International Museums: Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas and Cartagena City Walls
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
Cartagena, the fifth-largest city in Colombia, has a long and colorful history. As an important trading port at the height of the Spanish Empire, the city was heavily fortified to defend from attack by land and see. This included the formidable Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. Construction began in 1536 and it was expanded in 1657, and later in 1763. It fell to French privateer Baron de Pointis during the War of the Grand Alliance in 1697, repaired in 1739 and withstood an assault by British Admiral Edward Vernon during the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, which was part of the War of Jenkins’ Ear. Along with the old city and city walls, the fortress is a World Heritage Site. (Click images for a closer view) Read more
Origins Of Fast And Furious Story Important For Media To Get Right
From our friend David Codrea:
“House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has distributed a staff briefing paper and draft of the contempt of Congress resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder to Members of the Oversight Committee,” a May 3 press release from Frederick R. Hill Director of Communications for the committee begins.
A copy of the memorandum and draft is posted on the committee website. Highlights include information sharing failures, non-cooperation by the Justice Department, the struggle to get the truth for the family of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, retaliation against whistleblowers, the fueling of violence in Mexico, and “allegations of intentional wrongdoing by Justice officials.” No doubt many outlets will report on this, and the intent of Gun Rights Examiner in its Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking” coverage has never been to retell stories uncovered by others, but instead to share original sourced findings derived independently or in partnership with Mike Vanderboegh, who blogs at Sipsey Street Irregulars, and who, on December 28, 2010, was the first citizen journalist to report and reach out for confirmation on postings from the CleanUpATF website alleging guns were being walked, and that walked guns were found at the Terry murder scenes.
Continue reading on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/article/origins-of-fast-and-furious-story-important-for-media-to-get-right
Photo © Oleg Volk. Used with permission.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He is a field editor for GUNS Magazine, and a blogger at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance. Read more at www.DavidCodrea.com.
NRA News: Customs Told Trucker to Drive into Mexico with Ammunition, Lawyer Says
Ginny Simone talks to Carlos Spector, Attorney for Jabin Bogan
NRA News: Oversight Committee Outlines Case for Contempt over Fast and Furious
Ginny Simone talks to Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
Newsmax Noted The Numbers Game
It all comes down to the numbers. But which numbers you believe? Newsmax noted the game of numbers this week, when reporting on the numbers and percentages of firearms that supposedly originated in the United States, and were seized in Mexico. The news site reported:
Gun-rights advocates say the 68 percent number is overstated because the sample pool only reflects guns submitted to the ATF for traces. There are many other guns in Mexico, and many don’t have a U.S. connection, they say. Guns-rights supporters say Democrats try to use the inflated percentages to promote gun control.
But gun-control advocates say the 68 percent number is accurate and shows that U.S. weaponry is playing a major role in Mexico’s drug violence, which has killed more than 47,000 people over the past five years.
Two very different ways to look at the numbers.
NRA News: Congressman Gosar on Potential Contempt Charges Against Attorney General Eric Holder
Ginny Simone talks to Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
Media Picks up ATF Story – But Continues to Ignore Fast and Furious
Last week the ATF once again attempted to suggest that American gun shops with the source of guns being used by Mexican cartels, and the story was widely picked up by the mainstream media.
This is a shocking turn of events because much of the media has avoided covering the ATF at all in the past year since the Fast and Furious debacle broke. This is just the latest example of anti-gun bias in the mainstream media.
Much of the coverage of the ATF’s findings that 66 to 68 percent of all firearms recovered and sent for testing were traced back to the United States – a number that still seems vastly high – lack any reporting on the gun walking scandal.
ATF Figures Already Grow in Media
Last week the ATF released numbers, which suggested that American guns were being used by Mexican cartels. This “refresh” of a story that has been reported for years, was heavily picked up by the media last Friday and over the weekend.
Well the percentage is around 66 percent – according to the ATF – some media outlets have already rounded figure up, in an attempt to suggest that even more guns somehow came from the United States. TheHill noted:
Nearly 70 percent of all guns found in Mexico came from the U.S. over the past four years, according to data released by the federal government on Thursday.
More than 68,000 of the 99,691 firearms that were recovered between 2007 and 2011, and submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for trace testing, were either made in the U.S. or legally brought into the U.S. at one point, according to the agency.
Fuzzy math rears its ugly head it seems.
Sen. Chuck Grassley Downplayed ATF’s Statics
Last week the ATF once again try to suggest that American gun shops with the source of firearms used by Mexican cartels.
Sen. Chuck Grassley responded:
“Thorough gun statistics are hard to come by and tricky to interpret,” he said in a statement Thursday night. “The key to this data is that most of these guns can’t be traced to U.S. gun dealers. And, some of those would actually trace back to the United States because of the federal government’s own gunwalking scandal.
“We also have to remember that the only guns Mexico is going to submit for tracing are guns they know are from the United States, which clearly paints an incomplete picture of the firearms found in the Mexico.”
However, the media will likely stick with the 66 to 70 percent figure released in the ATF. We assume by summer that number will grow to 90 percent.
ATF Now Claims 68,000 Guns Came From America
In what seems a bit like déjà vu, the ATF released figures last week that somehow once again suggest America is the source of guns being used by Mexican cartels. The Associated Press reported:
Mexico has provided ATF information on 99,691 guns. ATF determined that the source for 68,161 of the weapons was the U.S, 68 percent of the total. For the remainder, ATF was unable to determine a U.S. source or was unable to trace the request to a country of origin. The 68 percent figure is down from estimates of 90 percent in years past when Mexico was sharing less information with the U.S.
It is interesting to note that the AP failed to address that the 90 percent number was greatly exaggerated. We can only imagine – even assume – that this 68 percent figure is also exaggerated.
