Outrageous Malfunction

John Jay has written an excellent series of articles called “The MSM misses the bout”: parts one, two, and three. He starts with a provocative point:

Take a look at the early 1960s, for example. If one is to go by the Boomer nostalgia for the period, the assassination of Kennedy is the watershed event for the period. In fact, the most likely (and I do not presume to have the final world on this) candidate for the seminal event of 1960 – 1964 is Kennedy’s commitment of troops to Vietnam. From this flowed a tremendous amount of history, and not just the further commitments of LBJ and the subsequent social upheaval in the US. If the officers I talked to in the late Soviet period are correct, the Vietnam War bankrupted the Soviet Union.

Further on:

But at the time, what were the great news stories, which still to a large extent dominate the thinking of historians about the period of 1960 – 1964? The assassination. The Bay of Pigs. Camelot. Useless drivel and a distraction to the serious study of history.

John then argues the most pivotal battle of World War II was one you have most likely never heard of:

“I remember well how, in the spring and summer of 1939, my curiosity was gripped by short newspaper accounts of an undeclared war that was raging between the Japanese and Soviet armies on a desolate stretch of disputed frontier lying between the client states of Manchukuo and Outer Mongolia.”

– Alvin D. Coox, Nomonhan

That battle, Nomonhan or Khalkhin Gol, depending on your perspective , was a watershed in the global conflict that rivaled its contemporary event, the invasion of Poland, in its significance:

All of this in terms of preface to his central thesis: what is most important is often not visible (at the time) in the media. If you recall (and I only have a fuzzy memory of it myself), there was a missing 727 somewhere in Africa after 11 September. John details the work of one man, Viktor Bout, and his behind-the-scenes lubrication of many of the armed conflicts since 11 September. Bout is either an arm of Soviet policy, taking money from all sides of all conflicts (including both sides of the Iraq war); a drug and arms smuggler working without explicit or implicit support of any state; or somewhere in between. I won’t steal John’s thunder; hopefully, you’ll find all three articles worth your time to read.

As I pointed out earlier, there was a small cluster of protection orders being violated in King County. The Seattle-PI noticed and wrote a short bit on it. Of course, they walk around the elephant in the room while describing the shadow cast in great detail. So close, yet, so far.

Q: A few nights ago, Seattleite Nate Molsee was driving south on Interstate 5 through Lynnwood just after sundown and came upon an SUV in the lane to his left without its headlights on. Rainy weather and the dusky light made the vehicle practically invisible, he said. He wasn’t sure what to do. “Should I have followed the example of some of the other drivers and flashed my lights, or pulled over and called 911?”

A: State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins says in a case like that, flash your lights once. If the other vehicle’s lights don’t come on, the driver may be drunk or under the influence of something else, “and it’s probably worth calling 911 from your cellphone.”

In Washington state, it is illegal to flash your lights at someone.

Someone yet un-named and Debra Lynn Bonilla have both paid the ultimate price for relying on the police to protect them.

A Seattle man has been charged with second-degree murder, accused of repeatedly stabbing his wife with a 13-inch barbecue fork in front of their two young children Friday.

What a sweetheart.

A man served with an anti-harassment order early Saturday morning is suspected of later killing the very woman he had been tormenting, then attempting to kill himself.

I hope he roasts in hell, too.

Joe writes:

What would happen if some KKK member in political power put pressure on Wal-Mart to “retain the recorded images” of blacks/Jews/Gays that made purchases “in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation”?

The bar is even lower. What if one employee that is a member of the KKK copies off all of the names, addresses, and photos? Remember, 4473s have to stay in the bound book at the FFL location. Digital records don’t. The bar for abuse is very low indeed.

Remember, folks, when the police want to talk to you the proper response is “I need to talk to my lawyer first”.

Video: Mike is under oath - the police aren’t

Video, transcript here

There are conflicting reports today in the shooting death of an 80-year-old man. Isaac Singletary died Saturday after a gun battle with undercover officers involved in a drug sting in front of his home. Police say they’re not sure who fired first, but Singletary was hit several times. Witnesses say the officers never told Singletary they were undercover and that he never should have been killed. Mike Tolbert reports from Jacksonville, Florida.

Reporter: The folks on Westmont Street may not have known the name of the man who lived in this house, but they knew what he would not tolerate.
“Pops says whatever you do out in the street or over on the side of the fence, that is your business, but you’re not going to bring it in this yard.”
Reporter: So when Issac Singletary saw a drug deal going on in front of his house, he wanted them gone and took action.
“The man didn’t know that they were actually police officers because this man is like this about the whole neighborhood. He do not like people in his yard.”
Reporter: Police are still trying to figure out if the officers told Singletary they were cops. Right now, they just don’t know.
“If you have the opportunity to identify yourself we will identify yourself but if you got and individual that’s got a firearm then you have to do what you have to do based on your training and try to protect your life and the life of others.”
Reporter: After several recent shootings by JSO, many in the community are fed up.
“We are tired of what happened at emerson arms and then it comes down here to southside.”
Reporter: It’s why cops made a special effort to show that Singletary was armed, showing the tree in his yard hit by bullets from his gun. But on Westmont Street, emotions are still raw after a man who had the respect of those on the street was gunned down doing what they say he always did — protecting his property.
“It’s like I see him because I looked in his eyes. I see how his pain. I felt the pain for him.”
Reporter: Gary Evans says his uncle Isaac had grown tired of the drug dealing around his house and wanted cops to come and clean it up.
“He would call me and say yeah, Gary some undercover officer was out here today. Picking up the boys around here. He would welcome that and those were the very same ones that took his life.”

in a comment on the post below, Bovine pointed out a video from the ACLU that you should watch.

it has a running time of 46 minutes; well worth it. The original source has tshirts and the like for sale.

Partial transcript of audio; video you may watch yourself.

Officer #1: I was trying to have a conversation.
Brett: I didn’t want to have a conversation. You stopped me officer in the middle of the road.

Here we have the story of a suspected armed robber meeting a violent end. Feel free to read the bit about his dog and how his family can’t imagine why he got shot. Here’s a clue: he may have beat some guy and stole that guy’s playstations. The
police may respond with a more aggressive profile if you’ve got an armed robbery warrant than if you have outstanding parking tickets. Why did they dog get shot? It’s doctrine that police kill dogs when serving warrants. Police can’t cuff and stuff a dog like a human; the dog won’t allow the indignity.