Crappy Tuesday posts
Remember a while back we discussed that the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has a practice they call “titling’.
The suit addresses an obscure military process known as “titling,” in which the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) creates a permanent record showing a soldier was the subject of an investigation regardless of whether they are ever charged with a crime. In many cases, CID forwards that information to the FBI’s criminal database where it shows up as an arrest.
The primary plaintiff in the class action suit filed Oct. 26 is Denise Rosales, a non-commissioned officer in the Texas Army National Guard. Rosales received an administrative reprimand after throwing a birthday party for her husband that allegedly involved alcohol while on deployment in Kuwait.
She was never taken into custody or brought up on charges, but if a potential employer ran a background check on Rosales, they would read that she was arrested on Jan. 5, 2021, for false official statements, the suit alleges.
“Defendants have shown that they would rather indulge in bureaucratic inertia rather than fix a problem that has now destroyed the lives, reputations, and careers of numerous service members,” attorneys wrote in the class action suit against the Army, its Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the FBI and the Department of Defense, as well as each agency’s respective leader. Fox News
Bad enough the services can’t seem to report legitimate crimes to NCIS, you would think they shouldn’t have to be SUED to keep them from reporting false crimes.
Beware the airport in Atlanta…DEA agents there seem to like doing their own version of “civil asset forfeiture”.
Law enforcement in the task force, which includes U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Clayton County Police, walk gate to gate at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and, without warrants, search travelers bags for drugs, according to Atlanta News First. But the task force rarely finds drugs and instead seizes wads of cash without making arrests, the local outlet reported.
Travelers can file a claim for the government to return their money, but it can be a timely and costly process.
Brian Moore, for example, was waiting for his Los Angeles-bound flight at the Atlanta airport in March 2021 when two women approached him and said they worked with the DEA. The musician was interrogated, and the DEA seized the $8,500 he was carrying to fund his first music video. He was never charged with a crime.
After a yearlong legal battle, Moore got his money back. But the legal fees racked up to $15,000 — nearly double the amount taken from him. Fox News II
Civil asset forfeiture is overdue to be overthrown by the Supreme Court.
And just to cheer you up:
There’s at least one expert who believes that “the singularity”—the moment when artificial intelligence surpasses the control of humans—could be just a few years away. That’s a lot shorter than current predictions regarding the timeline of AI dominance, especially considering that AI dominance is not exactly guaranteed in the first place.
Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNET—who holds a Ph.D. from Temple University and has worked as a leader of Humanity+ and the Artificial General Intelligence Society—told Decrypt that he believes artificial general intelligence (AGI) is three to eight years away. AGI is the term for AI that can truly perform tasks just as well has humans, and it’s a prerequisite for the singularity soon following. Popular Mechanics
I figure it’s going to be a showdown between artificial intelligence and natural stupidity.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Army, Artificial Intelligence, Crime
Artificial Intelligence vs. Natural Stupidity? Stupidity wins EVERY time. Ever notice that none of the Terminator movies are set in Florida? Terminators are no match for Florida Man!
…not to mention gators:
Fortunately, I was never subject to any Army investigation that I know of, though it took 12 years and over four hours with an investigator to get my Secret clearance. The ’90s… Clinton, militias, guns, and probably getting put on a watch list for hanging out with the wrong crowd. I did get the joy of being questioned, though, when the .357 I sold to a buddy ended up getting used in a negligent discharge shooting incident that put a friend out of the Army. Maybe that’s why, despite being the ATF Compliance guy at my job I still get a Delay about 50% of the time.
CID was easy enough. What was really nice was being a PFC with less than a year in the unit being told by my Squad Leader that the Battalion Commander (BC) was personally looking to see me punished. He mellowed out when it was discovered that I had, in fact, done my due diligence when selling the firearm, and that I had no part in anything leading up to the shooting. Being a geographical bachelor living 20 miles from post helps sometimes. Later, the BC was at the Pentagon and I at Fort McNair when he called me to ask about getting interviewed by John Laurence – Wikipedia about our experiences in Iraq. At the time, Jack was planning to write a book about being embedded with us in the early stages of Iraq, having already written an article on our exploits: Rakkasan (esquire.com)
“12 years and over four hours with an investigator to get my Secret clearance”
What in the actual fuck came up in your background check?
No idea, they asked about previous acquaintances I’d known, most of whom are now gone. I filed a FOIA with the FBI and got nothing. I filed another FOIA with the Virginia State Police and got my concealed weapons charge details from ’97.
Got my clearance regardless…worked with JTF-NCR/USAMDW writing virtually every COVID and “Civil Disturbance” order in 2020 and did a lot of other sensitive stuff like recruiting (before the clearance) and Drill Sergeant (after getting it). Been around Presidents Bush ’41 and’43 and Clinton, even going so far as to shake their hands. I think the .gov just doesn’t like me…part of the reason I moved down where the swamps hear no sound, and the gators are always hungry. Wait, what?
Never misunderestimate the power of The Stupid.
Stupid f*ckers have the advantage of not having to be rational.
El Cid was big in Germany during the 60’s.
I would rather deal with the local Polizei and
hope they kept them out of it.
CID was chasing a couple of Czech ‘citizens” around the area in Germany in 1966, we finally called them after we found them passed out drunk in a parking lot right outside the main gate. They’d been hitting every gasthouse in town, the German polizei got a kick out of them, they got dumped in their laps when the CID found out they weren’t super spies.
Not super spies, just a couple of drunks.
I wonder If the DEA is picking the passengers by those who smell like weed. Cuz at the Atlanta airport that is pretty much everybody.
I’ve only been investigated by the CID once. My very intoxicated and confused platoon leader, decided it would be a good idea to physically assault me back when I was an E4. I’m not sure what his plan was, but there was a David and Goliath size advantage in my favor. I got a black eye from the unexpected sucker Punch and he get all the rest. The original charges that I was faced with were… Lengthy. Disobeying orders, assault, disrespect to Superior officer etc. They were all dropped and he ended up getting UCMJ from a two-star general and an administrative discharge. I was lucky there were several witnesses. If it had been me facing the gavel I probably would have gotten several years in Leavenworth. Still had my TS-SCI. Never had a problem with getting it renewed.
1989, Camp Humphreys, Korea. It’s Team Spirit season. The ville is packed and totally nuts. One of our local CID types (who we all knew and liked) is mingling in the teeming masses, goes a little too far in his blending in and gets absolutely shitfaced. A couple of us are half-carrying half-dragging him back to the gate (we weren’t exactly examples of sobriety either). He stumbles, his 9mm falls out, he’s trying to grab it but only manages to kick it down the sidewalk. I finally get it and tuck it in my belt, we continue to stumble to the gate. Gate guard sees us, recognizes the CID Agent, and just about pisses himself laughing. They park him in the corner and thank us for our help. So then I say to the NCOIC “is there someplace we can talk… privately”. Got real quiet when I lifted my shirt and handed the weapon to him. Good times.
We had a sailor die by accident, and I was on DC Central Watch when it happened. I was answering inquiries and a making a statement 6 months later because this happened as we we leaving CONUS heading on deployment. It was a sad incident because this sailor was at fault. The investigators weren’t dicks in my opinion.
BTW, Billy Connolly is funny as hell. I loved him in The Boondock Saints.
El CID are the keystone cops of military police. I never had to get sweaty with them, but all the second hand stories I was told about their antics meant I wasn’t the least bit shocked when all the bad press about their bungling those multiple investigations at Ft Hood came out.
NCIS disagrees, sees your Keystone cops and raises with USS Iowa.
Ha.
I’ll see your USS IOWA and raise with NCIS (back then NIS) and Tailhook ’91.
* If Army CID is the Keystone Cops of military police, NCIS (NIS) turned to Army CID during Tailhook ’91 and said, “hold my beer”.
Well, I never saw CID bungle that badly, but we had a married SSG in my unit get caught AT AN FRG MEETING messing around with the company XOs wife. CID went hog wild, violated the SSGs spousal privilege when they interviewed his wife during the investigation, trashed the case, he kept his rank, got divorced and carried on. Maybe got a shit smeared NCOER?
I swear, most of the stories I hear about CID is them totally ruining their own case by forgetting about, you know, the rights soldiers have under UCMJ and that pesky constitution.
It later came out that Ft Hood CID solved the case (delayed due to phony alibis) and was on the way to arrest the perp when he killed himself. Bad press egged on by a few female senators who love to criticize the military for being too male and not woke enough. Those senators used the victim’s family for political gain.
Punch one of them DEA agents in the face and have someone record it.
They might arrest you, but they will have some explaining up top to do…
What do you guys think about JROTC?
Should I consider JROTC as a job after I retire from the military?
Is it a good deal?
Yes, please, please, please be a JROTC instructor!
Humm….
What do you mean?
I feel like you are setting me up for an ambush…
An Engineer involved in setting up an ambush? That NEVER happens!
If you are interested in a dead end job that has near zero chance for advancement that you will probably quit in a couple of years anyway to get a job that you actually want to do, go for it. You can delight the kiddies with stories of burning shit and that one time the guy accidentally stabbed himself in the eye with a tent stake or that time of the IED or IDF or whatever…
Thanks for the heads up.
I will reconsider.
I considered it, but never too seriously. The whole “Retired but not retired” thing isn’t too appealing. When I took the uniform off for the last time it felt kind of nice knowing I never had to put it back on.
I don’t think JROTC is the absolute worst gig, but I can say that the SFC at one of the high schools I recruited at lasted maybe a few years at most. His predecessor seemed to enjoy it. He enlisted in 1969, went to the 82nd (not 3rd BDE) and missed out on Vietnam, did recruiting in the late ’70s and Drill Sergeant in the early ’80s, then retired as an E-8 in ’89. He spent 20 years in JROTC and told me he got somewhere along the line of $3k extra a month in bonuses and additional teacher pay but retired from that gig in ’09. He started a third career as a crossing guard at the ripe old age of 57. Not too bad considering his retirement pay from both the Army and the school system. Just looked him up, and it seems he’s going strong at 72.
As I type this, I hear the mountain cur snoring, acknowledge that I go into work in under 8 hours, and wonder why in the hell I don’t sleep well and am commenting here at 0200. Oh yeah, the husky and cur got in a bitching contest over who got to sleep where and woke me up.
Titling is definitely a problem that needs a legislated solution. (Therefore, it will never happen.) Nothing much good happens.
I lost a phenomenal SSG sniper once because of crap from ten years before which nobody at the time appropriately documented.
Had a Navy Secret Squirrel blow his cover by jumping the copy machine line back in the 60’s. He was disguised as a E3 and went ahead of us E5’s.
I was once investigated by another when I lost a .45 He was so young and right out of school. I could not stop
laughing long enough to answer his questions. Found the weapon.
Concerning the Junior Rotc. Had a CDR lose a prop off a 88 foot yard craft and the Coast Guard towed us in. He was shit canned and I became the unit
boss as an CPO. Good duty, pay and bennies are as you had on active duty,
and lots of fun as long as you stay away from the senior females. BZ
“He just approached me and he asked me for my ID. He didn’t state who he was.”
Oh, REALLY?
First of all, show me YOUR ID, asshole!
Secondly, show me a WARRANT!
And finally, GO FUCK YOURSELF!
Exactly. I had the cops knock on my door and ask if two cars that were parked all cattywampus down the streetbelonged to me. I looked and saw that they belonged to my stoner neighbor and said, “ Nope”. The one cop asked for my name and I said, “Why do you need to know that?”
He told me it was to confirm if the cars were mine. I told him that I had already answered his question about the ownership of those vehicles and closed the door.
“The cars are there, out in the open. Read the VINs. Do your own research. ‘Bye” (click)
And, much as I dislike that neighbor, I didn’t dime him out. One of my neighbors from across the street did, as I was closing the door. I thought it was funny.
“You really want to know who owns those cars? Call the fuckin’ plate numbers in to Headquarters!”
That’s something you see in the movies that actually works in real life.
Maybe they were radio shy and didn’t want the rest of the station poking fun at them for any or whatever reasons.
Or they were just idiots, in which case, the above statement holds true.
Really?
Oh, but the cops can get any info they want… According to my local AFT Special Agent Friendly. I have yet to meet him and may be gunning (pun intended) for an audit, but when he called to demand a 4473 be sent to his email address a few months back, he didn’t like the fact that we waited for word from corporate. An AFT trace is usually requested via email and sent to a core group of AFT contractors, with our company compliance personnel Cc’ed. When I got the go-ahead and sent the form to his atf.gov address, I composed a nicely worded message to the tune of having a duty to protect our customers’ PII, to which he responded that, as law enforcement, he essentially has access to anything he wants to know anyway.
Step in line, Citizen! I have dogs, so I don’t want to piss off the good SA too much. Maybe that 10′ high fence with razor wire isn’t too far of a stretch. Now, if only Team Doggo here at the casa were a little less snuggly.
We’re doomed….Doomed I tell you…DOOOOOMMED!!! (ht2 Thunderstixx)
Prepare
Doomed? Pshaw, says I. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
I don’t know, Pappy. Most of my “exposure” to these kinds of people have been inherwebz articles and, more so, the Tuesday posts. Knew they were out there but tried not to let it affect me. Last Tuesday I had some early evening, after dark, escort duty into the little big town to go pick up a Lady Friend coming back from a plane ride. Decided to kill a little time at the K Roger, snagging some provisions, while waiting on the airport shuttle bus she was coming in on. FIRST (ht2 Tox) time I’d been out in the public, after dark, in a while. The damn place was packed with idiots that looked and acted like these fools and the ones on LoTT. Heavily outnumbered, no wing man, with only 32 rounds for Mr. Khar, I ditched my buggy, grabbed a jug of milk, 12 pack of Elixir, loaf of bread, and beat feet. They ARE out there, they ARE a clear and present danger to our Republic, and before too long will help destroy the last great hope of mankind. I weep, not for myself, but for my Grandchildren. What will their life, and the country, be like when they’re my age, 50+ years from now?
I lost pretty much all of my faith and trust in the grubermint back in ’63/’64 as a kid watching the news about Kennedy murders, (including MLK), The VN War, ect. Saw idiots and incompetents in the CID/NSA while in uniform. FeeBeeInc has been corrupt since its inception. As an adult I saw Bitcherly’s and sniffy creepy’s sh^t in the early ’70s, along with their connections to the stank azz hippies and commies, thinking, “Man, how can anyone trust these mofos?” And here we are…it’s only gotten worse.
Again……Prepare
This happened recently in Indiana and I saw somewhere there’s a similar case being pushed to the US Supreme Court in regards to civil forfeiture.
Seems like it used to be about drug dealers and known criminals and now some law enforcement agencies are using it to fund their new military outfitting and equipment.
https://ij.org/press-release/indiana-supreme-court-rules-property-owners-in-civil-forfeiture-cases-are-entitled-to-a-jury-trial/