Sunday, May 30, 2021
Epitaph On My Own Friend
You can get a good sense of him from the image he used on his blog: a Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets sword above and a Scottish Claymore below, with U.S. Army insignia and decorations in between, on a field of desert camouflage. An active Reservist, he was called up for Desert Storm and served in many subsequent military assignments at the same time that he carried on his Consular career, deriving a great deal of satisfaction from both types of service.
To honor his heritage, what could be better than a poem by Robert Burns?
Epitaph on my own Friend
An honest man here lies at rest
As e'er God with his image blest.The friend of man, the friend of truth;
The friend of Age, and guide of Youth:Few hearts like his with virtue warm'd,
Few heads with knowledge so inform'd:
If there's another world, he lives in bliss;If there is none, he made the best of this.
Requiescat in pace.
Saturday, May 29, 2021
"Alabama Woman" Regrets Becoming an ISIS Bride
“ISIS bride” Hoda Muthana — who fled Alabama to join ISIS in 2014 and is now barred from returning to the US — said she will regret the decision “for the rest of my life,” according to a report on Wednesday.The most American thing about her is the way she blames her overly strict parents and her poor relationship with her mother for her decision to go to Syria.Muthana, 26, tried to explain what led her to become part of the terror group in the new documentary “The Return: Life After ISIS” by Spanish filmmaker Alba Sotorra Clua, People reported.“When you are brainwashed, you don’t realize it until you snap out of it,” Muthana said. “I took everything too fast, and too deep.”What she experienced was “this horrible way of life that I really regret for the rest of my life and that I wish I could just erase,” she says in the film, according to People.
“I grew up as an American, born and raised in America, and all I had waiting for me in the future was an arranged marriage — the exact way my parents wanted it to be,” Muthana continued. “So I had no time to dream about anything.”Disappointment set in at once, she now says:
In Syria, Muthana insisted that she expected to find “a happy place with Muslims, helping in hospitals, helping in schools, helping a community out and just being good decent Muslims to each other.”But then, why did she propagandize for ISIS for quite some time before the califate collapsed? As the story notes:Instead, “It was a big mess. It was hell on earth. Really,” she said.
She continued to post online, celebrating burning her US passport and calling for attacks on Americans.That is a puzzle.
Havana Syndrome Strangely Neglected by State Leadership
A group of U.S. diplomats and other government staffers suffering from symptoms consistent with "Havana Syndrome" are voicing frustration with the Biden administration's early response, and warning that injured workers are still being denied proper care.The letter included this digression into the signers' failed expectations: "After four years of challenges [Biden arrived, but] ... Unfortunately, our experience thus far has fallen short of our renewed expectations."
The staffers are also urging the administration to increase diagnostic and treatment options for children affected by Havana Syndrome, ensure long-term monitoring of injured workers for 10 to 20 years, and conduct baseline testing on diplomats before they're sent abroad — something Canada's government is now doing in the wake of the unexplained incidents.
It sounds like the Canadian government is taking the lead on this matter. What exactly is the problem on the 7th Floor?
Monday, May 17, 2021
Secret Service Scandals Revisited in New Book
Cathy Milhoan, director of communications for the Secret Service, praised the agency in a statement. “The U.S. Secret Service is aware of an upcoming book which re-hashes past challenges the agency overcame and evolved from,” she wrote. “Now and throughout its 156 year history, the agency’s skilled workforce is dedicated to the successful execution of its critical protective and investigative missions.”
Still Biden His Time on Ambassadorial Nominees
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Friday, May 14, 2021
Harry Dunn Case Update: New Team of Lawyers Appointed (at the Request of the Old Team of Lawyers)
With a U.S. criminal trial out of question since the accident occurred in Britain, the family is pursuing a civil case, Seiger said, adding that it would seek “significant” damages.The McDonald's lawsuit? That guy is so consistently wrong that I marvel how he keeps his con going. FYI, here's a debunking of the spilled coffee canard.“In the U.S. you can sue for millions of dollars if someone spills some hot coffee on your hand at McDonalds,” he said.
Thursday, May 6, 2021
New Consulate Office Building in Hermosillo, Mexico, Topped Out
Consul General Ken Roy held a topping out ceremony today to celebrate the structural completion of the new @USConsuladoHer @BLHarbert @PageThink #consulate #construction #architecture #design #diplomacy #sustainability #Hermosillo #Mexico #StateOBO pic.twitter.com/V3WpTQzPlC
— Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (@State_OBO) May 4, 2021