Displaying posts published in

August 2018

Devin Nunes: Clinton campaign colluded with ‘nearly every’ top official at the DOJ and FBI by Daniel Chaitin

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/devin-nunes-clinton-campaign-colluded-with-nearly-every-top-official-at-the-doj-and-fbi

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes declared Sunday that Hillary Clinton’s campaign “colluded” with nearly every top official in the Justice Department and FBI.

An interview on Fox News had turned to the topic of Trump dossier author Christopher Steele and his ties to Bruce Ohr, a high-level DOJ official who fed the FBI information from the ex-British spy even after he was cut as a source for providing confidential information to the media.

The dossier, published last year by BuzzFeed, contains unverified claims about the Russians having information on President Trump that could be used as leverage. Republican investigators are concerned the FBI deceived a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court when it used information from the dossier without disclosing its Democratic benefactors to gain the authority to spy on onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Clinton’s campaign, as well as the Democratic National Committee, retained Fusion GPS’ anti-Trump research through October 2016 after it was initially funded, then dropped by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative publication.

Nunes, R-Calif., blamed the media for largely ignoring the revelations surrounding the origins of the federal investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and stressing that the American people “need to know it” called for the declassification of “an unprecedented amount of information.”

Ohr, who was the fourth-highest ranking official in the Justice Department, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Aug. 28 “to answer why he had 60+ contacts with dossier author, Chris Steele, as far back as January 2016,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., announced on Twitter late Friday.

Trump’s foreign policy is actually boosting America’s standing Michael Goodwin

https://nypost.com/2018/08/11/trumps-foreign-policy-is-actually-boosting-americas-standing/

A story is supposed to have  two sides, but there is only  one when it comes to President Trump’s foreign policy. Most American media treat his every effort as a savage assault on a harmonious world order.

Whether it’s the trade dispute with China, his pushing North Korea to scuttle its nukes or his demand that NATO members spend more on defense, the headlines sound the same shrieking note: “Trump inflames . . . Trump escalates . . . Trump doubles down . . . Trump risks . . .”

The parade of horribles continues to this day, but it will be hard to out-fear-monger a Time magazine headline from May: “By Violating Iran Deal, Trump Jeopardizes National Security.”

But since the world hasn’t ended and since we’re not dead yet, I humbly suggest it’s time to take a deep breath and consider the other side of the story.

We don’t have to look far. Numerous signs are popping up that the impact of Trump’s policies is far from the disastrous scenario the media predict. By wielding America’s power instead of apologizing for it, and by keeping his focus on jobs and national security, Trump is making progress in fixing the ruinous status quo he inherited.

America First, it turns out, is more than a slogan. It is a road map to reshaping America’s relationship with friend and foe alike.

Take China. Despite press accusations that Trump risks a global recession with tariffs on Chinese imports, recent reports from China say there is growing criticism there over how President Xi Jinping is handling Trump. One brave professor published an essay citing “rising anxiety” and “a degree of panic” about Xi’s combativeness on the issue and his autocratic ways.

Media covering (up) Dianne Feinstein’s major spy scandal By Thomas Lifson

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/08/media_covering_up_dianne_feinsteins_major_spy_scandal_.html

The mainstream media desperately want to deflect attention away from a huge spy scandal involving the ranking Democrat senator on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. For two decades, Senator Dianne Feinstein employed a Chinese spy on her staff. And when it was discovered, she was notified, the spy was fired (but not prosecuted), and the entire matter was kept secret from the public.

Only 5 years later did the news appear in public to almost no fanfare, bured deep in a Politico story on other matters.

The reason is obvious. The contrast with the treatment received by the Trump campaign when a Russian spy was merely suspected (on the basis of what appear to be ginned-up concerns over Carter Page, an FBI informant) is so stark as to raise serious question as to the integrity of the FBI counterintelligence operation. The NSA’s ability to monitor every form of electronic communications except ham radio[i] was mobilized to spy on the presidential campaign of the opposition party to the Obama administration. No notification to the campaign was offered, unlike Feinstein’s treatment.

The entire incident is being presented to the public as no big deal. That is a classic example of the fake news of which President Trump so vocally complains. Fortunately, Mark Thiessen checked out the real dimensions of the spy operation:

Deep State Husbands by Marilyn M Barnewall

https://newswithviews.com/deep-state-husbands/

Most of us are familiar with the Stepford Wives, but how many of us realize that the men involved in the so-called Deep State have wives that are anything but Stepford-type women?

Those of us who seek news outside of the mainstream know who Nellie Ohr is. Fox News spent the past week inundating us with information about her. The question is: Why did they wait so long to broadcast data published seven months ago? Fox News treated it like a news alert – called it that, in fact.

It’s almost as if everything is being carefully timed to achieve a very secret objective.

Do the words “statute of limitations” resonate as the reason behind Robert Mueller’s, the FBI’s, the DOJ’s and Congressional Committees’ unreasonable delays? If truth can be delayed long enough, no one goes to jail because the statute of limitations comes and goes so no one can be prosecuted.

When a crime (with a few exceptions – like murder) is perpetrated, the authorities have a limited amount of time to catch and prosecute the offender. If the statute of limitations says the authorities have three years to solve and prosecute the crime, the perp can confess the day after the three year limit passes and cannot be prosecuted for it. The crime is “dead.”

The Obama administration, the FBI and Department of Justice have handled many of their responsibilities to department policies and to our Constitution with reckless disregard. If they delay things beyond the statute of limitations they cannot be prosecuted. Thus they get to maintain their fictitious record of upholding the Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic, and all of the mafia-like characters who have caused this challenge to our Constitutional Republic — and they get to retire at taxpayer expense.

WHO IS NELLIE OHR?

1. We know her husband is Bruce Ohr, fourth in command at the DOJ under Loretta Lynch at the time the phony Trump Dossier was created by Nellie Ohr and Christopher Steele for Fusion GPS.

2. We know that both Bruce and Nellie Ohr knew Steele before the Russia/Trump Dossier was plotted by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. We know Bruce Ohr was e-mailing Christopher Steele about it as early as January 2016.

3. Nellie worked at Fusion GPS. She (Dr. Ohr) is a recognized Russia expert and studied in the Soviet Union in 1989 before getting her PhD in 1990. She is said to be fluent in the Russian language and is an expert on cyber security (an unusual combination to say the least). Bruce Ohr is a Deep State husband. We know Nellie Ohr wrote the dossier for Fusion GPS and we know Bruce Ohr gave all of his wife’s writings about the Trump Russia delusion to the FBI.

4. According to a sworn statement by Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, Dr. Ohr was hired to conduct opposition research on behalf of the Clinton campaign against presidential candidate Donald Trump.

5. Nellie’s Degrees include an A.B. from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, major: Russian History and Literature; and an M.A. and a PhD in History at Stanford University.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Israeli scientists have discovered an enzyme to prevent spinal cord injuries.
An Israeli disabled children’s charity is recognized by the United Nations.
Israelis win top two prizes at European Debating Championships.
Whilst global coral reefs are dying, Eilat’s reef is growing.
Israelis have achieved ultra-low friction for boosting computer performance.
New direct flights from Israel to Washington DC and China.
Israelis win gold at athletics, acrobatics and ten-pin bowling for the blind.

Click here to see the 5th Aug newsletter on IsraelSeen, Janglo, and United With Israel, with extra features on Health and Technology. Also (TY Sandra) in German.

Please click here, to donate (a small or large amount) to help me expand the reach of VeryGoodNewsIsrael.

Click here, to SEARCH the IsraelActive archives of nearly 13,000 previous news articles.

If someone wishes to be added to the free email subscription list, they should either click here or send a request (with their name) to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

New treatment for Leishmaniasis. I reported previously (see here) on Israel’s work to combat Leishmaniasis – a deadly parasitic disease common in the Middle East. Now Professor Shulamit Michaeli, at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, is working to commercialize a compound that in 20 minutes kills two types of Leishmania parasites.
https://www.israel21c.org/nanodrug-tames-leishmaniasis-and-other-parasitic-diseases/

Reading memories in the brain. (TY UWI & TIP) Israeli scientists have discovered that both positive and negative memories are stored in genes within areas of the brain that can be retrieved even post-mortem. The findings could one day help treat patients with psychiatric disorders such as OCD, schizophrenia and trauma.
http://nocamels.com/2018/04/israeli-scientists-uncover-innovative-method-to-read-memories-even-after-death/
https://elifesciences.org/articles/31220

Enzyme can prevent spinal-cord damage. Tel Aviv University scientists have discovered an enzyme that controls blood glutamate levels and could help patients recover from spinal injuries if administered soon after an accident. Reducing the release of glutamate after a trauma enabled lesions at the injury site to regenerate.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-study-offers-hope-of-recovery-from-spinal-cord-injury/

First Israeli coral-based knee replacement. (TY MR) I reported previously (see here) about Israeli startup CartiHeal which invented the Agili-C knee implant that uses coral-derived material to repair damaged knee cartilage. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital have just performed the first Israeli Agili-C surgery.
https://www.jns.org/patient-receives-new-knee-made-from-coral-thanks-to-israeli-startup/

His ankle is now his knee. Jacob A’s lower leg was amputated after a work accident. But his foot was fine, so in Israel’s first “rotationplasty” operation, doctors at Haifa’s Rambam hospital turned it upside down and made the ankle joint into a knee joint. Once Jacob has a prosthetic fitted, he should be able to walk normally.
http://aforam.org/his-ankle-replaces-knee-function-after-rare-surgery-at-rambam/

Turkey’s Neighborhood Bullies by Burak Bekdil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12821/turkey-neighborhood-bullies

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign ministry keeps bullying his country’s neighbors and the region, just like his friends, President Maduro of Venezuela and President al-Bashir of Sudan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s motorcade arrived at his 1,100-room palace on an unusually rainy day in Ankara on July 9. His armored Mercedes was showered with red roses, thrown at the car by crowds cheering him hours before an extravagant inauguration ceremony. A 101-gun salute and an Ottoman military band greeted him along with 10,000 selected guests (this author was on the guest list but, in protest, preferred not to attend).Whereas pompous scenes from Erdoğan’s palace ceremony showed the glittering face of Turkey on July 9, events from the day before were saddening and unveiled “the other Turkey.” A passenger train derailed in the Thrace region west of Istanbul, killing 24 and injuring more than 300. On the same day, students from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara were arrested for carrying placards “insulting the president” at their graduation ceremony.

UK: Boris Johnson Sparks ‘Burka-Gate’ by Soeren Kern

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12830/boris-johnson-burkas

“I believe that the public will see this for what it is — an internal Conservative party witch hunt instigated by Number Ten against Boris Johnson, who they see as a huge threat.” — Tory MP Andrew Bridgen.

“Taken to its logical conclusion, the anti-Johnson brigade’s stance would mean that nobody is allowed to offer their view on any matter in case it causes offence. Is that really the kind of country we want to live in? … We live in a country that used to believe passionately in free speech. As we all know, even when exercised with care and responsibility, free speech can and does offend some people. But timid politicians who take the easy option and prefer not to tell people what they really think about things like the burka are killing this vital right.” — Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

“Boris Johnson should not apologise for telling the truth…. [female facial masking is] a nefarious component of a trendy gateway theology for religious extremism and militant Islam…. The burka and niqab are hideous tribal ninja-like garments that are pre-Islamic, non-Koranic and therefore un-Muslim. Although this deliberate identity-concealing contraption is banned at the Kaaba in Mecca it is permitted in Britain…” — Taj Hargey, imam at Oxford Islamic Congregation.

Former foreign secretary (and possible future prime minister) Boris Johnson sparked a political firestorm after making politically incorrect comments about the burka and the niqab, the face-covering garments worn by some Muslim women.

The ensuing debate over Islamophobia has revealed the extent to which political correctness is stifling free speech in Britain. It has also exposed deep fissures within the Conservative Party over its future direction and leadership.

Free Speech: The Right to Be a Moron By Thaddeus G. McCotter ****(Thomas Friedman)

https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/12/free-speech-the-righ

For many, the most arduous aspect of supporting free speech is the principled requirement to defend disagreeable speech; moreover, the degree of difficulty in defending free speech increases in proportion to the detestable nature of the individual or entity uttering said offensive speech.

Yet we must. For to infringe upon the free speech rights of one, however loathsome, is to endanger the free speech rights of all. And, really, who doesn’t like to do a little bitching?

Therefore, let us examine a pundit-class kerfuffle to prove how it is possible and necessary to defend free speech, regardless of how unsavory we deem the speaker.

Recently in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman opined that the optimal way to defeat President Trump was for America

to see every [Trump] tweet, every rally, every word and every reaction so that they can ask themselves: “Is this who I want my kids to see as our president? Are these the people with whom I want to be aligned?” It’s too late to move Trump’s core base on these questions, but I would not give up on his passive supporters.

One of the entities Friedman would give up on is, of course, Fox News. Not surprisingly, one Fox News wag didn’t take this sitting down (though it is what he does all day on television).

Greg Gutfeld, the author of a glorified travel brochure, Lessons from the Land of Pork Scratchings: A Miserable Yank Finds Happiness in the UK (among other impenetrable tracts), disagreed with Friedman’s conclusion; and, alternately, argued such ubiquitous coverage had and would continue to help President Trump:

What a great idea. Because remember what happened the last time the media covered every tweet, every rally, every word in every reaction of Donald Trump? . . . They elected Donald Trump…So telling the media to focus on Trump’s behavior, you are in effect saying “hey, remember how we elected Trump in 2016? Let’s do it again.”

Not in the mood to be contradicted by an “active” Trump supporter, Friedman appeared on CNN and declared Gutfeld a “moron.”

Russian Collusion Investigation Has Orwellian Roots By Thomas Farnan

https://amgreatness.com/2018/08/11/russian-collusion

Paul Manafort may or may not have violated tax and banking laws in 2010. Given the twisted and arcane nature of those laws, who knows?

What we do know is that Manafort first was investigated for breaking those laws in that year by Robert Mueller’s FBI. A discretionary decision was made not to prosecute. It wasn’t a priority of the Obama Administration to indict consultants over how they reported income from foreign governments. If that were a priority, a lot of big shots in Washington would have gone down.

There is insufficient concern that what is broadly called “election tampering” really means efforts to influence voters by legitimate means. It was unnervingly Orwellian when Congress cudgeled Facebook’s founder for selling ads to the highest bidder without first assessing the worthiness of the content. Manafort’s real crime is not that he chose to book certain income as loans from offshore shell companies, because a lot of people do that.

No, Manafort’s crime is the same as Facebook’s: he failed to measure the orthodoxy of his political client’s message and, because of that, he now faces an inquisition.

In 2010, pro-Russia candidate Viktor Yanukovych was elected as president of Ukraine. Manafort provided extensive consulting services for Yanukovych’s campaign. Politico has called it “a political love connection.” Vladimir Putin was pleased. His strategic endgame has been to create a united Eurasia that is nationalistic, Christian, and steeped in local culture and history, that would compete with Europe for regional hegemony.

This was an early inkling of the zeitgeist that would later lead to Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Manafort was one of its architects.