Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warns air travelers to prepare for much longer than usual airport security lines, but a Transportation Security Administration watchdog says this mess is simply a matter of the government failing to manage its resources responsibly.
On Monday, Johnson stood at Ronald Reagan National Airport just outside Washington and told passengers to expect longer than expected wait times as the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, expedites hundreds of new personnel into service to speed up the security process. In Chicago, passengers were told to arrive three hours prior to departure.
The TSA claims congressional action has led to the elimination of some 4,500 personnel over the past few years and the agency simply doesn’t have the manpower to keep up, but that’s just spin according to Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. He also run Cato’s Downsizing Government blog.
Edwards told WND and Radio America the TSA is littered with problems, starting with its existing personnel.
“Annual surveys of federal government employees find that the TSA and the broader Homeland Security Department have some of the poorest morale in the federal government,” Edwards said. “The TSA has a high turnover rate for their screeners, which is not good for morale and is not good for security.” (Read more from “TSA Watchdog Spills Secret Behind Long Airport Lines” HERE)
Residents in north Marana, particularly in the Gladden Farms area, are complaining of a strange smell and accompanying white smoke. The smell began a few weeks ago and has been so bad in some areas that residents have been forced to stay indoors and close windows.
The smell occurs in the morning, usually between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., and has been described by residents as a “chemical smell” or as resembling diesel exhaust. A number of Gladden Farm homeowners took to a Facebook group to share their frustration and compare notes and all reported seeing white smoke or exhaust at the same time the smell is present.
“It is very strong and irritates my throat,” said Gladden Farms resident Christy Hollinger. “I am pretty tolerant to smoke, exhaust, pollen so was a bit surprised this affected me.”
Hollinger said that she was out walking her dogs when she encountered the smell the first time and by the time she got home, her entire home had the exhaust smell. Others have reported having to roll up windows and turn off the air in the car when driving in the area.
Most believed the smoke to be coming from of two plants off Tangerine Road, either the Cal-Portland Cement plant or the plant belonging to Granite Construction, with several residents insisting that the smoke was coming from the Granite plant, where they make asphalt, among other things. (Read more from “What’s That Smell? Mystery Odor Has Officials Looking for Answers” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Entering_Arizona_on_I-10_Westbound.jpg13602048Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-19 01:26:472016-05-19 01:26:47What’s That Smell? Mystery Odor Has Officials Looking for Answers
While Wall Street has had its generous Federal Reserve sponsor for the past 8 years, literally printing money out of thin air, showering banks with risk-free profits and making the rich richer beyond their wildest dreams (although ever since the end of QE the pump has run dry), the rest of the US population was largely left to fend for itself. In the process, just as Wall Street demonstrated unprecedented creativity to come up with fraud that will make one’s head spin (if never lead to an actual prison sentence), so did the “99%”, the only difference being, of course, that for the mere mortals jail time is an all too certain outcome as are dramatic police raids.
This is the story of one such extremely creative if abhorrent crime, and raid, involving what may have been the biggest food-stamp crime ring bust in history.
As CSP reports, in Operation Stampede, what is being called the largest food-stamp trafficking takedown in history in terms of financial loss, law enforcement agencies filed federal charges last week against 22 Florida store owners or operators, including one convenience-store owner, in connection with schemes to illegally redeem food-stamp benefits for cash. Allegedly, the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $13 million dollars in EBT deposits for transactions in which the stores did not provide food.
According to the indictments, the defendants or their co-conspirators or employees swiped the recipient’s EBT card at a point-of-sale (POS) machine for an inflated amount and paid the recipient, in cash, a reduced percentage of the value of food-stamp benefits charged on the card. The defendants would realize a guaranteed, significant profit from each fraudulent transaction. In most situations, the recipient did not actually receive any food or eligible items in return for their food-stamp benefits.
In addition to the federal indictments, the Office of Statewide Prosecution charged six individuals for their alleged receipt of additional illegal payments during the course of their participation in fraudulent food-stamp schemes.
While most of the business are best classified as food stands, produce stands and “flea-market” retailers, one—ABC Food Market in Miami—is a convenience store owned by Zulfiqar Mithavayani. Since March 2013, Mithavayani and associate Jamal Al-Hawa allegedly redeemed and caused to be redeemed more than $1.1 million in EBT food-stamp benefits, more than $1 million more than the average convenience store in Florida during this period, according to the indictment.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federally funded, national program established by the United States government to alleviate hunger and malnutrition among lower income families. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers SNAP through its agency, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). FNS is responsible for the authorization and disqualification of retail food establishments participating in the redemption of SNAP benefits.
In this case, and in many others like it which have not been quite as prominent, the foodstamp program also led to criminal abuse of taxpayer funds. What is more troubling is that $13 million is an amount most financial professionals would barely sneeze at. While we applaud the law enforcement involved in this crackdown, we only wish regulators and enforcers demonstrated the same zeal when breaking up criminal cartels which have led to criminal gains that are orders of magnitude greater than the amount under consideration in this particular bust.
Below is a video clip of the historic bust.
(For more from the author of “SHOCKER: Militant Quakers Busted In “Biggest Ever Food Stamp Fraud”” please click HERE)
We should count our blessings when dealing with this Republican-controlled Congress. At least they did what some of us called on them to do and stripped out the provision from the NDAA (H.R. 4909) including women in mandatory registration for Selective Service. Unfortunately, they have, once again, failed to utilize the “must-pass” defense authorization bill as a vehicle to fight the broader social engineering and transformation of our military. It appears that this much-vaunted promise of an open amendment process only applies to banal “in the weeds” issues, not to some of the fundamental issues affecting the morale, security, and mission of the military.
One policy Obama has been using to promote his social transformation is opening up the military to illegal aliens he unilaterally amnestied through his DACA program. In September 2014, the Department of Defense announced a new policy allowing military recruiters to enlist illegal immigrants under the auspices of the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest, or MAVNI. This was a pilot program created in 2008 designed to recruit foreign nationals with special language skills, but the program was only opened to legal immigrants. These foreign nationals are then given citizenship in return for their service and are able to bypass the 10-year green card process. After just a few months, 43 illegals immigrants were accepted into the MAVNI program. Undoubtedly, more have enlisted over the past year.
The acceptance of DACA recipients into MAVNI was part of a broader push from the administration and allies in Congress to open up all military service to illegal immigrants at a time when soldiers are being let go in large numbers as a result of Obama’s drastic cuts to the military.
The NDAA was a perfect opportunity to explicitly block Obama’s DoD directive to open military positions to DACA recipients. Yet, rather than go on offense, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, at the behest of Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), inserted a provision into the bill (Section 597) expressing the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense has the discretion to authorize the enlistment of illegal aliens when it is “vital to the national interest.” This provision passed in committee by voice vote and Rep. Gallego declared it a “victory for Dreamers.” The pride of the nation, which protects our sovereignty and constitutional republic — was allowed to be used as a conduit to repudiate our rule of law.
In comes Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) last night to the House Rules Committee hearing where members teed up over 100 amendments to the NDAA. Gosar introduced an amendment to strike section 597 of the NDAA and affirm existing law explicitly barring illegal aliens from joining the military. Among all the small-ball amendments made in order last night, Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) did not approve the Gosar amendment.
It’s a shame that Thornberry and Sessions were not willing to stand up for the military and stop Obama from using it as a visa mill for lawlessness. Moreover, the presence of illegal aliens in the military represents a huge security risk. The Obama administration has approved almost every DACA application, and as Judicial Watch discovered in 2014, DHS ostensibly gutted all background checks for DACA applicants, including the requirement of a government issued photo ID. As of a year ago, 282 DACA recipients lost their status after being approved due to their affiliation with gangs.
Moreover, as Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), a co-sponsor of the Gosar amendment, observed, why would there be a need for illegal immigrants in the military when Obama is dramatically downsizing it? “At a time when we are drawing down our military forces, and unable to retain and promote the men and women who have so bravely served our country, it is irrational, demeaning and absurd to ask that we prioritize the DREAMers over our own service members,” said the Virginia congressman.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) likes to brag about his open amendment process, but that process is only truly open to either insignificant issues or bills that will never become law. As I noted during last year’s NDAA vote, Republicans have failed to use the defense bill to stop any area of social engineering, including the unilateral lifting of the ban on transgender individuals in the military, placing women into direct ground combat against the wishes of Marine commanders, and stifling religious freedom in the service. This has taken a toll on morale in the military. In addition to dealing with all the spending and procurement issues, Republicans should be using the NDAA to reverse the terrible polices Obama’s Pentagon has unilaterally foisted upon our military.
Conservatives should pick up the motto of the Army: “This We’ll Defend” and should defend the institution against lawlessness and demand that this amnesty provision be stripped from the defense bill before it receives a final vote on the floor.
“While we are disappointed by the decision to not make the amendment in order, we are actively pursuing other avenues to achieve the same policy objective,” said Gosar in a statement to Conservative Review. “We are confident that this amendment will ultimately receive a vote on the House floor in the near future.” (For more from the author of “Obama-Style Lawlessness: House Leadership A-OK With Illegals in Military” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Marksmanship_training_1-1.jpg10131519Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-18 22:23:432016-05-18 22:23:43Obama-Style Lawlessness: House Leadership A-OK With Illegals in Military
Iran is demanding the U.S. pay for 63 years of “spiritual and material damage.” The Iranian parliament cited examples of U.S. “hostile action” towards Tehran such as alleged U.S. support for a 1953 military coup in Iran.
This claim is delusional. Iran is one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism and has a long history of inciting violence in the Middle East.
For instance, it’s known that in 2004 Iran flooded Iraq with improvised explosive devices, which took the lives of 500 soldiers and Marines.
Jim Phillips, The Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs, notes that:
This [move] is part of the current regime’s efforts to blame all of Iran’s problems on the U.S., which they denounce as the “Great Satan.”
The U.S. has always been a convenient scapegoat for Iranian leadership.
Phillips also notes that:
Iran has long been in denial about the fact that the 1953 coup was carried out by Iranians. Although the CIA helped them get organized to overthrow Mossadegh, the coup plotters were motivated by their own deep opposition to Mossadegh’s disastrous leadership.
Blaming the U.S. is a strategic win-win for Iran.
Iran’s vice president for parliamentary affairs said Iranian courts have ruled the United States owes $50 billion for hostile actions. Obviously, this isn’t really about “spiritual damage” inflicted on Iran.
Iran’s claim is in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month demanding Iran hand over nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to the survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks that Iran organized, including the 1983 bombing of a U.S. marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241.
Shortly after the court ruling, Iranian President Rouhani said Tehran was preparing international legal action to recover the nearly $2 billion in frozen assets.
“We will not allow the United States to swallow this money so easily” he told a crowd of thousands.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Iran knows it’s in the power seat in the relationship with the Obama administration. This is because the White House is desperate to claim the Iranian nuclear deal as a positive legacy.
It seems President Obama is willing to go so far as to blur truth in order to accomplish a legacy item—just ask Ben Rhodes.
In the end Iran’s actions are purely a retaliatory move designed to flex its muscles, provoke the U.S., and test its limits. What’s most troubling is that the Obama administration will likely look the other way and allow continued Iranian aggression. (For more from the author of “Iran Is Demanding Reparations From US for 63 Years of ‘Spiritual and Material Damage'” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Ayatollah_Ali_Khamenei.jpg6821024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-18 21:51:032016-05-18 21:51:03Iran Is Demanding Reparations From US for 63 Years of ‘Spiritual and Material Damage’
The largest conservative congressional caucus is calling into question the legality of President Barack Obama’s transgender bathroom directive for schools.
Chairman Bill Flores, R-Texas, is encouraging Republican Study Committee members to sign on to a letter, pushing the Departments of Education and Justice to detail how, and on what authority, they plan to enforce the new guidelines.
“Americans are incensed by President Obama’s blatant executive overreach,” Flores said, citing the IRS controversy, Obamacare, and the Iranian nuclear agreement. “Now they are threatening school funding over an issue that should rightfully be left to the states. Their actions are politically motivated and Congress has every responsibility to challenge them.”
The effort is led by Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., who authored the letter.
In the letter, which is addressed to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Education Secretary John King, lawmakers ask them to “explain why schools must disregard the privacy, ‘discomfort,’ and emotional strain imposed on other students during use of bathroom, showering, and changing facilities and overnight accommodations as these schools comply with this guidance.”
By Wednesday night, the letter, which will be sent Thursday, had attracted 73 signatures from GOP lawmakers. To date, it represents the most significant development from a Republican Congress that’s been reluctant to challenge Obama on the issue.
In a sweeping proclamation last Friday, the Obama administration instructed local schools to extend Title IX protections, which prohibit sex-based discrimination, to transgender students.
Walker told The Daily Signal that the RSC inquiry is designed to begin returning discretion over the issue to the municipal and state level.
Under the current guidelines, Walker described a situation where individual students, not parents and teachers, dictate rules “from one week to the next.”
“If a 17 year-old young man wants to go shower with the girls on the soccer team,” Walker said then under the new guidelines, “he’s allowed to do that because of his will or his gender fluidity for the week [he] can tell the teacher ‘this [is] what I’m feeling, this is where I’m at’ and she has no recourse to step in.”
How Will the Guidelines Be Enforced?
The Obama directive has been widely interpreted as suggesting schools must comply with the bathroom proposal or potentially lose federal funding.
The letter asks the administration to detail what actions the departments would take against “a teacher, school administrator, educator, school contractor, or person volunteering at a school who does not comply with this guidance.”
What Legal Authority Does the Administration Have to Change Rules?
While the bathroom directive caught Republicans off guard, The New York Times reports that the Obama administration had been working on the new guidelines for months.
Walker argues that any change to Title IX requires an act of Congress. “The whole starting place, the foundation of this [letter],” he told The Daily Signal, “is basically to remind [the Obama administration] that they don’t have the jurisdiction to begin this in the first place.”
The letter orders the departments to “delineate the statutory authority under which the ED and DOJ issued this guidance,” and to confirm whether or not they consider the directive as legally binding.
Will Conscience Rights Be Recognized and Accommodated?
The letter pushes the Obama administration to detail whether or not exceptions to the new rules will be afforded to individuals and school administrations.
“Detail whether the ED and DOJ will recognize or accommodate rights of conscience and privacy in an individual’s or institution’s non-compliance with this guidance,” the letter states.
The lawmakers asked the Education and Justice Departments to respond by May 23. (For more from the author of “73 House Republicans Sign Letter Demanding Answers on Obama’s Bathroom Directive” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/3933276624_9f9968f77d_b.jpg6851024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-18 21:37:542016-05-18 21:37:5473 House Republicans Sign Letter Demanding Answers on Obama’s Bathroom Directive
The classified details behind Iran’s treatment of several U.S. sailors who were captured by the Islamic Republic during a tense standoff earlier this year are likely to shock the nation, according to one member of the House Armed Services Committee, who disclosed to the Washington Free Beacon that these details are currently being withheld by the Obama administration.
Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.) told the Free Beacon in an interview that the Obama administration is still keeping details of the maritime incident under wraps. It could be a year or longer before the American public receives a full accounting of the incident, in which several U.S. sailors were abducted at gunpoint by the Iranian military.
“I’ve had a full classified briefing” from military officials, Forbes told the Free Beacon. “It could be as long as a year before we actually get that released.”
Details of the abduction are likely to start an uproar in the nation and call into question the Obama administration’s handling of the incident, which many experts say violated international and maritime law.
“I think that when the details actually come out, most Americans are going to be kind of taken aback by the entire incident, both how Iran handled it and how we handled it,” Forbes disclosed. “I think that’s going to be huge cause for concern for most Americans. That’s why I’ve encouraged members of Congress to get that briefing so they do know exactly what did take place.” (Read more from “Classified Details of Iran’s Treatment of U.S. Sailors Will Shock Nation” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/hqdefault-7.jpg360480Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-18 03:34:082016-05-18 03:34:08Classified Details of Iran’s Treatment of U.S. Sailors Will Shock Nation
Judicial Watch announced today that it has scheduled the depositions of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, as well as top State Department official Patrick Kennedy, and former State IT employee Bryan Pagliano regarding the creation and operation of Clinton’s non-government email system. The first witness, Lewis A. Lukens, will be deposed on Wednesday, May 18.
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan granted “discovery” to Judicial Watch into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email system. The court noted that “based on information learned during discovery, the deposition of Mrs. Clinton may be necessary.” The discovery arises in a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that seeks records about the controversial employment status of Huma Abedin, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Clinton. The lawsuit, which seeks records regarding the authorization for Abedin to engage in outside employment while employed by the Department of State, was reopened because of revelations about the clintonemail.com system (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-01363)).
The Clinton email witnesses are scheduled to be deposed by Judicial Watch attorneys for as long as seven hours:
May 18 – Lewis A. Lukens, deputy assistant secretary of state and executive director of the State Department’s Executive Secretariat from 2008 to 2011, who emailed with Patrick Kennedy and Cheryl Mills about setting up a computer for Clinton to check her clintonemail.com email account.
May 27 – Cheryl D. Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff throughout her four years as secretary of state.
June 3 – Stephen D. Mull, executive secretary of the State Department from June 2009 to October 2012, who suggested that Clinton be issued a State Department BlackBerry, which would protect her identity and would also be subject to FOIA requests.
June 6 – Bryan Pagliano, State Department Schedule C employee who has been reported to have serviced and maintained the server that hosted the “clintonemail.com” system during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.
June 8 – 30(b)(6) deposition(s) of the State Department regarding the processing of FOIA requests, including Judicial Watch’s FOIA request, for emails of Clinton and Abedin both during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state and after.
June 28 – Huma Abedin, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and a senior advisor to Clinton throughout her four years as secretary of state and also had an email account on clintonemail.com.
June 29 – Patrick F. Kennedy, undersecretary for management since 2007 and the secretary of state’s principal advisor on management issues, including technology and information services.
In a separate FOIA lawsuit concerning Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi terrorist attack, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled Judicial Watch can conduct discovery into the email practices of Clinton and her top aides. Judge Lamberth ordered Judicial Watch to follow up with his court once Judge Sullivan issued his discovery order:
When Judge Sullivan issues a discovery order, the plaintiff shall — within ten days thereafter–file its specific proposed order detailing what additional proposed discovery, tailored to this case, it seeks to have this Court order. Defendant shall respond ten days after plaintiff’s submission.
Judicial Watch filed its discovery plan yesterday with Judge Lamberth.
“This court-order testimony could finally reveal new truths about how Hillary Clinton and the Obama State Department subverted the Freedom of the Information Act,” stated Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton. (For more from the author of “GENTLEMEN, START YOUR SHREDDERS! Schedule of Depositions Revealed in Clinton Email Scandal” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/490504092_1280x792.jpg7921280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-18 03:12:282016-05-18 03:12:28GENTLEMEN, START YOUR SHREDDERS! Schedule of Depositions Revealed in Clinton Email Scandal
The Senate approved Eric Fanning to lead the Army on Tuesday, giving the military branch its first openly gay secretary.
The Senate confirmed Fanning by unanimous consent after his nomination had been held in limbo for months because of a fight over the Guantánamo Bay detention center.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) said Tuesday that he had dropped his hold on Fanning’s nomination because the “clock has run out” for the president to move Guantánamo Bay detainees into the United States . . .
Fanning was previously the acting secretary and undersecretary of the Air Force. The Senate Armed Services Committee, led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), approved Fanning’s nomination in March, and Roberts blocked McCain from bringing up Fanning’s nomination last month.
McCain thanked Roberts for lifting his hold and praised his work on the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which largely holds the line on current Guantanamo Bay restrictions. (Read more from “Senate Approves First Openly Gay Army Secretary” HERE)
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a key provision of the District’s new gun law is probably unconstitutional, ordering D.C. police to stop requiring individuals to show “good reason” to obtain a permit to carry a firearm on the streets of the nation’s capital.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon found that the law violates the “core right of self-defense” granted in the Second Amendment, setting aside arguments from District officials that the regulation is needed to prevent crime and protect the public.
“The enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table,” Leon wrote in a 46-page opinion, quoting a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision in 2008 in another District case that established a constitutional right to keep firearms inside one’s home . . .
Leon’s opinion reignited a running debate over the Second Amendment in the District and its courts; three different judges have come to different conclusions about the law, and gun rights advocates have made the city a main front in battles over gun-control measures. (Read more from “U.S. Judge Strikes Down D.C. Concealed-Carry Gun Law as Probably Unconstitutional” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/maxresdefault-54.jpg7201280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-05-18 01:49:112016-05-18 01:49:11U.S. Judge Strikes Down D.C. Concealed-Carry Gun Law as Probably Unconstitutional
