The Beltway Outsider

From The Associated Press:

Resentment of the U.S. government and suspicions over the 9/11 attacks have surfaced in writings by the Californian identified as the gunman who shot two Pentagon police officers before he was mortally wounded in a hail of return fire.

John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., was identified as the shooter. Officials said they’d found no immediate connection to terrorism but had not ruled it out.

Signs emerged that Bedell harbored ill feelings toward the government and the armed forces, and had questioned the circumstances behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In an Internet posting, a user by the name JPatrickBedell wrote that he was “determined to see that justice is served” in the death of Marine Col. James Sabow, who was found dead in the backyard of his California home in 1991. The death was ruled a suicide but the case has long been the source of theories of a cover up.

The user named JPatrickBedell wrote the Sabow case was “a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions.”

That same posting railed against the government’s enforcement of marijuana laws and included links to the author’s 2006 court case inOrange County, Calif., for cultivating marijuana and resisting a police officer. Court records available online show the date of birth on the case mentioned by the user JPatrickBedell matches that of the John Patrick Bedell suspected in the shooting.

There has been a public relations campaign lately promoting the idea of “right-wing extremism” foisted upon us by the likes of the Southern Poverty Law Center and David Niewert. I wonder how they will classify a liberal from California who grew pot, resisted authority, harbored 9/11 conspiracy theories, and tried to murder two police officers at the Pentagon a “right-winger”? I’m sure they will try, stay tuned.

By the way, what motivates the SPLC to create these crazy claims tying innocent folks to terror and extremism? Well, there is an old saying… Follow the money!

From NBC-4:

The investigation of a D.C. police detective (AKA an “Only One”) accused of pulling his gun during a December snowball fight is complete, and it looks like the detective will go back to work.

Watch the video below for the original incident. Take note of the attitude this public servant displays when the public demands his identification so a complaint can be made. He feels he should be able to anonymously threaten unarmed citizens with his handgun because his Hummer got a little snow on it, but you and I are kept defenseless against the criminal element in the same city.

And I do have one question for Chief Lanier: When are you going to charge Detective Baylor with reckless endangerment, brandishing, impeding traffic, etc? Or is “professional courtesy” being extended here?

I regularly read a liberal blog called “Crooks & Liars”, it’s on my link sidebar. The site interests me, has decent video clips of news items, and it gives me a feel for what the left is thinking. One point I regularly take away from that site is they (liberals)  HATE guns and are largely ignorant of the facts and issues behind gun ownership and usage. They simply focus on the negatives and call for more restrictions. Today the site owner, John Amato asks the question “Can corporations bear arms” in light of the supreme Court decision that corporations have 1st Amendment rights:

Since the Roberts Court has now ruled that corporations have the same rights as people and overturned decades of laws regulating their speech, I’m wondering: Do they now have the right to arm themselves by employing Blackwater-type mercenaries and post them all over their office buildings?

Will Wal-Mart post armed guards in their parking lots?

Seems like a natural consequence. If corporations can enjoy full First Amendment protections, wouldn’t they likewise get Second Amendment rights?

What John fails to understand, as he is blinded by his infantile views of firearm ownership is that corporations already have the right to bear arms, and those rights are even more liberal than the citizen’s individual right to own a gun. Case in point: It is far easier for a corporation to acquire fully automatic machine guns (the REAL kind, NOT an AR-15 which I’m sure John thinks is a machine gun) that a private citizen:

In areas where a person cannot acquire a Law Enforcement Signature because these people would rather violate your rights than let you own one of these items, there is another way. BATF allows Corporations and Trusts to acquire machine guns, silencers, etc. without having to complete the Law Enforcement Certification part of the form. If you have your own Corporation, or you are an Officer in a Corporation, the Corporation can acquire these items, and you, as a Corporate Officer, can keep the item at your home, take it to the range shooting, etc. just as if the item were registered to you. If the Corporation ever dissolves, the item must be transferred out of the Corporation to another individual or Corporation (or Dealer). Because a Corporation is not a person, an FBI fingerprint check is not required which reduces the transfer approval time to about 30 days.

So yes John, corporations CAN post armed guards in their office buildings. Have you never been to a bank before?

Ladies and Gentlemen, John Amato – liberal and clueless.

I lifted this word for word from The Coast Guard Compass. This is powerful stuff, it shows the grit and determination of those assisting in rescue efforts down South, and I am proud that brave men and women like HS1 Berman are representing the United States in Haiti. 

Today (Saturday) was day three that the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma and Mohawk manned up the small Haitian Coast Guard Medical Clinic. All three days, we have treated the local Haitian people for broken bones, lacerations, huge open wounds, etc. The outer court yard is filled with desperate people wanting medical attention.Myself and HS2 Elias Gomez have taken the lead on who gets treated and who has to wait. Both boats are helping in some capacity or another, medical treatment, security, supply room, small boating Coast Guardsmen back and forth from the ships. So, many people from the two boats are helping. Some have to man the daily operations of the two boats, but everyone is eager to volunteer to come ashore and lend a hand. HS2 Gomez and I, and a couple of people with EMT experience, have training on mass casualty scenarios, but in that situation there are helos and ambulances to take people to hospitals. Not so here. Until today, we have treated the people and they stay. Their homes are wrecked, the streets are clogged, and there have not been any medevacs. Today, day three, was the first day that we got a few people out; I think the count was 10. The primary goal each day has been to treat and evac those needing amputations. My happiest moment came this morning as one man with a left crushed arm, 30 medical staples and sutures to the face, and a scalp wound was evaced to a hospital. The first day, as triage goes, we thought he was near death so we deferred to stronger amputations who were a mess, but much alive. The following day, when we saw that he was still alive, HS2 Gomez and I decided that he would be our priority. That was yesterday. I scrubbed what was his arm with Betadine, tourniqueted the arm and wrapped it in a red contamination bag. HS2 stapled a huge facial wound with the medical staples and sutures. HS2 Elias Gomez was a master, caring for the patient. I cleaned maggots from his scalp wound and sutured that up. We also hit him up with antibiotics. As I said, today he flew to a hospital. That my friends was an outstanding moment for HS2 and myself.  

We have treated more patients than we can count, then they go out to sit in the outer court yard. 

The scene includes about 30-40 Coast Guardsmen and about 20 Haitian volunteers with various experience. A couple of Haitian nurses and doctors have joined us, but the leadership of the clinic has been HS2 and myself. I believe that the Haitians have recognized the discipline and order that the Tahoma and Mohawk have demonstrated. OS1 Sweetman, YN1 Winslow and ETC Frownfelter have lead the security for the compound. They keep order. The Mohawk has taken leadership over the supply room. I wish that I could tell you their names, but there is one Chief that has done a great job with the stock room. 

Both Mohawk and Tahoma crewmen are willing to do anything. I have seen our Engineering Officer LT Sanzo out in the courtyard bandaging people. I saw our Executive Officer LCDR Fisher hold the hand of a little girl while her wounds were being painfully scrubbed. I was able to come and administer a small amount of morphine to the little girl which made the XO’s job easier. 

Today was the first day also that the decision was made to use morphine. The compound fractures and skin ripped off some of their bodies warranted it as we had to clean the infected wounds. Morphine is mercy. 

For the past 3 days, Tahoma and Mohawk have had to make hundreds of decisions on how to help these people. We are all exhausted. We are all running on adrenalin. We are working in the heat, sweating. No one goes to the bathroom until be get back to the ship from 0830 to 1715 Hrs. Both Gomez and I have been ordered to take breaks. It is non-stop. Today, I had to ask what day it was. I had no idea. Thank God we are starting to get a few people out. Tomorrow we hope to get at least 12 of the worst out. 

A baby is born to a young Haitian woman on the deck of the CGC Tahoma. 

Today at about 1430 I finally obeyed our XO and YN1 Winslow to take a break and eat. Then after about 15 minutes I was called on the radio to get back to the clinic. Someone was going to have a baby! I ran from the pier to the courtyard, about 200 yards to see a 21 year old Haitian woman sitting and looking weak with people holding her hand. 

She told me that the baby had not moved since that morning. I felt her abdomen and could not feel the baby move. She appeared to be full term. Gomez, who from here on out I will call by his first name, Elias, brought her into the clinic and got her up on a table. We examined her to see if she was crowning which she was not. We could not feel the baby move at all. We both placed stethoscopes on her and could not hear a sound from the baby. As best as we could we were beginning to think the worst, so after we were told that there would not be any more flights out, the command listened to us and got her and one more amputee to the Tahoma for medevac. 

A short time later, I was shouted to by OS1 Sweetman to get to the small boat back to the Tahoma, a baby boy was born on the flight deck! What? 

As I got in the small boat, a Lieutenant who I had never seen before was in the boat next to me. After 3 days of prayers God sent us a Flight Surgeon. Elias and I and many of our church members have been praying for a surgeon to help us. I apologize, as I write this at 2339 Hrs, after a long day, I can not recall his name. 

The crew of the Tahoma delivered the baby. I know that OSC Watkins and DC2 Schrewsbury and about 15 others had parts in the delivery. The Flight Surgeon and I got there and assessed the health of the mother and baby boy. I took the vitals and listened to the baby’s heart. It was making sounds now Elias! Pink, warm and well. The flight Surgeon lead the delivery of the placenta on the flight deck and several of us cleaned the baby after its first BM. Then they were medevaced off the hospital. 

To my great joy, the Navy arrived. Two surgeons from the USS Carl Vinson and 3 Medical Corpsmen came to join us. Help has arrived. Tomorrow fresh minds will lead the clinic. To be honest with you, Elias and I could run the clinic for a 4th day, but we are slowing, just a bit, after making all the decisions at the camp involving medical care. I do not think I could pull a day 5. 

Tomorrow, Elias and I will be able to perform the way we prefer. The Medical Officers make the tough calls and we follow their lead. Tomorrow we will get a break, I think, and take lesser roles. However, we are told that we are starting earlier. Rather than leave for the clinic at 0830, tomorrow, which comes in 7 minutes, we leave at 0730. 

I am writing this to wind down. Everyone on the CGC Tahoma and CGC Mohawk has a story to tell. There are dozens and dozens of stories of brave acts from the crew and the Haitian people. Oh, we all felt the earth shake today. It was a small but noticeable shake. 

HS1 Larry J Berman
Independent Health Services Technician
“Ship’s Doc”
USCGC TAHOMA (WMEC-908)
United States Coast Guard 

Looks like I won’t be voting for anyone in VA-35 this year, both candidates are idiots who support gun control. Mark Keam, and ex K Street lobbyist even went so far as to send several mailings to me decrying the “gun show loophole”. I used those mailings as target practice at the range, along with anything else Keam sent to my door. Jim Hyland thinks VA is a major source for crime guns in NYC and is happy we have one-gun-a-month rationing in addition to closing the “gun show loophole”.

Well, that makes things easy for me at least: If a candidate can’t think straight about a Constitutional right, they cannot be trusted to make other laws, or be trusted with my vote. I will be voting this year, just NOT for either of these two clowns.

Further reading: Candidates Differ Little in Chamber Debate

I moved to Northern Virginia in 2003, and I one thing that has been constant since my arrival is the slow death of  Springfield Mall , currently owned by Vornado Realty Trust . When I first visited the mall it had almost all of its available space leased to retail tenants (which is good). But it was dirty, smelly, and not pleasant to walk around in. For some reason the trash dumpsters for the food court were placed next to two major entrances and they smelled of horrible rotting waste, especially during the summer when outside temps easily reached 100 degrees daily. The retail stores were decent, but I could not understand why mall management was allowing its image to be ruined by bad smells and dirty appearance. Fast forward several years to present day. The mall is a skeleton of its old self, half the retail stores are vacant, and it looks even dumpier than before. Supposedly the reason for the decline in retail stores are  renovations at the mall and Vornado needed the tenants to leave so their space could be redone (the leases were not renewed). Vornado even sought approval for demolition of certain areas of the mall for the renovation work, this link will show all zoning and construction requests for the mall. The current news is Vornado wishes to change Springfield Mall into a “town center” style property, kind of like Reston has done.

But why is Springfield Mall such a hotbed for criminal activity? And why is that criminal activity so serious in nature, ranging from armed robbery, muggings, kidnappings, shootings, and frequent deaths? Part of the answer lies in the fact that the mall is located about 1/2 mile from the Springfield Metro station. Thugs and criminals from other parts of the DC metro area ride the trains to Springfield to commit serious crime in a place where their victims are likely to be unarmed and defenseless (more on that later). Looking at the police reports and news stories for several years you will see that almost all of the suspects who have been captured and convicted committing serious crimes in the Springfield Mall area are from Maryland and the areas served by the Green Line of the Metro system. The Metro is their conveyance to come to more affluent areas in Virginia to rob, mug, carjack and sometimes kill victims who are more well-to-do than victims in their own areas might be.

Also, the victims have one less protection: by Springfield Mall’s very own “Rules of Conduct”, visitors to the mall agree to disarm themselves of weapons, even if legal to carry them unless they are an “Only One“. What’s an Only One you might ask? See the bottom of this post for an explanation. So, the mall disarms law abiding customers by rules and codes of conduct, and cannot or will not protect its disarmed customers once outside in the parking lots and garages. Yes, you can ask for a security escort out to your car, but what good will Springfield Mall’s unarmed security guard do to protect you from a thug with a handgun? The unarmed mall guard is simply a speed bump to be dealt with as efficiently as possible on the criminals path to you, his ultimate victim.

So, what’s the point to this post? First, I want everyone reading this to be well aware that Springfield Mall is not a safe place. If you shop there you’re literally risking your life. And Springfield Mall doesn’t care about your right to defend yourself. Second, I call on everyone who takes this sort of thing seriously to boycott Springfield Mall until they reverse position on lawful self defense and concealed carry of handguns on their property. If you feel compelled to tell Springfield Mall why you won’t be spending money there here is their contact info.

What are “Only Ones”?

From The Daily Telegraph (UK):

Scouts will now be a little worse prepared after they were banned from carrying their traditional penknives (pocketknives -IB) due to the fears of those in charge of health and safety.

Here’s a brief (VERY brief) history of crime control in the UK:

1996 Dunblane Massacre  kills 16 children and one adult.

1997 The UK bans pistols. Not even the UK Olympic team is spared, they must leave the country to conduct pistol practise.

1997 – present: Because firearms are illegal, knife crime and knife murder is skyrocketing in the UK. Also, due to firearms being turned into mystical taboo items, the common Brit is horrified if they even come across a single .22 short bullet.

So, where does that leave the Brits? Well, for one thing, if they are scared of .22 short shells laying in doorways you can bet they will also go pale if they see a young boy use a knife to whittle a new neckerchief slide, build the derby car, or carve a regatta sailboat. All of which are traditional scout activities. Ladies and gentlemen, the pussification of the young man has truly begun, in the UK at least.

Miss Burgin, who offers lessons in carving using penknives, added: “If you teach children to use a knife properly they won’t abuse it. If someone wants to cause harm they will do it anyway. It is a real shame it has come to this.”

That Miss Burgin sounds like she has her head screwed on right. We can create all the laws and policies we want, but only the peaceful will abide while the criminal reigns supreme. I hope and pray this nanny-state nonsense never comes to our shores.

Hat tip to David Codrea – The War on Guns

From WTOP News:

If you’re headed to Union Station Wednesday, expect to see extra police. They’re part of a massive security exercise called Operation ALERTS.

Officers from more than 100 federal, state, local, rail and transit police agencies are participating in a counterterrorism exercise. The exercise is being conducted at 150 railway stations in 13 states along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

Heads up, if you plan to open carry (in Virginia only of course) on Amtrak be prepared to see a larger police presence. They may possibly conduct a “consensual stop” on you if they see you carrying. What is a consensual stop? It’s when an officer is not detaining you, but is asking questions to determine what you are up to. You are free to leave of shut up at any time and you are not under suspicion (yet). Consensual stops sometimes lead to probable cause for further detainment, I’d advise not speaking to police about any topic outside of the current weather conditions.

From The Washington Post

It took $833.69, a total of 15 hours 50 minutes, four trips to the Metropolitan Police Department, two background checks, a set of fingerprints, a five-hour class and a 20-question multiple-choice exam.

Is this what the Founding Fathers meant by “Shall not be infringed”? That the common citizen should waste a whole bunch of time and money simply to enjoy a freedom allowed by our Bill of Rights? Who set this system up this way and why?

But as my four trips to the police department attest, D.C. officials haven’t made it easy. Which was exactly their intent. The day the Heller decision was announced, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) vowed that the city was still “going to have the strictest handgun laws the Constitution allows.” Fenty decried the ruling, saying that “more handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence.”

Well, Chairman Mao, err…. I mean Gray your city’s scheme is still unconstitutional, and you’re being sued again! Gee, I wonder if you’ll win this time? And Mayor Fenty, can you show how many of these newly registered handguns has caused an uptick in “handgun violence”? (I’ve never seen a handgun commit violence, I’ve only seen a human commit violence with a handgun) No? None of them have? How long must we wait?

And how things done in Virginia, according to Post writer Chris Davenport:

If I lived in Virginia, I’d simply walk into a shop, show my ID, fill out forms and then wait while the store calls for my background check, which can take all of three minutes. If I pass, the gun is mine. Or I could buy a gun from a private citizen and forgo the background check. No safety course required (unless I’m applying for a concealed-handgun permit, which is not even an option in the District). No need to register the gun with the government (unless it’s a machine gun, which is, again, not an option in the District).

Wow, how refreshing! I should have named this post “A tale of two cities” but Virginia isn’t a city now, is it? It’s too bad D.C. can’t come to its senses and figure out that keeping the citizens unarmed leads to more violence. You may as well fill a fish tank full of goldfish and then let loose a couple predatory fish like piranhas in the tank. The goldfish are the citizens and the piranhas are the criminals. Swell idea, eh? Well that’s exactly what D.C. has done and they seem quite happy about it.

From National Motorists Association:

#6 Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. is overrun with ticket cameras. They even have ticket cameras installed on their street sweepers. The city has also been criticized for ticketing motorists in their own driveways. Over a six-year period, the District has issued more than 500,000 citations and $32 million in fines via automated tickets.

And WTOP:

As far as photo enforcement tickets are concerned in the District, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier tells WTOP the Metropolitan Police Department has mailed out more citations this year than ever before.

“Year to date, for red light cameras, 81,249 tickets and 489,892 speed camera tickets issued so far,” said Lanier on WTOP’s Ask the Chief program Thursday.

There’s a good explanation for why the numbers are up: There are simply more cameras watching drivers.

We’ve added some cameras and technology out there,” Lanier said. “Currently, we have 49 red light cameras, all of which are operating. We have 10 fixed and 12 mobile radar units.”

See, D.C. is like an immature teenager. It wants, wants, wants, but doesn’t have the budget or tax base to afford. It wants to dole out entitlements to citizens who won’t work. It thinks it’s entitled to have a world class baseball team and the $610M baseball stadium to go along with it. It wastes money here, it wastes money there. All the while the critical infrastructure is falling apart. Schools are in disrepair and the roads will rattle your cars suspension to nothing in a few years.  How do you feed the never-ending appetite of a city that can’t budget within its own means? Why you install these traffic devices to shake even MORE money from your citizens and the tourists who visit daily. Every few months DC tries to bring up the idea of taxing commuters from Maryland and Virginia. When will this madness end? Can’t congress swoop back in and take responsibility for the city once more? You know, how the Constitution says the city should be run?