Hey I found the truck I want - let's go get it.

So DHS shows up with seven vehicles, takes the homeowner's Range Rover Defender.  This is absurd on so many levels.

They claim there's a problem with the VIN numbers.   Okay - since when does  a mismatch VIN become a Homeland Security Issue?    The local cops?  Sure.  The State Patrol? Okay - the FEDS?  not.   

My bet - some DHS asshat wanted a Defender and found one, figures he'll get it at auction cheap.

The Totalitarian State

FED Hiding money because foreign nations are smarter than the U.S. Politicians and have figured out  that lending us money is a bad idea.   Also More BIG BROTHER crap   h/t Bayou Renaissance Man

Apparently not to be out done, Cities are getting into the act - rather than shutting down businesses, they go after kids doing public service.    What kind of moron would do this? Easy: They're called Bureaucrats - they come in all sizes (FED,STATE, COUNTY,CITY,TOWN, and even your local CC&R board of 'No you can't do that on your own property')  They all share one basic characteristic - the view themselves as superior to you.  Heinlein was right:

"In a mature society, 'civil servant' is semantically equal to 'civil master.'"

Because we let it happen, well some of you let it happen - I kept voting against it  - I basically got stuck with it - thanks for nothing.   No, that's not quite right - some of you BEGGED for it, you  berated and demonized the rest of us because we didn't want it - weird - it's starting to eat your children and you're still begging for it.  I suspect you'll be begging for it even as it collapses on your heads and kills you.

I suppose the share another characteristic - they think if they turn everyone into a slave, they'll be happier.   They never get around to the question - happier than what?

What are the Odds

A little more info for the previous post.

From the CDC: 2010 data

Number of deaths for leading causes of death:

• Heart disease: 597,689
• Cancer: 574,743
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 138,080
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 129,476
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 120,859
• Alzheimer's disease: 83,494
• Diabetes: 69,071
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,476
• Influenza and Pneumonia: 50,097
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 38,364

From the Global Terrorism Database  total domestic deaths from terrorism were 3,030 from 2000-2010. The data only goes to 2011 so far,   So the annual average is 275.  If you take the 10 years from 2001-2011 the numbers don't change significantly.   Between 9/12/2001 and 12/31/2011 the total is 32 - or approximately 3 people annually.

Given that the NSA knew when the terrorist arrived in the U.S. and essentially did nothing with that data, and given the argument is; we need to let the NSA collect all this data because it will stop attacks.  It's only useful if it's acted upon, so 9/11 doesn't meet the goal.   From a Data analysis point of view the 9/11 attack is an outlier - completely uncharacteristic of other world wide attacks. The Post 9/11 number is about 3.

So, you're 140 times more likely to commit suicide than be killed by a terrorist. Without 9/11 you're 12,788 times more likely. Are you scared yet?

From Medical News Today - there are 195,000 in hospital deaths by error each year.    Which means you are  709 times more likely to be killed by your doctor than a terrorist - that includes 9/11 - with out 9/11 the number is 65,000 times more likely to be killed by your doctor.

If TSA costs each person at the airport 15 minutes (yeah right) and the average wage is $20/hour (and I suspect the number is much higher) then we're taking 3.5 billion out of the economy each year. (source WSJ).  And that's JUST the TSA - now add in the cost of all the illegal NSA programs, the DHS TANKS, the wars.  It's not pretty.

So, from an economic point of view, the terrorists have won.  Because rather than being rational about it - we let our selves be terrified and irrational and we made really stupid choices - like the TSA, or letting the NSA and DHS destroy the Constitution - which was exactly what Osama bin Ladin was after.   It could only be accomplished with the help and cooperation of our Government.  The scope of terrorism in the U.S. would have to vastly exceed the total world levels to even come close to matching what we're costing ourselves - even without the loss of Liberty.

Let's recap, compared to terrorism, you are:
140 times more likely to commit suicide.
709 times more likely to be killed by your doctor.
120 times more likely to be killed in an auto accident.

YES we absolutely need to take precautions - we need to investigate, we need to be aware, but we've gone WAY too far with this.  There is no evidence that TSA has done anything other than harass and steal from passengers, except cost us money.   Even with all the extra man power, the militarization of the police, the extension of armed forces into domestic policy - Boston still happened, and it was a civilian who found the terrorist.  A little self reliance and paying attention did more than the DHS, National Guard, SWAT and Satellites, in capturing the perp.  
   
So - Get a grip people - you want to be scared of something - be scared of your doctor.

Fire them all and start over.

It appears that our government has allowed the following:

Chinese Steal Plans to our newest Joint Strike Fighter, PAC-3 and lots of other highly classified military projects.

But don't worry, cause we're trading partners and they would never use that stuff against us.   Really?  we're that friggen incompetent?   They've hack our Power Grid, they steal everything we produce.

We've filled our National Defense technology with Counterfeit Chinese parts.

So  just what the hell are the following groups actually doing with their time?

Pentagon / Military Intel, FBI, NSA, CIA, Trusted Defense Contractors.   Apparently either having Sex with Chinese honeypots or Spying on U.S. Citizens because, why the hell would we want to keep people out of our National Security infrastructure? We're worried about who might want us to actually not violate our Oaths of Office to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic".    We don't have time to worry about the Chinese, or Islam.  We gotta protect our jobs!

Fuck!  - Fire everyone and start over.   And when I say Fire - I'm pretty sure I mean Firing Squad.   At least charges for Dereliction of Duty, Violations of National Security, Gross Malfeasance, and if I knew more about the law I'm sure I could come up with a few dozen pages of things.  

From the FBI's own Priority List

National Security Priorities:

1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack    FAIL

2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage  EPIC FAIL
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes  EPIC FAIL

Criminal Priorities

4. Combat public corruption at all levels  EPIC FAIL

5. Protect civil rights  EPIC FAIL

6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises 

7. Combat major white-collar crime  EPIC FAIL

8. Combat significant violent crime   

Because only the cops should have guns

My deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Andrea Rubello

from The Blaze

MINEOLA, N.Y. (TheBlaze/AP) — Authorities say a police officer’s bullet killed a New York college student during the response to a home invasion at an off-campus home.

A young N.Y. woman was taken captive by Smith a large black male criminal on parole from a first degree robbery conviction.   

Smith, of Hempstead, Long Island, had been arrested for robbery in the first degree in 1999, promoting prison contraband in the second degree in 2000, robbery in the first degree in 2003, assault in the second degree in 2003 and robbery in the second degree in 2003, police said.

Given his record one might wonder what sort of MORON would parole him, let alone a group of MORONS  But then we're talking about N.Y. where creating victims is the goal.
 
So in the target rich environment of  Gun Free New York where only the cops should have gun, The gun toting cop rushes in to the rescue. Smith, using the girl as a shield apparently aims a gun at the cop.

But Wait - he's a criminal, on parole, with a GUN oh my god we need more GUN control.  Because obviously letting violent career criminals out on parole is the correct course of action.   Just think how bad this would have turned out if the people in the house were armed, I mean the home invader would have undoubtedly taken those guns and used them against the victims home owners.  Must be a gun control problem.  Everything is a gun control problem.  

So, the home invader points a gun at the cop, and the cop in typical N.Y. fashion starts shooting.   Now I don't know how many shots were fired but given the 85% miss rate which seems typical of N.Y. cops, I'm betting it was more than the 7 that hit Smith and the ONE that killed the girl.  Ah, did you notice (see quote at the top) that it was a bullet that killed the girl and not a gun? Because cop guns don't kill people, bullets do. It wasn't the cop, it was the Bullet.

Now you have to wonder at the wisdom of shooting at a man who is using a woman as a shield, but at 15 feet or less, I'd have probably taken the shot.  Shot - not 8+ shots.   I don't want to second guess someone in a situation that stressful, but training kicks in - or at least we're told by cops, the military, and professional trainers that it does.  So I suspect if you've trained to empty your magazine every time you pull the trigger and you're only concerned with hitting a Silhouette Target, then perhaps this outcome was inevitable.  Given the statistics of New York's finest when the guns come out, emptying the magazine - and we're not talking about what they let the citizens use - where talking about the 18 round type - is the norm.   I suspect the cop feels worse than I've ever felt in my entire life.  This is where I believe we need to make the people responsible pay the price for their actions.

The parole board who let that SOB out should be facing charges, not being a lawyer I'm not sure what those charges should be, but criminal negligence, and contributing to the death of citizen should be close.  The cop should be looking at involuntary man slaughter with extenuating circumstances, and the NYPD should be looking at criminal negligence in training.  The Bloomberg and the rest of the politicians should be facing charges for turning the honest citizens of N.Y. into victims.

Moral to the story:
Don't count on the cops to save your ass - you're just another target.
Carry a Gun - the criminals do.
A masked person breaks into your house, Shoot Them BEFORE they or the cops shoot you.
Practice - Small Targets.   Don't rush, just like driving - slow is smooth, smooth is fast.  Fast comes with repetition.   Practice with hostage targets, Practice with small targets, and when your done, practice some more. 
(Yeah I know practice is particularly difficult right now, since ammo is so friggen hard to come by.   So practice with Dry-Fire.)

Going public with what they've already been doing

Our Civil Masters finally made public what they've been doing for a while, even though they're still not admitting to having done it.  Privacy is dead, because a bunch of idiots have been brainwashed into thinking only the government can keep them safe.   Great, the wolves are in charge of the hen house, the sheep pen.

If you think the government is not out to make you a tool of the state, your not paying attention.

Maybe if it was their house

More police stupidity - We're going to save a man possibly being hurt by shooting him with tasers - right makes perfect sense.  I mean we're the cops, we're standing around watching this house burn and the neighbor wants to keep it from spreading to his house.  So of course we're going to taser him - wouldn't want him to get a spark burn or anything.