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TODAY
Friday April 26th, 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

Anti-Israel student protesters at Columbia University say they are not pro-Hamas, just anti-Israel

                                                             Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the main gate at Columbia University, in New York, early Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Morrison)

Anti-Israel demonstrators who have shut down Columbia University insist they are not pro-Hamas but blame the Jewish State for the Middle East conflict that exploded with the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

These student protesters, known as the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” have erected a tent village encampment on Columbia‘s south lawn. While saying they don’t support the Hamas terrorists, they often parrot its rhetoric.

“What they’re advocating for in the encampment is the Liberation of Palestine. And I think a lot of that comes from what Israel has done to Palestine, and the genocide that they’re committing there,” said Ruby, a freshman who isn’t living at the encampment but expressed solidarity with the cause.

She didn’t want to give her full name.

“I think tying in Hamas sort of misrepresents it because I don’t think people in the encampment are saying that they support Hamas. They are saying that they support the Liberation of Palestine,” she said.

It’s not only students rallying to the anti-Israel cause.



Biden administration scrambles to finalize rules, fearing Trump could undo them

                                                                  President Joe Biden speaks to the North America's Building Trade Union National Legislative Conference, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Biden is scrambling to finish a slew of federal regulations by the end of April, fearing a second Trump presidency would reverse his legacy.

In the past week alone, the Biden administration proposed 37 rules and finalized 59 that will cost businesses $875.3 billion — $20 billion less than the total of President Obama’s rules over two terms, according to data from the American Action Forum, a right-leaning economic think tank that tracks federal regulations and their costs.

“I think in this past week you really started to see an uptick in activity,” said Dan Goldbeck, director of regulatory policy at the American Action Forum. “They are prioritizing some really big items. For the rest of the year, you are going to see a concerted effort to get some of these items across the finish line so they can avoid scrutiny next year if the election goes a certain way.”

The White House declined to comment on the flurry of rulemaking.



Israeli war cabinet resumes hostage deal discussions, official says

                                                                    

A delegation from Egypt plans to travel to Israel on Friday to discuss “security coordination” after Israel’s war cabinet met to discuss hostage deal negotiations, according to an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the matter’s sensitivity, signaling a resumption of efforts to broker a cease-fire and hostage release after months of failed talks. The official said a proposed hostage deal could avert a planned Israeli offensive in Rafah, where much of Gaza’s population has been displaced.

More than 500 people have been detained over the past week in pro-Palestinian protests at colleges across the United States. Students — many demanding that their institutions cut ties with corporations doing business with Israel — have continued to gather on campuses despite the presence of police and exhortations from administrators.

Hamas expressed “disappointment” that the United States and 17 other nations have called for the release of hostages, saying in a statement the countries omitted calls for a lasting cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The U.S.-backed statement came a day after Hamas released a video appearing to show Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, offering the first potential sign he may still be alive.



Donald Trump to Newsmax: 'Very Good Session' at SCOTUS


Former President Donald Trump told Newsmax on Thursday that he had a "very good session" before the Supreme Court during his hearing for presidential immunity.

Even if he wasn't allowed to be there. Trump was occupied by his "disgraceful" criminal trial in New York and not allowed to be in Washington, D.C.

Joining "Greg Kelly Reports," Trump said immunity is vital or else "you're not going to have a presidency anymore."

"Well, you have to have immunity as a president. You can't do what you have to do," Trump told Kelly. "You need presidential immunity to do the right thing. And sometimes you may do the wrong thing. I mean, that's possible, too. But you have to have immunity. … You have to have presidential immunity, or you're just not going to have presidency anymore. You'll have a ceremonial president, not a real president.


Inside the failed White House coup to oust Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

                                                               Top aides to President Biden secretly hatched a plan this past fall to replace White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre by recruiting outside allies to nudge her out the door. Getty Images

Top aides to President Biden secretly hatched a plan this past fall to replace White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre by recruiting outside allies to nudge her out the door, The Post has learned.

Jean-Pierre, who made history in May 2022 by becoming the first black and first openly gay person to hold the position, had developed the exasperating habit of reading canned answers directly from a binder to reporters at her regular briefings — offering what her superiors viewed as a less-than-compelling pitch for the 81-year-old Biden as he readied his re-election campaign.

De facto White House communications chief Anita Dunn, 66, the wife of Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, told colleagues she had decided to call in prominent Democrats to explain to Jean-Pierre, 49, that the time was ripe to move on, sources told
“There were a number of people she asked to engage Karine,” said one source who heard of the strategy directly from Dunn, whose role as senior adviser has been filled during the past three presidencies by Jared Kushner (Donald Trump), Valerie Jarrett (Barack Obama) and Karl Rove (George W. Bush).




GOP tightens rules on pork-barrel spending after LGBT blowup

Congressional Republicans, stung by embarrassing projects that slipped into spending bills this year, announced rules Thursday to limit the types of pork-barrel projects that can be funded.

Lawmakers cringed when they realized they had included money for multiple LGBTQ centers, including one that hosted “kink” parties.

Democrats supported that project and included it in a bill written primarily by Republicans, who control the House.

The LGBTQ centers operate as nonprofits. Under the old rules, they were allowed to receive “earmark” money from Congress through Economic Development Initiative grants.

Newly minted House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, said that will change as Congress works on next year’s bills. Nonprofits will no longer be able to get earmarks from the economic development account, though states and localities can collect money.



Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi as U.S., China spar over bilateral and global issues


U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the United States and China as the two sides butted heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues.

Talks between the two sides have increased in recent months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about China‘s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea, human rights and the production and export of synthetic opioid precursors.

Blinken sounded a positive note on recent progress made in bilateral cooperation, including in military communications, counternarcotics and artificial intelligence, on which the two sides agreed to start a dialogue on how to reduce risks from the rapidly emerging technology.



The Biden administration’s Hispanic chain gang


In the shadows of our Nation, a grim reality persists. Tens of thousands of Hispanic migrant children in the U.S. have fallen prey to the depraved clutches of human traffickers, their futures sold for profit and power in a $150 billion-a-year industry, with an administration complicit in putting them in what amounts to chains of modern-day slavery.

From the darkest corners of the internet and social media to the seedy underbelly of our streets, these innocent souls are subjected to unspeakable horrors — sexual exploitation, forced labor, organ trafficking, and even the draining of their lifeblood. The U.S. is the top destination for child trafficking. The Hispanic community, sadly, bears the brunt of targeting and exploitation, serving as unwitting pawns in the hands of the morally bankrupt – akin to sheep led to slaughter. This insidious trade thrives under the neglectful gaze of the Biden Administration.

The very conditions that make Hispanic migrants susceptible to exploitation have been exacerbated to unprecedented levels. The Biden Administration’s spineless, open-border policies have effectively created a chain gang of Hispanic children, where grueling labor and abhorrent acts of exploitation run rampant. In our country, traffickers are targeting Hispanics the most for this evil practice. With Hispanics projected to become the largest minority group by 2050 and the U.S. the biggest consumer of child exploitation, this poses a grave threat to our nation’s safety and security.



U.N. genocide resolution misuses the term

A newly proposed United Nations resolution championed by Germany, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina aims to designate July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide. The draft resolution, notwithstanding its proclaimed intentions, misunderstands the word “genocide,” which has a very specific meaning and threatens the fragile stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Balkans, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, have made major strides toward peace and reconciliation. Any U.N. resolution should support these efforts rather than risk their unraveling. The unilateral way Germany and others introduced their resolution, which shunned established U.N. protocols, raises concerns about the transparency and validity of the process slated for a vote in the General Assembly next month.

The resolution’s focus on labeling the Srebrenica massacre as genocide highlights the complexities of historical narratives in the region. And experts on the topic are taking note.


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/



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