Random News and Notes 22 August

As a result (I’m assuming) of the fatal accident in Florida where an illegal alien attempted an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway that claimed the lives of three people, the State Department is pausing the issuance of visas for commercial truck drivers.

Now they have to close the loophole that allows Mexican driver – and trucks – from delivering loads inside the US.

Additionally, the State Department has announced it is reviewing ALL visas and visa holders for deportable activity.

A divided SCOTUS ruled mostly in favor of the Trump administration and its desire to cut some $783 million in NIH grants. The ruling – decided by Amy Coney Barrett’s split – allows NIH to stop funding the grants but leaves in place the lower court ruling holding up the rationale behind the recissions. Justice Gorsuch was uncharacteristically harsh in his concurrence.

Justice Jackson continues on her streak of being both the most irrelevant member of the Court and the most unnecessarily verbose. The order itself and four other Justice’s opinions ran 16 pages, while Jackson took 20 to say nothing.

I should point out that for all the hyperventilating on the left about a potential ‘Constitutional crisis’ at some undefined future date because Trump disregards Supreme Court orders it is actually the didtrict courts that are defying SCOTUS.

In an unexpected early morning move, the FBI raided the Bethesda MD residence of John Bolton. The search was part of an investigation that seemingly dates back to 2020. Bolton, who was fired from his position as National Security Advisor early in Trump’s first term, was allegedly leaking classified intelligence and had included some of it in his book.

Bolton was one of the infamous 51 intel officials who signed on to the letter claiming the laptop from hell was Russian dezinformatsiya.

UPDATE: Bolton’s DC offices have been raided since I wrote the initial piece. The noose is tightening. . .

Kathy Hochul and New York are at it again. This time they are spitting on a Marine family and ignoring federal law. Marine Master Sergeant Jon Ogasian was stationed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh NY but his home of record was in New Hampshire. I think you know where this is going. New York tax authorities decided that the Ogasians – Jon is married and has kids – owed a bunch of state income tax and drained their bank accounts.

Except NY is legally barred from assessing income taxes on servicemembers who have a HOR outside of the state. The servicemembers civil relief act – SCRA – has been in effect since 1940 when it was called the soldiers and sailors civil relief act. The SCRA was last updated in 2003.

NY claims they didn’t know about the SCRA protections. How that is possible is unknown.