Category: International Affairs,

IEM Spotlight: Carlos J. Ruiz Acevedo, PE Operations Manager, IEM Puerto Rico

On By peanutgallerynhIn Caribbean,, Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

What’s do you do for IEM Puerto Rico?
I was hired as the Operations Manager for IEM Puerto Rico supporting the R3 (Repair, Reconstruction, and Relocation) Program of the Puerto Rico Department of Housing using CDBG-DR funds. As Operations Manager, I am responsible for daily field operations and ensuring that they are performed in an efficient manner. I oversee logistics management, performance standards, safety policies, and procedures to ensure alignment with the program’s goals and objectives. I also direct human resources and management activities on the operational side of the program, to include staffing needed to accomplish operational tasks.

What led you to IEM and what do you like best about working with the IEM Team?
After working with FEMA for 13 months, I learned about HUD CBDG-DR funded programs, and as an engineer was interested in being part of this phase of the island’s reconstruction. I started searching for companies that were going to be part of CDBG-DR programs for open positions that fit my skillset and I found IEM.

I enjoy the IEM Team and the energy and effort that team member dedicate to each task assigned to them. Also, I like that the IEM team is pushing forward to make things happen so hurricane survivors, or applicants as they are called in the program, are able to move into their safer, more resilient homes as soon as possible.

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[Founder and] current President and CEO Ms. Madhu Beriwal …recognized a distinct need to integrate science and objectivity into decisions about public protection, moving preparedness from a subjective foundation to one based on quantitative data. That vision from more than 30 years ago built the company that today is helping government agencies and the private sector save lives. Since inception, IEM has expanded past disaster preparedness, response, and recovery to offer a range of services and solutions that also strengthen homeland defense, counterterrorism, and public agency performance.

IEM Spotlight: Carlos J. Ruiz Acevedo, PE Operations Manager, IEM Puerto Rico – IEM

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Graham, Paul rift deepens over Trump’s war powers

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Middle East,, Military,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

 Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) emerged from Wednesday’s classified briefing deeply critical of what they characterized as a warning from senior administration officials against debating Trump’s war authority

…Lee called the presentation “the worst briefing I’ve seen, at least on a military issue.”

Paul added that he found the briefing “less than satisfying” and that it was “absurd” and “insane” to use the 2002 Iraq war authorization as the basis for an air strike against an Iranian general.

“I see no way in the world you could logically argue that an authorization to have war with Saddam Hussein has anything to with having war with people currently in Iraq,” Paul told reporters.

Graham, Paul rift deepens over Trump’s war powers | TheHill

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Fifth Pentagon official announces resignation in seven days

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, International Affairs,, Military,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, a longtime State Department official who began working in her Pentagon role in September 2018, resigned on Dec. 16, the Pentagon confirmed. Defense News first reported her departure.

…“The department will not provide anything further on this personnel matter,” the spokesman added.

…Kaidanow’s resignation follows four other announced departures within a week.

…Top Asia policy official Randall Schriver would leave after two years on the job, 
…[The] top official in charge of personnel and readiness Jimmy Stewart had resigned after taking the role in October 2018
…Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency leader Steven Walker
…Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Kari Bingen

…[Kaidanow] worked with top weapons buyer Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to boost weapon sales with partner and ally countries. 

Fifth Pentagon official announces resignation in seven days | TheHill

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U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

The probe comes as senior U.S. officials are warning that Russia’s election interference in 2020 could be more brazen than in the 2016 presidential race or the 2018 midterm election.

…A signature trait of Russian President Vladimir Putin “is his ability to convince people of outright falsehoods,” said William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

…Russia’s campaign interference in 2016 resulted in a multiagency investigation that led to a highly classified intelligence assessment, part of which was made public in January 2017. Trump has questioned the finding of Russian meddling and has asserted that government agents biased against him conducted a “witch hunt” into whether his campaign conspired with Russia.

The potential for Russia to spread falsehoods — and to develop increasingly sophisticated techniques to do so — is one of the bigger concerns that U.S. officials have as the 2020 election approaches, Demers said.”It’s possible that you will see the creation of false documents,” Demers said. “They could be mixed in with real information, which would make it very difficult to discern the difference. I worry about that as the next evolution of some of their means.”

…Russia has been openly promoting the controversy over Biden and Ukraine, feeding information back into the U.S. where there is an audience that’s receptive to it, Watts said.

Russia has been using its state-run media RT and Sputnik News to selectively promote favorable and unfavorable information about presidential candidates, according to an analysis by the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Foreign Influence Election 2020.

…Russia has a history of staging cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns in Ukraine, where it annexed Crimea in 2014 and backs armed separatists in the eastern part of the country.

The Justice Department exposed Russia’s interference in the 2016 election through public indictments of operatives who hacked Democratic organizations, leaked information damaging Clinton and used social media to sow divisions.

U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling

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There are two types of hijabs. The difference is huge.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Middle East,, Race,, Religion,Leave a comment

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said, “To me, the hijab means power, liberation, beauty and resistance.”

…There are two vastly different kinds of hijabs: the democratic hijab, the head covering that a woman chooses to wear, and the tyrannical hijab, the one that a woman is forced to wear.

…In Saudi Arabia, the abaya and niqab, allowing only women’s eyes to show, are not legally imposed, but the patriarchal society makes wearing them essentially compulsory.

Women who live under these forms of hijab effectively live under a gender apartheid. The coverings mark women as lesser citizens, legally and socially unequal. In Iran, there are restrictions on women’s ability to travel, obtain a divorce or enter sports stadiums. A woman’s courtroom testimony is in most cases given half the weight of a man’s. The forced hijab honors neither tradition nor religion; it is a powerful tool of misogynist oppression.

…These women aren’t seeking the hijab’s eradication; they are simply demanding the right to choose what they wear. They hunger for the sort of liberty that is the cornerstone of U.S. democracy. We are pleased to see Omar proudly exercise her right to don the hijab. In an era when nativism is rising in the United States and in many other countries, it is important for those who support the values of a pluralistic society to stand up for the rights of their threatened minorities. In that spirit, we wholeheartedly stand with our Muslim sisters in the West and support their choices.

In return, we ask the global sisterhood to stand with Iranian women as they fight against the mandatory hijab. 

There are two types of hijabs. The difference is huge. – The Washington Post

Sorry, ladies,  Hope your holding your breathe. Omar isn’t exactly known for supporting women she doesn’t feel a kinship with. (Nancy Pelosi vs. “The Squad” anyone?)

A revolution betrayed: The tragedy of Indonesia’s Jokowi

On By peanutgallerynhIn Southern Central Asia,Leave a comment

Jokowi has embraced hardline Islamists and members of the former dictatorial regime. And to make matters worse, he is sidelining political reform, including weakening anti-corruption agencies, in order to push through infrastructure development and please the country’s reactionary forces.

A revolution betrayed: The tragedy of Indonesia’s Jokowi | Asia | Al Jazeera

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