Category: Random Stuff

Tweet of the Day: Thank You For Answering the Call to Serve

https://twitter.com/thejointstaff/status/1193893815821750272

State Department Investigation Finds 91 Cases of Classified Emails Sent to Hillary Clinton

Could you imagine what would happen if this was a random U.S. military commander telling subordinate leaders to send all emails to a non-government email to include classified information?

The State Department has completed its internal investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of private email and found violations by 38 people, some of whom may face disciplinary action.

The investigation, launched more than three years ago, determined that those 38 people were “culpable” in 91 cases of sending classified information that ended up in Clinton’s personal email, according to a letter sent to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley this week and released on Friday. The 38 are current and former State Department officials but were not identified.

Although the report identified violations, it said investigators had found “no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.” However, it also made clear that Clinton’s use of the private email had increased the vulnerability of classified information.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but no word from General Petraeus about what he thinks of this.

Is Nike the Reason NBA is Kowtowing to the Chinese Government?

Very interesting take from sports journalist Jason Whitlock on why the NBA is kowtowing to the Chinese government:

Jason Whitlock

FOX Sports 1 journalist Jason Whitlock connects the dots on how Nike influences the NBA and the athletic apparel company’s relationship with China.

“I’m going to try to explain this,” Whitlock said Friday on FNC’s ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’ “It’s very simple actually. Nike is in control of basketball — the NBA, college basketball, high school. Nike is the real person driving this conversation in this thing with China. If you go back to — and I’m going to connect it to politics — in 2015, in May of 2015, President Barack Obama went to Nike’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon and announced his defense of the TPP – Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

“A deal that was going to be very favorable for Nike, for China,” he said. “Who is the President that came after Obama and walked America away from the TPP? Donald Trump. Who is the shoe company that employs LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick and these other athletes that smear Donald Trump as racist? Who are the people constantly criticizing Donald Trump? NBA, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich.”

“The NBA answers to Nike,” Whitlock declared. “Nike is a $40 billion business. The NBA is an $8 billion business. President Obama, the basketball President, friendly relationship with the NBA, went to Nike’s headquarters to announce his defense of the TPP.”

“This thing is very simple. This is about money,” he said. 

“This is about a President that won’t cooperate with what Nike wants done,” Whitlock said on FNC. “Nike is using the NBA and its leverage over the NBA to go after this guy because they disagree with him about his policies as it relates to trade in China. It’s very simple.”

Real Clear Politics

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: What Does Syria Withdrawal Mean for USFK?

Tweet of the Day: How to Get A Medal Being Drunk on Duty

Tweet of the Day: Timeline of Global Military Spending

Tweet of the Day: Air Raid Shelters with Wi-Fi

Media Criticizes Military Involvement in July 4th Celebration in Washington, D.C.

I fail to see what the big deal is about the July 4th celebration involving the U.S. military:

As they strolled along the National Mall Tuesday, visitors to the nation’s capital were just learning about the grandiose July 4th celebration that will showcase Army tanks and military flyovers beyond the usual pageantry.

“Awesome,” California school teacher and U.S. Air Force veteran Walter De Graaf, 57, said as he stood near the Washington Monument. “Let’s show America who we are. Let’s show the world who we are.”

“A little extreme,” David Havens, 67, a salesperson from Sebastian, Florida, said about the military display. “Not so sure about that.”

Trump has yet to deliver his address near the Lincoln Memorial Thursday, but his “Salute to America” already is eliciting strong opinions over whether a president revered by supporters and reviled by opponents was injecting politics in an event above the partisan fray that enjoys national appeal.

USA Today

You can read more at the link, but there is going to be two Abrams tanks and two Bradleys on static display and a fly over by military aircraft which has people all worked up like this has never happened before when it has many times in the past.

The $2.5 million cost that National Park Service reportedly said the event is going to cost has also been widely cited with claims the money would otherwise go to park improvement projects. What the media isn’t saying is that the annual fireworks show in Washington D.C. usually costs the National Park Service $2 million to put on. I have never heard the media tell the NPS to stop the annual fireworks show because it is a waste of money, it is only a waste of money when the President shows up.

That pretty much sums up all the criticism to the event, Trump is involved so it must be bad.

Anyway I hope everyone has a great 4th of July holiday.

Military Family Will Likely Have Adopted Daughter Deported Back to Korea

Here is an update on the military family that has been trying to adopt their Korean niece in order to give her citizenship in the United States:

That was when the former Army lieutenant colonel and his wife Soo Jin were informed by the Federal District Court of Kansas that their adopted daughter Hyebin will be deported back to South Korea due to U.S. immigration law that cuts off the age when foreign-born adopted children can become naturalized U.S. citizens at 16.
The Kansas court ruled that Hyebin must return to Korea after she finishes earning her chemical engineering degree at the University of Kansas, which she will do in December. Schreiber and his wife are appealing through the 10th District Court of Appeals, though they are not optimistic about their chances of winning.
“We have no delusions that everything’s going to come out like a flowing bed of roses,” Schreiber told the Military Times. “We’ve always planned for two courses of action. So it was never something that we thought, ‘Yeah, things are going to work out the way we wish they would come out.’”
The immigration policy that is forcing Hyebin to leave the U.S. is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A spokeswoman for USCIS told the Military Times via email that “it is USCIS policy not to comment on ongoing litigation, nor will we speak to individual cases due to privacy concerns.”

Army Times

You can read more at the link, but this is a really tough case because LTC Schreiber missed the cut off date because he deployed to Afghanistan. When he came back to do her citizenship he found out it was too late for Hyebin to receive citizenship.

I am a bit surprised she not able to get a work visa sponsored by an employer considering she is about to graduate with a chemical engineering degree.

What is amazing about this is if she was a child of illegal immigrants she would be allowed to stay, but since she is a daughter of American citizens she will likely get deported.

Tweet of the Day: Do You Know Anyone In Korea Like This?