Any organization as vast and complex as the federal government is ripe for fraud. There are literally millions of people managing all the ways money flows into and out of the government, and amazingly, a lot is disbursed through things like QuickBooks accounts that can be edited after checks are cut. Embezzlers do get caught, nonetheless. These systems must have some kind of audit trail, because that is how a fraudster at the State Department got caught. Fox Business anchor Elizabeth McDonald broke that story on X on Sunday. //

She wrote 5 dozen checks to herself and 3 more to an individual with whom she had a personal relationship, but then changed the listed payee in the Quickbooks system to an actual State Department vendor. No one would have caught this without an audit.

There are more than 2,000 Quickbook accounts throughout the federal government that are ripe for a Doge audit. The GAO’s Fraudnet got 4,044 fraud allegations against thousands of federal workers in just 2023 alone at 50 agencies including the Pentagon, the DOJ and the Treasury Dept. //

Think on that for a moment; 2,000 QuickBooks accounts? From which low-level bureaucrats can just write checks? That seems inexcusably loose. But this report prompts the question: If the GAO knows that between $213 billion and $521 billion is being stolen annually by federal workers, if they are getting in excess of 4,000 allegations per year, why aren't we seeing more of the fraudsters getting caught? //

The federal apparatus is great at tracking down people who owe $48 in back taxes, but they seem to be a little too easy to defraud from within.

The world’s richest man stayed mostly on the sidelines of the political battles in the country for much of his career, but then he bought Twitter when he saw that it was an anti-free speech, censorious platform, and following that, he put his weight firmly behind Donald Trump's presidential bid and campaigned for him relentlessly.

He of course went on to become the face of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has been leading his team in finding billions upon billions of government waste, fraud, and abuse. For this, he has been vilified and threatened by the corrupt media and the progressive zealots, because how dare you attempt to trim the fat off the federal bureaucracy?

As he prepares to step aside and head back to his duties as CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX (as was always planned), the tech mogul was asked if he regrets his role in making America great again. “No,” was his answer: //

RedWave Press @RedWave_Press
·
Lara Trump: “Do you regret coming out and supporting President Trump?”

Elon Musk: “Yes joking No! I think it was essential for President Trump to win to ensure that America remained great and that we reached greater heights.”

“I think if President Trump had not won, I think the Democrat campaign to import vast numbers of illegal voters would have succeeded," adding that America would have risked becoming a "one-party state from which we could never escape."

"Some people out there may be somewhat skeptical. They may think, 'Well, there isn't some Democrat plan to subvert democracy and achieve a permanent one-party, deep blue socialist state.' I assure you, the more you research it, the more that you will see it is true."

9:27 PM · May 3, 2025 //

America @america
·
Elon Musk: “The Left is kind to the criminals and cruel to the victims… If you’re a high trust society and you bring in low trust or untrustworthy individuals, you you got a fundamental breakdown in the system.”

9:45 PM · May 3, 2025 //

Tesla Owners Silicon Valley @teslaownersSV
·
Elon Musk
"It's not been a boring year: At least, I didn't get shot. That's what happens when you go after fraud. The people doing the bad things want to keep getting the money”

12:23 AM · May 4, 2025

Command and Control, Goldsboro 1961
Clip | 2m 6s

Sometimes all that stands between the world and nuclear disaster is the flip of a switch.

Aired 01/10/2017 | Rating NR

Command and Control, Chapter 1
Clip | 9m 21s

A chilling nightmare at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas in September, 1980.

Aired 01/10/2017 | Rating NR

Command and Control, Accident Report
Clip: Season 29 Episode 1 | 1m 8s

The Accident Report

Aired 01/10/2017 | Rating NR

Command and Control trailer
Preview | 2m 18s

A routine check at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas leads to a chilling nightmare.

Aired 01/10/2017 | Rating NR

Malaria and the Silent Spring
Clip | 12m 30s
Video has Closed Captions|
CC

In 1963, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring sparked a government investigation into pesticides

Aired 01/24/2017 | Rating NR

Command and Control The Socket
Clip | 3m 26s

Director Robert Kenner breaks down the scene for The Socket.

Aired 01/10/2017 | Rating NR

A powerful story of the most destructive invention in human history, outlining how America developed the nuclear bomb, how it changed the world and how it continues to loom large in our lives. Witness the raw power and strangely compelling beauty of rare views of above-ground nuclear tests.

Margot Cleveland @ProfMJCleveland
·
Replying to @ProfMJCleveland
12/ In sum, this opinion is a HUGE win for Trump because it establishes 3 key principles that apply to many of the other cases being brought against Trump Administration: a) no jurisdiction over firings; b) no jurisdiction over grant terminations;
13/ c) you can't get around Congress limiting district court jurisdiction by creative pleading of claims under other theories; d) with no bond harm to government will outweigh other harm; e) public has interest in Article III obey Article I.
2:14 PM · May 3, 2025 //

The Left only destroys
2 hours ago
require a bond for the injunction
To me, this is the most important part of the ruling. My understanding is that the bond posted must cover the expenses that the defendant (in this case, the Federal Government) incurs if later the injunction is overturned. Given the scope of those activities, the cost of the bonds would be huge. If this really happens (and I'm betting President Trump will move mountains to make sure it is), it will finally prevent every little candy-@$$ed technicolor-haired leftist from filing for injunctive relief six seconds after an Executive Order is issued.

Banned Books Week is coming to K-12 schools and city libraries across the nation September 18-24. This is a time for librarians to promote books that have been challenged for offensive content, such as sexually explicit writing and images, the promotion of so-called transgender lifestyles, and child sexual abuse.

Librarians get to tout their activism as a virtuous commitment to First Amendment freedoms for students and others and they label those who don’t like the banned books as censors. But many of these books actually fall under the legal definition of obscenity. Others discuss things like the steps of “transgender transitioning” and how children can hide their internet search history from their parents. Nevertheless, many school and classroom libraries still carry them.

Research by Judith Reisman and Mary McAlister in the Liberty University Law Review, “Materials Deemed Harmful to Minors Are Welcomed into Classrooms and Libraries via Educational ‘Obscenity Exemptions,’” relayed that the Supreme Court has already settled that obscene material is not protected by the Constitution but left the definition of what is obscene to individual states based on the characteristics of their communities. Most states and the District of Columbia have obscenity laws with prohibitions on disseminating material that is “harmful to minors.” //

For books like “Gender Queer,” I’m unable to replicate the pictures depicted in the book for this article, as I would be subject to legal penalties. Likewise, a father at a recent school board meeting had his microphone silenced for attempting to read from some of the objectionable books found in his child’s school because the school board was aware that allowing the words to air was illegal.

But, magically, once a child enters a school library, a librarian can provide “Gender Queer” and other challenged books to him or her without fear of prosecution. //

As an example of a state’s obscenity exemption, take a look at Texas Penal Code Section 43.24, which is the law that prohibits distribution of harmful material to children. The specific exemption is found at 43.24(c), and it provides “an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the sale, distribution, or exhibition was by a person having scientific, educational, governmental, or other similar justification.”

But Texas State Rep. Steve Toth is trying to change that.

This point is perhaps the most ironic one. A "Democracy" according to George Soros is not decided by its own citizens. Instead, NATO's new mission is to impose their own ideology on others and build countries which agree with Soros.

On a typical day, the global 787 fleet conducts approximately 2,100 flights, transporting roughly 480,000 passengers daily – about 14.5 million people monthly. //

Boeing announced that its pioneering 787 Dreamliner fleet has transported over one billion passengers faster than any widebody commercial airplane in history, achieving this milestone in under 14 years since entering service.

The global fleet of more than 1,175 Dreamliners has completed nearly 5 million flights covering over 30 million flight hours. //

The 787 Dreamliner has fundamentally transformed the aviation landscape by enabling airlines to efficiently operate previously unprofitable long-haul routes.

With its exceptional fuel efficiency and extended range capabilities, carriers have established more than 425 new nonstop routes, connecting cities that previously required multiple stops or weren’t served at all. //

The aircraft’s operational capabilities have made it particularly valuable for airlines like Qantas Airways (QF), which operates the longest nonstop 787 route from London to Perth spanning 7,829 nautical miles.

At the other extreme, TUI Airways (BY) utilizes the Dreamliner for shorter high-demand routes including the 65 nautical mile hop between Aruba and Curaçao. //

The Dreamliner’s commercial success is reflected in its position as the bestselling passenger widebody in aviation history, with more than 2,000 orders from 89 airlines, operators, and lessors. The aircraft operates across more than 85 countries and serves over 520 airports worldwide.

In the case of MEL 32-12-01 covering missing gear door seals, the prescribed remedy involves maintaining the extended gear position temporarily after takeoff. //

• During normal operations, gear retraction typically occurs within 10 seconds after takeoff

• The system applies automatic braking to wheels during retraction to prevent gyroscopic forces from spinning wheels from entering the gear bay

For aircraft operating with deactivated brake units (another MEL condition), extended gear position becomes especially important.

The spinning mass of wheels (exceeding 100kg each) creates substantial gyroscopic forces that could stress the landing gear system if retracted while still spinning rapidly. Natural deceleration time prevents potential damage.

polyjunkie
3 days ago edited
Well. I lived through this era and was about to be drafted when the war ended. The media had little to do with how the war was lost, because the war was already lost by the time Walter Cronkite figured it out. It was lost because of Lyndon Johnson’s and Robert MacNamara’s insane policy of “proportional escalation”, which theorized we could cause the North Vietnamese to quit because we would meet everything they did with an equally large response. To say this policy was stupid is to claim AOC is a genius.

This led to bombing dikes and roads instead of power plants and factories. It led to allowing “humanitarian aid” from Russia and China instead of cutting off North Vietnam and starving them into submission. It led to “destroying the village in order to save it” and 58,000 dead soldiers. It handicapped the world’s strongest power and kept us from using that power to end the conflict quickly.

Nixon proved as much with the 1972 Christmas bombing when in 12 days (Twelve Days!) the B52s destroyed so much of North Vietnam’s infrastructure and Haiphong harbor that the commies signed the peace deal in Paris. It cost the loss of 12 B52s to end the war. What might have happened if that power had been used in 1964 and saved millions of lives, a couple of whom were my friends and classmates? I hope that Johnson and MacNamara are roasting in the nether world as they most certainly deserve it. //

edhuff polyjunkie
3 days ago
By the time Lyndon Johnson's lying war fiasco was over, most young Americans and nearly the entire population of Vietnam disliked and distrusted everything about the American government for decades to come. The origins of today's "Hate and Blame America First" leftist Democrat cabal are the result of Johnson's miscalculations about Vietnam, and the welfare state. //

(N)o.(B)ody.(C)ares
3 days ago
Vietnam could have been won, much like Korea, if the gloves would have come off, and hit them with overwhelming force, instead of tit-for-tat warfare.
Never go into a “conflict” with the idea of “police action”, go to fight with a mindset of total control. //

kls&c 85
3 days ago
We had the war WON TWICE.
The first was after the 1968 Tet Offensive. The North has used everything they had for forces in the South and were soundly defeated. They had little left between the DMZ and Hanoi. Our Marines in Nothern South Vietnam could have marched to Hanoi facing little opposition. Instead President Johnson opted for "Peace Talks" that gave the North years to regroup and rearm.
The second was when President Nixon authorized the B-52s to bomb targets around Hanoi and Haiphong. At the end, the North Vietnamese ran out of SA-2 surface to air missiles. Some sources say that if we had continued these attacks another weeek or more, North Vietnam was ready to surrender. Instead President Nixon opted for more "Peace Talks".
This time we did get our PoWs back and we left South Vietnam. The North again regrouped and rearmed. South Vietnam fell about 2.5 years later.
After the 1968 Tet Offensive CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite called this complete routing of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong forces in the South a a great defeat for America. If Walter Cronkite who was a journalist in WWII had used this same standard for the December 1944 German Offensive we call The Battle of the Bulge, he would have reported this was a great Victory for Hitler and a defeat for General Eisenhower and Allied Forces.
Still today the legacy is we are great at winning the battles, but terrible at winning the peace. //

Cafeblue32
3 days ago edited
We could have won if we didn't have everyone in congress trying to run it. When you have arbitrary rules that tie one hand behind your back while the enemy has no such rules, what do we think is going to happen? The VC went into Cambodia and Laos to move supplies because they knew we couldn't. Sorry, but if the enemy is using neutral countries to schlep supplies, then that country is fair game. We eventually carpet bombed them, but it was too little too late.

Ever since Hiroshima, politicians have suffered under the delusion that there is a cleaner, less violent way to fight a war. This is why they last 10 or 20 years now. They are trying to avoid collateral damage with an enemy that hide among them. If we hadn't leveled entire cities in WW2 and broke their ability to produce weapons by bombing civilian workers and their factories, that war could have lasted for decades. Our heavy handed involvement in it ended it in about 3 and a half years. Sorry, but you can't win a war playing by arbitrary self-limiting rules. What are we going to do when they are violated, go to war over it with them when we already are? //

anon-jzmf
3 days ago
You know what might have well won the war? Had the short-sighted and penny-pinching Pentagon not switched to powdered gun powder for the 5.56mm rounds fired in the M-16 assault rifle.

The M-16 was designed to fire pelletized gun powder. This type of powder fired cleaner, and only very rarely fouled the rifle. But in order to save about a half-cent per round of ammunition - the Pentagon switched to "powdered" gun powder - which fired more dirty, fouled the rifles, and then very often jammed them up. So many fatalities from that war were discovered with their cleaning kits out trying to get their M-16s back in the fight. They were basically unarmed when they were killed.

It haunts me to this day. Nobody asked the rifle's designer, a man named Eugene Stoner. They just did it. And since the procurement specialists in the Pentagon could scarcely have been further from the fight they had no idea what they'd done. But it might well have cost us that war, and the Vietnamese people two generations of unspeakable suffering and oppression. //

7againstthebes
3 days ago edited
Per Clausewitz: There are three objectives to obtain to wage victorious war.

The enemy's army
The enemy's territory
The will of the people.

During the Viet Nam war US forces defeated the enemy's army in every major battle.
During the Viet Nam war, the US did not commit enough troops to the theater of war to capture and hold enemy territory.
During the Viet Nam war the US did not destroy the will of the North Vietnamese people to wage war.

The North Vietnamese did not defeat the US military.
The North Vietnamese did not capture and hold US controlled territory in South Viet Nam.
The North Vietnamese did defeat the will of the American people to wage war.

The American people got tired of the war and as protests grew the will of the people to wage war declined.

Did the media have a part in this. Yes. Was their part decisive. Likely not. But it did contribute.

anon-pkys 7againstthebes
3 days ago
I disagree with the affect the MSM had on the war. When Walter Cronkite said the war was lost, folks believed him. Of course he lied, but the American citizens did not know that. But what did I know? I had only been in the military since January, 1964, followed the news, and served in VN, 1969-70. I have also read most of the history of the war, especially by those that were there and fought it. //

Laocoön of Troy
3 days ago
“In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.”

― Abraham Lincoln

Call for action
Thirty-nine state attorneys general called on Congress to pass legislation to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from owning or operating pharmacies.

Pharmacy middlemen
PBMs negotiate prices between manufacturers and pharmacies while also managing prescription drug benefits and formularies.

Years of consolidation
The big three pharmacy benefit managers all have their own online or brick-and-mortar pharmacies and insurance providers.

The top three pharmacy benefit managers processed nearly 80% of the roughly 6.6 billion prescriptions filled by pharmacies in 2023, according to the FTC.

In April, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R, signed legislation banning PBMs from owning pharmacies in the state, claiming that the companies engage in anticompetitive practices. Meanwhile, a handful of other states have laws in the works to address the payment processors. On top of potential legislation, 39 state attorneys general called on Congress to pass legislation similar to Arkansas’ on the federal level.

Health care
The top three pharmacy benefit managers processed nearly 80% of the roughly 6.6 billion prescriptions filled by pharmacies in 2023, according to the FTC.

For some time now, there has been a controversy in Christiandom as regards the authenticity of the book of Enoch.

A lot of people are of the view that if the book really mattered, it would have been meant for the people that existed before Christ because the book was more than 300 years old when Jesus Christ was on earth.

Jesus Quotes Book of Enoch

So notice what it is that Eliphaz says about the flood in Job 22:15-18:

Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?
They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.
They said to God, “Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?”
Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things… (Job 22:15-18a, NIV) [3]

According to Eliphaz, God’s role in the flood was to give good things to the people who lived prior to the flood (Job 22:18a), but in response, all they wanted was for God to leave them alone. They told God to depart from them!

Think about that for a moment. A federal judge presiding over an ACLU lawsuit has ordered the Attorney General of the State of Florida to cease enforcement of the Florida law that is the source of the suit. The AG, citing his opinion that the judge has no jurisdiction, is defying the order, refusing to order Florida law enforcement to stand down.

And here's the interesting bit: It seems that if the Florida AG is to be brought in to face contempt charges, the person likely to be tasked with bringing him in would be U.S. Marshal Greg Leljedal of the Northern District of Florida. Now, look at this:
...
They seem to be on remarkably good terms.

The Windows Time service (W32Time) synchronizes the date and time for all computers managed by Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This article covers the different tools and settings used to manage the Windows Time service.