Saturday Shorts – Iran, Zephyr, Gaetz, DEA
A few quickies for the day:
Seems Iran is hiding chunks of its missile programs as civilian companies to evade sanctions. Whoever would have thought sanctions would work…
The NCRI is sounding the alarm that at least three companies in Iran, including the Kaveh Mobadel Industrial Co., also known as Kaveh Machinery Co. (KMC), Sanaye Garma Gostar (SGG), also dubbed the Garma Gostar Industries, as well as the Sana Bargh Tavan Co., also known as SBT Electric, are tasked with producing items used to develop missile and drones.
One example highlighted in the NRCI report pointed to dozens of aluminum tanks allegedly being produced for the “dairy industry,” though the report also pointed out that “using aluminum for dairy purposes is prohibited.”
The Sana Bargh Tavan Co., a collection of electronic factories situated in an area known as Pardis Technology Park and produces elevator drives, was reportedly discovered to be manufacturing “electronic boards for missiles and drones under the guise of other industrial products for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
The complex was also reported to be “under the control of the IRGC, and visitors’ access is regulated.” Fox News
Reminds me of ‘way back in the ’60s when Russian missiles were found to contain what looked like Texas Instruments’ boards. (Turned out they had reverse engineered actual TI product, and had not known whether the TI imprint was functional – so they built the logo on, to be safe. Russian boards with Cyrillic stamps… and a TI logo.)
Item next – the GOP is requiring that Capitol restrooms to be used by ONLY those of the matching biologically birth gender. Openly trans Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr disagrees:
Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, argued that transgender people who identify as women are as valid biological women as genetic females.
“I literally just got out of meetings with members of Congress & used the bathroom on my way out,” the lawmaker wrote on X Wednesday afternoon. “Trans women are women—full stop. We’re every bit as ‘biologically female’ as cis women & @SpeakerJohnson’s statement doesn’t change the fact that women’s spaces include trans women.” Fox News II
Comments suggest Rep. Zephyr has had “the operation” and has no ‘little Zooey’. No estimated plans for pregnancy or periods were disclosed.
Controversial Cabinet candidate Matt Gaetz has announced his withdrawal from consideration as Attorney General.
Gaetz added. “I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”ABC News
I do understand that some folks have skeletons in their closets – for most of us, that is a given. Asking candidates BEFORE they are publicized, like “are we going to find out anything negative about you on a background check?” should be the first question asked of ANY proposed candidate, yeah? It may be determined that what their particular skeleton is a nothingburger, hopefully. But someone currently under public investigation? Seriously, now. That’s like handing a knife-wielding robber your gun so he’ll be better equipped.
And some good news. The Deputy US Deputy Attorney General announced the suspension of DEA’s Asset Forfeiture Program at mass transportation facilities. (Translation – you carry lots of cash, they call it possible drug money, they steal confiscate it.)
The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, announced the suspension of the DEA’s program by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a new report released on Thursday that raised grave concerns about the program and questioned whether some of the searches were conducted legally.
“The DEA was not complying with its own policy on consensual encounters conducted at mass transportation facilities, resulting in personnel creating potentially significant operational and legal risks,” Horowitz wrote in a memo to Monaco and Anne Milgram, the DEA administrator.
It allows police to search and seize property from people who may be suspected of a crime, even if they are never charged. The proceeds from the seizure are typically split among the law enforcement agencies involved in the search, creating what some argue is a perverse financial incentive for federal, state and local police departments.
The property owner can recover the assets only if he or she can prove the seizure was not connected to any criminal activity, creating a legal burden that is costly and time-consuming. Reuters
Look, I understand the goal of keeping drug dealers from enjoying the profits of their illicit enterprise – but asset forfeiture has been turned into a law enforcement enrichment program. Too many agencies at ALL levels including many of the local po-po are exploiting it at any possible opportunity against people who have no involvement with drugs at all. We’ve even discussed it here. Plus – remember “innocent until proven guilty”, the bedrock of our entire legal system? Despite its good intentions, civil asset forfeiture needs to be relegated to a post-legal-conviction tool, not a convenient pretextual first step. For once, cheers to the Deputy AG and the Justice Department’s IG.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Crime, Iran, Politics
Theft by cop. The new organized crime syndicate
Civil Asset Forfeiture, never could get behind that one. Our justice system was designed to only convict and sentence once a speedy trial is held and the prosecutor can proof guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. Civil Asset Forfeiture requires that the person subject to the seizure prove that the money is not illicit. That is not how things are supposed to work.
There have been several instances of local LEO’s in my AO that have gotten sticky fingers while administering the Civil Asset Forfeiture Fortune.
When they get dick stomped by the FED’s they get remorseful quickly and start trying to pay it back.
Just use the bathroom assigned at birth. I don’t want to be bothered with your mental confusion.
Reminds me of toilets in Thailand one door says women, one door says men. You enter either door and it’s men and women in the same room. Waiting to squat on the same hole in the floor.
I know the courts say otherwise but CAF appears to be unconstitutional to me. It is essentially a fine without a conviction.
I thought Gaetz was a terrible choice even without his baggage. Pam Bondi however is an excellent choice and exactly what you should be looking for in an AG. As others pointed out at the time I can’t help but think she might have been his choice all along and the side show with Gaetz was a convenient way to get rid of him without confrontation. If Trump really was thinking that far ahead then the next four years are going to be fascinating. The media is pretty easy to fool and if you dangle a piece of red meat they will jump on it like hungry wolves. The trick is not letting them know they are being played.
The dust up in the house about which garage to park your penis in seems to have a media focus on Speaker Johnson. It was Rep Nancy Mace who introduced the bill however. As typical though they pretend this isn’t about the safety of women who do indeed get sexually assaulted by transgenders in the restroom and instead about how weird we can make Congress, which jumped the shark decades ago. Just think, if little Timmy had become VP, they would have tampon dispensers in the House men’s room.