WA man arrested after trying to pet moose
A Spokane, WA, man was arrested by a state wildlife officer and Spokane police after he allegedly tried to pet a bull moose in a cemetery, scuffling with the game cop in the process.
There is more to it than that, according to the Spokane Spokesman Review. That newspaper reported that Joseph D. Patterson, 33, was ultimately arrested on drug charges, along with suspicion of assault and resisting arrest.
Patterson’s problems reportedly began when he tried to approach the moose, which was wandering around Holy Cross Cemetery in the city. That’s where an agent of the state’s Department of Fish & Wildlife was trying to corner the bull. Patterson allegedly wanted to pet the animal and take its picture.
When the unidentified wildlife agent asked Patterson to stop, the newspaper said, a scuffle broke out. Patterson allegedly grabbed the game cop’s Taser and tossed it away. Within minutes, Spokane officers arrived and put the cuffs on the suspect.
It was not clear what happened to the moose during or after all of this.
Court denies immunity for FL SWAT ‘inspections’
Law enforcement officers who conducted a warrantless SWAT-style raid on an Orlando, FL, barber shop, ostensibly to help inspectors conduct a routine occupational licensing exam, violated the proprietors’ 4th Amendment rights and are not protected from personal liability under the qualified immunity doctrine.
That was the ruling of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta in September, which harshly condemned Orange County, FL, officers for their 2010 raid of the Strictly Skillz barber shop—a staged event the court compared to “a scene right out of a Hollywood movie.” That’s how the court began its 44-page ruling.
The count noted: “… after more than a month of planning, teams from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office descended on multiple target locations. They blocked the entrances and exits to the parking lots so no one could leave and no one could enter. With some team members dressed in ballistic vests and masks, and with guns drawn, the deputies rushed into their target destinations, handcuffed the stunned occupants—and demanded to see their barbers’ licenses. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office was providing muscle for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s administrative inspection of barbershops to discover licensing violations.”
What was even more incredible to the court was the fact that the inspectors had visited the same business only two days before—without the muscle—and discovered the shop was in total compliance with all occupational licensing requirements. No violations whatsoever. Reason reports that the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is authorized “to conduct such inspections only once every two years.”
The entire hit had been an orchestrated effort to discover evidence of illegal activity that had nothing to do with occupational licensing—though that was the cover story for the raid—and everything to do with contraband. A barber sued the police and the police appealed. They lost again.
Everyone now hopes that if there is a third time it will be the charm that upholds the Fourth Amendment.
Surprising poll results regarding media’s bias
Gunowners may find the following news item somewhat confusing.
After registering slightly higher trust last year, Americans’ confidence in the media’s ability to report “the news fully, accurately, and fairly” has returned to its previous all-time low of 40%, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Even trust among Democrats, who have traditionally expressed much higher levels of confidence in the media than Republicans have, dropped to a 14-year low of 54% in 2014. Republicans’ trust in the media is at 27%, one percentage point above their all-time low, while independents held steady at 38%— up one point from 37% in 2013.
But the most telling data point, according to Politico’s media commentator Dylan Myers, comes further down. Per the survey, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of Americans who believe the media are too conservative. “Nearly one in five Americans (19%) say the media are too conservative, which is still relatively low, but the highest such percentage since 2006,” the report states. “This is up six points from 2013—the sharpest increase in the percentage of Americans who feel the news skews too far right since Gallup began asking the question in 2001.”
One has to wonder how conservatives got into the media at any level.
Another tip of the hat to political correctness
Is there an end to these stories? A New York public school has banned the state National Guard from handing out T-shirts during its recruitment visits. The kids can’t wear them to school because the shirts all have gun graphics, according to the Albany Times Union.
A Guard recruiter visited Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (RCS) High School in September, but was stopped from giving away the shirts after school administrators saw that the garments featured a soldier holding a rifle.
“They’re not allowed to wear anything that would have a weapon on it,” said district Interim Superintendent Alan McCartney, referring to the student dress code. Apparently civics and education don’t mix.
“We did it right on the spot,” said National Guard spokesman Col. Richard Goldenberg of the Guard’s response to officials’ request, pulling the shirts on the spot.. The Guard has said it will continue to recruit at the school, but will choose less offensive shirts in its future efforts there.
