90 Miles From Tyranny

Sunday, September 18, 2022

The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #1845

You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside?

It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific,

from the beautiful to the repugnant,

from the mysterious to the familiar.

If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed,

you could be inspired, you could be appalled.

This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

You have been warned.

Visage à trois #476

Three Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure:

Three Additional Bonus Videos:

Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #656

Biden Climate Appointee Studied at CCP-Controlled University Linked to Chinese Military

Joe Biden's latest climate appointee studied at a Chinese Communist Party-controlled university that conducts research for the People's Liberation Army.

Biden this week tapped Dr. Yue (Nina) Chen to serve as chief climate risk officer for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where she will develop "climate risk management frameworks for the federal banking system." Chen earned her chemical engineering degree from Tsinghua University, which one think tank deems a "very high risk" because of its involvement in a "high level of defense research and alleged involvement in cyberattacks" on behalf of the Chinese military. Tsinghua conducts research on "artificial intelligence, air-to-air missiles, navigation technology, instrument science, and materials science," according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Chen, who previously held a climate regulator position at the New York State Department of Financial Services, is a proponent of "environmental, social, and governance" guidelines, a socially progressive approach to investing known as ESG. Under ESG, investment managers and insurance companies gauge companies' risk based on their commitment to progressive goals in the areas of diversity and climate change. Chen spoke at a panel last year on the topic of pressuring industries to "finally leave fossil fuels behind" and redirect their investments "toward solving the climate crisis."

Chen is not the first Biden nominee for the bank regulator to have studied at a Communist-run university. Saule Omarova, whom Biden nominated last year to oversee the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, earned a "Lenin scholarship" at Moscow State University in the late 1980s. The White House pulled Omarova's nomination after Democratic senators said they would oppose her confirmation because of her support for ending the country's reliance on fossil fuels. Omarova has said she wants to "starve" companies of money to invest in the fossil fuel industry.

Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers' Research, expressed concerns over Chen, citing her education at "CCP training grounds." He said her appointment is part of Biden's effort to establish controversial "environmental, social, and governance" policies at...

From bureau veterans to key lawmakers in Congress, the notion of an independent review is growing in urgency.

A half century ago, Americans held grave concerns that J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies had abused civil rights, improperly targeted enemies and illegally gathered evidence, so Congress set out on a great cleansing mission. It formed a special committee chaired by Idaho Sen. Frank Church that laid bare the wrongdoing, overhauled the bureau and created new guardrails to protect civil liberties.

A growing number of influential figures in Washington are arguing it's time for another Church Committee after a tumultuous six years in which the FBI admitted it misled the FISA court while spying on Donald Trump's campaign, had executives who lied, doctored evidence or usurped prosecutors' authority, and employed agents who dropped the ball on a sexual abuse scandal involving Olympians and overcollected evidence in a raid of a former president's home.

The revelation this week that the bureau secretly paid a Russian businessman as a confidential informant against Trump even though he was suspected of lying and having ties to the Kremlin's intelligence agencies only accelerated support for a sweeping, independent probe of the FBI now under the control of Director Christopher Wray.

"I think, frankly, it would be great for the FBI," Kevin Brock, the bureau's first-ever intelligence chief, said of the notion of a new Church Committee. "They find themselves obviously in a very challenging situation, some of which they brought on themselves, others kind of imposed upon them.

"But they find themselves in a place right now where well over the half the country believes they're working on behalf of one political party over another," he said during a...

Visage à trois #475

Three Videos For Your Viewing Pleasure:

Three Additional Bonus Videos:

US Navy Quietly Cancels Vaccine Requirement Order For SEALs

The US Navy quietly rolled back Trident Order #12, an order denying religious exemptions for covid vaccinations, a few months after an injunction was issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in early 2022 as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by First Liberty Institute. The suit was initiated on behalf of 35 active-duty SEALS and three reservists seeking exemptions to the mandate due to the possibility of covid vaccines being developed using cells and tissues from aborted fetuses.

This information has only become publicly available after a new filing in the case this week. Trident Order #12 made any non-compliant SEALS and other troops impossible to deploy and designated them as medically disqualified. This development runs in tandem with a growing trend among government institutions; they back away from their original draconian mandates but in a manner that reduces media exposure and avoids any admission that the mandates are unconstitutional.

A communication order was circulated by the Navy on May 23 with the subject: "NSWC CLOSEOUT TO TRIDENT ORDER #12 - MANDATORY VACCINATION FOR COVID-19." NSWC refers to the Naval Special Warfare Command:

"This order rescinds reference A," it states, referring to "Ref A" as "Trident Order #12 on COVID-19 Vaccinations."

The May 23 communication order also said Navy commands "will continue to follow guidance, as appropriate, regarding COVID-19 vaccination, accommodation requests, and mitigation measures."

The Navy along with every other branch of the US military is facing a severe recruitment crisis, with a record low number of Americans eligible to serve. In particular, far too many potential recruits are unable to meet the physical requirements to complete basic training. This has led to discussions on lowering standards, but even this would not solve low recruitment numbers for special operations and SEALS, which require highly capable candidates regardless.

An implosion in recruitment may have partially contributed to the Navy's abandonment of vax restrictions, along with the flood of scientific evidence showing that...