Officer Down

Agent Joaquín Correa-Ortega
Puerto Rico Police Department
End of Watch: Monday, March 10, 2014
Age: 36
Tour: 12 years
Badge # 27284

Agent Joaquín Correa-Ortega was shot and killed while conducting an undercover arms purchase in a wooded area off of PR-924, in the Pitaya neighborhood in Humacao. He and another agent were at an illegal fair frequently used to conduct the illegal trade of vehicles, horses, and other items.

They were in the process of conducting a transaction with several subjects when they were fired upon. Agent Correa-Ortega was killed and the other agent was shot in the head and wounded.

Four subjects were arrested and charged in connection with his murder.

Agent Correa-Ortega had served with the Puerto Rico Police Department for 12 years and was assigned to the Criminal Intelligence Unit. He is survived by his wife and one child.

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. 

I don't know, Starbucks ran out of coffee and it got bad....

Caught On Video: Man Hit With Taser After Threatening Police With Large Umbrella

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — Police used a Taser on a man earlier this week after he threatened them with a large umbrella on a Santa Monica street corner.

The incident occurred around 8 p.m. Monday outside a Starbucks at 7th Street and Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.

Officers responded to the scene after receiving a call about a man swinging an umbrella. Once they arrived, the suspect started jabbing the object at officers and he was hit with a Taser, officials said.

The man was arrested and may have been placed on a mental health hold.

Come on guys, just give him a little less espresso in the Frappuccino and he'll be fine! :<)

Officer Down

Police Officer III Nicholas Choung Lee
Los Angeles California Police Department
End of Watch: Friday, March 7, 2014
Age: 40
Tour: 16 years
Badge # 34980

Police Officer Nicholas Lee was killed when his patrol car collided with a commercial vehicle at the intersection of Loma Vista Drive and Robert Lane, in the Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles.

He and an officer he was training were responding to a call when the patrol car collided with the truck carrying a roll-off dumpster at approximately 8:00 am. The other officer and truck driver both suffered critical injuries.

Officer Lee had served with the Los Angeles Police Department for 16 years. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

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. 

Security Weekly: The Jihadist Movement Suffers from Divisions and Discord, March 6, 2014

By Scott Stewart

On March 5, my colleague Robert D. Kaplan wrote about how, despite the efforts of global elites to engineer a world in which primordial divisions are vanquished, divisions such as nationalism, tribalism and sectarianism continue to survive and prosper. As I was reading Robert's thoughts, it occurred to me that it is not just the idealistic dreams of the global jet-setting elite that are being dashed upon the shoal of rocks that is human nature. We are also witnessing the utopian dreams of jihadist ideologues meet the same cruel fate.

Now, I am not by any means equating the global elite with jihadist ideologues. Indeed, jihadist ideologues have never subscribed to the universalistic ideas of the global elite. Instead, their philosophy is starkly dualistic, separating the world into two camps: Muslims and non-Muslims or, as they refer to them, Dar al-Islam (literally house of Islam) and Dar al-Harb (literally house of war). The jihadists believe in a form of Islamic millennialism whereby the Muslims will vanquish the non-Muslims in an apocalyptic struggle. Once they have won this battle, they will establish an earthly paradise ruled by Sharia in which the entire world lives in harmony under submission to Allah.

However, we are seeing the jihadist movement being wracked by the same types of forces that continue to impact all other human organizations, including the nation-state. Even within the Dar al-Islam that the jihadists are attempting to create, there remains a great deal of discord, dissention and death.

Dissention in Syria, Algeria and Somalia

Perhaps the best example of the divisions within the jihadist movement is on display in Syria. After helping establish Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, announced in April 2013 that his group was subsuming Jabhat al-Nusra and would henceforth be known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Al-Baghdadi obviously did not coordinate this hostile takeover with the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammad al-Golani, who appealed to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for help. Al-Zawahiri ruled against al-Baghdadi and ordered him to cease operations in Syria, but al-Baghdadi rebelled and disregarded al-Zawahiri's orders. The group has now officially broken away from al Qaeda, and is currently fighting against Jabhat al-Nusra as well as other jihadist actors in Syria for control of the jihad in Syria. In addition to the personal struggle for power between al-Baghdadi and al-Golani, there is also a nationalistic aspect to the dispute, since some Syrians want to have a Syrian leader of the jihadist effort in that country rather than an Iraqi like al-Baghdadi.

On Feb. 23, Abu Khaled al-Suri, the head of the Syrian jihadist group Ahrar al-Sham, was killed by a suicide bombing in Aleppo. Al-Suri was also reportedly a senior al Qaeda member and close associate of al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden. Many believe the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant killed al-Suri, but the group has denied responsibility.

Today, groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham not only need to worry about fighting government forces, they also must combat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. This infighting has provided a much-needed respite for the Syrian regime.

In early February, a jihadist group in the Gaza Strip published a video on YouTube in which it proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Jihadists in Gaza are not new, and jihadists based in Iraq have long had links to Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, but it was notable to see a Gaza-based group declare allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant rather than al Qaeda.

Another example of the divisiveness brought about by pride and personal ambition is the longstanding tension between Mokhtar Belmokhtar and his counterparts and organizational superiors in al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's southern zone, as well as the group's leadership in northern Algeria. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's Shura Council chastised Belmokhtar for his disdain and disrespect for the leadership in a letter sent to Belmokhtar and later recovered in northern Mali. Belmokhtar split from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in December of 2012 to form his own jihadist group.

Tribal politics, nationalism, ambition and personal conflicts have also factored into the development of the Somali jihadist group al Shabaab. In 2013, al Shabaab leader Ahmad Abdi Godane (also known as Abu Zubayr) began a purge of dissident leaders to tighten his control over the group. In the so-called Godane coup, his forces assassinated Ibrahim al-Afghani, a senior al Shabaab leader who had criticized Godane's leadership in an open letter. Godane's men also killed U.S. citizen Omar Hammami, also known as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, who Godane's forces had pursued for several months due to his criticism of Godane, along with a number of other foreign fighters. Following these killings, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who led the Islamist militant group Hizbul Islam before joining al Shabaab, defected to the Somali government due to fear of Godane.

It is also widely believed that Godane orchestrated the June 2011 death of al Qaeda in East Africa leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed due to Abdullah Mohammed's sharp criticism of al Shabaab's leadership. Some have also claimed that Godane got wind of a plan by al Qaeda to have Abdullah Mohammed (a Comoran) or other foreign al Qaeda leaders installed to lead al Shabaab. Either way, Abdullah Mohammed's criticism was very well documented in an autobiography he published on a jihadist website in 2009, and given how Godane has responded to others who have criticized his leadership, the biography clearly could have provided grounds for his "accidental" death.

Implications for U.S. Counterterrorism Policy

The divisions in the jihadist movement have muddied the waters in places like Syria and Libya and have made it quite difficult to determine affiliations and organizational structure. The divisions also raise some interesting questions regarding the Authorization for Use of Military Force -- the legal document that has driven U.S. counterterrorism operations since shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

The Authorization for Use of Military Force permits military action "against those nations, organizations, or persons he [the president] determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons." Congress and the U.S. court system have generally interpreted the Authorization for Use of Military Force to refer to al Qaeda and the Taliban, even though they are not specifically named.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and its predecessor organizations frequently targeted U.S. forces in Iraq. However, the group has shown no real intent to conduct transnational attacks against the United States since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq. And now that the group has disassociated from al Qaeda, can U.S. forces still target it under the Authorization for Use of Military Force? What about new jihadist groups that are not associated with al Qaeda? These new jihadist groups are almost too numerous to count in Syria.

Aside from the ambiguity caused by the divisions in the jihadist movement, those divisions present some benefits that raise pragmatic conundrums. Is it worth targeting a figure such as al-Baghdadi for a rendition or a missile strike, or is it better to allow him to continue to sow dissention within the jihadist realm and kill al Qaeda figures such as al-Suri?

Another benefit of the fragmentation to the United States is that these smaller groups have tended to be more locally or regionally focused. Quite often they are motivated by nationalistic or tribal objectives rather than global ambitions. For example, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant sees itself as positioned to recreate the Islamic state of the Umayyads and Abbasids and is not interested in wasting resources on a transnational war against the United States.

Moreover, even if these smaller groups were wont to attack U.S. targets, they frequently lack the tradecraft required to conduct transnational terrorist attacks outside of their core operational areas. Conducting a terrorist attack in New York requires a different skill set than that used in guerilla warfare.

A History of Infighting

Finally, we must note that this dissention and fragmentation is not new. In fact, we have discussed the fracturing of the jihadist movement since 2005. Occasionally we have seen leaders emerge who have been able to overcome divisions and unite groups. One such individual was Nasir al-Wahayshi, who was able to unite several disparate and ineffective organizations into al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the largest and most effective jihadist groups today. But he has not been able to quell divisions outside of the Arabian Peninsula.

It is not surprising to see such separations within the jihadist movement. Indeed, as we have previously discussed, as al Qaeda admitted local militant groups such as Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Jamat al-Tawhid wal Jihad under the al Qaeda umbrella, it was also admitting large groups of militants who had their own ideologies and objectives. Some of these groups were closer to the ideology of the al Qaeda core than others, and these doctrinal differences have sown the seeds of divisiveness.

In many ways, the infighting among the jihadist forces resembles the strife between the competing Muslim emirates, sultanates and caliphates of medieval times. However, in medieval times it was Islamic polities fighting each other and today it is non-state actors.

The present-day differences might have been surmountable if the movement had produced a strong charismatic leader who could inspire these diverse militants and convince them to toe the al Qaeda line, but this did not happen under Osama bin Laden's leadership, and Ayman al-Zawahiri has also not demonstrated the ability to be this type of unifying leader.

Indeed, efforts to unite the jihadist movement are failing, and the trend toward fragmentation is not just spreading, it is actually picking up momentum. It has also become far more public since bin Laden's death, with figures such as al-Baghdadi publicly rebelling against al-Zawahiri. As we look at the jihadist movement today, we do not see a leader who will be able to slow, much less reverse, the divisions within the movement.

COPYRIGHT: STRATFOR.COM

What's going on in the World Today 140311

HYPERLINKS MAY REQUIRE AN EMAIL:

USA

U.S. Naval Update Map: March 6, 2014

AFRICA

In Africa, Investment May Follow Sustained Security

Libya: Military Intercepts North Korean Oil Tanker March 10, 2014

Libyan military forces have intercepted the North Korean oil tanker that allegedly loaded illegal oil purchases from rebel forces, Libyan officials said, Libya Herald reported March 10. The tanker is being escorted to Misrata port.

ASIA

Japan's Policy Toward Russia Is Put to the Test

NIGHTWATCH 140305

North Korea: North Korea fired seven short-range rockets from its east coast range near Wonsan on 4 March, using multiple rocket launchers.

Three of the rockets were 240 mm multiple rockets which have a 55 kilometer range. Four rockets were 300-mm rockets which have a range of 155 km, according to the South Korean National Defense Ministry statement.

Comment: The timing of the launches, which are occurring during Allied exercises, is the only potentially unusual feature of these firings. This looks like crew training again, but on rockets instead of ballistic missiles.

Now if the missiles and rockets had been fired towards the Demilitarized Zone or over South Korea and into the water, those acts would have been provocative as well as unprecedented in the last 30 years.

EUROPE

Russia: France Set To Deliver Warship March 5, 2014

The French-built Vladivostok helicopter carrier is setting sail for Russia from the French port of Saint-Nazaire, AP reported March 5. The warship is part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) deal that marks the most valuable sale of weaponry from a NATO member to Russia. France has said it has no plans to void the deal despite its criticism of Russian actions in Crimea. The crisis is reminding countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as Poland and Lithuania that their alliances with the European Union and NATO have clear limitations

Conversation: A Renewed Eurasian Standoff Looms Beyond Ukraine

U.S.: Military To Boost Training, NATO Air Policing March 5, 2014

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to increase training for Poland's air force and provide additional U.S. aircraft for the NATO air policing mission over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Reuters reported March 5. U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said the moves are intended to provide NATO's leaders with options to help to stabilize the situation surrounding the crisis in Ukraine

MEXICO/LATIN AMERICA



Changes in Cocaine Smuggling Tactics

Central America: Cocaine Smugglers Return to the Sea

Mexican Drug Lord, Thought Dead in 2010, Is Reported Killed

MEXICO CITY — In the annals of the Mexican criminal underworld, the son of a powerful drug lord was announced captured and paraded before cameras only for the authorities to later discover they had the wrong guy. Another gang leader was killed, but then associates stole the body. On Sunday, a kingpin presumed dead for more than three years reappeared in the news, to be declared really dead this time.

The authorities said Nazario Moreno, a powerful gang leader known for his quasi-religious preachings that undergirded first the gang La Familia and more recently its spinoff, the Knights Templar, had died Sunday in a confrontation with the military. Officials were understandably cautious but said they had confirmed the man was Mr. Moreno this time.

“From the analysis of the set of 10 fingerprints carried out by the Criminal Investigation Agency, the identity of Nazario Moreno González is positively concluded, 100 percent,” Monte Alejandro Rubido García, the executive secretary of the federal security cabinet, said at a news conference, adding that the result of genetic studies would soon be released.

Mr. Rubido said rumors that Mr. Moreno was alive led to an investigation that found he was not only alive but a leader of the Knights Templar. A car and communication equipment that were believed to be his were seized on Friday. A dragnet closed in on him early Sunday morning.

When the military and the police sought to arrest him, Mr. Moreno opened fire and was killed, Mr. Rubido said.

The renewed death of Mr. Moreno, 40, whose nickname was “The Craziest One,” will surely add to his legend, particularly in Michoacán State, in western Mexico, where he was strongest and where those gangs have terrorized communities with killings, rapes, extortions and kidnapping.

Mr. Moreno secured a particular place among drug and organized crime capos for his affinity for Christian-style verse, collected in a “bible” that followers often carried. He often justified grisly violence, including beheadings, as acts of affirmation to his cultish code. He was often called El Chayo, a play on the nickname for Nazario and the Spanish word for rosary....

AFGHANISTAN

NIGHTWATCH 140311

Afghanistan: On Monday, Taliban leaders warned Afghans against voting in presidential elections on 5 April. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement emailed to media that the group also had instructed clerics across the country to spread the word that the election is "an American conspiracy."

The statement told Afghans they should "reject completely" the election and not put themselves in danger by going to the polls. "We have given orders to all our mujahedeen to use all force at their disposal to disrupt these upcoming sham elections and to target all its workers, activists, callers, security apparatus and offices."

According to the press, Mujahid stated no specific threats or other details about Taliban disruption plans. During the 2009 presidential election, Taliban fighters assaulted and killed election workers, attacked candidates and also attacked voters, in some cases cutting people's fingers off. The group also warned the government against using public buildings, such as mosques and schools, for Hpolling.

Comment: During the 2004 presidential election, the first after the US ouster of the Taliban government, the Taliban also vowed to disrupt the voting. They surged operations nationwide and sustained hundreds of attacks of all kinds for several days, but failed to disrupt the voting.

In 2004 more than 8 million Afghans voted, representing about 70% of the registered voters. Only a handful of polling places were closed because of security. The Taliban attacks killed fewer than two dozen soldiers and elections workers and injured fewer than 50 people.

The Taliban vowed to disrupt the 2009 elections as well, despite the presence of the 30,000-strong US surge force. They executed more than 400 attacks on election day alone, the highest single day total in 15 years, according to a UN report. A heightened level of fighting continued during the week after the elections.

Polling places were closed in some districts because of violence and in many others because of widespread voter fraud. Taliban attacks killed almost three dozen people. The final vote count showed that more than 4.5 million voters participated, less than one-third of the number of registered voters.

Thus, the Taliban surge in 2009 remains the benchmark for Taliban capabilities. If the results of Taliban disruption operations next month equal or exceed those of 2009, they will have invalidated the election.

CHINA

China Takes a Regional Approach to Economic Development

China's Proposed Military Reorganization

IRAN

Trade Routes Between India and Iran

IRAQ

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

ISRAEL

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

RUSSIA

Russia's Cultural Influence in Former Soviet States

Western-Russian Competition Continues in the European Borderlands

Ukraine's Crisis Gives New Impetus to the Visegrad Group

Russia Traps Ukrainian Ships
Ukraine: NATO To Monitor Situation From The Air March 10, 2014

NATO will use reconnaissance aircraft to monitor the situation in Ukraine from Polish and Romanian airspace, the BBC reported March 10. Aircraft such as the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system -- better known as the AWACS -- combine a powerful radar with an airborne command center capable of coordinating the efforts of other assets. Airborne early warning aircraft allow the close monitoring of borders as well as tracking locations and movements of forces.

SYRIA

Exclusive: Syria to miss deadline to destroy 12 chemical arms sites-sources at OPCW

(Reuters) - Syria will miss a major deadline next week in the program to destroy its chemical weapons production facilities, sources at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said on Thursday.

Syria declared 12 production facilities to the OPCW and has until March 15 to destroy them under a deal agreed with the United States and Russia. Damascus has already missed several deadlines laid out in the agreement.

"That will definitely be missed," said an official involved in discussions with Syria, referring to the March 15 deadline.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said there were seven "hardened" aircraft hangars and five underground facilities. "None of them have been destroyed at the moment," the official said.

Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Damascus agreed last year to destroy all chemical weapons facilities and surrender 1,300 metric tons of toxic agents to a joint OPCW/United Nations mission. It has until June 30 to eliminate its chemical weapons program completely.

The deal averted U.S. missile strikes threatened by Washington after an August 21 sarin gas attack killed hundreds of people in the outskirts of the capital.

Syria missed a February 5 deadline to ship all chemicals abroad for destruction and is weeks behind schedule. It has increased the handover of poisonous agents, including a shipment of mustard gas this week, but will not meet a March 30 deadline to neutralize all the chemicals overseas, sources at OPCW said.

That process was already supposed to have started on board the U.S. MV Cape Ray, a cargo ship outfitted with special chemical neutralization equipment. But only a quarter of the so-called priority 1 chemicals, the most dangerous ingredients for chemical weapons, have been relinquished, officials said.

DEADLINES IGNORED

Syria is not taking the deadline for the destruction of production facilities seriously, another source at the OPCW said on Thursday.

"They are not doing things in the timeframe they promised they would," the source said. "The process is in volatile waters."

The latest comments in The Hague, where members of the OPCW are meeting until Friday, came after sharp criticism of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Powers...

MIDDLE EAST GENERAL

Libya: Missile Strikes Tanker Carrying Illegal Oil Shipment March 11, 2014

A North Korean-flagged oil tanker that left Libya with an illegal oil shipment has been struck by a missile and is on fire, the Libya Herald reported March 11. Authorities gave no details on who fired on the tanker. Libya's parliament voted earlier in the day to remove Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from office because of his failure to stop eastern rebels from exporting the country's oil.

MISC

March 7, KXTV 10 Sacramento – (California) FBI bust credit card fraud ring. FBI agents served arrest warrants at two homes and a trucking business in California after two men allegedly ran a payment card fraud scheme through the business and compromised around 23,000 American Express credit cards. A complaint stated that searches discovered over 50 academic reports from the San Juan Unified School District containing personal identifying information.

Officer Down

Detective John Hobbs
Phoenix Arizona Police Department
End of Watch: Monday, March 3, 2014
Age: 43
Tour: 21 years
Badge # 5624

Detective John Hobbs was shot and killed as he and other members of the Fugitive Apprehension Team attempted to serve a felony warrant on a man who had recently been released from prison.

The subject fled in a vehicle and was pursued by the detectives until crashing at the intersection of 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road. The subject then fled on foot. He opened fire on the detectives as they pursued him, striking Detective Hobbs and a second detective. Despite being mortally wounded, Detective Hobbs was able to return fire and fatally shot the subject.

Both wounded detectives were transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in critical condition. Detective Hobbs succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

Detective Hobbs had served with the Phoenix Police Department for 21 years. He is survived by his wife and three 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. 

Fido got transferred.....

Great weekend, celebrated the first of many anniversaries with my beautiful Beth and hope you have a great week!

Another classic example of why print media is dead...

It was not so long ago this was not the case and we were the worse for it. A classic example of this is the quote of William Randolph Hearst saying to his reporter in Cuba, when informed there was no conflict, cabled "You furnish the pictures. I'll furnish the war."

A more modern example of this came in 2004, when Dan Rather, a yellow journalist if there ever was, attempted to derail the reelection of George Bush by bringing up 30 year old allegations that the then Texas Air Guard lieutenant didn't go to his drill's one time. Oh, what a scandal.

Well a more classic example of this comes from the San Francisco Chronicle, by way of this morning's Houston Chronicle. Basically the same, owned by Hearst publishing.

The article was a review of HRC, the recently released bio of the Mrs. Bill Clinton. Most of it was tripe, but I found this part somewhat interesting:

...The book begins with Clinton and her team’s response to defeat in the bitter 2008 presidential primary against the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. It describes the process of her erstwhile campaign aides meticulously rating Democratic members of Congress on their helpfulness in the race, on a scale from one to seven. There was, Allen and Parnes wrote, “a special circle of Clinton hell” for those who stayed on the sidelines or endorsed Obama after the Clintons had helped them raise money, attain a political appointment or get their kid into an elite school.

Yet her us-versus-them approach to patronage and retribution was accompanied by equally old-school graciousness: Clinton made a point of sending 16,000 personalized thank-you notes in the summer of 2008....

Now that is a large number of thank you notes and Mrs Clinton only gave up her election campaign on June 8, 2008. Now an objective, unbiased, journalist would probably find that number a bit large and question it. Of course not in this case, but I did and I ran the numbers.

Assume Mrs Clinton is writing for 90 days and takes a minute to write a single "thank-you note...", then how many minutes a day does it take to do this. Well 16000 divided by 90 equals 177.78. That's just under three hours a day writing thank you notes (assuming they are only one page, she takes a minute and she has an aide address/mail them). Or she uses an auto-pen to write and sign the note, but that's not very personalized. Either the quote from the book and this review is very questionable. Why then wasn't it questioned? I mean, it's not like someone said she shut down a bridge for payback to an opponent.

One of the greatest quotes from one of my favorite books and movies, Inherit the Wind, was when the reporter covering the trail, E. K. Hornbeck, informs the prosecution, Matthew Harrison Brady, "Mr. Brady, it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." I think that has been forgotten by the likes of the NY Times, Washington Post, et all. Too bad. They have a critical function in a republic, keeping the politicians honest. And now they have shirked it.

Obama, Hagel and the downgrading of the United States

I remember a comment when the Chuckie Hagel nomination was announced, it was a finger in the eye to the Republicans.  Hagel, a RINO's RINO, had long been a proponent of gutting the Defense Department.  Well, last week's QDR was no surprise.  However, at least there is some blow back.

House Armed Services Chairman Rejects Defense Review for First Time in History
For the first time in history, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has rejected a major Defense Department strategic review. 

The defense report is required by law every four years. (Image via Defense Department)
The Department of Defense is legally required to submit the Quadrennial Defense Review to Congress every four years to provide long-range vision and planning for potential future conflicts. 

“Unfortunately, the product the process produced this time has more to do with politics than policy and is of little value to decision makers. For that reason, I will require the department to rewrite and resubmit a compliant report,” House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said in a scathing statement after receiving the review Tuesday. 

Committee spokesman Claude Chafin confirmed to TheBlaze this was the first time a chairman has rejected the report and asked for it to be resubmitted. 

 “In defiance of the law, [the review] provides no insight into what a moderate-to-low risk strategy would be, is clearly budget driven, and is shortsighted. It allows the president to duck the consequences of the deep defense cuts he has advocated and leaves us all wondering what the true future costs of those cuts will be,” McKeon said.McKeon said he will introduce legislation requiring the Defense Department to resubmit an acceptable review. 

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel defended the review, while admitting the report reflects current budget woes. 

“These continued fiscal constraints cannot be ignored,” Hagel said in a statement. “It would be dishonest and irresponsible to present a [review] articulating a strategy disconnected from the reality of resource constraints. A strategy must have the resources for its implementation.” 

The review’s release coincided with that of President Barack Obama’s new budget proposal, entailing $600 billion in new spending initiatives and which drew strong reactions from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.The FY15 budget includes a sharp drawdown in the size of the Army, calling for a reduction to 440,000 active duty soldiers from the current size of 520,000. (Image via Department of Defense) 

“As the 2014 elections hang in the balance, President Obama and his fellow Democrats would rather present an unserious, political budget instead of addressing our nation’s long-term fiscal problems,” Priebus said. 

A Pentagon official told TheBlaze that Hagel looks forward to “discussing” the rejected review and the budget later this week with the House Armed Services Committee.
Among many other cuts, the budget includes a sharp drawdown in the size of the Army, calling for a reduction to 440,000 active duty soldiers from the current size of 520,000, while “ensuring the force remains well trained and equipped,” according to the Defense Department....

Hopefully the Obama regime's plan to destroy our military gets stopped here.  It's gonna be bad enough to undue the damage he's done already starting in 2017.

Cops and why they do the job....

Sometimes as a cop you get asked "Are you scared?" My answer is hell yes. And this video shows why we need to be scared. But the chief, speaking at a cop's funeral (at 3.03), explains why we do the job in spite of everything, in spite of the voice telling them "Run!!!"

Be safe out there my fellow cops...

Post by Jerry LLanes.

What's going on in the World Today 140304

Dr. Egon Spengler: I'm worried, Ray. It's getting crowded in there and all my data points to something big on the horizon.

Winston Zeddemore: What do you mean, big?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie... thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds...

Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.

Dr. Peter Venkman: What?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?

Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.

Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

Dr Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon...

Dr. Egon Spengler: Oh good, you're here!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Yeah, what have you got?

Dr. Egon Spengler: This is big, Peter, this is very big. There is definitely something here.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that?

Dr. Egon Spengler: That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me...

Janine Melnitz: You're very handy, I can tell. I bet you like to read a lot, too.

Dr. Egon Spengler: Print is dead.

Janine Melnitz: Oh, that's very fascinating to me. I read a lot myself. Some people think I'm too intellectual but I think it's a fabulous way to spend your spare time. I also play raquetball. Do you have any hobbies?

Dr. Egon Spengler: I collect spores, molds, and fungus...

Dr. Peter Venkman: [as the Ghostbusters approach Gozer] Grab your stick!

[the Ghostbusters draw their handsets]

Dr Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore: HOLDIN'!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Heat 'em up!

[they arm their packs]

Dr Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore: SMOKIN'!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Make 'em hard!

[they rack their handsets]

Dr Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore: READY!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown... THROW IT!...

Dr Ray Stantz: Are you okay?

Louis: Who are you guys?

Dr Ray Stantz: We're the Ghostbusters.

Louis: Who does your taxes?

Dr Ray Stantz: You know, Mr. Tully, you are a most fortunate individual.

Louis: I know!

Dr Ray Stantz: You have been a participant in the biggest interdimensional cross rip since the Tunguska blast of 1909!

Louis: Felt great.

Dr. Egon Spengler: We'd like to get a sample of your brain tissue.

Louis: Okay...

RIP Harold Ramius

HYPERLINKS MAY REQUIRE AN EMAIL:

USA

WASHINGTON — Hardly anything is clear in Washington about what’s happening with the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. Details are embryonic, discussions are just beginning, the whys and wherefores still unclear, memos and specific directions yet to be issued, and sensitivities still raw.

A memo issued Feb. 24 by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to the Navy’s leadership clarified his press conference remarks that day directing that “no new contract negotiations beyond 32 ships will go forward.” Hagel’s artfully-written dictum, however, has enough holes in every sentence to drive a battleship through, allowing for plausible deniability about a host of issues.

Navy officials, pressed for facts about a new “small surface combatant,” are offering virtually no details. Many admit they are waiting for further direction.

Out of the churn, however, several things are becoming clearer:

■- LCS is not being cancelled, despite the tenor and tone of Hagel’s press conference, numerous statements by acting deputy defense secretary Christine Fox, and dozens of media reports;

- The LCS program could continue beyond 32 ships, either with existing designs or with modified versions of one or both designs;

- The Navy will continue to build some sort of small surface combatant, whether or not it’s an LCS;

- There is no specific crisis driving these developments, other than Fox’s insistence on instigating action before she’s replaced in the permanent job by former Navy undersecretary Robert Work, a long-time champion of the LCS.

AFRICA

Al Shabaab's Adaptability

ASIA

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

EUROPE

Conversation: Ukraine's Divisions and Russia's Next Moves

Ukraine's New Government Faces Myriad Crises

Conditions Are Ripe for Radical Groups to Grow in Ukraine

Ukraine: Officials Will Meet With NATO March 3, 2014

NATO and Ukrainian officials will meet March 4 to discuss Article IV of the North Atlantic Treaty, according to a post on Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski's Twitter feed, RT reported March 3. Article IV states that involved parties will convene when the independence or territorial integrity of one of the parties is threatened.

MEXICO/LATIN AMERICA

Regional Leaders Attempt to Mediate Venezuela's Crisis

Conversation: The Implications of El Chapo's Arrest

AFGHANISTAN

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

CHINA

China's Uighur Militants Make a Strategic Shift

New Investment Platforms Raise Questions for China's Banking System

IRAN

No Iran report with new bomb research information: IAEA

(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had not prepared a report with new information about suspected atomic bomb research in Iran, after Israel urged it to go public with all information it has regarding such suspicions.

Israel's statement followed a Reuters report on Thursday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had planned a major report on Iran last year that might have revealed more of its alleged activities that could be used for designing a nuclear warhead, but had held off as Tehran's relations with the outside world thawed.

Sources familiar with the matter said the IAEA apparently had not gone ahead with writing the report and that there was no way of knowing what extra information might have been included in such a document, although one source said it could have added to worries about Iran.

According to the sources, the IAEA was believed to have dropped the idea of a new report, at least for the time being.

In 2011, the IAEA issued a landmark report with a trove of intelligence indicating past activity in Iran which could be relevant for developing nuclear weapons, some of which it said might still be continuing. Iran rejected the allegations as fabricated and baseless.

Since then, the U.N. watchdog has said it has obtained more information that "has further corroborated" its analysis in the 2011 document, but has not given details.

"The IAEA has not prepared any report containing new information relating to possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," spokeswoman Gill Tudor said in an email on Friday, in response to a question.

"The agency's reports on Iran to its Board of Governors are factual and impartial. Their content is not influenced by political considerations," Tudor said, giving no other details....

Iran cutting sensitive nuclear stocks, much work remains: IAEA

(Reuters) - Iran is reducing its most proliferation-prone nuclear stockpile as required by its landmark deal with world powers but much work remains to be done to resolve all concerns about Tehran's activities, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Monday.

Among measures Iran is taking since the interim agreement took effect on January 20 is the dilution of its stock of higher-enriched uranium to a fissile concentration less suitable for any attempt to fuel an atomic bomb.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), indicated that Iran had made sufficient progress in this regard to receive a scheduled March 1 installment of $450 million out of a total of $4.2 billion in previously blocked overseas funds.

The IAEA has a pivotal role in checking that Iran is living up to its part of the six-month accord in curbing its disputed nuclear program in exchange for some easing of sanctions that have impaired its oil-dependent economy.

"As of today, measures agreed under the Joint Plan of Action are being implemented as planned," Amano said, referring to the November 24 agreement struck in Geneva between Iran and the United States, Germany, France, Russia, China and Britain.

These included "the dilution of a proportion of Iran's inventory" of 20 percent uranium gas to a lower enrichment level, which "has reached the halfway mark", he told the IAEA's 35-nation board, according to a copy of his speech.

Under the accord, Iran suspended enrichment of uranium to 20 percent fissile concentration - a relatively short technical step away from the level required for nuclear bombs - and is taking action to neutralize its holding of the material.

In return, Iran is gradually winning access to $4.2 billion of its oil revenues frozen abroad and some other sanctions relief. The funds will be paid out in eight transfers on a schedule that started with a $550 million payment by Japan on February 1.

Last month, banking sources said South Korea was set to make two payments in March totaling $1 billion.

The March 1 installment depended on Iran following a schedule for diluting part of its stockpile, which Amano's comment suggested it now had. But it was not immediately clear if the funds had already been transferred to Iran.

The Geneva deal was designed to buy time for negotiations on a final settlement of the decade-old stand-off over nuclear activity that Iran says is peaceful but the West fears may be latently aimed at developing a nuclear bomb capability.

IRAQ

EXCLUSIVE-Iraq signs deal to buy arms, ammunition from Iran - documents

* Deal includes eight contracts worth $195 million in total

* Contracts signed weeks after Iraq PM Maliki visited U.S.

* Deal violates U.N. arms embargo on Iran (Updates with U.S. State Department spokeswoman, paragraphs 7-9 and 11-14)

By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by Reuters - a move that would break a U.N. embargo on weapons sales by Tehran.

The agreement was reached at the end of November, the documents showed, just weeks after Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned from lobbying the Obama administration in Washington for extra weapons to fight al Qaeda-linked militants.

Some in Washington are nervous about providing sensitive U.S. military equipment to a country they worry is becoming too close to Iran. Several Iraqi lawmakers said Maliki had made the deal because he was fed up with delays in U.S. arms deliveries.

A spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister would not confirm or deny the sale, but said such a deal would be understandable given Iraq's current security troubles.

"We are launching a war against terrorism and we want to win this war. Nothing prevents us from buying arms and ammunition from any party and it's only ammunition helping us to fight terrorists," said the spokesman, Ali Mussawi.

The Iranian government denied any knowledge of a deal to sell arms to Iraq. It would be the first official arms deal between Shi'ite Iran and Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and would highlight the growing bond between them in the two years since the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq....

ISRAEL

Ultra-Orthodox Jews Clog Jerusalem Streets to Protest a Draft Bill

JERUSALEM — In a formidable show of force, at least 300,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men flooded the streets around the main entrance to Jerusalem on Sunday, bringing much of the city to a standstill with a protest against a government plan that aims to conscript more of their numbers for military service and holds out the threat of arrest for religious draft dodgers.

The rally, described as a mass prayer gathering by ultra-Orthodox leaders, was a largely peaceful expression of what many here are calling a culture war over one of the most significant challenges facing Israeli society.

For decades, the ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredim, or those who fear God, have been exempted from military service as long as they were registered in a yeshiva, or religious seminary, and engaged in full-time Torah study. Mainstream Israelis, who are conscripted at 18, have come to view the enlistment of the fast-growing Haredi minority and its subsequent integration into the work force as imperative for the viability of the country and its economy.

The law would subject yeshiva students to conscription and possible imprisonment. Credit Thomas Coex/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
But for the disciplined ranks of ultra-Orthodox men who answered the call of their rabbis on Sunday, the proposed draft bill, and in particular, the call for criminal sanctions, is an abomination...

RUSSIA

Ukraine Finds its Military Options Limited

Russia Consolidates Control Over Crimea's Future

Military Exercises in Russia

SYRIA

Saudi Arabia Overhauls Its Strategy for Syria

MIDDLE EAST GENERAL

Libya vows to stick to democratic path after MPs shot | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

TRIPOLI: Libyan authorities vowed Monday to pursue a democratic transition in the face of mounting lawlessness after two MPs were shot when protesters stormed the country's transitional parliament.

On Sunday, two members of the General National Congress (GNC) were shot and wounded as armed protesters stormed their building in Tripoli. In a separate incident, a French engineer was killed in the restive eastern city of Benghazi.

"I assure you we are committed to the path of the February 17 revolution and to pursue the democratic process," GNC president Nuri Abu Sahmein said in a televised address, referring to the uprising that ended Moamer Kadhafi's four-decade rule.

Abu Sahmein said the MPs' wounds were not life-threatening but condemned what he termed a "flagrant aggression on the seat of legitimate sovereignty."

He urged former rebel fighters who ousted Kadhafi to protect the capital and state institutions.

On Monday, ex-rebels equipped with pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns were posted around the GNC building, where at least five burnt-out cars testified to the previous day's violence.

Abu Sahmein said the GNC was examining a roadmap for the handover of power "as quickly as possible" to an elected body.

The GNC, elected after the 2011 uprising, has stirred popular anger by extending its mandate from early February until the end of December....

MISC

Geopolitical Calendar: Week of March 3, 2014

Except where noted courtesy STRATFOR.COM

Good news from up north...

I've said more than once, police K9s are not dogs, they are family. Good to hear this POS got something for killing the K9 here.

RIP K9 Quanto

Man gets 26 months for killing Edmonton police dog

EDMONTON - A man who killed an Edmonton police dog has been sentenced to 26 months in prison.

Paul Joseph Vukmanich has also been banned from owning a pet for 25 years.

Judge Larry Anderson told Vukmanich on Friday that he didn't just attack a dog. "It's an attack on your society and it's an attack on what's meaningful in society."

Court heard that Vukmanich was high on drugs and fleeing from police last fall when he repeatedly stabbed the dog named Quanto.

Officers had set the German shepherd loose after Vukmanich was caught driving a car with stolen plates and ran away on foot.

Vukmanich, 27, pleaded guilty earlier this week to animal cruelty and other offences, including evading police.

Crown and defence lawyers recommended a plea deal for the 26 months. While the judge said he wanted to impose more time, he decided the recommendation wasn't so out of line that he could overrule it.

He specifically said 18 months of the sentence was for the dog's death.

Crown prosecutor Christian Lim told reporters he believes that sets a precedent for animal cruelty.

The Crown had also requested Vukmanich be ordered to pay $40,000 to police to cover the cost of a new dog and its training. But the judge said the restitution matter should be handled by a civil court.

Anderson noted that the case "struck a public nerve." Police were swamped with emails and messages of sympathy after the dog died. At the time, police also complained that the toughest charge available was animal cruelty.

The federal government signalled in the speech from the throne in October that it would create new legislation to protect animals that work with police and call it Quanto's Law. The government did not specify what the law might entail.

"They deserve special protection and recognition under the law and it's our intention to do just that and bring in provisions that will recognize service animals," said federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay, who was in Calgary on Friday to give a speech.

MacKay wouldn't provide a timeline for when such legislation may be introduced.

"We're sitting in a Parliament now that is extremely busy and is seized with a lot of justice bills. I'm not trying to avoid giving you a specific answer as to when the law will be coming ... (but) we have legislation in the queue," he said...

...Quanto was the fifth Edmonton police dog to die in the line of duty.

Court heard that Vukmanich was on parole and high on cocaine and methamphetamine when police tried to pull him over on Oct. 7. He sped over a median and several curbs, blowing out three tires, before abandoning the car in a parking lot. He then took off on foot.

When he refused to stop, Quanto was deployed.

The dog bit Vukmanich on the arm and hand. Vukmanich then stabbed the animal several times in the chest.

Const. Matt Williamson carried his bleeding dog to an emergency veterinarian but he couldn't be saved.

The officer told court in his victim impact statement that although Quanto lived with his family, the dog's primary role was as his protector, a role the animal fearlessly fulfilled.

However, Williamson said, Quanto's death has had a profound effect on the officer's six-year-old daughter, who came to him crying one day with a question: "If Quanto's job was to protect you from bad guys ... is a bad guy going to kill you?"

Williamson said the little girl never lets him leave for work now without hugging him first.

Williamson is to start training a new dog and will rejoin the canine unit in the spring.

Bugs Bunny, shots fired, take that left turn at Albuquerque !!!!!

Well a few months ago I started a manure storm over a video of a cop handling a scene and my statement that I didn't see (for the most part) errors on his part. Let me see if we can start that again.

Video: Albuquerque officer shot at suspect 8 times

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- An Albuquerque police officer shot at a suspected carjacker eight times as the man backed away then turned and ran to escape, newly released police video shows.

The footage released Monday calls into question a previous police account of the incident contained in a criminal complaint. It says witnesses told police that suspect Joaquin Ortega threatened Officer Brian Pitzer with a handgun and was shot as he turned toward the officer.

Ortega is not seen holding a gun in the video taken by Pitzer's lapel camera. However, police said a handgun was found between two cars along the route where Ortega fled.

The video was released by the Albuquerque Police Department as it faces a U.S. Justice Department investigation over several high-profile abuse cases and three dozen shootings since 2010.

It was sought months ago by media outlets in public information requests concerning the wounding of the 34-year-old Ortega in the October 2013 chase...

...The shooting was Pitzer's third in six and a-half years with the department, authorities said.

The footage shows Pitzer arriving at a muffler shop after getting a report that a woman and her 7-year-old grandson had been robbed of $15 at gunpoint by a man who then tried to carjack a truck. The video shows Pitzer spotting Ortega, drawing his gun and yelling, "Let's see your hands now! Let's see your hands now, dude!"

As Pitzer approaches, Ortega is shown running between the two cars as Pitzer fires his weapon. Ortega keeps running and Pitzer shoots again. Ortega is seen stopping and falling on a sidewalk...

...Reporters requested the video after then-Interim Police Chief Allen Banks displayed a still image from the lapel camera that he said showed that Ortega turned toward the officer with a gun.

Banks had refused to release the footage and told reporters he wasn't going to try the case in the media.

The department recently hired a new police chief, former New Mexico Public Safety Secretary Gorden Eden, who has vowed to review the department's policies and leadership structure...

OK, here we go again. I don't see anything wrong here. To my anonymous commenters, let me set this up. The officer was responding to a report of an armed robbery. That alone puts the officer on edge. He gets there, the first thing Officer Pitzer does is get his weapon out, which is more than understandable. If the suspect has a gun, he can shoot first. But what do you hear though the beginning of the video. "Let's see your hands now! Let's see your hands now, dude!" All Ortega had to do is drop the gun, put his hands out and the officer could have taken him into custody without incident. Ortega decides to run and the officer has to make a decision in a fraction of a second.

There is no question Ortega was armed, at least at the beginning of the incident. In a matter of a couple of steps Pitzer has to decide if Ortega has a gun in his hand and if so, he has fear for his life or serious bodily injury.

You have just reached the legal justification of use of deadly force.

Now the Sacramento Bee putting in the red herring about a US Department of Justice investigation is laughable. The Holder Justice Department cannot be trusted to not sell weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Forgive me but they are not a reliable judge of proper police operations.

Officer Pitzer, good work. Hope this goes over quick.

Sure it's not about the money.... But I have to completely agree with the decision on filming police in public.

I have said more than once while preforming my duties in public I can be videotaped. I have no reasonable expectation of privacy and by the way, nor do the general public. If I can view it, I can tape it.

From Indianapolis, a story of how to not handle the public (assuming this is the full story).

Indianapolis cops must allow citizens to film police activity after $200k settlement

The terms of a recently settled lawsuit in Indianapolis, Indiana will require the city’s police force to remind officers that it’s legal for civilians to videotape on-duty cops, but it will also cost the department more than just that.

In addition to having to adopt an official policy recognizing the right for citizens to record law enforcement officials, the City of Indianapolis is also cutting a $200,000 check for a local man who was arrested and injured by police in 2011 after he refused to stop filming a nearby arrest.

Willie King was watching Indianapolis police officers arrest a young man in his neighbor’s driveway three years ago this month when he decided it would be a good idea to grab his cellphone and start recording. The cops weren’t too keen about being caught on film, however, and ordered King, then 66 years old, to hand over his phone.

“Sir, you know that if he resists any more they can take your phone as evidence,” an officer was caught saying, according to transcripts published this week by local news network WISH-TV.

“I don’t give a [expletive] what you do, y’all just don’t harm him,” King responded.

When King refused to stop recording from his neighbor’s porch, he was tackled to the ground, arrested and charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public intoxicating.

King was ultimately found not guilty of those charges, but turned around and filed a civil suit against the city over alleged First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations.

That case was scheduled to go to trial starting March 10, but it’s now been reported that the city decided to settle this past January.

King is being awarded $200,000 from the city as part of that settlement, but the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is also being forced to institute a new policy prohibiting police officers from bothering with eyewitnesses who are recording their actions.

According to excerpts of the policy published on Thursday by WISH-TV, local law enforcement officials have 60 days to adopt a policy that states “police officers should not interfere with civilians who are observing or recording their actions by video or audio in public, so long as the civilians maintain a safe and reasonable distance if necessary from the scene of a police action, do not physically interfere with the officers’ performance of their duty and do not represent a physical danger to the officers, civilians or others.”

“Willie King was wronged when the officers stopped his videotaping and took away his cellphone,” King’s attorney, Richard Waples, was quoted as saying by The Indiana Lawyer website. “We want to make sure that in the future police officers understand that people have the right to video record their actions."...

Sunlight cleans things up and I have no issue with being videotaped. I will require you to do it from a safe distance, e.g. across the street, but I have to agree with this ruling.

Woman wants to report personal issues to the officer

OK, I was once offered twenty bucks for not giving someone a ticket, but I've never been given this suggestion...

Woman to 911: Officer won’t have sex with me

A woman was arrested after she called 911 to complain that an officer who had been at her home earlier refused to have sex with her.

Florida's NBC-2 reports that 58-year-old Maria Montenez-Colon of Punta Gorda initially called 911 complaining that she wanted her Corvette back, even though she had signed ownership of the car over to her step-son after her husband died. An officer came to her home to explain to her the proper use of 911, but the conversation quickly turned to sex. The incident report notes that a very intoxicated Montenez-Colon told the officer he was sexy, asked him if he was married and told him she hasn't had sex in years. Police say Montenez-Colon also repeatedly tried to grab the officer's arm and rub her hands on his chest.

The officer left after handing her a card with the department's number on it for future non-emergency calls.

Less than an hour later, Montenez-Colon called 911 again, complaining the officer who was at her home wouldn't have sex with her. She said calling 911 the second time was the only way she would be able to get the officer to have sex with her.

Montenez-Colon was arrested for Misuse of 911 and booked in the county jail.

Gotta say this ranks up there with calling 9/11 for McDonalds not having their special sauce.

Pure evil...and the fact gun control really works!

Good to know we got this POS, great to hear the officer is stable

Suspect arraigned in NYPD officer shooting in Brooklyn

Police officer shooting suspect arriagned on charges

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A pair of off-duty EMTs are being credited with jumping into action to help a rookie NYPD officer who was shot multiple times while attempting to arrest a bus fare jumper with his fellow rookie partner in Brooklyn.

Police say 26-year-old Officer James Li got into a gun battle with the suspect at Utica Avenue and Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights. One man was taken into custody, but the manhunt continues for a second suspect.

Rashun Robinson, 28, has been arrested on attempted murder, assault, weapon possession and other charges.

Robinson didn't even make an attempt to get bail Thursday night.

He was arraigned in Kings County Criminal Court on a number of felony counts, including the attempted murder of a police officer.

"The question was put to him, why did you shoot? 'Because I hate cops.' No other reason," said Pat Lynch, PBA President.

The incident began around 5 p.m. Wednesday, when Li and his partner spotted the two men enter a bus through the rear doors. They got on the bus and removed the men, who ran once they hit the street.

The suspect then fired at the officers, who both fired back. Witnesses reported hearing as many as 20 shots ring out. Li was hit in both legs, specifically leg, groin and thigh...

..The gunman escaped, but thanks to civilians and nearby residents, police were directed to a nearby building, where they found Robinson hiding out in a fifth-floor hallway...

Police say Robinson was carrying a loaded .45-caliber weapon. They say Robinson's wanted in Pennsylvania on drug charges.

Li was taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition.

Police officials say this is just another example of how seemingly routine police work can be the most dangerous.

"A dangerous felon is now off the street, another firearm off the street," NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said. "All as a result of very good police work by two rookie police officers who I am pleased to have as members of the New York City Police Department."

Both officers graduated from the Police Academy in December.

Good to see that gun control helps. In a city and state where firearms are basically illegal this wanted suspect is in possession of a 45. But don't worry, the governor there says you don't need 7 rounds to hunt.

Hope your back on your feet soon soon Officer Li.

Again, Mark Steyn nails it. No wonder the Canadians want to put him in jail.

One of the points I've made more than once is the "A Team" of Democrats is made up of people who have never done anything. OK. they won election and too many re-elections to count. But is that a real accomplishment. Show me you can govern. Have you been a governor or mayor, working with or against a legislature to complete a budget? Have you run a business, seen it grow? I can say, without question, the Republicans are better than the Democrats on them. Examples? Reagan was the governor the largest state in the union, George HW Bush head of the CIA, George W Bush governor of the forth largest state, etc.

On the Democratic side, you have Mrs. Bill Clinton, who is nothing if unaccomplished. Yes, she has an Ivy League law degree, but what has she done with that? Name me a major case she's argued in front of the Supreme Court, or any court. Show me a major accomplishment in "government service"? She took on reforming Arkansas schools while her husband was governor and they went down in national ratings. When she tried to put in nationalized health care in 1993, she got her ass kicked. She was elected (see previous comments on elections) senator from New York only because the Democratic party leadership selected her. Payoff for standing by her man. Give Bubba Clinton this, he was a governor, put himself into the arena.

B Hussein Obama's accomplishments...yea, right. Joe Biden....please, those are faker than his hair plugs.

Not to say the Republians don'e have their pretenders. John McCain comes to the top of the list. Again, give Romney this, although I have major issues with him on the issues, he was a governor.

Now on the my favorite Limbaugh substitutive host, Mark Stein, on an issue for the left.

Those Who Can’t, Govern

By Mark Steyn

For much of last year, a standard trope of President Obama’s speechwriters was that there were certain things only government could do. “That’s how we built this country — together,” he declared. “We constructed railroads and highways, the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. We did those things together.” As some of us pointed out, for the cost of Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill alone, you could have built 1,567 Golden Gate Bridges — or one mega–Golden Gate Bridge stretching from Boston to just off the coast of Ireland. Yet there isn’t a single bridge, or a single dam (“You will never see another federal dam,” his assistant secretary of the interior assured an audience of environmentalists). Across the land, there was not a thing for doting network correspondents in hard hats to stand in front of and say, “Obama built this.”

Until now, that is. Obamacare is as close to a Hoover Dam as latter-day Big Government gets. Which is why its catastrophic launch is sobering even for those of us who’ve been saying for five years it would be a disaster. It’s as if at the ribbon-cutting the Hoover Dam cracked open and washed away the dignitaries; as if the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to traffic with its central span missing; as if Apollo 11 had taken off for the moon but landed on Newfoundland. Obama didn’t have to build a dam or a bridge or a spaceship, just a database and a website. This is his world, the guys he hangs with, the zeitgeist he surfs so dazzlingly, Apple and Google, apps and downloads. But his website’s a sclerotic dump, and the database is a hacker’s heaven, and all that’s left is the remorseless snail mail of millions and millions of cancellation letters.

For the last half-century, Obama has simply had to be. Just being Obama was enough to waft him onwards and upwards: He was the Harvard Law Review president who never published a word, the community organizer who never organized a thing, the state legislator who voted present. And then one day came the day when it wasn’t enough simply to be. For the first time in his life, he had to do. And it turns out he can’t. He’s not Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. And Healthcare.gov is about what you’d expect if you nationalized a sixth of the economy and gave it to the Assistant Deputy Commissar of the Department of Paperwork and the Under-Regulator-General of the Bureau of Compliance.

Politics, the late Christopher Hitchens used to say, is show business for ugly people. But it’s also ugly business for show people. Thatcherism is a political philosophy; Obamaism is a vibe, a groove, a pose, an aesthetic. When his speechwriters are cooking, he’ll get them to work up a little riff about how it’s not about Big Government vs. Small Government, it’s about “smarter” government. A few months ago, he even gave it a hashtag! #SmarterGov. How cool is that? “Smart” refers less to the product than to the guys pitching it. “He’s probably the smartest guy ever to become president,” said the historian Michael Beschloss the day after Obama’s election. In an embarrassing effusion even by his own standards, another smart guy, the New York Times’ house conservative David Brooks, noted the incoming administration’s narrow range of almae matres and cooed: “If a foreign enemy attacks the United States during the Harvard–Yale game anytime over the next four years, we’re screwed.” Obama and his courtiers were the smartest guys in town, so naturally their government would be smarter than all previous governments. A few weeks before Obamacare’s launch, one of the smart set, Dan Pfeiffer, promised it would be “a consumer experience unmatched by anything in government, but also in the private sector.” And he was right, kind of.

What does Dan Pfeiffer know of this thing called “the private sector”? To say there is less private-sector experience in the Obama administration than in any other of the last century hardly begins to convey the particular pool of smarts on which this president has drawn. Nearly 60 percent of Eisenhower’s cabinet appointments had private-sector experience; Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes scored well over 50; FDR and Truman smack on 50/50; in Obama’s cabinet, fewer than 10 percent have real-world business experience. None of Obamacare’s begetters have ever created anything — certainly not a dime of real wealth.

Instead, we have government by people who read Thomas L. Friedman and use words like “interconnectedness” and give commencement addresses where they rave about how our world is changing so fast — and assume that just being glibly au courant is a substitute for being able to do, make, build. There are lessons here beyond the abysmal failure of one misconceived government program, lessons about what our esteemed (if not terminally self-esteemed) elites value as “smart,” and about the perils of rule by a poseur technocracy. As for Obama, he’s not Jay-Z, nor even Justin Bieber: He can’t sing, or dance, or create a government bureaucracy that functions any more efficiently than a Soviet supermarket. He broke the lifelong rule that had served him so well — “Don’t just do something. Stand there” — and for the first time in his life did something, terribly. It will bear his name forever.

A criticism of Ike's cabinet was describing it was "Ten business men and a plumber." The plumber alone is more accomplished than most of the members of B Hussein Obama's cabinet. Hopefully we can rid of this mess in the next election.

Officer Down

Officer Juan Gonzalez
California Highway Patrol
End of Watch: Monday, February 17, 2014
Bio & Incident Details
Age: 33
Tour: 6 years
Badge # 18935


Officer Brian Law
California Highway Patrol
End of Watch: Monday, February 17, 2014
Age: 34
Tour: 6 years
Badge # 18896

Officer Brian Law and Officer Juan Gonzalez were killed in a single vehicle crash while responding to an accident call on Highway 99, near Bethel Avenue, in Kingsburg at approximately 6:00 am.

Both officers were riding in the same cruiser responding to the accident, which had been incorrectly reported in the northbound lanes of Highway 99. As they responded to the scene they came upon the accident in the southbound lanes with one of the victims in their travel lane. The patrol car swerved in an attempt to avoid striking the victim, struck the guardrail, and overturned.

They both suffered fatal injuries in the crash.

Officer Law had served with the California Highway Patrol for six years. He is survived by his wife and three children.

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. 

Let's see if the Houston Chronicle, LA Times, etc defame police again today.

OK, regularly the Houston Chronicle has a front page report on how bad cops (and firefighters, etc, but that's another story for another day) do their jobs. Thursday morning, here we go again.

Border agents’ use of force criticized

WASHINGTON — Border Patrol agents have deliberately stepped in the path of cars to justify shooting at the drivers and have fired in frustration at people throwing rocks from the Mexican side of the border, according to an independent review of 67 cases that led to 19 deaths.

The report by law enforcement experts criticized the Border Patrol for “lack of diligence” in investigating U.S. agents who had fired their weapons. It also said it was unclear whether the agency “consistently and thoroughly reviews” use-of-deadly-force incidents.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which had commissioned the review, has tried to keep the scathing 21-page report from coming to light.

House and Senate oversight committees requested copies last fall but got only a summary minus the most controversial findings — that some border agents stood in front of moving vehicles as a pretext to open fire, and that agents could have moved away from rock-throwers instead of shooting at them.

The Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau obtained the full report and the agency’s 23-page internal response. The response rejects the two major recommendations: barring agents from firing on vehicles unless its occupants are trying to kill them, and barring agents from shooting people who throw things that can’t cause serious physical injury.

The response, marked “Law Enforcement Sensitive,” states that a ban on shooting at rock throwers “could create a more dangerous environment” because many agents operate “in rural or desolate areas, often alone, where concealment, cover and egress is not an option.”
If drug smugglers knew border agents were not allowed to shoot at their vehicles, it argues, more drivers would try to run over agents....

FYI, Law Enforcement Sensitive means it's a law enforcement distribution, not general publication. A wanted notice saying John Smith, White Male, wanted for robbery is located generally not put out if we don't want Mr Smith to know he's wanted. It's not the report is Top Secret with a codeword. And a report that normally is an internal document used to identify issues is not something you want put out to the public. Houston Chronicle, you want your dirty laundry put out for all to read?

Now this is interesting.

Complaints by Mexico

...Mexico has complained for years that U.S. border agents who kill Mexicans are rarely disciplined, and that the results of investigations are not made public for years. Critics warn that more deaths or abuses are inevitable unless stricter limits on use of lethal force are imposed.
“There needs to be a level of accountability if you want to change the culture and the pattern,” said Christopher Wilson, an expert on U.S.-Mexico relations at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington. “People are being killed that don’t need to be killed.”

The review was completed in February 2013 by the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit in Washington. Experts from the group were allowed to examine internal Border Patrol files on 67 shooting incidents from January 2010 to October 2012.

Often no direct threat

The authors said the files suggested border agents in some cases stood in the road to shoot at drivers who were trying to avoid arrest and who posed no direct lethal threat to them or others.

“It should be recognized that a half-ounce (200-grain) bullet is unlikely to stop a 4,000-pound moving vehicle, and if the driver is disabled by a bullet, the vehicle will become a totally unguided threat,” the report reads. “Obviously, shooting at a moving vehicle can pose a risk to bystanders including other agents.”

The authors recommended training agents “to get out of the way” instead of intentionally standing in the oncoming vehicle’s path.

They also recommended that the Border Patrol adopt policies used by most U.S. police, which bar officers from firing at a moving vehicle unless deadly force is being used “by means other than a moving vehicle.”

First, Mexico, you don't want your citizens shot by our Border Patrol, keep them on your side of the border or let them go through the authorized crossing spots. Or as Chris Rock used to say, "Rule number one, obey the law."

Two, if you are deliberately driving a vehicle at a peace officer, you are using deadly force. This may shock some of the geniuses at this think tank, but driving a motor vehicle over a human will likely cause death or serious bodily injury. And that is definition of the legal justification for the use of deadly force. See comments above, obey the law and we don't have this issue.