Archive for DC

Obama’s NLRB Appointee Richard Griffin is Mobbed Up?

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A quick roundup of who the above pictures are, starting at the top left:

Richard Griffin was appointed to the National Labor Relations Board via a recess appointment and still serves despite a court ruling that his appointment was illegal. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor Pensions (HELP) will hold hearings on Griffin’s nomination on May 16.

From his bio:

Richard F. Griffin, Jr. was sworn in as a Board Member on January 9, 2012, following a recess appointment by the President.

Mr. Griffin previously served as General Counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE).  He also served on the board of directors for the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a position he held since 1994.  Since 1983, he has held a number of leadership positions with IUOE from Assistant House Counsel to Associate General Counsel. From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Griffin served as a member of the board of trustees of the IUOE’s central pension fund. From 1981 to 1983, he served as a Counsel to NLRB Board Members.  Mr. Griffin holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

As the Workforce Fairness Institute points out:

Griffin, the former general counsel to the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) has served in a leadership role in a union that has been overrun by organized crime. According to Fox News, “The rap sheet for members of the International Union of Operating Engineers reads like something out of ‘Goodfellas.’ Embezzlement. Wire fraud. Bribery. That’s just scratching the surface of crimes committed by the IUOE ranks.”

Moving on – James Roemer was IUOE Treasurer and pleaded guilty in 2003 to fraud. Jamie DeRoss, an IUOE member, pleaded guilty to extortion in 2003. Kenneth Campbell was IUOE’s Business Manager and International Vice President. He pleaded guilty to charges of a conspiracy to embezzle funds in 2008. Martin Taccetta was a Boss of the Jersey Crew in the Lucchese crime family. He was charged with extortion and labor racketeering. Joel “Joe Waverly” Cacace (acting Columbo family boss) conspired with union members to get a paid no-show job for his son in 2003. ouis Moscatiello (Genovese crime family high-ranking figure) pleaded guilty to controlling three labor unions for organized crime in 2004. Andrew Merola, an IUOE Member, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and not showing up for work in 2010.

WFI Also points out that:

Earlier this year, the Washington Free Beacon reported, “According to the lawsuit filed by 10 members of Los Angeles-based IUOE Local 501, which represents workers in Southern California and Southern Nevada, Griffin participated in a conspiracy to manipulate the operation of Local 501 ‘through a pattern of racketeering activity.’ Griffin was served with the complaint and a court summons relating to the lawsuit at his Washington, D.C., home on Dec. 4, according to documents filed in court.”

More than 100 DC police officers arrested in past 4 years

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A story in The Washington Post on the arrest of Jared Weinberg, a Washington Metropolitan Police officer arrested and charged with money laundering, features this piece of information:

Weinberg is among more than 100 D.C. police officers arrested in the past four years, said Kris Baumann, chairman of the police officers’ union.

The union official calls for better hiring standards, but there’s no indication it would have helped in Weinberg’s case. The charges against him are for activity before he became a member of the police force.

Additionally, DC is one of the top 10 departments by size in the country, with 3,800 police officers in 2011 (the last year I could find data for.)

Weinberg is charged with helping launder money for a drug trafficking ring in Pittsburgh. He was allegedly involved in this when he lived in the Baltimore area.

DC already trying to ban guns made with 3D printers

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Color me unsurprised.

DCist:

D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) is paying attention to events back in his native state of Texas. Wells today introduced a bill that would outlaw the production of firearms manufactured by 3-D printers, increasingly common devices that can construct machine parts designed on computers.

[...]

The District’s gun laws, which are among the strictest in the United States, permit residents to own—but not carry outside their homes—a wide variety of handguns, rifles, and shotguns that are officially listed by the Metropolitan Police Department. But 3-D-printed guns are of an entirely different sort.

“The end product is a cheap, functional and undetectable weapon that can be produced with nothing more than a home computer and 3-D printer,” Wells said in a news release. Wilson’s gun contains a few metal pieces, but most of it, including the firing mechanism, is made from hard plastic emitted by his printer. Wilson also dubbed his pistol a “wiki weapon,” in that many 3-D printer users share their designs with the rest of the Internet.

“An undetectable firearm constructed on your computer may sound like science fiction, but unfortunately, it’s already here and our laws have never contemplated this scenario,” Wells said. His bill, the “Undetectable Firearms Act of 2013,” would prohibit District residents with 3-D printers from following Wilson’s example.

Marine Presidential Helicopter Squadron Gets Ospreys

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An open house ceremony over the weekend at Marine Base Quantico featured  the new MV-22 Ospreys assigned to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1.) The tilt-rotor aircraft are painted the same as the other helicopters, including Marine One, that are used to support the White House.

Battle Rattle has details:

HMX-1, the unit that mans the president’s Marine One helicopter, will use the aircraft for so-called “greenside” missions. They will support White House travels by shuttling essential equipment, personnel and even VIPs, although the aircraft are unlikely to transport the president himself. He only rides on one of two custom-designed helicopter models — the older Sikorsky VH-3D and the newer VH-60N, a modified Black Hawk.

The new HMX-1 Osprey will replace the medium-lift capability provided by the CH-46 Sea Knight – better known as the PHROG – which has been in service since the early ‘60s. In addition to the spit and polished green paint job, the VIP kits include black carpets, the HMX-1 logo emblazoned on the tail ramp, seat covers and walls and ceilings that hide the tangle of wires and hydraulic lines inside the cabin.

The picture below is via the Marine Corps (taken by Sgt. Rebekka S. Heite):
MARINE CORPS AIR FACILITY QUANTICO, Va. -- Marine Helicopter Squadron One Marines, past and present, family members and friends mingle on the flight line with the newest addition to the squadron, a MV-22 B ?Osprey,? after a MV-22B Introduction Ceremony in the HMX-1 hangar on May 4, 2013. HMX-1 is scheduled to receive 11 more MV-22B by next summer.(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Rebekka S. Heite/Released)

Shepard Fairey’s latest work attacks the NRA

You all remember Shepard Fairey – who made the iconic Hope poster of Barack Obama and in so doing infringed on an Associated Press copyright.

Here’s his new work attacking the National Rifle Association that is being unveiled today:

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DCist has more:

Shepard Fairey, the graphic artist who got famous in 2008 for his stylized reproduction of a photo of then-Sen. Barack Obama accompanied by the word “Hope,” will show off his latest political statement at a demonstration today when he debuts a new poster targeting the National Rifle Association.

[...]

Fairey released the first version as a reaction to the Newtown shooting and to other mass shootings across the United States last year. “I’m not a big fan of the absurd abundance of guns in the U.S.,” he wrote on his website. “I’m also perplexed by the claim of much of the nation to have ‘Christian values.’ If God tells us to love our neighbor and not to take another human life, where do the assault weapons and piles of ammo fit into these ‘Christian values’? I personally think assault weapons fall more in the ‘Satan’s values’ category.”

[...]

Copies of Fairey’s new poster will be distributed today a rally today in downtown D.C. organized by Occupy the NRA, a pro-gun control group. The demonstration, scheduled for noon at McPherson Square, will feature speeches by several gun control advocates and relatives of shooting victims.