest

13,500: number of international troops that will stay in country for Resolute Support, including roughly 10,800 U.S. troops (a number that will continue to fall through 2015 and 2016), and 1,000 more than planned earlier this year

38,000: number of U.S. forces that were in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2014

2,224: the number of U.S. troops, according to an AP tally, who were killed in Afghanistan during the war, with more than 1,000 international coalition troops killed

17,674: estimated number of U.S. troops wounded during Operation Enduring Freedom, according to the website iCasualties.org

21,000: estimate number of Afghan civilians killed since 2001 as a result of “crossfire, improvised explosive devices, assassination, bombing, and night raids into houses of suspected insurgents,” according to the website Costs of War

90: percentage of troops that are now home from Iraq and Afghanistan from the 180,000 that were in both countries when President Obama took office, according to a White House statement noting that 15,000 troops remain

747,000: estimated number of weapons the U.S. provided to the Afghan National Security Forces, many of which experts say have gone missing, prompting worries they will be used in escalating insurgency attacks by Taliban fighters

3,380: estimated number of people who died in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, including those on the hijacked planes, first responders, and victims in the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon

35: number of years since the Marxist revolution, which essentially kicked off a near-constant period of brutal civil conflict

69: the number of women in Afghanistan’s parliament, which is proportionately more than the number in the U.S. Congress. To be fair, when written, their constitution set a quota of at least 27 percent female representation in parliament, a quota that was recently revised to 20 percent.

3 million: approximate number of girls who are now enrolled in school, while under the Taliban, virtually no girls attended school — and USAID helped to train 25,000 female teachers

1: the ranking Afghanistan received when Thomson Reuters released its list of most dangerous countries for women in 2011

9: the percentage of women who die in childbirth in Afghanistan

4,000: approximate number of midwives, up from less than 500 under Taliban rule — and half of the new ones were trained by USAID-supported programs

87: percentage of women who are illiterate

70-80: percentage of girls forced into marriage

14: cases of polio in 2013, which is a drop from 80 cases in 2011

7 million: approximate number of Afghan voters took part in last June’s presidential elections

46: number of people (20 civilians, 26 Afghan troops) who were killed due to attacks on Election Day

68: number of private television channels, not including 23 state and provincial networks — though journalists face many threats from security forces and religious entities

9.4: percentage of Afghanis who have internet access, according to a 2013 Ministry of Information report

3.3 million: new Afghani customers linked to 172 megawatts of new electricity on the nation’s grid — a six to twenty-eight percent jump in the number of Afghans with access to reliable power

34 million: amount, in dollars the U.S. spent trying, unsuccessfully, to provide Afghan farmers with soybeans as a new cash crop option

63.7 billion: dollars appropriated to “overseas contingency operations” in Iraq and Afghanistan for the coming year in the latest appropriations bill passed by Congress, including $2.9 billion for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense

62: percent drop in child mortality since 2002; infant mortality decreased 53 percent

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

REPORTER QUERIES NYPD UNION THUG PATRICK LYNCH ON BACK TURNING INCIDENT

NYPD ACTING LIKE IMMATURE BRATS AT FELLOW OFFICERS FUNERAL.

Instead of focusing on a dead officer yesterday, we got photo bombed and news bombed with selfish immature bratty officers. Well played NYPD, well played, if your PR campaign wasn't shit prior too, it's in epic fail mode now.

CNN Newsroom, Dec. 27, 2014. Reporter Miguel Marquez questions NYPD union head Patrick Lynch about the disrespect they showed NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio by turning their backs on him during the funeral for slain Officer Rafael Ramos.



Its not a far leap to imagine that a police dept that disses its own mayor on-camera would do the same to ordinary citizens off-camera.

Officer Ramos was tragically murdered by a man who should never have had a gun. Perhaps, maybe, I am just guessing here, but maybe the NYPD officers should have turned their backs on the NRA instead of the Mayor

This was not the time, nor place, nor the moment to demonstrate their displeasure with the mayor. Just because you can do something does not mean you should do something. In my opinion those officers who turned their backs to the mayor showed a profound disrespect for the family of Officer Ramos. Their action became more important than the officer who died.

How naive of Mayor de Blasio and the 72% of New Yorkers who voted for him to think that the NYPD is answerable to them. As if! If most of us treated out boss like this we'd be fired ASAP. Maybe a few days without pay would garner the attention of these selfish bastards?

A tasteless, selfish act of profound disrespect.

NYPD, congratulations, you are today's worst people in the world -  for making a funeral about you and not the deceased. 

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

STAY CLASSY NYPD - SOCIETIES RULES, CONSIDERATIONS BE DAMNED

POLICE BANNER DEFYING NYPD MAYOR

Stay Classy NYPD:

Most people respect the police, including myself, but to see how quick some of them can turn into a horde of tea party type whiners - over taking some criticism for bad conduct committed by their fellow brethren, is really something that should not be done, especially by adults who are sworn to protect and serve.

Are police officers supposed to be immune from all criticisms and honest observations about some them because it will hurt their feelings? Are they supposed to be granted privileges and immunity because they wear a badge?

49 officers of the law were slain this year while dawning the blue uniform, in the same breath, every 28.8 hours an African-American is killed by a uniformed officer.

If they are so angry and feel this is justified, then why are they hiding behind the cloak of anonymity when asked who paid for the banner?

Plane Flying Over NYC: "De Blasio, Our Backs Have Turned to You"

Friday morning, a small plane flew over New York City with a banner attached that read: "De Blasio, Our Backs Have Turned to You." The sign, a reference to some NYPD officers protesting against Mayor de Blasio following the shooting deaths of Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos last weekend, was the work of a "large and unified group of current and retired NYC Police Officers, Detectives, & Supervisors," according to blogger and former cop John Cardillo.

Ashley Chalmers, the owner of the plane, told the New York Daily News that the people who rented it "wish to remain anonymous," though Cardillo said he was contacted by the NYPD group on Friday and asked to release a statement. The statement, via Cardillo's blog, is below.

As a large and unified group of current and retired NYC Police Officers, Detectives, & Supervisors, we are outraged by the mayor's incendiary rhetoric, and for facilitating the current hostile climate towards the NYPD. We understand that the department and even our own unions can only go so far in their public condemnation of the mayor as to not irreparably damage the working relationship with the city, or future contract negotiations.

"It is our opinion that Mayor de Blasio's dangerous and irresponsible comments about his and his wife's concern for their son's safety at the hands of the NYPD fueled the flames that led to civil unrest, and potentially to the deaths of PO Wenjian Liu and PO Rafael Ramos, as well as the continued threats against NYPD personnel. The Mayor shows us no respect, and encourages the public to follow his lead.

"Mayor de Blasio clearly doesn't understand nor care that every man and woman of the NYPD would give their life to protect his son, his family, and every other resident of New York City. Tragically, two of our Finest made that ultimate sacrifice days before Christmas.

"We no longer have confidence in Mayor de Blasio, nor in his ability to lead New York City and promote the values that both the NYPD and the good law abiding citizens of the city hold dear. Mayor de Blasio turned his back on us long before we turned our backs on him."

If the mayor, telling his "bi-racial" son - warning his son, that probably in his young life, that a NYPD officer will indeed stop and frisk him unwarranted, that he will be pulled and found guilty of driving a vehicle while black - this is a 100 percent probability, and somehow this offends you as an officer of the law - then might I suggest another career for you!

Mayor DeBlasio should be held as a poor parent, had he not had this communiqué with his son.

A-typical of a human under fire [no pun intended] - do they always deflect from the problem, and point somewhere else.

NYPD, the mayor is not the fault of these two slain officers, nor is Obama, nor is the protesting movement of bad policing tactics in this country, this was a "lone wolf" [what we call white people who kill with guns], a mentally ill human with 21 registered crimes reported by the system who was allowed to get a gun. A country who fails its mentally ill and a country with way to many guns [over 400 million to date]. This is your problem NYPD, any other way you spin this is pure immaturity and ignorance on your part.

It has been my experience that employees who lash out at their boss, these are typically the ones who do the worst kind of job.

This story is more than a classless act by NYPD, this is defiance in the face of their civilian authorities and the people who pay them, the tax payers. Essentially a police state. They are responsible to no one, they investigate themselves. As a result, they hold themselves above all criticism and they consider those who question the consequences of their military style occupation policing the enemy - as we aren't intelligent enough to see society from their lens. Because they have voluntarily chosen a career field that requires them to put their lives and safety on the line, they play by no ones rules but their own ... societies rules and considerations be damned.

RELATED: How Guns make police less safe, their jobs more difficult, and communities less trusting.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

SELF PROCLAIMED OBL SHOOTER BEING LOOKED AT FOR CLASSIFIED LEAKS

ROBERT O'NEILL SELF PROCLAIMED SHOOTER OF OBL IN POSSIBLE TROUBLE FOR LEAKS

Robert O’Neill, the Navy SEAL who has publicly come out to take credit for shooting Osama bin Laden in that infamous raid, is being investigated for potentially leaking classified information.

O’Neill was one of the members of SEAL Team Six that raided bin Laden’s compound in 2011, and last month he went public and gave an extensive interview with Fox News. A former Navy SEAL on Fox, at the time, had criticized O’Neill for both going public and for divulging classified information.

And it’s on that latter point where O’Neill, according to a new Daily Beast report, could be in trouble, because the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating allegations that he “revealed classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information.”

They are investigating whether those allegations have any merit.

NFTOS

STAFF WRITER

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake - Ian Anderson




From the NFTOS family to yours, a very Merry Christmas.

Be kind to one another this season and be safe. Peace on earth for the Christ is born.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

FOX NEWS DOCUMENTARY THAT EXPOSES THE NEWS GROUP - IS OUT FOR ALL TO SEE

Cross-posted from RawStory.com:

Brave New Films has put Robert Greenwald’s anti-Fox News documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism online in its entirety.

The film charts the rise of Fox News, outlining the marketing-based techniques that make the channel such “compelling” viewing — the “Fox News Alert,” the blurring of journalism and commentary, and the deceptive use of the chyron, i.e. the lower third of the viewing area on a typical television screen.

In addition to that, the film also reviews Fox New’s coverage both of the 2000 presidential election and the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, demonstrating how the network successfully established the talking points used by those in the so-called “liberal media.”

Fox News responded to the film first by claiming that director Greenwald had engaged in serial copyright infringement when he used clips from Fox News programs, then by attacking the reputations of all the former Fox News employees who testified to their experiences at the network in the film.

Watch Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism in its entirety below via Brave New Films on YouTube.

NFTOS
Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

KIMMEL SLAYS FOX NEWS AND CONSERVATIVES FOR ITS WAR ON CHRISTMAS

JIMMY KIMMEL MOCKS THE CONSERVATIVE WITH CLASSIC CHRISTMAS MOVIE

Jimmy Kimmel repurposes the "It's A Wonderful Life" trailer to mock conservatives and Fox News' "War on Christmas."

FOX NEWS PRESENTS ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE




This is so brilliant because this couldn't be any more true. 

It's A Wonderful Life is about community and giving to others without expecting something in return for yourself - things that go completely against everything conservative in circa 2014. Today's "Christian Conservative Republican" would pummel George and Mary at the mere notion for giving away their honeymoon money to the poor lazy townspeople.

How dare they shame the one percent by giving to the lazy peasants. Republican Jesus would be so irate with George and Mary. Money is supposed to trickle down the hayseed as Republican God Ronnie had planned, not merely handed out as if its candy at Halloween. 

This goes against the very moral fiber that is conservatism as written by Mitt Romney. Conservatives have spent eons ensuring that the rich get richer, while the peasant becomes more destitute. 

If only these poor lazy schmucks would go out and get their forth job - they wouldn't be so dependent on handouts, welfare and entitlements.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

IS THERE A POLICE PROBLEM IN AMERICA?

AND SOMEONE THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?

Let it be clear to all, that the assassination of two NYPD officers is disgusting, but in the same breath, especially for this blogger, I can say, and It's possible for Americans to be both appalled by senseless executions of cops, and angry at unjustified killings by cops.

Police lives matter, but so do black lives, especially unarmed black men. This is not a choice of either/or, its both. Since when did it become controversial to believe that both NYPD officers and unarmed black NYC residents don't deserve to die?

From Sally Kohn on twitter:

"When there’s a school shooting, we don’t blame it on critics of public schools. Equally absurd to blame cop shootings on critics of police."

When a police union can publicly debase a Mayor and threaten the citizens they're paid to protect, this should make us pause. This is not just about Eric Garner, nor is this just about Michael Brown, this is about a systemic problem that has been allowed to go on for way to long.

I keep hearing readers tell me that "we are better than this". Well to you I say, evidentially not.


Below, two recent stories of cops being, oh do I dare say it, racist:

Police Officer In Ohio Acts Racist, Gets Caught And Then Blames It All On Immaturity


An auxiliary officer with the Fairview Park Police Department, who had written that black people should be "exterminated," resigned from the force last week.

Two Ohio Cops Suspended With Pay Over ‘I Hate N***ers, I’ll Stab A Coon’ Texts

Two cops were suspended in Ohio after the Dayton chapter of the NAACP brought a string of racist texts to the attention of authorities.

Captain Thomas Flanders and Michael Sollenberger, a detective, both working for Montgomery County, Ohio, were placed on indefinite leave with pay for their part in the scandal.

The department has not released the names of three others who were implicated in the texts, and the individuals have not been suspended, though Sheriff Phil Plummer did confess that the investigation is “in its early stages.”

WHIO-TV reports that it was NAACP Dayton President Derrick Forward who brought the racist texts to light. He would not reveal how he got them or the names of anyone who may have provided them.

What do you think should happen if these allegations turn out to be true, readers? Is it possible for an officer to effectively do their duty while harboring racial biases or telling racist jokes? Should the cops suspended be fired altogether?

An eye for an eye only leaves the world blind. Hey Merica, you claim to be a Christian nation, with Christmas upon us, how about proving to the world that you are indeed a civilized nation and not some rogue killing machine. America kills more humans via gun by nine am, than the entire world does in a day.

There are three problems in this country as I see it, the preponderance and overwhelming amount of guns in this country, mental illness, and the systemic and epidemic problems in policing of our communities.

With 400 million guns in this country, a failure to check the NRA - and a gun lobby that owns politicians, can we really do better?

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

NYPD UNION PRESIDENT BLAMES EVERYONE BUT THE KITCHEN SINK FOR TWO NYPD KILLINGS

NYPD UNION PRESIDENT PAT LYNCH BLAMING EVERYONE BUT THE KILLER

Pat Lynch, the president of the largest police union in New York City — the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association — blamed protesters and Mayor Bill DeBlasio for the execution-style murder of two police officers on Saturday.

Lynch said there was “blood on many hands tonight” including “those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protest” and starting with “the office of the mayor.”

NYPD UNION REP PAT LYNCH




Previously, a spokesman for the union told BuzzFeed that “President Patrick Lynch did not make the comment about the mayor’s hands ‘dripping with our blood.'”

The two officers that were killed were Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. The prime suspect for the murder is Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who also shot his girlfriend in Baltimore and killed himself.

It would seem that the problem in America is the police union, And so it begins, the dead officers aren't even cold yet and the Union is invoking diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain.

Stay classy NYPD police union, Don't denigrate your fallen brethren by using their deaths to justify police brutality. This would be double travesty.

Maybe It wouldn't be so easy for folk to just walk up and shoot cops if we didn't allow our citizenry to have the same firepower as the cops.

When we treat every act of violence against humans the same, whether it be a cop or a unarmed black man - when both acts are seen as an attack on civil society and not just - "business as usual" for the killing of unarmed black man, then and only then can we begin to move forward.

With over 400 million guns in Merica, what do we expect? We have proven as a society, time and time again, that we cannot be "responsible" with guns.

Already blamed for the horrific murder of two NYPD officers:

1. Bill DeBlasio

2. Eric Holder

3. Al Sharpton

4. Obama

5. Protestors

6. Everyone else but they guy with the gun and the gun itself.

NYPD Union representative Pat Lynch, the major difference between this killing and the other ones your officers did to Eric Garner - is that no one is rushing to defend this killer.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

The Suborned Perjury

PROSECUTOR SAYS HE IS OK WITH WITH LYING WITNESS

Robert McCulloch In His Pompous Ignorance Says Has No Regrets Letting Non-Credible Witnesses Testify:

After the news broke that a witness lied under oath to the grand jury that did not indict Officer Darren Wilson of the death of Michael Brown, St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch had admitted that while she should not have testified, he didn’t regret letting her onto the panel.

“Clearly some were not telling the truth,” he said to local radio station KTRS 550, referring to Sandra McElroy, known as “Witness 40.” McCulloch acknowledged that this “lady clearly wasn’t present,” and that “she recounted a story right out of the newspaper,”

Video Courtesy of MSNBC

However, “early on I decided that anyone who claimed to have witnessed anything would be presented to the grand jury,” and therefore he let McElroy testify.

Earlier this week, The Smoking Gun revealed that not only was McElroy nowhere near the neighborhood where Brown was shot by Wilson on the day of his death, but that McElroy had an extensive history of lying to police about witnessing high-profile cases. She also has a history of mental illness, and admitted to the grand jury that a car accident left her with faulty memory. Nevertheless, her testimony was not only allowed, but cited by many as credible proof that Wilson’s story was correct — despite evidence that she was simply repeating media reports of his account.

McCulloch was heavily criticized for his handling of the Brown case, specifically for taking it to a grand jury in the first place, and in an unprecedented move, releasing all the available evidence to the public after the grand jury failed to indict Wilson.

Fact: McElroy was the only witness with a record of lying to the police about being a witness to shootings. Yes, she is pathological with lying to police. She was disproved by the feds and McCullough put her on the stand anyway. McElroy's testimony muddied the waters.

McCullough's job was to present factual evidence, either for or against. His job was to work ethically without malice aforethought. McCulloch operated more like Wilson's defense attorney rather than being an impartial entity. 

This prosecutors malfeasance ebbs into the absurd. McCulloch should be stripped of his elected office and he should be disbarred from ever being able to operate in the court of law again, that is unless he himself is being prosecuted for his wrongs. Sleep well Robert McCulloch, sleep well.

They ultimate suborned perjury.

Robert McCulloch, congratulations Einstein, you are today's worst person in the world.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

SMART GUNS

ARMATIX SMART GUN TECHNOLOGY

How do you eliminate a majority of gun murders in the United States, use smart guns. But, because this technology involves the word "smart" - ignorant gun huggers are having any part of it.

Smart guns, the iPhone of weaponry?

Technology has been proven to solve today's greatest social challenges, and curbing gun violence in this country is one of the greatest challenges we face as a country.

HAYES PART ONE Video Courtesy of MSNBC




There is a battle going on in the U.S. over the development and sale of so-called "smart guns" — handguns that proponents say should improve safety and lower gun murder rates because they can only be fired by owners.

The main opponent is the Ammosexual Association, better known as the National Rifle Association. But it will not speak. The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader left six messages on the phone and with a secretary over two weeks for the one spokesman designated to talk to the media, Andrew Arulanandam, in the national office in Virginia. He did not respond. Eventually, the newspaper requested someone — anyone — to send a statement on the group's position on smart guns. The organization never replied.

HAYES PART TWO Video Courtesy of MSNBC




Currently, there is not a gun dealer in the U.S. willing to offer a smart gun for sale. A company called Armatix, based in Germany with an office in California, this year had two gun dealers — one in Maryland and one in California — ready to offer its .22-caliber handgun. The safety measure is a stopwatch worn on the wrist that sends a radio transmission, with a range of 10 inches, to the gun. The radio transmission enables the gun to fire.

The company promoted the breakthrough, and the national media jumped on the news. As a result, the two gun-shop owners were thrust into the eye of a national storm. They caught overwhelming criticism from gun owners and Second Amendment proponents. Both backed down and decided not to sell the gun.

"I won't touch it again," says Andy Raymond, 34, who owns Engage Armament in Rockville, Md. He had agreed to sell the gun simply because he thought he could pick up a few more customers. But his life changed when Armatix put him front and center in a media campaign.

Smart guns, a technology without a market? Smart gun technology, like most things that escape the cognitive thought process of the low educated gun hugger - the fear of not being able or willing to accept things that are not within your IQ capability - is a travesty in itself, multiply this and the number of innocent humans being killed by "responsible gun huggers" - then smart guns seems like a very viable option.

"Propaganda works best when the audience, when those who are being manipulated are confident that they are acting on their own free will." Fox News and the NRA are masters at this. Fear the ignorant beast that knows no better.

Imagine a gun that could never be turned against you by an intruder, a gun that would never go off in the hands of a child accidentally, a gun that would be useless as a paperweight if it were stolen. 

Unfortunately, a technology that could significantly improve gun safety in America and prevent certain acts of violence has become caught up in a hopelessly polarized national gun debate - and the country is yet again held hostage by the NRA.

One might think gun-rights advocates would be eager to remove some of the most powerful arguments for limiting the sale of firearms. But they aren’t. The National Rifle Association plays up the fact that, for now, “smart guns” are less reliable and more expensive. Gun-rights advocates worry that the technology that renders a gun inoperable in the hands of thief could also allow the government to shut a gun down in the hands of a legitimate owner. But the biggest reason for the opposition to “smart guns” stems from the fear that they will prompt a ban on ordinary guns.

This mentality, like when Obama was elected, that he and DOJ top dog Eric Holder would go door-to-door confiscating guns. Yes this ignorance is matched - by none.

When does America, a country of 350 million, say fuck you to the NRA, a membership of only 4 million. When does the NRA stop bullying this country, our gun stores and our politicians? Until we put these greedy bastards in their place, only then can we start to use "smart" technology.

NFTOS

Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

RIGHT WING NUT JOBS HYPOCRISY TO THE OBAMA CUBA POLICY

OBAMA MEETING CUBA'S RAUL CASTRO

Republicans and at least one senior Democrat swiftly condemned President Barack Obama’s announcement on Wednesday of a normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba.

The announcement came after the Cuban government released Alan Gross — a prisoner who was being held on espionage charges for trying to establish a telecommunications network outside of government control — and another U.S. intelligence agent. The United States sent back three Cuban spies in exchange. The U.S. will also begin the process of removing Cuba from the list of states that sponsor terrorism. The new approach represents the largest policy change since the U.S. imposed its embargo against Cuba in January of 1961 in the aftermath of the communist revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Republicans expressed enthusiasm for Gross’ release but spoke out against the administration’s new approach. House Speaker John Boehner argued that America’s policy toward the island nation “should not be revisited…until the Cuban people enjoy freedom — and not a second sooner” and characterized the move as “another in a long line of mindless concessions to a dictatorship.”

Sen. Marco Rubio — who is of Cuban descent — gave interviews to every news organization promising to “make every effort to block this dangerous and desperate attempt” as the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Western Hemisphere subcommittee. He argued the “new policy is based on an illusion, on a lie” and sets a “dangerous precedent” that “will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President Obama’s naiveté during his final two years in office.” Sen. Bob Menendez , the outgoing Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair, generally echoed Rubio’s criticism.

But the Republicans’ outcry against the new policy contradicts their own faith in the power of free market economies. Under the administration’s policy, the U.S. will restore full diplomatic relations, ease travel in 12 existing categories, allow the U.S. to import more goods, expand exports to Cuba, among other changes. Opening up trade and investing opportunities will likely push Cuba toward a more American-style economy — the kind Republicans argue leads to freedom.

“We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” Obama said. “These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. It’s time for a new approach.”

The Castro government in Cuba — led by Fidel’s brother Raul — has also adopted significant reforms in recent years. Cuban citizens can now work in private-sector jobs and own property, engage in some degree of criticism against the government, and prominent dissidents can travel abroad. The government also encourages foreign investment and has released political prisoners. It estimates that the embargo has cost the economy more than $975 billion.

In his remarks, Obama argued that the 50-year embargo has failed to upend the Castro regime, only “providing the Cuban government with a rationale for restrictions on its own people” and pointed out that the United States has long ago re-established diplomatic relations with China, “a far larger country also governed by the Communist Party” that is similarly responsible for squashing dissent and other human rights abuses.

“I am convinced that through a policy of engagement, we can more effectively stand up for our values and help the Cuban people help themselves as they move into the 21st century,” he said.

Polls have consistently found that a majority of Americans, Cuban Americans, and even Republicans support normalization of relations with Cuba. According to a survey poll conducted for the Atlantic Council, 56 percent of Americans and 52 percent of Republicans support “normalizing relations or engaging more directly with Cuba.” More than half of Cuban Americans in Miami agree.

The deal came after 18 months of secret talks with Cuba that were encouraged by Pope Francis. Obama and President Raúl Castro held a 45-minute telephone conversation on Tuesday to finalize the details. It was the first time leaders of the two countries had spoken directly in more than 50 years, administration officials claimed.

NFTOS

STAFF WRITER

KEY MICHAEL BROWN WITNESS, #40 - WAS NEVER NEAR THE MURDER SCENE.....

SANDRA MCELROY HAS SOME SPLANNIN TO DO

A bombshell investigative report at The Smoking Gun claims to have unmasked “Witness 40″ as Sandra McElroy, and alleges she was nowhere near the scene of the fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown by a white police officer, as she testified under oath. Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown was not indicted in a controversial grand jury decision in late November, sparking nationwide protests. Wilson described Brown as a hulking menace ready to kill him with his bare hands. Some witness testimony supported this while many others described Brown as surrendering as he was shot.

Fox News' Sean Hannity's favorite witness has come under scrutiny. In meticulous detail, the report eviscerates her credibility as a witness. The Smoking Gun says that it uncovered her identity through social media messages, statements in her testimony and details of her life, and that she then confirmed that she was the witness. The report explains that McElroy,

“…waited four weeks after the shooting to contact cops. By the time she gave St. Louis police a statement on September 11, a general outline of Wilson’s version of the shooting had already appeared in the press. McElroy’s account of the confrontation dovetailed with Wilson’s reported recollection of the incident.”

The report describes how McElroy’s testimony was essentially a description of information already available in the media due to leaks by the Ferguson Police Department. This amounted to a rehash of Wilson’s testimony that Brown reached into his car and punched him, and that he later rushed him. Her alleged reason for being in the neighborhood raised red flags with investigators, but was used in grand jury testimony anyway,

“McElroy’s tale was met with skepticism by the investigators, who reminded her that it was a crime to lie to federal agents. When questioned about inconsistencies in her story, McElroy was resolute about her vivid, blow-by-blow description of the deadly Brown-Wilson confrontation. ‘I know what I seen,’ she said. ‘I know you don’t believe me.’

When asked what she was doing in Ferguson–which is about 30 miles north of her home–McElroy explained that she was planning to ‘pop in’ on a former high school classmate she had not seen in 26 years. Saddled with an incorrect address and no cell phone, McElroy claimed that she pulled over to smoke a cigarette and seek directions from a black man standing under a tree. In short order, the violent confrontation between Brown and Wilson purportedly played out in front of McElroy.

Despite an abundance of red flags, state prosecutors put McElroy in front of the Ferguson grand jury the day after her meeting with the federal officials. After the 12-member panel listened to a tape of her interview conducted at the FBI office, McElroy appeared and, under oath, regaled the jurors with her eyewitness claims.”

After providing this testimony, she returned to the grand jury the next day with a spiral bound notebook, supposedly containing her observations that she wrote down after the shooting. When presenting the notebook, she changed her story.

WHO KILLED MICHAEL BROWN Video courtesy of Mark Fiore

“Before testifying about the content of her notebook scribblings, McElroy admitted that she had not driven to Ferguson in search of an African-American pal she had last seen in 1988. Instead, McElroy offered a substitute explanation that was, remarkably, an even bigger lie.

McElroy, again under oath, explained to grand jurors that she was something of an amateur urban anthropologist. Every couple of weeks, McElroy testified, she likes to ‘go into all the African-American neighborhoods.’ During these weekend sojourns–apparently conducted when her ex has the kids–McElroy said she will ‘go in and have coffee and I will strike up a conversation with an African-American and I will try to talk to them because I’m trying to understand more.'”

Her journal entry account of what she was planning to do the day of the shooting is,

“Well I'm gonna take my random drive to Florissant. Need to understand the Black race better so I stop calling Blacks Niggers and Start calling them People.”

The report details legal trouble she has run into in the past, including writing fraudulent checks. Once when she was in bankruptcy court, her lawyer asked to be removed from her case because McElroy

“repeatedly used profanity when speaking with Counsel’s secretary which escalated to the use of racial slurs.”

After local police rescued a boy held captive for years, McElroy called local media and claimed to have told police where the boy was. Police stated,

“The Kirkwood Police Department has investigated her allegation and we have no record of any contact with Mrs. McElroy in regards to Shawn Hornbeck. We have found that this story is a complete fabrication.”

The report describes that McElroy testified that she has a faulty memory stemming from a 2001 car accident in which she was launched through the windshield. She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was a teenager, and not has not taken medication to treat it for 25 years.

Before she spoke to police and claimed to have witnessed the shooting, she made comments on social media logically inconsistent with the perspective of someone who had seen it. On social media, McElroy posted an image of a police officer standing over Mike Brown’s dead body with a caption that read,

“Mike Brown already received justice so please, stop asking for it.”

Finally, McElroy launched a Facebook page to raise money for Darren Wilson. When questioned about it, she said it was for Ferguson first responders dealing with the riots. But the page claimed to have sent money to the Darren Wilson Trust Fund.

The report is incredibly damning of the entire Justice proceedings of the case. It especially calls into question the conduct and conclusion of the grand jury. If this detailed, researched report is even remotely true, McElroy’s legal history and overt biases should have disqualified her ludicrous story from being taken seriously. She should have been torn to pieces by the prosecutor. And in a regular trial, her testimony would have been demolished under cross-examination. That someone with such a troubled past, whose story was so problematic, was allowed to stand as a witness, virtually unchallenged, is scathing evidence that the grand jury was woefully inadequate. It underscores the validity of the nationwide protests pleading with the nation that something is very wrong in our Justice system.

Racist, bi-polar and not near the murder scene, nothing to see here, move on!

Let's stop focusing on facts for a while and just put our faith in the white police officer.
~Republican Jesus


RELATED:

I KNOW I SEEN THE SHOT

CNN Witness credibility

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Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

GOD BLESS TED CRUZ'S IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY

TED CRUZ AWARDED NUMBNUTZ OF THE YEAR 2014

Rachel Maddow reports on how political grandstanding against President Obama's immigration actions by Ted Cruz in the Senate allowed Senate Democrats more time to confirm more presidential nominees, including Vivek Murthy for Surgeon General.

How the pompous have fallen on their own petard.

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Roger West

POLICE IN CLEVELAND DEMAND APOLOGY

ANDREW HAWKINS SUPPORTING TAMIR RICE AND JOHN CRAWFORD

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins became the latest player to join on-field protests against recent police shootings of black men on Sunday, when he walked onto the field with a t-shirt that read “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford” over his jersey.

Rice was the 12-year-old who Cleveland police shot in November after they received calls that he was playing with a toy gun in a park near his home; Crawford was killed by police in August in an Ohio while holding an air gun in a Walmart. Both were black.

Now, the Cleveland police union is demanding an apology from Hawkins and the Browns, saying that players like Hawkins don’t understand the law enough to take a stand.

“It’s pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law,” Jeff Follman, the president of the Police Patrolman Union in Cleveland, said in a statement to Cleveland news station newsnet5. “They should stick to what they know best on the field. The Cleveland Police protect and serve the Browns stadium and the Browns organization owes us an apology.”

“He’s an athlete. He’s someone with no facts of the case whatsoever,” Follmer said later, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “He’s disrespecting the police on a job that we had to do and make a split-second decision.”

The union statement is similar to one issued by the St. Louis police union after five Rams players walked onto the field before a game displaying the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” gesture to protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo. police officer who shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown in August. In that instance, the union called on the team and the NFL to discipline the five players. Though neither the Rams nor the NFL did so, the Rams last week made a donation to a local police charity.

The Browns responded to Follmer and the union in a statement, saying: “We have great respect for the Cleveland Police Department and the work that they do to protect and serve our city. We also respect our players’ rights to project their support and bring awareness to issues that are important to them if done so in a responsible manner.”

After the Rams players protested, similar gestures spread across sports, especially after a grand jury in New York declined to bring charges against a police officer in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who was choked to death by police in Staten Island. Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose took the court the next weekend wearing a shirt that read, “I Can’t Breathe,” which were among Garner’s last words and has become a rallying cry in protests across the country. Multiple NFL players, including Hawkins’ teammate Johnson Bademosi, wore similar shirts last weekend as the protests spread across the sports world. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and other players have worn the shirts too.

The protests continued through the week and into this weekend, spreading to the ranks of college basketball. Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team and Georgetown’s men’s team were among those that wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts before a game this weekend. The University of California women’s basketball team took the court Saturday wearing handmade shirts that bore the names of black men and teens killed recently by police.

It should be a cold day in hell before this inept derelict police department gets an apology from anyone, let alone the Cleveland Browns. 

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Roger West

EX VIRGINIA VAGINA PROBING GOVERNOR BOB TRANSVAGINAL MCDONNELL VIEWING 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Washington Post:

The federal agency that will play a pivotal role in guiding the sentence of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has recommended that the onetime Republican rising star spend at least 10 years and a month in prison, according to several people familiar with the matter. 

The guidelines recommended by the U.S. probation office are preliminary, and even if finalized, U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer is not required to follow them. But experts said that Spencer typically heeds the probation office’s advice, and judges in his district have imposed sentences within the recommendations more than 70 percent of the time in recent years. 

“It’s of critical importance,” said Scott Fredericksen, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer. “The fact is, the vast majority of times, courts follow those recommendations closely.”

The hubris of this numbnutz is overwhelming. He was offered a plea deal for one charge for him and none for his wife, now they'll both pay dearly.

Pro Tip Bob: Don't bend over for the soap Bob.

Let the rectal feeding begin!

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Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

WHO KILLED MICHAEL BROWN?

ALL REASONS WHY MICHAEL BROWN DIDN'T DIE

VIDEO COURTESY OF MARK FIORE



It seems that everyone but Darren Wilson is responsible for the death of Michael Brown. It’s Michael Brown’s fault, black-on-black violence is at fault, it’s a culture of disrespect and lawbreaking that’s at fault, take your pick. Perhaps the best spew of logic came from Rudy Giuliani, who essentially said, if you black people didn’t kill yourselves so much we wouldn't have to send so many white cops down there to kill you as well.

Yes, crime in black communities is bad. Yes, white police officers killing unarmed black people is bad. Are we not capable of holding two thoughts in our collective head at the same time? It sure seems that many people only talk of “black-on-black” crime when they are defending a white police officer.

Now that another tragedy has happened in the blink of an eye and the police officer who choked Eric Garner to death on camera was not indicted (who you gonna’ believe, your lyin’ eyes or the police union?), let’s hope the growing outrage continues to spotlight police brutality and brings an end to these all-too-frequent killings.

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Blogger-In-Chief
Roger West

CONGRESS TO POLICE, COUNT YOUR KILL NUMBERS

CONGRESSIONAL BILL AWAITING OBAMA SIGNATURE ON POLICE KILL NUMBERS

This week as all eyes were on budget deal wrangling, with little attention and fanfare, Congress actually got something done to reform the police. It passed a bill that could result in complete, national data on police shootings and other deaths in law enforcement custody.

Right now, we have nothing close to that. Police departments are not required to report information about police to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Some do, others don’t, others submit it some years and not others or submit potentially incomplete numbers, making it near-impossible to know how many people police kill every year. Based on the figures that are reported to the federal government, ProPublica recently concluded that young black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than whites.

Under the bill awaiting Obama’s signature, states receiving federal funds would be required to report every quarter on deaths in law enforcement custody. This includes not those who are killed by police during a stop, arrest, or other interaction. It also includes those who die in jail or prison. And it requires details about these shootings including gender, race, as well as at least some circumstances surrounding the death.

The bill is a reauthorization of legislation that expired in 2006. Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott has been trying to revive it since then without success. Scott told the Washington Post the first time the bill passed in 2000, it took years before data started to come in, because of “the way government works,” and then the bill expired. But if states don’t report information, the federal government could use its power to withhold funds to force compliance. It passed the House last year, but finally moved through the Senate this week on the momentum of post-Ferguson outrage.

The bill also “requires the Attorney General to study such information and report on means by which it can be used to reduce the number of such deaths.”

Why is it, that in 2014, that police have to be directed by congress to statistically track these numbers, shouldn't this metric be something that they were capturing, oh, I don't know, maybe fifty years ago?

Police department transparency, if they don't get it's importance on their own, we'll force them to get it.

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Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

AMERICA'S AWESOMENESS

STEWART BECOMES FLABBERGASTED  OVER NICOLE WALLACE COMMENTS

Jon Stewart struggled to find comedy in the torture report out this week. He fought his hardest to avoid talking about it, but had to do a “swan dive into the grim morass of Satan’s anus.”

Fortunately, he found two bright spots to hone in on. First, the return of “good McCain.” John McCain spoke out strongly against torture this week and Stewart very happily celebrated the fact that McCain is back to being the straight talker he used to have the reputation of being.

And secondly, Stewart burst out laughing upon hearing Fox News host Andrea Tantaros dismissing the torture report because “America is awesome.” Stewart said, “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” He and correspondent Hasan Minhaj proceeded to mercilessly mock Tantaros over America’s supposed awesomeness.

AMERICA'S GOT TORTURE Video Courtesy of Comedy Central

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Nicole Wallace, Andrea Tantaros, you ladies are today's worst persons of the world. Congratulations ladies!




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Blogger-In-Chief
Roger West

ENHANCED INTERROGATION, THE NEW TERM FOR TORTURE

There aren't many subjects I'd say I agree on with regards to Sen. McCain, but credit due to him for speaking out so clearly and honestly on CIA torture, unlike other right wing nut jobs who wanted the Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program delayed or kept secret forever.

We know what arguments defenders of "enhanced interrogation techniques" will martial in response to the newly-released report: they will claim that the techniques used weren't really torture, and that they were instrumental in acquiring valuable intelligence information that was used to prevent future terrorist attacks, capture dangerous people, and keep Americans safe.

It doesn't matter if those defenses are correct (and they almost certainly are not). It is not actually acceptable to break a person using techniques that are merely "harsh." It is the breaking that should concern us, not how it is achieved or the outcome. That is torture. Torture is wrong.

Senator and once POW John McCain Speaking torture, er I mean "enhanced interrogation"




It should go without saying, but a society in which the government subjects people to unbearable pain or intolerable threats in order to break their will and control their behavior is not a free society. Freedom requires that there be a point at which an individual can decide to oppose the state's wishes. There may be consequences to that decision, but the ability to make it matters.

Torture destroys that choice. No number of euphemisms like "enhanced interrogation techniques" can hide the truth that the point of harsh interrogations is to leave their subjects with no option but to betray themselves in order to satisfy their torturers.


SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTEL REPORT

Senate torture report

Apparently, to conservative America, the only way to defeat barbarians is to become barbarians. The CIA subjected detainees to "rectal re-hydration" better know as "rectal feeding". Like waterboarding, if this is not torture, the come to my home so I can re-hydrate you through your ass - and then tell the world when done, if I tortured you or not.

If indeed it is as Dick Cheney says, then Christ was not tortured. The Jews and Romans simply used enhanced interrogation methods on him. If you're more upset at a government that tried to give Americans healthcare than a government who tortures other humans, keep calling yourselves "Christians" and watch Fox News for further instruction.

BLOGGER PROTIP: If you have to argue "ISIS is worse", then you've already lost the argument, go back to the end of the line.

I guess we're done discussing what is torture and what's not right?

FYI: If you're looking for the guys who say America's a Christian nation, they're busy right now defending torture (enhanced interrogation) and trying to take away your health insurance!

From favorite tweet from last night: "Dick Cheney wishes all of you "Season's Beatings" this holiday season. And reminds you that "Jesus is the Reason for the Treason."

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Roger West

JON STEWART TO FOX & FRIENDS TROLL BRIAN KILMEADE: "FUCK YOU!"

STEWART RESPONDING TO FOX & FRIENDS

MEDIA COUNTER-ERRORISM:

As upset as he was over an “unforced error” on Monday, Daily Show host Jon Stewart saved the most anger for Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade for invoking the 9/11 attacks to paint Stewart as being anti-police.

“By the way, jackass, you can truly grieve for every officer who’s been lost in the line of duty in this country, and still be troubled by cases of police overreach,” Stewart said. “Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive. You can have great regard for law enforcement and still want them to be held to high standards.”

Stewart opened the show by apologizing for mistakenly listing Dante Parker alongside recent victims of police shootings like Tamir Rice and John Crawford in Ohio. Parker was actually Tased during an encounter with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies this past August before dying at a local hospital. His cause of death was listed as a drug overdose.

Stewart was upset with himself for the error, he said, because it would shift the discussion away from the larger issues surrounding police use of force.

Jon Stewart Destroying Fox's Brian Kilmeade Video Courtesy of Comedy Central:

"MEDIA COUNTER-ERRORISM"

The Daily Show
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Fox news lies constantly, its to the point where media outlets and journalists alike - they just ignore Fox and move on to the real news of the day.

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Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West

THE DRUGSTER HAS A MOMENT ON FOX NEWS

THE DRUGSTER HAVING A MOMENT OF FOX SUNDAY

Fox News' Chris Wallace questioned Mr. Oxycontin on his views and the words he says to justify his insane claims - which prompted the Drugster to come unhinged.

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STAFF WRITER 

RICHARD PRYOR SPEAKS ON POLICE "CHOKEHOLD" IN 1977

THE LATE RICHARD PRYOR SPEAKING ON POLICE BRUTALITY IN 1977

Oscar Wilde said it best:

"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh"......

And the end of the quote goes like this:

".......otherwise they'll kill you".

Thirty six years later, and we're still choking African-Americans. Let's check the manual, sadly, it's still the same edition in 2014 as it was in 1977.

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Blogger-In-Chief

Roger West