U.S. Forest Service bans exploding targets

Seven fires in Rocky Mountains blamed on devices

DENVER – The U.S. Forest Service announced a ban on exploding targets Monday, citing them as a major cause of wildfires.

Shooters who use exploding targets have ignited 16 wildfires since last year, including seven in the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain region of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.

The ban extends to all national forests and grasslands in those five states.

The public should understand that exploding targets can cause fires, said John Walsh, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado.

“You don’t want to have on your conscience starting a huge forest fire,” Walsh said.

A month before the Boston Marathon bombings, the FBI warned that commercial “exploding targets” used for recreational rifle shooting could power homemade bombs on American streets.

Read more and see video at The Durango Herald

Colorado town considers licensing bounty hunters to shoot down drones

Drone season opens in Colorado using Joe Biden rules.

But if anyone accidentally shoots down a remote-controlled toy airplane, the proposed ordinance warns, “the owner of the toy remote control aerial vehicle shall be reimbursed for its full cost by the shooter.”

The tiny town of Deer Trail, Colo. — barely more than a wide spot on Interstate 70 about 55 miles east of Denver, population 546 — is considering an ordinance that would authorize licensed bounty hunters to shoot down unmanned aircraft violating its “sovereign airspace.”

A six-page petition circulated by a resident says that the threat of surveillance from drones — regardless of who is piloting them — is a threat to “traditional American ideas of Liberty and Freedom” enjoyed by Deer Trail’s “ranchers, farmers, cowboys and Indians, as well as contemporary citizens.”

Therefore, drone incursions are to be seen as acts of war.

According to the proposed ordinance, which will be considered by the town council at its next meeting on Aug. 6, prospective bounty hunters can get a one-year drone-hunting license for $25.

Proposed bounties will be $25 for those turning in the wings or fuselage of downed aircraft and $100 for mostly intact vehicles. To collect the bounty, the wreckage must have “markings, and configuration … consistent with those used by the United States federal government.”

Such “trophies” then become the property of Deer Trail.

The ordinance spells out the rules of engagement. Shooters must use shotguns, 12-gauge or smaller, firing lead, steel or depleted uranium ammunition and they can’t fire on aircraft flying higher than 1,000 (a determination made using a range finder or a best guess). No weapons with rifled barrels allowed, and no tracer rounds.

An “engagement” is limited to three shots at an aircraft every two hours. Being unable to bring down the drone within those guidelines, the petition notes, “demonstrates a lack of proficiency with the weapon.”

Read more at the Daily Caller

Reporter Ben Swann Smeared For Questioning Media’s Sandy Hook Narrative

Christopher McDaniel


Ben Swann Facebook

Ben Swann is an anchor for Fox 19 in Cincinnati. According to his bio, Swann has been the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award and two Emmys for his work. He is not a sensationalistic reporter. He is not out to “get clicks” at the expense of his integrity. Swann is, quite possibly, the last bastion of journalistic integrity in America today.

I first started following him last year when I saw one of the segments in his “Reality Check” series during the political primary season. I found Swann to be engaging and honest. He never issued verdicts, but rather always presented the facts as they stood and asked questions to engage the viewer in critical thought.

Salon published a piece on Monday about him, attempting to disguise itself as balanced, but it falters throughout. The author, Alex Seitz-Wald, repeatedly portrays Swann’s commentary with a not-so-subtle amount of sarcasm. It is quite obvious that Ben Swann is striking a nerve with the national media.

His latest piece, via his web-based, “Full Disclosure” series, does not allude to any of the shootings being a “false flag” or a “hoax.” However, it does what we the people should demand of journalists — it asks questions. Swann asks how so many eyewitnesses can claim to see multiple shooters at these events, and somehow all we get is a lone gunman narrative, every single time.

Read more at PolicyMic

Pipe dreams: Claims of legalized pot benefits quickly busted in Colo. and Wash.

Patricia Campion
The Examiner

While pot is still banned under federal law, voters in Colorado and Washington passed referendums legalizing marijuana for recreational use on Nov. 6. Despite claims by advocates that legalization would reduce crime, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that “two University of Colorado Boulder students face multiple felony charges after the marijuana-laced brownies they brought to class put their professor in the hospital.”

Thomas Ricardo Cunningham, 21, and Mary Elizabeth Essa, 19, were arrested on suspicion of planning and intentionally committing second-degree assault and inducing consumption of controlled substances by fraudulent means.

Officials said “two other students were hospitalized with anxiety and lightheadedness, and five more had a ‘bad reaction.'”

“Putting marijuana into a food product and providing it to somebody without their knowledge has always been illegal, and that will continue to be illegal, even after Amendment 64,” campus police spokesman Ryan Huff said Sunday. “So I just want to make this clear that these are serious felony cases and we take these very seriously.”

Read more at The Examiner

Would legalizing marijuana actually increase problems?

With the recent legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington and marijuana dispensaries being all the rage, YouTube video reporter Steven Crowder takes a humorous, but insightful, look into the legalization of the drug.

His report makes some interesting discoveries such as the fact that some people get a prescription for the drug to purchase from dispensaries and sell on the open market. He makes the point, as well, that pro-marijuana organizations claiming the drug is not that harmful may actually cause kids who would otherwise stray from the drug to try it.

While Crowder does not take either side of the cause, he does make some interesting points interviewing people concerned with various sides of the issue.