AUGUST 31, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
August 31 is … National Trail Mix Day
Sometimes ideas seem a whole lot better in the thinking stage than they do in the implementation stage. The idea in this story just could never have seemed like a good idea but the government employee responsible for it did not lose his job, even though people lost their lives. He did get transferred but no indication he took a pay cut. Kenneth Melson is out as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Melson has been under fire from Republicans over the scandal surrounding the gun trafficking program Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department announced that Melson will be moving back to the Department of Justice to serve in the Office of Legal Programs.
Melson has been under pressure to step aside since earlier this summer, after a House Oversight Committee hearing revealed controversial aspects of the program. ATF agents charged with monitoring the illegal sale and transfer of guns from the U.S. To Mexican drug cartels told lawmakers that, instead of arresting small-time buyers, they were ordered to stand by and let the guns go through, in the hopes of tracing them to larger arms dealers. After border patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered in a shootout along the Arizona-Mexico border in December 2010, two weapons found on the scene were linked that the Fast and Furious program.
This month, the Justice Department announced that guns from the program had turned up at the scenes of at least 11 crimes in the U.S. In El Paso, Texas, 42 weapons were seized from two crime scenes alone. Melson “was part of the bad judgment. … This was a program so stupid from the start,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the head of the Oversight Committee, told Fox News in June.
In July, after a review of the program, Melson admitted that, in at least one instance, agents could and should have intercepted the weapons. "I read through those and found ROIs (reports of investigation) that indeed suggested that interdiction could have occurred, and probably should have occurred, but did not occur," Melson told congressional lawmakers.
In a recent interview, Marla Maples, I did not realize she was still alive, had some advice, non-advice for Maria Shriver. Maples, who currently has a new CD out, "Visions of Eternity," and Donald Trump went through an ugly divorce in 1999, making front-page news almost every week. And although she calls that a "lifetime ago," she does have some advice for Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger as they go through their very public split.
“Maria is such a brilliant woman – I adore her and the kids – I just know that she’s got it. She’s got a great path and wonderful people around her that she doesn’t need my advice. But truly, it’s about finding something that is deep inside of you; it’s not about money.” Maples said. “It was very emotional and deep and it broke my heart on many levels. But, at the same time, it gave me a beautiful life today! Because you can either get knocked down and stay down or you can get up and show that you are strong. I think happiness is such a deeply-rooted soul choice.”
Now do not forget, IT IS NOT ABOUT THE MONEY! Let me repeat what Marla (of course I have talent outside of bed) Maples says; IT IS NOT ABOUT THE MONEY. Marla Maples is not giving any of her extortion money back but it has nothing to do with who she really is. The Wizard of Oz could give a brain to the scarecrow but not even he could help MM.
99 arrests on the books, 99 arrests … The entire judicial system should be embarrassed about this farce. More than one Judge should lose his gig. A Chicago man who has been arrested 99 times was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday after allegedly going door-to-door with his 3-year-old daughter in suburban Riverside "looking for new victims to con."
18 months in prison amounts to ninety days. This criminal will get half off for good behavior. The definition of good behavior in prison is very broad. That leaves the 18 months at 9 months. He will get six months off because he was not convicted of a violent crime. Once again, the definition of violent crime is quite broad. That reduces the 9 months to 3 months, meaning he will do ninety days and likely less since he will get credit for time served. The day he was arrested will give him one day credit. I do not know if he has been in jail since his arrest. If he has been, he was likely released from jail with time served. Do you feel safer?
Albert Luis Alvarez, 37, was arrested on August 10 after Riverside residents called police about a "suspicious" man asking for money while pushing a stroller, the Chicago Tribune reports. When police found Alvarez, he allegedly threw several bags of drugs on the ground before police found more heroin in his pockets. He was allegedly telling residents that he was injured and needed money for his young daughter, who was ultimately turned over to a family member, Fox Chicago reports. When police took him to the station, they realized he had 98 prior arrests and 23 convictions, CBS Chicago reports. He has been convicted of burglary, robbery, larceny, assault, drugs and smuggling. He also gave various police departments 10 dates of birth, nine names and five Social Security numbers used as aliases.
Alvarez pleaded guilty Monday to obstruction of justice for destroying drugs while police tried questioning him. He also faced possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and child endangerment charges, according to Fox Chicago.
“Alvarez has consistently and repeatedly disobeyed orders of the court and blatantly disregarded the law by intentionally engaging in criminal behavior,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel told reporters after Alvarez's arrest. “His involvement in the Riverside case ... is of great concern ... due to the fact he’s proven to be prone to violence and will stop at almost nothing to evade police.”
Am I the only one who thinks the names of people arrested for crimes or doing uncivilized things in this country generally have non-American, minority and foreign sounding names? I bet that is not the case in other countries. Who ever told parent(s) they could just make stupid names up or make-up their own spelling? It just is not right and it establishes that you do not want to be absorbed into American life.
Just a couple of thoughts I had and you should too or at least think about.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
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Book Titles:
Holmes the Ripper
A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction
"Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase." - John Balguy
