Another Terrorist Attack, But Will We ever Learn?

Orlando, FL--In light of another mass casualty shooting this time in a crowded Gay Bar we have little choice but to plan ahead for more of the same.

Our ignorant politicians nearly always respond to this kind of threat with every type of failed gun prohibition, TSA style checkpoints and of course those Gun Free Zones. 

We've learned on thing we can’t deny.  Nearly everyone of the active shooter events are stopped either by gunfire by a good guy or suicide of the gunmen. The are only stopped by the type of force they inflict on others. 

As for the TSA style checkpoints at venues, they are a total farce.  Putting unarmed, untrained, un-vetted marginal people in pseudo police uniforms to stop terrorism is laughable.  Additionally this type of faux security makes a mockery of our Fourth Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable searches. 

Any determined armed terrorist/criminal need only display their weapons to totally defeat these search gauntlets. The crowds of people waiting patiently to have their privacy violated are certainly ripe targets for mayhem. 

Shopping malls, sports arenas, theaters, schools or any venue must have a workable and realistic plan. The failed Monkey See Monkey Do response is simply no option.  

The Right Approach

Our cops can’t do this alone.  They're not enough of them, nor can we afford sufficient numbers of them to make a difference. 

We have already in place a huge force of vetted Concealed weapon License holders. They are our veterans, ex-cops, well-trained and trustworthy civilians.  

We need to open our arms to these folks inviting them to bring their weapons and courage to our venues. Somehow we've not learned that gun prohibitions only impact the law abiding folks and never the criminals. 

The right to keep and bear arms is here and is not going away any time soon. Frankly the idea of that right was to allow for better public safety. 

No matter where we stand on guns and gun rights we all claim the same desire to end murder and mayhem. We have failed with the old ideas and new it’s time to try something that works. 

We Must End Zero Tolerance Airport Gun Arrests!

Chicago, IL—It happens again and again, a forgetful or preoccupied traveler is found to have a firearm in a carryon bag at Midway or O’Hare Airports.  Zero tolerance kicks in and the hapless traveler is hauled off to jail.  They are forced to miss their flight along with the weddings, funerals and business meetings they planned on attending.

That happened to the late retired Chicago cop and actor Dennis Farina seen in the above photo being handcuffed by police at LAX in 2008.  

Everyday thousands of  travelers are similarly found with lotions, potions, perfume, liquor or various objects that just appear harmful.  Thousands of other forgetful or preoccupied people with the prohibited liquids don’t face arrest, just the confiscation of their sometimes-expensive property. 

The point is that no person with criminal intent would ever knowingly place a bag on a conveyor belt for TSA inspection that contains a gun!  We all know our bags are sniffed, searched and x-rayed! 

Passengers are permitted to transport their firearms unloaded in a hard-sided locking case provided they inform the airline ticketing and checked baggage agents.  There is inspection and tagging the firearm involved.

You’d be surprised to learn that not all airports are the same.  It depends more on local laws, attitudes and their concerns about fundamental fairness. 

If an intended passenger is found with a gun in Phoenix, Denver or Jacksonville chances are they will be told to remove the gun and make proper arrangements for its disposition.  They are allowed to hand over their gun to friends, relatives or place it in their automobile trunks without being arrested or prosecuted. 

The same conduct at most airports brings jail, bail bondsmen, defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, disgrace and sometimes-horrible publicity.   Even if a passenger were to win in court the over-all financial damage can be staggering to some people. 

Sometimes criminals are forgetful too.  I’m talking about those people that prohibited by law from possessing firearms and those with stolen guns or ones with defaced serial numbers.  When that happens arrests are appropriate and reasonable.

Why would we want to clog our jails and courts with people that are in no way a threat to anyone?  Why would we want to stamp the Mark of Cain (criminal record) on some traveler destroying their current or future business and professional licenses?  Why would we want to criminalize forgetfulness?

This problem of unreasonable arrests can be addressed by either state or federal legislation. 

The federal government currently has the ability to assess a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for violations and that issue also deserves revisiting and review. 

Zero tolerance is more suited for Communist, Nazi or similar Fascist governments, not that of a free nation.  Above all, we have a right to keep and carry firearms that’s spelled out in our Constitution.  

All Americans deserve fairness and the benefit of the doubt when it comes to matters or crime, courts and justice.   Arresting some otherwise law-abiding person simply for pure forgetfulness is nothing short of government tyranny.

The TSA is Still Not Serious About Halting Terrorism but They Sure Love Wasting Money

New York, NY—With the capping off of the symbolic tower that replaced the World Trade Center I thought I’d show you the latest TSA folly.  It’s in the picture above.

No matter how you analyze the September 11, 2001 terror attack on America it was the result of FAA’s fear of armed pilots and off duty cops.   Then there was the cultural weakness of Americans in general.

First I blame the new American Nanny Culture that seemed to dictate that American plane passengers must sit and wait for authorities to deal with crime instead of resorting to self-help for survival.  Many passengers actually thought they were really doing something helpful by calling 911 from their doomed aircraft.

Politicians honored the “heroic” actions of the brave young men on Flight 93.  Actually they too were brainwashed by the Nanny Culture because their actions only came after the cockpit was breached. They did nothing until after they took votes among themselves on whether to resist the hijackers.

When I gathered the driver’s license information on the 9/11 terrorists for the news media I found something unsettling.   They were all little men!  They’re average height and weight was 5’5” and 140 pounds!  They were no bigger than most American women! 

History should have made it clear to the passengers that no Muslim terrorist event ever ended peacefully.  For those doomed passengers it was either they fight for their life or die.   Sadly we know what their choice was. 

Aside from forfeiting their own lives by cowering in their seats they also sacrificed the lives of the people inside the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The politicians and media simply never once uttered a word about the pre-programed mental conditioning or cowardice of those dead passengers. 

Since 9/11 we’ve spent hundreds of billions on Security Theater and the TSA.  As of today the only efforts at terrorism were not stopped by the TSA but by ordinary passengers.

Fast-forward to today and all that’s happened is the airlines have had to fight monumental battles avoiding bankruptcy, pilot shortages and TSA nonsense.

Our government created the Federal Flight Deck Officer’s program to arm a few pilots that specifically volunteered for the program.  That plan consisted of re-vetting the backgrounds and mental health of pilots deemed worthy of trust to handle a firearm. 

I guess a gun in the mind of brain-dead bureaucrats is somehow more dangerous than a passenger and fuel loaded commercial jet.

They trained the FFDO’s like every other armed federal officer.  However unlike cops or federal officers they FFDOs are not trusted or permitted to carry firearms outside of the locked cockpit of their airplane! 

Initially the clowns over at the TSA designed a holster with a padlock that rested directly and dangerously on the trigger of the FFDO’s gun.  At least one accidental discharge in a cockpit aboard a US Airways jet resulted from that faulty design.

Next that holster was retired and FFDO’s were forced to carry the gun in a heavy locked vault style box that was cumbersome and punishing.  Needless to say many FFDO’s quit the program.

The current joke is the container pictured at the top of this story.  It has a padlock but this time it is away from the trigger.  It makes the gun inaccessible and useless to the FFDO until he’s locked in the cockpit. 

However the new case is an improvement from the boxes but the FFDO's must purchase them with their own funds if they wish to discard the heavy boxes. 

The FFDO’s should be carrying firearms like cops and other federal officers.  Their intensive training should benefit passengers from the moment they enter airports until they leave them.

Every commercial pilot should be trained and armed or be forced to retire if they refuse that duty.

I want to add the sad truth that there were two off-duty trained and sworn cops on two of the four planes involved in the 9/11 attack.  They too perished.  No pilot was allowed to carry a firearm back then.

Our politicians have created a Constitutional mess by creating the lawless albatross called the TSA.  It serves little purpose but to allow otherwise unemployable people rob, molest and annoy passengers giving some of them a false sense of security.

I will leave you with two simple questions.  Had those 9/11 pilots and off duty cops been armed would 3,000 people still have perished?  Would we have suffered billions in property damage and business interruption?  I think the answer is obvious.

Why I Hate Spirit Airlines and So Should You!

Los Angeles, CA—I should have written this sooner but the negative experience I had with this airline has been continually relived in my mind.  Better I do this late than never!  

It was well over a year ago I had to take a short notice flight to Chicago.   I searched for the cheapest fare, which was anything but cheap.

Spirit Airlines came in at the lowest fare but not by much.  This was my fist and hopefully last flight on this carrier. 

What went wrong you might ask?  To begin with Spirit is following the competition in doing the things I hate like those confusing nickel and dime schemes over baggage fees.  I want to be charged a single price and be left alone.

Because of the fees overhead bins are always overstuffed and the loading and unloading of passengers is painfully slower than need be. 

From the boarding counter to exiting the plane their clerks and crew were unfriendly and downright mean.  I never once saw any of them smile.

The pre-boarding loudspeaker announcements were always tense and agitated.  They warned us like we were Nazi prisoners boarding trains to death camps that the plane was absolutely full.

When I got to my seat it had a brown colored stain on it and since the plane was full I could not change it.  Then I learned that the seats do not recline even an inch!  I’m 6 feet tall and weigh in at over 200 pounds.  L.A. to Chicago is a somewhat long flight. 

The flight attendants were very impatient with the passengers that were seemingly to slow at obeying commands to stow those electronic devices.

I was wondering where Spirit recruited their help.  Those people showed every sign of hating their jobs and the passengers.

I can’t imagine that every flight is like that because if they were, Switzerland’s Human Rights organizations would be investigating. 

I have to admit I’m old enough to remember when flying was fun.  Once upon a time, there was no frisking passengers or searching their luggage.  You could pay for your flight with cash and board planes without ID. 

The flight crews of old were delightfully friendly.  There were no flight attendants.  Stewardesses took care of the passengers needs.  They were young, radiant and incredibly pleasant.  Women that were hard on the eyes or men simply were excluded from these positions. 

The glory days of airline travel are long over and so what if I got spoiled but I refuse to pay for what Spirit dishes out.  I'd rather walk!

Frankly this single round trip experience with Spirit was enough for me and I will gladly pay more to avoid this airline.

How Our Sacred Bill of Rights has all but Vanished

Washington, DC—The basic Human Rights Protections given to us through the blood of patriots and tyrants in the Bill of Rights are all but dead.

Should you try and obtain a copy of the simple and plain English version by an Internet search it will be quite a challenge.  Instead you will get paraphrased versions with lots of “explanations” by so-called legal scholars.

The actual text is far too dangerous to publish.  People would certainly be “misled” into believing our government has become lawless and tyrannical.

Essentially the Far Left Wing of our academia all want us to believe that the words don’t mean what they say.  They want us to accept that only intellectually superior people like them can understand simple words.

The authors of our Bill of Right deliberately made tampering with this important human rights document very difficult.   A simple majority vote cannot change our Constitution. 

The Left Wing hates our Constitution and Bill of Rights simply because it is a solid bar to Socialism and Communism.

The United States Supreme Court is made of men and women who are appointed by presidents for life.  They are appointed more for partisan reasons rather than their sound legal abilities.  The Court is politically divided much like our population.

As for the Bill of Rights, the task of our courts is to use it to protect us from government tyranny.   They too often fail in that important mission.  Instead they constantly attempt to redefine the text allowing for tyranny. 

Our courts have allowed for the abolition of free speech, gun rights and have decimated our rights against unreasonable search and seizure. 

After a decade or seven the Supreme Court may review a lower court finding and reestablish a right like they did with the McDonald and Heller gun cases.   In effect a lower court can suspend our rights and if we are lucky some time before we die our rights may be returned by our Supreme Court.

In one strange case Roe v Wade the Supreme Court somehow wrote us a new right, the Right to Privacy.  Apparently this new right only applies to women and their physicians on obtaining abortions.

Without taking a position on abortion rights or the warm and fuzzy PC term, the Right to Choose I can’t imagine how the court could do this in an intellectually honest way.  The Court in effect took a lawless short cut to amend the Constitution.

I can’t tell you how many legal professors, politicians or self-described legal experts have made speeches extolling the virtues of the Bill of Rights and then unceremoniously attacked them.

The Left Wing has invented rhetoric that may sound legally plausible but is pure hogwash.  They tell us the Constitution is a “living document” that evolves with popular notions of today’s politics.  They also tell us our rights “Must be balanced against the collective security needs of the masses.”  Collectivism is what Communism and Socialism is all about. 

I love it when I hear cops, prosecutors and judges say that times have changed, or that in a “Post 9/11 World” we must do things differently. 

I guess that they forgot that the Bill of Rights was the direct result of The Revolutionary War.  They forgot that we have had a Civil War and two World Wars and that compared, 9/11 is an insignificant event!  We never once found the need to amend the Bill of Rights the proper way!

The serious threat of sabotage during our wars never before led to a group of uniformed lawless government thugs like our TSA.

Our Bill of Rights is dead because people have simply accepted the constant watering down of their human rights.  They never get it until they are victimized personally when its way too late to do anything.  

Tolerating the Intolerable TSA Thugs

Los Angeles, CA—What to you call a sinking boatload of TSA bureaucrats and screeners?  It’s an excellent beginning!   Do I absolutely abhor the TSA?  That’s an understatement at best.  When I see them in their quasi police costumes I always view them as nasty Nazis.  They are simple minded, poorly trained goons that lack minimal tolerance for anyone or anything. Too many of them are thieves stealing valuable passenger’s property every day.

Factually, the TSA’s totally tyrannical mission is a violation of travelers Civil Rights under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.  The courts have wrongly held that travelers “voluntarily submit” to the searching and that somehow justifies the privacy invasion and seizures of property.

I say there is nothing voluntary about most people traveling by commercial airlines.  Americans must travel in order to earn money to feed themselves and families.  There really is no alternative.  Millions of people do avoid flying whenever they can because of this government tyranny and I’m one of them.  

I’d rather drive up to eight hours each way on highways to avoid the indignity of being X-Rayed, fondled and frisked by these low rent TSA thugs.

My biggest beef with the TSA is the 1,700 times a year or more that they cause the wrongful arrest people that simply forgot they had legal handguns in their carry on bags.

Before you say these forgetful people are stupid or criminal consider the millions of dollars of lotions and potions seized from passengers that forgot they had their expensive liquid cosmetics in carry on bags. 

We all forget especially when we must fly at the last minute and become preoccupied with serious business or personal matters like traveling because of the deaths of loved ones. We are humans and humans forget.

We place our bags on the conveyer belts knowing they will be X-Rayed and inspected.  Nobody would knowingly leave any item in such a bag that would cause distress to fellow passengers or anyone, especially themselves!

Often our bags are shared with or packed by our close family members increasing the likelihood that a gun could be left in some carry on bag.

When the TSA discovers a gun they contact police who are forced to arrest, the poor forgetful soul and what follows is never pretty.  They confiscate the gun that can easily cost upwards of $1,100.00 and then the arrestee is fingerprinted, photographed and jailed until they see a judge and post bail.  They must then hire a lawyer that can cost $10,000 or more.  If they have a business license that face more trouble after they are placed on probation or pay fines.  The criminal record in most jurisdictions is forever.  All for just being forgetful! 

The late actor and retired police detective Dennis Farina was handcuffed and jailed on a Sunday for over eight hours until he could gather $35,000 in cash for bail with the banks being closed!  His record was eventually expunged but he was treated like a common criminal that had committed some dreadful offense.

Celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme, NBA legend Bill Russell, actor Christian Slater and the wife of Rocker Ted Nugent, Shemane Nugent just to name a few more victims were all arrested and manhandled because of the outrageous TSA Zero Tolerance policy.

TSA head, John Pistole (no pun intended) recently conceded to ABC News that people arrested with guns in carry-on luggage are not terrorists or people trying to do harm.  He went on to say that, “ It’s just a matter of people not thinking about what they’re carrying… These are people who have simply forgotten and go through security checks and realize their mistakes.”

If the TSA is well aware that there is no criminal intent than why don’t they simply ask the passengers to remove the guns and place them in checked baggage the proper way? Why subject the forgetful passenger to the horror of jail and criminal prosecution?  Why waste so much taxpayer money on this tyranny?  

Should a few guns turn out to be stolen, have obliterated serial numbers or are being carried by felons, that is an entirely different matter.  Arrests under those circumstances are good public policy. 

In short if the TSA could show simple reasonableness and respect I would not want to see them all on a sinking boat.  They must realize their mission is to protect passengers from actual terrorists.  Instead the TSA itself has become a terrorist organization.  If they ever expect to gain my tolerance and respect they must first learn that forgetful passengers are not America’s enemies.

Misplaced Honors for a Murdered TSA Worker Dilutes Recognition for Real Heroes

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Los Angeles, CA—Yes, our tax dollars paid and will continue to pay for undeserved honors for a dead TSA screener.

On November 1, 2013 suicidal gunman Paul Anthony Ciancia opened fire at Terminal 3 at LAX Airport killing TSA screener Gerardo Hernandez.  Hernandez was not a law enforcement officer, first responder or soldier.  He did not deliberately place himself in harms way for others.  He was like thousands of other unfortunate killed in the world, simply an ordinary murder victim.

The TSA security theater façade includes some 50,000 people without significant background checks, law enforcement training, arrest powers or firearms.  Dressed in police costumes these workers simply screen passengers that are fully aware they will along with their belongings be searched prior to boarding commercial aircraft.  This is not a dangerous job like being a cop, convenience store clerk or cab driver.

I have recoiled in disgust every time I heard a politician or news reporter say that Hernandez, "died in the line of duty." That's never applied to some murdered 7-11 clerk working nights to feed his or her family.  The TSA police costumes seem to have left a false impression.

I'd put TSA workers in simple  red jumpsuits saving taxpayers untold millions. They gave these people gold police type badges too? 

Being a TSA screener is even safer than being a flight attendant, pilot or gate ticket agent. 

LAX is the world’s fourth busiest airport moving nearly 40 million people every year.  It has its own police department and is supported by numerous additional local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The TSA is nothing more than a pathetic illusion of security that insults, provokes and demeans passengers.  The TSA program is also in direct conflict with the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution.

Since the beginning of the TSA more than a decade ago no other worker lost his or her life while working.  Our government window washers, garbage men or postal service workers have a higher mortality rate from job dangers than the TSA. 

When non-first responding government workers are killed on the job we don’t place flags at half-staff or hold government sponsored memorial demonstrations reserved for soldiers, cops or firemen killed in the line of duty. Why are they going whole hog for a TSA screener?

The full government honors given to Hernandez dilute the distinctions reserved for heroes.  I don’t mean disrespect for Hernandez or his family but being a murder victim does not confer special honor like heroism.

The TSA is an organization created to unlawfully trade liberty and privacy for unobtainable security. As a nation too many of us has allowed our government to convince us to forfeit our freedom for TSA fascism. 

If anything the attack at LAX showed it’s beyond impossible to protect our airports and passengers by creating a totally screened Gun Free Zone!  This program was an abject failure. 

The TSA was nothing more than a massive government jobs program for our unemployable, aimless and ignorant underachievers. 

When it comes to government regulation of our skies and airports the inmates are clearly in charge of the asylum. 

This deadly attack by a lone suicidal gunman who easily breached this secured airport terminal while having his way was absolutely predictable.  Thankfully the gunman avoided shooting innocent passengers while targeting TSA screeners.  That’s why scores or passengers were not killed.

Try to imagine what just three trained and determined terrorists could have done.  They would have owned Terminal 3, its passengers, employees and planes.  The carnage would have been extensive long before law enforcement could have ended such a siege.

If you still think that the TSA somehow helps prevent terrorism you are living in OZ.  The responsibility to defeat terrorism lies within all of us to physically do what we can to prevent it. Disarming off duty or retired cops, pilots, and trained security professionals is a sure way to insure that terrorists will always win.

Few people are aware that on September 11, 2001 two of the hijacked planes contained off duty cops that were disarmed by insane FAA regulations that are still mirrored by the TSA.  Had those officer been armed those two planes would have quickly removed from danger.

Had the airline pilots been routinely trained and armed Sept 11 would have been just another day.  Even today the revised armed, Federal Flight Deck Officer program is a paper tiger since the pilots can’t carry their firearms outside the locked cockpit.

I’m beyond shocked to see the TSA union and some politicians seeking to arm untrained and un-vetted TSA screeners before off-duty, retired cops and our pilots.