Saturday, April 2, 2016

Everyman's Evening Eyeful



All the best,
Glenn B

My Neighbor Asked If I Would Help Adjust Her Belts

So, I went over to her place with my tool box thinking she wanted her fan belts adjusted. Oh man...was I ever so wrong!


All the best,
GB

I Kind Of Think They Already Know The Motive In General...

...but I am sure they want to find out exactly why the shooter opened fire on and fatally shot Virginia State Trooper Chad Dermyer, at a Greyhound bus terminal just the other day. Knowing exactly what set Brown off may help avoid, or at least anticipate, 
future confrontations of the same sort and thus increase officer survival.


Trooper Dermyer left behind a wife and two children.

It has been reported that the suspected shooter, James Brown III , who was subsequently shot by other troopers and later died, had 143 rounds of unspent ammunition on his person and an arrest and conviction record for violent crimes.

As to Brown's motive(s), I think his mother probably made a lot of them quite clear when she reportedly told a reporter:

"He had a lot of anger about the police in the past,"

and:

"He said he would never go back to prison again... he would fight it out with them."

and:

"He pretty much thought he wanted to be infamous... in terms of having a showdown,”

and:

“He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police."

Brown reportedly had a long arrest record (source).

Besides those statements being evidence that Brown was apparently no choir boy, it was reported that:

"Brown previously had been charged with crimes ranging from cocaine possession to murder, serving prison time for domestic battery and aggravated battery of a pregnant woman."

Trooper Dermyer had been at the station while taking part in a practical training exercise. Brown possibly engaged Trooper Dermyer in casual small talk and then pulled out a handgun and shot him to death. Trooper Dermyer, for whatever reason, was reportedly not wearing body armor at the time. (Source for all of above except Brown's photo.)

One never knows when one's time is at hand and it pays to remain alert. Yet, even if Tropper Dermyer was on his toes, it is easy to get the drop on someone in a situation like that. To me it seems as if Brown set out that day with the execution of a police officer on his mind but unless he left behind some sort of evidentiary documentation to that effect we may never know.

Of course, the shooting could have all been coincidental to the police training and incidental to Brown being up to other criminal activity. I imagine it quite possible that when he saw the troopers at the bus station, he may have believed they were there to arrest him for criminal activity he had planned to commit, or was engaging in at the time, and had no clue the troopers were there only on a training exercise. Combine that with the reported statements from his mother, especially this one: "He said he would never go back to prison again... he would fight it out with them." and you can easily see  his immediate motive. It is sad a sad truth that those in law enforcement face the potential of unexpected threats like this each and every day and that things like this happen, so looking into the shooter's exact motives, possibly may help prevent another such tragedy.

If the shot that killed Trooper Dermyer was to his torso, then it is a pity if he in fact was not wearing his body armor as reported. Not knowing where he took the fatal shot one cannot determine if that had any part in his demise but if it did then all others in LE should heed a lesson from it: your body armor is a crucial part of your equipment - wear it. Those in LE need to take every reasonable and practical legal precaution to protect themselves. Please understand, I am not faulting Trooper Dermyer - it was in no way imaginable that anyone was in the wrong except Brown; I merely am reminding others in LE that wearing their vests could be lifesavers. 

Trooper Dermyer had recently been transferred to an anti-terrorist unit. He was a trooper of some renown despite his way too short career. In 2015, he stopped a woman for a traffic violation and although he believed her to be acting normally, he had what amounted to a gut feeling that something was very wrong during the stop. He eventually searched the trunk of the woman's car and discovered the body of her long missing son. She eventually was charged with murder. Then, earlier in 2016, Trooper Dermyer and another trooper "...became mini celebrities when they helped rescue a lost dog running through interstate traffic in Hampton. Jeffrey Corbin, the dog’s owner, said Dermyer’s easy going personality helped reshape Corbin’s view of police" (source).

The words 'Good Cop' seem to fit him well. Sadly he no longer will grace the citizenry of Virginia with his good ethics and determined excellent police work.

My heart felt condolences to the family of Trooper Dermyer.

Two other people were also wounded because of this encounter and I wish them full and speedy recoveries.

As for Brown, if he was in fact the shooter who killed Trooper Dermyer, I think the only good side of this is that Brown was killed and thus he never again will be able to commit acts of violence.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Retired Army Major On Hillary Email Scandal

A friend sent me this text in an email. I would love to believe that that piece came from an actual retired military major who was in the know but I had to wonder if this is for real.

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"WHAT ALL AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON'S ALLEGED SAP COMPROMISE—MAJ. ED COET, USA (RET) 

[COURTESY: CAPT Les Horn, USN (Ret)]


My name is Ed Coet.  I am a retired US Army Intelligence Officer.  In my last job in the army I was the Chief of the Human Intelligence Branch for the US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany.  In that capacity I was also the Designated Program Manager for a Special Access Program (SAP) like the SAP that Hillary Clinton is alleged to have compromised in the most recent State Department Inspector General report to congress and which has been widely reported in the news.  Here is what I personally know about SAP's and what I can attest to in an unclassified forum:
 

1. The names of each SAP are themselves classified Top Secret because the information within the SAP are far and above Top Secret.
 
2. SAP's are so sensitive that even people who have security clearances giving them access to Top Secret Sensitive Compartment Information (TS SCI), an enormously high security clearance level, cannot have accesses to a SAP's unless they receive a special indoctrination into the SAP based on an operational "must know" that exceeds all other "need to know" standards.

3. Being "read on" for a SAP is far more then acknowledging in writing that you have been briefed on the SAP.  It is an in-depth "indoctrination" into the given SAP, and each SAP is itself compartmented separately from other SAPS.  Having access to one SAP does not give you access to another SAP, and in fact rarely does.  Only a tiny handful of people have knowledge of all SAP's.  SAP's are the most stringently compartmented and protected information in the entire US government.
 
4. Unlike Top Secret SCI which is maintained in highly secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilitates (SCIF's) managed by specially trained Special Security Officers (SSO's) at various levels of command, every single SAP is managed by an individually designated Program Manager for each individual SAP covering an entire theater of operations.  In other words, SAP Program Managers are far fewer in number than there is SSO's.  SSO's are not cleared to even know about SAP's or to maintain information about them in their already enormously secure SCIF's.  How SAP's are secured cannot be discussed because of the sensitive beyond Top Secret nature in which it is done.

5. Unlike individuals with the highest Top Secret SCI access security clearances, who must undergo a special background information with periodic "bring-up" background investigation, those tiny few who have access to SAP's must also endure periodic polygraph tests in addition to the most comprehensive of special background investigations.  I used to have to schedule four-star generals and admirals to be polygraphed in order for them to maintain their access to my SAP.  Many generals and admirals who obviously have the highest security clearances still did not rate being indoctrinated into my SAP.  In fact, they didn't even know the SAP existed.

6. Compromise of a SAP is the single most dangerous security violation that can ever happen to the USA.  Even the enormously damaging revelations of the Edward Snowden's TOP Secret SCI security compromise does not reach the level of a SAP compromise.
7. To put SAP information in to an unsecure sever like Hillary Clinton's unsecure server is a class one felony that could, in some cases, result in life in prison.  That is because such a compromise is so dangerous that it could and likely will result in the death of people protected by and within the scope of the SAP.
 
As a former SAP Program Manager I believe it is inconceivable that if it is verified that Hillary Clinton's server actually had SAP information on it that she could possibly escape indictment and criminal prosecution.  As hard as it is to imagine, that would even be worse then electing to not prosecute a mass murdering serial killer because even they could not inflict as much damage on our country as the compromise of a SAP. Compromise of a SAP not only could -- but without doubt would -- cause serious damage to our national security.
 
If it is true that Hillary Clinton had SAP information on her unsecure server, whether it was marked or not, you can be sure that the FBI will strongly recommend that charges be brought against Hillary Clinton and continue in an exhaustive investigation to trace back to every single person that had even the tiniest role in this unbelievable security compromise.
 
If the Attorney General, through "prosecutorial discretion," elected not to prosecute this crime, I believe congress would have no alternative but to impeach her, and the FBI would then have no choice but to conduct a criminal investigation of her for a deliberate cover up -- so grave is this security violation.

If President Obama were to pardon Hillary Clinton for a compromise of this magnitude he would render himself in the historical record as an "enemy of the state," and could himself face criminal prosecution -- so grave is such a security compromise.  Nobody, not even the POTUS could gets away with something like this in our system of government.
 
If anyone could escape persecution for compromising a SAP, we are in deep trouble as a nation.  No president who loves this country and is true to his oath would ever allow anyone, not even his or her closest and most loved relative, to get away with a SAP compromise.  It is simply unimaginable that this could ever happen.
 
If the ongoing investigation finds that Hillary Clinton compromised a SAP, then we all should know with certainty, regardless of political persuasion, that she is entirely unfit to hold public office of any kind let alone President of the USA -- and ALL Americans should never tolerate it.  Compromising a SAP is an absolute "disqualifier" for public office and access to our nations most sensitive information - period.
ED COET
Major, US Army (Retired)

P.S. It is my sincere hope that each of you will share this article, to help other Americans understand how grave Hillary Clinton's alleged SAP compromise is.  We can't allow anyone so careless with this level of information to have access to any classified information ever again for as long as she lives.  This would surely render her unqualified and unfit to hold any public office let alone POTUS if this allegation proves to be true."

***************
 
After reading that, being the perpetual cynic who am I, I did some checking on 'Major' Coet. I found some other things he has done but not much of anything on the so called fact or not sites that either support or debunk stuff like this that is going around on the Internet. Here, at the the below link, is one thing I did find referencing him:
 
 
It seems that this guy maybe is an agitator, that's okay with me as long as you are stirring the right pot and shaking up the right people and being truthful. Who knows if he is any of those? That is not to say he is not a retired major in the know. One can only hope, whether or not he actually is a retired major, that he got it right and she will be arrested, indicted and convicted. Hopefully that does not net Bernie the presidency.

Hat tip to Herr Rich M for sending me that piece in an email.

All the best,
Glenn B