On October 24, 2011 · Comments Off
Once again, GWOT Veterans are in the cross hairs of the very government they served to protect YOUR liberties… When you sit and read the articles, keep in mind how easy it would be to construe a wounded Veteran from recent operations in Iraq who loves to be prepared and live outdoors showing up at a surplus store. Having been wounded, and losing limbs, they can easily be ‘profiled’ according to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force handout as a domestic terrorist. This after MIAC, and the DHS Report in 2008. BOHICA!
David Codrea’s Gun Rights Examiner article: http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/fbi-adds-preppers-to-potential-terrorists-list?CID=examiner_alerts_article
PDF of the FBI handout to Colorado Surplus stores… ColoradoFBISurplusStore
On April 13, 2011 · Comments Off
Really, if any agency deserves budget cuts more than the TSA let me know… Wait, never mind, I can think of a few myself… However, maybe we should do away with the multiple redundant bureaucracy that is the Dept. of Homeland Security and send ‘Big Sis’ Napolitano back to New Mexico. Its obvious that these ‘enhanced’ screening techniques often times end up being used on children who aren’t involved in terrorism; along with grandmothers, grandfathers, and I’m sure handicapped folks. Being a father of toddlers, this disgusts me; being a GWOT veteran who went forth to kill terrorists in their own nation, this angers me further to see these amateurs ignore techniques that are far less intrusive and far more effective (yes it involves profiling behavior, not race; though since most of the crazy suicide bombers stem from one part of the world… however that behavior profiling might also yield some other results in other arenas such as battling drug smuggling…). So here it is folks the articles for your perusal from Glenn Beck’s The Blaze: Little Miss Drexel’s folks, and the Jihad Jammer. So, which Americans should we screen more closely?
On February 15, 2011 · Comments Off
…or MRARANOD (pronounced Murrrahh-NOD)!
15FEB2011
Yet another reason to follow El Al’s example of screening from the moment people show up at the airport and observing their actions up until they board instead of the screening we currently have in place now with the DHS TSA. Corruption was certainly bound to happen, and did in New Jersey.
“Michael Arato, 41, of Ewing also admitted Monday in federal court in Newark that he regularly stole from passengers who went through his checkpoint in Terminal B.
Prosecutors say Arato permitted a worker he supervised to steal between $10,000 and $30,000 in cash from travelers’ bags over a 13-month period. In exchange, the subordinate would give a portion of the money to Arato. The subordinate, who was not named, cooperated with the federal investigation that led to Arato’s arrest in October.”
The Middle East is definitely in the spotlight as of late with Egypt’s coup d’etat. Interesting how when Egypt has turned over the reigns of power to the Military and they suspend both parliament and the Constitution nobody on the Left in this country is screaming foul (like they did in Honduras back in 2009 when the military arrested the President after he attempted to be able to become President for life… parliament actually requested the Honduran military remove him from the country if I recall). However, there is indeed good signs coming out of some of the actions of Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, largely the Parliament was run by Mubarak supporters, and parts of the Constitution worked for Mubarak to rig elections… However, its still a situation to observe closely and skeptically based on historical precedent.
While Rick Francona doesn’t see the same religious undertones he saw in the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the possibility still remains for the Muslim Brotherhood to turn Egypt into an Islamic Republic. So far people are pretty positive about the Muslim Brotherhoods sincerity in creating, and allowing, other political parties; however many of us who have read about the Muslim Brotherhood and their history in the region remain skeptical. While they are all about democracy and the ballot box today, when they gain control tomorrow that remains to be seen. Democracy in its truest form is mob rule, whoever has the most votes DICTATES just as much as an autocratic dictator; this is why our country is a Constitutional Republic with a form of Representative Democracy with safeguards to protect minorities. Seeing how Islamic Republics like Iran, or the Taliban, ‘respect’ minorities such as Christians, Jews, tribal sects, and women; I’m remaining cautiously skeptical. Good things can certainly happen within Egypt, so long as the Muslim Brotherhoods dream of an Islamic Republic of Egypt is NOT realized. One of the primary concerns here is the Muslim Brotherhoods demands that the treaty with Israel is not recognized by any new regime… This to me is very telling that the party of reform in Egypt is also the party of war; that is the Muslim Brotherhood. I highly, highly, recommend folks read “The Looming Tower” by Lawrence Wright; the history of modern radical Islam in that book is enlightening (especially the relationship of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda).
This movement has indeed emboldened many across the Middle East to do the same kinds of protests, and its fascinating to see whats going on in Iran. To me the silence of the American media and our current Administration is deafening. On the one hand, they covered Iran’s regimes mass demonstration in support of the Egyptian protests that toppled Mubarak (because Mubarak was an American supporter), yet on the other hand when the ‘chickens come to roost’ in Iran the Iranian government is seeking to crush them completely? Irony. Of course, you never saw the same level of support from Obama and the American Left for Irans protesters back in 2009, nor are we going to see the same level of support they gave Egypt this time as well. I believe that the current Administration needs to come out much more strongly in favor of the protesters in Iran, and do so publicly as a clear message that we aren’t going to play Iran’s nuclear game any more, nor are we going to accept their actions in the form of Hizbollah. We need to send a clear message that the current Islamic Regime is unacceptable and needs to be toppled. But that would require our government to grow a pair and wield the big stick that goes with talking softly. What ever happened to the idea of a war of liberation, or at least the threat of force to ensure liberation? If we do nothing, many more are going to die soon if we do little or nothing.
Got to love Doomsday scenarios… We are now an apocalyptic people, we all see apocalypse around us in our media; be it the zombie apocalypse (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and a whole host of clones and remakes), post nuclear apocalypse (Mad Max, Fallout 3, etc.), or biblical apocalypse (Left Behind, End of Days, etc..). New York has finally gone ahead and published a Doomsday ‘manual’! Really, its just a Public Health Legal Manual, a guide for Judges, Attorneys, and Public Health Professionals. What should be done is perhaps teaching their people how to be somewhat self sufficient… Or else when disaster hits the hordes of barbarians will raid and pillage those who have prepared and leave everyone starving. Its likely going to be a bloody mess of mobs and the Judges, Attorneys, and Public Health Professionals will likely be able to do too little to stop the chaos. It’ll be up to the people outside NYC to clean up the mess, most likely a disproportionate amount of American resources will be wasted trying to recover a dead NYC should an event of apocalyptic proportions affect NYC, thats the cost of most of the population not having to leave a three mile radius most of they’re lives (not to mention the proportion of welfare recipients who will suddenly cease to get any of it rather suddenly).
Perhaps what makes my head explode more is the fact that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wants to end the practice of US Representatives living in their Congressional offices… Apparently, 33 Representatives who don’t leave the House when they are in Washington DC is ‘un-ethical’. They equate it being dorm rooms and frat houses? Apparently they believe it violates House Rules and and is an unreported tax benefit?! What planet are they on? I’m happy to see Representatives practicing some fiscal sense and not paying $2,000 a month to the Watergate Hotel for a one room suite! How much you want to bet Watergate is behind CREWs investigation?
On a more positive note, Soldiers love the XM-25 25mm ‘smart’ grenade launcher! Nothing like ‘smart’ grenades that explode overhead at specific distances needed by the soldier over the heads of stupid terrorists! Ballistic trajectories just got a heck of a lot more interesting!
On September 11, 2010 · Comments Off
Whenever an army runs a camp, they “Stand To” at dawn, the most likely point when an enemy force will attack. When they “Stand To” everyone is in a fighting position along the perimeter, or otherwise in a position in which to carry out battle should an attack possibly happen.
http://www.esquire.com/features/essay/ESQ0307ESSAY
I miss being in, the above essay is the best I’ve seen on the subject.
Currently today I serve with the Alaska State Defence Force, a Title 32 State Militia that falls under Alaska’s Adjutant General (the General in charge of both the Alaska Army and Air National Guard, Alaska Military Youth Academy, and Alaska State Defence Force). I’ve gone from being an Airman fighting for the nation as a whole overseas to a Soldier for Alaska defending the United States from within Alaska. I’ll always likely be drawn to jobs and volunteer opportunities involving security, its forever in my nature now.
I joined the Air Force 10 years ago out of feelings of patriotism and the need to be ready should something terrible happen. Nine years ago something did indeed occur that vindicated my decisions. I found myself right where I was needed when I needed to be there (even if I didn’t go to war where and when I thought I should have!).
Every year this day comes, I’m haunted by two conversations from high school. First was my Creative Writing Teacher laughing at the notion that terrorist could possibly attack our nation. Apparently the 1993 WTC bombing was lost on her, and the more obvious threat was from the McVeigh crowd… She laughed… In 1999… Then there were the Pearl Harbor Survivors that I heard speak when I was a snot nosed Navy JROTC Cadet standing in formation at the US Air Force Academy honouring. I remember the old retired Navy Sailor who survived Pearl Harbor very worriedly with pain in his voice decry how our nation had forgotten the lessons and was not fully prepared… (I even found the article from this event as few of these survivors are left today: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_19991208/ai_n9962942/ it was always a special occasion in Colorado Springs).
On September 10 2001 I was loading Humvees into a KC-135 at Topeka’s Airport getting ready for my first National Training Center rotation (a month of war games out at Ft. Irwin CA). I’d just achieved my Combat Mission Readiness status in JUL01 and was fully deployable. I’d just been in over a year (02AUG00 was when I went to Basic…). The next day I was supposed to have the day off after dropping one of our Airmen off at the stating point as he was part of the Advance Party going to fly with our trucks… Needless to say, it became one of the longest days in my military career. I remember walking out of our squadron break room on Ft. Riley and closing our motor pool gate and putting a holster on my TA-50 gear after watching the Pentagon getting hit. A short time later our Squadron Commander called us into the briefing room and we watched the events unfold on our projector screen, we all had that sick feeling in our guts knowing we were at war right now. As our Squadron Commander released us to go home to our families for the day, and to expect a phone call at any minute, the towers collapsed. Living in the dorms, there was no sleep for me. Just interrupted rest as we rotated who would do a building walk around each hour…
We ended up going to NTC a week later. I didn’t deploy to Afghanistan, ever… However I ended up supporting Operation Enduring Freedom from Kuwait in 2002 by working at the bombing ranges and training pilots (and getting training myself…) that were flying through on their way to Afghanistan. I did go to Korea for a year, and served in the long war that never ended there (its still under the 1953 ceasefire) from 2003-2004, and finally went to Iraq twice before getting out. Now I serve locally in Alaska…