BATFE Oversight Hearing

Mike over and Sipsey Street and David at WOG have covered the lead up and hearings themselves brilliantly. One item that was missed in coverage was the Terry families opening statement. In it was a reading of a poem Brian Terry wrote to describe himself and his mindset.

“If Today Is to Be the Day…So Be It”.

If you seek to do battle with me this day, you will receive the best that I am capable of giving.
It may not be enough, but it will be everything that I have to give and it will be impressive for I have constantly prepared myself for this day.
I have trained, drilled and rehearsed my actions so that I might have the best chance of defeating you.
I have kept myself in peak physical condition, schooled myself in the martial skills and have become proficient in the applications of combat tactics.
You may defeat me, but I’m willing to die if necessary. I do not fear death for I have been close enough to it on enough occasions that it no longer concerns me.
But, I do fear the loss of my honor and would rather die fighting than to have it said that I was without courage.
So I will fight you, no matter how insurmountable it may seem, to the death if need be, in order that it may never be said of me that I was not a warrior.

I read as much as most and more than many, rarely has the written word affected me so much. As the statement was read I was not so much angry, or even sad, but yet I cried. I tear now again writing this. This man, is America and everything that makes us a nation exceptional. I am sorry I never got to know him, I know I will never forget him.

Train to Win

Read about our recent training agenda.

Follow "Line in the Desert" daily on-line and on facebook.

Thanks,

Jason

III

Busy, Busy...Please Read

Sorry all have been busy. As noted earlier my primary employment was terminated. My gun shop is small but moving foward AND I am in the process of starting yet another fledgeling company. Yet I am still dedicated to my country and our struggle on the S/W border. Please follow the link below for the "public face" of our little mission in the desert.

http://www.lineinthedesert.com/

There are multiple posters on the lines in the desert site and this will still be the main me, but we are expanding. This is "me" and all of my commentary, that is the "us" and our mission and relative news. Give us a look and a prayer. Thank you for all of your moral and citizens salvation support.

Jason
III

Why I Love the Gun Business

Just under 3 years ago I opened a small gun shop out of my house. I am "new" as compared to many, have been an active shooter less than a decade and a "dealer" for less than 3 years. Every transaction and every choice a customer makes comes with a lesson. Some for me some for them, but it is a constantly evolving and learning process. I carry and use, primarily current issue and styled arms of the US military. I have had generous customers share with me knowledge on WW1 Russian arms, turn of the century cowboy arms, and even some of the latest R/D from DOD (Department of Defense) bids and prototype weapons. While my business runs at a financial deficit now, the spiritual and enjoyment pay is beyond value. Thank you gunnies for being a diverse and sharing group, I am honored to deal with you every day.

Jason

Reporting from the "depression"

"Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours." Ronald Reagan

The above is a fact in my humble opinion, solidified last Wednesday. Such is life. Not that writing has been expansive lately, but it will be dried up until I can generate some income soon. Carry on and continue your training boys and girls it will get uglier before it gets better.

Jason
PS- Keep up to the dailies on Sipsey Street, Liberty Sphere, WRS, and Uncle...Links on the right side bar for each. A storm is brewing, most likely NOT natural as Japan saw last week, but could be just as devastating.

Tango Down?

News story HERE
From my AO and patrol area. The important part "Border Patrol agents track a group of armed suspects seen carrying backpacks when they discovered the body."

Watch your six, got mine covered.

Train

What did you do this weekend? Passed on Nascar for some small unit tactics. Rest assured we all have actual faces in real life. First aide, communication and group movement was studied and practiced. If you know how... share it, if not... learn it. This is NOT a call to arms, but the responsibility you choose as a gun owner and a patriot.

Practice like you fight, and you will fight like you practice.

Jason

FYI- I am on far right, we were covering basic first aide and trauma procedures before live movement drills.

Fatherhood

I am so tired of the gloom. In Arizona we are still pelted about the recent shooting in Tucson. Every news source is pointing to a falling "quality of life" or liberty. I needed to take some time to reflect, and to be honest shed a tear. Not for one specific cause or another, but just to release. Well the introspective caused a revelation, that revelation from my sons. I only know life through my perspective. (I guess knew would be a better word, but we'll get to that.) I am one of the few people I know that made a conscious choice to be a husband and a father. This was a decision that took me a few years to be sure of. Recently I have had the good fortune of that choice. First the ugly, then the bad, and finally the good.
The Ugly:
- Some know, as I have mentioned it before, I was in the construction business for many years. As it declined in Arizona, so did all of my income. There went the lifestyle and the house.
- Recently my wife was diagnosed with a "We don't think it is cancer" and underwent some massive surgery only to find they still don't "think" it is cancer. They next surgery should provide proof positive one way or the other.

To some the above is not "Ugly" but, simply situational. But as I said it is based on my perspective.

The Bad:
-My wife had to return to regular work after being a Mom for 9 years.
-Work, when available, eats up valuable time with my family that I deeply cherish and miss.
-Work, when available, tends to suck.
Once again, not very "Bad" at least there is work.

The Good:
-Most o the "Bad" column can be called "life."
-Even a bad day looks bright as your first born walks into the room and for no reason holds you hand, looks you in the eyes and says "I love you dad."

This may not be "good" for everyone, but... I now get to see life through not only my perspective, but that of my children. If even only a glimpse, I treasure it.
I have had to swallow pride in recent times and ask family for loans, some under the pretense that I may not be able to repay, and have been blessed by the family I have to have made it this far. I find it strange that sitting in a room over 15 years ago trying to decide "if" I should/could be a husband and father has given me so much everyday since then. The family that I was born into, married into and created is a family like I could not have dreamed.
I am a husband and father first...
Jason
P.S.- This is meant solely as a reminder that life is what we make of it, and sometimes we make it good. Find the good in life, find the good in man. Hold onto this, for there is a rough trail ahead.

AZ- A Side Thought

So, I've been thinking.... With all of the local and national media attention paid to the recent weekend events in Tucson, what they hell are these people going to think if real violence breaks out. When you look at the history of engagements in "pending" civil unrest uprisings, the "terror in Tucson" is small fish. One delusional jack wad goes to an unsecured event, gets within 2-4 feet of a politico and lets lead fly. Had this been an actual operation against the establishment, society or politics, by someone with an ounce of tactics or skill, the blood would still be flowing and suspects far and few confirmed. Yes this was a bad day for Arizona, the tragedy is the death of 9 year old Christina-Taylor Green. Too much is being done and said about some fu**tard that had the skill of a 10 year old. If this stops the White House, Congress and the entire news media, how do they cover weekly/daily outbursts in the future? This is meant as a legitimate question, have we not once again emboldened those that wish to use violence as a "statement" for their cause? I for one think the "newsworthiness" of this story ended Saturday night. The rest can be covered in recaps as the verdict(s) and sentence(s) are handed down.

Bean bags vs. AK-47s

An excellent follow up on the recent murder of a Border Patrol agent in AZ. I could not just paste a clip, so here is the article in its entirety.

Another Border Patrol agent on the Arizona border was shot and killed by Mexican drug smugglers last Tuesday. Of the eight attackers, four are in custody and a fifth is under surveillance by Border Patrol Blackhawk helicopters as he tries to make his way back to the Mexican border.

BP Agent Brian Terry was part of a BORTAC team (for border tactical unit) tracking armed drug smugglers 15 miles northwest of Nogales, Ariz., (and only three miles west of Interstate 19) when they were attacked with automatic weapons fire. The area is well-known as a major drug-smuggling corridor, and the smugglers are known to frequently be armed with AK-47s and other long rifles.

Here's the part Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Border Patrol management are trying to hide: Border Patrol Agent Terry and the BORTAC team were under standing orders to always use ("non-lethal") bean-bag rounds first before using live ammunition. When the smugglers heard the first rounds, they returned fire with real bullets, and Agent Terry was killed in that exchange. Real bullets outperform bean bags every time.

The larger, ugly truth Napolitano and senior managers in the Border Patrol want to hide is that the rules of engagement and inadequate weaponry of the Border Patrol place the lives of all agents at grave risk. The National Border Patrol Council, which represents over 15,000 field agents, believes the border is too dangerous for officers to patrol without body armor, armored vehicles and automatic weapons.

Concerned about the impact of illegal aliens on the United States? Don't miss Tom Tancredo's book, "In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security" – now just $4.95!

Another aspect of this story that is not being reported is that the site of the shooting, Peck Canyon, is inside the area Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., has proposed to designate as the Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness reserve. If Grijalva's bill is enacted into law, what is now a well-established drug smuggling corridor will become a drug-smuggling superhighway, because the Border Patrol will be prohibited from patrolling the region. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah has proposed legislation that will remove the restrictions on Border Patrol jurisdiction on such public lands within 50 miles of the border.

On Thursday, Secretary Napolitano and several aides flew to Tucson to meet with local Border Patrol brass. The Obama administration obviously has a mess on its hands, and Napolitano does not want it to blow up before today's U.S. Senate vote on the Dream Act. They know another murder on the southwest border will not help garner needed votes for the Dream Act, because senators supporting that bill must be able to say with a straight face, "The border is as secure as it has ever been."

The BORTAC team encountered not one or two smugglers but a team of eight. Four are in custody, one is under surveillance in the rugged terrain of the Pajarita Wilderness area east of the small ranch town of Ruby, and three others are missing. The captured smugglers had AK-47s and backpacks filled with ammunition, food and radios. There are rumors that three of the captured four are members of the Mexican military, but that is unconfirmed. Yet, it would not be the first time Mexican police and military have been apprehended smuggling drugs into the United States.

It is not widely reported by our news media that the smugglers maintain a dozen or more permanent lookout posts on desert hilltops inside the U.S., and that those lookout posts are manned in week-long shifts by individuals who commute not from Mexico but from Phoenix, Tucson and other Arizona cities.

The allegation that the Sinaloa drug cartel obtained those AK-47s from gun shops in the United States is nonsensical. That's a fairy tale cooked up by the Obama administration and endorsed by the Mexican government because they do not want to admit that the cartels get most of their serious weaponry from the international black market and the Mexican military itself.

The rules requiring first use of bean-bag ammunition is but one example of the suicidal rules of engagement that govern Border Patrol operations. The reason they have such insane rules? The politicians who run the agency do not want the public to think the border is so dangerous a place that Border Patrol agents fear for their lives. In other words, the rules of engagement are based on a lie, a lie that must be maintained for political purposes.

Secretary Napolitano should do two things on Monday morning. First, she should order all Border Patrol agents to be issued weapons adequate for both self-defense and apprehension of armed drug smugglers. The second thing she should do Monday morning is resign.

Tom Tancredo is a former five-term congressman from Colorado and 2008 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. He currently serves as chairman of the Rocky Mountain Foundation and co-chairman of TeamAmericaPac. Tancredo is the author of "In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security."

Original article HERE

Angry yet, you F'n well should be

Are You Honest?

"As a warning, the following post was written in complete desperation. I have recently learned some very sobering truths from people that I love dearly. These truths have set in motion a quest within me to do whatever I can to make a change. Today is not geared at funny. Today is geared at something greater. Read it to the very end. I promise you will be affected in a way you have always needed to be. I spent more than twelve hours writing this post because its message is that important to me.
......
"Perfection" is a wife...
"Perfection" is a husband...
"Perfection" is a couple... (a boy, a girl etc...)

Be real.

Be bold about your weaknesses and you will change people's lives. Be honest about who you actually are, and others will begin to be their actual selves around you."


The excerpts above, coupled with losing a very good friend, fearing the loss of my wife under a surgeons knife etc have changed my life. Normally I try to stay on topic, and to a bit this is. Everyday I try to be a better man, for my wife, my children and myself. Most days I fail in one sense or another, I am slowly coming to terms with that. THIS helps, and you should read it, ALL OF IT. Read the comments, comment yourself and read the follow up HERE
I am a broken man, I have been unkind to my wife and unfair to my children. I have done this in "their" name. Believing the ends justify the means. I live with this knowing I am learning, making corrections and becoming the man I need to be. Pass the original post far and wide, look in the mirror. If you do not fix yourself, you can fix nothing.

Have fun, stay safe...
Jason

Consequentialism?

Summed up Consequentialism is that the ends justify the means. Basically as long as the end result is what we want, who cares how we get there. Our government, not only today but of generations past also, seem to thrive on this "theory." I think about this often as I evaluate my purpose and worth as a man, and as I try to guide my sons.

Definition of END
a-cessation of a course of action, pursuit, or activity

The end, as most people see it, is as defined above. I tend to look at a larger, broader picture. To me there is but one end, my death. Just as nothing before my birth could I control, nothing after my death will I be able to either.


Definition of MEAN(S)
2-plural but sing or plural in constr : something useful or helpful to a desired end



Once again most people look at a singular event to a singular end. My paycheck justifies my "worth", and the means to my home, car, etc...

Throughout life we all have the means to create change, positive and negative. To put my opinion bluntly the ends NEVER justify the means. To believe so is looking at the picture, and life, backwards. The means justify the end...if you are lucky. Among warriors of old, they dreamt of a warriors death, one of honor and bravery. To die in a service to a value, larger then your own. When I look at the world around me and learn of lives past, it is not the "method" of death that brought a justified end, but their actions in the end justified their lives. In many a movie, most recently 300, there is the scene where brothers in arms make a statement about "honored to met you" or some such.
From 300:
Stelios: It's an honor to die at your side.
King Leonidas: It's an honor to have lived at yours.

My basic point in this drabble is to say, that from the moment you took your 1st breath, the end has been coming. Make the journey to that end as pure and honorable in every aspect of your life, justify your end by the way you live your life. For some direction on how to achieve this, look to your articles of faith, or to "The Code of the Samurai."

Live a good life, and you will be a good man.
Stay safe,
Jason
III

Semper Fi Devil Dog, 11/07/2010

You will be missed, you have had an impact on my life greater than you can imagine. RIP

Since this entire blog is pseudonym, I will only say this man was not my father, but as close as one could be to filling that role. For all my life a man of honor has been there, and now he is gone.

An Open Letter to Sheriff Paul Babeu

Attn: Sheriff Paul Babeu
With all of the current media reports and claims, why can we not bring together the Sheriff’s Department and citizens that want to be active? There are many people in the community that wish to take an active role in the establishment and security of their homes outside of a full time commitment. While I understand the department’s reluctance to endorse and support citizen patrols of the desert regions, this is done at a time that the Sheriff’s Office says “We find our deputies are being outgunned and clearly the violence has increased recently.” (From your site HERE) Has thought been given to providing training or guidelines to citizens that want to, need to, participate in their community and its defense? Many of those I have spoken with would appreciate a more open dialog. To paraphrase them, “if you lead, we will follow.” While some out there are looking for publicity and or attention, many more just want to help. If this means providing water, emotional, spiritual, moral, and in the extreme case tactical support; we will. But keep in mind that as you ask for donations to increase your departments arms supply, many citizens have the equipment, means, experience and desire; why can this not be utilized with the co-operation of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department? Money is the one thing many citizens do not have at this time. From another article on your site it states “What this incident does show is the lack of manpower in Pinal County. Deputy Puroll was alone and outgunned. There is one deputy for every one thousand citizens in Pinal Co., and Sheriff Babeu says it's time for some border help”.(Emphasis mine original article HERE) Having simple limits, background checks or requirements can filter out some of the negative traits of volunteers that may be frowned upon. Require a combination of prior Police/Military/EMS service and/or current AZ CCW, with an interview and/or background check provided by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Department. I do realize that there is a liability to involving citizens; but claiming a lack of resources, and denying a major resource of your constituents and willing volunteers seems against your goal. If you feel you cannot endorse a group, any group, is there a way to set up a route to open the dialog and/or communication for persons who will participate independently? Thank you very much for taking the time to consider these questions as I know your time is very busy right now.

Jason XXXXX
Pinal County Resident

Submission to the Federal Reserve Board Members

From an e-mail i got from a friend, I thought it was a well done open letter and deserved distribution.


To Mr. Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Board Members,

What a difference just a few weeks and a few Fed minutes can make....
As I have feared, all of this talk by Mr. Bernanke in regards to the need for additional stimulus, including possible large scale asset purchases, has again caused the U.S. Dollar to depreciate, and for the stock market to engage in "irrational exuberance" in regards to all hard and soft commodities!!!

METALS, GRAINS, CHEESE, MEATS, EGGS, COTTON, FEED, OIL, ETC. HAVE ALL SKYROCKETED, THESE INPUT COSTS FOR FOOD, FUEL, CLOTHES AND DIAPERS WILL BE PASSED ON TO THE CONSUMER RIGHT AWAY, BECAUSE THESE ARE THINGS WE HAVE TO HAVE...

BUT WAIT, YOU DON'T LOOK AT THESE THINGS THAT I MUST HAVE TO LIVE, YOU ONLY LOOK AT CORE INFLATION EXCLUDING FOOD AND FUEL...
SO IT WILL TAKE ABOUT 4-6 MONTHS FOR THESE HIGH COMMODITY COSTS TO MOVE THE CORE INFLATION NEEDLE enough to get your attention, BUT I TAKE AN IMMEDIATE HIT FOR FOOD AND FUEL WHICH MEANS I HAVE LESS DISCRETIONARY INCOME TO SPEND, AND WHAT ABOUT THE INPUT COSTS THAT COMPANIES ARE UNABLE TO PASS ON?? WHAT IS THE END RESULT: MORE JOB'S LOST........

THIS STOCK MARKET RALLY IS THE DIRECT RESULT OF A DECLINING DOLLAR, AND THE DECLINING DOLLAR IS THE DIRECT, OR AS SOME WOULD ARGUE THE INDIRECT RESULT OF FEDERAL RESERVE POLICIES!
I THOUGHT IT WAS THE JOB OF THE U.S. TREASURY TO SET DOLLAR POLICY???
THIS WILL NOT END WELL, ANY TIME THE FED ATTEMPTS TO INFLATE ASSET PRICES AND THE STOCK MARKET THINKS IT IS WAGGING THE DOG, IT ENDS WITH A POP!!!

Please just stop what you are doing and begin to back yourselves out of the corner, allow commodities to correct, allow interest rates to rise, allow people to continue to pay down their debt and build up their savings accounts, instead of pumping it into the gas tank or the dinner table. Reward savers with some kind of return on their hard earned money, and let the stock market go ahead and throw a hissy fit, let it correct 20% or more, and then it can get back to fundamentals for valuations instead of empty headed QUANTITATIVE EASING SPECULATION.... The retail investor has bailed on the stock market and you are hurting them more by artificially propping up the stock market, and artificially keeping interest rates low.

THIS FIXATION WITH THE EVILS OF DEFLATION NEEDS TO MODERATE, IF YOU KEEP ON FUELING ALL OF THIS SPECULATION, YOUR JUST GOING TO MAKE MY LIFE AND MILLIONS OF OTHER AMERICANS WHO DID NOTHING TO CAUSE THIS MESS A WHOLE LOT MORE EXPENSIVE AND A WHOLE LOT LESS SATISFYING....

But what do I know, I'm just an unemployed high school graduate, middle class nobody with an 800+ credit score, who owns his home, has zero debt, and, an actual savings account that you guys are actively and intentionally depreciating.

I'M A PART OF THE "NO YOU CAN'T CROWD" WHO IS BEING FORCED TO FINANCE

THE "YES WE CAN CROWD"


REGARDS,
XXXX XXXXX

Is it "Terrorism" yet?

From HERE
"We know that they helped facilitate it; we know that they helped direct it," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "And I suspect that we are going to come up with evidence which shows that they helped to finance it. They were intimately involved in this plot." Said Holder of the Pakistani Taliban invlovement in the failed NYC bombing.

I guess now that it is NOT "Homegrown," “somebody with a political agenda who doesn't like the health care bill or something.” per Bloomberg all I want to know is, was Faisel Shahzad a terrorist. Or just the people who support the Constitution of the US.

Posting Edits

With the current thrust of political action, posting may be edited in the near future. I originally started writing here for 2 reasons, (1) to entice education/debate, (2) to document my ideas on truth and liberty. I am considering the recourse of those words as time for them is running out. Either this post or previous ones will disappear in the near future. Please feel free to email if you would like any of the previous text.
"Summum ius summa iniuria."-Cicero

Jason
III

Drug Costs, the bigger picture

Between 1974 and 2001 the percentage of Americans in prison per ca pita had doubled. Details on their stats and backgrounds can be found HERE

In 1970 the "War on Drugs" was officially federal policy. Coincidence? Approximately 25% of those in prisons are there on drug, not "drug related," charges. (Cited HERE) From yet another report we get this: "According to a federal survey of jail inmates, in 2002, of the 96,359 violent offenders in jail, 37.6% used alcohol at the time of their offense, 21.8% used drugs, and 47.2% used alcohol or drugs; of the 112,895 property offenders in jail that year, 28.5% used alcohol at the time of their offense, 32.5% used drugs, and 46.8% used alcohol or drugs; of the 112,447 drug offenders in jail that year, 22.4% used alcohol at the time of their offense, 43.2% used drugs, and 51.7% used drugs or alcohol at the time of their offense." Truth be told, I haven't touched an "illegal drug" in almost 20 years, not because they are "illegal" but because I do not like their effects on my consciousness. Yet we sell alcohol on street corners, glorify it's usage and overturned prohibition. Did incarceration rise and all of the crazies come out with the repeal of prohibition, no... would everyone become a junkie if the "war on drugs" was ended...nope. According to the American Corrections Association, the average daily cost per state prison inmate per day in the US is $67.55. State prisons held 249,400 inmates for drug offenses in 2006. That means it cost states approximately $16,846,970 per day to imprison drug offenders, or $6,149,144,050 per year.

One more fun fact, in 1984 the first "private prison" was opened in Tennessee. Look at that graph above again...see it. Crime does pay, depending on where you sit. What will you do, when what you do is no longer condoned. In this time of deficit, do we really need to spend $19 billion to enforce and $6.15 billion on punishment of this? To see this years direct cost per second, you can go HERE

I may revisit this topic as I finish my reading on "health care" and prescription costs, as reform is thrust upon us, and the potential costs of trying to synthesize the effects of mother natures medicine.

Jason

III

PS - My main point is to question the "official story," no matter your personal beliefs and perspectives. I have no love for drugs, druggies and drug dealers.

The unanimous Declaration

Today as part of the 2010 tour of the Declaration of Independence, an original Dunlap Broadside printed on July 4, 1776 was on display in Arizona.
See news of it HERE

Seeing it just inches away, knowing the history, it affected me beyond my comprehension. I was damn near teary eyed as I saw the past 230+ years flash in front of me. I have, as of yet, been unable to travel to DC to see so much history, and rely on copies I have hung in my house. The power of this document, it pure words, hit me like a brick in the face. If you have a chance, see this. When asked by the local media "How I felt after examining the document," I could only respond that I was honored to see something that was so important to our history. They then asked if I would speak "on camera," sorry but no; I do not trust the local media at all.My boys, along with the Arizona Rangers, and the previously mentioned document.

Jason

III

Enemies. Foreign and Domestic

Finally got off of my duff and read Matthew Bracken's book "Enemies Foreign and Domestic." If you have waited like I did, STOP right now, click the above link and BUY IT! While there is not a grand story, that is not predictable or recognizable to any threeper, it is a very important exercise in thought. Some small things that end up on the prep list:

Night Vision

Radios (multi type and frequency)

Contacts with contacts who have contacts....

The story was enjoyable, and if you are empathetic you can really identify with the characters and their struggle. The best thing i can say about it it when my wife stated "I thought it was a true story," I smiled and said "It could be..." That is the jab, it "could happen" and reminded me of many questions I have yet unanswered of our recent history, topped off Mr. Bracken has started a journey we should support of a common cause. Buy it, read it, learn it. Then return to the blogosphere.