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

Category: “Your Tax Dollars At Work”

  • “Toby Miles”, You Got Some ‘Splainin’ To Do

    In fact, it looks like “Toby Miles” could well be in big trouble.

    What, you don’t recognize the name?  Well, don’t feel bad.  That’s by design.

    That was the name used for the third email account Lois Lerner used to conduct “official business” while executing her politically-driven hatchet work at the IRS.  The IRS apparently “just realized that” while responding judge’s order to turn documents related to Lerner over to Judicial Watch .

    The Washington Times has a good article on this bit of new news.  It’s IMO worth a read.

  • Doesn’t Pass the “Smell Test”

    Well, the Army’s drawdown is underway.  And even decorated heroes aren’t immune.

    It seems that at least one 11-year Special Forces Sergeant First Class and bona fide decorated hero is being forced out.  His name is SFC Charles Martland.

    He’s been described by former teammates as “the finest soldier they have ever served alongside”.  He was awarded a Bronze Star with V-Device for combat heroism in Afghanistan.  He was runner-up for 2014 Special Warfare Training Group Instructor of the Year.

    But it seems Martland’s records went before a recent Quality Management Program review board.  His file apparently contained a bad evaluation – a “Relief for Cause” evaluation, to be precise.  He was selected for elimination by the board, and he’s being forced out.

    What did Martland do to get relieved for cause?  Well, I’ll tell you.

    Martland’s team was engaged in training Afghan police.  However, while doing that they discovered that one of the “fine individuals” they were training was also a child rapist and a woman-beater.

    Specifically, the SF team supporting the training discovered that that individual had raped a 12-year-old Afghan boy.  The boy’s mother brought her son to the SF detachment for medical care.  When he was examined, the rape was discovered.

    The individual found out that his crime had been discovered.  He then located the boy’s mother beat her for exposing his crime.

    Martland and his team leader afterwards confronted the rapist about what he’d done.  When they confronted the rapist, that “fine individual” told them essentially that it was no big deal – and then laughed in their faces.

    At that point, Martland and his team leader physically shoved the rapist and woman-beater; he fell to the ground.  The rapist was bruised, but otherwise unhurt – unfortunately.  I’d personally be OK with the bastard having ceased consuming oxygen at that point.

    However, the low life bastard afterwards apparently reported the confrontation to other US authorities.  This ultimately led to Martland and his team leader being relieved.

    Yes, you read that correctly.  They were relieved of duty because they confronted a child rapist and woman-beating low-life bastard without seriously injuring or killing him.

    Sorry, but that doesn’t make any freaking sense.  Wrong?  Perhaps technically.  But also IMO completely understandable.  Hell – in my book, if anything those two should have been commended for keeping their anger in check and not summarily killing the bastard on the spot.

    Martland’s team leader opted to leave the Army some time ago.  However, Martland stayed in the Army instead.

    But now he’s getting pitched.

    Fox News has further details here. You should read the linked article.

    But maybe you should wait until later to read it if you’re having high blood pressure issues right now.

  • INF Treaty Issues

    Back in 1987, the USSR and the USA signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. This treaty banned either nation from having or developing conventional and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km.

    While both signatories have periodically expressed displeasure with the treaty’s limitations, until 2011 each party generally seemed to be in compliance. However, in 2011 Russia (which accepted the treaty’s obligations on the inheriting the former-USSR’s nuclear arsenal after breakup of the USSR) apparently began violating the INF Treaty by conducting development associated with at least two weapons systems: the SS-25 and the SS-26.

    The current Administration disclosed this violation to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in 2012. But they didn’t make any details regarding the violation public at the time.  In fact, it also seems that the Administration “neglected” to brief NATO on the matter until either late 2013 or early 2014 – and only briefed NATO  after the press reported the Russian violation in late 2013.

    Seems to me that NATO would have a great interest in this issue, and would want to know the details.  And you’d think we’d brief our NATO allies posthaste on something that important to their security, too.  But I guess not.

    In mid-2014, the current Administration finally accused Russia of violating the treaty.  However, ever since they’ve apparently continued to refuse further public disclosure of details – including sitting on a report recently prepared by DoD analyzing the treaty breach.  Per Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, that DoD report is currently “tied up in the White House”.  The Administration says it hasn’t released the report because it is “classified”.

    Um . . . yeah. I’m thinking the delay and obfuscation here regarding discussing the matter – and releasing DoD’s report – is more because the report is politically embarrassing to the Administration.  I’m guessing that report shows very clearly just how Russia thumbed its nose at the USA by a supine, spineless Administration regarding the INF treaty and got away with it.  But I guess I could be wrong.

    Regardless:  if I were to place a bet, I’d bet we see these details about the time we see those on proposed the Iran nuclear deal.  Both are just textbook examples of that “openness” promised us by the “most transparent Administration in history”.

  • An IRS Scandal Update

    Remember Lois Lerner? You know, that former IRS Executive who appears to have overseen the IRS’s politically-biased treatment of nonprofits – the one where conservative groups faced roadblocks while liberal ones got priority consideration?

    It’s been a while since TAH had an article about the IRS.  So here’s an update.

    I’m not going to rehash past articles here.  If you need or would like a refresher, use the site’s search features with the search string “Lerner IRS email” (no quotes necessary).  There are a number of articles, so allow some time to read them; I’d recommend a 15-30 min.

    1.  We now have a good idea of what happened to her hard drive. Yes, it indeed appears to have been destroyed – apparently on 16 April 2012.

    2.  The drive appears to have quit working between 5PM and 7PM in Lerner’s office on Saturday, 11 June 2011.  Reputedly, a forensic technician examined it prior to destruction and found scoring on the top platter, likely due to an impact.  The laptop itself showed no sign of damage.  Data recovery was not attempted at the time.

    3.  It turns out that the IRS also had another system available for internal communications – a system on which messages were NOT at the time archived, and which was known to have been available for use (and used by personnel from) by the IRS division Lerner headed.   That system was Microsoft’s Office Communications Server, or OCS – an instant messaging (chat) system.

    4.  We also nave this quite interesting email from Lerner about email and instant messaging use.  From the link in item 3 above:

    However, in an email uncovered by the Committee Lerner warns her colleagues about evading Congressional oversight:

    “I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails – so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails.”

    Lerner then asks whether OCS is automatically archived. When informed it was not, Lerner responded “Perfect.”

    5.  Finally, documents from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, when the IRS looked for Lerner’s 24,000 “missing” emails from 2009-2011 . . . the initial search was quite obviously less than thorough and comprehensive.  Five out of six possible locations for the missing data apparently were not initially searched.

    6. Oh, and GAO says that it’s possible the IRS may still be targeting conservative nonprofit groups.

    . . .

    Yeah, it looks to me like there might just be s a damn good reason Lerner “took the Fifth” when she was subpoenaed to testify before Congress about this.  Concerning the activities described and linked above . . . well, for some reason the terms “obstruction” and “stonewall” keep coming to mind.

    But maybe that’s just me.

    That’s the latest from the “Most Transparent Administration in History.”  Wonder what’s next?

  • Yeah, That REALLY Makes Sense

    Well, it appears that the current       group of fools and tools running things in DC     Administration has a solution to the problem of American citizens being kidnapped by terrorists.

    To help ensure the safety of Americans overseas, they’re going to allow families to pay ransoms to the terrorist if they so desire. And, better yet – they’ll facilitate the families doing so.

    No, I’m not joking. I’m dead serious.

    Yeah, that will really discourage terrorist organizations like ISIS and al Shabaab from targeting Americans. And it will really ensure that all unfortunate enough to be kidnapped get returned safely.

    Sheesh. Does anyone in this Administration have a freaking scrap of common sense? Or a single vertebra in their spine?

  • A Green “Fantasy” Come to Life

    Here, let me run a fantasy by you.

    . . .

    The story begins, and the hero is on the town council of a small New England town. The town’s electricity bills are killing them.

    The hero decides they’ll go solar. Notwithstanding the fact that New England isn’t exactly a primo location for solar because of its environment – no place that gets less than 200 sunny days annually is, exactly – solar is trendy and popular.  And hey:  the town might be able to get some help if they sell it just right.

    In fact, the town decides to ask for a $1.2+ million grant.  Who cares if it will only save $500,000 over the life of the project?  And who cares if the project will be owned by an overseas company – or if other citizens of the state will end up eating the cost?

    Later:  well, whaddaya know?  The hero’s plan worked!  They pulled it off!

    The town conned the Public Utility Commission into coughing up the grant, and found some foreign company willing to bite.  And they’ll save some money – by making everyone else in the state pay extra to subsidize their power!

    And they’re also saving the planet from global warming to boot.  Hooray!

    . . .

    That fantasy kinda sucks, doesn’t it? Yeah, I agree.

    Except is isn’t a fantasy. The above actually happened in Peterborough, NH – a town of less than 6,300 people.

    Watchdog.org has an article giving the details. It’s worth a read – unless you’re worried about your blood pressure.

  • Yet More Secret Service Follies

    Well, the Secret Service is yet again in the news. And as has been the recent norm – it hasn’t been in the news in a good way.

    First: it appears that one of the Secret Service agents working a First Lady event got a bit . . . randy using his phone recently. It apparently happened on his “own time”, but he’s still on admin leave while this is sorted out.

    And, second: apparently security clearances at the Secret Service are either thought to be unimportant or are treated somewhat carelessly. It seems that uncleared agents have been present at the White House lately – including at recent meetings involving classified information.

    The linked articles (both from Fox) give more details. The first is IMO kinda “meh”. The second isn’t, and points out a serious issue that needs fixing.

    I guess this means the “new” Secret Service chief is having a wee bit of trouble turning things around. Or maybe it means he’s simply OK with the current status quo.

  • So, NOAA Says There’s No “Global Warming Pause”?

    Well, if that’s the case . . . I’m confused. Because there’s this, too. According to data from the US National Snow and Ice Detection Center,

    Sea ice extent in Antarctica last month set a new record high for the month of May, according to data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

    The article goes on to say that sea ice around Antarctica has been increasing at the rate of 2.9% per decade since 1981.

    So, let me get this straight: global warming is causing record sea ice around Antarctica during the southern hemisphere’s late fall. And that constant global warming – remember, NOAA said yesterday that the nearly 2-decade pause observed during the last 2 decades is a myth – has caused sea ice coverage around Antarctica to grow at a rate of 2.9% per year for the last 3 decades.  Plus, Arctic sea ice levels seem to be about where they were 10 years ago – in spite of that “constant man-made global warming” that NOAA says is happening.

    Yeah, all that really makes a lot of sense to me.  Shoot, it looks to me that if this global warming stuff keeps up long enough the entire southern hemisphere will be iced over!

    Looks like someone’s got some ‘splainin’ to do.  Or perhaps some more “data adjusting”.  (I’m guessing the latter could be just around the corner.)

    Global warming, eh? Riiiiight.