This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • About That Recent Fire in Los Angeles . . . .

    Last Monday, a vacant building was intentionally torched in Los Angeles. Some homeless people were in it at the time.

    Five of them died.

    The police have a suspect in custody: Johnny Sanchez. Authorities believe he intentionally set the fire with intent to kill.

    Sanchez is a Honduran citizen. He’s 21 years old.

    Sanchez was arrested for illegally crossing the US border in 2012. At the time, Sanchez was released by authorities because he “had no previous criminal history.”

    Instead of being immediately deported to Honduras, Sanchez was placed “under supervision” and ordered to report to authorities regularly. He did – for a while. But he stopped doing that in 2014.

    In January of this year, Sanchez was arrested again – this time on suspicion of domestic violence. He was arrested again twice afterwards on suspicion of drug possession.

    So, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement began deportation proceedings after one of those arrests, right? After all: Sanchez was arrested three times this year for serious crimes, and had also been in violation of the conditions that allowed him to remain in the US (periodic check-in with authorities) for between one and two years.

    Well . . . that would be a “no”.

    Why not, you ask? When asked here’s what ICE had to say:

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement never started the process of deporting him, spokeswoman Virginia Kice said, adding that the reason why was unclear. She told the newspaper it’s ICE policy “to focus on individuals who pose a public safety threat.”

    Sanchez reportedly set the arson fire which killed five Monday after a fight with some of those killed. As noted above, authorities think his intent in setting the fire was to kill.

    Hmm . . . let’s see. Sanchez quit reporting in to authorities as ordered close to 2 years ago, as was required for him to remain in the US. He’d been arrested for domestic violence, and twice had been arrested for drugs, since the beginning of the year. Based on all of that, I’d certainly say Sanchez that damn well did seem to pose a threat to public safety. But apparently ICE felt he didn’t.

    I must have it wrong, though; ICE must have been right about Sanchez not posing a threat to public safety. After all: they apparently didn’t lift a finger when Sanchez was arrested for domestic violence after being “on the lam” for well over a year, then was arrested twice again for serious criminal offenses. But ICE assures us they focus on those illegal immigrants who “pose a public safety threat.” And we know that ICE cares first and foremost about the safety and security of the US public, and that they work tirelessly to protect us.

    I have to wonder, though, if the proverbial “man on the street” would would agree with ICE regarding their hands-off treatment of Sanchez. Or what the next-of-kin of those killed in the fire Sanchez started might say concerning the situation.

     

    (Hopefully the sarcasm in the next to last para of the above was obvious. If it wasn’t, you might want to have your sarcasm detector checked by a competent repair shop.)

  • More Belatedly Come Home

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel.

    From World War II

    • CPL Frederick G. Collins, Jr., 263rd Quartermaster Company, US Army, US Army, was lost in the Philippines on 19 November 1942. He was accounted-for on 7 June 2016.

    From Korea

    • CPL Charles B. Crofts, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 2 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted-for on 7 June 2016.

    • SGT Harold L. Curtis, I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost on 12 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted-for on 8 June 2016.

    • PFC William R. Butz, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 12 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted-for on 8 June 2016.

    Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.

    Rest in peace.  You’re home now.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

     

    (Note: hat-tip to TAH reader chindonya for links to DPAA’s FAQ page and the chart of eligible DNA donors.)

  • So THAT’S What’s Really Causing Global Warming!

    Well, we finally know why the climate is getting hotter, and rivers are drying up.  Per a senior Iranian Imam, it’s you ladies’ fault.  You’re dressing “immodestly”.

    No, I’m not kidding.  Imam Seyyed Youssef Tabatabi-nejad actually made such a statement recently.  Here’s one reference to his recent pronouncement on the subject.  Here’s another.  There are plenty of other published citations to the same sermon.

    So, all you ladies:  start dressing more modestly when you’re out in public.  Think of mankind’s future!  (smile)

    . . .

    Sheesh.  With that kind of ignorant thinking among their supposedly “educated” ruling elite, no wonder the entire region is stuck in the 12th Century.

  • More “Words of Wisdom” About Syria from the State Department

    Well, our “esteemed” Department of State is at it again.  And as usual, they are being “farsighted, and protective of US national interests”.

    Yeah, if you couldn’t tell – that last was sarcasm.

    Apparently a largish number of State Department officials – 51, to be precise – have signed something called a “dissent channel cable”.  This document, apparently intended for the POTUS and his senior advisors, calls for the current        gang of fools in charge      Administration to direct “targeted military action” against the Assad regime in Syria.

    Yeah, that’s the ticket.  More pinprick strikes and/or drone operations.

    I hate to break it to our “esteemed” DoS officials, but that train left the station years ago.

    Back in 2012-2013, we stood by and did nothing at the beginning of the Syrian civil war.  We then gave lip-service and a totally ineffective pittance of support to the then-existent moderate Syrian opposition (and wasted literally hundreds of millions doing so).  As a result, al Qaeda and Daesh co-opted the Syrian opposition; they now own virtually all of it.  There are effectively no freaking Syrian opposition moderates left.

    Moreover, in the last year or two Russia has moved in to Syria big time.  Yeah, that’s right – this Administration’s hesitant, bumbling inaction has allowed Russia to move back into the Middle East directly for pretty much the first time since Egypt kicked them out in the 1970s.  Now, any “targeted military action” against the Syrian government is virtually a lock to involve striking forces belonging to their Russian allies as well.  That wouldn’t have been the case if we hadn’t sat on our hands and scolded at the beginning.

    In short, we’ve fornicated Fido well and thoroughly here.  There are no good solutions left that promote US national interests.

    Don’t believe me on that last?  Well, consider:

    • If we stand by and do nothing, Assad continues to kill off his own people while fighting al Qaeda/Daesh forces – with firm Russian and Iranian support.  Russia will demand compensation for helping, probably in the form of a long-term presence in bases in Syria.  Iran may well do the same.  That’s bad, but it’s also IMO probably the best option we’ve got now.

    • If we intervene with “targeted strikes”, we hit Russian and Iranian forces along with Syrian forces.  The Iranians may well not be able to react.  But does anyone here think the Russians won’t shoot back?  Then, we either go in with both feet or back down.  If we go in with both feet, how does the possibility of “simultaneous war with Russia and Iran” sound?  Is Syria worth that?

    • Even if by some miracle the Russians and Iranians leave, we’re still screwed.  Let’s say we help the Syrian opposition take out the Assad regime, and the Syrian opposition takes over.  That opposition now appears thoroughly dominated by al Qaeda and Daesh.  If you think they’ll willingly let a “moderate regime” friendly to the West take power, you’re naïve as hell.  So backing the Syrian opposition and winning now probably sets up an al Qaeda or Daesh Caliphate in Syria, either immediately or within a couple of years.  (Remember – after the Iranian Revolution, Khomeini didn’t immediately take power.  It took several months for Khomeini to throw out the remaining Iranian moderates under Bakhtiar and Bazargan – who initially held power – and establish his dictatorial theocracy.)

    Anyway:  initially, we had options.  Now, we really have no good options.  So jumping in militarily with both feet – unless we’re willing to conquer and occupy, possibly after fighting a war against both Russia and Iran – makes absolutely no sense at all.

    . . .

    Yeah, the Syrian Civil War is nasty.  Lots of innocents are dying.  But there aren’t any “good guys” left to support that have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning.  We get involved, it’s a lock that all we’ll do is p!ss away more US lives and dollars to no good end.

    We had our chance about 4 years ago to make a difference in Syria.  We screwed up by-the-numbers then, and the chance is no longer there.

    But here, we picked the worst possible course of action. We took actions that destabilized Syria (see “Spring, Arab”) – then failed to follow through, leaving those we encouraged twisting in the wind and leading indirectly to the rise of Daesh. Hell, letting Assad continue to rule Syria with an iron hand would have cost fewer innocents their lives, kept Russia “on the outside looking in”, and likely marginalized Daesh or prevented their formation entirely.

    I’ve maintained all along that we had no “dog in this fight”; that was true IMO from day one. Assad is a true bastard, but many if not all foreseeable potential alternatives and outcomes of his overthrow then were no better for the US. Now, barring a literal miracle all of those alternatives are IMO far worse than his continued rule.

    Sometimes, “Better the Devil ye know . . . . “ is damn good advice.

  • “Follow the Money.”

    We’ve all heard rumors of Clintoon’s . . . interesting financial dealings.  And we’ve heard rumors that her campaign has received money from overseas donors who aren’t US expatriates – which would in general be against US election laws.

    Well, how much are we talking about?  Glad you asked.

    According to Zero Hedge, maybe 20% of her campaign funds – from that liberal democracy called “Saudi Arabia” alone, according to the Saudi Crown Prince.   And that doesn’t include possible other foreign “donations”.

    Well, what about while she was SECSTATE?  Did the Clintoon Foundation receive any foreign donations then that might be questionable during that time frame?

    Glad you asked about that, too.  It seems that the Clintoon Foundation has recently revised its Federal income tax filings for the period 2010 to 2013 three times – with two of those revisions occurring within the past 8 months.

    The last revision was in January of this year.  And it included a curious addition:  a new line of text stating that “All other government grants came from foreign governments.”

    The text appears on each of the 4 years Federal tax returns.  The amount apparently referenced by that line?  Oh, a mere pittance – “only” $17.7M per year.

    Interestingly, while the Clintoon Foundation’s tax filings were updated in January to show the above foreign donations, the Clintoon Foundation website still doesn’t reflect that fact.  Go figure.

    Yeah, nothing to see here, folks.  Just more      apparently corrupt wheeling and dealing        business as usual for the Clintoons.

    Now, maybe I’m just unduly suspicious.  But to me, it certainly sounds like either “pay for play” or “payment for services rendered”.  And I’d love to hear the Clintoon’s explanation regarding the Saudi Crown Prince’s claims.

    Still:  the money is good.  Nice work if you can stomach it I guess.

  • Daesh Inspires Terrorist Attack in France

    In an act of barbarous terrorist violence, two police officers in France were murdered yesterday. Outside his home in Magnanville, northwest of Paris, a 42-year-old policeman was stabbed to death by Larossi Abballa, 25.

    Abballa then went inside and took a 36-year-old female policewoman (the slain policeman’s “partner”, per news articles) and their 3-year-old son hostage.

    Abballa later slit the policewoman’s throat. He was killed in a raid that terminated the incident. The 3-year-old was not physically harmed, but is described as being “in shock”.

    Abballa was known to French LE as a criminal, having spent 2+ years in French jails. He’d also recently been investigated in connection with a network recruiting jihadists to fight in Syria. However, though recently under surveillance Abballa had reportedly given French authorities no reason to believe he was planning an attack.

    At the time of the attack, Abballa was also apparently carrying a “hit list” of persons to be targeted. The list reportedly consisted primarily of police, journalists, and rappers.

    Abballa told negotiators during the incident that he was responding to a call by Daesh leadership to “kill infidels, at home, with their families.” But I guess this must just have been a reaction to French “police brutality”. After all: it can’t possibly have been a terrorist act perpetrated by a radical Islamic extremist in an attempt to expand the Ummah.

  • DPAA Accounts for Three More

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel.

    From World War II

    • PVT Evans E. Overbey, 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group, US Army Air Forces, US Army, was lost in the Philippines on 19 November 1942.  He was accounted-for on 1 June 2016.

    From Korea

    • SGT Bailey Keeton, D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 2 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted-for on 2 June 2016.

    From Southeast Asia

    • Col. Patrick H. Wood, Detachment 5, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, USAF, was lost on 6 February 1967 in Vietnam. He was accounted-for on 27 May 2016.

    Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.

    You’re home now.  Rest in peace.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains.  The chart giving the answer can be viewed here.  The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

     

    (Note:  hat-tip to TAH reader chindonya for links to DPAA’s FAQ page and the chart of eligible DNA donors.)

  • Yet More ObamaPhone “Good News”

    I’ve written previously about the “Lifeline” program, AKA “ObamaPhones”.   Short version:  the program today is poorly conceived, badly run, and rife with fraud.  You can see my previous articles about it here and here.

    Well, here’s some more news about Lifeline.  And as before – if you pay taxes or pay for your own phone service – and thus pay for stupid crap like this – the recent news concerning the program kinda . . . sucks.

    For those who might not be familiar:  “Lifeline” provides subsidies so that “low income” households can have a phone for emergency essential communications.  The program is theoretically limited to one phone per “independent economic household (IEH)”.

    When the program was landline-only, that was fairly easy to enforce.  Then in 2005, cell phones were allowed under the program.

    Now, Stevie Wonder could have seen that was a bad idea from a fraud perspective.  But the program was changed to allow cells anyway.

    Theoretically, Lifeline enrollees are still required to give a valid address.  Also theoretically, multiple enrollments at the same address are a “no go”.  Except . . . they’re not, really.

    You see, telecom companies are allowed to “override” the IEH (e.g., one subscriber per address) requirement.  The override is designed to be used for places like homeless shelters, where conceivably multiple persons who qualify might reside.

    However, recent reporting from telecom companies participating in indicates that over 1/3 of Lifeline subscribers last year used this “override” – e.g., a second (or third/fourth/fifth/whatever) line at an address already having a Lifeline subscriber.  And there’s no telling how many more covert fraudulent ones were issued (multiple subscribers in one household, but not all using their actual residence address on their application).

    There is no way in hell all of those overrides were legit.  I’d be surprised if even 2% of them were.

    It gets even better.  In one company’s case – Total Call Mobile – 99.8% of their Lifeline subscribers were approved using the override (the overall average was 35+%).  Yeah, Total Call Mobile is the same company that recently got fined $51M by the FCC for program violations – and as I noted here, likely still came out nearly $40M ahead on the deal.  Nice gig if you can stomach the work, I guess.

    Further, employees at Total Call Mobile said they learned how to do that from employees at other companies participating in the program.  So some of the other Lifeline providers are doubtless doing the same, albeit certainly not on the same scale.

    The aggregate cost of this apparent fraud to taxpayers?  Try around $476M annually – or nearly half a billion dollars.  And that’s likely a low estimate.

    The Washington Examiner and Washington Free Beacon each have recent articles describing this latest Obamaphone fishiness.  They’re worthwhile reading, even if they might turn your stomach.

    We need to make major changes to this fraud-filled abomination of a Federal program.  IMO it needs to go back to landline-only – pronto.