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OCTOBER 18,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

CAUGHT – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   A Democratic operative campaigning for Hilary Clinton has resigned and another has been fired after a video surfaced purportedly showing members of their organization discussing ways to incite violence at Donald Trump rallies.  Robert Creamer — the husband of Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois — said he was 'stepping back' from his role after conservative activist James O'Keefe released footage appearing to show senior staffers plotting ways to undermined the Republican candidate's campaign events.   Isn't there a crime in there somewhere?  I want to see the law involved.

I LOVE IT – FROM PAGE SIX, NEW YORK POST:   President Obama’s Kenyan-born, half-brother Malik will be in the audience in Las Vegas Wednesday night when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton square off in their third and final debate.  Malik — an American citizen who lives in Washington, DC, when he’s not in Kenya — says he will be a guest of Trump, the Republican nominee he supports for president.  “I’m excited to be at the debate. Trump can make America great again,” Malik told The Post.  “I look very much forward to meeting and being with Malik,” Trump said. “He gets it far better than his brother.”  Must be some bad history between Barack and Malik.  Or they were after the same girl.

THIS IS SERIOUS – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   Concerns over the age of child refugees from Calais intensified yesterday, as a second group arrived in London.  One migrant in particular, wearing a blue hoodie with stubble on his chin, was rated by a facial recognition program as having the features of a 38-year-old.
He was one of 14 to be bussed to Croydon from the notorious Jungle camp shanty town before it is demolished by the French authorities.   They followed 14 who arrived on Monday, as Britain works to reunite unaccompanied youngsters from war-torn countries with family members in the UK.  But it has emerged the Home Office has no way of verifying the migrants’ ages before they come to Britain, stoking concerns about adults posing as children to take advantage of the scheme.   Figures released yesterday reveal that two-thirds of ‘child’ refugees who were quizzed by the Home Office about their age were found to be adults.  Oh really?  And why were those adults trying to get into Britain, having originated in countries like Syria?  Anyone interested? 

October 18, 2016       Permalink

STATEMENT FROM RUSSIA – WE'RE BACK AND WE'RE STRONG – AT 11:15 A.M. ET:  The show of force is a classic device to demonstrate a country's power and resolve.  No one does it better than Vladmir Putin.   From Britain's Sun:

A FLEET of Russian nuclear ships have been spotted steaming out of base – and it is heading for Britain.

Vladimir Putin‘s policy of gunboat diplomacy continued as a giant aircraft carrier and nuclear submarine were among eight vessels snapped sailing south past Norway yesterday.

The fearsome fleet is headed for Russia's Mediterranean base in Tartus, Syria.

But first, the ships are set to pass through the English Channel in the latest act of sabre-rattling from Moscow.

Royal Navy warships are being readied to intercept the fleet which could pass within miles of the British coast.

Russia's flagship aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was amongst the ships to depart from the Arctic port of Severomorsk on Saturday.

The 55,000-tonne colossus is travelling with the Pyotr Veliky battlecruiser, the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer and large anti-submarine ships.

The convoy was caught on camera by Norwegian spy planes on Monday.

COMMENT:  We can't seem to accept that we are in a new Cold War.  Russian forces are being built up, Russia is again producing front-line fighter aircraft, and Moscow has moved back into the Mideast, challenging American supremacy in the region.  The Obama administration has answered with a shrug.

We are short of military power, reversing the might of the Reagan years.  Other countries notice, and may well be tempted.  That's how wars begin.

October 18, 2016       Permalink

FOLLOWING THE MONEY – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  First rule of journalism:  follow the money.  So let's follow the money of journalists.  From IBD: 

A lengthy piece published by the Center for Public Integrity finds that people who work in journalism have given $382,000 to Hillary's campaign, compared with about $14,000 to Trump.

That works out to a ratio of 27.3-to-1.

In some cases, these are reporters who are covering the presidential election.

The story leads with New Yorker television critic Emily Nussbaum, who just won a Pulitzer Prize, and who gave $250 to Clinton before describing Trump's campaign as "ugly and xenophobic."

"Together, these journalist-donors work for news organizations great and small, from The New York Times to sleepy, small-town dailies. While many of them don't primarily edit or report on political news, some do," the Center explains.

All these donations are despite the fact that many news outlets restrict or prohibit political donations for the obvious reason that it undermines a reporter's credibility as an objective observer. Even if a news outlet didn't have such a policy, you'd think journalists wouldn't be so dumb as to advertise their political bias.

There's nothing particularly wrong journalists pushing an ideological viewpoint, so long as they make it clear to readers and viewers what they are doing.

The problem is that the mainstream press keeps pretending to be nonpartisan when they are, in fact, little more than a PR shop for Democrats.

In business, this is called false advertising, and it happens to be illegal.

COMMENT:  Press corruption is one of the most critical issues facing this democracy, but we depend on the press to cover it.  Some chance of that.

It will be the alternative media that will eventually get this subject front and center.  Whether it will have any effect is questionable.  Biased news organizations have shown a willingness to accept decreased circulation or ratings as the cost of their bias. 

Many journalists really don't care what they're doing to the credibility of their profession.  They're on a mission.  They have a higher calling.  Don't bother them with facts.

October 18, 2016       Permalink

MORE EMBARRASSMENT – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  The sheer quantity of information released by Wikileaks and federal investigations is forcing at least some journalists to revisit the whole issue of Clinton corruption.  How delightful.  From Fox: 

Republicans pressured the State Department on Monday to remove Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy after newly released FBI records showed he offered a "quid pro quo" with federal authorities during the Hillary Clinton email probe.

Documents revealed claims that Kennedy tried to horse-trade with the FBI, offering additional slots for the bureau overseas if they would de-classify a particular email from Clinton’s server marked “SECRET.” The files also revealed he repeatedly tried to “influence” the bureau’s decision when his offer was denied, even taking his plea up the chain of command. The allegation of a "quid pro quo" was first reported by Fox News on Saturday.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin that the new revelation was worse than Watergate.

"This is one of the great miscarriages of justice in the history of our country," he said.

Trump went on to accuse the State Department of "trying to cover up Hillary's crimes of sending classified information on a server our enemies could easily access."

He also blasted Kennedy, saying his actions were a sign of a "cover-up."

"The FBI documents show that Under-Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy made the request for altering classification as part of a 'quid pro quo,' in other words a deal," Trump told supporters. "This is felony corruption. Under-Secretary Kennedy needs to resign."

COMMENT:  The issue of Clinton's corrupt past may well surface again in the last three weeks of the campaign, as Republicans try to refocus Trump's often confused and undisciplined run for the White House.  Will it work?  I have no idea.  But after weeks of discussing Miss Universe's weight and allegations of past behavior toward women, Trump needs all the help he can get.

October 18,  2016     Permalink

OCTOBER 17,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:25 P.M. ET: 

WARM HILLARY – FROM HEATSTREET:   Hillary Clinton “blatantly” disregarded security and diplomatic protocols as Secretary of State and frequently insulted U.S. ambassadors by refusing to ride with them to diplomatic events abroad, a former U.S. diplomatic security officer told FBI agents investigating Clinton’s private email server.  According to FBI interview notes released Monday, the former security officer described the “stark difference” between Hillary Clinton’s conduct as secretary of state and the conduct of her predecessor Condoleezza Rice, who closely adhered to the appropriate protocols. Hillary’s “abundant” protocol breaches, on the other hand, were widely known in the diplomatic security community.  There have also been numerous reports of Clinton's awful behavior toward those officers sworn to protect her, from state troopers when she was first lady of Arkansas, through Secret Service agents when she was first lady of the United States, through members of the Diplomatic Security Service when she was secretary of state.  No class act, she.

OUR NEUTRAL MEDIA – FROM DAILY CALLER:  “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd and his wife, a Democratic consultant, hosted a dinner party at their Washington D.C.-area home last year for Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary Clinton’s communications director.  An invitation for the shindig was sent on July 11, 2015 to John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman. Podesta’s hacked emails have been released online by Wikileaks.  The party, which also involved a cocktail hour, was thrown for Palmieri and her husband, Jim Lyons.   Todd’s wife, Kristian Kenny Todd, was at that time a consultant for former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, one of Hillary Clinton’s challengers.  The invite is just the latest glaring example of the cozy relationship between mainstream journalists and the Clinton campaign found in the Podesta emails.  Reporters from The New York Times, MSNBC, Politico and other outlets have been shown coordinating with Podesta or other Clinton campaign officials in the emails.  I'm shocked that anyone would think ill of our fine journalists.  Why, I'm sure Todd was just trying to get a good, neutral story.  I also had lunch yesterday with the tooth fairy.  She says hello.

HONEST GOVERNMENT – FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:  ALBANY — A lobbyist with ties to Gov. Cuomo has a novel argument why he shouldn’t be forced to repay a company $85,000 — it was meant to be a bribe, not a loan.  Cor Development is suing its former lobbyist Todd Howe for the money.  But in legal papers filed Monday, Howe’s lawyers argued that the “purported loan was illegal, as it was part of an illegal conspiracy to deprive the public of its intangible right to honest services of an employee of the state of New York by soliciting and giving bribes and gratuities.”  Cor officials told Syracuse newspapers, which first reported the legal maneuver, that Howe is lying and the debt is real.   That's what I like – real imagination in our state capital. 

October 17, 2016       Permalink

THE SAD DECLINE OF A CITY – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  Chicago is an American tragedy, a great city unable to solve its problems, run by hacks and racialists who refuse to confront crime the way Rudy Giuliani confronted crime in New York, and pushed it back.  From the Chicago Tribune:

A thousand more people have been shot in Chicago this year compared with the same time last year after a weekend that saw eight people killed and at least 40 wounded, according to police and data compiled by the Tribune.

At least 3,475 people had been shot in the city as of shortly after midnight Monday compared with 2,441 people shot this time last year, an increase of 1,034, according to Tribune data. There have been at least 595 homicides this year compared with 409 this time last year, an increase of 186.

The gun violence over the weekend was at levels usually seen in the summer when shootings typically spike.

A single attack Friday night in East Garfield Park killed one man and left six others wounded, according to police. The people were standing together in the 3300 block of West Maypole Street when someone opened fire from a black vehicle, police said.

An attack of that scale has not occurred in Chicago since 2014, when seven people -- including several young teens -- were shot in Lawndale.

The Maypole shooting capped off an exceptionally deadly night on the West Side. Less than a half-hour before, two men were fatally shot in a South Austin drive-by, police said. About an hour before that, an 18-year-old man was killed in West Garfield Park.

COMMENT:  I don't see any great concern expressed by Barack Obama, who comes from Chicago and represented Illinois in the Senate.  Nor do I hear the voices of Black Lives Matter.  Apparently, the only black lives that matter are the ones that advance their career interests.

You would think, by now, that some so-called "news" organization would do a documentary, or long written piece, called "A Tale of Two Cities," explaining how New York largely solved its violent-crime problem, while Chicago founders.  But that won't happen.  It would mean giving credit to a Republican mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and that is a sin in mainstream journalism.   

October 17, 2016       Permalink

THE UGLY CAMPAIGN – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:   Anyone who reads Urgent Agenda knows that our enthusiasm for Donald Trump is limited.  But, despite our concerns about him, the man is being treated with gross unfairness by the mainstream media.  It is legitimate for journalists to point out factual lapses by candidates.  It is not legitimate to apply a standard of truth to only one side.

Andrew Malcolm, one of the most respected columnists writing today, examines the vast media corruption.  From McClatchy:   

A few things you’re unlikely to read elsewhere: Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy – and Americans’ ability to choose their next leader – is being destroyed by a sequence of events way too well orchestrated to be coincidental.

This is not about the billionaire’s qualifications or disqualifications to move into the Oval Office, his braggadocio, his awful manners, alleged sexual harassment, crass behavior, ostentatious wealth.

Americans have had unsavory political leaders before, most recently Hillary Clinton’s charming, unfaithful hubby who, among other things, received oral sex from an intern in that same revered office. And then lied about it to authorities.

This is about Americans being politically manipulated quite cleverly, something people do not appreciate, if they’re allowed to be aware of it. Recent events could be a movie called “Wag the Dog – Again.”

Let’s consult the autumn timeline: A few days before the first presidential debate last month, The New York Times says it received anonymously some select pages of Trump tax returns from a generation ago....

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing, and Andrew Malcolm's excellent reporting.  As he says, the assault on Trump appears too coordinated to be coincidental.  This is a media attack designed not to enlighten, but to swing history.  And I fear it's the media telling us that this is the way it will be.  They'll choose the side they prefer, always the left side, and shape the news to advance that side.

The death of journalism.

October 17, 2016       Permalink

BATTLE FOR MOSUL BEGINS – AT 9:17 A.M. ET:  Mosul, Iraq, is currently controlled by ISIS, which wasn't the case when Field Marshal Obama took office.  Now there is a military attempt to take it back.  It has just started.  From AP:

KHAZER, Iraq – Iraqi government and Kurdish forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition air and ground support, launched coordinated military operations early on Monday as the long-awaited fight to wrest the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters got underway. But the battle for Mosul is likely to be long and at was unclear at this early stage when the troops would enter the city itself.

Also, the fate of civilians trapped inside Mosul will also be critical as the battle intensifies in the days and weeks ahead amid concerns that the extremist Islamic State could use them as potential human shields.

In the morning hours Monday, convoys of Iraqi, Kurdish and U.S. forces moved east of Mosul along the front line as U.S.-led coalition airstrikes sent plumes of smokes into the air and heavy artillery rounds could be heard.

The move came shortly after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the operations on state television, launching the country on its toughest battle since American troops left nearly five years ago.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, has been under IS rule for more than two years and is still home to more than a million civilians according to U.N. estimates.

"These forces that are liberating you today, they have one goal in Mosul which is to get rid of Daesh and to secure your dignity," al-Abadi said, addressing the city's residents and using the Arabic language acronym for the Islamic State group. "God willing, we shall win."

COMMENT:  The anti-ISIS forces probably will win in the end.  However, that will not be the end of ISIS.  We've seen that if it loses territory in one place, it springs up in another, and increases its terrorist operations overseas.

We hope the anti-ISIS side, backed by the United States, prevails.  But we're under no illusions about the future struggle against terror.

October 17,  2016     Permalink