Lost an ally today.

[Ron Caliburn]

I got the call on my cell today

"Ron." It was Ted's voice, but he wasn't himself.

"Ted. What's going on?"

"I'm out." There was a slight slur, he'd been drinking.

No point beating around the bush. "Out of what?"

"The Bereau."

"What? Why?"

I heard the ice rattle in his glass before he replied. "I'm being forced out. They are using the helicopter trip up to Chicago as an excuse, but it's not about that."

I ignored my sudden thirst. "Can't be politics, they do that sort of purging after the election, not before."

"Agreed." The ice clinked again. That sound brought back too many memories.

"So what is it?"

""It's a new transfer over from DHS. Her name is Lace Pyopas. She's got the director's ear, and some say she's got other parts of him as well." The resentment in his voice was thick enough to stand on.

"How long do you got?"

"I was told by the Director this morning, by the time I got back to my office my stuff was already boxed and they were putting Pyopas' name on the door." Sounded like he was refilling. "They gave me a decent severance to not make a fuss, I took it. I have lots of options in the private sector anyway."

There was a few momments where neither of us spoke.

"I'm sorry Ron, but it looks like I'm not going to be able to help you or the others out of any jams."

[KonThaak]

Well...shit. That royally sucks.

I'm sorry, man... If you keep in contact with Ted, tell him I'm sorry, too...

[Eilonwy Solstice]

I gave Kelly a call this morning. She’s worried about Ted, he hasn’t been this way since . . . her incident. We chatted for a while, and he’s been morose and despondent. We think he’ll pull through, but . . . it will take time. Of course, it’s hard to tell when he’s been drinking . . .

I don’t know. Something about this doesn’t sit right with me, and not just the normal things.

[Holister]

I hate beuracracy.

[Ethan Skinner]

"They gave me a decent severance to not make a fuss, I took it. I have lots of options in the private sector anyway."

Maybe it's not as bad as you all think if he has other prospects.

[KonThaak]

For him, personally, maybe not terrible...but he's saved my ass on at least one occasion, and he's helped keep Ron's nose clean on numerous occasions. Him being removed from office is a serious blow against us.

If anything happens, we're more on our own than we were before...

[Ron Caliburn]

Yeah, this whole thing sort of came out of nowhere.

He was either targeted because this Lace Pyopas woman wanted his job or someone decided that they wanted a friend of the Society removed from a position of influence.

Or both.

[Ron Caliburn]

First Ted is forced to resign, then a number of my other police contacts are suddenly resigning, retiring or going on indefinite leave, then this.

WASHINGTON -
D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.

Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.

Lanier has been struggling to reverse D.C.’s spiraling crime rate but has been forced by public outcry to scale back several initiatives including her “All Hands on Deck” weekends and plans for warrantless, door-to-door searches for drugs and guns.

Under today’s proposal, the no-go zones will last up to 10 days, according to internal police documents. Front-line officers are already being signed up for training on running the blue curtains.

Peter Nickles, the city’s interim attorney general, said the quarantine would have “a narrow focus.”

“This is a very targeted program that has been used in other cities,” Nickles told The Examiner. “I’m not worried about the constitutionality of it.”

Others are. Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the D.C. police union and a former lawyer, called the checkpoint proposal “breathtaking.”

Shelley Broderick, president of the D.C.-area American Civil Liberties Union and the dean of the University of the District of Columbia’s law school, said the plan was “cockamamie.”

“I think they tried this in Russia and it failed,” she said. “It’s just our experience in this city that we always end up targeting poor people and people of color, and we treat the kids coming home from choir practice the same as we treat those kids who are selling drugs.”

The proposal has the provisional support of D.C. Councilman Harry “Tommy” Thomas, D-Ward 5, whose ward has become a war zone.

“They’re really going to crack down on what we believe to be a systemic problem with open-air drug markets,” Thomas told The Examiner.

Thomas said, though, that he worried about D.C. “moving towards a police state.”

What the heck is going on?

[KonThaak]

Holy crap... This is...scary, to say the least.

Pretty soon, you won't be able to use a public toilet without five official documents, detailing what you've eaten in the past two days, and whether you're going to be urinating or defecating--and god help those who need to do both.

[Ron Caliburn]

Yeah.

Too many coincidences in too little time.

[Razor]

Damn dude. ... I'd come to washington and poke my nose around, but its not like I have any sort of official credentials, though I could always AP and look around that way. Not sure that's such a good idea, with what I know of military special projects as well as CIA, NSA, and DOD. They've got their own Psi programs, some of which watchdog the hill a lot.

[Eilonwy Solstice]

Holy crap... This is...scary, to say the least.

Pretty soon, you won't be able to use a public toilet without five official documents, detailing what you've eaten in the past two days, and whether you're going to be urinating or defecating--and god help those who need to do both.

Yes, it’s very annoying. They seem to think . . .

[Hannah]

Hey Everyone,

I am actually kinda enjoying this. It's really fun trying to get around and through it with Peter and MJ.

Hannah

PS: It's funny how people never look up.

[Razor]

Peter and MJ?

Since when did Hanna start hanging out with Spiderman and Mary-Jane?

[Ron Caliburn]

I don't care if she's hanging out with Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, this has to stop.

[Logan]

Not my work Caliburn, Same methods as I would use though. I'll look around check and see if there has been an unusual amount of activity regarding your case file.

Can you send me a list of the people being squeezed out of their positions? I'll give him a pat on the back for a job well done, right before I give him a size 9 supository for interfering with my investigations.

[Razor]

Exsqueezeme?

Sorry, couldn't resist. But seriously though. Who's this Pete character, and this MJ character.

[Ron Caliburn]

Peter and MJ are a couple of Hannah's friends from school, they seem to be big into this whole freerunning thing and have gotten Hannah involved in it despite my continued objections.

Logan, I'm not going to compromise those people who were my contacts to you or anyone I don't need to.

[Logan]

I understand, Caliburn.

[Razor]

Oh... them.

Seriously. Freerunning is a great sport, and a great way to stay in shape, not to mention disciplining the mind or body as much as martial arts or other intense or extreme sports. It really is a great way to let go of inhibitions, not to mention there's very few normal people that can catch free-runners, or parkour practitioners. I do a little of it myself, but some friends of mine in the area are pretty good at it.

Everyone has a hobby or a sport that they like or love. Freerunning has been around for a little while and is really starting to catch on, especially among XMA enthusiasts. I don't really see what harm there could be in it, if she is practicing with a group that is responsible and knowledgeable enough to eliminate a bit of the risk.

The other thing about freerunning and parkour is that it teaches the mind to overcome limitations and fear. Much like martial arts, but it's not anyone else pushing you. It's your own mind your own motivation, not an instructor or drill seargant yelling at you. It encourages perservearance and the strength and willingness to push yourself, and to try new things.

So where is the harm in that?

The other thing, is it might just give her the edge she needs to get away from things that might follow you home, or she might run into, supernatural or not. It might save her life someday.

[Ethan Skinner]

The "harm" is, technically, the law. Ron says she's been running in other people's private property. She might be seen. She might be taped. It's Capitol Hill, man. Not to mention she fell once.

[skeptic]

Unless you set up your own jungle gym,
you're going to violate private property laws
with this so-called sport.
Martial arts is far better and the good ones
don't have instructors yelling at you; they have
instructors teaching you how to push yourself
beyond your own limits.

[Razor]

I was referring to the military, not martial arts.

I've never had any sensei, sifu, or sabumnim yell at me, other than calling cadence or count, and that was for the whole class.

I've also never yelled at a student or someone that I was teaching, nor will I.

[concrete_Angel]

Yeah, but keep in mind, there have been some Ninja Warrior competitors that were freerunners, and they did pretty freakin' good.

[Hannah]

Hi Everyone

I only fell that one time . . . and I stopped before I got hurt, so it was okay.

People sometimes yell at us, but ususally we're across their roof and on the next house before they know we are there.

Hannah

PS: I'm probably grounded for the rest of the month after posting that.

[concrete_Angel]

But it was SO worth it, right, Hannah?

[Hannah]

Hi Sue!

Yeah!! When Peter and MJ and I are jumping fences or running across rooves I feel like I'm some kind of Jungle Queen racing through the forest with her two black panthers.

Hannah

PS: I even told Peter and MJ about it and they started calling me Sheena . . . which I had to look up on Wikipedia, but I thought was pretty cool.

[Razor]

Skeptic... why are you filling your brain with G4 crap?

Though I admit I miss G4 sometimes. But the reruns of Ninja Warrior can get really old really fast.

[Ron Caliburn]

After what happened to Ted and a host of others, I was wondering when it would be my turn.

Well today they came and put me out of buisness.

They walked into my shop, no warrent, nothing. They cited the new powers the police have in town and seized my entire inventory. They also took all my log books, records and all my liscences. They made sure they got the security camera footage of their arrival. They went upstairs and took everything in my "private collection" too. That includes most everything I use for field work.

In short, the only thing I have left in my shop is the furniture and the bills.

Robbery at it's most legal.

They were lead by three detectives. One was a giant of a man, easily twice the size of Willie. The other an almost spherical fellow with a complexion reminescent of a tomato. Their leader was tall, lithe and and told me with solemn certainty that their teams would go over every bit they had collected to ensure that I was "held accountable for every evil that ever came from this arms bazzar." He also told me that if I wanted to turn myself in early to avoid the shame to my family I should contact the local DHS-DCPD Liason and handed me her card.

It read Lace Pyopas.

[DarKnyht]

Be careful Ron. I don't think they should have been able to take you private collection, at least if you were following DC laws for not having them loaded. It was my understanding that that particular asinine law was struck down by the Supreme Court.

I would also be careful what you post, these people are trained to get and find information that will incriminate you.

Perhaps we should start you a legal fund and get you some legal advice...