Democracy Now!: Possible NBC Cover Up In 2012 Kidnapping Of Richard Engel

Democracy Now!

What is the situation with NBC correspondent Richard Engel’s capture in 2012?

To summarize, Engel said just after his hostage ordeal that he was taken hostage by a Shi’ite militia affiliated with the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, as well as Iran and Hezbollah.

However, it recently emerged that he was taken hostage by Syrian rebels who are possibly associated with the Sunni Free Syrian Army that the U.S. supports.

So he was apparently taken hostage by our allies, not our enemies. The story could have created a shift in foreign policy and public opinion against the Shi’ites of Assad, Iran, and Hezbollah and for the Sunni rebels.

His captivity showed the Sunnis of the Free Syrian Army in a good light and the Shi’ite militias in a bad light, whereas the truth was the opposite.

(Updated article)

‘Open Carry’ Michigan Man Carrying Rifle Taunts Police And They Back Down

TYT Network

Is “open carry” strange?  Does “open carry” happen in Europe?  Do Europeans even know what “open carry” is?  Are there racial aspects to “open carry?”

Michigan ‘Doomsday Prepper’ Dies After Setting Fire To House

According to WSBT.com and the South Bend Tribune, a Michigan man went on a shooting spree Saturday night, leaving nearby homes riddled with bullet holes.

That was followed by an apparent standoff ending with the gunman supposedly setting fire to his home and turning the weapon on himself.

Neighbors described the man as a “doomsday prepper.”  Michigan State Police say it all unfolded at a home in a mobile home park.

A fire combined with what some eyewitnesses say was the sound of thousands of rounds of gunfire going off inside one trailer, almost sounding like 4th of July fireworks. The smell of gunpowder was thick in the air.

When the smoke finally cleared police found one man dead inside.

The first complaint was about shots fired, but it turned into so much more.

When troopers arrived, they did hear gunshots and then saw smoke and later flames, which engulfed the home and apparently started setting off ammunition explosions inside.

The only death was that of the shooter.

‘I Will Not Comply’ Rally: ‘If You Want To Own A Bazooka, You Can Own A Bazooka’

According to the Seattle Times, in a bizarre role reversal, organizers of the “I Will Not Comply” pro-gun rally in Olympia Washington on Saturday, December 13th blamed events like the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut on people trying to regulate firearms.

Demonstrators denounced a law expanding gun-purchase background checks that was approved last month by Washington voters.

Initiative 594, which voters passed by a 19-point margin, expands background checks to people buying firearms in private sales or exchanging them in a transfer.

Since the 1990s, federal law has mandated background checks for people buying guns through licensed dealers at gun shops, but not for private sales at gun shows or similar events.

School shootings around the country have spurred tighter gun laws, some enacted by state legislators, or in the case of I-594, by popular vote.

In a strange twist of logic, rally organizer Gavin Seim blamed events like the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut on people trying to regulate firearms.

When he spoke to the crowd, he said, “The people that are trying to take our guns are the ones that are causing events where children and families and people are lost,” said Seim, who ran unsuccessfully this year for U.S. Congress.

Washington State Patrol put the crowd at about 1,000 people; Seim estimated 1,500.

While on stage, Seim burned his state concealed-weapons permit and advocated that people should buy tanks and bazookas if they wanted them.

“If you want to own a bazooka, you can own a bazooka,” Seim said to cheers.

The crowd ranged from people with concerns over I-594’s language about unlawful gun transfers to others who thought it was a step toward gun registration.  Still others saw the law as an indication of America coming under the sway of a United Nations plan to strip the country of its freedoms.

Others said they worried that I-594 was a symptom of a larger sort of creeping government overreach.  “My rights are being infringed…,” said attendee Robert Henry.

Apparently, Robert’s right to own a Bazooka is being infringed…

Not Much Market For ‘Survivalists’ House

According to the AP, there isn’t much of a market for a $250,000-plus, 100-acre property that may also be booby-trapped.

The sale of the compound owned by a now-jailed pair of tax evaders who held off police during a nine-month armed standoff is beset by problems.  High bidders have only seven days to come up with the financing for the property they have to buy largely sight-unseen because it could be filled with hidden explosives.

No bidders showed up at an Aug. 15 auction at federal court in Concord, N.H., where Deputy Chief U.S. Marshal Brenda Mikelson went through the motions of soliciting a minimum bid of $250,000 on the Plainfield compound where “survivalist” fugitives Ed and Elaine Brown holed up in 2007.

The Browns were ultimately captured by U.S. marshals posing as two of the supporters who thronged the compound.

An auction is also being held for a commercial property owned by the Browns in Lebanon, N.H., where Elaine Brown had her dental office. The minimum bid on that property is set at $507,500.

Efforts to sell the two properties have been in the planning stages since 2013. As of this week, Lebanon is owed $286,242 in back taxes for the property; Plainfield is owed $198,908.

Plainfield town administrator Steve Halleran is frustrated by the delays, saying the taxes owed by the Browns’ property far exceed any other in town.

“We’ve been given assurances we’re getting our money,” Halleran said. “Nothing would speak to that more than an actual check.”

Mikelson said talks are underway to possibly hire a professional auctioneer and change the conditions of the sale to give high bidders more time to arrange financing.

“That time frame of seven days is really tight for average people,” she said.

Another obstacle: Concerns that booby traps and explosives may be buried on the densely wooded property mean federal officials still won’t let interested bidders tour it. Buyers who are prepared to ante up a hefty bid on the Plainfield property have to do it with little access.

During his trial in 2009, Ed Brown testified that explosives in the woods around their home were there to scare intruders, not hurt them. But in a radio interview during the standoff, he said if authorities came to kill him or arrest him, “the chief of police in this town, the sheriff, the sheriff himself will die. This is war now, folks.”

Elaine and Ed Brown are in their 70s. Elaine Brown is serving 35 years in prison; Ed Brown is serving 37 years.