Posts on Friday, November 29, 2019
Federal officers recently intercepted nearly 3,000 fake driver’s licenses and more than 3,100 blank card stocks used to make counterfeit licenses in Kentucky, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The IDs were heading from China to various locations in New York, the federal agency said, adding that the fake driver’s licenses were seized at an Express Consignment Operations hub in Louisville, Ky.
The licenses were for several states, including Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey and Ohio.
Authorities in Louisville notified CBP officers in Memphis since the fake identification cards were also shipped to that area, resulting in an additional 527 counterfeit driver’s licenses in Tennessee, officials said.
A police officer in Oklahoma was dismayed when he bought a coffee at the local Starbucks on Thanksgiving and noticed the name on the label was “Pig.”
The chief of police the Kiefer, Okla. said one of his officers trekked to Starbucks to get some java for a dispatcher when he received the insulting label.
“What irks me is the absolute and total disrespect for a police officer who, instead of being home with family and enjoying a meal and a football game, is patrolling his little town,” Chief Johnny O’Mara said in a Facebook post that included an image of the “Pig” coffee cup.
Chief O’Mara called the coffee shop
This might be a move only Santa Claus can pull off.
An Arizona teen who tried to shimmy down her chimney in an attempt to sneak home after a late night out ended up getting stuck for more than 90 minutes, according to a new report.
The teen decided the smokestack would be the best entryway to her home after she and her friend, identified only as Yasmeen, got locked out Wednesday night and couldn’t find another way inside, FOX 10 reported.
But the plan soon backfired.
“She was panicking,” Yasmeen told the station. “She was, like, ‘call 911!’ She couldn’t breathe.”
The teen screamed for help the entire time,
Sen. Kamala Harris’ once-promising White House bid is rapidly unraveling — with her outgoing state operations director slamming the treatment of staff in a blistering resignation letter that claims “morale has never been lower,” a new report reveals.
Facing dwindling funds and tumbling polling numbers, the 55-year-old in recent weeks has laid-off swathes of staff in the run-up to the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries in a bid to revive her struggling 2020 bid.
But a New York Times investigation published Friday alleges the Harris campaign is internally imploding. Former and current campaign staff have broken ranks to claim Harris and her closest advisers lack focus
A hero bystander who was inside a nearby historic hall when the London Bridge stabbing unfolded Friday ripped a five-foot Narwhal tusk from the wall to help neutralize the knife-wielding madman, a witness said.
The unidentified man can be seen on footage of the stabbing Friday in London hovering over the suspect with the massive tusk as others attempt to disarm the assailant.
Witness Amy Coop tweeted that she was with the man at Fishmongers Hall when attack occurred shortly before 2 p.m.
Knifeman hunted in The Hague
after three children wounded in
stabbing in main shopping district replies
after three children wounded in
stabbing in main shopping district replies
Three children were wounded in a stabbing on a shopping street in The Hague early Friday evening, Dutch police said, adding that they were seeking a suspect. National broadcaster NOS said the attack could not immediately be attributed to terrorism. Police launched a manhunt after the attack, which took place on a busy shopping street near the city's historic centre. The area was cordoned off and dozens of police and ambulances were on the scene.(Snip) Two teenage girls came running into the store after being stabbed, broadcaster NOS quoted witnesses as saying. 'I saw two girls screaming and running away. A man fled.
A man accused of stabbing to death two people and injuring three more in London has a previous conviction for an “Islamist terrorism-related offense”—and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet when he carried out Friday’s attack, according to a report. The man—who was shot dead after being wrestled to the ground by bystanders in what British police called a “terrorist incident”—has a criminal history that includes a conviction for that unspecified offense, according to the Telegraph. The madman, whose name has not yet been released, was sprung from prison about a year ago after agreeing to electronic monitoring,
Oh my – the reason corrupt FBI agent Peter Strzok was caught texting his lover in the FBI, Lisa Page, was not due to incredible investigative work. The reason was the oldest explanation in the book – his jealous and scorned wife! We are only now finding out how Peter Strzok got caught texting his mistress Lisa Page at the FBI. He was outed by his wife – (Tweet/Video) Sidney Powell summed it up – “There is some justice
A record-breaking veteran climber fell 600-feet to his death off a steep Mexico mountain after failing to tie a knot in his rappel rope. Brad Gobright, 31, had been rappelling down El Sendero Luminoso at El Potrero Chico on Wednesday with climbing partner Aiden Jacobson, 26. Gobright and Jacobson met each other for the first time on the day of the climb. The night before, the veteran climber had posted to Instagram asking whether anyone wanted to join him. Jacobson, from Phoenix, answered the post, and the pair met up the next morning. The pair used a 260ft rope
Democrats have pushed back the Sunday deadline for the White House to decide whether or not its lawyers will take part in the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said in a Friday letter to the president that he now has until December 6 to determine if his lawyers plan to call witnesses or testify as part of proceedings, reports CNN.
Trump and Congressional Republicans have repeatedly blasted the inquiry as unfair.
Two unnamed officials who spoke to CNN said it’s likely the White House won’t send a lawyer to the first judiciary hearing,
Carter Page accused the Justice Department of "Orwellian overreach" in his lawsuit related to the forthcoming release of a watchdog report on alleged government surveillance abuses. The onetime Trump campaign adviser is fighting for a chance to review and request amendments to Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report, which focuses on the DOJ's and FBI's compliance with rules and policies in applications filed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court targeting Page, before it is set to be made available to the public. In a court filing on Friday, Page argued in favor of rejecting the Justice Department's motion for a time extension to respond,
Mexico City - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that his government was committed to fighting organized crime, seeking to dispel fears that the United States could take matters in its own hands in the fight against drug cartels. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he plans to designate the Mexican cartels as terrorist groups, a move aimed at disrupting their finances by imposing sanctions.
While this does not directly give the United States authority for military operations in Mexico, many Mexicans are nervous their northern neighbor could use it as a pretext for a unilateral invention.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) wrote to President Donald Trump Friday, giving him until Friday, Dec. 6., to answer whether he and his lawyers would participate in the “impeachment inquiry.” Nadler’s letter quotes the forthcoming report from the House Intelligence Committee, which will be written entirely by Democrats and which will recommend drafting articles of impeachment against the president. The report will state that there was “a months-long effort in which President Trump again sought foreign interference in our elections
Climate activists turn attention to Black Friday:
'Shoppers cannot ignore the climate emergency' replies
'Shoppers cannot ignore the climate emergency' replies
Black Friday is now a global tradition and, for climate activists, a global problem. Young people worldwide planned to hold thousands of demonstrations Friday to protest overconsumption and draw attention to climate change ahead of a United Nations climate conference Monday.
In Chicago, demonstrators with the Sunrise Movement Chicago, the Illinois Youth Climate Strike, and other organizations planned to occupy Watertower Place, a major downtown shopping mall.
"We will be disrupting business as usual to make sure shoppers cannot ignore the climate emergency," said coordinator Lillie Schneyer, 23. "Watertower Place is an ideal setting for us to draw attention to the culpability of large corporations and fast fashion
President Trump slammed Newsweek over its story on his Thanksgiving plans, which it said included “tweeting, golfing and more,” though he ended up making a surprise visit to US troops in Afghanistan. “I thought Newsweek was out of business?” the president wrote along with a retweet of his son Donald Trump Jr.’s photo of the commander-in-chief serving Thanksgiving dinner to the service members. Attached to the image was a screenshot of Newsweek’s story, with the headline: “How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing and more.” The writer began the story by writing, “As with any other day of the year,
Momentum grows for dropping 'President'
from title of China's leader; Remove
'veneer' of legitimacy replies
from title of China's leader; Remove
'veneer' of legitimacy replies
The Trump administration, with a simple change in rhetoric, has signaled a subtle shift in its approach to China in recent weeks — and in the process has deepened a rift with the Communist Party leadership in Beijing.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a major foreign policy speech late last month in which he referred to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as “general secretary” rather than “president.” The seemingly minor tweak, national security sources and analysts say, carries a much deeper meaning and suggests China hawks in the administration are employing unprecedented bluntness in calling out the lack of democracy and free elections in China.
Tucker Carlson: Trump’s Lies Are Not
The Reason The Left Despises Him.
It’s The Key Truths He Tells replies
The Reason The Left Despises Him.
It’s The Key Truths He Tells replies
Fox News host Tucker Carlson acknowledged several lies told by President Donald Trump over the years, but he contended that what the left truly hates is when the president tells key truths that threaten their power. Calling the president a “salesman, a talker, a boaster, a compulsive self-promoter,” and even a “full blown BS artist at times” during the Wednesday night “Tucker Carlson Tonight” segment, Carlson referred to the Washington Post’s count of over 13,000 alleged Trumpian tall tales before honing in on the president’s “untrue” claim about his inauguration crowd size. “If Trump hadn’t gotten rich in real estate, he could have made a fortune selling cars,”
The New York Times obtained a strongly-worded resignation letter from a former Kamala Harris campaign staffer, who said she has “never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly.” The Times published the letter Friday as part of a longer story about Harris’ fading campaign.“While I still believe that Senator Harris is the strongest candidate to win in the General Election in 2020, I no longer have confidence in our campaign or its leadership,” former staffer Kelly Mehlenbacher wrote in her resignation letter. “The treatment of our staff over the last two weeks was the final straw in a very difficult decision.”
Ronald Reagan made nearly 250 recess appointments during his time in office. Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush made dozens each. George W. Bush made 171, and Barack Obama notched 32.
President Trump, meanwhile, stands at a big zero.
No other president has gone this deep into an administration without making a recess appointment. (Snip) Recess appointments are one of the more arcane presidential powers, but analysts said the breakdown of the process is emblematic of a broken Washington.
“It’s a very important presidential power,” said Hans von Spakovsky, a legal scholar at the conservative Heritage Foundation who was the recipient of a recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission in 2006.
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong waved American flags, sang patriotic songs, and even held up photos of President Donald Trump during a massive “Thanksgiving” rally in the city-state’s center, in an expression of gratitude for Trump’s decision to support and sign legislation expressing America’s explicit support for the demonstration. “U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law congressional legislation which supported the protesters, despite angry objections from Beijing, with which he is seeking a deal to end a damaging trade war,” CNBC reported Friday.
President Donald Trump mocked Newsweek after they reported Thursday he spent Thanksgiving golfing and tweeting. In fact, the president was secretly traveling to Afghanistan to visit deployed American troops.
“I thought Newsweek was out of business?” Trump wrote on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of the article and photos of him with the troops in Afghanistan posted by his son Donald Trump Jr. (Tweets) “Fake news gonna fake!” Trump Jr. wrote.
The Newsweek story, first published at 10:16 a.m., was later updated to reflect the president’s visit. (Snip) The Washington Post sold Newsweek in 2010 for a dollar and changed hands several times before ending its print magazine in 2012.
Four children and scores more adults have died of the flu in the past two months, US health officials warn.
The CDC has not release a concrete figure on the number of adult deaths so far this season, but warns Americans to be braced for a severe outbreak of flu between Thanksgiving and May 2020. (Snip) Those who catch the flu can be treated with Tamiflu. Due to high rate of flu and flu deaths in 2017-2018, there was a shortage of Tamiflu, driving the FDA to approve another flu treatment for the first time in 20 years.
The drug, Xofluza, clears up symptoms within two days.
Two innocent members of the public have died after a knifeman went on a rampage this afternoon in London.
Armed police shot dead a knifeman wearing a fake suicide vest today after he stabbed up to five people in a shocking terrorist attack as frightened crowds fled the scene.
Witnesses on the scene said the man had been brandishing two knives and had attacked people on the north side of London Bridge before running into the centre at around 2pm.
This evening Met Police crime commissioner Cressida Dick praised the members of the public who helped and said counter terrorism is working around the clock
Dutch police say three people have been injured in a stabbing incident in The Hague's main shopping street. Police said in a tweet Friday evening that the incident happened in the city's main shopping street. The incident happened in Grote Marktstraat, which is at the centre of the city's shopping district.(Snip) Police spokeswoman Marije Kuiper told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that it was not clear if the stabbing was a terror incident. According to AFP, the suspect was a 'slightly dark skinned man'. Dutch news agency ANP quoted sources as saying there was 'no talk of a terror motive'
WASHINGTON — In early November, a few days after Senator Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign announced widespread layoffs and an intensified focus on Iowa, her senior aides gathered for a staff meeting at their Baltimore headquarters and pelted the campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, with questions.
What exactly was Ms. Harris’s new strategy? How much money and manpower could they put into Iowa? What would their presence be like in other early voting states?
Mr. Rodriguez offered general, tentative answers that didn’t satisfy the room, according to two campaign officials directly familiar with the conversation.
On Thanksgiving Day (in the evening, actually) Hong Kong protesters decided to sing the American national anthem as a gesture of thanks for President Trump signing two bills into law Wednesday that condemned China. When they were done with "The Star-Spangled Banner," the protesters chanted "USA, USA, USA." This is absolutely beautiful to watch. I actually had tears in my eyes when I first saw it. The passion of these people for liberty is amazing and incredibly inspiring.
The first of the two bills signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday requires the State Department to certify once a year that Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous
With millions to shell out for ads, Michael Bloomberg sure has an amazing way of motivating voters to not want to vote for him.
Here's his big rollout ad, played ad nauseum, in California:
Transcript, cue electronic music: "He could've just been the middle class kid who made good. Mike Bloomberg became the guy who did good. After building a business that created thousands of jobs, he took charge of a city still reeling from 9/11. A three-term mayor who helped bring it back from the ashes, bring jobs and thousands of affordable housing units..."
Stop, Bloomie. Stop right there. Since when does being middle class exclude doing good?
When Rev. Mwangi Vasser received a “full and unconditional” pardon from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers nearly two months ago, he described the feeling as being “free from that dark cloud” that had been hanging over his shoulders for the past 22 years. He walked out of the state Capitol building with his signed pardon in hand and raised his arms triumphantly into the air, smiling up at the bright blue October sky.
Former President Barack Obama indicated earlier this week he would speak up to stop Bernie Sanders from becoming the party’s nominee should the Vermont Socialist make significant gains in the Democrat primary. This did not sit well with the grassroot Bernie supporters in the party. Leftist activist and writer Walker Bragman posted a series of tweets reminding Democrats of Barack Obama’s massive failures as a president. (Tweet) It is interesting, Bragman lists off a quick recap of Obama’s empty promises. Quick recap of Obama’s time in office:
The real Thanksgiving
this year replies
this year replies
It should have been New York City. The American flags defiantly flying in the night air should have been against the skyline of Manhattan.
But the celebration of liberty and freedom was in Hong Kong.
It should have been us. [Snip] We do not deserve the thanks because we know that such a display in New York City would draw boos and fists. I cannot determine which liberals hate more, our flag or our president. [Snip] Our idiots take to the streets to promote communism. [Snip]. . . we need to be brave enough to adopt Hong Kong's ways because those once -- long ago -- were our ways.
BET founder Robert Johnson is not convinced any of the Democratic candidates seeking to face President Trump in 2020 has a shot at winning the White House.Johnson, America’s first black billionaire and a lifelong Democrat, told CNBC that the Trump economy is strong and he has an ability “to dominate the news cycle” that makes it hard for his Democratic challengers to focus on substanc. “If you take a snapshot today, I don’t think that group is capable of beating Donald Trump despite what the polls say,” Johnson said. “I do not see anybody in the Democratic primary race today that is enough in the center where
It’s been three years since I and many other Christians voted for Donald Trump, and I for one am done defending that decision. At long last, I’m finished explaining my values to people who are hell-bent on misconstruing them.Among those people are the left’s media foot-soldiers, who insist Trump-voting Christians have a “branding problem.” They conclude that because we could elect a man like Trump and because the number of Christians in America is shrinking, the two must be inextricable, and the culture wars we now fight are decidedly “post-Christian.”Ezra Klein says as much in his latest column at Vox, “The post-Christian culture wars.”
Two of the nation’s last three presidents won the presidency in the Electoral College, even though they lost the popular vote nationwide. In 2000, Al Gore outpolled George W. Bush by more than 540,000 votes but lost in the Electoral College, 271–266. Sixteen years later, Hillary Clinton tallied almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump but lost decisively in the Electoral College, 306–232. And, as a recent New York Times poll suggested, the 2020 election could very well again deliver the presidency to the loser of the popular vote.
A bakery owner in Nebraska is being praised for tackling and holding down a 90-pound teenager who allegedly stole a tip jar containing $15 – but the boy’s mother wants the woman criminally charged for going “way above the law,” according to a report.
The 14-year-old boy and a friend were at Farine + Four bakery in Omaha on Thursday when owner Ellie Pegler sprang into action during the alleged theft, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
Pegler later posted photos of the incident on her now-deleted Instagram page, complete with images of her bloodied knuckles and a warning for other would-be thieves.
“I’m tired of teenagers stealing our tip jar,”
Armed police shot a man on London Bridge today as up to five people were injured, witnesses claimed the suspect was brandishing a knife and crowds fled in terror. Video filmed at the scene this afternoon shows at least four people struggling with a man on the ground before armed police officers drag him away and fire a shot. Officers then back away from the suspect as he lies still moving on the ground. One of the men can be seen holding a knife. The incident comes two and half years after the 2017 terrorist attack on London Bridge which
President Trump is Hong Kong’s sudden hero.
Hours after he signed two bills to support human rights in Hong Kong, angering Chinese government officials, pro-democracy protesters in the beleaguered city held a “Thanksgiving Rally” Thursday night to commend him for taking the action.
And front and center at the rally were printouts of the president’s Wednesday tweet showing his head on Rocky Balboa’s chiseled body.
“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” thousands of protestors chanted in a public square as they waved American flags and held up copies of the photo composite.
GREENVILLE, S.C. —Sen. Kamala D. Harris had everything she needed to make her pitch. Big yellow cutout letters spelled “Justice for the People” on the stage behind her. White folding chairs splayed out ahead of her, most of them filled, and their occupants seemed happy to see her. Nothing smelled of a flailing campaign. (Snip) As a result, her candidacy is now teetering, weighed down by indecision within her campaign, her limits as a candidate and dwindling funds that have forced her to retreat in some places at a moment she expected to be surging. After last week’s debate in
A neighbor down the street proudly placed solar panels on his house. He spent $4,000 after government subsidies and whatever deductions he may have taken from his income tax. He is confident that this move will save him tons of money on electricity and will safeguard the planet from global warming Armageddon by reducing his carbon footprint from fossil fuels.
There is one fly in this perfect ointment—solar panels generate “tons of toxic waste” during the production process and during their disposal/replacement.
The solar energy advocates, who only see cheap electricity with rose-colored glasses, are
Kevin Talks Turkey
replies
My brother dishes on Trump, impeachment and the 2020 field. No matter how bad your Thanksgiving is, mine will be worse, and I’ll tell you why. My sister thinks Jim Jordan is hot. Well, she didn’t say “hot” exactly, but the words “admire,” “forceful” and “fighter” have been thrown around. And then there’s Kevin. It has been a crazy year, even by Trump standards. So I asked my brother to tell us, in his annual Thanksgiving column, if he has any regrets. ROCKVILLE, Md. — Over the last three years, Maureen has frequently sent me reader emails demanding to know how I can still support Donald Trump.
The 2019 Egg Bowl ended in absolute chaos.
When Ole Miss scored with four seconds remaining in regulation, the game looked destined for overtime. That was until Rebels wideout Elijah Moore got a little too frisky when celebrating his touchdown that cut Mississippi State’s lead to 21-20.
pic.twitter.com/jmXgBlxDPO
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) November 29, 2019
Yes, that is Moore crawling on the turf and pretending to pee like a dog (in homage to DK Metcalf) — a celebration that drew a 15-yard penalty.
Remember when President Barack Obama was running around telling everyone how he’d convinced China to get serious about cutting its carbon dioxide emissions? A new report shows that Obama was easily duped.
Over the course of three years, Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to, he said, agree to “climate targets” (in 2014), “lay out additional actions” (in 2015), and sign the Paris Agreement (2016).
In typical Obama understatement, he declared that “we may see this as the moment that we finally decided to save our planet.”
Of course, anyone who looked at what China was promising could see that it was a sucker’s bet.
Gordon Sondland isn't backing down.
The U.S. ambassador to the EU, who has been at the center of Donald Trump's impeachment scandal in Washington, has no intention of resigning over allegations of sexual misconduct, a close associate said Thursday.
Sondland has flatly denied the accusations, made by three women, who allege he engaged in inappropriate behavior years before he was named Trump's envoy to the EU.
"No intention of resigning," the associate said, in response to a question about whether Sondland believed he could still work effectively as a diplomat in Brussels given the distractions of the impeachment process,
AOC Raised More for Reelection
Campaign Last Quarter Than
All Other House Dems, Including Pelosi replies
Campaign Last Quarter Than
All Other House Dems, Including Pelosi replies
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) raised more funds for her reelection campaign than all other Democrats in the House, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to federal elections commission data.
Ocasio-Cortez raked in $1.42 million between July 1 and September 30, outstripping Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), who raised $1.26 million over the same period, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), who raised $1.26 million, the New York Post first reported. All three are up for reelection in 2020.
In Polar Express (2004), Tom Hanks kept urging “Believe!” without specifying what to believe in. Some of that same damnable over-secularization threatens to ruin Hanks’s new film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Hanks plays Fred Rogers, creator and host of the TV series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (aired 1966–2001 on public broadcasting), which taught life lessons to children. The movie re-creates those homilies by artificially re-creating scenes of the show’s videotape and alternating them with the real-life story of optimistic Rogers (Hanks) being interviewed by cynical journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys).
Director Marielle Heller attempts a sensitive, almost spiritual evocation.
Officially, the Trump White House is still deciding whether or not to send a lawyer to the House judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings next week.
Unofficially, party insiders and observers say the decision has been all but made to continue stonewalling. Instead, they will follow the playbook of recent House Intelligence Committee hearings, when the White House refused to cooperate and instead used Trump loyalists on the committee to mount its defense.
It is a strategy designed to maintain a status quo that would ensure a vote in the Senate against removing the president. And the strategy has so far kept the American public from shifting decisively in favor of impeachment.
Democrats, having run byzantine hearings in basement bunkers and on live television in the House Intelligence Committee, are set to move on to Judiciary Committee hearings. The purpose of this set of hearings is to craft Articles of Impeachment to be voted on by the entire House. One difference from the previous hearings that Democrats are touting is that in the Judiciary the White House can participate. It absolutely should not.
According to the resolution that launched the impeachment inquiry, passing without one GOP vote, the White House may have lawyers present a
The recent sad spectacle of the impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives is but the latest example of the disdain the political Left shows for both substance and process in a quest for power. If the current crop of Democratic presidential hopefuls is any indication, that power will be exercised by pursuing divisive and destructive policies that will hurt America for generations. But excoriating those policies will require volumes best authored elsewhere.
Consider first the impeachment circus. Whether the “high crime” is called quid pro quo, extortion, or bribery, the premise is fundamentally flawed.
Immigrants are what make America great. They should also run our foreign policy. That was the implicit message of former National Security Council official Fiona Hill’s testimony last week.
“This is a country of immigrants,” the British immigrant said. “Everyone immigrated to the United States at some time in their family history. And this is what, for me, really does make America great.”
Immigration, according to Hill, is the “essence of America.”
Hill’s comment was in response to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) asking for her opinion about the criticism of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman,
FBI Diagnosed With CIA Disease
replies
The Justice Department’s inspector general this month reprimanded the FBI for the manner in which it recruits and supervises its “confidential human sources.” To the layman, this seems about technicalities. In fact, it shows that one of the CIA’s deadliest dysfunctions now infects the FBI as well.
This disease consists of choosing and rejecting sources for the purpose of indulging the agencies’ and their leaders’ private agendas rather than to further intelligence work on the public’s behalf.
Necessarily, the language of the inspector general’s November 19 report is vague: “Ineffective management and oversight of confidential sources.”
Vice Admiral James B Stockdale was a naval fighter pilot about to be redeployed to Viet Nam War when he took graduate studies at Stanford, and became immersed in the philosophy of Stoicism, that helped him deal with his hardships when he was shot down, then held a prisoner for 7 years, becoming the Commanding Officer of the American prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton. He was one of the most revered and honored Naval Aviators of all time, recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Stockdale in his writings and his speeches made his case for the value of Stoicism, a moral and ethical philosophy originating with Seneca the younger,
Although it's far from a lead-pipe cinch, a plausible case is to be made that the former first lady Michelle Obama may enter the Democratic primary race. There are three reasons for believing this.
First and most obvious is the current field of contenders for the Democrat nomination. As has often been said, they resemble occupants in a clown car that tumble out together for their periodic debates. The emotion that they instill in the general public is not one of enthusiasm but fear. The most seemingly stable among the Democrat field is former Vice President Joe Biden. But Slow Joe is
I have repeatedly questioned the validity of medical journal claims in regards to politically charged issues like air pollution and climate change, as well as global warming here at AT. More recently, I showed how a major medical journal violates basic rules on scientific inquiry.
There is another important problem with medical research as reported in medical journals and then often expanded by the lay press as big news: that medical journal articles are often proven wrong for unreliable results or promotion of treatments that are not beneficial or not any more efficacious than treatments they propose to replace.
The Democrats have twisted themselves into a Schiffian Knot, a modern-day unsolvable puzzle.
When they plunged forward on their ill-fated impeachment voyage, they were destined to land on this surreal shore, even if their parade of bureaucratic interagency cheerleaders was even weaker than presumed.
So they are in the bad place that can't be washed away with a few margaritas. They desperately want to impeach President Donald Trump, but they don't want to send this partisan presumption pile over to the Senate, where they can no longer control the list of witnesses, where hearsay will be inadmissible, and where narrative control swings to the Republicans.
A team of UK scholars have fired back at unscientific claims by PETA and other groups that veganism is a “greener” option that eating meat, insisting that meat has “massive social benefits.”
Speaking at a panel in central London, scientists from the University of Edinburgh and Scotland’s Rural College argued that eating meat is crucial for the physical and mental health of children, especially in developing countries, adding that that alternatives to livestock farming would not improve land use.
“We feel that while livestock production has a range of economic, social and environmental costs and benefits, the costs have perhaps been receiving far more attention recently than some of the benefits,”
It’s a little like the proverbial child killing its parents and throwing itself on the mercy of the court because it is now an orphan but, with the wheels of Barr-Durham-Horowitz justice inexorably turning on them, there are Fusion GPS founders, Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, on a media book tour claiming they are the victims of right-wing vengeance for their role in orchestrating a criminal fraud upon the FISA court and a coup against a sitting President of the United States. Holy Michael Avenatti!
Devin Nunes’ opponents in the Resistance seem to be spiraling.
Their latest effort against the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is to accuse him, without evidence, of secretly meeting in Vienna with a former Ukrainian official “to get dirt on Biden.” The official is former Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin, who former Vice President Joe Biden famously bragged about getting fired in exchange for $1 billion in loan guarantees from American taxpayers.
Incidentally, if there is one thing we have learned from the media in the last couple of months, “get dirt” is their code for Republicans doing investigations. “Investigate” is their code
The Great American Eye-Exam Scam
replies
On a beautiful summer day a few months ago, I walked down to the part of the Connecticut River that separates Vermont from New Hampshire, and rented a kayak. I pushed myself off the dock—and the next thing I remember is being underwater. Somehow, the kayak had capsized as it entered the river. I tried to swim up, toward the light, but found that my own boat blocked my way to safety. Doing my best not to panic, I swam down and away before finally coming up for air a few yards downriver. I clambered onto the dock, relieved to have found safety, but I was disturbed
For those of us who spend far too much time following the news these days, it is easy to feel that everything is falling apart. Regardless of your political ideology, there is no doubt that this country is politically divided and facing serious challenges. To make matters worse, we are entering an election season. Politicians will be trying their best to convince us that we are one vote away from choosing between Nazi Germany and Venezuela.
Yet, as we gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving, it is worth remembering that, beyond the headlines, things are actually pretty darn good. As both individuals and a country,
Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign is returning thousands of dollars in donations from two top Washington lawyers who represented Brett Kavanaugh in his controversial confirmation hearing, saying it will not accept funds from people who helped secure the justice’s seat on the supreme court. Buttigieg’s campaign received $7,200 from Alexandra Walsh – $3,150 of which had already been returned because it exceeded limits – and attended a fundraiser in July that was co-hosted by the Washington lawyer. Buttigieg also received $2,800 from Beth Wilkinson, Walsh’s law partner, who also represented Kavanaugh.
This Thanksgiving, Americans have a great deal to be thankful for, but climate alarmists would ruin much of it. Thanks to free markets, relative global stability, and the explosion of technology involving fossil fuels, Americans enjoy an unprecedented degree of prosperity — and the blessings have spread to billions across the world. Climate alarmists warn that this progress is unsustainable if not somehow evil, but there are many reasons to celebrate it.
The Heartland Institute released videos celebrating "the ten facts climate alarmists don't want you to be grateful for."
Zorro in the White House
replies
Last year in this space I made the case that President Trump is great with children. I provided visual evidence. Thought it might soften some of the haters. There was nothing to lose by trying. Of course I know better — I always knew better — that with certain people trying does no good. Never has, never will.
Why do they hate him so? I don’t even want to know. Lucky for them, someone invented patient confidentiality, freeing us from ever having to find out their dirty little secrets. But boy have they ruined things. One thing about their impeachment fetish: it confirms what they’ve been all about
An anonymous couple gifted a Texas waitress a car after learning she walked 14 miles round-trip in order to get to work.
“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” Adrianna Edwards, who works at a Denny’s in Galveston, told KTRK-TV. “Every two hours, I come look out my window and see if there’s still a car there.”
Edwards told the station the random couple sat in her section on Tuesday for breakfast, and learned she was saving up money for a car.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s once-ascendant presidential campaign has begun to dim. And among her fellow Democrats, including those in the field, there is a universally agreed upon culprit for the stall in the polls: her embrace and handling of Medicare for All.
The senator’s decision to back single-payer health care has long been considered by establishment Democrats as a self-inflicted wound, one that would prove to be a massive weight on her in a general election should she get there. One senior Democratic Party member—who is philosophically supportive of Warren’s candidacy—said he was “dumbfounded” by her decision to align herself so closely with the proposal.
A group of United Parcel Service (UPS) employees are accused of smuggling shipments of drugs and counterfeit vaping oils from Mexico and distributing the illicit products around the U.S. for at least a decade.
Authorities arrested 11 people, including four UPS drivers and supervisors, in Tucson, Ariz., for their roles in the alleged smuggling ring, the Department of Homeland Security said. Investigators say the suspects moved thousands of pounds of marijuana and other drugs into the U.S. from Mexico each week using the company's standard cardboard boxes, bypassing security measures.
Mario Barcelo, a 20-year UPS employee and dispatch supervisor -- was named as the alleged ringleader
And you thought there was tension at your Thanksgiving table.
Once a year, Maureen Dowd, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist at the New York Times, allows her Republican brother Kevin Dowd to take over her column and opine about anything that he sees as a matter of importance. This year, he laid out his argument for President Trump's second term and what he sees as a flawed Democratic field.
To say his sister is no fan of Trump could be an understatement. Some of her most recent columns were titled, “Impeaching the Peach One,” “Blowhard on the Brink” and “A Down and Dirty White House."
It was a white Thanksgiving in Southern California, as a “weather whiplash” storm dumped several inches of snow in some regions — and helped to extinguish a wildfire, according to a new report.
Up to 8 inches of snow fell in some parts of the Antelope Valley, at the western tip of the Mojave Desert, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Over the last two days, Lancaster has seen 4 to 5 inches of snow and 3 inches fell in nearby Palmdale, the paper reported.
Part of Interstate 5 was also closed amid heavy snow, according to the report.
The snow helped extinguish a blaze known as the Cave Fire in Santa Barbara County
Queen Elizabeth II is apparently considering retiring in about 18 months so her son, Prince Charles, can assume the throne, reports in the UK said Wednesday.
The 93-year-old monarch is weighing stepping down around her 95th birthday, the same age that her husband, Prince Philip, withdrew from his royal duties, sources told the UK’s Express.
“Her Majesty is mindful of her age and wants to make sure when the time comes, the transition of the Crown is seamless,” a former senior member of the royal household told the outlet.
“I understand the queen has given the matter considerable thought and believes that, if she is still alive at 95,