If I don’t put this here, I’ll probably just forget.  I’ve done that before, since I’m lazy.

I am thinking it’s time for some Thai influenced chicken.  I am thinking my initial draft will be garlic Tabasco, crushed honey roasted peanuts, minced garlic, soy sauce, either chicken broth or coconut milk, and a spritz of lime.  Might consider a little red chili to taste.  I’m thinking this should be served on cucumbers, bean sprouts, and I’m not sure what else yet.

I also want to add some Cabernet Sauvignon sauteed vidalia onions to steak cooked in my Crown Royal sirloin marinade.  It includes a few tablespoons of cider vinegar, same of Texas Pete, same of terriaki sauce, a tablespoon of a molasses, minced garlic, and a bunch of Worcestshire with Crown Royal.  Exact numbers are secret.  That and I don’t remember them off the top of my head.

Dessert should be something like Jack Daniels butterscotch sweet potatoe (yes I went there) pudding pie.  Sip on some premium roasted coffee (make mine a cinnamon hazelnut) and Irish it up if you please.  Where’s a good kitchen assistant when I need them?

So, I now have a tumblr, and am probably not going to inform any of the people I know about it.  If they see my banner picture (which is centered correctly in the original), they’ll be able to figure out who I am, and it will be interesting to see how they found me.

Actual stories to come.  I’m pondering the discrepancies between quantum and classical spin, Operation Fast and Furious, the incorporation of the Census Bureau into the executive branch under WH control, etc.  Should make for some fun.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2011/03/28/atf_gun_runner_scandal_continues_to_grow_whos_lying

http://wikileaks.blugr.com/2011/03/19/how-the-atfs-gun-running-misfired-for-calderon-rodrigo-camarena/

http://www.fas.org/asmp/library/publications/us-mexico.htm

Gee, so Eric Holder didn’t approve of an operation that risked illegally shipping hundreds of American firearms into Mexico, without their knowledge, but he was aware of it?  This reminds me of Nancy Pelosi’s fuss over the CIA.  I understand this was initially instituted under the Bush administration, but is Holder complicit or not?  Now the deaths of at least one, possibly two US LE officials are linked to weapons intentionally allowed to be sold to traffickers via this operation, and was funded with stimulus money.  Now, President Obama has decided not to cut the BATFE’s budget, as had previously been decided.  Amazing how these things manage to work out, isn’t it?

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/article/project-gunrunner-obamas-stimulus-funded

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/02/robert-farago/refusing-to-further-gut-the-atf-is-an-important-but-ultimately-small-gesture-assault-weapons-and-related-accessories-including-the-kind-of-high-capacity-magazine-used-in-the-shootings-just-outside/

The BATFE has also neglected to turn over documents requested by a Congressional inquiry into the matter: http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/atf-director-ignores-deadline-request-for-gunrunner-documents

This is interesting because, aside from the unbelievable convenience in renewed funding which may have stemmed from “project,” it appears like the BATFE was stepping on ICE’s toes with this operation since ICE is supposed to be the primary agency in charge of all border related smuggling issues whereby firearms are transported outside the US: http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2011/03/more_on_atf_gun.php

Should we be giving the same benefit of the doubt to Cavalry Arms, whom the BATFE raided and took almost 700 days to return their seized property as of last update on January 10, 2010?  http://wethearmed.com/index.php/topic,5470.25.html

Didn’t the BATFE just make a huge deal about invading the privacy of law-abiding citizens in border states over this, and the inflated claims of 90% of Mexico’s cartel weaponry coming from our citizens?  

Wait, they did… and here it is: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-usa-firearms-mexico-idUSTRE7187AV20110209

Funny how wikileaks documents note that the majority of “heavy” weapons in Mexico are coming from their Southern border such as Guatemala, where I have an internet acquaintance: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/03/30/mexican-cartels-heavy-weapons-centam-cables-say/

Also funny how the US DoD gives weapons and training to Mexico under the Federal Military Assistance program: http://www.dod.gov/execsec/adr95/appendix_j.html

The State Department uses the International Military Education and Training (IMET) and the Expanded IMET (E-IMET) programs as well as the Foreign Military Sales/Foreign Military Financing (FMS/FMF) programs.

Yet we are all supposed to believe that due to some kind of international security issues, and potentially our own (which tacitly acknowledges a border problem no one wants to touch, which is troublesome for whichever administration is currently in power), we are supposed to compromise the rights of US citizens to keep and bear arms, or our implicit right to privacy?

Let’s assume this isn’t in part some ploy to inflate crime statistics and justify budget expenditures and expanses, which is common in the federal arena (I speak from the standpoint of having worked under grant money and watching as peers started making large amounts of headway about 6 months before deadlines.  Save some of that success for a rainy day, and your budget stands a better chance of renewal.)  What would Ben Franklin say?  ”Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.  He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.”