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  • *GAO Reports on Testing Security Screening at US Airports: TSA Has Limited Assurance that Security Operations is Targeting the Most Likely Threats

    To test security screening at US airports, TSA regularly tries to sneak guns and simulated bombs through checkpoints or in checked baggage. TSA changed its testing practices to better identify and address screening vulnerabilities.

    We observed 26 covert tests and reviewed the test program and how results are used. We found that TSA’s ability to run covert tests has improved, but a new process intended to address vulnerabilities found in testing hasn’t fully worked.

    We made 9 recommendations, including that TSA establish timeframes for addressing the vulnerabilities it discovers.

    TSA screening passengers at the checkpoint.

    What GAO Found

    Two offices within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conduct covert tests at US airports— Inspection and Security Operations. The Department of Homeland Security requires that agencies use risk information to make decisions, and TSA issues annual risk assessments of threats that its program offices should consult when making risk-based decisions, such as what covert tests to conduct. Of the two TSA offices that conduct covert tests, Inspection officials used TSA’s risk assessment to guide their efforts. However, Security Operations officials relied largely on their professional judgment in making decisions about what scenarios to consider for covert testing. By not using a risk-informed approach, TSA has limited assurance that Security Operations is targeting the most likely threats.

    Both Inspection and Security Operations have implemented processes to ensure that their covert tests produce quality results. However, GAO found that only Inspection has established a new process that has resulted in quality test results. Specifically, for the two reports Inspection completed for testing conducted in fiscal years 2016 and 2017 using its new process, GAO found that the results were generally consistent with quality analysis and reporting practices. On the other hand, Security Operations has not been able to ensure the quality of its covert test results, and GAO identified a number of factors that could be compromising the quality of these results. Unless TSA assesses the current practices used at airports to conduct tests, and identifies the factors that may be impacting the quality of covert testing conducted by TSA officials at airports, it will have limited assurance about the reliability of the test results it is using to address vulnerabilities.

  • Updated: The Honorable Nancy Pelosi: “Between the inevitable and the Unconceivable” … “The Mueller Report will be released” “The President’s sham emergency declaration and unlawful transfers of funds have undermined our democracy”

    (Editor’s Note: The contents of the Mueller report were being speculated about at the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s weekly news conference with the accredited press on April  4th, 2019 … )                                                                                                            Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

    “Between the inevitable and the inconceivable … The Mueller Report will be released.”

    “There’s an easy answer to this: Release the Mueller report as soon as possible … And let me just say … the Mueller report will be released.  To us, it is inevitable … to them it is inconceivable … We have to shorten the distance between the inevitable and the inconceivable.”
     
    “Release the report … that is where the evidence is … if they don’t have anything to hide, they shouldn’t worry.”
     
    Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Briefing to the Press on April 4th, 2019
     
    Another Announcement from the Speaker: 

    Intention to File Lawsuit to Block the President’s Transfer of Funds for His Ineffective, Wasteful Wall

    April 4, 2019

    Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement announcing that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group has voted to authorize a lawsuit challenging the President’s decision to transfer funds from appropriated accounts for his border wall, which violates the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution:

    “The President’s sham emergency declaration and unlawful transfers of funds have undermined our democracy, contravening the vote of the bipartisan Congress, the will of the American people and the letter of the Constitution.

    “The President’s action clearly violates the Appropriations Clause by stealing from appropriated funds, an action that was not authorized by constitutional or statutory authority.  Congress, as Article I – the first branch, co-equal to the other branches – must reassert its exclusive responsibilities reserved by the text of the Constitution and protect our system of checks and balances.

    “The House will once again defend our Democracy and our Constitution, this time in the courts.  No one is above the law or the Constitution, not even the President.”

     

    Nancy Pelosi | C-SPAN.org

    https://www.c-span.org/person/?nancypelosi
     
    Nancy Patricia Pelosi is an American politician serving as speaker of the United … 2010 with an average of 5,811 views per program as a Democratic Representative for … In her weekly press briefing, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called … Public Affairs Event – 30; Convention – 23; Rally – 20; News Conference – 20 …

    PELOSI, Nancy

    PELOSI, Nancy

    Image courtesy of the Member

    1940–

    OFFICE

    Representative

    STATE/TERRITORY

    California

    PARTY

    Democrat

    CONGRESS(ES)

    100th (1987–1989), 101st (1989–1991), 102nd (1991–1993), 103rd (1993–1995), 104th (1995–1997), 105th (1997–1999), 106th (1999–2001), 107th (2001–2003), 108th (2003–2005), 109th (2005–2007), 110th (2007–2009), 111th (2009–2011), 112th (2011–2013), 113th (2013–2015), 114th (2015–2017), 115th (2017–2019), 116th (2019–2021)

    LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

    Democratic Whip – 107th, Minority Leader – 108th, 109th, 112th, 113th, 114th, 115th, Speaker of the House – 110th, 111th, 116th

    JUMP TO

    Biography

    PELOSI, Nancy, (daughter of Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr.), a Representative from California; born Nancy D’Alesandro in Baltimore, Md., March 26, 1940; graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, Baltimore, Md., 1958; A.B., Trinity College, 1962; chair, California state Democratic Party, 1981-1983; finance chairman, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, 1985-1986; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundredth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Sala Burton of California, and reelected to the sixteen succeeding Congresses (June 2, 1987-present); minority whip (One Hundred Seventh Congress); minority leader (One Hundred Eighth, One Hundred Ninth, and One Hundred Twelfth through One Hundred Fifteenth Congresses); Speaker of the House (One Hundred Tenth, One Hundred Eleventh, and One Hundred Sixteenth Congresses).

  • Congressional Bills Introduced & Hearings: Child Care at Vet Centers, Child, Dependent Care Tax Credit, Safe Contraception, Climate Change, Parental Leave Benefits, Maternal Mortality, Child Sexual Abuse

    Weekly Legislative Update 

    Rep. Susie Lee

     

    Floor Action: 

    Violence Against Women — On Wednesday, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.

    Hearings:

    Military — On Tuesday, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel is scheduled to hold a hearing, “Examining the Role of the Commander in Sexual Assault Prosecutions.”
     
    Representative Susie Lee of Nevada (D-NV), above
     
    STEM — On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing, “Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women Inventors and the Future of American Innovation.”
     
    Violence Against Women — On Tuesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing, “Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Addressing Campus Sexual Assault and Ensuring Student Safety Rights.” Editor’s Note: There will be a live broadcast:  https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/reauthorizing-hea-addressing-campus-sexual-assault-and-ensuring-student-safety-and-rights

     

    April 1, 201
    Bills Introduced:

    Child Protection
     
    S. 924 — Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (3/28/19) — A bill to require training and education to teachers and other school employees, students, and the community about how to prevent, recognize, respond to, and report child sexual abuse in primary and secondary education.
     
    Employment
     
    H.R. 1864 — Del. Eleanor Norton Holmes (D-DC)/Education and Labor (3/25/19) — A bill to prohibit certain practices by employers relating to restrictions on discussion of employees’ and prospective employees’ salary and benefit history, and for other purposes.
     
    S. 920 — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)/Finance (3/27/19) — A bill to make available parental leave benefits to parents following the birth or adoption of a child, and for other purposes.
     
    H.R. 1935 — Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)/Education and Labor (3/27/19) — A bill to enhance provisions related to pay discrimination, and for other purposes.
     
    H.R. 1940 — Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO)/Ways and Means (3/27/19) — A bill to make available parental leave benefits to parents following the birth or adoption of a child, and for other purposes. Elise Stefanik
     
    Health 
    H.R. 1882 — Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)/Education and Labor; Judiciary; Financial Services; Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce; Transportation and Infrastructure (3/26/19) — A bill to increase the availability and affordability of menstrual hygiene products for individuals with limited access, and for other purposes.
     
    S. 916— Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)/Finance (3/27/19) — A bill to improve federal efforts with respect to the prevention of maternal mortality, and for other purposes.
     
    H.R. 1897 — Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL)/Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means; Education and Labor (3/27/19) — A bill to improve federal efforts with respect to the prevention of maternal mortality, and for other purposes.
     
    Rep. Elise Stefanik, right (Republican, NY)

  • Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the National Remembrance Service in NZ: ‘Let us be the nation we believe ourselves to be’

    Jacinda Ardern

     

    29 MARCH 2019

     

    • RT HON JACINDA ARDERN (middle) arriving prior her memorial speech to honor those who died and were wounded in the Christchurch massacre.
    Prime Minister

    E rau rangatira mā, e ngā reo, e ngā mana

    Tēnā koutou katoa

    (I acknowledge amongst us today our distinguished leaders, speakers and those who bear authority)

    Ngāi Tahu Whānui, tēnā koutou

    (My greetings to the whole of Ngāi Tahu)

    E papaki tū ana ngā tai o maumahara ki runga o Ōtautahi

    (The tides of remembrance flow over Christchurch today)

    Haere mai tātou me te aroha,

    (So let us gather with love)

    Me te rangimārie, ki te whānau nei,

    (In peace, for this family)

    E ora mārire ai anō rātau,

    (So that they may truly live again)

    E ora mārire ai anō, tātou katoa.

    (So that we all may truly live again)

    We gather here, 14 days on from our darkest of hours.

    In the days that have followed the terrorist attack on the 15th of March, we have often found ourselves without words.

    What words adequately express the pain and suffering of 50 men, women and children lost, and so many injured?

    What words capture the anguish of our Muslim community being the target of hatred and violence?

    What words express the grief of a city that has already known so much pain?

    I thought there were none. And then I came here and was met with this simple greeting.

    Asalamu Aleykum. Peace be upon you.

    They were simple words, repeated by community leaders who witnessed the loss of their friends and loved ones.

    Simple words, whispered by the injured from their hospital beds.

    Simple words, spoken by the bereaved and everyone I met who has been affected by this attack.

    Asalamu Aleykum. Peace be upon you.

    They were words spoken by a community who, in the face of hate and violence, had every right to express anger but instead opened their doors for all of us to grieve with them.

    And so we say to those who have lost the most, we may not have always had the words.

    We may have left flowers, performed the haka, sung songs or simply embraced.

    But even when we had no words, we still heard yours, and they have left us humbled and they have left us united.

    Over the past two weeks we have heard the stories of those impacted by this terrorist attack.

    They were stories of bravery.

    They were stories of those who were born here, grew up here, or who had made New Zealand their home.

    Who had sought refuge, or sought a better life for themselves or their families.

    These stories, they now form part of our collective memories.

    They will remain with us forever.

    They are us.

  • Filling in the Blanks: A Prehistory of the Adult Coloring Craze

    Its dizzy heights may have passed, but the fad for adult coloring books is far from over. Many trace the origins of such publications to a wave of satirical colouring books published in the 1960s, but as Melissa N. Morris and Zach Carmichael explore, the existence of such books, and the urge to colour the printed image, goes back centuries.

    Leonhart Fuchs De historiaUncolored portraits of the artists involved in the production of Leonhart Fuchs’ De historia stirpium commentarii insignes— Source.

    For many publishers around the world 2015 was, fiscally speaking, an excellent year — a welcome boost in an otherwise uncertain decade. But this upturn had a perhaps surprising source: coloring books for grown-ups. What strange winds conspired to suddenly urge adults in their droves to take up colored pencils again? Whatever the reasons, sales rocketed: Nielsen logged sales of 12 million for the category in 2015, up from a measly 1 million the year before. In February 2016, with the craze still going strong, New York Academy of Medicine Library gave birth to a new initiative called Color Our Collections Week, a scholarly take on the coloring trend. Now in its third year, the campaign sees, on the first week of February, archives, special collections, and libraries take to social media with individual images and even entire books compiled from their holdings for the public to color. While these chosen works are all in the public domain, and so can technically include (in the US at least) works published up until 1924, the images in these coloring books more typically hail from the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries. And it is in these images — published in the centuries prior to the advent of color printing — that we can see a precedent for this seemingly modern fad. While it may seem like simply jumping on the adult coloring bandwagon, Color Our Collections Week, with its naturally historical focus, is actually tapping into (and shedding light on) a tradition much older.

    Last year, the New York Academy of Medicine Library chose an image from Leonhart Fuchs’ monumental 1542 botanical work, De historia stirpium commentarii insignes (“Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants”), to promote the event. An archivist from the History of Science Collections at the University of Oklahoma chimed in on Twitter to say their own copy of this book had already been colored in.

    Leonhart Fuchs De historia

    The page from the University of Oklahoma’s colored version of Leonhart Fuchs’ De historia stirpium commentarii insignes— SourceLeonhart Fuchs De historia
    Another colored Edition of Leonhart Fuchs’ De historia stirpium commentarii insignes — Source (Wellcome Library)

    Should we be surprised by this? Color Our Collections Week might give the impression that these images, from the era before colored printing, are at last being colored — rescued from their hitherto drab monochrome existence. Yet printed images from the early modern period were regularly colored by hand.

    The practice goes back to the earliest days of print in the fifteenth century. Artists, printers, booksellers, consumers, and readers all applied color to originally black-and-white images. Before Gutenberg’s innovation of the moveable-type press, both woodblock and engraved prints, single sheets with printed images, were popular in Germany and parts of Central Europe. They were used in various ways, and many people did what we might do with them — hung them on the walls of their home.

    With the emergence of the printed book the coloring trend continued. Colored illustrations were common in medieval manuscript books, most notably in the intricately illuminated manuscripts produced by monastic institutions. The early printed books from the fifteenth century and after often imitated the textual design and illustrations of these medieval manuscript books. Indeed, illuminated manuscripts and printed books were not mutually exclusive: some printed books contain illumination, while some manuscripts have painted prints pasted into them. It would seem that at least some early printers and readers attempted to create color illustrations for these works the only way they knew how: by coloring the pictures themselves.

    herbal manuscriptThis 1493 herbal shows how early printed works imitated manuscripts — Source (Wellcome Library)

  • A Baseball Story You Might Not Have Heard About an American Catcher and Spy for the OSS

    Editor’s Note: I began listening to baseball when I was five years old on the radio … there was no television at that time. Being an only child, I went to New York Giants baseball games at the Polo Grounds in the borough of The Bronx with my father regularly. We continued to listen to games if we didn’t have a seat in the stands. When I moved to San Francisco in the ’60s friends said they knew why I was going there … to follow my team. Now after many years back East, I am again in the Bay Area and watching Opening Day for the SF Giants (Madison Bumgarner is pitching — Buster Posey catching — and Madison just got picked off at first) in San Diego on television; we’ll be attending some games at the newly named Oracle Park in San Francisco this season. 

    Here’s a story I hadn’t heard about a famed baseball player and spy. — Tam Martinides Gray

    Moe Berg spent his last five years, 1935-39, in the big leagues with the Red Sox, where he joined another Senators alumnus, the immortal Joe Cronin. (Princeton Alumni Weekly)

     Morris “Moe” Berg (1902-1972) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball from 1926-1939. He later became a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Berg in on the right. 

    Berg was born in New York City on March 2, 1902.  After graduating from Princeton in 1923, he began his career in Major League Baseball as a catcher, playing for several teams, including the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. He was never more than an average player, often spending time on the bench, but his soaring intellect and gift for languages earned him the title of “brainiest guy in baseball.” Berg was fluent in German, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese and had some knowledge of at least a dozen other languages. In three years during the offseason, he earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1928 and eventually took a position with a Wall Street law firm while still playing baseball.

    After several disappointing seasons with the Red Sox, and two years of coaching, Berg quit baseball in August 1939 and began looking for a way to get involved with the war effort.

    In 1943, Berg was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services to travel overseas and spy on the German atomic bomb program. Berg’s gift for languages and quick wit made him the perfect candidate for the job, and he was selected for a special mission codenamed “Project Larson”, as part of the ongoing Alsos Mission. The purpose of Project Larson was to interview top Italian physicists to see if they knew anything about a German bomb program.

    In 1944, Berg traveled to Italy and met with physicists Edoardo Amaldi and Gian Carlo Wick, who admitted that they had not done any atomic research for the Germans and suspected that even if the Germans were working on an atomic bomb it would have taken them at least a decade to complete it. Berg continued to visit with other Italian scientists throughout the summer, though little was learned about a German nuclear program.

    In December 1944, the OSS learned that renowned German physicist Werner Heisenberg was leaving Germany to give a lecture in Zurich. Berg was ordered to attend the conference and to make contact with Heisenberg. If there were any indications that the Germans were working on the bomb, he was ordered to shoot Heisenberg (inside the lecture hall if necessary). On December 18, Berg attended the lecture and quietly sat with a pistol inside his pocket before a small audience of professors and graduate students. He had also been given a cyanide tablet. Heisenberg did not reveal anything about a German nuclear program during the lecture, but Berg was able to meet with Heisenberg’s Swiss host and OSS source Paul Scherrer and secure an invitation to dine with Heisenberg later that week. Berg listened carefully to the conversation that evening, but there was no indication that the Germans were working on an atomic bomb. 

    Berg returned to the United States on April 25, 1945, and resigned from the Strategic Services Unit, the successor to the OSS, in August.

    After the War, Berg declined several offers to coach for Major League Baseball. In 1952, Berg was hired by the CIA to use his old contacts from World War II to gather information about Soviet atomic science, but his efforts produced little intelligence. Berg died in Belleville, New Jersey, on May 29, 1972.

    Morris “Moe” Berg’s Timeline

    1902 March 2nd: Born in Harlem, New York.
    1923 Received B.A., magna cum laude in Modern Languages from Princeton University.
    1923 Jun 27th Signed first Major League Baseball contract with the Brooklyn Robins.
    1930 Feb 26th Received LL.B. from Columbia University.
    1943 Aug 2nd to 1945 Apr 25th Joined the Office of Strategic Services as a Paramilitary Operations Officer for the Manhattan Project’s Alsos Mission.
    1972 May 29th Died in Belleville, New Jersey.

  • Update: Updated Video of Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Mr. David Bernhardt; 160 Conservation Groups’ Opposition Letter to US Senators Urging Opposition To the Nomination

    Editor’s Note:  Watch updated video and references to New York Times article.

    The hearing will be webcast live here starting approximately fifteen minutes before the hearing begins, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete. Right, Chair Lisa Murkowski

    Home / Hearings / Hearings and Business Meetings              Chair Lisa Murkowski

    Mar 28 2019

    10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

     

    366 Dirksen Senate Office Building 10:00 AM

    The hearing will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. EDT in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

    The purpose of this hearing is to consider the nomination of Mr. David Bernhardt of Virginia to be Secretary of the Interior.

    The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete. Witness testimony will be available on the website at the start of the hearing.

    Opening Remarks

    Member Statements

    • The Honorable Cory Gardner
      United States Senator
       

    Witness Panel 1

    • The Honorable David Bernhardt                                                                             
      to be Secretary of the InteriorBernhardt
       
     
     

    Related Files

     

     

    For Immediate Release, March 26, 2019

    Contacts:  Randi Spivak, Center for Biological Diversity, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org  
    Martin Hayden, Earthjustice, (202) 745-5218, mhayden@earthjustice.org
    Leta Huta, Endangered Species Coalition, (202) 320-6467, lhuta@endangered.org
    John Bowman, Natural Resources Defense Council, (202)289-2349, Jbowman@nrdc.org 
    Nicole Ghio, Friends of the Earth, (510) 900-8061, nghio@foe.org

    More Than 160 Groups Urge Senate to Reject Bernhardt for Top Interior Post

    WASHINGTON— More than 160 conservation groups sent a letter to U.S. senators today urging them to oppose the nomination of fossil fuel lobbyist David Bernhardt as Interior secretary, citing his efforts to enrich corporations at the expense of the environment.  

    Bernhardt’s confirmation hearing is set for Thursday before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

    “He consistently puts private profit above the public interest, crafting policies to benefit past clients and rolling back longstanding rules to protect habitat, imperiled speciesandpublic health,” the letter says. “David Bernhardt’s conflicts of interest, industry tiesandquestionable judgment make him ill-suited to lead the Department, and his confirmation would place our most cherished natural and cultural resources at even greater risk.”

    “Bernhardt has already shown us that he’s the most dangerous person to be in charge of our public lands and endangered species,” said Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “He puts industry profits before public interest and the environment every single time. If Bernhardt is confirmed, his contempt for our natural world will become even more entrenched in the Interior Department. Any senator who votes to confirm him will be culpable.”

    Bernhardt’s list of former clients includes Eni Petroleum, Noble Energy, National Ocean Industries Association, Cadiz, Inc. and Haliburton Energy Services ― the same industries he’s charged with regulating. Bernhardt has played a key role in rolling back protections for endangered species, migratory birds and sage grouse. He’s working to open the nation’s coasts to oil drilling and is greatly expanding fracking on public lands.

    “The Trump administration’s dirty industry favor factory is working harder than ever with the nomination of David Bernhardt,” said Martin Hayden, vice president of policy and legislation at Earthjustice. “As a lobbyist, Bernhardt’s client roster reads like a who’s who of the worst corporate polluters in the United States, from Taylor Energy to Halliburton. The Senate should reject this industry-sponsored hack and send him out through the revolving door of Washington for the last time.” 

    “To confirm Bernhardt is to hand over the future of our public lands, wildlife, waters and everything they support to a man who made his living for decades attacking all of that to benefit the biggest industrial polluters on the planet. His sorry record in protecting America’s natural resources, wildlife and waters makes Bernhardt uniquely unfit for the job, and lawmakers should reject his nomination,” said John Bowman, managing director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

    “David Bernhardt is a prime example of the culture of special-interest, big-money, influence peddling surrounding this administration,” said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “If we are serious about protecting and stewarding our nation’s wildlife and public lands, then the Senate needs to reject Bernhardt.”  

    “David Bernhardt is a fossil fuel industry hack who spent his career protecting corporate polluters,” said Nicole Ghio, fossil fuels program manager for Friends of the Earth. “His industry conflicts of interest make him absolutely unfit to lead the Department of the Interior. The Senate must reject Bernhardt’s nomination to protect our public health and public lands.”

     
    		 
     

    The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

     Update: https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/3/full-committee-hearing-to-consider

    New York Times article: 

    Interior Nominee Intervened to Block Report on Endangered Species …

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/us/…/endangered-species-david-bernhardt.html
    4 days ago – David Bernhardt, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Interior ….. edition with the headline: Interior Nominee Helped Quash Pesticide Report.

    Top stories

    The Republicans’ Pro-Industry Tilt
    New York Times·2 days ago
     

    More for Interior Nominee Helped Quash Pesticide Report

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  • So You Think You Have Outfit Problems? Spacesuit Availability Limits an All-Female Astronauts Spacewalk

     

    Astronaut Christina Koch assists spacewalkers Nick Hague and Anne McClainNASA astronaut Christina Koch (center) assists spacewalkers Nick Hague (left) and Anne McClain in their US spacesuits shortly before they begin the first spacewalk of their careers. Hague and McClain would work outside in the vacuum of space for six hours and 39 minutes to upgrade the International Space Station’s power storage capacity.

    Editor’s Note: Christina Koch’s Twitter Feed, Koch’s homepage; Anne McClain homepage

    With the first in a series of three spacewalks successfully completed at the International Space Station, NASA has updated astronaut assignments for the remaining two spacewalks and will preview the third in an upcoming news conference on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

    NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain conducted the first spacewalk in this series on March 22. Hague and fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch now are preparing to conduct the second spacewalk Friday, March 29, during which they will continue work started on the first spacewalk to install powerful lithium-ion batteries for one pair of the station’s solar arrays.

    Koch had been scheduled to conduct this spacewalk with astronaut McClain, in what would have been the first all-female spacewalk. However, after consulting with McClain and Hague following the first spacewalk, mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station. McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – fits her best. Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it.

    Mission experts previewed the tasks for the first two spacewalks during a March 19 news conference.

    McClain now is tentatively scheduled to perform her next spacewalk – the third in this series – on Monday, April 8 with Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques. Assignments for this spacewalk will be finalized following completion of the second spacewalk.

    Experts will discuss the work to be performed on the April 8 spacewalk during a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, April 2, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Live coverage of the briefing and spacewalks will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

    McClain and Saint-Jacques will lay out jumper cables between the Unity module and the S0 truss, at the midpoint of the station’s backbone, during their April 8 spacewalk. This work will establish a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2. They also will install cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability.

    Live coverage of both spacewalks will begin at 6:30 a.m., and each is expected to last about 6.5 hours. The March 29 spacewalk is scheduled to start at 8:20 a.m., while the April 8 spacewalk is set to start at 8:05 a.m. (Editor’s Note: Check for varying times due to differing zones and daylight savings.)

    These will be the 215th and 216th spacewalks in the history of International Space Station assembly and maintenance. During the first spacewalk of the series, on March 22, McClain became the 13th woman to perform a spacewalk. Koch will become the 14th on March 29.

    Editor’s Note: Astronaut Fact Book: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/740566main_current.pdf

    Learn more about the spacewalks and the International Space Station at:

    https://www.nasa.gov/station


  • GAO Found: There Is No Single Source of Publicly Available, Comprehensive &Timely Data on Executive Branch Appointees

    cyberbullying

     Image: Cyberbullying section of Health and Human Services US government website

    Federal ethics programs seek to safeguard the integrity of governmental decision-making. That includes oversight of political appointees serving in the executive branch.

    The GAO* reviewed information available on executive branch political appointees and examined 3 agencies’ ethics programs. They found:

    There is no single source of publicly available, comprehensive, and timely data on appointees

    2 of the 3 agencies we examined could strengthen their programs

    We made recommendations to improve the ethics programs in 2 of the agencies we reviewed, and also asked Congress to consider requiring the collection and publishing of information on appointees.

    What GAO Found

    There is no single source of data on political appointees serving in the executive branch that is publicly available, comprehensive, and timely. Political appointees make or advocate policy for a presidential administration or support those positions. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and two nongovernmental organizations collect, and in some cases, report data on political appointees, but the data are incomplete. For example, the data did not include information on political appointee positions within the Executive Office of the President. The White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO) maintains data but does not make them publicly available.

    The public has an interest in knowing the political appointees serving and this information would facilitate congressional oversight and hold leaders accountable. As of March 2019, no agency in the federal government is required to publicly report comprehensive and timely data on political appointees serving in the executive branch. OPM is positioned to maintain and make political appointee data publicly available on a timely basis but is limited in its ability to provide comprehensive data. PPO has more comprehensive data but may not be positioned to publish data on a recurring basis. Ultimately, it is a policy decision as to which agency is best positioned to report comprehensive and timely data on political appointees.

  • Foiling an Elder Fraud Scam; Former FBI Director Webster Assists Investigation

    Former FBI Director William Webster and his wife were the targets of a Jamaican lottery scam in 2014. They assisted in the FBI’s investigation, which led to the arrest and conviction of Keniel Thomas, who was sentenced in February 2019 to nearly six years in prison.

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    The heavily accented caller who promised William Webster a grand sweepstakes prize of $72 million and a new Mercedes Benz had done most of his homework on his potential fraud target.Website, wife, Barr

    “I know that you was [sic] a judge, you was a lawyer, you was in the US Navy,” the caller told his elderly mark. “I do your background check. You are a big man.”

    Former FBI Director William Webster—pictured with his wife, Lynda—speaks during elder fraud press conference at the Department of Justice. The Websters were targets of a fraud scheme in 2014 and helped the FBI capture the subject. Also appearing at the press conference were Attorney General William P. Barr (left) and FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich.

    What the caller, Keniel Thomas, 29, of Jamaica, missed was possibly the most salient detail about his intended victim, who was 90 years old the time: William Webster had served as director of both the FBI and the CIA, and so had a pretty good radar for pernicious criminal schemes — in this case, a Jamaican lottery scam.

    Thomas’ persistent calls in 2014 to Webster and his wife, Lynda, followed the familiar arc of scams that target the elderly: The caller promises riches but requires some form of payment to move the process forward. The caller demands more and more, and then resorts to intimidation when the cooperation tapers off.

    In the Websters’ case, the former judge was told he had to pay $50,000 to get his prize. When the money wasn’t forthcoming, the frequent calls escalated to scary threats, which led the couple to contact the FBI.

    “I don’t know how the conversation turned sour,” said Webster, 95, director of the FBI for a decade beginning in 1978. “But it did. And at that point, he shifted gears. Instead of sweet talk, he began to threaten her.”

    In one expletive-filled recorded message left on the Websters’ phone, Thomas threatened to kill them and burn down their house if he didn’t get what he wanted. “You live at a very lonely place,” he said. “And the moment you arrive, I’m gonna put a shot in your head.”

    Special agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office enlisted the Websters’ help in nabbing the caller by recording their phone conversations to build a case and develop a clear picture of the scheme. The legwork ultimately led to Thomas’ arrest in 2017 and his sentencing last month in federal court in Washington, D.C., to nearly six years in prison. It also revealed that Thomas and his relatives in Jamaica had successfully scammed others in the U.S. out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    “This is not only the greatest generation that Bill’s a part of. It’s also the most trusting generation because they haven’t been exposed to the Internet and all the bad that can come of that.”

    Lynda Webster, wife of former FBI Director William Webster

    “I get complaints all the time,” said Special Agent John Gardner, who was assigned to the case and has been investigating these types of crimes since 2011. He said the perpetrators frequently prey on older people because they tend to be more trusting, financially secure, and lonely. The fraudsters buy and trade “lead lists” on the Internet with senior citizens’ names, phone numbers, and other personal information. Then they start calling, hoping to reach receptive unwary ears.

    “They’ll cold-call them. And a lot of them won’t fall for it,” Gardner said. “But all it takes is just one.”

    Lynda Webster, 63, said she and her husband frequently get suspicious calls, likely because of their demographic.

    “This is not only the greatest generation that Bill’s a part of,” she said, referring to people who grew up during the Great Depression and fought during World War II. “It’s also the most trusting generation because they haven’t been exposed to the Internet and all the bad that can come of that.”

    Gardner said scammers can be ruthless, squeezing money from their victims and then, when the money runs out, getting their victims to serve as middlemen in illegal transactions. “When the victims are tapped out, they’ll be told, ‘Hey, I know you can’t pay the fees anymore. But we have a sponsor that will help pay your fees. So, we’re going to send you a check. We want you to cash it. And we want you to send the cash to another person.’ So, now they’re laundering money. They just think that that’s part of the whole process of claiming their prize.”

    Gardner said sweepstakes or lottery winners do not have to pay fees or taxes to claim a prize. “If it looks too good to be true, it’s probably a scam,” he said.

    William Webster said the entire experience — getting calls, working with the FBI, and seeing his tormentor in court last month — is a reminder that seniors and the trusted friends and family who look after them need to be vigilant.

    “The average older person doesn’t get caught in a bind where they think the screws are turning on them,” Webster said. “They think something good is happening. They want to believe it. Whatever it was, they were able to be convinced that they were about to get something good to show they were still in the money.” 

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