Tag Archives: Pensacola

Kids Shooting Kids In Pensacola

Here is a case where youth violence, youth gun violence specifically, has been a growing concern in the Pensacola area. One way to reach the kids, it was thought, was to give them something to do and try to teach them to behave responsibly.

An altercation early Sunday morning that led to a 16-year-old being shot and a 15-year-old being knocked unconscious occurred right after a Stop the Violence concert, according to an event organizer. A co-organizer of the concert, Bill Marshall, said the concert had been a free event where local music artists performed and spoke to the youths about ending violence in their communities.

So much for that idea. The Pensacola News Journal reporter does not say, but from the address of the place where the free concert was, it seems to be in a predominately Black neighborhood. I could be wrong in assuming that the youths involved were Black, but I doubt it. The reporter could clear this doubt up with just a little more information.

You can’t fix the out-of-control youth issue when you don’t know what the problem is. The problem is that Black youth unemployment is 33.4 percent nationally. That’s almost criminal to have a figure that high. I don’t know if it is better or worse in Pensacola. It is almost twice that of White youth unemployment at 18.9 percent. Which is still way too high. Either way, for all races, youth unemployment is unacceptably high. This makes for trouble the likes of which occurred over the weekend.

The answer obviously is not free concerts. And it isn’t a higher minimum wage. The answer is in a growing economy. Not a contracting economy like we have now. Contrary to what President Obama thinks (and economist he is not), raising the minimum wage (which is where youths always start) will create less opportunities for them. Not more.

Link: Pensacola American Legion shooting occurred after concert.

Ray Guillory Endorses Medical Marijuana

Received this press release from Raymond Guillory, candidate for Escambia County Commissioner District 2.raymond_guillory

Today Ray Guillory, Candidate for Escambia County Commissioner in District 2, becomes the first declared candidate to openly endorse the Medical Marijuana initiative on this Novembers ballot. 
Use of Marijuana for Certain Medical Conditions
Allows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases as determined by a licensed Florida physician. Allows caregivers to assist patients’ medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health shall register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes and shall issue identification cards to patients and caregivers. Applies only to Florida law. Does not authorize violations of federal law or any non-medical use, possession or production of marijuana.
Ray Guillory fully supports making medical marijuana available for the treatment of chronic debilitating disease.
With the recent ruling of the V.A. accepting marijuana as treatment for PTSD , Traumatic Brain Injuries and other problems that plaque our veterans, it is unconscionable that we would withhold beneficial treatments.
As a member of a family that has been hit hard by cancer,I wants anyone who suffers from this disease to have any medication that eases their sufferings and works against the debilitating side effects of both the disease and the cures.
On the county level we must set the standards for which this industry will be regulated. We must insure that this law doesn’t make it easier for this drug to get in the hands of minors. We should also ensure that any economic windfall has lasting benefits for Escambia County. With the passage of this amendment we should set up a tax structure to directly benefit drug prevention and policing programs.
                 Ray Guillory, Democratic candidate for Escambia County Commissioner Dist.2

A sign of the times? Yes. Backed by medical research? Yes. Implications of things to come? Probably so. Like the decriminalization of pot altogether for people over 21.

Kudo’s to Ray for taking a stand on this controversial subject. This is an issue that, I think, spans political party. An issue for which, the time has come.

Link: Raymond Guillory’s campaign website

Pensacola Indoor Shooting Range – Soft Opening

As a charter member (you can be too!) of Pensacola’s only indoor shooting range, I got this great news. It will “soft-open” next week!
We are proud to announce that we are having a soft opening to all members starting at 12:00 noon on Monday, April 28, 2014 until 5:30 p.m. The rest of the week Tuesday through Friday you can come in between 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. to try out the new shooting range.
Bring your unloaded gun, eye and ear protection, or purchase them from our retail shop next door. All members will receive a Loyalty Card which provides discounts on all your purchases at Pensacola Indoor Shooting Range, including targets and ammunition.
The hours for the range will be extended when we are up and running at full speed. We are very excited to finally open the doors and look forward to seeing everyone at the NEW Pensacola Indoor Shooting Range.
Come by and check us out. Again, thank you for your patience.
Call 850-474-GUNS for more details.
PENSACOLA INDOOR SHOOTING RANGE, LLC
6428 N. Pensacola Blvd., Pensacola, FL 32505
(850) 474-GUNS


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NSA Spying Has Strange Bedfellows, Almost

Incapable of joining forces with those like Rand Paul, who is suing the President and other accomplices over the NSA spying debacle, the Ring of Fire opines that Paul’s timing of the suit is questionable. The timing is questionable? If I may quote a former Secretary of State, “what difference, at this point, does it make?”

From the Ring of Fire website . . .

Paul, Tea Party group FreedomWorks, and Virginia’s former attorney general and Virginia gubernatorial loser Ken Cuccinelli have rallied to organize a lawsuit against President Obama for “his” domestic spying program. The right-wing group is suing on the basis that the spying program violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches, which it does. But the timing of the suit is questionable. {emphasis added}

It is a little ironic that a class action lawsuit powerhouse like the Levin/Papantonio Law firm (Papantonio being the Ring of Fire wing) isn’t joining Sen. Paul in his efforts. Maybe if a republican was in The White House?

So rather than joining in the fight, the writer (or ghost writer) tries to discount the whole thing because “the Patriot Act and the NSA spying program are Republican-instituted measures.” That’s true. Much to the dismay of Chris Matthews, our country was attacked while a republican was Commander in Chief. But what is left unsaid, or the writer isn’t aware of, is that the expansion of the program to where it is today was not in the Patriot Act and was never intended to be in the Patriot Act.  That’s according Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI5), the guy who wrote it.

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) today sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s application for a top secret court order to collect the phone records of essentially every call made by millions of Verizon customers.

Congressman Sensenbrenner: “As the author of the Patriot Act, I am extremely troubled by the FBI’s interpretation of this legislation. While I believe the Patriot Act appropriately balanced national security concerns and civil rights, I have always worried about potential abuses. The Bureau’s broad application for phone records was made under the so-called business records provision of the Act. I do not believe the broadly drafted FISA order is consistent with the requirements of the Patriot Act. Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.”

Lest they be accused of being intensely hypocritical on the subject, they need to get on board and fight for the rights they believe are being violated.

Links: Just When You Thought Republicans Ran Out of Anti-Obama Ideas  |  Author of Patriot Act: FBI’s FISA Order is Abuse of Patriot Act

Perdido Beach Mouse v2.0, MRIOTD Award Winner

Never ceases to amaze the hubris of some who assume the role of our Maker. Some command to lower sea level and adjust the world’s thermostat, others, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, refuse to take NO for an answer where rodents are concerned.perdido_beach_mouse1

The Perdido Key beach mouse, was wiped out naturally and was “re-introduced” in 1987. And again, it was wiped out naturally by hurricane Ivan. Not to be outdone by mother nature, the mouse has been captive bred since then. And people who are supposed to be environmentalists are about to infest the environment, Perdido Key, with a rodent that has twice proven it can not sustain itself, its survival rate is zero, in an environment where people have a survival rate of 100 percent.

And this makes sense to who? For this reason the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wins the Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day award.

Commercial Progressive Talk-Radio Takes A Dive

Following the same footsteps as Air America Radio a few years ago, commercial Progressive or Liberal (same thing) talk radio disappears in markets replete with their disciples, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Well, except for NPR that, so far, taxpayers are forced to subsidize.

2014 will mark the beginning of a massive change for liberal talk radio across the country. In New York, WWRL 1600 AM will flip to Spanish-language music and talk, throwing Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Alan Colmes off the air. In Los Angeles, KTLK 1150 will be dumping Stephanie Miller, Rhodes, Bill Press and David Cruz off the air in favor of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In San Francisco, KNEW 960 will leave Miller, Hartmann, and Mike Malloy without a radio home in the market.

hand-tapping-morse-code-on-an-antique-telegraph-machineWith listener participation down to friends, relatives, and employees, they are moving to the free, as in no commercial sponsorship required, media on the internet (short wave & smoke signals) like the wildly popular (somewhere behind Al Sharpton) Pensacola-based Ring of Fire radio show. The progressive show run by lawyers Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who recently disabled reader comments from their website, and bans conservatives from commenting on their Facebook page. And, they don’t take phone calls on the fly either. They can’t. If they did, they’d be forced into defending their indefensible talking points.

This kind of ‘protecting the bubble’ censorship is not exclusive to the Ring of Fire show. It is indicative about why they can’t hold a broad audience. Except for their lemmings that do listen, their angry and derogatory tone does not attract sponsors or a broad spectrum of listeners. Mike Malloy, in the show that bears his name, is a prime example. Unlike Papantonio, Malloy will take calls. But he didn’t like one he got from me over a subject that we will be talking about again soon. Extending unemployment benefits. Malloy didn’t want to hear that Republicans wanted to extend unemployment benefits if Congress would cut an equal amount from somewhere else in the budget, like the PayGo law required. Instead, he suggested that “right-wingers” practice self mutilation instead of calling his show. See Liberals And Speech, Part 3, Right-Wingers, Cut Your Hand Off for details and the full audio.

Seems Malloy was prophetic 25 seconds into this clip, “let’s see if he calls this program if we’re still on the air.”

Link: Liberal Commercial Talk Radio Disappears in NY, LA, SF in 2014

Commercial Liberal Talk Radio Takes A Dive

Following the same footsteps as Air America Radio a few years ago, commercial Progressive or Liberal (same thing) talk radio disappears in markets replete with their disciples, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Well, except for NPR that, so far, taxpayers are forced to subsidize.

2014 will mark the beginning of a massive change for liberal talk radio across the country. In New York, WWRL 1600 AM will flip to Spanish-language music and talk, throwing Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Alan Colmes off the air. In Los Angeles, KTLK 1150 will be dumping Stephanie Miller, Rhodes, Bill Press and David Cruz off the air in favor of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In San Francisco, KNEW 960 will leave Miller, Hartmann, and Mike Malloy without a radio home in the market.

hand-tapping-morse-code-on-an-antique-telegraph-machineWith listener participation down to friends, relatives, and employees, they are moving to the free, as in no commercial sponsorship required, media on the internet (short wave & smoke signals) like the wildly popular (somewhere behind Al Sharpton) Pensacola-based Ring of Fire radio show. The progressive show run by lawyers Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who recently disabled reader comments from their website, and bans conservatives from commenting on their Facebook page. And, they don’t take phone calls on the fly either. They can’t. If they did, they’d be forced into defending their indefensible talking points.

Update: 12/29/2013

This kind of ‘protecting the bubble’ censorship is not exclusive to the Ring of Fire show. It is indicative about why they can’t hold a broad audience. Except for their lemmings that do listen, their angry and derogatory tone does not attract sponsors or a broad spectrum of listeners. Mike Malloy, in the show that bears his name, is a prime example. Unlike Papantonio, Malloy will take calls. But he didn’t like one he got from me over a subject that we will be talking about again, unemployment benefits. Malloy didn’t want to hear that Republicans wanted to extend unemployment benefits if they would cut an equal amount from somewhere else in the budget, like the PayGo law required. Instead, he suggested that “right-wingers” practice self mutilation instead of calling his show. See Liberals And Speech, Part 3, Right-Wingers, Cut Your Hand Off for details and the full audio.

Seems Malloy was prophetic 25 seconds into this clip, “let’s see if he calls this program if we’re still on the air.”

 

Link: Liberal Commercial Talk Radio Disappears in NY, LA, SF in 2014

Is It Circling The Wagons Or End Of Print Media?

Time was that the local daily newspaper, Pensacola News Journal, published letters to the editor on a daily basis. Why is that?

One reason would be that the people have been beaten down, lost all hope, if not their job, under this lawless and oppressive administration, have thrown in the towel and have given up speaking up.

Another would be that the paper feels a need to protect the Obama administration by not publishing letters perhaps overwhelmingly negative, if not informative.

There is one more possible reason. It could be an economic one. Maybe, with shrinking subscriber revenue, they can’t afford the paper to print the letters on? After several reporters and executives have already accepted early retirement or been laid off, maybe what we’re seeing is the evolution of the devolution of print media, and the people’s voice is the next casualty?

Speak Up Pensacola!

Even short-time residents of Pensacola can see the rise in violent crime here. Law enforcement can only do so much. It’s not their problem to fix. It’s their problem to respond. It’s our problem to fix.

fighting_crime

There are signs that people are realizing that fact as noted on the Pensacola News Journal’s editorial page, A caring community. Organizers of “Saturday’s Soul Bowl” hoped to focus on fighting crime from the ground up. From within Pensacola’s neighborhoods.

“I call it cancer,” McAway told sportswriter Matt Foster. McAway, director of the Pensacola Youth Sports Education Association’s Rattler teams, was referring to the violence in Pensacola. “It’s a cancer because it’s eating up people.”

Lumon May, director of the Southern Youth Sports Association Tigers squads, reinforced McAway’s comments saying “Everyone needs to live in a safe neighborhood, and we can’t be silent about the violence.”