For Whatever We Lose (a You Or A Me) It’s Always Ourselves We Find In The Sea.  - E.E. Cummings

All the tyranny-fearing, “we need to take aim” gun fetish, dystopian nanny state Randians have zero problem with government paid police killing unarmed black Americans.

The “I felt afraid” excuse immediately passes the smell test and “trust” is granted reflexively to fellow white agents of oppression.

After all, if generous aid to the poor perpetuates poverty, the United States — which treats its poor far more harshly than other rich countries, and induces them to work much longer hours — should lead the West in social mobility, in the fraction of those born poor who work their way up the scale. In fact, it’s just the opposite: America has less social mobility than most other advanced countries. And there’s no puzzle why: it’s hard for young people to get ahead when they suffer from poor nutrition, inadequate medical care, and lack of access to good education. The antipoverty programs that we have actually do a lot to help people rise. For example, Americans who received early access to food stamps were healthier and more productive in later life than those who didn’t. But we don’t do enough along these lines. The reason so many Americans remain trapped in poverty isn’t that the government helps them too much; it’s that it helps them too little.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/opinion/krugman-the-hammock-fallacy.html?ref=todayspaper (via shhaauun)

Cops: The Myth of the 'Most Dangerous Job' | AmericaWakieWakie

Often we hear the echo of our security culture tell us policing is an inherently dangerous job, and that therefore we should give deference to these people’s judgment whenever potentially hostile situations arise. In such scenarios whereby the killing of a civilian occurs, we are perpetually told the use of lethal force was not only necessary, but simply part of an ‘incredibly dangerous’ profession — that these killings merely are a result of cops protecting themselves in life-threatening situations.

Well I call bullshit.

On October 22 last year, Andy Lopez, a Mexican-American 13 year old boy, was shot seven times by Santa Rosa officer Erick Gelhaus, a man with a history of using excessive force in his duties. Lopez was walking home from a friend’s house holding an airsoft toy-gun designed to resemble an assault rifle. Gelhaus has claimed he thought the child was holding an AK-47, a detail suggesting he could see the toy-gun with clarity. Gelhaus says he shouted to the 13 year old to drop the ‘gun’. Andy turned around, allegedly holding the toy up. Lopez died thereafter, taking multiple gunshots — one of which through his chest — when Gelhaus opened fire. 

Gelhaus did not wait for backup. He did not investigate what he thought he saw. He was in absolutely no danger. His judgement smacked of shoot now, think later. In fact, Andy Lopez, like the rest of us, was more in need of protection from Gelhaus the moment the deputy saw him than Gelhaus needed to ‘protect’ himself from Lopez. 

Cops Are More Likely To Shoot You Than You Are To Shoot Them

Last November the Activist Post ran a story about the propensity of police officers killing civilians. Stated was the following:

"Since 9/11, and the subsequent militarization of the police by the Department of Homeland Security, about 5,000 Americans have been killed by US police officers. The civilian death rate is nearly equal to the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq. In fact, you are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist.”

That statistic is alarming enough considering if the 4,489 American soldiers killed in combat in Iraq constitute a condition of war, then the killing of 5,000 American civilians by United States police departments ought to be viewed as a war on we the People by our very own government.

Still, having watched the Lopez family struggle for justice thus far, I wanted to know better how more civilians have been killed by cops in the United States than soldiers have died in Iraq.

I decided to compare the number of American citizens’ deaths by police directly to the number of police officers’ deaths by citizens since the start of the Iraq war; after all, if an officers job is so dangerous, it is we the policed who make it dangerous.

Since 2003, as documented by the FBI, there have been approximately 587 deaths in the line of duty directly as result of civilians’ felonious actions, i.e., lethal assault, shooting, manslaughter etc. Below is the breakdown by year.

Officers Feloniously Killed Since the Start of Iraq War

2003 — 52

2004 — 57

2005 — 55 

2006 — 48

2007 — 57

2008 — 41

2009 — 48

2010 — 56

2011 — 72

2012 — 48

2013 — 53 (data not yet available, substituted 10 year average)

Total = 587 

The Myth of the Most Dangerous Job

After a minute of simple math (5,000/587 = 8.52), what might seem obvious became much clearer: A cop is far more likely — 8.5 times — to kill you than you are to kill a cop. Stated another way, when an officer comes into contact with you, you are far less of a threat to them than the perception our culture proliferates. The police are, in fact, more of a threat to YOU.

The idea that police have an incredibly dangerous job is what we Southerners call a tall-tale, a stretch of the truth to bolster an ego unwilling to accept mediocrity. Not to take away from what many fair-minded officers do every day, but as those stubborn things called facts would have it, policing is less dangerous than farming, fishing, logging, and trash collecting, as well as six other professions.  

Now is the time to burst the cop myth and to stop giving them the deference to murder our friends and family in the street.  

Planned Parenthood is not selling organs.

Fetuses don’t have organs that are worthwhile to anyone. Most organs are developing throughout all 40 weeks. Most abortions (89% in 2010) happen in the 1st trimester/12 weeks. (For amount comparison: A fetus is 3 inches long and 1oz in weight at the end of the first trimester.)

Fetuses do have fetal tissue, which can be used to make stem cells.

Stem cells are used to find cures and treatments for various diseases (like diabetes and Parkinson’s) and injuries (like crushed spinal cords.)

Fetal tissue has already been used to make many of our vaccines.

Planned Parenthood performs abortions and - if the patient permits it - donates the fetal tissue to organizations who wish to use it.

This includes people who need abortions for health reasons.

There are people who have lost their wanted pregnancies due to disease and conditions.

They may choose to donate fetal tissue to help others from suffering through the same heartache.

As noted above, fetal stem cells do a lot of good. Even if the person chooses a “therapeutic” abortion, they may donate the fetal tissue to help people with diseases, conditions, and injuries that may benefit from research.

Planned Parenthood is charging for storage, handling, and transportation of the specimen.

At $30 to $100, that’s a pretty minimal cost and reasonable.

Also, it’s perfectly legal.

Seriously, research that needs/uses fetal tissue may help hundreds, maybe thousands, of people.

Planned Parenthood isn’t nefarious.

Fetal tissue may be the key to treating and curing diseases,conditions, and injuries that affect thousands and their families.

Abortion is going to happen, anyway. Fetuses are going to die, anyway. Their tissue can help people.

How to Answer the Top 35 Asked Interview Questions from The Undercover Recruiter here. Posted for friends looking for jobs this summer. Unfortunately you may also be asked illegal questions and these are two pretty good articles here and here.

The Shame of American Health Care

People in the United States pay more and get less than citizens in other advanced countries.

Some 37 percent of American adults went without recommended care, did not see a doctor when sick or failed to fill prescriptions in the past year because of costs, compared with 4 percent in Britain and 6 percent in Sweden. Nearly a quarter of American adults could not pay medical bills or had serious problems paying them compared with less than 13 percent in France and 7 percent or less in five other countries. Even Americans who were insured for the entire year were more likely than adults abroad to forgo care because of costs, an indication of how skimpy some insurance policies are.

When Americans got sick, they had to wait longer than people in most of the other countries to get help. Fewer than half were able to get same-day or next-day appointments with a doctor or nurse; one in four had to wait six days or longer. (Only Canada fared worse on both counts.) But Americans got quicker access to specialists than adults in all but two other countries.        

In London, Clever And Witty Street Messages That Tease The Public by UK-based artist Mobstr 

No lies

The Ferguson Masterpost: How To Argue Eloquently & Back Yourself Up With Facts

We encourage you to share the link to this rather than reblogging the entire post (since this is frequently updated and we want to minimize the spread of outdated info!): bit.ly/FergusonAEM. Also, ...