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Monday, August 20, 2012
S. S. Admin Explains Plan to Buy 174,000 Hollow-Point Bullets
(AP Image)
SSA posted a "Request for Quote for Ammunition" on the FedBizOps.gov website on Aug. 7. The request listed the commodity that SSA desired as ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition." The quantity listed was "174 TH."
The SSA’s Office of the Inspector General’s said it posted a new blog on the agency’s website, “Beyond the Numbers,” “as we strive to be a transparent and accountable government organization for all of our stakeholders.
“With those goals in mind, we thought it would be appropriate to address recent media reports regarding the organization’s purchase of ammunition for our special agents’ duty weapons,” the blog post states.
The blog states that the SSA has 295 special agents who work in 66 offices across the United States.
“These investigators have full law enforcement authority, including executing search warrants and making arrests,” the blog post states. “Our investigators are similar to your State or local police officers.
“They use traditional investigative techniques, and they are armed when on official duty,” the blog post states.
Concern expressed in some media reports about the type of ammunition ordered by the agency is unfounded, the blog states, explaining that the .357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacked hollow point pistol ammunition is “standard issue for many law enforcement agencies” and is appropriate for the work agents perform.
“Our special agents need to be armed and trained appropriately,” the blog post states. “They not only investigate allegations of Social Security fraud, but they also are called to respond to threats against Social Security offices, employees, and customers.”
The blog also links to another post about a fight that broke out near an SSA office in Massachusetts that required action by law enforcement officials.
“SSA is processing more applications than ever, which means more traffic in SSA office,” the blog states. “Employee and visitor safety is the highest priority for OIG, which, together with the Federal Protective Services and local law enforcement, has jurisdiction over SSA workplaces.”
Prior to the blog being posted, CNSNews.com had asked the agency specific questions about its ammunition order. Although some of those questions were addressed by the information provided in the blog, the agency did not say why it needed 174,000 bullets and if that quantity was customary or had increased from previous orders.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Study: 1/2 Of Americans Die With Less Than $10,000 In Assets
Hey this sounds like me! Dang, Now that makes me depressed.
(CBS Connecticut) –
Close to half of Americans die owning very little in financial assets,
with senior citizens relying heavily on Social Security to help get
them through their retirement years.
More than 46 percent of Americans find themselves with under $10,000 in financial assets by the time they die, according to a new study examining financial status among senior citizens. The study, “Were They Prepared For Retirement?,” looks at the connection between health and wealth and Americans’ increased reliance on the government.
“Many of these households also have no housing wealth and rely almost entirely on Social Security benefits for support,” wrote the study’s three authors, James Poterba of MIT, Steven Venti of Dartmouth and David Wise of Harvard.
Although the study outlines that most households seem well-prepared for retirement, finding that the average income in the final years is not a significant drop from the average income in a person’s late 50s or early 60s, there’s little wiggle room “to pay for unanticipated needs such as health expenses or other financial shocks or to pay for entertainment, travel, or other activities.”
The study, which was published in accordance with the National Bureau of Economic Research, also linked healthier seniors to having higher assets compared to less healthy seniors.
Poterba wrote that an alteration in the Social Security structure could prove to be a problem in a culture where asset-building isn’t as easy as it once was.
“If we were to substantially reduce Social Security benefits for those later in life, that there is a share of the elderly households for whom that would translate very directly into reduced income, because they seem to have accumulated little in the way of financial resources,” Poterba wrote.
More than 46 percent of Americans find themselves with under $10,000 in financial assets by the time they die, according to a new study examining financial status among senior citizens. The study, “Were They Prepared For Retirement?,” looks at the connection between health and wealth and Americans’ increased reliance on the government.
“Many of these households also have no housing wealth and rely almost entirely on Social Security benefits for support,” wrote the study’s three authors, James Poterba of MIT, Steven Venti of Dartmouth and David Wise of Harvard.
Although the study outlines that most households seem well-prepared for retirement, finding that the average income in the final years is not a significant drop from the average income in a person’s late 50s or early 60s, there’s little wiggle room “to pay for unanticipated needs such as health expenses or other financial shocks or to pay for entertainment, travel, or other activities.”
The study, which was published in accordance with the National Bureau of Economic Research, also linked healthier seniors to having higher assets compared to less healthy seniors.
Poterba wrote that an alteration in the Social Security structure could prove to be a problem in a culture where asset-building isn’t as easy as it once was.
“If we were to substantially reduce Social Security benefits for those later in life, that there is a share of the elderly households for whom that would translate very directly into reduced income, because they seem to have accumulated little in the way of financial resources,” Poterba wrote.
British ships banned from docking in Buenos Aires
Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Photo: AP
The legislature of Buenos Aires province voted to prohibit vessels
sailing under the British flag from “mooring, loading or carrying out
logistical operations” in any of its ports.
The bill was brought forward by Patricia Cubría, a deputy belonging
to President Cristina Kirchner’s Front for Victory coalition.
It was nicknamed ‘Gaucho Rivero’ after Antonio Rivero, nicknamed the
‘Gaucho’, an Argentine cowboy who led an uprising in the Falkland
Islands against the British in 1833.
“He fought so that the Argentine flag could fly in the Falklands,” Ms Cubría said.
The law is designed to hinder British ships involved in oil
exploration in waters belonging to the islands and will be seen as
the latest in a series of provocations in the run up to the 30th
anniversary of the Falklands War.
telegraph/Buenos
Aires province is the largest in Argentina and is home to nearly 40 per
cent of the country's population as well as its most important
ports.
Last year the South American trading bloc Mercosur – which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – decided to shut its ports to ships flying the Falklands flag.
The Argentine government began legal action in June against five British exploration companies operating around the Falklands.
Ships linked to British military or logistical activity are also banned by the law.
“It is a tool that continues our fight for the sovereignty and natural resources of the Malvinas [the name for the islands in Spanish],” Ms Cubría said.
Last year, two ships, thought to be British and headed to the Falklands in search of oil, docked in the port of La Plata, close to the city of Buenos Aires, sparking mass protests.
It was later revealed they were Norwegian vessels contracted by Argentina.
In December, countries belonging to South American trade bloc Mercosur closed their ports to ships flying the Falklands flag.
Two P&O cruise liners were also banned from docking in Argentina in February after they visited the islands.
The British embassy in Buenos Aires did not immediately return a request for comment.
Last year the South American trading bloc Mercosur – which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – decided to shut its ports to ships flying the Falklands flag.
The Argentine government began legal action in June against five British exploration companies operating around the Falklands.
Ships linked to British military or logistical activity are also banned by the law.
“It is a tool that continues our fight for the sovereignty and natural resources of the Malvinas [the name for the islands in Spanish],” Ms Cubría said.
Last year, two ships, thought to be British and headed to the Falklands in search of oil, docked in the port of La Plata, close to the city of Buenos Aires, sparking mass protests.
It was later revealed they were Norwegian vessels contracted by Argentina.
In December, countries belonging to South American trade bloc Mercosur closed their ports to ships flying the Falklands flag.
Two P&O cruise liners were also banned from docking in Argentina in February after they visited the islands.
The British embassy in Buenos Aires did not immediately return a request for comment.
Sinkhole In Assumption Parish, La.
I was raised only 20 miles from here. I havent been back in over 21 years but It I still remember this awesome place like it was yesterday! This sink hole is becoming larger and no one knows what it is from. Well it is just from the earth growing and contracting! There is sink holes everywhere!
Share if you care!
Destructive Oklahoma wildfires rage as capital has hottest day
The heat is jsut getting terrible. Everyday is a new record and this is around the country.
With all-time record heat and significant drought conditions, destructive wildfires exploded across parts of Oklahoma on Friday.
examiner/Dozens of counties reported wildfires with some of the worst hit areas in Cleveland, Oklahoma, Canadian and Caddo, according to KFOR-TV.
Emergency officials reported at least 12 different wildfires around the state, with more than 100 homes destroyed in parched areas north and south of Oklahoma City and south of Tulsa.
The sheriff said at least 50 homes, a day care center and numerous outbuildings had burned in a wildfire that may have been deliberately set near Luther, a town about 20 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
Deputies were looking into reports about someone in a pickup truck who was seen throwing out newspapers that had been set on fire.
An estimated 40 structures were destroyed by a wildfire near Tulsa with at least 25 other structures, including a handful of homes wiped out near Noble, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Hundreds of residents were told to leave their homes as the flames spread through treetops.
The Cleveland County wildfire near Slaughterville prompted an estimated 100 to 150 people to evacuate their homes, an American Red Cross official said.
The wildfires and smoke led the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to shut down part of the Turner Turnpike, which carries Interstate 44 between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Traffic was rerouted onto old U.S. Route 66, the famed two-lane highway that crisscrosses Oklahoma.
With moderate to extreme drought conditions covering the entire state, firefighters had a hard time completely dousing the hot spots with wildfires reigniting in areas that were previously blanketed by fires.
Some firefighter crews were forced to abandon their posts because of the fast moving flames.
All this was going on with all-time record heat across parts of Oklahoma Friday afternoon with widespread 105-plus degree temperatures.
The National Weather Service reported Oklahoma City tied its all-time hottest day on record with a high of 113 degrees. The record was previously set way back on August 11, 1936.
Guthrie was one of the hottest spots in the state, hitting 114 degrees, where a 75-year-old bridge reportedly buckled under the heat.
The extremely hot temperatures, drought conditions and very low humidity combined for the explosion wildfire conditions, said Michelann Ooten, deputy director of the state's Office of Emergency Management.
The high fire weather conditions are forecast to continue through the weekend.
A state of emergency and statewide burn ban are in effect for the extreme weather conditions across Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin announced.
examiner/Dozens of counties reported wildfires with some of the worst hit areas in Cleveland, Oklahoma, Canadian and Caddo, according to KFOR-TV.
Emergency officials reported at least 12 different wildfires around the state, with more than 100 homes destroyed in parched areas north and south of Oklahoma City and south of Tulsa.
The sheriff said at least 50 homes, a day care center and numerous outbuildings had burned in a wildfire that may have been deliberately set near Luther, a town about 20 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
Deputies were looking into reports about someone in a pickup truck who was seen throwing out newspapers that had been set on fire.
An estimated 40 structures were destroyed by a wildfire near Tulsa with at least 25 other structures, including a handful of homes wiped out near Noble, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Wildfires breakout across parts of Oklahoma Friday afternoon. (August 3, 2012)
Photo credit:
(News 9)
The Cleveland County wildfire near Slaughterville prompted an estimated 100 to 150 people to evacuate their homes, an American Red Cross official said.
The wildfires and smoke led the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to shut down part of the Turner Turnpike, which carries Interstate 44 between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Traffic was rerouted onto old U.S. Route 66, the famed two-lane highway that crisscrosses Oklahoma.
With moderate to extreme drought conditions covering the entire state, firefighters had a hard time completely dousing the hot spots with wildfires reigniting in areas that were previously blanketed by fires.
Some firefighter crews were forced to abandon their posts because of the fast moving flames.
All this was going on with all-time record heat across parts of Oklahoma Friday afternoon with widespread 105-plus degree temperatures.
The National Weather Service reported Oklahoma City tied its all-time hottest day on record with a high of 113 degrees. The record was previously set way back on August 11, 1936.
Guthrie was one of the hottest spots in the state, hitting 114 degrees, where a 75-year-old bridge reportedly buckled under the heat.
The extremely hot temperatures, drought conditions and very low humidity combined for the explosion wildfire conditions, said Michelann Ooten, deputy director of the state's Office of Emergency Management.
The high fire weather conditions are forecast to continue through the weekend.
A state of emergency and statewide burn ban are in effect for the extreme weather conditions across Oklahoma, Gov. Mary Fallin announced.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Oregon Man Sentenced to 30 Days for Collecting Rainwater
I cant believe this actually went all the way to court and they really did this! This makes me so mad. I guess were all going to jail for using solar power for electricity. Because we stole that power from the power companies, I mean where does it stop?
(CNSNews.com) –
A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and
over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property
to collect and use rainwater.
Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.
“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.
“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.
The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.
Harrington said the case first began in 2002, when state water managers told him there were complaints about the three “reservoirs” – ponds – on his more than 170 acres of land.
According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned. Therefore, anyone who wants to store any type of water on their property must first obtain a permit from state water managers.
Harrington said he applied for three permits to legally house reservoirs for storm and snow water runoff on his property. One of the “reservoirs” had been on his property for 37 years, he said.
Though the state Water Resources Department initially approved his permits in 2003, the state – and a state court -- ultimately reversed the decision.
“They issued me my permits. I had my permits in hand and they retracted them just arbitrarily, basically. They took them back and said ‘No, you can’t have them,’ so I’ve been fighting it ever since,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.
The case, he said, is centered on a 1925 law which states that the city of Medford holds exclusive rights to “all core sources of water” in the Big Butte Creek watershed and its tributaries.
“Way back in 1925 the city of Medford got a unique withdrawal that withdrew all -- supposedly all -- the water out of a single basin and supposedly for the benefit of the city of Medford,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.
Harrington told CNSNews.com, however, that the 1925 law doesn’t mention anything about colleting rainwater or snow melt -- and he believes that he has been falsely accused.
“The withdrawal said the stream and its tributaries. It didn’t mention anything about rainwater and it didn’t mention anything about snow melt and it didn’t mention anything about diffused water, but yet now, they’re trying to expand that to include that rain water and they’re using me as the goat to do it,” Harrington
But Tom Paul, administrator of the Oregon Water Resources Department, claims that Harrington has been violating the state’s water use law by diverting water from streams running into the Big Butte River.
“The law that he is actually violating is not the 1925 provision, but it’s Oregon law that says all of the water in the state of Oregon is public water and if you want to use that water, either to divert it or to store it, you have to acquire a water right from the state of Oregon before doing that activity,” Paul told CNSNews.com.
Yet Paul admitted the 1925 law does apply because, he said, Harrington constructed dams to block a tributary to the Big Butte, which Medford uses for its water supply.
“There are dams across channels, water channels where the water would normally flow if it were not for the dam and so those dams are stopping the water from flowing in the channel and storing it- holding it so it cannot flow downstream,” Paul told CNSNews.com.
Harrington, however, argued in court that that he is not diverting water from Big Butte Creek, but the dams capturing the rainwater and snow runoff – or “diffused water” – are on his own property and that therefore the runoff does not fall under the jurisdiction of the state water managers, nor does it not violate the 1925 act.
In 2007, a Jackson County Circuit Court judge denied Harrington’s permits and found that he had illegally “withdrawn the water at issue from appropriation other than for the City of Medford.”
According to Paul, Harrington entered a guilty plea at the time, received three years probation and was ordered to open up the water gates.
“A very short period of time following the expiration of his probation, he once again closed the gates and re-filled the reservoirs,” Paul told CNSNews.com. “So, this has been going on for some time and I think frankly the court felt that Mr. Harrington was not getting the message and decided that they’d already given him probation once and required him to open the gates and he refilled his reservoirs and it was business as usual for him, so I think the court wanted -- it felt it needed -- to give a stiffer penalty to get Mr. Harrington’s attention.”
In two weeks, if unsuccessful in his appeals, Harrington told CNSNews.com that he will report to the Jackson County Jail to serve his sentence.
“I follow the rules. If I’m mandated to report, I’m going to report. Of course, I’m going to do what it takes in the meantime to prevent that, but if I’m not successful, I’ll be there,” Harrington said.
But Harrington also said that he will never stop fighting the government on this issue.
“When something is wrong, you just, as an American citizen, you have to put your foot down and say, ‘This is wrong; you just can’t take away anymore of my rights and from here on in, I’m going to fight it.”
Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.
“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.
“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.
The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.
Harrington said the case first began in 2002, when state water managers told him there were complaints about the three “reservoirs” – ponds – on his more than 170 acres of land.
According to Oregon water laws, all water is publicly owned. Therefore, anyone who wants to store any type of water on their property must first obtain a permit from state water managers.
Harrington said he applied for three permits to legally house reservoirs for storm and snow water runoff on his property. One of the “reservoirs” had been on his property for 37 years, he said.
Though the state Water Resources Department initially approved his permits in 2003, the state – and a state court -- ultimately reversed the decision.
“They issued me my permits. I had my permits in hand and they retracted them just arbitrarily, basically. They took them back and said ‘No, you can’t have them,’ so I’ve been fighting it ever since,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.
The case, he said, is centered on a 1925 law which states that the city of Medford holds exclusive rights to “all core sources of water” in the Big Butte Creek watershed and its tributaries.
“Way back in 1925 the city of Medford got a unique withdrawal that withdrew all -- supposedly all -- the water out of a single basin and supposedly for the benefit of the city of Medford,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.
Harrington told CNSNews.com, however, that the 1925 law doesn’t mention anything about colleting rainwater or snow melt -- and he believes that he has been falsely accused.
“The withdrawal said the stream and its tributaries. It didn’t mention anything about rainwater and it didn’t mention anything about snow melt and it didn’t mention anything about diffused water, but yet now, they’re trying to expand that to include that rain water and they’re using me as the goat to do it,” Harrington
But Tom Paul, administrator of the Oregon Water Resources Department, claims that Harrington has been violating the state’s water use law by diverting water from streams running into the Big Butte River.
“The law that he is actually violating is not the 1925 provision, but it’s Oregon law that says all of the water in the state of Oregon is public water and if you want to use that water, either to divert it or to store it, you have to acquire a water right from the state of Oregon before doing that activity,” Paul told CNSNews.com.
Yet Paul admitted the 1925 law does apply because, he said, Harrington constructed dams to block a tributary to the Big Butte, which Medford uses for its water supply.
“There are dams across channels, water channels where the water would normally flow if it were not for the dam and so those dams are stopping the water from flowing in the channel and storing it- holding it so it cannot flow downstream,” Paul told CNSNews.com.
Harrington, however, argued in court that that he is not diverting water from Big Butte Creek, but the dams capturing the rainwater and snow runoff – or “diffused water” – are on his own property and that therefore the runoff does not fall under the jurisdiction of the state water managers, nor does it not violate the 1925 act.
In 2007, a Jackson County Circuit Court judge denied Harrington’s permits and found that he had illegally “withdrawn the water at issue from appropriation other than for the City of Medford.”
According to Paul, Harrington entered a guilty plea at the time, received three years probation and was ordered to open up the water gates.
“A very short period of time following the expiration of his probation, he once again closed the gates and re-filled the reservoirs,” Paul told CNSNews.com. “So, this has been going on for some time and I think frankly the court felt that Mr. Harrington was not getting the message and decided that they’d already given him probation once and required him to open the gates and he refilled his reservoirs and it was business as usual for him, so I think the court wanted -- it felt it needed -- to give a stiffer penalty to get Mr. Harrington’s attention.”
In two weeks, if unsuccessful in his appeals, Harrington told CNSNews.com that he will report to the Jackson County Jail to serve his sentence.
“I follow the rules. If I’m mandated to report, I’m going to report. Of course, I’m going to do what it takes in the meantime to prevent that, but if I’m not successful, I’ll be there,” Harrington said.
But Harrington also said that he will never stop fighting the government on this issue.
“When something is wrong, you just, as an American citizen, you have to put your foot down and say, ‘This is wrong; you just can’t take away anymore of my rights and from here on in, I’m going to fight it.”
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