Friday, March 27, 2009

Rant: never let kids play computer games alone

Parents nowadays are so busy, they often use computers and game consoles as substitute "kid-sitting" devices, and every once in a while, it may lead to disaster.

One such disaster is barely averted when FBI agents intercepted a 13-yr old girl running away from her home in Centerville, Utah to a "wonderful kid" she met online, first playing World of Warcraft, then chatted online and exchanged e-mails. Apparently, her parents had NO IDEA until FBI agents went through her computer and cell phone records.

FBI agents, soon found that this "wonderful kid" was really a 40-year old man who's got long hair, severely overweight, and clearly NOT AS NICE as she thought he was. I mean, you can't DRAW a stereotypical online gamer that doesn't resemble this guy, and yes, this picture is from "South Park". (photo of perp is in the article link below).


After intercepting the girl in Salt Lake City's main Greyhound hub, FBI agents posed as her and resumed the conversation with the perp, and the conversation turned sexual, as the man described in vivid detail what he'd like to do to her, most of which may not be fit for print even in S&M magazines.

Well, enough said. If your kids play online games, make an effort to play with them every once in a while. It's a bonding experience, and it may help them stay out of trouble such as this case.

FBI arrests 40-yr old man who almost lured 13-yr old girl to California





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Monday, March 23, 2009

4 slain officers, asshat behavior, and George Washington Carver

US Postage stamp of 1948 depicting :en:George ...Image via Wikipedia

By now, the entire nation has learned of the loss of four of Oakland's Finest, gunned down by one desperate man who decided to to play suicide by cop, but not without shooting a few cops first.

What was truly disturbing are a few disturbed individuals who actually taunted police who responded to the shooting, indicating that the fallen officers "got just desserts". That is total asshat behavior.

Perhaps the Oscar Grant incident was fresh on their mind, but they should well remember that Oscar Grant was shot by BART Police, which is completely separate from Oakland Police. They share nothing except similar uniforms and some shared operational areas.

Then you have the perp's family out on TV pleading "He's not a monster." So what was he? Insane? Or merely desperate? Only someone who's crazy would gun down four cops, at least two deliberately. If he doesn't want to to back to jail, he'd avoid all the stuff that could set him back, and he didn't. Going back to jail for a few months for a parole violation did not change his behavior, only made it worse. He got two firearms when as a parolee he should have NONE, esp. when one of them is an assault weapon (allegedly AK-47 or variant). He missed meeting with his parole officer when that's the only guy that will keep him out of jail. So he doesn't want to go back to jail? Sounds like he wants to go back REALLY BAD, or he wants to DIE REALLY BAD.

And what is it about black men nowadays? So many of them are willing to play the 'victim card' or the 'race card'. They scream about "racial profiling" but they don't help control the crime spree by tipping police off to crimes either during or after, as it's not good to be a "snitch". Well, you want police protection or not? You can't have it both ways.

And finally, do you know who is George Washington Carver? Time Magazine called him a "Black Leonardo [Da Vinci]" in 1941. He was born as slave and son of a slave. That's about as bad as it CAN be in the US of A, wouldn't you agree? Yet he rose to fame and fortune, and this is LONG before "civil rights" and "affirmative action" or even "black power" came into existence. Those didn't exist until the 1960's/70's.

If George Washington Carver can bring himself out of abject poverty after the abolition and became famous and rich, what can't most black men nowadays, with all the advantages we enjoy now like unions, civil rights, affirmative action, and so on, just make a living, and have to resort of desperate crimes?

Or are today's Black Men just such wussies?

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Monday, March 9, 2009

Ah, the people we elect to office... Pfffft :-P

SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 29:  A newlywed couple...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Recently, a bit of interesting news surfaced in Oakland City Hall. You know, Oakland, that little city just across the bay from San Francisco.

Apparently, after a senior city councilman's retirement, a coveted parking spot has opened up in front of city hall, and two city councilwomen want it. Usually it goes by seniority, but both were sworn in on the same day, and neither would give an inch. So the hot potato was tossed to council president. The president made no decision, but called the city attorney to study the legal precedents. After a few weeks, the city attorney came back with a 5 page paper that basically says: it's a tie.

One of the councilwoman said she'll go for a coin toss. The other refused to comment to the reporter.

Conflict month 3 and counting. :-P

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Monday, March 2, 2009

Rant about anti-tazer crowds

A Stun Gun making an electrical arc between it...Image via Wikipedia

Tazer is one of the best police tools available to control non-compliant people. A lot of "critics" are now screaming at the number of deaths allegedly caused by the Tazer, usually on people high on drugs, or otherwise behaving very strangely. They said those who died have their civil rights violated, electrocuted by 50000 volts, and **** like that. That is from total misunderstanding of how a Tazer works, and what it does to a human body.

Despite the sensational "50,000 volts", that's only the initial jolt to force the "arc-ing" of electricity from where the conducting pins are (which need NOT touching skin) to the skin. Once the connection is established, the voltage actually drops down to a much lower 2000 volts, and only for a pulse that lasts milliseconds.

The way Tazer incapacitates is by sending a T-wave through the muscle tissue that it comes in contact with. All muscles are connected to nerve fibers, and the T-wave shocks the nerve, connected to the central nervous system, into immobility. It should NOT affect the heart, which is controlled by the INVOLUNTARY muscles.

Obviously this was not tested on addicts, and somehow, addicts, and/or those with weak heart, are less tolerant of Taser shocks, as Tazer's history shows.

The problem however, is how some "civil rights activists" are screaming about how these suspect's rights were violated by the use of Taser.

Well, activist, what alternative does the police officers have besides a Tazer to control a potentially violent suspect without killing him? Let's see what the cops usually carry:

* their hands, capable of administering "holds" or other melee techniques
* their baton / billy club / whatever
* their service pistol
* and of course, the Tazer, if they are issued one.

So what's the problem? Service pistol is out, as cops are NOT trick shooters. Shoot the leg. Shoot the arm. Sorry, but they are trained to shoot at center of mass, which is lethal. So forget the pistol.

Baton? To disable a suspect, you pretty much have to beat them over the head and knock them unconscious. Not only will that be likely to be bloody, it may cause a concussion, and a massive lawsuit alleging "police brutality".

Hands? If the police is trained in Juijitsu or similar hold techniques it may be possible, and a reasonable suspect will not further resist. However, getting a non-complaint person into such a hold is nearly impossible without hurting them, and after that they will continue to struggle, hurting themselves. They are NOT reasonable, so any assumption that they will behave reasonably is automatically false. And the chance of the police getting hurt is vastly increased in hand-to-hand combat. What if the police lost control of the pistol in the ensuing struggle?

Tazer is the only reasonable alternative. Why won't people see that?






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