Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Texas On Alert
Since Gen. Sam Houston executed his famous retreat to glory to defeat the superior forces of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Texas has been ground zero for military training. We have so many military bases in the Lone Star State we could practically attack Russia.
So when rookie Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was ordering the Texas State Guard to monitor a Navy SEAL/Green Beret joint training exercise, which was taking place in Texas and several other states, everybody here looked up from their iPhones. What?
It seems there is concern among some folks that this so-called training maneuver is just a cover story. What's really going on? President Obama is about to use Special Forces to put Texas under martial law.
Let's walk over by the fence where nobody can hear us, and I'll tell you the story.
You see, there are these Wal-Marts in West Texas that supposedly closed for six months for "renovation." That's what they want you to believe. The truth is these Wal-Marts are going to be military guerrilla-warfare staging areas and FEMA processing camps for political prisoners. The prisoners are going to be transported by train cars that have already been equipped with shackles.
Don't take my word for it. That comes directly from a Texas Ranger, who seems pretty plugged in, if you ask me. You and I both know President Obama has been waiting a long time for this, and now it's happening. It's a classic false flag operation. Don't pay any attention to the mainstream media; all they're going to do is lie and attack everyone who's trying to tell you the truth.
Did I mention the ISIS terrorists? They've come across the border and are going to hit soft targets all across the Southwest. They've set up camp a few miles outside of El Paso.
That includes a Mexican army officer and Mexican federal police inspector. Not sure what they're doing there, but probably nothing good. That's why the Special Forces guys are here, get it? To wipe out ISIS and impose martial law. So now you know, whaddya say we get back to the party and grab another beer?
It's true that the paranoid worldview of right-wing militia types has remarkable stamina. But that's not news.
What is news is that there seem to be enough of them in Texas to influence the governor of the state to react — some might use the word pander — to them.
That started Monday when a public briefing by the Army in Bastrop County, which is just east of Austin, got raucous. The poor U.S. Army colonel probably just thought he was going to give a regular briefing, but instead 200 patriots shouted him down, told him he was a liar and grilled him about the imminent federal takeover of Texas and subsequent imposition of martial law.
"We just want to make sure our guys are trained. We want to hone our skills," Lt. Col. Mark Listoria tried to explain in vain.
One wonders what Listoria was thinking to himself as he walked to his car after two hours of his life he'll never get back. God bless Texas? Maybe not.
The next day Abbott decided he had to take action. He announced that he was going to ask the Texas State Guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm from start to finish.
"It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed upon," Abbott said.
The idea that the Yankee military can't be trusted down here has a long and rich history in Texas. But that was a while back. Abbott's proclamation that he was going to keep his eye on these Navy SEAL and Green Beret boys did rub some of our leaders the wrong way.
Former Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst tried to put it in perspective for outsiders when he explained, "Unfortunately, some Texans have projected their legitimate concerns about the competence and trustworthiness of President Barack Obama on these noble warriors. This must stop."
Another former Republican politician was a bit more pointed.
"Your letter pandering to idiots ... has left me livid," former state Rep. Todd Smith wrote Abbott. "I am horrified that I have to choose between the possibility that my Governor actually believes this stuff and the possibility that my Governor doesn't have the backbone to stand up to those who do."
There's no argument that after the 2014 election, Texas politics took a further step to the right. The 84th session of the state Legislature has given ample proof of that. But the events of this last week have been an eye-opener for Texans of all political stripes.
You will find the names of Texans etched into marble at war memorials from Goliad to Gettysburg, from Verdun to the Ardennes and Washington, D.C. The governor's proposition that these soldiers and sailors constitute a potential threat and need watching as they go about their duties certainly stakes out some new political ground for the leader of the Texas GOP to stand on.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Saturday, March 28, 2015
The Intelligence of The Non- Intelligent
The Gangs of Los Angeles
Part 5: The Power of Partners and Intelligence
Part 5: The Power of Partners and Intelligence
03/11/14
In Los Angeles and the sprawling metropolitan area that surrounds the city, there are approximately 800 different gangs, each of them engaged in various levels of violence and criminal activity.
“There was a time when we talked about gangs in terms of individuals standing on street corners selling rocks of crack cocaine,” said Robert Clark, an assistant special agent in charge in our Los Angeles Division who supervises the Bureau’s gang program there. “But the threat has evolved,” he said. “We now have gangs that are involved in regional, national, and international criminal enterprises.”
There are still open-air drug markets in certain neighborhoods, Clark explained, but the gangs have grown more sophisticated, branching out to extortion, money laundering, identity theft, and human trafficking. All of that can exact a heavy toll on the community.
To counter the threat, the FBI partners with local and state law enforcement organizations and numerous federal agencies. Through a variety of task forces and intelligence platforms, the goal is to leverage all of law enforcement’s resources to dismantle the worst gangs from the top down.
“The most significant threats that impact the communities—the shootings, murders, and robberies—are easy to see,” Clark said. “But we also look at the entire criminal enterprise, the infrastructure that allows gangs to control neighborhoods and extort and intimidate people who live there.”
Intelligence gathering and sharing is critical to law enforcement’s success, Clark noted. “And good intelligence happens when you have strong partnerships.” The Bureau’s international gang investigations may be helped by intelligence gleaned from a local gang case. “We may be able to recruit new sources or open new investigations based on what we learn locally,” he said.
And the information flows both ways. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, for example, is able to fight the gang threat through a unique initiative that benefits from its partnership with the FBI.
“Traditionally,” said Jonathan Cristall, a supervising city attorney who runs the Federal and Local Special Abatement Operations Program, “prosecutors deal with problem people. Our program targets problem places that serve as bases of operations for the gangs and negatively impact public safety.”
The city attorney’s office obtains injunctions requiring property owners to implement improvements to properties. They can also obtain court orders that prohibit gang members from setting foot back in the neighborhood. “If they come back,” Cristall added, “they can be arrested on sight.”
In the civil courts, the city attorney often moves against gang members and the properties they control on the same day the FBI makes criminal arrests. That requires close coordination—and the Bureau’s willingness to share sensitive information about its operations. “Today, we work with many of the federal law enforcement agencies,” Cristall said. “But one of the first agencies to bring us on board as a trusted partner was the FBI.”
He added that when his office first started this type of work, “there were so many spots in L.A. where the gangsters felt like they owned that neighborhood. Those areas are harder to find now,” said Cristall. “The remarkable progress we’ve made has to do with partnerships, and the FBI has been a leader in bringing us together.”
Clark sees the abatement program as one more tool in law enforcement’s fight against gangs. “Collectively, when we apply all of our resources,” he said, “we can bring justice to the people in communities hard hit by gangs.”
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