Your Tax Dollars at Work: U.S. Air Force Mothballs $1.6 BILLION of New Aircraft

Nearly 13 years ago, in a speech given at the Pentagon, Monday, September 10, 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in part that, “We cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions. We maintain 20 to 25 percent more base infrastructure than we need to support our forces, at an annual waste to taxpayers of some $3 billion to $4 billion.”

As part of the Joint Cargo Aircraft Program, the Air Force ordered  $1,600,000,000 worth of

Arizona man accidentally impales skull

This is one of most genuinely bizarre accidents I’ve ever read about.

I’ve seen one or two in my lifetime, as well. And this one is genuinely miraculous, as well.

It has a “happy” ending!

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Arizona man impaled through skull with pruning shears

By Tim Gaynor | Reuters – 9 hrs ago –

TUCSON, Ariz | Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:27pm EDT

This CT scan of the skull of an Arizona man impaled through the skull in a freak gardening accident is shown in this photograph provided to Reuters August 30, 2011 by University Medical Center. Leroy Luetscher, 86-year-old, accidentally impaled his eye with pruning shears in an gardening accident July 30, 2011. REUTERS/Courtesy University Medical Center/Handout

TUCSON, Ariz (Reuters) – An 86-year-old Arizona man who was impaled through the skull with pruning shears in a freak gardening accident was expected to make a full recovery, his doctors said.

Leroy Luetscher dropped a pair of pruning shears while working in his yard in Green Valley, south of Tucson, on July 30, the University Medical Center in Tucson said in a news release.

The shears landed in the ground point downward. When Luetscher bent down to pick them up, he

AZ Congresswoman Shot; 6+ Tucson fatalities

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot in head

Posted by Max Brantley on Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 12:38 PM

• U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot in the head at point blank range in Tucson today and several staffers were wounded. She was at a public event at a grocery store. The shooter was tackled by a bystander and is in custody.UPDATE: A sheriff’s spokesman has said that Giffords has died, one of at least six fatalities, and at least 12 people were shot. But a variety of sources are saying at 2 p.m. Little Rock time that the congresswoman remains in surgery in critical condition. CNN says one may have been a federal judge.

The New York Times quotes a witness who said the gunman fired at least 20 shots. He was described as a white male in his 20s who was shabbily dressed. The article notes that her House office was vandalized hours after the House approved health care reform legislation, which she supported. She told MSNBC then that she was not afraid, despite numerous threats. “Our democracy is a light, a beacon around the world” because it effects change at the ballot box, not by violent acts.

Regards a topic addressed earlier today, just for the record from opencarry.com

Arizona is one of our “Gold Star” open carry states. There is complete state preemption of all firearms laws, open carry is common and law enforcement is well educated as to its legality.

People with guns may be asked to store their firearms or leave places open to the public in Arizona Though Giffords has supported some legislation supportive of concealed carry, she earned a D from the NRA for overall voting record, such as support for background checks of gun purchasers at gun shows. There is, of course, no way to know if the shooting today was related to gun issues or other hot-button issues that roil Arizona, such as