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Nano-structured interconnect formation and a reworkable bonding process using solder films. Large area fabrication of nano-structured interconnects is demonstrated at a very fine pitch. This technology can be used for pushing the limits of current flip chip bonding in terms of pitch, number of I/Os, superior combination of electrical and mechanical properties as well as reworkability. Sol-gel and electroless processes were developed to demonstrate film bonding interfaces between metallic pads and nano interconnects. Solution-derived nano-solder technology is an attractive low-cost method for several applications such as MEMS hermetic packaging, compliant interconnect bonding and bump-less nano-interconnects.
1. In a bonding process providing nanodimensional bonding interfaces to provide fine pitch interconnects, the process including the step of using lead-free solder film in the bonding process to bond the interconnects, the improvement to the bonding process comprising the step of synthesizing the lead-free solder film using a sol-gel process.
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16. In a bonding process providing nanodimensional bonding interfaces to provide fine pitch interconnects, the process including the step of using lead-free solder film in the bonding process to bond the interconnects, the improvement to the bonding process comprising the step of synthesizing the lead-free solder film using powder synthesis.
17. The bonding process of
18. In a bonding process providing nanodimensional bonding interfaces to provide fine pitch interconnects, the process including the step of using lead-free solder film in the bonding process to bond the interconnects, the improvement to the bonding process comprising the step of synthesizing the lead-free solder film using a solution reduction process.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/574,458, filed 26 May 2005.
The present invention was made with government support by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through NSF EEC-9402723. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
The present invention is generally related to lead-free bonding systems, and more specifically related to a solution derived, lead-free bonding interface with thin film and powder processing for bonding chip to package interconnects for nano wafer level packaging.
The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) has endorsed Sn�Ag�Cu as the lead-free solder standard for the electronics industry. New solder materials have been reported by microalloying of grain refining elements into Sn�Ag and Sn�Cu�Ag systems to achieve better mechanical properties. [1-3]. These materials are generally made by co-milling of different powders. Milling of materials such as Sn�Ag and Sn�Ag�Cu does not control particle size, impurities, composition, and homogenity.
Another method used to deposit lead-free solder films is electroplating. Unfortunately, electroplating does not control the composition accurately, and is not widely demonstrated to achieve ternary compositions.
Therefore, it can be seen that a need exists for a solder deposition process that can control the composition accurately, as well as be free from any impurities which is inherent in processes such as milling. The invention described herein can serve as an excellent bonding technology for bonding chip to package interconnects.
These interconnects can provide improved electrical performance while lowering the stresses at the interfaces by orders of magnitude. It is to such a structure, being a high-aspect-ratio metal-coated polymer structure, that the present invention is primarily directed. This technology when used in conjunction with polymer-based structures can also simplify the processing steps and result in tremendous cost reductions.
The following references are noted both hereinabove and hereinbelow.
Briefly described, in a preferred form, the present invention provides alternate approaches to achieve compositions with required stoichiometry into the alloy system, both in thin film and powder form. Two solution-derived approaches include sol-gel and electroless plating, and both have been demonstrated to achieve these nano-dimensional interfaces.
The sol-gel approach can achieve nano-grained films with easy incorporation of suitable additives to improve the mechanical properties. The electroless plating approach can selectively deposit thin films of metals and alloys at less than 50� C. temperature and is hence another attractive processing route for nano-solder based reworkable bond interfaces.
The present invention can be used for pushing the limits of current flip chip bonding in terms of pitch, number of I/Os, superior combination of electrical and mechanical properties as well as reworkability. A number of other advantages are gained from using the present innovations. Chip to package interconnect length is minimized, thereby reducing the electrical parasitics considerably. Also, a high bandwidth between chips can be achieved because of the large number of area array I/O connections at extremely fine pitches. While current assembly equipment may not be suitable for placement and alignment, the present invention will stimulate new innovations in advanced equipment and self assembly processes.
Solution-derived nano-solder technology is an attractive low-cost method for several applications such as MEMS hermetic packaging, compliant interconnect bonding and bumpless nano-interconnects. These bonding interfaces convert to liquid around 220-270 C and are therefore reworkable.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is a novel method to synthesize lead-free solder using a sol-gel process. The invention can include the step of depositing the solder films using process including a spin-coating process, dip coating, curtain coating, and meniscus coating.
Reduction of the sol-derived oxides can be used to get the lead-free solders, and is preferably performed in a hydrogen or other reducing gas environment. This step of reduction is preferably run at approximately between 200� C.-500� C. The invention can include reducing the reduction temperature by controlling the hydrolysis of the sol.
In another preferred embodiment, the present invention is a novel powder synthesis of lead-free solders with accurate binary, tertiary or higher compositions. It can also include the synthesis of exact stoichiometric compositions using the sol-gel process by mixing the right amount of precursors.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the invention can be a novel method to synthesize lead-free solder using a solution reduction process, and further using the solution-reduction process at temperatures approximately between 25� C.-45� C.
Further described is a way to modify the bath salt/ion compositions to tune the plated solder film composition, and a bonding/assembly system of a chip to a substrate with the above lead-free solder interfaces, for electrical and mechanical connections.
The lead-free solders of the present invention can be used as interfaces for hermetic sealing MEMS/microfluidic packages. The solution-reduction processes can be used to selectively coat on metal pads.
Additives such as Zr, V, Nb, titania, alumina or other pinning agents can be incorporated through the sol-gel process to improve the creep properties of the solder. Such additives can also improve the strength and the fatigue resistance.
Solution-derived solder films can be used on Si, FR-4, alumina, glass or other packaging substrates.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
IC packaging is one of the key enabling technologies for microprocessor performance. As performance increases, the technical challenges increase in the areas of power delivery, heat removal, I/O density, and thermo-mechanical reliability.
These are the most difficult challenges for improving performance and increasing integration, along with decreasing manufacturing cost.
Decreasing I/O pitch is one of the key technological barriers identified by the 2003 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) [1]. See Table 1. The present invention goes beyond the ITRS roadmap in terms of (1) Signal and power integrity (2) I/O connections, and (3) Reworkability. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the ITRS roadmap, but goes beyond it by way of a disruptive approach to IC packaging.
Downscaling the traditional solder bump interconnect will not satisfy the thermo-mechanical reliability requirements at very fine pitches of the order of 30 μm and less. Alternate interconnection approaches, such as compliant interconnects, typically require lengthy connections, and are therefore limited in terms of electrical properties, although expected to meet the mechanical requirements.
A combination of decreasing pitch, environmental concerns (Pb/Halogen free), mechanical stress concerns, electrical requirements (e.g. current density), and cost constraints will drive the development of interconnect materials, processes and designs in entirely new directions. A new paradigm is therefore necessary for cost, performance and reliability of IC-package interconnections. This can be achieved by defining and exploring solutions beyond solder bumps and compliant interconnects by way of interconnect innovations, combined with new designs, novel and reworkable assembly technologies.
Next Generation Interconnect Requirements
The next generation IC-package interconnect requires a technology that is low cost, reworkable, possess good electrical properties, good reliability, and should be easily testable at the wafer level with good co-planarity. To achieve the requirements of very fine pitch (as projected by ITRS) with conventional interconnects and materials, one has to accept a trade-off in electrical and mechanical performance, and possibly cost. This trade-off between electrical and mechanical performance is analyzed with thermo-mechanical and electrical modeling as detailed hereinafter.
Nano Interconnect Proposal
The present invention proposes reworkable nano interconnections as a new interconnect paradigm for potential low cost, highest performance and reliability�not trading one for the other. This approach also addresses �reworkability� that technologies such as �chips first� fail to address.
In this approach, high speed comes from the smallest interconnects with the best electrical properties. The mechanical integrity and reliability come from the improved mechanical properties of materials at nano-scale. Low cost comes from thin film or self assembly deposition of nano structures on the entire 300 mm wafer. Nano-scale interconnects can offer these benefits, as well as lower the pitch along with improved electrical and mechanical performance to accommodate future system demands; thus realizing the goal of unlimited I/Os.
Reworkability is needed to be able to replace bad chips with good chips, particularly with MCM, SIP or SOP approaches. The present invention proposes thin liquid interfaces to accomplish this on the package side.
Low Cost Wafer Level Packaging at Nano-scale
Nano wafer level packaging of ICs is expected to be cost effective since nano-scale connections are deposited on the entire 300 mm wafer with thousands, and possibly millions, of connections. These connections are also expected to be used to test and burn-in at the wafer level and at high speed. These connections are proposed to be integrated with the back-end fabrication with Copper-low K process technology.
Best Electrical and Mechanical Properties
The nano interconnections appear to illustrate for the first time that neither of the above may be necessary. Applicants realize, however, that higher temperature boards with higher modulus may be highly desirable for fine line lithographic reasons, and these type of boards invariably tend to be lower in CTE. Nano-interconnects can be therefore be realized easily with lower CTE (2-4 ppm) boards leading to symmetrical structures on both sides of the joint as is shown in
Choice of Interconnect Materials
The interconnect signal delay between the IC and the package depends strongly on the interconnect material used. Materials with lowest resistivity that are processable and manufacturable, and yet maintain nano-scale structures and properties at assembly and operating temperatures, become a logical choice for the interconnect system.
Copper and other high temperature materials are herein selected as the interconnect materials, but the focus is on copper as the interconnect material. Nano-structured copper shows significant improvements in fracture strength and toughness [5] that can address the reliability concerns with fine-pitch interconnects. The advantage of copper as a good electrical conductor is undisputed. Conductivity of pure copper is 5.96�107 Ohm−1m−1 as compared to a conductivity of 6.9�106 Ohm−1m−1 for Pb�Sn eutectic solders. In addition, copper has good electro-migration stability that renders high current carrying capability to the interconnects.
The present invention is directed to nano-dimensional solder films as an efficient way to achieve reworkable interfaces with lowest electrical parasitics. The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) has endorsed Sn�Ag�Cu as the lead-free solder standard for the electronics industry, and hence Sn�Ag�Cu and Sn�Ag alloys have been selected herein to function as a reworkable bonding interface between the interconnect and the package.
Three approaches, sol-gel, electroless plating and cosputtering have been demonstrated to achieve such nano-dimensional interfaces. The sol-gel approach can achieve nano-grained films with easy incorporation of suitable additives to improve the mechanical properties. Electroless plating can selectively deposit thin films of metals and alloys at less than 50� C. temperature, and is hence another attractive processing route for nano-solder based reworkable bond interfaces.
Between the two material systems, copper is advantageous due to high yield strength compared to lead-free solders. On the other hand, use of lead-free solder makes the package reworkable, since it is possible to take off bad chips and replace them with good chips.
Applicants utilized two main technologies, sol-gel techniques and electroless plating, to demonstrate thin reworkable interfaces. Sn�Ag and Sn�Cu are the two compositions that were demonstrated. Ternary alloys such as Sn�Ag�Cu may also be used for the bonding interfaces.
Sol Preparation
Synthesis of nano-metals and nano-alloys of specific size and morphology is a key aspect in the development of new materials. The solution-sol-gel (SSG) process is a highly versatile process that can lead to powders, films, fibers, spheres, monoliths, aerogels, and xerogels, for example, of high purity and homogeneity. It offers distinct advantages such as low processing temperature, better control over stoichiometry, and chemical homogeneity.
Purity of SSG derived materials can be controlled by the purity of the starting chemicals, while homogeneity can be controlled by precisely controlling the hydrolysis, condensation and polymerization reactions. The starting precursors in the SSG process can be metal-organic compounds, inorganic-metal salts, for example. The key, however, is to achieve ultra homogeneous mixing at atomic to molecular levels. Preparation of high purity ceramic powders via the SSG process has previously been reported [7]. Yet, there appear to be no reports on the synthesis of lead-free solders by solution-sol-gel (SSG) processing. One of the objectives of the present invention is to apply the strategy of atomic to molecular level mixing of the precursors and synthesize nano lead-free solder materials by sol-gel technology.
The experimental procedure adopted for the synthesis of Sn96Ag3.5Cu0.5 by sol-gel process is illustrated in
Finally, silver nitrate was dissolved in 2-MOE in a separate flask and refluxed at 125� C. for 5 hours. This silver precursor solution was cooled to room temperature and then added to the Sn�Cu solution and refluxed at 125� C. for 5 hours to obtain a clear Sn�Ag�Cu precursor solution. A similar procedure was adopted for Sn�Cu.
Reduction of Metal/Alloy System
Reduction of Copper, Sn�Cu and Sn�Ag�Cu precursors was performed in a forming gas environment. Sn�Ag�Cu solders were formed at 400� C. while Sn�Cu precursor was reduced at only a temperature of 500� C. Bare silicon wafers coated with Cr�Au were spin coated with precursor solutions, and then spin dried before being reduced in the forming gas environment in a tube furnace. The reduction time for these wafers was about 5 hours.
Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) was also evaluated as a technique to get faster reduction of precursors into metallic films. In this case the RTP processing time was 5 minutes in a forming gas (3% H2/N2) flow of 5 SCCM at 600� C.
Nano Lead-Free Solder
X-Ray spectra using CuKa radiation were measured on reduced alloy films. The spectra shown in
Both SnCu0.5 and Sn96Ag3.5Cu0.5 were synthesized from reduction in forming gas. For Sn�Cu precursor, no Sn peaks were evident at 400� C. even after the reduction was carried for seven hours in forming gas. The XRD peaks mostly correspond to crystalline SnO2 with an amorphous background. The metallic system was formed above 500� C. in this case.
On the other hand, Sn peaks were observed at 400� C. with the Sn�Ag�Cu precursor. It can be seen from the Ellingham diagram (
A Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope was used to observe the morphology of Sn�Ag�Cu formed on a Cr�Au coated silicon wafer. See
Electroless Plating of Lead-Free Alloys
For electroless plating of alloys, the control of final alloy composition and incorporation of additives requires careful control of the plating bath, selection of reducing agents, and control over processing conditions. Unlike metal-organic precursors used in the sol-gel approach, this approach uses soluble salts in which the metal ions would be reduced to the metal using reducing agents.
Metal nanoparticles are often formed directly in solution by reduction of metal salts. This is accomplished by using strong reducing agents such as alkali metals, and alkali metal borohydrides. For example, silver salts (e.g., AgNO3, AgCl) or gold salts (e.g., HAuCl4) can be reduced by sodium borohydride to form silver or gold nanoparticles. For some metals, such as Ag, Au, and Pt, for example, weaker reducing agents (alcohols, DMF, ethylene glycol, and citric acid, for example) can be used in forming nanoparticles, which is a big advantage from the viewpoint of safety.
An electroless process was developed to produce a Sn�Ag alloy that can be deposited without an external power source. The different chemicals used and the process is discussed as follows:
Plating Process:
Uniform composition of deposit and constant plating rate are maintained by rigid control of pH and concentration of all chemicals in the stabilized plating bath. Since the plating process is strictly chemical, it evenly coats all the metal pads on the plating surface. The deposited alloy is highly uniform in thickness as well as chemical and physical properties. The alloy composition, as determined from XPS elemental analysis was Sn95.1Ag4.9 by wt % and is shown in
Suitable catalytic surface treatment was used to selectively deposit the alloy films on the metallic pads. The starting metal salts and reducing agents were optimized to achieve the required final lead-free alloy composition.
Because the coating is deposited chemically as compared to electrolytic plating, the problems normally associated with electroplating (edge build-up, uneven thickness, no plating in corners and recesses, for example) are avoided herein. Moreover, as can be seen from the SEM micrograph of
Processing of Nano-Structured Copper Interconnects
Electroplating is an ideal processing route to make the primary interconnects because of low cost, widely available infrastructure, and acceptance in the PWB and semiconductor industry. Nanograined copper was selected as the interconnect material in experiments for the present invention. From prior studies, the material shows significant improvements in fracture strength and toughness at nanoscale [5] that can address the reliability concerns with fine-pitch interconnects. As previously discussed, the conductivity of pure copper is 5.96�107 Ohm−1.m−1 as compared to a conductivity of 6.9�106 Ohm−1.m−1 for Pb�Sn eutectic solders. In addition, copper has good electro-migration stability that renders high current carrying capability to the interconnects. Thin reworkable interfaces with lowest electrical parasitics was accomplished on the wafer side by a cosputtering process developed by Hionix Inc.
Interconnect Pads
Copper Pads were first fabricated on a silicon substrate. A 0.5 μm titanium layer was first sputtered as a adhesion layer between copper and silicon. Thereafter, a 1.0 μm copper film was sputtered followed by etching of titanium and copper to provide the interconnect pads on the silicon wafer. Once again, a thin copper seed layer of 400 nm was sputtered as an electroplating seed layer.
Nano-Structured Copper Interconnect
Nano-structured copper interconnects were then fabricated using the SU-8 Series 2000� (MicroChem Corp.) photoresist. SU-8 has very high optical transparency which makes it ideally suited for imaging near vertical sidewalls in very thick films, and is near UV (350-400 nm) and e-beam imageable. It has superb chemical resistance that makes it suitable for a variety of electrolytic plating bath chemistries. Another advantage includes faster drying of the film.
The SU-8 Series 2000� photoresist has a very poor adhesion with copper. Therefore, to enhance the adhesion of the photoresist film with the copper seed layer a coupling agent, Omnicoat� (MicroChem Corp.) was first spinned on to the silicon substrate with copper seed layer. SU-8 photoresist was then spinned, and exposed to yield the mold for interconnect plating. Nano-grained copper was then electroplated through the SU-8 mold to yield copper interconnects.
The grain size of the electroplated copper are of the order of 50-70 nm. One major drawback with nanocrystalline copper is the lack of thermal stability of grain structure with temperature. This can be easily addressed with appropriate additives that can prevent grain coarsening.
Barrier Metallurgy Deposition
A thin barrier layer of Nickel and Gold was sputtered onto the wafer with SU-8 mold intact and thereafter patterned and etched to leave the barrier metallurgy on top of copper interconnects. The thickness of Nickel was approximately 200 nm and that of Gold was about 100 nm. It was also attempted to deposit the Ni�Au interface using the immersion plating process, but the process lead to peeling of the SU-8 film due to the highly corrosive environment and high temperature of the plating bath.
High aspect ratio nano-structured copper interconnects were fabricated in a single step using the SU-8 Series 2000� (MicroChem Corp.) photoresist. SU-8 has very high optical transparency which makes it ideally suited for imaging near vertical sidewalls in very thick films, and is near UV (350-400 nm) and e-beam imageable. Resist thickness ranging from 50 μm to 200 μms can be achieved with single spin coat process. Besides, it has superb chemical resistance that makes it suitable for a variety of electrolytic plating bath chemistries. Other advantages include improved wetting on silicon, glass, metals and other low surface energy substrates and faster drying of the film.
In this work, interconnects with 20 μm diameter, 100 μm height and 40 μm pitch were fabricated on a Silicon wafer. Shown in
The primary interconnects were fabricated by electroplating through the SU-8 trenches. These interconnects were fabricated on a chrome coated silicon wafer to ensure the adhesion between copper interconnects and the silicon. The process can be easily modified to fabricate the interconnects on any desired pad metallurgy.
The bonding capability of nano-dimensional lead-free alloy films obtained by the electroless plating technique was evaluated in this part of the work. Lead-free solder films were electroless plated on an organic laminate (FR-4) as well as a gold coated silicon wafer. These nano-dimensional films should be able to provide the mechanical and electrical interface between the nano-interconnects and metal pads on the substrate.
Assembly was accomplished with the lead-free solder film deposited on the top of the nano interconnects. Bonding is preferably achieved by applying pressure to the chip for less than 10 seconds, while the reflow temperature was kept at approximately 250� C. A thin coating of flux (9171, Alfa Metals) was deposited by spin coating on the lead-free alloy film on metal pads before bonding. Such a bond can allow subsequent removal of the chip by locally heating the bonding interface.
While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred forms, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications, additions, and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents, as set forth in the following claims.
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Mission Statement:
Parks & Recreation Department is responsible for planning, organizing, supervising, directing, and administering all activities related to our parks system and recreation programming, special events, and community outreach programs.
- Coral Reef Park
- Ludovici Park
- Palmetto Bay Park
- Perrine Wayside (Dog) Park
- Thalatta Estate Park
- Facility (Party) Rentals
- Forms and Documents
- Park Rules and Regulations
Today's Headlines
Thanks for sharing with us which film you and your family want to see at Coral Reef Park April 25 for Earth Week Movie Night. The eco-film summaries and trailers were listed here. We will announce the winner here by March 23. As always, thanks for your valuable input. APR 25, 2015
Parks & Rec launched its educational series March 12 at Thalatta Estate focusing on our community and the environment with a free 40-minute discussion presented by The Institute for Regional Conservation. Topic: "The Coastal Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay Habitat Restoration Project." Thanks for attending. Stay tuned for upcoming dates. MAR 12, 2015
Put a team together now for Adult Flag Football at Palmetto Bay Park on Sunday mornings. If you're 40 or over, want to stay fit, and have a great time in the process, register by March 23. Fee includes officials, uniforms, and a 7-game guarantee. Contact Parks Supervisor Marty Tejeda for more info or call 305-253-8655. FEB 25, 2015
Palmetto Bay Broncos announce registration for the 2015 football/cheer season. Get details on program fees, age restrictions, and other requirements. Please note: the season begins Aug. 1; and players MUST attend the registration event (check dates) for official weigh-in. MAR 6, 2015
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Department News
Kayak Program ... Our monthly Kayak Adventure is making such a big splash, it is filled to capacity for three months. Reservations are being accepted now for July 26 and beyond. See recent photos. MAR 15, 2015
Bike to Work ... Mayor Flinn and fellow residents joined in with Miami-Dade County's Annual Bike305 Ride to Work Day March 6. Read more. MAR 6, 2015
Valentine's Day Events ... Parks Event staff fashioned a sweet pairing of Valentine's Day events: "Date Night at Thalatta" Feb. 13; followed by a showing of "The Proposal" Feb. 14 at Ludovici Park. FEB 14 2015
Preserve Maintenance ... Maintenance crews completed initial work in January in the Preserve area of Coral Reef Park. There will be follow-up work scheduled on an as-needed basis. JAN. 28, 2015
Thalatta Program Survey ... Thanks for sharing input on our 2014 events/programs at Thalatta Estate in this survey. The more input from park-goers the better we may serve you. JAN 15, 2015
Baseball / Softball ... Howard Palmetto registration fees: baseball $219; T-ball $185; and softball $195; includes uniform, practices/games with umpires; league picnic, movie night; trophies. Sign up now. NOV 17, 2014
Parks Staff Videos ... Parks & Recreation team talks up Coral Reef Park's top amenities including exercise equipment, tennis center, and walking trails. Also view a series of videos featuring all our Parks.
Service Animals ... Other than Perrine Wayside Dog Park, domestic pets are not allowed in our parks – with the exception of service animals that to accompany with disabilities. Please be patient if our staff must ask you, however, as there have been multiple abuses of the ADA law. NOV 06, 2014
Kickball League ... Adult co-ed Kick Ball League at Palmetto Bay Park is $300 per team. Players must be 21 or older, 15 players per team (at least 4 women). Contact Park Supervisor at 305-251-2751. SEP 30, 2014
Holiday by the Bay ... Ludovici Park's signature event, Holiday-by-the-Bay drew thousands of residents and Dec. 13 for free Santa photos, rides, music, great food on the mini-midway, and a wildly popular faux snowstorm. An eagle scout candidate project also was dedicated during the event's opening ceremony. DEC. 13, 2014
DARE Fair Success ... The 5th Annual DARE Arts & Crafts Fair, Nov. 15, was a resounding success, with close to 50 vendors. Residents also enjoyed a "Cruise In" antique-car show. Police host the event to boost funding of its Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program for kids. NOV 15, 2014
Halloween Movie Night ... Thanks for participating in our survey to "Pick the Flick" for Halloween Movie Night Event at Coral Reef Park on Oct. 31. We had a great night out with family and friends at the event which also included a trick-or-treating and costume contest. We'll soon post photos on the Village Facebook OCT 31, 2014
Gardening Workshop ... Residents participated in the final Responsible Gardening Workshop of the season at Thalatta Estate, Oct. 10, to learn about composting, with Village resident and Master Gardener Terri Stephen in partnership with UF/Miami-Dade County Extension. See photos. OCT 10, 2014
Tennis Play Day ... Residents hit with the latest Wilson "Spin Effect" racquet at the Oct. 8 Tennis Play Day at Coral Reef Park. Free demo event for Juniors and Adults was organized by Village Parks & Rec and USPTA-PTR Pro Kara Borromeo and Lee Pettis. Also see Facebook. OCT 08, 2014
Nature Program Summary ... Nature Postings, one of our program providers issued this summary of activities related to: Nature Afloat Program, Family Kayak Adventures, and Summer Camps. SEP 15, 2014.
Coral Reef Park Video ... Palmetto Bay's Village parks video series launched last fall with a destination piece on Coral Reef Park. Narrated by Summer Camp Counselor Neal Simmons, the Ludovici Park feature is set for a January release. See photos recently shot during production. JAN 4, 2013
Thalatta Estate Website ... If you like Thalatta Estate Park, now you may really "Like" it. The Facebook was been created to showcase our beautiful natural park and many of the events there. NOV 14, 2012
BIKE305 Initiative ... Palmetto Bay is one of several municipalities partnering with Miami-Dade's Bike305 Initiative -- a fun, healthy way to explore and connect with neighboring communities. Read more. MAR 15, 2013
Meditation Garden ... The Ken Robinson Meditation Garden at Coral Reef Park is the perfect venue to host a small wedding or reception -- or simply to meditate. Contact us or call 305-234-6383. JAN 4, 2013
Free Community Room ... Nonprofits, charitable organizations, and community groups may host free meetings in the Edward & Arlene Feller Community Room (EAF). Read this ordinance. For info, availability, or an application contact us in writing or call 305-259-1234. JUN 14, 2012
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Parks Calendar & Program Contacts
March Calendar
Programming Contacts
Village Park Facilities; Explore the Outdoors!
Please click on the park name to explore each facility.
- Coral Reef Park (51.3 acres)
- Palmetto Bay Park (19.6 acres)
- Perrine Wayside (Dog) Park
- Thalatta Estate Park
- Ludovici Park (Miami-Dade Public Library / Arlene & Edward Feller Community Room & Amphitheater)
About Parks and Recreation
The Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for the planning, organizing, supervising, directing and administering of all activities related to parks and recreation, special events and community outreach programs. To that extent, the Department directs and coordinates the installation and maintenance of park facilities including park structures and landscaped areas in the parks, prepares bid specifications and project cost estimates for park maintenance outsource contracts, and administers all aspects of said contracts.
The Parks and Recreation Department manages the Village of Palmetto Bay system of local and regional parks which create a compilation of beautiful park facilities. Ranging from serene to active, educational to recreational, and relaxing to exercising, the parks offer a myriad of rewarding activities for all to enjoy.
The "Village of Parks" is home to seven recreational facilities, including the beautiful Charles Deering Estate and Bill Sadowski Park, which are managed by Miami-Dade County.
Department Goals
The Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for the planning, organizing, supervising, directing and administering of all activities related to parks and recreation, special events and community outreach programs.
The specific goals of the Department are to:
- Enhance parks safety and security during special events, home games, tournaments and before and after hours.
- Seek professional development for Director in all aspects of municipal government and continue to grow all parks and recreation personnel.
- Enhance recruitment of professional parks and recreation staff.
- Continue to seek sponsorships and donations for programming, special events and enhancement of parks.
- Expand in house recreational programming.
- Explore best practices to efficiently and fiscally operate and manage multiple concessions.
- Continue to enhance parks grounds & turf using professional in house staff, developing specific maintenance programs.
- Continue to support Village "Green Initiatives" through commitment to environmental education and conservation.
- Continue to promote and require attendance of management personnel to attend state and national conferences to keep up with certifications and industry initiatives.
- Continue to encourage the cooperation between the village and neighborhood schools.
- Continue to seek innovative and creative ways to improve on operations & expenditures, and look for ways to increase revenue.
- Continue to work with Public Works, PIO, and Police to enhance, promote and protect our park facilities.
- Promote and enhance communications emphasizing the importance of prioritizing and time management.
- Continue to work with contractors/vendors to enhance and repair park facilities.
Forms and Documents
FEE SCHEDULE: Park Facilities and Photography Fees
ORDINANCE: Park Rules & Regulations
PERMIT APPLICATION - Facility Rental Agreement
CREDIT CARD - Authorization Form
Staff and Contact Information
Village Department of Parks & Recreation (305) 259-1234
Fanny Carmona, Director
Josie Bober, Administrative Assistant
Kirk Hearin, Parks & Recreation Manager
Saylin Paez, Events & Programs Coordinator
Valentin Garcia, Grounds/Facility Maintenance Supervisor
Park Supervisor-Coral Reef Park
Luis "Marty" Tejeda, Park Supervisor-Palmetto Bay Park
- Party rental information: visit Facility Rentals
- Contact information: Park Program providers/vendors
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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58033850709227974512015-03-31T18:43:31.339-07:00The Skeptical BureaucratFrom deep inside the foundations of our Republic's capital cityTSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-56708329047455433932015-03-28T09:08:00.001-07:002015-03-28T09:08:51.188-07:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

"Drugs squad accidentally gets locals high while burning marijuana mountain" - The Telegraph

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-45918859326716325992015-03-25T20:21:00.000-07:002015-03-26T04:13:31.374-07:00Rep Chaffetz Wants To Throw a Net Over This City

Special Agent Jason Chaffetz takes 'em down!

Judging by the enthusiasm with which he badgered the Director of the U.S. Secret Service at yesterday's Oversight Committee hearing, Representative Jason Chaffetz, the bad-ass wannabe who represents Utah's 3rd District, seems to have found a new pet project and outlet for his Walter Mitty side.

If the Secret Service keeps giving him such great material for oversight he might even forgot about his other pet project, embassy security.

Okay, so yesterday's hearing was an utter embarrassment for the Secret Service. Both sides of the Committee took turns hitting the witness hard, and the Service had it coming. But then, about two and a half hours into it, Chairman Chaffetz suddenly peeled out of formation and launched into an outburst of threats and obsolete cop jargon directed at the evidently disturbed woman who initiated this latest scandal when she dropped a package in the street in front of White House on March 4 and then drove off, escaping arrest until two days later.

Chaffetz told the Secret Service Director how he would have handled that situation.

"I want her taken down! I want a net to go over this city! ... Take 'em down! Take 'em down! That's what I want to see happen."

Yes, he actually said I want a net to go over this city. Where did he get that from, some old film noir hard-boiled detective movie on TCM? It's of an era with 'if that dame tries to scram outta here, I'll pull my roscoe and ventilate her! Sweat that broad under the hot lights back in the squad room and she'll open up like a cheap suitcase! And don't youse let that doll talk to her mouthpiece until she spills the beans!'

 His strange rant was promptly posted on the Oversight Committee's You-Tube channel within minutes:

That Secret Service hearing was such a great stage for histrionic politicians that Trey Gowdy temporarily dropped his Benghazi select committee investigations to do some hasty and ill-prepared questioning of his own. He even stepped on Chaffetz's toes a little, trying to horn in on Chaffetz's prerogative as Chairman for this one.

Gowdy mostly did some pointless quibbling with the Service's Director over the relative importance of Congressional oversight versus the Service OIG's investigative interest. Amusingly, he referred to "dueling narratives." I think that's a bad phrase for someone who speaks with such a pronounced Deliverance accent.

The entire hearing is embedded below, just in case you're a glutton for punishment.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-20782900783321874072015-03-21T10:50:00.001-07:002015-03-21T11:13:06.247-07:00She'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun, Until the FEC Takes Her Donors Away

Fun? Is that really the last word Hillary wants to leave Americans with before she stops doing paid talks and makes her presidential campaign official?

I realize that her lame remark about fun camps for adults was just Hillary pandering to a paid audience of the New York and New Jersey Tri-State CAMP Conference. But still, doesn't she have an adviser with enough sense to steer her away from that image? It clashes with the Hillary Rodham Clinton that we all know and - some - love.

Hillary Clinton: the party-hearty Fun Candidate for 2016? No. That does not work for her.

The "fun camp" stuff came up during Hillary's Q&A with Jay Jacobs, host of the event. Jacobs is a camp director himself but, much more pertinently, is also the chairman of the Nassau County, Long Island, Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee's credentialing committee. Obviously, then, the "fun camp" stuff was far from extemporaneous. Hillary intended to do that.

Self-awareness. Does she have any?

Once HRC finally announces her candidacy, the Federal Election Commission rules on campaign cash might ruin some of her fun.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-72251055584838750902015-03-14T08:41:00.003-07:002015-03-14T08:41:51.241-07:00Submitted for Your Approval

"So much America right now."

And how. Where else in the world could you grill bacon on a fully automatic weapon? Or even think up the concept of grilling bacon on a fully automatic weapon?

YouTube guy, I salute you.

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-19271491561833419342015-03-14T08:23:00.001-07:002015-03-14T08:23:23.583-07:00Having an Awesome Time at the Latest Secret Service Embarrassment

Is that what it sounded like when a senior Secret Service supervisor counseled the two agents who drunk-drove through a police crime scene in front of the White House the other day? Could be.

Okay, so here's my theory of what's really behind all these Secret Service scandals. They are actually a Machiavellian plot to recruit new agents. Specifically, to attract the government-averse millennial generation to Federal law enforcement jobs by making those jobs appear to be a never-ending Will Ferrell movie.

The Service's agents can't possibly be so reckless and undisciplined as you would think from all the embarrassing incidents they have racked up from Colombia to Key West to the Netherlands, can they? They can't possibly spend so much time drinking and partying on duty and getting away with it, can they?

But, if they could, then the average twenty-something male slacker might get the impression that it would be totally AWESOME to be a Secret Service agent!

I am convinced of this after reading the WaPo's report on the awesome time two USSS agents had the other night:

Two Secret Service agents suspected of being under the influence while striking a White House security barricade drove through an active bomb investigation and directly beside the suspicious package, according to current and former government officials familiar with the incident.

-- snip --

Police quickly secured [the scene of a suspected unexploded bomb] with tape and called an inspection team to check the package for potential explosive materials or other dangers.

But shortly before 11 p.m., the two high-ranking Secret Service agents, returning from a work party at a Chinatown bar about eight blocks from the White House, drove their government car through the crime scene. According to people familiar with the incident, they drove through police tape and then hit a temporary barricade, using the car to push aside some barrels. An agency official said Thursday that the car was not damaged.

The episode was caught on surveillance video. Investigators who reviewed the video of the incident initially said they could not be sure whether the pair drove very close to or over the suspicious item wrapped in the shirt, one law enforcement official said. But after reviewing more video later Thursday afternoon, the official said, they concluded that the agents' government car drove directly next to the package.

Secret Service officers on duty that night considered the agents' behavior to be erratic and suspected they were drunk, according to current and former officials familiar with the incident.

The officers wanted to arrest the agents — but a more senior supervisor at the complex told them to let the agents go, the officials said.

The Secret Service had a late night "work party" at a Chinatown bar? That's major awesomeness points right there. And then their boss told the cops to let them go after they bulldozed through a crime scene in their government car? The boss must have been playing the Vince Vaughn role, then. Tell me it wouldn't be super-awesome to have Vince Vaughn as your boss and Will Ferrell as your partner.

Mark my words: the Secret Service will be flooded with recruits, so long as they keep these scandals coming.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-22106657182937085432015-03-11T19:43:00.001-07:002015-03-12T05:23:23.807-07:00That Familiar Clintonian Denial Voice: "I - Did - NOT ..."

A Tip O' the hat to WMAL's Chris Plante show for the above mash-up of the distinctive verbal cadences of Clintons in denial mode.

"I did NOT email ANY [slight pause] classified materials to anyone on my email ... [slight pause] there IS no classified material."

It must be true that old married couples grow to resemble one another.

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-45270998793792989282015-03-09T14:38:00.001-07:002015-03-09T14:38:37.358-07:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

 "Russian paramedic who took pictures with dying patients is fired" - UK Daily Mail
TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-91406479694410231022015-03-07T13:27:00.000-08:002015-03-10T19:53:36.734-07:00HRC: As Unacceptable As She Is Inevitable

There is really no need to feel sorry for Hillary. She'll handle this e-mail flap in her customary manner:

The former secretary of state and her advisers have decided to adopt a time-tested Clintonian approach: take a concrete step to ease the pressure, then wait out the storm, according to three sources with knowledge of her team's approach.

The Atlantic had a good example of why Hillary's obsession with secrecy ought to matter to the voters:

At the time, Gawker noted that Clinton's apparent use of the non-official account likely violated federal regulations governing records retention, and sent inquiries directly to Clinton and to the White House asking if messages to the clintonemail.com address were being retained."

Gawker also "filed a FOIA request with the agency for all correspondence to date between Hillary Clinton and Sidney Blumenthal," Trotter continues, "specifically including any messages to or from the firstname.lastname@example.com account" [see this for the Gawker story]. We now know that email address did, in fact, belong to former Secretary of State Clinton. Had she been following the rules and forwarding all email about official business to government servers, the State Department would've found the Blumenthal email. They found nothing.

-- snip --

This is exactly why Clinton's behavior was unacceptable: It enabled her to conceal at least some official correspondence that the press and the public had a right to see, or at least to have acknowledged with an explanation, challengeable in court, of why the correspondence was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Unacceptable it may be, but nonetheless, Hillary has stonewalled her way out of worse than this before. It does seems to me the mainstream news media just might be enjoying this particular snowballing scandal in a way they haven't with others, and even the left-wing media is calling it an unforced error on the part of the Clinton Machine.

Still, my money's on Hillary being able to ride this out with minimal damage to her campaign. Unless she's in prison or physically incapacitated, she'll be the Democrats' only candidate in 2016.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-46170985811531651452015-03-02T07:19:00.001-08:002015-03-02T07:22:28.065-08:00Yes, We Can(nabis), Except For You Feds

On a cloud of sound I drift in the night,
Any place it goes is right - Steppenwolf (1968)

The WaPo has good advice for Federal employees living in the Washington DC area who are curious about last Friday's marijuana legalization - Pot became legal in D.C. today. Does anything change for federal workers?:

Marijuana became legal in the District of Columbia this morning, but federal-workforce rules remain unchanged for the roughly half million U.S. government employees and military personnel who live in the area.

Since 12:01 a.m., local authorities have allowed anyone 21 and older to possess up to 2 ounces of pot, although the drug is still prohibited on federally administered properties such as the National Mall, Rock Creek Park and even public housing.

Despite the new policy, which came from a voter-approved initiative in November, the U.S. government still considers marijuana to be an illegal drug and expects its civilian and military personnel to abide by federal guidelines.

A threatening letter sent to the Mayor of DC by an angry Utah man had no effect, and the legalization proceeded, except for federally administered properties.

So, my fellow Feds, keep those bongs in your pocket when you get to work this morning.

 If Rand Paul gets elected in 2016, then we can talk.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-75299342523843258752015-02-27T17:34:00.001-08:002015-02-27T17:43:41.998-08:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

Achtung, Baby

 "Germans balk at new 'Soviet snitch' Barbie" - France 24

"As if the idea of an Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter Barbie was not alarming enough ... we can easily imagine the value that a database that collects children's tastes has for a toy manufacturing company"

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-52207815074484317572015-02-27T17:18:00.002-08:002015-02-27T17:21:29.962-08:00The Department of Homeland Security - What's It Good for?

Tonight's vote in the House to extend full DHS funding for another three weeks failed, and failed by a good margin - 224 to 203. There is time for another vote before DHS funding runs out at midnight, but I would not bet that Speaker Boehner can turn enough of his rebellious members to pass an unamended bill tonight.

Would it really be such a great big deal if DHS went into a 'shutdown' mode while Congress, the courts, and the President duke it out over the latter's refusal to deport millions of illegal aliens?

Maybe DHS is the only thing that stands between us and a terrorist invasion of the Mall of America, like Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says. Or, maybe we wouldn't miss it much if it were gone for a while.

As Foreign Policy magazine asks, Who Needs the Department of Homeland Security Anyway?

With two days left until funding for the Department of Homeland Security dries up, Jeh Johnson has been pleading with Republicans to save his department from a partial shutdown.

That job might be easier if the 12-year-old department weren't so widely derided on Capitol Hill and beyond for its size and clumsiness.

-- snip --

[E]ven the entreaties of the two Republican heavyweights weren't enough to stop a letter campaign by 30 House conservatives urging House Speaker John Boehner to "stand firm against these unlawful executive actions" and reject an emerging funding deal brokered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

-- snip --

[That deal] may be a tough sell, in large part because Johnson's dire warnings about the impact of a budget cutoff ring hollow. One reason is practical: 80 percent of DHS employees are deemed "essential" to national security and would still show up to work in a shutdown — albeit without pay. All core functions of agencies such as Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Secret Service would remain intact; the only people from the department's 240,000-person workforce who would be furloughed would be 30,000 nonessential employees, mostly office workers.

-- snip --

But another reason for the lack of urgency boils down to one word: respect.

-- snip --

The fact that the FBI, the agency tasked to "protect and defend" against "terrorist and foreign intelligence threats" is housed outside DHS indicates the department's awkward and uncertain place in America's national security bureaucracy.

"DHS's biggest problem is that it is still less than the sum of its parts," said Daniel Byman, a professor of security studies at Georgetown University and a contributor to Foreign Policy. "The whole point of it was integration of homeland security functions, but it is still a divided organization with few synergies — so it has the problems of a big organization without the benefits."

-- snip --

"The irony in that complaint [referring to blame-shifting by DHS's defenders] is that the very reason DHS was founded was to deal with the problem of insufficient coordination within the government," said Jeremy Shapiro, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. "If DHS failed to solve that problem, it's unclear why it exists."

-- snip --

Another concern is that the department, forged in a fearful post-9/11 environment, owes its existence to a wildly exaggerated understanding of the terrorist threat to the United States. As Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, has pointed out, Americans are substantially more endangered by threats such as infectious disease, gun violence, and drunk driving than terrorism. In fact, the odds of being killed in a terrorist attack in the United States or abroad are 1 in 20 million.

"This low risk isn't evidence that homeland security spending has worked: It's evidence that the terror threat was never as great as we thought," wrote Kenny.

-- snip --

Although a shutdown still looms, most observers expect House Republicans to cave in to political pressure and pass a "clean" funding bill by the end of the week. Either way, at a time when U.S. media attention on terrorist threats is at an all-time high, it's ironic that a department dedicated to homeland security has such a hard time justifying its existence. And until it finds more solid footing within the national security bureaucracy, that problem isn't likely to go away soon.

It turns out that "most observers" were wrong about the House Republicans caving by the end of the week. What happens next is anybody's guess, but, regardless of whether DHS get full or only partial funding, it would be nice if we finally figured out why it exists at all.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-75695328745139470012015-02-21T19:41:00.000-08:002015-02-21T19:41:54.590-08:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

"'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Film Visible From Viewing Area For 'SpongeBob 2′ At Concord Drive-In" - CBS San Francisco Bay Area

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-28915379823609636252015-02-19T17:44:00.001-08:002015-02-19T19:15:18.204-08:00SecState Kerry on Countering Violent Extremism, and A Violent Extremist's Rebuttal

Mohammad Sidique Khan, Teaching Assistant, Terrorist

My hero Marie Harf has not backed down an inch, I'm happy to say. She stands like a stone wall defending the Obama administration's indefensible position on the root causes of terrorism, even if it costs her a promotion to the Number 1 spokesperson slot. We should all have employees that loyal.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the White House summit conference on countering extremist violence, and also published remarks in an Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal, Our Plan for Countering Violent Extremism.

Kerry, like President Obama and all the other conference speakers, persists in saying that terrorism and other forms of violent extremism are no more than common crime, just basically an irrational lashing out at life's unfairness. If that's true, the theory goes, then violent extremism might be countered by a strategy of denying the legitimacy of violence by non-state actors and promoting Good Government.

I've excerpted the best parts of Kerry's Op-Ed and juxtaposed them with bits from the martyrdom statement of Mohammad Sidique Khan, a suicide bomber whom I cited yesterday as an example of a highly rational and thoughtful Muslim terrorist who explicitly rejected the poverty-drives-terrorism explanation.

A whole bunch of folks at President Obama's summit conference could have learned more about violent extremism by reading Khan's statement than by listening to Kerry.

Kerry: "A safer and more prosperous future requires us to recognize that violent extremism can't be justified by resorting to religion. No legitimate religious interpretation teaches adherents to commit unspeakable atrocities, such as razing villages or turning children into suicide bombers. These are the heinous acts of individuals who distort religion to serve their criminal and barbaric cause."

Khan: "Our religion is Islam - obedience to the one true God, Allah, and following the footsteps of the final prophet and messenger Muhammad ... This is how our ethical stances are dictated ... Your democratically elected governments continuously perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world. And your support of them makes you directly responsible, just as I am directly responsible for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters."

Khan justified his politically motivated violence as a defense of his coreligionists around the world who were under attack by Britain and the United States. That was enough, for him and his three fellow suicide bombers, to legitimize the murder of more than 50 persons and the wounding of more than 100 who were riding public transportation in London.

Kerry: "The most basic issue is good governance. It may not sound exciting, but it is vital. People who feel that their government will provide for their needs, not just its own, and give them a chance at a better life are far less likely to strap on an AK-47 or a suicide vest, or to aid those who do."

Khan: "I and thousands like me are forsaking everything for what we believe. Our driving motivation doesn't come from tangible commodities that this world has to offer."

Khan was born and raised in Great Britain, which has exemplary good governance. His parent's native Pakistan? Not so much. But then, as a Muslim, Khan might well have preferred Pakistan's kind of governance, and thought that it is non-Sharia law states which lack the good governance Kerry thinks is so basic to living a good life.

Kerry: "We must identify the zones of greatest vulnerability, the places that could descend into the chaos that breeds terrorism—or that could turn the corner and be the hotbed of growth or innovation. And then we must tailor our efforts and target our resources to meet the specific needs of those places. It may be training young people so they can get jobs and envision a future of dignity and self-reliance. It may be working to eliminate corruption and promote the rule of law, so that marginalized communities can enjoy security and justice. It's very likely both, and of course much more."

Khan: "Until we feel security, you will be our targets. And until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people we will not stop this fight. We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation."

Khan lived in a highly stable social environment. He had a job, an education, a family, and dignity. He was not marginalized. In his martyrdom video he does not complain of chaos, or public corruption, or a lack of law and order. To the contrary, he said he committed violence to create security and advance justice for the religiously defined community ("my people") with which he identified.

Why should we not take Khan at his word?

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-68059499330476458182015-02-18T19:16:00.002-08:002015-03-15T10:05:07.854-07:00Marie Harf Stays On-Message, And She Isn't Alone

Not Marie Harf's official photo, but close

As a cheerleader for the Obama administration, Marie has only one job. It's stupid, but she's going to do it. I have to admire that kind of focus.

Frankly, I wish everybody would leave Marie alone. All she did was repeat a very common bit of conventional wisdom about the "root causes that lead people to join these groups" such as ISIL. You know, root causes, like joblessness and a lack of economic opportunity.

The notion that poverty drives terrorism has been debunked repeatedly, but that hasn't made the idea go away. And it isn't just Marie who insists otherwise. Here's another believer in those root causes:

"We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror" – George W. Bush, remarks at the International Conference on Financing for Development (2002)

Republicans, among others, have pushed the poverty-leads-to-terrorism equation when they were selling foreign economic development programs to the American public. In the case of George Bush in 2002, it was the Millennium Challenge Corporation that was going to undermine those economic root causes of terrorism.

Joshua Keating, today in Slate,  demolishes the idea that terrorists are just angry about being unemployed:

The idea of terrorists as desperate young men lacking in economic opportunity is not borne out by empirical evidence. A well-known 2002 paper by economists Alan Krueger (later an assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Obama administration) and Jitka Maleckova found that support for violence among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza was not any higher among those with lower living standards or levels of education. In Lebanon, participation in Hezbollah was actually associated with higher living standards and levels of education. The same was true for Israeli settlers who participated in attacks against Palestinians.

A 2012 survey in Pakistan reached a similar conclusion: Poorer Pakistanis were less likely to support militants than the middle class. The political scientists conducting the study hypothesized that "the urban poor suffer most from militants' violent activities and so most intensely dislike them." A 2004 study by Harvard economist Alberto Abadie, looking at country level data, found that "terrorist risk is not significantly higher for poorer countries." Abadie found political freedom to be a more important factor: Countries in the kinda-free range had more terrorism than highly democratic or highly autocratic countries.

Actual terrorists are often better educated than most in their societies, and, indeed, in ours. From a 2005 New York Times Op-Ed

We examined the educational backgrounds of 75 terrorists behind some of the most significant recent terrorist attacks against Westerners. We found that a majority of them are college-educated, often in technical subjects like engineering. In the four attacks for which the most complete information about the perpetrators' educational levels is available - the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the 9/11 attacks, and the Bali bombings in 2002 - 53 percent of the terrorists had either attended college or had received a college degree. As a point of reference, only 52 percent of Americans have been to college. The terrorists in our study thus appear, on average, to be as well educated as many Americans.

The 1993 World Trade Center attack involved 12 men, all of whom had a college education. The 9/11 pilots, as well as the secondary planners identified by the 9/11 commission, all attended Western universities, a prestigious and elite endeavor for anyone from the Middle East. Indeed, the lead 9/11 pilot, Mohamed Atta, had a degree from a German university in, of all things, urban preservation, while the operational planner of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, studied engineering in North Carolina. We also found that two-thirds of the 25 hijackers and planners involved in 9/11 had attended college.

Pew Research surveyed Where Terrorism Finds Support in the Muslim World and found it has exactly as much support among low-income as among high-income Muslims.

The University of Chicago's project to study suicide bombers found, where information is known about the attackers, that three times as many suicide bombers had professional or skilled occupations, or were students, than were unemployed or low-skilled. As for education, almost three times as many had post-secondary education as had only secondary education or less.

Quite a few filthy-rich kids have become terrorists. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 'underpants bomber' who failed to detonate his weaponized BVDs over Detroit, is the youngest child of a wealthy Nigerian banker and businessman, reputedly one of the richest men in Africa, and a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria and former Nigerian Federal Commissioner for Economic Development. He was also educated, having earned a degree in mechanical engineering from a University in London.

The four suicide bombers who committed the July 7, 2005, attacks in London did not lack economic or other opportunities. They were all second generation immigrants with university educations, jobs, and families. Why did they commit one of the more heinous terrorist attacks in recent British history?

The ringleader of the four, Mohammad Sidique Khan, explained their motive in a very articulate martyrdom video:

I and thousands like me are forsaking everything for what we believe. Our drive and motivation doesn't come from tangible commodities that this world has to offer. Our religion is Islam, obedience to the one true God and following the footsteps of the final prophet messenger. Your democratically-elected governments continuously perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world. And your support of them makes you directly responsible, just as I am directly responsible for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters. Until we feel security you will be our targets and until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people we will not stop this fight. We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation.

Is there any reason to doubt that was his motive? He was thirty, educated, employed, and married with a child. He did not lack opportunity. As he said, he chose to forsake that opportunity in order to take revenge upon Britons at large for their democratically expressed support for wars against his fellow Muslims. He was not distracted from this mission by tangible commodities, no matter what Washington figures from George W. Bush to Marie Harf may think. Could Khan have made that any more clear?

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-66046124634909875922015-02-13T10:04:00.000-08:002015-02-13T14:58:26.494-08:00Shall We Place Overseas Buildings Operations Under a Security Boss?

 I like the idea - don't get me wrong - but I wouldn't bet money on it being implemented. Like oil and water, OBO and DS don't mix.

Of course, there is always the chance that the next House Oversight Committee hearing on Design Excellence will blow up so badly that a hostile takeover of OBO starts to look good to the big players in that headquarters building across the river from Rosslyn. Be still, my beating heart!

Here's the unofficial restructuring proposal that has me all a-twitter.

Time for Change: Restructuring the State Department for the 21st Century:

WhirledView author Patricia Kushlis has written extensively on the corruption and incompetence that plague State's personnel system. She has also described in depth the longstanding absence of both internal and external oversight. However, there is another problem that must be addressed: the antiquated, bloated and irrational structure of management operations at State. In this article I map out a new management structure that would address these and other problems.

Because the M portfolio is too large and too diverse to be managed as one entity by one person, it should be broken up and reconfigured into more logical sub-elements. The existing Under Secretary for Management title and portfolio would be eliminated and four new Under Secretaries created – each overseeing a portfolio of related functions in which he/she would have expertise. These four Under Secretaries would report to the Deputy Secretary for Management.

--snip --

Create an Under Secretary for Security Affairs

This portfolio would group together Diplomatic Security, Information Resources Management and Overseas Buildings Operations.

In years gone by, the State Department's security concerns rested largely with threats to personnel and facilities overseas. However, in today's world, the globalization of terror and the growing ability of enemies of the United States to hack our most secure computers present new threats.

In the face of these broader challenges, it only makes sense to group together the safety of personnel and facilities, embassy construction (which is heavily dependent on security standards) and the protection of classified and unclassified information into one bureaucratic domain. The cross-cutting use of security procedures and standards, threat assessments and other intelligence for these three functions would bring greater effectiveness.

Of course the M portfolio is too large and diverse to be managed by one person. Nevertheless, it is, and it has been for a very long time. I wish the best of luck to anyone who tries to break Patrick Kennedy's iron rice bowl into four pieces. Bring Kryptonite.

Fun fact from the past: State Department information programs were placed under the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security in 1989, and the unhappy marriage lasted until 1992. So the idea of merging information programs with overseas buildings and security isn't altogether new and untried.

According to this publicly available source of information, Sheldon J. Krys, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security from 1989-1992, brought the Office of Information Management (IM) into his portfolio for all the right reasons. However, the merger did not last after his departure.

The Reagan White House also issued NSDD-211, which placed the Department of State in charge of the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service (DTS), which was largely managed by the Office of Communications but worked closely with DS to maintain its security.

Then, in 1989, in an effort to improve information security and better coordination of information, the Department, through the efforts of Assistant Secretary Krys, transferred IM to DS. The IM transfer incorporated OC's Office of Security (OC/S) and all of OC's electronic and technical countermeasures into DS. Also, OC's Field Inspection Teams went to DS, as did the Shield Enclosure program for post communications centers.

The merger of IM and DS proved unpopular and difficult, and the rapid pace of innovation in computer technologies aggravated the situation. Several officials in OC and IM did not like the transfer. One OC/S veteran, Robert Surprise, who was studying at the National Defense University in 1990, devoted his research paper to a reassessment of IM's transfer to DS. Surprise concluded that the merger did not achieve its intended goals, and that "user and IM communities have expressed dissatisfaction with the new structure" because it was "too bureaucratic, unresponsive, and a hindrance to progress." The Office of the Inspector General used Surprise's paper to argue that IM should be removed from DS and put back into the Bureau of Administration. Krys, who had favored the initial transfer, concluded after just two years, that IM should be its own bureau (at least theoretically). After three years, Department officials approved IM's move back to the Bureau of Administration. While most information management and communications offices left, the security-oriented offices like Computer Security remained with DS.

Okay, so the merger of DS with the Geek Squad didn't work. Geeks with guns? But, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be tried again with DS and Overseas Buildings Operations. Please. Oh, please.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-40615135320604976382015-02-11T16:53:00.001-08:002015-02-11T17:12:21.559-08:00Evacuation From Yemen - Houthis Want to Be Our Friends, Despite That Slogan

Photo from blog.haykal.sg

In a New York Times interview published today (U.S. Embassy Shuts in Yemen, Even as Militant Leader Reaches Out) the leader of the Houthi militia expressed his desire to be friends with everybody:

Mr. Sammad also said the Houthis wanted a Yemen with good relationships with the United States and other countries, provided that its sovereignty was respected. The militants' slogan, which is chanted at rallies and painted on walls in Sana, includes the phrase "Death to America."

"It's not meant to suggest harming American people," Mr. Sammad said. "This is just a slogan."

Just a slogan? Only figurative language? Okay, then. Still, it seems very unfriendly, especially after some Houthis shot up of one of our embassy vehicles, which, according to the NYT, happened on 19 January and was a factor in the decision to evacuate our embassy.

I think something about that slogan is getting lost in translation. The Houthis ought to dial it back if they hope to achieve the good relationship with us that Mr. Sammad says they want. They could do it in steps. Start by changing the slogan to something like "Go screw yourself, America!" Then, "Go home, America!" Then, "Good riddance to you, America!" And finally, "Hey buddy, got any loose change, America?"

Some other excerpts from Sammad's interview:

In his first interview since the Yemeni government collapsed, the leader of the Houthi militants who control Sana, the capital, depicted his movement as eager to share power with its rivals and to reach out to the country's traditional allies, including the United States and Saudi Arabia — even as the American Embassy prepared to shut down. Saleh Ali al-Sammad, the senior Houthi leader in Sana, made the remarks as a new round of United Nations-mediated talks among the Houthis and other major political parties to try to form a government entered a second day. Yemen has been leaderless since the president and his cabinet resigned on Jan. 22, citing Houthi pressure and attacks.

-- snip --

Mr. Sammad's remarks, and his unusual willingness to be interviewed by an American news organization, suggested that the Houthis were anxious to climb down from the position they took on Friday, when they declared a unilateral plan for forming a new government.

-- snip --

Mr. Sammad took pains to say that the Houthis wanted normal relations with the United States and other countries. No diplomats have been harmed since September, when the Houthis took over security operations in Sana, he said, adding, "We are not against the missions or individuals themselves, but against policies adopted by America." However, an attack on an American Embassy car on Jan. 19 at a Houthi roadblock was far worse than previously known, according to a Western diplomat who was briefed on the attack and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities. He said the armored car had been hit with 87 rounds of automatic weapons fire, but the vehicle's armor withstood the onslaught, and those inside, including two diplomats, were able to escape to safety. "The Americans are furious," he said. A 2012 attack on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, killed four staff members, including the ambassador.

Once again, those armored vehicles have proved to be worth every penny they cost. They have saved more U.S. diplomats from being killed than any other physical countermeasure the USG puts out there.

By the way, I highly recommend following this Twitter account for news and educated opinion on events in Yemen. It was the source of the photo above.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-63273973769655556892015-02-07T06:45:00.000-08:002015-02-07T06:45:08.257-08:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

"How a McDonald's Sausage Burrito contains more than 100 ingredients - including one chemical used in FIREWORKS" - UK Daily Mail

"Among the scrambled egg mix is ... sodium benzoate, which is also added to fireworks to produce a whistling sound"

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-1799176703150233092015-02-04T17:46:00.001-08:002015-02-04T18:25:37.425-08:00Diversify Your Passport Portfolio For Only $500,000

Such a deal! The U.S. Government allows up to 10,000 foreign citizens per year to flat-out buy permanent resident status in the United States, if they invest $1,000,000 in a business or only $500,000 in a targeted employment area, i.e., a high unemployment or rural area.

Well, technically, it's conditional permanent residence, says the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), but the conditions are only loosely enforced, according to ABC News.

Whistleblowers: US Gave Visas to Suspected Forgers, Fraudsters, Criminals:

An ABC News investigation found that in addition to reaching wealthy foreign investors, the program [see this description] has become a magnet for those seeking to sidestep the scrutiny of the traditional immigration process. In one case, immigration officials pushed through a visa application from Chinese investor in a Las Vegas hotel project despite an internal review that found the investor had previously been turned back at the border, and much of his visa application had likely been fabricated, immigration records show.

-- snip --

The document summarizes 41 investigations, some open and some now closed, into allegations ranging from espionage to fraud to drug trafficking involving investors in various EB-5 investment projects.

One regional center [a private sector entity certified by Homeland Security to recruit foreign investors for specific business ventures that will qualify for EB-5 visas] run by an Iranian-born businessman living in Beverly Hills was approved to raise roughly $25 million in investment money from foreign sources even when one of his businesses was being raided by agents. Federal officials told ABC News the businessman is suspected of allegedly smuggling banned items to Iran.

Another regional center raised money from Chinese investors to finance the construction of federal buildings, including an FBI headquarters building in San Diego, raising what one internal document called "national security concerns" that "pertain to Chinese investors having visibility to FBI blueprints/information."

-- snip --

In 2013, then-Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was accused by political opponents of trying to prod federal officials to approve visas for investors in an electric vehicle start-up venture he ran. He denied that he sought undue influence. In 2014, questions about an EB-5 investment scheme in South Dakota became grist for political ads targeting then-U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rounds, who was attacked for his role in oversight of investment projects while he was governor. Rounds called the attacks political and "inaccurate" and "defamatory."

McAuliffe is now Governor of Virginia, and has - so far as I can tell - given up his ownership in that tiny electric car company. Here's an excerpt from a 2013 WaPo story about the cozy connections between politicians, businessmen, and government officials that facilitated McAuliffe's access to foreign sources of capital.

An electric-car company co-founded by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D) is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over its conduct in soliciting foreign investors, according to law enforcement documents and company officials.

In May, the SEC subpoenaed documents from GreenTech Automotive and bank records from a sister company, Gulf Coast Funds Management of McLean. The investigation is focused, at least in part, on alleged claims that the company "guarantees returns" to the investors, according to government documents.

GreenTech has sought overseas investors through a federal program that allows foreigners to gain special visas if they contribute at least $500,000 to create U.S. jobs. Gulf Coast, which is run by Anthony Rodham, the brother of former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, seeks investors for GreenTech and arranges the visas.

The story noted that McAuliffe's GreenTech and Tony Rodham's Gulf Coast shared office space while they tag-teamed Chinese investors. Cozy, you see?

The [subpoenaed] documents counter the impression left last week by a top U.S. immigration official, Alejandro Mayorkas, who testified in front of a Senate panel that he met with McAuliffe on one occasion, "and that was the extent of the interaction."

The documents show that Mayorkas and other senior DHS officials had a dozen e-mail and telephone contacts with McAuliffe, Rodham, and other representatives of GreenTech and Gulf Coast.

Mayorkas, who has been nominated to be second-in-command at DHS, is under investigation by the agency's inspector general for allegedly providing special treatment for GreenTech. The investigation is preliminary and has not produced any findings of wrongdoing. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans have said they will not consider Mayorkas's nomination until it is completed.

The new documents also show that some career DHS employees believe that Mayorkas broke protocol by altering a draft decision about GreenTech and how it handled stock returns to investors.

Whistleblowers have alleged to Senate investigators that Mayorkas became overly involved in GreenTech's case.

Where would we be without our whistleblowers? Now, if only there were someone in Washington who cared enough to end this cash-for-visas scheme.

And quite a slick scheme it is. I found a nice description of the EB-5 visa business model in a Fortune magazine story:

At the heart of the program is an unusual trade: Because the immigrants care far more about getting a green card than anything else (their families get visas too), they're willing to accept a token financial return. In fact, when "administrative" fees of about $50,000 are added, they're typically paying for the privilege of sinking $500,000 into a U.S. venture for five to seven years—with no guarantee that they'll ever get it back. And in part because of distance and language barriers, the targets of EB-5 pitches seem ill-equipped (or disinclined) to assess the business risks.

Though the government issues the visas, private developers reap the benefits. After middlemen get their piece, the cost of EB-5 capital runs between 4% and 6% a year—less than half of what developers would typically have to pay for mezzanine debt [which is defined here] or to equity investors. Raising $100 million through EB-5 can add $20 million to a project's bottom line.

The growing demand for EB-5 financing is being met largely by new Chinese millionaires, eager for greater freedom and less pollution, or to send their kids to college in the U.S. More than 80% of the program's applicants now come from China, making it the mother lode for EB-5 prospecting.

-- snip --

Many EB-5 attorneys represent both the project and the investors, a clear conflict, and take undisclosed fees from developers—up to $60,000 per immigrant—to steer clients to particular projects ... The EB-5 program isn't overseen by a financial regulator but by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security. Accustomed to processing visas and conducting immigrant background checks, USCIS is ill-equipped to review business plans, job-creation studies, and securities offerings. The SEC retains the power to police fraud. What that means is the agency has no mechanism to sniff out a problem until it has exploded, at which point the agency can only clean up the mess.

-- snip --

They are one of the oddities of the EB-5 system. "Regional centers," which are legally required and USCIS-certified, sound as if they are federal offices, but they're not. They are typically private, profit-making operations that pool EB-5 money for development projects. Oh, and there's one other quirk: These seemingly independent operations are often launched and operated by the very developers who are raising money, giving them an extra measure of control.

The regional centers that operate independently can be highly lucrative. Centers usually charge a developer about 2% annual interest for at least five years on whatever amount of immigrant capital they raise. A $60 million deal can thus generate $6 million or more in income. One major operator, the New York City Regional Center, expects its total income on just four large ventures to total $50,187,500, according to a worksheet prepared in a lawsuit between feuding business partners.

Like banks and Wall Street firms, regional centers sell securities and handle millions. Yet there are no rules on who can own or run a center, and no audit requirements. A regional center doesn't have to report publicly on its performance, identify its principals, or disclose any financial, legal, or regulatory problems they have encountered.

These Chinese investors, and the occasional non-Chinese, are approved for permanent resident status by USCIS, even though it has no expertise in evaluating finance or investment proposals. The Federal agency that polices investment fraud has no involvement in EB-5 visa matters at all unless and until it is called in after a project becomes a disaster. The foreign investors, our new Economic Citizens, are hooked up with their investment opportunities by unregulated middlemen who work for the project developers and profit from both ends of the deals they put together. And this money-making machine is fueled by visas that are teased or coerced out of the bureaucracy by politicians who are exchanging favors with the project developers and each other.

Wow, it sounds like everybody wins. Except for anyone who cares about what ABC News called "the traditional immigration process" - and law - or worries about the national security implications that follow when that process is abused.

 TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-34465745267628478662015-02-02T16:21:00.000-08:002015-02-02T17:43:14.972-08:00Foreign Affairs Budget Request for 2016 is Released

So the Obama Administration has proposed a Federal government budget of 4 trillion dollars for 2016. Strictly speaking, it's only S3.99 trillion, which is advertising brilliance, according to Roger Sterling.

The FY 2016 budget justification for Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs accounts for $43.7 billion of the total Federal budget, plus another $7.0 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (i.e., the tail ends of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). Historically, the cost of conducting the Foreign Affairs of the United States has been just a little bit over one percent of the entire Federal budget, and it looks like that proportion will hold steady for next year.

According to a budget Fact Sheet that State sent out today, the request includes $3.4 billion for Worldwide Protective Operations and $4.8 billion for overseas infrastructure. Included in that 4.8 is $2.2 billion for facility security upgrades and new embassy construction in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, and Paraguay.

Those protection and facility security costs cover the needs of 86,000 overseas U.S. government employees from 30-plus agencies who staff 275 diplomatic missions.

Now, it's up to our elected representatives in Congress to either vote for that budget or to once again "make priorities and choices" to fund less than requested.

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-81673280805579950512015-01-31T15:34:00.000-08:002015-01-31T15:34:34.044-08:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

Of course, that's "Florida man who had sex with ... "

"Man who had sex with a dolphin in the '70s claims the dolphin seduced him" - UK Daily Mail

TSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-7109364493833590472015-01-29T18:45:00.003-08:002015-01-29T18:45:52.095-08:00The Unicorn Eludes Trey Gowdy at Benghazi Hearing #3
I'm normally a 'plague on both your houses' guy when it comes to the U.S. Congress, but I have to say that the Democrat side won hands down at the third hearing of the House Select Committee on the 2012 attack in Benghazi.

There was not much reason for Chairman Trey Gowdy (Hysteric - SC) to call the hearing in the first place. He had only two witnesses, one of whom - the Congressional liaison from CIA - was asked almost nothing, and the other of whom - Congressional liaison from the State Department - served as Gowdy's whipping boy for Hillary Clinton.

Gowdy sang his usual aria of outrage for an opening statement, accusing Hillary State of stonewalling the Committee's requests for more and more documents and witnesses, but that fell flat very quickly when the Democratic senior member pointed out the Committee had waited from May to November before making its first request.

Elijah Cummings (D-MD):

Rather than blaming Federal agencies, we should acknowledge that the reason for the delay lies in the Committee's own actions. The committee waited six months before sending its first request for new documents. Six months. It took the Committee almost a month longer to request witness interviews from the State Department.

Who is stonewalling whom?

The hearing then devolved into accusations of Gowdy's one-sided management of the Committee's business. He has not convened an organizational meeting or created Committee rules, has given no notice to the minority side when the majority interviewed witnesses in private, and allegedly misrepresented to the minority what those witnesses said. He has ignored the Justice Department's concerns that witness testimony could effect its ongoing investigation and even denied, during his flaying of the whipping boy, that Justice has any such concerns. And, he has issued an open-ended request for "all" State Department documents without specifying particular topics, or dates, or facts in contention, or people other than Hillary "seventh floor principals", with the result that no number of documents State can produce will even be enough.

Representative Linda Sánchez (D-Cal) spanked Gowdy good and hard starting at the 54 minute mark of the video above. First, she produced a letter from Justice stating its concerns about witness testimony. Second, she credibly accused Gowdy of withholding witness statements that contradicted his narrative of State Department conspiracies to destroy evidence. Third, she summed up the inanity of holding yet another investigation of the Benghazi attack after eight previous Congressional investigations have found nothing.

Eight months later, our Committee still lacks that scope, transparency, and more than ever the credibility. Now, more than ever, I'm convinced that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are in search of this mythical creature, this Unicorn, and the Unicorn being some kind of nefarious conspiracy and that nefarious conspiracy they're looking for does not in fact exist.

The Unicorn of conspiracy may be mythical, but the political reason for holding Committee hearings through 2015 is quite real, and obvious. Once Hillary announces - if in fact she does - she will have to overcome her disastrous 'what difference does it make' outburst at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in 2013. Benghazi issues, both real and fictitious, will do major political damage to her campaign.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-79630235199979517192015-01-23T03:54:00.000-08:002015-01-23T03:54:03.002-08:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

"Selfies on stolen iPad helps lead to suspects' arrests" - ABC Eyewitness News Houston

"They are not very bright crooks," said Harris County Pct 1 Constable Alan Rosen ... they "didn't know what iCloud is."

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-7496053454157627872015-01-16T15:49:00.000-08:002015-01-16T15:49:21.291-08:00Most Eyebrow-Raising Headline of the Week

"Mother reports her son missing 20 YEARS after he left to follow the Grateful Dead" - UK Daily MailTSBhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-20846076191351608652015-01-16T15:32:00.000-08:002015-01-16T15:36:06.781-08:00A Week That Began In Tragedy Ends In Farce

Ladies and Gentlemen, that actually happened, and we let it happen.

President Obama has said "I want the people of France to know that the United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow."

"We" stand with the people of France but Obama, personally, did not. He said that during a speech in Tennessee.

So, today SecState Kerry went to Paris and did an apology tour (see his remarks here), which he began with some highly awkward hugging and ended by having an ancient hippie - "a good friend from Massachusetts" - sing three minutes of elevator music.

Just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running
Unless I'm spending a relaxing day at home watching football on TV

Maybe Obama now wishes he had TIVO'd that game.

And maybe the French should now respond by sending us Taylor's contemporary, Carole King, to sing It's Too Late.

But really, we don't need to send any of our singers to France. The French people can sing just fine for themselves. This is what the Members of Parliament sang after they observed a minute of silence for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre:

The Marseillaise ends with a line about making the impure blood of the invaders water the fields of France. That sentiment suits the occasion better than anything that ever came from James Taylor.

TSBhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-17435157975908949812015-01-12T15:29:00.001-08:002015-01-12T15:31:33.703-08:00Fraudulent Document Training For Icelandic Airlines Pays Off

Iceland's catch of the day (State Dept. photo)

Here's a good-news story, and we can use one now, coming as it does after a week of news about returning jihad volunteers committing atrocities in France and their cleanskin accomplices crossing borders with the greatest of ease.

The U.S. government provides training in fraudulent document detection to foreign air carrier personnel, and this week it got an immediate return on that training. According to a State Department press release this afternoon, Embassy Training for Airline Personnel Yields Rapid Results in Reykjavik: Fraud Suspect Busted with Altered Passport:

Just one day after receiving U.S. Embassy-sponsored training in detecting fraudulent travel documents, an Icelandair ticket agent in Reykjavik, Iceland identified a suspicious traveler with an illicit passport and took action that prevented the imposter from flying to North America.

Elvar, the ticket agent, was among some two dozen staffers of airlines and security firms operating at Keflavik International Airport in Reykjavik who had received the training the previous day from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel.

"Elvar." That's a good Viking name if I've ever heard one.

The CLP [Carrier Liaison Program, see this] session in Reykjavik came after months of planning by the U.S. Embassy's regional security officer (RSO), a former U.S. Border Patrol agent himself. The RSO notes that there was good reason to bring the training to Keflavik.

"Iceland is fast becoming a significant transit point for travelers flying to Canada and the United States," he says.

The number of passengers transiting Iceland grew by nearly 20 percent in the first eight months of 2014 compared to the same period last year. Airlines departing Keflavik International Airport currently serve nine U.S. cities. By the summer of 2015, those airlines will provide scheduled passenger service from Reykjavik to a total of 14 major U.S. cities.

-- snip --

Following the airline's security protocol, the ticket agent allowed the passenger to check in, but alerted the Icelandic Border Police, who arrested the passenger at a departure checkpoint. Icelandic Border Police subsequently determined that the suspicious passenger was a Georgian national traveling on a bona fide Israeli passport, with an altered bio-page. The traveler's intended destination was Edmonton, Canada.

Now, that was some tax money well spent.

TSBhttp://email@example.com