The Dept. of Defense has a truly poor track record with undeclared wars. This record goes back to 1949, the year DOD was established.
Some random thoughts and questions for the generals:
Generals,
Any concerns about eroding trust of people in uniform when LE response info is hard to come by after school shootings, The Joint Chiefs of Staff struggle with decades of undeclared/unwon wars, yet we are told by retired generals that American ownership of firearms should face further restrictions?
Generals,
Any concerns about a society where:
Sports gets it right. More info is better.
Sports culture is more open and honest. A bad call from the ref will be seen and reviewed instantly.
LE and government agencies:
Small children are killed at school, good people are facing new restrictions on legal firearms – sorry folks, video and voice recordings from the crime scene are not available.
“By Texas law, cops must keep their bodycams on while working. But it’s possible police will use the “dead suspect loophole” to keep anyone from seeing the footage.”
Sports culture is more open and honest. A bad call from the ref will be seen and reviewed instantly.
Small children killed at school and good people facing new restrictions on legal firearms – sorry folks, video and voice recordings from the crime scene are not available.
I am good with no conspiracy theories. The press could help if they were more about asking questions.
Do a proper investigation similar to those done after a plane crash. Release the findings months from now or whenever is appropriate.
Create credibility for the press and government agencies by keeping people fully informed.
Anytime there is a plane crash, a loss at sea, or an industrial accident, a thorough investigation takes place. Lessons learned are used to prevent future events.
Mass shootings seem to go straight from breaking news of the event to scenes of memorials near where the event happened, interviews of victim’s family members and statements from various politicians. The crime scene investigation seems not to be a priority for the press. If we wait for an entire year, will that be enough time to ask questions?
People who are interested in having questions asked and people who want clarification and better information seem to be scolded/shamed or accused of advancing conspiracy theories.
The press should be out asking questions all of the time.
Here are some questions we’d like to see newspeople ask:
13 pounds of ammo could be manageable. Seems like 58 magazines might be bulky.
Looks like we are told the Texas school shooter crashed his vehicle, regained his composure, and then moved this load across the road and into the school on foot?
The War on Terror has prompted law enforcement authorities to calm the public by looking into the future and announcing that no credible threat exists.
“There’s no “credible threat” to the upcoming Boston Marathon, authorities say as they nonetheless call up all available Boston cops and continue to talk to New York City authorities following the terrifying attack there.”
Zero questions from newspeople on how intelligence reports were used to any advantage in the April 12, 2022, NYC mass shooting event.
Love to see newspeople show some initiative and curiosity in asking questions.
What we get now is sort of a press release style of news reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Newspeople post this statement as is. A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
Our questions appear in bold type below. We require no federal grant money in order to ask these questions.
Basic public policy questions newspeople will not ask:
What role did a post 911 surveillance state (fusion centers, license scanners, Homeland Security grant money, monitoring of e-mails, text messages, & social media sites, no fly/terror watch lists, Real ID, tracking of cell phones, etc.) play in preventing the April 12, 2022 NYC subway shooting?
What role did a $49.8 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security play in preventing the April 12, 2022 NYC subway shooting?
No Credible Threat?
If the good guys can tell what the bad guys will do before they do it-surely, these powerful crime fighting tools will be used to shut down gang and cartel activity, heroin trafficking, bank robberies, mass casualty shootings, etc.
Where was the threat forecast prior to the April 12, 2022 NYC subway shooting?
Voting is highly emphasized in American culture. Asking questions related to public policy takes a lower priority.
“…WSP Vessel and Terminal Security Troopers responded to the MV Kaleetan upon its arrival at Colman Dock. By that time, WSF crews had already secured the suspect, who had boarded the vessel by vehicle.”
Not my idea to promote the concept that riding safely on the ferry requires gun boat escorts, SWAT teams and K-9s on the job to detect explosives.
If a guy decides to fire a gun during a 60 minute ferry crossing and WSP waits to respond until the ferry arrives at Colman Dock, how is this security?
Will newspeople follow up and let us know if the guy who purposefully fired his handgun from the ferry had a concealed carry permit?
Did he pass any sort of background check?
A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
Has any state, ever in history, required proof of membership in a militia to purchase, transport, or carry, guns and ammo/participate in shooting sports, etc.
Remember grandpa? Yeah, he was the only one we ever knew growing up who had guns. He was the one that was in a militia.
SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
What powers are granted to the federal government here?
The Washington State more than 10 round magazine ban is another of many examples where freedoms may come & go-completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom.
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.
A society that can’t stop bragging about freedom, thanking the troops for freedoms, fighting wars for freedoms, staging military jet flyovers at sporting events for freedom, etc.
Operating a camera in a public place:
The family friendly, hometown pride-oriented local small town papers and TV news folks are more welcome to show up and do interviews related to public policy. Unfortunately, they seem to have moved away from asking questions.
Several news sources published this quote. View them here.
The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.
Mayor Day,
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.
Can elected officials of any party or any member of the press help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
If a right to vote has always been protected by the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces, how come women were not allowed full voting rights at the end of WWI?
Why the need for a 1965 Voting Rights Act if overseas military operations somehow secured voting rights?
If a right to vote is protected by the US Armed Forces, what becomes of that right when the US leaves Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc., without a victory?
If sending US troops to Afghanistan and creating a $49.8 billion US Dept. of Homeland Security was meant to keep bad people from coming here to do bad things, why are drug cartels able to move product into all 50 states?
If enhanced background checks reduce gun crimes, why does the Puget Sound area press avoid reporting or providing updates on enhanced background checks years after they have been put in place?
Alternative media is good about keeping an active comment section up & running. There’s always something to learn or think about from the points others make in the comment section.
Local papers have stripped away all comments from past articles, and removed the opportunity to post comments to new articles.
Various newspapers in the Puget Sound area have gone with this trend.
Suppressing comments, getting away from asking questions related to public policy and telling us they need more support from subscription and advertising sales.
Got it.
People could reject alternative media and be totally good with mainstream media, but it would require the family friendly, hometown pride-oriented local small town papers and TV news folks to try harder.
The Puget Sound area press avoids asking questions.
If enhanced background checks reduce gun crimes, why does the press avoid reporting or providing updates on enhanced background checks years after they have been put in place?
Will the press ever do a follow up on the enhanced background check requirements that have been in place for years now?
Federal agents swing into action after 12 kilos of cocaine move past strict post 911/GWOT security protocols and federal agents staffing a $49.8 billion US Dept. of Homeland Security, then, on into the Puget Sound area:
The press release style of news reporting means that a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest drug bust/federal grant money award, etc. Newspeople post this statement as is.
Has any state, ever in history, required proof of membership in a militia to purchase, transport, or carry, guns and ammo/participate in shooting sports, etc.
Remember grandpa? Yeah, he was the only one we ever knew growing up who had guns. He was the one that was in a militia.
SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
What powers are granted to the federal government here?
If enhanced background checks reduce gun crimes, why does the press avoid reporting or providing updates on enhanced background checks years after they have been put in place?
“…WSP Vessel and Terminal Security Troopers responded to the MV Kaleetan upon its arrival at Colman Dock. By that time, WSF crews had already secured the suspect, who had boarded the vessel by vehicle.”
If a guy decides to fire a gun during a 60 minute ferry crossing and WSP waits to respond until the ferry arrives at Colman Dock, how is this security?
Will newspeople follow up and let us know if the guy who purposefully fired his handgun from the ferry had a concealed carry permit?
Did he pass any sort of background check?
Whatever happened to this guy?
A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
The press release style of news reporting means that a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20. Can elected officials of any party or any member of the press help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
1967
Did the Joint Chiefs of Staff send The Troops to safeguard American freedoms?
Was it the Viet Cong that set up laws in 16 US states to prohibit interracial marriage?
If a right to vote has always been protected by the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces, how come women were not allowed full voting rights at the end of WWI?
Why the need for a 1965 Voting Rights Act if overseas military operations somehow secured voting rights?
If a right to vote is protected by the US Armed Forces, what becomes of that right when the US leaves Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc., without a victory?
None of these are linked in any way with The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Troops, The Dept. of Defense or the outcome of military operations overseas.
As the decades of undeclared/unwon wars stack up (The Department of Defense track record goes back to 1949.) the greater the cultural urge to glorify people who do, or did time in uniform.
If there is an honest reason to send people away into decades of undeclared/unwon wars overseas let’s hear all about it.
“…WSP Vessel and Terminal Security Troopers responded to the MV Kaleetan upon its arrival at Colman Dock. By that time, WSF crews had already secured the suspect, who had boarded the vessel by vehicle.”
Not my idea to promote the concept that riding safely on the ferry requires gun boat escorts, SWAT teams and K-9s on the job to detect explosives.
If a guy decides to fire a gun during a 60 minute ferry crossing and WSP waits to respond until the ferry arrives at Colman Dock, how is this security?
Will newspeople follow up and let us know if the guy who purposefully fired his handgun from the ferry had a concealed carry permit?
Did he pass any sort of background check?
Whatever happened to this guy?
A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
Is the sewage treatment plant sending unsafe product into Penn Cove?
Reporting on this topic appears to be completely off limits to the press.
I’d be more interested in paying (again) for a local paper subscription if there was more in the way of investigative reporting & newspeople asking questions.
Don’t miss our companion blog-found here: Old Man Blog
“These Citizen Soldiers sacrifice so much for their love of country and for that we owe them a lifelong debt of gratitude. They will miss many “firsts” in their families, holidays, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations and Thanksgiving to protect our rights, freedoms and international security.”
Protecting our rights and freedoms?
More discussion please.
Any members of the press available to show up and ask why the people of Rhode Island need services in the Middle East, absent any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war?
More than a year later, is there any shortage of cartel-sourced heroin, cocaine, fentanyl or meth anywhere in the US?
“The dangerous pills containing fentanyl flowing through this pipeline operated by this Western Washington distribution network has been shut down,” Keith Weis, a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent, said in a statement.
Next time the DEA tells the press that a drug pipeline has been shut down, will reporters ask questions, or simply put out another press release?
Puget Sound area newspeople play along by not asking questions:
Image below taken on a March 24, 2019 Penn Cove site visit.
WDFW has posted a permanent sign indicating a dark shaded area in the eastern part of Penn Cove:
I’d be more interested in paying (again) for a local paper subscription if there was more in the way of investigative reporting & newspeople asking questions.
Enhanced background checks approved back in 2014 have had time to take hold.
Any reporting or updates on this?
I’d be more interested in paying (again) for a local paper subscription if there was more in the way of investigative reporting & newspeople asking questions.
Removing the comment section in news articles is not a plus. Manage it. Don’t ban it.
Enhanced background checks approved back in 2014 have had time to take hold.
Any reporting or updates on this?
Another of many examples where freedoms may come & go- completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom:
Tacoma gun and ammo tax
Why would this be necessary if the 2014 move to require enhanced background checks has been effective?
Some of us who were kids in the 60s and 70s remember gun racks in trucks. The sight of rifles out in public didn’t seem to cause a stir. Seemed like there was less in the way of mass-casualty shootings too.
“Mello’s request comes after recent shootings, including several in Tacoma this month. Mello’s letter was also signed by Mayor Victoria Woodards and Council member Catherine Ushka.”
SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
“Currently, there are 550,000 gun purchase paper forms awaiting manual entry; covering handgun purchases made approximately within the last three years.”
“The backlog means that pistols purchased at Washington gun stores as far back as three years ago have not been entered into the system.”
Legal guns come from various sources other than being purchased at WA gun stores.
Many people own guns that have been passed down in families or were purchased new in decades past.
People who own guns move here from out of state.
How would any of these firearms show up in a WA State database?
WA voters approved enhanced background checks back in 2014. Did Initiative 594 contribute to the database backlog? Has Initiative 594 reduced incidents of gun related violence anywhere in Washington State? Any reporting or updates on this?
When is the last time the Washington State Department of Licensing gun registration database was running without a backlog?
Back in 2014 – Initiative 594 – Attempting to comply:
In Seattle- gang members are not showing up to comply with strict background check protocols approved by voters in Nov of 2014.
SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.
What powers are granted to the federal government here?
“It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up for the good of their fellow citizens.”
SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.
No mention of a militia.
Individual states approve or reject issues like concealed carry, marijuana, suspicionless highway checkpoints & Real ID one at a time.
What powers are granted to the federal government here?
Did this registered felon/heroin and cocaine trafficker have appropriate background checks for the weapons he possessed?
Why does the surveillance state indicate they know enough about future acts of terror to tell us there is “no credible threat”– while asking for assistance in tracking down a bank robber?
The post-911 surveillance state (fusion centers, war on terror crime fighting tactics, license plate scanners, Homeland Security grant money, monitoring of e-mails, text messages, and social media sites, tracking of cell phones, use of drones, etc.) appears to have played no role in preventing this crime:
Heroin traffickers are the secret shoppers of the War on Terror- constantly challenging whatever security measures are in place. They are frequently successful at what they do.
Special/Enhanced ID has been required to go have lunch in Canada- then return home- since 2009.
If special ID works to keep bad guys out- how are cartels moving heroin into the Puget Sound area in 2015?
Seems like post-911 security protocols & the War on Terror would be a drug cartel’s worst nightmare. What does the US Dept. of Homeland Security have to say about all this?
We are told the #1 US Border Patrol objective is to stop terrorists.
The US Border Patrol explains this objective at a local public forum- this YouTube video covers Border Patrol objectives at 3:50
At that same forum a lady asked:
“What is the penalty for not identifying oneself to federal agents at an internal, suspicionless checkpoint?”
US Border Patrol said they would call in the Sheriff when a person refused to identify themselves.
Sheriff says they will not respond to a non-emergency situation involving a person peaceably refusing to interact with federal agents.
Question about providing ID is at 0:35
Checkpoints ended here in 2008- possibly due to well informed citizens and local protests. Looks like they weren’t vital to national security after all.
“SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
Some say the militia is the National Guard. What happens when the NG is not taking orders from the people?
People who have done nothing wrong should be treated as such.
Armed security in public schools-
Communities across America should be free to plan their school security protocols in a decentralized fashion & to opt in or out on making use of armed security.
High level politicians all across America make use of armed security. It is done in a professional way so that it does not attract the attention of the public.
Las Vegas Casinos make use of armed security.
It is done in a professional way so that customers are comfortable with the idea of visiting and spending money.
Connecticut school shooting-
It would be nice to get clarification on this story indicating that the rifle was not fired inside the school:
Military weapons in modern culture:
Local TV station promotes the idea that military weapons are appropriate here at home:
Photo at the top of this page shows one of the ships described above.
Made-for-TV:
Celebrity spokespeople and a show business discussion of guns creates made- for-TV fireworks & keeps the topic heated & emotional.
The discussion should be more about issues- less about personalities.
People who produce TV shows should learn the difference between a clip & a magazine, be clear about the term semiautomatic & get away from the comic book term bullets. Next time you see a box of ammo- look and see if the word bullets appears anywhere on the package.
Why would anyone need to have a dog, go mountain climbing, participate in auto racing, skydiving, motocross racing, water-skiing, visit a bar, winery or casino, eat fast food, use tobacco, have pizza delivered, ride in a hot air balloon, etc.
Why would anyone need to operate a homebuilt airplane?
Government promotes the idea that military weapons are appropriate here at home:
