I know that many don't want to hear this ...

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... but this shit won't end until government officials start assuming room temperature:

Unbeknownst to the Barries, the previous owner had remodeled the cabin without permits. So Summit County commissioners voted to condemn the property for wiring and plumbing (even though the cabin has none) and filed for eminent domain. - See more at: http://proteinwisdom.com/#sthash.h6z6hTZR.dpuf

 Unbeknownst to the Barries, the previous owner had remodeled the cabin without permits. So Summit County commissioners voted to condemn the property for wiring and plumbing (even though the cabin has none) and filed for eminent domain.

And after all; in the era where the government can force you to buy a product you don't want, how much less of a stretch is it top condemn the wiring you don't have?

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Unbeknownst to the Barries, the previous owner had remodeled the cabin without permits. So Summit County commissioners voted to condemn the property for wiring and plumbing (even though the cabin has none) and filed for eminent domain.
- See more at: http://proteinwisdom.com/#sthash.h6z6hTZR.dpuf

Unbeknownst to the Barries, the previous owner had remodeled the cabin without permits. So Summit County commissioners voted to condemn the property for wiring and plumbing (even though the cabin has none) and filed for eminent domain. - See more at: http://proteinwisdom.com/#sthash.h6z6hTZR.dpuf

What I think is the saddest part ...

.
... that this will mean nothing for Innovator's hopes to market the Stabilizer:

A mouse is not an "elephant" solely because it has three characteristics that are common to known elephants: a tail, gray skin, and four legs. A child's bike is not a "motorcycle" solely because it has three characteristics common to known motorcycles: two rubber tires, handlebars, and a leather seat. And a Bud Light is not "Single-Malt Scotch," just because it is frequently served in a glass container, contains alcohol, and is available for purchase at a tavern.

The judge gets it exactly right, but he doesn't realize that this is the way the ATF has operated for years.

I also note that on pg 9 of the decision that the classification letter will not stand up to the force of law with regards to future classifications. Again, the judge simply does not realize that that's how the ATF does business.

I think it would be interesting to have a single judge to hear ALL of the challenges to ATF classification letters, except that I don't think a single judge could staned the idiocy for more than a couple of years.    h/t Dave Hardy

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Given the way the ATF routinely conducts itself ...

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... I don't see how FFLS aren't wired up like the ISS:

In his post, Karras claimed that he heard an ATF agent say during the raid, “Searching is fun! Paper work sucks.”

If I owned a dealership, my premises would have so many video camera and microphones that every time I farted someone in the cloud would faint.

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Sounds like someone's priorities ...

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... are a bit skewed:

ABC 7 News in Denver delved into the costs behind the case of Lt. James Broderick, who has been on paid administrative leave for the last two and a half years while facing perjury charges related to an investigation he led of a 1987 murder. In 1999, a man named Tim Masters was convicted of first degree murder but in 2008 a re-examination of DNA evidence found it wasn’t Masters’ his conviction was vacated. In 2010, Broderick was charged with lying in the trial of Tim Masters, but now the prosecutor has had to drop all charges after an unfavorable ruling from the state Supreme Court, telling ABC 7 News it was a “sad day for justice in Colorado.” 

They've paid over a half million dollars in pay and defending Lt Broderick.

Of course, he's still on the force, on paid leave while his internal affairs review is proceeding. I think it's instructive that the prosecutor who was bitch-slapped thinks that the supreme court got in the way of justice. Maybe someone should remind him that the supreme court is there to (hopefully) ensure that over-zealous prosecutors don't deny justice. h/t Radley

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Do you still ...

.
... think the courts will save you?

William Bowden painted “Screwed by the Town of Cary” on his house after a road-widening project (allegedly) directed runoff onto his property, damaging his North Carolina home. Within hours, zoning officials paid him a visit, ordering him to remove the sign or pay fines of up to $500 for each day of noncompliance.

When Bowden sued, the town argued the sign was a safety hazard for passing motorists. Officials presented no evidence for this assertion—no studies or experts. An estimated 15,000 drivers passed the sign every day for months and, according to court testimony, had precisely zero accidents (p. 16).

Nevertheless, in January a federal appeals court ruled the sign had caused “traffic problems” because:

…the bright fluorescent lettering sprayed across Bowden's home distracted both a Cary police officer and a passing motorist, who “beeped his horn” to get the officer's attention.

Remember this when confiscation laws are passed on those scary black weapons; if you don't defend yourself, no one else will. h/t Radley

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This ...

.
... is worth reading:

Gibson’s agreement to pay $350,000 to settle with the Department of Justice over alleged Lacey Act violations prompted a flood of press releases from environmental groups, lawmakers, and U.S. wood manufacturers. In unison, they hailed the settlement as a win for the world’s forests, a blow against slave labor, a victory for American jobs, and a triumph of diligent law enforcement. The actual settlement agreement, jointly signed by Justice officials and the Gibson legal team, paints a far different picture. Presenting a set of facts both sides agree on, it depicts overzealous and poorly informed enforcement officials in hot pursuit of a company that was trying in good faith to comply with contradictory foreign statutes. It also inadvertently sums up all that is wrong with the Lacey Act provision that holds U.S. firms criminally liable for violations of foreign laws.

Of course, we'll be the only ones to understand the truth. It's criminal what the government does at the behest of environmental groups. h/t Eapen Thampy for Radley

One of these days (and not that far off) ...

.
... someone is going to use the easy availability of assault weapons on the government:

Yacubian's attorney's fees mounted to more than $250,000, and he tried to sell his boat and permits, worth nearly a million dollars. The NOAA blocked the sale three times by refusing to release the permits -- without which the boat was unsalable. Without an income and out of resources, in July 2005 Yacubian gave up and settled with the NOAA. The agency got everything, and he got less than half the boat's sale price.

I'm not sure what this guy is supposed to have done, but in the end it really doesn't matter.

What matters is that the government just stole this guy's livelihood, because they could.

Like Mike always says, when the laws don't protect us from you, they won't protect you from us either. h/t Ace

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Wow ...

.
... this is why I don't like Republicans either:

I ask you all to remember again that this woman is a Republican, and that in fact this entire prosecution has been driven by Republican officials looking to burnish their racial bona fides to avoid the predictable charges of racism that slip profitably from the mouths of “civil rights” leaders like, eg., Al Sharpton, or race-baiting politicians like our current President.

Yeah, Angela Corey is just as bad as a Democrat, just not bad in the same ways. I'm starting to wish about dying and fires.

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Who knew?

.
Trayvon Martin, a drug dealer?!

So I suppose I should start by answering the obvious: “what in the heck is Dedicated Dad talking about”, and how would research answer questions about “intent”?

The substance of research was prodded by with this graphic of unknown attribution, dealing with the possibility that Trayvon Martin was not only an illegal drug-user, but possibly a drug-dealer.

Huh? Unpossible, because I heard on Huffpo that Trayvon Martin had gone to get Skittles for poor starving Ethiopians while on his way back from choir practice.

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Your government (and the ATF) ...

.
... at work:

A felon with a lengthy history of violence against women, Jackson was sentenced to 10 years in prison April 13 for sexually abusing an 18-year-old woman and holding her against her will for days inside a cheap South Seattle motel last year. The woman told investigators Jackson forced her to audition for a porn film and at one point choked her so hard she almost lost consciousness.

As part of the case, Jackson also admitted to criminal impersonation on various occasions when he told the victim and seven other people that he was a federal agent or a police officer.

...

For all of this, the 34-year-old Jackson would be just another habitual criminal except for one startling fact: He was working the entire time as a paid informant for the Seattle office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

It figures ... bird of a feather and all that ...

Frankly, I wish all the alphabet agencies were disbanded and we started from scratch.

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This is why ...

.
... governments suck:

The immediately obvious problem here is that the ethical requirements need to be strengthened. If the task force charged with investigating possible wrongful convictions is only required to report what it finds to the prosecutor offices that won those convictions—and who obviously have a strong incentive to keep the new information under wraps—what the hell was the point of forming the task force in the first place? And why keep the task force findings from the public?

But even beyond the problematic ethical requirements, I’m having a hard time fathoming how no one on this task force felt morally compelled to go beyond those requirements—to, you know, actually reach out defense attorneys, or attempt to actually reach the convicts or their families. How in the world can you possess this sort of information, then still sleep at night, year after year, knowing that (a) the information obviously isn’t reaching the people who have an incentive to actually put it to use, (b) you’re one of the few people who could make that happen, and (c) because the information was only available to select group of people, if you or one of your colleagues doesn’t act, no one else will?

Government is not moral ... only those within government might be. All the rest are up to no good.

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Is is time ...

.
... to start shooting yet?

“Many of my constituents discovered this firsthand this past fall, as those familiar blue uniforms and badges appeared on Tennessee highways,” writes Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., in a Forbes editorial titled “The TSA Is Coming to a Highway Near You.”

“In October,” she continued, “Tennessee became the first state to conduct a statewide Department of Homeland Security Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) team operation [that] randomly inspected Tennessee truck drivers and cars.”

TSA representative Nico Melendez confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that these VIPR teams have also branched out to conduct security checks at subways, trains and cruise ship ports.

I asked my wife what she would do when she gets searched at a TSA checkpoint while in her car.

"That's a good question."

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If I ever have to beat a handcuffed man ...

.
... I'll just resign:

A defenseless inmate was beaten by Tioga County Jail's top administrator, David Monell, after being pepper-sprayed and handcuffed to a wooden bench by other officers. But the Commission of Correction ended its investigation and Tioga's district attorney decided not to prosecute after Monell resigned.

Surely if the prosecutor had been pepper-sprayed and beaten, charges would have been filed?

Yeah, I know ... it's useless. h/t Radley

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Overt pervs at TSA ...

.
... strike again:

A married mother was subjected to repeated body scanning at an airport after being told by one employee that she had a 'cute' figure.

Ellen Terrell was travelling with her husband Charlie when she was stopped by airport security and told she had been 'randomly selected' for screening by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

I had a whole barrage of things to say about this, but I'll stay with this.

It's obvious that our elected officials will not do anything about the excesses of the TSA. It's obvious that the leaders within the TSA will do nothing. It's obvious that the courts will not grant the public any relief. What is left to do?

Either stop flying, or start the violence.

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I've seen this a couple of places ...

.
... but I'll link to protein wisdom:

Sugar is so harmful to public health it should be controlled like alcohol and cigarettes, US scientists claimed.

I think these 'scientists' need to be ... encouraged ... to mind their own fucking business!

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Radley teases ...`

.
... but I don't think anything good will come of this:

Florida Governor Rick Scott has ordered a new investigation into the jailhouse death of Nick Christie.

The only hope is that the family gets a ton of money from the sheriff to help their suffering, but I'm sure they'd like to have their father/grandfather back instead.

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Radley Balko ...

.
... can really get your blood boiling:

A 66-year-old Melbourne man with dementia spent a month in the hospital after he was violently arrested in October 2011 by officers from the Melbourne Police Department in Melbourne, Florida. The officers who arrested Albert Flowers charged him with battery on a police officer, but a dash-cam video obtained this weekend by WFTV Channel 9 News in Central Florida shows that Flowers did not assault either officer before being kicked in the stomach, punched repeatedly, choked, and Tasered.

You'll have to follow the links to view the video, since it's not embed-able.

One thing I noticed was that, as the officer was trying to gain control of the suspect, there was ample opportunity for a bystander to pull a small handgun and cap the cop in his Brain Housing Group.

I fear that's where we're going to end up.

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One step forward ...

.
... two steps back:

Some residents at Danville Park Apartments are outraged over police firing at two dogs on the walkway outside their front doors.

The residents said the shooting killed one animal, injured another and put the tenants in danger of gunfire that left bullet holes in doors, walls and a wooden deck around 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Witness accounts of the shootings contradict the reports of officers and a supervising sergeant.

Witness accounts contradict ... surprise, surprise.

I'll grant that an 80lb boxer is a formidable animal, but when police bust into an apartment (did they have a warrant?), what do you expect a large dog to do? h/t Radley

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The picture ...

.
... gets clearer:

This one, from the Standard-Examiner is headlined “Suspect had a bomb,” and repeatedly, explicitly refers to a “bomb” that police detonated in Stewart’s closet. Meanwhile, this one, from the Salt Lake Tribune, quotes an ATF spokesman.

The ATF spokesman said that to characterize what was found to be a bomb was inaccurate.

Two stories, two very different conclusions. I urge you to rear the whole article at Radley's.

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I'm sure if he's called to account ...

.
... he'll say he mis-spoke:

Thirty-seven-year-old Billy Joe Moiser Jr. resigned after pleading guilty last Wednesday to a misdemeanor Stalking/Harassment charge; however, Jefferson County District Attorney Jason Hicks says the charge is not about stalking.

"I think it's disappointing to see a law enforcement officer to engage in this type of conduct," Hicks said. "You know we pride ourselves on being above the law and anytime you see somebody engage in this type of conduct it's bad, but when it's a law enforcement officer I think it makes it that much worse." [emphasis added]

I believe that Mr Hicks needs to be heartily invited to resign, immediately.

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