Author Archives: notamobster

I think the detainees at Gitmo should be tried in front of military tribunals or released from detention. I have always been torn on the issue, because of my predilection toward individual liberty and my understanding and acceptance of the need for a means of holding individuals who are a threat. While detaining someone who is an active threat should always be legal, I think that their liberty shouldn’t be allowed to be taken “indefinitely”.

When a man commits a crime he should be punished for that crime. If the evidence doesn’t exist to try the individual, he should be released. Likewise, if the evidence is tainted.

The founding principles of this nation establish, nay, reinforce & codify the idea that all men are created equal. As such, we should hold anyone in our custody to the same standard. I am not comfortable with the idea of our government, a government-run-amok – or any other – having the ability to detain anyone it pleases, without a writ of habeus corpus and a structured system of dealing justice within the law. We should not be comfortable trading the liberty of an individual, for the security of individuals, without a proper system of checks-and-balances.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — The Obama administration Monday lifted a veil of secrecy surrounding the status of the detainees at Guantánamo, for the first time publicly naming the four dozen captives it defined as indefinite detainees — men too dangerous to transfer but who cannot be tried in a court of law.

The names had been a closely guarded secret since a multi-agency task force sifted through the files of the Guantánamo detainees in 2009 trying to achieve President Barack Obama’s executive order to close the detention center. In January 2010, the task force revealed that it classified 48 Guantánamo captives as too dangerous to transfer but ineligible for trial because of a lack of evidence, or because the evidence was too tainted.

They became so-called “indefinite detainees,” a form of war prisoner held under Congress’ 2001 “Authorization for Use of Military Force.”

The Defense Department released the list to The Miami Herald, which, with the assistance of Yale Law School students, had sued for it in federal court in Washington, D.C. The Pentagon also sent the list to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on Monday, a Defense Department official said.

According to the list, the men designated for indefinite detention are 26 Yemenis, 12 Afghans, 3 Saudis, 2 Kuwaitis, 2 Libyans, a Kenyan, a Moroccan and a Somali.

Full story here…

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the triumphs of humanity and call attention to it’s failures. We all come here for our own reasons, but this site is like a family. I have made many, many truly wonderful friends via The Real Revo. I’ve made friends I share debates with and friends I call for advice when my life is a wreck. I have met many of them in person, only after getting to know them here.

I met several at the 1st Revo Fiesta, and others during various pit-stops in this crazy life. What a wonderful site we have here. Many of you have been reading for years and years. You have shared in my personal triumphs and tragedies. Well now, by the grace of God, you will share in another triumph.

I have been incognito for several months, as happens when one is gainfully employed and forward deployed to the end of the earth. As you know, I was unemployed for 365 days, trying to find work in Michigan. I submitted 1,000′s of resumes, completed 100′s of applications, and only had a dozen or so interviews. This was HIGHLY unusual for my skill set and abilities. I just couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting hired. Then, on the day I gave up, I realized why.

There I was, interviewing for a job, as a forklift operator at a fertilizer mixing plant in central Michigan. One of the interviewers says: “This is a huge step down for you. Why do you want to work here?”

All I could think was “Because I need a freaking job! I’m hemorrhaging money and running out quick.” I told her the reason “I’m trying to stay in Michigan”. When I got the denial letter a few days later, I gave up. I decided to expand the search. If Michigan wasn’t it anymore, I follow the money, and drag the family with me. I prayed about it and asked God (for the first time in my life) what he wanted me to do. The very next day, my friend (and current boss) learned that I was unemployed and offered me a job on the spot. He wasn’t sure what the job would be, but it was mine if I wanted it.

More below the fold…

Color me shocked…

The FBI has dramatically increased its use of a controversial provision of the Patriot Act to secretly obtain a vast store of business records of U.S. citizens under President Barack Obama, according to recent Justice Department reports to Congress. The bureau filed 212 requests for such data to a national security court last year – a 1,000-percent increase from the number of such requests four years earlier, the reports show.

The FBI’s increased use of the Patriot Act’s “business records” provision — and the wide ranging scope of its requests — is getting new scrutiny in light of last week’s disclosure that that the provision was used to obtain a top-secret national security order requiring telecommunications companies to turn over records of millions of telephone calls.

Taken together, experts say, those revelations show the government has broadly interpreted the Patriot Act provision as enabling it to collect data not just on specific individuals, but on millions of Americans with no suspected terrorist connections. And it shows that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court  accepted that broad interpretation of the law.

“That they were using this (provision) to do mass collection of data is definitely the biggest surprise,” said Robert Chesney, a top national security lawyer at the University of Texas Law School. “Most people who followed this closely were not aware they were doing this.  We’ve gone from producing records for a particular investigation to the production of all records for a massive pre-collection database. It’s incredibly sweeping.”

I can’t believe that an Obama regime would increase the number of secret records requests it’s making. If they’re legit, I have no problem with this. At least they’re using the federally mandated check, vis a vis, the judicial branch.

Marco Rubio is making promises (in Spanish) to legalize 11 million illegals almost immediately.

In a Spanish-language interview Sunday with the network Univision, Sen. Marco Rubio, the leading Republican on the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform group, made his strongest statement yet that legalization of the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants must happen before any new border security or internal enforcement measures are in place, and will in no way be conditional on any security requirements.

“Let’s be clear,” Rubio said. “Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence.”

In most of his public appeals for the Gang of Eight bill, Rubio has stressed its enforcement provisions, saying that border security must come before immigrants are granted legal permanent resident status. What he has not stressed so much is the fact that the bill would legalize the 11 million almost immediately, after they have passed background checks and paid some sort of fine.

I wonder why he hasn’t mentioned his unconditional amnesty to his conservative, English-speaking, supporters. Curious, indeed.

Over the past 10 years, China’s increasingly hostile military posture has been a cause of concern for amateur & professional military & political commentators. In recent years, they have become more flagrant in their attempts to showcase their burgeoning martial capabilities.

Their antics span the spectrum of overtly hostile, albeit harmless acts of provocation. They have blocked access to southeast Asian seaways and shipping lanes, in defiance of the U.S. Navy’s historical protection of international shipping. They bring their nuclear subs to the surface between ships among U.S. carrier groups. They regularly hack critical national security networks, databases, and infrastructure systems. Multiple senior level Chinese military officials have openly stated that they are preparing for a ground war against the United States of America.

With all of this in mind, what do you think the Smartest Diplomat Ever™ decided would be the best course of action for dealing with his red menace comrades’ belligerence? If you guessed “Give them critical insights into our defense strategies and offensive maneuvers by inviting them to join us at RimPac, the world’s largest naval exercise.” – you would be right:

This spring, China’s navy accepted the Pentagon’s invitation to participate in the 2014 Rim of the Pacific — RIMPAC — naval exercise to be held off Hawaii. This will be the first time China takes part in the biennial event.

Our allies should signal their intent to withdraw from the exercise if China participates. Failing that, the invitation should be withdrawn. RIMPAC is for allies and friends, not nations planning to eventually wage war on the United States. Russia sent ships in 2012, but while its senior officers may occasionally utter unfriendly words, they are not actively planning to fight the United States. Analyst Robert Sutter was surely correct when he wrote in 2005 that “China is the only large power in the world preparing to shoot Americans.”

That assessment, unfortunately, remains true today. Beijing is configuring its forces — especially its navy — to fight ours. For instance, China has deployed along its southern coast its DF-21D, a two-stage solid-fuel missile that can be guided by satellite signals. The missile is dubbed the “carrier killer” because it can be configured to explode in midair, raining down sharp metal on a deck crowded with planes, ordinance, fuel and sailors. Its apparent intent is to drive U.S. forces out of East Asia.

It’s getting harder by the day to find ways that he isn’t screwing this country. This is an incredibly well-written and refreshingly honest assessment from the LA Times. It is completely devoid of leftist propaganda and reads quickly. I highly recommend reading the whole article.

If you pull your gun on someone, you’d better be prepared to shoot them. If you don’t feel endangered enough to kill them, you have no business discharging your weapon. That said, your Vice President, should also learn to not speak on matters of which he has little or no knowledge.

It almost seems like the Vice President doesn’t have a freaking clue what he’s talking about. That sounds crazy, I know. It certainly seems to be the case, though.

I found this via Drudge just now. It seems that the Obama Regime is so comfortable with the palace guard mainstream media that they invited them over for a make-out session. A little soft music, some wine, and heavy petting. As it turns out, the running dog media wants no part of it. Looks like someone is sleeping on the couch.

PRESS REVOLTS OVER OFF-RECORD MEET…

NYT WON’T ATTEND…

CNN: NO…

HUFFPO: NO GO...

POLITICO: WE’LL BE THERE…

REPORTERS NOW PRIESTS…

MSM TURNS…

You know things are getting bad when the PuffHo won’t touch you in private. They fellate random truckers & cab drivers, for spare change.

What result do people expect when they elect degenerates to lead them? Shit in, shit out. The people of New York will get precisely the leader they deserve.

Men may be ready to forgive Anthony Weiner.

Although women continue to have their doubts about the scandal-scarred pol, a new poll released Tuesday found that Democratic men named Weiner as their top choice for mayor more than they did any other candidate.

And men are leading the way for Weiner as he gains altitude among all Democratic voters, dramatically cutting into front-runner Christine Quinn’s lead and underscoring the dramatic impact the ex-congressman has had on the race in mere days.

“Weiner is clearly a factor to be considered in the mayoralty,” said Lee Miringoff, who directs the Marist College poll. “(He is) taking so much of the oxygen out of the room.”

Heh. Weiner jokes never get old.

This is how you deal with murdering terrorist dickbags. Warning, there are worthless pieces of shit getting smoked in this video.

If your answer was “The head guy at the DOJ, wouldn’t be a wise choice to investigate the DOJ”, you would be wrong. Apparently, the smartest President evah! decided that having the rats guard the cheese, is a good idea.

President Obama is a little uneasy with the way journalists have been dragged into the Justice Department’s aggressive pursuit of national security leak investigations. In fact, he has ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct a 45-day review of the department’s guidelines on the issue.

That bit of news was buried in the middle of the president’s hourlong speech today at National Defense University.
“Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs,” President Obama said. “Our focus must be on those who break the law.”

And then the news: “I have raised these issues with the attorney general, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the attorney general to report back to me by July 12th.”

What a tool.

I’m officially back in the land of high speed internet, Revoistas! I got back into town and my boss says “Hey, I found you a flight to Texas for the holiday weekend.” I was confused, because I thought I was working until I found a place and went to get the family. Turns out the boss man felt I earned a trip to Texas for some *quality time with the wife. A little Environmental Morale Leave, if you will. He gave me the company condo (downtown Seattle) and an Escalade to drive until I get the family settled up here (end of June).

It’s a good day.

I think the Marine deserves a commendation for not shoving the umbrella up his arse and opening it.

From Jim22: They seem to have pulled the video. I have not seen it. Does this image do justice to your post, Nota?

How not to do it. What say you, troopers?

I just went to lunch and was hoping to see some news on the Benghazi hearings. It turns out that CNN had “not a peep” to say about the subject. Apparently, some chick that killed her man was more important than the President, Sec of State, and others watching Americans die (and the ensuing cover-up and intimidation) investigation.

The patrons of the restaurant sat with rapt attention awaiting the verdict, talking about it. I was so disgusted that I stood up in front of everyone in the restaurant and said:

“Congress is investigating the deaths & cover-up of 4 Americans in Benghazi – maybe now that this circus is over, CNN will be interested in that story. Are you kidding me? Nothing to say about letting 4 Americans plead for help & watching them die, but this crap is important?!?!”

I walked out. My countrymen make me sick.

This young lady gives me hope.

Everything you could ever need to know about California and how it got so screwed up:

This is utter horseshit. While I can understand certain jobs demanding such information, as relative to security clearance or other classified work, the average employer at the average job, should not be able to demand such information. This opens the door for discrimination on the grounds of political beliefs. As all of you know, I am fairly vocal and opinionated. I do my best to keep my politics out of the workplace. I don’t tell my employers about The Revo, other than to say that I write. When asked by co-workers, what the name of the site is, I decline on the grounds that I am fairly opinionated and would prefer to keep my politics & work separate. Under this abortion of privacy, a prospective employer could look at my social media accounts and opt not to hire me because the hiring authority doesn’t like my opinions. They could also look at private pictures of my wife & kids. I don’t have anything disrespectful or degrading, but I have a collection of pictures that are set to private, that are just mine. I think it should stay that way. There is a reason that my accounts have passwords…

An attempt to ban US bosses from asking employees to hand over their Facebook login details has been blocked by Congress.

A last minute alteration to the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that would have prevented employers demanding that prospective employees disclose social media passwords as a condition of employment was voted down in the house of representatives.

The proposal, put forward by Democrat Ed Perlmutter was defeated by a 224-189 majority, according to the Huffington Post.

Can anyone effectively argue that this falls under the purview & constitutional responsibility of Congress>

I submit to you, the Bonus Army, destroyed by Patton, Eisenhower, and men who no one thought would turn on America’s best & bravest…

Well, one of them doesn’t look like a white-supremacist, anyway…

I think we should just ban backpacks, or make it legal for the police to demand to see the contents of everything on your person. Let’s just eliminate the Second, Fourth, & Fifth Amendments. Hat-tip to Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children. More pictures below the fold.

More below the fold…

The GOP is hopelessly lost.

House Republicans are moving quickly on a new bill to strengthen ObamaCare’s temporary insurance plan for people with pre-existing conditions.

The Helping Sick Americans Now Act (H.R. 1549) was introduced late Monday and is scheduled for a mark-up Wednesday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The measure seeks to shore up the Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan (PCIP), a struggling program designed to offer insurance to vulnerable patients while the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented.
The Obama administration announced earlier this year that it would suspend enrollment in the PCIP, citing cost concerns.

GOP lawmakers have since mounted a push to transfer money from the law’s public and preventive health fund — disparaged as a “slush” fund by Republicans — to reopen the PCIP’s enrollment.

The new measure follows a letter from House GOP leaders to President Obama asking him to make that move without congressional action.

Can someone explain this to me?

So Mrs Nota emailed me the results of my genius son’s first Social Studies test in Texas. He got a 100%, of course. The best part was his answer to page 9 and the fact that the teacher marked it correct. Behold:

Well, the internet here on Unalaska doesn’t seem to care much for The Real Revo. On the rare occassions that it loads the page, I try to look at stuff, but it takes so long to load that I get frustrated and give up.

Yesterday ended up being a beautiful, sunny day in Dutch. I went out and retook pictures of the many beautiful locales which are accessible this time of year. Yesterday was the first day of 2013 that Sunset Bay was accessible by vehicle.

I retook many great pictures in the sunny, crisp evening air. They can be seen here:

There are a ton of beautiful pictures here. No facebook account is needed. I have it saved to public. Take a look.

The internet is super-slow due to shit weather. I’ll continue to upload more as I have time. Anyone who is friends with me on facebook should take a look at the Dutch Harbor album I have up. Beautiful.

I just feel the need to give a brief description of my trip, thus far.

I worked all week to sell and give away everything that didn’t have a memory attached to it. Due to the rapid evolution of the move, it was quite the task. I ordered a 20 yard dumpster and filled that sucker to the brim with useless crap collected over many years. We are now officially light infantry. We are mobile, agile, and ready to kick ass. Yesterday we counted down to zero hour.

My brother, Magellan, and his wife scheduled one last family dinner at their house as a going away. It began at 1400 hrs. We finished cleaning the house out at 1400 hrs, made the 4 minute trek to his house and had an amazing farewell party before beginning the latest adventure in our life. It also happened to be our 10th wedding anniversary. We left the middle of the mitten around 1900 hrs. We drove 2 hrs south to Ann Arbor, Michigan and got a hotel room. This morning as I was getting the kids situated in the car, I set my computer bag next to the car. My bag contained such useless items as my laptop, my phone, my camera, 30 days worth of Copenhagen ($8/can in Ak), and other miscellani such as my coat. Yes, you are inferring correctly. I am the first person – in the history of mankind – who has been planning a trip to Alaska for more than 20 years and shows up there without a jacket. Yeah, I’m that dumb. I went to Alaska without a coat.

Well, I realized my mistake when I got to the airport in Detroit and disembarked the vehicle. I grabbed my checked bag and look around for my computer bag (carry-on). It was MIA. My wife headed back to Ann Arbor to see if it was there. Meanwhile, I went to the check-in and asked for an upgrade to first class due to the length of the flight. The woman tried 3 times to charge my card, but the system wouldn’t let her upgrade me. I think little of it and board the connection to Seattle. I arrive in Seattle and am alerted to activity on my card. I check it out and it seems that Delta Airlines has “put a hold on the funds” for the upgrade I never received. This is standard fare, and I will get the money back in a day or two. No big deal, one might think. I am now down 1/2 of my original funding and in Alaska without a jacket.

My friend Johann got me a hotel room at the Westmark Anchorage for my overnight, and I got to have some Alaskan Cod with sea-salted battered fries and a local amber, for dinner. I spent some hours walking around the area. I’m amazed at how small downtown Anchorage is. It’s like a less-populated Shreveport, La (except with scenery). I can stand on the balcony of my hotel and look left at the Pacific ocean’s Knik Arm of Cook inlet. To the front I see the amazing Chugach Mouontains. To the right, on the other side of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet, I see more of the Chugach Mountains. I stood on my balcony and watched as a fog slowly lowered itself over the western face of the mountains. Amazing.

My trip has thusfar been plagued with mis-steps and encumbrances. I refuse to allow these to dampen my mood. I am in Alaska for God’s sake. How much better does the natural world get? Not much, if’n ya ask me. I feel so humbled by the immensity of absolutely everything up here (you should see the desk clerk).

I have hiked many a place. I have hiked mountains. I’ve been around the world and back a couple of times. Over the years, I have built up my image of what Alaska would be and let me tell you, son, the build up doesn’t even compare. This place is quite possibly the most breath-taking location on the entire planet.

I have already altered my plans. Upon my return to real life, I’m taking a week off in Anchorage. I will finish up in Dutch at the height of summer. I will take off an extra week and trek to Denali. I simply couldn’t live with myself I missed the opportunity, knowing what I know now.

If you ever have the chance to visit Alaska – DO NOT MISS IT.