FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUYS RIOT GEAR, INCREASES SECURITY FUNDING, CITING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

The Intercept ^ | 5-17-20 | Lee Fang

[zeugma]

The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves, along with law enforcement protective equipment for federal police assigned to protect Veterans Affairs facilities. The orders were expedited under a special authorization “in response to Covid-19 outbreak.”

Remember folks, the government is not your friend.

[sergeantdave]

“Why does the local sheriff in a rural county need an armored vehicle?”

Ha. We bought our sheriff a surplus World War II landing craft. It’s used to ferry goods and equipment to people living on the peninsula, should a freighter knock out the bridge. And yes, the bridge has been knocked out in the past.

You know the old saying: It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[frog in a pot]

We’re all frogs in the slowly heating water..

We probably all agree the federal government can be a valuable, indeed lifesaving thing depending on the mindset of its leaders. We talk among ourselves, place our votes and take our chances; the alternatives are not so attractive.

My screen name was chosen during the first Clinton era, a time when there was obvious reason for many of us here to be quite disgusted with our federal government.

It seemed fitting there was no record of clinical experiments or other evidence of live frogs actually boiling, at least that I could find.

So, based on my natural inclinations I like to think when the water becomes too hot that I and many others will jump out, and when we do we will be extremely angry and aggressive. And I am not talking here about being kissed by a frog.

[dljordan]

“Wonder why the Veteran Affairs police need riot gear? “

Because they like to play hero?

[L,TOWM]

Only if I have to, buddy...

And while lie can be seen all over TV screens, actual pure lye is tough to find. I grew up in an improvise, adapt, overcome environment.

[null and void]

I’m surprised you didn’t post the gas and liquid dish soap recipe.

BTW if you try it with kerosene, it doesn’t burn very well, but it makes a GREAT hand cleaner...

[L,TOWM]

LOL — I actually think a mechanic friend of my Step-Dad’s used to carry a container of the kero & dish soap mixture around...

Hand cleaner and a dammed good fire starter on the beach or camping.

[Gen.Blather]

“You know the old saying: It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

I had a frail old couple living in one of my rentals. They were drunk one day and she called the sheriff because he was beating her. They came to the door, discovered some 40 pot plants about 10 inches high. The couple was so drunk the deputies put them to bed. They came back as a SWAT team around three am, driving an MRAP. They smashed my door in and arrested the couple for (get this) having $50,000 worth of pot.

They could have just arrested the couple instead of putting them to bed. But, they probably wanted to dress up and play soldier. Incidentally, the sheriff doesn’t pay for damage they do in a raid. I suppose I am lucky they didn’t use the MRAP to smash into the trailer.

Did they need an MRAP for that? Did they need to smash in my door? No. I would prefer we didn’t have a SWAT team as they instantly elevate a situation and cause damage. As for the MRAP, they use it to elevate their testosterone.

[lurk]

What happened to all the military hardware and ammo the Feds bought in the Obama years? The white collar agencies geared up more than the Marine Corps for a few years there.