This federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.
More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?
If OD numbers are lower, is this because DHS is able to keep cartel product from arriving in US communities, or because drug addicts are now fogged down with Narcan, buprenorphine, Naloxone, ect. to combat overdoses?
Has any community anywhere in the US downsized or shut down any local drug task force, or narcotics enforcement team due to the success of Dept. of War strikes on suspected narcoterrorist drug boats, ICE crackdowns and designating cartels as terrorist organizations?
Any questions from newspeople?
Possibly of interest:
Several years back, I started the Old Man Blog category. It involves thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
The Department of Defense was established in 1949. What part of DOD history involved US troops sent to locations where the constitution was threatened?
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.
How would American freedoms be any different if US troops were never sent to Iraq?
US Troops were sent into life and death situations in the aftermath of 911.
For this reason it is important to ask questions and develop a feel for what is real and what is honest.
It feels like a society where honest and meaningful ideas stand up to questioning and discussion, but the questioning and discussion rarely takes place.
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
TV newspeople avoid asking:
If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?
These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.
If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?
These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.
“By the end of last week, we learned at least some of the reasons for the lack of decent food for the troops. According to a report in the New York Times, on the first day of the US attack on Iran, Iran responded by nearly destroying the US Naval base in Bahrain. That base, the (former) home of the US 5th Fleet, had been a major logistics hub for the US in the region and was critical for re-supply of fresh food for the service members on board. With Bahrain no longer capable of functioning as a major US base, the fallback was a US facility on the tiny island of Diego Garcia, more than 2,000 miles away.”
From 2004
“Today, however, the Congress has relinquished its delegated powers, giving the President license to do whatever he and his office determine that they can get away with. Consequentially, the presidential and legislative oaths to the Constitution have just turned into a great photo op on inauguration day.”
“It is a sad and hard realization for a grunt who loves the Marine Corps to admit that the organization is not used in the preservation of liberty, and has not been used toward that end for a very long time.”
Seems like Americans will take what could be an issues-oriented discussion and make it about their most loved or hated political parties and personalities.
It turns out that both major parties are OK with a giant and expensive US Dept. of Homeland Security that fails to keep cartel product out of Seattle:
KOMO News
This federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.
More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?
Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars.
Both major parties seem to be good with it.
Does any major political party have a party platform that advocates for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars?
WatchlistTYT
Liberty Vault
The failings of one extreme political party bring on the next extreme political party.
Biden
Old age impacts his abilities.
Biden leaves the borders open.
Biden collects big cash to maintain a giant US Dept. of Homeland Security.
Trump collects big cash to maintain the US Dept. of Homeland Security. This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US. More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?
ICE agents gun down people at traffic stops and on the street inside the US. This takes place away from border crossings and ports of entry.
Americans were told they faced a life and death situation after 911. If certain actions were not taken, terrorists could come to America to disrupt our way of life and attempt another 911.
If all this was a life and death situation that required sending the troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t it be important to ask a few public policy questions about what was going on?
Newspeople have a long history of not asking questions in this area.
It feels like a society where honest and meaningful ideas stand up to questioning and discussion, but the questioning and discussion rarely takes place.
“Andrea Suarez, the group’s CEO and founder, said she and her volunteers are protecting the public from coming across this hazardous waste left on city streets.”
Have Port Angeles based Homeland Security/CBP units been able to create any shortage of cartel product/fentanyl in the Puget Sound area?
Is the Puget Sound drug situation any different today than it was under Biden?
Has REAL ID prevented cartel product from arriving in Seattle?
Have Flock cameras prevented cartel product from entering the Puget Sound area?
Has any community anywhere in the US downsized or shut down any local drug task force, or narcotics enforcement team due to the success of Dept. of War strikes on suspected narcoterrorist drug boats, ICE crackdowns and designating cartels as terrorist organizations?
Any questions from newspeople?
Does the US Dept. of Homeland Security prevent cartel product from entering Seattle? This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.
Was this operation meant to benefit the American way of life?
Were Marines defending the constitution in Lebanon?
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.
These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.
“Supply problems started at the beginning of the war on Feb. 28 when Iran attacked and heavily damaged much of Naval Support Activity Bahrain, a key Navy logistics base on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf…”
“That’s caused the loss of what the Navy calls a “liberty port” – a port at which a ship’s crew can leave the vessel for free time ashore.”
“Crew members use that time to rest, connect with family and engage in recreation. Ships can be resupplied and repairs can be made.”
Several retired or former officers speak via alternative media and comment on the current state of militarized US foreign policy.
These former officers may be less likely to get hired by major networks as top TV military analysts.
Notice the big TV networks don’t bring on their favorite/routine military analyst and set up any kind of counterpoint discussion with someone representing a different point of view.
Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson
Colonel Douglas Macgregor
Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel L. Davis
LtCol Davis speaks here with former US Navy SEAL Matthew Bracken:
Scott Ritter – former Marine Corps intelligence officer:
Does the US Dept. of Homeland Security prevent cartel product from entering Seattle? This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.
Former military officers not paid by a big TV network
Daniel Davis / Deep Dive
Newspeople avoid asking:
If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?
These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.
Democracy Nonsense
If we live in a democracy (many people say so), when do we vote on decades of undeclared/unwon DOD wars?
The Department of Defense track record goes back to 1949.
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.
Don’t lie to people and maybe they would be more patriotic.
Homemade slaw with homemade dressing. This dressing has a bit of a citrus zing. Go out to eat and the flavor of coleslaw may sometimes taste like wet cabbage. This is a major upgrade.
Another of many examples where American freedoms may come & go-completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom over Coupeville.
Both major parties are OK with federal prohibition of alcohol and tobacco for adults age 18-20.
That was before decades of military operations for your freedoms.
Both major political parties are now OK with treating 18-20 year old adults as second-class citizens.
Why do elected officials and high level DOD civilians speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization?
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our security. That’s as good as it gets.
In terms of American rights and freedoms-The Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.
School children are taught about a free enterprise system. They grow up to find out that the federal government will tell them what kind of shower head they must install in the bathroom, and what type of gas can they must buy for their lawn mower.
Has anyone ever seen the Puget Sound area press ask questions about Whidbey water quality impacted by sewage treatment plant outfalls?
Has anyone ever seen any government agency, elected official or volunteer organization seeking answers related to one or more sewage treatment plants sending unsafe product into the waters near Whidbey Island?
Zero questions from small or large newspapers. Zero questions from TV newspeople.
Above: July 6th, 2024. Looking over the jetty that connects to Damon Point on the far end. We are near the end of the jetty adjacent to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The entire post 911 era has been a disappointment in this regard.
Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars. Understandable why young people & their parents & grandparents would take a dim view on all this. Continuing on this path will wear down the energy American families once had for encouraging young people to enlist.
The Department of Defense was established in the late 1940s. What part of DOD history involved US troops sent to locations where the constitution was threatened?
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
Any elected official or retired elected official who tells us The Troops are sent to protect American rights and freedoms needs to explain how those rights and freedoms are any different today because US troops were sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Newspeople avoid asking:
If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?
These questions do not need to be asked on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Blue Angels day or Armed Forces Day. Sometime during the year, please ask these questions.
What’s Going on With Shipping?
At 9:32 below: The US has lost its bases in the region.
From 2004
“Today, however, the Congress has relinquished its delegated powers, giving the President license to do whatever he and his office determine that they can get away with. Consequentially, the presidential and legislative oaths to the Constitution have just turned into a great photo op on inauguration day.”
“It is a sad and hard realization for a grunt who loves the Marine Corps to admit that the organization is not used in the preservation of liberty, and has not been used toward that end for a very long time.”
Various big companies will remind us that they support veterans and The Troops. Always wonder if any of those companies advocate for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars. Maybe these big companies are more about expanding their marketing footprint.
It is common in various states that open records laws allow the public records request to be submitted in person orally or in writing and that the public records request may be made anonymously.
Public records laws set up an open door policy for people to go and interact in person with government offices and agencies during normal business hours at public offices.
Tyrant Terminator Audits!!! is a favorite channel where he has explained all this over and again in public offices.
In past decades, people could do time in uniform, then return to the US with a feeling that they were living in the best country on the planet.
They believed it and their parents and grandparents believed it.
Those who did may have wished to hand down a better version of the modern American society to their kids and grandkids.
Today-
Standards have deteriorated. The troops return to an ongoing breakdown of society.
From 2004
“Today, however, the Congress has relinquished its delegated powers, giving the President license to do whatever he and his office determine that they can get away with. Consequentially, the presidential and legislative oaths to the Constitution have just turned into a great photo op on inauguration day.”
“It is a sad and hard realization for a grunt who loves the Marine Corps to admit that the organization is not used in the preservation of liberty, and has not been used toward that end for a very long time.”
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our security. That’s as good as it gets.
In terms of American rights and freedoms, the Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.
Each November, school teachers across America host Veterans Day assemblies– and promote the idea to children that The Troops are in distant lands-fighting for American rights and freedoms-as if the US Armed Forces function as some sort of giant civil rights organization.
In Washington State, these assemblies are mandatory.
In the 60s & 70s I never attended a Veterans Day assembly at school.
There were none.
Probably enough veterans around to remove most of the mystique, or maybe those veterans thought it was all just an average thing and did not want to be seen as a separate part of American society, or get head of the line parking spots over at the grocery store. Maybe the concept of Armistice Day had not gone completely extinct.
Growing up in the 60s & 70s- veterans were all around- church, school, Boy Scout leaders, family, the neighborhood, etc. It was all just an average thing. These folks weren’t seen as a separate part of American society.
People weren’t stepping over to say “Thanks for your service” to my Dad- who did time in the Navy in the 50s- but looked just like anyone else out in public.
These guys weren’t lining up for free dinner promotions marketed by major restaurant chains.
Any elected official or retired elected official who tells us The Troops were sent to protect American rights and freedoms needs to explain how those rights and freedoms are any different today because US troops were sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Fantasy Newsperson Asks
Top TV military analysts, currently serving four-star officers and high level DOD civilians have been associated with what wars won by the US?
The US Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911.
We haven’t won a war since.
Made For TV
Various big companies will remind us that they support veterans and The Troops. Always wonder if any of those companies advocate for less in the way of undeclared/unwon wars. Maybe these big companies are more about expanding their marketing footprint.
Wilkes was never referred to as Captain as far as I remember.
Commodore was the common name for Commodore Bainbridge Middle School in the early 70s.
A naval rank sometimes in common use – sometimes not?
We must have lived near a boundary line, because I had siblings that were sent to another elementary school nowhere near Wilkes.
These were the days of 3 or 4 brothers and sisters, married parents and maybe a stay at home Mom.
Also attended Hunter Elementary School in Fairbanks, AK and Great Falls Elementary School in Great Falls, VA.
Possibly of interest:
Several years back, I started the Old Man Blog category. It involves thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
It is common in various states that open records laws allow the public records request to be submitted in person orally or in writing and that the public records request may be made anonymously.
Public records laws set up an open door policy for people to go and interact in person with government offices and agencies during normal business hours at public offices.
Tyrant Terminator Audits!!! is a favorite channel where he has explained all this over and again in public offices.
Trump collects big cash to maintain the US Dept. of Homeland Security. This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US. More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?
ICE agents gun down people at traffic stops and on the street inside the US. This takes place away from border crossings and ports of entry.
Americans were told that they faced a life and death situation after 911. If certain actions were not taken, terrorists could come to America to disrupt our way of life and attempt another 911.
If all this was a life and death situation that required sending the troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t it be important to ask a few public policy questions about what was going on?
Newspeople have a long history of not asking questions in this area.
Is the Seattle fentanyl situation any different today than it was under Biden?
By John J. Duncan Jr.
The Duncan Dispatch
August 6, 2026
“Consider the Pentagon’s recent assassinations of more than 200 people in boats on the high seas near Venezuela Those assassinations are ostensibly based on supposed violations of U.S. drug laws, even though any evidence of incrimination is kept top secret.”
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
Above: Celebrate USA 250 and reflect on how Seattle has taken a dive in the post 911 era.
