"It's only a drill..."

...until it isn't.  I continue to be amazed at the willingness of the public to put up with these no-notice "military exercises" in the middle of urban areas:

The sight of Army helicopters and the sound of gunfire created a lot of concern Monday afternoon in one Houston neighborhood.
We received a lot of phones calls, Tweets and Facebook posts from worried neighbors, wondering what was going on.
The U.S. Army along with other agencies took over the old Carnegie Vanguard High School near Scott and Airport. There were armed men in fatigues, plenty of weapons and what many thought were real live rounds
"I felt like I was in a warzone." Jerrals said. "It was nonstop. I was terrified." 

Then again, the citizenry appears to have been successfully conditioned:

The Army did not give any details of what the training is for. Some people we spoke to needed no explanation.
"If it's to protect our kids, I'm all for it," neighbor Glenn DeWitt said. 

Well, then, let's just go full-on martial law, why don't we?

In response to a recent increase in crime, Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill and Police Chief Todd Stovall offered residents at a town hall meeting Thursday night at West View Baptist Church what could be considered an extreme solution — armed officers patrolling the streets on foot.

Stovall told the group of almost 40 residents that beginning in 2013, the department would deploy a new street crimes unit to high crime areas on foot to take back the streets.

"[Police are] going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck," Stovall said. "If you're out walking, we're going to stop you, ask why you're out walking, check for your ID."

Stovall said while some people may be offended by the actions of his department, they should not be.

"We're going to do it to everybody," he said. "Criminals don't like being talked to."

So naturally, anyone who doesn't like being stopped at random and talked to will be considered a criminal by this new occupation force.  Wonder how many new 'criminals' that viewpoint will create...

The noose draws ever tighter...