FIRST SHOT!
Homeland Security Instructions Border Patrol To "Run Away" And "Hide" From Gunmen
That's right! On June 29, 2012, it was reported that our Border Patrol is now being issued instructions to "run away" and "hide".
As insane as it sounds, it's true! A pocket card handed out to Homeland Security employees in April detailing how they should handle an "active shooter" situation.
Border Patrol agents in Arizona are blasting their bosses for telling them, along with all other Department of Homeland Security employees, to run and hide if they encounter an "active shooter."
It's one thing to tell civilian employees to cower under a desk if a gunman starts spraying fire in a confined area, say members of Tucson Local 2544/National Border Patrol Council, but to give armed law enforcement professionals the same advice is downright insulting. The instructions from DHS come in the form of pamphlets and a mandatory computer tutorial.
“We are now taught in an ‘Active Shooter’ course that if we encounter a shooter in a public place we are to ‘run away’ and ‘hide’" union leader Brandon Judd wrote on the website of 3,300-member union local. “If we are cornered by such a shooter we are to (only as a last resort) become ‘aggressive’ and ‘throw things’ at him or her. We are then advised to ‘call law enforcement’ and wait for their arrival (presumably, while more innocent victims are slaughtered)."
The FEMA-administered computer course, entitled “IS-907- Active Shooter: What You Can Do,” is a 45-minute tutorial that provides guidance to all employees on how to recognize indicators of possible workplace violence and what to do should their office be invaded by gunmen and focuses around three main options; either evacuate, hide out, or in dire circumstances, take action.
Main Points of the "Active Shooter" training course -
Evacuate: If there is an accessible escape path, attempt to evacuate the premises.
Hide out: If evacuation is not possible, find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you.
Take action: As a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the active shooter.
Once the course is completed, employees are urged to download additional materials including a summary booklet and pocket-sized card outlining protocol, which was also handed out to employees two months ago.
One DHS employee told FoxNews.com the instruction cards were handed out to employees six weeks ago. At the time, he assumed they were only for civilian employees, not armed law enforcement officers within the department, which oversees the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"Requiring BP agents to follow the same steps is egregious,” he said.
DHS officials maintain that the Active Shooter course was designed for all employees—civilian and law-enforcement officers-- and no one should rush into a situation where they, or others around them, could get hurt.
“The Department of Homeland Security takes very seriously its responsibility to protect all of its employees from threats that may surface in the workplace,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Friel said in a written statement to Fox News.
“CBP workforce training is designed to prepare all employees, including leaders, managers, supervisors, law enforcement personnel and non-law enforcement personnel, to understand their own roles and the roles of their fellow employees in responding to threats. In an active shooter scenario, employees are taught to take actions that keep them alive.”
But members of Local 2544 say they are obligated to protect the public in such a situation, whether they are on duty or not. Given the instructions, some wonder if they would be disciplined for taking down a gunman in a situation like the Fort Hood shooting or the January, 2011 case in Casa Adobes, in which a deranged gunmen shot 19 people, including Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Six people were killed.
“It is always comforting to know that for those of us who carry a weapon when we are off-duty, if we should encounter such a situation, stop a shooter and save countless lives, we can look forward to being disciplined or fired by the Border Patrol because we should have run away to hide and then maybe thrown objects at the deranged killer instead of taking action and stopping him with a firearm,” the union local's website says.
So now, if an Illegal Alien is crossing into the Untied States with guns and actually uses one - our security folks, our Border Patrol, is not to apprehend but instead are now being instructed to leave them alone, run the other way, and hide.
This is the backbone of what we get from Democrats, who are nothing be devious cowards, in charge of our safety and security along the border. This is a horrible situation that can only be remedied in the November Election.
The head of Homeland Security, Janet "I know nothing about security" Napolitano is as inept as they come when it comes to national security. She's a typical liberal politician.
In April of 2009, this was the headline in the news:
Janet Napolitano's Homeland Security Classifies Returning US Veterans as Potential Terrorist Threat
It was in April of 2009 that Homeland Security Chief, Janet Napolitano, had the gaul to "warn" Americans about "right wing extremists" and "the threat" that they pose to the United States.
Her policy basically lumped in people who are either pro-Second Amendment, anti-Abortion, anti-Illegal Aliens, or pro-smaller government, with White Supremacists and Domestic Terrorists. As crazy as that sounds, as absolutely egregious as that is - she wasn't finished.
Janet Napolitano also affirmed her belief that the men and women in our military, those overseas fighting on our behalf, are a bigger threat to America than Al Queada.
This is what Janet Napolitano thinks about our military men and women who are overseas fighting on our behalf:
"the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks"
That is was unforgivable at the time. And yes, its something that I won't forgive or forget.
Her Homeland Security Report read:
"Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities."
Yes, believe it or not, she said that our men and women coming home from doing battle for America was indeed America's biggest threat - bigger than Al Queda!
And now, from this "active shooter" situation card, it is very apparent that her total lack of understanding of security is not limited to her complete lack of sane judgement.
She is as worthless as tits on a boar, and the faster we get her out of that position and put a non-political knowledgeable security person in her place the better off America will be.
This is what we get when we have a Communist form of government in the White House, Stalinist political appointees who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
SECOND SHOT!
Pentagon crackdown on free guns riles some Police
In June, it was reported that the Defense Department fired off a round of letters warning State Law Enforcement Officials to track down every gun, helicopter, and Humvee that the military had given them under a $2.6 billion surplus program, or have their access to the handouts cut off.
The problem, according to the states: At least some of them had already turned over that information.
All the same, officials at the Defense Logistics Agency have stopped issuing weapons to thousands of police departments until they're satisfied they've had a full accounting of where all the giveaways have landed.
While some of the state liaisons said they don't expect major hassles complying with the broad review, others said Friday that the letters show the Defense Department's own troubles keeping abreast of paperwork and add another layer to an overly bureaucratic process that, on its face, is fairly straightforward.
The defense agency's Law Enforcement Support Office provides police and sheriffs' departments with equipment ranging from guns and helicopters to computers and air conditioners and even toilet paper. The goods are cheap or free to acquire, but much of them come with strict rules that prohibit them from being sold and dictate how they must be tracked.
Associated Press inquiries into how the program is administered in all 50 states and several U.S. territories, however, show that most of them only keep paper records, and the few states that keep electronic records only recently made the switch from paper.
"That's the problem with the entire program is it's paper-based when it should be automated," said Michigan National Guard Master Sgt. David Sass.
"The current program they have is inefficient and ineffective and truly not of the quality and value we need to accomplish our ultimate goal of property accountability," Sass said.
What worries Sass the most is being asked to certify, under the penalty of perjury, what law enforcement agencies tell him about the weapons they got from the Pentagon. The letters the Defense Department sent out late last month demand "a complete (100 percent) weapons physical inventory," in accordance with the program's rules.
Sass said there are more law enforcement agencies in his state than there are work days in the year and it would be impossible for him to personally check the inventory of each one.
"I'm quite concerned," he said. "Realistically, how can we be expected to verify that they have all their weapons without them being honest?"
The military decided to conduct a "one-time, clean sweep" of all state inventories instead of reviewing them piecemeal, said Kenneth MacNevin, a spokesman for the federal agency. While some gear, including guns, has been stolen or otherwise gone missing over the years, MacNevin said the reporting requirements themselves aren't new and that the review wasn't prompted by anything specific.
"Leadership decided to make sure we have a good, full accounting for all of this," he said. "We're not doing this based on any thought there's a problem. We're doing it because accountability is accountability."
However, MacNevin said the AP's ongoing inquiries and a pair of media reports were factors in the decision to send the letters. Only New Hampshire didn't get a letter; State Police Major Russ Conte, the state's liaison for the surplus program, said his office already had completed a full accounting.
The Arizona Republic reported last month that the Pinal County Sheriff's Office has stockpiled millions of dollars' worth of equipment through the program, distributing some of the gear to non-police agencies, and intended to sell other property, which would violate the program's rules.
"The Pinal County Sheriff's Office was audited seven months ago by the Department of Defense and were found to be in full compliance and today we are still in full compliance ...," sheriff's spokesman Tim Gaffney told the AP and the newspaper in an email Friday. "This decision to temporarily suspend the issuance of weapons has nothing to do with us."
A report in March by California Watch, which was founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting, found that California police accumulated more equipment during 2011 than any other year in the program's two-decade history. That follows the overall trend in the program, which last year doled out almost $500 million in gear, up by more than double from the year before.
Tim Hoyle, another spokesman for the Battle Creek, Mich.-based Defense Logistics Agency, said all weapons will be withheld until the accounting is completed.
In a letter dated May 24, the military notified Florida that it had failed to certify that it had finished its annual physical inventory of weapons, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers. The agency said it intended to suspend Florida from participating in the program if the certifications weren't received by June 22.
But Mike McClure, who supervises the state coordinator for the program, said the letter was sent in error, because the state had, in fact, completed its required audit.
"We should be receiving a letter from LESO in the coming days formally rescinding their earlier memo," the official, Mike McClure, wrote in a June 1 email to several colleagues.
Louisiana received an identical letter, but a state official said Friday it already had provided the right documents to Defense officials.
"They assured us that we should not have gotten the letter," said Michael DiResto, a spokesman for the state Division of Administration.
Defense Logistics spokeswoman Michelle McCaskill said the agency was standing by its decision to send the letters.
"There were some states where inventories have been completed but the certification paperwork has not been received and is still required," she said in an email Friday. "We have not rescinded any letters. The letters were tailored for each state to reflect what was needed from that state."
The surplus program has grown exponentially in recent years, with a record $498 million worth of property distributed in fiscal year 2011. That includes $191 million in aircraft alone and more than 15,000 weapons worth nearly $4.8 million. Military officials said the program has become more popular as law enforcement agencies sustain deep budget cuts.
Conte, the New Hampshire coordinator, said some of the other equipment law enforcement agencies receive through the program is more needed at times. "The weapons part of it is a small part compared to everything else, but it's an important part," he said.
THIRD SHOT!
Black man invades home, rapes and murders White woman age 85, and puts her husband, age 90, in hospital
Surprisingly, President Obama, Al Sharpton, and the rest of the other Black champions for racism and social injustice, didn't take to a moment or a microphone to denounce the hate filled racist actions taken by a 20 year old black man who broke into a home and utterly terrorized the elderly white family there.
This took place in March when they were so wrapped up in the case of 17 year old black boy Trayvon Martin attack on George Zimmerman which resulted in Zimmerman having to shot Martin, so they obviously didn't hear about a real racial hate crime taking place.
And sorry to have to be the one to educate the President, but yes, racism has not color. Racist can be found in all colors. Black people can be racist just as anyone else can.
A black man, Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, age 20, proves with absolute certainty that Black people can be racist and commit Racist Hate Crimes.
Tyrone Dale David Woodfork raped and murdered - he beat to death a nearly blind white woman - Nancy Strait, age 85, as well as tried to kill her husband, Bob, age 90. He ended up in the hospital serious condition.
And as for injustice, black Americans constitute about 17% of the general population - yet according to the Justice Department blacks represent 45% of drug offenders in prison - and blacks commit 52% of the murders in this country.
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| A great reason to bring back hangings! |
Nancy and Bob Strait, who had celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in December, were discovered by their daughter at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both the pensioners were rushed to hospital where Mrs Strait, who was nearly blind, died from her rape and injuries.
Home invasion? Or just another Black Racist Hate Crime? Oops, I'm sorry, I forgot that black people can't be charged with Racial Hate Crimes because black people can't be racist.
You bet! And if you believe that, then I've got some swamp land to sell you!
Someone should tell that to Bob and Nancy Strait when were both attacked when black burglars broke into their home in Tulsa to rape and kill 85 year old Nancy Strait.
Bob Strait, who served with honor in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II, suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs, severe bleeding, and a concussion.
Police have arrested black 20 year old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork in connection with the case. Besides Woodfork, there might be at least one more son-of-a bitch out there living with what he did. I can only hope karma comes around and gets him or them as well - in spades.
The Straits' distraught family paid tribute to the pair, who grew up in poverty in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression.
They met each other on a blind date on Thanksgiving in 1946, then married a month later and went on to have six children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren. They had recently welcomed a great-great-great grandchild.
Their daughters Lanora and Andra told Tulsa World that the couple were loving and generous people who would do anything for anyone.
"Dad never talked, and Mama never quit talking," Lanora said.
"Whatever she did, it came from the heart," Andra added.
The pair could be found sitting on their porch singing and playing the guitar during warmer summer evenings.
Bob Strait, who had worked for the oil derrick supply company Lee C. Moore before retirement, enjoyed woodwork while his wife loved making quilts and baking.
I'm sure President Obama would say, if he had a son that he would look a lot like Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, age 20. The scumbag was arrested a day after the attack on complaints of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two complaints of armed robbery.
The Straits both had been struggling with health problems before the attack. Bob Strait had been diagnosed with a terminal kidney illness but had outlived the doctor's prognosis.
"He was living because Mother was alive," Andra told Tulsa World.
The couple had had food poisoning the week before the attack.
"There is no one else who has been through what he's been through who is still alive," Lanora said of her father. "We pray he doesn't remember."
Tulsa police say the home invaders made off with their Dodge Neon, a television and $200.
Woodfork was later found hiding in a nearby house after a witness spotted the stolen vehicle being driven down the road. He is being held at Tulsa Jail without bail accused of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of armed robbery.
Why no rape charges?
"This investigation is far from over," Officer Jason Willingham of the Tulsa police department told Tulsa World. "We've still got a lot of questions that we still need answered."
Nancy Mrs Strait's funeral was held on the following Friday. The family has set up a fund called the Nancy Strait and Bob Strait Support Trust to help pay for the service and her husband's medical care.
It's hard for me to imagine how wonderful people like the Straits can live such a full, raised during the Great Depression, go off to fight in World War II, raise six children, have 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren - all after marrying a month after meeting - then this horrible thing happens.
If a court of sane people convicts the young black man, 20 year old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, for the rape and murder of an 85 year old white woman, and the beating of her 90 year old husband, then I hope they put him to death.
He is one of the lowest of the human race. He's one of the lowest that I've ever heard of. I know they won't, but I really wish they'd use a little Western Justice and hang him slow. Honestly, I don't think any punishment can be harsh enough for such an criminal act against humanity.
FOURTH SHOT!
Long Island New York Policemen demoted for being Republicans
On June 2nd it was reported that six Long Island cops claim their Commissioner is putting politics before the badge.
The Long Beach policemen say they’ve been targeted by the Long Island Democratic political machine for supporting Republican candidates in local elections last year.
Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney, a longtime Democrat, demoted the Officers, cut their overtime, switched them to midnight shifts, and even filed false internal charges against them for "political payback," the veteran officers claim in a $39 Million lawsuit.
"It's just the way politics work in this town," Tangney allegedly told one of the officers while demoting him.
Officers John Radin, 53; Benjamin Tayne, 47; James McCormack, 55; James Canner, 44; Karl Hayes, 42; and Jose Miguez, 39, claim they turned to their Union for help, but that then-president Stefan Chernaski, another Democrat, ignored them completely.
Chernaski had never worked as a detective, yet was put in charge of the detective division, bumping aside Canner, a decorated officer who supported the Republican opponent of Tangney’s wife, Darlene, in her Nassau County Legislative race last year.When Hayes learned of his January demotion from supervisor of investigators to sergeant, he “began crying hysterically for three to five minutes,” according to Brooklyn federal court papers. The stress of the demotions and suddenly being put on the midnight shift caused McCormack, a lieutenant who headed the traffic division, to retire, the suit alleges.
Radin, demoted from inspector to lieutenant, saw his monthly pay slashed from $18,000 to about $10,000, and he was moved to a small cubicle and referred to as “Jack in the Box,” according to court papers.
All of the officers involved, including Tangney and Chernaski, earned well over $130,000 salaries last year, according to See Through NY.
The town’s Democratic Party boss Michael Zapson sneered, “The fact that the gravy train is over for them, I’m not surprised they’re upset.”
Eric Rothstein, lawyer for the six officers, said the raises Tangney and Chernaski received offset any saving the city got by slashing his clients’ pay. “Politics doesn’t belong in the police department,” he said.
Former City Council President Jim Hennessy, a critic of City Manager Jack Schnirman’s government, slammed the Democrats as power mad.
“Everything is politics. It’s not about government,” he said. “It’s about getting power, holding power, keeping power, and going to town against anyone who threatens that power.”
The Democrat controlled city and the PBA have denied the allegations as "false" and "frivolous," and said they would aggressively defend themselves against the lawsuit.
For me, I've had to belong to a few different Unions in my time. And yes, I've seen this before. It was a situation where I went to my Union Rep for help in a bad situation. He refused me. Later I found out that he was getting money under the table by the very people who I worked for to keep me quiet.
So no, it doesn't surprise me that these Officers are not getting help from their Union because they are Republicans. Unions in America are controlled by Democrats and Organised Crime.
Besides the Union end of this, this makes me angry because in the case of this sort of thing is happening in a Police Department. And yes, in this case it is a kin to graft and corruption. There is a theme of blatant corruption and payoffs at the highest levels in that Police Department.
But what can those six officers do? Crooked Democrats have an ally in the Justice Department, they can most likely buy there way around a Federal or State investigation. All they really have to do is be a contributor to Obama 2012 re-election campaign.
FIFTH SHOT!
Christian Student Expelled Over Her Views on Homosexuality Loses Her Lawsuit Against Georgia’s Augusta State University
Yesterday, June 29, 2012, it was reported that Jennifer Keeton was expelled over her personal views pertaining to homosexuality.
So let's cut to it here, it is becoming more and more a part of life in America to punish people who have views on things that do not meet the liberal Political Correctness standards that have taken over the country.
Yes, there is a tricky and potentially-troubling situation going on when it comes to individuals who are studying counseling in college these day. If they happen to oppose homosexuality, or anything else not Politically Correct, then they may be expelled.
Jennifer Keeton, who is a Christian, learned this the hard way after she was expelled from the graduate program at Georgia’s Augusta State University in 2010 for expressing her disagreement with the same-sex lifestyle.
Now, two years later, she has lost a subsequent court case defending herself against the school’s decision.
Here’s what took place.
Georgia’s Augusta State University‘s program apparently stressed that students couldn’t "discriminate" against others based on any indicators, including sexual orientation.
But Keeton, citing her religious views, refused to alter her engagement with gay students and clients. It’s not clear exactly what Keeting said inside or outside of the classroom that created such a stir, but this is certainly an interesting First Amendment case.
While the school argues that Keeton deserved to be dismissed, the former student says that she, in fact, was the victim of discrimination herself - especially considering the fact that she was kicked out of the program explicitly over her personal beliefs.
She was initially put on probation and was told that she would need to follow a “remediation plan” to remain in good standing with the university. This plan, though, included sensitivity training, writing papers about tolerance and the lessons she had learned and attendance at gay pride events. Naturally, Keeton refused to comply and she was removed from the program.
“The case hinged on whether the policies governing the counseling program were neutral and generally applicable to all students, regardless of their religious beliefs,” World on Campus explains. “Judge J. Randall Hall, of the Southern District of Georgia, determined that they were.”
“Keeton’s speech and conduct were evidently impelled by the absolutist philosophical character of her beliefs, but that character does not entitle her to university accommodation and it is irrelevant to the court’s analysis,” Hall wrote, clearly showing favor for Augusta State. “Neutrality as a legal standard is immutable, it does not bend to the strength or tenor of personal conviction.”
Currently, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a conservative legal group representing Keeton in the case, is looking at options following the district court’s opinion and will soon make a decision about next steps.
I don't like the idea that any student can get expelled from an American university for having different views. Whether she was a counseling student or a business major this shouldn't take place.
There used to be a Conservative saying in the 1960s when the liberals first started taking control of America, "I might not believe in what you say, but I'll fight for your right to say it."
It's apparent that that is not how Georgia’s Augusta State University feels about their student's right to free speech or their right to think as they may.
I find it absolutely criminal that a school can demand the students to shut up about how they feel on any issue that may be Conservative or Christian in nature.
Our Founding Father were condemned for writing and talking about something called Freedom of Speech. I think they would have been fairly proud of Jennifer Keeton for standing up for what she believes in.
SIXTH SHOT!
Discrimination Is Not A Bad Word
OK, so here comes another of my ramblings!
One thing that I find interesting about cases like the one with Jennifer Keeton standing up for what she believes in - is the way people today use the word "discriminate."
When I was growing up, I remember hearing a man talk about a friend of my grandfather's who was a great judge of horses. He was said to have "Discriminating Taste."
I found that sort of interesting because I'd never heard the term before. It actual means "to note or observe a difference; distinguish accurately" such as when judging the conformation of a horse, or having to pick out clothing, or better made cars. Yes, it goes on. We do it everyday. Conscious or unconscious, we do. It's called being human.
We discriminate between things, good and bad, ugly or pretty, right and wrong, legal and not, safe and unsafe, moral and amoral. To discriminate between things that I admire and things that I find offensive is a very human trait.
We do it right and wrong. We all make distinctions in favor or against people and things everyday. I hate, yes I said hate, rapists and murderers and child molesters, people who use others, people who like to control others, cowards, mean drunks, racists of any color, drug users, people who harm animals, Communist because I've seen first hand what they do, and yes, the homosexual lifestyle being passed off as something more than simply just a lifestyle of choice.
And sorry to those out there who find my statement offensive, but the fact is that they have never found such a thing as a Gay Gene!
And contrary to popular belief, I don't hate Democrats. Some of my best friends are Democrats. I don't hate Liberals, I just hate what some of the radical bastards do! It's called having the ability to discriminate between actions that I don't like and those I do.
I love and respect our troops who are willing to fight and die for us, and prefer their company over come to find out wealthy Occupy Protesters. I love most horses but mostly Quarter horses with nice hind quarters. I like Hereford cattle over sheep, guns but not modern black guns so much, Old Cowboy Music and not today's excuse for Country Music where you can't even hear the words.
I like steak and eggs over salads, target shooting over cleaning my garage, Cowboy hats over any other, short rowel Roping spurs over Knob spurs, batwing chaps over shotgun style chaps, hunting and fishing over watching television, the smell of fresh cut lumber over smelly perfumes. That, my friends, is discrimination.
I love my nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, whatever color or ethnic background they happen to be.
Do I favor one niece and nephew over another because one might be part black and another part Italian, or one is part Mexican and another is part Hawaiian? Of course not, I love them all.
Would I like it, if one were not being a good parent or practicing a dangerous life style like doing drugs? I would not like it at all. That's called discrimination. And it's because I discriminate and understand what I like and don't like, that I have the ability to make sound judgements. It also enables me to say that it's my choice not to like certain things in life.
I discriminate daily on things I see on a menu, what I buy for myself to wear, and what people I associate with. We all do!
It is a human trait that I have no problem with. We all discriminate in one way or another so that we can see and mark a difference in the world around us. Sometimes it is simply discerning in matters of taste, and other times it may be something in depth that may have us researching to find out where we stand on the matter.
Today, the word discriminate has become a very bad word. The reason for that is the Political Correct slant that has been placed on the word to define the word to mean something conspicuously bad, offensive, and nasty.
The lie Liberals are trying to perpetuate is to say that discrimination is to make a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing on the basis of the group, class, or category to which the person or thing belongs rather than according to actual merit.
When they say "a new law discriminates against foreigners," they are trying to slant your way of thinking to the negative. They would not like it if the same statement read, "a new favors citizens over foreigners." No, they wouldn't - and that's why they have turned an innocent word into something bad.
No, discrimination is not a bad word. If you're smart, you discriminate to live better and wiser.
LAST SHOT!
Did One City Really Ban People From Putting Flags Near the Graves of Vets?
It's strange how some stories are just too close to home.
Just last night, I was asked to look into a problem with the cemetary in Angels Camp here in California about a 40 minutes from here.
Angels Camp has a small population of 3,835 according to the 2010 census. Mark Twain based his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" on a story he claimed he heard at the Angels Hotel in 1865.
Now I find out that the Angels Camp Cemetery is not allowing American Flags on the graves of veterans there. I'll be looking into this.
Mineral Wells, Texas, is a town of about 17,000 residents located 50 miles east of Fort Worth in Parker County.
Yesterday, June 29, 2012, it was reported that "The Mineral Wells City Council is reconsidering an ordinance that bans flags from being displayed at the graves of veterans at any time other than two weeks around Memorial Day and Veterans Day," CBS DFW reported.
The CBS DFW report went on to say, "The ordinance, which was passed last week, includes a host of regulations concerning what can be placed around city graves. Teddy bears and statues must be removed 21 days after the funeral. Mourners cannot place flowers near a grave site unless they’re in a vase."
So what made council members think this was a good idea? And yes, I'm sure many are wondering how they intended to enforce it?
The volunteer-staffed Cemetery Board pitched the idea to the City Council last week and, apparently, nobody thought that regulating the small comfort of putting flowers or a flag on a grave would, you know, really, really upset some people.
Of course, there was a backlash! People were very upset about this. City Manager Lance Howerton maintains the council didn’t mean any disrespect. Some find that hard to believe when considering the city supported the proposal.
"When a veteran tells you they love the flag more than life itself, they mean it,” said Robert Veach, an Army veteran whose father’s grave is located at Woodland Park Cemetery in Mineral Wells.
Veach was among a group of veterans who were unhappy with the ordinance and took their complaint to the city council.
“Maybe we have to raise the flag a little so it would be easier to weed-eat and mow,” Veach said. “It’s a symbol of the country; we can’t let it go without a fight. We can’t.”
I agree!
Story by Tom Correa
Why would any border agent run and hide from an active shooter? If I worked along the border and you shot at me, I will shoot right back. You are not about to ruin my job or day with a hail of gunfire. Hell 2 Da Naw Naw Naw. Ain't happenin' captain.
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