Day: June 3, 2018

Corker Reaches Out to Democrats to Oppose Trump on Trade

John Bryant
Bob Corker

Outgoing Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) took to Twitter on Saturday in an effort to reach out to Democrats in his ongoing efforts to stymie the Trump administration from achieving its goals when it comes to trade. I am working with like-minded Republican senators on ways to push back on the president using authorities in ways never intended and that are damaging to our country and our allies. Will Democrats join us? — Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) June 2, 2018 I am working with like-minded Republican senators on ways to push back on the president using authorities in ways never intended and that are damaging to our country and our allies. Will Democrats join us? — Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) June 2, 2018 Rather than support Trump in what many see as little more than a deal-making process to improve America’s position in trade agreements around the world, Corker appears to be hyperventilating like a Democrat determined to damage and undermine Trump at every turn. He was referencing a tweet to a Wall Street Journal story with his childish plea. These two stories feel like something I could have read in a local Caracas newspaper last week, not in America. Venezuela, here…

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Here’s What A Top General Had To Say When Asked If The US Could ‘Blow Apart’ China’s Artificial Islands

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American Navy

by Ryan Rickrell   The U.S. military has a talent for “taking down small islands,” a top general reportedly replied Thursday to questions about America’s ability to “blow apart” China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. “I would just say that the United States military’s had a lot of experience in the Western Pacific taking down small islands,” Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters, according to Voice of America. “It’s just a fact.” “We have a lot of experience in the second World War taking down small islands that are isolated. So, that’s a core competency of the US military,” he added, noting that people “shouldn’t read anything more into that than a simple statement of historical fact.” "I would just say that the #UnitedStates military's had a lot of experience in the Western Pacific taking down small islands," per LtGen McKenzie when asked if US could "blow apart" #China's man-made islands — Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) May 31, 2018 Tensions between the U.S. and China have been building in the South China Sea in recent weeks. In response to Chinese militarization of the disputed region, which has included the deployment of anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air…

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Mattis: China Trying to Intimidate, Coerce Neighbors in South China Sea

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Mattis

by William Gallo   U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis slammed China’s militarization of disputed South China Sea islands, insisting that weapons systems recently deployed in the area are meant to intimidate and coerce Beijing’s neighbors. The comments came during a Saturday speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual Asian defense forum in Singapore. In the speech, Mattis laid out the broader U.S. strategy for a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region.” “China’s policy in the South China Sea stands in stark contrast to the openness our strategy promotes. It calls into question China’s broader goals,” Mattis said. Specifically, the Pentagon chief mentioned China’s deployment of anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles, electronic jammers, and the landing of a bomber aircraft at the Paracel Islands off the coast of Vietnam. “Despite China’s claim to the contrary, the placement of these weapon systems is tied directly to military use for the purposes of intimidation and coercion,” Mattis said. Focus on assertive China Though much of the world is focused on an upcoming summit between North Korea and the United States, this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue has focused primarily on the region’s long-term future and how to deal with a more assertive China. Beijing has begun projecting power…

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Google Withdraws As Host Of Democratic Fundraising Event

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Google withdraws from Dem Fundraiser

by Eric Lieberman   Google was set to rent out its D.C. headquarters to a progressive group running a fundraiser for top Senate Democrats, but canceled it Friday just days before. The group “Run For Something” cultivates up-and-coming Democrats for all levels of government. Its event, “Party For Something,” was supposed to occur June 6 at a location only disclosed if tickets ($100 to $1,000) were purchased. “Important note! Confirmation of the date, time, and venue will be in your donation receipt,” reads the website, which also says “Location available upon RSVP” elsewhere. “No need to print anything; just check in with ID when you arrive.” The venue likely shows up as something different now since Google confirmed to The Daily Caller News Foundation that the event was occurring at its offices in the nation’s capital, and subsequently that it was canceled since leadership had allegedly just become aware. “June 6th: Games, drinks and building the bench with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand & Cory Booker!!” the invite states at the top. “Why? Because Run For Something set a goal of recruiting 50,000 new voices this year to run for office — and you want to help make it happen.” Google representatives declined…

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Commentary: The Left Attacks Fred Fleitz, The New Chief Of Staff At President Trump’s NSC

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Fred Fleitz

by George Rasley   By a quick count of search returns it appears we’ve quoted our old friend Fred Fleitz, former CIA analyst, State Department aide, staffer for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, FOX News regular and author of the must-read book Obamabomb: A Dangerous and Growing National Security Fraud, more than a dozen times in articles on subjects as diverse as Obama’s disastrous nuclear weapons deal with Iran, the war Islam has declared on the West and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Fleitz was a natural choice to serve as Chief of Staff at the National Security Council when his old Chief, Ambassador John Bolton, was selected by President Trump to head the NSC staff and serve as his National Security Advisor. In Washington it is often said you are known by your enemies, and if having the Far-Left Southern Poverty Law Center and terrorism front group the Council on American – Islamic Relations after his scalp is any indication, Fleitz has all of the right enemies. Except in this fight, and with these enemies, the first axis of attack was not Fred Fleitz’s scholarship or policy positions, which are well-known and well respected on both sides of…

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Report: Plans Underway for Possible Trump-Putin Summit

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Trump and Putin

White House officials are making plans for a possible summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to The Wall Street Journal. The report, citing a senior administration official, said U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, has been in Washington to help schedule the meeting. “This has been an ongoing project of Ambassador Huntsman, stretching back months, of getting a formal meeting between Putin and Trump,” the official said. People familiar with the plans said the purpose of the summit would be to address long-standing differences between the two countries. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the intent of helping Trump win. The findings have led to a special counsel investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia. Trump has denied any collusion. The U.S. also has denounced Russia’s alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has expressed opposition to Moscow’s military intervention in eastern Ukraine. Tensions between Washington and Moscow escalated in March when the U.S. and dozens of other nations ordered Russian diplomats to leave their countries after a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in the United Kingdom with a military-grade nerve…

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Reports: US to Change Visa Policy for Chinese Students

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Students from China

U.S. news reports said Friday that the State Department was expected to change its policy later this month for some visas issued to Chinese students. The Associated Press reported this week that under the new policy, U.S. consular officers may limit how long visas are valid for Chinese students, rather than the usual practice of issuing them for the maximum possible length. When contacted by Voice of America, State Department spokesman Richard Buangan, offered no details about the reported changes, but said, “All visa cases are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis according to U.S. law and applicable regulations.” “As always, although the majority of visa applicants receive full validity visas, consular officers have the right to limit visas as appropriate for the specific case,” he said. According to the Associated Press, under the new policy, Chinese graduate students will be limited to one-year visas if they are studying in fields like robotics, aviation and high-tech manufacturing. The report said Chinese citizens seeking visas would also need special clearance from multiple U.S. agencies if they worked in companies that require higher scrutiny. Buangan, who is managing director for International Media Engagement, and former spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, told…

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Walmart Makes Big Move To Keep Up With Amazon

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Walmart Makes Big Move To Keep With Amazon

by Vandana Rambaran   Walmart is introducing a new same-day delivery service called Jetblack through its Store No. 8 incubator, which rivals competitor Amazon’s services like Amazon Prime and Prime Now. Jetblack, which has launched in New York City and will be rolling out to the rest of the country throughout the coming year, requires a $50 a month membership fee, but allows consumers to purchase directly from the retail conglomerate, Jet.com and other rival retailers via text message. The service will offer same-day and next-day delivery at no additional cost. The new Walmart resource will also send shoppers text messages to remind them of products that they are about to run out of, suggestions the service makes based on artificial intelligence gathered about purchase history, said co-founder and chief executive of Jetblack Jenny Fleiss in an interview with Reuters. Jetblack, a pricier alternative to its competitor Amazon, which offers Amazon Prime delivery for $12.99 a month, makes shopping suggestions to consumers based on their personal wants and needs via texts.  “Powered by conversational commerce, the future of retail will bring convenience and high-touch personalization to the forefront for consumers everywhere,” Marc Lore, Walmart’s head of e-commerce said in a statement to CNBC about Jetblack. In…

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Behind Closed Doors: What the Piltdown Man Hoax from 1912 Can Teach Science Today

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Pitdown Man Painting by Cooke

by Samuel Redman   In 1912, Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist in England, claimed he’d made one of the most important fossil discoveries ever. Ultimately, however, his “Piltdown Man” proved to be a hoax. By cleverly pairing a human skull with an orangutan’s jaw – stained to match and give the appearance of age – a mysterious forger duped the scientific world. In the decades between the find’s unearthing and the revelation it was fraudulent, people in the United States and around the world learned about Piltdown Man as a “missing link” connecting ape and man. Newspaper articles, scientific publications and museum exhibitions all presented Piltdown Man as a legitimate scientific discovery supporting a particular vision of human evolution. Historians, science writers and others have investigated the Piltdown Man controversy over the years, shedding new light on the fraud. As we reconsider the nature of “facts,” “fake news” and knowledge production, it’s worthwhile to revisit the Piltdown Man episode. At issue was not just the deliberate hoax, but also the incomplete flow of information about the purported human ancestor. Soon after the discovery, access to the original materials in England was cut off by a few gatekeepers. Science is suffocated when researchers are unable to reliably…

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Far Left Hillary Clinton-Supporting Washington, D.C. Lobbyists Host Big Fundraiser for ‘Absolute Total Tool’ Phil Bredesen

Tennessee Star Staff
Phil Bredesen, Democrat

A week after President Donald Trump said at a rally in Nashville that Phil Bredesen is “an absolute total tool” of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate and former governor of Tennessee provided compelling evidence to confirm the truth of the president’s statement. “Phil Bredesen will do everything he can to disguise and deny his liberal Democratic Party connections but the truth will become increasingly apparent as the campaign moves towards November,” Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill noted. “Ultimately Tennessee voters will discover that ideologically he is Hillary Clinton without the pantsuits,” Gill added. On Wednesday, half a dozen far left, big money, Hillary Clinton supporting lobbyists are hosting a fundraiser for Bredesen at the downtown Washington, D.C. offices of corporate influence and analysis powerhouse S & P Global. Among the sponsors who are contributing $5,000 each to the Bredesen campaign are lobbyists Heather Podesta, ex-wife of fallen Democratic lobbying king pin Tony Podesta, leader of the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights and former sister-in-law of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager and Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff John Podesta, Steve Elmendorf, and Jillian Fitzpatrick. Heather Podesta is closely tied to Hillary Clinton, as…

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