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http://enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/excerpt7.htm

The STU [Special Training Unit] had its own single-engine Piper Lance, and had obtained a BigEye surveillance pod for it. The BigEye was a gyro-stabilized combination video camera for daytime use, and infra-red camera for night use. An operator in the plane could put the camera's cursor mark on a stationary or moving ground target and the camera would lock on to it even as the plane circled high above, out of sight and sound of its quarry.

The extensive use of light planes was a tradition in the ATF going back decades; from the time when the "revenue agents" had flown them to spot bootleg liquor stills from the air. These pilot-qualified agents bragged that for them ATF stood for 'agents that fly'. The numerous flying special agents and ATF light planes often permitted them to reach the scenes of federal crimes involving illegal firearms or explosives before any other agencies. Any one-horse Podunk town with a dirt landing strip nearby could usually have ATF agents on the ground in a few hours at most. The ATF was independently air-mobile to a greater degree than most other agencies at the light plane end of the aviation spectrum.

After a brief familiarization period with the BigEye Malvone gave his air team the addresses of a dozen senior government officials who were in a position to help the STU. They hit pay dirt on a Sunday morning in June when the Piper was flying lazy eights over Fairfax County Virginia, and they noticed activity at the estate of Deputy AG Paul Wilson. A Mercedes arrived with a young couple who turned out to be Wilson's daughter and son-in-law. Mrs. Wilson then left with them to attend church services.

Soon after the driveway's automatic gate closed behind the Mercedes, Paul Wilson had appeared in a bathrobe on the back patio of the mansion by the swimming pool, accompanied by someone else. The stabilized zoom lens of the Big Eye then recorded in intimate detail the white-haired senior federal official and a black-haired girl playing in the Jacuzzi, with no detail left to the imagination for the next fifteen minutes. Upon further investigation the girl had turned out to be the 16 year old daughter of the Wilson's Costa Rican housekeeper, who had taken the day off.

Malvone was smiling broadly at the memory. "As soon as I saw that tape I knew we'd own Wilson, we'd have him in our pocket. When the time comes he's going to go to bat for us, big time, and we'll get the Special Projects Division approved."

"The FBI's going to fight it. They'll never let ATF have a new division with that much power."

"That's where you're wrong Joe, the STU or SPD or what ever we end up calling it is going to be seen as a dirty outfit for dirty jobs, and the FBI won't want any part of it. If the SPD falls on its face, the stink won't rub off on them. They'll be glad to let the ATF have it, and let the ATF take the hit if things go wrong. By the time they figure out what's really going on, the Special Projects Division will be too big for them to stop."

http://enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/excerpt7.htm

The STU [Special Training Unit] had its own single-engine Piper Lance, and had obtained a BigEye surveillance pod for it. The BigEye was a gyro-stabilized combination video camera for daytime use, and infra-red camera for night use. An operator in the plane could put the camera's cursor mark on a stationary or moving ground target and the camera would lock on to it even as the plane circled high above, out of sight and sound of its quarry.

The extensive use of light planes was a tradition in the ATF going back decades; from the time when the "revenue agents" had flown them to spot bootleg liquor stills from the air. These pilot-qualified agents bragged that for them ATF stood for 'agents that fly'. The numerous flying special agents and ATF light planes often permitted them to reach the scenes of federal crimes involving illegal firearms or explosives before any other agencies. Any one-horse Podunk town with a dirt landing strip nearby could usually have ATF agents on the ground in a few hours at most. The ATF was independently air-mobile to a greater degree than most other agencies at the light plane end of the aviation spectrum.

After a brief familiarization period with the BigEye Malvone gave his air team the addresses of a dozen senior government officials who were in a position to help the STU. They hit pay dirt on a Sunday morning in June when the Piper was flying lazy eights over Fairfax County Virginia, and they noticed activity at the estate of Deputy AG Paul Wilson. A Mercedes arrived with a young couple who turned out to be Wilson's daughter and son-in-law. Mrs. Wilson then left with them to attend church services.

Soon after the driveway's automatic gate closed behind the Mercedes, Paul Wilson had appeared in a bathrobe on the back patio of the mansion by the swimming pool, accompanied by someone else. The stabilized zoom lens of the Big Eye then recorded in intimate detail the white-haired senior federal official and a black-haired girl playing in the Jacuzzi, with no detail left to the imagination for the next fifteen minutes. Upon further investigation the girl had turned out to be the 16 year old daughter of the Wilson's Costa Rican housekeeper, who had taken the day off.

Malvone was smiling broadly at the memory. "As soon as I saw that tape I knew we'd own Wilson, we'd have him in our pocket. When the time comes he's going to go to bat for us, big time, and we'll get the Special Projects Division approved."

"The FBI's going to fight it. They'll never let ATF have a new division with that much power."

"That's where you're wrong Joe, the STU or SPD or what ever we end up calling it is going to be seen as a dirty outfit for dirty jobs, and the FBI won't want any part of it. If the SPD falls on its face, the stink won't rub off on them. They'll be glad to let the ATF have it, and let the ATF take the hit if things go wrong. By the time they figure out what's really going on, the Special Projects Division will be too big for them to stop."

http://enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/excerpt7.htm

The STU [Special Training Unit] had its own single-engine Piper Lance, and had obtained a BigEye surveillance pod for it. The BigEye was a gyro-stabilized combination video camera for daytime use, and infra-red camera for night use. An operator in the plane could put the camera's cursor mark on a stationary or moving ground target and the camera would lock on to it even as the plane circled high above, out of sight and sound of its quarry.

The extensive use of light planes was a tradition in the ATF going back decades; from the time when the "revenue agents" had flown them to spot bootleg liquor stills from the air. These pilot-qualified agents bragged that for them ATF stood for 'agents that fly'. The numerous flying special agents and ATF light planes often permitted them to reach the scenes of federal crimes involving illegal firearms or explosives before any other agencies. Any one-horse Podunk town with a dirt landing strip nearby could usually have ATF agents on the ground in a few hours at most. The ATF was independently air-mobile to a greater degree than most other agencies at the light plane end of the aviation spectrum.

After a brief familiarization period with the BigEye Malvone gave his air team the addresses of a dozen senior government officials who were in a position to help the STU. They hit pay dirt on a Sunday morning in June when the Piper was flying lazy eights over Fairfax County Virginia, and they noticed activity at the estate of Deputy AG Paul Wilson. A Mercedes arrived with a young couple who turned out to be Wilson's daughter and son-in-law. Mrs. Wilson then left with them to attend church services.

Soon after the driveway's automatic gate closed behind the Mercedes, Paul Wilson had appeared in a bathrobe on the back patio of the mansion by the swimming pool, accompanied by someone else. The stabilized zoom lens of the Big Eye then recorded in intimate detail the white-haired senior federal official and a black-haired girl playing in the Jacuzzi, with no detail left to the imagination for the next fifteen minutes. Upon further investigation the girl had turned out to be the 16 year old daughter of the Wilson's Costa Rican housekeeper, who had taken the day off.

Malvone was smiling broadly at the memory. "As soon as I saw that tape I knew we'd own Wilson, we'd have him in our pocket. When the time comes he's going to go to bat for us, big time, and we'll get the Special Projects Division approved."

"The FBI's going to fight it. They'll never let ATF have a new division with that much power."

"That's where you're wrong Joe, the STU or SPD or what ever we end up calling it is going to be seen as a dirty outfit for dirty jobs, and the FBI won't want any part of it. If the SPD falls on its face, the stink won't rub off on them. They'll be glad to let the ATF have it, and let the ATF take the hit if things go wrong. By the time they figure out what's really going on, the Special Projects Division will be too big for them to stop."

Best. Book. Ever.

A bit long, but one of the funniest pieces of fiction I've ever read. I've been thinking of investing in some pigs for the yard, actually.


If you liked Unintended Consequences by John Ross, check out Matt Bracken's Enemies Foreign and Domestic. You can read the first 18 chapters or so for free at http://enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/excerpts.htm

While UC was an interesting historical novel, the main character was too perfect. Like John Ryan from the Tom Clancy novels, Henry Bowman was obviously the author's alter-ego who walked across water to save us all.

And I see that you've been modded from +5 Insightful to +2 Overrated Flamebait. What do you expect on Slashdot? You should have said that you blamed Fox News for the Patriot Act and how much you love the ACLU, or something like that...

Best. Book. Ever.

A bit long, but one of the funniest pieces of fiction I've ever read. I've been thinking of investing in some pigs for the yard, actually.


If you liked Unintended Consequences by John Ross, check out Matt Bracken's Enemies Foreign and Domestic. You can read the first 18 chapters or so for free at http://enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/excerpts.htm

While UC was an interesting historical novel, the main character was too perfect. Like John Ryan from the Tom Clancy novels, Henry Bowman was obviously the author's alter-ego who walked across water to save us all.

And I see that you've been modded from +5 Insightful to +2 Overrated Flamebait. What do you expect on Slashdot? You should have said that you blamed Fox News for the Patriot Act and how much you love the ACLU, or something like that...

Re:Allow me to be the first (Score:5, Interesting)
by Mattcelt (454751) on Friday July 22, @05:31AM (#13133439)

I wrote about this a while ago. Here's the text:

"If you haven't done anything wrong, what do you have to hide?"

Reminds me of this scene from Matt Bracken's novel Enemies Foreign and Domestic , which is a fictional account of how that line-of-thinking would actually work in practice. It's not much of a spoiler to say that the novel is about a terrorist incident staged by government agents so they can expand their powers (since that's obvious in the first chapter). The following scene takes place at an anti-terrorist checkpoint on the highway:

The young father in the white Ford Taurus, the second car from the front of the line said, "No sir, I won't open my trunk without a warrant, and I do not 'consent' to be searched."

The Virginia National Guard corporal standing outside his driver's side window looked around, confused. This situation had not come up before. Could this guy just refuse? Was that allowed?

The holdout's young blond wife said, "Martin, just do like he says. Don't make trouble; the girls are frightened."

"Honey, it's the point of it. This is still America, and there's still a Constitution."

"Daddy, why are there soldiers here? Is there a war?" asked seven year old Danielle from the back seat. Her four year old sister Ashley next to her in her booster seat sucked her thumb, afraid without knowing why.

"No sweetie, there's no war. The soldiers are helping the police to look for some bad men."

"Criminals daddy?"

"That's right sugar plum, criminals."

Another man walked up to their window. Martin Palmer could not tell if he was from the military or the police: he was dressed in black from his helmet to his boots, with no badge or insignia in sight. The man in black rapped on his driver's side window with the steel muzzle tip of his black submachine gun. "Open up! Get out! Now!"

"Officer, do you have a warrant? What's your 'probable cause' to search our car?" Martin Palmer was trying very hard not to show the fear he felt, holding onto the wheel to keep his hands from visibly shaking. He hoped he did not sound as afraid as he felt. He remembered reading about the Eagle Scout in Maryland who had had his face shot off a few years ago by an FBI undercover agent with an M-16 rifle after a mistaken traffic stop. Palmer had not yet heard about today's accidental police shooting in Virginia Beach of the man in the black pickup truck. His wife could not stand listening to news talk radio and they played soft rock music CDs instead.

"My 'probable cause' is you're an asshole who refuses to give consent for a search, that's what! Now get out! Out! Out!"

ATF Special Agent Alvin Bogart was having a bad day, and now he was angry enough to chew up barbed wire and spit out nails. He was angry because it was Sunday afternoon, and he was pulling the absolute shit duty of all time manning a FIST checkpoint, instead of kicking back on his recliner in his den with a cold Budweiser in his hand, watching the Eagles play the Carolina Panthers. For this he had become a Federal Law Enforcement Agent?

He was angry because he was pulling his second consecutive day of twelve hour checkpoint shifts, which really meant a 14 hour work day, only with no overtime pay like the State Troopers were raking in. And worse, he knew that he had to do it again tomorrow and the next day and it looked like forever. If he had wanted to pull this kind of shit duty, he would have joined the Border Patrol!

He was angry because he had to walk around all day in full tactical gear in almost 90 degree he

Re:I live in colorado (Score:2)
by WindBourne (631190) on Tuesday April 05, @02:53PM (#12146095)

First off, which stadium? Only those in the denver region are taxed for the diaghram or Coors.

The boundaries of the RTD/CD/FD [FD = "Metropolitan Football Stadium District"] include the counties of Denver, Boulder, Jefferson, Adams (west of Box Elder Creek), Arapahoe (south of I-70, west of Picadilly Rd. to Jewell, then west of Gun Club Rd. to Quincy, then generally west of Monaghan Rd., including Arapahoe Park and Aurora Reservoir), and Douglas (northeast portion plus Highlands Ranch area).

The following items are not permitted into the stadium:

* Hard-sided containers of any size or style including hard-sided coolers or thermoses.
* Bags or containers larger than 12" x 12" x 12"
* Alcohol
* Glass bottles or cans
* Previously opened plastic bottles. This includes water bottles or Nalgene bottles.
* Firearms or weapons of any type
* Artificial noise makers
* Signs or flags on sticks, regardless of the length
* Large golf umbrellas
* Laser pointers of any type
* Any other item deemed dangerous or unacceptable by security

Re:I live in colorado (Score:2)
by WindBourne (631190) on Tuesday April 05, @02:53PM (#12146095)

First off, which stadium? Only those in the denver region are taxed for the diaghram or Coors.

The boundaries of the RTD/CD/FD [FD = "Metropolitan Football Stadium District"] include the counties of Denver, Boulder, Jefferson, Adams (west of Box Elder Creek), Arapahoe (south of I-70, west of Picadilly Rd. to Jewell, then west of Gun Club Rd. to Quincy, then generally west of Monaghan Rd., including Arapahoe Park and Aurora Reservoir), and Douglas (northeast portion plus Highlands Ranch area).

The following items are not permitted into the stadium:

* Hard-sided containers of any size or style including hard-sided coolers or thermoses.
* Bags or containers larger than 12" x 12" x 12"
* Alcohol
* Glass bottles or cans
* Previously opened plastic bottles. This includes water bottles or Nalgene bottles.
* Firearms or weapons of any type
* Artificial noise makers
* Signs or flags on sticks, regardless of the length
* Large golf umbrellas
* Laser pointers of any type
* Any other item deemed dangerous or unacceptable by security