Outrageous Malfunction

Four former Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputies were sentenced
to prison Wednesday.
Five deputies pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the abuse of Lester Siler in June of
2004. The deputies went to Siler’s Campbell County home because they suspected drug
activity.

Their assault of the suspect led to their firings and charges against them. They were
accused of violating Siler’s constitutional rights.
Siler’s wife secretly taped the deputies while they were in the Siler home.

In one excerpt of the tape, Deputy David Webber is heard saying to Siler:
“Let me tell you something. We’re gonna know everybody that’s supplying you. We’re
gonna know everything about your business today. And you’re gonna take us and where
you got your money, we’re gonna take every dime you have today, and if we don’t walk
out of here with every piece of dope you got and every dime you got your (expletive)
(expletive) is not going to make it to jail. And if you think we’re joking, we’re
not.”
Before sentencing on Wednesday, the deputies’ attorneys painted a very different picture
of the men facing the judge.
“Sammy has a history of good deeds, not only in the community but nationally. He served
in the military for years, he served on the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department for
17 years. He truly has never had a single complaint filed against him,” said former
Deputy Samuel Franklin’s attorney, Andrew Roskind.
Friends and family accompanied the men to the Howard Baker Federal Courthouse for
their sentencing, and the deputies had hundreds of letters of support from family,
friends and community members.
The judge took this all into consideration, but
David Webber was sentenced to 57 months in jail; Samuel Franklin and Shayne Green
received sentences of four and a-half years each, while William Carroll will spend
four years and three months behind bars.
That is too much time, according to family members.
“I can’t describe it, it seems unfair, he did wrong, but it just don’t seem right,”
said Shayne Green’s brother, Gary Green.
But Lester Siler’s family says they are satisfied.
“Mr. Siler and his family respect the judgment that was handed down by the court today,
and they look forward to moving on with their lives,” said Siler’s attorney, Kristie
Anderson.
On Tuesday, another of the five deputies, Joshua Monday, received a sentence of six
years.
Herryn Riendeau , Reporter

Katie Allison Granju , Producer

Officials
say man killed while making bomb

By BARBARA
RAMIREZ

Tuesda05-y,-30, 2006

A Longview man died Monday night while making a bomb he intended to use in retaliation
against federal agents, said local fire officials.

James Charles Torrence, 38, who faced possible jail time for multiple federal indictments
from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration,
died in his North Longview home while putting together one of two homemade bombs.

Fire officials believe Torrence made the bombs to retaliate against authorities with
the ATF and the DEA, whom Torrence believed had built a case against him, according
to Brian Howell, Longview Fire Department’s assistant fire marshal. Documents inside
the home listed names of several ATF and DEA agents, Howell said.

The Longview Fire Department responded to Torrence’s home in the 200 block of Rowe
Avenue shortly before 8:30 p.m. The home is about one mile south of Judson Middle
School.

Fire officials determined a bomb had exploded inside the home, and agents with the
ATF were called, Howell said.

Inside, they found a substance that could be methamphetamine and illegal weapons,
including a machine gun and a pistol with a silencer. A second pipe bomb also was
found.

Howell said Torrence had turned one of the home’s three bedrooms into an office and
used the office to build the bombs.

While putting the second pipe bomb together, the bomb exploded, instantly killing
Torrence, Howell said.

Fire officials took the second bomb to a field behind the home and set it off, Howell
added. Neighbors within a 300 foot radius of Torrence’s home were ordered to evacuate
their homes, Howell said.

Torrence’s girlfriend was inside the home but was not injured.

“This could’ve been a lot worse,” Howell said.

It couldn’t have been much better, though.

House Republicans cheered Bush’s decision to seal the records seized from Jefferson’s
office, because they believed the raid violated Congress’s prerogatives.

But some worried that the constitutional victory for Hastert would be a public-relations
problem for the rest of them. They fear that the nuances of constitutional principle
will mean little to voters who conclude that the GOP, which aims to be the “law-and-order”
party, is now on the wrong side of the law by challenging law-enforcement officials
pursuing a bribery investigation.

“It’s a challenge” to explain to constituents, said Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif. “People
are painting this as members of Congress being above the law.”

Controversy
finds Hastert as former Bush loyalist becomes critic

Leading the effort is Eleanor Dachtler, who lost her 19-year-old son during an insurgent
attack in Iraq and received her son’s Purple Heart posthumously. Currently, the families
of those who die noncombat deaths say they receive medals honoring their loved one’s
service, but nothing recognizing their death.

Troops’
families seek alternative medal for noncombat deaths

An AP Television News cameraman and an AP reporter were beaten by protesters but not
hurt.

Afghans Riot After Deadly
U.S. Truck Accident

A fan from Michigan teaches auto racing at a large circuit. The daughter of one of
his students wanted to come learn. She flew out and showed up at the track in an rented
Chevy Cavalier. She outran the other students, middle aged balding guys with Corvettes
and 911s. Why? Simple: she paid attention to the instructor and was smooth and steady
and took the right lines, not posing while ham-fisting a lot of horsepower to try
to make up for patience and skill. The dudes were really ticked, especially that they
were outrun by a GIRL, and a 16 year old one at that.

Sure, if you’re a pro driver you’re good enough to elicit every ounce of performance
from a car and will be limited by its performance, but if you’re like most people
the car, camera, running shoes or whatever have little to nothing to do with your
performance since you are always the defining factor, not the tools.

Ken Rockwell, Your Camera Does
Not Matter

Playing around with flickr; this is one of my favorite panoramas I’ve produced. I
like that the colors are vibrant and the lighting fairly even.

Click for a larger view.

When I need customer service I try to have everything ready the first time I ask for help. I want to have a good interaction and respect the time the CSR (in this case, the owner of the company) is spending with me. Brian, however, doesn’t think like that. Just an idea of what some customers (well, non-customers - this guy never bought anything) are like to support. I was there when the penultimate email came in; both Lyle and I spent some time trying to tease meaning out of it. None of these arrived in context, or with the previous emails attached in any way. I’ve mostly deleted the dark blue on light blue font information to save your eyes.

From: Some Loser
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 6:47 AM
To: UltiMAK
Subject: (no subject)

Hello,
I have a Hungarian SA-85 AK and was wondering if the black or green stock you have for sale will fit it? It has a stamped receiver and will I needed and parts like a tang block or anything? I would like to get the model that is 1.25 bigger than the regular. Thanks Brian

These are perfectly reasonable questions. Answers:

We have the AKBSL(H) available for the Hungarian stamped receivers. The Hungarian AKs use a slightly different forend, so you have to specify when ordering. We have the Hungarian stocks only in black. If you wanted a green stock, and you were handy with a Dremel tool, you could fairly easily convert a standard forend to fit the Hungarian AK with a little cutting at each end, using your original forend as a pattern. This is in fact what is done in manufacturing the forends for the Hungarian - the regular forends are cut. The price of the four piece kit is $89.99. Since the SA-85s came mostly with thumbhole stocks, be advised that you must have a U.S. mage trigger set (trigger, hammer, and disconnector) and probably a U.S. made gas piston or magazine followers and floorplates. You can have only 10 imported parts if you’re going to convert to pistol grip configuration, and I’m counting 14 on your AK with all U.S. furniture and imported magazines. You need to replace at least four parts in addition to the new stock set. See Red Star
Arms for a list of relevant parts and for the necessary compliance parts; http://www.redstararms.com/

Best Regards,
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

A little while later:

From: Some Loser
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 12:05 PM
To: UltiMAK
Subject: [Spam] Hello, again……

Hello,
I was reading through your products and seen you have an adaptor will it fit the Hungarian SA-85 I have ? Thanks a lot I hope you have some of those m-16 grips or know where to get them Thanks Brian

Reply:

Take a close look at figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, on this page; http://www.ultimak.com/AKStockR&R.htm

If your receiver is like the stamped one shown, our AKSA stock adapter will work. If it is any different, it wont work. The ARG-B pistol grip is no longer available. The SA-85 rifles that I’ve seen have all had “thumbhole” type stocks. Therefore there is a high probability that converting this rifle to a pistol grip configuration would require the replacement of several other parts to bring it into compliance with import restrictions. See this page for more information; http://www.redstararms.com/ext17.htm

Best Regards,
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

A little while later:

From: Some Loser
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 6:47 AM
To: UltiMAK
Subject: [Spam] Hello, I had a question about your site….

Hello,
You know the 2 piece AK set the are selling with the rails on sides and bottom? Will the bottom half fit a Hungarian SA-85? I guess the top won’t? Do you have any black tops besides the 95.00 dollar one that will fit? Would a black Synthetic upper fit like in Model# AKBSW and if so how much could you sell one for I’m just looking for the upper? Thanks Brian

For context, UltiMAK sells an optic rail for the SA-85 for $95. This guy (apparently) wants the TDI optics rails, which are cheap and widely available. UltiMAK doesn’t sell these.

Do you want the optic mount, or just a black upper handguard? If your SA-85 has the shorter gas tube we have the M7-B optic mount for that; http://www.ultimak.com/m7.htm

If you want the three-rail forend system, our ACR2-SS and our new ACR2-SC (even shorter, but not yet listed) will fit the Hungarian AKs. You can see a photo of the ACR2-SC here; http://www.ultimak.com/pic5a.htm

Our ACR2 has three Picatinny style rails (right, left, and bottom) and it is one piece. The optic mount mentioned above has one Picatinny rail on top. The optic mount and the ACR2 can be used separately or they can be used together. If all you want is a black synthetic upper handguard, we have those for as little as 10 dollars. Just call me and you can order one over the phone - 208-883-4734.
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

More data!

From: Some Loser
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 1:10 PM
To: UltiMAK
Subject: Re: Hello, I had a question about your site….

Hello again,
So you are saying the regular black forend w/ the 3 rails that you can almost order anywhere cheaper than dirt, shotgun news that won’t fit A Hungarain SA-85? Are you sure? It’s the lower that I’m talking about also I do need just a regular cheap upper that will fit my SA-85! You said they where only 10 bucks? Let me know what you have as in cheap uppers and please answer my first question if you could Thanks Brian

Brian wants tech support for a product he isn’t buying from UltiMAK, that UltiMAK has never sold. He also apparently suspects that because he gets two emails a week, Lyle also gets only two emails a week.

First, I didn’t say one word about any regular black forend (lower handguard), so I’ll start over from the beginning; Assuming your 85 has the 7 inch gas tube (only you would know for sure) any of our
ACR2 forends will fit it if they are ordered for the correct receiver type. All three models (Compact, Standard, and Long) go for 220 dollars. They have full-length rails, they’re CNC machined from aluminum. They are designed to hold zero extremely well for those mounting laser sighting modules, and they are extremely rugged. The cheaper ones you refer to are plastic and have very short rails on the front. If your 85 has the shorter (AMD-65 type) gas tube, the only ACR2 that we have that will fit it isthe ACR2-SC.
Now, to discuss synthetic forends (lower handguards); The Hungarian AKs we’ve seen have a unique forend cap that requires a slight modification to the front of the forend (lower handguard). We have pre-modified ones, just like our KVFS-B, that will fit right on, but if you were handy with making the modifications yourself, you could use virtually any synthetic or wood forend designed for your receiver type, including the cheap rail forends sold, as you say, by so many other vendors.
Any upper handguard for virtually any AK should fit your gas tube. We have a 10 dollar upper and a 14 dollar upper. They have a slight difference in finish. The ten dollar upper comes from the CHOS-B set and the 14 dollar one comes from the AKBSW.
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

Brian apparently thinks Lyle has a huge archive of email that he searches constantly for reference. “the email before I sent the last”. I was in the shop when Lyle got the next email - we spent some time trying to figure it out.

From: Some Loser
Sent: Monda05-y,-01, 2006 5:39 AM
To: UltiMAK
Subject: Re: Hello, I had a question about your site….

Hello again,
OK in the E-mail before I sent the last I was asking about the lower forearms. What I need is a cheap black plastic upper forearm for my hung rain……. No wood finish or anything Think you can heap me with that? Mine is the shorter one I believe.

We gave up.

I don’t what “hung rain” means. If you want to order a black synthetic upper handguard for an AK, give me a call - 208-883-4734 with your credit card ready.
Thanks,
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

He’s a little faster on the draw this time!

From: Some Loser
Sent: Tuesda05-y,-02, 2006 8:48 PM
To: UltiMAK
Subject: Re: Hello, I had a question about your site….

Look
man I meant Hungarian if you have a problem than fuck off

this is the end… my only friend, the end…

Some people I can understand in one single question, after which they receive the correct information in one single answer. That works when we both speak and write the same language. Come to think of it, I’ve had an easier time communicating with some Europeans. It seems they study English more seriously than some Americans. I can’t read minds - I can only respond to questions that make sense to me. For that I do not apologize. And don’t worry - fucking off is what I do for a living. By the way, some Hungarian AKs have a standard upper handguard, and some have a longer one. We sell only the standard ones. If your Hungarian is the M70 series with the 7.5 inch gas tube (overall length), I know of no one who is producing a synthetic handguard (upper or lower) that will fit that rifle.
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

A few hours later, a correction:

From: Lyle Keeney
Sent: Wednesda05-y,-03, 2006 10:25 AM
To: Some Loser
Subject: RE: Hello, I had a question about your site….

Correction; All the Hungarian AKs we’ve seen use the standard upper handguard, and they use a slightly modified lower handguard, both of which are widely available.
Lyle Keeney
UltiMAK

Note from Lyle:

Skimming back through, one problem was he never included any previous communications in his replies. Since I don’t have time to chase all that crap down, I’m going blind on each reply. Start at the bottom and work up. It turns out I answered his question back in July, and again, exhaustively, in April, but he never understood anything I told him, apparently. Maybe he just wanted to get a ping from me every few weeks and didn’t care a whit about content

Spokesman-Review’s reporter has a video up. Here’s the blog entry. Here’s the newspaper article - we were front and center on page A1.