Category: Corruption Corner

TSA Witch Hunt

The Transpiration Security Administration (TSA) is on a witch hunt… literally:

Here’s a situation for all you aspiring managers: If you were the boss at a U.S. government agency and one of your employees complained that she was afraid of a co-worker’s religious practices, what would you do?

Would it change your decision if the religion were Wicca, and the employee feared her co-worker because she thought she might cast a spell on her?

Here’s how the Transportation Security Administration handled it:

It fired the witch.

I thought it was illegal to fire somebody in the United States because of their religious practices. Oh yeah I forgot that rule only applies to private industry, it’s OK when the government fires people based on their religion. To be fair we should probably look into what specific religious practice lead to the co-worker filing a complaint. Maybe the witch was sacrificing a small animal at the airport:

The assistant director told her he was investigating a threat of workplace violence. He said that her former mentor in on-the-job training, officer Mary Bagnoli, reported that she was afraid of Smith because she was a witch who practiced witchcraft. She accused Smith of following her on the highway one snowy evening after work and casting a spell on the heater of her car, causing it not to work.

Or the co-worker is a complete fucking idiot, that was actually my second guess. It’s nice to know the tradition of an honest to goodness witch hunt hasn’t completely died off. Thor forbid if somebody were to practice a non-mainstream religion. Oh and this line made me chuckle:

And it sheds light on work life at the TSA, where the 40,000-plus public employees who keep bad people and bad things off of airplanes have started voting this month on whether to join a union.

Name one instance where a TSA operative was able to keep a bad people or thing off of an airplane. Since the establishment of the TSA it seems to be that bad things keep getting onto airplanes. Let us not forget the shoe bomber, underwear bomber, and of course the liquid bombers. All of them managed to get past the TSA security theater without any problem.

Oh, and bonus points to MSNBC for find a way to mention unions in a story that has absolutely nothing to do with unions. Real subtle.

Your Tax Dollars at Work Illegally Experimenting on American Citizens

I came across a really interesting article on Wikipedia titled Unethical Human Experimentation in the United States. Many of these experiments were government initiated and funded which is rather frightening.

A couple of the most interesting reads are the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and Project MKULTRA (which isn’t just some conspiracy theorist malarkey, but an actual series of CIA experiments that later lead to a congressional hearing). It’s worth taking some time out of your day and reading through these because some of them are almost unbelievable.

Illegal Drone Usage

The United States government certainly has balls. Not only are they willing to violate the rights of American citizens but they’re also willing to violate the airspace of other nations:

The US has been sending unarmed drones over Mexico since February to gather intelligence on major drug cartels, the New York Times reports.

Yeah we’ll just fly some drones around Mexico since they probably can’t detect them or shoot them down. Now that I think about it we probably asked the Mexican government for permissions:

The missions had been kept secret because of Mexican legal restraints and sensitivities over sovereignty.

Or not. It’s OK though because now the Mexican government knows and they’re probably pissed as Hell…

US President Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, formally agreed to continue the surveillance flights during talks in Washington on 3 March, which included a frank exchange of grievances, Mexican and US officials said.

Or not. Honestly if I were the ruler of a country and my neighbor started violating my airspace I’d be pissed regardless of the intentions. Hell if I had the capabilities I would track and shoot down the drones claiming they were foreign military assets violating my country’s airspace.

I guess we shouldn’t expect a government willing to violate the rights of its own citizens to respect the rights of other countries.

Government Increasing the Cost of Medicine Again

The only thing government is really good at is fucking over the citizens under its control. Take for example the health care industry. In the United States health care costs are through the roof and it’s thanks to government intervention. I’ve come across yet another example of government interference in the health care market causing an increase in costs:

But recently, KV Pharmaceutical of suburban St.Louis won government approval to exclusively sell the drug, known as Makena (Mah-KEE’-Nah). The March of Dimes and many obstetricians supported that because it means quality will be more consistent and it will be easier to get.

The result? Not surprisingly the cost of Makena went from $10.00 to $1,500.00. I know little about the drug but apparently it requires multiple injections (roughly 20 since the article says it will cost $30,000 with the new pricing scheme). That means the total cost will go from roughly $200.00 to $30,000.00 thanks to the government granting a monopoly on the medication to a single company.

Monopolies are not naturally occurring things. In almost every care of a monopoly cropping up it has been due to government regulations either outright granting the monopoly or putting restrictions on the market in such a way to grant a defacto monopoly (such as expensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) trials keeping new companies out of the pharmaceuticals industry). Even though government claims they are needed to protect us from monopolies the reality is monopoly protection is yet another example of a government created problem that the government claims they didn’t make but are needed to fix.

Operation Gunwalker is Getting Popular

The media sure loves a good scandal and it seems the United States government providing guns to Mexican drug cartels is popular enough to warrant coverage overseas. It also seems the Mexican government is curious about the United States latest shenanigans:

Mexico has asked the US for detailed information on a law enforcement operation that allegedly allowed guns to be smuggled across the border.

The request follows media reports that US federal agents allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled into Mexico in the hope of tracking the weapons to drug cartel leaders.

Some of the guns were reportedly later used in crimes including murder.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has already ordered an inquiry.

This is what government is good at, creating problems and then claiming their necessity to fix them. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) created a problem by smuggling guns into Mexico that demanded emergency powers in order to correct the issue. I wish I could create problems at work just so I could fix them and be considered awesome for doing it. Of course if I did that I’d be fired and rightfully so. You also have to enjoy the irony in this paragraph:

The ATF reportedly allowed 1,765 guns to be smuggled into Mexico over a 15 month period, including assault weapons and high-powered sniper rifles.

Of those guns, 797 were recovered on both sides of the border.

Many are thought to have been used in crimes, including two that were recovered at the scene of the killing of a US border protection agent in Arizona.

Wow the ATF is busy if they trafficked 1,765 guns into Mexico. Then again I’m sure they don’t have to explain to the border guards why they’re smuggling 100 guns into Mexico so it’s probably pretty easy. Likewise it’s ironic that the weapon used to kill the border agent was supplied by the very government that employed him. With friends like that who needs enemies.

The Difference Between The State and The Mob

What’s the difference between the state and the mob? The mob is honest about their intent while the state tries to hide behind the term “justice.” Although I’ll save you the specifics I will mention that I received a parking ticket on Sunday. First of all St. Paul needs to get their shit together because nowhere on the ticket does it state how much money they are trying to extort from me. How am I to pay them without knowing how much money they are demanding?

But this isn’t about the fine, it’s about the system. You ultimately have two options; pay the fine or fight it. If you pay the fine you are admitting guilt as stated on the ticket. If you try to fight the ticket you must use the same system that issued you the ticket to fight it. Basically you either are admitting that you’re a criminal or you have to deal with a massive conflict of interest.

In this situation I am against admitting guilt as there is no victim and thus I see no crime to admit guilt to. On the other hand if I try to fight the ticket I will have to take time off of work and possible pay a court fee (thus I will likely pay them either way which is why I use the term extortion). Either way I’m going to be out money and this is exactly how the police department wants it. The only reason all of these parking ordinances exist is to fill the coffers of the local police departments. There is no legitimate reason why my parking on a publicly owned and tax payer funded street should garner a fine of unknown amount.

Likewise there is a giant conflict of interest in having to ask an officer of the same precinct to determine a ticket as invalid. If I write you a ticket you should not have to beg me to rule it illegitimate. This is a problem right up to the Supreme Court where the legitimacy of federal laws are determined by the federal government.

Either way the system is stacked against the accused. Even if the ticket is ruled to be illegitimate I am still punished. My guilt matters not as I will receive the same punishment regardless of the outcome (an unknown monetary loss). The police have found a means of practically guaranteeing income by writing fines that are expensive to fight. I’m sure they are aware that a majority of people will pay the fine and accept the accusation made against them not because they feel themselves guilty but because it will cost them more to fight it.

Of course I have to wait at least three business days in order to fight it. I was under the belief that all these computerized systems would allow a ticket to be instantly filed with the court but alas I was incorrect. Apparently it can take up to 10 days to file a ticket with the court and you can’t fight it until it’s been filed. It’s nice to see they are held to no real schedule yet I am as if I don’t pay the fine within 21 days they assess a late fee.

More On the ATF Smuggling Guns Into Mexico

CBS has a report on the recent “gun walker” scam performed by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Explosives Joy and Happiness (Ministry of Boring).

It must be nice heading a government agency that create false flag situations in an attempt to get more taxpayer money. Need more money? Simple create a situation where guns are going across the border between the United States and Mexico to be used by Mexican drug cartels. All you have to do is have your agents get those guns across and then whine about how said guns are being used against people of the United States. It’s brilliant.

That’s Why Mubarak Stuck Around So Long

As those of you who read this site Friday know I was a little confused on why Mubarak was trying to cling to his power when so many people wanted him out. Well a potential reason could be he was trying to move all that money the United States government has been giving him before he left office:

Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas, Western intelligence sources have said.

How much money you ask? Quite a bit:

The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion – although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion – during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.

Much of that came from the American tax payers because our country likes to fund dictators and call it foreign aid. I think Ron Paul put it well when he said “Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of rich counties and giving it to the rich people of poor countries.”

Stay Classy Chrysler

You know what’s classy? Running a $9 million ad during the super bowl and then turning around and asking for more taxpayer dollars to continue bailing out your failed business:

“I am paying shyster rates,” Marchionne said, noting that Chrysler had no choice in 2009 but to pay the high interest rates the government set as part of its $15 billion Chrysler bailout. “We had no choice… I am going to pay the shyster loans.”

He called the loans “a thorn in my side.”

Chrysler’s also in talks with banks to refinance its debt and plans to have an “agreement in principle” by end of March, he said.

Marchionne spoke at an auto industry conference sponsored by JD Power at a hotel here ahead of the National Automobile Dealers Association three-day convention. He said he is hopeful that the company can win an agreement in principle for $3 billion in low-cost Energy Department retooling loan — a move that is necessary for Chrysler to win private financing, Marchionne said.

Emphasis mine. How about we just let Chrysler go bankrupt to some more competent company can buy up their assets and product cars that people of the world actually want to buy?