Military helicopters to patrol U.S.- Canadian border

[Nambe]

BELLINGHAM, Washington (AP)

As part of a dramatic boost in surveillance of the Canadian border, federal officials Friday dedicated the first of five planned bases for regular flights to look for drug runners and others crossing illegally by air or land.

The Bellingham Air Marine Branch is to have a staff of nearly 70, two helicopters, an airplane and a high-speed boat by year's end. Similar bases have policed the Mexican border for three decades, but the new facility is the first on the Canadian border. ..

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said Congress earmarked $35.2 million in the current fiscal year to get the Bellingham station up and running.

"I feel like the northern border is finally getting its due," Murray said.

[havocmom]

1. Northern border is mile & miles of miles & miles with damned few people

watching. It is not secure at all. Lots of landing strips in rural areas along it too. The air is probably monitored for planes crossing from Canada to here, but a guy in a car or bike could cross and be picked up and whisked away by a small private plane flying within the US near the border and taken just about anywhere fast. Lots of small planes for crop dusting and such. Easy to slip a short flight in to move someone once they cross in. Not secure at all.

[LosinIt]

35. What about all of the boat traffic along the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence??

They can't possibly check every boat, especially along the St. Lawrence in the 1000 Islands area. There is so much boat traffic and you can hop from island to island and have no idea you have left the country. An air patrol will do nothing to deter anybody who wants to cross here. In some spots you can swim across, just watch out for those shipping lanes.

[Occulus]

37. The locks take time to operate

A quick check could be done right then.

[BeHereNow]

2. "to look for drug runners and others..."

It's the "others" that I would like to know more
about.
Draft dodgers?
Civilians attempting to escape Hitler, I mean Bush?
I think this is more about keeping us IN the
Homeland than "others" out.
BHN

[amber dog democrat]

3. I am wondering if it is already too late to escape.

Is this Berlin 1934 or 1939 ?

[BeHereNow]

5. Berlin 2004...

Berlin with technology- radio frequency tracking devices and all.
Your car, your cell phone and who knows what else.
I am with you, I think it may be too late.
The banks are required to notify the "authorities" of any
transaction over a certain amount, I suppose to keep
you from taking your money and leaving the country.
Gold sellers are required to report what you own-
Why?
So they can put your name on a list of possible
escapees to watch for at the borders?

BHN

[BeHereNow]

8. Another thought-

Perhaps it would be a good idea to gradually
start transfering small amounts of our assets to
other banks in other countries through friends.
I have people I trust in Europe and New Zealand
and I am going to seriously consider this idea.
They could open an account in their names
and deposit a little at a time...then IF you could
get out of the country your money would be
waiting for you!
Hmmm, I like this plan- that way they would
not be tipped off that you were getting out.
"I am going on a two week vacation to see Rome
Mr. Customs Agent..."
(And never coming back!)
BHN

[tlcandie]

4. How long before they build the WALL like they've started between

the US and Mexico? It's made from old military aircraft carrier runways. HUGE!

Always interesting, IMO< as to whether they are trying to keep us in or them out. But then again, does it really matter?

Safety isn't about walls...it's about the choices you make in life and the consequences that follow!

[demoman123]

11. A wall is being built between the US and Mexico? Source? Link? n/t

[tlcandie]

17. Sorry, use to not take so long to find these pics.. but here is a link

plus article and one picture only, sorry. But it gives you an idea. Will keep searching.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.08/beyond_wall.html

Beyond The Wall



NOTE: This speaks only of California/Mexico wall area. From my past readings, I understood the plan was for it to cover the whole border via recycling old aircraft carrier runways.

EDIT:

Foundations of a new wall, part of the triple fence being built.

EDIT #2: Link for more info regarding the wall called, "The DMZ or the Duncan Hunter Memorial Fence"...
http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/border4.html#anchor953338

EDIT #3: http://www.house.gov/hunter/fence.htm


Workers, national guard members, working on second layer of the triple layer fence.

EDIT #4: Can also search this as Southwest Border Fence Project and get info as to it's proposed building across entire Arizona border as well.

[demoman123]

25. Wow! Good pics. Thanks. N/T

[Hekate]

44. Jesus H -- what have we become?! n/t

[Andy_Stephenson]

6. Gotta love the...

Patriot Act and the scrapping of Posse Comitatus.

[TahitiNut]

7. Yeah. Gotta stop them "snowbacks."

</sarcasm>
:eyes:

[havocmom]

9. Our local sheriff stopped a speeding car on the hwy back before 9-11-01

Driven by an American woman. Middle Eastern-ish passenger. A bit later, after 9-11-01 he got the bulletin sent out to law enforcement around the nation, the one with pictures/descriptions of several people the FBI wanted to track down fast. It was one of those 'Oh shit' moments for sure. He sorta wishes the FBI had sent out pictures/descriptions of people they wanted before the attack on 9-11.

Not just the worry about snowbirds with poor eyesight driving on our roads. Let me tell you, a lot of bad dudes could cross the frontier in the west, be picked up within the US and transported all over without much interference.

We also had some people with expired visas picked up for arms violations. Also an official alert last winter for a Middle Eastern man taking pictures of banks and schools in a small Montana town.

There are dams, airports, bases, missile silos, top security disease research labs, crop spraying planes, trucks moving cattle and grain to markets, all sorts of wonderful things in areas with very few eyes watching over vast areas. The fact that a very high percentage of our NG and Reservists have been sent to Iraq doesn't help either. Many of those folks are in law enforcement, and emergency response teams in rural counties. There is no security for the homeland.

I wish it was just snowbacks and draft dodgers we needed to worry about along the border with Canada.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. And just how much security would be necessary to keep the borders...

...safe? How about a nice big wall with barbed wire and machinegun towers? How about appointing a Homeland Security Officer for every single neighborhood in America with the power to search your home 24/7? How far does this need to go before you and others like the thugs in charge of Homeland Security believe America to be "safe"?

Here's the real bottomline about those "bad dudes". They wouldn't exist if we hadn't done a lot of very bad things to them first. Think about that for a while, and then think about the thugs that took power in this country during the Coup of December 2000. THAT'S where the real problem lies.

[BeHereNow]

13. Machine Gun Towers and Texas...

I'll admit, from time to time, my tinfoil gets a bit tight,
BUT I recently noticed something down right weird
in Texas. Perhaps those living there will confirm my
observation, which is:
My sister bought a house outside Dallas a few years ago-
there are all these what I call, "Stepford Communities" being
built in the middle of no where. The houses all look alike,
she could only pick from a certain palette, as far as
the color of her house etc...anyway, what I noticed
when I visited there recently is that EVERY one of those
weird neighborhoods has what REALLY looks like a
prison guard tower at the entrance...
Can a I get a witness from the Texas DU crowd?
Her "town" is called "Providence" near Denton.
Those of you in the area know the stretch of road
I am talking about with all the weird communities
sporting those "guard towers" at the entrances...
BHN

[tlcandie]

14. Yes, it is near SouthLake area?

The road that takes you to D/FW? I belive you are right. Trophy Club was one of the original communities there. I've not been out near Denton in a while though.

Odd, but it is Texas! :+

[BeHereNow]

18. When I drove there-

I went out Josie Lane from Carrollton and turned
right near a sign that directed you to a cemetary.
Can't remember the actual road that she is on, but
it leads to Denton.
They are building those communities at a record
pace and they ALL have those weird guard towers!
Strange indeed.
Completely isolated mini-towns with guard towers.
I told my sister she should keep a supply of food and
water in case they go into lock-down. basically, with
those towers, they could prevent anyone from
entering or leaving. Just like a prison.
Future civilian camps?
Must buy more tin foil and send my sister
a carton in case they are building those places
with thought control monitors im the walls....
BHN

[tlcandie]

20. Well, I'm sure you've noticed that the elite and/or rich are buildling

themselves into such compounds and readying for angry mobbed citizens who will be VERY unhappy once they finally wake up that they've stolen their country and money!!

[reprobate]

23. Sorry, but they aren't 'guard towers'

They are called 'Stepford Towers' and will be used to house the antennas for the mind control equipment. But you are right in that there will be armed guards around the towers to keep out the 'uncontrolable' masses.

Seriously tho, it'd be interesting to know what they are really for.

[tlcandie]

24. Improved property rates!!!

LoL Seriously, I have no idea except to make them gated communities, if and/or when the time comes that is what they want to do.

:shrug:

[BeHereNow]

26. I have no idea-

But they sure as hell look like the towers
around the prisons.
Although the mind control equipment center idea
is a real possibility too.
Maybe instead of machine guns, they will
just aim the latest low frequency electro magnetic
weapon at everyone. Entire neighborhood paralyzed
by invisible rays of mind altering DARPA weaponry.
BHN

[havocmom]

15. Hey, I never said US policies don't invite trouble

I did say there is a huge frontier border and the few locals here with training to keep an eye out are getting sent to Iraq and are very slow to get info they could use from the FBI.

Believe me, folks around here are used to taking care of things themselves. I am just trying to point out to the rest of the nation that the idiots running things have left the nation wide open for more trouble. All the color coded alerts in the world won't save NY's butt, or any other major city when it is so easy to cross from Canada.

You don't need to go climbing down my throat. I am covering the flank up here in the middle of nowhere and I know the US is not safer than it was before the junta started in on the world.

[burrowowl]

16. Little Israel's fence already costs

a fortune. Can you imagine fencincing the Canadian and Mexican borders, almost as a big of feat as the Great Wall of China and then how many people to man the damn things.
Helicopters are expensive, high maintenance and frequent refuling.
How about the U$ foreign policy trying to make for whirled peas instead of world disaster.

[tlcandie]

21. They call it the DMZ at least the man who is behind it in San Diego

County, California does. It is touted that it would be much larger than the Great Wall of China.

EDIT: OH, and it is being militarized at this very moment!

[Occulus]

39. To answer your question with another question

if I may:

How do you secure thousands of miles of sparsely populated border?

[telamachus]

45. not as simple as that

"Here's the real bottomline about those "bad dudes". They wouldn't exist if we hadn't done a lot of very bad things to them first."

What the heck did we do to 17 saudis ( 2 others??) that flew the planes on 9-11? The bad dudes are a bunch of psychopathic losers who follow the ravings of a crazy man. They are duped into their actions because they are willing to believe the nutty interpretations of their "religion".

To buy into the "we did bad things to them first.." line of logic is a load of brown smelly stuff.

There is no justification for the actions of the assholes who murdered 3000 people.

There is also no justification for the brutal and CRIMINAL act that the USA has perpetrated on the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.

A logic of justifications leads to never ending and increasingly brutal reprisals.

The only just actions are those that need no justification.

In regards to a physical barrier on our borders: I feel as though this should be raised to a constitutional level and be ratified by all the states. A "wall" could send the wrong ( or honest) message to the rest of the World.

Patrolling borders is a wise idea. Do you lock your doors at night??

[Malva Zebrina]

12. During prohibition there was a plentiful supply of booze coming across

the border by row boats. Easy to do in many places it looks to me. This feels to me like chest beating, although I cannot see why or how or what they think they can see. People will come through the customs--others, if they do have evil intentions, can hear helicopters coming. I don't get this.

Until this week, when they rolled her out to talk about stem cells, and she unctuously explained to the country that, maybe, the benefits of stem-cells were being "oversold." I watched her, all creamy certitude, and for the first time since 2000, wondered: "Where in the hell do you get off, lady?" Charles Pierce comenting on the teacher turned biologist, Laura Bush

[Zorra]

19. Oh, effin great. Choppers flying over Cathedral Peak in the morning while

I enjoy my trout 'n eggs, 40 miles from the nearest paved road. Big Brother is watching us everywhere in the US. I'm so sick of this police state shit I could:puke:

[Odd Little Man]

22. I'm very happy about this

I don't trust those Canada people at all. You can't trust people you live in a place where it gets that cold. I hope Bush keeps an eye on those Danes and Norwegians also.

[Maple]

27. This one is just sooo absurd

I can't post for laughing.

Your 'terrorists' didn't come from Canada.

Nor is anyone building a wall that big.

Not even in their most grandiose dreams! :7

[tlcandie]

28. Really? They ARE discussing it... and have started the one

from Mexico and US border, so why not Canada? See my post further above if you think so ridiculous.

[kayell]

29. * must be reading The Handmaids Tale for his plans

[nodehopper]

30. I totally had the same thought

[nodehopper]

31. um, is this to capture soldiers dodging assignments or the future draft?

[Gyre]

32. Jesus christ people.

They're getting ready for the draft of course. On the other hand Ashcroft did say something the other day about mooses w/explosives strapped to their hooves.

Gyre

[nolabels]

36. Talk is cheap

He will never catch us. We make our escape this comming winter in dead of night through northern border of Montana in the deep snow. Johnny will never guess the escape route.



Just remember when we get to Canada, to say "Aye" a lot, it makes them think your a native

[SidDithers]

41. Heheh, that's "eh" not "aye"...

But you know you're welcome up here anytime :)

Sid

[canuckybee]

33. Yeah. Gotta stop them "snowbacks."

ROFLMAO best laugh I have had all night !!!

[miss_kitty]

34. i hate patty murray

but i hate ANY repug more....

[DU GrovelBot]

38. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

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This week is our third quarter 2004 fund drive. Democratic
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[nolabels]

40. Mr Grovebot, Will gets angry when you get his name mixed up with Jim

http://www.allfunpix.com/picspages/cockpit.html

[SidDithers]

42. Jim Robinson is the guy who runs Free Republic nt.

Sid

[nolabels]

46. Oh, so Jim is in trouble then (The illogical leading the incognizant)

I picked up this thread from the place and that is about all I can get from it.
The last post on thread states this

To: Jim Robinson
There is your key. The fact is we need a more conservative government. How do you make it more conservative? The obvious answer is you make it less liberal. How do you make it less liberal? Vote out the Democrats. After you get the worst of the socialist lot of the Democrats replaced, then you can make it more conservative yet, by eliminating the worst of the lott of the Republicans. May sound dumb, but it's the only way. In other words, you're gonna have to make government a whole lot more Republican before you can make it conservative.

I, for one am not holding my breath. I don't think there are enough truly conservative Republicans left. The so called center of the political spectrum has moved so far to the left that policies that are considered far Right wing today would have been considered the loony left 50 years ago.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/645511/posts?q=1&&page=151#151

Not only have these people been drinking their own Kool-Aid, but they seem to relish the idea wallowing in this idea of how well it would work if others would just follow orders rather than checking the examples of how their so called leaders operate. They are deciding a theme for thier dialectic as some kind of totalitarian state just so they can be opposed to something. In essence making Pied-Piper groupings like this an oxymoron in its very own verbage, especially with such a nomenclature as “freerepublic”


Love Boat Veterans Attack Kerry's Love Record
Gopher: "Sure He Might Have Been On The Love Boat But He Did NOT Make A Love Connection"

A new book has hit the stores today, causing a veritable partisan firestorm among the various political factions, especially among the Nick at Night constituency. A new group calling itself Love Boat Veterans Against John Kerry has begun an all-out attack, claiming that Kerry's Love Boat service, which only lasted 1 1/2 episodes, has been grossly misrepresented by the Kerry campaign. Several crew members, along with Charo, a special guest on an episode in question, claim that Kerry did not find love aboard the ship at all. In fact, he was described as "surly", "boring", and as one anonymous source said "a loose cannon."
(snip)
http://www.humorisdead.com/news/kerryloveboat.html

[0007]

43. This is as looney as Nixon's "Operation Intercept"

[smirkymonkey]

47. Considering how violent and warlike the Canadians

are, it's ABOOT time we started taking extreme measures to protect ourselves from them.

:evilgrin: