Gen Welsh Authorizes Morale Patches, Confirms Rock Star Status

General Mark Welsh just cemented his “rock star” status as Chief of Staff of the US Air Force. Though it took nearly 18 months, General Welsh has finally sent the ban on morale uniform items the way of Blues Monday [emphasis added]:

Morale T-shirts/patches representing individual squadrons that were worn in the past to increase unit pride are now authorized to wear on Fridays. Squadron color T-shirts may be worn with the ABU or flight suit when in-garrison or on-station during unit temporary duty assignments and contingency deployments…

The nuance to the victory here is that in years past, most morale uniform items (colored unit shirts, morale patches, etc.) were unofficial — ie, the regulation didn’t say you couldn’t, so people did — and stretched the limits of the rules as a result. This was then “fixed” by new regulations specifically banning “morale” items. Now, General Welsh has explicitly authorized those same items.

The new AFI even specifically authorizes “tab” patches, which Read more

F/A-18E Pilot Ejects, in Critical Condition

According to the US Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot ejected last Wednesday and was picked up by a local fisherman. The pilot is reportedly hospitalized in critical condition, with local news reports saying he was having trouble breathing when the fisherman recovered him.

The pilot (or aviator, in Navy parlance) was ultimately picked up by an MH-60 — from the same squadron that suffered a helicopter loss the week prior.

The Super Hornet was assigned to the “Pukin’ Dogs” of VFA-143 out of Oceana Naval Air Station. As is the usual practice, the Navy will investigate the incident.

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Mikey Weinstein, the MRFF, and MIBON Consulting

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein sometimes tries to make the MRFF — the group he created and runs — seem bigger than just him, citing the number of people associated with his “charity.” However, he quietly admits to the IRS the MRFF has only a single employee — Mikey Weinstein.  That admission seems to contradict claims by others, like Chris Rodda, who say they work for the MRFF.

Normally, personnel costs are not considered “program expenses” in IRS lingo (program expenses are “those incurred while performing its tax-exempt activities”). However, that seems to be how Weinstein framed payment for Rodda’s services. Rodda once admitted the MRFF “Research” expense line item — about $25,000 — was her annual pay (though she has faded from the MRFF scene in the past year or so).  Presumably, the legal explanation is Weinstein treats her as a kind of independent contractor, rather than technically an employee.  The characterization of the use of that $25K on “research” — or Rodda — is not something a potential donor would know if Chris Rodda hadn’t spoken out of school.

What else don’t you know?

While Weinstein itemized such administrivia as Internet ($143) and Bank Fees ($14), he declined to explain three of his charity’s top 5 expenses totaling more than $100,000.  One of those is Rodda’s “research.”  Weinstein pays two other repetitive and predictable (and strikingly similar) annual expenses:  “support” and “consulting.”

Weinstein’s third largest expense in 2012 ($43,000) was vague “support.”  While Read more

Al Mohler: The End of Legislating Morality

The Rev (Dr.) Albert Mohler wrote an interesting article responding to comments by Jonathan Turley, the lawyer for the successful Utah “sister wives” legal challenge and law professor at George Washington University [emphasis added]:

Turley’s article is an example of a concerted, very sophisticated, libertarian argument that is fast gaining ground in American life. Just last year the state of Colorado decriminalized adultery. The president of the Independence Institute testified for the decriminalization, stating that “it is a conservative value to get rid of bills that are useless.”…

The original statute was hardly useless. It was a profound moral statement about the sanctity of marriage and the crime of violating the marriage vows, thus subverting marriage and the family and endangering children and weakening the larger community.

Mohler also revisits the argument that the state should not “legislate morality,” which he accurately rebuts by Read more

Donations to Mikey Weinstein Fall, but His Paycheck Rises

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently promised contributors to his “charity” their donations would “represent a…monetary impact” to his cause:

You can rest assured that your generous donation to MRFF would represent a dollar for dollar monetary impact on this Civil Rights/National Security issue that is second to none.

Believe it or not, the awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation, founded and run by Weinstein (also the sole employee), is a 501(c)3 charity. The advantage of such a designation to Weinstein is he can solicit donations with the same tax benefits to the donors as if they’d given to their local church. The disadvantage (to Weinstein) is he is required to publicize financial documents, which can be quite revealing.

Despite having issues in the past with the public seeing his records, Weinstein has continued to pay himself essentially the same amount each year.  Mikey Weinstein has grossed more than $1.4 million in direct personal compensation (from the donations to his charity) to date.

This year (2012 is the most recent Weinstein has released) was little different. Michael Weinstein’s “reportable compensation” for 2012 was Read more

Lawsuit Against Mikey Weinstein Survives Dismissal

In 2012, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein lost the fifth of five lawsuits he has filed since 2005. None survived to trial. The last was Weinstein v Ammerman, which was a personal lawsuit against former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt for his “imprecatory prayers.” As with all of his lawsuits, Weinstein promised an “aggressive” appeal when it was dismissed. As with all of his lawsuits, Weinstein never appealed.

The essence of Klingenschmitt’s defense was the only “harm” Weinstein could produce occurred prior to Klingenschmitt’s public prayers. It was said several times that for Weinstein’s case to have merit, he would have needed a time machine.

As a result, following the dismissal of Weinstein’s lawsuit, Klingenschmitt chose to file a lawsuit against Weinstein for “abuse of process” and defamation. The former, because Weinstein allegedly filed his lawsuit knowing it to be false; the latter, because Weinstein allegedly knowingly connected Klingenschmitt with criminal acts he had nothing to do with.

Last week, a New Mexico judge dismissed the abuse claim but allowed the defamation claim to proceed.

A defamation lawsuit filed by a Read more

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