Scene from the film Casablanca where Captain Renault shuts down Rick's Cafe American for gambling:
Thursday, July 19, 2012
ATF criminal investigations at Gun Shows from Wikipedia
I posted this as a response to FWM who says that no illegal activity happens at gunshows and that the Bloomberg et al vids are fakes...
BTW note where it says "The state of Ohio is one of the top ten source states for recovered guns used in crime."
BTW note where it says "The state of Ohio is one of the top ten source states for recovered guns used in crime."
ATF criminal investigations at Gun Shows From Wikipedia
From 2004 to 2006, ATF conducted surveillance and undercover investigations at 195 gun shows (approximately 2% of all shows). Specific targeting of suspected individuals (77%) resulted in 121 individual arrests and 5,345 firearms seizures. Seventy nine of the 121 ATF operation plans were known suspects previously under investigation.[1]
Additionally, ATF Field Offices report that:
- Between 2002 and 2005, more than 400 guns legally purchased at gun shows from licensed dealers in the city of Richmond, Virginia, were later recovered in connection with criminal activity. Bouchard notes that, "These figures do not take into account firearms that may have been sold at Richmond area gun shows by unlicensed sellers, as these transactions are more difficult to track."[3] It is noteworthy that the "in connection with criminal activity" category includes stolen guns later recovered from burglaries, but the report does not specify how many guns in the 400 gun figure cited were not guns used in the commission of a crime, but that were rather the fruits of criminal activity.
- The Department of Justice reports, "after reviewing hundreds of trace reports associated with guns used in crime recovered in the New Orleans area and interviewing known gang members and other criminals, ATF Special Agents identified area gun shows as a source used by local gang members and other criminals to obtain guns."[1]
- In 2003 and 2004, the San Francisco ATF Field Division conducted six general operations at Reno, Nevada, gun shows to investigate interstate firearms trafficking. During these operations, "agents purchased firearms and identified violations related to "off paper" sales, sales to out-of-state residents, and dealing in firearms without a license." The "ATF seized or purchased 400 firearms before making arrests and executing search warrants, which resulted in the seizure of an additional 600 firearms and the recovery of explosives."[1]
- ATF's Columbus Field Division conducted its anti-trafficking operations based on intelligence from Cleveland police that "many of the guns recovered in high-crime areas of the city had been purchased at local gun shows." Subsequent gun show sting operations resulted in the seizure of "5 guns, one indictment, and two pending indictments for felony possession of a firearm." The state of Ohio is one of the top ten source states for recovered guns used in crime.[1]
The ATF's Phoenix Field Division reported that "many gun shows attracted large numbers of gang members from Mexico and California. They often bought large quantities of assault weapons and smuggled them into Mexico or transported them to California."[1] Garen Wintemute, a professor at the University of California at Davis, calls Arizona and Texas a "gunrunner's paradise."[26]
Climate change a threat to national security.
The Director of the U.S. Navy Task Force on Climate Change, Rear Admiral David Titley gave an assessment of the risks presented by climate change at the Copenhagen conference in December 2009 , including the likely need for greater humanitarian and disaster relief missions, and the dangers posed by such “wild cards” as ocean acidification and rising sea levels. But he also expressed the hope that “climate change may be viewed as a common enemy that will bring nations together toward a common end.”
The Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense Review issued in February 2010, which is a periodic assessment of national security issues facing the United States, the Pentagon stated:
“Climate change will affect DoD in two broad ways. First, climate change will shape the operating environment, roles, and missions that we undertake. The U.S. Global Change Research Program, composed of 13 federal agencies, reported in 2009 that climate-related changes are already being observed in every region of the world, including the United States and its coastal waters. Among these physical changes are increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice-free seasons in the oceans and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt, and alterations in river flows.
Assessments conducted by the intelligence community indicate that climate change could have significant geopolitical impacts around the world, contributing to poverty, environmental degradation, and the further weakening of fragile governments. Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass migration.”
This Quarterly Defence Report can be found here.
The problem is that certain industries have spent millions on promoting climate change skepticism while like most issues, no real dialogue seems to exist on the matter. The problem is that climate skepticism runs contrary to scientific thought and more informed discussions.
The Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense Review issued in February 2010, which is a periodic assessment of national security issues facing the United States, the Pentagon stated:
“Climate change will affect DoD in two broad ways. First, climate change will shape the operating environment, roles, and missions that we undertake. The U.S. Global Change Research Program, composed of 13 federal agencies, reported in 2009 that climate-related changes are already being observed in every region of the world, including the United States and its coastal waters. Among these physical changes are increases in heavy downpours, rising temperature and sea level, rapidly retreating glaciers, thawing permafrost, lengthening growing seasons, lengthening ice-free seasons in the oceans and on lakes and rivers, earlier snowmelt, and alterations in river flows.
Assessments conducted by the intelligence community indicate that climate change could have significant geopolitical impacts around the world, contributing to poverty, environmental degradation, and the further weakening of fragile governments. Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass migration.”
This Quarterly Defence Report can be found here.
The problem is that certain industries have spent millions on promoting climate change skepticism while like most issues, no real dialogue seems to exist on the matter. The problem is that climate skepticism runs contrary to scientific thought and more informed discussions.
Like it or not--HE'S A US CITIZEN!
One thing the birthers never come up with and that is a certificate that Barack Obama has renounced his citizenship, which is necessary for one to no longer be a US citizen. The process sounds simple:
One can renounce US citizenship if they do not have another nationality. Although, the Foreign Affairs Manual instructs State Department employees to make it clear to Americans who will become stateless after renunciation that they may face extreme difficulties (including deportation back to the United States) following their renunciation, but instructs employees to afford such persons of their right to give up citizenship.
As for being a Kenyan Citizen: Kenya’s constitution prohibits dual citizenship in adulthood. Chapter VI, Section 87 of the Kenyan Constitution specifies that:
To renounce U.S. citizenship, you must go in person to a U.S. embassy or consulate outside the U.S. and sign before a consular officer an oath or affirmation that you intend to renounce your citizenship.At the end of a formal process one is issued with a Certificate of Loss of Nationality.
One can renounce US citizenship if they do not have another nationality. Although, the Foreign Affairs Manual instructs State Department employees to make it clear to Americans who will become stateless after renunciation that they may face extreme difficulties (including deportation back to the United States) following their renunciation, but instructs employees to afford such persons of their right to give up citizenship.
As for being a Kenyan Citizen: Kenya’s constitution prohibits dual citizenship in adulthood. Chapter VI, Section 87 of the Kenyan Constitution specifies that:
1. Every person who, having been born in Kenya, is on 11th December, 1963 a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British protected person shall become a citizen of Kenya on 12th December, 1963…
2. Every person who, having been born outside Kenya, is on 11th December, 1963 a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British protected person shall, if his father becomes, or would but for his death have become, a citizen of Kenya by virtue of subsection (1), become a citizen of Kenya on 12th December, 1963.
As a citizen of the UKC who was born in Kenya, Obama’s father automatically received Kenyan citizenship via subsection (1). In other words, Obama’s father was Kenyan, not British. Any citizenship which would have come from Obama’s father would have been Kenyan and not British.
The Kenyan Constitution prohibits dual citizenship for adults. Kenya recognizes dual citizenship for children, but Kenya’s Constitution specifies that at age 23, Kenyan citizens who possesses citizenship in more than one country automatically lose their Kenyan citizenship unless they formally renounce any non-Kenyan citizenship and swear an oath of allegiance to Kenya.
President Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya. Thus any claim that Obama can have to being eligible for Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1984.
The same applies for Indonesia. The latest law regulating Indonesian nationality is Law No. 12/2006 (UU No. 12 Tahun 2006). This law revokes Law No. 62/1958 (UU No. 62 Tahun 1958).
Generally, Indonesian citizens are those natural Indonesian people and those of other nationalities that are endorsed by the law as Indonesian citizens. The Indonesian nationality law does not recognize dual citizenship except for persons under the age of 18. After reaching 18 years of age individuals are forced to choose one citizenship.
Again, like Kenya, Obama would have had to make the affirmative act of choosing Indonesian citizenship when he turned 18.
Even if Stanley Ann Dunham renounced her US citizenship, it wouldn’t have effected Barack Obama’s citizenship since he needs to make the affirmative act renouncing for himself (citizenship cannot be renounced by an agent). The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, Title III, Chapter 3, Section 355, says:
“A person having United States nationality, who is under the age of twenty-one and whose residence is in a foreign state with or under the legal custody of a parent who hereafter loses United States nationality under section 350 or 352 of this title, shall also lose his United States nationality if such person has or acquires the nationality of such foreign state: Provided, That, in such case, United States nationality shall not be lost as the result of loss of United States nationality by the parent unless and until the person attains the age of twenty-five years without having established his residence in the United States.
So, there is no way under US law that Barack Obama could have lost his US citizenship due to action of his own OR that of his mother before he was 21 years of age. Under US law, he maintained his birthright US citizenship with no loss or interruption, and no deed for “naturalization” or any “oaths of citizenship” because Natural-Born US citizens don’t require them.
Obama is not a dual national since neither nation he was alleged to have citizenship recognises dual nationality. Additionally, he has not taken the affirmative actions required to acquire either Kenyan or Indonesian nationality.
Like it or not, Barack Obama is a US citizen, and he’s YOUR president.
Sources:
Does Barack Obama have Kenyan citizenship?
Indonesian nationality law
The Indonesian Citizenship Myth
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Utter Failure in Gun Loon Reasoning
I have to wonder if Laci wasn't on to something, when he mentioned the neurological damage associated with lead toxicity.
Just now when FWM tried to insist that by having someone else - an FFL, or maybe a LEO, as an alternative to doing the kind of check oneself that employers do for criminal records - should such a check be required would change a private sale into ...........something else.
He didn't specify what kind of sale OTHER than a private sale that would be, but the implication I took from it was that if an FFL did a check, then it was the FFL's sale.
That is ludicrous. It's like listening to the 'reasoning' such as it was of the classic ventriloquist act done by the dummy Mortimer Snerd and the ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (father of Candace Bergen).
If a mechanic checks over a vehicle before a private sale, the transaction does not suddenly become a sale by the mechanic. If a private owner sells a piece of real estate to a private party, as distinct from buying a foreclosed property from a bank or other institution, it is a private sale, regardless of having to go through the hoops for a mortgage or other financing, ditto arranging insurance, regardless of having to deal with title searches, or a lawyer drawing up a sales contract, or having a housing inspection, or registering a deed either. The owner of the property in any and all of the above cases is still the owner, privately selling to the buyer. Other individuals providing services on which the sale is contingent does not change who owns or sells, or who buys. NOTHING whatsoever in a contingency service changes a private sale into some other form of transaction. Sometimes it appears there are a limited number of wrote responses that gun nuts learn, instead of actually thinking. I can only imagine from the frequency with which your side relies on blindly repeating things without critically thinking if they are correct or not, that you must stand around in a clot, nodding, while mumbling 'un-Huh, un-Huh, un-Hun' in each other's general direction, each one of you afraid to let on to the others that the lot of you are actually clueless. Like Mortimer Snerd, who was known to have a 'unique' sort of logic, the results are entertaining but not reliable. THAT is what Laci and I mean when we are critical of your thought processes; you DON'T APPEAR TO HAVE ANY, other than the sock puppet repetition of what someone else on the gun nut side told you was true, or valid. When your premise falls down in a shambles, you just stand there gob smacked, with no idea how to respond. Stupidity is a terrible thing on its own; stupidity armed with lethal force and nothing other than emotions rather than reason guiding its use is worse. I can't wait for the next argument where one of you offers to climb up to the top of the metaphorical balloon, to push it back down.
Just now when FWM tried to insist that by having someone else - an FFL, or maybe a LEO, as an alternative to doing the kind of check oneself that employers do for criminal records - should such a check be required would change a private sale into ...........something else.
He didn't specify what kind of sale OTHER than a private sale that would be, but the implication I took from it was that if an FFL did a check, then it was the FFL's sale.
That is ludicrous. It's like listening to the 'reasoning' such as it was of the classic ventriloquist act done by the dummy Mortimer Snerd and the ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (father of Candace Bergen).
If a mechanic checks over a vehicle before a private sale, the transaction does not suddenly become a sale by the mechanic. If a private owner sells a piece of real estate to a private party, as distinct from buying a foreclosed property from a bank or other institution, it is a private sale, regardless of having to go through the hoops for a mortgage or other financing, ditto arranging insurance, regardless of having to deal with title searches, or a lawyer drawing up a sales contract, or having a housing inspection, or registering a deed either. The owner of the property in any and all of the above cases is still the owner, privately selling to the buyer. Other individuals providing services on which the sale is contingent does not change who owns or sells, or who buys. NOTHING whatsoever in a contingency service changes a private sale into some other form of transaction. Sometimes it appears there are a limited number of wrote responses that gun nuts learn, instead of actually thinking. I can only imagine from the frequency with which your side relies on blindly repeating things without critically thinking if they are correct or not, that you must stand around in a clot, nodding, while mumbling 'un-Huh, un-Huh, un-Hun' in each other's general direction, each one of you afraid to let on to the others that the lot of you are actually clueless. Like Mortimer Snerd, who was known to have a 'unique' sort of logic, the results are entertaining but not reliable. THAT is what Laci and I mean when we are critical of your thought processes; you DON'T APPEAR TO HAVE ANY, other than the sock puppet repetition of what someone else on the gun nut side told you was true, or valid. When your premise falls down in a shambles, you just stand there gob smacked, with no idea how to respond. Stupidity is a terrible thing on its own; stupidity armed with lethal force and nothing other than emotions rather than reason guiding its use is worse. I can't wait for the next argument where one of you offers to climb up to the top of the metaphorical balloon, to push it back down.
Reductio ad absurdum
Not so much the logical fault as much as the concept of reducing workers, and government workers to boot, to an absurdity.
Transport for London (TfL, the entity formerly known as London Transport) has denied trials of driverless trains after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) accused it of a "secret agenda" to introduce the technology.
RMT union says it has an internal document outlining a plan to introduce the trains on the Jubilee Line in three years. It claims the trains are unsafe.
But TfL denied that tests of driverless trains were taking place.
Conservatives called for the technology to be introduced, saying 25 cities already had driverless trains. Did someone say that tories were sensible? Well, maybe not all the time.
Actually, the concept of driverless tub trains has been discussed for at least a year now, but I would trust them about as much as a driverless bus.
Transport for London (TfL, the entity formerly known as London Transport) has denied trials of driverless trains after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) accused it of a "secret agenda" to introduce the technology.
RMT union says it has an internal document outlining a plan to introduce the trains on the Jubilee Line in three years. It claims the trains are unsafe.
But TfL denied that tests of driverless trains were taking place.
Conservatives called for the technology to be introduced, saying 25 cities already had driverless trains. Did someone say that tories were sensible? Well, maybe not all the time.
Actually, the concept of driverless tub trains has been discussed for at least a year now, but I would trust them about as much as a driverless bus.
Related Stories
Zimmerman - Authority Personality, Rape and Intimidation
One of the witnesses against George Zimmerman, a person who has known him for years, claims not only Zimmerman but his family routine made racist remarks disparaging black people. She also claims sexual molestation by Zimmerman.
While the two kinds of behavior, racism and molestation, appear to be very different, Slate magazine has an an article that shows very well the relevance of the two behaviors to the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Further, the behavior described by witness #9 is consistent with the behavior described by a former co-worker of Zimmerman, who does not so far appear to have any connection or knowledge of witness #9, which would mean these observations about the character of Zimmerman are independent of each other, which would give them more credibility, and would also be consistent with Zimmerman attempting to mislead the court about his financial status in the bail hearing.
from Slate:
George Zimmerman Molestation Accusations Are Relevant
While the two kinds of behavior, racism and molestation, appear to be very different, Slate magazine has an an article that shows very well the relevance of the two behaviors to the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Further, the behavior described by witness #9 is consistent with the behavior described by a former co-worker of Zimmerman, who does not so far appear to have any connection or knowledge of witness #9, which would mean these observations about the character of Zimmerman are independent of each other, which would give them more credibility, and would also be consistent with Zimmerman attempting to mislead the court about his financial status in the bail hearing.
from Slate:
George Zimmerman Molestation Accusations Are Relevant
The reaction to this news has generally been: It's irrelevant. That's what Jonathan Capehart* argues, reasoning at the same time that other accusations against Zimmerman—like his 2005 arrest for resisting an officer with violence, or the restraining order his ex filed against him for alleged domestic violence—are germane. That mentality—that sexual abuse is somehow less of a crime, or more of an anomaly than part of a pattern of violence—is totally wrong-headed.
In fact, accusations like these are completely relevant for two major reasons. The first is that, as feminists have been saying for decades now, sexual assault isn't really just a matter of someone's horniness overtaking him and causing him to pig out on a woman's body as if he hasn't eaten all day and she's a piece of cake shoved in front of him. Sexual abuse is a form of bullying, a violent crime whose pleasure for the attacker is far more about enjoying their power and dominance over the victim than it is about sexual urges. Subsequently, sexually violent men tend to be more violent generally, particularly against people they believe are lesser or weaker. If you're trying to establish that Zimmerman had it in him to hunt down and murder a teenager who is much smaller than himself, than a history of sexual assault does help demonstrate this.
Also: A lot of the prosecution's case depends on establishing whether or not Zimmerman is a glib liar who is capable of viciously attacking people and then playing the innocent "who me?" card while insinuating that the victim was asking for it. Pretty much all men who sexually assault women have developed an ability to do this; part of the routine of a rapist is terrifying and hurting someone only to convince the community to embrace him after the fact and write off the victim as hysterical, a liar, or a slut trying to cover her tracks. We know that most sexual assailants are repeat offenders—indeed, this is what the accuser in this case is claiming of Zimmerman—which means they have a lot of opportunities to practice playing innocent and blaming the victim after they've committed the crime. If the prosecution wants to establish that Zimmerman is the kind of guy who is capable of assaulting and even murdering someone and then playing innocent victim, a history of cutting his teeth as a sexual assailant helps establish that narrative.
There is this account from Think Progress of an investigation interview of a co-worker which both supports bigotry and racism/ethnic bias, and the description of Zimmerman as having two very contrary 'faces', where one face is deceptive with someone in a position of dominance, authority or power, while treating someone younger, weaker, or subordinate to dominate or bully. The comedian referred to in this article is Jeff Dunham, the ventriloquist.
There is this account from Think Progress of an investigation interview of a co-worker which both supports bigotry and racism/ethnic bias, and the description of Zimmerman as having two very contrary 'faces', where one face is deceptive with someone in a position of dominance, authority or power, while treating someone younger, weaker, or subordinate to dominate or bully. The comedian referred to in this article is Jeff Dunham, the ventriloquist.
In another interview, this victim of bullying described the same lying pattern of denial, the same manipulative and deceptive manner of Zimmerman, consistent with witness #9 above:
During his tenure at CarMax back in 2008, Zimmerman routinely antagonized his Arab-American co-worker, who complained to management.
“The guy was so convincing when he was confronted by management to the point where I doubted my own self. I would not be surprised if he got away with it [Martin murder accusation],” said the unidentified man. “He's got, like you say, 'A good poker face.' Great poker face. That pretty much summarizes this guy's personality. Great poker face.”But this isn't the only interview where a co-worker has had a bad experience being harassed by Zimmerman, and describes him as manipulative, and as having two faces.
There is this interview last week from ABC news / Good Morning America:
There was this report back in March from a former co-worker who described him as a Jekyll and Hyde personality - as having two very opposite 'faces' he could present, and as someone who could become violent when he failed to dominate someone, when someone didn't do what he told them to do - in this case a woman, but it is something that could as easily be true of a teenager who didn't behave in a submissive or subordinate manner to Zimmerman: The New York Daily News reports the former co-worker saying Zimmerman — who made between $50 and $100 a night — was fired from his job as a security guard in 2005 for “being too aggressive.” Usually “he was just a cool guy,” he said. “He liked to drink and hang with the women like the rest of us. But it was like Jekyll and Hyde. When the dude snapped, he snapped.” From the report:
There He had a temper and he became a liability. One time this woman was acting a little out of control. She was drunk. George lost his cool and totally overreacted. It was weird, because he was such a cool guy, but he got all nuts. He picked her up and threw her. It was pure rage. She twisted her ankle. Everyone was flipping out.While the source conceded that Zimmerman “loved being in charge” and “loved the power,” he said. “Still, I could never see him killing someone. Never.” It can be true of those who seek careers in law enforcement - as Zimmerman had - that they desire to feel powerful, to be in authority over other people. There are numerous academic studies of this phenomena, like this one, and this essay. An authoritarian personality tends to see people as conforming, which they define as good, and as not conforming or as being outliers / outside of conformity and challenging the role of authority, which they see as bad, rather than more tolerant and nuanced views of differences. Authoritarian personalities are also more inclined to resort to violence to enforce conformity and to fall back on violence to resolve conflicts, particularly in law enforcement where at least some training models for law enforcement perpetuate force, as noted here. If the multiple accounts of George Zimmerman are correct, that he wanted to be an authority figure with power over other people, and if it is correct that as is true with many criminal justice studies students that he identifies people as 'insiders' and 'outsiders', and that he targets those he sees as outsiders as fair victims to try to bully, harass and intimidate or exploit; and that further, as it appears he has no problems with lying to authority to avoid accountability for that conduct, then all of these related patterns would seem to be consistent with Zimmerman shooting Trayvon Martin. A black teenager in a hoodie, who is not submissive but is instead challenging or confrontational would be exactly the kind of person to trigger fear as well as anger, to trigger violence from Zimmerman for that failure to be submissive to Zimmerman's self-styled authority. There is a pattern here of who Zimmerman tries to dominate or bully - women, those who are younger, and those who are identified as 'outside' or in conflict with authority or who are regarded as vulnerable - like a Muslim Arab-American immigran. For Zimmerman, his pattern of 911 calls indicates strongly this is, for him, consistently black teens like Trayvon Martin. And unfortunately when there are negative consequences for those actions, it appears consistent that George Zimmerman will lie, deceive and be manipulative to try to avoid those consequences for his actions, based on these accounts of people who know him.
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