Who would have thought? After all this time, that 30,000 of Lois Lerner's emails would suddenly be "discovered" on disaster recovery backup disk driver?
In a standard Friday Night Document Dump (FNDD), the IRS has released a new batch of Lerner emails, subsequent to a lawsuit by Judicial Watch.
"Judicial Watch announced today that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
admitted to the court that it failed to search any of the IRS standard
computer systems for the “missing” emails of Lois Lerner and other IRS
officials. The admission appears in an IRS legal brief opposing the
Judicial Watch request that a federal court judge allow discovery into
how “lost and/or destroyed” IRS records may be retrieved."
See here: IRS admits to court it hasn't searched for missing lerner emails
This admission by IRS begs the reaction: Are you kidding me, this is computer operations 101?: "IRS attorneys conceded that they had failed to search the agency’s
servers for missing emails because they decided that “the servers would
not result in the recovery of any information.” They admitted they had
failed to search the agency’s disaster recovery tapes because they had
“no reason to believe that the tapes are a potential source of
recovering” the missing emails. And they conceded that they had not
searched the government-wide back-up system because they had “no reason
to believe such a system … even exists.”"
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Too Much Government?
In 1937, the US government had 100 agencies.
Today, one estimate says that 1370 agencies eat out our hearts and control our liberties.
This site says more than 2000: http://www.ushistory.org/gov/8b.asp
Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_agencies_in_the_United_States
The Government doesn't know. Even the CBO and the GAO don't know: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/03/the-government-has-no-idea-how-many-agencies-it-has/
This piece of government thinks it knows: http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/
And too many of them have armed agents: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/bite-the-bullet-weve-got-too-many-agencies-with-armed-agents/ "There are now 73 federal agencies that have armed officers, often called “special agents.” And all of these agencies now cordon off and enforce a federal fiefdom of the more than 4,500 criminal laws at the federal level and thousands of additional regulations that have sprung up in recent decades." At least 25,000 officers.
And too many employees? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2466363/posts
For 2008: "Number of Full-Time Federal Employees - 2,518,101 Part-Time - 250,785 Full-Time State - 3,818,577 Part-Time - 1,451,002 Full-Time Local - 11,039,250 Part-Time - 3,383,976
TOTAL - 22,461,69"
Today, one estimate says that 1370 agencies eat out our hearts and control our liberties.
This site says more than 2000: http://www.ushistory.org/gov/8b.asp
Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_agencies_in_the_United_States
The Government doesn't know. Even the CBO and the GAO don't know: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/03/the-government-has-no-idea-how-many-agencies-it-has/
This piece of government thinks it knows: http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/
And too many of them have armed agents: http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/bite-the-bullet-weve-got-too-many-agencies-with-armed-agents/ "There are now 73 federal agencies that have armed officers, often called “special agents.” And all of these agencies now cordon off and enforce a federal fiefdom of the more than 4,500 criminal laws at the federal level and thousands of additional regulations that have sprung up in recent decades." At least 25,000 officers.
And too many employees? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2466363/posts
For 2008: "Number of Full-Time Federal Employees - 2,518,101 Part-Time - 250,785 Full-Time State - 3,818,577 Part-Time - 1,451,002 Full-Time Local - 11,039,250 Part-Time - 3,383,976
TOTAL - 22,461,69"
Disparate Impact Regulation Tossed by Federal Judge
Disparate impact is a dismal theory of political racial policy used by the Obama Administration to accomplish political ends and punish businesses.
It makes the bad assumption that statistics can explain the results of, principally, lending practices and housing and business practices "without showing evidence of actual discriminatory intent."
This is like being declared guilty before being proven innocent, the opposite of the foundational American legal principle of innocence until proven guilty.
See WSJ, Nov 4, 2014, Opinion Section: http://online.wsj.com/articles/disparate-impact-rejected-1415059893
It makes the bad assumption that statistics can explain the results of, principally, lending practices and housing and business practices "without showing evidence of actual discriminatory intent."
This is like being declared guilty before being proven innocent, the opposite of the foundational American legal principle of innocence until proven guilty.
See WSJ, Nov 4, 2014, Opinion Section: http://online.wsj.com/articles/disparate-impact-rejected-1415059893
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Fast & Furious: Finally Proof that Eric Holder and White House Covered Up
Judicial Watch last week finally received the thousands of document they have been fighting for in Court for two years.
Oops, sorry, not the documents themselves! But they have received the Vaughn Index. This is the index of all the documents that the Government did not release because President Obama claimed Executive Privilege.
From this index it is obvious that many of the documents and emails are actually not covered by executive privilege. Such as, emails between Eric Holder and his wife where they discuss how they are working on keeping the documents from becoming public.
This process began when Eric Holder was about to be held in Contempt of Congress and Obama declared executive privilege in an attempt to protect the Attorney General for stonewalling Congress. Holder resigned in August, two days after a judge agreed that the Vaughn Index (1307 pages) and the documents (15662) must be released.
Listen to the interviews with Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch on the NRA News Cam & Company on October 24. Also listen to the Cam & Company interview with John Hinderaker on Oct 27. See www.nranews.com
Also go to the Judicial Watch web site at www.judicialwatch.org and see a summary: http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-key-fast-furious-information/
"Based on a preliminary review of the massive document, Judicial Watch can disclose that the Vaughn index reveals:
UPDATE Nov 5: On this day after the mid-term elections, where the referendum on President Obama's policies disclosed the depth of America's dislike for them, we learn of a Fast & Furious document dump on the eve of the election.
Yes, AG Eric Holder has finally released 64,280 pages of documents to the House Oversight Committee. These are the ones mentioned in the Vaughn Index above. Now we will really learn the truth of Holder's malfeasance, of DOJ's obstructionism, and of the White House's part in this scandal.
See: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/391919/election-eve-dump-eric-holder-releases-fast-and-furious-documents-got-him-cited
See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/4/justice-dept-submits-64k-pages-fast-furious-docs/
Also from JW, news of a previous weapons trafficking operation carried out by a DOJ prosecutor in Arizona and how Holder slowed down exposure of its existence: http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/10/dojs-fast-furious-prequel-failed-grenade-running-operation/
Oops, sorry, not the documents themselves! But they have received the Vaughn Index. This is the index of all the documents that the Government did not release because President Obama claimed Executive Privilege.
From this index it is obvious that many of the documents and emails are actually not covered by executive privilege. Such as, emails between Eric Holder and his wife where they discuss how they are working on keeping the documents from becoming public.
This process began when Eric Holder was about to be held in Contempt of Congress and Obama declared executive privilege in an attempt to protect the Attorney General for stonewalling Congress. Holder resigned in August, two days after a judge agreed that the Vaughn Index (1307 pages) and the documents (15662) must be released.
Listen to the interviews with Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch on the NRA News Cam & Company on October 24. Also listen to the Cam & Company interview with John Hinderaker on Oct 27. See www.nranews.com
Also go to the Judicial Watch web site at www.judicialwatch.org and see a summary: http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-obtains-key-fast-furious-information/
"Based on a preliminary review of the massive document, Judicial Watch can disclose that the Vaughn index reveals:
- Numerous emails that detail Attorney General Holder’s direct involvement in crafting talking points, the timing of public disclosures, and handling Congressional inquiries in the Fast and Furious matter.
- President Obama has asserted executive privilege over nearly 20 email communications between Holder and his spouse Sharon Malone. The administration also claims that the records are also subject to withholding under the “deliberative process” exemption. This exemption ordinarily exempts from public disclosure records that could chill internal government deliberations.
- Numerous entries detail DOJ’s communications (including those of Eric Holder) concerning the White House about Fast and Furious.
- The scandal required the attention of virtually every top official of the DOJ and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Communications to and from the United States Ambassador to Mexico about the Fast and Furious matter are also described.
- Many of the records are already publicly available such as letters from Congress, press clips, and typical agency communications. Ordinarily, these records would, in whole or part, be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Few of the records seem to even implicate presidential decision-making and advice that might be subject to President Obama’s broad and unprecedented executive privilege claim.
UPDATE Nov 5: On this day after the mid-term elections, where the referendum on President Obama's policies disclosed the depth of America's dislike for them, we learn of a Fast & Furious document dump on the eve of the election.
Yes, AG Eric Holder has finally released 64,280 pages of documents to the House Oversight Committee. These are the ones mentioned in the Vaughn Index above. Now we will really learn the truth of Holder's malfeasance, of DOJ's obstructionism, and of the White House's part in this scandal.
See: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/391919/election-eve-dump-eric-holder-releases-fast-and-furious-documents-got-him-cited
See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/4/justice-dept-submits-64k-pages-fast-furious-docs/
Also from JW, news of a previous weapons trafficking operation carried out by a DOJ prosecutor in Arizona and how Holder slowed down exposure of its existence: http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/10/dojs-fast-furious-prequel-failed-grenade-running-operation/
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Why are there so many Questions about Barry Soetoro?
Because there are so many questions! And the answers are confusing, non-existent, or conflicting.
Here's some more stuff about Barry's mom, Stanley Ann Dunham and her passports.
the-smoking-gun-in-the-obama-eligibility-case-stanley-ann-dunham-passport/
Here's some more stuff about Barry's mom, Stanley Ann Dunham and her passports.
the-smoking-gun-in-the-obama-eligibility-case-stanley-ann-dunham-passport/
Monday, September 15, 2014
Are Our Forests Really Overgrown?
Another fire is active within 20 miles of us today. It is the Courtney Fire in Oakhurst and 21 structures have burned since it started yesterday around noon. This comes on top of last week's Bridge Fire that almost destroyed 250 homes in Ponderosa Basin, near us. Two other fires are active near Coulterville.
We all know it is year three of drought and everything is extremely dry. But one of the real culprits here is the overabundance of fuels in the woods and a 100 years of fire repression without adequate management of fuel loads. The inability of the Forest Services to properly manage lands due to excessive meddling and lawsuits by environmental groups is adding greatly to the problem.
So what does it mean to say there is too much fuel in the forests. Well, over 100 years ago several naturalists made surveys of the forests from Arizona to Washington. They counted numbers of trees per acre. The general result was that the pine forests of then held about 30 to 40 mature trees per acre. Smaller tress were regularly kept in check by ground fires. Today, it is easy to see 300 to 400 trees per acre, many of which are small and midsize trees that constitute the majority of the fuel load, and the danger.
Here is an article that appeared last year during the huge, 400 sq. mile Rim Fire in Mariposa County and Yosemite Park. Fire-in-Yosemite-offers-forest-management-lessons It discusses the results of an ongoing survey that started 100 years ago and shows clearly the high fuels load.
Here is a quote: "Big increase in tree density - A large part of the answer may be found in Stephens' interrupted expedition. His four-person research team was in the process of measuring tree diameters and densities on 15,000 acres that had been studied by the U.S. Forest Service in 1911.
The group found as many as 400 trees per acre on the land. That's compared with between 60 and 90 trees per acre in 1911. There was also between 30 and 40 tons of woody debris per acre on the forest floor, compared with 6 to 8 tons 102 years ago, Stephens said. Besides the dramatic increase in tree density, the researchers found more undergrowth species and, although there were still many old growth trees, the average size of the trees was smaller than in 1911, he said.
"We know the last fire in that area was in about 1905. That's 100 years without fire," Stephens said. "If you don't clear trees and brush and do some prescribed burning, you are eventually going to get a very closed forest that is very dense."
There is a little good news in some places around the Sierra. I have been riding a lot of forestry roads and roads like Highway 4 Ebbett's Pass yesterday. I am seeing more instances of Forestry and other agencies doing fuel reduction alongside the roads to about 100 yards back from the road edges. They are trimming limbs, collecting dead-fall and trash, and cutting the medium size-infill trees for later burning.
I believe we need much more of this thinning, We we consider that the Rim Fire costs about $100 million, think of all the labor hours that could provide valuable jobs to forest workers. Think of all the homes that could be saved from out-of-control fires.
Jerry Brown, are you listening?
We all know it is year three of drought and everything is extremely dry. But one of the real culprits here is the overabundance of fuels in the woods and a 100 years of fire repression without adequate management of fuel loads. The inability of the Forest Services to properly manage lands due to excessive meddling and lawsuits by environmental groups is adding greatly to the problem.
So what does it mean to say there is too much fuel in the forests. Well, over 100 years ago several naturalists made surveys of the forests from Arizona to Washington. They counted numbers of trees per acre. The general result was that the pine forests of then held about 30 to 40 mature trees per acre. Smaller tress were regularly kept in check by ground fires. Today, it is easy to see 300 to 400 trees per acre, many of which are small and midsize trees that constitute the majority of the fuel load, and the danger.
Here is an article that appeared last year during the huge, 400 sq. mile Rim Fire in Mariposa County and Yosemite Park. Fire-in-Yosemite-offers-forest-management-lessons It discusses the results of an ongoing survey that started 100 years ago and shows clearly the high fuels load.
Here is a quote: "Big increase in tree density - A large part of the answer may be found in Stephens' interrupted expedition. His four-person research team was in the process of measuring tree diameters and densities on 15,000 acres that had been studied by the U.S. Forest Service in 1911.
The group found as many as 400 trees per acre on the land. That's compared with between 60 and 90 trees per acre in 1911. There was also between 30 and 40 tons of woody debris per acre on the forest floor, compared with 6 to 8 tons 102 years ago, Stephens said. Besides the dramatic increase in tree density, the researchers found more undergrowth species and, although there were still many old growth trees, the average size of the trees was smaller than in 1911, he said.
"We know the last fire in that area was in about 1905. That's 100 years without fire," Stephens said. "If you don't clear trees and brush and do some prescribed burning, you are eventually going to get a very closed forest that is very dense."
There is a little good news in some places around the Sierra. I have been riding a lot of forestry roads and roads like Highway 4 Ebbett's Pass yesterday. I am seeing more instances of Forestry and other agencies doing fuel reduction alongside the roads to about 100 yards back from the road edges. They are trimming limbs, collecting dead-fall and trash, and cutting the medium size-infill trees for later burning.
I believe we need much more of this thinning, We we consider that the Rim Fire costs about $100 million, think of all the labor hours that could provide valuable jobs to forest workers. Think of all the homes that could be saved from out-of-control fires.
Jerry Brown, are you listening?
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