The News You Won’t See On The News

Recently a parishioner in a church stood up with a shotgun and started killing other parishioners. Within 6 seconds of the Killer Parishioner starting to kill other parishioners a Good Guy with a Gun Parishioner stood up and killed the Killer Parishioner. That’s very fast action on the part of the Good Guy with a Gun Parishioner but not fast enough to save 2 parishioners who the Killer Parishioner had already killed.

After this had happened a Presidential Candidate said that the Good Guy with a Gun Parishioner who killed the Killer Parishioner before he could kill more parishioners should not have been allowed to have a gun in his possession in such a crowded place.

The Presidential Candidate explained that the police should have been called and hopefully they would have gotten to the church in time to stop the Killer Parishioner before he could kill more parishioners.

(It is important to note that the Killer Parishioner had 7 more rounds in his shotgun and 3 more rounds in his pocket at the time that the Good Guy with a Gun Parishioner made him dead. Also we should not forget that in November 2017 a gunman killed 26 people at a Texas Baptist church.)

The Presidential Candidate said this…

“Somebody in the congregation had their own gun and killed the person who murdered two other people, but it is the job of law enforcement to have guns and to decide when to shoot. You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place.”

When Fella heard what the Presidential Candidate had said Fella said this…

 “Everyone is entitled to his own stupid opinion”.

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This whole church shooting incident, of course, made the National News. As part of this Blog Posting I am including 3 pages from American Rifleman Magazine. Pages such as these do not make the National News…

No matter what a Presidential Candidate says there are those who are paid to cover for them. In this case the Presidential Candidate’s Campaign Manager stepped up to do what he is paid to do. I wonder if, before he said this, he thought to himself, “Am I really going to say this?” and after he said this did he think to himself, “Did I really say that?”

The Presidential Candidate’s Campaign Manager then dug his hole deeper by saying in an appearance on TV: “My Candidate supports his right to carry a gun. We salute him. But the question is should anyone who is criminally insane be able to get a gun? I would say no”.

Fella thinks to himself, Mr. Campaign Manager, the Good Guy with a Gun Parishioner who killed the Killer Parishioner while he was in the act of killing other parishioners thanks you for your “salute” but who said anything about the Criminally Insane? Certainly, your Presidential Candidate didn’t”.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

A Rule Meant To Shield Officials From Frivolous Lawsuits Now Protects Unconstitutional Conduct

Shaniz West was rushing to register one of her children for school when she found five local police officers surrounding her house in Caldwell, Idaho. They were looking for her ex-boyfriend, who was wanted on firearms charges. Ms. West told them she didn’t think he was in the house—he wasn’t supposed to be—but she said they could go inside to check. She handed over her keys and left.


The officers didn’t go inside to check. They called in the SWAT team and launched an hour’s long siege, repeatedly using shotguns to blast tear-gas grenades into every living space in the home. Afterward, the place was a wreck. There were broken windows, holes in the walls and ceilings, and a sticky yellow film that covered all of Ms. West’s possessions. The ex-boyfriend was nowhere in sight. The police had spent the day bombarding a house that was empty except for Ms. West’s dog, Blue.


The home was uninhabitable, and Ms. West and her children spent the next two months homeless. She sued the officers responsible, arguing that the warrantless destruction of her home violated her Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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Of course, Shaniz West won the law suit. She has used the significant monetary judgment to buy a much nicer house in a much nicer neighborhood. She, her children and their dog have put this awful episode behind them and have moved on with their lives.


The above paragraph above is a Fella Fabrication. No such outcome has come out. This saga got worse and worse and went on and on.

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The officers’ defense was that they didn’t need a warrant because they had Ms. West’s consent: When she said it was OK to enter the house, they argued, that was the end of things: Once a person gives consent to enter a home they “cannot limit the tactical plan and safety precautions used by police officers to conduct the consent search”.


No judge has held that what the officers did to Ms. West was legal. 


Go back and read the above sentence again and push your bulging eyes back into their empty sockets so you can read on.

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her claim. Ms. West lost because of a rule called Qualified Immunity: A government official can be held liable for civil-rights violations only if the constitutional rule he broke was “clearly established”.


It seems unfair to punish someone for breaking a rule he could not have known about. But the earlier standard also required that the official’s action be objectively reasonable. And judges often apply an absurd level of precision in defining the rule before asking if it is “clearly established”.


Take Ms. West’s case. Nobody seriously believes that consent to enter a home is permission to lob grenades into it. But no court has ever decided the question because this is the first time anybody has made the argument. Since no court has considered it, Qualified Immunity means Ms. West loses. As long as an official’s conduct is Uniquely Outrageous, it’s impossible to hold him liable for it.


Yes, my dear readers, the law makes a distinction between “outrageous” and “uniquely outrageous”.

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I have been sitting here at my silly computer trying to come up with a bit of Foolishness to close out this Blog Posting but I am stumped. If you have been waiting for the day when Fella was speechless, your wait is over.


Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: Wait…Wait…I have come up with a Bit of Foolishness after all. Has anyone determined that it is permissible under the law to Sue a Judge for being Uniquely Outrageous?

It All Started With Us Being Told That We Did Not “Own” Our Dogs Any Longer

Be careful when you are presented with a Bright Idea. Check out the source. The Bright Idea may have come from a Dimwit.

It is not a Giant Leap for Mankind to say that the person who bought a professional sports team is not the owner of the professional sports team he bought but that’s what “they” are saying.

I hope that one day “they” will be brought under control but right now “they” are having their way with us.

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The first time I heard, “The Owner Does Not Own That Team”, it did not come from a disgruntled player but, instead, it came out of the mouth of the Commissioner of the National Basketball Association.

Changing the word from “Owner” to “Guardian” (or “Custodian” or “Keeper”) does not convey anything other than Foolishness to this Fella.

The Owner (now called “Guardian”) paid Millions of Dollars for a Sports Franchise and he has also acquired the right to make or lose a lot of money. It also means he now has many new responsibilities…

• He pays the rent on the Stadium where his team plays.
• He pays the player’s salaries that play in the stadium he rents for his players to play in.
• He pays for the clothing the players wear when they play the games.
• He pays for the Travel Expenses (air fare, lodging, food) when they go out of town to play games.
• When the players get hurt he pays for their medical treatment.
• When they do not play because they are hurt he continues to pay their salaries.

I’ve mentioned in one of my earlier Blog Postings that at the Surrender Ceremony at Yorktown the British Army Band played The World Turned Upside Down. The way things are going, this song just might become #1 on the TV Show Your Hit Parade (if we still had a TV Show Your Hit Parade).

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Today everything is Changing and/or under attack to Change…

• There is a dramatic rise in Divorce and Cohabitation rather than Marriage.
• Some retail clothing stores are no longer selling Blue Clothing for Male Babies and Pink Clothing for Female Babies.
• We are holding panel discussions about whether or not there are such things as Males and Females.
• The percentage of Americans who Don’t Identify With Any Religious Group is up to 26% from 10% in 2010.
• In Africa Christians are being brutally slaughtered by the tens of thousands and no one is taking notice.
  >>>There is always the hope that we will take notice, except during Football Season…Or will we?
• Candidates for the Presidency of the United States are saying that money is owed by people who never owned slaves to people who never were salves.
• People are suing because they ate a peanut, smelled a peanut or saw a person eat a peanut.
  >>>Each year in the Good Ole USofA about 100 people die because they ate a Peanut.
  >>>We ought to ban the Peanut!
  >>>Each year about 100 people die because of Forklift Truck Accidents.
  >>>We ought to ban the Forklift Truck!
  

• People are falling to the ground because they bumped into things, tripped over things or walked into fountains in malls while they were looking down at their cell phones and then getting up and staggering away while looking down at their cell phones.
• People all over the Good Ole USofA are championing the Health Benefits of Marijuana and people who are against the spread of Marijuana are being labeled Out of Touch with Reality. (Actually a lot of people are questioning whether Reality is Real.)
• People are not paying attention to driving while driving cars…
  >>>They drive with dogs in their laps.
  >>>They drive while talking on their cell phones.
  >>>They drive while eating.
  >>>I was stopped at a light a few years ago watching a lady stopped at a light to my right. She had a dog going nuts in her lap because it was excited about something or other. She was talking on her cell phone with one hand. As she pulled away from the light she reached up with her other hand and took a bite out of a sub sandwich.
  >>>You might say she got the Hat Trick. (The term "hat trick" as it relates to sports actually originated in British cricket. A bowler who retired three batsmen with three consecutive balls was entitled to a new hat at the expense of the club to commemorate this feat.)
•  Waiters are walking around our restaurants covered with Tattoos…
  >>>One of these waiters told me he paid $1,700 for the single arm he had tattooed.
  >>>Does waiting tables pay this much?
  >>>Fella Side Note: My Dermatologist told me that Tattooed Skin is hard to diagnose for Skin Cancer.
  >>>When lists are published naming the Top 10 Richest People in the Good Ole USofA we now see that 5 of them are Tattoo Artist. (Did you just shout at your computer, “Fella, you made that up!” OK, I admit I did make that up…Or did I?)
• Politicians who propose to Lower Taxes are being labeled Evil and politicians who propose to raise taxes are being called Champions of the People.
• Dogs are leading people around retail stores that used to have signs on the front door saying... "No Dogs Allowed".
• As I stagger around my local park trying to keep my heart from attacking me, it is not uncommon for me to see other parkers being pulled around by 4 to 5 to as many as 6 dogs.
  >>>To be perfectly honest, the 6 dogged people were 2 people (3 dogs each).
  >>>I actually got into a discussion about marriage with one of the two 6 dog people and he told me the only reason he got married was so he could have someone to handle the other 3 dogs. (I did see 2 people being pulled by 6 dogs but I made up the part about their marriage arrangement…Or did I?)

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From watching TV Commercials we are all now aware that Dogs Can Talk. How long will it be before the dogs will be telling us what to do?

I think they would not dare to tell us what to do if we owned them instead of just standing guard over them.

We used to have Guard Dogs but now we have Guard People.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: In preparing this Foolishness I DuckDuckGoed “expensive cell phones”. I was looking to see if there were any phones costing more than the $1,400 phone I read about the other day. The answer is yes there are! How much higher? If I told you they can cost into the millions of dollars, you would think I was kidding you. Click below to see if I was kidding you… https://www.wonderslist.com/10-most-expensive-mobile-phones-in-the-world/

No AttaGirls For These Awful Creatures!

The University of Montana asked students, staff and community members to participate in an essay contest on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. When the school released the results last month, Montana students and race activists across the country stood up and gave the 4 winning female essayist a hardy round of applause.

What’s wrong with the above paragraph? What’s wrong with it is Fella falsified the last 14 words. Here is the full paragraph without the last 14 falsified words…

The University of Montana asked students, staff and community members to participate in an essay contest on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. When the school released the results last month, Montana students and race activists across the country accused university officials of racism and disrespect. That’s because all four winners were white. Turns out some would rather the school had honored King by judging entrants on the color of their skin rather than the content of their submissions.

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Here in Bullet Point Format are the Key Points of the Rest of the Story (yes, the late Paul Harvey is helping me assemble this bit of Foolishness)…

• The four contest winners started receiving threats.
• The African-American studies program, which had sponsored the contest, removed their photos and essays from its website. 
• A central fact—no black students had even submitted an essay—failed to defuse the racism charge.
• Critics blasted “shameful” university officials for holding a contest at all. 
• A lecturer on the college race circuit admonished the University for thinking that “there is a universality around writing an essay,” when in reality blacks express themselves “completely different.” 
• One black student sniffed that participating would have been a “sellout/compromise.”  “Having grown up in all white spaces,” he posted on Facebook, “I often avoided events such as this because I knew the purpose was a performative gesture from the administration.” (How the student determines when events are not “performative gestures” was left unspecified.)

Fella’s Educational Insertion

Performativity is a complex concept that can be thought of as a language which functions as a form of social action and has the effect of change. The concept has multiple applications in diverse fields such as anthropology, social and cultural geography, economics, gender studies, law, linguistics, performance studies, and history, philosophy. (Source: Wikipedia)

Now don’t you feel smarter? I know I don’t.

• The African-American studies program was denounced for not canceling the competition when the organizers realized the skin color of the six entrants. 
• “I cannot understand how anyone would think remembering the legacy of MLK Jr. is achieved by giving four white girls a shout out,” wrote a critic.
• Outraged observers accused the contest committee of not specifically soliciting submissions from black students. 
• In fact, the committee, whose majority consisted of “persons of color,” including the presidents of the Black Student Union and the Latino Student Union, had asked members of the Black Student Union to participate. 
• The students’ failure to do so, despite a $250 first prize, was nonetheless deemed the university’s fault and another instance of the university silencing minority voices. 
• Woke white students declared that they would never presume to write about MLK and racism, since doing so would be an example of “speaking OVER black voices.” 
• If no white students had submitted an essay that too would have demonstrated campus bigotry.

(Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.)

• The demographics of the University of Montana student body and faculty were cited as evidence for the white supremacy charge. The undergraduate population is 79% white and 1% black; the faculty is nearly 90% white. (Never mentioned was the state’s demographics: 89% white and 0.6% black.)
• The university has been predictably repentant, calling the criticism “fair.” Yet its Facebook page also notes, with a hint of exasperation, that a student’s skin color does not preclude him from submitting an essay or working toward equality.

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All of this would make Martin Luther King sad because his colorblind ideal has been thoroughly repudiated: whites who write about implementing Dr. King’s legacy today are threatened, rather than welcomed to the cause.

Rodney Glen King would be sad also. During the riots, on May 1, 1992, Rodney made a television appearance in which he said...

I just want to say – you know – can we all get along? Can we, can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids? And ... I mean we've got enough smog in Los Angeles let alone to deal with setting these fires and things ... It's just not right. It's not right and it's not going to change anything. We'll get our justice. They've won the battle, but they haven't won the war. We'll get our day in court and that's all we want. And, just, uh, I love – I'm neutral. I love every – I love people of color. I'm not like they're making me out to be. We've got to quit. We've got to quit; I mean after all, I could understand the first – upset for the first two hours after the verdict, but to go on, to keep going on like this and to see the security guard shot on the ground – it's just not right. It's just not right, because those people will never go home to their families again. And uh, I mean please, we can, we can get along here. We all can get along. We just gotta. We gotta. I mean, we're all stuck here for a while. Let's, you know, let's try to work it out. Let's try to beat it, you know. Let's try to work it out.

Fella to Rodney…The final chapter is yet to be written so there is still hope but, at this point in time, it appears we can’t all get along.

(I did not write the bulk of the above. This material came from an article in the Wall Street Journal by Heather Mac Donald and it was published on Feb. 6, 2020.)

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Lagniappe: There is a lot of sad above but probably the saddest sad is this bullet… “The four contest winners started receiving threats.”

Lagniappe More: The University sort of defended itself in a Facebook Post but it did more groveling than defending.

This part of their “defense” was especially interesting: 

The committee members who judged the essays were both white and people of color, and the process of judging included removing the authors’ names and identifying information from the essays, also called “blind judging.”

Read it, if you want… https://www.facebook.com/umontana/posts/10159172552917646?__tn__=K-R&mod=article_inline

I Think I Know What That Was That Just Zipped By My Head. I’m Fairly Certain It Was Common Sense Flying Out The Window.

I wrote about this silliness on August 7, 2018. Now I find out that the Crazy People who have been driving the Airline Industry Crazy are experiencing push back from the Federal Government’s Department of Transportation.

A miniature horse on an airplane departing Chicago O’Hare international airport.

My sympathies lie with the Airline Industry. Let’s see if I can get your sympathies to lay down with my sympathies. 

Below are examples of what the Airlines have been subjected to…

• Passengers and Flight Attendants have been bitten by Service Animals.
• Safety has been compromised by untrained animals loose inside aircraft cabins.
• Untrained pets have been roaming free inside aircraft cabins.
• Passengers are bringing Monkeys & Pigs & All Kinds of Birds & Flamingos (Yea, I know that’s a bird) & Turkeys (Yea, I know that’s also a bird) Gliding Possums Known as Sugar Gliders & Snakes & Spiders & Goats & Ferrets & Hedgehogs & Amphibians & Reptiles on board planes claiming them to be Service Animals.
• Service Animals have scuffled with other Service Animals.
• Service Animals have left various piles of messes (aka: Poop) to be cleaned up unionized janitors who are filing grievances because they have to clean up various piles of messes (aka: Poop).
• Airlines have received 3000 complaints about all of the above in 2018 up from 719 5 years earlier.

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What is that I see? Is that Common Sense sticking its head above the windowsill it flew out of in the Subject of this Blog Posting?

Up Steps our Intrepid Department of Transportation

(I may have exaggerated when I used the word “intrepid”. I looked it up and it means Fearless or Brave or Bold or etc.)

Allow me to modify this exaggeration to…

Up Steps our Sometimes Correct Department of Transportation

The proposed new Department of Transportation rules are aimed at preventing passengers from falsely claiming their pets are Service Animals. Fines and a possible jail term may be the consequence of knowingly lying on the federal form needed to attest to the animal’s training.

If approved, the new rules would narrow the department’s formal guidance from 2019 that made clear that three types of service animals should be prioritized for travel: Cats, Dogs and Miniature Horses (What is that I see? Is that Common Sense sticking its head above the windowsill it flew out of in the Subject of this Blog Posting?

Proposed new Department of Transportation rules are aimed at preventing passengers from falsely claiming their pets are Service Animals. Fines and a possible jail term may be the consequence of knowingly lying on the federal form needed to attest to the animal’s training.

If approved, the new rules would narrow the department’s formal guidance from 2019 that made clear that three types of service animals should be prioritized for travel: Cats, Dogs and Miniature Horses (read more about why miniature horses made the cut here).

The proposals would also require passengers to check in early, and have their animal leashed, well behaved and be able to fit in the owner’s foot space. The rules would also limit the number of service animals for each passenger to two.

Airlines would be able to require forms developed by the Department of Transportation attesting to a service animal’s good behavior, certifying the service animal’s good health, and if taking a long flight attesting that the service animal has the ability to either not relieve itself, or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner.

I see some cracks in what is being proposed that is going to keep the lawyers active…

“and if taking a long flight attesting that the service animal has the ability to either not relieve itself, or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner.”

• They are going to go into court to argue what is a “Long Flight”.
• They are going to go into court to argue about the definition of “Sanitary Manner”.
• They are going to go into court to contend that it is not the Emotional Support Needing Person’s Fault that the uncaring and evil airline did not make the Rest Room and/or the Passenger’s Foot Space big enough for the Emotionally Supportive and Cute Miniature Horse to fit into.

The proposals would also require passengers to check in early, and have their animal leashed, well behaved and be able to fit in the owner’s foot space. The rules would also limit the number of service animals for each passenger to two.

Airlines would be able to require forms developed by the Department of Transportation attesting to a service animal’s good behavior, certifying the service animal’s good health, and if taking a long flight attesting that the service animal has the ability to either not relieve itself, or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner.

I see some cracks in what is being proposed that is going to keep the lawyers active…

“and if taking a long flight attesting that the service animal has the ability to either not relieve itself, or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner.”

• They are going to go into court to argue what is a “Long Flight”.
• They are going to go into court to argue about the definition of “Sanitary Manner”.
• They are going to go into court to contend that it is not the Emotional Support Needing Person’s Fault that the uncaring and evil airline did not make the Rest Room and/or the Passenger’s Foot Space big enough for the Emotionally Supportive and Cute Miniature Horse to fit into.
• They are going to go into court to argue about the definition of the word “Miniature”…
  >>>Your Honor, I know Snowball looks like a full sized horse to most people but, let me assure you, compared to Man O' War Snowball is Miniature.

Allow me to modify my speculation that Common Sense was sticking its head above the window it flew out of in the Subject of this Blog Posting. Can’t you just picture Lawyers standing up in court and saying…

“Your Honor, I think it would behoove the court to step back and come to a proper understanding of the term “Common Sense”. I contend that Common Sense cannot be considered Common because it is so Uncommon. If it were Common, those 101,256 people would not have Googled “Common Sense” yesterday.”

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

7:45am the morning after the Iowa Caucuses (whatever that is)

Be Sure To Read Yesterday's Blog Posting Entitled...Pip-Squeak Politics...Again

Oh My Gosh!

Is it possible Fella knows of which he speaks?

I tried to list 3 links but they did not work. The Iowa Caucus was a disaster. If you want to read about how bad it was, go to the Internet and you will find more links than you care to read. 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

Pip-Squeak Politics...Again

Below you will find my Blog Posting of July 10, 2011 about Iowa and its Caucus Presidential Selection WhatYouMaCallIt. It is craziness but they seem to understand it…Or do they?

I am doing this because the Iowa Caucus and all the craziness that accompanies it is upon us again today.

This Blog Posting will help you understand it…Or will it?

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Actually all of my analysis from 2011 could be all wrong because yesterday I saw an Iowan on TV saying they had fixed their Caucus Presidential Selection WhatYouMaCallIt to make it able to be understood by us Not-So-Smart-People.

I’ll believe it when I see it, but when I see it, I probably still will not understand it.

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Originally Published 7/10/11

Pip-Squeak Politics

American Heritage Dictionary defines Pip-Squeak as…

“One that is small or insignificant”

That sounds about right but it is dead wrong when it comes to Presidential Politics.

Big and Important States, since they are Big and Important States, have an influence upon the states that are not Big and Important States. That's how it is until the Presidential Primary Season starts.

If you don't live in a Big and Important State and you don’t like Big and Important States telling you what to do and think, then move to a Big and Important State, so you can then tell the Little and Unimportant States what to do.

I'm fairly certain you did not understand what I was talking about in the above paragraphs because I'm not sure of what I was talking about in the above paragraphs.

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Why are Iowa, which has .99% of the population of the U.S. and New Hampshire which has .43% of the population of the U.S., in such positions of power and influence when it comes to who our next President is going to be?

Why do they get so much attention and money thrown at them every four years? The winners of these Pip Squeak States Contests do not always win the presidency. Heck, many of the winners do not even get their party’s nominations.

In particular regarding Iowa, every four years most Americans are baffled by the following questions…

• What is a Caucus?
• What is a Straw Poll?
• Is there really an Iowa?

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What in the heck is an Iowa Caucus?

According to a Web Site about the Iowa Caucus by GazetteOnLine.com...

Republican Caucus:

Those attending will indicate their presidential preferences in what is essentially a straw poll. Voting can be done by a show of hands or by paper ballots.

Democratic Caucuses:

The process at Democratic caucuses is more detailed…

• Beginning no earlier than 7 p.m., Democrats divide into “preference groups” based on which candidate they support.
• “Undecided” can be a preference group.
• Generally speaking, a candidate group must have 15 percent of the number of participants to be “viable.”
• Caucus participants have up to 30 minutes to join a preference group.
• After the caucus chairman determines which groups are viable, participants have another 30 minutes to realign, or join a different caucus group.
• Throughout this process, members of a preference group may attempt to persuade other caucus-goers, especially members of non-viable groups, to join their preference group.
• Non-viable groups may merge to gain enough members to meet the viability threshold.
• Or members of non-viable groups may choose to join the uncommitted preference group.
• Or they can choose not to join any group.
• When the preference groups are set, the caucus chairman will determine the number of county convention delegates each preference group is entitled to elect.
• When those numbers are totaled at the state level, the “winner” of the Democratic caucus is the one with the most delegates.

If you say you probably understand all of the above, you are probably kidding yourself.

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The Bottom Line:

The results of the caucuses are not binding on either Republican or Democratic delegates to the county convention. (Did I just hear you say, “Why bother?” Oh, that was not you. That was me.) However, delegates often feel an obligation to follow the sentiments expressed at their precinct caucuses. Therefore, the initial caucus results provide a good indication of which candidate the party’s delegates to the national convention will back.

Now that you understand Pip Squeak Politics I am sure that you are much more comfortable with Little and Unimportant States like Iowa and New Hampshire having an inordinate influence about who your next president will be…Or are u?

I won’t even get into what a Straw Poll is because this Blog Posting has gone on long enough. (I feel badly that many of you agree with the prior sentence.)

Would I kid u?

Smartfella