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The Libya Chaos: A Middle East Wake-Up Call Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Posted By on August 6th, 2020

https://bit.ly/3i9VE5O

Western misreading yields devastating consequences

The Libyan turmoil is, mostly, the outcome of the 2011 reckless toppling of the Qaddafi regime by a US-led NATO offensive.  The offensive was launched despite the fact that the ruthless Qaddafi had become a fervent warrior against Islamic terrorism in Libya, North and Central Africa.  Moreover, the offensive was initiated in spite of Qaddafi’s dismantling of the Libyan nuclear, chemical, biological and long-range ballistic missile infrastructures.

The stated goal of the US-led NATO onslaught was to stop the Libyan civil war, minimize the loss of civilian lives and promote democracy and peace, as was stated during the 2003 war against Saddam Hussein…. However, the authority vacuum created by the demise of the Qaddafi regime has intensified the intrinsic fragmentation and disintegration of Libya, tribally, geographically, ideologically and religiously.  

The demise of Qaddafi yielded systematic eruptions of volcanic civil wars in Libya, intensified by a heightened presence of Islamic terror organizations, which operate globally, from Central Asia, through the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Latin America, with sleeper cells in the US. 

In defiance of the architects of the assault on Qaddafi, Libya has joined Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen as a leading epicenter of international Islamic terrorism. The Libyan pandemonium has stimulated Islamic terrorism in Europe, as well as in neighboring Egypt, the Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria and Tunisia, in addition to Morocco, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.

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Michelle Obama says she has ‘low-grade depression’ — blames Trump By Steven Nelson

Posted By on August 6th, 2020

https://nypost.com/2020/08/05/michelle-obama-blames-trump-for-her-low-grade-depression/?utm_campaign=ipad_nyp&utm_source=mail_app

Former first lady Michelle Obama says she’s suffering from “low-grade depression” in part because of President Trump.

“I’m dealing with some form of low-grade depression. Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife and just seeing this administration. Watching the hypocrisy of it day in and day out is dispiriting,” Obama said in her new podcast.

The Obamas still live in DC. Their home is less than two miles from the White House in a quiet neighborhood of mansions. First daughter Ivanka Trump lives around the corner.

The former first lady remains revered by Democrats and said she tries to keep up routines such as working out to feel better.Last week former President Obama delivered a eulogy in Atlanta at the funeral of former Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and encouraged Senate Democrats to repeal the filibuster if they regain control, so they can pass initiatives such as DC statehood. He also has sought to boost the presidential campaign of his former vice president, Joe Biden.

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David Goldman: ‘Pax Sinica’ in the Middle East, revisited No amount of US pressure can cripple Iran’s economy – let alone topple its Islamist regime – if China does not want it to happen

Posted By on August 6th, 2020

https://asiatimes.com/author/spengler-david-p-goldman/

Recent reports of a possible US$400 billion Iran-China trade deal took Washington by surprise, prompting US Secretary of State Pompeo to threaten China with comprehensive economic sanctions.

If the deal is signed, Pompeo said, “We will be sure to enforce all the provisions we have – all the sanctions we have on the Islamic Republic of Iran – applied to the Chinese Communist Party and their businesses and state-owned enterprises as well.”

That would seem to imply a complete shutdown of economic relations between the US and China, which is unlikely because China’s exports to the US comprise about a quarter of its manufacturing GDP.

Inveighing against Beijing Sunday on Fox News, Pompeo warned that “China’s entry into Iran will destabilize the Middle East. It will put Israel at risk. It will put the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates at risk as well. Iran remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and to have access to weapons systems and commerce and money flowing from the Chinese Communist Party only compounds that risk for that region.”

Earlier, two senior State Department officials offered a more cautious assessment of reports that Iran and China will sign a $400 billion investment deal. “The scale and feasibility of the deal deserve healthy skepticism,” Keith J Krach and Brian H Hook wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

BOOKS Comments turned off

Unmasking Obama: A New Portrait of an Opaque President

Posted By on August 6th, 2020

https://townhall.com/columnists/williammarshall/2020/08/04/unmasking-obama-a-ne

I am a proud Lilliputian.

Jack Cashill’s wonderful new book, Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency, has put me and all my colleagues in conservative media and punditry in the appropriate weight class in his sometimes whimsical, yet always powerful, analysis of the Obama administration.

Cashill accurately equates those of us who have fought for years to dig facts out about the amazingly opaque man, Barack Obama, and his administration with the little inhabitants of Lilliput. Occasionally, we succeed in locating a revelation here or there amidst the murk, busily working away like those diminutive characters in Jonathan Swift’s classic, Gulliver’s Travels. The characterization is especially apt considering the power of our opposition in the monolithic Deep State, which heralded Obama as the next Coming of the Messiah. Those Deep Staters in government, along with their media, Hollywood and Big Tech confederates, did everything possible to protect Obama from scrutiny.

The book does an excellent job of laying out the political/media landscape – the nature and tactics of both those on the political left hell-bent on protecting the beloved Obama and those on the political right seeking to expose him and his agenda. The book is largely an exposition of the corrupt modern mass media. But it is much more.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Evidence Mounts That Mail-In Voting Will Bring Only Fraud And Chaos

Posted By on August 6th, 2020

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/08/05/evidence-mounts-that-mail-in-voting-will-bring-only-fraud-and-chaos/
For months we’ve heard reassurances from Democrats that the nation can, and should, vote by mail this November. It won’t, we’ve been told, result in an increase in voter fraud, and we can count on the Postal Service to handle the workload. And, of course, voting by mail is vital to prevent more coronavirus deaths.

It’s becoming painfully obvious that none of that is true, and that the Democrats’ only real motivation is to swing key elections in their favor.

Nearly every news story about mail-in voting asserts that there’s no evidence that it will increase fraud. Really?

The Heritage Foundation recently released a paper that detailed four elections that were overturned because of fraud involving absentee and mail-in ballots, including a school board election in California, a Miami mayoral election, a primary election in Indiana, and a congressional election in North Carolina.

In North Carolina, the state board of elections found “concerted fraudulent activities related to absentee by-mail ballots” and ruled that the election “was corrupted by fraud, improprieties and irregularities so pervasive that its results are tainted as the fruit of an operation manifestly unfair to the voters and corrosive to our system of representative government. “

Among other things, the investigation found forged signatures, falsified witness certifications, pressure on voters to fill out ballots a certain way, and “fraudulently voted blank or incomplete” ballots.

The election board ordered a new vote.

CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, MEDIA Comments turned off

Poll Shows ‘Sobering’ Decline In Americans’ Trust In News Media…Before COVID & Floyd Death

Posted By on August 6th, 2020

https://thegreggjarrett.com/poll-shows-sobering-decline-in-americans-trust-in-news-media-before-covid-floyd-death/

President Trump has been chastised for calling out the credibility of mainstream media, but he’s not alone. In a study released today, results show “nearly half of all Americans describe the news media as ‘very biased.” The study, conducted by Knight Foundation and Gallup was described as “sobering.”

Part of the ‘sobering’ aspect is that data was compiled before the coronavirus lockdown and nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd. The overwhelming likelihood is those events would further the percentage divides. Using a random sample of 20,046 American adults between November 8, 2019, and February 16, 2020, the study claims a margin of error of plus or minus 1%.

In the findings, 73% of Americans believe bias in news reports is a major problem, up from 65% two years ago. “Those surveyed also didn’t believe much in honest mistakes. When there were inaccuracies in articles, 54% of Americans said they believed reporters misrepresented facts, while 28% said reporters were making things up in their entirety” the Associated Press reported.

It was determined that 71% of Republicans have a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion of the news media, while Democrats were at only 22%. On the flip side, 54% of Democrats have a very favorable view of the media, and only 13% of Republicans feel the same way.

MEDIA Comments turned off

Mainstream Media Polls: Yet More Gaslighting? Jane Menton

Posted By on August 5th, 2020

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2020-8-4-mainstream-media-polls-yet-m

“Donald Trump’s Chances of Winning are Approaching Zero” (Washington Post)

“Donald Trump is approaching his last chance to turn a catastrophic campaign into an ordinarily unsuccessful campaign” (The Atlantic)

“Now Trump is trailing in an average of post-convention poll results for every swing state from the past two cycles…” (Vox)

“Two much-discussed polls by The Times and Siena College that were published last week suggested that in key swing states, as well as nationally, [Trump’s] the limping dead” (New York Times)

“Trump is going to lose – decisively – this fall.” (San Diego Tribune)

“Trump Is Losing Big to [Opponent] in Voter Polls. Here’s How That Will Likely Play Out on Election Day” (MarketWatch) 

“Donald Trump’s Terrible Campaign is Finally Catching Up to Him” (Vanity Fair)

“Trump’s Losing, So When Are Republican Candidates Going to Abandon Him?” (New Yorker)

Some of these quotes are from 2016 and some are from 2020, but it’s almost impossible to tell which are which (Go ahead and guess in the comments, but it’s cheating if you click on the links). 

If you read the mainstream media, you would find it hard to believe that Trump has any chance of winning re-election in November. But then again, they had me utterly persuaded the same was true in 2016.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

The Fragility of the Liberal Democracies and the Challenge of Totalitarianism

Posted By on August 5th, 2020

https://jcpa.org/article/the-fragility-of-the-liberal-democracies-and-the-challenge-of-totalitarianism/

The murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, triggered rioting, looting, and arson across the United States. It became evident that an underground leadership structure had been in place and set in motion a wave of violence whose destructiveness was unforeseen.
According to Marxist-Leninist doctrine, the goal of organized mob violence is to foment a state of civil war, which will lead to revolution. The would-be revolutionaries in the United States did so well that their success exceeded their expectations.
Mayors of several major cities and governors of some states where violence took place chose not to act and ordered the police and firefighters to stand down. Such inaction created a state of anarchy, leaving the public without protection.
The moral shock resulting from the outbreak of mob violence which was not put down may have been worse than the actual damage caused by the rioters.
In the United States, it has been assumed that the creation of wealth is good for society, especially if through hard work, one could achieve the “American Dream.” Nonetheless, for the past decade, life has become complicated for many young adults. The growing numbers of this increasingly dissatisfied group in society must be taken into account.
The fragility of the liberal democracies is a serious dilemma. There is a short distance between “peaceful demonstrations” and mob violence, civil war, and regime change. The dynamics of political warfare and the methods of mob violence are knowable. Because it is a matter of self-defense, we must use this knowledge to safeguard our democracies and our freedoms.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

COVID-19 Lies Go Viral . By Betsy McCaughey

Posted By on August 5th, 2020

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/08/05/covid-19_lies_go_viral_143878.html

Beware of three widely circulating COVID-19-related lies and the partisan motives behind them. These lies are dangerous to your children and how you cope with this virus.

Lie No. 1: “The United States’ response stands out as among the worst of any country.” House Majority Whip James Clyburn leveled that charge, as he kicked off a hearing Friday into the virus.

Don’t buy it. A staggering 183,639 Europeans have died from the virus as of Monday. Deaths per capita have been far higher in the U.K., Spain and Italy than in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins. After a lull, cases are spiking in several European countries.

That hasn’t stopped New York Times columnist Paul Krugman from asking, “Why Can’t Trump’s America be like Italy?” Is he crazy? A patient with the coronavirus has faced three times the risk of dying from it in Italy as in the U.S., Johns Hopkins data indicate.

Lie No. 2: Clyburn accused the administration of “rushing into reopening the schools” against the ” advice of public health experts.” Sorry, but experts want schools to reopen.

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Poll: Most Black Americans Want Police to Remain in Their Areas By Mairead McArdle

Posted By on August 5th, 2020

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/poll-most-black-americans-want-police-to-remain-in-their-areas/

Most black Americans say they want police to continue their current presence in local areas, even as protests against racism and police brutality sweep the nation, and calls to reform and even defund police departments persist.

Close to two-thirds, 61 percent, of black Americans said they want the police presence in their area to remain the same, while 20 percent said they would like to see police spend more time in their neighborhood, according to a new Gallup poll. Another 19 percent said they would like to see the police presence in their area decrease.

Among the general population, 67 percent of Americans say they want the police presence near them to remain the same, with 71 percent of white Americans saying so. A majority of other minority communities also said they do not want to see fewer police officers patrolling their neighborhoods, with 59 percent of Hispanics preferring the current police presence.

Black Americans said they observe police in their neighborhoods slightly more than other groups, 32 percent saying they see police officers often or very often in their area, above the national average of 24 percent of all Americans who say the same. About 27 percent said they rarely or never see police in their neighborhoods. Only 22 percent of white Americans said they see police often or very often around where they live.

Of black Americans who see police frequently in their areas, only about a third say they think police should curtail their time in the neighborhood, similar to the overall percentage who say so.