Where were you? along with a photo of a peaceful/standing twin towers.
My response:
With my GF in Kingston. Had already done some time in uniform. Took me several years to become skeptical and see that the federal government and the press had lost credibility.
Today:
My feeling is that a man on the moon in 1969 was a proud American moment. That was maybe the best of America in my lifetime.
“What I remember most about 9/11 is the way America was unified the day after. During uncontrollable times we controlled our response. Race, Gender and Political Party were equally irrelevant.”
“We focused on loving each other, how did we get so segregated? We never would have made it this far if we embraced division on September the 12th. We are where we are because we got here TOGETHER let’s embrace love yet again.”
“God Bless The USA.”
My response:
Good Stuff
Let’s keep that and add a free and independent press that will ask questions/rock the boat, no matter who is in office.
The mainstream press provides news coverage that favors government agencies, departments and policies.
We got our ass kicked on 911.The federal government has been squandering credibility ever since. If the US Armed Forces were keeping us safe– first responders would have had a routine day at work on 911. The giant government and “Dept of Defense” were nowhere to be found on 911. For federal government convenience, take the day, follow along, pledge your allegiance and behave as that government sees fit. Do as you are told. Fly your flag as you are told. Think and behave as that government tells you. Divert your attention away from federal government failure and stay busy with federal suggestions for the day.
Here at Oak Bay Starfish, we will observe the day by avoiding network TV. At the bottom of this page, we will offer up some readings featuring voices of dissent and alternative media.
Aftermath
Let’s say the federal government did everything right before and on the day of Sept. 11th, 2001. The uniparty press avoids questions on how things have come together since.
Big Homeland Security spending
The US Dept of Homeland Security was established on November 25, 2002. Plenty of time for lessons learned, and more cartel drugs entering Hometown, USA than ever before?
Lessons Learned?
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 accidents. A major aircraft manufacturer grounds certain airplanes after mishaps. Time is required to investigate and find out what went wrong.
Any similar effort after a big cartel drug bust inside the US?
The folks who show up and investigate the plane crash don’t spend time congratulating each other. Their work is designed to try and prevent similar future incidents, not promote themselves.
Preventing drugs from entering local communities would kill the chance for various agencies to get publicity for the occasional big drug bust happening in those communities.
Wonder what was happening at border crossing/port of entry inspections during the 12 months Operation P-22 (to take down just one branch of the cartel activity) took place. Do the good guys who made the local bust notify the good guys at the border about the weak links in their process?
Were federal authorities at the border notified of this ongoing investigation?
Did the cartel traffickers get fast track screening at the border so as not to disrupt this ongoing investigation?
If the drug traffickers were given a pass at the border- would that have tipped them off as to the investigation- or would that have been seen as standard protocol?
Imagine that LE authorities observe a shoplifter or bank robber in action. Instead of going in to make an arrest they back off and conduct an investigation that goes on for months. What if they applied the same tactic Re: crimes involving arson, terrorism, child abuse, DUI, etc.
This time next year- will there be any shortage of cartel product in the Puget Sound area? Has any city, county or state jurisdiction been able to cleanup their drug problem using these methods?
Snohomish 2015
Local law enforcement agencies may benefit when the US Dept. of Homeland Security fails to keep heroin out of the US:
Newspeople are good about posting a drug bust press release. Newspeople remain silent when it comes to asking questions about Homeland Security funding and performance.
Big DOD spending on undeclared/unwon wars for our freedoms.
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.
Did hostile forces in distant lands attempt to replace US consumer demand with government demand and end the free enterprise system?
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 you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
Freedoms come and go. None of the above are linked in any way with The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Troops, The Dept. of Defense or the outcome of military operations overseas.
Maybe a few more decades of undeclared/unwon wars and the freedoms will get better.
Why do we speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization?
Both major parties are OK with treating 18-20 year old adults as second-class citizens.
Both major parties are good with a land of the free holding pattern where alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and firearms restrictions are in place for 18-20 year old adults. Is there any state where recreational marijuana laws remove prohibition for adults at age 18? Are The Joint Chiefs of Staff working to change any of this?
Doesn’t seem to fit with 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.
Has it become harder to find blogs, videos and alternative media that ask questions or point to the failures of 911 and its aftermath? How about COVID? How about a giant US Dept. of Homeland Security?
“Nearly 1,800 victims’ relatives, first responders and survivors are calling on Biden to refrain from attending any memorials over his refusal to release Sept. 11 documents.”
“The administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump also declined to declassify supporting documents, citing national security concerns.”
22 Years Later
Part of the reaction was to send The Troops into undeclared wars.
If DOD was an NFL team, sports talk radio would feature comments like:
The Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911. We haven’t won a war since.
Any college or pro football coach would have been fired a dozen times over for what DOD has done with the US Armed Forces during the fake GWOT era.
Fake GWOT?
The US Dept. of Homeland Security was invented after the catastrophic military failure of 911. The idea was to keep bad people from coming to the US to do bad things/attempt another 911, etc.
Wouldn’t the giant War on Terror be a cartel drug trafficker’s worst nightmare?
If REAL ID is critical to the safety of America, have travelers out at the airport been less safe since 911?
The new REAL ID requirement for domestic air travel has now been extended out more than 20 years past 911 – May 7, 2025
If sending US troops to Afghanistan and creating a $51.6 billion (every 12 months) 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 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?
Show up early to wait in line and squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube at the airport?
What keeps the terrorists of the GWOT from creating a disruption at the back end of the screening line?
Has anyone ever seen any member of the press ask questions on this?
“What goes on at airports is not security. It is Security Theater. When the government’s own agents try to smuggle “weapons” aboard airliners to test the system, they succeed ninety-five percent of the time.”
“Further, a terrorist doesn’t need to get aboard an airliner to blow up spectacularly. At many airports, hundreds of people line up at ticket counters during peak hours. A carry-on bag of explosive would easily create enough slaughter to shut down air travel and to make international headlines for weeks.”
Will sending the National Guard, active, reserve and IRR forces to support NATO/Ukraine stimulate new enlistments over at the recruiting office?
National Guard
The people of Minnesota need more applicants to maintain a place to live and a regular job in their hometown area when they are not doing time in foreign lands helping DOD with undeclared/unwon wars and missions completely unrelated to their home state.
A few decades back, people might think of the National Guard as one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer plus a way to support your home state by being ready to get called out for floods, fires, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc. Maybe a way to help the next state over if they needed it.
Any members of the press available to show up and ask why the people of Home State, USA needed services in distant lands, absent any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war?
Recruiting crisis for Uncle Sam? Elected officials, top Pentagon Generals and the press earned it.
Thousands of men and women who signed up for the National Guard in the past 25 years did tours in places like Syria, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.
These families have stories to tell and they’re not all positive. Will their stories support a draft?
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?
Are the people who took steps to discover that new evidence conspiracy theorists?
Apply this same curiosity and desire for knowledge to some controversial topics and you’ll be labeled a conspiracy theorist.
Why the effort to suppress questions?
The culture of the Marine Corps includes taking a careful look at things that may have gone wrong in order to prevent them from happening again in the future:
Newspeople play the role of federal public affairs personnel during Operation Macho Swagger–a ride-along to let us know what is being done to keep the southern edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca safe from B.C. incursions: Operation Macho Swagger & Port Angeles Heroin
Don’t miss our companion blog-found here: Old Man Blog
Alternative/independent media- out asking questions:
Popular culture is constantly thanking The Troops for defending American rights and freedoms. The video above is another of many examples where freedoms may come & go- completely unrelated to military operations in distant lands.
Will the Joint Chiefs of Staff send The Troops to safeguard American freedoms?
JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society-
In 2008, the US Border Patrol came to Jefferson County, WA and set up suspicionless checkpoints and bus boardings- away from border crossings and ports of entry.
At a local Border Patrol 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
State and local law enforcement agencies do not conduct suspicionless checkpoints in Washington State.
Secret arrest statistics, denied FOIA requests, heroin in the community & a Border Patrol whistleblower investigation that resulted in further suppression of information- keep the focus on asking questions in these areas.
In many cases- newspapers seem to post a press release from whatever agency was in involved in various operations. Stories related to The Drug War and Super Bowl security are a great example of this.
Paywalls mean less people will read, share and discuss news articles.
Our free and independent press recently informed us on Olympic Peninsula US Border Patrol operations.
The article reads like paid advertising or something produced by US Border Patrol public relations.
Most of the photos used in the article were provided by the federal government.
JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society-
The people of Erie, PA did not have to submit a FOIA request to find out what justified the expansion of their local Border Patrol station-
No public information/security conflict at the U.S. Border Patrol station (not sector) in Erie, PA.
Erie Station- similar to Port Angeles in that it is separated from Canada by water.
Note: reports of the expansion at Erie include numbers of arrests out of that station:
“The Border Patrol operations in Erie, nearly six years old, include more than 30 agents who apprehended 588 illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2008-09.”
“The Border Patrol’s apprehensions in the Erie area have grown steadily, from 332 in fiscal 2006-2007 to 588 in 2008-09 to 305 so far in 2009-10.
Of those apprehended so far this fiscal year, 136 were individuals found by other law enforcement agencies and turned over to the Border Patrol.”
As always- the big law enforcement success story comes with zero reporting or questions from newspeople about why the proud War on Terror is unable to keep heroin out of the US.
Welcome Home Troops
Thanks for your service
Port Angeles Border Patrol secret arrest policy instantly lifted when a local drug bust goes down.
If you read the local papers you will see support for the US Border Patrol based on a potential to capture Spanish speaking people who have illegally crossed into the US.
The US Border Patrol emphasized this task by providing Spanish language interpretation for the US Forest Service and language translation for local law enforcement agencies.
Has the Port Angeles Border Patrol prevented any person from Latin America from illegally entering the Olympic Peninsula?
When is the last time the Port Angeles Border Patrol made an arrest linked in any way to the US/Canada border?
Read more on the post 911 Olympic Peninsula Border Patrol story here.
“Jones said there would be no other statement in response to further questions about Bates’ removal, which The Bellingham Herald first reported Monday.”
Imagine a school district wanting to expand staff and facilities and, at the same time- suppressing public information Re: the number of students enrolled, teachers on staff and number of students graduated in the past 36 months.
If a person works for a local industry, school district, county government, etc. & has info about a story- why shut off their ability to comment in an anonymous way?
No hate speech, threats, foul language, attacking other commenters- these are rules that make sense.
Eliminating anonymous commenting on newspaper web editions is information suppression.
One or more individuals misbehave- all comments stripped from article:
As always– the big law enforcement success story comes with zero reporting or questions from newspeople about why the proud War on Terror is unable to keep heroin out of the US.
Welcome Home Troops
Thanks for your service
JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society-
Heroin traffickers are frequently successful at what they do. If terrorists were just as interested in entering the US- it appears that federal departments and agencies would have no way to stop them.
Think terrorists are smart enough to pose as heroin traffickers- then cross into the US free of screening, scanning, pat downs, special IDs, inspection of personal items, etc.
Word of US Border Patrol involvement in the above incidents was immediately released to the public.
Again- why is the public told that USBP arrest statistics involving the local homeland security mission must remain secret?
Looks like information that reflects favorably on DHS immediately goes public, while public information not reflecting favorably must be kept secret or confidential, as seen here: Local whistleblower steps forward-
Show of hands- how many smaller government folks are OK with having the Border Patrol around to act as a federal reserve force for local law enforcement agencies?
These are the folks who celebrated independence from a powerful central government earlier this month.
The Sound of Freedom
If we hear the sound of freedom- is it OK to act like free people?
Freedom Isn’t Free
Freedom isn’t free?
If a house is prevented from burning, is it because firefighters protect our rights and freedoms?
Think of your local fire dept.- it serves a clear-cut purpose, no need for people to repeat phrases or slogans in order to justify its existence.
We don’t claim that firefighters protect our rights and freedoms- as if they are part of some kind of civil rights organization.
Support The Troops
What exactly does this mean?
Fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.
Meanwhile the folks who move heroin into the US do so free of screening, scanning, pat downs, special IDs, inspection of personal items, etc.
Don’t worry-
The Super Bowl and public affairs will be safe-
If not for veterans- you’d be speaking German now.
The free and well armed people who populate the North American continent could be forced to speak a language not of their choosing?
Please see Operation Sea Lion.
Interaction found on local news sites:
Just be glad The Troops are defending your right say that-
Americans wouldn’t have the freedom to post comments on newspaper websites if people had not given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect that freedom?
Hey school teachers- where did this idea come from? Were US troops sent to Vietnam so that Americans could be free to send letters to the editor?
Is there any case in which the US Armed Forces have been sent to distant lands on a mission to protect freedom of speech?
Is protecting freedom of speech even part of training scenarios?
If The Troops are fighting for your freedom to share ideas on the web why would you be scolded for doing so?
If the US was turned into one giant military base it looks like many would be OK with that.
Several posts indicating that the event was no big deal & that people should be thankful for the sound of freedom/missions meant to keep us safe.
Very little in the way of questioning anything related to military forces which have been elevated to a higher status in American culture since the big 911 failure.
The US Armed Forces were irrelevant in defending American rights and freedoms, our physical security, & The Constitution on 911.
Ditto for all other federal agencies and departments.
We’re not in the habit of winning decades of undeclared wars overseas- why would we think they have any bearing on American rights and freedoms?
One or two comments scolding others and reminding them that their right to post comments is protected by the people wearing a uniform.
Americans wouldn’t have the freedom to post comments on newspaper websites if people had not given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect that freedom?
Hey school teachers- where did this idea come from? Were US troops sent to Vietnam so that Americans could be free to send letters to the editor?
Is there any case in which the US Armed Forces have been sent to distant lands on a mission to protect freedom of speech?
Is protecting freedom of speech even part of training scenarios?
If The Troops are fighting for your freedom to share ideas on the web why would you be scolded for doing so?
One or two comments indicating that the Army must do training.
One or two comments saying – back in my home town- we’re proud to be near military operational zones, etc.
The training is meant to keep us safe?
I still haven’t been able to figure out how the War on Terror works.
Heroin traffickers are frequently successful at what they do. If terrorists were just as interested in entering the US- it appears that federal departments and agencies would have no way to stop them.
Think terrorists are smart enough to pose as heroin traffickers- then cross into the US free of screening, scanning, pat downs, special IDs, inspection of personal items, etc.
“The sheriff’s office seized more than $2.2 million cash in September 2011 after a months long investigation into a Mexican drug cartel with connections to Dalton, Ga.”
“The DEA said it found two Mexico-based trafficking cells in the Atlanta area, while other cells operated in Laredo, Texas; McAllen, Texas; San Antonio; Greensboro, N.C.,; Raleigh, N.C.; Newark, N.J.; and Chicago. Atlanta was the primary distribution point.”
Yesterday, somebody posted:
