RANT: Police Departments Becoming Mini Armies Thanks to DOD and Homeland Security

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Police Departments Becoming Mini Armies Thanks to DOD and Homeland Security: “

SWAT cc cc

We’ve written before on the militarization of police departments across the country. From big cities to tiny towns the police are receiving funds and equipment from the federal government for armored vehicles, military grade weaponry, armor, training, and nearly everything else needed to militarize the police.

 

It certainly makes sense for police departments to have the tools they need to meet evolving threats. However, since the September 11th 2001 attacks all caution has been thrown to the wind, and nearly $34 billion in federal funds have found their way to local police departments. That equates to big business.

(From Occupycorporatism.com)

DHS grants to LPDs have totaled $34 billion as defense contracts continue to come without fail. Riot gear, military-grade weapons and training are becoming common place in cities and townships across the nation.

Timothy Lynch, director of the criminal justice project at the Cato Institute,states: ‘What is most worrisome to us is that the line that has traditionally separated the military from civilian policing is fading away. We see it as one of the most disturbing trends in the criminal justice area — the militarization of police tactics.’

Click here for the article.

The post Police Departments Becoming Mini Armies Thanks to DOD and Homeland Security appeared first on AgainstCronyCapitalism.org.

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(Via Against Crony Capitalism(dont delete) – Against Crony Capitalism.)

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JOBSEARCH: DOD’s TA is just the first of many benefits to go

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-death-of-tuition-assistance-redux.html

SATURDAY, MARCH 09, 2013

The Death of Tuition Assistance, Redux

*** begin quote ***

We called it almost eighteen months ago, and it looks like our prediction is coming true. This week, both the Marine Corps and the Army announced an immediate halt to the tuition assistance (TA) program for active duty personnel, members of the Army National Guard and reservists. The cessation of benefits–which was blamed on sequestration–eliminates tuition payments for off-duty education programs.

Under the now-halted program, Marines and soldiers received up to $4,500 a year for voluntary education programs. Tuition assistance paid 100% of tuition costs, up to $750 a course, with benefits being capped at the annual limit. As of this writing, members of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Air Force are still receiving $4,500 annually in tuition assistance, while sailors receive $4,000 a year. There has been wide speculation that the other services will also halt their TA programs in the coming days, in an effort to save money.

Sadly, the demise of TA was all-but-inevitable.

*** end quote ***

The interesting part is so much “education” is available free on the net.

Everyone will have to rethink the value of “papers”.

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Posted by reinkefj

MACBOOKAIR: bought a new macbookair; lets call MCBA12

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

MacBook Air

11-inch, Mid 2012

Processor  1.7 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory  8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics  Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB

Serial Number  C02JD02XF67K

Software  OS X 10.8 (12A269)

 

Let’s see how long this stays out of the obsolete file.

Brought up all my standard software

Tonight I’ll put together a manifest

Need to figure out the old MacBook Air’s software that was bought from the App Store; it didn’t come over. 

Scrivner is the only thing not over yet.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: THINKING ABOUT THINKING

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201302/what-type-thinker-are-you

Turning Straw Into Gold
Life through a Buddhist lens
by Toni Bernhard, J.D.

*** begin quote ***

Here’s an example: “People are sick or people are healthy.” For many years after becoming chronically ill, those were the only two possibilities I saw: I was sick or I was healthy. Each night I’d go to bed, hoping to wake up healthy. When I didn’t, I considered myself to be sick. It was one or the other.

Along with that, I thought I only had two possible courses of action: I could be a law professor or I could do nothing with my life. That may sound extreme, but that’s how I saw it at the time. Not wanting to do the latter, I forced myself to keep working, even though I was too sick to do so. It didn’t occur to me that I could be in poor health and lead a productive life.

Here’s another example of convergent thinking. When I considered how friends responded to me when I became chronically ill, I saw only two possibilities: those who stuck around cared about me and those who didn’t stick around didn’t care about me. I wasn’t able to see that people could drop out of my life and still care about me.

*** end quote ***

Interesting in that what else is there between “sick” and “well”?

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POLITICAL: Conservative Welfare State — an oxymoron?

Monday, March 11, 2013

http://reason.com/blog/2013/03/09/do-republicans-need-a-conservative-versi

Do Republicans Need a Conservative Version of the Welfare State to Win?
Shikha Dalmia|Mar. 9, 2013 2:51 pm

*** begin quote *** 

In short, the ideal conservative welfare state would be a libertarian dystopia of even bigger proportions than the liberal welfare state. There is less welfare and more state in it.

But what is deeply ironic is that a magazine that accuses libertarians of isolationism because they oppose American military interventionism has no qualms about recommending a restrictionist immigration policy to keep foreigners out and a protectionist trade policy to keep foreign goods out. If I had to pick a term for this foreign policy, I’d call it neo-isolationism. And maybe I lack imagination, but it is hard to see how a party that wants to engage the world through its “fearsome military” — rather than through voluntary exchange and mutual cooperation — could gain enough moral high ground to craft a winning political message, especially in a war-weary country.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but that is just tyranny with a different label!

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HARDWARE: Watching ESPN3 on the big screen via Apple TV

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Watch the Manhattan College Jaspers on ESPM3 over the internet.

“Threw it” from the IPAD to the Apple TV which puts it on the TV.

Neat!

# – # – # – # – #  2013-Mar-10 @ 17:07  

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INSPIRATIONAL: Online education

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Has anyone looked at ITUNES lately?

It seems that ANYTHING that you would like to learn is there!!!

–30–

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Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: No one wants to face a gun

Saturday, March 9, 2013

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/28/texas-man-holds-3-burglary-suspects-at-gunpoint-until-cops-arrive/

CRIME

TEXAS MAN TAKES ON 3 HOME INTRUDERS WITH A RIFLE — FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED

Feb. 28, 2013 6:58pm Jason Howerton

When Randy Magdeleno arrived home Wednesday morning, he found three burglary suspects running around his Houston home. It was a terrifying situation, he said, but thankfully he had his gun to protect him.

The problem was, the .22LR bolt-action rifle was unloaded. But the burglars didn’t know that.

The incident occurred around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Magdeleno said he heard voices as soon as he entered his home after dropping his wife off at work.

*****

The only problem was that his gun was left unloaded.

It’s like a fire extinguisher that’s uncharged!

Argh!

–30–

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SURVIVAL: One risk that you can’t plan for

Friday, March 8, 2013

http://lewrockwell.com/rep4/sinkhole-map.html

Do You Live in Sinkhole Territory?

U.S. Geological Survey

Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by ground water circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground. Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the underground spaces just get too big. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur. These collapses can be small, as this picture shows, or they can be huge and can occur where a house or road is on top.

 *****

This is scary stuff!

–30–

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QUOTE: Restraining great power?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Scientific progress makes moral progress a necessity; for if man’s power is increased, the checks that restrain him from abusing it must be strengthened.”

–Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, Swiss author

–30–

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