90 Miles From Tyranny

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Monday, March 5, 2018

CONFESSIONS OF A CONGRESSIONAL STAFFER: “After Tariff Announcement Mueller Ordered To Escalate Trump Investigation”

The following are the insights and opinions of a former senior congressional staffer who is now enjoying what he calls the “…happy uncertainty of a self-imposed semi-retirement.” He spent nearly eleven years working on Capitol Hill, arriving there shortly before Barack Obama became president, and then leaving shortly after Donald Trump succeeded him. His extended family’s ties to prior administrations go back decades – at the highest levels. 

Now approaching middle-age, (ancient by D.C. staffer standards) and despite all that time in the belly of the “D.C. beast” he still manages to look younger than his years. He’s quick to laugh, slow to anger, and enjoys the occasional (and most often inappropriate) joke while also being an occasional (and always highly valued) D.C. Whispers’ source. 

His contact list is an impressive whos-who of D.C. power players (a benefit of his political pedigree of which he readily admits he had nothing to do with) including both active and retired politicians, staffers, and (too many) lobbyists. (He feels most lobbyists are decent people working in what he calls an epically f*cked up system.) He has attended two inauguration balls, four Congressional retreats, (to which he says members of Congress drink – a lot) and seven State of the Union addresses.

He’s also good friends with a since-departed network news/entertainment television talent who has been more than willing of late to spill the goods on any number of subjects and says he might be convinced to share some of those stories here as well.

First and foremost, though, is his deepening concern over what is taking place in the city he used to call home, Washington D.C., and the country he loves – America.

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“Word is that Mueller has been given the green light to go after the Trump family directly. All business interests, the entire Trump empire, is to be turned upside down under the guise of investigating campaign financing during the 2016 Election. This was sort of danced around before, a few soft inquiries, etc. After the tariff announcement, though, (which surprised some of the President’s own staff) Mueller has been ordered to go all out on digging into the Trump financials directly. 

“That is Trump’s Achilles heel. His children. Mueller will now be allowed, with the full support and power of the Deep State, to pull them into the investigation with far greater intensity/scrutiny than what we’ve already seen over...

PRESIDENT TRUMP DROP KICKS FOES AT ANNUAL GRIDIRON DINNER

On Saturday, President Trump made an appearance at the annual Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington and participated in the ceremony that could be best described as a roast.

And as could be expected from Trump, he brought a flamethrower.

Wikipedia describes the event as follows:


The Gridiron Club and Foundation – founded in 1885 as The Gridiron Club of Washington, D.C. – is the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, D.C. Its 65 active members represent major newspapers, news services, news magazines and broadcast networks. Membership is by invitation only and has traditionally been offered almost exclusively to Washington newspaper bureau chiefs.

The Gridiron Club is best known for its annual dinner which traditionally features the United States Marine Band, along with satirical musical skits by the members and remarks by the President of the United States and representatives of each political party. The skits and speeches by various politicians are expected to be self-deprecating or otherwise sharply comedic.
The Gridiron Dinner last night was great fun. I am accomplishing a lot in Washington and have never had a better time doing something, and especially since this is for the American People!
President Trump showed he can take jabs as well as he throw them when he poked fun at himself at the Gridiron Dinner in Washington, D.C., last night.

Trump joked about the media, Jared Kushner, and Democrats while first daughter Ivanka Trump stole the show in an elegant Carolina Herrera gown.

Trump kicked off by joking that he was late because his son-in-law “Jared couldn’t get through security,” the AP reported. He then added: “Ivanka, you’ve got to...

Morning Mistress

The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #186


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.

Hot Pick Of The Late Night


Sunday, March 4, 2018

Skipped in School #1 | The Holodomor (pt 1)


Girls With Guns

The Army Is Testing a Mechanical 'Third Arm' Right out of 'Aliens'

The Army wants to give soldiers an extra hand during their next firefight — literally.

Army Research Lab engineers are officially testing a mechanical third arm designed to help soldiers wield oversized weaponry and hump heavy loads downrange without sacrificing their performance, the service announced on Feb. 27.

While the service has been hacking away at the abdomen-mounted apparatus — creatively dubbed the “Third Arm” — since last year, the Army says the current 3.5-pound prototype can support an M249 squad automatic weapon — or a 20-pound defensive shield for added protection and cover.

Cool, sweet… but any warfighter worth their salt will recognize this solution as inspired by the M56A2 Smart Gun toted by everyone’s favorite Colonial Marines from Aliens.

It’s unlikely soldiers will have to contend with creepy xenomorphs anytime soon, but the Army’s Third Arm has clear benefits for warfighters already laden with high-tech gear.

We started out with just trying to think of a way to help improve the lethality of the dismounted Soldier,” Army Research Lab engineer Dan Baechle said in a statement. “Generally that means stabilizing the weapon or giving the Soldier a more powerful weapon. Can we stabilize that weapon to improve accuracy? But also if we’re stabilizing the weapon and taking the load off of the Soldiers’ arms, does that improve the Soldier’s readiness? Does it also improve the Soldier’s accuracy with the weapon?”

Aliens may be the most immediate pop-culture example of mechanical limbs in action, but the best description of the apparatus’ impact on lethality actually comes from Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, in my opinion. “If you load a mudfoot down with a lot of gadgets that he has to watch, someone a lot more...

‘All sorts of criminal laws’ may have been violated by FBI: Judicial Watch president examines FISA scandal



Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton discussed the possibility that the FBI may have violated criminal statutes in the process of getting FISA applications.

Fitton was reacting to a letter from Rep. Devin Nunes to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Thursday listing five criminal statutes – including conspiracy, obstruction of justice and contempt of court – that may have been violated by applications made by the FBI to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court in order to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

“I think it’s pretty darn interesting that you have an Intelligence Committee chairman having to remind the FBI and the Justice Department what the rules and the laws are,” Fitton said on Fox News Friday, noting that one of those rules is making sure “that they are presenting accurate information to the FISA court.”

“The court is expected to rely on it, but of course they didn’t make sure it was accurate,” Fitton continued, referring to the use of the infamous, unverified anti-Trump dossier that was funded by Democrats in order to obtain warrants to spy on Page.

“They pretended it was accurate and arguably misled the court,” he added, noting that, if that’s the case, then “all sorts of criminal laws” were violated.

Fitton reminded viewers that the Intelligence Committee had to fight the Justice Department and FBI for almost a year to get the background information on...