Arming the Feds
(LINK HERE) There’s some chatter on the internet about the number firearms and amount of ammunition that federal agencies such at the US Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, etc. are spending and why these agencies with a severely limited law enforcement role need to stockpile. The Food and Drug Administration has 390 pistols, 122 shotguns and 200K rounds of ammunition currently in inventory. That is in addition to the weapons carried by the (rented) security people who protect their premises. Is there a burning need – that we’ve paid for?
Rehash
Crash Investigation (Part One) (Part Two) Fictional shorts from 2015 (Sci-Fi)
The Term “Witch Hunt” No Longer PC
CNN has run with the story of witches, angry with President Trump for calling the Russian Collusion a “witch hunt”. Maybe a better term would be “snipe hunt”? It wouldn’t anger the witches (all Democrat constituents) and it would be even more apt. I mean, calling it a greased pig grab doesn’t work because there’s no greased pig. It’s not a wild goose chase because there’s not even one wild goose.
War
(LINK) Commander Salamander’s Blog discusses 28 years of continuous war, during which I was a participant from time to time. The reason for war (free flow of oil at market prices) doesn’t really apply anymore (as he points out) so we fight in the Middle East – why? Inside every slimy desert dweller is there a freedom loving, hard working American trying to get out? Hardly. Grist for thought as we enter a new year.
A Tax Will Fix It
The cost of living in California is 52% higher than the national average. And more taxes are on their way in 2019 in the Golden State in an effort to handle necessary income redistribution to fight global warming.
The latest trend is to explain global cooling by blaming global warming. Arctic sea ice is the highest in 10,000 years, do to global warming that is bringing on a new ice age. Meanwhile, energy from the Sun has reduced to a much lower ebb — creating less heat arriving at the Third Rock.
New Year’s Resolutions
They may not stand for long, but here they are, such as they are:
I will not acquire a dog or a cat. I know that there are a lot of dog lovers who read this blog, but it’s like bringing in a one year old kid who never grows up, and ties me down. It’s difficult to travel with a blog. Our fellow blogger, Jules Smith, has a lizard. I don’t think that I’ll get one of those either. I have grandsons and granddaughters who will visit and fill those needs quite nicely.
I will slow down work obligations by mid-summer. It’s time to power down and go gentle into my dotage rather than dealing with work, when I really don’t need to do it.
I will buy at least two new rifles and will practice with them.
How’s that for brief and to the point?
Happy New Year!
To the rifles, add two vintage revolvers/pistols. Preferably in some antique caliber like 32-20. You will enjoy shooting those at the WW Mine, and make yourself part of the Old West to boot!
Oh, I'm sure that I will end up with a couple new pistols this year as well. The rifles, are part of a new year's resolution, though. They're higher on the priority list.
I saw a big bull elk on the highway today, near the property. I would have thought that the snow might have pushed them to lower elevations, but not this old monarch (sans antlers).
Enjoyed the short piece of fiction, another take from Doug Adams' universe.
If "witch hunt" is no longer PC, I'll make a point to use it more often.
New, or at least new to me, firearms sounds like a plan. I've handled the new sub-compact version o CZ's P-10 series and really liked it. I'll probably get one of those and perhaps another 1911.
IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has about 2000 Special Agents who specialize in making cases on organized crime members. Agriculture, SSA, and most of the other agencies you named have Offices of Inspector General that investigate "fraud, waste, and abuse," which generally means the fraudulent use of food stamps, Social Security benefits, etc. Most OIG offices started out as unarmed investigative offices, but (you might want to sit down for this) criminals don't want to get caught, and the unarmed OIG investigators started getting kidnapped, injured, and killed. So the offices armed their agents.
All OIG and IRS-CID agents are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center alongside ICE, U.S. Marshals, and all the other 80-plus Federal agencies that train there.
And some of these agencies don't use rent-a-cops like you implied, but have their own sworn police forces to patrol and police their property. They also train at FLETC.
All this is public information.
Having run task forces that include IRS CID agents, that have been included, I'm aware. The same thing is true with the other classes of OIG, etc. folks who train at FLETC. Given the small numbers involved in the order of battle of these boutique units, I still find the numbers of firearms and ammo involved to be, interesting. I didn't include the Department of Labor's Organized Crime Unit (one of the more effective of the small units historically) or other 1811's.
It's kind of fun to play around with these stories from time to time.
What excellent resolutions, I especially like the weapons component. And yes, we must tax the weather because it's so hot that it's getting colder.
Happy New Year!
Hoping you have years ahead to enjoy the fruit of your labors.
You can't cheat the reaper, no matter how you want to slice it. None of us will beat the clock. Never the less, it's important to squeeze the marrow out of every minute!
Must buy more firearms!
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