Most Head Shakingly Bad Thing of the Week

Air Force Uncovered LSD Use Among Airmen Guarding Nuclear Missiles:

More than a dozen U.S. Air Force airmen were linked to a drug ring at a base that controls America's nuclear missiles and have faced disciplinary actions – including courts martial, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

-- snip --

Evidence in the airmen's cases showed that they did the drugs at state parks or at parties in Denver, where a group went longboarding on the streets after taking LSD, according to the AP. It also includes quotes from some service members who recalled having "bad trips," and others who said their experiences had been positive.

"Minutes felt like hours, colors seemed more vibrant and clear," Airman Kyle S. Morrison is quoted as saying. "In general, I felt more alive."

But Air Force prosecutors had a different view, saying that taking the hallucinogenic drug can produce "paranoia, fear and panic, unwanted and overwhelming feelings, unwanted life-changing spiritual experiences, and flashbacks."

Grants Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud

From the DOJ press release dated yesterday, State Department Official Pleads Guilty to Honest Services Wire Fraud and Theft of Federal Funds:

A program manager for the U.S. Department of State pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing federal funds intended for a foreign exchange program maintained by her employer, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division and Inspector General Steve A. Linick of the U.S. Department of State.

Kelli R. Davis, 48, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of public funds and engage in honest services wire fraud before U.S. Senior District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 24.

According to admissions made in connection with her plea, Davis was a Program Specialist for the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of Citizen Exchanges. She also served as the Program Manager and Grants Officer Representative for the Sports Visitors Program, which sponsored foreign exchanges for emerging youth athletes and coaches from various countries. The exchange program was managed by George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, through a federal grant and cooperative agreement with the State Department.

Between February 2011 and March 2016, Davis conspired with others to steal portions of the federal money allocated to the Sports Visitor Program by, among other things, falsifying vendor-related invoices and making fraudulent checks payable to a government contractor, Denon Hopkins, who supplied transportation services for the program. In total, Davis and Hopkins, stole approximately $17,335 from the State Department. They have both admitted that Hopkins used portions of the funds to pay kickbacks to Davis to retain his transportation contract. In addition, Davis stole an additional $17,777 from the program over a multi-year period.

The Department of State’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorney Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly R. Pedersen of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

Rep. Meeks: Show Me The Money

Yesterday's House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing Review of the FY 2019 State Department Budget Request got a bit heated when Representative Gregory Meeks (D - NY) pointed out to Secretary Pompeo that the administration's budget request for Diplomatic Security is only $1.6 billion for FY19, down from $2.1 billion last year, which compares poorly to $3 billion in the Obama years.

Meeks asked whether that dwindling of security funding indicates a lack of concern, the same question then-Representative Pompeo had once asked of his predecessor Hillary Clinton.

His reply: "Diplomatic security is not about dollars expended."

Most Head Shakingly Bad Thing of the Week

Feds Spend $333,210 Studying Bars Along Mexico Border:

The National Institutes of Health is spending over $300,000 to study bars along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation is heading the project. Among the study's aims are to examine whether bars in border towns like Mexicali have "more dancing" and "louder music."

The study, "Mexican American Drinking Contexts On and Away From the U.S.-Mexico Border," involves researchers going into bars for "unobtrusive systematic observations."

"The U.S./Mexico border is a unique macro context for drinking, with increased alcohol availability due to the lower minimum legal drinking age in Mexico of 18 years and an increased number of venues for on premise consumption of alcohol (bars, clubs, restaurants)," according to the grant for the project. "Previous research has shown that the border population is more at risk for unsafe drinking (binge) and drinking-related problems than the population off the border."

No Antagonism Please, We're English

"If there is hope, wrote Winston, it lies in the proles" - George Orwell, 1984

In a new low for the nanny state, British police are cautioning English football fans not to be joyously patriotic when they go to Russia for the World Cup matches. St George flags are too ‘imperialistic’ for World Cup, say police:

Police have warned England fans not to display the flag of St George at the World Cup in Russia next month because it risks being seen as “imperialistic” and “antagonistic”.

-- snip --

[Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council] will lead a team of officers to Russia to work with local police and security services to protect up to 10,000 travelling England fans. The supporters traditionally gather in city centres before international tournaments and display hundreds of flags.

Up to 10,000 England fans are expected to travel to Russia next month, along with a small force of UK police to help keep them safe.

The head of football policing Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts argued the St George’s Crosses were seen as the top trophies for rival fans and ultras, as well as appearing to link them to the history of the British Empire.

“I think people need to be really careful with flags. It can come across as almost imperialistic … and can cause antagonism,” he told The Times.

“We really urge some caution about people putting flags out and waving them about in public, there is a bit of risk when people draw attention to themselves and people need to be aware of that.

A bit of risk is just the kind of thing the English people used to like, at least it was back before the age of mollycoddling began. Football fans, being lower-class types who still feel surges of national pride and Anglo-Saxon rowdyism, might be the last holdouts against the suffocating nannyism of today.

If an English football fan can't get piss drunk, rip off his shirt, and wave his St. George flag at those Russian wankers, why even bother to go to the game?

Say, doesn't the Russian Federation once more use the old Imperial double eagle coats of arms, and doesn't that coat of arms include an image of St. George slaying a dragon? So, then, why wouldn't flag-waiving England fans be warmly welcomed by the Russians in a fraternal western civilization sort of way? Maybe Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts is worried over nothing.

Town Hall Message: "Carry That Diplomatic Swagger to the Ends of the Earth"

Mick shows us how to swagger like a pro

So yesterday we had the first town hall meeting with the new SecState, and he spent a bit of it teaching the troops about swagger. See the AP account here: Pompeo extols ‘America’s essential rightness’ at State Dept.

“Swagger is not arrogance; it is not boastfulness, it is not ego,” Pompeo said, according to the [town hall transcript] excerpts. “No, swagger is confidence; in one’s self, in one’s ideas. In our case, it is America’s essential rightness. And it is aggressiveness born of the righteous knowledge that our cause is just, special, and built upon America’s core principles.”

“Our task is to preserve our civilization of human dignity, individual liberty, democracy, national sovereignty, and the rule of law, and to challenge anyone seeking to take it down,” he said. “We should be proud and confident in America and her values — we should carry that diplomatic swagger to the ends of the earth; humbly, nobly and with the skill and courage I know you all possess.”

Left unsaid is the essential implication of all this swaggerin' talk to the State Department workforce - i.e., the idea that the new SecState will somehow, perhaps through the sheer force of his personality, reverse the Trump administration's announced plans for budget cuts and staff reductions. Count me as essentially distrustful of that.

P.S.

On a different matter, does it bother anyone else that AP's diplomatic correspondent, Matthew Lee, is one of Hillary's AP "friendlies," that is, one of the "overly docile press" who were happy to do the HRC campaign's bidding during the 2016 election? You can read the e-mail chains here. I think he should have to wear a Team Hilllary tee shirt or something to announce his affiliation when he sits in on press briefings all santimonious-like.

And then there’s the overly docile press, who were so eager to help Clinton get elected. In one email chain discussing the upcoming release of exchanges between Clinton and writer Sidney Blumenthal, insiders noted that the Associated Press appeared to be willing to allow the Clinton campaign to plant favorable stories. “[T]hey are considering placing a story with a friendly at the AP (Matt Lee or Bradley Klapper), that would lay this out before the majority on the committee has a chance to realize what they have and distort it,” wrote Nick Merrill, the Clinton campaign’s traveling press secretary.

Matt Lee published the planted story the next day. Friends like that are good to have.

Most Head Shakingly Bad Thing of the Week

Palestinians destroy Gaza's only facility for receiving fuel and cargo delivers from Israel:

Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Saturday that Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has approved closing the Kerem Shalom humanitarian border crossing in Gaza from tomorrow (Sunday) until further notice, due to Friday’s destruction of gas pipelines and the security fence at the crossing.

For the second week in a row, protesters damaged gas pipes at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Friday, which are responsible for transporting gas into Gaza.

The following is a list of destruction done to the humanitarian crossing according to the IDF:

- The fuel terminal has been rendered totally unusable.

- Gas pipelines – Damage was caused to connection stations. The main gas line is not functioning at all.

- Fuel pipes – The fueling site sustained fire and fracture damages.

- Aggregate conveyor belt - Not suitable for operation at all. Significant damage was caused to the entire structure.

- Grain conveyors, food and livestock - Damage was caused to electricity infrastructure.

- Security infrastructure of the humanitarian crossing - Damage was caused to fences, light poles and cameras.