Intelligence Failures - Again
Posted By: Mercedes44, 10/20/2023 10:16:31 AM
The failure of the U.S. intelligence community has three components: 1) It has become politically charged and lost focus on its mission protecting Americans, instead engaging in partisan politics. 2) It continues to focus on technological intelligence collection rather than the difficult and risky world of human intelligence collection. 3) It continues to suffer from a lack of creativity in anticipating and understanding the new threats being developed by our enemies.There is little doubt that the Intelligence Community has become seriously politicized. In 2016-2017, its leaders and the FBI undermined the incoming President Donald Trump by raising the specter of Russian influence over Trump.
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Intelligence Failures - Again
5 replies
The failure of the U.S. intelligence community has three components: 1) It has become politically charged and lost focus on its mission protecting Americans, instead engaging in partisan politics. 2) It continues to focus on technological intelligence collection rather than the difficult and risky world of human intelligence collection. 3) It continues to suffer from a lack of creativity in anticipating and understanding the new threats being developed by our enemies.There is little doubt that the Intelligence Community has become seriously politicized. In 2016-2017, its leaders and the FBI undermined the incoming President Donald Trump by raising the specter of Russian influence over Trump.
There have been two kinds of conspiracy theories circulated by 'truthers' after the Hamas massacre of Israelis.
The first kind essentially denies there was an attack or nitpicks the details. Those arguments are made in obvious bad faith by people who simply hate Israel and side with the terrorists. Any evidence presented to them is dismissed as fake.
The second kind of conspiracy theory is of the "inside job" variety most often involving a "stand down" order that allowed Hamas to massacre over 1,000 people without any military intervention. Some of the people pushing this stuff are the usual suspects, alt-righters and anti-semites,
Thanks to support from Iran, Hamas is fairly well-armed and, of course, it makes up in viciousness what it lacks in technical sophistication. However, Hamas’s greatest weapon is propaganda. In the latest conflagration, it engaged in a single orgy of killing. Now, though, it’s looking forward to weeks of anti-Israel propaganda that the world’s media will unhesitatingly accept and relay. The latest example is Hamas’s claim that Israel killed 900 innocent people in a Gaza hospital. The story was almost instantly debunked but don’t expect that to change the narrative.
Daniel Noboa, political neophyte and heir
to fortune, wins presidency in violence-wracked Ecuador 3 replies
to fortune, wins presidency in violence-wracked Ecuador 3 replies
Daniel Noboa has managed to do what his father failed at five times: Getting elected as Ecuador’s president.
And he did it Sunday on his first attempt, winning a runoff election against a leftist lawyer on the resume of a 35-year-old who belongs to the South American country’s elite, which means some schooling in the U.S., some entrepreneurial work, some dabbling in politics.
Now, he must answer the universal demand to make Ecuador safe again, which voters urged on all the candidates who originally jumped into the race amid a surge in unprecedented violence tied to drug trafficking.
America's renters -- more than one-third of the nation's households -- are in for trouble. Left-wing politicians are demanding rent regulation from coast to coast. Wherever it is adopted, the result will be a disastrous reduction in the rental housing supply, leaving renters desperate for places to live.New York City is the poster child for the failures of rent regulation. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently mulling a challenge to the constitutionality of the city's rent regime.
Whatever the justices decide, the public needs to consider less destructive, more targeted ways to help low-income people pay for housing. The court of public opinion needs to consider these facts.
Let me just start by saying, Iowa’s Chuck Grassley is an absolute menace, because apparently it is his “bipartisan” effort that one leftist writer for CNN lauds as a great idea to combat the drastic spike in retail theft currently plaguing big cities under Democrat control—more bureaucracy and bigger government.
Keldy Ortiz is a writer based somewhere in New York, “who focuses on issues of race, community affairs and social justice” and in an opinion piece published yesterday by CNN, Ortiz lamented the closure of big box stores (due to shoplifting) in urban centers; as Ortiz noted, minorities suffer the most.
Guatemala’s attorney general on Monday called for the government to act against largely peaceful protesters, who have taken to the streets for weeks demanding her resignation for what they say are clear attempts to undermine their nation’s democracy.
Protests broke out in Guatemala two weeks ago following one of the most tumultuous elections in the country’s recent history. The protests are fueled by accusations that Attorney General Consuelo Porras has tried to prevent President-elect Bernardo Arévalo from taking office in January.
Less than 48 hours after 20 US Democratic Senators urged President Joe Biden to push for the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran's Palestinian terror proxies launched a massive attack on Israel, killing more than 700 Israeli men, women and children, and wounding thousands more. An unknown number of Israelis (estimated at more than 100), including infants, toddlers and an elderly Holocaust survivor in a wheelchair, have also been kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.
The German states of Bavaria and Hesse vote in regional elections on Sunday, in what is widely being seen as a test-case for Germany’s shifting political landscape.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to make gains in both states, although most other major parties have ruled out collaboration with it.
While Sunday’s elections are not expected to yield drastic outcomes, they will indicate the extent of the AfD’s grip on the regions.
They could also send a clear message to the federal government as dissatisfaction mounts over key issues including inflation, immigration and climate policy.
The book has received approval from Khamenei's office and is thus the most authoritative document regarding his position on the issue.
Khamenei makes his position clear from the start: Israel has no right to exist as a state. He claims his strategy for the destruction of Israel is not based on anti-Semitism, which he describes as a European phenomenon. His position is based on "well-established Islamic principles."
According to Khamenei, Israel, which he labels an "enemy" and "foe," is a special case for three reasons.
Ronald Reagan's Warning
13 replies
The free-fall that is now the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is a needless self-inflicted political wound that only serves to distract the GOP caucus, and the nation at large, from the very real crises facing America.
Rather than focus on the open borders that are transforming our nation's cities into migrant camps and threats from foreign adversaries such as the Chinese Communist Party, we are engaged in recriminations and intraparty personal feuds. Rather than tackle a crippling debt of nearly $33 trillion, we are witnessing a political drama associated with selecting a new Speaker of the House. Rather than advance American energy independence,
Never Trumpers Beginning to See the Writing
on the Wall—That GOP Nomination Is Trump's
to Lose 8 replies
on the Wall—That GOP Nomination Is Trump's
to Lose 8 replies
You almost have to feel sorry for the anti/never-Trumpers. They thought Donald Trump was done all the way back to the Mar-a-Lago raid. When that didn't get rid of Trump, along came multiple indictments. Surely four indictments and 90-plus charges would do it. But much to their disappointment, Donald Trump's poll numbers remain as strong as ever, and he has a commanding lead over any of his Republican presidential challengers. All that winning is starting to wear on the anti-Trumpers, and it appears they may be ready to yell "uncle" and come to the conclusion that Donald Trump's supporters are not going anywhere.
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The people behind Joe Biden have put together a single $106 billion request of financial support intended to force Congress to fund the priorities of the Obama/Biden U.S. foreign policy.
The supplemental appropriations request [SEE HERE] also includes funds to support the continued flow of illegal aliens at the southern border.
WASHINGTON – […] All told, the request includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, including $44.4 billion to provide Department of Defense equipment for the country,
Dems Praise Biden’s ‘Cognizant’
Israel Response: ‘This Is A Man That
Does Not Seem Demented’ 41 replies
Israel Response: ‘This Is A Man That
Does Not Seem Demented’ 41 replies
From a sit-down TV interview, to an Oval Office address and even a trip to a war-torn country, Democratic strategists are praising President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war as “cognizant” and “strong.”
Biden’s initial response to the terrorist organization Hamas’ attack on Israel came under scrutiny from prominent conservative media figures who criticized the president for failing to make frequent public statements while the war raged in the Middle East. But Democratic strategists told the Daily Caller the president has handled the Israel-Hamas war well, giving numerous public appearances and even presenting himself as a strong commander-in-chief.
CVS began pulling popular over the counter cough and cold products from its shelves today because they don't work.
The pharmacy chain is removing oral meds that contain phenylephrine as their only active ingredient, which was shown to be no better than placebo at treating a stuffy nose.
The drugs are taken by millions of Americans and include brands like Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion, Sudafed PE, and Tylenol Cold and Flu and Severe Day & Night.
It comes weeks after a panel of advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled phenylephrine 'is not effective' at standard or even high doses when taken in pill or liquid form.
Veteran climate worrier Greta Thunberg announced Friday she has shifted her attention away from the world’s weather to focus on Israel’s fate as it fights Hamas and its associated terrorist organizations.
Thunberg took to social media and posted on X – formerly known as Twitter – to call a strike “in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.”
She also wants an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Thunberg’s call for peace and harmony in the Middle East comes three days after she was arrested in London during a protest against fossil fuels.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a leading voice of the Democrat Party’s far-left wing, is suggesting Americans must be ready to bring Palestinians to their communities.
During an interview on CNN, Ocasio-Cortez was asked whether Arab countries in the Middle East ought to open their borders to Palestinians rather than the United States.In response, Ocasio-Cortez suggested she would support such Arab countries taking in Palestinians, but Americans would also need to be open to refugee resettlement.
The exchange went as follows:
Rep. Ken Buck Gets Eviction Notice from
Landlord After Casting Vote Against Jordan
for Speaker 31 replies
Landlord After Casting Vote Against Jordan
for Speaker 31 replies
GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado said he has received a notice of eviction because he refused to support Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid to become speaker of the House.
Buck appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press Now” on Thursday to talk about the response to his stance.
“So far I’ve had four death threats,” he said. “I’ve been evicted from my office in Colorado — I have a notice of eviction because the landlord is mad with my voting record on the speaker issue.”
Buck added that “everybody in the conference is getting this.”
Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Thursday that President Joe Biden’s address to the nation was “one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency.”
Hume said, “I think it may be remembered as one of the best, if not the best, speeches of his presidency. He was firm, he was unequivocal, he was strong, as he has been particularly in recent days before he went to Israel and while he was over there.”He continued, “I was struck by the fact that he spent as much time as he did on Ukraine and I think it was a good thing that he did because
The ever feckless Republican National Committee (RNC) recently announced that it is going to have NBC News host its next presidential primary debate. This seems an odd choice, if only because NBC News hates Republicans. The news organization detests President Trump, Trump voters, patriotic Americans, capitalism, traditional values, borders, the Constitution of the United States of America, straight white males,Christianity, Israel, pro-lifers, Fox News, the Second Amendment, Mike Lindell, Lee Greenwood, “anti-vaxxers,” Joe Rogan, Aaron Rodgers, fossil fuels...and those of us who reside in Middle America in general.
House Republicans voted to drop Jim Jordan as their speaker nominee in a secret-ballot vote on Friday afternoon, shortly after the House Judiciary chairman failed to secure the gavel in a floor vote for the third time this week.
Twenty-five House Republicans joined a united Democratic caucus in opposing Jordan’s third speaker bid on Friday, setting up the secret-ballot vote to strip him of the nomination. The GOP opposition to Jordan’s bid had steadily grown with each successive ballot: 2o members of the caucus voted against him on the first ballot and 22 voted against him the second time around.
Before epilepsy was understood to be a neurological condition, people believed it was caused by the moon, or by phlegm in the brain. They condemned seizures as evidence of witchcraft or demonic possession, and killed or castrated sufferers to prevent them from passing tainted blood to a new generation. Today we know epilepsy is a disease. By and large, it’s accepted that a person who causes a fatal traffic accident while in the grip of a seizure should not be charged with murder. That’s good, says Stanford University neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky. That’s progress. But there’s still a long way to go.
Mike Pence faces a cash shortage and questions
about how much longer his 2024 campaign
can survive 25 replies
about how much longer his 2024 campaign
can survive 25 replies
New York—With three months to go before the Iowa caucuses that he has staked his campaign on, former Vice President Mike Pence faces mounting debt and lagging poll numbers that are forcing questions about not only whether he will qualify for the next debate, but whether it makes sense for him to remain in the race until then.
Pence ended September with just $1.18 million left in his campaign account, a strikingly low number for a presidential contest and far less than his rivals, new filings show. His campaign also has $621,000 in debt — more than half the cash he had remaining — and is scrambling to meet donor thresholds
Rep. Jim Jordan's bid to become speaker failed for a third time on Friday, with no end in sight to the House leadership vacuum as Congress faces a deadline to avoid a government shutdown and the White House calls for urgent security assistance for Israel.
Jordan has insisted on remaining in the race despite failing repeatedly to secure the gavel as support for his bid erodes further with each consecutive vote. This time, 25 Republicans voted against Jordan, who boasts the support of former President Donald Trump. Twenty-two voted against him in the previous vote.