More than one person likely was involved in the slayings of four people who were held captive inside a Washington, D.C., mansion until $40,000 was delivered last week, authorities revealed Friday.
Daron Dylon Wint, a welder with a criminal record of assaults who once worked for the mansion’s owner, has been charged with murder. But authorities said they believe he did not act alone: A court document made public Friday said they believe the crimes “required the presence and assistance of more than one person.”
Savvas Savopoulos, 46; his wife Amy, 47, and their housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57, died from “blunt force and sharp force trauma.” The couple’s 10-year-old son, Philip, died of “thermal and sharp force injuries.” All four bodies were found by firefighters after a flammable liquid was spread around the home and set ablaze.
“The crimes described in this affidavit required the presence and assistance of more than one person,” said a court document made public Friday.
The document also confirms that thousands of dollars were delivered to the mansion before it was set on fire. Firefighters found all four bodies inside; three of them had been stabbed or bludgeoned. (Read more from “Court Affidavit: Suspect in DC Quadruple Murder Did Not Act Alone” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-23 01:40:182016-04-11 11:00:50Court Affidavit: Suspect in DC Quadruple Murder Did Not Act Alone
The new Republican-led Congress is drawing harsh reviews from the public – including most Republicans. Just 23% of Americans say congressional Republicans are keeping the promises they made during last fall’s campaign, while 65% say they are not.
Nearly four-in-ten (37%) say the new Congress has accomplished less than they expected, while 4% say it has accomplished more than expected. About half (53%) say its accomplishments are in line with what they expected.
On both measures, the public’s views are far more negative than they were of the Democratic-led Congress in March 2007, after the Democrats regained control of both chambers following several years of Republican control. Views are also much more negative than they were in April 1995, shortly after the GOP had gained control of the House and Senate for the first time in four decades.
Photo Credit: Pew Research Center
The new national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted May 12-18 among 2,002 adults, finds that just 22% approve of the job performance of Republican congressional leaders, little changed since the summer of 2011. Ratings for Democratic congressional leaders are somewhat better (33% approve).
Unlike after some previous partisan turnovers on Capitol Hill, negative assessments of the new Congress now cross party lines. Today, just 41% of Republicans approve of the job their party’s leaders in Congress are doing. By comparison, in April 2011, 60% of Republicans approved of GOP leaders’ job performance and in April 1995, 78% approved of GOP leadership’s policies and proposals. (Read more from “Negative Views of New Congress Cross Party Lines” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:54:432016-04-11 11:00:51Unprecedented Disgust with DC: Negative Views of New Congress Now Cross Party Lines
By Douglas Earnst. The Boy Scouts of America, an organization with semi-military origins, has put out approved activities for its members, and water gun fights are strictly prohibited.
A blog for the organization’s leaders said May 6 that pointing simulated firearms at people is not allowed.
“Why the rule? A Scouter once told me this explanation I liked quite a bit: A Scout is kind. What part of pointing a firearm [simulated or otherwise] at someone is kind?” said Bryan Wendell on the scouting website
The rule is clarified in the Boy Scouts of America National Shooting Manual, which says “For water balloons, use small, biodegradable balloons, and fill them no larger than a ping pong ball. […] Water guns and rubber band guns must only be used to shoot at targets, and eye protection must be worn.”
The manual includes a lengthy list of other prohibited items — boomerangs, crossbows, potato guns, spear guns and throwing stars. Scouts also may not use “marshmallow shooters that require placing a straw or similar device in the mouth.” (Read more from “Boy Scouts of America Bans Water Gun Fights; ‘Pointing a Firearm’ Is Not Kind” HERE)
Fox Host: Boy Scouts Ban On Water Guns Is ‘Emasculating’ Future CIA Agents
By Ahiza Garcia. A Fox News co-host said on Wednesday that a Boy Scouts ban on water guns and limitation on the size of water balloons was proof that boys were being emasculated.
“Outnumbered” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is married to former MTV “Real World” star and current Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), said the ban would have an effect on future generations of America’s spies and soldiers.
“If we keep emasculating our boys and not letting boys be boys,” Campos-Duffy said, “how are we gonna raise the next generation of hardcore CIA operatives, Navy SEALS?”
“That was a very nice, unloaded question,” former CIA officer and “One Lucky Guy,” Mike Baker said.
Baker ultimately agreed with Campos-Duffy. (Read more from “Boy Scouts of America Bans Water Gun Fights; ‘Pointing a Firearm’ Is Not Kind” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:54:252016-04-11 11:00:52Boy Scouts of America Bans Water Gun Fights; ‘Pointing a Firearm’ Is Not Kind
As a result, the Arizona Department of Economic Security will drop at least 1,600 families – including more than 2,700 children – from the state’s federally funded welfare program on July 1, 2016.
The cuts of at least $4 million reflect a prevailing mood among the lawmakers in control in Arizona that welfare, Medicaid and other public assistance programs are crutches that keep the poor from getting back on their feet and achieving their potential.
Arizona state Sen. Kelli Ward, a co-sponsor of the bill, was on “Fox and Friends” to explain the decision. She said that it wasn’t a popular move, but it was a necessary one. (Read more from “Arizona Slashes Welfare Lifetime Limit from 24 Months to 1 Year” HERE)
There is no denying that Conservative Review has been critical of GOP, but today there is good reason to report that House Republican leadership has actually passed a strong spending bill.
On Tuesday, the House passed the annual spending bill (FY 2016) appropriating funds for the legislative branch of government, and they have once again kept the level of spending flat. The bill would appropriate $3.3 billion for the House of Representatives and all of the legislative agencies. When coupled with the Senate’s own budget bill expected to pass later this year, the House bill will bring the total budget for the entire legislative branch of government to roughly $4.3 billion.
Accordingly, the entire cost of the legislative branch of government represents just .001% of total federal spending, projected to top $3.9 trillion next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
It’s important to note this budget is not only paying for the members of Congress and their staff; it includes all of the investigative and research agencies as well as other positions, such as the Capitol Police. Here is a breakdown of the legislative branch’s budget for some key offices:
House of Representatives: $1.81 Billion
Senate: $1 billion
Capitol Police: $369 million
Congressional Budget Office: $47 million
Architect of Capitol: $494 million
Library of Congress: $591 million
Congressional Research Service: $107 million
Government Accountability Office: $522 million
While there is always wasteful spending to root out in any budget, most seem to agree that this is close to the minimum budget required to operate the legislative branch. Which leads to the real salient question: how is it that the most constitutionally grounded branch of government – the one that represents the people – commands just .001% of the federal budget? The Executive Branch dwarfs the legislative branch in spending by a ratio of 907:1. Even the Judiciary Branch has a bigger budget than Congress, at $6.9 billion.
Consider this: the budget for the Department of Agriculture was $141 billion in 2014, which is 33 times the size of the entire legislative branch; the budget for the Department of Education was $59.6 billion, which is 14 times the size of Congress. And remember, the entirety of Article I in the Constitution is dedicated to the legislative branch, while some of these executive departments and agencies are, shall we say, post-constitutional. The Department of Commerce is slated to receive $8.1 billion for the next fiscal year. The DOC was without a cabinet-level secretary at its helm for an entire year (June 2012- June2013) and nobody even noticed. The EPA, which is just an independent agency (not a full department), costs twice as much as the entire legislative branch of government.
There is something wrong with this picture. How can members of Congress ever have the time and resources to properly engage in oversight over this leviathan?
It is no wonder then Congress has abdicated so much authority to the executive branch over the past few decades. The legislative branch lacks the expertise and resources to keep up with the daily unconstitutional power grabs of the executive agencies.
When the executive branch grows so large that the people’s representatives can no longer exercise proper oversight, that in itself is a sign that the recent model of governance has gone off the rails. The only solution is to downsize the scope of the executive branch to its constitutional mandates, freeing up the people’s representatives to focus on the core missions of government. (Read more from “1 Chart Shows Why Congress Can’t Control Government” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:53:402016-04-11 11:00:52This Single Chart Shows Why Congress Can’t Control Government [+video]
Photo Credit: Quartz Ever since privately owned freight railroads were freed by Congress in 1970 from their public service obligation to operate unprofitable intercity passenger trains—a law that created publicly owned Amtrak—a debate has raged in the US over how much passenger rail service is enough, how fast passenger trains should travel, why passenger trains aren’t profitable, and who should provide the subsidy that keeps them afloat.
Amtrak loses money, as do all rail passenger systems across the globe. . .
While government subsidies keep Amtrak trains running, those sums perennially fall short of fully satisfying Amtrak’s capital-investment needs—like the purchase of new locomotives and passenger cars, plus renewal of track, signals, bridges, and stations.
Among some 500 bridges that along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, DC, and Boston—each a century or more old, and requiring extensive rehabilitation—is one spanning New Jersey’s Hackensack River. It needs a $1.5 billion replacement. New tunnels under the Hudson River to replace 115-year-old twin bores come with a $13.5 billion price tag. Another $1.2 billion is required to replace a 142-year-old tunnel under Baltimore. Overhead catenary delivering electricity to trains dates to the 1930s. New safety systems, which might have prevented the Philadelphia fatal derailment and which are nearing completion along the NEC’s entire length, have siphoned substantial, scarce, dollars. . .
The reason money-losing long-distance trains continue to operate is that the economic arguments for eliminating them fails the political test. Once the good folks of a given state or city lose their once-daily, long-distance train, the congressional lawmakers representing those souls are less likely to allocate tax dollars to the NEC, which still needs those subsidies for capital expenditures. (Read more from “Yes, Amtrak Train Was Sabotaged–by Congress” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:53:012016-04-11 11:00:52Yes, Amtrak Train Was Sabotaged – by Congress
Photo Credit: Cliff Owen FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday that could complicate efforts to keep key parts of the law operating.
Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.
The FBI did finally come up with procedures to try to minimize the information it was gathering on nontargets, but it took far too long, Mr. Horowitz said in the 77-page report, which comes just as Congress is trying to decide whether to extend, rewrite or entirely nix Section 215.
Backers say the Patriot Act powers are critical and must be kept intact, particularly with the spread of the threat from terrorists. But opponents have doubted the efficacy of Section 215, particularly when it’s used to justify bulk data collection such as in the case of the National Security Agency’s phone metadata program, revealed in leaks from former government contractor Edward Snowden.
The new report adds ammunition to those opponents, with the inspector general concluding that no major cases have been broken by use of the Patriot Act’s records-snooping provisions. (Read more from “FBI Admits No Major Cases Cracked With Patriot Act Snooping Powers” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:52:522016-04-11 11:00:52FBI Admits No Major Cases Cracked With Patriot Act Snooping Powers
Billionaire Donald Trump continues to tease a potential presidential run.
Appearing on Fox News Wednesday evening, Trump reiterated he will announce in June what his intentions are in regards to 2016.
“I’m gearing up and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said on “The Kelly File.”
The “Apprentice” star said he wants to make America “great again.”
“I want to make the country great again,” he said. “This country is a hellhole. We are going down fast.” (Read more from “Donald Trump: This Country Is a Hell Hole” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-22 01:52:222016-04-11 11:00:53Donald Trump: “This Country Is a Hell Hole”
A manhunt is under way after a Hancock County [Mississippi] Sheriff’s Department deputy was saved by his dog from an ambush attack by three men.
The deputy, Todd Frazier, was beaten and cut with a box cutter in Pearlington on Monday, Sheriff Ricky Adam said. If it wasn’t for his K9 partner, a black Belgian Malinois named Lucas, they might have succeeded.
[Deputy Frazier had stopped to check on a car that was parked at a rest stop and was ambushed by three people]
“They told him they were going to slit his throat, and they were dragging him toward the woods,” Chief Deputy Don Bass said, adding that authorities believe the attackers meant to drag Frazier into the woods, kill him, and dump his body. . .
“The three of them were dragging him toward the wooded area, and he was able to break one hand free to activate the [remote control] button that opens the door and it released Lucas,” Bass said.
The dog bit at least one, probably two of the suspects, potentially saving the officer’s life. . .”We don’t know how many he got, we just know he had blood all over him,” Adam said. (Read more from “Heroic K-9 Saves Officer From Brutal Roadside Ambush” HERE)
The last time the Air Force’s super secretive X-37B space plane launched, it didn’t come down until almost two years later–674 days to be exact. On Wednesday, it launched again, and was scheduled to stay in orbit for 270 days. Or maybe more.
No one knows for sure because the largely classified project is shrouded in mystery. The Air Force will only say that it will test a new, experimental thruster. The rocket carrying the space craft will also deliver a small satellite that would fly using a “solar sail.” But the broader mission of the Boeing-made X-37B, which looks like a miniature version of a the space shuttle, is not publicly known.
Space has become an increasingly important part of national security, a realm the Pentagon and the intelligence community is keenly focused on. And the ability to keep an unmanned space craft that could circle the Earth for months at a time and then land on an airstrip so that it could be used again could have all kinds of potential, from keeping an eye on the weather as well as the enemy.
“Space is so vitally important to everything we do,” Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space and Missile Systems Center, said in a recent statement. “Secure comms, ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], missile warning, weather prediction, precision navigation and timing all rely on it, and the domain is increasingly contested.”
In Congressional testimony last month, Air Force Lt. Gen John Raymond said that space has become a “warfighting domain,” and he warned that other countries, particularly, China and Russia, “remain concerns for us as we assess threats in the space domain.” Officials have said the countries have the ability to blind satellites with lasers or blow them up with missiles. (Read more from “The Mystery Behind the Air Force’s Classified Space Plane” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-21 00:53:072016-04-11 11:00:55The Mystery Behind the Air Force’s Classified Space Plane
