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There are simply too many troubling stories in recent weeks. And this post simply selects a few that demonstrate the contrast of issues needing attention. From the never ending failure to enforce immigration law in the US to years of ignoring an issue of equal importance to national security, Iranian nukes, President Obama adds his ‘Katrina’ to the list of issues railed on by liberals during the Bush years but now silent with the Messiah in the White House. And let’s not forget about financial reform, too big to fail, bailouts and the announcement of a merger between United and Continental airlines.

An estimated 10 to 12 million people are thought to have entered the United States illegally, and most come from Latin America. Hispanics are the largest minority group in the American southwest, and immigration reform has become a potent political issue in the Hispanic community, where calls for crackdowns on illegal immigration have been viewed as anti-Hispanic.

There was a time when the number of illegals was estimated near 30 million. Over time it has been greatly reduced. The excerpt above points to the problem. ‘People thought’ to be here illegally. More important is stating ‘most come from Latin America.’ That the largest minority group in the southwest is ‘hispanic’ and the ‘hispanic community’ protests enforcement of immigration laws speaks to the larger problem. Being here illegally, making the most noise about amnesty, expressing no intention of becoming American while invoking the race card explains the fallacy. Illegal immigration is an entirely self-serving proposition. It denounces the very principles it claims to represent.

President Barack Obama says an expanding oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is a massive and unprecedented environmental disaster that will require a relentless, coordinated effort to overcome.

That ‘relentless, coordinated effort’ is taking a long time to begin. Compare this to reaction over the response to Katrina during the Bush administration. NOAA has had an oil spill response program for 15 or 20 years. So why the long delays here? Now it is suggested the oil slick will travel around Florida and up the east coast of the US. Another example of how ineffective big government is.

And then there is the small matter of a merger in the airline industry.

The merger between United and Continental Airlines will be worth some $3 billion.

The combined company will have nearly 700 planes, 80,000 employees, and fly to 370 destinations in 59 countries.

Airline industry expert Joseph Schwieterman of DePaul University in Chicago says the announcement is a positive sign for an industry that has struggled since the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The airline industry struggled long before 2001. In many ways the troubles of the airlines is quite similar to that of automobile manufacturers. So two airlines merge as the answer to solve their problems. It does nothing to confront the underlying problems of the industry. But it does present a possible example of what the current push for financial reform in Congress, too big to fail and more bailouts in the future will bring. More problems for the American taxpayer, consumers in general and evidence politicians have no idea what they’re doing or are lying to you about their intentions.

This post concludes with a brief mention of Iranian nukes. This issue is the most troubling in this list. Continued failure to properly address and resolve it may result in a mushroom cloud. The only positive outcome thus far illuminates ineffective leadership around the planet, not just the United States. And that is little consolation.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad kicked off the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference with a lengthy diatribe against the United States and other Western powers who seek to sanction his country for its controversial nuclear program.

Mr. Ahmadinejad spoke for more than half an hour, giving what has become something of his trademark - a speech criticizing the United States, Israel and invoking God - and sending the U.S., British and French delegations walking out of the hall in protest.

There is nothing new about this issue. The UN is as impotent as ever. The Obama administration has done nothing. China, Russia and Iran have used this issue to their collective advantage and no one else presents an answer. As another terrorist demonstrates how vulnerable to attack everyone is weak minds obsess on how to be fair to those who do not understand the concept. When will we treat terror threats like terror threats? Stop coddling those who support and produce terrorism and other acts of war.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Honda Motor Co said it will recall another roughly 378,000 vehicles in the U.S. to fix potentially faulty airbag systems that are linked to at least one known fatality and 11 injuries in the U.S.

The expanded recall brings to more than 826,000 vehicles the number of Honda and Acura models covered by a series of airbag system recalls that began in 2008.

The company said some airbags in its older vehicles deploy with too much pressure, and send metal fragments flying into the car.

Never liked airbags and never will. And even though potential user injury is a common complaint and has been for years the current report trumps the previous worries generally limited to smaller or older passengers.

Nanny state proponents wonder why so many oppose government intervention claimed to be on behalf of the public. Here’s a good example. Or should we accept the risk of shrapnel from airbags along with other known and unknown hazards?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

One of the political debates in the news concerns President Obama’s nominee for leading the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The simple pro and con on the issue has conservatives criticizing the Obama Administration for dragging its feet on filling the vacancy and liberals countering with the complaint that Republican Senator Jim DeMint is holding up the confirmation of Erroll Southers, Obama’s current candidate for the job.

Senator DeMint’s January 1, 2009 press release answers critics of his position. It is short, sweet and to the point. Maybe critics of Senator DeMint should consider the fact that holding up the confirmation of a flawed nominee is better than confirming same. Given recent security failures the importance of this nomination is emphasized. Rubber stamping President Obama’s first choice in the name of expediency is irresponsible at best. President Obama can easily replace this nominee with someone worthy of filling the vacancy. Here’s DeMint’s press release.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

DeMint Statement on TSA Nominee

January 1, 2010 - WASHINGTON, D.C - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement about President Obama’s nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration (TSA):

“Erroll Southers has not been forthcoming about whether he’ll give union bosses control of our airport security, which is one of the most important decisions he’ll make as head of the TSA. Mr. Southers’ unwillingness to form a position on collective bargaining seriously calls into question his judgment, because it weakens security and has already been rejected by the CIA, the FBI, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and by every previous TSA administrator.”

“And now we learn that he misled Congress in sworn testimony about accessing confidential records. The TSA is one of the most critical security agencies in the War on Terror, and the Senate must carefully vet this nominee. If Mr. Southers is unwilling to put security ahead of politics and if he can’t tell the truth, then he’s not qualified and should not be confirmed.”

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Another event to once again raise the discussion on national security. Not like the status of US national security is ever erased from the American consciousness but one has to wonder if that includes the Obama Administration? The President has been criticized for not being more visible on this and other issues since heading to Hawaii on vacation. His security princess, Napolitano, stated after the Flight 253 incident, the first of two, that ‘the system’ was working properly. That someone was able to board a commercial aircraft and attempt to detonate explosives on final approach contradicts Napolitano’s conclusion. Unless only doing something after the fact is her idea of national security. And even then, simply notifying other commercial aircraft of the conditions on Flight 253 is of little value.

For those who missed it a Delta or Northwest (owned by Delta) flight, number 253, had a Nigerian passenger who attempted to detonate explosives on board as summarized above. A strange coincidence, or not, involved the same flight number on a subsequent flight in which another passenger was either detained and/or arrested for causing a disturbance. One troubling set of circumstances finds reports about the first incident suggesting the description of the ‘perp’ as a terrorist was premature and early reports about the second incident being characterized as a second terrorist attack. How’s that for a spot on press response?

Here’s a more recent account of the second incident.

A U.S. law enforcement official says an unruly passenger was detained Sunday when a Northwest Airlines flight landed in Detroit, Michigan, but he was later declared as not a security threat.

The plane was on the same route and carried the same flight number as one on Friday, when a Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up Northwest Flight 253 just before landing.

In the latest incident, security personnel arrested a passenger upon landing Sunday because he was verbally abusive to the flight crew and had locked himself in the airplane bathroom for a long time.

The pilot radioed for emergency help. Passengers were evacuated and dogs sniffed the luggage which was spread out on the tarmac.

A law enforcement official tells news agencies that the passenger turned out to be a businessman who got sick during the flight .

And another recent update provides an excerpt on the initial incident.

Passengers have told investigators the man went into the bathroom for 20 minutes before landing, and then when he went to sit down, said he had stomach problems, and pulled a blanket on himself.

Just as the plane was getting ready to land, they heard a pop, smelled smoke and then saw the man on fire.

A Dutch passenger jumped on the Nigerian to subdue him, and blankets were used to put out the fire.

Does this brief review adequately establish Napolitano’s press statements are absurd? Certainly everyone is entitle to their opinion but you can guess that most Americans expect a different outcome in order to state the ’system worked’ when discussing US national security.

On the topic of President Obama’s silence on the matter in recent reports this blog’s reaction. It is reminiscent of an old expression about incompetence that begins with ‘better to be viewed as an idiot than….’. You probably know the rest.

Some related items are provided below on the explosive (PETN) reportedly used in the first incident.

a highly explosive organic compound belonging to the same chemical family as nitroglycerin—i.e., the nitric acid esters of polyalcohols.

PETN was introduced as an explosive after World War I. It is used by itself in detonators and detonating fuses (Primacord) and in a mixture, called pentolite, with an equal amount of trinitrotoluene (TNT) in grenades and projectiles.

PETN is a colourless, crystalline material that is generally stored and shipped as a mixture with water. It is less sensitive than nitroglycerin but is easily detonated. Valued for its shattering force and efficiency, PETN is the least stable of the common military explosives but retains its properties in storage for longer periods than nitroglycerin or cellulose nitrate (nitrocellulose) does. PETN is also used in medicine as a heart stimulant.

Yup, good old-fashioned human technology about a century old.

OSHA does not have a PEL for pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), which is used both as a drug for preventing angina pectoris and as an explosive.

If you really need to know what a PEL is the following link explains along with many other items typcially covered on a MSDS or Material Safety Data Sheet. And one last related OSHA link.

OSHA has data on PETN. Now if only DHS had detection methods for this well-known explosive and implemented them to avoid a Flight 253 problem.

As a final note for this post a political point is in order. Bush bashers frequently express 9/11 happened on the Bush 43 watch so it was his fault. This blog has stated in the past that there is plenty of blame to go around regarding US national security. A couple of things to keep in mind. 9/11 was not conceived, planned or otherwise arranged by terrorists in less than eight months which is the time George W Bush was in office prior to the attack. Before that President Clinton completed two terms in office and posts here as well as information freely available elsewhere indicate some dropping of the ball as regards terrorism and Osama bin Laden, etc.

When Bush 43 took office and after 9/11 occurred it became his war on terror and he owned the problem. An unfortunate downside to pursuing public office. Post 9/11 the Bush Administration was successful on matters of national security for two terms. The same ownership transfer now applies to President Obama. Given the Flight 253 episode(s), Napolitano’s statement, Obama’s silence, the previous and now infamous warning by VPOTUS Joe Biden the national security situation is once more front and center.

Nothing about current US national security policy inspires confidence.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a press release, presented below, that expresses concern related to the so-called Recovery Act or stimulus or porkulus bill and GAO reports indicating earlier skepticism by opponents of the plan may be justified.

The GAO reports that 16 states and DC account for about 65% of the US population as well as an equal % of the ’stimulus’ funding under their scrutiny in this second report. Links to the information are provided below. This blog’s summary is short and sweet.

Three areas of government spending are covered. Medicaid, DOT highway infrastructure and education programs are the target of these billions of taxpayer dollars. With the possible exception of DOT projects the other two areas will not likely result in new jobs. Education funding is simply being used to ‘retain staff’ and ‘continue programs’.

And GAO is concerned that transparency and accountability measures will not meet the stated goals of ‘following the money’. They offer numerous recommendations dealing with the need for more accountability.

The view from this blog has not changed. Billions in ‘recovery’ funds provided by the taxpayer will be used as expected to fund government programs. What’s new? It is unlikely many jobs will be created but saving jobs of those protected by the Obama administration will occur. You are paying for their continued support of the current administration. For all of you being layed off in the private sector the recovery act will do nothing for you to this point. Elections have consequences.

Here’s an excerpt from the GAO reports that may whet your appetite for more information.

Accountability States have implemented various internal control programs; however, federal Single Audit guidance and reporting does not fully address Recovery Act risk. The Single Audit reporting deadline is too late to provide audit results in time for the audited entity to take action on deficiencies noted in Recovery Act programs. Moreover, current guidance does not achieve the level of accountability needed to effectively respond to Recovery Act risks. Finally, state auditors need additional flexibility and funding to undertake the added Single Audit responsibilities under the Recovery Act.

Here is the link for GAO on the Recovery Act….

http://www.gao.gov/recovery/bimonthly/index.php

Here is McConnell’s press release….

GAO Report Validates Stimulus Concerns

from the Office of Senator Mitch McConnell

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

‘Americans should be skeptical anytime someone in Washington downplays scrutiny and overplays speed’

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Wednesday regarding the GAO report on the stimulus bill and the lack of transparency and accountability:

“This week’s GAO report on the administration’s Economic Stimulus plan validates the serious concerns that many of us repeatedly expressed prior to its passage. This trillion-dollar spending plan was neither timely, targeted, nor temporary, and funds were extremely difficult to track. This is precisely the result that concerned us when advocates short-changed the debate and overpromised on results, including assurances that unemployment, now approaching 10%, wouldn’t rise above 8 percent.

“According to the report, assurances on transparency were off base, as was the promise that we’d be able to accurately track jobs. The GAO report should add to growing public concerns about the Administration’s tendency to rush and to overpromise on results when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars and increasing the national debt. But it shouldn’t surprise anyone who followed the debate.

“Americans should be skeptical anytime someone in Washington downplays scrutiny and overplays speed. They have even more reason to be skeptical now.”

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If you are or were concerned about government spending and specifically the bailouts and porkulus scams you have reason to be.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com