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November 2019

HISTORY, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

What Germany’s Foreign Minister Gets Wrong about the Berlin Wall By Jakub Grygiel

By on November 9th, 2019

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/11/berlin-wall-europe-did-not-defeat-communism-by-itself/

‘Europe’ did not defeat Communism by itself.

Historical revisionism as an academic divertissement is corrupting, muddling the intellects of generations. For instance, ignoring or obscuring the fact that Soviet socialism (like its sister, National Socialism) was a murderous tool in the hands of large bureaucratic states run by thugs — and thus a target of popular opprobrium and of often bloody opposition — results in a young population that is not ashamed of wearing hats with a red star or of voting for aging socialists known for their fondness toward the USSR. Historical ignorance leads to the resurrection of ideas that have failed and have caused millions of deaths.

But historical revisionism is also used for foreign-policy purposes. Proffered by the highest echelons of a nation’s executive, it is more immediately dangerous, because it lays the foundation for a political posture that ignores key facts and tries to build a diplomatic or security architecture that is hostile to the very order it wants to protect. The most recent and worrisome example of such revisionism comes from the heart of Europe, Berlin, in the words of the German foreign minister, Heiko Maas.

Maas released a short article commemorating the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A heady and joyful event, the fall of the Wall was a victory against oppressive Communist regimes propped up by brute power. More broadly, the annus mirabilis of 1989 was a culmination of decades of sacrifice by the oppressed nations in Central and Eastern Europe, supported by the free nations of Western Europe and by the deep and long commitment of the United States to fight the evil ideology of Communism. For Maas, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a victory over “walls and borders,” admittedly in the name of freedom and rule of law, but he is vague about who in particular the opponent was. The socialist paradise of the proletariat, which built the Wall and the Iron Curtain from the Baltic to the Adriatic and was responsible for 100 million dead, remains unnamed as the enemy.

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Protesters Cut Bolivian Mayor’s Hair and Drag Him Through the Streets During Violent Protest By Rick Moran

By on November 9th, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/trending/protesters-cut-bolivian-mayors-hair-and-drag-him-through-the-streets-during-violent-protest/

The protests against the election of President Evo Morales in Bolivia are getting more violent as the opposition, claiming the election was stolen, stages mass protests throughout the country.

Clashes between pro-and anti-Morales demonstrators have turned deadly. A pro-Morales protester in the city of Cochabamba was killed during a clash with the opposition. Twenty-year-old Limbert Guzman became the third person killed during the violence.

In the small town of Vinto, a pro-Morales mayor was seized during a protest at city hall, dragged through the streets, and had her hair cut by demonstrators.

Fox News:

Meanwhile, in the town of Vinto, located about 210 miles from Cochabamba, the mayor of the governing Mas party was attacked by protesters after rumors that two members of the opposition had been killed by supporters of Morales, according to the BBC.

Vinto Mayor Patricia Arce Guzman was confronted at the town hall by protesters, who then dragged her out barefoot through the streets of the town as windows at the city building were broken and her office was set on fire.

Guzman was then forced to kneel down as demonstrators cut her hair, doused her in red paint, and forced her to sign a resignation letter all while yelling “murderess, murderess,” according to the BBC.

The violence stems from a hotly contested election that Morales won with 47 percent of the vote. But it was enough to avoid a runoff with the opposition candidate Carlos Mesa. What has riled the opposition was a 24-hour delay in the counting that the EU and the Organization of American States, independent monitors, expressed their grave concerns about after vote totals for Morales shot through the roof when the counting resumed.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Erielle Davidson: Yovanovitch Emailed With Dem Staffer After Whistleblower Complaint, Contradicting Under-Oath Testimony

By on November 9th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/08/yovanovitch-emailed-with-dem-staffer-after-whistleblower-complaint-contradicting-under-oath-testimony/

What makes the email particularly unsettling is that it indicates former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch possibly committed perjury during her ‘impeachment inquiry’ deposition, where she was questioned under oath.

New email evidence has surfaced indicating that a Democratic staffer from the House Foreign Affairs Committee had contact with former President Obama’s Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, contrary to information she provided in her “impeachment inquiry” deposition, according to exclusive information obtained by Tucker Carlson of Fox News.

Yovanovitch has sat at the center of the House Democrats’ “impeachment probe,” earning her Resistance stripes after she was recalled from her post by President Trump in May 2019, following accusations of “serious partisanship” and “political bias.”

According to an exclusive email obtained by Carlson, the Democratic staffer, now identified by Fox News as Laura Carey, wrote the following to Yovanovitch on August 14, 2019, two days after the whistleblower complaint was filed, but an entire month before the complaint went public. It was sent from Carey’s official House email to Yovanovitch’s personal account:

I’m writing to see if you would have time to meet up for a chat – in particular, I’m hoping to discuss some Ukraine-related oversight questions we are exploring. I’d appreciate the chance to ground-truth a few pieces of information with you, some of which are quite delicate/time-sensitive and, thus, we want to make sure we get them right.

The timeline of this email is critical. It is known that the whistleblower contacted Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Cal.) before filing his complaint. As Carlson points out, given that the above email was sent before the whistleblower complaint went public, it’s worth asking Schiff whether he had the audacity to contact other Democrat teams on the Hill about the complaint and its contents before it became public knowledge. In other words, what kind of stealthy (and possibly corrupt) machinations were taking place behind the scenes before the whistleblower’s complaint was used as a public pretext for launching an impeachment inquiry?

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ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Neverending Foreign Wars Are Keeping The United States From Fixing The Border Crisis By Ellis Domenech

By on November 9th, 2019

https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/07/neverending-foreign-wars-are-keeping-the-united-states-from-fixing-the-border-crisis/

What good is our powerful military stationed all over the world if on our very border there is a failing state?

It’s time for an overhaul of the U.S. national security establishment. No subjects of failed policy are more evident than Afghanistan and our southern border.

Afghanistan cost us $45 billion last year with little to show for it. Meanwhile, our southern border is awash with desperate human beings trying to make a better life in our great country. All the while narcotics are flowing across to feed our insatiable habit.

An incident just this week illustrated the violence escalating across the border in Mexico — this time against Americans, when a drug cartel ambushed the LeBaron family in broad daylight, killing at least three women and six children. All the while, the Mexican government fails to act.

Abraham Lincoln said as a young man:

From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia … could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.

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POLITICS Comments turned off

The five big things you need to understand about the Democratic primary right now By Caitlin Huey-Burns

By on November 9th, 2019

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-five-big-things-you-need-to-understand-about-the-democratic-primary-right-now/

Des Moines — Democratic presidential candidates are trading in kumbaya for combat. 

With three months to go before the Iowa caucuses, the 2020 campaigns are moving out of the introductory phase of the primary season and into the knife-sharpening phase, seeking to snuff out the competition as voters get closer to making up their minds. 

Candidates debuted new attack lines during major party cattle calls and campaign events across Iowa over the weekend and have continued to hone them throughout the week. In this phase of the campaign, it’s Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren at center stage, with the surging South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg looking to portray himself as a “unity” candidate.

The new urgency of the campaign has forced several campaigns to reshuffle or reassess their respective standings in the race. The impeachment inquiry hanging over Washington and driving the daily news cycle has made it more difficult for lower-tier campaigns to break through. At the same time, few voters on the ground are asking about the latest moves in Washington, and are instead focused more on health care, the economy, and climate change.  

After spending the past several days on the ground in Iowa, attending presidential town halls and talking to lots of voters, here are five things we are learning about the state of the race. 

The passive-aggressive primary is over

Biden is attacking Warren. Buttigieg is attacking Warren. Warren is attacking Biden and Buttigieg. Julián Castro is attacking Buttigieg. 

In other words, this is the part of the campaign season when candidates stop being polite and start getting real. 

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

U.S.-Israel Security Cooperation Is A Win-Win-Shoshana Bryen

By on November 9th, 2019

https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-u-s-israel-security-cooperation-is-a-win-win

One of the few points of unbounded bipartisan agreement in Washington has for decades been that U.S.-Israel security cooperation is right, good, mutually beneficial, and worth every nickel spent on it. It is well–grounded in facts and has acknowledged benefits to both sides.

However, at the J Street Conference last week, left-of-center political candidates and hostile-to-Israel speakers questioned the utility of American aid to Israel except, perhaps, as “leverage” to force Israel to meet their left-of-center and hostile-to-Israel demands. Candidates were willing to “explore” the issue. But it was left to J Street president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, to get to the heart of the conversation – Ben Ami isn’t interested in “leverage,” but in de-legitimizing the aid. “American aid is not intended to be a blank check. As Israel receives that $3.8 billion in aid, what is it being used for?”

Actually, it’s not, a secret. The United States is Israel’s ally of first choice. And Israel remains the one country the United States can rely upon to defend itself by itself and in coordination with American interests. And most of the money is then spent by Israel in the U.S.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Testimony bombshell: Obama administration tried to partner with Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian gas firm but was blocked over corruption concerns John Solomon

By on November 8th, 2019

https://johnsolomonreports.com/testimony-bombshell-obama-administration-tried-to-partner-with-hunter-bidens-ukrainian-gas-firm-but-was-blocked-over-corruption-concerns/

A State Department official who served in the U.S. embassy in Kiev told Congress that the Obama administration tried in 2016 to partner with the Ukrainian gas firm that employed Hunter Biden but the project was blocked over corruption concerns.

George Kent, the former charge d’affair at the Kiev embassy, said in testimony released Thursday that the State Department’s main foreign aid agency, known as USAID, planned to co-sponsor a clean energy project with Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas firm that employed Hunter Biden as a board member.

At the time of the proposed project, Burisma was under investigation in Ukraine for alleged corruption. Those cases were settled in late 2016 and early 2017. Burisma contested allegations of corruption but paid a penalty for tax issues.

Kent testified he personally intervened in mid-2016 to stop USAID’s joint project with Burisma because American officials believed the corruption allegations against the gas firm raised concern.

“There apparently was an effort for Burisma to help cosponsor, I guess, a contest that USAID was sponsoring related to clean energy. And when I heard about it I asked USAID to stop that sponsorship,” Kent told lawmakers.

When asked why he intervened, he answered: “”Because Burisma had a poor reputation in the business, and I didn’t think it was appropriate for the U.S. Government to be co-sponsoring something with a company that had a bad reputation.”

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Whistleblower ‘The Coup Has Started’: Attorney Was Already Tweeting About Impeaching Trump in Jan. of 2017 Debra Heine

By on November 8th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/11/06/the-coup-has-started-whistleblower-attorney-was-already-tweeting-about-impeaching-trump-in-jan-of-2017/

One of the deep state attorneys representing the so-called “whistleblower” behind the Democrats’ ongoing impeachment inquisition, has been working toward the impeachment of President Trump since the early days of his administration, recently unearthed tweets reveal.

Mark Zaid, a prominent national security lawyer in Washington, tweeted in January of 2017 that the “coup has started” and that “impeachment will follow ultimately,” a Fox News analysis of his tweets revealed.

That tweet came shortly after President Trump fired then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to make legal arguments defending Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees.

He authored a number of other impeachment obsessed tweets as well.

“Johnson (1868), Nixon (1973), Clinton (1998) impeachment hearings. Next up @realDonaldTrump (2017),” Zaid tweeted in May of 2017. Then, in June of 2017, Zaid wrote: “45 years from now we might be recalling stories regarding the impeachment of @realDonaldTrump. I’ll be old, but will be worth the wait.”

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Elections The Anonymous Coup History is littered with bloodless coup attempts. But in the Trump era, enemy combatants not only are spared bloodshed, they don’t even have to give their names. Julie Kelly

By on November 8th, 2019

https://amgreatness.com/2019/11/07/the-anonymous-coup/

Impeachment, we are reminded by our betters, is a political process, not a criminal trial.

The president does not need to be accused of violating a specific law; evidence is whatever the House of Representatives wants it to be. The credibility of any witness, especially one wearing the uniform of the United States military, cannot be questioned. Ditto for the motives of any witness. Hearsay is Exhibit A; New York Times articles, Exhibit B.

But what truly animates the current impeachment crusade is the same ploy that’s been used against Donald Trump since 2016—a drumbeat of attacks from nameless, faceless partisans tasked with destroying Trump first as a candidate, now as the president. Anonymity gives cover to their political agenda under the guise of courage and “speaking truth to power.” Democratic lawmakers, the news media, and NeverTrump Republicans—unable to make a compelling case for Trump’s removal aside from Orange Man Bad—wield the incognito heroes’ charges as incontestable fact.

It is, for the most part, an anonymous coup.

The so-called “whistleblower” is just the latest mystery man to make damning accusations about Trump’s alleged malfeasance. After reports leaked about the “whistleblower’s” detailed report claiming the president threatened to withhold federal aid from Ukraine unless the country’s new president investigated the Bidens—an attempt to “solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” he warned in the nine-page complaint—there were widespread calls for the patriot’s immediate testimony.

“We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) tweeted on September 24. Several days later, Schiff disclosed that he was negotiating the terms of the “whistleblower’s” testimony before his committee.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Inherit the Wind Tony Thomas

By on November 8th, 2019

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/11/inherit-the-w

It’s good to know that wind turbine blades are a bird’s best friend, or something like that. I’m citing “fun facts” on the website of Synergy, Western Australia’s state-owned electricity generator. Synergy operations include half a dozen WA wind farms, mostly coastal. Synergy claims, correctly, that its fun facts “may blow your mind.” Fun Fact No. 9 is illustrated with a pic of Sesame Street’s Big Bird, pop-eyed with delight about wind turbines’  blade-and-splatter prospects. The caption reads (author’s emphasis)

Wind technology is now much more bird-friendly. Earlier versions of wind farms, such as the ones first launched in the US, had thousands of small fast-spinning turbines. Not so good for birds. Now, wind farms have taller and slower-moving blades which are much nicer for our feathered friends.

I don’t know about those “slower moving blades”. Tip speed of a 75m blade for a giant 6MW turbine can be 290km per hour. Despite my blown mind, I also managed to look up Greens Tasmanian stalwart Bob Brown and his objection last July to a company’s plan to put 120 wind towers, each 270m at tip height, on Robbins Island. He doesn’t agree with Synergy that turbines are “nice for our feathered friends”. He wrote instead, “For which of these species will the wind farm be the thousandth cut?”[1]

This is by-the-way, just stuff I came across while looking into what happens to wind farms when they get to their use-by date. National Wind Farm Commissioner Andrew Dyer tells Quadrant Online, “Some farmers have not got the best legal advice before entering agreements. The industry is new and the decommissioning clauses will be tested in the coming years as older wind farms reach the end of their economic life. These clauses are incredibly important if you are a landowner.” [2]

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