Thursday

The magic phrase: "I was in fear for my life"

Your natural rights of self-defense, and any residual rights that the Constitution and Bill of Rights once guaranteed, go straight in the crapper when a Cop says: "I was in fear for my life"!

Oops Wrong House: Cops Mistakenly Confront a Judge, Her Family at Gunpoint


Broward Circuit Court Judge Ilona Holmes, her sister and her sister’s family says they were ordered at gun point by several Broward Sheriffs Deputies on Easter Sunday to come out of her sister’s home with their hands up.

It was no evening of peace for the Deerfield Beach family, who’d just finished dinner with friends and family, and sent extra Easter dinner to a needy family connected with their church. Then, at 8:20 p.m., police got a call about a possible burglary next door. But a bad address caused police to go to the wrong home.

“Do I feel safe?” asked Carmita Scarlett, the homeowner and sister of Judge Holmes. "No, absolutely not. No, no. So much confusion, so much anger. So much, almost like, resentment. You know, ‘you made the mistake and,’ I told them, ‘I'm the victim and you're upset with me?’”

The call to police said there might be a burglar inside 235 Southwest 4th Street. But there is no 235. Only 236 and 230.

Arriving police outside spotted someone inside 230 – Neville Scarlett was in the kitchen cleaning up the Easter dinner plates - and thought he might be the burglar.

He was not.

Moments earlier, the same person who called police also called the Scarlett’s to warn them about a possible burglar outside. Fearful, Carmita lowered the kitchen window shade. That’s when she heard someone hit the window with something metallic. She says she saw a gun pointed directly at her.

"There's a man with a gun and he's going to shoot me!!" yelled Carmita. “I thought it was the robber!" Her sister, Judge Holmes, came running to the kitchen. The judge carries a legal firearm and immediately pulled it out and held it in her hand.

"She said ‘Who are you!? What are you doing?!’ He said ‘this is BSO.’ She said, ‘this is Circuit Court Judge Ilona Holmes!!’” Carmita said.

"'I'm the owner of this home. I'm Carmita Scarlett. Why are you at my home?’ I kept saying that. They said ‘put your hands up and come outside,'" she said.

Judge Holmes, perhaps borrowing from real life conflict she sees in her own courtroom, immediately cautioned deputies that she was armed so there’d be no misunderstanding.

"They said, ‘Come out with your hands up!’ She said, ‘I am Circuit Court Judge Ilona Holmes. I am armed.'"

They all slowly went out through a side door. “She was putting the gun down. They yelled, ‘put the gun down! Put the gun down!’ Right there, the cop had his gun pointed at her.”

Judge Holmes, surrounded by deputies with guns drawn, slowly put the gun on the grass, announcing it as she went. She was holding a cell phone in the other hand. When she began to place that on the ground, police began yelling.

"When she went to put that down, they yelled, ‘Get away from the gun!’ She said ‘everybody calm down. I'm putting my cell phone down’."

At that point, a higher-ranking deputy recognized her and called on his team to lower their guns, according to Carmita.

“The one that first recognized her, he picked the gun up, opened it up, took the bullets out, he started giving her a speech: ‘Judge Holmes, you know, these guys may not know who you are. I know who you are. This could have been so different.’ And my sister said, ‘everyone of ya'll know me. Ya'll been before me’.”

Oh my, what an Easter Sunday Carmita had. She and her husband and granddaughter have seen stuff like this on TV and never believed it. "There's no way that cops would really - because I've never had a run in with the cops - really go in and do stuff like that," she said.

And now what does Carmita believe?

"Oh God.” She buries her face in her hands.

It was a communication meltdown from the beginning. The neighbor across the street originally called police to say she thought there was a burglar in the home of Pastor Brown across the street because the caller thought she saw lights going on and off. Instead, police went to the house next door, the Scarlett's home.

Judge Holmes, one of the very few black judges in Broward County, saw justice from a whole new perspective. Tuesday night she was in her courtroom conducting a late–running trial and would not comment.

Judge Holmes has hired former U.S. Attorney and old friend Kendall Coffey, who says they're concerned about what happened but won't say whether she is considering legal action. He cautioned against reading too much into the fact that she brought him in to represent her and field questions while she’s in trial.

A BSO spokesman wouldn't comment Tuesday night but did confirm the timeline, address and original burglary call. Police in South Florida often say they routinely must make certain people confirm who they say they are before lowering their weapons.

But Carmita was downright angry. Remember the man outside her kitchen window who pointed a gun at her? Still wearing her pajamas and footies, she approached him afterward. “I said ‘you had a gun pointed at me!’ He said ‘because I felt threatened.’ I said ‘threatened how?'"

She said other officers explained to her that they have families, too, and they want to make it home alive each night. But she says they did so in a condescending way, lecturing her as if she’d done something wrong.

“I know no one apologized, OK? And, to me, if you want to make amends for something, you want to make peace, you apologize, you shake, you leave, you say ‘I'm sorry,’" she said. "And, you know, the cop that had his gun on me, he said ‘well, I was fearing for my life.’ I said ‘really! You were fearing for your life? Really?’ He said ‘forget it - I'm out of here.'"

Carmita says she just wanted someone that night to apologize.
==================================

Being LEO means NEVER having to say you're sorry! Welcome to OUR world judge!


Wednesday

If you read nothing else today...

Please go and read this article by John Galt, aka Shenandoah. be sure to watch the embedded video clips as well.

Focus people! There WILL be a test!

The Largest Detention Camp in World History is Almost Complete



Sunday

A hard look at the evidence of Easter

The English journalist, Frank Morison (real name Albert Henry Ross) was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in 1881. He died in 1950.

His finest work, still in print, was "Who Moved the Stone?" - essential reading for anyone who doubts the truth of the Easter story.

Influenced by the skeptics of the time, Morison began writing his book to prove that the Resurrection of Christ was a fabricated story. The more he probed, the more he came to believe in its authenticity. In fact the first chapter is entitled "The Book Which Refused to be Written".

When I first read "Who Moved The Stone?" I was struck by the forensic skills which Morison used to assemble both the case for the prosecution and the case for the defense. It is investigative journalism at its best.

The book includes a moving and vivid description of the betrayal by Judas, Christ's trial and death, and the accounts of the Resurrection. Some of the chapter titles give a flavor of the style of the book: "The Real Case Against The Prisoner"; "What Happened Before Midnight on Thursday?"; "Between Sunset and Dawn"; and "The Witness of The Great Stone."

For a person to honestly appropriate the title of Skeptic, shouldn't that require a good faith and objective review of the evidence presented beforehand?

Friday

Concerning rainbows, unicorns, Marxists and useful idiots

The Earth worshiper’s supreme holiday is upon us, and the faithful are as dogged as ever in pursuit of their goals. What goals you say? Well judging by the comments of a few of their “high priests” I think it’s fair to summarize their goal as the complete eradication of any technologically based human civilization, and perhaps even the elimination of the human species entirely! (I use the religious metaphor because I do see the enviro-whacko crowd as religious fanatics. They have all the irrational fervor of Muhammud Ata crashing his plane into the WTC)


The right to have children should be a marketable commodity, bought and traded by individuals but absolutely limited by the state.

—Kenneth Boulding, originator of the “Spaceship Earth” concept (as quoted by William Tucker in Progress and Privilege, 1982)

We have wished, we ecofreaks, for a disaster or for a social change to come and bomb us into Stone Age, where we might live like Indians in our valley, with our localism, our appropriate technology, our gardens, our homemade religion—guilt-free at last!

—Stewart Brand (writing in the Whole Earth Catalogue).

We must make this an insecure and inhospitable place for capitalists and their projects…. We must reclaim the roads and plowed land, halt dam construction, tear down existing dams, free shackled rivers and return to wilderness millions of tens of millions of acres of presently settled land.

—David Foreman, Earth First!

Everything we have developed over the last 100 years should be destroyed.

—Pentti Linkola

What we’ve got to do in energy conservation is try to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, to have approached global warming as if it is real means energy conservation, so we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.

—Timothy Wirth, former U.S. Senator (D-Colorado)

I suspect that eradicating smallpox was wrong. It played an important part in balancing ecosystems.

—John Davis, editor of Earth First! Journal

We advocate biodiversity for biodiversity’s sake. It may take our extinction to set things straight.

—David Foreman, Earth First!

Human happiness, and certainly human fecundity, is not as important as a wild and healthy
planets…Some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along.

—David Graber, biologist, National Park Service

(Note that many of these people are ALREADY in positions of authority over you!)

These are but a few of the comments. Go to the source and read them all, and marvel at the raw insanity of these people! And keep it solidly in mind that most (if not all) of them still drive their cars to work, live in air conditioned homes, and drink “city” water. Hypocrisy thy name is Environmentalist!

I’m going to reveal my own brand of religious fervor here: God must sit and gaze in amazement at His own creation which arrogantly strives to shove Him off His own throne and take His place. I seem to recall that Lucifer tried that same thing and was rewarded with an ass whooping of epic and eternal proportions! See Isaiah 14:12-17




There is ample evidence that if you scratch an "earth worshipper" there is a marxist or communist underneath.

Thursday

Something for the Confederates among us

The following is an anonymous comment made in response to Arctic Patriot’s Request for Perspective. Though that post inspired many great and thoughtful comments, this particular gentleman has perfectly captured my own view, and I thought it worth sharing with you my readers (all two of you).

To the anonymous author: If you read this, drop me a line @yahoo. I want to ask you about cemeteries, deer hunting clubs, and pickup trucks! [wink]


AP, first off let me say that I have read your posts and believe I have read enough to say you have my endorsement as an adopted Southerner. It is more of a state of mind than a physical location. Second, slavery was wrong and I believe the South would have voluntarily abolished it although it would have taken many more years. The great irony to me is that blacks today are on a much more sadistic and evil "plantation" than they ever were on a cotton, sugar or rice plantation. Back then at least they weren't patronized and played for fools the way they are by the present day democratic party whose main interest is keeping them impoverished while telling them something else.

I was born in the great state of Georgia (the southern part) and have lived here my whole 39 years. While I do have a college education and am a bit on the higher side of the intelligence bell curve I make no effort to hide my southern accent. My family reunions sound like Gone with the Wind and many of my family are buried in a graveyard alongside CSA veterans.

All through my "education" I was taught how we were wrong and the north was right. I then began to think for myself more, and read, and use common sense and the Constitution as anchor points and grew to understand why there is a faint undercurrent of resentment always present as it pertains to the "war of northern aggression". The more I learn the more I despise that bastard Lincoln and when my kids get older will make sure they know he wasn't the saint he is portrayed to be. Don't even get me started on Sherman, there are still reminders all around where I live of what that sorry no good son of a whore did. I hope he burns in agony in hell to this day and for another thousand years.

Most of us stay pretty quiet and tend our own business. Many Southern boys have fought and died under the United States flag and we will defend her today but rest assured many of us would muster pretty quickly to the tune of "Dixie", not to enslave anyone but rather to divorce ourselves from the moral relativism rampant in urban society today and this oppressive behemoth of a FEDGOV. These boys on Wall Street and DC (ETC.) can keep figuring ways to screw people and shopping for $400 pairs of shoes. We'll keep growing things, distilling things, shooting and catching things, sharpening things and doing things. I believe the next one will be a little different because of the number of us who are Southerners in our hearts even in places like Alaska and the plain fact that the ones who do want Uncle Sugar to grow have gotten damned soft in the last 146 years.

I drove past Ft. Sumter today but couldn't attend because of other business. My heart was with them though as I know what yesterday and today mean. I wish I could sign off here with a Confederate battle flag because it is not a symbol of hate, to me it is a symbol of individual states rights that have been stomped on for a long time now and the time will come again when those states rights are reasserted.

Wednesday

And the American Police State marches on...


Michigan: Police Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops

ACLU seeks information on Michigan program that allows cops to download information from smart phones belonging to stopped motorists.

The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.

ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous.

"Law enforcement officers are known, on occasion, to encourage citizens to cooperate if they have nothing to hide," ACLU staff attorney Mark P. Fancher wrote. "No less should be expected of law enforcement, and the Michigan State Police should be willing to assuage concerns that these powerful extraction devices are being used illegally by honoring our requests for cooperation and disclosure."

A US Department of Justice test of the CelleBrite UFED used by Michigan police found the device could grab all of the photos and video off of an iPhone within one-and-a-half minutes. The device works with 3000 different phone models and can even defeat password protections.

"Complete extraction of existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags," a CelleBrite brochure explains regarding the device's capabilities. "The Physical Analyzer allows visualization of both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth. In addition, location information from GPS devices and image geotags can be mapped on Google Maps."

The ACLU is concerned that these powerful capabilities are being quietly used to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

"With certain exceptions that do not apply here, a search cannot occur without a warrant in which a judicial officer determines that there is probable cause to believe that the search will yield evidence of criminal activity," Fancher wrote. "A device that allows immediate, surreptitious intrusion into private data creates enormous risks that troopers will ignore these requirements to the detriment of the constitutional rights of persons whose cell phones are searched."

The national ACLU is currently suing the Department of Homeland Security for its policy of warrantless electronic searches of laptops and cell phones belonging to people entering the country who are not suspected of committing any crime.

===============================

GR4U - I think that the next time I hear someone say "Well it's a free country", I'm gonna punch 'em right in the nose!

I am an aggressive driver, I admit it

I have to admit that I am prone to road rage. There are certain behaviors among drivers that absolutely drive me nuts! Driving too slowly in the lefthand lane, tailgating, and two cars driving side by side for long distances are some of the things that tempt me to throw caution to winds and crash my vehicle into the offender.

This article from the National Motorists Association really spelled it out pretty well.

Are you a Clover Driver?

I think this paragraph hit the nail directly on the head:

The true Clover, you see, is not merely a bad driver. He is a bad driver on a tear; angry at the world and in particular, anyone who who doesn’t view the world in through Clover-colored glasses. That would be anyone who doesn’t automatically worship The Law (any law; every law) or who isn’t consumed by a desire to make sure everyone else obeys The Law.

Monday

What I learned in the Marine Corps

The Marine Corps taught me the sort of practical things that all men should know but don’t these days like how to shoot a weapon, survive in the wilderness, navigate by compass and map, and take care of your feet.

The Marine Corps taught me the true meaning of words I had only before read about in Shakespeare: honor, obligation, courage, fidelity and sacrifice. These were no longer merely a part of some story from an epic script on war, but real memories about real men in war.

In the Marine Corps I learned what it means to be truly happy and what it feels like to be truly sad. And I realized neither had anything to do with me but both had everything to do with the unit and the definition of a meaningful life.

In my travels I learned that life isn’t very easy for most people in this world. And that we are blessed to have won life’s lottery and to have been born in this country.

I learned that freedom is impossible without sacrifice and neither matters very much without love.

I learned that it’s not what’s on your chest that counts, but what’s in your chest.

I learned that standards matter. I was taught the importance of discipline. And of letting go from time to time.

I learned that all it takes is all you got.

I learned a good NCO is worth his weight in gold…a good Staff NCO is absolutely priceless.

I learned it is important to write letters to yourself along the way because the details will escape you.

I learned there is a difference between regret and remorse.

Phase lines help you eat an elephant. Which is true with so much in life I suppose.

I learned that apathy is the evil cousin of delegation.

The Marine Corps taught me about physical courage, team work, the absolute virtue of a human being’s great adventure and that all men fall.

With respect to tactics, I’ve found it most critical to never say never, and never say always.

I learned the importance of a good story shared among friends. Or a good glass of scotch enjoyed in solitude. Or of the importance of sailing away until you cannot see the coastline anymore…and then coming home, a better man.

I learned that faith matters. And that aside from the importance of believing the universe is so much bigger than any one man could ever comprehend, I learned that I truly believe in the power of a great bottle of wine, the courage of the enlisted Marine and the tenets of maneuver warfare.

I discovered my morality.

I learned how to fight in the Marine Corps…and my time in bars with my brother-Marines has taught me that contrary to our own self-perpetuated mythology, not all blood that Marines shed together is on the battlefield.

The Marine Corps taught me how to think aggressively. How to respond under pressure. How to perform. How to live excellently and that nothing is more important than the mission or the Marine.

The Marine Corps taught me how to laugh – deeper than I ever thought imaginable – and how to cry. And that a warrior’s tears reflect his soul.

Finally, the Marine Corps did more for me than I could have ever done for it…it gave me an extraordinary adventure to live that is mine and that I will never for the rest of my life forget.

And then there’s this last irony…

That I would have the honor of spending these years studying and practicing the discipline of warfighting alongside the wonderful modern Marine-hoplite only to realize that what I learned had so much less to do with war and so much more to do with love.

How do I feel in the 72 hours since I’ve left the Marine Corps?

I miss it already.

Read the full article here

Friday

An extraordinary compilation of Obama's lies and goofs




The Old Jarhead has put together the best list yet of the Mighty Kenyan's lies and verbal blunders. It's definitely worth a couple of minutes of your time. We cannot allow our fellow citizens to forget what a dirtbag this man really is! By the way... if you haven't already made The Old Jarhead a regular stop - you're missing something really good.


Thursday

This date in history....

Today, thirty-three years ago, I raised my hand and swore an oath to defend and protect the Constitution against ALL enemies. That long ago morning, my vision of “enemies” was pretty much limited to people who marched under the red flag of communism. Now these many years later it’s much more clear that the enemies wear business suits and sit in buildings where the stars and stripes are flown overhead.

The Constitution was/is not perfect by a damn sight. I know that smacks of pure heresy to the legions of conservative document worshippers out there. At the risk of descending into a discussion of its failings, allow me instead to point you Boston T Party’s excellent book Hologram of Liberty. Many conservatives and right wingers will find its central theme very disturbing, but after re-reading it many times over, and extending my reading into biographies of the most relevant figures I have come to the conclusion that the document was grievously flawed from the outset – and deliberately so.

That being said, I still swore an oath; certainly not under duress but definitely under the influence of ignorance (which I have since cured). I am not relieved of that oath as best as I can tell. And the document’s shortcomings notwithstanding, there remains that huge crowd of elected officials who routinely wipe their ass on the same Constitution they swore to protect and defend.

The bottom line is that all those sorry bastards who have dishonored their oath to the nation and the Constitution, should be either shot – or hung. Washington’s many monuments should be decorated with the dangling corpses of all those many corrupt scumbags who helped to shovel the American Republic into an early grave.

Monday

Awww you have GOT to watch these videos!!!!





...and she uses BACON to bookmark her copy of the Quran! LOL

This deserves to be passed on!