The recent story about Cliven Bundy, the rancher in southeast Nevada who’s been harassed by the BLM, is not alone in his fight for land rights. Here’s a story from last year about one of Bundy’s neighbors. The point is to look into the facts instead of making a knee-jerk decision based on mainstream talking points. All the while keep in mind that what happens to these ranchers could very well be coming your way someday if these government agencies are not reined in.
“In an historic 104-page ruling, Chief Judge Robert C. Jones of the Federal District Court of Nevada has struck a major blow for property rights and, at the same time, has smacked down federal agencies that have been riding roughshod over Western ranchers and property owners. The long-awaited ruling, which had been expected before the end of last year, was finally issued at the end of May. The court case, U.S. v. Hage, has been keenly watched by legal analysts and constitutional scholars — but has been completely ignored by the major media.
Judge Jones accused the federal bureaucrats of racketeering under the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations) statute, and accused them as well of extortion, mail fraud, and fraud, in an effort “to kill the business of Mr. Hage.”
More at the source: New American (Excellent article, best on the subject so far.)
War on the West: Why More Bundy Standoffs Are Coming
Jay is blocked on this topic until he apologizes for his abusive language about Cliven Bundy and learns to write with respect. Readers don’t have to agree with me, but please refrain from hate speech and name calling.
Anyone interested in the Bundy case should at least read the rulings, rather than taking interviews or media articles at face value:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/217770195/Bundy-1998-DNv
http://www.scribd.com/doc/217871413/UNITED-STATES-OF-AMERICA-v-CLIVEN-BUNDY-Motion-to-Enforce
According to this report, recent BLM actions are in clear violation of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 – the enclave clause of the US Constitution that prohibits vast holdings of land by the federal government.
I listened to several in-depth interviews with Mr Bundy, and he and his family were being terrorized by the government IMHO.Police are becoming increasingly militarized in this country. I have a close friend of mine whose daughter was attacked by a police dept members in a large Ky town. She was then falsely charged for assault on a police officer. It took almost 2 years and finally the charges were dropped after she refused to take a plea bargain. The USA is no longer a constitutional republic but a weird form of crony capitalism with socialism and a cross of communistic tendency. Sad state of affairs.
That sounds like an accurate assessment of what’s going on.
The federal judge that ruled on the Hage ranch case said the federal officers who conspired and violated numerous laws would be under investigation by the Attorney General. What became of that? Were any of the law breakers punished? Not that I’ve heard. So there’s another angle to this story. The real law breakers are not punished and are set free to continue abusing American’s rights.
Hollow points are indeed designed for maximum damage, but they’re also designed to minimize collateral damage. Massad Ayoob, long time peace officer and student of firearms recently completed a series of blog posts on the subject. They’re found easily enough with Google, but the first one is here: http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/2014/03/13/why-we-use-expanding-bullets-for-self-defense/ In particular, the use of hollow points helps stop the bad guy faster, and helps prevent the bullet from passing through the intended target and hitting what’s behind it. That particular fact should not be taken as a sign of a thuggish government. That said, there are plenty of other signs of thuggish government to choose from; we can afford to be picky about them! :)
The more I look around the more stories of heavy handed police actions I find. Armed forest service agents did a drug raid on a ski resort in New Mexico. Very few drugs were found, but their abusive manner sure pissed off local citizens and now there’s a big investigation underway. http://www.capitolreportnewmexico.com/2014/03/answers-promised-in-controversial-forest-service-sweep-at-ski-resort/
Armed forest service agents? Doing drug raids? I thought those guys were supposed to be riding around checking for forest fires and educating people on sustainable foresty.
The common theme here is thuggish behavior. That’s what I’m hearing in the stories I’ve read. Repeatedly tasering peaceful unarmed protestors and turning police dogs on them, shooting cattle, on and on.
And the waste of taxpayer’s money is incredible. The backhoe that illegally destroyed Bundy’s watering holes (not in the court order = thuggish behavior) was accompanied by 30 or so new BLM trucks with two heavily armed agents in each truck. What in the world is going on? This is not routine behavior. I’ve spent thousands of hours hiking and camping in US forests and BLM land. What’s going on now is some new form of out of control government.
Although I agree with your assessment almost completely, I have to say that at least for the contracts I’ve seen for ammunition purchases by the government, what they actually call for is “up to 2.6 billion rounds”. The idea is that they choose a number they never plan to reach, and then lock in a price, so they can get as much ammo as they need at a fixed cost, up to that ridiculously large amount of rounds. That said, the fact that the Dept. of Education has access to a SWAT team, and that my rural police department has access to mobile artillery, is ridiculous.
Things like this start innocuously, though. Here in rural Millard county, Utah, it has just come out that the county commissioners passed land use ordinances a couple years ago that make it harder to build or to modify property than it was for me back when I lived in a condo in suburban Salt Lake City. As soon as we found out, we’ve been trying to get the law repealed, but no one seems to care, or to understand the evil of a law that claims the government is the source of my property rights. Things like Agenda 21 and “sustainable, planned development” mean I don’t get to decide what I do with the rural land I’ve bought, and that’s something that needs to stop. These off-year elections are an excellent time to concentrate on changing out local leaders for people that understand and support liberty.
Maybe you’re right, but I know I saw multiple government purchase orders for millions of rounds that totaled somewhere near 2 billion. That’s when I quit counting. Now news reports are saying it’s up to 2.6 billion. Many of those orders by the way are for hollow point bullets that are designed to inflict maximum damage. One possible reason for the large orders is to drive up the cost of ammunition for average folks.
Land use ordinances: that’s another whole topic we might explore in future blog posts. There are many interrelated things going on — seizure of land through eminent domain, law enforcement abuse, corrupt government officials pushing through land grabs to enrich themselves, unjust laws, militarization of police, bulk orders of ammunition (more than ever before in history), NSA spying (now confirmed through Snowden’s leaks), etc. All these things point towards Agenda 21 take over of land and property rights. What seemed like a conspiracy theory a few years ago is now playing out before our eyes.
The BLM and related federal land management agencies have been doing this sort of thing for years, most of the time with less media and public fanfare. In Utah, one rural area saw two different people commit suicide rather than continue involuntary participation in a federal operation to remove cattle from one rancher. Federal fire control efforts are notoriously terrible, often exacerbating wildfires when the BLM pulls citizen firefighters away from nearly-controlled blazes to establish its own authority. In western Utah, the BLM insists one herd of wild horses is particularly noteworthy because it descends from the original horses brought by Spanish conquistadors, as proven by their unique coloration. They fail to recognize that a particular man who ranched there for years just didn’t like horses in any other color, and culled any he found, leaving that particular coloration behind. It’s from the same obviously silly breed of thought that private citizens must not care for the land and will allow it to be raped and pillaged without federal oversight. Ranchers and landowners don’t want to lose their investment, and will therefore protect the land.
It’s also helpful to note that the settlement described in that article on the Hage family came after Mr. Hage’s death. One of his children said very publicly that although the family appreciated the settlement in their behavior and the cash award that came with it, said in essence “no money can make up for the hell the government put our family through.”
Good report, thanks. I think many of our readers will be a little surprised. We’re only reporting on a few cases here to get the main points across. Even though I knew this stuff was going on, I was really shocked at the depth and scope of the corruption. Note the caption in the photo where the judge said “Government’s actions shocked the conscience of the Court.” That’s a quote. The government works for us and are our public servants and representatives. They shouldn’t be tasering and pointing guns at peaceful protestors telling them they’re going to be shot.
Some people may not be aware of the militarization of police, sheriffs, BLM and other agencies. See this photo: http://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/12-2013/images/militarization.jpg Law enforcement agencies across the country are being outfitted with intimidating uniforms, automatic weapons, bullet proof vests, helmets, SWAT teams and armored vehicles that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Department of Homeland Security has bought about 2.6 Billion rounds of ammunition for domestic use. That’s enough for a 40 year war based on the ammo used at the peak of the Iraq war. Even the post office and weather offices are being militarized. Why? Little towns in the middle of nowhere are getting $400,000 – $800,000 armored mine resistant personnel carriers. http://defense-update.com/images_new/MRAP_Cat_1_navistar.jpg Now connect the dots. Why all the riot gear, bullets, armored vehicles and so on? Is the government gearing up for a war on Americans? It sure looks like it.
One more thing. The Bundy ranch story was the #1 story in the world last week. This is a BIG story that directly effects all Americans. It may seem somewhat off topic, but without property rights what do you have?
we just traded for some land in Nevada bordering BLM land..its just two acres but we will have to build fences to keep cattle out..so why dont they..or am I just speaking out of turn here…now keeping in mind of the desert turtles an the solar energy being built in the desert on BLM land…mmm earthbag house I hope we can still build there…this is the kind of thing that just really dont sit well with me…MM…or Iam I just on another land grab?….
Think everything through carefully. It does seem a “war on the west” is taking shape as powerful forces try to grab resources. The battle lines are between average citizens on one side, and big government and corporations on the other.
Look past the talking points on TV where they give 1 minute lip service to these stories and make the ranchers out to be criminals. Mainstream media is owned and controlled by a handful of big corporations who are in bed with the government and can’t be trusted. Dig deeper to learn what’s really going on. These stories by New American explain in detail what’s really happening. Many of our readers are planning to buy rural land and so it’s important to be informed.