The FReeper Foxhole Presents the Saturday Symposium - The Posse Comitatus Act - Sept. 3rd, 2005

see educational sources | suggested topic by USCBOMBGUY

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

The Posse Comitatus Act, should it be changed?



Some view points:

The misinterpreted posse comitatus act still endangers national security.

Michael Gaynor
August 27, 2005

The Posse Comitatus Act (Section 1385 of Title 18 of the United States Code) states: "Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

The Act is an intimidating, irritating and insidious anachonism that has endangered America's security instead of enhancing it, even though no one ever was prosecuted under it.

Like the "wall" between intelligence and law enforcement that finally came down AFTER the Twin Towers were destroyed and The Patriot Act became law, because very persuasive liberals apparently had feared America's government and military more than America's enemies, foreign and domestic, and their egregious error had become obvious, its effect extended beyond its express terms.

And, like the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, with the passage of time, the Act's actual purpose was disregarded and the scope of its restriction was undesirably expanded by misinterpretation.

The Act was NOT intended to prevent military personnel from enforcing the law but instead was passed to allow them to do so only when directed to do so by the President or Congress.

The official history of the use of the military services to enforce the laws states:

"Some of those who opposed [the Posse Comitatus Act] in the Congress charged that [it] was taking away from the president entirely the power to use troops to repress internal disorders except on request of a state governor or legislature, that President Washington could not even had dealt with the Whiskey Rebellion under its terms. This interpretation of the Posse Comitatus Act has often been raised by those protesting against federal troops intervention in the many instances it has occurred since 1878. And indeed the question of what the real meaning of the Posse Comitatus Act was has been the subject of some dispute ever since its passage ... however ... all that it really did was to repeal a doctrine whose only substantial foundation was an opinion by an attorney general...that had never been tested in the courts. The president's power to use both regular and military remained undisturbed by the Posse Comitatus Act, and by the law of 1861 and the Ku Klux Klan Act that had in fact been substantially strengthened during the Civil War and Reconstruction Era. But the posse Comitatus Act did mean that troops could not be used on any authority than that of the President and that he must issue a cease and desist proclamation before he did so. Commanders in the field would no longer have any discretion but must wait for orders from Washington."

Colonel John R. Brinkerhoff, US Army Retired and acting associate director for national preparedness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 1981 to 1983, in "The Posse Comitatus Act and Homeland Security (February 2002), not only thoroughly reviewed the Act's history, but specified how its impact was expanded far beyond the terms of the Act, as follows:

"The Posse Comitatus Act

Applies only to the Army, and by extension the Air Force, which was formed out of the Army in 1947.

Does not apply to the Navy and Marine Corps. However, the Department of Defense has consistently held that the Navy and Marine Corps should behave as if the act applied to them.

Does not apply to the Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Transportation and is both an armed force and a law enforcement agency with police powers.

Does not apply to the National Guard in its role as state troops on state active duty under the command of the respective governors.

May not apply to the National Guard (qua militia) even when it is called to federal active duty. The Posse Comitatus Act contains no restrictions on the use of the federalized militia as it did on the regular Army. It is commonly believed, however, that National Guard units and personnel come under the Posse Comitatus Act when they are on federal active duty, and this interpretation is followed today.

Does not apply to state guards or State Defense Forces under the command of the respective governors.

Does not apply to military personnel assigned to military police, shore police, or security police duties. The military police have jurisdiction over military members subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They also exercise police powers over military dependents and others on military installations. The history of the law makes it clear that it was not intended to prevent federal police (for example, marshals) from enforcing the law.

Does not apply to civilian employees, including those who are sworn law enforcement officers. The origin and legislative history of the act make it clear that it applies only to military personnel. In those days, there were no civilian employees of the Army in the sense that there are today. In particular, no one envisioned that the Army would hire civilian police officers to enforce the laws at its facilities.

Does not prevent the President from using federal troops in riots or civil disorders. Federal troops were used for domestic operations more than 200 times in the two centuries from 1795 to 1995. Most of these operations were to enforce the law, and many of them were to enforce state law rather than federal law. Nor does it prevent the military services from supporting local or federal law enforcement officials as long as the troops are not used to arrest citizens or investigate crimes."

On May 27, 1878, Representative J. Proctor Knott of Kentucky introduced an amendment to the Army appropriations bill that eventually became the Posse Comitatus Act.

In passing it, Congress voted to restrict the ability of United States marshals and local sheriffs to conscript military personnel into their posses. Not to prevent the use of military personnel to enforce the law if authorized by the President or Congress.

The history of the posse comitatus doctrine in America is ironic. The doctrine was invoked first to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and then to protect emancipated slaves from the Ku Klux Klan, with soldier and sailors utilized for each purpose. Then their use was restricted by the Act, because the Southerners did not want soldiers and sailors as part of a posse comitatus and the War Department (now known as the Defense Department) did not want soldiers and sailors taking orders from United States marshalls or local sheriffs, at least without the approval of the President of the United States (also known as the Commander-in-Chief).

When parsed, the Act seems foolish as well as foreboding: "Whoever...willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force... to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

And why should the law discriminate between the use of the Army and the Air Force, on one hand, and use of the Navy, the Marines and the Coast Guard, on the other?

And that crucial word "willfully" cries out for clarification.

Does it mean just mean deliberately or intentionally?

Or does it mean deliberately or intentionally AND with a criminal intent (a bad purpose)?

Congress should repeal the Act and then set forth in the clearest possible terms any restriction on what America's military forces may do for homeland security purposes and other domestic law enforcement purposes.

Congress has enacted some other laws that specify when the Posse Comitatus Act does not apply — for example, Title 18 U.S. Code, Section 831, provides that if nuclear material is involved in an emergency, the Secretary of Defense may provide assistance to the Department of Justice, notwithstanding the Posse Comitatus Act — but a comprehensive approach is needed.

Times have changed drastically since the Act became law on June 18, 1878, following Reconstruction, as the nuclear material emergency statutory exception illustrates.

The Act was passed because the Army resented having its soldiers used as police officers (a posse) by local law enforcement officials in the post-Reconstruction South.

And to supersede a United States Attorney General opinion issued in 1854.

Not to prevent the federal government from using military personnel to enforce the law.

The posse comitatus doctrine is derived from English common law.

Posse comitatus meant the "force of the county"; that is, males over the age of 15 whom the sheriff was permitted to summon or raise to repress a riot or for other purposes.

In 1854, Attorney General Caleb Cushing opined that marshals could summon a posse comitatus and that both militia and regulars in organized bodies could be members of such a posse.

He thereby facilitated the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Under the Attorney General opinion, although the armed forces might be organized as military bodies under the command of their officers, they could still be pressed into service by United States marshals or local sheriffs as a posse comitatus without the assent of the president.

It was convenient, and often essential, for local officials throughout America to use soldiers and sailors as police. At the time, the Army was the only armed force available in the West to assist local officials to enforce the law.

During Reconstruction, the Army governed all eleven former Confederate States. It exercised police and judicial functions, oversaw local government, and dealt with domestic violence. Before the Civil War, state militia had dealt with local disorders throughout the United States. During Reconstruction, however, there was no effective militia in the former Confederate States, so the Army by default assumed the responsibility for maintaining order and protecting the emancipated slaves.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 approved this use of the Army and empowered United States marshals to use soldiers and sailors as posse comitatus.

By 1869, eight of the eleven former Confederate States had been readmitted to the Union and in them there was a need to obtain assistance from the Army to enforce the law. Attorney General William M. Evarts invoked the posse comitatus doctrine that gave United States marshals and county sheriffs the right to command all necessary assistance from within their districts, including military personnel and civilians, to serve on a posse comitatus to execute legal process, without presidential approval. The War Department objected. It wanted the troops obeying the orders of officers, not marshalls or sheriffs.

In 1871, President (and former General) Grant sought to provide a basis for the use of troops other than posse comitatus. In accordance with his policy, the War Department issued general orders saying that the forces of the United States may be committed and shall be employed to assist the civil authorities in making arrests of persons accused of crime, preventing the rescue of arrested persons, and dispersing marauders and armed organizations.

The 1876 Presidential election was like the 2000 Presidential election. The Democrat won the popular vote, and the Republican won a majority in the Electoral College.

The Democrat, Samuel J. Tilden, disputed the election of the Republican, Rutherford B. Hayes, and eventually conceded in return for an end to Reconstruction. Reconstruction ended in 1877 with the Hayes inauguration. Federal troops in the South were no longer used to enforce the law, and the Southerners resumed control of their states.

Attorney General Charles Devens opined that the United States Judiciary Act of 1789 authorized United States marshals to raise a posse comitatus comprising every person in a district above 15 years of age, "including the military of all denominations, militia, soldiers, marines, all of whom are alike bound to obey the commands of a Sheriff or Marshal."

Congress was displeased with United States marshals and sheriffs using Army troops without presidential approval and thereby passed the Act.

If the death penalty had the deterrent effect that that the Act and "the wall" have had, murder would be exceedingly rare.

In February 2002, Colonel Brinkerhoff wrote:

"President Bush and Congress should initiate action to enact a new law that would set forth in clear terms a statement of the rules for using military forces for homeland security and for enforcing the laws of the United States. Things have changed a lot since 1878, and the Posse Comitatus Act is not only irrelevant but also downright dangerous to the proper and effective use of military forces for domestic duties."

The Colonel was absolutely right.

Thing still need to be changed.

---

The Posse Comitatus Act: Can We Maintain American Freedom Without It?

By C. T. Rossi
July 29, 2002

It seems an odd first step. Why would the head of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, recommend a repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act as a first measure towards fighting terrorism?

The Posse Comitatus Act was approved by Congress on June 18, 1878. The measure was in response to the disputed election of 1876 where Rutherford B. Hayes went to bed the loser, but eventually found his way into the Oval Office. The troops who President Grant had stationed at polling places may have had an undue influence over the ballot boxes and stolen a victory for Hayes. Whether the election was actually fraudulent or not, Congress thought it wise to avoid the appearance of impropriety by seeing to it that federal troops would never again be stationed next to the polls - hence the advent of the Posse Comitatus Act.

What the act essentially did was render the use of federal troops for civilian law enforcement illegal. In a sense, the Posse Comitatus Act was a revolt against the federal centralization which had been conducted under the Lincoln and Grant administrations. States and local communities had the right to police themselves; they weren't to be subjected to federal intimidation (remember, this was before the IRS).

Not eager to deny himself the power to intimidate that had been enjoyed by his recent predecessors, Hayes vetoed the act citing the "right of the United States government to use force . . . to protect these elections from violence and fraud." One can easily determine from this that Hayes adhered to a theory of rights that would be quite at home on the modern Supreme Court.

Congress overrode the veto.

The Posse Comitatus Act was not an absolutist measure; it does contain exceptions for the use of federal troops "in such cases and under such circumstance as such employment of said force may be authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress." (This exception clause has been used several times; most recently when the Truman administration, in response to a rail workers' strike, nationalized the railroads under the control of the Army Corps of Engineers.) In short, Posse Comitatus provides a barrier against the pell-mell deployment of troops by the President against the American people. It may be one of the most common-sense-laden pieces of legislation ever to come out of Washington.

While Tom Ridge may seem overly eager to tamper with this safeguard, Sen. Joseph Biden's recent comments were even more concerning. In a recent interview, Biden recalled that he was ready to modify the Posse Comitatus after the Oklahoma City bombing. At that time, Biden and former senator, Sam Nunn, "introduced legislation that would moderately alter the posse comitatus." Biden's desire to alter the Act - after a single act of terrorism in Oklahoma City -seemed a radical step and his effort failed.

He now laments that under the current provisions "when you call in the military, the military would not be allowed to shoot to kill, if in fact [the military] were approaching the weapon [of mass destruction]." But Biden is assuring that alterations which Congress might make to the Posse Comitatus would not mean radical changes to civil liberties: ". . . we're not talking about general police power . . . [only the] idea that you could have your local National Guard, you know, with arrest power like your local policemen." But herein lies the rub.

What Biden didn't disclose is that the Posse Comitatus Act does not directly apply to National Guard units because they are under the control of the governors of their respective states - not under the control of the president. Under the type of hypothetical emergency scenarios that Ridge and Biden are fond of constructing, state governors could (and most assuredly would) deploy the National Guard in full cooperation with federal authorities - however, governors would also be free to recall their guardsmen should they feel that military actions were unduly impinging on the rights of state citizens.

While Ridge and Biden fabulize about Schwarzenegger-esque domestic shootouts between U.S. military forces and dirty-bomb-toting terrorists in an Amtrak tunnel, the truth is much more sobering. The federal government has yet to prove that it can properly interpret the intelligence that leads them to deploy the anti-terrorist commandos in the right place at the right time.

While a modification of Posse Comitatus makes Americans practically no safer, it would open the door to old abuses. Had the Biden initiative to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act passed in 1995, Bill Clinton would have been free to deploy troops to Florida to ensure the validity of the presidential election recount. Need anyone say more?

C.T. Rossi comments on contemporary politics and culture for the Free Congress Foundation.

sym·po·sium : a social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas

So now let's get on with the discussion. Pull up a chair or grab a spot on the floor around the virtual Foxhole Cabin and let's chat.

---

---

FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

The Myth of Posse Comitatus Major Craig T. Trebilcock, U.S. Army Reserve
October 2000

Major Craig Trebilcock is a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is assigned as an operational law attorney with the 153d Legal Support Organization in Norristown, PA. His area of specialization includes the laws applicable to U.S. forces engaged in operations in both the United States and abroad. Major Trebilcock is a graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B. with high honors, 1982) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., 1985). His military education includes the Judge Advocate General Basic Course (1988) and Advanced Course (1992), U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (1997), and the U.S. Navy War College International Relations Seminar (2000). Major Trebilcock is a civilian immigration attorney with the firm of Barley, Snyder, Senft, & Cohen in York, PA.

The Posse Comitatus Act has traditionally been viewed as a major barrier to the use of U.S. military forces in planning for homeland defense.[1] In fact, many in uniform believe that the act precludes the use of U.S. military assets in domestic security operations in any but the most extraordinary situations. As is often the case, reality bears little resemblance to the myth for homeland defense planners. Through a gradual erosion of the act’s prohibitions over the past 20 years, posse comitatus today is more of a procedural formality than an actual impediment to the use of U.S. military forces in homeland defense.

History

The original 1878 Posse Comitatus Act was indeed passed with the intent of removing the Army from domestic law enforcement. Posse comitatus means “the power of the county,” reflecting the inherent power of the old West county sheriff to call upon a posse of able-bodied men to supplement law enforcement assets and thereby maintain the peace. Following the Civil War, the Army had been used extensively throughout the South to maintain civil order, to enforce the policies of the Reconstruction era, and to ensure that any lingering sentiments of rebellion were crushed. However, in reaching those goals, the Army necessarily became involved in traditional police roles and in enforcing politically volatile Reconstruction-era policies. The stationing of federal troops at political events and polling places under the justification of maintaining domestic order became of increasing concern to Congress, which felt that the Army was becoming politicized and straying from its original national defense mission. The Posse Comitatus Act was passed to remove the Army from civilian law enforcement and to return it to its role of defending the borders of the United States.

Application of the Act

To understand the extent to which the act has relevance today, it is important to understand to whom the act applies and under what circumstances. The statutory language of the act does not apply to all U.S. military forces.[2] While the act applies to the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines, including their Reserve components, it does not apply to the Coast Guard or to the huge military manpower resources of the National Guard.[3] The National Guard, when it is operating in its state status pursuant to Title 32 of the U.S. Code, is not subject to the prohibitions on civilian law enforcement. (Federal military forces operate pursuant to Title 10 of the U.S. Code.) In fact, one of the express missions of the Guard is to preserve the laws of the state during times of emergency when regular law enforcement assets prove inadequate. It is only when federalized pursuant to an exercise of presidential authority that the Guard becomes subject to the limitations of the Posse Comitatus Act.

The intent of the act is to prevent the military forces of the United States from becoming a national police force or guardia civil. Accordingly, the act prohibits the use of the military to “execute the laws.”[4,5] Execution of the laws is perceived to be a civilian police function, which includes the arrest and detention of criminal suspects, search and seizure activities, restriction of civilian movement through the use of blockades or checkpoints, gathering evidence for use in court, and the use of undercover personnel in civilian drug enforcement activities.[6]

The federal courts have had several opportunities to define what behavior by military personnel in support of civilian law enforcement is permissible under the act. The test applied by the courts has been to determine whether the role of military personnel in the law enforcement operation was “passive” or “active.” Active participation in civilian law enforcement, such as making arrests, is deemed a violation of the act, while taking a passive supporting role is not.[7] Passive support has often taken the form of logistical support to civilian police agencies. Recognizing that the military possesses unique equipment and uniquely trained personnel, the courts have held that providing supplies, equipment, training, facilities, and certain types of intelligence information does not violate the act. Military personnel may also be involved in planning law enforcement operations, as long as the actual arrest of suspects and seizure of evidence is carried out by civilian law enforcement personnel.[8]

The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in the 19th century, when the distinction between criminal law enforcement and defense of the national borders was clearer. Today, with the advent of technology that permits weapons of mass destruction—chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons—to be transported by a single person, the line between police functions and national security concerns has blurred. As a matter of policy, Western nations have labeled terrorists “criminals” to be prosecuted under domestic criminal laws. Consistent with this, the Department of Justice has been charged as the lead U.S. agency for combating terrorism. However, not all terrorist acts are planned and executed by non-state actors. Terrorism refers to illegal attacks on civilians and other nonmilitary targets by either state or non-state actors. This new type of threat requires a reassessment of traditional military roles and missions along with an examination of the relevance and benefits of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Erosion of the Act

While the act appears to prohibit active participation in law enforcement by the military, the reality in application has become quite different. The act is a statutory creation, not a constitutional prohibition. Accordingly, the act can and has been repeatedly circumvented by subsequent legislation. Since 1980, Congress and the president have significantly eroded the prohibitions of the act in order to meet a variety of law enforcement challenges.

One of the most controversial uses of the military during the past 20 years has been to involve the Navy and Air Force in the “war on drugs.” Recognizing the inability of civilian law enforcement agencies to interdict the smuggling of drugs into the United States by air and sea, the Reagan Administration directed the Department of Defense to use naval and air assets to reach out beyond the borders of the United States to preempt drug smuggling. This use of the military in antidrug law enforcement was approved by Congress in 10 U.S.C., sections 371–381. This same legislation permitted the use of military forces in other traditionally civilian areas—immigration control and tariff enforcement.

The use of the military in opposing drug smuggling and illegal immigration was a significant step away from the act’s central tenet that there was no proper role for the military in the direct enforcement of the laws. The legislative history explains that this new policy is consistent with the Posse Comitatus Act, as the military involvement still amounted to an indirect and logistical support of civilian law enforcement and not direct enforcement.[9]

The weakness of the analysis of passive versus direct involvement in law enforcement was most graphically demonstrated in the tragic 1999 shooting of a shepherd by marines who had been assigned a mission to interdict smuggling and illegal immigration in the remote Southwest. An investigation revealed that for some inexplicable reason the 16-year-old shepherd fired his weapon in the direction of the marines. Return fire killed the boy. This tragedy demonstrates that when armed troops are placed in a position where they are being asked to counter potential criminal activity, it is a mere semantic exercise to argue that the military is being used in a passive support role. The fact that armed military troops were placed in a position with the mere possibility that they would have to use force to subdue civilian criminal activity reflects a significant policy shift by the executive branch away from the posse comitatus doctrine.

Congress has also approved the use of the military in civilian law enforcement through the Civil Disturbance Statutes: 10 U.S.C., sections 331–334. These provisions permit the president to use military personnel to enforce civilian laws where the state has requested assistance or is unable to protect civil rights and property. In case of civil disturbance, the president must first give an order for the offenders to disperse. If the order is not obeyed, the president may then authorize military forces to make arrests and restore order. The scope of the Civil Disturbance Statutes is sufficiently broad to encompass civil disturbance resulting from terrorist or other criminal activity. It was these provisions that were relied upon to restore order using active-duty Army personnel following the Los Angeles “race riots” of the early 1990s.

Federal military personnel may also be used pursuant to the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C., section 5121, in times of natural disaster upon request from a state governor. In such an instance, the Stafford Act permits the president to declare a major disaster and send in military forces on an emergency basis for up to ten days to preserve life and property. While the Stafford Act authority is still subject to the criteria of active versus passive, it represents a significant exception to the Posse Comitatus Act’s underlying principle that the military is not a domestic police force auxiliary.

An infrequently cited constitutional power of the president provides an even broader basis for the president to use military forces in the context of homeland defense. This is the president’s inherent right and duty to preserve federal functions. In the past this has been recognized to authorize the president to preserve the freedom of navigable waterways and to put down armed insurrection. However, with the expansion of federal authority during this century into many areas formerly reserved to the states (transportation, commerce, education, civil rights) there is likewise an argument that the president’s power to preserve these “federal” functions has expanded as well. The use of federal troops in the South during the 1960s to preserve access to educational institutions for blacks was an exercise of this constitutional presidential authority.

In the past five years, the erosion of the Posse Comitatus Act has continued with the increasingly common use of military forces as security for essentially civilian events. During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, over ten thousand U.S. troops were deployed under the partial rationale that they were present to deter terrorism. The use of active-duty military forces in a traditional police security role did not raise any serious questions under the act, even though these troops would clearly have been in the middle of a massive law enforcement emergency had a large-scale terrorist incident occurred. The only questions of propriety arose when many of these troops were then employed as bus drivers or to maintain playing fields. This led to a momentary but passing expression of displeasure from Congress.[10]

Homeland Defense

The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in an era when the threat to national security came primarily from the standing armies and navies of foreign powers. Today the equation for national defense and security has changed significantly. With the fall of the Soviet Union our attention has been diverted—from the threat of aggression by massed armies crossing the plains of Europe to the security of our own soil against biological or chemical terrorism. Rather than focusing on massed Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles as our most imminent threat, we are increasingly more aware of the destructive potential of new forms of asymmetric warfare. For instance, the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment states that 100 kilograms of dry powdered anthrax released under ideal meteorological conditions could kill up to three million people in a city the size of Washington, DC.[11] The chemical warfare attacks carried out by Japanese terrorists in the subways of Tokyo during the 1990s heightened our sense of vulnerability. The Oklahoma City bombing and the unsuccessful attempt to topple the World Trade Center have our domestic security planners looking inward for threats against the soil of the United States from small but technologically advanced threats of highly motivated terrorists. What legal bar does the Posse Comitatus Act present today to using the military to prevent or respond to a biological or chemical attack on the soil of the United States? In view of the erosion of the Posse Comitatus Act in the past 20 years, the answer is “not much.”

The erosion of the Posse Comitatus Act through Congressional legislation and executive policy has left a hollow shell in place of a law that formerly was a real limitation on the military’s role in civilian law enforcement and security issues. The plethora of constitutional and statutory exceptions to the act provides the executive branch with a menu of options under which it can justify the use of military forces to combat domestic terrorism. Whether an act of terrorism is classified as a civil disturbance under 10 U.S.C., 331–334, or whether the president relies upon constitutional power to preserve federal functions, it is difficult to think of a domestic terrorism scenario of sizable scale under which the use of the military could not be lawfully justified in view of the act’s erosion. The act is no longer a realistic bar to direct military involvement in counterterrorism planning and operations. It is a low legal hurdle that can be easily cleared through invocation of the appropriate legal justification, either before or after the fact.[12]

Conclusion

Is the Posse Comitatus Act totally without meaning today? No, it remains a deterrent to prevent the unauthorized deployment of troops at the local level in response to what is purely a civilian law enforcement matter. Although no person has ever been successfully prosecuted under the act, it is available in criminal or administrative proceedings to punish a lower-level commander who uses military forces to pursue a common felon or to conduct sobriety checkpoints off of a federal military post. Officers have had their careers abruptly brought to a close by misusing federal military assets to support a purely civilian criminal matter.

But does the act present a major barrier at the National Command Authority level to use of military forces in the battle against terrorism? The numerous exceptions and policy shifts carried out over the past 20 years strongly indicate that it does not. Could anyone seriously suggest that it is appropriate to use the military to interdict drugs and illegal aliens but preclude the military from countering terrorist threats that employ weapons of mass destruction? For two decades the military has been increasingly used as an auxiliary to civilian law enforcement when the capabilities of the police have been exceeded. Under both the statutory and constitutional exceptions that have permitted the use of the military in law enforcement since 1980, the president has ample authority to employ the military in homeland defense against the threat of weapons of mass destruction in terrorist hands.

[1] “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both”—18 U.S.C. 1385.

[2] The act as originally passed referenced only limitations upon the Army. After World War II, it was amended to include the Air Force. By DoD Directive 5525.5, the limitations of the act have been administratively adopted to apply to the Navy and Marine Corps as well.

[3] The peacetime law enforcement mission of the Coast Guard has been well recognized since the founding of its parent agency, the Revenue Marine, in 1790.

[4] For the sake of brevity, the term military as employed in this article refers to the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines, their Reserve components, and the National Guard when in federalized status pursuant to Title 10. It does not include the Coast Guard or the National Guard operating in state-controlled Title 13 status.

[5] The Uniform Code of Military Justice is an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act. The code gives the military the inherent right to maintain good order and discipline over its personnel through law enforcement activity, prosecution, and punishment. As such, the code gives the military jurisdiction to enforce both military and civilian laws against its own military personnel.

[6] State v. Nelson, 298 NC 573, 260 SE 2d 629, cert den; 446 U.S. 929, 100 S. Ct. 1867, 64 L. Ed. 2d 282 (1980).

[7] Ibid.

[8] United States v. Red Feather, 392 F. Supp. 916 (DC SD 1975).

[9] Pursuant to this mission, the USS Kidd intercepted a drug-smuggling boat in 1983. When the smugglers refused to yield without force, the problem of passive versus active law enforcement was handled by lowering the Navy ensign on the ship and raising the Coast Guard ensign. The Coast Guard asset USS Kidd then fired on the smugglers’ ship, rendering it immobile and leading to its seizure, along with 900 bales of marijuana.

[10] “Business, Capitol Hill Question Military’s Role in Olympics,” Defense Week, 22 July 1996.

[11] U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the Risks (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1993), OTA-ISC-559, p. 54.

[12] The enforcement of a prosecution under the Posse Comitatus Act would necessarily be brought by the Department of Justice, the lead agency charged with combating domestic terrorism. This further suggests that as long as coordination of the use of military forces was part of a coordinated interagency effort that the likelihood of prosecution under the Posse Comitatus Act of any executive branch official would seem remote at best.

---

Come on in!

Good morning everyone. Enjoy your Saturday and a break from the Foxhole into the cabin. Come nightfall please feel free to join us around the campfire.



Thank you USCBOMBGUY for today's topic.

---

Educational Sources:

www.freecongress.org/commentaries/2002/020729CR.asp
www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/050827
www.homelandsecurity.org/journal/articles/Trebilcock.htm

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Saturday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!!

Whew, been waiting for this ride all morning. LOL

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-Gram.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning to everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[The Mayor]

September 3, 2005

Words Of Light

Read:
John 8:12-20

I am the light of the world. —John 8:12

Bible In One Year: 2 Chronicles 10-13

Jesus, an itinerant rabbi from the town of Nazareth, asserted that He was the light of the world. That was an incredible claim from a man in first-century Galilee, an obscure region in the Roman Empire. It could not boast of any impressive culture and had no famous philosophers, noted authors, or gifted sculptors. And we have no record that Jesus had any formal education.

More than that, Jesus lived before the invention of the printing press, radio, television, and e-mail. How could He expect His ideas to be circulated around the globe? The words He spoke were committed to the memories of His followers. Then the Light of the world was snuffed out by the darkness—or so it seemed.

Centuries later we still listen with amazement to Jesus' words, which His Father has miraculously preserved. His words lead us out of darkness into the light of God's truth; they fulfill His promise, "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12).

I encourage you to read the words of Jesus in the Gospels. Ponder them. Let them grip your mind and change your life. You'll exclaim as His contemporaries did: "No man ever spoke like this Man!" (John 7:46). —Vernon Grounds

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet,
A light to my path alway
To guide and to save me from sin
And to show me the heavenly way. —Sellers

Because Jesus is the Light of the world, we don't need to be in the dark about God.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Who Is This Man Who Says He's God?
Knowing God Through John

[stand watie]

GM, snippy!

free dixie,sw

[alfa6]

Saturday Morning Bump for the Foxhole

Yep I got y'alls back for tomorrow

Here's a Nose close up I stumbled upon this morning, anybody Know what it is, hmmmm?

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[snippy_about_it]

Cobra?

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. Looks like fun!

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks PE.

[snippy_about_it]

(((Hugs)))

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning!!!

[snippy_about_it]

I thought the flag was PE's flag-o-gram. Good morning vox_PL, thanks for the thoughts.

[alfa6]

Cobra?

Nope, exhaust stacks are wrong for one thing.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[snippy_about_it]

Looks like a P-39 Airacobra to me.

[snippy_about_it]

Except that the P-39 had the engine mounted after the cockpit. Hmmmmm.

[alfa6]

Here is a pic of a P-400, the export version of the P-39

N.B. the location of the exhaust stacks and the lack of a radiator scoop on the P-400

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Soaring Feather]

Email just in.....



35 Facts you were perfectly happy not knowing


1. Rubberbands last longer when refrigerated.


2. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

3. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

4. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

5. The shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

6. There are more chickens than people in the world.

7. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.


8. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is

"screeched."


10. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck
on 4:20.


11. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange,silver or purple.


12. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters

"mt".


13. All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln
Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.


14. Almonds are a member of the peach family.

15. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

16. Maine is the only US state whose name is just one syllable.

17. There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous" - tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous.


18. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la

Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula"

19. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

20. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

21. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

22. In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10

23. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.


24. The Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life."


25. Some dragonflies have a life span of 24 hours.

26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

27. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

28. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

29. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

30. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.


31. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.


32. Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.

33. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

34. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.


35. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

[USMCBOMBGUY]

Good morning all
Great topic! LOL.

I will be interested in seeing everyones thoughts especially considering this last week. I have to wonder if it would have been better to turn the entire emergency response over to the military right from the start. I can see several benefits to doing so.

I have to go up north and check on the progress of the house but I will be back later tonight. I look forward to seeing everyones thoughts.

Thanks for the facts Feather, There were several on there I did not know. I will have to see if I can somehow sneak a few into normal conversation.

[alfa6]

Regards Post #21.

MY DAY IS COMPLETE!!!

HE HE HE

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Soaring Feather]

LOL Hiya Alfa! So glad to add to your pleasure.

ROFLOL

[snippy_about_it]

Wow. Some great facts there miss feather.

33. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.


In that case I wish I was average. :-)

[Soaring Feather]

Oh my gosh, I am not normal! It takes me hours to go to sleep. LOL

[snippy_about_it]

Great topic! LOL.

Ha!

I think you're idea is very timely. I'm not real sure what I think about it yet. I think there are times, especially like this past week where the military could have been used as a police force. I need to study the three posts I have and see what the current deal is. I'll post my thoughts after that.

[Wneighbor]

33. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

Hmmm... how does that work? I'm sitting on the couch watching TV, next thing I know I'm waking up. Somebody must know when that 7 minutes starts counting I guess. :-)

[Soaring Feather]

LOL

How are you today??

[Wneighbor]

I'm fine as wine and twice as sweet, thank you! LOL

And you? Is the world treating your as well as you deserve today? :-)

[Soaring Feather]

Doing well, thanks. Just lazy today, can't watch much more of the horrible scenes from NO.

Finally those folks are getting out of there.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 03:
1596 Nicolo Amati Italy, violin maker (Stradivari & Guarneri)
1803 Prudence Crandall founded school for "young ladies of colour"
1811 John Humphrey Noyes Vt, found Oneida Community (Perfectionists)
1825 Armistead Lindsay Long Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1891
1825 William Wallace Burns Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1892
1831 S.R. Gist Brig General(Confederate Army), died in 1864
1835 William Gaston Lewis Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1856 Louis Henri Sullivan Boston Mass, father of modern US architecture
1860 Edward Albert Filene merchant, established US credit union movement
1875 Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer, was born. He designed the Volkswagen in 1934 and the Porsche sports car in 1950. (not to mention various German panzers...but we won't mention that...unfortunate little fact.
1905 Carl David Anderson NYC, physicist (1936 Nobel Prize for physics)
1907 Andrew Brewin Canada, lawyer/cofound New Democratic Party
1907 Dr Loren Eiseley professor of Anthropology (Animal Secrets)
1910 Dorothy Maynor Norfolk Va, soprano (founded Harlem School of Arts)
1913 Alan Ladd actor (Shane, Carpetbaggers, Boy on a Dolphin)
1914 Dixie Lee Ray, Gov. Wash / author "Environmental Overkill, whatever happened to commonsense?" / Marine Biologist / UN Peace Prize winner
1923 Mort Walker cartoonist (Beetle Bailey)
1926 Anne Jackson Penn, actress (Dirty Dingus Magee, Angel Levine)
1926 Irene Papas actress (Anne of Thousand Days)
1931 Mitzi Gaynor Chicago Ill, actress (South Pacific)
1935 Eileen Brennan LA Calif, actress (Laugh-In, Pvt Benjamin)
1942 Al Jardine rocker (Beachboys-In My Room)
1944 Sherwood C "Woody" Spring Hartford Ct, Col USA/astronaut (STS 61B)
1944 Valerie Perrine Galveston Tx, actress/worldclass babe (Steam Bath, Superman, Slaughterhouse 5)
1948 Donald Brewer, musician-drums, songwriter-Silver Bullet Band, Flint, Grand Funk Railroad, born. (We're an American Band, Walk like a Man, Shinin' On, Some Kind of Wonderful, Bad Time)
1965 Charlie Sheen actor (Carlos Estevez), NYC, actor (Wall St, Platoon)

---

Deaths which occurred on September 03:
1189 Rabbi Jacob of Orleans killed in anti Jewish riot in London England
1658 James I king of England (1603-25), dies at 92
1658 Oliver Cromwell the Lord Protector of England, dies at 59
1917 Fanya Kaplan, Russian who shot at Lenin on Aug 30th, executed
1962 e. e. cummings poet, dies at 67
1969 Ho Chi Minh North Vietnamese president, dies
1970 Vince Lombardi football coach, dies in Washington DC at 57
1984 Duncan Renaldo actor (Cisco Kid), dies at 80
1990 David Acer Florida dentist, dies of AIDs after infecting 5 patients
1991 Frank Capra director (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 94
1992 Nobel laureate geneticist Barbara McClintock

---

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
03-Sep-2004 4 | US: 4 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Nicholas Wilt Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US 1st Lieutenant Ronald Winchester Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Captain Alan Rowe Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Nicholas Perez Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire


Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY


http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php
HELLO! HELLO! Anyone there? Do I have to come to your house and nag you...cause I will if I have too...Trust me, you don't want that.

---

On this day...
0590 St Gregory I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1189 England's King Richard I (the Lion-Hearted) crowned in Westminster (promptly leaves England for France)
1260 Mamelukes under Sultan Qutuz defeat Mongols at Ain Jalut
1650 Battle of Dunbar, Oliver Cromwell defeats a superior Scottish army under David Leslie
1651 Battle at Worcester, Oliver Cromwell defeats English royalists
1658 Richard Cromwell succeeds his father as English Lord Protector
1683 Turkish troops break through defense of Vienna
1752 This day never happened nor the next 10 as England adopts Gregorian Calendar. People riot thinking the govt stole 11 days of their lives

1777 The American flag (stars & stripes), flown in battle for the first time by forces under General William Maxwell during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch's Bridge, Maryland.

1783 Treaty of Paris signed (ending the US Revolutionary War)

1826 USS Vincennes leaves NY to become 1st warship to circumnavigate globe
1833 NY Sun begins publishing (1st daily newspaper)
1838 Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery disguised as a sailor
1852 Anti Jewish riots break out in Stockholm
1855 Battle of Blue Water (Nebraska) General William Harney defeats Little Thunder's Brule Sioux (Dakota)
1861 Confederate forces enter Kentucky, thus ending its neutrality
1865 Gen. Oliver O. Howard orders SC Freedmen's Bureau to stop seizing land
1891 Cottonpickers organize union & stage strike in Texas
1891 John Stephens Durham, named minister to Haiti
1895 First professional football game was played in Latrobe, PA. (later became the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp) The Latrobe YMCA defeated the Jeannette Athletic Club 12-0.
1900 British annex Natal (South Africa)
1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"
1903 Resolute beats Shamrock III (England) in 13th America's Cup
1904 St Louis Olympics close
1908 Orville Wright begins 2 weeks of flight trials of his new Type A Military Flyer. Sets an altitude record of 310 feet and an endurance record of more than one hour, carried aloft the first military observer, Lieutenant Frank Lahm.
1912 World's 1st cannery opens in England to supply food to the navy
1914 The French capital moved from Paris to Bordeaux as the Battle of the Marne began.
1914 Cardinal Giacome della Chiesa becomes Pope Benedict XV
1916 The Battle of Guillemont
1916 Dar-es-Salaam, capital of German East Africa, surrenders to British Naval Forces.
1917 1st night bombing of London by German fighter planes
1917 Grover Cleveland Alexander pitches complete wins in a doubleheader
1918 5 soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot of 1917
1925 1st international handball match held
1925 Dirigible "Shenandoah" crashed near Caldwell Ohio, 13 die

1930 Hurricane kills 2,000, injures 4,000 (Dominican Republic)

1935 1st automobile to exceed 300 mph, Sir Malcolm Campbell (301.337 mph)
1935 Andrew Varipapa sets bowling record of 2,652 points in 10 games

1939 Britain declares war on Germany. France follows 6 hours later quickly joined by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa & Canada

1940 Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five recorded "Summit Ridge Drive," "Special Delivery Stomp," "Keepin' Myself for You" and "Cross Your Heart" in Hollywood for RCA Victor.
1940 US gives Britain 50 destroyers in exchange for Newfoundland base lease
1940 Sep 3, In France more than 700,000 books were seized from bookshops and destroyed. The “Otto lists,” or liste Otto, were comprised of books banned by the German occupying authorities in Vichy France. By September, 1940, 1,060 titles were on the list. The list aimed to ban anti-German, antifascist, pro-Marxists books, works by Jewish authors and British and American books.
1940 In Germany the SS banned Free Masons, Rotary & Red Cross.
1941 1st use of Zyclon-B gas in Auschwitz (on Russian prisoners of war)
1943 Allies invade Italy
1944 US forces enter Belgium at Peruwelz led by reconnaissance scout James W. Carroll on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle
1944 The 68th & last transport of Dutch Jews, which included Anne Frank, left for Auschwitz
1945 Japanese forces in the Philippines surrender to Allies
1947 Yanks get 18 singles to beat Red Sox 11-2
1951 TV soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" debuts on CBS
1954 Pope Pius X canonized a saint
1957 Warren Spahn sets record for a lefty pitcher with 41st shut-out
1957 KTCA TV channel 2 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (PBS) begins broadcasting
1964 Wilderness Act signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson
1965 Jim Hickman becomes the 1st NY Met to hit 3 HRs in a game
1966 24th World SF Convention honors Gene Roddenberry
1967 Final episode of "What's My Line?," hosted by John Charles Daly
1967 Nguyen Van Thieu elected pres of S Vietnam under a new constitution
1967 Sweden begins driving on right-hand side of road
1968 Chicago White Sox set AL record of 39 losses by 1 run
1970 Billy Williams ends the longest NL consecutive streak at 1,117 games
1971 John Lennon leaves the UK for NYC, never to return
1971 Qatar regains complete independence from Britain
1971 Watergate team breaks into Daniel Ellsberg's doctor's office
1974 NBA guard Oscar Robinson retires
1975 Steve Garvey begins his NL record 1,207 consecutive game streak
1976 Viking 2 soft lands on Mars (Utopia), returns photos
1978 Crew of Soyuz 31 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 29
1978 Pope John Paul I officially installed as 264th supreme pontiff

1979 Hurricane David, a strong Atlantic storm kills over 1,000

1981 Longest game in Fenway Park, completed in 20, Mariners-8, Red Sox-7
1985 20th Space Shuttle Mission (51-I)-Discovery 6-returns to Earth
1986 Astros & Cubs use a record 53 players in an 18 inning game
1990 Helen Hudson sings national anthem in 26th park of year (San Diego)
1997 Arizona Gov. Fife Symington was convicted of fraud by a federal jury in Phoenix. He resigned two days later, becoming the third governor in recent years to quit because of a criminal conviction.
1997 Belarus tax officials empty the bank account of the Soros foundation and forced the it to close down.
2000 In Egypt a 2-day meeting of Arab League foreign ministers opened. Yasser Arafat said he would not accept a peace deal without control of Jerusalem
2001 The U.S. and Israel walked out of the United Nations Conference on racism in Durban, South Africa. Accusing Arab nations of hijacking the summit as a platform to embarrass the Jewish state. (Now where would they EVER get that idea?)
2001 South Korean National Assembly passed a no confidence vote on Unification Minister Lim Dong Won, the chief architect of the “sunshine policy” towards North Korea, for being too conciliatory toward the North.
2002 US Senate opened debate on legislation creating a new Homeland Security Department
2002 Iraq said it was ready to discuss a return of U.N. weapons inspectors, but only in a broader context of ending sanctions and restoring Iraqi sovereignty over all its territory. ("I got a better idea. Why don't we kick you out of power, have the Iraqi people form a new government, put you on trial for crimes against humanity & hang you?" G W Bush)
2003 North Korea's parliament re-elect Kim Jong Il President...and the greatest babe magnet the world has ever known, not to mention the finest smartest most caring funniest more bestest person of all time....and did we mention the hair? GREAT hair! Yes sir great guy...life of the party...and does a great soufflé!
2004 Russian Commandos storm a school in southern Russia and battle Chechen terrorists. 338 people, including 155 children, were killed in the battle, 31 of 32 hostage takers were killed. 6 Chechens and 4 Ingush were identified among the hostage takers.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Monaco : Liberation Day
Qatar : Independence Day (1971)
San Marino : Founding Day
Tunisia : Memorial Day (1934)
US, Canada, Guam, Virgin Islands : Labor Day (1894) (Monday)
National Spanish Green Olive Week (Day 5)
Do "It" Day
Barkley the Dog's Birthday day
Hot Breakfast Month

---

Religious Observances
RC : Memorial of St Gregory I the Great, pope/doctor
Old Catholic : Feast of St Pius X, pope (1903-14) (now 8/21)
Feast of St. Simeon Stylites

---

Religious History
590 St. Gregory the Great was consecrated the 64th Catholic pope, ruling 14 years. Gregory's administration took responsibility for converting the Anglo-Saxon tribes in England, chiefly through the work of St. Augustine of Canterbury.
1752 This date became September 14th, when Great Britain (including Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the American colonies) officially implemented the Gregorian Calendar (developed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to replace the Julian calendar).
1776 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'The love I bear Christ is but a faint and feeble spark, but it is an emanation from himself: He kindled it and he keeps it alive; and because it is his work, I trust many waters shall not quench it.'
1934 In London, Evangeline Cory Booth, 69, the seventh child of founder William Booth (1829-1912), became the fourth elected commander and the first woman general of the Salvation Army.
1946 Founder Sidney N. Correll established United World Mission. This interdenominational agency focuses on evangelism, church planting and Christian education in 13 world countries.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

One reason to say yes to lap dancing..


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An angry San Diego topless dancer pulled out a knife and stabbed a customer after he refused a lap dance, police said on Thursday.

Lawanda Dixon, 24, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon shortly after the altercation with 33-year-old Melik Jordan at the Dream Girls Cabaret early on Wednesday, San Diego police Det. Gary Hassen said.
"He was in the club with some friends watching the shows when she came up and asked if he wanted a lap dance," Hassen said. "He said no, she got upset about it, they argued back and forth. She pulled knife out of her bag and stabbed him."

Dixon was taken into custody and police found methamphetamine in a small metal container in Dixon's bag, Hassen said, adding that she may face drug charges. Officers also confiscated a small folding knife.

Jordan was treated for his injuries and released by a local hospital.

---

Thought for the day :
"Seven days without laughter makes one weak."
Mort Walker

[Victoria Delsoul]

Happy Labor Day Weekend, everybody.

[Professional Engineer]

Tragedia Nowego Orleanu - zdjęcia Mężczyzna używający grabi jako wiosła płynie ze swoim psem zalaną Aleją św. Bernarda.

Sure, that's easy for you to say.

I like this one.

Fot. IRWIN THOMPSON AP

[Professional Engineer]

1777 The American flag (stars & stripes), flown in battle for the first time by forces under General William Maxwell during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch's Bridge, Maryland.

Long may she wave.

[alfa6]

1875 Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer, was born. He designed the Volkswagen in 1934 and the Porsche sports car in 1950. (not to mention various German panzers...but we won't mention that...unfortunate little fact.

Like this one for instance...

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Valin]

I SAID we wouldn't mention this! :-)

[Wneighbor]

can't watch much more of the horrible scenes from NO.

Finally those folks are getting out of there.

I know what you mean bentfeather. I'm living with an aunt and uncle in central Texas now. We are all 3 HAM operators and it's been a busy time here relaying emergency traffic. I suspect PE is busy doing the same 'bout now.

[Soaring Feather]

Sure gotta give it to the survivors, they have been literally through hell and high water.

[Wneighbor]

Yes they have!

We are several hundred miles from the hurricane area here. But, you know, less than 100 miles south of Dallas where a lot of refugees are. We're inundated with messages from the Salvation Army to try to help find people. There are many websites now to help but checking this is tedious! Uncle Lynn is on the radio and I'm on the internet working tonight. Interesting stuff.

[snippy_about_it]

I think with the hurricane and now the loss of the Chief Justice we just were not going to get a lot of discussion on this.

Here's my take. It looks like if the law was being interpreted correctly we could have the President or Congress use the military as a police force, also we have the National Guard who are not legally bound by the law.

I can see where it could cause trouble if we tried to overthrow the government but I believe then the Guard would be used anyway, not the military. Or I guess they could sick the Navy and Marines on us. LOL.

[quietolong]

To Bad. This is the time when we need to be most vigilant. When everybody is “looking
the other way” Is just when something will be “sneaked in”

Goverment is getting bigger by the day.

The Posse Comitatus Act (If you didn't know what it is)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476916/posts

[Professional Engineer]

My comment was meant for humor only, because I don't read a bit of Polish. I was able to infer some of the meaning from the images.

I know you stand with us in these times. The flooding your own country suffered was just as intense.