Tuesday April 30th, 2024

"It Is Not A Question of Who Is Right Or Wrong But What Is Right Or Wrong That Counts."
--Geoff Metcalf
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World & Nation

N.Y. judge fines Trump for violating gag order, threatens to jail him next time

Judge Juan Merchan allows Trump to attend son Barron Trump's high school graduation
                                                   Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

A New York judge on Tuesday fined former President Donald Trump for nine violations of a gag order against commenting about potential witnesses, jurors or certain court staff during the hush money trial.

State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan imposed a $1,000 penalty for each violation and will hold a hearing on four more alleged violations on Thursday.

Prosecutors had complained about Mr. Trump‘s musing on social media and comments near the courthouse, saying they violated the order designed to protect persons connected to the country’s first criminal trial of an ex-president.

Judge Merchan warned Mr. Trump that he would face jail time if he did not follow the gag order.

As if to soften the blow, the judge said he will not hold the trial on May 17 so Mr. Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation. The judge had delayed a decision on whether Mr. Trump could go because he wanted to see how quickly the trial unfolded.

Judge Holds Trump in Contempt, Imposes $9,000 Fine for Gag Order Violations
Trump held in contempt for violating gag order in "hush money" trial. Here's how much he owes.
Judge Hands Donald Trump the Delay He Wanted



Northern Israel Braces for Possible All-Out War With Hezbollah


Eli Harel was an Israeli soldier in his early thirties when he was sent into Lebanon in 2006 to battle fighters from the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah in a bloody, largely inconclusive month-long war.

Now 50, Harel is ready to rejoin the army to fight the same group if shelling along Israel's northern border turns into a full-blown war with Iran's most powerful regional proxy. This time Israeli forces would face some of the most challenging fighting conditions imaginable, he said.

"There are booby traps everywhere," he told Reuters. "People are popping up from tunnels. You have to be constantly on alert otherwise you will be dead."



House Democrats say they’ll vote to save Speaker Johnson from removal by renegade Republicans

                                                             Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters just after the House voted to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) **FILE**

The top three Democratic leaders in the House announced Tuesday they will vote to block a rogue House Republican from moving to oust GOP Speaker Mike Johnson.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement they will vote against an arcane motion to “vacate the chair” that GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to bring up on the House floor.

“If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” said Mr. Jeffries of New York.

House lawmakers have been awaiting Ms. Greene’s next move. She has been threatening to bring up the motion and, with the expectation that all Democrats would vote along with her, it would pass and end Mr. Johnson’s speakership.

Democratic leaders say they’ll shield Speaker Johnson from Greene motion to vacate



Protesters Take Over Columbia's Hamilton Hall in Protest Escalation

                                                                    Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking it over on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since April 17, calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)

Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on the campus. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall.

The student radio station, WKCR-FM, broadcast a play-by-play of the hall's takeover, which occurred nearly 12 hours after Monday's 2 p.m. deadline for the protesters to leave an encampment of around 120 tents or face suspension. Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment early Tuesday but Public Safety said in a statement that members of the university community who can avoid coming to the Morningside campus Tuesday should do so, adding that essential personnel should report to work.

COLUMBIA students take over Hall after suspensions begin for pro-Palestinian protests...
Smash windows, unfurl intifada banner...
WARNING: STAY AWAY FROM CAMPUS...
'There are straight-out calls for genocide of Jews'...
Demos dominate media coverage, obscuring true horror of war...



White House Officially Claims Biden Has Made 148 Mistakes During 2024 Public Remarks

White House communications staff has had to correct President Joe Biden’s public remarks at least 148 times since the beginning of 2024, a review of official White House transcripts shows.

The White House releases an official transcript anytime the president gives a speech or takes questions. Communications staff frequently correct, add to or alter Biden’s official remarks in order to either bring them into compliance with official White House policy or, in some cases, reality, a Daily Caller analysis showed. In several cases, official statements had to be changed to convey the exact opposite of what Biden actually said.

Through 118 statements, speeches and chats with reporters spanning from Jan. 1 to April 24, the White House has officially updated its transcript with corrections to what the president said out loud at least 148 times.

Some of the modifications include corrections to names, dates and titles of organizations. Others change verbs and modify the meaning of the president’s statement entirely. Words that the president didn’t say, but should’ve, according to the White House staff, have also been added to the transcripts.



Jack Smith faces ethics complaint at Justice Department for Trump prosecution

                                                             Special counsel Jack Smith speaks about an indictment of former President Donald Trump on Aug. 1, 2023, at a Department of Justice office in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ** FILE **

Special counsel Jack Smith is facing an ethics complaint for potential violations of Justice Department rules in his prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility at the Justice Department, Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, said Mr. Smith has abused federal resources to interfere with the 2024 election and has tried to rush Mr. Trump’s trial over alleged interference in the 2020 election results.

Ms. Stefanik says that Mr. Smith has violated “long-standing, explicit Justice Department policy” and that she has asked for an investigation into the special counsel.



Appeals Court Blocks Biden's 'Unlawful' Plan


Joe Biden has made significant efforts to eliminate student debt for numerous Americans. However, he has faced strong opposition from the judicial system.

Recently, a court challenged Biden's proposal, labeling his latest initiative to cancel student debt as "almost certainly unlawful."

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed a lower court's ruling and instructed the judge to issue a preliminary injunction that would halt Biden's student debt relief plan nationwide.

U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, writing on behalf of a three-judge panel, stated that Career Colleges and Schools of Texas, a group opposing the debt cancellation policy, could likely demonstrate in court that the U.S.



Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News 'imminently'

A letter obtained by NBC News says action is pending because of Fox’s alleged "conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light."

Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News “imminently,” according to a letter sent to the network and obtained by NBC News.

The letter, dated April 23, puts the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital on notice for litigation claims arising from the network’s alleged “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.”

Biden has hired attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the Fox litigation efforts. The letter is the second outreach to Fox this month. An earlier letter was hand-delivered to Fox’s counsel two weeks ago, and the network asked for more time to respond, according to a source familiar with Biden’s legal efforts. The network has not yet responded to the letter sent April 23, which included a Friday evening, April 26, deadline to respond, according to Geragos. The letter is signed by Tina Glandian, a partner at Geragos & Geragos working on the case.



Speaker Mike Johnson is doing an excellent job

Growing into the second-hardest job in Washington
             By Newt Gingrich

I want to make something crystal clear: House Speaker Mike Johnson is doing an excellent job.

Lately, far too many people — with no real knowledge about or experience in leading Congress — have had too many criticisms. As a former speaker, I assure you they have no idea how complicated the job really is.

Mr. Johnson has the most challenging speakership since the Civil War over 150 years ago.

Let’s be honest. Mr. Johnson has a nominal Republican majority for organizational purposes. This means Republicans can control committees, investigations, and the normal flow of legislative business. But he clearly does not have a majority Republican vote for substantive legislation.



Liberal Policies Eventually Catch Up with Policymakers


Left policies promoted by California politicians are coming back to haunt them.

In response to the 2020 "Summer of Love" riots that took over some of America’s major cities, state and local lawmakers decriminalized many property crimes, such as shoplifting less than $1,000. The politicians believed they saw two advantages to this:

    First, it showed empathy toward the less fortunate; and,
    Second, it caused an immediate reduction in crime by simply no longer reporting it.

But like all failed policies, this one had an unintended consequence — it turned the politicians and their most loyal supporters into crime victims.


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/