I am proud to honor fallen officer William Sprague in my Blog. Officer Sprague lost his life in the line of duty while responding to a large disturbance in a Texarkana park. There were believed to be at least one hundred people at the location. When Officer Sprague arrived, he learned that the person in an SUV parked nearby was possibly involved in, or had caused, the disturbance. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver suddenly accelerated away, striking and mortally injuring the officer.
Officer William Sprague died the following day of the critical injuries he received when the suspect ran over him. The same day, police arrested the suspect, charging him with Officer Sprague's murder. Officer Sprague served two years with the Texarkana Police, but had been an officer in Arkansas for several years. He was thirty years old, and is survived by his wife and his young son.
May God comfort this family. Officer Sprague has joined the Thin Blue Line in heaven. I am proud to honor him in this blog, and I pray for the safety of our officers as they work to protect us every day.
I left work at 12:00 AM.It was now Sunday morning.I would
go back to work at 4:00 PM.At
least that was my plan.But plans
change.We make plans, then we change
our minds, or we make plans…and God, Fate, Karma, whatever…changes our
plans for us.And those changes are really
life-changing, and sometimes eternally permanent.
It was around 10:00 PM this past Saturday when a mature lady and a young
girl of about ten or eleven years burst into the Emergency Room where I
work.Both of them were in tears and
hysterical.Fate or Karma, or God, had
touched their lives in a tragic way.The
lady’s grandson, the girl’s uncle, had been killed in a traffic accident. The poor lady knew no other information, and
really was not sure that her grandson was indeed dead.I left my station and walked into the waiting
room.I helped the lady and the young
girl to some chairs.I told the lady
that maybe the news was not as bad as she had first been told, after all. She calmed a little but told me she was nearly
certain that her grandson must be dead.But then she said that her great-grand children had survived the
accident and she thought they were being brought to the Midland hospital.
Apparently no one had witnessed the wreck, but the
occupants of a passing vehicle saw two small children walking around near the
roadway, and no adult was in sight.The
children thought their father must be walking somewhere, as they told the
strangers who had stopped to help them.Unfortunately the father was not walking somewhere.In fact, he was found several hundred feet
from a wrecked vehicle that had obviously ran off the road and rolled over,
throwing the driver out.Somehow the
children had been spared, almost unscathed.I made a couple phone calls and found out that the man had been killed,
but the children were in fact on an ambulance and en route to the
hospital.The lady was still shaken and
of course grief-stricken, but seemed to be calmed immensely just knowing now
for certain that her grandson was dead.
I stayed with this poor lady until the children
arrived.A minister went with her to
check on the children, and I returned to my abandoned duty station.It ran through my mind once again that life
is so uncertain, and everything can change in a heartbeat.We always say to ourselves, and to others as
well, that we could die at any time.But
I, for myself anyway, have often thought “yes, I could die any time, but since
it is already later on in the day, I will probably be spared at least until
tomorrow.”Once again, Fate changed on a
dime, and a man who had spent most of the day with his two children did not
live to see the stroke of midnight.
After I clocked out for the night, I had to walk back
through the emergency waiting room to exit the hospital.The lady who had just lost her grandson was
again seated in the emergency room, talking with relatives who had by now
started to gather at the hospital.As I
walked by, she gave me a hug and told me she was thankful for the kindness I
had shown her, and that I had been a source of comfort even while she was
facing such a tragic loss.Though this
was a tragedy, I was glad to have been a small part of this woman’s life,
exactly when I was needed.
As I drove away, it occurred to me that there was a
chance I might not finish the short drive to my residence.After all, anything could happen at any
time.Almost as if Fate were confirming
my feelings, a car ran the red light at the intersection I was approaching.If that dear lady had not delayed me a few
seconds with her show of affection, I might well have been the next fatality of
the night.When I parked my car, I got
out and just looked at the bright full moon and the stars of heaven.As I drank all that wonder into my soul, I
reminded myself to enjoy life, and to let all my loved ones and friends know that
I love and care for them.For FATE truly
can change…even before the sun rises on a new day.
I have blogged about things like government abuses under USA PATRIOT since 2010. I am sure there are some who read my blogs and other sources and thought that I was paranoid. Now, with whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations of the actual extent of the National Security Agency's (and who knows who else's) domestic spying program, people are finally beginning to understand that we are indeed watched by Big Brother, and and to a greater degree than many first imagined. While some people are still using the old platitude "I don't care if they spy on me, I have nothing to hide," many people are very angry about being unwittingly spied upon by the Government, and rightly so.
I am pleased to see that not only are the "common people" becoming more and more upset about domestic spy programs, but they are beginning to demand action in curtailing these abuses. And the mainstream media is being forced to cover NSA activities right on the front page of their newspapers and as lead stories on their televised newscasts. On the Internet, there are blogs and articles indicating that not only are the "paranoid" concerned about domestic spying, but "regular" people are, as well. It all reminds me of one of the most asinine statements I have ever seen published in a scholarly work:
The person who believes he is being followed is paranoid, unless of course, he REALLY IS being followed.
This little gem, the creation of some brilliant psychologist, though asinine to the point of laughter, is true, nonetheless. I, and others who called our Government over-reaching and abusive, have been called paranoid and "conspiracy theorists" for many years. Now, surprise, it turns out the Government REALLY IS watching each and every one of us, albeit electronically...I think(?). The NSA, CIA, FBI, DIA, and whatever other alphabetical agencies are out there, have been and are yet watching you and me. And we have a whistleblower to prove it. Ironically, the whistleblower may face federal charges for revealing the true nature and extent of the nation-wide domestic spying program. The real criminals are calling Mr. Snowden a dangerous person, even a traitor, for what he has done. Indeed, some are already calling for him to be arrested and tried for treason. That for his exposure of the Government's TREASONOUS ACTIVITIES.
Since the passage of USA PATRIOT and the other equally odious measures, various government officials and private "privacy experts" have assured us that only "potential terrorists" were being targeted by the various unconstitutional "anti-terrorist:" programs initiated since 9-1-1. But this latest revelation proves that all Americans who use credit cards, cell-phones and the Internet have been "profiled" and "cataloged" by the NSA and whatever other agencies are mining all this data. Since the Government has told us they are only interested in monitoring "potential terrorists," it must follow that all the MILLIONS of innocent American citizens being monitored are considered "potential terrorists."
Did you know that one of the things the NSA spy program does is make a "normal profile"of a given person? That is indeed what happens. The "profile" consists of all of a particular person's collected data including routine cell phone usage, routine Internet surfing patterns, online purchase data, and credit card usage data. Cell phone data collected includes the numbers called and the frequency that certain numbers are called. And, CHANGES in the cell phone usage patterns are recorded as well. Internet surfing patterns are collected, including what sites are visited and how frequently a given site is visited. Again, changes in a person's Internet usage are of interest, and are automatically flagged by the spying computer program. A person's fuel purchases are monitored, as well as their travel destinations, as indicated by airline or cruise ship ticket purchases. These are just a couple of examples. I am sure we, the public, have no idea of the total extent to which we are monitored. Any changes in any of the above mentioned categories automatically triggers further investigation into our activities.
Is this what America truly stands for? Are we truly a nation of people "with nothing to hide so we don't care if we are being spied upon?" I do not believe so. I believe the outrage will spread even more when the true extent of US Government snooping comes to light. And we are not helpless, though we are at a disadvantage. But we can all take action to curtail this outrageous, illegal, and unconstitutional government activity. It will be a slow process, for certain, but we can regain our freedom and our privacy. The most basic thing we can do is keep putting pressure on our representatives to repeal all of the unconstitutional "War On Terror" measures that have been enacted since September, 2001. We can refuse to vote for any candidate, including the presidential candidates, who will not publicly promise to make it his or her mission to repeal those laws. In the meantime, I am so proud of the American people as they are finally demonstrating the willingness to stand up and say "We will stand for this NO LONGER!" It is truly a breath of fresh air to me.
The revelation of the existence of Operation PRISM has caused quite a stir across the nation today, at least with a few people. PRISM is a program of cooperation between all the Internet giants and the United States government, as represented by a veritable alphabet soup of federal agencies, which pretty much gives these agencies a free rein in mining through private citizens' doings on the Internet. This information mining will, by the law of averages, eventually yield information and plots posted by terrorists. In the meantime, it would yield vast amounts of information on you and me as well. Granted, most of us only post innocuous and trivial information; but is this really the point?
For me, the point is that by law, the United States Constitution specifically, we are to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, and we are to be free to enjoy life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness. Does the government's total usurpation of the Constitution somehow multiply my enjoyment of life, more liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? No, nor does the same somehow increase my safety from "terrorists."
There is one more point that I would like to make. In just the few hours since the PRISM revelations were made, I have seen articles and blogs on the Internet, such as the one below:
Pardon the profanity in the title, it is not my title nor my article. I posted this article because I am afraid that many people share the sentiments of the writer of this article. They declare in chorus, like a thousand bleating sheep, "I have done nothing wrong. I don't care if the government spies on me. They are protecting me."
I corresponded briefly with a gentlemen on Facebook who expressed the same sentiment. He has done nothing wrong, he is not a criminal, and therefore, he has no reason to be concerned that the government is "reading my email." I am not particularly concerned that someone may be reading my email, either, to the extent that I am not writing illegal information or writing about illegal criminal plots. What I AM concerned about is the Government's candid admission that federal agencies are indeed mining citizens' activities on the Internet for "national security reasons." Operation PRISM is not just about reading emails, but about collecting all forms of information a person might upload, including pictures, documents, files, search history, and ANYTHING we have placed on the Internet. Do you realize that the acknowledged cost of PRISM is $20,000,000. If, as many of the sheeple have pointed out, they are only posting harmless and trivial information, how is this government expense justified? And it has gone on now for at least seven years. Surely by now the Government knows who amongst us are dangerous. If that is the case, than the expense for PRISM should be dropping every year, as the PRISM operatives should by now KNOW on whom to focus. Yet they are spying on ALL OF US.
Yesterday we celebrated the bravery and the memory of those Americans who took part in the Invasion of Europe in 1946. These brave soldiers were not on the beach for their health. No, they were fighting for our liberty, and paying for freedom with their blood. That is why I am so appalled and disgusted at the numbers of people (sheeple) who are willing to lay down and let this heavy and oppressive government continue forcing us down the road to dictatorship. They are willing to give up freedom for security. But they do not have the right to speak for me or for others that love freedom. These sheeple do not have the right to GIVE our rights away, when our men and women, from the Revolution to the Second Iraq War, have laid down their lives for our freedom. I propose that people who want to be totally protected by the government pick a dictatorship somewhere, perhaps Iran or North Korea, and legally immigrate to one of those nations. But if you stay in America, remember you cannot give away what is not yours. Rights were granted by the Creator to all of us. If having rights is too much of a responsibility, please leave these United States and proceed directly to the nearest dictatorship. Just don't try to give away my rights - they are INALIENABLE!!
I have to say that I have evidently been in a news blackout for the past few days, because last night as I was reading about what appeared to be a conspiracy-like relationship between the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tax, and Firearms and the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office, I certainly received a shock. But it should not have been quite as shocking, as I remember the night this terrible tragedy happened.
The "conspiracy" I alluded to is the fact that the State Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tax, and Firearms have cooperated in keeping another federal agency out of the investigation. That is material for another blog. The bigger news is that one of West's own first responders was arrested for possessing bomb-making materials.
Even while fires burned and rescue efforts were underway, the various news services played some of the 9-1-1 calls and radio traffic recordings on the news broadcasts. As I listened in shock and disbelief, a part of me was listening to this information as a trained (but long-since de-commissioned) police officer. And what I heard that very night put me on edge. It did not seem to register with most of the people, or at least there was no ado made about it in the media. But, one of the first responders said very clearly over his radio, "A bomb has just gone off at the plant!" This person, whose name I cannot remember, or even if the person was ever identified publicly, did not say, "It was JUST LIKE A BOMB went off at the plant," or "the explosion was LIKE A BOMB!" He very clearly stated that "a bomb just went off..."
Psychologists, as well as police officers and investigators, know that people tend to say EXACTLY what they mean during a time of high stress, crisis, danger, or when death is imminent. The last scenario gives rise to the legal term "dying declaration," or a person's last words which are assumed by courts at law to be true because of the fear, stress, or desire to clear one's conscience, that gives great weight to these "last words." More importantly to peace officers, however, is the well-proven tendency for people, particularly criminal suspects, to tell the truth when they are experiencing moments of high stress. In this situation, a suspect or interviewee will INADVERTENTLY tell the truth about something, then later deny the statement or try to explain what he "meant to say." Thus, the first responder who made the statement that "a bomb has gone off" inadvertently provided information HE COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN as a first responder, unless he knew about the device or if HE PLANTED THE DEVICE HIMSELF. Since emergency communications are now routinely recorded, these words are forever preserved in the McLennan County emergency communications system. Identifying the speaker would be a simple matter and has most likely long since been done.
Now, it turns out (and I still cannot believe I did not hear this news earlier!), that first responder Bryce Reed of West, Texas has been arrested for possession of bomb-making materials and explosives. Granted, this is the United States and a person is innocent until proven guilty in court, so therefore I am making no assumptions, and trusting (gadzooks!) the government to investigate this offense fully, and to either eliminate Reed as a suspect in what is already a criminal investigation of the explosion of the fertilizer factory in West, or gather enough evidence to arrest and prosecute him. This latest turn of events is numbing to me, and I have no doubt that the shock and loss that the people of West experienced and are still living through has been increased a hundred-fold by this latest revelation. Is it really possible that their own friend and neighbor could have perpetrated this terrible thing? Unfortunately this is a very real possibility.
The authorities are at this point going out of their way to assure us that Reed's arrest for possession of bomb-making materials is totally unrelated to the ongoing criminal investigation. That is a prudent thing for them to do at the moment. But given all the information available, as well as Reed's self-appointment as a "spokesman" during the early hours after the blast, and his statement that he and Cyrus Reed (one of the dead firefighters) were brothers, which they are not, a dark cloud of suspicion certainly surrounds Bryce Reed, and demands that he be fully investigated as a prime suspect in this terrible tragedy, now probably a multiple-homicide by arson.
I hope that Bryce Reed had some other reason for possession of explosive devices, although there is no good reason for an untrained person to possess explosives. Here I am assuming that he WAS untrained, given that I do not know his background, such as whether he has indeed had explosives training or EOD experience. Assumptions are worthless things, I know, and should be used sparingly. It may be that the fire and explosion at that fertilizer factory were accidental, and that Bryce Reed's alleged possession of bomb-making devices truly had no bearing on the West explosion. I sincerely hope that is the case. An accident of this magnitude is so tragic and so overwhelming in itself. The idea that the explosion was the result of criminal activity by a member of the West community becomes sickening and outrageous beyond words. The alleged bombers of the Boston Marathon were no worse that the perpetrator of the explosion at West. All were terrorists, whether religious extremists, anti-government extremists, or just murderers, pure and simple.
The people of West are in my thoughts all the time. Just because the "news" has moved on does not mean that recovery is complete, or ever will be. Now the news that the fire and explosion potentially were caused by criminal activity is a severe blow to the progress toward recovery. And the possibility that one of their own is the criminal has to be a mind-numbing blow to those already overwhelmed by the tragedy and loss. I hope that the explosion was a tragic accident, but if it was not, then I hope that the police carefully make their case and then arrest the person responsible for the murder of fifteen people, the injury of two hundred others, and the devastation of at least one third of the town. Unfortunately, that person may well be in custody at this very moment.
In my previous blog I wrote about President Obama and his minions, and the lack of a loud and consistent demand for their impeachment and removal from office where applicable, and their firing or resignation when impeachment does not apply. I ended my little diatribe with the observation that I had read cartoons and T-shirts bearing the slogan, "Do You Miss President Bush Yet?" or "NOW Do You Miss Bush?". And my answer is...NO, I DO NOT miss President G. W. Bush or "Bush II."
One reason I do not miss President Bush is that he led this nation into a second war with Iraq. The first Iraq War, initiated by George H.W. Bush, was maybe semi-justified by the stated goal of forcing Saddam Hussein out of the dictatorship, although I do not believe it is this nation's responsibility to make or break the leadership of other nations. Regardless, Bush II forced the United States into a second war with Iraq, which was still under Hussein's control at the time. The pretext for this war was that Saddam Hussein was in league with Osama, Son of Laden, and that Hussein had partially funded the 9/11 Attacks. There was never any real evidence offered concerning Hussein's involvement, and even if he was involved up to his eyeballs, the people of Iraq were NOT involved. Saddam Hussein, after all, kept rein over his subjects by terror and oppression, not by being a leader elected "by the people." For that matter, there was precious little evidence that Osama bin Laden himself had anything to do with the 9/11 Attacks. In fact, as the years have passed and more evidence has come to light, there is precious little evidence to support the belief that ANY Arab terrorists were involved in the 9/11 attacks, but that is another blog.
The second reason I do not miss "Dubbya" Bush is much more fundamental to very core of this nation, the United States of America. You see, immediately after that terrible day in New York, after the deaths of over a hundred people in the Pentagon, and after a jet had been shot down over Pennsylvania, a bill called "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" was thrust onto the floors of Congress. An immediate vote was demanded and this bill, outrageously nicknamed the "Patriot Act" and given the sickening acronym "USA PATRIOT" (outrageous and sickening due to the contents of the Act), was passed into law. This most tyrannical law ever passed was approved by a Congress that was neither allowed time to read the bill (which consisted of over three thousand pages) nor given the freedom to vote against it. The fact that it was the "Patriot Act" should have been sufficient grounds for Congressional approval. But, in case anyone WANTED to vote against it, there were plenty of Bush minions around to sound the cry of "un-American" or "lack of patriotism" loudly to the media. No senator or representative could stand this kind of pressure. In fact, of four hundred odd Congressmen, only 66 voted against this bill. Only ONE senator voted against the bill, this being Senator Feingold of Wisconsin. Senator Feingold correctly pointed out that this terrible bill did not so much fight terrorism as it was an attack on AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTY. Said Feingold, “It was a difficult thing. And I could kind of see, like the late Bob Novak said, it included an old wishlist of the FBI. Things that didn’t have to do with terrorism. Like going after people’s library records, who had done absolutely nothing wrong." In other words, Senator Feingold (a Democrat, by the way) already knew that the FBI and other agencies had been after these new powers for some time. Again, USA PATRIOT had nothing to do with terrorism, and everything to do with stronger government control.
The third reason I do not miss Bush II is that he instigated the War On Terror (WOT) though there were no clear objectives and no way to clearly determine when (AND IF) the WOT would ever end. Since the WOT started, we have seen terrorists spirited away to prisons, mostly not located on American shores, never to see the light of day again. And these are the ones we KNOW about. Under USA PATRIOT, we can never know for certain how many people, including American citizens, have been arrested and sent away to Gitmo or wherever they are sent. Since the United States has "declared war" on terror, it is conceivable that anyone arrested for anything remotely related to terrorism could vanish. And no, you are not entitled to a phone call under USA PATRIOT, nor does Miranda apply. So the WOT has raged on since 2002, and no end in sight, as far as President Bush II was concerned. A ray of hope glimmered briefly with the election of Barack Obama, whose election platform included the "plank" that he would end the WOT as soon as he took office. That did not happen, and the WOT goes on. Besides the obvious and tragic loss of life and loss of economic resources, the endless WOT also justifies the government in declaring martial law whenever it deems fit to do so. We saw a glimmer of what this was like in the search for the Boston terrorists; I can only imagine what it would be like on a nationwide scale, but the potential is there, my friends, as well as the legal authority, as spelled out in USA PATRIOT.
The final reason I do not miss President Bush is, as I said earlier, the subject of another blog. Actually it is the subject of much research, many reports, many books and articles, and even a few movies. There is ample evidence now to dispel any reasonable belief that the "terrorists" responsible for these attacks were Muslim extremists. If you want to call me a "Truther" go ahead. I like that label much better than "Liar" anyway. By now, the many reviews of film clips, of the damage to the Pentagon, of the sudden and most unusual disposal of the "crime scene" at Ground Zero, the way the twin towers fell, the unexplainable destruction of Building 7, which was not hit by either plane, nor severely or even moderately damaged by the fall of the towers, as well as much other evidence, tends to disprove the "terrorists armed with box-cutters" version of what happened that day, and points a damning finger at terrorists who were not Muslim at all, but who were extremists of another ilk. These were power-hungry extremists who accomplished their goal of effectively curtailing our constitutional rights. You are entitled to believe anything you want about 9/11, starting with "our government WOULD NEVER do this to the American people!" I felt that very same way on September 12, 2001. But my own research has brought much reasonable doubt to this assumption, this belief, this desire to be a good American and support our leaders. Again, these matters are too numerous to list in detail here, but you certainly can find all you need to know on the Internet and in books dealing with 9/11. I hope you will do some research for yourself before labelling me a "Truther" or just a plain "lunatic," but that is your call.
So, while I do not support Obama and I call for his immediate impeachment and removal from office, as well as his trial for murder, I also call for a genuine investigation into President Bush's role in the 9/11 attacks and his role in curtailing our freedom. Certainly, by the way, President Bush, if he did have a role in the 9/11 attacks, should be held accountable for the murder of all those good Americans, and the citizens of the other nations as well, who died on that terrible day.
I think back to the Watergate Scandal during the Nixon Administration in 1974. President Nixon's misconduct was not tolerated, and Mr. Nixon became the first president in the history of the nation to resign from office. Of course he did so just before the impeachment proceedings started. It was good that he resigned, as there was little doubt of his complicity in the Watergate affair. So Nixon resigned. Several of his minions went to prison. And the kindly, well-meaning Gerald Ford filled the presidential office until the next election.
After the ineffective Carter Administration, Ronald Reagan was elected. Whether one supported him or not, there is no denying that he brought respect and prestige back to this nation, which had suffered its deepest humiliation under President Carter. But.....then there was that pesky thing called the Iran-Contra Affair. Once again, the media was outraged. Politicians called for the heads of those responsible, and got them. Only Reagan himself came out relatively unscathed.
Now we have been through over four years of the Obama Fiasco, I mean...Presidency, with no end in sight except the saving grace that a president can only serve two terms. But I have heard very little "head calling" of late. Attorney General Holder seems to have avoided the political guillotine for the Fast and Furious deaths. Secretary of State Clinton seems to have suffered very little for her role in the Benghazi Attack cover-up. Ms. Lerner...same. And one participant, Victoria Nuland, a press secretary, is now up for promotion to Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. This appointment is directly from Mr. Obama, apparently in recognition for Ms. Nuland's key suggestion to doctor emails and documents concerning the Benghazi Attacks before these items were released.
As to President Obama himself, I cannot believe he still holds the highest and most powerful office in this land. Remember that Nixon faced inevitable impeachment and removal (two separate things, by the way) for his role in "approving" the Watergate burglaries. There was little evidence that he actually planned the operation, though that is certainly not a big step from approving it. Anyway, Nixon saw what was coming and resigned. Now, President Obama has done just a tad worse than either order or approve a burglary of his political opponent's hotel room. In fact, President Obama has made it plain through his own speeches, his own executive orders, and the speeches of his underlings, that he has the power to determine when an American citizen can be summarily executed without due process, President Obama has in fact murdered two Americans by dronicide. He and Mr. Holder have made it plain that Sir President has this power and can use it ON AMERICAN SOIL if he so desires. This is called murder, but the calls for presidential impeachment are remarkably quiet. Break into a hotel for political gain - face impeachment. Murder two people, and threaten the same for the entire nation - silence.
Like I said, the saving grace for America is that Obama can only serve two terms. But wait...CAN he serve ONLY two terms? He has enjoyed remarkable power courtesy of President Bush II and the War On Terror (WOT). Mr. Obama has defied the Constitution as to our right to due process and the fact that we are innocent until tried in court and proven guilty. Is it that much of a stretch for His Highness Obama to decide that, due to the WOT, it would serve national security interest for him to occupy that highest office until the WOT is concluded? Not really... And when WILL the WOT reach a conclusion? After all, a new terrorist is created every day.
I would not be very surprised if President Obama should one day assert his right to remain in the White House beyond 2016, what with the WOT going on and all. So, my friends, belay that impeachment.
God Bless America
NOTE:
In light of the most tyrannical presidency in United States history, I have seen political cartoons and observed people wearing T-shirts that ask "Do You Miss Bush Yet?"
No, I do not miss Bush II yet....and I will tell you why in an upcoming blog.
