Morning Roar: U.N. to Israel - No Nukes, Obama's $263M Cop Cam Prop, Pittsburgh Landlord Tax Shakedown UPDATE
It's Wednesday and raining here in Los Angeles where Marc and I are based, which means that we're basically in the film "The Purge," and anarchy reigns since no one here can understand how to drive, live or act with simian levels of intelligence if water falls from the sky. Thus, this Morning Roar! was written with extra vitriol!United Nations Overwhelmingly Supports Resolution Demanding Israel Renounce Nukes The United Nations has actually done something intelligent for once in supporting a resolution that demands that Israel renounce its nuclear weapons arsenal and open itself up to the same U.N. oversight that every other region in the middle east endures. From Yahoo/AP:
The resolution, adopted in a 161-5 vote, noted that Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that is not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It called on Israel to "accede to that treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons" and put its nuclear facilities under the safeguard of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.
The United States and Canada were among four countries that joined Israel in opposing the measure, while 18 countries abstained.
Israel has long argued that a full Palestinian-Israeli peace plan must precede any creation of a Mideast zone free of weapons of mass destruction. The country also argues that Iran's alleged work on nuclear arms is the real regional threat. Iran denies pursuing such weapons.
Naturally the U.S. didn't back this resolution, seeing as the U.S. never goes against Israel on anything no matter how wrong and immoral they may be. I am not saying here that Israel having nukes is necessarily "wrong" or "immoral."What is wrong is Israel always crying poverty about its lot in life as the underdog that's under constant attack, when it possesses plenty of wealth and arguably the most powerful and well-funded (in large part from the U.S.) military in the region.It has absolutely massacred those who would toss a grenade tied to a stick tied to a muskrat (which is more or less the armament of those in the Gaza Strip) over the fence, inflicting casualties in the hundreds-to-one ratio. Israel demands anyone and everyone in the region bow to U.N. regulations in regards to nuclear weapons but refuses to play by those same rules itself. No, Israel plays by its own rules, breaking them at its own whim.It's a hypocritical stance that gets more absurd by the day. The position that a peace plan has to be laid out before any disarmament talks can begin when Israel won't make any consolatory gestures (like maybe opening up its nuclear program to the U.N.?) is Israel's not-so-clever way of assuring no peace process will move forward at all.That being said, Israel should tell the U.N. to shove it, as should every nation because the U.N. and it's New World Order are a joke and a plague on mankind.Check out this recent episode of the Lions of Liberty Podcast, where Marc Clair speaks with Mark Levine about an interesting approach to a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.Obama's $263 Million Cop Camera Proposition - Good, Bad, and Who Knows? BenSwann.com has a piece up about Obama's new Cop Cam Proposal, which will cost taxpayers $263 million on a federal level to fund chest-mounted cameras on police. While it sounds like a good idea (though I feel it should be paid on a state or local level, but be required by federal law that police have these cameras), the writer of the piece points out that there are vast amounts of money being allocated that aren't going towards body cams, and instead are just out there for who knows what.
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$75 million to be spent on a Body Worn Camera Partnership Program, which would offer a 50% match to states and towns for as many as 50,000 body-worn police cameras
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Expanded training for police departments
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Increased “resources for police department reform”
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Multiplying the number of cities where the Department of Justice facilitates community and local LEA engagement
While the mainstream media is focusing largely on the portion of the proposal that provides funding for body cameras, less attention is being paid to other vaguely illustrated initiatives planned by the Obama administration. The White House has yet to explain exactly how the remaining $188 million would be spent, but has provided some generalized propositions.The proposal includes a planned executive order instructing federal agencies, law enforcement agencies and civil liberties organizations to “work together” in order to provide recommendations that could improve the transfer of military equipment from federal agencies to police departments.
Oh, great! Let's make the militarization of police departments even smoother! An AK in every traffic cop's hands, right?
The press release contained suggestions for those recommendations such as mandated training courses for police acquiring military equipment, analysis reports for incidents involving military equipment, and the creation of a “consistent list of controlled property allowable for acquisition by LEAs and ensure that all equipment on the list has a legitimate civilian law enforcement purpose.”
That at least makes sense in theory, though I can all but assure anyone reading this that the leeway in the "legitimate civilian law enforcement purpose" category will be broader than the Ganges river. It's good that the administration is, on some level, responding to public outrage about police use of excessive force (I'll include no opinion here as to whether that force was recently utilized in Ferguson or not, but there was a recent podcast conversation about it that I wasn't a part of) and also on the runaway militarization of police forces, but the latter doesn't look to be changing in any meaningful way.UPDATE! Pittsburgh City Council Vetoes Landlord Shakedown After Public Response From yesterday's Roar story:
The Pittsburgh City Council is turning its steely gaze towards landlords to add some cash to the general fund by way of an exorbitant fee that requires a $65 “registration fee” for every unit available for rent.While $65 a year may not seem like a lot, when you multiply this by 500 units for someone who may own a large occupancy building, or several buildings of smaller units, it’s a pretty hefty sum. But, before we get too far into the monetary angle, lets hear what this fee is for, via the Pittsburgh Gazette’s editorial staff:In 2007, the city of Pittsburgh passed an ordinance requiring landlords to pay a fee and submit contact information for themselves or their property managers. Everything old is new again, and the Peduto administration has revived the effort.The thinking behind the original $12-per-unit fee was to make sure city officials knew who was responsible for apartments and how to reach them during emergencies. But the city’s first attempt at landlord registration was challenged in court, then never enforced. It expired after 2011 because of the law’s sunset provision.
And now a good news update from Trent, one of our podcast frequenters and a friend in liberty who brought this story to our attention as one of the landlords who would have been affected by the fee/tax:
Hey fellas - I just thought I would provide you with some brief commentary on the landlord tax in Pittsburgh for the MR. The hearings lasted 3.25 hours with over 100 people speaking in 2.5 hours (.75 hours went to city council comments). The bill was opposed 8/1 and at the conclusion of the meeting a majority of city council openly admitted the bill needed to be changed as it was exposed for a "tax" as opposed to a "fee", not to mention a number of other faults. For your information a "fee" in the state of PA can only amount to the exact cost that it takes to implement a program whereby a "tax" creates additional revenue for the government.The acknowledgment of the bill's faults by city council proves that if we stand together as a concerned public and voice our opinions, politicians will listen.
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