If there wasn't video of the event the headline and story sound too unbelievable to be true. I don't think I am exaggerating at all, In fact, I nominate Monalisa Perez and her boyfriend, Pedro Ruiz III for the Darwin Award 2017. You be a judge for yourself .........:
First some helpful background on the gun and caliber involved in the story. Here is one shot vs. Level IIIA BODY ARMOR
Now back to the headlines and story....
Monalisa Perez and her boyfriend, Pedro Ruiz III, appeared in numerous YouTube videos and talked about trying to attract more viewers.
As part of a young couple's quest for YouTube fame, a 19-year-old woman shot at a book her boyfriend was holding against his chest, killing him at close range outside their northwestern Minnesota home.
Monalisa Perez was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting of her boyfriend, 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III, Monday night in Halstad.
Perez, who is pregnant, appeared from jail by video at a Norman County District Court proceeding Wednesday. She posted $7,000 cash bail and was released late Wednesday afternoon.
Ruiz held up the book — described by County Attorney James Brue as a hardcover encyclopedia — and Perez pulled the trigger on a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, trying to see whether the bullet would go through, according to the criminal complaint.
A few hours before the shooting, a posting went up on Perez's Twitter account that read: "Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE." The note included two wide-eyed emoji faces and another of an eye-covering monkey with a gaping mouth.
The Desert Eagle is described by retailer Cabela's in an online ad as "one of the world's most powerful semiautomatic handguns."
Obamacare, even though not fully implemented, is a failure by almost all measures. With high deductibles and skyrocketing premiums the insured still can't afford to use the health policies they were forced to buy. While subsidies for many policies placated some 'customers', the working people in the state of Minnesota were in for another year of increasing premiums. Excerpted from the StarTribune.
Much to the dismay of people who buy health insurance on their own, premiums for thousands in Minnesota’s individual market are going way up.
The state Commerce Department said Thursday that rates will increase an average of nearly 50 percent at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota — the largest insurer in the market — and anywhere from 14 percent to 39 percent on average at four other insurers in the state that sell the policies.
The jumps apply only to the state’s individual market, where about 6 percent of state residents, or 300,000 people, currently buy coverage.
Even so, the increases renewed a broader debate about the Affordable Care Act and the state’s MNsure exchange, as consumers started scrambling for ways to deal with the financial pain.
“I can’t take an additional $8,000 automatic increase in medical without doing something about it,” said Cindy Penning, 58, of Wilmont who currently buys individual coverage for her family of five.
Penning echoed the advice offered by state officials on Thursday by saying she would shop for a different insurance policy with more affordable premiums. She will also search out whether the family qualifies for tax credits through MNsure.
Kristi Nelson of Hastings said she will look for ways to handle next year’s increase, too, but said future spikes would prompt her to consider dropping coverage. “You can only afford what you can afford,” Nelson said.
Premium increases announced Thursday were justified by actuarial evidence showing that care costs are exceeding premium revenue, said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman during a news conference near the Capitol. Rothman said insurers pointed to sicker, more costly patients in the individual market, plus rising prices for health care services.
Even so, the increases are “unacceptably high,” Rothman said, adding that he would push for regulatory changes to better spread costs in the future.
The insurance market for people under age 65 who don’t get health insurance from an employer is undergoing fundamental changes with the federal Affordable Care Act.
The health law eliminated pre-existing condition exclusions that insurance companies previously used to control costs in the individual market.
The law also created new online marketplaces like MNsure and extended tax credits to shoppers. It imposed tax penalties on people who lack coverage, and required public notice when health insurers seek rate increases of 10 percent or more.
‘Tied our hands’
This summer, all five companies in Minnesota’s individual market sought increases in excess of 10 percent, including a requested spike of more than 50 percent by Blue Cross. Rothman said his department negotiated slightly lower increases, but said the public nature of the proposals made things more difficult.
“When Blue Cross and Blue Shield filed higher rate increases in the mid-50 percent range, it made all the other insurers want to change and increase their rates, too,” Rothman said. “This effectively tied our hands, in some respects.”
In a statement, Blue Cross said the approved rates for 2016 could “mitigate the impact” of rising medical claims. But the insurer added: “Even with these increases, Blue Cross is likely to experience continued significant financial losses through 2016.”
The Democrats relied on the lack of transparency and the stupidity of their voters to pass Obamacare. Will the Democrats and their supporters ever accept blame for this disaster ?
Thousands of Minnesotans who buy health insurance on their own are bracing for final word on whether their premiums will spike next year.
On Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce is scheduled to release 2016 rates for shoppers who buy individual policies.
Four insurers that collectively cover most people in the market are seeking average increases of more than 20 percent each, including a proposed jump of more than 50 percent for about 179,000 people with coverage from Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota — the state’s largest health insurer.
In ruling on the requests, regulators must walk a line between satisfying consumers who want low rates and insurers who say the business can’t be sustained at current premium levels.
“We are dying here under the weight of insurance premiums,” Kristi Nelson, 53, of Hastings, wrote Commerce Department officials in opposition to a possible rate increase. “It’s like being dropped off a cliff every year when the new premiums come out.”
The proposed rates apply to Minnesota’s individual market, where roughly 6 percent of state residents bought coverage last year. That market has changed markedly with the federal Affordable Care Act.
A
Minnesota school district where two students were killed in a 2003
shooting has unveiled a new device aimed at adding another layer of
safety against future attacks: bulletproof whiteboards.
The Rocori
(ruh-KOR'-ee) School District has acquired nearly 200 of the
whiteboards. The manufacturer says they're stronger than police-issue
bulletproof vests.
The idea behind the whiteboards is they can be
used for lessons one minute, then quickly turned into shields by
teachers and students in an emergency.
The maker, Hardwire LLC, says the whiteboards are already in schools in North Dakota and Maryland.
One
security expert questioned how effective they would be. But Rocori
officials say they are just a supplement to other security measures.
