Month: March 2018

Trump administration to add citizenship question to 2020 census

The Trump administration announced late Monday that it will ask a question about citizenship on the 2020 census, moving to restore a critical but controversial piece of data from the decennial count. Immigrant-rights groups had vehemently opposed the move, arguing it would rub some people the wrong way and scare them from participating, and would thus skew the count that is critical to doling out hundreds of billions of dollars in government aid and to fundamental democratic functions such as divvying up congressional seats. Several minority-rights activists called it data “sabotage.” But the Justice Department has asked for the question to be restored, saying they needed it to better enforce critical laws such as the Voting Rights Act. Other government surveys ask about citizenship, but the Justice Department said those don’t get at the same level of granularity that the decennial census does. Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross made the final decision to add the question. He said it was part of the full census up through 1950, and even as late as 2000 was part of the Census “long form” that was sent to one in six families. In 2020, though, it will be part of the form that goes out to all families. “I find that the need for accurate citizenship data and the limited burden that the reinstatement of the citizenship question would impose outweighs fears about a potentially lower response rate,” he wrote in a memo laying out his decision. He dismissed concerns from some immigrant-rights groups who say the government would face a backlash from people who distrust it. He said that fear may come to pass, but it’s not tied to the citizenship question itself. In fact, he said, nobody could specifically tie the citizenship question to lower responses. He also said some opponents didn’t realize the question used to be standard on the Census.

Imagine that!  And, again, it was used in 1 out of 6 census questionnaires when Clinton was President.  Yet, California and other illegal alien protectors are suing to stop it.  Makes a wonder why, doesn’t it?

Two pilots report seeing UFO in southern Arizona skies

Pilots flying on two separate aircraft reported seeing an unidentified flying object over Arizona last month. The incident took place over southern Arizona around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 between the New Mexico border and the Sonoran Desert National Monument, which is about 40 miles from Phoenix. The Drive reported that one witness, a commercial pilot flying a jet for American Airlines, said the object was above 40,000 feet and had a big reflection. “I don’t know what it was,” the pilot told Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center. “It wasn’t an airplane but it was … the path was going in the opposite direction.” Air traffic control told an aircraft on a similar flight path to let him know if anything passes over him in the next few miles. A few minutes later, the pilot confirmed that something passed over his aircraft. “Don’t know what it was, but it was at least two, three thousand feet above us,” he said. “It passed right over the top of us.” “Can you tell if it was in motion or just hovering?” traffic control asked. “Negative, I don’t know if it was a weather balloon or what not,” the pilot said. “It had a big reflection, several thousand feet above us going the opposite direction.” After questions about whether it was a Google balloon, another voice responded and said it was a UFO. Arizona had more than 4,500 reported UFO sightings from 2001 to 2015. It was also home to one of the most infamous UFO cases of all time, the Phoenix Lights.

Things that make ya go, “hmmmm.”     🙂

Rapper Who Performed at Gun Control March Arrested Last Year on Concealed Handgun Charge

Rapper Vic Mensa performed for Saturday’s student march for gun control, coined the March for Our Lives, although he was arrested last year on a concealed handgun charge. Mensa was arrested in Beverly Hills after being found with a concealed handgun without a California concealed carry license. On March 7, 2017, TMZ reported, “[Mensa] was stopped in Beverly Hills … for running a stop sign and having tinted windows … according to law enforcement sources. We’re told he informed cops he had a gun in his car and showed them his concealed carry permit. The problem is … cops say the permit is for another state.” Mensa faced “felony” charges for the incident but was able to plead down to “two years probation.” In addition to performing Saturday, Mensa called out another rapper, Killer Mike, for criticizing march participants who blindly follow the “progressive movement.” Killer Mike warned that gun control ultimately means blacks lose the guns with which they protect their freedom. Mensa responded by challenging him to a debate: Killer Mike responded by saying, “We got the same publicist and u have my phone number. I ain’t dodge’n u”:

Word..

Dow posts biggest one-day point gain since 2008

The Dow recorded its biggest one-day point gain since 2008 on Monday, as reports of trade talks between the U.S. and China reduced fears of a possible trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 669.40 points, or 2.84%, to 24,202.60 at the close. The Nasdaq Composite rose 227.88, or 3.26%, to 7,220.54, while the S&P 500 Index gained 70.29, or 2.72%, to 2,658.55.

Great news!!    🙂

Switzerland has a stunningly high rate of gun ownership — here’s why it doesn’t have mass shootings

Switzerland hasn’t had a mass shooting since 2001, when a man stormed the local parliament in Zug, killing 14 people and then himself. The country has about 2 million privately owned guns in a nation of 8.3 million people. In 2016, the country had 47 homicides with firearms. The country’s overall murder rate is near zero. The National Rifle Association often points to Switzerland to argue that more rules on gun ownership aren’t necessary. In 2016, the NRA said on its blog that the European country had one of the lowest murder rates in the world while still having millions of privately owned guns and a few hunting weapons that don’t even require a permit.

Exactly!  For more on this article, click on the text above.

Racism charges fly over indictment of NFL’s Bennett despite liberal prosecutor, black victim

Allegations of racism have erupted over the indictment Friday of NFL star Michael Bennett, even though he’s being prosecuted by a liberal, Soros-backed district attorney for a crime against a black victim. Progressive activists and commentators weighed in after the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end was indicted by a grand jury on a felony count of injuring a 66-year-old disabled black woman last year at Super Bowl LI, calling the charge “bogus,” “BS,” and a “set up.” Columnist Shaun King said Mr. Bennett was charged because he “touched a woman’s shoulder,” although Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the paraplegic woman, part of the stadium security team, suffered a sprained shoulder after Bennett shoved her as he tried to get onto the field after the game. According to the chief, Mr. Bennett told a police officer at the scene, “F— you” and “You all must know who I am, and I could own this motherf—er. I’m going onto the field whether you like it or not.” His defenders argued that the 32-year-old Philadelphia Eagles player was targeted as a result of his race and his social-justice activism. Mr. Bennett has refused to stand for the national anthem and last year accused Las Vegas police of racial profiling after he was briefly detained. At the same time, Mr. Bennett could have hardly drawn a prosecutor more sympathetic to the rights of defendants than Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. She ran in 2016 on a reform platform that called for reducing incarcerations, aided by a half-million dollar ad buy from Democratic megadonor George Soros via his Texas Safety and Justice PAC as part of his national effort to elect progressive prosecutors. Ms. Ogg has since been accused of being soft on crime by seeking alternatives to prison such as deferred adjudication, including in a case last year in which a man shot at deputies but received no jail time, which she attributed to his mental-health issues, according to ABC13 in Houston. The county’s first openly lesbian D.A., Ms. Ogg fired 37 experienced prosecutors shortly after taking office and replaced them with “a far more diverse group of experienced and talented lawyers,” she told the Texas Observer. “I also am trying to diversify our lower ranks because we need prosecutors who the public can relate to,” said Ms. Ogg in the July 26 interview. “If they’re all Caucasian, and they’re all straight out of law school, they’re just not going to have the life experience that I think is important when you have people’s lives in your hands, like we do.” She released a statement Friday saying that Mr. Bennett was told by security staff to use a different entrance as he tried to gain access to the field for the post-game celebration at NRG Stadium in Houston. “Instead, he pushed through them, including the elderly woman who was part of the security team,” said the DA’s statement. The charge of “intentionally and knowingly” causing “bodily injury to a person 65 years or older” carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

On word…karma!  Normally we don’t do the whole human interest story thing here at The Daily Buzz.   But, ya gotta love the irony here..  This loser of an NFL player is shamelessly trying to play the race card.  But, the victim is a black elderly woman, and the prosecutor is a lesbian minority herself.  So, that’s blowing up in his face..  DOH!!  Just another entitlement-minded, America-hating, black racist, NFL loser…  For more on this story, click on the text above.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch, floating ‘island’ of trash in ocean, is now twice the size of Texas

The Pacific Ocean is being treated like a giant dumpster — and it’s starting to look like one, too. A “floating” island of trash dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) now stretches 600,000 square miles, according to a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports. It’s more than twice the size of Texas (three times the size of France), and it’s growing every day. Environmentalists expressed concern in October 2016, after a team of researchers from The Ocean Cleanup Foundation surveyed the vortex of trash piling up between California and Hawaii. They spotted chunks of plastic glued together measuring more than a yard. “[It’s a] ticking time bomb because the big stuff will crumble down to micro-plastics over the next few decades if we don’t act,” Boyan Slat, founder of Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that helps remove pollution from the world’s oceans, told Newser at the time. The size of the trash pile has nearly doubled in size since then, containing at least 79,000 tons of plastic — “a figure four to 16 times higher than previously reported,” Scientific Reports said. Researchers gathered 1.2 million samples during a multi-vessel expedition in October 2017, exactly one year after their previous test. They used large nets to scoop the debris and took several aerial images to examine the extent of the GPGP. Large items such as bottles, ropes, plastic bags and buoys were the most common objects spotted in the pile. Fishing nets had an overwhelming presence, accounting for nearly half of the weight of debris picked up by research vessels. Microscopic particles made up less than 10 percent of the mass collected by researchers. “We were surprised by the amount of large plastic objects we encountered,” Dr. Julia Reisser, the chief scientist of the expeditions, said in a statement online. “We used to think most of the debris consists of small fragments, but this new analysis shines a new light on the scope of the debris.” Data from the nets proved more plastic is coming into the ocean than being cleaned up. But scientists didn’t realize how fast garbage was piling up. “Historical data from surface net tows indicate that plastic pollution levels are increasing exponentially inside the GPGP, and at a faster rate than in surrounding waters,” the report said. The findings were “depressing to see,” Laurent Lebreton, an oceanographer and lead author of the study, told The Guardian. “There were things you just wondered how they made it into the ocean,” Lebreton said, adding that the group even found a toilet seat discarded into the sea. “There’s clearly an increasing influx of plastic into the garbage patch.” Pollution is problematic for the environment and humans, but it’s especially troubling for marine life. “Floating plastic litter can be ingested or entangle marine life, and carry invasive organisms across oceanic basins,” Matthew Cole, a research scientist with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the U.K., told New Scientist. Lebreton hopes to find a way to curb plastic waste.

 

Are There Risks From Secondhand Marijuana Smoke? Early Science Says Yes.

The inspiration arrived in a haze at a Paul McCartney concert a few years ago in San Francisco. “People in front of me started lighting up and then other people started lighting up,” said Matthew Springer, a biologist and professor in the division of cardiology at the University of California-San Francisco. “And for a few naive split seconds I was thinking to myself, ‘Hey, they can’t smoke in AT&T Park! I’m sure that’s not allowed.’ And then I realized that it was all marijuana.” Recreational pot was not legal yet in the state, but that stopped no one. “Paul McCartney actually stopped between numbers and sniffed the air and said, ‘There’s something in the air — must be San Francisco!’” Springer recalled. As the visible cloud of pot smoke took shape, so did Springer’s idea to study the effects of secondhand marijuana smoke. He started thinking: San Franciscans would never tolerate those levels of cigarette smoke in a public place anymore. So why were they OK with pot smoke? Did people just assume that cannabis smoke isn’t harmful the way tobacco smoke is? Springer was already researching the health effects of secondhand tobacco smoke on rats at his lab at UCSF. He decided to run the same tests using joints. “By the time I left the concert, I was resolved to at least try to make this happen,” he said. He knew it would be difficult. Marijuana is still an illegal drug under federal law, and Springer’s research uses federal funds; so he has to purchase specially approved government cannabis for study. He also can’t test it on humans; hence, the rats. In the lab, Springer puts a cigarette or a joint in a plexiglass box, lights it and lets the chamber fill with smoke. Then he vents out most of the smoke to the point that it is hardly visible, to simulate being around a smoker. Then an anesthetized rat is exposed to the smoke for one minute. So far, Springer and his colleagues have published research demonstrating that just this one minute of exposure to secondhand smoke makes it harder for the rats’ arteries to expand and allow a healthy flow of blood. With tobacco products, this effect lasts about 30 minutes, and then the arteries recover their normal function. But if it happens over and over, the arterial walls can become permanently damaged, and that damage can cause blood clots, heart attack or stroke. Springer demonstrated that, at least in rats, the same physiological effect occurs after inhaling secondhand smoke from marijuana. And, the arteries take 90 minutes to recover compared with the 30 minutes with cigarette smoke. Springer’s discovery about the effect on blood vessels describes just one harmful impact for nonsmokers who are exposed to marijuana. Statewide sampling surveys of cannabis products sold in marijuana dispensaries have shown that the items may contain dangerous bacteria or mold, or residue from pesticides and solvents. California law requires testing for these contaminants, and those regulations are being initiated in three phases over the course of 2018. Because much of the marijuana being sold now was harvested in 2017, consumers will have to wait until early 2019 before they can purchase products that have been fully tested according to state standards. “People think cannabis is fine because it’s ‘natural,’” Springer said. “I hear this a lot. I don’t know what it means.” He concedes that tightly regulated marijuana, which has been fully tested, would not have as many chemical additives as cigarettes. But even if the cannabis tests clean, Springer said, smoke itself is bad for the lungs, heart and blood vessels. Other researchers are exploring the possible relationship between marijuana smoke and long-term cancer risk. Certainly, living with a smoker is worse for your health than just going to a smoky concert hall. But, Springer said, the less you inhale any kind of smoke, the better. “People should think of this not as an anti-THC conclusion,” he said, referencing the active ingredient in marijuana, “but an anti-smoke conclusion.”

For more, click on the text above.

Growing questions about CNN’s airport monopoly as network veers left

CNN’s ubiquitous presence in airports — where it broadcasts from thousands of screens to a captive audience of millions — is facing new scrutiny after the cable network’s hard left turn. The CNN Airport network dates back to when CNN was known for straightforward news programming — and has been a fixture at airports since before competitors MSNBC and Fox News even existed. But critics are now asking if busy travelers should be subjected to CNN’s increasingly ideological programming — at gates, bars, food courts and baggage claims — which can include on-screen chyrons or subtitles that gleefully mock President Trump. Many travelers have even taken to Twitter and started online petitions to urge airports to change the channel. Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor told Fox News that CNN has become more partisan than MSNBC since Trump moved into the White House and travelers should have the option of not watching the network. “How are airports justifying the idea of bombarding captive viewers with content many of them oppose? Sadly, almost any outlet is fairer now than CNN,” Gainor said. But CNN isn’t actually forced on travelers because airports are looking to disseminate liberal doctrine. It’s forced on travelers because of money. CNN pays airports to leave the network on, and many travel hubs even have agreements in which CNN pays for their TVs and infrastructure. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that airports also receive “up to six minutes each hour to promote the airport or local attractions” as part of the deal. “CNN Airport covers the costs related to the TVs and related infrastructure, provides programming specifically geared for airports, and pays us for the opportunity to be in our facility,” a representative from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International said, while Miami International’s spokesperson simply pointed us to a document proving that CNN is willing to pay the most. Long-term contracts typically give CNN the ability to curate content seen by travelers whether they like it or not. The eight-year contract that was signed in 2016 promises Miami International Airport “a maximum annual guarantee of $150,000” that may be adjusted annually to ensure the deal is on par with similar airports. “Airports feel like a lesser version of hell with dirty seats, overpriced food and propaganda posing as news on CNN,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson said last month. The agreements blur the lines between news and advertising as the network blurs the lines between news and political activism. Carlson said the agreement to air CNN on unsuspecting travelers made sense when CNN had a “centrist reputation,” but now the network “has strayed so far to the left, constantly promoting wacky Russia-related conspiracy theories.” A CNN Airport media kit says a whopping 323 million people view CNN Airport on an annual basis at the 2,400-plus gates throughout the country that carry the channel. “We have received complaints about CNN and the content they air,” a Salt Lake City International Airport spokesperson said…

It IS obnoxious just how much of a monopoly CNN has at airports.  I oftentimes find myself rolling my eyes at the stuff they put out while I’m waiting to board a plane…or waiting at baggage claim.  CNN used to be boring, middle of the road, reporting when it first aired.  But, in the last 10-15 years, it is become more and more liberal/left-leaning in its programming to the point where it is basically competing with MSNBC for being the most liberal cable network…and a large percentage of travelers are simply tired of it.  For more on this article, click on the text above.

 

Outcry from gun advocates after YouTube blocks videos on firearms assembly, sale

YouTube has announced that it now will be implementing restrictions on certain videos that feature firearms and accessories, sparking backlash from Second Amendment advocates. YouTube recently updated the company’s “policies on content featuring firearms” to prohibit “any video intending to “sell firearms or certain firearm accessories,” either directly or through links to sites that do. According to the website, the prohibited accessories include “but may not be limited to” bump stocks, Gatling triggers, drop-in auto sears, conversion kits or any equipment that might “enable a firearm to simulate automatic fire or convert a firearm to automatic fire.” It also mentioned that content intending to promote the sale of high-capacity magazines no longer will be allowed. In addition to these types of videos, YouTube also will prohibit any video that “provides instructions on manufacturing” the previously mentioned firearms and accessories. Videos explaining how to install those accessories or gun modifications also will be banned. Advocates for gun rights have slammed the media giant’s attempt to restrict content. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which has more than 200,000 subscribers on its YouTube channel, said the new policy “provides cause for concern.” In a statement on its website, NSSF said that move is “especially worrisome,” because it has the “potential for blocking educational content that serves an instructional and skill-building purpose.” The statement went on to say that such restrictions “impinge on the Second Amendment,” and stifle “commercial free speech,” which is protected under the Constitution. Another popular channel, Spikes Tactical, said in an Instagram post Tuesday that it had its account suspended for “repeated or severe violations” of the community guidelines. The notice of suspension was posted with the caption, “the Liberal Left will slowly chip away at our freedoms and erode our rights, and the first step is to squelch our voice.” Spikes Tactical has a following of more than 200,000 on Instagram as well. A statement from a spokesperson at YouTube said the company “routinely makes updates an adjustments” for all policies, Bloomberg reported. “While we’ve long prohibited the sale of firearms, we recently notified creators of updates we will be making around content promoting the sale or manufacture of firearms and their accessories.”

The pc police and speech Nazis are in full control at YouTube.  This is clearly a First Amendment violation in a brazen way, and Congress should look into YouTube’s censorship because it operates much like a monopoly.  It doesn’t have much in the way of competition.