Back to Basics

First, it was the uber-liberal Ruth O’Brien who suggested that we cannot understand the terrorists motives, not yet. And, called for an internal affairs investigation for the possible use of excessive force during the capture of the terrorists.

Now, it is Glenn Greenwald asking: “How do we know that the Boston Bombings were an act of terrorism? Can an act of violence be called ‘terrorism’ if the motive is unknown?”

What is it with this liberal meme, that we need to understand the terrorist’s motives before we can use the word terrorism? Or, even worse, Islamic Jihad Terrorism?

Glenn is either crazy or a liberal; perhaps both …

Glenn Greenwald: How Do We Know That the Boston Bombings Were an Act of Terrorism? — Can an act of violence be called ‘terrorism’ if the motive is unknown?

Authorities have used a public safety exception to delay reading Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his Miranda rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present, a move that has sparked controversy. The Obama administration has been criticized in the past for rolling back Miranda rights after unilaterally expanding the public safety exception in 2010. A group of Republican lawmakers have also called for Tsarnaev to be held as an enemy combatant, but the Obama administration has signaled its intention to try him in civilian court. Constitutional lawyer and Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald joins us to discuss the legal issues surrounding the case. “It’s sort of odd that the debate is Lindsey Graham’s extremist theory [to hold Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant] or rushing to give President Obama credit for what ought to be just reflexive, which is, if you arrest a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil of a crime, before you imprison him, you actually charge him with a crime and give him the right to a lawyer,” Greenwald says. “The fact those are the two sort of extremes being debated, I think, is illustrative of where we’ve come.”

Read more at: Glenn Greenwald: How Do We Know That the Boston Bombings Were an Act of Terrorism? | Alternet

Bottom line …

You observe a pile of horseshit on a trail, do you immediately question the motives of the horse before you can label it horseshit? You observe a liberal who spouts nonsense, do you immediately question their motives before you can determine it is bullshit?

– steve

From Krugman’s appearance on ABC’s This Week:

“What strikes me is we’ve actually gotten a glimpse into the mindset, though, of the pro-gun people and we’ve seen certainly Wayne LaPierre and some of these others. It’s bizarre,” he said. “They have this vision that we’re living in a ‘Mad Max’ movie and that nothing can be done about it, that America cannot manage unless everybody’s prepared to shoot intruders, that the idea that we have police forces that provide public safety is somehow totally impractical, despite the fact that, you know, that is, in fact, the way we live.”

 “So, I think that the terms of the debate have shifted,” he added. “Now the craziness of the extreme pro-gun lobby has been revealed, and that has got to move the debate and got to move the legislation at least to some degree.” . . .

With its very high fee for the permits and the 15-hour training requirement, New Mexico is one of the most difficult right-to-carry states to get a concealed handgun permit.  Still, while the total number of permits is low, there has been a substantial increase in the number of permits.  Just since 2009, there has been a 50 percent increase in permits statewide.  From the Las Cruces Sun-News:

New Mexico
2007: 7,000
2009: 16,708
2012: 25,109
— Source: New Mexico Department of Public Safety

Why is it so inappropriate for the San Bernardino City Attorney to tell people to protect themselves when the police aren’t able to do it?

The city attorney of San Bernardino is under scrutiny for telling residents to “lock their doors and load their guns” during a city council meeting.

The official explained that because the city is bankrupt and slashing public safety budgets people will need to start protecting themselves.

City Attorney Jim Penman said he doesn’t regret what he said.

“You should say what you mean and mean what you say,” Penman said. . . .

Besides the politically correct outrage, the other sad thing about this advice is that it is essentially telling people that they have to be locked up inside their homes.  It would be nice if California joined the rest of the country and let people defend themselves when they are outside their homes.

I was just on Coast-to-Coast AM to discuss these statements.

If you’re in Chicago and the tragically high number of shootings have you living in fear of getting killed by a vending machine, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s got your back:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday he’s cracking down on the caloric content of vending machines in city buildings and plans to replace them all with healthy vending by next year.

A proposed ordinance, to be introduced this week, will lay out plans for the new machines and detail guidelines on fat, sugar and calorie content starting in January 2013.

“These new vending machines will make it easier than ever before for city employees and the public to make healthy lifestyle decisions,” Emanuel said. “When city employees take their wellness into their own hands, we can reduce health care costs and also serve as a model for the residents of Chicago when it comes to making healthy choices.”

Emanuel’s guidelines dictate that only 25 percent of the new machines’ cold beverages can be “high calorie,” or contain 25 calories or more per eight ounces. All hot drinks must not be high-calorie, and all vended drinks must be limited to 12 ounces.

According to the plan, at least 75 percent of food offerings should contain 250 calories or less and at least five items should contain 250mg or less of sodium per serving. A gluten- and nut-free option also must be provided.

Apparently Emanuel’s applying the Remington-Flockhart Theory of Public Safety, which posits that stray bullets are slightly less likely to strike thin people.

Another mass shooting this morning — this time in NYC, where gun control reigns. Please keep all the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Twitchy has full, continuing coverage here. Nanny Bloomberg will speak shortly at a press conference…live coverage here.

***

Update: Bloomberg acknowledges that some of the victims may have been shot by NYPD, and closes his public statement by touting NYC public safety record and invoking leftist gun control politics: “…we are not immune to gun violence.”

Bloomberg says tape shows the perpetrator pulled out a gun and tried to shoot at police. Two officers opened fire and took him down. They ID’d him after a construction worker witnessed shooter murdering ex-co-worker and followed him, then notified NYPD.

Good news: City says bystanders who were shot will all survive.

Bloomberg’s last words: “There’s an awful lot of guns out there.”

Was that necessary?

I have long been concernedabout the problems with the FBI’s justifiable homicide data, so it is nice to see John Barnes at MLive Media Group do a careful investigation of this data.

About $6.8 billion higher to be exact:

California’s budget deficit has swelled to a projected $16 billion — much larger than had been predicted just months ago — and will force severe cuts to schools and public safety if voters fail to approve tax increases in November, Gov. Jerry Brown said Saturday.

The Democratic governor said the shortfall grew from $9.2 billion in January in part because tax collections have not come in as high as expected and the economy isn’t growing as fast as hoped for. The deficit has also risen because lawsuits and federal requirements have blocked billions of dollars in state cuts.

“This means we will have to go much farther and make cuts far greater than I asked for at the beginning of the year,” Brown said in an online video. “But we can’t fill this hole with cuts alone without doing severe damage to our schools. That’s why I’m bypassing the gridlock and asking you, the people of California, to approve a plan that avoids cuts to schools and public safety.”

Brown did not release details of the newly calculated deficit Saturday, but he is expected to lay out a revised spending plan Monday. The new plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 hinges in large part on voters approving higher taxes.

How about first cutting billions in expenses by putting the “train to nowhere” on the chopping block? Sorry, crazy suggestion.

Part of Brown’s proposal is a tax increase on higher income earners in California — a “Moonbeam Rule” (which is a variation on the “Buffett Rule” except it actually has a chance of being implemented):

Under Brown’s tax plan, California would temporarily raise the state’s sales tax by a quarter-cent and increase the income tax on people who make $250,000 or more. Brown is projecting his tax initiative would raise as much as $9 billion, but a review by the nonpartisan analyst’s office estimates revenue of $6.8 billion in fiscal year 2012-13.

Now if Brown could only convince some of those people in that red sliver on the above chart to donate their money to reduce the state’s deficit instead of giving it to the Obama campaign he might get somewhere:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPc85z9uhJQ

CDC researchers released a new -- and disturbing -- report on foodborne diseases. Credit: CDC Press Office

Foodborne disease outbreaks linked to imported food rose in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, with close to half of the outbreaks implicating food imported from areas that had no prior association with outbreaks, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a report released on Wednesday.

While billions of dollars are spent each year on national security and public safety in the United States each year, there has been little progress by the Homeland Security Department, the Health and Human Services Department and others charged with the safety and well-being of American citizens to protect the U.S. food supply and imports.

Imported food makes up a substantial and growing portion of the U.S. food supply and, considering the health and safety concerns of keeping American’s safe, Washington insiders seem oblivious to that part of protecting American citizens, according to the March 14, 2011 Public Safety Examiner report.

To ensure imported food safety, federal agencies must focus their resources on high risk foods and coordinate efforts, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office.

The report, submitted to the US Congress and obtained by the Public Safety Examiner assesses how the Department of Homeland Security’s  Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol), the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service are addressing challenges in overseeing the safety of imported food.

“It’s too early to say if the recent numbers represent a trend, but CDC officials are analyzing information from 2011 and will continue to monitor for these outbreaks in the future,” said Hannah Gould, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases and the lead author of the study.

US agriculture generates more than $1.5 trillion per year in economic activity and provides an abundant food supply for Americans and others. There are continuing concerns about the vulnerability of US agriculture to the deliberate introduction of animal and plant diseases by those wishing to harm American citizens, according to the CDC researchers.

“The big problem is money be spent to monitor food products being imported into the United States. So far, the budget for food safety is minimal when compared to other government programs. For example, politicians push for vaccinating millions of Americans against what they characterize as a deadly flu epidemic, yet they do not seem concerned over a very real threat to all Americans — contaminated food,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

CDC experts reviewed outbreaks reported to CDC’s Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System from 2005-2010 for implicated foods that were imported into the United States. During that five-year period, 39 outbreaks and 2,348 illnesses were linked to imported food from 15 countries. Of those outbreaks, nearly half (17) occurred in 2009 and 2010. Overall, fish (17 outbreaks) were the most common source of implicated imported foodborne disease outbreaks, followed by spices (six outbreaks including five from fresh or dried peppers). Nearly 45 percent of the imported foods causing outbreaks came from Asia.

“As our food supply becomes more global, people are eating foods from all over the world, potentially exposing them to germs from all corners of the world, too,” Gould said.