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"Probably need some more input on somebody's Power Point presentation." Herb Moriarty quipped.
Rick Golden yawned and leaned into the camera viewfinder, "Maybe, but we've got something going on over at The Armory."
Indeed, a black van had pulled over to that side of US-13 and two men had gotten out. From what Golden could see, there was nobody else in the van, but he couldn't tell for certain as the van's windows were heavily tinted.
"Thompson, Batchelor, and Beardsley are all in the small office building. Could those guys be co-conspirators or ..." Moriarty said.
Golden cut him off, "They look an awful lot like Federal agents to me."
Wilt Thompson glanced out the window when he caught movement in his peripheral vision. He saw two men approaching the big maintenance barn. They were wearing suits, which seemed really out of place.
"Well, lookee here, what is going on?" Thompson said as he pointed towards the men.
Beardsley spoke first, "Feds?"
Batchelor chimed in, "Gotta be, wearing suits and everything. Jimmy still working over there?"
Thompson nodded, "Him and Dwight's kid, what's his name?"
"Teddy, his name's Teddy. Good kid." Beardsley answered.
Thompson thought for a moment, "Willy, you got your long gun with you?"
Batchelor nodded, "Yep, but it's in my truck. I can get to it without being seen ..."
"Nah, stay here and watch those Feebs down the road on the monitor. Leroy, you come with me, let's see what these fellows want."
Just as he was about to knock on the door of the big garage, F. William Murchison heard a man say, "Help you fellows?"
Murchison's partner, Bud Maximilian turned and held out his hand, he was holding a rather impressive looking legal document. "I'm Special Agent Maximilian and this is my partner, Special Agent Murchison." He nodded at that man, "We're with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This is a warrant to search these premises."
Across the way Batchelor's ears perked up when he heard who the men were on the microphone Thompson was wearing. He also noticed that the Feebs in the van perked up at that as well. He would have paid good money to hear what they were saying.
Thompson scanned the document, "Sorry fellows, wrong address. This here is 35173 Lankford Highway, y'all want 35162, that's another mile up the road. Look for the Bundick Well & Pump Company, they sometimes use explosives when they're putting in a new well. Makes the work go a little faster, I guess." He handed the paper back to the man who gave it to him.
Maximilian took it and said, "You got a bathroom I could use?"
"No Sir, I do not. Restrooms are for employees only. We're just about to lock up and go home anyway."
Maximilian nodded, "Sorry to have troubled you. Maybe Bundick will let me use theirs. Let's go, Murchison."
As they walked off, Thompson shook his head. "What makes these Feds think we're in awe of their fancy badges and warrants?"
When they got to the car, Murchison shook his head. "Now I know that's the place we want. Why'd you'd give the judge that other address?"
"I didn't, I had my wife do this one up on the computer. The real warrant is in my briefcase, in the trunk. I just wanted a sneak peek, up close, to see what we might be getting into."
"Those explosives the Maryland State Police found at the sight of that shooting, what ties that to this place?"
"The MREs were purchased by a shell corporation and delivered to this address. Some dumbass left a copy of the invoice in one of the boxes the troopers found. This is going to take more than a couple of agents in suits, we're talking a full-on SWAT raid."
Maximilian shook his head, "Why do these people think they can go up against the U.S. government? Boggles the mind."
They drove off, headed towards Norfolk. They drove past two very concerned FBI agents as they did so.
"Okay, got it Sir. We'll just sit tight here. Yes Sir ... No Sir ... Very good Sir, I ..."
"Son of a bitch hung up on me." Moriarty said as he tucked his phone away.
Golden said, "There go the ATF boys," as the ATF men sped past, headed south. "Maybe someone should tell them Bundick is north of here. What the heck is going on, Herb?"
"The Maryland State Police searched the stolen pickup truck at that shooting yesterday morning. Ten cases of MREs with a C4 chaser."
That got Golden's attention, "C4, you're shitting me?"
"I wish I was. A case of MREs contains 12 meals, the ones the troopers found had ten meals each, plus a one and a quarter pound block of C4, wrapped in butcher's paper. A casual glance wouldn't get anyone's attention, but one of the troopers on scene had been a Marine back in his youth. He expected 12 meals, not ten, and as the cases were sealed as if they'd just come from the factory, that butcher's paper looked out of place, especially right in the middle of the case."
"Damn."
"Yeah, that's a lot of C4."
"Wonder what they were planning on using it for?" Golden asked.
"We need to get in there tonight and bug that garage, probably the office as well."
Golden nodded, "Somebody's got some 'splainin' to do." He said in his best Cuban accent.
Moriarty shook his head, "Yup, and the boys and girls back at the Bureau are gonna need information on this place. These guys are serious players."
FBI.....ATF.....CIA...... and the first two have their SWAT teams.....who else will be crossing the river Styx? Have my doubts about most of the rank and file of the agencies Sarge, upper ranks are a lost cause IMO.
ReplyDeleteSad, innit?
DeleteThe CIA has an army...
DeleteDo they?
DeleteSometimes called "The Army of Northern Virginia." It is a real, small but real, Army, mostly of direct action units but with trainers and everything else. Plus they can get their hands on all those foreigners they are training in these United States to do stuff supposedly in the foreigners' own countries.
DeleteInteresting.
DeleteThere are SEALS, Deltas, and other special forces warriors that just... disappear while still alive. Those are going into the ANV or whatever it is actually called. It's a known thing. CIA's been doing it since Kennedy's time, probably before...
DeleteWas wondering when the explosive part of this MRE supply was coming. Morgan was way to excitable about Meals refused by Ethiopians.
ReplyDeleteYeah, surprise for poor Rossi though.
DeleteIsn't it a crime to present a known false ... oh we're all just making this up as we go along until the kaboom. A nest of snakes, which to cheer for. Or against.
ReplyDeleteYou heard what the FBI did at Mar-e-Lago right? The Feds are out of control in the story, even more so in real life.
DeleteThe Courts have ruled that Law Enforcement can lie to develop a case. How do you know Law Enforcement is lying to you?
DeleteMarlago: SWMBO says that's a Trump disinformation campaign, and that judge is a traitor. :shrug:
DeleteBeans: are the talking to you?
Beans - Their lips are moving.
Deletehtom - Seriously?
DeleteMy mother, God bless her little Roosevelt socialist heart, firmly believes everything that the eneMedia and Big Brother Government has been saying. I spent an hour or so before Christmas pointing out everything that was wrong in her world view. So, yeah... they're out there.
DeleteMy fairy god-child, a friend whom we treat as a child as she lost her parents, just rolls her eyes when I mention anything that goes against Big Brother Government's line of bull this week. So, yeah... they're out there.
As to LE, I used to work for them. The lies they told to get people to open doors or to allow them to look in vehicles were spectacular. And then the same LEs I worked for used their lying powers against me. Sigh. I used to respect them. Now I don't talk to them at all.
Oh yes. As the years passed, she moved more left, I've moved from libertarian to ? maybe a follower of Alicia DeVries (David Weber: In Fury Born.}
DeleteI'm surprised that it wasn't IRS rather than BATFE that showed up because the proper tax stamp wasn't on the boxes. The federal alphabet soup agencies etc. have far too much power, it's well past time to RICO all of them. And eliminate half of them, then combine those with overlapping realms of authority. Do we really need 18 different "intelligence agencies?"
ReplyDeleteMAN! This really hit one of my major gripes - almost unlimited, and unaccountable, power to unelected agencies. Creating extra-constitutional laws by calling them regulations. If a "regulation" has the force and effect of law, it's a law. Created by faceless, nameless, out of control burrocrats (sic) who answer to no one. Including Congress, if you have ever listened to congressional hearings. Of course, the capons and wethers who inhabit those Hallowed Halls are more concerned with political posturing and making "GOTCHA!" points than getting facts, so they are just as bad.
DANG! Who peed in my Cheerios this morning?
Concur on everything.
Delete"...capons and wethers..." Nicely phrased!
DeleteBG
Thanks, to both of you!
DeleteBeen calling our "representatives" capons for about 2 decades now, and a couple of years ago a pard in the SASS Wire Saloon introduced the term "wether" to me. Wethers is a little weak because wethers don't tup. ;-)
And a 'Right' you have to apply for a permit to exercise isn't a right at all. God did not give us Rights to then have us turn around and beg and pay Big Brother for a permission slip.
DeleteBeans - Again a clear violation of theirs oaths to support and uphold ...
DeleteI always wonder how much energy and TIME we waste on fretting about things we cannot control.
ReplyDeleteVs how much we spend on DOING stuff to make ourselves and our family better prepared for trouble that is clearly coming down the pike.
Almost like we FORGOT the troubles the COVID scam inflicted upon us. Let alone the "Mostly Peaceful but Firey Protests" of the anti-trump presidency era.
How many calories of food and dollars' worth of home repair supplies did the mini-rant of Joe (for example) create?
How does one prepare for the complete collapse of society?
DeleteBuddy of mine in the Air Force and I used to talk about such things. Buy land in the middle of nowhere (for some reason we liked the idea of Montana), make sure it can be defended properly. Stock up on weapons, food, medicines and the like. Have a core of families who know and trust each other to live there. (One family won't cut it in our estimation.)
Then watch the Feds swoop in and accuse you of insurrection.
We live in dangerous times.
That we do, Sarge, that we do! There's much to be said for getting away from the middle of too many people. Yes your MT "estate" can be "accused" but it's far better than many situations. Besides " accused" is not convicted; unless they go Waco/Ruby Ridge on you; in which case the ball has begun.
DeleteAs VDH wisely remarked; the options are not between good and bad, they're between bad and worse.
Boat Guy
Sure feels like a death spiral.
DeleteBasics friend. The same sort of thing you do prepping for a major hurricane season. Knowing your neighbors is a major weakness of many I know. 90% of your troubles will come from people within an easy half hour of you. Who are the "Sketchy" now? Will your neighbor call the police if you try to stop some "Protesters" from stomping through your yard? NICE to KNOW a bit about them Before then, eh?
DeleteGetting a good relationship with your God. All men die, some never truly live Willian Wallace.
Trouble like broken windows and damaged screens (like biting bugs? I don't) is something I can DO something about. Looking at the "protests" lately is like looking at teasers of the Spanish Civil War. I was looking at receipts from last week compared to yesterday. A can of pinto beans WM GV was 3 cents higher in a week. How did your paycheck raise do last week?
How much more time do we have before a "Presidental Announcement" of a "Shelter in Place" Federalizing the Police and such over "Terrorist Threats"? I sure don't know, but then again, I buy Fire Insurance and don't want to ever use it.
Shouting to the Choir isn't prepping. It's telling everybody who hears you're a tad crazy or worse. People forget basics like everything said on the internet is the same if you were discussing it in the middle of the coffee shop or diner.
The Feds have some power, they borrow it like the Statzi from folks who give them information.
Sarge, I too have spent more than my fair of time in days past wondering "what if". To your point, you can do everything and have a third party swoop in, as the historical finds of coins and valuables that were undoubtedly just put there "for a short time" prove.
DeleteMichael - Preparing for a hurricane is way different than preparing for the end times. There's only so much one can do.
DeleteTB - Another USAF buddy of mine and I talked about something along these lines. I suggested having a sufficient stock of firearms and ammunition at hand. He asked why, he'd be in his shelter with plenty of food, what would he need guns for? For when somebody comes to take your stuff.
DeleteSarge asked- How does one prepare for the complete collapse of society?
DeleteComplete collapse... no help coming. Get enough to keep you alive for a month or so, time to let things get bad and settle down without HAVE to leave your home/place of shelter. After that month things will still suck but not as bad as they did. At least that's my guess...
"Then watch the Feds swoop in and accuse you of insurrection."
DeleteWord creep. Words are losing, or have lost, meaning because of being applied with too broad a brush....by both sides of the aisle.
"The Feds have some power, they borrow it like the Statzi from folks who give them information."
Respectfully, the Feds have enormous power. Power by slowly expanding bureaucratic departments and agencies. You, I think are partially correct in saying folks give it to them, but not by giving them information, but by voter apathy in allowing the burrocrats (sic) to increase their power.
Some of that, heck, most of that, comes from the school industry teaching the rights somehow come from the State (any level of government) rather than our Creator as the founders said. And it follows that if the State is the source of all "rights' then the State must be all powerful and all knowing.
An illustration of this: Back in '04 or '05 when California had about a dozen anti-gun laws coming up for votes I wrote a "gun rant" to put in local gun shops to try to encourage gun owners to get more politically involved. To call and write to their elected representatives, it only takes a few minutes a week and we could flood them with letters (say 3 minutes each for a letter to be read, logged, and responded to, multiply that by about 15,000 per week and you get some serious man-hours). I even provided the phone numbers, physical address, and email for the politicians in all the local Assembly and State Senate districts, as well as federal Senate and House districts. I printed off 1000 copies to put in the stores. One refused to allow them. Two allowed me to put them near the cash register, one allowed me to put them in their rack of information pamphlets. Three months later hardly any had been taken, and from what I saw, those had been used for scratch paper. Why? "Oh! Poor little us! What can we DO? We're outnumbered and out-voted!" Well, Nimrod, get INVOLVED! Make those calls, write those letters! Prod your friends to do it! Don't just stand around at the local gun shop or range and whine about it....get ACTIVE just like the antis are.
Rob - Sorry to disagree, but if society collapses completely, it's going to be more that a month for things to "settle down." More like years would be my guess.
DeleteJoe - I can't begin to imagine how many lists you're on. Seriously though, you can appeal to many people to "do something," even if it's just to writer letters, if you can get 10% to respond, then you're doing all right. But I'll tell you this, no one wants to take the risk of sticking one's neck out. Do you think the "antis" are doing this because they're more motivated? Nope, powerful forces are backing them. They have nothing to lose, really. Your normal Joe Citizen has a lot to lose. Job, health, status in the community. Do I know what the answer is? No, I do not. I do believe that California is past all hope.
DeleteSarge- That first month is for the worst of the blood lust.
DeleteThe "worst of." I know what you're saying but we Americans have absolutely no clue what the absolute breakdown of society might look like. I'm trying to think of an analogous situation in history, all I can come up with is the Thirty Years War. You had roaming bands of mercenaries going unpaid, having to live by plunder alone. It took time for things to settle down, I seem to recall that parts of Germany lost 50% of the population.
Delete1) I hope you're right and 2) I pray it doesn't come to that.
The only person I know who has written about western a society breakdown in modern times is Selco and his year in the Balkans.
DeleteHere is a pdf of his stuff if you're interested..
https://ia801005.us.archive.org/34/items/TheSHTFAnthologySelco/The%20SHTF%20Anthology%20-%20Selco.pdf
I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that too...
What OAFS said to Joe above. All comments sent to state and federal representatives of any kind are logged and tagged and filed and... If the system worked, if they truly represented us, then writing to them would work. But the system has been hijacked and will be used against us.
DeleteLike, oh, say, the summer of fire and doom of 2020. Does anyone think that the fed and state agencies didn't know exactly who was burning and looting and threatening federal and state judges and prosecutors and witnesses? But be in Washinton DC on Jan6, not even at the rally or the Capital and they know exactly where and how long you were from the minute you entered the city until you got home. Equal justice? Equal enforcement?
"I can't begin to imagine how many lists you're on"
DeleteLots. Going way back. In the '60s and '70s one of my brothers listened to a lot of short wave radio and wrote to places like Radio La Habana Cuba, Radio Peking, whatever the East German radio was called. Got lots of propaganda sent to him. Radio Peking was really good - sent him several copies of the Little Red Book, Mao pins, and Peking Review. One I remember had a photo of Marines behind a tank, I think it was Hue, captioned something like "Running dogs of imperialist capitalists cower behind tank to save their skins." The same week Life had the same photo with a caption, "Marines shelter behind tank during defense of Hue."
But, yeah, lots of lists. Back around the time I make those pamphlets I had staph (sic) from my member of the Assembly, member of the State Senate, and US Senator Babs "I'm too important to be called Ma'am" Boxer all tell me to stop calling and writing because those worthies know what is best for us and neither need nor want opposing views.
"if you can get 10% to respond,"
I knew, if you pardon the phrase, a shot in the dark. But I figured if I could get that 10%, even 5%, to write or call every week it would take up enough staph (sic) time with negative input to cause they anti-civil rights idjits to stop and think. Even only 6,000 per week, assuming 3 minutes per call or letter is something like 300 man-hours per week. That's, what, 37 man-days per week?
"Like, oh, say, the summer of fire and doom of 2020."
Or Nov. of 2016 with grass roots and spontaneous mostly peaceful riots across our republic, all with the same professionally printed signs on the 4 days after the election. And the Antifa Sturmabteilung, all in uniform, and being able to get into position under the concealment of the rest of the mob. Start the violence and melt back into the mob. "Oh! But they were just a handful of OUTSIDERS! We didn't want them there!" Yeah....you outnumbered them 50:1 or better. If you really didn't want them to start the riots you could have used your numbers to quash it. Ditto for the BLM Red Guards.
Thing is, if we act against them they'll Rittenhouse or McClusky our sorry little behinds. And social media mob our families and work places. It's what the brownshirts always do.
DeleteAt this rate, the country will become a series of interlocking agencies. Everyone will be employed by (or be under) some agency. Agencies will be tripping over each other in the execution of their "offices".
ReplyDeleteThe Byanzantine Empire - a byword for complicated bureaucracy - has nothing on the modern American nation-state.
And the Constitution becomes just another dusty artifact in some museum. How did this happen? I think the answer is that no one is held accountable. The "Golden Rule," those with the most gold make the rules.
Delete"Will become"? It already has. The EPA has control over the water quality of your stock pond. And some judge somewhere has ruled that your stock pond is navigatable waters. Which means at least three other federal agencies. And if you do this out west then Bureau of Land Management comes into effect, even if you and your family have owned the land since the 1800's. Is there a highway or railway near by? Well, then the various Transportation-related agencies come into play. Find a penny, then there's the IRS. Find an arrowhead from some indigenous people and dare to touch it, then various Indigenous People's groups and historical agencies can take your land away.
DeleteThree felonies a day is lightweight. You are covered, no matter where you go, by at least 30 federal and state agencies, every minute of the day, each able to drop a felony violation on you if they so wish.
Dark times...
ReplyDeleteAnd is anyone else hoping the various fedbois blow each other away?
ReplyDeleteWhile the fed has been gobbling up power for many years, it seems to be growing exponentially during this admin, and the rot starts at the head. Any thoughts on how much the next head can stop or slow the growth? I'm hopeful, but the swamp is deep. The DOJ needs a good cleaning, if not a toss out and start over.
ReplyDeleteThoughts about calamities which may befall our country need to include loss of the power grid, from whatever cause. Without power, we would be back in 1880, but lacking the skills which worked so well then.
ReplyDeleteVince Flynn (died in 2013) character Mitch Rapp has been kept alive by Kyle Mills, and his most recent book "Total Power" is (as usual) a real thriller, but also filled with thought provoking and frankly terrifying small details which would stem from a grid collapse. And, yes, rogue feds are part of the problem in this fictional account. Also, Rapp and a group of like minded associates have well prepared contiguous compound for survival of their families. Scary stuff, and uncertain if it is all fiction, or perhaps predictive.
Available on AbeBooks for under $5. Also as audio book, for those who travel a lot.
Publisher's promotional blurb:
QUOTE
In the next thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series, it’s a race against the clock when ISIS takes down the entire US power grid and throws America into chaos.
When Mitch Rapp captures ISIS’s top technology expert, he reveals that he was on his way to meet a man who claims to have the ability to bring down America’s power grid. Rapp is determined to eliminate this shadowy figure, but the CIA’s trap fails.
The Agency is still trying to determine what went wrong when ISIS operatives help this cyber terrorist do what he said he could—plunge the country into darkness. With no concept of how this unprecedented act was accomplished, the task of getting the power back on could take months. Perhaps even years.
Rapp and his team embark on a desperate search for the only people who know how to repair the damage—the ones responsible. But his operating environment is like nothing he’s experienced before. Computers and communication networks are down, fuel can no longer be pumped from gas stations, water and sanitation systems are on the brink of collapse, and the supply of food is running out.
Can Rapp get the lights back on before America descends irretrievably into chaos?
END QUOTE
John Blackshoe
There's a new Rapp book out now. New author too.
DeleteThe first step of such prep ... is to not talk about it. Opps ... shouldn't have said that.
ReplyDeletePolitely disagree. Depends HOW you talk about it. Having FJB stickers and I don't call 911 with an AR bumper stickers (like too many around here) already ID's you for good or bad.
DeleteAs Sun Tzu might have said "never underestimate your enemies". Folks that voted for an idiot might have more firepower than you give them credit for. I prefer to be the grey man that seems nice to all.
Discussing how to assist each other in local emergencies has always been a good ID for those that might "Get It" Vs the totally useless (or worse) folks around here. Discussing the New World Order might be a kook vibe for a lot of normies.
Listening politely to some of our local gun bunnies lets me know who's on the side of cooperation VS the Wanna Be War Lords that need to be eliminated when the lights go out.
Some call me a pacifist, I smile. I'm peaceful, not harmless.
Kinda like fight club.
DeleteMichael - Get down off your high horse, he was being humorous.
Delete"Some call me a pacifist, I smile. I'm peaceful, not harmless."
DeleteTo be truly peaceful one must be capable of great violence.
Re firearms, ""... One loves to possess arms, tho they hope never to have occasion for them." Tommy J.
"Gun bunnies?"
You have a lot of artillerists near you?
Oh! That reminds me. Sarge, I used to be the caretaker of a 3 inch Ordnance Rifle for our reenacting unit. I'd regularly order 50 lb. of Fg or cannon grade black powder. A couple times back to back so in two days I was ordering 100 pounds. Plus friction primers. Another list I'm on.
AF Sargent I am well aware that it's not Hurricane Prep, but it's a far better start than complaining about political stuff you and I cannot affect.
ReplyDeleteShelter repair is something a lot of folks don't ponder; broken windows is almost a given with street troubles.
Knowing about your Aera of Operations (AO for the tac guys) is something most are very weak about.
For example, how well do you know alternative routes in your area? If you wandered into a "Protest Area" can you get around it without getting entangled in the mess? Even if I have to apologize later to someone for driving through their yard, it beats getting entangled in a bunch of lawfare and street troubles.
Do you know at least half the neighbors enough to invite them to a BBQ? Might be a good idea to know who's "sketchy" or has "sketchy kids" before things get less law abiding. In my area we have Nor'easters almost yearly and I've met every one of my neighbors within a longish walk by helping them with snow removal. Those that choose to return the favor are on my "good list", those that took help but never seem to return the offer are on my "takers" list.
I help at the Food Bank, gets me a street eye view of how things are really happening. I also help with EMS, and I get a real good idea who's the "frequent flyers" and about sketchy behaviors.
Few of us can have the "Perfect Preppers Castle". But more than a few of us have NO KNOWEDGE about the folks living to the right or left of us. They can be useful allies or trouble when things get weird.
If you're saying most Americans have really shitty Situational Awareness, then yeah, you're right. I do know all of that stuff above. All I'm saying is that there are only so many things you can prepare for, civil war is not one of them. Realistically it could go straight to death squads looking for the other side or it just might be idiot progressives blocking the highways.
DeleteIt also depends very much on where you live.
Too many comments getting too political.
ReplyDeleteI quit
We are about ½ a c*nt hair from ACAB.
ReplyDeleteThe Airman was MURDERED.
95+% of current LE(remember when they were police?) have no idea what the Constitution is.
More and more they look like tatted gang bangers or wee SS type nazis.
Yes, but 95% is pretty high.
Delete