Weapons Grade Stupid: "New York homeland security chief used handgun as laser pointer during speech"

     From Albany Times Union: 

Jerome M. Hauer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's director of homeland security, took out his handgun and used the laser sighting device attached to the barrel as a pointer in a presentation to a foreign delegation, according to public officials. It happened Oct. 24 in Albany at the highly secure state emergency operations center below State Police headquarters.

These officials, one of whom claimed to be an eyewitness, said that three Swedish emergency managers in the delegation were rattled when the gun's laser tracked across one of their heads before Hauer found the map of New York, at which he wanted to point.

Hauer, commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, was disabled by a stroke a few years ago and can be unsteady. He isn't a law enforcement official. He carries the loaded 9-millimeter Glock in a holster into state buildings, an apparent violation of state law barring state employees from bringing weapons to the workplace, several witnesses say.

The incident with the Swedish delegation occurred during a two-hour briefing at the operations center concerning the state's response to Superstorm Sandy, according to one of the officials.

Asked about the matter over the course of several weeks, Cuomo's press aide promised to look into it but has repeatedly had no comment. Hauer's communications officer, Peter Cutler, also promised to look into it, but he has declined to respond beyond saying he is unaware that it happened. "I've heard rumors," Cutler said.

Read the rest here.

      This man is dumber than a sack of rocks. The mere idea of using a pistol, which he wasn't supposed to have in the room, as a laser pointer is monumentally stupid. He completely disregards any shred of gun safety in his actions, with no regard for the safety of his audience, and could have shot a Swede official in the head. The pistol was in all likelihood loaded to boot. And let's not forget he was carrying a Glock pistol (I'd take the Glock line with a grain of salt as any chunky, black pistol is automatically a "Glock" in the eyes of the untrained, but New York does have a lot police departments using Glock weapons), and Glock pistols don't have safeties. When the trigger is pulled on a loaded Glock pistol, a bullet will fly. There is a reason for that, but this post isn't about that. The fact that a major security official in the State of New York exhibited such flippancy with a loaded firearm requires nothing short of this man's firing and humiliation. This is unacceptable in a law enforcement officer on top of his disregard for the laws which he is supposed to uphold. Fire this asshat. 

Analysis & Questions About The Boston Marathon Bombing

     As of 2200 CST, 3 Americans are dead and 141 are injured because of two bomb blasts along the Boston Marathon route. One was located directly at the finish line, and a second was located before the finish line by about one block and detonated 10 seconds after the finish line bomb. The police have a 20 year old Saudi national in custody, and he is considered a person of interest.
     Now, the blast came from a backpack bomb located in a trash can, and from reports it was also loaded with ball bearings and the like. The blast is relatively small, not as big as some IEDs, but big enough to do a helluva a lot of damage. I'm curious as to what explosive the bomber used, and how much of it. If it was a backpack bomb, it could not have been more than ~15lbs, allowing for about 5lbs of metal for shrapnel.
      That only covers the bombing, if this "person of interest" is a Saudi chances are he is a Muslim. If so, that means it was religiously motivated. Notice how Obama has refrained from calling this an act of terrorism. I'm also curious how he (the bomber) got in-country without flags going up over a possible terror threat.
     This could have been a lot worse, but with only 3 dead so far it's not that bad. However, as more info comes out concerning the run up to the bombing, expect o of this to be damning for he Federal government.

North Korea Plots to Strike Austin, TX

Take a looksee:

"The images show a chart marked "US mainland strike plan" and missile trajectories that the NK News web site estimates terminate in Hawaii, Washington DC, Los Angeles and what they claim is Austin, Texas."

Too bad the Norks don't have any birds (missiles) with the legs to hit Austin. (sarcasm) I think it's time for Kim Jr. to go take his medications and take a nap. 

Photo Credit: The Telegraph

SecDHS Admits Terrorists Are Crossing The Border "From Time To Time"

     From CNS News:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress last week that terrorists intending to harm the American people enter the U.S. from Mexico “from time to time."

At a July 25 hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) asked Napolitano: “As you know, Madam Secretary, there have been anecdotal reports about material evidence of the presence of terrorists along our southern border. My question is, is there any credible evidence that these reports are accurate and that terrorists are, in fact, crossing our southern border with the intent to do harm to the American people?”

Napolitano answered: “With respect, there have been--and the Ababziar matter would be one I would refer to that's currently being adjudicated in the criminal courts--from time to time, and we are constantly working against different and evolving threats involving various terrorist groups and various ways they may seek to enter the country.”

“What I can tell you, however, is that that southern border--the U.S.-Mexico border--is heavily, heavily staffed at record amounts of manpower, materiel, infrastructure and the like, and we are constantly making sure we're doing all we can to make that border as safe as possible,” she said.

     Here is video of the hearing:

     Not surprising, in 2005 2 Iraqis were caught attempting to smuggle weapons to Al-Qaeda, and if you know where to look there are often reports of Arabs crossing the border. For the the last 50 year the U.S. southern (and northern) border have become like swiss cheese, with hundreds of thousands of illegals crossing yearly. Nothing has been done about this because most illegals tend to vote Dem, and why would a politician alienate their voters? But one of these days our lax immigration policy will come back and bite us in the butt.

Photo Credit: Dan Sorensen

Predator Drone Over Chicago

   

Coming soon to your local skies.


Video Credit: MisterBees

You Want It? COME AND TAKE IT!

   
     The Daily Mail reports that the U.N. has recommended that the U.S. return Mount Rushmore to the Indians.
      Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, which are considered sacred by the Sioux indians. The U.S. had signed over the Black Hills to the Sioux in a treaty, but retook them in The Great Sioux War of 1876 (The Battle of Little Bighorn was a part of the war). When a country engages another in a war, and beats the everlivin' crap out of them, they generally keep the land they take.
       Lets be honest here, the U.S. has had control of the Black Hills since 1876, and has made significant improvements to the region. Along with placing one of the most iconic symbols of America in the Black Hills, and this will not sit well with the American people (the commies in D.C. are a different story).  And If the indians and/or the U.N. want Mount Rushmore, well they can come and take it.

Viper Crash In Arizona

A Strategy For The 21st Century, Part 6: North America

     Now, we come to home, in the years since the Cold War America has become more and more at risk for attacks on our shores by other countries and by terrorist organisations. Here is a good start for securing America.
     1. Secure the borders. In the last few years our borders have become increasingly porous with millions of illigal aliens pouring across the border. Recent estimates have put the number of illegals in the U.S. at arounf 11,000,000. There are several threat which arise from this. 1. Not every illegal alien wants to pick produce or wash dishes. Many work for drug cartels, are criminals, or could be even terrorists who want the southwest U.S. to be given back to Mexico. 2. It is extremely easy for muslims to cross the border and commit acts of terror in the U.S.. 3. It becomes easy for the drug cartels and human trafficker to ships people and/or drugs across the border. The solution to this is not to build a wall in a conventional sense but, rather to build a electronic wall using drones, and soldiers brought home from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Europe (see Part 1 and Part 3). There also needs to be tightening of the border with Canada, as the situation is many times worse with fewer border agents, and laziness based on the idea that all Canadians are our friends (most are, but not all).
     2. Establish a working land based missile defense shield covering all of the U.S.. The U.S. has been working on missile defense systems for the last 20 years, examples of this are Aegis, THAAD, and the Patriot PAC-3.  At the moment all three system have been deployed, however there is no missile shild covering the entire U.S..
     3. Stop closing bases. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union  many bases have been shut down, NS Ingleside here in Texas was just shut down a few months ago, and now there is talk of closing NS Mayport, among others. This must stop with fewer bases means fewer targets to hit and a larger amount of America's military is concentrated in a smaller number of locations.Now, it is understandable if some bases become redundant and are closed. However, this rash of bases closures since 1991 seriously undermines America's security.
     These among other things, must be down to secure America, from outside threats. Because like it or not we have been and will be attacked from abroad.

Iranian Navy To Patrol Off U.S. Coast

     Defense Tech reports that Iran plans to establish a "powerful force" off the U.S. eastern seaboard.

     While this propaganda is probably for internal consumption, if followed through it could pose a threat to states on the Gulf of Mexico. The main problem with this is the range factor, as the eastern seaboard is over 6,000 kilometers from Iran's major naval base at Bandar Abbas. However, Iran does have some friends in the region, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is a friend of Iran's and would probably offer Iran the ability to refuel at a Venezuelan port. And of course there is always Cuba, which is stilled ruled by the old fool named Fidel Castro, who would also probably offer Iran the ability to refuel at a Cuban port.

     While it is highly unlikely that Iran will mount a naval expedition to the U.S. eastern seaboard, if they do it could pose a threat to the many Oil Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Along with the massive fishing fleet that works the Gulf. As this continues to develop it will be interesting to see if Iran actually attempts this. If so, how do you say "live fire exercise" in Farsi?

Photos From Inside the Suisun Bay Mothball Fleet

     Defense Tech had a interesting story a couple days ago about a group of photographers who sneaked inside the mothball fleet in Suisun Bay, California.

     The U.S. Navy has 6 reserve fleets scattered around the country, these fleets include early Los Angeles-class nuclear submarines to 1950s-era destroyers to the USS Iowa. In recent years there have been reductions in the size of mothball fleets around the country and in the next 20 years they will be almost gone. Thats why a small group of photographers over a two year period sneaked aboard the mothball fleet in Suisun Bay and photographed the ships there before the ships are scraped. Take a look of some more of his photos below:

Sea Shadow (IX-529)

If you want to see more photos here is the link to the photographers website.

Photo Credit: Scott Haefner

     

Epic Fail

This photo shows why America wins wars and other countries don't.

Here's the link to the Ares post I got the photo from.

Photo Credit: Canadian Army