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Homeland Security has purchased almost 3000 armored vehicles and has had them retrofitted for use on the American streets.

Why do they need them? Homeland Security has purchased almost 3000 armored vehicles and has had them retrofitted for use on the American streets.

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On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

28 comments

  • JGL

    Check out this video interview with a guy named Jim Garrow http://youtu.be/kzT6X3_Bg9o and please comment after you add into the mix the 1.6 billion domestically purchased rounds, a renewed push against the second amendment, purposefully running up our debt to atmospheric levels by a president who has a foundation in Maxrist philosophy, a FED Chairman who fully embraces the fact that the dollar, as bad a condition as it is in is still and will remain the reserve currency of the world (this is where America’s true power resides at the moment).

    Is this the New World Order being installed right under our noses while we butt heads trying to figure out what is going on in this purposeful confusion that is pushed by our own government?

  • Jim

    So this site, Modern Survival Blog, says that DHS has done this. Is there any proof whatsoever of this? Where does this come from? I should believe this because this one particular website says it is true? And then it leads to what JGL referred to above, a video that actually trots out the claim that Obama is planning to wage war on American citizens. This is just so ridiculous. Does anyone actually believe this?

  • Yes, sadly, many Americans believe this. They have had too much bad experience in recent years with their government, from abusive TSA agents to idiotic government regulations to abusive politicians interfering with their lives.

    You, Jim, in turn are far too trusting of powerful people, especially if they are Democrats.

    I should note, however, that I did hesitate posting this particular story, but then when I saw it on a number of other reputable sites, decided it was worth noting. It might very well be untrue, but right now it seems to me that to save freedom it is far better to err on the side of not trusting the government than trusting them. Assume they mean you harm, for your own sake.

  • Jim

    You do know that the same kind of stuff was trotted out when Bush was President (by none other than Alex Jones himself). I question government on a number things (debt being one), but this stuff about waging war on its citizens is just demeaning. I will say this- the right needs to stick to its knitting, and conspiracy theories is not it. Its distracting, and it leads to defeat at the polls. This President may be planning a number of things, but waging war on American citizens is not one of them. Of that, I am 100% certain. Hopefully I am not alone.

  • I am very aware of the stuff that was trotted out when Bush was President. Some of it was actually worth looking at. Bush was a failure as a president, and an even greater failure as a so-called conservative president. He not only did nothing to reduce the size and power of government, he did much to make it bigger and more powerful. Consider: it was during his administration that Homeland Security was created.

    Obama has merely accelerated Bush’s policies, in the worst way.

    As I say, you are sometimes too trusting of people in power.

  • wodun

    Oh, the purchase of these vehicles is very real and isn’t surprising in the least. We are winding down from a significant military build up and have a surplus of equipment.

    MRAPs are not tanks but they are heavily armored. The purpose of the MRAPs was to prevent deaths caused by IEDs. It seems to me they would be great vehicles for local SWAT teams or for DHS to have in their inventory.

    I am not sure what people think we should do with surplus MRAPs, scrap them?

    Obama isn’t a nice person and he seeks to punish his “enemies” but if the conspiracy where Obama starts rounding up people who support the 2nd amendment, don’t want their 401k contributions taxed, or whatever else Obama is trying to force on us actually comes to pass, he has significant resources already at his disposal. Why would an armored vehicle be a bigger deal than M1A1 tanks and Bradleys with 50 cal machine guns?

    There is a very real threat of terrorism against our country from Islamists, white supremacists, and militant protest class Democrats. I don’t know if we need a DHS or a TSA but our government does need the tools to respond to these threats.

    Before you think people who are worried about a conspiracy theory like this coming to pass are batshit crazy, also look at the comments by mainstream Democrat politicians and party activists who advocate for the conspiracy theory to play out, heh.

  • Jim

    I’m willing to be convinced that the purchase of these vehicles is real. Please show how you know that, and I will agree.

    I do agree that if you are going to have a Department of Homeland Security, you also need to be willing to insure that it has at least some kind of weaponry, or it would not be much invested in “security.” The same kind of conspiracy theory arouse when they purchased a large number of bullets, and it turned out it was to save money. And if the vehicle thing is true, which I still am not convinced it is, some kind of arrangement with the military on purchasing older weapons probably makes some sense. But also explain what comments you’ve seen from Democrats that show they want this conspiracy theory to play out…I missed that.

  • jwing

    the power of emotion vs. reason is something to always keep in your forebrain when dealing with cultural maxists. Stalin and Hitler played on peoples’ fears (emotions) knowing their emotions would win over their reason or common sense.
    I believe anything that causes the average good american to behave irrationally, to panic or to believe the worst of conspiracy theories is exactly what this administration (cutlural marxists) wants, thereby justifying the use of martial law for the public safety and general welfare. It forces Obama to act in a way he could not otherwise constitutionally act. To paraphrase Rahm Emmanuel…take advantage of every crisis real or imagined.

  • Jim

    So whats your explanation for all the conspiracy theories that floated around when Bush was President…9/11, fema camps, allowing the devastation from Katrina, etc. Cultural Marxism in the Bush administration?

  • jwing

    Are you possibly referring to the belief repeated by the Occupy Wall Street types and the cook fringe groups during Bush’s administration that believed metal can’t melt ( i.e. Rosie O’donnell) and 9/11 was an inside gov’t job? Then, yes, those conspiracy theories existed then and still persist. The only difference
    being that the Bush administration was not actively behind OWS type fringe groups nor was it astro-turfing every crisis.
    That specialy is solely the realm of liberal democrats whether it’s about global warming, the alar scare, the ozone hole, acid rain, endangered species, rising sea levels, genetically modified foods, destruction of the rain forests, loss of wetlends, all men being predators,all sex being a form of rape, and to quote Monty Python’s Holy Grail…”the violence inherent in the system.
    So, no there is no comparison between what the Obama administration is doing to yell fire in a crowded theatre in order to create fear and what the Bush administration did in creating the Dept. of Homeland Security in reacion to 9/11.

  • Jim

    I see…so when the conspiracy theory is about a Republican President, it comes from kook fringe groups on the left, even though you believe that would only lead to martial law being imposed on those left wing groups. But when it is about Democrat Presidents, it comes from the President’s party itself since there could never be kook fringe groups on the right. Sounds like a conspiracy theory to me.

  • JGL

    Good points.

  • JGL

    Over and above this story itself, the take away lesson is stated at the end of the piece.

    George Washington once said, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

    Take a moment and understand what he really was talking about. Just because certain things are outside of your ability to believe them because your frame of reference is immersed in a level of reality based in the “safe and comfortable” modern American model, does not mean that they can not be true. Are these extraordinary times? I would have to say yes judging by where we find ourselves. Will extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and end in previously unbelievable ends?

  • I believe that we don’t need a Department of Homeland Security at all. Get rid of it. Even the name gives me the creeps, as it reminds me of the “Fatherland” of German culture. Very unhealthy.

    We did without a DHS for more than 200 years in a country far more free than today. All it does is feed the power of government without making us one iota safer.

  • Jim

    Could not agree with you more. Lots of money saved as well. I always wonder what kind of statistic they use to justify that expense.

  • JGL

    Like Obamacare the HLS model seemed to me to be sitting in a draw ready for implementation right after 9-11, it was set up in no time at all. When were the 2700 pages of Obamacare written and by who?

    Someone please check me on these points.

  • JGL

    Lets also consider, from the governments point of view, what if things do go South big time,
    what might the scene be like in major cities like Chicago, Detroit, L.A. and New York?

  • wodun

    Armored vehicles are common across law enforcement organizations. MRAPs are just new top of the line armored vehicles. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary about the government reusing them or any reason to doubt they are being purchased.

    This is really where the far right meets the far left in worries about a police state or the militarization of the police. Go hang out in the comments at Wired sometime when they post a story like this.

    “But also explain what comments you’ve seen from Democrats that show they want this conspiracy theory to play out…I missed that.”

    Well, take all the gun control talk. People were saying it was crazy to think Democrats wanted to take away all the guns and only crazy people would think so. Then we had leaders of the Democrat party actually advocating seizing all guns and putting forward legislation to do that.

    It just seems that whenever something controversial pops up the Democrats say “Oh, that would never happen, we would never do something like that.” And then elected officials and party activists start urging that such a thing take place. Not just on guns but curtailing religious freedoms, environmental regulations, taxes and other issues.

  • There had been a commission, headed by Al Gore, during the Clinton administration that had proposed a Department of Homeland Security. It was opposed by the Republicans and not implemented. Then 9/11 happened and George Bush and the Republicans jumped on the band wagon, taking the Gore commission proposal and accepting it lock,stock, and barrel.

    As I mentioned in another comment, George Bush was worse than a failure as president.

  • Chris Kirkendall

    To all: One HUGE difference, and I think it’s relevant, as to why folks might be more willing to believe this stuff about Obama & other Leftists, is that Bush was NOT trying to take away 2nd Amendment rights. The Obama Admin can deny up & down all day long that they have any intention of taking away the right to bear arms, that they merely want to “rein them in” a bit – but if you listen to their own words closely, and especially when speaking to each other (i.e., not for public consumption), the real goal is ultimately to take ALL weapons out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. You combine that with plans for heavily armored vehicles for use WITHIN our borders, and there’s good reason for suspicion. The Bush Admin also did not argue for the right to kill American citizens on U.S. soil without due process…

  • JGL

    As Mr. Zimmerman pointed out, Obama is Bush on steroids and just continuing an established agenda, keep in mind I am saying this having voted for him twice. Lets not be naive and play the left / right game. Step back and take an honest and objective look at what is going on, what do you see?

    Now I am hearing noises from Jeb Bush, who remembers his fathers Thousand Points Of light speech? He envisioned a New World Order in that speech, will his sons fulfill his vision? Is there a place for a fully functioning American Constitution?

    The Constitution is such an annoying document when individuals endeavor to execute their dreams.

  • Combine this with drones and the refusal to answer if they can target citizens in America and you’ve got to wonder…

    When do Arnuld and Leno get theirs?

  • The thing that bothers me about this article is that it states the DHS is purchasing “an undetermined number of the recently retrofitted 2,717” MRAPs. So, the the number could be anywhere from 1 to 2,717 vehicles – this doesn’t really give me enough information to form (or strengthen) an opinion yet, unless I was looking to get excited no matter what I read.

  • JGL

    “of an undetermined number of the recently retrofitted 2,717 ‘Mine Resistant Protected’ MaxxPro MRAP vehicles for service on the streets of the United States.”

    The article states that there were 2717 of these units that were retrofitted.
    Who were they retrofitted for? The U.S. Government.
    Why were they retrofitted? For use, I assume on the streets of America.
    When would they take delivery of the rest of or the balance of the units? When needed, they are already done and waiting for delivery.

    We can assume that if these were produced for Afghanistan or Iraq and they are already paid for and have been re purposed, even if they seem way over engineered for domestic use that this is a smart way of using these particular “left over” vehicles.

    These seem to be reasonable assumptions, however when you add into the equation, the ammunition, the domestic drones, the assault on collecting information, the debt, the coolapse of the world economy, the assault on the Constitution, Obamacare becoming law, a president with a documentable Marxist foundation and philosophy etc. etc.

    When you step back it is reasonable for the people who these things are going to impact to at the minimum ask basic questions in regards to how the future may play out and at the max should be getting ready to replace the status quo kind of politicians that are bringing these offences to their country and their freedom.

  • The 2,717 number comes from a US Marine Corps contract, and the US Army has similar a contract for more than 2,300 retrofits. Mine-survivability is quickly becoming the standard for this vehicle. In any event, I’d expect these services to hold on to the bulk of these vehicles. Any DHS purchase would likely be a surplus buy.

    http://www.army-technology.com/news/newsnavistar-upgrade-us-armys-maxxpro-dash-mrap-vehicles

  • JGL

    What the ultimate use of these vehicles will be know in time, what I am finding even more interesting are the numbers that are being thrown around, we are talking about a TRILLION DOLLARS or so for these items alone!

    What is it called when the private sector and the government become one or become so closely associated that they both have parallel goals?

  • They’re just over a billion dollars total ($800million + $282million).

  • JGL

    Your right, I was seeing Billions, I stand corrected.

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