Monday, March 2, 2015

Barker's Newsbites: Monday, March 2, 2015


Mornin', folks...

 So... let's go over how Obama is screwing us all today...


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5 comments:

William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.revealnews.org/article/did-air-marshals-abandon-high-risk-flights-for-sexual-trysts/

Federal air marshals assigned to protect commercial flights across the U.S. were furtively pulled from their assigned flights so they could meet for sexual trysts, get better routes or travel to cities they preferred, according to documents and interviews with current and former employees.

* I DO BELIEVE FEDERAL AIR MARSHALS ARE PART OF "HOMELAND SECURITY."

What began as an internal investigation into allegations of harassment and threats stemming from a spat between ex-lovers has expanded into a criminal inquiry focused on the Federal Air Marshal Service’s dispatch hub in Herndon, Virginia.

More than 60 federal employees are under scrutiny as investigators look into whether flights considered at risk of hijacking or a terrorist attack were left without marshals on board, sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reveal.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

At the center of the inquiry is Michelle D’Antonio, 48, who worked for the service for more than a decade until she was placed on administrative leave in December 2013. As a program specialist, she was responsible for coordinating delayed, missed or canceled flights and providing other logistical support, giving her access to sensitive government databases. Instead, current and former employees say, she used her position to look up personnel files, identification photographs and flight schedules to pinpoint air marshals she was interested in meeting and possibly dating.

* TO BE CONTINUED...

March 2, 2015 at 11:23 AM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Armed air marshals ride on designated U.S. and international flights as part of the United States’ front-line defense against hijackings and terrorism ... Air marshals typically operate in pairs and cover relatively few flights, with priority given to those deemed “high risk.” ... The air marshal service expanded rapidly after the 9/11 hijackings, growing from a few dozen plainclothes marshals to a few thousand. The exact number is kept secret.

* WHY...?!?! WHY SHOULD THE EXACT NUMBER BE KEPT SECRET...???

The service has requested $816.7 million for its 2016 budget, up $16.5 million from this year, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That includes about $100 million for travel and related costs. (Many of the agency’s top leaders and managers, including several former directors, joined the air marshals after careers in the U.S. Secret Service, which itself has been embroiled in scandal, from security lapses to agents soliciting prostitutes.)

(*SIGH*)

“I wouldn’t believe this could occur in a government agency, but it has,” said Sonya Hightower, a retired air marshal in Orlando, Florida, who is aware of the ongoing internal investigation. “When our managers look in the mirror, no one is looking back. … What kind of Mickey Mouse place is this?”

“I think D’Antonio put the offer out to quite a few (federal air marshals) and managers, literally acting like a travel agent,” she said. “I think a lot of people were aware she was doing some of these things, but no one wants to comment on it. If everybody’s getting hooked up, nobody’s going to say anything.”

Through her attorney, Mark Schamel, D’Antonio declined to comment. The Justice Department has said it is interested in speaking with D’Antonio, he said. Schamel said he had an initial conversation with an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego. Kelly Thornton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in San Diego, said the office had no comment.

(*SMIRK*)

In his 2014 book, “Unsecure Skies,” former air marshal Clay Biles chronicles problems at the agency, including supervisors abusing flight assignments for their personal benefit. Biles said he had heard rumors while still on the job about some air marshals getting preferential treatment. But after he left the agency, he heard more specifics: that women at the operations center manipulated schedules for air marshals to have sex, assigning them to routes that required overnight stays. He said a corrupt internal culture was allowed to fester within the air marshal service. “It was an endless cycle,” he said. “Nobody was reporting this stuff.”

March 2, 2015 at 11:23 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-fighter-group-that-got-us-missiles-dissolves-after-major-defeat/2015/03/01/286fa934-c048-11e4-a188-8e4971d37a8d_story.html

* HAT TIP TO MICHELLE!

The first Syrian rebel group to be given U.S. weapons collapsed Sunday after losing control of its headquarters to Syria’s main al-Qaeda affiliate, further complicating American-led efforts to counter the rise of extremism in Syria.

* SO NOW THOSE WEAPONS WILL BE TURNED BACK UPON (POTENTIALLY) US!

The rout of Harakat Hazm, whose name means Steadfastness Movement, culminated months of clashes with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra in which the moderate group first was pushed from its main headquarters in the northern Syrian province of Idlib and then was ousted Sunday from its new base in the province of Aleppo.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

After losing this latest battle, Hazm said in a statement circulated on social media that the movement had been dissolved “in an effort to halt the bloodshed” and that surviving members would be absorbed into a new rebel coalition called the Shamiyah Front.

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

Nusra fighters boasted on Twitter that they had seized control of U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles...

(*SIGH*)

...and other American aid...

* FUCKING OBAMA! FUCKING MCCAIN!

The collapse comes as the Pentagon embarks on a new effort to train moderate rebels to fight the Islamic State, a different extremist group that is at odds with Jabhat al-Nusra and has severed ties with al-Qaeda.

* NOTICE, FOLKS... OUR "TRAINING" DOESN'T SEEM TO TAKE. IT DIDN'T TAKE IN IRAQ. IT DIDN'T TAKE IN AFGHANISTAN. (EINSTEIN SAID THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY WAS DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AND EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS...)

Hazm, which once claimed to have 5,000 fighters, had received U.S. weapons under a separate covert program launched last year by the CIA that was intended to bolster moderate rebels and put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to compromise with the opposition.

* HOW INCOMPETENT IS THE CIA...??? (RHETORICAL QUESTION...)

Since Islamic State fighters surged into the Iraqi city of Mosul last summer, the Obama administration has refocused its Syria policy in ways that emphasize defeating the Islamic State rather than pressuring Assad to step down.

* AGAIN... OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY HAS BEEN AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER FOR AMERICA AND THE WORLD...

Hazm’s defeat will muddle the wider effort to combat extremism by leaving large swaths of northern Syria that had once been controlled by "moderates" in the hands of Nusra, which is not the main focus of the U.S. effort but is formally aligned with al-Qaeda and is also designated as a terrorist group by the United States.

* I... HATE... OBAMA...

Created a little over a year ago, Hazm earned prominence as the first recipients of U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles, the most sophisticated weapons to be supplied directly by the United States and its allies to the Syrian battlefield.

* SMOOTH MOVE, BARACK! (YOU A--HOLE!)

March 2, 2015 at 11:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a6b3044a9fe8889c822d11c16&id=4bffe52102&e=860a7086e5

* THE ALWAYS HONORABLE RON PAUL!

Late Friday night, Congress passed legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security for one week. This vote followed weeks of debate over efforts to attach a prohibition on funding President Obama’s [illegal] executive order granting amnesty to certain illegal immigrants to the Homeland Security funding bill.

Despite the heated rhetoric from both sides, no one seriously believes that Congress will allow Homeland Security funding to lapse.

Most in Congress believe that, without the Department of Homeland Security, Americans would be left unprotected from terrorists and natural disasters.

* THE SHEEPLE!

As with most areas of bipartisan agreement, the truth is the exact opposite of the DC consensus. The American people would be much better off if Congress transferred the few constitutional functions performed by Homeland Security to other parts of the government and then shut down the rest of the department.

(*THUMBS UP*)

Many Americans associate Homeland Security with the color–coded terrorist warning system and the “if you see something, say something" public relations campaign. These programs were designed to inspire public confidence in the department, but instead they inspired public ridicule.

Ironically, the best case for shutting down this department is its most well-known component — the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

* SEE TODAY'S OPENING (TWO-PART) NEWSBITE!

More terrorist attacks have been thwarted by airline passengers than by the TSA!

* TRUE DAT!

* TO BE CONTINUED...

March 2, 2015 at 11:46 AM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

The TSA may be ineffective at stopping terrorists, but it is very effective at harassing innocent Americans like Lucy Forck. Three-year-old Lucy, who uses a wheelchair, not only had to endure an intrusive screening from TSA agents, but the agents also took away her beloved stuffed animal.

When not abusing children who use wheelchairs, TSA subjects airline passengers to rules that seem designed to make air travel as unpleasant as possible. For example, TSA recently forced a Campaign for Liberty staffer to throw away a jar of Nutella she had in her carry-own luggage. I am sure all airline passengers feel safe knowing that TSA is protecting them from sandwich spreads.

Ending the TSA would return responsibility for airline security to airports and airlines. Private businesses have a greater incentive than a government bureaucracy to ensure their customers’ safety. Those conservatives who think this is a radical idea should try to think of one area where they trust government bureaucrats to do a better job than private business owners.

* FOLKS... I KNOW MANY OF YOU HATE IT WHEN I POINT THIS OUT... BUT OBAMA HAS EVEN LARGELY "BROKEN" OUR MILITARY!

Another agency within Homeland Security that the American people could do without is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Having spent fifteen years in Congress representing a coastal area subject to hurricanes and floods, I have seen first-hand how FEMA places adherence to bureaucratic rules ahead of aiding victims of a natural disaster. As a result, it is not uncommon for disaster victims to wait months or even years for assistance.

* FOLKS... I HAVE A GOOD FRIEND WHO IS A SENIOR FEMA MANAGER. LET'S JUST PUT IT THIS WAY: HE ENJOYS HIS EXPENSE ACCOUNT TO THE FULLEST.

FEMA not only fails to provide effective relief to disaster victims, it also impedes private disaster relief efforts. FEMA even hinders disaster victims’ efforts to help themselves. While in Congress, I heard stories of individuals being threatened with fines or even jail time if they returned to their property without FEMA’s permission. One individual in my district was threatened with arrest if he removed a tarp that FEMA put on his house — even though FEMA was supposed to have put it on his neighbor’s house!

Ten years after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, it is clear that this department has failed to protect our security, but has infringed on liberty. If Congress really wanted to enhance our security and our liberty it would shut down this unnecessary, unconstitutional department.

* YEAH... RIGHT... WITH FOOLS LIKE BOEHER, MCCONNELL, REID, PELOSI AND OBAMA IN CHARGE...?

(*SNORT*)

March 2, 2015 at 11:46 AM

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