In The Shadow Of Mt Hollywood

A while ago, there was a saying about people like Paris Hilton. whom nobody could understand what they had done to make themselves famous, that they were "famous for being well known". What I've been noticing in recent years is a phenomenon of people who are, or were, privileged for being special. Nobody can quite figure out what made, or makes, them privileged. Take the example of Rebecca Lobach, the pilot of the helicopter that by current general consensus was at fault for flying into a regional jet on January 29. The jet was following the controller's instructions, at the precise altitude and course it should have been. The helicopter appears to have been above its authorized altitude and even slightly off course. The initial news the morning after the crash had to do with the loss of 14 prominent figure skaters on the jet : U.S. Figure Skating, the organization that serves as the sport's national governing body, confirmed the plane's passeng...

Yesterday I posted about indications that very powerful influences were able to insert themselves into the Army's press releases about the Reagan National collision January 29, especially that the family was able to override Army policy and delay release of the pilot's name an additional two days, as well as to include a family-written eulogy of the pilot in the Army's own press release, despite the strong likelihood that that pilot played a major role in the collision. It's hard to avoid thinking similar influences have been delaying the release of other key information about the crash. As of Janary 31, over a week ago , The National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the flight “black box” from the downed Black Hawk helicopter, that appears to be undamaged, board member Todd Inman said. Yesterday, the NTSB has recovered a flight data recorder “in good condition” from the accident, he said, though it will not be releasing information from that device ...

As soon as I heard the news last week that the Army was withholding the name of the Black Hawk helicopter pilot involved in the Reagan National collision, my antennae went up. There had to be family money involved. Here's the problem: On Saturday the U.S. Army released the name of the second pilot—reported to have been pilot in command—of the Blackhawk helicopter that collided with American Airlines flight 5342 over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. This was a marked departure from Army policy that states “Names, city, and state of deceased will be withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification.” This was the standard process used to identify the other two members of the Army’s flight crew, Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, and Staff Sgt. Ryan O'Hara. . . . Yet, in an unusual deviation, the Army selectively withheld Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach’s identity for an additional two days. When her name was finally released over the weekend, the Army included a family...

This is a job for Big Balls 😂 https://t.co/vqYD0XyCfB — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025 On Thursday, I asked of DOGE, "Who are these guys?", and yesterday, I began to get an answer: one of them is named Big Balls. The doxing campaign was immediate. Per Wired : A young technologist known online as “Big Balls,” who works for Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has access to sensitive US government systems. But his professional and online history call into question whether he would pass the background check typically required to obtain security clearances, security experts tell WIRED. Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old high school graduate, established at least five different companies in the last four years, with entities registered in Connecticut, Delaware, and the United Kingdom, most of which were not listed on his now-deleted LinkedIn profile. Coristine also briefly worked in 2022 at Path Network, a network monitoring firm kno...

pic.twitter.com/obbnlw6CxZ — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2025 I'm not sure if the New York Post writer fully understands the story here : A federal judge temporarily limited members of the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system the day before a DOGE employee who was linked to offensive social media posts quit. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued the order Wednesday after three union groups — the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees and the Service Employees International Union — filed a lawsuit against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, accusing him of illegally sharing their members’ information with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team. Kollar-Kotelly, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, limited access to the payment records system to two DOGE employees — one of whom resigned Thursday — and Treasury officials. The judge ordered that the two DOGE workers —...

According to The Hill , DOGE aides have been fanning out across the federal government, exerting control of agencies as part of a mandate to cut at least $1 trillion in federal spending, most recently at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. They have demanded, and received access to, highly sensitive information, raising alarms among Democrats and government employees. I saw someplace that their dress code is blazer-over-T-shirt, and that's about all I know about them, except from the stories, it doesn't sound like they work from home : ABC News reported on how DOGE showed up at USAID offices in Washington, D.C., late last week and demanded access, speaking to one employee who claimed to have seen it all play out. "DOGE was in the building. We started -- we took down our Pride flags, we took down- I took out any books I felt would be incriminating," Kristina Drye, a speechwriter for USAID, said. "No one was talkin...

Just this morning : The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has reportedly extended a buyout offer to its entire workforce. This follows President Trump’s proposal to encourage millions of federal workers to resign by February 6 in exchange for pay and benefits lasting until September 30. Trump is offering the buyouts to make sure all federal workers are “on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office,” CNBC reported. Only 6% of all federal workers actually work full-time in the office! This follows : After going offline over the weekend as part of Trump’s goal to streamline federal operations and slash government spending, the official website of USAID is back online—but not for the reasons anyone expected. The agency’s website now serves as a digital pink slip for its global workforce. All USAID direct hire personnel are to be placed on administrative leave globally, with mandates for many to return to the U.S. This directive excludes onl...