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Another omitted portions:
ii.
If Client provides written notice to ITA of Client’s request for Extended Services after the expiration date of this Agreement, ITA shall provide Extended Services for the Extended Services Period at ITA’s then current standard pricing as established in accordance with the most recent Services Cost Analysis in effect as of the expiration date of this Agreement, plus a [***] percent ([***]%) surcharge on all Fees incurred by Client during the Extended Services Period.
Availability: All maintenance processes for both Windows Servers and DB2 Database will be completed after [***]. The typical hours of use for Encore Loans and Laser Pro Lending are [***]. Appro has a slightly different schedule because of various other interfaces and reports that run for the application. The typical hours of use for Appro are [***].
Performance / Performance Baseline: All transactions sent to the AIX MQ Servers will be completed within 20 seconds (configurable on the “listener” servers). System monitoring indicates that, on average, 99.91% of transactions are processed successfully within the 20-second timeframe. Transactions typically complete within 0-3 seconds.
Planned Maintenance : Maintenance patches and releases will generally be applied [***].
-------------------------------------
There are many other similar omissions. swami.
omitted locations FCNCA 10Q filed with SEC 24b-2
From Exhibit 10.2
[***] is where SEC received confidential material from First Citizens BancShares, Inc. submitting an application under Rule 24b-2 requesting confidential treatment:
(A) SUBJECT TO CLAUSE (B) BELOW, ITA’S LIABILITY FOR EACH EVENT GIVING RISE TO A CLAIM OR CLAIMS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE LESSER OF: (i) CLIENT’S DIRECT DAMAGES, ACUTALLY INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE EVENT, OR (ii) THE TOTAL OF THE MONTHLY INVOICED FEES FOR THE ITA SERVICE OR PRODUCT TO WHICH THE EVENT RELATES FOR THE [***]-MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE THE CLAIM ACCRUED, OR (iii) THE FINANCIAL REMEDIES SPECIFIED IN A PARTICULAR SCHEDULE OR OTHER ATTACHMENT, AS APPLICABLE. NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, ITA'S SOLE OBLIGATION AND LIABILITY IN THE EVENT OF AN ERROR BY ITA IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ANY DATA PROCESSING SERVICES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO REPROCESSING THE DATA.
and here:
(B) NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE (A) ABOVE, IN NO EVENT SHALL ITA’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS IN THE AGGREGATE OVER THE TERM OF THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED THE TOTAL OF THE MONTHLY FEES PAID BY CLIENT TO ITA FOR ALL SERVICES AND PRODUCTS DURING THE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING [***]-MONTH PERIOD.
May be more but so far this is what has been found.
Thanks Eli.....here's a link for that
Yup, good bunch of them. Looks like Reters was busy.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&gs_rn=11&gs_ri=psy-ab&gs_mss=investorshub%20mi&cp=27&gs_id=34&xhr=t&q=investorshub+million+on+bid&es_nrs=true&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&oq=investorshub+million+on+bid&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45921128,d.cGE&fp=bbcea9cd79bd2129&biw=1239&bih=750
Hey Fred E*trade also 25mm on bid eom.
Nice article on Judge Amy "bustin" FBI
Been following this and other of her cases. Glad to see parties have reached an agreement. Hope the same for us.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-fbi-ernest-withers-informant-20130208,0,4263115.story
cpl2011 and Reters thanks much....
Was hoping to read a few of the transcript comments the judge made which backed the bank's arguments.
Having not read this latest document, am curious if she might
have had words regarding just a few of the many other issues the bank presented in motions for summary judgement -such as:
1. The OTS, from it's creation to it's justified demise, never approved a single CRP.
2. How OTS policies defined (which directly led to the bank's early slide and ultimate demise) UWBK's core deposits as BROKERED DEPOSITS instead of INSTITUTIONAL DEPOSITS , yet at the same time interpreted those very same depositors as INSTITUTIONAL rather than BROKER at other banks......
3. How the OTS LIED when it implied substantial withdraws through it's correspondence with institutional investors (again, another pillar of govt's argument for seizure). Turns out: there was no such communications. See quote below.
"In direct contradiction of this statement, the S-Memo states that “recent communications from several of these depositors suggest that, in the immediate future, the [Bank] is likely to experience substantial deposit withdrawals.” AR 24. Nothing in the record or Defendants’ responses to the Court-approved discovery evidences any such communications with the Institutional Depositors" UNITED WESTERN BANK’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
4-20-12
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Shurtha2000 the only one am aware of
is Charter National Bank out of Chicago. Smallish family operation which guessing filed in April, after United Western Bank filed their Summary Judgement Motion. Check post 9941 here.
But am recalling that the window to challenge FDIC receivership is rather narrow time wise. Any bank on some quarterly list by the FDIC is SOL.
Really though, as one can imagine, the vast majority of holding companies with banks put into receivership would not likely have a successful challenge (imo as always).
Without a compelling story, cash, great legal team, and an incredible judge (AKA HJABJ), it's not going to work out.
Best to you.
Hi Verycareful, your points are well taken
Would say though much of what you've shared appears prefaced on a settlement (with the exception of the mention at the end of Worst Case Scenario).
Personally, while i do entertain the real possibility of a pre-judgement settlement (based on what is coming out of BK filings), am not viewing it as a given, so am not conditioning events around it.
For example, am not of the belief it would be better or worse for Judge Amy's image to force/craft a settlement. She seems no-worse-the-wear deciding against the EPA,FDA,FBI sans settlement.
Nor am of the opinion that Guy Gibson could/would somehow be testing THABJ to the point of writing a decision for lack of settlement. She seems quite willing (and able) to produce a nice 40 some-odd page tome.
Yet, while we may have a different take on things, it's great that we are both holding strong. Risk/Reward does seem extremely attractive!
Best to you
yup, so true. We are fortunate to have both
Judge Amy and a CEO willing to fight like Guy Gibson.
He is the antithesis of a hired CEO who has no incentive to carry the battle, who's just a mercenary collecting his golden parachute when things get rough. Gibson, is the founder -United Western Bank, Matrix, are his doing.
Simply fighting to save his kids....
Respect.
FDIC Sweating?
Ask anyone who is familiar with UWBKQ and their legal battle with the FDIC/OCC -How high is the bar set?- and you will hear:
"Arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law...."
It's the phrase that bank holding companies mumble when contemplating a fight with the gov't over their seized banks. It's tough to win against -making it so much easier to just hit the exit door straight to BK oblivion.
When a judge has the gravitas to rule for arbitrary and capricious, against a big-scary governmental agency, in a precedent setting way........well, People notice. And other big-scary governmental agencies start to sweat a little.
Judge Amy's ruling in Oct. might just have the FDIC/OCC sweating.
http://www.fdalawblog.net/fda_law_blog_hyman_phelps/2012/10/index.html
COURT ORDERS ANDA APPROVAL
"When the word came out early last week that Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against FDA in litigation over 180-day exclusivity for generic versions of ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) Tablets, we immediately went to the court docket to retrieve a copy of the decision. After all, the decision is big news: it is the first time a court has ever ordered FDA to approve a marketing application for a drug. Unfortunately, the decision was placed under seal for a few days, so we had to wait (patiently) to read it. Meanwhile, the litigation progressed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.. [it was upheld. Rest of article follows and includes links to 41 page decision and other docs, swami]."
Watson claimed arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law against the FDA. Our Judge Amy ruled that:
"For the reasons stated below, the Court finds that FDA’s
decision to deny Watson shared exclusivity was contrary to the plain language of the statute, and that even if the statute is ambiguous and FDA’s interpretation of the relevant provision is reasonable as a general matter, its decision was arbitrary and capricious under the unique factual circumstances of this case."
To be fair, am not trying to shape the Watson and UWBKQ cases as identical nor the hurdle each faces/faced. Rather that the Watson decision clearly shows Judge Amy Jackson as someone who will not be fazed by a large governmental institution wielding it's Big Stick of Arbitrary and Capricious, nor intimidated by the precedent nature such a decision can bring.
Is it getting hot in here or what?
swami
FDIC haggle prior to ruling=DucKnCoveR?
"Since the filing of the Motion, Debtors’ counsel and counsel for the FDIC-Receiver have been actively engaged in discussions about how to resolve the matter."
Maybe am missing something here (am the first to admit it), but why in the world would the FDIC-R even have dialog, outside the court, over an issue which they so staunchly hold (FDIC full claim to refund over taxes they never paid..go figure -saw the same with Washington Mutual).
Let the BK judge decide. No need for fruitless private discusses, right? This pacer document should not even exist.
And even better, why not pursue a strategy to delay a decision on the matter till after Judge Amy Jackson rules on summary judgement. This would only bolster the FDIC's ownership claim, and would obviously be based on the confidence the FDIC has in the OCC case with United Western bank. They do have that?
Uninvited Guest, thanks for posting this from Pacer. Makes me glad am locked-and-loaded!
radium...............
Going by the article am guessing private since it reads as the family suing. Just riffing on the piece, case seems much weaker than UWB.
A guess -since our case had well matured and garnered press by the time National's suit was filed, possibly they filed hoping for some traction off a possible UWB ruling (bank deposits dwarfed by UWB). Much prefer our legal situation vs their's.
Pandora box pops? CNBank sues over receivership
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120312/NEWS01/120319969/charter-national-bank-owners-sue-feds-over-failure
First came across Charter National Bank back when our summary judgement motions were flying back and forth so threw this challenge-to-receivership article on the back burner. Too much great reading on our case to bother with another. But, also waited for more press, which interestingly never came.
While very much prefer UWB's unique twist ( As we know at it's core UWBKQ had an institutional depositor model which was subsequentially breached by OTS treatment as broker/dealer), there are some similarities between these two cases. Also found this posted in May:
Deeg et al v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver for Charter National Bank & Trust Co. a National Bank, and Charter Financial Services, Inc
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120312/NEWS01/120319969/charter-national-bank-owners-sue-feds-over-failure
Charter National Bank owners sue feds over failure
By: Steve Daniels March 12, 2012
Crain's) — The family that owned Charter National Bank & Trust has sued federal regulators over the failure of their bank.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the Moser family, which has lost both of their banks to failure since the onset of the financial crisis, accused the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of “abuse of its vast powers” in forcing the bank to write down the value of loans to the point where it was undercapitalized and couldn't raise rescue equity.
The Mosers have sued several parties regarding their collapsed bank holdings, including Rosemont-based Cole Taylor Bank, which they accused of playing an instrumental role in the April 2011 failure of another bank they co-owned, Western Springs National Bank & Trust.
In the complaint against the OCC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Hoffman Estates-based Charter National Bank and holding company Hanover Bank Corp. say the OCC in November forced the bank to write down troubled loans to the point that they were forced to try to raise $7.3 million in a matter of weeks to stave off failure.
Regulators closed Charter on Feb. 10, and its $93.9 million in assets and $89.5 million in deposits were assumed by a unit of Lake Forest-based Wintrust Financial Corp. The Mosers want the court to return control of Charter to the Mosers and undo the sale to Wintrust.
In its complaint, Charter said: “All of these facts and circumstances have been brought to the OCC's attention to no avail. And while the powers of administrative agencies of the federal government are great, they are not unlimited or immune from judicial review.”
A spokesman for the OCC declined to comment.
The facts, as laid out by Charter, would be familiar to other community bankers, who complain privately that regulators have too much leeway in disputes about the value of collateral supporting loans. Under the timeline in the complaint, the OCC appeared to move quickly as the bank's financial condition was deteriorating. On Nov. 17, the OCC called a meeting with Charter executives to demand they raise $7.3 million in new equity. The OCC gave Charter five business days just before Thanksgiving to respond, according to the complaint.
On Nov. 22, the OCC required Charter to write down more loans and demanded that the bank change and refile its financial statements for the second and third quarters by the end of the next business day.
Then, on Nov. 28, the OCC issued a “prompt corrective action” order, the last step before seizure.
The complaint lays out a series of loans, many of them to gas station owners, that Charter took issue with its regulator in how to value. If the regulators had given the bank more time to support its position, it wouldn't have looked undercapitalized on paper, and the regulators couldn't have moved as quickly toward failure, the complaint argued.
News of the lawsuit was first reported by SNL Financial.
Judge Amy vs. FBI -Little guy wins again
On the surface this case is obviously far afield from the banking regulator issues we face.
Yet, contained in these proceedings (imo) are several common themes which United Western Bankcorp may take continued comfort in.
First, a judge possessing (based on case order) an absolute lack of fear over grand governmental institutions, such as in this case the FBI.
Second, much like the OCC/FDIC seeking to exert hegemony over "lesser" federal agencies (e.g. OCC repeated failure to respond to court ordered release of UWBK's administrative record), Judge Jackson again cracked-the-nut of "closely guarded documents" demanded by an emperial-styled governmental bureau.
And further, for whatever reason Judge Amy seems to be a magnet for precedent setting cases with perhaps broad implications on future litigation.
I think they used to call this JUSTICE... but it's been so long..
Thanks Judge Amy,
from the little guy.
http://www.state-journal.com/ap%20general%20news/2012/07/04/bc-withers-fbi-sh
bc-withers-fbi(sh)
Published: July 4, 2012 1:17PM
FBI admits civil-rights photographer was an informant
Scripps Howard News Service
By MARC PERRUSQUIA
Scripps Howard News Service
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- 4The FBI has admitted for the first time that the late Memphis photographer Ernest Withers served as an informant, revealing a 14-year relationship between the noted civil rights photographer and the agency.
In an affidavit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., the FBI's assistant records manager formally acknowledges "Ernest Withers' service as an FBI confidential informant," and says the bureau withheld Withers' file from The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tenn., which first asked for it four years ago.
Long-practicing Freedom of Information Act attorneys said the release of Withers' records is one of only a handful of cases in which the FBI has been ordered by a judge to open an informant file and possibly the first involving a civil rights insider. Informant files, secret by law, are among the government's most closely guarded documents.
"It's really unusual," said Scott Hodes, a Washington attorney who runs a popular FOIA blog and who briefly represented the newspaper in 2010.
The Memphis newspaper revealed in 2010 that Withers, who took seminal pictures of the civil rights movement, worked as an informant from at least 1968 to 1970, helping the FBI monitor the volatile 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike and a black power group, the Invaders.
When the newspaper sued the FBI seeking Withers' full file, Justice Department lawyers argued the paper was merely speculating when it reported Withers served as an informant.
The FBI reversed ground in an affidavit by Dennis J. Argall, assistant chief of the FBI's Record/Dissemination Section. The affidavit is attached to a limited set of records, 348 pages, released from Withers' file under court order that show his informant relationship with the FBI stretched from at least 1958 until 1972.
Yet even now, huge gaps remain in Withers' record as a confidential "racial" informant. Argall said the FBI is withholding an unspecified number of pages detailing matters such as Withers' payments from the FBI, photos and specific information he provided, agent notes, as well as any decisions to keep and retain him as an informant.
The FBI also is withholding reports involving Withers' participation in other investigations.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the FBI to release "any non-exempt, reasonably segregable" records from Withers' file. The newspaper hopes to convince Jackson to release other records the FBI is still withholding under a variety of exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act.
The released records largely involve so-called Letterhead Memos -- essentially internal FBI reports regarding civil rights skirmishes in Memphis -- that were copied to Withers' informant file.
Those reports suggest that throughout much of the '60s Withers was used sparingly by the FBI as an unpaid, confidential source who could quickly guide agents in and out of "racial" politics and controversies.
He became prolific in 1968, receiving a code number -- ME 338-R -- assignments and likely a paycheck as well - as a sanitation worker's strike converted Memphis from a sleepy, civil-rights movement outpost into a hotbed of activism.
Most of those reports have been publicly known but the FOIA release makes a fresh, direct link to Withers in that they were retrieved from his informant file.
The records, heavily redacted in places, indicate Withers helped the FBI monitor the militant, black power movement in Memphis and mainstream figures and organizations, too, including Church of God in Christ Bishop G.E. Patterson, the local NAACP chapter and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Withers also helped the FBI keep tabs on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and members of his Southern Christian Leadership Conference staff when they were in Memphis.
Argall said the FBI is withholding agent notes and confidential reports that spell out what exactly Withers said.
The released records include numbers of news clipping the FBI kept on Withers as well as some reports describing his initial recruitment as an informant.
The released records open with a Jan. 6, 1958 request by the Memphis field of office to headquarters in Washington seeking a background check on Withers in a report headlined, "Ernest C. Withers, PCI." PCI is FBI shorthand for potential confidential informant.
The outcome of the inquiry is not explained in the released records.
(Reach Commercial Appeal reporter Marc Perrusquia at perrusquia@commercialappeal.com.)
This bears repeating....
A letter, purportedly from Guy Gibson, was posted and commented on at banklawyersblog.com back a bit ago. It was so good and appropriate to this interlude we find ourselves, well just had to repost:
http://www.banklawyersblog.com/3_bank_lawyers/real_estate/
There Is No Due Process?
"Last night's post on United Western Bank generated a lot of traffic. Apparently, people are attracted by a David-versus-Goliath scenario. However, there's more to it than that.
In response to an earlier post on the attempt to give bankers a right to an "effective" appeal of examination decisions, one of the principal owners of a financial institution that failed during this latest crisis sent me an email that seems appropriate to post at this time. Obviously, this is only this individual's point of view, and the other "players" in the drama would likely disagree. However, his viewpoint is so well expressed, that I've decided to present it. I've changed some information to protect this individual from identification and retaliation (not that a federal regulatory agency would even THINK of EVER doing such a thing, of course). Other community bank owners, directors, and senior officers can share his pain.
It is my understanding that the processes you describe as set out in the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness & Reform Act have been available to banks (at least [Bank Regulator] banks) for some time. However, the ombudsman was more like a retired diplomat (for Monaco not Russia), rather than an informed, empowered decision maker. And the administrative law judge is difficult to access (& triggers a severe adversarial breach in the relationship with the regulator), & the point at which it can be considered is too late in the process.
All of this discussion about oversight & review of due process presumes that the regulators basically know what they are doing, & exercise their regulatory authority in an appropriate manner. The Office of Inspector General’s material loss review of the [Bank Regulator]’s handling of [The Bank] looked at the process the regulators went through & reviewed their narratives & calculations, but they never evaluated the validity of their loan evaluations nor whether the assumptions underpinning the subsequent reserve calculations could be substantiated.
So what recourse is there in the event the regulators don’t know what they are doing, or that they exercise malfeasance in their examination process? At [The Bank] we had a complicated operation with large mortgage banking cash flow swings, complex servicing valuation issues, & large commercial real estate credits. The field regulators were much more accustomed & qualified to review simple consumer credits. Perhaps there were people up the chain of command at [The Bank Regulator] that could have weighed in in a more informed way, but they were embroiled in a political life & death struggle for their own survival & couldn’t be bothered to waste their time overseeing the destruction of a community bank.
[The Bank] was well capitalized [(Actual Precentage Omitted)] prior to the [Bank Regultor's] final examination in [Date Omitted]. They forced us to make a massive unsubstantiated addition to the bank’s loan loss reserve that immediately put us into a severely undercapitalized position. And as you know we were extinguished within [A Short Period Of Time]. Now [A Number Of] years later we can look back & start to assess whether we, or the [Bank Regulator], was “right” in calculating the appropriate reserves. If the books could ever be opened up & revealed in the bright light of day, the world would see that the [Bank Regulator]’s calculations were in fact totally wrong. [The Bank]’s original reserve calculations very closely mirrored how the bank’s loans have actually performed (or not performed & subsequently liquidated). Certainly, in these unprecedented market conditions, we didn’t dispute the need for added capital. The question is, was it best for the FDIC, the depositors & the bank’s customers for the bank to be shuttered, or for it to work through its problems. An informed & empowered ombudsman might have looked at the bank’s overall loan quality (delinquency rates: commercial RE0; consumer loans < 1%, etc.); profitability of the bank (earnings before reserves were about $[Substantial Dollar Amount] in [The Year Before The Bank Failed]; & history of operating in our market niche ([Many, Many] years), & decide that there should be an impartial, 3rd party validation of the field examiner’s loan loss calculations before they pronounce the death sentence.
Instead, the government stole our life’s work, & destroyed an important community bank for the state [Where The Bank Was Located]. [The Acquirer From The FDIC] was able to swoop in & flip the bank in a [Relatively Short Peroid Of] time & walk away with a gain in excess of $[A Boatload]. This outcome is market validation of the error the regulators made.
But there is no due process, & this case will never see the light of day. However, I don’t think this circumstance is unique to [The Bank]. If you look at the profile of the banks that have been put into receivership by the regulators in this cycle there appears, to me, to be a clear bias against private, closely held community banks. Do the regulatory bureaucrats, with their mid-tier government pay scales secretly begrudge the entrepreneurs that run many community banks? It bears closer examination, because the results of their bias will clandestinely define the future of the financial services industry & how communities & consumers are served.
As I said, that's one person's point of view. Each reader can decide for himself or herself where they stand on the primary causes of the community bank failures that have occurred thus far in the current cycle. Nevertheless, the foregoing illustrates why so many community bankers are following the United Western Bank litigation with much more than tepid interest."
Judge A. Jackson defends Congressional mandate..
..over agency over-reach.
Much like our case, where agency rule (by way of OCC/FDIC) seeks to run roughshod over congressional directives, the Federal Election Commission attempt at concealing campaign donor identities (through non-profit shams) was ended by our Judge Amy Jackson.
What a great lady, and hope she finds in similar fashion here.
First, an exerpt from the latest filing to frame the article:
In their first argument, Defendants craft a broad notion of agency deference. Indeed, they insist that this deference is so broad as to render the OTS’s flawed decision making essentially unreviewable. But in doing so, they disregard the language of the controlling statute.Furthermore, they reduce the important role for reviewing courts and render the sole remedy for an improper seizure of a bank effectively meaningless.
A federal bank regulator’s power to seize a bank has limits. The relevant statutes contemplate that the regulator will take action only in limited, statutorily-defined circumstances. Congress further mandated that any decision to wield the ultimate power of seizure must be grounded in careful and reasoned decisionmaking. To this end, Congress also provided for meaningful judicial review of the decision to appoint a receiver. This judicial review is critical to ensure that “savings and loan associations and their officials … receiv[e] fair treatment from the Government, and … receiv[e] a reasonable degree of protection from Government actions which might at times, for one reason or another, [de]generate into arbitrary[,] capricious, and overbearing tactics.” S. Rep. No. 89-1482 (1966)
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120605/COLUMNIST0150/306050007/Ruth-Marcus-Super-sized-PACs-also-super-secret
To grasp the clear and present danger that the current flood of campaign cash poses to American democracy, consider the curious case of Post Office Box 72465. It demonstrates that the explosion of super PAC spending is only the second most troubling development of recent campaign cycles.
Box 72465, in a post office on a desert road near Phoenix, belongs to a little-known group called the Center to Protect Patient Rights. According to reports by the Center for Responsive Politics and the Los Angeles Times, the center funneled more than $55 million to 26 Republican-leaning groups during the 2010 midterm election.
Where is the money from? The Times found links to the conservative Koch brothers, yet because the center is a nonprofit corporation, it is impossible to know. Such groups must disclose how they distribute their money, not who donates to them.
This privacy makes sense in the context of ordinary nonprofits. But in the push-the-envelope world of modern campaigns, in which such groups spend millions of dollars on thinly disguised campaign ads, the result is an end-run around the fundamental principle of campaign finance law: that voters are entitled to know who is trying to influence elections.
Even the Supreme Court understands this. Disclosure, the court wrote in its otherwise appalling 2010 ruling in Citizens United, “permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.”
Except when, as in the case of the Center to Protect Patient Rights, the identities — and motives — of those giving are hidden from public view. The center sent almost $13 million to the American Future Fund, a Des Moines, Iowa-based group that ran campaigns against two dozen Democrats in 2010. Iowa Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley was targeted with what the Times described as “a $2-million fusillade” of radio ads, robo-calls and mailers.
“It was almost a feeling of helplessness because there was no way to identify who the source of the funds was,” Braley said. He won by 2 percentage points, after a 29-point margin two years earlier.
The gusher of secret money that nearly toppled Braley promises to be even more abundant this year — and the groups behind the undisclosed cash remain determined to do whatever it takes to keep the sources hidden.
In March, ruling in a lawsuit brought by Maryland Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a federal judge found that the Federal Election Commission was wrong to exempt nonprofits and other groups that run “electioneering communications” — advertising that names specific candidates within a short time before the election — from having to reveal their donors.
It says something about the FEC that the agency charged with overseeing campaign reporting would come out against disclosure.
Luckily, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson disagreed. “Congress intended to shine light on whoever was behind the communications bombarding voters immediately prior to elections,” she wrote. The federal appeals court in Washington refused to stay the ruling pending appeal.
The response from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was telling: It would switch its way of influencing elections rather than reveal its donors. The chamber, which has made itself a major political player, plans to spend more than $50 million during the 2012 campaign.
At a breakfast with reporters this week, chamber officials said that, in reaction to the ruling, the organization would conduct its political spending through independent expenditures that explicitly support or oppose particular candidates....[article continues]
A How-To on dismantling opposing counsel....
"There is no ambiguity: Defendants’ “statement of facts”—which is actually full of argument that is entitled to no weight
—should never have been filed.
Defendants may be used to making and interpreting the rules as they wish in their regulatory domain, but they are obliged to follow the rules as written in federal court."
Case 1:11-cv-00408-ABJ Document 104 Filed 05/30/12
OCC 5-18 Motion Provided by DeadMau5
Newtogame, This document of the OCC Motion for Summary Judgement was kindly provided to another board. Am merely cut-and pasting here. Am sure he would not mind, based on his past generosities.
Hope this helps, and best to all,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/94081922/UWBK-5-18-2012-FDICS-CROSS-MOTION-FOR-SUMMARY-JUDGEMENT
Thanks again to Deadmau5!
Deadmau5 Thank you for posting Motion
For myself, this was an extremely moving document. The curtain drawn back on the receivership process produces a strange reaction -nausea and a check to Etrade for more shares. "Hair of the dog", am guessing.
Interesting argument to avoiding court trial below, and for summary judgement.
This is good legal rep. (imo), let's see if they pull it off......
STANDARD OF REVIEW
United Western brought this action under FIRREA’s judicial review provision, which directs that “the court shall upon the merits dismiss such action or direct the Director to remove[a] … receiver.”
39
“[T]he weight of the authority indicates that this review should ordinarily be confined to the administrative record as in an ordinary [Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”)]case.”
40
Likewise, the APA standard of review would apply.
41
Thus, the Bank’s motion for summary judgment should be treated like one brought in an “ordinary APA case.”
42
In the typical APA case, “the district judge sits as an appellate tribunal.”
43
Therefore,Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 “doesn’t apply due to the limited role of a court in reviewing he administrative record.”
44
Summary judgment becomes merely a “mechanism for deciding, as a matter of law, whether the agency action is supported by the administrative record and other wise consistent with the APA standard of review.”
45
When a party does not "produce"....
During discovery if either party fails to comply with the courts request for pertinent materials or if deception (e.g. altering docs) is found, the court is at liberty to apply sanctions to the offendor.
As some have already pointed out, a repeated fine delivered over time to "speed up" document turnover would represent such a sanction.
The ultimate sanction (against a continued stonewalling) is a default judgement.
In our case, a default judgement would force the gov't to move to appeals court, but this exposes them to treple damages if they again fail.
Am not a lawyer verycareful, but this is some of the info found when i asked that very same question awhile back.
hope this helps/
Chemistry guy i can explain "big sales"...
For the rest of the board also, the 1pm drop and trading at 17.1 cents (at least partially) represented two purchases on this end totally 34,000 shares. Limit prices were 18.1 and 18 cents respectfully but fill took place at/near bid.
It would appear that MM's are trying to generate a convincing "selloff" with volume.
Am persuaded there was no strong retail selling at this price range today, and given latest news probably not even now in the .20's leading up to Feb. court date.
Just wanted to clear any misconceptions.
Or at the very least.....
New Counsel will need to respond to this from 11-23:
"V. Conclusion
In sum, the Bank asks that the Court grant its renewed second motion to compel production of the complete administrative record including complete discovery responses and for the requested deposition to verify the same. The Bank also requests a hearing to conclusively resolve this issue."
Asked three times to produce the complete administrative record, facing limited depos of the seizing agent, and a hearing to resolve the whole matter.....
Yeah i'd retire too. Good luck to the new counsel.
This is getting interesting, fast.
Longhorn also look at this post
#2578 on this board.
Basically it states that the BofA suit will not impact us at all. Take a look.
Longhorn, saw your post on yahoo
am myself also digging into this stock while holding a small position. Believe what was being referenced on yahoo was this:
http://www.lowenstein.com/files/Uploads/Documents/CapitalMarkets/Walnut%20Petition.pdf
Briefly, Walnut Place llc. is fighting a brokered settlement by BNYM (bank of new york Mellon) on behalf of Countrywide, from whom Walnut purchased overvaluved mortgage backed securities (mbs).
"The Bank of New York Mellon is the trustee for 530 of the trusts that Countrywide created, including all three of the Countrywide trusts that issued the certificates that Walnut Place
owns."
Walnut appears to be fighting a lowball offer along with 22 other investors in Countrywide MBS where BNYM was trustee.
As of this point i cannot find any documentation showing that UWBK is directly involved it this action.
Indirectly though this whole MBS situation is a mess. And if BofA/Countrywide is trying to ram through a mass settlement for one party can only believe the UWBK case or any eventual recovery they receive would only be strengthened by these events.
Hope this helps Longhorn and again am not even close to being fully versed in this stuff so pardon any errors...
best to us all.
ps. if any longs can expand on this, for everyone's understanding please do.
View V Range here:
About a minute into this vid:
Virtra files patent to expand Threatbelt function!
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2010/0227299.html
This was published on 9-9-10, but have only recently viewed the document, so it's very "fresh".
It takes approximately one year from filing a patent app. to it being published by PTO. In this particular case, Bob Ferris filed on
12-21-09.
What does it describe? Additional attachment device to transmit electrical shock to specific parts of the body, to potentially render those areas non-responsive.
See, the current Threatfire belt is untargeted by it's nature. With this device the electric shock location is really incidental to the training scenario...the lower back or side.
Now imagine electrodes running from a modified Threat belt to areas of the body which when subject to electrical stimulation could subject the user's gun hand to uncontrollable muscle contractions -or in a leg for that matter. Training to switch firing hands suddenly becomes a lot more meaningful.
All this represents a natural, logical progession for the crown jewels of Virtra and will accomplish two important objectives:
1)Expand Virta's wares and training scale beyond competitive reach, and further reinforce the Threatfire brand as an essential ingredient of ANY (competitor's included)simulation system.
2) Blunt "others" seeking to parallel patent (yes, there are other products which use electrical stimulation as interface in training).
Please, take the time to read the patent, this is ground breaking news for this company.
pete
more fat to chew on.....
Interesting timing on ThreatDynamics launching their franchise program.
Pg:
http://www.threatdynamics.com/civilian/franchise/
Doc:
http://www.threatdynamics.com/civilian/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Fran_App_Letter_10-8-26.pdf
Promo Vid:
Yeah, Dlewisfl, that exact one
Just one question Dan. Was i "pumping" or sharing?
Thanks.
pete
Rain, suspect some of this selling we've.....
seen in Virtra the past few days, is tied to the lost contract. Am sure there were some military types -much more savvy with gov't contracts then myself and others here, who dappled in the possibilities of Virtra being awarded and wagered on a short term pop following such event.
Knowing the system, am sure they pulled the plug on their short term speculation, on or immediately following the Sept. 30th. award to Laser Shot.
For myself, suspecting time pressures behind the Lockheed/ PEO STRI dismounted trainers (RE Afghanistan) scenario, and the much larger size such award would represent to Virtra (assuming LM received the nod), this DHS deal was just the appetizer.
So, bought today, and hopefully once more before......?
pete
To All: Regarding DHS classroom training sim. RFP
If you received an email from myself, or found information online about a Department of Homeland Security request for proposals on a bunch of classroom sized small arms simulators........
The contract was awarded to Laser Shot INC. posted on Oct. 2nd, (awarded Sept. 30th) for the amount of : $2,583,235.64 .
Personally, had hoped it would go to Virtra, but cest la vie.
Just found this a moment ago, so we are all on the same page now.
The goal is to share on the board, and sometimes the things we pass on, get passed on. Sorry, but not for sharing.
pete
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=ced2992a8d88f01f675687f1331a1dd1&tab=core&_cview=1
Classroom Small Arms Weapons Simulator
Solicitation Number: HSCG23-09-R-MSA051
Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Office: United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Location: Commandant (CG-912), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
Solicitation Number:
HSCG23-09-R-MSA051 Notice Type:
Award Contract Award Date:
September 30, 2009
Contract Award Number:
HSCG23-09-D-MSA051
Contract Award Dollar Amount:
Total Estimated ID/IQ Award Amount: $2,583,235.64
Contractor Awarded Name:
Laser Shot, Inc.
Contractor Awarded Address:
4214 Bluebonnet Drive
Stafford, Texas 77477
United States
Ruff/Andrew yes have responded....more
This issue with the NSW award is something this board discussed earlier in the year. Have seen it recently posted on Yahoo, but believe they have an incorrect understanding of the single award.
gbb777, discussed this issue back in May here:
post #23473
Hope that helps
pete
Already bought or going to buy?
Believe it or not, first posted about this latest Brazilian purchase back in March of this year. Found in the local press dicussing the recent acquisition by the B. Gov't of an IVR-360. It was mentioned that they committed to buying........
2 more systems. They were waiting for the exchange rate between the Real & USD to become more favorable.
6 months later, they bumped it to 3 IVR's + a gang load of accessories.
And BTW, Sarge, that is too funny! Exactly right on the money. Disposable razor model! Love it....
Am currently watching a few entities contemplating an order, but none stating they actually bit. These things can take major time, kinda like the above.
So when i read of a follow on order for the accessories needed to play with their new game systems, well it's kinda of case of a Bird in Hand being better than....
But, really don't think it much a stretch to imagine Virtra having another order signed, especially at the rate they are going.
If you want to swap info, send an email.
pete
Hey Ruff, not sure if you've run the #'s
But that follow-on order from Brazil for "accessories" could equal the system price of one of the IVR-300's alone.
Drop-in kits are extemely expensive. Much more than the threat-fire belt, and not that those are cheap.
More than likely, a staggering of the order is a tip-off to the $$ this add-on represents. Probably too much to tack-on for one bill, and much easier to swallow as two.
This probably includes accessories for the other two IVR-s purchased earlier.
Just a hunch, but since the IVR platform can be opened-up and converted to a firing range style arrangement, the # of users climbs (and thus # drop-in kits/belts rises). Muliple that by 3-5 systems that could be supporting that option and it's add-on heaven.
So, yeah, there's one sizable foreign sale as a gimmee.
Arms Race in South America Good for Virtra
----------------------
Brazil's 2008 federal budget, for example, includes a 53% increase in military spending, leading many to wonder if Latin America is undergoing an arms race not seen since the heyday of military rule across the continent. TIME 3/2008
----------------------
With the latest sale of 3 high end IVR systems (plus accessories add-on to be announced) to Brazil, and
Virtra's rep., Agora Telecom, recent IVR-360 presentation at
Interseg 2009 International Law Enforcement Expo,
http://www.interseg2009.com.br/en/imprensaform.aspx?pP=64&pO=19&pM=16
have to say that this is playing nicely into the general uptrend in Defense spending going on throughout South America.
Touched on this briefly in an earlier post, and would like to follow-through with a recent article to carry the point a bit more.
This appears to be a contintent more than ready for Virtra's wares:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1002/p06s22-woam.html
[Time quote above came from this older but great article:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1719158,00.html
]
South America: Will defense spending trigger an arms race?
Venezuela's Chávez recently bought tanks and missiles from Russia. Several countries – including Brazil, Colombia, and Chile – are increasing their defense spending in a region that faces no major external threats.
By Sara Miller Llana | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the October 2, 2009 edition
Mexico City - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez recently returned from Moscow flush with fresh deals for battle tanks and missile defenses – a shopping spree that spurred a rare US admonishment that the leftist leader is provoking a regional arms race.
Mr. Chávez claims that his latest move to stockpile weapons is in preparation for a future US attack to unseat him for better access to the country's vast oil reserves. He points to a new Colombian plan to allow US forces to use seven Colombian military bases as the latest example of US imperialist overreach. Relations between his country and the conservative government of neighboring Colombia have hit rock bottom.
Yet this is more than just another tit-for-tat between two Andean nations whose relationship has deteriorated in recent years. Brazil raised eyebrows this month with its multibillion-dollar deal to buy French aircraft and submarines, and in much of the region, military expenditures are higher than they've been in decades.
On one hand, South America is playing catch-up, modernizing and upgrading military forces after spending virtually nothing since the end of the cold war. But experts say that some of the purchases, such as Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia bought by Venezuela, are far more sophisticated than external threats merit and warn they could lead to unintended consequences.
"The worrisome trend is [the purchasing of] offensive weapons for a country that does not have a major threat," says Johanna Mendelson Forman, a security and Latin America specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. And while she says that political tensions today are no greater than in the past, the arms bought by Venezuela could set off a race that threatens the region's stability. "It ups the ante," she says.
New union tries to build trust
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) has tried to step in – most recently meeting this month in Ecuador's capital, Quito, to call for greater transparency in military acquisitions. So far, however, UNASUR has been unable to agree on how to ensure mechanisms of transparency and confidence-building, as nations try to find a balance between their own sovereignty and the welfare of the region.
UNASUR members have sought to assuage concerns sparked by the US-Colombian agreement that allows US armed forces to use Colombian bases. The agreement drew criticism not just from Chávez and his leftist allies but, also, somewhat unexpectedly, from the center-left governments of Chile and Brazil, too. Nations have voiced concerns that the plan's stated goals, to bolster counterinsurgency and counternarcotics operations, could destabilize the region. Chávez has called it a provocation of war.
Colombia: almost 6 percent of GDP spent on defense
As some nations look skeptically at US military intentions in the region, they also look suspiciously at one another. Venezuela's $2 billion credit to buy Russian weaponry is on top of a brisk $4 billion business under way between the defense departments of the two countries. A week earlier, Brazil – seeking to consolidate its leadership role in the region – confirmed a deal worth more than $12 billion, by far the region's biggest acquisition, of submarines, helicopters, and fighter jets.
According to IHS Jane's, a British-based information group specializing in defense issues, such expenditures have not been seen in decades. Spending in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela rose between 2007 and 2008. Colombia, which has received $6 billion in aid from the United States in the past decade, spent much more on defense as a percentage of its GDP (5.7 percent) than the other three countries, according to Jane's.
Venezuela's recent plans, however, were singled out by the US government. "We have expressed concern about the number of Venezuelan arms purchases. They outpace all other countries in South America and certainly raise questions as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, responding to Chávez's announcement in Moscow.
Venezuelan officials immediately dismissed the statement, saying it lacked "political or moral foundation." Chávez maintains he is buying weapons from the Russians in response to the US-Colombian agreement, says Michael Shifter, a Latin America expert at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, a nonprofit policy group. "In this fashion, Chávez shrewdly protects himself," he says. "In effect, he is saying – and not without reason – 'If everyone else is building up, why shouldn't I?' "
But there are real consequences for such posturing.
When Colombia ordered a raid last March on Colombian leftist rebels hiding across its border in Ecuador, Chávez ordered his own troops to the Venezuelan- Colombian border. When his Russian arms purchases are questioned, Chávez invokes a need, however improbable, to protect his nation from American bombs. It may have seemed a throwback to the cold war, but his decision to allow the Russian nuclear-powered warship, Peter the Great, to ply Venezuelan waters last year sent a message that still reverberates.
Elsa Cardozo, an international relations expert at the Universidad Metropolitana in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, says that Latin America's problems do not require a military response. They are economic and security challenges, such as drug trafficking, that require intelligence-sharing, economic integration, and greater trust. "It is a big step back for the region, to a time when a country's power was measured by the quantity of its arms," she says.
Colombia-Venezuela tensions
The risks of conflict across the continent are real. Last March, tension in the region reached a tipping point after Colombia launched the raid in Ecuador to capture and kill a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader.
Colombia has repeatedly accused Chávez, who threatened Colombia over the action, of supporting the leftist FARC guerrillas. Colombia has said the region in general is not doing enough to help the country battle its rebels.
The US echoes this call. Ms. Clinton has urged Venezuela to be more transparent about its weapons purchase policies.
"They should be putting in place procedures and practices to ensure that the weapons they buy are not diverted to insurgent groups or organizations like drug-trafficking gangs and other cartels," Clinton said earlier this month.
"There is a military escalation in the region; I do not think it's rhetorical," says Mauricio Cardenas, the director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution and a former government official in Colombia. "What you are seeing is a conflict of ideas, a conflict between models of how to move the region forward.… There are different views about the role of the state and the region's interaction with the rest of the world. They are real tensions."
Even though nations defend their arms purchases as their right to upgrade and modernize, some question the priorities in a region beset by poverty. "Not only is our country worried, but we have already expressed time and again our position against an arms race," Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez said during a visit to Washington. "To make things worse, our region is the region that has the worst distribution of wealth. Under those conditions, it is worse still to be devoting those resources to weapons."
Can new regional union diffuse tension?
Many wonder how the South American nations can back down from arms expansion, how much of a threat Chávez poses, and what a US response should be. For now the primary mechanism for dialogue on these issues has been UNASUR. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the group aims to "increase trust among UNASUR countries."
The group is new, and it hopes that member countries will cooperate with one another. But its failure so far to foster trust could have important ramifications.
"The escalating arms purchases in the region [show] that money is still available, that the armed forces haven't disappeared as major political actors, and that there is enormous mistrust among governments," says Mr. Shifter. "The region's hard-earned, relative peace and stability is at stake and needs to be preserved."
Article just posted on IVR-300
Below is the second article we've seen where Phelps county
sings the praises of their IVR. Love it when they mention all the other departments that drive near/far to share with their law enforcement brothers this great system.
Of course, this is the exact reason ThreatDyanmics is in operation today. Where departments/need cannot see around the cost of owning such a superior system, TD recognizes opportunity.
BTW. Am looking at ThreatDynamics calendar today and can see a couple weeks this month/next where the company will be working
7 day work weeks. Demand is heavy when you have the right business plan, and TD has got it...
http://www.kspr.com/news/local/63154517.html
Police Use Virtual Reality to Train for Shooter Situations
By Brad Belote
Story Created: Oct 1, 2009 at 3:50 PM CDT
(Story Updated: Oct 1, 2009 at 3:50 PM CDT )
Catching drug dealers is keeping one law enforcement agency on the cutting edge of training technology.
Money from drug seizures helped pay for a crime-fighting tool officers across the state want to use..
Inside a 300-degree virtual training system, officers can save a life or lose a life. It’s not real but ver very realistic.
"We use the exact same guns we carry on duty except we use CO2," said Cpl. Mike Kijrn of the Phelps County Sheriff’s department.
"The only sense this thing doesn't take into account is the sense of smell," said Sgt. Andy Davis.
Whether officers are inside a crowded bar, hostage situation, or traffic stop, their every move matters.
"I can make a person pull a cell phone or pull a gun depending on the officer’s reactions. I can make the suspect surrender.”
Kirn can change the outcome of a scenarios in seconds with a click of a mouse. The 50 different scenarios never end the same.
Officers wear a belt with electric shock. A charge signals to the officer they’ve been shot in the scenario. The voltage is more than a taster but for a shorter period of time.
Only one other law enforcement agency in the state has the Virtra system.
Officers from St. Louis, Jefferson City and members of the military travel to Phelps County to train on the system.
The system cost $184,000, money paid for from the seizure of drugs along I-44.
They are called "Growth Pains" for a reason
Virtra has Pr'ed orders from 9, count them, separate costumers in a one month period. I would challenge any long-timer here to post the equal of such a feat at Virtra. Go ahead, search.
Am not personally familiar with the vagaries of Virtra's history, but have some experience in high growth companies, and can state, growing pains are a problem every investor should pray for.
Yes, this event affects almost every aspect of operations, from toilet paper to total man hours, and yes margins slip and maybe the company grabs some cash (dilutes) in the short term to handle the upturn necessary in component inventories, but honestly, Virtra's is in the "sales" business, yes?
And business has never looked better with this cluster of customers. Again, show me otherwise and i crawl back under my rock......
This to consider:
With this extremely large order from Agora Telecom, this distributor -which Virtra has stated, must meet a minimum order each year, (a first, for Bob to demand from a dist.) A.T. has certainly legitimized there position. 5 IVR's in less than 1 year's time is incredible.
Now with a trained set-up/maintenance crew in place, who does not expect Agora to press Virtra for expanded distribution rights? Greater South America, am sure, was the original intent, when A.T agreed to such a favorable (to Virtra) distribution right as guaranteed sale......
S. America, rich in natural resources but lacking the amicable border relationships possessed by it's Northern cousin, is a prime market for expansion by Virtra. This point is not lost on Agora Telecom.
Feed the Machine.
Rainmaker, thanks for posting that.
Personally was not aware of that distinction, regarding secured creditor, but makes perfect sense upon reflection.
Thanks for that glimpse into Dutchess.
pete
1 other note: ThreatD. is ballistic in OCT.
http://www.threatdynamics.com/civilian/calendar/
Having followed this company since it was first announced, have to say, have never seen their reservation calendar
fill up so fast......
for the next Month! Check out the whole of OCT. The booking rate is continuing to accelerate. Guess that's what happens when you are the only outlet in the nation.
pete.
BoyScouts train at ThreatDynamics/ 4 DHS-FBI? Article
The Trend is our Friend
Next Month (Oct. 4) the scouts are signed to use the ThreatDynamics facility specifically for Hangun training.
http://www.threatdynamics.com/civilian/calendar/
---------------------------------
Boy Scout Handgun Training
Sun, October 4, 10am – 12pm
Description Range training Riverdale Troop
----------------------------------
For two hours this troop is to receive shooting instruction on the IVR firing line, and personally, think that is great.
Then got to thinking if there was any connection with law enforcement, or some other department, you know, backing the training element for the scouts.
Saw that Department of Homeland Security had used the facility back a bit, so just threw those two together to see if there was a connection.
Here's what google spit out, and it makes sense.
---------------
[Am imagining a lot more Threat Dynamic facilities could sure help all those 10's of thousands of Scouts prepare for law enforcement (+FBI) careers, and of course, help Virtra a tad.imawswami]
--------------
ARTICLE
Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/14explorers.html
(go to the link above to see multi-media slide show. priceless!)
or try this:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/13/us/0000EXPLORERS_index.html
Todd Krainin for The New York Times
IMPERIAL, Calif. — Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor.
In a training exercise run by Border Patrol agents, Explorer scouts from Visalia, Calif., prepare to storm a “hijacked” bus.
The responding officers — eight teenage boys and girls, the youngest 14 — face tripwire, a thin cloud of poisonous gas and loud shots — BAM! BAM! — fired from behind a flimsy wall. They move quickly, pellet guns drawn and masks affixed.
“United States Border Patrol! Put your hands up!” screams one in a voice cracking with adolescent determination as the suspect is subdued.
It is all quite a step up from the square knot.
The Explorers program, a coeducational affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America that began 60 years ago, is training thousands of young people in skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence — an intense ratcheting up of one of the group’s longtime missions to prepare youths for more traditional jobs as police officers and firefighters.
“This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl,” said A. J. Lowenthal, a sheriff’s deputy here in Imperial County, whose life clock, he says, is set around the Explorers events he helps run. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.”
The training, which leaders say is not intended to be applied outside the simulated Explorer setting, can involve chasing down illegal border crossers as well as more dangerous situations that include facing down terrorists and taking out “active shooters,” like those who bring gunfire and death to college campuses. In a simulation here of a raid on a marijuana field, several Explorers were instructed on how to quiet an obstreperous lookout.
“Put him on his face and put a knee in his back,” a Border Patrol agent explained. “I guarantee that he’ll shut up.”
One participant, Felix Arce, 16, said he liked “the discipline of the program,” which was something he said his life was lacking. “I want to be a lawyer, and this teaches you about how crimes are committed,” he said.
Cathy Noriega, also 16, said she was attracted by the guns. The group uses compressed-air guns — known as airsoft guns, which fire tiny plastic pellets — in the training exercises, and sometimes they shoot real guns on a closed range.
“I like shooting them,” Cathy said. “I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.”
If there are critics of the content or purpose of the law enforcement training, they have not made themselves known to the Explorers’ national organization in Irving, Tex., or to the volunteers here on the ground, national officials and local leaders said. That said, the Explorers have faced problems over the years. There have been numerous cases over the last three decades in which police officers supervising Explorers have been charged, in civil and criminal cases, with sexually abusing them.
Several years ago, two University of Nebraska criminal justice professors published a study that found at least a dozen cases of sexual abuse involving police officers over the last decade. Adult Explorer leaders are now required to take an online training program on sexual misconduct.
Many law enforcement officials, particularly those who work for the rapidly growing Border Patrol, part of the Homeland Security Department, have helped shape the program’s focus and see it as preparing the Explorers as potential employees. The Explorer posts are attached to various agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police and fire departments, that sponsor them much the way churches sponsor Boy Scout troops.
“Our end goal is to create more agents,” said April McKee, a senior Border Patrol agent and mentor at the session here.
Membership in the Explorers has been overseen since 1998 by an affiliate of the Boy Scouts called Learning for Life, which offers 12 career-related programs, including those focused on aviation, medicine and the sciences.
But the more than 2,000 law enforcement posts across the country are the Explorers’ most popular, accounting for 35,000 of the group’s 145,000 members, said John Anthony, national director of Learning for Life. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many posts have taken on an emphasis of fighting terrorism and other less conventional threats.
“Before it was more about the basics,” said Johnny Longoria, a Border Patrol agent here. “But now our emphasis is on terrorism, illegal entry, drugs and human smuggling.”
The law enforcement posts are restricted to those ages 14 to 21 who have a C average, but there seems to be some wiggle room. “I will take them at 13 and a half,” Deputy Lowenthal said. “I would rather take a kid than possibly lose a kid.”
The law enforcement programs are highly decentralized, and each post is run in a way that reflects the culture of its sponsoring agency and region. Most have weekly meetings in which the children work on their law-enforcement techniques in preparing for competitions. Weekends are often spent on service projects.
Just as there are soccer moms, there are Explorers dads, who attend the competitions, man the hamburger grill and donate their land for the simulated marijuana field raids. In their training, the would-be law-enforcement officers do not mess around, as revealed at a recent competition on the state fairgrounds here, where a Ferris wheel sat next to the police cars set up for a felony investigation.
Their hearts pounding, Explorers moved down alleys where there were hidden paper targets of people pointing guns, and made split-second decisions about when to shoot. In rescuing hostages from a bus taken over by terrorists, a baby-faced young girl screamed, “Separate your feet!” as she moved to handcuff her suspect.
In a competition in Arizona that he did not oversee, Deputy Lowenthal said, one role-player wore traditional Arab dress. “If we’re looking at 9/11 and what a Middle Eastern terrorist would be like,” he said, “then maybe your role-player would look like that. I don’t know, would you call that politically incorrect?”
Authenticity seems to be the goal. Imperial County, in Southern California, is the poorest in the state, and the local economy revolves largely around the criminal justice system. In addition to the sheriff and local police departments, there are two state prisons and a large Border Patrol and immigration enforcement presence.
“My uncle was a sheriff’s deputy,” said Alexandra Sanchez, 17, who joined the Explorers when she was 13. Alexandra’s police uniform was baggy on her lithe frame, her airsoft gun slung carefully to the side. She wants to be a coroner.
“I like the idea of having law enforcement work with medicine,” she said. “This is a great program for me.”
And then she was off to another bus hijacking.
You would be surprised, how much.........
a turbin can hold! lol
$wami.