Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Happiest Place on Earth...

Anaheim Police Shooting Survivor Says Cops Shot 'Again and Again'

On a Saturday night in late February, Gerardo Pineda stood on West Northgate Lane in Anaheim, where he says he was waiting to meet friends.  Then, a group of plain-clothes officers from the Anaheim Police Department's anti-gang unit emerged from an unmarked van behind him, ready to arrest him, he says.


Pineda, 19, the only police shooting victim of Anaheim, Calif., who survived this year, then took off running. He ran almost a mile until he turned a corner, then police began shooting, firing at least three rounds, Pineda says.  "I'm running over a fence and they shot again and again…and it hit me in the stomach," says Pineda, who is currently out on bail. "I told them, 'Hey, I got shot. You hit me. I'm dying.’"

This reporter needs some more reporter-school.  "...the only victim, who survived this year,..." would indicate he was the only victim.

Anaheim police said Pineda fled the scene of a car they had been investigating after it was reported stolen from the Inland Empire. The car, which police described as a 1990s Honda, was possibly linked to a shooting that occurred earlier that day.


The article describes, for the public, what the bad guy says happened. What if, the article was written from the perspective of the cops...

"I was with my co-workers, working the overnight shift. It was Saturday night, my wife and kids were at home.  I think they had pizza and movie scheduled, I don' know.  We had been investigating a shooting, and were looking for a suspect who had fled from the scene where we found a stolen car.  We found him, and he ran.  After about a mile chase, he hopped some fences.  I thought we were going to be ambushed - who runs from the police?"

Last week's shooting of Manuel Diaz sparked nine straight days of protests and riots in the city. Diaz, 25, was shot while running away from authorities on July 21. He was unarmed.

Tensions escalated when officers opened fire on Joel Acevedo just a day later. Acevedo, who police said was a documented gang member, was fatally shot after he fired his gun while trying to run away.
Federal authorities are now investigating all six shootings.

"Just the other week, we were in a similar situation, and the guy shot at us when we chased him.  My wife found out about it after it was in the paper.  That guy died that night, and I wasn't sure if this was going to be my night."

Pineda says he blacked out after he was arrested. He now has scars that span his entire torso—remnants of the surgery he had later that night, after one bullet grazed his leg and another tore through his left side. There is still a dent in his skin from where the second shot entered.

"We saw the guy hop the fence, it looked like he had something in his hands, it was so loud, the yelling, the crashing, and it was pitch black.  I could barely breath.  That's when the shooting started.  We got to him quick, he was unconscious and had been hit several times.  We called for an ambulance, and saved his life."

Officers arrested Pineda on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest. Anaheim Police said they could not comment further on the shooting because the case is currently under investigation.

Boiling anxieties in the city over the police shootings reflect a deep-seated division within the community. Less affluent Latino neighborhoods with small apartments and cracked streets struggle with gang-related crimes and a relationship with the police that some say is tenuous, at best.

Latinos make up over half of the city’s population, yet many say they do not have faith in the police. Some actively avoid getting the authorities involved in neighborhood problems because they feel targeted and disenfranchised.

dis·en·fran·chise
 
  1. deprive of right, especially voting: to deprive a person or organization of a privilege, immunity, or legal right, especially the right to vote.

Families who fear for their children’s safety are wedged between gangs trying recruit and the police who are trying to root out gangs. In such a dense community, children are sometimes mistaken for gang members or caught in the crossfire, experts say.

“People are frustrated because they can’t trust anybody,” says Benny Diaz, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens’ in California. “It’s very antagonistic.”

I blame the League of United Latin American Citizens in California - why the hell haven't they enfranchised their community, and built trust?  What are they doing about this besides talking to reporters?

The city, Diaz says, is heavily divided, and the best way to patch up relations would be to create programs that bring all facets of the Anaheim community together. Latinos do not feel adequately represented in the city because none serve on the city council, he added.

Yeah, as a Latino, I think the best thing to confront gang violence, is a city council member of a different race.  Why would anybody join a gang, use drugs, and shoot somebody, when they know a person of their race is on the city council?

But police deny that there is a lack of communication with the Latino community, citing their 22-person advisory board and frequent community meetings as evidence of their effort to reach out.

Usually advisory boards fix lots of things...

They blame the rise in police shootings—up from four in 2011—on the city's increased crime rate. Gang violence is on the rise, and three of downtown Anaheim's most notorious gangs have injunctions against them, according to Sergeant Bob Dunn.

"The amount of gang-related assaults with a deadly weapon using guns is up 53 percent since January," Dunn says. "The amount of guns seized is up 233 percent."

Experts like Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, attribute this uptick to Anaheim’s changing atmosphere.

The city has changed dramatically since the 1970s, from a predominantly white community to a densely populated, heavily immigrant community. With that level of poverty, Kennedy says, there are gangs that have taken hold, despite efforts to weed them out.  Last weekend’s shootings reflect these wider issues.

"With that level of poverty...", did I miss something, where was the poverty mentioned?

He added that, while many in the Latino community are suspicious and fear for their safety, now is the time to renew relations with the police and build stronger ties within the city.

“We need to clear the air and investigate the charges first,” he says. “It will take time to rebuild—but it needs to be done.”



Sunday, July 29, 2012

For Sale...

I like General Stores.  When I was young, my sisters and I would walk .7 miles (Google maps) with some change, and buy a bottle of Ol' Bob Miller's Sas'parilla, and maybe a Jolly Rancher or Starburst.





ADAMSVILLE, RHODE ISLAND — Gray’s Store in Adamsville, the oldest continuously run general store in the United States, is closing its doors forever at the end of July. It opened for business 224 years ago, in 1788.
The store’s closing follows the death of owner, Grayton Waite who operated it since 1986 when he took it over from his father, who himself had operated the store since 1966.
The shop features general store standards like penny candy and a small selection of groceries, as well as antiques and collectible knickknacks. It’s been in Waite’s family for seven generations, since 1879, and comprises the front part of the family’s home.
His only son and heir, Jonah Waite, 21, who grew up in the old family home that connects to the rear of the store, said he does not plan to take the store over as a business.
“It’s been in my family since 1879,” Jonah said. In that year his great, great, great grandfather, Philip Gray, bought the store, Grayton said in an interview in 2007, when the store’s place in history was officially recognized.

He said his father, Grayton Waite, who was 59 when he died June 11, enjoyed selling cigars and candy. His great grandfather owned the store in the early 1900s and ran a gristmill to make his own corn meal that he sold in the store.


A back room that served as the old post office beginning in 1804 (Jonah calls it Room 02801, after the local zip code), has a table on which are stacked wooden sorting boxes. On the table are old envelopes — mail that was never picked up, says Jonah, dating from when the post office first opened in 1804. “My father wouldn’t let anyone come in here and touch anything,” he said.
“It’s going to be real hard,” he said. “Heartbreaking. It will go to the right person. It’s an absolute necessity that someone take it over and treat it right.”




THIS COULD BE YOURS!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Get Your Fil...

Go to your nearest Chick-fil-A TONIGHT! Buy a sandwich, and tell them you support them!


Chick-fil-A's official statement of corporate purpose:  "To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."

Up until six years ago, Chick-fil-A was, to me, a place in the mall that gave out free samples.  Six years ago I went inside with a group of friends.  They were surprised that I had never been.  They thought that since I ate healthy, that I would eat there.  Little did they know that I am cheap frugal before I am healthy, and I don't consider any fast food 'healthy.'

Then, we tried to go again, on a Sunday.  Chick-fil-A was not open.  My friend told me, it was a tradition, and that the company, and its founder, was very serious about principles.

That is when I became a fan.

I used to work for a company, and a founder, that used to be very serious about its principles.  Not only did that make many people rich, it made thousands of the rest of us - better employees, for that company, and other companies...or for taxpayers.


Chick-fil-A's president recently admitted that he is pro-traditional marriage.  That is not a play on words.  Those are his beliefs, which articulated, don't try to hurt anybody else, but try to protect what a marriage is.

Boston city officials came out trying to ban Chick-fil-A from opening, due to the presidents stance.

...then Chicago Bully Rahm Emanuel came out and said the same for his crappy town.

Once again, the Left does not understand that when they are acting as Government, they are LIMITED in their powers...and this one falls under the 1st Amendment.

Are Boston and Chicago going to start polling the business to determine their stance on political issues? Or just try to make an example of one that spoke out?

Go buy some chicken tonight!

The Chicken Inquisition





Lets ban his Presidency!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Its That Time of Year...

Baseball is at a slow point...I'm starting to hear the theme to Monday Night Football in my daydreams...

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Its Neck and Neck...

...or maybe not.


President Obama, Mitt Romney deadlocked in race, poll finds




"...But lost in all the analysis is that the poll may have included far too many Democrats and too few Republicans in its sample; 33 percent of those surveyed were Democrats, and only 24% Republicans.

...Romney, it turns out, may actually be ahead by as much as four or five points."


Derned math!

The problems is, this isn't just reporting the fake news, this is making the fake news, and it will effect the outcome - how, can't be sure...

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Right Vs. Left...

Listen to the arguments.  One side says, "There is no shortage of measurable data with which to test your hypothesis."  The other side says, "I don't remember it being like this."


[VIDEO REMOVED BECAUSE THE DERNED PLAYER WOULDN'T STOP]

Its like Right Brain vs No Brain.



Thomas Sowell briefly explains where the measurable data is here, and fully here.

George W. Bush and Karl Rove tried to bridge this gap by calling themselves 'compassionate Conservatives' - and the left now hates those two more than anybody.

Arthur C. Brooks explains how the Right should better makes its case in The Road to Freedom.

Friday, July 20, 2012

ABC's Brian Ross...

How about the ABC's of ethics? Of journalism?

 

And we didn't even get a chance to thank them...

I often get asked...Race, what's the most rewarding part of your job?  Being a bodyguard to one of the world's top minds?  Piloting any type of aircraft imaginable?  Taking on adventure all over the world?




Yes.


But, I can only imagine what it feels like to take down a scheme of "white collar" bandits.  After years of reading documents, interviewing witnesses - trying to figure out of they are victims or criminals...and doing math!

The investigators that battle these foes are the true heroes.  Their enemy dresses like civilians, lives and works among us, and steals from us all!  They wear masks, disguised as lawyers, real estate agents, accountants, etc.  One must be an expert to catch them, the good ones that is...


Public Defender Seth Fuscellaro arrested by FBI in Lower Township


"Federal authorities arrested 11 people — including Lower Township Public Defender Seth A. Fuscellaro and a real estate agent — in Cape May County, on Thursday as part of a $15 million mortgage fraud scheme involving condominium units in the Wildwoods as well as other locations in New Jersey and Naples, Fla..."


“This case illustrates not only the seriousness of mortgage fraud, but also our focus on eliminating the criminal element from our markets to protect the health of our wider economy.”


"The conspirators could show an elevated sale price, on paper, that was much higher than the owner’s real price and then get a loan for the higher amount. Authorities said they paid the straw purchasers for their part in the scheme. False documents including W-2s, pay stubs, bank statements, retirement accounts and cancelled rent checks were allegedly created to make the purchasers look more credit worthy. The purchasers never had to pay a deposit, closing costs, or make a mortgage payment...."


But wait, it wasn't all shirts and ties...


"...One has been charged with attempted murder in a plot hatched in Ocean County but carried out in the woods of Alabama. A straw buyer, who had received a subpoena to testify in the case, was shot multiple times but survived."

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Sign of the Times...

How messed up is our government?  In my opinion, our abusive government is just a sign of the times. When a report comes out, explaining that long needed government spending cuts will cost the private sector jobs - I think its time to explain, Mr. Romney, what the PRIVATE SECTOR is...

The worst of the worst...

Hundreds wrongfully included in New Jersey pension system


"A 2007 state law cut off from further pension gains anyone retained through public contracts or otherwise considered an independent contractor, directing they be removed from the pension system once their agreements expired. Old pension practices, including bulking up pensions by working for multiple government agencies, were viewed as “gaming” the system.

But in a report Tuesday, Comptroller Matthew Boxer said a review of 58 municipalities and school districts found widespread lack of compliance.
The comptroller said he referred 202 pension enrollees from 134 municipalities and 25 school districts to the state Division of Pensions and Benefits for review and removal of improper pension credits. They include 176 lawyers and 21 engineers.
If paid, he said, the accrued credits would cost the state about $1.9 million a year in benefits. Six individuals have already been voluntarily removed by local governments based on the state inquiry.
The comptroller estimated that his office could uncover hundreds of additional abuses and millions more in wasted pension dollars if it reviewed the remaining 515 municipalities and 597 school districts not included in the survey."
Chris Christie (not a Conservative, but plump full of common sense) has been reigning in government since his election as Governor.  One thing he focused on, was removing from the state pension system, people who were not...state employees.  The article is not clear on where the POWERFUL unions fall on this issue.  It is THEIR money! Who is protecting it?
Who is collecting pensions and benefits that shouldn't be?  Contractors and part-time employees, among others.  By 'part time employee' - that does not mean the man or woman working the counter at the drive thru.  It mostly means LAWYERS and engineers, who work somewhere else, but contract with a city to work on a project or issue.
"In many instances, skewed analyses by local governments resulted in private employees getting to stay on pension rolls, with some decisions based on the advice of the same attorneys getting the benefits.
“Government officials should not be relying on pension eligibility advice from the very attorney whose eligibility is at issue[.]
*It should be noted - one of the first comments on the original article was from a likely union member, who urged nullifying Governor Christie's changes to the pension system, and start over with these.  She is likely a teacher.  Its a sign of the times.

Monday, July 16, 2012

The Role of the Press

Headlines from Monday, July 16, 2012:

CNN

  Romney Urged to 'Stop Whining'


 Romney Negative Ad Bemoans Negativity

MSNBC

  Durbin: Romney running from Bain 'like a scalded cat'


 Obama in Pouring Rain Pours Criticism on Romney

FOX

  Obama won't Apologize for Attacks on Romney


 Obama to Business Owners: 'You didn't build that'

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Role of Government...



1776...


"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."


(In 1776, the Continental Army was temporary, there was no permanent, standing Army - this referenced 'the people'.)




1995...







h/t LL