Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Review of "Revolution," the Peacock's post apocalyptic potboiler. It's NBC, so who are the evil bad guys? "Militia."

The good guys -- not "militia" -- who after 15 years without electricity or industrial production still wear trendy clothes that show off the secondary sexual characteristics of the females (not a good survival strategy in a world overrun with official and unofficial macho gangs.)
So, I stayed up past my bedtime last night to watch NBC's new show Revolution, set fifteen years after the lights go out all over the world in what seems to be a purposefully done EMP attack, only it isn't. The lights go out in sequence, not at once and altogether and even batteries don't work. So somehow, some evil bad guy managed to overturn the laws of physics. And of course, since it's NBC, the evil bad guys who inhabit the future are "militia," representing something called "the Monroe Republic" which seems to be set in the Midwest (they have sovereignty over Chicago -- that figures). Private possession of any firearms, for example, is a death penalty offense. General Monroe desires to get his hands on the secret of what made the lights go out so that he can turn them back on and start producing tanks, guns and planes to overrun the other "republics."
Evil bad guy militia leader just before he and his men wipe out a significant portion of the population of a small, idyllic village. (So you won't miss the point, all the militiamen wear black. Even a supposed "militia undercover agent" wears black pants and a charcoal shirt.)
I suppose it was folly on my part to think that a network like NBC, so far down in the septic tank of collectivism that you can't glimpse Matt Lauer's hairpiece, would present a vision of the militia concept more in line with that of the Founder's.
Revolution does make a great unintentional case for firearms in the hands of the citizenry, though the collectivists at NBC would hardly see the irony.

Nice to know the Gunwalker criminals are paying attention. White House email: “This is Vanderboegh, who broke the story in the first place and has contacts in the media and at Oversight. Any idea what it’s about?”

Tracy Schmaler is a name which may grow into a household one as the lies surrounding Fast and Furious unravel faster. She earned her stripes deceiving the public about the dismissal of the New Black Panther case. She then graduated onto attacking one of the most honorable people to serve in government, former Voting Section Chief Chris Coates, after he (under oath no less) exposed her lies about the Black Panther dismissal for what they were. Schmaler is also the same hack who disgraces the Department of Justice by criticizing decisions the Department made, but only because the Bush administration made them. She is the witchy federal employee who screams and cusses at reporters for NBC, the Washington Times, CBS and the American Spectator, yet doesn’t get fired because thug is so in style in this administration.
But her latest false witness involves the esteemed senator from Iowa. On Halloween, a document dump was unloaded on Congress which revealed a concerted DOJ effort to smear Senator Grassley as a partisan to the media in the Fast and Furious scandal. Schmaler is almost certainly at the center of this effort. She is notorious for this sort of behavior — leaking certain documents to certain young hack bloggers who parrot whatever she demands of them.
Again, who is Tracy Schmaler? Remember the name, because she may be the engineer behind so many of the lies emanating from the once honorable United States Department of Justice. It’s time she be hauled before the committees investigating DOJ misconduct.
But you won’t be able to serve that subpoena this week. This week she is on a tropical island, and you are paying for it.
-- Tracy Schmaler’s (and Eric Holder’s) Trip to the Tropics by J. Christian Adams.
"I'll get you my pretty, and your little blog too!"
Emails reveal Justice Dept. regularly enlists Media Matters to spin press.
Internal Department of Justice emails obtained by The Daily Caller show Attorney General Eric Holder’s communications staff has collaborated with the left-wing advocacy group Media Matters for America in an attempt to quell news stories about scandals plaguing Holder and America’s top law enforcement agency.
Dozens of pages of emails between DOJ Office of Public Affairs Director Tracy Schmaler and Media Matters staffers show Schmaler, Holder’s top press defender, working with Media Matters to attack reporters covering DOJ scandals. TheDC obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Media Matters, you may recall, is the George Soros' funded hit squad that, in addition to being a gaggle of White House myrmidons, also writes a lot of MSNBC's copy, especially Rachel Madcow's. And defecate and shove me in it, but it is yours truly who pops up in at least one of these emails.
An email chain from Sept. 9, 2011, shows Gertz and Schmaler expressing concern over an upcoming Fox News segment on Fast and Furious.
“This is Vanderboegh, who broke the story in the first place and has contacts in the media and at [the House] Oversight [commission]. Any idea what it’s about?” Gertz wrote to Schmaler at 8:29 a.m. that day in an email that quoted conservative blogger Mike Vanderboegh’s website: “FOX Got ‘Em. Huge Gunwalker Story Breaking Later This Morning.”
At 9:19 a.m., Schmaler replied: “So far, no one’s got an idea … unless it’s something that’s already been out. Let’s stay in touch…”
Gertz responded at 9:25 a.m. with a guess that if it were something that had already been out, it would have been a story on Indiana gun sales.
Fox News played its tease shortly after of a segment promising new information on Fast and Furious, and at 10:18 a.m. Gertz sent the text of Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer’s tease to Schmaler.
“Also two weapons found at the scene where Border Agent Brian, uh, Terry was murdered linked to a botched federal gunrunning sting operation, and today the plot thickens once again,” Gertz quoted Hemmer as saying.
Eight minutes later, Schmaler wrote a terse “??” back to Gertz, likely indicating that she did not understand Hemmer’s statement.
Seconds after receiving Schmaler’s reply, Gertz responded, “No idea. Will let you know when the segment happens.”
Schmaler then praised Gertz for monitoring the situation: “Thanks Matt,” she replied.
In two subsequent emails, Gertz told the DOJ public affairs director what happened. The “[c]laim is [that] there was a third gun at the Terry murder scene that was covered up because it was procured by an FBI informant inside the Sinaloa cartel,” Gertz wrote to Schmaler in one message. The other email included the full text of Fox News reporter William LaJeunesse’s article on the matter.
It's nice to know they're paying attention to my little ole blog.
LATER: Here's the emails in toto.
LATER STILL: David Codrea reacts.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Praxis: "Socks. Cushioned sole, O.D. green."

LT Dan Taylor: "There is one item of G.I. gear that can be the difference between a live grunt and a dead grunt. Socks. Cushioned sole, O.D. green. Try and keep your feet dry. When we're out humpin', I want you boys remember to change your socks whenever we stop. The Mekong will eat a grunt's feet right off his legs. . . Two standing orders in this platoon: One, take good care of your feet. Two, try not to do anything stupid, like getting yourself killed."
PVT Forrest Gump: "I sure hope I don't let him down."
A deep genuflection and tip of the boonie hat to MG who sent me this link "What Color Are Your Socks?: It’s time To Leash Your Dogma" by LTC Michael D. Grice, USMC, Retired, from the Marine Corps Gazette as well as some informed practical discussion of the article and its subject at Tom Kratman's "Kratskeller" forum at the Baen publishing web site.
A couple of years ago I dealt with this subject here. (Be sure to check out the comments to that post as well and put your own comments on the best socks in your experience below.)
Now, much of LTC Grice's article deals with command inflexibility and myopia in the USMC higher echelons in Afghanistan, with the color of Marine's socks being just one apparent bone of contention. But the comments at the Kratskeller forum are more to the point of which socks are best. Here's a selection:
MICPL wrote: I used to make a "stirrup" by making a knot in the nylon band in the bottom seam of woodland BDU trousers and pulling it taut in my instep, keeping anyone from ever seeing the LL Bean ragg wool socks that allowed me to wear green side jungle boots through most of Germany's winter.
JohnnyMormon wrote: Oddly, the only times I've been issued socks were boot camp and as part of the gear issue we received for deployment. Somebody somewhere decided we should get thick winter weather socks. For a summer deployment to Afghanistan. Yeah. I know. We needed them about as much as we needed the winter weather camouflage smocks and bag covers. I wish I were making this up.
Aside from those two instances, I buy my own boot socks and the overwhelming majority are very thin socks which do next to nothing. If you don't want to wear through them in a week, either throw a pair of white PT socks on underneath the boot socks or buy the calf length white socks at Walmart. They fit, they cushion and they last.
Jack Withrow wrote: I am not against white socks in theory. Nor am I worked up about uniform wear and appearance. I am saying in my experience I have seen very few pairs of white socks that held up as good as any issue socks.
Best socks I have ever worn were issue items: Smartwool. Worst socks I have ever worn were the white Walmart/PX Hanes or Fruit of the Loom specials. The old OD Green wool socks were terrible, but the new issue black or the Smartwool are probably the best socks ever supplied to the military. Yes, there are better socks on the market if you pay $40 or more a pair. But those white Walmart or PX specials will give you blisters faster than any other socks I know of. I have seen and had more than I care to remember bloody feet because of them.
I am still wearing Smartwool socks I was issued in 2003 prior to deploying to Afghanistan, you can not wear them out. I have never had a blister wearing them.
Brer Tiger wrote: How _do_ you deal with crappy socks?
Greenhair wrote: Nylon dress socks under the issued socks, duct tape or mole skin on hot sports, lightly powdered feet wear two pairs of socks, salt water soaks (iffy that last one it works for some people.), get good socks.
What worked for each person was what worked for them...few people could wear the issued socks without problems. So you just stamped them folded them taped them together in an inspection bundle and never used them as soon as you got good socks.
DocKrin wrote: one of the biggest problems that needs to be corrected is that folks with big feet need big socks. Standard 'one size' socks generally go mens 8-12....I'm wearing 14s now...they should NOT fit too tight against the calves of the legs...I also have large calves and many socks are too tight.
Also, the use of silk or NASA Thermal socks http://www.easylifegroup.com/nasa-thermal-gloves-and-socks-3509 is probably better than the nylon dress socks especially in cold weather. Oddly enough the NASA Thermals really do stretch enough to fit size 14s!
Sportsman's Guide used to carry them on a regular basis, but apparently don't any longer. The Cheaper Than Dirt website is not currently responding.
Brands that I have had good luck with include Fox River and Carhart...
PavePusher wrote: With all due respect, military issue socks are absolute rubbish. (I know, I've ordered/issued a lot of them.) Commercially available ones developed by outdoor-sports specialists (especially the hiking/mountaineering communities) are far better for the feet. They are usually available in military colors these days, but not always. And the military has certainly not spent "large sums of money" on socks, in perspective. They buy the cheapest, lowest bid crap they can get away with. And color has nothing to do with performance. "Approved" has very little to do with comfort and performance. The fact is, I spend a significant amount of my own pay on socks and underwear and boots, and council other Airmen to do the same, because the military doesn't give a flying fornication about my personal longevity. (And before you start a hue and cry about my 'Airman' status, you try spending 24 straight hours on a concrete and/or dirt flightline, quite possibly in rain or snow or mud, in crap socks and boots.)
PavePusher wrote: J.M., I recommend the following set-up: any color synthetic, moisture-wicking sock as a base layer (I currently prefer Under Armor white or black crew socks, but Burlington PrimaSports running crew are good too.) under any good wool/synthetic blend boot sock from a known outdoor-activity sock company. (Fox River makes an excellent series of military boot-socks ((I prefer them)) as do ThorLo, Wigwam, Smartwool and several others. Check your BX/PX or here: http://www.sockcompany.com/ I have no affiliation and, sadly, get no commission or reward for referrals.
The most important thing is to stay away from cotton or cotton blends. Cotton absorbs water, compresses and increases chaffing. Layered, wicking socks breathe better, keep feet dryer, and mitigate chaffing by shifting movement to the inter-sock layer. Another trick is to put some foot powder (anti-fungal) in the base layer, rotating brand/active ingredient every month or three. Reduces friction, absorbs moisture away from the skin, and fights foot rot in wet conditions.
Lastly, have at least two pairs of boots, rotate daily (in garrison, not always practical in the field) so they can dry for 24-36 hours. Remember to pull the foam liner out for more complete drying, you'd be shocked to know how much wet crud will collect under there.
And if you have to chose between extra socks or pogie bait... SOCKS!!!! Every time. (Ammo first, of course...)
TBR (a German officer) wrote: In my enlisted and OC days I was crazy enough to join the marching group , doing 80+ klicks of training marches a week (with pack) after duty hours for such things as the Nijmegen marches. I was using the hard normal GI boots and the two pairs of socks approach, with the inner pair often being white.
But years later, when I left seafaring to wear spotted clothes I bought commercial Lowa boots, those that pass for MILSPEC (and are issue to some "elite" units) were available in the uniform store. With those softer boots with a lot of "trekking" technology inside I could dispense with the two socks approach and use cheap and thin black "Dry/Fresh Feet" specials (with Aloe Vera and Silver ions) for socks, bought in 3-7 pair bundles and basically used up since after several washings they lost their effect.
http://www.lowa.de/produkte/spezialschuhe/task-force.html
But in my experience feet react different from person to person, some do not blister at all, even with GI boots and socks, others blister heavily even with the best "non-GI but Milspec" boots and awfully expensive special socks.
piobair wrote: Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, a young lady asked if we could drive her to the next stage. She wanted to keep up with others, but needed a fallow day. During the ride, we talked about socks. Wool socks are recommended for all hikers of the Blue Ridge. I mentioned that I had been taught that wool will not cause blisters, even if your feet are soaking wet. This is not a "wicking" problem; this is walking thru a stream or soaking rain. The caveat is that wool socks that are taken off MUST be washed before putting them back on. What happens is that the wool form fits around the foot. If they are taken off, the form no longer fits. She confirmed that theory by personal experience. This works best if the wool is next to the skin.
The modern "wicking" socks mentioned in this thread presume that the only moisture is sweat. The sweat gets wicked away, keeping the feet dry. If your feet get soaked, the best available sock is 90% wool & 10% nylon. The nylon adds structural integrity to the wool. I have some hand-knit socks, the soles of which were made from "stocking wool" of this kind. the balance is 100% Marino. My late mother made them, so I don't wear them hiking. I do wear them when I plan on staying on my feet all day (conventions). I also have a pair of Argyle doubleknit hose (yes, that is what is under my kilt). An hour standing around before the Christmas parade started, then 1.5 miles of parade in 20 degree F weather. No sweat.
Can someone tell me why a second pair of socks is recommended? The only reason that I have ever worn two socks was to protect the socks that my Mother knitted.
Jack Withrow wrote: You wear the first pair normally and the second pair inside out. The two smooth sides in contact are supposed to cut down on friction and bunching that causes blisters. A lot of the old hands swore by this method when I first joined the military. It does work somewhat.
A second method, was to wear a pair of military dress socks underneath a pair of regular boot socks. Again the idea was to cut down on bunching and friction.
Neither of these methods work if your boots are not well broken in.
Jack Withrow wrote: You were doing your job as you were supposed to. I don't quite understand your comment about white socks keeping foot problems to a minimum. My experience with them they were blister makers. Are you referring to some type of medical sock?
Mike Harmon wrote: Jack; Found out that in Viet Nam, "best" for fungual infections was anti fungal ointment and white(light) socks that were thick jock type. Ordered as medical type supplies through main supply. Major problem with supply pucks, Medical Officer won. Marine zeroes tried to lean on Corpsemen, general chickensh*t. Word came done from Sar'Maj to knock it off. Other company HMs copied and celuitoius(sp) rates dropped to point of no sickbay Marines. Biggest problem was Staff Sargents and 1st and 2nd leweys.
DocKrin wrote: I'm not that surprised. I suspect that the skin problems I have on my lower shins/calves are the result of equal parts cheap (GI issue) wool socks and long hours in leather combat boots.
Considering that wool is an irritant to many folks, especially when there are open sores, the idea that plain white cotton socks helped resolve cellulitis/warm water immersion foot complicated by fungus is reasonable. I also have questions about how well the green dye stayed in the wool in some of those socks- I know that I occasionally had problems with green feet from the dye when I ended up wearing wet boots/GI wool socks for any length of time- as in when I was in a position where I could not get my feet/boots/socks dry during a day in the field. Never had the chance to go to Panama or any other exotic places, but did end up wet more than a few times.

The strange birth of NY’s gun laws

"Big Tim" Sullivan, crooked Tammany Hall politician, author of New York's Sullivan Act and insane tertiary syphilis victim.
Sullivan knew the gangs would flout the law, but appearances were more important than results. Young toughs took to sewing the pockets of their coats shut, so that cops couldn’t plant firearms on them, and many gangsters stashed their weapons inside their girlfriends’ “bird cages” — wire-mesh fashion contraptions around which women would wind their hair. Ordinary citizens, on the other hand, were disarmed, which solved another problem: Gangsters had been bitterly complaining to Tammany that their victims sometimes shot back at them.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sipsey Street Exclusive: File this under Praxis. Department of Homeland Security using drones that look like civil aviation.

Cessna 172 (full size.)
As Smithsonian Magazine reported last year, "Some drones also look like conventional aircraft."
A recent encounter by a friend of mine led me to check out reports that DHS, America's own home-grown political secret police, are using drones that look like Piper Cubs and other commonly-encountered civilian aircraft.
My sources confirm that this is case. Said one, "Well hell yes they do. It took you this long to figure THAT out? They may use Predators on the border to spy on Mexicans and OTM (acronym meaning Other Than Mexican) terrorists trying to slip across but to spy in American airspace they want anonymity. They don't want you to know you're being spied on."
Said another source, "The one that I've seen looks like a Cessna 172, only about half-scale or less. . . not that you can tell that it's smaller from the ground." Adding, "they only operate from federally-controlled airstrips where the access can be restricted and they generally launch at night."
The Cessna 172 has been in production off and on since 1956 and there have been over 45,000 of them built. It is the most common type of civil aviation light plane flown today. So, the next time you think you're being dogged by a Cessna, maybe it's just Big Sis' gestapo drone boys.

"It was learned in discovery materials that he was also an ATF Confidential Informant." The Clark Case -- which the ATF thought they'd bullied their way out of -- still has the chance of overturning their (and their snitches') applecart.

Ramsey A. Bear: He'll be laughing all the way to Little Jimmy Vann's testimony at the Issa Committee's ATF oversight hearing
The magnificent Nolo Contendere provides us with the latest Clark case documents: Clark Machine Gun "Conversion" Case Info.
Now, mind you, the ATF by using various forms of blackmail, has already compelled several defendants to make plea deals -- including threats to include their family members in the case unless they rolled. This is standard ATF Chief Counsels Office tactics. What Little Jimmy Vann didn't count on, though, was that there would be holdouts who wouldn't squeeze. Last night at midnight was the deadline for pre-trial motions in the case and Nolo has given us a couple of doozies.
The first, found here, is a Motion to Dismiss the Indictment for Outrageous Government Conduct:
Defendant, Randolph B. Rodman, by and through Counsel, respectfully moves this Honorable Court for an Order dismissing the Indictment for outrageous governmental conduct which rises to the level of a due process violation. . .
. . .The approval of Clark’s three applications was a deliberate act, the sole purpose of which was to create crimes and entrap Rodman. The method used to entrap Rodman was the manipulation of a regulatory governmental function. Rodman received and possessed S/Ns820101546 and 820101557 without ATF approvals of Clark’s applications on February 20, 2008. Prior to that, Rodman’s only involvement with the three guns was that he bought them from Clark and paid for them about four years earlier and that he was the transferee on three applications filed by Clark on December 27, 2007.
But it is the second motion which contains the dynamite:
On or about September, 2000, Defendant Rodman received machinegun Model-1919,Serial Number 820101086 along with a Form 3 approved by ATF on September 21, 2000. The Form 3 bore no indicia that the future transferability of the machinegun was restricted. The absence of a restriction on an approved form is proof positive that machinegun 820101086 was lawfully registered prior to May 19, 1986, that it was registered to Rodman in the National Firearms Register and Transfer Record (NFRTR) and was transferrable. Defendant Rodman found that the workmanship, material and aesthetics of the gun were superior - the work of a master machinist.Defendant Rodman offered the machinegun for sale, and Defendant Goldstein soon found a buyer, John Brown, an FFL/SOT in Virginia. Defendant Rodman filed a Form 3 Application describing the machinegun exactly as it was described on the form transferring it to him. ATF approved the transfer on November 15, 2000, and the gun was shipped. During Discovery it was learned that transferee John Brown sold the machine gun and transferred it to a Maryland FFL/SOT.
(MBV Note: Long time readers will recall the name of John Brown, first in late 2010 in The True Story of the Life of "R.A. Bear": Inception & impregnation into the minds of the ATF via a highly placed snitch named Dan Shea of the NFATCA, and a year later in U.S. vs. Clark, et. al. Who is ATF trying to protect with their misconduct? Themselves, their highly-placed snitches, or both? and in John Brown's previous lies are a mouldering in the grave, but his service to his ATF masters goes marching on and earlier this year The curious case of Serial Number A6042075. What exactly did the ATF & DOJ tell the grand jury in U.S. vs. Clark? A tale of machine guns, a well placed protected snitch, insider influence, contradictory rule making, doctored reports and double-standard "justice." The motion continues:
Both machineguns remained in Rodman’s inventory for a few years until machinegun A6042075 was sold to John Brown sometime in 2004. Again, defendant Goldstein had done the negotiations for the sale. Defendant Rodman applied for, and received, ATF approval to transfer A6042075; and it was delivered to John Brown on or about November 11, 2004.John Brown was an FFL/SOT in Virginia. He was President of the National Firearms ActTrade and Collectors Association (NFATCA), a non-profit trade association advocating for the interests of NFA manufacturers, importers and dealers, individual collectors, owners and others considering owning NFA firearms. It was learned in discovery materials that he was also an ATF Confidential Informant. Around time of the delivery of machinegun A6042075, the NFATCA,and John Brown personally, were involved in a joint ATF/NFATCA research and writing project to produce the “National Firearms Act Handbook,” intended as a reference guide to compliance requirements and to inform members of ATF procedures, practices and interpretations. The final handbook was completed on or about 2007 and since that time has been posted on the ATF Website. The handbook project required continuous interface between Brown and Firearms Technology Branch personnel at their West Virginia facility and particularly with the Acting Chief of the Branch, Richard Vasquez. Notably, the NFA Handbook does not mention modifications to registered machineguns, although modifications are a common practice.On or about June 25, 2005, John Brown transferred machinegun A6042075 to a Virginia resident on a tax-paid approved Form 4. The Form 4 Application documented the fact that the machinegun had been modified while in Brown’s possession. The Form notes a barrel length change from 24 to 13 inches, and an overall length change from 41 to 37.25 inches. After possessing the machine gun for a little more than a year, on or about August 25, 2006, the Virginia owner transferred it back to Brown on an ATF approved tax-paid Form 4, reflecting that the gun had been modified again: the barrel length and overall length had been restored to 24 inches and 41 inches, respectively. Machinegun A6042075 then remained in Brown’s possession and registered to him.
According to numerous discovery reports, Brown was contacted by ATF and asked to deliver machinegun A6042075 to the Firearms Technology Branch for examination and testing.The testing was alleged to have been performed on October 31, 2006, by Richard Vasquez, the Deputy Chief of FTB. The alleged FTB examination and testing of machinegun A6042075 and the purported report thereof triggered an ATF criminal investigation of defendant Clark.
In fact, machinegun A6042075 was never officially received by the ATF Firearms Technology Branch, it was never officially tested and no official report was ever prepared. These facts have been verified through FTB evidence logs. However, A6042075 was tested and examined by Richard Vasquez, then Acting Chief of the Branch at the Firearms Technology Branch facility on October 31, 2006, but the examination was performed as a private matter; and was not handled as an official examination of evidence.
Mr. Vasquez’s findings from the October 31, 2006, test were chronicled in numerous official ATF reports, to wit: Vasquez concluded that the conversion of a MAC Model 10 machinegun to a Model 1919 machinegun constituted a new manufacture; therefore,machinegun A6042075 was not registered and was a contraband unregistered machinegun. After FTB’s conclusing that machinegun A6042075 was contraband, it was inexplicably returned to John Brown who then transported the machinegun across state lines from the FTB facility in West Virginia to his place of business in Virginia.
A disturbing question arising from ATF’s treatment of the testing discussed above is why FTB examination of A6042075 was not treated as evidence or as an official work product of the Firearms Technology Branch, and why was an official report not required. The only explanation for why the entire matter was not made an official part of any ATF records was that it was treated as a matter of personal privilege. The only reasonable conclusion is that the intent of the private examination of machinegun A6042075 (in violation of numerous ATF statutes and procedures) was to conceal the fact that an ATF informant had bought, received, possessed, sold it and, infact had bought and transferred two other machineguns that were unlawfully manufactured by Clark.
In November 2006, ATF Special Agent Quartetti of the ATF Falls Church, Virginia office, was assigned the investigation of John Brown’s possession of machinegun A6042075.Special Agent Quartetti contacted Brown to arrange for an examination of the contraband machinegun. On November 21, 2006, Special Agent Quartetti met with Brown and his attorneyat Brown’s licensed business in Centreville, Virginia. Also present at the meeting were an ATF attorney and ATF employees representing the National Firearms Act Branch and the Firearms Technology Branch. Brown proposed to abandon the side-plate of machinegun A6042075, and ATF agreed to that proposal. Thus, the entire machinegun less the right side-plate was left with Mr. Brown and was never available for an official Firearms Technology Branch examination.
ATF’s practice of recognizing the right side-plate of a box receiver, such as the M-1919as the registered part of a machinegun is a long standing practice within ATF. Further, this practice is commonly known by collectors and machinegun owners throughout the industry.
Nevertheless, the facts concerning ATF’s care and custody of machinegun A6042075 becomes more inexplicable other than a desire by certain ATF employees to conceal the involvement of a confidential informant. After taking custody of the right side plate of machinegun A6042075 on November 21, 2006, it was placed into the ATF evidence vault in Falls Church, Virginia where it remained until June 15, 2007 when it was delivered to the Firearms Technology Branch in West Virginia to be tested and examined. While awaiting the examination report and while the side-plate was still in the custody of the Firearms Technology Laboratory, another strange event occurred. Special Agent Quartetti requested authority to destroy it. The report of the examination was not completed until August 20, 2007, and the right side-plate was returned to the Falls Church evidence vault. On August 8, 2008, the side-plate was destroyed. In addition, there are no photographs of machinegun A6042075 either as a fully assembled M-1919 or as a right-side plate. Thus, defendant Rodman has been prejudiced by being deprived of the opportunity to inspect and test vital evidence in this case.
On May 2, 2008, defendant Rodman was asked to abandon three Models 1919s and two MAGs he had received from Defendant Clark. Each had a Form 3 approved by ATF and was still in inventory. (It is important to note that this situation was identical to that of Brown and machinegun A6042075.) Defendant Rodman readily consented to abandon the three Model1919s merely on the claims of the ATF Special Agents. Two of these were the right-side plates of MAG machineguns. The Maryland Special Agents accepted Rodman’s abandonment of theright side-plates.
Contrasting the treatment of defendant Rodman’s surrender of side-plates to Maryland ATF Special Agents on May 2, 2008, with that of an ATF Informant, John Brown, ATF accepted the abandonment of Mr. Brown’s side plate. In fact, in an e-mail received in discovery, Acting Chief Vasquez offered to come to Brown’s place of business to assist in disassemblingA6042075 for Mr. Brown.In describing an identical situation involving defendant Rodman a little more than a year later, Mr. Sander states in the Affidavit that defendant Rodman’s abandonment of side-plates was obstruction of justice and subornation of the obstruction of justice; that Rodman’s abandonment of side plates “interfered in a federal investigation by not turning over evidence ...” and that he (Rodman) “encouraged another person to follow his example.” (Affidavit, para. 52) Mr. Sander further slanders Rodman in stating that he “appears to be hiding/concealing evidence that is necessary in this federal investigation ...” (Affidavit, page 38,para. 68) . . .
. . .In this case, ATF chose to prosecute the defendants for machineguns that had been modified where there is no law or regulation prohibiting modifications, and elected not to prosecute other individuals (i.e., government employees) where there is a clear and unambiguous statute. The NFA penalty section, § 5871, specifies, “Any person who violates or fails to comply with any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than$10,000, or be imprisoned not more than ten (10) years, or both” and Section 5812 cannot be violated by anyone other than ATF National Firearms Act Branch employees, given that only government employees are authorized to approve transfers of machineguns that “would place the transferee in violation of law ...”. Rodman is one person who was placed in violation of law.
ATF’s approval of 13 of the 34 Clark Applications is the sine qua non of every substantive crime with which defendant Rodman is charged. Absent ATF’s unlawful transfer approvals, he would never have received or possessed any of Clark’s “new” machineguns; Rodman never could have offered any of the machineguns for sale, nor have filed applications for their transfer. In short, defendant Rodman’s indictment is solely attributable to ATF’s failureto deny Clark’s applications or refer them for criminal investigations.
Actually, ATF had approved thirty-four (34) applications and none had even been challenged. Two explanations for the lack of challenges come to mind. The first and most probable explanation is that National Firearms Act Branch employees were uninformed that changes – minor or major – to a registered machinegun constitute the manufacture of a new,unregistered machinegun as the Affidavit contends, and were trained to approve applications that documented modifications of all kinds as long as the other descriptions matched.
The second explanation for ATF’s wholesale approvals could be attributable to serious institutional problems such as employee inattention to detail, carelessness, incompetence, or reckless disregard for procedures. A senior ATF Executive described the violations as“unfortunate.” (Bates, MHM000000271) Further, the cause may lay with incompetence, lack of training, supervision, management review, or executive oversight. A final explanation offered by some is that the National Firearms Act Branch, from top to bottom, is replete with waste, fraud and abuse. (The undersigned does not hold this view.)
Now I'll sign onto THAT.
There's more, much more in this motion, and readers are encouraged to go through the whole thing. My prediction is that ATF will drop the remaining charges against those defendants who held out against their previous garden variety blackmail tactics. I really don't think they want John Brown up on the stand (or their own Rick Vasquez) as prima facie evidence of ATF misconduct and lawbreaking.

"Our national experiment in extermination." The Chemists War: How the United States government deliberately killed 10,000 of its own people in the name of Prohibition. (Enforced by the predecessors of the ATF.)

"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that." -- Captain Malcom Reynolds, Serenity, 2005.
So, you thought facilitating the murder of thousands of Mexicans was the worst crime the ATF had committed? Take a little walk through history.
The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.
Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.
Ten thousand dead Americans, and no one ever paid a price for it. I am reminded of the scene from Serenity, when the crew finally discovers the horrible truth of government societal engineering on Miranda as the recorded testimony of a federal scientist is played back:
Dr. Caron: These are just a few of the images we've recorded. And you can see, it wasn't what we thought. There's been no war here and no terraforming event. The environment is stable. It's the Pax. The G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate that we added to the air processors. It was supposed to calm the population, weed out aggression. Well, it works. The people here stopped fighting. And then they stopped everything else. They stopped going to work, they stopped breeding, talking, eating. There's 30 million people here, and they all just let themselves die.
Some few of the inhabitants of Miranda, however, were turned into hyper-violent marauders -- the Reavers -- who have been wiping out communities on the outer planets. The horror of what the federal government has done sinks into to all of the crew. Their Captain reacts:
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: This record here's about twelve years old. Parliament buried it and it stayed buried until River here dug it up. This is what they were afraid she knew. And they were right to fear. There's a universe of folk who're gonna know it, too. Someone *has to* speak for these people. . . Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave.
The nanny state is merely a step in collectivist, totalitarian evolution. Does anyone think that if Chuck Schumer could get away with sabotaging small arms ammunition so that it would detonate and kill target shooters that he would hesitate for one second? History is filled with the results of killer governments -- as are the mass graves of their victims. The Founders had a solution for that. We should not hesitate to use it when the time comes.
When democracy turns to tyranny, the armed citizen still gets to vote.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Bad day.

Sorry folks, but today was one of the worst yet for nausea. Couldn't get down the steps to the office until now. Will try later.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Praxis: Spam Can Nostalgia

David Higginbotham is seized with a fit of nostalgia: "Where have all the Spam Cans Gone?" This is mysterious to me for only someone who has NOT opened many spam cans -- and slashed his/her hands on the metal -- could pine for them with sincerity.
Also, as I have written before, spam cans are all very well for long term storage (especially if you leave them in their original crates) but they are NOT TACTICAL.
Tool of the Evil Communist Conspiracy to raise the blood pressure, break the knuckles and cut the flesh of Imperialist Yankee Running Dogs.
As I wrote back in 2009:
I hate spam cans. I must have opened hundreds, maybe a thousand, in my life and I hated each and every one of them. They are heavy, bulky, have no ready handle to tote them by, are hard to open in the daylight with a special tool and impossible at night.
Personally, I think it not impossible that the continued sale of ammo by the Russians to American gun owners may be part of a clever plot to maim us and kill us with tetanus. ;-)
If Higginbotham's larger point is that he misses the cheap surplus ammo that we had available to us in 90s, then I certainly share his nostalgia. But I do NOT miss spam cans.

This just in from the Issa Committee: The hearing which was rescheduled has itself been rescheduled.

Hearing Featuring DOJ Inspector General Rescheduled for Thursday, September 20th
WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., today announced that the hearing previously scheduled for Wednesday, September 19th, to examine the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report on Operation Fast and Furious has been rescheduled for Thursday, September 20th. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz has confirmed his attendance for the September 20th hearing where he will discuss his report of the investigation into reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious.
Hearing Details
“IG Report: The Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General Examines the Failures of Operation Fast and Furious”
Thursday, September 20th at 9:30 am in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building and streaming online at http://oversight.house.gov.
Witness
·
Inspector General Michael Horowitz, U.S. Department of Justice

Five reasons to carry full-capacity magazines

From Rabbi Jacob Bendory of JPFO.

Bruce Krafft: Recoil Ridiculousness and the Fallacy of Full-Autos

Unfortunately the idea that firearms must have a “sporting purpose” has now become so engrained in some that even a gun magazine editor and columnist like Jerry Tsai sees it as a litmus test, probably not even recognizing the complete artificiality of such a designation.

Training: Everybody else is doing it. How 'bout you?

HSI Using Armored Vehicles for Training
The new version of the "Black Maria." Why do these statist bastards always choose black as a color scheme?
"ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents participate in a rigorous training exercise utilizing armored vehicles designated for Special Response Teams. Exercises like this one prepare special agents for national security events."

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

David Codrea: ATF creating ‘legal’ injustice for FFL fighting revocation

The dirty anti-gun-agenda criminal bastards who run the ATF Chief Counsels' Office are up to their old tricks again.
By improperly causing a hearing to be removed from the court calendar, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives prevented a Federal Firearms Licensee from seeking discovery crucial to its case for a scheduled revocation hearing, a motion filed on behalf of Brink’s, Incorporated, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas at Dallas asserted Monday. Requesting either “to reinstate [the court] hearing date or, in the alternative, to reschedule [the] FFL revocation hearing,” the motion points out it “serves as Brink’s only opportunity to obtain discovery for the purposes of defending its license.”

Slouching towards Sodom.

Hollywood Star Embraces Incest
Incest isn't the final stopping point for the sexual left. The final stopping point is pedophilia. All it takes is for the left to declare that children have the ability to make rational decisions about their own sexuality. Then the final string tethering Western society to her Judeo-Christian moral roots will be severed. And Hollywood will celebrate.

Freudian slip?

Russian ships displayed at DNC tribute to vets

IRS bureaucrats trying to avoid getting shot, or merely blowing smoke up Congresscritters' sphincters until the raid parties are dispatched?

IRS: Agents Won't Be Enforcers of Obamacare Mandate

New Obama Film Must Be Working

The White House finally attacks it.
D’Souza responds.