Confederate Yankee
May 29, 2011
Media Ignores NY Rep Anthony Weiner's Cyber-Sex Story
NY Congressman Anthony Weiner was caught sending pictures of his uh, thinly-covered namesake, to a young woman who was not his new wife. This is the kind of story that ends political careers and forces resignations, but the MSM is dutifully ignoring this transgression... for now.
His wife won't buy his alibi. Neither should we.
Weiner should resign in disgrace, but I doubt the New York Democrat has that much honor.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
08:05 AM
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Resign in disgrace? This is worthy of a leftist medal of honor. Well, sort of. Its hard to breach the level of murdering a staffer, or having your crack addled boyfriend running a homo whore house out of your Georgetown digs - but Weiner is just getting his wings!
he will get there - give him time. The MSM certainly will.
Posted by: George at May 29, 2011 06:12 PM (y0VOX)
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This should get him a badge of honor from his Dim counterparts. This would be their greatest thrill, to send weiner pictures to young girls. He will NOT resign. His wife may leave him, but probably not, as Dim women seem to like men who betray them, as long as they can keep their reflected power.
Posted by: TimothyJ at May 29, 2011 07:48 PM (w7YPP)
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May 28, 2011
The Guerena Shooting: Initial Analysis
As regular readers know, I’m a USAF veteran (I was a security police officer in SAC during the cold war) and have extensive civilian police service, including SWAT duty. I have been writing on the Erik Scott case In Las Vegas since August of 2010. Those extensive posts are available in our Erik Scott archive.
The Jose Guerena shooting, which took place on May 5, is similar in many ways. My co-blogger, Bob’s May 25 story on the Pajamas Media site (
here) has stimulated considerable interest in the story on the Net. What I’ve yet to see is concise information that would allow people who don’t have police and/or tactical team backgrounds to better understand what appears to have happened in this case. To that end, I’ll explain why SWAT teams exist, what purpose(s) they should serve, how they should work, and proper police procedure in any case where the police have shot a citizen.
I’ll also analyze the brief—less then 60 seconds—police video of the actual shooting (it may be found
here). Please keep in mind that I am working only from media and Internet accounts, including the aforementioned video and other documents released by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, the law enforcement entity involved. As such, I don’t have all of the facts, and as Donald Rumsfeld might say, there are unknown unknowns. In other words, I don’t know enough about this specific incident to know precisely what I don’t know.
That said, I hope to produce at least a reasonable foundation for understanding what seems to have happened on May 5. Go
here and
here for local media accounts of the incident.
UPDATE 052911, 1329 CT: Go
here for an updated news story reporting that Guerena, according to the medical examiner, was actually hit 22 times, not 60 as was originally reported by the doctors who examined him. See the "Analysis" section below for additional commentary.
Posted by: MikeM at
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One thing I noticed about that video is how much it doesnt show. The officer in question is well behind the party knocking down the door, and he is nowhere near enough to see what the officers at the door are firing at, much less see what, if anything, Jose Guerena is, or is not, doing.
The authorities in this case are trying to give us the impression they are being open about the incident, when in actual fact they are demonstrating how to lie with video.
Empty assertions with meaningless video, Sgt. Friday would have words for certain people, and they wouldn't be, "Good work, keep it up."
Posted by: Alan Kellogg at May 28, 2011 11:44 PM (Y+78Z)
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"Another report said detectives found body armor in a hallway closet and a U.S. Border Patrol hat in the garage.”
??!! So that's the so-called 'part of a police uniform' the cops are claiming supports the theory the dead Marine was part of a home invasion crew?
What do you bet this "U.S. Border Patrol hat" turns out to be nothing more than what's known as a campaign hat.
just google "campaign hat" to see what I mean
Posted by: Brad at May 29, 2011 12:04 AM (TL40k)
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Nicely done. Seems consistent with the evidence. I'm told that if you run the entire tape, which runs for a LONG time, you'll hear the SWAT guys all working on getting their stories straight. Which oddly enough various official sources denied happening.
Apparently Dupnik had the warrants sealed 4 days after the raid, just before they admitted that the guy's rife was on safe the entire time. I'm curious how long it takes Dupnik and his crack investigators to pin this on Palin.
Posted by: Kevin at May 29, 2011 01:08 AM (Kv05z)
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"SWAT teams should generally be used only for high-risk situations requiring specific skills and equipment not available to a patrol force."
I reside in the area. a few days later then this incident, the PCSO Swat team was used to serve an eviction notice on a 66 year old man in a foreclosure. The man commited suicide. Eviction notices, a dangerous situation, I think not.
Our "esteemed" sherrif has shown his true leadership since the January 8, 2001 shooting, non-existent!
Posted by: Larry at May 29, 2011 10:23 AM (clEU0)
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Larry:
Are you speaking of McHugh, who shot at DETECTIVES attempting to serve an eviction notice, and THEN the SWAT team was called to deal with him - only to find out McHugh shot himself before the SWAT team ever got there???
You should explain to Florida Deputy 'Robert Hugh Milligan' how serving eviction notices are not "dangerous"....oh wait you can't, as he was killed delivering that piece of paper.
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 29, 2011 12:49 PM (PA1Mf)
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this is just one more case of the police serving and protecting, ...themselves.
Posted by: rumcrook at May 29, 2011 07:14 PM (60WiD)
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Another case of dipstick Dupnik incompetence. But wait, we can't lay blame totally at his feet. The judge who signed the "no knock" order must share the blame. I also wonder what kind of investigation we'll egt out of the ABI or that clown Holder. After all the victim wasn't white but rather Hispanic so one would think he'd be all over it but you haven't heard a word. Most likely because teh person was ex-military. The whole group should be in prison and teh key thrown away. If Dipstick didn't have anything to hide why'd he ahve the record sealed??
Posted by: A_Nobody at May 30, 2011 10:31 AM (fEnA4)
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["If Dipstick didn't have anything to hide why'd he ahve the record sealed??"]
Since it was a 'search warrant' and not an 'arrest warrant', maybe it's a continuing investigation?? The evil Sheriff would have had to list what they were looking for when the warrant application was filed and delivered to the evil Judge, hence, if it is an ongoing they don't want other players knowing what they 'really' have.
BTW, was it in fact a "no-knock" warrant? They are extremely difficult to procure from Judges and Magistrates, at least it is in the 11th Circuit Southern District.
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 30, 2011 11:54 AM (PA1Mf)
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Very good article. What blogs are for.
Thank you, sir.
Posted by: Billy Beck at May 30, 2011 03:40 PM (n4VyA)
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Dear Buck:
As the search warrant and all related documents have been sealed, it's not possible to know if the warrant was a no-knock. However, the actions of the SWAT team would certainly suggest that it was not, and as I noted, the presence of the SWAT team for a no-knock warrant may, in itself be revealing. Perhaps the withholding of the warrant and related information is being done to protect involved people, but that is unlikely. In drug investigations, particularly the kind of low level, local investigations this one appears to be, when warrants are served, confidentiality and secrecy are over. Warrants are generally never served unless and until the police are ready to end the case and make arrests.
The other possibility is that the affidavit contains embarrassing information or omissions, but until the related documents are available for public inspection, this won't be known with certainty either.
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 30, 2011 06:51 PM (IgRYl)
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Dear Billy Beck:
Thank you; most kind.
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 30, 2011 06:52 PM (IgRYl)
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Buck,
Given that the video clearly shows an officer knocking on Guerena's door following a brief activation of a vehicle siren in the driveway, I think we can say with certainty this was NOT a no-knock warrant. This is the basis of OBSERVATION #5 above, which wonders at the use of SWAT to serve a warrant which did not meet the requirements for no-knock status. Why use the overwhelming firepower--and the increased potential for violence--a SWAT team represents when the situation clearly did not meet the judge's requirements for a no-knock warrant? This is especially puzzling when one considers the reports all say the police found exactly what they were there to find, and none of what they found was illegal.
Further, if there IS, in fact, an ongoing investigation At this point, I would think any suspects involved with the Guerena's are surely long gone, taking with them the need for secrecy to protect a "continuing investigation." Even if that's not the case, I believe a strong argument could be made that protecting any further investigation should be a lower priority than the need to clarify a police action that's looking more and more like Keystone cops, minus the humor...
Posted by: Mark at May 30, 2011 07:34 PM (VIabe)
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Yeah, alot of people are forgetting the siren. No one confuses home invasion when police sirens are blasting outside.
Posted by: Federale at May 30, 2011 07:59 PM (7xqyd)
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Federale - Ah, yes, the 8 second siren that you keep blathering about. As if this is a hall pass for illegal entry and murder.
Posted by: RW at May 30, 2011 09:59 PM (Q4AO9)
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I could not believe what a goat rope that "entry" was. Any scratch team of airsoft kiddies from randomly selected YouTube videos could have done as well or better.
It was like the Geheimestaatspolezei meets the Keystone Kops...
Posted by: Tam at May 30, 2011 11:10 PM (LBJc9)
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Thanks! As an ex-officer do you think that this sort of thing is happening more and more often or are we simply more connected so we hear about it more often?
Posted by: Pierre at May 30, 2011 11:30 PM (3oa/t)
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Dear Pierre:
Good question indeed. The police have always made mistakes--small in relation to the number of things they do right, thank goodness-- but over the last few decades some things have changed. More and more agencies have SWAT teams, which likely means more and more teams without proper training which may translate into more and more damaging mistakes. In addition, post-Rathergate, the Blogosphere has become a primary source of news and analysis, particularly where the mistakes of government are concerned.
I suspect that these--and perhaps other factors--contribute, but I don't have hard and fast statistics on this matter. Best guess; there are more and we're more aware of them. I could, of course, be wrong, but I wonder to what degree the speed of the Net contributes to police executives going into bunker mode because they have less and less time to think about how to deal with what are obviously serious mistakes.
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 31, 2011 12:48 AM (IgRYl)
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Perhaps the "Border Patrol Hat" was one of those you can buy in almost any police or mil-surplus catalog.
If that is justification, I have hats from multiple PD's, Coast Guard, Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, and other Federal agencies. . . Does that mean I have provided sufficient probable cause for a search warrant?
And what about the judge that signed off on the warrant?
Posted by: kilroyjc at May 31, 2011 06:45 AM (kULVB)
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Good post - I had the same reaction to the video. This is incompetence on a grand scale.
After the shooting just petered out, the cops all stood their wondering what to do. Nobody even yelled "clear". Unbelievable.
Posted by: Old Soldier at May 31, 2011 08:02 AM (K5g5u)
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This happens all too often. Here is a map showing botched SWAT team raids:
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/
-Popgun
Posted by: Popgun at May 31, 2011 08:18 AM (e5MJ3)
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Excellent job.
You can't use Oops as an excuse here. Not even if you extend the Oops to command staff, who should have known what they had and did not have in terms of capabilities of their "team."
Clearly the events documented by the video indicate that the raid was regarded by personnel as routine and such behavior further indicates, that it was habit forming. If these personnel had training, they forgot all of it and were never drilled in it on a regular basis or we would see signs of it on the video. Those signs are non-existent.
What does exist are questions about why an innocent man was killed in his own home by police acting under a 'Blanket" warrant. I want to know who issued that warrant, who wrote the affidavit for the warrant and why PCSO needs to shift and squirm and spin and lie.
But we all know why they are doing that don't we.
PCSO used to be a very professional organization, in spite of the democratic 'machine" that keeps getting elected in that county. However it always has been a 'brown nose' organization within the 'management levels.' Go figure but you can bet that everyone within are holding their collective breaths, waiting for this to go away. The media down there are also connected to the 'machine', so no guesses as to who will be thrown under the bus but you can bet it will be the lowest level possible. unless those personnel have 'protective' information they are holding for a rainy day.
Yup. It's always been that kind of an organization as well.
Posted by: PooDoo at May 31, 2011 09:06 AM (x8ZYZ)
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The "Border Patrol Hat" in question most likely came from either an acquaintance in the Border Patrol either in his state or Iraq / Afghanistan if he did any tours there. I have received numerous items with the Border Patrol logo on them while in Iraq and in my home state. As for the Body Armor, it is quite easily obtained in the same manner. No rules prohibit the shipping of non-military Body Armor out of Iraq / Afghanistan via the military postal system. At least not when I was there…
Posted by: SCM at May 31, 2011 09:49 AM (DA7Wo)
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The activities at the door indeed indicate it was not a no-knock warrant. However, given that the knocking was apparently very soft (if audible at all to the occupants), and followed very quickly by the "entry", it looks to me as the SWAT team was effectively converting it to a no-knock raid by not actually knocking. They put on a show for the camera to cover for the fact. By what else the tape shows, these guys aren't too sharp.
Posted by: Mr Evilwrench at May 31, 2011 10:43 AM (BReuX)
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This is an excellent and educational analysis of the video, thank you for putting the time and effort into it.
Re: Observation 9: "What I heard on the video was panicky fire."
This fits with my observation that they weren't taking this seriously, and that they didn't suspect the level of risk necessary to justify SWAT involvement. They were caught completely off-guard by the sight of a homeowner with a gun, and someone fired in panic, prompting the rest of the team to start firing. I think the biggest sign of this blase attitude was the guy who knocked walking away with his back to the home and his weapon slung on his back while a (supposedly) dynamic entry was taking place (I believe this is the same guy you point out in #11 who runs up to do the "me too" firing with his pistol).
To me, this has all the appearance of a "justification raid" - using the SWAT team for something that doesn't really need it, because if it's only used for the appropriate situations it won't get used enough to justify the money it takes to maintain the team. It's pure politics, and has nothing to do with actual law enforcement.
They don't even appear to have been treating this as a training opportunity - it was just a chance to go out and play with their cool toys while justifying their budget.
As for the body armor they found, does anyone else remember the early days of Iraq/Afghanistan, when families were buying body armor for their loved ones in combat areas because the military got caught short? Given that, how can anyone *not* expect a marine who served in those wars to own their own body armor?
Posted by: Jake at May 31, 2011 10:52 AM (zKPMH)
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As someone who has done a bit of airsoft, that raid is a farce.
No stack, no signals of readiness, weapons handling in the horizontal plane. They'd be laughed at by airsofters.
That's not good.
Posted by: Slowjoe at May 31, 2011 11:06 AM (UaBMH)
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Depressing map over at Cato...
We have to get out of this Drug War as it is making too many of the wrong sorts of people powerful and allowing too many of our institutions to become corrupt in many different ways.
We are empowering gang bangers from Mexico, Central America and the black ghettos by allowing them to operate outside of the law. We keep saying that we are going to WIN the war on drugs and yet the gangs get bigger and bigger and we keep falling behind.
So to win we start eroding our rights and allowing our "soldiers" the police to violate more and more of our rights. As this proceeds more and more of the sane types don't want to go into police work and so standards fall and idiots get in.
We are well and truly screwed until this paradigm shifts. Unfortunately all of this is WAY too lucrative for all involved to stop. The police benefit with ridiculous budgets and the gangbangers benefit with more and more money.
The gordian knot is the legality of drug use. We have to make it legal and controlled...take this out of the street.
Posted by: Pierre at May 31, 2011 11:22 AM (52h7T)
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Nicely done from the tactical standpoint. Mine was done mainly from the career police officer, legal and common sense standpoints. I have six posts up - one taken from the statement of Sgt. Krghier who handed the planning for this raid to a subordinate and 'just hung around.' He is the one running behind the SUV when the shooting starts. He was also advised that of the four homes to be hit that day, Jose Guerena's was likely to be the one where they would encounter active resistance. I have also analyzed the statement of Mrs. Guerena and provided a final analysis based on those statements, the video and now the SWAT team audio which was recently released.
Posted by: BeatandRelease at May 31, 2011 11:44 AM (dA7Ty)
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Since it was a 'search warrant' and not an 'arrest warrant', maybe it's a continuing investigation??
Since they completely failed to find anything supporting a crime, I would infer that any legitimate investigation is now over. That hypothesis has been thoroughly falsified.
Other things -- you hear at :17 a report consistent with a flashbang at the same time as the "bang bang bang" transmission on the radio. I would assume that is to prevent any of the officers from confusing the report with shots fired from inside the house. ("bang" for flashbang.) This also raises the question of a flashbang being deployed at some currently unknown (to us) location a full 15 seconds before the breach. What is the point of that? 15 seconds is enough time for any hardened criminal to recover from its effects.
And yes, having seen a proper assault before, that was nothing of the sort. I'm also shocked that the only killed Mr. Guerena.
Posted by: Phelps at May 31, 2011 11:44 AM (J/1Ja)
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Slowjoe:
I'd like to see 'airsofters' play with real bullets going both ways. Might put a different outlook on the game.
BTW, horizontal weapon holding, for those wearing hard armor, has been around for a while. The speculation is it would be lessening to have a UD on a plate, while staging, than an unprotected lower extremities (at least that's the theory). Something 'airsofters' don't worry about, I guess.
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 31, 2011 12:07 PM (URQTr)
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Buck Turgidson - I've done it both ways with Miles gear. Standing in a doorway will get you killed every time.
Posted by: Old Soldier at May 31, 2011 01:07 PM (K5g5u)
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Mike:
Thank for responding. Several thoughts; We need to know when the warrants were procured - how long had they been ready? It could have been a 'no-knock' at application time and someone realized justification of the no-knock authorization no longer exist at the time the warrants were executed.
I surmise they were looking for something that would lead them to a extended booty, as they had search warrants not arrest warrants (supposedly). And as you clearly pointed out, we're working with what the media tells us. It will be interesting to learn what else was found at the other three searches and if anyone also resisted during those raids??
I wonder if there is video on the other seizures?
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 31, 2011 01:47 PM (URQTr)
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@ buck turgidson
if you note, the bullets in this case, only went in one (general) direction
Posted by: brad at May 31, 2011 01:49 PM (fRpmu)
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"If the police want to search someone’s home, they need a warrant."
Supreme court says you're wrong. When you started on your bio I thought you were going to come down squarely on the side of the incompetents who raided the four houses. Pleasant surprise. I have a New York State Trooper cap. Would the sheriff say that was evidence of a nefarious plot? He wants to cover up their bungle. I'll go a lot farther than you and say the use of SWAT is out of control and deadly force is out of control.
Posted by: pacific_waters at May 31, 2011 02:23 PM (u6JUR)
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["Standing in a doorway will get you killed every time."]
Only if you allow the enemy/suspect to shoot first. Many front doorways on urban homes are impossible to do 'safely', which is where shields sometimes work. I've seen everything from tennis balls to 40mm bean bags launched at front doors to alert the occupants, from a safer distance. I always thought using a side or rear door would be better (except for those damn dogs), however, we ran into issues where the house had been divided up into three or four separate residences for extended families, unknown to us as no permits were pulled. (that was ugly)
For sure Old Solider, if you do enough of these raids something always turns to crap. Just like friendly fire & killing non-combatants in the military, to medical doctors killing 100,000 people every year through wrongdoing and negligence.
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 31, 2011 02:23 PM (URQTr)
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My sympathy and my prayers are for Vanessa Guerena and her child.
My anger and my call for justice are for Sheriff Dupnik and his thugs.
Posted by: ExurbanKevin at May 31, 2011 02:41 PM (b41r0)
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Ex-LEO here, and one who served a full career from 1973 through 2003, encompassing the old "hat Squad" days to the present tactics.
Without going into a lengthy history, here's what needs to be done. Anytime more than four officers go to a scene where they are going to use dynamic entry, and weapons other than sidearms are carried, the legal standard should REQUIRE a firm plan for force projection, and a complete AAR done IMMEDIATELY afterwards to detail how the plan was used, what force was used, etc.
If the PeeDees knew that EVERY time they used a SWAT dynamic entry, their ENTIRE deployment, from request through mop-up, was going to be a matter of IMMEDIATE public release, then I'm betting that SWAT wouldn't be used one tenth as much as it is now.
For the record, in the Portland OR metro area, there are more SWAT call-outs in a normal week than there used to be in an entire year.
The police are NOT the military. They all ought to lose the Tommy Tactical uniforms with black-out insignia and go back to their traditional uniforms, their traditional car paint schemes, etc.
Any Officer or Deputy who wants to be Tommy Tactical should be given forms to apply for a Military Leave of Absence, and directed to the nearest recruiting station.
BTW, when I first swore in, the idea was "protect and serve, even if you had to lay down your life doing it" Today's idea is "whatever you do, you go home to Mama when the shift is over" That incomprehensible change is what has driven all this SWAT over-use and most of the rest of the Tommy Tactical crap, because the public must never be allowed to get the idea that the cops won't ever CONFRONT a danger situation with the odds not on their side.
BTW2, the usual way to serve a dangerous warrant in 1973 was one or two detectives, and MAYBE one patrol officer. We used our BRAINS to get the better of the bad guys then, not our boots and machine-guns.
Posted by: Rivrdog at May 31, 2011 04:41 PM (pVinv)
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What's really sad here, keeping in mind the politics of Pima COunty, is if Jose Guerena had been an illegal alien instead of an Honorable Marine the locals would be lying in the streets having spasms demanding the heads of that SWAT Team....
Posted by: Matthew at May 31, 2011 05:06 PM (ki0EN)
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BTW2, the usual way to serve a dangerous warrant in 1973 was one or two detectives, and MAYBE one patrol officer. We used our BRAINS to get the better of the bad guys then, not our boots and machine-guns.
This is destroying the link between the public and police officers...this is a very bad thing.
After a while a body might start thinking that all these bad decisions that have been made in the last 40 years are not the result of accidental foolishness.
Posted by: Pierre at May 31, 2011 05:13 PM (52h7T)
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PS - if 'federale' is serious about the assholes hitting a siren ( and you can obtain one for under thirty bucks, if that gets your rocks off ) and that announcing the entrance of armed murderers, then the only SANE response is this:
If you hear a siren outside your dwelling, arm up, load chamber, and prepare for home invaders who want to murder you. Take out as many of the cowardly bastards as possible, because they are going to kill you regardless of what you do. The least you can do as a favor for your country, is to put a few of the nazi bastards in the dirt.
Posted by: Slobyskya Rotchikokov at May 31, 2011 05:32 PM (JDpvC)
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Hmmm... Many questions of legality. Good report sir. If I may post. From someone who used to teach these in the old days when SWAT was first gaining traction I am saddened by the loss of a Citizen for just doing what many of us would probably be caught doing in the same situation. They gained a lot of the training from us in the military including the discipline of when not to shoot. It meant something. After that, seven years as a SWAT Medic watching many actions from more of an observer point of view. Did you catch that; MEDIC on scene and present for all who may need care after an incident, for whatever reason. SWAT was rarely used because of the inherent dangers. As it was intended to save lives, not cause damage or take lives. This was a fiasco from what I have seen on the video. If I was officially over viewing this there would be many heads rolling, suspensions, and a couple of firings already. Geez, the incompetence illustrated is so disheartening.
Posted by: Taz at May 31, 2011 06:14 PM (zqcpB)
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That shot sequence, especially the "...followed by a two second silence and one final shot." bothers hell out of me. Would even if there were hard evidence of this being a righteous raid.
Posted by: Firehand at May 31, 2011 06:48 PM (7ljFO)
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Great article, very concise. My point, finding a border patrol hat, that is a green baseball type cap with "Border Patrol" stitched on it, is not uncommon. These caps are routinely available at a great many location and are considered tourist items. You can also buy them on line for less than $20. As for the body armor, that can also be freely purchased on line and since this guy was a Marine it would not be at all unusual to find such and item in his closet. Considering all the evidence presented, I would have to call this one UNJUSTIFIED, AND SHERIFF DUPNIK WILL TRY TO SPIN IT OR COVER IT UP COMPLETELY.
Posted by: Jim at May 31, 2011 06:52 PM (shKTL)
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Hey Mike? Isn't the purpose of the officer with the shield first in to provide at least some manner of cover for the stack as they move in?
Thanks very much! You and Beat and Release have provided excellent analysis of a very amateur cluster fooked operation.
Oh, yea! For you guys that are knocking *airsoft* the USCG vessel boarding crews train exclusively with *airsoft*. I have yet to see or hear of any cluster fook op's from their teams.
Posted by: streetsweeper at May 31, 2011 08:16 PM (MyEs9)
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I'm a law abiding civilian taxpayer with no criminal record and I have body armor (and NV gear) because I know people who've had their home invaded and the homicide rate is almost war level high (60 per capita in 2010). The national average is around 5 per capita. If we were a country we'd have the second highest rate in the world after Honduras.
So siren or no, if I'm awakened to someone kicking my door down, somebody's getting hurt.
That could very well have been me and the only thing I would do differently is to strive to be more successful than Mr. Guerena in defending my family, my property, and my life.
Posted by: Robert at May 31, 2011 08:22 PM (0E+Bx)
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I used to work in night clubs in a large city, I owned a vest for well over 10 years, didnt need it anymore an sold it on ebay.
I also had a hat at one time that said border patrol on it................
Posted by: rumcrook at May 31, 2011 09:01 PM (60WiD)
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You good people seem to have, with a few exceptions your collective behinds up your rear ends. The Para-Military make up of the LEO's in this country is by design. Years ago the head of the East German Stazi was brought here by the loving leaders of the Justice Department and other so called protectors of our country to advise them on how to control the populace and eventually enslave us just like the East German people were subjected to. When will the SHEEPLE of the United States grow a pair and do away with these traitors and criminals that have completely destroyed our way of life. I have an answer to a entry stack, it's called claymore hidden at my front and back entrance and 30-06 armor peircing FMJ from a semi-auto BAR. If you all think that we can vote our way out of this, then you may as well do yourselves in because SHEEPLE that give the enemy the benifit of the doubt through out history have ended up in a ditch. Get it strait your poor people, the powers that are do not have ant of you listed in their New World Order. Oh and LEO's and my brothers in the military, when they are done with you and you have done all of their murdering and dirty work, you will be done also. Get it threw your heads, this is not the America that our forfathers and fathers fought and died for. It is time to make a choice and decide just what or who's side that your on. Don't be on the wrong side because the excuse of I was just following orders will not wash. It didn't for the Nazi's in Nurremburg and it's not going to help you here in America.
Posted by: Mayac at May 31, 2011 09:48 PM (ADuXx)
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Dead on target, Glad you like to type.....
Posted by: Orion at May 31, 2011 10:03 PM (TLs+j)
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A lot of police range training involves repeated scenarios where the training officer yells "GUN" and everyone starts firing. In the field this leads to situations where an officer sees a person with a gun and says "GUN" at which point everyone shoots the person with the gun whether the person with the gun is a threat or not. I personally find this method of police range training particularly disturbing.
Posted by: Ed. at May 31, 2011 11:01 PM (ZFWr1)
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Also ex-LEO, 1974-2010, never in Arizona, but federal, state, and county. First, I've served a couple hundred search warrants and NEVER had a search warrant or a return sealed. The affidavit, with all of the probable cause, yes, many times, and in drug cases, most of the time, but the other two are almost always public documents. I can think of a couple of situations wherein a judge might be persuaded to temporarily seal a warrant or a return, but as soon as the defendant lawyered up, they were going to get a copy. It makes sense, because we're required to leave a copy of the warrant AND the return or at least a receipt for everything taken with the occupant or at the location. They've effectively got a copy already, so what's the point of sealing it?
The return, however, is not, as you describe, an AAR. It's only an accurate listing of what was removed pursuant to the warrant. If nothing was seized, that's what you write on the receipt, and the return.
Law enforcement got increasingly "dynamic" during my career. We did lots of papers in the 70s with, as one commenter said, a couple of agents or detectives, and now, a full team would do them while we watched from outside. Most of those teams got very good, because they were getting a lot of practice. I worked with LAPD's SWAT on a couple of warrants and they were like machines, everybody thinking and moving together, it was breathtakingly efficient. Of course those guys, when they finished my warrant, they drove somewhere else and hit another place, and then another, and another. Do that every day, week in, week out, you get pretty good.
These guys were also breathtaking, but not in a good way. You're supposed to be covered behind the bunker man, that's what he's there for, and practically none of these deputies were. One guy left the "stack" (such as it was) and disappeared into the house. All those rounds flying past him, I'll bet that was exciting. I just wonder if this wasn't their fourth warrant of the morning (it's pretty bright-broad daylight) and they just didn't have time to properly prepare a plan. Even so, they look very, very bad.
Posted by: johnm at June 01, 2011 12:46 AM (K8/5R)
50
Sorry, one more thing, you can barely hear someone say, "police, search warrant, open the door," right after the one guy knocks. So, it was a knock and announce warrant, and legally, they fulfilled the requirement. Our policy, which is federal and in the Ninth Circuit, same as Arizona, was to knock and announce three times before attempting entry. You're SUPPOSED to wait long enough after knocking for someone to come and respond to your request for entry. Only sounds of flight or destruction of evidence justify breaking in. This was the functional equivalent of Halt Bang Who Goes There.
Posted by: johnm at June 01, 2011 01:00 AM (K8/5R)
51
The way I was trained, you knock and then immediately remove the barrier (door) which they did. Then they killed an innocent man. How do I know he's innocent? Well knowing that regime, if they had anything it would have been leaked by now. They don't and are playing for time in order to develop a story which will CYA them. Only that's hard to do without committing additional crimes.
Posted by: PooDoo at June 01, 2011 07:46 AM (3JCZq)
52
48: The shooting stops.
50: One final round is fired.
Two seconds is a long time in a gun fight.
You are not allowed to continue shooting after the target ceases to be a threat.
Was that final shot a FINISHER? That is was it a shot to insure that the target is dead?
Posted by: Ed. at June 01, 2011 08:48 AM (ZFWr1)
53
AND.... For those of you who are worried about the legalities involved... No worries! It was all legal.
When Hitler and Stalin did their genocides, they were "covered" under lawful authority as well. At least in Germany and the Soviet Union. All nice and legal. They made sure to give themselves the necessary 'powers' to do whatever they wanted. Sound familiar?
If the shoe fits... Unfortunately, it is, more and more.
Posted by: PooDoo at June 01, 2011 09:41 AM (3JCZq)
54
Thanks for a fascinating viewpoint.
Posted by: Erin O'Brien at June 01, 2011 07:52 PM (Wh+v/)
55
Woe be unto you, murderers! assassins! For your fate is sealed by your own blood lust, lies and perversion of justice and all that is holy. For as you have done under color of law unto the innocents, so shall it be done unto you on the terrible day of reckoning on the day Our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus returns to judge both the quick and the dead.
For it is written:
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Posted by: Spirit of '76 at June 02, 2011 01:33 AM (QtyBK)
56
It would appear that there are multiple failures in this system. Why are judges that sign these orders left off this murder rap. Everyone who made a key decision should be fired and convicted of murder or at the least Manslaugter. But this again shows that the law does not apply to Police, Judges, and Lawyers. Make the law apply to them equally as it did to the police before. That is the only way to build restraint back into the system.
Judges should be stripped of any ability to practice law and criminally convicted when they are grossly negligent or clearly illegal in their duties. In a case like this where their actions appear to have killed an innocent hardworking family man and citizen. They should also pay reparitions out of their own pocket. As well as go to jail for a minimum of manslaughter, or as an accomplice to murder.
I have seen judges too important and too busy to bother paying attention to the details of the case at hand. There is no room for error when sending out paramilitary squads. Why are doctors held accountable for mistakes when judges cause them too.
Most of our laws were made to protect the individual citizen's rights against a powerful government. When judges start saying "Well the law says" and can be an accessory to murder, something is wrong with the system.
Why not have a few local cameramen ride along with the SWAT team? These yahoos would not be so cavalier if every moment of their action was on camera. This is serious business and if they enter anyone's house unannounced they should expect someone even if innocent to shoot first when armed person breaks into their house... Yelling "police" or any other unintelligible word as is usually the case. does not guarantee it is Police. Try having a clear conversation with someone inside the house not expecting your conversation, while you are outside on the porch. If you don't expect there to be an incomplete communication. You are operating with half a brain. If the law encourages public officials to operate with half a brain... What is the sense.
Posted by: What checks and Balances? at June 02, 2011 01:02 PM (lgpRQ)
57
Well done Sir, and more questions than answers... There were SO many things done wrong, it is a miracle the wife and child weren't killed. Jose Guerena was, my opinion, a victim of circumstances well beyond his control; based on his training, HE was doing what he thought was right to protect his family.
Posted by: Old NFO at June 02, 2011 07:09 PM (Is+KB)
58
The absolute BEST, objectively critiqued article I have read to date concerning the Guerena killing and SWAT tactics in general. Well done! Respects, Squirts
Posted by: Squirts at June 02, 2011 11:22 PM (FX1tX)
59
Thank you for your in depth analysis of the Guerena assassination, very professional and so far the best I've seen.
I am also very disturbed about the 2 sec silence before the final kill shot. Is this why they weren't concerned about getting him medical attention?
That video is destined to become THE hallmark training film as an example of every technique that should not be used for swat teams.
Why not use tasers or beanbags or other non-lethal means to subdue their target.
Why not send in the robot first (unarmed) to negotiate a peaceful surrender?
It is indeed miraculous that his wife, child, or neighbors were not killed.
This is very scary considering how often LEO has been known to get the wrong address.
If I lived in that county I would be armor plating my house and outfitting my family and pets with body armor.
CATO also has a good article about "Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America".
Posted by: noydb at June 03, 2011 12:34 PM (C2lnm)
60
There was also the question raised about Jose's gun not having any bullet marks.
It might be possible that none of the 70 rounds fired ever struck his gun but it is highly unlikely.
Posted by: noydb at June 03, 2011 01:27 PM (C2lnm)
61
Look at this from another POV; assume it was a legit warrant and the Marine was a genuine bad guy. Is that the tactical plan for going after a recent combat vet who is likely to have an Immediate Action plan, a prepared fighting position, and an alternate - with the possibility of simple IEDs?
How would this have worked out if the Marine had put on his vest, gone to cover and returned fire, maybe tossed a bottle of gasoline at the door?
Why in the world would you plan on taking down a recent ground combat vet in his foxhole?
Setting aside the intel, tactics, and on-scene decisions; this was a complete management failure - every white collar in the chain needs to go.
Posted by: Jean at June 04, 2011 12:00 AM (7P7Ij)
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Bloggers Are Good People
Met up with a bunch of folks participating in the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot last night, and quickly fell in with John Donovan of Argghhh! and Dustin of LuckyGunner.com and had a nice conversation with them, and briefly met some of a substantial group of bloggers.
I'm going to refer you to
Bob's Gun Counter for blog coverage of the rest of the event, and will post
live updates to Twitter as I can.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
07:44 AM
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May 27, 2011
Be Jealous, Kids. Very. Jealous.
I'm relaxing at the hotel in Lenoir City, TN right now.
Why should that make you jealous? I'm here for the
LuckyGunner Blogger Shoot. Cool people. Cool firearms. Unconfirmed rumors of armor. And a minivan that is about to get a close and personal feeling of the power of civil war-era cannon.
The meet-and-greet is in a few hours, and we get down to blowing holes in things tomorrow and Sunday. I'll post video and write-ups as possible.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
04:41 PM
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I lived in Lenoir City a long time ago for about a year. Loved the park area down next to the lake. I was actually living there when they closed the Tellico Dam and flooded the Little Tennessee River valley.
Posted by: Robert at May 27, 2011 06:49 PM (TGdxO)
2
{sob} Just.... {sob} Give my best to Donovan. The lucky dog...
Posted by: Susan Katz Keating at May 27, 2011 11:49 PM (M5Jhq)
3
No bad
, it's I remember, to tomorrow ...
Posted by: Atodetlyloord at May 28, 2011 07:53 PM (AOvLd)
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May 26, 2011
Socialistic Energy-Lite
Those troublemakers at the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are up to their usual tricks and have produced a outrageously scandalous report calling into question the motives of The One. It is available here. But first, a bit of background.
Communists, and their less murderous, Communist-lite comrades, Socialists, are masters of deception and propaganda. So adept are they that they long ago coined a term to describe the simpletons who believe their propaganda and are thereby motivated to betray and harm their own countries: “useful idiots.” The American left has always provided a ready supply of useful idiots who are praised by the elite to their faces, but reviled behind their backs, for Marxists love only true believers.
A part of this contempt for all but their own kind is apparent in their frequent rhetorical affection for “the people.” In reality “the people” are merely an abstraction, the non-existent body of subjects whose support for and love of their betters and rulers is unquestionable. Such caring for “the people” is ephemeral, particularly when it is applied to individuals, about whom Marxists care not at all, particularly if those individuals fail to demonstrate the proper respect and appreciation for the accomplishments of the glorious revolution and the elite who lead it.
The Obama administration often speaks of the wonderful, virtually unimaginable benefits of its policies for “the people.” Mr. Obama has even scolded the public when it has shown insufficient appreciation for his munificence stuffily sniffing that the public should be thanking him instead. Nowhere is Mr. Obama’s Marxist faux-fealty to “the people” more evident than in his energy non-policies.
Posted by: MikeM at
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May 25, 2011
Quick Takes, May 26, 2011
ITEM: Is This Cool or What? Department: From the Wall Street Journal (here) comes the story of a man mostly paralyzed from the waist down, who, with an electrostimulation device implanted along the spine, and intensive therapy, is now able to stand and has substantially improved feeling and muscular response in his lower body. It’s not a complete cure, but it’s amazing progress that offers hope for many others. Only in America--for now.
ITEM: Well, those merry leftists in San Francisco are up to it again! They’ve approved a new ballot initiative for the next election on an issue of overwhelming public concern and importance: A ban on circumcision for infants. No, this is not a parody; they actually mean it. The group backing the measure calls if the “San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation Bill.” May I suggest an alternate title: “The San Francisco Rationality Obliteration and Lunatic Nanny State Intrusion Bill.” San Francisco’s Jewish community is not amused and would like to cut those proposing the bill off short. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. Go
here for the truncated story. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. No need to get snippish! Sorry…I’ve got to cut that out! Sorry...
ITEM: But He’s Not Really That Bad Of An Utterly Depraved, Murderous, Genocidal Terrorist! Department. From the good folks at Hot Air (
here) we learn that the Holder Justice Department is apparently showing signs of prosecuting another terrorist—one Ali Musa Daqduq—in civilian courts, so much so that five Senators including Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have sent Holder a letter demanding answers and demanding that he be prosecuted at Gitmo under a military commission. The Senators observe that he trained Iraqis in the use of IEDS and executed five US soldiers in Iraq. Holder supporters have their usual, inane ideas. Read the whole thing.
ITEM: So, they’re poisonous, if they break require an EPA Superfund cleanup, cause cancer, cost too much and explode in flames too? I’ll take 100! I speak, of course, about Compact Florescent Light bulbs, or CFLs, the magic green technology our Congressional masters have decided must replace cheap, safe incandescent light bulbs. Visit the American Thinker (
here) for the story about just how dangerous these greenie wonders actually are. If you’re not aware of the very real dangers of CFLs, this article will certainly be an eye-opener.
ITEM: What to make of Mr. Obama’s bizarre anti-Israel speech of the past week, and his rapid backpedaling at the AIPAC conference (and thereafter) where he claimed to have been misquoted and declared himself a firm and unshakeable defender of Israel? It’s pretty simple, really.
The problem--for Mr. Obama--is that he was accurately quoted. Mr. Obama’s default position is to attack America and her allies and to fawn over and kowtow to her enemies. When political reality dictates that he do something about some foreign crisis, he gives a teleprompter reading and maybe threatens sanctions. And when they don’t work and the despot of the week hacks another spitwad into America’s eye, he threatens even more meaningful sanctions and gives another TP reading.
Mr. Obama is no friend of Israel, and the Israelis, made practical by facing obliteration on a daily basis, know it. However, Mr. Obama wants the campaign donations and votes of American Jews, who, considering they are Jewish, have remarkably short memories. His problem, and America’s, is that he doesn’t like America and doesn’t represent American’s interests, only what he perceives his interests to be at a given moment. His rhetoric is among the cheapest substances on the planet, action in support of American interests and those of our allies, rare.
Oh yes, he’s no fonder of Israel or American Jews either, but he does like their money and votes enough to pretend to like and support them.
Go
here to read Scott Hinderaker’s take on the sordid mess at Powerline.
ITEM: Speaking Of Libya...: So what’s going on over there anyway? Has Libya dropped off the planet? Mr. Obama didn’t spend any real time on Libya during his second world-changing, historic, make-the-Muslims-like-him speech, and we’re more or less at war with Libya, or at least engaged in a kinetic military action, or whatever the latest Obamite euphemism for war is at the moment. So what’s going on? Go
here for an article by Nick Gillespie at Reason that fills in at least a few of the many blanks.
ITEM: Go
here for an interesting article about a Pima County Sheriff’s SWAT team shooting a former Marine, who served two tours in the War on Terror, 60 times (out of 71 rounds fired) during a drug raid on his home that turned up not so much as a marijuana seed. Among the features was the claim that the Marine shot first, later retracted by the police. Oh yes, they also kept paramedics waiting for more than an hour until the former Marine was dead.
If there is a genuine, imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death, officers may shoot as many times as necessary to end the threat, but 71 rounds, inside a house, apparently in a hallway, at very close range? This sounds like two or three cops with automatic weapons engaging in panicky “me too” shooting and more or less emptying their magazines. It’s amazing anyone in the neighborhood survived. The Marine’s wife and two small children were hiding in a closet, at the Marine's insistence, during the artillery barrage. This one, at least on the surface, seems very, very smelly.
Be sure to read Bob’s article on the shooting at Pajamas Media (
here) too.
ITEM: How Dare Those Provincial Americans Arrest An Important Frenchman! Yeah, well, get over it. Mark Steyn (
here) wittily--as always--sizes up the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn for the alleged rape of a maid at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan.
ITEM. So. Unless we’re actually dead--or at least in some sort of post-life state--and experiencing a group delusion of living, the world did not, in fact, end as predicted over the weekend. Freedom of religion, gentle readers, is a wonderful, though sometimes bizarre, thing, isn’t it. Discuss.
UPDATE: Ooops! May 21 wasn’t actually Judgment Day, according to doomsday minister Harold Camping, but was instead a sort of “spiritual judgment day.” The real end of times will be October 21, so there is still time to rent those videos you’ve always been wanting to see, wash the dog, finish your pushups, and perhaps even paint the chicken coop. Go
here for the spiritual lowdown.
ITEM: They Did WHAT?! Department: Go
here to Fox News for a GAO report that reveals that at least 3700 government contractors and nonprofits received more than $24 billion (billion with a “B”) from the Obama stimulus. You remember the whole “spending equals stimulus” thing? C’mon, you remember! The nearly trillion dollar spending spree during Mr. Obama’s first year in office that turned the economy around? Summer of Recovery? Happy days are here again? Yeah. Neither do I. But that’s not the best part, not at all! The best part is that those 3700 lucky and much enriched entities simultaneously owned 757 million in back taxes! If I cheat on my taxes, can I get more than I owe for free from the government too? By all means, read the whole thing, but take your blood pressure meds first.
ITEM: It is becoming apparent that British newshounds are often writing far more insightful analyses of American politics and politicians than their American brethren and sisteren (OK, OK, I know that’s not a proper word. Can’t an author have a little fun with the language? I mean, if Shakespeare could make up words, why can’t I? Sheesh!). Such is the case with a fine article by Gary Younge at the Guardian (
here). Younge coins a new term--Obamaphilia--to illustrate the drooling fealty of some Euro-weenies to Mr. Obama. I dunno. Sounds like a particularly nasty and debilitating disease that shouldn't be mentioned in polite company to me:
Doctor: I think you’d better sit down Mr. Snerdly.
Snerdly: Sit down? What it is?
Doctor: That’s where you plant your posterior in a chair, but that’s not important now. I’m afraid you have...Obamaphilia!
Snerdly: Oh no! Obamaphilia? Not Obamaphilia!
Doctor: I’m afraid so Mr. Snerdly, and it’s stage three...
Snerdly: Stage three? Stage three?! What can I do?
Doctor: Avoid even the mention of the name “Barack Obama”...uh-oh...
Snerdly: (Begins drooling uncontrollably and falls into a rapturous coma, mutters as he sinks to the floor) MM--MM—MM, Barack Hussein O-ba…
Doctor: Nurse! Code blue! Bring me adrenaline and a bucket and mop!
ITEM: Remember when Bill Clinton, post-presidency, went on the lecture circuit, sucking up money like a Dyson vacuum sucks dust bunnies? Remember how the media went berserk, accusing him of hypocrisy and greed? Yeah. I don’t remember that either. So why is the Lamestream Media now going after George W. Bush for speech making, accusing him of being a hypocrite for claiming to keep a low profile even while admitting that his speeches are behind closed doors and not open to the general public or press? Isn’t that keeping a low profile? Can you say “liberal bias” children? I knew that you could! Visit Rob at PacNRighty (
here) for the story and commentary.
ITEM: So, How’s That Socialism Workin’ Out For Ya? Spain’s nearly decade-long experiment in socialism continues to be a disaster in every possible way. Its green jobs program killed at least two jobs for every job it created, and now, the bill for socialistic excess is coming due. Read Michelle Malkin (
here) for the cautionary tale. Of course our own socialists in the White House won’t learn anything from it. Socialists always believe that they alone can perfect socialism where everyone else has failed. Margaret Thatcher was right: “The trouble with Socialism is that you always run out of other people’s money.”
ITEM: For those who aren’t familiar with the Jerusalem Post’s Caroline Glick, let this article (
here) be your introduction. For insightful analysis into what’s actually happening in the Middle East and in America’s relationship to Israel, there is none better.
ITEM: Let’s see: the law requires that Congress produce an annual budget, but the Dems haven’t done one in 755 days…no problem!
“There’s no need to have a Democratic budget, in my opinion. It would be foolish for us to do a budget at this stage,” said Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid (D-Nevada). But of course! Why reveal the depth of your economic depravity? Go
here for the entire story. Be sure you’re sitting down as you read it. Secure all breakable items within easy reach. Ear muffs for the kids. Probably wouldn’t hurt to put them on the dog too.
ITEM: Louis Renault Award of the Week: The Louis Renault Award, mass shooter division, goes to Gerald Loughner, the vermin who shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others in Tucson on January 8 killing six. I was shocked, shocked! to learn from Fox News (
here) that Loughner was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. It is entirely possible that Loughner will never face justice for his alleged crime. It is also entirely possible that he could, eventually, be released. Words fail…
ITEM: Michael Barone is one of America’s premier political analysts, and by this, I don’t mean he’s a network talking head. When Barone speaks, it’s always wise to listen carefully. Go
here to read Barone’s latest article on how the Obama Administration has abandoned the rule of law to reward political cronies. While you do, take deep, regular breaths…
ITEM: God Annoy The Queen! Department: Normally, I wouldn’t bother to bring something like this to your attention. After all, everybody makes mistakes. But Mr. Obama’s record of insulting the British in every possible way has, as they say in court, opened the door. Go
here to see how Mr. Obama blew a toast to the Queen and didn't have the good sense to just shut up until it was the proper time. Think this sounds petty? Presidents of the United States have protocol people to ensure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. Does Mr. Obama simply not listen to them, or has he dismissed them all, considering his intellect to be incompatible with advice from lower beings? Remember gentle readers, he’s ostensibly representing you, except he really doesn’t represent America, does he? Discuss.
ITEM: The women who is to be the head of Mr. Obama’s newly conceived (deceived?) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (she’s a current White House Advisor), Elizabeth Warren, appeared before a House hearing recently, and demonstrated her Obama-like temperament and abiding respect for the co-equal branch of the government by demanding that the Committee before which she was appearing limit her appearance to only one hour. According to Ms. Warren, she had important meetings to attend. Well, of course! I mean, if she had meetings, why, that’s much more important that answering questions from the Congress of the United States. Go
here for the story. Hope. Change. Lunatic self—importance and delusion.
ITEM: Good News/Bad News Department: From Fox (
here) comes the news that researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have found seventeen previously unknown pyramids and thousands of tombs and settlements in Egypt using space-based infrared scanning. The bad news? When the Muslim Brotherhood takes over, any involvement with infidels and Egypt’s pre-Muslim history may vanish, and if the experience of Afghanistan is any indicator, even the destruction of Egypt’s most famous monuments is a possibility.
ITEM: On Shelter Island, Long Island, NY a funeral took place for US Army 1st Lt. Joseph Theinert, killed in Afghanistan. The American Legion raised $8000 to line the funeral route with American flags. So far so good. Where things went wrong---you knew that was coming, didn’t you?—was when someone from the state utility, the Long Island Power Authority, saw a newspaper article about the funeral and realized that the flags were flown from utility poles and that a state law allowed them to charge $5.00 per pole for the privilege of flying the flag. A bill quickly followed. Shelter Island Councilman Peter Reich said “Getting that money out of us is going to be like getting blood out of a stone.” Good for them. What’s wrong with those people? Go
here for the story.
ITEM: Louis Renault Award, Little Watched Broadcast Division: I was shocked, shocked! to learn though Hot Air (
here) that Ed Schultz of MSNBC, on the air, called popular conservative radio host and pundit Laura Ingraham a “slut.” Schultz has apparently agreed to a one week unpaid suspension. First class temperament and decorum, these Leftists. In truth, that’s what I found really shocking, that MSNBC would pretend to have broadcast standards. The brilliant and classy Laura Ingraham had the last, best, shot, however:
“I was surprised to learn that Ed Schultz actually hosted a radio show. Is it only available online?”
And on that deliciously witty bit of accurate return fire, I must bid you all a fond farewell for this week, and look forward to seeing you again next Thursday!
Posted by: MikeM at
09:47 PM
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1
With regard to CFL, you may also like to look at
http://www.sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm
which is an article from Australia - can't comment on the accuracy but it makes interesting reading
Posted by: Ken at May 26, 2011 06:12 PM (Keu5o)
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 26, 2011 06:16 PM (eayJh)
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Smith & Wesson SD40 Home Defense Kit Review
I wrote one.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
02:08 PM
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1
I predict many sales in California (with the 10 round magazine) as the prisons empty out to comply with the recent SCOTUS decision and as the police departments cut back to "punish" the taxpayer for not approving even more taxes.
Posted by: iconoclast at May 27, 2011 11:38 AM (CGppJ)
2
If you really want to investigate a truly bad shooting, My gut feeling is that this is one to make the Erik Scott shooting look like professional police work at its finest. Very little about this case passes the smell test, and the Pima County Sheriff's Office has been even more conspicuous in its attempt to stifle anything that might reflect badly on the department from getting into the news than Las Vegas Metro. The whole thing has been a poorly planned goat-roping from the start and the coverup is so blatant as to be laughable. Hell, the officers weren't even "routinely suspended".
Posted by: Montie at May 27, 2011 05:18 PM (PDZP9)
3
Holy crap, I look away and posted on the wrong entry, this was supposed to be on the shooting post , my apologies.
Posted by: Montie at May 27, 2011 05:21 PM (PDZP9)
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Seventy-One Shots: The Death of Jose Guereña
A hard-working Marine veteran of Iraq was gunned down in his own home by a Pima County AZ SWAT team that originally claimed he fired and hit their men during a no-knock raid. Evidence shows, however, the combat veteran never too his safety off, and family members want to know why the cops kept an ambulance crew from the victim for more than an hour.
Another case of murder with a badge? Decide for yourself after reading my latest article at
Pajamas Media.
Update: Jonn Lilyea of
This Ain't Hell has been on this story
from the beginning, and notes via email that this wasn't even a legitimate SWAT team, but instead a gaggle of officers "cobbled together from four LE agencies."
This was gross incompetence leading to the shooting of a good man, followed by the purposeful obstruction of potentially live-saving medical care, and an obvious cover-up and smear campaign in the process of going south.
I'm not ready to charge the officers in this shooting with murder, but they are at the
very least candidates for some sort of variant of a "manslaughter with depraved indifference" charge that should lead to the end of their law enforcement careers.
A distinguished veteran died at the hands of overzealous cops who insist on smearing his reputation after gunning him down. This should never happen, much less become so commonplace.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
10:11 AM
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CY,
As usual, great article. New civility = 71 rounds!
Tarheel Repub Out!
Posted by: Tarheel Repub at May 25, 2011 12:09 PM (prDeJ)
2
This is exactly the sort of new professionalism that the SCOTUS shredded the 4th amendment in favor of.
Posted by: Phelps at May 25, 2011 02:38 PM (//UsV)
3
ive been arguing with the rank & file who have come out four square in support of the officers in this situation over at gateway pundit.
its very disturbing just how militarized the cops are becoming and dont seem to have a problem with it.
I repeatedly stated that the citizenry are not the "enemy" and many ways, smarter ways
ps, again why do you have a space for the ur of someones blog if its going to deny it as questionable. your filter sucks.
Posted by: rumcrook at May 25, 2011 05:48 PM (60WiD)
4
that should have ended,
many ways, smarter ways could have been found to deal with these situations other than military like swat actions....
Posted by: rumcrook at May 25, 2011 05:50 PM (60WiD)
5
As long as there are no negative consequences for the cops, they will continue to treat civilians in this manner.
And no, suing the crap out of the department is not a negative consequence. The trigger-pulling murderers need to be punished severely. Pour encourager les autres.
I used to respect cops. Not anymore.
Posted by: butch at May 25, 2011 08:16 PM (UIbD4)
6
not "murder" for the 71 shots. Tat would be the manslaughter charge.
but, on the other hand, the 1:14 hold before medical attention. That IS showing intent.
Posted by: helowrench at May 25, 2011 11:53 PM (l6JPs)
7
Butch:
Faire ne vous l'obtenez pas, son fusil noir fait votre "perfectionne le monde" sans rapport.
That being said, should we not wait until the investigation is completed and maybe even a trial before the "trigger-pulling murderers" get their 'Breaker Morant' moment?
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 26, 2011 12:16 PM (hGqbZ)
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He was a bad little serf. Deigning to even show the merest hint of a spine. A man's home is just another doghouse anymore. Next they will take away our cars and jobs, and we'll be really, really grateful for the mush and gruel at the communiteria down the street. If there is any left for us after the high-n-mighty eat...
Revolution, anyone? No, I would never suggest such a thing. Go away, NSA/CIA/FBI. I'm a compliant little serf.
Posted by: Bill Johnson at May 26, 2011 03:49 PM (9X1+H)
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Cobbled together? So joint operations are now the definition of incompetence?
This is just another example of exageration on the issue.
The video of the raid has just been released. All the officers at the door were with the same agency, the local SO.
Before knocking they activated the sirens of the police vehicles in the driveway of the target house.
They knocked and announced.
They took out the door, then waited briefly before entering.
They saw someone with a gun and fired.
Case closed.
Hint, when you hear sirens in your driveway, that means the police, not a home invasion.
Here is the video:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/shocking-video-shows-swat-team-gunning-down-iraq-war-veteran/
You know, law enforcement does not have to wait for someone with a gun to fire. They can fire first.
Like Eric Scott, Jose Guerna is not Rosa Parks. And I think that some interesting evidence of drug dealing will soon be released.
Posted by: Federale at May 27, 2011 01:10 PM (7xqyd)
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Federale, did you even watch the video?
Pardon my French, but it's a clusterf*ck, and actually makes the PCSD look worse. It also confirms they were lying... even worse than we thought they were before.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at May 27, 2011 04:10 PM (pbue+)
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If you really want to investigate a truly bad shooting, My gut feeling is that this is one to make the Erik Scott shooting look like professional police work at its finest. Very little about this case passes the smell test, and the Pima County Sheriff's Office has been even more conspicuous in its attempt to stifle anything that might reflect badly on the department from getting into the news than Las Vegas Metro. The whole thing has been a poorly planned goat-roping from the start and the coverup is so blatant as to be laughable. Hell, the officers weren't even "routinely suspended".
Posted by: Montie at May 27, 2011 05:22 PM (PDZP9)
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Yes, I did. Yeah, they did not stack like a a TV show, but just because they did not move like a perfectly does not mean anything.
All the video shows is what happened outside. It does not show the man pointing a rifle at them. It appears that people are commenting on things they don't know anything about. No one but the officers saw what was pointed at them. And, no, cops don't have to wait for the bad guy to shot them first, they can shoot first.
And since they sounded the sirens, then Guerna was acting either very stupidly or defending his stash.
Posted by: Federale at May 30, 2011 07:55 PM (7xqyd)
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May 24, 2011
Leadership and Statesmanship
In the last few days Americans were given the opportunity to observe, firsthand, the extremes of leadership and statesmanship. Even the American Congress, as dysfunctional as it often is, responded to the obvious difference. It is a lesson we should take to heart.
Tiny, democratic Israel is a nation in the middle of the world’s roughest neighborhood. Since its birth, its Arab neighbors have repeatedly tried to wipe it, and its people, from the face of the planet, and on several occasions, they came disturbingly close. Since their last bloody failure, they’ve never renounced their genocidal dreams and have instead resorted to terrorism, costing thousands of lives.
The Palestinians have rewarded Israeli offers of peace and generous gifts of land and infrastructure only with renewed terrorism and barrages of rockets. Their founding documents cry for genocide. They raise their children to hate and kill and die. They send women and the mentally disabled to attack the innocent as suicide bombers, and honor mass murderers as national heroes. Even their children’s TV shows preach hatred and murder. At the news of 9-11, they danced in the streets for joy.
Even so, the Israelis, each and every day, provide the Palestinians with food and water, and their hospitals save the lives of those who sometimes try to return laden with explosives, determined to kill those who selflessly saved their lives. They hide weapons and house terrorists near and in schools and hospitals, and use women and children as human shields. When the Israelis fight back to stop terrorist and rocket attacks, their military operates under the kind of restraints that place their soldiers at risk, just as our military does.
Posted by: MikeM at
09:44 PM
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To add further insult to injury, with Obama's clear hatred for the United States, a clear dislike of Isreal, and a clear disdain for jews, 85% of the American jewish population will still vote for him in 2012. Go figure!!!!
Posted by: mixitup at May 25, 2011 08:10 PM (Z21cb)
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Perhaps it's time to quit feeding the one who bites your hand. Oh, that's right, we must. We must be better than them.
Ptui.
Food wars coming to the mideast this fall. Getcher popcorn ready. Israel, get the Galils out.
Posted by: Bill Johnson at May 26, 2011 03:52 PM (9X1+H)
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Barack McFly doesn't Know What Year It Is
Scholar-President thinks it is 2008.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
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........and there are 57 states...and that doctors cut off diabetics feet because medicare pays them $60,000, etc etc etc...but George Bush is an idiot, right?
It is amazing what we have running our lives at the moment!!
Posted by: denbarg at May 24, 2011 04:04 PM (XkqPV)
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I don't mind the "European style" date - I've seen it a lot among DoD/government types. But to get the year wrong? And by three years? Sheesh! (Or as Bugs would say, "What a maroon."
Posted by: MikeM_inMD at May 24, 2011 08:44 PM (6hI0A)
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something is wrong with him.
really its so odd that he is either so narcissistic and developementally retarded that just ike the worst most malicious teenage kid with a screw loosw who likes to do odd and destructive things just for his own smarmy inside joke,
or he's got soem kind of brain disorder.
I seam to recall seeing a picture of him that showed an odd slight scar running through his hair line once, I dunno it could be allmost anything but I am convinced its not becuase he's stupid as so many are saying ab out this episode on other blogs....
Posted by: rumcrook at May 25, 2011 01:04 AM (60WiD)
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Fonda Suggests He's Teaching His Grandkids to Snipe Obama
The man who became a legend for playing a counter-culture biker nicknamed "Captain America" might be getting a visit from the Secret Service for comments made in France some may interpret as an assassination threat:
Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider, suggested to Mandrake that he was encouraging his grandchildren to shoot President Barack Obama.
"I'm training my grandchildren to use long-range rifles," said the actor, 71. "For what purpose? Well, I'm not going to say the words 'Barack Obama', but …"
He added, enigmatically: "It's more of a thought process than an actuality, but we are heading for a major conflict between the haves and the have nots. I came here many years ago with a biker movie and we stopped a war. Now, it's about starting the world."
I hope the irony isn't lost on the political left. The actor who helped personify their 1960s counter-cultural movement has now rebelled against it's failures to the point he is encouraging taking up arms against it.
Sadly, there is some merit to Fonda's observation that Obama and his Marxist-Socialist allies are running the
Cloward-Piven strategy to perfection. Obama's wrecking of the economy is intentional, as are his machinations to dramatically increase energy prices and roil ties with our traditional allies.
The intent is to isolate America, and make it impossible for Americans to survive without capitalism being overthrown for the Marxist-Socialism fantasy Obama has been mentored to favor his entire useless life.
Fonda should not have mentioned assassinating Obama. That was stupid. Training his grandchildren in the use of arms, however, is a very prudent decision considering the path we are being forced down by would-be authoritarians.
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I do not know if it is the actual aim of some one or some segment to economically isolate America (or some other nation) to such an extent that we must bend in a direction incompatible with our past. I do not know. But if someone is, I do not think it will work--even if we become isolated.
Not as long as we find a way to build the modern Walls of Piraeus. And I think there is a way.
Posted by: The Federalist at May 24, 2011 07:04 PM (+U+zN)
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Idiot Obama Sets Out to Create Another War
Barack Obama finally found a Middle Eastern leader he wouldn't bow down to in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also seems intent on empowering the militant Arabs surrounding Israel with the moral cover to start another war.
...Mr. Obama's problem isn't, as he supposes, that people aren't paying close enough attention to him. On the contrary, they've noticed that on Thursday Mr. Obama called for Israel to make territorial concessions to some approximation of the '67 lines before an agreement is reached on the existential issues of refugees and Jerusalem. "Moving forward now on the basis of territory and security," he said, "provides a foundation to resolve these two issues in a way that is just and fair, and that respects the rights and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians."
Mr. Obama neglected to mention these points on Sunday, hence the telling omission. But the essence of his proposal is that Israel should cede territory, put itself into a weaker position, and then hope for the best. This doesn't even amount to a land-for-peace formula.
That's not all. Mr. Obama got some applause Sunday by calling for a "non-militarized" Palestinian state. But how does that square with his comment, presumably applicable to a future Palestine, that "every state has a right to self-defense"? Mr. Obama was also cheered for his references to Israel as a "Jewish state." But why then obfuscate on the question of Palestinian refugees, whose political purpose over 63 years has been to destroy Israel as a Jewish state?
Barack the Younger seems intend on creating the conditions for a modern round of Arab-Israeli wars, where it seems his favor lies with the bloodthirsty and genocidal Arabs.
I cannot for the life of me why he continues to stir up trouble for our allies, unless he doesn't consider himself to be on their side. Why, the next thing you know, he'll
make statements that encourage the IRA.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
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It's been a couple of days since Obama made this AIPAC speech. I read it. He said what he did in the first one at the WH.
Then I read the Wash Post article where Netanyahu's aidea and national security adviser all said they were happy with Obama's position and called this story a beat up.
Has he made another speech since then or has someone just dug up a dead horse?
Posted by: Trope at May 24, 2011 11:08 AM (Nz3Oj)
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May 23, 2011
Letter From The Teacher #2: The Unintended(?) Consequences of Mandatory, High Stakes Tests
Anytown High School, Any State, USA
To: Mr. & Mrs. Johnson
From: Mr. English Teacher
Re: Answers to Your Questions
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Johnson:
Thanks so much for attending our “Meet The Teacher” night last week. I’m sorry that we had so little time to address your questions, so I’ll do my best to elaborate on the issues we just didn’t have time to properly discuss. Please let me know if I don’t do that to your satisfaction. But before I do, let me give you a few links that you can review if you like:
(1) For an article on the effects of big government on education, go
here.
(2) For a paper on the costs of the No Child Left Behind Act, go
here.
It’s important to remember, I think, that while teachers catch most of the flack in the media and in the halls of our legislators, they’re actually the wrong targets. Virtually everywhere, teachers have little or no authority to make decisions, to formulate and implement policy or to affect the direction of their districts. They don’t hire, they don’t fire, and they don’t supervise. In some school districts, they have little or no control over the curriculum they “teach.” They don’t control money, build buildings, or make any meaningful decisions that affect much of anything outside the walls of their classrooms. Yet, they’re the people with the targets painted on their backs. I suppose I’m a little sensitive about that…
Now, as to mandatory, high stakes tests, it would probably be worthwhile for me to clarify some of the things we talked about. As I mentioned, the issues to keep in mind with any part of the curriculum are time, cost and effectiveness. In other words, is any given lesson or activity effective? Does it really teach what we think it will teach? Is it worth the time involved? Some lessons may be really worthwhile but take far too much time to be practical. And finally, what’s the cost? In the classroom, that’s not usually a major issue, but when you’re talking about spending on the state or federal levels, costs can get quickly out of hand.
Posted by: MikeM at
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The key to quality, in the end, is "conformance to specifications". This is the minimum standard. High quality is "exceeding expectations".
So how do we gage the quality of education in such a way that different methods, schools, teachers, students can be evaluated? Develop a specification, then compare to it. That is what standardized tests do. If you let teachers and parents and school boards do whatever they want with little accountability, then what? We end up with city councils that think "black hole" is a racist term, we end up with a generation that has no clue as to the harm that socialism/capitalism has wrought, a generation that doesn't like to read, cannot follow written instructions, thinks that expressing themselves is more important that actually knowing anything. We get black students graduating so unprepared that when the government hires them under affirmative action they have to make the rules so formulaic that even they can interpret them.
We need accountability, and the folks opposed to testing have no meaningful alternative. You cannot police out every fruitcake activist teacher or school board, but you can test all the students to make sure that they have passing familiarity with the Berlin Wall and what happens the government decides to start printing money.
Posted by: Smarty at May 24, 2011 10:02 AM (RwcDt)
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There's another wrinkle in the Texas system. Funding from the state is directly tied to attendance and rating. This moves the incentive of the bureaucrats from teaching to hiring truant officers and lawyers to take (usually disruptive) students and their parents to court. It really has turned public school into a massive incarceration scheme, because that is where the money is.
I had very poor attendance in HS, because it was boring and I could tell that I wasn't actually learning anything there. If the response had been to take me to court and put me in the System rather than to my parents, I would probably be a criminal right now, and I'm smart enough to be a particularly effective and dangerous criminal. (Thankfully the straight world pays better.)
Posted by: Phelps at May 24, 2011 12:13 PM (ACp4b)
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This is likely a waste of time, as anyone who equates dunking a basketball with reading at grade level isn't thinking right, but here goes...
First, some of your arguments don't make sense. For example, if teachers often teach more demanding material, why do they need to spend so much time 'teaching to the test' for material that is so basic that most kids are expected to know it? Kids that are being taught beginning algebra ought to be able to pass a basic arithmetic test without having to spend time reviewing the material.
It seems that your complaining can be boiled down to two issues:
(1) you don't like someone else deciding what your students should be taught, and
(2) you don't like being held accountable, and especially by those you hold in contempt (i.e., the parents and the administrators we hire to run the school system).
I have pretty much the same response to both complaints: get off your high horse. Your job is to teach our kids what we want them to learn. You work for us, the parents. If your disdain for us is so strong that you can't accept that we are ultimately in charge, then go do something else with your life. We will give you some autonomy in deciding how to teach the material, but we don't want your deciding what they're going to learn.
The reason there is such a focus on testing is that we just can't trust you. We see that you're more interested in protecting your classroom fiefdoms and your incompetent colleagues than in making sure our kids learn what we want them to learn (if you've recently lobbied your union to make it easier to fire bad teachers, I withdraw my statement.... yeah, I didn't think you had).
Posted by: steve at May 24, 2011 02:04 PM (L9End)
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Dear Steve:
Complaining? Actually, I'm merely providing insider information. The analogy you apparently conflate with not "thinking right," is actually apt. The point is simply that whether the required level of performance is intellectual or physical, many people will not, by simple genetic variability, be able to attain it. Surely you can agree with this much?
Regarding my riding a "high horse," you should know that I have no "classroom fiefdom" or "incompetent colleagues" to protect. In my years of teaching, I've worked in three states, all right-to-work states, which means no unions, in the past and now. I would not work where I was forced to join a teacher union as they tend to get involved primarily in political issues far afield from effective teaching. As you asked of me, would you care to withdraw your statement?
And I do indeed understand that I am a public servant bound to teach what the public wishes. I was hired by the public because of my demonstrated qualifications which include higher education beyond a bachelor's degree in my specific discipline, years of experience, and dedication to my calling and my students. I have a certain amount of professional discretion within the boundaries set for me by the elected school board members and the supervisors they have hired. This is the way of American education. I have no trouble accepting this, and if you reread this post carefully, you'll notice that I am in fact urging parents to become very involved on the local level not so that I may work some sort of mischief against their collective will, but so that they can be fully and accurately informed about exactly what I'm doing on their behalf and so that they can make truly informed choices about how best to spend their education dollars Tests can't do this, and politicians don't always tell the whole story.
And regarding the teaching of demanding material, might I once again suggest that you reread the post a bit more carefully? My point is not that I teach higher level materials exclusively; no teacher does that. Education is a process that includes materials on all intellectual levels. My point is simply that mandatory, high stakes tests tend not to involve higher, more meaningful intellectual tasks and knowledge. They're not an appropriate vehicle for collecting or measuring such information. They tend toward multiple choice, basic understanding matters. Time spent on low middling level issues is time that can't be spent or more worthwhile instruction.
Finally, far from holding anyone in contempt and disliking accountability, I welcome any parent to my classroom at any time. I ask that they call ahead first so that they don't spend a day watching kids reading or taking a test, but I love to see and hear from parents. All professional teachers do. And as to accountability, I've never had any doubt that I'm accountable to the public through my principal. He has the same notion and acts on it.
It may interest you to know that I recently received our state test results. Of my students, less than 2% failed the test, and nearly 30% received the highest possible honors. I do what the public expects of me Steve. That's being accountable, but I also have the responsibility to inform and to encourage them to think about those issues, and about whether they really want to spend untold millions of dollars on tests that only increase their tax burdens and reveal nothing that teachers can't tell them at no cost.
Thanks for reading and for your comment!
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 24, 2011 05:57 PM (eayJh)
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Dear Mike McC,
My sister is retiring from a school district in the Orlando area next year. Dedicated teacher and very, very smart. She has been telling me exactly what you have, quite eloquently, written.
The political process - yell fire and fund a new fire department - is the major problem, as you pointed out. It is motivated by money and power, not the interests of society. The world is not perfect and politicians have never proven to be particularly effective in moving us in that direction.
Get the Feds completely out of the education business. The states too to a large extent. Are we going to have educational failures? Of course. We do now. Always have. Always will. But it is ludicrous to sacrifice the welfare of most students to save the few. Just to line some pockets.
Hang in there pard,
Roy
Posted by: Roy Lofquist at May 24, 2011 09:21 PM (x5ms8)
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Steve,
Mike is probably running out of patience with the likes of you, but here is another attempt to penetrate the fog.
The benefits of high stakes testing should be measurable by a cost-benefit analysis of sorts. That would suit your business model mind, would it not? However, you would despair to justify the stupendous sums of precious public money now lavished on NCLB. If, as you apparently believe, we are raising student learning to new, higher levels, you are mistaken. The results of these high stakes tests are certifying and instituting mediocrity as the norm. This is required because testing rigorously for knowledge and skills would fail far too many students to be politically acceptable. That is a simple and undeniable truth. Hence, as Mike explained to you, we spend billions to go through motions. NCLB is a charade, a shadow theater that now benefits the many ticks that feed off the blood of the Beast.
Steve, if you believe that we must simply soldier on because we MUST have a standardized test, then you must be a Democrat! Or, you must work for Pearson and Associates (who make ridiculous scads of money from the Beast) and have been detailed to attack the likes of Mike McDaniel!
Actually, resorting to ad hominem attacks makes one look foolish, don't you think? Hey, I got it! Perhaps you should preserve your own dignity and refrain from impugning the character of Mr. McDaniel. That would leave you to arguing through reason and experience. Try that, but a necessary component would be experience.
By the way, and I hope that I do not impugn my own character with this admission, I am a teacher and I too recently received results from my state's high stakes test. If only you knew some of the ridiculous reports I have about the relative skills of my students. Nobody takes these seriously. Only those who stand to make money from this charade, or those who seek to save or advance their careers, really do. And it is these who determine where emphasis is to be placed.
Now, you have to believe us when teachers tell you that these high stakes tests necessarily measure little of real importance in the secondary schools. But O how demoralizing they are to classroom ethos: students are bribed with incentives--such as evading final examinations, if they pass a their High Stakes test--and everybody does! Except the really,really incompetent or the lazy. Then, school is over,for the students know that what is really important is passing the High Stakes test.
Recently I read of a new hire for the superintendent post at a large and prestigious school district in Texas. The new superintendent's winning quality--you guessed it! In his last post, he brought his school district to Exemplary level--based on Texas TAKS scores (our High Stakes test). Guess what the curriculum and emphasis will stress in the new district? Talk about the tail wagging the dog now!
Posted by: Mavrocordato at May 25, 2011 12:09 AM (OgI8P)
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Being a VOF(veryoldf**t) let me point out that prior to around 1964, teachers taught their students math, English and the sciences - at the levels appropriate to the grade they were teaching.
And I suspect if the present crop of teachers was doing the same, these tests would be push-over for their students - without any "teaching of the test".
Of course the problem here is that the past three
generations have been pretty well indoctrinated to government/dumbing down standards so most of the new crop probably isn't capable of teaching that sort of stuff anymore.
Best example I can give is my mother. She was a teacher who set up the ESL course at a local college. The course purpose was to get foreign students up to college English standards(350wpm/70%ret) in one semester.
The first class was in 1962(IIRC) and all the students were foreign nationals. By the time she retired in 1972, she told me that a typical class had more local high schiool grads then foreign students.
ANd I suspect things have not improved since then.
Posted by: emdfl at May 25, 2011 12:48 AM (/krch)
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As you give tests and (hopefully) fail any kid who fails to demonstrate an acceptable level of competence, I argue that your objection isn't to testing in principle, but rather to the specifics of these so-called 'high stakes' tests.
So what is it about these tests that raise such complaints?
It can't be that you're forced to 'Teach to the test'. Isn't that what you do, teach, then test to see if the student understands what you just taught them? My kids were taught how to add, then tested to see if they knew how to add. What's wrong with that?
Is it that the tests are so dumbed down as to be meaningless? They are, and I don't like it, but your (collective) complaints ring hollow in that social promotion has been around for decades and is one of the reasons these new tests have been put into place.
Or is it that the tests doesn't measure what the kid is supposed to have learned? (they're being taught how to add and being tested to see if they know how to cook?) If this is the case, then either the test is wrong, in which case the test should be changed, or you're not teaching what the school system wants taught, in which case I refer back to my first post, in which I argue that you ought to be teaching what we want taught which isn't necessarily what you want taught.
As to a couple of the specifics in your posts:
Why give kids a pass on the rest of the program just because they pass these tests? You can flunk a kid who has passed these tests if he doesn't pass the test you give him, can't you?
And bragging about your pass rates rings hollow given how little you think about the toughness of those tests. Heck, if those tests are so lame, then how do even 2% of your kids fail?
Posted by: steve at May 25, 2011 10:38 AM (L9End)
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Hi MikeMC and Mavrocordato,
We seem to be talking past each other on this testing issue. To be as concise as possible:
MikeMC - laments the intrusion of Government into education
I agree, but see your singling out of Mandatory Testing as missing the forest for the trees. In my view most of what Government touches turns to sh*t. Why should we be surprised that it has that effect on education?
MikeMC - laments in particular Mandatory Testing
If we agree above Mandatory Testing will by definition be screwed up. But not any more than anything else in Government education (New Math anyone?).
But given that I am forced to pay for this monstrosity I want some feedback loop to insure I am (approximately) getting what I (over) pay for. If not the blunt instrument of Mandatory Testing, then what?
And it can not be parental feedback because the majority of parents don't care, as evidenced by sending their kids to public school to begin with.
MikeMC - Mandatory Testing is preventing me from effectively teaching.
I would argue that the entire public school system is preventing you from effectively teaching, as evidenced by your having to buy supplies for your classroom. It is not just the Mandatory Testing.
MikeMC - "Most of them attended public schools, so how were they able to avoid being turned into drooling illiterates, particularly in the days before mandatory, high stakes tests?"
Is it possible that they were educated at a time when the education bureaucracy's grip was looser, and that between when they attended school and now the schools have deteriorated?
I am all for education. I will take your sincerity at face value and believe you are all for education.
So what's up with the Don Quixote imitation, breaking your lance on the edifice of Government Education? Why be the bureaucrat who, while aware that the Kulaks are being deported to Siberia, takes pride in giving them a clean cattle car and complains vociferously about being required to document how many are being exiled?
At some point you have to give up on the corrupt institution.
Teach where the kids want to learn, where the parents are interested and involved, and the administration is dedicated to seeing to it that education happens (*cough* private schools *cough*).
Support the defunding of failure and the funding of success (vouchers, if not privatizing the whole d*mn thing).
The market works, you are just in a market that is selling power and *think* it is selling education.
Sincerely,
James
Posted by: James at May 25, 2011 02:48 PM (AfxEx)
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Dear Steve:
Thanks for reading and following up. Good questions. You are correct that I don't object to testing in principle. I use it, in a wide variety of ways, constantly, however, as an English teacher, the best tests, the tests most revealing of a student's true learning and intellectual development tend to be writings. Sadly, that's exactly the area in which standardized tests do so poorly.
"Teaching to the test" is indeed a problem, and a significant one. In assessing a student's intellectual abilities and growth (learning, if you will), I might work over several short stories, a novel, vocabulary, and grammar issues, as well as teaching specific writing techniques. I'll be "testing" them more or less constantly in ways large and small, but the larger tests will consist of a significant writing assignment in which I'll expect to see evidence of all that they've learned, but more importantly, they're able to do that because of all of the constant, smaller bits of practice we've done. That's how human beings learn any skill, not only through practice, but through correct practice. That's a large part of my job, not only showing the kids how to do new skills, but showing them how to practice those skills in ways that will maximize their chances to learn and retain them. They, of course, have to do the practice and actually engage their brains while doing it. What I've just described is not "teaching to the test."
Teaching to the test is what is required by mandatory, high stakes tests. As you suggested, there is nothing at all wrong with teaching a child how to add and then producing assignments or even tests that accurately reflect their mastery of those lessons. We do it all the time. The problem is that MHS tests do not always accurately reflect what the kids have learned and what they know. They don't accurately reflect a competent curriculum, the kind of academic rigor I suspect you'd demand and support. And like tests such as the ACT or SAT, the kids who study what the makers of the test want and expect, who learn exactly how to most successfully take that specific test format, do much better than kids who have the same level of intelligence, skill and knowledge but lack the specific test taking skills. I know this in part because each year I teach an SAT Preparation class.
You see, on the one hand, you test real growth and ability because you're not limited in your testing format and construction. You can tailor tests to specific classes and their needs, even specific kids. In teaching to the test, you must conform your instruction to the very narrow structure of a pre-written test and the methods necessary to grade hundreds and thousands of those tests, not to help students, not to give them careful, individual feedback and encouragement, not as one more step in the life-long process of building bigger, better brains, but to produce one of hundreds of thousands of bits of data.
Social promotion is an issue for another post, but anyone expecting a MHS test to fix that policy problem and everything that flows from it really doesn't understand the problem and is looking for a quick fix that isn't quick or a fix. The way to fix a bad policy is to rewrite or remove the policy. Unfortunately, politicians are often resistant to something so obvious and rational and prefer to obfuscate and bluster instead.
Steve, as I pointed out in this article, in teaching to MHS tests, I am doing precisely what the public wants me to teach. You're correct in that I do find such things to be unbelievably expensive and a terrible waste of scarce time, and there is the cost/benefit issue that is the core of my concerns. Please keep in mind that not everything on the tests is of no use, and not everything is contrary to a solid curriculum, but the time we are forced to spend on them, and the money spent are the problem. Making a better test that wastes the same amount of time and money isn't the answer, particularly when I can tell you precisely and directly exactly what your son or daughter's strengths and weaknesses are and how to improve at no more cost than my salary. Not only that, I can show you the direct and voluminous evidence of all that I say. I can show you, over tens, even hundreds of assignments over nine months exactly how your child has improved. Compare that to a single test score. Which is of more value to you? Are you really willing to pay greatly increased taxes to obtain that single test score?
Steve, I wasn't bragging about my MHS test pass rates, merely answering your concerns by making the point that I do, in fact, do precisely what the public asks of me, and yes, do it very well. And why do even 2% of my kids fail? Because some kids have a bad day upon occasion. Because some kids just don't care or try. Because some kids--and this might seem counterintuitive, but it's not--are too smart for the damned test and in writing as I require, as an college professor would require, don't meet the specific, dumbed-down requirements of the MHS test. And as I pointed out, there is great genetic variability in human beings. Not everyone will be able to accomplish every task to the same degree of skill no matter how wonderful their teacher.
I do have one question. I'm not sure of your question where you wrote "Why give kids a pass on the rest of the program just because they pass these tests?" I'll give it a try, but I'm not sure I'm responding directly to your post. They don't get a pass. The MHS tests are a completely separate matter from my student's grades, with the exception that if they don't pass, they can't graduate, no matter how brilliant their academic performance in 12 years of schooling. Try explaining why a student with a 12 year, straight A average--well and honestly earned--can't graduate from high school based on the score on a single test. Interestingly, in my state, some kids have been refusing to take the tests and not receiving diplomas. They've been accepted at the colleges of their choice and done very well despite the lack of a HS diploma.
I hope I've addressed your concerns. Thanks again!
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 25, 2011 07:59 PM (eayJh)
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Dear James:
Thanks for your concerns. I don't think we're talking past each other, but I do think we have quite a different view of public education. What you wrote seems to suggest that you find public schools to be, in essence, a failed endeavor. I do not. Without a doubt, there are some schools and school districts that are poorly run and that are so inept I would never considering enrolling my children (or working there), but most American schools do, in fact, provide a good to excellent educational opportunity. That's a term I'll be exploring in detail next Tuesday.
You raised a good question: "If not the blunt instrument of Mandatory Testing, then what?" Good teaching and good management. Any good teacher can tell you far more about your child than a single test score, and a well managed school will maximize your child's educational opportunity. That is, in fact, all any school can hope to do.
James, in my most cynical moments, I sometimes agree that most parents don't seem to care. I'm sometimes tempted to think that most of my students were conceived in test tubes because I see so little evidence of parental involvement. However, I know that's far from universally true, and sending kids to public schools is far from evidence of a lack of caring. Parents have every right to have confidence in their schools and to expect that they will well serve their kids. Mandatory, high stakes tests don't serve anyone but educational bureaucrats and politicians. In those specific places and cases where the schools are not functioning properly, citizens at the local level have great power to make the necessary changes. School board elections in many communities can be won or lost by a handful of votes. A bond issue in my community several years ago failed by three votes and later passed by about the same margin. MHS tests are not a substitute for citizen awareness and informed involvement.
My district and my school do not prevent me from effectively teaching. They basically leave me alone because I've proved that I'm worthy of that level of trust. But the time I must devote to a single MHS test prevents me from teaching as much and as effectively as possible for about 29% of the school year. I know that many people don't know that. They don't know the costs, financial and in lost learning, involved. That's why I'm regularly writing on education. And I'd love my district to pay for all my supplies, but they just don't have the money; schools never do. Though the hundreds of millions spent on MHS tests would surely help.
Schools have, in many ways, changed in the last half-century, and in large part because of the exponential growth of state and federal education bureaucracies. Schools today are required by law to engage in an enormous amount of social services and in social experimentation that is detrimental to our central mission. But even so, we still provide that good to excellent educational opportunity about which I spoke. We could do even better without those distractions, and I'll be writing about that in the near future too.
You wrote "At some point you have to give up the corrupt institution." If I was working in one, I would, but my school, my district, my town do very well indeed. If I taught in Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington DC or any one of a number of well documented educational problem spots, well, I wouldn't teach in any of those places, because no matter how good and dedicated the teacher, if they're not allowed to teach well and use that dedication--you get the picture.
In the not too distant future I'll take up the issue of vouchers and privatizing education, but that's beyond the scope of what we're dealing with right now.
James, involved, aware parents can have an enormous, positive and sufficient influence on their schools. They're near the lowest, fundamental level of democracy and have real power, if they'll only use it. That too is a large part of my message.
Thanks again!
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 25, 2011 08:26 PM (eayJh)
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Why Isn't Lee Booth in Jail Yet? A Theory
One constant theme in the saga of Lee Franklin Booth has been that the BATF is corrupt or incompetent for the way they are handling various allegations against Booth. For the beginning in October up until last week, I learned far more about this ex-con, his business contacts, his allies and enemies than I ever wanted to know about any one person, all to answer the question gnawing at me, "Why isn't he in jail?"
There seems to be roughly a half-dozen federal laws he's broken, and at least as many state laws. He has obvious patterns of behavior, and law enforcement on several levels were/are interested in him. He was ever allegedly found to be in the possession of firearms by the BATF several years ago, but they let him go.
How is it that he keeps getting away with everything, time and again?
From the very beginning I suspected his close friendship with an IRS CID agent was his ace-in-the-hole, and that the agent was running interference for Booth with the BATF in Greensboro (that agent broke the law on his own merely consorting with a convicted felon). But Booth's profile was raised very high by
my investigative work, and Washington, DC itself called down the regional office in Charlotte to resolve the issue, which they did (as I recall) in less than a day. In retrospect, the fix was obviously in.
Law enforcement officers who have launched investigations into Booth have had their investigations blocked by the BATF. Even the BATF won't touch him. Since we know the BATF is investigating him on one hand (while
blocking the investigation on the other), it suggests that he is getting federal protection somewhere upstream of the BATF.
To the best of my knowledge, only a handful of government agencies would have the kind of clout to stop the various law enforcement agencies interested in Mr. Booth, and they are Cabinet level. Considering the fields that Mr. Booth seems to be most interested in (arms and aircraft), the Department of Justice and/or the Department of Defense are the only agencies that might be helping him, and it is logical to assume they would only help
him, if he was helping
them.
Something is going on here, and I think this story is getting more interesting, every step of the way and I wouldn't be the least surprised if this is a case of
history repeating.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
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Heh. And you wonder why you have a "Biggest Fan"? Be carefull out there.
Posted by: Jim at May 24, 2011 06:03 AM (LaZum)
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I agree with Jim, be careful. Any chance Booth is running guns for the DOD or DOJ? Could he be an informant or operative for the BATF or DOD?
Tarheel Repub Out!
Posted by: Tarheel Repub at May 24, 2011 07:47 AM (prDeJ)
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I'm with Tarheel, the guys who do illegal things over and over and never get caught are always the snitches.
Posted by: Phelps at May 24, 2011 12:08 PM (ACp4b)
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BREAKING NEWS: Squishy Massachusetts RINO Acts Like Squishy Massachusetts RINO
I'm sorry if I don't get bent out of shape to hear that Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts is going to side with the Democrats and vote against the Ryan Plan.
Why can't I go along with the Ryan Medicare plan?
First, I fear that as health inflation rises, the cost of private plans will outgrow the government premium support— and the elderly will be forced to pay ever higher deductibles and co-pays. Protecting those who have been counting on the current system their entire adult lives should be the key principle of reform.
Second, Medicare has already taken significant cuts to help pay for Obama's health care plan. The president and Congress cut a half trillion dollars to the private side of Medicare — meaning seniors are at risk of losing their Medicare Advantage coverage.
Another key principle is that seniors should not have to bear a disproportionate burden. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing. If Medicare is to survive for current beneficiaries and future generations, we must act. The sooner Congress addresses this, the less painful it is likely to be — but more difficult adjustments will be required if we delay.
We should start by making improvements to the traditional Medicare plan.
Of course, like most politicians, Brown doesn't actually suggest any meaningful improvements to the "traditional Medicare plan," because that would mean addressing the fiscal issues, which would lead back to the Ryan plan being the most viable option anyone has offered to date.
Brown does the "traditional politicians plan" instead, and kicks the can down the road so that he doesn't have to deal with it today. This of course insures that when it finally must be addressed in a few short years that the trauma to society will be far more drastic.
The House and Senate game of "kick the can" is little different than someone with cancer refusing to acknowledge they need treatment. It is going to be unpleasant no matter how you choose to deal with it, but the consequences of waiting makes the prognosis ever more dire, and limits treatment options to dangerous and high risk-methods.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
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My Biggest Fan?
One of the interesting side effects of blogging and writing for a long time, sharing your opinions on controversial subjects and even veering into investigative journalism (as Mike and I tend to do from time to time) is that you irritate quite a few people. Confederate Yankee is a relatively small blog and so I'm sure we don't get a fraction of the hatred of the larger blogs, but apparently I've become interesting enough for someone to track me down.
As I left my house this morning and walked to my car, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that was parked on the street several houses down, slammed into reverse, backed up into the intersection and did a right turn, backwards down the street.
Obviously, I thought that was odd, got in my car, and started down the street towards that same residential intersection, which leads to the main road. As soon as I pulled up to the intersection I saw the truck again, and the driver immediately backed up even further.
My biggest fan?
I left my neighborhood, and sure enough the truck followed a few seconds later.
I turned onto our main street and the truck was behind several other vehicles and he kept drifting over the centerline as if to keep eye contact with my vehicle. At that point I chuckled to myself, figuring that I have seen too many spy movies. Really... why would anyone want to follow me?
Nonetheless, as the truck matched me turn for turn down several more roads I though the possibility interesting enough that I thought I'd prove my suspicions silly by pulling a U-turn on a divided highway, in the middle of farmland, where there is literally no reason to do such a turn.
Sure enough, the truck made a U-turn, and accelerated to close the distance back up. This person was obviously following me, and was obviously an amateur. The truck got caught at the next traffic light and I did another U-turn (to put me back on my original course). The truck drove by, and then quickly changed lanes and ducked into a residential neighborhood, but didn't pursue me any further. I was rather obviously acting like someone trying to confirm or shake a tail, and the truck driver had enough sense to figure out that I would probably be on the phone with the police, giving them a detailed description of their vehicle... which I was.
The vehicle following me was similar to the one in the photo above, a late model Silverado of that color with the same little antenna pods on the roof. The one following me may have been an extended cab instead of the four-door crew cab, and the vehicle following me had a silver toolbox in back, and sported very dark tinted windows. Other than that, the photo above is pretty close.
I hold onto a faint hope that this was just some bizarre behavior, and perhaps a case of them mistaking me for someone else, but since I've taken it upon myself to target an alleged gunrunning ex-con and a few other folks over the years, I guess it is possible I've irritated someone enough to want to find me, and perhaps share their displeasure with my work.
I'm oddly,almost serenely calm about the whole thing, when I suppose I should be scared. I must be really bothering someone, which perhaps means I'm close to affecting the kind of "hope and change" that will put some folks behind bars where they belong.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
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I pray the Lord will keep you and your family safe, as you traverse the road you are on -- in many ways.
Posted by: Trudy at May 23, 2011 11:01 AM (1kr9q)
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i hope you are packing...and if anything goes down, don't hesitate.
Posted by: redc1c4 at May 23, 2011 12:10 PM (d1FhN)
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I have criticized your work on the Scott case, but I hope this turns out OK for you.
I hope your state allows concealed carry.
Posted by: Federale at May 23, 2011 01:28 PM (NAlbk)
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This certainly qualifies as one of those "suspicious" things that our government wants to hear about. I would have phoned the local constabulary and let them run a pick (assuming you live in one of the many places in the USA that has an abundance of police).
Documenting this kind of thing will help at your trial if push comes to shove comes to shooting.
Posted by: Professor Hale at May 23, 2011 02:02 PM (m7EhJ)
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Doesn't surprise me a bit. I've been reading your blog for years, and having read many comments by left-wing psychopaths, this behavior sounds consistant.
My favorite part was how "serenely calm" you were. I've found my calmness level isn't proportonate to danger, but to cognitave dissonance.
Keep a calm yellow alert, CY.
Posted by: brando at May 24, 2011 10:25 AM (IPGju)
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What's troubling is your 'amateur' insight. If correct, it could be far more serious than you suspect, Bob! The fact it was a work day also bothers me, as your amateur has too much time on his/her hands (nothing to lose) OR wants to know when you're not home (even worse).
Amateurs are totally unpredictable, hence, you (somebody) need to confront him (on your terms-not his) if seen again and let them you'll never be a victim. Allowing it to continue without opposition will only reinforce his confidence.
Don't mean to scare or BS you, but I've seen this before and it didn't turn out well.
Don't let this 'Travis Bickle' moment slide, brother!
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 24, 2011 02:34 PM (hGqbZ)
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And I think there is a way
Posted by: tiffany at May 27, 2011 02:02 AM (sw50Q)
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Comic Writings, May 23, 2011, Part I
Have you ever written something and thought it was pretty darned good, only to reread it a day later—or after it has been returned, bleeding like a sieve from all of the wounds inflicted by an English teacher—and found yourself horrified by the mistakes you overlooked? Sure you have; we all have. It’s just human nature. When we try to proofread immediately after we’ve completed something, the brain plays tricks on us. We tend to see what we think we wrote, the perfectly organized, brilliantly argued, insightful paper we envision, not what we actually committed to paper (or silicon). It is only when we put time and space between a finished writing and our attempt to proofread that we are able to see glaring, black and white reality, and improve it before releasing it upon an unsuspecting world.
Every year, I collect the wounderful products of too-rapid proofreading, or worse (better?) yet, no proofreading at all. Rather than allowing them to die a merciful death, I preserve them for all time, the better to remind us all that there but for the time to effectively proofread go I. I do this because I am an evil English teacher! Dr. Evil would be proud.
Please, gentle readers and fellow butchers of the mother tongue, don’t say that what you’re about to read is evidence of the horrendous failings of our public schools. It is not, and besides, to paraphrase John Cleese in the “We’ve Got A Witch!” scene of “Monty Python and The Holy Grail”: “They got better.” Many of these little deranged gems were written by my finest students, smart, capable kids who allowed themselves to become just a little rushed. If they were perfect, after all, they’d be English teachers! No names have been included so embarrassment does not interfere with laughter and learning.
It has been wisely said that no one ever really finishes a work of literature; they merely, eventually, abandon it in despair. So sit back and enjoy these orphaned offspring of despair, the product of my manifested English evil! I’ll post the second half of these literary lesions next Monday.
Can You Really Use That as an Adjective? Department: “This is evident when he says ‘I noticed some pieces of limbs and suck things floating down…’”
Posted by: MikeM at
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I can't say anything, I have dyslexic fingers myself.
Posted by: NevadaSteve at May 23, 2011 09:45 AM (cmerb)
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May 22, 2011
The Erik Scott Case, Update 11.4: Negligent Retention?
Readers of Update 11.3 posted May 17 (here) will recall that I sent the link to that article to the primary local Las Vegas media outlets, encouraging them to follow up on the fact that Deputy Public Administrator Steve Grodin is a retired police investigator and would therefore have likely been aware that the search of Erik Scott’s home after his death was unlawful. It is, I suspect, surprising to no one that the media has yet to contact me or acknowledge receipt of my message. We shall see if they follow up.
Since that post, additional interesting facts have come to light regarding former officer Thomas Mendiola, the Metro officer who contributed four of the seven shots fired into Erik Scott. Mendiola, as those who have followed this series will recall, fired those shots at close range into Scott’s back as he was falling, face first to the pavement. Mendiola also testified that he did not actually know if Officer William Mosher—who fired the two shots that began the barrage of fire in the midst of a crowd of shoppers that Metro caused to simultaneously leave the Costco—fired the shots he heard or if Erik Scott fired, but this did not prevent his firing into the back of a man who he could not positively say actually presented a danger to himself or others, though he certainly came to appreciate the necessity of saying that at the Inquest.
The facts were presented in a brief May 19th article in the Las Vegas Review/Journal (
here): Thomas Mendiola was not only suspended in January when it was revealed that he gave a firearm to a felon, he was still on probation and was fired by Metro in February. Mendiola faces from one to ten years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine if convicted. These developments are significant.
Posted by: MikeM at
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It is obvious that the reason Mendiola was retained was that he was Hispanic. It is evidence of the tyranny of affirmative action, rather than any mendaciousness on the part of LVMPD. Just look the the DOJ and Federal courts insistence that unqualified black applicants to the Chicago Fire Department be hired and the ongoing jihad of Thomas Perez and Eric Holder against the New York Fire Department to hire the most qualified applicants, which turn out to be mostly white men.
It is clear that your jihad against the LVMPD is supporting the Obama Regime's affirmative action jihad against objective hiring protocols.
Congratulations, you are basically supporting affirmative action.
Posted by: Federale at May 22, 2011 06:31 PM (7xqyd)
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Cut it out Federale, you're ruining the conspiracy theory.
Posted by: Buck Turgidson at May 22, 2011 09:51 PM (hGqbZ)
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One of the biggest reasons there is so much recidivism among convicts is that they're considered pariahs for the rest of their life.
Go wrong once and you will be unlikely to ever be able to get a decent job (or any job at all).
If Mendialo engaged a former convict to work on his private (I assume) car I couldn't care less about that. It shows the man could set aside prejudice to get a man to do a job for him (of course this might be different if you showed explicitly he hired the man because of his criminal knowledge, to engage himself in criminal activity, but that'd be unrelated to the work on the car).
Posted by: JTW at May 23, 2011 07:49 AM (oU0J/)
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Dear JTW:
Thanks for reading and commenting! I'm not arguing against second chances, merely pointing out the reality that police officers cannot associate with felons or suspected criminals off duty. Officers must be above reproach and cannot give the appearance of favoritism in any way. In addition, criminals tend to be very manipulative people, people who are adept at sucking the unwary into their troubles, and who will not hesitate to try to call in favors should they find themselves about to be arrested by an officer they've "befriended." Young idealistic officers who don't yet know better are susceptible to such people. While it's possible Mendiola was never warned about this, in competent agencies, he would have been, and any of his supervisors knowing of such involvement would have come down on him fast.
If Joe average citizen wants to hire or associate with a felon, that's not an issue for me, but that's not an option for police officers.
Thanks again!
Posted by: Mike Mc at May 23, 2011 09:09 PM (t6yun)
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Perhaps more evidence of the poor training of Las Vegas Metro officers appears on the front page of the Las Vegas Review Journal this morning. Metro agreed to pay $1 million to the family of a man who died in police custody after an officer used a choke hold to subdue him.
Posted by: PubliusNV at May 24, 2011 11:50 AM (tRaLj)
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I tried to include a link to the LVRJ story, but your objectionable content filter wouldn't let me post it.
Posted by: PubliusNV at May 24, 2011 11:52 AM (tRaLj)
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So, Federale... your theory is that... by saying the Mendoza should have been bounced out when he flunked the academy the first time, MikeM is supporting AA?
That is the sort of logic you use when putting cases together?
Posted by: Phelps at May 24, 2011 12:04 PM (ACp4b)
Posted by: Phelps at May 24, 2011 12:05 PM (ACp4b)
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May 21, 2011
Abandoning Faith, Grace, and Joseph
It's been bugging me since I read it
yesterday:
The Haddad children of Middletown, Md., have a lot on their minds: school projects, SATs, weekend parties. And parents who believe the earth will begin to self-destruct on Saturday.
The three teenagers have been struggling to make sense of their shifting world, which started changing nearly two years ago when their mother, Abby Haddad Carson, left her job as a nurse to "sound the trumpet" on mission trips with her husband, Robert, handing out tracts. They stopped working on their house and saving for college.
Last weekend, the family traveled to New York, the parents dragging their reluctant children through a Manhattan street fair in a final effort to spread the word.
"My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven," Grace Haddad, 16, said. "At first it was really upsetting, but it's what she honestly believes."
Abby Haddad Carson and Robert Carson are followers of
Harold Camping, a self-styled end times prophet, who claims that his interpretations of the Bible say that the
Rapture begins today.
As a result of following Camping's teachings, the Carsons have all but abandoned their teen-aged children, Faith, Grace, and Joseph. The children are of course embarrassed by their parents, but that embarrassment goes beyond the normal awkward teen phases to point to a much deeper problem, where their parents have abandoned the children spiritually, and have consigned them to what they expect to be Hell on Earth.
Literally.
What kind of parent does that? They have told their kids point-blank that "we are going to heaven, and you are not." They have not prepared for their children's future, because they feel they have none. And now the future is here, and they are all awkwardly trapped in a Maryland McMansion, all quite alive, and all quite uncomfortable, one would assume.
The Carson parents have no moral authority over their children anymore. They abandoned them spiritually long ago, and preemptively abdicated all responsibility for their future lives from this moment onward. How can they any longer be effective parents when they have lost their credibility?
This awkward realization is going to impact a very small community of end times believers when the sun comes up today and tomorrow and the day after that as it always has. They're going to realize they were fools.
But are they going to understand why?
Are they going to understand that they fell for Camping's false prophesy because they do not want responsibility over their own lives? Once they make that revelation, will they end their lives in despair, or will they try to get the therapy they need to discover why they are so willing to abandon the lives and children the real God gave to them as the most precious of gifts?
While I fear the former and hope for the later, odds are that many of these weak-willed followers will listen when Camping finds the "error" in his end times math and resets the end of the world several more years or decades into the future (he had already done so once before). They will still follow the false prophesy of a near-time Revelation, and continue to create the Hell on Earth for their families, a fate that they so ironically sought to avoid.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
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It appears that "No one knows the day or the hour..." part of the Bible just slipped by Mr. Camping.
Posted by: Just Sayin' at May 21, 2011 08:19 AM (BTTlx)
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Unsurprisingly, Camping was wrong about the Rapture in '94, too. As a commenter suggests, some familiarity with Matthew 24:36 might have suggested this was not likely.
You hit the nail on the head here. The parents appear to have checked out on them. I suspect it'd be hard to get Family Services involved here.
Proverbs 22:6 ("Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." - NIV translation) seems to suggest a requirement for parental responsibility.
Posted by: mj at May 21, 2011 08:23 AM (OnAbx)
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I wish I had paid more attention to this. I would have ordered t-shirts saying; "May 22nd, 2011. Thank God that's over!!"
I would have made a killing. Maybe not as much as Harold Camping but decent enough.
Posted by: Col Bat Guano at May 21, 2011 04:55 PM (cJNNp)
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"What kind of parent does that?" The same type of parent that believes that some numerical expression is a pathway to God. (5 * 10 * 17)^2...seriously, that's it. Oh and those numbers 'mean' something
Here's the gist of Camping's calculation: He believes Christ was crucified on April 1, 33 A.D., exactly 722,500 days before May 21, 2011. That number, 722,500, is the square of 5 x 10 x 17. In Camping's numerological system, 5 represents atonement, 10 means completeness, and seventeen means heaven. "Five times 10 times 17 is telling you a story," Camping said on his Oakland-based talk show, Family Radio, last year. "It's the story from the time Christ made payment for your sins until you're completely saved. I tell ya, I just about fell off my chair when I realized that."
Yeah...XKCD may like the idea of the Gospel reduced to a math equation, but I imagine he would be pissed there wasn't at least a 2nd level integration or a summation series in there somewhere. I mean, ARITHMETIC, anyone can do that!
The only good I can see coming out of this is the fact I can now retort to the 12/21/2012 idiots about how stupid they are too.
Posted by: MunDane at May 21, 2011 07:47 PM (dlS06)
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This is a cult; they follow the confusion of satan, who's really active throughout the world right now.
I feel bad for these children; but God will halp them in their journey. They are not responsible for the foolishness of their parents.
Posted by: cali at May 22, 2011 12:37 AM (k0Wc+)
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MJ beat me to it... I hate it for those kids, cause NOW the parents have to go on living...
Posted by: Old NFO at May 22, 2011 05:40 AM (ZV3E9)
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They live about an hour from me. I wish I could find a way to get those kids into my house. And I go to a sane evangelical church so they'd have a chance to see that not all people who take the Bible seriously are off their rockers.
Posted by: MikeM_inMD at May 22, 2011 02:31 PM (6hI0A)
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Just read and Study the Bible. It is that simple. Truth will be revealed. People like Camp just won't matter. I remember the 1st thing I looked up about Obama was the church he attended and his public stand on abortion and I knew he was Not right.
Posted by: hiscross at May 22, 2011 03:08 PM (HuZie)
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"This awkward realization is going to impact a very small community of end times believers when the sun comes up today and tomorrow and the day after that as it always has. They're going to realize they were fools."
No. They're just going to claim their calculations were off and proclaim a new date based on whatever.
This has been going on for thousands of years, no reason to stop now...
Posted by: JTW at May 23, 2011 07:54 AM (oU0J/)
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May 20, 2011
Travel Site to Ideological Lapdogs: Get Bent
Felon-funded Media Matters has been trying to undermine Fox News, and launched a campaign against the network's advertisers. One of those targeted advertisers, the travel site Orbitz, said they aren't going to be drawn in to that nakedly partisan game.
The effort by liberal media watchdog group Media Matters to convince half a dozen leading national advertisers to pull their dollars from the Fox News Channel got a high-profile snub Thursday when Orbitz, the travel company, not only declined to participate, but fired back at Media Matters, calling the "Drop Fox" campaign a "smear effort."
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But Orbitz shot back, describing Media Matters as “\"a political organization that has been funded pretty extensively to go after one network, and we aren't going to engage in that fight," Orbitz spokesman Brian Hoyt told The Hollywood Reporter.
Eric Boehlert and the rest of Podesta's team of angry misfits are paid extremely generously to do one thing, and that is attack conservatives. They are nakedly biased with the clearest of one-sided agendas, and it is good to see that there are companies out there who won't be bullied by their partisan attempts to stifle dissenting voices.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at
01:29 PM
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It would be awesome if this gave other compaines the backbone to follow Orbiz' example and stand up to these progressive goons. All it takes is one person (company?) to get the ball rolling. Not sure I will hold my breath but i can be hopeful.
Posted by: Rob at May 21, 2011 03:13 AM (0qYo6)
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