Parkland Shooting: Did Obama-Era School Discipline Policies Enable It? | National Review

Parkland Shooting: Did Obama-Era School Discipline Policies Enable It? | National Review
"Broward County had adopted guidelines designed in part to limit law-enforcement involvement with students, even those who posed a threat.

The closer you look at the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., the more you realize that it might have been one of the most preventable significant crimes in recent American history. 

We’re familiar by now with the government’s sins of omission — how it failed to act time and again in the face of evidence that the shooter presented a clear and present danger to the public.

But how about a sin of commission? 

Did an Obama-era policy designed to reduce the “school-to-prison pipeline” prevent police from using available tools that could have stopped the shooting?
...The tragic experience in Broward County teaches us how not to fix the crisis. Stopping the “school-to-prison” pipeline by simply refusing to arrest violent students carries with it unacceptably high costs.

Yesterday Paul Sperry of RealClearInvestigations published a comprehensive report that reached an explosive conclusion:

Despite committing a string of arrestable offenses on campus before the Florida school shooting, Nikolas Cruz was able to escape the attention of law enforcement, pass a background check and purchase the weapon he used to slaughter three staff members and 14 fellow students because of Obama administration efforts to make school discipline more lenient.

...Sperry quoted Peter Kirsanow, a conservative member of the Commission on Civil Rights:

Broward County adopted a lenient disciplinary policy similar to those adopted by many other districts under pressure from the Obama administration to reduce racial “disparities” in suspensions and expulsions. . . . In many of these districts, the drive to “get our numbers right” has produced disastrous results, with startling increases in both the number and severity of disciplinary offenses, including assaults and beatings of teachers and students.

Sperry also wrote a comprehensive essay for the New York Post in December outlining how lax discipline policies where enabling a wave of violence against teachers and students. 
He detailed incidents across the country, including mass resignations of teachers after escalating assaults.

In local news reports at least one former Broward school-resource officer has spoken bluntly about the pressure not to arrest students and said that the number of resource officers was cut in half.

Brian Entin

✔@BrianEntin

"We are the laughing stock of the world right now."
Recently retired @browardsheriff school resource officer speaks out because he says current officers are afraid to. Says there is a shortage of SROs, and pressure not to arrest troubled students like Nikolas Cruz. @wsvn

10:27 PM - Feb 27, 2018

• 1,500
• 1,249 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Read on!

Lunch video-----Stossel: The Stosscars!

Noon-toon

Anti-Christian Joy Behar Gets Disastrous Surprise From 30,000 Angry Viewers

Anti-Christian Joy Behar Gets Disastrous Surprise From 30,000 Angry Viewers:

"However, the Media Research Center and thousands of Christians weren’t laughing.
Shortly after Behar made her remarks, the MRC began a campaign calling on ABC to hold the show’s co-hosts accountable for spreading “anti-Christian bigotry.”"

Obama Skips Billy Graham Funeral | The Daily Caller

Obama Skips Billy Graham Funeral | The Daily Caller:
"Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Barack Obama notified the press that the former president would not be attending any of the memorial services for legendary evangelical minister Billy Graham.

There was no specific reason given for Obama’s absence.

...President Obama made one surprise public appearance this week. 

The former president attended a community meeting of southside neighborhood residents in Chicago to assure them that the Obama Presidential Library would not impede or “gentrify” their neighborhood, according to the Chicago Tribune.

...the former president tweeted this upon the news of Billy Graham’s death:

Barack Obama

✔@BarackObama

Billy Graham was a humble servant who prayed for so many - and who, with wisdom and grace, gave hope and guidance to generations of Americans.

11:33 AM - Feb 21, 2018

• 255K
• 43K people are talking about this

Obama was not the only former president who did not personally pay his respects to the Billy Graham family. 

Both Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush did not personally attend any of the memorial or funeral services. 

Both Carter and Bush Sr. are 93 years old and have been dealing with severe health issues over the past years."

Read on!

Prescription for Death

Prescription for Death:
"On New Year's Day 2006, I received an emergency call from my father's retirement community, where he had recently moved into assisted living after wandering into someone else's apartment.
He suffered from dementia
..The nurse at the retirement community told me he had been found in his room, unconscious, with little or no pulse. 

 The EMT crew shocked him back to life, and I met up with him at the hospital emergency room, where he was smiling and joking.
...His heart checked out fine.
Then I remembered a visit to his doctor a week before, where she recommended we have him take Namenda, an anti-dementia drug, along with the Aricept he had been taking for three years with some benefit. 

 I did an internet search and found that the side-effects of both drugs include bradycardia, a slowing of the heart rhythm. 

 Apparently, the Namenda had pushed him over the edge and stopped his heart. 

I had to vigorously insist to the cardiologist that his medication regimen be modified to prevent a recurrence.
After adjusting his medications, my father lived another nine months, and we were able to have some quality time together in spite of the dementia.
I realized from that incident how dangerous prescription drugs are, and how everyone taking them needs an informed, assertive advocate to monitor his use and check for side-effects. 
...The CDC publishes statistics on prescription drug use. 

 For the 2013-2014 period, 42.2% of people 65 and over take five or more drugs per day! 

 And 32.6% of people aged 18-44 take one to four drugs a day. 

 Of those, 8.8% are taking antidepressants (2011-2014).
To put this in perspective, the 2010 age 18-44 population was 112.8 million. 

 This means that 37 million or more people are taking one to four drugs a day, 3.3 million using antidepressants. 
...Take a look at a package insert for any prescription drug, and you will find a long list of side-effects, with everything from night sweats to "homicidal ideation." 

 That's a technical term meaning "you're gonna wanna kill somebody."...

Read all! 

#1 This day 1967-----the rolling stones - ruby tuesday

The NRA Doesn’t Kill People, It Saves Lives. Just Ask My Family

The NRA Doesn’t Kill People, It Saves Lives. Just Ask My Family
"Far from being monsters, or the new KKK, the National Rifle Association empowered my family to reclaim its sense of security. By Harry Kazianis
While the legacy media might have you believe otherwise, the National Rifle Association is not the bogeyman it has been made out to be.
...I can personally attest to the positive impact the NRA has on countless individuals, as it was NRA members and NRA instructors who helped my own family in a time of crisis.
The Day He Was Robbed at Gunpoint
In the early 1990s, a member of my family was robbed at knife and gunpoint while trying to earn a living at his small business.
The experience changed my family’s perception of our own safety and security forever.
After several days of reflection, this family member made a heartfelt decision: he needed to protect his life, property, and our family by purchasing a firearm.
...This is where the NRA came in. 
When he did make a firearms purchase, it was NRA-trained and -certified instructors who spent hours of their own time to teach him how to safely operate his preferred method of self-defense. 
They did not talk politics or try to indoctrinate him in any way, but did what they could to teach him how to safely and effectively defend himself if the moment ever came.
The NRA Helped Us Feel Safe Again
Far from being monsters, or the new KKK, as some have tried to label NRA members, they empowered my family to reclaim its sense of security. 
NRA members and instructors made sure my family was also trained on firearm safety, a story I have heard repeated countless times..."
Read all!

You ought to know!

FBI-debunked Russia-Trump story helped New York Times win journalism award - Washington Times

FBI-debunked Russia-Trump story helped New York Times win journalism award - Washington Times:

"One of the stories for which the New York Times won a coveted George Polk Award was a Russia-Trump report that was repudiated by former FBI Director James Comey.
The Times won the award on Feb. 20 for 12 stories it submitted on Donald Trump and his associates ties to Russia, according to a list provided by Polk to The Washington Times.
One of them was a Feb. 14, 2017 story headlined, “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts with Russian Intelligence.”
Written by Michael S. Schmidt, Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo, the lead said:"

Annoy a Leftist, See Willis' 'Death Wish' Remake (Twice) - Hollywood in Toto

Annoy a Leftist, See Willis' 'Death Wish' Remake (Twice) - Hollywood in Toto
"This gut punch of a remake will drive SJWs crazy. 
That's just one of many reasons to see Eli Roth's latest.
You won’t see a more subversive film all year than Eli Roth’s “Death Wish.”
How can a remake of the 1974 vigilante classic be so bold? 

It’s simple. 

The remake doesn’t tinker with the vigilante formula beyond concessions to our digital age. 

No hand wringing, no attempts to bring social justice to the classic tale.
The very last word you’d use to describe the new “Death Wish” is “woke.”
The film goes much further, though. 

It gives a long, wet raspberry to the scourge that is political correctness. 

Take away the ideological dustups, and you’re left with a premium crowd pleaser with a kiss of ’80s action thrown in.

Bruce Willis takes over for Charles Bronson as Dr. Paul Kersey. 
He’s a mild-mannered surgeon who’d rather swallow his pride that square off against a local bully. His suburban bliss is shattered when a group of thugs break into his home while he’s at work.
...For starters, the vigilante template is timeless. 

Justice is never swift enough for those broken by criminals. 

Setting the movie in Chicago, a city awash in crime, gives the film real-life gravitas.

...Only he’s no rootin’ shootin’ vigilante. 
He’s clumsy, forcing confrontations that quickly place him in harm’s way. 
And he doesn’t go from Everyman to Superman as other vigilante movies do. 
His evolution is gradual, the pain giving way to something raw… and empowering.
Forget about toxic masculinity. 

He feels like he failed his family, and it’s time to do something about it.
DID YOU KNOW: Roger Ebert dubbed Charles Bronson’s “Death Wish” “propaganda for private gun ownership.”
Read all!

AM Fruitcake

History for March 3

History for March 3 - On-This-Day.com:
Alexander Graham Bell 1847, Rupert Brooke 1887, Matthew Ridgway 1895


Jean Harlow 1911, James Doohan 1920, Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1962 - Olympic track and field gold medalist


1903 - In St. Louis, MO, Barney Gilmore was arrested for spitting.


1915 - The motion picture "Birth of a Nation" debuted in New York City.


1923 - The first issue of Time magazine was published.


1931 - The "Star Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key, was adopted as the American national anthem. The song was originally a poem known as "Defense of Fort McHenry."


1939 - In Bombay, Ghandi began a fast to protest the state's autocratic rule.


1952 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld New York's Feinberg Law that banned Communist teachers in the U.S.


1991 - Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers. The scene was captured on amateur video. (California)


1995 - A U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia ended. Several gunmen were killed by U.S. Marines in Mogadishu while overseeing the pull out of peacekeepers.

Why the Left Opposes Arming Teachers - Dennis Prager

Why the Left Opposes Arming Teachers - Dennis Prager:

"That is why the left opposes enabling some teachers and other adults in schools to carry arms in order to possibly stop a mass murderer: The left doesn't fight evil; it fights those who do. Just as the left hated anti-communists, hates opponents of Islamism and hates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (far more than the Iranian ayatollahs), it hates those who wish to see teachers and others voluntarily armed take down the murderers of our children."

The way we were-----Dirty Dancing - Time of my Life (Final Dance) - High Quality HD

Boob-tube-----Weather History: Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1950

More Americans now support a universal basic income

More Americans now support a universal basic income:
"Forty-eight percent of Americans support a universal basic income.
Longtime advocates say we're closer than ever to adopting the program.
Political philosopher and economist Karl Widerquist, an associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, remembers a poll from 10 years ago that showed just 12 percent of Americans approved of a universal basic income.
That's changed — and quickly. Today, 48 percent of Americans support it, according to a new Northeastern University/Gallup survey of more than 3,000 U.S. adults.
"It represents an enormous increase in support," said Widerquist, who is a well-known advocate for a universal basic income. 
"It's really promising."
Proposals for universal basic income programs vary, but the most common one is a system in which the federal government sends out regular checks to everyone, regardless of their earnings or employment..."
Read on!

'The time for reconciliation is over': South Africa votes to confiscate white-owned land - NZ Herald

'The time for reconciliation is over': South Africa votes to confiscate white-owned land - NZ Herald
"South Africa's parliament has voted in favour of a motion that will begin the process of amending the country's Constitution to allow for the confiscation of white-owned land without compensation.

...It was amended but supported by the ruling African National Congress and new president Cyril Ramaphosa, who made land expropriation a key pillar of his policy platform after taking over from ousted PM Jacob Zuma earlier this month.

"The time for reconciliation is over. Now is the time for justice," Malema was quoted by News24 as telling parliament. 
"We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land."...
Read on!

DACA Is a Cheap Amnesty Ploy

DACA Is a Cheap Amnesty Ploy:

"For decades, the establishment immigration lobby has been insisting Americans give so-called “Dreamers” a lifetime pass to America: citizenship. Don’t worry, they say. These “Dreamers” will enhance the American experience.
At the same time, the open borders club turns a blind eye to the pitiful state of our immigration system, demanding that immigrants who skip the box office be welcomed into our arms.
Those same elites never mention the millions of law-abiding and hardworking immigrants who enter our country legally—some after waiting over a decade to join this place we call home—and are getting delayed and punished for following the law."

Paul Allen's six-engined monster plane prepares for space deliveries • The Register

Paul Allen's six-engined monster plane prepares for space deliveries • The Register:
"The world's largest aircraft, designed to one day fling rockets into space, has tested out its taxiing capabilities at the Mojave Air and Space Port in New Mexico.

The 500,000lb (227 metric ton) "Stratolaunch" is the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and advanced materials aviation wizard Burt Rutan. 
The pair plan to carry rockets up to high altitude before they fall free, fire up, and deliver cargo into low-Earth orbit. 
Using Bernoulli's Principle to do the heavy lifting for the first few kilometres saves rockets the fuel-intensive and very stressful early moments of flight.

Allen has sunk $300m into the much-delayed project, but on Sunday it rolled out of the hangar.

Read on!

Public-Sector Unions Deserve to Be Destroyed - Reason.com

Public-Sector Unions Deserve to Be Destroyed - Reason.com:
"How does a public-sector union work? 
Easy.
First, the state creates a monopoly.
The monopoly forces taxpayers to fund those workers, whether they do a good job or not.
The union then coerces workers to pay dues regardless of whether or not they want to.
Then the union uses those dues to help fund political advocacy that perpetuates their monopoly and the union's influence.
So, in other words: racketeering..."
Read all!

Lunch video-----Democrats: What do you stand for?

Noon-toon-----Wondermark » Archive » #1381; In which Darkness falls

Wondermark » Archive » #1381; In which Darkness falls

Loretta Lynch used fake name as attorney general

Loretta Lynch used fake name as attorney general:

"The records indicate that using an alias was common in the Obama camp. WND reported in 2017 that Obama, according to former assistant U.S. attorney Andrew McCarthy, knew that he had communicated with Hillary Clinton over her non-secure, private communication system “using an alias.”
FBI Director James Comey concluded Clinton was “extremely careless” but said there would be no charges for her mishandling of classified information.
WND columnist Ellen Ratner asked whether or not Obama and Lynch were using aliases “to throw off FOIA requests?”
“Did Obama and Lynch share their alias emails with FOIA officers? If they didn’t, how would those who are handling these FOIA requests know what to look for?” she wrote."

Important story!-----Akon Offered to Restore Power to Puerto Rico in 30 Days But US Gov't Refused to Let Him | The Daily Sheeple

Akon Offered to Restore Power to Puerto Rico in 30 Days But US Gov't Refused to Let Him | The Daily Sheeple: 
"...As the Guardian reported at the launch of their project, Akon and his two co-founders — Thione Niang, a Senegalese political activist, and Samba Bathily, a Malian entrepreneur and CEO of the solar energy company Solektra International — believe that what rural African communities need is not overseas charity but affordable renewable energy delivered by fully trained African professionals, managing for-profit projects that bring longevity, generate jobs and build new self-sustaining economies.
They were right.
In less than one year, according to the charity group Akon Lighting Africa, a wide range of quality solar solutions, including street lamps, domestic and individual kits, have been installed in 14 African countries — thanks to a private-public partnership model and a well-established network of partners (including SOLEKTRA INT, SUMEC and NARI).
As a result, a number of households, villages, community houses, schools and health centers located in rural areas have been connected to electricity for the first time ever. 
Local jobs, primarily for young people, have also been created in these communities, for installation of equipment’s and for maintenance.
The transformative effects that a single group has had in the region are nothing short of astonishing and speaks to the nature of the decision to refuse to allow Akon to restore power to Puerto Rico.
On the contrary, other contractors were given billions of taxpayer dollars to “aid” in the recovery efforts only to be caught swindling taxpayers.
US Rep. Elijah Cummings and Stacey Plaskett, the congressional delegate from the US Virgin Islands, signed a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, calling into question a $156 million contract awarded to a small Atlanta-based company, Tribute Contracting LLC, according to CNN.
For their $156 million dollar price tag, Tribute Contracting promised to deliver 30 million meals to starving Puerto Ricans. 
However, the company only came through with 50,000 meals, delivering just 0.25 percent of their end of the bargain.
To put that into perspective, each one of those meals cost the US taxpayer $3,120. 
In the meantime, however, a company with a proven track record of restoring power while creating a market for energy and jobs using very little government funding, is turned down..."
Read all!

How Big Is Your State’s Share of $6 Trillion in Unfunded Pension Liabilities?

How Big Is Your State’s Share of $6 Trillion in Unfunded Pension Liabilities?
"Despite a solid year for investment returns, the unfunded liabilities of state and local government pension plans increased by $433 billion, the most recent estimate from the American Legislative Exchange Council shows.
According to ALEC’s report—which uses more appropriate assumptions on investment returns than the plans use themselves—state and local governments’ unfunded liabilities now exceed $6 trillion.
That’s a whopping $18,676 for every man, woman, and child, or nearly $50,000 for every household in America.
This is bad news for taxpayers in states and localities where government workers have been promised far more in pension benefits than politicians set aside to pay them.
That’s because most states have strong protections for promised pension benefits, meaning there is little prospect of reducing a pension benefit or asking employees to contribute more to it..."
Read it all!

#1 This day 1998-----Céline Dion - My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from 'Titanic')

Nut consumption may aid colon cancer survival | Science Codex

Nut consumption may aid colon cancer survival | Science Codex: 
"...The study followed 826 participants in a clinical trial for a median of 6.5 years after they were treated with surgery and chemotherapy. 
Those who regularly consumed at least two, one-ounce servings of nuts each week demonstrated a 42% improvement in disease-free survival and a 57% improvement in overall survival.
"Further analysis of this cohort revealed that disease-free survival increased by 46% among the subgroup of nut consumers who ate tree nuts rather than peanuts," said Charles S. Fuchs, M.D., M.P.H., director of Yale Cancer Center and senior author of the study. 
Tree nuts include almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, and pecans, among others. 
In contrast, peanuts are actually in the legumes family of foods.
..."The results highlight the importance of emphasizing dietary and life-style factors in colon cancer survivorship.""...
Read on!

You ought to know!

Second Amendment Rights |

Second Amendment Rights |:

"Incidents of mass violence, often perpetrated by individuals with severe mental illness (against whose possession of guns existing laws attempt to protect), should not be used by policymakers as an opportunity to restrict constitutional rights. Lawmakers have an obligation to be faithful to the original public meaning of the Second Amendment. "

Police Unions Defend Bad Cops Who Do Awful Things. Why Won't They Defend Broward County Deputy? - Hit & Run : Reason.com

Police Unions Defend Bad Cops Who Do Awful Things. Why Won't They Defend Broward County Deputy? - Hit & Run : Reason.com:
"Police unions routinely defend bad cops who do awful things.

• When Hector Jimenez, an Oakland cop, shot and killed an unarmed man in 2007, he got his job back. Seven months later, after he killed another man by shooting him three times in the back, he got his job back a second time. In both cases, the local police union intervened in Jimenez' favor.
• After 13 Cleveland cops fired 137 rounds of ammo into a car in 2012, killing two people, at the end of a car chase, all but one ended up staying on the job with help from the union. 
• The same was true for Philadelphia police officer Cyrus Mann, who was fired that same year after shooting three people within three years (he killed one of his victims, an unarmed man, by shooting him in the back) and later reinstated on the force after a union-backed arbitration process.
• Last year, when cops in Salt Lake City violently arrested a nurse for refusing to draw blood from a hospital patient without a warrant, the local police union stepped in to defend the officers' actions and attack those who criticized them.

In those cases, and plenty of others, police unions have defended cops who engaged in clear-cut abuses of the public trust placed in them. 
Whether it's a question of excessive force, unconstitutional searches, or the killing of innocent civilians, police unions routinely stand up for officers who have committed acts with tragic consequences. 
Union contracts "often provide a shield of protection for officers accused of misdeeds," Reuters concluded in a 2017 investigative report.
But the head of the union that represents law enforcement in Broward County, Florida, says his union won't be stepping up to help disgraced deputy Scot Peterson, who resigned amid the fallout from the Feb. 14 school shooting.
Why not? 
It's not because the union is upset with Peterson's conduct or because it thinks he has disgraced the courageous image of law enforcement. 
No, it's really just about the money.
"From a legal standpoint, we say he was not a 'dues-paying member,'" Jeff Bell, president of the Broward County Sheriff's Deputies Association told Reason..."
Read on!

AM Fruitcake