Thursday May 2nd, 2024

"It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
--Geoff Metcalf
 Providing an on line Triage of the news since 1998
Will
My son has narrated the last book I wrote.
Please consider listening to it and encouraging others to do so too.
(Click on Book Cover)
World & Nation

Police clear encampments at UCLA, more than 100 arrests overnight at Dartmouth, Stony Brook as pro-Palestinian protests intensify

More than 1,500 arrests now at 30 colleges in growing movement
                                                                 Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Police in cities and towns across the country have been deployed in recent days to clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators from a growing number of encampments and occupied buildings on the campuses of American colleges and universities.

Since April 18, more than 1,500 arrests have been made at over 30 colleges, according to a CNN analysis. In addition to the crackdowns, universities have also canceled commencements, moved to remote classes and restricted access to campuses.

What’s the latest?
Police cleared an encampment at UCLA early Thursday after two days of altercations that included protesters and counter-protesters [Associated Press] clashing and saw the university cancel classes Wednesday.
More than 90 protesters were arrested at Dartmouth College Wednesday night and early Thursday morning after New Hampshire State Police were called to campus to dismantle the growing encampment.
Early Thursday morning, 29 demonstrators were arrested at Stony Brook University in New York.
Arrests were made at other colleges Wednesday night, including 12 people at the University of New Hampshire and 17 at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Late Tuesday, nearly 300 protesters at Columbia University and City University in New York City were arrested. Police remained on campus Wednesday at the Ivy League school.

NYPD's Chell: 'Professional Agitators' at Columbia
Entrenched pro-Palestinian protests threaten to spoil college graduations, Biden addresses



Pro-Hamas billionaires send malicious messages through campus protesters

                                                                       Madison Police carry a demonstrator protesting the war in Gaza as they work to remove a non-sanctioned encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Most of the organizations providing the backbone of campus protests against Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip are supporters of the terrorist organization Hamas, and some receive funding, at least indirectly, from left-wing billionaires.

A forthcoming analysis by the Capital Research Center, which analyzes nonprofits, found that the vast majority of groups behind the spate of college campus protests are operating as fronts for Hamas, which is committed to destroying Israel and killing Jews.

“I was shocked when I started putting together the data,” Capital Research Center investigator Ryan Mauro told The Washington Times. “They didn’t put any effort into trying to hide the fact that this is a Hamas-driven thing.”

Mr. Mauro is examining more than 100 organizations involved in the campus protests. Most of them, he said, harbor pro-Hamas messaging and ties that belie claims that the protests are centered on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.



IDF Chief: Israel Preparing to Go on 'Attack in the North'


Israel is preparing to go on the offensive against Hezbollah, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned on Wednesday as he toured the border with Lebanon.

"You are doing an excellent job of defending in an aggressive way, and we are preparing for an attack in the north," Halevi told several high-ranking officers after an operational assessment.

The general also spoke to commanders of the Etzioni Brigade, a reserve unit that has been defending the Western Galilee against Hezbollah attacks over the past weeks, and thanked them for their service.

"We took the difficult event of the 7th of October, we came to our senses, then went forward strongly, and now we are making a very clear statement to the region about the presence here going forward. The reserve world took a significant part in this," Halevi said.

As the French government renewed its efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the quasi-war started by the Lebanese terror organization on Oct. 8th, Hezbollah continued its near-daily attacks against Israel.



Biden appointees make diversity impact on the judiciary; nominated more district judges than Trump

                                                                President Joe Biden waves as he walks to Marine One for departure from the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Washington. Biden is headed to Delaware. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Biden has touted nominating diverse candidates to the federal judiciary, but legal experts are split on what — if any — impact they’ve had on jurisprudence to date.

Court watchers agree that the Biden judicial nominees have been confirmed quickly.

But Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said it is too early to tell what impact the president’s judges are having on the rule of law.



New York prosecutors want Trump slapped with new gag-order fines

                                                                                 Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/Pool Photo via AP)

Prosecutors on Thursday urged a New York judge to impose new fines on former President Donald Trump, pointing to four alleged violations of a gag order that barred the famous defendant from opining on potential trial witnesses, jurors and court staff.

One of the prosecutors, Christopher Conroy, said a fine of $1,000 per violation is required because of Mr. Trump’s “persistent and escalating” rhetoric aimed at people involved in the hush money trial. Mr. Conroy said the comments create an “air of menace” around the trial and its participants.

“The defendant knows what he’s doing,” Mr. Conroy said, adding the case is at its “most critical time.”

Previously, state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan fined Mr. Trump $9,000 for nine violations of his gag order. He threatened to put the former president in jail if he violated the order again.



Russian corruption scandal could nab additional senior Kremlin officials


An investigation that landed a senior Russian military officer in jail on bribery charges is threatening to snare other high-ranking Kremlin officials. Timur Ivanov, 48, was arrested on April 23 and remains in custody.

He is accused of accepting a bribe of 1 million rubles — about $10,800 — in the country’s highest-profile corruption scandal since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Mr. Ivanov faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Mr. Ivanov, who appeared in court last week wearing his full uniform, was appointed deputy defense minister in May 2016. He was given the lucrative job of overseeing defense procurement and acquisitions, military-related property management and troop accommodation along with housing and medical support, according to the state-owned TASS news agency.



U.S. group used federal funds for dangerous virus research in China, House report says

EcoHealth chief Daszak faces sharp questioning amid controversy over COVID origins

The virus research group EcoHealth Alliance was engaged in dangerous experimental virus work in China that was funded by the federal government, according to a newly released report by a special House panel on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic was made public on Wednesday. Peter Daszak, president of New York-based EcoHealth, faced sharp exchanges at times as he testified before the subcommittee.

“EcoHealth used taxpayer dollars to facilitate gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in Wuhan at the [Wuhan Institute of Virology], contrary to previous public statements, including those by [former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] Dr. Anthony Fauci,” the report says.



China launches third aircraft carrier
                                                                 A screen shows a Chinese aircraft carrier at the opening of the Western Pacific Navy Symposium in Qingdao, eastern China's Shandong province on Monday, April 22, 2024. Zhang Youxia, one of China's top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China began sea trials for the third aircraft carrier for its People’s Liberation Army on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported. The official Chinese military website announced the carrier sea trials in a three-paragraph dispatch from Shanghai.

“The ship left Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard at around 8 a.m. The sea trials will primarily test the reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier’s propulsion and electrical systems,” the notice said.

The new carrier joins what the Pentagon called in its latest annual report the largest military fleet in the world with 370 ships and submarines. That total includes 140 surface warships, highlighted by the carrier development.



Wake up, America: Disturbing realities behind rampant anti-Israel, anti-Jewish hatred


“It’s frightening.”

Those two words were recently uttered by a Holocaust survivor observing virulent antisemitism boiling over at American colleges and universities.

It’s how Jochen “Jack” Wurfl, a man who lost nearly every family member during Adolf Hitler’s reign, responded when I asked for his views on rampant anti-Israel unrest.

He, like others, sees parallels between antisemitism being fomented today and the bubbling evils perpetrated against the Jews during the 1930s before the Holocaust was fully unleashed.



Stern blows interview with Biden, proves he’s a know-nothing

White House picked shock jock who couldn't ask a serious question

Howard Stern is a wonderful interviewer. But he doesn’t know jack about politics.

The longtime shock jock is best known for fart jokes and porn stars, but Mr. Stern has mellowed with age (he’s 70 now), and his crack staff expertly prepares him for sit-downs with the elite actors of Hollywood, as well as top musicians and other cultural icons of the day.

But not politicians. Mr. Stern is woefully uninformed about the news of the day — and proud of it. On Monday, he declared: “I really wish we didn’t need to talk about politics. There are so many people who are good at [that] sort of thing. But it’s not my thing. … if you want to get into hard-hitting political questions, it’s not my bag.”

That comment came, sadly, AFTER his sit-down with President Biden. Yes, Mr. Stern, of all people, got a coveted interview with Hidin’ Biden — the guy who hunkered down in his basement throughout the 2020 presidential campaign (aided by the COVID-19 lockdowns) and has done the fewest press conferences and interviews of any modern president.


Medal of Honor
See the source image
THOMAS JEROME HUDNER JR.

RANK: LIEUTENANT, J.G.
CONFLICT/ERA: KOREAN WAR

MILITARY SERVICE BRANCH: U.S. NAVY
MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION DATE: DECEMBER 4, 1950

MEDAL OF HONOR ACTION PLACE: CHOSIN RESERVOIR, KOREA
CITATION

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a pilot in Fighter Squadron 32, while attempting to rescue a squadron mate whose plane, struck by antiaircraft fire and trailing smoke, was forced down behind enemy lines. Quickly maneuvering to circle the downed pilot and protect him from enemy troops infesting the area, Lt. (j.g.) Hudner risked his life to save the injured flier who was trapped alive in the burning wreckage. Fully aware of the extreme danger in landing on the rough mountainous terrain, and the scant hope of escape or survival in subzero temperature, he put his plane down skillfully in a deliberate wheels-up landing in the presence of enemy troops. With his bare hands, he packed the fuselage with snow to keep the flames away from the pilot and struggled to pull him free. Unsuccessful in this he returned to his crashed aircraft and radioed other airborne planes, requesting that a helicopter be dispatched with an ax and fire extinguisher. He then remained on the spot despite the continuing danger from enemy action and, with the assistance of the rescue pilot, renewed a desperate but unavailing battle against time, cold, and flames. Lt. (j.g.) Hudner's exceptionally valiant action and selfless devotion to a shipmate sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.


From the Archive....

            TO KILL OR FEED A MOCKINGBIRD
                 By Geoff Metcalf
                 July 29, 2002

            Two mutually exclusive and under reported stories have been troubling me.

               *   The apparent penchant for political operatives to leak classified information that jeopardizes national security.
               *   The generational control of information dissemination by powerful controllers.

            So we have another ‘Catch-22’.

            The complicity of the mainstream media to spin, cover, and obfuscate government abuse of power under the color of authority was not unique to the Clinton administration.  It may have been more ubiquitous, and at times even clumsy, but it was not unique.

            It has been reported that in June 1991 David Rockefeller allegedly told a Bilderberg meeting in Baden Baden German, "We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years." He went on to explain: "It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supernational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practiced in past centuries."

            Some argue that quote is apocryphal urban legend.  However, although I have never been able to find three corroborating independent sources for it, it IS consistent in content and tone with other Bilderberg quotes I HAVE been able to confirm.

            “If we had been subjected to the light of publicity….” Indicates the one world, globalist, wannabe controllers were/are successful in managing the message.

            Operation ‘Mockingbird’ was a program supposedly conceived by a brilliant Machiavellian State Department official, Frank Wisner.  Wisner selected Philip Graham, then publisher of the Washington Post to manage the program.  According to Deborah Davis, author of ‘Katharine the Great’, "By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles, plus stringers, four to six hundred in all, according to a former CIA analyst."

            Over twenty five major newspapers and wire services became willing house organs for the CIA media manipulation.

            Investigators digging into MOCKINGBIRD have been flabbergasted to discover FOIA documents in which agents boast (in CIA office memos) of  pride in having placed "important assets" inside every major news publication in the country.

            I know, this is the stuff of Ludlum novels conspiracy wackos, but not until 1982 did the ‘Company’ finally concede that reporters on the CIA payroll have been case officers to field agents.

            I have too often observed, “Some people don’t like to be confused with facts that contradict their preconceived opinions.”  I have also noted (and struggle to maintain) “It is not WHO is right or wrong…but WHAT is right or wrong.”

            Anyone with almost ‘any’ military experience has no doubt seen the once ubiquitous posters cautioning “Loose Lips Sink Ships”.  It is a left over phrase from WWII and among “lessons learned”.

            In the complex world of intelligence loose lips can and have cost lives.

            Once upon a time, not so long ago, Senator Patrick Leahy (currently the Senate Judiciary committee’s lead obstructionist) used to be the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the mid 80s.  Leahy allegedly ‘inadvertently’ exposed a top-secret intercept of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak that led to the capture of the Achille Lauro terrorists.  That supposed slip of the tongue “cost the life of at least one Egyptian operative.” http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=2001/1/31/85757

            Loose Lip Leahy was forced to resign in disgrace 14 years ago in the wake of having to acknowledge he leaked secret intelligence to the press.   However today he lords his power over the Senate Judiciary committee.  Congress’ institutional memory must be as short as some of Jennifer Flowers former paramours.

            In our contemporary environment in which whistleblowers have become in many cases heroes it is important to make the distinctions between the appropriateness of corporate and political whistleblowers and the idiot or miscreant who leaks information with genuine national security implications.

            Currently the FBI is investigating national security leaks from specifically the House and Senate Select Intelligence committees.  This is serious stuff.

            Defenders of the indefensible will argue it is a political witch-hunt by politicians in a heavy C.Y.A. mode.  That is not true but a convenient political spin job.

            Sure it is true the white house is p.o.-ed over media reports that the National Security Agency had received but not acted on two early warning messages to 9/11.  Dick Cheney reportedly went ballistic and ripped congressional leaders.  Both House and Senate Select Intelligence committees asked the Attorney General to conduct an investigation (and no doubt quietly prayed it would be botched).

            Justice said in a statement, “…the appropriate department officials will expeditiously review this matter and take any appropriate action.”  Not if congress has anything to say about it.  Don’t expect anything fast.  Remember Leahy resigned in disgrace 14 years ago and today has the chutzpah to pontificate ad nauseum to the Judiciary committee and stall any and all Bush judicial appointments.

            More on Operation Mockingbird http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/