(Lack of) Police Accountability

Iowa DOT officers accused of overstepping authority

This was a followup story, with an additional charge brought against the Iowa DOT for abusive behavior. What struck me from the article was this:

Gray-Fisher said an investigation of the incident involving Weigand and Schneider is under way, but said the Iowa DOT would not make results of the investigation public.

Not making the results public?!?! So the taxpaying public, you know, the folks you are supposed to protect and serve, are just supposed to take your word for it that an investigation is being conducted? Further, once that investigation is complete, the people you serve aren't even going to find out what the results were?

This smacks of a department that is corrupt enough that they know if the public had access to their disciplinary records, there would be a lot of fired people, likely including the higher ups. Anyone in Iowa that wants to get involved (and doesn't mind possible retaliatory strikes from a potentially out of control group of petty thugs) should be talking to their representatives about getting this situation rectified ASAP.

After all, we know that cockroaches like the dark and quiet. Shining a bright light on their behavior, accompanied by loud protests from the "civilians" is what is needed to ensure the servants don't become the masters.

Fox Gets it Wrong....After They Got it Right???

Obama Vows to Disarm Mexican Drug Cartels

So which is it Fox News? Is the 90% of guns used in Mexican crimes come from the US factoid being bandied about incorrect, as you claimed earlier, or is it correct?

I asked Fox News this myself today. Hopefully they'll take action to correct themselves.

To: Fox News
Your article today: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/16/obama-takes-drug-cartels-surging-violence-mexico/ claims:
The escalating drug war in Mexico is spilling into the United States, and confronting Obama with a foreign crisis much closer than North Korea or Afghanistan. Mexico is the main hub for cocaine and other drugs entering the U.S.; the United States is the primary source of guns used in Mexico's drug-related killings.

Yet you just showed video a few days ago claiming this "fact" is entirely untrue:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=4137802&referralPlaylistId=playlist

accompanied by this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/

So, which is it? If 17% is more realistically the number, and from other sources I believe that's more towards the truth, why do you let crap such as I have bolded above get into your article?

You guys are doing such a decent job, it's sad to see this kind of stuff get through. I'd hope if you stand by your earlier reporting that you'd get that sentence removed from it asap (or prominently redacted with a reason given).

Garry
http://tyrannyunleashed.blogspot.com

Montana Fires First Shot in 2nd Amendment Battle

Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

These two important Amendments are about local control. Specifically, if the Constitution doesn't specifically allow the Federal Government to do something, they do not have the power to do so.

I wrote a little while back about the myriad of states that are passing various resolutions (and bills) related to telling the Government to back off, Montana has just raised the bar...quite high.

Text of Montana House Bill 246

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has now signed into law Montana House Bill 246. This bill, in essence, calls the Feds on their Interstate Commerce Clause bluff regarding regulating the sale and possession of firearms. To wit, any firearms or ammunition manufactured in Montana, and stamped to indicate so, that are not:

(1) a firearm that cannot be carried and used by one person;

(2) a firearm that has a bore diameter greater than 1 1/2 inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a propellant;

(3) ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the firearm; or

(4) a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the trigger or other firing device.

will be legal to own within the State of Montana once this law takes effect. Much like the high capacity magazine ban in some states, entering into another state possessing a Montana made firearm that violates Federal Law might not be a great idea, but this bill essentially attempts to neuter the ATF within the boundaries of Montana.

Want your rifle to have a 12 (or even 10) inch barrel? A pistol grip? A bayonet lug? Feds say you can't? If it's made in Montana, and you're a resident of the state and stay there, you can have it (assuming no Montana state laws to the contrary).

What will the result be? There lies the rub. Much like the Feds like to raid medical marijuana growers in states where it is legal for medicinal purposes, I expect some people are going to get harassed and arrested by Federal agents over this. The Feds just can't grasp the idea of State Sovereignty.

The key will lie in how Montana responds.

According to the bill:

Section 2. Legislative declarations of authority. The legislature declares that the authority for [sections 1 through 6] is the following:

(1) The 10th amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the constitution and reserves to the state and people of Montana certain powers as they were understood at the time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.

(2) The ninth amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the constitution and reserves to the people of Montana certain rights as they were understood at the time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.

(3) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the 9th and 10th amendments to the United States constitution, particularly if not expressly preempted by federal law. Congress has not expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition.

(4) The second amendment to the United States constitution reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.

(5) Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution clearly secures to Montana citizens, and prohibits government interference with, the right of individual Montana citizens to keep and bear arms. This constitutional protection is unchanged from the 1889 Montana constitution, which was approved by congress and the people of Montana, and the right exists as it was understood at the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.

Montana has been rumbling about the possibility of secession in the face of Federal Tyranny now for a few months. Their basic premise is that their compact with the Federal Government of the United States is in jeopardy due to the ever encroaching un-Constitutional authority being wielded by an out of control Washington D.C.

What will Montana's response be if Congress moves to "expressly preempt state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition"???

Just how far will they take it?

The UN, or "Blame America and Iraq for the World's Problems"

U.N. President Calls G-20 Failure, Criticizes Wealthy Countries for Failing to Help Developing World

[U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann] said that the members of the G-20 have neglected to allocate $2 trillion to $3 trillion needed in the developing world, and many countries have lost their trust in the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency.

Yes, it's far more important that we throw money at corrupt dictatorships, warlords, and Communist/Socialist jackasses that couldn't find the toilet to relieve themselves (if they even have running water after the recent coup d'etat) rather than using that money to attempt to ensure we still have a country left for them to fleece. How dare we not give every penny we possibly have so that their leaders can live in mansions and ride around in limousines while their people starve.

It gets better...

Such claims of progress were dismissed Tuesday by D’Escoto, who linked the global economic crisis to the war in Iraq and said that the whole world is now paying for the reckless decision of the United States to finance the war.

Everyone repeat after me.

The U.S, and other countries who have adopted Governmental systems that have proven superior to other systems, and that have worked to keep as much corruption and abuse out of their systems as possible (though we are starting to fail at that miserably), are at fault for the rest of the world not being as affluent as we are.

Remember, we're scum and villains for spending our money on ourselves, in an attempt to maintain the lifestyle that actually feeds and clothes 90% of the rest of the world.

Oops, I mean, really it's the war in Iraq that has caused the global meltdown.

There, now we just hit the two main Liberal talking points.
1. The US is bad and must be punished for its success.
2. The war in Iraq is the root of all that is evil (except for the US that is...err...I think).

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. D'Escoto, I have a much better idea you pompous jackass:
How does ZERO, as in NO money sound to you? Sound good? Great, now rot in hell.

Get US out of the UN.

It's About Farking Time

If you're a Texan, write your State Critter now in support of this. And make sure you tell them you want it to have some teeth.

I still feel the first front in the war against Federal Tyranny will come from the States United.

Those Damned American Gun Shows (Again)

(Photo courtesy Fox News/AP)
Mexican Woman Arrested While Guarding Elaborate Arsenal

I mean really, you'd think I'd be lucky enough to head on down to the gun store and get an anti-aircraft gun.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has traced many guns seized at scenes of drug violence in Mexico to U.S. commercial sources. But determining the source of military-grade weapons such as grenades and fully automatic machine guns is more complicated.

The ATF says the grenades are mostly smuggled in through Central America, and have been traced back to the militaries of many countries, from South Korea to Spain and Israel. Some may be leftovers from the Central American civil wars.

Just another one of those 90%, err...95%, I mean...99%? of guns that come from the U.S.

Right?

Oops

David Codrea over at the National Gun Rights Examiner has been slowly tearing down the lie that "90% of firearms recovered in Mexico's drug wars originate in the U.S."

Well, David's hard work is borne out today by this Fox News Article:

There's just one problem with the 90 percent "statistic" and it's a big one:

It's just not true.

In fact, it's not even close. By all accounts, it's probably around 17 percent.

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

Oops.

So, if not from the U.S., where do they come from? There are a variety of sources:

-- The Black Market. Mexico is a virtual arms bazaar, with fragmentation grenades from South Korea, AK-47s from China, and shoulder-fired rocket launchers from Spain, Israel and former Soviet bloc manufacturers.

-- Russian crime organizations. Interpol says Russian Mafia groups such as Poldolskaya and Moscow-based Solntsevskaya are actively trafficking drugs and arms in Mexico.

- South America. During the late 1990s, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) established a clandestine arms smuggling and drug trafficking partnership with the Tijuana cartel, according to the Federal Research Division report from the Library of Congress.

-- Asia. According to a 2006 Amnesty International Report, China has provided arms to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Chinese assault weapons and Korean explosives have been recovered in Mexico.

-- The Mexican Army. More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them, including the standard issue M-16 assault rifle made in Belgium.

-- Guatemala. U.S. intelligence agencies say traffickers move immigrants, stolen cars, guns and drugs, including most of America's cocaine, along the porous Mexican-Guatemalan border. On March 27, La Hora, a Guatemalan newspaper, reported that police seized 500 grenades and a load of AK-47s on the border. Police say the cache was transported by a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Ixcan, a border town.

So, the next person that says something about "those damned American Gun Shows", you can wave those little factoids in their face.

Besides, if it were actually true that the drug cartels were using American Gun Shops and Shows to arm up, I guarantee I'd be at the next one filling a sack full of grenades and full-autos. Definitely.