regulator

Since when is speaking the truth a PA?

and yet you hating everyone from texas...just because they are from texas...that's 'walking the walk?' Hypocrite

yes. I have voted for non-republicans. I didn't vote for Ronnie either. shhhh. she likes to lump people together into various groups because you have different viewpoints than her. This makes you a dumb-ass according to her. And definately don't come from texas because she will despise you until you die simply because you were born there. This is liberal logic in action.

And yet murderers get away scott free every day due to not enough evidence.

In a little-noticed move, a small number of police officers are now routinely carrying sidearms while on patrol in much of Scotland - the first in the UK outside Northern Ireland to do so. How did this come about, and does it alter the relationship between the constabulary and the public? Saturday night in Inverness. Outside a McDonald's restaurant, a scuffle between two men breaks out. Three police officers arrive to intervene. So far, so mundane. Except that strapped around the hips of each of the policemen approaching the brawl is a holstered Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol. It's a sight that once would have been unthinkable. In this corner of the Scottish Highlands - an area with one of the lowest crime rates in the UK - the officers showing up to a relatively workaday disturbance are armed. Although every police force has a firearms unit, for decades it has been an article of faith that in the mainland UK, almost uniquely among major industrialised nations, the police do not carry guns as a matter of course. But with little fanfare at first, a policy of routinely allowing specialist officers to wear sidearms as they walk the streets of Scotland has come into being. After the incident in Inverness was captured by a local photographer on 12 July, local politicians expressed fears that the tradition of an unarmed constabulary was being surreptitiously eroded - a charge that would have implications for everyone in the UK. John Finnie, an independent Member of the Scottish Parliament and former police officer, was approached by a constituent who said he had seen armed officers at the finishing line of the Highland Cross biathlon in the sleepy town of Beauly. The man told the MSP he "felt less safe", assuming some sort of major incident was under way. Other sightings of armed officers in incongruous settings had emerged - at a bakery in the village of Brora, at a branch of Aldi in Inverness. They were also photographed at a routine traffic incident in Glasgow city centre. Police Scotland, the single Scotland-wide force, say when specialist officers are not deployed on active firearms duty, it is expected that they carry out normal policing duties while carrying their sidearms. This policy was introduced by the former Strathclyde force in 2008, and followed by Tayside in 2009 and Northern Constabulary just before the single force was created in 2013. Hitherto, firearms officers had to retrieve their weapons under a senior officer's authorisation from a locked safe in an armed response vehicle. Until this point, most people hadn't actually noticed that the policy had altered. Jimmy Gray, the leader of Highland Council, says Northern Constabulary's Joint Police Board was not fully informed what the change would mean. "It horrifies most people around here," he says. A 2006 survey of 47,328 Police Federation members found 82% did not want officers to be routinely armed on duty. For decades there have been incidents that have led to calls for issuing all officers with firearms. While some in London were issued with revolvers before 1936, from that date only trained officers at the rank of sergeant or above were issued with guns. Today only a small proportion of officers are authorised to use firearms. In London, the sight of armed officers at airports, embassies and other security-sensitive locations has become a familiar one Following an outcry, however, the Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill addressed MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday to defend it. He said the public "understands and accepts" the need for a "small number" of officers to be armed and for the chief constable of Police Scotland, Sir Stephen House, to have operational independence over their deployment. But in the Highlands, where 16 officers are authorised to routinely carry sidearms, hostility remains strong among elected representatives, who fear that the change in tactics will only encourage criminals to arm themselves more heavily. Finnie, MSP for the Highlands and Islands, has led the opposition in the Scottish Parliament. He says it is unnecessary as officers are walking around "the safest place in the UK" with sidearms, and that the policy will only serve to frighten people. Critics pointed out the widening of the policy comes after figures for 2012-13 showed firearm offences in Scotland had fallen by 32% to the lowest for 10 years. Homicides, attempted murders and robberies in which firearms were involved were all down too. Petitions opposing the policy were started by local MP Danny Alexander and the Inverness Courier newspaper. Some 59 of 80 Highland councillors supported a motion tabled at the full council calling for a review. But following a meeting with Highland councillors in July, divisional commander Ch Supt Elaine Ferguson said the policy was unlikely to change. Ever since Robert Peel created the Metropolitan Police in 1829, the British force's unarmed status has been central to its identity. Some in London were issued with revolvers prior to 1936, but after that date only trained officers ranked at sergeant or above were issued with guns, and even then only if they could show a good reason. This was underpinned by the principle of policing by consent - the notion that officers owe their primary duty to those they serve, rather than to the state. The only forces in the UK which are routinely armed are in Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Defence Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. According to Richard Garside, director of the Centre of Crime and Justice Studies, the sight of armed police has become more common in recent decades at airports and at places like the House of Commons. Cases like the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, shot dead during a robbery in 2005, or of the three plain-clothes officers murdered by Harry Roberts in west London in 1966, have led to calls for the police to be armed. All major police forces in Europe, as well as the US, Canada and Australia routinely carry firearms The exceptions are Britain, the Irish Republic and New Zealand In Norway officers carry arms in their cars but not on their person New Zealand has adopted an armed response model similar to Britain, according to the International Law Enforcement Forum line In November 2011, Met Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe called for police response officers to be routinely armed with Tasers and in 2007 the centre-right think-tank Policy Exchange found 72% of 2,156 adults wanted to see more armed police patrols. But a 2006 survey of 47,328 Police Federation members found 82% did not want officers to be routinely armed on duty, despite almost half saying their lives had been "in serious jeopardy" during the previous three years. Nonetheless, Garside says the policy in Scotland represents an "escalation" and will appear surprising to a public which still cherishes a Dixon of Dock Green ideal of policing. "It does change the dynamic between the police and the public", he says. "It's always slightly alarming or unusual to see police officers in the UK carrying guns." Police Scotland insists that it is a long way from routinely arming those who serve in it. There has been no increase in the number of armed personnel. Out of 17,318 Scottish officers, only 275 routinely carry guns while on duty - 1.6% of the total. Because they work shifts, a much smaller number will be on duty at any one time. In a statement, Deputy Chief Constable Ian Livingstone said the change in policy was necessary to correct a "previous postcode lottery of services", adding that shootings in Dunblane, Cumbria, Hungerford and Northumberland demonstrated that rural areas were not immune from the threat of gun crime. He added that it made sense for armed officers "to support their colleagues in local policing divisions through regular patrols and routine tasks" when they are not carrying out their specialist duty - citing the example of a 79-year-old woman who was rescued from the Caledonian Canal in Inverness by armed officers, who were the closest unit on hand to assist. But Finnie says it isn't necessary for them to wear sidearms strapped to their hips while they carry out this kind of assistance. During his 10 years as a dog handler, he says, he would regularly be called to assist colleagues dealing with robberies or domestic violence incidents, but "I didn't take my 90lb snarling animal along with me". In addition, Dr Mick North, whose five-year-old daughter Sophie died at Dunblane Primary in 1996, hit out at the force for citing the tragedy in support of its policy. He said changes to the system would not have helped as "the incident was all over in three minutes". Police Scotland say they have only received one complaint from a member of the public about the policy, but a quarterly review in September "will take account of the views raised so far". Until then, brawlers outside fast food restaurants in the Highlands run the risk of being confronted by better-equipped bobbies than in the past. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28656324

Might not be associated with texas but you have to admit this man can shoot almost any target with a pistol. http://www.break.com/video/record-breaking-shot-with-a-9mm-handgun-at-1000-yards-2744904

So you are saying hamas isn't a terrorist organization?

Projecting yet again??? I am not the one who continually posts silly brown people threads.. or blames everything you hate in life on the brown guy in Washington DC. Then again.. I guess dead cat humping as a metaphor works for you Obama is mexican? GTFO!!!

Newsflash. Not everyone with conservative viewpoints is a bible thumper. Personally I think something other than just sheer ignorance is driving you to despise people for no other reason than them having a different political viewpoint.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2f9_1407109034 On so many different levels.

Perhaps michelle obama can run for president to hold up the legacy of when anyone disagrees with the president they are racist. Its ironic how true leaders have the ability to unite people from different mindsets political and otherwise to find common ground and put aside their differences and work together. I'm sure you are equally as proud how obama, the divider and chief has done none of the sort and only works to destroy america. You seem so proud of this. Instead of proposing a working solution; you and the other leftists can only point out whats wrong with the other party instead of finding a way to work together. How sad it must be to walk in your shoes where pointing fingers takes precedence over personal accountability.

I am well aware of bad cops and those with itchy trigger fingers. That would be... [IMO] considered judge, jury and executioner. I'm referring to the fact that LEO's and capitol punishment in prison systems are two completely different things. I've been around more than my fair share of ultimately professional police/sheriff's and the sort. There will always be asshole cops just like there will always be asshole bosses/boyfriends/ etc.

If we looked at a different metric, I'm sure we could easily make Texas #1. If we used the metric of dumb asses... Texas would be Numero Uno. I'll take being called a dumbass by you a compliment any day. Meanwhile sasquatch is looking for his overalls. He says he wants them back asap.

what state are you in where police issue capitol punishment on prisoners in a state institution?

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/84230873/

How pissed off are you that texas didn't make this list? I'm guessing quite a bit. Seeing as you completely despise texas and everyone in it.

Excellent point.

Maybe "alarmists" are, but regular people who believe that climate change is happening are praying that it is all a bad dream. Too bad it's not. And in around 3,000 years from now we are truly going to pay for it.

I doubt he could handle the heat down here during the summer months.

If you think its hot where you are at you should try Houston this time of the year. But its always hot in the summer down here. You eventually get used to it.

Billvon you used to be filling with insightful posts. Recently you've been quite a downer. Do you need a hug?

I'd disagree. All of those have some serious negative marks against them. But like you say, lets see who gets through primaries. Explain to me how Trey Gowdy has 'serious' negative marks against him.

While you're at it you forgot to put all the blame on GWB and the koch brothers. Because every failure obama has...and there's plenty to choose from...are inevitably all their fault because democrats are unable to accept responsibilty for any failures. And that is a fact.

OK - so who is? As of yet, the GOP haven't put up anyone even half way credible who would appeal to all americans, not just the male, white, conservative christian ones. (I'm making an assumption that, rightly or wrongly, any other parties outside the big two aren't likely to get a look in). I'm not a fan of Clinton particularly, but as of yet I haven't seen anyone who I think is any better. And by "better direction" at least be honest and say "a direction more closely aligned with my political opinions". Trey Gowdy, Alan West and Rand Paul are all credible. But its not election time yet so lets just see who gets vetted out when that time comes.

So like I asked, what has materially changed for you since Obama destroyed the American system? So where are the riots? Nope. Half the country might say they'd vote for the other guy, but that sure as hell doesn't mean they'd agree with what you just said. So what are you doing to find common ground with people who voted for Obama? Hint: asking them to change their minds and agree with you doesn't count. Obama promised hope and change. What we got was an abject failure of a leader and we can only hope he gets changed out for someone who can actually lead this country in a better direction. Disclaimer: Hillary Clinton isn't remotely worthy to take that position of power.