[Yellow Hammer] The circumstances of U.S. Border Patrol agent Rogelio Martinez’s death this week remain murkier than the Rio Grande River.
Agent Martinez succumbed to critical head injuries early Sunday morning. An unnamed partner, who came to Martinez’s aid after he radioed for help from a remote area of the Big Bend sector in Texas, also suffered serious wounds. Whether by deliberate ambush or accident, one of our border enforcers is dead and the other hospitalized.
This much is clear: Dumb sensors + depleted forces = deadly border disorder.
Agent Martinez had ventured out alone to check on a ground sensor to determine who or what had set it off. He confirmed to his colleagues that human activity had activated the alarm before he died.
Here’s the scandal: Our federal government has been squandering billions of dollars on inferior border technology for years. It’s a monumental waste of taxpayer funds and a dangerous redistribution of wealth to crony contractors, whose ineffective pet projects are putting our men and women on the front lines at risk.
Nearly 14,000 ground sensors have been littered along the southern border over the past several decades ‐ some dating back to the Vietnam War era. Untold numbers have simply been buried and lost by federal workers who failed to record where they put them. Twelve years ago, a Department of Homeland Security inspector general’s report found that agents couldn’t determine the cause of 62 percent of the sensor alerts because they were "unable to respond to the dispatch, or it took the agent too long to get to the sensor location." Emphasis added.
#1
Agent Martinez had ventured out alone to check on a ground sensor to determine who or what had set it off. He confirmed to his colleagues that human activity had activated the alarm before he died.
Technology to blame is it? Appears the Ground Surveillance Sensor did it's job. The real cock-up that's not covered by the Gov't or MSM; going out 'alone' to investigate a sensor activation.
#3
ROE, Doo.
Dumb tremblers get set off by passing cattle, coyotes(4 leg), rocks set in motion by desert cooling, moonlight parties and rocking pickups or harmonics from nearby passing semis when the ground humidity conditions are right. In especially difficult terrain, incursion probability charts rank the causes above ahead of people.
Investigating Agent Martinez may have wandered off to answer Nature's call and stumbled into a passing group which then swarmed his 'unnamed partner'. Rocks are plentiful and the sound of a gunshot travels far. In the end apparently the transgressors went on their way.
There is a basic premise behind reporting .vs. editorializing -- one is allegedly unbiased, although we all have our personal prejudices while the other is labeled opinion (it's found on the opinion page and is disclosed as such.)
Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, it is now clear, in order to effect a public lobbying strategy much larger than that which Hastings "organized" and led to a five times increase in his firm's stock price revolving around net neutrality.
That latter event occurred after ISPs, properly recognizing that he was effectively driving semi trucks over the roads built for cars and refusing to pay higher fuel taxes and license plate fees for same, or, if you prefer, opening up a 2" water connection to a 6" main and demanding not to be charged by the gallon, resulting in you having no water pressure, started pushing back and demanding that Netflix cover the outsized costs being imposed on said ISPs to prevent service-quality collapses to everyone, including those who didn't want his service.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Ummm what about Kindle? It's done the world a big favour by breaking the big 5's near monopoly on books and given talented writers opportunities that didn't exist before.
Wanna put Jeffy in his place and make him sweat? Offer better sevice and product variety than he does.
#3
There is a basic premise behind reporting .vs. editorializing -- one is allegedly unbiased, although we all have our personal prejudices while the other is labeled opinion (it's found on the opinion page and is disclosed as such.)
Personal wish rather than reality. Thus the rise of the internet and continued collapse of MSM. It's not that the internet provides 'unbias reporting' as much as alternative opinion.
This is illegal under 100+ year old anti-trust law which says that any attempt to monopolize trade is a felony.
Really? Ma Bell operated a monopoly for pretty much of that hundred years, never faced a felony indictment. Rather it ultimately faced a regulatory breakup into 'Baby Bells'. However, what finally opened the market was technology not criminal prosecution.
Writer is more than dishonest on that general statement.
#5
Between all the stuff coming from China and Amazon, Main Street USA has all but disappeared along with good jobs. In addition Amazon-owned WAPO is running cover. Clowns in America money went into Bezoz WAPO purchase.
#7
Monopolies are not illegal. It’s using monopoly power to gain unfair competitive advantage that’s illegal. For instance, “tying”, which is using the monopoly power to gain advantage in another market. Or by predatory pricing. Amazon does all those things, but they will argue that they are not a monopoly in any market, because they have several major competitors. They are certainly not a monopoly like Microsoft was.
Pistol ammunition prices were steady. Rifle ammunition prices were mostly steady.
Prices for used pistols were lower. Prices for used rifles were mostly lower.
New Lows:
None
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Foundry35, Silver Bear, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own Brand, CRN, Brass Casing, Reloads, .19 per round (From Last Week: -.01 After Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Mart, Buffalo Cartridge, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: FedArm, Own Brand, TPMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .17 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Extreme Reloading, Own Brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Fedarm, Own brand, RN, Brass Casing, Reloads .13 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.38 Special, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Bang It Ammo, Precision One, JSP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: American Reloading, Own brand, TMJ, Aluminum Casing, Reloads, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: AmmoMen, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (6 Weeks))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .19 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3Q, 2017))
.30-06 Springfield 145 Grain. From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .54 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: United Nations Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .53 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (5 Weeks))
.300 Winchester Magnum 150 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Target Sports USA, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .85 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Target Sports USA, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .85 per round (From Last Week: +.03 Each
.338 Lapua Magnum 250 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds (12 Max Boxes): Red River Reloading, Federal, Brass Casing, JSP, 2.36 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 200 rounds: Wholesale Hunter, Federal, Brass Casing, JSP, 2.36 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo King, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Ammomen, Aguila, RNL, .04 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2017))
#4
As a shooter, I like badanov's insightful commentary as well. Missed it today. Oh well, I will just have to live without it until the next time or pen a piece myself.
The only thing I was going to write was an informal range report:
I hadn't been shooting in nearly a year, so I went Tuesday to a private range. I won't bitch about the changes made since I was last there, but the owner did give a FOG discount, which was helpful.
#7
An attempt to move the TWIG archives to my blogs failed due to an insurmountable technical problem. I will be forced to move all ~40 TWIGs manually, and that will take time.
As an aside the changes in prices are almost breathtaking since the summer of 2013, when TWIG first was began.
It’s been that long? I’d lost track. I’ve definitely shocked a few people by being able to discuss ammunition pricing trends, even if the data tables are beyond me. But baseball statistics are beyond me, too, so that isn’t surprising.
[SA People] A former Zimbabwean resident, Barbara Anne Langridge, now living in Cape Town, South Africa, has posted a heartfelt and heartbreaking account of losing her home and her country. It’s a video that is touching not only Zimbabweans, but South Africans too... Watch below.
[Hurriyet Daily News] The outrage ignited by the recent NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... drill scandal in Norway has sparked a debate on The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s membership in the Transatlantic alliance, compounding the latent anti-Western and anti-American sentiment.
In retrospect, Turkey has always had a love-hate relationship with the West. Since the late Ottoman Empire, Western civilization has functioned both as a model for modernization and an object of cultural contempt due to its perceived moral decay. Western interference in the late Ottoman era, as well as the bitter experiences during Turkey’s War of Independence, solidified the idea that the West was a rival bloc that was eager to partition Turkey at the first opportunity. This suspicion toward the Western world ‐ also known as the Sèvres Syndrome ‐ has continued to haunt Ottoman Turkish policymakers while nurturing periodic anti-Western sentiment.
Turkey is now experiencing one of those rare periods in which its relations with both Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and the United States have reached a nadir. In the past, whenever there was tension with one, Turkey would move closer to the other so as to maintain balance and prevent a total rupture in ties with the West in line with a Westward-leaning foreign policy that has constituted one of the main pillars of Ottoman Turkish political culture since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Today, that orientation is no longer a given. Particularly since the failed July 2016 coup attempt, the government has accused the West of engaging in a plot against Turkey to bring down President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... . This perception has poisoned ties with the West and pushed Turkey to seek alternative partnerships. Truth be told, the oblivion of Westerners with regard to Turkey’s security concerns has not made life easier for the alliance either.
The West’s ambivalence on freedom and democracy, which amounts to safeguarding Gulenists ... the Turkish version of the Boogie Man, who set fire to the Turkish Reichsstag... , believed to have orchestrated the coup attempt, and outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members, has deeply undermined Turkey’s trust.
However, women are made to be loved, not understood... the government’s efforts to frame its crackdown on the press, academia and civil society as necessary to combat terror have failed to convince anyone beyond Turkey’s borders.
While Ottoman Turkish intellectuals have been debating whether or not NATO serves Turkey’s security interests in the wake of the NATO drill scandal, allies have also been questioning Turkey’s democratic credentials to qualify as a member.
NATO is first and foremost a collective defense organization. Since the end of the Cold War, the body has been struggling to find a new mission, and Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 helped the Atlantic alliance in this regard. Moreover, the institution’s efficiency in confronting today’s complex threats is being queried. Still, Turkey’s NATO membership not only provides a security umbrella but also an anchor to the West. Questioning Turkey’s membership creates a security risk on the alliance’s eastern and southern flanks, while Turkey’s possible departure from NATO would disrupt Ankara’s Western identity as well.
The latest drill incident might have been cooked up by the Gulenists, as claimed by many. But what if the initial plan is to sever Turkey’s ties with the West before ‐ ominously ‐ isolating Turkey politically and economically?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
The West’s ambivalence on freedom and democracy, which amounts to safeguarding Gulenists, believed to have orchestrated the coup attempt, and outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members, has deeply undermined Turkey’s trust
Holy non sequitur, Batman! This must have sounded more convincing in the original Newspeak.
[Human Events] Hey, Republicans! Did you enjoy Election Night last week? Get ready for a lot more nights like that as immigration turns every last corner of the country blue.
When Ed Gillespie lost in Virginia, liberals crowed about how they’re winning the war of ideas. The country has thoroughly, emphatically rejected Trumpism!
Republicans, being idiots, played along, arguing only about whether Gillespie’s problem was that he didn’t embrace Trump enough or embraced him too much.
Gillespie’s campaign was fine. No cleverer arguments, community outreach or perfectly timed mailings would have changed the result. Contrary to The New York Times’ celebratory article in last Sunday’s magazine, "How the ’Resistance’ Helped Democrats Dominate Virginia," it wasn’t Democratic operative Kathryn Sorenson’s savvy use of Facebook, Google and Eventbrites that carried the day. "The Resistance" didn’t win.
What happened was: Democrats brought in new voters. In 1970, only one out of every 100 Virginians was foreign-born. By 2012, one in nine Virginians was foreign-born.
The foreign-born vote overwhelmingly, by about 80 percent, for Democrats. They always have and they always will ‐ especially now that our immigration policies aggressively discriminate in favor of the poorest, least-educated, most unskilled people on Earth. They arrive in need of a LOT of government services.
#1
The Republicans and Ed Gillespie were content with the outcome of the election. The Virginia GOP showed their true colors when they threw Ken Cuchenilli under the bus and failed to support him in a much closer election.
#3
Got to make up for all those prenatal Donks that have been aborted for the past couple of decades. Embrace the natural selection process guys, don't seek a man-made solution.
#5
Yeah, and all women HAVE to vote for Hilly. It's the far left entrenched Mandarins in N VA for the most part. If Trump would only start moving agencies to MD. The Peoples' Republic of Maryland is a total loss and sure wouldn't, Hell couldn't be any more ruined by more socialists and Virginia could perhaps get back to normal.
[Gateway Pundit] William E. Staehle, a practicing attorney for 42-years, penned an op-ed in defense of Alabama GOP Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore for Yellowhammer News. Who is Staehle? He served with Judge Moore in Vietnam between 1971-72, where he "knew him to be an altogether honorable, decent, respectable, and patriotic commander and soldier."
William E. Staehle writes in Yellowhammer News:
He and I were captains and company commanders in the 504th Military Police Battalion, stationed at the base camp called Camp Land, just west of Danang.
I knew him well in my first four months in-country before I was re-assigned within the battalion to another location. During that time, I grew to admire him.
While in Vietnam, there came a time when another officer invited Roy and me to go with him into town after duty hours for a couple of beers. That officer had just returned from an assignment in Quang Tri Province north of Danang, and we were interested to learn of his experiences.
When we arrived at the place and went inside, it was clear to Roy and me that he had taken us to a brothel. That officer appeared to know people there, as he was greeted by one or two young women in provocative attire.
The place was plush. There were other American servicemen there. Alcohol was being served. There were plenty of very attractive young women clearly eager for an intimate time.
In less time than it took any of the women to approach us, Roy turned to me and said words to this effect, "We shouldn’t be here. I am leaving."
We told the officer who had brought us that we wanted to leave. He told us to take his jeep and that he could get a ride back later, which he did. Roy and I drove back to camp together.
That evening, if I didn’t know it before, I knew then that with Roy Moore I was in the company of a man of great self-control, discipline, honor, and integrity.
Former CIA acting director says the threat the opioid crisis poses extends beyond public health: it is a national security threat.
Carfentanil, a synthetic opioid, is highly toxic. The drug is 10,000 times stronger than morphine and 5,000 times more potent than heroin. Only 20 micrograms, roughly the size of a grain of salt, can be fatal. Recently drug dealers have learned to cut carfentanil into the heroin they sell to increase the "high" and to increase profits, since carfentanyl is much cheaper than heroin.
The drug is largely produced in China by thousands of small chemical firms and shipped either through Mexico and Canada to the United States or directly through the mail system, often after an order is placed online. It is also produced by drug cartels in Mexico (with key ingredients imported from China).
In June 2016, Canadian Mounties seized one kilogram of carfentanil. The agent was sent via mail from China to an address in Canada, and it was hidden in a package labeled printer accessories. It was the largest seizure of carfentanil to date. Canadian authorities said this amount was enough to kill the entire population of Canada.
Carfentanil is a perfect weapon of mass destruction. It is readily available in large quantities. It comes in several forms ‐ including tablets, powder, and spray. It can be absorbed through the skin or by inhalation. It acts and kills quickly.
Peter Ostrovsky, a senior official of the Immigration and Customs Service, said last fall, "Could it be weaponized? Yeah, it could be weaponized." In short, a single terrorist attack using carfentanil could kill thousands of Americans.
There has been little or no public discussion of this obvious risk, beyond the toll exacted from day to day in the "opoid crisis".
Amir Taheri
[ARABNEWS] The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... holds an emergency meeting on Leb. La Belle France and the US agree to work together to contain Hezbollah. Russia indicates support for compromise. Iran’s official government invites everyone to "joint diplomatic efforts" while the unofficial government promises fire and brimstone for those who try to curb Hezbollah.
[Townhall] Too many Americans have become like the spoiled trust fund kids running the family business. Grandpa built it and knew it top to bottom. Dad learned from him and kept it going. Now they’re taking over and unfortunately, they never really bothered to learn the ins and outs of how the company works. They just look at it as a place where they can have a fancy title and get money to finance their lifestyle.
Many Americans don’t know why this country is so successful, don’t understand the long-term ramifications of the things they advocate politically and don’t get how lucky we are.
Knowledgeable conservatives know better. We know that we are fortunate enough to live in what Reagan called a "shining city on a hill" and that eternal flame that sets us apart from other nations can easily dim. Americans should consider that many of the things they take for granted are not necessarily so.
You see, far too many of us take it for granted that....
1) ....We can not only refuse to teach patriotism to our kids, but teach our kids in schools that our country is a horrible place and it won’t produce people who are disloyal to our nation.
2) ....Black and Hispanic Americans can be incessantly encouraged to create and nurture racial grudges, white people can constantly be put down, degraded and seemingly discriminated against via programs like Affirmative Action.
3) ...We can accuse a man of rape if the woman he has sex with has been drinking, weirdly demand verbal consent for every stage of a make-out session and accuse a man of sexual harassment if a woman claims he grabbed her butt 30 years ago, but it won’t have any ramifications for male/female relationships. Only 12 more to go at the link.
[American Thinker] "To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." That’s the beginning of a famous bible verse. It’s a litany of life’s times and wonders that are dropped in our laps; weeping, laughing, dancing, healing.
The last line purposely changes tone and says, "a time for war".
Like it or not, this is that time.
Civil War.
It’s here. Now. Thankfully this is not yet the blood in the streets kind of war, but war it is. It’s a war for the soul of this country, it’s a war that will affect everyone; none will escape having to deal with it directly, or indirectly.
How did we get here? It’s complicated. But one thing for sure: what’s not complicated is who started this war, why, and who it is with. During our lives, it was started by the hard left, and it’s a war to achieve power for them, for them to change the entire workings of our country. They want to remake every institution they can, with themselves in control of as much as possible. Power to them, belongs in the hands of their brilliant ideas, and their overwhelming moral superiority. They believe this war is necessary in order to root out the injustice inherent in our country’s institutions and its tawdry citizenry.
The war in its current form began in the sixties. It was envisioned by the radicals in the SDS days, spurred by the luminaries of the Frankfurt School, furthered by the activities of Herbert Marcuse, Howard Zinn, Bill Ayers, and the leftist academic institutions we send our children to. They have taken over institution after institution in a long, calculated preparation for this war.
#1
And you're doing it all wrong. It's not a fight against ideology - which is endlessly mutable. It's a fight against second rate people who want first rate jobs and found a simple gimmick to get them - just make outrageous demands and mob anyone who dares to disagree and funnel all quality positions to ideologically sound (agreeable) comrades. See The New Class for details.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
... the Turkish version of the Boogie Man, who set fire to the Turkish Reichsstag...
[Human Events] Hey, Republicans! Did you enjoy Election Night last week? Get ready for a lot more nights like that as immigration turns every last corner of the country blue.
