Category Archives: News

How the US gave guns to Mexican cartels

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The Border Gun ScandalBy John Dodson

In September 2009, John Dodson, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was assigned to the ATF’s Phoenix office. What he found there shocked him. The bureau was encouraging gun dealers to sell weapons in bulk to known straw buyers, who would funnel those guns to Mexican drug cartels. Known as Operation Fast and Furious, it ended with the death of at least one American law enforcement officer. Dodson became a congressional whistleblower, and the investigation into the operation is ongoing. In this exclusive excerpt from his new book, “The Unarmed Truth,” Dodson explains how tragically inept Fast and Furious was.

‘It’s like the underwear gnomes,” my ATF colleague Lee Casa told me one time as we recounted the latest bizarre goings-on in Phoenix.

“What?” I asked.

“You ever watch ‘South Park’? There’s this episode where all the boys get their underwear stolen by these underwear gnomes. They track them down to get it back and one of them asks why they are stealing everyone’s underwear. The gnomes break out this PowerPoint and reveal their master plan: Phase One: Collect underpants . . . Phase Two: ? . . . Phase Three: Profit.”

“We’re doing the same thing,” he explained. “We know Phase One is ‘Walk guns’ and Phase Three is ‘Take down a big cartel!’ ”

Both of us were laughing now; a more fitting and appropriate allegory could never be found. Casa concluded, “Just nobody can figure out what the f–k Phase Two is!”

What was happening did at times almost seem like a spoof. Letting guns “walk” was a tactic that I had never before seen or even contemplated. It simply wasn’t done.

I couldn’t understand how anyone could argue that allowing guns that ought to have been in law-enforcement custody to go to known or suspected criminals — people who shouldn’t have been near a gun, people who almost certainly would be passing them on to Mexico’s most brutal drug cartels — wasn’t madness.

Read more at the New York Post

Should We Bail Out Cities?

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iALF7L8oomuABy Megan McArdle Nov 26

In the latest City Journal, Steve Malanga writes about an issue that hasn’t yet gotten a lot of attention but is virtually guaranteed to become a serious topic of national debate in the not-so-distant future: Do we bail out cities that have become insolvent?

Malanga quotes a Steve Rattner op-ed from the summer: “The 700,000 remaining residents of the Motor City are no more responsible for Detroit’s problems than were the victims of Hurricane Sandy for theirs, and eventually Congress decided to help them.” Rattner is right, of course; Detroit was largely undone by massive structural changes in the auto industry, which now employs only a small fraction of the people that it used to. And yet, there’s more to the story, isn’t there? Detroit’s biggest problem is the combined burden of its pension funds and retiree health benefits. And the reason that its pensions are in such a state is that they were bizarrely mismanaged by people who apparently didn’t quite get fifth-grade math.

It’s true that it would be easier to deal with these problems if Detroit were more like New York and less like, well, Detroit. But it’s also true that if Detroit had been responsible about its pension contributions instead of underfunding the pensions while simultaneously handing out extra benefits above and beyond what the city already couldn’t afford, its retirees would not now be facing dire straits. New Yorkers did not get to vote for the corrupt Detroit politicians who appointed the terrible Detroit pension managers who made all of Detroit’s problems so much worse than they had to be. Why should they have to pick up the check for all those mistakes?

Read more at Bloomberg

Treeson in Williams! (Again)

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131130-066WILLIAMS—Williams lit the city Christmas tree to highlight its Mountain Village Holiday. The event kicked off with the annual Parade of Lights leading to the lighting by Mayor John Moore and Santa Clause. While the crowd waited they sipped hot chocolate and cokes handed out free by the Grand Canyon Railway which runs the Polar Express.

Mayor John Moore scans the crowd for Santa after the parade no doubt wondering if he is on the "naughty" list.

Mayor John Moore scans the crowd for Santa after the parade no doubt wondering if he is on the “naughty” list.

The parade this year was one of the best. Lasting almost an hour entries can from Flagstaff and Williams. And there were plenty of fire trucks from Williams, Junipine and the forest service. Churches from Williams also came out to celebrate the birth of the Savior.

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Mayor John Moore and Santa countdown to the ceremonial lighting of the tree.

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IS IT REALLY 79,000 YEARS until the next Thanksgivukkah?

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I was astounded to read that this rare event – Thanksgiving and Hanukkah – might not occur again for 79,000 years! Here’s why:

Well, almost never. If the Jews don’t ever abandon the calculations based on the Shmuelian calendar, Hanukkah will keep getting later and later — moving through winter, then into spring, summer, and finally back into fall — so that tens of thousands of years from now they will again coincide. But long before then the springtime holiday of Passover will have moved deep into summer, so be on the lookout for a memo with a calendar update in the next several thousand years.

But another source (A Jewish source) says it will be 2070AD! But it will be the next to last time.

You’ll notice that these dates are getting further and further apart. That’s not just FDR’s fault. Both the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar are slowly drifting in relation to the actual solar year—but at different rates. After 2165, Chanukah would have completely drifted out of November—unless one of these calendars (or Thanksgiving) is changed.

More at Virginia Right

CIA reveals it turned Gitmo prisoners into double agents in exchange for millions of dollars cash, the promise of safety for their families and PORN

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At the same time the government used the risk of terrorism to justify imprisoning people indefinitely, it was releasing dangerous people from prison to work for the CIA.

It was a nod to the classic Beatles song and a riff on the CIA’s other secret facility at Guantanamo Bay, a prison known as Strawberry Fields.

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Penny Lane: Officials have revealed that the CIA trained terrorist prisoners as double agents at a top secret Guantanamo facility codenamed Penny Lane in the early days after 9/11. The facility, now abandoned, is the white rows of buildings at the center of this satellite image

The CIA turned some Guantanamo Bay prisoners into double agents then sent them home to help the U.S. kill terrorists in the early years after 9/11, officials have revealed.

The CIA promised the prisoners freedom, safety for their families and millions of dollars from the agency’s secret accounts.

It was a risky gamble. Officials knew there was a chance that some prisoners might quickly spurn their deal and kill Americans.

For the CIA, that was an acceptable risk in a dangerous business. For the American public, which was never told, the program was one of the many secret trade-offs the government made on its behalf. At the same time the government used the risk of terrorism to justify imprisoning people indefinitely, it was releasing dangerous people from prison to work for the CIA.

The program was carried out in a secret facility built a few hundred yards from the administrative offices of the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The eight small cottages were hidden behind a ridge covered in thick scrub and cactus.

The program and the handful of men who passed through these cottages had various official CIA code names.

But those who were aware of the cluster of cottages knew it best by its sobriquet: Penny Lane.

More at Mail Online

Bicyclist hit by US Forest Service truck to dispute ticket

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A bicyclist who was ticketed after he was hit by a US Forest Service pickup Saturday in north Fort Collins said he plans to dispute the citation in court.

Roger Hoover, 51, said he was slowly riding his bike in front of the law-enforcement truck, which was blocking the crosswalk, when it pulled forward and hit him. He was ticketed with leaving a place of safety into the path of a moving vehicle.

“I thought that basically any time somebody runs over a pedestrian with a car, that it’s the car’s fault,” he said. “Apparently not.”

Read more at the Coloradoan

St. John’s Advent concerts start Sunday.

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St. John's Episcopal Lutheran Church; Corner of Grant and Second Street.

St. John’s Episcopal Lutheran Church; Corner of Grant and Second Street.


WILLIAMS—The Seventh Annual Advent Music Series sponsored by St. John’s Episcopal-Lutheran Church begins Sunday December 1 and runs each Sunday until the 22nd. The concerts begin at 4 p.m. in Walker Hall. The Church is located at 202 West Grant Street where it intersects with 2nd Avenue.

The concert on the 1st is a traditional lesson of scripture, readings and music in English and Spanish concerning the birth of Jesus. A Blue Grass Christmas with Julie and Roger Sullivan and friends will be held on December 8. On December 15th there will be traditional music with Rita Borden on the piano and Bert Herclerode on the tuba. The final music will be Susan “Squared” with Susan Kerley and Susan Hendricks on the piano.

A reception will follow each concert. There is no charge for the concerts but donations are appreciated.

Top Secret: Do not read unless you are authorized.

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Flag-military-surplus
black-opsTHIS IS A SHOPPING ALERT. IT IS RUMORED THAT HIGH-END BOX STORES SHALL BE CONDUCTING OPERATIONS KNOWN AS “BLACK FRIDAY” SALES. THESE OPERATIONS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO ATTRACT LARGE CROWDS CAUSING EXTREME TENSION AND SCUFFLES IN OBTAINING ITEMS WHICH ARE ESSENTIALLY USELESS IN AN URGENT SITUATION.

FLAGSTAFF MILITARY SURPLUS HAS ISSUED NOTICE OF A COLLISION AVOIDANCE MISSION KNOWN AS THE BLACK OPS FRIDAY SALE. 33% OFF OF EVERYTHING IN THE GUN CASE, 40% OFF OF ALL CROSSBOWS AND BLOWGUNS OR 20% OFF OF ANY ONE ITEM OF YOUR CHOICE. NO RAIN CHECKS, SPECIAL ORDERS OR COMBINED DISCOUNTS.

STOCK INCLUDES BACKPACKS, SLEEPING BAGS, TENTS, WINTER AND LIGHT GLOVES, MEALS READY TO EAT (MRES) AND OTHER NECESSITIES WHICH MIGHT BE USEFUL IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION. OR FOR JUST HAVING FUN CAMPING AND FISHING.

FURTHER ITEMS INCLUDE PINS, HATS FOR VETERANS OF VARIOUS ERAS, BUMPER STICKERS AND MILITARY MEMORABILIA.

YOU MUST ACCEPT THIS MISSION. HOWEVER, IF YOU CANNOT ACCEPT THIS MISSION, CALL THE NUMBER BELOW IMMEDIATELY AND FIND OUT THE “SECRET” COMPONENT OF THIS SALE.

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION.

MESSAGE ENDS.

Operational Area
Further Information and contact
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One-Day Closure Planned Nov. 27 for Parks/Garland Prairie Rd

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FLAGSTAFF––The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) announced today that the railway crossing located on South Garland Prairie Road just south of Interstate 40 will be closed in both directions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Crews will repair concrete panels along the crossing and conduct required maintenance to the railway. The closure is necessary for safety reasons and to prevent further damage to the crossing that could pose a future hazard.

Located approximately 23 miles west of Flagstaff and 17 miles east of Williams, the Parks/Garland Prairie Road railway crossing provides area communities located on the south side of the railroad tracks with access to I-40 and north-side communities such as Parks. These south-side communities include the Pine Aire subdivision and neighborhoods in the Garland Prairie area.

During this closure, commuters from the south side of the railroad tracks will need to detour westward along Garland Prairie Road for approximately 19 miles and use the “Bootlegger” crossing near Woods to access I-40 or communities north of the highway.

Coconino County Public Works is working with BNSF to place signage and to disseminate notification regarding this closure to the community.

For more information about this project, please contact Joe Pointer with BNSF at 928-241-0669.

Applications Sought for Coconino Community College Governing Board Vacancy

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Those in Williams #3 District must apply by 5 p.m. Dec. 6

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Coconino County Superintendent of Schools Robert Kelty is accepting applications to fill the Williams #3 District vacancy on the Coconino Community College Governing Board.

The seat has become vacant due to the resignation of Jack Hadley. Superintendent Kelty has determined that an appointment to fill the vacant seat best meets the needs of the community and CCC.

The term of this appointment will run from the appointment date through Dec. 31, 2014. To be eligible to serve on a school district governing board:
• A candidate must be a registered voter of the State of Arizona;
• A candidate must be a resident of the school district for at least one year prior to the appointment;
• A candidate or their spouse may not be an employee of the College nor can that person be a county official while their term is still active.

Those interested in serving on the CCC Governing Board should submit by mail, fax or e-mail an application to Coconino County Superintendent of Schools Robert Kelty at 2384 N. Steves Blvd., Flagstaff, AZ 86004. Interested parties can also fax their application to 928-679-8077 or e-mail cgarrison@coconino.az.gov.

An application for appointment can be found online at www.ccesa.az.gov under the Elections page. All applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. Dec. 6.

For more information, please call Cathleen Garrison at the Office of the Coconino County School Superintendent at 928 679-8070 or e-mail at cgarrison@coconino.az.gov.