Phone scam

December 10, 2012:    My stepdaughter is due any moment now. She lives in Portland and her mother is on the way. In fact, she should be there already. I’m expecting a call any moment. Sure enough, I’m preparing breakfast when the phone rings. The voice on the other end sounds excited.

“I've got news for you, Grandpa!” 
I’m like, sweet ..my son-in-law is calling me Grandpa now.
“All right. CONGRATULATIONS Dustin! How’s mother and child?”
“Uh ..OK” sounding noticeably less excited.
 “How’re you doing Dustin ..you don’t sound so well.”
 “Oh, probably ‘cuz I’m on medications ..I hurt my ankle at work.”
 He works in construction so it figures.
“Sorry to hear ..are you at the hospital now?
“No, here’s the thing you see..I got stopped on my way over.”
“Uh oh ..”
 “Yeah, I’m at the station now.”
“What for ..speeding?”
“No, driving while intoxicated.”
 “Did you tell them where you’re going ..they should give you a police escort” like I’ve seen on T.V. “Where’s Laura ..she should be there by now.”
“I didn’t wanna’ to get her alarmed so I thought I’d call you first.”
“They gotta’ be worried ..you want me to call?”
“Not yet ..there’s something I need you to do for me.”
 “What’s that ..?”
“A court official wants to talk to you ..like vouch for me or something.”
 “Who?”
“Not exactly sure ..”
“OK ..but Laura might be in a better position ..”
“No Grandpa ..I want you to talk to him first.”
Now I’m getting a little suspicious.
You sure I'm the party you’re trying to reach, Dustin?”
“You’re scaring me ..”
“Just want to make sure I’m who you think I am. By the way ..who am I?”
“You’re my grandfather.”
“Which one ..?”
 “Eugene. Are you’re screwing with me.”
“No, I think you’re screwing with me.”
 I hang up and immediately call Laura. She tells me she’s in the waiting room ..Dustin’s in the delivery room.

Irreconcilable narrative

“The man who lets a leader prescribe his course is a wreck being towed to the scrap heap. It is the innovators, outside the status quo, who carry mankind forward.”   Read more ~> [ link ]

Deception detection

“An operation called Fast and Furious allowed weapons to be sold to gun smugglers in the U.S. so they could be traced to drug cartels in Mexico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which ran the operation, lost track of the weapons ..one of which was used in the fatal shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near Tucson in December 2010.”   LA Times 

In his deposition to congress, Kenneth Melson, former head of ATF, says he was “..never advised” by his staff that they were involved in a program of selling illegal arms along the U.S./Mexican border. “My chief of staff never came in and told me either, and he’s on the same damn floor as I am.” Which leads me to suspect a cover-up. The phrase “I was never told” does not automatically register as “I didn’t know” in my suspicious brain. What I do detect is his use of pragmatic implication to deceive me into thinking that he didn’t know. Furthermore, not once in his deposition did he ever come out and actually say: “I did not know what my department was doing” ..which would have sounded incredibly stupid. So, instead .. he uses phrases like “I was never advised ..” or “no one ever told me ..” not only to avoid sounding stupid but to help him dodge any future accusations of perjury and obstruction of justice [link]. Members of the Justice Department coached him well. Now they too are saying that they were never told about the Fast and Furious program ..and cite his testimony as evidence. Which leads me to believe that they too were fully aware of what was going on. Lack of oversight ..I don’t think so. What I do think is that Fast and Furious was directed by the U.S. State Department and carried out, with full cooperation, by the ATF. When it resulted in the unfortunate shooting of a border patrol agent ..the operation became public; and the cover-up began. In order to conceal involvement by the U.S. government, Justice officials immediately began advising ATF against full disclosure ..telling them “it is a long-standing policy of the Department of Justice that we don’t talk about ongoing cases.” Which leads me to believe that the Department of Justice is also in the business of obstruction of justice.