Just another ten days....

And football!

Drew said last week, only half joking, he would like to play unit he was 45. At 35 he can do this and is in better shape than many twenty something Olympians. Please Drew, keep it up, we need at least four more rings to cover the thumb!

HIZONORDAMAER of Maui

I would say this moron will next be elected, but in an era when you have Marion Barry still serving on the D.C. City Council, Charlie Rangle is still in the House, Harry Reid is still in the Senate, nothing is impossible.

One thing I would like to point out. At the 13 second mark, this sack of s%^& punches the cop in the face. But that fact seems to have escaped the idiot making a comment at the end, "he was only walking in across the street..."

Video: Hawaii mayoral candidate wants TASERs outlawed after fleeing arrest 

WAILUKU, Hawaii — Maui mayoral candidate Beau Hawkes is vowing to outlaw the use of Tasers by police if he wins election this fall. The reason: A police officer used a stun gun on Hawkes on Wednesday. 

"It was brutal," he said. A stunned Hawkes executed a face plant in the street Wednesday morning while attempting to elude an officer in an episode that was recorded on cellphone video that went viral on YouTube and Facebook. 

Hawkes, 34, was arrested, released on $300 bail and given an Aug. 21 court date following the confrontation on Wells Street in Wai­luku. 

He is the second challenger to incumbent Mayor Alan Ara­kawa to have experienced a run-in with the law. Nelson Wai­kiki Jr. was jailed following his July 15 arrest after a mayoral debate in Maka­wao. Wai­kiki was arrested on a $100,000 cash-only warrant alleging he violated conditions of his release in a criminal case. 

Another candidate, Neldon Mamuad, was disqualified because of problems with the way he filed financial disclosure statements. 

Hawkes, owner of a small business called Maui Wowie, the maker of bamboo bongs, said Friday he hopes his confrontation serves as a wake-up call to a corrupt government system and a catalyst for change... 

...The drama started earlier in the morning when an officer stopped Hawkes' truck on Hale­akala Highway. He was cited for talking on his cellphone while driving as well as having no driver's license, no license plates, no registration and no safety inspection sticker. 

Hawkes explained that as a private individual and devotee of the Declaration of Independence, he doesn't believe in those types of rules.

True, you are a private individual Mr. Hawkes. But if you want to drive on the public street, your vehicle must be licensed, insured, inspected and you must have a state issued driver's license. If you don't want to, fine. Don't drive not the public streets.

In any case, he was running late for a Maui County Council hearing on a proposed moratorium on genetically modified organisms, so he decided to ignore an order to turn off his engine and continue on his way. 

Hawkes said he noticed in his rearview mirror that the policeman followed him for about a half-mile in morning rush-hour traffic before pulling off the road. In Wailuku he parked his car and then signed up to give testimony. With more than 60 names ahead of him, he knew he had some time, so he decided to run some errands and headed out to his truck. 

That's when the confrontation occurred. On video a barefoot Hawkes is seen holding his hands aloft as an officer repeatedly orders him, "Put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest." 

That's when Hawkes bolts down the street, yelling, "Come on, cop. You can't do this," with the officer in hot pursuit. Hawkes then reverses course and curls around to the other side of the street, while the policeman grabs his Taser gun and yells twice, "You're gonna get tased." 

After the officer shoots Taser prongs into Hawkes' back, he falls facedown, and another officer arrives to help handcuff Hawkes. Following a visit to the emergency room, police booking and three hours of jail, Hawkes was bailed out....

Good work officer, hopefully he is not your next mayor.

Good AAR on searching.

Excellent video from PoliceOne.Com, showing how not searching fulling can lead to possible disaster.


Big lesson learned from when I was a rookie. I took custody of a suspect from two TAC Team officers who had searched him and I also searched him. I transported him to jail and booked him, where the jailers found the knife all three of us had missed. It was shoved into the top of his front jean pocket, just under his belt. Guess who gets the day off?

Lesson learned. From that day on every suspect has his pants pockets pulled out and they stay that way until he gets to jail I always have Ziploc bags with me and I place everything the turd owns in them. The only thing as a rule he keeps is his money.

IDF doesn't leave anyone on the battlefield...

Even it's four legged soldiers:

IDF LEAVES NO MAN--AND NO DOG--BEHIND

Staying true to the conviction that no soldier should be left behind, Israeli forces were seen carrying a wounded bomb-sniffing dog off the battlefield.

By contrast, Hamas has been suspected of rigging a donkey with explosives and trying to use the animal as a suicide bomber against Israeli forces.

According to Israel’s Channel 2 News, between 200 and 500 Hamas militants have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge. Gaza officials said that upwards of 777 Gazans have been killed in the 17 days since the operation commenced.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has done “deep and significant” damage to the Hamas infrastructure in Gaza. This includes "terrorists, rockets, headquarters, manufacturing facilities, and other targets,” he said.

Egyptian forces stopped two planned major terror attack on Israel, killing a Hamas suicide bomber making his way to the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The Egyptian army also neutralized two Hamas terrorists in a car loaded with Grad rockets in the northern Sinai--intended to be indiscriminately fired into Israeli territory.

RIP. You died on the right side and the Rainbow Bridge awaits!

Now here is the question. Did B Hussein Obama lie when he said he found out about the problem from the news....

Or when he says he knows already.

Latest Obama claim: I don't learn anything from the news - Washington Times

...Mr. Obama told supporters that he doesn’t watch the news because, “Whatever they’re reporting about, usually I know.” That contrasts with the explanations that the president and his aides have given from scandals in the past few years ranging from long wait times and deaths at the VA, to the IRS targeting tea party groups, to the Fast and Furious gun-running operation, and the Department of Justice spying on news reporters.

In each of those cases, Mr. Obama or his aides have said the president learned about the scandals from news reports...

Obamaites, which is it?

I love Ted Cruz!

I gave him money when he was an almost nobody and voted for him in 2012. I cheered when he stood up against Obamacare on the Senate floor and now we have even more reason to love this man.

First, HBO puts in it's show True Blood some rather ugly things about Republicans in general and Republican women in particular.

While HBO's Award winning "True Blood" a popular vampire drama has had a long-running narrative with the bad guys cast as southern conservative politicians, last night's episode took it a step farther, calling Ted Cruz supporters a**holes and offensively referring to conservative woman in eveningware as "republic**ts"

When two of the main characters, vampires Eric Northman and Pam De Beaufort, are planning to crash a fictional fundraiser for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) held at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas they are warned “They only let in a**holes.”

While dressing for the event in cowboy hats and Western evening attire Pam De Beaufort says "Oh my God I'm a republic**t"
And finally De Beaufort enters the gala proclaiming "Of all the horrible things I've seen in the last hundred years this could be the most disturbing."

Gee, sounds a little misogynistic don't it? I wonder if NOW will be sending HBO a strongly worded letter demanding an apology? There is a reason I personally dumped HBO after The Sopranos.

Well Ted Cruz answered this:

All I can say is Go Ted Go!

More news from the former great industrial North East.

Remember how the North East (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc) had industry. And now the liberal locusts who infected the great North East and decided to harass one industry after another. And one company after another got the hell out because they can make more money with less aggravation overseas or, hopefully, in other states. Well, the latest example of this is Beretta USA.

Beretta USA Announces Decision to Move Its Entire Maryland Manufacturing Capabilities to Tennessee

Beretta U.S.A. Corp., located in Accokeek, Maryland, announced today that it has decided to move its manufacturing capabilities from its existing location to a new production facility that it is building in Gallatin, Tennessee. The Gallatin facility is scheduled to be opened in mid-2015. Beretta U.S.A. had previously planned to use the new Gallatin, Tennessee facility for new machinery and production of new products only.

“During the legislative session in Maryland that resulted in passage of the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, the version of the statute that passed the Maryland Senate would have prohibited Beretta U.S.A. from being able to manufacture, store or even import into the State products that we sell to customers throughout the United States and around the world. While we were able in the Maryland House of Delegates to reverse some of those obstructive provisions, the possibility that such restrictions might be reinstated in the future leaves us very worried about the wisdom of maintaining a firearm manufacturing factory in the State,” stated Jeff Cooper, General Manager for Beretta U.S.A. Corp....

OK, so what is the Firearm Safety Act of 2013 and why would Beretta USA find a problem with it? Well, take a quick look.

New laws including gun restrictions start in Maryland October 1

The new laws will change how people drive in the state, demands employers can put on pregnant employees, the rules of owning a firearm and marijuana.

Firearm restrictions:

None of the new laws have been as controversial as SB 281, the bill which brings some of the toughest firearm legislation in the country to the state of Maryland.

Firearm Safety Act 2013 banns 45 different semi-automatic handguns and rifles from sale and ownership in the state. Some examples of firearms that will no longer be permitted for sale either publically or privately after October 1 are the AR-15, AK-47 and the M1A.

The law also reduces the detachable magazine capacity that can be “manufactured, sold, purchased, received or transferred” in the state from 20 down to 10.

Hunting rifles and shotguns are not affected by the 2013 law, but handguns are.

Only handguns on Maryland’s official handgun resister will be allowed sold in the state and private sales of “regulated firearms” will be illegal.

After the first of October, to purchase or rent a firearm, the recipient must present aHandgun Qualification License certificate, unless exempted due to being a police officer, member of the military or a licensed manufacturer.

In order to obtain a Handgun Qualification License, the applicant will have to take a four hour class which must include; education of the state law, home safety to include locking and storage, handgun operation to include cleaning and maintenance as well as loading and unloading of ammunition and handling demonstration which will include a live fire of no more than 15 yards.

The new law goes on to say that in addition to the class, there will be a $50 registration fee and fingerprints will need to be submitted to assist with the background check that needs to be completed.

Only one firearm can be purchased every 30 days, and every weapon needs to be secured with a safety lock when it is sold or transported with an external lock on firearms manufactured prior to December 31, 2001 and an internal lock in manufactured after that date.

No firearms will be permitted at school or at demonstrations.

Starting October 1, 2013 it will be a misdemeanor if ammunition is owned by an individual who is prohibited from owning a firearm.

Finally, the Firearm Safety Act 2013 will prohibit anyone who has been voluntarily or involuntarily committed to a mental health facility for 30 consecutive days from legally owning a firearm.

It has been widely reported that there has been such a rush on registering firearms prior to the October 1 implementation of this law that the police department’s licensing division has been unable to process them all.

In the past few weeks, police are averaging 1,000 applications a day.

According to a statement from Maryland State Police, “Marylanders who have submitted handgun purchase applications on or before Sept. 30 will not be required to obtain a handgun qualification license.”...

Something about Beretta USA and magazine capacity. Beretta manufactures the Department of Defense's M9 Pistol, the standard firearm of the US military since the mid 1980s. It became very popular since the original Lethal Weapon. Mel Gibson had one so every cop had to have one. One of the reasons why is because it could hold 15 rounds. Now those magazines are illegal in Maryland. Where they used to be manufactured.

Back to the main post.

...“While we had originally planned to use the Tennessee facility for new equipment and for production of new product lines only, we have decided that it is more prudent from the point of view of our future welfare to move the Maryland production lines in their entirety to the new Tennessee facility,” Cooper added.

The transition of production from Beretta U.S.A.’s Maryland facility to the Tennessee facility will not occur until 2015 and will be managed so as not to disrupt deliveries to Beretta customers. Beretta U.S.A.’s production of the U.S. Armed Forces M9 9mm pistol will continue at the Accokeek, Maryland facility until all current orders from the U.S. Armed Forces have been filled...

...Beretta U.S.A. anticipates that the Gallatin, Tennessee facility will involve $45 million of investment in building and equipment and the employment of around 300 employees during the next five years.

Beretta U.S.A. has no plans to relocate its office, administrative and executive support functions from its Accokeek, Maryland facility.

Should be better phrased, no plans of yet. People of Maryland, elections have consequences. You elected these idiots to pass bad legislation and now you have lost another company to another state. Maybe you should think before you vote.

Tanks to Sense of Events: Time to buy another Beretta for the link.

Who could have not seen this a mile away. Weed is not all it's cracked up to be.

Multiple states have moved to "legalize" or decriminalize marijuana, seeing a pot of gold with taxation. I was in a discussion with a friend from Denver and they were very much in favor for this because it was dedicated to "roads, bridges and schools". We are both from Louisiana and I reminded them "Governor Edwards said the same thing of the lottery and gambling and where is the money? Remember this conversation because in five or ten years another politician will come up with another financial panacea that will be dedicated to 'roads, bridges and schools', then ask 'Where did the weed money go?'"

Now Washington and Colorado have started selling "legal" weed and guess what? They are not getting the money they were supposed to get.

Moody’s: Washington might not see the marijuana tax windfall previously projected

A slow start to sales, high taxes and easy-to-get medical marijuana may translate to lesser-than-expected revenues from Washington state’s newly legal recreational pot market, according to a new report from Moody’s, the credit rating agency.

Marijuana for recreational use went on sale in Washington earlier this month and is taxed three separate times—25 percent each at the production, wholesale and retail levels—in addition to state and local sales taxes. Combined, the trio of taxes translate to an effective rate of 44 percent, Moody’s finds.

“The tax structure in Washington State is likely to be a major deterrent for consumers who do not see the value in obtaining the product from a storefront as opposed to a medical dispensary,” writes Moody’s Analyst Andrea Unsworth, the report’s author. Why pay a higher tax when getting approval for medical marijuana is reportedly relatively easy? Washington’s forecasters last revisited their estimate in June, too, and anticipated $51.2 million in revenues from fees and taxes for the 2015 to 2017 budget and more than two times more for the following two years.

Wait, wait, hold it. High taxes inhibit economic activity. In the Washington Post!? This is heresy!

A similar situation appears to be playing out in Colorado, where recreational marijuana sales began on Jan. 1. Colorado economists in 2012 predicted $67 million in revenues from retail pot in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. They dropped that estimate to $54 million in March and $30.6 million again in June. State forecasters explained why in a June report:

“One reason that revenue has lagged behind earlier estimates is that medical marijuana users have not converted to the adult-use market,” they wrote.

Aside from its high tax rates on recreational pot, the state also has only opened up roughly 7 percent of the market. Of the 334 marijuana store licenses available, Washington has issued just 24, well below originally expected. The state has also licensed fewer growers than expected.

Yet Moody’s says it isn’t concerned about the state’s credit standing. The state never planned to lean heavily on the< revenues for funding and the shortfall will likely be short-lived. Supply will no doubt eventually meet demand, Unsworth writes.

I don't question you in that Moody's. The Laws of Economics are more certain than the laws of Physics.

However, one thing is not being put into this. The former distribution system for marijuana, know as drug dealers, haven't gone anywhere., They will continue to sell weed, they only have to undercut the "legal" price. If you want proof, look at smuggled cigarette sales in New York or New Jersey.

But don't cry for Colorado. The usual suspects have gone after fracking, something that would lead to a fortune in tax revenue and jobs.

UPDATE: I am now recalling the wisdom of the best president in my lifetime, Ronald Reagan. "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Welfare Cash for Weed in Colorado
Recipients are withdrawing thousands in cash at pot dispensaries, and Republicans want to stop it.
For the past six months, welfare beneficiaries in Colorado have repeatedly withdrawn their cash benefits at marijuana retailers and dispensaries, according to a new analysis by National Review Online. Such apparent abuses have caught the eye of Colorado’s executive and legislative powers alike, and the state has launched an effort to curb them.

At least 259 times in the first six months of legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado, beneficiaries used their electronic-benefit transfer (EBT) cards to access public assistance at weed retailers and dispensaries, withdrawing a total of $23,608.53 in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash, NRO’s examination found.

In 2012, the latest fiscal year available, Colorado used $124 million in TANF money from the federal government, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Withdrawals at marijuana establishments represented only a tiny fraction of the more than 500,000 total EBT transactions that have occurred since recreational weed became legal in Colorado on January 1. And it’s impossible to determine how much of that welfare money actually was used to buy pot, given that cash benefits are fungible and some of these establishments also sell groceries.

Nevertheless, welfare withdrawals at weed stores are coming under increasing scrutiny, and Colorado’s legislators and bureaucrats are beginning an effort to restrict abuses....

...Last session, some Colorado legislators attempted to pass a bill banning TANF withdrawals at marijuana establishments, but Democrats blocked it. The state’s Republicans did succeed, however, in passing a budget amendment that would preclude such use. Because of a legislative technicality, however, the amendment “doesn’t have the power and teeth behind it that a statute does,” says Colorado Springs representative Dan Nordberg, one of the key proponents of the ban. Republican lawmakers plan to re-introduce stronger legislation next session...

Money for roads, bridges and schools.

And this reminds me of a great quote from my academy

Some people just need killing!

The old assistance district attorney who taught my academy class penal code (and if memory serves, during his time in the Harris Country DA's Office personally put 18 men on death row) used to say this is needed for certain people out there. I think our Mr. Frolander qualifies.

FOX 13 News

Daytona dad beats man he found allegedly raping his son, report says

A Florida dad who told police he walked in on a man sexually abusing his child, left the suspect motionless and bleeding Friday morning on the living room floor, police said.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that the suspect was found at the Daytona Beach home at about 1 a.m. Friday. The paper, citing the arrest report, said Raymond Frolander was found with several knots on his face and bleeding from the mouth.

The 35-year-old father and his son were not identified, but the father reportedly walked in on Frolander sexually battering his son.

The paper obtained the 911 call and reported that the dad told the dispatcher, "I just walked in a grown man molesting...and I got him in a bloody puddle for you, officer."

He told police that he didn't use any weapons in the beating, nor did he ask the suspect any questions.

"He is nice and knocked out on the floor for you," the dad reportedly told police.

The boy told police that Frolander took him to a back room of the house and pulled down his pants, the report said.

The boy, 11, had been playing video games with friends before the alleged attack, the report said.

Frolander was treated at an area hospital and allegedly told police "I'm guilty," when questioned.

He is being held without bail. Frolander was charged with sexual battery by an 18-year-old on a victim under 12, the report said.

The father was not charged.

No real comment needed. Nice work dad.

Reminds me of a great quote from Outlaw Josey Wales

Not a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes.


Kirk is not a hard man to track. Leaves... :<)

Officer Down

Deputy Sheriff Allen Bares, Jr. 

Vermilion Parish Louisiana Sheriff's Office
End of Watch: Monday, June 23, 2014
Age: 51
Tour: 15 years
Badge # 32 

Deputy Sheriff Allen Bares was shot and killed at approximately 4:00 pm while investigating two suspicious men while off duty. 

Deputy Bares was cutting grass when he observed the men crash their car into a ditch on South Hospital Drive. He called the sheriff's office to report the incident and suspicious activity, then approached them and identified himself as a sheriff's deputy. As he did so one of the men drew a weapon and fatally shot him. 

Responding deputies located Deputy Bares suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to Abbeville General Hosptial, where he succumbed to his wounds. 

After shooting Deputy Bares, the two subjects stole his truck and fled the area. The truck was later located in Abbeville, and both subjects were arrested several hours later. They were subsequently charged with first degree murder, unauthorized use of an automobile, and for a burglary they had just committed on the same street. 

Deputy Bares had served in law enforcement for 15 years. He had previously served with the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. He is survived by his wife and two children. 

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Stupidity from the other side of the pond. The Thought Police are going after movies again.

I remember in the late 80s Paramount was starting the preproduction work on The Hunt for Red October and I saw a small article in the paper on an issue they had discovered. There were having a problem putting in a strong female part in a pretty much all male movie (As I recall the only women in the book where Captain Ramius's wife and Gates McFadden's one minute part as Carolyn Ryan.) Fortunately the lot got their head our of their asses and let the screen writers do a good script.

Since then Political Correctness has infected one movie (and television shows) after another, the movie industry has slowly been on a downward trajectory. Why? Because the movies suck. I'm not saying the PC infection is the only reason, but putting a Black African Muslim into the story of Robin Hood is really true to the story, right?

Now we have the latest symptoms of the infection from Great Britain. The BFI is saying you must "target ethnic minority, gay and female characters" to get money. Read, it's depressing. Often I've heard Europe gets the bad news 20 years before America. I can see this coming.

British Film Institute tells filmmakers to tick new diversity targets or miss funding

Movie companies have been told they must meet new targets for ethnic minority, gay and female characters on screen to be eligible for future funding from the British Film Institute.

The BFI, Britain’s largest public film fund, announced a “Three Ticks” scheme to ensure diversity in films and behind the scenes as it set out new rules for funding.

Under the system, to be implemented in September, films must “tick” at least two of three criteria: on-screen diversity; off-screen diversity and “creating opportunities and social mobility”.

The BFI, which allocates lottery funding and invests more than £27 million in film production, sales and distribution, supports about 30 new projects a year. It backed The King’s Speech and Philomena.

The new rules will compel filmmakers to place “diverse” actors and subjects at the forefront of their projects, as well as ensuring minority workers are represented on set and in the crew.

On screen, at least one lead character must be “positively reflecting diversity”, with the story more likely to receive funding if it “explicitly and predominantly explores issues of identity relating to ethnicity or national origins, a specific focus on women, people with disabilities, sexual identity, age and people from a socially disadvantaged background”.

Among the films the BFI has praised for content include Suffragette, the story of the battle for women to gain the vote, and Pride, about gay activists supporting the miners’ strike. It will ask filmmakers to ensure that at least 30 per cent of supporting and non-speaking characters are also “diverse”.

Off-screen, at least two heads of department must be from diverse backgrounds, as well as a range of “key creatives” including the director, screenwriter, composer and cinematographer.

The third category requires companies to offer paid internships and jobs to “new entrants from diverse backgrounds” and to help them progress.

“Three Ticks” is likely to raise fears about compromising scripts’ authenticity, with period dramas less likely to naturally represent “diverse backgrounds”.

A spokesman for the BFI insisted all films would have the opportunity to meet the criteria, with even those not fulfilling them onscreen able to “tick” the other two sections.

Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, praised the initiative as helping to “raise the bar”, adding that he would like to see all television, film and performing arts companies following the BFI’s example...

Ok Mr Spokesman, if every file will be reviewed and eligible for money in spite of this ethnic cleansing, why set up the scheme in the first place? Also, if you have something that had no women or minorities (The Sherlock Holmes series, most of Shakespeare, etc) are you going to insist they be rewritten?

Over ten years ago Mel Gibson went for funding, production etc for a movie on the Crucifixion of Jesus. No one wanted to touch it and Gibson went on to produce it himself. The Passion of the Christ made over 600 million worldwide. I wonder if the BFI would have turned the man down because the movie didn't reflect well on diversity? I'll bet yes. They probably would have a similar issue with a Braveheart, another classic with few women, no minorities and the only gay characters were not that strong.

To summarize, the Crown really doesn't need a film institute to decide what movies are made (and the US doesn't need a NIA or NIH). The free market can make better choices on what people want to see.

Officer Down

Chief of Police Lee Dixon
Little River-Academy Texas Police Department
End of Watch: Thursday, June 19, 2014
Age: 54

Chief of Police Lee Dixon was shot and killed after responding to reports of a man with a gun at a home near the intersection of Main Street and Allison Street shortly after 5:00 pm.

After arriving at the scene he requested backup from the Bell County Sheriff's Office. Prior to a second unit arriving the subject opened fire on him, fatally wounding him. Responding deputies arrested the subject.

Chief Dixon had rejoined the Little River-Academy Police Department one month prior after serving with the Milam County Sheriff's Office for nine years. He had previously served with the department for two years. He was survived by his wife.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

OK, these are the guys some people want running health care....

You can't make this one up.

14,000 draft notices mistakenly sent to men born in 1800s

No, the United States isn’t trying to build a military force of centenarians.

It just seems that way after the Selective Service System mistakenly sent notices to more than 14,000 Pennsylvania men born between 1893 and 1897, ordering them to register for the nation’s military draft and warning that failure to do so is “punishable by a fine and imprisonment.”

The agency realized the error when it began receiving calls from bewildered relatives last week.

Chuck Huey, 73, of Kingston, Pa., said he got a notice addressed to his late grandfather Bert Huey, a World War I veteran who was born in 1894 and died in 1995 at age 100.

“I said, ‘Geez, what the hell is this about?’ It said he was subject to heavy fines and imprisonment if he didn’t sign up for the draft board,” he said. “We were just totally dumbfounded.”

Huey said he tried calling the Selective Service but couldn’t get a live person on the line. That frustrated him even more because he wanted to make sure the agency knew there had been a mistake.

“You just never know. You don’t want to mess around with the federal government,” he said...

Such a screw up, what can be said but Yes We can!

Officer Down

Police Officer Scott Hewell
Stockton California Police Department
End of Watch: Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Bio & Incident Details
Age: 33
Tour: 1 year, 9 months
Badge # 2454
Incident Date: 5/28/2014

Police Officer Scott Hewell succumbed to injuries sustained in a vehicle crash two weeks earlier as he and his partner responded to backup another officer performing a felony traffic stop of a shooting suspect.

The patrol car Officer Hewell was riding in left the roadway and struck a tree on El Dorado Street, near Jamestown Street. The vehicle struck the tree on the passenger side, causing him to suffer severe injuries. He had been released from the hospital nine days after the crash, but suffered a complication on June 11th. He was transported to the hospital where he passed away.

Officer Hewell had served with the Stockton Police Department for almost two years.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Bike tossed from 5th floor injures officer

As a cop you have hazards of all types, but this is a new one.

Bike tossed from 5th floor injures officer

A New York City police officer suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a child's bike hurled from the fifth floor of an apartment building.

The officer was responding to a man firing a gun in Brooklyn around 2 a.m. Sunday when someone began tossing debris from a balcony at 959 Saint Mark's Avenue. Police say the bike was thrown from a window or balcony of the building.

The officer was taken to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition. Police arrested the individual firing the shots. A second person was taken into custody but it wasn't immediately clear if either was the person who tossed the bike.

Hopefully this turd gets severely arrested when caught. But some of the comments at the bottom are classic!

Mike Gilmer
What kind of moron throws a bicycle from the fifth floor of a building? Oh wait, I get it, the type who would vote for Comrade De blasio!

rgrkovach
When bicycles are outlawed, only outlaws will have bicycles! Hope the thug is caught and the cop recovers quickly!

Officer Down

Police Officer Igor Soldo
Las Vegas Nevada Metropolitan Police Department
End of Watch: Sunday, June 8, 2014
Age: 31
Tour: 8 years, 2 months
Badge # 9153

Police Officer Alyn Beck
Las Vegas Nevada Metropolitan Police Department
End of Watch: Sunday, June 8, 2014
Bio & Incident Details
Age: 41
Tour: 13 years, 10 months

Police Officer Igor Soldo and Police Officer Alyn Beck were shot and killed from ambush while eating lunch at a pizza restaurant in the 300 block of North Nellis Boulevard.

Two subjects, a male and a female, approached them at their table and shot them execution style without warning. Despite being wounded, one of the officers returned fire before being incapacitated. The subjects then stole both officers' weapons and ammunition and ran to a nearby Walmart, where they shot and killed a civilian.

Responding officers followed the two into the Walmart and exchanged gunfire with the two. The male subject was killed by rifle fire from a responding officer and the female then committed suicide.

Officer Soldo had served with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for eight years. Officer Beck had served with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for 14 years.

Rest in Peace Gentlemen…We Got The Watch

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

News from the hold home town....Ray Nagin and deserving

Yesterday, like many a transplanted New Orleans resident, I got the news the former Mayor of Chocolate City, Ray Nagin, got ten years after his conviction on federal corruption charges. HIZONORDAMAER faced 20 years, got 10, seeing it's federal time, he will serve at least nine.

Now many a person asked "How he got off so easy". He funneled federal contracts to his family, using money set for recovery of a major disaster for his own enrichment. Can you think of anything lower? Well, yes you can, but point made.

Now the New Orleans Times Picayune, the three day a week paper of New Orleans has an article on why Nagin got off so easy. Just read.

5 reasons Ray Nagin got 10 years instead of 20

Ray Nagin faced a prison sentence twice as long as the 10 years handed down by a federal judge on Wednesday. In fact, the sentence was five years shorter than the 15 years U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan cited as the minimum called for under federal guidelines.

The deviation from the range marked a rare move that Berrigan justified with a fairly sympathetic take on the bribery conspiracy for which Nagin was convicted.

After taking the bench for a hearing that lasted just 30 minutes, Berrigan said she was working in a range of 15 to 20 years. Then she announced she planned to sentence the former mayor to a shorter term before launching into her colloquy -- a statement that explains the factors she was using to come up with the punishment for the 20-count conviction on federal bribery, tax evasion and wire fraud charges.

Five key factors that weighed in his favor:

1. Nagin didn't lead the conspiracy; he followed. Berrigan noted that Nagin was approached by the contractors who gave him and his sons cash and free granite for their business, and that the former mayor seemed not to be the ringleader of the bribery conspiracy.

2. He didn't pad his pockets as outrageously as some. The amounts of money Nagin made off with, she said, were far lower than in other recent political corruption cases.

3. Broussard and Jefferson set favorable precedents. Nagin's sentence is shorter than the 13-year term handed down for former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson and longer than the nearly four years given to former Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard, who took a plea deal he is currently fighting to get out from under.

4. He is unlikely to run for office again. Berrigan seemed to give some weight to Nagin's age, 58, and the ruin of his reputation, factors she said made it unlikely he would ever hold an office that would allow him to commit similar crimes again. "It is very unlikely (Nagin) would ever regain the public's trust," after his lengthy and public prosecution, Berrigan said.

5. He helped his family more than he enriched himself. Berrigan seemed to give credence to the notion that while Nagin accepted cash and free trips from city contractors, those benefits went mostly to his family....

Nagin did't lead the conspiracy? Get real. If a contractor offered him money, he could have done the right thing, refuse, call the cops to repot him, make sure this contractor didn't get any work because he wasn't to be trusted. He did it for his family? Please, I've heard that on the street, "I busted a cap in him and took his money because I needed money for my kids....oh, my BMW?...I need my BMW....and my EBT Card...well I needed to trade that for my crack...wait I didn't say that"

Not run for office again? Who cares. Also, a current member of the Washington DC City Counsel is a former federal convict, shown on video smoking crack. Can we have some standards for politicians. I guess not, according to the only daily paper in New Orleans. No wonder it's gone down to 3 days a week.

Officer Down

Sergeant Daryl Giles
Philadelphia Pennsylvania School Police Department
End of Watch: Monday, June 2, 2014
Age: 50
Tour: 19 years

Sergeant Daryl Giles suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after breaking up a large fight at George Washington High School, on Bustleton Avenue, in Northeast Philadelphia.

He struggled with two students as he broke up the fight. Following the fight he informed other officers that he was suffering chest pains, and a short time later he was found unresponsive in a bathroom. The school nurse initiated CPR until medics could transport him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Three students were charged with disorderly conduct as a result of the fight.

Sergeant Giles was a U.S. Air Force veteran and had served with the Philadelphia School Police Department for 19 years.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Another example of cultural rot

Two Indianapolis cops were shot this weekend. One is in critical condition, one is dead.

This post is not to mourn the loss of these two brave men but to look at the reaction of the family of the accused murderer. One excuse after another. But look at 2.38 on the video, the statement of how the officer could have lived.



If Officer Had Stayed In His Car, He Wouldn’t Have Been Shot

Granted it's the reporter saying what she says was said, no one else was willing to come on the record, but this is believable. And sick.  If that human waste had not shot of the officers they would be at home with their families. 

I don't know the law of Indiana as well as Texas, but they do have capital punishment.  Hopefully the DA is proceeding for a death sentence here. 

Thanks Jason H for the link.

A great way to end the weekend.

As I sit in my cubicle, starting another week of my jail term, I was scanning my Facebook and found two great commercials. With a British connection, of course.

First, as Dinesh D'Souza is premiering his movie America: Imagine the World Without Her, we have this great look at what would have happened if we were still Great Britain’s western colony.



On a more solemn note, Guinness shows why we can celebrate our independence on this day.

Hope you had a great Independence Day weekend, and here is to another great week!

PS: NFL Pre-Season Football in just a month away! :<)

I have only one regret with this video....

The owner didn't ice them then. Now other officers will have to get them, we'll have to pay for them in prision, etc. But overall, great ending to the attempted robbery, the children are OK and Grandpa is doing fine.

Southeast Fresno jeweler with shotgun chases off armed robbers

A pair of armed but nervous young bandits tried to rob a southeast Fresno jewelry store, but quickly changed their minds when the store's owner emerged from a back room with a shotgun and ordered them out...

...Police and a store clerk said Tuesday that the suspects walked in posing as customers. One bandit then pulled out a handgun, racked the slide and pointed it at the clerk while demanding cash. The second bandit tried to jump the counter but fell down before walking behind it.

Noe Guzman is the clerk who let the two young men into the store. Tuesday at the store, Guzman said one bandit started asking him questions about bracelets when the other pulled out the gun.

"He cocked the gun," Guzman recalled. "I moved over so that my friend in the back could see."

Police identified Guzman's "friend" as his uncle, and said the man is the store owner and was in the back room with his daughter and newborn grandchild when the robbers came in. Neither police nor Guzman named the store owner.

Guzman said the robber with the gun looked nervous and more afraid he would hurt himself than shoot Guzman.

"I didn't want him to shoot me, he was shaking," Guzman said. "So I told him, 'Calm down, everything's OK.' "

That's when the owner came out of the back room with his gun -- a shotgun with a bullpup stock -- and told the robbers to back up. Guzman said the gunman shifted his attention from Guzman to the owner, and the other robber dropped on the floor and crawled "like the soldiers" toward the back door.

The crawling robber told the second to shoot. Instead, both robbers ran.

"My friend didn't shoot. You can't," Guzman said. "You just have to take care of your business. And they left running."...

Good work sir, there is one of the reasons we have guns.

Security Weekly: Mandela's 1990 U.S. Tour Highlights a Reality of Government Surveillance, June 5, 2014

By Scott Stewart

Al Jazeera ran an exclusive story May 28 reporting that the FBI had spied on former South African President Nelson Mandela during his first trip to the United States in June 1990. Mandela, who had been found guilty of terrorism-related charges in 1964 and sentenced to life in prison, had only just been released from a South African prison in February 1990.

During his 1963-1964 trial with nine other leaders of the African National Congress, Mandela admitted that the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, committed acts of sabotage as a form of political protest. But he denied wanting to overthrow the government by force. In June 1961, Mandela had sent an open letter to South African newspapers warning that a campaign of armed sabotage would be launched unless a constitutional convention was held.

Despite the ANC's ties to terrorism, Mandela became an iconic protest figure during his years in prison for his efforts to end South Africa's racist system of apartheid. Upon his release, he made an international tour to raise additional support for his cause, and that tour is what brought him to the United States in June 1990, where he visited several major cities.

Al Jazeera's story grabbed my attention for two reasons. First, at the time of the visit, I was assigned to work as the protective intelligence coordinator for the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service detail tasked with protecting Mandela during the U.S. portion of his world tour. I spent long hours before, during and after the trip coordinating with other agencies and governments to investigate the many potential and actual threats directed against Mandela. Second, I was amazed that anyone would be surprised that the FBI was collecting intelligence during such a visit, given its context.

Background

First, it is important to remember that while the ANC is now the ruling political party in South Africa, it had engaged in a long struggle that was not only political but also included the use of civil disobedience and armed resistance. Politically motivated acts of violence meet the statutory definition of terrorism under U.S. and international law. Because of this, at the time of his June 1990 trip, Mandela and the ANC were on the U.S. terrorism watch list. (They were also listed on the terrorism watch lists of several other countries.) In fact, due to the difficulty of getting people removed from that list, it was not until 2008 that Mandela and other ANC leaders were removed from the U.S. terrorism list -- 15 years after they had entered the political mainstream.

There was also a great deal of international interest in the political changes underway in South Africa at the time of the trip. Negotiations to end apartheid began in 1990 but were not completed until 1993. All countries, even those that had imposed economic sanctions against the apartheid regime (such as the United States, which passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986), were unsure of what was going to happen in South Africa. They were frantically collecting intelligence on all the parties involved in the process to determine what the outcome of the negotiations, and the future of South Africa, would be. Indeed, even most South Africans were uncertain of their nation's future and did not know if democratization would proceed, or if someone or something would throw it off track.

There were numerous questions regarding the internal workings of the ANC, and Mandela's role in it, following his release from prison. During Mandela's confinement, a number of other ANC leaders had emerged, and in June 1990 it was unclear if Mandela would prove able to establish himself as the undisputed leader of the party. Some of the other ANC leaders had agendas that differed from Mandela's, and therefore these ANC politics could hold a great deal of significance for South Africa's future. Because of this, understanding the internal party dynamics was a priority for intelligence collection for many intelligence services at the time, including U.S. agencies.

There were also questions about Mandela's strained relationship with his then-wife, Winnie. The Mandelas were separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. By 1990, Winnie had become a high-profile and powerful activist in her own right and was one of the ANC leaders with their own political following and agenda. Her personal security group, the Mandela United Football Club, was known as a group of brutal criminals. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission later noted in its final report that Winnie was politically and morally accountable for the gross human rights violations the members of the "club" committed.

Winnie had charged the outfit with providing security for Mandela's 1990 world tour, but they were untrained and highly unprofessional. They also had no legal government status or experience coordinating with other security services, and they quickly ran into trouble. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had intercepted a trunk containing several AK-47s that the football club was attempting to smuggle into Canada in violation of strict Canadian gun laws. The football club was also a concern for us when Mandela and his entourage entered the United States from Canada.

As reflected in the internal government memos and teletypes Al Jazeera received under a Freedom of Information Act request and then published, the Mandela visit was assessed to be a high-threat protective detail by the Diplomatic Security Service. This was due to the large number of threats made against Mandela. These threats originated from a range of sources, including the South African Afrikaner Resistance Movement, American neo-Nazis, white supremacists and Klansmen along with mentally disturbed individuals. White supremacist figures such as Tom Metzger and William Pierce had made statements about the visit carefully calculated not to cross the legal line separating protected speech from criminal acts, but their menacing messages were still quite disturbing, and we were concerned they would incite one of their followers to violence.

The Diplomatic Security Service Protective Intelligence and Protective Liaison agents worked very closely with its counterparts at the FBI and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate these threats. (Due to the "wall" between the FBI's criminal and intelligence operations, the FBI agents we worked with while investigating the threats against Mandela were not the same agents who collected intelligence during the visit.) It was a great relief for all of us when the trip ended without incident.

Collecting on Mandela and the ANC

Given this context, it should be clear why the FBI was collecting intelligence during Mandela's 1990 trip. As a member of the U.S. intelligence community and an American domestic intelligence agency, I would have been shocked had they not assigned agents to gather intelligence regarding a trip to the United States by a person appearing on the U.S. terrorism watch list. Clearly, Mandela was no bomb-thrower, but the visit still would be akin to one by Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal or Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah today in that it involved a visit by a political leader of a group appearing on the U.S. terrorism list. There were also individuals traveling with Mandela who had closer ties to terrorist violence, such as the members of the football club.

Beyond the terrorism angle, all governments, including the U.S. government, collect information on foreign political parties to include ruling, opposition and dissident parties -- especially during a time of transition when the course of a nation's future is uncertain. Policymakers do not like to be surprised, so they demand that their intelligence services keep them apprised of the latest developments. Governments do this using their foreign intelligence services when the target is abroad, and they use their domestic intelligence service when the target visits their country. Again, all internal intelligence services conduct this type of collection on visiting foreigners of interest, whether the Russian FSB, the Chinese MSS, the British MI5 or the FBI.

During my government career, I was part of the U.S. secretary of state's security detail on many trips, both with and without the president. When the U.S. president or secretary of state travels, it is clearly understood that foreign intelligence services are collecting on the trips along with the domestic intelligence services in the countries they visit. The same thing goes for traveling members of the opposition political party or political dissidents.

This type of collection is simply what intelligence agencies do. It is one of their fundamental missions and the reason governments spend so much money to fund their activities. They gather information on political figures and parties to help decision-makers in their respective governments understand the political dynamics of the country the traveler hails from. Such collection involves intelligence reporting on overt meetings conducted with the target, interactions with his staff and electronic monitoring of his communications. It often also includes bugging meeting rooms and hotel suites to collect on private conversations the target has with his staff or with host or third-country nationals who will not report their meeting to the host government.

Intelligence services collect information on the target's policies and his feelings toward the incumbent administration and other figures in his party. They also are charged with collecting on his political aspirations; his health; his mental state; and any vices, such as extramarital affairs or drug addictions, which could be used for blackmail purposes or to help recruit the target as a spy -- the Holy Grail for any intelligence agency is successfully recruiting a high-level politician or member of his staff as an asset or an agent of influence. But even in cases where two governments have a gentlemen's agreement not to recruit each other's citizens, all sides still conduct overt and clandestine intelligence collection on each other. As Ronald Reagan famously said in a 1987 press conference with Mikhail Gorbachev to mark the signing of an arms control treaty, it is important to "trust but verify."

Because of all this, it would have been more of a story if the FBI had not been collecting on Mandela and his entourage during his June 1990 trip than the news that it had.

Mandela's 1990 U.S. Tour Highlights a Reality of Government Surveillance is republished with permission of Stratfor.

Officer Down

Police Officer Kevin Dorian Jordan
Griffin Georgia Police Department
End of Watch: Saturday, May 31, 2014
Age: 43
Tour: 4 years
Badge # 3507

Police Officer Kevin Jordan was shot and killed when arresting a female subject while working an overtime assignment at approximately 2:30 am.

He was working the assignment at a Waffle House on U.S. 19 when three customers began creating a disturbance. He escorted the three outside but the female subject began fighting with him. After subduing the woman and was placing her in handcuffs on the ground, one of the male subjects shot him in the back three times. One round was stopped by his vest, but a second entered an area unprotected by his vest and struck his heart and lungs.

Officer Jordan's civilian brother, who had come to the location to speak with him, witnessed the shooting. The brother, who was armed, shot and wounded the subject, who was taken into custody.

Officer Jordan was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Griffin Police Department for four years. He is survived by his seven children.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch
Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.