SSCC #340 – BATFEieio

A mother claims Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
agents terrorized her and her 8-year-old child. She claims the person
they were seeking no longer lived there.

No warrant was issued for the raid either, but even more entertaining was this:

Griego said twice in the year before the raid she had informed police
officers that the Angela they were seeking was a previous tenant and no
longer living in the home.

I guess it’s a plus since they didn’t shoot a dog or stomp a kitten to death.

State Sponsored Criminal 340: The bATFeieio

Because police work is for all those other suckers.  When we have fancy raid equipment, we need to use it.  It justifies our budget you know!  Besides what better time to use it than when we know we’ll be safe.  Our concern is for us, not for you!

For a friend…

A friend posted a realization she had about herself this morning.  It was a big one and a good one for her to make. This ear worm is just for her, it’s close enough to her story.

I was blessed with two wonderful parents, however there’s always that thing in the back of your head.  You never want to turn into your parents.  You don’t want to become the unhip square, the authoritarian, the alcoholic drunk (a good buddy of mine refuses to drink for that reason), it bites us right straight to the core.

There are definitely some things that are genetic for our personalities.  My sister (who is adopted) and I prove that to a T.  She recently discovered the family she never knew and it ends up that personality wise she was the spitting image of her mother.  I on the other hand have been informed by my mom that when I go into a long rant I sound exactly like my father.  Sometimes saying the exact same he said long before I was born and never would have heard him say.

At the same time I know my dad hated his parents.  He absolutely did not want to be like them in any way shape or form.  He had very few pleasant memories of his father and there’s a reason he hated yard work.  When you tell your kid you’ll pay him for the work, and then never pay him it leaves a sour taste.  To give you an idea of how split they were, I never met my dad’s father.  The first time I met my grandmother at my grandfather’s funeral.  I was in 4th grade.  My dad was booted out of the house at 16 because he was old enough to be on his own.  My uncle, my dad’s brother-in-law took him in.  I also know my grandfather was very upset I was named what I was instead of after him.  For you see, I was named after the uncle who took him in instead of my grandfather.

We all have demons of some kind.  Some have demons worse than others.  Some are afraid if they uncage the beast there is no going back.  In some cases that can very well be true, addictive personalities for example.  In many cases though that is anything but true.  Just because I channel my father, at many of the times it’s probably for the better, doesn’t make me my father.  Just the same as I’m sure my dad probably did something at some point in his life where he said, “Oh my god, I’m turning into my father.”  The thing is, my dad hated and despised his father and he left those parts out.  What I was left with was man that I only wish I could compare to.  A man that I look at and say I wish there were more people like him.  He wasn’t perfect, but the positive and good far out weighed the bad and even the bad isn’t that memorable.

While genetics might be a strong tie, so is will and determination.  Just because you get angry or violent doesn’t mean you have to like it.  It also doesn’t mean you have to be angry or violent at everyone all the time.  I hate being angry, doubly hate becoming violent, which is funny because a lot of my friends tell me I’m really good at being angry.  The thing is I actually hate it, I hate the feeling, but I know some times it has to happen.  When it does happen, I need to make sure the rage gets channeled to it’s proper location.  There are times however I wish I didn’t snap like a drill instructor.  Anger alone can scare a lot of people quite quickly with the fear of you becoming violent, doubly so when they don’t realizing that being honest will quickly cause it to subside.  But I digress.

The bottom line is this, no matter what our parents have had an effect on who we are.  Both through genetics and our environment.  They’ve had an effect, but they don’t define who we are absolutely.  It’s a combination of the two that creates who we are in the very end.  While genetics might predispose us to particular vices, we can choose to avoid them.  We can choose to dislike or even hate them.  We can also just the same realize that a particular trait is bad in one setting but OK, even valuable, in another.

Ear Worm Wednesday–5/30/2012

Yeah, I’m glad I moved out into BFE for the small town story.  In Google News I have a feed for my home town.  This today just made me shake my head not to mention this from last week.  Overall, I really don’t miss my home town, it’s nothing like when I grew up there.

Eric Chuch – Homeboy

SSCC #339–Denver

He wore a badge and a gun. And when the Denver police officer demanded sex in the front seat of his squad car two years ago, according to Valerie Arend, she felt she had to comply with his demands.

Yeah, go read the story.  Sounds like a class A character right there.  She had every reason to be afraid, our sworn officers of the law get preferential treatment.  Don’t believe me, resist an unlawful arrest as you’re legally allowed to do and tell me how that ends up.

She could have used force to resist but his buddies who arrive on scene are going to pummel her face and no one will believe her.

Great how the system works isn’t it?

State Sponsored Criminal #339: Hector Paez

Because citizens should have the deck stacked against them so an officer always has the benefit of the doubt, no matter what he does.

Congratulations my boy!

You sir have found yourself a keeper!

ShesAKeeper

The good one’s always do.*

*Now I do realized the Netherland’s do not allow concealed carry in public.  I consider that a damn shame.  As I’ve said before I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.  It appears this man’s girlfriend probably subscribes to the same philosophy.  I’m not normally one to support those breaking the law, but I’m not going to turn around and support criminals by saying victims should be disarmed either.  I’m hate victimless crimes with a passion and until such time as she pulls it and shoots someone or threatens someone that’s exactly what carrying concealed is.

Seriously son, keep your mouth shut and don’t screw it up.

Quote of the Day – Sebastian (5/29/2012)

Our opponents were used to a media environment where they could grab
hold of the narrative and drive it as far as they like, but that does
not work in the world we live in now. The funny thing is, no one can
control it for long, not even us. But for some reason that’s
strengthened our hand, and severely weakened theirs.

Sebastian The Narrative Slips Out of Control for Josh Horwitz

May 29, 2012


[I think Sebastian nailed this right on the head.  No one really has control of the narrative anymore, even as hard as some people might try.  No matter how hard people try, the truth eventually comes out.  Our opponents previously were able to win hard and fast because they could control the narrative.  They could pull at peoples heart strings.  Now though, they can pull at the heart strings at the beginning and then facts and logic will overtake random emotion.  People become upset when someone uses their genuine emotions nefariously and ultimately were made to feel sorry for someone who in the end turns out not to be the angel he was made out to be.

Just the same, we can not control the narrative either despite what our opponents may think.  We don’t control it, it’s just that we’re the ones presenting the truth with facts to back it up.  For the most part, that’s what the majority want, they want the truth.  It so happens that the truth, facts, and logic support our position.  All our enemy has is falsehoods to try and pull at people’s emotions.  Since no one controls the narrative, they can’t stop the narrative from changing from what they started to tug at peoples heart strings.  In the ends all they are left with is a group of people so emotionally invested in the narrative that they lack the ability to think rationally or freely.  So the question becomes, did we really loose any support from those people?

I didn’t think so either. -B]

SSCC #338–Duval County

Federal prosecutors say Duval County Sheriff’s deputy Ruben Silva took $5,000 in payment and planned to smuggle cocaine in his sheriff’s department vehicle from the Rio Grande Valley north through the Border Patrol inland checkpoint. He was arrested Thursday.

Yup, the “War on Nouns”, it’s nothing but a giant ploy so the government can create it’s own monopoly.  Prohibitions fail, period.  The “War on Drugs” just means that the smugglers who go and work for the state get preferential treatment and can do the inside jobs.

They only reason he’s facing punishment is because the DEA and ATF still have a black eye from fast and furious.  Besides, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen someone doing an inside job like this.

State Sponsored Criminal #338: Ruben Silva

Because you’ve been sworn to enforcing the law, means you can enforce it against others while breaking it yourself to make some money on the side.

via Bob S.

Who’s In Your Thoughts Today…

This pretty much speaks for itself.

On June 28, 2005, deep behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, a very committed four-man Navy SEAL team was conducting a reconnaissance mission at the unforgiving altitude of approximately 10,000 feet. The SEALs, Lt. Michael Murphy, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz, Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell had a vital task.  The four SEALs were scouting Ahmad Shah – a terrorist in his mid-30s who grew up in the adjacent mountains just to the south.

Under the assumed name Muhammad Ismail, Shah led a guerrilla group known to locals as the “Mountain Tigers” that had aligned with the Taliban and other militant groups close to the Pakistani border. The SEAL mission was compromised when the team was spotted by local nationals, who presumably reported its presence and location to the Taliban.

A fierce firefight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force of more than 50 anti-coalition militia.  The enemy had the SEALs outnumbered.  They also had terrain advantage.  They launched a well-organized, three-sided attack on the SEALs.  The firefight continued relentlessly as the overwhelming militia forced the team deeper into a ravine. 

Trying to reach safety, the four men, now each wounded, began bounding down the mountain’s steep sides, making leaps of 20 to 30 feet. Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, pinned down by overwhelming forces, Dietz, the communications petty officer, sought open air to place a distress call back to the base. But before he could, he was shot in the hand, the blast shattering his thumb.
Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates. Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open, where he could gain a better position to transmit a call to get help for his men.

Moving away from the protective mountain rocks, he knowingly exposed himself to increased enemy gunfire.  This deliberate and heroic act deprived him of cover and made him a target for the enemy.  While continuing to be fired upon, Murphy made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force at Bagram Air Base and requested assistance. He calmly provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force while requesting immediate support for his team. At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in.  Severely wounded, Lt. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle.

An MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aboard, was sent is as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs.  The MH-47 was escorted by heavily-armored, Army attack helicopters. Entering a hot combat zone, attack helicopters are used initially to neutralize the enemy and make it safer for the lightly-armored, personnel-transport helicopter to insert.

The heavy weight of the attack helicopters slowed the formation’s advance prompting the MH-47 to outrun their armored escort.  They knew the tremendous risk going into an active enemy area in daylight, without their attack support, and without the cover of night.  Risk would, of course, be minimized if they put the helicopter down in a safe zone. But knowing that their warrior brothers were shot, surrounded and severely wounded, the rescue team opted to directly enter the oncoming battle in hopes of landing on brutally hazardous terrain.

As the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard. 
On the ground and nearly out of ammunition, the four SEALs, Murphy, Luttrell, Dietz and Axelson, continued the fight.  By the end of the two-hour gunfight that careened through the hills and over cliffs, Murphy, Axelson and Dietz had been killed. An estimated 35 Taliban were also dead.

The fourth SEAL, Luttrell, was blasted over a ridge by a rocket propelled grenade and was knocked unconscious. Regaining consciousness some time later, Luttrell managed to escape – badly injured – and slowly crawl away down the side of a cliff. Dehydrated, with a bullet wound to one leg, shrapnel embedded in both legs, three vertebrae cracked; the situation for Luttrell was grim. Rescue helicopters were sent in, but he was too weak and injured to make contact. Traveling seven miles on foot he evaded the enemy for nearly a day. Gratefully, local nationals came to his aid, carrying him to a nearby village where they kept him for three days. The Taliban came to the village several times demanding that Luttrell be turned over to them. The villagers refused.  One of the villagers made his way to a Marine outpost with a note from Luttrell, and U.S. forces launched a massive operation that rescued him from enemy territory on July 2.

By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit and inspirational devotion to his men in the face of certain death, Lt. Murphy was able to relay the position of his unit, an act that ultimately led to the rescue of Luttrell and the recovery of the remains of the three who were killed in the battle.

This was the worst single-day U.S. Forces death toll since Operation Enduring Freedom began nearly six years ago.  It was the single largest loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since World War II.

The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community will forever remember June 28, 2005 and the heroic efforts and sacrifices of our special operators.  We hold with reverence the ultimate sacrifice that they made while engaged in that fierce fire fight on the front lines of the global war on terrorism (GWOT).

-NSW-

OPERATION REDWING KIAs- On June 28, 2005, three of four SEALS on the ground (Murphy, Dietz, Axelson) were  killed during combat operations in support of Operation Red Wing.  ON the same say, a QRF of eight Navy SEALs and 8 Army Night Stalkers were also killed when the MH-47 helicopter that they were aboard was shot down by enemy fire in the vicinity of Asadabad, Afghanistan in Kumar Province.

Navy SEALs
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

  1. Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y. 
  2. Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif.
  3. Machinist Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, Nev.
  4. Senior Chief Information Systems Technician (SEAL) Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, N.H. 
  5. Quartermaster 2nd Class (SEAL) James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.

SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, Virginia Beach, Va.

  1. Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo.

SEAL Team 10, Virginia Beach, Va.

  1. Chief Fire Controlman (SEAL) Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans, La. 
  2. Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Erik S. Kristensen, 33, of San Diego, Calif. 
  3. Electronics Technician 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffery A. Lucas, 33, of Corbett, Ore. 
  4. Lt. (SEAL) Michael M. McGreevy Jr., 30, of Portville, N.Y. 
  5. Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffrey S. Taylor, 30, of Midway, W.Va.

Army Night Stalkers
3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.

  1. Staff Sgt. Shamus O. Goare, 29, of Danville, Ohio. 
  2. Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, 35, of Clarks Grove, Minn. 
  3. Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, Fla. 
  4. Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles, 33, of Shelbyville, Ind. 
  5. Maj. Stephen C. Reich, 34, of Washington Depot, Conn. 
  6. Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Russell, 31, of Stafford, Va. 
  7. Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla.

HQ Company, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.

  1. Master Sgt. James W. Ponder III, 36, of Franklin, Tenn.

            U.S. Navy SEALs are the maritime component of U.S. Special Operations Command and the Navy’s special operations force.  The SEALs take their name from the elements in which they operate – sea, air and land. Experts in special reconnaissance and direct action missions – SEALs continue to successfully execute DoD’s most important warfighting missions in the GWOT.

Thank you to LT. Murphy, his team, all those who answered the call, and those like them who went before.  Men that will willingly ran towards the sound of the gunfire, not so much because we asked them to, but because they knew their brothers need help. 

Stories like this bear remembrance because it speaks volumes of the humanity and brotherhood of those who serve.  There are countless other names to remember, each with their own story.

Also, if you haven’t read it, I suggest reading Lone Survivor