NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Ex-Obama Counsel Expects Charges in Mueller-Related Probe . By Eric Tucker & Chad Day

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/11/ex-obama_counsel_expects_charges_in_mueller-related_probe_140025.html

Former Obama administration White House counsel Greg Craig expects to be charged in a foreign lobbying investigation spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, his lawyers said.

“Mr. Craig is not guilty of any charge and the government’s stubborn insistence on prosecuting Mr. Craig is a misguided abuse of prosecutorial discretion,” the attorneys, William Taylor and William Murphy, said in a statement Wednesday.

The investigation into Craig comes as the Justice Department is cracking down on unregistered foreign lobbying and consulting. Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating two prominent Washington lobbying firms in a similar probe, and Justice Department officials in Washington have been increasingly willing to prosecute people who they believe intentionally conceal their lobbying work from the federal government.

The scrutiny of Craig stems from an investigation of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his work on behalf of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. If filed, the charges would come about three months after Craig’s former law firm agreed to pay more than $4.6 million and publicly acknowledge that it failed to register with the government for its work for the Ukraine.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

Touchdown today: Israel’s Genesis spacecraft approaching lunar surface by David Isaac

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://worldisraelnews.com/

“….And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon….Deuteronomy 33:14….rsk

Excitement is building in Israel as its first-ever spacecraft, Genesis, is set to land on the moon today at 10:00 p.m. – 11 p.m. Israel time (3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EDT).

Israelis are looking skyward tonight as the Genesis spacecraft — the name was chosen in an online vote — is scheduled to touch down on Thursday between 10:00-11:00 p.m. Israel time (3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT).

Once Genesis touches the lunar surface, Israel will have entered the history books as only the fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon, sharing the honor with far larger countries with much deeper pockets – the U.S., China and Russia.

Israel has already made history with its spacecraft. Last week it became only the seventh country to place a spacecraft in lunar orbit.

Shortly before touchdown, Genesis will conduct a two-step deceleration process as it dives toward the lunar surface, an operation of about 15 minutes. After landing, it will take a selfie.

POLITICS Comments turned off

WHO IS MIKE GARCIA?

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

Mike Garcia, a former naval fighter pilot and Santa Clarita businessman, announced his candidacy for Congress against Congresswoman Katie Hill for the 25th Congressional District Wednesday.

Garcia, a first-generation American citizen, is a highly decorated United States Naval Officer who was  one of the first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy. He flew over 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi freedom over Baghdad, Fallujah, and Tikrit, according to officials.

Garcia graduated in the top three percent of his Annapolis class, receiving an M.A. in National Security Studies at Georgetown University.

His performance during Advanced Jet Pilot Training in the T-45 jet set records and earned him the opportunity to become of the first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy, according to officials.As an F/A-18E pilot Garcia was deployed several times on the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

He was lauded as one of the best leaders and one of the most naturally talented pilots in the Navy by his troops, his peers and his leadership, Garcia said.Now, he is hoping to face Katie Hill in 2020 for the CA-25 Congressional seat, which includes the cities of Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Palmdale, Lancaster, and the northern part of the San Fernando Valley.

POLITICS Comments turned off

GOP recruits fighter pilot to challenge freshman Dem in key California race By Tal Axelrod

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/438199-republicans-get-top-tier-candidate-in-key-california-house-race

Republicans recruited Mike Garcia, a fighter pilot and first-generation American, to challenge freshman Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) in 2020, setting up a battle for a key House district.

Garcia, the son of a Mexican immigrant and an Iraq War veteran, announced his candidacy for California’s 25th District Wednesday.

He will challenge Hill, a moderate whose victory helped the Democrats retake the House last year and decimate the GOP delegation from the Golden State.

In his campaign announcement, Garcia sought to tie Hill to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other House progressives in pushing what he called a “Socialist agenda.”

“I have been at the edge where bullets fly and lives are lost,” Garcia said in a press release. “I believe America is the greatest country in the world. I’ve seen men and women lose their lives defending this country. And I am disgusted that politicians in Washington are voting in lockstep with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to push a Socialist agenda that jeopardizes everything we’ve risked blood and treasure to defend.”

Hill thanked Garcia and his family for their service and wished him luck.

“I know how tough these primaries can be. With three Republicans now filed to run and likely more who will jump in, I wish them all luck,” she said in an emailed statement. “I am deeply grateful to Mr. Garcia for his service to our nation and thank him and his family for all they have given to keep America safe.”

Republicans had held the seat in California’s 25th District for 25 years until Hill defeated incumbent Rep. Steve Knight.

Garcia touted the endorsements of former Reps. Buck McKeon (R) and Elton Gallegly (R), who previously represented California’s 25th and 24th Districts, respectively.

Garcia, a U.S. naval officer, was one of the first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy and flew more than 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to his campaign announcement.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

Senate Dems call for Barr to walk back ‘spying’ allegation By Jordain Carney

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/438322-senate-dems-call-for-barr-to-walk-back-spying-allegation

Top Senate Democrats are demanding Attorney General William Barr walk back his accusation that the Trump campaign was spied on by the FBI.

Barr sparked a political firestorm earlier Wednesday when he told senators that he believed “spying did occur” during the 2016 election and that he would be reviewing the probe of President Trump’s campaign.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Barr of “perpetuating conspiracy theories” during his testimony before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee. The hearing was scheduled to discuss the department’s budget but ultimately was dominated by questions about special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

“AG Barr must retract his statement immediately or produce specific evidence to back it up,” Schumer said in a tweet.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, added in a statement that Barr had “demanded himself” by “carelessly acting as a mouthpiece for President Trump’s conspiracy theories.”

HISTORY Comments turned off

FEAR AND PANIC: ALEX GROBMAN

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://www.jewishlinknj.com/features/30756-fear-and-panic

Part XVII
Throughout April, May and June 1940, the Nazis continued their drive to dominate Europe by conquering Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. As Saul Friedlander noted, the stunning Nazi victories caused panic in the U.S. and fear that an invasion of the Western hemisphere might be imminent.

The Germans understood that America was impotent as a result of the defeat of the Allies, and that no matter how vociferous their verbal objections might be, they were not in a position to initiate practical action. The U.S. was virtually in a state of paralysis in light of a looming election campaign, the speed in which 120 German divisions attacked the entire length of the Western front and the complete lack of preparedness on the part of the American armed forces.

The Jews had “worked themselves into a state of panic, verging on catastrophic despair,” observed Salo Baron, professor of Jewish history at Columbia University in the July-August 1940 edition of the Contemporary Jewish Record. An ever-increasing number of Jews began to believe that there was little use in attempting to ameliorate even a “small fraction” of the distress, for the refugee crisis seemed to be growing beyond their ability to cope with it.

The point had been reached where some Jews were “beginning sincerely to favor, or else find a ready excuse for, complete inertness and a fatalistic suspension of all activities, including even the financial contributions for relief of European Jewry and the reconstruction of Palestine.”

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Julian Assange faces a year in British jail after dramatic arrest at Ecuadorian Embassy – as US demand we hand him over The WikiLeaks founder, 47, has been holed up in the embassy since 2012 and was dragged out this morning

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8839586/julian-assange-wink-thumbs-up-arrest-embassy/
“NARCISSIST” Julian Assange faces a year in British jail after his dramatic arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy ended seven years in hiding today.

The bearded WikiLeaks founder has spent 2,487 days holed up in the embassy to avoid Swedish sex claims and US authorities, who want him over an alleged conspiracy with whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

Julian Assange winked and gave a thumbs up from the police van as he arrived at court following the dramatic arrest this morning.

The 47-year-old was blasted a “narcissist who can’t get beyond his own self interest” as he was found guilty this afternoon of skipping bail in 2012 – relating to his time at the embassy.He now faces a battle against extradition to America where he was today charged in his absence with “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the US”.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Is Iran Winning in Yemen? by Soeren Kern

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14053/iran-winning-yemen

“The Yemeni revolution will not be confined to Yemen alone. It will extend, following its success, into Saudi territories.” — Iranian Lawmaker Ali Reza Zakani, trusted adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“If the Shia rebels gain control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Iran can attain a foothold in this sensitive region giving access to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a cause of concern not only for its sworn rivals Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf states, but also for Israel and European countries along the Mediterranean.” — IDF Lt.-Col. (Ret.) Michael Segall.

“Hard-line elements [in Iran] appear to see the continuation of the conflict [in Yemen] as a relatively low-cost and low-risk means of sustaining political, economic, and military pressure on the Saudis. Saudi Arabia’s intervention has reportedly cost between $5 billion and $6 billion a month, while Iran’s expenditures in Yemen probably total only millions a year.” — Gerald M. Feierstein, Middle East Institute.

“The Houthis’ intransigence confirms their loyalty to Iran’s negotiating tactics. These usually begin with implicit approval of negotiating solutions, followed by complete retraction in order to force the international community to make more concessions and impose a fait accompli on the Yemeni government….” — Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yemany.

A ceasefire deal aimed at ending Yemen’s civil war is collapsing amid disputes between the warring parties over how to implement the agreement. A resumption of hostilities would, according to aid groups, accelerate Yemen’s descent into famine and threaten as many as 15 million people — more than half the population — with starvation.

Yemen’s four-year conflict is generally viewed as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia, which backs the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, and Iran, which backs tribal-based Shiite rebels, known as Houthis.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

China Rising in the Caribbean by Gordon G. Chang

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14050/china-caribbean-sea

About 55 miles east of Palm Beach, Florida on Grand Bahama Island, a Hong Kong-based business is spending about $3 billion on a deep-water container facility, the Freeport Container Port.

The concern is that the port will become another debt-trap, like the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka. There are concerns that Hambantota will eventually become a Chinese naval base. Will the Pentagon have to contend with Chinese warships at Freeport?

The Chinese military is already in the Caribbean, in Cuba, apparently to collect signals intelligence from the U.S. Washington splashes plenty of cash around the Middle East, for instance, but American policymakers need also to be concerned, urgently, about critical needy locations closer to home.

There’s a “Red Storm Rising” just miles from America’s shores. “In point of fact, the entire hemisphere is on fire,” said Lou Dobbs on his widely watched Fox Business Network show on April 4. “China and Russia are engaging us in almost every quarter in this hemisphere. Russia and China in Venezuela, but China throughout the hemisphere and throughout the Caribbean.”

Throughout the Caribbean, China’s influence is growing fast. Trade and investment have made Beijing a power. Chinese motives are not solely commercial, however, and do not appear benign.

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Four Corners‘ March-Hare Climatology

Posted By on April 11th, 2019

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/opinion-post/four-corners

he ABC has jumped yet again through the climate alarmists’ looking glass.

The recent Four Corners episode on global warming, Climate of Change, reminded me of physicist Wolfgang Pauli. He described a paper as so bad “it was not even wrong.” The ABC’s presenter was Stephanie March, a veteran ABC reporter and foreign correspondent in India and North America. I’ll first discuss the background of March’s main guest on the program, Dr Bill Hare, then run through some of the Four Corners content.

Dr Hare scored ten appearances — 620 words out of the 8100 — during 45 minutes, plus the final words on the episode. So who’s Dr Bill Hare? Just “the best climate lobbyist in the world”, as cited by Murdoch University.

For starters, and unmentioned by Four Corners, his main 16-year career (1992-2008) was as climate policy director and spokesman for Greenpeace International. To the Greenpeace fanatics, he was a “legend” in global climate politics,[1] penning fiery Greenpeace polemics such as warning the top 100 US companies to reject President Bush’s climate policies within a week or “face the consequences” globally. He also accused Australia of behaving like “an international selfish brat”. In 2002, he helped Greenpeace and similar groups start the Exxon Secrets website, described as “a chronicle of ExxonMobil’s efforts to corrupt the debate on global warming.” Greenpeace managed to dredge up $US30.9 million in donations by the company to alleged sceptic groups over 16 years, i.e. $US2m a year. The renewables industry currently involves investments of $US1.5 trillion a year.