Fast and Furious Goes South

I am looking at two different reports sourcing off the same newspaper: the El Tiempo.  Fast and Furious was supposed to allow US government agents to trace the flow of weapons into drug cartel hands in Mexico.  What has resulted, as previously documented, was some 2,000 weapons of various types vanishing into the badlands of northern Mexico.  Along with the deaths of 300+ Mexican citizens and two US agents - Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata.

The old saying is a broke clock is right two times a day.  In this case, it seems the BATF F&F clock was right once.  Two long arms and 14 Five-seven pistols have been recovered in an interesting locale.  In the city of Medellin Colombia in fact.  During a raid of the drug cartel that replaced Pablo Escobar's in fact.  A cartel just as violent as Pablo's.   But F&F was never aimed at the Ofcina de Envigado, it was aimed at the Mexican drug cartels like the Sianola Cartel.

But we will never hear anything about this from the mainstream media.  For example: the DoJ IG is supposed to report to Congress on September 19th on Fast & Furious.  Notice there is nothing there yet.  However it seems CNN has gotten the 'dope' on the matter and exonerates Eric Holder and his band of law breakers, you see it was those ATF agents in Arizona who are at fault for going rouge.  If CNN's anonymous leakers are correct, the IG is going to try and whitewash away the culpability of Holder and his crew.

While looking this information up, stumbled across what seems to be a DEA caused My Lai massacre in Honduras.  In the town of Ahuras, a DEA agent called for air support after claiming being under fire.  As a result four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed.  It seems the agent was not assisting the locals, but was leading the mission.

Low Volt-age

Here is some interesting news.  General Motors will be temporarily shutting down the production line that builds their flagship hybrid the Volt.  1,300 workers will be laid off until April 23rd.

What could cause GM to take this drastic action?  What indeed.

Sales are not where all the company paid prognosticators predicted.  Sales total only half of what was forecast for the Volt.  Even with the $7,000 of incentives.  These cars are not moving off the dealer lots fast enough.

So what is causing the reluctance?  Try a very disconcerting design defect.

It seems there has been a rash of Volt battery fires.  Instead of admitting there is a problem and fixing it, GM has hit upon another explanation.  It is the media's fault for reporting those battery fires that is forcing GM to lay these workers off until the excess Volt inventory is reduced.  I wonder if that tactic was tried to save the Corvair when Ralph Nader killed that poor car?

Idle Speculation

So information has emerged on how some of the $535 million of our tax money was spent by Solyndra. Besides opulent showers and glass conference rooms that is one thing popped out.

About those robots who played Disney tunes in that brand new factory, did any of them play the song Whistle While You Work? Well play the tune before the plant was shutdown when the government cash ran out.

A Criminal Enterprise

With such a title I might be tempted to talk about a certain solar panel company that folded taking a half billion in tax dollars when it sank. Instead I am talking about the widening scandal centered around the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives [BATFE] and Dept of Justice attorneys.

Operation Fast and Furious keeps generating the murder of civilians and law enforcement people. One of the latest cases to come to light is from 2010. A F&F AK-47 was found in a vehicle that had just rammed a police vehicle and injured two officers. Nationality of the perp in this case - Mexican.

More bad news rained on the U.S. Attorney's Phoenix office when it came to light they sprung from jail a known weapons smuggler for a Mexican drug cartel. The BATFE had managed to put Jean Baptiste Kingery in jail only to see the man released because the DoJ was using him as an informant. Agents managed to lose track of Kingery as he headed to Mexico and he slipped across the border. Only later would he be arrested by Mexican police. Mr. Kingery's crimes? How does smuggling grenade components into Mexico to be made into IEDs grab you. Sen. Grassley and Rep. Issa have expanded their investigation of Fast and Furious to include the handling of the Kingery case.

As if the hemorrhage of weapons from the US to Mexico was not bad enough, there is mounting evidence of a wider operation conducted by agents of the U.S. Government. Operation Castaway was being run out of the Tampa BATFE office and it seems to have let weapons walk to Honduras. Next comes Gangwalker out of all places Indiana. Like in F&F it seems the BATFE told an Indiana gun dealer to sell weapons to people no matter what. Federal law requires gun store owners to deny sales to convicted felons. Gangwalker ATF agents told the store to sell anyway.

Three different operations in three different jurisdictions all with a similar motive, to allegedly trace weapons from sale to the criminals. All three seemingly have failed the most basic standard of success, keeping control of the weapons and preventing them from actually being used by criminals. In the case of Fast&Furious we have multiple murders linked to weapons sold during this operation. No word about Castaway or Gangwalker, but the odds are sadly good weapons from these operations have also murdered people.

So for the Obama administration and Eric Holder to deny they knew about these operations stretches credibility into some amazing shapes. Three different ops that crossed multiple jurisdictional boundaries and the likes of Holder knew nothing. Not to mention ICE and US Customs under DHS Sec. Napolitano since agent Jaime Zapata worked for DHS. Something stinks badly. Especially when one of the three people in the White House who had knowledge of Fast and Furious is Obama's National Security point man for Latin America Dan Restrepo.

Who Benefits?

One of the big questions police ask when trying to solve a crime is who does the crime benefit? Does it benefit the victims of the lawyer who just scammed his clients? Or the scorned wife the one who killed the mistress? Very important question to ask.

I ask this question because Operation Fast&Furious has been touted by administration officials to have the objective of tracing guns sold in the US to higher ups in various Mexican criminal gangs. That is the alleged benefit Fast&Furious bestowed upon US law enforcement. What has been document proves how untrue this statement is.

Rep. Issa and Sen. Grassley's investigation has shown agents of the US federal government have allowed known felons to purchase multiple weapons. This is federal law that all FFL[Federal Firearms Licensees] are bound by if they want to sell guns, they will perform background checks on all who try to purchase weapons and if the person has a felony record then the sale is denied. To violate this law results in the FFL owner being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law with a good chance to serve time. And it seems Fast and Furious short circuited this safety feature.

In violation of standard ATF procedures, many guns - including AK-47 clones, AR-15 clones, .50cal sniper rifles, pistols, and other firearms - that were part of this operation were allowed to cross the border into Mexico and arm drug cartels. Acting ATF station chief Mexico City Camino testified to reading part of the management log for Fast&Furious, on three separate occasions agents walked away from houses that stashed the suspect guns.

The ATF personnel in Mexico were deliberately kept in the dark about the full scope of Operation Fast&Furious. ATF Attache Darren Gil and his assistant Carlos Camino noticed a spike in seized arms that traced back to the Phoenix ATF office op called Fast&Furious. It has emerged that when ATF Mexico would run recovered gun serial numbers through e-Trace, if it was a Fast&Furious gun they would get zero information back. When the Mexican authorities ran serial numbers through e-Trace, they also got zero information if the weapon was connected to Fast&Furious. It turns out the agents managing Fast&Furious were telling the e-Trace people to not divulge information. Meanwhile Gil and Camino were voicing their concerns to Washington DC repeatedly and getting no substantive answer. In fact they were under the impression Fast&Furious was an op aimed at arresting FFL holders selling weapons illegally. When Gil asked for permission to pass information relating to these guns to Mexican officials, he was not allowed even though he had only an incomplete understanding. After the murder of Mario Gonzales Rodriguez at the hands of a drug cartel, Camino briefed Mario's sister and former Attorney General of Chihuahua of the Fast&Furious connection. What is telling is Camino told her out of a sense of duty, he wanted her to know the truth before the media told the world and he did it in spite of official silence from Washington DC.

Not only was ATF Mexico kept out of the information loop, parts of the ATF in Washington DC was also. Specifically the Office of Strategic Information and Intelligence[OSII]. Steve Martin of OSII has testified he conducted briefings where Fast&Furious was brought up. The large number of guns being found in Mexico that traced back to this operation was briefed. And he has also testified that OSII recommendations were ignored. Eventually OSII stopped bringing Fast&Furious up at briefings because they felt it had been covered and nothing was being done.

So in Mexico we had Darren Gil and Carlos Camino asking about when Fast&Furious was going to be shut down since they thought it was an FFL case. Steve Martin and others in OSII were asking about Fast&Furious. Southwest border czar Ray Crowley was asking what would be done. International Affairs Chief Daniel Kumor was also asking when Fast&Furious would be shut down. All were told Fast&Furious would be shut down soon, this was mid-2010. In fact Fast&Furious would not be shut down and any arrests made until the end of January 2011 and after the murder of agent Brian Terry in December 2010 at the hands of cartel members armed with Fast&Furious weapons.

If Fast&Furious had truly been aimed at tracing weapons further up the food chain than mere straw buyers, wouldn't it be advisable to tell Gil and Camino about it so they could brief the US Ambassador and their Mexican counterparts? Instead Mexico ATF was kept in the dark. So when Mexican forces, during the course of normal raids, turned up Fast&Furious weapons they had no idea what was going on. And when Fast&Furious case officers told e-Trace not to report weapon information to the Mexican government or to Mexico ATF, it further served to hide what the true scope of Fast&Furious was.

This darkness that cloaked this operation is very troubling. If this was truly such a straight forward operation to arrest illegal gun buyers then why was all the behind the scene manipulations allowed that stymied what should have been key players the knowledge they needed to assist the operation? What is emerging is a poorly thought out mission where no thought was given to unforeseen consequences.

Besides Mario and Brian, how many other people will die at the hands of weapons Fast&Furious let slip? The true total will not be known for years since over a thousand Fast&Furious weapons are still unaccounted for. And for every death these weapons cause, ATF Agents Terry English and Hope McAllister, who managed Fast&Furious, should be charged as accessories to murder. Same charge should be brought against anyone who knowingly assisted them or allowed Fast&Furious to continue even as the death toll in Mexico mounted. This corruption, this malfeasance, this violating of laws needs to be rooted out thoroughly - to prove our justice system still works and to assure our ally in the drug war Mexico that the United States is still trustworthy.

The Addicted States of America

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times is how a certain story by Dickens goes. Those words certainly do seem to apply to these trying economic and political times, as people struggle to stay afloat and large swathes of the world seem to be aflame.

Against this backdrop, another of Dicken's characters seems to have multiplied. As Fagin and his cronies continue to spend the money they have looted from honest people, the foot soldier of that looting Oliver Twist has apparently multiplied. As President Obama tries to gloss over glaring deficit numbers, Harry Reid lows like a gelded bull that nothing can be cut from the budget, and John Boehner carefully sharpens his tax-cutting knife on the whetstone; here comes many Oliver Twists to plead. It seems many state governors who have grown addicted to the bowls of tax porridge that Federal Fagin has ladeled out these past years. They fear Boehner will stop feeding them this special porridge, so in their best voice they have gone abegging to Washington DC to not cut off the funding that has kept these states almost solvent.

These governors have begged for the unlimited slurry of porridge to keep pumping. Even though their states have become bloated and moribund on it. Though the workhouse itself is teetering on insolvency. On porridge that has been boosted from the average taxpayer, the voting citizens of these several soverign states. I would think some tough love is in order and these states should be forcibly told to cut back. Or be honest with each state's own citizens on this shell game being played; instead of the state government raising taxes and angering the voters, the states go pleading to the federal government for these funds, so the federal government raises taxes to meet these demands, and these governors then can say they never raised taxes while blaming the government in Washington DC for the higher taxes.

Dance Rahm

Dance to the tune of whomever holds the truth on how you have been added back to the voter rolls. Why do I say that? Because if you survive these challenges to your residency claims, then the ones who put you back and protected you will own you Rahm. You just had to rent your primary residence while living in Washington D.C. ruining the country. I hope the challenges are effective and you are stricken from running for mayor. Ms. Braun is far more preferable then your naked lust for power.

D Minus One

Here it is people, this is the last day to rally the troops for tomorrow. There are 435 battles spread across this land for a seat in the House of Representatives. Just as there is 33 battles for Senate seats. Plus many governorships are up for grabs plus more local initiatives.

Tomorrow marks the start of the great crusade to restore this country. To restore pride in a country that will spill its most precious resource, its citizens, to liberate others from the slavery of oppression. To return this country to where fair deals are the norm instead of an aberration. Where anyone, can by sheer hard work, can become the next JP Morgan or Bill Gates. To lead this country back into being that shining beacon of hope the rest of the world turns to and yearns to emulate.

None of this will happen if those we elect to Washington D.C. fall into the habits that make the term Congressman a curse word. Remind all these who are elected from local to national office that they work for us, We the People. And tell them that we are watching. If they start doing the 'pay to play' shenanigans then they shall suffer our wrath when we vote them out again. This is our country, not their personal plaything. Such notions belong to kings and princes, in America we have no need for kings or princes.

Deny thy father Rory

When I read how Rory Reid is managing his campaign to become the governor of Nevada, the Bard springs to mind. Of when Juliet Capulet implores Romeo Montague to turn his back on his family so they can be together - "Deny thy father and refuse thy name!" Juliet implores. Alas Romeo does not nor does Juliet deny her family. So in the end they both die very tragically.

It seems Rory Reid's campaign is set to suffer the same ill-starred fate as those two Italian lovers. Reid is trying to re-brand himself as simply Rory. No reference to his last name nor how he is related to Sen. Harry Reid [D-NV] who leads the US Senate. Now come on Rory, are you truly expecting undecided voters to be no smarter than broccoli and not know who you are related to? I would say that would a strike against you serving in any public office. Another strike is the blatant dishonesty of this re-branding. You are asking the voters to think hard on who they will elect while trying to obscure yourself and hope they don't think too hard. You are trying to have your cake and eat it too it seems Mdme. Antoinette to get elected.

Like Romeo refusing to deny his father name, by denying his last name Rory hopes to avoid publicly denying everything his father stands for. Which means Rory probably stands for the same narrow-minded avaricious things Harry stands for - power and money. Which are excellent reasons not to let Rory anywhere near the executive branch of government.

I must return to another quote from another play written by the Bard, of Marc Anthony after Julius Ceaser's assassination - "Friends, countrymen, Romans; lend me your ears. We come here not to praise Ceaser but to bury him." When the election for governor rolls around in Nevada, let us hope the voters of Nevada not only send Harry to the political graveyard but his son Rory as well.

More Eurofighter News

It has been a long time since I have blogged on the Eurofighter project. Remember when the Serious Fraud Office investigation of BAE and its contract with Saudi Arabia for Typhoons was stopped dead in its tracks? Well while I was paying attention to more local news, it seems that case moved forward and has reached a possible conclusion. Though the tale it seems has grown more tangled.

We have an Austrian count with a castle who had to post bond and not leave London. It seems he greased palms in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and his home country of Austria to sell them SAAB JAS.39 Gripens, of which BAE has a stake in.

Then there is an advanced air traffic control radar that was supposed to be sold to Tanzania. But it was never delivered and the BAE adviser in Tanzania pocketed 8 million British Pounds. This is the only charge BAE plead guilty to in the UK with the Serious Fraud Office. It cost the SFO about 5 million to prosecute this case, they may see 2 million in return. The rest of the 30 million will be returned to Tanzania.

The biggest fine though is supposed to be paid to the US Department of Defense because of BAE efforts to conceal information and transactions through the use of off shore shell companies. The fine levied by the US on BAE is 256 million Pounds. But by sheer happenstance a BAE pension fund in the US has experienced a one time windfall of 261 million Pounds which will nicely cover the fine.

Things like this is why reality is always stranger than fiction. Reality does not have to follow rules of believability least the reader exclaim that can't happen. Something or various things still stink about the various schemes BAE has engaged in. One hopes more will come to light and those who have done wrong are punished.

Another Under the Bus

I bet Obama is glad he ordered from Government Motors a special hybrid 4x4 bus when he forced a regieme change on them and put his directors on the board. It seems another one of his associates has been tossed under it.

The most recent victim to join Van Jones in greasing those axels is none other than Yosi Sergeant. Yosi's first claim to Obama fame was bringing in Fairey to do some political posters for the campaign. After the election, Sergeant became the director of communications for the NEA. And here he ran into trouble. You see he had a conference call with various NEA funded artists asking them to produce art in favour of things like health care reform.

Naturally this rang alarm bells among many who are now wary of anything that comes from Team Obama. It invoked visions of Young Pioneers reciting how wonderful Iosef Stalin was to the Rodina while standing under pictures showing a paternal and smiling image of the butcher dictator.

So poor Yosi Sergeant has resigned. Which means he moves out of government work and the limelight to either a less noticeable government slot or to become a shill on K Street peddling his tawdry wares. Dear President Obama, you are known by the company you keep and well your company is full of stinkers.

ACORN, From Sue-ing to Rue-in

This should prove to be interesting and possibly very damaging to people around Obama. Will it lead to Obama, who knows. That is what the discovery process is all about. And ACORN has provided O'Keefe, Giles, and Breibert with the opportunity. Lawsuits are like duels, the one accused can choose the manner of the fight.

As Greta was saying on Fox News last night, they[ACORN] took the bait. From a legal standpoint its very stupid because of the discovery process. What is the discovery process? When someone is sued, they have the right to demand all documents, save privledge lawyer-client advise, relating to the suit. So it is stupid of ACORN until you realize this has been the ACORN modus-operandi for years. In the name of poor people in urban areas being discriminated against, they threaten suit against mortgage holders unless they relax their standards on issuing mortgages; that has been ACORN's standard tactic. It has worked in the past, so ACORN is betting the film makers will do like Bank of America has done and simply settle out of court.

They at ACORN are trying to seem the outraged party by suing for defamation. However defamation is a dicey thing to sue on since it is very hard to prove. Working against ACORN's depiction of its employees are without blemish is how fast ACORN fired them. Plus the character of ACORN as a whole is damaged by previous federal and state investigations/convictions of local ACORN offices in regards to voter fraud. And we can not forget how a relative of one of ACORN's founders stole money from ACORN and it was hushed up. Simply put, ACORN has no character left to defame.

So why add defamation to the suit if its such an iffy accusation? It is mere window dressing to tart up their fragile primary accusation that O'Keefe and Giles violated an obscure Maryland by covertly taping their sting operation. This Maryland law was used against Linda Tripp when she taped Lewinsky's conversations about Bill Clinton, and she was convicted because Lewinsky was not informed she was being taped. The law makes no mention of covert video taping however. This is why I say its a fragile accusation.

And because ACORN's legal team has decided to sue on such a broad front, the accused can file discovery on many subjects. And ACORN has to comply. Or else. ACORN has doubled-down on a losing hand. They know this is a losing hand and hope Breibart, O'Keefe, and Giles fold or they would have added Fox News to the suit as they promised to do in previous statements.

Note: If Maryland finds in favor of an organization that has no license to operate in Maryland in regards to the covert videotaping, then every television covert camera investigation becomes a possible lawsuit. Plus ponder how this will impact security cameras in banks, supermarkets, and quik-stops. If the law is applied to this case to find O'Keefe and Giles guilty, lawyers with clients in the clink because of video security will start suing. This is the danger of ill-thought out precedence.

Historic Parallel?

During the War of 1812 the Redcoats of England marched upon Washington D.C. forcing President Madison and others to flee. The British proceeded to take over the building at 1600 Penn. Ave. Then when they left the city, they torched the building. Leaving it a smoking ruin that would be painted white to cover the damage.

Now it seems we have modern Redcoats in Washington. As the CBO announces a deficit of over $9 trillion that will loot the fiscal health of this great nation, the ringleaders of this fiasco beat a hasty retreat. Where do they flee? Why to the progressives version of Versailles called Martha's Vineyard so the carpet-baggers can try to cloak their looting in JFK-esque drapery.

All they are showing is their contempt of the average American citizen with an attitude far more injurious than Marie Antoinette suggesting the French populace eat cake. At least cake is food that will nourish the body, deficit is nothing but empty calories that seem to fill while starving the body.

The Curious Case of the Bearer Bonds

For a story that could be ripped from a John Le Carre novel, we have a strange case coming from the Italian-Swiss border.

Two fifty-ish men, thought to be Japanese, said they had nothing to declare at Chiasso Italy before traveling on to Switzerland. The Italian Financial Police decided to investigate more thoroughly and got a real big surprise. In a false bottom of some luggage were found United States bearer bonds. Not a piddling few oh no. Try $134 billion US worth, 249 in a $500million denomination. Never seen a Kennedy, but I bet 99.9% of the world has not either. The police also found assorted bank documents.

Right now Italy and various law enforcement agencies are tying to find out a few things. Are the two men Japanese citizens. Are the bonds real or forged. It seems the bonds bear an issue date of 1934 like a previous case of forged US bonds. Where did these bonds come from and who has the printing press?

The investigation is proceeding and I earnestly hope some hard answers are found.

Nancy 'not so smart' Pelosi

Arlen's Political Epitath

Arlen Ecplised

High Senator Arlen pensively walked the confines of his office, wrestling with his inner demons. He ran fingers through his thinning gray hair as the polling data showed his secure throne slipping away to an upstart named Toomey.

Shadows leaned over Arlen within his own demesnes and when they pulled back, there stood Arch-Senator Harry Reid with a cool smile upon his cadaverous face. As the door to the office stayed firmly closed, no one immediately learned what sweet whispers were exchanged between the two nor the fell promises. Save Arlen now took one of his pens off the desk and eagerly signed his name to a piece of parchment proffered by Reid.

Once again the shadows closed over Arlen in his office to enwrap him and Reid in a cloak that once it vanished, so did the apparition of Reid who still had a gloating smile upon his face. He pauses in front of a mirror to brush his hair and straighten his suit, failing to notice how transparent his image has become. Then High Senator Arlen soon rushed out of his office to hold a press conference. He has had a revelation.

As the media crows circled around a person whom they considered road-kill just the night before, they all sensed a change. High Senator Arlen merely smiles to all the cameras, waiting for them to finish setting up. No one notices how the pallor of Arlen’s skin has started to blend in with the stone steps behind him.

With a thrust of multiple microphones, Arlen now knows it is time to make his announcement. Smiling most fetchingly, he proudly announces his alignment with those of Arch Senator Reid’s party whilst castigating his now betrayed allies for driving him away with such antiquated notions as small government and less taxes. All the while Arch Senator Reid sits in his chair ensconced within the confines of his office watching the televisions; the smile now on his face is not a kind one like grandfathers use to dote on grandchildren, instead it seems to be the smile a shark who has scented fresh blood would show. For now Reid had his useful idiot who had granted him the 60 vote boon. Then the smile turned downright nasty as he contemplates the fine print of that contract, soon dear Arlen would rue this turnabout.

For the next three days all was wonderful for High Senator Arlen as his new allies slapped him on the back in shows of camaraderie when the cameras were seen. While his former allies were left speechless even as their leadership told Arlen good riddance. But on the third day, the other shoe dropped upon Arlen with the weight of a sandbag.

Oh how Arlen railed when he learned what the fine print meant to his dreams of keeping his power were now checked and possibly dashed. But with his bridges burned behind with his betrayal what could he do. Reid’s smile was mock solicitous as he apologized to a shocked Arlen. But how could he discomfit the other senators of his team right at this delicate moment Reid innocently asked? But he assured Arlen that after the next election Arlen’s seniority requirements would be adequately met. Arlen could trust him to keep his word.

Thus Arlen Faust retired to his now much diminished demesnes to ponder his cruel fate. For as he betrayed people who stood by him, he now stands betrayed by those whom he believed would help him. He buried his face in his hands and the tattered remnants of his soul cried out in anguish.

Darlin Arlen

It should come as no surprise that Sen Arlen Specter[D-PA] should be using the still warm corpse of Jack Kemp to further his petty political pursuits. After all Specter tried to defend Ira Einhorn in the gruesome murder of his erstwhile girlfriend Holly Maddux. Who's body counter-culture guru Einhorn had kept in a trunk in his apartment for 18 months, leaking downstairs and emitting foul odors until the police arrested him. It was Specter who secured the absurdly low bail of $40,000 on Einhorn that allowed Einhorn to flee the country just before his trial.

But for Arlen to now say if Republicans had not opposed medical research then Jack Kemp would be alive is so vile words almost fail me. The rank hypocrisy of a man rescued from the brink of death due to cancer by this same medical research to now utter such a malign assault upon a man who succumbed is reprehensible, it is sickening and craven.

Arlen Specter is a man of suspect morals that are determined by the winds of polls. His very presence in the chambers of the Senate should sicken all there for he is fore sworn, his given word is worthless. Specter needs to be run out of office on a rail.

DHS Macht Frei?

That sounds pretty strong and pejorative does it not? Well Col. Ed Rasimus at Thunder Tales titled his article on this as Fort Bergen-Belsen. We both have reason to use such inflammatory language since we are looking at a piece of proposed legislation [H.R. 645] that is raising the hair on the back of our necks as we flashback to newsreel footage of innocent decent Germans, some who happened to be Jewish while others here homosexual, being rounded up and put in camps, not band camps either.

First lets look at the author of the bill. Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL] of the 23rd District. Rep. Hastings has a very colourful history while performing 'public' service. For awhile he was a sitting Federal judge until he got railroaded by the US Congress. Railroaded? He was impeached by the House and kicked off the bench for his crimes. But like Marion Barry of Washington D.C., Hastings was not going to let a criminal record stop him from acquiring power. So he is now a duly elected Representative from the Sunshine State. So for him to introduce any piece of legislation raises red flags of suspicion. Ooops, I used the word red; can't say that or Alcee might think I am calling him a Communist. Can't have that so lets say his impeachment is a Scarlet Letter of shame to warn people of his character.

Another troubling little bit is who this legislation designates to run these emergency relocation camps. With a hurricane or a dirty bomb attack, one would think FEMA would be running these camps. Nope, would be wrong. Its the Department of Homeland Security that would be running them. DHS, who just issued a report saying military veterans are a threat and who's TSA employees have been known to seize Medals of Honor or US Army issue P-38 can-openers as possible weapons.

Perhaps most troubling is the language of Section 4.

SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
This Act does not affect--
(1) the authority of the Federal Government to provide emergency or major
disaster assistance or to implement any disaster mitigation and response
program, including any program authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or
(2) the authority of a State or local government to respond to an emergency.

It is very opaque and confusing. But it seems to say this Act does not supersede any other Federal or State disaster relief effort. So FEMA and its state equivalents can assist the disaster stricken. If this is true, then why create these emergency evacuation centers on closed DoD bases administered by the DHS? What is going on? And why are 'transportation corridors' specified? Why not say highway, rail, or canal since this is what a transportation corridor means. Or is someone afraid the keen of eye might glimpse 'railway' in the bill and immediately think of cattle cars jam packed with 100 people in each? As I said, it seems Hastings is trying to hide what he really means. And only fools would pass such a bill without asking questions. But we have a Congress that has passed an 1800 page 'stimulus' bill without reading it.

Right now this putrid piece of tyrannical legislation languishes in committee, lets raise our voices and ensure it dies in committee to never been seen by honourable people again.

King Barry and Queen Michelle

The lights glittered as the silverware softly clinked. They looked at each other and smiled. They reveled in their happiness, he was President of the United States and she as First Lady. This allowed them to fly Air Force One back to Chicago for Valentines Day. It had allowed them to secure the best seats in the restaurant and impeccably safe service at Table 52, the pride of Oprah’s former chef Art Smith.

As they dined on upscale versions of catfish, sausage, and jambalaya; the real world walked right past their chic eatery. Average people with hands buried deeply in pockets and hats on their heads to protect them from the cold. Their gaze is cast downward searching for any loose change on the sidewalk as they worry if they will keep their apartment and job. This passed unnoticed by the two as they continued to eat their desert, cake.