Author Archive: Stephen Green
November 10, 2017
RETENTION BLUES: Air Force Pilot Shortage Climbs to 2K Pilots, General Says.
As the final numbers were tallied for fiscal 2017, leaders said they weren’t surprised at the number of vacancies.
“Last summer, we were reporting to people that we were about 1,500 pilots short in the Air Force — and we expected it to get worse,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon.
“Almost 2,000 pilots short of a force that has 20,000 pilots, so that’s one in 10 that we’re short,” Wilson said, alongside Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.
More flight hours, less PC BS.
SENATOR SPEAK WITH FORKED TONGUE: Warren Backpedals After Twice Calling Democratic Primaries ‘Rigged.’
Warren told MassLive.com on Wednesday that she believes the allegations in former acting Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile’s new book, but said while the allegations showed “bias” in Hillary Clinton’s favor, the primaries did not rise to the level of being “rigged.”
“While there was some bias at the DNC, the overall 2016 primary process was fair and Hillary made history,” she said.
A week earlier, the senator was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether she agreed with Brazile’s allegation that the process was “rigged” in Clinton’s favor. “Yes,” she answered simply.
Later that same day, Warren was asked on PBS’ “NewsHour” if the DNC’s actions meant “the election was rigged.”
“I think it was,” Warren responded.
Maybe she just believes it wasn’t rigged-rigged.
HEATHER WILHELM: Gun Control and Magical Thinking.
Based on existing federal gun laws, Kelley’s record made him officially ineligible to buy firearms. But the Air Force failed to submit his records into the federal background-check database, allowing him to purchase the guns used in this weekend’s rampage.
Folks, that’s an unacceptable “oops.” It also isn’t an isolated incident of negligence. This week, questions have arisen about the military’s reporting system when it comes to domestic-violence cases. Meanwhile, in an interview after the shooting, Texas senator Ted Cruz noted that in 2010 alone, “48,000 felons and fugitives lied and illegally tried to purchase guns. [The government] prosecuted only 44 of them.”
Washington must learn to enforce the gun laws they already have before we let them have any new ones.
I WOULD CERTAINLY HOPE SO: Excessively large laser is key to creating gamma ray sources.
One small correction: It is impossible for a laser to be excessively large.
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Moore Allegations, RUSSIA Update and Much, Much More.
Fox News recently reported on a meeting between Fusion GPS and Veselnitskaya:
The co-founder of Fusion GPS, the firm behind the unverified Trump dossier, met with [Veselnitskaya] before and after a key meeting she had last year with Trump’s son, Fox News has learned. The contacts shed new light on how closely tied the firm was to Russian interests, at a time when it was financing research to discredit then-candidate Donald Trump.
The opposition research firm has faced renewed scrutiny after litigation revealed that the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid for that research. Congressional Republicans have since questioned whether that politically financed research contributed to the FBI’s investigation of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign – making Fusion’s 2016 contacts with Russian interests all the more relevant.
“The ‘Russian lawyer’ who finagled a meeting with Donald Trump, Jr. evidently wasn’t supposed to be in the country,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We want to know what the Obama Justice Department knew and when it knew about what Ms. Veselniskava was up to.”
“No good” is the easy answer, but I do wish Congress were investigating more effectively since we can no longer trust our counterintelligence outfit at the FBI.
HMM: 19 Reasons This “Survival” Story Smells Fishy.
Those two are named Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava, and their story has been everywhere recently. Here’s their account of what happened, in brief:
They set off from Hawaii in May of this year, bound for Tahiti. They were caught in a storm that both ruined their engine and rendered their mast and sails useless. They were unable to contact help. They drifted for five months, living off of dry food and a handheld watermaker (takes the salt out of seawater so you can drink it) until they were rescued by a fishing boat and, eventually, the Navy.
Now here’s how much of their story makes sense:
They left Hawaii in May. They were rescued five months later by the Navy.
That’s it. That’s the only portion of their story that has even a shred of credibility to it. Now, I’m not going to speculate as to their motives yet, but I will point out that the world of open-water sailing is an obscure one to most people. I am one of a small minority to have spent a lot of time sailing on the open ocean, out of sight of land for months at a time. So I don’t blame journalists for not catching these things at first sight. But that’s why I’m here to explain them to you.
They did appear awfully healthy in the rescue pictures, but I attributed that to the amount of food they claimed to have had on board.
SECURITY THEATER: TSA fails most tests in latest undercover operation at US airports.
When ABC News asked the source if the failure rate was 80 percent, the response was, “You are in the ballpark.”
In a public hearing after a private classified briefing to the House Committee on Homeland Security, members of Congress called the failures by the Transportation Security Administration disturbing.
Rep. Mike Rogers went as far as to tell TSA Administrator David Pekoske, “This agency that you run is broken badly, and it needs your attention.”
It isn’t broken. TSA is doing exactly what it was designed to do: Create the illusion that Washington is Doing Something.
SO NOW WHAT? Syria declares victory over Islamic State.
The army and its allies are still fighting Islamic State in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the militant group had held in Syria, near the border with Iraq, the army said.
But the capture of the town ends Islamic State’s era of territorial rule over the so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across Iraq and Syria and in which millions suffered under its hardline, repressive strictures.
Yet after ferocious defensive battles in its most important cities this year, where its fighters bled for every house and street, its final collapse has come with lightning speed.
And now begins the more subtle task of getting Iran out of Syria — and Lebanon, and perhaps even Iraq. The Israelis and Saudis are already at work on Lebanon.
November 9, 2017
RICHARD FERNANDEZ: The Big Switch.
James Bloodworth in the left-of-center Independent noticed the exchange of roles too. “In the past decade or so some progressives have found themselves – either through political expediency or something worse – on the side of the far-right. … The result … has been an anti-war movement working enthusiastically with those advocating the murder of homosexuals, a left-wing Mayor of London embracing a man who said Adolf Hitler had been sent by Allah to punish the Jews, and a group set up ostensibly to oppose fascism warmly welcoming religious fascists into its own ranks.”
‘Tis witchcraft. The populists now have the working class. The Western progressives rule at all the kingly courts: in Hollywood, the media, elite universities, in Washington and Brussels. Today social justice means government, regulation, constant nudging, endless investigations of suspicious sexual activity and and an unblinking cross-examination of anyone in contact with Russia.
Who could have predicted it.
Read the whole thing.
21ST CENTURY HEADLINES AND/OR NEWS YOU CAN USE: You Can Now Get a Groupon for Your STD Tests.
IT’S DIFFERENT WHEN THEY DO IT: Obama, Clinton Have Long History of Meddling in Foreign Elections.
CARL ARBOGAST: Observe How The Media Describes Stephen Willeford’s Firearm Vs. Devin Kelley.
Notice what Willeford is using? A rifle. A gun.
What they don’t tell you is Willeford used an AR-15. That’s right. One of those “military-style assault weapons” they’re always crowing about.
Do you see how it is? Nearly every story about Kelley talked about the type of gun he used and naturally, the stories were punctuated by describing the gun as “military style” and an “assault weapon.” But Willeford just used a gun. Or a rifle.
Here’s a Google search of “Devin Kelley military style” and just look at the host of stories that come up describing his rifle that way.
Should we expect anything different from the press?
Nope.
SHOT: The resistance to Trump is blossoming – and building a movement to last.
Literally wiping the tears from my eyes. This is so funny. OMG. #WailingWankers pic.twitter.com/tApBJKYv7q
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 9, 2017
HANGOVER:
On a long enough timeline, every Simpsons gag becomes reality.
LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuela inches closer to a formal default.
Venezuela and PDVSA are legally separate entities, so PDVSA’s default would not trigger Venezuelan CDS or a Venezuelan sovereign default. But there are myriad other overdue interest payments by both borrowers, and unless the money appears soon then Venezuela will be in formal default on all its international bonds.
Venezuela has summoned bondholders for negotiations in Caracas on November 13, but the talks are expected to yield little. Indeed, US investors will be wary of even attending, given that the person leading the Venezuelan side of the talks, vice-president Tareck El Aissami, has been sanctioned by the US Treasury as an alleged drug smuggler.
None of the big rating agencies have formally declared a default yet, but S&P Global Ratings on Monday lowered the country’s rating to CC, the second-lowest rung possible, and said there was a 50 per cent chance of a default within three months.
TANGENTIALLY RELATED: Venezuela Constituent Assembly Cracks Down On Media.
Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly has approved a law its authors say would punish messages of hate in broadcast and social media with penalties reaching 20 years in prison.
The new law comes in a period of rising political tensions over the rule of socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
The Assembly, created by Maduro in July and mainly composed of his supporters, bans any message transmitted through radio, television or social media that instigates hate. The new law is designed to encourage “broadcast message aimed at promoting peace, tolerance, equality and respect,” according to the legislation, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Or else.
BRIDGET JOHNSON: Chilling ISIS Vow to Kill Kids.
HMM: Monopoly critics decry ‘Amazon amendment.’
The amendment, Section 801 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), would help Amazon establish a tight grip on the lucrative, $53 billion government acquisitions market, experts say.
The provision, dubbed the “Amazon amendment” by experts, according to an article in The Intercept, would allow for the creation of an online portal that government employees could use to purchase everyday items such as office supplies or furniture.
This government-only version of Amazon, which could potentially include a few other websites, would give participating companies direct access to the $53 billion market for government acquisitions of commercial products.
“It hands an enormous amount of power over to Amazon,” said Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research group that advocates for local businesses.
Mitchell said that the provision could allow Amazon to gain a monopoly or duopoly on the profitable world of commercial government purchases, leaving smaller businesses behind and further consolidating the behemoth tech firm’s power.
Well, this is a two-edged sword, isn’t it? Government spends too much and takes too long to buy its simple office needs, but streamlining that process and cutting costs puts more money in the pocket of Jeff Bezos.
OOPS: Driverless shuttle in Las Vegas gets in fender bender within an hour.
The shuttle, an egglike 8-seater Navya, is operated by the AAA and Keolis. It was a test deployment along half a mile of the Fremont East “Innovation District,” so this thing wasn’t cruising the strip. Probably a good thing.
Now, it must be said that technically the robo-car was not at fault. It was struck by a semi that was backing up, and really just grazed — none of the passengers was hurt.
Like any functioning autonomous vehicle, the shuttle can avoid obstacles and stop in a hurry if needed. What it apparently can’t do is move a couple feet out of the way when it looks like a 20-ton truck is going to back into it.
That’s worrisome.